Hey all, I'm a newbie here and to the Bible and to Christianity.
I have a question about the RSV translation of the Bible. It's got a lot of footnotes about various translations e.g. Exodus 14:25 "clogging[q] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; ..." and then the footnote says '[q]: Or "binding". Sam Gk Syr: Heb "removing".'
Now, the introduction explains the meaning of the abbreviations, so when expanded it's "Samaritan Hebrew, Greek, Syriac: consonantal Masoretic Hebrew 'removing' ". So does it mean that the reading comes from a consensus of the Samaritan, Greek and Syriac manuscripts; whereas the consonantal Masoretic Text reads "removing" instead of "clogging"? That was my first guess.
Why then do other footnotes, like in verse 27 "... and the LORD routed[r] the Egyptians ..." only say "Heb: 'shook off'"? How have they obtained the reading "routed"? Routing and shaking off seem to be very different ideas, although in the middle of the Red Sea with the waters coming back in I don't suppose the Egyptians could tell the difference
I have a question about the RSV translation of the Bible. It's got a lot of footnotes about various translations e.g. Exodus 14:25 "clogging[q] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily; ..." and then the footnote says '[q]: Or "binding". Sam Gk Syr: Heb "removing".'
Now, the introduction explains the meaning of the abbreviations, so when expanded it's "Samaritan Hebrew, Greek, Syriac: consonantal Masoretic Hebrew 'removing' ". So does it mean that the reading comes from a consensus of the Samaritan, Greek and Syriac manuscripts; whereas the consonantal Masoretic Text reads "removing" instead of "clogging"? That was my first guess.
Why then do other footnotes, like in verse 27 "... and the LORD routed[r] the Egyptians ..." only say "Heb: 'shook off'"? How have they obtained the reading "routed"? Routing and shaking off seem to be very different ideas, although in the middle of the Red Sea with the waters coming back in I don't suppose the Egyptians could tell the difference