Sunday, November 21, 2010

Isaiah 43:21

עַם־זוּ יָצַרְתִּי לִי תְּהִלָּתִי יְסַפֵּרוּ׃

21 The people that I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.

זוּ is an indeclinable demonstrative pronoun similar to זֶה, "this, the." יָצַרְתִּי is a qal perfect, 1st singular. יְסַפֵּרוּ is a piel jussive from ספר, "count, relate." The LXX uses an infinitive of purpose to translate this, διηγεῖσθαι.

This is a Janus Verse, looking both ways in the text. Pieper (see above) took it as the first of a new section. In his class lectures, Prof. Brug proposed that a Janus Verse like this be taken as genuinely looking both ways, so that it should not be excluded from what precedes nor from what follows.

     43:14-20 - Babylon will get what it deserves.
     43:21 - We praise you
     43:22-28 - Israel will not get what it deserves (it will be rescued).

LXX. λαόν μου, ὃν περιεποιησάμην τὰς ἀρετάς μου διηγεῖσθαι.

Vul. populum istum formavi mihi laudem meam narrabit

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