Why do Christians continue to use a mistranslation when a true translation has been available for 25 years?

Published by The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (c)1981, the verse at Exodus, chapter 22, verse 17 is more properly translated as ';Thou shalt not tolerate a sorceress.';


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There are no direction to kill a Witch.Why do Christians continue to use a mistranslation when a true translation has been available for 25 years?
Terry, my dear....it's been available for longer than that. My copy of the Tanakh was published in 1955, and reads the same way:





Exodus 22:17 ';Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live';








But that's really beside the point, Terry.





The *point* is that each and every one of the ';Thou shalts'; and ';Thou shalt nots'; in Exodus were only for ';the children of Israel';.





Exodus 19:5


';Now therefore, if ye will hearken unto My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own treasure from among all peoples';





Exodus 20:1,2


';And God spoke all these words, saying: I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage';








WHY is it that people do not ';get'; that when Moses went down to the bottom of Mount Sinai and delivered this message, it was to *a very specific group of people';, not everyone in the world.





It wasn't for the people living in Asia, or the Americas, or *anyone at all* except ';the children of Israel';, who God had ';brought out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage';.





Period.











Thus, ALL those laws were only for THEM.





The ';children of Israel'; were not to allow a ';sorceress'; to live AMONG THEM.





(***EDIT: Note that one of the folks below me who is quoting a few different versions of the OT in his reply *proves my point* with the verses that say specifically ';among you'; - folks, the ';you'; referred to are ';the children of Israel'; - those folks who were gathered at the bottom of Mount Sinai when Moses came down to deliver a message from the God that had made a contract with them. NONE if this applies to Christians, no matter *what* translation you use)





They were NOT directed to go force *their* laws onto other peoples.





Exodus 22:20


';And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.';








EDIT: Is there a severe reading comprehension problem here? Terry says, right there in his question, that he's referencing the Tanakh ';Published by The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (c)1981';, and y'all are going to ';correct'; him from a *different* book? Are you really going to do that stupid thing and say that it's NOT verse 17 in the book that he is looking at, when you don't even HAVE a copy of that book?





*snort*Why do Christians continue to use a mistranslation when a true translation has been available for 25 years?
umm ok...I don't think most of us are killing ';witches'; anyway..but thank you...plus it also says thou shalt not commit murder..I think that Witches are totally covered in that also =)
i havent seen anyone kill a witch before... ever...
Yipes I guess I will go and have a coffee now.
The bible is full of mistranslations more interesting than that. It has over the years changed from thou shalt not kill to thou shalt not do murder so that the army can be good Christians. Another example is Jesus walking on water which actually translates as Jesus walked by the water not on it. The fact is that many of these mistranslations were not innocent mistakes but done deliberately so that Christianity could continue its atrocities in Gods name
Hmmm, My NKJV shows that Exodus 22:17 says:


17 ';If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the bride-price of virgins.





However verse 18 says:


18 ';You shall not permit a sorceress to live.





The word used for live is:


02421 hyx chayah khaw-yaw’





AV-live 153, alive 34, save 13, quicken 14, revive 12, surely 10, life 9, recover 8, misc 9; 262





1) to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, live for ever, be quickened, be alive, be restored to life or health


1a) (Qal)


1a1) to live


1a1a) to have life


1a1b) to continue in life, remain alive


1a1c) to sustain life, to live on or upon


1a1d) to live (prosperously)


1a2) to revive, be quickened


1a2a) from sickness


1a2b) from discouragement


1a2c) from faintness


1a2d) from death


1b) (Piel)


1b1) to preserve alive, let live


1b2) to give life


1b3) to quicken, revive, refresh


1b3a) to restore to life


1b3b) to cause to grow


1b3c) to restore


1b3d) to revive


1c) (Hiphil)


1c1) to preserve alive, let live


1c2) to quicken, revive


1c2a) to restore (to health)


1c2b) to revive


1c2c) to restore to life





Why would an updated Torah be the ultimate word?





grace2u
';mistranslation'; is YOUR OPINION





Are you a Christian ?





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The height of INTOLERANCE is termination.





There is no stated prohibition of death.





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Exodus 22:18 (New International Version)





18 ';Do not allow a sorceress to live.





Leviticus 20:27 (New International Version)





27 '; 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' ';





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Exodus 22:18 (New American Standard Bible)





18';You shall not allow a sorceress to live.





Leviticus 20:27 (New American Standard Bible)





27'Now a man or a woman who is a medium or a spiritist shall surely be put to death. They shall be stoned with stones, their bloodguiltiness is upon them.'';





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Exodus 22:18 (King James Version)





18Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.





Leviticus 20:27 (King James Version)





27A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.





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Exodus 22:18 (New King James Version)





18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.





Leviticus 20:27 (New King James Version)





27 ‘A man or a woman who is a medium, or who has familiar spirits, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with stones. Their blood shall be upon them.’”





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Exodus 22:18 (Young's Literal Translation)





18`A witch thou dost not keep alive.





Leviticus 20:27 (Young's Literal Translation)





27`And a man or woman -- when there is in them a familiar spirit, or who [are] wizards -- are certainly put to death; with stones they stone them; their blood [is] on them.'





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Exodus 22:18 (Amplified Bible)





18You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery.





Leviticus 20:27 (Amplified Bible)





27A man or woman who is a medium and has a familiar spirit or is a wizard shall surely be put to death, be stoned with stones; their blood shall be upon them.





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Exodus 22:18 (Today's New International Version)





18 ';Do not allow a sorceress to live.





Leviticus 20:27 (Today's New International Version)





27 '; 'A man or woman who is a medium or spiritist among you must be put to death. You are to stone them; their blood will be on their own heads.' ';





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Above are SEVEN CHRISTIAN translations / versions.





Whatever you are referencing is not of Christian origin and does not apply to Christians.





dave
This is the same group that accepts homosexuality--against the Bible, as well as is against the death penalty--again, contrary to the Bible.





Yeah, I'm suppose to believe THEIR translation? Of course, they do not have an agenda, do they?





Of course, the Jehovah Witnesses say THEY have the most accurate translation. Hmmm, no agenda there.
Good point. It's amazing that people will not so much as consult with the text belonging to those of the original culture and language!
Yet a sourcerer is totally acceptable. Yet another example of gender bias in the Bible.
OK, thanks for straightening that out for us.
Did you say Witch? Where? Let's get her!!!
Good point! I would like to get my hands on this particular translation--I will look for one. Too bad they didn't have one of these translations at the Salem Witch trials-----Blessings!
mine is great NRSV
Thats good they finally came out with a newer and better translation, if they did it right the first time we wouldnt have that problem. By the way a Witch can be both a man and a woman, and Sorceress is not a Witch, it is a person who has gone against the normal bounds of Witchcraft and is trying to use their power to manipulate things to be good for them or to make others lives filled with problems. A sorcerer/sorceress was a term developed in the late middle ages in Scotland for those who did black magic as opposed to regular magic done by Witches.
Well, I guess that is some comfort to all those people that were burned at the stake!
That is Ex. 22 v. 18.





First - What does the Torah define as a ';witch';?





Second - Do you think this is accurate?





One source of info is not recommended.





What does Proverbs 3:5 say in this version?
Because they want a reason to hate people like me. So, they trot out a mistranslation and go ';SEE! Everything in the Bible is true. And my Bible tells me that you are evil and should die for it. Who am I to argue? Therefore, you ought to die right now. But, I'll be the better person and just persecute you instead. Ok? Ok.';