Broken Mirrors (10): A Study of Dental Metaphors in the Translations of the Torah
Document Type : pajoohesh
Author
10.22081/jap.2025.78364
Abstract
One of the major difficulties of translation—particularly with ancient texts such as the Hebrew Torah—is the rendering of concepts expressed through literary devices, notably metaphors. Since roughly one third of the Torah is composed in verse, the scope of this issue is extensive. Metaphors associated with “teeth” in the Torah cover a broad and multifaceted semantic field, employed as symbols of power, beauty, justice, savagery, and cruelty. This installment of “Broken Mirrors” focuses on four passages: Amos 4:6, Micah 3:5, Job 13:14, and Job 19:20. It appears that each of the different modes of translation—literal, interpretative, free, and semantic—functions like a broken mirror, reflecting only part of the polysemy of the source text. In other words, the text of origin can be adequately understood by the reader only when these partial reflections are viewed together.
Keywords
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