a study of bible-第13部分

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uage；　but　the　King　James　version　avoided　becoming　a　controversial　book。　A　number　of　years　ago　the　convictions　of　some　were　so　strong　that　another　version　of　the　Bible　was　made；　in　which　the　word　baptism　was　carefully　replaced　by　what　was　believed　to　be　the　English　translation；　〃immersion；〃　but　the　version　never　had　wide　influence。

In　this　connection　it　is　well　to　notice　the　effort　of　the　King　James　translators　at　a　fair　statement　of　the　divine　name。　It　will　be　remembered　that　it　appears　in　the　Old　Testament　ordinarily　as　〃LORD；〃　printed　in　small　capitals。　A　very　interesting　bit　of　verbal　history　lies　back　of　that　word。　The　word　which　represents　the　divine　name　in　Hebrew　consists　of　four　consonants；　J　or　Y；　H；　V；　and　H。　There　are　no　vowels；　indeed；　there　were　no　vowels　in　the　early　Hebrew　at　all。　Those　that　we　now　have　were　added　not　far　from　the　time　of　Christ。　No　one　knows　the　original　pronunciation　of　that　sacred　name　consisting　of　four　letters。　At　a　very　early　day　it　had　become　too　sacred　to　pronounce；　so　that　when　men　came　to　it　in　reading　or　in　speech；　they　simply　used　another　word　which　is；　translated　into　English；　Lord；　a　word　of　high　dignity。　When　the　time　came　that　vowels　were　to　be　added　to　the　consonants；　the　vowels　of　this　other　word　Lord　were　placed　under　the　consonants　of　the　sacred　name；　so　that　in　the　word　Jehovah；　where　the　J　H　V　H　occur；　there　are　the　consonants　of　one　word　whose　vowels　are　unknown　and　the　vowels　of　another　word　whose　consonants　are　not　used。

Illustrate　it　by　imagining　that　in　American　literature　the　name　Lincoln　gathered　to　itself　such　sacredness　that　it　was　never　pronounced　and　only　its　consonants　were　ever　printed。　Suppose　that　whenever　readers　came　to　it　they　simply　said　Washington；　thinking　Lincoln　all　the　while。　Then　think　of　the　displacement　of　the　vowels　of　Lincoln　by　the　vowels　of　Washington。　You　have　a　word　that　looks　like　Lancilon　or　Lanicoln；　but　a　reader　would　never　pronounce　so　strange　a　word。　He　would　always　say　Washington；　yet　he　would　always　think　the　other　meaning。　And　while　he　would　retain　the　meaning　in　some　degree；　he　would　soon　forget　the　original　word；　retaining　only　his　awe　of　it。　Which　is　just　what　happened　with　the　divine　name。　The　Hebrews　knew　it　was　not　Lord；　yet　they　always　said　Lord　when　they　came　to　the　four　letters　that　stood　for　the　sacred　word。　The　word　Jehovah；　made　up　of　the　consonants　of　an　unknown　word　and　the　vowels　of　a　familiar　word；　is　in　itself　meaningless。　Scholarship　is　not　yet　sure　what　was　the　original　meaning　of　the　sacred　name　with　its　four　consonants。

These　translators　had　to　face　that　problem。　It　was　a　peculiar　problem　at　that　time。　How　should　they　put　into　English　the　august　name　of　God　when　they　did　not　know　what　the　true　vowels　were？　There　was　dispute　among　scholars。　They　did　not　take　sides　as　our　later　American　Revision　has　done；　some　of　us　think　quite　unwisely。　They　chose　to　retain　the　Hebrew　usage；　and　print　the　divine　name　in　unmistakable　type　so　that　its　personal　meaning　could　not　be　mistaken。

On　the　other　hand；　disputes　since　their　day　have　shown　how　they　translated　when　transliteration　would　have　been　wiser。　Illustrate　with　one　instance。　There　is　a　Hebrew　word；　Sheol；　with　a　Greek　word；　Hades；　which　corresponds　to　it。　Usage　had　adopted　the　Anglo…Saxon　word　Hell　as　the　equivalent　of　both　of　these　words；　so　they　translated　Sheol　and　Hades　with　the　English　word　Hell。　The　only　question　that　had　been　raised　was　by　that　Hugh　Broughton　of　whom　we　were　speaking　a　moment　ago；　and　it　had　not　seemed　a　serious　one。　Certainly　the　three　terms　have　much　in　common；　and　there　are　places　where　both　the　original　words　seemed　to　be　virtually　equivalent　to　the　Anglo…Saxon　Hell；　but　they　are　not　the　same。　The　Revised　Version　of　our　own　time　returned　to　the　original；　and　instead　of　translating　those　words　whose　meaning　can　be　debated；　it　transliterated　them　and　brought　the　Hebrew　word　Sheol　and　the　Greek　word　Hades　over　into　English。　That；　of　course；　gave　a　chance　for　paragraphers　to　say　that　the　Revised　Version　had　read　Hell　out　of　the　Scriptures。　All　that　happened　was　that　cognizance　was　taken　of　a　dispute　which　would　have　guided　the　King　James　translators　if　it　had　existed　in　their　time；　and　we　should　not　have　become　familiar　with　the　Anglo…Saxon　word　Hell　as　the　translation　of　those　disputed　Hebrew　and　Greek　words。

We　need　not　seek　more　instances。　These　are　enough　to　illustrate　the　saying　that　here　is　an　honest　version；　the　fruit　of　the　best　scholarship　of　the　times；　without　prejudice。

II。　A　second　trait　of　the　work　as　a　version　is　its　remarkable　accuracy。　It　is　surprising　that　with　all　the　new　light　coming　from　early　documents；　with　all　the　new　discoveries　that　have　been　made。　the　latest　revision　needed　to　make　so　few　changes；　and　those　for　the　most　part　minor　ones。　There　are；　to　be　sure；　some　important　changes；　as　we　shall　see　later；　the　wonder　is　that　there　are　not　many　more。　The　King　James　version　had；　to　be　sure；　the　benefit　of　all　the　earlier　controversy。　The　whole　ground　had　been　really　fought　over　in　the　centuries　before；　and　most　of　the　questions　had　been　discussed。　They　frankly　made　use　of　all　the　earlier　controversy。　They　say　in　their　preface：　〃Truly；　good　Christian　reader；　we　never　thought　from　the　beginning　that　we　should　need　to　make　a　new　translation；　nor　yet　to　make　a　bad　one　a　good　one；　but　to　make　a　good　one　better。　That　hath　been　our　endeavor；　that　our　work。〃　Also；　they　had　the　advantage　of　deliberation。　This　was　the　first　version　that　had　been　made　which　had　such　sanction　that　they　could　take　their　time；　and　in　which　they　had　no　reason　to　fear　that　the　results　would　endanger　them。　They　say　in　their　preface　that　they　had　not　run　over　their　work　with　that　〃posting　haste〃　that　had　marked　the　Septuagint；　if　the　saying　was　true　that　they　did　it　all　in　seventy…two　days；　nor　were　they　〃barred　and　hindered　from　going　over　it　again；〃　as　Jerome　himself　said　he　had　been；　since　as　soon　as　he　wrote　any　part　〃it　was　snatched　away　from　him　and　published〃；　nor　were　they　〃working　in　a　new　field；〃　as　Origen　was　when　he　wrote　his　first　commentary　on　the　Bible。　Both　these　thingstheir　taking　advantage　of　earlier　controversies　which　had　cleared　many　differences；　and　their　deliberationwere　supplemented　by　a　third　which　gave　great　accuracy　to　the　version。　That　was　their　adoption　of　the　principle　of　all　early　translators；　perhaps　worded　best　by　Purvey；　who　completed　the　Wiclif　version：　〃The　best　translation　is　to　translate　after　the　sentence；　and　not　only　after　the　words；　so　that　the　sentence　be　as　open　in　English　as　in　Latin。〃　That　makes　for　accuracy。　It　is　quite　impossible　to　put　any　language　over；　word　for　word；　into　another　without　great　inaccuracy。　But　when　the　translators　sought　to　take　the　sentence　of　the　Hebrew　or　the　Greek　and　put　it　into　an　exactly　equivalent　English　sentence；　they　had　larger　play　for　their　language　and　they　had　a　fairer　field　for　accuracy。　These　were　the　three　great　facts　which　made　the　remarkable　accuracy　possible；　and　it　may　be　interesting　to　note　three　corresponding　results　which　show　the　effort　they　made　to　be　absolutely　accurate　and　fair　in　their　translation。

The　first　of　those　results　is　visible　in　the　ita