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  • From: GregStffrd AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Cc: alanf00 AT home.com
  • Subject: Re: Isaiah 40:26
  • Date: Mon, 11 Jun 2001 13:17:22 EDT


In a message dated 06/11/2001 12:00:49 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
alanf00 AT home.com writes:

<< According to "Analytical Key to the Old Testament" (Vol. 4,
p. 123) this is a correct translation. According to various
Hebrew lexicons I've checked, the original Hebrew root word
used here for "might" (" 'own "; Strong's Concordance entry
202) can mean "might, power, strength, vigor, ability, faculty,
force, virile and genital power, manhood, wealth".
In the more than thirty English translations I've checked, in Isaiah
40:26 the word is translated as "might, power, strength, vigor,
glory".

Only one translation I've come across varies from the above:
"The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures" produced
by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. In this translation
Isaiah 40:26 reads: "Due to the abundance of DYNAMIC
ENERGY, he also being vigorous in powerÂ…" Here, " 'own " is
translated as "dynamic energy".
>>


The word in question is a form of 'ON. It essentially means "strength" or
"power," either in relation to reproductive strength (as in Genesis 49:3) or
raw power (as in Job 18:7 [man]; 40:16 [behemoth]). In Job 40:16 NWT also
translates 'ON as "dynamic energy," where it seems to clearly relate to the
force produced by behemoth's "muscles" (We'ONO BiSHRyRey). This is in
contrast to (or possibly a way of restating) what is said just previously,
namely, the "strength [CHoKHO] in his loins."

Since NWT realizes that God is the one in view in Isa. 40:26, the "force" or
"power" the NWT translation committee perceives is that which belongs to a
nonphysical entity whose "power" is described in relation to the existence of
the planetary heavens. Because the exact nature of this force or power is not
articulated, the Watchtower Society interprets such "power" in relation to
Einstein's equation. Thus, it is not a matter of the Bible containing
explicit, articulated scientific statements but of scientific statements
being used to explain Bible statements that are not as articulate as the
scientific statement.

The only problem I see with respect to the use of this text by the Watchtower
Society is in relation to God's creation of the planetary heavens. This text
does not seem to be speaking about the creation of such heavens, but of their
preservation. The first part of the text asks who has created these things,
and responds by noting that the one who did create them is the one who calls
them forth by number and name. THEN it says that due to his 'ON and 'aMyTS
not one of them is "missing" or "lacking." I do not see where 'ON is used in
this text concerning God's creative act(s). Apparently the Watchtower Society
means to say that this same "power" was at God's disposal to create:
"Whatever means God used to create the universe, he clearly has the energy
and the power needed to do so" (per your quote of Awake! June 22, 1999, p. 6).

Greg Stafford




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