THE BUILT IN AMBIGUITY

A little reflection on the Bible.

The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.” (Genesis 25: 21-23)

Translations obscure the fact that some of the original wording in Hebrew presents challenges and cannot always be translated with certainty. Most people are unaware that even faithful translators (and most of them truly are) must make difficult decisions, choosing from several options which the original text allows.

Gen. 25:23 is one example of the kind of challenge that translators often face. Putting things literally, we read:

“Two peoples are in your stomach” (שְׁנֵי גֹיִים בְּבִטְנֵךְ). “two peoples will be separated from you” (וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ) “one people over another will exercise strength” (וּלְאֹם מִלְאֹם יֶאֱמָץ). The last part of this verse introduces a considerable ambiguity. Most translations render it as “the older will serve the younger.” (וְרַב יַעֲבֹד צָעִיר).

The problem is that definite articles are absent in these phrases in Hebrew, as well as the direct object marker את (et) which is needed there grammatically before the word “younger” (צָעִֽיר) for it to make any sense. Without the marker את (et) the sentence lacks clarity. In such a poetic voice, it can mean that “younger will serve the older” the other way around because the object is not clear!

Another confusing fact is that the opposite of “young” צָעִֽיר (tzair) is usually “old,” but the Hebrew original has “great” רַב (rav). “Greatness” is not the same thing as “seniority”. In other words, because of grammatical ambiguity the translation can work both ways. It can be “the older will serve the younger” or “the younger will serve the older”!

The choice translator must make by choosing just one version of what the texts can mean unintentionally hides something that probably was meant to challenge the reader/hearer of this Torah story.