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  • From: peter_kirk AT sil.org
  • To: <b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Translation: Ps. 118:26a (MT)
  • Date: Sun, 18 Jul 1999 01:08:00 -0400


I see this as a case where the Greek on its own is ambiguous, but the
Hebrew is probably not ambiguous, and so we have to assume that the
Greek translator meant to translate the Hebrew correctly and
understand the text in that light. Or would the Orthodox church not
accept that as a valid method of interpretation?

Here LXX matches Hebrew very closely:

MT: BARUK HABBA' B:SHEM YHWH
LXX: EulogEmenos ho erkhomenos en onomati Kyriou
Blessed the coming (one) in (the) name (of) YHWH

In Hebrew B:SHEM YHWH almost certainly goes with the participle HABBA'
rather than with BARUK. This is the most natural Hebrew syntax, and if
one wanted to say "the coming one is blessed by YHWH", the normal
expression (as in Psalm 115:15, the only other one of many occurrences
of BARUK in the Psalms in which the blessed one is not God, and six
places in MT outside the Psalms - see BDB) would be BARUK L:YHWH. This
collocation of BARUK and SHEM is unique in the MT (from a look at the
only four verses where BARUK and SHEM both occur).

The Greek translator had the alternative (not available in Hebrew) of
clarifying the situation by writing "EulogEmenos ho en onomati Kyriou
erkhomenos" which would have been unambiguous, but chose to be much
more literal. I can only speculate on three possible reasons: 1) He
saw no ambiguity in the Greek 2) He did not feel free to change the
word order from the Hebrew 3) He didn't know Hebrew well enough to be
sure which was the correct meaning, and so deliberately left the
ambiguity. (Can I safely assume the LXX translators were male?)

To clarify the possible meanings, I would want to look for similar
structures in literature composed in Greek at about the same period
(not translations). I would start by looking at the LXX books composed
in Greek, though they may be from a rather later period.

I would judge that the Greek could perhaps mean "The coming one is
blessed in the name of the Lord", but that it should be taken as
"Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord" as this is the
meaning of the Hebrew original.

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Translation: Ps. 118:26a (MT)
Author: upb_moniodis AT ONLINE.EMICH.EDU at internet
Date: 16/07/1999 15:04


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
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."

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.

So anyway, some have, giving up on the Greek argument, having
claimed that the Hebrew does not support my translation. Well, I
know almost no Hebrew, so I'm turning to this list for help.

Thanks in advance,

Polychroni Moniodis

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