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Seven books I keep close because I love them

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Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#41

Post by PeterStuer »

eliben wrote: post #28
PeterStuer wrote: post #21

Slightly off topic: The title hits home. When I was young, books were a luxury item. Less rich people just used the library. But the library had a strict 7 books rental policy. Not enough for the avid reader that also needed a small programming reference library. So I had 3 steady, occasionally 4th, library card pool from family members to keep my bookshelf operational.

I also remember libraries having a very small limit back in the day, so I was surprised to find out that in the Bay Area libraries typically allow up to 100 books per card!

Mind blown. How can that work? I assume book rentals follow the usual Poisson distribution?

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#43

Post by 1123581321 »

ivrit-tirvi wrote: post #29
Joker_vD wrote: post #14

> After several repetitions of this, Samson decides that being shaved, blinded and crushed will be less exasperating than listening to any more of Delilah's nagging. A very off-tangent note, but I recently learned that Samson's last words, "ἀποθανέτω ἡ ψυχή μου μετὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων"/"moriatur anima mea cum Philisthiim", pretty much have never been translated into English literally; it's always "Let me die with the Phil…

I always look it up in the original Hebrew if I really want to understand, and the difference is sometimes really HUGE (or simply wrong in modern translations). It's also worth noting that some books of the Hebrew Bible are poetry (Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Song of Songs), which doesn't show at all after translation. Hebrew poetry is unique! As they say, reading the Bible in translation is like "kissing your spouse thro…

Through a glass darkly, if you will. :)

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#44

Post by i_am_a_peasant »

bananamogul wrote: post #37
i_am_a_peasant wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same, not a believer, I appreciate KJV for its artistic value and it being referenced in so much literature and cinema.

Am a believer, and appreciate the KJV for its language. However, it can be tricky, because words change over 400 years. So while there are many wonderfully translated passages that use very expressive language, you also have passages that are full of words that seem similar but actually are easy to confuse. For example: - "Prevent" in 1611 meant "go before, precede". Now it means "stop from happening". - "Suffer" in…

I respect your beliefs.

I once tried to stick to Green’s Literal Translation but it got dry fast. I actually enjoyed reading the preface and made me appreciate the work Jay Green Sr put in.

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#45

Post by judah »

cvoss wrote: post #35

> knowing full well that [Delilah] will betray [Samson] It is not clear from the text that Samson is aware of the presence of Philistines the first three times. We are told they are lying in ambush in an inner chamber. We are not told that they make themselves known, attempt to subdue Samson, or interact with him in any way. Instead, we are told that Delilah announces their imminent presence, with no follow-through.…

Having just finished the book of Judges last week, this is fresh on my mind. Finishing the story of Samson, my first reaction, like the author of the post, is that Samson is just stupid. Delilah is likely a Philistine, the nemesis of Samson and the Israelites. Her intention to betray and destroy Samson is hardly hidden in her questioning him. How can Samson be so dumb?

But I thought about it deeper and how some men can be blinded by sex. In my own life, I've seen men stay with the wrong woman, tolerating all kinds of toxicity from their partner, even with all their friends telling them it's the wrong woman for him.

Samson is blinded by sex. He's recorded multiple times going outside of his community, even to enemy territory, to seek out attractive women and prostitutes. Even though Delilah is seemingly open about her intentions to destroy him, he's blinded by sex.

In that light, Samson isn't so dumb; he's just human.

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#46

Post by sherburt3 »

bdr wrote: post #34

Speaking of “witty, and learned, and wise, and humane”, this post is all of the above. The kind of writing that, before you’re even done reading, makes you eager to look up everything else the author has written.

His book Higher-Order Perl was really good and introduced me to some interesting programming concepts, but it also helped me realize why no one uses Perl anymore

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#47

Post by SegfaultSeagull »

Joker_vD wrote: post #14

> After several repetitions of this, Samson decides that being shaved, blinded and crushed will be less exasperating than listening to any more of Delilah's nagging. A very off-tangent note, but I recently learned that Samson's last words, "ἀποθανέτω ἡ ψυχή μου μετὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων"/"moriatur anima mea cum Philisthiim", pretty much have never been translated into English literally; it's always "Let me die with the Phil…

The Hebrew is תָּמ֣וֹת נַפְשִׁי֮ עִם־פְּלִשְׁתִּים֒, which literally translates to "You shall die, my soul, with the Philistines."

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#48

Post by schoen »

jeffbee wrote: post #31
wofo wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, what would you be your translation?

Yeah the comment is a bit of a cliffhanger. Wish they had given us their preferred translation.

That's funny, I (not the poster) didn't stop to think that other readers might not understand the Latin and Greek here!

Both of those forms are third-person and say "may my soul" ( ψυχή/anima) "die with the Philistines". (Definite article in Greek but not in Latin because Latin doesn't have them.)

The original Hebrew has

תָּמוֹת נַפְשִׁי עִם-פְּלִשְׁתִּים

which is also third person "may my soul" (נַפְשִׁי) "die with (the) Philistines".

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#49

Post by Joker_vD »

judah wrote: post #45
cvoss wrote: post #35

> knowing full well that [Delilah] will betray [Samson] It is not clear from the text that Samson is aware of the presence of Philistines the first three times. We are told they are lying in ambush in an inner chamber. We are not told that they make themselves known, attempt to subdue Samson, or interact with him in any way. Instead, we are told that Delilah announces their imminent presence, with no follow-through.…

Having just finished the book of Judges last week, this is fresh on my mind. Finishing the story of Samson, my first reaction, like the author of the post, is that Samson is just stupid. Delilah is likely a Philistine, the nemesis of Samson and the Israelites. Her intention to betray and destroy Samson is hardly hidden in her questioning him. How can Samson be so dumb? But I thought about it deeper and how some men c…

> Samson is blinded by sex. He's recorded multiple times seeking going outside of his community to find women and prostitutes. Even though Delilah is seemingly open about her intentions to destroy him, he's blinded by sex.

Which, as I understand, is pretty much the lesson that most of theologists derive form the story of Samson: don't let your lust blind you and make you stray from your duties to the God.

Re: Seven books I keep close because I love them

#50

Post by Joker_vD »

wofo wrote: post #30
Joker_vD wrote: post #14

> After several repetitions of this, Samson decides that being shaved, blinded and crushed will be less exasperating than listening to any more of Delilah's nagging. A very off-tangent note, but I recently learned that Samson's last words, "ἀποθανέτω ἡ ψυχή μου μετὰ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων"/"moriatur anima mea cum Philisthiim", pretty much have never been translated into English literally; it's always "Let me die with the Phil…

I'm curious, what would you be your translation?

Something like "let my life perish with the Philistines". As the sibling comment notices, the original Hebrew word doesn't really mean "spirit" in the "immortal soul" meaning.
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