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Critical Notices. 325
(7.) The selling of Joseph (Gen. xxxvii.). — This chapter is one of
the best to illustrate the success of the analytical process, and is very
carefully done in all three books. The argument seems to reach
demonstration here.
In Exodus and the following books we part company with F. and
B., though for the story of the plagues we have B.'s excellent mono-
graph in the Journal of Biblical Literature (1890). And we must
express our regret that A. does not seem to have seen this, and only
echoes the verdict of most critics that the two sources are so fused as
to be indistinguishable. On the contrary, when the right clues are
followed, they fall apart with startling clearness, and lea^e two narra-
tives marked respectively by abundant features of individuality.
And so throughout the rest of the Hexateuch we do not find Mr.
Addis venturing upon any new suggestion for fresh analysis ; in leed
he rather shrinks from a decision where the great G-eruaan and Dutch
critics are at variance amongst themselves. Usually, however, the
materials for a judgment are briefly given in a note. In Joshua he is
as modest in his conclusions as elsewhere, but he has made good use of
previous work, finding the essay of Albers (Quelkn-bericht in Jos.
i.-xii., 1890) particularly serviceable. As regards the difficult problem
of the Sinaitic legislation, it may be interesting to note that this
latest enquirer is a fresh upholder of Kuenen's view that the " Book
of the Covenant " originally occupied the place of Deuterouomy, and
was only put back to its present position to make way for the intruded
Deuteronomic legislation.
G. Harford-Battersby.
The Recent Translations and the Ethiopic Text of the Book
of Enoch.
The recent translations which we propose to review briefly here are
to be found in Dillmann's Das Buch Henoch iibersetzt und erklirt,
1853; Schodde's The Book of Enoch translated from the Ethiopic, with
Introduction and Notes, 1882 ; and Goldschmidt's Das Buch Henoch
aus dem Aethiopischen in die ursprunglich hebrdische Abfassungssprache
zwruckubersetzt ; mit einer Einleitung und Noten versehen, 1892.
These translations are all professedly founded on the Ethiopic text
of Enoch, published by Dillmann iu 1851. To the criticism of this
text we hope to address ourselves in the next number of the
Quarterly.
In the present review we must limit our consideration to the
326 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
translations, and ignore as far as possible the introductions and notes
which accompany them.
The first of these translations, i.e., that of Professor Dillmann, is a
masterly piece of interpretation, such as might reasonably be ex-
pected from the foremost Ethiopic scholar of the age. As a matter
of course it at once superseded the translations of Lawrence and
Hoffmann, corrected their many ungrammatical renderings, and
furnished an exact and trustworthy translation of the Ethiopic text
which he had edited two years previously, based on five MSS. This
translation, however, is by no means free from blemishes and imper-
fections — a fact which no one would be more ready to acknowledge
than Dillmann himself ; for it is manifest from his Ethiopic Lexicon,
published twelve years later, that he has revised and corrected his
German translation in many places. Compare, for instance, his
translation of Enoch viii. 1 with his Lexicon, Col. 823 ; of Eaoch
xxxvii. 2, 5, with his Lexicon, Col. 637 ; of xxxviii. 2 with his Lexi-
con, Col. 351, etc. In xcix. 5 the sense is altered materially. Instead
of " wird die Frucht des Mutterleibes abgehen," we should, as Dill-
mann (Lex., Col. 1286, 1332) points out, translate, " those who are
destitute will go forth." Again, in xli. 5, he returns (Lex., Col. 528)
to the translation of Lawrence and Hoffmann, which he had con-
demned in his Commentary (p. 150) as unmeaning and impossible ;
and in lx. 6 he goes back (Lex., Col. 156) to the rendering of his two
predecessors, which he criticises in his commentary (page 188) as im-
probable.
This does not exhaust, however, the list of passages which call
for correction in Dillmann's translation. Of these we will give the
two most remarkable. The second, in cvi. 13, is clearly an over-
sight. He there renders wadd*M mareiM, " ich weiss und habe
gesehen," as if the first word were jaddaku (= 'njTP). But this
latter form is not found, and, moreover, the text as it stands presents
us with a familiar Ethiopic idiom = " I have already seen." The
other, in Ixxxix. 7, is a more serious mistake. He renders neqata
rnedr araja, "die Quellen der Erde versiegten." "We have here a
twofold mistranslation : neqata is confounded with anqHa, and a
meaning has been forced on araja which it cannot bear. We should
translate, " the chasms of the earth were levelled up," i.e., filled or
closed.
It is thus clear that this translation is by no means a faultless one ;
yet, despite every defect, it will maintain a unique position in the
Enoch literature, and likewise serve as a guide to future translators.
The next translation with which we have to deal is that of Dr.
Schodde. It does not lie within our province to review here the very
Critical Nelices. 327
helpful bibliography and useful introduction and notes which ac-
company this translation. To the latter only we must direct our
attention.
The result of a thorough examination of Dr. Schodde's version is,
we fear, far from satisfactory. This translation is made professedly
f ipva Dillmann's Ethiopic text, but, as a matter of fact, such is not
always the case ; for the translator has but too often put aside the
Ethiopic version, and turned to the more easy (though more perilous)
task of rendering Dillmann's German into English. This is clear and
undeniable, from the fact that Schodde is guilty of certain mistakes
which are explicable only as renderings of Dillmann's German trans-
lation, and that, further, he has repeated nearly all the slips and
inaccuracies in that translation, even those which were afterwards
corrected in his Ethiopic lexicon. To the slips and inaccuracies of
Dillmann, Schodde has added a goodly list of his own. la xxxvi. 3
we have " every evening," instead of '' towards the west," the former
being no doubt due to Dillmann's " gegen abend,'' which might loosely
be translated either way. In lii. 8 we have " zinc will not be beaten
out," instead of "zinewdl not be esteemed." As the Ethiopic verb
has not the remotest connection with the meaning here assigned by
Schodde, the explanation will be found in his misreading Dill-
mann's "Zinn wird nicht arageschlagen werden" as " awsgeschlagen
werden."
In lxxxvi. 10, " After these northerly winds from the seventh
portal," instead of, "After these the north winds : from the seventh
portal," etc.
But the most extraordinary misconception of all is to be found in
lxii. 4, where we read " when the son enters the mouth of the mother,"
instead of " when the child enters the mouth of the womb." Here
again Dillmann's " Wann sein Sohn in den Muttermund tritt," ex-
plains this curious instance of blameworthy carelessness.
In the face of such a list as the above — and it is far from exhaustive
— it is hard to congratulate Dr. Schodde, for he has been most repre-
hensibly careless and inexact ; and yet as students of Apocryphal
literature we are grateful to him for re-introducing the knowledge of
Enoch to the English speaking world.
The third translation — that of Goldschmidt — is really an attempt
to reproduce Enoch in Hebrew, the language in which it was originally
written.
This retranslation is the work of a very young scholar, and being
so, it is a praiseworthy performance, and full of promise as to
his future. But though we must regard this young writer, who is
barely more th in twenty-one, as worthy of all encouragement, we
328 The Jewish Quarterly Review.
must deal with his work on its own merits, and assign it its position
accordingly.
A translator of the Book of Enoch into Hebrew may have one of
two aims : either he seeks to produce a readable and intelligible
version of the book for Jewish readers mainly, or else he may aim
at a scientific reconstruction of the original Hebrew text — an achieve-
ment which, if at all adequately realised, would prove an invaluable
gift to students of Apocalyptic literature. In the former case minute
accuracy and extensive knowledge of this class of literature are not
absolutely necessary ; in the latter both of these are absolutely indis-
pensable. The latter, therefore, demands a breadth of knowledge, a
largeness of experience, and a fineness of linguistic perception which
we cannot expect to find in so young a scholar as our author, be he
never so brilliant and able.
Herr Goldschmidt's book belongs in the main to the former class ;
and, judged from the standpoint of that class, it is a commendable
and interesting work. It is possible, indeed, that this writer was
ambitious of having his work ranked in the latter class, as one would
naturally conclude from the learned character of many of his notes.
Now, though it is hardly fair so to classify this book, we shall
proceed to deal with it as a work of severe and exact scholarship.
We might remark at the outset that Goldschmidt has occasionally
had recourse to later Hebrew where perfectly adequate expression was
possible in Biblical Hebrew.
Goldschmidt's retranslation is professedly from the Ethiopic text
of Dillmann, yet, like Schodde, he translates at times directly from
the German. Thus he falls into the same mistake as Schodde,
in xxxvi. 3 (see above). He reproduces Dillmann's inaccuracies
in xxxvii. 2 ; xxxviii. 2 ; Ixxxix. 7 ; xcix. 5 ; cvi. 13 ; though three
of them are corrected in Dillmann's Lexicon. In xli. 5, he adduces
Dillmann's authority for translating beul by yup ; but, as we
have shown above, Dillmann has abandoned this rendering of the
word in his Lexicon. Still more strangely, in lx. 6 he justifies,
against Lawrence and Hoffmann, his translation of Mahald by an
appeal to Dillmann's Commentary and Lexicon. The Commentary,
indeed, supports him, but the Lexicon sets aside the view advocated
in the Commentary.
Let us now turn to another class of inaccuracies, for which this
writer is sohly responsible. In xxxii. 2, bdhra ertra cannot be ren-
dered by "IID'C ?n;n, but by spO'D' ; ertra is only a transliteration
of ipvBpa ; in xxx. 1, qvdldtd should be rendered by JWM and
not nWIJ; in xxviii. 3, 1TV should be 1?JP, the opposite ; in xxvi. 1,
fUtf'Xn should be 3tfD, as a rendering of jenaber : in xxii. 12, INI
Critical Notices. 329
should be 1K"in ; in xviii. 2, HIBJf should be y*p~\, as a rendering of
tsena=<rrtpea>iia ; in x. 18 K?DT1 should be nayn (tetgabar) "wird
bebaut werden " ; in x. 13, it is most misleading to render the place
of the fallen watchers' imprisonment 71XS\
la verses xv. 11 — xvi. 1, the Hebrew is not a rendering of the
Ethiopic text. This text is, it is true, corrupt, but that is not enough
to justify the addition of some words, and the change of others into
exactly the opposite meaning, unless we are duly notified of such
additions and changes.
Again we have noticed among others the omission of the following
phrases " all the children of men " (x. 7), " will make war" (xv. 11),
"on which they shall be judged" (xix. 1), "to the end of it"
(xxvi. 2), " which he saw " (xxxvii. 1).
Again in xiv. 5 ; xvii. 3 ; xxvi. 4, 5 ; xxxiv. 3, there are needless
transpositions of words and clauses. "We have remarked many
errata ; one appears even on the illuminated title page in the Ethiopic.
Finally, conjecture is introduced in xvii. 7 without any attempted
justification in the notes. The Ethiopic gives " the mountains of the
darkness (or dark clouds) of winter," which this translator gratuitously
changes into *ay Wan, from Job xxxvii. 16.
The Ethiopic no doubt is corrupt, but this change is not one for
the better.
Our author tries to emend the well-known passage in xc. 38. He
thinks the text originally stood n?on \T1 H7D TV>T\ DH3 pt5>X"im
r6nj nvh Sinn, but that n^O got corrupted into r&D; but Gold,
scbmidt has failed to see that only in the preceding verse the Messiah
is symbolised by a white bull, and could hardly, therefore, be spoken
of in this verse as a lamb.
On the other hand he very rightly regards the words " the Son of
the woman," lxii. 5, as a late corruption.
Though the above errors — and the list is far from complete —
would constitute an unanswerable indictment against this Hebrew
retranslation if regarded as a scientific reproduction of the
text, they do not seriously affect its value if it claims to be
merely the book of Enoch in a Hebrew dress for Jewish and
other readers, who, like the present reviewer, are interested in this
literature, and therefore welcome the appearance of Herr Gold-
schmidt's work. But the scientific reconstruction of the Hebrew
text is still a desideratum. Hence we look forward with growing
interest to the long-promised work of M. Halevi.
R. H. Charles.