The Role of Lexical Collocation in Luther’s Translation of עָמָל (ʿāmāl) in Eccl. 1:3

Abstract

Abstract This article investigates an unexplored facet of Luther’s translation of the Book of Ecclesiastes. It shows how he identified a technical linguistic phenomenon in the Hebrew text known as lexical collocation and how this ultimately shaped a number of his German renderings. This helps to solve an enigma concerning his translation of עָמָל (ʿāmāl) in Eccl. 1:3 in his Deutsche Bibel. This article also illuminates the role of intertexts in Luther’s Bible translation method, demonstrating how he frequently consulted, compared, and ultimately borrowed from multiple texts and languages to formulate his German renderings, far beyond the simple colloquial German of his day—the language of the ‘common man in the market’ and the ‘mother in the home’, which biographers of Luther so often cite. It also furthers the scholarly understanding of certain linguistic aspects of intertextuality which have not been discussed before. Finally, it identifies a number of important implications for Hebrew and German linguistics, Luther studies, and the history of medieval and early modern Bible translation. In short, this research opens up a new window, in an area never before addressed, for studies on one of the most important and influential Bible translators of all time.