The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1885-05-27


the text is not true of the race, it is of
some members of it. In xii. 5 the obscure
comparison OF man ready to fall to a
lamp despised" disappears in the revision,
which renders faithfully and clearly,
In the thought of him that is at ease there is
contempt for misfortune;
1t is ready for them whose foot slippeth
We are glad to see that the common
version of Is, Is, Though he slay me
yet will trust him" is substantially re-
tanned, though most critics give it a
different sense.
In the v. 81 the obscure "settest
print upon the heels of my feet" becomes
drawest line about the soles of my
feet e., keepest me prisoner. The
revision renders xvii. II Are the con-
solutions of God, etc, more literally and
forcibly, thus:
Are the consultations of God too small for thee.
And the word that dealsth gently with thee
So in xvi q it makes Job express the
wish that his witness God, would see
right done him both with God and with
man. The touching passage xvii: Is,
10, " where is now my hope? They shall
go down." etc., is so altered as to show
Jobs conviction that the hope held be-
fore him by his friends, instead of being
realized. will go down with him to Sheol
when once he finds rest in the grave.
Thus
Where, then, is my hope2
And as for my hope, who shall see it?
1t shall go down to the bars of Sheol
When once there is rest in the dust.
In xviii: 10 the meaningless words " 1t
shall dwell in his tabernacle because it is
none of his, become There shall dwell
in his tent that which is none of his
viz, strangers.
The notable passage xix: 25-27 is
greatly clarified. The offensive and
needless mention of worms, to which
there is nothing answering in the He
brew, is dropped. Job had Just express
ed a wish for a perpetual record of his
words, that coming generations might
know his claim to rectitude. This, how
ever, was not enough. Hence he adds
" But l know"-whatever their opinion
may be: =" 1 know" my Redeemer
liveth. This vindicator will stand up
upon the earth in future day, and Job
will see him. That vision of God will be
all that he needs, as it is an assurance of
peace and reconciliation. 1t will be from
his flesh, and as his body is said to have
been destroyed, it must be from a new
body, which implies resurrection. In
the margin are stated the other and more
generally accepted views, which consider
the vision as made without the flesh =
.. e., in disembodied state, and that Job
sees God "on my side. e., favorable,
and mot stranger "a. e., not hostile
or estranged. The last clause, any reins
are consumed within me-" is an express.
sion of intense longing.
The Psalms are definitely divided
into five books, the last four beginning
respectively at Psalms xiii, xiii, xc., and
evil. In Ps. viii: 5, man is said Ito
have been made little lower than God,
which exactly conforms to the Hebrew.
The A. VS., lower than the angels" was
taken from the Xxx (and copied by the
Vulgate, and quoted in Hebrews ii: y,
where they answer the needs of the
writer's argument. But the quotation in
the N. t. affords no reason for overlook
ing the strength Of the Hebrew. The
use OF JEHOVAH (in place of LORD in the
first verse and the last adds to the force
and beauty of the psalm. In Ps. tx. the
confusion and obscurity of verse are re-
moved by version which brings Gods
overthrow of the wicked into marked
contrast with the fact that He sits as
king forever. In Ps. x. every verse ex-
cept the first is more or less changed
with the effect on the whole of greatly
increasing the vividness of the character
lzation. In xi the substitution of gin
darkness" for "privily" is one of many
instances in which literal version is
more expressive than any paraphrase.
The 10th Psalm is greatly improved
Its general theme is that God is all in all
to the believer, and this is well given in
the new rendering of verse 2,
have said unto the Lord, Thou art nv Lord
l have no good beyond thee.
In v: 10 the revision substitutes for the
misleading, in hell" the literal render
ing "to Sheol,' which means that the
singers soul is not to be abandoned to
the state of the dead. The change of
the same word in xviii: 5 shows that the
writer there was not complaining Of hell
lsh sorrows, but of the network of the
unseen world closing around him.
The cords Of Shoel were round about me.
We Place Few Changes in Parallel
Columns.
AUTHORIZED VERSION. REVISED VERSION.
Ps. ~ g. Il will seti OF will set him in