Hello again!
I am a Christian journalist. I am also co-authoring a women's redemption
journal with a couple. I want to include a statement in one of the
chapters I am writing referencing "El Shadday" as "the Breasted One" or
some similar translation. The couple I am working with object to my
using this statement without a reputable reference to justify the
statement. Are you aware of a Bible Dictionary, encyclopedia or other
reference material that would validate this interpretation?
I would greatly appreciate any assistance you might be able to offer.
Blessings,
Lynne
rich.friedel wrote:
"And when Abram was ninety nine years old and the LORD appeared to
Abram, and he said to him, I am El Shaddai, walk before me, and be
perfect." Genesis 17:1
Before examining the word Shaddai, let us take a moment to discuss
some of the problems with Biblical translations.
There are many factors that go into a translation which are invisible
and unknown to the reader of a translation. Most Bible readers assume
that the English translation of the Bible is an equivalent
representation of the original text. Because of the vast difference
between the ancient Hebrews' language and our own, as well as the
differences in the two cultures, an exact translation is impossible.
The difficult job of the translator is to bridge the gap between the
languages and cultures. Since the Hebrew text can be translated many
different ways, the translator's personal beliefs will often dictate
how the text will be translated. A translation of the Biblical text is
a translator's interpretation of the original text based on his
own theology and doctrine. The reader is then forced to use the
translators understanding of the text as his foundation for the text.
For this reason, readers will often compare translations, but are
usually limited to Christian translations.
I always recommend including a "Jewish" translation when comparing
texts, as this will give a translation from a different perspective.
Yes, it will be biased toward the Jewish faith, but Christian
translations are biased toward the Christian faith as well. A
comparison of the two translations can help to discover
the bias of each.
The translator's task is compounded by the presence of words and
phrases whose original meanings have been lost. In these cases the
translator will attempt to interpret the words and phrases as best as
possible based on the context of the word and the translators opinion
of what the author was attempting to convey. When the reader of the
translation comes across the translator's attempts at translating the
difficult text, the reader makes the assumption that the translator
has accurately translated the text.
Most Bible translations translate this word as "Almighty." Many
times a translator will not translate a Hebrew word literally because
the literal meaning would mean nothing to the Western mind, and in
some cases would actually be offensive to the Western reader. Such is
the case with the word "ShDy" (shaddai). The use of the word
"Almighty" by the translator is his attempt at translating the text in
a manner that will both make sense to the Western reader as
well as retain some of the meaning of the original Hebrew
word.
The parent root for this word is "ShD" (shad). The original
pictographs for this word are, "Sh" is a
picture of the two front teeth and has the meaning of
"sharp," "press" (as from chewing) as well as "two." The
"D" is a picture of a tent door with a meaning of
"hang" or "dangle" as the door is hung or dangles down
from the top of the tent.
The combined meanings of the "Sh" and "D" would be
"two danglers."
The goat was a very common animal within the herds of the Hebrews. It
produces milk within the udder and is extracted by the goat kid by
squeezing and sucking on the two teats dangling below the udder.
The function of these teats is to provide all the necessary
nourishment for the kids, as they would die without it.
The Hebrew word "ShDy" (shaddai) also has the meaning of a "teat."
Just as the goat provides nourishment to its kids through the milk,
God nourishes his children through his milk and provides all the
necessities of life. This imagery can be seen in the following passage:
"And I will come down to snatch them [Israel] from the hand of the
Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and wide land
to a land flowing with milk and honey." Exodus 3:8
The word "ydX" (teat) is often coupled with the word "la" (mighty,
strong) creating the phrase "AL ShDy" (el shaddai) literally meaning
the "mighty teat," hence we can see the translator's reluctance to
literally translate this phrase in this manner and instead using the
more sanitized "God Almighty."
Hope this helps
You might want to download this pdf
http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/bookstore/e-books/hno.pdf
Rich
AHRC
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
--- In [email protected]
<mailto:ancient_hebrew%40yahoogroups.com>, Lynne Valle <ldeva...@...>
wrote:
>
> *
> *
>
> *
> *
>
> *El Shadday: the Breasted One (Psalm 87; Galatians 4:26; Revelation 12)*
>
>
> Can anyone help me with verifying that El Shadday can mean "The
Breasted
> One"
>
> Erin Burroughs wrote the following in an article:
>
> "Strong's Bible Concordance lists "El" (word #410) as meaning "God;"
and
> "Shadday" (word 7706) as meaning "Almighty," where the title "really
> indicates the fullness and riches of God's grace, that He is never
weary
> of pouring forth His mercies on His people, and that He is more
ready to
> give than they are to receive," and where "bountiful expresses the
sense
> most exactly." When we look at the word "bountiful," we see that it is
> from the Latin "bonita-s." In the Oxford Latin Dictionary, we see that
> "bonita-s" is a *feminine* adjective for "goodness, kindness,
> benevolence." When we look at the Hebrew root words for Shadday, which
> are "shad" and "day," we see in Strong's Bible Concordance that "shad"
> (word 7699) means "the breast of a woman" and "day" (word 1767) means
> "enough, sufficient, from, able, according to, after ability, among, as
> oft as, more than enough, in, much as is sufficient, sufficiently,
very."
>
> Thanks for the help,
> Lynne
>
>
> --
> May His richest blessings be with you,
> Lynne Erickson Valle - Psalms 45:1
>
--
May His richest blessings be with you,
Lynne Erickson Valle - Psalms 45:1
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