[B-Greek] MONOGENHS in Psalm 24:16 (LXX)

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Sat Jun 19 13:21:57 EDT 2010


Yancy,
Given the fact that, as you point out, יחיד in biblical Hebrew can  
mean "only (one) and that in Ps 24:16 the Greek translator is simply  
using his default translation (μονογενὴς) 24:16 is not so  
much a mistranslation as it is a translation that pays more attention  
to the lexeme in the source text than to its context. As you are no  
doubt aware, this mode of translating is standard in Psalms and most  
of the LXX.
Al
On Jun 19, 2010, at 12:21 PM, Yancy Smith wrote:

> ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με,
>    ὅτι μονογενὴς καὶ πτωχός εἰμι  
> ἐγώ.
>
> EPIBLEYON EP EME KAI ELEHSON ME,
> hOTI MONOGENHS KAI PTWXOS EIMI EGW
>
> The NETS LXX translation reads:
>
> "Look upon me and have mercy upon me,
> for I am an only child and poor."
>
> פנה־אלי וחנני כי־יחיד ועני אני׃
>
> PNH 'LY VChNNY KY YChYD V "NY ANY
> "Turn your face to me and have pity on me,
> For I am lonely and poor."
>
> יחיד in Ugaritic has the meaning "alone, lonely" and likely has  
> this connotation in the Hebrew of the this verse. The LXX has read  
> this in the light of its more common meaning in BibHeb, "only  
> (son)." But parallelism with עני as well as similar meaning for  
> יְחִידִים (God sets the lonely in families) Ps 68:6(7)  
> μονοτρόπους MONOTROPOUS and יְחִידָתִי in Ps 22  
> and 35 are decisive for this meaning. So the LXX is right in Ps 68,  
> but has mistranslated 24:16.
>
> Yancy
>
>
> ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ᾿ ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με,
>    ὅτι μονογενὴς καὶ πτωχός εἰμι  
> ἐγώ.
>
> EPIBLEYON EP EME KAI ELEHSON ME,
> hOTI MONOGENHS KAI PTWXOS EIMI EGW
>
> I don't really know any Hebrew, but I am curious about MONOGENHS  
> here.  I
> know MONOGENHS typicaly means "unique" or "one-of-a-kind," but can  
> this be
> extended to include the concept of "alone" with the implication of  
> being
> forsaken?  It fits rather well with the context in the psalms, and I  
> think
> it would work well with the way Jesus is portrayed in John's gospel  
> (the
> world did not receive him, even though through him it was created,  
> etc.)
>
> Please let me know your thoughts!
>
> χαρις και ειρηνη ὑμιν,
>
> Αlex Poulos
> Senior - Computer Science
> NC State University
> ---
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—
Albert Pietersma PhD
21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm




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