Hebrew Consonant

Vowel Point
beneath
consonant

Below is the first word of the Book of Genesis -

Translate or Transliterate

When translators work with biblical words they have three basic options - (1) translate the word; (2) transliterate the word; or (3) ignore the word.  When a translator "translates" a word, he or she determines which English word or words best correspond to the Hebrew meaning of the Hebrew word.  The translator brings the "meaning" from Hebrew into English.  

When a translator "transliterates" a word, he or she determines which English letter is the appropriate substitute for each Hebrew letter (consonant or vowel sign) of the word.  The translator brings the "sound" from Hebrew into English.  The transliteration of the above Hebrew word is -

BERE`ShIYT

Building Hebrew Words

We need to learn a little about how Hebrew words are constructed in order to understand exactly what is taking place.  First, let's take a look at the first letter.

You may have noticed that the first letter of the Hebrew word appears to be on the wrong end of the word.  Hebrew is read from right to left, so the first letter is on the far right.   It is transliterated into English by the letter "B."

The next letter is found under the first letter.  This may seem a little strange at first, especially since we are used to reading our letters in a straight horizontal line. In this case our next letter (called a vowel sign) looks like a colon ( : ) and it is found under the first letter.  It is transliterated into English by the letter "E."

When we write the transliteration of the first two letters we have - "BE."

Building a Hebrew Train

Hebrew words are very much like railroad trains - they may have one or more prefixes attached to a root word which in turn may have one or more suffixes also attached to it.  Below is a table that shows how this word is constructed.

Now that you know a few of the basics of how Hebrew works you will be able to better understand why there is a question about "A" or "THE."  Do you see the two Hebrew letters we  transliterated as "BE" - they are the prefix.  Probably every English translation you have translates them as "in the."

The Definite Article

The "B" is translated as "in," and the "E" is translated as "the."  It is the translation of the "E" that creates the problem.   When we consult our Hebrew grammar book* and look up the section called "The Article," we find the following information.

In this case the definite article would appear as a transliterated "A" instead of the "E," so the word would begin with "BA."  Since the word begins with the "BE" we now know that it is indefinite and therefore should be correctly translated as "in a beginning," instead of "in the beginning."  

Does it make any difference if the opening verse of your Bible reads -

"In a beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

(1) How does this translation affect the meaning of the verse?  

(2) Does it cause any theological problems?  

(3) Does it solve any theological conflicts?  

CLICK HERE to e-mail your comments to us if you would like to share them.  Our next discussion will be about the meaning of the "B."  There may be another translation choice or two or three other than "in."  Be sure to email anyone that you think might be interested in this study.  If you haven't been receiving Biblical Insights and would like to receive them just sign our Guestbook

* A Practical Grammar For Classical Hebrew by J. Weingreen.
(Click on book title for more info or to order.)

Remember - Hebrew is read from right to left - so the first letter in the word is -

We learned that the symbol under the letter ( : ) should be translated as "a" instead of "the."  Therefore, using the traditional translation, Genesis 1:1 would begin - "In a beginning."  Today we will examine the "in" part of the translation.

Always keep in mind that, in almost every case, translators have more than one choice when they make their translations.  Once they make that choice their readers never know anything about the other options that their translators rejected.  

Discussing those other options isn't always easy.  One factor that makes this very difficult is that we are dealing with the words of the Bible.  People have strong beliefs about their Bible's words, even if they were written by a translator.  People forget that they are reading the words of translators, not those of the original author.  Just remember that if the words in your Bible are English, you are reading a  translation, not the original, and somebody had to choose those  English words.

So, let's return to the discussion of the first letter in Genesis.  The translator had other options than "in" when they made their translations.  Below are some of the other choices (HOLLADAY LEXICON page 32 column A):

(1) in; (2) among; (3) as; (4) within; (5) on; (6) according to; (7) into; (8) by; (9) with; (10) without; (11) against; (12) [away] from; (13) more than; (14) through [by]; (15) for; (16) because of, for the sake of; and (17) when.

Get your pen & paper and write down a few of the options for the first letter and the symbol under it.  Does the choice you make affect the meaning?  Does it affect your theology?  

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