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  • From: "Robert Newman" <rob AT designceramics.co.uk>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Daniel 6:27 (time indefinite) II
  • Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 22:37:38 -0000

Hi Kelton, Harold, Solomon, Rolf and Peter,
Seeing as the focus of this thread seems to be what the expression "time/s
indefinite" communicates to the English reader and whether it correcly
communicates 'olam', I give the perspective of one who grew up using
primarily the NWT. I feel my understanding of the expression was shaped at
least partly by scriptural context. (one does't have to be a trained linguist
to recognize the role of context - it's a universal tool for communication).
I took the expression to roughly equal 'forever' although the possibility is
left open in NWT that in some contexts the time period may have an end. In
the physical world the further something is away the more unclear it becomes,
so I took 'time indefinite' as a natural way of expressing a long,
never-ending or else undefined time period. I never thought 'oh that could
be five minutes'. Actually my English thesaurus gives these alternatives to
the word "indefinately" "ad infinitum, continually, endlessly, for ever, sine
die".
If 'time indifinite' on the other hand is misunderstood as too vauge by an
occasional/onetime reader, it's not by the student who has learnt from
context the biblical meaning. This is a bit of a disadvantage of the more
literal translation, but the advantage is that any possibility (as there
evidently was in the minds of the translator's) that the Hebrew/Aramaic may
refer to a time period that will/could end, is left open to the student and
not decided for him/her.
The English translation "time indefinite" might not be perfect, but for a
translation, designed for study, thatÂ’s as concordant as practically possible
and striving to communicate like the source language does, it works.

Robert Newman
Essex, England.

Harold wrote:
HH: I don't want to get into a long debate over this, but you seem to
be looking at the matter from the following perspective: "If I begin
with the concept of 'eternity,' then 'indefinite time' can be a way
to describe it." That may be so, but when a reader comes to a text,
he does not come to the concept of "eternity." He only comes to the
text. If he reads that such-and-such will last for "an indefinite
time," that does not spark in the mind the concept of "eternity." The
phrase is too vague and could mean five minutes. This is why
translation cannot use a single term for many words, since words have
more than one signification.






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