On abomination
Will Crawley has written an interesting piece discussing the biblical meaning of the word abomination.
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BfB,
Interesting comparsion with Islam. They of course get round the tranlation problem by not translating it – or a least maintaining the position of the original arabic one, you can get a translation but a mere tranlation it it.
WHO SAID BOLG SARCASM IS INEFFECTIVE?
WELCOME TO THE NUCLEAR ISLAMIC STATE
ggn @ 05:54 PM:
I’m no expert, but my gut feeling is that the KJV relies heavily on influences from the various Latin versions. After all, those were engrained into the fabric of post-medieval thought, even into the structure of discourse. Consider how many references, how many phrasings in Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton and any other writer one cares to mention derive from Biblical text. What else could be expected from those that had heard the text since birth, repeated in the cyclical annual readings, had learned to read from those pages?
I have no Hebrew, so am disqualified from any useful exegesis of the OT: many years ago I had to deal with the NT through the Greek, so I know that’s close enough — but not word-for-word.
Those KJV committee-men were diligent; Lancelot Andrews (then Dean of Westminster), George Abbot (later Arch at Canterbury) and Andrew Downes (Professor of Greek at Cambridge) were doing their best. But they had, by modern standards, their limitations. There were also the political (and, indeed, social) constraints. They could not be too radical in their interpretations, even had they wanted to: the Great Bible and its cadences were already absorbed into popular consciousness.
Meanwhile, I’m trying desperately to recall my sources. I reckon William Neil’s Bible Companion is probably the main one. It’s certainly got me out of tight argumentative corners over the years.
Back to the main issue: once we accept that Iris Robinson and Co. are misrepresenting thousands of years of tradition, we might be able to have a more informed discussion. For example: can anyone, anywhere propose chapter and verse of Jewish persecution of homosexuals, based upon the Leviticus “law”?
Was it Gandhi who proposed, “Hate the sin, love the sinner”? Even were we ignorant enough to regard homosexuality as a “sin”, my impression is that Judaism, here and generally, manages levels of tolerance not often found among those fundamentalist Christian students of “Old Testament” morality.
No one is mentioning the fact that a careful reading of the New Testament could lead to a belief that Jesus and his “favourite” had a thing going.
Curiosity led me to investigate how the Leviticus verse is translated in modern Bibles. So, I pulled up the Bible Gateway and checked the verse in the various Bible translations listed there. The older translations, it seems, stayed with the “abomination” terminology. A couple of the newer translations, however, told us that we should [b]detest[/b] the action. Hardly a complete investigation, but sort of interesting, thought I.
Malcolm,
Interesting observation on Judaism, I have always wondered how Judaism can produce some very liberal and socialist people despite the fact that their faith is undiluted / untempered by the New Testament.
It is interesting, that according to Wikipedia anyway that there are people who believe that the KJV is divinely inspired, therefore it is even more authoritive than the Hebrew.
A striking similarity to Islam I think.
An interesting question for fundamentalist Christians will be in one hundred years or so will be when the language of the Bible becomes incomprehensible to English speakers as the language developes.
It is interesting that one of the key tasks of the proposed Ulster Scots academy is the translation of the Bible into Ulster Scots. Yet, there is no indication that any Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic scholars will be employed.
It is interesting that one of the key tasks of the proposed Ulster Scots academy is the translation of the Bible into Ulster Scots.
Good grief!
ggn @ 10:15 AM:
Thanks you for that heart-warming news on a tiresome morning.
Driftwood @ 10:22 AM:
Precisely.
However, http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/corpus/search/document.php?documentid=688:
OK thanks for all that
Now lets see if it will help Iris keep her job.
Different Drummer @ 04:01 PM:
In which case, from above …
… waesucks.
A term which I believe deserves immediate revival and endless repetitition.
Now Now Come Come Malcolm goodredfellow….
You may the power to help Iris keep her job.
Malcom my goodredfellow
You Came You Saw Proslyetised
You may once have had the power to help Iris.