Lewis Reich:
1. You wrote: “I have never seen PR) )DM translated as ‘wild ass’….”
It is often translated “wild ass of a man”, or some similar phrasing. Here are
the first 7 translations I found:
NIV: “He will be a wild donkey of a man.”
ESV: “He shall be a wild donkey of a man.”
ASV: “He shall be as a wild ass among men.”
Darby: “And he will be a wild-ass of a man.”
Young’s Literal: “and he is a wild-ass man.”
KJV: “And he will be a wild man.”
JPS 1917: “And he shall be a wild ass of a man.”
2. You said: “This is consistent with B. Chan’s suggestion that that Ishmael
will be a free-ranging creature, untrammelled by earthly authority. People
untrammeled by earthly authority generally end up in conflict with others, so I
think that in effect Mr. Chan is saying the same thing, but may not be willing
to draw the conclusion that people living wild and free generally have a lot of
conflict with others in their way of life.”
Well said.
3. You wrote: “The description of someone living wild and free in the desert,
raiding others and subject to attack himself, would not sound pejorative to a
Bedouin, I think.”
I agree. The problem I was pointing out is that in E-n-g-l-i-s-h, “wild ass”
sounds terribly pejorative, like a straightforward curse, which is not a fair
and balanced translation of what the Hebrew text intends to convey.
I think most of us are more or less agreeing as to what the Hebrew text says.
The problem lies in the misleading English translations, which are
unambiguously negative, whereas the Hebrew text is ambiguous and could be
viewed positively. Rather than “wild donkey” or “wild ass”, which are too
pejorative in English, I think “wild stallion” would better convey the meaning
in English.
Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois
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