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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] translation v. interpretation

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  • From: Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • To: b-hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] translation v. interpretation
  • Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 23:53:38 +0200


----- Original Message ----- From: "Herman Meester" <crazymulgogi AT gmail.com>
To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2006 11:16 PM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] translation v. interpretation


Dear members

For example, why is there no translation of the Hebrew Bible into
modern Hebrew? I think modern Hebrew is about the only language left
the Bible has not been translated to!
(But I may well have missed the latest developments in modern Hebrew
bible scholarship)
Fascinating, isn't it? And b-Hebrew and modern Hebrew most certainly
are two different languages.

Dear Herman,

The reason that no-one has undertaken to translate the Bible into modern Hebrew, is that biblical and modern Hebrew are most definately NOT two different languages. Of course they are not identical, and represent different stages in the development of the language, but modern Hebrew is very much based on BH. Yes, MH has thousands of words that BH is lacking; its syntax is closer to that of modern European languages and it has adopted modern European punctuation. There are also many words and expressions in BH that are not usually used in MH, and many more words that have been given a diferent meaning. However, this is only natural. The Bible remains one of the classical sources of MH. It is much easier for native speakers of MH to understand BH than it is for native English speakers to understand Shakespeare, for example. I do. So do my grade-school aged children. Of course, children have difficulty with a lot of the concepts in the Bible, and the language is "high literary" language, not what is spoken on TV. But it is still the same language.

And of course, there are renderings of Bible stories in easy MH, meant for children. But they soon grow out of needing them. Try seeing the Hebrew version of the animated film "Prince of Egypt". You'll be amazed at the amount of direct quotes of BH used in the dialogue. And I have yet to hear an Israeli child claim that he can't understand it.

Yigal




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