Translations of the Bible as a base for deception
By Gordano
@Gordano (795)
United States
November 5, 2009 11:01pm CST
The Prophet Muhammad PBUH was illiterate, His entire life he never learned to read nor write, It was the habit of Muhammad to frequently remove himself from the midst of his fellow Arabs and their heathenistic actions and spend many days secluded in the cave of Hiraa in the mountains of Meccah, where he would pray to God according to the religion of Abraham PBUH. After many years of this, and having reached the age of forty, the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared before him and ordered him to Iqra ( read, recite, repeat, proclaim ) Muhammad , in his terror thought he was being asked to read, so he stammered: "I am unlettered." The angel Gabriel again ordered him to Iqra Muhammad again replied: "I am unlettered." The angel Gabriel now recited :
[096:001] [i]Read: In the name of thy Lord Who createth,
[/i]
[096:002] Createth man from a clot.
[096:003] Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
[096:004] Who teacheth by the pen,
Now Muhammad began to understand that he was not being asked to read, but to recite, to repeat. He began to repeat after him, and Gabriel revealed to him the first verses of the Quran, those at the beginning of chapter 96.
Now,refer to Isaiah 29:12
And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot read."
All The Arabic translations insist to translate it like this:
[i]And when they give the book to one who cannot read, saying, "Read this," he says, "I cannot write."
[/i]
another verse is Deuteronomy 33:2
[i]And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
[/i]
The army of the Muslims that conquered Mecca ( Paran ) without any blood shed (peacefully) were exactly 10000 men, yet All the Arabic translations insist to translate it like this:
And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came from the mountaintops of Jerusalim: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.
and there is no mention to ten thousands of saints !!!!!!
It is something Good that Christianity appreciate translations, but If Christianity welcome translations, at least Honesty is required.
All the Arabic translations are exist, and you can compare the translation yourself.
Isn't this a clear Example of How translations can be used as a base of deception ?
specially when you know that a single word make difference when it comes to scripture!
2 responses
@murderistic (2278)
• United States
7 Nov 09
Gordano, you want to talk about deception? Translating verses incorrectly can be one way to decieve, which is why people favor certain translations over others for the accuracy. But one of the easiest ways to decieve is to take verses out of context to use them for your own purpose. Isaiah 29:12 is not prophetic about Mohammed. Did you even read the verses that follow it? It's about people who claim to believe but who have never read the laws of God.
Isaiah 29:11-13
For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say to him, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I can't; it is sealed." Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, "Read this, please," he will answer, "I don't know how to read."
The Lord says:
"These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.
Now, does that sound like your prophet? Because I don't really think you believe that he made his religion up himself.
As for my stance on translation, I believe it's necessary for people to read a translation first if you ever expect them to learn the language of the original texts. Why take the time to learn those language[s] if you don't even know a basic idea of what the book says? The Qu'ran is in Classical Arabic, and even native Arabic speakers don't understand most of what it says without taking classes. Muhammed may have been illiterate, but for one to understand the texts without education is impossible if it cannot be translated. And you also have to realize that even the original Bible is translated: Jesus did not speak Greek, He spoke Aramaic, and yet he is quoted in Greek because the most people at the time could understand Greek. Christianity was founded by translators. The words themselves are not sacred without any meaning behind them. It is good to have the original texts to ensure that the translation is accurate. But if people cannot understand the meaning to begin with, what is the purpose of reading the original text? Should they use a dictionary word for word until they understand?
@Gordano (795)
• United States
8 Nov 09
murderistic,
Isaiah 29:13 is one of my favorite Quotes of the Bible
Isaiah 29:13 (New International Version - UK)
[i]These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
[/i]
[b]Do you celebrate the Christmas " the feast of the sun " ?
Do you celebrate the Easter " The Pagan Fertility Goddess " ?
Do you go to the Church in Sunday " the Venerable day of the sun " ?[/b]
according to the Edict of Constantine A.D. 321 :
On Sunday, the venerable day of the Sun let the Magistrates and the people residing in the cities rest, and let all workshops be closed
If you do anything of the above, think 1000 times in Isaiah 29:13 and Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
and I'm not saying that people have to learn the language of the original texts first, this is unfair, in fact only 18% of Muslims now are Arabs, the remaining 82% don't speak Arabic, this is not the Case, I'm talking about biased translations of scriptures, What does a biased translation serve when People want to Learn the Basics using biased translation ?
@murderistic (2278)
• United States
9 Nov 09
But where is the basis for your claims? Have you studied the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in order to decide that these verses are biased? And what difference does it really make if the one verse you quoted says "I can't read" or "I can't write"?
As for the days that Christian celebrations and practices fall on, it is only by the rules of men that I would find any spiritual signifigance in pagan beliefs. I do not, and I'm sure most other Christians do not either. The reason why Christian holidays fall on pagan ones is because that was an attempt to drown out paganism with Christianity. I think that was a poor decision of the religious leaders of the times, but in hindsight, it doesn't really matter any more, because there is no signifigance to the pagan holiday... nor is there much signifigance to the Christian holidays anymore. They have become consumeristic holidays that give us excuses to spend lots of money, eat lots of food, and spend time with our families. Some people choose to go to church on those days to celebrate holidays, and I really don't think that whether or not the dates are accurate would matter to God. What matters is what's in our hearts. The teachings that we are to follow are that of Jesus Christ, who Himself is the Word of God.
@Gordano (795)
• United States
11 Nov 09
murderistic,
It seems you contradict yourself, while you ask me Have you studied the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew in order to decide that these verses are biased?
by your Question you ensure that knowing the Original text is necessary to decide if some verses are biased, you said before that : It is good to have the original texts to ensure that the translation is accurate. But if people cannot understand the meaning to begin with, what is the purpose of reading the original text? Should they use a dictionary word for word until they understand?
How can they understand the meaning to begin with, depending on Biased translations ?
and No, I didn't study Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, It only bu using some Logic, Comparing two translations -English and Arabic- is sufficient for me, both of them supposed to taken from one Origin, If something exist in one of Them That doesn't exist in the Other one, Then One Of Them Must be falsified, it is a very Simple Logic.
and when it is a matter of fact that:
the Christmas is " the feast of the sun "
the Easter is " The Pagan Fertility Goddess "
and Sunday is " the Venerable day of the sun "
All of Them supposed to be Christian festivals and It doesn't Matter according to you, Can you please tell me What Does Matter ?
@May2k8 (19788)
• Indonesia
6 Nov 09
I do not know the language first came out in the world, the possibility of Arab. In Indonesia was written dunia taken from Arabic with word dunya the mean is world. Arabs scattered everywhere, so if there is the slightest error in the use of sentences they will know. If there is a missing word or a word that is added the meant to be different, that's why if we've got one religion can not get peace with other religions holders.
