The Bible and The Iliad Interpretation and Comparisions
Up until the early part of this century, the King James Bible was thought to be one of the only reliable English translations of the bible available. Of course, you had the choice between the Old Testament and the New Testament, but unless you were choosing between those, the only other options you had were an assortment of colors and binding styles. Today, however, there are over fifty different adaptations and versions of the bible available in English alone, not to mention the many more in other languages. People are searching for answers in today's world, and find themselves turning to the scriptures for guidance and help. Some people want to be assured that they are getting the most accurate and literal translation possible for religious purposes. Others want a bible that is easy to read and understand. More still look for a bible as an example of the first work of prose, and wish to learn from it as a piece of literature. Even though there are many translations, it is not fair to say that one is better than the another, as many versions serve different purposes and different people. Today we have no perfect translation, but there are a number which are
Again, different translations are designed to suit the specific needs of their readers. Both the King James and the Hidden Book attempt to translate the original text word-for-word. However, David Friedman's Hidden Book is translating only from the J-Writer's point of view. Because of this, certain passages considered "standard" in the King James Version have been omitted. And, of course, some portions have been interpreted differently in these two texts. Words have been changed, and while some ideas have been expanded on, others have been simplified. For example, in Genesis 3:2, the Hidden Book version reads: "And the woman said to the snake." In the King James translation, the same passage reads: "She replied." The latter is a much simpler interpretation, and although it captures the meaning of the text, it is clearly not an exact translation. A reader often must re-translate the King James into modern English in their minds. For many people, especially young children, reading the King James Version is like reading a foreign language. Today, more than three thousand years since the creation of the Bible, we have no perfect translation. There is also a difference in how interjections and conjunctions are dealt with in these two versions of the bible. In Genesis 4:6-4:7 (KJV), YHWH says to Cain: "If a man marries his sister, the daughter of either his father or his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace." "Why are you angry? Why are you scowling? If you do well, you hold your head up; if not, sin is a demon crouching at the door; it will desire you, and you will be mastered by it." Is "takes" the same as "marries?" And is it possible to see a person's "nakedness" without having "sexual relations" with them? The translators were so sure they knew the answers to these questions that they inserted their own interpretation into the text. The same passage in the Hidden Book reads: The same problem of accurate translation can be found in other ancient works, including those by Plato, Thucydides, and Homer. Because of limited access to ancient Greek writing, translators could only approximate an
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Approximate Word count = 1457
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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