/lit/ - Literature

I liked the Bible so much that I started studying Hebrew and Greek. It's so based it's ridiculous, but often mistranslated. Highly recommend at least using an interlinear edition and a Strong's Concordance (or other bible concordance)

>Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.

>My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust.

>Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

>Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

>For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

> Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

> The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying,

> Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

>4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

> Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

> Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

> I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

>>17647998
>Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.
>And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
>And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
>And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
>And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
>And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.
>And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
>Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
>And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
>And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
>Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.
>Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

>>17649633
always thought this was a clever judgment.

>>17649633
mega kino

>>17648034
Lolno, an interlinear and strong's will only fool you into thinking you are reading the original languages when you are just reading translated words

1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

2 Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.

3 What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?

4 One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.

5 The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose.

6 The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.

7 All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.

8 All things are full of labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

9 The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

10 Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.

11 There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after.

12 I the Preacher was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

13 And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and, behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit.

15 That which is crooked cannot be made straight: and that which is wanting cannot be numbered.

16 I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem: yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.

17 And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit.

18 For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

>>17649633
One of the best.

>>17647998
Bros I'm reading the ESV rn am I missing any of the extra Kino prose in the other version?

>>17647998
>"The sketch of Parsifal which Wagner read to us recently is filled and permeated with the essence of Christianity . . . I am willing to confess that most of our poets who are regarded as Christian-Catholic stand far behind Wagner in their religious sentiments."
- Franz Liszt

>Wein und Brot des letzten Mahles
>wandelt' einst der Herr des Grales
>durch des Mitleids Liebesmacht
>in das Blut, das er vergoss,
>in den Leib, den dar er bracht'.

>Blut und Leib der heil'gen Gabe
>wandelt heut zu eurer Labe
>sel'ger Tröstung Liebesgeist
>in den Wein, der euch nun floss,
>in das Brot, das heut ihr speist.

>Nehmet vom Briot,
>wandelt es kühn
>zu Leibes Kraft und Stärke;
>treu bis zum Tod;
>fest jedem Mühn,
>zu wirken des Heilands Werke!

>Nehmet vom Wein,
>wandelt ihn neu
>zu Lebens-feurigem Blute,

>froh im Verein,
>brudergetreu
>zu kämpfen mit seligem Mute!

>Selig im Galuben!
>Selig in Liebe!

>Selig im Liebe!

>Selig im Glauben!

http://www.operafolio.com/libretto.asp?n=Parsifal&translation=UK

https://youtu.be/dzeNnoMmsjM?t=5764
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y-xxhBia0s

>>17650323
You will never read the "original language" in that you will never be a native speaker of Ancient Hebrew or Koine Greek, and even the modern versions of those languages are foreign to their Biblical forms and the culture thereof. However, the best way to start studying the original languages of the Bible is with an interlinear and a concordance. You have to ACTUALLY study the language still. You can't just ASSUME that you understand. But this is the only starting place that any of us have. We don't have a time machine to go back and study these languages in their native environments and cultures.

Strongs + interlinear is far superior FOR STUDY than any particular translation of the Bible. The key word here is "STUDY" not "ASSUME YOU ALREADY UNDERSTAND."

That said:
>>17650405
in my opinion the most aesthetic prose is in the King James Version. However, it is not the most accurate translation. If the ESV is more comfortable to you, that's ok.

>>17650405
Segond and Reina valera are also valid

>>17650797
The Martin Bible is more of an equivalent for French.

>But Ehud made him a dagger which had two edges, of a cubit length; and he did gird it under his raiment upon his right thigh.
>And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.
>And when he had made an end to offer the present, he sent away the people that bare the present.
>But he himself turned again from the quarries that were by Gilgal, and said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep silence. And all that stood by him went out from him.
>And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat.
>And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly:
>And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out.
Judges 3:16-22 KJV

>>17647998
>abrahamic religion is lame
Compared to what?

>>17651409
One of my favorite bible stories desu; here's Alter's translation, some of the notes are really interesting:

>And the Israelites continued to do evil in the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD strengthened Eglon king of Moab over Israel because they had done evil in the eyes of the LORD. And he gathered around him the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and he struck Israel and they took hold of the Town of Palms. And the Israelites served Eglon king of Moab for eighteen years.
>And the Israelites cried out to the LORD, and the LORD raised up a rescuer for them, Ehud some of Gera the Benjaminite [1], a left-handed man [2]. And the Israelites sent tribute in his hand [3] to Eglon king of Moab. And Ehud made himself a double-edged sword, a gomed [4] in length, and strapped it under his garments on his right thigh. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab, and Eglon was a very fat man [5].

[1] The tribe of Benjamin, as the subsequent narrative will affirm, was noted for its skill in battle.

[2] The literal sense of the Hebrew idiom is "a man impaired (or bound up) in his right hand." Ehud's left-handedness plays a crucial part in his assassination of Eglon.

[3] Though the idiom means "through his agency," with verse 18 making clear that there are at least several people physically bearing the considerable tribute, the use of "hand" picks up the appearance of the ominous left hand in the previous verse and its lethal deployment in verse 21.

[4] This measure of length occurs only here, but it has an evident cognate, "garmida," in rabbinic Aramaic, which is a cubit, about seventeen inches. This would be short enough to conceal the weapon strapped to the thigh. The double edge of the straight sword makes it a thrusting weapon. Typical swords of this period were single-edged and sickle-shaped and were wielded by slashing.

[5] The name Eglon strongly suggests "egel," meaning "calf." In this satiric view of the enemy, his is a gross fatted calf, ready for slaughter.

>>17651429
Helleno-Dharmism

>>17651551
con't, getting to the interesting stuff

>And it happened when he had finished presenting the tribute that he sent away the people bearing the tribute. And he had come back from Pesilim [1], which is by Gilgal. And he said, "A secret word I have for you, king." And he said, "Silence!" And all those standing in attendance went out from his presence. When Ehud had come to him, he was sitting alone in the cool upper chamber that he had. And Ehud said, "A word of God [3] I have for you." And he rose from the seat. And Ehud reached with his left hand and took the sword from his right thigh and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt, too, went in after the blade and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not withdraw the sword from his belly, and the filth [4] came out.

[1] This appears to be a place-name, but it means "the idols" (there is a definite article), and so it is probably a cultic site.

[2] The Hebrew "hass" is onomatopoetic, something like "shhh!" When Ehud tells Eglon that he has a secret to convey, these words elicit exactly the response intended by the assassin: the king doesn't want anyone else to hear, so he tells Ehud to keep quiet and orders everyone else out of the chamber. It should be noted that Ehud's words to the king are abrupt, laking the language of deference ("my lord my king") required when addressing a royal personage. Eglon, in his eagerness to hear the secret, takes no note of this.

[3] At first, Eglon might have thought that the secret word was some military intelligence that this supposed collaborator was offering him. Now Ehud presents it as an oracle, something that would be especially likely if Eglon is aware that he has arrived by way of Pesilim.

[4] The Hebrew "parshedonah" clearly shows the element "peresh," meaning "excrement." The anomalous ending of the word may be a scribal duplication of the ending of "misderonah," meaning "to the vestibule," which is the third word after this one in the Hebrew text. The release of the anal sphincter in the death spasm adds a scatological note to the representation of the killing of Eglon.

bump

I like making my own improved literal renditions of verses.

1 Timotheos 1:8–11

But we have known that the law is good if any one use it lawfully, having known this, that law is laid down not for a righteous one, but for the ones lawless and insubordinate, irreverent and sinful, impious and profane, for patricides and for matricides, for manslayers, for fornicators, for men who bed males, for manstealers, for liars, for perjurers, and any other thing that is ever opposed to sound teaching, according to the good message of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.

>>17649633
This is ultra kino on a level like nothing else.

>>17652332
That's why it's been literally taken as the word of God for thousands of years.

Why is JOB so hecking kino (except maybe Elihu)?

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 And Job spoke, and said:

“May the day perish on which I was born,
And the night in which it was said,
‘A male child is conceived.’
May that day be darkness;
May God above not seek it,
Nor the light shine upon it.
May darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
May a cloud settle on it;
May the blackness of the day terrify it.
As for that night, may darkness seize it;
May it not [b]rejoice among the days of the year,
May it not come into the number of the months.
Oh, may that night be barren!
May no joyful shout come into it!
May those curse it who curse the day,
Those who are ready to arouse Leviathan.
May the stars of its morning be dark;
May it look for light, but have none,
And not see the [c]dawning of the day;
Because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb,
Nor hide sorrow from my eyes.

“Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not perish when I came from the womb?
Why did the knees receive me?
Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?
For now I would have lain still and been quiet,
I would have been asleep;
Then I would have been at rest
With kings and counselors of the earth,
Who built ruins for themselves,
Or with princes who had gold,
Who filled their houses with silver;
Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
Like infants who never saw light?
There the wicked cease from troubling,
And there the weary are at rest.
There the prisoners rest together;
They do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
The small and great are there,
And the servant is free from his master.

“Why is light given to him who is in misery,
And life to the bitter of soul,
Who long for death, but it does not come,
And search for it more than hidden treasures;
Who rejoice exceedingly,
And are glad when they can find the grave?
Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
And whom God has hedged in?
For my sighing comes before [h]I eat,
And my groanings pour out like water.
For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me,
And what I dreaded has happened to me.
I am not at ease, nor am I quiet;
I have no rest, for trouble comes.”

>>17647998
Nice song based on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qePMko32qcs

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2 The same was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were made by him: and without him was made nothing that was made.

4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

5 And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

7 This man came for a witness, to give testimony of the light, that all men might believe through him.

8 He was not the light, but was to give testimony of the light.

9 That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

12 But as many as received him, he gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name.

13 Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

1 Now it came to pass in the days of Ahasuerus, (this is Ahasuerus which reigned, from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces:) 2 That in those days, when the king Ahasuerus sat on the throne of his kingdom, which was in Shushan the palace, 3 In the third year of his reign, he made a feast unto all his princes and his servants; the power of Persia and Media, the nobles and princes of the provinces, being before him: 4 When he shewed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the honour of his excellent majesty many days, even an hundred and fourscore days. 5 And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king's palace; 6 Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble. 7 And they gave them drink in vessels of gold, (the vessels being diverse one from another,) and royal wine in abundance, according to the state of the king.

The Book of Esther is underrated