The Biblical cadence of Barack Obama
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4 Comments
This is well said. It is difficult to get in our minds the spoken cadence of the Word. The new style of TNIV where they take out the verses and chapters tries to capture the SENSE of the spoken Word, and the need to read in community, but perhaps the TNIV doesn’t “read” as a “spoken” Word, either.
As a sidenote, both speeches by McCain and Obama did have those different flavors and both of them moved me. McCain’s speech certainly may read better, but he delivered it with poise and grace and the words were tremendous when I heard them.
Dan, I agree that both were very good speeches. I think McCain’s might have been his best of the entire campaign, even better than his acceptance speech at the RNC.
Obama is, obviously, a great speaker. He has the cadences that come out of the African-American church, IMO. He either deliberately or subconsiously, imitates the speaking style of Dr. Martin Luther King, whose style was grounded in the A-A church. And the A-A church uses rhetorical styles in its worship, Bible reading (often still the KJV), preaching, and singing which are full of rhythm and cadence.
The Hebrew Bible had cadence. We need to try to capture that in English translations of the Hebrew Bible. The KJV does it pretty well. Contemporary English versions need to have more of the Hebrew cadences.
Thank you for the link, Wayne. I too share yours and Dan’s appreciation for McCain’s delivery on Tuesday night. I remember listening to him and thinking that “if only he had been so eloquent throughout the campaign…” He was tremendously gracious, a model for us all.
I listen to speakers like Sen. Obama, Dr. King and Dr. S.M. Lockridge (‘That’s My King’) and find them tremendously inspiring. On the other hand, there are few evangelical authors who, in a corresponding written tradition, generate that type of enthusiasm (for me). Probably personal preference, but perhaps also an acknowledgment that, just like music, the spoken word stirs up an internal response in ways that the visual act of reading does not.
Interesting that Martin Luther King, Jr with his splendid spoken style/cadence is closest to understanding the need for a solidly liturgical translation. Some of the same qualities are needed for both.