In the Shakir translation of the Qur'an, the author writes: ‘It is accurate to maintain that translations of the Holy Qur'an, however faithful to the original Arabic, cannot be regarded as more than an interpretive translation of the word of God into a language in which it was not revealed in the first place. Moreover, the translation is bound to be conditioned by the understanding of the Qur'anic message in its entirety by the translator, who, if he or she happens to be a Muslim, will represent one or the other school of thought within the Islamic community in the translation’ (Qur'an: Preface).

This is to be remembered by religious Jews and Christians alike, as well as our Muslim brothers and sisters. A fondness for a particular translation – say The King James Version for us Christians – may speak to us of poetic familiarity, the ‘language of God’ as we learned it – but it does not speak to the authenticity of the translation. As dear as the word may be to us – all of us who are members of the Abrahamic faith – we must never allow ourselves to replace the God of our being with the God of the word we have learned. When it comes to a potentially explosive topic, such as land, the importance of understanding in a critical exegetical way the meaning of our individual scriptures is crucial.