Biblical Hebrew Forum

["wattswestmaas" <wattswestmaas AT eircom.net>]

Hallo there Karl,  well the co-incidence is quite striking for me because I
had read Genesis 24:41 and had at the back of my mind thought exactly the
same about Ex 34:7 as you had just written  --  "free from consequences..."
but dismissed it and had all but given up trying to look for something that
perhaps was never there in exodus 34:7.  However, your email quickly
re-awakened that when I read:  "free from consequences". What is so
inconsistent in the exodus and Jeremiah 'english' translation is the idea of
forgiveness and punishment for what is supposed to have just been forgiven,
getting too close together.  I am not saying that this can be construed, but
simply that the translation brings these ideas, for me, in an unacceptably
close proximity to each other.

   ,,,  He will in no way clear the guilty .... in ex 34: is still too
ludicrous a translation for me.  It simply DOES NOT FIT.  It does not fit
the context . And Jeremiah's occurence shows that it can not be translated
like this. And there is no indication of to whom the object of this
statement is directed.  It sort of just hangs there!!


No where in the bible do we read about the children being punished for the
sins of the fathers.  And I would vehemently challenge anyone to show this.
Quite the contrary it is inconceivable that God would do something that HE
HIMSELF HAS FORBIDDEN! (See Deut 24:16)  However we do read about the
CONSEQUENCES of the sins of the Fathers ( I immediately think of David and
Abshalom) a very different concept from punishment!!

   The point about the other occurences is that you are provided with a
sense of the "object" of this pronouncment, ie, in Nahum it is written "the
wicked" in Jeremiah it is written "Israel" but in exodus there is no object
upon which to focus. 'Guilty' is a supplied word - as the object, but I see
no logic at all for this.  It is a presumption on the basis of a lack of
anything else.  So and therefore I attempted to try and understand what is
this short passage really saying.


As concerning the Hebrew grammar in Gen 24:41, I noticed the 2 different
ways in which Abraham's servant uses the word for "cleared". The first time
the verb is used, and in the second occurrence  a noun is used, a form of
the verb, (not taken from it; according to shoshan) .  Are these just two
different ways of saying the same thing, or is there a subtle change in
stress or nuance that I have not yet learned to differentiate?

Thanks. Chris, Ireland
 PS Sorry I have no time to look right now but this exact same construct is
used elsewhere with a qualifying clause; namely ... NKH Lo YNKH of those
that hate me!