Translations of the Ancient Bible Texts, Documents, and more

I write this for my many friends who have asked for various translations and answers.  I thank you all for the input and will make every effort to reply specifically to any/all requests.

A new friend of mine recently asked me for a "Hebrew translation" of his last name, as he considers himself Jewish.

What people need to understand about "modern" Hebrew is that it is a "resurrected" language.  Many feel it is the only modern language resurrected for full use from an ancient language.  Unfortunately with this knowledge people fail to apply a little "common sense".  Unfortunately common sense is not as often applied with Bible studies and translations.  Let me explain and then give you a few simple examples.

To consider languages and translations today, one might first stop and reflect on the current use of the English language.  As I was born as an American one would think that I would speak "English", however I grew up near south Alabama.  When I moved to New York to go to college, the people there realized my English was "different" from theirs.  Can you see how regionally a language changes during the time it is in use?  If not, consider this……..I now travel extensively in Africa.  The "English" used in Nigeria, Ghana, and other English speaking countries is radically different than what Americans speak………..Also, as you look at my friends from the United Kingdom (particularly Scotland), one realizes that their language is almost incomprehensible to a native American speaker……….All these examples deal with contemporary cultures and one single language……….Can you see how blanket "translational" dictionaries can often be flawed?  Can you see how applying "sound" to what one sees in symbol changes across cultures?  We see that in cultural issues in the Bible.  Look at:

Judges 12:6  Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Now look back over 1,2, or 3 generations within any one culture.  As I look back at the life of my father, grandfather, great-grand father, etc I see that it might be a struggle to communicate with them over just a few generations within one region.  Unfortunately, translators often fail to see that languages in 1000BC might be different from 900 BC as an example.  THINK PEOPLE!  The prophet Abraham may have had great difficulty if he had tried to communicate with his great-grandson Joseph!  They BOTH likely spoke a form of Egyptian, but different eras.

Stop…Think!!  Abraham NEVER spoke Hebrew!  There was NO ONE for him to speak to!  Yet, Hagar was Egyptian so Abraham likely spoke some Egyptian.  THINK!  Now, look at Joseph!  There was likely no Hebrew language at the time of Joseph, and since he was 17 years old when he went to Egypt, then he was probably more fluent in Egyptian than any other language!!  As we will find, Joseph very likely never spoke Hebrew.  Since until our discovery of Joseph's tomb, NO ONE anywhere knew when Joseph lived!  You may have a "belief", but it is not based on fact.  It is based on a false concept of when he lived.  (For accurate historical alignment/Biblical studies see: The Bible Plumb Line: Death of Joseph which accurately identifies the historical Joseph of the Bible.)

As we follow this through we find that languages evolve.  Since it is difficult to communicate to generations 3-4 generations away in the same language, would you think with me for just a minute??  Don't you think that a resurrected language would sound different and have different applications than the original?  Let's use the Egyptian language as an example.  When one looks at the "Rosetta Stone" discovery they realize there was NO WAY to read hieroglyphics until the early 1800's when the Rosetta Stone was partially translated?  THINK!  If the Rosetta Stone was the first written translation (and it was only a partial translation), then how in the world did they come up with a verbal language??    Did they find an old "8-track" tape of pharaoh?  Did they find a cassette or video?  Of course not!  There is NO sound that survives from ancient Egypt.  All the names "ptah", "ra", "amum", "atun", etc are re-created from a Greek counterpart that likely has nothing to do with anything.  Further, the Greek evolved over time, and the idea that there was ever a Zoser, Onus, Khufu, Khafre, etc by those names may be a source of legend, lore, and myth…………You need to understand the verbal "sounds" we attach to ancient languages is created and in its re-created form is less than perfect.

Now, let's apply this to words/names in the modern language.  We can look at English once again and names like: Miller, Baker, Smith, etc and we see these are likely derivations of a job title that someone in your ancestry likely had.  Do you see that people with these names likely a few generations back merely had a first name and a job title?  Eventually the family business created a tradition that makes up a name……………….Let's look at a well known Jewish family.  The "industrial" focus and shrewd business marked the legacy of the Singer Sewing machine company.  Meanwhile, think seriously about the Jewish name "Singer".  The "Singer" family in some instances was for Jewish families who came to the USA by way of Spain.  While in Spain some of them had a name that sounded a bit like "Cantor".  Since the translation of the Spanish word "Cantor" means "Singer" their name was changed when they arrived in the "New World".  Very likely their name "Cantor" was a "job title" similar to the "Miller, Baker, Smith" reference earlier.  Can you see how this could happen?.................What many will find is that elaborate translational efforts and "connections" to a heritage are attempted, but it not always as possible or plausible as one might think.  With this in mind there are many who will give a precise translation and connection to their Hebrew roots, meanwhile they have great difficulty "connecting" the Hebrew heritage to historical records.  This is not to say it cannot be done, but one must understand the strong potential for error.

I am going to an extreme to demonstrate a couple of things.  The manipulation of names from continent to continent affects all people and all nations.  The application of modern Hebrew to ancient Hebrew may occasionally put us out of context……..Okay, many want to believe that Hebrew and Hebrew records are infallible.  Meanwhile, this perspective fails to acknowledge the breakdown in historical accuracy and application.  The BIBLE text is infallible, but that doesn't mean you can read it any way you want and get the results you want.  Unfortunately, often we teach more based on tradition, than on literal accuracy.  Jesus Himself taught against tradition, yet we build upon that tradition that was obviously "off" 2000 years ago.  STOP!  THINK!  The Bible is really a "Jewish" text recorded (New Testament) in the Greek language.  According the Jewish records at the time there were Sadduccees, Pharissees, and a Sanhedrin.  Amazingly, these do not exist today, yet there are other factions and fractions.  Since there has not been agreement in 2000 (or more years) we must understand there is discrepancy.  Can you see how leaning too hard on "tradition" may lead us off the path?  Here is a "key" that people need to start warming up to.  The "festivals" of the Lord as outlined in the Scripture were celebrated through the lives of Moses and Joshua.  They were allowed to fall by the wayside some time thereafter and were resurrected as many as 700 years later with Hezekiah/Ezekial.  Do you realize the "resurrected" festivals lost some of the significance that we can now restore?  Do you realize that Jewish "legend" has been adapted to explain Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Passover?  Are you aware that there is deeper Biblical and Spiritual significance than Hezekiah and Ezekial knew?  Is it possible they missed something in the restoration? 

Once again a translational error and traditional error is about to be demonstrated.  (The Jewish tradition that Abraham took his son up on a mountain to sacrifice at Yom Kippur is a tradition, a traditional hoax.)  (No, the earth did not start spinning on that day (Yom Kippur) either.)  Both of the aforementioned legends/myths obscures the Biblical significance which is soon to be restored by way of better understanding.

The continental manipulations of the history, the Texts, the words, and the language has been sculpted and/or modified over the years.  This is normal in any culture and there is no reason to think this did not exist with the Hebrew people.  The references to Jewish mythology concerning the significance of Yom Kippur above demonstrates the desperation to explain something without proper understanding.

Here is a fairly obvious "flaw" in translational issues as it relates to a name.  The Bible text through multiple translations gives an Egyptian name for Joseph (Prime Minister of Egypt).  Meanwhile, the ancient Hebrew has faded away and is not perfectly understood.  At the same time the ancient Egyptian has faded away as well.  Now we are trying to use two extinct ancient languages by way of dozens of translations over thousands of years and hundreds of generations to give us a name of a person.  Can you see how ridiculous it is to think that the "King James" nickname given to Joseph will be found as the archaeological "nickname" for the same man?  Do you realize that the names CANNOT line up?   Do you realize that the name "Joseph" itself is a nickname?  So how can we get an Egyptian/Hebrew name to line up?  Understand that any spelling today is inaccurate, and any pronunciation by any form is inaccurate.  There is a way to identify Joseph of the Bible, and we will begin to demonstrate this for the world very soon.

An impossible name/connection by way of multiple (dozens?) of translations:

            Genesis 41:45  And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-

            paaneah;  and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah

            priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

What we need to do is look seriously at issues of translation.  Do you realize that 5000-6000 years after the incident that two related people groups separate over an issue they cannot even translate?  Isn't that silly?  In the Ancient Text there is a reference to a 16 year old boy (Ishmael) who "mocked" his 3 year old brother (Isaac).  Do you realize there is no way in the world to accurately translate "mocking" and no one alive today knows precisely what Ishmael did to offend the boy Isaac.  Isn't that funny!  A 16 year old boy makes a mistake and 5000+ years later idiots around the globe continue fighting about it.  I ask you one simple question: at 16 years old did you make any mistakes?  Would you want the world to fight over the error you made at 16?  Isn't it insane!??  Again, there is a translational issue that not only throws us on a path of hatred and separation, but the core event of "mocking" a small child should have surely been able to have been overlooked by someone eventually.  Can you forgive Ishmael for being a child?  If you worship a God of forgiveness, imagine the breakthrough when you come to a greater understanding and forgive the "mocking" which we don't have the capacity to understand anyway!

The impossible translation with 5 millenia of hatred behind it:

            Genesis 21:9  And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she

            had born unto Abraham, mocking.

Another core "flaw" in traditional teaching that I like to use as an example is the concept that the Bible texts of today state that Rahab was a "prostitute".  Can you tell me who she slept with, how many times, and how much she charged for her "services"?  Be reasonable.  If you consider Rahab to be a prostitute, then are you saying she slept with half the Hebrew nation?  10,000 men?  10 men?  How many?  Think about it!!  If she was a "prostitute" isn't it likely she would have been "stoned"?    Hold it!  You don't want to look at her as a street walker conducting a high volume sex operation, but you want to call her a prostitute.  Okay, let's examine the "prostitute" idea.  Preachers usually teach the prostitute message so that they can make you feel good about your hidden sin, or they stress the redemption message.  How accurate is their "application"?  Likely very inaccurate…………..Look again at "prostitute" which is partially derived from the King James "harlot"………Meanwhile, ancient Hebrew may not be perfectly understood……….Look at Middle Eastern practice.  No matter what corrupted thoughts a person may have one must understand that in the Middle Eastern cultures women were considered "unclean" to an degree if they spoke to someone outside their culture.  Think about the "woman at the well".  It is irregular because Jesus spoke to a woman outside of his culture.  Think about the veils in the Middle East, and yes women of the Bible often wore veils.   Rahab would have been considered "different" for speaking to someone outside her culture.  The mere concept that she helped someone from another culture would make her "vulgar" to some.  Was she a "prostitute"?  Absolutely not!  Preachers around the world will likely go to hell for calling her a prostitute, but that is their problem.  When one looks at Rahab realistically and the concept that she married Salmon, and became part of the lineage of King David, King Solomon, and Jesus, we see she was likely just a woman who helped a stranger.  Interesting, if she was a "prostitute" then there is quite a lot left in translation.  Think about it seriously, what if she just helped out some strangers?  Is that "prostitution"?

Translations aren't perfect.  Traditions are more imperfect, and unfortunately they are often more emphasized than they should be.  Yet we fail to apply the Scripture to our lives.

Mark 7:8  For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.

Mark 7:9  And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of

God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Check out some powerful prophetic truths at www.SolomonSeries.com and www.BiblePlumbLine.com .  Get free of the traditions and translational errors that cause us to be in bondage.

2Corinthians 11:19  For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.

2Corinthians 11:20  For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour you, if a man take of you, if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face.