Missing The End

Now it will come about that instead of balsam oil there will be a stench; Instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well-set hair, a plucked-out scalp; instead of fine clothes, a robe of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.  Isaiah 3:24 NASB

Branding instead of – Something is missing from the Masoretic text, and because something is missing, English Bibles that rely on the MT are inclined to add a few words.  Such is the case here.  Alter points out that the MT “reads only ‘for instead of beauty.’  The Qumran Isaiah, however, as well as two ancient translations, shows a reading with the word ‘shame,’ which seems far more likely.”[1]  We must agree.  The NASB tries to create consistency with the introduction of the word “branding,” but of course, that isn’t in the MT.  The NIV does the same.  So with the ESV.

The Hebrew phrase is כִּי־תַ֖חַת יֹֽפִי (kî-“instead of beauty”).  The problem is with the first word (kî).  English Bibles that do not take the Qumran Isaiah into account treat this hapax legomenon as if it is derived from the verb kāwâ (to burn, scorch, brand).  But you’ll notice that this word is a one-time-only occurrence in the Tanakh if we treat it as a derivative from the verb.  However, kî is commonly a particle indicating some kind of relationship, and is normally translated as “inasmuch, because, so, since, then, therefore, etc.”  In other words, because the MT doesn’t complete the thought, translators try to make sense of the incomplete phrase by reading kî as if it means something different in this one case.  Alter’s point is that all of this is unnecessary if you pay attention to other versions of Isaiah.

So, why didn’t the translators of the NASB, the NIV, the ESV, the KJV, etc. do what Alter suggests?  The answer has nothing to do with the text.  It is about a paradigm commitment.  The translators considered the MT to be the official, authorized version of the Tanakh and they were unwilling to concede that it might be insufficient.  Wedded to a doctrine that the MT is God’s word, superintended by God so that there are no mistakes, they are forced into this awkward place rather than simply admitting that the authors of the MT left something out.  Qumran Isaiah should have settled the issue since it is one thousand years earlier.  But if I were to allow this change in Isaiah based on the Qumran copy, how many more changes might I have to allow once the dam is broken.  You can appreciate the scope of the problem if you ask yourself, “What happens to my faith if the Bible that I have isn’t exactly what God wanted?”

Is there another lesson here?  Maybe.  After all, the text itself reveals God’s intention to bring the lofty and arrogant down.  Their beauty, which they flaunt before the public, will be turned to shame, and remember that shame in biblical terms is not a private emotional corrosion.  It is public humiliation, a loss of respect by the community.  What God will do, all will see.  For us to appreciate the parallelism, we need this missing word, and once it’s added, the whole diatribe makes sense.

Topical Index: kî, kāwâ, burn, brand, shame, hapax legomenon, Isaiah 3:24

[1] Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible Volume 3 The Writings, p. 633, fn. 24.