LESSON III.—BIBLE SECTION.
The Bible an English Book.
By Rev. J. L. HURLBUT, D.D., and R. S. HOLMES, A.M.
The Divine Revelation, whether spoken or written, has ever been made to any people in their own language. But as languages change their form and cease to be spoken, that which is plain to one generation becomes an unknown tongue to another. Hence arises the need of versions or translations. In the stages whereby the Bible became an English book, we notice: 1. The ancient versions; 2. The mediæval versions; 3. The modern versions. The student will observe concerning each version: 1. The Scripture included; 2. Language; 3. Date; 4. Place; 5. Authorship; 6. Historical notes.
I. The Ancient Versions.—Out of many, we select the five most important:
1. The Septuagint.—The Old Testament; from the Hebrew into the Greek, begun at an uncertain date, but completed about 385 B. C., at Alexandria, the metropolis of the Mediterranean, where a third of the population were Jews; by unknown writers, said to have numbered seventy, hence its name Septuagint, “Greek, seventy.” This translation, though strongly opposed by the Jews of Palestine, became the Bible of all the Jews of the Dispersion throughout the eastern lands.
2. The Samaritan.—Containing the Pentateuch only, in a dialect, the mixture of Hebrew and Aramaic, spoken by the Samaritans, who worshiped on Mt. Gerizim; perhaps made as early as 100 B. C., perhaps later; traditionally said to have been translated by the Samaritan high-priest, Nathanael. For many centuries the existence of this version was questioned, until a copy was brought to Europe in 1616.
3. The Peshito.—The whole Bible, in the Aramaic language, the common dialect (Peshito means “simple” or “common”) of the Syrians, perhaps that spoken by Jesus and the Apostles, of unknown authorship and date, perhaps about 175 A. D.; the first translation made under Christian auspices.
4. The Targums.—A Hebrew word meaning “interpretations;” a series of Jewish translations of various parts of the Old Testament; ten in number, several covering the same books; in the Chaldaic dialect of Hebrew, dating from Onkelos, A. D. 250 to 1000; arising from the oral translations handed down in the synagogues, written after the destruction of Jerusalem.
5. The Vulgate.—Word meaning “common;” whole Bible, in Latin language; completed about A. D. 400, at Bethlehem in Judea, by Jerome; made by revising older Latin translations; at first opposed, but finally the standard Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.
II. The Mediæval Versions.—Not many translations were made during the Dark Ages. 1. Cædmon, a monk (died 680), translated the Bible stories into rude Anglo-Saxon verse. 2. Aldhelm (died 709), a bishop, translated the Psalms into verse. 3. Bede (died 735), “the venerable,” translated the gospel of John into Anglo-Saxon, completing the work on the day of his death. 4. King Alfred (died 901), best of the kings of England, translated certain portions, as the laws of his kingdom, called “Alfred’s Dooms.” 5. Wiclif (died 1384), “Morning Star of the Reformation,” a great scholar and enemy of Rome, translated the New Testament into English in 1380, and, aided by friends, the Old Testament in 1384. This great work was in manuscript only, as printing was not yet invented.
III. The Modern Versions.—The Reformation brought forth the Bible from neglect and called out numberless versions, of which we notice only a few of the greatest in English history.
1. William Tyndale.—One of the early reformers made the best translation ever wrought by any one man. This New Testament was issued in 1525; the Old Testament not until after his martyrdom in 1536.
2. Miles Coverdale, a friend of Tyndale, made the first English version by the consent of King Henry VIII., issued in 1535; made not from Greek text, but from Luther’s German Bible and the Vulgate; hence, less literal than Tyndale’s.
3. The Great Bible (1539), made by command of Henry VIII., by the influence of Thomas Cromwell; the first edition a revision of Coverdale and Tyndale; second edition 1540, under direction of Archbishop Cranmer, hence known as “Cranmer’s Bible;” a book of great size, chained to the reading desk in the parish churches.
4. The Geneva Bible (1560), made at Geneva, Switzerland, by a number of Puritan exiles from England. Its principal translators were Whittingham, Gilby, Coverdale (above named), and perhaps John Knox; a convenient quarto; the best translation of the time; very popular with the Puritan element in the English Church.
5. The Bishop’s Bible (1568), under direction of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Elizabeth; mainly a revision of the Great Bible; prepared as a rival to the Geneva version, but never as popular among the people, though used among the clergy.
6. The Douay Bible, a Roman Catholic version, made not from the original, but from the Vulgate; the New Testament published at Rheims in 1582, the Old Testament at Douay in 1609; the version in use among Romanists, having many notes setting forth their views.
7. The Authorized Version (1611), the translation now in general use, made by forty-seven scholars under direction of King James I.; begun in 1607, published in 1611.
8. The Revised Version (1881), prepared by a company of English and American scholars; in the main, much more exact than the authorized version, and deserving of general adoption.