Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Harold Holmyard <hholmyard3 AT earthlink.net>]

Dear Joseph,
> "
> יד  לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא,  לָכֶם--אוֹת:  הִנֵּה 
> הָעַלְמָה, הָרָה  וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן, וְקָרָאת שְׁמוֹ, עִמָּנוּ 
> אֵל. 14 Therefore the  Lord Himself shall give you a sign: behold, the young 
> woman shall conceive, and  bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
> "
>  
> The closest Textual Marker I see here to the offending word is:
>  
> הִנֵּה
>  
> Common translations are "here is", "behold" and "look". For starters, BDB  
> Lexicon looks to me to give a most often usage in the Jewish Bible of a  
> connotation of the visual as in pointing to something physically present. This  is a 
> Natural combination to the use of the definite article for the young woman  as 
> the picture is Isaiah physically pointing to the young woman in the presence  
> of Ahaz. 
>  
> HNH is a relatively common word though and has a broader meaning than the  
> physical connotation. BDB gives the next usage category as emphasizing the  
> connotation of an attention getting device for new information and has  
> categorized 7:14 here (mistakenly in my opinion).

HH: Your claim here that HNH has to point to an event which is 
happening, rather than to one in the imminent or even distant future, is 
incorrect. Look at one of the first references to HNH in the Bible:

Gen. 6:13 So God said to Noah,  “I am going to put an end to all people, 
for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going 
to destroy (HNH plus first person suffix plus Hiphil participle) both 
them and the earth.

The flood was some time away when God spoke these words because Noah had 
not yet built the ark or collected the food and animals.  HNH can refer 
to the future, especially with the so-called "futurum instans" 
participle.  Other examples are Gen 6:17; 1 Sam 3:11; and 2 Kings 7:2.

Yours,
Harold Holmyard