Swahili and Zulu versions of the Old Testament from a General Perspective of Bible Translations

In the present paper the focus is put on the strategies of rendering the names of the Supreme God of Israel in Biblia Hebraica in Bantu languages. The data from 3 Swahili versions and a Zulu version of the Bible is examined, with some additions from the Dabida version. Different names of the Supreme God are used in the canonical text. The two principal names are YHWH and ’elohim. Since the period of the Second Temple it has been forbidden to pronounce YHWH, the proper name of the God of Israel. The Hebrew tradition (known as qere-ketiv) preserved the writing of the four letters of this name YHWH, but it was to be read as ’adonay (‘Lord’ in Hebrew), or as ’elohim (‘God’ in Hebrew) in certain cases. In biblical and religious texts in different languages (but not in Hebrew) the Tetragrammaton YHWH is sometimes rendered as Yahveh or Yehovah (with some orthographic variants). This situation is examined in our paper, as well as the ways of rendering the Hebrew lexeme tseva’ot. Special attention is paid to the usage of the name Allah as the name of the Only Supreme God corresponding to the Hebrew name ’elohim. The crucial issue of correlation between the binary masculine/feminine gender system in Biblical Hebrew, on the one hand, and the noun class system in Bantu languages, on the other, is discussed in the final part of the paper

Swahili and Zulu versions of the Old Testament from a General Perspective of Bible Translations

In the present paper the focus is put on the strategies of rendering the names of the Supreme God of Israel in Biblia Hebraica in Bantu languages. The data from 3 Swahili versions and a Zulu version of the Bible is examined, with some additions from the Dabida version. Different names of the Supreme God are used in the canonical text. The two principal names are YHWH and ’elohim. Since the period of the Second Temple it has been forbidden to pronounce YHWH, the proper name of the God of Israel. The Hebrew tradition (known as qere-ketiv) preserved the writing of the four letters of this name YHWH, but it was to be read as ’adonay (‘Lord’ in Hebrew), or as ’elohim (‘God’ in Hebrew) in certain cases. In biblical and religious texts in different languages (but not in Hebrew) the Tetragrammaton YHWH is sometimes rendered as Yahveh or Yehovah (with some orthographic variants). This situation is examined in our paper, as well as the ways of rendering the Hebrew lexeme tseva’ot. Special attention is paid to the usage of the name Allah as the name of the Only Supreme God corresponding to the Hebrew name ’elohim. The crucial issue of correlation between the binary masculine/feminine gender system in Biblical Hebrew, on the one hand, and the noun class system in Bantu languages, on the other, is discussed in the final part of the paper

Swahili and Zulu versions of the Old Testament from a General Perspective of Bible Translations

In the present paper the focus is put on the strategies of rendering the names of the Supreme God of Israel in Biblia Hebraica in Bantu languages. The data from 3 Swahili versions and a Zulu version of the Bible is examined, with some additions from the Dabida version. Different names of the Supreme God are used in the canonical text. The two principal names are YHWH and ’elohim. Since the period of the Second Temple it has been forbidden to pronounce YHWH, the proper name of the God of Israel. The Hebrew tradition (known as qere-ketiv) preserved the writing of the four letters of this name YHWH, but it was to be read as ’adonay (‘Lord’ in Hebrew), or as ’elohim (‘God’ in Hebrew) in certain cases. In biblical and religious texts in different languages (but not in Hebrew) the Tetragrammaton YHWH is sometimes rendered as Yahveh or Yehovah (with some orthographic variants). This situation is examined in our paper, as well as the ways of rendering the Hebrew lexeme tseva’ot. Special attention is paid to the usage of the name Allah as the name of the Only Supreme God corresponding to the Hebrew name ’elohim. The crucial issue of correlation between the binary masculine/feminine gender system in Biblical Hebrew, on the one hand, and the noun class system in Bantu languages, on the other, is discussed in the final part of the paper