Thinking in Translation : Scripture and Redemption in the Thought of Franz Rosenzweig

Thinking in Translation posits the Hebrew Bible as the fulcrum of the thought of Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929), underpinning a unique synthesis between systematic thinking and biblical interpretation. Addressing a lacuna in Rosenzweig scholarship, the book offers a critical evaluation of his engagement with the Bible through a comparative study of The Star of Redemption and his Bible translation with Martin Buber. The book opens with Rosenzweig's rejection of German Idealism and fascination with the sources of Judaism. It then analyzes the unique hermeneutic approach he developed to philosophy and scripture as a symbiosis of critique and cross-fertilization, facilitated by translation. An analysis of the Star exposes Rosenzweig's employment of translation in grafting biblical verses unto the philosophical discussion. It is followed by a reading that demonstrates how his Bible translation reflects an attempt to re-valorize the Tanakh as a distinctively Jewish scripture, over and against Christian appropriations. Thinking in Translation recasts Rosenzweig's life's work as a project of melding Judaism and modernity in an attempt to secure their spiritual and intellectual survival. Contents 7 Abbreviations 9 List of Tables 11 Acknowledgments 13 Introduction 17 Chapter 1: Redemption through Philosophy? 24 Chapter 2: Between Intellectual Homelands (1): Germanic Revolution 47 Chapter 3: Between Intellectual Homelands (2): Hebraic Redemption 66 Chapter 4: “Eternal Life in Our Midst”: Bible, Translation and the Bridge between Transcendence and Immanence 91 Chapter 5: Im Angesicht Gottes bewährt: From Truth to the Divine Face 123 Chapter 6: Redemption through Translation: Die Schrift as the Culmination of Rosenzweig’s Quest 149 Conclusion 183 Bibliography 187 Index of References 205 Index of Names 207 Index of Subjects 210 "Thinking in Translation posits the Hebrew Bible as the fulcrum of the thought of Franz Rosenzweig (1886-1929), presenting him as the author of a unique synthesis between systematic thinking and biblical interpretation. Addressing a lacuna in Rosenzweig scholarship, the book offers a critical evaluation of Rosenzweig's two major works: The Star of Redemption and his translation of the Bible together with Martin Buber"--Back cover Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg hat Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (1921-2007) herausragende israelische Gelehrte in englisch- und deutschsprachigen Veroeffentlichungen in Europa und Nordamerika bekannt gemacht. Die zu diesem Zweck von ihm begrundete Reihe Studia Judaica bietet heute ein Forum fur wissenschaftliche Studien und Editionen aus allen Epochen der judischen Religionsgeschichte.