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and De Rofli ; the eatlern languages, which have fo clofe an 

 affinity with the Hebrew, have been induftrioullj- cultivated 

 at home and abroad ; the Maforctic punftuation is now 

 ranked among ufeful atfillances, but no longer implicitly 

 followed ; and tlic Hebrew text itfclf is generally allowed to 

 be coiTupt in many places, and therefore capable of eme:;da- 

 tion by the fame methods which are ufed in reftoring the in- 

 tegrity of all other ancient books. With fuch an acctffion 

 of helps, with light poured in from every part of the literary 

 world, with fuch important principles, and with the advance- 

 ment of critical (Icill to apply them, it is natural to conclude, 

 that m:iny miftakes and abfurdities may be removed from the 

 prefcnt vcrfion, and that the precifion, beauty, and empha- 

 fis of the originnl, may be communicated to it in various 

 places. The prefcnt Hate of the Hebrew text, in its refer- 

 ence to a new verfion of the O. T. has been already repre- 

 fented in the commencement of this article ; and that of 

 the text of the New Teftament will be the fubjetl of a 

 future article; See Testament. 



Dr. Newcome, in his " Attempt towards an improved 

 verllon, &c. of the Minor Prophets," publilhed m 1785, 

 propofed a variety of rules for condufting a new tranflation 

 of the Bible. Thefe have been fince ccrreflcd and enlarged 

 (ubi infra) ; and in order to render this article, the fobject 

 of which is highly important and interelling, as complete 

 and as fatisfaftory to biblical readers as our limits will al- 

 low, we mall here fubjoin the moft material parts of them. 

 The learned prelate propofes, in the firft place, that apian, 

 refembling the regulations prefcribcd to king James's tranf- 

 lators, (hould be dtliberntely adjufted by a large committee 

 of judicious and learned men. A more felecl committee, 

 well acquainted with the original tongues in which the Bible 

 is written, fhould then be appointed by proper authority, 

 who (hould invite every fcholar to contribute his remarks ; 

 who (hould have their refpeftive parts affigncd them; and who, 

 after the performance of their allotted tafks, (hould amicably 

 unite in advancing the whole to its proper degree of perfec- 

 tion. Thtjirjl of his rules is, that a trandation of the Bible 

 (hould exprefs every word in the original by a literal, verbal, 

 or clofe rendering, where the Englifli idiom admits of it. 

 This rule admits of fome few exceptions ; but it excludes 

 unnecelTary deviation from the grammatical form of the ori- 

 ginal words ; unriecciTary paraphrafe, which enervates the 

 force of the original, difguifes its manner, and fometimes 

 fuggefls a wrong idea ; fentential renderings ; and fuch as 

 are defeflive. The yjfonf/ rule directs the tranflator, where 

 the Er.glifh idiom requires a paraphrafe, to endeavour fo to 

 form it as to comprehend the original word or phrafe ; and 

 to exprefs the fupplemental part in Italics, except where 

 liarlhncfj of language refults from the adoption of tliis me- 

 thod. The /,6;;-i/ rule recommends, in caies where a verbal 

 tranflation cannot thus be interwoven, the fubftitution of one 

 equivalent to it, and which implies the reading in the ongi- 

 nal ; but the idiom in the text (hould be literally rendered in 

 the margin. By obferving the fecond and third rules, the 

 utmoft fidelity to the original will be (hewn, which is the 

 primary duty of a biblical tranflator ; the cuftoms and man- 

 ners of the eailern nations will be explained ; the pecuHar ge- 

 nius of the original languages will be exhibited ; and the 

 reader unfiiilled in them will be bell enabled to interpret for 

 himfelf. T'ne fourth rule requires, that the language of a bib- 

 lical tranflation (hould be pure, or conformable to the rules of 

 grammar. Th.^Jifth rule directs, that propriety fliould be a 

 prevailing charafter in the words and phrafes of a biblical 

 tranflation ; that is, they (hould have the fanftion of ufe, 

 and the fignification given to them (hould be warranted by 

 the bed fpeakcrs and writers. In order to prtftrve the ve- 



nerable turn of our prefent verfion, fome few exception* 

 may be allowed under this general rule. The ^r.'Zi rule en- 

 joins the tranflators to retain the Cmplicity ot the prefent 

 verlion ; for which purpofe they fhould exclude toreign 

 words, andthe pomp and elegance of modemifed diclion. The 

 /event!) rule inculcates perfpicuity. The eighth rule recom- 

 mends the fame original word, and its derivatives, according 

 to the different leading f.-nfes, and alfo the fame phrafe, to 

 be refpeciively tranflated by the fame correfpouding £r.glifh 

 word or phrafe ; except where a d.llinft reprefentation of a 

 general idea, or the nature of the Englilh language, or the 

 avoiding of an ambiguity, or elegance of ftyle, or harmony 

 of found, requires 3 dillerent mode of expreffian. In confor- 

 mity to this rule, it is propofed, that tranflators {hould pre- 

 vipfflv agree on the rendering of certain words and phrafef. 

 Acco'dingly, the original word " Jehovali," which exprcfTcs 

 the felf-cxilience of the deity, and which, fo far from being 

 barbarous, is a grand and magnificent term, (hould be re- 

 tained : — that it (hould be confidtrecl, by the help of con- 

 cordances, whether the fame word can always be rendered in 

 the fame irrmncr ; and that when an Englifli word fuits every 

 place, it fhould invariably be ufed : — that if the original 

 word cannot always ad:p.it of the fame rendering, of which 

 many e;< imples occur, the different renderings may be re- 

 duced to as few as polTible, and thofe the fitted which the 

 Engliih language affords : — that diflferent words, which 

 have the fame, or nearly the fame fenfe, (hould be diftin- 

 guilhed in tranflating them, when the Englilh tongue fur- 

 nifhes diilinft and proper terms : — and that parallel paffages 

 (hould be rendered in the fame words. The ninth rule re- 

 quires that the collocation of words (hould never be har(h 

 and unfuited to an Englifli ear. The tenth rule recommends 

 to tranflators of the Bible a fuitable degree of beauty and 

 elegance. This beauty, in its prevailing characler, mud be 

 eafy and natural, timple and fevere ; free from laboured or- 

 nament and artful variety of phrafe. The ftyle, hke that 

 of the original, mull be raifed in the poetical parts, but not 

 inflated, and plain in the hiftorical parts, but not abjetl. 

 " Let nothing," fays Dr. Symonds (ubi fupra) " be ad- 

 mitted into the text, which we cannot read with plcafure, 

 as well as with advantage." In the eleventh rule it is re- 

 quired, that dignitv fliould charafterize a verfion of the Bi- 

 ble. The oppofite extreme refults from the inlroduftiou of 

 debaftd and offenfive terms or phrafes ; of which fome are 

 degraded by familiar ufe, others are coUiquial and vulgar 

 Anglicifms ; and modern phrafeoiogy, as fuch, is undigni- 

 fied in a tranflation of the Bible. The licelfih rule prcfcribes 

 energy as another charadteriftic of a biblical tranflation. 

 This quahty is obtained, in a grer.t degree, by limplicity and 

 propriety in the terms that are felefted to reprefent the pe- 

 culiar notions conveyed by the facrcd writers, and by expref- 

 llng the claufes contained in the original with due concife- 

 nefs. The forcible llyle of the Scriptures is enfeebled by 

 epitiicts and paraphrafe ; nor does their majefty more difdain 

 the defeft of ornament, than the excefs of it. A verfion cf 

 the Bible will derive much force by retaining thole Hc- 

 braifms which the Englifli language cafily admits, or to 

 which an Englifli ear is now accuftomed. Obfcure Ke- 

 bi-aifms, fuch as weaken the fignification of the original, 

 and thofe which mifreprefent its meaning, (hould be 

 avoided. In the thirteenth rule it is recommended to conti- 

 nue the old ecclefiallical terms, fuch as repentance, myder)-, 

 eledl, prededina-ted, &c. which arc now part of our theolo- 

 logical language, and of which explanations perpetually oc- 

 cur. K\i\c fourteenth. Metaphors are, in general, to be re- 

 tained. By obferving this rule, the genius of a language, 

 and the nature and cuftoms of a counirv, will oftco appear. 

 1 ' Rule 



