Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-05-28

ham," In XLrX., the Old account o
Reuben's curse il retained: "Unstable a
water thou shalt not excel, with margin
to iInSta6le, 'sbubbling over" an nlterna
tive rendering much like that suggested
by the American company. In verse II
the promise to Judah is not that to hin
shall be "the gathering OF the people,
as if it were only one nation, but, ms thu
revision puts it, ''the obedience of th'
peoples"
The putting of tho metrical portions o
the Bible into poetical form is pleasing
TO the eye. How much more inspiring Il
rend the song of Deborah ms it now up
pears than in the old form. For instance
Tell Of IL, 70 thnt ride on white asses,
Ye that sis ON rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
Far from the noise OF archers, In the places
drawing water
There shall they rehearae the righteous acts o
the Lord.
The song of Lameeh, in Genesis, il
given also in verse form, the second coup
lot now reading:
For have slain man for woundlng me,
And young man for brulslng me.
The book of Job, rich as it is in ,poeti
enl beantyand haunting 10 she 3nanofyl
becomes more musical and clear thar
ever. How fine the passage:
For afIllctiOn cometh not forth Of the dust,
Neither doth trouble spring out OF the ground
But man IL born INTO trouble
As the sparks ily upward.
How much clearer, too, the passage OF
man ready to fall:
In the thoughiIof him that Is at ease there is con
tempt IL misfortune;
IL Is ready for them whose foot slippetl.
And the touching passage, "Where is
now my hope, &c." tells its story more
exquisitoly thus:
Where, then, is my hope?
And as for my hope, who shall SEQ IL?
1t shall go down To the bars of Sheol
When once there Is rest In the dust.
"Sheop takes the place of hell in the
Book. II has already been noted that the
phrase '.vnnity and vexation of spirit
becomes vanity and strivingafter wind. u
That equally notable passage, "Fhe way
of transgressors is hard" is changed IL
"fhe way of the treacherons is ragged "
In Exodus, III, %, and XI, 2, where it
is said, tevery woman shall borrow of
her neighbor jewels of silver and jewels
of gold," the revision corrects the error,
and renders, 'teyery woman shall ask OF
her neighbor." And this is undoubtedly
correct. What the Israelites sought and
obtained was not loun but n gift, and it
was so understood ON both sides. In XIII,
1S, the children of Israel are said to
have gone up out of the land of Egypt,
not "harnessedn MS the common version
gives it, but ''armed,n which is the true
meaning. In Xxx, 10, the sixth command
is given, ."rhou shalt do no murder" as
in Matthew, XIX, 18. This is an improve
ment, since killing is sometimes lawful,
but murder never il. In XVII, 81, occurs
n phrase very often repeated, viz, ''taber-
naclu. of the congregations" which to
most persons simply means the place
where the people congregated together,
''tent of meeting,n i. O., the place where
the people met with God, (cf. xxx ,42-45. }
The "shittim wood" so often mentioned
in the account of the construction of the
tabernacle is made .acaeia," and the
obsolete "taches" is changed into
clasps" and 'the hanging for the gate
of the court" becomes "the screen" for
the same.
In Leviticus, H., /, and elsewhere
''meat offering," which constantly mis-
lends the English reader, is changed to
'.meal Offering" which we'll expresses its
nature ms composed of vegetable sub
stances. "I'respass offering" is changed
to "guilt Offering" which accords better
with the general usage of tho original
word. In XVI, s, containing the account
of the great day of atonement, ''sacra-
ment" disappears, and for it is substi-
tuted the original word in English letters,
"Azazel," with margin ''dislnissal. !"
Nearly all scholars agree that the word
does not mean &GttfIeg0dt.
In Numbers XIII, 23, instead of
"surely there is no enchantlnent against
jacob" &c, the version reads:
.'Srrely there is no enchnntment with Jacob,
Neither is tlcro any divination with Israeli
That is, he is so strong that he has no
need to resort to magic arts. The whole
utterance of Balaam is given in poetical
form, and its final portions have ut least
some of their obscurity removed.
In Deuteronomy, XII, 2l, occurs the
phrase 'as the days of heaven upon the
earth" which is often understood to be II
promise of heavenly days upon earth, but
the revision renders las the days of the
heavens upon the earth," i. c., n promise
of continuance rs long ms the heavens en-
dure, which is certainly the meaning.
(See Psalms LxXxix., 29) In SXXu., II,
we read, s'they sacrificed unto devils not
to God" which the revision makes "they
sacrificed unto demons, which We're no
God" The Old Testament like the New,
knows but one devil, although there are
many demons or unclean spirits In verse
.,lt
utterance concerning the wicked, their
foot shall slide in due time" used by
President Edwards as the text of one of
the most pungcnt discourses he ever de
livered. In the revision the whole point
of the utterance disappears, for we read
there:
'tyengeancn Is mine, and rcc0mpense
At the time when their foot shall Slide"
And il may be confidently affirmed that
tho original admits of no other render
ing.
The miracle of the sun and moon,
(Joshua, X, 12) standing still is some
times represented MS n poetical utterance
merely. But the revision gives the quo
tation from the book of Jasher in the
usual poetical form, and then adds in
prose the historical statement, "and the
sun stayed in the midst of heaven, &c.
In ii Samuel, XIV, IA, the wise woman
saws to David, "Neither doth God respect
amy person yet doth He devise means
that Ills blnished be not expelled from
Him." This is made much plniner:
'sNcither doth God tiike away life, but
leviseth means that He TINT is banlshcd
be not an outcast from Him." In xxxI1I,
8, the Inst words of David are made in
tho revision to describe not what King
ought to be, but what he will be, ruling
in the fenr of God:
"As the light of tho morning when tho sun
rlseth.
When tho tender grass springeth out OF TIT
earth,
Through clear shining after rain.'
In ii. Chronicles, XII, Is, Jeroboam or
daincd priests not 'fOr the DEVILS" nt
the common version stutes but ''for the
he goats"
In Job II, 8. the advice of Jobs wife
.tCurse God and die, !" is changed to RE
nounce God and die" In ", "a, instead
of .'Thou shalt visit thy habitation and
not sin" is placed, '"rhou shalt visit tn,
fold and miss nothing" In TX, 8, in
stead of Arcturus, Orion and the PIE
iades'' is ''the Bear, Orion and the Pie
iades." In XIII, IA, the patient mal
says, '"rhough lie slay me, yet will
trust in Him." one of the most striking
expressions of loyal confidence in God Il
be found in the whole Bible. The revi
sion retains this in substance, only sub
stituting in the second clause ''wait fo
Him" in place of "trust in Him." Blu
the American appendix alters the form
and meaning of the entire sentence, ant
reads, s'Behold, He will shy me; l hay,
/ no hope" The American company, IL
common with most critics, maintain tina
this is the true sense of the Hebrew. Jol
feels and says that the result will surel.
be his death; he despairs of relief o
rescue, but yet insists, in the remainde