12-07-2014, 01:36 PM
Syntax
Hebrew and Aramaic can have a much wordier syntax than Greek and English. To illustrate, notice the 6 'from's and 4 'and's in Joshua 11:21 (KJV):
"And at that time came Joshua,
and cut off the Anakims
from the mountains,
from Hebron,
from Debir,
from Anab,
and from all the mountains of Judah,
and from all the mountains of Israel?."
The NIV translators apparently thought that that was a bit too much for modern English, and chopped the 'from's from 6 down to 4 instances, and chopped the 'and's from 4 to 3 instances:
NIV:
"At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites
from the hill country:
from Hebron, Debir and Anab,
from all the hill country of Judah,
and from all the hill country of Israel."
This is from Mark 3:7-8, translated closely following the original Aramaic, with 7 'from's and 8 'and's here:
"And Yeshua with his talmida went to the sea,
and many people joined him
from Galeela
and from Yehuda
and from Urishlim
and from Edom
and from across the Yordanan
and from Tsur
and from Tsidon."
The translator of that passage into Greek left in at least 5 of the 7 'from's, and at least 7 of the 8 'and's:
KJV; see also MOUNCE:
"But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea:
and a great multitude
from Galilee followed him,
and from Judaea,
And from Jerusalem,
and from Idumaea,
and from beyond Jordan;
and they about Tyre
and Sidon?."
Seven and even 5 'from's is unwieldy in both Greek and English. The NIV translators of the Greek translation chose to chop things down to only 1 'from' and 3 'and's:
NIV:
"When they heard about all he [Jesus] was doing, many people came to him
from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea,
and the regions across the Jordan
and around Tyre
and Sidon."
In short, the Greek translator of Mark 3:7-8 left evidence in his translation that he was translating from a Semitic text. The NIV translators of the Greek translation omitted the evidence-- still largely present in the Greek translation-- that the original form of the passage was a Semitic text. I concede that such an excessive use of 'and's [Maloney, 66]"is quite possible in the Greek of a writer whose literary education was minimal." However, the book of Mark's extremely excessive use of 'and' makes it highly likely that there is Semitic influence responsible, whether from Hebrew and/or Aramaic.[Maloney, 66-67]
Moreover, Maloney's investigation of numerous aspects of the Greek translation of Mark "confirmed that there are several types of Semitism in the Gospel of Mark? and that syntactical Semitic interference permeates every page of the gospel."[Maloney, 245]
Maloney, Elliott C. 1981. _Semitic Interference in Marcan Syntax_ (USA: Scholars Press), 311pp. This is part of the Society of Biblical Literature's Dissertation Series, edited by Howard C. Kee, Number 51.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Semitic-interference-Marcan-syntax-Dissertation/dp/0891304053/">http://www.amazon.com/Semitic-interfere ... 891304053/</a><!-- m -->
Hebrew and Aramaic can have a much wordier syntax than Greek and English. To illustrate, notice the 6 'from's and 4 'and's in Joshua 11:21 (KJV):
"And at that time came Joshua,
and cut off the Anakims
from the mountains,
from Hebron,
from Debir,
from Anab,
and from all the mountains of Judah,
and from all the mountains of Israel?."
The NIV translators apparently thought that that was a bit too much for modern English, and chopped the 'from's from 6 down to 4 instances, and chopped the 'and's from 4 to 3 instances:
NIV:
"At that time Joshua went and destroyed the Anakites
from the hill country:
from Hebron, Debir and Anab,
from all the hill country of Judah,
and from all the hill country of Israel."
This is from Mark 3:7-8, translated closely following the original Aramaic, with 7 'from's and 8 'and's here:
"And Yeshua with his talmida went to the sea,
and many people joined him
from Galeela
and from Yehuda
and from Urishlim
and from Edom
and from across the Yordanan
and from Tsur
and from Tsidon."
The translator of that passage into Greek left in at least 5 of the 7 'from's, and at least 7 of the 8 'and's:
KJV; see also MOUNCE:
"But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea:
and a great multitude
from Galilee followed him,
and from Judaea,
And from Jerusalem,
and from Idumaea,
and from beyond Jordan;
and they about Tyre
and Sidon?."
Seven and even 5 'from's is unwieldy in both Greek and English. The NIV translators of the Greek translation chose to chop things down to only 1 'from' and 3 'and's:
NIV:
"When they heard about all he [Jesus] was doing, many people came to him
from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea,
and the regions across the Jordan
and around Tyre
and Sidon."
In short, the Greek translator of Mark 3:7-8 left evidence in his translation that he was translating from a Semitic text. The NIV translators of the Greek translation omitted the evidence-- still largely present in the Greek translation-- that the original form of the passage was a Semitic text. I concede that such an excessive use of 'and's [Maloney, 66]"is quite possible in the Greek of a writer whose literary education was minimal." However, the book of Mark's extremely excessive use of 'and' makes it highly likely that there is Semitic influence responsible, whether from Hebrew and/or Aramaic.[Maloney, 66-67]
Moreover, Maloney's investigation of numerous aspects of the Greek translation of Mark "confirmed that there are several types of Semitism in the Gospel of Mark? and that syntactical Semitic interference permeates every page of the gospel."[Maloney, 245]
Maloney, Elliott C. 1981. _Semitic Interference in Marcan Syntax_ (USA: Scholars Press), 311pp. This is part of the Society of Biblical Literature's Dissertation Series, edited by Howard C. Kee, Number 51.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.com/Semitic-interference-Marcan-syntax-Dissertation/dp/0891304053/">http://www.amazon.com/Semitic-interfere ... 891304053/</a><!-- m -->