PerryDox – BeJustAChristian

Isaiah 38:2-3 (NASB) Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,  (3)  and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah 38:2-3 (HCSB) 2) Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD. 3) He said, “Please, LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and wholeheartedly, and have done what pleases You.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Isaiah 38:2-3 (ESV) 2) Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3) and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

The advantage of translations is that they allow us to see another language in our own. As each language has its own organizational structures, so does English. The more literal, word for word translations, can show the other language’s structure more clearly, but that makes for difficult reading at times. For example in Isaiah 38:2-3 we see a chiastic structure that is lost in many translations. Above are the three I normally compare plus another below:

Isaiah 38:2-3 (YLT)  And Hezekiah turneth round his face unto the wall, and prayeth unto Jehovah,  (3)  and saith, `I pray thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which is good in thine eyes I have done;’ and Hezekiah weepeth–a great weeping.

Due to the arrangement in English in most translations, I would not have noticed the full chiasm. I checked the Young’s Literal Translation, and noticed it more closely. Including Isaiah’s commentary about Hezekiah, along with Hezekiah’s prayer, here is the chiasm :

A – Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Jehovah

B – Jehovah, remember how walked habitually

C – Before Thee

D – In truth

E – With a perfect heart

D – that which is good

C’ – In thine eyes

B’ – That which is good I have done

A’ – Hezekiah weepeth – a great weeping

Tags: Chiasm, Translations

This entry was posted by PHall on Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.