seven times seventy-two days and more;” that is to say, in about two years
and three-quarters; and if to this be added the nine months spent in a
final revision and preparation for the press, we have then only a period
of three years and a half. The new Bible was published in 1611; the work,
therefore, could not have been commenced before 1607.
Although the men who engaged in this important undertaking are called
“translators,” their work was essentially that of revision. This is
clearly shown both by the rules laid down for their guidance, and by the
statement of the translators themselves, who say in their preface, “Truly,
good Christian reader, wee never thought from the beginning that wee
should need to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good
one,” “but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one
principall good one, not justly to bee excepted against; that hath beene
our indeavour, that our marke.”[50]
Further, this revision was a more extensive and thorough revision than any
which had been heretofore undertaken. In former revisions, either the work
had been done by the solitary labours of one or two, or when a fair number
of competent men were engaged in it no sufficient provision had been made
for combined action, and but few opportunities had been given for mutual
conference. In this revision a larger number of scholars were engaged than
upon any former, and the arrangements were such as secured that upon no
part of the Bible should the labour of fewer than seven persons be
expended. The revisers were divided into six companies, two of which met
at Westminster, two at Cambridge, and two at Oxford. The books of the Old
Testament, from Genesis to 2 Kings inclusive, were assigned to the first
Westminster company, consisting of ten members; from 1 Chronicles to Song
of Solomon, to the first Cambridge company, consisting of eight members;
and from Isaiah to Malachi, to the first Oxford company, consisting of
seven members. The Apocryphal books were assigned to the second Cambridge
company, which also consisted of seven members. Of the books of the New
Testament, the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Apocalypse were
given to the second Oxford company, in which as many as ten members were
at different times associated; the Epistles were entrusted to the seven
scholars forming the second Westminster company.[51]
The portions assigned to each company were not again subdivided amongst
its members; but, in accordance with the eighth rule, “every particular
man of each company” translated and amended by himself each successive
portion, and the company met from time to time to confer upon what they
had done, and to agree upon what should stand.[52] Of the mode of
procedure followed at the meetings of the several companies, we have no
other information than the brief statement given by Selden in his _Table
Talk_--that “one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands
some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian,
&c. If they found any fault they spoke; if not, he read on.”
One interesting and touching picture of the translators at work, which
however seems to have escaped the notice[53] of all writers upon the
history of the English Bible, is given us by Dr. Daniel Featley in his
account of the _Life and Death of John Rainolds_, and which is probably
the substance, if not the very words, of the oration delivered by him at
the funeral of the latter, when, on account of the large number of
mourners, “the Chapell being not capable of the fourth part of the
Funerall troupe,” a desk was set up in the quadrangle of Corpus Christi
College, and a brief history of Rainolds’ life, “with the manner of his
death,” was thence delivered to the assembled company. Dr. Rainolds was
one of the Oxford scholars to whom the difficult task was assigned of
revising the prophetical books of the Old Testament; and Featley tells us
that “for his great skill in the originall Languages,” the other members
of the company, “Doctor Smith, afterward Bishop of Gloster; Doctor
Harding, President of Magdalens; Doctor Kilbie, Rector of Lincolne
Colledge; Dr. Bret, and others, imployed in that worke by his Majesty, had
recourse” to him “once a weeke, and in his Lodgings perfected their
Notes; and though in the midst of this Worke, the gout first tooke him,
and after a consumption, of which he dyed; yet in a great part of his
sicknesse the meeting held at his Lodging, and he lying on his Pallet,
assisted them, and in a manner in the very translation of the booke of
life, was translated to a better life.”[54] Rainolds died May 21st, 1607.
In the discharge of their responsible task the translators made use of all
the aids accessible to them for the perfecting of their work. Not only did
they bring to it a large amount of Hebrew and Greek scholarship, and the
results of their personal study of the original Scriptures, they were
careful to avail themselves also of the investigations of others who had
laboured in the same field. Translations and commentaries in the Chaldee,
Hebrew, Syriac, Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch
languages were laid under contribution. “Neither,” they add, “did we
disdaine to revise that which wee had done, and to bring back to the
anvill that which wee had hammered; but having and using as great helpes
as were needfull, and fearing no reproch for slownesse, nor coveting
praise for expedition, wee have at length, through the good hand of the
Lord upon us, brought the worke to that passe that you see.”
When the several companies had completed their labours there was needed
some general supervision of the work before it finally issued from the
press. There is no evidence that the six companies ever met in one body
(though possibly the two companies in each of the three centres may have
had some communication with each other); but having spent almost three
years upon the revision, “at the end whereof,” says the writer of the
life of John Bois,[55] “the whole work being finished, and three copies of
the whole Bible sent from Cambridge, Oxford, and Westminster to London, a
new choice was to be made of six in all, two out of every company,[56] to
review the whole work, and extract one copy out of all these to be
committed to the press, for the dispatch of which business Mr. Downes and
Mr. Bois were sent for up to London, where,[57] meeting their four
fellow-labourers, they went daily to Stationers’ Hall, and in
three-quarters of a year fulfilled their task, all which time they had
from the Company of Stationers thirty shillings[58] each per week duly
paid them, though they had nothing before but the self-rewarding,
ingenious industry.”[59] “Last of all Bilson, Bishop of Winchester, and
Dr. Miles Smith, again reviewed the whole work, and prefixed arguments to
the several books.”
And thus at length, as Thomas Fuller quaintly puts it, “after long
expectation, and great desire, the new translation of the Bible (most
beautifully printed) by a select and competent number of Divines appointed
for the purpose, not being too many, lest one should trouble another,
and yet many, lest in any things might haply escape them. Who, neither
coveting praise for expedition, nor fearing reproach for slackness (seeing
in a business of moment none deserve blame for convenient slowness), had
expended almost three years in a work, not only examining the channels by
the fountain, translations with the original, which was absolutely
necessary, but also comparing channels with channels, which was abundantly
useful.” “These, with Jacob, rolled away the stone from the mouth of the
Well of Life, so that now Rachel’s weak women may freely come, both to
drink themselves, and to water the flocks of their families at the
same.”[60]
LECTURE V.
_REVISION A RECURRING NECESSITY._
On the title-page of the first edition of King James’s Bible there
appeared as now the legend, “Appointed to be read in Churches.” Whence
this originated is unknown; it is even uncertain what meaning is to be
attached to the words. Some contend[61] that they mean nothing more than
that the book contained the directions in accordance with which the
Scriptures were “appointed” to be read in public worship, such as are now
given in the Book of Common Prayer. But, however this may be, there is no
evidence that this Bible was ever formally sanctioned, either by the king,
or by Parliament, or by Convocation. The king, as we have seen, encouraged
the making of the revision, but that the revision when made was, by any
public act on his part, invested with any special authority, is a fancy
altogether unsupported by fact. Its designation as the Authorized
Version has been due simply to common parlance; the claim which that
designation seems to assert is absolutely baseless.
It was not in virtue of any privileges conferred upon it by those in
authority, but by its intrinsic excellence, that this version made its way
into general use, and at length supplanted all previous versions. Its
chief, if not only, competitor was the Genevan. So strong was the
attachment of many to the latter that two editions of it, one a folio and
the other a quarto, were published by the king’s printer in the very year
in which the new version was issued, and during at least five years after
that date[62] various other editions were issued from the same source.
After 1616 the Genevan ceased to be printed in England, but the demand for
it still continuing, various editions were printed on the Continent, and
thence introduced into this country. A folio edition, printed at
Amsterdam, bears so late a date as 1644. In 1649, in order to win the
favour of those who still clung to their old favourite, an edition of the
new version was issued with the Genevan notes. After this date the
revision of 1611 may be said to have gained for itself universal
recognition, and for more than 230 years it has been the accepted and
cherished Bible of almost all English-speaking people.
We should, however, form a very erroneous opinion both of the spirit and
of the learning of King James’s translators, if we were to suppose that
they would have claimed finality for their work. They were too well
acquainted with the state of the original texts not to know what need
there was for further research after the most ancient and trustworthy
authorities. They were too keenly sensitive to the difficulties of
translation not to feel that they must often have failed to convey the
exact meaning of the words they were attempting to render. They were too
conscious of the merits of their predecessors, and of the extent to which
they had profited by their labours, to hesitate to acknowledge that others
might in like manner profit by what they themselves had done. And they
were too loyal in their reverence for the Scriptures, and too devoutly
anxious that every imperfection should be removed from the form in which
they were given to their fellow-countrymen, to offer any discouragement to
those who should seek to remove the blemishes that might still remain.
They would strongly have deprecated any attempt to find in their labours a
plea against further improvement; and they would have emphatically
proclaimed that the best expression of thankfulness for their services,
and of respect for themselves, was in the imitation of their example, and
in the promotion of further efforts for the perfecting of the book they so
profoundly loved.
In the case of such a book as the Bible, however perfect the translation
which may at any time be made, the duty of revision is one of recurring
obligation. The necessity for it is inevitable, and this from two causes
in constant operation. (1) By the imperfection that attaches to all kinds
of human labour various departures from the standard form became gradually
introduced in the process of reproduction; and (2) by the natural growth
of language, and the attendant changes in the meaning of terms, that which
at one time was a faithful rendering becomes at another obscure or
incorrect.
No long time elapsed before blemishes arose in the version of 1611 from
the first of these causes, and, to use the language of the translators
themselves, their translation needed “to be maturely considered and
examined, that being rubbed and polished it might shine as gold more
brightly.” The invention of printing, although it has largely diminished
the liability to error in the multiplication of copies, has not, as
everyone knows who has had occasion to minutely examine printed works,
altogether removed them. Various typographical errors soon made their
appearance in the printed copies of the Bible, and these became repeated
and multiplied in successive editions, until at length no inconsiderable
number of variations, sometimes amounting to several thousands, could be
traced between different copies. Most of these it is true were unimportant
variations, but some of them were of a more serious nature. The following
instances will serve to illustrate this. The dates attached are the dates
of the editions in which the errors may be found:
Exod. xx. 14. “Thou shalt commit adultery,” _for_ “Thou shalt not.” 1631,
Lond., 8vo.[63]
Numb. xxv. 18. “They vex you with their wives,” _for_ “their wiles.” 1638,
Lond., 12mo.
Numb. xxvi. 10. “The fire devoured two thousand and fifty men,” _for_ “two
hundred and fifty.” 1638, Lond., 12mo.
Deut. xxiv. 3. “If the latter husband ate her,” _for_ “hate her.” 1682,
Lond.
2 Sam. xxiii. 20. “He slew two lions like men,” _for_ “two lion-like men.”
1638, Lond., 12mo.
Job xxix. 3. “By his light I shined through darkness,” _for_ “I walked
through.” 1613, Lond.
Isaiah xxix. 13. “Their fear toward me is taught by the people of men,”
_for_ “by the precept of men.” 1638, Lond., 12mo.
Jer. iv. 17. “Because she hath been religious against me,” _for_ “hath
been rebellious.” 1637, Edin., 8vo.
Jer. xviii. 21. “Deliver up their children to the swine,” _for_ “to the
famine.” 1682, Lond.
Ezek. xxiii. 7. “With all their idols she delighted herself,” _for_ “she
defiled herself.” 1613, Lond.
Matt. xxvi. 36. “Then cometh Judas with them unto a place called
Gethsemane,” _for_ “Then cometh Jesus.” 1611, Lond.
Acts vi. 3. “Look ye out among you seven men of honest report ... whom ye
may appoint,” _for_ “whom we may appoint.” 1638, Camb. fo.[64]
1 Cor. v. 1. “And such fornication as is not so much as not among the
Gentiles,” _for_ “not so much as named.” 1629, Lond., fo.[65]
1 Cor. vi. 9. “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom
of God?” _for_ “shall not inherit.” 1653, Lond., 32mo.
2 Tim. iv. 16. “I pray God that it may be laid to their charge,” _for_
“may not be laid.” 1613, Lond.
Titus i. 14. “Now giving heed to Jewish fables,” _for_ “not giving heed.”
1636 Edin., 8vo.
James v. 4. “The Lord of Sabbath,” _for_ “Sabaoth.” 1640, Lond., 8vo.
1 John i. 4. “That our joy may be full,” _for_ “that your joy.” 1769, Oxf.
These facts will serve to show how soon some kind of revision became
needful, and that a true reverence for Scripture is shown, not by
opposition to revision, but by a desire, and even demand, that it should
be undertaken. This necessity became all the more imperative in the case
of the revision of 1611, because there existed no standard copy to which
appeal could in all cases be made as evidence of the conclusions reached
by the translators. It is a curious and remarkable fact, that two
editions, differing in several respects, were issued by the king’s
printer, Robert Barker, in 1611, and competent judges are not agreed as to
which of these two priority in time belongs. Nor even if this point were
satisfactorily settled, would it suffice to reproduce that one of the two
texts which might be proved to be the earlier. For excellent as was the
main work done by the translators, the final revision and the oversight of
the sheets as they passed through the press were not so thorough as was to
be desired. In the most carefully prepared edition of this revision that
has ever been issued, viz., the Cambridge Paragraph Bible, edited by Dr.
Scrivener, the learned and laborious editor has seen it right to depart
from the printed text of 1611 in more than nine hundred places.[66] It
will be manifest that such corrections, whenever called for, ought not to
be made in any haphazard way, and that it is in the interest of all that
careful revisions of the printed texts should from time to time be made,
and that they should be made by men thoroughly competent for the task.
* * * * *
The second cause to which reference has been made is, of course, much
slower in its operation, but though slow it is certain; and sooner or
later every version, whensoever and by whomsoever made, must call for
revision, because of the changes to which all language is subject. Words
which were once in common use pass altogether out of currency, and are
utterly unintelligible save to a learned few. Other words change their
meaning, and give to the sentences in which they occur a different and
sometimes an alien sense to that which they formerly conveyed. Others
again, while retaining fundamentally their original sense, become limited
in their range of application, and when used in other connections than
those to which they are thus confined by custom, become grotesque and
disturb the mind of the reader by the strange associations which they
suggest.
How many words found in our Bibles have, since 1611, passed out of general
use the following list will show. Most of these are wholly without
meaning, even to an educated reader; a few survive as local
provincialisms, and a few also are still employed in the technical
vocabulary of certain arts or professions. All are out of place in a book
intended for universal use.
_Assay._ Deut. iv. 34; Job iv. 2; Acts ix. 26, &c.
_Attent._ 2 Chron. vi. 40.
_Bestead._ Isa. viii. 21.
_Blain._ Exod. ix. 9, 10.
_Bolled._ Exod. ix. 31.
[_Brickle._ Wisd. xv. 13.]
_Brigandine._ Jer. xlvi. 4; li. 3.
_Bruit._ Jer. x. 22; Nah. iii. 19.
_Calamus._ Exod. xxx. 23; Cant. iv. 14; Exek. xxvii. 19.
_Camphire._ Cant. i. 14; iv. 13.
_Causey._ 1 Chron. xxvi. 18.
_Chanel-bone._ Job xxxi. 22, _marg._
_Chapiter._ Exod. xxxvi. 38, &c.
_Chapman._ 2 Chron. ix. 14.
_Chaws._ Ezek. xxix. 4.
[_Cithern._ 1 Macc. iv. 54.]
_Cockatrice._ Isa. xi. 8, &c.
_Collops._ Job xv. 27.
_Confection._ Exod. xxx. 35.
_Coney._ Lev. xi. 5, &c.
_To Convent._ Jer. xlix. 19, _marg._
_Cotes._ 2 Chron. xxxii. 28.
_To Couch._ Dent, xxxiii. 13.
_Countervail._ Esth. vii. 4.
_Daysman._ Job ix. 33.
[_Dehort._ 1 Macc. ix. 9.]
_Delicates._ Jer. li. 34.
_Dredge._ Job xxiv. 6, _marg._
_Dure._ Matt. xiii. 21.
_Earing._ Gen. xlv. 6.
_Endirons._ Ezek. xl. 43, _marg._
_Flue-net._ Hab. i. 15, _marg._
_Gier eagle._ Lev. xi. 18.
_Gorget._ 1 Sam. xvii. 6, _marg._
_Habergeon._ Exod. xxviii. 32; xxxix. 23, &c.
_Helve._ Deut. xix. 5.
_Hough._ Josh. xi. 6, 9.
_Implead._ Acts xix. 38.
_Jewry._ Dan. v. 13; John vii. 1.
_Knop._ Exod. xxv. 31, &c.
_Leasing._ Ps. iv. 2; v. 6.
_Makebate._ 2 Tim. iii. 3, _marg._
_Muffler._ Isa. iii. 19.
_Neesing._ Job xli. 18.
_Ossifrage._ Lev. xi. 13.
_Ouches._ Exod. xxviii. 11, &c.
_Pilled._ Gen. xxx. 37.
_Prelation._ 1 Cor. xiii., _heading_.
_Purtenance._ Exod. xii. 9.
_Ravin._ Gen. xlix. 27.
_Rereward._ Num. x. 25, &c.
_Scall._ Lev. xiii. 30.
_Scrabble._ 1 Sam. xxi. 13.
_A Settle._ Ezek. xliii. 14, &c.
_Silverling._ Isa. vii. 23.
_Sith._ Ezek. xxxv. 6.
_Tabering._ Nah. ii. 7.
_Tache._ Exod. xxvi. 6.
_Throughaired._ Jer. xxii. 14, _marg._
_Thrum._ Isa. xxxviii. 12, _marg._
_Viol._ Isa. v. 12.
_Wimple._ Isa. iii. 22.
A still larger number of words or phrases, though still finding a place in
our current speech, have wholly or partially changed their meanings.
Amongst these are the following:
_All to brake._ Judges ix. 5.
_Base._ 1 Cor. i. 28; 2 Cor. x. 1.
_Botch._ Exod. ix. 9.
_Bought of a sling._ 1 Sam. xxv. 29, _marg._
_Bravery._ Isa. iii. 18.
_Bray._ Prov. xxvii. 27.
_By and by._ Matt. xiii. 21; Luke xxi. 9.
_Captivate._ 2 Chron. xxviii.; Jer. xxxix., _headings_.
_Careful._ Dan. iii. 16; Phil. iv. 6.
_Carriage._ Judges xviii. 21; Acts xxi. 15.
_Cast about._ Jer. xli. 14.
_Chafed._ 2 Sam. xvii. 8.
_Champaign._ Deut. xi. 30.
_Charger._ Matt. xiv. 8; Mark vi. 25.
_Charity._ 1 Cor. xiii. 1, &c.
_Churl._ Isa. xxxii. 5, 7.
_Cieling._ 1 Kings vi. 15.
_Clouted._ Josh. ix. 5.
_Cockle._ Job xxxi. 40.
_Comfort._ Job ix. 27.
_Confectionary._ 1 Sam. viii. 13.
_Contain._ 1 Cor. vii. 9.
_Conversation._ Gal. i. 18; Phil. iii. 20; Heb. xiii. 5.
_Convince._ Jno. viii. 48; Jas. ii. 9.
_Cunning._ Ps. cxxxvii. 5.
_Curious._ Exod. xxviii. 8; xxix. 5.
_Damnation._ 1 Cor. xi. 29.
_Delicately._ Lam. iv. 5; Luke vii. 25.
_Discover._ Ps. xxix. 9; Mic. i. 6; Hab. iii. 13.
_Doctrine._ Mark iv. 2.
_Duke._ Gen. xxxvi. 15.
_Ensign._ Num. ii. 2; Isa. v. 26.
_Fast._ Ruth ii. 8, 21.
_Fetch a compass._ Acts xxviii. 13.
_Flood._ Josh. xxiv. 2, 3, &c.
_Footman._ Jer. xii. 5.
_Fret._ Lev. xiii. 55.
_Grudge._ Ps. lix. 15.
_Hale._ Luke xii. 58; Acts viii. 3.
_Harness._ 1 Kings xx. 11; xxii. 34.
_Indite._ Ps. xlv. 1.
_Jangling._ 1 Tim. i. 6.
_Kerchief._ Ezek. xiii. 18, 21.
_Lace._ Exod. xxviii. 28.
_Latchet._ Isa. v. 27; Mark i. 7.
_Let._ Exod. v. 24; Isa. xliii. 13; Rom. i. 13; 2 Thess. ii. 7.
_Lewd._ Acts xvii. 5.
_Lewdness._ Acts xviii. 14.
_Man-of-War._ Exod. xv. 3, &c.
_Maul._ Prov. xxv. 18.
_Minister._ Josh. i. 1; 1 Kings x. 5; Luke iv. 20.
_Napkin._ Luke xix. 20; John xi. 44; xx. 7.
_Naughtiness._ 1 Sam. xvii. 28; Prov. xi. 6; James i. 21.
_Naughty._ Prov. vi. 12.
_Nephew._ Judges xii. 14; 1 Tim. v. 4.
_Observe._ Mark vi. 20.
_Occupy._ Exod. xxxviii. 24; Judg. xvi. 11; Ezek. xxvii. 9; Luke xix.
13.
_Painfulness._ 2 Cor. xi. 27.
_Palestine._ Exod. xv. 14; Isa. xiv. 29.
_Pap._ Luke xi. 27; Rev. i. 13.
_Parcel._ Gen. xxxix. 19; Josh. xxiv. 32; Ruth iv. 3; John iv. 5.
_Peep._ Isa. viii. 19; x. 14.
_Poll._ Num. i. 2, &c.
_Pommel._ 2 Chron. ix. 12.
_Port._ Neh. ii. 13.
_Prefer._ Esth. ii. 9; Dan. vi. 3; John i. 25.
_Presently._ Matt. xxvi. 53; Phil. ii. 23.
_Prevent._ Ps. lix. 10; cxix. 147; 1 Thess. iv. 15.
_Proper._ Acts i. 19; 1 Cor. vii. 7; Heb. xi. 32.
_Prophesy._ 1 Cor. xi. 5; xiv. 3, 4.
_Publican._ Matt. v. 46, &c.
_Purchase._ 1 Tim. iii. 13.
_Ranges._ Lev. xi. 35.
_Refrain._ Prov. x. 19.
_Riot._ Titus i. 6; 1 Peter iv. 4; 2 Peter ii. 13.
_Rioting._ Rom. xiii. 13.
_Riotous._ Prov. xxiii. 20; Luke xv. 13.
_Road._ 1 Sam. xxvii. 10.
_Scrip._ 1 Sam. xvii. 40; Matt. x. 10, &c.
_Secure._ Judges viii. 11; xviii. 7, 10; Job xi. 18; xii. 6; Matt.
xxviii. 14.
_Set to._ John iii. 32.
_Shroud._ Ezek. xxxi. 3.
_Sod._ Gen. xxv. 29.
_Sottish._ Jer. iv. 22.
_Table._ Hab. ii. 2; Luke i. 63; 2 Cor. iii. 3.
_Target._ 1 Sam. xvii. 6; 1 Kings x. 16.
_Tire._ Isa. iii. 18; Ezek. xxiv. 17, 23.
_Tired._ 2 Kings ix. 30.
_Turtle._ Cant. ii. 12.
_Vagabond._ Gen. iv. 12; Ps. cix. 10; Acts xix. 13.
_Venison._ Gen. xxv. 28.
_Wealth._ 2 Chron. i. 12; Ps. cxii. 3; 1 Cor. x. 24.
_Witty._ Prov. viii. 22.
If, in reading these passages, we attach to the words here mentioned the
meaning that they ordinarily bear, the resulting sense will in each case
be very different from that intended to be conveyed by the translators. In
some of the passages the sense thus given will be so manifestly
inappropriate that the reader is necessarily driven to seek for some
explanation; but in others of them no such feeling may be awakened, and
the reader is undesignedly betrayed into error. Through no fault of the
translators, but by the inevitable law of change in language, the words
which once served as stepping-stones, by whose aid the reader could rise
to a clearer perception of the truth of God, have become stumbling-blocks
in his path, and cause him to wander from the way. Respect, therefore, for
the translators, as well as loyalty to the Scripture, constrain the demand
that these rough places be made plain.
LECTURE VI.
_ON THE IMPERFECT RENDERINGS INTRODUCED OR RETAINED IN THE REVISION OF
1611._