May 22, 2023·edited May 22, 2023Liked by Isha Yiras Hashem
I had done a minor in Linguistics as an undergrad and chosen Russian for language study
The reason I asked the question is that translations always seem to involve a degree of compromise. For example literal Russian to English translation sounds a bit awkward because the grammars are so different. So most translations of Russian Lit involve a degree of paraphrase so it sounds natural to native English speakers.
You're absolutely right - this is why I say that every translation is a commentary!! Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag also responded to your comment, I will post her response here in a few min
From Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag (her filter doesn't access substack or any social media, so I emailed her your comment, and she emailed me back the response to post here. I simply copied and pasted.)
In most cases the translation is correct, but not always There are certainly places where the translation is incorrect and sometimes deliberately so. I once heard that there are (I think) 24 places where the Hebrew is deliberately mistranslated. The most famous of these is the prophecy in Isiah that supposedly the virgin will give birth. If you look in the Hebrew you will see that it doesn't say that. The Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah", and that word is not there. What it really says is that the "almah" will give birth. An alma is a young girl. Being an almah has to do with age and not with virginity.
Aside from that, some words have more than one translation such as "yoshev ohalim" which can mean a tent dweller but it can also mean someone who sits in a tent. Because of this, translations by their very nature cannot be the same as the original, and will lose some of the meanings.
In order to know what the "Bible" really says, you must know Hebrew.
Wasn’t Shem a son of Noah? (Not a grandson).
Thanks so much for catching that error! I fixed it in the post.
I love your goal reveal party. Very cute idea!
Long but very clear explanation. Thank you!
Thank you!
This was very interesting analysis. Thank you Devorah and Isha!
Thank you for reading!
Fascinating post, great artwork!
Thank you!
Well written and easy to understand the points.
Thank you!
So I have a question. Are there many differences in the Old Testament of a Bible and the Torah or is it pretty much word for word the same?
It's a matter of what you're trying to describe.
Translations like the KJV are not word for word, as many nuances are lost.
You caught on to something else, though. I'm not super consistent between Bible and Torah. Maybe I need to think about it more.
I had done a minor in Linguistics as an undergrad and chosen Russian for language study
The reason I asked the question is that translations always seem to involve a degree of compromise. For example literal Russian to English translation sounds a bit awkward because the grammars are so different. So most translations of Russian Lit involve a degree of paraphrase so it sounds natural to native English speakers.
You're absolutely right - this is why I say that every translation is a commentary!! Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag also responded to your comment, I will post her response here in a few min
From Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag (her filter doesn't access substack or any social media, so I emailed her your comment, and she emailed me back the response to post here. I simply copied and pasted.)
In most cases the translation is correct, but not always There are certainly places where the translation is incorrect and sometimes deliberately so. I once heard that there are (I think) 24 places where the Hebrew is deliberately mistranslated. The most famous of these is the prophecy in Isiah that supposedly the virgin will give birth. If you look in the Hebrew you will see that it doesn't say that. The Hebrew word for virgin is "betulah", and that word is not there. What it really says is that the "almah" will give birth. An alma is a young girl. Being an almah has to do with age and not with virginity.
Aside from that, some words have more than one translation such as "yoshev ohalim" which can mean a tent dweller but it can also mean someone who sits in a tent. Because of this, translations by their very nature cannot be the same as the original, and will lose some of the meanings.
In order to know what the "Bible" really says, you must know Hebrew.
-Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag
I have always wondered about that part where Isaac preferred Esau because of the taste of hunting ! Thanks for the explanation!