The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-08-26

/
Clear Up Ob~curity in the Text.
The Psalms Placed Under Titles
and the Word Jehovah Restored.
/ Throughout the country today the com
/ plotod American version of the Bible went
! into circulation through the medium of
! the booksellers. having been delayed for
! fourteen years through the existence of
/ "a contract eXaCted by the English revis-
] eTS- A long time ago the English revis-
/ ion companies disbauded, but the Amer
! ian committee continued its orEauiza-
! ton. and. SD far as was possible. Coutin-
, ted its laboTS. The committee has gone
! far beyond the revisers with whom IL
/ was formerly associated and has intro
! duced into the text numerous changes
! hitherto suppressed for the sake Of pre-
| serving harmonious relations.
! As an instance the word Jehovah is
I substituted for Lord and God" and
/ thus this personal name. with its
: wealth of sacred associations. is now
restored TO the place in the sscret text
- which it has an unquestionabIe claim
( The word "Sheol' has been uniformly
/ used for the grave" the pit" and
| hell" Numerous verbal changes have
/ been made TO clear UP obscure places in
/ the text.
Following are a few examples Of the
\ changes made.
] English verSion-The sojourniug Of the
/ children Of Israel. which they sojourned
| in Egypt. etc.-Exodus y; 40. American
I versiOn-The time that the children Of Is
| rael dwelt in Egypt. etc
| English versiOn-A great altar to see to-
| Joshua p: 10. American version-A
! great altar to look upon
] English version-They fought from
I heaven; the stars in their courses fought
J against Sisera--JudEes >. % American
] version-From heaven fought the stars,
/ from their courses they fought against
| Ssera-
J Il is claimed that careful examination
I will show that the new readings are. as
a rule. more faithful TO the original text
| and more in accord with the present
| idioms than heretofore. although many
| words and phrases are retained that
might have been changed to the advant-
! age Of the ordinary reader, for the one
| great object Of any revision should be 10
| gain the highest degree Of accuracy, in
/ phraseOloEy that can be understood clear
/ ly and definitely without recourse to "A
! dictionary of archaic and obsolete words.
] The necessity for such revision is appar-
ent when one realizes the constant change
]
| words in quite common use
The revision that produced what is
/ commonly called the Common Version"
/ was the result Of numerous revIsions dur
ing many centuries, and Difference was
| paid then, as Il is now paid. to current
! forms of speech. but in the course Of 100
| years many words have become changed
( in meaning Prevent then mean TO go
! before meet; now IL means To hinder.
| Let" then signified to hinder; now il
| means 10 permit. Lust then, as in
/ German now, meant pure pleasure. de
| sire, JOY: now il breathes vile passion
! A clergyman. in commenting upon the
/ revised book. said:
! The book Is particularly attractive be-
I cause OF its clean type and evenly print
ed pages The text is Photographed but
| alas, impertinent figures appear 70 indi-
cate the verses. Long-coutinued custom
| and Convenience for avfoT~rree a.r4d ~nr1-
| parisOu require the retention Of these di-
| visions. but why the figures should be al
! lowed to spoil the page and divert the
| mind so continually is incOmprehensible.
! when they might have Deen placed TO
! equal advantage in the margins, where
| there IS ample space Thus separated
they would have been useful without be-
| ing obtrusive.
/ The chapter figures are prominent. as
they should be. and upon each page are
! figures indicating the scope OF that page,
thus: Page ? begins with chapter {. 26
Genesis. and ends with chapter H. q
| Upon each page is given a heading. in a
| single line of black type, TO indicate its
general contents. Thus. page AZ: 'Judah's
| intercession for Benjamin. Joseph makes
himself known The Psalms only form
an exception. each Psalm having title
There is obvious danger in such a PLAN
but in carrying it out the revisers have
| succeeded admirably, having scrupulOusIy
| adhered to their rule: Everything that
! might seem to SAVIOR OF questionable exc
! gesis has been carefully avoided
/ The para graz hing has been vastly i'm
! proved The English revisers often went
! TO the opposite extreme Of ncCeSsarily
/ long paragraphs in place OF the Old plan
I Of paragraphiug each verse This gave
! heavy and tiresOme look to certain pages.
| Besides the paragraphs were sometimes
! not more accurately formed than in the
! w herever the text falls into "A pOeticaI
! form II IS 50 arranged. as in the words or
| l-amcCh Gen 4-2J-2D, Noah Gen. s-ZJ-ZD,
! and Jacob Gen. SD. the longer Do
| ems, as Of Moses 1Ex. l5:l-lsj. lsraelItes
! Gum HlI-lS, H-5D, BALKAN ,NUm.
| chaps Z3-Zg. Moses (Deut- chaps E2-EyJ.
| Deborah Judges chap %. and numerous
| others. All Of the pOetical books, inCIuG-
/ ing the Lamentations OF jeremiah, are ia
]
| easily understood. The prophecies are
| seldom marked by poetic form.
| Great care and attention have evident
! ~ been bestowed upon the punctuation.
| This IS always IN great degree an aIbitra-
| ~ matter with English writer's. but IN
case Of a translation from an original
| that has no such marks. and where the
| slightest dot about a letter has special
significance. II Is uuquCstiOnabIy attend
| cd with difficulty. There Is stu a re-
oundance Of commas especially. upon a
single page examined thIrty-Oue would
| better have been absent Buk the fire.
Quency Of the often absurd use OF the
colon has In large part been done away
Tor which We have reason TO be grateful.
n decided Improvement has also been
made IN the use and character OF the
marginal notes. which are much fewer
IN number. only about One-siXth Of those /
given in tho English revision, and when
ever practicable each Is credited to it's
source Great care has also been bestog-
cd uTDu the references. IN preparing the {
list OF which able scholars outside the I
committee rendered valuable aid I'M !
aim has been 10 illustrate and eIucidate
the meaning by referring % other pas
sages which. either IN word or i'm thought. |
bear resemblance to the one uud sr con-
sideratiOn.
The word Saint OF its authorization
ST. IS omitted entirely in the running l
headline II stands Matthew Mark etc
At its beginning we find simply According :
20 Mark the same rule being applied to I
each book. The Acts is shOTn Of the IA
miliar words, of the Apostles The head
ing OF Romans is without tn designation 1
the other Pauline epistles. The book OF /
Hebrews Is headed cinUTy The E-r.ferTg a., ]