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b-hebrew - Re: Zachariah 3:10 (anarthrous nouns translated with articles

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  • From: ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk (Ben Crick)
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Zachariah 3:10 (anarthrous nouns translated with articles
  • Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 15:08:49 +0100


On Sun 23 Jul 2000 (23:35:30), dinosaur2list AT prodigy.net wrote:
> Came on with a question that I see oddly coincides with a current
> b-greek thread from Ephesians. Is there any justification in Hebrew
> grammar for the KJV use of the article with "vine" and "fig tree" in
> Zachariah 3:10? They're anarthrous in the MT (and also LXX), so
> wondered what the source of the KJV translation was. [Had never
> noticed this difference, but saw the NEB translation (which supplies
> "his," German style) quoted in Judith Baldwin's commentary. Checked
> NIV & RSV and found they do likewise.] With the article, the line
> sounds a bit Messianic, so the difference doesn't seem negligible. (My
> personal preference would be that they not supply anything; just leave
> them anarthrous.)

Dear Diana,

It seems to me that in a case where a personal attribute (vine and figtree)
are mentioned, it is assumed, if not otherwise stated, that the property in
question belongs to the *subject* of the verb.

So it would appear that the NRSV gets it right: "On that day, says the LORD
of hosts, *you* shall invite each other to come under *your* vine and fig
tree". You couldn't issue an invitation to your neighbour to come and sit
under someone else's vine and figtree!

Questions about arthrousity (is that a word?) can often be resolved by
looking at a translation into a language *without* articles, such as Latin.
Jerome renders Zachariah 3:10 "in die illa dicit Dominus exercituum vocabit
vir amicam suum subter vineam et subter ficum". No doubts about that!

The translators of the "King James" Bible would certainly have had the
Vulgate for reference, along with their Hebrew and Greek exemplars.

Shalom
Ben
--
Revd Ben Crick, BA CF
<ben.crick AT argonet.co.uk>
232 Canterbury Road, Birchington, Kent, CT7 9TD (UK)
http://www.cnetwork.co.uk/crick.htm







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