The Force of Min in Isa. 53:5
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2017 7:30 pm
The usual translation of Isa. 53:5 is "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities" (NIV).
I am unable, however, to find any instance in the Hebrew Bible of min (inseparable מְ twice in this case) carrying that kind of force. בְּ would work fine to mean someone is being punished for something, e.g. Deut. 24:16 || 2 Chron. 25:4:
אִישׁ בְּחֶטְאֹו יָמֽוּתוּ
עַל is used in this same verse when it is someone getting consequences of somebody else's sin:
לֹא־יָמוּתוּ אָבֹות עַל־בָּנִים וּבָנִים לֹא־יָמוּתוּ עַל־אָבֹות
I'm aware that min shades over into an instrumental meaning, so that it could mean "because of" or "as a consequence of" or even "by" so that the noun governed by min is being indicated as the agent of the preceding verbal action. See, e.g., Hos. 7:4: “an oven lighted by [=min, from] the baker”; Isa. 28:7, “they are overcome by [=min, from] wine”; Zech. 11:13: “cursed by [=min, from] the LORD.”
The word min never seems to mean “for” in the sense of “this standing in for that” or “X paying for Y.”
Am I missing something, or is "for" in English translations essentially a theological over-translation of min in Isa. 53:5? Should it not be rendered "But he was pierced because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities"?
I am unable, however, to find any instance in the Hebrew Bible of min (inseparable מְ twice in this case) carrying that kind of force. בְּ would work fine to mean someone is being punished for something, e.g. Deut. 24:16 || 2 Chron. 25:4:
אִישׁ בְּחֶטְאֹו יָמֽוּתוּ
עַל is used in this same verse when it is someone getting consequences of somebody else's sin:
לֹא־יָמוּתוּ אָבֹות עַל־בָּנִים וּבָנִים לֹא־יָמוּתוּ עַל־אָבֹות
I'm aware that min shades over into an instrumental meaning, so that it could mean "because of" or "as a consequence of" or even "by" so that the noun governed by min is being indicated as the agent of the preceding verbal action. See, e.g., Hos. 7:4: “an oven lighted by [=min, from] the baker”; Isa. 28:7, “they are overcome by [=min, from] wine”; Zech. 11:13: “cursed by [=min, from] the LORD.”
The word min never seems to mean “for” in the sense of “this standing in for that” or “X paying for Y.”
Am I missing something, or is "for" in English translations essentially a theological over-translation of min in Isa. 53:5? Should it not be rendered "But he was pierced because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities"?