[b-hebrew] Zechariah 4:6-7
kenneth greifer
greifer at hotmail.com
Thu Jan 13 08:20:34 EST 2011
I have an idea for an alternative translation of Zechariah 4:6-7 that I asked people on B-Hebrew to look at once before, but only one person answered me, so I thought I would try again.
The usual translation is "Not by power and not by might, but by My spirit, says the L-rd of hosts. Who are you big mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain."
I think this translation has problems because it does not explain what the mountain is and it does not really say "you will become a plain."
I think the letter hay at the end of "you" should be moved to the front of the word "mountain", so the quote might say "not in power and not in might, but in My spirit, says the L-rd of hosts, who is with (alef tav) the big mountain is before Zerubbabel to a plain." I think it means that the person who is with a mountain in G-d's spirit (not in strength and power) is to a plain (flat land) in spirit before Zerubbabel. Compared to Zerubbabel, a person with a mountain in spirit is to a plain or has nothing compared to him.
Some people say the word "who" is only used for questions, but there are other quotes with "who" (mi) used in declarative sentences. For example, Deut. 21:1 and Ex. 24:14. The word spirit is used with "with" Numb. 14:24 another spirit is with Caleb.
Kenneth Greifer
P. S. I think many quotes could be translated differently or have the Hebrew letters divided differently. If you would like to look at more quotes like this, you can go to my site http://www.messianicmistakes.com/
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