The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-02-28


countries lying beyond. Some of these
old versions were not adopted; others
were printed for use until something
better could be provided it is bet
ter to give a starving man stale bread
than TO keep him while you are baking
others again have been employed with
out material change up to the present
time. In some countries a single YER
sion has been accepted, as in England
elsewhere, as in France and Germany,
use has been made of more than one;
and in cases where important sections
of the people have refused one version,
it has been the practice of most Bible
Societies to permit them to purchase a
version they would receive, provided
always it was substantially faithful,
and revealed clearly the way of saliva
ton. The Apocrypha has never been
included by the British and Foreign
Bible Society in its English editions,
and since the year 1927 it has been dis
used in its foreign issues. The Bible
Societies of Germany and Scandinavia
still cling, however, to part of the Scrip
lures which Luther considered &" useful
and proper to be read"
New translations have been made
since 1904 in about two hundred and
twenty-six languages. To state how
many have been due to the labors of
any particular body of missionaries
would not be easy, inasmuch as, in
many cases, various missions have been
engaged. The same difficulty applies,
in a measure, to the work of the Bible
Societies, two or more having often
published in the same language. Still
the following may be taken as an ap.
proximate statement, though the cor
rectness OF the figures is not guaranteed.
The British and Foreign Bible Society
has published, or assisted to publish,
new versions in 1877 languages, the
American Bible Society in forty-one,
the National Bible Society of Scotland
in five, the Bible Translation Society in
fourteen, the Society for Promoting
Christian knowledge in seventeen or
more, the Trinitarian Bible Society in
three, the Netherlands Bible Society
in eleven, the three societies of Ger
many in nine, of Switzerland in nine,
and of Denmark, Sweden and Norway
in six.
Many of the above translations ex-
tend only to part of the Scriptures. The
entire Bible has been rendered during
the present century in about fifty-fve
languages, the New Testament in
eighty-four, and parts only in eighty
seven. 1t may surprise some to learn
that the work should, in so large pro-
portion of cases, be incomplete; but
none will wonder who realizes the pro-
digious labor involved in making a
translation of the whole Bible. The
version of Judson occupied nineteen
years, the Bengal of DR.. Carey at least
fifteen years, the Tahitian twenty
years, the Arabic sixteen years. How
could it be otherwisep Think only of
the labor it would cost simply to tran
scribe the book from Genesis to Revela-
ton; try turning single Gospel into a
familiar language like French, due re-
gard being paid to accuracy and idiom;
and then Imagine the position of men
like Eliot or Moffat, who had to note
down Theoretically the words used by
the natives, mold them by degrees into
a written language, and then cast into
that rough mold the elevated spiritual
conceptions of the Bible. How difficult
to find equivalents for i" SIM" " atone
ment," "righteousness'' in languages
possessing, perhaps, a dozen words for
"to MURDER" according as mother,
child or other relative is dispatched,
but none for gratitude or ''forgive-
ness" because such affections are un-
known!
No, the marvel is that so much has
been translated so well. Considering
the varied difficulties of the work, I
think we have evidence of the special
aid of the spirit of God given to these
men, and should thank Him who has
enabled them so nobly to discharge a
task of unexampled responsibility and
Importance. No wonder, however, that
there should be need of revision, sub
ject on which few remarks may fol-
low.
If we may interpret the feelings of a
devout and able translator, he will be
the first to desire the improvement of
his version, knowing how, during the
first twenty or thirty years of a omission,
the language is continually becoming
better known. His colleagues, too, will
press on him suggestions, and other So
cieties, it may be, laboring in the same
field, will wish to have a share in the
revision, so that one Bible may be pro-
duced for the converts, and the evil of
varying versions be avoided.
Hence it happens that, in many cases,
revision committees have been formed.
The best example is that of the Board
now sitting in Madagascar, on which
the four missionary societies labor
ing in the island are represented,
the ablest Malagasy scholar being en-
gagged as chief editor. May the result
of their labor be as happy as was that
of the Tamil Committee, whose men,
bers at the close of ten years said;
"Our daily work brought us so direct
ly in contact with the great things and
deep things of God that it was source
of continual refreshment to us, =
and the brotherhood of feeling with
which we were united turned our toll
into pleasure" Painful as it is to
see no prospect of speedy agreement
among missionaries as to the best
words to be used for "God'' and
Esprit" the very strength of the con-
troversy is an indication of the impor-
lance attached bV all parties tn the