Methim

The KJV and other translators translated "Methim" into six English words that it shouldn't have been translated to, but never did they leave the proper noun Math or Meth or Methim as is, as they should have.  It's translated as "men" 14 times, "few" 4 times, "friends" once, "persons" once, and "small" once, something that's highly irregular for what's known of the regularity of the Hebrew language:

Strong's #H4962, math, math

From the same as H4970; properly an adult (as of full length); by implication a man (only in the plural): - + few, X friends, men, persons, X small.

If "math" or "methim" really means "adult", then why would the KJV translators substitute the words "few"  and "small" for "adult" almost as often as it was translated as "adult", and why would they add words which reversed the meaning of the Scripture on at least two occasions where the word "Methim" occurs: in Deuteronomy 33:6 and Isaiah 41:14?  How often the Israelites must have gotten confused by what God commanded of them if the same Hebrew word was used for both "small" and "adults"!

The reality is that it's the KJV translators and many subsequent translators who're confused, so confused that you must question if they ever read the Scripture.  Looking at the original Hebrew word in context, it becomes obvious that Methim are not of Adam, sons of Adam, nor Adamites, nor of Ish, Geber, Enosh, nor any other man.

RESTORING BALANCE IN THE TORAH

In the following verse, we can at least thank the KJV translators for being honest enough to capitalize the crucial word "not" to let us know that they added it in order to remain ignorant of the fact that Methim were an undesirable, evil race.  GNB further confuses the issue by changing "Methim" to "their people" in order to achieve their desired understanding of GOD'S WORD, but at least they confirm that the word "not" does not belong there in the first place.  Douay-Rheims also confirms that "not" does not belong there, but they proved how little concern they have for the accuracy of GOD'S WORD by changing "Methim" to "he".

Where the Torah [read: GOD'S WORD] was originally clear about the evil of Methim, all these translators reversed the meaning of God's Law by adding the one single word "not" or translating "Methim" into something that's not even in the erroneous definitions of "Methim::

Deu 33:6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

Deu 33:6 Let Reuben⁷²⁰⁵ live,²⁴²¹ and not⁴⁰⁸ die;⁴¹⁹¹ and let not his men⁴⁹⁶² be¹⁹⁶¹ few.⁴⁵⁵⁷

Deu 33:6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men [methim] be few.

(GNB) Moses said about the tribe of Reuben: "May Reuben never die out, Although their people are few."

(Douay-Rheims) Let Ruben live, and not die, and be he small in number.

Taking this word out puts Methim back into a frame of reference consistent with the rest of Scripture:

JACOB: FEAR NOT THE METHIM, THIS IS THE LORD SPEAKING

Again, in Isaiah 41:14, the KJV and other translators added words to crucial places where they don't belong or removed them from places where they do belong.  They furthermore, just as with Job 25:6 in reference to Adam, made another supreme effort to translate "tola" as worm when its most frequent meaning is "scarlet".  The KJV translators added the word "and" to make it appear that "fear not" was addressed to both Jacob and "men of Israel", and Douay-Rheims added the word "dead" that is not there, and completely removed the vital word "Methim" that is there.  Green's Literal Translation confirms that the word "and" does not belong there, but fails to note that the Methim were IN Israel, not OF Israel, giving us the false impression that these Methim were related to Jacob:

(KJV) Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

(KJV+) Fear^{3372 not,408 thou worm8438 Jacob,3290 and ye men4962 of Israel;3478 I589 will help5826 thee, saith5002 the LORD,3068 and thy redeemer,1350 the Holy One6918 of Israel.3478}

(Douay-Rheims) Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel.

(LITV (Green)) Fear not, worm of Jacob, men of Israel; I will help you, states Jehovah, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

Isa 41:14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men [methim] of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

If the Methim were so powerful or plentiful that the LORD had to warn Jacob not to fear them, then they must have been a deadly threat to his and his people's existence.  Had the KJV translators at least recognized that Methim were not Adamites, they wouldn't have been compelled to add words and thoughts to God's Word that were not and do not belong there.

The translators took three very different Hebrew words in Job 11:11-12 (Adam, Ish, and Methim) and translated them all into one English word, man, completely and totally obscuring the contradistinction between them that originally existed in God's Word.  Furthermore, they offered no explanation for why they presumed that there was no distinction between such varied words when it's so well known that they had such diverse etymologies, and that the context of the Scripture itself hints at the difference.  It's a consistent theme in the Scripture that Methim are likened to vanity and wickedness, Ish are likened to vanity, and Adam [read: Adamites] are likened to wildness:

Job 11:11-12 For he knoweth vain men [methim]: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it? For vain man [ish, Strong's #376] would be wise, though man [Adam, Strong's #120] be born like a wild ass's colt.

For he knoweth vain Methim: he seeth wickedness also; will he not then consider it? For vain Ish would be wise, though Adam be born a wild ass's colt.

Job 11:2-3  Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should a man [ish, Strong's #376] full of talk be justified?  Should thy lies make men [methim] hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no man [ish, Strong's #376] make thee ashamed?

Should not the multitude of words be answered? and should Ish full of talk be righteousness?  Should their lies make Methim hold their peace? and when thou mockest, shall no Ish make thee ashamed?

Job 22:15-16 Hast thou marked the old way which wicked men [methim] have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

Hast thou marked the old way which wicked Methim have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood:

SIHON'S PEOPLE AND METHIM WERE NOT THE SAME

Where it appears in Deuteronomy 2:33-34 to be an unnecessary duplication of who the Israelites smote in Heshbon, the reality is that it illustrates precisely that Sihon's relatives and the Methim were two different peoples who were smote separately, or at least whose smoting was detailed separately:

Deu 2:33-34 And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men [methim], and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the Methim, and their women, and their little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:

METHIM LIKENED TO DISSEMBLERS, EVILDOERS, AND WICKED

In Psalms 26:4, Methim are likened to dissemblers, evildoers, and the wicked.

Psa 26:4 I have not sat with vain persons [methim], neither will I go in with dissemblers.  I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked.

I have not sat with vain Methim, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evildoers; and will not sit with the wicked.

METHIM LIKENED TO  MURDERERS & THIEFS

Job 24:12 Men [methim] groan from out of the city, and the soul of the wounded crieth out: yet God layeth not folly to them. They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

Methim groan from out of the city, and the soul of the slain crieth out: yet God putteth not foolishly.   They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof. The murderer rising with the light killeth the poor and needy, and in the night is as a thief.

METHIM JEALOUS OF JOB'S FLESH

Job 31:31 If the men [methim] of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied.

The word "flesh" is translated from "basar", Strong's #1320, which appears as "kin" in Leviticus 18:6 "None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD".

If the Methim of my tabernacle never said, Oh that we be of his kin! we cannot be satisfied.

METHIM NOT JOB'S FRIENDS

The KJV translators must have thought that Job's use of the word "Methim" wasn't a specific reference to a race of people, and that he was using this term to refer to his "inward" or "secret" friends.  But this is the only place in the entire Holy Bible where "methim" is translated as friends, and it is out of context with the rest of the sentence, not to mention with the rest of Scripture.  What Job is saying is that he loved the Methim, but the Methim secretly abhorred him and ultimately turned against him, indicating that Methim are not a loving people, much less could they have been Job's friends:

Job 19:19 All my inward friends [methim] abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.

All  the Methim secretly abhorred me: and they whom I loved are turned against me.

O LORD, DISAPPOINT AND CAST DOWN THE METHIM

Removing the italicized words in Psalms 17:13-14, re-inserting "Methim" where it was replaced by "men", and using the most commonly used translations of several of the other Hebrew words, reveals that this is a prayer to "O LORD" to disappoint the Methim, to cast the Methim down, to deliver the writer's soul from the ungodly sword in the hand of Methim, that Methim are populous and leave their riches to their heirs:

Psa 17:13-14 Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: From men [methim] which are thy hand, O LORD, from men [methim] of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes.

Arise, O LORD, prevent his presence, cast him down: deliver my soul from the ungodly sword in the hand of Methim, O LORD, from Methim of this age whose allotment in life is a womb you filled with children: and riches for their heirs.

METHIM SHALL FALL BY THE SWORD

Isa 3:25-26 Thy men [methim] shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty [geburah, Strong's 1369] in the war. And her gates shall lament and mourn; and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.

[math = Methim] [naphal = fall] [chereb = sword] [geburah = strength] [milchamah = battle] [pethach = gates] [anah = lament] [abal = mourn] [naqah = innocent] [yashab = dwell] [erets = land]

Methim fall sword strength battle gates lament mourn innocent dwell land.

The Methim shall fall by the sword and lose their strength in battle, and the innocent who dwell in the land will lament and mourn at the gates.

METHIM TRANSLATED AS "FEW" OR "SMALL" RATHER THAN "MEN" OR "ADULTS"

GOD PUNISHED ISRAELITES BY DISPLACING THEM WITH METHIM

Why would the translators presume that a Hebrew word would mean "men" in most verses but then "few" in several other verses?  Also, the word "am" from which nations is translated is translated as "people" the overwhelming majority of the time, and the word "goy' from which "heathen" was translated is usually translated as "nations". 

Deu 4:27 And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few [methim]  in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

And the LORD shall scatter you among the people, and a number of Methim shall remain in the nations whither the LORD shall lead you.

The change was made to prevent the word "nations" from appearing twice in one sentence, yet it didn't bother them at all that in both of the following verses, translating methim as "few" caused the word "few" to appear twice in the same sentence, translated from two different Hebrew words, "mehat" and "methim".  If there was ever a clue to the translators that methim does not and cannot mean "few", this is it.  In addition, the contradistinction between Methim and "goor", from which "strangers" is translated in Genesis 12:10 "And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn [goor] there; for the famine was grievous in the land", highlights the fact that Israelites and Methim are not the same peoples:

1Ch 16:19 When ye were but few [methim], even a few [mehat, Strong's 4592], and strangers [goor] in it.

Psa 105:12 When they were but a few men [methim] in number; yea, very few [mehat, Strong's 4592], and strangers [goor] in it.

When they were a number of Methim; yea, very few, and strangers in it.

Jer 44:28 Yet a small [methim] number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

Yet a number of Methim that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.

METHIM, OR ADULTS?   YOU BE THE JUDGE

Deuteronomy 4:27

	And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left a number of adults among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
	And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left a number of Methim among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.

1Chronicles 16:19

	When ye were but adults, even a few , and strangers in it.
	When ye were but Methim, even a few , and strangers in it.

Psalms 105:12

	When they were a number of adults in it; yea, very few, and strangers in it.
	When they were a number of Methim in it; yea, very few, and strangers in it.

Genesis 34:30

	And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I a number adults, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
	And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites, and a number Methim, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.

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