Language Questions Relating to Moses Mendelssohn's Pentateuch Translation (in Commemoration of the 200th Anniversary of the Biur)
Almost from the beginning of his literary activity, Moses Mendelssohn was accused of radical religious-reformatory tendencies. Though repeatedly proven wrong, these charges have to this day tenaciously lingered in the minds of many. In a very similar way, certain language-reformatory motives were so...
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
College
1984
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
Year: 1984, Volume: 55, Pages: 197-242 |
| IxTheo Classification: | HA Bible |
| Further subjects: | B
Sefer Netivot ha-Schalom
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| Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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| Summary: | Almost from the beginning of his literary activity, Moses Mendelssohn was accused of radical religious-reformatory tendencies. Though repeatedly proven wrong, these charges have to this day tenaciously lingered in the minds of many. In a very similar way, certain language-reformatory motives were soon ascribed to Mendelssohn, especially in connection with his biblical German translations. These charges, too (often meant as praise rather than censure), have survived for two centuries without being critically and systematically evaluated. Such an evaluation is undertaken here. The best known statements in this area have almost assumed the character of axioms; one: Mendelssohn militantly strove to eradicate the Judeo-German idiom which was in use among his Jewish contemporaries; two: his translating the Pentateuch into German was undertaken as a means toward that goal. Both these assertions are refuted as myths. Beyond this, an attempt is made to evaluate Mendelssohn's German in the light of contemporary criticism, to gain an insight into Mendelssohn's philosophy of translating, and to place the respective roles of Hebrew, German, and Judeo-German into the context of 18th century linguistic development. |
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| ISSN: | 0360-9049 |
| Contains: | In: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual / Jewish Institute of Religion
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