Pāṇini wrote: ↑20 Oct 2022 00:12
I've recently started studying pre-modern Hebrew, and this seems like a good place to start translating. There are a handful of Greco-Roman and Christian concepts here which are a bit tricky to translate—both
hail as a greeting and
grace and
sin as ideas are somewhat foreign to Jewish thought, but not entirely untranslateable.
I don't doubt that what they later develop to be in Christian thought is more foreign to Jewish thought, but I find it unlikely that the Greek words weren't originally translations of Jewish ideas. Let me find/translate the Classical Syriac version for comparison (I've transcribed the below into Hebrew letters too):

Syriac
ܫܠܵܡ ܠܸܟ݂ܝ ܡܲܪܝܲܡ ܡܲܠܝܲܬ݂ ܛܲܝܒ݁ܘܿܬ݂ܵܐ ܡܵܪܲܢ ܥܲܡܸܟ݂ܝ
ܡܒ݂ܲܪܲܟ݂ܬ݁ܵܐ ܐܲܢܬ݁ܝ ܒ݁ܢܸܫܹܐ ܘܲܡܒ݂ܲܪܲܟ݂ ܗܘܿ ܦܹ݁ܐܪܵܐ ܕ݁ܲܒ݂ܟ݂ܲܪܣܸܟ݂ܝ ܝܼܫܘܿܥ
ܩܲܕ݁ܝܼܫܬ݁ܵܐ ܡܲܪܝܲܡ ܐܸܡܹܗ ܕ݁ܲܐܠܵܗܵܐ
ܨܲܠܵܝ ܥܠܲܝܢ ܚܲܛܵܝܼܐ ܗܵܫܵܐ ܘܲܒ݁ܫܵܥܲܬ݂ ܡܲܘܬ݁ܲܢ ܐܲܡܹܝܢ
שׁלָם לֵכי מַריַם מַליַת טַיבּוּתָא מָרַן עַמֵכי
מבַרַכתָּא אַנתּי בּנֵשֵׁא וַמבַרַכ הוּ פּאִרָא דַּבכַרסֵכי יֵשׁוּע
קַדִּישׁתָּא מַריַם אֵמֵה דַּאלָהָא
צַלָי עלַין חַטָיֵא הָשָׁא וַבּשָׁעַתּ מַותַּן אַמִין
Transcription:
Gloss:
The first two lines are directly from the Peshitta translation of Luke 1, except for the additions of Mary and Jesus' names. If I see how the Greek words are used in the Septuagint and compare them with their Hebrew counterparts...
κεχαριτωμένη
kekharitōménē | grā́tiā plḗna | full of grace - this full Greek word is likely a hapax legomenon, but the plain Greek word χάρις
kháris is indeed the usual translation for חֵן ḥēn {favour, mercy, grace}. The generic "full of" construction, in Greek as πλήρης
plḗrēs + GEN, seems to correspond well to the Hebrew N + מלא mlʾ {to be full, to fill}, eg. as in Ps 33:5 חֶ֥סֶד יְ֝הוָ֗ה מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָֽרֶץ
ḥesed YHWH mālʾāh hāʾāreṣ "the earth is full of the Lord's lovingkindness".
ἁμαρτωλός
hamartōlós | peccā́tor | sinner/sinful - this Greek word and its root verb ἁμαρτάνω
hamartánō and root noun ἁμαρτία
hamartíā appear very frequently in the NT and the LXX as translations for חטא ḥṭʾ {to miss (a goal, the mark), to make a mistake, to do wrong}. ἁμαρτωλός
hamartōlós also sometimes doubles as a translation for רָשָׁע rāšāʿ {evil}.