אַט

From the study of Isaiah 19:3

Range of meaning

This word appears only here in the Bible. The most widely accepted view connects it with Akkadian eṭemmu (from Sumerian gidim), 'ghost, spirit of a dead person', the standard Mesopotamian term for the dead who can be summoned. An older view, reflected in the supplied gloss 'mutterer', derives it from 'at, 'softly, gently', and so 'those who whisper', i.e. mediums.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'charmers' guess at magicians. BSB/NIV 'spirits of the dead' and NASB 'ghosts of the dead' follow the Akkadian link. ESV 'sorcerers' stays general.

How it drifted

'Charmers' in 1611 meant enchanters or spell-casters. A modern reader hears 'charming people', which is a complete miss.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian texts treat the eṭemmu as a ghost who could be fed, appeased or consulted. Isa 8:19 describes mediums who 'chirp and mutter', which may explain the older 'mutterer' interpretation.

From the study of Isaiah 8:6

Range of meaning

'Gently, slowly, at a soft pace' (BDB, HALOT s.v. אַט). It describes manner and speed, not sound.

Against the English

BSB, NIV and NASB 'gently flowing' and ESV 'flow gently' are good. KJV, WEB and YLT 'that go softly' can sound to a modern ear like 'quietly' or 'faintly'. The point is a slow, steady, unthreatening pace, the opposite of a flash flood.

How it drifted

'Softly' in older English could mean 'slowly, gently' (as in 'walk softly'). Today it mostly means 'quietly'.

Used elsewhere in the period

2 Sam 18:5: 'deal gently (ləʾaṭ) with the young man Absalom'. Ahab 'went about softly/slowly' (ʾaṭ) in mourning (1 Kgs 21:27). Job 15:11 speaks of a word spoken 'gently'. The related form in Gen 33:14 (ləʾiṭṭî, 'at my own slow pace') is used of Jacob moving at the pace of his flocks.

From the study of 1 Kings 21:27

Range of meaning

A rare noun or adverb meaning gentleness or slowness. As le'at it means 'gently, softly' (2 Samuel 18:5, 'deal gently with the young man Absalom'; Isaiah 8:6, the waters of Shiloah 'that go softly'; Job 15:11, a word spoken 'gently'; Genesis 33:14, 'I will lead on slowly'). Here it stands alone as a description of how he walked.

Against the English

KJV 'went softly' is literal but can sound like tiptoeing. BSB/NIV 'meekly' risks the modern sense of 'meek' as timid or spineless. WEB 'despondently' and similar renderings ('dejectedly') read the emotion into the word. The core is a slow, quiet, subdued manner, the walk of a mourner.

How it drifted

Translators have to choose between the physical sense (slow, quiet) and the inferred emotion (dejected). Each English option loses some of the other.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Aramaic Targum renders it 'barefoot', and the medieval Jewish commentator Rashi follows that reading. Going barefoot was a mourning custom (2 Samuel 15:30; Ezekiel 24:17). The Latin Vulgate has 'with head bowed down' (demisso capite). The Septuagint has 'went weeping' (in an expanded form of the verse).