The Japanese Translations of the Hebrew Bible: History, Inventory and Analysis (Doron B. Cohen, Leiden: Brill, 2013)

Abstract

The Japanese Translation of the Hebrew Bible: History, Inventory and Analysis (Leiden: Brill, 2013) is the first of its kind, that is, the first English scholarly book focusing on the history of translating the Hebrew Bible into the Japanese language. It compares and analyzes 12 full translations (A-1…A-12), 16 partial translations (B-1…B-16), 13 fragmentary translations (C-1…C-13), and 6 further editions of the Bible (D-1…D-6). The book consists of two main parts: part one (History and Inventory) and part two (Analysis and Translated Verses). Part one has three chapters. Chapter 1 is introduction which deals with The Bible in Japan (1.1), Christianity in Japan (1.2), Translation (1.3), and Scope and Method (1.4).<BR> Chapter 2 talks about a historical review of Bible translation according to several periods: the Kirishitan Period (2.1), the Bible in China (2.2), the 19th Century and Early Meiji (2.3), from Late Meiji until World War II (2.4), and the Post-World War II Period (2.5). And Chapter 3 introduces various kinds of Japanese Bible in four categories: full translations (3.1), partial translations in book form (3.2), fragmentary translations, early digests and partial translation in magazines (3.3), and some further editions of the Bible, using previous translations (3.4).<BR> Part two has four chapters. Chapter 4 focuses its study on Deuteronomy 32:8-9, and compares and analyzes 12 different full Japanese translations. In each translation, the author gives a Japanese translation of two verses and their transliteration. However, he does not give the English translation of the given Japanese translation of the verses. Unless the reader is fluent in Japanese, he/she could not understand what the Japanese translation means. With only the Japanese verses and their transliteration, the readers are unable to see what the author explicates.<BR> Chapter 5 deals with Psalm 23 in various translations as well as the analysis of words and expressions like YHWH ro‘i, mizmor ledavid, and many others. Furthermore, the author touches on the issue of faithfulness in the process of translating Psalm 23. In 5.5, he also talks about the three early versions of Psalm 100 and the identity of the translators. Chapter 6 chooses several examples of translation and compares them. Some passages from Genesis, Proverbs, and Job are picked and analyzed. In 6.4, Hebraism in the Japanese translations are discussed in two categories: Hebraism retained and Hebraism avoided. Chapter 7, the last chapter mentions several issues including faithfulness and new translation or revision. It ends with the author’s personal perspective appreciating the enormous efforts of the missionary translators and the Japanese assistants.<BR> Although there are some weaknesses in this book, the beneficial aspects are much more than enough. I hope someday this kind of study is published on the Korean translations of the Hebrew Bible.