I was translating Isa 40 this afternoon and I discovered something
interesting relating back to our discussion a while back on Psa 68:11
(Heb: Psa 68:12)

Psalm 68:11 says: The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the
news are a great host: (Psa 68:11 ESV)

I made the point before that the word "women" does not appear in this
verse in the Hebrew.  The translators (and it is the same in the KJV,
NASB, NIV and most other translations) are inferring the word "women"
from the use of the feminine plural Piel participle of the root
"basar" meaning to "bear (good) news."

I did some digging and it seems that one of the reasons that most
translators assume that the psalmist is referring to women in verse 11
is that in verse 12 (Heb: v 13) we have the unusual term "the pasture
of the house."  The difference between the word for "pasture"
("nevath") and the word for "women" ("binvath") is just one letter
(bet).  Since "women of the house" (cf. NIV, ESV, NASB, KJV) makes
more sense than the obscure "pasture of the house" (inferred in
Bishops Bible and Douay Rheims), most translators amend the text
assuming that a scribe dropped the bet from the text at some point.

This may be correct; however, it seems suspect to rely on an amended
verse to help in translating the previous verse.  So let us assume for
a minute that "pasture of the house" is correct.  (It may simply be a
hapax legomena for an idiom that has dropped from memory and use.)
What then can we say about the use of the feminine plural Piel
participle of basar in Psa 68:11?

The root "basar" appears 21 times in the Hebrew Bible.  In all but two
instances it appears in the Piel (Psa 40:9 has it in the Qal and 2 Sam
18:31 in the Hithpael).  The majority of the time that it appears as
the Piel participle it is either in the masculine singular or
masculine plural form.  One exception to this is Isaiah 40:9 which
reads:

Get you up (Qal Imperative fs with a preposition and 2fs pronominal
suffix) to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news (Piel
participle fs of basar); lift up (Hiphil Imperative fs) your voice (ms
noun with fs pronominal suffix) with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of
good news (Piel participle fs of basar); lift it up (Hiphil Imperative
fs), fear not (Qal Imperfect 2fs); say (Qal Imperative fs) to the
cities (fp noun) of Judah, "Behold your God!" (mp noun with 2mp
pronominal suffix)
(Isa 40:9 ESV )

You notice, of course, the predominance of the feminine singular in
this verse.  The Piel participle fs of basar is used twice in this
verse, once for Zion and once referring to Jerusalem.  Therefore, the
piel participle feminine singular is rightly used to refer to a
collective noun where there the make-up of the collective is
undoubtedly both male and female.  It is not unusual for a city to be
referred to as a "she."  But note that at the climax of the verse,
Isaiah switches dramatically to the masculine and says "Behold your
God!" with a masculine plural pronominal suffix indicating the "your."

Is Isaiah saying that Elohim is only the God of the males?  Of course
not.  Not anymore than he is saying that the "bearers of good news" in
Jerusalem and Zion are strictly female.

Back to Psalm 68:11, the "hamvasseroth tsava rav" or "bearers of good
news are a great host" the word for "host" (tsava) is another
collective noun.  Like the use of the Piel participle fs of basar in
Isa 40:9 to refer to the collective nouns Zion and Jerusalem, here the
Psalmist uses the feminine plural participle to refer "hosts."  We
don't assume that Zion and Jerusalem is solely comprised of females in
Isaiah 40:9, it is therefore consistent to not make that assumption in
Psalm 68:11.  It is therefore most accurate to translate Psa 68 as
"the ones who give the news are a great host" in verse 11 while the
"pasture of the house" (meaning, perhaps, the beauty and tranquility
of homelife) will "divide the spoils" (verse 12).

Elsewhere in my translation I came across something odd in Isa 40:7.
A literal translation would be "for the spirit/breath of the LORD
[she] blows through him."  The verb "nasav" is written as a Qal
Perfect 3fs and refers to the action of YHWH.  Does anyone know why
the 3fs is used here instead of the expected 3ms?  Could the final
"he" (Hebrew letter, not English pronoun) be phony as is often the
case with unpointed texts?  There is no notes in the BHS apparatus
indicating a scribal error or a discrepancy among different
parchments.  What do you think?

-- 

Grace and peace,
Kevin Sigafoos
---------------------
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be
glory forever. Amen. (Rom 11:36)