RantWoman hereby invites her readers along one one of RantWoman's endless adventures in reading options. RantWoman is contemplating the following gizmo purchase option.
BibleCourier
http://www.users.qwest.net/~lbea/BibleCourier.htm
BibleCourier - Summary Of Keys
http://www.users.qwest.net/~lbea/BC-Keys.htm
Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association - BibleCourier UserGuide page
http://www.users.qwest.net/~lbea/UserGuide.htm
Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association - Compare Bible Texts page
http://www.users.qwest.net/~lbea/Versions.htm
What is BibleCourier?
BibleCourier is an electronic pocket Bible designed especially for someone who is blind or visually impaired. BibleCourier weighs about 4 ounces including batteries and is about the size of a pocket New Testament (4 and a half by 2 and a half by 1 inches). BibleCourier is very portable and small enough to easily fit in a shirt pocket or a purse. The Bible is powered by two double A alkaline (AA) batteries which will run BibleCourier for several months of normal use or about 40 hours of continuous reading.The BibleCourier memory will now contain your choice of one complete Bible translation (both the Old and New Testaments) and the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary of the whole Bible, or your choice of two different translations of the Bible from the list below.
RantWoman needs help from her readers.
Have you used the gizmo described here or do you know someone who has? If so, how well do you like it? Any big problems besides feedint it batteries?
Should RantWoman give up and think about a Kindle or something else?
RantWoman HOPES she has readers who might advise her about their favorite Bible versions from the list below. If you have suggestions or preferences, please do leave a comment.
Also, apocrypha, yes or no? Which version? What do you like? What speaks to you? Are there things here that any good Quaker simply MUST have?
Anyone familiar with the Bible commentary mentioned? Would you choose it over a second Bible version?
If you have a choice between a Bible-specific gizmo and getting the Bible on some other more general gizmo, would you get the Bible alone or save up another increment and get a different gizmo even if the interface is more complicated?
For background, RantWoman pretty much things God spoke in the Revised Standard version. That's the version RantWoman's first Sunday school bible came in. RantWoman still has that Bible but of course can only read it in TINY bites with a lot of trouble and extra magnification. Whine. So, going in, the RSV might be one obvious choice. But RantWoman is asking the question with an open mind and open heart.
RantWoman THINKS RantMom still has one of the Rant Grandfather's large print KJV's. RantWoman thinks RantMom would be thrilled to hand it over if it were to get read. RantWoman is liking the idea of small and pocket- or pocketbook-worthy, but is already leaning against making the KJV one of her version options. Anyone want to try to persuade RantWoman otherwise? One consideration would bewhether or not to get the Apocrypha.
RantWoman has the Good News in large print. RantWoman is mostly not crazy about either the Good News or the large print format it's printed in. Whine.
RantWoman also has the New International Version in sort of large print. RantWoman likes the format of her NIV Bible better than the Good News, but neither one is quite large enough. Whine.
What is BibleCourier?
BibleCourier is an electronic pocket Bible designed especially for someone who is blind or visually impaired. BibleCourier weighs about 4 ounces including batteries and is about the size of a pocket New Testament (4 and a half by 2 and a half by 1 inches). BibleCourier is very portable and small enough to easily fit in a shirt pocket or a purse. The Bible is powered by two double A alkaline (AA) batteries which will run BibleCourier for several months of normal use or about 40 hours of continuous reading.The BibleCourier memory will now contain your choice of one complete Bible translation (both the Old and New Testaments) and the Matthew Henry Concise Commentary of the whole Bible, or your choice of two different translations of the Bible from the list below.
All Bible texts will come with a users guide in a digital format. The users guide is also provided on a cassette tape packaged with the BibleCourier. In addition to either the Bible/Commentary or the two-Bibles choice LBEA will also include as study aids Luther's Small Catechism, a Bible Glossary, Bible Book Summaries, and a concordance of over700 key words to help you locate many verses in the King James Bible. Note that the extra Apocrypha books (Tobit, Judith, Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom, Baruch,additions to Esther, additions to Daniel, and First and Second Maccabees) are now included with the New Jerusalem Bible (NJB), the New American Standardwith Apocrypha, or the King James Version with Apocrypha.
The BibleCourier's two Bible versions or Bible/Commentary combination are easily identified or switched between using the "zero key" and "pound key" incombination. Each Bible or commentary maintains its own last location and bookmark environment. This allows a blind person to easily study two differentBible translations in parallel or to look up entries in the commentary for a range of Scripture. Of course the books being independent means the focus can also be set at different places in the two Bibles or Bible and commentary.BibleCourier, like a telephone keypad, has twelve buttons on its face with a raised dot above the five key. These keys allow the user to swiftly navigate through the books, chapters and verses of the talking digital Bible. Each key also has built in help when depressed until two beeps are heard.The Bible text is not a recording. BibleCourier uses the DoubleTalk speech synthesizer computer chip (from RC Systems) to generate its synthetic voice toread the text of the Bible. There are five male voices to select from and the volume, speed and pitch of the selected voice may be adjusted to one's preference.The user listens to the Bible through a set of stereo earbuds which are provided with the BibleCourier, or, you may order high quality folding earphonesand external volume control/filter with the BibleCourier for an additional $12.00.While some may prefer listening to a recorded human voice rather than a synthesized computer voice, the text-to-speech computer chip approach used by BibleCourierhas the advantage that it gives the user full access to the books, chapters, verses, and even the words which may be spelled in the Bible text.BibleCourier has many other features including the ability to read forward or back by sentence or words. You can set book marks at favorite verses, haveunclear words spelled, and power search (that is, jump forward or back half the distance) among the books, chapters, and verses of the Bible. A footnote feature can be enabled which will allow any related notes to be read in a higher pitch at the appropriate place in the text (however, not all Bible versionswill contain footnotes). There is even a sleep timer which can be set to stop the reading after a specified time to conserve battery power. What you get when you order a BibleCourier:• The Talking BibleCourier unit manufactured by Springer Design, Inc. • One set of Double A (AA) Alkaline batteries installed • A set of earbud style stereo headphones • Your choice of two available selections from the list below • A Quick Start Cassette instructional Tape • A 90 day warranty against defects in material and workmanship How to order a BibleCourier The BibleCourier and similar talking Bibles have been sold at the retail price of $200.00 or more plus shipping charges. LBEA as a non-profit ministry wantsthese Bibles to be affordable for the blind and visually impaired.Using funds from the Ruth Urang bequest the LBEA ministry is now offering blind persons the BibleCourier with two complete Bibles or one Bible and Henry'sConcise Commentary at the subsidized price of only $75.00 or $87.00 with folding headphones and external volume control/filter. That price is $50 off theactual cost to manufacture a BibleCourier.Upon receipt of your order, LBEA will send you postage paid by U.S Priority or First Class Mail your choice of two selections for each BibleCourier from the list below.
• The King James Version (KJV),
• The King James Version with Apocrypha (KJVA), • The American Standard Version (ASV),
• The Revised Standard Version (RSV),
• The Bible in Basic English (BBE),
• The New King James Version (NKJV),
• The New International Version (NIV), • The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV),
• The New Living Translation (NLT), • The Good News Bible (GNB),
• The New American Standard Version (NAS),
• The New American Standard (with Apocrypha) (NASA),
• The New Jerusalem Bible (with Apocrypha) (NJB).
• The English Standard Version (ESV),
• The Contemporary English Version (CEV),
• The Matthew Henry Concise Commentary (MHC),
All orders must be made by mail or PayPal and checks and money orders payable in U.S. funds. Please include a telephone number and/or e-mail contact with your order so you may be contacted if there are any questions.LBEA is able to accept credit or debit card orders only through PayPal. There is a $3.00 service charge added for PayPal orders. To order a Bible Courier using PayPal click on the order by PayPal link.Send mail requests with your check or money order payable in U.S. funds for $75.00 ($87.00 with folding headphones and volume control/filter) for each Bible Courier to:
Lutheran Braille Evangelism Association (LBEA)
1740 Eugene Street
White Bear Lake, MN 55110-3312
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Good evening,
ReplyDeleteI have been doing a lot comparison of very old bible versions: Tyndale's 1526 New Testament and the immediately following Coverdale bible in 1635. Coverdale finished Tyndale's translation which stopped in the Old Testament. Coverdale gave us the English version of the Psalms we partly see in the King James today, which also incorporates a lot of the Geneva Bible translations.
The King James Version in the OT is a very accurate take on the original Hebrew written Word of God. Several critics of the King James acknowledge it is a near-literal word for word translation from the Hebrew, which retains the tone and rhythm of the original language word order, such as King of Kings, Lord of Hosts.
It seems that there is a lot of similarity in early Anglo-Saxon and English language that paralleled the Hebrew agricultural-oriented social experience. Tyndale remarked how easily Hebrew translated into English while Latin required to be "compassed" to make it readable.
Along with a genuine native language integrity in its translation to recommend it, the King James Bible has in its charter and translation priorities the requirement to be a Bible to be read aloud. The original six companies of translators who each developed their portion of the King James Bible read their proposed translations aloud to a committee of peers. The committee then passed judgment on the aural quality of the translation with respect to the original language source. The King James Bible was really the first-designed audio book, where the sound, the rhythm and cadence of God's Word read aloud, was accorded a significant regard.
I have been restoring pages from a 1617 edition of the original King James Bible and this has given me an opportunity to look at how this translation evolved over the previous ninety years of English bile development. I have discovered lots of old, wonderful research that has been done in past centuries on bible translation choices. I found a Hexapla comparing six New Testament versions to the original Greek text and the works of Francis Fry who spent ten years comparing all the existing old King James Bible in England during the mid 1800s.
All this rich historical research has convinced me that the reason the King James Bible had such a long run as the dominant version of the English language bible is that the new corporate-controlled copyrighted versions needed the high-speed language changes in modern English to make their new translations "relevant", a much-used term in bible translation issues used to justify pastoral slouching toward intellectual slothfulness. But that's just my opinion. The KJB translations are really quite excellent
The original King James Bible wanted the twenty-third Psalm to be read so it would sound like this: Hee leadeth mee. Hee and mee were even spelled with double E, to accent the long E, accented with a pronounced and prolonged E sound to underline who was leading whom.
There are some clunky sounding lines in the King James, such as the end of Psalm 90 regarding handiwork. In the main, it is the reading aloud of the King James where its beauty and reach to the spirit is found. Other new Bibles are edited to be read silently, like a mediation rather than a common God-sharing experience. Perhaps churches would be a stronger influence and more well attended today if there were more shared experiences of hearing the Word, at more length than is currently typical.
Regards,
Steve
Wat interesting thoughts!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
One of the problems hI wrestle with is that a lot of the time when I am alone and using different Text-to-speech options, I read REALLY fast. This is true of a lot of blind people, but it tends to sound like squirrels on steroids to people who are not used to it.
This REALLY does not work with poetry. It really does not work with some other texts too and it sounds like I should approach high-velocity Bible reading with caution as well.
So thank you very much for all the commentary.