It is important to be aware of the issues raised by the process of translation. A translator chooses makes decisions based on his\/her understanding of the scholarship and commentary on that word or phrase. Each word choice reflects the translator\u2019s overall goals for the translation and their sense of aesthetics. Each translation is almost a midrash in itself. In my case, a major goal is to reflect or echo the style and sound of the Hebrew text, trying to retain as much as possible in English, so that the reader may sense inner connections and some of the emphases that the text itself seems to be pointing to.<\/p>\n
EXAMPLE (Genesis 1:2):<\/strong><\/p>\n The Hebrew expression tohu va-vohu,<\/em> which describes the way the world was before it was created, is translated differently by many English translations:<\/strong><\/p>\n New American Bible:<\/strong> a formless waste\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jewish Publication Society:<\/strong> unformed and void<\/p>\n Tyndale:<\/strong> void and empty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 New International Version:<\/strong> formless and empty<\/p>\n Contemporary English Version:<\/strong> barren with no form of life\u00a0\u00a0 Mitchell:<\/strong> Chaos<\/p>\n While all of the above translations convey something of the idea in the text, only by attempting to echo the Hebrew can one begin to get a sense of the phrase\u2019s resonance. In my published text, I used \u201cwild and waste\u201d; I would now change this to \u201cConfusion and Chaos.\u201d What is important here is more than just the meaning of words; it\u2019s the overall effect of sound, which says what individual words cannot.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n