Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bearpecs AT aol.com]

I'm honestly asking this question for an answer and not to present my own  
polemic.
 
In a message dated 1/5/2005 12:28:22 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
jwest AT highland.net writes:

If a  student of Hebrew, for instance, takes his 
Hebrew Bible and his TEV and  sits at his desk, writing (or typing) his own 
"translation" but in reality  he is simply writing out the TEV and changing 
a word here or there based  on his reading of the Hebrew, this can hardly be 
called a "fresh  translation from the original tongues".  


I understand that it would not be appropriate to call this a "fresh"  
translation.
 
What about, however, when I sit down with the original Hebrew and in  
addition to using the dictionaries (BDB and HALOT), I also refer to a variety 
of  
English translations (including Alter, Fox, NJPS, AB, etc.)?  Does that not  
count as an actual "translation from the original Hebrew" because I've used  
other 
translations?
 
If it is, how do we draw a clear line between working from translations but  
referring to the original and working from the original but referring to  
translations?