Notes on Bible Translations / Inferi

[Goddlefrood]

No: HPFGUIDX 168417

> Pippin:
> >"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" --whatever that 
meant in biblical times, it was certainly used later as a 
rationale for persecuting witches. 

> Bart:

> A) It didn't mean ANYTHING in Biblical times; English didn't 
exist until much later.

Goddlefrood:

Those in Sodom and Gomorrah may disagree ;), if there ever were
such places :-?

On the King James Bible and another Bible version, that may not
only amuse a little, but also enlighten I add that we must bear
in mind the times during which the King James Bibil came about.

It was shortly after a dynasty change in England and King James
basically wanted to resatore relations with the Pope, such
relations having been strained for close to a century before
due to Henry the eighth being fed up of the sight of Catherine
of Aragon (and who would blame him ;)).

The other thing to keep in mind is that witches were an active
concern of the Stuarts, so the inclusion of the verse inserted
by Pippin is prescient, and would have widely entered the public
consciousness of the time because the message in the KJB was
spread by Ministers, the populace being mostly illeterate at
that time.

The othere translation I draw to your attention, and on the 
subject of what people believe, is the Fijian language version. 
In this there is a verse that translates as "Thou shalt not 
drink Kava".

Kava is a popular drink that induces lethargy in the indigenous
population, and indeed in anyone else foolish enough to drink it.
The translators cunningly used the Bible in a semi-literate 
society, which Fiji remains, to spread this message of not 
drinking this foul liquid :-). Do we see the pattern here yet?

It is simply not valid, IMO, to use translations or purported
mistranslations to belittle an argument. Each to his own IOW.

Just to make this somewhat canonical I must inquire if anyone
has wondered, as I have, why the Inferi have been used in the
most subtle way imaginable. They are currently, or so it appears
to me resident in an out of the way lake. Their modus operandi
is to lie there and pick off wizards and witches in ones and
twos who may just happen across them. Bizarre tactics, IMHO.

They will indubitably change their tactics for DH, anyone care 
to speculate as to how (perhaps they'll disguise themselves as
Mundungus Fletcher :-?)