Language Studies

Aramaic Thoughts

Selections from Proverbs 27 - Part 1

Over the next few weeks we will be looking at selected verses from Proverbs 27 in our evaluation of the Peshitta translation. Our purpose here is in part to investigate this Syriac version of the Bible, but it is also to prompt further thought on the whole process of translating the Bible. As I have noted before, the translation of Hebrew poetry is difficult in part because of the terseness of the language, and in part because of its heavy reliance on images and metaphors, some of which may not exactly be plain to the modern reader. But at least in poems there is some context provided by which the significance of the image may be teased out of the text. In the Book of Proverbs, however, the task becomes even more difficult. This is due to the fact that, especially in chs. 10-31, the book consists of a sequential listing of proverbs that may be only loosely connected by theme or subject matter to those that precede or follow. In other words, proverbs have little to nothing in the way of context. Thus each proverb is a text to itself and may become a source of real difficulty for the translator. Fortunately most of the proverbs are sufficiently clear in themselves that they are not too large a difficulty, but they can nonetheless illustrate the occasional frustration for the translator.

Proverbs 27:1 in Hebrew reads, "Do not boast yourself in the day of tomorrow, for you do not know what a day will bring forth." The Septuagint reads, "Do not boast of tomorrow, for you do not know what the next day will bring forth." The Peshitta reads, "Do not boast yourself for the day of tomorrow, for you do not know what it brings forth." There are minor differences among these versions, primarily reflecting the differing vocabulary, grammar, and syntax of the languages. The meaning of the verse is clear enough, however, and all three versions are saying the same thing.

Proverbs 27:2 reads in the Hebrew, "Let a stranger praise you, and not your own mouth; a foreigner and not your own lips." The Septuagint reads, "Let the neighbor praise you, and not your own mouth; another, and not your own lips." The Peshitta reads, "Let the stranger praise you, and not your own mouth; another, and not your own lips." Again, there are subtle differences among these versions. The Hebrew uses two different words for stranger (zar and nakri). The Septuagint uses pelas and allotrios. The first of these signifies someone near, hence a neighbor, while the second is a more neutral word meaning simply another person. The Peshitta uses nukraya (stanger, which is obviously cognate to the Hebrew nakri) in the first instance. It uses achrina in the second place, again a neutral word very much like the Septuagint’s allotrios. The point in all three versions is that one should not praise oneself, but let others do that. However, in the Hebrew, there is some emphasis on the idea that those praising one should not even be those close, but strangers or foreigners. In the Septuagint and Peshitta that sense has been modified somewhat to the simple idea of the source of praise being someone else.

This verse also illustrates a particular aspect of Hebrew poetry, known as parallelism. In parallelism, the first line makes a statement, and the second line repeats it using different words. This can be done, as it is here, by the second line being essentially synonymous with the first. It can also be done by the second line being antithetical to the first, as in Proverbs 10:1, "A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is a grief to his mother."

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