58 



E. J. SEWELL, ESQ., ON THE 



Perhaps I may be allowed a short digression here. There is 

 a story which has gained wide circulation with regard to the 

 rendering into the Eskimo language of the phrase " Lamb of 

 God." It is to the effect that since sheep are unknown among 

 these people, the translation of the Xew Testament in their 

 language renders this phrase " the young seal of God," seals 

 being one of the few animals known familiarly to them. I have 

 read the story in an article in the Quarterly Heview, and it has 

 been told on the platform by a bishop. There is, however, 

 excellent authority for saying that there is not a word of truth 

 in the statement. In the different dialects of Eskimo, the 

 words for sheep and lamb are in one dialect sava and 

 savarkap, in another saugak and saugarsuk. 



These words are said to be derived from Icelandic, for sheep 

 exist in Iceland. On the other hand, the common word for 

 " seal " in Eskimo is " puije " ; the smaller variety is called 

 " netsek," the diminutive of which is netsiak (used of a very 

 young seal wdiose hair is still quite white). Other forms are 

 used to describe the seal at various stages of its life, but none of 

 them has the most distant connection with the root "sail," 

 which is the basis of the words used for "lamb" in translating- 

 the Xew Testament into all the Eskimo dialects. The story 

 may therefore be dismissed as an absolute fable. 



There are some other problems of Bible translation to which 

 reference might be made, but enough has probably been said on 

 the subject. The main contentions which I have endeavoured 

 to put forward are these. 



The Bible is unique as the work of men writing under the 

 guidance of the Holy Spirit ; being, for that reason, regarded as 

 authoritative, the freedom allowable in the translation of other 

 books is inadmissible here. 



Literal translation is as impossible in the case of the Bible 

 as *in other cases. The maxim that the thought should be 

 translated rather than the words is, to a certain extent, an 

 excellent guide, but if adopted and followed to the full, it 

 would authorize an amount of freedom to which few people 

 would consent, and therefore requires limitation and deli nit ion. 



In dealing with any passage in the Bible, we must all desire 

 that its full and true meaning should be conveyed 10 the reader, 

 but to do this goes beyond the duty of a translator, and the 

 effort to make a translation serve as a commentary and 

 exposition as well as a translation is an attempt to combine 

 distinct and inconsistent aims. 



A translator is concerned with language, and the guiding 



