Subject: Re: Ps 2

From: Jim West <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 14:30:57 -0500 (EST)

At 11:14 AM 5/16/97 PT, you wrote:

>What I found highly conjectural, and which I present to the group, is the
>NRSVs "Kiss the feet." Support for this rendering is found in H-J Kraus'
>psalms commentary. He takes several consonants at the start of the verse,
>transposes them to the end of _bar_, thus making "feet." While this emendation
>of the text is possible, I am not persuaded since the plain reading of bor/bar
>is workable. I was surprised that the NRSV translators favored "feet." Any
>recommended articles dealing with this text would be welcomed.
>

I suspect that Kraus is correct.  What he does is recognize the confusion
that scribes demonstrate and he corrects that confusion by a most
appropriate emendation.  Though the printed Hebrew text is easy enough to
read, the written text is not quite so easy.  "he" and "cheth" are virtually
indistinguishable (in the DSS for instance).  So though Kraus' emendation
may seem hasty- a glance at the handwritten texts may go a long way in
deciding on emendation of a printed text.

>I am a newbie to Heb TC and would also appreciate recommendations as how to
>choose between variants in OTTC.
>

See Tov's most excellent book on the subject.  His work is "top of the
line"; his methods are sound, and he is quite skilful in presenting his
material.

>
>Mike Kennedy
>
>M.A. student at Fuller Theological Seminary (Phoenix, AZ extension)
>
(I grew up in Phoenix- hot there now, isn't it!!!)

Jim

+++++++++++++++++++++++
Jim West, ThD
Pastor, Petros Baptist Church
Managing Editor, "The Journal of Biblical Studies" at
http://web.infoave.net/~jwest/index.htm
(submissions welcome!)

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