Apr 22, 2009 David Lang

Accordance and "Loose Loins"

Doctoral candidate and Accordance power user Rick Mansfield recently blogged about an interesting expression in Isaiah 45:1. In that passage, the LORD says of Cyrus that he will "loose the loins" of kings. Rick uses Accordance to examine the expression, and even includes a photo from the Bible Lands PhotoGuide (now on sale). While his post is not an Accordance tutorial, it is an excellent example of the exegetical process, and well worth checking out.

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Comments

Robert Robinson

May 07, 2009 11:44 AM

Accordance makes it easy to consult a very ancient translation, LXX, which gives perhaps the closest we can come to a contemporary understanding of the meaning of the Hebrew in Isa. 45:1.

 

Ou¢twß le÷gei ku/rioß oJ qeoß tw◊ˆ cristw◊ˆ mou Ku/rwˆ, ou∞ e˙kra¿thsa thvß dexia◊ß e˙pakouvsai e¶mprosqen aujtouv e¶qnh, kai« i˙scun basile÷wn diarrh/xw, aÓnoi÷xw e¶mprosqen aujtouv qu/raß, kai« po/leiß ouj sugkleisqh/sontai 

 

Two centuries BC scholars in Alexandria understood the Hebrew expression to mean “I will shatter the strength of kings.”  Perhaps the English translators of the versions Rick consulted considered this in arriving at their equivalents.  Note also how they rendered the title given to Cyrus: tw◊ˆ cristw◊ˆ mou Ku/rwˆ.  



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