Translating Nephesh in the Psalms into Chinese

Translating Nephesh in the Psalms into Chinese
Author: Hui Er Yu
Publisher: Langham Publishing
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2018-08-31
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1783684704

This interdisciplinary study tackles the controversy of translating nephesh ( נפֶֶשׁ ) by using an intergenerational translation team to deepen our understanding of this term and providing a more valuable translation in Chinese, especially for use in specialist Children’s Bibles. Traditionally nephesh is often translated in the Bible as ‘soul’, but despite the limitations of this popular rendering, it has led Christians in Chinese contexts to falsely understand views regarding the nature of human beings as a trichotomy. Dr Hui Er Yu’s study offers different options for translating nephesh using the context of where the word appears in Scripture as well as in reference to linguistic and cultural meanings in Chinese contexts. The findings in this book will help to remove anthropological misunderstandings among many Chinese Christians related to nephesh as a result of historic translation decisions. Dr Yu takes a unique approach to translation by using an intergenerational Bible translation team, ranging from seven to fifty-one years of age, which not only demonstrates the importance of intergenerational ministry but also presents a way to fulfill the growing need for well-translated Children’s Bibles in China for thousands of young believers. This book provides important lessons for the many translation projects working towards Children’s Bibles but also for how translation of biblical terms can be better reached through this intergenerational process.

Biblical Translation in Chinese and Greek

Biblical Translation in Chinese and Greek
Author: Toshikazu Foley
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 476
Release: 2009-09-30
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9047441001

This study integrates three independent subjects—translation theory, Mandarin aspect, and Greek aspect—for the purpose of formulating a working theory applicable to translating the Bible. The primary objectives are defined in terms of grammatical translation of Greek aspect into Mandarin aspect at the discourse level. A historical overview of the Chinese Bible is provided as a way of introducing major translation issues related to linguistic, conceptual, and logistical challenges. The proposed theory provides the translator with a powerful tool, which is tested in two sample passages from John 18–19 and 1 Corinthians 15. Provided, also, are critical reviews of over sixty Chinese Bible versions, Nestorian, Manichaean, Catholic documents, and a translation written according to the proposed theory.

Bible in China

Bible in China
Author: JostOliver Zetzsche
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351573969

The Union Version, China's preeminent and most widely used translation of the Bible, had achieved the status of a sacred Chinese classic within the Chinese Church not long after its publication in 1919. Jost Zetzsche's monograph on this remarkable translation traces the historical and linguistic background that led to the decision to translate the Union Version, with detailed analyses of the translation efforts that preceeded it. Special attention is given to the cooperation and confrontation among Protestant denominations as well as the rising prominence of the Chinese translators as these groups attempted to form a cohesive translation of the Bible. This is set against the background of the development of the Chinese language during the 30-year translation process, both in the perception of the translators and in the country at large.

At Home in Many Worlds

At Home in Many Worlds
Author: Raoul David Findeisen
Publisher: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 9783447061353

This volume is dedicated to one of the founding figures of Israeli Chinese studies, Professor Irene Eber of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It assembles more than two dozen essays by colleagues from all over the world that reflect not only the wide range of her scholarly interests, but above all the fields of research which would not have been established without her and where her contributions will remain. Accordingly, the section "Philosophy in China and Intellectual History" discusses the thorny and complex process of 'organizing the heritage', from the earliest constructed traditions in Han times around the beginning of our era, up to the debates on modernization in present-day China. After an excursion in "Chinese Literature", much space is devoted to "Translating the Bible in China", a topic on which her numerous studies have proved seminal and that deals with Chinese perceptions. As its complement, perceptions of China in systematic and historical perspective are at the core of the section devoted to "Jewish Life and Letters in the World". The contributions share their approach of paying particular attention to the translation processes strictly speaking and to the hermeneutical process of understanding across time and space more generally. A comprehensive list of publications by Irene Eber concludes the volume.