Papers by Bernard Nieuwoudt
Two major religions, Judaism and Christianity, use the ancient Hebrew Bible as Holy Scripture. Th... more Two major religions, Judaism and Christianity, use the ancient Hebrew Bible as Holy Scripture. These books were translated in the last three centuries before the common era. The oldest of these translations is the Septuagint, a Greek translation Not only are the Hebrew and Greek texts that were involved in the original translation process missing, but precious little is known about the doctrine and translation methods of the translators of the Septuagint. Much can be learned about these crucial issues, however, if the translation technique followed by those ancient translators is studied by comparing the present Hebrew and Greek texts. A new method to determine and describe the translation technique of the Septuagint was proposed and tested in this dissertation. This method is based on the use of the Computer Assisted Tools for Septuagint Studies (CATSS) data base and statistical methods. The translation technique of the book Deuteronomy was described using different criteria, all o...
Thesis Chapters by Bernard Nieuwoudt
Doctoral Dissertation at the University of Stellenbosch, 1992
Two major religions, Judaism and Christianity, use the ancient Hebrew Bible as Holy Scripture. Th... more Two major religions, Judaism and Christianity, use the ancient Hebrew Bible as Holy Scripture. These
books were translated in the last three centuries before the common era. The oldest of these
translations is the Septuagint, a Greek translation. Not only are the Hebrew and Greek texts that were
involved in the original translation process missing, but precious little is known about the doctrine and
translation methods of the translators of the Septuagint. Much can be learned about these crucial
issues, however, if the translation technique followed by those ancient translators is studied by
comparing the present Hebrew and Greek texts.
A new method to determine and describe the translation technique of the Septuagint was proposed
and tested in this dissertation. This method is based on the use of the Computer Assisted Tools for
Septuagint Studies (CATSS) data base and statistical methods. The translation technique of the book
Deuteronomy was described using different criteria, all of which measure the frequency of non-literal
renderings. Three different groups of criteria were utilized, viz. the Tov criteria as proposed by E. Tov,
criteria defined using the markers in the CATSS data base called the CATSS criteria, and grammatical
criteria using the person of the verb. Each criterion was applied to the data base individually. The
translation units were determined first, after which the translation technique found within the
translation unit was described. The methodology implemented discriminates between significant and
insignificant trends in translation technique.
It became clear that the results of the different criteria indicate different translation units and different
translation techniques for each of the criteria. Except for some criteria using the person of the verb,
very little indication was found that the traditional translation units are supported by the data used in
this study. In fact, it seems as if translation units should be determined before the translation
technique is described. The translation technique should then be described according to the indicated
units.
Not all the Tov criteria could be utilized, but their results are in agreement to some extent. The CATSS
criteria proved to be more difficult to implement than expected, but some of the criteria rendered
excellent results. The person of the verb was discussed in detail using 12 different criteria. The results
of the criteria utilizing the person of the verb are disappointing, and provide some scope for future
research.
The results rendered by this new approach are firm and easy to interpret. In addition, it is possible to
utilize these results when dealing with specific text-critical problems.
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Papers by Bernard Nieuwoudt
Thesis Chapters by Bernard Nieuwoudt
books were translated in the last three centuries before the common era. The oldest of these
translations is the Septuagint, a Greek translation. Not only are the Hebrew and Greek texts that were
involved in the original translation process missing, but precious little is known about the doctrine and
translation methods of the translators of the Septuagint. Much can be learned about these crucial
issues, however, if the translation technique followed by those ancient translators is studied by
comparing the present Hebrew and Greek texts.
A new method to determine and describe the translation technique of the Septuagint was proposed
and tested in this dissertation. This method is based on the use of the Computer Assisted Tools for
Septuagint Studies (CATSS) data base and statistical methods. The translation technique of the book
Deuteronomy was described using different criteria, all of which measure the frequency of non-literal
renderings. Three different groups of criteria were utilized, viz. the Tov criteria as proposed by E. Tov,
criteria defined using the markers in the CATSS data base called the CATSS criteria, and grammatical
criteria using the person of the verb. Each criterion was applied to the data base individually. The
translation units were determined first, after which the translation technique found within the
translation unit was described. The methodology implemented discriminates between significant and
insignificant trends in translation technique.
It became clear that the results of the different criteria indicate different translation units and different
translation techniques for each of the criteria. Except for some criteria using the person of the verb,
very little indication was found that the traditional translation units are supported by the data used in
this study. In fact, it seems as if translation units should be determined before the translation
technique is described. The translation technique should then be described according to the indicated
units.
Not all the Tov criteria could be utilized, but their results are in agreement to some extent. The CATSS
criteria proved to be more difficult to implement than expected, but some of the criteria rendered
excellent results. The person of the verb was discussed in detail using 12 different criteria. The results
of the criteria utilizing the person of the verb are disappointing, and provide some scope for future
research.
The results rendered by this new approach are firm and easy to interpret. In addition, it is possible to
utilize these results when dealing with specific text-critical problems.
books were translated in the last three centuries before the common era. The oldest of these
translations is the Septuagint, a Greek translation. Not only are the Hebrew and Greek texts that were
involved in the original translation process missing, but precious little is known about the doctrine and
translation methods of the translators of the Septuagint. Much can be learned about these crucial
issues, however, if the translation technique followed by those ancient translators is studied by
comparing the present Hebrew and Greek texts.
A new method to determine and describe the translation technique of the Septuagint was proposed
and tested in this dissertation. This method is based on the use of the Computer Assisted Tools for
Septuagint Studies (CATSS) data base and statistical methods. The translation technique of the book
Deuteronomy was described using different criteria, all of which measure the frequency of non-literal
renderings. Three different groups of criteria were utilized, viz. the Tov criteria as proposed by E. Tov,
criteria defined using the markers in the CATSS data base called the CATSS criteria, and grammatical
criteria using the person of the verb. Each criterion was applied to the data base individually. The
translation units were determined first, after which the translation technique found within the
translation unit was described. The methodology implemented discriminates between significant and
insignificant trends in translation technique.
It became clear that the results of the different criteria indicate different translation units and different
translation techniques for each of the criteria. Except for some criteria using the person of the verb,
very little indication was found that the traditional translation units are supported by the data used in
this study. In fact, it seems as if translation units should be determined before the translation
technique is described. The translation technique should then be described according to the indicated
units.
Not all the Tov criteria could be utilized, but their results are in agreement to some extent. The CATSS
criteria proved to be more difficult to implement than expected, but some of the criteria rendered
excellent results. The person of the verb was discussed in detail using 12 different criteria. The results
of the criteria utilizing the person of the verb are disappointing, and provide some scope for future
research.
The results rendered by this new approach are firm and easy to interpret. In addition, it is possible to
utilize these results when dealing with specific text-critical problems.