Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Dave Washburn" <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

Jim already pointed out how the Hebrew will not bear your 
translation, but he only passingly mentioned that your Greek is 
questionable, as well.  I'll expand on that.

> I have proposed a translation of a very commonly used OT verse in 
> the Orthodox Christian Church that differs from the accepted 
> translation.  It has not been well received.  The verse, translating 
> from the LXX is:
> 
>     ~EulogEmenos ho erkhomenos en onomati Kyriou~  
>      (Ps.  117:26a (LXX); 118:26a (MT).
> 
> The accepted translation is:
> 
>     Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord.
> 
> Every layman I ve asked to explain what this phrase means to him 
> says words to the effect that:  the one coming in the Lord s name 
> [that fellow] is blessed. 
> 
> But I don t believe the Greek can bear this meaning.
> 
> ~erkhomenos~ is a present middle participle, being used as a 

erkhomai always appears in the middle.  It's a common deponent.

> substantive, per the article, and ~eulogEmenos~ is a prefect middle 
> participle.
> 
> Whereas ~eulogEmenos~ lies outside the  definite 
> article+substantive  combination, it must stand in the predicated 
> position, i.e.,  The Coming One is blessed  

No, it constitutes an equivalency clause, and the order is as 
important in Greek as it is in Hebrew.  So yes, there's predication, 
but that fact can't separate the substantive from the prepositional 
phrase that modifies it.  "In the name of the Lord" modifies "the one 
who comes," and part of the reason for the word order used is to 
make this clear.

> Recasting the whole verse, we have:   He that comes is blessed in 
> the name of the Lord.   The meaning being very different, not that 
> the person is coming in the name of the Lord, but that he is blessed 
> in the name of the Lord.

Sorry, but the Greek won't bear this wooden 
translation/rearrangement.  The substantive is not just ho 
erkhomenos but ho erkhomenos en onomati Kyriou.  For your 
translation to be possible, the prepositional phrase would have to 
be in proximity to eulogemenos.  The translator has followed the 
Hebrew order precisely in order to make it clear what is meant.

Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
A Bible that's falling apart means a life that isn't.