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b-hebrew - Re: Your sons or your Builder? (Is 62:5)

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  • From: "Maurice A. O'Sullivan" <mauros AT iol.ie>
  • To: Polycarp66 AT aol.com
  • Cc: Biblical Hebrew <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Your sons or your Builder? (Is 62:5)
  • Date: Mon, 08 Jul 2002 10:25:53 +0100


At 02:02 08/07/02, Polycarp66 AT aol.com wrote:

I might quote the JPS TANAK translation

5 As a youth espouses a maiden,
Your sons shall espouse you;
And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
So will your God rejoice over you.

As long as you are quoting the JPS translation, shouldn't you also perhaps point out that it footnotes " your sons" with << Change of vocalization yields “He who rebuilds you.”>>?

"Change of vocalization" is surely the key issue here -- which is why I don't think citing Westcott and Hort on " a choice of two readings " ( as another posting has it ) is particularly helpful; Tov's volume [ Tov, Emmanuel. Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1992. ( and 2nd revised edition 2001 ] is a lot more relevant.

Surely Liz's contention re puns has merit?
To read an unvocalized text in two different ( but coherent ) ways is altogether different to the strained and tortured nature of too many puns in English.





And I see support for Liz's remarks on the _verb_ involved:

<<< I think we have here a couple of puns: it's both "builders" and
"sons," and it's both "marry" and "take ownership of"/"possess".
>>>

in HAL:

1. to own, rule over (gods over a nation) Is 26:13, to prove oneself master Jr 3:14 31:32; —2. to take possession of a woman as bride or wife, to marry ( Neumann 231ff; deVaux 1:48ff) Dt 21:13 (Neumann 90) 24:1 Is 62:5 Mal 2:11;
[Koehler, L. (1999, c1994-1996). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament. Volumes 1-4 combined in one electronic edition. (electronic ed.). Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill.]




Regards
Maurice




Maurice A. O'Sullivan [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros AT iol.ie







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