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The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
i
The Torah
A Mechanical Translation
By Jeff A. Benner
A new and unique method of
translation that brings you a literal
and faithful word-for-word
translation of the Hebrew text
through the English language.
Revision 2.1 (September 8, 2018)
ii
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A new and unique method of translation that brings you a literal and faithful word-for-word translation of
the Hebrew text through the English language.
By Jeff A. Benner
iii
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation by Jeff A. Benner.
Published 2018 by Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc., P.O. Box 9949, College Station, TX 77845, US. ©2018, Jeff A. Benner. All rights reserved. Any part of this book may be copied without prior permission for educational purposes only.
Printed in the United States of America.
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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VII
ABOUT THE MECHANICAL TRANSLATION OF THE
TORAH 1
THE NEED FOR A MECHANICAL TRANSLATION 1
WHAT IS A MECHANICAL TRANSLATION? 6
THE MECHANICS OF THIS TRANSLATION 7
ABOUT THE REVISED MECHANICAL TRANSLATION 11
HOW TO USE THIS TRANSLATION 13
UPDATES TO THE MECHANICAL TRANSLATION 15
ABOUT THE HEBREW LANGUAGE 16
THE ANCIENT HEBREW ALPHABET 16
THE HEBREW LANGUAGE 26
ANCIENT HEBREW PHILOSOPHY 33
ANCIENT HEBREW SPEECH 39
ANCIENT HEBREW STYLES OF WRITING 41
HISTORY OF THE TORAH 44
THE BOOK OF GENESIS 53
CHAPTER 1 53
CHAPTER 2 56
CHAPTER 3 59
CHAPTER 4 62
CHAPTER 5 65
CHAPTER 6 68
CHAPTER 7 70
CHAPTER 8 73
CHAPTER 9 75
CHAPTER 10 78
CHAPTER 11 81
CHAPTER 12 84
CHAPTER 13 86
CHAPTER 14 88
CHAPTER 15 91
CHAPTER 16 93
CHAPTER 17 95
CHAPTER 18 97
CHAPTER 19 101
CHAPTER 20 105
CHAPTER 21 108
CHAPTER 22 111
CHAPTER 23 114
CHAPTER 24 116
CHAPTER 25 122
CHAPTER 26 126
CHAPTER 27 129
CHAPTER 28 134
CHAPTER 29 137
CHAPTER 30 140
CHAPTER 31 144
CHAPTER 32 150
CHAPTER 33 153
CHAPTER 34 156
CHAPTER 35 159
CHAPTER 36 162
CHAPTER 37 165
CHAPTER 38 169
CHAPTER 39 173
CHAPTER 40 175
CHAPTER 41 178
CHAPTER 42 184
CHAPTER 43 188
CHAPTER 44 192
CHAPTER 45 196
CHAPTER 46 199
CHAPTER 47 202
CHAPTER 48 206
CHAPTER 49 208
CHAPTER 50 211
THE BOOK OF EXODUS 215
CHAPTER 1 215
CHAPTER 2 217
CHAPTER 3 220
CHAPTER 4 223
CHAPTER 5 226
CHAPTER 6 229
CHAPTER 7 232
CHAPTER 8 235
CHAPTER 9 239
CHAPTER 10 243
CHAPTER 11 246
CHAPTER 12 248
CHAPTER 13 254
CHAPTER 14 256
CHAPTER 15 260
CHAPTER 16 263
CHAPTER 17 268
CHAPTER 18 270
v
CHAPTER 19 273
CHAPTER 20 276
CHAPTER 21 278
CHAPTER 22 282
CHAPTER 23 285
CHAPTER 24 289
CHAPTER 25 291
CHAPTER 26 295
CHAPTER 27 299
CHAPTER 28 301
CHAPTER 29 306
CHAPTER 30 311
CHAPTER 31 315
CHAPTER 32 317
CHAPTER 33 322
CHAPTER 34 325
CHAPTER 35 330
CHAPTER 36 333
CHAPTER 37 338
CHAPTER 38 341
CHAPTER 39 344
CHAPTER 40 348
THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS 353
CHAPTER 1 353
CHAPTER 2 355
CHAPTER 3 356
CHAPTER 4 358
CHAPTER 5 362
CHAPTER 6 366
CHAPTER 7 368
CHAPTER 8 372
CHAPTER 9 376
CHAPTER 10 379
CHAPTER 11 381
CHAPTER 12 386
CHAPTER 13 387
CHAPTER 14 394
CHAPTER 15 400
CHAPTER 16 403
CHAPTER 17 408
CHAPTER 18 410
CHAPTER 19 413
CHAPTER 20 416
CHAPTER 21 420
CHAPTER 22 422
CHAPTER 23 425
CHAPTER 24 430
CHAPTER 25 432
CHAPTER 26 438
CHAPTER 27 443
THE BOOK OF NUMBERS 447
CHAPTER 1 447
CHAPTER 2 451
CHAPTER 3 454
CHAPTER 4 459
CHAPTER 5 464
CHAPTER 6 468
CHAPTER 7 471
CHAPTER 8 478
CHAPTER 9 481
CHAPTER 10 484
CHAPTER 11 487
CHAPTER 12 492
CHAPTER 13 493
CHAPTER 14 496
CHAPTER 15 501
CHAPTER 16 505
CHAPTER 17 509
CHAPTER 18 512
CHAPTER 19 516
CHAPTER 20 519
CHAPTER 21 522
CHAPTER 22 526
CHAPTER 23 530
CHAPTER 24 533
CHAPTER 25 536
CHAPTER 26 538
CHAPTER 27 544
CHAPTER 28 546
CHAPTER 29 549
CHAPTER 30 553
CHAPTER 31 555
CHAPTER 32 560
CHAPTER 33 564
CHAPTER 34 569
CHAPTER 35 571
CHAPTER 36 575
THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY 578
CHAPTER 1 578
CHAPTER 2 583
CHAPTER 3 588
CHAPTER 4 591
CHAPTER 5 598
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CHAPTER 6 602
CHAPTER 7 605
CHAPTER 8 609
CHAPTER 9 611
CHAPTER 10 615
CHAPTER 11 618
CHAPTER 12 622
CHAPTER 13 627
CHAPTER 14 630
CHAPTER 15 633
CHAPTER 16 636
CHAPTER 17 639
CHAPTER 18 642
CHAPTER 19 644
CHAPTER 20 647
CHAPTER 21 650
CHAPTER 22 653
CHAPTER 23 657
CHAPTER 24 660
CHAPTER 25 663
CHAPTER 26 665
CHAPTER 27 668
CHAPTER 28 671
CHAPTER 29 679
CHAPTER 30 683
CHAPTER 31 686
CHAPTER 32 690
CHAPTER 33 696
CHAPTER 34 700
LEXICON 702
INDEX 702
ALEPH 712
BEYT 717
GIMEL 725
DALET 730
HEY 735
VAV 737
ZAYIN 737
HHET 741
TET 751
YUD 753
KAPH 755
LAMED 760
MEM 764
NUN 770
SAMEHH 776
AYIN 782
PEH 788
TSADE 795
QUPH 800
RESH 806
SHIN 814
TAV 823
GHAYIN 826
FOUR-LETTER HEBREW WORDS 829
PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES 829
CONJUGATIONS 831
HEBREW NAMES 832
CONCORDANCE 848
vii
Acknowledgments
A work of this size could never have been completed without the support of many people. I would first like to thank my wife Denise and our children for the encouragement and support they have given me over the years. I also want to thank my publisher Bobby Bernshausen and his wife Angela of Virtual Bookworm Publishing. They have always been there when I needed them and have been very helpful and encouraging with the pubishing of my books. I would also like to thank the following people who have provided of their valuable time to help with the editing of this work. Without them this book would not be the quality that it is now. Abell, Harry ♦ Ammundsen, Ron ♦ Angel, Priscilla ♦ Arnold, Bill ♦ Arnold, Tracy ♦ Ashcom, Ingrid ♦ Atkins, Larry ♦ Barbier,
Marcia ♦ Barna, Veronica ♦ Baynard, Jane E. ♦ Beale, Robert ♦ Beard, Lance ♦ Beaver, Kandy ♦ Beck, Charles ♦ Begley, Holly ♦
Benson, Robin ♦ Bilek, Diane ♦ Black, Robert ♦ Blair, J Michael ♦ Blankenship, Donnie ♦ Blasé, Kathy ♦ Blignaut, André ♦
Blue, Anisa ♦ Booth, Ellie ♦ Bornman, Neala ♦ Botha, Chrissie ♦ Bradshaw, Marc ♦ Bruno, Cheryl ♦ Burton, Todd ♦ Calpino,
Michael ♦ Carmichael, Jim ♦ Chatham, Kyle ♦ Colling, Ron ♦ Conaway, Richard ♦ Corcoran, Geoffrey ♦ Corson, Rev. Jim ♦
Craig, LuAna ♦ Custer, Pam ♦ Daigle, Cyndi ♦ Daniels, Ardree ♦ de Beer, Suzanne ♦ de Caussin, Daniel ♦ Deuprey, Sue ♦ Dick,
Jo Ann ♦ Dippel, Doris ♦ Donarodo, Rod ♦ Dunnett, Daniel D. ♦ Eichelberger, John ♦ Farcas, Ruth ♦ Felczak, Przemek ♦ Fier,
Robert ♦ Finn, Ken ♦ Foisy, Steve M. ♦ Forsman, Devora ♦ Fortune, Tom ♦ Gador, Yakob ♦ Garcia, Ben ♦ Gates, Philip ♦
Geronimo, Leopoldo ♦ Giancarli, Anthony D. ♦ Goblet, Jesse ♦ Gonzalez, Daniel ♦ Gonzalez, Janice ♦ Gould, Janet ♦ Gramm,
Jim ♦ Gregory, Ronen ♦ Gunter, Rocquelle ♦ Haeffner, Adam ♦ Hamlett, Kathy ♦ Hayes, Gordon ♦ Healy, Dorothy ♦
Henderson, Robert ♦ Henning, Nadia ♦ Heperi, Dallin ♦ Higgins, Carol ♦ Holiday, Rose ♦ Howie, Jennifer H MacRae ♦
Hudson, Brian Keith ♦ Hunter, Myhrrhleine ♦ Irons, Jeanne M. ♦ Jacobsen, Amanda ♦ Janssen, Henry ♦ Jones, Tim ♦
Karunaratne, Herschel ♦ Kayaga, Angellah ♦ Keep, David ♦ Keller, Sandra S. ♦ Kempf, Julia ♦ Kern, Cory ♦ Kindall, Kathy ♦
Knox, Kevin P. ♦ Krueger, Frank R. ♦ Lambert, Jerry R. ♦ Law, Duncan ♦ Lee, Peggy ♦ Lee, Ronald ♦ Leisy, Paul Matthew ♦
Lema, Andrew ♦ Lenár, Jaroslav ♦ Longanecker, Ann-Marie Rael ♦ Lorin, R. ♦ Lurk, Paul ♦ Lyles, Dr. Don ♦ Lyman, Dave ♦
MacDougall, Doug ♦ MacIsaac, Edward ♦ Man, Ho Yep ♦ Maney, Mike ♦ McClusky, Michelle ♦ McKenzie, Frances ♦
McKenzie, James M. ♦ Morford, Thomas ♦ Morgado, Eric ♦ Mugisha, Albert ♦ Nawman, Nora ♦ Neff, John ♦ Nichols, Kathy ♦
Nielson, Josh ♦ Norris, Andrew ♦ Novelo, Emily ♦ O, Ricky and Jacki ♦ O'Connor, Elaine ♦ Odem, Bruce ♦ Oerder, Max ♦
O'Reilly, John ♦ Orme, Kenneth ♦ Palmer, Wesley ♦ Parker , Debra ♦ Parker, Debra ♦ Patterson, Tim ♦ Paul, Leslie ♦ Peightal,
David ♦ Peterson, Preston ♦ Phillips, Jean-Marc ♦ Phillips, Matthew ♦ Pollic, Gene ♦ Quigley, Donna ♦ Range, Katharine ♦
Riden, Debora ♦ Rivera, Carrie ♦ Robertson, Dan ♦ Rodriguez, Renny ♦ Rogers, Nathanael David ♦ Rose, Wesley "Dr. Ley" ♦
Rowland, Marilene ♦ Roy, Peter ♦ Rustici, Jan ♦ Saunders, Charles Jr. ♦ Schaper, Jeff ♦ Scott, Corey ♦ Sellmar, Mary ♦
Simcoke, Bob ♦ Skipper, Jason D. ♦ Smith, Terry ♦ Sovea, J.L. ♦ Stanley, Rashida ♦ Stolz, Frances ♦ Talbot, Randy ♦
Tenenbaum, Bruce A. ♦ Tercha, Diane ♦ Thomas, John P. ♦ Timmons, Ken ♦ Todd, Yvonne ♦ Tomausi, Sebastian ♦ Uyenaka,
Stephanie ♦ Vallee, Lisa Anne ♦ Van Rooyen, Wernhard ♦ Walker, Gavin ♦ Walters, BJ ♦ Whetter, Dorothy ♦ Wilcoxson,
Jewell H. Jr. ♦ Withrow, Charles ♦ Wofford, Matt ♦ Wood, Basil ♦ Worrell, Lynda ♦ Wu, Steve ♦ Wyckoff, Janet
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
1
About the Mechanical Translation of the Torah
The Need for a Mechanical Translation
Many theological discussions, teachings and debates use phrases like “The Bible says,” or “God says.” From a technical point of view, the problem with these statements is that it assumes the Bible was written in English, which of course we all know is not true.
The Bible does not say, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” A more accurate statement would be, “The Bible says, ארץבראשית ברא אלהים את השמים ואת ה (bereshiyt bara elohiym et hashamayim v'et ha'arets), which is often translated and interpreted as, ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’”
While this may sound trivial, it is, in fact, a very important issue. Many theological differences, divisions and arguments are based on faulty interpretations of the text that could easily be resolved by examining the original language of the Bible. Once the Hebrew text is recognized, its meanings and interpretations can then be discussed properly.
As one example, the Hebrew word ראשית (reshiyt) is translated as “beginning” in Genesis 1:1 in the King James Version. But the King James Version also translates this same Hebrew word as “chief” (1 Samuel 15:21) and “principle thing” (Proverbs 4:7). The Hebrew word ראשית (reshiyt) may be interpreted as “beginning,” but it's more literal meaning is related to the idea of “height,” as in the height, origin or beginning of an event, the height of someone in rank or the height of importance.
Rather than attempting an interpretation from the English, one should, at the least, attempt to understand the text from its Hebraic origin. This can be achieved through the use of an English Bible and a Concordance, where the student is able to find the Hebrew word used in the text that lies behind the English. When using this tool, it quickly becomes evident that the English translators of the text were not very consistent in how they translated Hebrew words.
For instance, the Hebrew word נפש (nephesh) is usually translated in the KJV as soul, but also as; appetite, beast, body, breath, creature, dead, desire, ghost, heart, life, lust, man, mind, person, pleasure, self, thing and will.
The Hebrew verb נתן (N-T-N) means “to give” but is also translated with a wide variety of English words including; add, aloud, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, avenge, bestow, bring, cast, cause, charge, come, commit, consider, count, cry, deliver, direct, distribute, do, fasten, forth, frame, get, grant, hang, have, heal, heed, lay, leave, left, lend, let, lift, make, occupy, offer, ordain, over, oversight, pay, perform, place, plant, pour, present, print, pull, put, recompense, requite, restore, send, set, shoot, show, sing, sit, slander, strike, submit, suffer, take, thrust, tie, trade, turn, utter, weep, willingly, withdrew, would, yell, and yield.
While it is true that one English word cannot translate one Hebrew word perfectly and some translational liberties are necessary, this should only be done out of necessity, and the change should be noted in a footnote to aid the student with proper understanding and interpretation.
The Inadequacy of a translation
The English vocabulary and its definitions are very inadequate in conveying the meanings of Hebrew words. In the following passages from the KJV, we find the word “teach,” an English word meaning “to impart knowledge or skill through instruction.”
Exodus 18:20; And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
Exodus 24:12; And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.
Deuteronomy 4:1; Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Deuteronomy 4:9; Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons;
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
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Deuteronomy 6:7; And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
Job 33:33; If not, hearken unto me: hold thy peace, and I shall teach thee wisdom.
Each use of the word “teach” in these six passages is the English translation of six different Hebrew words, each with its own unique meaning.
Exodus 24:12; ירה (yarah) – To point out the direction to go
Exodus 18:20; זהר (zahar) – To advise caution
Deuteronomy 4:1; למד (lamad) – To urge to go in a specific direction
Deuteronomy 4:9; ידע (yada) – To provide experience
Deuteronomy 6:7; שמן (shaman) – To sharpen
Job 33:33; אלף (alaph) – To show through example
The original meaning of these six Hebrew words are completely erased and lost when they are simply translated as “teach,” demonstrating the need of going beyond the simple translations.
Is a Mechanical Translation Possible?
It has been said that a word-for-word translation is not possible, as each word can have several meanings and the context will determine how each word is to be translated. This is not exactly true, and it is possible to translate each word the same way each time it occurs. However, the problem is that we need to understand the Hebrew vocabulary from an Hebraic perspective. To demonstrate this philosophy, let me use the English word “branch” as an example.
What is a branch? Most people would think of the “branch” of a tree such as in the sentence below.
The bird landed on the branch.
Now examine the word “branch.” in the following sentence.
The bank said there is a branch on 1st Street.
Notice that the same word is used, but the context shows a different application for this word. The word “branch” can also be used for the “branch” of a river, a family line or a “branch” of science.
The literal meaning of the word “branch” is a division or section.
The Hebrew word for a “branch” is מטה (mateh) and is used in the following passages.
Exodus 31:2 - The son of Hur, from the branch [tribe] of Judah
Isaiah 9:3(4) - For you have broken the yoke of his burden, and the branch [yoke] of his shoulder
Exodus 4:17 - and you will take this branch [staff] in your hand
Now let's look at a Hebrew word where the connections may not be as obvious. Each of the following passages has the Hebrew word איל (ayil) meaning, “someone or something that is strong and large in stature, a ‘buck.’”
Exodus 29:16 - and you will slaughter the buck [a male from the sheep or goats]
Ezekiel 40:16 - and their bucks [posts] within the gate
Isaiah 61:3 - they will be called bucks [trees] of righteousness, a planting of YHWH
Exodus 15:15 - the bucks [chiefs] of Moab
As demonstrated, a “Mechanical,” word-for-word, translation is possible, but it will require the reader to learn the vocabulary of that translation from an Hebraic rather than from an English perspective.
Is Strong's Dictionary enough?
For those who do not know Hebrew, the only tool available for studying the Hebrew text of the Bible is Strong's Hebrew Dictionary. While this dictionary is a valuable resource, it has many limitations.
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
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In the King James Version of Exodus 3:16 we read, “The LORD God of your fathers... appeared unto me...” A person might read this and ask, “How can the LORD 'appear' to someone when he has no form?” This person then takes out his Strong's Dictionary and looks up the word “appear” in this verse and finds the following entry.
H7200 ראה
Translations - see 879, look 104, behold 83, shew 68, appear 66, consider 22, seer 12, spy 6, respect 5, perceive 5, provide 4, regard 4, enjoy 4, lo 3, foreseeth 2, heed 2, misc 74; 1313
The reader then sees that the Hebrew word ra'ah, Strong's #H7200, means “see” and “look.” Armed with this bit of “knowledge,” the reader then retranslates this verse as, “And the LORD God of your fathers... looked unto me...” and then says, “ah-ha, the LORD didn't 'appear' to him, the LORD 'saw' him.” But to confirm his theory, he goes back a few verses and reads Exodus 3:4, “And when the LORD saw that he turned aside...” Taking out his trusty Strong's Dictionary he looks up the word “saw” and finds the following entry.
H7200 ראה
Translations - see 879, look 104, behold 83, shew 68, appear 66, consider 22, seer 12, spy 6, respect 5, perceive 5, provide 4, regard 4, enjoy 4, lo 3, foreseeth 2, heed 2, misc 74; 1313
He then says, “There it is, the Hebrew word translated as 'saw' is the very same Hebrew word ra'ah!”
Have you ever heard the expression, “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing?” Well, this applies in this situation. What this reader is not aware of is that Hebrew verbs can take on different forms and these forms are not identified in Strong's Dictionary. In Exodus 3:4 the Hebrew verb ra'ah is written וירא (vai'yar), which is the simple form of the verb and means “and he saw.” But in Exodus 3:16 it is written as נראה (nir'ah), which is the passive form of the verb and means “and he was seen” or “and he appeared.” According to the verb form of this Hebrew word in Exodus 3:16, the LORD is not the one “seeing,” he is the one that “was seen.”
All of the resources available for going into this depth of Hebrew study require the reader to have at least a basic knowledge of Hebrew, shutting out all those who wish to go deeper into the text, but are unable to do so. That is until now. The Mechanical Translation (MT) is designed to provide the reader who has no background in Hebrew the ability to study the Hebrew language at this depth.
The following is the MT for the word “see” in Exodus 3:4.
and~he~will~SEE(V)
And here is the MT for the word “appear” in Exodus 3:16.
he~did~be~SEE(V)
The word “be” in this translation indicates to the reader that this verb is in the passive form. Whenever a verb is written in the passive form, the word “be” will be there before the verb; whenever a verb is written in the causative form, the word “make” will be there; and whenever a verb is written in the reflexive form, the word “self” will be there. Now the reader has the ability to view the Hebrew text without even knowing how to read Hebrew.
Redefining Biblical Words
Hebrew words must be defined from within their original Hebraic culture and context. This study will examine how Hebrew words are defined in mainstream translations to see if they have remained true to the Hebrew text. Let's take a look at a few passages:
KJV Genesis 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
KJV Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God; Yea, thy law is within my heart.
RSV Exodus 23:9 “You shall not oppress a stranger; you know the heart of a stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
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KJV Jeremiah 9:8 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait.
RSV Psalm 7:9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous, thou who triest the minds and hearts, thou righteous God.
When doing a word study, such as we are doing here with the word “heart,” we are assuming that the Hebrew word behind each English word “heart” is the same. Is this true? By simply using a concordance we can easily check each of these translations to see what Hebrew word lies beneath the word “heart.” What we find in Genesis 6:5 is the Hebrew word lev, which does mean “heart.” In Psalm 40:8 we find the Hebrew word me'ah meaning the “gut.” In Exodus 23:9 it is the word nephesh meaning “being” or “person.” In Jeremiah 9:8 it is qerev meaning the “insides.” In Psalm 7:9 it is kil'yah meaning “kidneys.”
Each of these Hebrew words has a specific meaning which the translators have chosen to ignore and just translate all five of these Hebrew words as “heart.” Because the Hebrew bible is Hebraic in origin, it is written from a very Hebraic perspective. Our own Greco-Roman culture is very different from the Hebrew culture and we do not think in Hebraic terms. For this reason, the translators have removed the Hebraicness of the text and have converted it into one that is more in-line with our Greco-Roman thought. While this may seem trivial, it changes the meaning intended by the original author.
Now, let's use the concordance to look up verses that do use the Hebrew word lev, meaning heart, to see if the translators have translated this word consistently. In each of the verses below, the underlined word is the translator's translation of the Hebrew word lev:
Genesis 31:20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled.
Exodus 9:21 And he that regarded not the word of Jehovah left his servants and his cattle in the field.
Numbers 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that Jehovah hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind.
Job 36:5 Behold, God is mighty, and despiseth not any: He is mighty in strength of understanding.
Psalm 83:5 For they have consulted together with one consent; Against thee do they make a covenant:
Proverbs 19:8 He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: He that keepeth understanding shall find good.
Again, the translators have ignored the original text, erased its original Hebraicness and replaced it with words more fitting to Greco-Roman thought. What exactly is the meaning of the Hebrew word lev?
RSV Psalm 7:9 O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish thou the righteous, thou who triest the minds and hearts, thou righteous God.
In the above verse, the Hebrew word lev is translated as “mind.” While we usually equate the “heart” with emotions, Hebraicly, it means the “mind.” Also found in the above verse is the word “hearts,” which we already found to be the Hebrew word kil'yah, meaning the “kidneys.” In Hebraic thought, the kidneys are the seat of “emotions.”
Addition of words to “fix” the text
KJV Genesis 4:1 ...I have gotten a man from the LORD.
RSV Genesis 4:1 ...I have gotten a man with the help of the LORD.”
In this verse, from two different translations, the underlined words have been added to the text and do not appear in the
original Hebrew text. The literal rendering of this verse, from the Hebrew is, “I have gotten a man with the LORD.” The
Hebrew text implies that Hhawa (Eve) had relations with YHWH (the LORD), but it is possible that the Hebrew text is in
error (not all that uncommon). It is my opinion that the translator should, at the least, footnote the addition of any words
inserted into the text.
RSV Genesis 32:1-4 Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him; and when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God's army!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim. And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom,instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, `I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now;
The Torah: A Mechanical Translation About the Mechanical Translation
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In this passage, Jacob comes across “angels.” Then, he sends off “messengers” to meet with his brother. From this translation we would never have realized that the “angels” Jacob met are the very same “messengers” he sends to his brother. The Hebrew word behind both of these English words is malakh, literally meaning ‘messengers.’
Greek Influence on translations
We are all familiar with the name “Moses;” however, the pronunciation of this name comes from the Greek Septuagint (a 2,000 year old translation of the Hebrew Bible). The correct Hebrew pronunciation is Mosheh. Another example of this is the name “Eve,” again from the Greek Septuagint. The Hebrew pronunciation is Hhawa.
Did you know that the word ‘manna’ never occurs in the Hebrew Bible? The word ‘manna,’ for the bread-like substance that was given to the Israelites while in the wilderness, is actually called mahn. The term “manna” comes from, you guessed it, the Greek Septuagint.
This use of the Greek Septuagint is not limited to names only, but the translations themselves.
RSV Genesis 4:8 Cain said to Abel his brother, “Let us go out to the field.” And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and killed him.
The underlined part of this verse is not found in the Hebrew Bible, but comes from the Greek Septuagint. In reality, the Hebrew text is missing what Cain said to his brother. Again, it is my opinion that the translator should at least add a footnote stating that this phrase is from the Septuagint and is not found in the Hebrew text.
RSV Genesis 25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skilful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents.
RSV Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God, and turned away from evil.
In Genesis 25:27, we read that Jacob was a “quiet” man (other translations have simple or plain). In Job 1:1, we read that Job was a “blameless” man. From this translation we conclude that the character of Jacob is different from Job. However, the Hebrew word behind both of these words, quiet and blameless, is the word tam, literally meaning “mature.”
Other examples
ASV Exodus 34:28 And he was there with Jehovah forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.
The Hebrew translation of “ten commandments” is “mitsvot eser.” However, this is not what we find behind the phrase “ten commandments.” In the Hebrew text it is “aseret hadevariym,” which literally means “ten of the words” or “ten of the matters.”
RSV Leviticus 19:28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh on account of the dead or tattoo any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
The Hebrew word for “dead” is mot, but this is not the Hebrew word here, it is nephesh meaning “being” or “person.”
ASV Exodus 25:17 And thou shalt make a mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
The Hebrew word translated as “mercy-seat” is kaphoret, which simply means a “covering” or “lid.”
RSV Exodus 4:3 And he said, “Cast it on the ground.” So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it.
RSV Exodus 7:9 “When Pharaoh says to you, `Prove yourselves by working a miracle,' then you shall say to Aaron, `Take your rod and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.'”
The Hebrew translated as “serpent” in Exodus 4:3 is nahhash, but in Exodus 7:9 it is the word taniyn. The reader is not informed that different Hebrew words are being translated as serpent. Is this significant? Maybe, maybe not.
RSV Genesis 14:20 And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
In this translation, the translator has inserted the word/name Abram when it does not appear in the original text. The original simply states, “and he gave him a tenth.” The “he” is not identified, and may be either Melchizedek or Abram. The RSV translation “fixes” this problem by telling you it is Abram.
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What is a Mechanical Translation?
The Mechanical Translation of the Hebrew Bible project began in 2005 with the publication of Mr. Benner's Ancient Hebrew Lexicon of the Bible. This lexicon laid the foundation for a translation of the Hebrew Bible, where each word would be translated faithfully according to its original linguistic and cultural perspective. Mr. Benner's vision of this translation included a translation that;
1. eliminates personal and religious bias on the part of the translator, 2. translates each Hebrew word, prefix and suffix, exactly the same way, every time it occurs in the text, 3. can be read and understood by the average person who does not have any prior knowledge of the Hebrew
language, 4. includes a dictionary of each word used in the translation as well as a concordance, and 5. can be used as a tool by those who are learning to read Biblical Hebrew.
To better understand the philosophies and methodologies of this translational project, let's take a closer look at each of the points above.
Personal and Religious Bias
It has been argued that it is impossible to eliminate bias into any translation, especially one of a religious nature. However, Mr. Benner has developed a method that almost completely removes the possibility of any personal or religious bias within the translation. This is achieved through a two-fold process.
The first process is through the Lexicon. Each translation and definition of each word in the lexicon is chosen based primarily on its etymology (what the word’s meaning is based on its relationship to other words and roots), context (how the word is used throughout the Bible) and culture (what the word meant to those who lived within that culture).
The second part of the process simply involves replacing the Hebrew word, prefix or suffix with its corresponding English word from the Lexicon. This method of translation also has the unique quality of allowing the reader who disagrees with the translation of a Hebrew word, to simply replace that word with his own; and, as the translation is accompanied with a concordance, to find the location of each occurrence of that word quite simply.
A word for word translation
Every translation to date, including interlinear Bibles and literal translations, translates the Hebrew text according to context. The problem with this is that the context can be interpreted differently based upon the translator's personal opinions of what that context is. In contrast, a word-for-word, prefix–for-prefix and suffix-for-suffix translation is very mechanical and prevents the translator from “fixing” the text.
One advantage to this method of translation is that the reader is able to see the text in its pure and original Hebrew format. However, there is one major drawback to this method of translation. Hebrew syntax (sentence structure and style) is very different from English syntax, and a reader that has no background in Hebrew syntax would be completely lost in the translation. To alleviate this problem, the “mechanical” translation is accompanied with a “revised mechanical” translation.
Easily read and understood
The “revised mechanical” translation re-arranges the words of the “mechanical” translation into more readable and understandable English syntax. This method of translation is common among other translations, but the changes are invisible to the reader. With the “mechanical” and “revised mechanical” translations side by side, the reader is able to see the changes that are made.
There are times when the “revised mechanical” translation is difficult to read and may not make perfect sense, but this is due to the fact that the Hebrew structure of a given sentence itself is sometimes difficult to read. While most other translations “fix” the text so that it will always be read easily, this translation preserves the difficulties. It is the opinion of Mr. Benner that those who will be interested in this translation will be willing to put in the extra effort to understand a difficult passage.
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A lexicon and concordance
No single English word can fully convey the meaning of one Hebrew word. For this reason, this translation includes a lexicon that more finely defines each word within its linguistic, contextual and cultural setting. Also included in this work is a concordance of all the Hebrew words in the Torah, which will assist the reader with looking up words within the translation.
A tool for learning Hebrew
Learning Hebrew is much more than memorizing the meaning of Hebrew words. It involves learning to recognize prefixes and suffixes attached to a word (common in Hebrew, much more so than in English), verb conjugations (which include subject, tense, gender, number, mood, voice and sometimes the object of the verb) and syntax. When reading the Hebrew text of the Bible, the reader will come across words which will be difficult to decipher. The reader can check the “mechanical” translation to assist with deciphering the word. The reader is also able to check the “revised mechanical” translation if he is unable to determine the meaning of the sentence itself.
The Mechanics of this Translation
The Masoretic Hebrew Text Used in this translation
The Hebrew text of the MT of the Torah is the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, which is based on the Leningrad Codex.
When there is a spelling difference between this Hebrew text and the the Leningrad Codex, the spelling variation will be
noted in the footnotes.
Hebrew Words in the Mechanical Translation
Hebrew words, including nouns, adjectives, prepositions, etc., are written in all upper-case letters. If two English words are used to translate a single Hebrew word, a dot (.) will be placed between the two words. Hebrew words will frequently include one or two prefixes. Prefixes are written in all lower-case letters and are followed by the tilde (~). Some words will include a suffix, which is also written in all lower-case letters, and is preceded by the tilde (~). The lexicon also includes a list of all the prefixes and suffixes found in the MT. Below are examples of words with prefixes and suffixes, which appear in the MT.
Hebrew Words
Hebrew Prefix Word Suffix Mech. Trans.
the~ DRY.GROUND the~DRY.GROUND היבשה
like~ WHICH like~WHICH כאשר
HAND ~you(ms) HAND~you(ms) ידך
and~ SON ~s and~SON~s ובנים
Hebrew Verbs in the Mechanical Translation
Hebrew Verbs are written in all upper-case letters and have a (V) after them. Hebrew verb conjugations identify such aspects as the gender and number of the subject (I, we, you, he, she and they), the tense (did and will) and the verb form (make, be, self, much and >). Participle and Imperative verb conjugations will also be identified (!, ed and ing). The translations of these words identifying verb conjugations are written in all lower case and in italics and the Lexicon includes a list of all the conjugations and their meanings. Some verbs will also identify the gender and number of the object (such as; him, her, you, etc.) and some may also include a prefix and/or a suffix (such as; and, the, to, etc.).
Hebrew verbs have two tenses, perfect (a completed action, identified in the MT with the prefix “did~”) and imperfect (an incomplete action, identified in the MT with the prefix “will~”). In addition, most Hebrew verbs will identify the number
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and gender of the subject of the verb. As an example, the Hebrew verb אמר (amar) is a verb meaning “to say” and is in the perfect tense and identifies the subject of the verb as first person, masculine singular. The MT will translate this verb as “he~did~SAY(V)” and the Revised Mechanical Translation (RMT) will translate it as “he said.” The Hebrew verb תאמר (tomer) is again the verb meaning “to say” but is in the imperfect tense and identifies the subject of the verb as second person, masculine singular. The MT will translate this verb as “you~will~SAY(V)” and the RMT will translate it as “you will say.”
When being translated, Hebrew verbs whose tenses are related to action (completed and incomplete), must be converted to English verbs related to time (past, present and future). In most cases the perfect tense (completed action) is translated into the English past tense verbs and imperfect tense (incomplete action) is translated into present or future tense English verbs. However, in some cases this style of translating will not accurately convey the meaning of the Hebrew. For instance, in Genesis 22:2 the word “you(ms)~did~LOVE(V)” is written in the perfect tense meaning a completed action but, if translated into English as “you loved” (past tense), it would imply that he was no longer loved. Therefore, in this instance, the verb will be translated as “you love” (present tense).
When the prefix “and~” is added to a verb, the tense is usually reversed. For instance, the verb “he~will~SAY(V)” would be translated in the RMT as “he will say” but the verb “and~he~will~SAY(V)” will be translated in the RMT as “and he said.”
The subject of the verb will usually follow the verb. For instance, אמר אב (amar av) will be written in the MT as “he~did~SAY
(V) Father” and translated as “father said” in the RMT. In some instances the subject of the verb will precede
the verb instead. This is the past perfect tense of the verb (see Genesis 3:13). When this occurs, the RMT will use the word “had.”
Emphasis is often placed on a Hebrew verb by writing it twice. The RMT will translate this verb once and add an adverb such as ‘quickly,’ ‘greatly,’ ‘completely’ or ‘surely’ before it.
The Piel form of verbs, identified in the MT with the prefix “much~,” is an intensive form of the verb and is usually translated in the RMT with an adverb.
Verb participles, identified by “~ing” in the MT, identifies an action or one of action. As an example, the participle “Feed-ing” may be translated in the RMT as “feeding” (see Genesis 37:2) or “feeder” (one who feeds, a shepherd or herdsman, see Genesis 13:7).
Hebrew verbs can be easily identified by their prefixes or suffixes attached to the verb. Many verbs will be preceded by did~, will~, had~, !~ or >~ or followed by ~ing or ~ed.
Below are examples of verbs with prefixes, suffixes and conjugations, which appear in the MT.
Hebrew Verbs
Hebrew Prefix Conjugation Verb Suffix Mech. Trans.
he~will~ SAY(V) he~will~SAY(V) יאמר
and~ you(ms)~did~ SAFE-GUARD(V) and~you(ms)~did~SAFE-GUARD(V) ושמרת
much~ SPEAK~< דברך(V)
~you(ms) >~much~SPEAK(V)
~you(ms)
Hebrew Names in the Mechanical Translation
In our western culture we are comfortable using names, such as Noah or Adam, as simple identifiers with no actual meaning attached to the name. But, this is not the case with Hebrew names where each name is a word or a combination of words with a meaning. For instance, the name עבר (ever - see Genesis 10:21) is usually transliterated as ‘Ever’ or ‘Eber,’ but is a Hebrew word meaning “cross over.” The MT and the RMT will represent this name as “Ever,” and the lexicon will provide the translation of all names.
An individual descended from Ever is identified as עברי (eevriy - see Genesis 14:13) where the suffix י (iy) means “one of.” The MT will translate this name as ‘“Ever~of”’ and the RMT as “one of Ever.” A people descended from Ever is identified as עברים (eevriym - see 40:15) where the suffix ים (iym) identifies the name as a plural meaning “ones of.” The MT will translate this name as “Ever~s” and the RMT as “ones of Ever.”
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The common pronunciation of the word ‘Pharoah’ comes from the Greek translation called the Septuagint. In the Hebrew text this is pronounced Paroh (pah-roh), unless it follows a vowel, in which case it will be pronounced Pha’roh (phah-roh)
Each name in the MT is a transliteration of the Hebrew and begins with an upper-case letter. Names may also include prefixes and suffixes such as the examples below:
Hebrew Names
Hebrew Prefix Name Meaning Suffix Mech. Trans.
in~ Mits'rayim STRAIT~s2 in~Mits'rayim במצרים
Sukhot BOOTH~s ~unto Sukhot~unto סכתה
The Names of God
The name Jehovah/Yahweh is written in Hebrew with four letters - יהוה (YHWH). These four letters, as a Hebrew word, is the third person, masculine, singular, imperfect tense of the verb הוה (hawah) and literally means “he exists.” In this translation this name is transliterated as “YHWH.”
The Hebrew word אלהים (elohiym), commonly translated as “God” in most modern translations, is a masculine plural noun literally meaning “powers.” This word is used in Genesis 1:1 as the subject of the verb ברא (bara) meaning “he shaped,” where the “he” identifies the subject of the verb as a masculine singular. Because of this conflict in number, where the verb identifies the subject as being a singular (he), but the subject is a plural word (elohiym), it is apparent that the word אלהים (elohiym) is a proper name, not a noun, and is therefore transliterated as “Elohiym” in the Mechanical Translation. However, Elohiym is often translated as “gods” when it is used in a plural sense, such as we see in Exodus 15:11, where it mentions all the “Elohiym” of Mitsrayim (Egypt). But in other places, such as in Genesis 3:5 where we read, “you will be like Elohiym,” it is not clear if the word “Elohiym” is being used for YHWH or for other elohiym. Some scholars translate this as “you will be like God,” whereas other versions translate it as “you will be like gods.” In order to remain true to the mechanical nature of this translation, this translation will always treat the Hebrew word אלהים (elohiym) as a proper name (Elohiym) and leave the interpretation of this word to the preference of the reader.
The Hebrew words אדני (adonai - meaning “my lords”, see Genesis 15:2) and שדי (shaddai - meaning “my breasts”, see Genesis 17:1) are frequently used for God and will also be treated as proper names.
Hebrew Nouns in the Mechanical Translation
Some words have various nuances of meaning. In most cases the context will help define the nuance, but in some cases the nuance cannot be determined. For instance, in Genesis 4:26 the word “DRILL” can be interpreted as “begin” or “profane;” but, the context does not make clear which nuance is intended.
In the MT, words written with a period between them represent one Hebrew word. For instance, the Hebrew word תהום (tehom – see Genesis 1:2) means a deep sea and will be represented by “DEEP.SEA” in the MT but will be written as “deep sea” in the RMT.
The English translation chosen for each Hebrew word was chosen based on two criteria. First the translation had to be close in meaning to the Hebrew (although, keep in mind the lexicon more precisely defines this word) and, secondly, it was to be a unique word that was not used for any other word. As an example, the Hebrew words קום (qum) and רום (rum) both mean to “raise” so the meaning of “RISE” has been assigned to קום (qum) and “RAISE.UP” to רום (rum).
Most Hebrew words can be used in a literal or figurative application which will usually be defined by the context where it is used. For instance, the word ‘hand’ can literally refer to the hand, as in Genesis 22:6. But this same word is used in Genesis 9:2 figuratively to mean “at hand” or “in possession.”
While the RMT strives to translate each Hebrew word exactly the same way each time it appears, there will be times where the context of the passage or English sentence structure will require the word to be translated differently. For instance, in Genesis 4:25 the MT has the phrase “SEED OTHER UNDER.” The word “OTHER” can also be translated as “another” and the word “UNDER” can also be translated as “in place of.” Therefore, this phrase is translated in the RMT as “another seed in place of.”
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Intensity of a word can be expressed by repeating a word in the Hebrew text. For instance, in Genesis 7:19 the word “many” is repeated to express a “great many.” In these cases, the RMT will translate the two words only once and add the word “great” or another adjective to express this intensity.
Questions are usually formed in the text by using such words as “what,” “where,” “if,” etc. But the Hebrew language can also form the text into a question by using the “interrogative ‘hey’” (in the Hebrew this is represented by the letter ה (h) as a prefix and will be translated in the MT as “?~”). For instance, the phrase “NOT HE he~did~SAY
(V)” would be translated
in the RMT as “he did not say,” but in Genesis 20:5 this phrase is written as “?~NOT HE he~did~ SAY(V)” and is translated as “did he not say” in the RMT.
A noun followed by a pronoun, such as “HAND~him,” which is found in Genesis 3:22, would literally be translated as “hand of him,” but the RMT will translate this as “his hand.”
Some Hebrew words are always written in the plural, such as פנים (paniym - faces) and מים (mayim – waters). This idiomatic form does not always imply that the word is plural and will usually be translated in the singular in the RMT.
Hebrew numbers in the Mechanical Translation
There are two different types of plurals in Hebrew, simple plural and double plural. The word “HUNDRED” is a singular word and refers to “one hundred.” The simple plural “HUNDRED~s” refers to a number of hundreds such as in the phrase “THREE HUNDRED~s” (this would be translated as “three hundred” in the RMT). When the same word is written in the double plural “HUNDRED~s2,” its translation would be “two hundred.”
When a Hebrew number is written in the simple plural form, it is multiplied by ten. For instance, the word “THREE~s” would mean thirty. The only exception is the plural form of ten (“TEN~s”) which means twenty.
The Ketiv and Qere
When the Masoretes compiled their codices, they noted a different reading of a word from what was found in the pre-Masoretic consonantal text. The Masoretic scribes used the Qere (קרי meaning “to be read”) and Ketiv (כתיב meaning “what is written”) to show, without changing the received consonantal text, that in their tradition a different reading of the text is to be used.
In the MT the Ketiv will always appear in the Hebrew text and the Qere will be notated in a footnote.
Verse Numbers
The verse numbers in the Hebrew Bible differ from Christian Bibles. The MT will use the verse numbers found in the Hebrew Bible, but where a verse number is different from the Christian Bibles, the Christian Bible number will follow the Hebrew Bible number in parenthesis.
Pronunciation of Hebrew letters
The following is a chart showing the English letters that are used to transliterate the Hebrew consonants and vowels:
Consonants
Silent א
t ט
ph ף פ
b ּב
y י
p ּפ
v ב
k ּכ
ts ץ צ
g ג
kh ך כ
q ק
d ד
l ל
r ר
h ה
m ם מ
sh ׁש
v ו
n ן נ
s ׂש
z ז
s ס
t ת
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hh ח
Silent ע
Vowels
e א e א o ֹו a א a א u ּו a א a3 א ê2 א 1 o א i א u א ey א
Because Hebrew letters are pronounced differently from English, the following are the Hebrew pronunciation of the letters and letter combinations used in the transliteration of Hebrew words:
Pronunciation of transliterated letters
a like the “a” in father m like the “m” in me
ai like the “ai” in aisle n like the “n” in no
b like the “b” in boy o like the “o” in cold
d like the “d” in dog p like the “p” in pie
e like the “e” in egg ph like the “ph” in phone
ey like the “ey” in grey q like the “k” in kite
g like the “g” in go r like the “r” in road
h like the “h” in hello s like the “s” in sit
hh like the “ch” in the name Bach sh like the “sh” in shine
i like the “i” in machine t like the “t” in tie
iy like the “i” in machine u like the “u” in tune
k like the “k” in kite v like the “v” in vine
kh like the “ch” in the name Bach y like the “y” in yellow
l like the “l” in lake z like the “z” in zebra
About the Revised Mechanical Translation
Alternate Translations
Where the MT of a given Hebrew word will make no sense in English, it will be necessary to change the translation of that Hebrew word. As an example, the Hebrew word בית (bayit) is always translated as “house” in the MT and RMT, but in the phrase ץומחו מבית (from the house and from the outside) the translation “house” does not make any sense in English. Therefore, the word “house” is changed to “inside” (another meaning of the Hebrew word בית) in the RMT.
Compound Phrases
Certain combinations of Hebrew words have a specific meaning. For example, the Hebrew phrase על כן (al keyn) would literally be translated as “upon so” but means “therefore.” This phrase is then translated in the RMT as “therefore.” Another example is the word כאשר (k'asher), which literally means “like which,” but is translated as “just as” in the RMT.
1 The letterא (aleph) is not part of the vowel, but is used only to show the placement of the vowel pointing. 2 In some cases this vowel is used as a syllable break, represented by an apostrophe, and is silent.
3 On some rare occasions, this vowel pointing is pronounced “o.”
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Verb Forms
Different verb forms can change the meaning of a verb. For instance, the Hebrew verb אמן (aman) means “secure,” but when this verb is written in the ‘hiphil’ form (identified as make~SECURE
(V) in the MT), it literally means “to cause to be
secure” and means “support.” Therefore, this verb will be written as “support” in the RMT.
Plural Forms
The Hebrew word אף (aph) means “nose,” but when it is written in the plural form, אפים (aphiym), it means “nostrils.” Therefore, this plural form will appear in the RMT as “nostrils.”
Intensifying Infinitive Absolute
The Hebrew language uses the unique style of doubling the use of a verb to show intensity. As an example, the phrase ראיתי ראה (ra’oh ra’iy’tiy) includes the Hebrew verb ראה (R.A.H), meaning “see,” twice and is translated in the RMT as “I
surely saw.”
Past Perfect Verbs
In Hebrew Syntax, the subject of the verb follows the verb. For instance, we would say in English, “Mosheh walked,” but in Hebrew it would be, “walked Mosheh.” However, there are times when the subject of the verb precedes the verb. In this case, the structure is identifying the verb as a past perfect. As an example, the Hebrew phrase משה היה (hayah mosheh) would be translated in the RMT as “Mosheh existed,” but when this phrase is written as היה משה (mosheh hayah), it is translated as “Mosheh had existed.”
Added Words
It is frequently required to add words in the RMT that do not exist within the Hebrew text in order to have the translation make sense in English. A common example in the Hebrew text is the phrase ישראל בני (b’ney yisra’el), which is translated in the MT as “SON~s Yisra'el,” but appears in the RMT as “the sons of Yisra'el,” where the words “the” and “of” have been added to the text.
Pronouns
The MT may have the pronoun “~you” but may be translated as “your” (showing possession) in the RMT. This translation will also retain the pronoun genders from the Hebrew. For instance, in Numbers 31:54 the King James Version has the phrase “and brought it into the tabernacle” where the word “it” is referring to the word “gold.” In the RMT this phrase is translated as “and they brought him to the appointed tent” where the word “him” is a translation of the Hebrew masculine pronoun, which is referring to the word “gold,” which is a masculine noun in Hebrew.
The word “it” will appear in the RMT for clarity, where no pronoun exists in the Hebrew. For instance, in Leviticus 9:12 is the phrase, “and he sprinkled him upon the altar all around.” The “him” is the translation of the third person, masculine, singular pronoun that is present in the Hebrew. However, in Leviticus 8:30 is the phrase, “and he spattered it upon Aharon.” In this case, there is no pronoun in the Hebrew, so the word “it” was added for clarity.
Plural nouns
Most plural forms of nouns are simply the singular form of the noun with the letter “s” suffixed to the noun. Examples from the MT are the plural HAND~s and HOUSE~s, which simply appear as “hands” and “houses” in the RMT. However, the plural words MAN~s and FOOT~s will be translated in the RMT as “men” and “feet.”
Verbs
The Hebrew verb אמר (amar) is translated as “he~did~SAY(V)
” in the MT, where the word “he” identifies the gender (masculine) and number (singular) of the subject of the verb and the word “did” identifies the tense (perfect, similar to the English past tense) of the verb. This word is translated as “he said” in the RMT. When the prefix “and~” is attached to a verb, the tense of the verb is reversed. So, the verb ואמר (wa'omar) would be translated in the MT as “and~he~did~SAY
(V),” but as “and he will say” in the RMT. Below are a few examples of how a verb and its subject would
be translated in the MT and the RMT.
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Verbs in the Mechanical Translation
Mech. Trans. Revised Mech. Trans.
he~did~HELP Elohiym Elohiym helped
and~he~did~HELP Elohiym and Elohiym will help
Elohiym he~did~HELP Elohiym had helped
he~will~HELP Elohiym Elohiym will help
and~he~will~HELP Elohiym and Elohiym helped
Punctuation
The original Hebrew text does not include any punctuation and, for this reason, this translation will not include quotation or question marks, periods, or exclamation points, with a few exceptions. It is necessary to add commas in the RMT to show breaks in the sentences that are implied through the grammar of the Hebrew. However, recognize that even by inserting commas into the text, the translator is interjecting an interpretation. When a verse does not begin a conjunction like “and” or “given that,” which is infrequent, the first letter of the first word of the verse is capitalized and a period appears at the end of the previous verse (unless that verse ends with the word “saying”).
The Hebrew word את
The Hebrew word את (et - translated as “At” in the MT) is frequently found in the Hebrew text to identify the direct object of a verb by preceding it. Since there is no English equivalent for this grammatical tool, this word will not be translated in the RMT. However, this word is used in the text on occasion to mean “with” or “at.”
How to use this Translation
Navigating through this translation is fairly simple and straight-forward. Let’s use Deuteronomy 6:4 (Figure 1) as an example.
6:4 !(ms)~ HEAR(V) (ע מ ל) shê'ma) Yisra'eyl ׁש א ר ׂש ה) yis'ra'eyl) YHWH י הו ינּו) YHWH) Elohiym~ us י ֹלה א e'lo'hey'nu) YHWH (ה הו ד) YHWH) UNIT י ח e'hhad) RMT:&Hear Yisra'eyl, YHWH our Elohiym, YHWH a א unit,
Figure 1
Words written in all upper case are the translations of Hebrew words. In Deuteronomy 6:4 we have the words “HEAR,” which is a verb, and the word “UNIT.” In order to look up the word “HEAR” in the lexicon, first look this word up in the Lexicon Index (Error! Reference source not found.).
HEAR(V)
(2547) HORSEMAN (1901) INSCRIBE(V)
(813) KINDLE(V)
(2076) LEAVEN (1563 HEART (1073) HOSTILITY (5) INSIDE (2226) KINDNESS (782) LEAVENED.BREAD (752) HEAT(V) (741) HOT (735) INSTALLATION (1210) KINDRED (1085) LEFT.HAND (2781) HEAVINESS (936) HOUSE (272) INSTANT (1939) KING (1120) LEG (1052)
Figure 2
After the word “HEAR” is the number 2547. Next we look up the number 2547 in the lexicon (Figure 3).
AR: שמע ShMAh A careful hearing of someone or something as well as responding appropriately in
obedience or action. Relation to Root: listening with the breath 2547 HEAR
(V) .To perceive or apprehend by the ear; to listen to with attention. To obey (sh.m.ah שמע)
Alternate Translations: listen (when followed by the preposition “TO” or the prefix “to~”). Strong’s: #8085
2548 REPORT (masc: שמע shey'ma) An account or statement of an event or happening. What is heard. Strong’s: #8088
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2549 HEARING (masc: מישמע miysh'mah). Strong’s: #4926 2550 HEARER (masc: שימעון shi'mon) One who listens. The one who acts upon what he has heard.
Strong’s: [Found in names only] Figure 3
Here we have the word “HEAR,” how this word is written Modern Hebrew (שמע) and in transliteration (ShMAh). This is followed by its definition, alternate translations found in the Mechanical Translation and its Strong’s number. As the Hebrew language is a root oriented language, all of the words that are derived from a root will be related in meaning. Therefore when doing a word study, it is recommended that you study the root of the word. In this case, it is the Adopted Root שמע, along with all of the words that are derived from that root. You can go even farther into your study by studying the Parent Root of שמע (S
hMA
h), which is שם (Sh
M), by going up the page (Figure 4). Then by looking at all of the different roots and words that are derived from this Parent Root, you will have a much better idea of what “HEAR” means within the context of the Hebrew vocabulary.
ShM Action: Breathe Concrete: Breath Abstract: Desolate Definition: The wind, or breath, of someone שם
or something is its character. Ancient Hebrew: MF
Figure 4
Let’s go back to Deuteronomy 6:4. Preceding the word “HEAR” is “!(ms)~.” When we look this up in “Prefixes, Suffixes and
Verb Conjugations” (Figure 5), we find the following meaning for this symbol: “Identifies the verb as a masculine singular imperative.”
!(fp)~ Identifies the verb as a feminine plural imperative. !(fs)~ Identifies the verb as a feminine singular imperative. !(mp)~ Identifies the verb as a masculine plural imperative. !(ms)~ Identifies the verb as a masculine singular imperative.
Figure 5
Hebrew names are written with only the first letter of the word in uppercase letters, as with the word “Yisra’eyl” in Deuteronomy 6:4. To find the meaning of a name, we look up the name in “Hebrew Names” (Figure 6), where we find the spelling of this name in Paleo-Hebrew, Modern Hebrew and transliteration. This is followed by a Mechanical Translation
of the name (he~ will~ TURN.ASIDE(V)), a revised translation of the name (He turns El aside) and its Strong’s number
(3478).
Yisra'eyl (masc: יסראל yis'ra'eyl) he~ will~ TURN.ASIDE(V)~ &~ MIGHTY.ONE Translation: He turns El aside. Strong’s: #3478
Figure 6
Also found in this verse is the name YHWH, which is the four-letter name of God often pronounced Yahweh, Jehovah, Yehovah, etc. Because of the uniqueness and importance of this name it is written in bold letters, uppercase letters.
Note the word “~us” after the word Elohiym in Deuteronomy 6:4. This is a suffix that is added to the word in the Hebrew and we can look this up in the “Prefixes, Suffixes and Verb Conjugations” (Figure 7). There we find that it is the Hebrew suffix נו (nu) and means “First person common plural pronoun.”
~us ( נו nu) First person common plural pronoun (we), also used as a possessive pronoun (of us or our). Figure 7
If you are learning Hebrew, the format of this translation will assist you in determining the morphology of each Hebrew word in the Torah. After the word “Elohiym~us” in Deuteronomy 6:4 is how this word appears in the Hebrew Bible ינּו) ֹלה So the .אלהים When we look up the name “Elohiym” in “Hebrew Names” we find that this word is written as .(א
word, as it appears in the Hebrew Bible, is אלהים (the ם is dropped from the word, which is explained in “About the
Hebrew Language” and due to this word’s being a construct) plus the suffix נו meaning “us.” This word can literally be translated as Elohiym (אלהי) of us (נו) or, as we would normally translate it into English, “our Elohiym.”
Following the Mechanical Translation of Deuteronomy 6:4 is the “Revised” Mechanical Translation (Figure 8), which re-arranges the words so that they make sense in English, with the addition of certain words, such as “a,” “an,” “the,” “of” and a few others to the translation for understanding.
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6:4 !(ms)
~ HEAR(V)
ע) מ ל) shê'ma) Yisra'eyl ׁש א ר ׂש ה) yis'ra'eyl) YHWH י הו ינּו) YHWH) Elohiym~ us י ֹלה א
e'lo'hey'nu) YHWH (ה הו ד) YHWH) UNIT י ח ,e'hhad) RMT:&Hear Yisra'eyl, YHWH our Elohiym, YHWH a unit א
Figure 8
When you look up the word “HEAR” in the concordance you will find all of the verses in the Torah where this word appears (Figure 9). This concordance also includes all the four-letter Hebrew words and names, but does not include the fixes.
HEAR(V) (2547) G3:8 G3:10 G3:17 G4:23 G11:7 G14:14 G16:2 G16:11 G17:20 G18:10 G21:6 G21:12 G21:17(x2) G21:26 G22:18 G23:6
G23:8 G23:11 G23:13 G23:15 G23:16 G24:30 G24:52 G26:5 G27:5 G27:6 G27:8 G27:13 G27:34 G27:43 G28:7 G29:13 G29:33 G30:6 G30:17 G30:22 G31:1 G34:5 G34:7 G34:17 G34:24 G35:22 G37:6 G37:17 G37:21 G37:27 G39:10 G39:15 G39:19 G41:15(x2) G42:2 G42:21 G42:22 G42:23 G43:25 G45:2(x2) G45:16 G49:2(x2) E2:15 E2:24 E3:7 E3:18 E4:1 E4:8 E4:9 E4:31 E5:2 E6:5 E6:9 E6:12(x2) E6:30 E7 :4 E7:13 E7:16 E7:22 E8:11 E8:15 E9:12 E11:9 E15:14 E15:26(x2) E16:7 E16:8 E16:9 E16:12 E16:20 E18:1 E18:19 E18:24 E19:5(x2) E19:9
Figure 9
To learn more about the details of this translation, please read “About the Mechanical Translation” and to learn more about the Hebrew language read “About the Hebrew Language.”
Updates to the Mechanical Translation
Even though this work has been carefully edited there are bound to be errors, which I take full responsibility for. Any errors or corrections that have been discovered in this work will be documented on the Mechanical Translation website at http://www.mechanical-translation.org/thetorah.
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16
About the Hebrew Language
The Ancient Hebrew Alphabet
Old Hebrew and the Samaritan Alphabet
א ב ג ד ה ו ז ח ט י כ ל מ נ ס ע פ צ ק ר ש תFigure 10 – The Modern Hebrew Alphabet
The mention of the Hebrew alphabet brings to mind the Hebrew letters familiar to many today that are used in Torah scrolls, Hebrew Bibles and even in Modern Hebrew books and newspapers. However, history suggests that these Hebrew letters are not the same Hebrew letters used in antiquity.
In 1854, Thomas Hartwell wrote; “The present Hebrew Characters, or Letters, are twenty two in number, and of a square form: but the antiquity of these letters is a point that has been most severely contested by many learned men.”
Figure 11 – Judean Half Shekel (Image courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group, Inc.)
Hartwell continues: “But the most decisive confirmation of this point is to be found in ancient Hebrew coins, which were struck before the [Babylonian] captivity, and even engraven on all of them are manifestly the same with the modern Samaritan.”4
The Samaritans are, according to themselves, the descendants of the Northern Tribes of Israel that were not sent into Assyrian captivity, and have continuously resided in the land of Israel.
Figure 12 – The Samaritan Torah Scroll
The Torah Scroll of the Samaritans uses an alphabet that is very different from the one used on Jewish Torah Scrolls. According to the Samaritans themselves and Hebrew scholars, this alphabet is the original “Old Hebrew” alphabet.
Even as far back as 1691, this connection between the Samaritan and the “Old” Hebrew alphabets was made by Henry Dodwell: “[the Samaritans] still preserve [the Pentateuch] in the Old Hebrew characters.”5
Humphrey Prideaux also writes in 1799; “And these five books [of the Samaritans] still have among them, written in the old Hebrew or Phoenician character, which was in use among them before the Babylonish captivity, and in which both these and all other scriptures were written, till Ezra transcribed them into that of the Chaldeans.”
6
4 Thomas Hartwell, An introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, Pub. 1854, Page 190 5 Henry Dodwell, A Discourse Concerning Sanchoniathon's Phoenician History, Pub. 1691, Page 118 6 Humphrey Prideaux, The Old and New Testament connected in the history of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations, Pub.
1799, Page 431
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This same theory is presented in the 1831 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana: “During the Babylonish captivity , they received from the Chaldees the square character in common use; and in the time Ezra, the old Hebrew manuscripts were copied in Chaldee characters.”7
Figure 13 – A portion of the Aleppo Codex
The Hebrew Torah (Pentateuch) was originally written with an alphabet similar to that of the Samaritans, but after the Exile in Babylon it was transcribed with the Chaldean square alphabet, which was still used 1,000 years ago for the Aleppo Codex and is still used today in Modern Hebrew.
Old Hebrew and the Phoenician Alphabet
Figure 14 – A portion of a text from a Phoenician inscription
While Prideaux noted that the Old Hebrew alphabet was the same as the Samaritan alphabet, he also pointed out that it is identical to the Phoenician alphabet. When we compare the letters of these three alphabets, we can see this similarity.
Figure 15 – The letter “beyt” in Old Hebrew, Samaritan and Phoenician
This is the letter beyt in the Old Hebrew, the Samaritan and the Phoenician. Note the close similarity of each. Also note the similarities of the letter hey in each of these alphabets.
The 1831 edition of the Encyclopedia Americana also makes this connection between the Phoenician, Samaritan and Hebrew alphabets: “[the Hebrews] written characters were the same as the Phoenician, to which the letters of the Samaritan manuscripts approach the nearest.”8
The Phoenicians lived north of the land of Israel centered around the Biblical cities of Sidon and Tyre, or modern day Lebanon, between the 16th and 3rd Century BC.
The Phoenicians shared the same alphabet with the Hebrews and the Samaritans. It was also evident that the Phoenicians and Hebrews spoke the same language as the “Foreign Quarterly Review” wrote in its 1838 publication: “The learned world had almost universally allowed that the Phoenician language was, with few exceptions, identical with the Hebrew”9
While the origins of the Old Hebrew alphabet were widely accepted, this theory was based on a limited amount of evidence as the “Foreign Quarterly Review” points out: “What is left [of Phoenician] consists of a few inscriptions and coins…”
10
7 Encyclopedia Americana, Hebrew Language and Literature, Pub. 1831, Page 212 8 Encyclopedia Americana, Hebrew Language and Literature, Pub. 1831, Page 212
9 The Foreign quarterly review, Phoenician Inscriptions, Pub. 1838, Page 446
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Figure 16 – Sarcophagus found in Sidon with Phoenician inscription
The first major discovery connecting the Phoenician alphabet and language with Hebrew occurred on January 19th, 1855, when Turkish laborers accidently uncovered an ancient sarcophagus in Sidon, a Phoenician city. On this sarcophagus was a lengthy inscription written in the Phoenician alphabet and language, which was found to be identical to Hebrew with only a few exceptions.
Old Hebrew Discoveries
Figure 17 – Meshe Stele inscription
The Meshe Stele, also called the Moabite Stone, was discovered in 1868 in the Biblical city of Dibon, the capital of the Moabites. The inscription was written with the same letters as the Phoenician, old Hebrew and Samaritan and it was discovered that Moabite language was also the same as Hebrew with some minor variations.
Figure 18 – The Siloam Inscription
The Siloam Inscription, discovered in 1880, is written on the wall of Hezekiah's tunnel, which connects Gihon spring to the Pool of Siloam in East Jerusalem. This Hebrew inscription was written in the same style as the Phoenician and Moabite inscriptions.
10
The Foreign quarterly review, Phoenician Inscriptions, Pub. 1838, page 445
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Figure 19 – The Gezer Calendar
During the excavation of the city of Gezer, 30 miles from Jerusalem, a limestone tablet was discovered in 1908 with a Hebrew inscription written in the old Hebrew alphabet.
Figure 20 – A Lachish Ostracon
In 1935 eighteen ostraca (broken pottery fragments) were discovered in the ancient city of Lachish with Hebrew writing in the old Hebrew alphabet.
Figure 21 – An Ammonite inscription
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In 1966 an inscription was discovered in Amman Jordan with an Ammonite inscription whose alphabet and language were also similar to Phoenician and Hebrew.
Figure 22 – The Tel Dan Inscription
The Tel-Dan Stele, discovered in northern Israel in 1993, is an Aramaic inscription using the same old Hebrew script. This inscription also revealed another amazing fact.
Figure 23 – The phrases “king of Israel” (top) and “house of David” (bottom).
The inscription includes the phrase מלך ישראל (melek yisrael) meaning “king of Israel” and the line below reads בית דוד (beyt david) meaning “house of David.” These phrases are extra-Biblical evidence confirming the existence of not only the nation of Israel, but also king David.
Old Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic
Figure 24 – The Greek Alphabet on ancient inscription
The old-Hebrew alphabet, also called Paleo-Hebrew, was adopted by the Greeks around the 12th century BC.
Figure 25 – The first five letters of the Old Hebrew alphabet
The first five letters of the Hebrew alphabet are aleph, beyt, gimel, dalet and hey. These same letters, adopted by the Greeks, became the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and E-psilon (meaning simple E).
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Figure 26 – The first five letters of the Old Greek alphabet
While Hebrew is usually written from right to left, Greek was written left to right and the orientation of the letters were reversed.
Figure 27 – The Modern Greek alphabet
Over the centuries, these ancient Greek letters evolved into their Modern Greek forms.
Figure 28 – The Modern Roman alphabet
Our English alphabet is Roman, and because the Romans adopted the Greek alphabet, we are able to see our own modern English alphabet in these ancient Hebrew turned Greek letters, the A, B, C, D and E.
The Aramaic Alphabet
As previously mentioned, the old Hebrew alphabet was used by all Semitic peoples including the Arameans (also called the Chaldeans), but then evolved independent from the Hebrew.
Figure 29 – 5th Century B.C. Hebrew (Aramaic) alphabet
By the 5th century B.C., the time of the Israelites captivity in Aramea (or Babylon), Aramaic no longer resembled the old Hebrew it came from, and it is this Aramaic “square” script that Israel adopted during their captivity.
Figure 30 – The modern Hebrew (Aramaic) alphabet
This old Aramaic alphabet, now being used by the Israelites, continued to evolve into the modern letters we are familiar with today.
Alphabet Origins
By the end of the 19th century, the translation of the Semitic alphabet was well established. The only mystery was the origin of this alphabet as mentioned in “A Compendius and Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament” published in 1886.
meaning a yoke-beast, ox or (eleph) אלף is from (aleph) אלף the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet… Its name ,(aleph) ,א“heifer; and its oldest figure probably pictured a bovine head.”11
11
Benjamin Davies, Edward Cushing Mitchel, A Compendius and Complete Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament, Pub 1886, Page 1
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The 1922 “New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research,” in its entry for the letter “A,” also notes the suspected origins of the Hebrew alphabet. “A, the initial letter of the English and almost all other alphabets… The Phoenicians called the letter “aleph” seemingly because of the resemblance of the character to the head of an ox. Yet nothing is known with any degree of certainty concerning the ultimate origin of this letter.”12
What the editors of the “New Larned History” did not know was that this mystery was solved just a few years earlier by Sir William Flinders Petrie.
The Proto-Semitic Alphabet
In 1905, a new discovery in the Sinai Peninsula changed the world's perception of the origins of this Semitic alphabet.
Flinders Petrie, a renowned Egyptologist and pioneer in modern archeology, discovered inscriptions of previously unknown symbols at Serabit el-Khadim.
Figure 31 – Ancient inscription from Serabit El-Khadim
Dr. Alan H. Gardiner, another renowned Egyptologist, studied these inscriptions in detail. He discovered that these Sinaitic inscriptions consisted of a total of thirty-two symbols. Because of the limited number of symbols, Dr. Gardiner determined that this was an alphabet.13
Gardiner was then able to easily identify this Sinaitic alphabet as Semitic because of the pictographic nature of this alphabet. The name of each Hebrew letter is a Hebrew word with meaning.
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is called the aleph, a Hebrew word meaning “ox,” The tenth letter is called the yud or yad meaning “hand” and the sixteenth letter is the ayin, a word meaning “eye.”
Figure 32 – Ancient Sinaitic letters
Dr. Gardiner found that the letters in these ancient Sinaitic inscriptions were pictures of the very names of the Hebrew letters. The image of an ox head (left) was the letter aleph, the image of the hand (center) was the letter yad and the image of an eye (right) was the letter ayin.
This relationship between the pictograph and the names of the Semitic letters, Dr. Gardiner proposed, proved that this was the precursor to the previously known Phoenician/Old Hebrew alphabet.
12
The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research, Pub. 1922, Page 1 13
The New Larned History for Ready Reference, Reading and Research: The Actual .. - Page 225
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Figure 33 – The L'Balt inscription
Once it was determined that the new script was Semitic, in 1916 Dr. Gardiner was able to translate a portion of one inscription. This inscription includes the letters lamed, beyt, ayin, lamed and tav, which form the Semitic word לבעלת (l'balt), meaning “to the lady.”14
Figure 34 – The Wadi El-Hhol inscription (Photograph by John Melzian of the West Semitic Research Project)
In 1999, John and Deborah Darnell were surveying ancient travel routes in the deserts of southern Egypt when they came upon another set of inscriptions very similar to the Sinaitic inscriptions found by Petrie.
Dating the Semitic Alphabet
The inscriptions discovered in the past century and a half have been accurately dated through the advances of archeology. The original Semitic alphabet with its pictographic letters can be divided into three periods; Early, Middle and Late.
The early Semitic alphabet existed between the 20th and 12th centuries B.C. However, note that the 20th century date is based on the oldest inscriptions found thus far and it is possible that future discoveries may push the date of the Semitic alphabet back even farther into history. To date, the Wadi El-Hhol inscriptions found in southern Egypt are the oldest Semitic inscriptions found and date to between the 19th and 20th centuries B.C. The Sinaitic inscriptions from the Sinai Peninsula date to about the 15th century B.C.
The middle Semitic alphabet, the Phoenician and old Hebrew, was in use between the 12th and 4th century B.C. The Gezer calendar, Mesha Stele, Siloam inscription, the Lachish inscription and the Phoenician sarcophagus date to this time period.
The late Semitic alphabet, the square Aramaic script, was in use between 4th century BC and into modern times with the Modern Hebrew alphabet that is used to this day. The majority of the scrolls from the Dead Sea Caves is written in the late Semitic script and date to between the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. A few of the scrolls found in the dead sea caves, such as the Leviticus scroll, uses the middle Semitic script showing that the script did not fall out of use completely.
14
The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures By University of Chicago. Dept. of Semitic Languages and Literatures (1919) Page 35 - the PSI proved the names of the Hebrew letters - aleph (ox) beyt (house) etc.
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Figure 35 – Text from a Modern Hebrew Bible
The late Semitic script continued to be used for the works of the Talmud and the Masoretic Hebrew Bible, as well as for the printed Hebrew Bibles of today.
The Ayin and the Ghayin
While the Modern Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two letters, evidence suggests that there were additional letters in the original Semitic and Hebrew alphabets. One of the ancient Semitic languages of Canaan was Ugarit. This ancient language is almost identical to the Hebrew language of the Bible, but, instead of consisting of twenty-two letters, it has twenty-eight letters. One of the differences between Ugarit and Hebrew is that Ugarit has the letter “ghayin” in its alphabet, not found in the Hebrew alphabet. However, the evidence suggests that Hebrew did, at one time, have this twenty-third letter.
The strongest evidence of the missing ghayin can be found in words that include the letter ayin, but has two very different meanings. For instance, the word רא (ra) can mean “friend” or “bad”. The most likely reason for these two different meanings is that at one time, the word meaning “friend” was spelled resh-ayin and the word meaning “bad” was spelled resh-ghayin. There are many other examples like this including; עול (infant / wicked), יעל (profit / goat), עיף (weary / darkness), עור (skin / blind), עיר (colt / city), רעה (feed / break), שיר (hair / storm), ערב (weave dark), ערם (naked / crafty) and ערף (neck / rain).
Additional evidence of the existence of the letter ghayin can be found in the transliteration of Hebrew names into Greek when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek about 2,000 years ago. When we examine Hebrew names that contain the Hebrew letter ayin, we find two different methods of transliterating the letter. In some instances the letter ayin, which is silent in Hebrew, is ingored in Greek. In other instances the letter ayin is transliterated with the Greek letter Gamma. As an example, the Hebrew name בעל, pronounced Ba’al in Hebrew (the apostrophe represents the silent ayin), is transliterated into Greek as Βααλ, which is also pronounced Ba’al. However, the Hebrew name פעור, pronounced Pe’or, is transliterated into Greek as Φογωρ, pronounced Pogor. From this we can conclude that בעל was originally spelled with an ayin (the middle letter), but פעור was spelled with a ghayin (the second letter). Another example is the name עמורה, pronounced Amorah in Hebrew, but transliterated into Greek as Γομορρας, and pronounced Gomorros (where we get the name Gomorrah).
It is interesting to note that these words that are spelled with a ghayin, are often related to darkness (dark, storm, clouds, rain, blind) and wickedness (wicked, goat, city, bad, crafty).
The Shin, Sin and Samehh
In the Modern Hebrew alphabet the letter shin (ש) represents two different sounds, a “sh” and an “s.” To differentiate
between these two sounds, a dot is placed above the shin in different locations. For the "sh" sound, the dot is placed on
the right (ׁש) and is called a shin. For the “s” sound, it is placed on the left (ׂש) and called a sin.
In most cases, words spelled with the sin (ׂש) are more closely related in meaning to words spelled with the samehh (ס),
which also has an “s” sound. In addition, Hebrew words in the Masoretic text spelled with the sin (ׂש) in some places are
written with a samehh in other places. For these reasons, Hebrew words that are spelled with a sin (ׂש) in the Masoretic
text will be written with a samehh (ס) in the Ancient Hebrew Torah. As an example, in the Masoretic text you find the
name יׂשראל (yisra'el/Israel), but in the Ancient Hebrew Torah it will be written as יסראל.
Vav vs. Waw
In the Modern Hebrew alphabet the 6th letter is the vav and has a “v” sound. But, evidence suggests that in ancient times
this letter had a “w” sound and was called the waw instead of the vav. In Arabic, a language related to Hebrew, this letter
is called a waw and has a “w” sound. This letter was also used in ancient times to represent the vowel sounds “ow” and
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“uw.” These two sounds are closely related to the sound “w,” also suggesting an original “w” sound. This is similar to the
letter yud which can be the consonant “y” or the vowel “iy.”
The letter waw is commonly used as a prefix to words and means “and.” While English syntax (sentence structure)
requires multiple sentences to be broken up with commas and periods, Hebrew does not. In fact, the entire first chapter
of Genesis is one long sentence. Instead of breaking up sentences with commas and periods, the letter waw is used and is,
in fact, used 101 times in Genesis 1.
Interestingly, Exodus 1:1 begins with a waw and thus should begin with “and these are the names.” This suggests that
Exodus 1:1 was originally a continuation of Genesis 50:26 and not the beginning of a separate book.
Chart of the Hebrew Alphabet
Ancient Semitic/Hebrew Modern Hebrew Trans- Early Middle Late Picture Meaning Sound Letter Name Sound literation
a Ox head א a אStrong, Power,
Leader ah, eh א Aleph silent Α
b Tent floorplan Family, House, In ב בb,
bh(v) Beyt ב
b,
bh(v) Β
Gimal g G ג g Foot Gather, Walk g ג ג
d Door ד דMove, Hang,
Entrance d ד Dalet d D
h ה הMan with arms
raised
Look, Reveal,
Breath h, ah ה Hey h H
w Tent peg ו וAdd, Secure,
Hook w, o, u ו Vav v W
z Mattock ז זFood, Cut,
Nourish z ז Zayin z Ζ
x Tent wall ח חWall, Outside,
Divide, Half hh ח Chet hh Ηh
j Basket ט טSurround,
Contain, Mud t ט Tet t Th
y י יArm and closed
hand Hand, Work,
Throw, Worship y, ee י Yud y Y
k Open palm כ כBend, Open, Allow, Tame
k, kh כ Kaph k, kh Κ
l Shepherd Staff ל לTeach, Yoke,
Authority, Bind l ל Lamed l L
m Water מ מWater, Chaos, Mighty, Blood
m מ Mem m Μ
n Seed נ נSeed, Continue,
Heir, Son n נ Nun n Ν
s Thorn ס סGrab, Hate,
Protect s ס Samech s S
Eye ] ע עSee, Watch,
Know, Shade gh(ng) ע Ayin silent Ah
p Mouth פ פOpen, Blow,
Scatter, Edge
p,
ph(f) Peh פ
p,
ph(f) P
c Trail צ צTrail, Journey,
Chase, Hunt ts צ Tsade ts Ts
q Sun on the horizon ק קCondense, Circle,
Time q ק Quph q Q
r Head of a man ר רHead, First, Top,
Beginning r ר Resh r R
v Two front teeth ש שSharp, Press, Eat,
Two sh ש Shin/Sin sh, s Sh
t Crossed sticks ת תMark, Sign,
Signal, Monument t ת Tav t Τ
Rope Twist, Dark,
Wicked gh
Ghayin
Gh
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The Hebrew Language
The language of the Ancient Hebrews is closely related to their agricultural and nomadic lifestyle. Each word must be understood through this culture rather than from our own modern western Greco-Roman culture. As an example, the Hebrew word מצוה (mitsvah) is usually translated as a command or commandment in most other translations but hebraically means the directions given to guide one on the journey. Hence, this word will be translated in the MT as “direction.”
Hebraic thought differs from our own process of thinking, in that the Hebrews were concrete thinkers in contrast to our own abstract way of thinking. Concrete thought relates all words, concepts and ideas to something that can be sensed by the five senses. For instance, the Hebrew word אף (aph) is the nose or nostrils, but is the same word for anger, since one who is angry will flare the nostrils.
At times you are going to come across a word in this translation that seems to make absolutely no sense. This is mostly due to the differences between our modern Greco-Roman perspective of thought and that of the ancient Hebrew’s. Also keep in mind that each Hebrew word is translated exactly the same way every time, so there will be instances when the word seems out of context. What you will need to do is study that word and the context in which it is used, so you can better understand its Hebraic meaning. Once this has been done, the word and the verse itself will come to life in ways never before perceived.
Hebrew words, verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc., are best defined through a visual action. The Hebrew root עקב is used for the noun eqev meaning the heel, the verb aqav meaning to restrain in the sense of grabbing the heel to hold one back, and the adjective eyqev meaning ‘because’ or ‘since,’ through the concept of one idea in a sentence being on the heel of another idea within the sentence.
The Root System of Hebrew Words
The vocabulary of the Hebrew language is a system of roots and words. The most basic root is the parent or two-letter
root. An example is the parent root אל (E.L. el), which means “mighty one.” This word is often translated as “God” or
“god” in other translations.
Child or three-letter roots are derived by placing an aleph (א), hey (ה), vav (ו) or yud (י)15 in front, in the middle or at the
end of the parent root. An example of a child root derived from the parent root אל (E.L el) is אלה (A.L.H) from which the
verb אלה (A.L.H) meaning “to take an oath” and אלה (a’lah) meaning an “oath” are derived. Another child root derived
from the same parent root is איל (A.Y.L) from which the noun איל (ayil) meaning a “buck” and אילה (ay’ya’lah) meaning a
“doe” are derived. Another form of child root is where the last letter of the parent root is doubled, so that from the
parent root אל (el) would come the child root אלל (A.L.L); however, this root is not used in the Hebrew Bible.
Another three-letter root is the adopted root, which is derived by adding a Hebrew consonant to the parent root in the
same way that the child root does. An example of an adopted root is the root אלף (A.L.P), which is derived from the
parent root אל (el) by adding the consonant ף (p) to the end. From this adopted root comes the verb אלף (A.L.P) meaning
“to learn,” the noun אלף (eleph) meaning a bovine, and the noun אלוף (aluph) meaning a “chief.”
When studying Hebrew words, it is essential that you understand a word within the context of its roots to provide a much
clearer picture of the meaning of the word. This is the purpose of the lexicon included in this book, which groups all of the
Hebrew words found in the Torah according to their root words.
15
In Ancient Hebrew these four letters doubled as consonants or vowels, as does the letter “y” in the English language. The “y” can be used as a consonant, as in the word “yellow,” or as a vowel, as in the word “fly.”
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Vowel Pointings
Figure 36 – Scroll Fragment from the Dead Sea caves of Genesis 1:1 to 1:9
Figure 37 – Excerpt from the Masoretic text of Genesis 1:1 to 1:3
The ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible, such as found in the Dead Sea Caves were only written with consonants. The Masorites added a system of vowel pointings, consisting of dots and dashes that were added above and below each letter. These vowel pointings, called nikkudot (nikkud – singular) were developed to standardize pronunciation and to clarify words.
Table 1 – Nikkudot
Qamats א Chataph segol 16 א Cholam א Chataph patach א Sh'va א Chataph qamats א Qubbuts א Chireq א
Cholam maley ֹו Tsere א Shuruq ּו Segol א
16
The letter aleph is used only to show the placement of the nikkud. Any of these nikkud can be used with any letter.
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Patach א The Hebrew text of the Bible was originally written with only the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. About one thousand years ago a group called the Masorites created a system of dots and dashes called “nikkud” and placed them above and below the consonants to represent the vowels. It was discovered in the Dead Sea Scrolls that the four Hebrew letters, the al, hey, waw and yud, were used as vowels. The Masorites removed these vowels (usually the waw and yud) and replaced them with the nikkud. In Table 2 are some examples of Hebrew spellings of some Hebrew words in the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Table 2 – Vowels in the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Passage Masoretic Dead Sea Scroll Translation
Isaiah 2:2 ל All כול ּכ
Isaiah 2:3 י י ע ק ב ֹלה God of Jacob אלוהי יעקוב א
Isaiah 2:4 ל א And not ולוא ו
The Verb
A verb describes an action, such as the word “cut” in the sentence, “Jacob cut a tree.” Each Hebrew verb can be written with different moods and voices. For example, the active voice of the verb ראה (ra’ah) means to “see” but, the passive voice, identified by the prefix “be~,” means “be seen” but is translated as “appeared” in the RMT. As another example, the simple mood of the verb בוא (bo)means to “come” but, the causative mood, identified by the prefix “make~,” means “make come” but, is translated as “bring” in the RMT.
Tense
There are four tenses in Hebrew verbs, perfect, imperfect, participle and imperative. In the English language the verb tenses are related to time; past, present and future, while the Hebrew verbs are all related to action. The perfect tense is a completed action and in most cases is related to the English past tense (he cut). The imperfect tense is an incomplete action and is closely related to the English present and future tenses (he cuts or he will cut). The participle can be a current action or one who performs the action (a cutting or cutter). The imperative identifies the action, similar to a command, with no reference to the subject (cut!). When the prefix ו (waw) meaning “and” is attached to the verb, the verb tense (perfect or imperfect) reverses. For this reason this letter, when used in this context, is called the reversing or consecutive waw.
Below are a few common verb conjugations of the Hebrew verb שמע (Sh-M-Ah)17. The bold letters are the prefixes and suffixes which identify the tense, person, and gender of the subject of the verb.
Table 3 – Perfect Tense Verbs
ע מ י ׁש shamatiy I heard ת
ע מ shamata you heard ת ׁש
ע מ shama he heard ׁש
ע מ shamah she heard הׁש
Table 4 – Imperfect Tense Verbs
עא מ eshma I will hear ׁש
עת מ tishma you will hear ׁש
17 I should note that Hebrew verb stems, such as שמע, are not actual words and cannot be pronounced until they are conjugated. Therefore, I will simply transliterate each letter of the verb stems. For the verb stem שמע this will be “Sh” for the letter shin (ש), “M” for the letter mem (מ) and “Ah” for the letter ayin (ע).
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עי מ yishma he will hear ׁש
עת מ tishma she will hear ׁש
Voice
Each Hebrew verb includes voice of which there are three: active, passive or reflexive. The active voice identifies the action of the verb as coming from the subject (he cut). The passive voice does not identify the origin of action placed on the subject of the verb (he was cut). The reflexive voice places the action of the verb onto the subject (he cut himself).
Mood
Each verb also includes mood of which there are three: simple, intensive or causative. The simple mood is simple action of the verb (he cut). The intensive mood implies force or emphasis on the verb (he slashed or hacked). The causative mood expresses causation to the verb (“he made a cut” or “he caused a cut”).
The voice and mood of a verb is identified by seven different forms as shown in the table below:
Table 5 – Verb Forms
Form Mood Voice Example
Pa’al18 Simple Active He cut
Niphal Simple Passive He was cut
Pi’el Intensive Active He slashed
Pu’al Intensive Passive He was slashed
Hiphil Causative Active He made cut
Hophal Causative Passive He was made cut
Hitpa’el Intensive Reflexive He slashed himself
Below are a few common suffixes (in bold letters) that identify the object of a verb.
Table 6 – Suffixes
ח ל יׁש shelahhaniy he sent me נ
ח ל shal'hhekha he sent you ָךׁש
ח ל shelahho he sent him ֹוׁש
Besides the “simple” verbs (called qal verbs) used above, seven other verb forms are used that slightly change the meaning of the verb. However, we will only look at the three most common. The niphil is the passive form and adds the prefixed letter נ (ni). The hiphil is the causative form and adds the prefixed letter ה (hi) and the letter י (iy) as an infix. The Hitpa’el is the reflexive form and adds the prefixed letters הת (hit).
Table 7 – Niphil, Hiphil and Hitpa’el verb forms
Niphil ׁשנ ד niq'dash he was special ק
Hiphil ד ה hiq'diysh ׁשיק he caused to be
special
Hitpa’el ת ד ה hit'qa'desh ׁשק he made himself
special
18
Also called the “qal” form.
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A few other verb forms differ from those we have previously discussed. The first is the infinitive verb, which does not include a tense (perfect or imperfect), subject or object of the verb. It only identifies the action, such as “listen.” The second is the imperative, which like the infinitive, does not include a tense or object, but it does identify the gender and number of the subject as well as the action of the verb, but more as a command, such as “listen!.” The third is the participle, which is used much like our present tense verbs in English, such as “listening.” Below are examples of these verb forms.
Table 8 – Infinitive, Imperative and Participle verb forms
Infinitive מ ע shamo listen ׁש
Imperative ע מ !shema listen ׁש
Participle ע shomey listening ׁש מ
While all of this appears complex and confusing at first, it should be noted that the majority of the Hebrew verbs in the Bible are written in the pa’al form and in the perfect tense, third person, masculine, singular.
The Verb, Subject and Object
In English, the general order of words is: subject of the verb, verb and then object of the verb. As an example, using the RMT from Genesis 1:12, we have the sentence, “and the land brought out grass.” The word “land” is the subject of the verb, “brought out” is the verb” and “grass” is the object of the verb. In Hebrew, this order is slightly different. The general order of Hebrew sentences is: verb, subject of the verb and then the object of the verb. The Hebrew behind the English sentence above is דשא הארץ ותוצא . The first word, ותוצא, is the verb, the second word, הארץ, is the subject of the verb and the third word, דשא, is the object of the verb. Hebrew gender
All Hebrew pronouns will be translated as “he” or “she.” This may appear strange at first, as a word like “ground,” a feminine word, will be identified as a “she” (see 4:12). This is an important issue as knowing the correct gender of a pronoun can influence interpretation. A classic example is found in 4:7 where most translations read, .”..sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you.” It is usually assumed the word “its” is referring to the word “sin” but, knowing that the word “sin” is a feminine word and “its” is a masculine pronoun we discover that the word “its” cannot be referring to the “sin.”
Hebrew genders should not be viewed in the same manner we view gender. For instance, the word “beast” is a feminine word and any pronoun associated with this word will be a “she” with no regard to the actual gender of the beast.
Hebrew grammar uses the masculine form of nouns and pronouns for a group of mixed genders. For instance, in 36:25 the “sons” (masculine plural) of Anah are identified as Dishon (a male) and Ahalivamah (a female).
The Noun
The most common noun form is the use of the two or three letter root. From the parent root אב (av), meaning a tent pole, comes the noun אב (av) meaning “father.” As was mentioned previously, all nouns are action oriented and the full understanding of the noun אב is “the one who holds up the tent/house.” Just as the tent pole supports the tent, the father supports the family within the tent. The root פתח (P.T.Hh) is the base for the verb פתח (patahh) meaning “to open” and the noun פתח (petahh) meaning a door.
Noun Derivatives
Additional nouns are also formed out of the base root by adding specific letters as prefixes, infixes and suffixes, in specific places within the root. The noun derivative מפתח (maph'teach) meaning ‘a key’ is formed by adding the letter מ to the front of the noun פתח (petahh - a door). Some of the most common noun derivatives are formed by placing a מ (m) or ת (t) before the root or a י (i) or ו (o or u) within the root.
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Feminine Derivatives
In Hebrew all nouns are either masculine or feminine. In most cases the nouns and noun derivatives are masculine and are converted into feminine nouns by adding one of four suffixes; ה (ah), ת (et), ות (owt), or ית (iyt). Generally, masculine nouns are concrete while feminine nouns are abstract.
Combination Derivatives
Additional noun derivatives are formed by combining different prefixes, infixes and suffixes. The four feminine suffixes can also be added to any of the other noun derivatives resulting in a wide variety of possible nouns.
Plural Nouns
Nouns are made plural by adding the suffix ים (iym) or ות (ot). Generally the ים is used for masculine nouns and ות for feminine nouns. In some cases masculine words, usually very ancient words, will use the ות suffix. The Hebrew words אב (av - father) and אור (or - light) are masculine words but are written as אבות and אורות in the plural. In all modern languages the plural is always quantitative, while in Ancient Hebrew a plural can be quantitative or qualitative. An example of this is the word בהמות (behemoth – see Job 40:15). This word is the plural form of the singular בהמה (behemah), meaning beast, but refers to a very large beast rather than more than one beast. One of the most common uses of the qualitative plural is the word אלהים (elohiym) which can be translated as “gods” (quantitative) or as “God” (qualitative).
Grammatical Tools
Hebrew uses nouns for other functions within the sentence. They can be used as adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc. The noun עקב (eqev) can be the “heel” of the foot but, it can also mean “because” in the sense of being on the heel of the previous phrase. Because the Ancient Hebrew language does not make distinctions between these types of words, the Lexicon lists them all as nouns and noun derivatives.
Articles, Conjunctions and Prepositions
Specific letters are used in Hebrew to represent the article, conjunction, and preposition and are prefixed to nouns (and sometimes verbs). Below are all of these prefixes (in bold) attached to the Hebrew noun ארץ (erets, Strong’s #776):
Table 9 – Articles, Conjunctions and Prepositions
Article ץה ר ha'arets the land א
Conjunction ץו ר va'arets and a land א
Preposition ץל ר la'arets to a land א
Preposition ץּב ר be'erets in a land א
Preposition ץמ ר me'erets from a land א
Preposition ץּכ ר ke'erets like a land א
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that provides description to a noun. For instance, the Hebrew word טֹוב (good) is a common adjective that can be found in the following phrase meaning “good day.”
(yom tov) יֹום טֹובNotice that in Hebrew the adjective follows the noun which it describes. If the noun is prefixed by the article ה (ha), then the adjective will be as well, such as we see in the next phrase meaning “the good mountain.”
טֹוב ר ה ה (hahar hatov) ה
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The adjective will also match the gender of the noun. In the last two examples, the words יֹום and ר are masculine nouns ה therefore; the masculine form טֹוב is used. The word ץ ר ה is a feminine word so the feminine adjective (land) א is used טֹוב in the following phrase meaning “good land.”
ה ץ טֹוב ר (erets tovah) א The adjective will also match the number (singular or plural) of the noun. In each of our previous examples, the singular form of the word טֹוב is being used because the nouns it describes are singular. In the phrase, meaning “good houses,” the word ית .is written in the plural form, therefore the adjective is as well (house) ב
ים ים טֹוב ת (batiym toviym) ּב Hebrew Pronunciation
Vowels
Four of the Hebrew letters double as consonants and vowels. These are the א (aleph), ה (hey), ו (waw) and the י (yud). The aleph can be a glottal stop (silent pause) or the vowel sound “a.” The letter hey has an “h” sound as a consonant or an “e” sound as a vowel. The waw is a “w” as a consonant or an “o” or “u” as a vowel. The yud is a “y” as a consonant or an “i’ as a vowel. The waw and the yud are the two most commonly used as vowels in Hebrew words. When the waw appears at the beginning of a syllable, it will use the consonantal “w” sound. The same is true for the yud, which will use the consonantal “y” when at the beginning of a syllable.
Another type of vowel is the implied vowel sounds. This means that the vowel is not written but is necessary in order to pronounce the word. An example of this is the word בר (grain) which consists of the two consonant B and R and cannot be pronounced without a vowel between them. In most cases the implied vowel will be an “a” or an “e.” In this case the implied vowel is the “a” and the word בר is pronounced “BaR.”
Spirants and Stops
A spirant is a letter whose sound can be prolonged. Some examples of this from the English language are the v, z, f, and sh. A stop is a letter whose sound ends abruptly such as the b, p, d and t. A few of the Hebrew letters will have a different pronunciation depending on their position within the word. The letter ב will usually be pronounced as a stop (b) when at the beginning of the word, and as a spirant (v) when it is anywhere else in the word. For example, the word בר is pronounced “bar” while the word רב is pronounced “rav.” Another letter that will change is the letter kaph – כ. When at the beginning of a word it will be pronounced as a stop (k). Otherwise it will be pronounced as a spirant (kh – pronounced like the ch in the name Bach). The only other letter that will change is the letter peh – פ. When at the beginning of a word, it will be a stop (p); otherwise it will be a spirant (ph).
Syllables
There are two types of syllables, open and closed. A closed syllable will include a consonant-vowel-consonant combination while an open syllable will have a vowel-consonant combination. The vowel may be one of the four consonant/vowel letters, usually the yud (י) or the waw (O or U) or an implied vowel. In most cases the final syllable will be a closed syllable. The word ברית (covenant) will have two syllables. The first is ב, an open syllable pronounced “be,” and the second is רית a closed syllable pronounced “riyt.”
Generally, a word with three consonants will be divided as Cv-CvC. A word with four consonants will be divided as Cv-Cv-CvC or CvC-CvC. When a word includes five consonants, the breakdown is usually Cv-Cv-Cv-CvC or CvC-Cv-CvC.
If the word includes one of the four consonant/vowel letters, its position within the word will determine if it is used as a consonant or a vowel. Generally, when the consonant/vowel is placed at the beginning of a syllable or the end of a closed syllable, it will take on the consonantal sound. When it is in the middle of a closed syllable or the end of an open syllable, it will take on the vowel sound.
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Ancient Hebrew Philosophy
Figure 38 – Picture experiment
If you were to ask a Westerner, such as from the Americas or Europe, what they see in the picture above, they would probably say “a deer.” However, if you were to ask an Easterner, such as from Japan or China, what they see, they will probably say “a forest.” The difference is that the Western thinker focuses in on one point, while the Eastern thinker looks at the whole of the image.
Figure 39 – An experiment demonstrating the different between Western and Eastern thought
In an extensive study on these different forms of philosophy, a wide range of people from America, Canada and Europe were asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on the left was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” They were then asked if they thought the boy in the middle of the picture on the right was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” Then a wide range of people from Asia, including Japan and China, were asked the same questions. When asked if the boy on the left was happy or sad, they all said “happy.” When they were asked if the boy on the right was happy or sad, they all said “sad.”
Again, Western thinkers focus on one point, the boy in the middle. Eastern thinkers on the other hand focus on the picture as a whole and because the majority of the children in the picture on the right were sad, their answer was “sad,” regardless of the smile on the boy in the middle.
The Psychology of the Ancient Hebrews is very different from our own and when we read the Bible we must learn to read it from the Hebrew's perspective rather than our own.
When we use a word like “name,” we focus in on how it is written and pronounced.
I will tell of thy name to my brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee. (Psalm 22:23)
What does it mean to “tell someone about another's name?” Does it mean to tell others how to write or pronounce the name? From a Western perspective yes, but from a Hebraic perspective a name is much more than its pronunciation; it is the character of the individual, his ethics, workmanship, attitude, dependability, resourcefulness, compassion, honor, etc. When the Bible teaches us to “tell others the name of Yahweh,” it isn't telling us to teach others how to write or pronounce it correctly; it is telling us to teach Yahweh's character.
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Hebrew Culture
A language is always closely connected to the culture of the people using that language. Take for example the word “rain.” In an agricultural community, “rain” can make the difference between success and failure, but in urban setting “rain” is considered a nuisance. This is important to keep in mind when reading the Biblical text. If we attempt to interpret the text based on our own personal cultural perspective, we will undoubtedly make errors in our interpretations. Case in point: a flood. In our experiences, floods are equated with death and disaster. However, in the ancient world of the Hebrew people, the annual floods brought the much-needed water from the mountainous regions to lower desert regions.
Figure 40 – A goat hair tent of the Bedouin, modern day nomads of the Near East
[He] stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
The above passage from Isaiah is making an analogy between the heavens and a tent. In order to properly understand this analogy, one must understand the unique design of the tents of the Ancient Hebrews. These tents were made from woven black goat hair. When sitting inside the tent, it is very dark, but pin holes of light can be seen coming through the panels and appear like the stars of the night sky. When it rains, the hair fibers swell and seal the tent and the pin holes of light disappear, just as they do when the clouds come, blocking the view of the stars. When an Ancient Hebrew looks up at the night sky, he sees God's tent over him in the same way that his own tent covers over and protects his family.
In America, a biscuit is a soft raised bread, while in England it is a small hard flat cake, much like what we call in America a cracker or cookie. When an American orders his first cup of coffee in Europe, he may be shocked at what he is given and surprised at the small size of the cup and the extreme potency of the coffee.
This is not only true for the many cultures of today, but even more so when we are translating ideas and concepts from an Ancient culture to a modern one. We know today that a star is a giant ball of gas burning at millions of degrees, but ancient man did not have this understanding and we cannot use our modern definition of a star for an ancient people’s understanding of what a star is.
The Language and Culture Connection
Benjamin Lee Whorf stated, in what has become known as the Whorf hypothesis, that “language is not simply a way of voicing ideas, but is the very thing which shapes those ideas.”19 An example of this is how one perceives time. In our modern western culture we view time in the sense of the past, present and future, a fixed and measurable progression of time.
Other cultures, such as the Hopi Indians of North America, do not share this same perspective of time. To the Hopis, there is what “is” (manifested) and what “is not yet” (unmanifested). Interestingly, the Ancient Hebrews had a similar view of time. Like the Hopi language, the Ancient Hebrew language does not use past, present and future tenses for verbs. Instead they use two tenses, one for a complete action (manifested) and one for an incomplete action (unmanifested).
An individual, whose native language is Hopi, views time from the Hopi perspective, but if he is required to adopt English he learns the English perspective of time. During the late 1800s, the United States forced the Native Americans to adopt
19
Understanding the whole student, Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2007, page 34.
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the English language and when a Hopi no longer functions within his native language, the original cultural perspectives, such as time, is lost and replaced with the modern western perspective of time. This same shift in perspectives can be seen throughout the Ancient Hebrew vocabulary.
Figure 41 – A tsiytsiyt
In Numbers 15:38 we read; “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, make tsiytsiyt on the corners of your garment.” The Hebrew word ציצית (tsiytsiyt) is a noun derived from the word ציץ (tsiyts).
Figure 42 – A blossom
A ציץ (tsiyts) is the “blossom” of a tree, which in time will become a fruit. The tsiytsiyt then is a blossom, not in appearance, but in function. The function of the tsiytsiyt is to be a reminder to the wearer to produce fruit, fruit being the observance of the commands, as stated in verse 39, “remember the commandments,” the teachings of God, which, according to Psalm 1:2,3, is like producing fruit.
Therefore, the word tsiytsiyt carries with it a cultural perspective which connects the blossoms of a tree with the performance of a commandment.
This “concrete” Hebrew language continued to function as the Jewish people's native language until their removal from the land after the Bar Kockba revolt in 135 AD, at which time they were dispersed into many different nations. While the Jewish people continued to use the Hebrew language from then until now, it was relegated to their religious lives alone. The language of the people around them, quite often Greek, was adopted as the language for everyday use. At this point, Greek became the influential language in their life and their perspectives of words and ideas were then determined by this dominant language.
The Hebrew word tsiytsiyt is now translated into the Greek word κρασπεδον (kraspedon), meaning “a decorative fringe or thread.” No longer is the tsiytsiyt attached to the idea of a “blossom,” but instead simply as a “fringe.” This same shift in perception occurred each time a Hebrew adopted a new language, whether it was Spanish, German or English.
In 1948 Israel became a Jewish state and with that, Hebrew once again became the everyday language of the Jewish people. While the language had been resurrected, the original cultural perspective of that language had disappeared long
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ago and the Western influence on the language survived. Therefore, a tsiytsiyt, in the mind of modern Orthodox Jews, is still a decorative fringe and no longer functionally related to a blossom.
This same sort of change can be seen throughout the Hebrew language. For example, the Hebrew word תורה (torah), which in the original Hebrew language meant a “journey,” now in the Modern Hebrew language means “doctrine.” A כוהן (kohen), in the original language meant a base of the community, but in the Modern Hebrew language means a “religious priest.” The word קדוש (qadosh), which originally meant special, now in the modern language means “holy.”
The Agricultural aspect of the Hebrew Language
Figure 43 – Bedouins
The Ancient Hebrews were nomadic agriculturalists who migrated from pasture to pasture, watering hole to watering hole. Their entire lives were spent in the wilderness and this lifestyle had a significant effect on their language.
Some Hebrew words are obviously related to this agricultural lifestyle. For example, The Hebrew word אוהל (ohel) is a tent, רועה (ro'eh) is a shepherd, and קציר (qatsir) is a harvest. Besides these obvious agricultural words, many other words, which we would not relate to agriculture, are in fact rooted in some aspect of the Nomadic culture. For instance, the Hebrew word חן (hhen), usually translated as “grace,” is related to an “oasis,” a place of beauty, rest and comfort. Derived out of the word hhen come the words מחנה (mahhaneh) meaning “camp,” often pitched at an oasis.
Other Biblical words that have lost their original agricultural meanings include: תורה (torah), which is usually translated as “law,” but literally means the “journey,” מצוה (mitzvah), usually translated as “command,” but literally means the “directions for the journey,” צדיק (tsadiyq), usually translated “righteous,” but literally means “traveling the path,” and ”.usually translated as “wicked,” but literally means “lost from the path ,(rasha) רשע
East and West
Throughout the world there are two major branches of Philosophy, Western and Eastern. Western Philosophy has its beginnings in the sixth century B.C. in Greece with such philosophers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Eastern Philosophy has its roots in the ancient past and was the philosophy of all ancient cultures of the Far East (including China and Japan), Middle East (Including India and Babylon) and Near East (including Egypt and Israel).
While there are many differences between the Western and Eastern schools of thought, one of the major differences is the use of abstracts and concretes.
Figure 44 – Concrete (left) and abstract (right) art
Just as artwork may be created in the concrete or the abstract, words can also be created in the concrete or the abstract. A concrete word, idea or concept is something that can be perceived by the five senses. It can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted or touched. An abstract is something that cannot be perceived by the five senses.
As the Bible was written from an Eastern philosophical perspective, it is important that we recognize that we cannot interpret it through our own Western philosophy. To do so, would place a meaning and interpretation that may not be that of the original authors.
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Thorleif Boman's monumental work, Hebrew thought compared with Greek, states; “The thinking of the Old Testament is primitive and hence can be compared only with the thinking of other primitive peoples and not with thinking as advanced as Plato's or Bergson's.”20
Victor H. Matthews explains how the culture of the Hebrews can be studied in his book, Manners and Customs of the Bible.” One of the joys of studying the Bible is attempting to reconstruct the manners and customs of the peoples of ancient times. The gulf of thousands of years can be bridged, at least in part, by insights into their everyday life. These can be garnered through the close examination of the biblical narratives and through the use of comparative written and physical remains from other ancient civilizations.”21
George Adam Smith said;”…the Hebrews were mainly a doing and feeling people. Thus their language has few abstract terms. Rather, “Hebrew may be called primarily a language of the senses. The words originally expressed concrete or material things and movements or actions which struck the senses or started the emotions. Only secondarily and in metaphor could they be used to denote abstract or metaphysical ideas.”22
Concrete and Abstract Thought
The Eastern mind communicates with concrete words and concepts. Concrete thought is the expression of concepts and ideas in ways that can be seen, touched, smelled, tasted and/or heard. All five of the senses are used when speaking, hearing, writing and reading the Hebrew language. An example of this can be found in Psalms 1:3;
“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.”
In this passage the author expresses his thoughts in concrete terms such as; tree, streams of water, fruit and leaf.
Western thinkers are comfortable with abstract words and concepts. Abstracts are the expressions that cannot be seen, touched, smelled, tasted or heard. Examples of Abstract thought can be found in Psalms 103:8; “The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.” The words compassion, grace, anger and love are all abstract words, ideas that cannot be experienced by the senses. Why do we find these abstract words in a passage of Hebrews who wrote in concretes? Actually, these are abstract English words used by the translator to translate the original Hebrew concrete words.
These same Concrete concepts of Eastern thought can also be found in Primitive cultures that exist today who have not been influenced by our Modern Western culture. The linguist Dan Everett discovered through his research that the primitive Pirahã tribe in the Amazon did not use abstract perspectives, but instead concrete ones. As an example, the Pirahã tribe call themselves the “straight heads” and outsiders are “crooked heads.” Interestingly, the Ancient Hebrew language uses this same style of speech. A literal translation of Proverbs 14:2 reads, “One who makes his walk straight will revere Yahweh, but the one who makes his path crooked is worthless.”
Everett also found that they had no concept of “left” and “right” (abstract terms of direction), but instead gave direction in relation to the surrounding topography, as in “toward the river,” or “toward the jungle.”23 Again, this is strikingly similar to the Ancient Hebrews' perspectives of direction. Exodus 38:9-13 describes the direction of the court in relationship to the four sides of the Tabernacle. The Hebrew words used for these four directions are:
meaning “The desert region” (south) – (negev) נגב meaning “The unknown region” (north) – (tzafon) צפון meaning “The Mediterranean Sea” (west) – (yam) ים meaning “the region of the rising sun” (east) – (qedem) קדם
20 Thorleif Boman, Hebrew thought compared with Greek, (Westminster Press, 1970) 21 Victor H. Matthews, Manners and Customs of the Bible, (Hendrickson, 1991) 22
George Adam Smith, The Hebrew Genius as Exhibited in the Old Testament, (1944 P.10.) 23
Dan Everett, Endangered Languages and Lost Knowledge, Long Now Foundation Seminar, March 20, 2009
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Hebrew Descriptions
Figure 45 – An oak tree and a ram
In our minds we would never relate an oak tree to a ram or view them as the same. The reason being is that we relate to features and appearances. However, the Hebrews relate to the function and in the case of the oak and the ram, they function in the same way. An oak tree is a very hard wood and the horns and skull of a ram are equally as hard. For this reason, the Hebrew word איל (ayil) is used for a ram (see Genesis 22:13) and an oak (see Isaiah 1:29).
This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. (Genesis 6:15)
From our Modern Western mindset, we assume that this passage is describing the “appearance” of the ark. But this is not so, the dimensions are not given to tell us what it “looked like,” but instead to tell us that it is very large as it is going to hold a large number of animals.
Another major difference between the modern Western view and the ancient Eastern one is how something is described. A westerner would describe a pencil in relationship to its appearance, such as long and yellow. An ancient easterner on the other hand, would describe it by its function, such as “you write with it.” Notice that the western description uses adjectives, but the eastern description uses verbs. Biblical Hebrew rarely uses adjectives; instead it much more prefers to use verbs.
Static and Dynamic
In our Modern western language verbs express action (dynamic) while nouns express inanimate (static) objects. In Hebrew all things are in motion (dynamic) including verbs and nouns. In Hebrew sentences the verbs identify the action of an object while nouns identify an object of action. The verb מלך (malak) is “the reign of the king” while the noun מלך (melek) is the “the king who reigns.” A mountain top is not a static object but the “head lifting up out of the hill.” A good example of action in what appears to be a static passage is the command to “have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In Hebrew thought this passage is saying “not to bring another one of power in front of my face.”
Balance
Very few sermons in our Western synagogues and churches would include the passage “I [God] form the light and create darkness, I make peace and I create evil, I am the LORD who does all of these” (Isaiah 45:7) as our Western mind sees these two forces as opposing opposites while the Eastern mind sees them both as equals and necessary for perfect balance. In the Western mind, God is only good and therefore unable to create evil. The Eastern mind sees God as a perfect balance of all things including good and evil.
Our western mind classifies all things in two categories, either it is “good” or it is “bad” (evil and bad are translations for the same Hebrew word). One is to be sought, cherished and protected, the other is to be rejected, spurned and discarded. Let us take light and darkness as an example. We see light as good and darkness as bad. The idea of light brings to mind such things as God, truth and love. Darkness on the other hand invokes Satan, lies and hate. To the Orientals, including the Hebrews, both are equally necessary as one cannot exist without the other. In the Bible God is seen as a God of light as well as darkness “And the people stood at a distance and Moses approached the heavy darkness where God was.” (Exodus 20:21). If you stare at the sun, which is pure light, what happens? You become blind. If you are standing in a sealed room with no light, what happens? You are again blind. Therefore, both light and darkness are bad and yet, both are good. In order to see we must block out some of the light as well as some of the darkness.
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The two poles of a magnet are north and south. These two poles create balance; they are not morally good or bad, but necessary ingredients of physics that complement each other. Good and bad are more like the north and south poles of a magnet than our Western conception of good and bad.
Can good exist without the bad? Absolutely not. How can you judge something to be good if you cannot compare it to something bad? The same is true for all other concepts. Cold cannot exist without heat, short without tall, far without near, or large without small. Our western mind usually ignores these extremes and seeks to always find the “good” or the “bad.” The Eastern mind is continually seeking both the “good” and the “bad” in order to find the balance between the two. Even Solomon recognized this when he said “Do not be overly righteous” (Ecclesiastes 7:16).
Throughout the scriptures this search for balance exists, yet is ignored by Westerners who do not understand the significance of balance.
Action
The Hebrews are active people and their vocabulary reflects this lifestyle. The Greek culture recognizes words such as ‘knee’ and ‘gift’ as nouns which by themselves impart no action. But in Hebrew, just as in most Ancient languages24, there is very little distinction between nouns and verbs, as all words are related to an action. The Greek mind designates a knee and a gift as inanimate nouns unrelated in meaning. The Hebrew mind sees the knee (ברך / B.R.K) as “the knee that bends” and a gift (ברכה / berakah) as “what is brought with a bent knee.”
Even the Hebrew nouns for ‘father’ and ‘mother’ are descriptive of action. The Hebrew word for ‘father’ is אב (av) and
literally means “the one who gives strength to the family” and ‘mother’ is אם (em) and means “the one that binds the family together.”
When we read the Ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible, we must remember that the words used are related to the Ancient Hebrew culture and thought. Therefore, we need to suppress our Western Greek minds, leaving them for reading the Modern classics.
Past and future
Another example of differing cultural perspectives is how different cultures perceive time. In our modern Western world we view the past as behind us and the future as ahead of us. In Biblical Hebrew, the word for “yesterday” (the past) is meaning “in front.” The Biblical Hebrew word for “tomorrow” (the (mul) מול which comes from the root ,(temol) תמולfuture) is מחר (mahher), which comes from the root אחר (ahher) meaning “in back.” Therefore, from a Biblical Hebrew perspective, the past is in front and the future is behind. We see time from the perspective of passing through it. As we have walked through the past, we see it as behind us and the future, which we have not yet walked in, is in front of us. The Hebrews saw time from the perspective of observance. The past is known and therefore can be seen (in front of the observer), but the future is not known and therefore cannot be seen (behind the observer).
Ancient Hebrew Speech
Each culture has its own unique style of speech where words and phrases are used that are not meant to be literal and can only be understood correctly if one is familiar with the style of speech used. If these unique words and phrases are heard or read literally, a completely different meaning will be assumed that was not intended by the author.
Idioms
An idiom is defined as “a manner of expression peculiar to a given language, culture or people whose meanings cannot be understood through the context of the words alone.” We use idiomatic words and phrases all the time without realizing that we are doing it. Below are just a few examples of idioms peculiar to the English language of America involving parts of the body.
I bent over backwards. (I tried everything.) Let me give you a hand. (Let me help.) I put my nose to the grindstone. (I worked hard.) I spilled his guts. (I told everything.) You’re pulling my leg. (You’re joking.) He’s shooting his mouth off. (He’s saying too much.)
24
Giorgio Fano, The Origins and Nature of Language (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1992) 66
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Break a leg. (Good luck.) My ears are burning. (Someone is talking about me.) My head is spinning (This is too much for me to think about.) I have a hollow leg. (I eat a lot.) I’m dragging my feet (I’m procrastinating.) I’m pulling my hair out. (I’m frustrated.) Hold your tongue. (Don't say anything.)
When someone from another culture hears or reads these idioms, there is no possible way to comprehend the meaning unless an outside source is consulted for interpretation. To demonstrate how difficult it is to interpret an idiom, consider the following idiom from Mexico, “The farmer went into the field and hung up his tennis shoes.”
When we read that sentence we envision a farmer going out into the field and hanging his shoes up in a tree or fence post or something like that. It’s impossible for us to understand this passage without an outside source. The phrase “hung up his tennis shoes” is equivalent to our idiom “kicked the bucket.” In other words, he died.
Below are a few idioms found within the Torah.
face fell = sad (Genesis 4:5) heart lifted up = proud (Deuteronomy 8.14) knew no quiet in the belly = greedy (Job 20.20) open the ear = inform (Job 33.16) right hand = mighty (Psalms 89.13) hide the face = refuse to answer (Ps 102.2) bad eye = stingy (Proverbs 28.22) good eye = generous (Proverbs 22.9) hard forehead = stubborn (Ezekiel 3.7)
Euphamisms
A euphemism is the use of one word in place of another such as the common Euphemisms used today in our culture.
dough = money
Just as in the case of idioms, the true meaning in Hebrew cannot be understood unless one is familiar with the euphemism. For example, take Psalms 24:7 which reads:
“Lift up your heads, O you gates”
How does a gate lift up its head? The word “gate” is a euphemism for a “judge.” The cities in Israel were often surrounded by walls. At the gates of these walls the judges would hold court. Hence, the judges were called “gates.”
Gender
All Hebrew nouns, verbs, adjectives and most pronouns identify gender, either masculine or feminine, such as we can see in the first two verses of Genesis:
In the beginning God (m.) created (m.) the sky (m.) and the land (f.) and the land (f.) was (f.) empty and void and the Spirit (f.) of God (m.) hovered (f.) over the face (m.) of the deep.
The identity of a word’s gender is essential in translation as well as in interpretation. Take Genesis 4:7 as an example:
If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door: and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over it. (ASV, Genesis 4:7)
The most common interpretation of this verse is that Cain is told that he must control the sin. While this verse is translated appropriately, this interpretation is incorrect because the translation has erased the genders of the verse. Below is the same verse, but adding the gender according to the Hebrew:
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. (KJV, Genesis 4:7)
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While the ASV uses the word “it” the Hebrew would literally be translated as “him” as seen in the KJV. There is no “it” in Hebrew; all things are either a “him/he” or a “her/she.” The verse says that Cain is to control “him,” and since “sin” is a feminine word, sin cannot be the “him.”
Ancient Hebrew Styles of Writing
Just as it is important to understand how the Hebrews thought and spoke, it is just as important to know how they wrote. Their style of writing is different from what we are used to, yet we attempt to read the ancient Hebrew texts as if they were written by one of our contemporary writers. This again causes a mistranslation as well as misinterpretations of the text. Therefore, it is essential to learn the unique styles of writing employed by the Hebrews in order to read the texts correctly.
Hebrew Poetry
As Hebrew poetry differs greatly from our own Western style of poetry, many do not recognize the poetry when they read it. This can cause problems when translating or interpreting these passages.
Approximately 75% of the Tenakh (Old Testament) is poetry. All of Psalms and Proverbs are Hebrew poetry. Even the book of Genesis is filled with Poetry. The Hebrews used poetry for several reasons. Much of the Torah was sung and was easier to sing. Also, poetry and songs are easier to memorize than straight texts. Parallel poetry (as in Genesis 1) emphasizes something of great importance, as is the creation story. The rabbis believed that “if something is worth saying, it is worth saying beautifully.” There is much more poetry in the Bible than most people realize because most do not recognzize or understand it.
Parallelism
Parallelism is most commonly found in the book of Psalms and Proverbs but is found throughout the entire Hebrew Bible. Parallelism is the expression of one idea in two or more ways.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalms 119:105)
The above example of a simple parallel and can be written in this manner;
Your word is;
1. a lamp to my feet 2. a light for my path
Here we see that the words “lamp” and “light” are paralleled as well as the words “my feet” and “my path.” Below is another example of this style of poetry.
“My son, my teachings you shall not forget and my commands your heart shall guard.” (Proverbs 3:1)
In this verse the words “my teachings” is paralleled with “my commands” and “you shall not forget” is paralleled with “your heart shall guard” and can be written as follows.
My son;
1. my teachings you shall not forget 2. my commands your heart shall guard
Below is Psalm 15:1-3 broken down into its poetic sequences. In this example each thought is represented by the letters A, B, C and D. Each expression of a thought is represented by the numbers 1 and 2.
A1. Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? A2. Who may live on your holy hill? B1. He whose walk is blameless B2. and who does what is righteous. C1. who speaks the truth from his heart C2. and has no slander on his tongue. D1. who does his neighbor no wrong D2. and casts no slur on his fellow man.
Another common form of parallelism is the use of negatives where two opposing ideas are stated, as we see in Proverbs 11:19:
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A1. Righteousness brings one to life A2. Pursuit of evil brings one to his death.
In Genesis 12:1 we can see the poetry of God's command to Abraham to leave his hometown in three different ways:
Leave a. from your land b. and from your people c. and from the house of your father and go to the land I will show you.
And
In the Western style of writing, an account is broken up into sentences. Each thought is written and closed with a period. The Eastern style of writing on the other hand continues a sentence dividing each thought with the word “and.” Below is a translation of Genesis 1:3-8 retaining the “and” as found in the Hebrew:
and God said let there be light and there was light and God saw that the light was good and God separated between the light and the darkness and God called the light day and the darkness he called night and there was an evening and there was a morning a first day and God said let there be an expanse between the water and let there be a separation between the waters from the waters and God made the expanse and God separated between the waters under the expanse and the waters above the expanse and it was so and God called the expanse sky and it was evening and it was morning a second day.
The use of the word “and” within the text must be kept in mind when reading Biblical accounts, as it may influence the interpretation of the story. For example, in Exodus 17:7 we read:
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? (KJV)
In most translations this verse ends the paragraph and a new paragraph begins with verse 8:
Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. (KJV)
The format of these two passages implies two separate events. But, if the word “and,” as found in the Hebrew, is inserted between the two, the passages become related, as we see here.
And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not? And Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.
When read the passage in this manner, it appears that Amalek came and attacked as a result of their “chiding” and “tempting” of God.
While the removal of the word “and” can cause some misinterpretations of the text, misinterpretations can also be made when it remains in the translation:
So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (KJV, Genesis 3:24)
The use of the word “and” between “Cherubims” and “a flaming sword” suggest two objects guarding the tree of life. Hebrew, on the other hand, will frequently use the word “and” between two identifiers of the same thing such as in the following passage:
Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. (KJV, Psalm 5:2)
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In this passage, the words “king” and “God” are two names for one person. In the same manner the words “Cherubim” and “flaming sword” are two words for the same thing. It should also be noted that the Hebrew for Cherubim and sword are almost identical.
Block logic
A Western writer records his story or account in a chronological fashion where time is always viewed as a series of consecutive events that occur one after the other. This style of writing is called “step logic,” as events are recorded step by step.
As an example, the following story is written in step logic:
I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for my coffee and breakfast. After reading the paper I drove to work. I read the daily reports and finalized the yearly report. I drove to the restaurant for lunch with my wife. I attended a meeting with the office staff. I drove to the market for our evening desert. At home we ate a leisurely dinner and ate our desert.
The story traces the events of the day from morning to evening in chronological order. We have no difficulty reading or comprehending this style of logic as we use it every day.
Now let us read the same story written in block logic. Not one word or sentence has been changed; only the order in which the sentences are recorded.
I got out of bed and went to the kitchen for my coffee and breakfast. At home we ate a leisurely dinner and ate our desert. After reading the paper, I read the daily reports and finalized the yearly report. I attended a meeting with the office staff. I drove to the restaurant for lunch with my wife. I drove to the market for our evening desert. I drove to work.
The first thing we notice in this story is that we cannot determine the chronology of each event and our minds are attempting to do this as we read it. But the author is not trying to place the events in a “step by step” chronology but instead grouping all like events in a series of related “blocks.” The first block of events are those that occurred at home. The second block describes the actions of reading and working, while the third are those events that involve driving.
Several examples of this block logic style of writing can be found in the creation story. The Western mind reads this account of the creation assuming that the author is describing events in a precise chronological order. We can clearly see that this is not the author’s intention when we compare the events of the first day of creation with the fourth day:
And God said, “Let there be light” and there was light. And God saw the light that it was good and God separated between the light and the darkness. (Genesis 1:3, 4 - First Day)
And God said there will be lights in the expanse to separate between the day and the night. (Genesis 1:14 - Fourth Day)
If God created light to separate light and darkness on the first day, why do we read of the creation of light to separate day and on the fourth day?
If we compare the first three days of creation with the last three days of creation, we discover that the author has divided the six days into two separate blocks. The first block of three days describes the act of separating the heavens and the earth while the second block of three days describes the act of filling the heavens and the earth.
Day 1 Separating light and darkness Day 2 Separating water and sky Day 3 Separating the land from water Day 4 Filling the light with the sun and the darkness with the moon. Day 5 Filling water with fish and the skies with birds Day 6 Filling the land with plants and animals
Another example of block logic is the different Creation stories recorded in the first two chapters of Genesis. The first block (Genesis 1:1-2:3) describes the “Creation” of the skies and the land, of which the creation of man is only mentioned. The second block (Genesis 2:4-25) describes the “Creation” of man, of which the creation of the skies and land are only mentioned. In essence, these two different stories are of the same event but from differing perspectives.
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Word Parallels - puns
In our modern style of writing, we would never write something like, “The painter painted a painting,” or “The painter fainted from the pain.” However, in the Ancient Hebrew style of writing, this is the exact style of phrasing an author looks for. Here are just a few examples of word puns that can found in the book of Genesis.
Gen 2:5 – adam (man) and adamah (ground) Gen 2:25-3:1 – arum (naked) and arum (clever) Gen 6:14 – gopher (gopher wood) and kopher (pitch)
History of the Torah
Oral Tradition
It is widely believed that the Torah was written by Moses. While this is the traditional origins of the Judeo-Christian religions, there is no record in the Torah of its author. Whether the Torah was written by Moses or another author, how did he know about the events of creation, the flood, and the history of the Hebrew people? Two possibilities exist to explain this knowledge. One possibility is that God had revealed the facts to him through divine inspiration. The other possibility is that the stories and events were handed down from generation to generation and the author would have been very familiar with these traditional stories and could have simply written them down.
In the Hebrew language, the Hebrew word דבר (davar) is used for a “thing,” something of substance:
KJV Exodus 22:9 For all manner of trespass, whether it be for ox, for ass, for sheep, for raiment, or for any manner of lost thing…
KJV Leviticus 5:2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing…
KJV Leviticus 23:37 These are the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, every thing upon his day:
KJV Numbers 18:7 Therefore thou and thy sons with thee shall keep your priest's office for every thing of the altar…
This same Hebrew word is also used for an action or an important event:
Genesis 18:14 Is any thing too hard for the LORD?...
KJV Exodus 12:24 And ye shall observe this thing (referring to the Passover) for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever.
KJV Numbers 32:20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war,
KJV Deuteronomy 23:9 When the host goeth forth against thine enemies, then keep thee from every wicked thing.
From this we can conclude that actions were perceived as things of substance, much in the same way as physical objects. The word דבר is also used for “words” as seen in the following passages:
KJV Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision…
KJV Genesis 44:2 …And he did according to the word that Joseph had spoken.
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KJV Exodus 14:12 Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt…
KJV Numbers 11:23 …thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not.
In our Western culture, the written word carries much more weight than the oral word and all official documents, contracts and agreements are written to record specific events. While it may seem strange or even impossible, in our culture, the opposite was true in the ancient Hebrew cultures: the oral word carried more weight than the written word, as the oral word was considered something of substance. This concept is clearly demonstrated in Genesis chapter 27. Isaac is about to give his blessing to his eldest son, Esau, before he dies. Esau’s younger brother, Jacob, deceives his father by impersonating Esau, and Isaac gives his blessing to Jacob. When Esau comes to his father to receive his blessing, Isaac tells him, “Your brother came with treachery and has taken away your blessing.” Esau then begs his father for the blessing, but Isaac states that he had already given it Jacob and he will be blessed because of it. The “words” of Isaac were given to Jacob and he could not take them back, no more than if he had tried to take back a stone that he had thrown into the sea.
The ancients placed much weight on the oral traditions which were handed down from generation to generation. The stories and traditions were spoken from father to son and memorized with complete accuracy. The written document could be lost or destroyed but the story lived forever in the mind and could never be lost or destroyed. It would have been these stories that Moses would have heard since childhood and long ago put to memory.
Ancient Texts
The Original Manuscripts
Figure 46 – Hebrew manuscript, 11th C A.D. (Image courtesy of Schøyen Collection)
The original manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, which would have been written on animal skins or papyrus, have long since deteriorated, and what remains today are copies from these original autographs.
In the digital age, electronic copies are perfect representations of the original. However, in ancient times, making a copy of a manuscript was much more tedious and not as precise, and this allowed for human intervention or error.
Oldest Known Copies of Biblical Texts
Figure 47 – Silver scroll discovered in Ketef Hinnom
In a tomb at Ketef Hinnom in Israel, the oldest text of the Hebrew Bible was discovered. The text, inscribed on a silver scroll in the old Hebrew script dating to the 7th Century B.C., is the Aaronic blessing, which begins, “yeverekh'kha YHWH Vayishmarekha” (May Yahweh bless you and keep you).
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Figure 48 – The Nash Papyrus
Another very old fragment of the Hebrew Bible is the Nash Papyrus, discovered in Egypt in 1898. The fragment includes the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2-17) and the Sh'ma (Deuteronomy 5:6-21) and is dated to the 2nd Century B.C.
Very few ancient texts of the Hebrew Bible had been found and were very rare, until 1947 with the discovery of a depository of scrolls in the Dead Sea Caves. These provided a library of ancient manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible.
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Between 1947 and 1956, ancient scrolls and fragments of the Hebrew Bible were discovered in caves near the Dead Sea dating to the 1st Century B.C. and the 1st Century A.D.
Figure 49 – Dead Sea Scroll fragment, (Photograph courtesy of Petros Koutoupis)
The manuscripts discovered in the Dead Sea Caves include all of the Canonical Books of the Hebrew Bible with the exception of the book of Esther. Additionally, non-Canonical Books such as Enoch, Jubilees, Tobit and Sirach, as well as Psalms that are not part of the 150 Psalms in the Canonical Bible were found among the scrolls. Less-familiar Sectarian Books such as the Community Rule, the War Scroll, the Damascus Document and commentaries on books of the Bible complete the findings in the caves.
There are several different theories on the origin of these texts.
The predominating theory is that the scrolls were the work of a Jewish sect called the Essenes who, it is believed, resided in nearby Qumran and hid the scrolls in the caves to protect them from the advancing Roman army.
Other theories about the writers’ identities include Early Messianics (often called Christians) or Zadokite Priests.
A newer theory posits that the scrolls were from various libraries and synagogues, in Jerusalem, located about 15 miles from the caves.
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The Isaiah Scroll
Figure 50 – A section of the Isaiah Scroll
The most famous of the scrolls found within the Dead Sea Caves is the Isaiah Scroll. While most of the scrolls are fragmented, deteriorating or incomplete, the Isaiah scroll is the only complete scroll found.
Figure 51 – Torah Scroll
The life of a scroll depends on its handling and storage, but can be used by a community for several hundred years. Some Torah Scrolls used in synagogues today are over 500 years old.
The Isaiah scroll from the Dead Sea Caves has been dated to around 200 B.C. Isaiah wrote his original scroll around 700 B.C. and may have been in use up until around 200 B.C. This means it is possible for the Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea Caves to be a copy made directly from Isaiah's original scroll.
The Isaiah Scroll, as well as many other scrolls and fragments from the Dead Sea, are stored and currently on display in Jerusalem at the Shrine of the Book.
The Masoretic Texts
The Masorites were a group of Jewish scribes and scholars from the 6th
to 10th
centuries that compiled the entire Tenakh (Old Testament) into one Codex (book). The Masorites added the nikkud (vowel pointings) to the text in an attempt to standardize pronunciation, added paragraphs and verse divisions, and added cantillation marks to the text.
The two oldest Masoretic texts are the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex. Both of these codices are virtually identical, with only a slight variation in the paragraphs, verse numbers and spellings of words.
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The Aleppo Codex
Figure 52 – A page from the Aleppo Codex
Up until the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest existing complete Hebrew Bible was the Aleppo Codex, also called the Masoretic text, which was written in the 10th Century C.E., a thousand years after the Dead Sea Scrolls. For centuries, this text has been the foundation for Jewish and Christian translators.
The major difference between the Aleppo Codex and the Dead Sea Scrolls is the addition of the vowel pointings in the Aleppo Codex to the Hebrew words. These pointings provide the vowel sounds that are not present in the Hebrew language and were probably inserted into the text to standardize pronunciation.
Figure 53 – The name ישראל (Israel) in a Dead Sea Scroll (left) and the Aleppo Codex (right)
The name ישראל (yis'ra'el – Israel), is spelled in Hebrew with five letters; י (yud-Y), ש (sin-S), ר (resh-R), א (aleph) and ל (lamed-L), and can be transliterated as Y-S-R-L. Only these five letters are used in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but in the Aleppo Codex, vowel pointings in the form of dots and dashes are placed above and below each letter to represent the vowel sounds (i, a and e), thus providing the pronunciation YiSRa’eL.
While the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea Scrolls were transcribed a thousand years apart, they are amazingly similar, proving that the copying methods employed by the Jewish scribes over the centuries are very sophisticated and successful. However, there are some differences; some are simple variations of a reading, while others are much more complex.
Besides the addition of the vowel pointings, other changes occurred in the Hebrew text after making copies of copies. One of the more dramatic changes is the accidental removal of whole verses.
Figure 54 – A portion of Psalm 145 from the Aleppo Codex
Psalm 145 is an acrostic psalm where each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In the Aleppo Codex the first verse begins with the letter aleph, the second with the beyt, the third with the gimel, and so on. Verse 13 begins
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with the letter מ (mem-top highlighted letter), the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the next verse begins with the letter ס (samehh-bottom highlighted letter), the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet. There is no verse beginning with the 14th letter נ (nun).
Figure 55 – A portion of Psalm 145 from the Dead Sea Scrolls
When we examine Psalm 145 from the Dead Sea Scrolls, we find between the verse beginning with the מ (mem-top) and the verse beginning with the ס (samehh-bottom), the verse beginning with the letter נ (nun-center). This verse, missing from the Aleppo Codex, and all modern Hebrew Bibles that are copied from this codex, but found in the Dead Sea Scrolls reads, אמן אלוהים בדבריו וחסיד בכול מעשיונ (God is faithful in his words, and gracious in all his deeds).
This is why Psalm 145:13 reads differently in the King James Version and the modern versions such as the Revised Standard Version. The King James Version was written prior to the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, whiles the Revised Standard Version, and other modern versions, were written afterward and often incorporate what has been found in the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Ancient Translations
As the Jewish people began to spread out beyond Israel, they adopted the language of their new neighbors. This necessitated the need for translations of the Bible in their new languages in order for them to continue reading the Bible. While there have been many translations of the Hebrew Bible into many different languages, the three most widely used in ancient times were the Latin, Aramaic and Greek.
Figure 56 – A portion of an Aramaic Targum (Image courtesy of Schøyen Collection)
Of the many Aramaic translations of the Hebrew Bible, three are principle ones. Targum Onkelos is an Aramaic translation of the first five books of the Bible. It was written in the 1st Century A.D. by Onkelos, a Roman convert to Judaism. Targum Jonathon is an Aramaic translation of the Prophets. It was written in the 1st Century B.C. by Jonathon Ben Uziel, a student of Hillel the Elder, the famous Jewish teacher and religious leader.
Figure 57 - A portion of the Aramaic Peshitta
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The Peshitta is an Aramaic translation of the entire Hebrew Bible that was written around the 2nd Century A.D. The Peshitta also includes an Aramaic New Testament that was written around the 5th Century A.D.
Figure 58 – A portion of the Greek Septuagint
The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, written by Jewish scholars in the 3rd Century B.C. The remainder of the Hebrew Bible, the writings and the prophets, were translated by unknown translators between the 2nd and 1st Centuries B.C.
Figure 59 – A portion of the Latin Vulgate
The Latin Vulgate, consisting of the Hebrew Bible as well as the New Testament, was written by Jerome, a Christian priest and apologist, in the 5th Century A.D.
The Documentary Hypothesis
The majority of the Bible scholars and students today, within both Christianity and Judaism, will without a doubt, identify Moses as the author of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. However, literary analysis shows that the Torah was not written by one person, but is a compilation of multiple strands of tradition by multiple authors, which were woven together to produce the Torah that we have today.
It should be noted that nowhere within the text of the Torah is the author of the Torah identified and the idea that Moses wrote the Torah is strictly a traditional view.
Passages written by someone other than Moses
And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended. And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, in all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all Israel. (Deuteronomy 34:7-12, KJV)
It is obvious that Moses did not write this account; therefore, we know that this portion was written by someone else. Then is it not possible that other portions may have been written by someone other than Moses?
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And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel. (Genesis 36:31, KJV)
During the lifetime of Moses no king resided over Israel. The author of this passage is writing about the kings of Israel from the viewpoint that they are facts of history. The author lived during or after the time of the kings of Israel:
And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. (Genesis 35:19, KJV)
As the city of Ephrath was not known as “Bethlehem” until long after Moses’ day, the phrase, “which is Bethlehem,” was obviously written by someone other than Moses. Granted, we are only speaking of three words, but if three words from the Torah can be written by someone other than Moses, then why not six words or one hundred words?
Duplicate passages of one event by separate authors
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance (Exodus 20:18, NASB)
Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently (Exodus 19:17-18, NASB)
In the first account Israel sees the thunder and lightning and stays at a distance from the mountain. But, in the second account they go up to the mountain and see the smoke and fire. It appears that while two different authors wrote these two accounts, they were combined into one story by one writer known as a redactor. This person took the various stories known at the time and attempted to place them all into one story. For this reason we see many of the same stories repeated at different times in the Torah. While it is usually understood that these are two different stories occurring at two different times, they may be one story written by two different authors and combined into one story by the redactor.
And Abram (Abraham) said to the king of Sodom, “I lifted up my hand to Yahweh, El Elyon, possessor of heaven and earth. (Genesis 14:22, NASB)
And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as El Shaddai, and my name Yahweh I did not make known to them. (Exodus 6:3, NASB)
In the Genesis passage Abraham invokes the name Yahweh but according to the Exodus passage God did not reveal his name Yahweh to Abraham.
The Lord your God who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go. (Deuteronomy 1:33, NASB)
Then he said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you [Hobab] know where we should camp in the wilderness, and you will be as eyes for us. (Numbers 10:31, NASB)
In the Deuteronomy passage Moses tells the people that God will be their guide through the wilderness showing them which way to go and where to camp. But, in the Numbers passage Moses beseeches his father-in-law, Hobab, to go with them, so that he can show them where to go and where to camp in the wilderness because he is familiar with the area:
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. (Exodus 18:1, RSV)
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And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, `I will give it to you'; come with us, and we will do you good; for the LORD has promised good to Israel.” (Numbers 10:29, RSV)
In Exodus 18, Moses’ father in law is called Jethro; while in Numbers 10 he is called Hobab.
Style of Writing
We all speak and write differently and the styles of writing can be compared to determine the authors of different texts. As an example from English, one might say “I talked to mom;” while another person might say “I spoke to my mother.” We can easily see that these two phrases are from two different people.
We frequently see these same variations in writing style within the text of the Torah. For instance, in Numbers 21:16 we read למשה יהוה אמר (amar yhwh l'mosheh) which means “Yahweh said to Moses.” But in Exodus 4:30 we find the phrase
משה אל יהוה דבר (diber yhwh el mosheh) which means “Yahweh spoke unto Moses.” These differences in writing style are found throughout the text and in fact, we can even see the writing of one person throughout the text that is intermixed with the styles of writing from another person, a result of the redactor splicing together separate accounts into one.
Textual Criticism
When the various Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin manuscripts of the Bible are compared, the process is called Textual Criticism; in so doing we often find variations in how these manuscripts read.
Genesis 4:8 provides a simple example of how this process works. In the Hebrew Aleppo Codex this passage reads, “And Cain said to his brother Abel, and it came to pass that they were in the field and Cain rose up toward his brother Abel and killed him.” Missing from this passage is what Cain said to Abel and appears to be an accidental omission on the part of a scribe. However, when we examine this passage in the Greek Septuagint translation we find the missing words; “and Cain said to his brother Abel, Let us go out into the plain, and it came to pass that they were in the plain Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.” It appears that the Septuagint is working from a Hebrew manuscript that includes Cain's speech, while the Aleppo Codex is working from a Hebrew manuscript that is missing the speech.
When comparing several English translations of Deuteronomy 32:8, we find very different readings. All of the English translations begin pretty much the same; “When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the…” However, different translations have different renderings for the end of this verse.
King James Version – “…children of Israel” Revised Standard Version – “…sons of God” Young's Literal Translation – “…angels of God”
These differences can be solved by examining the different ancient texts to determine which one the translator was using for this verse.
Aleppo Codex - בני ישראל (children of Israel-matching the KJV) Dead Sea Scrolls - בני אלוהים (sons of God-matching the RSV) Greek Septuagint - (angels of God-matching the YLT)
Each of these manuscripts copies from a Hebrew source that differs from the others. The process of textual criticism compares these various readings to make a determination of which reading is the original. The consensus among scholars is that the original reading is בני אל (sons of El). Notice that the letters in these two Hebrew words can be found within all three Hebrew versions; בני ישראל (Aleppo Codex), בני אלוהים (Dead Sea Scroll) and בני אל (Hebrew translation of the Septuagint).
25 This Greek phrase would be translated back into Hebrew as אל בני (sons/angels of God). The word אל (el) and אלהים (Elohiym) are both commonly translated as “God,” but אל is the more primitive spelling that is commonly used among Semitic peoples for angels.