hebrew

theology September 26, 2017

Why are thighs important?

There is an old question on Christianity.SE which I suggested that it should also be asked here – since we don’t migrate OLD questions. In doing so, I noticed that the OP hasn’t been really active and I suspect that it will never be asked here. With that said:

Genesis 24:2 NIV

One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.

Genesis 47:29 NIV

As the time of his death drew near, Jacob called for his son Joseph and said to him, “Please do me this favor. Put your hand under my thigh and swear that you will treat me with unfailing love by honoring this last request: Do not bury me in Egypt.

Leviticus 7:33 NIV

The right thigh must always be given to the priest who offers the blood and the fat of the peace offering.

Is this a translation concern? What do they REALLY mean?

theology July 13, 2017

Is DEATH Singular or Plural in Isaiah 53:9 and What is it’s Meaning?

Isaiah 53:9 says, “וַיִּתֵּ֤ן אֶת־רְשָׁעִים֙ קִבְרֹ֔ו וְאֶת־עָשִׁ֖יר בְּמֹתָ֑יו עַ֚ל לֹא־חָמָ֣ס עָשָׂ֔ה וְלֹ֥א מִרְמָ֖ה בְּפִֽיו׃(Westminster Leningrad Codex)

“Violence not Because in his death the rich and with his engrave the wicked with And he made in his mouth (was any) deceit neither he had done.”(Interlinear)

I am not a Hebrew Scholar, but my understanding, as well as the common translations say that בְּמֹתָ֑יו is singular, yet the BDB lists the יו as being plural.
If my assumption is correct, then why was בְּמֹתָ֑יו(death) translated Singular, and what would this passage mean if it were understood in the plural?

bible January 14, 2017

What are the "generations" in Genesis 2:4?

Genesis 2:4:

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.(ESV)

(BHS) אֵ֣לֶּה תֹולְדֹ֧ות הַשָּׁמַ֛יִם וְהָאָ֖רֶץ בְּהִבָּֽרְאָ֑ם בְּיֹ֗ום עֲשֹׂ֛ות יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהִ֖ים אֶ֥רֶץ וְשָׁמָֽיִם׃

I’m wondering what “these are the generations” refers to. Is it meant as a summary of what precedes it or as an introduction to what follows it?

I’m also not sure what תֹולְדֹ֧ות (tolədôt; ESV, “generations”) refers to in this context. Other translations use “account,” which is clearer but makes me feel like I’m not quite understanding the plural sense of
אֵ֣לֶּה תֹולְדֹ֧ות (ēlleh tolədôt) nor the connection with the basic meaning which apparently has something to do with descent/ancestry.

bible January 7, 2017

Did Abraham meet Jacob as alluded in Hebrews 11:9?

Hebrews 11:8

8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9 By faith he sojourned in the land of pro…

bible December 13, 2016

"Government shall be upon His shoulder" Isaiah 9:6

Isaiah 9:6:

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Pea…

bible December 4, 2016

To what extent was the LORD “sought” and “found” in Isaiah 65:1?

Isaiah 65:1a

נִדְרַ֙שְׁתִּי֙ לְל֣וֹא שָׁאָ֔לוּ
I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;

נִמְצֵ֖אתִי לְלֹ֣א בִקְשֻׁ֑נִי
I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. (ESV)

The ESV (also NRSV, NET, NASB; contrast NIV, HCSB) take these two verbs – “ready to be sought … ready to be found” – as tolerative nifals, I gather.

Joüon-Muraoka (a Hebrew grammar) says of the tolerative nifal נדרש:

generally with a notion of effective action….to allow oneself to be asked, and that effectively, hence practically = to answer (speaking of God)

Walkte & O’Connor (another Hebrew grammar) follow this idea, offering the translation:

I answered (< allowed myself to be sought by) those who did not ask (for me);
I revealed myself to (< allowed myself to be found by) those who did not seek me.

This “efficacy” nuance is different from the “ready to…” translation of the ESV etc.

How should we decide in what way to understand the nifal here? Is this verse intended to convey something already accomplished (revealed, answered) or merely offerred?


1. The other uses of the potentially “tolerative” nifal דרש (with subject = Yahweh) are in Ezekiel; mostly these could also be taken either way.


2. The LXX seems to carry a similar sense of “effective”: Εμφανὴς ἐγενόμην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν· = I became visible to those who did not seek me; I was found by those who did not inquire after me. This may have more to do with reading them as passives (“was found” + reconciliation of “did not ask” with “was sought” –> “became visible”) rather than a reflection of the translator having read Jouon, but you never know.

bible December 1, 2016

What were the “Urim and Thummim” (KJV)?

The first mention of these two objects occurs in Exo. 28:30, in which it is written,

30 And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron’s heart, when he goeth in before the LORD: and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the LORD continually. KJV, 1769

ל וְנָתַתָּ אֶל חֹשֶׁן הַמִּשְׁפָּט אֶת הָאוּרִים וְאֶת הַתֻּמִּים וְהָיוּ עַל לֵב אַהֲרֹן בְּבֹאוֹ לִפְנֵי יַהְוֶה וְנָשָׂא אַהֲרֹן אֶת מִשְׁפַּט בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עַל לִבּוֹ לִפְנֵי יַהְוֶה תָּמִיד

  1. In English, how would one describe the objects referred to in Hebrew as הָאוּרִים and הַתֻּמִּים? What were they composed of? How were they made, and who made them?
  2. How did Jerome manage the words הָאוּרִים and הַתֻּמִּים in Latin in the Vulgate? Did he translate or transliterate?
  3. How did the 70/72 manage those words in Greek in the Septuagint? Did they translate or transliterate?
  4. Is there an idea of what the Hebrew words actually mean (since the KJV chose to transliterate rather than translate them)?