Biblical Hebrew Forum

[furuli AT online.no]

Dear Harold,

It is true that several modern translations translate many 
occurrences of QATAL with future reference  with simple future, but 
in other instances the same translations translate differently. A 
good example is the passage under discussion, Isaiah 53; but please 
add 52: 13-15 as well. Many translations (perhaps most) render 
52:13,15 with future tense, and this shows that the servant is a 
future person (or group - not to exclude Jewish thinking). On this 
basis I wonder why the verses of chapter 53 is not rendered by future 
tense as well, because it is the same servant that is mentioned in 
that chapter. Please tell me why? Another example is the one I 
mentioned, Jeremiah 50,51. True many new translations use future to a 
great extent in these chapters, but they are far from being 
consistent. If you look at the WAYYIQTOLs and the QATALs in this two 
chapters, you can see the inconsistencies.


Best regards

Rolf Furuli
University of Oslo





> Dear Rolf,
>
> Perhaps you should give us a passage whose translation you don't 
> like, and we can look at it. Many English translations render 
> prophetic perfect verbs with English futures, so I am not sure what 
> you are criticizing.
>
>                                 Yours,
>                                 Harold Holmyard