A Biblical Case of Lost in Translation

If you haven’t read the Bible, or at least tried to understand it, I suggest you should.

Why? Given its formative role in our largely Judeo-Christian Western culture, some basic understanding seems necessary, even just to get a better comprehension of what all those religious conspiracy nutters are on about. Plus, there is some wild stuff in there, to go along with those nice spiritual teachings.

I don’t mean actually ‘read’ read it like a book by the way. I mean, if you want to do that sure, but I would recommend a more tactical approach. If that sounds like too much work, then i’m going to be writing about the Bible a lot, so i’ve got you covered to some extent.

Reading/understanding the Bible is tricky.

For those who do not buy the idea of divine infallibility (i.e. that the Bible is the sole and absolute Word of God), perhaps the greatest dilemma lies in judging the authenticity of what you are reading. Is it an accurate depiction of the event it is describing, or has it been manipulated and distorted for a specific purpose?

Then there is the issue of whether the events being described are actual events, or some impressive amalgamation of history, allegory and convenient fiction. 

But let’s leave that aside (for now). Let’s take the Bible on its word, that it is an accurate record of actual events. We are still left in a bind, because what we are left with is the vexed issue of translation. How faithfully have the original transcripts of the Old and New Testaments (Hebrew and Aramaic/Greek respectively) been translated and communicated into a vast variety of languages and versions? It is, for example, frankly ridiculous that (according to this estimate) there are approaching 1000 separate English translations of the Bible.

When tackling the Bible, I think this should be the starting point: what did the people who originally wrote it actually say, and in what context were they saying this? If we can get that straight, if we can at least be working from solid foundations, then we also at least stand a chance in grappling with the more fundamental issues of truth that plague The Most Read Book Eva. 

Hell and Heaven

Let’s start with a few light, peripheral Bible concepts: Heaven and Hell. 

So: Hell, first, because it is always nice to finish on a high. Does it exist, and if so what is it, where, who goes there, for how long etc? Obviously I don’t know. But that’s ok, because I’m not sure the Bible does either. 

I have some fairly substantial philosophical issues with Hell in its most extreme conception. If you believe in a world created fundamentally out of love and light, then the belief that a soul, regardless of their ‘sins’, can be subject to eternal damnation in a fiery pit is laughable. The fact that such a morally and intellectually untenable concept could have become so widely accepted speaks—to me anyway—to it being deliberately and maliciously inserted into Christian belief systems to excellent fear-inducing. controlling effect. 

Of course this isn’t about what I think, it’s about what the Bible says. This analysis from the website Bible Reality Check suggests that there are three different Hebrew/Greek words that are almost universally translated into English as ‘Hell’. Neither is accurate to the doom-laden connotation of Hell mentioned above. 

Sheol is the most common, used 65 times throughout the Old Testament. It is best understood as a grave, or even in more dramatic depictions, a fairly unpleasant underground tomb for the dead. Am I open to there being an actual hell-like space deep in the Earth where malevolent beings might hide away? You bet I am. There is a whole conspiracy (Hollow Earth) that deals with this possibility. 

Fear not however, even if such a place was to exist, as there is no inference in the Bible of it being a place for the living, not least one in which various forms of demonic torture might be carried out. 

Hades is utilised 10 times in the New Testament. While it also has some colourful links to a Greek legend involving nefarious god and monsters in an underground realm, cross quotes between the Old and New Testaments suggest it is best understood as a translation of ‘grave’ in the same way as Sheol. 

Gehenna is a bit more interesting, and refers to a specific place: a valley outside of Jerusalem that acted as a city dump. It was referred to heavily yet symbolically by Jesus as an undesirable spiritual destination, fit to reflect the actions of religious authorities involved in his persecution, as well as certain wayward spiritual entities such as the Devil. 

What all three mistranslations have in common is a lack of any reference to the concept of existing in these undoubtably undesirable locations for eternity. At the risk of dragging on, I’ll finish with this fairly solid argument:

“If Hell is real, why didn't God give a plain warning about Hell right from the very beginning in the Bible? God said the penalty for eating of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was death, not eternal life in Hell.

If Hell is real, why wasn't Cain warned about it? Or, Sodom and Gomorrah? Or, any other of those who committed sins against God?

If Hell is real why didn't Moses warn about it in the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic Law consisting of over 600 laws, ordinances, and diverse warnings?”

To flip the moral tables somewhat, we might also have our conception of Heaven a bit mixed up. This may not be so agreeable to many people who use it as a spiritual metaphor for the afterlife, but if we are going to accept agreeable flaws in conventional understandings of Hell, then it seems fair to consider the same thing for its opposite. 

The common words translated to heaven are the Hebrew ‘shamayim’ in the Old Testament and the Greek ‘ouranos’ in the New Testament, which are both fairly straightforward in meaning the visible heavens of the sky and the universe — the abode of the stars, the gods and God. 

Thus, really we should understand heaven in its more straightforward, already commonly-used context: literally the physical sky above us and all that dwells beyond it. So were the writers and players of the Bible really obsessed with the concept of a heavenly spiritual realm, or were they more interested in the physical heavens — the Cosmos — and the entities that reside there? 

The Elohim

In the original Hebrew version of the Bible, the beings that reside in and come to Earth from the heavens are the Elohim. That is: Elohim refers to any being that does not occupy an earthly plane. We need to understand more about this word before we understand just what the Elohim are. 

I wouldn’t know half as much of the little I know about the Bible if it wasn’t for the work of Dr. Michael Heiser. The Doctor (I imagine him as someone who would definitely expect you to call him Doctor) is best known for his book on the supernatural worldview of the Bible called The Unseen Realm. He has also published, among many other works, a simplified counter part — ‘Supernatural’ — which I would recommend to anyone coming to this material for the first time. 

Beyond that, he is a prolific writer on many other aspects of the Bible, drawn from his Doctoral studies of Biblical translations. His writing is always rooted in the ultimate goal of a better Biblical understanding of what God expects of humans, His creation and imagers, meaning he has maintained a good rep among Christians despite his often controversial conclusions.

The Doc has a lot to say about the word Elohim. One of the most revolutionary findings of Heiser’s work is this peculiar appearance of ‘plural exhortations’ at various key stages throughout the Bible. The penny-dropping moment for him was a seemingly innocuous passage in Psalm 82: 

“God [Elohim] stands in the divine assembly; he administers judgement in the midst of the gods [Elohim]. (Lexham English Bible)”

What occurs in this passage, as indicated by the brackets, is the dual use of the word Elohim: the most common Hebrew word translated to the English ‘God’ other than Yahweh. However, while the first time it is used as a singular, the grammar in the second instance clearly indicates the need for it to be translated as plural. 

Get that? Basically, Psalm 82 is describing a scene of multiple otherworldly entities: a capital G God admonishing a collective of lower case g gods who answer to Him. 

People coming from outside of a traditional Christian background (like me) obviously can’t appreciate how revolutionary a concept this is. Typical church doctrine, according to Heiser, is that there is one God — The God, typically referred to directly as Yahweh — reigning in His entirety over Earth. Yet now we have clear evidence of more gods, maybe even many gods. 

So if they aren’t humans, who are these lower casers? They are, as Heiser describes them, God’s Entourage, or even God’s Family. The “council of the holy ones” described in Psalm 89. The Divine Council even. These sons of God in Psalm 89 are the same sons of God mentioned in Job 38, who were present and rejoiced at the creation of Earth. They are gods to whom the higher station of Yahweh is directly compared to in Psalm 68 (“there is none like you among the gods”) and Exodus 15 (“Who is like you among the gods, O Yahweh?”). 

They are also the gods who, in various stages throughout the Bible, are directly included in the decision making process and execution of God’s plans for humanity. This is best demonstrated in 1 Kings 22, which has the Prophet Micaiah recounting a vision he had of Yahweh sitting amongst His Divine Council. Yahweh actually asks the Council if one of them would be willing to take it upon themselves to fool King Ahab to ensure his downfall (I’m sure he deserved it, don’t worry; it’s a morally-vexing job to rule over this fallen realm). Sure enough, someone volunteers to go down to Earth and act as a ‘lying spirit’ in the mouths of the King’s prophets. 

Turns out, contrary to popular belief: God (or that one portrayed in the Bible at least) is not afraid to get His hands dirty when it comes to getting His way. I would not want to play a game of Scruples against Him.

Angels… or Aliens?

There are other instances where these mysterious sons of God get a mention. Perhaps the most notorious example is in Genesis 6, which provides the context (delved into in much more detail in the Book of Enoch) for the fall of humanity before The Flood. 

“And it happened that, when humankind began to multiply on the face of the ground daughters were born to them. Then the sons of God saw the daughters of humankind, that they were beautiful. And they took for themselves wives from all that they chose” (Genesis 6:1-2).

Genesis 6 and the whole Flood incident is a wombat hole worthy of its own post, if not a whole series. So, let’s get back on track: what does this all mean?

The most immediate response to this revelation might be to see these other Elohim as Angels: a concept Bible students and the population in general are already well accustomed to. Maybe, although not completely. 

There is a hierarchical distinction between the different terms used to describe Elohim. Sons of God is a phrase that translates from a Hebrew term (beney elohim) that is associated with higher-level responsibilities or jurisdictions. Angel does not, as we might automatically assume, mean a positive divine being, but rather describes the lesser task of a message deliverer. In fact, according to Heiser, both the terms Angel and Elohim have no moral judgment associated with them: that is, they have equal chance of being good or bad. 

Angels, then, are just one category of the Elohim: a word employed to describe all beings within the heavenly world. While the most significant of these beings is Yahweh, the principle and singular Hebrew God, we also have lesser but still significant good guys (the angels Gabriel and Michael for example) but also bad guys like, well, Satan. 

So, what this all means is really something fantastic: The Bible outlines a world that exists beyond our earthly, material confines; a heavenly world of beings with different hierarchies, roles and agendas and yet all created under a capital G God in just the same way we are. At the top of this heavenly creation are the special ones: the Divine Council. Those included directly in the decision making process of Yahweh, and asked to carry out some of these most important and history-shaping decisions. 

Heiser and many of his kind interpret this world to be of the spirit, of the supernatural. And it certainly appears to be, given some of the otherworldly feats that these Elohim undertake on Earth. 

But this is not the only possible interpretation. Back to Bible Reality Check, and W. L. Graham makes the case that, when we consider together the root meanings of both Elohim and Heaven — that is the cosmic expanse of outer space — what we also appear to have before us is a description of the inner workings of an extra-terrestrial race, or perhaps races. 

Question time. Why is this not common knowledge? Why has the Bible been largely reduced to a sketchbook picture of the world up until Jesus, plus the main events of his ministry and teachings (not that they aren’t important)? Why is it not widely understood as the Supernatural guidebook and OG ET disclosure document it seemingly is? Why would the people who translate and proliferate this most important book feel the need to downplay this aspect and even to keep it hidden? So many rhetorical questions, so few answers. 

Call Him by His Name: Yeshua

It seems fitting to finish with Jesus, the only character in the Bible who brings a grey area to this aforementioned human/Elohim divide. Surely we managed to get the actual Son of God’s name right? Welp, funny story: not really. 

The Messiah’s name was Yeshua, his Aramaic birth name and the actual name that his parents would have been instructed to name him by the Angel Gabriel. We have the name Jesus thanks to a translation from the Greek ‘Iesous’ (ee-yay-soos), which is not really at all authentic to the original. 

Names matter, particularly of the Messiah, as the Bible makes clear, given passages that inform us of it being the “name above every other name that can be named” (Philippians 2:9) and the “only name by which one can be saved” (Acts 4:12). You will find many woke Bible readers who no longer use the name Jesus but will only refer to his as Yeshua.

So why do we call this person Jesus and not Yeshua? More ridiculously: why did we end up with a name that starts with a letter (‘J’) that doesn’t even exist in the Hebrew language? This seems a little suspicious. 

I feel like we need to be clear about this: the most important name in the Bible (with apologies to Yahweh: don’t smite me dude) has come to begin with a letter that does not even exist in the original language of the Bible. 

It could be an innocent mistake, of course. Perhaps the most Biblical case of lost in translation there has ever been. 

But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t float the possibility that this outcome was deliberate: an epic troll of the followers of Christ by those seeking to undermine Him and His message.

Some might even go so far as saying that the fix has been in on the Bible since its, um, Genesis.