in our Ugaritic class:
There are 10 kinds of people–
Those who understand binary
and those who don’t
Author Archives: Karyn
The Music of Mathematics
This is just too cool…
Math Songs: The Sonifications and Videos
Listen to some of the most famous mathematical equations. Yes, listen. And be amazed.
Creation is truly multi-disciplinary.
The Art of Translating
This is a quote from Touchstone Magazine. It touches on some of the discussions regarding translating that we’ve been having in our Proverbs class. I think it is really helpful in showing the complexities and decisions made when we (attempt to) translate.
Word to the Wise by ANTHONY ESOLEN (excerpt)
Dante is often obscure: He coins odd words; he uses forms from outside Tuscany; sometimes he is deliberately archaic; sometimes he wants his syntax tangled. When I translated The Divine Comedy, I assumed that my job was not to sand smooth what the Great One had left rough. It astonishes me to see translators do to the Word of God what I have struggled so hard, even within the severe constraints of meter and rhyme, not to do to Dante. I would not have presumed to do it.
One of my guiding principles in translation has been to retain what is strange in the original language, especially when it is embedded in an old metaphor. So if that cranky materialist Lucretius uses the word suffulcit to mean that a certain premise “supports” a conclusion, I uncover the odd metaphor hidden in the literal meaning of the word: “props up”.
People who do not write poetry (and maybe some people nowadays who do, but who are too busy expressing their feelings to learn anything about it) always assume that poets are more abstract than prose writers, but precisely the opposite is true, with only rare and partial exceptions among the second-rank poets (Thomas Gray). That is a reason their language is sometimes strange—even to their original readers.
So the biblical language is sometimes strange. Let it be. So people do not always understand. The better then to suggest to them that in fact they do not understand it, and that there are mysteries whose surfaces they have only begun to peer into.
If the Bible, at once immediately accessible by children and yet embracing unfathomable truths, does not sometimes suggest the depth of an infinite sea, the translators ought to be sent packing. Let ’em translate signs in train stations, where dynamic equivalence serves some immediate practical purpose.
Source:
Esolen, Anthony
2006 “Word to the Wise”, Touchstone 19.10, 4-5.
HT: Fred Putnam
Home with her Lord
Olivia was taken home by her Lord earlier this night. Her pain is now over and she is in his presence.
She passed away peacefully while she was sleeping. This was a mercy not only to her, but to her family.
Olivia and Éva, November 2006
Olivia and Zach
Please continue to pray for the Waldens. Olivia’s pain is now over, but the grief and sadness of those left behind is just beginning.
Photo of the Waldens at Thanksgiving 2006: (Back row) Kim, Sky, Olivia, Zach, Emily, Éva, (Front Row) Phil (& Seámus), Hannah (& Jireh), Vivian
Please pray for Kim and Vivian (Olivia’s Dad and Mom) and all her siblings–Phil (& Hannah), Zach, Emily, and Sky. We also keep in our hearts and prayers her extended family and friends.
Update on Olivia
Olivia was moved on Thursday, Feb 22, to her family’s home in Jersey Shore, PA. She is under hospice care. The family is now all with her (all her siblings have left their jobs and schooling temporarily to be home with the family).
Even though Olivia is mostly sleeping and not communicative, it seems she is able to hear their voices, so they are reading and talking to her, spending time just being with her. Their main goal is her comfort and pain management.
Please continue to pray for Olivia and all the Waldens during this time. Pray that Olivia’s pain will be able to be managed well and that the Lord will surround her with his peace. The transition from earthly life through death to eternal life is never easy for those who are left behind. There is great sorrow over loss. I am thankful that the Waldens are a close family and can be a strength to each other. I am also thankful that, as believers, their ability to find comfort in this comes from the great Comforter.
A Four-year-old’s View of Death
During last summer I wrote about Olivia (Philip’s little sister) and her diagnosis of brain cancer. Since that time she has undergone more surgeries, radiation and chemotherapy to battle the growth. It’s been a hard 6 months, but in spite of the difficult road, there was a good deal of hope. This past week, the family found out that the very aggressive cancer had spread through her brain and her spine, and that there really is nothing they can do. While Olivia, and her whole family (4 siblings, her parents, and Hannah, her sister-in-law) are believers, there is great sadness and sorrow as everyone deals with the knowledge that she will no longer be a part of their lives. Yet, there is hope of the resurrection.
Éva is seeing lots of family these days. And lots of tears. But not a lot of Olivia, her aunt who loves to share ballet with her. She’s been praying for Jesus to make Olivia better. What can a four-year-old grasp out of this situation? A lot more than you might think.
In the middle of dinner last night she looked up at everyone and said (rather matter-of-factly), “Olivia’s going to die. We’re all going to die. Olivia is going to go to heaven. Jesus will take her to heaven. I’m going to heaven.”
A bunch of stunned adults looked at her. She’s right. Olivia is going to die. And she’s also right that we are all going to die. That actually should come as no surprise, but we rarely live like we are going to die. Somehow we often think we are insulated from death. For Éva and for Olivia (and for all believers) the true sting of death has been removed by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Éva’s got her theology in place.
What she doesn’t have yet, is the experience of how sad it is for those who remain when a loved one is released from this fallen and cursed world to be welcomed by their Savior. There is great sadness. We can imagine for her all the things that she will never experience with Olivia. We can imagine all the memories that will not be made. That is where the sorrow lies.
But perhaps Éva is actually more wise than her four years might seem to hold. She is focusing on the inevitable death of the body, but also the definite hope of the resurrection. She doesn’t use the word “resurrection” but her words about heaven are much more real than some adults would express. She is (in a way) untainted by the experience of sorrow so that she can see clearly the hope in this situation.
I know she will eventually be sad as the reality of the days and years ahead unfold. But for now, I’m comforted and challenged as I sit at her feet and hear her talk about death and Jesus and heaven. Right now, she takes the cake over any theology class.
Please do pray for the Walden family as they walk through this time with Olivia. And pray that the medical team is able to relieve Olivia’s pain.
Updated Weak Verb Charts
For those who have been asking. Here are the updated versions (January 2007) of my weak verb charts.
I know I am behind catching everyone else up on what I’ve been doing and thinking, but I will try to post soon.
Dead Sea Scroll Online
I know many other bloggers have mentioned this, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to also point people to this wonderful resource. The Great Isaiah Scroll is now available online.
You can scroll through the image (no pun intended… ok, maybe a little bit) and enlarge various sections.
Amazing.
Learning Biblical Languages (with your funny bone)
Daily Hebrew
Here’s a great way to keep your Hebrew alive and well! Each day a short passage is accompanied by vocabulary helps (for vocab occurring fewer than 50x) and grammar annotations. Check it out here (every day!).
HT: Sam Boyd (this is from one of his fellow University of Chicago classmates).