6. One and the same original word is often translated by various English words, both in different places and in the same context. On the other hand one and the same English word is sometimes used to express different words in the original. The Divine being who nude a covenant, with Abraham is called, "the Angel .Jehovah;" but when Malachi calls the Lord—the Angel of the Covenant, the translation more vaguely says, " the Messenger of the Covenant." "Blameless" and " guiltless" are used m transla tion of the same word; so are '' everlasting" and " eternal ; " "wonder," "admiration," and " marvel; " " goodly" and " gay; " " lust," " coveting," and " concupiscence; " " love" and "charity: " hope" and ' trust ; " "happy" and " blessed ; " "atonement" and " reconciliation ;" " mad " and " beside thyself." We find one Greek word which is expressed by seven English words—" straightway." "immediately." " forthwith," " anon," "as soon as," " by and by," and "shortly." On the other band one word in the translation sometimes represents very different words in the original. The majestic Nile is pre-eminently" the river of Egypt ; " yet the translation gives the same epithet to a comparatively insignificant brook. The opprobrious name " fools" is fastened alike on the atheistic and the inconsiderate; "hell," is used both for the state of the dead and for the place of the wicked in misery; "devil" is the name given both to Satan and to the demons subject to him; the verb " to be" is made to express both the birth of a crea ture and the eternal existence of the Son of God.
7. The italic words call for revision. The authorized version is remarkable for the abundant use of italic letters, not to mark emphasis, as in other books, but to distinguish words not expressed in the original, yet, as the translators thought, implied in it and rendered necessary by difference of idiom between the ancient languages and our own. They are to be valued as a proof of the honesty and, care with which the translation was made. In many instances they are also useful in making the meaning clear. Yet a thorough revision of them is, in the opinion of well qualified judges, greatly to be desired. Many of them are superfluous, since they are fairly implied in the original. Among these are parts of the constantly recurring verb "to be;" and personal, possessive, and relative pronouns, which are plainly implied in the original and necessary to the sense. In .Tn. xx. 5, "stooping down and looking in," the italics are not required, since the original verb includes both acts in its signification ; and in I Pet. i. 12. as applied to angels, it is translated " to look into," without any attempt to express the stooping down. " Some say that that art John the Baptist. might better be only—some say, John the Baptist; and "by time space of 40 years," is simply-40 years. On the other hand, sonic italic words have nothing, expressed or implied, in the original to warrant them. " There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard," should be only—there is no speech nor language; their voice is not heard. In Ju. viii. 6, "as Omagh, lie heard them not," is an addition without warrant, undertaking to declare the object of Jesus in writing on the ground when the text gives no intimation of it.
In 31att. xxv. 14, the italics say, "the kingdom of heaven is as a man ;" and in Mk. xiii. 34, "the Son of man is;" but in both cases it is THE TIME spoken of in the preced ing verse that is the object of comparison. .
8. Revision is called for by the knowledge concerning the original texts which has been attained since the authorized version was made. The Hebrew text then in use possessed the great advantage of being accepted by Christians alid Jews alike. It had been edited by Jewish scholars and watched over from generation to generation wills reverent and even superstitious care. New copies were always minutely compared with the old. All errors and variations in words, letters and accents were noted in the margins of the manuscript, but the text itself was never changed, These marginal notes are continued in the printed Hebrew bibles and often manifestly contain the true reading. But sometimes our translators followed the text and translated the marginal reading only in their margin. And, as the great majority of English bibles do pot give the marginal readings, a large proportion of persons have no means of knowing the correction. In Is. ix. 3, an apparent -contradiction results from this cause, making the passage unintelligible; " Thou halt multiplied the nation and NOT increased the joy; they joy before ThCC ACCORDING TO TILE JOY ON HARVEST " that is—with a joy increased to the utmost). While the word translated " not" is in the Hebrew text, it is corrected in the margin by another (slightly different in form but having the same profound ation) meaning his or their; and the translation should be—and increase THEIR joy. Thus the sentence becomes harmonious and clear. The Greek text of the new testa ment which the translators used had been printed from a small number of 'comparatively Modern manuscripts imperfectly collated. Since then a much larger number have been discovered; some of which are of great antiquity and value. The collation of both Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, which has been prosecuted so assiduously since 1611, has produced many corrections, to the accuracy of which the best critics are agreed. They are indeed of various degrees of importance, none of them affect vitally the integrity of the Scriptures; many are very slight; yet not a few increase. decidedly, the clearness and force of the record; and on the whole they are considered to furnish a valid reason for a thorough revision.