I am looking for the most precise Hebrew version translation of the Bible, especially for the Book of Daniel.
Daniel 9:25 says:
ותדע ותשכל מן־מצא דבר להשיב ולבנות ירושלם עד־משיח נגיד שבעים שבעה ושבעים ששים ושנים תשוב ונבנתה רחוב וחרוץ ובצוק העתים׃
Biblehub's Interlinear translation runs:
Therefore know and understand
from the going forth of [the] word/command
to restore and build Jerusalem until messiah/anointed prince -
weeks/sevens seven
and weeks/sevens sixty and two
again and shall be built the street/plaza and the wall/moat and Even in troublesome times.
This mistakenly adds in the word "the" before "command".
One issue is whether מָשִׁ֖יחַ "messiah/anointed" here can only be a noun or can be either a noun or an adjective. In English, to say that an "anointed prince is coming" sounds normal grammatically, and "anointed" is only an adjective. So this refers to someone who has been anointed as a prince in English.
In contrast, "Messiah" and "Anointed One" are only nouns, not adjectives, so to call someone a "Messiah-Prince" or an "Anointed One-Prince" implies that someone fills the roles of both an "Anointed One" and a "Prince". This "adjective vs. noun" nuance can be significant, because the chapter later speaks of both a "Messiah" and a "Prince". (Verse 26 says that Messiah will be cut off: יִכָּרֵ֥ת
מָשִׁ֖יחַ וְאֵ֣ין ל֑וֹ )
A second issue is whether the phrase "62 weeks" belongs with the "7 weeks" in the clause about the time "from the word to restore and build Jerusalem until messiah prince - 7 weeks..." or if the 62 weeks starts the next sentence about rebuilding the plaza and moat. "62 weeks and 7 weeks" sounds clunky, but elsewhere the Book of Daniel uses a bit clunky phrases about time, like, "a time, a time, and half a time".
A third question is whether it says "even" in Hebrew? (וּבְצ֖וֹק)
A fourth issue is whether it really says "wall"? The Hebrew here is charuwts. This word means sharp or diligent in Hebrew, but sometimes in the OT it is translated as threshing sledge or gold. Biblehub explains that it is related to an Aramaic word meaning trench/moat:
noun [masculine] trench, moat (Aramaic חֲרִיצָא; Assyrian —ariƒu, —iriƒu, id., DlHWB)
Theodotion's ancient Greek LXX translation says wall/mound/earthworks (τεῗχος).
I am marking problem areas in Orange. The NASB says for this verse:
So
you are to know and understand
that from the issuing of a [
y]decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until [
z]Messiah
the Prince,
there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again,
with [
aa]streets and moat,
even in times of distress.
Notes:
- Daniel 9:25 Lit word
- Daniel 9:25 Or an anointed one
- Daniel 9:25 Or city square
Doesn't it put "know" in the imperative, rather than saying "you are to know"?
The word "the" is not in the Hebrew before Prince.
The NASB looks comparably okay here, with just 3 problem spots.
The KJV says:
Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
"Therefore" should better be at the beginning of the sentence.
The NRSV says:
Know therefore and understand: from the time that the word went out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the time of an anointed prince, there shall be seven weeks, and for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with streets and moat, but in a troubled time.
"Time" at the end of the verse should be plural.
The New Jerusalem Bible has:
Know this, then, and understand: From the time there went out this message: "Return and rebuild Jerusalem" to the coming of an Anointed Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, with squares and ramparts restored and rebuilt, but in a time of trouble.
The Hebrew, does not put "Return and rebuild" in the imperative, does it? Rather, it uses an infinitive, speaking of a "word to restore and build Jerusalem", right? Plus, it says "restore", not "return", right?
The New English Translation (NET) is rather academic. Its footnotes are helpful. It has:
So know and understand:
From the issuing of the command[
bk] to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince
arrives,[
bl]
there will be a period of seven weeks[
bm] and sixty-two weeks.
It will again be built,[
bn] with plaza and moat,
but in distressful times.
- Daniel 9:25 tn Or “decree” (NASB, NIV); or “word” (NAB, NRSV).
- Daniel 9:25 tn The word “arrives” is added in the translation for clarification.
- Daniel 9:25 tn Heb “sevens” (also later in this line and in v. 26).sn The accents in the MT indicate disjunction at this point, which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to identify the “anointed one/prince” of this verse as messianic. The reference in v. 26 to the sixty-two weeks as a unit favors the MT accentuation, not the traditional translation. If one follows the MT accentuation, one may translate “From the going forth of the message to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period of seven weeks. During a period of sixty-two weeks it will again be built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times.” The present translation follows a traditional reading of the passage that deviates from the MT accentuation.
- Daniel 9:25 tn Heb “it will return and be built.” The expression is a verbal hendiadys.
The NET translation looks relatively good, with just 2 problem spots. The footnote #4 means that "return and be built" is like saying that something will be built in a returning way, ie. "rebuilt".
The JPT has:
And you shall know and understand that from the emergence of the word to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed king [shall be] seven weeks, and [for] sixty-two weeks it will return and be built street and moat, but in troubled times.
The Orthodox Study Bible has:
You shall know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the word to be answered and to build Jerusalem, until Christ the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Then the time shall return, and the streets and the wall shall be built; the times shall be left desolate.
I remember hearing that the OSB relies on the LXX.
Out of these translations above for Dan. 9:25, the NET and the NASB look the most precise.