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Do you read the Bible in its original
language, Greek? Hebrew?
Probably not. And if not, you are
dependent upon a Bible translation.
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When you choose your study Bible, first off
you have to decide whether you prefer a
literal translation – that is, word for word
– or a "sense" translation – that is,
thought for thought. Then decide
whether you prefer lofty language which may
seem stilted at times, or contemporary which
may border on irreverent.
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
Hebrew Bible (left) plus
so many translations to choose from! |
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One of the most important Bible translators
down through the ages is a man named
Eusebius Hieronymus who is better known as
St. Jerome. He was born around 340 in
what was once called Yugoslavia and studied
Latin rhetoric in his youth. He was an
enthusiastic fan of the Roman orator Cicero
(a contemporary of Julius and Augustus
Caesar). At age 18 he became a
Christian. He had a flair for
languages and was trilingual. He could
speak and write Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
He studied Aramaic and could speak passable
Syriac and even a bit of Arabic.
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
Statue of St. Jerome
outside the Church of St. Catherine,
Bethlehem |
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By the mid fourth century, the common
language spoken throughout the Roman Empire
began to change. Before that time,
Greek was dominant. In addition to their
native tongue, people of every ethnic
background in the empire spoke Greek.
The Romans encouraged this since they saw
themselves as the heirs of Greek culture and
civilization.
But gradually Latin, the language spoken by
the Romans, began to replace Greek.
Once Christianity had firmly established
itself as the official religion of the
Empire, the Bible which shaped Christian
faith and life had to be accessible in Latin
so that it could be clearly understood by
every man, woman and child.
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Thus, in 382 the Pope entrusted Jerome, the
leading Bible scholar of the day to provide
a reliable, readable authorized Latin text
of the Gospels to be used in church liturgy.
This was a major challenge, for the early
translations into Latin were chock-full of
errors, while the language was far too
colloquial.
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Now if you were Jerome, living in the
bustling, hustling gossip-mongering late
fourth century Rome which may have had over
100,000 residents, where would you retreat
for inspiration and the quiet necessary to
excel at this sacred assignment? |
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Well, Jerome chose as his retreat, the
little town of Bethlehem where Jesus was
born. In fact, he worked in a grotto
right next to the grotto venerated as the
site of the nativity. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
Grotto of St. Jerome
adjacent to the Grotto of the Nativity |
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After Jerome rendered the Gospels into
Latin, he was so into the shvung of
translation, he decided to tackle the Hebrew
Bible as well. At that time the
church's authorized text was the Septuagint
which had originated in Alexandria, Egypt
some six centuries earlier. (Legend
has it that 72 scholars were given the task
of translating what you call the Old
Testament and when they finished, each
working separately, all 72 translations were
exactly the same!)
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Jerome's approach was to prepare an entirely
fresh Latin translation from the "original"
truth of the Hebrew text and not rely upon
the Septuagint. This was not a popular
decision, for at that time there were
determined efforts to distance the church
from its Jewish roots. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
There were no cars at the
Church of the Nativity in Jerome's day! |
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Jerome deepened his knowledge of Hebrew with
the help of three rabbis who also discussed
Jewish Talmudic commentary with him and
showed him the holy places. One of his
teachers was Rabbi Bar Hananiya from
Tiberias who used to meet him secretly at
night so his colleagues wouldn't know he was
meeting a Christian! (To put it
mildly, relations between Christians and
Jews were not super-friendly at the time!) |
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In all, Jerome spent 25 years on his
translation. In his introduction he
apologized for his Latin. After
studying Hebrew for 25 years, he was fearful
his Latin had become rusty! |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
Mosaic Floor of the
Nativity Church while Jerome was working on
his translation |
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One of Jerome's opponents was St. Augustine
who suggested that Jerome was driving a
wedge between Christians of the East and
West, since eastern Christians still spoke
Greek and used the Septuagint. He gave
as an example, a tale from a bishop from
Libya who complained that when he used
Jerome's new translation of Jonah in his
church sermon, it was so unfamiliar to his
congregants that they rioted in the streets
afterwards! |
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Jerome himself was wary of a word for word
translation. He chose "thought for
thought." His aim was to give the new
language not only the original meaning, but
also its elevated quality in style and
eloquence. |
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By the way, another noted translator of the
Book of Jonah, this time in English in the
twentieth century, made similar choices.
He thought that an English translation of
the Bible should not sound like a
translation at all. It should sound
like it was written in English to begin
with. |
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You probably know him in a different
context, as a novelist. J.R.R. Tokien,
author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the
Rings was an editor of the Jerusalem Bible
in the 1960s and translated the Book of
Jonah. As far as I know, his English
version of the Jerusalem Bible's Jonah did
not produce riots in the streets. Even
though Tolkien translated the Hebrew dag
gadol as a "great fish" and not a whale as
popularly believed. |
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When I first started to guide, I used the
King James Version, which is based upon
Jerome's translation. The pilgrims I
was guiding who were biblically literate
knew passages from the King James by heart.
When we visited the traditional tomb of King
David on Mount Zion, I would suggest that we
recite Psalm 23, for David is believed to be
its author. So we all recited Psalm 23
in unison. But about ten years ago, a
pastor stunned me when he opened his Bible
to lead the psalm saying, |
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The Lord is my shepherd
Therefore can I lack nothing
He shall feed me in a green pasture
And lead me forth beside the waters of
comfort.
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So I guess I can identify with St. Jerome's
contemporary detractors! |
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When we visit Bethlehem on pilgrimage, after
spending a few contemplative moments in the
grotto where Jesus was born, we swing around
to the St Catherine church to descend to the
adjacent grotto dedicated to St. Jerome.
We'll admire the stained glass rendition of
Jerome being inspired by an angel as he
worked on his translation. And perhaps
we will in turn be inspired to deepen our
own study of the Holy Word. |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
"Eye of the needle"
entrance to the Church of the Nativity |
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Photo:
Gila Yudkin |
Jerome being inspired by
an angel while working -- you have to see it
for yourself! |
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Then we'll go up to the courtyard and note
the statue of St. Jerome with a skull at his
foot. Whose skull is it – what does it
mean? Well, come with me to the little
town of Bethlehem where Jesus was born…. |
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Courtesy of
Wikipedia |
Caravaggio's St Jerome
(1606) -- Note the skull on his desk!!! |
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Copyright 2015 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Postscript February 2022 |
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During my first visit to the Church of the
Nativity after the covid lockdown, I was
astounded to see the mosaic panels on the
upper walls of the church brilliantly
restored. Here are a few photos taken
by Lisa Olson on tour with me in January
2022. The first two photos below
summarize early church councils which made
historic decisions about Christian doctrine. |
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Transfiguration and Entry
to Jerusalem mosaic panels in the Church of
the Nativity |
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Copyright February 2022 Gila Yudkin. Permission
needed for any reuse. |
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Gila Yudkin
calls herself a Connecticut Yankee guiding
in King David's court -- for over 35 years
now. In her early guiding days she
used to read on site from the King James.
But then she discovered the Jerusalem Bible
in which she could speedily find any passage
she wanted to read. It was accurate
and people understood what she was reading.
Alas, she left it behind at Dan in 2008 and
hasn't yet found the next best English
translation, elevated and faithful to the
Hebrew original. There are oh so many
imperfect choices! |
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Would you like to bring your own favorite
Bible and step over Bible verses as you tour
the holy sites with Gila? For ideas
about your special memorable day in
Jerusalem with Gila see
bookgila.
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In the
Capernaum synagogue
apropos the spoken language of Jesus' day,
Gila tells the story about a colorful and
controversial figure in early 20th century
Texas politics named "Pa" Ferguson.
When there was a debate in the Texas
legislature about whether the language of
instruction in Texan schools should be
English or Spanish, he allegedly stood up
and bellowed, "If English was good enough
for our Lord Jesus Christ, then it's good
enough for our Texas schoolchildren!" |
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Getting back to Jerome, one of his most
noted sayings is, "When the stomach is full,
it is easy to talk of fasting." This
ironic comment could have been written by
American humorist Mark Twain who visited the
Holy Land in 1867. Read about
Mark Twain's journey to the
village of Nazareth where Jesus grew up |
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