Prophecy and Prediction

On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel.  Isaiah 4:2  NASB

The survivors – Who are the survivors?  Who are the pĕlêṭât?  TWOT provides some linguistic analysis:

the primary use of this noun is to refer to the remnant of God’s people (II Kgs 19:30, 31 = Isa 37:31, 22, etc.) But those who have escaped do not owe their survival to simply fortuitous circumstances or luck. Their survival is only of God’s mercy. As a matter of fact, pĕlêṭâ means not only “escape” but also “deliverance,” as in II Chr 12:7. ^[1]

You’ll notice that we could just as easily translate this word as Robert Alter does, i.e., “for the remnant of Israel.”  Why do you suppose that only one English translation that I know of uses the term “remnant” when all the rest use either “survivors” or “those who escaped”?  Could it be that “remnant” has overtones that Christian theology does not want applied to the nation of Israel?  Despite Paul’s claims about Israel’s unequivocal election in Romans 11, why do you suppose the NASB heading for that chapter is “The remnant of Israel”?  Has “remnant” become become a Christianized term no longer applicable to Israel because the Church has replaced God’s chosen nation?  Just like the term “congregation” in the English Bible that is only used for New Testament assemblies despite the fact that the same Hebrew equivalent shows up in Exodus as a description of the people gathered at Sinai.  Just like “church” is the common translation of ekklēsía when the Greek term has nothing to do with a religious group.  Some terms have taken on theological meanings rather than linguistic/cultural ones.

When Isaiah gave this prophecy, do you think he has the “remnant” of the Messianic believers in mind?  Of course not!  He meant, as the context clearly shows, those who survived the onslaught of Babylon—by the grace of God, we must add.  He isn’t providing veiled clues about a Messiah who will come hundreds of years later.  His prophecy finds its home in the current situation and must be read as such.  If it didn’t mean anything to the original audience, then it would have been gobbledygook.  And that applies equally to the word “Branch” in this verse (capitalization added by the translators).  Alter correctly renders the verse, “On that day the LORD’s shoot shall become beauty . . .”  By capitalizing the translation of ṣemaḥ, the committee moves the entire passage into eschatological realms.  In other words, those committee members, intent on finding justification for their view of the Tanakh’s endorsement of the Church’s “Jesus,” provided a paradigmatic rendering.  Walter Kaiser makes this clear in his statement about ṣemaḥ:

“Especially significant are the passages related to the coming up of a shoot from the root or seed of David, i.e. the future messianic person (Jer. 23:5; Jer 33:15; Ezk 29:21; Ps 132:17; Zech 6:12).”^[2]

Do you think it’s possible for you to read the Bible without the underlying Western Christian paradigm interpreting the text for you?  Perhaps you need to sit down with a Jew and listen to how he reads it.  Of course, there’s a paradigm operating in his view as well, but at least it will give you a chance to see a bit of your own.

Topical Index: paradigm, translation, pĕlêṭât, remnant, ṣemaḥ, Branch, shoot, Isaiah 4:2

NOTE: Tomorrow is Shabbat, followed by Yom Kippur.  There will be no Today’s Word until the 26th.

^[1] Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K. (Eds.). (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 725). Chicago: Moody Press.

^[2] Kaiser, W. C. (1999). 1928 צָמַח. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 769). Chicago: Moody Press.