Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Nir cohen - Prof. Mat." <nir AT ccet.ufrn.br>]

dear fred, 
re: PNH=turn

PANU (piel, not kal) DEREKH is an expression meaning literally 
"clear the way", equivalent to "pave the way", hence "prepare". in 
this sense the greek translation is literal.

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dear paul, 
re: translation vs interpretation:

some may consider the hebrew text as the ultimate fact, and everything 
else as translation/interpretation of it. this is legitimate.

i prefer to consider Fact as the ultimate fact, and everything else as
interpretation. in this sense i see nothing wrong in comparing the hebrew
canonized and greek translated versions, both representing interpretations on
the facts, different political/religious agendas, and possibly different
sources of oral tradition. 

one example: following the discussion on the king sacrificing his sun during
the war in midyan i noticed that the targum makes a reference to AKEDAT IZCHAK
missing in the original. one possible interpretation is that this text had
been there originally, but was censured in the hebrew version, for equating
the two sacrifices, one considered sacred, the other profane.

nir cohen