Isaiah 7:14B in New Major Christian Bible Translations
2013; Volume: 41; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0792-3910
Autores Tópico(s)Biblical Studies and Interpretation
ResumoRecent major Christian Bible translations have finally admitted after nearly 2,000 years that Isaiah did not prophesy birth or, more precisely, supernatural virginal conception of Messiah. Beginning with The Revised Standard Version in 1952, followed by The Jerusalem Bible in 1966, The New English Bible in 1970, The New Jerusalem Bible in 1985, The Revised English Bible, The Good News Bible and The New Revised Standard Version in 1989, and, just recently, The New American Bible Revised Edition (2011), translators have decided that time right reveal that Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus--Jewish and Judaeo-Christian translators of Hebrew Scriptures into Greek in second century--were right in translating almah in Isaiah 7:14b as neanis (young woman) rather than parthenos (virgin), and that Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, who opposed use of woman, were wrong. An examination of complete text and context of Isaiah 7:14b in original Hebrew rather than Greek of Septuagint that not only confirms that ha-almah has been mistranslated as the or a but that harah has been mistranslated as well. Furthermore, it clear that it part of neartime prophecy delivered ca. 734 BCE imminent birth of son then-pregnant mother, who would call him (karat) Immanuel (With-us-is-El), who would be sign Ahaz and house of Judah that Rezin and Pekah would be soon defeated, rather than far-term prophecy of birth of Messiah non-metaphorically-God-fathered and betulah-born. As these new translations read it, Isaiah 7:14b partly in implied present time. The first part of first clause consists of demonstrative particle, definite article, noun, and an adjective: 'Look, young pregnant.' This common construction in Hebrew. In English, we supply context-dependent form of linking verb to be, in this case Look, young If almah pointed out was already pregnant (harah), this automatically rules out claim that Isaiah was prophesying distant, future virginal conception. Jewish tradition unanimously agrees that Immanuel was contemporary of Isaiah, and this clearly indicated by Isaiah 7:16. Young woman and virgin were not synonyms in ancient Judaism, when it was common for twelve-year-old girls be married and become pregnant. There no indication in oracle that this young not pregnant through normal intercourse with man. Harah, too, has been translated imprecisely. There in fact no verb in first clause. It does not say almah conceive. The RSV, which translated almah correctly in 1952, mistranslated adjective harah (pregnant) as and, moreover, failed translate definite article and used indefinite article instead: Behold, young shall and bear son, ... This translation of adjective harah, fourth word in first clause, as verb conceive began in Vulgate. Jerome, despite fact that he learned Hebrew from Jewish teacher and made his translation of Hebrew Bible into Latin from Hebrew text (not Greek Septuagint), translated thus: Ecce virgo concipiet, et pariet filium, et vocabitur nomen ejus Emmanuel (Behold, shall conceive, and shall bear son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel). The NRSV corrected these items in 1989: Look, young with .... With child an archaic prepositional phrase, renders harah, present tense copula supplied, and definite article restored after being overlooked for centuries. The NRSV has sixth word of this compound clause in Hebrew in future tense: Look, young with and shall bear son, ... The word yoledet an active participle and can be translated is bearing/giving birth It signifies in this case very near-term event and thus can also be rendered about give birth to. …
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