(September 11, 2013)
It is my understanding that no translation, however carefully made, can match the nuance of reading art in its original language. Words have meter, meaning, connotation, and so forth. I say this as someone with limited understanding of these nuances (neither knowing another language well enough to compare nor really having much of a grasp on poetry in my native English), but I have heard similar things enough that I am inclined to believe it.
This has meaning in reading the Doctrine and Covenants. Of all of the books ever written, this is the one where we can hear the Lord’s voice through the words that He has chosen without the imposition of a translator. As a lawyer, I can feel confident that I can pull and push on words to acquire additional meanings without worrying as much that I am reading too much into what I am doing. This isn’t true with grammar and punctuation, from my understanding, but it is true with words. And that makes this book a rare treasure in all of the scripture we have.
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