JBC: what difference does it make what the LATIN says?
SHould we not look rather at the original language of the text in question?
The official text of the mass is Latin, not Koine and not Aramaic, just as the official biblical translation to be used by the RCC in the liturgy is the Vulgate or more accurately now the Neo-Vulgate. Yes, I recoginize the Orthodox position on the Septuagint given that most of the O.T. references in the N.T. are from the Septuagint. BTW, I believe that even the "corrected" Latin Vulgate--the neo Vulgate--is based upon the Septuagint with corrections. Nevertheless, I'm not sure whether or not the Neo-Vulgate uses the Masoretic numbering for the psalter. Are there any Latinists out there that can address this?
I mentioned above a corrected Septuagint. I recall reading in my dim, dark past that there have been many corruptions that have entered the Septuagint over the centuries--copy errors if you will--and that much prudence is required to render a faithful translation of the Greek O.T. text in the light of scholarly studies. I wonder if something similar was done vis-a-vis the Neo-Vulgate in light of its corrections to St. Jerome's translations beyond that which had already been accomplished under the authority of Pope Clement VIII?
The recent Vatican document on liturgical translations,
Liturgiam Authenticam, requires vernacular translations of the Mass to be more faithful to the authorized Latin text, including biblical readings. Catholic Bp. Trautman, one of the USCCB's most vocal critics of
Liturgiam Authenticam alleges that modern biblical scholarship has gone beyond the already outdated Neo-Vulgate and that translations closer to the Latin text are not proclaimable. This is bunk!
Liturgiam Authenticam in its discussion on bible translations to be used in the RC mass only requires that whenever there are variant readings of the Hebrew and Koine (and there are plenty I believe!), the reading to be used is the reading standardized in the Neo-Vulgate.
I opine that Orthodox Fr. Jack Sparks and company are taking a similiar translation approach in their efforts to produce the long awaited and welcomed complete Orthodox study bible based on the Septuagint O.T. and Koine N.T.. They are taking the New KJV text, comparing it with the Septuagint, and correcting it where it differs from the Septuagint text. His team is also making corrections to the New KJV N.T. in its translation of the Koine. I look forward to buying one of these bibles when it comes out sometime in CY 2005. Deus volante!
I too prefer translations into English based upon the Septuagint, appropriately corrected by legitimate, non-agenda based scholarship (if this is possible). But I also prefer the common biblical names that are derived from the Masoretic text (e.g., Isaiah vs. Isaias) rather than the Greek text. As far as the Psalter, give me the Holy Transfiguration Monastery's
Psalter of the Seventy any day!
Regarding the original language for the institution narrative in the biblical text per your reply . . . that would be the Greek, right? Doesn't
Hoi Polloi (sp?) translate literally as
For the Many?
