One reason that English is a very hard language to master is that native speakers seamlessly intersperse idioms into their speech. Idioms are problematic because the meaning of the phrase is not derived directly from the definitions of the words. Idioms are a fairly universal feature of languages, and Hebrew has plenty of them as well. In Biblical translation, this is particularly challenging, because the denotative meanings of the words may be secondary, misleading, or even contrary to what the author is trying to convey using the idiom. Idioms are often strongly tied to cultural understanding or historical events and can change meaning with time. Since the Bible was written over a very long period of time, it often happens that early scripture can create new idioms that are referenced in later scripture. So biblical idiom translation requires some biblical research looking for referents, cultural research looking for context, and also historical research to discover the proper translation.
Before we jump to Hebrew, let’s give a few examples from English. If I feel “jet-lagged” (feeling tired because I am still adjusting to the new time zone), I am not running chasing my scheduled plane. But notice that the meaning is derived from the idea of jets, just in a less literal way. This is often the case. If my grandson is the “apple of my eye” (object of my delight) I don’t need tweezers get him out. But the mental picture of looking at a luscious apple tells the meaning. When the “shit hits the fan” you can be pretty sure the result is not good, even if the meaning is not literal. Notice that many of our English idioms are pictorial, like Hebrew.
Often the meaning of idioms is derived from a specific cultural context. If I say I am “above board”, it means I am honest and upright. This idiom is derived from poker players who had to keep their hands on the table to show that they were not cheating. If I am “under the weather” I am not feeling well. It originated from British sailing vessels where a seasick sailor would go below deck in heavy seas. When I tell my friend to “break-a-leg” (put in her best effort) before her first theatre performance, I’m not wishing her ill. We don’t always know the origin of the idioms. But some conjecturing makes sense. For example, “break a leg” was an old English term for bowing, so perhaps the origin of this idiom was a wish that the thesbian would do so well that they would receive much applause requiring a protracted final bow.
Some words are used in idiomatic ways. If I am a “badass” (formidable, impressive) I am neither evil nor, bottom heavy. I can use “bad” as a synonym for badass: “That is one bad motorcycle!”. Now you have to pause and assess; perhaps I am insulting your lame motorcycle or perhaps I am complimenting your motorcycle… only my tone or sly grin might give me away. Look back at the last sentence. Notice how easily it is to use words like “lame” without meaning their denotative dictionary meaning (I am not saying that your motorcycle is limping along, it runs fine, I am probably pointing out its poor appearance or its undersized engine). That kind of flexibility is a real challenge to interpret.
To make matters worse, new idioms are being formed all the time and as quickly as they are added to the “urban” dictionary they are passe. I have teenagers in college who have explained to me that “Netflicks and chill” means having sex (it is what youth tell their parents they are doing when they are instead having sex). Some new words make sense, like “chillax” which is simply a combination of “chill out” and “relax”. Some words are repurposed. I thought I knew what “motorboating” was until last weekend (you’ll have to look up that one yourself in the urban dictionary); needless to say, I didn’t have a clue.
I want to emphasize that understanding Hebrew idioms gives insight into both the Old Testament (OT) and New Testaments (NT) of the Bible. I realize that is a little confusing since the entire New Testament was written in Greek. However, Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi (teacher). In fact, at the age of twelve he astounded the most learned teachers in Israel with his knowledge, and spent several days at the temple asking questions and teaching them. The first followers of Jesus were Jews who were native speakers, fluent in Aramaic and Hebrew. The writers of the New Testament were either the Jewish apostles (Peter, Matthew, John, Paul) or their immediate followers (Luke, Mark, James, Jude). Many, if not all, of these men were also fluent in Greek. These men were given the challenge of taking the message of Jesus, which was probably mostly spoken in Aramaic and Hebrew to a Jewish audience, and translating it to Greek to record and share with the world.
It is clear from the Greek manuscripts that Jesus often used Hebrew idioms (Hebraisms) appropriate and understood by his primarily Jewish audience. Many of these idioms are in the OT so studying and finding the referent gives insight into the meaning. Looking at both the OT Hebrew or the Septuagint (Greek) translation of the OT provides guidance as to their meanings. Other more contemporaneous Aramaic idioms that Jesus used required deft translation skill for the early church writers, and perhaps leave a larger challenge for us to translate into English the full meaning from the Greek.
Sometimes the Greek text of the NT simply transliterates Aramaic words:
‘Abba’ means Father in Aramaic. (Mark 14:36, Romans 8:15, Galatians 4:6)
‘Raca’ is an Aramaic term of contempt (Matthew 5:22)
From the cross Jesus says, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This Aramaic phrase is transliterated (just reproducing the sounds) from Aramaic into Greek letters without even trying to translate into Greek words (Mark 15:34, Math 27:36)
This phrase is a direct quote of Psalm 22:1:
Psalm 22:1:
אֵלִ֣י אֵ֭לִי לָמָ֣ה עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי
Eh-tza-vet-tani la-mah Eli Eli
Psalm 22:1: (word-for-word) Have-you-left/departed/forsaken-me why my-God, My-God
Psalm 22:1: NIV translation: My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?
Psalm 22:1: LXX translation to Greek: ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου, πρόσχες μοι, ἵνα τί ἐγκατέλιπές με
Psalm 22:1: Word for word translation of LXX: The God, the God of me, take heed/watch over/guard me; why have you utterly abandoned me?
Here the Septuagint (Greek) translation captures the Hebrew pretty well. עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי is the only challenging word to translate from this passage. It is used in this exact form only one other time in the Old Testament:
Duet 28:20 “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking me (עֲזַבְתָּ֑נִי).”
Jesus explained how this would be fulfilled:
Luke 19:44 “They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
This is a sobering prophecy about the consequences of the Jews not accepting Jesus which was fulfilled when the Roman legions destroyed Jerusalem in 70AD.
So returning to Mark and Matthew’s gospels use of “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (Mark 15:34, Math 27:36), the question remains, why didn’t they choose to translate Jesus words from Aramaic to Greek? They even had the Greek Septuagint translation of Psalm 21:1 which they could simply have copied. Let me suggest that this is an idiomatic expression. Mark and Matthew do not translate this phrase, because to do so does not capture all that Jesus was actually communicating to the Jewish people who heard him.
Why do I say this? Because these words are the title to a song that every Jew in that day recognized. It would be like me singing at the top of my lungs: “OH SAY CAN YOU SEE!” No American would be confused and think that I am telling people to look at me. No I am inviting them to sing the national anthem with me. Jesus was inviting the Jews watching his crucifixion to ponder the words of Psalm 21, which most knew by heart, because they were being fulfilled before their eyes:
Psalm 22
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.
In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.
To you they cried out and were saved; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. “He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”
Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness, declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!”
The final words that Jesus says from the cross are also recorded by John:
John 19:30 “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”
The words “He has done it!” in Hebrew could be translated: “It is finished” in Greek. So Jesus calls out the first and last lines of Psalm 22 from the cross. In my analogy to English, it would be like me saying “O’re the land of the free and the home of the brave”. Once again Jesus is drawing the witnesses of his death to see his fulfillment of the scriptures of Psalm 22. There is a second layer of meaning here too. The word “tetelestai” in Greek, that we translate as “finished”, was itself a cultural idiom. “Tetelestai” was written by Roman tax collectors and prison officials to indicate that the tax or the sentence was “paid in full”. Given the depth of meaning these phrases elicit in his mixed audience gentile and Jewish, It is possible that Jesus said the first phrase in Aramaic and the last in Greek, just as the gospel writers penned it.
Here is an example of an idiomatic phrase in Hebrew that Jesus includes in the Olivet Discourse:
Matt 24:27-28 NIV For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Let’s focus on verse 28:
Matt 24:28 όπου γαρ εάν η το πτώμα εκεί συναχθήσονται οι αετοί
Matt 24:28 For where ever might be the corpse, there will be gathered together the eagles/vultures (carrion feeders).
Now in some ways, this is a straightforward image from the 1st century. Carrion birds circling in the sky and then flocking to a corpse to feed. But the context is strange. Jesus is talking about his own return being unmistakable like lightening. Why such a gruesome/colorful word picture for what we think of as a glorious event?
Let’s look at the OT referent for the idiom:
Job 15:23
נֹ֘דֵ֤ד ה֣וּא לַלֶּ֣חֶם אַיֵּ֑ה יָדַ֓ע
knows/experiences vulture/hawk/eagle toward-bread he wanders/flees/flaps/
׀ כִּֽי־נָכֹ֖ון בְּיָדֹ֣ו יֹֽום־חֹֽשֶׁךְ׃
darkness of day in-his-hand is-establish/erect/set up that
Job 15:23 (mine) The vulture circles to the bread and knows that his hand is established in the day of darkness.
Job 15:23 (NIV) He wanders about for food like a vulture; he knows the day of darkness is at hand.
Here the phrase “vulture bread” is a Hebrew idiom for a corpse! So the NIV literally translates this as “wanders about for food like a vulture” but the Greek Septuagint add a second phrase to clarify the idiom and renders it:
Job 15:23 (LXX) κατατέτακται δὲ εἰς σῖτα γυψίν οἶδεν δὲ ἐν
But/and being-consigned/consigning-himself into food vultures but/and he has known in/with/by
ἑαυτῷ ὅτι μένει εἰς πτῶμα ἡμέρα δὲ αὐτὸν σκοτεινὴ
self that he is/will remain/expect/abide/dwell into corpse but/and his day of darkness
στροβήσει.
will twist/twirl/distract(mentally).
Job 15:23 LXX mine: But he is being consigned as the food of vultures, and he himself knows that he will be abiding as a corpse and in his day of darkness it will circle.
Job 15:23 LXX Brenton: And he has been appointed to be food for vulture; and he knows within himself that he is doomed to be a carcass: and a dark day shall carry him away as with a whirlwind.
My translation and Brenton’s are fairly similar, except that I see the “twisting” as a reference to the circling vulture rather than a separate whirlwind. This makes my translation read more like Jesus’ NT quote.
So the Hebrew idiom “vulture bread” is nicely explained in the Septuagint. And this gives us some insight into the meaning of the idiomatic phrase Jesus is quoting. Jesus is discussing the fate of the wicked in the context of an idiomatic phrase about a vulture circling a carcass. Jesus is not simply repeating in colorful language (using birds) the idea from verse 27 saying “it will be obvious in the sky like lightening”, but rather is giving more information, alluding to the destruction of the ungodly that will occur upon his return.
In general, I believe that there is much to be learned by trying to translate Jesus’ idiomatic phrases back from Greek to Hebrew (or Aramaic) and then finding the Old Testament verses that Jesus is referencing. Jesus is truly THE master of the scriptures and I have found that every detail he includes is important. I have barely scratched the surface, of this topic, as there are many many Hebrew idioms sprinkled throughout the Bible.
Atheist to Elder 