Description
Book SynopsisThis study examines the history of an Arabic Bible translation of American missionaries in late Ottoman Syria. Comparing the history of this project as recorded by the American missionaries with private correspondence and the manuscripts of the translation, The Contested Origins of the 1865 Arabic Bible provides new evidence for the Bible’s compilation, including the seminal role of Syrian Christians and Muslims. This research also places the project within the wider social-political framework of a transforming Ottoman Empire, where the rise of a literate class in Beirut served as a catalyst for the Arabic literary renaissance (Nahḍa), and within the international field of New Testament textual studies.
Table of ContentsForeword List of Illustrations 1 Contested Origins and Contested Contributions American Missions in the Middle East The Arabic Bible Contested Identities within the American Mission Eli Smith Buṭrus al-Bustānī Nāṣīf al-Yāzijī Cornelius Van Alen Van Dyck Yūsuf al-Asīr 2 The American Syrian Mission: Evangelism, Schools and the Press Evangelism through Preaching and Bible Distribution Protestant—Catholic Relations Establishing Schools Challenging Arab Syrian Culture 64 The Transformation of Beirut and the Establishment of Printing Presses 3 Debate over the Origins and American Contributions to the Nahḍa The Nahḍa Educational Renaissance Cultural Societies Literary Renaissance The Debate over the Role of the Americans in the Nahḍa George Antonius (1891–1942) Albert Hourani (1915–1993) Abdul Latif al-Tibawi (1910–1981) Yūsuf Nasrallah (1911–1993) and the Oriental Catholic Churches 4 Contributions to Nineteenth Century Biblical Scholarship The Bible Societies and Publishing Houses The British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS) and the American Bible Society (ABS) The Search for the Text of the New Testament Eli Smith and Edward Robinson Biblical Scholarship of the 1865 Arabic Bible Translation The textus receptus versus the eclectic text 5 The Text of the 1865 Arabic Bible Translation The Received Tradition (RT) of the Translation Primary and Secondary Sources of the so-called Van Dyck Smith’s Views on Arabic Choosing the Classical Style Smith’s Method of Translation The Death of Smith and the Appointment of Van Dyck Van Dyck’s Method of Translation The Correction of the eclectic text The so-called Van Dyck Manuscripts “Revised” or “Reviewed” 6 Reception of the Translation Publication of the Translation Responses to the so-called Van Dyck A New Translation? The Catholic Response Muslim Responses A Changing Arabic 7 Overstated, Overlooked, and Undervalued Contributions Overstated Overlooked Undervalued The so-called Van Dyck Further Research . . . Appendix Bibliography Index of Subjects and Names 271
