In the Beginning, Part 2, and Justice for the Aleph

Recently, I posted one of my exercises in translating the first word of the Bible, in Hebrew bereishit. It could be translated “In the beginning,” or “When God began to create.” This is an appendix to that article. Here I will go into the finer points of Bible translation. To review a few points:

· The Masoretes were a group of scholars and Rabbis who copied, studied, and…