Verse 7 Hebrew Text 1:7יִרְאַ֣ת יְ֭הוָה רֵאשִׁ֣ית דָּ֑עַת חָכְמָ֥ה וּ֝מוּסָ֗ר אֱוִילִ֥ים בָּֽזוּ׃ Verse 7 Sentence Flow Verse 7 Translation Rationale This ever-popular Proverb opens with a dual construct chain as two verbless clauses. Therefore, we need to supply the linking verb “is” in our translation to English. The first construct chain is the familiar phrase...
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January 25, 2024January 25, 2024Ecclesiastes, Old Testament
Ecclesiastes 8:8
Verse 8 Hebrew Text 8:8אֵ֣ין אָדָ֞ם שַׁלִּ֤יט בָּר֙וּחַ֙ לִכְל֣וֹא אֶת־הָר֔וּחַ וְאֵ֤ין שִׁלְטוֹן֙ בְּי֣וֹם הַמָּ֔וֶת וְאֵ֥ין מִשְׁלַ֖חַת בַּמִּלְחָמָ֑ה וְלֹֽא־יְמַלֵּ֥ט רֶ֖שַׁע אֶת־בְּעָלָֽיו׃ Verse 8 Sentence Flow Verse 8 Translation Rationale Verse 8 begins with the particle of non-existence and we translate it as “There is no.” The next portion of the verse is אָדָ֞ם with an accompanying...
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January 21, 2024January 21, 2024Jeremiah, Old Testament
Jeremiah 17:9
Verse 9 Hebrew Text 17:9עָקֹ֥ב הַלֵּ֛ב מִכֹּ֖ל וְאָנֻ֣שׁ ה֑וּא מִ֖י יֵדָעֶֽנּוּ׃ Verse 9 Sentence Flow Verse 9 Translation Rationale Jeremiah 17:9 is admittedly a difficult verse to translate well for a few reasons. To begin, the first clause is a verbless clause. In the position where one might expect a predicate adjective we instead find...
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January 19, 2024January 22, 2024Jeremiah, Old Testament
Jeremiah 13:23
Verse 23 Greek/Hebrew Text 13:23הֲיַהֲפֹ֤ךְ כּוּשִׁי֙ עוֹר֔וֹ וְנָמֵ֖ר חֲבַרְבֻּרֹתָ֑יו גַּם־אַתֶּם֙ תּוּכְל֣וּ לְהֵיטִ֔יב לִמֻּדֵ֖י הָרֵֽעַ׃ Verse 23 Sentence Flow Verse 23 Translation Rationale Jeremiah 13:23 illustrates the beautiful function of Hebrew parallelism. As one can tell from the formatting in most English Bibles, this is understood to be Hebrew poetry by translators. That’s noteworthy because Hebrew...
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January 18, 2024January 20, 2024Genesis, Old Testament
Genesis 6:5
Verse 5 Hebrew Text 6:5וַיַּ֣רְא יְהוָ֔ה כִּ֥י רַבָּ֛ה רָעַ֥ת הָאָדָ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְכָל־יֵ֨צֶר֙ מַחְשְׁבֹ֣ת לִבֹּ֔ו רַ֥ק רַ֖ע ל־הַיֹּֽום׃ Verse 5 Sentence Flow Verse 5 Translation Rationale Genesis 6:5 begins with a waw consecutive which can is translated “then.” The reason we translate this “then” rather than “and” is because when the waw is connected to the...
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January 15, 2024January 17, 2024Old Testament, Psalms
Psalm 14:3
Verse 3 Hebrew Text 14:3הַכֹּ֥ל סָר֮ יַחְדָּ֪ו נֶ֫אֱלָ֥חוּ אֵ֤ין עֹֽשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב אֵ֝֗ין גַּם־אֶחָֽד׃ Verse 3 Sentence Flow Verse 3 Translation Rationale Looking at the translation of this verse in the LSB, it was rounded off a bit by using “they have all.” I have chosen to be slightly more wooden here by rendering הַכֹּ֥ל as “the...