racist overtones in Hermas

Maurice A. O'Sullivan mauros at iol.ie
Sun Sep 3 19:32:02 EDT 2000


At 23:14 03/09/00, Bart Ehrman wrote:

>I'm trying
>to figure out if it's possible to translate the passage about the first
>mountain without giving it modern racist overtones (which would have been
>foreign to the world of the text).

I wonder if you are right about that, Bart?

In Osiek, Carolyn, and Helmut Koester. Ed. Shepherd of Hermas: A 
Commentary. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1999.
I read:
" ......here the movement from worst to best is also from black to 
white,  utilizing the traditional stereotype of color preferences "


So what you render as:
 >>There is no repentance for these, but death. This is why they are black, 
because their race also is lawless <<



she renders as:
 >> for them there is no conversion, but there is death, and this is why 
they  are black. Their race is outside the law.<<

  Although "lawless" and " outside the law " can mean the same thing there 
can also be a subtle distinction between the two meanings.

Hope this helps in some way.

Maurice




Regards
Maurice








Maurice A. O'Sullivan  [ Bray, Ireland ]
mauros at iol.ie






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