Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Dave Washburn <dwashbur AT nyx.net>]

On Sunday 24 April 2005 16:13, Walter R. Mattfeld wrote:
> I have a question of scholars on this list versed in Hebrew, is the
> following information correct or incorrect, or "in dispute" as to meaning
> regarding the word karu or ka'ari ?
>
> Cf. the below quoted statement:
>
> "On Psalm 22:16 "they pierced my hands and my feet" (King James Version),
> Christians here found a famous example of an explicit prefiguration of
> Jesus's sufferings. In the Gospel story, the Romans pierce his hands and
> feet with nails in preparation for his being hung upon the cross. Nitzachon
> Vetus answered that the word given in the Latin translation as "they
> pierced" is written in the Hebrew original not as karu ("they pierced"),
> but as ka'ari ("like a lion"). The entire verse is properly translated,
> "For dogs have surrounded me; a pack of evildoers has enclosed me, like a
> lion [at] my hands and my feet." In biblical poetry, such as in the book of
> Psalms, the second half of a verse typically echoes the first. With this in
> mind, we should expect the imagery of being torn by wild beasts to be
> consistent from phrase to phrase -and it is. A modern update of the King
> James Bible, the Revised Standard Version, now includes a footnote
> acknowledging the more authentic translation of the verse." (p. 168. David
> Klinghoffer. Why The Jews Rejected Jesus. New York. Doubleday. 2005. ISBN
> 0-385-51021-7)

I'd have to say it's "in dispute."  The biggest problem, as the translation 
above subtly notes, is the lack of a solid relationship between "like a lion" 
and "hands and feet."  The author had to supply "at" in order to make sense 
of the clause, because "like a lion my hands and feet" is nonsense.  LXX 
reads "they pierced".  4QPs(f) includes the verse (see DJD 16 p. 88).  It's 
in pretty bad shape at this point, but based on line lengths and such it 
appears to read KR[W], i.e. according to the editors there doesn't seem to 
have been room for the aleph so it most likely read "pierced."  One could 
wonder whether the "like a lion" reading might have arisen in reaction to 
Christian use of the verse?

Oh yes, the description of how biblical poetry works is quite simplistic and 
only tells part of the story......

-- 
Dave Washburn
http://www.nyx.net/~dwashbur
Reality is what refuses to go away when
you stop believing in it.