- And they said Come on!
let us build for ourselves a city,
and a tower with its head in the heavens,
so let us make for ourselves a name,
- lest we be scattered abroad
over the face of all the earth. Rotherham
And they will say, Come,
we will build to us a city,
and a tower, its head to the heavens;
and we will make to us a name,
lest we shall be dispensed
over the face of the earth. Julia Smith
Dixerunt itaque, Agite
aedificemus nobis civitatem & turrim,
cuius caput centingat caelum, atq;
ita faciamus nobis nomen;
ne forte dispergamur
super faciem universae terrae. Pagnini
et dixerunt venite
faciamus nobis civitatem
et turrem cuius culmen pertingat ad caelum
et celebremus nomen nostrum
antequam dividamur in universas terras. Vulgate
It is striking that both Smith and Rotherham retain the terms "head" and "face." The tower has a "head" and the earth has a "face." These are not translated into the Latin of the Vulgate but do find a place in Pagnini's Latin translation. Pagnini is known for a more literal rendering of the Hebrew than Jerome. Jerome's translation must be considered to be of the dynamic equivalent type for this passage.
Whatever your views on translation, it is good to know these names, Pagnini, Rotherham and Smith. They are the heroes of transparency and word for word translation. They have a sense of the sound and flow of the language. They are not just translating meaning, but metaphor and imagery, alliteration and assonance.
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