Friday, August 20, 2010

Isaiah 40:14

אֶת־מִי נוֹעָץ וַיְבִינֵהוּ וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ בְּאֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ דַעַת וְדֶרֶךְ תְּבוּנוֹת יוֹדִיעֶנּוּ׃

14 Who was consulted so as to make him understand in the way of judgment? Or who taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding?

אֶת־מִי נוֹעָץ וַיְבִינֵהוּ וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ בְּאֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט Who was consulted so as to make him understand in the way of judgment? נוֹעָץ is a nifal perfect from יָעַץ, "to advise, counsel," here in the passive, "who was consulted?" The waw with וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ (piel vc imf) "so as to make him understand" is a waw of result. The Mp note points out that the form וַיְבִינֵהוּ is a hapax legomenon. Another says that וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ occurs just twice (both are in this verse).

וַיְלַמְּדֵהוּ דַעַת Or who taught him knowledge, another piel vc imf. As we've pointed out, these questions ring out like God's questions to Job in the final chapters of that book.

וְדֶרֶךְ תְּבוּנוֹת יוֹדִיעֶנּוּ׃ or showed him the path of understanding? The genitive תְּבוּנוֹת is "intelligence, skill." This word is more commonly found in the Wisdom books (Prov. 11:12; 28:16). The Mp comment that יוֹדִיעֶנּוּ occurs twice would help more if it told us that the other place is up in verse 13.

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