Most English translations generalize or fall back on theological and traditional commonplaces when it comes to translating the nuances and details of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible. For example, there are five different words used to describe a “human being;”  seven separate words for “sin;” and a of tired and true “theological” words like atonement, redemption, salvation, soul, spirit; angel, Torah, priest,  that sit comfortably with most Bible readers but are highly misleading in terms of conveying the original meanings of the Hebrew or Greek. Even seemingly meaningless details such as how to bring across in English countless verbs and nouns that have two or more forms, but need careful distinction (what is the difference between a “rod” and a “staff,” or a “mantle” and a “cloak,” or a “congregation” and an “assembly”?). And then there is always the perennial key question—how literal should we be, and when should we smooth things out and use explanatory notes? As we work forward we also constantly go back and make revisions in what we have done; improving things in ways that few would notice but in the end will make all the difference in terms of the absolutely unique quality of our work.

Here are a few examples of some of these details from Exodus:

In Exodus 8:12 [v. 8 in the Hebrew] we read “Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh.” Seems like simple matter and all the major translations put it that way. However, the Hebrew verb is actually singular—what it actually says is that “Moses went out—and Aaron—from with Pharaoh.” Now I realize this is a bit awkward in English, and the meaning probably is not different, but our goal in the TEB, even in places where it might seem insignificant, it to give you precisely what the original says. What difference does it make, one might ask, whether one says “out from Pharaoh” or “out from with Pharaoh”? Maybe none at all, but both are found in various places and they are not the same expression, so in the TEB you get a faithful reflection of the Hebrew text—and you are informed that the verb is singular, not plural. Actually I think there is some subtle meaning to this fine distinction. Using the singular verb seems to give Moses priority. They both “went out,” but Moses first—and Aaron. This way of speaking occurs frequently in Hebrew and we had already indicated this several places in Genesis.

Take a look at Exodus 13 in the TEB. Here you have a long set of instructions given by Moses to the Israelite people regarding the Passover. What is really interesting is to follow the switch between the singular and the plural 2nd person pronoun “you” in the first sixteen verses. In v. 3 it is “you (plural) went out from Egypt,” and in v. 4 it is “Today you (plural) are going out,” but in v. 5 it switches to “when YHVH makes you (singular) come toward the land.” The narrative then switches to the singular, so that the instructions are very personalized through the rest of this section.

In this regard, take a guess. Do you think the commands “you shall do this” and “you shall not do that” in the Ten Words (Commandments) are singular or plural? After all, Moses is addressing the whole nation. One might expect the plural. But in fact, all the pronouns in Exodus 20:1-17 are singular. It begins: “I am YHVH your (singular) ELOHIM who made you (singular) go out from the land of Egypt . . .” (v.2). The same with the positive admonitions (Remember the Sabbath, honor your parents), as well as the negative prohibitions that follow (You shall not murder, et al.). It is as if each and every single person is being addressed personally.

Exodus 17:3 is really interesting in this regard. The people are grumbling against Moses and they say, “You have made us go up from Egypt to make me die and my sons.” All the standard translations read “to make us die and our sons,” even though the Hebrew has a clear switch from the plural to the singular—thus personalizing the complaint. It might not make much difference in essential meaning, but again, why not put what the Hebrew has and let people make of it what they wish? In v. 6 of this same chapter is another interesting example. Moses is told “you shall strike in the rock,” rather than “you shall strike the rock.” Perhaps there is not much of a difference but if you read carefully the entire passage you might notice something of significance in this regard.

We are actually being very careful with words like “he spoke,” vs. “he said,” which I am sure no one cares much about, but the expressions are different in Hebrew. For example, in Exo 5:10 we read “And the ones oppressing of the people, and its overseers, went out and they said toward the people, saying…” where you might expect it to say “they spoke toward the people saying.” Actually, as we point out in a note, the Dead Sea Scrolls have “they spoke toward the people saying.”

With the TEB you get it all—even in small and seemingly insignificant matters such as these.

Many of our Original Bible Project long-term associates and supporters have seen national ads or recently received mailings about a new Bible on the market: The Holy Bible in Its Original Order (York Publishing), see http://originalbiblerestored.com/

I though it might be important to make clear that neither I nor the Original Bible Project itself have any connection with that particular Bible. It was produced by Fred R. Coulter, a minister and author who became enamored with the work of the late Dr. Ernest L. Martin on the subject of the canonization of the Bible, and in particular the “original” order of books in both the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament. Dr. Martin’s position on these matters was expressed most fully in his book, The Original Bible Restored.You can find that book (both one-line and in print) and lots of related research at Dr. Martin’s Web site, now faithfully maintained by David Sielaff (see: http://askelm.com). Mr. Sielaff has offers his own in-depth positive assessment of this Bible in his January, 2009 newsletter, also available on-line: http://askelm.com/doctrine/d090101.htm

Dr. Martin, who was instrumental in the founding of the Original Bible Project back in 1993, had as his primary focus the production of a Bible that would put the books into their original order, as expounded in his book. As he and I discussed the project, he agreed with me that another key component, the one in which I was most involved, would be the production of a unique translation, one we came to call the Transparent English Bible, which would not only have the books of the Bible reordered, but adhere to a whole new set of translation principles, see http://originalbible.com/2005/04/30/original-bible-project-overview.htm for a full overview.

Putting a Bible, really any Bible, into the “manuscript order” as Dr. Martin called it, is a relatively simple task involving editing and production, not necessarily an extensive new translation. In fact, in the early stages of our discussion Dr. Martin had entertained doing just that. He had considered getting permission to take the Rotherham translation and simply reissue it with introductory materials and the books reordered, and perhaps some adjustments to the translation through notes. He could have surely done that without me, or the team of scholars who have been involved in the Original Bible Project. As things worked out the OBP took as its major charge, not just the production of a Bible with the books in their manuscript order, but an entirely new and unprecedented translation, based on the principles developed over the next decade.

However, for many who have been interested in the Original Bible Project through the years this matter of the order of the books was of primary interest, much more than waiting for a new translation. For others, especially the many new people who have been attracted over the past decade, the translation itself became the attraction due to its unique features. Because of this double interest, rooted in the founding of the OBP itself, I was pleased to encourage Bob Ellsworth, one of the original members of the Original Bible Project board of directors, to let our mailing list know of Coulter’s Bible and what it offers. Bob is president of CenturyOne Books, the primary distributor of this work.

Several have written asking about the abbreviations used in the TEB. Below are links to two PDF documents that can be downloaded and printed out to assist readers in making full use of the Translation Samples. One shows a table of abbreviations, the other shows how Hebrew and Greek characters have been transliterated into English.

abbreviations.pdf

alphabets.pdf

I wanted to share this interesting comment from a new reader of the Transparent English Bible translation samples:

In reference the feeling that it will be awkward to read the TEB out loud: I am just enthralled at how beautiful the wording is and excited to read it aloud to the children especially! Talk about a fascinating story! It reminds me of a play being read. I can imagine someone like Mark Twain doing a reading with such life and beauty and meaning that you feel like you are there. It makes me stand up and move around and use body language as I read because I can visualize the whole scene. Believe me, my grandchildren are going to LOVE the bible now! Like the word soil-man, how much more explanatory can a word get? And boy, when God says, “To dust you will return because dust you were and dust you will return” it really causes you to see just exactly what he means, after- all, he is called soil-man! Thank you for ALL your work.

I hope this response can serve to reinforce what I wrote in my previous post on Reading the TEB Aloud.

We plan to release another segment of Genesis this weekend. Please continue to send in your comments and feedback. All are read carefully and saved.

I have had quite a bit of feedback on the question of how to translated the very first verse of the Hebrew Bible–Genesis 1:1. It is so familiar to English ears the world over, in its traditional rendering, that any variation seems to immediately raise a flag with people. The Transparent English Bible has:
Chapter 1:1 At the first of (bereshit) ELOHIM creating the skies and the land—

The traditional translation, known and loved by so many, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” ignores an important grammatical element in Hebrew. The first word is in a special grammatical form in Hebrew called the construct. This means it implies a prepositional phrase in relation to what follows. The precise phrase occurs in Jeremiah. 26:1: At the first of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, came this word from Jehovah, saying…

The meaning here is clear and the two verses are quite parallel. The TEB has opted for a fairly literal reading, but one could actually even be more literal since the feminine form of the world “first” comes from the Hebrew word Rosh or “head.” So one might translate the phrase: “At the head of…” Either way, the meaning is clear. When Elohim began to create the skies and the land–this was the state of things, namely “desolation and emptiness.” The whole point of the verse is not to tell us about when or how things began, but rather, what was the state of the “land and skies” when God began to create or bring order and form to the chaos.

Also, even though the definite article is not present in the first word, bereshit, we have added “the” in lower italics, because the subject of this preposition, namely “God” or ELOHIM, justifies the “definite” sense here. We could have just as easily said “When ELOHIM began to create the skies and the land,” as many other modern translations have done, but thought it better to be as “transparent” with the original words as possible. Also, there is a tiny Hebrew word before the object of the verbal phrase: ’et, that we have left untranslated. This is not because we are trying to remove any words from the original, but this, in Classical (and even Modern) Hebrew, is a sign of a Direct Object to follow, and in this form is simply not translated. It functions as a kind of signal for what follows. This first verse, if read as we have it, finally connects with verse 3—when God says, “Let there be light.” If you read it aloud as we have it, from verse one through verse 3, you will see the idea. Verse two is actually describing the “state of things” when God began, but before the declaration, “Let there be light.” It is a very powerful and moving opening to the first verses of the Bible.