NASB Error?

It is. What parts of a complete sentence do you see missing? It's a little awkward, but still a complete sentence.

 

Sorry I had an interesting Christmas sending my FIL to the hospital emergently.
He was discharged and I got held up a bit. Everyone doing well though - God is good.


The NASB follows the Hebrew construction rather rigidly.


wĕhinnē [and look!/behold!]
lōʾ- huggad-lî [not told to me]
haḥēṣî [the half]
hô-saptā [add/exceed]
ḥokmāh [wisdom]
wāṭôb [and good]
ʾel-haššĕmûʿâh [to the report]
ʾăšer šāmāʿĕttî [that I heard]

Another case of a proper literal translation reading rather roughly.

Rob

 

You can disagree all you like, but according to the rules of the English language it is a complete sentence!

 

What parts of a complete sentence do you see missing? Poorly structured doesn't equal an incomplete sentence. An incomplete sentence is missing something. What is this missing? It has a subject(You), verb(exceed) and an object(report). It is a complete thought. So if you are going to say it's an incomplete sentence, please tell us what it is missing.

 

You just don't like where they placed the word "exceed".

You exceed in wisdom and prosperity the report which I heard. (NASB95)

Let's move it

Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the report which I heard.

Rob

 

It is awkwardly worded, but it is a complete sentence. If you don't think so, talk to an English professor at a nearby college.

 

Some of them do not know English very well and some do.

 

What is your take on the original Hebrew?

 

Here is the Hebrew of the verse, notice it is, well, complicated...

1Kings 10:7 וְלֹא-הֶאֱמַנְתִּי לַדְּבָרִים עַד אֲשֶׁר-בָּאתִי וַתִּרְאֶינָה עֵינַי וְהִנֵּה לֹא-הֻגַּד-לִי הַחֵצִי הוֹסַפְתָּ חָכְמָה וָטוֹב אֶל-הַשְּׁמוּעָה אֲשֶׁר שָׁמָעְתִּי׃

 

This is the last sentence of the verse in question.

וְהִנֵּה wĕhinnē [and look!/behold!]
לֹא-הֻגַּד-לִי lōʾ- huggad-lî [not told to me]
הַחֵצִי haḥēṣî [the half]
הוֹסַפְתָּ hô-saptā [add/exceed]
חָכְמָה ḥokmāh [wisdom]
וָטוֹב wāṭôb [and good]
אֶל-הַשְּׁמוּעָה ʾ el-haššĕmûʿâh [to the report]
אֲשֶׁרשָׁמָעְתִּי׃ ʾăšer šāmāʿĕttî [that I heard]

Rob

 

Would this be a perfect example of how a translation can be literal true to the hebrew, yet by doing so would be tagged as being "literally wooden?"

Just curious as to how the 1901 ASV handles same phrase!

 

So we agree then that the ASV and the NASB both use properly constructed sentences?

 

yep, just that the NASB made the rendering a bit harder to follow!

 

Here are a few odd translations that played with the placement of the Hebrew words

1 Kings 10:7b


thou hast added wisdom and goodness unto the report that I heard.
Young's Literal Translation

thi wisdom is more and thi werkis, than the tale which Y herde.
John Wycliffe Bible (1185)

thou hast exceeded in goodness all the report which I heard in my land.
3 Kingdoms 10:7 (The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament)

Rob

 

I think it is rather easy to find examples in the NASB that are arkward, just as it is easy to find examples in other modern translations that are needlessly dynamic, subsituting what was said with what the translators thought it meant.

Is there any difference between "You exceeded in wisdom and goodness the report which I heard" and Your wisdom and goodness exceeded the report which I heard?" I think yes, because one addressed the fruit of the Spirit as displayed to others, while the other seems to addresse inherent attributes that would be missing without God's influence.

In context the Queen is attributing God's influence upon the King as the reason for His wisdom and goodness. And goodness is certainly better than wealth because his actions and not his possessions are in view.

Now lets look at a few poor translations: "in wisdom and wealth you have far exceeded the report I heard." Here we see "far" added to the text needlessly, the previous sentence describes the magnatude. And goodness - behavior, is replaced with wealth, possession. Probably not the inspired message.

"Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report that I heard." (ESV) Points to the King and away from God, and refers to possession rather than behavior.

"Your wisdom and prosperity far exceed the report I heard." (HCSB) Points to the King and away from God, word is added to be helpful and goodness is replaced with prosperity.

"Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard." (NKJV) Here again we have attributes rather than behaviors, but what is interesting is the choice of "fame" rather than report. This seems contextually driven, what had been reported was positive only too small by half.

 

"Fame" is one synonym of šāmā and is also found in verse 1.

Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with hard questions.
1 Kings 10:1 (ESV)

Rob

 

Thanks Deacon, so it seems yet another improvement in the translation would be: "You exceeded in wisdom and goodness the fame of which I heard."