[B-Greek] Genitive in 2 Cor 1:5
Iver Larsen
iver_larsen at sil.org
Fri Jun 4 02:02:18 EDT 2004
> I'm saying that understanding as fully as possible what a Greek text is
> saying and how it is saying it is fundamentally different from, although
> not wholly unrelated to, expressing that content of the Greek text in
> question in intelligible and idiomatic English. I think much of
> what passes
> for grammatical analysis of Greek is exercises in translation strategies
> based on the assumption that once a Greek text has been converted to a
> formulation in a target language, the Greek text in question has been
> adequately understood. That is by no means necessarily true and
> may in fact be altogether untrue. Obviously the Greek reader or hearer
> didn't need to convert that text into a target language in order to
understand
> it. Understanding a Greek text and expressing the content of that Greek
text
> in a different language are different skills and ought not to be confused.
> --
>
> Carl W. Conrad
Just a small comment. It is very true that working on understanding the
intended meaning of an original text (exegesis) is a different animal than
re-expressing the intended meaning in another language. We who teach Bible
translation principles call these the 2 steps of translation. First
exegesis, then translation, and be careful to separate the two in your mind.
But then I would want to make a clear distinction between the literal
translations that are common in Greek class rooms and traditional Bible
translations and an idiomatic translation.
It is possible to make a literal translation - such as rendering AGAPH TOU
QEOU with "love of God" - and then *think* that one has understood the Greek
text. That may or may not be true.
On the other hand, it is difficult to make a good, idiomatic translation of
a text without first having done thorough exegesis of the original text in
its context. An idiomatic translation using clear and natural English will
reveal one's exegesis, whereas a literal translation does not reveal much
about one's exegesis or lack of it.
Iver Larsen
SIL Translation Consultant
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