This came my way in The Toast some while back, and I have been meaning to share it ever sense. “Behold” is an awkward archaism that Bible translators regularly preserve, because alternatives don’t consistently have the same function in modern English.
And so, while this Bible doesn’t always use “Look, buddy” – for variety, it sometimes substitutes other synonyms, like “listen, pal” – it is nonetheless not merely humorous in effect, but also provocative in a serious way about translation. What do you think? Here are a couple of examples:
Exodus 6:29-30
The Lord said to Moses, “I am the Lord; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”
But Moses said to the Lord, “Look, buddy, I am but a poor speaker; how then shall Pharaoh listen to me?”
Exodus 34:10
“And He said: ‘Listen, pal, I make a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do marvels such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation; and all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord. For it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.’”
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