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interlinearVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
Neh C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13
OET (OET-LV) And_read in/on/at/with_book in/on/at/with_law the_ʼElohīm making_clear and_giving [the]_sense and_understand in/on/at/with_reading.
וַֽיִּקְרְא֥וּ בַסֵּ֛פֶר בְּתוֹרַ֥ת הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים מְפֹרָ֑שׁ
and,read in/on/at/with,book in/on/at/with,law the=ʼElohīm making_~_clear
This probably indicates that each of the Levites who circulated among the crowd likely had his own written copy of the Law of Moses and used that to teach the people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could say that explicitly. Alternate translation: “Each of these Levites had his own the scroll of the law of God and read aloud from it”
מְפֹרָ֑שׁ
making_~_clear
The exact meaning of this Hebrew term is unknown. This expression could mean that the Levites read loudly and clearly so that the groups they were talking to within the crowd could hear and understand them. It could also mean that they went over one section at a time with the people, after Ezra had read that section to everyone. It might also imply that the people could not understand the language in which the book of the Law was written, so the Levites needed to interpret it into the language that the people could understand. However, none of these possibilities are certain. Alternate translation: “clearly” or “one section at a time”
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
בַסֵּ֛פֶר בְּתוֹרַ֥ת הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים
in/on/at/with,book in/on/at/with,law the=ʼElohīm
These two phrases mean similar things. You do not need to repeat both of them in your translation if that would be confusing for your readers. Alternate translation: “from the Law of Moses”
Note 2 topic: translate-unknown
וְשׂ֣וֹם שֶׂ֔כֶל
and,giving meaning
The exact meaning of this phrase in Hebrew is unknown. Most likely, it means either: (1) that the Levites were interpreting from one language into another, because the people could not understand the language in which the book of the Law was written, or (2) that the Levites were explaining the meaning of the Law to the people because it was difficult to understand. Alternate translateion: “and they explained what it meant”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
שֶׂ֔כֶל
meaning
Interpretation is an abstract noun that refers to the meaning of the Law of Moses. If it would be helpful in your language, you could translate the idea behind it with a phrase that uses a verb such as “mean.” Alternate translation: “what it meant”
וַיָּבִ֖ינוּ בַּמִּקְרָֽא
and,understand in/on/at/with,reading
Here they refers to the people in the crowd. Alternate translation: “That way the people in the crowd could understand what Ezra was reading”
8:7-9 The Levites always had the role of teaching people God’s word (Deut 33:10; Mal 2:5-6). In this case, they probably explained the meaning of the Hebrew Scriptures to smaller groups of people in Aramaic. Most of the people spoke Aramaic, the language of Babylon, rather than Hebrew as their first language. Jewish leaders eventually translated large portions of the Hebrew Bible into Aramaic, allowing people to hear and study the Bible in a language they understood.
OET (OET-LV) And_read in/on/at/with_book in/on/at/with_law the_ʼElohīm making_clear and_giving [the]_sense and_understand in/on/at/with_reading.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.