Page:Philip Birnbaum - ha-Siddur ha-Shalem (The Daily Prayer Book,1949).pdf/17

XV and signifies a sensible man. A telling argument against literalness is the awkward rendering of four Hebrew words : “and redeemed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he” (Jeremiah 31:10), meaning he saved him from a stronger power. This is typical of what has crept into the Siddur’s translation as a result of copying from men unfamiliar with idiomatic Hebrew.

Herder, the famous poet and philosopher of the 18th century, declared that it is worthwhile studying the Hebrew language for ten years in order to read Psalm 104 in the original. This statement is applicable to all biblical poetry, which is highly figurative and does not readily lend itself to translation. “Let his horn be exalted”; “that my glory may sing praise unto thee...” What precisely can these convey to the English reader? The term “horn” in Hebrew frequently signifies strength or dignity. The word “glory” is occasionally used to denote soul.

In examining the translations of the Siddur one encounters expressions like “As for me, may my prayer unto thee be in an acceptable time” instead of I offer my prayer to thee at a time of grace, alluding to the time of public worship. “The habitation of thy house,” as redundant as “the tent of my house” (Psalm 132:3), simply means thy abode. “Answer me in the truth of thy salvation” hardly makes any sense. Proper translation would give answer me with thy saving truth. The word “truth” is often identical with mercy and kindness; for example, “thy kindness and thy truth shall ever preserve me” (Psalm 40:12).

In the opening sentence of the Kedushah one is puzzled by “the mystic utterance,” a mistranslation of. The reference is of course to the phrase holy, holy, holy, chanted by the assembly of angels in the vision of Isaiah. The word occurs here and