I stumbled across an interesting example of the role translating played in developing theology. The words at Matt 9:13 and 12:7 have Jesus quoting Hosea 6:6 as saying, "I want mercy and not sacrifice". A lofty concept indeed, elevating human needs over cultic ritual. However the words at Hosea in Hebrew mean something entirely different than the application being forced upon them by the author of Matthew.
The actual original meaning of the word found in Hosea (hesed) is not mercy but loyalty. Interestingly the WT is aware of this point and has in some passages, including Hosea 6:4 , translated the word as ?loving kindness? with a footnote that explains what they should have rendered was ?loyal love?, love in this case meaning attachment. (eg 1 Sam 20:8 ref) However they mask the meaning by inconsistent translating folowing tradition and possibly to conceal that the famous Matthew application is spurious.
A careful reading of Hosea reveals the recipient of the hesed (loyalty) is Yahweh not fellow humans. Additionally the following phrase, " I want...knowledge of Elohim not burnt offerings" also has been misunderstood. Knowledge (daath) is from the Hebrew verb yada ?to know? and carries sexual intimacy connotations. These two statements then meant to the author that Yahweh was desiring intimacy and loyalty rather than perfunctory ritual. This was a radical concept at the time in Yahwehism but a very different message than that of Matthew 9 and 12. It is true that Hosea was revolutionizing the cult by defining worship of Yahweh by social consciousness but the statement in discussion is specifically about relationship with Yahweh not humans.
At any rate the point of this thread is to demonstrate how translating reflects and effects theology. The translators of the LXX chose a Greek word (eleos, mercy) that really was not a good parallel to the Hebrew (hesed, loyalty) As a result of the popularity of the LXX in later years Christian writers ancient and modern have imitated the LXX and the new theology that was created thru this change in meaning. Even the NT writer of Matthew preferred the theological message in the LXX wording over the Hebrew original. We know he was aware of the Hebrew as he used it in other passages when it served his purpose better than the Greek. As a result today the definition of hesed in lexicons reflects the common translation and modern usage rather than the contextual original meaning.