Watch Tower History: I need a good translation of this

Tuesday, May 28, 2019

I need a good translation of this

6 comments:

latecomer said...: This turned out to be surprisingly easier than I had hoped. First step was to transcribe the excerpt from Gothic type to Latin type, then copy that version to Google Translate. I have found that, while Yandex works better for English to Russian translation, Google Translate works better for German to English.

I suppose the excerpt is from a German language newspaper, somewhere in the eastern states, sometime in early 1844 (since Charles Fitch died in October of that year). The tolerance for divergent thought on the part of the editor is commendable. My translation follows; I hope it is useful in the research.

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Convert Ye! The world's end has come. The Millerites have pitched a big tent in Dr. Johnson's Park, and Messrs Georg Storrs, Chas. Fitch and others point out in a handbill that at 3 o'clock this afternoon, and for fifteen days every morning at 10 o'clock and every afternoon at 3 o'clock, public admonitions will be held, in which they will irrefutably prove from Scripture and history that in this year the end of the world will take place. Books, pamphlets and charts, said the ad, will be distributed free of charge to teach the audience and show them the right way.

It is to be hoped that these deluded people, of whom the greatest part are sincere in their faith, will be treated with forbearance and will not be disturbed or ridiculed in any way - freedom of press and freedom of speech are the safety anchor of our free institutions and should be respected by everyone.; May 28, 2019 at 10:37 PM
hgp said...: As a native speaker I can confirm, that the above translation is correct.; May 29, 2019 at 3:57 AM
latecomer said...: The paper's masthead reads "The Liberal Observer", of Reading, Pennsylvania. I also notice the 1843 date (not 1844); should we understand the phrase "in diesim Jahre" to mean "within the year"? Although "innerhalb des Jahres" would be a better way of indicating that.; May 29, 2019 at 4:37 AM
B. W. Schulz said...: Is this still accurate?

Convert! The world's end has come. The Millerites have pitched a big tent in Dr. Johnson's Park, and Messrs George Storrs, Chas. Fitch and others say in a handbill that at 3 o'clock this afternoon, and for fifteen days every morning at 10 o'clock and every afternoon at 3 o'clock, public warnings will be given, in which they will irrefutably prove from Scripture and history that the end of the world will take place this year. Books, pamphlets and charts, said the ad, will be distributed free of charge to instruct the audience in the right way.

It is to be hoped that these deluded people, of whom the greatest part are sincere in their faith, will be treated with forbearance and will not be disturbed or ridiculed in any way - freedom of press and freedom of speech are the safe anchor of our free institutions and should be respected by everyone.; May 29, 2019 at 9:04 AM
latecomer said...: Yes, it's effectively the same. I neglected to convert the German "Georg" to the actual "George". "Warnings" is certainly more clear than "admonitions", and "show" is just as good as "instruct". "The end of the world will take place this year" conforms better to English structure than my more awkward translation, which reflects the German syntax.

As far as the opening exhortation, "Bekehrt euch" uses the German familiar second person plural, which corresponds to the archaic English "ye". When writing for the public, a German would use the formal "Bekehren Sie". I translated it "Convert ye" because I felt the use of the familiar was an attempt by the author to employ a more "Biblical" expression, such as reflecting Luther's wording "bekehret euch" at Acts 3:19.

So I think we're in complete agreement; thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist.

Andrew Martin; May 29, 2019 at 12:34 PM
B. W. Schulz said...: You're very welcome, Andrew. All your help is appreciated.; May 29, 2019 at 2:14 PM