Plowing with a Lamp

(Proverbs 21:4 KJV)  An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.

If you compare the KJV and the NASB you notice that one has “plough” (5215) and the other has “lamp” (5215a).  The Hebrew word that brings out a different translation of “plough” (5215) in the KJV looks exactly the same in transliteration but is slightly different in the Hebrew.  In trying to figure out the difference I came across something called “vowel points” in Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible.  This is a reminder of the difficulty of translation. 

Hebrew originally did not have any written vowels.  Us laymen are most familiar with this process when we come to the Hebrew word YHWH which is usually translated “Lord”.  My understanding is that we get the name Jehovah by taking the consonants from the Hebrew YHWH and the vowels from the Greek adonoi and put them together.  The story is that no one knows how to pronounce it because the name of God was too holy to be spoken out loud.

So?  Is it “lamp” or “plough”?  Once again the answer is, “Yes.”  Both or either will work just fine.  It may be that the Holy Spirit will use each to touch your heart on different days.  It would sure be easier if God made everything plain old black and white but it would also be much more boring.