Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-01
REVISION or TIE BIBLE.
REV. CHARLES ii. STRONG'S
DISCOURSE LAST NIGHT.


DISCOURSE LAST NIGHT.
The Work of the British and American
Committees RevIewed-ghe Need for
New Version AID How il Was Accom-
plshed-some OF the Changes aud I'm
proVen,s That Have Been Made.
The revised version Of the Ola Tesla
ment was the subject Of Rev. Charles Il.
strong's discourse at ST. Johns Church
last night.
Aner referring to the work Of revision
and the manner in which it was accom-
pllshed during fifteen years of research
and invesu CATION 10y the abiest scholars
of England aud America, the reverend
speaker pointed out wherein he believed it
to be an Improvement upon the authorized
or what is known as the kthg James
version, made now over TWO centuries and
half ago.
The first question to be asked was
''What is the need for new version ?"
The progress of The language, the infelici-
ties IN the form Of the common revision,
the progress of sacred learning and the
correction of acknowledged errors, were
among the principal reasons why
such stupendOus work was
undertaken. There was evidently not so
much need for a revision Of the Old Testa-
ment as there was OF the New. Since the
King james version in 1911 discoveries
mad been made of important manuscripts
which put IN new light the efforts OF its
franslatOrs. The men who made the
King James version were learned men
and beyond doubt quite abreast Of their
time and fully equal to any scholars in
Europe, but since then advances have
been made in Biblical literature and
helps OF ai kinds have multiplied IN an
astonishing degree.
There could be no plea for revision Of
the Old Testament on the ground of new
discoveries, because none have been /
made. The manuscripts from which the I
Old Testament was translated have been I
in existence Tor a thousand years. There |
We're no new resources for ascertaining /
She original form Of the Hebrew text. .
The Hebrew, like the other Semitic |
languages, was written with the cOns0- |
nauts alone and without separation be-
tween the words Hence it was
delicate task to determine what /
yowels should be employed in any /
particular case, and where the
stops and accents should be inserted. |
The advance in the ChalGaic and Syrlac, 1
which are c0gnate languages Of the He [
brew since 1911, has placed new mean
ing upon the old version, aud changes /
were rendered necessary. After citing
several changes, which We're made chiefly |
in the Book of job through an advanced
knowledge OF the cOenate languages, the
speaker referred TO what he considered
three great improvements made. First,
the omission of chapter marks; second,
the translating Of the pOetical books in
pOetical form instead Of arranging
chem in prose, as in the authorized
version, and. third, the omission OF italics
showing the words not in The original,
but supplied by the translatOrs to COM
plete the meaning.
He then took up the changes
that had been made in the text.
one Of the most important of
which is the substitution of the
Hebrew word steol in place II he'll. The
word ShcoL is rendered in the authorized
version variousiy as 1.-THE grave" "the
pitt or "hell." The reyisers have in
every instance except one omitted
the word "hell" The exception
Is the passage, Thou shalt
not leave my soul in hell" In this in
stance il was necessarily allowed to re-
main. The giQUe ana PIT refer primarily
u The body, and SO miss the very point Of
sheet, which refers to the spirit. 1t is of
course unpleasant and undesirable to in
troduce a new and foreign word into
book for the people, but IN this case no
resource was left.
Nr. Strong then cited numerous
passages which in the old version we're
AAiI-tiiAlA itS1s but WHICH INC lNNASEIb nav
made plain and clear.
There is every reas0n,' he said, 'to
believe that the labor bestowed upon tie
work viii not prove to be IN vain No
matter how perfect the work is, IL is i'm
possible 10 accept it at once. 1t was
many years before the King James YER
sion superseded the Geneva Bible. 1t
Will be years before the present new YER
sion viii supercede that which has been
the accepted version for nearly three cen
turtles. The Church will stand the trial,
and IN the end il viii be willing TO sur
render lifelong attachments and sa-
cred associations for tue sake OF
learning more exactly the terms
and meaning Of the revelation God has
been graciously pleased TO make OF Him.
sell. OF course this will not be done at
once. The present generation will not
abandon the book endeared to it from in-
fancy. But the coming generation viii
grow up with the KNOWLEDGE that there
are two revisiOns of the English Bible,
that Of 1911 and 1885. and that they are at
liberty 10 choose between them. The
change VIII follow in the natural course
Of events, and in time the revision OF 1885
Will be accepted and looked upon as the
Official version of the Word Of God. il
Will IN time nOiselessly accomplish the
end which was sought for Il, and it Will /
az length come to be recognized as the /
Bible Of En- ish speaking people"