I was just checking on the KJV translation of שי in Isaiah 18:7 as well. The Ugaritic term ty appears to be a cognate and, in fact, the vocabulary is almost identical to what is found in the Ugaritic letters we did in Ugaritic class. The KJV translation is *way* off here:
In that time shall the present be brought unto the LORD of hosts of a people scattered and peeled,
The actual rendering of the passage should be that a people scattered and peeled *will bring* a tribute offering, not that they will be the offering. In fact, *all* other translations have this. The KJV is simply in error here, again, mostly because the didn't know the significance of this vocabulary [שי with יבל] in Northwest Semitic.
God Bless,
Adam
Adam,
Respectfully, I cannot agree with your analysis here. You are translating יובל incorrectly as an active voice - as a hiphil - instead of as a hophal, a passive.
The Hebrew does not say "a people shall bring a tribute" - to the contrary, it says "a tribute shall be brought."
Ugaritic has nothing to do with this passage. The same words occur in Psalm 68.20:
WTT Psalm 68:30 מֵֽ֭הֵיכָלֶךָ עַל־יְרוּשָׁלִָ֑ם לְךָ֤ יוֹבִ֖ילוּ מְלָכִ֣ים שָֽׁי׃
I realise that the points here are a bit askew - this is cut-and-pasted from BibleWorks - but do notice that here, the hiphil, the active voice is used:
יובילו מלכים שי
Kings shall bring a tribute.
The same words are used here in Psalm 68.20 as are used in Isaiah 18.7. This is straight Hebrew. The only difference is that the hophal is used in Isaiah 18.17, where the active or the hiphil is used in Psalm 68.20. Ugaritic has nothing to do with the situation here.
The literal rendering of this verse is as follows:
בָּעֵת֩ הַהִ֙יא יֽוּבַל־שַׁ֜י לַיהוָ֣ה צְבָא֗וֹת עַ֚ם מְמֻשָּׁ֣ךְ וּמוֹרָ֔ט וּמֵעַ֥ם נוֹרָ֖א מִן־ה֣וּא וָהָ֑לְאָה גּ֣וֹי׀ קַו־קָ֣ו וּמְבוּסָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֙ר בָּזְא֤וּ נְהָרִים֙ אַרְצ֔וֹ אֶל־מְק֛וֹם שֵׁם־יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת הַר־צִיּֽוֹן׃
(Isa 18:7 WTT)
"And in that time shall be brought a tribute [or a gift] to the LORD of Hosts, a people drawn forth and peeled, even from a terrible people from the beginning and onwards, a nation measured [or lined out] and trodden down, whose land is cut through by rivers, to the place of the Name of the LORD of Hosts, even Mount Zion."
Moreover, the famed rabbinical commentator, David Kimchi, whom the Authorised Version translators consulted, correctly comments on the verse as follows:
ז) בעת ההיא יובל שי - אומות העולם יובילו שי עם ישראל לה' מנחה, כמו שאמר והביאו את כל אחיכם מכל הגוים מנחה לה'
My rough translation:
"In that time shall be brought tribute" - The peoples of the earth shall bring tribute, namely, the people of Israel, to HaShem for an offering, even as he says "and they shall bring your brethren from all the names for an offering to HaShem". (Kimchi is citing Isaiah 60 here.)
You should get the Judaica Response CD of all the Jewish works from Bar Ilan University.
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