The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-12-28
The Revised Version of the
New Testament.
BY REV. H. c. ALEXANDER, D. D.
No. 10.

DIR. w. Millar Nicolson, M. A., I'd. Sc.
(Edin.) the author of Classical Revision
of the Greek New Testament" and whose
labors are entirely independent of those
initiated at Canterbury, sums up the
errors Of the Authorized Version as to
the Greek lenses under these heads: the
Greek Present misrendered by the Eng
lish Perfect; the Greek Present wrongly
rendered as an Aorist; the Greek Perfect
mistranslated as if Aorist; the Greek
Aorist rendered by Present, Perfect, and
Pluperfect; and various mistakes in rem
dering the Imperfect.
1t has already been pointed out in this
series of essays that some of the alleged
errors of the Authorized Version in rela-
ton to the particulars just mentioned are
no more than simple accommodations to
the usage most suited to the genius of the
English idiom. With regard to the
others enough has probably been said in
recent issue of the Central Presbyterian
The reader is now invited to consider
the mistakes Cor shortcomings of the
Authorized Version in translating the
Greek Propositions. These are not so
many as they were once supposed to be-
The influence OF the Hebrew must be
duly taken into the account. The exist
ence of such mistakes, however, cannot
be controversial This is notably the
case with those passages which confound
the two distinct meanings of dia. When
employed with the genitive this preposi-
ton ordinarily means through IT, e., by
means of; when employed with the &C.
cusative, on account Of, or for the sake of,
q. e., by reason of. Thus John vi: 81,
should be rendered GAS the living father
sent me, and live because of the Father
so he that eateth me shall live because
Of me-" The ground, at Heb vi: Z,
bringeth forth meat for them for a0hoSe
sake it is dressed" On the other hand
"by" would have been the best transla-
ton at Matt. vii: Is. So too at Romans
XIV: 80, and Peter i: 8. At l Cor vii ::
26, it should be, "by reason of, or "on
account of" These places are all noted
by DR.. Roberts. A very striking in
stance which he omits to remark upon,
is furnished by Gal. Ill Is, where
through" should be replaced by "on
account of, or "by reason Of" The cor
rection gives US an interesting piece Of
history that would otherwise have re-
manned unrecorded, viz: that the occa-
sion CT Pauls missionary efforts in Gala
tia was his detention there from sickness
or some more mysterious trial.
The propositions els and en- are not I'M
frequently confounded in the Authorized
Version. Thus Luke xiii: AZ, should
stand, Lord remember me when thou
contest IN thy kingdom" On the other
hand IN should give way to into at Matt
xvii: 10, Acts viii: 16, and l Cor. i:
l3; give way to on at Matt. xiv: 80;
give way to unto at I Cor. viii 6;
whereas at Heb. w. a. into should make
room for through. 1t is pleasant to find
the late DIR. Dale fully sustained by Pro-
fessor Roberts and the revisers, when they
uniformly read, "baptizing them into the
name of the Father" etc., "baptizing into
Moses" baptizing into the name of the
Lord Jesus" and baptizing into the
name of Paul" The proposition erron-
eously rendered at Heb. iv: IA, is in
composition and the passage ought to
stand thus: Having then great high
priest, who hath passed through the
heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold
fast our confession" The late Dean AL
ford in his comment on this passage has
suggested that this may indicate that as
the earthly high priest passed through
the veil to the shekinah, so our great
High Priest has passed through the
heavens to the throne of God.
Many examples might be cited under
this head which were almost unavoidably
overlooked in the Companion. One Of
these will have to suffice. At Mark i
9, the Authorized Version tells us that
Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee,
and was baptized of John IN Jordan. q"
This text is constantly urged as q decisive