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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
September, 1936
^ A Young A A a n ’s Questions c A bou t the A lib le [Continued from page 337]
ecclesiastical circles, it was that which he translated into English. But Coverdale’s Bible, however, was only partly translated from the Vulgate. You see, after Wycliffe, Tyndale came on the scene. He also trans lated the Bible into English, but he went largely to Greek and Hebrew manuscripts for his materials. Later, Coverdale ap peared with his Bible, and much of it was based on Tyndale’s work. The New Tes tament and that portion of the Old Testa ment from Genesis to Deuteronomy were really Tyndale’s translation from the Greek and Hebrew. The remainder of the Bible was Coverdale’s own translation from the Vulgate aided by the translation made by Luther and Zwingli into German. Tyndale’s translation o f the New Testa ment had been printed in English, but it was not until the Coverdale Bible was pub lished that both Old and New Testaments so appeared. F red : I remember that the date o f the King James Version of the Bible was 1611. Did any versions or translations appear between Coverdale’s in 153S and the King James in 1611? P asto r : Yes, there were several. The principal ones were Matthew’s Bible in 1537, the Great Bible in 1539, the Geneva Bible in 1560, and the Bishops’ Bible in 1568. They all were forerunners o f the King James Version. F red : What was the occasion for the King James Version? P asto r : A s the name indicates,, it was King James I o f England who authorized that version to be prepared. But that was not really the first authorized version. The Great Bible and the Bishops’ Bible were also authorized. However, today when we refer to the Authorized Version, it is the King James that we have in mind. F red : Why did King James authorize the preparation o f that version? P astor : In his day there was so much religious turmoil and confusion that he ar ranged for a conference in an effort to reconcile the divergent parties. At that time the Bishops’ Bible, the Great Bible, and the Genevan Bible were all being used. F red : Who actually did the work of pre paring the new version? P astor : There were fifty-four men to begin with, but apparently some withdrew or died before the work was finished. At any rate a document is on file somewhere containing the names o f forty-seven persons. They were selected from the different par ties and schools o f England, and in cluded some of the best-known schol ars o f that day. They were divided into six groups—two at Westminster, two at Oxford, and two at Cambridge. Each group worked on a specified portion o f Scripture. Within each group the scholars were to work sep arately, and then confer until they agreed. Then as each book was fin ished by a group, it was sent to the other groups for confirmation and criticism. Things were so arranged that every man in the entire company of forty-seven passed upon the work of every other man. When the groups had completed all their work of trans lating and reviewing, two members of each o f the three companies were chosen to pass upon the final revision of the work for the press in London. F red : It seems to me that they
were as careful as they could be to see that the best possible translation was secured. I think I can see now why the Authorized Version has been so popular through the years. But what about the Revised Ver sion, Pastor? P astor : There are really two revised versions—the English and the American. Of course, here in America we are more interested in the American Revised Ver sion. F red : Is that what is known as the American Standard Version? P astor : Yes, although its full designa tion is the American Standard Edition o f the Revised Bible. F red : Why should there be both an English and an American revision? P astor : The English revision appeared first, but it contained expressions which were not typically American, and it was thought best to have a distinctively Ameri can revision. There were various reasons for a revision. Between 1611 and 1885 when the Revised Version appeared, the English language underwent considerable change. The Authorized Version had been in use for nearly three hundred years, and it contained hundreds of words and ex pressions whose meanings became greatly modified or entirely changed. Also, many old manuscripts o f the Bible had been dis covered. In fact, the three most important manuscripts o f the Bible became available only. after the Authorized Version was prepared. One of these attracted consid erable attention in 1933 because it was then sold by the Soviet Government to Great Britain for $500,000. I refer to Codex Sinaiticus which was secured by Dr. Tis- chendorf from a monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai in the year 1859. F red : Was the revision a one-man job, or did a group of people work together ? P astor : The plan was somewhat similar to that of preparing the Authorized Ver sion. After a time, a plan was devised whereby thirty Biblical scholars of Amer ica would cooperate with the British re vision committee. But whereas the English revision appeared in 1885, the American edition was not published until 1901.
F red : Why was that so much later ? P astor : That was because of a mutual agreement entered into by both the British and the American revision committees. The American committee did not begin its work until more than two years after the British committee had started on its work in 1870. Suggestions made by the Ameri can committee were to be considered by the British committee, and it was agreed that such suggestions as would not be incorporated into the revised text should be presented in an Appendix to the Revised Version, and that such Appendix should be published in every copy of the Revised Bible for a period o f fourteen years. Moreover it was arranged that the American committee for the same period of time would not sanction the publication o f any editions of the Revised Version other than those issued by the university presses of England. That explains why the American Standard Version did not appear until 1901, fourteen years or more later. F red : I don’t want to take.up too much of your time now, Pastor. You must not be late for that appointment. But before I g o ,.see if I’ve got the general outline of this matter straight. Going back as far as possible, we say the Old Testament was written in Hebrew,Vand later the New Testament was written in Greek. Also that the Old Testament was translated into Greek in what we know as the—the— P asto r : Septuagint. That’s a little dif ficult to remember, isn’t it? You see, Fred, by 285 b . c . the Greek language was spoken by many Jews who knew little or no He brew. It was necessary therefore that their Old Testament Scriptures be trans lated from Hebrew into Greek, and that is the reason for the Septuagint version of the Old Testament. F red : Thanks for telling me that, Pas tor. I was on the point o f asking you, but somehow I must have got side-tracked. The next step was the translation of both Old and New Testaments into Latin, and that was done by Jerome, and his work is called the Latin Vulgate. I didn’t forget that name, did I ? P astor : N o , and by the time you have your speech ready to deliver to the young folks, you will have- all those names at the tip of your tongue. But remember that Jerome was not the first person who translated the Scriptures into Latin. Latin transla tions had been in existence for many years, although Old Latin was used. F red : From the Latin Vulgate we go to the English Bible, and I think you said that Wycliffe made the first complete translation into English, but that Coverdale prepared what became the first Bible to be printed in Eng lish. Then later on came the King James Version, and finally the Revised Version with its American edition. P astor : Yes, but remember that the American Standard Version was not published until 1901. F red : I wonder whether I shall ever get all those details fixed in my mind. But I must be going now. In a day or two I’ll come back for those books you promised to let me use. P astor : I’m very glad you came in, Fred. Come again, and we’ll have some more chats together. It’s good practice for me, you know.
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Courtesy, American Bible Society Each page of the "Codex Sinaiticus" bears four col-, umns, written on very fine vellum made from antelope skins. This photograph shows a portion of a page of this famous manuscript.
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