Old and Middle English translations of Greek and Semitic words in the Latin version of St John’s Gospel

Abstract

AbstractThe majority of Greek and Semitic words found in the Latin version of St John’s Gospel express specific biblical terms, closely connected with Jewish and Christian religion and culture, but almost entirely unknown to most of the English population until the evangelisation that took place in the 7th century. The comparison of the Old and Middle English translations of the Latin source text presented here attempts to identify the procedures and methods which both Old and Middle English translators used to make the Latin items understandable to their audience, as well as to explain the reasons for the differences between the translations, where possible.