Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Hi Karl,

The first part of the verse reads "Sacrifice and offering You did not
desire". The parallelism makes it clear that the last part has a similar
meaning. It's possible that the poet used the unusual form xa+a)h to rhyme
with (olah.

Yigal

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Karl Randolph" <kwrandolph AT email.com>
To: "Hebrew" <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 12:47 AM
Subject: [b-hebrew] Psalm 40:7 final phrase


> B-Hebrew chaberim:
>
> The usual translation of the final phrase of Psalm 40:7 is
> "burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not ask for" or
> something better in English than this. However, there are
> some linguistic questions that put a little doubt on that
> translation.
>
> First, I noticed that X+)H has a different meaning in all
> other of its uses. While this could be a typo (copiest
> error) for X+)T, in which case it would fit, the usual
> meaning for X+)H is, in theological terms, "sinfulness".
>
> Secondly, (WLH is found in Tanakh from two different
> roots: one from (WL  [hard waw] meaning injustice,
> often in the judicial sense; the other from (LH as a
> varient spelling for burnt offering.
>
> Hence the phrase could read "you have not asked for
> injustice and sinfulness".
>
> What think ye?
>
> This is something that I just noticed, as I was looking
> at something else.
>
> Karl W. Randolph.
>
> -- 
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