Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1885-05-22
THE OLD BIBLE AND THE NEW.

I =
vision and have doubtless been
conscientious in their work. What
they have done will soon appear in
bound volumes called the "lIoly
Bible Whether they have cad
ded to" or taken FROM" or wheth-
or they have inlracted that which
seems to forbid addition or sub
straction, we are incapable of judg
ing. The claim is that the new
readings do not differ in sense from
those of the King James version. 1t
is only more scholarly and more
scientific in the opinion Of the re.
visors. Here are some of the
changes, with parts Of preface and
comment:
The revision is the most i'm.
pOrtant event in the history of the
English hlble since the publication
of King James's translation in
1Gll. The success of the Old
Testament may not be as great as
the New, of which mere than a
million copies were sold on the day
of publication, and more than three
million copies before the close of
the year but it will DO more favor
ably received aud less severely
criticised.
1t involves no changes of the
Hebrew teXt-no older manuscript
than the Masoretlc having been
discOvered.-.and the idiom of the an.
thorlzed version is most carefully
preserved out of regard for the
conservative feeling of the
church in its attachment for the
language of the old version.
All errors of translation, how
ever, have been removed and the
revision will be pronounced by
every competent Bible reader to he
very great improvement. 1t
presents the results Of the combined
labor Of large number Of the best
IIebraists aud biblical scholars of
England and the United States,
most of them professors of Hebrew
in universities and seminariss. 1t
has moreover the advantages of the
last fifty years in Oriental philo-
logy, Bible geography, history and
antiquities, all of which were but
imperfectly understood by the
forty.seven translatOrs OF King,
James, although it is freely al.
mitted that they did the very best
in their day. The new version is
not a good version in the place of
a bad one, but great improvement
of q good version.
The Bible appears bound with
the New Testament. The preface
opens with a statement of the
general principles on which the
revision has been conducted. The
revisers have borne in mind their
duty, not to make a new transIa-
ton, but TO revise that already
existing, and have departed from
it only where they disagreed with
the translatOrs Of l6l1 upon the
meaning of q word or sentence.
The terms OF natural history are
only changed where it is certain
that the authorised version Is in
correct. Where it is doubtful OF
there is All alternative, the render
ing is given on the margin. In
some words of frequent appear
ance, the authorised version being
either inadequate or inconsistent,
changes have been introduced with
as much uniformity as is practical
BILE; for instance. Tabernacle of
the Congregation has been every.
where changed to Tent of the
Meeting
In regard to the word Jehovah
the usage of the authorised YER
sion is followed, the revisers not
thinking it advisable to insert it
uniformly in place OF Lord or
God which, when printed in
small capitals, represent the words
substituted by Jewish custom for
the Ine1able Name. OF technical
terms from the Hebrew, one in
three seems to have been generally
introduced. The word grove
| Judges vi. 2S) has been replaced
by 'Ashera,' with its plurals,
{ AsheriSm and Ashcroft In the
poetical books 'SheOl' replaces
hell which has been changed in
prose chapters to 'the grave and
the pit with 'Sheol in the mar
gin,
'Of these renderings, hell says
the preface, if it could be taken
in its original sense, as used in the
creeds, would be fairly adequate
equivalent for the Hebrew word,
but it is so commonly understood
as the place of torment that to
employ it frequently would lead to
inevitable misunderstanding
At the very outset, the reader
is confronted with a change in the
narrative of the history of creation,
which is perhaps the most impor.
tsnt alteration in the whole work
of revision. The old expression
'and the earth was without form
and void now reads 'and the earth
was waste and void
Then the indication of tho sepa.
rate stages of creation is definitely
marked, the expressions in the old
version 'the evening and the morn.
ing were the FIRST day &c, now
reading 'and there was evening and
there was morning one day 'and
there was evening and there was
morning a second day and so on
until the six periods are completed.
These alterations seem to be lmpOr-
tant concessions to the result of
geological investigations, and will
serve to dispel the belief still re-
tanned by many literal construc-
tionists OF the old Bible that the
earth was fashioned in six ordinary
days.
Some of the most familiar express
sions have been changed, the most
notable being the ALTERATION, van.
ity and vexation of spirit which
has become VANITY and striving
after wind There are some yer.
bal alterations in the ten command
ments. the most striking of which