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About Franz Delitzsch' Son
#1
Franz Delitzsch translated the Hebrew New Testament into what I understand is a lovely and still very readable (in 2008) kind of 'Mishnaic Hebrew'.

His son Friedrich was an Assyrian scholar, which I didn't know until TONIGHT. KOOL. <!-- s:biggrin: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/biggrin.gif" alt=":biggrin:" title="Big Grin" /><!-- s:biggrin: -->

So, do I have THAT right, is Delitzsch' Hebrew New Testament a kind of Mishnaic (spelling?) Hebrew?

Would someone here know about this?

I've had a copy of Delitzsch's Hebrew New Testament since the late 1980's, and I've decided that THIS YEAR is when I'm going to finallyyyyy learn how to read Hebrew.

It's ABOUT TIME!

Shlama in Yeshua, Albion




Franz Delitzsch (1813, Delitzsch - March 4, 1890) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist.

He held the professorship of theology at Rostock from 1846 to 1850, at Erlangen until 1867, and after that at Leipzig until his death. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, biblical psychology, a history of Jewish poetry, and Christian apologetics.

He defended the Jewish community against anti-Semitic attacks and translated the New Testament into Hebrew, In 1880 he established the Institutum Judaicum[1] in Leipzig for the training of missionary workers among Jews.

Today Delitzsch is best known for his translation of the New Testament into Hebrew. Delitzsch's translation is still considered the standard New Testament edition in Hebrew. It is remarkable in that it was composed before the modern revival of the language but still remains fresh and alive for readers today.

Delitzsch also collaborated with J. F. K. Keil on a commentary series which covers the whole of the Old Testament and is still in print, having first appeared in 1861. Delitzsch contributed the commentaries on Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and Isaiah.

His son, Friedrich Delitzsch (1850???1922), was an Assyrian scholar and author of works on Assyrian language, literature, and history.
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#2
Shlama Albion,

You're right about Franz Delitzch's New Testament in Hebrew. The translation is a beautiful Hebrew edition if you can get over the bumpy Greek road he often travels on. With a copy of the Peshitta in hand one can easily correct Delitzch's work and you would have an accurate Hebrew edition of the NT.

As far as his son, he was actually an "Assyriologist" - not an actual Assyrian either ethnically or religious. As an Assyriologist, he studied the language, history and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia. Unfortunately he was among the German scholars who denied the inspiration of the Scriptures.

Ya'aqub
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#3
Shlama Ya'aqub,

Thanks for answering my post.

So, Franz Delitzsch's son WASN'T a Believer?

Wow, sad. <!-- sSad --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/sad.gif" alt="Sad" title="Sad" /><!-- sSad -->

Do you think when I get a little further along in my Hebrew studies, that you might help me to "fix" Delitzsch's Hebrew New Testament translation so that it follows the Eastern text of the P'shitta New Covenant?

I could actually type in Hebrew on Mac OS X, and then paste it, or tape it, into Delitzsch's N.T. translation so that it looks 'nicer' than writing it in in ink.

Would you mind helping me to do that?

Thanks Ya'aqub.

I always enjoy your posts here at Peshitta.org, and I always usually learn from them too!

Shlama in Yeshua, Albion




yaaqub Wrote:Shlama Albion,

You're right about Franz Delitzch's New Testament in Hebrew. The translation is a beautiful Hebrew edition if you can get over the bumpy Greek road he often travels on. With a copy of the Peshitta in hand one can easily correct Delitzch's work and you would have an accurate Hebrew edition of the NT.

As far as his son, he was actually an "Assyriologist" - not an actual Assyrian either ethnically or religious. As an Assyriologist, he studied the language, history and archaeology of ancient Mesopotamia. Unfortunately he was among the German scholars who denied the inspiration of the Scriptures.

Ya'aqub
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#4
Shlama Albion,

I would be more than happy to help in any way possible.

Ya'aqub
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#5
I wouldn't really call Delitzsch Hebrew translation 'Mishnaic' Hebrew. Mishnaic Hebrew has heavy Aramaic influence, for example, masculine plural endings often have the "een" Aramaic ending rather than "eem" ending of Hebrew, plus a lot of Aramaic loan words. By contrast, Delitzsch translated the NT in about 1800, which was almost exactly the same time at which Eliezer ben Yehudah started to re-establish the Hebrew language to become a living language again. Ben Yedudah had been given a copy of Robinson Crusoe in Hebrew, and this made him realize that Hebrew could be used for any purpose, not just for the Scriptures and prayer. It was in this climate of re-establishing Hebrew than Delitzsch wrote his translation. Just as the Hebrew that ben Yehudah formed is completely understandable by all Israelis today, and in fact became modern Hebrew, Delitzsch's translation still reads very easily today, even 120 years later. He borrowed a lot of words and phrases from the Hebrew Tanakh, so you will appreciate his translation the more familiar you are with the Tanakh and modern Hebrew.

I agree that "fixing" Delitzsch's translation to make it match the Peshitta would be fairly straight-forward. Mostly you would just have to make a better choice of words every so often (a different Hebrew word, which was the same or similar to the Aramaic), and maybe adjust a few tenses now and again.

I know Delizsch's Hebrew translation well, because I made a BibleWorks module of it!

- Ewan MacLeod
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