Form and Genre: Translating Procedural Texts in Leviticus

Abstract

In most translations, the form of procedural texts in Leviticus is represented in the same way as, for example, that of narrative texts. Further, a sentence-by-sentence rendering results in the retaining of numerous repetitions. Both practices poorly represent the genre and function of these texts, as well as impeding their readability. The literary nature of the texts and their communicative functions may be better represented through restructuring and through use of distinctive formatting; I indicate how this might be done for Leviticus 2 and 3.