November 20, 2004

New Bible Version

A friend sent me a link to a CNN article about a new translation of the Pentateuch that attempts "to return the work to its original Hebrew meanings and majestic repetitions." The tone of his email gave the distinct impression that he was displeased; I think that the creation of a "major revisionist translation" by a professor at Berkeley, Robert Alter, made him a little nervous.

Alter argues "that past translations either get the Hebrew wrong or mangle the Bible's syntax or lose the power of the work or even are so up-to-the-minute that they become too conversational to be accurate or interesting."

You certainly can't argue with the "up to the minute" thing, especially after seeing translations offered at our Christian Retail Outlets today. And I'm certainly willing to believe that the KJV might not be an entirely accurate translation (not because the authors weren't careful, but because the authors didn't have access to all the resources available today. For example, a couple of major manuscripts were only found after the KJV, and I'm certain that nearly four centuries of research into the ancient Hebrew and Greek has refined our knowledge of the languages a little.

So... as long as his translation is accurate, bravo.

But the reason I bring him up was a quote from reviewer Michael Dirda from the Washington Post.

"This makes reading his version of the Torah ... thrilling and constantly illuminating: After the still, small voices of so many tepid modern translations, here is a whirlwind."

Compare with I Kings 19:11-12:

I Kings 19:11-12: "11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."

I'm reasonably certain that the irony was unintentional.

Posted by Blog Jones at November 20, 2004 12:33 PM | Category: Religion

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