Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1855-12-20

thorlty on sucn suDJect, at tne tlne vi i|' i'o'
revision? oThere is no book" says that learn
ed man, $50 translated as the Bible fo1 the
purpose. If I translate French book into
English, turn it into English phrase and not
into French-English. III .tat .troid,' [ say,
1T is cold;' not 1T makes cold: but the Bible
is rather translated into English words than
into English phrase. The Hebraisms are kept,
and the phrase of that language iskept; which
is we'll enough so long as scholars have to do
with it; but when it comes among the COM
mon people, "Lord, what gear do they make of
itw Most extraordinary, indeed, is the gear
they make of it! And none but those who
may have had the curiosity to turn occasional
ly into some of our country conventicles, in
which the neighboring tailor, or journeyman
cobbler, officiates as the expositor Of the Sa-
cred Text, can imagine the miserable mlsap-
prehensions to which this peculiar, literal,
word for word mode Of = dering the Scrip
lures has given rise. It nay, perhaps, he worth
while to cite few instances of the Hebrew
phrases to which Selden alluded, and which as
literally translated, bewilder the understanding
of the reader "a covenant of SALT" means
ga friendly contract - " they are crushed in
the gate," means "they are found guilty in
court of justice :" "branch and rush" means
"the highest and lowest" "the calves of our
lips" means "the words of our mouths; )"
srising early" means "acting with alacrity;" )"
81 have given you cleanness of teeth" /" means
"extreme scarcity" Such are the sort of He
braisms which have been retained-and, as
Seldom says, sWhat gear do the common people
make of them! ~
The proposition Of to the confusion of many
passage, and the bewilderment of many
reader, is continually used as synonymous with
by; sense which it has now so entirely lost,
that Clifford in his edition of "Massinger,"
has thought it necessary to give a note upon it.
After no longer means according to, as it did
of old, but is exclusively confined to the sense
behind, whether referring to time, or place, or
person. In the Sermon on the Mount, we find,
:sTake no thought for the morrow" " To
take thought" formerly implied "to be anxious
or distressed" The phrase is so used by Shak-
speare in Julius Caesar. And in the age in
which our translation was made, it very cor
rectly expressed the sense of the original text
But at present, in consequence of the changes
that have occurred in our language, it has not
only ceased to convey our saviors precept, but
inculcates carelessness of life, which is in
compatible with the Christian grace of Pru-
dence. In the cases mentioned above, the
words still remain with US, though their ac-
ceptation has been altered; but there are many
words retaining their place in our version of
the Scriptures which are no longer current
among the people, and of which the signi6ca
ton is only known to the literary antiquarian
How many of us are there who have any notion
Of what is meant by touches" "taches," "ha'
beryeoo," "Jrigondine," "knops," ",'eesings,' u
''mn6'ers," "rimp1es," "tabrjng," or num-
ber of other obsolete terms, which nobody,
among the ordinary class of English readers, is
ever likely to meet with?