Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1885-06-04
The Old Testament Revision.
An Event of the Utmost Importance.

The revised edition of the Old les
lament was given to the public in
London-and to the world at large
on Friday the 18th Of May. 1t is an
event t,of. such importance as to deserve
special mention in every public jour.
nal. It took fifty years for the King
James revision to come into general
4 apsss It may take fifty years for the
Victorian revision (so called as hav.
6pg been made in the reign d Queen
Victoria,1 6, come into general use.
It's al3ready believed BY thousands
of biblical scholars that eventually
the latter will bs received as. the pre-.
! fsrable reviaioa The fact that the
Sure1K Ie1J used m tnH New Tesla
msns is q better one than the one used
.by the King James revisers, will com.
mend it to scholars and students.
The convocation of the Established
Church of England, the Episcopal,
appointed the Committee of Revision
on the 9th of May, fifteen years
ago. Sixteen were appointed ). and
all are dead but six. The work'has
been done most thoroughly and con.
scientiously. The English revissrs
have been aided by the moHt eminent
scholars Of other lands; end America
has had splendid share in the great
work undertaken. A special telegram
to the New York Herald, dated Lon
-.-.dons-l6th May, Gays:
{ As for the general result, when the
whole work is examined, it will. be
found that the rsvisers have on the
whole been very conservative. The
1 CELEBRATIONS in the Old Testament are
fewer IN proportion than those
made in the New Testament. There
. have been very few-merely verbal
alterations The Revised Old Testa.
ment is almost exactly thesam length
as the old one. There are important
altsrationsin the arrangementof of chap.
ters, which are printed in paragraphs
30 as to keep the consecutive sense,
i'ibdt are not divided into verses. Po.
etieal passages are printed like blank
verse. The frat axiom Of the revised
translation was cling to the pure, ma
tiye significance of the words. This
issa specimen of 1.-The blank verse:
+ Create in me clean heart, y God,
And renew right spirit within me.
Cast;me not away from thy.presence,
And take not thy Holy Spirit from me:
= Restore unto me the joy Of thy salvation,
Andnphold me with q free spirit.
Throughout the work "hell" has
been dismissed, and "sheol" subati-
tnted. The revisers sat 100 days.
The undertaking was stupendous, and
it has been performed with conscien.
tious scholarship.and care.
y, The London Daily Telegraph con-
siders the revision of the Old better
done than that Of the New Testament
: OF coursssit will be subjected to rigid
scrutiny !; and captious criticism VIII
be.bsought to bear upon the Old Test
ament as,was the case as to the New.
Anaswhatsver. may be the general
Judgment, we feel quite certain that
this last revision will not come into
general use during the present gen.
GRAFTON. People who have lea. ned to
love the rythmical revision of King
James, will not abandon it for anoth-
er revision, however defective in trans
lation the former may be, and howev'
er improved in literal rendering the
latter may be: But, nevertheless,
2 this, revision is ssgreat and serious
event, for much Of the best learning
ofahswo-id 'has hesn engaged upon
thegrand undertaking. The London
Telegraph has this to say of the re.
vision just published:
,sLet us at once state that the Old
Testament has been more fortunate
than The New in its revision. It's re.
gissrs not otionly laid down correct prin-
eiples, but, generally speaking, kept
to them, and the result is that we now
spossess,a yersion which retains the
beauties. Of the book so long familiar
esnd that are stored in million mem