02-13-2010, 06:19 PM
aw dal:mah s:riy:qah:yith sob:riyn tuwn de:mar k:tho:bah d:bat:no:nah ro:gah ruw:chah d'om:rah ban
Or of-to-what vainly, presuming ye-are, of-saith the-writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
Note that the "ye-are", follows immediately the "presuming", so it is the associates of James that are doing the presuming. At least we know that much. The next question is which verb is the adverb "vainly" applying to. I am thinking that maybe the Aramaic syntax for the adverb "vainly" is applying to the verb "saith", and would be spoken in English like this, perhaps giving the verse a better understanding:
Or of-to-what presuming ye-are, of-vainly-saith the writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
But this is just a first stab at it, and certainly subject to critique. And it is also a bit difficult, at least for me, in applying the verse to the context within which it is. And I also have a suspicion that dal:mah could be translated as "of-not-what", which gives it the "lest" result in the lexicon, instead of "of-to-what" or "of-why". And that would upset the apple-cart yet again.
Or of-lest vainly presuming ye-are, of-saith the writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
In fact, I am now kind of leaning to this last version. Which would portray that James was admonishing his envious and infighting associates that maybe they were vainly misinterpreting the "of-in-the-envy" part of the verse, in becoming envious of each other. So in verse 6, he then says that it is "humility" that is favored, and not "internal envy" or the proud or lofty. So also it seems that James is paraphrasing the last half of the verse in a manner to correlate to how his associates might be thinking it to read.
Or of-to-what vainly, presuming ye-are, of-saith the-writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
Note that the "ye-are", follows immediately the "presuming", so it is the associates of James that are doing the presuming. At least we know that much. The next question is which verb is the adverb "vainly" applying to. I am thinking that maybe the Aramaic syntax for the adverb "vainly" is applying to the verb "saith", and would be spoken in English like this, perhaps giving the verse a better understanding:
Or of-to-what presuming ye-are, of-vainly-saith the writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
But this is just a first stab at it, and certainly subject to critique. And it is also a bit difficult, at least for me, in applying the verse to the context within which it is. And I also have a suspicion that dal:mah could be translated as "of-not-what", which gives it the "lest" result in the lexicon, instead of "of-to-what" or "of-why". And that would upset the apple-cart yet again.
Or of-lest vainly presuming ye-are, of-saith the writing, 'Of-in-the-envy, desiring the-spirit dwelling in-us.'
In fact, I am now kind of leaning to this last version. Which would portray that James was admonishing his envious and infighting associates that maybe they were vainly misinterpreting the "of-in-the-envy" part of the verse, in becoming envious of each other. So in verse 6, he then says that it is "humility" that is favored, and not "internal envy" or the proud or lofty. So also it seems that James is paraphrasing the last half of the verse in a manner to correlate to how his associates might be thinking it to read.