Clayboy on the Difficulty of Consistency in Translation
Clayboy has an excellent post on the difficulty of translating phrases consistently across the OT and the NT. Take a look.
On Contractions
The issue of contractions in English translations has come up again recently, so I thought a look at how contractions work in English might be a good idea. Spoken English Spoken languages tend to obey a general rule that less is more, or, more specifically, the shortest form possible is generally the only grammatical form.…
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What Reading Level is “Magi”?
I’ve only just glanced at the new CEB translation of Matthew (available on-line here), so I’ll have more organized and thorough thoughts soon, but as I was paging through it, I saw this: After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judah during the reign of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem. [2:1]…
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A Simple Yes or No Won’t Do, Will It?
What could be easier than translating “yes” (nai) and “no” (ou)? Actually, “yes” and “no” are sometimes tricky, because they work differently in different languages. In particular, negative questions are a common source of trouble. For example, in response to “do you want ice cream?” the answer “no” indicates no desire for ice cream, and…
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Translating and Improving the Bible
Joel Berkowitz (in Shakespeare on the American Yiddish Stage) writes of the hubris of Yiddish theaters that promoted Yiddish productions of Shakespeare that were “translated and improved.”* Though we mock it now, I often think I see the same thing in Bible translations, in two related ways: 1. “Translators” want to make the general flavor…
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On Translations for Poor Readers
Not long ago, I asked about the merit of tailoring translations to children. When I starting reading about the new CEB translation, and in particular that “[t]he new Bible translation would be pitched at 7th-8th grade reading level (compare 11th-12th grade reading level for the NRSV),” I started thinking about what children’s translations and poor-readers’…
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Translating Terms of Art
The English phrase “term of art” is nicely self-referential, because it is one. A “term of art” is a term — a word or a phrase — that is used technically in a narrow context. It usually has nothing to do with “art,” except in the now antiquated sense in which “law,” “science,” etc. are…
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Making Sense Isn’t Enough
In a widely-quoted post earlier this week on Koinonia, Bill Mounce delineates six “translation procedures”: 1. Concordance. [Translate the Greek consistently into English.] 2. One for one. Prefer a single word translation for one Greek word. 3. Less interpretive. 4. Euphony. 5. Must make some sense. But wait! Theres more! (Sounds like a Greek infomercial.)…
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Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives
Recent posts from my Ancient Wisdom, Modern Lives:
Interest Rates Old and New: How High is Too High? A short history of ancient interest rates, in light of a 10% cap on credit-card interest rates proposed in the US Senate by Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley
Happy Year of the Snake Why is there a year for such a despicable animal as the snake? There might be a very good reason...
The Surprising Connection Between Hanukkah and Christmas Hanukkah and Christmas, which happen to coincide this year, happen to have a surprising shared history. Here it is.
Positivity Is Poisoning the Holidays (but It Doesn't Have To) Here is an antidote the poisonous pressure to be happy, especially during the holidays.
