Agnès Tichit’s new book on the Hebrew New Testament

In her book “L’Evangile de Marc en hébreu – étude de la langue et enjeux théologiques des traductions de Franz Delitzsch (1877) et Joseph Atzmon (1976)” (Paris: Editions Safran, 2012), Tichit studies the two translations of the Gospel of Saint Mark, the first into a type of Biblical Hebrew, done by the 19th century German philologist Franz Delitzsch, and the second into moden Hebrew, done by a team of translators (including Yohanan Elihai and Gabriel Grossman from the kehillot), directed by Joseph Atzmon.

The first part of the book studies the translation of Mark into modern Hebrew, examining the variations that were introduced into the new editions that were published in 1991 and 1995. The book reproduces the 1995 text with the variations from the previous editions and then analyses in detail the differing choices that were made.

The second part of the book then compares the modern translation with Delitzsch’s classic translation, examining the texts of Mark 14:22-25 (the Last Supper), Mark 6:30-44 (the first multiplication of bread) and Mark 8:1-10 (the second multiplication of bread).

The third part of the book examines the theological issues involved in the choice of Hebrew vocabulary to translate particular Greek expressions in the Gospel.

At the end of the book, Tichit presents a survey she carried out among 36 members of the Hebrew speaking Catholic kehillot in Israel. The questionnaire she developed focused particularly on the use of the two translations into Hebrew in the life of the kehillot and the personal lives of the Hebrew speaking Catholic faithful in Israel.

The book is an fascinating contribution to understanding the life of Christians who live in Israel and speak Hebrew.