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  • From: "Harold R. Holmyard III" <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Isaiah 53: In his death?
  • Date: Sat, 15 May 2004 11:10:59 -0500

Dear Vadim,

Please consider:

Ez28:10 is really simple, mentioning "deaths of the uncircumcized." Both
words are in plural, of course.

HH: But Ezekiel is addressing an individual, who can die only one death.

Ez28:8: They would bring you down to Sheol, and you would die, emptied by
[the] deaths, in [the] heart of [the] seas
"You" here refers not to a single man, like in Isaiah 53, but to the
nation, thus "deaths" in plural is only appropriate.

HH: Ezekiel is addressing the king of Tyre in the second person singular. Chapter 27 concerns Tyre. While the prophecy in Ezekiel 28 has obvious implications for the entire nation, it is addressed to an individual.

The collective plural
is very common in Hebrew (e.g., lamo). Job33:22 employs the word memotei
in exactly the same way: their lives to those who bring deaths.

HH: Job 33:22 is a different case, since LMMTYM involves a verb form. I don't really see your point.

Another possible problem with "deaths" is the preposition be. I don't
remember encountering bemot in Tanakh (don't have a concordance at hand).
Do you?

HH: Gen. 21:16
Lev. 11:31
Lev. 11:32
Num. 6:7
Num. 19:11
Num. 19:13
Num. 19:16
Num. 19:18
Num. 26:10
Num. 33:39
Deut. 34:7
Judg. 2:19
Judg. 16:30
2Sam. 1:23
1Kings 13:31
Is. 53:9
Ezek. 18:32
Ezek. 33:11
Psa. 6:6
Psa. 49:18
Psa. 88:6
Job 27:15
Prov. 11:7
Prov. 14:32
Esth. 2:7
2Chr. 24:15
2Chr. 32:33

Still another problem with "death" is that the translation "he was given"
is, of course, incorrect: it is "he gave." Obviously, it cannot be said,
"he gave in his death[s]."

HH: The verb at the beginning of Isa 53:9 is an impersonal verb: "one gave." This kind of verb is often translated in English in the passive. "He was given" can have the same force as "one gave."

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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