Introduction

This article is not an attempt to doubt G-d’s word. What this article will show is how over the years, through errors in translation, mistakes have crept in which can often change the original meaning.

This post should be required reading for anyone who studies the Old Testament.

The original texts of the Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) are in Hebrew. Unfortunately, very few people around the world today can read and comprehend these ancient languages. As a result, most have to rely upon English translations.

The bible has undergone numerous language changes, and many things have been confused in translations. Many mistranslation and misinterpretations have led to conflict, persecution, and strife, among several other problems.

You would think that in this digital age, we would have accurate translations of the Bible. You will, however, be surprised to learn that in the original Hebrew, the 10th commandment, which prohibits coveting as we know it, actually prohibits taking. The pregnant woman in Isaiah 7:14 is never called a virgin, and the biblical Jubilee year has nothing to do with jubilation but is the word for an animal’s horn.

Most people who read the Bible don’t know these and many other mistranslations because translators either deliberately or unintentionally, concealed the original meaning of the Bible’s content.

The mistakes spring from five flawed translation techniques- etymology, cognates, internal structure, misunderstood metaphors, and old mistranslations.

There is no doubt, therefore, that the Bible is full of several forgeries and mistranslations. Here is a sample of such words and passages, along with the implications of the errors and forgeries.

Old Testament Mistranslations

According to previous researches, it is clear that the Old Testament was massively and grossly mistranslated. Some findings have uncovered that the actual Hebrew letters are not letters but full words, and what is believed to be a word is a full sentence.

Ezekiel 1:4

“וָאֵרֶא וְהִנֵּה רוּחַ סְעָרָה בָּאָה מִן-הַצָּפוֹן, עָנָן גָּדוֹל וְאֵשׁ מִתְלַקַּחַת, וְנֹגַהּ לוֹ, סָבִיב; וּמִתּוֹכָהּ–כְּעֵין הַחַשְׁמַל, מִתּוֹךְ הָאֵשׁ.”

“And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.”

One of the most intriguing mistranslations in the Old Testament is the craft Ezekiel saw. Some bibles say the color was amber, a very big mistranslation. The Hebrew word used khazh-mal, means polished spectrum metal with an amber hue, and not a grainy amber color. Given more descriptions of crafts Ezekiel saw, it couldn’t be anything made of this world during his time.

Genesis 2:8

“וַיִּטַּע יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים, גַּן-בְּעֵדֶן–מִקֶּדֶם; וַיָּשֶׂם שָׁם, אֶת-הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָצָר.”

“And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; there he put the man whom he had formed.”

In the original Hebrew writing of the bible, the correct reading of this chapter’s verse is, “And God then planted the garden of Eden in the east.” Since this appears to contradict creation in Genesis chapter 1, some translators have made alterations to read “had planted.” “God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden.”

Genesis 2:19

“וַיִּצֶר יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים מִן-הָאֲדָמָה, כָּל-חַיַּת הַשָּׂדֶה וְאֵת כָּל-עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם, וַיָּבֵא אֶל-הָאָדָם, לִרְאוֹת מַה-יִּקְרָא-לוֹ; וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָא-לוֹ הָאָדָם נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, הוּא שְׁמוֹ.”

“And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.”

More of this is seen on the entry on Genesis 2:19. It reads, “Now the Lord God “had formed” out of the ground every wild animal and birds of the air,” instead of “So out of the ground God formed every animal of the field and bird of the sky.” This is because the order of creation contradicts Genesis 1. The Hebrew uses the same verb form throughout the Book, while this is inconsistent in variously translated bibles.

Genesis 4:1

“וְהָאָדָם, יָדַע אֶת-חַוָּה אִשְׁתּוֹ; וַתַּהַר, וַתֵּלֶד אֶת-קַיִן, וַתֹּאמֶר, קָנִיתִי אִישׁ אֶת-יְהוָה.”

“And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.”

The original reading of verse 1 in Genesis chapter 4 is: “I have gotten a man by Jehovah.” This is the literal meaning of the original text in Hebrew. However, some translations include the word “help” in the verse, which reads, “With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man.” The word ‘help does not appear anywhere in the original text.

Isaiah 14:12

“אֵיךְ נָפַלְתָּ מִשָּׁמַיִם, הֵילֵל בֶּן-שָׁחַר; נִגְדַּעְתָּ לָאָרֶץ, חוֹלֵשׁ עַל-גּוֹיִם.”

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!”

In Hebrew, Satan means adversary, opponent, and in some cases, it can mean persecute. These apt names have different definitions as we know them. In Isaiah 14: 12, “Lucifer” has been used once in some bibles. However, the original Hebrew word in this verse’s chapter was nothing close to Lucifer in its literal meaning. The original word is “Helel.” Helel means “brightness,” but in Latin, it means “morning star.”

Psalms 81:3

“שְׂאוּ-זִמְרָה, וּתְנוּ-תֹף;    כִּנּוֹר נָעִים עִם-נָבֶל.”

“Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.”

There are numerous mistranslations and errors in the book of Psalms, but the blatant misuse of the psalm to confuse the New Moon issue as a Feast Day is quite unclear. Verse 3 of chapter 81 says, “Blow the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day.” This, in real sense, is the Passover as it is set at the time during the Israelites’ exodus. It has been mistranslated to read “full moon,” hence is misunderstood to the Seventh Month’s Feast.

Daniel 9:25

“וְתֵדַע וְתַשְׂכֵּל מִן-מֹצָא דָבָר, לְהָשִׁיב וְלִבְנוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם עַד-מָשִׁיחַ נָגִיד–שָׁבֻעִים, שִׁבְעָה; וְשָׁבֻעִים שִׁשִּׁים וּשְׁנַיִם, תָּשׁוּב וְנִבְנְתָה רְחוֹב וְחָרוּץ, וּבְצוֹק, הָעִתִּים.”

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.”

A further mistranslation of the Old Testament that misleads Christian faith is found in verse 25 of Daniel chapter 9. God had spoken through Daniel, His servant of the anointed ones of the Temple. Daniel’s prophecy in this verse is mistranslated in various bibles, referring to Messiah as the anointed one while the text is obscured. The text refers to two anointed ones- one at the end of 62 weeks of years and the other at the end of 7-weeks of years. The timing is about the Temple’s construction and cessation as G-d’s instrument.

Numbers 24:22

“כִּי אִם-יִהְיֶה, לְבָעֵר קָיִן–עַד-מָה, אַשּׁוּר תִּשְׁבֶּךָּ.”

“Nevertheless the Kenite shall be wasted until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.”

Another very important mistranslation that seems deliberate is found in Numbers 24:22. The word “Kenites” is correctly translated in some bibles, especially in verse 21 of the same chapter, but completely mistranslated in Verse 22. Kenites were of the line Cain. Originally, “Cain” was the original word for “Kenites.” Reading the verses keenly, you will realize that Kenites were of Cain. The mistranslation does not seem to be innocent because it is a clear fact in the original Hebrew text.

Genesis 6:4

“הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ, בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, וְגַם אַחֲרֵי-כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל-בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם, וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם:  הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם, אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם.”

“There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.”

The word giant has been wrongly used in various bibles in this verse. The original Hebrew word used is “nephil,” which means “fallen.” The mistranslation shows up in Numbers 13:33 as well. This is a very important mistranslation as it shows who the giants were in the two books. They were fallen angels, which in Hebrew is written as “Nephilim.”

Genesis 23:6

“שְׁמָעֵנוּ אֲדֹנִי, נְשִׂיא אֱלֹהִים אַתָּה בְּתוֹכֵנוּ–בְּמִבְחַר קְבָרֵינוּ, קְבֹר אֶת-מֵתֶךָ; אִישׁ מִמֶּנּוּ, אֶת-קִבְרוֹ לֹא-יִכְלֶה מִמְּךָ מִקְּבֹר מֵתֶךָ.”

“Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchers bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulcher, but that thou mayest bury thy dead.”

This verse has “prince of El” in the original Hebrew, but has been translated as “mighty prince” by various bible translators. An example of the mistranslated verse; “Hear us, Lord, you are a mighty prince amongst us. Bury your dead in the choice of our sepulchers- none of us will withhold from you his sepulcher or deter you from burying your dead”. The Hebrew version reads, “Hear us Oh Lord. You are prince of El amongst us…”.

Deuteronomy 16:7

“וּבִשַּׁלְתָּ, וְאָכַלְתָּ, בַּמָּקוֹם, אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ בּוֹ; וּפָנִיתָ בַבֹּקֶר, וְהָלַכְתָּ לְאֹהָלֶיךָ.”

“And thou shalt roast and eat it in the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: and thou shalt turn in the morning, and go unto thy tents.”

About the Passover sacrifice, the Hebrew reads, “boil and eat at the place Yahweh your God chooses for you.” The word “bashal” in Hebrew means “settle” or “boil.” However, it is mistranslated in some bibles as “roast” to harmonize it with the Passover instructions in Exodus 12:12, where the Israelites are forbidden explicitly from boiling meat.

Deuteronomy 32:8

This verse has also been mistranslated, changing the words “according to the number of sons of God” to the words “according to the number of sons of Israel.” Several bibles have the mistranslated version, but a few have corrected the mistake.

Isaiah 7:14

The Hebrew in this verse, which describes a young woman giving birth to a young boy, will be called Emmanuel, ended up in Greek as a virgin giving birth to the boy. Even though scholars generally don’t dispute these facts, the translation error remains because people are generally unwilling to give up the familiar translations and because the Gospel of Mathew describes Jesus’ birth by a virgin, thus quoting the Greek translation of the book of Isaiah 7:14.

“Jehovah”

In the Old Testament, this word has been mistranslated in various verses; from Exodus 6:3 to Psalms 83:18 to Judges 6:24 and Isaiah 12:2, the word is wrongly used in comparison to the original Hebrew word. Jehovah was not God’s name in 1611, which translated the Hebrew word YHWH as IEHOVAH. The correct translation of YHWH is LORDE.

Conclusion

The Bible in English today is full of errors, mistranslations, and forgeries that affect its interpretation and the understanding of The Word. This creates confusion and controversies that will never end. Please comment below on whether this affects your beliefs or your interpretation of parts of the bible.