The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1854-10-19
This word in the oourse Of the English BIZ
IL. 20 -or,-crnn Aod lnu tho Eollnuirn

Tho revsers also except to the translation Of
the word borrow" in tho following verses in
Exodus, where the Jews are apparently recon-
mended by the Almighty TO steal:
Exodus iii, 81, %: "And | will give this
people favor in the sight of the Egyptians );
and it shall come to pass that when we 90, ye
shall not 60 empty.
"But every woman shall borrow of her
neighbor, and of her that soj0urneth in her
house, jewels of silver, aud jewels of gold, and
raiment, end ye shall put them upon your sons,
and upon your daughters; and ye shall spoil
the Egyptians"
The term "borrow," it is insisted, CONVEYS
In this connection an erroneous idea as it i'm
plies a promise Of return ; while the proper
scnse CT the original is to ask, demand, petition,
request.
The late Rev. Dr. Bedell in one of his works,
says
awe are told that God ordered every woman to
borrow OF her neighbor jewels of silver, and Jew
ols of gold, and ALEC clothing, and thus to spoil
the Egyptians. Iofiiel writers have improper
ly made a great handle of this circumstance,
and have said that here is a direct command
to be thieves. As we use the word 'tc borrow
in our language, it means to ask the loan of
something which we intend to return, and if
wa do not return it, il is just as bad as stealing
DuG 10 OuEub 10 DC CtIuSlOOcTtU tuhV INC DlDIo
was written in Hebrew, and that the Hebrew
word which is translated borrow, only signifies
to ask All that the Israelites, therefore, did,
was to ask or demand of the Egyptians such
things as they needed or might need in their
journey; and what they received was Justly dne
them as an equivalent for the long and painful
services which they had rendered"
The Uaion claim that the errors of the old
translat;ons Of the Bible hayo iod to much of
that popular infdelty which has prevailed in
past ages, and still prevails. AS an illussra-
ton of this, they refer to Voltaire's Comment
airy upon Proverbs xxui, 81, "When the wine
givesh its color in the glass" From the fact
that drinking glasses were of lac invention,
he concluded that the book of Proverbs Yves a
modern production, composed at Alexandria.
But the original word, say the revisers, sigui-
| fes merely cup, without denotipg the m lte-
rial OF which it is composed; 80 that faithful
| translation removes at once the foundation Of
this inidel argument. Like this is the naccu-
recy which ekeptics find in the received YER
sion at Isa iii, %, where the prophet, speaking
| of various articles of attire and adornmcn5
used by the Hebrew women, is made to call
their mirrors " glasses"
| We will conclude this imperfect sketch of
the grounds upon which the American Bible
| Union are agitating the question of O new
/
| delicaoy and universal concern-with copy
of the General Rules for the Direction of Trans
tGtors and Revisers in their employ:
! /. The exact meaning of the inspired text,
as that text expressed it to those who under
stood the original Scriptures at the time they
were first written, must be translated By cor
responding words and phrases 30 far as they
can be found, in the vernacular tongue of those
| for whom the version is designed, with the
least possible obeourity or Indebtedness
| 80 Wherever there ia version in common
use, it shall DO made the basis of revision: and
| oil unnecessary interference with the establish
ed phrnseology shall be avoided and only such
! alterations shall be made, as the exact mean.
ing CT the inspired text and the existing state
of the language may require.
80. Trsnelations or revisions of the New
Testament shall be made from the received
Greek text, critically edited, with known errors
corrected
Especial Instructions to the Reviseys of the
/ English NeD Testament.
I'll. The common English version must be
the basis of revision; the Greek text, Bagster
& Sons octave edition Of 1851.
"2 Whenever an alteration from that ver-
sion is made on any authority additional to
that of the reviEer, such authority must be
cited in the manuscript, either in the same
page or in the appendix.
"3. Every Greek word or phrase in the
translation of which the phraseology of the
common vereion is changed, must be carefully
examined in every other place in which it oo-
ours in the New Testament, and the views of
the reviser given to its proper translation in
each place.