In Pursuit of the Perfect Bible: Attitudes to Bible Translation in Hellenistic Judaism
This article investigates attitudes to Bible translation as mirrored in the Letter of Aristeas, Philo’s treatise On the Life of Moses, and the prologue to the book of Ben Sira. In each of these documents, its respective author reflects on the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The auth...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2016
|
| In: |
The Bible translator
Year: 2016, Volume: 67, Issue: 3, Pages: 365-379 |
| Further subjects: | B
King James Only movement
B canon formula B Inspiration B Philo of Alexandria B Letter of Aristeas B On the Life of Moses B Hellenistic Judaism B prologue to Ben Sira B Septuagint B Auditing |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Rights Information: | InC 1.0 |
| Summary: | This article investigates attitudes to Bible translation as mirrored in the Letter of Aristeas, Philo’s treatise On the Life of Moses, and the prologue to the book of Ben Sira. In each of these documents, its respective author reflects on the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The author of the Letter of Aristeas was concerned about a possible revision of a translation that was highly esteemed and tried to preserve it by alluding to the “canon formula” (Deut 4.2). Philo considered the Greek Torah as divinely inspired, presuming a strictly literal translation which was the perfect image of its source text. The article mentions today’s followers of these two writers whose views can be criticized from the point of view of modern translation theory. The translator of the book of Ben Sira, on the other hand, showed a balanced opinion which can serve as a model for today’s Bible translators. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2051-6789 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The Bible translator
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/2051677016671991 DOI: 10.15496/publikation-93841 HDL: 10900/152502 |