"The American Standard translation orders men to
triumph over sin, and you can call sin ignorance. The King James translation
makes a promise in ‘Thou shalt,’ meaning that men will surely triumph over sin.
But the Hebrew word, the word timshel — ‘Thou mayest’ — that gives a choice. It
might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open. That
throws it right back on a man.
"Now, there are many millions who in their
sects and churches who feel the order, 'Do thou,' and throw their weight into
obedience. And there are millions more who feel predestination in 'Thou shalt.'
Nothing they may do can interfere with what will be. But 'Thou mayest'! Why,
that makes a man great, that gives him stature with the gods, for in his
weakness and his filth and his murder of his brother he has still the great
choice. He can choose his course and fight it through and win... And I feel I
am a man. And I feel that a man is a very important thing - maybe more
important than a star. This is not theology. I have no bent towards the gods.
But I have a new love for that glittering instrument, the human soul. It is a
lovely and unique thing in the universe. It is always attacked and never
destroyed - because 'Thou mayest.'"...
"It was your two-word translation, Lee - 'Thou mayest.' It took
me by the throat and shook me. And when the dizziness was over, a path was
open, new and bright. And when my life which is ending seems to be going on to
an ending wonderful. And my music has a last melody like a bird song in the
night. Lee was
peering at him through the darkness.
"'Thou mayest rule over sin," Lee said. That's it. I do not
believe all men are destroyed. I can name you a dozen who were not, and they
are the ones the world lives by. It is true of the spirit as it is true of the
battles - only the winners are remembered. Surely most men are destroyed, but
there are others who like pillars of fire guide frightened men through the
darkness. 'Thou mayest, Thou mayest!' What glory! It is true that we are weak
and sick and quarrelsome, but if that is all we ever were, we would,
millenniums ago, have disappeared from the face of the earth. A few remnants of
fossilized jawbone, some broken teeth in strats of limestone, would be the only
mark man would have left of his existence in the world. But the choice, Lee,
the choice of winning! I had never understood it or accepted it before. 'Thou
mayest rule over sin.'"
John Steinbeck East of Eden
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