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The Word: On the Translation of the Bible

Hardback

Main Details

Title The Word: On the Translation of the Bible
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Dr John Barton
Physical Properties
Format:Hardback
Pages:320
Dimensions(mm): Height 240,Width 162
Category/GenreHistory of religion
ISBN/Barcode 9780241448816
ClassificationsDewey:220.509
Audience
General
Tertiary Education (US: College)
Professional & Vocational

Publishing Details

Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Imprint Allen Lane
NZ Release Date 4 February 2023
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

An exhilarating exploration of the medium through which almost everyone has interacted with scripture, by the author of the bestselling A History of the Bible The Bible is held to be both universal and specific, the source of fundamental truths inscribed in words that are exact and sacred. For much of Jewish and almost all of Christian history, however, most believers have understood scripture not in the languages in which it was first written but rather in their own - in translation. This book examines how saints, scholars and interpreters from antiquity to the present have negotiated the difficult task of producing usable versions of the Bible in their own language while remaining faithful to the original. 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. Reading dozens of renderings alongside their Ancient Hebrew and Greek antecedents, John Barton shows how the passage of meaning and ideas across linguistic borders has been far from straightforward, and draws out the place of this at critical junctures in the history of religion, from the separation of Christianity and Judaism to the Reformation and beyond. The product of a lifetime's study of scripture, The Word offers a rare and original perspective on the central book of our culture, as it was written and as we know it.

Author Biography

John Barton was the Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1991 to 2014 and, since 1973, has been a priest in the Church of England. His bestselling A History of the Bible- The Book and Its Faiths was shortlisted for the Wolfson Prize for History, won the Duff Cooper Prize and has been translated into more than ten languages. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2007 and is a Corresponding Fellow of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Reviews

I found a whole new world opening up ... the joy of The Word isn't reaching its final conclusion, but the unexpected journey itself, told so well that it will engage those who have never set foot in churches as readily as the faithful in the pews -- Peter Stanford * The Sunday Times * Immensely scholarly, well written and sprinkled with light touches. Who knew, for example, that there is a Lowland Scots version of the story of Christ's temptation in which the Devil speaks like a posh Englishman? Barton's book demonstrates that the history of biblical interpretation, with its vast implications for centuries of theology and politics, is inseparable from the issue of translation -- Daniel Rey * Literary Review * Fully displays John Barton's great gift for explaining complicated things lucidly and judiciously -- Robert Alter Scholarly intelligence, a readable style, and insights at every turn ... It is decades of expertise in the fine wood-grain of biblical texts and languages, applied to the clump of trees in a landscape that is scripture as we mostly encounter it -- Cally Hammond * Church Times * Ought to be of interest to anyone interested in what we mean by our words. ... a book bejewelled with insight and erudition and compassion -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman * Enjoyable ... A great point that Barton made in his 2019 bestseller A History of the Bible is that the Bible has, for most of its history, been read in trans lation -- Christopher Howse * Telegraph * His writing is sage and measured, scholarly but accessible -- Mark Bostridge * Spectator *