Daily Bible Study Tips: Reader Questions Answered

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I heard, once or twice, that in Hebrew/Jewish text there is no word for spirit. If I am recalling correctly, the word they use means throat or breath. Is that right? And what is the Hebrew word for light and how does it translate into English? (04/06/25)

Short Answer: The Hebrew word ruach (rhymes with Bach) can be translated wind, breath, spirit, or a few other related ideas like courage or whirlwind (not throat, that I can find), depending the context. Spirit is a completely accurate translation in some contexts, but not in others, because there is no English word that means exactly ruach. Interestingly, the Greek word pneuma also means wind, breath, or spirit, but also ghost and not courage. In English, spirit excludes wind and breath, but includes ghost, courage, and distilled liquor. Translation is a tricky business.

The Hebrew 'or (rhymes with ore) can mean light, or it can mean bright, clear, morning, or sun, again depending on the context.

Long Answer: My YouTube feed (I totally watch too much YouTube) just brought up yet another video on Bible translations. This particular one (which I didn't watch all the way through) seems to be about whether it's better to read a literal translation or a dynamic translation. (Answer: Yes. Get one of each, and read them both.)

Now, you know that my basic position on translations is that the best one for you is the one that you'll read. One of the reasons I use several different translations in the daily emails is to give readers a taste of the range that's out there. Probably you own a King James Version, but maybe you have trouble reading the archaic language. Get the Good News Bible or the Contemporary English Version! Or maybe your church gave you the Good News in third grade, and now after 30 minutes of elementary-school reading level, you're bored to tears. Get the New American Standard Bible! Or maybe the NASB seems dry, and you want something more literary. Get the New Jerusalem Bible! Whatever translation you will actually pick up and read is the right one for you. (A paraphrase isn't right for very many people. Don't get a paraphrase.)

The difficulty with literal translations is that in general there's no word in any language that is identical to any word in any other language in all its meanings and nuances. (This may be why we call them "different languages.") Let's think about three really simple words: black, cat, and hot. If I tell you, "That black cat is hot," you – a native English speaker – have absolutely no idea what it means unless you know the context, because black, cat, and hot all have multiple, unrelated meanings. Are we in the backyard on a warm day? In a jazz club? In a basement full of stolen goods? Only if you know the context can you interpret this sentence in your own language. While two words in different languages may share one of their definitions, it's unusual to find completely overlapping definitions outside of purely technical terms that have a very specific, narrowly defined meaning.

So translation is a tricky business. When a translator wants to translate a word literally, the first job is to look at the context and decide which of the ten possible meanings might apply here. I suspect that in cases that are ambiguous, or for rare words, most translators also look at a lot of preceding translations to see what their peers have done. The translator chooses a word in the target language that seems to best represent the idea behind that word in a specific context.

That brings us to dynamic translations, which render a larger portion of the text idea-for-idea, not word-for-word. The problem with dynamic translations is that occasionally they don't tell you what the text actually says. I once translated Matthew 22:17-21 roughly like this:
[They said,] "Is it lawful to pay taxes to Washington, or not?"... [Jesus said,] "Show me a dollar." And they brought him a dollar bill. And Jesus said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said, "Washington's." Then he said to them, "Therefore give to Washington the things that are Washington's, and to God the things that are God's."
I represented money by money, a picture by a picture, and the collector of taxes by the collector of taxes. Dynamic translations don't normally change the text this dramatically, but this example shows you what is meant by "idea-for-idea."

My translation might border on paraphrase, but I didn't put any any extra words explaining what a denarius is, or who Caesar was, or why they were arguing about taxes, all of which you might find in a paraphrase. For example, The Amplified Bible has "lawful [according to Jewish law and tradition]," "denarius [a day's wage]," and "[The Emperor Tiberius] Caesar's." The Amplified 's brackets are an honest way of showing the added material, like the italics in the King James Version.* Some paraphrases will make similar additions without brackets, which is misleading unless a reader is completely familiar with the literal text.

Get at least one translation that you enjoy reading. Read more than one translation. Don't base your theology on any one word in any translation. Don't be dogmatic about meanings of specific words, just spread the idea of the gospel message.

* KJV is literal, not dynamic or paraphrase.



Opinions expressed on this page are solely those of the author, Regina Hunter, and may or may not be shared by the sponsors or the Bible-study participants.  Thanks to the Holy Spirit for any useful ideas presented here, and thanks to all the readers for their support and enthusiasm.  All errors are, of course, the sole responsibility of the author.

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