The primary, original language of the Tanakh.
7
votes
2answers
174 views
Who is the prophetess in Isaiah 8:3?
The bible doesn't seem to give much information for who "the prophetess" in Isaiah 8:3 is. Who is she? Many seem to assert that she is his wife, but cite no evidence to support this.
The word ...
11
votes
4answers
5k views
Translation of “Hosanna” (ὡσαννά)
What does "Hosanna" (ὡσαννά) mean (as it appears in the Gospels)? What is its etymology/derivation from Hebrew/Aramaic?
4
votes
1answer
39 views
Are Psalms 23 and 24 both by David according to their prefixes?
Psalm 23 begins with the annotation:
מזמור לדוד
While Psalm 24 begins with a similar, but slight different one:
לדוד מזמור
Yet both are marked in the NET (and elsewhere) as "A psalm of David". I ...
7
votes
4answers
192 views
What did Isaiah intend with his unusual usage of “create” in Isaiah 45:7?
In Isaiah 45:7 (ESV):
I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.
The word "create" (01254) is the same word used in ...
2
votes
2answers
60 views
God and Passive Hebrew tense and aspect
I know King James as well as other translators and even some commentators did not translate or recognize the passive tenses or aspects correctly. I've read about the Hophal, Niphal, and Pu'al stems ...
3
votes
2answers
223 views
Is “wept on his neck” a Hebrew idiom?
In a number of places, the English Standard Version uses a phrase like "wept on his neck," e.g.
Then he fell upon his brother Benjamin's neck and wept, and Benjamin wept upon his neck. —Genesis ...
12
votes
1answer
124 views
What is the proper translation of Hosea 11:12?
I have been researching Hosea 11:12 and have come to realize that it is translated differently in many differing translations of the Bible. It is sometimes translated that Judah walked (or ruled) with ...
7
votes
5answers
936 views
What are the differences between Hebrew and Aramaic?
Can anyone give a review on the main differences between Hebrew and Aramaic? Of course, I am asking in the context of the Bible, but if there are some other known ones that lay outside of the biblical ...
3
votes
2answers
706 views
Does Exodus 22:28 call for child sacrifice?
In Genesis, we see a motif of first-born sons being overly aggressive and ambitious. Kain slays Abel out of a jealous wrath. Firstborn Esau and Jacob have a long-running rivalry that ends with Jacob ...
4
votes
1answer
78 views
What were the major objections that Augustine had with Jerome's translation of the Hebrew Bible?
I was having a discussion with someone who insisted that one of the major reasons I thought that Augustine objected to Jerome's translation of the Septuagint was completely not true. He argued that ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
Which 'modern' English translation of the Bible is considered the 'closest' or most accurate translation?
Which 'modern' (anything inclusive of King James Version to date) English translation of the Bible is considered the 'closest' or most accurate translation from the original Hebrew & Greek texts?
...
1
vote
3answers
6k views
New American Standard Bible vs English Standard Version: Which one's more faithful to the original text? [duplicate]
I've read that both the NASB and ESV versions are "formal, word-for-word translations". Is there any way to determine which is the most accurate version?
Bonus consideration: Precise translation ...
9
votes
4answers
3k views
What does “Under the Sun” mean in Ecclesiastes?
I noticed that the Teacher uses the phrase "under the sun" more than 20 times in Ecclesiastes. I have always understood this to simply mean "on earth" as The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament ...
4
votes
2answers
165 views
Exodus 20:5 - Jealous
I asked this question here
Exodus 20:5 NIV
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your
God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the
fathers to the ...
5
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the meaning of “encircled” in Jeremiah 31:22?
Yesterday, I read Jeremiah 31:21-22 (ESV):
“Set up road markers for yourself;
make yourself guideposts;
consider well the highway,
the road by which you went.
Return, O virgin Israel,
...
5
votes
3answers
159 views
Why is “rega`” translated “peace” in Job 21:13?
Job 21:7-13 (ESV)
Why do the wicked live,
reach old age, and grow mighty in power?
Their offspring are established in their presence,
and their descendants before their eyes.
Their houses ...
5
votes
2answers
243 views
How did Biblical translators decide on cypress for the type of wood in Noah's ark?
Reading from Genesis 6:14 (NRSV):
Make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover
it inside and out with pitch.
There is a note at "cypress" which says:
Meaning of ...
5
votes
2answers
95 views
Ezekiel 44:5 Mark Well
Ezekiel 44:5 ESV
And the Lord said to me, “Son of man, mark well, see with your
eyes, and hear with your ears all that I shall tell you concerning
all the statutes of the temple of the Lord ...
6
votes
1answer
308 views
The meaning of “stranger and sojourner” in Genesis 23:4 and Leviticus 25:23
In Genesis 23:4 Abraham is in conversation with the residents of Heth and says:
"I am a stranger and a sojourner with you. Give me a possession for a
burying place with you, that I may bury my ...
6
votes
1answer
152 views
Is “faith” a correct translation in Deut 32:20 and Hab 2:4?
I recently noticed that in the KJV, the word "faith" only appears twice in the OT: Deuteronomy 32:20 and Habakkuk 2:4. I thought maybe those anomalies were due translation so I looked up the same ...
7
votes
3answers
512 views
How many people were involved in the Exodus?
According to Numbers 1:20-46 (NJPS):
They totaled as follows:
The descendants of Reuben, Israel’s first-born, the registration of the clans of their ancestral house, as listed by name, head by ...
8
votes
2answers
198 views
Did Ahaz burn up his sons in the fire or pass them through the fire?
I believe the literal translation is that he passes his sons through the fire. Does that mean that they still lived but were scarred for life, or did they lose their lives?
2 Chronicles 28:3 ...
8
votes
2answers
167 views
How should the first line of Judges 5:2 be translated?
So at some point, I'm hoping to be able to answer this question. In the meantime, though, I keep running into more questions, this one concering the first line of the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:2).
It ...
9
votes
3answers
2k views
Comparison of English word “fool” in original Hebrew and Greek
Question is based on this comment on Christiantity SE.
In the OT, the word fool is apparently used to describe atheists:
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
Psalm 14:1 and Psalm ...
6
votes
3answers
641 views
Were the Nephilim in Genesis 6 aliens?
Could Genesis 6:1-4 be talking about aliens? (ESV):
When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were ...
10
votes
4answers
530 views
What translation best translates the word “vanity” (in the KJV) in Ecclesiastes?
The word "vanity" (KJV) in Ecclesiastes has been mistranslated in the NIV as "meaningless".
Is "vanity" the best translation for the hebrew word hebel (Strongs 1892), does a newer version do it more ...
3
votes
2answers
88 views
the word for “seven” compared with the word for “Sabbath” in Scripture
Is there a connection linguistically between the word for "Seven" and for "Sabbath" in the Biblical languages, Hebrew/Aramaic/Greek? If so, could someone explain it to me.
This is related to the ...
4
votes
0answers
79 views
Were there 600,000 Israelites, or 600 “soldiers”? [duplicate]
This question is a follow-up from this answer where a user on Christianity.SE claimed that the Hebrew words for "thousand" and "soldier" were mixed up in the transcription and translation of the ...
4
votes
2answers
110 views
What is the significance of the verb בנה in Genesis 2:22?
And YHVH God built a woman with the rib that he took from the man, and He brought her to the man.
וַיִּבֶן יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים אֶֽת־הַצֵּלָע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַח מִן־הָאָדָם לְאִשָּׁה וַיְבִאֶהָ ...
5
votes
3answers
128 views
Is Elijah fed by ravens or Arabians?
A couple of commentaries mention that scholars dispute that Elijah was fed by ravens and instead think the word in 1 Kings 17:4-6 ought to be translated black arabs or perhaps "Orbites, i.e., ...
7
votes
2answers
134 views
What is the “Water” of Genesis 1:2?
We read in the creation account:
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.—Genesis 1:2 ...
8
votes
2answers
118 views
Should the title in Isaiah 9 be translated?
Translators publishing for the Christian market translate the title in Isaiah 9:6:
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his ...
7
votes
1answer
144 views
Where can I find Targum Neofiti online?
I'm looking for Targum Neofiti online in the original Hebrew/Aramaic lettering. Does anyone know where I can find it?
2
votes
1answer
42 views
Does Moses want the Lord to go among the people because or despite their stiff necks?
After Moses received the second set of tablets from God, we read:
Moses hastened to bow low to the ground in homage, and said, “If I have gained Your favor, O Lord, pray, let the Lord go in our ...
2
votes
2answers
167 views
What's the root definition of the word “judge” in Matthew 7:1?
What is the root definition of the word judge in the below scripture? Does it correlate to the currently accepted definition of judge?
Judge not, that ye be not judged. (Matthew 7:1 KJV)
...
5
votes
2answers
150 views
Is Satan one of the “sons of God”?
In the framing story of Job, we read about הַשָּׂטָן (ha-Satan) and בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים (ben 'elohiym) appearing before God:
Now it fell upon a day, that the sons of God came to present themselves ...
1
vote
1answer
36 views
Red Heifer or Heifer of Soil
How could we know if
פרה אדמה
in Num 19:2 refers either to
a red cow (parah edumah)
vs a cow of the soil (parah adamah)?
I would like someone to analyse the issue morphologically, ...
5
votes
1answer
126 views
What gender does the pronouns have that denote ruach or pneuma?
In Hebrew the word for wind/breath/spirit is ruach, which is feminine (like all nouns for body parts). However, some theologians use that as an argument for calling the Holy Spirit "she".
Pneuma in ...
6
votes
2answers
249 views
To whom does El-Gibbor refer in Isaiah 9?
I've asked about the translation philosophy of the long title in Isaiah 9. This question drills down into one of the phrases: El-Gibbor. According to Wikipedia, there are two basic options:
The ...
5
votes
2answers
74 views
What does the word הַסִּרְפַּד mean?
Isaiah 55:13 uses the word הַסִּרְפַּד which I have seen translated as "brier" or "nettle". What is the precise meaning of this word? Is it used elsewhere?
3
votes
1answer
118 views
Is the name Israel intended to be ambiguous?
Jacob is renamed Israel by God as explained in this passage:
Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he ...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
What sort of creature swallowed Jonah? [closed]
The book of Jonah in the Bible mentions a big fish. I want to know the specific one. According to Wikipedia:
Interpretations of the "fish" fall into these general categories:
A big fish ...
5
votes
1answer
198 views
Was Rahab a temple prostitute?
Joshua includes a dramatic story of spies, a prostitute, and subterfuge:
Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim, saying, “Go, reconnoiter the region of Jericho.” So they set out, ...
10
votes
2answers
107 views
Does Rashi's interpretation of Jephthah's fate hold water?
When Rashi looks back on the life of Jephthah, he notes:
Jephthah was afflicted with boils and dismemberment as it is stated, (below 12:7) “And he was buried in the cities [pl.] of Gilead.” (His ...
7
votes
1answer
89 views
Is Malachi a pseudonym?
The ESV has a note on Malachi 1:1:
The oracle of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.1
1:1 Malachi means my messenger
Malachi's Wikipedia entry shows that this has caused interpreters ...
4
votes
2answers
77 views
Is Hosea 11:1 referencing the initiation of the Exodus or the sojourn in Egypt?
The New JPS translation of Hosea 11:1 reads:
I fell in love with Israel
When he was still a child;
And I have called [him] My son
Ever since Egypt.
This seems to indicate that when ...
2
votes
1answer
64 views
“Unclean” – Original word and synonyms?
Lev 11 talks about animals being unclean. What word for this is used in the original Hebrew texts and what can one say about the different meanings of the word? Synonyms, etymology etc.?
2
votes
3answers
240 views
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 Puzzlement
Verse 1:
שלח לחמך על פני המים כי ברב הימים תמצאנו
Send/set your bread upon the surface of the waters for in many days you shall discover it.
Verse 2:
תן חלק ל שבע וגם ל שמונה כי לא תדע מה יהיה ...
9
votes
4answers
166 views
On what basis is the name “Ephraim” given the etymology of “ash heap”?
The name Ephraim seems to commonly be given two etymologies, one referring to an "ash heap" and the other referring to "fruitfulness". Example I can understand the fruitfulness etymology linking ...
5
votes
1answer
225 views
What is the significance of Methuselah's name?
I've heard that Methuselah's name was given to him by Enoch in response to a prophecy concerning the flood. Since he seems to have died in the year of the flood (according to the Masoretic and ...
