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Poor Bible Translations | ||
Tags: Hebrew | Translation | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Cultural Experiences in Foreign Languages |  | |
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6122 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes  22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 9 of 24 23 December 2010 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
Excellent point. I would ask everyone to please read the following definition, especially the bolded part: Hermeneutics is the study of interpretation theory, and can be either the art of interpretation, or the theory and practice of interpretation. Traditional hermeneutics — which includes Biblical hermeneutics — refers to the study of the interpretation of written texts, especially texts in the areas of literature, religion and law. Contemporary, or modern, hermeneutics encompasses not only issues involving the written text, but everything in the interpretative process. This includes verbal and nonverbal forms of communication as well as prior aspects that affect communication, such as presuppositions, preunderstandings, the meaning and philosophy of language, and semiotics. (1) My comment on the JPS translation involves a presupposition/preunderstanding that possibly influenced the translation. Surely a forum such as ours should permit theoretical hermeneutical discussions related to why an interpreter chose a particular interpretation? I am open to such discussions whether or not they agree with my personal theological beliefs. Here is an example: I personally agree with Martin Luther's translation of Rom 3:28 above that Justification is "Through Faith Alone." However, I agree with those who would argue that this phrase is not in the original Greek and thus that Luther violated sound hermeneutical practice by his interpretation. (1) Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermeneutics Edited by JW on 23 December 2010 at 5:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Faraday Senior Member United States Joined 6118 days ago 129 posts - 256 votes Speaks: German* | Message 10 of 24 23 December 2010 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | |||||
As neither a Christian nor a Jew, I found the OP's contention interesting. I do not know Hebrew, but the Greek seems to support the OP's argument, and though provocative, I find his theory more plausible than incompetence over such an elementary and unsubtle matter as agreement. If you have no affiliation with this organization, why are you offended? I don't understand why this would be, unless you subscribe to a racist Elders of Zion view that all Jews act in conspiratorial consort, or suffer a mild form of persecution complex. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 5130 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 11 of 24 23 December 2010 at 5:18pm | IP Logged | |||||
You could have left your post right there and it would have been lovely. Continuing with the racist elders remark just seems to, I don't know, want to incite further controversy. JMO R. == 7 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6122 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 12 of 24 23 December 2010 at 5:31pm | IP Logged | |||||
Yes, I agree. The comment was excellent but the racist elders part detracts from it enormously... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Faraday Senior Member United States Joined 6118 days ago 129 posts - 256 votes Speaks: German* | Message 13 of 24 23 December 2010 at 5:49pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you both for your sensible comments. I had intended the latter part of my post as a
bit of hyperbole, not to be taken literally. Mea culpa if somewhat tongue-in-cheek isn't how it came across. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Lamonte Newbie United States Joined 5194 days ago 12 posts - 22 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Latin, Ancient Greek, Biblical Hebrew, French, Modern Hebrew, Greek | Message 14 of 24 23 December 2010 at 10:09pm | IP Logged | |||||
The Hebrew word translated "seed" or "offspring" is a collective singular. So grammatically, the pronoun and verb are also singular. Jewish tradition places emphasis on the "collective" aspect of the conflict between the woman's offspring and the serpent's offspring. So the JPS translation of "they" shows this reflection of Jewish tradition and preunderstanding. Christian tradition often places the emphasis on a singular "offspring" such as seen in Galatians 3:16, where Christ is viewed as the singular seed. So the conflict is seen as between two persons - Christ and serpent - rather than between that of two groups. 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| JW Hexaglot Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/egw Joined 6122 days ago 1802 posts - 2011 votes 22 sounds Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Ancient Greek, French, Biblical Hebrew Studies: Luxembourgish, Dutch, Greek, Italian | Message 15 of 24 23 December 2010 at 11:04pm | IP Logged | |||||
Interesting - I actually just looked that up and sure enough, זֶרַע(seed) is a "vegetable collective" in Hebrew along with דֶּשֶׁא(vegetation), עֵשֶׂב(plants) and פְּרִי(fruit). Thus I assume this is the linguistic rationale behind the JPS translation--which I am sure cannot simply be an error--that would seem impossible given that major Bible translations are normally subjected to an editorial review process that would preclude gross errors--especially in the case of such an important passage. However, I submit that this "collective" view of the seed in Gen 3:15 by Jewish tradition does not predate the Christian era. I would adduce the Septuagint translation I sited above as evidence of this thesis. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Gorgoll2 Senior Member Brazil veritassword.blogspo Joined 5146 days ago 159 posts - 192 votes Speaks: Portuguese* | Message 16 of 24 24 April 2011 at 1:01am | IP Logged | |||||
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JW, does the New World Translation have many errors as is spoken?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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