The Way Back
Zion shall be redeemed through justice, and those who turn back in her, through righteousness. Isaiah 1:27 Robert Alter
Through – The NASB renders this verse differently. “Zion will be redeemed with justice
And her repentant ones with righteousness.” The difference is the translation of the preposition bĕ. As you know, Hebrew prepositions play a lot of roles. bĕ, for example, can mean “in, at, among, upon, with, away from” and “when.” As always, it depends. On context, mood, tone, structure, and intent. The reader must decide. Alter’s translation “through” is linguistically just as valid as the NASB “with.” But the meaning is not quite the same, and because it’s not quite the same, we need to be careful not to blanket endorse any of the various meanings of bĕ in this verse.
What is implied in the translation “with” (NASB)? This preposition usually means “accompanying” or “possessing,” or “in relation to.” In English we have the following: “Hamburgers are better with French fries,” or “That is the red car with mag wheels,” or “My wife will be happy with me.” If these meanings are found in the verse, then God is saying that the redemption of Zion will be accompanied by justice, or Zion’s redemption includes justice, or justice will be found within Zion’s redemption. Take your pick. You can apply the same analysis to the second usage of “with.”
But what if we consider the implications of Alter’s “through” (not the usual way of rendering bĕ). “Through” is a preposition of movement. It means transitioning from one place to another, continuing in time toward completion, or by means of a process, step, or agent. In this case, Isaiah’s verse will mean that Zion’s redemption is accomplished as a result of applied justice, or Zion’s redemption is the process of applying justice, or Zion’s redemption continues in the application of justice. And so on for the second part of the verse.
You might be asking, “Why bother with this complicating detail? Does it really matter?” I suggest that it does. Why? Because there is a big difference between justice as an accompaniment of redemption and justice as the means of redemption. Is God saying that when Zion is redeemed justice will follow, or is He saying that doing justice will bring about Zion’s redemption? In the first case (the NASB), some action not specified brings redemption, and as a result justice prevails. The implication is that God redeems Israel and the result brings about justice. Under this rubric, Israel is the passive recipient of divine restoration. All that is necessary on Israel’s part is to wait for God to do His thing.
Alter’s translation paints a different picture. Redemption results in doing justice. Israel must first act justly, and as a result of that act, it will find redemption. In this case, Israel is not passive, but is rather the active agent in its own restoration. God may assist, of course, but the action necessary for redemption is ultimately in the hands of men, and without their effort restoration will not happen.
Which is it? Passive acceptance of God’s divine intervention or motivated return to God’s order in hope of redemption? We face the same question today that is built into the ambiguity of Isaiah’s preposition. Don’t let the translation remove your responsibility. You have to decide what the Hebrew means—and how that affects your involvement with God.
Topical Index: bĕ, with, through, preposition, redemption, justice, Isaiah 1:27
Indeed, it is “through” the inter-relational movement of the one Being of God himself, the Triune God in the fellowship of Unity and Communion as the One True God, who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that the acts and work of the One are manifest in doing justice and effecting the work of redemption through the Son in the Spirit.
This effective Devine fellowship of the Divine being is the very fellowship for which mankind was created and upon which the foundation of the creation is established. Thus “the action necessary for redemption” is ultimately shared “by the hands of men;” but only in particular— that is, by the hands of “the people of God”, who are constituted a People of God in faith of God through Jesus Christ to be participants in both the activity and the communion of fellowship of the Divine Being of the One True God, Who is Lord, and Father through the Son, and in Almighty Power by the Spirit.
And to turn the camera around we see that YHVH is Exalted through doing justice/judgment and sanctified through doing righteousness. Isaiah 5:16 where the same words are used but the NASB translates the “b’e as “in.” Wouldn’t some consistency in translation be helpful!?!