The (Hebrew) Book is Better than the Movie AND the Translation

Parshat Miketz

by Rabbi Avi Billet

One of the fascinating aspects of actual Torah study – study of the Five Books of Moses – comes in the subtlety of language. The usage of specific words, and sometimes even a single letter, all open the door to interpretation which is simply lost through the study of the Torah through a translation.

Here is a wonderful example of this. Were one to read a translation of the verses 41:15-16, one would miss the oddity of an additional word which need not be in the text. As Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan translates it in his “Living Torah”: Pharaoh said to Joseph, 'I had a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I heard that when you hear a dream, you can explain it.' Joseph answered Pharaoh, 'It is not by my own power. But God may provide an answer concerning Pharaoh's fortune.'

Nothing seems amiss or afoul here. And then, Rabbi Kaplan is not famous for a literal translation. His translation is a commentary as well in its attempt to give form and structure to the Torah’s narrative.

And so, when we look at the Hebrew we find something that need not be said. Pharaoh said, “I have heard about you ‘laymor’ (saying) that you will hear a dream and interpret it.” And Yosef answered ‘laymor’ (saying), “Not me. God will give the answer for Pharaoh’s peace (of mind).”

The word ‘laymor’ is used most often in the Torah to describe either that which God told Moshe, or that which Moshe will tell the people based on God’s instruction. Here, however, the word ‘laymor’ is superfluous in both contexts in which it appears. Pharaoh need only say “I have heard that you hear dreams and interpret them” and Yosef’s response should simply be “And Yosef answered, “It’s not me. God will provide the answer…”

The Talmud tells us in Sanhedrin 56b that the word “laymor” actually has another meaning. If one looks back to Bereshit 2:16, one finds the verse that describes how God commanded the original human – and from this verse the Talmud derives the seven Noachide laws. The verse itself translates to “God gave the man a commandment, saying, 'You may definitely eat from every tree of the garden,’” and from the word in the middle – “laymor” (saying), the Talmud implies the command against immorality and promiscuity.

And so, an implication that can be derived here, from the extra word Pharaoh throws at Yosef, and from the exact same word that Yosef throws back at Pharaoh, is that the accusation that sent Yosef to prison is still hovering over his head.

Pharaoh is therefore hinting to this when he says, “I’ve heard about your laymor (business with the wife of Potiphar) AND that you interpret dreams.” And Yosef’s response is, “The laymor (business) is not me! (In other words, it was and remains a false accusation!) AND God will provide the answer…”

If we think about Yosef’s ordeal, we may come to think about any person who is sent to prison for a crime they did not commit – especially when the sentence is so long. And how they profess their innocence to the point that no one believes them, and to the point that it becomes a joke to anyone who will listen. “Yeah yeah, Yosef. Of course you’re innocent. Like everyone else.” And the person may feel very depressed. Never really getting a chance to explain. A chance to set things right. A chance to prove one’s innocence.

But if we recall what Yosef said to the Chief Wine Pourer last week, he said, “When you are freed, mention me to Pharaoh, for I was kidnapped from the land of Ivrim, and here I have done nothing wrong.”

It could very well be that when the wine pourer did tell his boss about Yosef, that he remembered to mention all these things as well. And since Pharaoh had taken Yosef out to interpret dreams, he needed to find out if Yosef’s criminality was a real issue, or if what he had been told in Yosef’s name from his wine pourer had truth to it.

Throwing the subtle hint to Yosef through the word “Laymor” may have been his way of saying to Yosef, “Now that you are here, you have the hearing you’ve always wanted. You’ll get one chance to clear your name. Use it well.”

And Yosef does do well. He catches Pharaoh’s softball, denies all connection to what he was accused of, and moves on the business at hand. It is not so farfetched to see the behind-the-scenes narrative taking this turn, because anyone who reads the chapter in which Yosef is accused could easily note how when Potiphar gets angry (39:19) it was at his wife, and not at Yosef who he trusted with his whole household. He had to throw Yosef in prison because of course his wife is believed over the word of a mere slave/servant. But the jail was in his own house (see 40:3 when the Chief Wine Pourer and Baker were placed in the same prison).

Lesson: Learn Torah in the original Hebrew. It opens the door for so many more questions and for incredible answers, but also opens a pandoras box of interpretation gleaned from the subtle addition of a seemingly unnecessary phrase, word, or even letter.