Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Lance Petersen <petersenlance AT yahoo.com>]

I, for one, thought the preceeding discussion not only interesting, but 
vital. What we're witnessing is a change in the medium used to pass Biblical 
Hebrew along. It's as significant as the change from chisel and stone to 
parchment, vellum or leather scrolls, from those scrolls to the codex and the 
book, and finally to the digital. The way that Biblical Hebrew in digital 
format is represented on the screen I think is a legitimate topic. Everyone 
on this list is going to be affected by the changes this discussion 
represents.
 
Peter's assertion that "Unicode is coming whether we like it or not", might, 
and I stress the "might," not be true, but what is certain is the digital 
form is going to replace all the hardcopies. When the Pianoforte was first 
made, people scoffed. Only a few musicians realized it's potential. However, 
within one hundred years harpsichords were no longer being manufactured. But 
it took one hundred years.... Sure, they still exist and people make them, 
but they're rather rare. Scrolls are still made and used but compared to 
books they're also rather rare. The same will happen with the printer. Why 
should I buy a book when I can put a whole library (and a rather large one, 
at that!) into a smaller space than the book would take?
 
I applaud people like Peter who are trying to make it easier for people like 
me. I also applaud people like Trevor who voice their objections. It makes 
Peter's work more comprehensive. This discussion was far from irrelevant or 
uninteresting.
 
Lance Petersen
 
P.S. My thanks to George for sending this back to me after I'd sent it to him 
offlist by mistake. My apologies to him again for any inconvenience this 
caused.
 
Polycarp66 AT aol.com wrote: Ladies &Gentlemen,

Is it remotely possible that we could have something said regarding Biblical 
Hebrew rather than regarding how one who doesn't understand the Hebrew 
alphabet is to represent it? A passage with a problem for consideration would 
be an 
interesting change.








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From: Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.canterbury.ac.nz>
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Subject: [b-hebrew] Proverbs 6:26
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gfsomsel wrote:-

>Is it remotely possible that we could have something said regarding
>Biblical Hebrew rather than regarding how one who doesn't understand the
>Hebrew alphabet is to represent it?  A passage with a problem for
>consideration would be an interesting change.

Certainly. The rendering of Proverbs 6:26 that I'm familiar with says that
a prostitute can be hired for the price of a loaf of bread, but I
discovered that the NIV and NASB have quite a different take on it. They
say something like:-

For by means of a harlot *a man is reduced* to a crust of bread.

Where the words between the "*" is the italics portion (NASB). The
NIV doesn't put in any italics. I looked at the Hebrew and it is
sufficiently cryptic and ambiguous that I couldn't discount this
rendering. However, it appears to me the context doesn't support this
meaning. The passage is about how bad loose women are for you,
primarily about wives of other men. This one mentions the prostitute
and seems to me to be a comparision between the prostitute
and the adulterous wife. Prostitutes are cheap, adulterous wives
endanger your very life should you accept their invitations.
It is not very clear to me why hiring a prostitute should
reduce the customer to a crust (or loaf) of bread.

Any comments?

Bill Rea, Information Technology Dept., Canterbury  University  \_
E-Mail bill.rea AT canterbury.ac.nz                                </   New
Phone   64-3-364-2331, Fax     64-3-364-2332                   /)  Zealand
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