Translation and Textual Analysis
Domain 5: Translation and Textual Analysis
This domain tests faithful transfer of meaning between Hebrew and English and the ability to justify choices. It examines register, idiom, syntax, ambiguity and, where relevant, textual variants.
Principles
Translate function, not word slots. Preserve tense, negation, modality and definiteness. Hebrew construct chains may become English possessive phrases; את usually disappears in English unless emphasis requires it. Render idioms by English equivalents, not literal images. Keep the source's register: biblical, rabbinic, journalistic or colloquial. Hebrew often chains clauses with ו; decide whether it means 'and', contrast or sequence. When a pun or ambiguity cannot survive, state what is lost and choose the reading supported by context.
Worked example
Source: אין לנו מספיק זמן לחכות. Literal: 'There is not to us enough time to wait.' Better: 'We don't have enough time to wait.' Reasoning: אין is an existential negative; לנו is a dative pronoun best rendered as subject 'we'; מספיק = enough; לחכות is an infinitive. The literal version is accurate but unidiomatic. A good answer notes the idiom and avoids over-literal syntax.
Traps
Word-for-word rendering; missing a second negative; translating את as 'et'; confusing similar roots; flattening register; and inventing certainty where the Hebrew is ambiguous.