Sabbath study, xi: an introduction to properly translating the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)

First things first! a look at Creation Week.

Recently, it intrigued me to consider whether any mainstream Bible translations render the original passages in their original context. I checked Strong’s Concordance for the introduction of the Genesis Flood narrative, and it turns out the answer is a resounding “no.” This is because even the so-called “literal” translations (namely: the LSV, Smith’s, and Young’s) supposedly rendered straight from the best-preserved manuscripts—a.k.a. the Masoretic Text (OT) and the Textus Receptus (NT)—are far from “literal” due to (at least from what I so far observed in the Biblical Hebrew):

1. appending grammatically conjunctive supplications that they fail to mark in brackets to signify their lack in the original text

2. restructuring the original word sequence from how they are supposed to be read, and passing off the translation as a “literal preservation” when it is not

3. inconsistently translating certain words depending on the contextually expedient “specific” passage whose corresponded meaning it is connotated with

Case in point (for starters): Gen. 1:1!

For starters, consider the very first verse in Genesis—this is how the standard “literal” renditions from the Masoretic Text translate it:

• “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (KJV)

• “In [the] beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” (LSV)

• “In the beginning of God’s preparing the heavens and the earth—” (Young’s)

• “In the beginning God formed the heavens and the earth.” (Smith’s)

This is the original Hebrew (cf.):

B’rëshiyt Bärä élohiym ët haSHämayim w’ët hääretz

And here would be more or less what each word means:

• b’ (9004): in

• reshiyth (7225): beginning

• bara (1254): create

• elohyim (430): God (singular), or gods (plural)

• eth (853): selfsame

• h’ (9005): the (definite article)

• shamayim (8064): heaven

• w’ (9007): and (conjunction)

• erets (776): land

To put it all together:

In beginning, create God selfsame the heaven and selfsame the land.

Obviously, without additionally supplied grammatical conjunctions to signify the fullness of what is intuitively implied in the original Semitic tongue, most “literally” word-for-word translated passages would appear absurdly incomprehensible to read. And so, one can both a) directly translate only the words that appear in the original manuscripts, and b) supply grammatical conjunctions to render the passage in a readably coherent orientation in the translated tongue, i.e.:

In [the] beginning, create [did] God selfsame the heaven and selfsame the land.

This is—as plainly evident, unless anyone can prove to the contrary—how the Bible is supposed to be read and understood in its original tongue. Even in this very beginning introductory sentence of Genesis, no standard translation renders it correct!

1. the vast majority of them fails to demarcate the definite article in between “in” and “beginning” in brackets (the LSV is among the minuscule fraction that properly denotes this) to signify that it is not in the original text—the ancient Semitic Biblical Hebrew simply reads “in beginning” and not “in the beginning,” and therefore any appended definite article that is not in brackets imprecisely misleads the reader into believing that the definite article is from the original

2. the next phrase simply reads “create God” in the sense of “create [did] God,” which while can be rendered “God created,” commonly reverses the ordering of the words (first “bara,” then “elohim”) as they show up in the original

3. “eth” as appears in the Hebrew is completely left untranslated and instead treated as some atavistic Semitic artifact, even though it is used in the text for a reason—Strong’s Concordance states that it is evidently “contracted from H0226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)”

Creation Week—a restored and vindicated (צָדַק—tsadaq) translation?

1. 1:1: In [the] beginning, create [did] God selfsame the heaven and selfsame the land.

2. 1:2: And the land, it comes to pass! [is] formless and void, and darkness [is] upon [the] face [of the] abyss.

3. 1:3: And [the] Spirit [of] God flutters upon [the] face [of] the water.

4. 1:4: And say [did] God: ‘It comes to pass! light,’ and it comes to pass! light.

5. 1:5: And see [did] God selfsame the light—indeed! [it is] good, and divide [did] God between the light and between the darkness.

6. 1:6: And proclaim [did] God towards light: ‘day’; and towards darkness: ‘night.’

7. 1:7: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day oneth.

[setumah]

8. 1:8: And say [did] God: ‘It comes to pass! [the] expanse in [the] midst [of] the water, and it comes to pass! divide between water towards water.’

9. 1:9: And make [did] God selfsame the expanse, and divides between the water which [is] from below towards [the] expanse, and between the water which [is] from upon towards [the] expanse.

10. 1:10: And it comes to pass! verity.

11. 1:11: And proclaim [did] God towards [the] expanse: ‘heaven.’

12. 1:12: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day second.

[setumah]

13. 1:13: And say [did] God: ‘Unify the water from below the heaven unto [a] standing place—one! and seen [is] the dry ground.’

14. 1:14: And it comes to pass! verity.

15. 1:15: And proclaim [did] God towards [the] dry ground: ‘land’; and towards collection [of] the water, proclaim [did God]: ‘sea.’

16. 1:16: And see [did] God—indeed! [it is] good.

17. 1:17: And say [did] God: ‘Sprout [does] the land new grass, herb sowing seed, [the] tree fruit making fruit toward species which seed [is] in upon the land!’

18. 1:18: And it comes to pass! verity.

19. 1:19: And bring forth did the land new grass, herb sowing seed toward species, and tree making fruit which seed [is] in toward species.

20. 1:20: And see [did] God—indeed! [it is] good.

21. 1:21: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day third.

[setumah]

22. 1:22: And say [did] God: ‘It comes to pass! luminaries in [the] expanse [of] the heaven toward dividing between the day and between the night; and it comes to pass! towards mark, and toward appointed seasons, and toward days and years; and it comes to pass! toward assenting in [the] expanse [of] the heaven toward illuminating upon the land.’

23. 1:23: And it comes to pass! verity.

24. 1:24: And make [did] God selfsame two [of] the luminaries, the great! selfsame the luminary—the greater—towards dominating the day, and selfsame the luminary—the smaller—towards dominating the night, and selfsame the stars, and set selfsame [did] God in [the] expanse [of] the heaven toward illuminating upon the land, and toward ruling in day and in night, and toward dividing between the light and between the darkness.

25. 1:25: And see [did] God—indeed! [it is] good.

26. 1:26: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day fourth.

[setumah]

27. 1:27: And say [did] God: ‘Overflow [does] the water [with] creatures—souls living—and birds flying upon the land, upon [the] face [of the] expanse [of] the heaven.

28. 1:28: And create [did] God selfsame the serpent—the great, and selfsame all souls—the living, the creeping which overflow [did] the water toward species, and selfsame all birds winged toward species.

29. 1:29: And see [did] God—indeed! [it is] good.

30. 1:30: And bless selfsame [did] God towards them, saying: ‘Fructify! and increase, and fill selfsame the water in [the] sea; and the birds increase in land.’

31. 1:31: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day fifth.

[setumah]

32. 1:32: And say [did] God: ‘Bring forth [does] the land souls living toward species! cattle, and creepers, and life [upon] land toward species.’

33. 1:33: And it comes to pass! verity.

34. 1:34: And make [did] God selfsame life [upon] the land toward species! and selfsame the cattle toward species, and selfsame all creepers [upon] the ground toward species.

35. 1:35: And see [did] God—indeed! [it is] good.

36. 1:36: And say [did] God: ‘Make man in [the] image according to [Our] likeness!

37. 1:37: And subjugate in fish [of] the sea, and in birds [of] the heaven, and in cattle, and in all the land, and in all the creepers, the creeping upon the land.’

38. 1:38: And create [did] God selfsame the man in [the] image in likeness [of] God!

39. 1:39: Create selfsame [did God]; male and female create selfsame [did God]!

40. 1:40: And bless selfsame did God, and say towards [them did] God: ‘Fructify! and increase, and fill selfsame the land, and subdue, and subjugate in fish [of] the sea, and in birds [of] the heaven, and in all life, the creeping upon the land.’

41. 1:41: And say [did] God: ‘Behold! [I] set towards selfsame all herbs sowing seed which [is] upon [the] face [of] all the land, and selfsame all the trees which in [the] fruit [of the] tree sows seed toward—it comes to pass!—toward food.

42. 1:42: And toward all life [upon] the land, and toward all birds [of] the heaven, and toward all creeping upon the land which in soul living, selfsame all green herbs [are] toward food.’

43. 1:43: And it comes to pass! verity.

44. 1:44: And see [did] God selfsame all which [are] made, and behold! good abundantly.

45. 1:45: And it comes to pass! evening; and it comes to pass! morning: day sixth.

[setumah]

46. 1:46: And complete [are] the heaven, and the land, and the all host! and complete [did] God in day the seventh [His] workmanship which [He] made.

47. 1:47: And cease [did God] in day the seventh from all [His] workmanship which [He] made.

48. 1:48: And bless [did] God selfsame day the seventh and sanctify selfsame!

49. 1:49: Indeed! [He is] in ceasing from all [His] workmanship which [He] created, [which] God towards [did] make.

[petuchah]

E.G.’s (non-comprehensive, brief) commentary on the aforementioned rendition of Genesis 1

[note: anyone is more than welcome and even greatly encouraged to inform me if I committed any translation errors or inconsistencies]

Basic/general

• the chapter divisions used by this author differ from the standard Langtonian one, and likewise especially the verse divisions from the Kalonymus-Estienne mainstream standard

• the petuchah (פ) (9012) and setumah (ס) (9013) parashah demarcations from the Hebrew Bible are here repurposed—the “open space” or petuchah is reserved for signifying the division between one complete narrative dispensation from the preceding or subsequent complete narrative, while the “closed space” or setumah serves to demarcate smaller “micro”-scale pericopal units within a petuchah-defined “macro”-scale section

• the “w’” (9007) conjunction is consistently translated as “and”

• “b’” (9004) is consistently rendered “in”

• “h’” (9005) is consistently rendered “the”

• “l’” (9009) is consistently rendered “toward(s)”

• “hayah” (הָיָה) (1961) is consistently translated “it comes to pass!” without exception—it literally means more or less “come [to] exist,” and shares the same linguistic root as the name of God (a.k.a. the Tetragrammaton—“Yahweh,” or commonly latinized “Jehovah”) a.k.a. “yah” (יָהּ), which means “exist”

• “erets” (אֶרֶץ) (776) is consistently translated as “land” rather than “earth”—the details for this choice re. the covenantal context probably require additional clarification another time

• the “kiy” (כִּי) (3588) conjunction is consistently translated in its emphatic form as “indeed!” rather than the standard “for”

• “khen” (כֵּן) (3651) is consistently translated in emphatic form as “verity!” rather than simply as “thus” or treated as a decorative additive, signifying divine affirmation of providential executive actions

• “raqiya” (רָקִיעַ) (7549) is consistently translated as “expanse”—while “firmament” might arguably suffice, it is apparently associated with the specific view of the earth as a “dome” adjacent to “flat earth” viewpoints, and therefore is associated with needless specific assumptions about the shape of the earth which simply do not biblically require dogmatic assertiveness for the meanwhile (even if the planet is “flat” or the shape of a dome—I determine not—that doesn’t change an iota of Jehovah’s appointed plan of salvation unto everlasting life); therefore, “expanse” should largely suffice unless anyone would like to pose a soundly articulated, scripture-based argument to the contrary

• single Biblical Hebrew words are translated in a retained “singular” form when possible, even if it requires a starkly archaic usage of English terms by modern-day linguistic standards—for instance, “parah” (פָּרָה) (6509) is translated as “fructify” in one word rather than the commonly mainstream “be fruitful”

Specifics

• v. 1:1-3: we have right here a completed inference to the tripartite nature of God via the mention of the Holy Spirit (v. 1:3), because both Jehovah and His angel/word/body a.k.a. Jesus are already inferred in v. 1:1, since all that was created in Creation Week was created through Jesus¹—and so, in vv. 1:1-3, there is already signified God’s nature as: Jehovah (soul), His Word (body), His Spirit (spirit)

• vv. 1:4-6: there is a striking parallel here to the introductory passage in the Fourth Gospel in the shared explicit mention of light contrasted with darkness—could it be that Genesis comprises the A.i leading sub-branch almond of the Grand Unified Chiasm (GUC) forming a parallel correspondence to the Gospel of John that comprises the A’.i’ sub-branch almond of the GUC?

• v. 1:7 (also vv. 12, 21, 26, 31, 45): as indicated, the fullness of a day comprises the evening (עֶרֶב) and morning (בֹּקֶר)—this means that each day is biblically defined from Creation Week as beginning at sunset; this is wholly relevant to a covenantal grasp of redemption from type to antitype, since the typifying redemption of the sanctuary in the intertestamental era from the abomination of desolation perpetrated by Antiochus Epiphanes was measured in a specifically rigid time prophecy as comprising 2,300 “evening-mornings”²

• v. 1:15: it is literally conveyed that the “sea” is defined as the gathering/collection of the water—this cements the spiritual identification of “sea” with that of “waters,” a.k.a. in prophecy representing multitudes of nationalities³

• v. 1:24: this likely indicates when the angels of heaven (including—yes—Lucifer) were created, since “stars” in prophecy represent angels⁴

• v. 1:36: the origin of man—the chief ancestor of all mankind was made in the image of God, as affirmed in the ordinances of the Noahic Covenant⁵

• v. 1:39: apart from the beginning and concluding verses in the Creation Week account, this is the only one that does not begin with the “w’” a.k.a. “and” conjunction, and therefore is specially notable—it is the only passage in all of the Creation account that describes the glory of humanity in its two ordained sexes/genders, male and female; not only that, but it conveys that before Eve was taken out of Adam, the initial Adam was a completed man, and that Eve was created from out of a half or side of Adam, and that the initial Adam as described in 1:39a is substantively the “same” completed additive substance as the fleshly marital unity of Adam and Eve in 1:39b

• v. 1:40: mankind was originally appointed by God the glory and honor of dominion over all the animals, established in providentially granted nobility by a God of everlasting affectionate love and mercy from eternity unto eternity

• v. 1:41: the original diet in Eden as ordained by Jehovah was a plant-based one, because Adam and Eve understood the animals as fellow created beings to coexist alongside—consumption of flesh did not enter humanity until after sin

• v. 1:42: likewise, the animals did not consume one another, but were commanded to eat from the same fruits that Adam and Eve did

• v. 1:44: the original creation in its completed state by the end of the sixth day was not merely just “good,” but good abundantly (טוֹב מְאֹד)

• v. 1:47: the Hebrew word here translated literally as “cease” is literally “shabat” (שָׁבַת), signifying that the seventh day as the weekly sabbath day of rest was ordained in Creation and not commanded out of thin air later in Sinai—the Fourth Commandment lacks the phrase “from all [His] workmanship which [He] made” stated in the Genesis Creation Week account of the seventh day; the apostle Paul when writing to the 1st-century Hebrew Christians referenced the weekly sabbath and quoted not the Fourth Commandment passage in Exodus, but rather this sentence in the Genesis Creation account⁶

• v. 1:48-49: slam-dunk proof that eternal weekly sabbath observance is ordained from a rigidly scriptural standpoint—at the seventh day of Creation Week, Jehovah blessed and sanctified seventh day of the week because He rested for the fullness of that day in the company of Adam and Eve; the Lord’s day is the weekly sabbath that God made for all (yea, not limited to those of the Old Testament era, but all those under the New Covenant from 31 A.D. unto the close of probation for the New Testament Christian) of His faithful human adherents to find sanctified rest in with their Creator unto the end of the ages!⁷

1. Col. 1:15-17; Jn. 1:1-3.

2. Dan. 8:14.

3. Rev. 17:15; cf. Dan. 10:6; Rev. 1:14-15.

4. Rev. 1:20b.

5. Gen. 9:6.

6. Heb. 4:4.

7. Isa. 56:1-8, 58:13, 66:23; Mk. 2:25-28; Matt. 12:3-8; Lk. 6:3-5, 23:56; Acts 13:42; Rev. 1:10.