On Mar 25, 2010, at 7:38 AM, Chris Doss wrote:
> So, which is the real meaning, "a voice crying in the wilderness,
> prepare me the way of the lord" or "a voice crying, in the
> wilderness prepare me the way of the lord"?
Neither, of course. The question has been begged, because the "problem" obsessing Doss is whether or not "Isaiah" was referring to John the Baptizer and his cousin Ye'shua (Jesus), and so it assumes beforehand the whole stupid Christian "christology." Since Isaiah 40 is written in the present tense (and imperative mode), its reference has to be to contemporary (7th century bce) events and prospects. The essentials of the passage, in the JPS translation of Tanakh (ie., by translators steeped in Hebrew and with zero concern for "christological" exegesis):
"...speak tenderly to Jerusalem and declare to her that her term of service is over, that her iniquity is expiated; for she has received at the hand of the LORD double for all her sins. A voice rings out: 'Clear in the desert a road for the LORD! Level in the wilderness a highway for our God!...' "
(Incidentally, the "authorized" version, as quoted by Handel in the
text of "Messiah", is "the voice *of him* that crieth in the
wilderness 'Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the
desert a highway for our God!' " Thus, the Jacobite revisers of
Tyndale wanted to be explicit about John, even to the extent of
inserting "of him" (not "of Him") into a text where the unnamed
"voice" ringing in "Isaiah's" head is plainly that of his "God." That
is why Handel put the musical emphasis on "him."
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: James Heartfield <Heartfield at blueyonder.co.uk>
>
>
> There's two answers to that: the first is that the Bible English
> speakers comment on is the English Bible, either the St James or the
> new one.
>
> Second, you put too much store by the poetic marginalia of
> translation and not enough in the meaning, like someone who worries
> about the wallpaper the previous occupant has hung when he is buying
> a new house.
Shane Mage
"L'après-vie, c'est une auberge espagnole. L'on n'y trouve que ce qu'on a apporté."
Bardo Thodol