Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] yorenu (Isaiah 28:26)

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Gabe Eisenstein <gabe AT cascadeaccess.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] yorenu (Isaiah 28:26)
  • Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:33:16 -0700

I will answer two side-questions while awaiting clarification on /yorenu/ translated as "Let him teach us". (I guess you'd call the English "let--" construction an imperative? I am understanding /yore(nu)/ as the 3rd person imperfect of /yarah/ in the hiphil, and can't see how it could be imperative.)

Who do you think is HIS god, is it also OUR God?
Isaac Fried, Boston University

Yes. In the parable, the Israelites use the quoted expression "his God" to refer to the Evil Inclination -- the idea being to emphasize that the E.I. was created by God, who therefore should take some responsibility for it ... preferably by giving us the willpower/understanding needed to tame it.

KJV: Is. 28:26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.

HH: But the text cited in the Talmud itself also corresponds to typical translations. Rabbah b. Bar Hana takes it differently, but is he serious or playing with words? For what do you do with the first half of the verse, where the object is clearly 3ms.

I think that the wordplay engaged in by Rabbah b. bar Hana is typical of hundreds of Talmudic passages, where quoted words are given unusual meanings by shifting the context. This kind of creative interpretation is playful in form, but I operate on the assumption that there is an underlying point that is serious.
I could go off on a tangent here... maybe I already have! I am new to this list so let me know.






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page