Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 09/04/2007 17:41, Lisbeth S. Fried wrote:
> ...
> > Your translation in fact looks quite similar in its English verb forms
> > to the scholarly translation NRSV, and indeed to the traditional KJV.
> > That is not to say that these translators did not have presuppositions,
> > but perhaps that they did not allow those presuppositions to control
> > their translation, and still less to control their understanding of the
> > Hebrew verb system.
> >     
> That is as it should be, it seems to me.
>   

Indeed.

> ...
> As for 40:1, I don't see a Qatal. Do you mean another verse?
>   

Sorry, I meant 40:2.

Perhaps a better example of QATAL from a future deictic viewpoint in 
Isaiah (but not Deutero-) is 8:23-9:1 (English 9:1-2), where the QATAL 
is explicitly about future events as indicated by HA'AXARON. Or do you 
take this as past as well?

Of course if you try to claim that all prophecies are in fact past you 
will find people accusing you of presupposing that there is no genuine 
predictive prophecy (and even that the prophets made no attempt to 
predict the future) and allowing this presupposition to control your 
exegesis and your understanding of the Hebrew verb system.

--
Peter Kirk
E-mail:  peter AT qaya.org
Blog:    http://www.qaya.org/blog/
Website: http://www.qaya.org/