Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Peter Kirk"<peter_kirk AT sil.org>]

Numbers 14:18 is clearly a shorter variant of Exodus 34:6-7, as the 
following comparison shows, and the context suggests an abbreviated 
quotation. Now I don't know what the source critics do with these two 
verses, but unless anyone can come up with a good argument I would 
prefer to give priority to the longer version in Exodus. It is also 
the verse I have studied in more detail.

Exo 34:6-7:                             Num 14:18:
..
YHWH YHWH 'El raxUwm w:xannUwn          YHWH
'erek 'aPPayim w:rab-xesed we':emet     'erek 'aPPayim w:rab-xesed
[7] nOcEr xesed lA':alApIym
nO&E' `AwOn wApe&a` w:xa++A'Ah          nO&E' `AwOn wApA$a`
w:naqqEh lO' y:naqqeh                   w:naqqEh lO' y:naqqeh
POqEd `:awOn 'AbOwt                     POqEd `:awOn 'AbOwt
`al-BAnIym w:`al-B:nEy bAnIym           `al-BAnIym
`al-$illE$Iym w:`al-riBBE`Iym           `al-$illE$Iym w:`al-riBBE`Iym

Now I had quite a problem when working on translation of the Exodus 
verse with the apparent contradiction between nO&E' `AwOn... and POqEd 
`:awOn... I began to wonder if these two phrases are actually as 
contradictory is they appear. After all, n&' does not mean "forgive" 
and pqd does not mean "punish". Of course the context, especially 'El 
raxUwm w:xannUwn in Exodus, implies some kind of forgiveness, whereas 
w:naqqEh lO' y:naqqeh must imply a negative meaning for POqEd. But I 
think there may be some very difficult issues here.

Liz's suggestion reminds me of the concept in English law of a 
"suspended sentence". Someone can be sentenced to a year in jail, 
suspended for three years, which means that they don't go to jail at 
all if they keep out of trouble for three years, but if they commit 
another offence they may have to serve their original year plus any 
further punishment. Now I don't think YHWH works quite like that, but 
maybe there is something in the idea: the sin is not so much forgiven 
as borne with, temporarily overlooked. After all, as the writer of the 
letter to the Hebrews (9:22) summed up the Torah, "without the 
shedding of blood there is no forgiveness"; if the sinner does not 
die, maybe the children or grandchildren, or someone else, has to die. 
No, I don't think the punishment is diluted for further generations, 
someone has to pay the penalty. So perhaps we should translate nO&E' 
in this verse not as "forgives" but as "bears with".

Peter Kirk


______________________________ Reply Separator 
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Num 14:18
Author:  <wross AT farmerstel.com> at Internet
Date:    15/03/2000 11:53


<Liz>
My doctor-father, Baruch A. Levine, translates it in the Anchor Bible 
Commentary thusly:

"YHWH is long-tempered, and shows great kindness. He forgives iniquity and 
disloyalty, but will not grant full exoneration. Rather, he reserves the 
punishment due the fathers for their children; for the third and for the 
fourth generations."

I wonder if the deferral of punishment to subsequent generations implies the 
dilution of the punishment among all the off-spring. The more children you 
have, the less each has to bear!

<Bill>
I thank you for your post and feel somewhat affirmed in my understanding of 
the verse.

The only comments I would make on your father's reading (which really 
captures the main element I was seeing) are:

* "full exhoneration" seems to imply lingering guilt, while I believe the 
words are "clear of punishment" which is focused more on the consequences 
than the guilt (which is described in glowing terms of full forgiveness)

* "reserves punishment" seems to imply that there will be no consequences to 
the perp while that is not necessarily implied in the words "but visits"

* the words "punishment due" seem to imply a "full meting out" of an 
incurred penalty, thus negating the sense of the words "not cleanly leaving 
unpunished" which implies just a smidgen of what was deserved!

Thanks again for the post...

Bill Ross