Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Joseph Smith Translation Psalm 125 and the Syriac Old Testament

An exceedingly simple but instructive instance of prophetic inspiration comes to light in the Joseph Smith Translation of Psalm 125:1, as comparison to the Authorised Version shows:

They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever (KJV).

They that trust in the Lord in mount Zion, cannot be removed, but abide for ever (JST).

In the details lies the prophetic instance: thus we have "in mount Zion" rather than "as mount Zion," a single shift in preposition from k to b. 

Can we find any manuscript support for the reading? In my copy of Biblia Hebraica (Stuttgartensia), a famous Hebrew Bible for students, I see the following note attached to the lemma kehar-tsiyyon (as mount Zion): "Ps 125,1 (a) mlt Mss S bhr." The note tells us that many manuscripts of the Syriac Old Testament show preposition b (in) + the place name har-tsiyyon (mount Zion).

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.