Whats in a Name

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Whats in a Name?

• Translation and Names of Deity
• by Phil Noss
• CETRA 2005

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More than a name!

• What does a rose mean?
• What does a name mean?
• What does Gods name mean?
• How does it translate?
• Names and frames

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Names in Literature

• Romeo and Juliet
• Genealogy, history and tradition tragedy
• Character and personality Tintin
• Thunder in Gbaya folktales Gbiii!
• Homers Odysseus and Nobody
• Question How to translate?

4
Names in the Bible

• Creation Story Adam and Eve
• Story of Ruth and Naomi
• Call me Marah (bitter)
• To translate the meaning?

5
Names of God

• Names as key terms
• Generic name ELOHIM
• Personal name YHWH
• Substitution Adonai

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Translators choicesfor generic term

• Translation recorded in Bible
• Bible translation is theological
• Bible translation from the LXX
• Bible translation in
• LOCAL
• MINORITY
• DYING LANGUAGES

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Strategies for translating - choices

• Identify equivalent
• Borrow
• Adopt and qualify or expand
• Compound noun or description
• Combinations of above

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Choices for God

• Elohim
• Theós -- LXX
• Deus -- Vulgate
• God -- English
• SÕ Gbaya local term spirit
• VANEB/YAAMA Samba

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Islam and precedent

• Are Allah and Elohim the same?
• Historical grounds
• Theological grounds
• Ecclesiastical grounds
• Socio-linguistic grounds
• Political grounds
• Contemporary ideologies

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China and Confucianism

• Nestorians aluohe 7th
• Vatican Tianzhu -- 18th Cent
• BFBS Shangdi 1848
• ABS Shen 1850
• CCC Shen/Shangdi 2000
• Today Complementary names?

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Feminine God

• Masing feminine as masculne?
• Yafray Mother of the heavens -- not Mother?
• Looa light, sun, creator, giver of children and
  blessings but not God?
• Ataa Naa Nyonmo the Father Mother God but?

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Choices for Name

• Transliterate
• Translate as LORD
• Translate meaning of YHWH
• Use name from local culture
• Translate both the same
• Use combination

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• Transliterate as
• Jehovah
• Yahweh or Yahvé

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LXX tradition or equivalence

• Kúrios Deus LORD
• to be Eternal One
• Chauta
• Great-One-of-the-Bow

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Gods name and graphics

• Chouraqui
• adonai
• YHWH

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Whats in a name?

• Romeo and Juliet tragedy
• Odysseus escape
• For the translator?
• Expectations, obligations
• FRAMES and NORMS

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Whats in a name for God?

• excellent in all the earth
• the Most Excellent Names
• the most precious names
• there are no equivalents

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Translator and skopos

• Audience expectations
• Patrons demands
• Translators frames
• Requirements of language
• THE TEXT

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What are the translators choices?

• Before a cultural divide?
• In the face of ideology?
• When confronted with politics?
• For a literal reading?
• For a post-modern reading?

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Never a perfect match

• Therefore
• Biblical languages must be willing to be
  affected by the other rather than merely
  affecting the other.
• Sugirtharajah

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YHWH

• As Yahweh
• As Jalali the Glorious One
• As Karima the Gracious One
• As Chauta
• the Great-One-of-the-Bow

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TRANSLATORS DILEMMA

• Choice constrained by variables