The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-08-29
FACTS ABOUT BIBLE
FEATURES IN ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF MOSTLY WIDELY READ BOOK.
The septusgint Translation--why Michael Angelo Put Horns en 1foses---Dr. Aked Discusses
 The Subject.


 New York, Aug. g. Especial j. Fifty. wears ago q circulation of 2b.ooo for d popular book was considered ph enornenal. Today some of the six best sellers may pass the half million mark. But no book has ever had such tremendous sale as the Bible. and curi- ously enough while 1t Is the most unt- versally and widely read piece of It, erature. sehoIhxs who have studied it most carefully assert that 1t is at the same time the Ieast understood. ..s
 Primarily this may be due to. tho fact that the most familiar English edition of this strangest of books. is, according to one of New York's most < sion which is a translation of a trans, lation. handed down in language sn.i tirely without voweis."
 Indeed the history of the Bible 5ts one of the most curious and interest ing stories which science has ever il-l Iuminated. To the average reader. however, 1t is unknown--the famous Lxx, or the Miracle of the Seventy, as 1t 10 more often called. Is as little known as the meaning of the term Apochrypha, or the date of the begin ming of the Bible.
 The notion loosely floating about" E9yB ftGVs Su6IfGH AhGat WhU 0hn- cusses this question of the Bible in Appieton's magazine. ''is that the Bible came down from Heaven, cleanIy print ed. nicely bound in Morocco, and gilt edged with . book marker against that text which has been erroneousiy made to declare that every Scripture Is in. spired of God. As a matter of fact wh ether this be an extreme definition or not few persons realize the man ner in which the worlds most popular book was handed down in early days, or how in those stages 1t resembisd
 very closely the transmission of the legends of our own American Indians by sign and word of mouth.
 The earliest version of the Bible. according to the best authorities, goes back to. the second century B. C. The earliest Hebrew copy of the Old .Tea--
 tament of undisputed date. however.
 goes back only to the tenth century 4. D. Betwcen these two date lines lies the wonderful story, of the "one
 best seller" with the miracle of the Lxx. the denomination of the Apocry- phal books and thousand other iu- teresting details.
 The various stages which have led up to the present edition of the Bible known as that of King James are de- uuCQ Oy 0f <4A CQ III HIS <1YPtStOu.A cIe as follows: 'The revised. version
 is based on the authorized version. which is an improved edition of the Bishops Bible, which was bad copy of Cranmer's Bible: which was based on Coverdaie's translation of Dutch and Latin transiations and Rogers's version
 of TindaiIss Bibles" Truly a eompli- cated pedigree. Yet even this covers only the later period. e-'.
 The very name Of the Bible in itself indiates somethiUM eE It's remarkable history. While it isftreated as a sins gular noun 1t really couies from two Greek words-~ts Biblia~-weening sim. ply the books" and Indicating that these sacred writings are in reality . collection of books. The reason that we speak today of the Old and New Testament is due to . nisunderstood transiation. Actually 1t should be Old and New Covenant, since in It's pre- Christian stage the religion of reve- | iatiors ts represented as the result of a covenant. Later when . new dispens satiou was spoken of it was referred to as q new covenant. But the Greek
 word for covenant among Latin speak 1 Ing Christians. was often erroneousiy
 rendered as testament As a result western Christendom uses the terme
 
 parts of the world the two parts of the Bible are referred to as the old and New Covenant. t
 In early days of the preChristian era there was continued struggle be- tween religion which was prinarily spiritual and that which was essential ly political and unspirttuai. When the prophetic predictions of judgment on national sin were fulfilled in the fall of the Kingdom of Judah. poiiti- cal religion became an absurdity.
 During these years in which the structure of the present day Bible was taking form, 1t drew it's substance from two sources, the historical and the prophetical. Tn the earliest days the matter which now constitutes various books was handed down by word of mouth: later by means of a voweiless writing. The dif1culties and opportu- nitieS for subsequent difficulty ara summed up by Dr. Aked.
 "In perfect marvellous way" he says, "the Jews contrived to preserve a literature without having vowel in their language The very thought of 1t staggers one. Let any man write q column of today's newspaper omit try to write out from the copy he has made e fair copy back again into Eng lish."
 That this criticism sent up by Dr. Aked is in no way extreme is con. clusively shown by one of the most surprising creations in the world of art; nothing Iess than Michael Ange. los great statue of Moses. The head of this heroic statue, as many readers
 win remember. Is adorned by two horns Many persons may have won- dered just where the great sculptor got the reason for this strange depic- l ton. As a matter of fact. however. tt was due to a misconSepti6n---Gn error | in the retranslation which pr. Aked | discusses. The Latin words for fea' | ture or countenance and horns are l similar. Through a misunderstanding | of the Vulgate version of the Bible to
 which. he turned. Michael Angelo read in a certain passage 'the horns oi Moses shone." Of course the proper translation ts that the countenance oi
 Moses shone. but having read 1t horni | the sculptor proceeded to endow his | statue with two nice little horns. Of the various books which consti- tute the Bible as we have 1t the time and manner of their collection Is un- certain and obscure The selection oi the canonical books Is mentioned al | early as l30 B. c. But earlier sdtyis'
 ions were made and at much j, later
 dates the matter was still in dispute
 The old Testament 1t should be re;
 membered has three currents of tnhu'
 ence--the traditional lore of the
 and the religious life of the more en. llightened people. Each of. these, re- | suited as might be expected In in creased difi1eulties when 1t came tc