Translating Help

[TStand]

Hello, I am trying to get an English phrase translated to Biblical Hebrew and I was wondering what resources were out there or if someone here could translate it. The phrase I’m looking to translate is ‘The God of the universe lives within me’. Whatever help you can give is much appreciated, Thanks!

[Jason Hare]

Normally, in Hebrew we talk about God dwelling within his people (in the plural), not within you (in the singular). The former would be easy to translate into Hebrew. The latter is less relevant in the language. In Hebrew, God dweels among his people, not inside of your individual body. I would offer something like the following:

אֱלֹהֵי הָעוֹלָם חַי בְּתוֹכִי
ʾĕlōhê hāʿôlām ḥay bəṯôḵî
“The God of the world lives inside of me.”

אֱלֹהֵי הַיְּקוּם שׁוֹכֵן בִּי
ʾĕlōhê hayyəqûm šôḵēn bî
“The God of the universe dwells in me.”

Is your purpose to turn this into a tattoo?

[TStand]

Thanks Jason for the info, to answer your question yes the purpose is to turn it into a tattoo. In a lot of Hebrew I’ve seen I haven’t seen the dots like in the Hebrew you posted, is that due to the font you use or does it have something to do with the actual nature of the language?

[Jason Hare]

Thanks Jason for the info, to answer your question yes the purpose is to turn it into a tattoo. In a lot of Hebrew I’ve seen I haven’t seen the dots like in the Hebrew you posted, is that due to the font you use or does it have something to do with the actual nature of the language?

The dots are vowels, indicating pronunciation. They aren’t necessary for someone who knows the language.

[kwrandolph]

TStand: I hesitated to answer because the sentence for which you asked is not found in the Bible, in Hebrew.

There is no word in Biblical Hebrew for “universe”.

Jason is right that the usual way of speaking is “among us” rather than “inside of me”.

The closest I think of to what you want to convey is “the LORD of hosts is among us” יהוה צבאות בתוכנו or “Our God is among us” אלהינו בתוכנו which I don’t think is the idea which you want to convey. Especially not as a tattoo.

Karl W. Randolph.