TRANSLATING A TRANSLATION: NOTES ON THE TRANSLATION OF FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES

Abstract

This paper discusses the difficulties and challenges of translating the First Book of Maccabees into Portuguese, given the characteristics of the Greek text and its character as a translation of a Semitic original now lost. The attempt to produce a translation in Portuguese following the principle of dynamic equivalence required a continual process of negotiation since the Greek text (translated) is already a translation that sought formal correspondence with its Hebrew source. The steps of these negotiations and the translator's considerations are herein presented through the discussion of various cases.