Lately in our family we’ve been getting in the habit of memorizing and meditating on Scripture. Psalm 1 has been our first foray. It’s a great place to start because as you memorize and meditate on this psalm you are, at the same time, doing the very thing the Psalm says you should do. It’s like a strange loop!
Everybody loves a strange loop.
(Bach’s Crab Canon and Möbius strips are also strange loops, so if you like strange loops then you’ll love Bach’s crab canon on a Möbius strip.)
Bach to meditating on God’s word day and night
This semester I’m afraid I’ve had the opportunity to meditate on God’s word day and night in a little bit different way than I’d ever thought I would. Last year I was invited to participate on the Theological Commission for the Revision of the Slovak Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (for the Slovak Bible Society). The assignment involved going through about 900 changes that had been recommended for the Slovak Ecumenical Translation.
Suffice it to say, I had no idea what I was getting into. Many of the changes were small and took only a minute to assess. But some of them were quite large. Like going through all the proper names in the Old Testament to be sure we have been consistent in our transliteration. Or go through all the measurements in the Old Testament and make sure we have been consistent in our translation philosophy.
The work started in September and needed to be done in December (not going to happen). As a result, it seems like I’ve been spending every waking moment and some not so waking moments working through translation issues in the Old Testament. That’s the kind of day and night meditation I never expected to do.
It’s been a lot of work, but it’s been fun. I’ve gotten into some issues in the Old Testament that I don’t normally come across and I now have a much greater appreciation for the task of translation.
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