Isaiah 53:12
I
Therefore I am distributing to himself within the multiplied ones and self eternal mighty numbers/throngs. He is distributing spoil, under which he has laid bare the soul of himself to death. And we are counting self eternal rebellious ones.8 And Himself he has lifted up, the miss of multitudes, and he is assailing/confronting9 the rebellious ones.
Footnote:
| Isa. 53:12 | We are Counting Strong's #4487. The verb נמנה is derived from the root מנה and can be understood in several ways depending on its grammatical context and the voice in which it appears. 3rd Person Masculine Singular Niphal Perfect? In this form, נמנה is translated as "he was numbered" or "he was counted," indicating an action done to a singular masculine subject. The immediate issue with this interpretation is the presence of the direct object (self) את which is typically used with this verb when the verb is in the active (not passive) voice. 1st Person Plural Imperfect Forms (Qal, Niphal, Piel, Pual, Hophal): The verb נמנה can also be interpreted as "we are counting/counted." Note how the direct object marker (self) is used in conjunction with the verb in the active voice and not when in the passive in Genesis 13:16: "And I have placed [את] your seed as dust of the Earth, which, if any man is able to count [את] the dust of the Earth, so also [no marker here] your seed is being counted [ימנה]." (Genesis 13:16 RBT) In Isaiah 53:12 the direct object marker את (self) is traditionally interpreted to mean "along with" or "among/beside" instead of a direct object marker. Out of its 11,000 occurances, scholars have tagged it separately as signifying "with" in the sense of "proximity" for about 800 of those occurances (cf. #854) Where the confusion arises is when it seems like the very common Hebrew עִם im "in company with" (cf. #5973) should be used, and yet is not as seen in a classic example in Genesis 5:24 where it is thought that "Enoch walked with the Elohim" but actually: ויתהלך חנוך את האלהים "Enoch is walking himself [hithpael reflexive], the self-eternal [את] Mighty Ones ("Elohim"), and he is not, for mighty ones has taken his eternal self [אתוֹ] (Genesis 5:24) Such a verse is obviously enigmatic, paradoxical, and mysterious as written. But if scholars are good at one thing, it is how to destroy paradox and mystery, leaving a rather dry and boring text devoid of meaning.
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