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Are the modern Bible translations reliable?
- Thread starter ZooGirl02
- Start date
ZooGirl02
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry, how was I off topic when you mentioned "Islam" in your post?
You wasn't off topic. I was only mentioning that we should not go off topic in the future of this thread. Sorry about the confusion.
They're reliable enough to use and feel comfortable about (some of them, anyway). Can we always get a better translation? Yes. Can we ever convey the full nuance of one language into another language? No, not really. But can we still take a translation of the Bible and still get a pretty faithful conveyance of what it meant in the original language? Yes.
Marie75
Liberal
That's ok. I thought about it, I am assuming that you meant that if I want to talk about what I believe about the Islam religion, I shall post it in the appropriate topic although, it may get a bit argumentative so I think I'll pass. Thank you, I'm just getting acquainted with the forum. I grew up Catholic...that doesn't say that I am..there are too many religions to say one is right.(ooops I guess I'm off topic again...sorry :help. I'll try to not to sway.
. I'll try to not to sway.
Sculelos
Active Member
Ah these words I presume.
"אֱלֹהֶיךָ"
"A person displaced from his home was my father"
As for the original topic. I actually think the original translator's did a great Job despite the difficulty in understanding the ancient scrolls. (However as for english versions I only read the KJV as I think it was must heavily scrutinized and therefore most likely the most accurate English translation we have)
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ZooGirl02
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I appreciate this explanation! Also, the explanation in the article that I posted I think does a good job of explaining the Bible's accuracy too.
That's ok. I thought about it, I am assuming that you meant that if I want to talk about what I believe about the Islam religion, I shall post it in the appropriate topic although, it may get a bit argumentative so I think I'll pass. Thank you, I'm just getting acquainted with the forum. I grew up Catholic...that doesn't say that I am..there are too many religions to say one is right.(ooops I guess I'm off topic again...sorry :help
Yes, that is what I meant. Don't be sorry.
You did nothing wrong. 
Levite
Higher and Higher
I would say some translations are moderately reliable. For example, the JPS Tanach, which I would say is probably overall one of the two or three best English translations of the whole Tanach is relatively reliable for accurately rendering the basic narrative flow of most of the texts, and they don't do too badly on the more intellectual, rationalistic wisdom literature, like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs. But they suck at poetry, and while relatively accurate, they consistently render poetry into prose, and even their attempts at truly poetic passages are flat at best. And that's a fairly consistent problem in all the major translations, often exacerbated by translators running roughshod over idiom and colloquialism, metaphor and imagery, or failing to note how Hebrew uses its own internal resonances to evoke nuances of meaning.
But either JPS or Koren is still a far more accurate and faithful rendering than classics like the KJV, Tyndale, or Douay-Rheims, and is probably still consistently more reliable than even later and better efforts like Anchor, Jerusalem Bible, or NSRV. And yet...neither JPS nor Koren has the faithfulness and power of Everett Fox's or Robert Alter's The Five Books of Moses, or Fox's Give Us A King (Samuel and part of 1 Kings), or Alter's excellent Psalms, The Wisdom Books, or The David Cycle.
Obviously, I can't speak to the Christian scriptures; but then, those aren't in my Bible....
But either JPS or Koren is still a far more accurate and faithful rendering than classics like the KJV, Tyndale, or Douay-Rheims, and is probably still consistently more reliable than even later and better efforts like Anchor, Jerusalem Bible, or NSRV. And yet...neither JPS nor Koren has the faithfulness and power of Everett Fox's or Robert Alter's The Five Books of Moses, or Fox's Give Us A King (Samuel and part of 1 Kings), or Alter's excellent Psalms, The Wisdom Books, or The David Cycle.
Obviously, I can't speak to the Christian scriptures; but then, those aren't in my Bible....
Shermana
Heretic
The word in question is "Abad", it almost always means "Perishing" or "Destroy", so "A perishing Aramean" would probably be the most likely.
I prefer the Douay Rheims over the KJV in most cases, but it's far from perfect.
You obviously have no clue.
On what possible grounds could you judge that "this looks close enough"?
(I'm currently rereading Alter's Job. Great! BTW, please PM me if you know of a really good Job commentary.)
No, I'm talking about these words ...
Give me the "reliable" translation of Deuteronomy 26:5 - specifically "arami oved avi" (אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי
Parenthetically ...Good grief ...
Sculelos
Active Member
You obviously have no clue.
On what possible grounds could you judge that "this looks close enough"?
No, I'm talking about these words ...You should stop embarrassing yourself.
These words "אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי"
The meaning of those words is "The Lord God over Heaven and Earth"
I was talking about the first sentence which used the context of the words you given me. Seriously those words have nothing to do with any human being.
What would you say it means then. Because that is pretty much the only meaning I can derive from such wording. However old Aramaic is not really understandable by most. Even modern day Jews really have no more understanding of the ancient scrolls then modern day english speakers do of ancient english.
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I would agree given one modest modification: change "Yes" to something like "In most instances."
No, it is not. Really, Sculelos, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about and you seem intent on making it painfully obvious. Why don't you just stop - for your own sake?
And this ... ... by the way, is the most laughable of all. :yes:
Sculelos
Active Member
I don't know what I'm talking about, but I do know what they are talking about and I'm not exactly sure what your point is? The whole verse translated as close as possible to my understanding of energy is this.
וְעָנִיתָ וְאָמַרְתָּ לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, אֲרַמִּי אֹבֵד אָבִי, וַיֵּרֶד מִצְרַיְמָה, וַיָּגָר שָׁם בִּמְתֵי מְעָט; וַיְהִי-שָׁם, לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל עָצוּם וָרָב.
"And you shall speak and say before the Lord God, A man displaced from his home was my father and he went down to Egypt and God blessed him there and he became a great, mighty and prosperous nation."
So for enlightenment if I don't know the meaning of the verse, then why don't you tell me of the meaning? This verse is clearly speaking of Joseph and his enslavement in Egypt and his rise to greatness in the foundation of Israel as a nation.
Levite
Higher and Higher
That is not even close to true. It is literally embarrassing how incorrect that is. The phrase is usually translated along the lines of "My father was a wandering Aramean," although the construction is odd enough that several other meanings are possible, most along the lines of "My father was a lost Aramean," or "My father was an endangered Aramean."
Whether that is true or not, it is irrelevant, since the verse is in Hebrew.
Any decently educated Jew has more facility with Biblical Hebrew than the average educated Anglophone has with Middle English, let alone Anglo-Saxon. And in any case, Biblical Hebrew is to Modern Hebrew more as Elizabethan English is to Modern English. Far closer and easier to decode. You might wish to learn some more about both the Hebrew language and Jewish life and thought.