The Numbers Game
Jo 1
1 When I first read a few pages in the book of Yahwey, it seemed certain it must be a special document because every chapter, and every sentence, was numbered. 2 I thought the writer must have been very confident about the importance of what he was writing, if he felt it necessary to number all his sentences. 3 I imagined he must have lived, and written, in some sort of garret, or perhaps in a castle, using a quill pen, by candlelight. 4 I didn't know, at the time of my first reading, that the book of Yahwey was written by lots of different people, and at vastly different points in time - because nobody saw fit to mention it.
5 I actually found the numbers quite off-putting. 6 Kinda broke up the flow. 7 I had to start ignoring the numbers as much as possible.
8 And the language. 9 Well, I struggled with it. 10 I've heard that some people consider it to be beautifully written, or rather, translated. 11 At least the King James version, anyway. 12 It's probably a blasphemy, of a literary kind, but I find it hard to agree. 13 I didn't know it on my first reading, but the olde Englishe employed by the translators was not currente Englishe at the time the translators were working. 14 According to Wikipedia, "In a period of rapid linguistic change the translators avoided contemporary idioms, tending instead towards forms that were already slightly archaic," which is why you get all that thou, thee, it came to pass and verily stuff. 15 To my mind, it just makes it harder to understand what it means. 16 Which, for a book that's supposed to be the ultimate guide to this here gig, seems a bit of a shortcoming.
17 If you are interested in finding out what's in the book of Yahwey, then I highly recommend this site. 18 There, you can view different translations side by side. 19 There are 30 (!) versions to choose from, and that's just the English language ones, which form a small part of the total number available, including Vietnamese and Chinese versions, just to mention a couple. 31 I rather like reading the Contemporary English Version alongside the KJV, or Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition.
32 The book of Yahwey is often lauded as a source of moral authority. 33 Here's an example, from the 'new' bit, which, perhaps, we can all learn from.
34 If you didn't click the link then you might not understand why the moral appears to be that you would be wise not to let your pigs get too near to Yahwey, when he's in human form, just in case there are any demons about. 35 Or maybe I'm just being silly, and it's obviously another metaphor?
36 Don't get the idea in your head that I think there is nothing of value in the book of Yahweh. 37 There are some good bits. 38 However, if I took Jefferson's approach and used a razor blade (see Friday's post), I'd probably end up with a much slimmer version than his.
39 And there is something to be said for numbering sentences. 40 It's easy to refer to the good bits (after you've found them). 41 And by way of example, I can refer you to Jo 1:20-30, as undoubtedly the most significant thing I've written today.
42 Finally, for anyone who read last Sunday's post, if you were hoping for a miracle, I'm sorry to tell you that it didn't happen. 43 Neither One Of Us nor From A Distance was randomly selected as the first track I heard this morning. 44 I don't think Foghat's version of I Just Want To Make Love To You qualifies as a miracle, by any stretch of the imagination.
I Just Want To Make Love To You by Foghat
Listen on Posterous
