The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1886-04-21

Its TRANSLATION Into Two Hundred
and SixlY.TLrec Languages.

ann Stxty-Tflrec Languages.
1t is interesting to note demand that
still exists for some of the earliest versions
Of the Bible which, though antiquated in
form, nre still used in church services and
by scholars. Among these are Syriac, Cop
tic, Ethopic, Armenian, Georgian and
Latin. Versions were made at an early
date in Arabic, Persian and Amharic also
A large number of versions came into be-
ing in connection with the reformation, and
before the year 1850 every country in
Europe except Portugal Russia and Turkey
had Mt least the New Testament, and gener.
ally the Bible, in q language spoken by a
great majority of its people. Tho versions
originating outside of Europe, with a few
exceptions, have been made almost within
the lifetime of men now living and they
illustrate the dependence of modern efforts
to evangelize the world upon the printed
scriptures and the desire of missionaries to
furnish them to their adherents.
II should be remembered, however, that
only u small part Of the work of translating
has yet been done. Numerous languages
md dialects are spoken, especially in Africa,
which have not been even studied by schol-
lrs from Christian lands, and one hundred
md seventy TRANSACTIONS of the American
Bible society, represent but fifty-six trans
lations of the entire Bible, of which thirty
five were circulated in Asia, nine in Africa,
nine in the islands of the Pacific and only
three on the continent of America.
II. II L Al
Christian scholarship of the world has pro-
duced not far from 300 versions of the
Bible or parts of it, and 263 languages and
dialects have thus, for the first time, been
enriched with the literature of the book.
For the making of new versions, involving as it
has, in many cases, the reduction of Ian
guage to writing, the compilation of die.
tionary and the construction of grammar,
has engaged the philanthropy and indefati
gable zeal of Christian missionaries of yari.
Gus lands.
Few persons appreciate ---e difficulty Of
rendering the scriptures from the original
Hebrew and Greek into languages that have
not been previously peryaded and nodded
by Christian thought. In laying founda-
tons for generations that are to follow, one
may well devote to the work the energies Of
a lifetime The translation of the Bible
into Arabic by DIR. Eli Smith and DIR. Van
Dyck, required the labor Of sixteen years.
DIR. Schaufler, of Constantinople, complet-
ed in 1874 the translation of tho Turkish
version, which he began as long ago as 1860.
Fifteen years of continuous labor were spent
be DIR. Schereschewsky in rendering the Old
Testament into the Mandarin colloquial.
After forty years of missionary work, Dr.
Williamson and DR.. Riggs completed their
Dakota version, and one of them estimated
that he spent, on an average, full thirty
minutes on each verse he translated. Pro
testant missionaries were sent to Japan in
1859, but twenty years had passed before
their translation of the entire New Tesla
ment was ready for circulation. These are
illustrations of the labors expended by
Christian missionaries in the preliminary
work of preparing new versions of scrip
ture.