LORD or Lord?

[Yaku Lee]

Can someone please explain why אֲדֹנָי of Eze 21:14/9 is sometimes translated as “LORD”? KJV (NKJ, WEB, RWB), ERV, NAU (NAS), NLT, JPS, NAB has “LORD,” and ASV and DBY has “Jehovah,” here. But, of course, RSV, NRS, ESV, NIV, NET, etc. has “Lord” and that is perfectly understandable.

[bkMitchell]

Can someone please explain why אֲדֹנָי of Eze 21:14/9 is sometimes translated as “LORD”?

I guess this is probably done out of respect or for theological reasons.

Keep in mind:
(1)Translation/interpretation is an art not a science!
(2)Every, translation and translator has biases.
(3)Translations are often done by committees which vote and then take the majorities opinion on how a term/terms should be translated.
(4) AD FONTES! (Back to the sources!)

ללמד תרגום זה כמו לנשק את הכלה דרך צעיף
"Studying through a translation is similar to kissing a bride through the veil."

חיים נחמן ביאליק

Hayim Nahman Bialik

[bobvenem]

Since verse 9 is the content of "the word of the LORD (Jehovah)" introduced in verse 8, who else would Adonai be referring to but Jehovah? The KJV, et. al., were being contextually consistent is my guess.

[SkipB]

OK, I don't have my Stuttgartensia home with me. But I checked the apparatus in both Ginsberg's text and an older Kittel. They both indicate that the "name" is an alternate reading to 'adon here. So I think there is a textual issue, but I don't have the tools to look at it in detail. Maybe someone with better access to the Massoretic info will weigh in...

[benelchi]

OK, I don't have my Stuttgartensia home with me. But I checked the apparatus in both Ginsberg's text and an older Kittel. They both indicate that the "name" is an alternate reading to 'adon here. So I think there is a textual issue, but I don't have the tools to look at it in detail. Maybe someone with better access to the Massoretic info will weigh in...

The Stuttgartensia does list four different manuscript families that do contain the alternate reading of יהוה and additionally it should be noted that traditionally אֲדֹנָי is almost always verbally substituted when the name יהוה is read out loud (even in synagogues today), making this a very easy transcription error to make; especially if a scribe had been writing what was being read to them.

[Yaku Lee]

The Stuttgartensia does list four different manuscript families that do contain the alternate reading of יהוה and additionally it should be noted that traditionally אֲדֹנָי is almost always verbally substituted when the name יהוה is read out loud (even in synagogues today), making this a very easy transcription error to make; especially if a scribe had been writing what was being read to them.

It is good to know that LORD/Lord translations in Eze 21:14/9 is textually based.

One thing, though, is intriguing. I didn’t know they had something like the NT scriptoria for the OT as well, as you, benelchi, suggested. Even if they had OT scriptoria or something like them, I would imagine they must have paid some special attention not to have any confusion regarding the name, or some special device not to confuse about it when copying the text; first because they were “normally,” as I understand, paying meticulous attention to the name in reading, and second because the OT would be full of confusion regarding the name if scribal errors were allowed to creep in, mainly due to the sheer number of the occurrences of the name--6,828 times, which amounts to 24.94% if only verses are counted, according to the Stats window.

For whatever reason, isn’t Eze 21:14/9 a special case for the confusion to arise? Or are there many similar instances in the OT?