Ron Maimon

835 reputation

314

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	location	New York City
	age	39
visits	member for	1 year, 3 months
	seen	May 17 at 6:19
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I like translating the Hebrew of the Bible, and I think it can be done accurately and honestly, better than extant translations, so long as you ignore the theologically minded people completely. They generally are not honest enough, you can't trust anything they say.

	835 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 3 months
314 badges		location	New York City		seen	May 17 at 6:19

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Apr 1	revised	Is El-Shaddai “Sky God” where Sky==Breasts? fix translation
Apr 1	awarded	Commentator
Apr 1	comment	Is El-Shaddai “Sky God” where Sky==Breasts? The Rabbinical commentary that it is "el-she-dai" as in "God that is sufficient" is ridiculous. First, it is using "she-dai" in a different pronounciation, not "sha-dai", second, it is obviously a much later Hebrew construction, like in a Haggadah, not like the Hebrew of Genesis. The interpretation is as silly as saying that when Jesus said "I am the son of man", he was saying "I am the son of ... , MAN!" because someone stepped on his toe as he was saying it. This kind of stuff is why I find it difficult to take Rabbinical sources seriously. The root is obviously breast, not sufficiency.
Apr 1	comment	Is El-Shaddai “Sky God” where Sky==Breasts? The word "rovetz" is not quite reclining, it is a prone position, which is not necessarily lying down--- it's more like crouching. Squatting though has a similar "dirty" connotation, and is closer to the meaning--- something rovetz is something kind of that you don't want to be around, like the sins that is rovetz at the door for Cain. I would not translate it as "lying down", perhaps "waiting prone", but this has connotation of inaction. It's more like "crouching ready", and "squat" I find to have similar connotations. It's a judgement call, I agree.
Apr 1	comment	What else can “Fifteen cubits from above” in Gen 7:20 mean? @MonicaCellio: "lema'la" means "to up-there", "... mi-le-ma'la" means "(fifteen cubits from) up there". It can also mean "from above" as in "I saw him from above". Your construction "Mi-ma'la" I am not familiar with, and "Ma'la" is not a word AFAIK, the word "ma'aleh" is a lifting root, meaning "lifts", as in "he lifts". The first lamed just makes it a noun, so that you can use it as a noun. The lamed usually means "to" but in this case "le-ma'la" is just a noun for "up-there".
Mar 31	answered	Does Genesis's creation account depict creation “ex nihilo”?
Mar 31	asked	Is tola'at sheni a knit?
Mar 31	revised	What is Shesh Mashzar? clarify
Mar 31	asked	What is Shesh Mashzar?
Mar 31	awarded	Student
Mar 31	asked	Is El-Shaddai “Sky God” where Sky==Breasts?
Mar 31	asked	What else can “Fifteen cubits from above” in Gen 7:20 mean?
Mar 31	comment	How does the Noah's Ark narrative relate to the Gilgamesh flood account? "The event"? What event? It seems as if this answer is taking the flood as an actual event. How can you do this and study the text? This is not a reasonable answer.
Mar 31	comment	Why does David mourn the death of his adult son Absalom and not the death of his baby son? @JonEricson: I thought the concept of heaven didn't appear until at least the Hellenistic era, perhaps due to the influence of Plato. Is it present in Jewish writings of the Babylonian captivity?
Mar 31	revised	What is the significance of Moses being called a “bridegroom of blood?” fmt
Mar 31	answered	Did Ruth uncover Boaz' feet, or something else?
Mar 31	answered	What is the significance of Moses being called a “bridegroom of blood?”
Feb 22	awarded	Supporter
Feb 20	comment	How should the first line of Judges 5:2 be translated? @Amichai: the (R)'s and (S)'s are cantillation marks of unknown function in the Hebrew text. I suppose the "S" is for "Selah", which is believed to mean pause, and I am guessing that the R means something like "emphatic" or "low-tone", or something. It's a guide for singing or chanting the verses. I tried to place them in the closest corresponding location, but sometimes it required judgement calls.
Feb 20	awarded	Editor