On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 08:53:02 -0700 (PDT) Sujata <shevaroys AT yahoo.com>
writes:
> Dear Harold and George,
>
> I did mean Is 64:4 in the English Bible and my
> question particularly is about the phrase "O God". In
> KJV I have "O God" in NKJV and others I have "A God",
> in JPS (Is 64:3) "A God" and in the Qumran scroll
> translation "O God". So I am wondering what is the
> exact translation from Hebrew, is it "a God" or "O
> God".
>
> I truely appreciate your help.
>
> God Bless,
> Sujata
>
___________
This specific question is difficult, if not impossible to answer
definitively. Van der Merwe in _A Biblical Hebrew Reference Grammar_
notes
3. Syntactic functions of the article??
(i) The article is sometimes used in the construction of the vocative to
designate a specific addressee. (Cf. §34.4.)
X"Y_NaP:$:Kf HaM.eLeK: As your soul lives, O king (1 Sam. 17.55).
It may be omitted.
L"K_)eL_N:MfLfH (fC:L Go to the ant, O sluggard (Prov. 6.6).
In your passage )e:LoHiYM (God) has no article, but according to Van der
Merwe's example this does not preclude it's being a vocative. It is the
context which must determine its usage. This is why you have a
discrepancy between the KJV together with the translations which stand in
its tradition and the JPS Tanach -- they understand the text differently.
In other words, it's not simply a grammatical decision.
--- "George F. Somsel" <gfsomsel AT juno.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 31 Aug 2004 08:53:02 -0700 (PDT) Sujata
> <shevaroys AT yahoo.com>
> writes:
> > Dear Harold and George,
> >
> > I did mean Is 64:4 in the English Bible and my
> > question particularly is about the phrase "O God".
> In
> > KJV I have "O God" in NKJV and others I have "A
> God",
> > in JPS (Is 64:3) "A God" and in the Qumran scroll
> > translation "O God". So I am wondering what is the
> > exact translation from Hebrew, is it "a God" or "O
> > God".
> >
> > I truely appreciate your help.
> >
> > God Bless,
> > Sujata
> >
> ___________
>
> This specific question is difficult, if not
> impossible to answer
> definitively. Van der Merwe in _A Biblical Hebrew
> Reference Grammar_
> notes
>
> 3. Syntactic functions of the article??
> (i) The article is sometimes used in the
> construction of the vocative to
> designate a specific addressee. (Cf. §34.4.)
> X"Y_NaP:$:Kf HaM.eLeK: As your soul lives, O king (1
> Sam. 17.55).
>
> It may be omitted.
> L"K_)eL_N:MfLfH (fC:L Go to the ant, O sluggard
> (Prov. 6.6).
>
> In your passage )e:LoHiYM (God) has no article, but
> according to Van der
> Merwe's example this does not preclude it's being a
> vocative. It is the
> context which must determine its usage. This is why
> you have a
> discrepancy between the KJV together with the
> translations which stand in
> its tradition and the JPS Tanach -- they understand
> the text differently.
> In other words, it's not simply a grammatical
> decision.
>
> george
> gfsomsel