From: Edward Hobbs (EHOBBS@wellesley.edu)
Date: Mon Jul 22 1996 - 15:26:40 EDT
From: LUCY::EHOBBS "Edward Hobbs" 22-JUL-1996 14:23:40.18
To: IN%"scarlso1@osf1.gmu.edu"
CC: EHOBBS
Subj: RE: Spanish, again
>In reading over back-issues of NTS, there seem to be many interesting
>articles written in German. So many that I sometimes regret having
>studied French instead of German in college. Are these articles
>generally available in English/French/Italian translation? Or must I
>bite the bullet and learn some German?
>Stephen Carlson
--An answer in three parts: (1) No, these articles are not usually available in translation. (2) They are not translated for the simple reason that at meetings of the SNTS (Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas--the "elite" international society with membership only by election, mostly cream-of-the-crop scholars of Europe and America), papers may be read and discussion may be carried on in three languages: German, French, and English. Papers are thus published in those three languages, in their journal, NTS. It is assumed that everyone in the Society reads and understands all three languages, though one does not have to SPEAK in a language other than one's own--as long as it is English, French, or German! At the first meeting I attended (1961, at St. Andrews, Scotland), Willem Van Unnik (Dutch) was presiding; he fluently responded to anything any member said, in the language they spoke! His English was as good as mine, and his French and German were light years beyond mine. (The consequence of growing up in a small country whose language is not English, French, or German!) (3) Don't regret French -- it will be quite useful, indeed. But the German papers you noticed in NTS are barely the tip of the iceberg; the real flood of literature is in German-published journals, such as ZNW (and of course ZAW), ZThK, ThLZ, ThRu, etc., as well as the many journals of known theological and/or ecclesiastical bent (e.g., ThRev, ThZ, ZKTh, ThG).
Conclusion: Learning to read German is an enormous asset to any Biblical scholar. Like you, I did not learn German in college (much less high school, much much much less in the home!); I first taught myself German to understand Wagner's operas, and then soon found I REALLY needed to learn it for self-preservation!
--Edward Hobbs
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