Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>]

On 18/01/2005 21:19, George F Somsel wrote:

> ...
>
> That's OK.  I consider your evaluation 
>
>  
>
> > > It doesn't feel like an awkward translation with many hebreisms as I
> > >      
> would expect from a scholar to scholar translation, rather it feels more
> like a modern paraphrase (to use a term in a way Peter Kirk objects
> (sorry, Peter ;-(  )) targetted at an audience who doesn't know Hebrew.<<
>
> to be, on the whole, positive though I am not too thrilled to hear it
> called a paraphrase since I attempt to be fairly faithful to the text
> without using cliched phrases. ...

It seems that it is not just me who takes this use of "paraphrase" to be 
somewhat pejorative, although I am surprised at the link between 
"paraphrase" and "cliched phrases", which perhaps owes something to bad 
experiences with the Living Bible. Then I'm not sure if Karl's intention 
was in fact pejorative. But perhaps we can all agree that George's 
translation was at least in part a dynamic equivalence translation. 
Well, Karl seems to consider that appropriate if the translation is 
"targetted at an audience who doesn't know Hebrew", and I agree. But 
what would be the point of targetting a translation at people who do 
know the original language? This is basis of my general preference for 
dynamic equivalent translations - although I accept that more literal 
translations are sometimes appropriate for transitional audiences, who 
know some Hebrew but are not quite ready for an interlinear or the 
"Reader's Hebrew Old Testament".

--
Peter Kirk
peter AT qaya.org (personal)
peterkirk AT qaya.org (work)
http://www.qaya.org/



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