Thursday, June 03, 2021

Hmm …

 What We Can and Can’t Learn from a New Translation of the Gospels. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

… it is not only agreement with the obvious orthodoxies that shapes many people’s ongoing preference for some of the earlier translations over modern versions like this new one from Sarah Ruden. For many, the deepest meaning of the Gospels comes from an aesthetic experience that is part of their understanding of holiness, and some of those earlier translations are truly beautiful. As a result, however philologically or linguistically flawed they may be, they remain more compelling as encounters with the grandeur and glory of God.

My impression is that Ruden  wants not just to translate the text but to do it with reference to the etymology of the words, which seems odd. I’ll no more soon, since I just bought her book. And yes, I did study Greek, though to say mine is rusty is a gross understatement. But I also just got  an interlinear of the Gospels.



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