Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: Cantillation and Isaiah 40

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: DrJDPrice AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: Re: Cantillation and Isaiah 40
  • Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2000 16:48:07 EST


Dear Friends:
I tuned in to this thread just recently, so I may not have all the background.
However, I recently studied this subject with regard to Isaiah 40:3. Here is
a summary of my conclusions:

Accents and Isaiah 40:3
A strong opinion exists that the Hebrew accents favor the translation "A
voice of one who cries, 'In the wilderness prepare . . .'" This division of
the text is followed by the NIV, NASB (1995), NRSV, NAB, NLT, and NJB--an
impressive list of support. However, all these versions seem to be following
the layout of the text as found in BHS which sets off the words qol qore' as
an introduction to the poem that follows. But several good reasons support
the traditional division: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare
the way of the LORD . . ."

(1) The accents--the words qore' and bammidbar both are pointed with the
accent Zaqeph--the word qore' with Little Zaqeph and the word bammidbar with
Great Zaqeph. According to William Wickes, the acknowledged authority on
accents, "ZAQEPH appears under two forms, Great and Little Zaqeph. Great
Zaqeph always stands alone" [Two Treatises on the Accentuation of the Old
Testament (1881; reprint, New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1970),
Treatise II, p. 75; emphasis and capitalization his]. Little Zaqeph is
usually used, but Great Zaqeph is used under the following circumstances:
(a) The Zaqeph segment consists of only one word, that is, it "stands
alone," and
(b) the word is short, that is, it has no Metheg.
Thus, the poetic line equally could be divided either after qore' or after
bammidbar.

(2) The poetic structure--when the poetic lines are arranged as found in BHS,
the poetic lines are unbalanced. The first lines of the poem, according to
BHS, are
bammidbar pannu / derek YHWH
yashsheru ba'arabah / mesillah le'lohiym
kol-gey' yinnase' / wekol-har wekol-gib'ah yishpalu

It is evident that the first line is comparatively short. Likewise, it is the
only line that is divided by an accent other than Zaqeph or Athnach. Tiphcha,
the accent on the word pannu, rarely divides a poetic line. This is true
because Tiphcha must appear on the first or second word before Silluq, never
earlier, or on the first, second, or third word before Athnach, never
earlier. One is hard pressed to find a legitimate example where Tiphcha
divides a poetic line.
However, if the first line reads
Qol qore' bammidbar / pannu Derek YHWH,
then it is of comparable length, and divided with Zaqeph as expected.

(3) The LXX, the Latin Vulgate, and the Greek NT all seem to support the
traditional translation found in the KJV and NKJV.

One may object on the basis of Joüon-Muraoka (§15k), who assert that when two
similar accents appear side-by-side, the first is stronger (they cite this
verse as an example). However, Joüon-Muraoka surely got their rule from
William Wickes who stated: "In certain cases, indeed, the same accent is
repeated in the division of a clause; but from the very nature of the
continuous dichotomy, it loses in disjunctive value each time of repetition"
[Wickes, Two Treatises on the Accentuation of the Old Testament (1887,
reprint; New York: KTAV Publishing House, Inc. 1970), Treatise II, p. 31;
emphasis his]. This statement is based on what Wickes called the Law of
Continuous Dichotomy. It is true that this diminishing of strength is often
the case. However, I demonstrated that this is not a law, and that the
phenomenon is explained on the basis of the syntax of the accents themselves
[The Syntax of the Hebrew Accents in the Hebrew Bible (Lewiston, NY: The
Edwin Mellen Press, 1990), pp. 40-41].

The evidence is abundant. Here is a list of places in the poetry of the 22
prose books, where Great Zaqeph immediately follows Little Zaqeph, and where
the editors of BHS regard the second accent as the stronger disjunctive: Isa.
6:7; 52:11; Jer. 2:25; 4:5; 12:3; 47:2; 49:3; Ezek. 21:19; Hos. 12:2; Mic.
4:5; Hab. 1:8, 13; 2:6; Zech. 2:12; Song 3:1; Eccl. 9:10. There are a few
other places where this sequence occurs where the second Zaqeph probably
should be regarded as the stronger, such as Isa. 22:18, and 40:3.

Wickes "law" is not limited to the same accent on adjacent words, but it
includes the same accent dividing the domain of its immediately
higher-ranking disjunctive. In the case of Zaqeph, it includes cases where
two or more Zaqephs occur in the domain of Athnach or Silluq. Here are a few
places in just Isaiah where Little Zaqeph follows Little Zaqeph in poetry,
and where the editors of BHS regard the second one as the stronger: 4:1;
11:10, 16; 19:8; 23:4; 56:6. Likewise, here is a list of places in Isaiah
where two Zaqephs divide an Athnach segment or a Silluq segment, and where
the editors of BHS regard the two as having equal disjunctive strength: 9:6;
10:15; 11:10; 21:2, 11; 24:2; 25:1; 27:11; 28:4; 30:1, 6, 32; 32:7; 34:4, 16;
37:30; 40:9, 26; 42:24; 44:12 (twice), 14, 15, 16, 24; 46:1; 47:9; 49:6;
53:10; 54:16; 57:15; 58:11; 63:16; 66:8. Unfortunately, BHS usually prints
these triplets as doublets, thus obscuring the threefold parallelism. Here is
a place where three Zaqephs divide a Silluq segment, and where BHS regards
them as being of equal strength: 30:26. Others could be added where the
evidence is not quite so apparent. So Wickes "law" is wrong, and so are Joüon
and Muraoka who followed him.

In addition, the editors of BHS sometimes sets off the lines of poetry quite
contrary to the accents, and where translators agree with the accents against
BHS. Here are a few places that I just came across in Isaiah:
Isa. 8:6 where BHS has the line at a conjunctive accent after Athnach. NKJV,
NASB, NIV, NRSV, and NLT divide at Athnach.

A similar condition occurs at Isa. 25:1.

In Isa. 38:10, BHS divides the line one word after Athnach, with NRSV
agreeing with BHS against the others.

A similar problem exists at 42:24.

Respectfully,
James D. Price
Prof. of Hebrew and OT
Temple Baptist Seminary
Chattanooga, TN




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page