[B-Greek] my wooden interlinear translations

Albert Pietersma albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Mon Nov 7 10:39:27 EST 2005


Since the Psalms have been mentioned in the present discussion, I'd 
like the note the following. When a text has been COMPOSED in a 
straightforward manner, that  is to say, in accordance with the 
standard code of the language used, one would translate that text into 
another language according to the standard code of the target language.
When, however, one is dealing with a TRANSLATED text   in which the 
code of the target is often overridden by the code of the source 
language, one would scarcely want to ignore that fact when translating 
a such a translated text into a third language.
In my view hermeneutics (exegesis) is based on textual-linguistic 
makeup.
Secondly, a distinction needs to be made between the PRODUCTION of a  
given (translated) text and its RECEPTION. Concretely, if the word 
ANQRWPOS  (man) appears in a Septuagint text simply as a reflect of  
)DM in the source text, no exegeting can be said to be going on at the 
stage of PRODUCTION. At some point in RECEPTION history, however, that 
same text may be re-articulated and read as though it were a 
COMPOSITIONAL text. At  such a stage ANQRWPOS may well be read as a 
messianic epithet.
I realize, the above could lead to a lot of discussion. Due to the fact 
that I am swamped with NETS I do not promise to participate in such a 
discussion.
Al
On Nov 7, 2005, at 9:36 AM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:

> On Nov 7, 2005, at 8:15 AM, Eric Weiss wrote:
>
>
>>> "To translate is not to put the words of one language into another:
>>> it is to express the meaning of the words in another language".
>>>
>>
>> All well and good if there is a single or clear meaning in the
>> original text. One point argued by
>> the gender-neutral dissenters is that the use of male pronouns in,
>> e.g., the Psalms could very
>> well be messianic in meaning. I.e., they point to a MAN, and not
>> just a "person" or "human
>> being," and hence to render ADAM or ISH as "human being(s)" or
>> "person(s)" may be to read
>> out some of the meaning of the original. Also, as Moule points out
>> in his idiom book, there are
>> NT examples of possible double-meanings in some passages - e.g.,
>> Paul speaking of our
>> present light affliction working for us an eternal weight of glory
>> - "weight" and "glory" being 2
>> words in the Greek, but a single word in the Hebrew that may have
>> been a deliberate play on
>> words in the Apostle's mind. And then you have Moises Silva's essay
>> in THE CHALLENGE OF
>> BIBLE TRANSLATION where he describes the agony he went through
>> trying to convey in
>> English something straightforwardly written in his native Spanish.
>> Why the agony? Because he
>> was aware of all the nuances in the Spanish original that were lost
>> with every English phrase
>> he attempted. "The Translator as Traitor?" I believe he entitled
>> his essay.
>>
>> (Note: I am not disagreeing with your "rule" at all; it's in fact
>> what I try to convey to those who
>> let me teach them Greek. I.e., "How would you say this IN ENGLISH?")
>>
>
> Amen -- hermeneutics bears heavily on interpretation and therefore on
> how one conveys what one supposes is meant by the original author --
> that of course is something that we deliberately steer clear of on B-
> Greek.
>
> The title of that article derives from an old Italian proverb:
> TRADUTTORI TRADITORI: "translators are traitors."
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>
> ---
> B-Greek home page: http://metalab.unc.edu/bgreek
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>
>
—
Albert Pietersma
Professor of Septuagint and Hellenistic Greek
Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto
Home: 21 Cross Street,
Weston ON Canada M9N 2B8
Email: albert.pietersma at sympatico.ca
Homepage: http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~pietersm




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