The Word: On the Translation of the Bible

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Barton’s approach argues for compromise and equilibrium between ‘literal’ and ‘free’ approaches, and he argues it well. I finished this book with a deeper understanding of and respect for the skills of a good translator: deep knowledge of the original language and a feel for its culture, and a nuanced, sophisticated command of (in this case) English. His core thesis is that the adequacy of a translation depends in large part on its purpose, and therefore that, while there can be incorrect translations, there cannot be one uniquely correct one.

It may be that the Hebrew of scripture had become the learned language of bookish specialists; an extempore rendering into the Aramaic lingua franca of the Persian period Levant was necessary for public comprehension.However learned we may be, we stand on giants’ shoulders, and trust others’ judgements, to catch glimpses, or wangle views, of the Truth.

Studying The Word to understand the Word will not imperil, but enhance, the value that we seek and find within the holy writings. It is a testament to theological practice, translation philosophy and simply a little witty book that isn't too hard on the brain to be truthful. After their number, the translated Torah – and, by extension, the whole Greek Old Testament – is known as the Septuagint. That was why I turned to Robert Alter’s careful translation tending to formal equivalence, and Barton devotes considerable attention to Alter’s achievement. And it is not always the best translation: the vigour of William Tyndale’s description of Joseph (“the Lord was with Joseph and he was a lucky fellow”) makes the Alternative Version seem stodgy and corporate: “Joseph was a goodly person, and well-favoured.I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the published via NetGalley; the opinions are my own. He is the author of numerous books on the Bible, co-editor of The Oxford Bible Commentary and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation. My whole career has been in Oxford, where I studied Theology at Keble College and completed a doctorate in Old Testament studies. The promise of God’s strength in the face of fear is a comforting truth, but Isaiah 41 also warns God’s people against setting up idols in their lives.

This amount includes seller specified domestic postage charges as well as applicable international postage, dispatch, and other fees. He introduces readers to theories of formal-equivalence translation (like the Authorised Version) which track the expressions and structures of the source-languages; and functional-equivalence translation (as in the Good News Bible, GNB), which groups and transmits information in units for target languages.He is the author of numerous books on the Bible, co-editor of The Oxford Bible Commentary and editor of The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Interpretation . It is a task that raises issues of faith and interpretation, as well as the obvious technical requirements, such as an intimate knowledge of the languages in which the Bible was written. It traces the challenges they faced, ranging from minute textual ambiguities to the sweep of style and the stark differences in form and thought between the earliest biblical writings and the latest, and explains the bearing these have on some of the most profound questions of faith: the nature of God, the existence of the soul and possibility of its salvation. He believes the Bible “presents a range of ideas about Jesus and about God that cannot be systematised”. This is what strikes me about Barton- a man of truly great learning and a disposition away from confessional hard-headedness, looking towards a truth and an argument that is variated by interesting debate and scholarship.