Dear Lee,
You wrote:
I come across many verses in the King James that are written in Future-tense, but analyzing these particular verses in the Hebrew and Septuagint, they are clearly past-tense.
Isaiah 9:14 - Therefore the LORD will cut off *כרת /ἀφεῖλε
The Hebrew word here is כרת, the Septuagint word is ἀφεῖλεν, these words occur in the Book of Samuel.
1 Samuel 24:5 - He had cut off Saul's skirt *כרת /ἀφεῖλε
Isaiah 9:6 (Past tense)
That Child Was born to us
כי־ילד ילד־לנו
ὅτι παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν
A Son as being given too us
בן נתן־לנו
ἐδόθη
Have you ever read the tale about the emperor's new cloths? All the people were admiring the beautiful new cloths of the emperor, until a small child correctly observed: "But the emperor is naked." The view called "prophetic perfect," saying that
qatals in prophecies should be translated by perfect or simple past, because the fulfillment was so certain in the mind of the prophet that he used verbs with completed (past) meaning, is like the emperor's clothe—the view is pure nonsense.
There are two reasons behind this very strong statement:
1) The view is psychological or parapsychological, and it is based on the supposition that one can read the minds of the prophets.
2) The view was invented as an ad hoc explanation in order to save a wrong theory.
Point 1) shows that the theory is metaphysical, and metaphysics has no place in grammatical explnations.
Point 2) refers to the beginning and middle of the 19th century. The basic view at this time was that
qatal represented completed action or past tense. When the study of the Tanakh progressed, more and more examples of
qatals with future reference were discovered. In order to save the theory of completed action/past tense, the prophetic perfect explanation was invented. True, the reference is future, but the past/completed force of the verb used is in the mind of the prophet. The prophet is so certain of the fulfillment of the prophecy that he used past tense for situations in the future.
Isaiah was a prophet, and what he wrote is prophetic, it refers to the future. The setting of chapters 8-11 are clearly prophetic. I translate some verses from these chapters:
9:6 "For a child will be born to us (qatal), and a son will be given (qatal) to us. And the government will prove to be (wayyiqtol) on his shoulder. and his name will be called (wayyiqtol) Wonderful Councelor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace."
10:27, 28: "(27) And it must occur (weqatal) in that day that his burden will be lifted (yiqtol) from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken (weqatal) by reason of fatness. (28) He will certainly come (qatal) against Aiath, and will indeed pass through (qatal) Migron, and at Mikmash he will be storing (yiqtol) his supplies."
Because the two
qatals in verse 28 are sentence initial, which is not usual, I take them as emphatic. Therefore I use "certainly" and "indeed." Because the
yiqtol represents the imperfective aspect where details are made visible, I translate the last
yiqtol as "will be storing" and not as "will store" (cause to count).
A question: Is there a difference in the temporal reference of the
weqatals, the
qatals, and the
yiqtols?
11:8, 9 "(8) And the sucking child will play (weqatal) near the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will stretch out (qatal) his hand over the viper’s nest. (9) They will not be doing (yiqtol) any harm or cause ruin (yiqtol) in all my holy mountain, because the earth will be filled (qatal) with the knowledge of Yehowa as the waters cover (part) the sea."
Please note that I use the form "Yehowa." This pronunciation is based on Hebrew and Akkadian evidence. See my book:
The Tetragram—Its History, Its Place in the New Testament, and Its pronunciation.
Question: A question: Is there a difference in the temporal reference of the
weqatal, the
qatals, and the
yiqtols?
Please note that the Hebrew conjugations do not represent tenses but aspects.
Best regards,
Rolf J. Furuli
Stavern
Norway