Hebrew distinction between "His" and "Their" in Micah 5:4

[JoeyD]

Micah 5:4, in all English translations too which I have access, says "the Lord His God."

 

However, the LXX uses the third person plural pronoun.

 

Is there any reason, inherent in that verse, in Hebrew, that would either require "their" or even allow "their" as a correct translation.

 

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Joey

[Michael J. Bolesta]

In Hebrew (HMT-W4), the suffix is third person masculine singular, "his"

[Nick Laurence]

I think you mean Micah 5:3 in Hebrew, which equates to Micah 5:4 in many English translations. The relevant clause in BHS is יְהוָה אֱלֹהָיו "Yahweh his God". If you wanted "Yahweh their God" this would be יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיהֶם assuming a masculine suffix. I don't know why the LXX has αὐτῶν here - the Hermeneia commentary mentions that it does, but makes no comment on it.

[Matthew Burgess]

The punctuation of the LXX module suggests that the LXX understands the phrasing of the verse differently than the MT, placing the third-person plural verb υπαρξουσιν ("they will dwell") with the preceding phrase εν τη δοξη του ονοματος κυριου του θεου αυτων ("in the glory of the name of the Lord their God"), rather than the subsequent phrase διοτι νυν μεγαλυνθησεται εως ακρων της γης ("for now they will be magnified until the ends of the earth"). So, it's "they will dwell in the glory of the name of the Lord their God" instead of "... in the glory of the name of the Lord his God. And they will dwell, for now he will be great until the ends of the earth." The pronoun has been adapted to match the plural verb.

 

This is also how Brenton's translation of the LXX renders the verse.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Matthew Burgess

[JoeyD]

Thanks for the feedback!