Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Dear David,

Here are a few of Ehrensvärd's arguments leading up to Isa 7:14:

(7) When he reached a certain place [HMQWM], he stopped for the
night (Gen 28,11)
As has been suggested in the literature, the article probably refers
to the fact that Jacob came to a known place, i.e. the holy place at
Bethel.

(8) He and his two daughters lived in the cave [HM(RH] (Gen 19,30)
“The cave” probably refers to a known cave (as
Gesenius/Kautzsch themselves consider).

(9) The mule went under the thick branches of a large oak
[H)LH HGDWLH] (2 Sam 18,9)
“The large oak” was most likely a known oak.

(10) They took Absalom, threw him into the great pit [HPXT HGDWL]
in the forrest (2 Sam 18,17)
“The great pit” was probably a known pit.

(11) He found him sitting under the oak tree [H)LH] (1 Kgs 13,14)
A known oak tree.

(12) There he went into a cave [HM(RH] (1 Kgs 19,9)
A known cave.

(13) The virgin [H(LMH] shall be with child (Isa 7,14)
To whom H(LMH refers is a vexed question. It could be to
Isaiah’s wife, to Ahaz’s (preferred) wife, to the mythological (LMH
etc., nevertheless, there is good reasons to believe that a specific and
hence definite (LMH is meant.

While these are possible arguments, they in no way eradicate the 
category that he is attacking. For it almost strains credulity that 
these are all well-known entities. It is much easier to suppose a 
certain generic quality is expressed by the definite article, so that we 
should use the indefinite article in English. Take example 9. In this 
battle occurring in the forest of Ephraim with Absalom, a battle "spread 
out over the whole countryside" (2 Sam  18:8),  it seems unlikely that 
the reader would be expected to know one particular tree out of them all 
as "the large oak."

In example 11, a prophet of God traveled from Judah to Bethel and was 
heading back to Judah, The sons of a man show their father the road that 
the man of God was taking back to Judah. The father followed the prophet 
and found him sitting under "the oak tree." Are we to suppose there was 
only one oak tree on the road from Bethel to Judah, especially when the 
text does not specify which road it was? There was evidently more than 
one road the man of God could have taken; otherwise the sons would not 
have had to show their father the road. If the readers don't even know 
the precise road, how can they know the one oak tree on it (or the 
well-known one)?

In example 12, Elijah flees to "the cave" on Horeb. This was a desert 
area, so why would there be a well-known cave? And since it was a 
mountain, one suspects there would be more than one cave (the same can 
apply to example 8). That is probably why translators have taken the 
words to imply "a cave."

Part of the problem is that this author is contradicting the judgment of 
Bible students over the centuries in very commonsense matters of 
judgment where the definite translation would have been easier because 
of the presence of the definite article. The translators in these cases 
had to go against what was normal and easy to judge that an indefinite 
translation was more suitable. Ehrensvärd is rejecting this accumulated 
wisdom with arguments that are not compelling.

Again, it is the generic use of the Hebrew definite article that can 
make it suitable for cases where we would use the indefinite.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard