SKALD Tchernichovsky · 1940 All analyses Translation Atlas Reader’s guide

Modern Hebrew · Verse · Dactylic hexameter (Ashkenazi accentuation, as in his Iliad)

Shaul Tchernichovsky

A surface-form portrait of this Odyssey: corpus scale, recurring wording, line-window variation around Greek forms, and a comparison with other hexameter verse translations.

Atlas edition year: 1940 · Statistics corpus year: 1940 · All 24 books

85,572words
21,611distinct word forms
0.2525vocabulary variety (distinct ÷ total)
19.58average sentence length
Tchernichovsky compared with other hexameter verse translations Copper bars show this translation; pale bars show the peer median for four surface-form metrics. Tchernichovsky Peer median Words 85,572 median 122,464.5 Distinct word forms 21,611 median 11,298 Vocabulary variety 0.2525 median 0.0908 Average sentence length 19.58 median 27.78

Comparison basis: other hexameter verse translations (6 peers). Each metric has its own scale. Cross-language style-group values are descriptive only.

Repeated wording

The translator’s formulas

The ten repeated phrases of three to six words that rank highest when we multiply how often each phrase appears by its length. Overlapping phrases can describe the same recurring line.

  1. “אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב” 118 occurrences · Od. 1.80 and 4.758
  2. “הֵשִׁיב אֲמָרָיו אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב” 43 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 7.240
  3. “אֲמָרָיו אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב” 43 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 7.240
  4. “הֵשִׁיב אֲמָרָיו אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ” 43 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 7.240
  5. “אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב הַמְּזִמּוֹת” 42 occurrences · Od. 4.758 and 5.192
  6. “טֵלֶמָּכוֹס הָעֶלֶם הַנָּבוֹן וַיֹּאמֶר” 36 occurrences · Od. 1.280 and 1.325
  7. “אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב הַדַּעַת” 34 occurrences · Od. 14.360 and 16.186
  8. “הֵשִׁיב אֲמָרָיו אוֹדִיסֵס” 44 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 7.240
  9. “לוֹ טֵלֶמָּכוֹס הָעֶלֶם הַנָּבוֹן וַיֹּאמֶר” 26 occurrences · Od. 1.365 and 2.129
  10. “אֲמָרָיו אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ” 43 occurrences · Od. 7.198 and 7.240

Line-window evidence

One Greek word, many choices

Each card follows one Greek word into three visibly different passages in this translation. The Greek line containing the word appears first, followed by the nearby passage in the translation. The listed nearby words show recurring context, not direct translations of the Greek word.

δῖος

dios recurring nearby word 11%
  • ὣς φάτο, γήθησεν δὲ πολύτλας δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 13.250
    כָּכָה הִבִּיעָה; וַיָּגֶל אוֹדִיסֵס רַב־הַתְּלָאוֹת, הַנָּדִיב.
    Translation passage · Od. 13.250 · nearby words: הִבִּיעָה, הַנָּדִיב, הַתְּלָאוֹת, וַיָּגֶל
  • αὐτὰρ ὁ ἐν μεγάρῳ ὑπελείπετο δῖος Ὀδυσσεύς,
    Greek line · Od. 19.1
    שִׁיר תִּשְׁעָה עָשָׂר: אוֹדִיסֵס מְשׂוֹחֵחַ עִם פֵּנֶלּוֹפָּה. רְחִיצַת הָרַגְלַיִם
    Translation passage · Od. 19.1 · nearby words: הָרַגְלַיִם, מְשׂוֹחֵחַ, עָשָׂר, פֵּנֶלּוֹפָּה
  • ὣς ἄρʼ ἔφη, χαῖρεν δὲ κλεηδόνι δῖος Ὀδυσσεὺς
    Greek line · Od. 20.120
    לַעֲשׂוֹת קֶמַח־שְׂעוֹרִים, לְוַאי יֹאכְלוּ סְעֻדָּה אַחֲרוֹנָה!"
    Translation passage · Od. 20.120 · nearby words: אַחֲרוֹנָה, יֹאכְלוּ, לְוַאי, לַעֲשׂוֹת

φίλος

philos recurring nearby word 7%
  • πάνθʼ ὅσα οἱ φίλος υἱὸς ἀνώγει μυθήσασθαι.
    Greek line · Od. 16.339
    כְּכָל־אֲשֶׁר שָׂם בְּפִיהוּ בְּנָהּ הֶחָבִיב וְצִוָּהוּ.
    Translation passage · Od. 16.339 · nearby words: בְּנָהּ, בְּפִיהוּ, הֶחָבִיב, וְצִוָּהוּ
  • καὶ γὰρ τοῦ φίλος υἱὸς ἅμʼ ἀντιθέῳ Ὀδυσῆι
    Greek line · Od. 2.17
    כָּפוּף מִזֹּקֶן וְרֹב יָמִים וּבַעַל־נִסָּיוֹן בָּעוֹלָם.
    Translation passage · Od. 2.17 · nearby words: בָּעוֹלָם, וְרֹב, וּבַעַל, יָמִים
  • ὦ φίλος, οὔ σε ἔολπα κακὸν καὶ ἄναλκιν ἔσεσθαι,
    Greek line · Od. 3.375
    "אָכֵן, יַקִּירִי, לֹא אִירָא, פֶּן־תִּהְיֶה לְרָפֶה וְרַךְ לֵבָב!
    Translation passage · Od. 3.375 · nearby words: אִירָא, וְרַךְ, יַקִּירִי, לְרָפֶה

τόξον

toxon recurring nearby word 10%
  • δείσαντες μὴ τόξον ἐΰξοον ἐντανύσειεν.
    Greek line · Od. 21.286
    יַעַן כִּי יָרְאוּ, פֶּן־אָמְנָם יִדְרֹךְ הַקֶּשֶׁת הַמְשֻׁפָּה.
    Translation passage · Od. 21.286 · nearby words: אָמְנָם, הַמְשֻׁפָּה, יִדְרֹךְ, יָרְאוּ
  • ἔνθα δὲ τόξον κεῖτο παλίντονον ἠδὲ φαρέτρη
    Greek line · Od. 21.11
    זָהָב וּנְחשֶׁת לָרֹב, כְּלֵי בַרְזֶל מַעֲשֵׂה יְדֵי אָמָּן;
    Translation passage · Od. 21.11 · nearby words: אָמָּן, בַרְזֶל, וּנְחשֶׁת, זָהָב
  • τόξον μνηστήρεσσι θέμεν πολιόν τε σίδηρον,
    Greek line · Od. 24.168
    אַחַר־כֵּן צִוָּה בְּעָקְבָה לְאִשְׁתּוֹ לְהָבִיא לְמוֹשַׁב
    Translation passage · Od. 24.168 · nearby words: אַחַר, בְּעָקְבָה, כֵּן, לְאִשְׁתּוֹ

πεπνυμένος

pepnymenos recurring nearby word 26%
  • τὴν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 1.306
    עָנָה לָהּ טֵלֶמָּכוֹס הָעֶלֶם הַנָּבוֹן וַיֹּאמֶר:
    Translation passage · Od. 1.306 · nearby words: הָעֶלֶם
  • τὸν δʼ αὖ Τηλέμαχος πεπνυμένος ἀντίον ηὔδα·
    Greek line · Od. 16.112
    בְּקַלּוּת־דַּעַת, בְּלִי הֶרֶף, לְלֹא כָל־תּוֹעֶלֶת וּבֶצַע".
    Translation passage · Od. 16.112 · nearby words: בְּלִי, בְּקַלּוּת, דַּעַת, הֶרֶף
  • ψεῦδος δʼ οὐκ ἐρέει· μάλα γὰρ πεπνυμένος ἐστί.
    Greek line · Od. 3.20
    בַּקֵּשׁ וְאַל־יַעְלִים דָּבַר וְיַגִּיד לְךָ דִּבְרֵי אֱמֶת.
    Translation passage · Od. 3.20 · nearby words: אֱמֶת, בַּקֵּשׁ, דִּבְרֵי, דָּבַר

συβώτης

sybōtēs recurring nearby word 15%
  • σῖτον δέ σφιν ἔνειμε Μεσαύλιος, ὅν ῥα συβώτης
    Greek line · Od. 14.449
    לֶחֶם חִלֵּק בֵּינֵיהֶם מֶסַּבְל, וְרוֹעֵה־הַחֲזִירִים
    Translation passage · Od. 14.449 · nearby words: בֵּינֵיהֶם, וְרוֹעֵה, חִלֵּק, לֶחֶם
  • αἶψα δέ μιν διέχευαν· ὁ δʼ ὠμοθετεῖτο συβώτης,
    Greek line · Od. 14.427
    קַל־מְהֵרָה בִּתְּרוּ אֶת־בְּשָׂרוֹ. וְחָתַךְ הָרוֹעֶה
    Translation passage · Od. 14.427 · nearby words: בְּשָׂרוֹ, בִּתְּרוּ, הָרוֹעֶה, וְחָתַךְ
  • τὸν δʼ αὖτε προσέειπε συβώτης, ὄρχαμος ἀνδρῶν·
    Greek line · Od. 16.36
    בְּאֵין כָּל־מַצָּעָיו, נַחֲלָה לְקוּרֵי עַכָּבִישׁ מְתֹעָב?"
    Translation passage · Od. 16.36 · nearby words: בְּאֵין, לְקוּרֵי, מְתֹעָב, מַצָּעָיו

Statistical comparison

Against its siblings

Tchernichovsky brought the complete Odyssey into Hebrew dactylic hexameter, establishing the landmark edition that later publishers kept available in print and online. The corpus contains 85572 words and 21611 distinct word forms. Its score-ranked formula list begins with “אוֹדִיסֵס הָאִישׁ רַב,” recorded 118 times; this first position does not mean it has the highest raw count. For scale within other hexameter verse translations, Voß contains 109003 words. The comparison therefore joins publication history to observable corpus structure, keeping the historical portrait vivid while letting the measurements describe only textual scale, lexical distribution, and repeated phrasing. These measures offer a compact view of the textual evidence available here. The emphasis remains on directly observable features of the supplied corpora. That focus keeps the comparison useful without asking the data to support more than it can.

Keep the edition in context.

Open its full atlas record, or read it beside the Greek and the other bundled translations in Skald.

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