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.

This article you are reading here is old and outdated. For the latest, go to

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.

Thisattitudewillquicklyvanishwhenonebeginstoreadandtranslate.TheGreekFatherswereclose to, if not, the best, within their topic of interest, during their time period.Also,therearealargenumberofPatristicwritings,bothGreekandLatin,nottranslatedintoEnglish.Manythathavebeentranslated,haveremainedincenturyoldEnglishandmaynoteven be good for a modern audience.Therefore Patristics is a ripe field for those who take the time to learn.WhatisthequalityofChurchliterature?SomeoftheChurchwritersaresogiftedintheGreeklanguage,theirtextappeartobeanartform.Forexample,CyrilofAlexandriahasoneofthemostengagingstyles.Hewasamasterofvocabulary.Histhoughts,wordusageandgrammarareverysophisticated.HestandsoutasoneofthepremierChristianwritersfromaliteraryandstylestandpoint.IttakesonetoreadintheoriginalGreektoappreciatethis,becausemostoftheliterary flow and beauty would be lost in the translation.This is a total reverse of his personality, as history points him out to be a ruthless leader.Butliterarystandardsvary.OtherslikeEpiphaniuswouldfailtheliteraryscaleandappearsmorelikeatrashwriter.Hissuchstrongandderogatorywordusagethrowatranslatorforsome difficulty.ThentherewerewriterslikeOrigenwhowasoneofthemostcomprehensivewritersoftheearlyChristianera.HewasageniusofcombiningHebrewimagery,Biblicalknow-how,GreekPhilosophy and religious devotion into a prolific writing style.LastofallmanylikeGregoryNazianzus,DidymiAlexandrini,andmanymoredevoutlywroteBiblical truths structured by a Greek philosophical framework.ThisislikelytheoneplacewherethetraditionalNewTestamenttranslatorwillhavethemostdifficulty.OnecannottranslateandassumemostChurchwritersfollowthesameliterarystyleandargumentationrepresentedintheHolyBooks.RatheronewilldiscoverthemajorityinfluencedbyclassicalGreekwritersandthought–someevenquotingAristotle,Platoandmore byname.ManyChristianleadersfromthe2ndthrough5thcenturiesemergedfromGreekrhetoricalartsbeforetheybecameChristians.Theirliteraturereflectseitherareactionorassertiontothisinfluence.AgoodbookthatintroducesthemoderntranslatortothePatristicmindset is

Greek Orthodox Patrology

by Pangiotes K. Christou.

Translation Tips on the Greek Church Fathers2

Beforeonebeginstranslating,acquisitionofthePatristicwriterintheoriginalGreekhastobelocated.TheeasiestplacetostartiswithMignePatrologiaGraeca–acompendiumofChurchfathers printed from Clement (ﬁrst century) to the Council of Florence in 1438-39.Example1:TypicalGreek-Latinpage.ThisisasamplefromGregoryofNazianzus.MignePatrologia Graeca. Vol. 36. Pg. 175ThereproductionqualityofMigne'sworksaresubparandallresearchershavetoworkaround this. The problem is typical of all Migne Patrologia Graeca reprints and images.Thebestsitethathasanoutlineofthebooksandauthorsofthiscompendiumisfoundathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrologia_Graeca.Theoriginaleditorofthiscompendium,J.P.Mignewasacontroversialandinterestingcharacter.AnthonyGraftonoftheNewRepublicdescribedhimasapriest-entrepreneurwho

"put the most questionable of business practices in the service of his devotion to Catholicism."

AnentertainingandgoodbiographyofhimispublishedbyR.HowardBloch,

God's Plagiarist: Beingan Account of the Fabulous Industry and Irregular Commerce of the Abbe Migne.

There are a number of ways to access a copy of Migne Patrologia Graeca.• The volumes can be accessed online at http://onlinestoragesolution.net/nygamma/J.-P.%20MIGNE/PATROLOGIAE%20GRAECAE/Migne-js.html . However, keep in mindthat this site is unstable. It may be off-line periodically.• Another method is to download the whole compendium through a P2P network usingthe eMule Software, http://www.ellopos.net/elpenor/greek-texts/fathers/migne-patrologia-graeca.asp. However, many ISP's have banned the use of P2P in theirnetworks and so this may only be available to some. It is a large ﬁle transfer and