Bible Quote by Chaim Bentorah
““what of the Old Testament? This was written in Hebrew except for portions of the Book of Daniel and the Book of Ezra which were written in Aramaic. Hebrew, by the mere fact that it is a dead language, leaves us open to much debate as to proper modern English word to apply to an ancient word that has been dead for twenty five hundred years. When it comes to dealing with a dead language we are at the mercy of our linguist and various other scholars to guide us into tracing the origins and roots of an ancient dead language. A translator must not ignore the science of linguistics when translating the Word of God. Yet, any schooled linguist will tell you that the translations you finally arrive at are still just man’s best guess. The proof of this lies in the numerous modern English translations of the Bible that we have today. They are all good, even excellent and well documented translations, translated by skilled translators and yet they all have subtle differences because their final translations are still man’s best guess.””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Religious lecture on biblical translation, date unknown
Translating ancient texts requires linguistic expertise, yet all versions remain educated guesses due to language death and scholarly interpretation.
In simple terms: Bible translation is scholarly but never perfect.
Key Takeaway
Respect linguistic science, accept translation limits.
Themes
translation
linguistics
faith
interpretation
Mood
thoughtful
analytical
Type
explanatory
reflective
When to use this quote
- Bible study
- sermons
- academic research
- interfaith dialogue
Key Concepts
semantic analysis
historical linguistics
theology
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we choose a translation for doctrine?
- Can we ever fully capture original meaning?
A Different Perspective
Human bias and doctrinal differences can skew translations.
