Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Steve Miller" <smille10 AT sbcglobal.net>]

> From: Edward Andrews Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2006 11:23 AM
> 
> I have noticed that most grammars I have used, work from Hebrew to
> English, not English to Hebrew.  However, Menahem Mansoor goes both ways.
> Would the members of b-hebrew agree that, in general, most Hebrew scholars
> do not speak Biblical Hebrew or are able to take an English paragraph and
> translate it into Hebrew (at least not very easily)?
> 
[Steve Miller] 
I think it is important to be able to translate in both directions in order
to interpret the Hebrew Bible. In digesting the Bible, we should be like
cows, chewing the cud, chewing, regurgitating, rechewing, questioning, and
considering. Not like a pig, just chewing and swallowing. 

When I am testing an interpretation of a verse, I like to ask the question:
If I was writing the Tanach and that interpretation was what I wanted to
say, how would I say it in b-hebrew? Then I look at the differences between
how I would have said it, and how God actually did say it in the Bible. This
may show a fallacy in the interpretation, or it may shed new light. 

Another reason for translating back into b-hebrew is in comparing a NT quote
or the LXX translation of a verse with the MT.

-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceinwilderness.info