02-24-2007, 01:44 PM
Having had the privilege of joining with several others in the translating of a new Bible over the past several years, I was surprised to find that much of the Bible -- and perhaps MOST of it -- was written in poetry. We weren't surprised to see Job and the Psalms written that way, but when we found the same cadence in the Proverbs and the Prophets we were shocked. In fact, almost all of the Bible from Job through Malachi was definitely written in poetry, especially where Jehovah (through His angel) was speaking, and some of the prophets wrote and spoke in poetry.
Why has this fact gone unnoticed through the ages? Because the cadence so common to poetry was lost through translating and copying. Their thought being, of course, accuracy is more important that the beauty of the words.
Yet, some Bible translators have recognized this, such as those who translated parts of the King James Bible, and that's why that Bible has been so respected by many down through the ages, because its melodious words sound like those of God.
An interesting find, from our translating the Greek Septuagint, is that the first prophecy in the Bible to mention the resurrection was written in poetry by a woman; Hannah, the mother of Samuel! Unfortunately, translators of the Hebrew text never noticed that the word "resurrection" was there, but the Greek word for resurrection (anastasia) is definitely there in the Septuagint.
Normally I wouldn't show such a long quotation, but this is a section on poetry, and the words are in poetry or a song (1 Samuel 2:1-10 2001):
‘Now my [faith] is firm, O God;
For my heart [belongs to Jehovah];
My horn has been raised by my God;
And my mouth has opened wide against my enemies.
‘I thank You for my salvation,
For, Your salvation has made me very happy;
2 There’s no one as holy as Jehovah;
There’s no one who is as righteous as our God… none are holier than You.
3 ‘We shouldn’t boast or allow haughty words,
To come out of our mouths,
For, Jehovah is a God of [great] knowledge
And a God who plans all that He does.
4 ‘He has weakened the bows of the mighty;
He’s given power to those who are weak.
5 ‘Those full of bread now have less,
And those who are hungry have neglected the land.
Yet the sterile have given birth to seven,
While the one with many children has grown weak.
6 ‘For, Jehovah kills and gives birth to the living;
He takes them to the grave and leads back them out.
7 It’s Jehovah who makes the poor and the rich;
Yes, He humbles and raises.
8 ‘He resurrects the needy from the ground,
And He raises the poor from the dirt,
To seat them with the mighty of the people,
Where a throne of glory they’ll inherit.
9 ‘He repaid the little vow of the one that was vowing;
And He’s blest the years of the righteous.
For man can do nothing in his own strength,
10 For, it’s Jehovah who weakens our enemies… yes Jehovah is holy.
‘May the intelligent not boast of their intelligence,
And may the mighty not brag of their strength,
Nor the rich of their wealth.
But let them boast now in this:
Let he who is bragging now see,
And know that it comes from Jehovah;
May they observe the ways that He judges,
And may they see His justice in the midst of the earth.
‘For, Jehovah has ascended into heaven,
And there in the sky He has thundered.
He will [find] and judge all the wicked
And [He’ll search] to the ends of the earth for the righteous.
‘It is He who gives strength to kings,
And it’s He who’ll raise the horn of His anointed.’
Ah yes, but how about Jesus?
Well we had started the translating of the Christian Era Scriptures (our term) first, and followed the standard translating methods of trying to achieve accuracy, rather that trying to find beautiful words that were also accurate. But after finishing the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (again, our term), we decided to go back and look at some words of Jesus that seemed to reflect a cadence. And once again we found the cadence of verse in many of the things he said in his sermons and his parables! Could this have been part of the reason why people were so amazed at this way of teaching?
Yes, Jesus was a poet! And this style of speaking may well indicate that he was the angel who carried God's word to the Prophets.
Take a look at just a small portion of his "Sermon on the Mount," and see if you can't find the rhythm of verse (Matthew 5:3-10 2001):
3 ‘The spiritually poor are blest, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
4 The sad are blest, for they will be comforted.
5 The meek are blest, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Those hungering and thirsting for righteousness are blest, for they will find satisfaction.
7 The merciful are blest, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Those with pure hearts are blest, for they will see God.
9 The peacemakers are blest, for Sons of God they’ll be called.
10 Those persecuted for doing what’s right are blest, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
And consider his words to his Apostles about the last days, as found at Matthew 24:4-13:
‘Watch out that no one misleads you, 5 for, many will come in my name, saying, I’m the anointed, and many will stray.
6 ‘You’ll hear of wars and reports about wars, but don’t be frightened by that, for all of these things must happen, but the end is still yet to come. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom [will rise] against kingdom, and there’ll be famines and natural disasters in many places. 8 But, all these are the beginnings of the birth pains.’
9 ‘Then people will deliver you to hard times and they’ll kill you. For, because of my name you’ll be hated by all nations. 10 Many will be stumbled; they’ll hand each other over; and they’ll even dislike one another. 11 False prophets will come and mislead many. 12 And because of the growing of lawlessness, the love of most will cool off… 13 but he who endures to the end will be saved.
No, we couldn't make it all fit, because of language differences, but you'll see that the beat is still there. Also; there are places where Matthew doesn't reflect the natural beat of verse, but you'll find that Mark, Luke, and John sometimes do. Consider those oft quoted words of John, in John 1:1-13, and you'll even find poetry there... that's why those verses read so differently:
1 In an ancient time there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was powerful. 2 He was with God long ago, 3 and through him it all came to be… life came to be, 4 and this life was the light of all men. 5 [Now] the light is shining in darkness, and he hasn’t been defeated by the darkness.
6 Then came a man named John, who had been sent by God. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He wasn’t the light, but he was to testify about the light.
9 The true light that enlightens all men, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world – and through him the [whole] world began – but [even] the world didn’t know him. 11 He came to his home, but his own people offered no welcome. 12 Yet, he gave all those who offered him welcome (all those who believed in his name) the authority to become the children of God. 13 And they were not born from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, or man’s will, but from God.
We didn't find Paul writing in poetry, but we suspect that the Revelation may have been, as were the first words in the Bible, Genesis Chapter 1.
So, there is obviously Divine Inspiration in poetry, and I urge you to keep up the good work.
Why has this fact gone unnoticed through the ages? Because the cadence so common to poetry was lost through translating and copying. Their thought being, of course, accuracy is more important that the beauty of the words.
Yet, some Bible translators have recognized this, such as those who translated parts of the King James Bible, and that's why that Bible has been so respected by many down through the ages, because its melodious words sound like those of God.
An interesting find, from our translating the Greek Septuagint, is that the first prophecy in the Bible to mention the resurrection was written in poetry by a woman; Hannah, the mother of Samuel! Unfortunately, translators of the Hebrew text never noticed that the word "resurrection" was there, but the Greek word for resurrection (anastasia) is definitely there in the Septuagint.
Normally I wouldn't show such a long quotation, but this is a section on poetry, and the words are in poetry or a song (1 Samuel 2:1-10 2001):
‘Now my [faith] is firm, O God;
For my heart [belongs to Jehovah];
My horn has been raised by my God;
And my mouth has opened wide against my enemies.
‘I thank You for my salvation,
For, Your salvation has made me very happy;
2 There’s no one as holy as Jehovah;
There’s no one who is as righteous as our God… none are holier than You.
3 ‘We shouldn’t boast or allow haughty words,
To come out of our mouths,
For, Jehovah is a God of [great] knowledge
And a God who plans all that He does.
4 ‘He has weakened the bows of the mighty;
He’s given power to those who are weak.
5 ‘Those full of bread now have less,
And those who are hungry have neglected the land.
Yet the sterile have given birth to seven,
While the one with many children has grown weak.
6 ‘For, Jehovah kills and gives birth to the living;
He takes them to the grave and leads back them out.
7 It’s Jehovah who makes the poor and the rich;
Yes, He humbles and raises.
8 ‘He resurrects the needy from the ground,
And He raises the poor from the dirt,
To seat them with the mighty of the people,
Where a throne of glory they’ll inherit.
9 ‘He repaid the little vow of the one that was vowing;
And He’s blest the years of the righteous.
For man can do nothing in his own strength,
10 For, it’s Jehovah who weakens our enemies… yes Jehovah is holy.
‘May the intelligent not boast of their intelligence,
And may the mighty not brag of their strength,
Nor the rich of their wealth.
But let them boast now in this:
Let he who is bragging now see,
And know that it comes from Jehovah;
May they observe the ways that He judges,
And may they see His justice in the midst of the earth.
‘For, Jehovah has ascended into heaven,
And there in the sky He has thundered.
He will [find] and judge all the wicked
And [He’ll search] to the ends of the earth for the righteous.
‘It is He who gives strength to kings,
And it’s He who’ll raise the horn of His anointed.’
Ah yes, but how about Jesus?
Well we had started the translating of the Christian Era Scriptures (our term) first, and followed the standard translating methods of trying to achieve accuracy, rather that trying to find beautiful words that were also accurate. But after finishing the Ancient Scriptures of Israel (again, our term), we decided to go back and look at some words of Jesus that seemed to reflect a cadence. And once again we found the cadence of verse in many of the things he said in his sermons and his parables! Could this have been part of the reason why people were so amazed at this way of teaching?
Yes, Jesus was a poet! And this style of speaking may well indicate that he was the angel who carried God's word to the Prophets.
Take a look at just a small portion of his "Sermon on the Mount," and see if you can't find the rhythm of verse (Matthew 5:3-10 2001):
3 ‘The spiritually poor are blest, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.
4 The sad are blest, for they will be comforted.
5 The meek are blest, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Those hungering and thirsting for righteousness are blest, for they will find satisfaction.
7 The merciful are blest, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Those with pure hearts are blest, for they will see God.
9 The peacemakers are blest, for Sons of God they’ll be called.
10 Those persecuted for doing what’s right are blest, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
And consider his words to his Apostles about the last days, as found at Matthew 24:4-13:
‘Watch out that no one misleads you, 5 for, many will come in my name, saying, I’m the anointed, and many will stray.
6 ‘You’ll hear of wars and reports about wars, but don’t be frightened by that, for all of these things must happen, but the end is still yet to come. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom [will rise] against kingdom, and there’ll be famines and natural disasters in many places. 8 But, all these are the beginnings of the birth pains.’
9 ‘Then people will deliver you to hard times and they’ll kill you. For, because of my name you’ll be hated by all nations. 10 Many will be stumbled; they’ll hand each other over; and they’ll even dislike one another. 11 False prophets will come and mislead many. 12 And because of the growing of lawlessness, the love of most will cool off… 13 but he who endures to the end will be saved.
No, we couldn't make it all fit, because of language differences, but you'll see that the beat is still there. Also; there are places where Matthew doesn't reflect the natural beat of verse, but you'll find that Mark, Luke, and John sometimes do. Consider those oft quoted words of John, in John 1:1-13, and you'll even find poetry there... that's why those verses read so differently:
1 In an ancient time there was the Word. The Word was with God and the Word was powerful. 2 He was with God long ago, 3 and through him it all came to be… life came to be, 4 and this life was the light of all men. 5 [Now] the light is shining in darkness, and he hasn’t been defeated by the darkness.
6 Then came a man named John, who had been sent by God. 7 He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. 8 He wasn’t the light, but he was to testify about the light.
9 The true light that enlightens all men, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world – and through him the [whole] world began – but [even] the world didn’t know him. 11 He came to his home, but his own people offered no welcome. 12 Yet, he gave all those who offered him welcome (all those who believed in his name) the authority to become the children of God. 13 And they were not born from blood, nor from the will of the flesh, or man’s will, but from God.
We didn't find Paul writing in poetry, but we suspect that the Revelation may have been, as were the first words in the Bible, Genesis Chapter 1.
So, there is obviously Divine Inspiration in poetry, and I urge you to keep up the good work.