하나님 경외 사상의 다양한 의미에 근거한 yare’의 한국어 번역 제안

Abstract

One of the most important theological concepts in the Old Testament is the concept of “the fear of God.” Leaders of various theological traditions in ancient Israel, such as wise men, priests and prophets taught and emphasized the God-fearing life to the people of Israel (Prov 1:7; Psa 31:19; Mal 3:16). The Hebrew verb ידא (yare’), which is the basic verb for the concept of the fear of God, contains diverse meanings according to the social and literary contexts in which the verb is used. However, Korean translations of this verb convey rather limited meanings by using mostly the words “fear” and “stand in awe.” The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to find out various meanings of ידא according to the social and literary contexts in which the verb is used. Secondly, it is to propose some of the basic principles with which one can translate the verb ידא in the Hebrew Old Testament into the Korean language. Finally, it is to propose a better Korean translation of arye ‶ for the specific verses in which the verb is used in the Old Testament. By accomplishing these purposes, the writer of this paper hopes to offer not only practical understandings of the concept of the fear of God for Korean Christians, but also better Korean Bible translations of the verb ידא. Some of the basic principles with which one can translate the verb ידא into the Korean language are as follows: 1) When the verb ידא is used in the context of God’s divine appearance or in the context of God’s judgment and wrath caused by people’s sin and rebellion, it can be translated as “fear.” 2) When the verb ידא is used in the context in which the object becomes people, it can be translated as “respect” or “honor.” 3) When the verb ידא is used in the normal context other than in principle 1), it can be translated as “stand in awe.” 4) When the verb ידא is used in the context of worship and sacrifices, it can be translated as “worship.” 5) When the verb ידא is used in relation to the words, commands, laws and statutes of God, it can be translated as “obey.” In the beginning section of this paper, the writer offers a diagram in which the different translations of the verb ידא between New Korean Revised Version and Revised New Korean Standard Version are shown. At the final section of the conclusion, the writer proposes a better translation of the verb ידא after a close study of the social and literary contexts of each verses in which the verb is used.