Well first of all, I believe the "old testament" is translated from Greek, not the original Hebrew text, so therefore, there are bound to be flaws since the two languages are so different. But anyway, here is a list of all of the books of the Tanakh:
The following are part of Christian traditions, but not Jewish ones:
- Tobit
- Judith
- 1 Maccabees
- 2 Maccabees
- Wisdom (of Solomon)
- Ben Sira
- Baruch, includes Letter of Jeremiah (Additions to Jeremiah)
- Additions to Daniel
- Additions to Esther
Examples of Christian mistranslations in the Tanakh could be considered:
Isaiah 7:14:
Christian Version: Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Jewish Version:: Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a
young woman shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
The word in question is: "ha'almah".
Anyone who understands basic hebrew, knows that the word means "young woman". The word for 'virgin' in hebrew is - "betulah".
To see the word "almah" meaning young woman look in the book of Proverbs where an adulterous woman is called an "almah":
There are three that are beyond me and a fourth that I do not know: the way of an eagle in the heavens; the way of a snake upon a rock; the way of a ship in the heart of the sea; and the way of a man with a young woman. Such is the way of the adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong. (Proverbs 30:18)
So this shows that the word does not mean virgin.
However, it might cross your mind to ask if Isaiah himself had the word that strictly meant "virgin" in his vocabulary? Was "almah" the only word he knew which could be used to refer to a virgin?
Isaiah 23:4 Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, [even] the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, [nor] bring up virgins. (KJV)
[23:12] And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. (KJV)
[37:22] This [is] the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, [and] laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. (KJV)
[47:1] Come down, and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: [there is] no throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called tender and delicate. (KJV)
[62:5] For [as] a young man marrieth a virgin, [so] shall thy sons marry thee: and [as] the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, [so] shall thy G-d rejoice over thee. (KJV)
(Source: Messiahtruth.com)
Whenever we describe an emotion or an image of G-d, it is always metaphorical. An example I love to use is that when we say the computer "did not like" the software, we are not actually saying the computer "did not like it", but acted in a way that we intepret as such.
) I was always thought that the Old testimony from the bible says exactly the same as the Tanakh. But somehow I find that hard to believe, and I'm inclined to think that the OT is an interpretation of the Tanakh instead. Now my question, do you know of any Jewish scholars who have done some comparative study about this? Or do you know of any significant differences? For example in genesis in the Thorah. (I was told that's "B'res-hit", right?) Does it say God created man in his image?
