Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Harold,

Just a brief remark. HA-RA(EB of Isaiah 29:8 is "he who is famished".  
Notice that this translation does not contain one single "the".

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Jun 24, 2007, at 6:37 PM, Harold Holmyard wrote:

> Dear Joseph,
> > HH: "My argument was not that the generic use of the article was  
> > exactly the
> > same as the usage of it in Gen 14:13, but they are similar. The one
> > could lead to the other. I wrote to Joseph:
> >
> > See the word "famine" in  Isa 29:8. See how it is used with  
> > "silver" in
> > Gen 13:2, or with "crimson" in  Isa 1:18, or with "blindness" in Gen
> > 19:11. In all these English would use  "a/an" or nothing, not "the."
> >
> > Or look at these cases below, all of which  take the definite  
> > article in
> > Hebrew, but an indefinite article in  English:
> >
> > like the heart of a lion (2 Sam 17:10)
> >
> > as a dog laps  (Judges 7:5)
> >
> > as one hunts a partridge (1 Sam 26:20)
> >
> > as one rends a  kid (Judges 14:6)
> >
> > If Hebrew could consider all these cases, which are  clearly  
> > indefinite
> > in English, as worthy of a definite article in a generic  sense,"
> >
> >
> > JW:
> > None of the above are clearly indefinite in English. I've seen  
> > English
> > translations with "the" for all but
> > Judges 14:6. More importantly, none even sound awkward with "the".
>
> HH: Sorry, but they do sound somewhat awkward to me because English  
> does
> not usually use the generic definite article this way, preferring an
> indefinite article.
>
> >  You do
> > seem here to accept though that there is a reason for use of the  
> > Hebrew definite
> >  article?
>
> HH: Of course. I never said there wasn't a reason. I distance myself
> from anyone with that theory.
>
> >  I accept that use of the Hebrew definite article may be used to
> > emphasize a definite quality that would not be emphasized in  
> > English and  hence
> > the indefinite in English would be appropriate.
>
> HH: Right, but that is exactly what this category of usage in the
> grammars that you don't like does. It stresses that the person or  
> thing
> is clear in the mind of the person who uses the article (i.e.,  
> there is
> a definite quality to the person or thing in the miond of the writer),
> but since his subject is otherwise unknown or unidentified, one can
> legitimately translate it with the indefinite article in English.
> > " then it
> > is consistent to suppose that in Gen 14:13, where the  idea can at  
> > first
> > be a generic concept of one who escaped, that the author  might use a
> > definite article:
> >
> > Gen. 14:13 ¶ One who had escaped came  and reported this to Abram the
> > Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great  trees of Mamre the  
> > Amorite,
> > a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were  allied with Abram."
> >
> > JW:
> > I've seen the English "the" for this but this one does sound  
> > awkward and I
> > think the English indefinite is preferred here.
>
> HH: Thanks.
> > Harold Holmyard
> > "In Gen 16:7 there can be a generic concept of a spring presented  
> > first,
> > which receives further specification:
> >
> > Gen. 16:7  The angel of  the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the
> > desert; it was the spring that is  beside the road to Shur.
> >
> > I am not saying that it is exactly the same as  the generic usage,  
> > but it
> > is so close that I can imagine a smooth transition  from one to  
> > the other
> > in Hebrew thinking. It is the generic put for the  specific, which  
> > yields
> > a somewhat indefinite idea. The problem, again, is in  assuming that
> > Hebrew uses the definite article just as English does. That  was  
> > Joseph
> > Wallack's basic contention. But it does not, and it is a mistake  to
> > assume that it does."
> >
> > JW:
> > I do not think that Hebrew uses the definite article exactly the  
> > same as
> > English does.
>
> HH: O.K., I see. You were generalizing on the basis of what is  
> normally
> the case.
>
> > Gen. 41:42 Then Pharaoh took his  signet ring from his finger and  
> > put it
> > on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in  robes of fine linen and put  
> > a gold
> > chain around his neck.
> >
> > In Hebrew  it is literally "the gold chain." It is not the whole  
> > genera
> > that was put  around his neck, and it seems to be begging the  
> > question to
> > assume that  there was a well-known gold necklace that was  
> > bestowed on a
> > person in  Joseph's position. We don't know that or know that  
> > Joseph's
> > position was  even a regular position. Did every king take off his  
> > signet
> > ring and put it  on the finger of a subordinate? The text speaks  
> > of robes
> > of fine linen, but  not particular ones. So this may be a specific  
> > use of
> > the definite article,  as Waltke says, to refer to measured units.  
> > [cf.
> > Cant 1:13 (bag); Ex 16:36  (omer)]. This, again, would be similar  
> > to the
> > usage in Gen 16:7 and 14:13,  where a specific thing is present in  
> > the
> > speaker's or writer's mind, but it  is an otherwise unidentified  
> > specific
> > thing (the one who escaped that I have  in mind -- the one who  
> > escaped
> > who figures in this story). Such a usage does  not betray the basic
> > concept of the definite article, so the effort to  undermine an
> > established grammatical category is unnecessary. Of course this  is a
> > much smaller category of usage than the regular definite article, for
> > there are only a limited number of instances where the usage would be
> > suitable. But a limited number of occurrences of a usage does not
> > invalidate a usage."
> >
> > JW:
> > I have to confess again that here "the" gold chain sounds awkward.  
> > I accept
> > that USAGE of the definite article is more prevalent in Biblical  
> > Hebrew than
> > in  English but I think that is primarily due to the religious  
> > context, where
> > there  is a preference for the definite due to objectives of  
> > certainty and
> > authority.  Almost all of these uses of the definite article in  
> > Hebrew should or
> > at least  can be translated "the" in English. The instances of a  
> > preferred
> > translation of  "a" in English are relatively rare. By context we  
> > seem to lack an
> > example where  randomness is clearly defined, such as Moses saying  
> > to Pharoah,
> > "Behold, I will  now pull A Rabbi out of a Ha", with the Hebrew  
> > definite
> > article used.
> >
> > "Normally" is almost as good as "always" in establishing the Likely
> > translation of a word. I think it's clear by now that the Hebrew  
> > definite  article is
> > normally translated as "the" in English. Therefore, by itself,   
> > without
> > considering the surrounding context yet, the use of the definite  
> > article  at 7:14
> > means a translation of "the" is likely. Agree or disagree?
>
> HH: David Kummerow shared with some of us an article written by a man
> named Ehrensvärd. It claimed to undermine the category of the definite
> article that you don't like. I went through only about a dozen of his
> examples. He was trying to undermine the force of 67 examples.  Some
> examples seemed implausible for the definite meaning that he tried to
> attribute to them. The strongest case of implausibility for me was  
> with
> his example 11. This was the author's argument:
>
> (11) He found him sitting under the oak tree [H)LH] (1 Kgs 13,14)
> A known oak tree.
>
> HH: 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." 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 well-known oak  
> tree on it?
>
> David thought it was too presumptuous of me to draw such a  
> conclusion on
> the basis of my limited knowledge of the biblical situation, but the
> case is so weak in example 11 that it loses credibility, and there are
> several a bit like that. The reason I bring this author up is that  
> he is
> trying to shoot holes in an established grammatical category found in
> numerous Hebrew grammars. It is related to several other categories of
> usage of the Hebrew article that are similar but different from  
> English
> usage. These are grammarians from different centuries. It is not just
> these grammarians, for the translators of the King James Version drew
> similar conclusions back in the 1600's. And translators across a wide
> spectrum of beliefs  confirm the grammarians' judgment by likewise
> translating with the indefinite article where the Hebrew has the
> definite article.
>
> Since the easier path is to translate with the definite article, there
> is a sense of judgment, based on the context, that has led this
> wide-ranging collection of scholars over centuries to prefer an
> indefinite-article translation in numerous instances in Scripture that
> have the definite article. So rather than point out the obvious, that
> the Hebrew definite article is normally translated with an English
> definite article, it is more incumbent on us to try to understand why
> this body of students has gone against the grain of common usage in
> these many cases and has even defined categories of usage to  
> account for
> these exceptions to the rule.
>
> That is what Ehrensvärd tried to do, coming up with various  
> explanations
> for why there should be a definite article translation in cases where
> people have felt that the indefinite article was better. I found
> Ehrensvärd  unconvincing to the point that I did not see a need to  
> read
> further in his article.
>
> If one is honest with the context in Isaiah 7, there is no real reason
> to assume that there was any particular woman that the term in  
> question
> pointed to. There is no other woman mentioned in the context except
> Isaiah's wife, who was not a virgin and seems to have had grown  
> sons (so
> was not a young woman either). Good writers don't use totally obscure
> references, and I believe God inspired the biblical writers.
>
> There is a plausible understanding for a translation that uses the
> indefinite article, and there are a host of other examples of such  
> usage.
>
> Yours,
> Harold Holmyard
>
> >
>
>
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