Re-Translating Job 15
See link at Revivedbyhisword readings for Job
Koot van Wyk (DLitt et Phil; ThD) Kyungpook National University, Sangju Campus, South Korea, Conjoint lecturer of Avondale College, Australia
Devotional
Short Notes on Job 15: Readers need to
know what all this scholasticism fuss is all about. Adventists were since their
beginning conscientiously harmonious with their wholesome lifestyle and their
dealings with the Word of God. Job was that way too. In South Korea is a South
African Xhosa young pastor Zonke who makes his audience say the following:
Pastor Zonke: “God is great . . . ” – Audience: “All the time”. Pastor Zonke: “
All the time. . . ” – Audience: “God is great”. This is Job message with his
friends disagreeing. Ever since modern universities started from the Middle
Ages, challengers of faith were seen as heroes. Those who kick the heel against
God in the tongue and thought were seen as not narrow-minded and “progressive”
so at prestigious universities of the World, Yale, Tübingen, Harvard,
Princeton, Fuller, Basel, Bonn, Oxford et al. the networks of skeptics placed
biblical literature like Daniel from the lions’ den with his Book to the
critics den and Job from the friends criticism with his book to the critics
den. They used scissors and glue with much delight among themselves and to the
horror of faithful majority they clung to each other laughing and enjoying the waves
they created in men like Hengstenberg (who came just like Gerhard Hasel in
Adventism in the sixties, to Berlin University in 1825 to let conservatism
reign). The network was broken and they fled around in chaos very critical of
Hengstenberg. All modern commentaries at all universities and seminaries today
are tapping into this ongoing network of scissors and glue for the Word of God.
The South African Calvinist Christian Philosopher Hendrik Stoker said in the
1930’s in his book: Oorsprong en Rigting, that the way you live determines the
way you think and the way you think determines the way you put together your
methodology and the way you put together your methodology determines the
outcome or product whether it be a sermon, lecture, opinion, book, research,
translation. And translation of Job is what it is all about. Elizabeth Smith
1810, said her editor, unfortunately did not live long to correct some errors
she made, and he felt she could have benefited from enlightened professors
[scissors and glue boys] who could have helped her with her translation. It is
good that she never were thrown into the critics den for so-called help. For
those who missed previous notes, we took her straightforward translation and
edited it with removal of Arabisms ad substitution of Egyptionisms (the second
language of Moses: ESL of Moses was Egyptian as a Second Language). That is the
translation-rule here.
Translating
Job 15 with the proper methodology removing Arabisms and exchange them with
Egyptianisms or Akkadianisms where necessary or possible.
1
And Eliphaz the Temanite [answered] and said,
2
Shall a wise man be answered with windy knowledge?
And
will the east wind fill his belly?
3
[To debate in a matter will not *weaken* [Middle Egyptian sgnn meaning “weaken”
for Hebrew יסכון] and words will not [benefit]/profit.
4
[Even will you break respect/fear and you will diminish *boast* [Middle
Egyptian swh which means “boast” for Hebrew שיחה] before God;
5
For [your iniquity will *rotten* [Middle Egyptian rpw meaning “rot” and which appears
as ìrp and also a word in which one must use an /r/ for an /l/ since Egyptians
did not use /l/; for the Hebrew form יאלף (any meaning that reads *guide*, *learn*, *teach* like the
Middle Age Rabbis chose, should be cancelled since, it is derived from the
Arabic and Arabic is 2100 years too late to provide a meaning what Moses had in
mind). The Septuagint of the Byzantine era of 400 A.D. survival of the 50
copies that Constantine ordered ‘to be translated in a haste’ provides “make
you liable” and similarly Jerome in 398 A.D. translated “make you a debtor”]
your mouth.
And
you will choose the tongue of the naked [see Moses use of this word in Genesis
3:1 in his first Book before he started Job and he was referring to the
*nakedness* of the snake] (The word is used a couple of times by Moses in
Genesis 2:25 and in Job but it also appears in prophets, who used Moses in
their writings, like Hosea 2:5 a contemporary of Isaiah).
6
Your mouth [will condemn you, [and] not I,
And
your lips [will] answer [in you].
7
[The first one], [Adam], were you born? And before the hills, were you *content*
[Middle Egyptian hrw as hrr meaning “to be content” for the Hebrew simulation
as חולל] (Adam was happy when
he was created and that is what the Egyptian word is implying here). The
Septuagint read “brought on” and the Vulgate of Jerome in 398 A.D. read “were you
compounded”. The guessed the meaning by parallelism. Sometimes it works but not
always. Adam was created and happy different than people after the Fall.
8
The in the Hast thou overheard the secret of God ?
And
dost thou confine wisdom to thyself?
9
What do you know, and we know not?
You
understand, and it is not with us?
10
Even the grey-headed, even the bowed-down are
[with]
us, more are they [than] from your father’s days.
11
Are the *war-shout* [Middle Egyptian hmhmt meaning “war-shout” for the Hebrew
simulation of this Egyptian word as תנחומות] of God beneath you? And
a word *affliction* [Middle Egyptian ì3dt meaning “affliction” or “lack”
simulated in the Hebrew word by Moses as לאט] with you? (In
this verse both the Septuagint of the Byzantine times [400 A.D. preserved
texts] and the translation of Jerome in the Vulgate [398 A.D.] used a Hebrew
text that has copying problems. Due to persecutions, bookburning, library
stealings, good texts were difficult to get. Jerome’s text was copied by
dictation so that a slip of the ear can be seen in his first word that is heard
meod מאד instead of the Word of God form hameath המעט. Instead of “little” Jerome read “great”.
The Septuagint’s original Hebrew was without breaks between the letters so he
divided the letters as לא טעם meaning “tasteless”
instead of the division לאט עמך. The Septuagint did not know what the word תנחומות means and suggested “vengeance”. So Dhorme
1926: 212).
12
[What will your heart give you and what will your eyes *watch* [Middle Egyptian
rsw meaning “watch” for the Hebrew simulation by Moses as ירזמון]. (The Septuagint of the Byzantine
period [400 A.D.] changed one consonant /z/ to /w/ as ירומון. Red card is given by Adventists
immediately. The Word of God cannot be changed just because the meaning will be
more sensible. Sensus plenior is not a rule. It is a convenience. That can be
dangerous. Translations that read *hint* or *blink* are following the
suggestion of Rabbi Rashi of the Middle Ages [1040-1105] who switched the order
of the consonants from ירזמון to ירמזון. Definitely
a red card since Aramaic words may look the same but if the consonants are
switched around one has to be very careful. In any event, Aramaic’s earliest
semantics and word-forms we have dates to about the 9th century BCE.
That is still 600 years from Moses).
13
[For you will turn unto God your *breath*/*wind*/spirit (Jerome)* and you
caused from your mouth words to come out].
14
[What is mankind, that he will be pure? And
that he will be righteous, woman delivered?]
15
Behold in His holy ones* He trust not. And
the heavens are not pure in His [eyes].
16
How much more a man is abominable and corrupted, Who
drinks iniquity like water.
17
I will *please* you [Middle Egyptian 3ḥ meaning “please” simulated by Moses in
Hebrew as אחוך], [listen to me] And
[this] which I have seen, I will [enumerate].
18
What wise men [have told] and not hide from their fathers.
19
To them alone was given the land And
not passed a stranger in their midst.
20
All the days of the wicked, he *content himself* [see supra in verse 7, from a
Middle Egyptian word for this Hebrew word מתחולל] with pain, And numerous years are laid up for *works* [Middle
Egyptian ìrwt meaning “work” or “proceedings” or “deeds” simulated by Moses
with the Hebrew word לעריץ]. (The
ancient translations were at loss about the meaning of מתחולל: Septuagint of 400 A.D. “in thought”; Jerome in 398 A.D. “in
anxiety”; Aquila’s private Greek translation of 130 A.D. “in pain”; Symmachus
private Greek Translation of 150 A.D. “false pretensions”; Theodotion private
Greek Translation of 190 A.D. “showing himself to be mad”. Targum “seized”;
Syriac “exalting himself”. In modern times scholars translated “shuddered”; “he
torments himself”; “shows himself mad” [Margolis]; “boasts” [Beer]). Correct methodology
is thus a key component of getting back to the original meaning of Moses. Otherwise
people grope in the dark.
21
The voice of terrros is in his ears, In
peace, the destroyer [will come] to him.
22
He will not believe the returning from darkness, And
they *slay* [Middle Egyptian word sp meaning “to slay”/”to fight” which Moses
simulated in the Hebrew form of צפו] he, the [gods] of the sword. (No one has noticed
the extra yod after what appeared for scholars to be a preposition “to” = אל. Not so, there
is the extra yod, אלי. “My god”. What about “And they slay: He,
My God of the sword”. The syntax is very difficult here. This last reading is
literal and more sensible.
23
" He *asks* [Middle Egyptian word nḏ meaning “to ask, to inquire, to
question, to consult, to ask advice” which was simulated by Moses as the Hebrew
word נﬢﬢ] for bread,
where is it? He
knows that [*it is prepared* (It is the word נכון used later by Daniel also in the word מכון] in Daniel 8:11 where Daniel penetrated into
the essence of the Little Horn passed the vicarius filii dei function of the
Papacy as Little Horn (feminine verb) to Satan himself (as in Ezechiel 28 and
Isaiah 14 with masculine verbs). Satan brought low the “preparation/tranquility/equilibrium
of His sanctuary”), in His hand is the day of darkness. (Here the network of the
Enlightenment did not know and changed the Hebrew consonants with scissors and
glue to translate: “fixed” [Duhm, Beer] “decreed” [Duhm, Beer], “handed over to”
[Siegfried, Ball], “thrown” [Duhm 1926]). Red cards for all of them are coming
from true Adventist scholarship.
24
Trouble and anguish terrify him, They
surround him, like a king [ready] for *incense* [Middle Egyptian word ḳtrw als
known in Akkadian which was Moses’ third language as ḳu-ta-ru and which Moses
simulated here in Hebrew as כידור]. (*Attack* is from the Arabic and a red
card is given. The other meaning of Arabic is *swoop down* and Syriac used *for
battle*. The Targum also did not know and guessed “for death”). With the right
methodology one does not have to guess. Throw out the scissors and glue method
of Wellhausen (1860) and kie, date Moses’ books according to the biblical
chronology, utilize Egyptian dictionaries and meaning creeps in with the help
of the Holy Spirit understanding comes closer.
25
[For he stretched unto God his hand and his hand unto the Almighty he showed
his strength].
26
He will run unto Him with a neck *boasting* [Middle Egyptian `b` meaning “boasting”
which Moses simulated in Hebrew as עבי] *deprived* [Middle Egyptian gbì meaning “to
be deprived, to be short, to be lame, to be weak” which Moses simulated with
the Hebrew form גבי], *from his weakness* [Middle Egyptian
word gnn meaning “to be weak, to grow weak” which Moses simulated in Hebrew as גניו]. An
Enlightenment scholar Ehrlich (meaning ‘honest’) who was a salted critic kept
frowning on this verse and then said: the text is irretrievably corrupt. That
is what one gets when one reject Mosaic authorship, reliability of Scripture
and the Word of God as source. The wrong methods were used.
27
For he has covered his face in his fat, And
he has made *exhaustion* [Middle Egyptian word pnḳ meaning “to exhaust, to bail
out, to give vent to indignation” which Moses simulated with the Hebrew פימה] of the *Most
High* [the
word is common in Daniel for the Most High (see Daniel 3:26; 4:2/3, 17/14, 24/21,
25/22, 34/31) of Orion [The Syriac read it the same as 9:9 כסיל instead of כסל as here and there
the constellations of Pleiades and Orion is in mind thus they read Orion here
too. A red card for the Syriac for changing the consonant of the previous word
from a /p/ to a /k/]. Ellen White saw in vision that when the Lord comes at the
Second Coming He will come through an opening at the Orion. She did not know
about this special translation of Job 15:26 here but somehow Moses and Ellen
White could speak the same language in thought if this translation is correct.
28
And he shall dwell in destroyed cities, In
houses not will they inhabit, that is to be [למו אשר], they were [destined/prepared/determined] to heaps.
29
He will not grow rich and not shall stand his possessions, And
not shall lengthen to the earth *his beacon tower* [Late Egyptian from the
Judges time reading mnrt meaning “watchtower or beacon tower” or ḫnrt in Middle
Egyptian meaning “fortress” which Moses simulated as מנלם for
the Egyptians did not use an /l/] (Scholars did not know what to do with מנלם and changed it
with words like “roots” [Wellhausen]; “their ear of corn” [Hitzig]; “their fullness”
[Bötscher]; “ears of corn” [Dillmann]; Septuagint “shadow”; “their shadow”
[Graetz]; “his shadow” [Duhm]. All are getting red cards for changing the
consonants of the Word of God).
30
He shall not remove *the fortress* [Middle Egyptian mnw meaning fortress which
Moses simulated in Hebrew as מני] of darkness, And
his branches shall be dried-up by the flame And
he shall turn aside with the breath of His mouth.
31
Not will he trust in *a day* [Middle Egyptian of sw meaning “day/time period”
simulated by Moses in Hebrew as שו], a sky [Middle Egyptian nwt meaning “sky” or nwti which is
the sky halves of the day and night simulated by Moses in Hebrew as נתע (Scholars of the Enlightenment
Period of critical studies of Job felt that נתעה made no sense [Duhm 1926])], for *cut
down* [Middle Egyptian word sw3 for “cut off/cut down” which is simulated by
Moses in Hebrew as שוא] shall be his *desire* [Middle Egyptian mrwt
meaning “love/desire/wish” simulated by Moses in Hebrew as תמורת]. (This last
word the scholars are all at loss, even the Septuagint substituted the /t/ with
a /z/).
32
Before his day it will be full and his branches will not be green
33
[He shall cut off like a vine his unripe fruit, And
will cast down like an olive its blossom].
34
For the congregation of the hypocrite is *ashes* [Middle Egyptian ḳrmt which
means “ashes” and Moses simulated it in Hebrew as גלמות] and fire consumes the tent of bribery.
35
Conceiving mischief and bringing forth iniquity, And
their belly prepares deceit. (The Septuagint of the Byzantine times of
Constantine, survived as codices in 400 A.D. get a red card here for changing
the consonants of the Hebrew from /n/ to /l/ namely instead of תכין the
Greek quick translating and copying team of Constantine read תכיל). Red card of
course.