In our lessons on the
Treasures of the Tanakh, we have seen examples of
Acrostics,
Atbash Codes,
Gematria,
Poetry and
Verses With Deeper Meanings. (Make sure you visit our
Hebrew Gematria blog as well!) In addition to these, the
Tanakh (
Hebrew Bible) also has frequent
Puns or Plays On Words. These illustrate how rich the original
Hebrew of the
Tanakh is. Puns are impossible to capture in a translation, and by reading the
Tanakh in the original
Hebrew, you see the true beauty of the
Hebrew Bible which is missing in a translation.
A lovely example of a pun in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) is in Jonah, where we read:
Jonah 4:6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. (KJV)
In Hebrew, the verse is as follows:
In this verse from the
Tanakh (
Hebrew Bible), there is a pun on the
Hebrew words for
shadow (
tsel) and
to deliver (
lehatsil). The pun is shown in
red in the English and
Hebrew above. If you were reading this in English, even in the "best possible" translation, you would be completely unaware of this play on words. Thus, reading the
Tanakh in
Hebrew makes you aware of the depth and beauty of the original
Hebrew. While you might understand the meaning in an English translation, you will never be aware of how poetic and amazing the original inspired
Hebrew actually is. Spending some time and effort in
learning Hebrew so that you can read the
Tanakh is well worth every moment it takes. You will never look back. Reading a translation is just not the same.
There are dozens of similar puns in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), and this web site provides a few examples. Puns like these illustrate the elegance and beauty you miss when you only study a translation of the Tanakh. You miss out on the plays on words, on poetry, on the mind of YHWH as he pleads with His people Israel.
Why not study the Tanakh in Hebrew? Why not see for yourself what you miss in a translation? You will be greatly enriched by what you read, and you will grow in your love for YHWH
