Thanks for sharing the Latin version of today's O antiphon. It is so much richer than the USCCB's English version , at least based on Google translate. (Any Latin scholars may do even better).
Thanks for sharing the Latin version of today's O antiphon. It is so much richer than the USCCB's English version , at least based on Google translate. (Any Latin scholars may do even better).
Latin to English via Google:
O key of David
and the scepter of the house of Israel;
who opens and no one closes;
you close and no one opens:
come and bring the prisoner out of the prison house
sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.
vs. USCCB version:
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!
Does anyone know why the USCCB version is dumbed down? The opens/closes line really explains the antiphon, at least to me, and I had no idea it was there until reading this article.
The early translations of everything in the breviary and the collects for Mass and stuff were all NOT faithful transactions of the Latin sentence structure but rather broken up and simplified like a mother cutting steak into little pieces for a child that only recently got enough teeth to chew them. This is why we wait patiently for the new translation of the breviary (the Mass collects already have been updated and what a difference it makes.). As for why: probably because people were thinking that laypeople are dumb.
I might say, because people knew that some laypeople *are* dumb, and chose to give us what they thought even the dumbest of us could easily understand, rather than giving us the real deal and letting us ponder it in our hearts.
Thanks for sharing the Latin version of today's O antiphon. It is so much richer than the USCCB's English version , at least based on Google translate. (Any Latin scholars may do even better).
Latin to English via Google:
O key of David
and the scepter of the house of Israel;
who opens and no one closes;
you close and no one opens:
come and bring the prisoner out of the prison house
sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.
vs. USCCB version:
O Key of David,
opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom:
come and free the prisoners of darkness!
Does anyone know why the USCCB version is dumbed down? The opens/closes line really explains the antiphon, at least to me, and I had no idea it was there until reading this article.
The early translations of everything in the breviary and the collects for Mass and stuff were all NOT faithful transactions of the Latin sentence structure but rather broken up and simplified like a mother cutting steak into little pieces for a child that only recently got enough teeth to chew them. This is why we wait patiently for the new translation of the breviary (the Mass collects already have been updated and what a difference it makes.). As for why: probably because people were thinking that laypeople are dumb.
I might say, because people knew that some laypeople *are* dumb, and chose to give us what they thought even the dumbest of us could easily understand, rather than giving us the real deal and letting us ponder it in our hearts.
Americans, who live the most cosseted lives imaginable, have a gift for dumbing down just about everything. And we're proud of that, God help us.
“Why waste time say lot word when few word do trick?” -Kevin, The Office