Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peter AT qaya.org>]

On 10/07/2007 18:44, JoeWallack AT aol.com wrote:
> ...
>  
> I'm beginning to fear that at the present rate of discussion the Messiah  
> could actually arrive before we determine his/her identity. ...

Almost certainly. Or maybe arrive again! ;-) There will never be 
agreement on these matters before that time.

> ... In order to try and  
> avoid this contingency let me try to speed things up here. Regarding the  
> offending word of 7:14 and with Apologies to Isaac Fried, you and I agree that  
> the Hebrew Definite article is used. My position is that for starters this  
> indicates a defnite and therefore, known person to the Hebrew speaker, Isaiah. ...

I agree with your exegesis.

> ... At 
> this point, whether or not this known person is known to the Hebrew hearer, I 
>  say that "the" is the likely English translation. ...

I disagree with your conclusions for the best English translation. In 
English "this" would probably be used for a known person who has not 
previously been referred to, at least implicitly. If "the" is used when 
no such person has been previously referred to, even implicitly, the 
only possible meaning is the generic one, in this case a reference to 
all young women.

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