New Translation of Isaiah

David Grant Stewart, Sr.

© 2006

[Work in progress]

Preface

Translation of Isaiah will also require some Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform as well as Akkadian and yes, even some of the language of Adam. Hebrew alone is utterly inadequate, which is partly why no living person has understood it since 1844.

The Microsoft Hebrew font has very perverse rules of usage and often behaves unpredictably when cutting, pasting, or any sort of editing is attempted. For this reason I have inserted the Hebrew punctuation mark maqaf as a sort of hyphen to force the words to stay in order, albeit with not much reliability. I do wish the folks at Microsoft would spend one percent of the time they spend protecting their intellectual property, in making it more reliable in use for those who have paid for it.

Because the Hebrew font software has a nasty habit of changing the order of words, I am going to run all the words together - this is in fact the way the text was originally written. And unpointed.  The lines exactly match the original text.

You may have noticed that the Greek accents are inconsistent. The software does not permit accurate placement of accents. This, too, is not an issue - the original Greek text was originally written without accents and all the words were run together - and there were no lower case letters.

Please don't be too shocked at the strange spellings of some of the names. At this late date we are going to have to keep calling them what we have always called them. Nevertheless, I have included the correct original spellings of the names. It isn't worth upsetting anyone in a vain attempt to get him to pronounce a word correctly in a language that has been dead for over 2000 years. Years ago I attended a Sunday school lesson by a good man who had a novel idea as to how the name of one of the characters should be pronounced. The weightier matters of his fine lesson were completely lost in the emotional disturbance created by his strange sounding name. There is no John, Mary, nor James anywhere in any ancient manuscript of the Bible. But this is what we are used to calling them. Calling them anything else, whether based on fact or not, is not worth the distraction it would cause from the great events surrounding their lives.

Isaiah 1:1

חזון־ישעיהו־בן־אמוץ־אשר־חזה־על

יהודה־וי

רוש

לם־בימי

עזיהו

יותם־אחז־יחזקיהו־מלכי־יהודה׃

Vision of Isang-Jah, son of Amots, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Gnuziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Ihizkiah, kings of Judah.

Vetus Testamention ex versione Septuaginta interpretum olim ad fidem codicis Ms. Alexandrini, tomus III, Tiguri, Helvetiorum, Joannis Heideggeri & Soc., MDCCXXXII.

Ορασις ην ειδεν Ησαϊας υιος Αμως, ην ειδε κατα της Ιουδαίας και κατα Ιερουσαλημ, εν βασιλεία Οζείου και Ιωάθαμ, και Αχαζ και Εζεκίου, οι εβασιλευσαν της Ιοδαίας

A vision which Isaiah, son of Amos, saw concerning Judea and concerning Jerusalem, during the reign of Hozea and Joatham, Akhas and Ezekiah, who ruled as kings over Judea.

Luther:

Dies ist die Offenbarung, die Jesaja, der Sohn des Amoz, geschaut hat über Juda und Jerusalem zur Zeit des Usia, Jotham, Ahas und Hiskia, der Könige von Juda.

This is the revelation which Yesaya the son of Amots saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem at the time of Usia, Yotham, Ahas and Hiskia, the kings of Judah.

Explanation:

The name we know as Isaiah should be transliterated Isang-Jah and means Jehovah redeems. The name Amots means strength. The name Gnuziah, incorrectly transliterated as Uzziah, means strength of Jehovah. Jotham means orphan or one who is bereft (all his sixty-nine older brothers were murdered). The name Ahaz means he has seized. Ihizkiah, incorrectly transliterated Hezekiah, means Jehovah shall strengthen. Interesting but not surprising how many allusions to strength were called into service during the time surrounding the Babylonian captivity.

Isaiah 1:2, Masoretic Hebrew, Septuagint Greek, Martin Luther’s German:

שמעושמיםוהאזיניארץכייהוהדבר

בניםגדלתיורוממתיוהםפשעובי

Hear, oh heavens, and give ear, oh earth, for the Lord hath spoken: I have reared and exalted children, and they have rebelled against me.

ΚΟΥΕΟΥΡΑΝΕΚΑΙΕΝΩΤΙΖΟΥΓΗ

ΟΤΙΚΥΡΙΟΣΕΛΑΛΗΣΕΝΥΙΟΥΣΕΓΕΝΝΗθΧΚΑΙ

Hear, oh heaven, and give ear, oh earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have reared and exalted children, and they have rebelled against me.

Höret, ihr Himmel, und Erde, nimm zu horen, denn der Herr redet! Ich habe Kinder großgezogen und hochgebracht, und sie sind von mir abgefallen!

Hear, ye heaven, and earth, give ear, for the Lord speaketh! I have brought up and reared children, and they have fallen away from me!

The Hebrew, Greek, and German verbs all refer to lifting up, exalting, rather than the "bringing up" in a cultivating sense, which is misleading in a modern context.