Saturday, May 9, 2026

Robert Alter on Isaiah 30:7 and 8

  

Isa 30:7:

 

Arrogance Ended. The Masoretic Text reads rahav hem shevet, which would be literally: “arrogance [or Rahab] they to-sit.” This cannot be right. The translation reads with many scholars rohabam moshbat, which is merely a respacing of the letters and a revocalization. The first word could either mean “arrogance” or be the proper name Rahab, a ferocious Canaanite sea beast, possibly here referring to Egypt. (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 2:717)

 

 

Isa 30:8:

 

as a witness. The received text reads laʿad, “forever,” the same meaning as the next word in the text, but two Hebrew manuscripts and several ancient versions show laʿed, “as a witness.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, 3 vols. [New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2019], 2:717)

 

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