Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Isaac Fried <if AT math.bu.edu>]

Harold,

I want to use this opportunity to register once more my strong  
objection to the translation of the first part of Job 6:16 HA-QODRIYM  
MINI QARAX as "They are dark because of ice". In my opinion HA- 
QODRIYM is certainly not "They are dark" or "They are black". This  
translation makes no sense factually, since how can something be dark  
because of ice, and not linguistically. There is no shred of evidence  
that QDR is 'dark'. Job describes here a grand and stark scene not a  
piece of ice casting a shadow over a puddle of water.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jun 20, 2007, at 11:00 PM, Harold Holmyard wrote:

> Dear Karl,
> > I had never heard of this translation before, so I spent some time  
> > poking
> > around their translation and site, and to say that I am  
> > underwhelmed is an
> > understatement.
> >
> > As I stated before to Isaac, "The bottom line, you can't take just  
> > one verse
> > from a highly poetic
> > use, where you are not even sure of the root being used, to argue
> > against the clear meaning of a verb in its other
> > uses." I would extend that even to allowing for a one time use of a
> > unique meaning to fit a one time occurance.
> > Like all other translations I have seen, I do not see this one as  
> > a source
> > of scholarly information on the Hebrew Bible, its social climate nor
> > language.
>
> HH: The NAB also has that translation like "pile":
> http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/job/job6.htm
>
> My brethren are undependable as a brook, as watercourses that run  
> dry in
> the wadies;
>  16
>  Though they may be black with ice, and with snow heaped upon them,
>  17
>  Yet once they flow, they cease to be; in the heat, they disappear  
> from
> their place.
>
>
> I am not expert in Job, but I could easily see the more common root  
> (LM
> being suitable for this context if the idea of the snow "hiding  
> itself"
> was a poetic way of saying that it melted in the water. Several
> translations use "melt" in the text.
>
> The NET Bible notes said:
>
> The verb יִתְעַלֶּם (yit'allem) has been translated "is  
> hid" or "hides
> itself." But this does not work easily in the sentence with the
> preposition "upon them."
>
> HH: This objection does not sustain itself for me because the snow  
> would
> be melting "upon them," upon the torrents [ NXLYM ]  of Job 6:15. The
> snow lands on the water, sits there for a moment, then hides itself by
> melting.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
>
>
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