The translation of Ps 2:7

[Douglas Somerset]

There seems to be considerable diversity in the Hebrew accents used in Ps 2:7 in the various MSS and printed Hebrew texts. If one takes the accents in the Aleppo Codex, which is usually considered to be the most accurate of the Hebrew manuscripts, then it seems to me that the verse translates as follows:

"I will declare the decree: The LORD has said, To me thou art my Son [lit.: to me my son thou]; this day have I begotten thee."

In other words, "to me" is joined to "my Son" by its conjunctive accent, and is separated from "has said" by the disjunctive accent on that Hebrew word. I would understand this as expressing an even closer intimacy between the Father and the Son than the translations that are usually given (e.g. "The .LORD has said to me, thou art my Son, etc."

I haven't found any commentators or English translations that pick up on this point. I would be interested to hear the thoughts of others.

 

[iainduguid]

There seems to be considerable diversity in the Hebrew accents used in Ps 2:7 in the various MSS and printed Hebrew texts. If one takes the accents in the Aleppo Codex, which is usually considered to be the most accurate of the Hebrew manuscripts, then it seems to me that the verse translates as follows:

"I will declare the decree: The LORD has said, To me thou art my Son [lit.: to me my son thou]; this day have I begotten thee."

In other words, "to me" is joined to "my Son" by its conjunctive accent, and is separated from "has said" by the disjunctive accent on that Hebrew word. I would understand this as expressing an even closer intimacy between the Father and the Son than the translations that are usually given (e.g. "The .LORD has said to me, thou art my Son, etc."

I haven't found any commentators or English translations that pick up on this point. I would be interested to hear the thoughts of others.

This is certainly an unusual Masoretic accentuation. Of course, they were not afraid occasionally to add interpretive accentuation that suggested the text meant something other than its plain reading (e.g. the athnach in 1 Sam. 3:3, which tries to avoid the implication that Samuel was sleeping right next to the ark). However, the plain reading of the text suggests the traditional translation, which is probably why it has never been challenged. Plus Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5 also seem to follow the traditional reading: in each case, they begin the quotation with "You are my Son"

 

[Douglas Somerset]

Many thanks. That is very helpful, confirming the usual translation.

It has also led me to look more closely at the minor accents, and I realise that I was making a serious mistake. The accent on "has said" is not sinnor (disjunctive) but sinnorit (conjunctive). It is the same symbol but differently placed. The problem was that I am using J.D. Price, The Syntax of the Masoretic Accents in the Hebrew Bible, and he employs a totally different symbol for sinnor and sinnorit, which is confusing.

 

[Douglas Somerset]

Just on 1 Samuel 3:3, the force of the atnach would seem to be the equivalent of inserting a comma. So with
the ESV, for example, the translation is;

"The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was."

If they had been following the Hebrew accents, they would have added a comma after "down" and perhaps removed the comma after "out:

"The lamp of God had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down, in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was."

The second part of the sentence would then be qualifying the whole first part. This would seem to me both a more accurate translation of the Hebrew and probably a more accurate reflection of historical reality.