Manipulating the Word Order

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

It is time for the Lord to act, for they have broken Your Law.  Psalm 119:126  NASB For the Lord – Notice the change in the Chabad translation (the same by Robert Alter): “A time to do for the Lord; they have made void Your Torah.” What happened?  Here’s the Hebrew verse: עֵת לַֽעֲשׂ֣וֹת לַֽיהֹוָ֑ה הֵ֜פֵ֗רוּ תּֽוֹרָתֶֽךָ I’ve highlighted…

The Way Back

BySkip Moen, Ph.D.

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…