「經譯求精」：最接近欽定版的現代早期英文聖經

Abstract

欽定版聖經譯者的工作並非要重新翻譯聖經，而是修訂主教版聖經，但也可參考其他譯本。目前學者大致同意欽定版聖經譯者的確以主教版聖經為底本，但有些學者主張日內瓦聖經影響欽定版聖經更大。本論文依抽樣計算欽定版聖經與日內瓦聖經以及主教版聖經之間的相似度。尼爾生與史考森曾設計一套研究模式計算丁道爾對於欽定版聖經的貢獻度。筆者稍微修改此計算公式:在處理每一組文本時，先分別計算兩個版本各自的字數，再計算出現在兩個版本的共同字數－共同字數乘以2再除以兩個版本合計所有字數便是相似度。筆者自聖經抽取51章樣本，據此計算出不論是新約或是舊約，日內瓦聖經與欽定版聖經的平均相似度皆為86%;而主教版聖經與欽定版聖經的新約平均相似度為90%，舊約平均相似度為78%。

The translators of the King James Bible were commanded to produce not a fresh translation but a revision based on the Bishops` Bible, yet they could consult other versions when necessary. Though it is generally agreed that the translators` base text is the Bishops` Bible, some scholars maintain that the King James Bible is more indebted to the Geneva Bible. This paper aims to tackle the issue by measuring the similarity between the King James Bible and its two predecessors based on sampling. Modifying the research model designed by Jon Nielson and Royal Skousen for their study of Tyndale`s contribution to the King James Bible, I propose to consider the King James Bible and the other version in question as a pair of text objects and calculate the similarity percentage by dividing twice the number of identical words by the total number of words of the paired text. Based on 51 sample chapters, my study concludes that the average similarity percentage between the Geneva Bible and the King James Bible is 86% regarding both the Old and New Testaments; while the average similarity percentage between the Bishops` Bible and the King James Bible is 78% regarding the Old Testament and 90% regarding the New Testament.