Jer. 50:39 what were the Iims?

Many MVs have jackals.

 

The reason that the KJV translators used the phrase "of the islands" is because they saw (a form of?) a Hebrew word for island in the text of the verse.

From Strong's:

338 'iy ee probably identical 337 (through the idea of a doleful sound); a howler (used only in the plural), i.e. any solitary wild creature; --wild beast of the islands.

339 'iy ee from 183; properly, a habitable spot (as desirable); dry land, a coast, an island:--country, isle, island.

 

More likely the KJV translators used the Septuagint for the translation.

The translation is derived from a corruption of the Masoretic Hebrew text.
[I can rarely get the Hebrew to copy correctly when I transfer the text to the boards.
So I’ll write out the letters of the word here.]

The Hebrew word in question reads:

vav – bet – aleph – yod – [mem] – yod – final mem

If you leave out the middle ‘mem’ the word can be translated, ‘and in the isles’.

(note that the verse is place differently in the LXX)

διa τοvτο κατοικήσουσιν iνδάλματα eν ταiς νήσοις, καi κατοικήσουσιν eν αuτn θυγατέρες σειρήνων, οu μn κατοικηθῇ οuκέτι εiς τoν αiwνα. Jeremiah 27:39 LXX
(please pardon my letter substitutions where I've exchanged letters since the Greek accents make my browser show square boxes )

καi … eν ταiς νήσοις = 'and in the isles'

Rob

 

I spent a bit of time this evening studying this out.
It's rather technical so after the fashion of TCGreek, I'll number my points.

(1) This section of Jeremiah is a fascinating portion of Scripture.
There are words within this section that are very similar; this can’t be conveyed in any translation.

(2) It is rather unusual for a Hebrew root word to have only one consonant.
In Hebrew, the word for ‘island’ and ‘jackal’ (verse 39) are formed from a single consonant, Aleph, and a single vowel, Hiriq-yod.

(3) To make matters more interesting there is another single consonant word formed from the consonant Tsade, and the vowel, Hiriq-yod.
This word can either be ‘a ship’ [Nu 24:24; Is 33:21; Dn 11:30] or ‘a desert inhabitant‘ (perhaps a hyena?) [Is 13:21; 23:13; 34:14; Je 50:39].

(4) In English, we make a word plural by adding an ‘s’ at the end of the word.
To make a Hebrew word plural you also add a suffix (or ending), the vowel, hiriq-yod, and the consonant, a final mem (in English it may sound like “–eem” or “-im”).

(5) Iim is a plural word meaning either islands or jackals.

(6) Both single consonent words support or parallel each other in a number of passages, e.g. Isaiah 13:21-22 and Isaiah 34:14.

(7) Psalm 72:9-10 is interesting because both words occur but not in a parallel context.

They that dwell in the wilderness (see point #3) shall bow before him;
And his enemies shall lick the dust.
The kings of Tarshish and of the isles (see point #2) shall bring presents:
The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Psalm 72:9-10 AV 1873

(8) I struggled to find the word “Iamia” used in the Great Bible of 1540.
The word I mentioned in my previous post was from Jeremiah 50:38.
It has a different ending however.
Perhaps in the note, they confused the Hebrew word for water (another single consonant word with the Hebrew letter “mem”): mem [sere-yod] mem [segol] yod – he [qames] = m-imia(h) (mis-using the letter “mem” as a preface).

In my previous post I studied "Iimim"
There "Iimim" is uniquely translated as ‘graven images’ [KJV] or ‘idols’ [many MV].
but "in the isles" in the LXX.
The root word is related to ‘terror’ or ‘fear’.

And they shall be ashamed: for it is a land of graven images; and in the islands, [Greek - καὶ ἐν ταῖς νήσοις // Hebrew = aleph – yod – mem – yod – final mem = ‘Iimim] where they boasted.
Therefore shall idols dwell in the islands, [Greek - ἐν ταῖς νήσοις] and the young of monsters shall dwell in it; it shall not be inhabited any more for ever.
Jeremiah 27:38-39 from Brenton’s translation of the LXX (1851)

Rob

 

The Great Bible actually reads "lamia (that's lowercase L, not capital I) & catte of mountaynes".