Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

Friends,

I have 2 questions on Ps 25:11 - For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my
iniquity for it is great.

לְמַֽעַן־שִׁמְךָ יְהוָה וְֽסָלַחְתָּ לַעֲוֹנִי כִּי רַב־הֽוּא׃

 

Question 1:

The verb “pardon” in this verse is 2nd person perfect with a waw prefix, but
it is usually translated as imperative as above.

I have noticed this a lot, in the Psalms at least, that 2nd person imperfect
or perfect is translated as imperative.

Would it be more accurate to translate it as, “For Your name’s sake, O Lord,
you have pardoned …”(YLT)?

Or “For Your name’s sake, O Lord, you will pardon …” (Darby) with the waw
reversing the tense?

If it is best translated as imperative, what is the difference in meaning
between this and a real imperative in the text?

 

Question 2:

What is the meaning of the “waw” prefixed to “pardon”. All translations that
I have looked at (KJB, YLT, Darby, ASV, Stone Tanach) except for LXX ignore
it. LXX translates it as:

For Your name’s sake, O Lord, *also* pardon …

There is no way to join “for Your name’s sake” to the end of the previous
verse because of the change in person from 3rd to 2nd.

Would it be correct in translating it into English, to move the waw to the
beginning as in:

And for Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon ….?

 

Thank you,

-Steve Miller,

Detroit