The Hexaglot Bible
I experienced a rare treat this evening reading the *Hexaglot Bible in the VST library. I laid Jerome's Psalms, translated from the Hebrew, beside it for a perfect seven. I read through a psalm or two, noting the shifting landscape, as terms for the name of God evolved through the Greek and Hebrew into a more uniform rendering in the 16th century. Of the modern language translations, I found the German used more alliteration and rhythm than the English or French although they all contrasted favourably with modern translations.
The French translation was David Martin's revision (1744) of the Olivétan Bible, which was Calvin's Bible. While it is not identical to the original Olivétan, (1535) or the earlier Lefevre Bible, which my mother used to talk about so much, it has the virtue of being available in electronic form. A history of French Bible translation is found here.
*The hexaglot Bible; comprising the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the original tongues, together with the Septuagint, the Syriac (of the New Testament), the Vulgate, the authorized English, and German, and the most approved French versions; arranged in parallel columns. 1901.
The French translation was David Martin's revision (1744) of the Olivétan Bible, which was Calvin's Bible. While it is not identical to the original Olivétan, (1535) or the earlier Lefevre Bible, which my mother used to talk about so much, it has the virtue of being available in electronic form. A history of French Bible translation is found here.
*The hexaglot Bible; comprising the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments in the original tongues, together with the Septuagint, the Syriac (of the New Testament), the Vulgate, the authorized English, and German, and the most approved French versions; arranged in parallel columns. 1901.
posted by Suzanne McCarthy at 10:48 PM
3 Comments:
Thanks for sharing your "rare treat" with us, Suzanne.
I like your notes on the differences between German and English & French. Reminds me of how D. A. Carson begins his
The Inclusive-Language Debate: A Plea for Realism by remembering how differently he had to preach the same text in English and in French.
Some of your readers here may enjoy the related conversation Iyov has started over at his blog: "Why are Christians satisfied with English-only Bibles?"
Hey Suzanne,
I just wanted to tell you I really appreciated your Junia posts on that other blog. It just gets too nasty there, so I thought I'd tell you here. YOU GO GIRL!
Kurk,
Thanks for mentioning Iyov's post on diglots. It poses a good question and I should have mentioned it. I notice that there is only one diglot in Amazon.
I do use a diglot myself published about a hundred years ago, but naturally one wants a critical text.
I appreciate Carson's If Not Winter, a diglot and The Tao and the Logos, another book with a lot of diglot poetry, German -English and Chinese-English. I do think it should be the way to go.
Yvette,
Thanks, I'm afraid it is a losing proposition sometimes, trying to defend the real place of women in the Bible. There are none so blind ...
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