ROřNiK 5S5ľiíK ^n?F^KEJ FAKULTY UNIVERZITY KOMENSKÉHO ROCMR XXXIII - XXXIV GRAECOLATINA ET ORIENTALIA BRATISLAVA 2012
Figurative usages of the verb ^npaivco and adjective §np6<; in the New Testament health conditions
Jozefa artimova, Brno
Researching translation techniques employed to gap the language-and-culture barrier imposed by culture-specific concepts/items1 one cannot escape lexemes which we can categorize as physiological processes and states - namely sickness, disease, and weakness. The basic source for collecting the study material was the Louw & Nida lexicon2 based on semantic domains. Their list of 42 terms includes:
(1) General expressions which do not refer to any particular disease: appoxr-to<;, kccuvio, uaXaKia, voaog, KaK&q/iaxaTwc, ex^ etc.
(2) Specific expressions perceived as of not strictly technical nature: Sua-evTepiov, TrupEaow/jTupeToc;; or names of disabilities: otXctXog, kuxJ>6<;, Tu<t>X6<;, ku>A6;, x^X6c etc.3
1 Term "culture specific item" refers lo a definition by Javier Franco Aixela: Culture specific items in translation. In: Translation, Power, Subversion. R. Alvarez - M. C.-A. Vidal (Eds.). Clevendon - Philadelphia - Adelaide: Multilingual Matters Ltd. 1996, p. 58: "Culture specific items are textual!)' actualized items whose function and connotations in a source text involve a translation problem in their transference to a target text, whenever this problem is a product of the non-existence of the referred item or of its different intertextual status in the cultural system of the readers of the target text."
2 Johannes Petrus Louw - Eugene Albert Nida: Creek-English lexicon of the New Testament based on semantic domains. 3rd ed. rev. New York: United Bible Societies 1989,2 Vols.
3 In this respect Wynn's suggestions on translating disabilities are of some value; cf. Kerry H. Wynn: Disability in Bible Translation. The Bible Translator 52/2001, Nr. 4, pp. 402-414.
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(3) Terms often perceived as technical: cciuoppoEW/ Trnvn/puaig ccTucctoc., &-K6ouai/eXKo& TrapaXoojiai/jiapoAunKoc oeXTjviA^opai, OKtoAnKoppuroc;, u6pw-
ttikoc,.
Judging the obtained corpus of lexical items from a translation point of view, initially only expressions termed here as technical were thought to pose a translation problem, as they require additional interpretative effort from both the translator and the target language receptor. Nevertheless, when compiling accessible study material, a group of lexical units that would not typically be perceived as a technical medical vocabulary, yet still signify physiological processes and states, was also considered to be worthy of closer inspection, among them various usages of verb £n,paivco and adjective £n.P°Q-
In the translation practice it is widely believed that in these cases not much space is left for the translator. Basically he is either advised to reproduce the concepts of the ancient world and risk that for many modern readers they would seem odd, old fashioned, that they attract unnecessary attention, or even convey false impression - in other words the translator is urged to use fo-reignizing strategies; or, he can use domesticating strategies and replace such concepts with our modern categories of thought. Then he would risk, that the meaning of the concept is narrowed down possible connotations are lost and in the worst cases the original meaning is disrupted. In practice, the two basic approaches are however not so strictly separated and there are definitely several levels of literalness or free rendering of the source text.
These will be illustrated on four examples of usages of verb Zflpaivw and adjective £r\pdQ as found in the corpus of New Testament texts. Before going further, particular usages of these lexical items shall be discussed; the dictionary entries and especially different contexts in which this verb and its adjective are used in the figurative meaning will be revisited and a few convenient collocations quoted.
XerainO and xeros in dictionary entries
The entries in all lexicons4 commonly used in the field suggest that verb £n.potivw and adjective £n,P°S are used literally as well as figuratively in abun-
4 We work with all lexicons included in Bibleworks® 8.0: Louw - NtDA, op. cit. (note 2); BDAG = Frederick William Danker - Walter Bauer: A Creek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press 2000;
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dance, and different meanings are testified on material from the New and Old Testament Greek (Septuagint), but also from extra-biblical sources. What literally dries or becomes dry are above all:
(1) Bodies of water and earth - (Red) sea ([£pu6pa] Qalctooa), brook (xei-uctppoocj, river (Trorauog), trench (6t«pu§), stream (pcoc,); or earth (yn £npd, to £npov); places and regions (tottocJ;
(2) Vegetation and parts of plants - vegetation (poravrj), fig tree (outer]), grass/ha)' (xopTO^aypioonc;), grapevine (auTreXog), corn (oitoc); wood/tree (£u-Xov), branch (KXaSog), root (piCa), leaf (4>uaXov);
(3) Food and its volumes - bread (rpo4>n/apiog), cereals (Kapnoc), cheese (Ya>ka/Tup6c); measure of content (uerpov).
Majority of all other documented usages are figurative extensions of the meaning and we were interested in those contexts where ^npaivw and £n.P°^ are connected to different parts of body which become somehow dry or deprived of their natural capabilities.
(1) Incapacity to produce what is expected- paoroi ^npot5 - breasts that arc dried up are unable to produce milk and nurse; ouuotTCt £npa6 - dried eyes are unable to produce tears; vn,6uc/icoiXia ^pa1 - unfertile or miscarrying womb is unable to give birth to a an offspring;
(2) Incapacity to control the movement of hands - partial or complete, but only temporary incapability: "... mi ekioXucev [6 OeocJ cm* euou Spaoiv xeipwv.
FRIBERG = Timothy Friuerc - Barbara Friberg - Neva F. miller: Analytical Lexicon of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker 2000; THAYER = Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament (originally Grimm's Wilke's Clavis Novi Testament!). J. H. Thayer (Transl., rev. and en!.). Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark 1908; LSJ = Henry George Liddell -Robert Scott: A Greek-English lexicon. Revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart jones. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1968; PREUSCHEN ■ Erwin Preuschen: Griechischdeutsches Taschenwörterbuch zum Neuen Testament. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 2005; M & M = James Hope Moulton - George MilligaN: The vocabulary of the Greek Testament illustrated from the papyri and other non-literary sources. London: Hodder-Stoughlon 1930; TDNT = Gerhard k.ittel - Gerhard Friedrich: Theological dictionary of the New Testament. G. W, Bromilev (Transl. et ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans 1964-1974,10 Vols. Hosea 9:14 (Greek text according to Bibleworks® 8.0). Aeschylus, Septem contra Thebas 696.
Hippocrates, Aphorisms 2, 20. W. H. S, Jones (Transl.). London: Harvard University Press 1953, Vol. IV, p. 112.
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on r, xnp MO« n Sdita r,ui£r,poc fiv em nuEpac. ima similarly in LXX: "kcxi i5ou ££npav6n n X*P auroD [...] icon owe n6uvn6n fonorpeipai aMv npoc eauTov [...] teori £5£n6n 6 av6pu)7roc tou Beou tou Trpoowou Kupiou mi Eire-oTpEiprv rnv ydpa tou pccai>ico<; Jtpdc auTov Kai Mveto KaGwg to irporepov ";
(3) Incapacity to control (the movement of) hands - partial or complete but apparently long term incapability, which is believed to be irreversible; either one of the extremities is affected: "xeip aurou (n. 5e£ioc) rjv £n,P<x \ half of the body: "yuvr) ... Eqpcz to fjuicu to SeJjidv11"; or body as a whole: "oi £n.P°i "l
(4) Unhealthiness - £n.paivETcci toc oara13 - while fat bones signify a healthy body14, dry bones imply health problem, lifelessness; £n.P0V Seuag15 - withered, lean (?), body wasted with sorrow;
(5) Coined medical expressions - fyrfc £n.pa - dry' cough, mjpsTog £y\poc, -dry fewer, yX&aaa £nP& - dry tongue as a result of fever or thirst.
In the New Testament texts verb £r|paivw and adjective £np6? are used in four different contexts to describe physiological processes and states. In the following text all four contexts will be inspected and commented from a translation point of view.
Haemorrhaging Woman
The least problematic from a translation point of view is the case of a haemorrhaging woman in Mark 5:25 - 34. Despite the difficulties connected to the rendition of the woman's health condition (n rrnvn. tou aiporoc,)16, the verb ^npaivw does not pose a particular translation problem here. The euphemistic
8 Testamentum Symeonis delnvidia Will. In: Spicilegium SS. Patrum ut et haereticorum, seculi post Christum natum T—Til, J. A. Grabe (Ed.). Oxoniae: E Theatro Sheldoniano 1698, Vol. 1, p. 153.
9 i Kings 13:4 and 6.
10 Matthew 12:10, Mark 3:1, Luke 6:6.
1 Lucian Works, Toxaris, or on Friendship. A. M. Harmon (Ed.). Harvard University Press: London 1936, Vol. 5, p. 142fE
12 John 5:3.
13 Proverbs 17:22.
14 Cf. Proverbs 3:8; 15:30 or 16:24.
15 Euripides, Electro 239.
16 For discussion on the woman's disease, cf. Maria J. Selvidge: Mark 5:25-34 and Leviticus 15:19-20: a reaction to restrictive purity regulations. Journal of Biblical Literature 103, 1984, Nr. 4, pp. 619-626.
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references to woman's menstruation apparently reflect Jewish purity system. The most commonly, biblical authors tend to be intentionally unclear or indirect when speaking about blemished people or about the cause of their social and ritual exclusion. Selvidge (1984: 619) observes that no major Greek writers refer to menstruation using nouns Trrtvii (spring) or púcne (flow) with genitive aŕuccTOC and links these two examples to the LXX usage, where these expressions are found in the Book of Leviticus predominantly.
A woman from the New Testament story is described as being subject to the bleeding for an extensive period of time - "ouact év púaEi aiuaroc ôúôeica em." (Mark 5:25), and despite treatment by physicians she is only healed when she touches Jesus' clothes. Her suffering is stopped immediately when the source from which the blood springs dries up: "kgcí eúOúc; éb]pävQr\ ŕ\ nrjYn tou ouuarog aÚTŕtc Kat cyvui otópan on Taiai áno tt\q uáonyoc" (Mark 5:29). The verb ŠHPCtívco is here used to refer to the flow of liquid that literally dries up and thus what is figurative here is not the verb itself but the euphemistic expression for an abnormal gynaecological condition.
From a translation point of view, what gives us sufficient clues to translate the verb successfully here is a combination of the broader context in which it is used and tendency to harmonize synoptic parallels (paraphrased account of Luke replaces the verb EEn.pav6n. by the verb corn, Luke 8:44). Therefore, éEn.-pávôn is frequently rendered using verbs as stop, cease, stanch (Slovak prestať, zastaviť sa, ustať) even in some more form-oriented versions (Revised Standard Version, Slovak Catholic version).
Man with a Dry hand
As a more challenging task for the translator we perceive the case of x^ip Šripá in Matthew 12:10 and following verses and in parallel accounts by Mark and Luke. In all three instances the condition of a man is described almost identically: "avôpio/rog x^'Pa £XWV &lPav" (Matthew 12:10); "ävôpwrroi; éf;n,pau-uévnv extov TÍ)v X£Íp«" (Mark 3:1); "ŕ| xeip cíďtoC ŕj hzha fjv £n.pá" (Luke 6:6).
Variations that could eventually narrow the meaning are of a minor significance. The perfect passive participle is sometimes argued to be a term of technical nature used predominantly by physicians, but evidence is far from conclusive17, and we are cautious also when accepting the perfect passive participle here to be a proof that a man's condition is not congenital but acquired.
17 Henry J, CADBURY: Lexical notes on Luke-Acts : J J. Recent arguments for medical language.
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Further, the Gospel of Luke specifies that the affected hand is the right hand, but the detail is of no value from diagnostic point of view. The detail mentioned in Luke's account is commonly being ascribed to the alleged medical education of the author of this Gospel, but it would be safer to interpret it as an extra emphasis on the importance of hands and as an accentuation of the desperate condition of the unfortunate man18, or just read it as an symbol of power and strength. The same is probably heightened in the variant reading of Gospels of Nazarenes and Ebionites mentioned by Jerome59 In Evangelio, quo utuntur Nazaraeni et Ebionitae, [...] homo iste, qui aridam habct mamtm, caementarius scribitur. Istius modi vocibus auxihum precans: "Caementarius eram, manibus victim quaeritans. Precor te, lesu, itt mihi restituas sanitatem, ne turpiter men-d'tcem cibos."
As accounts in synoptic Gospels offer no details instrumental to the successful specification or even identification of the condition or narrowing of the meaning; and, the collocation x^P £n,Pa is not among typical- collocations in biblical or extra-biblical evidence, we assume that what we deal here with is not a coined medical condition, but a figurative extension of the literal meaning, some sort of euphemistic expression or just an native Greek expression of non-technical nature. Both the Greek adjective fripoc. and perfect passive participle cfripauMEvoc allow for quite broad interpretation of the man's condition, and taking into account possible movement restrictions and no specification whether the hand's incapability is temporary or permanent; virtually, here we have to deal with anything from that of congenital handicap to deformity caused by trauma or disease.
The majority of commonly used Greek lexicons conjecture in these three parallel accounts on paralysis, but they also underline different aspects of the hand's affection and the meaning remains broad:o: Louw & Nida (23.173) and BDAG (5170) lay stress on the hand's immobility; FRIBERG (19262) on its uselessness; in THAYER (3678) the hand is just deprived of a natural moisture; in LSJ (39159) as well as in PREUSCHEN (3652) it is lean and parched. Hesseling (1908: 146) points out that semantically we should probably look for
Journal of biblical literature 45, 1926, Nr. 1/2, p. 204ff.
18 Affected hand would be perceived as a physical flaw, cf. Leviticus 21:16-20.
19 Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Maiheum libri IV. D. HURST-M. Adriaen (Eds.). CCSL 77, Tumholti: Brepols 1969, II, 12,13, p. 90.
20 Numbers in brackets signify the number attached to the lexical item in the quoted source as it appears within Bibleworks8® software, for abbreviations of particular lexicons cf. note 4.
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a connection between dried branches of trees and hands, and inserts that frpoc; in the New Testament refers either to the wasted, weakened or decayed hand or alternatively to the whole body as in the case of John 5:32\
Since for paralysis there is a specific and more technical term in the New Testament Greek - TiapaXunKdc. or TrapaXeXupevog - one is tended to presume that there would be at least the slight shift in the meaning between different expressions. Wettstein offers here a cross-reference to 1 Kings 13:4 and 6, and the Hebrew root "yabcsrf22. As we observed, the Septuagint substitutes a Hebrew root "yabesh" quite systematically with passive forms of the Greek verb fppaivto or the adjective £n,poc. Its primary meaning is "to be or become dry losing moisture" but its usage in 1 Kings 13:4 and 6 is figurative: "icai e£eteivev 6 Pccoiaeuc rnv x^ipa auToG and tou Ouaiaorripiou Xeywv ouXX&Pete aorov kcu i5ou e^npav0r| n, x^ip aurou qv eEeteivev in aurov Kai ouk n5uvn9r) Emorpeipai aurnv Trpdi; eaurov". From the situational context it is possible to deduce that while "withering" a King Jeroboam's hand probably becomes rigid, stiff and motionless, and he looses control of it.
Similar, but not so definite context with same Hebrew root is found in Zechariach 11:17, where both eye and hand loose their natural capabilities completely: "<S oi 7Toiuaivo\*t£<; ret uaraia Kai oi kotccaeXoittotec, tcc 7rp6(3ara uaxcupa siri roue (3paxiovag auroO Kai dm tov drJ)daXij6v tov Se^iov aurou 6 Ppaxiuv auroD £npaiv°M£Voc Er\pavQr\oeTa\ Kai 6 6<{>6aXu6c; 6 5e£i6q aurou ektu^Xouuevoc. ektu(f>Xto0na£Tai,T. However, while we are positive that the eye becomes blind here, it is not so straightforward what happens when it comes to the arm. Most likely when drying completely up, the hand becomes useless, deprived of its former strength and capability to work and move.
Absolute majority of translations of Matthew 12:10; Mark 3:1; Luke 6:6 and following verses still opt for classical equivalents here - dry or dried, withered (Rohacek's version, Slovak Protestant version, Slovak Catholic version and partially also Slovak Ecumenical version; King James Version, New King James Version, Revised Standard Version etc.). We suggest that the emphasis here could be shifted from anything that refers either to the primary meaning of dry-ness or enforces such health condition which would imply that a hand is stunted23 or
:1 Dirk Christiaan Hesseling: Hrifwx. In: Sertum nabcricura. S. A. Naber - J. J. Hartman (Eds.).
Lugdunum Datavtirum: Brill 1908, pp. 145- 156. " Johann Jacob Wiittstkin: Sowm Tcstamentum Graccum. Amsterdam: ex ofticina Domme-
riana 1751, Vol. I. p. 388. n. 10. 23 Fitzmycr in Luke 6:6, quite extraordinarily, translates "stunted" by which he means atrophied
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dead2', because there is lack of evidence to assume such a devastating condition of the hand.
Equivalents that express complete paralysis seem to be more reasonable, but strictly speaking, the man's hand, even though affected, is still able to stretch in all three parallel versions (Matthew 12:13; Mark 3:5; Luke 6:10): "tore Xévei Tip ctvepamcp ■ ŠK-reivóv aou rnv xeTpa. Kai é^ÉTEivev Kai äneKarEorádr] vyifc r| ftXXif. Therefore, if the condition in the target language is rendered in a way that suggests total movement restriction, the order of events could seem unlikely. Moreover, we think that if the meaning of the adjective Šnpó^ anci forms of the verb Šnpccivco could be distinguished from those of 7rapaXuTtKÓc, or rrapa-XeXuuévoc. it would also be useful for the two following usages. Equivalents that express rigidity, weakness and stiffness or loose of control appear to be the most reasonable here and seem to be better related to the Old Testament root "yäbesh". One of the desirable translation solutions is found in two occurrences (Matthew 12:10 and ff.; Mark 3:1 and ft) in Slovak free version "limp" (Slovak bezvládny, nevládny).
Possessed boy
In Mark 9:1 S a passive verbal form ^npaiveiai is used in what is believed by many to be a description of an epileptic seizure. The case of a lunatic or moonstruck boy is described in all three synoptic Gospels differently26, with Mark being the most abundant in details. Among several typical symptoms such as foaming or gnashing of teeth, muscular rigidity is also mentioned in medical literature. Wilkinson27, while attempting to equate aeXnviaauoc, with epilepsy, comments also on the verb ^rjpaiverai: "The meaning of wasting is
in its growth; unfortunately he does not give further explanation to such translation choice; cf. Joseph A. FlTZMVER: The Gospel according to Luke (The Anchor Bible series). Garden City-New York: Doubleday 1981, Vol. 28, p. 604.
Bible in Basic English; English text as it appears within BibleworksS® software.
25 The rendering epileptic for the Greek verb aeXnvtáíiopai was introduced by Revised Standard version in 1881 for the first time on the ground of evidence coming from Byzantine physician Leo Philosophus, nevertheless, it was never widely accepted by form-oriented versions.; cf. Jozefa art1m0vá: Diseases and health conditions of the New Testament texts as a translation problem: the case of a lunatic hoy wisited. In: fragmenty z dejín medicíny, farmácie a veterinárnej medicíny. I. Vojtcková - V. Ozorovský (Eds.). Kancelária WHO na Slovensku: Bratislava 2012, p. 13.
26 Matthew 17:14-20, Mark 9:14-29, Luke 9:37-43.
21 John Wilkinson: The case of the epileptic boy. The Expository Times 79,1967, Nr. 2, p. 42.
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inappropriate here for epilepsy does not usually interfere with nutrition of its victims. It seems preferable to extend the meaning to include the result of the wasting, namely lack of movement, and so understand the verb as meaning that the boy becomes completely exhausted and motionless after his convulsion."
Even if we have to be cautious when introducing modern ideas about sickness and physiological states into the world of Scriptures, we favour here Wilkinson's interpretation against typical translation solutions of form-oriented Bible versions. Languishing (Slovak chřadnut) or withering away (Slovak schnut) in this context seem to be much more unnatural than rigidity or stiffness, and it is a less preferred translation solution even in form-oriented English versions (Revised Standard Version, New International Version - he becomes rigid, stiff).
We propose that the state of the boy after an epileptic seizure could be rather seen as a similar rigidity, stiffness and motionlessness that was observed when speaking of King Jeroboam's hand or of the hand of the nameless man in Matthew 12:10 and parallel accounts. BDAG (5169) quotes here another similar phrase from Theocritus28 - "^npóv ůrrai 5eíouí;" (lit. stiff with fright, scared stiff). Hesseling (1908: 147) understands this rigidity as a secondary derivation of the meaning of adjective £n,pó<; and quotes two expressions in which rigid should be understood as inanimate, spiritless or simply dead: "Šepóc, otto rr|v rpouapa" and "etteoe Šnpóť* (cf. Spanish quedar seco). Slovak free translation prefers29 rigidity (Slovak celý zmeravié) against coined terms he languishes, he withers away {chřadne, schne) found in all other Slovak Bible versions.
HEALED ON THE SABBATH
The last context where the adjective Enpóc is used figuratively to denote a physiological condition is John 5:3. Here, the adjective stands alongside other health conditions: 7rXřj6o£; rtov áo6evoúvriov, TU^Xcdv, xwXcov, šnP&v. The usage
Theocritus, Idylls 24, 61.
For the Slovak free translation see Hope for all (= No\ý Zákoti, Nádej pre každého. Druhá časť Svätého písma - Biblie v modernom jazyku. Denmark: International Bible Society & Creativprcss 1993; for the rest of Bible versions see: Slovak Protestant version (= Biblia. Písmo Sväté Starej a Novej Zmluvy. Liptovský MikuláS; TranosciUS 1984); Slovak Catholic version {= Sväté Písmo Starého a Nového Zákona, Tmavá: Spolok Svätého Vojtecha 2004); Slovak Ecumenical version (= Písmo Svíité, Nová Zmluva a Žalmy, Slovenský Ekumenický preklad. Banská Bystrica: Slovenská Biblická Spoločnosť 1995), Version by Roháček {=J. ROHÁČEK: Noxý Zákon nascho ľána a Spasiteľa Ježiša Krista. Praha: Biblická spoločnosť Britická a zahraničná 1937).
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has no parallel in other Gospels, and cross-references point again to 1 Kings 13:4 or Matthew 12:10. Similar enumerations of different diseases or disabilities are to be found in many places in the Old and New Testament texts. The most typical ones are Matthew 4:24, 15:30 and Luke 7:22, 14:13. Such lists almost always mention a parallel pair of blind, td(J>aoi, and lame, x^aoi. In the two occasions - Matthew 4:24 and Acts 8:7 - paralytics, rrapctXEXupEvot, are mentioned as well.
The adjective b\poq is found in such context only in John and it is also the only occurrence of %r)p6q within whole Gospel of John. From our point of view ^ppoc in this context would not specify any particular malady, but could refer to those who are greatly affected by their disease and probably almost motionless. Further details in the story may be seen as supportive to such an interpretation. Man, who becomes the main figure in the further text, has a health problem that is persisting for a long period of time: "nv §£ tiq avOpoojTO^ ekeT Tpi&KOvTOf [xcri] OKTcb ett) exlov ev Tfl aaOEvdo: ccutou" (John 5:5) and he is unable to act quickly when needed "icupie, avOpoojrov ouk exw Vva otccv Tapctx^P to u8(op paXf] ue Eic, rnv KoXuu(3rj6pav ■ ev tb 5e Epxouai £Vu\ aXXog npb spou KarapcttvEi." (John 5:7)
Meaning-oriented versions usually replace literalistic and vague expressions "withered/wasted" (Slovak vyschli, vychradli, vychradnuti), with the more expressive term "paralytics", but we perceive such replacement as unnecessary. Equivalent paralytic here may be also based on variant reading in the Western text that adds TrapccXunKLov after ^rjptJov30.
From a fairly abundant lexis denoting physiological processes and states in the New Testament texts, only a few terms could be labelled as technical medical lexis. Even in such cases the identification of disease in terms of precise medical diagnosis is not only unfeasible, but also not desirable as we would hardly ever be able to know the true nature of most of the medically related conditions mentioned in this corpus of texts. The ordinary language of the writers of the New Testament makes the use of any precise terms that suggest our modern medical understanding inappropriate. Femgren and Amundsen in this context write: "Even when the vocabulary becomes more specific, if it is symptomatic or rather pathological, it nevertheless must be understood more
Roger Lee Omanson: A textual guide to the Greek New Testament. Stuttgart: German Bible Society 2006, p. 174.
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phenomenologically than scientifically. And when the vocabulary becomes precise in its pathological specificity, it is always an expression of a particular nosology or medical paradigm that may have little meaning in a different culture or may inadvertently convey the impression of a different pathological state. This is much more applicable in cases where the lexis is vague and imprecise.
Form-oriented translations aim to preserve as many parts of the source text as possible and many times treat the lexis concordantly. In such versions the terms employed for different physiological conditions when translated literally may sound unnatural or even misleading (e. g. withering/drying in Mark 9:18). Another problem with such literalistic names of different health conditions is that in the target language such expressions or phrases are perceived as marked or uncommon collocations. While being intuitively comprehensible, they still alert a perceptive reader that there maybe something wrong with the text or it's rendering in the target language.
On the other hand, meaning-oriented translations are in an effort to convey as much meaning as possible, sometimes too interpretative and too fast with equating ancient health conditions to our modern medical paradigms. These translation solutions often sound too technical in the ancient biblical text.
The New Testament health conditions that contain adjective ^np°^ of vert) £npodvoo are figurative extensions of the primary meaning. Except for the usage in Mark 5:29, we are confident enough that they should be translated in a way that emphasizes more rigidity or stiffness than dryness and emaciation in languages where collocation "dry with different parts of body or body as a whole" is not a typical one. Also, they do not have to be necessarily substituted by terms suggesting paralysis as it is a specific lexical item within the New Testament corpus with its own range of meaning. Nevertheless, the final decision on how to treat this kind of lexis should be probably spelled out in the skopos of the particular Bible translation project, which would be under usual circumstances defined before the translation work itself.
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1 Gary B. ferngren - Darrel W. amundsen: Disease and disease causality in the New Testament. In: Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. W. Haase (Ed.). Berlin - New York: Walter de Gruyter 1996, Part II, Vol. 37, 3, p. 2956.
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Resumé
Obrazné použitie slovesa fypaíwů a adjektiva Šnpóe v Novej zmluve
Jozefa ARTIMOVÁ, Košice
Novozmluvní autoři používajú na opis rozličných fyziologických procesov a stavov bežnú hovorovú lexiku, ktorá sa v mnohých prípadoch vymyká našim snahám o presnú medicínsku interpretáciu. Také sú i prípady použitia adjektíva Čnpóc. (suchý, vyschnutý, vyprahnutý) a slovesa Enpctívw (vyschnúť, vysušiť sa). V každom kontexte (Mk 5,29; Mt 12,10; Mk 9,18, Jn 5,30), kde slúžia na opis chorobných stavov, ide o obrazné použitie. Okrem prípadu, ktorý opisuje Marek 5,9 (Enpaívto je použité v spojem s patologickým krvácaním vo význame ustať, zastaviť sa), nemá slovesný či adjektívny tvar význam suchý, vyprahnutý, zbavený tekutiny/vlhkosti, ale skôr znamená tuhý, meravý, nevládny, nehybný, nemohúci. Spojenia typu muž s vyschnutou rukou (Mt 12,10), chlapec, ktorý počas (epileptického) záchvatu schne, či chradne (Mk 9,18), a napokon vyschli či vychradnutí nemocní (Jn 5,3) síce nie sú úplne nezrozumiteľné, no zároveň vyžadujú viac čitateľovho interpretatívneho úsilia. Výhodou formálne presných prekladov je ich konkordančná jednota, ktorá umožňuje rýchlu orientáciu v texte a naznačuje súvislosť s inými výskytmi toho istého slova. Je však otázne, či sa nedá naznačiť aj iným spôsobom ako prenášaním netypických, a rým aj príznakových kolokácií do cieľového jazyka.