Translating Ruth: An Introduction and 1:1-1:3
I need your help. I have class assignment that I need the accountability of this community to keep me motived to finish. This term I am taking Hebrew Expository 1. I am suppose to be taking everything I "learned" (I am not sure how much stayed in my brain) in Hebrew Grammar 1&2 and use it to study narratives in Hebrew Scriptures (OT).
Biblical Hebrew is a beautiful language. It is also very different from modern Hebrew spoken today. Think studying Old English like Beowulf all the way to Shakespearian times. I am struggling in the class. I feel dumb all the time. And mostly I think failing all the time (even though I am not).
One of the weekly assignments is to translate portions of Ruth from Hebrew into English. By the end of the term I will have finished all four chapters. It does not need to be handed in but we do discussed the translations in class and Ruth will be the focus of the final exam. I've been calling my copy of the work "LOP: Liz's Own Paraphrase."
I love the beauty of Book of Ruth. The process of translating has increased my understanding and appreciation of this narrative. However, with the term becoming more hectic and other things vying for my attention I am not doing as through of a job on the actual translating. I have been skimming over the part of the assignment where I need to take the translated words and make it understandable English.
I am hoping by stating here that I am going to post two to three verses every day till the book is fully translated that I will actually complete the assignment and on time. That's where you come in; please visit everyday. Encouraging comments are also appreciated. Knowing that there are people waiting on the daily translation will push me to keep going.
For the translation, I am allowed use resources beyond my memory of Hebrew grammar (this is a very good thing). I've been using a number of different ones, the three free online sources are StepBible, BibleHub specifically the Hebrew section, and Daily Dose of Hebrew: Ruth. There will be times where my word choices will not match your Bible's choices. There will be a number of reason for this beyond the simple "Liz got it wrong." If you are ever interested in why I made a translation choice please leave me a comment or if you have a question about a passage I will do my best to answer. I am also including pictures of the work I did to reach my final translation:
Ruth 1:1
And it came about in the days that the judges were judging that there was a famine in the land. And a man from Bethlehem [literally the House of Bread] in Judah when to temporary stay in the territory of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
Ruth 1:2
And the man's name was Elimelech [it means "My God is King], and his wife's name was Naomi, and his two sons' names were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. And so they entered the territory of Moab and stayed there.
Ruth 1:3
Then Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died and she was left and her two sons.
See you tomorrow!
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