The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1880-09-19

mously BY the comnittee. is presented
to Christendom for Q verdict. In con.
siderng the changes that have beer
mate. it may be proper TO insist upon
the fact being kept in view that na
more csutious and conservative body oI
Christian scholars. enjoying 20 wids q
reputation and such high respect
throughout the world could possibly be
gathered together; that no change hsd
been made in ths press1t Eaglish YER
sion except by q tvo-shirds vote 10
both bodies; that the doub. has always
been exercised Ia bsh ,lf Of the present
version. tue necessity fnr each chsngs
having 10 be proven clearly and anmis.
t.kably. and that The ouly danger has
been from the first that the rsvRers
would exercise undue caution and re.
fuse to accept corrections that should b.
made in the interest Of truth. because
the evidence agsinst them lacked some
tschnicality. producing . work that the
non Christian world would not and
ought not to be asked to accept a. .
correct version OF the original.
WHY TIE REVISION WAS sEKDRp.
Great - has been the bulk Of infor
maiioR disseminated coucerninx the
SerIptures. somc facts Of the drst i'm
portance are little known. One Of them
is that there never has been . staEdard
text. The editions printed by the
Queens printer tor the Bible Society
have widely v.ried. and sincs King
James day there have bssn many unxu.
thorized and no authorized version
SO strictly called. The American Bible
Society is even in worse plight. aud has
OF late years been sdhering to text Of
its own after putting several in the
while the other societies do not
even adhere to one text
The King James translatogs were
charged to follow the text Of
the Bishops Bible. . revision Of th,
Cranmer Bible. which WAS q revision
Of the Great Bible, Ms1if the Matthew
Tynd~le Bible. without the notes,
" which had its origin 10 an English
from the German. The
previous revisers were individuals dis
with the veraion. ~ud their
work WAS without ecsiesiast cal author.
ity..
The present text Of the English YER
sion Is over three centuries old. aud
during that time the language hes not
alone taken on many new words. but il
has also dropped many then in ass end
found new meanings for old words
which have lost their original sigDifi-
caHce. Let me instance few obsolete
words: Doves tsbering on their
breasts. in,tead Of drumming. The
lion filled his den with rsvin. instesd
Of plunder. Neither there any
daysmsn.' instead of umpire. 'Ouches.
for sockets. 'Clouts. for patches.
'Esring.' for plowing. 'Brait,' for
report. Boiled. for swallow. are other
examples. The changes in signi6cation.
however. are much more important.
and lead to error. contradiction and
dispute. When We read that the
daughter of H~rodiss said, Give me,
by aud by. in a charger. the head ot
John the Baptist. it is natural to think
that she was In mo- great hurry. But
three hundred years ago by and by
meant instantly. immedi.tsly. forth.
with, and charger Was not war
horse. but what our housewives call
dish aud yours . platter. Give me
in . dish the head OF John
the Baptist is quite different from the
Did form. The artillery spoken of.in
the Bible is not our artillery. but liter
ally bows and arrows Go to then
meant come; let, to hinder: Careless.
tree from care: prevent. to antici pate;
admiration. wobd~r; .b,tch. an ulcer;
. cypress; 'pnmmoi. globe.
etc.
NIsTAKgs of EMILY rRASsLAToRs.
The corrections nscesssry to bring
the English text into accord With tbs
language Of today. many - they are.
ars Insignificant. however, when COM
pared with the errors of early transla-
tors Three huDdresl years ago the
piceties OF the Gresk Ian
guage were unkn. wR and Hebrew
stud,es we're in their iafancy. Buxtorf
published his little Hebrew eranmsr
while the translstors were at work. and
his larger one when they had finished.
In many cases. so weak were tn y in
Hebrew. they were compelled to, ,lesvs
Hebrew words unirsnslAtsd. not know
ing or being able to guess their mean
ing. A familiar instance 10 the word
Belial. which 10 supposed to bs prop
er name, but il simply means unworthy.
and the phrase sons of Beiisr should
properly read unworthy men,; 'Jashsr
Is not \ proper name. but an adjective.
meaning upright, sud the book II
Jasher' vas the Book Of the upright
The .0ammsdims' (Ezek xvii. III ore
warriors; 'Pannag " ~ mesns =
candy; 'Sheth' means . tumult; 'Ba-
jith' an idol temple. Their wild
.gussses' often show absurd blnnders.
The mules msnt,naed in Genesis -
having been found were warm spriuys:
'pledgss' they turned into thick clay;
feet into both piercing and crooked;
.caris' into galleries; leaders into sven.
ging; 'ostriches' into owls; goats intn
sstyrs; 'droves' iafo linen yarn; set up
they render a. cast down; and Joseph's
.tunic With long sleavss' they trsnsoog.
rify into 'cuas at many eoluFe In
stances might be multiplied until pa
tisncs Was exhausted of their insecure
OF. In the New Tsstsment they we're
better qualified f< the w.rk. aud their
errors were not % gross. though equally
numerous. The grammstscAl forms