numbers which refer to references collected at the end of each book. The text is paragraphed, with verse num bers in the margin. A vertical line indicates verse divi sions in the lines. Typography, paper, and binding are superior. If one is inclined to rebel against this conversa tional style, one must remember that the Word of God first came to men in spoken form, and that the original Greek of the New Testament has been found to be the everyday language of the people of Christ’s day. The translator himself calls it a “ coffee and doughnut” trans lation. It is obviously not designed for public use. It is really a free translation, in contrast to the more literal, such as the King James or the American Standard. Eerdmans is issuing an American edition of Charles Kingsley Williams’ New Testament in Plain English ($3.95 and $2.45 in paper). This was first published in England in 1952 by The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge. Both Eugene Nida and Frank C. Laubach commend this version for its simplicity; it uses only a little over 1500 words. The Wuest expanded translation of the New Testa ment is now available in paperback (Eerdmans, $2.95). For a couple of years a committee of scholars in Southern California has been working on a revision of the American Standard Version. This is being sponsored by The Lockman Foundation of La Habra, California, which developed the Amplified New Testament. A pilot edition of the New American Standard New Testament, consisting of 1,000 copies, not for sale, has been printed. The Gospels were issued last year, and the Gospel of John in 1960. Chief considerations of this version, which will receive more attention when the entire Bible is printed, include the following: (1) in most instances the 23rd edition of Nestle’s Greek text was used, (2) the ASV style is maintained, except where it needs to be re-rendered into present-day English (the more literal renderings being retained in the margin) (3) alternate translations are carried in the margin, (4) careful dis tinction is made in the treatment of the Greek aorist tense and the Greek perfect tense ( “ began” is italicized when used to render an inceptive or inchoative imper fect), (5) an alteration is made in normal English renderings of the negative question with me ( “ He will not do this, will he?” instead of “W ill he not do this?” ) ; (6) the use is made of an asterisk (* ) to indicate the English past tense which renders a Greek historical present, (7) small capitals indicate Old Testament quota tions, (8) paragraphs denote boldface letters or numbers, (9) marginal notes and references are placed in a column at the outer edge of the page, (10) superior numbers refer to matters concerning the text or renderings, and superior letters indicate cross references. A most useful device is a superior letter to indicate whether “you” is singular or plural, where it is not evident from the context ( “ I say unto yous . . . You?1 do not receive our witness”— John 3:11). Considering the value of the original Ameri can Standard Version, and now these improvements, one is inclined to predict that this will become the most satisfactory of the modem versions for careful study of the Scriptures. Kenneth N. Taylor of the Moody literature distribution department has produced a delightful modem language translation of the Epistles (Tyndale House, Wheaton, 111., $3.50). Billy Graham distributed this version in paperback to all who responded to his invitations at the Los Angeles campaign in August and September last summer, and to his television campaigns in September. Romans 12:1 reads, “And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy— the kind He can accept. When you think of what He has done for you, is this too much to ask?” THE KING'S BUSINESS
Which Translation (continued) the description it would appear that this is a re-issue of a Bible published earlier in the century under various titles, one of the last being The Marked Bible (John C. Winston, 1928). It uses four colors, each major topic being subdivided by a system of letters, and arranged so that one can run each all the way through the Bible. The Book Editor has used this Bible since 1929, and has found it quite helpful. The Revised Scofield Reference Bible is scheduled for 1965. The New Testament is not scheduled to appear separately before the full Bible. A version which we merely mention, inasmuch as it has only recently been received, and would take con siderable study to evaluate, is The H oly Name Bible (The Scripture Research Association, Irvington, N.J., $10.00). It does away with the familiar names for the Deity: God, Lord, and Jesus, using El, Jahweh, Elohim, and Jahshua. The King James style is preserved for the most part, departing chiefly in idiomatic constructions, leaving some original words untranslated where there is no satisfactory English term and reducing Hellenized names in the New Testament to their Hebrew forms. J. Wash Watts, Professor of Old Testament and He brew at the Baptist Theological Seminary in New Or leans, has issued a translation of Genesis, in which he seeks to maintain the distinctive nature of each verb form and its relationships, so that the English student can derive the benefit of the syntax of the original (Eerdmans, $1.95). This is done by means of a system of symbols indicating situations in the Hebrew that are not readily observable from the English translation: | signifies conjunctions omitted; t, time clauses or phrases written as independent clauses in the Hebrew; o, cor relative perfects; p, prophetic perfects; and /, the point of periodic stress in Hebrew poetry. A system of abbrevia tions for Old Testament texts and translations serves as a critical apparatus. Genesis 2:22-23 illustrates the gen eral style and also presents the first poetical stanza: “ Also Jahweh God proceeded to build the rib which he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man. Then the man proceeded to say: “This is the time;/ bone of my bone,/ and flesh of my flesh [is she]; / This one will be called Woman,/ for out of Man was this one taken.” / A couple of appendices deal with Hebrew grammatical problems, especially the translation of the waw con secutive in Genesis 1 and 2. Concordia Publishing House in St. Louis has issued a very attractive New Testament in the Language of Today, translated by William F. Beck, who lectured for some time on Biblical Interpretation at Concordia Semi nary in St. Louis, where he received his Th.D. degree. Dr. Beck is fearless in using modern English: “ don’t,” “ 12 o’clock,” “ hurry,” “ worry,” etc. Jesus “ talked to peo ple in a language that was flesh of their flesh,” and the translator sees no reason why the Bible should not so speak to people. Matthew 1:1 starts off in this vein: This is a record showing how Jesus was a descendant of David and of Abraham.” Note a few samples: “ You snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to Hell?” (Matt. 23:33); “God’s righteousness comes to all who believe, just by their believing in Jesus Christ” (Rom. 3:22); “ Christ has freed us so that we’ll be free. Stand firm, then, and don’t get caught again under a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). “ Long ago God spoke to our fathers in many different ways by the prophets” (Heb. Old Testament references are indicated by superior 16
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