‏שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה אֶחָד

A while ago when I was testing my weblog's Unicode support I wanted to find a copy of the Shema (‏שְׁמַ) of Deuteronomy 6:4. It turns out sacred-texts.com has a Hebrew copy online:

‏שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה אֶחָד

This is coming up now, of course, because Deuteronomy 6 is where I am in my new favorite translation's "Through the Bible in a year" program

Only, some combining characters (vowels) don't seem to be exactly right and the RtL text is being funky in my browser's text editor. Also, I don't think I've ever seen anyone spell out Adonai before.

Oh, and incidentally, Matthew Henry's entire commentary is available online.

Update: This Hebrew text has behaved differently on every browser and system I've tried it on. It's disappointing.

Permalink | 2 Comments | Tags: Programming, Religion | id 6671

23:35 (utc-5)
edited: 2005-03-10 06:07 (utc-5)

 

Great speech by Bush today

President Discusses War on Terror:

For all these reasons, the chances of democratic progress in the broader Middle East have seemed frozen in place for decades. Yet at last, clearly and suddenly, the thaw has begun. The people of Afghanistan have embraced free government, after suffering under one of the most backward tyrannies on earth. The voters in Iraq defied threats of murder, and have set their country on a path to full democracy. The people of the Palestinian Territories cast their ballots against violence and corruption of the past. And any who doubt the appeal of freedom in the Middle East can look to Lebanon, where the Lebanese people are demanding a free and independent nation. In the words of one Lebanese observer, "Democracy is knocking at the door of this country and, if it's successful in Lebanon, it is going to ring the doors of every Arab regime."

Across the Middle East, a critical mass of events is taking that region in a hopeful new direction. Historic changes have many causes, yet these changes have one factor in common. A businessman in Beirut recently said, "We have removed the mask of fear. We're not afraid anymore." Pervasive fear is the foundation of every dictatorial regime -- the prop that holds up all power not based on consent. And when the regime of fear is broken, and the people find their courage and find their voice, democracy is their goal, and tyrants, themselves, have reason to fear. (Applause.)

Via Hindrocket at Power Line. He has more historical perspective than I do:

When was the last time an American president laid out his philosophy, his strategy and his vision in such a series of speeches? For over three years now, Bush has given one after another: eloquent, determined, clear and persuasive. When collected, they may represent the most substantial body of speeches delivered by any President since Lincoln.

It's interesting, too, how consistent Bush's speeches have been. You can go back to 2001 and see basically the same themes and arguments. (Bush makes more important and coherent arguments in his major speeches than any President in my lifetime.) The details adapt to the headlines of the day, but the strategy and the vision have been consistent throughout.

Permalink | Comments? | Tags: Opinions/Politics | id 6670

22:46 (utc-5)

 

Eugene Volokh on the Jews

Eugene Volokh on the Jews (via Glenn):

...this is America and I'm not going to be nice to Nazis to try to get them to go away.

So, yeah, we're Jews. Yeah, we're overrepresented on university faculties, in law and medicine, in the Senate, on the Supreme Court. Speaking of Nazis, we were overrepresented on the Manhattan Project, too.

The most powerful country in the world, America, is one of the ones that has been most open to Jews. Look at the most anti-Semitic countries in recent history: Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, the Arab world. Right up there at the forefront of civilization and power, aren't they? Is it all the workings of The Conspiracy? Or is it just that the sorts of idiots who hate Jews do other idiotic things, too?

Genesis 12:2-3:

2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."

Permalink | Comments? | Tags: Opinions/Politics, Religion | id 6669

22:39 (utc-5)

 

The ESV Bible

I'm really enjoying the ESV (English Standard Version) Bible. I've been following their read the Bible in a year program through their RSS feed for a couple of days. I really like the translation so far.

RC Sproul gives it high praise. The ESV may be my new favorite translation. I'd often switch back and forth between the NIV and the NASB; the language of the NIV is easier to read, but I'd often prefer the NASB when I wanted something more literal. I've noticed that the ESB seems to bridge that gap nicely, and it turns out it was their goal to provide a literal, but more readable translation. I'm psyched.

I'm just trying to find out more historical information on the translation, such as when the translation was done and what year it was released, whether it was done from scratch or whether it was derived from other translations, and so on, but haven't been able to find the info on their site. Ah, here we go. Published in October 2001, and was based on the 1971 RSV version. Here's a verse-by-verse comparison, as well as a very helpful explanation of the different major translations available and how the ESV compares. Here are some more details about the translation.

The geek in me also loves it They have RSS feeds (even using embedded, not escaped, (X)HTML) and a very detailed web service API. It's really nice how open they are about everything. And their site even uses clean URLs!!

Permalink | 2 Comments | Tags: Religion | id 6662

08:28 (utc-5)
edited: 09:57 (utc-5)