The land where heaven came down to earth
O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cleave
to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy!”
(Psalm 137: 5-6 RSV)
I first visited the Holy Land in 1999 for a UBS training seminar for Old Testament translators. Our program included lectures, trips to museums, and the chance to see places like Avdat, Tel Arad, Tel Lachish, Tel Megiddo and Qumran. I always remember the visit with gratitude: it gave me not just knowledge but a great love for this land – and it taught me to pay close attention to the Bible text. I remember one particular occasion when our bus crossed a bridge over a narrow stream. “This is the Jordan,” our lecturer announced.
Jordan
“What? How can this be the Jordan?!” we cried. The disappointment in our voices was audible. We had expected the Jordan to be a mighty river! But our lecturer taught us something very important. “The greatness of a river is not measured only by its length and breadth,” he said. “Remember the spiritual importance of the Jordan and everything that took place on this river! “And by the way,” he added, “there hasn’t been a drop of rain here all summer but the Jordan is still flourishing!”
Majestic
We all felt chastened. A few days later, up in the north, the Jordan was indeed flowing wide and majestic… but that was no longer the point: the Jordan is majestic everywhere. On another occasion we paused at the top of a mountain. “Look down,” said our lecturer, “and you can see the valley where David fought Goliath.” Under a huge sky, the valley stretched out before us as though in the palm of our hands. “Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in his shepherd’s bag or wallet; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17: 40 RSV)
Chuvash writer and Bible translator
Eva Lisina seen in 1995 [photo: UBS/
Maurice Harvey WR413/9 RUS95C10_16A]
We also visited Mount Carmel, where the prophet Elijah challenged the priests of Baal. It was as if you could still smell the smoke. Maybe we could take one of the stones away as a souvenir? Our suitcases seemed to be getting heavier each day… In the Bible you sometimes find completely unexpected comparisons. Take the Song of Songs, for example: “Your hair is like a flock of goats moving down the slopes of Gilead” (Song of Songs 4:1 and 6:5 RSV). It is hard to say how a Chuvash reader would understand this, but if the translators were lucky enough to see a flock of goats coming in black waves down the mountains of Bashan, they would surely find a way to preserve the beauty of the simile. After the seminar, I spent two weeks in a monastery in Hebron. It happened that I was translating Genesis 18, where it says, “And the Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamre” (Genesis 18:1 RSV). I could see these very oak trees from my monastery cell.
Abraham and Sarah
And when I was translating Genesis 23, which describes how Abraham buys land to bury his wife Sarah, I was struck by Abraham’s words “my dead”; not “my dead wife”, but “my dead”. How tender those words are! I couldn’t find any way to translate such profound tenderness. But Machpela, where Abraham and Sarah are buried, was close by – just twenty minutes’ walk away. I was able to go there and I found the word I needed. It turned out to be so simple! I was also lucky enough to visit places connected with the life of Jesus. At the end of the trip I wondered, “How do people live in this land?” In order to live somewhere you need to get used to it. But how could anyone ever get used to the land made holy by the Lord’s footsteps? Only, I concluded, by constantly remembering, thanking and praising him. The second article by Eva Lisina will appear next month.
(WR 413/9 - 07.07)[1 photo]