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Comment by getoffmyyawn | Hacker News Reader

A big challenge in translating "The Bible" is that it is an anthology collected over 100s or 1000s of years in many different and divergent forms. Thus there is no authoritative original version. All available versions were compiled, curated, and edited by their respective authors.

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Another big challenge is the punishment for getting it wrong, which the article doesn't even mention.

>For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Personally, I wish more people would include curse clauses in important documents. Legal contracts, government constitutions...why not tack on a few lines threatening a dire curse for any party who reneges on their responsibilities?

Please say that that is from the old testament

No. Revelation, IIRC

Yeah, it's actually one of the last sentences in the New Testament - Revelations 22:18.

Jesus did his best to tone down the fire and brimstone, but the Abrahamic god is not a particularly forgiving one.

IDK. Jesus supposedly also plans to be the one to decides who to cast into everlasting flames or eternal paradise.

You have no clue what you're talking about. Jesus spoke more regarding the topic of hell than everybody else in the bible _combined_.

Of course he did, hell is a Christian concept that isn't accepted by modern Judaism and was a divisive topic during ancient Judaism

What's interesting about that is it's obviously only referring to the book of Revelations itself, since "The Bible" as such didn't even exist at the time, if it isn't a late addition. Yet Christians apply it to scripture as a whole.

Also, IIRC, Revelations almost didn't even make it into the Biblical canon, like a lot of other apocryphal books it was considered too crazy for the mainstream.

The Bible did exist, just not the section called the new testament.

"The Bible" is a Christian invention. What existed was the Torah and other Hebrew texts, whose incorporation into Christian canon is based on retroactive continuity, and has never been recognized as valid within Judaism.

AFAIK Bible is from Greek and was used by Greek speaking Jews to refer to their sacred books.

> Yet Christians apply it to scripture as a whole.

I mean. some do, but, that’s hardly the only position.

http://actsapologist.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-does-catholic-...

> Jesus did his best to tone down the fire and brimstone

Jesus introduced the fire and brimstones. The old testament does not really have the concept of hell or eternal punishment.

The thing is the curse is only for the loser. The winner can change the document at will. For instance,for hundreds of years, christians lived and died thinking that the book of revelations was not part of the canon, only added 397 ad. The winner gets to say, it was always apart of the canon, you just didn't know it. Similarly, books like Shepherd of Hermas, was considered by many to be part of the canon, but later removed. No curses for either.

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