Wednesday, July 31, 2019

No man. But God

Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of his life [(אָ֗ח לֹא־פָדֹ֣ה יִפְדֶּ֣ה אִ֑ישׁ לֹא־יִתֵּ֖ן לֵאלֹהִ֣ים כָּפְרֹֽו)], for the ransom of his life is costly, and can never suffice [(וְ֭יֵקַר פִּדְיֹ֥ון נַפְשָׁ֗ם וְחָדַ֥ל לְעֹולָֽם)], that he should continue to live on for ever, and never see the Pit. . . . But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me [(אַךְ־אֱלֹהִ֗ים יִפְדֶּ֣ה נַ֭פְשִׁי מִֽיַּד־שְׁאֹ֑ול כִּ֖י יִקָּחֵ֣נִי)].

     Ps 49:7-9, 15, RSV.  לָקַח > יִקָּחֵ֣נִי.  For he, rather than the Pit/Sheol, will take me in.  BDB 4f is "receive, accept, esp. a bribe, gift, ransom, etc.", but then v. 15 would contradict v. 7 (which, if אָ֗ח is (as in the note) "brother," may not be reflexive in nature).

1 comment:

parochus said...

“...and as for the seventh verse of the forty-ninth Psalm in the Book of Common Prayer, 'But no man may deliver his brother, nor make agreement unto God for him', that is to me poetry so moving that I can hardly keep my voice steady in reading it. And that this is the effect of language I can ascertain by experiment: the same thought in the bible version, 'None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him', I can read without emotion.” -- A.E. Housman, "The Name and Nature of Poetry" (the Leslie Stephen Lecture for 1933, at Cambridge, May 1933).