Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - [b-hebrew] Re: how does the eagle become new?

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Deborah Millier <deborahmillier AT yahoo.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Re: how does the eagle become new?
  • Date: Thu, 28 Apr 2005 19:39:29 -0700 (PDT)

Peter K. wrote:

> It is literally "the eagle"
> with the Hebrew article - you
> have omitted the dageshes
> which confirm this in your
> transcription. But presumably
> "the eagle" in the sense of
> a typical individual eagle,
> rather than a specific bird.

Oh I knew that it was definitive. I just balked during
my rendering at whether or not it should be translated
that way into English. :-)

> I think this is a good example
> of how Hebrew poetry, and indeed
> poetry in any language, needs to
> be appreciated rather than analysed.

Think? I usually appreciate Hebrew (and other) poetry
more *after* I've analyzed it! However, I'm pretty
sure I know what you mean. There is in most poetry a
certain element of "haze" which can truly be
appreciated.

> For surely the general message of
> this is obvious, even if strict logic
> is not observed.

I don't always trust that what seems obvious to me is
truly obvious; not when handling a text considerably
removed from me in time and culture. Not to mention
language. :-)

> I would suggest that here we really
> have two interleaved sentences:
> "your youth will be renewed, you
> will become like an eagle".

Okay. I thought of that. But then what does it mean
for for the author's NEPE$ to become "like an eagle"?

And truly the point of comparison seems to revolve
around the idea of newness. Renewed NEPE$. Renewed
NE$ER. That's what my SLA reveals.

Both alternatives still leave me with interpretational
questions...

> An alternative with a subtly different
> meaning, which I found in a translation,
> might be "you will be renewed, you will
> become like a young eagle".

Again, why then would the author desire his NEPE$ to
become like a young eagle? His NEPE$ would sore? Catch
rodents quickly? Have keen eyesight? Strength to claw
and rip? What? :-)

Shalom from Manila, Philippines,
--Michael Millier

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page