Bibelen 2020, a contemporary version of the Old and New Testaments published by the Danish Bible Society (DBS)

The new Danish Bible translation “Bibelen 2020” got accused of anti-Zionism and even anti-Semitism and recently was the cause a furor.

Bibelen 2020 is a contemporary version of the Old and New Testaments published by the Danish Bible Society (DBS). It had eliminated the word “Israel” in many places. In some passages, particularly in the New Testament, “Israel” was replaced by such wordings as “the Jews,” “the Jewish people,” or simply “the People.” In others, it was changed even more radically, as when Psalm 121:4,

“He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps,”

became

“He who watches over us.”

A reaction was not long in coming from Danish Bible readers.

“Bible 2020 is an assault on the faiths of both Jews and Christians, and an attack on the history of the Jewish state of Israel,”

wrote Dr. Petra Heldt, director of the Ecumenical Theological Research Fraternity in Jerusalem.

Referring to Psalms 121:4, she went on:

“DBS pretends that we get the divine watchfulness. [The identity of Israel] has been stolen.”

Heldt accuses DBS of

“emulating the current social attitude that develops from the anti-Israelism of Muslim immigrants and that is picked up by other parts of Danish society.”

The Danish Bible Society sought to defend itself.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,”

it declared in a prepared statement, than the charge that its translation had an anti-Jewish or anti-Israel bias.

“The words Israel and Israelites [still] occur in the translation more than 2000 times and the words Jew and Jewish occur more than 500 times,”

the statement said.

Bibelen 2020,according to them

“is a special kind of Bible translation directed at secular readers with no or little knowledge of the Bible and of its history and traditional church and Bible language.”

It was made, the DBS asserted, for that “majority of Danish readers” who might confuse the biblical concept of Israel with the modern country bearing that name and

“wouldn’t know that Israel in the New Testament at large refers to the people of God with which He has made a covenant.”

Its aim was disambiguation, not the delegitimization of the Jewish state.

Preparing for the most important weekend of the year 2018

Yesterday was remembered by many true lovers of God that iniquities will capture the wicked. In Jewish families children could play with a rattle to drive the evil away.

For sure we can see lots of evil coming into this world and even trying to enter each household by way of that small screen, which has become today a big screen showing a lot of sex and interchange of partners like it is a normal behaviour. Lots of programs on lots of channels bring the same sort of voyeurism and sex from early  morning until late at night.

When we look at this world and see how we also get more people who try to silence believers in the One God or want to silence parents who wish to bring up their children according to their religion (like yesterday Darya Safai in the TV-debate on Terzake on Canvas), prohibiting to be clothed according to the faith or wearing religious symbols.

The recent attacks on Jews and reactions against Muslims, plus people demanding others to accept their trinitarian Catholic faith should worry a little bit, because we can find serious problematic racist and neo-Nazi websites.

You may think that the best way is to let it all happen and to stay quiet in the home or not to catch the eye. We must not be dressed conspicuously and may be unobtrusive, but it would be wrong to stay silent and not to react to those who discriminate and do bad to those who have an other religion.

Esther breaking the silence of her birth or nationality, telling the king she is a Jew

Yesterday we had the day that the Jews remembered how Esther broke her silence and revealed her nationality to save the Jews. She could have kept silent and further enjoyed her life as queen, but she took the risk and spoke up. By doing so she saved many Jews of the death. Therefore the Jews celebrated yesterday their liberation, but shall continue these days to remember an even bigger liberation, which Christians also should take at heart.

In a few weeks time we shall come to remember how God saved His people from slavery and how He guided them and helped them through the dessert. We too shall come to remember those events and also shall remember how Jesus too came together in the upper room to commemorate that special occurrence. Be a peacemaker these days and come to invite people for that most importatn weekend of the year.

In preparation for 14 and 15-22 Nisan let us make ourself clean to come that night of March the 30th together to show to God how we love him and how we appreciate Jesus for what he has done for us. We must be sure we do not defile our eyes with things we better not see. Let yourself not be caught by those popular television programs which want to show you the bottom of the soul of man. Make sure the coming weeks you shall settle disputes which were still going on. Patch up any quarrel and make an effort to make friends again with those who left you aside.

The coming weeks you have time enough to depart from inequities and to cleanse yourself. Let out your mouth flow what you belief. Take the time to consider how the modern gadgets and media may be driving a wedge between us and God. Let make sure that we do not become part of the world and brake all the chains from this world. Break away, break down and break free and focus on God and the Salvation He prepared for us.

Now is the time that we prepare to have a clean presence on April the first when we celebrate Pesach and show our thankfulness for the liberation of any slavery and for the possibility that Jesus created for us to be clean to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

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Preceding

Belgians seeming to love dating programs and relation-tests

Preparing for 14 Nisan

Pesach and a lot of brokenness in the world

14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast

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Additional articles

1. Purim or Ta’aniet Estêr
2. Speaking up and Celebration of Purim
3. Not making a runner
4. Worthy partakers of the body of Christ
5. Preparation for Passover
6. Lost senses or a clear focus on the one at the stake
7. Today’s thought “Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity” (January 15)
8. Extra verses to remember by The Zeal for the Name to be proclaimed
9. God let my compassionate affection be tolerant and kind
10. Gain Christ, trusting Jehovah
11. Thinking about fear for the Loving God and an Invitation for 14 Nisan

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Related

1. The holiday of Purim
2. Morning Reading: Tue, 26 Dec – Esther 6-10 ~ Purim: sorrow turned into joy
3. If the Shoe Fits (Purim)
4. Purim To The Rescue
5. Purim, Exile, and Redemption
6. Deceit Meets Truth at Purim
7. Shabbat, Purim, and What Makes You Happy
8. Hearts that hurt are hearts that work
9. Presumption Is As Iniquity
10. Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities
11. The Mystery of Iniquity
12. Bruised for our iniquities
13. Depart From Iniquity
14. Our Beliefs Spring From Our Mouth!
15. Blessed are the peacemakers