Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Yitzhak Sapir" <yitzhaksapir AT gmail.com>]

On 5/15/06, kenneth greifer wrote:
> I would like to ask any Hebrew expert for an opinion about Psalm
> 40:7. I think the usual translation about ears being opened  does
> not make sense. I have tried to regroup some of the letters into
> new  words that I think make sense:
>   "They sacrificed a gift offering, You did not desire then their
> lament, You gave a feast for me, a burnt offering and a sin offering
> You did not ask then."

I pointed out in private mail that the first part and third part of the
verse form a clear parallelism.  This works against the above division
of words ("they sacrificed", and reading "you did not desire" as being
independent of the sacrifice and offering in the first part of the verse).
It also suggests that the portion that Kenneth finds problematic in the
verse ("ears being opened") is actually secondary to the entire verse.

Yitzhak Sapir
http://toldot.blogspot.com