1. Amplified Bible (1965 first whole Bible edition, 1978 seventeenth printing). God. Zondervan. 1485 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars (because all Bibles get 5 stars regardless of translation]
First sentence: In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned,) and created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving, (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.
This was my first time to read through the Amplified cover to cover. I read the New Testament last year. I skimmed the New Testament this time around. This is not the newest edition of the Amplified, but the first edition that published both Old and New Testaments together. I do not how know how this text edition differs to those published in the 80s and beyond.
The Amplified translation turned out not to be my favorite or best. I found it awkward at times--going a little too far. However, I tried to keep in mind the original audience(s) that would have only had the King James Version and the Revised Standard Version. I thought about how the translation might have helped bridge the gap in terms of understanding and comprehension. Probably most readers were not looking for a total and complete replacement, just an additional resource or aid for helping understand difficult passages. Maybe. That is pure speculation on my part. At the very least, I am reminded that translators wear the second hat of COMMENTATOR as well. It isn't always super obvious in most translations, but in the case of the Amplified that becomes clearer and clearer.
From the foreword: "Its intent is to progress beyond the point where the others have stopped. Its purpose is to reveal, together with the single word English equivalent to each key Hebrew and Greek word, any other clarifying shades of meaning that may be concealed by the traditional word-for-word method of translation. Now, possibly for the first time the full meaning of the key words in the original text is available in an English version of the Bible....In a sense amplification merely helps the English reader comprehend what the Hebrew and Greek listener understood as a matter of course."
I do think as a resource on the side, it has its place. I found it tiresome to read Genesis to Revelation.
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