Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Diana N. Shaw" <DINOSAUR2LIST AT prodigy.net>]

On 7/24, Ben Crick kindly answered my question, writing,

 

 > It seems to me that in a case where a personal attribute (vine and figtree)
 >are mentioned, it is assumed, if not otherwise stated, that the property in
 >question belongs to the *subject* of the verb.

 

Yes, you're certainly right.  And isn't that why a lot of languages (like German and Hebrew) routinely omit.  So supplying the "his" is really unnecessary for the prima-facie meaning.  But since prophecies can have more than one level of meaning,  the "his" could interfere with one of those levels.  As you pointed out further, St. Jerome did not tamper with this Hebrew construction in the Vulgate (his usual conservative approach, meant to avoid such interference):

 

> Questions about arthrousity (is that a word?) can often be resolved by
 >looking at a translation into a language *without* articles, such as Latin.
 >Jerome renders Zachariah 3:10 "in die illa dicit Dominus exercituum vocabit
 >vir amicam suum subter vineam et subter ficum". No doubts about that!

 

I assume you mean that languages without articles (a) don't add their own usage rules to the "confusion of tongues" and (b) have to go out of their way to supply them if the translators think them necessary (as in "in die illa," here), using extra constructions that make their votes obvious.  Is that the point?  In that case, this Latin seems to support the anarthrous translation.  So, why would the Vulgate lead the KJV team to add "the"?

 

> The translators of the "King James" Bible would certainly have had the
> Vulgate for reference, along with their Hebrew and Greek exemplars.

 

Don't mean to sound argumentative (though I was born that way).  I'm sure I'm missing something primary that youall understand as routine and I don't.  But what is it?  Is it that the verse rendered with neither articles nor personal possessives would be downright barbarous in English and, therefore, not justified as a translation of Hebrew that was not barbarous?

 

 

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