Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1881-05-27


a perfect reproduction of that document III
its first form. So most modern comment
ators on the New Testament have chosen To
take their readers as near as possible 10 inc
fountain head, have cited various readings
and discussed doubtful passages; and rs Il
consequence, most li!lt students haze known
beforehand the nature Of the more important
chang,s and emissions which the new ell
ton actually presents. The famous text oil
The Three Witnesses, l John 81, is OF course
omitted. Int then. il had II long time ago
fallen ,ut Of all controversies over the doc
trinc of tlc Trinity. That other equally
famous text Tim. BIC, God was mani
fest in the flesh" now reads ale who was
manifested in the flesh; :" but for thirty years
at least, no Trinilarian, at once honest ana
weIl-iuformcd, has vcntured To rest anything
upon the Interpretation Of the one single
letter in The Greek manuscript which means
Gdd or lie. according rs you see or 10 not
see. a dot within it. so the word Hddts has
been transferred to the English version with
out any attempt At translation, though tht
word M is kept as the rendering OF Ge"'"'
"a and TmtargS these latter words beng
at the same time set in the margin, so thai
the reader NAV lie able to distinguish things
that differ
Q. In the whole volume there are no twelve
pages Of so much critical interest, as those al
the end which present the readings and
renderings preferred by the American Com
nittcc" 1t is simply matter OF wonder thai
most of the suggestions were not approved
at sigh, by the English revisers. They arc
a sufficient proof Of the critical acumen and
practical linguistic sense Of the American
company. For example, they would have
had the version discriminate between devil
ard "dcmon," as the Greek always does
they preferred covenant" to testament,
put to death" to ''mortify, very religious
IN Acts lee to somewhat supcrstilious. v
Some of the points of difference are minute,
but most Of the American readings VIII bc
their own justification TO those who use cor
rect Greek text. If the English company
has erred. it is certainly on the side Of con-
servatism.
10. King james translation made no at
tempt 10 render the same Greek word by the
same English word, even where English
usage allowed such translation, and where
the connection of thought was sadly obscured
by their free use of synonymous words-a lib
erty in which they rather sloritd,as one may
see by consulting their Address 10 the
Reader" mar Tie nd. As a brief specimen,
in this regard, Of the work of the revisers,
take Cor 1921, IS.
For lie put all things in subsection
under lis feet. But when he saith, All
things are put in subsection, it is evident
that he is excepted who did subject all things
unto him. And when all things have been
subjected unto linn, then shall the Son also
himself he subjected to him that did subject
all things unto him, that God may be all in
all.
II. The sum Of the matter seems TO us
much Ike this If what was looked for was
a close rendering Of the Greek verify into
the current speech of to-day, the dialect of
the market and the street, that expectation
is not met by the revision. Room is still left
for such versions as those Of Norton and
Noycs. Afford and Eilicott. The problem
set before those r,giS63s was distinctly nat a
new translation.
So if any one las been looking for a yer
sion which should ahsolvc him from all fu-
ture necessity Of consulting the original Ian
guage, he will not find it here. That neccs-
sity has been, indeed, greatly, not to say
immensely, diminished, but certainly is not
removcd-as, indeed, from the very nature
of the case, it cannot be.
But if the thing which one anticipated,
as the outcome Of So much care and
pains, was rendering which would bring the
unlcarncd reader as nearly as is possible into
the position of him who reads the original,
then il must he said that su'h an anticipation
is not made ashamed by the actual per
Torrance. We have here The New les'a-
mcht not IN our own t'is"e "i'''ii WI
were poih exactly out III INC 'onsue vi '"'
iofeia'heis' some h'he Sehei"'ions o''N'
the tongue u 'i''NSl'cie ''''O 'i'' N''''
oil Lhsish Literature tongue which van
never die, lis immortality peih5 ihsureu u 1t
by the undying thoughts Itself conservcs. IL
is even gain that it Is not The language oil
the shop, but choIccr and cleaner speech,
set apart, as il were, for higher uses than
barter ard gossip.
One marked effect of the new version we
think, will be great and immediate change
in the relation Of the laity to certain rehsious
and theological questions. They have now
for the first time an fasy means OF testing
not few OF the assertions OF their teachers
They will come now TO a urcc, ana immaculate