Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Christian M. M. Brady" <cbrady AT tulane.edu>]

On 3/16/02 1:48 PM, "Lisbeth S. Fried" <lizfried AT umich.edu> wrote:

> With these last remarks you seem to be confusing canon criticism
> and eisegesis. Canon criticism is the very laudable study of how the
> bible has been interpreted by faith communities through the millenia.
> Those who engage in this study do *not* advocate mistranslating the
> text to further the theologies of those faith communities.
> Eisegesis is reading *into* the text, what
> you think should be there as a result of your theologies.
> Exegesis -- what the translator should be engaged in -- is bringing
> out of the text what is actually there. Now, ISTM, that if the translator
> knows that the word is *really* "young woman" and he translates it
> "virgin" on purpose to encourage a particular theological understanding,
> then, it seems to me that he is lying to his readers for the sake of
> that theology. The theology, then, requires lies to bolster it, whereas
> it is the truth that sets free.

Except exegesis is NOT what the translator should be engaged in! That is the
job of the... Exegete! The job of the translator is to, well, translate. Of
course decisions have to be made in providing a translation that some might
view as "exegesis," but ideally a translator is providing a clear
representation the text with as little exegesis/interpretation of meaning as
possible.
 
Cb
cbrady @ tulane.edu
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