Analysis of the Translation Of Go'el in the Malagasy Bible Case Study: The Book of Ruth

2018·0.79 MB·English

by  OLIVIA MAMISOA RAZAFINJATONIARY

ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSLATION OF GO'EL IN THE MALAGASY BIBLE
CASE STUDY: THE BOOK OF RUTH
A THESIS-PROJECT
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF
GORDON-CONWELL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE
DOCTOR OF MINISTRY
BY
OLIVIA MAMISOA RAZAFINJATONIARY
MAY 2018
Copyright © 2018 by Olivia Mamisoa Razafinjatoniary. All Rights Reserved.
To my dear husband, Serge Razafinjatoniary.
Am-pitiavana.
Great is Your faithfulness.
– Lamentations 3:23
CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................................................................vii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................................viii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ..........................................................................................................x
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................xi
CHAPTER
1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING ..............................................................................1
Introduction .............................................................................................................................1
What is contextualization? .......................................................................................................1
Contextualization as a means of communication .....................................................................2
Marriage and levirate marriage in Biblical Israel .....................................................................7
Marriage and levirate marriage in the Malagasy culture ........................................................12
Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................20
2. A THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF CULTURE, MARRIAGE, AND לאֵ ֹג .............23
Theological framework of culture .........................................................................................23
Theological framework of marriage ......................................................................................28
Theological framework of לאֵֹג or kinsman-redeemer ............................................................42
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................45
3. LITERATURE REVIEW ON TRANSLATION, COMMUNICATION, AND
CONTEXTUALIZATION ...............................................................................................47
Introduction ...........................................................................................................................47
Translation .............................................................................................................................47
Relevance Theory ..................................................................................................................54
Skopostheorie .........................................................................................................................62
Contextualization and Bible Translation ...............................................................................65
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................69
4. RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS OF THE TRANSLATION OF לאֵֹג ................................71
Introduction ...........................................................................................................................71
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לאֵֹג and its translation .............................................................................................................71
The understanding of havana mahavotra in a Malagasy setting ...........................................90
Conclusion .............................................................................................................................96
5. PROJECT OUTCOME: POSSIBLE TRANSLATIONS OF לאֵֹג IN RUTH ....................97
Introduction ...........................................................................................................................97
Communicative translation ....................................................................................................97
Grammatical meaning in translation: case of the Malagasy language ..................................99
A few renderings of לאֵֹג in the Old Testament ......................................................................103
The roles of the לאֵֹג in the context of Ruth ...........................................................................104
Possible interpretations of לאֵֹג in the book of Ruth .............................................................106
Problem 1: Unknown concept ..............................................................................................111
Problem 2: Semantic problems ............................................................................................112
Problem 3: Grammatical problems .......................................................................................113
Evaluation of the questionnaire on לאֵֹג ................................................................................114
Solution: Culture and context ...............................................................................................115
APPENDICES ..............................................................................................................................124
Appendix A: Questionnaire in Malagasy ............................................................................124
Appendix B: Questionnaire in English ................................................................................126
BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................................128
VITA .............................................................................................................................................134
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TABLES
1. Table 1: Occurrences of לאֵֹג in Ruth .....................................................................77
2. Table 2: Root adjective becoming a noun ............................................................89
3. Table 3: Adjective with an active verb form becoming a noun ............................89
4. Table 4: Participants per gender ...........................................................................91
5. Table 5: Participants per age group ......................................................................91
6. Table 6: Participants for each question .................................................................92
7. Table 7: Participants' reading rate .........................................................................93
8. Table 8: Understanding of HAVANA ...................................................................94
9. Table 9: Understanding of MAHAVOTRA ..........................................................95
10.Table 10: Proposed translations of לאֵֹג ................................................................121
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Special thanks goes to my two doctoral advisors at Gordon-Conwell Theological
Seminary: Bryan Harmelink, a wise and gentle leader who tirelessly cheered me up and
encouraged me to move on, whose valuable advice and guidance helped me to keep my
focus on finishing well, and Roy Ciampa, who always encourages his students to strive
for the best. Thank you.
Thanks to my classmates who were far more than cohort members and friends and
became part of my life. Our journey together will always be treasured.
I want to express my gratitude to those who invested financially in this particular
endeavor so that I could go for further studies. You are part of the miracles that happened
to me, and by extension to all the people we all serve together.
My appreciation goes to the long list of dear people whose invaluable prayers,
pastoral care, and support in one way or another during this journey of studies made it
possible to reach this stage. Each one of you are precious to me.
And to the one who walked closely with me from the beginning, who was and is
always there for me, who would wake up at night just to listen to me and to challenge me
to continue, who would unceasingly pray for me, who endured my complaints and poured
his love to me unconditionally, words are not enough to express how grateful I am for
having you in my life. Serge, you are the best. My victory is yours. Misaotra indrindra!
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My first, foremost, and deepest gratitude goes to my Abba Father for it is by His
grace that I reach this point. From the beginning of my studies, each step is a miracle and
a sign of His grace and faithfulness. I owe it all to You, Lord.
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ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations are used in grammatical glosses.
ACT Active
Adj Adjective
Adv Adverb
cond. Conditional
DEM Demonstrative
det. Determiner
FUT Future tense
impv. Imperative
LOC Locative
PASS Passive
PAST Past tense
PL Plural
POSS Possessive
PREP Preposition
PRES Present tense
3SG 3rd person Singular
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