Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent
Summary
When reading an ancient text in translation—especially one laden with nuance—there is a high risk of misunderstanding. On the one hand, there are expressions, cultural and historical references, and terminology that are not immediately accessible to modern readers. At the same time, a statement’s meaning often seems obvious, when, in fact, the translation is misleading or the reader has assumed a context that is foreign to the narrative. The first rule of exegesis is that everything must be heard in context. Historical context, linguistic context, but most importantly, narrative context. When a phrase seems to jut out of St. Paul’s letter, such as, “women are to keep silent in the churches,” It feels jolting and chauvinist to modern readers. As jolting as it seems, rest assured, such a statement flows with the broader discussion and does not mean what your twenty first century ears think it means. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss 1 Corinthians 14:20-39. (Episode 118; 1 Corinthians 14:20-39); Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Anamalie” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/)When reading an ancient text in translation—especially one laden with nuance—there is a high risk of misunderstanding. On the one hand, there are expressions, cultural and historical references, and terminology that are not immediately accessible to modern readers. At the same time, a statement’s meaning often seems obvious, when, in fact, the translation is misleading or the reader has assumed a context that is foreign to the narrative. The first rule of exegesis is that everything must be heard in context. Historical context, linguistic context, but most importantly, narrative context. When a phrase seems to jut out of St. Paul’s letter, such as, “women are to keep silent in the churches,” It feels jolting and chauvinist to modern readers. As jolting as it seems, rest assured, such a statement flows with the broader discussion and does not mean what your twenty first century ears think it means. Richard and Fr. Marc discuss 1 Corinthians 14:20-39. (Episode 118; 1 Corinthians 14:20-39); Subscribe: http://feedpress.me/the-bible-as-literature; “Anamalie” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http:// creativecommons .org/ licenses /by/3.0/)
