Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-05-16
OLD DTESTAMENT REVISION
THE TEXT OF THE NEW YER
SION GIVEN TO THE PRESS.

LONDON, May l6, 8 A. NJ Copies of tha
revised version Of the Old Testamo were
gwen to the newspapers at rci8a 1lt last
night. All the papers this morning H.
tain copious extract iron the w9e.
semi-otfical article appears ia he London
Times, in which Some account oil tAe
w6..s- lewiston, Wits particular ster-
eaoe 10 the American part Of it, is given.
rom this article a few extracts are given
herewith:
Finally, an international work of fourteen
years has come to q close. the revised ver-
sion % the New Testament, issued IN May,
1881. and the now revised Old Testament,
viii soon DE NU Olished in all parts OF the Eng
lsh spe 6.Bg world.
AN EPOCH IN THE BIBLES HISTORY.
This revision is the most important event in
the history of he English Bible since the pub
lcation of the King James translation in l6l /.
The success of the Old TesJam Mt may not be
Which more than million copies
were sold on the day OF publication,
and more than three millions OF copies before
the close of the year. but 1t Will probably be
more favorably received anu less severely
criticised. for 1t involves no changes OF the
Hebrew text, no older manuscript than the
MasOrcue having been discovered, and the
idiom OF the authorized version is most care
Mily preserved out of reg rd for the conser-
vative feeling of the church in it's attachment
for the language of the old version
ALL ERRORS coRRECTEE.
All errors OF translation. however, have
been removed. and the revision viii be pro-
nOunced by every competent Bible reader to
be very great improvement. 1t presents
the results of the combined labor ef a large
number of the best HeOraists and bib lcal
scholars of England and the United States
most of them Professors of Hebrew in uni
ver5ities and seminaries. 1t haF, moreover,
the advantages Of the last 30 year in Oriental
phiolOgy, biblical geography, histor and an
tiquities. all Of which were but imptrte tly
understood by the A translatOrs of King
james, although 1t is freely admitted that they
did the very best in their day. The new YER
sion is not goo. version IN place OF bad one,
but great Improvement OF good version.
WORK OF THE TRANsLATORs.
The history OF the movement for the
present revision is then presented, and the
article continues:
The Bible appears. bound with the New
Testament. The preface opens with a state
ment o the general principles on which the
REVISION has been conducted. The reysers
have borne in mind their duty not 20 make
new translation but TO revise that already eX-
isting. and have departed from u only where
they disagreed with the translatOrs Of lbll
upon tine meaning OF word or sentence. The
terms of natural history are only changed
where it is certa that the authorized version
is Incorrect. Where it is doubtful. or there Is
an alternative, the rendlung is given on the
margin.
SOME OF THE CHANGES.
In some words of frequent occurrence. the
authorized version being either Inadequate or
inconsistent. changes have been introduced
with as much uniformity as possible. For IN
stance, tabernacle Of the congregation" has
been everywhere changed TO tent of the
meeting +" In regard to the word "Jeh vah,"
the usage OF the author zed version is fol-
lowed. the reviscrs not think ng 1t advisable
to insert it uniformly in place of Lord" or
'God," which, when printed in small capitals,
represent words subs ituted by Jewish custom
for an inefable name.
TECHNICAL TERMS.
OF technical terms from the Hebrew, one in
three seems to have been generally intro
has been replaced by "Ashera." " with its
plurals "Asherim" and"Asheroth.' In Oet-
cal books ''sheOl' replaces hell" which has
been changed in prose cha piers TO 1.-The grave"
and "thp plt' with ''5heOl" IN the margin. OF
HELL" saws the preface, ''if it could be
taken in It's original sense as used in the
Creeds, would be a fairly adequate equiva-
lent for the Hebrew word. but 1t is so COM
monty understood as place Of torment that
to employ it frequently would lead to newt
able mistake"
MEAT OFFERINGS.
The term ''meat offering" has been changed
into ''meal Offering" the former term having
new plural ''peODles." has been introduced.
although sometimes tins becomes "Gentiles."
When the cont ast to chosen people is marked
all the headings of chapters have been
dropped. las In the revised New I 1estament,and
the text has been divided tOnaragraphs but
the old chapter and verse divisions have been
retained in the margin for convenience of
reference. The several days OF the creation
are made more prominent by breaks OF
lire between the verses This eXpedient has
enabled the revisers to make use OF x dia-
logue form and tO show IN dramatic Charac-
ter Of the Song Of Songs the 1rst chapter of
which, for example, is divided into seven
speeches.
DIVISION OFTHE PSALMS.
The Psalms are definitely divided into five
books. 4 striking improvement Is the print
ing Of all poeucal passages in poetlcal form.
This has been done IN The Palms, Proverbs,
job and Chronic es. hut the Prophets have
been left IN prose. however passionate their
Oratory. The songs Of Lamech. JACOB, Mi
riam, Moses. Deborah and Hannah. the
Psalms OF Jonah and lTabakkuk and Davd's
Lament, in second samuel, appear in
versihed ballad. The origin OF josh
ua's miracle: "sun stand thou stll
upon Gideon" is indicated hv lts verse char
acter. so also il the triumphal cry OF Sam
sOn-Judges Xv., 10. J
HOUSEHOLD WORDS PRESERVED.
An examination OF more familiar passages
and phrases disclo-es the fact that care was
taken in preserving intact the housrhol
form has beeu he i sacred. and the rcvisers
cannot be charged with any pedantic strain
ing after the original text; but not all the
familiar features Of the Scripture have es-
Caped untouched.
A number OF passages are quoted In which
a shock Is given b. OH associations. In other
passages there are found variations, which
cannot be called rash altorat ous.
THE CHRIsTOLoGY NOT AFFECTED.
The Chrlstology OF the Old Testament is
almost entirely unaffected hy the revision
The crucial passage Isaiah vii. "A: "Behold
virgin shall conceive Nnn boar snuif-re-
mains UNCHANGED, except that the margin
suggests return fO the style now in he Book
OF Common Prayer. a number Of expmDies
are cited In which the actual work Of
revision is dist netly seen. in which cpses.
as in many others. there Seems 20 have been "a
strong minority among the Tcv.rra, which
held out 'Or alterf alive rcHdings. Hnd sue
eeeded ia putting them in the margin. which
contains most OF the scholarship Of the re-
vision.
TIE FIRST CHANGE.
The first verse in both the authorized and
revised version Dol the same. The first altora-
ton occurs IN the second verse, where,
instead Of "Aud the earth waa without form
and void" we rcat, "And the earth WAS
waste and void.n The text Of the story OF the
creation is without other striking variations.
Tho same may be sgid Of the description 81
the fall and hood. Ia the com mandmeuts are
some verbal alterations, the most striking
being that of the sixth, "Ihou shalt not klll.'
Exodus AK, ~. IL becomes, Thou shalt
do no murder -