The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1860-03-22
Rsyi.iou OF the Hawaiian Bible.

ough revision before another i issued ! de
ciIei Affirmative answer viii. no doubt, BE- given
70 this question by those who know the defects Of
the present version but it may be well 70 state
q few reasons why such a revision should be
made. We wish also to direct to this subject tie
attention of tho~s who have the subject in charge.
and on whom the responsibility Of issuing a cor
zee, version rests. In our references 10 the Bible.
We viii cyHdne ourselves. for the mos, part, 10
the New testament. j. that has been oitener and
more carefully revised than the Old.
To transfer thought, and shades Of thought.
from one language 10 another Is no easy task
and the difficulty i much increased when the
language, into which the translation i 10 be
made. lacks many words TO express adequately
the iaeas Of the original. In Jranslaring the
New Testament into Hawaiian. what is the trans
lat5r 10 Do when he can find no equivalent for an
important word in the original? For example.
the Greek word for conscience is to be translated.
but the Hawaiian furnishes no equivalent. In
this case. Z new word may be coined, q q COM
pound formed, or an old word used. with the
expectation that in time the correct idea viii be
attached 70 it Or the Greek word. with the
necessary photographed changes may lie trans
ferred, a. in the case of euGneHo and ~Japeti-o.
AllL tftf u l4tSr CDuT~- >llUul4 u pursued. III
order that the translation be homogeneous. The
Greek word for conscience occurs thirty times in
the New Testament. and is rendered uniformly
hy oonScioace in the authorized English version.
But, instead Of Il uniform rendering in the Ha-
wa.ian, We find huGHaEGg in three places, DlGaGo
in about q dozen. and nGQu in eight OF ten.
Without undertaking 70 decide which Of the
three words * the best. or whether there Is not
still = better, We do say thar the word should
have q uniform rendering. and this We think
should be regarded as q settled principle in trans
l4ting the Bible into Hawaiian. that the same
IDEA should be rendered by the same term: and
the anne expression in the original should be
uniformly translated. Naau Is the word by
which kgrdIa. the Greek word for hart. i gen
orally translated, and it i doubtless the right
word but il it l. used for o5HS1aqcs, how is the
Hawaiian reader TO determine its meaning? This
word IS also used in eleven places as the equiva-
lent Of nous. the mind.
MqHGo seems to be almost ubiquitous in the
Hawaiian Bible. 1t Is found eight times a. the
equivalent Of nous, mind and nine times - the
equivalent Of 5otle, counsel, determination the
lana. viii. i rendered by it in seven places and
fh.l0, to will, in eight places. NGHGo also repre-
sents eIpi-0, TO hope, in more than q dozen places.
We might greatly enlarge the catalogue Of words
by manao, but to 90 80 Is unnecessary,
as every careful reader of the Hawaiian New
Testament must be convinced that it occurs much
too frequently. Several terms are used TO trans
late elpi=o, as pGuleLe. hi5nai, n,anaclana, and
hooLaaa ! kq HlGHqo. Here are four OF five terms
used to translate a single Greek word, while only
one should be employed. 1t is this want Of uni
f.rY-f-- -l.- ". I.r-..ora IT.. u,rI y-0ryT4x5S
tradition, is found thirteen times in the New
Testament. and IS rendered by nloooleio FIVE times,
by kGnoha FIVE times, by haalriHa twice, and by
oihaRa once.
NOho ana is the rendering, in several places,
Of the word for inheritance and in several places
it is used as the equivalent Of anaStrophe, manner
Of life. When words are used with 50 great a
OF signincatlUn, TIE meaning must often,
As a matter Of course. be beyond the readers ken.
Many of the renderings also strike US as exceed
.ngly unfortunate. The translator Of Mark
makes jesus e: 6) command the people to sit
Town in the dirt Oepo). In Matthew, s %, the
expression ia nan Eoa ka ku 0 ka han is nonsense;
1 was intended to convey the idea, eIceedmg
We have questioned scores OF the more
intelligent natiyes-men from every island Of the
have never found one who could get
the words the slightest approximation to
he idea conveyed by the original. We suppose,
however. that the word hau was fortunately put
" mistake for hcu. We say fortunately. for the
after word would have made u sense much worse
han nonsense. Heu Is the term applied 10 bris-
les Or hair standing up on the backs Of animals
yhen in fear, or age-and Is never applied 10
nen, we think, except comically, or in ridicule.
I Is better. therefore. that the passage should
tand as it Is, without meaning, than TO have
Introduced i burlesque description into the sacred
age, to say nothing of Its want Of truth to the
riginal. King james translators would hardly
ave done worse if they had used - kick the
ucket." instead of Z. die; or had they put the
assage in question thus two possessed with
evils coming out Of the t0mhs with their dqndr
D."
We doubt also if sense can be made Of the ex-
ression kd poH0 o Ia kG'u hama ana in its con-
ection in Phil. l -. II Is 4 very singular
.ndering Of karPos ergou, fruit Of labor.
The Use Of haqIee in Romans 6 , for apetion-
We are dead Of hueIo alra, in Cor. i s.
nd 81. for k]aptroH, sting Of hee aalrafo. for
dusqsf5qr. be unclothed. are specimens Of The
nfOrtunate selection Of words in which this YER
abounds. See also Heb. Is l. and ~. and
Peter, l l..
Another serious fault Is the liberty which the
anslat0rs have taken 70 superG9d words and ,
lrlses explanatory Of the text. rs in Heb. $50. 5
here atheism hanartias. putting away Of sin. I
misrepresented By p0is mau Al oa ! IA hocpc' !
"a o Ia hgra. An example Of the same SOFT Is ]
ind in the Old Testament. Zech. SO. 1t may !
questioned whether some Of the CLOSES arenot !
iSifcations. rather than calculations Of the true ;
eaning. They certainly are unwarrantableib- }
,ies. and belong only to the margin or the COM /
entary. The business Of the translator. especi- !
" Of the Bible, Is 10 exhibit not what he sup 1
So may have been the writer's thought. but 9
Il what his words express nothing les, moth y