One of the aspects of
his speech that I haven't seen commented on was his praise for the poetry of the King James version:
"One of my favourites is the line "For now we see through a glass, darkly.
It is a brilliant summation of the profound sense that there is more to life, that we are imperfect, that we get things wrong, that we should strive to see beyond our own perspective.
The key word is darkly - profoundly loaded, with many shades of meaning.
I feel the power is lost in some more literal translations.
The New International Version says: "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror"
The Good News Bible: "What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror"
They feel not just a bit less special but dry and cold, and don't quite have the same magic and meaning."
Hmmm, here's a passage from
James in the KJV:
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth."
And here's the
same in the NIV:
"Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you.
Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes.
Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days.
Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. "
I dunno. Which translation d'ya think best conveys the point that Cameron is missing when he goes on about "values and morals we should actively stand up and defend."?
