Douay-Rheims translation

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on February 27, 2004

In Reply to: Gift to be simple posted by Henry on February 27, 2004

: : : : : You might wish to include this proverb, meaning of which is not clear

: : : : : Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith

: : : : Nice one.

: : : I find the meaning clear enough. The writer preferred a vegetarian meal with loved ones over a roast from a grain-fattened animal where enmity prevailed at the table.

: : But the right wine might even the odds.

: Stalled (?), a. Put or kept in a stall; hence, fatted. A stalled ox." Prov. xv. 17. A dinner of herbs would be a simple meal; in fact, herbs were once known as simples. A meal with an oxen would be a large banquet. It means that a simple gift made with love is better than an extravagant gift without love.

The Douay-Rheims translation for this verse is "It is better to be invited to herbs with love, than to a fatted calf with hatred." It can be useful to compare several tranlsations of the Bible when puzzling over what a verse means. Or you can just do it for fun.

I found an online Douay-Rheims site at scriptours.com, but it's not complete. For example, Psalms only goes up to about chapter 40.

• "The Message" translation ESC 27/February/04