Top Translation Traps: Missing the Point
[Between six appearances in four cities and then having to buy a new car, I haven’t been in front of a computer in nearly two weeks. So I’m playing catch-up, starting with a much-delayed installment of “translation traps.”]
Following up on some thoughts about myopic translations, here’s one way in particular that a translation can focus too closely on the words and not closely enough on the text.
This is a typical translation of a (Modern) Hebrew text into English:
Rain was falling, it was cold and wet. We sat at home, we looked out toward the street.
I sat with Tali. It was very cold. I said, “What a shame. We can’t do anything.”
[I’m] not allowed to go out and play ball. It’s just cold and wet and [I’m] not allowed. [I’m] not allowed.”
We kept sitting. Just, just, just, just [sitting]. It was the most boring [thing] in the world.
And then something moved. Bump. Wow, what a bump. We were so shocked.
We looked, and then he made his way in. We looked, and we saw, a mischievous cat.
For reference, here’s the original Hebrew, with word-for-word translations:
| geshem |
| rain |
| yarad |
| fell |
| haya |
| it-was |
| kar |
| cold |
| v’ratov. |
| and-wet. |
| yashavnu |
| we-sat |
| babayit, |
| in-the-house |
| hibatnu |
| we-looked |
| lar’chov |
| to-the-street |
| yashavti |
| I-sat |
| im |
| with |
| tali. |
| Tali. |
| haya |
| it-was |
| nora |
| awfully |
| kar. |
| cold. |
| amarti: |
| I-said |
| chaval, |
| too-bad |
| i |
| not |
| efshar |
| possible |
| shum |
| any |
| davar |
| thing |
| asur |
| it-is-forbidden |
| li |
| to-me |
| latzeit |
| to-go-out |
| l’sachek |
| to-play |
| b’chadur. |
| in-a-ball. |
| rak |
| just |
| kar |
| it-is-cold |
| v’ratov |
| and-wet |
| v’asur |
| and-it-is-forbidden |
| v’asur |
| and-it-is-forbidden |
| himshachnu |
| we-kept |
| lashevet. |
| to-sit. |
| stam, |
| just |
| stam, |
| just |
| stam, |
| just |
| stam. |
| just |
| zeh |
| it |
| haya |
| was |
| hachi |
| the-most |
| m’sha’amem |
| boring |
| ba’olam. |
| in-the-world |
| v’az |
| and-then |
| mashehu |
| something |
| zaz. |
| moved. |
| trach. |
| bump |
| ach, |
| wow |
| eizeh |
| what |
| trach. |
| bump |
| nivhalnu |
| we-were-shocked |
| kol |
| all |
| kach. |
| so |
| hibatnu, |
| we-looked |
| v’az |
| and-then |
| hu |
| he |
| nichnas |
| entered |
| lo |
| to-him |
| mimul. |
| from-acrosss |
| hibatnu |
| we-looked |
| ra’inu, |
| we-saw |
| chatul |
| cat |
| ta’alul. |
| mischievous |
But the English translation above, even though at first glance it may seem pretty good, is wrong in almost every regard. Can you figure out what happened?
About
God Didn’t Say That (@GodDidntSayThat) is an online forum for discussing the Bible and its translations, mistranslations, interpretations, and misinterpretations.
Dr. Joel M. Hoffman is the chief translator for the ten-volume series My People’s Prayer Book, author of And God Said: How Translations Conceal the Bible’s Original Meaning, and editor of The Unabridged Bible. Writing under “J.M. Hoffman,” he is author of the thriller series The Warwick Files. He holds a PhD in theoretical linguistics and has taught at Brandeis University and HUC-JIR in New York City. He presents widely to churches, synagogues, and other groups. more…
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