{"id":16644,"date":"2008-10-16T20:58:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-17T01:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=16644"},"modified":"2020-02-27T21:47:18","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T03:47:18","slug":"why-do-you-say-judges-1131-is-better-translated-as-whoever-instead-of-that-which","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-you-say-judges-1131-is-better-translated-as-whoever-instead-of-that-which\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do you say Judges 11:31 is better translated as “whoever” instead of “that which?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Question:<\/h2>\n

I don’t know where you have received the understanding about Judges 11:31<\/a> because it is not coming from the text. Verse 31 uses the relative and all-purpose preposition ‘asher<\/em>. Strictly translated, it means in this case “that which”.<\/p>\n

“And it will be that which is going up from the doors of my house…”<\/p>\n

Translations of “whoever” are being influenced by that which does come out– his daughter. I guarantee you that if a beast came out to meet him, it would be translated more consistently as “whatever”.<\/p>\n

Notice the translations that use “whoever” — dynamic equivalents like the BBE and CEV, the Catholic Rheims Bible, the NET, and the N\/RSV. The ASV, ESV, NASB, and the entire KJV family renders it “that which” or “whatsoever” or “whatever.”<\/p>\n

So again, I do not know where you are getting this “understanding,” but it has no basis in the text.<\/p>\n\t

Answer:<\/h2>\n

“then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering<\/em>” (Judges 11:31).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The understanding comes from looking at the phrase in which the statement is made and not a single word. You are correct that ‘asher<\/em> is a generic “which,” but notice the rest of the phrase:<\/p>\n

wehayah hayyotse ‘asher yetse middalthe vethi<\/em> …<\/p>\n

(then it will be) (the one going out) (which) (it will go out) (from the doors of) (my house) …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
wehayah<\/dt>\n
conjunction; verb (Qal perfect) third person masculine singular<\/dd>\n
hayyotse<\/dt>\n
article; verb (Qal active participle) masculine singular<\/dd>\n
‘asher<\/dt>\n
relative participle<\/dd>\n
yetse<\/dt>\n
verb (Qal imperfect) third person masculine singular<\/dd>\n
middalthe<\/dt>\n
preposition; noun female plural<\/dd>\n
vethi<\/dt>\n
noun masculine singular; pronominal suffix first-person neuter singular<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

It is because hayyotse<\/em> and yetse<\/em> are in the masculine instead of neuter form that the statement was made that hayyotse ‘asher yetse<\/em> would be better translated “the one who comes out.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: I don’t know where you have received the understanding about Judges 11:31 because it is not coming from the text. Verse 31 uses the relative and all-purpose preposition ‘asher. Strictly translated, it means in this case “that which”. “And it will be that which is going up from the doors of my house…” Translations of “whoever”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1391,190],"class_list":["post-16644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-judges","tag-translation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24911,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-thou-shalt-not-revile-the-gods\/","url_meta":{"origin":16644,"position":0},"title":"What is meant by “Thou shalt not revile the gods”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Exodus 22:28 in the King James Version states we are not to revile the gods. 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The style of writing is in the Greek style, though some of the writers, such as Matthew, wrote with a Hebrew \"accent,\" if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11810,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-translation-should-i-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":16644,"position":3},"title":"Which Translation Should I Use?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John 17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A question that I\u2019m asked repeatedly is which translation is best? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a good question because in English alone, one brother made a list of 128 different translations. 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Hamilton Text: John 10:22-38 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many times Jesus faced a mob set to stone him for his words. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In our reading, the thing which upset them was Jesus\u2019 claim to be the Son of God. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They understood that this was not a light claim, but one of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19382,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-translations-god-breathed\/","url_meta":{"origin":16644,"position":5},"title":"Are the translations “God-breathed?”","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 9, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does II Timothy 3:16 \"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,\" apply to reputable translated versions of the Bible, not just the original copies?\u00a0 I want to use this verse to\u00a0state\u00a0my point to\u00a0someone\u00a0that Acts 2:38 is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}