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9th
June
2006
Now I’m sure this verse I just read doesn’t actually mean what it seems to, but I’d be surprised if some US Republican (or Australian Liberal) politician hasn’t made use of it at some point…
The heart of the wise inclines to the right,
but the heart of a fool to the left.
~ Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NRSV)
Or maybe it’s the reason why Americans drive on the wrong (right-hand) side of the road - perhaps they see it as being more biblical! Can anyone illuminate me on what this verse is really trying to say?
PS : I love the actual name of the Hebrew author of this book - Qohelet - now there’s one you could call your kids. Almost as cool as Og!
Categories : Bible |
9th
June
2006
I’ve been reading a bit of Ecclesiastes recently so this quote from George Orwell I came across today was timely. It’s his transalation of Ecc 9:11
into “modern English”…
I am going to translate a passage of good English into modern English of the worst sort. Here is a well-known verse from Ecclesiastes:
I returned and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Here it is in modern English:
Objective considerations of contemporary phenomena compel the conclusion that success or failure in competitive activities exhibits no tendency to be commensurate with innate capacity, but that a considerable element of the unpredictable must invariably be taken into account.
Now that proves that big words aren’t always best. It’s almost like a complete opposite of The Message - an anti-Message if you like. I’ve noted online, in reading, and in conversation recently quite a bit of antipathy towards The Message. While I accept the reservations about it being one person’s paraphrase, rather than an accurate translation, I still think it can be quite a useful adjunct, to help get a fresh spin on things. You wouldn’t want to use it as your sole version of the Bible though. Personally for me I’ve been combining the NLT and NRSV of late which is a nice mix.
Anyway you can read more about the Orwell quote and the writing principles it illustrates on Steve Addison’s excellent blog World Changers (yet another one to keep an eye on…)
» Orwell on writing Steve Addison’s blog » World Changers
Categories : Bible, Quotes |
