Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-05-07
BIBLE THE WORD or GOD.

tltS, DttTtuSt me- III n ftttllN sNtAAiiVii
referred to the article Of the creed
of the Latter-day Saints which reads;
I'VE believe the Bible to be the word
of Cod as far as It is translated cor
rectly.' The Tribune scribe says he
supposes that the author Of this phrase
and those who repeat II. really think
that there is something difficult about
the translation of the Bible, and that
scholars find it great task to trans
late it correctly. Nothing of the kind
Is true
Then he goes ON to say that the trou-
BILE is not in translation but in get
ting "a text to translate" 1t is only a
few years, he says. since the learned
world agreed on a standard text for
the Greek Testament, and now there
Is no difficulty about uniformity"
The Old Testament presents the same
difficulties.
Tine author of the rigmarole quoted
is laboring under the impression that
the translation from one language to
another Is perfectly easy. as soon as
the text to be translated is determined.
Far from it. Even when the question
is of translating from one modern Lam
guage to another the difficulties are al
most insurmouutable, Somebody has
said that Shakespeare cannot be trans
lated. And that is true. Ibsen can
not be translated. But when it comes
to translatlng from the old languages
TO modern. the difficulties multiply,
The eminent scholars who revised
the so-called authorized English ver-
that work. state in their preface to
the New Testament;
1--WE know full well that defects must
have their place i'm work so long ana
so arduous as this which has now
come TO an end. Bemishes and inn
PROJECTIONS there are i'm the noble
Translation which we have been called
upon to revise; blemishes and imper-
fections will assuredly be found in our
own Revision, All endeavors to trans
late the Holy Scriptures into another
tongue must fall short OF their aim.
when the obligation IL imposed of pro-
duclng "A version that shall he alike
literal and ldlomatic faithful to each
thought Of the original, and yet, in the
expression of II. harmonious and free.
While we dare hope that In places not
a few of the New Testament the in
PRODUCTION of slight changes has cast a
lew light upon much that WAS difficult
and obscure, we cannot forget how
oftea we have failed in expressing
some finer shade OF meaning which
we recognized In the original. how
often idiom has stood In the way of a
perfect rendering, and how often the
attempt to preserve a familiar form
of words, or even a familiar cadence,
has only added another perplexity to
those which already beset u.s."
That is the view of modern scholar
ship of perhaps the best translation Of
the Bible eXtant. Modern scholarship
recognizes that it has its 'blemlshes
and imperfections;" that all efforts to
translate the Scriptures into another
tongue must fall short of their aim"
and that the translators sometimes
fail to express the finer shades of mean
ing which they recognize In the orig
inal This is true OF all TRANSACTIONS,
even after the text lis determined And
for that reason the creed of the Latter
day Saints very well accepts the BIZ
BILE as the word of God as far as il Is
correctly translated. Any imperfec-
lions or blemishes. any shortcomings
due to the limitations OF scholarship
and human understanding, any failure
to render the finer shade of meaning
must be credited to the imperfectlons
OF The human Instruments, and not 10
God. We can safely ask any scholar
whether that is not concise state
ment of an lnndisputable truth.
The Tribune scribe asserts. with the
confidence of Grass ignorance, that as
soon as the original text is fixed Il,
IS very easy to make AZ translation" II
he had ever tried To- make a transla-
ton from the Hebrew or the Greek
he would know better, The Ian.
euagos in which the Scriptures were
written are no longer spoken; they
are different I'm construction from oul
own; the expression, and Images, ant
thought OF the inspired authors ar,
entirely different from those of mod
ern literature, belonging To an age DIFF
ferent from ours many OF the man
ners and customs of that age hav
passed away. hence difficulties iu TN
understandings and the translation o
the text, that are sometimes msur
mountable. There are dlfficulties d.
the explanation OF words ana phrase,
and the connection of arguments etc
which make the task Of the transid
tor exceedingly difficult.
familiar verse OF the New Tcs'a
mont may be referred TO for llustrp
ton. The word substance iu Heb n
Is literal translation of the origin