Among the characteristics of an Age
replete with new and unlooked-for events, perhaps not the least
singular and impressive is the desire, now extensively evinced,
for an improved translation of Holy Scripture.
A solitary voice, [3] it is true, has been raised to the same
effect, from time to time; but it has gradually died away in the
noise of worldly bustle, or been summarily stifled by Prejudice
or Fear.
A more fitting time has arrived for renewing the cry; for we
have become more reflective with the progress of events, and a
desire for improvement—not limited to mere material
good—has sprung up, that is irrepressible, and all but
universal.
But, encouraging as is the Temper of the Times for prosecuting
the task that we have undertaken, we need to make our way
cautiously. The subject is confessedly a delicate one, and
is, moreover, in not a few quarters, entrenched in prejudices
under the seeming sanction of religion itself.
“Were the Bible,” pleads Dr. Knox, [4] “corrected and modernized, it
would probably become more showy, and perhaps quite exact, but it
would lose that air of sanctity which enables it to make an
impression which no accuracy could produce. We have
received the Bible,” he goes on to say, “in the very
words in which it now stands, from our fathers; we have learnt
many passages from it by heart in our infancy; . . . so that its
phrase is become familiar to our ears, and we cease to be
startled at apparent difficulties.” And again:
“We should hardly recognize the Bible were it to be read in
our churches in any other words than those which our fathers
heard before us.” Possibly the people would
require some time to familiarize themselves to the change, more
especially in the public services of the church; but the
objection, formidable as the good Doctor thought it, is not
sufficient to overrule the plea. Precisely the same
objection, if entertained, would have deprived us of the benefit
of the present authorized version. People long accustomed
to the previous version must have been pained and startled on the
introduction of the new. Such a consequence, however,
obvious as it must have been, was not admitted to be a good
argument against a change at that epoch. True, there are
more readers now than there were then, and so far the
inconvenience of change would be aggravated; but, unless we could
persuade ourselves that we should never have a different
version to the present, we cannot refuse to entertain the
proposition before us in deference to such a consideration.
The notion that we shall always acquiesce in the present
version, with the proofs around us of the possibility of
improving it, coupled with the desire so extensively evinced for
improvement, can scarcely be seriously entertained.
The truth is, the people are not accountable for the reasoning
ascribed to them—possibly with some justice at the time the
Doctor wrote—in the above extract. We have given it
at length, because we have nowhere seen the argument, as
generally used, better expressed; but, whatever there is in it,
we hold it a great disparagement to the religious feeling of the
people at the present time, to suppose them capable of putting
Superstition for Piety, as conveyed in the terms of that passage;
or to imagine that anything less than a just and faithful version
of Holy Scripture would or could content them.
But besides the inconvenience of the change so pathetically
pleaded, there is the time-honoured Phraseology of the
Bible—that phraseology that has earned the suffrages of a
whole people, young and old, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned, and been associated with our Literary glories—to
warn us off the holy ground. Into what critic’s
crucible, it may be asked, do we propose to place the Bible, and
what frigid, tame, and insipid version, among those with which we
have been of late years familiar, do we design to substitute for
our own old authorized translation?
Plainly, none. We know of none—valuable as some of
them unquestionably are—worthy of competing, in whole or in
part, on an extended view of the question, with our own; while,
in point of phraseology, to which the objection specifically
refers, the advantage is all in favour of the old version.
But if the question at issue were—which it is
not—between Phraseology on the one hand, and Fidelity on
the other, we should and could have no hesitation in deciding for
the latter. But we really think it possible to preserve
most of the beautiful phraseology of the present version, and
even add to it, while we disencumber the text of its errors, and
render it a more faithful reflex of the Divine Original.
But the outward Dress and Ornament of the book do not exhaust
all the objections incident to the question. There are yet
others of a subtler order—the exponent of deeper
feelings—to which we must briefly advert. And first,
there are those who find few or no difficulties, for their part,
in the Bible, as it now stands, and therefore, naturally enough,
object to a change. The Bible, they maintain, is a plain
book, and the very terms of the Announcement at the head of it,
as a Revelation of God’s will to man, upon the knowledge of
which his salvation depends, precludes, they argue, any other
supposition. To a certain extent they are right; and God
forbid we should be understood to mean that the Bible, in its
present English dress, is not satisfactory on all the great
points of faith and duty. We are sometimes told the
contrary, indeed, by those who have formed exaggerated views of
the inadequacies of our version; but such an opinion is entitled
to no manner of respect; on the contrary, it would be very easy
to produce passages—key-passages, we might call
them, from which the WHOLE TRUTH of
the Gospel might be extracted—which would utterly defy any
other translation than that exhibited in the authorized
version. But while conceding all this, we are not debarred
from seeking a version yet nearer perfection than the present, if
it is to be had. There are subordinate lessons, surely,
that might be rendered more precious and instructive; and it
cannot be a right or creditable principle to direct our inquiry
only to that which saves, in the vulgar sense of that
term, and give only a listless and perfunctory attention to all
the rest. Not unfrequently, however this arid notion of the
plainness of Scripture is resolvable into the inert and
abortive state of the faculties in which they are perused.
There is no difficulty, because the subject is not fairly
grappled with. The words titillate and amuse, while the
sense is in the clouds. More respectable is that
tranquillizing and elevating feeling which oftentimes accompanies
the reading, in which the understanding, though not dead, is
still at fault through the veil interposed by the
phraseology. This placid acquiescence of the soul in a
message the exact purpose of which it fails to comprehend, may be
taken to express a tacit homage to the power of the Divine Spirit
breathing through the words, however feebly enunciated; and there may
be still, under the happiest methods of elucidating Scripture yet
open to us, a just and legitimate scope for its exercise:
nevertheless, we covet habitually, and as a general principle,
the discharge of a higher function of the soul,—TO UNDERSTAND as well as TO FEEL, and TO
ACT as well as TO BE ACTED
ON.
But while these find Scripture so plain as to be able to
dispense with the Critic’s art, and all other aid, to throw
further light on their contents, there are those, on the other
hand, who love a Mysterious Bible, and to whom the whole science
of Biblical interpretation is positively distasteful, as
savouring of the wisdom of man rather than of the grace of the
Spirit. They find their devotion fed, as they think, by the
Mystical element, and revel in difficulties that to others are
simply discomfiting. Cloud-land is their home.
Accordingly, to relieve Scripture of its obscurities, and render
it more patent and intelligible, is the last service for which we
might expect their thanks. While this is a genuine
feeling,—indulged in for the special delectation of their
own bosoms—and not a pretence to ensnare others, or
inveigle their weaker brethren in the toils of a spiritual
autocracy, it is simply an error of the brain—an
idiosyncrasy, to be treated with all due gentleness and
consideration. Let such, then, observe that there is no
reason why Scripture should be more difficult in the translation
than it is in the original, or than God designed it, or inspired
men transmitted it to us; and that the aim of these and similar
efforts is simply to ensure a version that will exhibit the Word
of God with at least equal force and perspicuity to that
presented in the original text. Nor would a genuine
reverence for Scripture allow us to stop short of this point,
since anything less must be so much clear loss of most important
Truth. There are many who are grievously perplexed by the
obscurity that attaches to certain portions of Scripture, and for
their sakes, as well as for the obvious duty of the case, we
insist upon all the aid we can procure to elucidate those
portions. To take one instance—a striking
one—the Messianic prophecies—those prophecies in not
a few instances now portraying the Messiah in unmistakable
lineaments, and now, without the slightest hint of a change of
subject, [8a] varying the portrait, as by a
dissolving process, so that it seems no longer HIMSELF that is set before us, but one of
the erring children of men. Now, evidently, it would be
most desirable, if a new version could obviate or relieve this
difficulty. In sundry instances the sense is marred by an
incongruousness in the metaphors, [8b] for which the Bible,
perhaps, is the last book in the world to be made answerable; and
this particular fault, in most instances, a slight change in the
pointing, for which the context would give the fullest
warrant, or a juster translation, would satisfactorily amend.
But will not a new translation endanger those articles of our
faith in which we have been brought up from our infancy, and
which we believe to be essential to salvation? May not the
translation fall into the hands of those who are ill-affected to
the orthodox faith, and is there not ground to believe that
hostility to that faith is the real object of many of those who
are most conspicuous in the promotion of this scheme?
This apprehension we believe to lie at the basis of much of
the objection that is entertained to the proposed change: but has
it not occurred to the alarmists, that the weapon cuts both ways,
and that it is just as possible, as far as at present appears,
for the other side to be discomfited in the shock? Who
shall say that the Evangelical or Orthodox scheme shall not gain
ground by the experiment, and the opposite scheme suffer?
But these objections are manifestly unworthy a belief that
professedly rests as its basis on the Word of God; rather is it a
belief in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, not which
the Holy Ghost teacheth. And with regard to the individuals
that may be selected for the task, surely all anxiety on that
ground is superfluous. The general sense of Scripture is
not now to be determined: that has been done long ago; and all
that remains for us is, in the use of such means as our advancing
scholarship supplies, to make that sense—as Providence from
time to time supplies the opportunity—yet more explicit,
and available for proficiency in Divine knowledge.
Thus far we have been occupied in clearing our ground, and
essaying a hearing, with what chance of success we might,
considering the outcry, more or less reasonable, with which the
question before us is usually met. We take no further
notice of the objections to our task, and proceed to explain more
distinctly in what that task consists. But, first of all,
we must premise, that we contemplate a “revised” rather than
an entirely “new” version. Certain feelings
have entwined themselves round the stock of the present version
which it would not be safe or needful to sever, except where the
imperious demands of fidelity to the sense necessitate the
infliction.
The fiat given to the use of the old authorized version is
substantially honourable to the nation—perhaps equally so
with the fiat that gave it existence. There is a pregnant
power in the words, as symbols of the burning thoughts of
the men engaged, not pale reflexes of things, that has
secured the all but universal use of the present version, with
all its imperfections, despite the labours of Lowth, and Horsley,
and Campbell, and Henderson, and Good, and others—all
eminent names—more or less to displace it. “The
Spirit of the Living Creatures was in the Wheels, and whither the
Wheels were to go the Spirit of the Living Creatures went with
them.” [10a]
‘Foremost in the conditions
of a correct version is Purity of
Text.’ There is no doubt, we believe, in the
minds of all qualified to pronounce on this part of the question,
that the text, both of the Old and New Testament, generally
unassailable as it is, is yet, on some not unimportant
points—and what is unimportant in such a
document?—susceptible of improvement. We wish, by all
means, to have the benefit of this improved text, as no
consideration of consequences can weigh against the
actual inconveniences that belong to the text, in some
instances, as it now stands. The discrepancies, for
example, in the Chronicles, [10b] in matters relating to
numbers, with the statements in the corresponding passages
in 2 Samuel and Kings, furnish most damaging weapons in sceptical
hands wherewith to assail the Sacred Books. Some of these
discrepancies are only imaginary, but others, it must be
confessed, are palpable and incontrovertible, and ought not to
stand, as they now do, in our Bibles, open, without a word
appearing on the page in their defence, to the most unmitigated
contradiction. [11a] The fact is, the text in these
instances is corrupt, and there need be no scruple,
considering the way in which NUMBERS were variously written of old, by
letters, ciphers, or words, and more especially the liability of
transcribers to err in these matters, in arriving at that
conclusion. This extreme devotion to the Massoretic text on
the part of our translators, to the overthrow of common sense,
and disregard of the thousand arguments that plead for a change
over the one thus pertinaciously followed, is most detrimental to
the credit of the Sacred Volumes; for two statements
diametrically opposed cannot, of course, be both correct; the
weaker, therefore, should naturally be made to give place to the
stronger. In some cases, possibly, this may be done
by a new recension of the text; in others the alteration should
be summarily made in conformity with the obvious maxims in
universal use for determining the truth in the case of
contradictory documents. [11b]
Next to Purity of Text is a Correct
Version. That the present version does not satisfy
this condition in the just sense of the word, or to the extent we
have a right to require in such a matter, is now almost
universally conceded. The plea of “good enough”
is given up, and the wishes of the religious public for a
translation more true to the original, are
“condescendingly” admitted to be just and reasonable;
and if this admission expressed the voice of authority, as well
as the general sense of the learned world, our wishes would
speedily be in a condition to be fulfilled. Meantime it is
for us to agitate the question till the boon be accorded,
agreeably to the good old English rule, when the stronghold of
authority is to be stormed.
It has appeared to us, in the prosecution of our task, that we
could put this question before the ordinary English reader in a
form to enable him to determine for himself with tolerable
correctness the Validity of our plea for a more correct version
of Holy Writ. On such a point it is important he should
be able to judge for himself: accordingly, we shall exhibit
sundry amended passages, by way of specimen, in
juxtaposition with the corresponding passages of the
present version. It may be premised, that it is not
necessary that the amended translation should be in all respects
immaculate and unassailable; it suffices for the present purpose
if we establish the fact, that the authorized version is
capable of amendment. The field before us is almost
illimitable, so numerous are the corrections that require to be
supplied. Of course, we must pick our path here and
there. We begin with the Old Testament; and here two
passages recommend themselves for selection, as well for their
own intrinsic interest as for the materials they afford for
elucidating the principles that underlie the transfusion of
Hebrew into English. The reader is invited to ponder the
two versions in the points in which they differ, however minute
the difference at first sight may appear, as the change in these
cases has proceeded upon a strictly literal translation of the
original Hebrew; and the variation, on a further view, may not
appear so unimportant as at first. Our first passage
consists of extracts from the Song of Deborah, Judges v., and the
amended version is due, substantially, to the able pen of Dr.
Edward Robinson, Translator of Gesenius, &c. See
“Biblical Repository.” Two other versions of
the same
Song are given by Dr. Adam Clarke in his Commentary, from Dr.
Hales and Dr. Kennicott respectively; but, with all their merit,
they are less literally true to the original, and therefore less
eligible for selection, than the one we have adopted:—
Judges
v.
Old Version.
2. Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel, when
the people willingly offered themselves.
|
New Version.
2. For the leading of the leaders in Israel, for the
voluntary offering of the people, praise ye the Lord . . .
|
7. The inhabitants of the villages ceased,
they ceased in Israel, until that I Deborah arose . . .
|
7. Leaders failed in Israel, they failed, until that
I, Deborah, arose, that I arose a mother in Israel . . .
|
10. Speak, ye that ride on white asses . . .
|
10. Ye that ride on white asses, . . . prepare a
song,
|
11. They that are delivered from the noise of
archers in the places of drawing water, there shall they rehearse
the righteous acts of the Lord, even the righteous acts
toward the inhabitants of his villages in Israel: then
shall the people of the Lord go down to the gates.
|
11. Responsive to the voice of those who divide the
spoil by the watercourses. There they shall rehearse the
victories of the Lord, the victory of his princes in Israel; then
shall the people of the Lord descend to the gates.
|
12. Awake, [13] awake, Deborah:
awake, awake, utter a song. . . .
|
12. Awake, awake, Deborah; awake, awake, utter a
song . . .
|
13. Then he made him that remaineth have dominion
over the nobles among the people: the Lord made me have dominion
over the mighty.
|
13. Then I said, Descend, ye remnant of the
nobles of the people! O Lord, descend for me among the
mighty!
|
14. Out of Ephraim was there a root of them
against Amalek; after thee, Benjamin, among thy people; out of
Machir came down governors, and out of Zebulun they that handle
the pen of the writer.
|
14. Out of Ephraim came those whose dwelling
is by Amalek. After thee (Ephraim) was Benjamin
among thy hosts; out of Machir (Manasseh) came down princes, and
from Zebulun those who grasp the staff of a leader.
|
15. And the princes of Issachar were with
Deborah; even Issachar, and also Barak: he was sent on foot into
the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there were
great thoughts of heart.
|
15. The princes of Issachar also came with
Deborah; yea, Issachar was the staff of Barak. He rushed
into the valley at his feet. For the divisions of Reuben
I have great griefs of heart . . .
|
16. Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds, to hear
the bleatings of the flocks? For the divisions of Reuben
there were great searchings of heart.
|
16. Wherefore didst thou sit still among the folds,
to listen to the lowing of the herds? For the divisions of
Reuben I have great revolvings of heart.
|
17. Gilead abode beyond Jordan: and why did Dan
remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and
abode in his breaches.
|
17. Gilead (Gad) abode beyond Jordan; and Dan, why
tarried he in ships? Asher sat at the shore of the sea, and
abode at his creeks.
|
18. Zebulun and Naphtali were a people
that jeoparded their lives unto the death in the high
places of the field.
|
18. For Zebulun, the people scorned their lives, and
rushed upon death, and Naphtali, in the high places of the
plain.
|
19. The kings came and fought, . . . they
took no gain of money.
|
19. The kings came, they fought, . . . they took no
spoil of silver.
|
22. Then were the horsehoofs broken by the means of
the pransings, the pransings of their mighty ones.
|
22. Then did the horses’ hoofs smite the
ground from the haste, the haste of their riders . . .
|
We here
pause, before proceeding to our second extract, to notice one
very damaging source of mistranslation as applicable to the Old
Testament. We allude to what may be called the use of the
Prophetical or Theological scheme in dealing with the
Prophecies. For instance, in the 2nd verse of 53rd chap, of
Isaiah, as below, the words “for he shall grow
up” ought to be rendered “and” or
“so” (resuming the argument of the previous
chapter) “he grew up” in the PAST tense; and so on through the
chapter. The Prophets, it is well known, in the vividness
of their prophetic vision, contemplated the future events that
passed under their ken as actually past; [14] and as this is a prominent
characteristic of their mode of delivering prophetic truth, it ought not
to be lost sight of in a translation. The explanation of
the fact that what they spoke of as actually past was
still future, belongs to what is called “exegesis,”
and stands out as an Order of Rhetoric significant of, and sacred
to, their prophetic function; but by no means should such an
element enter into a translation, which, if it does not present a
faithful reflex of the original, is simply a misnomer. Not
that there is any inviolable uniformity in the practice of the
translators in the use of this scheme. Far from it; as is
evident from the translation that follows. And this serves
to render a subject, necessarily obscure from its very nature,
immeasurably more so. The truth is, we have here forced
upon us the fact, that the translators were not fully acquainted
with a principle of the language—now well
understood—that lies at the basis of the whole structure.
[15] They saw its force—they
could not help doing so—in the Narrative portions, but were
not cognizant of it as a Fundamental principle of the language,
applicable alike to all subjects, and not variable and flexible
at the pleasure of the interpreter.
We are sorry we can adduce no particular name on which to cast
the responsibility of the following amended version. We
have consulted very many of the most distinguished of those who
have laboured to translate this, in some respects, very
intricate passage, and what we have given must be considered
mainly as an amalgam of the joint labours of them
all. We are far from thinking we have given the best
version possible; and perhaps the text itself, where the
difficulty is peculiarly pressing, may yet be found susceptible
of improvement:—
Isaiah.
Old Version.
|
New Version.
|
Ch. lii. 13. Behold, my servant shall deal
prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very
high.
|
Ch. lii. 13. Behold, my servant shall be prosperous;
he shall be exalted and extolled, and be magnified
exceedingly.
|
14. As many were astonied at thee; his visage was so
marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of
men:
|
14. As many were astonished at thee; (so marred was
his visage more than any man, and his form than the sons of
men.)
|
15. So shall he sprinkle many nations; the kings
shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not
been told them shall they see; and that which they had not
heard shall they consider.
|
15. So shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall
shut their mouths at him (do him homage); for that which
had not been told them have they seen, and that which they had
not heard have they considered:
|
Ch. liii. 1. Who hath believed our report? and to
whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?
|
Ch. liii. 1. (Who hath believed our report? and to whom
hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?)
|
2. For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty
that we should desire him.
|
2. And he grew up before him as a tender plant, and
as a root out of a land of drought: he hath no form nor
comeliness that we should see him, and no beauty that we should
desire him.
|
3. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were
our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him
not.
|
3. Despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows,
and acquainted with grief; and concealing as it were his
face from us; despised, and we esteemed him not.
|
4. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
|
4. Surely it was our griefs that he
bore; and our sorrows, he carried them: but we esteemed him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
|
5. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our
iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him;
and with his stripes we are healed.
|
5. But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our
peace was upon him, and by his infirmity we were healed.
|
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
|
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned each one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
|
7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, [17a] yet he opened not his mouth: he is
brought [17b] as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his
mouth.
|
7. He was oppressed; but he, submitting himself, [17c] does not even open his mouth: as a
lamb is brought to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
|
8. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and
who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the
land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken.
|
8. From oppression and from judgment was he taken:
but the wickedness of his generation who shall declare?
for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the
transgression of my people, for the stroke due to
them!
|
9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth.
|
9. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with
the [impious] [17d] in his death; though he had done no
violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
|
10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath
put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an
offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand.
|
10. But it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath
put him to grief, proclaiming, If his soul shall make an
offering for sin, he shall see a seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand.
|
11. He shall see of the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their
iniquities.
|
11. He shall see of the travail of his soul; he
shall be satisfied: by his knowledge of woe [18a] shall my righteous servant make many
righteous, and himself shall bear their iniquities.
|
12. Therefore will I divide him a portion
with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong;
because he poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered
with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors.
|
12. Therefore I will allot him the great for his
portion, and he shall divide the mighty as spoil, because he
poured out his soul unto death, and was numbered with
transgressors. So he bore the sin of many, and intercedes
[18b] for the transgressors.
|
Note.—The new translation is
less soft and mellifluous than the old, but let it not be hastily
condemned in the comparison on that account. It is more
exact, and that is the principal object now. Probably it
may yet fall into hands that shall combine all the beautiful flow
of the old version, with no less, and even far greater exactness
than we have been able to achieve.
Thus
far for the Old Testament. We adopt a somewhat different
mode of selection in dealing with the New, but adhere to our plan
of exhibiting the two versions in juxtaposition. The
amended passages that follow are taken, with a few exceptions,
from Professor Scholefield’s “Hints for an Improved
Translation of the New Testament.” They are, it is
presumed, sufficiently important to warrant the selection, but it
must be premised that it is not by taking isolated passages for
emendation that the WHOLE TRUTH
insisted upon in these pages can be enforced. There are
numberless points of correction of which our version is
susceptible that are not adapted for such isolated exhibition,
and which it is the special business of the Greek particles to
supply; but the exhibition of such points, involving the
structure of sentences and the mutual relation of the clauses of
which they are made up, would require a much larger
canvass. We indicate this source of correction only to
avert the conclusion, that our argument rests solely on the basis
supplied in the particular mode of illustration adopted.
Old Version.
|
New Version.
|
Mark iv. 13.
|
And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how
then will ye know all parables?
|
And he says to them, Know ye not this parable? how then
will ye know any [19] parables?
|
Luke xvi. 12.
|
And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another
man’s.
|
. . . in that which is another’s (i.e.
God’s).
|
John xviii. 15.
|
And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another
disciple.
|
And Simon Peter was following Jesus, and so was the
other disciple (probably Judas).
|
John i. 9.
|
Which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
|
Which coming into the world lighteth every man.
|
Acts xix.
2.
|
Whether there be any Holy Ghost.
|
Whether the Holy Ghost be given.
|
Rom. vi. 17.
|
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin.
|
But God be thanked that whereas ye were the servants of
sin.
|
Rom. xiv. 23.
|
Is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of
faith.
|
Is condemned if he eat, because it is not of
faith.
|
2 Cor. iv. 3,
4.
|
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them
that believe not.
|
. . . be hid (with a veil), it is hid to the
abandoned:
As to whom the god of this world habitually blinds their
minds, being unbelieving.
|
1 Pet. iii. 6.
|
Whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well, and are not
afraid with any amazement.
|
. . . as long as ye do well, and yield to no fear, (as
Sarah on one memorable occasion did).
|
2 Pet. i. 19, 20,
21.
|
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a light, &c.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation;
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but
holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.
|
Moreover, we have the word of prophecy made more
sure, (the voice from heaven while in the holy mount
confirmed it).
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of the
nature of a private revelation;
For prophecy was not prompted in old time by the will of man;
but holy men of God spoke as prompted by the Holy
Ghost.
|
2 Pet. iii. 5,
6.
|
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word
of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the
water and in the water;
Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished.
|
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word
of God, the heavens and the earth were of old involved in a
confluence of waters;
Whereby the world that then was, being deluged with water,
perished.
|
1 Cor. v.
9.
|
I wrote unto you in an epistle.
|
I have written to you in my epistle (the present).
|
1 Cor. vii. 11.
|
But and if she depart.
|
But if also she be separated.
|
1 Cor. x. 17.
|
For we being many, are one bread and one
body.
|
For there is one bread, and we, who are many, are
one body.
|
1 Cor. xv. 41.
|
For one star differeth from another star in
glory.
|
Nay (or, this is not all, for) one star differeth from
another star, &c.
|
2 Cor. iii. 18.
|
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the
glory of the Lord
|
And we all with unveiled face reflecting as in a glass . .
. (Moses put a veil on his face, not so the disciples of
Christ).
|
2 Cor. v. 1.
|
If our earthly house of this tabernacle were
dissolved.
|
If the earthly house of our tabernacle be dissolved.
|
2 Cor. xii. 2,
4.
|
I knew a man in Christ.
It is not lawful to utter.
|
I know a man in Christ.
It is not possible.
|
Gal. iii. 22.
|
That the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given
to them that believe.
|
That the promise may be given to believers by Jesus
Christ.
|
Eph. v. 13.
|
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the
light.
|
But all things are reproved, and made manifest by the
light.
|
Phil. i. 7.
|
Partakers of my grace.
|
Partakers with me of grace.
|
Phil. i. 10.
|
That ye may approve things that are excellent.
|
That ye may try things that differ.
|
Phil. iv.
8.
|
If there be any virtue, and if there be any
praise.
|
Whatever virtue, and whatever praise there be.
|
Col. i. 19.
|
For it pleased the Father, that in him should all
fulness dwell.
|
For all the fulness of the God-head was pleased to dwell
in him.
|
Col. ii. 23.
|
Not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.
|
Not with any regard to the satisfying of the flesh.
|
2 Thess. ii. 6,
7.
|
And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed
in his time.
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now
letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
|
And now ye know what withholdeth him, that he may
be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of iniquity is
already working; only there is one that now withholdeth it, until
he be taken out of the way.
|
Heb. iv. 2.
|
For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them:
but the word preached did not word profit them.
|
For we have the glad tidings thereof even as they; but the
word of its report (i.e., which they heard) did not profit
them.
|
Heb. ix. 12.
|
He entered in once into the holy place.
|
He entered once for all into the holy place.
|
Heb. ix. 15, 16,
17.
|
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new
testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the
transgressions that were under the first testament, they
which are called might receive the promise of eternal
inheritance.
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity
be the death of the testator.
For a testament is of force after men are dead:
otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator
liveth.
|
And for this end he is the mediator of the new covenant,
that, his death having taken place for the redemption of the
transgressions under the first covenant, they that are called
might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be
brought in the death of the mediating sacrifice.
For a covenant is valid over dead sacrifices: since it
is never of any force while the mediating sacrifice
continues alive.
|
Heb. xii. 18.
|
To the mount that might be touched.
|
To the mount that could be touched.
|
Heb. xiii. 4.
|
Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed
undefiled.
|
Let marriage be honourable in all, and the bed be
undefiled.
|
1 Pet. iii. 20.
|
Were saved by water.
|
Were saved through the water (brought safely through).
|
1 Pet. iv. 8.
|
Shall cover the multitude of sins.
|
Will cover a multitude of sins.
|
2 Pet. i. 16.
|
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we
made known unto you . . .
|
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we
made known unto you . . .
|
2 Pet. ii. 1,
3.
|
And bring upon themselves swift destruction . . . and
their damnation slumbereth not.
|
. . . and their destruction slumbereth not
(destruction, precisely the same word as before).
|
2 Pet. ii. 5.
|
Noah the eighth person.
|
Noah, with seven others.
|
2 Pet. ii. 14.
|
Cursed children.
|
Children of the curse.
|
Rev. iv. 6.
|
Four beasts.
|
Four living creatures.
|
Rev. x. 6.
|
That there should be time no longer.
|
That there should be no more delay.
|
Thus far, by way of specimen of the improvement of which the
authorized version is susceptible on the score of fidelity to the
original. The instances might have been multiplied
indefinitely, but we designed only a specimen. We would
repeat that there is a large amount of improvement practicable in
elucidating and enforcing the sense, when it is not positively
misrepresented, that is less fitted for such display, and which
alone it would require the transcription of a large portion of
the Bible to render apparent.
“Claudite jam
rivos pueri; sat prata biberunt.”
We have indeed said enough to justify our plea, and here we
might close the evidence, but we are tempted further to observe
that the sense of Scripture is not only obscured in the
authorized version by errors of translation, but there is almost
an equal amount of mischief done to the sense by the present mode
of distributing the subject-matter into chapter and verse; for
which, as is well known, there is no valid authority, [24a] either as regards the Old or the New
Testament. This fault it is the special object of the new
Paragraph Bible lately published by the Religious Tract Society,
to remedy. We confine ourselves to two illustrations.
The 53rd chapter of Isaiah begins with a parenthesis,
(‘Who hath believed our report, and to whom has the arm of
the Lord been revealed?’) [24b] This, in our
view, is a soliloquy into which the prophet breaks forth in
relief of his feelings, while contemplating the overpowering
events that pass in review before him, coupled with the rejection
of the message by the great body of his countrymen. [25a] These events had already begun
their career at the 13th verse of the foregoing chapter, and they
go steadily on through the remainder of that, and the whole of
the following chapter, broken only by the ejaculation of the
prophet, thus violently wrenched from its place, as the matter
now stands.
The other instance we adduce of the obscuration of the sense
occasioned by the present faulty distribution of the
letter-press, occurs Joshua v. and vi. It is an example of
an analogous kind to that already given. It makes a
parenthesis used simply in explanation of a series of
instructions from the Lord to Joshua to vacate its place in the
narrative, and actually stand at the commencement of a new
chapter, in which the same series of instructions is still
continued. See the “Edinburgh Review” for
October last. [25b] We shall place the old and new
arrangement in juxta-position, when the violence done to the
sense, as the matter now stands, will be apparent at once.
Old Arrangement.
|
New Arrangement.
|
Joshua v. 15.
|
And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua,
Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place where thou
standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
|
And the captain of the Lord’s host said unto Joshua,
“Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place
where thou standest is holy.” And Joshua did
so.
|
Ch. vi. Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of
the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.
2. And the Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have
given into thy hand Jericho, &c.
|
(Now Jericho was straitly shut up, because of the children
of Israel; none went out, and none came in). And the Lord
said unto Joshua, “See, I have given into thy
hand Jericho,” &c.
|
The reader will observe in the above paragraph that, in
addition to a better distribution of the letter-press, we have
given the spoken language in italics, with inverted
commas,—a character of type we recommend to be carried out
continuously in the revised version, as it, actually is with
excellent effect, in the new Paragraph Bible. These may be
thought small matters, but we have been led to mention them as
thinking the adoption of them will give facility, not merely to
the private, but also to the vivâ voce reading of
Scripture,—a point surely not undeserving of attention.
Connected with these desiderata are others of a minor
character, as—an improved punctuation—the
substitution of vernacular for obsolete words—the use of
euphemisms where the allusion is obvious, and no violence
is done to the sense—appropriate concise headings to the
different sections in the margin—chronological
arrangement of the several books—chronological data,
&c. &c.
We are proceeding beyond the strict limits we assigned to
ourselves in the course of these last remarks, and scarcely
venture further in recommending attention—though especially
worthy of it, in the case of a Book we wish to make universally
attractive,—to what may be called the
æsthetics of book-making. We all know
the advantage of a readable type, open space between the lines,
paragraphs and smaller divisions clearly indicated, large margin,
&c.; and though, in comparison with our main object, these
are small matters, they yet constitute distinct items in the Roll
of convenience, and therefore merit attention—especially in
subserviency to the object of giving to the Bible the adjuncts
appropriate to a HOUSEHOLD
BOOK.
Such is an outline of what we hope to see done. We might
have multiplied instances of mistranslation to an unlimited extent, and
many other improvements conducing to a clearer exposition of the
sense of Scripture might have been suggested: but we stop
here. Enough has been said to substantiate our argument,
and we desist from the present line of thought to indulge the
flattering belief that we have at length gained our object; that,
in fact, we have a Bible such as we have invoked—with a
purer text,—a correcter version,—and other appliances
better adapted to fit it for the high ends for which it was
given, than the present. What, now, it may be asked, are
the peculiar advantages we promise ourselves from the
ACQUISITION? Some advantages
seem to flow very naturally and directly from the measure; and
one that we may very confidently anticipate is, a keener
perception and appreciation of Scripture in its fundamental
qualities of truthfulness, power, and majesty, as the volume is
spread out before us with increased effulgence, and life-likeness
to the original. The whole orb of truth will shine out with
a brightness of which it is now in part shorn through defect in
the instrument by means of which it is viewed. Moreover,
the evidences for the Divine authority of the sacred books
would be yet clearer, as blemishes were eliminated, obscurities
cleared up, weak parts strengthened. The evidences of
Christianity, in their brightest array, and most decisive effect,
lie in the sacred oracles themselves. They vouch for their
own authority. How potent a power this is may be judged of
from the fact that they are accredited by those to whom they not
only show no favour, but the most decided and uncompromising
hostility! Many circumstances wrongfully accredited to them
mar and weaken the evidence; but these, however perplexing in
some cases, and damaging—as the text now stands—in
others, cannot overlay their credibility. There are,
moreover, doctrines embedded in their pages that appeal solely to
faith, and that receive our assent mainly as part and parcel of a
Book that we deem divine. It is
the word of God, and we turn away at our peril from the voice
that speaks to us from HEAVEN. Certain passages there are,
as we think, so impressed with the character of Divinity, so
reassuring of a divine utterance, and so marvellously radiant
with truth, that, under the full force of the impression, the
whole soul resigns itself to the spell, and faith is scarcely so
much a voluntary emotion as a necessity. We believe because
we have no alternative. [28] Such is the
power of the sacred oracles in themselves to command
belief. Nevertheless, the evidence generally of their
divine authority would be yet more conclusive, as the result of a
version more true to the sacred text. The Divine voice
would be still more audible. The arguments that have
hitherto commanded our assent would acquire fresh force, while
obstacles and imperfections would dwindle into insignificance, or
altogether disappear. The force of our plea could scarcely
present itself more strongly. The Scriptures themselves
constitute the great battle-field of the argument affecting a
Divine Revelation. The question is decided in the minds of
thousands, on considerations drawn from the Scriptures
themselves,—in virtue, that is, of their own
credentials, and not on the elaborate speculations or ingenious
apologies of (assumed) interested advocates. A more direct
and forcible evidence is required for men in no ecclesiastical
position to forestall opinion, and with little time or ability to
enter into abstruse and recondite arguments. The ordinary
books of evidences, however effective concurrently with
the evidence furnished by Scripture itself (and in this way they
are—many of them—doubtless exceedingly useful), are
not alone, and, in the absence of such corroboration,
calculated to produce the evidence that is desired to rebut the
counter arguments to which human nature in its infirmity is
assailed. It requires the re-assuring voice of God himself
to give the requisite confidence and satisfaction. Hence we
have sufficiently indicated the field to which our labours may be
most successfully directed while endeavouring to establish and
diffuse, in their most telling and cogent form, the evidences of
the Christian faith.
Moreover, a competent knowledge of Biblical erudition would,
under the new conditions of the Holy Books, be no longer so
costly or onerous as at present. Truly, this is a great
desideratum. The mass of reading now required to peruse
Scripture with due edification and interest is altogether beyond
the leisure of the busy, or the means of the less affluent: and
to be doomed to hopeless ignorance of so much enlightenment as is
symbolized in the goodly tomes that meet the eye on every side,
devoted to the elucidation of Holy Writ, is by no means
satisfactory. With this partial distribution of spiritual
advantages, the Christian Church seems drifting away from its
fundamental basis of universality, and,—in the very
spirit and wake of heathenism,—abetting and consecrating
the principle of an esoteric and exoteric school—a pet and
a common class of disciples—the one furnished with all the
erudition—the prime secrets and witcheries of
knowledge—the other abandoned to the merest generalities, a
sorry heap of prejudices, or at best a dubious and insufficient
light. But however this be, certain it is there is now
available a vast amount of Biblical lore of no mean value, and
which no good Christian would willingly forego, that is all but
sealed to the bulk of the Christian world. [30] The publication of Scripture on
the principles we advocate would go far to remedy the evil.
The beautiful emendations of the Sacred text that are now
scattered over a wide waste of territory, and all but lost, would
be garnered up, and made available for common use. The
occasional criticisms of Archbishop Whately, for instance, and
the specific emendations of the late Professor Scholefield,
would become alike the property of the esoterics and the
exoterics: they would be treasured up and embalmed in our own
Bibles. In a word, we should succeed to a large inheritance
of the labours of others. There would be still much left,
of course, to reward industry and sagacity, and succeeding times
might fairly expect to have the benefit of all future discoveries
in this important field. The immediate benefit would be to
relieve the unlettered from dependence on the Commentary to the
extent they now are. They who run might read. [31]
We may further be entitled to expect some abatement of our
present unchristian differences, which are fostered to some
extent, as we think, by the difficulties inherent in the Book
rather as a translation than as an original.
To some extent it gives a less certain sound, as it is obliged to
avail itself of human organs. By repairing the instrument,
we may find a great impediment to our common understanding and
accord removed, while the union thus formed will be all the more
valuable as it will be real, not simulated—uniform, not
patched up for the occasion to defeat a common enemy. It
will grow out of the only bond of union—sympathy, namely,
of belief—that promises to be permanent and available in
the hour of trial. Divers forms of worship, and many
varying shades of opinion, may co-exist with this unity.
Charity thinketh no evil, is not easily provoked. If this
happy purpose could be secured by imparting a clearer light to the
firmament of Christian truth, as the result of the measure we
advocate, it would not be easy to overrate the boon in the
removal of the scandal that belongs to the present divided state
of Christendom, and in the service it would render to the church
in carrying out her many offices of healing and comfort to the
world.
Still further: Popular Education, to the extent to which it is
identified with the Bible, would be subserved by an improved
translation. In many parts of the kingdom the Bible, as is
well known, is the only organ of education available—the
only apparatus by which any ray of intellectual light finds
entrance into men’s minds. This may be accounted for
from the fact that, in addition to knowledge, Scripture brings
with it the soul’s health; otherwise, in the rude
state in which it finds a large portion of the population, it
would have small chance of fulfilling this incidental office of
educating the masses. In this light Scripture, where, as in
Protestant countries, it is freely diffused, must be regarded as
a most precious boon to a nation—as a guarantee, in fact,
that the people shall be in some sort educated, and invested with
the attributes of rational and responsible beings. Nor is
the benefit of Scripture, as a help to education, confined to the
poor: in early youth it smooths the entrance on the path of
knowledge, not less effectually to the rich than to the
indigent. There is, moreover, to be considered the part
that Scripture plays in the education of the land, in the actual
occupancy it enjoys in almost every family as a HOUSEHOLD BOOK, available as the Urim and
Thummim of the ancient economy, and actually doing that service
which the “lares and lemures” of heathen households
were vainly invoked to perform. It is in vain to exclaim
against this state of things, from whatever motive, sceptical or
superstitious: the fact is as we have stated it, and, with the
absence of such means of education, the country, to a large
extent, must necessarily be uneducated.
Thus
obviously is the Bible the recognized organ of popular education
in this country, and in this view it is most important that its
efficiency should be complete. But this inference derives
its chief force from considerations affecting the
character of the education it supplies. In this
aspect of it there is nothing that should make us regret the
actual occupancy it enjoys in this regard. On the contrary,
it is admirably adapted by its own peculiar power over
men’s souls to create—not a learned, but an
intelligent people; and if intelligent, then free, independent,
powerful,—a match for tyranny in every shape, and at every
turn. Nor are the ruling powers themselves less benefited
in thus being able to lay deep the foundation of their authority
in the fixedness of principle, just appreciation of good as
distinct from its counterfeit, and sober and well-advised aims of
the people so trained and nurtured.
Closely connected with education, or such an education as we
have now been considering, is public morality, and with it
the strength and prosperity of a Nation. The condition of
England in her various phases—civil, military, political,
and religious—has naturally arrested the attention of
intelligent foreigners, as presenting a marked superiority in
these respects, or in some of them, to their own country.
They have inquired the cause of this distinction with little
success, and are as much at fault in being able to trace no
symptoms of decay or flagging vitality in the system, cruelly
tried as it not unfrequently is, prognosticating its ruin.
Perhaps there is a solution of the enigma here. Perhaps the
use of Scripture as the prime material of our early education has
generated a better morality among us, and precluded the admission
of certain forms of evil, little consonant to national greatness
or national welfare, from which we see other countries,
differently schooled, are not exempt. On this head, while
avoiding undue pretension, we would not choose to say less than
truth permits. With all the deductions to be allowed in
disparagement of our claim to a high place in the scale of morals
absolutely, we have yet, as compared with other
countries,—a conscience, a sense namely of right and wrong,
pervading the bulk of the people, and leavening the land with a
wholesome morality,—we are not habituated to treat suicide
as a virtue, [34]—our functionaries, as a body, are
not venal,—we are not dangerous to the State when we meet
in numbers beyond two or three,—and we are not incapable of
self-government. M. de Montalembert, in his late work on
the Future of England, while generously doing homage to the
greatness of this country, the destinies of which he undertakes
to decide, has not adverted to this high moral and religious
training as supplying any explanation of the phenomenon: perhaps
deeming his own country to be not less amply supplied with the
means of religious culture. On this point we are at issue
with him, if such is his opinion. In France, as in Catholic
countries generally,—and it must be confessed in some
Protestant countries too,—it is not so decidedly a
religious or moral, as an ecclesiastical and conventual
training, that is accorded; one, that is, which, while it
overlays the memory with dogmas, and deals in technical and
artificial requirements, leaves the conscience all but
uninformed, and morality, as a pervading, practical, germinating
principle, almost a non-entity. [35]
Paullo majora canamus. The time is come when
countries, as such, need to be educated no less really than
smaller bodies and isolated individuals. Countries are
brought now almost into as close contact with one another as
individual members of the same commonwealth; and the identical
principle that inculcates the education of
individuals—that, namely, of mutual self-defence and
reciprocal advantage—applies to the aggregation of
individuals in a nation. The times of ignorance picture to
us man as a savage, a terror to his neighbours, and everywhere an
object of rightful destruction. Education became a
necessity, if he would be safe from violence, or reap advantage
from the society of his fellow. The picture presented by
the history of nations in relation to one another is
substantially the same. There has been little improvement
in this respect yet visible. Nor has the necessity for it
seemed urgent, while the nations were separated by the natural
obstacles of their position, and their means of mutual annoyance
in a corresponding degree circumscribed. Science has now
removed these obstacles, and the nations are brought into
immediate contiguity and contact, while their means of mutual
annoyance have been enormously and frightfully multiplied.
Startling it is to think of the growing power of nations for
evil, and inflicting evil upon one another, in the present temper
and
morale of the nations. Surely we may say the time
has come for providing a remedy appropriate to so fearful a
crisis. There is none that occurs to us so sure as a system
of instruction that recognizes as its basis a sanctity in
the relations of state with state, and lodges deep in the
consciences of the several people those great principles of
justice, truth, and benevolence, in which God has indissolubly
bound up all human happiness, whether of nations or of
individuals. Unhappily there is so much to unlearn on the
subject of the relative duties of nations to one another before
this good work can be proceeded in. The sacred records have
not been supposed to furnish any lessons on this branch of human
duty, and none have been sought for. But—
“In them is plainest taught and easiest
learn’d
What makes a Nation happy, and keeps it so.”
Paradise
Regained.
Embued with the conviction that we have the means adequate to
the high ends here proposed in these very records—well
understood and properly carried out—we have ventured upon
these high themes in disregard of the imputation to which we may
be subjected, with some plausibility, of overstating our
cause. We say with some plausibility, only as merging our
feelings for the moment in the superficial view ordinarily taken
of the real character of the religious element—a
view altogether ignored by the history of our race, and the
peculiar phenomena of the times. We may add, it is
unmistakably at variance with the consciousness of almost every
individual in Christendom, to whom it is no secret that religious
questions—unless the interest has been neutralized by long
neglect, or quashed by desperate violence—exert a strange
and engrossing power over his soul. In whatever way we look
at it, it is a power, and in this view may even be
perverted to evil.
“Suppose ye,” says Christ, “that I am come
to send peace upon earth? I tell you, Nay, but rather
division.” [37a] In deep sympathy with these
words, and in corroboration of the prophetic spirit by which they
are marked, are the following observations of Stanley, when
summing up his reminiscences of the Lake of Galilee—the
toiling all night and catching nothing—the great multitude
of fishes, so that the net broke—the casting a hook for the
first fish that came up—the net cast into the sea, and
gathering of every kind: “all these,” says he,
“are images which could occur nowhere else in Palestine but
in this one spot, and which, from that one spot, have now passed
into the religious language of the civilized world, and in
their remotest applications, or even misapplications,
have converted the nations, and shaken the thrones of
Europe.” [37b]
Thus demonstrative it is that Religion is no weak, idle,
evanescent figment of man’s imagination, but a real,
substantial, controlling power, shaping his thoughts, it may be
unconsciously, and blending itself with the solid structure of
society and nations. Greece and Rome, it has been well
said, have attracted here and there a visitor, but only the Holy
Land has provoked a crusade. Nor is the evidence of its
power to be fetched wholly from the records of the past; we think
we see in it in our own days a germinating principle more potent
than anything else now in operation to work great changes, and
rival, at least, if it does not throw into the shade, all that
history has yet unfolded. That this power may be based in
knowledge, and directed to a righteous end, unlike the character
oftentimes it bears on the page of the past, it may deserve some
consideration as a means to this end, whether we may not yet read
our lesson to greater advantage, and educe from the sacred page a
fuller amount of good than in its present state it is calculated
to afford. And we have the more confidence in urging our
present suit, because we are persuaded that the boon we invoke
will not long be unattended with other forms of active
beneficence conducing to the same high ends. The church
will almost simultaneously rouse herself to new exertion. A
yet more effective order of Religious Teaching than we can yet
boast of—from the pulpit and the press, will probably be
elicited. And thus we shall evoke, not an isolated power
waging dubious war against fearful odds, but a CONFEDERATE force, equal, we will hope,
to the crisis;—a crisis such as, no one is so obtuse as not
to see, demands something vastly in advance of the elements at
present available for neutralizing the fearful evils now
festering at our core, or looming in the no distant horizon.
Such is our argument. The sum is, that the Sacred Books
are replete with good, and that a just appreciation of what is
due to our own interests, no less than gratitude for the gift
itself, demands from us the consecration of whatever further
power Providence has, in these latter days, conferred upon us to
that end, to render that good in its utmost extent salutary and
efficacious.
And the time for action presses. Already various
undertakings are on foot to supply the desired object: and there
may be reason to fear, in the failure of help from higher
quarters, that some Society—the Religious Tract Society,
for example, as suggested by the “Edinburgh Review,”
thus following up its recent excellent publication of the New
Paragraph Bible—or some self-constituted body, as is this
moment sitting in America for this very purpose—or
individual scholars—may appropriate the ground we should
rather reserve as the Special Sphere for the operations of the
highest Authority in the realm.
It only remains that we give utterance to our most fervent
hope that this great work may signalize the reign of our beloved
Queen. It will not be the least sparkling of the diamonds
that will lend lustre to her crown. All concurrent
circumstances point to this as the fitting time, and to her
Majesty as the appropriate individual to inaugurate the
solemnity. Religious scruples have given way to a more enlightened
and creditable feeling, and a higher standard of religious truth
than that afforded by the present version is plainly a
desideratum. The reflections cast upon the Protestant faith
in the recent trials for Bible-burning in Ireland, authorized in
measure by the concessions of Protestants themselves to the
faultiness of the authorized version, wait to be removed.
Let her Majesty, following in this respect the example of James
I., appoint to this work a body of men the most qualified for the
task the realm affords, and we cannot doubt the result will be a
version of Holy Scripture incomparably better than the present;
thus supplying a fresh cause of exultation in her Majesty’s
rule, and a surpassing debt of gratitude to the hand that
conferred the boon.
Extract from a Speech of M.
Guizot at a late Meeting of the Protestant Biblical Society in
Paris. See Times, April 19, 1856.
“Whether we consider the history of nations,
or the private life of individuals, the moral efficacy and
salutary power of the holy books glowingly manifest
themselves. Undoubtedly, even among nations where it is
assiduous and general, the reading of the holy books has not the
effect of stifling the bad passions of men; it does not obviate
all errors and faults. Man remains full of weakness and
vice, even when conscious of the presence of God. But the
habitual reading of the holy books preserves nations from the
greatest perils; it prevents them from forgetting God. It
has this advantage—that God remains for them, not an idea,
a name, a system of philosophy, a riddle, but the true and living
God, under whose eye they constantly live, amid the struggles and
casualties of this world.”
Reed and Pardon, Printers,
Paternoster Row, London.