ESV: "at table"
Today's post at Christendom Blogosis compares the ESV wording "at table" with translation wordings in other English versions.
UPDATE: The ESV blog responds to Christendom Blogosis, saying:
One of the greatest gifts the NET Bible brings to those who use it is exhaustive documentation of the translation decisions that went into NET wordings. It would be nice to have similar documentation for the ESV, at least in a companion volume. Translation decision explanations are a significant aid in Bible study.
UPDATE: The ESV blog responds to Christendom Blogosis, saying:
retaining the RSV’s use of “at table” was a deliberate choice on the translators’ part and not an oversight.The natural followup question would be: Why did the ESV translators choose to retain "at table" which is odd phrasing, at least for fluent speakers of American English?
One of the greatest gifts the NET Bible brings to those who use it is exhaustive documentation of the translation decisions that went into NET wordings. It would be nice to have similar documentation for the ESV, at least in a companion volume. Translation decision explanations are a significant aid in Bible study.
posted by Wayne Leman at 10:33 AM
4 Comments:
That is interesting. I have been reading through the ESV and happpened to run across Matt 26:7. I thought it was an unintentional error on the translators' part and was going to try to notify the ESV people of it. I know that the omission of the definite article is common in some phrases our British friends use, but I never thought this was American English. Am I wrong?
Bill, I think you are right that "at table" is not American English. The story at the following link would seem to confirm that:
When the Missing Article Seems Less Than Genuine
I suspect that the ESV retained RSV "at table" because the RSV translators were likely quite familiar with British and American literature. They may have just kept the Britishism based no that familiarity and not based on the language that most Americans speak or write.
I have run across typographical errors in ESV bibles.
Did you happen to write down the references where those typos occur? I'm sure the ESV team would like to know about them. You can contact them via an email address in the ESV section of this blog. Or you can post the references here and I can forward it to them.
Jewish speakers such as those with Chosen People Ministries always refer to the partaking of the Passover feast at being "at table." It's thoroughly a Jewish term which makes me appreciate the ESV all the more.
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