Moses The Translator
Why him? Why could he not have found someone else to translate the manuscript?
The fifth book of the five books of Moses, describes the last thirty seven days of Moses’ life. In the fifth book Moses repeats many of the laws of the Torah, he rebukes the people and retells some of major events of the previous forty years.
In addition to all that, Moses also took on a new role: until this point Moses was the conveyer of the Torah, communicating the Divine wisdom to the Jewish people, at this point Moses became the first translator of the Torah, as the verse states:
On that side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses commenced and explained this Torah, saying.[1]
Quoting the words “explained this Torah” Rashi says:
He explained it to them in seventy languages.[2]
Why would Moses decide to involve himself in the translation? His audience, the children of Israel about to enter the Promised Land, all spoke Hebrew and had no practical use for a translation of the Torah in Egyptian, Babylonian or Chinese. Why would Moses spend the last days of his life translating the Torah, instead of delegating the task to other people? Centuries later, as the Jews scattered to every corner of the planet and began to speak all languages, the translation of the Torah would become an important priority, but why would it not suffice for the great scholars of subsequent generations to translate the Torah? Why did Moses himself have to dedicate the last days of his life to the translation?
Language captures culture. Each language captures a unique perspective, a distinctive way of understanding the world. Each language represents a particular point of view based on the culture of the people speaking that language. That is why translation is a tricky business. It’s not enough to translate the word, the translator needs to convey an idea, a phenomenon, that is unique to one culture.
Moses, therefore, understood that translating the Torah was not just a pragmatic need that could be left to the future generations. He understood that the translation was essential to the purpose of Torah. The Torah, G-d’s infinite will and wisdom, is relevant not just in Hebrew and not just to the people living in ancient Israel who were dealing with the challenges and environment of their specific times. The Torah is the ultimate truth, it is therefore applicable to all places, to all times, to all cultures, and it therefore can, and must, be translated into all languages.[3]
There is also a deep mystical meaning in translating the Torah into seventy languages. The central idea of the Torah is oneness. The goal of the Torah is to unite all people with the one G-d. The seventy languages, by contrast, are the source of division between people. In the beginning of time, the Torah teaches, all people spoke one language, which led them to experience a deep sense of unity. They tried to preserve the unity by constructing the Tower of Babel. G-d, however, decided to disrupt their unity by confusing their language, thus forcing them to scatter across the earth.[4] The seventy languages, then, represent the division between people, while the Torah seeks to unite the people with each other, and all people with the unity of the creator. The act of translating the Torah, therefore, is an awesome spiritual undertaking. An undertaking so radical it had to be spearheaded by Moses himself. The act of translation is the bridge which brings the unity of G-d into the diversity of existence. It is the thread that transforms diversity into harmony.[5]
As we read about the last precious days of Moses’s life, we take this message to heart. We hear about Moses translating the Torah and we understand that, yes, the message of the Torah is as true in ancient Hebrew as it is in modern English. We remind ourselves that we too must be translators of the Torah carrying on the task of connecting the plurality of existence with the oneness of G-d, and revealing that the incredible diversity of the universe is an expression of the one G-d.
[1] Deuteronomy 1:5.
[2] Rashi Deuteronomy 1:5.
[3] Maayanah Shel Torah.
[4]As stated in Genesis (11:7-9): “Come, let us descend and confuse their language, so that one will not understand the language of his companion." And the Lord scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore, He named it Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth, and from there the Lord scattered them upon the face of the entire earth”.
[5] See Toras Menachem Vol. 32 p. 388.