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BIBLICAL TRANSLATION IS A THORNY BUSINESS

By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services

Q: Regarding a previous column of yours about the Devil, I'd like to give you some input. In Isaiah 14: 12-15, it states that Lucifer (the devil) was thrown out of heaven because he thought he was better than God. Revelation 13: 7-10 speaks of the war between God and the devil.

The Christian belief is that Lucifer was the highest angel in God's kingdom until he thought he was smarter and better than God. He and his angels then tried to take over heaven. That's when God sent him to the earth until the end of time when he will be cast into Hell. Therefore, God did not make evil; the devil did. God gave Adam and Eve free choice and they chose evil.

Thank you for all your good advice. I read your column every week and enjoy it. God bless your work. - A., via godsquadquestion@aol.com

A: I appreciate your kind words and your interest in Lucifer.

One of the most important things to understand when quoting the Bible (the Hebrew Bible or the Christian Testament) is that it was not written in English. This means you're not only reading a translation from Hebrew or Greek, but you're also often reading an interpretation masquerading as a translation. That's the case in your referencing of Isaiah 14.

The Hebrew text does not use the name Lucifer at all, and does not refer to the Devil. The Hebrew name Ben Sha'har means "Son of the Dawn." The reference is to the King of Babylon, whose arrogance is being lampooned in this verse. This is a name taken from ancient Canaanite myth. There's a similar story in Greek mythology about Phaeton, the son of Eos, who was cast down to earth from Olympus because of his vain attempt to join the pantheon of gods.

The English translation of "Lucifer" is motivated by the desire to root the uniquely Christian idea of the Devil back into the Hebrew Bible in order to give it authenticity. In fact, the only reference to the Devil in the Hebrew Bible is in the late Book of Job, where Satan bets God that Job will lose his faith if he loses his fortune and family.

The role of Devil as tempter of Jesus and later as the master of Hell is solely a Christian belief. I honor that belief, though I do not agree with it. Personally, if fearing the punishments of Hell and the Devil keeps people from doing some bad things, then I'm all for the Devil. The Jewish belief is more focused on doing the right thing for its own sake, not just to avoid punishment or garner reward. That view is more challenging, but in my opinion, more theologically mature.

I'd also add that this new interpretation pretending to be an old translation in Isaiah 14 is also echoed in the famous Immanuel passage in Isaiah 7:14. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (and the text used by Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin in the 4th century), famously translates the Hebrew verse "and behold a young woman shall give birth" as, "and behold a virgin shall give birth."

The Hebrew word for virgin is betula, but the word used in Isaiah 7 is alma, which just means a young woman. Obviously, if there was a verse in the Hebrew Bible predicting that a virgin would give birth, this would indeed be a stunning prediction and proof text of Jesus' virgin birth. Unfortunately, for Christians who want this to be the verse, it is not the verse.

Now, this doesn't mean that Christianity is false. The Christian belief in the virgin birth is a noble mystery at the heart of Christianity and I honor its profound message of purity and miraculousness. What must happen, however, is for each of us to stand honestly within our own faith traditions and affirm them on their own, and not as the fulfillment of promises invented and inserted into another faith. This is the foundation of interfaith dialogue. We must believe our own faith without trying to write its truths into the sacred texts of another faith.

This theological caution is obviously not a problem for interfaith dialogue between faiths that don't historically or theologically intersect, like Christianity and Hinduism, but it is and has been a huge problem for Jewish-Christian dialogue. I'm often sent references to the suffering servant passages of Isaiah by sincere Christians who think the Hebrew Bible is filled with clear references to the birth and ministry of Jesus. I don't mean to appear rude or insensitive, but this is just not true. However, it need not keep us apart or keep us futilely arguing about mistranslations until the cows come home.

We all have God's work to do on earth, and that work of compassion and justice, of sacrifice and humility, of love and forgiveness, is the truth of both our faiths and the bridge that connects us. May God bless us one and all...and keep the Devil far away from us all.

(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad, c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207, or email them to godsquadquestion@aol.com.

(c) 2009 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

This news arrived on: 04/30/2009

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