Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1885-05-21

LONDON, May lG.-AmOng the lighter
touches Of the revision OF the Old Testa-
ment are those that occur in the well-knOwn
passage which il here given rs revised:
But, i know that my Redeemer liveth
and that 10 shall stand up at the last upon
the earth and after my skin has been thus
destroyed yet from my flesh shall | see
God, WHOM ! shall see for myself and mine
eyes shall 'ehold and not another
Another Hell-knowm passage in Eccle-
siastics be ONES "liemember also thy
Creator in the days of thy youth or ever
the evil days come or the years draw nigh
when thou shalt say ! have no pleasure in
them"
The change here is "Remember also" for
"Remember now" with another varicint ''or
ever the evil days come" for while the evil
days come not"
f'he alterations in the ease of Genesis
have already been given and for the sake of
comparison the two concluding verses from
the Old Testament may be extracted from
each version. The authorized runs thus
Behold, l will send you Elijah the prophet
before the coming of the great and dreadful
day Of the Lord and he shall turn the heart
OF the fathers to the children and the heart
of the children to the fathers lest come
and smite the earth with Il curse"
The revised renders 1t: behold, will
send you Elijah the prophet before tho
great and dreadful day of the Lord come
and he shall turn the heart Of the fathers tc
the children and the heart of the children
to the fathers"
Among the minor changes may be quoted
'Thc foolish scorned the guilt Offering, fol
fools make Il mock Mt sin"
The witch of Endor now secs only -
god" not goods" ascending. In Proverbs
"a naughty person" becomes "a WORTHLESS
pnrson." "Wine is Il mocker, strong drinl
raging" becomes "winc is u mOcke
-mAg drink brawler." In Danic
gpnipI far IA Nyhilpn IL uSpu iuStnul "a
stoned for one hour
The substitution of modern words fo
Archaic expressions has only taken plar,
where the word was not only absolote, bu
to the public unintelligible; ''cOat Of mail /,
for instance, is suhstantiated for "hrigand
inc" in Jeremiah II, third verse, whore tn,
Almighty promises to raise I'M army agiins
Babylon "and against him that liftcth him
self up in his brigandine.'
For the word "cockatrice" there Is givcl
''basilisk" with ladder" ns the murginn
alternative. 1.-THE wimples and tn crisp
ing pins MurtrOwd in Isaiah III. ~, hav
altogether disappeared. "Emcrods"
Samuel VI. q, makes way for "Ilumours.
Habergeon is rendered in Exodus XVIII. II
coat Of mail and in job KILL, Il
"The pointed shaft" The connectio
of America with the revision remains to b
noted. II is explained as follows in tn
preface: The revisers had already mad
some progress and had in fac
gone twice through the pentateuc
before they secured the cooperate
of the American Old Testaments Il,
vision Company. The first revision
the several books, was submitted to III
consideration of the American revisers, an
except in the case of the pentateuch iii
English company had the benefit Of the
criticisms and suggestions before they pre-
ceeded to the second revision.
This second revision was in Il like mannt
forwarded to America and the late
thoughts of the American revisers was
the hands of the English company at the
final review. In every instance the SUI
gestions from America were treated wit
the same consideration as those from III
members of the English company and wei
adopted or rejected on their merits.
The preface adds that these points q
which there was ultimate disagreement nj
placed on record in the appendix filling
pages. The American cancellations so r
corded are chiefly directed to wore
undermining the translation by the omisslC
of obsolete forms both OF language an
spelling.
The Daily Nelcs says: "The revisers ha,
erred II they have erred at all, on the sic
of obstinate conservatism rather than {
the side Of rash innovation.
The AthenRtm says: The revision is
literary success. There are no pretensiol
to scholarly completeness and practical
no alterations in the text. The revisers 90
be congratulated upon the wisdom of the
decision Il declining to make new text OF
of old, as tine other company did with Il
New Testament.