Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Jerry Shepherd" <jerry.shepherd AT taylor-edu.ca>]

Dr. Jerry E. Shepherd
Associate Professor of Old Testament
Taylor Seminary
11525 - 23 Avenue
Edmonton, AB T6J 4T3
CANADA
Office: (780)431-5250
Home: (780)434-1164
Fax: (780)436-9416
Email: Jerry.Shepherd AT taylor-edu.ca
<mailto:Jerry.Shepherd AT taylor-edu.ca> 
Internet: http://www.taylor-edu.ca <http://www.taylor-edu.ca>  

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Shepherd 
Sent: Friday, January 07, 2005 8:41 AM
To: 'Jim West'
Subject: RE: [b-hebrew] Re: paraphrases, etc

 

Jim,

 

You wrote:

 

"But I think the situation calls for precisely more literal renderings
that 

are harder to understand so that folk are driven to inquire of someone
who 

may know what the text means rather than the usual response which is, as


one of my college prof's called it, a "pooling of ignorance bible study"


where folk sit around a room talking about things they have absolutely
no 

clue about.

 

"Back to literal translations!  Enough of the watered down drivel that
is 

making people more ignorant, not better informed."

 

JS: I certainly agree with you on this one.  Too many of the modern
translations try to make the Bible sound as if it's a 20th- or
21st-century document, almost totally decontextualizing it away from its
ancient setting.  To be sure, there is value in a translation that is
more readable in a liturgical setting, as well as not being
unnecessarily offensive (e.g., gender-neutral).  But for serious Bible
study, laity should be directed to translations that preserve ancient
contexts, and that open up to them what Barth referred to as the
"strange new world within the Bible."  A translation should not make its
readers think that they understand the Bible better than they actually
do.

 

Jerry

 

 

Dr. Jerry E. Shepherd

Associate Professor of Old Testament

Taylor Seminary

11525 - 23 Avenue

Edmonton, AB T6J 4T3

CANADA

Office: (780)431-5250

Home: (780)434-1164

Fax: (780)436-9416

Email: Jerry.Shepherd AT taylor-edu.ca

Internet: http://www.taylor-edu.ca