No single person or group own neutrality. The most scholarly translator had influencers ( to use a pop word) including ethnicity, location in time and space, family values, church tradition. As do we.
Maybe there is a reason why originals are gone- we would worship them stead of God.
Speaking of old T-shirts salted away . . . my wife had a custom shirt made for me as I made it to the final exam of my Greek class. It read: I’m all parsed out. As the prof distributed the exam, he paused in front of me. Continuing on he addressed the class, I trust you don’t feel as Mr. B does. 😆
Perfection--clearly your wife gets you! Reminds me, I had a Latin professor who had a t-shirt in that same genre as yours: "The endings justify the meanings."
As a double concentrator in Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic in the early 1970s, I empathize. The quarter we studied Homer, we read the ILLIAD and ODYSSEY. One was in Engish and the other was in Greek. Now in retirement I find that I revert back to Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. I find my mind is now trying to work through the nuances of the original. Translations are commentaries. Each with their own subtle or not so subtle nuances.
In my second year of Greek we had to translate 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I made through 1 Thessalonians and chapter 1 of 2 Thessalonians. In the beginning we had to write a literal word for word translation and then a smoother translation. Even in our small Greek class we had disagreements on a correct translation. If you disagreed with someone you had to defend your position on that particular word or phrase of your translation. Not easy at all. Those that do not know Greek can read different translations and realize that there are different readings of a word or phrase but not what the specifics are in the passage. I wanted to know for myself and just trusting a particular commenter.
No single person or group own neutrality. The most scholarly translator had influencers ( to use a pop word) including ethnicity, location in time and space, family values, church tradition. As do we.
Maybe there is a reason why originals are gone- we would worship them stead of God.
Speaking of old T-shirts salted away . . . my wife had a custom shirt made for me as I made it to the final exam of my Greek class. It read: I’m all parsed out. As the prof distributed the exam, he paused in front of me. Continuing on he addressed the class, I trust you don’t feel as Mr. B does. 😆
Perfection--clearly your wife gets you! Reminds me, I had a Latin professor who had a t-shirt in that same genre as yours: "The endings justify the meanings."
My wife and I just had a chuckle together at your comment. Thanks.
Thank you for the kind words! I'm so glad you enjoyed "Dorothy and Jack"!
As a double concentrator in Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic in the early 1970s, I empathize. The quarter we studied Homer, we read the ILLIAD and ODYSSEY. One was in Engish and the other was in Greek. Now in retirement I find that I revert back to Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. I find my mind is now trying to work through the nuances of the original. Translations are commentaries. Each with their own subtle or not so subtle nuances.
In my second year of Greek we had to translate 1 and 2 Thessalonians. I made through 1 Thessalonians and chapter 1 of 2 Thessalonians. In the beginning we had to write a literal word for word translation and then a smoother translation. Even in our small Greek class we had disagreements on a correct translation. If you disagreed with someone you had to defend your position on that particular word or phrase of your translation. Not easy at all. Those that do not know Greek can read different translations and realize that there are different readings of a word or phrase but not what the specifics are in the passage. I wanted to know for myself and just trusting a particular commenter.
This was so interesting, Nadya!
This is a great post! Have you read Maren Niehoff’s “Jewish Exegesis and Homeric Scholarship in Alexandria”?
I have not! Looking it up now--thanks!
It’s on my huuuuuge to read book list so I figured I’d see if you’d read it, lol. But this is really a great comparison you’ve brought up!
Nadya! Your blend of history and insight made me gasp a little. Such a gift. 📜🕊️