Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

> @Vadim:  You wrote
> Whether a translation asnwers a particular question is irrelevant, though
> one can prefer "I am" to "I will be" only on theological grounds. What is
> relevant, is grammatical correctness. I showed few weeks ago on this list
> that a theory of tenseless Hebrew is absurd, and Hebrew use of tenses is
> perfectly consistent. Grammatically, the meaning is "I will be."
>
> Vadim Cherny
>
> Response: Well, don't you think that a translation should make sense?
Even though I understand your point of grammar, I don't think one can do
proper translation without context.
>

One could twist the grammar only if standard reading is meaningless, not if
he doesn't like the meaning. Translating from context means understanding
the context, actually - interpreting the context. Thus certain translators
slip into exegesis.

Vadim Cherny