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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] Re: Job 34.10-29 (was: Syntax of Jeremiah 15:12)

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  • From: Peter Kirk <peterkirk AT qaya.org>
  • To: George F Somsel <gfsomsel AT juno.com>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] Re: Job 34.10-29 (was: Syntax of Jeremiah 15:12)
  • Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 23:00:35 +0000

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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