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  • From: JoeWallack AT aol.com
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Definite Article 7:14
  • Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2007 10:29:17 EDT


In a message dated 6/3/2007 9:24:28 PM Central Daylight Time,
hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net writes:

[Responding to JW question of how use of the Hebrew definite article could
be translated as indefinite in English for 7:14]

HH: I would apply it to Isa 7:14 because there is no specific person in
view. There were many virgins, so unless the context indicates a
particular one, it seems best to translate the Hebrew as an indefinite.
The context does not indicate any specific virgin, and one is not really
needed. The woman could be a nameless person in Israel known to the Lord
but not to the king and his court. The prophecy about the virgin
particularly signals the time when the northern coalition will be
defeated (Isa 7:14-16):

Is. 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him
Immanuel.
Is. 7:15 He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the
wrong and choose the right.
Is. 7:16 But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose
the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.

HH: This prophecy gives a more narrow time frame than the one Isaiah had
mentioned earlier:

Is. 7:6 “Let us invade Judah; let us tear it apart and divide it among
ourselves, and make the son of Tabeel king over it.”
Is. 7:7 Yet this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “‘It will not take
place, it will not happen,
Is. 7:8 for the head of Aram is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is
only Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be too shattered to be
a people.

HH: Isaiah says that by the time a virgin/young woman conceives, bears a
child named Immanuel, and raises him until he is almost old enough to
judge good from evil, the northern coalition will be defeated. This
could imply that a marriage would have to intervene. But it is only a
few years. Isaiah's prophecy also seems hopeful, because the birth of
the child with the name "God is with us" is linked to the defeat of the
northern kingdom. Isaiah's linkage of the two events could imply that
the victory came by God's favor.

HH: The NIV Study Bible assumes that the northern coalition attacked
about 735/734 B.C. Damascus was defeated by Tiglath-Pilesar in 732 B.C.,
as was Ephraim. The fall of Ephraim was in 722 B.C. So these events were
all within the reign of Ahaz, which has received varying dates:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahaz

Albright: 735 BC – 715 BC
Thiele: 732 BC – 716 BC
Galil: 742 BC – 726 BC

HH: Whatever the exact dates, Isa 7:14-16 is much more accurate than the
earlier figure in 7:6-8 and describes events that occur prior to the
Assyrian defeats of Ephraim and Damascus. The hopeful tone of the
prophecy is really ironic in a number of ways, but specifically because
God sent Isaiah to dissuade Ahaz from trusting Assyria rather than the
Lord. This defeat of Ephraim at Assyria's hands would come due to Ahaz's
disregard for God's words and would lead to catastrophe for the southern
kingdom as Assyria invaded it. So the woman and her son's name play a
sort of iconic role. They represent the young life of Israel, its
families, and its faith in God, and yet doom would ultimately befall
them because of Ahaz's disobedience.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard




JW:
Thank you for the long response. I think the starting point here is a/the
reason for the use of the definite article in 7:14. I'm still assuming that
you
agree that use of the Hebrew definite article always indicates the Definite
in Hebrew in some sense. Assuming you agree with this, rather than my
guessing, can you please tell me in what sense you think the Hebrew usage of
the
Definite article here indicates something definite?


Joseph




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