Going on four years now I have been helping train colleagues in biblical Hebrew in order that that they may be better equipped to serve teams translating the Old Testament. Last month (August), our fourth cohort of participants studied Hebrew intensely via Zoom from their homes all over the globe (New Zealand, Israel, USA and many more). Native Hebrew speakers (Hebrew for the Nations) and Jerusalem Center for Bible Translators (JCBT) played a key role in the training; two translation consultants and I also helped.
Holy/Be holy
My role was to present on "atonement" and "holiness" terms, including sharing about the article "holy" which I co-authored with some colleagues in the Key Terms of the Old Testament project (KTOT). KTOT is a reference tool designed for consultants and translators in important terms of the Old Testament. (Click here for a list of some of the articles; click here for the second batch of articles).
Make Atonement
Did you know that "to make atonement" in Leviticus, the ritual that always included the use of blood?
Following my colleague Joel Harlow, I argue that there are four main contexts where the Hebrew verb for "to make atonement" is used (sin, purification, consecration and ransom). But the basic idea is this: to perform the ritual to purge (by blood) from the contamination of sin, with the related idea of avoiding the death penalty ("ransom"). Since this word is so rich in meaning, translation projects around the world often decide to have different translations of the term in the four different contexts:
A resource I commend on the topic is Jay Sklar, Sin, Impurity, Sacrifice, Atonement: The Priestly Conceptions (fair warning: this book is quite technical, but one of the most helpful I know on understanding atonement):
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