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Is. 54:4 neg. particle minus after ὅτι (twice)

Posted: January 30th, 2018, 3:39 pm
by Stirling Bartholomew
Is. 54:4 μὴ φοβοῦ ὅτι κατῃσχύνθης, μηδὲ ἐντραπῇς ὅτι ὠνειδίσθης· ὅτι αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον ἐπιλήσῃ καὶ ὄνειδος τῆς χηρείας σου οὐ μὴ μνησθήσῃ.
Not sure what's going on here. It appears the Greek version of Isaiah interprets the ὅτι clauses dropping a negative particle twice following ὅτι. כי־לא
Qumran Is. 54:4 Fear not; for you shall not be ashamed: and {&waw&}do not be confounded; for you shall not 28. be {&yod&}embarrassed for you shall forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you shall not remember
source: http://www.ao.net/~fmoeller/qa-tran.htm#c44
NETS Is. 54:4
4 Do not fear because you were put to shame,
neither feel disgraced because you were
reproached,
because you will forget your ancient shame
and the reproach of your widowhood you
will not remember,

Re: Is. 54:4 neg. particle minus after ὅτι (twice)

Posted: January 30th, 2018, 4:26 pm
by Ken M. Penner
Notes:
  • ὅτι is the usual reflex for כי in Greek Isaiah.
  • Greek Isaiah tends to use ὅτι with the meaning "because" more than "that" (about twice as often).
  • כי לא appears also in Isa 7:9; 27:11; 28:27,28; 36:14; 37:19; 38:18; 47:1,5; 52:1,12; 54:14; 55:8; 57:16.
  • The negation does not disappear in the other instances. The most common translation is οὐ γάρ.
I have no explanation for dropping the negation, other than to suggest that the meaning "for" didn't occur to the translator, and he thought the negation made no sense.

Re: Is. 54:4 neg. particle minus after ὅτι (twice)

Posted: January 31st, 2018, 12:25 pm
by Stirling Bartholomew
Ken M. Penner wrote: January 30th, 2018, 4:26 pm Notes:
  • ὅτι is the usual reflex for כי in Greek Isaiah.
  • Greek Isaiah tends to use ὅτι with the meaning "because" more than "that" (about twice as often).
  • כי לא appears also in Isa 7:9; 27:11; 28:27,28; 36:14; 37:19; 38:18; 47:1,5; 52:1,12; 54:14; 55:8; 57:16.
  • The negation does not disappear in the other instances. The most common translation is οὐ γάρ.
I have no explanation for dropping the negation, other than to suggest that the meaning "for" didn't occur to the translator, and he thought the negation made no sense.
Thank you Ken, that is very helpful. I looked at all every translation of כי לא in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. I found one example of a dropped negative in Jeremiah[1] which bears very little resemblance to the construction in Is. 54:4 for which I could find no identical examples[2], i.e. multiple כי לא. I realize there were probably different translators for Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

[1]
Jer. 5:10‏ עלו בשׁרותיה ושׁחתו וכלה אל־תעשׂו הסירו נטישׁותיה כי לוא ליהוה

Jer. 5:10 ἀνάβητε ἐπὶ τοὺς προμαχῶνας αὐτῆς καὶ κατασκάψατε, συντέλειαν δὲ μὴ ποιήσητε· ὑπολίπεσθε τὰ ὑποστηρίγματα αὐτῆς, ὅτι τοῦ κυρίου εἰσίν.

Jer. 5:10 (NRSV)
   Go up through her vine-rows and destroy,
but do not make a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the LORD’S.

NETS
Go up upon her battlements, and raze,
but do not make a full end;
leave behind her under-props,
because they are the Lord’s,
[2]
Jer. 10:5
‏ כתמר מקשׁה המה ולא ידברו נשׂוא ינשׂוא כי לא יצעדו אל־תיראו מהם כי־לא ירעו וגם־היטיב אין אותם ס

Jer. 10:5 αἰρόμενα ἀρθήσονται, ὅτι οὐκ ἐπιβήσονται. μὴ φοβηθῆτε αὐτά, ὅτι οὐ μὴ κακοποιήσωσιν, καὶ ἀγαθὸν οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτοῖς.