I had the same problem. Here is my (possibly incorrect) interpretation,  
and how to fix it:

You have updated to the most recent context without updating texexec  
(and pssoibly related packages). To do so,
uninstall your entire TeX tree (grin) by either doing this in  
i-Installerm or by removing the i-Packages directory
from your home directory. Otherwise, i-Installer will always default to  
your older installation setup.
You might also want to erase /usr/local/teTeX.

Then start again i-installer (get the most recent), and set it up to  
expert mode, which lets you select the
most recent TeX installation. Follow the instructions at  
http://www.uoregon.edu/~koch/texshop/texshop.html
to select the packages, and don't forget to install ConTeXt.

I suggest keeping an old installation on another boot partition or  
backup drive, I can't guarantee
that certain things will not look different.

Matthias


On Nov 2, 2004, at 11:01 AM, Shivkumar Chandrasekaran wrote:

>
> On Nov 1, 2004, at 10:05 AM, "Patrick Gundlach" <patrick@gundla.ch>
>
>> Please post the complete output of a simple texexec run. And perhaps
>> you might want to have a look at the macosxtex mailinglist.
>>
>>
>> Patrick
>> --  
>> ConTeXt wiki: http://contextgarden.net
>>
>
> Below is the output when I compile a file with the following 3 lines:
>
> \starttext
> Hello world
> \stoptext
>
> I am using the latest TeX and ConTeXt from Gerben Wierda's  
> i-Installer. I am looking into the MacOSX TeX mailing list archives  
> for any hints too. Thanks for any help and the pointer.
>
> --shiv--
>
>
> #
> #
> ################## Typesetting contextBug
> # this line is commented out
> texexec --pdf contextBug
>
>
>  TeXExec 3.1 - ConTeXt / PRAGMA ADE 1997-2002
>
>             executable : pdfetex
>                 format : cont-en
>              inputfile : contextBug
>                 output : pdftex
>              interface : en
>           current mode : none
>                TeX run : 1
>
> This is pdfeTeXk, Version 3.141592-1.11a-2.1 (Web2C 7.5.2)
>  %&-line parsing enabled.
>  (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.tetex/web2c/cp8bit.tcx)
> entering extended mode
> (./contextBug.tex{/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/pdftex/config/ 
> pdftex.cfg}
>
> ConTeXt  ver: 2004.10.07  fmt: 2004.10.25  int: english  mes: english
>
> systems        : pdfTeX version 111 -> please update
>
> systems        : eTeX version 201 -> too old (bugs)
>
> language       : language en is active
> <protectionstate 0>
> system         : cont-new loaded
> (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/context/base/cont-new.tex
> systems        : beware: some patches loaded from cont-new.tex!
> color          : palette rollover is available
> system (E-TEX) : [line 966]
> system (E-TEX) : [line 1021]
> )
> system         : cont-old loaded
> (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/context/base/cont-old.tex
> loading        : Context Old Macros
> )
> system         : cont-fil loaded
> (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/context/base/cont-fil.tex
> loading        : Context File Synonyms
> )
> bodyfont       : 12pt rm is loaded
> language       : patterns en->default:default->1->2:2  
> uk->default:default->2->2
> :2 de->texnansi:texnansi->3->2:2 de->ec:ec->4->2:2  
> fr->texnansi:texnansi->5->2:
> 2 fr->ec:ec->6->2:2 es->default:default->7->2:2  
> it->texnansi:texnansi->8->2:2 i
> t->ec:ec->9->2:2 nl->texnansi:texnansi->10->2:2 nl->ec:ec->11->2:2  
> loaded
> specials       : tex,postscript,rokicki loaded
> system         : contextBug.top loaded
> (./contextBug.top
> specials       : loading definition file tpd
> (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/context/base/spec-tpd.tex
> specials       : loading definition file fdf
> (/usr/local/teTeX/share/texmf.local/tex/context/base/spec-fdf.tex
> <unprotect 3> <unprotect 4>
> system (E-TEX) : [line 2256] \ifcsname
> <protect 4> <protect 3>)
> specials       : fdf loaded
> <unprotect 3> <protect 3>)
> specials       : fdf,tpd loaded
> ! Undefined control sequence.
> <argument> \c!gebied
>                      ={/Users/shiv/}
> \xprocesscommaitem #1,#2->\if ,#1
>                                  ,\@EA \xprocesscommaitem \else \if  
> ]#1\@EAE...
>
> \xdogetparameters #1]->\xprocesscommaitem #1,]
>                                               ,\@relax@
> \dosetupsystem [#1]->\getparameters [\??sv ][#1]
>                                                 \setuprandomize  
> [\@@svrandom...
> l.3 \setupsystem[\c!gebied={/Users/shiv/}]
>
> ?
> _______________________________________________
> ntg-context mailing list
> ntg-context@ntg.nl
> http://www.ntg.nl/mailman/listinfo/ntg-context