Embodiment and the Problem of Embodiment A Comparative Study of Current Translations of the Torah

Abstract

One of the characteristics of sacred texts is that they are written in the language of their followers for ease of useand understanding. Due to the spread of religions outside their regions of origin and the expansion of their reachand proselytization, as well as attempts to study them by those who are not fluent in the language, there was a need to retranslatetranslate them to suit new environments. These translations have produced the problem of the difference betweenthe original and the translation, in addition to the disappearance of the original languages in whichthe sacred texts were written, which have become a sacred religious language, especially among clergy.These translations, which often do not match the words and their meaningsand do not take into account the original texts, have had a significant impact, as well as the great danger embodiedin the translator himself and the reflection of his intellectual ideology on the translated text through translationin meaning, and the attempt to change meanings to conform to his beliefs. The seriousness of this issue is not hidden fromthe religions whose texts have been translated and to which some ideas have been attributed that are foreign to them.