The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1882-09-06
For the Central Presbyterian
The Revised Version of the
New Testament.
BY REV. H. c. ALEXANDER, D. D
No. 10.

No. 10.
"The correction of archaisms, ambig-
uities the rendering of proper names and
technical expressions" was the topic
under discussion, and is the final topic of
the series. The subject is now resumed
and completed. The verb translated to
" take thought" at Matt vi "a, Gas every
body by this time ought to know refers
to carking care, or anxiety. What is in
culcated is faith, and not inapromdence.
The obsolete word carriages" at Acts
xxi: Is, instead OF baggage" has already
been commented upon. The term cat
tendant" has been wisely substituted, at
Luke iv: 20, for minister. The express
sion 1--WE fetched a compass" at Acts
xviii: ID, is well replaced by eve made
a circuit. The order of the words is un-
fortunate, because ambiguous, at Cor.
v: 81. The new rendering is therefore
an Improvement: Him who knew no sin
he made to be sin on our behalf" The
translation "high places" at Eph. vi: II,
may have been suggested in the first in
stance by the comment of Calvin. Ger
tain it is that heavenly places" is the
rendering that answers strictly to the
Greek. DR.. Roberts has something to
say about the bewildering displacement
of the word "also' at Heb. xii: |. The
English should be: Wherefore seeing
we are compassed about with so great a
cloud of witnesses, let us also lay asid e
every weight, etc." The sense is clarified
at James ii: l, by exchanging the word
" haze" for the word "hoJd." Masters
at James iii: l, (and elsewhere) CORES
ponds with the modern word "teachers. "
The rendering of proper names is a
subject not free from difficulty, and the
plan adopted by the revisers in this re-
gard is probably as good as any other, if
not absolutely the best that could be
adopted. Their simple rule is that one
and the same form shall be preserved
throughout the entire Scriptures for the
same person. No such variations are
tolerated in the new version as Noah and
Noe, Korah and Core, Hosea and Osee,
Sinai and Sina, INDIAN and Madam
-Miletus and Miletum, Elijah and Elias,
Mark aud Marcus, Cretes and Cretians,
Jonah and Jonas, Luke and Lucas, Jere-
miah, Jeremias and Jeremy, Timotheus
and Timothy. The last name is worthy
of particular notice. 1t is "Timotheus'
at Acts xvi l and 2 Cor. i: 10, but
Timothy at 2 Cor i l, and Hebrews xiii
q. The name Jesus" for Joshua" at
Acts vii: 45 and Heb. iv: 8, has been
judiciously changed in the revision. The
names are the same and yet one of them
Is 80 constantly used to denote the re-
deemer of sinners, that its employment
N ofb ar = L
fusing to plain reader. The amazing
vacillation of the older version as regards
proper names is borne out by many curl
Gus examples. In the same chapter (Acts
xyu) we meet with Areopagus" and
Mars hill not only as designations OF
the same spot but as translations of the
same word. We also encounter such in.
applicable varieties of form as "Judea"
and " Jewry," Judas" "Juda" and
Jude"
The Authorised Version is also at fault
in its treatment of what the Companion
calls technical expressions" Some oil
the renderings in such cases are positively
erroneous The word translated dep
uty' at Acts xiii: 7, 8, u, and xix: 49,
should always be proconsul.' The re-
visers have used the term presidents
as coming nearer to the Greek {" Ash
archs } at Acts xix 81, than "the chief
- of Asia. The word executioner'
at Mark vi q, should be ga soldier oil
the guard, and treasurer Of the city
is preferred to chamberlain" at Rom
xvi %. Much doubt has been felt as to
the best mode in which to represent the
names of coins, measures, and weights
The English equivalents are few and in
adequate. For the most part the Greek
terms have been left unaltered in the