Compare and Understand: The Use of Translations in the Study of Biblical Literature: Isaiah 1:2-3 as a Test Case

I have fond memories of a lectionary reading circle I was a part of while in grad school at the UW-Madison. Sometimes we met on the thirteenth floor of Van Hise in an office of the Hebrew and Semitic Studies Department. (Van Hise is affectionately known as the Tower of Babel. It houses a dozen departments of language of the College of Letters and Science.) On other occasions we met in the Catacombs, a coffeehouse in the basement of Pres House on State St. “Van Hise” and the “Cat” will evoke worlds of odors and humanity for those who know these haunts. Any great university, of course, has similar haunts.

The circle was a bit charmed because of the number of languages those who came knew, or pretended to know. We would read the lections in the original tongues, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. If time permitted, we might look at the Latin or the Syriac. English translations might also be on hand, or perhaps a German or Italian translation. Everything tucked away in our memories, after a strong cup of coffee, we would access quite randomly. The members of the circle included a classics professor, a professor of comparative Semitics, and grad students and pastors with a love of languages. We learned by comparing the original with translations of it, and translations with other translations. We tried to relate our findings to whatever else we knew about the text and its subject matter.

It is now possible as never before, via online and dead-tree resources, to compare an example of ancient Hebrew literature with translations of it made over the centuries. Compare and understand: a fine method of study for anyone who wants to pore over the biblical text. 

I offer a discussion of Isa 1:2-3 as an example of what can be done. An excursus on Luke 2:7 and a bibliography are included.

Go to: Isa_1:2-3_A_commentary.pdf