Mechanical Translation of the Torah

[Lazarus Short]

Has anyone here read it, or even heard of it?  I stumbled onto it today.

http://www.mechanical-translation.org/ebook.html

[eaglesway]

Have used Jeff A. Benner as a resource. He has an excellent study on Olam which I quote  on my site.

His web-site, Ancient-Hebrew.org is an excellent resource, here is the link.

http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/vocabulary_definitions.html

His article on Olam is quoted at:      http://hell-is-a-myth.webs.com/olamaionforever.htm

You have to scroll down the page a bit, but it is boldly labeled, you can't miss it. For some reason I can't locate the link to the article right now.

Gerry Beauchemin also uses Mr. Benner as a resource in "Hope Beyond Hell"

I downloaded the book of Genesis(free ebook) from the MB but I havent had a chance to read through it yet.

[darryl]

Has anyone here read it, or even heard of it?  I stumbled onto it today.

http://www.mechanical-translation.org/ebook.html

no, never heard of it..looks interesting.

[eaglesway]

I read through the first 5 chapters of Genesis. I found this particular thing that didnt seem right to me. When translating the word good(Heb towb) as occurs often(562 times in the OT), as in, "And the Lord saw it was good", the MT translates it as "functional", which seems kinda ok until you follow the word through its further uses...






and the land brought grass out,
herbs making a sowing of seeds to
his kind and trees making produce
which has his seed in him to his
kind and "Elohiym [Powers]" saw
that it was functional, Gen 1:12

ok maybe :)




and "YHWH [He exists]" of
"Elohiym [Powers]" said, though
the human had existed like one of
us/him us to discern function(towb) and
dysfunction and now otherwise he
will send his hand and he will take
also from the tree of the life and he
will eat and he will live to a distant
time, Gen 3:22

Really? I don't think it was because man would kno the difference between what works and what doesnt that was of concern to Elyohim.



and you will come to your fathers
in completeness, you will be buried
with a functional gray head,Gen 15.15

" a good old age" or a "functional gray head" ? To me, the translators claim is that these are the exact hebrew words, but as with all things, that is the translators opinion. Obviously many other learned men would disagree- which doesntt make them right but....

2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was beautiful(towb)", she hid him for three months. Exodus 2:2

2And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a "goodly"(towb) child, she hid him three months Exodus 2:2

I don't think she hid the baby Moses because he was functional.... and

7When the men of the place asked about his wife, he said, "She is my sister," for he was afraid to say, "my wife," thinking, "the men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful(towb)."

I dont think Isaac was concerned that the men would kill him and steal his wife because she was functional. gen 26:7

or earlier in the narrative

16The girl(Rebekah) was very beautiful(towb), a virgin, and no man had had relations with her; and she went down to the spring and filled her jar and came up.

It would be easier for me to understand, "and Elohyim saw that it was beautiful", with the definition of two being good and beautiful. Than that Rebekah was "very functional, a virgin"


I am not trying to pan the translation, because I think it will provide insights and angles the average English version lacks- but since I am always running on about how etymology is not enough, and that the purpose of  translation is to communicate "the thoughts of the speaker in his time in words that mean the same thing in contemporary language", let me say it again...... oops, I just did

Context is the surest way to check out translations of words. The right word will fit appropriately across all the relevant occurrences when someone like me, that is not a Hebrew scholar ,but has enough sense to "hear it as it was meant" reads it and checks it against other verses in which the word is used.

[gregoryfl]

I am familiar with his work, having worked for over 10 years on a project of my own which is very similar to his. We have corresponded concerning various root word meanings over the years. One of the things that needs to be understood when reading a translation such as his, is that the basic idea that is brought out is just that, a basic idea. From there a whole range of nuances of meaning will stem from it, which may seem to be unrelated to the original basic idea. Just as the leaves on a tree look nothing like the branches or trunk, they nonetheless are connected, and ultimately the leaves get their inherent meaning as leaves from the trunk and roots. The Hebrew language sort of works the same way, and Jeff, as well as myself, and probably a few others, are trying to show that connection between the various nuances of meaning of a word (leaves) and the basic root word idea they come from (trunk and roots).

Ronen

[eaglesway]

I agree. It is a rich resource, however, I wish the explanation you gave(or something like it) was included as an introduction in any work like the MT that calls itself an "exact" translation. Nevertheless I have reaped a lot from Ancient Hebrew Meanings.org


Sometimes the "fluttering green wing" is just a leaf, and the "rough brown pillar" is just the trunk of what they both are together- a tree.