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Commentary

The Research, or Tools to help you

Read Several Translations
As you begin to think about your dvar Torah, read as many translations or commentaries as you can. (see Resources). These may help identify an issue if you haven't yet, or help you understand what others have said about it.

Note: when translations differ wildly from one another, that is a red flag that indicates that scholars disagree about the biblical text's meaning. Especially if you don't know Hebrew, comparing multiple translations is a handy way to get a better feel for the possible nuances of the Hebrew. Two languages never have a one-to-one correspondence. One Hebrew word may not always be best translated by the same English word. The Hebrew 'zera' can might be best translated as seed, sowing, semen, descendant, line depending on the context.

Some translations lean toward the idiomatic: David said to himself (I Sam. 27:1); others lean towards the literal: And David said in his heart. Speiser's excellent and scholarly translation of Genesis (Anchor Bible) is a good example of the former; Fox's highly recommended translation “The Five Books of Moses” (Schocken) is a good example of the latter.
You can even use this (Christian) Internet site to see multiple translations side by side.
Look how the phrase: ezer k'negdo (Gen 2:18) is translated:

    NIV The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
    RSV Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
    KJV (and OLD JPS 1917) And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
    DBY And Jehovah Elohim said, It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like.
    YLT And Jehovah God saith, 'Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper – as his counterpart.'
    KAPLAN God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a compatible helper for him.'
    FOX Now YHVH God said, 'It is not good for the human to be alone, I
    will make him a helper – corresponding to him.'
    ANCHOR God Yahweh said, `It is not right for that man should be alone, I will make him an aid fit for him.'
    NEW JPS The LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.”

Another strategy to understanding the biblical text is to find other places in the Bible that mention the same word/issue. What information do they add? A biblical concordance can help you find every occurence of a particular word; now Bibles can be searched on CD or over the Internet.
Eg. the word 'melachah' translated as 'work' only appears in three contexts: in the creation of the world, the work not allowed on Shabbat and the building of the Mishkan, or Tabernacle. What does that say about the relationship between those three?

Commentaries
In addition to translations and the notes that most modern translations include, (Plaut's Torah Commentary and the new Conservative Etz Hayyim have excellent essays and explanatory notes) traditional and contemporary commentators are extremely valuable.

Luckily, many of the classical medieval commentators, (Rashi, Ramban, Ibn Ezra and Sforno) are available in English. Probably the most helpful and important volume available in English that analyzes these commentators is Nechamah Leibowitz's 6 volume New Studies in the Pentateuch. However, do not limit yourself to her examples. Harvey Field has also edited a wonderful 3 volume anthology called 'A Torah Commentary for our Times). Collections of midrashim and the Talmud exist in English (and on CD ROM) which are searchable and can add interesting spice to your dvar Torah.

Note that a commentary may contradict the plain meaning of the text, or what everyone assumes the plain meaning to be. This can often help get the 'ball rolling.'

Ask yourself (as Rafi Zarum suggests):

  • What is the question the commentator is trying to answer? (It is most often not explicitly stated; you have to play a sort of 'Jeopardy'; the commentary is the answer, what is the question?
  • What is the commentator's logic and on what evidence (textual, historical) is the argument based?
  • Is there a problem with the commentator's point of view? Here, different commentaries/midrashim can be helpful as they often present opposite/different conclusions and refute the earlier opinions. Ramban often starts his commentary (after quoting Rashi) with “and Rashi is wrong because...”
  • What lesson is the commentator trying to teach? Does this help your question from Part One?

Now that you've collected enough opinions, ideas and solutions to your problem, it is time to put it together.
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