- Aug 27, 2014
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I found this video the other day when looking for a translation of the Nicene Creed in Syriac, as I had heard that there was some different wording than the standard version used in the other OO churches. Instead we see that there were at least differences in the English translation, which have been corrected to match the original Syriac and/or the 'general OO wording' in the new (2018) edition of the service book for the Holy Qurbono.
It is interesting to me that before they had "of the Holy Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost", with the Theotokos first and the Holy Spirit second. I'm sure there was no 'demotion' going on there (it's not wrong as it was), but I definitely prefer the 'new' (old) wording, which as Father points out is reflective of both the Syriac and the Malayalam (the native language of most of the Malankara Orthodox people) -- so this really was just a fluke of English translation.
I wish the Copts would similarly correct some of the awkwardness in our English language service books. They're mostly pretty good, especially for first passes (I have the first English edition of the liturgy of St. Basil around here somewhere; if I recall correctly it was only commissioned c. 1992), but could still be better, from a native English-speaker's perspective. Perhaps with time as more generations are raised in the west, it will happen.
It is interesting to me that before they had "of the Holy Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost", with the Theotokos first and the Holy Spirit second. I'm sure there was no 'demotion' going on there (it's not wrong as it was), but I definitely prefer the 'new' (old) wording, which as Father points out is reflective of both the Syriac and the Malayalam (the native language of most of the Malankara Orthodox people) -- so this really was just a fluke of English translation.
I wish the Copts would similarly correct some of the awkwardness in our English language service books. They're mostly pretty good, especially for first passes (I have the first English edition of the liturgy of St. Basil around here somewhere; if I recall correctly it was only commissioned c. 1992), but could still be better, from a native English-speaker's perspective. Perhaps with time as more generations are raised in the west, it will happen.
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