The debatable identity in Isaiah 62 : 5

The identity of Zion’s spouse is debatable in modern Bible translations. The most common reading is ‘your sons’ (Amplified Bible [AB], American Standard Version [ASV], Berean Study Bible [BSB], Catholic Public Domain Version [CPDV], Douay-Rheims Bible [DRB], English Standard Version [ESV], King James Version [KJV], New International Version [NIV], New American Standard Bible [NASB], Smith’s Literal Translation [SLT], World English Bible [WEB]). This translation reads a pure consonantal text ךינב from the noun ןבֵּ.


Introduction
The identity of Zion's spouse is debatable in modern Bible translations. The most common reading is 'your sons' (Amplified Bible [ [WEB]). This translation reads a pure consonantal text ‫בניך‬ from the noun ‫ן‬ ‫.ּבֵ‬ The scholars reading preference is 'your builder' (Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia apparatus, Coverdale Bible of 1535, NRSV and GNT). There are a few reasons behind this second translation: Firstly, Psalms 147:2 that sees God as the builder of Jerusalem and the gatherer the exiles of Israel (NIV) and secondly, Leviticus 18:7-8 that clearly states that an incestuous copulation is strongly prohibited in the God's law. Deuteronomy 27:23 also curses anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law.
The least favourable reading is 'your builders' (Literal Standard Version [LSV] and Young's Literal Translation [YLT]). Based on Isaiah 60:10 and 61:4, these 'builders' refer to 'the foreigners'. This translation reads a pure consonantal text ‫בניך‬ from the verb ‫.בנה‬ Consequently, these three possible readings reveal that this identity is highly disputable amongst the modern translation.

Methods and its findings: Textual criticism External evidence
In this methodology, this research will present the reading from ancient sources such as Aleppo codex (eds. Elliger & Rudolph 1997), 1QIsa a (Parry & Qimron 1999), 1QIsa b (Ulrich, Flint & Abegg 1990), Peshitta (eds. Romeny & Van Peursen 1993), Targum (Chilton 1987), Septuagint (Ziegler 1939) and Vulgate (Kennicott 1776(Kennicott -1780eds. Weber et al. 1983). The presentation of ancient readings is summarised in Table 1. In addition to the primary reading on the text, this research will also incorporate the apparatuses of those ancient texts. In conclusion, the external evidence provides some information. Firstly, most of the ancient sources have 'your sons'. Secondly, the translation of 'your builders' occurs because of the other possibility of translation of a pure consonantal text of ‫.בניך‬ Thirdly, the translation of 'your builder' or ‫'בנך'‬ is certainly not attested in ancient texts. As a result, the external evidence favours the reading of 'your sons'.

Internal evidence The evaluation of 'your builders'
This translation comes from another possibility of a pure consonantal text of ‫בניך‬ from the verb ‫בנה‬ or ‫ְך'‬ ‫ַיִ‬ ‫נ‬ ‫'ּבֹ‬ with holem -patah as its vowels. Although ‫ְך‬ ‫ַיִ‬ ‫נ‬ ‫ּבֹ‬ offers two benefits: solves the incestuous sexual and ‫בנך‬ problem, this translation has a major problem. Isaiah 60:10 reveals the identity of this 'builders' as the servants of God's people, and not husband. Isaiah 61:4-5 continue that this 'builders' will be God's people vine dressers and farmers. Also, the lexical study demonstrates that 97.78% of a pure consonantal text ‫בניך‬ occurs as 'your sons' (Chia & Juanda 2019:8-13).

The evaluation of 'your builder'
The major strength of this translation is solving the incestuous marriage in

The evaluation of 'your sons'
This translation reads a pure consonantal text ‫בניך‬ from the noun ‫ן‬ ‫ּבֵ‬ or ‫ְך'‬ ‫ָיִ‬ ‫נ‬ ‫'ּבָ‬ with qames -qames: as its vowels. Although this translation has an incestuous problem, it is supported by three major arguments. Firstly, Barthélemy argues that ancient scribes and translators tend to simplify the difficult text through lexical, grammatical and stylistic forms, which is called as 'facilitating'. In other words, the harder text may be considered as the original (Barthélemy 2012:90). The reading of 'your sons' is definitely a more difficult reading because of the incestuous copulation. Secondly, God promises that his people will possess the land (Is 14:1;49:20;54:3;60:4,9,(21)(22). Contextually, these people will benefit from their land as it is promised in Isaiah 62:9 (Chia & Juanda 2019:8-13).  The second interpretation is derived from the verb ‫.יבעלוך‬ The common meaning of ‫בעל‬ is 'to possess'. It is also related to 'wife' in Hebrew (Brown et al. 1952:127). Oswalt, the proponent of this translation, uses Judges 9:2 as its reference. 1 He defends the translation of a dweller or possessor of the land more than a status as a husband. He also interprets the name of the land ‫'בעולה'‬ in Isaiah 65:4 as 'belongs to' or 'to dwell with' instead of 'married'. 2 He argues that 'to dwell in' is more sensible in the context than 'married'. The reading of 'your sons will dwell in you' is more reasonable than 'your sons will marry you' because he believes that the relational aspect is important to Isaiah. It is not merely that the land will be re-inhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of belonging. This emphasis on relationship seems to be the reason of 'to possess' or 'to dwell in' reading (Oswalt 1998:579). Septuagint, Targum and Vulgate agree with Oswalt's proposal, although Peshitta translates as 'a sexual intercourse' or ‫.'ܢܒܥܠܘܢܟܝ'‬ Aleppo codex, 1QIsa a and 1QIsa b text could be translated either way: to dwell or to marry. Table 3 summarises ancient sources that concur Oswalt's proposal.
The first major problem of this translation is the language of Isaiah 62:5a. It says, 'for a young man ‫"יבעלוך"‬ a virgin'. If we translate ‫'יבעלוך'‬ as 'to dwell in' or 'to possess', then the emotional and marriage relationship would be disappeared from the reading. Also, it would be an inappropriate relationship if a young man possesses a virgin. On the other hand, it would be an incomprehensive picture to imagine a young man dwells in a virgin. The second major problem is this translation 'to dwell in' or 'to possess' ignore the parallelism between Isaiah 62:4 and 62:5. The idea of these 1.Speak, now, in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, 'Which is better for you, that 70 men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?' Also, remember that I am your bone and your flesh.
2.It will no longer be said to you, 'Forsaken', Nor to your land will it any longer be said, 'Desolate'; But you will be called, 'My delight is in her', And your land, 'Married'; For the Lord delights in you, and to him your land will be married.
passages is to convey that Zion is not alone anymore: ‫ה'‬ ‫'עזּובָ‬ and ‫ה'‬ ‫מָ‬ ‫.'ׁשמָ‬ Therefore, the translation of 'marry' is more reasonable for both verse 4 and 5.
This research, therefore, attempts to propose another reading for this incestuous problem in  (Beuken 1986(Beuken -1989Delitzsch 1889:592;Waard 1997:208). Therefore, the readers should understand 'your sons marry you' metaphorically. Secondly, the parallelism in Isaiah 62:5 itself. The exultation of the bridegroom over a bride is compared with God's rejoice over Zion and the marriage of a young man with a young woman, therefore, should be compared with the marriage of Zion with your sons.
Author's contributions P.S.C. is the sole author of this article.