The Cecil Whig., 1885-05-30
THE REVISED BIBLE.
Rev. Dr.. Schaff Describes The Revision
Committees Fourteen Years Labor.
A Gradual Adoption of the New Vers on
Predicted Both il England and Ameri-
ca TIE Change sej That Have Been Made
The Psalms in We Sc.
BY PHILIP SCTAFF, d. d..

r. ","t ~ the fH' !'"H E't on comm '-c
Truly, the Bible still lives. It is the
| newest as well as the Oldest of bools Its
youth is renewed like the eagles, ard
every generation adds to it's interest.
| When the revised New Testament was
published just four years ago Con May
II, 1881, in London and on May 20 IN
New York;, 1900, 600 Of copies were sold
| in few days, and within the next few
months not less than thirty American
| rival editions were issued, SO that before
| the close of that year about 5000, eco of
copies of all editions were sold (not given
away. The Revised Old Testament is
published this week on Tuesday, the
| 18Th of May, in I.ondor and Oh Thur
day, the 10Th of Nay, in New York and
| philade'nhia, by the agents of the rfitsh
University Presses. More than 1GO,Cc)
| copies have been ordered in advance for
the United States alone. Several Amer
can reprints may be expected, for there
is no law to prevent rivalry and the
American Committee, though pledged to
| give their moral support to the Univel-
siSy editions, will not and cannot put any
| obstacle in the way of the most general
| Gil GU alton of the book.
The chief objection raised against the
revision of the New Testament was due
to alterations in the text, which were
made necessary by the discovery of olde.
unical Greek MSS, notably the Sinaitic
and the Vatican of the first half of the
Fourth Century. The Old Testament
will escape all the censure on this score,
and not disturb the conservative feelings
Of people attached to the familiar text.
Changes of translation are very nu-
meroas, and yet SO carefully made in the
very language of the old version that
they will scarcely be observed by the
superficial reader. They are real i'm
proYements, in consequence of the vast
progress made in Hebrew philology, bib.
lical geography, antiquities and exegess.
, The errors of the version are most e.
quent in job and the prophetical books
The revision cannot do the work of
commentary, but it will make many pas
sages clear and Ineligible which were
hopelessly obscure.
AELHAIC WORDS AND PuRASts
The old version is disfgured by certain
indecent expressions (such as the circun'-
locution for malc), which nowadays can
hardly be read from the pulpit or in
private devotion. These have been va~y
properly removed. 1t contains alao a
considerable number of archaic and O.
solete words, which are unintelligible TO
the common reader. Such are Jea0m for
tf00ms, boss for knob, bo!ch for boz, c.
rt"ge for baggage, chapman for tradr
c0ngersation fo- rcr0uc5, dcysmGn for o.
dsstcr, AaJe1ye0n for c0as Of naa, Lno6 for
6ua, L; for f.nd"r, preccqt for precode.
ne ..eg for 6nec: ag ncph acs for grand-
eli 7iTcn, o"cgpy for t"ade, OucAes for Sc
,'"gs, a'.aJNc for s;ralcl, turtle for tur@
dose. cCacA for nsajd-se' taat etc.
Most of these a chaisms have given
way to modem terms. But the English
who love old things and nurse their ruins,
have retained a number Of archaic forms
which, although not in common use any
longeT, arc not unintelligibe or msead-
ing, such as Gi'aHnW for apAuz, ayson.cI
for cStOlt3heG, Scethe for 50i, 6aads for
j0@GS, c1aptier for chaptC.t, dukes for
cA'gf5, miDj% for d;m.nisA, ffGy for
Jf!gdt9,', c,re for gratl, 1rot and sr't for
f'o'o and Incr, apo:1ccary for peyamr,
& III for SjCtch. discorcr for unc9oer, tho
'ei:cA for erhjch. Here, too, the Ame~i-
cans who desired modern words for the
obSoia5e ones were overruled by the En-
glish majority, but have recorded their
p cteSt i'll the AppendiI. The American
community will sustain them.
The new Earagraphng is a very de,
cided aud useful Improvement. The old
/ chapter and verse division, which dates
from the middle ages, has been retained
in the margin for ea7y reference aud
comparson. But the text itself has been
divided into sections according 10 The
sense and connection.
PoETICAL AERANGEM Mt.
This is still greater help to the pop
ular reader. More than one third of the
Old Testament is poetry, and composed
according to the laws of parallelsm, that
is, correspondence Of thought and
words, like the two wings of a bird in lis
flight. Much Of the beauty of Hebrew
poetry is lost 10 the leader by being
| printed Ike prose. Who would like to
see hymn book printed in that old
fashioned way? The levsers have adopt
ed the poetic arrangement in Job. which
is an epic or dramatic poem of the high
est order, in the Psa ms, the Proverbs,
the Song of Songs, the Lamentations;the
Prayer of Jonah, and the Psalm of H2.
bakkuk, and also in The lyric poems sea
cred throughout Che historical book
as the Song of Lameth, the blessing of
Jacob the Song Of Moses and Miriam
the parting Blessing of Moses, the Song
Of Deborah. the Lament of David over
'he Death of Saul and Jonathan. The
Hsalms and the Book of job wi be twice
as enjoyable in tbs natural arrangement
aud the Song of songs will be far bet. y
understood by the dist.ibu. on of the
stanzls among the various actors in this
| lyric drama of pure love. will select
few specimens.
Ny beloved spake, ald said unto me,
Rise up my love, my fair one, and cone
away;
Fo', 10! the Wiu,e; is past,
Tie rain is Owes and gone,
The tlowers appear ou the ear,I,
The 'iwe Of the sug' lg Of the b "ds IS coIe
And ,he voice of the lur e is beard in c.
laul.
The fig tree ripene,h Ter 8 'eel f3
| And the viues are in blossom
They give forth theic fragrance.
a ise, my love, my fair Que, and come
away."-LSong OF Songs, i, 1C-lS
az know hat my Eedeeme: livelh,
And thaS he shall sand up AZ the last upon
The ca h;
And after my s. Ea,h bee "A thIs dc 81. Dyed,
Yet from my flesh shal see c ~,
Whom l shall see for myse'f,
And niue eyes shall behold, and not an