Translators must balance the need to be understood and represent the target language authentically with the need to convey the original meaning precisely. Sometimes, translators of sacred texts lean toward the latter. This is a series of translations of the first verse of Bereshit (Genesis) into multiple Jewish languages, written across several centuries: Ladino (Judeo-Spanish), Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Greek, Baghdadi-Judeo Arabic, Halych Karaim (Karaite Judeo-Turkic from the Ukrainian city of Halych), and Hulaulá (Jewish Neo-Aramaic from the Kurdish region in Iran). These translations reflect a common practice in Jewish biblical and rabbinic translations: they are translated into the words of the local spoken language, but in a hyper-literal way. This is known as calque, or word-for-word translation. Aspects of Hebrew that are difficult to translate directly, such as the direct object marker את (et), are translated using awkward one-for-one correspondences. For instance, Judeo-Persian translates it as mar (on), and Ladino translates it as a (to). This practice causes these translations to sound strange to native speakers.

Discussion:

• Why do you think traditional Jewish translations emphasize accuracy over accessibility? How might a translation like this be used in a school where children are just learning Hebrew?

• Do contemporary English-speaking Jews translate sacred texts in this way? A word-for-word English translation might read, “Ahead created God with the heavens and with the earth.” Why not?

• However, American Jews do use some word-for-word translation in particular phrases, like “The world to come” for olam haba and “May her memory be for a blessing” for zichrona livracha. What purpose do such direct translations serve?