fredag, juni 16, 2006

Lev 18:19-23 - the best Modern version

Like most modern bibles the Roman 1955 Bible de Jérusalem of the French Dominicans (translated into various languages from 1966 onwards), along with the equally Roman 1970 New American Bible and the 1972 Roman version of the 1947/1952 Calvinist Revised Standard Version, is claimed to be a translation from the 9th century Mazoretic OT and the Alexandrian Sondertradition mid 4th century Codex Sinaïticus NT, but, as always, the renderings depend on the specific tradition of the translators, in this case the Roman Latin Version as changed in late 12th century Paris and "canonized" by the mid 16th century Tridentine Councils.

19 Tu ne t’approcheras pas, pour découvrir sa nudité,
d’une femme que ses règles rendent impure.

20 À la femme de ton compatriote
tu ne donneras pas ton
lit conjugal,
tu en deviendrais impur.

21 Tu ne livreas pas de tes enfants à faire passer Molek,
et tu ne profaneras pas ainsi le nom de ton Dieu.
Je suis Yahvé.

22 Tu ne coucheras pas avec un homme comme on couche avec une femme.
C’est une abomination.

23 Tu ne donneras ta couche à aucune bête eis Spermatismòn;
tu en deviendrais impur.
Une femme ne s’offrira pas à un animal pour s’accoupler à lui.
Ce serait une souillure.

Note that the Bible de Jérusalem “translates” verse 23 from the LXX, not from the Parisian Versio vulgata... but eis Spermatismòn is still being omitted.

In verse 23 I put “femme” in black, due to the uncertainty created by the dual meaning of the word; as in Greek it’s either woman or wife, depending on context. Here – as generally in LXX Greek – it should read wife, not woman.

The couche in verse 23 is of course not the Macaroni verb of verse 22, but a different word for bed - that is strictly speaking not a bed at all, but a couch – but let us be kind and proclaim that the French Dominicans do, after all, manage all 3 Beds.

Not bad, considering.

Inga kommentarer: