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  • From: Harold Holmyard <hholmyard AT ont.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Psalm 22 Translation Help
  • Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2006 18:36:14 -0500

Dear John,

(1) Any suggestions on Psalm 22:16, which is often rendered "They pierced my hands and my feet"?


The word rendered "they pierced" (LXX and many English translations) looks like it's actually "Like a lion" But then it's hard to make sense of the flow of the line ("Like a lion [they clawed?] my hands and my feet" perhaps). As far as I can tell, though, there's no way to get "they pierced" from the root of this Hebrew word. On the other hand, they *did* actually pierce Jesus' hands and feet. On the third hand, this verse isn't explicitly cited in connection with that piercing....




HH: There is now suppprt from the Dead Sea Scrolls for the variant reading: "they pierced my hands and my feet."


(2) How do you understand the last word of v. 21 (yehidati)? It seems to mean "my only one" and to be parallel with "my soul/life" (naphshi) in the previous stich. Does it mean "my only life" -- that is, I only have one and it's precious to me?




HH: Yes, it is something like that.



(3) How about Psalm 22:21? The cola are nicely balanced:

Rescue me from the mouth of the lion
And from the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me

But the second line doesn't make a lot of sense in English (maybe not in Hebrew either?). It appears to mean "You have answered my request, which was that you would deliver me from the horns of the wild oxen." And so some English translations treat the two "from" clauses together and connect them with "rescue" and make the "answered" clause separate:

Rescue me from the mouth of the lion
And from the horns of the wild oxen!

You have answered me.

The gist turns out to be the same -- the cry has been answered -- but is there something to the first translation that better gets at the meaning of the Hebrew than the second, more interpretive one?

Help?




HH: The parallelism is against your idea, as is the pointing. Are you familiar with the precative perfect? It is the understanding that the perfect in the context of prayers or wishes can express a prayer or request. That is the way the NIV has handled the verse:

NIV Psa. 22:21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

HH: Here is a note on the precative perfect from the NET Bible, on Song of Solomon 1:4. But first I will give the traditional translation of the verse:

Song 1:4 Draw me after you, let us make haste.
The king has brought me into his chambers.
We will exult and rejoice in you;
we will extol your love more than wine;
rightly do they love you.

HH: The NET Bible translates the first part this way:

1:4 Draw me after you; let us hurry!
May the king bring me into his bedroom chambers!

HH: One of the NET notes is:

21tn Or “has brought me.” The verb הֱבִיאַנִי (hevi’ani, Hiphil perfect 3rd person masculine singular בּוֹא, bo’, “to bring” + 1st person common singular suffix) may be classified in two ways: (1) perfect of past action: “The king has brought me into his chambers” or (2) precative perfect: “May the king bring me into his chambers!” (J. S. Deere, “Song of Solomon,” BKCOT, 1012). While some older grammarians denied the existence of the precative (volitional) function of the perfect in Hebrew (e.g., S. R. Driver, Tenses in Hebrew, 25-26; GKC 312-13 §106.n, n. 2), its existence is accepted in more recent grammars (e.g., IBHS [Waltke & O'Connor] 494-95 §30.5.4d; Joüon 2:365 §112.k). While the perfect of past action is the more common use of the perfect, the context suggests the more rare precative. As IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4d notes, the precative can be recognized contextually by its parallelism with the other volitive forms. The parallelism of precative הֱבִיאַנִי (“bring me!”) with the volitives in the two preceding parallel colons – מָשְׁכֵנִי (mashÿkheni, “draw me!”; Qal imperative 2nd person masculine singular from משַׁךְ, mashakh, “to draw” + 1st person common singular suffix:) and נָּרוּצָה (narutsah, “let us run!”; Qal cohortative 1st person common plural from רוּץ, ruts, “to run”) – favors the precative function of the perfect. The volitive function of consonantal הביאני is reflected in Syriac. The BHS editors suggest revocalizing MT to הֲבִיאֵנִי “bring me!” The precative function of the perfect הֱבִיאַנִי may explain the origin of this variant vocalization tradition reflected in Syriac. In terms of connotation, the precative functions as a volitive as an example of the irreal modal or optative function of the perfect (IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4d; Joüon 2:365 §112.k). In contrast to the use of the irreal perfect for situations which the speaker expresses as a wish without expectation of fulfillment (contrary-to-fact situations, hypothetical assertions, and expressions of a wish that is not expected to be realized), the precative refers to situations the speaker expresses his desire for and expects to be realized (IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4d). It is used most often in contexts of prayers to God which the speakers expect to be answered (e.g., Pss 3:8; 22:22; 31:5-6). Here, she expresses her desire that her lover consummate their love in his bedroom chambers; she expects this desire to be realized one day (e.g., 4:1-5:1). There are, however, several problems with nuancing the form as a precative: (a) this would demand emending MT חֲדָרָיו (khadarav, “his chambers”) to חַדְרֶךָ (khadrekha, “your chamber[s]”) – which is, however, reflected by Syriac Peshitta and Symmachus, and (b) it would demand nuancing the article on הַמֶּלֶךְ (hammelekh) as a vocative (“O king!”).

HH: Do you notice that the NET note refers to Ps 22:22. That would be Ps 22:21 in English Bible enumeration, or just the passage you are asking about. The NRSV, more conservatively, makes the second line the beginning of a new paragraph:

Psa. 22:21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!

¶ From the horns of the wild oxen you have rescued me.

HH: I believe that the parallelism favors the NIV handling of the verse.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




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