"The First Testament"

Verses from Isaiah 11, often read during Advent and seen in the New Testament as fulfilled in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, are startlingly fresh in a new translation by scholar John Goldingay.

"But a shoot will go out from Yishay's [Jesse's] stump, a branch will fruit from his roots./ Yahweh's breath will alight on him, a breath with smartness and understanding,/ A breath with counsel and strength, a breath with acknowledgment and awe for Yahweh; his scent will be awe for Yahweh. ... He will exercise authority with faithfulness for the poor, and reprove with uprightness for the humble people in the country." (1-3a, 4)

Because the group of books later called the Old Testament is "hugely significant for Christian faith," as Goldingay writes, he has chosen to call his literal rendering "The First Testament: A New Translation" ($60 in hardcover from IVP Academic; also for Amazon Kindle).

Goldingay is emeritus professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. He and his wife Kathleen now reside in Oxford, UK, where he continues to write (see johnandkathleenshow.com). His revised translation of the Old Testament, which first appeared in his seventeen volume "Old Testament For Everyone" series, aims to supplement more familiar translations using common English words in an accessible format including maps, glossary, and introductions to each book. "It uses the name for God that God invited Israel to use, the name Yahweh."

Goldingay kindly responded to an email asking about his use of the word "smartness," in Isaiah and especially in Proverbs. He pointed to a definition that Google provides: "having or showing a quick-witted intelligence."

He says on his blog that "The depth and the wonder of the words I have been reading have come home to me more and more. I’ve sat there marveling that I’m privileged to let this sacred text soak into me. I’ve felt more and more that I have been on hallowed ground. Yes, they are holy scriptures. Of course it’s because they’re all about God. So simply reading them for hours every day has made me wonder at the God whose activity lies behind them and who is the most prominent character in them."