Between Abgrund and Urwirbel: The Story of One Word in the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible Translation

This paper closely examines the translation of the Hebrew word תהום - abyss (Genesis 1:2), in two versions of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible: In the first edition of Die Schrift published 1926 the abyss is translated as “Abgrund”. However, after Rosenzweig’s death, the “Abgrund” is erased by Buber and r...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Shenhav, Ghilad H. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: De Gruyter [2020]
In: Naharaim
Year: 2020, Volume: 14, Issue: 1, Pages: 83-102
Further subjects:B Translation
B Buber
B Rosenzweig
B Bible
B abyss
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Volltext (doi)
Description
Summary:This paper closely examines the translation of the Hebrew word תהום - abyss (Genesis 1:2), in two versions of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible: In the first edition of Die Schrift published 1926 the abyss is translated as “Abgrund”. However, after Rosenzweig’s death, the “Abgrund” is erased by Buber and replaced in later versions (1930/1952/1962) by the rather odd word “Urwirbel.” This paper reflects on the transition from “Abgrund” to “Urwirbel” and demonstrates the profound rootedness of Buber and Rosenzweig in the German philosophical vocabulary of the early twentieth century. It shows how the conversion from “Abgrund” to “Urwirbel” crystalized a moment in German-Jewish thought, a historical meeting point in the depths of the abyss between the German and the Hebrew languages. The encounter was covered by the course of history but deserves to be revisited and reinterpreted.
ISSN:1862-9156
Contains:Enthalten in: Naharaim
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/naha-2019-0011