In this paper, the author looks in particular detail at two roots in the Old Testament, ra’ and yr’, and the problems associated with attempting to translate them into English; these words are most often translated as ‘evil’ and ‘fear’ respectively, but they differ significantly in meaning from these English words. It should be emphasized that the types of problems the author describes are by no means unique to these roots: the author has chosen them both because of their high text frequency and because the problems which present themselves when one attempts to translate them into English result in a particularly significant distortion of the meaning and worldview associated with the original Hebrew text. The discussion is based upon an exhaustive analysis of every occurrence of these roots in the Old Testament. The goal is to describe the nature of the translator’s problems with these words and choices made.