Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Fascinating Biblical Find: a Masoretic Exception

Our friend Eric Jobe has found a rarity. He notes one case in which the Masoretic Text has a clearer Messianic prophecy than the LXX: Isaiah 4:2, with its reference to "the Branch of the Lord." This is the exception that proves the rule, presumably. (Here's a list of the New Testament passages that quote the LXX over the MT; and here is a list of the reverse, which is drastically smaller.) He adds:
It is interesting to note that the Aramaic Targum translates and interprets this verse correctly, or rather in a messianic manner, giving יהי משיחא דיוי, yhē mšīḥā dywy, "The Messiah of the LORD will be."
Fascinating reading, as always. I appreciate Eric's scholarship.

Incidentally, here's a website that will allow you to compare the Lancelot Brenton version of the Septuagint (LXX) with the King James translation (based on the MT) side-by-side.

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