THE REVISED OLD TESTAMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2038, 30 July 1885, Page 4

THE REVISED OLD TESTAMENT.

{Conduit J). Chavuks, Yks. Imi'kovkments, Qcirt? "Oh, that mine advesaiy had written a book " (Job xxxi., verse 33) has been changed to " Oil, that I had the indict ment which n>y adversary had written " ; and the equally familiar exclamation of David, "I said in my haste, all men aie liars" (Psalm cxvi., verse 11), ha» become " I said when I made haste to encape, All men are a Up. ' Reuben ii no longer told (Genesis, chap, xiix., verse 4), "Unstable as water, thou shall not excel," but " Unstable an water, have not thou the excellency." It It is no more to be said, '• Happy is the mau that has his quiver full of them" (Psalm cxxvn., verse 5), but " Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them," and instead of •• vanity and vexation of spirit" we have now to read " vanity and a striving after wind." "Gently lead those that give suck " replace " those that are with young." In Ecclesiastes, chap, xii., 13, it is written, " Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : fear Ged and keep His commandments, for this is the whoU duty of man." The revisers write— 11 This is the cud of the matter ; all hath been heard ; fear God," &c. Th« " company of spearmen" are now "the wild beasts of the reeds." " Fools make a mock at sin " is turned into " the foolish scorn tho guilt offering " ; and " thou ha»t made him a little lower than tho angels" will in future be "thou has made him a little lower than God." A *' naughty " person in the book of Proverbs becomes "a worthless person." In the same book " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging " becomes " Wine is a mocker, strong drink » brawler." THK OLD AND THE NEW COMPARED. The following aro some of the most familiar passages in Holy Writ printed in parallel columui for the sake of comparison :— Old Nbw. 1. Nevertheless tho But there shall be no Dimness SH\n not db gloom to her that was such as was in her in angmsh. In thfl vexation, wken at tho former time ho brought first he lightly afflicted into contempt the land the land of Zebulun and of /rbulun and the land the land of Naphtah, of Naphtali, but in tho and afterwards did latter time hath he rnoro grievously afflict made it glorious, by her iiy the way of tho the way of tbe;sea b«sea be>ond Jordan, in >ond Jordan, Gahlceof Galilee of the nations the nations. The people 2 Thf people that that walked in darkness w.ilk in darkness have have seen a great light , seen a great light , they th< y that dwelt in the that dwell in the land land of the shadow of of tho -shadow of death, drath upon them hath upon them hath tho the light shincd. Thou light shincd. has multiplied tho na3 Ihuu hast mulli- tion, thou hast increased plied (tho nation, and their joy; they joy not increased the joy; btfore thco according thry my before thro to the joy in hardest, us according 'o tho i<>y in men rejoice when they harvest, and a* Mi'N divide the 'spoil, tor rrjoic wnen they divide the joke of his burden, the spoil and the stuff of his 4 I'urthouh is broken shoulders, tb« rod of the yoko of his burden, hn oppiessor, thou hast and the stuff of his broken as in thfl day of shoulder, the rod of his Midian. lor all the oppressor, as in the day armor of the armed man ofMidian. in the tumult, and the 5 torc\cry battle of graments rolled in the warrior is with con- blood, shall even be for fused noise, and gar- burning for fuel of fire menu rolled in blood : For unto us a child is but i ill's shall bo with born, unto us a son is burning AND fuel of given ; and the governfire ment shall be upon his 8 for unto as a child shoulder , and his name is born, unto in a son shall be called Wonif given; and the dcrful, Counsellor, government shall bo Mighty God, Kverlastupon his shoulder ; and ing Father, I'nni.o of bis name shall bo Peai c. Of the increase called Wonderful, of hn government and Counsellor, The mighty of peace there shall be God, Iho everlasting no end upon the throne Father, iho Pnnco of of David, and upon his Peace kingdom, to establish 7 Of the increase of it, and to uphold it with KM government and judgment and with peace TMiiRK sham bk righteousness from no end, upon tho throne henceforth even for of David, and upon his aver Ihe zeal of the kingdom, to order it, Lord of hosts shall perand to establish it with form this, judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. Tbc zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.— lsaiah IX. We hid, as it ware, At one from whom mam our facet from him. hide their faces. He was oppressed and Hn was oppressed, he was afflicted, yet he bo humbled himselfand opened not his mouth ; opened not his mouth ; is brought as a lamb to as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as the slaughter and as a a sheep before her sheep that befora her shearers is dumb, so he shearers is dumb; jea, openeth not his month, be opened not hit He was taken from mouth, prison, and from j'udg- Hy oppression and ment ; and who shall de- judgment he was clare his generation for taken away ; and as for he was cut off out of the kis generation ; who land of tho living, for among them considered the transgression of my that he was cut off out people was he strickca. of the land of the Isaiah lm living? for the transCanst thou bind tho gression of my people sweet influences of Plei- wai he stricken, ades, or loose the bunds Canst thou bind the of Orion / cluster of the Pleiades Canst thou bring: forth Or loose tho bands of Maz^roth in his sea- (Stum > Canst thou son >or canst thou guide lead forth the MazzaArcturus with his sons ? roth in their reason; Gayest tliou the good or canst thou guide wings unto the peacocks, the Hear with her or wings and feathers train/ The twng of unto the ostrich ?— Job the ostrich rejoiceth ; Mxvm Itut are her pinions Hast thou given th« and feathers kindly > — horse strength ' bast Hast thou given the tbou clothed his neck horse his might i with thunder '. Hast thou rlothed his Canst tbou make him nick with tki afraid as a grasshopper ? quivering mane ? the glory of his nostrils Hast thou made him to is terrible. leap as a locust/ He pavveth in the The glory of the snortvalley, and rejoicetb in ing is terrible, bis strength , b* gocth Ho paweth in the on to meet the armed valley, and rpjoiceth men. in his strength , Ho mocketh at fear, He goeth out to meet and it not affrighted; the armed men ; neither turnctli he batk Ho mocketh at fear from the sword and is not dismayed The quiver rattlcth Neither turneth he back against him, the glitter- from the sword ing spear and the Ihe quiver rattleth shield against him, He swallovvrtb the The flashing spear and ground with fierceness thejavclin. and rage : neither be- He swalloweth the lievoth he that ir is the ground with fiercesound of the trumpet. nesi and rage ; He saith among tho Neither believcth he trumpets, Ha, ha: and that it is the voire of ho smrlleth the b ittlr the trumpet afar off, the thunder of As oft as the trumpet the captains and the soundeth he saith, shouting— Job xxxix. Aha l And hr smolMh the battle afar off, The thunder of thecaptuns and the shouting. For I know that my For I know that mv. Redeemer livuth, and Redeemer (margin that he will stand at "vindicator") liveth, the 1 itter DAY upon tko And thit Hr shall earth , stand up at the last And Tlioitr.ti after my upon the rarth : and skin wok ms destroy this after my skin hath boen homy, )<-t in mv flesh thus distrojed, Yet shill I see God.— Job from (margin " withaix, VJ6, 20. out") my flesh shall I sec God. Is there not an ap- Is there not a warfare pointed time to man (margin " time of serupon tho earth ?— Job vico") to man upon ▼ii, 1 earth > When shall I arise, When shall I riso > and the night be gonu ? but tho night is long — ib, 4 I hough he slay me, I hough he sliy me, y«t will I wait for him. yet will I trust in Him. —Job xiii, 1 Ihr da) sof our years The days of our years Akk threescore years nro threescore years and ten, and if by rea- and ten. Or even by son of strength thpybk reason of strength lourfourscoro years, yet it urnre years, yet ts their their strength labour pride but labour and and sorrow; or it is sorrow, For it is soon soon rut off and we gone and we fly away, fly away.— Psalm xc, For he is our God ; For hr; is our God, and we arc the people And we are the people of his pasture, and the of his pasture and trie sheep of his hand. Jo- sheep of his hand. Today if vc will hear his day, O tint ye would voice.— Psalm xcy., 7. hear his voice. Doth not wisdom Doth not Wisdom cry > and understand- cry, and Understanding injf put forth her voice ' put fotth her voice 'In She standcth in the the top of high places top of high places, by by tho Way. Where the way in the places of the paths meet sho tho paths standcth , Mcsidc the She rrieth at the gates, at tho entry to gates, at tho entry of the city, she crieth thu city, at the coming aloud, in at tho doors.— Prov. viii , 1-J For love is strong as For love is strong as death ; jealousy is death ; Jealousy is cruel as the grave : the cruel as the grave • roals thereof are coals '1 ho flashes thereof are of fire, which hath a flashes of firp, A very most vehement flame— flame of tho Lord. Song of Solomon., viii., 0. 1. Remember now (1) Remember also thy Creator in the days thy Creator in tho days of thy youth, whilo the of thy youth, or ever fvil days come not, nor thr- evil days come, and tho years draw nigh, the year* draw nich, when thou shaft *my I when thou shalt say, I have no pIiJMW* in havo no pleasure in them ; •'.-■' them ; (2) or ever tho

2. While tho sun, or sun, and the light, and the light, or the moon, tho moon and the or the stars, be not stars be darkened, darkened, nor the and the clouds return clouds return after the after the rain ; {i) rain in the day when the ,{ In thedajs when keepers of the house the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the shall tremble, md the strong men slnll bo>\ strongmen sh ill bow themsehes, and the themselies, and the grinders cease beRrinders rene because cause they are f( w, thr\ are few, and those and those thit look th it look out of the out of the window be window, be darkened darkened, (4) and the 4. And thedoorsslull doors shall he shut be shut in the streets, in the street , when when the sound of the the sound of the grinding is low, and he grinding is low, and shall rise up at the \oicc one sh ill rise up at of the bird, and all the the \oice of a bird, d lughters ot musick and all the diughters shall be brought low, oi music shill be 5 AlsouiiFNtheyshall brought low ; (5) yea, be afraid of ih\t they shall be afraid of which is high, and him which is high, fears shall be in the and terrors sh ii i m way, and the almond in the wa\J; and the tree shall flourish, and almond tree shall the grasshopper shall blossom, and the grissbe a burden, and hopper be a burden, desire shall fail ; be- and the •caperbcrrj cause man gocth to shall fail ; because his long home, *nd the man gocth to his long mourners go before the horre, and the mourn streets ; ers go about the COr eyen the silver streets; (0) or c\er cord be loosed, or the the silver cord be golden bowl be broken, loosed, or the golden or the pitcher be bowl be broken at the broken at the fountain, fountain, or the whc(l oi tho wheel broken at broken at the i istern , the cistern. (7) and the dust re7 Then shall the turn to the eartli as it dust return to the was, and the spirit reearth as it was : and turn unto God who the spirit shall return gave it. unto God who ga\c it. — Kcclesiastei. xv , 1-7. TIIK PRFSS ON THE NKW VEKSION. Tho Times says : — We have good reason to anticipate that when the people of England and America become acquainted with the version of the Old Testament now in their hands, they will be able to go further, and thank the lievisers most heartily for the wide learning, the scrupulous fidelity, and the reverent caution with which they have executed their delicate task. The gains far outweigh tho losses. It is not too much to say that parts of the Old Testament, for example some chapters of Job, have received a connected and intelligible meaning in place of a disjointed obscurity. Fust impressions, at any rate, are reassuring. It would be too much to expect that every rythm and turn of expression should at once commend itself." The Morning Tost thinks tliat "it needs no great stretch of faith to believe that it will be a welcome addition to cur biblical knowledge, that it will biigliten up many obscurities, and help the v hole C'hui eh to a clearer insight into the intentions of the several wi iters of both Testaments, and to increase the bum of human knowledge of Divine things." The Daily Telegraph says : — " Our first impression of their woiku to the effect that learning and taste, under the control of reverence, have achieved a great success. The grand old music rings out strong and true, and many an obscure passage has been made clear. Such results .ire well worth the fifteen ycais of labour that produced them." The Rtandjul says: — "The Revisers' Version is a pood, useful, and learned work : but its chief value is to show how excellent, and, on the u hole, how faithful, a rendering of the Old Testament we have in the translation which, foi more than two and a half centuries, has been received amongst us as the Authoi I'-ed Version." The Daily News &ays : — "The old unrevised New Testament holds its oun foi poetry and style, and by the uiicoiujueiable force of dear and old associations. It would be foolish and wrong to tty to prophesy about the effect which will be produced upon the public by this Revised Old Testament, of which we give an account to-day. Still, people cannot but be aware that, when retranslated, many passages must lose their magnificent rhythm and vaguely sublime power of suggestion."