Capbook wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 4:46 amDo you consider NWT? I've read some about it in the wikipedia. I just don't know about worship.
Download a copy
from JW.org, if you're so inclined.
JehovahsWitness wrote: ↑Sun Jun 09, 2024 3:03 amSo who gets to decide when to write in the word "WORSHIP" and when to write in the word "hommage" or (one of its synonyms)?
The translator. The question, though, is how such a decision impacts the goals for the translation. The NWT, for example, says the following about its goals:
- "Our goal has been to produce a translation that is not only faithful to the original texts but also clear and easy to read."
- "A translator must use good judgment in order to select words in the target language that best represent the ideas of the original-language text."
- "At the same time, extremes in rewording the text must be avoided. A translator who liberally paraphrases the Bible according to how he interprets the overall idea could distort the meaning of the text. How so? The translator may erroneously insert his opinion of what the original text means or may omit important details contained in the original text."
- "At the same time, extremes in rewording the text must be avoided. A translator who liberally paraphrases the Bible according to how he interprets the overall idea could distort the meaning of the text. How so? The translator may erroneously insert his opinion of what the original text means or may omit important details contained in the original text."
- "We offer no paraphrase of the Scriptures. Our endeavor all through has been to give as literal a translation as possible, where the modern English idiom allows and where a literal rendition does not for any clumsiness hide the thought."
The main reason this is important for various uses of
προσκυνέω is that both Matthew 4 and Luke 4 include variations of the temptation pericope in which the Devil offers power if Jesus offers him
προσκυνέω. Jesus' rebuttal includes the admonishment that
προσκυνέω should be reserved for God only. The problem with that is that both Matthew and Luke refer to others, including disciples, performing
προσκυνέω to Jesus. The question is whether these should be translated differently and what translation purpose is served by doing so. Since the choice can have pretty profound theological importance, I think that at least in Matthew and Luke, all variations of
προσκυνέω should be translated in the same way. Using "worship" for God the Father and "homage" for Jesus masks that in a way that violates the last two of the NWT's own translation precepts above. If the goal were a liturgical paraphrase, then the translators would be justified in incorporating their judgement that
προσκυνέω means something different when applied to Jesus than when applied to the Father. Their stated goal, however, is that they "offer no paraphrase." That means that if it's ambiguous in Greek, as it is here, a proper translation should carry the same level of ambiguity in English. In this, the NWT has failed.
As a side note, the word
hommage is French. The corresponding English word is
homage.