Monday, October 16, 2006

Translation

http://englishbibles.blogspot.com/2006/10/whats-joke.html is a nice review of how wrong translations can be. But there are many reasons nonetheless for translating. 1. you learn something of the language; 2. you learn how different translations are; 3 you reach deeper into historical communication with the distant past -

I have come across many personal translations of the Psalms in the last 3 months as I have begun this study - from Berrigan to Buddhist; from literal to pious; short and long. What is the attraction? A commonality of human experience expressed in poetry in relation to a known yet unknown presence. I likely have what would be seen as a pious bias but there's more to faith than piety, and more to being than just being right about what you think you ought to think.

I cannot see yet where I am going - but I think that there is a reality to search for in the Psalms and that it has something to teach me.

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