It bothers me that we are presented with translations into English that must, to some extent (how much I wouldn't know but others might claim they do!) depend on the interpretor's own version of either a) what they've been taught it "really means" or b) some subconscious influence as to what it should mean that they have injected - not necessarily the original intention. This is possibly the case in translations of hieroglyphic texts as much as (in this instance) biblical texts, which is why I tend to not entirely trust what I'm told is the official accepted version of meanings of texts (Gnostic, Egyptian, Biblical or otherwise you must understand!)


This is a huge problem, especially in Protestantism -- and Islam! -- since these sects place so much emphasis on the authority of Scripture. The original Greek in the New testament has Jesus saying 'follow after me' when the Apostles doubt him -- which is a rough contemporary equivalent to our defiant comeback 'Watch me!' when someone doubts we can accomplish something or other. But this is usually translated by a weirdly stilted phrase such as 'Get thee behind me, Satan!' -- apparently because "Jesus the Christ" could never possibly say anything that implied he was 'proving' anything. Any doubt must be dispalled instantly with a majestic denial (it almost looks like an exorcism with the 'Satan' part) rather than wait any length of time for proof by performance. And in a more abstract vein the phrase 'There shall be time no more' in the Revelation is often mis-translated as 'The period of waiting is over.' in contemporary 'revised' Bibles. An obviously destruction of meaning to nearly any readers of these boards, I'm sure. Preconceptions and misunderstandings are bad enough but many things we 'know' about the Bible were just made up by so-called 'translators' such as the so-called 'coat of many colors' given to Joseph. It's a simple 'long coat with sleeves' in the original Hebrew. Apparently this was not 'exciting enough' to the English-speaking sensibilities of the time to explain the jealousy of the other brothers, so they had to jazz it up. Most people had full-length clothes by the era of King James, of course... :) So they had to add color to make a believable reason for the jealousy. Again, altering the actual text to suit their own sensibilities. These are just a few of the mistakes recognized today. Who knows how many more are yet to be revealed by further research or discoveries of new literature giving new insights into the Greek or Hebrew language of the time? And yet there are still vast numbers of Protestants (and even a few Catholics) who have inspired the label "Bible-thumper" with their emphatic reliance on the literal meaning of The Scriptures! (Capitalization Required! :p )

sigh...