Word for word translation is especially good for helping us know the language patterns of the original biblical languages as closely as possible. Word for word translation, however, often does not translate the meaning of many language forms in the original languages because those forms have idiomatic meanings which cannot be accurately translated at the word level. (Examples of such phrases in English would be like "John kicked the bucket" when it means "John died", and "Mary had a cow," when it means that Mary got very angry). Users of word for word translations cannot understand such literally translated phrases unless someone further translates them to English which allows them to know what the original phrases actually meant.

Those who analyze translation approaches refer to words which are literally translated but result in target language expressions which cannot be understood without external assistance as being "undertranslated." (Phrases which have unneeded meaning added by the translator are "overtranslated.")

Following is the start of a collection of English Bible phrases which have been translated following the word for word approach. I suggest that these phrases are undertranslated, that is, I suggest that they cannot be understood by ordinary, fluent speakers of English unless they get extra help to know what they mean (here we are referring only to meaning in the sense of linguistic meaning, that is, what the original words referred to; we are not here referring to meaning which can only be "spiritually discerned").

See the "sons of" webpage for undertranslation of the Hebrew word "ben."

will lift up your head (Gen. 40:13)
to cover his feet (1 Sam. 24:3)
slept with his fathers (1 Kings 2:10)
they knew no quiet in their bellies (Job 20:20)
he opens their ears (Job 33:16)
Their throat is an open grave (Ps. 5:9)
little man of the eye (Ps. 17:8)
[he] has lifted up his heel against me (Ps. 41:9)
do not lift up your horn on high (Ps. 75:5)
teach us to count our days (Ps. 90:12)
dries up the bones (Prov. 17:22)
the lamp of the wicked will go out (Prov. 24:20)
until the day breathes (Song 2:17)
Against whom do you open wide your mouth? (Is. 57:4)
suck the milk of nations (Is. 60:16)
their ears are uncircumcised (Jer. 6:10)
cows of Bashan (Amos 4:1)
daughter of Zion (Zeph. 3:14)
she was having in belly (Mt. 1:18)
if your eye is good (Mt. 6:22)
if your eye is evil (Mt. 6:23)
what you hear in your ear (Mt. 10:27)
all those having badly (Mark 1:32)
everyone will be salted with fire (Mark 9:49)
daughter of Abraham (Luke 13:16)
son of Abraham (Luke 19:9)
daughters of Jerusalem (Lk. 23:28)
the father of [a lie] (John 8:44)
they hear heavily with their ears (Acts 28:27)
the father of circumcision (Rom. 4:12)
father of mercies (2 Cor. 1:3)
our mouth has opened to you (2 Cor. 6:11)
the father of glory (Eph. 1:17)
the father of spirits (Heb. 12:9)
the wheel of birth (James 3:6)
day of the Lord (2 Peter 3:10)
father of lights (James 1:17)
sin unto death (1 John 5:16)

2. Would you consider it ultimately an advantage or disadvantage to be able to read a Bible version which gives the original meaning of phrases such as these as part of the translation itself?

Comments, corrections, and additions to this list are welcome. Email to wlemanNOSPAM@netzero.net (delete NOSPAM before emailing).

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