Forecast of Comfort and Joy
Quote: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given… ” Isaiah 9:6, King James Bible.
Figure of Speech: prophetic perfect, the it’s- as- good- as- done figure.
In baseball, it’s called “selling the call.” Much of an umpire’s authority comes from his appearance of absolute certainty as he sweeps his arm, jerks his thumb, and yells steeeeerrrike!
In the prophet line, it’s the prophetic perfect — using the past or present perfect tense to lend credibility to a prediction. “My prophecy is so real,” the figure implies, “it’s as good as done.” That’s how the prophet Isaiah could announce the birth of the Messiah at least seven centuries early (assuming, as Christians do, that the Messiah has shown up already).
“Is done” and “is given” are in the present perfect tense. But Hebrew scholars say that the past perfect — “has been born,” “has been given” — come closer to the original.
Either way, it’s perfect.
Snappy Answer: “And his name has been called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
As you might have surmised, Figaro writes this thing in great haste, when he’s supposed to be doing useful things. This is his excuse for calling “has been” the past perfect. Of course, “is born” and “has been born” are exactly the same tense: present perfect.
Which Figaro, presently, isn’t.
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Reader Comments (9)
Ciao, Bella
For example, modern-day proponents of "prosperity ministry" don't seem to understand that "wealth" meant "a good life," not "money," and that "eternal life" or entering the "Kingdom of God" was a measurement of "abundance" and "quality," not a calendar extension.
English 17th-century words have different, or even opposite, meaning when used today (e.g. suffer = allow, prevent = go before).
To quote Joseph Campbell, "Eternity has nothing to do with time."
Or better still, Thomas Aquinas: "Beware the man who has read one book." ;)
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You have been an inspiration to me and I incorporated a section in my website where I use your model to write entries on rhetoric. My page is in Spanish but the translation of the section in case you decide to give it a look is "Rhetoric Radar". The page is in www.freewebs.com/eduradar/
Have a happy and very merry Christmas
Shalom!
Blessings.
Hansraj Jain