Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Wrinsewind AT aol.com]

>> Query.  What  is the best rendering of  Job 13:15?
>> 
>> "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."  KJV and others similar, or
>> 
>> "He may well slay me;  I may have no hope;
>>  Yet I will argue  my case before Him".    JPS

 >Dear Robert,

> The KJV translation, followed by the NIV text, is difficult to justify; it
> follows the Vulgate /etiam si occiderit me, in ipso sperabo/. The NIV 
margin,
> "He will surely slay me; I have no hope" retains the KeTiB (negative Lo'). 
The
> JPS agrees.


     I have two versions of the JPS, one following the KJV and the other 
renders it as listed above. Also my Stone Edition Tanach follows the KJV as 
well. What would the basis be for following either the Ketib or the Qere?

     The very same situation occurs in Isaiah 49:5 and I looked at some 
pictures of the Dead Sea Scrolls to see how that rendered it. It had the 
possessive, but, while doing so, I noticed that the negative was spelled 
Lamed-Vav-Aleph (verse 10). I'd never seen it spelled like that before, can 
any Scroll Scholars help with an explanation?

     Thanx for your consideration.
Lance Petersen