ART. V.-TRANSLATIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

The New Testament, translated from Griesbach's text. By Samuel Sharpe. The Second Edition. London: 1844.

The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, revised from the Authorized Version with the aid of other translations, and made conformable to the Greek text of J. J. Griesbach. By a Layman. London: 1840.

Ir must be considered as one of the strange accidents of literature that one of these works has reached a Second Edition, whilst the other has received but little attention. Without professing to review as it deserves the Layman's Revision, we shall first bring it into comparison with Mr. Sharpe's Translation in connection with some of the points observed upon in our notice of the First Edition,—and then examine it more generally. Mr. Sharpe has shown himself, in many respects, not inattentive to criticism, and therefore we presume that he maintains, after deliberate reconsideration, the accuracy and taste of some translations whose incorrectness and infelicity we then lamented.

I. In regard to the Article, Mr. Sharpe perseveres in translating out of Greek but not into English. "Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the bushel." Matt. v. 15. "He hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he hath ordained." Acts xvii. 31. For this last there is no excuse, since the word translated ' ordained' really means 'marked out definitely.' Neither in this violation of idioms is Mr. Sharpe guided by any universal Rule, for most of the other cases to which we formerly objected he has altered in this Second Edition.

II. There are numerous instances in which we should not deem it worth while to notice the false translation were it not for the false taste of the departure from "the beautiful simplicity of the Authorized Version," which Mr. Sharpe professes never to "change for changing's sake." 1. "Angels came up, and ministered unto him." Matt. iv. 11. Angels are generally conceived as coming down: but in this case the Greek says only that they approached, or simply, as the Received Version and the Layman have it, that, 'they came and ministered unto him.' No doubt when people are travelling the same road, and some are rereward or left behind, coming up' and 'approaching' are synonymous, but these were not the circumstances of the Angelic visitants.

2. "Swear not at all, neither by Heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is a footstool of his feet,"neither by Jerusalem, for it is the great King's city." Matt. v. 34. In the last clause Mr. Sharpe has restored the definite Article, but managed to destroy the solemnity of the words. 'The great king's city,' is not an equivalent expression to "the city of the great king,"-and 'a footstool of his feet' is a weak dilution of his footstool,'-a mere literal rendering, serving none of the purposes of a translation. If this is not 'change for changing's sake,' what law of taste or grammar required it?

3. "And the men marvelled, saying, 'What is this man, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"" The Received Version and the Layman translate correctly, 'What manner of man is this, &c.,'-and Mr. Sharpe has again we think changed for the worse, "for changing's sake."

4. "And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the pipers," &c. Matt. ix. 23.

III. There are some translations not only of a faulty, and, to us we confess, of a painful character, in which, though he has altered the most of those to which we formerly objected, Mr. Sharpe still deliberately perseveres.

Chaff

1. "And why seest thou the chaff that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the splinter that is in thine own eye?" Matt. vii. 3. Who can think of this without suffering torture: a splinter in his eye, and not perceive it? The word does not signify a splinter, but a beam, the whole beam of timber,-and never was a figure more abused. The figure of the whole beam in the eye by its very enormity and physical impossibility excites no pain, and brings out the full contrast between a slight defect and a total and blinding corruption,-whilst the 'splinter' is agonizing in itself, and does not express the contrast. and splinters are things that might be brought into comparison. We know not what can be the attractions of this excruciating word splinter, that have induced even the Layman to take it in preference, not indeed to the beam, but contrariwise to the mote of the Received Version. Strange that Mr. Sharpe should use the word 'splinter' to express the whole tree, and that the Layman should use it to express the smallest imaginable atom of it! Clearly the Layman is right so far as the meaning of words is concerned, but why alter so painfully the perfect translation of the Common Version?

2. And they found a difficulty in him.' Matt. xiii. 57.— 'And they were offended at him.'-Layman. Mr. Sharpe's rendering is neither English, nor conveys a clear meaning, nor is yet a literal translation of the Greek word.

3. 'And they stripped him and put on him a scarlet soldier'scloak.' Matt. xxvii. 28. This is barbarous in sound, and evidently incorrect. Mark distinctly states that it was the purple" they put upon him. Matthew uses the word xλauve. χλαμυς. They put on him the crimson [or purple] robe of kings,❞—to mock his kingly dignity.

IV. There are some miscellaneous passages, which we cannot class under any of the preceding heads, to his former translation of which Mr. Sharpe still adheres.

1. "In likewise the Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself intercedeth for us with unspoken groans. And he who searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, that it intercedeth with God for the Saints."-Rom. viii. 26, 27. We doubt whether it is possible for any one to understand this passage, and translate it as Mr. Sharpe has done. The Layman, following the Received Version, translates correctly, though certainly not happily. Why should the sighings of the spiritual mind after undefined good continue to be called groanings?

"And the Spirit also helpeth our weaknesses: for we know not what to pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself intercedeth for us, in groanings which cannot be expressed. And he who searcheth the heart knoweth what the mind of the Spirit is, that it intercedeth in behalf of the saints, according to the will of God."-Layman's Revision. Blanco White has admirably expressed the sentiment of this passage. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with sighs not expressed in words; that is, the divine impulse after holiness that is in us, makes us sigh for what we cannot express: but God, who gives us that Spirit, knows what it is we wish for."-Heresy and Orthodoxy, Second Edition, p. 72.

2. 1 Tim. iii. 15, 16. Mr. Sharpe has altered the pointing and translation of this passage given in his first Edition. Both he and the Layman depart from Griesbach's punctuation, though Mr. Sharpe gives no notice of the departure. "These things write I unto thee, hoping to come to thee shortly; but if I tarry, that thou mayest know how to behave in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, as a pillar and support of the truth. And confessedly great is the mystery of Godliness; who was made manifest in flesh, justified in spirit, seen by preachers, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory."-Sharpe's Transla

tion. "These things I write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly but if I delay, then that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God,-which is the church of the living God,—as a pillar and support of the truth. And confessedly great is the mystery of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, was justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."-Layman's Revision. A Mystery is a Doctrine expressed by Emblems, Symbols, and Embodiments. It is in this sense, we think that, in this passage, the Christ is said to be the Mystery, representation or impersonation, the embodied Doctrine, of Godliness, shown in the flesh, vindicated in spiritual power by the resurrection, seen by angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory." 3. 1 John iii. 15. "Herein we have known his love," &c.Sharpe. The Layman gives the true meaning. "Hereby we know love" (amoris naturam), "because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

4. John xix. 26, 27. Both Mr. Sharpe and the Layman, following the Common Version, turn Nominatives into Accusatives, and destroy the force, the broken and ejaculatory character, of the passage. "Woman! behold!-thy Son! Behold! -thy Mother!" These surely are points to which new translators should have attended.

There is a passage in which Mr. Sharpe has departed from bis first Edition, and we think for the worse.

5. Hebrews xi. 1. "Now faith is a confidence of things hoped for, a conviction of things unseen."-Sharpe. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We incline to think that the Layman has had a true discernment of the force of this passage, which prevented any alteration of the received Version. We believe that St. Paul meant to call faith the evidence of invisible things, God's intimation to man of all that lies beyond the world of the senses, -and that the alteration of this, by a metonomy, to persuasion, or conviction, has arisen out of that philosophy which would reduce our belief in divine things to a process of logic, or to external experience, and assign no conclusive force to the belief itself.

There is a passage in the Epistle to the Romans in which both Mr. Sharpe and the Layman depart from the Common Version, and in which, it appears to us, they have mistaken the force and construction of the original words. Rom. iv. 11, 12. "He received the sign of circumcision,that he might be

the father of all who believed through uncircumcision,--and the father of circumcision, not only to those who are of circumcision, but to those who walk in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, which he had while in uncircumcision."-Sharpe. The Layman's translation is better in every respect, except in the italicised words. "He received the sign of circumcision, that he might become the father of all those who believe, though they be uncircumcised, and the father of circumcision not only to those who are of the circumcision, but to those also who walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."-Layman's Revision. St. Paul wished to say that the true circumcision was that of the heart, which Abraham had, and of which the outward circumcision was only the sign, that therefore those who had the reality were Abraham's spiritual lineage, whether they had the sign or not, -and those who had not the reality were not his children, though they had the sign. The Received Version translates the 12th verse correctly:-He is "the father of circumcision, to those who are not the circumcised only [barely], but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised."

We do not profess to have carefully examined every part of the second edition of Mr. Sharpe's translation. We have chiefly compared it with our strictures on the first. But as we found much to commend then, we can safely say, that it is now a vastly superior work. Wherever we have looked into it, we have seen signs of careful revision, and though we have found reason to reiterate our objections to some of his renderings, numerous blemishes have been removed, and the translation may be profitably consulted by those who know how to use it. We cannot say that it approaches yet to a standard, either of cor

rectness or taste.

We break through no concealment that there is any longer a desire to observe, when we say that the late Mr. Edgar Taylor is the author of the Layman's Revision. It is not a little strange, and not a little creditable to Mr. Sharpe and Mr. Taylor, that two laymen, in habitual intercourse with each other, should, in mutual ignorance of the fact, be engaged in a task so honourable and laborious, and so little likely to receive either remuneration or appreciation from the world. Mr. Taylor may be said to have died with his work in his hands. By no other interest or labour could a scholar and a Christian have more worthily sustained the weakness, weariness, and pain of a lingering death. As he says himself, with touching pathos, it was a loved resource, "in which the weary spirit was glad to find relief under its VOL. VI. No. 26.-New Series.

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