About the Mechanical Translation

The Three Keys

Which would you prefer—a can of raviolis zapped in a microwave or a ravioli dinner served at a four-star Italian restaurant? Both can provide sustenance and fill your belly but one of them is a much more memorable experience. The differences between these two meals are the differences between the Hebrew text of the Bible and an English translation. An English translation can provide sustenance, but when the text is studied from a Hebraic perspective, the text comes alive.

A people’s language and the culture of those who speak the language are closely related. In the case of the Hebrews, who were a nomadic people of the Near East, their language and their nomadic culture are closely connected. Each Hebrew word describes an action that one can see in the nomadic journeys of the Hebrews through the wilderness.

All modern-day translations of the Bible are written from a very Western perspective and have erased the original Hebraic, Eastern, perspective of the original words in the text. Once the Hebraic-ness of the text is restored, a common theme can be found rising to the surface throughout the Bible—our nomadic migration through the wilderness of life.

Most people simply assume everyone everywhere thinks in pretty much the same manner. This could not be farther from the truth. In fact, the thinking processes of different cultures are as different as day is from night. In this book, we will be examining Hebrew words and ideas so we can better understand how the mind of the Hebrew works. Understanding how the Ancient Hebrew mind operates is crucial to proper Biblical understanding. If we are to interpret the Biblical text according to our way of thinking, the interpretation will be contaminated with modern Greco-Roman thinking.

In my years of research into the language of the Bible, I have discovered three keys to proper interpretation of the words and ideas within the text.

Culture

The Hebrew language, as is the case with every language, is closely tied to the culture in which the speakers and writers belong. When reading the Bible, whether in Hebrew, English, or any other language, it is essential to read it through the eyes and mind of the Hebrew culture and not one’s own culture. To illustrate this, let’s look at Isaiah 40:22.

It is he... that stretches out the heavens as a curtain

From our own culture, we could conclude this is a reference to the creation of the stars, which we know to be giant balls of burning gas billions of miles from us. This perspective, as accurate as it may be, must be ignored—instead, this verse needs to be understood from Isaiah’s perspective of the heavens. Inside the goat-hair tent of the Hebrews, the roof is black but the gaps between some of the fibers of the material allow for pinholes of light to penetrate through, giving the appearance of stars in the black sky. For this reason, the Hebrews saw the night sky as God’s tent stretched out over the world—his family.

Action

Our modern languages are the product of a Greco-Roman world where abstract words are prolific. An abstract idea is a word or thought that cannot be related to one of the five senses: hearing, sight, touch, smell, or taste. However, each Hebrew word is related to a concrete idea, a substance of action.

And Jonathon rose up from the table with a burning nose...

1 Samuel 20:34

As you can see, from a literal translation of this verse, the idea of Jonathon’s nose being on fire is a very concrete action, whereas the King James Translation, from a western perspective, is very abstract.

So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger...

1 Samuel 20:34 (KJV)

A “burning nose” is a substance of action and clearly is a good illustration of the differences between Hebrew and Greek thought. The Hebrew word for nose is אף aph ^[H:639] but can also mean “a flaring of the nostrils in anger,” a substance of action. Throughout this book, you will be challenged to cease from thinking abstractly, and instead you will be asked to open your mind to the concrete meaning of words as they should be understood from a Hebraic perspective.

Function

Hebrew thought is more concerned with function whereas our Greco-Roman thought is more concerned with appearance. How would you describe a pencil? You would probably describe it as “long and yellow with a pointed end.” Notice that we like to use adjectives to describe objects. However, in Hebrew thought, verbs are used much more commonly, and a pencil would be described as something you write with, a description of its function rather than its appearance.

When we read the Biblical text we are constantly creating a mental image of what the text is describing. However, the original author is not describing an image of appearance—but an image of function.

and this is how you are to make it, the length of the vessel is three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.

Is this description telling us what the ark looked like? Not at all. It is describing the function by telling us this ark is very large and capable of transporting a very large load of animals.

Keeping these three keys in mind while reading the text, will allow you to begin approaching the Bible from a Hebrew perspective rather than from the Greek perspective, a perspective we have all been taught since birth.