Perhaps because understanding parts of speech is so central to learning a foreign language, translators often try to preserve parts of speech when they translate. But I think this is a mistake. We know from modern languages that parts of speech often have to change in translation, and I think we see cases where more…
Read more
I saw the following on the NLT website (my emphasis): I found out that I had a lot to learn from the God of my New Living Translation Study Bible […] Why didn’t I discover this about him earlier? I had allowed my pride and prejudice to cloud my judgment. The kind of pride that…
Read more
My last post was in response to a question about the final verb in Isaiah 18:26. In my opinion, the really beautiful poetry in that verse lies in the verbal repetition in the middle. Here’s a guide to the Hebrew: lachen ko amar adonai YHWH so thus said Adonai God hin’ni yisad b’tzion aven I…
Read more
From the About page comes a question about the last verb in Isaiah 28:16: His [Dietrich Boenhoffer’s] reading said that “he that believes does not flee”. Is that what this says? No. The Hebrew verb at the end (yachish) clearly means “hurry,” — compare Isaiah 5:19 and Psalm 119:60 — so the phrase should mean:…
Read more
As always, I’ve returned from my week in Israel recharged and renewed. Also, as always, my visit has given me a lot to think about regarding translation. Modern Languages I believe that looking at modern languages can help us understand the nature of translation because it’s easier to know what modern languages mean, so it’s…
Read more
From the About page: As a grammar lesson, I tried parsing Psalm 117. There is a possible usage of a ‘he’ marking the use of the vocative (BDB 1.i) but the article is missing on the first colon kol goyim and present on the second shavxuhu col ha’umim. It seems to me that ‘praise the…
Read more
As has been widely reported recently, Malaysians are grappling with how to say “god.” The issue is that the word most Malay speakers use, allah, refers not only to “god” in general but in particular to what we call “Allah” in English, that is, the Muslim god of that name. (For the blow-by-blow, start here…
Read more
Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
