Translating the Untranslatable: Proper Names in the Septuagint and in Jerome's Vulgate

With translation of proper names, we reach the limits of what is translatable. What is the meaning of a proper name? Does it have a meaning? Taking some concrete examples (Adam, Havah, Babel, Moriah, Beer Shevah, Shear Yashuv, Baal Hamon), we will compare St Jerome technique to the Septuagint technique in order to show the extraordinary skills that the author of the Vulgate was able to display in his translation.

Hosted by the Department of Classics, co-sponsored by Religious Studies and Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies.