From pages 24-25 of Babel by R.F. Kuang, where the Latin teacher scolds the student Robin for not remembering his macrons:

‘Even the length of a single vowel matters, Robin Swift. Consider the Bible. The original Hebrew text never specifies what sort of forbidden fruit the serpent persuades Eve to eat. But in Latin, malum means “bad” and mālum,’ he wrote the words out for Robin, emphasizing the macron with force, ‘means “apple”. It was a short leap from there to blaming the apple for the original sin. But for all we know, the real culprit could be a persimmon.’

This parable for accuracy in documentation reminded me of the death of the historical Buddha, Siddartha Gautama. When the blacksmith Cunda delivered the Buddha’s last meal sūkaramaddava “pig’s delight”, was it actually pork or some kind of truffle that gave the Buddha dysentery? The truth has been lost to transliteration.

The prevalence of lexical ambiguity and world-turning food items in religious texts is shocking, is it not?