לְפָנָ֗יו (lə·p̄ā·nāw) in Isaiah 53:2: Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
לְפָנָ֗יו (lə·p̄ā·nāw) in Isaiah 53:2
Source Word
At Isaiah 53:2, the Isaiah 53:2 source token לְפָנָ֗יו is H6440, Prep-l | N-cpc | 3ms. The H6440 Isaiah 53:2 BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
How The Form Affects Interpretation
Before Him is the natural English equivalent of the lamed plus faces construct and masculine singular suffix. The Servant's uncelebrated growth takes place before the Lord even though human observers find no impressive form or beauty to desire.
How To Communicate It
Explain the faces idiom without over-literalizing it, and use the surrounding song to identify the masculine referent responsibly.
What Not To Say
- Grammatical form should serve context, not override it.
- Do not picture several divine faces from the plural morphology, and do not claim the suffix alone proves a christological conclusion.
- The suffix is grammatically masculine singular, while the song's discourse establishes whom Him denotes.
- Read before Him within Isaiah 53:2 as the H6440 occurrence; broader theology requires the passage.
What Does The Label Mean?
Hebrew-nominal
Noun
Preposition-l | Noun - common plural construct | third person masculine singular
Not applicable
Not applicable
Not applicable
Common
Plural
Construct
Lamed preposition
Third person Masculine Singular
As a prepositional nominal phrase, it has no verbal aspect; it locates the Servant's growth in relation to Him.
The construct phrase binds faces to the masculine singular suffix, while the lamed turns the expression into a relational setting for the growth verb.
What The Form Does In This Verse
The Servant's growth like a tender shoot and a root from dry ground
The opening description of the Servant's humble emergence in Isaiah 53:2
The prefixed lamed, plural construct noun faces, and third masculine singular suffix form an idiom meaning in His presence or before Him.
The plural noun does not require multiple literal faces, and the suffix by itself does not name its antecedent.
How Much The Form Matters Here
High: The Servant's uncelebrated growth takes place before the Lord even though human observers find no impressive form or beauty to desire.
The construct phrase binds faces to the masculine singular suffix, while the lamed turns the expression into a relational setting for the growth verb.. The prefixed lamed, plural construct noun faces, and third masculine singular suffix form an idiom meaning in His presence or before Him.. Attached to the Servant's growth like a tender shoot and a root from dry ground. Governed by the opening description of the Servant's humble emergence in Isaiah 53:2. The plural noun does not require multiple literal faces, and the suffix by itself does not name its antecedent.
Why does a plural construct noun meaning faces become before Him in English? Hebrew uses the face expression idiomatically for presence, and the third masculine singular suffix supplies the Him relation.
Direct: Before Him is the natural English equivalent of the lamed plus faces construct and masculine singular suffix.
The suffix is grammatically masculine singular, while the song's discourse establishes whom Him denotes. The lexical image of face underlies the idiom, but English presence language better communicates its clause function.
Plural faces means multiple persons: The Hebrew noun regularly occurs in the plural within ordinary spatial and relational idioms. suffix alone identifies the Lord: Agreement narrows the referent, but antecedent identification comes from discourse context. morphology replaces literary context: The H6440 form clarifies the before Him relation in Isaiah 53:2; the surrounding passage establishes its scope.
How The Interpretation Is Derived
At Isaiah 53:2, the Isaiah 53:2 source token לְפָנָ֗יו is H6440, Prep-l | N-cpc | 3ms. The H6440 Isaiah 53:2 BSB+ word table row therefore anchors this guide.
פָּנִים is the lemma behind before Him here. Within Isaiah 53:2, H6440 retains this exact lexical identity.
The construct phrase binds faces to the masculine singular suffix, while the lamed turns the expression into a relational setting for the growth verb.
The Servant's uncelebrated growth takes place before the Lord even though human observers find no impressive form or beauty to desire.
The phrase holds divine presence and human misperception together, a contrast that runs through the Servant's rejection and eventual vindication.
Explain the faces idiom without over-literalizing it, and use the surrounding song to identify the masculine referent responsibly.
Do not picture several divine faces from the plural morphology, and do not claim the suffix alone proves a christological conclusion.