[MR] English translation from original Greek and Aramaic (fwd)

[Craig Levin]

Pedro:

> Amie:
> 
> > Greetings People of the List,
> > 
> > I know there's someone out there who's got the answer to this question.
> > 
> > I'm trying to find an English translation of the Bible that comes from the 
> > original Greek. I'm trying to get to a version that's more accurate than a 
> > version that came through the Middle Ages with all the additions and 
> > deletions done by monks copying the text over and over (see: King James).
> > 
> > Does anybody know about a modern scholar who has gone back and retranslated 
> > a version from Greek? I'm looking for something that is true to the original 
> > writing without any particular Christian church's specific values 
> > highlighted.
> > 
> > I know about the author who translated the first books of the Torah from the 
> > original. However, I'm more interested in the New Testament.
> > 
> > Can anyone point me in a direction?
> 
> Ah. Okay, so I can't point you towards the Jewish Publication
> Society's edition. I think you're sort of in kimchi here, since
> everyone translating these books has an axe to grind somewhere. I
> *think* the New International Version is a fairly recent piece of
> work.
> 

Also, to turn this towards a more mediaeval subject, almost
everything that we have from the ancient world, aside from
inscriptions on walls & clay tablets, was transmitted to us by
copies from one scribe to another. Even the Dead Sea scrolls'
versions of the Prophets were copies, albeit closer to the
originals (as it were) than others. Part of the fun for classical
scholars is the teasing out of what the author meant from the
different manuscripts at their disposal. ISTR that there's like
half-a-dozen "manuscript traditions" of the Aeneid.

Pedro