My extremely unusual translation of Isaiah 53

[Kenneth Greifer]

If anyone is interested in reading a very unusual alternative translation of Isaiah 53 by an amateur (me), you could look at my site and click on the excerpt for Volume 3 of my self-published books.

http://www.hebrewbiblequotes.com/

I divide a lot of the Hebrew letters into words differently in some quotes, and in other quotes, I just have very different translations and explanations that you can't find in any other books that discuss Isaiah 53. Spoiler alert: I think Isaiah 53 is about King Hezekiah. So far, no one who has read any part of my book agrees with me, but hope springs eternal.

[Isaac Fried]

In Isaiah 53:5 is וְהוּא referring to God? If yes, then what is וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ? In his company? By adhering to him?
Needs thinking.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Isaac Fried]

Also, מדכא is 'oppressed', depressed', rather than, 'crushed', which is too harsh, methinks, but it all needs careful thinking.

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[kwrandolph]

If anyone is interested in reading a very unusual alternative translation of Isaiah 53 by an amateur (me), you could look at my site and click on the excerpt for Volume 3 of my self-published books.

I decided to look to see what you have to say, but the more I looked, the more it just doesn’t fit the Hebrew text.

You are right that יזה means “to sprinkle”, but what that implies is unknown.

However, יונק in 53:2 means “sucker”, which is an unwanted growth from the root of a tree. You should remember that from horticulture, right?

There are too many details that don’t fit your interpretation that Hezekiah was the subject of this passage. Hezekiah wasn’t taken from restraint and justice (53:8) nor was he abandoned (53:3). The rebellion of his people was not laid on him (53:8). I can go on, but I think this is enough to say that your “translation” has many lexical and linguistic problems.

It looks as if you started with an interpretation, then tried to force the passage to fit your interpretation. That’s backwards. The way to analyze a passage is to read it as it is written, then try to make heads of tails out of it. But when you start with an interpretation then try to make the text fit your interpretation, it can lead you into all sorts of weird paths.

Karl W. Randolph.

[Isaac Fried]

Also
נבזה spurned, down trodden
חדל אישים weakling, lacking manliness
יונק = זונק sprout
חלל deflate, lump, drain, exhaust

Isaac Fried, Boston University

[Kenneth Greifer]

Karl,

Are you sure that the word "sucker" for a kind of a growth from a tree's root was used thousands of years ago in Hebrew because that is what it is called now? I did mention that possible translation of Isaiah 53:2 on page 80.

[Kenneth Greifer]

Karl,

I explained on pages 111-113 why I think Isaiah 53:8 could be about Hezekiah being taken from oppression and from judgment. I gave more than one possible explanation because Isaiah 53 is a poetic description of a person's life experiences and could be understood different ways. You skipped the best proofs that Isaiah 53 is about King Hezekiah, Isaiah 53:10 and 53:12.

Also, about Isaiah 53:2, since a root sucks up water, poetically, it could be called "a sucker" and not refer to the unwanted growth from a tree root, but just any root. I discuss that on page 80. I should have written that possible translation out separately and not in a paragraph.

[Kenneth Greifer]

Karl,

I try to think of every possible alternative translation and explanation I can think of. I can't make any quote say what I want it to say. I just noticed that these quotes could fit King Hezekiah, if you read the quotes different ways. There are many ways to interpret Isaiah 53 and I think one of them is about King Hezekiah. It seems hard to imagine that he had a boil that was going to kill him and he cried and prayed to God and He gave him an extra 15 years of life (Isaiah 38:3), during which he probably had his son Manasseh. His son ruled at 12 years old, so he was probably born during those extra years (2 Kings 21:1). To me that sounds like Isaiah 53:10 "And the Lord desired his crushing the disease. If his soul will make a guilt offering (crying?), he will see a seed, he will lengthen days."

I didn't force such a similar translation. After this, I noticed other quotes that could be read more than one way that also could fit King Hezekiah.

[kwrandolph]

Karl,

Are you sure that the word "sucker" for a kind of a growth from a tree's root was used thousands of years ago in Hebrew because that is what it is called now? I did mention that possible translation of Isaiah 53:2 on page 80.

The other uses of the word are for a suckling, i.e. a baby that still sucks at his mother’s breast. The context of Isaiah 53:2 is not that of an infant, rather an older person who is not wanted. Hence a sucker fits the bill.

Karl W. Randolph.

[Isaac Fried]

Isaiah 53:10
וַיהוה חָפֵץ דַּכְּאוֹ הֶחֱלִי אִם תָּשִׂים אָשָׁם נַפְשׁוֹ יִרְאֶה זֶרַע יַאֲרִיךְ יָמִים וְחֵפֶץ יהוה בְּיָדוֹ יִצְלָח
"And God wanting to oppress him, put an illness upon him, but..."

Reading הֶחֱלִי as החוֹלִי, 'the ilness', is a daring override of the niqud, but leads to something that is both Hebraically and medically implausible: "crushing the disease"? Isaiah can do better than this.

Isaac Fried, Boston University