The Branch of the Lord - A Superior Reading in the MT?

It is often claimed that the LXX provides clearer and more precise translations of messianic prophecies in the OT, where the Hebrew Masoretic Text (MT) obscures them. In at least one cases shown here, the reverse appears to be the case:

Is. 4:2

(MT) ביום ההוא יהיה צמח יהוה לצבי ולכבוד ופרי הארץ לגאון ולתפארת לפליטת ישראל
bayyōm hahū' yihyeh ṣemaḥ yhwh lǝṣḇī ūlḵāḇōḏ ūprī hā'āreṣ lǝgā'ōn ūlṯip'ereṯ liplēṭaṯ yiśrā'ēl.
In that day, the Branch of the LORD will be comely and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be majestic and beautiful for the escaped of Israel.

(LXX) τῇ δὲ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ἐπιλάμψει ὁ θεός ἐν βουλῇ μετὰ δόξης ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τοῦ ὑψῶσαι καὶ δοξάσαι τὸ καταλειφθὲν τοῦ Ισραηλ
In that day, God will shine in counsel with glory upon the earth to exalt and glorify the escaped of Israel.

Given that the original Hebrew Vorlage of the LXX was unvocalized, it is apparent that the LXX translators read צמח as the verb ṣāmaḥ, meaning "to shine forth," rather than the noun ṣemaḥ, "branch." However, in order to do this, the verb must be paraphrastic with the preceeding yihyeh "it will be", giving a participial construction, yihyeh ṡōmeaḥ "he will be shining forth."

The syntax of the rest of the sentence is also problematical with the ל prepositional phrases used with nouns apparently giving an adjectival meaning - literally "to/for beauty, etc." One would expect the ב preposition "in/with/by." The LXX misunderstood this peculiar syntax, and conequently the phrase "the fruits of the earth." (The Syriac Peshitta follows the LXX, but the Vulgate the Hebrew with germen, "bud or shoot").

While the Hebrew is difficult, it is not beyond the expression of Hebrew poetry, which will often use these a more obscure syntax in order to maintain parallelism or some other kind of poetic device.

It is interesting to note that the Aramaic Targum translates and interprets this verse correctly, or rather in a messianic manner, giving יהי משיחא דיוי, yhē mšīḥā dywy, "The Messiah of the LORD will be."

While this is one isolated case, I believe that this shows the MT (also the pre-Masoretic texts found in the Dead Sea Scrolls) to not be wholly corrupt, but a valuable resource to occasionally consult in conjunction with the LXX and the other translations such as the Peshitta and the Vulgate which have been used within the Church. While the LXX will forever remain (and rightly so) the authoritative OT for the Church, and God must have his reasons for inspiring it the way he did, I do not believe that these good prophetic and messianic readings found in the Hebrew are abrogated or nullified by the differing LXX translation, nor the contrary that the LXX is somehow abrogated or nullified by a "better" Hebrew reading. Rather, both may stand side by side interpreting one another together.

Back in the Coffee Roasting Business

Well not business per se - I'm not actually selling my coffee. But, yes after a long hiatus, I roasted my first batch of coffee in a long while. I did manage a few batches in late August while I was on vacation with my family, but they were coffees that I had previously roasted on many occasions - my stock favorites of Ethiopia Harar and Arabian Mokha Sanani. The present goal is two-fold: to produce a great espresso blend or two, and build a repertoire of coffees for general drip and French press brewing. I have found a few coffees that work as single-origin espressos, but no blend has yet grabbed my attention.

My most recent roast is the Brazil Jakabu Bird Coffee. As you might guess this is one of the rare "animal-processed" coffees, which means that an animal, sometimes a monkey and in this case a bird, eats a coffee cherry, which is "processed" as the cherry is digested and passed through the bird's system. The waste product is a perfectly unharmed coffee bean, which is subsequently washed and readied for shipping. To be quite honest, this is not an amazing coffee in and of itself. The initial flavor is a strong nutty, roasty flavor which increases as the coffee cools. At lower temperatures, the flavor is overpowering and quite nasty. However, at brew temperature, the coffee is good, but not great. It has great body, which makes a hardy cup of coffee. A light chocolaty sweetness is detectable on the finish preventing the nuttyness from being too overwhelming. The only perk to his coffee is knowing where it comes from, although some might be a bit too squeamish for that sort of thing. It's a novelty and nothing more.

More tasting notes to come!