The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-03-01
Omr Contributors,
The Revised Version of the
New Testament.
BY REV. Il. c. ALEXANDER, D. D.
No. Is.

arising from the failure to distinguish be-
tween separate Greek words An exam
pie of alleged intelicity of this sort may
be found at James 6, where the Au-
thorized Version reads: "He that aUaver-
eth is like a0aUe of the sea driven with
the wind and tossed" Here the revisers
very properly substitute the word Surge
for the word "wave," as "wave" and
wavereth" have nothing in common as
Greek forms. 1t may be questioned,
however, whether too much has not been
made of this slight difference. An intel
ligent English reader would be apt to
suspect that the collocation OF these terms
was purely accidental.
1t is otherwise in regard to Rom. xii {:
2, which is rendered In our old Bibles ::
Be not confornaed to this world, but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind" In this instance no mere Eng
lish reader would be likely to imagine,
and could never conclude, that the terms
for conformed" and transformed" have
no chronological connexlon.
Your critic has reserved for the last
his references to two words which are
.excellently well treated in the Companion,
but are disposed of somewhat summarily
from the restrictions imposed by the size
of the volume. These two words are yet
of such high Importance that they seem
to call for closer examination. They
are the two words translated in King
James repent. The difference between
these two words is nevertheless marked,
and may be enormous. One of them is
the regular term for evangelical repent
ance, and is constantly used in connexion
with saving faith, and in such passages
as Luke XIV: 10. This word denotes
complete change Of mind, and (by inn IL
cation) of character, and answers very
nearly to the term conversion There
is only one instance now remembered
(and we do not forget Heb. vi g. in
which this noun probably does not refer
to the saving grace of repentance. The
cognate verb always or nearly always
does the same. DIR. Roberts does not ex-
plicity allow any exceptions at all. He
may perhaps hint at the existence of such
an exception by avoiding the adverb SIN
variably" when speaking of the way in
which these words are regularly applied
to the saving exercise. The clearly ex-
ceptional passage is Heb. xii II, where
the rendering of the older version is
And he Esau] found no place for re
peetance though he sought it carefully
with tears" In this one place in the
New Testament the Greek word (neta-
2o5a) in all likelihood points not to
change in the mind of Esau, but to
change in the mind of Isaac. The mean
ing would then be not that Esau was re-
jected by God, but that Esau could not
make his old father change his mind and
give him the blessing instead of bestow-
ing it upon Jacob.
Even in this passage, though, the word
evidently denotes total revolution in
the breast, as indeed it always does; and
it may after all be no exception to the
rule which confines the term to the saw
ing grace.
The other verb translated repent means
simply to "r1e" or "regret," and some
times (at least to all intents and pur-
poses) to revoke" The cognate noun
is only employed twice in the New Tes-
lament, and is correctly rendered care. "
1t is only the verb (n,etanelomoD and
not the noun (neetameleja) that is in any
danger of being COMPOUNDED with the term
denoting true repentance The gist of
the matter is, that there are a verb and
cognate noun which Justly express in
both languages the idea of repentance
unto life and there is a totally different
verb which in the Authorized Version
might at times be understood in the same
manner, but in Greek has a wholly diff
ferent meaning. The one stands for the
sorrow that is felt when one has made
mistake; the other for the sorrow that is
felt when one is conscious of personal
alnWoTthiness. Dr. Roberts connects the
idea Of guilt only with the second Of these
terms and with GOOD reoeon ;f &C c,,,i1+"