Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-06-04
READING MADE EASY.
Explanations OF Changes and the Arrange
ment Of the New Version of the Old
testament.

ltNt'lllltHl-
Tho following extracts from an earl,
copy of this work will enable the
reader TO form correct opinion o
leading changes made in the new yer
sion of the bible.
Changes in the Pentateuch.
The first feature that arrests atten.
tion here is the printing of the poetical
portions in the form of verse We
have instances in the blessing of Jacob
(Gcn. XliXO, the song of triumph at
the Red sea, (XXvD the rapt uttcranccs
OF Balaam (Num. xiii. and xxiv.),
and the ngand the blessing of Moses
at the end of his life (Deut. xxi.
and XNXiii.). Also as in shorter texts,
AS the song of Lamech (Gen. iv.0, the
prophecy of Noah (Gen, ix), the
Lord 5 answer 10 Rebecca (Gen. Xxv.)
the blessing of Isaac Gen. xxvi), the
song of the well (Num. Xxi.), and the
abrupt ode on the downfall of Moab
GbiO.
! Tie form of these passages shows
that they belong 10 that poctical feel
Ing and habit which pervadcs the en-
tire life and history of the hebrews.
Whatever moved the heart was set in
song, whether it was the discovery of
fountain in the desert, or joy over
some great victory. The revision has
wisely given the verse form only to
those passages which by their origin
and structure, comrcl one to see in
them an outburst Of poctical feeling.
The following selection of passages
which have been changed in the re-
vision is intended as a specimen of the
work done, and of the principles upon
which it has been carried out:
GENESIS.
In the first chapter the putting of
each days work in a separate para
graph aids the common reader In
w., %, the song OF Lamech is made
moro ineligible by making the see
ond couplet read: For have slain
man for wounding me, And a Young
man for bruising me.
In xiii, /, Abraham went up out
Of Egypt. into the South. =" The
printing of tho last word with capi.
tai letter shows that il refers to a
definite region (the Ncgeb), and thus
avoids the incongruity of the authori-
zed version IN leading one to think
that the patriarch reached Palestine
by going south from Egypt.
In ", Is, 1.-The plain of Mamre which
Is in Hebron is changed to "Thc
oaks of Mamre which are in Hebron"
because this is the meaning of the
Hebrew, and there is no PLAN in Heb
ron or vicinity. $50 xiv, 13, and
xviii, ~
In xviii, 10: For know that he
will command his children and his
household after him." is changed to
For | have known him to the end
that he may command, etc"
In NNiv., >: abraham said to his
eldest servant of his house, is made
to read, abraham said to his servant,
the elder OF his house. winch is what
the Hebrew means.
In XxXiii., IS: "And Jacob came to
Sholem, city of Shcchom." The re-
vision reads Game in peace to the
city of Shcchcm,' because no such
city as Sholom is known, and the true
rendering shows how God fulfilled
Jacob request (xXviii., 2l.)
In the prophecy of Jacob (Gcn.
XliX.) are several manifest improve
ments. Reuben is charged with be-
ing not unstable but, as the origi-
nal word means boiling over" that
Is, impulsive or eNcitable, which ex-
actly describes his character, as shown
by his conduct on various occasions.
In the fifth verse "instruments of cru
city are in their habitations,n the
margin of the authorized version,
"wcapOns of violence are their
swords" is inserted in the text as be-
ing both more literal and more ex-
pressve. In the ninth verse, instead
of saying that Judah couchcd "as an
old lion, the revision returns to Tyn-
dale 3 more accurate rendering "as
lioncss.'
EXODUS.
In ii:22' "a stranger in strange
land is rendered "a sojourncr in
strange land.
In the song of triumph after pass
ing the Red sea Exodus xv.) the WV
idness and poctical grandeur of the
lyric are shown in the revision by the
change of the past tense into the
present in Xv., 81, and of the future
into the past in Xv. 14-lG--a change
required by the original.
In the obscure passage Exodus xvii.
l6) the text retains the rendering of
the authorized version while the mar
eIn gives tho more literal sense of tho
Hebrew, because there is hand
ii. G., tho hand of Amalek) against
the throne of the Lord therefore1 the
Lord will have war with Amalek from
generation to generation.
In the second commandment Xxx,
5) we have u slight change, "Visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, upon the third and upon the
fourth generation of them that hato
me-" Che exact sense of the origi-
naD.
Tho sixth commandment w., 13) is,
after the pattern of the prayer-book
and the authorized version in Matt
xix: Is, given as Thou shalt do no
murder" and the same at Deut. ",
II. The advantage of this rendering
IS that it needs no limitation or eX-
PLANTATION. To kiH is often lawful, and
sometimes duty, but to do murder is
wrong always and everywhere.
Tabernacle of the congregation"
is changed to "tent of meeting"
In the word Jehovah" the author
lied version is followed, the reviscrs
not thinking it advisable to insert it
uniformly in place of Lord" or
God" which when printed in small
capitals represent the words substitu-
ted by Jewish custom for the ineilable
name.
Of technical terms from the Hebrew,
one in three seems to have been gener-
ally introduced. Tho word grave"
(Judges vi, S) has been replaced by
"ashera," with its plurals "asherimn
and "asherith." "
The Historical Books.
JUDGES.
Chapter THE song of Deborah IS
amended according to the demands of
modern scholarship. Verses 10 and II
are rendered.
Tell of it, We that ride on white asses;
Yo that sit on rich carpets,
And ye that walk by the way.
Far from the noise of archers,
In the places of drawing water,