God Didn't Say That

Translation Challenge on Men, Women, and People: Who is an anthropos?

In light of my last post, I thought it might be helpful to move beyond theory to actual translation. How would you translate the Hebrew ish and the Greek anthropos in the following passages?

1. Genesis 2:24 [Hebrew]: “Therefore an ish leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife.”
2. Genesis 2;24 [LXX]: “Therefore an anthropos will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife.”
3. Deuteronomy 17:5 [Hebrew]: “You shall bring out the ish or the woman who has committed this crime…”
4. Deuteronomy 17:5 [LXX]: “You shall bring out the anthropos or the woman who has committed this crime…”
5. Genesis 4:1 [Hebrew]: “…I have acquired an ish…”
6. Genesis 4:1 [LXX]: “…I have acquired an anthropos…”
7. Numbers 5:31 [Hebrew]: “The ish will be cleansed of sin but that woman will bear her sin.”
8. Numbers 5:31 [LXX]: “The anthropos will be clear of sin but that woman will bear her sin.”
9. Matthew 4:4 [Greek]: “The anthropos does not live by bread alone.”
10. Matthew 12:12 [Greek]: “How much more valuable is an antrhopos than a sheep.”
11. John 16:21 [Greek]: “When a woman is a labor she is in pain … but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the pain because of the joy of having brought an anthropos into the world.”
12. Romans 3:4 [Greek]: “Every anthropos is a liar.”
13. 1 Corinthians 7:1 [Greek]: “It is good for an anthropos not to touch a woman.”

My answers are as follows:

1. Genesis 2:24 [Hebrew]: man
2. Genesis 2;24 [LXX]: man
3. Deuteronomy 17:5 [Hebrew]: man
4. Deuteronomy 17:5 [LXX]: man
5. Genesis 4:1 [Hebrew]: person*
6. Genesis 4:1 [LXX]: person
7. Numbers 5:31 [Hebrew]: man
8. Numbers 5:31 [LXX]: man
9. Matthew 4:4 [Greek]: people**
10. Matthew 12:12 [Greek]: person
11. John 16:21 [Greek]: person
12. Romans 3:4 [Greek]: person
13. 1 Corinthians 7:1 [Greek]: man

Do you agree? Disagree? Why?

(*) Rabbinic tradition actually understands the word ish here to mean “fully grown man,” as though Cain skipped over childhood and was born a malicious adult. In the context of that tradition, I might prefer “man” as a translation.

(**) A quirk of English grammar — at least in my dialect — doesn’t allow the general definite singular with the word “person.” Even though “the wolf is a mighty animal,” e.g., refers to all wolves, “the person” cannot refer to all people. So we’re forced into “people” here.

September 24, 2013 Posted by Joel H. | general linguistics, grammar, translation challenge, translation practice, translation theory | anthropos, Bible, Bible translation, gender, Greek, Greek grammar, Hebrew, Hebrew grammar, ish, translation, translation practice, translation theory | 23 Comments