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撮要

士師記有許多翻譯的難題，包括此書的書名和主角的職銜、修辭手法，如雙關語和反語、體裁，如敘述體和詩歌、文學結構和語段結構、數字，還有士師記十六章24至25節的翻譯。本文的目的是要探討如何解決上述的難題，因而有更忠於原文的譯文。

ABSTRACT

The book of Judges raises a number of translational issues. First is the name of the book itself and the function of those “judges.” From the context it is clear that they do not “judge” in the modern sense. How should we render that term? The use of irony presents another challenge. For example, how can we convey the irony of Eglon’s name “fat cow”? Should we translate it that way or explain in a footnote? Also the irony of the Benjaminite (son of the right hand) who was “defective in his right hand.” An additional challenge is to adequately render those passages which are poetic to distinguish them from prose portions. We should avoid trying to harmonise the details of chs. 4 and 5. We need to recognise the discourse function of verses 14 and 15 in ch. 9. Here the fable climaxes with the bramble’s response and that response, its form and terminology, sets the pattern for verses 16-20. Can we simply translate numberals as though they were specific totals when the book uses them to indicate general amounts? “Seventy” has a literary function as an inclusio in ch. 9. Finally we recognise some of the textual problems and how they challenge the translator to confront this issue with a suggestion for rendering 16:24-25.

原載於《建道學刊》4期（1995年7月），頁17-27。