Rice University Professor Debunks National Geographic Translation Of Gospel Of Judas

Eureka Alert ^ | 11-1-2007 | David Ruth - Rice University

[blam]

Contact: David Ruth
druth@rice.edu
713-348-6327
Rice University

Rice University professor debunks National Geographic translation of Gospel of Judas

A new book by Rice University professor April DeConick debunks a stunning claim by National Geographic's translation of the Gospel of Judas. According to that translation, Judas was a hero, not a villain, who acted on Jesus' request to betray him. DeConick disagrees.

Before releasing her book "The Thirteenth Apostle: What the Gospel of Judas Really Says," DeConick was intrigued by the original release of the Coptic Gospel of Judas and as a scholar wanted to read it for herself. While researching and translating it, she discovered that National Geographic's translators had made some serious errors.

"Once I started translating the Gospel of Judas and began to see the types of translation choices that the National Geographic team had made I was startled and concerned," DeConick said. "The text very clearly called Judas a 'demon.'"

DeConick contends that the Gospel of Judas is not about a "good" Judas or even a "poor old" Judas. It is a gospel parody about a "demon" Judas written by a particular group of Gnostic Christians who lived in the second century.

"The finding of this gospel has been called one of the most important archaeological discoveries in the past 60 years," DeConick said. "It's important that we get this right."

DeConick said many scholars and writers have been inspired by the National Geographic version.

"It appears to have something to do with our collective guilt about anti-Semitism and our need to reform the relationship between Jews and Christians following World War II," she said. "Judas is a frightening character. For Christians, he is the one who had it all, and yet betrayed God to his death for a few dollars. For Jews, he is terrifying, the man whom Christians associated the Jewish people, whose story was used against them for centuries."

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DeConick is the Isla Carroll and Percy E. Turner Professor of Biblical Studies at Rice University in Houston. To read more about her teachings, visit http://reli.rice.edu/rice_reli.cfm?a=cms,c,38,1

"The Thirteenth Apostle" (Continuum International Publishing Group) is available to purchase on www.amazon.com.

April DeConick is available nationwide for media interviews. To book an interview, contact David Ruth at 713-348-6327 or druth@rice.edu.

[Verginius Rufus]

Yes, Koine is the form of Greek used in the Greek Bible (Septuagint and New Testament). It was already widespread in the Hellenistic period, well before the Roman conquest of the eastern Mediterranean. Koine is fairly similar to Attic Greek--anyone who has studied Attic can read Koine without difficulty, apart from encountering new vocabulary items.

Linear B texts have been found on the mainland of Greece (especially at Pylos) as well as on Crete. It is obviously derived from Linear A (the Minoan script) but when and where it was developed doesn't seem to be known.

[Dustbunny]

We do not watch any show produced by the MSM about any portion of the Bible of on Christians. We do not trust their interpretations.

[ThanhPhero]

Coptic because it was found/written in Egypt. Greek was the language of the Christians and the faux Christians in Egypt, too. It had been the language of the rulers since Alexander.

[Eagle Eye]

I’m out of practice, but a few years ago I could transliterate Greek to English fairly well.

Then it is just a matter of using a few references to get the meaning of the texts.

One need not be fluent at all if one has the patience to do it.

[humblegunner]

Maybe someone should post the Greek text of this work so that all the Freepers can read it for themselves.

Yeah.

Everyone reads Greek.

[cake_crumb]

"While researching and translating it, she discovered that National Geographic's translators had made some serious errors."

Now THERE'S a big surprise.

Amazing the amount of human misery that results from mistranslations of religious texts. Who knows what new misery will be founded by people who believe Judas was a hero??

[cake_crumb]

"It appears to have something to do with our collective guilt about anti-Semitism..."

Here's a thought: everybody try to STOP BEING ANTI SEMITIC. No rationalization, just QUIT IT.

[shag377]

I know;) Hence the sublties between eimi and eimi, depending on the accent mark.

And, accent marks did not appear until the Renaissance as I recall.

[marinamuffy]

Paul never actually met Christ face to face or studied under Him, did he?

Paul definitely did meet Christ:

Acts 9
3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him,,"Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
5"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.
"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,"he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

Paul also recounts his trip to heaven in 2 Corinthians 12. I don't know if you could call that studying under Him, but I certainly think Paul was in the know :)

In Christ,
marinamuffy

[ZULU]

But the Linear A wasn’t in Greek. They haven’t “broken” it yet. Absent a “Rosetta Stone” its unlikely they will.

Its my understanding the Linear B material really realtes soley to merchandise, business transactions, nothing that can be used for real historical documentation. I didn;t know they had found it at Pylos, but since that was a Mycenaean site, I guess its not surprising.

[ZULU]

“And, accent marks did not appear until the Renaissance as I recall.”

I know the ancient’s didn’t use them. I guess they figured out meaning from context as we do with hearing their, there, and they’re.

[ZULU]

I know he met Him SPIRATUALLY, but he was not while he was on earth.

[ZULU]

They aren’t in my Bible either, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

[Verginius Rufus]

Yes, Linear A texts are in a non-Greek language. I meant the characters used in the Linear B syllabary are clearly derived from the characters used in Linear A.

Sir Arthur Evans found a lot of Linear A and Linear B at Knossos, and invented the terms, and I believe the Knossos collection of Linear B texts is still the largest. Carl Blegen, an American archaeologist, started excavating at Pylos (home of Nestor according to Homer) in 1939 and found the archives with Linear B texts right away--fortunately because WWII and the Greek Civil War prevented more work at the site until about 1950. There have been some smaller batches of Linear B found at other places on the mainland.

[Verginius Rufus]

From Herbert Weir Smyth, Greek Grammar, 38:

The invention of the marks of accent is attributed to Aristophanes of Byzantium, librarian at Alexandria about 200 B.C. The used of signs served to fix the correct accentuation, which was becoming uncertain in the third century B.C.; marked the variation of dialect usage; and rendered the acquisition of Greek easier for foreigners. The signs for the accents (and the breathings) were not regularly employed in Mss. till after 600 A.D.

[MHGinTN]

Has the notion that the written language in Knossos was derived from ancient Hebrew descendants been explored? The Zorohites left Egypt when a ruler of upper Egypt not familiar with Joseph arose to take over lower Egypt, and the then rulers of lower Egypt, the Zorohites, fled by boats to the Med Sea areas. Has linear A been compared to an hieroglyphic form of Egyptian and paleo Hebrew?

[MHGinTN]

An educated Jewish boy would have been conversant in Aramaic, and Greek, as well as able to read, write, and speak Hebrew because of the Scrolls in the Synagogue. Scholars translated the scriptures of the Jews into Greek app. 300 BC. But the transference to all Greek never caught on entirely and the very existence of the Essenes attests to the resistance to Hellenization.

[MHGinTN]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the vertical strike mark was used in ancient Greek mss to designate the end of a sentence or syllogism and the beginning of a new one, even way back to 400 BC. Is that memory correct or am I mistaken?

[steve-b]

The “render unto Caesar” quote is, in context, part of the political struggle between Jesus and his religious-establishment enemies — the latter raised the question of whether Jews should pay Roman tribute hoping to trap Jesus into answering either “yes” (offending his more radical followers) or “no” (opening himself to arrest by the Romans for sedition).

[ZULU]

I don;t know.

But I do know that initiation of the Minoan Civlization probably predated the Exodus and Joseph.

Who were the Zorohites?????