Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[mlsoft]

wall...

We have discussed this one before. God said that if they were to eat of the fruit, they would surely die, and that is exactly what happened. The literal Hebrew of Genesis 2:17 is "dying, you shall die" (Hebrew "muth muth"). There are two ways this might be taken -- a repetition of a verb can signify intensity "you shall surely die", or "dying, you shall die". The events that followed explain best which was meant -- they suffered immediate spiritual death (a common theme of the New Testament (i.e. Romans 5:12), but the certain decree of physical death was delayed for a time.

The fact that Adam did not immediately die physically brings the question of why that decree of physical death was delayed. The explanation lies in the revealed will of God (which cannot be thwarted) in Genesis 1:28 -- they were commanded to "multiply", so as to begin the population of the earth.

mlsoft

In edit: I almost forgot to mention the part you placed in bold -- "in the day". In Hebrew, as in English, "day" (Hebrew "yom") can signify either a 24 hour day or an extended, but non specific period of time.