Biblical Hebrew Forum

[peter_kirk AT SIL.ORG]

Dear Rolf,

Well, suppose we accept that Hebrew words e.g. NEPE$, B:KOWR are 
"semantic signal[s] of a particular concept in the minds of people 
speaking the same language and having the same presupposition pool." 
That does not mean that they correspond closely, or even at all, with 
the semantic signals for an English speaker corresponding to supposed 
equivalents like "soul" and "firstborn". In the some cases they may, 
in others (e.g. NEPE$ and "soul") they clearly do not. So this idea is 
of little help for the translation task.

For your very small target group of scholars "who by help of their 
mother tongue, want to come as close as possible to the original 
languages" there are excellent (or arguably so ??) tools available in 
English and other major languages of scholarship, known as 
interlinears. But 99.9% of readers who do not know Hebrew do not want 
to have to learn enough Hebrew to understand all its confusing idioms 
before understanding the Bible.

As for prwtotokos, if this off-theme thread is to continue let me have 
my say. The NT usage includes the literal meaning "first-born" in Luke 
2:7 (though there it no doubt has symbolic meaning too) and Hebrews 
11:28, but elsewhere it is not literal. Jesus is literally the 
prwtotokos of Mary (auths), but elsewhere, it seems to me, prwtotokos 
is used of Jesus in the context of the Resurrection - as clearly in 
Col. 1:18 and Rev 1:5. I would suggest reading Col 1:16-20 as the 
explanation in reverse order of verse 15: first creation is expounded 
(vv.16-17) and then prwtotokos (v.18), then "image of the invisible 
God" (vv.19-20). Jesus' resurrection before all others confirms his 
right as the first-born. The meaning "first to be created" is foreign 
to the NT use of prwtotokos as well as being clearly contradicted by 
the following verse.

Peter Kirk