The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-09-09
iJoltemple. These wild 'guesses" often !,
show absurd blunders. The mules"
...:I:l =, Na.As;. M haninnr heen

lUOl t6Wple. 1ucso VIII SuSSoSo wv.
show absurd blunders. The "mules'
mentioned in Genesis as having beer
found were warm springs; "pledges,.
they turned into thick clay; "aeep into
both piercing and crooked; "curls" into
galleries; "leaders" into avenging; COS
triches" into owls "goats' into satyrs
"droves" into linen yarn; "set up. they
render as cast down, and Joseph's "tunit
with sleeves" they transmogrify into 9
'coat of many colors."
Still more important. than either the
changes of the language or the blunders
of translators, have been the corrections
that have been made in the original text
by the comparison of manuscripts gen.
erally, and blythe, discovery Of two very
ancient manuscripts of the Bible in par.
ticular. A single illustration of this
will suffice: Mark says that on the cross
the Christ was given mine mingled with
myrrh; Matthew says vinegar. The nat.
ural inference is that the writers did not
disagree, and that the error arose in
copying. BY comparing manuscripts the
inference is found to be correct, the older
codices agreeing upon wine. The two
words in the Greek are very much alike,
of the same length, aud differing only in
the middle letter. The most violent oi
atheistical shoemakers,, when shown the
manuscripts, would not hesitate in his
acknowledgment that there was no con.
tradiction, and that the cause OF the
error was to be found in the carelessncss
of some copyist of the Greek text OF
Matthew.
Reverence for the Bible is modern.
It is, in fact, an outcome of the Retor-
nation. The Greek and Roman
Churches respect the Bible;. the Protest.
ant reveres-sometimes -worships it. In
old times copies were made with care, but
not sufficient to avoid mistakes, and ve.y
few agreed: Very few agree now, except
when printed from the same plates, and
it IS not safe to cast stones. The denrn-
citation of those who "added to or took
away" has always been confined to Scot.
land.
When the present translation was made
there had been comparatively no com.
parison of manuscripts for the elimina'
tion of errors ; there were very few paan.
.uscripts available; no very old manu-.
scripts were known; the inaccurate 'Vul-
gate {Latin translation) of that day was
the staff upon which the forty. leaned,
and texts known to be corrupt had to be
used for want OF better. The Oldest copy
of a manuscript that they consulted was
of the middle ages.
Within the present generation two
copies Of the Bible, made about $40 A.
D., have been brought to light, the pages
photographed and copies distributed
among scholars. These are the cele-
brated "CoIez 'Sinaiticus," found by
Tischendorf in convent on Mount
Sinai, and tie "Codex Vaticanns," found
in the Vatican. library at Rome, where
for centuries it had reposed unnoticed
and uncared for. Those two alone have
been of priceless value in detecting errors
oftranscription and in harmonizing dis.
cordant passages satisfactorily to the
skeptical as we'll as the credulous seeker
for truth. The present version Of the
Bible is based upon very few modern
manuscripts, not exceeding five in num-
ber. That now before us is made from
careful comparison flower twelve hun.
drel, ninety.eight being ancient-from
the fourth to the tenth century. In ad-
dition all the quotations by the patristic
and early writer's have been collected,
and the early translations into Syriac,
Latin, Gothic, Egyptian, Celtic, Arabic
and Slavonic.
Three centuries ago the translators Of
King James had few aids and little ma
terial for the work. Those of Victoria
have the accumulated treasure of ten
thousand able workers, and storehouses
filled with material. Astonishment must
be expressed that they have found 80
little of vital importance to Christianity
condemn in the work of their prede.
icessors-not that they have made ten
thousand trivial and one thousand im-
portant changes in the New Testament
The translation of King James was
more a new revision than the ordered
translation; the revision of Victoria is
more new translation than the ordered
revision. In each case the exigencies Of
the labor compelled a departure from
and compromise with the instructions.
In the latter case there is less reason
than the former, but after the first excite"
ment dies away it will not be regretted.
The new revision of the New Testa-
ment issued from the University press
will at first shock the Protestant world.
1t is not recognizable as Bible. The
chapters aud verses are: gone; the run.
ming head lines are gone; verses are
missing, changed, pared; familiar texts
that have become craven on the minds
of church people for generations have
disappeared, and in their place are words
foreign to the eye aud strange to the ear.
Verbal and grammatical changes may be
counted by the tens of thousands.
The first general idea that will strike
the scholar, however, is the delightful
faithfulness with which the Greek text
has been reproduced for the English
reader. The narrative is unbroken by
Disagreement of chapter and verse, but
the capitals, punctuation and paragraphs
lacking in the original are, of course,
supplied, and, for convenience of refer.
euce to the present version, the present
diversions are marked parenthetically.
The misleading head lines disappear
finally; without sign to denote their
improper intrusion.
The effect is striking, and n marked
improvement. The sequence of the
gospel narratives, the logic ofSt. Paul,
take on a new-appearance' and force that
is not all owing to the improvement in
grammatical construction :of the text,
althoughein a first reading it is difficult
to distinguish low much is owing to the
one and how much to the other.
Take this illustration (Heb. iv., 6.7O
which is a fair example Of this point:
OLD STYLE. NEW STYLE.
6. Seeing there Since, therefore, it
fore it remaineth remaineth that some
that scme one must enter therein, and
enter therein, and they who formerly
they to whom it was received the glad
first preached Ell. promise entered not
tered not in because|in because of disobe-