This is just a bit of fun with Bible versions. I selected an odd (as in bizarre) passage from 1 Samuel 16, and ran it through all of the Bibles on
http://bible.gospelcom.net/. The variations are interesting, and none of them paint a very good portrait of this god who is always so good (even if he
can create his own arbitrary justice) and never deceives (since that's satan's business). Anyway, here they are:
Quote:
23 Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him. (NIV)
23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. (KJV)
23 After that, whenever the bad depression from God tormented Saul, David got out his harp and played. That would calm Saul down, and he would feel better as the moodiness lifted. (MSG)
23And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away. (NLT)
23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him. (NKJV)
23And when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took a lyre and played it; so Saul was refreshed and became well, and the evil spirit left him. (AMP)
NASB – almost exactly the same as NKJV
ESV- almost exactly the same as AMP
CEV- almost same as NIV
KJ21 - almost exactly the same as KJV
ASV - exactly the same as KJV
23 And it hath come to pass, in the spirit of [sadness from]* God being on Saul, that David hath taken the harp, and played with his hand, and Saul hath refreshment and gladness, and the spirit of sadness hath turned aside from off him. (YLT - Young's Literal Translation) *sic
Darby Translation - almost exactly the same as KJV, except adding: "[evil] spirit from God"
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So I guess anyway you look at it, a christian needs to consider this evil, depressing, tormenting, troubling spirit that god sends down, apparently often. And not to take the quote out of context, the preceding verses are where David is introduced to Saul - Saul loves him very much & makes him his armor bearer- so whenever that bad spirit o' god comes down, David plays his yadda yadda and so on. And remember, thats the evil spirit
from God. Even in the editions that don't say evil, god's spirit is hardly comforting.
Anyway I'd never before focused on a single verse and looked it up in every edition possible. Overall, the meaning of the line doesn't change too much, but the variations are interesting, & not without significance I think.
So there's god calling himself evil in his own book.
04-04-2003, 05:31 PM
God's Evil Spirit (1Sam16:23) x 13)
