Bible Discussion Thread

Hi. I am confused as to the use of the feminine in reference to ones soul in the Psalm. If im a man and the writer was a man why does it say that.

"34 I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad"

Thanks.

Hi Roo. This can be confusing to us because in English the gender is applied to the speaker. Can't speak specifically for the Hebrew language, but if similar to some other languages, then the gender applied is not to the speaker but to the object (the thing spoken of/referred to). So you might be a male, but your 'soul' is a feminine word in Hebrew, therefore your soul "shall make HER boast in the LORD" and NOT HIS boast.

In a Hindi & Urdu, languages I'm little more familiar with, they have only two genders, so all nouns are either masculine or feminine (and there is no third (neuter) gender as in English). So, in those languages, if you tell someone, "My name is Roo", the word 'name' is masculine. If a woman says, "My name is Rachel", the word 'name' is still masculine so the sentence remains the same for both genders/speakers. I hope that clears it up a little.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I see what you mean, a word here and there won't change my mind that the Kjv is the most faithful. I wonder had it been translated today if that one would be different! Perhaps given the days we live in.

Same for Easter, had they been translating today and seeing what goes on it too may have been different.

Thanks again.

I believe you're correct, most modern Bible translations would opt for the neuter gender, such as "My soul shall make ITS boast in the LORD", as it would align more accurately with those reading the Bible today.

As far as Acts 12:4, the accurate word from the Greek is 'pascha', or 'passover', and this word Young's Literal Translation uses. I don't know why the KJB translators opted for Easter. My sense is that since they were quite high ranked in the C of E, 'Easter' would be a more acceptable & appreciated replacement by the masses instead of using 'pascha'. May the Lord bless you in the study of His precious Word.

Thanks again I greatly appreciate it.