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Daniel 2:4 – 7:28. A new translation from the original aramaic; followed by an analysis and short commentary
Dubravko Turalija
orcid.org/0000-0002-8806-3967
; University of Sarajevo - Catholic Theological Faculty, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
Every translation from the original biblical source is in reality an
interpretation, not only because the translator personally selects synonyms and
distributes the words in the sentences but also because of the personal and specific
way of focusing on key phrases, repetitions, emphases and parallelisms. Depending
on the material, Bible translations can be literal or free, prosaic or poetic.
The Book of Daniel is probably one of the most complicated of the Old
Testament texts because, in addition to the enigmatic eschatological contextualization,
the original is in two languages. The first chapter is written in Hebrew, Chapters
2-7 are in biblical Aramaic and the last chapters, 8-11, like the first, are in Hebrew.
This new Croatian translation of the Aramaic part of the Book of Daniel is
accompanied by concise morphological-syntactical notes and commentary. In the article,
we have dealt exclusively with the Aramaic text, comparing important components with the later Aramaic Targum Jonathan and enriching these with references to the
dictionaries by Koehler & Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old
Testament, I, II, III, IV, Brill 1999. (HAL); M. Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian
Aramaic (Second Edition). Bar Ilan Univ. Press, Ramat Gan (IL), 2002 (JPA); M. Sokoloff,
A Dictionary of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Bar Ilan Univ. Press, Ramat Gan (IL), 2000
(JBA); G. Dalman, Aramäishe Dialektproben. Leipzig 1896. Black – George – Postgate,
A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian. Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2000 (CDA); F.
Rosenthal, Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. 1961 (R); S. Segert, Altaramäische Grammatik.
Leipzig 1990 (S); E. Kutzsch, Grammatik Biblisch-Aramäischen. Leipzig, 1884 (KT) and,
most of all, E. Cook, F.W. Bush, W.A.S. LaSor, Handbook of Biblical Aramaic, 2009 (HBA)
– The Guide to Reading Biblical Aramaic. CUA University, Washington 2009 (RBA).
Our goal has been to render a faithful translation of the Aramaic part of the Book
of Daniel from 2:4 to 7:28 into the Croatian language, following the biblical original and
comparing it with existing translations by Sović (Bibilija KS) and Šarić (Šarićeva Biblija)
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
273453
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2011.
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