Biblical Hebrew Forum

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

Ron,

I see that the KJV translates the first part of Ecclesiastes 12:1 as
"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth"
First I notice that the translator sneaks in the word "now" not found  
in the Hebrew text. Then I see that he translates BOR)-EY-KA as "thy  
Creator" rather than "thy Creators", which is an outright  
falsification of the Hebrew text, unless he had before him a  
different version. The HB grandly opens with BRE)$IT BARA) ELOHIM,  
with BARA) in the singular not BAR)U in the plural.
No wonder Pere is puzzled by this business of remembering the Creator 
(s).
I do not think I need to prove anything; all I do is just raise a  
plausible [to me] possibility, which you may or may not accept.
Otherwise, the BARE) of Ezekiel 21:24 is possibly just 'erect,  
produce'. Recall ,ZAKOR, also the BR) of Joshua 17:15, and the root  
of BARI), 'well formed', of Judges 3:17.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

On Apr 22, 2008, at 12:33 PM, Ron Snider wrote:

> > I am not in the habit of looking at foreign translations of the HB.
> > In my Qoren edition of the TN"K the word BOR)-EY-KA is written with a
> > yod [so also in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia] and I see it as
> > plural. Indeed, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth"
> > does not make as much sense as "Keep in mind your forebears [some
> > old, some dead] in the days of your youth".
> > I would relate this BR) to the BAR, 'son, child', of Proverbs 31:2
>
> I do agree that the participle is plural, other than than I disagree
> completely with the rest of your response.  First, the Qal stem is  
> only
> used of the creative activity of God in the OT.  Second, the plural  
> may
> well be plural since Elohiym is plural.  Third, the term is never used
> in the Qal of human creations, which rules out the idea of forebears.
> Fourth, immediate context from the previous verses suggests that  
> this is
> advice to a young person with respect to how he lives his life and the
> fact that God will ultimately judge every action.  Fifth, remembering
> your forbears has nothing to do with whether or not one grows old and
> enjoys life, Solomon has already stated repeatedly in this book that
> real life comes from God.  Eccles. 2:25-26, 5:18-20, 7:14, 9:1,9
>
> Lastly, while you may not feel the need to consult other translations,
> when you digress dramatically from the orthodox understanding of a
> verse, the burden of proof is on you to document your assertions.  One
> cannot merely say that the word means something and expect others to
> simply accept it without proof.  Since this term only appears in  
> the Qal
> partciple plural one time, proof is probably not available.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> Ron Snider,
> Pastor-teacher
>
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