And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Genesis 6:5
Imagination, in the Bible, does not denote a mental faculty or activity, but an evil purpose, plan, scheme, device, or argument. One Hebrew word, sheriruth, is translated "lust" in Psalms 81:12 and "imagination" in Deuteronomy 29:19 and in eight passages in Jeremiah (3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12; 23:17). These are mistranslations, for the word means firmness in an evil course.
"Imagine" as used in the Bible, means to purpose, plan, contrive. Its object is action; and, rather oddly, it is always directed to action that is evil or futile.
Except for Acts 4:25, where "imagine" translates a verb quoted from the Greek Septuagint, the RSV uses other words: "think" (Job 6:26), "meditate" (Psalms 38:12), "propose" (Genesis 11:6), "plan" (Psalms 140:2), "plot" (Psalms 2:1; Nahum 1:9, 11), "devise" (Psalms 10:2; 21:11; Hosea 7:15; Zechariah 7:10; 8:17).
(The Bible Word Book, Bridges & Weigle, pg 183)
This gives new thoughts in regards to the vain imaginations of the large and spacious building.
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