CHAPTER III.

THE PROGRESS OF THE WORK AND CHARACTER OF THE CHANGES MADE.

By special arrangement, the progress of the work and character of the changes made have been kept secret until publication. The Old Testament was given to men whose specialty was the Hebrew Language, and the New Testament to those equally expert in Greek. The English Committees meet frequently in the old Jerusalem Chamber in Westminster, and those of America in rooms of the Bible House in New York.

The changes in the Revised Version are most extensive in spelling, obsolete words, italicized words, and the tenses of verbs. These changes will not shock the most devoted admirers of the old version. The changes in the Epistles are more frequent than elsewhere, as the errors and obscurities to be removed were there more numerous than elsewhere.

There are some remarkable omissions, or adverse comments in the margin, of what have generally been considered the word of God. The Lord's Prayer is made to read in Matt. vi, 9, 13: "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

What is known as the "doxology"-" For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever, Amen "-(vi, 13) steps out from the text. It is an old liturgical addition, quite proper to use, but not in the original record of the Evangelist. "As we

have forgiven" takes the place of "as we forgive;" but the pres

ent tense remains in the corresponding passage in Luke, as it should. But Luke's record of the Lord's Prayer (xi, 2-5) is curtailed by the omission of the clauses which had been brought over from manuscripts of the first Gospel. They seem to have been added by a copyist from Matthew. This doxology is wanting in all the most ancient manuscripts. It is not in the old Latin Versions, which date back to the middle of the second century. It is therefore not found in Jerome's Latin Vulgate. In accordance with its absence from these earlier versions it is passed by in silence by the so-called Greek and Latin fathers. On the other hand, it is found in the Peshito-Syriac Version, from which it has been transferred into other Oriental translations, though in the Syriac it wants the "Amen," which, if the whole of the doxology were genuine, would hardly be omitted. So strong are the evidences against its genuineness, that the great body of biblical critics decide to expunge it.

For reasons nearly the same, Matthew xxiii, 14, "Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites!" etc., is expunged. It is seen at a glance that the same thought, in almost identical language, occurs in the previous verse, and the repetition seems to have been unintentionally made by a copyist.

The last twelve verses of Mark are printed with the marginal statement that the two oldest Greek manuscripts are against them, and that some other manuscripts have a different ending to the Gospel. It is quite improbable that Mark wrote these verses.

The forty-third verse of the ninth of Mark closes with the words, "The fire that never shall be quenched." This is followed in our old version by "Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Then again, after the forty-fifth verse, the same words recur, "Where the worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." This sentence, in any of these verses, is found in none of the ancient manuscripts, and is accordingly expunged.

A part of the third and all of the fourth verse of John v, reading in the old version, "Waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water; whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had,"

is omitted in the revision, but is given in the margin, with the statement that, although found in some ancient manuscripts, the weight of evidence is against them.

The changes made in Acts xxvi, recording Paul's memorable address before King Agrippa, will interest every reader.

Although not actually cut out and removed, what amounts to one of the longest excisions is from John's Gospel. The last verse (53) of the seventh chapter reads, " And every man went unto his own house:" then commences the eighth chapter with the story of the woman taken in adultery. This is printed in brackets, with a marginal statement decidedly adverse to its genuineness. The reasons for this important action are weighty. The account of the woman is wanting in all the ancient manuscripts, except the Cambridge-from all the ancient versions, Syriac, Latin, Coptic, Armenian and Gothic. In four of what are called cursive manuscripts, written after the tenth century, the whole passage, as found in our English Version, is placed after Luke, chap. xxi, where it fits the context better than it does in John. Tischendorf says, "It is certain that the passage concerning the woman taken in adultery was not written by John. It seems to have been received and used sooner." The critical editors, Lackmann, Tregelles and Alford place it in the margin.

Another noticeable omission is the words addressed to Saul of Tarsus: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks ;" and in the sixth verse of Acts, chap. ix, "And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do," will be expunged for like reasons.

The authorized version, like that of Luther, has a rhythm which the revisers have done their best to leave undisturbed. In some places, a sacrifice on this score has to be made for the sake of a greater good. In that marvelous chapter in which the Apostle Paul exalts love to the throne among the virtues, the thirteenth chapter of 1 Cor., we lose the word "charity," and with it a portion of the music of this wonderful passage. But the gain more than compensates for the loss. Apart from the ambiguity of "charity" in its present use, the old Saxon word "love" has

a meaning stored up in it which no word taken from the Latin has been able to gather. The doctrine of the Apostle is made, by the change, far more distinct and emphatic. Had "love" always stood in this chapter where "charity" stood, no antagonism between the theology of Paul and of John could plausibly have been affirmed to exist.

The famous text in 1 John v, 7, is cut out. The words are found in none of the oldest manuscripts or versions, except in the Dublin manuscript, which is a copy of the Latin Vulgate, and in two others still more modern. The passage was not originally in the Latin Vulgate. It was at first written as a commentary on the text preceding it; and in the eighth century it was introduced into the body of the epistle. It is very properly omitted, as there is really no evidence in its favor.

Another change of much importance is the distinction which is now clearly made between the words which were rendered "Hell” -namely, "Gehenna," which signifies, uniformly, the place of punishment in the future life, and "Hades," which is the equivalent of the "Sheol" of the Old Testament, the abode of the dead, without reference to their condition as happy or otherwise. The confusion of these terms is one of the most marked and misIchievous blemishes of the authorized version. It is the gates of "Hades "of the under-world which swallows up all the livingwhich shall not prevail against the church (Matt. xvi, 18).

These are some of the principal expurgations and changes in the new version; and while at first they may create somewhat of a shock to general readers, they must soon meet with nearly universal approval. Other numerous and interesting changes of more or less importance will present themselves to students. These can be found by the careful comparative reading with the old to which the new version will be subjected by Christians everywhere.

CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTERS, VERSES AND PARAGRAPHS.

The first thing that strikes the eye when we open the new book, is the recasting of its matter into paragraphs, without reference to the old division of chapters and verses, which, though of necessity retained, is kept from breaking up the proper sequence of the epistle or narrative. This is a great gain. The division of the word of God into chapters and verses is not of considerable antiquity. The first version divided into chapters only was the Vulgate, and the work is attributed by some to Cardinal Hugo, and by others to Archbishop Langton, in the thirteenth century. The New Testament was divided into chapters and verses by Robert Stephens, who completed it about the year 1551 during a journey from Paris to Lyons. Any alteration in this division considerably disturbs our ideas of the position of passages in the Bible, and throws into confusion the infinite number of references to the sacred text contained in almost countless volumes in all departments of literature; yet we can but welcome such alteration; so exceedingly imperfect is the division as has existed. We will give a few illustrations of this from an eminent writer on the subject: "The subject of 2 Kings vii, begins at 2 Kings vi, 24. The description of the humiliation and glory of Christ (the subject of Isa. liii) begins at Isa. lii, 13; and the previous verses of fiftytwo belong to fifty-one. Jer. iii, 6, begins a distinct prophecy, which is continued to the end of Jer. vi. The first verse of Col. iv, belongs to chap. iii. Connect in the same way Gen. ii, 1-3 and chap. 1; Rom. xv, xiv; 1 Cor. xi, 1 and chap. x; 2 Cor. iv and chaps. v, vi and vii. The latter part of Matt. ix belongs to chap. x. John viii, 1, belongs to chap. vii; and

1-13 and chap.