Wednesday 1 November 2017

A New Old Translation of Genesis 1-11

“Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your bride through a veil.” ― Haim Nachman Bialik
“Traduttori traditori” (translators [are] traitors) but linguists are also lovers and this came to mind as I finally get to read more of Samuel L. Bray and John F. Hobbins, Genesis 1-11: A New Old Translation For Readers, Scholars, and Translators (GlossaHouse, 2017). The book oozes love for the biblical text and love for the English as well as the Hebrew language. It is appropriate that it should become the first book to be warmly commended to the readers of my blog.
This is a new translation of Genesis 1-11 (actually, 1:1-12:9 for reasons explained in the notes) which aims to hold together the virtues of old translations, namely staying close to the form and structure of the original language rather than aiming for smooth, thoroughly colloquial English, giving preference to traditional renderings, and being attentive to the aural quality of the text rather than optimised for silent reading. “It is true that some of the newer translations embody one or another of the old virtues. But the unity is gone.” (p5) This step forward is therefore also a step back. Hence the use of “New Old Translation” in the title.
The actual translation is on pp. 19-38 and makes for a very enjoyable reading of these chapters. The translation is preceded by remarks to the reader which outline and briefly defend the principles behind it and followed by remarks addressed to “the persistent reader” (pp. 41-64) which elaborate on a number of issues, e.g., why the Masoretic Text is the basis for the translation even in places where we are able to conjecture an earlier text and why it is desirable to follow the ancient paragraph divisions. There is a discussion of how to deal with “fronting” in the Hebrew text. Sometimes the subject or object of the clause is placed unusually early in the Hebrew text, e.g., to introduce a new topic or for emphasis. Such “fronting” cannot easily be replicated in English where the subject usually comes first anyway and word order is more fixed. The authors introduce the various ways in which they sought to bring out this feature in translation. The knotty issue of gender is discussed and the question of how to deal with conjunctions. I am familiar with these issues and share the translation philosophy of the authors but enjoyed reading about them anyway. One aspect that had not been sufficiently on my radar is the use of double translation to solve some tricky translation problems. I am grateful to be made to think about this, and about the question what it means to call Genesis the first book of Moses.
In short, there is a great deal here that persistent readers can learn about the task of translation. This is by no means of interest to scholars and translators only but should prove useful to anyone who wants to be a careful reader and the authors have made sure to keep the discussion accessible. The persistent reader will not need much by way of prior knowledge to benefit from this section.
One of the authors, Sam Bray, has published several items in the Washington Post which relate to this:
But that’s only the first part of the book! It is followed by almost 150 pages of annotations (pp. 65-200) which offer notes on nearly every verse, explaining the translation choices made in interaction with both ancient translations (Greek and Latin in particular) and modern ones (Roman Catholic, ecumenical, Protestant, Jewish). You will not get any closer to having the veil lifted to kiss the bride! Needless to say that there are plenty of insights here and studying these notes will both enhance understanding of the biblical text and an appreciation for the challenges of translation and the principles adopted here. “The arguments are consistently put in ordinary language” (p65) and, again, should be accessible to a wide readership.
And there is more to come: a list of dramatis personæ in Genesis (pp. 201-206), a glossary (pp. 207-222), with entries on, e.g., important (ancient and medieval) Bible editions and scholars, a note “Of the Making of Books” (pp. 223-225) which offers suggestions for further readings, a list of abbreviations (pp. 226-234) and one of works cited (pp. 235-267) and no fewer than five indices (subjects, ancient sources, translations, authors, and “stories & genealogies” in Genesis).

I hold in my hands the paperback version. It is well produced. The pages do not stay open on their own, as they might in the hardback version, but the binding gives the impression that it will last a long time. I find the layout of the pages very pleasing on the eye. An impression can be gained from the publisher’s sample and Amazon’s “Look inside” function (e.g., on the UK page).
Take and read!

Disclosure: I have known John Hobbins for a good few years although we have only met once or maybe twice in person. He had sent me a pre-publication manuscript for comments and subsequently a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.