英王欽定本聖經的由來與英格蘭國族意識 King James Version and English Nationalism

英王欽定本聖經的由來與英格蘭國族意識 King James Version and English Nationalism 

● 字源

「Vernacular」源自拉丁文 vernaculus(本地的、本土的),原指 verna(家中出生的奴隸),後引申為「本國語言、白話」。此詞指一般人日常使用的母語,與拉丁文等學術、教會語言相對。「Cadence」源自拉丁文 cadere(落下),經義大利文 cadenza 傳入,意為「抑揚節奏、韻律」。

● 例句

Nowhere did English national feeling find a steadier voice than in the translation that King James I, who distrusted the Geneva Bible's marginal notes, which he thought taught defiance of kings, commissioned in 1604 after Puritan delegates, whose plea for church reform he rejected, asked at Hampton Court for a new version, and which some fifty scholars, divided into companies at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge, finished in 1611, so that parishes, which the Church of England obliged to hear it read aloud, came to share a cadence that later generations, who forgot its royal origins, would call their own.

(約 99 字)

● 排列為比較容易閱讀的方式

Nowhere did English national feeling find a steadier voice

than in the translation

that King James I,

who distrusted the Geneva Bible's marginal notes,

which he thought taught defiance of kings,

commissioned in 1604

after Puritan delegates,

whose plea for church reform he rejected,

asked at Hampton Court for a new version,

and which some fifty scholars,

divided into companies at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge,

finished in 1611,

so that parishes,

which the Church of England obliged to hear it read aloud,

came to share a cadence

that later generations,

who forgot its royal origins,

would call their own.

● 分解為原初的短小句

English national feeling never found a steadier voice than in the translation.(Nowhere 提前造成倒裝;主幹為 find a steadier voice than in。)

King James I commissioned the translation in 1604.(that 引導之關係子句,受詞 that 前置。)

James distrusted the Geneva Bible's marginal notes.(who 引導之插入子句。)

He thought the notes taught defiance of kings.(which 引導之插入子句;think 之後省略 that。)

Puritan delegates asked at Hampton Court for a new version.(after 子句之主幹,被 whose 子句切開。)

James rejected the delegates' plea for church reform.(whose 引導之插入子句,受詞 plea 前置。)

Some fifty scholars finished the translation in 1611.(and which 引導之並列關係子句,受詞 which 前置。)

The scholars were divided into companies at Westminster, Oxford and Cambridge.(過去分詞片語插入,作補充說明。)

The Church of England obliged parishes to hear it read aloud.(which 引導之插入子句;oblige + 受詞 + to 不定詞。)

Parishes came to share a cadence.(so that 引導之結果子句主幹。)

Later generations would call the cadence their own.(that 引導之關係子句;call + 受詞 + 補語。)

They forgot its royal origins.(who 引導之插入子句。)

● 文法解析

Nowhere + 助動詞倒裝(Nowhere did + 主詞 + 原形動詞):

否定副詞片語 nowhere 置於句首時,助動詞 did 提前,主詞 English national feeling 隨後,動詞回到原形 find。後面接 steadier ... than in,是否定倒裝與比較級的結合,意為「再沒有比……更穩固」。

than in 與 that 關係子句(the translation that King James I ... commissioned):

than in 之後的名詞 the translation 被 that 子句長長修飾。that 是 commissioned 的受詞,故主詞 King James I 與動詞 commissioned 之間被 who 子句和 which 子句夾住,相隔約 20 字。

which 套 which 的插入(who distrusted ..., which he thought taught ...):

who 子句內再套 which 子句,whichever 的先行詞是 notes。he thought 是插入語,還原為 which taught defiance of kings。

after 子句與 whose 插入(after Puritan delegates, whose plea ... he rejected, asked ...):

after 之後的主詞 delegates 與動詞 asked 之間插入 whose 子句。whose plea 是 rejected 的受詞,被帶到子句最前面,還原為 he rejected their plea。

and which 並列與分詞插入(and which some fifty scholars, divided into ..., finished):

and which 與前面的 that 並列,同修飾 translation。which 是 finished 的受詞,被前置。divided 為過去分詞片語,補充說明 scholars 的分組方式。

so that 結果子句與 which 插入(so that parishes, which the Church ... obliged to hear it read aloud, came):

so that 在此引導結果,意為「以致於」。parishes 是 which 子句中 obliged 的受詞,故 which 前置。hear + 受詞 + 過去分詞(hear it read)表被動。

that 關係子句與 who 插入(a cadence that later generations, who forgot ..., would call their own):

that 是 call 的受詞,call + 受詞 + 補語(their own)意為「稱之為自己的」。主詞 generations 與動詞 would call 之間插入 who 子句。

● 參考譯文

詹姆士一世不信任日內瓦聖經的旁注,認為那些旁注教人反抗君王。清教徒代表在漢普頓宮會議上請求重譯聖經,他雖駁回其教會改革的主張,仍於一六○四年下令譯經,由約五十位學者分組於西敏、牛津與劍橋,在一六一一年完成。國教會規定教區須誦讀此本,於是各地信眾共享一種節奏與語感,後世遂視之為自己所有,忘了它的王權來歷。英格蘭民族情感再沒有比這部譯本更穩固的聲音。

● 補充說明

句型亮點與文法變化:

Nowhere + 助動詞倒裝: 前幾篇已用過 Such、No sooner、Seldom、Little、Only after、Not only、Not until、Hardly、Were it not for、So ... that、Never 等倒裝,本篇改用 Nowhere did ... find ... than in,並以 that 與 and which 兩個並列關係子句拉開 did 與 find 之後的內容。

不使用分號: 全句僅以 that、who、which、whose、after、and which、so that 等連接詞與關係詞推進,單一主幹(Nowhere did English national feeling find a steadier voice than in the translation)貫穿到底。

插入中的插入: that 子句內套 who,who 內又套 which;after 子句內套 whose;so that 子句內套 which,其後的 that 子句內又套 who。

兩種前置: Nowhere 造成的主助動詞倒裝,以及 that、whose plea、which、which 等處的受詞前置,讀者須還原語序。

更多相關歷史例子(可替換或延伸使用):

1604 年漢普頓宮會議由清教徒領袖約翰·雷諾茲提出重譯聖經之議,詹姆士一世同意,成為欽定本的起點。

1611 年欽定本初版問世,以丁道爾譯本與《主教聖經》為重要底本,丁道爾譯文留存比例極高。

1560 年日內瓦聖經因旁注而盛行於清教徒家庭,莎士比亞與五月花號乘客均熟悉此本。

1640 年代內戰時期,國會軍隊仍使用日內瓦聖經編成的《士兵口袋聖經》,欽定本到 17 世紀中葉才逐漸取代前者。

18 至 19 世紀,欽定本隨大英帝國擴張傳至北美、澳洲與非洲,成為英語世界共同的語言資產。

核心學術字彙與文法重點總結:

關鍵字詞: Vernacular(本國語、白話)、Cadence(韻律節奏)、Translation(譯本)、Marginal notes(旁注)、Defiance(反抗)、Commission(委託)、Delegate(代表)、Parish(教區)。

文法重點: Nowhere 倒裝、than in 比較子句、that 受詞前置與 who、which 插入、whose 插入與受詞前置、and which 並列子句、過去分詞插入、so that 結果子句、hear + 受詞 + 過去分詞、call + 受詞 + 補語。

一點小提醒: 欽定本並無國王正式頒布的「欽定」詔令,「Authorized Version」是後世的稱呼,其「獲授權」主要指由教會規定在禮拜中使用。詹姆士一世同時是蘇格蘭的詹姆士六世,蘇格蘭長老會當時仍多用日內瓦聖經,所以「英格蘭國族意識」是後來逐步形成的,而非 1611 年就已出現的現成事實。「民族主義」一詞本身亦是 18 世紀以後的概念,例句採「national feeling」以避免時代錯置。此外,受任命的譯者約 54 人,確知參與者約 47 人,「約五十位」為概數。例句實際約 99 個英文單字。參考譯文為求順暢,已調整部分分句順序。

留言

這個網誌中的熱門文章

古代三大陸 58個英文字一句話 學術型超複雜文法結構長難句 說明古代三大陸由來

英格蘭大憲章 54個英文字一句話 學術型超複雜文法結構長難句 說明美國要有成文憲法的原因

緬甸古都曼德勒故宮 63個英文字一句話 學術型超複雜文法結構長難句