Kate asks a fascinating question about translating the Bible into the language of an cannibalistic tribe in the Amazon that grammatically classifies non-tribe members as “edible”: Linguist/philosopher Steven Pinker and other researchers inform us that the language of one Amazonian tribe, the Wari, grammatically classifies nouns as either “edible objects” or “inedible objects” — with…
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As I recently explained on my blog for “The Unabridged Bible” (“Why did they Build the Tower of Babel?“), the Tower of Babel was waterproofed, the goal being to protect the people against a future flood from God. The text even says so: “And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar” (Genesis 11:3,…
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Translators and poets, get ready! Now that I’ve submitted my second book manuscript to St. Martin’s Press, I’m looking forward to spending more time here. As part of my return, in the next little while I’m going to announce a project to translate Isaiah 54 collectively. Some of the most moving words ever penned, in…
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Was Haman hanged or impaled in the Book of Esther? And was the instrument of his death a gallows or a stake?
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? Genesis 2:24 [Hebrew]: “Therefore an ish leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife.” Genesis 2;24 [LXX]: “Therefore…
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What do we learn about men, women, and Jesus in the Bible from the Greek word anthropos?
What do the Hebrew words for “male” and “female” in the Bible really teach us about gender roles?
It’s well known that the Greek word for “honor” (timi, often spelled timē) also means “price.” This is why timi is used to translate both the Hebrew kavod (“honor”) and the Hebrew m’chir (“price”). It’s also why timi in Matthew 27:6 is translated as “price,” while in Hebrews 2:7, it’s “honor.” Indeed, lexicons often have…
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Earlier this week I posted a piece on the Huffington Post about different biblical writing styles. In particular, I claim that the exaggerated ages in Genesis served to notify the ancient reader that the stories weren’t meant to be taken literally. In other words, there are at least two different kinds of stories in the…
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Bible translation seems plagued by a few myths that won’t let go. One of them was recently repeated by Dr. Eugene Merrill in the Christian Post when he said that “if you want a more contemporary […] translation, you’re going to have to give up some accuracy.” I don’t think it’s true. Dr. Merrill was…
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