Lamentations chapt 1 "The Voice'

[Chris]

Those of you who are teaching, or studying from Smith & Helwys' Formations literature, this weekend, your scripture is from Lamentations chapter 1. As most of you know this is an acrostic, i.e. the first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse with the second letter of the Hebrew....etc. I believe Psalm 119 and a couple others are written in this style.

Thanks to www.biblegateway.com.... I have discovered a translation (among their 52 English translations) called The Voice. The translators of this bible have done a VERY clever thing. To illustrate the acrostic style of writing (which some say was to make memorization easier), they have begun the first verse with an "A" word, the second verse with a "B" word, the third with a "C" word, etc. etc. Since Hebrew has 22 letters and English has 26, this allowed them the luxury of skipping a few. I can't resist using this particular translation tomorrow, in teaching this lesson.

[Chris]

Does anyone remember this acrostic song from the 1950s or 1940s? It was recorded by several artists, including Perry Como.
A - You're adorable...
B - You're so beautiful...
C - You're a cutie full of charms...
D - You're deliteful. . .
E - You're so eligent...
F - You're a feather in my arms...
G - You look good to me...
H - You're so heavenly...
I - You're the one I idolize...
J - We're like Jack and Jill...
K - You're so kiss-able...
L - You're the love-light of my eyes...

[Haruo]

Mrs. Haruo and I attended the Northwest Seaport Chantey Sing last night, for the first time in years, aboard the 127-year-old tugboat Arthur Foss (which had the starring role in the movie Tugboat Annie). (Incidentally, she was also the last US ship to make it back from Wake Island to Pearl Harbor during the Japanese invasion of Wake and bombing of Pearl in December, 1941.) One of the songs sung was an acrostic alphabet song taught to and sung by cabin boys in days of yore, listing twenty-odd things found aboard ship. I don't remember how it went, unfortunately.

[Haruo]

Mrs. H. just located the lyrics for me:

A IS THE ANCHOR THAT HOLDS A BOLD SHIP,
B IS THE BOWSPRIT THAT OFTEN DOES DIP,
C IS THE CAPSTAN 'ROUND WHICH WE MUST WIND AND
D ARE THE DAVITS ON WHICH THE JOLLY BOAT HANGS,

(Refrain, after each quatrain:)
SO HI DERRY, HEY DERRY, HO DERRY DOWN,
GIVE SAILORS THEIR GROG & THERE'S NOTHING GOES WRONG,
SO MERRY, SO MERRY, SO MERRY ARE WE,
NO MORTAL ON EARTH LIKE A SAILOR AT SEA.

E IS THE ENSIGN, THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE,
F IS THE FO'C'SLE THAT HOLDS THE SHIP'S CREW,
G IS THE GANGWAY, ON WHICH THE MATE TAKES HIS STAND, AND
H IS THE HAUSER THAT SELDOM DOES STRAND.

I IS THE IRONS WHERE THE STUNS'L BOOM SITS,
J IS THE JIB BOOM THAT OFTEN DOES DIP,
K ARE THE KEELSUNS, OF WHICH YOU'VE BEEN TOLD AND
L ARE THE LANYARDS THAT ALWAYS WILL HOLD.

M IS THE MAINMAST SO STOUT AND SO STRONG,
N IS THE NORTHPOINT THAT NEVER POINTS WRONG,
O ARE THE ORDERS, OF WHICH WE MUST BEWARE, AND
P ARE THE PUMPS THAT CAUSE SAILORS TO SWEAR.

Q IS THE QUADRANT THE SUN FOR TO TAKE,
R IS THE RIGGIN' THAT OFTEN DOES SHAKE,
S IS THE STARBOARD SIDE OF OUR BOLD SHIP, AND
T ARE THE TOPMASTS THAT OFTEN DO SPLIT.

U IS THE UGLIEST OLD CAPTAIN OF ALL,
V ARE THE VAPORS THAT COME WITH THE SQUALL,
W IS THE WINDLASS, 'ROUND WHICH WE MUST WIND, AND
X, Y AND Z, I CAN'T PUT TO RHYME.

[Jim]

With apologies all around:

Atheist – A-to-Z

Atheist, he said, was he,
Believed there was no deity,
Considered Jews and Christians dumb,
Devoid of brains that are not numb;
Evinced an ego, did he…yes,
Full-fledged, built on his great success,
Gregarious and very loud,
He said to nothing he had bowed;
Indeed, he laughed at scriptures, old,
Just silly stories someone told –
Know-nothing hogwash fit to flush,
Latrines all ready for the mush,
Mnemonic insult used by some,
No better than fe-fi-fo-fum,
Old fairy tales in Gantry-style,
Perpetuating shameless guile;
Quadrillion fools in ecstasy,
Remarked believers bent to be
So slavish in their worshiping
That writhing, dancing was their fling,
Unless tradition they might bless,
Vacating jive for stodginess;
When finally, in fevered dreams,
Xeroxed old tombstones rolled in reams,
Yippee no longer was his theme,
Zigzag with death his futile scheme.

[Haruo]

No apologies needed, Jim.

[Jim]

Love it! Hadn't heard that one. I'm doing a book of bad poetry (working title: GOMORRAH & Other Poems) and this one features another disappointed group:

Paradise Blown

Jihadis call it drive-by-blood,
Works well in restaurants or mud,
So simple...roll the window down
And shoot therefrom through all the town,
Just never stop a good fast car
And speed and shoot both near and far,
This works well until caught, of course,
But then bomb-belt will be the force,
Take care to not get shot before
You have the time to make a score
By pushing detonate-device
And flying off to Paradise
Where virgins will give you great care,
Three-score plus twelve are waiting there...
Unless the ayatollah lied
Or maybe Satan might decide
To grab them ere you make the scene
And take them where the heat is keen,
But if that happens, never mind,
Just look around and you will find
Another group thus waiting for
Another martyr from the gore,
If he refuses thus to share
His virgins freely with you there
Just call Mohammad to decide
But watch him since it may betide
That he takes them to join his own,
In which case Paradise is blown.

[Mrs Haruo]

[KeithE]

Our pastor recommends the Voice translation if you want a credible amplification (added words) that clear up obscured texts. He has sometimes been using it in the scripture readings at church; almost as often as his favorite Revised Standard Version. The claim is the “story” of the bible comes through more clearly with the Voice. The Voice puts these “amplifications” in italics. At times I have found it helpful (especially OT prophetic books where among other things it clearly says who is saying what with extra headings). In the NT at least it generally gives conservative “amplifications” from what I’ve heard (mainly from the pulpit).

For serious bible study, I still like the New English Translation (NET) the best in that it gives a large range of possible translations (and therefore meanings) in their 60,932 "translation notes” which is where translators can share their often conflicting thoughts. Thus an appropriate sense of “fuzziness” is captured (something I realize many people do not want). Yes Timothy I know it is by a large number of dispensationalists - but the nuances of possible readings range well outside of standard Schofield Bible translations.

For devotional reading (which I admit have been lagging on since we moved) I like the God’s Word translation - single column and reads well.

As for Lamentations, the NRSV, RSV and God’s Word does not delineate the acrostic in any way (first letter of each verse does not go in alphabetic order in translation). The Voice does for Lamentations 1 as well as for chapters 2,3,4 (all of these are acrostics, but not chap 5, Chapter 3 has three verses per letter) with a ordered later in front of each verse. The NET gives an expanded discussion of the acrostic nature of Lamentations in chapters 1-4 with separate paragraphs headings by alef, bet.....tav. Thus the NET is clearest in pointing out the arcostic nature of Lamentations.

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Keith, what if anything do you know about the translators of "The VOICE"? Using Google I find a lot about the product but very little about those wh0 produced it? The best I find is that it is related to "Scholars" from a string of bible colleges accredited by a relatively new (Accrediting) association founded in1979. One of which is a small Bible college in Arkansas with 179 students. See: Ecclesia College  
College in Springdale, Arkansas

Ecclesia College is a four-year Christian, federally recognized work college in Springdale, Arkansas in the United States, accredited through the Association for Biblical Higher Education with program ... Wikipedia
Address: 9653 Nations Dr, Springdale, AR 72762
Acceptance rate: 41% (2010)
Phone: (479) 248-7236
Founded: 1975
Suggest an edit

See Also the Ecclesia Network http://ecclesianet.org/

[Mrs Haruo]

Ed: What exactly is a "Work" college? I have heard of small colleges on the eastern seaboard and southern mountain regions who make opportunities available for students from modest backgrounds to work on or off campus in campus industries of various kinds, or do you mean colleges who schedule classes according to the needs of older working adults? Just curious.

[Dave Roberts]

The most noted of the "Work Colleges" is Berea College in Berea, KY, aimed at giving combined work and education opportunities for students from poverty areas of Appalachia.

[Haruo]

Thanks, I'd never known what the term referred to, either.

[KeithE]

[Sandy]

I've got two copies of "The Voice," one New Testament, one a recent hardbound version of the whole Bible. It was a project produced by the Ecclesia Bible Society, from the vision of its President, Chris Seay, who is the pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston, Texas (http://ecclesiahouston.org) a Gen x/Millenial congregation that was started in 1999. Some of the translation and editing team were part of the congregation there, while other experts in translation and Biblical languages were recruited from other places. The idea behind "The Voice" was to create a translation of the Bible that combined principles of formal equivalence and functional equivalence for people who were not familiar with the scripture, or with the Christian faith, so that it would be both accurate in terms of translating the original language, and readable and understandable in context.

David and Cathy Capes are members there, as are Chris Seay and his brother Robbie, who are all on the team.

[Stephen Fox]

"offscouring" in the KJV is put to good use in the Kate Winslet film Jude. Offscouring is also examined in the new book White Trash.

And Jim you will find the benefits of fundamentalism interesting in this Atlantic piece I havent quite got my hands around

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc ... ss/492731/

[Mrs Haruo]

Dave- Berea in Kentucky is the college I had read of. Stephen: that article in Atlantic about the history of "White Trash" is very interesting.

[Dave Roberts]

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Keith, I do wonder how many of the "translators" are known by participants of this board? I only recognize about 6 names and could only say I am acquainted with the work of three. Speaking of their schools I note Darrell Bock has the strict "predispenaitional " DTS in his resume. HE may have overcome that, I know a few folk who have overcome Bob Jones U. & Liberty backgrounds. tic

I have heard Alan Culpepper at SBTS and at a few CBF meetings I was more acquainted with his father Hugo ( http://www.sbhla.org/downloads/631-9.pdf ) during my first stint at SBTS .

With these two (Culpepper & Bock) there is a W-i-d-e difference in backgrounds.

I applied to Berea in 1953 but was rejected because I was from out of territory and had the GI bill, they later relented when they discovered I was about to be married to one of their nursing school students, but by then I had been accepted at HOWARD : (Now Samford). By their charter they do accept a small percentage (10 % I believe) of students from outside of the Southern Appalachian territory . My 1st wife was from Bybee, in East Tennessee, the wedding was in the Phelps Stokes Chapel on Campus.

I would love to stick around while this thread is running but we still have a ton of STUFF to sort out and get rid of after our garage sale last week end.

[Jim]

I was education/music director in Berea Baptist Church 1962-64 and had only limited access to the college students though there was a BSU with full-time director.  I knew one professor in the religion department, for whom I re-worked a potential article once for the Readers Digest (never published), but my impression was that the effort was made to destroy the faith that the mostly Appalachian students had.  They sure helped my choir, though.  One of them became a missionary to the Philippines and Australia and is now on the staff of the church in Mt. Washington, Ky. (minister to old codgers).  Berea College goes beyond liberal to progressive, the term now used by Hillary.  For the 2004 election, I read Unfit for Command (Kerry the fraud).  For the 2008 circus, I read Dreams from My Father (Obama the fraud).  For this election, I’ve just finished Hillary’s America (Clinton the fraud) by D’Souza, in which is the best yet explanation of how the “progressives” are keeping the blacks and poor whites (trash or not) down on the plantation by design.  Actually, he traces the Democrat Party back to Andrew Jackson and provides the time-line for its persecution of blacks and white immigrants in both the North and South, especially the black-flip from republican to democrat in the 1930s.  Berea is losing its light industry now (frozen “o” rings of the lost shuttle) although the Bluegrass Army Depot (ammo and weapons of mass destruction (gas of all kinds) soon to be destroyed there, hopefully) is nearby employer.  The Trump allusions to lost jobs would apply to Ashland, Ky., my next stop (First Church 1964-69), which at that time was home to Ashland Oil, a huge charcoal plant down by the Ohio, and, of course, Armco Steel.  I think the population now is about what it was then or perhaps a bit less.  The jobs left long ago.  The Obama shovel-ready stimulus of 2009 ($787 billion later revised to $831 billion) all went down the drain…shovels aren’t used anymore. I was always fascinated by the steel and roller mills, both open-hearth and electric, at Armco but the steel upon which I later operated trains was made in Japan, 130 lbs. per meter in quarter-mile lengths.

Berea College is hugely endowed and the students then had to work 10 hours a week.

[Dave Roberts]

[Sandy]

[Stephen Fox]

Great piece. I may copy and post on my blog as an ersatz review of Hillbilly Elegy. You will want to listen online to the author JD Vance, two days ago on NPR Fresh Air.

My Dad's side of the family is from East Tennesee, Pigeon Forge, Maryville and Alcoa and my great grandfather was a pulpwooder and timberman of the first order as was several of my grandmother's 9 brothers. Dave you will want to read my Friend Ron Rash's Serena and then several of his short stories, and Grundy Virginia Lee SMith's recent memoir Dimestore. And of lesser and later interest for later on in the Vance strain is the novelist from Knockemstiff Ohio and his dark vision of Pentecostal religion gone to the extreme in an almost David Lynch Blue Velvet fashion.

For now, I hope WVA Senator Joe Manchin stays in the Democrat party and with his friend Nick Saban has some straightforward conversations that help resolve the gap between Hillbilly Elegy and Black Lives Matter, a Tall order.

You will find the White Trash Book worthwhile as well.

Ive had an interesting morning of phone conversations with staffers for Trey Gowdy and SC Senator Tim Scott and will blog soon about that. Hope some of yall take a look.

Oh yeah, Cormac McCarthy's Child of God is dark material but well worth watching the James Franco movie adaptation.

Jim, nothing personal but DSouza's "doc" is a crock a piece of trash and beneath anybody ever associated with Berea College.

[Ed Pettibone]

[KeithE]

I reread your posts.

You asked me “what if anything” do I know about the translators of the Voice. I read that as expressing a very doubtful attitude towards the Voice and towards my moderately positive opinion about the Voice. I stand by that reading. All that you could muster was to point out (incorrectly) it was done by “Scholars from a string of small bible colleges accredited by relatively newly created association” one of which was from a small college (Ecclesia) with only 179 students. What else could I assume but that you are questioning The Voice and discounted my experience with that translation?

I answered what I knew about translators (not much) and did some googling to find the translators (which you appreciated). I shared some experience with the Voice and explained what I liked about it no matter who the translators were. You should take that as an opinion not a hard sell that you use the The Voice.

I find that quite often you discount my genuinely given opinions as well as my more detailed analytical DATA. I find that irritating.

Why do I take it personally? In this case it is because you said nothing about Sandy’s or Chris’s moderately positive view of The Voice. And you frequently make snide-ish remarks toward statements I make. Occasionally you can learn something from BL posts (even me). Hope you understand.