My last post was in response to a question about the final verb in Isaiah 18:26. In my opinion, the really beautiful poetry in that verse lies in the verbal repetition in the middle. Here’s a guide to the Hebrew: lachen ko amar adonai YHWH so thus said Adonai God hin’ni yisad b’tzion aven I…
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From the About page comes a question about the last verb in Isaiah 28:16: His [Dietrich Boenhoffer’s] reading said that “he that believes does not flee”. Is that what this says? No. The Hebrew verb at the end (yachish) clearly means “hurry,” — compare Isaiah 5:19 and Psalm 119:60 — so the phrase should mean:…
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As always, I’ve returned from my week in Israel recharged and renewed. Also, as always, my visit has given me a lot to think about regarding translation. Modern Languages I believe that looking at modern languages can help us understand the nature of translation because it’s easier to know what modern languages mean, so it’s…
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From the About page: As a grammar lesson, I tried parsing Psalm 117. There is a possible usage of a ‘he’ marking the use of the vocative (BDB 1.i) but the article is missing on the first colon kol goyim and present on the second shavxuhu col ha’umim. It seems to me that ‘praise the…
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As has been widely reported recently, Malaysians are grappling with how to say “god.” The issue is that the word most Malay speakers use, allah, refers not only to “god” in general but in particular to what we call “Allah” in English, that is, the Muslim god of that name. (For the blow-by-blow, start here…
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From the About page: Still working on he and vav and I came across this pair of words in Ruth vatishtachu artza. Two questions — why the vav at the end of the first word? And why the he at the end of the second? KJV translates it as if it were hithpael — she…
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I’ve just returned from Israel. My short trip afforded me two visits to Jerusalem, and on both occasions I was reminded anew how hard it is to leave that holy city. Even getting in isn’t easy. I approached by car, through the foothills that King David may have surveyed as he wondered where to build…
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Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
