| |
In lugnet.build.ancient, Stephen Bishop wrote:
| |
I’ve enjoyed your work for quite a while now. I must say, however, I am not
real fond of your copious use of the word “murder” in recent chapters. The
term isn’t used in the original texts (of any translation I know of).
Replacing the original word (generally, kill) with murder, its not consistent
with the original intent/spirit of the text.
|
Hi, Steve.
I was only able to locate one instance of my use of the word “murder” in the
recently added stories (though if I missed something, feel free to correct me).
At Judges 14:9, I have:
“The spirit of Yahweh then seized Samson, and he went to Ashkelon and murdered
thirty men.”
Upon review, I see that you are right: most translations do not use the word
“murder” here. Instead, they use “killed” (NASB, MSG, NLT, CEV, NJB, OSB),
“struck down” (NIV, NIRV, ESV), “slew” (KJV, AMP), “struck” (WEB), or “smote”
(ASV). Only the Net Bible agrees with my version. I
had my girlfriend look at the Hebrew, and she says that the word used means
“hit” or possibly could mean “killed”. Looking at the context of the story, I
think it’s pretty clear why most translations use the latter meaning.
And while I would say that when a man goes into a town and kills thirty men for
their cloaks, it’s hard to imagine that *not* being murder, my aim is to
accurately convey what the Bible says, so I will change my version to “killed
thirty men”.
I am guessing that the other instances of my use of the word “murder” that you
are referring to are in the story titles “Samson Commits Mass Murder” and
“Samson’s Final Mass Murder”. This is a bit of a different case than the above,
though, because this is not a matter of accuracy in translation. Stories in the
Bible have no official titles, only ones that have been added by later
translators. They tend to vary quite a bit between translations.
I apply my own titles to all the Bible stories I illustrate, and my titles do
tend to be quite different than most. For example, the story in which Samson
kills thirty Philistine men for their cloaks is most often titled “Samson’s
Marriage” or “Samson’s Riddle” in other Bibles. My methodology for coming up
with story titles is usually to ask myself, “what sort of headline would a
newspaper use for the events of this story?” I find this tends to get to the
heart of the matter and keeps some level of objectivity.
You are, of course, free to criticize my methodology. Or you might think it’s a
decent methodolgy, but still question particular titles. For example, if you’d
like to make a case why Samson’s actions in these stories should not be
considered murder, go right ahead.
Regards,
-Brendan
|
|
Message is in Reply To:
 | | Re: The Brick Testament: Samson and Delilah
|
| (...) I've enjoyed your work for quite a while now. I must say, however, I am not real fond of your copious use of the word "murder" in recent chapters. The term isn't used in the original texts (of any translation I know of). Replacing the original (...) (19 years ago, 27-Sep-05, to lugnet.build.ancient, FTX)
|
13 Messages in This Thread:
  
- Entire Thread on One Page:
- Nested:
All | Brief | Compact | Dots
Linear:
All | Brief | Compact
|
|
|
|
