"The Living Torah" is Awesome
Recently, someone somewhere (probably on the Internet) claimed that R' Aryeh Kaplan's The Living Torah translation is the most natural-sounding English translation of the Torah, surpassing the KJV, JPS, Fox, and all the rest of them.
Here is an example I just noticed:
I never thought I would read a Biblical figure saying "hello there"... just imagine the different expressions and intonations that could go with that greeting, especially in this context — the story of Yehuda and Tamar!
Here is an example I just noticed:
from Bereishit 38:16 —
“Hello there,” he said. “Let me come to you.”
I never thought I would read a Biblical figure saying "hello there"... just imagine the different expressions and intonations that could go with that greeting, especially in this context — the story of Yehuda and Tamar!
carved on the walls of the caverns by Steg (dos iz nit der šteg) at 12/08/2008 11:59:00 AM
10 Comments:
Actually I think that line would be better translated as: "Nice shoes. Wanna f#@k?"
groan «eyerollage»
this is a colloquial translation, not an explicit one. and this isn't Ravshaqeh we're talking about here!
heheh actually, as much fun as it is to curse on your blog, I do have a serious point as well - Yehuda is asking very explicitly for what he wants. As far as I 've seen, "lavo al-someone" usually means "have sex with them".
Hello there works a lot better than, "What's up."
...or "Ai Chica!"
Considering the amount of slang that has drifted into the standard language, I wouldn't be surprised if fifty or so years from now there will be Bible translations with characters that say "Hi there," or even "What's up?"
But "Cool!" would be a bit of a stretch. (That's not to mention "bling bling.")
I really like The Living Torah (I've actually blogged about it a couple of times recently), but it took me a while to get used to the colloquial language. I understand the reason for using it, but it seemed so unusual and out of place.
As far as I 've seen, "lavo al-someone" usually means "have sex with them".
Fine. Perhaps a better translation would be:
"Hello there", he said. "Let me come on you."
Hey there, honey pie, what's your sign?
Or, to paraphrase the sex-troll who has been haunting a certain diqdouqliste, "Hey miss, I just made a webpage and I put some pics of myself showing off in front of my webcam on it...."
For some reason, Tamar and Yehuda are one of my favourite episodes in Bereishis.
As far as I 've seen, "lavo al-someone" usually means "have sex with them".
See Exodus 35:22. וַיָּבֹאוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים, עַל-הַנָּשִׁים; כֹּל נְדִיב לֵב, הֵבִיאוּ חָח וָנֶזֶם וְטַבַּעַת וְכוּמָז כָּל-כְּלִי זָהָב, וְכָל-אִישׁ, אֲשֶׁר הֵנִיף תְּנוּפַת זָהָב לַיי
That puts an interesting spin on the story of the donations to the Mishkān, no?
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