Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1881-06-02
THURSDAY. JUNE 2, 1881.
The Revised New Testament.

presented to the public. 1t is impos
sible in few hours to read, judge ant
record an opinion on so weighty ane
important a work, but careful peru
sal of the first Gospel and some exam
ination Of the remainder OF the vol
ume, with the aid Of DR.. Roberts ex
cellent Companion-also published
last WEEKS sufficient for the forma
ton of provisional opinion. In
word, the translation--as translation
must be pronounced a gratifying
success. 1t embodies the mature re
suits OF the scholarship of two csntu
ries and a-half, applied to the emen'
dation of the text, and to the correc
ton of errors in the translation O.
what; in any view disputants may take
fit, is the most important ofall books
Nevertheless the new version may bt
objected to by the two opposite par
ties among the critics; those who think
for example, that the Second Epistle
of Peter should have been left out and
those who think that the doxology al
the end of the Lords Prayer should
have been retained (Mat. vi, 49, But
with the question Of the authenticity
Of particular books, the translator'
manifestly thought they had nothing
TO DO, while it was their business te
restore the text Of the canonical books
to as near the original as possible. And
this they have done. They have omit
ted, very properly, the famous passage
Il John " s. so that it now simply
reads: "For there are three who beal
witness, the Spirit, and the water anc
the blood" On the other hand, whilt
retaining the episode IN John OF the
woman taken in adultery, and the las'
twelve verses Of Mark, which are ques
toned by scholars as being no part O.
the original text, they have separated
them both by wide spacing from the
context. The other omissions are few
IN number and unimportant in char
acter.
The removal OF the headings te
chapters, which are modern lnterpo
latlon, and the printing Of the quota
tons from the poetical books Of the
Old Testament in verse are decided
improvements; while the division o
the text into paragraphs, instead o
verses, makes the sense more clear
These divisions and plans Of arrange
rnent have always been arbitrary, the
Vulgate, for example, being sometimes
divided into chapters, but not into
verses, each chapter making a para
graph by itself. 1t is, however, wher
we come to the amendments them
selves OF the authorized version thai
the excellence of the work stands out
King James version was great i'm
provement on the Bishops Bible, but
this, which will probably go by the
name of the Canterbury Revision, be
ing essentially the work of the Church
of England is no less An Improvement
over the translation Of 1911. The
Greek language was not as thorough
ly understood at that lime as it is now
and especially in the proper render
ing Of the article represented in Eng
fish by the words "a" and "the." Kine
James translators often made mis-
takes, which are now corrected. Fol
instance, the famous passage, 1.-THE
love OF money is the root OF all evil,
now reads, THE love of money is q
root of all evil" which is, indeed, sad
" true: while the less scholarly yer.
sion gave occasion for scoffing to some
and perple1ity for others, Another
class of emendation ia that of the sub
stitution of modern words and phrases
for those which have become obsolete
For example, (Acts xxi. 49, instead
Of I'VE took up our carriages" the new
version reads: I'VE took up our bag
gage which makes it plain. "There
is one word" says DR.. Roberts, moi
occurring at all in the authorized yer
sion, that has simply been transplant
ed from Greek into English in the re-
vised translation. This is the tern
Hadss, dsnoting the invisible world
Immense gain has been secured in sew
eral passages by the adoption Of thi'
word. Thus it is very markedly al
Acts ii, q. where these words are quo
ted from Ps. xvi in reference to Christ