Reply To: What version of the Tanakh do you read?

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#783981

I didn’t mean to say that you are a Christian, but that the question is one of more Christian concern that Jewish.

I don’t believe we spend much time concerned with which translation is the most accurate one as it is generally the unlearned that use the translation altogether. The “truly academic” use the Mikraos Gedolos which is not a translation at all.

Those that do need translations usually turn to either Metsudah, Artscroll and others. These are orthodox publishers who can be relied on to relay some aspect of the ideas that the verses are expressing. They do not, and cannot express the entire spectrum of ideas that any given verse contains. Only the original can do that.

That is why I call your question a Christian one. They do not generally study Hebrew and are forced to rely on translations and overemphasize its importance.

I am not saying anything that is unknown. Even Onkelos’ “translation” is often more of a commentary than a word for word translation. Let alone, Yerushalmi and Yonasan ben Uziel.