How did the word permit end up being written as the word suffer? And is that correct English if you keep the word "suffer" there? Like if you will not permit a son to leave the house you say I will not suffer you to leave the house?
2006-09-29 10:43:15 · 17 answers · asked by Professor Armitage 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The NIV has:
Do not allow a sorceress to live.
2006-09-29 10:47:14 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes, "suffer" means "permit". It's not a common definition today, but it's still valid (just like "pagan" religions can refer to rural religion, eg. christianity).
"Suffer" (as "permit") was used in the Elizabethan England. That's when the King James Version of the bile - oops, bible - was translated and printed.
The phrase "thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" gained great popularity in the middle ages after the spread of Martin Luther's propaganda. Read about "The Burning Times" and the Inquisition which began barely more than a century after Luther. Killing witches was a way to reduce women's power in areas where the catholic cult wanted to impose itself. Many of the women burned were midwives and healers (people using natural materials and plants to cure disease, i.e. science).
http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_burn.htm
That's what religion gets you....
.
2006-09-29 17:59:22 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Actually that verse is a mistranslation from the original Hebrew. Pick up a copy of the Jewish Torah and you'll see that the verse was originally "Thou shalt not suffer a poisoner to live". In other words that verse wasn't an injunction against witchcraft, but murder.
And in old times, suffer meant to live with, as in living with the knowledge that a poisoner is alive among you.
2006-09-29 18:27:28 · answer #3 · answered by Abriel 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As a Pagan and a Witch I have to comment here. The King James version of the bible is a deliberate mistranslation. The original word means 'assassin' or 'poisoner.'
King James was not at all popular with the country people - many of whom were witches who followed the Old Religion, and were actively practing magick to bring about his downfall. needless to say, King James twisted the translation to suit his own needs. It was his strike back at the witches.
2006-09-29 18:01:29 · answer #4 · answered by halfwolfie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is old fashioned English word for allow or permit. Since a witch was construed to be bad is was suffer (bad connotation). English speaking people do not follow this saying much anymore and do not care if somebody is a with or not.
2006-09-29 17:47:20 · answer #5 · answered by chris B 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Yes that is what that means. Back in the day suffer was used quite a bit to mean permit. Like in the bible when Jesus said "Suffer the little children to come unto me."
By the way, I am a witch. I was raised christian so I know my bible.
2006-09-29 17:45:54 · answer #6 · answered by DontPanic 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes.
The word "suffer" in the Old Testament can be accurately translated "allow."
My, how things have changed in Israel.
You can be an immigrant Jewish witch and become a citizen,
but you cannot be a Christian immigrant and become a citizen.
2006-09-29 17:54:43 · answer #7 · answered by Bob L 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yea, sure. As I understand it a witch was someone who you would go to see about potions and such as well as to know about the future. Essentially a poisoner and a diviner. The founders of the Yahweh religion detested poisoners because...well...it's not right. They figured that any diviners were their direct competition....and they had to go.
2006-09-29 17:55:35 · answer #8 · answered by eantaelor 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Last time I checked, the Biblical term for "witch" meant "poisoner." You wouldn't want a poisoner anywhere near tyhe camp well, would you?
2006-09-29 17:51:52 · answer #9 · answered by Scott M 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its called Middle-English friend, they used different terminologies back then, and spoke in a way we'd now say was antiquited.
Think 'Ye Shop'...Which is actually 'The Shop', but because they had a 'y' as a letter for the 'th' sound, it looks like 'Ye'
2006-09-29 17:47:18 · answer #10 · answered by thomas p 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋