Only a Partial Translation

HIERO is a partial translation of the Hebrew text, not a full translation. As a result, HIERO is not rendered in grammatical or idiomatic English. Instead, it represents Hebrew roots and inflections by means of English roots and inflections.

HIERO stands somewhere between a translation and a transliteration. What a transliteration does on the level of letters or sounds, and what a translation does on the level of clauses or sentences, HIERO does on the level of words or morphemes.

HIERO retains mostly Hebrew syntax, so reading it requires effort, just as reading the Hebrew text would require effort even of a reader who had memorized the Hebrew lexicon and inflections.

To understand HIERO best, begin with passages that you already know well, keeping the familiar passage in mind. For less familiar passages, it may be easiest to read HIERO with a normal translation on hand, or, even better, to listen to someone else read a normal translation aloud while you follow along in HIERO.

Formatting

HIERO is formatted to indicate features of the Hebrew text. The formatting key gives examples of formatting in HIERO.

• Verses are numbered in small type (₁₂₃). Chapters are numbered in bold (123).
• Capitalization does not reflect any feature of the Hebrew text. Words that appear to be proper nouns are capitalized.
• Inflections:
  • Words with identifiable gender are underlined solid (masculine) or dashed (feminine). Where the gender has not been identified, the word is not underlined. There are only two genders: masculine and feminine.
  • Words in the plural are followed by a superscript plus sign (⁺). Words in the dual are followed by a superscript number two (²). Words in the singular are not marked.
  • The two Hebrew verb tenses (or aspects), are translated as the English past and present tense. However, these tenses do not mean the same thing as in English.
• Lexicon:
  • Small caps represent the divine name (Yʜᴡʜ) and its abbreviations (Yʜ).
  • Hebrew words usually have more morphemes than English words, so each Hebrew word is represented by multiple English words joined with a middle dot (·).
  • Gray text marks a part of a translation that is not derived from the Hebrew root but that seems essential to the meaning. The black text indicates what the text says; the gray indicates what it means.
  • Italic text (italic) marks a word that is transliterated from the Hebrew root, generally because the transliteration is familiar in English or because the word is not a Hebrew or West Semitic word.
  • An inverted question mark (¿) precedes words that usually introduce a question. The question may begin with this word, but does not always. Not all questions are marked, as Hebrew does not have a question mark.
  • The logical “not” sign (¬) precedes a word (usually a proper noun) that has not been translated yet.
  • Proper nouns denoting the descendants of an individual or the inhabitants of a place are generally translated by appending the suffix “-ïte” to the name of the individual or place. The diaeresis is included to help the reader distinguish between the translated name and the suffix.
• Particles and suffixes:
  • The degree sign (°) represents the Hebrew direct object particle את.
  • A rightward-pointing arrow (→) precedes words bearing the directional suffix ה.
• There are three kinds of exclamation marks in HIERO:
  • Interjections are preceded by an inverted question mark and followed by a question mark (¡please!).
  • An exclamation mark (!) without an inverted exclamation represents the paragogic suffix ה.
  • A superscript exclamation mark (ꜝ) precedes volative verbs (commands, cohortatives, and jussives).
  • The paragogic suffix may be paired with a volative verb (ꜝarise!).
• Line breaks, section breaks, and punctuation are derived from the Hebrew punctuation and cantillation marks:
  • A section break (§) represents a parashah peh “open portion” break.
  • A paragraph break represents a parashah setumah “closed portion” break.
  • A colon (:) at the end of a line represents a sof passuk punctuation mark.
  • An indentation represents an etnachta, a segol, or an ole we-jored cantillation mark.
  • A double indentation represents a zakef katan cantillation mark.
  • Other cantillation marks are ignored.
  • Lines long enough to wrap at the edge of the screen or column are broken by a dash (–).
• Header material
  • The links at the top of the translation link to the parashah peh “open portion” section breaks (§).
  • Book titles are given as found in most modern Christian Bibles.
  • Book subtitles are given as translated from the traditional Hebrew titles.
• Verses in Aramaic have a small triangle (▵) before their verse numbers.