Isaiah 5:13 dead of hunger, bleached bones of thirst?

[kwrandolph]

I came across this verse, Isaiah 5:13, לכן גלה עמי מבלי דעת וכבודו מתי רעב והמונו צחה צמא. Literally I see this as reading “for this reason my people is exiled without knowledge and its glory the dead of hunger and its multitude the bleached bones of thirst.”

The LXX seems to agree with me, somewhat, they wrote, “πληθος εγενηθη νεκρων δια λιμον και διψαν υδατος”.

Personally, I find the first 35 chapters of Isaiah a real challenge to read, with so many words used only once or only a few times. I find these chapters more of a challenge to read than most of Job.

Karl W. Randolph.

[jacob]

Shalom Karl Randolph,

Did I miss a previous post on this subject?Is that a translation for speakers of English?

[SteveMiller]

Hi Karl,
1. It seems you're missing the meaning of the mem, from. My people is exiled from (or because of) lack of knowledge.
2. Wouldn't you have to translate מתי as "my dead" rather than just "dead"? which wouldn't make sense.
How about "and its glory is men of hunger"?
3. Why do you translate צִחֵ֥ה as "bleached bones"? I see it's a hapax. My lexicons all give the meaning as "parched", but with no justification.
The word could mean "she is pure", but "multitude" is masculine.
Ernest Klein's A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language gives some similar words in other languages:
Arab. sahā & Ethiop. sehewa = was clear, or was cloudless.
Also Arab. sāha = he dried up, or dried out.

[kwrandolph]

Steve:

What follows is my 2¢ and some of the thoughts behind my question.

Hi Karl,
1. It seems you're missing the meaning of the mem, from. My people is exiled from (or because of) lack of knowledge.

Yes, you’re right that it refers to because of lack of knowledge.

2. Wouldn't you have to translate מתי as "my dead" rather than just "dead"? which wouldn't make sense.
How about "and its glory is men of hunger"?

As I see it, the understanding of this section of the verse depends on the meaning of מתי—it’s used most often in the meaning of “when?”. It’s also used for “my dead” as in Genesis 23:4, 8, 13. It’s also used in the sense of “few” in Genesis 34:30, Deut 4:27, Isaiah 41:14, Jeremiah 44:28, Psalm 105:12, 1 Chron 16:19.

It’s used in construct for “dead ones” Isaiah 22:2

But what is it’s understanding in Deut 33:6? Job 19:19?

I finally though tentatively settled on a construct for “dead ones” as in Isaiah 22:2 because of the following word “famine” רעב.

3. Why do you translate צִחֵ֥ה as "bleached bones"? I see it's a hapax. My lexicons all give the meaning as "parched", but with no justification.
The word could mean "she is pure", but "multitude" is masculine.
Ernest Klein's A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language gives some similar words in other languages:
Arab. sahā & Ethiop. sehewa = was clear, or was cloudless.
Also Arab. sāha = he dried up, or dried out.

You’re right that this is a happax. What is its root? Is it צחח?

When we look at the root of צחח and its other derivatives, there seems to be a common core of brightness, as the brightness of the desert, bare rocks, where even the stones are sun bleached. One of the derivative is apparently a bright, open area strewn with rocks where one can have public discussions Nehemiah 4:7 (verse 13 in English). Apparently refers to bare rock Ezekiel 24:7–8, 26:4, 14. So what is the brightness connected with thirst? The only thing I could think of, was in connection with those who die of hunger, namely that their bones would bleach in the sun. This is just a guess, which is why I posted this question on line here.

Karl W. Randolph.