Literacy

There is what you say and then there is how you say it. Similarly, there is what you read, and the way you understand it. Consider the following four ways of expressing the same verse from Genesis 12:5.

NRSV
Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan.

Inspired Version
And Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

The Message
Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.

The Living Bible
He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth--the cattle and slaves he had gotten in Haran--and finally arrived in Canaan.

Isn’t it interesting that here we have four ways of saying the same thing, and four expressions to describe a certain group of people:
persons whom they had acquired in Haran,
souls they had gotten in Haran,
people they had gotten in Haran,
slaves he had gotten in Haran.

I actually checked 10 different versions of the Bible in preparing this blog, and The Living Bible was the only one that was prepared to use the word slaves in the text. (To be fair, the New American Bible adds the following definition of “Persons” in a footnote: “Persons: slaves and retainers that formed the social aggregate under the leadership of Abraham;”, so I suppose we could say that two versions acknowledged this truth.)

The point here is not that the various versions are trying to hide anything. The point is not that Abram apparently began his great adventure with a trip to the slave markets in Haran, nor is it that God’s chosen man of the hour was some horrible person because he was a slave-master. Slavery was a sad reality throughout all the periods of history touched on in the Bible. The point is that almost all the various versions of the Bible gloss over or do not point out this fact, and it is very easy to miss. It is an argument for biblical literacy; an informed and educated approach to understanding what the Bible is really saying. It also makes a case for using more than one version of scripture when we read.

Just in case anyone is now thinking, “Well I am not a trained Biblical scholar, so I guess I just won’t bother to read it at all”, let me hasten to add that becoming biblically literate is a life long process. It is also an enjoyable adventure; a delightful quest of discovery and a growing relationship with a text that has inspired millions of people for millennia. It is part of our faith journey; our soul-filling quest for and adventure with the God of life and love.

Here’s to reading the Bible again, whether for the first or fiftieth time.

Posted by Carman

Versions

If part of your Christmas tradition is to listen to the Queen’s message on Christmas morning, you will know that Her Royal Highness, Elizabeth II broadcast her message this year from the chapel at Hampton Court. This is the palace where in 1604, King James, as head of the Church of England, convened what has become known as the Hampton Court Conference. This gathering discussed problems pertaining to scripture and the use of scripture by the clergy, particularly as articulated by the Puritans, a group within the Church of England.

It was at this conference that the idea was conceived of commissioning of a new version of the Bible. Consequently, a group of scholars were retained and given the task of translating the Bible anew. They would translate the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) from Hebrew, the New Testament from Greek, and the Apocrypha from Greek and Latin. The 47 scholars worked hard, employing strict scholarly process. They completed their work in seven years, and in 1611, the new Holy Bible was printed for the first time.

King James’ commission was not the first attempt at an English Bible; in fact such efforts are known to have existed as early as the seventh century. This was not even the first try for an “official” English translation, but is in fact the third. The first such effort was commissioned by the Church of England during the reign of King Henry VIII. The resulting work was known as the Great Bible. The second was commissioned in 1568 and was called the Bishop’s Bible. Each Bible had its critics and problems continued to exist. The publication was also not the last such effort. More than 450 different English versions of the Bible are known to have been published over the years.

2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the first printing of what we now know as the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. It was a remarkable achievement of scholarship that has stood the test of time. Much more could be said concerning this important accomplishment, however those comments can readily be found elsewhere. There will undoubtedly be many more comments, both pro and con, made in the coming year. Stay tuned!

Some of you may have things you would like to say yourselves on this matter. As always you are invited to click on the comments button and share them with the rest of us.

Posted by Carman