"Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of Jehovah to blaspheme, even the child that is born to thee shall certainly die" (2 Samuel 12:14, Darby Bible).
Other translations say that David showed great contempt for YHWH (Jehovah) himself:
"But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the LORD, the son born to you will die" (NIV).
Either way, the divine reprimand given to David is strong.
NET Bible note on this verse:
The MT has here "because you have caused the enemies of the Lord to treat the Lord with such contempt." This is one of the so-called tiqqune sopherim, or "emendations of the scribes." According to this ancient tradition, the scribes changed the text in order to soften somewhat the negative light in which David was presented. If that is the case, the MT reflects the altered text. The present translation departs from the MT here. Elsewhere the Piel stem of this verb means "treat with contempt," but never "cause someone to treat with contempt."
NET thus renders 12:14: "Nonetheless, because you have treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son who has been born to you will certainly die."
"Nevertheless, because you have treated Jehovah with utter disrespect in this matter, the son just born to you will certainly die" (NWT 2013).
5 comments:
See McCarter, 296.
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MURxhWhTRTQC&pg=PA370&dq=McCarter+296&hl=en&sa=X&ei=241WVMivLMLQ7AaAi4GQAw&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBg
Also Targum variation,
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=O4ZMAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA131&lpg=PA131&dq=McCarter,+296+2+samuel+12:14&source=bl&ots=_BJNWM7Rhn&sig=llLFQRZYJroT5fRyypzkOsCJdls&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lbNYVKaOOKir7AbuhIHYBA&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=McCarter%2C%20296%202%20samuel%2012%3A14&f=false
This has an interesting perspective,
http://tmcdaniel.palmerseminary.edu/David_repents.pdf
See this review:-
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1517930?uid=2134&uid=3738032&uid=2485034763&uid=2485034753&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2485034753&uid=60&purchase-type=article&accessType=none&sid=21104967223647&showMyJstorPss=false&seq=2&showAccess=false
I would really like to read this book but but cannot find a place to get access or purchase:-
http://www.amazon.com/theological-corrections-Masoretic-Testament-Orientalis/dp/3727802421/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415187994&sr=1-11
Also came across this review in JQR:-
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1454011?uid=2134&uid=3738032&uid=2485034763&uid=2485034753&uid=2&uid=70&uid=3&uid=2485034753&uid=60&purchase-type=article&accessType=none&sid=21104967589487&showMyJstorPss=false&seq=1&showAccess=false
Emanuel Tov states at the end of this review:-
"The Qere readings, nearly always graphically close to the ketib, are traditionally taken as corrections of the Ketib, but recent research has determined that at least some, if not most, of these readings were created as textual variants, and were "elevated" to the level of corrections because of the development of the Masorah. If these variants were turned into "corrections" as Qere readings, other variants also could have been made into t.s. After all, the same circles which produced the Masorah were
responsible also for the t.s., and a few of the t.s. were also transmitted as Qere readings. In short, I believe that Dr. McCarthy's basic view of the nature of the t.s. is correct, but a more sensitive analysis would probably yield a different statistical picture with regard to the relationship between real and exegetical corrections.
Chapter 6 ("An examination of certain Biblical verses which illustrate with
reasonable certitude that theological corrections did really lake place") is more in the nature of an appendix and would have better been published separately. Since Dr. McCarthy suggests that only a small minority of the t.s. reflects theological corrections, there is no need for a large scale analysis of these corrections here. In any event, this chapter forms a valuable monograph in its own right.
To sum up, an understanding of the nature of the t.s. is important for the textual criticism and exegesis of the O.T., as well as for Rabbinic studies.
Dr. McCarthy's monograph provides important data for the understanding of the phenomenon involved, and sets a standard for future work of this kind."
Note - Quote was OCR'd so may not be 100% accurate.
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