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Loading... Translation and Survival: The Greek Bible of the Ancient Jewish Diasporaby Tessa Rajak
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. There are some interesting things here, and the subject is obviously both important and neglected. The author is learned. However, she writes with a huge chip on her shoulder. This is distracting and makes it difficult to trust what she says. I looked up one of the references just because I had it handy. No matter how much Prof. Rajak dislikes Tertullian, and with however much good reason, the remarks she makes about him at the bottom of page 284 and the top of 285 are simply not supported by the citation she gives: if anything, rather the reverse. I suppose that it's too much to ask that a scholar who chooses to devote her career to an area would not have an axe to grind, but it is too bad that scholarly conventions discourage a frank avowal. I've also noticed that the axes usually come out toward the end of a book. If I ever wrote a book, I imagine my prejudices and biases would appear rather noticeably, whether I wanted them to or not.
The translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek was the first major translation in Western culture. Its significance was far-reaching. Without a Greek Bible, European history would have been entirely different - no Western Jewish diaspora and no Christianity. Translation and Survival is aliterary and social study of the ancient creators and receivers of the translations, and about their impact. The Greek Bible served Jews who spoke Greek, and made the survival of the first Jewish diaspora possible; indeed, the translators invented the term 'diaspora'. It was a tool for thepreservation of group identity and for the expression of resistance. It invented a new kind of language and many new terms. The Greek Bible translations ended up as the Christian Septuagint, taken over along with the entire heritage of Hellenistic Judaism, during the process of the Church'slong-drawn-out parting from the Synagogue. Here, a brilliant creation is restored to its original context and to its first owners. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)221.95Religions Bible Old Testament Geography, history, chronology, persons of Old Testament lands in Old Testament times HistoryLC ClassificationRatingAverage: No ratings.Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |