The Semantic Field of Love and Fear in Three Older and the Latest Slovene Translation of Deuteronomy

  • Irena Avsenik Nabergoj University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts; Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Keywords: Jurij Japelj, Matevž Ravnikar, Jurij Volc, Old Testament Bible, Deuteronomy, love and fear, semantic analysis

Abstract

The paper is the result of a comparative analysis of selected Slovenian translations of all the passages of the Book of Deuteronomy in which the semantic field of love and fear is at the forefront. The comparison includes the Hebrew original, the two most influential ancient and three older Slovenian translations of the Bible, namely the translation by Jurij Japelj (1744–1807), the unpublished translation by Matevž Ravnikar (1776–1845) and the translation by Jurij Volc in the so-called Wolfʼs Bible (1805–1885). A comparative analysis of language and style in relation to the Hebrew original, the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate reveals similarities and differences in the older three and in the latest Slovenian translation of the Bible (SPJ) in terms of the use of vocabulary, the form of parallelism and the parenetic style. The focus is on how in Deuteronomy the lexeme “love” is linked to the lexeme “fear”, which is often only apparently opposed to the concept of love. We want to know whether these two concepts are exclusive or complementary in Deuteronomy. This paper provides important insights into the cognitive and emotional content of the concepts of “love” and “fear” in the Hebrew and Slovenian translations of Deuteronomy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Irena Avsenik Nabergoj, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts; Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Ljubljana, Slovenia. E-mail: irena.avsenik-nabergoj@guest.arnes.si

References

Susan ACKERMAN, 2002: The Personal Is Political: Covenantal and Affectionate Love (ʼāhēb, ʼahăbâ) in the Hebrew Bible. Vetus Testamentum 53/4, 437‒458.
Bill T. ARNOLD, 2011: The Love-Fear Antinomy in Deuteronomy 5‒11. Vetus Testamentum 61/4, 551‒569.
Irena AVSENIK NABERGOJ, 2022: Evripidova Medeja in svetopisemska Visoka pesem na preizkusu ljubezenskega diskurza. Keria: Studia Latina et Graeca 24/1, 91‒107.
Irena AVSENIK NABERGOJ, 2021: Literarne oblike v Svetem pismu in odmevi v poznejši judovsko-krščanski literaturi. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga.
Bernard J. BAMBERGER, 1929: Fear and Love of God in the Old Testament. Hebrew Union College Annual 6, 39‒53.
Sv. HIERONIM, 2010: Pismo Pamahiju o najboljši vrsti prevajanja. Fidus interpres ‒ Zvest prevajalec: Slike iz dveh tisočletij zgodovine prevajanja. Ur. David Movrin. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, ZRC SAZU. 185‒205.
Jurij JAPELJ, 1791‒1802: Svetu pismu stariga testamenta. Id est: Biblia sacra veteris testamenti. – Labaci: typis Joan. Frid. Eger. Zvezek I: Pete Mojsesove bukve imenovane Deutèronomium, to je: Ponovlenje tę Poſtave. 691–842.
Jože KRAŠOVEC, 2013: Prevajanje med teorijo in prakso. Ljubljana: SAZU in Založba ZRC.
Jacqueline E. LAPSLEY, 2003: Feeling Our Way: Love for God in Deuteronomy. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 65/3, 350–369.
Dennis J. MCCARTHY, 1965: Notes on the Love of God in Deuteronomy and the Father-Son Relationship between Yahweh and Israel. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 27/2, 144–147.
Françoise MIRGUET, 2017: An Early History of Compassion: Emotion and Imagination in Hellenistic Judaism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
William L. MORAN, 1963: The Ancient Near Eastern Background of the Love of God in Duteronomy. The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 25/1, 77–87.
A. Z. OBIEDAT, 2017: The Semantic Field of Love in Classical Arabic: Understanding the Subconscious Meaning Preserved in the Ḥubb Synonyms and Antonyms through Their Etymologies. The Beloved in MIddle Eastern Literatures: The Culture of Love and Languishing. Ur Alirea Korangy, Hanadi Al-Samman, and Michael C. London, New York: I. B. Tauris. 300–323.
Roland POTTER, 1953: The Love of God in the Old Testament. Life of the Spirit (1946–1964) 8, 86–87, 58–66.
SPJ 2023 = Sveto pismo: Stara in Nova zaveza. Jeruzalemska izdaja. Prev. in ur. Jože Krašovec. Ljubljana: Slovenska škofovska konferenca in Založba Družina.
SSP 1996 = Sveto pismo Stare in Nove zaveze: Slovenski standardni prevod. Prev. in ur. Jože Krašovec. Ljubljana: Svetopisemska družba Slovenije.
Wolfovo Sveto pismo. 1856‒1859: Sveto pismo stare in nove zaveze z razlaganjem poleg nemškiga, od apostoljskiga Sedeža poterjeniga sv. pisma, ki ga je iz Vulgate ponemčil in razložil Dr. Jožef Franc Allioli, Natisnjeno po povelji prečastitljiviga kneza gospoda Antona Alojzija, ljubljanskiga škofa, uredil Jurij Volc. Ljubljana: Jožef Blaznik.
Published
2023-12-29
How to Cite
Avsenik Nabergoj I. (2023). The Semantic Field of Love and Fear in Three Older and the Latest Slovene Translation of Deuteronomy. Slavia Centralis, 16(2), 175-190. https://doi.org/10.18690/scn.16.2.175-190.2023