Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-07-25
The nCanerherry R;hle.

The new reading OF the Eith verse OF the
twelfth chapter of lIcclesiasteS in the re
vised version is creating widespread discus
sion in England, and some of the irreyer-
end wits have already begun to character
ze the version as the Caperberry' Bible
In the old version Ibis verse reads Also
when they shall be afraid Of that which is
high, and fears shall be in the way, and the
almond tree shall flourish, and the grass
hopper shall be burden and desire shall
fail: because man gOeth to his long home
and the mourners 20 about the street. In
the substitution of caperberry" for de-
sire the enemies of the new version have
found vant9ge ground for caricature and
Sneering criticism The friends of the re-
vised version, however come up CALAMITY
70 the defense Of the "caperberry,' and
make a strong point by showing that the
word i'll the original is and means capeTS
and nothing else Dean Plumptre sends a
letter to the London Times, which states
the authorities for its use. The word rem
dered caperbcrry' does not occur else
where in the Biblical Hebrew, but does fire.
Quently in the Talmud and uniformly
with the sense "Caperberry.' The word is
also translated "caper' in the Septuagint
and the Fulgate, showing that the Jews Of
Alexandria two hundred years before Christ
and those of Palestine four hundred years
after assigned this meaning to II, which
gives it the authority of six continuous cen
turtles He further shows that almost all
the commentators adopt this meaning, and
that desire first appears as guess or
paraphrase in Luther. As to the meaning
Of the passage the Dean says:
&" 1t finds a parallel i'll the language of
SHAKESPEARE. As Iago says that nor poppy
nor mandragora' shall bring back sleep to
a.. Il, !, ipin
so the preacher, in describing the failing
powers OF old age, puts in as the finishing
touch that the most pungent stimulant to
appetite shall fail to rouse it. 1t IS quite in
accordance with the context that that fact
should be individualized by the caper,' as
other facts had been by the almond tree
and the grasshopper. 1t would not have
been III accordance with it that those nat
ural objects should have been followed by
. vague abstract like desire.
Another correspondent writes to the
Tires, taking substantially the same view
as Dean Plumptre. He says the Septuagint
gives the Greek word "Kapparis," which
the vulgate reproduces in Capparis, that
is the caper, or Capparts &pia0sa Of the bot
anists He says:
The picked caper of modern cookery
are the buds of the shrub, but the berries
and leaves are reported to possess the same
virtues Hence, one of the epicures in
Athenleus takes Ne ton Kapparin' (by the
caper) as fayorite cath, just as some
modern gourmet might swear by some IA
vorite sauce
The friends of the caper evidently have
the best of TIE argument. II the opponents
could find no fault with the grasshopper or
almond tree in the old version, which GER
tainly are not very clear in their meaning
at first sight, they ought not TO find fault
with the capers, whose application is much
more Ineligible 1t is certainly easier to
understand that the caperberry has no
longer any virtue III stimulating a person
than to ascertain what connection the -four
ishing condition of an almond tree or the
fact that grasshoppers are burdensome has
to do with ones personal comfort. unless
the hoppcrs come in the Kansas and Colo
RADIO style Capers nowadays give out at
very early period as a stimulanJ. Curry
powder or cayenne pepper would have been
more ineligible still, bnt perhaps the ca
pers of the early Jews were more pungent
than they are nowadays, or the modern
mania for adulteration may substitute peas,
nasturtium seeds, or other cheap truck for
the true caper. The real point at issue,
however, is what the word means, and if it
means caperberries why not use it? Why
say desire ?'-[Chicago Tribune.