Getting the Bible back to its roots Interesting story. Yea, wouldn't want to appeal to the largest demographic of readers or anything
personally i've decided that since no one can seemingly read the lines of the Bible in any coherent or reasonable fashion, everyone should start reading between the lines. maybe therein lies the hope.
You know, I've never liked Ulysses. Maybe when the good professor is done rewriting the Bible, maybe he can re-do Ulysses. Something I can read in 6 or 7 seven hours...
Guy comes home from work--commute's a bitch. Everything's ********ed up at home. Time flies. No place like home. And....scene.
Don't despair for too long. Reading the Bible coherently WILL come back into fashion. Think 10 - 20 years, but it'll happen soon enough.
Actually, this makes more sense, even on the dogmatic fundamentalists' terms; It wasn't THE beginning; it was OUR beginning, right? I mean, we aren't submitting that God, us, and everything began right then, are we? Or even that this was the first thing God did, right? So yes, removing THE beginning acknowledges that GOD is the beginning, and that we are the Alpha and Omega of nothing, at least dogmatically. For everyone except the Biblical literalists, this should actually make sense.
Me too, especially since John Updike did NOT like it very much: http://www.newyorker.com/critics/books/?041101crbo_books Sounds like it weighs a ton due to the scholary apparatus. But I've read Alter's other translations, and relied heavily on his scholarship in lectures (giving him props, of course), so my guess is that it's worth a read, even if you have to wear back support to pick it up.
I'm currently reading Alter's translation and it is wonderful. Its emphasis is on cadence and rhythm. His commentary is extensive and thought provoking. His introductory essay outlines his aim which is to have the cadence of King James Version with a better translation of the Hebrew. Alter really highlights the difficult passages to translate in his commentary. Bulky but worth the $40.
Interestingly enough Michener did a bit on this in The Source, his masterpiece from about 40 years back. I always thought the idea was interesting, but never explored it. I'll probably take a crack at Alter's version.
i don't think one person on the planet understands "the roots" of the bible. they're too deep, too thick, too entangled, too pure. and so rich with the promise of paradise. if only we had the balls...
Interesting this professor finds it necessary to re-write the Bible in order for students to be able to understand it. Considering the fact that the public shcool system in this country was founded in 1627 with the specific, stated intent of teaching students to read the Bible on their own. Guess the school system has not been doing such a good job afterall. But then again, this is not the first book that has been re-written because someone didn't like the way it read. So...
Back then the language of the King James Bible wasn't a foreign language. Who talks like that anymore? Even the stuff written a hundred years ago in America isn't in the current vocabulary any more (just try reading some Poe or Twain or something). Languages change - there isn't anything wrong and plenty right with this translation of Hebrew/Greek/etc. also chaning.