Monday, September 15, 2014

It's not really that simple

It is important to remember that for purposes of assessing the translator’s techniques and ideas, it is not what the Hebrew text means but what the translator thinks it means that counts. For that matter, this is true of the text critic too: what the text means cannot be distinguished from what he or she thinks it means. For practical purposes, there is no escape from gauging the translator’s interpretation by one’s own—often uncertain, sometimes shifting—understanding.— The Hebrew Bible: A Critical Edition, Introduction

<idle musing>
I'm frequently reminded that it's the perspective that counts, not what is really (if there is such a thing!) there. We all come with preconceptions that color how we see things. The LXX, Syriac, and Jerome (Vulgate) were no different, so it shouldn't be a surprise when what we see in the text is different from what they saw...
</idle musing>

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