Webb Mealy saying hello

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jwm
Posts: 5
Joined: Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:30 pm

Webb Mealy saying hello

Post by jwm »

Hello all,

I'm Webb Mealy. I'm going to going carefully through Isaiah 53 in Hebrew over the next few days, and I thought I'd put questions to the group that I didn't have immediate answers to. I have taken classes in Biblical Hebrew but I'm rusty, and I'm nowhere near a theological library.

Stand by for my first question in the general forum, which will be about

וּכְמַסְתֵּר פָּנִים מִמֶּנּוּ

in Isa. 53:3.

Webb Mealy
J. [James] Webb Mealy, PhD
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Kirk Lowery
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Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Re: Webb Mealy saying hello

Post by Kirk Lowery »

Dear Webb,

Welcome! We're always glad for questions.

Just a note that forum policy is that we sign all of our posts with our first and last (family) name. You can just put it in your signature like mine is below and forget about it.

Blessings,
Kirk
Kirk E. Lowery, PhD
B-Hebrew Site Administrator & Moderator
blog: https://blogs.emdros.org/eh
R.J. Furuli
Posts: 158
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2013 10:51 am

Re: Webb Mealy saying hello

Post by R.J. Furuli »

Dear Webb,

I am not sure exactly what you are asking about. Could you please elucidate. But regarding Isaiah 53 as a whole, I would say that many translations use a wrong time for the verbs. I count 20 qatals in the chapter, and I would translate most of these with English future, because the chapter contains prophecies about the future. The reason why many translators use English perfect or simple past is the socalled "prophetic perfect"-view. This view implies that the author uses qatal (perfect) — past tense — because he was so certain that the prophecies would be fulfilled. This is a psychological explanation, which requires that we read are able to read the mind of the author, because there is no linguistic evidence in favor of "prophetic perfect."

The "prophetic perfect"-view rose in the 18th century. The belief was that qatal (perfect) represented past tense. As more and more parts of the Tanach were studied in detail, it was discovered tha many qatals had future reference. In order to save the view that qatal represented past tense, it was claimed that also the qatals with future reference represented past tense. But the authors used a retrospective view, that is, they were so certain that the propheies would be fulfilled that they used past tense.

Best regards,

Rolf J. Furuli
Stavern
Norway
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