Lapses of Old Testament Translators

No BOOK has been so frequently translated as Hebrew Bible and none has been object of such profound and critical scholarship, and yet no book has probably been less accurately translated than that same Bible. The main difficulty is, of course, that Hebrew and English are so very different from each other in vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. The task of translator is not an easy one.1 There are a thousand and one things keep in mind, and it is little wonder that slips so frequently occur. It is purpose of this paper note a few of many instances where translators of Old Testament have erred through inattention Hebrew grammar and syntax. The order of words in a Hebrew sentence is scarcely ever what it would be in English. All scholars know this, and yet they often fail apply their knowledge. An illuminating example is Josh. 21: 43, where all translators have followed Hebrew order of words give totally wrong rendering, So Yahweh gave Israel all land which he had sworn give their fathers. What Hebrew actually says is, So Yahweh gave Israel all land which he had sworn their fathers give them, i. e., to Israel (with direct object first and indirect object second, as is usual in Hebrew). More illuminating still are many instances where casus pendens construction in Hebrew has been overlooked. Scholars have quite generally recognized this construction in Gen. 1: 4, which reads literally, saw, as for that it was good, or in idiomatic English, God saw that light was good. What saw was not the light, as used be understood by reproducing Hebrew order of words, but that light was good. This construction is a very common one in most of Semitic languages, and it is found in Old Testament much more frequently than is generally recognized. For example, in Deut. 9: 13 MV771is regularly taken as object of pre

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