Questions tagged [translation]
Questions about translation in general, or about translation of specific words in Jewish texts.
287
questions
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1answer
76 views
Is there precedence in Jewish history for translating Psalm XXII 17 “they pierced my hands and my feet”? [closed]
According to Alexander Harkavy's Jewish translation of the Tanakh called "The Holy Scriptures" (first published 1916, reprinted 1936 & 1951) the ending of Psalm XXII 17 reads "they ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views
Translating Ramban on Dovid Hamelech's birth/ancestry
I am trying to learn this with a friend but I am having trouble translating - any help would be great! Does anyone know according to Ramban what is the miracle involved in the birth of Dovid Hamelech/...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Barternura in English Online
We have a few English translations of Barternura at sefaria. Is there any site that offers a full English translation of Barternura's commentary of Mishnayot online?
1
vote
1answer
59 views
English translation of Tur Yoreh Deah
I am looking for a translation of the Tur's Yoreh Deah, specifically siman 335. I have not been able to find a translation online anywhere. Sefaria has some of it, but not that siman. Thank you for ...
1
vote
1answer
121 views
Transliteration and text help for the nisim b'chol yom
My son is becoming a bar mitzvah, and he specified that he wanted to use a translation of the nisim b'chol yom (for daily miracles) prayer not from the siddur, but from a hand out in Hebrew school. I ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
What is the difference between Vayomer and Vayomar?
In Chumash, sometimes it says vayomer, but other times it says vayomar. What is the difference? Don't they both just mean "he said"?
0
votes
2answers
188 views
Are angels supernatural beings?
Today's popular view of angels is that they are supernatural beings with various powers.
But the Biblical word מַלְאָךְ, mal'ak, can simply mean "messenger" or "agent", and it is translated as such ...
3
votes
1answer
48 views
Correct translation of Micah 5:1
1 Samuel 23:23 speaks of 'thousands of Yehudah', Micah 5:1 also speaks of 'thousands of Yehudah', but then I noticed Zechariah 12:5-6 which speaks of 'princes/leaders of Yehudah'. I know there are two ...
2
votes
2answers
173 views
Full translation of Chofetz Chaim into English?
Can anyone recommend (or does this even exist?) a full translation of the Chofetz Chaim into English? I'm aware of some of the 'lesson-a-day' things but am not sure whether these are full translations ...
2
votes
2answers
260 views
Why do English translations use the name “Eve” rather than “Chava”?
When the Bible is translated into English, most Hebrew names are simply transliterated into Roman characters.
In a few cases though, a completely different name is used.
In the case of Hadassah/...
2
votes
1answer
47 views
Tur CM 123:16: “שאין לך מציל ממון חבירו”
I'm struggling with one particular phrase in the Tur (CM 123:16). Most of it is clear until we get to:
אבל אם התובע במדינה זו והנתבע במדינה אחרת הרי זה עושה מצוה שאין לך
מציל ממון חבירו גדול מזה ...
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Jeremiah 23:33 - “burden”?
I have difficulties to understand the German term "Last" or "Lastwort" in the common Christian German translations of Jeremiah chap 23, verse 33 (corresponding to "burden" in English versions). Thanks ...
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votes
1answer
54 views
Is “covet” in the tenth Commandment more than a mental attitude? [duplicate]
In halacha - Stoning of homosexuals - Mi Yodeya, mbloch recently said:
In a nutshell, the Torah is not so concerned and doesn't judge how people feel or what their desires are. It prohibits actions ...
5
votes
1answer
79 views
What does מצלאים mean? What was said?
In O"C 288:10 the Shulchan Aruch states:
נרדף מפני רוח רעה שאמרו לאו דוקא דה"ה לכל חולי שיש בו סכנת היום זועקים ומתחננין וכן נהגו לומר מצלאים בשבת על חולים המסוכנים סכנות היום: הגה וכן מותר ...
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votes
2answers
70 views
Old French in commentaries
Why are there references to "Old French" in some commentaries? I don't have any examples to show but if that is required I could research.
7
votes
2answers
72 views
Why translate a vav, “but”?
I know that this is quibbling over a translation, but I don't have access to the translators themselves, so I'm wonering if anyone knows of a justification.
In Bereishit 14:18, the text reads
...
1
vote
1answer
83 views
Is the English “YHWH” a valid equivalent to the Tetragrammaton?
What is the halachic stance on the Tetragrammaton transliterated into English as YHWH or Yawheh or Jehovah? Is it accurate to use the English letters YHWH as the Hebrew equivalent? We see this ...
4
votes
2answers
106 views
Dikduk question on psalm 93
This question bothers me every Friday night; I have looked at various Bible translations and traditional commentators but have not found an answer.
In Psalm 93 we have the phrase:
נָֽשְׂא֤וּ ...
2
votes
1answer
112 views
How does one write a Kosher Sefer Torah in Greek? [duplicate]
Following question of "why-is-a-greek-torah-scroll-kosher", the Mishna in Meggila 1.8 reads:
אֵין בֵּין סְפָרִים לִתְפִלִּין וּמְזוּזוֹת אֶלָּא שֶׁהַסְּפָרִים נִכְתָּבִין בְּכָל לָשׁוֹן... ...
7
votes
1answer
197 views
Is Melech ever a verb?
In the Artscroll machzor (ashkenaz), in the Chazarat Hashatz for shacharit of Rosh Hashana, the piyut with the refrain "Hashem Melech, Hashem malach, Hashem yimloch le'olam va'ed" has a strange ...
6
votes
1answer
162 views
What does מעלה עליו הכתוב mean?
There are two consecutive Mishnayos in Pirkei Avos that use the phrase "מעלה עליו הכתוב", which loosely translates to 'scripture treats him as...'
The first is:
רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן אוֹמֵר, ...
1
vote
1answer
72 views
Question about Megillas Sefer [closed]
In the English translation of “Megilas Sefer,” on page 169 line 4, there is a fragment of a sentence in which the first part of the sentence is missing. This fragment has nothing to do with the ...
2
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0answers
82 views
Tikkunei Zohar in English or Hebrew
Has the Tikunei Zohar ever been translated into English? Perhaps Hebrew? Online or dead tree works.
2
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0answers
41 views
What does Rashi mean by the words “לחבר ולפטרון”?
In Parshas Vayigash (פרק מה פסוק ח), Yosef tells his brothers to tell Yaakov Avinu that
וישימני לאב לפרעה
"[G-d] made me a father to Pharaoh". Rashi comments and says that this means
לחבר ...
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votes
1answer
48 views
Hebrew text of Ramban on Leviticus 19,19
The reason for forbidden mixtures is that God created species in the world - in all of those with spirits, in plants and in animate beings - and gave them the ability to reproduce, such that the ...
3
votes
1answer
137 views
What does מיללעליכט mean in this Responsa?
In Shu"t HaElef Lecha Shlomo 1:116 it mentions a type of light called מיללעליכט and I am having a hard time deciphering what type of light it is. Only thing that came up was a light bulb called the ...
2
votes
2answers
77 views
translate inscription on pendant [closed]
Can somebody help me translate the inscription on this pendant?
I had it for many years but I never found out. I tried to translate myself but, well... you can imagine... I guess it must be a quote ...
1
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0answers
32 views
Is there an English translation of Siddurei Geonei Rav Amram and / or Rav Sa'adiah?
I enjoy exploring the history of the Siddur. Rav Amram and Rav Sa'adia's siddurim are two of the oldest.
One of them, from what I recall has loads of "instructions" some of which explain halachot and ...
7
votes
0answers
91 views
English explanation of Sheva Brachot at a Wedding
I was a guest at a wedding recently. During the sheva brachot under the chuppah in addition to calling up someone to recite the bracha a second person was called up to read a relevant English passage ...
0
votes
1answer
44 views
Whose spirit and whose lips are referred to in Psalms 106:33?
32וַיַּקְצִיפוּ עַל־מֵי מְרִיבָה וַיֵּרַע לְמֹשֶׁה בַּעֲבוּרָם ׃
33: כִּי־הִמְרוּ אֶת־רוּחוֹ וַיְבַטֵּא בִּשְׂפָתָיו׃
32: They provoked wrath at the waters of Meribah and Moses suffered on ...
0
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1answer
35 views
Translating from Hebrew into English [closed]
How do you translate the following Hebrew words into English?
"Ba’al Simchah"
2
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1answer
75 views
Translation of an inscription on a Kiddush cup [closed]
I've had it for months now and its from the 40s.
1
vote
1answer
111 views
Translation of Pichifkes
Rav Henoch Teller has a book titled Pichifkes (most of which can be read here) on stories of Divine Providence. What does "Pichifkes" mean?
2
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0answers
55 views
Is there an English translation of Die wichtigsten Instanzen gegen die Graf-Wellhausensche Hypothese?
Is there an English translation of Die wichtigsten Instanzen gegen die Graf-Wellhausensche Hypothese? This is the book in German by R' Dovid Tzvi Hoffman זצ''ל, disproving the documentary hypothesis.
1
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1answer
24 views
Source for translating סופר as scribe in Kiddushin
The Sefaria's translation of the Mishnah in Kiddushin 4, 13 says:
לֹא יִלְמַד אָדָם רַוָּק סוֹפְרִים, וְלֹא תִלְמַד אִשָּׁה סוֹפְרִים.
An unmarried man must not learn to be a scribe, nor may a woman ...
1
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1answer
159 views
Is there any Jewish translation of the Hebrew Bible that is available in several different languages worldwide?
From what I understand, the Jewish tradition is very insistent that translations of the Hebrew Bible accurately reflect the original text.
Because of this, several Jewish English Bible translations ...
2
votes
2answers
177 views
What is Chulda and Bardelas
The gemara in Pesachim 9b states:
שהטילה נפל לבור
…..
חכמים וטיהרוהו מפני שחולדה וברדלס מצויין שם
(translation from Sefaria) who threw a stillborn baby into a pit, ... and a priest ...
1
vote
2answers
90 views
Meaning of the last sentence of the kaddish?
The last sentence of the kaddish - "עושה שלום במרומיו" -refers to Gd making peace on high.
What does that mean? Is peace considered the opposite of chaos? Could someone restate the last sentence ...
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votes
2answers
103 views
“Black and comely” or “Black but comely”
Song of Songs 1:5 says:
שְׁחוֹרָ֤ה אֲנִי֙ וְֽנָאוָ֔ה
It is frequently translated as "I am black BUT comely". Doesn't the Hebrew translate to "I am black AND comely"? There is a difference, of ...
1
vote
2answers
40 views
What do these phrases mean, “come as one” and “teach a precedent”?
What do these phrases mean, "come as one" and "teach a precedent"?
I think "come as one" means, they "are both the same" (?), but I am not sure this is the meaning of this in the phrase quoted below.
...
2
votes
2answers
85 views
What is the translation of the word Talmud and Gemara and why those words?
The word Talmud and Gemara is used to refer to the written down Oral Law (written down somewhere between 500CE-1000CE?). What is the English translation of those two words and why were they chosen/...
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votes
1answer
32 views
English translation of R’ Bachya on Sefaria
Regarding the English translation of Rabbenu Bachya’s commentary on Chumash, how much of the English translation was uploaded to the Sefaria site? I see that the introduction to Bereshis was left ...
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Meaning of Purim
What is the origin/meaning of the word Purim? I always assumed it meant the multiple lots of Haman, but I just heard a shiur saying the word Purim comes from "pirurin" - little things - of the ...
1
vote
2answers
79 views
Learning to translate the Shulchan Aruch
How can I get good at translating the Shulchan Aruch? Due to the fact that a lot of the words are more of a Rabbinic Hebrew rather then a Modern Hebrew, it's harder to translate without an English-...
2
votes
2answers
71 views
Dealing with translation differences when reading in English
As I learn more Hebrew, I still daven and read things like Tehillim in English for the most part.
Many sources casually say that English is as good as Hebrew when you daven/read alone.
However, what ...
4
votes
0answers
47 views
Do we apply עושה מעשה עמך consistently anywhere it says עמך?
The Gemara in several places (BM 48b and 62a, Yevamos 22b, Sanhedrin 85a, BB 4a, BK 94b, Makkos 8b) quotes the exposition
ונשיא בעמך לא תאור - בעושה מעשה עמך
“A prince in your people you shall ...
3
votes
2answers
94 views
What does the Rambam mean by “velo yishtomem”?
The Rambam uses an unusual word in Hilchos Yesodei Hatorah 5:11: ולא ישתומם, which is translated on Sefaria as "and does not act so ridiculously".
I am not criticizing this translation, ...
4
votes
2answers
486 views
Mac or PC computer file Bencher in Hebrew and English
I would like to get (for free or for pay) a bencher in Hebrew and English, similar to Artscroll, one side Hebrew and one side English in pdf format that I can open on a Mac or a PC and do some changes....
2
votes
3answers
81 views
Does Shalom/“peace” need Genizah?
It is known that Shalom is a name of Hashem, thus it is forbidden to say it as salutation in some places.
And also, to not write it in a letter, because the risk of the receiver throwing it to the bin....
3
votes
1answer
80 views
Yoash what does it mean
I’ve a short question about the biblical name Yoash (יאש or יואש or יהואש, see e.g. מלכים ב:י"ב:ב), online I came across the meaning of: ‘HaShem has given’ or ‘Given by HaShem’, many times. But how ...
