Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jason Hare" <jason AT hareplay.com>]

> > although by James Strong's convention,
> > he appears to write the silent vav as the "w" in Yehowshua
> > [e.g. Hebrew word #3091
> >
> > Doesn't the "w" in James Strong's transliteration of Hebrew word #3091,
> > [by convention]
> > indicate a silent vav??????????
> >
>
> All I know about Strong's transliteration is that it is very misleading.
>

Why has Strong's dictionary become the standard work to which untrained
people turn? Do you not find that most misconceptions about the original
language(s) of the Bible proceed from Strong's work? I do not mean to state
that Strong himself was a lousy scholar, but what of the illegitimate fruit
of his work? People mispronounce Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek terms because of his
transliteration scheme. They come to think that words are monolithic in
meaning. He does not distinguish between the different binyanim. The reasons
seem clear to me why his work has produced so much poor scholarship in the
masses (for example, where people quote Strong numbers rather than
referencing real words). The language has, to many, become a set of numbers
that you tie together rather than the truly functional system that it
was/is.

> > The KJV translates Numbers 13:16 as Jehoshua [not Jehowshua] .
> >
>
> And everywhere else (except 1Ch 7:27 "Jehoshuah") it renders the same
> Hebrew form as Joshua. All this proves is that KJV is inconsistent.
>
> If  you want to know Hebrew, look at the Hebrew text and not  KJV or
Strong.

All I can say about this is YES! I feel like I'm venting a bit, but people
need to get over the idea that "if I use Strong, then I don't have to know
anything about Hebrew/Greek to understand what the Bible says." What a sad
state we are in. I have come up against this on many occasions personally.
And I am disheartened every time.

Blessings to you, Peter...

Jason Hare
Missouri Southern State University
Joplin, MO
student of languages