12-03-2013, 07:07 AM
Are you talking about his interlinear version, which has the Aramaic text (in Hebrew characters), and his English translation?
If you are only going to get his translation in English, then it is read left to right, like all English books are read.
I haven't compared his translations of the Psalms with the Lamsa translation, but David is for the most part, true to the actual text, as his stand alone English editions are made from his earlier Interlinear renderings of each word in the text, so it is very literal to start with, then he smooths out the English a bit...I have found it to be pretty accurate, but for some places were I have seen he has his interpretations, rather than a straight translation of the word. Read with caution, and check it out, when it sounds odd. He is not as literal as I like, for study, but he is better than some out there to sticking close to the actual reading of the text.
And the text he chose to translate...it is from the UBS critical Western Peshitto version, which is not always the same as what is found in the Eastern Peshitta, and which is the older version, not being influenced by the Greek, as the Western version has been. I have been comparing the two versions for some time and have found 22 differences so far, some minor, but some pretty major too.
If you get it, make sure you get the latest edition too, as he has many out there for sale, and the older ones needed to be fixed. I have the 6th edition, 2011 printing...but, he may be on the 7th or 8th by now, not sure. If you still find something mis-printed or mis-formated, just let him know, and he should be quick to fix it, like he did my copies.
Shlama,
Chuck
If you are only going to get his translation in English, then it is read left to right, like all English books are read.
I haven't compared his translations of the Psalms with the Lamsa translation, but David is for the most part, true to the actual text, as his stand alone English editions are made from his earlier Interlinear renderings of each word in the text, so it is very literal to start with, then he smooths out the English a bit...I have found it to be pretty accurate, but for some places were I have seen he has his interpretations, rather than a straight translation of the word. Read with caution, and check it out, when it sounds odd. He is not as literal as I like, for study, but he is better than some out there to sticking close to the actual reading of the text.
And the text he chose to translate...it is from the UBS critical Western Peshitto version, which is not always the same as what is found in the Eastern Peshitta, and which is the older version, not being influenced by the Greek, as the Western version has been. I have been comparing the two versions for some time and have found 22 differences so far, some minor, but some pretty major too.
If you get it, make sure you get the latest edition too, as he has many out there for sale, and the older ones needed to be fixed. I have the 6th edition, 2011 printing...but, he may be on the 7th or 8th by now, not sure. If you still find something mis-printed or mis-formated, just let him know, and he should be quick to fix it, like he did my copies.
Shlama,
Chuck