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The Old Testament

Answered by Rabbi Gershon LittFurther responses from Rabbi Eliahu Levenson

Question

How does the Christian Bible (Old Testament) vary from the Hebrew texts? I’m having problems with my Christian friends regarding their translations of the old testament. They think GOD is the same in both religions.

Answer

Hi, thanks for this question. It is important to clarify a couple of things. When the Christian world is speaking of the “old testament” they are referring to what we call the Torah, our bible. To us, obviously, it is not old, it is the only testament.

When you ask how the old testament differs from the Hebrew texts, I assume you are asking how does the “new testament” differ from the Hebrew, as the Torah was written in Hebrew.

The Christian bible was written by men, codified by men, edited by men, and espoused by men. In other words, there were many writings that were attributed to the students of Jesus, but most of these writings were not chosen to be put into their bible. The difference is that in Judaism we never chose what to put in. The way that it was written was how it was given and it is the same now in the original Hebrew as it was 3300 years ago. An amazing proof to this if that today you can take hundreds of Torah scrolls, as has been done, and compare them letter by letter using special computer technology. What you would expect is for there to be slight variations, differences, varying translation issues, things left out, etc. What was found was that throughout the world whether the Torah was in Africa, Europe, Israel, Egypt, or America every Torah was the same. That is an amazing testimony to the divine origins of the Torah. I know that this was not the subject of your question, but I thought that it would be worthwhile to throw in.

Be Well,
Rabbi Litt

Follow-up questions (2)

Question

I was referring to the old testament verses the Torah. There is an abundance of translations, I have Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. It states “containing the old and new testaments of the authorized or King James version text. What did King James do to G-ds work? any why? Can you recommend an English version of the Torah that will also have notes and comments and especially learning aids.

Answer

Hi,
Again, let me be clear. The “Old Testament” IS the Torah. When someone uses that statement they are referring to the 5 books of Moses otherwise knows as the “Torah.” Also, the King James version is not a valid translation as far as any Jewish source is concerned. If you are really interested in understanding the “Old Testament – Torah” you will buy the Artsroll Chumash. Do a Google search for it or go to www.artscroll.com to purchase it. It is the Torah translated from a Jewish, kosher perspective.

Also, The Torah was originally written in Hebrew. So, when you ask if the Christian translation differs from the Hebrew you need to understand that the original language was Hebrew and the Christians translated it. The only way to understand the Torah (Old Testament) is to read it in the original Hebrew text. The closest you will get to that if you don’t understand Hebrew is the Artscroll version.

Be Well,
Rabbi Litt

Question

Why do you not consider the King James Version a valid translation? Are you saying that the Torah cannot be translated to English?

Answer

Hebrew does not translate into English on a line by line basis. The Hebrew is far too intricate, and contains way too much information, for this to be
possible. Therefore, translations, any translations, can be very troublesome.

For example, take the Hebrew words cheit, ovon, and pesha. Each has a very specific meaning and you learn a great deal about the context of the Hebrew Scripture by which term G-d chooses.

How are these Hebrew words translated? Usually, the English words sin, iniquity, and transgression are used. Yet, there is no way to know what the differences
in the Hebrew mean when using these English substitutes, and English has nothing better to offer.

The only way to understand what the Hebrew is saying is with a discussion of the terms in context. Therefore, there is no way to understand G-d’s Hebrew Scriptures correctly if one relies on these simple translations.

Regards, Eliahu Levenson