[B-Greek] LXX: ESAIAS 65:20

Justin Buol vonbuol at gmail.com
Mon Mar 21 18:46:00 EST 2005


Hello all,

I am working on a paper concerning Isaiah 65, and am having some
difficulties with verse 20:

KAI OU MH GENHTAI EKEI AWROS KAI PRESBUTHS hOS OUK EMPLHSEI TON CRONON
AUTOU ESTAI GAR hO NEOS hEKATON ETWN hO DE APOQNHiSKWN hAMARTWLOS
hEKATON ETWN KAI EPIKATARATOS ESTAI

The difficulty I am having centers around hO DE APOQNHiSKWN
hAMARTWLOS.  I have noticed that a lot of translations of the Hebrew
favor talking about someone "failing to reach 100 years," and I am
aware that hAMARTANW and its cognates have the same basic meaning as
well.

So I am wondering, is that a legitimate understanding here?  "The one
who dies missing one hundred years..."

Also of note is Moises Silva's NETS translation of the last part:
"but the one who dies a sinner will be a hundred years old and accursed."

Silva offers an alternative rendering of "the sinner who dies a
hundred years old will also be accursed."

Is there any preference between these?  The implications of "the one
who dies a sinner..." appear to me to soften the distinction between
the "disobedient" ones and the chosen ones who serve the Lord.  The
distinction between the two groups seems quite strong in the rest of
65, 64, other preceding chapters.  In fact, would translating
hAMARTWLOS
as sinner even mesh with the rest of vv. 17-25, which all talk about
the new Jerusalem being a renewed existence of justice and peace?

Well, I hope that was not full of too much rambling.  Thanks in
advance for your thoughts.

Justin Buol
Senior
Bethel University



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