Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-01-30
IHs BIBLE.
History OF the foundations or the Book
of Books.


wise men of Alexandria engaged them
selves in compiling and colating the
Hebrew scriptures into their present
united form. says the ST. Louis Globe
Democrat. and further simplif, ing the
works by TRANSMITTING them into Greek
for he benefit of the Jews then ia
Egypt. The results of their labors
have since been known collectively as
the Septuagint. from the fact that it
Was the work Of the seventy translate
ors. About 400 years later. in the sec
ond century, A. d.. the books Of the
new testament were added and the
whole translated into Latin. The
Italia. or Latin version. soon became
the standard of the primitive Chris
tians, aud was used to the exclusion of
both the Hebrew and Greek versions
for two centuries. until the ST. Jerome
revision of A. ID. 40. After st.
Jerome had finished his browning
work. IA great deal Of which he per-
formed in the village OF Bethlehem.
almost in sight of the birthplace OF
Jesus. the Dalmatian aud Paunonian
monks hid away their old versions of
the bible and would use no other ex-
cept the one which had been given
them bv their patron Jerome himself.
The Jerome revision was rs superior
to the work of the seventy as their
work was TO the old semi-barharic
work which existed prior to the trans
lation OF 2S5 Il. G.. The most carefully
written copies of the bible obtainab.e
were consulted by the scholarly saint,
and. compared with the Arabic. He
brew and Svrac versions. in all OF
which he made cancellations and cor
rcctions which have stood the test OF
all subsequent time.
The herculcan task undertaken bv
st. jerome will be better understood
when the reader has been informed
that over POO versions of tine eyangel-
lists. each differing from the other in
many Of its essential details. were pre-
sented for the consideration of the
sages ut the council OF Nice in 32j A.
ID. For hundreds of years copyists
have added to and taken from the
scriptures to such an extent as TO
make it extremely difficult for even
the most learned 10 decide what should
remain for the edfication of future
generations. or what would be elimi-
mated from the sacred pages rs apo
book. or rs applied by the early writer's,
1.-THE book" was first used by Chrysos-
tom as early rs the fifth centur, where
he speaks Of the sacred writiN.s coll
lectively as the Biblia or "the hooks"
The infinite variations which occurred
in the manuscripts written by the
early Christian fathers have caused
great deal of contention among church
men, some admitting certain books rs
canonical, which are rejected by others
as apocryphal. This YOU can find
illustrated by comparing n Douay and
n King James bible of to-day. Inc
former admits several books which the
King James translators would not.
The books as arranged and accepted
at present are the results of wears of
labor and of countless councils and re-
vision assembages. For !. POO wears
after the savior Of men ended his brief
career on the rugged heights of Cal
vary. the touching details of which are
known to over 700, 200 900 of peoule
and in every land on the globe each
book of the bible was one continued
story, undivided into chapters. para
graphs or verses. Prior to the time of
the Spanish rabbi the Jews employed
system of dividing the chapters into
verses in the old testament, "A system
which had never been adopted by the
Christians, and was discarded for that
of the learned Spaniard by the Jews
themselves.
The new testament was not divided
into verses until after the invention of
the art of printing, and then first by
the Robert Stevens Greek edition in
155l.
OF the early TRANSACTIONS Of the bible
the most important aside from the
Septuagint and the ST. Jerome YER
sions. are the three-fold Egyptian
TRANSACTIONS of the fourth century Chis
remarkable work of the copvist was in
three languages and was intended for
all parts of EgypD; the Vcrso Figu-
rata. collected by Jacob of Odessa in
the eighth century; that of Paul. bishop
OF Tela. in 6l1; and the eighth. ninth
and tenth century TRANSACTIONS. made
respectively by Bede. Alfred and
Eiric. Daring the dark ages and on
down TO the time that Luther gave his
masterpiece to the world. several trans
lalions were made. including that If
Notker-Labeo $50 A. d.. that pre-
pared under the supervision of Potrus
Naldus. ll1O; the important work of
Louis the Pious. 1927; that of CHARLES
the Wise, 1880; the Guyars version Of
l2S6; the thirteenth century version in
Spanish during the reign of Alphonse
". and the two excellent works Of
WickliiIe and liuss. the latter for the
Bohemans aud the former for the
English-speaking people. With tho
invention Of printing every person
who had ever laid claim To literary
abilities seemed to think that he had
been specially commissioned from on
high to translate the word of God, rs
one Mould naturally infer from the
fact that not less than seventeen Ger
man transactions alone were given the
public between the time of Gutenberg
and Faust and that of Martin Luther.
The Wickliifc (sometimes spelled
Wycliile) version OF 1894 was the hrst
English translation. John Wickliile.
tltt. Translator WINS pOuInunupI la In