Good Translations Of Non-Christian Texts

[SithDoughnut]

I feel as though I am lacking somewhat in my knowledge of most non-Christian religions, so I figured I'd start with the various texts and scriptures. However, a brief google has given me several differing translations. Whatever non-Christian religion you are, do you have any recommendations of good translations of your particular texts? If you know of somewhere online to read them, that would be nice, but I'm not exactly against going and getting hold of an actual book.

I'm especially interested in Islam and Judaism, purely because I'd like to see for myself how they compare to each other and Christianity, but I don't plan on stopping there, so I'm after as many religions' texts as possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Arthra]

The Baha'i Writings translated into English can be found on-line and easily accessed at

Baha'i Reference Library

 

[Wicked Willow]

Whenever I find that my foreign language skills are not up to the task, I usually refer to multiple translations, not just the ones that chime best with my own "taste". For example, there are about a gazillion translations of the Tao-te-Ch'ing, and each time I consult one of these, I discover a new angle, a new interpretation, a new aspect that was hidden from me before.
And my Chinese ex-flatmate tells me that this is exactly as it should be, with the original containing such a vast plethora of meaning that's simply lost in translation to some degree or other.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Whenever I find that my foreign language skills are not up to the task, I usually refer to multiple translations, not just the ones that chime best with my own "taste". For example, there are about a gazillion translations of the Tao-te-Ch'ing, and each time I consult one of these, I discover a new angle, a new interpretation, a new aspect that was hidden from me before.
And my Chinese ex-flatmate tells me that this is exactly as it should be, with the original containing such a vast plethora of meaning that's simply lost in translation to some degree or other.

I plan on doing that when I find areas of religions that interest me, but right now all I'm looking for is a overview, and I don't really have the time or the patience to do that in multiple translations. I do however know that certain translations are closer or further away from the originals, which is why I'd like to start off with some translations that are seen as better. I was also kind of hoping that multiple versions of the same texts would come up, because I'm much more interested in the translations that people actually choose to follow as opposed to the translations that people don't really pay attention to.

 

[SithDoughnut]

The Baha'i Writings translated into English can be found on-line and easily accessed at

Baha'i Reference Library

Thanks, I'll have a look at that .

 

[Under Grace]

You did say Islam and Judaism.

Online Islam: Literal translation of koran: The Koran - Literal Translation | Dictionary | Index and the Conspiracy | Download Books

Alternative translation: The Koranic Bible :: Index

And
Judaism: El Shaddai Ministries - Home Page

Judaism 101

 

[SithDoughnut]

You did say Islam and Judaism.

I did indeed.

Online Islam: Literal translation of koran: The Koran - Literal Translation | Dictionary | Index and the Conspiracy | Download Books

Alternative translation: The Koranic Bible :: Index

And
Judaism: El Shaddai Ministries - Home Page

Judaism 101

I'll have a look at them too.

 

[ChavaK]

I did indeed.



I'll have a look at them too.

Don't waste your time on El Shaddai ministries- it is a Christian
organization out to convert Jews.

I'll post some better sites for you later today.

 

[ChavaK]

You did say Islam and Judaism.

Online Islam: Literal translation of koran: The Koran - Literal Translation | Dictionary | Index and the Conspiracy | Download Books

Alternative translation: The Koranic Bible :: Index

And
Judaism: El Shaddai Ministries - Home Page

Judaism 101

You should remove the El Shaddai link-it's a Christian missionary organization
out to convert Jews and has nothing to do with Judaism. And I wouldn't
trust any of their translations.

 

[Wicked Willow]

You should remove the El Shaddai link-it's a Christian missionary organization
out to convert Jews and has nothing to do with Judaism. And I wouldn't
trust any of their translations.

The same probably goes for the Qur'an translations referenced in those links, considering who's giving the info. But I'll check them first.

 

[ChavaK]

The same probably goes for the Qur'an translations referenced in those links, considering who's giving the info. But I'll check them first.

Good to know....the Judaism 101 site is legitimate, but the other is not.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Don't waste your time on El Shaddai ministries- it is a Christian
organization out to convert Jews.

I'll post some better sites for you later today.

Yeah, I noticed that when I clicked on it.

 

[Nooj]

I feel as though I am lacking somewhat in my knowledge of most non-Christian religions, so I figured I'd start with the various texts and scriptures. However, a brief google has given me several differing translations. Whatever non-Christian religion you are, do you have any recommendations of good translations of your particular texts? If you know of somewhere online to read them, that would be nice, but I'm not exactly against going and getting hold of an actual book.

I'm especially interested in Islam and Judaism, purely because I'd like to see for myself how they compare to each other and Christianity, but I don't plan on stopping there, so I'm after as many religions' texts as possible.

Thanks in advance.

For Judaism, I can't praise enough The Five Books of Moses by Robert Alter. A commentary and translation of Genesis to Deuteronomy in one package.

 

[SithDoughnut]

For Judaism, I can't praise enough The Five Books of Moses by Robert Alter. A commentary and translation of Genesis to Deuteronomy in one package.

I feel a library visit will be in order then.

 

[Penumbra]

Hi SithDoughnut,

Besides the Bible, the religious scriptures that I have read are the Qur'an and the Bhagavad Gita, as well as a few Buddhist scriptures.

My personal favorite was the Bhagavad Gita, which is an important scripture among many Hindus. It is written as a narrative, but is said to be a "song from god", as it is poetic. Unfortunately, if you read many English translations, you'll notice that, since they are directly translated from another language, the beauty of the language is somewhat lacking, as poetic work does not necessary translate well when it's translated literally.

So, my favorite translation is "The Bhagavad Gita, a Walkthrough for Westerners" by Jack Hawley.

Instead of attempting to translate directly, he attempts to express the meaning in a way that a westerner would understand it. So, he provides a little bit of background, reduces his use of foreign words, and in general makes the scripture sound very modern and relevant. God's character (Krishna) explains things in clear, concise language. The downside is that some accuracy seems to be lost, as attempts seem to be made to make it "politically correct", and rather universal for people of a variety of religions, so it takes out some literal stuff and, from talking to some of them, certain Hindus don't care for it. So, I recommend that if it interests you, after you read it, you read an online translation of the Bhagavad Gita for comparison. I found myself a bit disappointed reading a directly translated one, as I didn't enjoy it as much as Hawley's, but I am happy I was able to keep my knowledge of Hinduism more grounded. Basically, I view Hawley's work as an excellent stepping stone into lrnnring about Hinduism, but one that should be supported by other translations once involved.

As for the Qur'an, all I did was compare a few online translations, and then picked one that seemed to not be very different from the general consensus of the ones I was looking at. This I hope helped me reduce my chances of reading an inaccurate translation. (I did the same thing for the Gita when I read it the second time to seek a more direct translation.)

-Lyn

 

[Faith Hope& Love]

For the Qur'an, this is my favorite site simply because it provides three good translations all on one page. If you want to purchase an actual Qur'an, I'd suggest one translated by Yusuf Ali, simply because it is my favorite of the translations.

For the Tanakh, I am partial to this one.



Oops...... I am not allowed to post links since I do not have a post count of 50 or greater here. You will have to type the http and www part at the beginning of these. LOL

usc.edu/schools/college/crcc/engagement/resources/texts/muslim/quran/

chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm

 

[BruceDLimber]

SD, two other helpful sources for Baha'i scriptures are these:

www.reference.bahai.org (this site is multilingual), and
www.bahaistudy.org (this site also has videos and talking books).

BTW, on the Baha'i Reference Library site that Art mentioned, there's lots of other stuff, too; but our scriptures can be found by clicking the heading that says "Writings."

I wish you good hunting!

Bruce

 

[JELIEL]

I feel as though I am lacking somewhat in my knowledge of most non-Christian religions, so I figured I'd start with the various texts and scriptures. However, a brief google has given me several differing translations. Whatever non-Christian religion you are, do you have any recommendations of good translations of your particular texts? If you know of somewhere online to read them, that would be nice, but I'm not exactly against going and getting hold of an actual book.

I'm especially interested in Islam and Judaism, purely because I'd like to see for myself how they compare to each other and Christianity, but I don't plan on stopping there, so I'm after as many religions' texts as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Sith this is a link to a site where you can find almost every ancient book from any religion to do some of your research. I don’t know exactly how the translation was made, maybe they explain that somewhere, but at least if you want to read some particular religious texts, I am sure you can found them here.

Internet Sacred Text Archive Home


.

 

[SithDoughnut]

Sith this is a link to a site where you can find almost every ancient book from any religion to do some of your research. I don’t know exactly how the translation was made, maybe they explain that somewhere, but at least if you want to read some particular religious texts, I am sure you can found them here.

Internet Sacred Text Archive Home


.

That is a very cool website. I'll be bookmarking that one - I don't even recognise some of the religions there. Thanks a lot.

On a side note, I've just started looking at the Baha'i stuff, so expect lots of questions .

 

[PassionFruit]

Sith this is a link to a site where you can find almost every ancient book from any religion to do some of your research. I don’t know exactly how the translation was made, maybe they explain that somewhere, but at least if you want to read some particular religious texts, I am sure you can found them here.

Internet Sacred Text Archive Home


.

Thanks for sharing, this site is a goldmine.