Translation Tips on the GreekChurch Fathers
By Charles A. Sullivan11/21/2009 Rev. 20
TranslatingtheChurchfathersfromtheoriginalGreekisarewardingadventure.BiblicalGreekstudents can easily adapt with a little bit of effort and some new resources.BiblestudentsfamiliarwiththeKoinéGreekoftheNewTestamenthaveanadvantage,buttheirknowledgebasehastobeexpanded.WhereasNewTestamentKoinéGreekwasdesignedforthecommonman,fullofHebraisms,limitedvocabularyandmeantforaworld-wideaudience,Attic,oroftenknownasByzantineGreek,hadnosuchlimitations.ItispureGreekwrittenforaGreekaudience.Theirvocabularyisfarmoreextensive,andthegrammarandsyntaxisintricate.
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http://charlesasullivan.ca.KoinéGreek,thelanguageofthecommonpeopleandAtticGreek,thelanguageoftheancients,reservedespeciallyfortheculturalelitewereintension.Manyargumentshaveevolvedoverwhichoneismoredominantwithoutanyconclusion.Oneinparticular,thatKoinéwasaspoken,andAtticwasawrittenlanguagemaybetheclosest.TheancientChurchwritersvacillatebetweenthesetwopoleswithnoclearwinner.ButitisbestfortheNewTestamenttranslator to learn the nuances of Attic Greek to be successful.Itisalsoimportantthatoneapproachthewritingswithrespect.Thesewritersweresmartfortheirtime.Manyworkedwithinmultipledisciplinesfromtheology,math,linguistics,philosophy,astronomy,technicalwriting,poetry,topoliticalrhetoricandmore.Itiswellworthto study, translate and read.Thisconclusioniscontrarytomostmodernreligiousminds.ManyEvangelicalshavebeentaughtthattheancientwriterswerefulloffrivolity,suchasdebatingtopicssuchashowmanyangelscandanceontheheadofapin.Orthesagespossessedsuchrigiddogmathatitwasseparatefromrealityorfacts.ForexampletheideathattheChurchenforcedtheideatheearthwasflat.Anothertraditionarguesthatthewritersweresofullofsuperstitionthatitishardtofindanyrationaltruth.TheseassumptionshaveleftmanystudentswiththeideathatPatristicwritings are not worth the effort.
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