n' X ^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hf 7i 1 i 1 i 3i 81 61 3 .^^■^ f -™ 1^ iiiiili PROSPECTUS O F A NEW TRANSLATION O F T H E HOLY BIBLE FROM CORRECTED TEXTS OF THE ORIGINALS, COMPARED WITH THE ANCIENT VERSIONS. VARIOUS READINGS, EXPLANATORY NOTES, AND CRITICAL OBSERVATIONS. BY The Rev. ALEXANDER GEDDES, L.L.D. GLASGOW: PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, AND SOLD BY R. FAULDER, BOND STREET, LONDON; C. ELIOT, EDINBURGH; AND CROSS, DUBLIN. M.DCC.LXXXVI. lbs '- TO THE RIGHT HONOITRABLE LORD PETRE. ERMIT me, My Lord, to prefent you with the firft fruits >H ■*■ of many years painful labour ; in the pleafing hope of being, E;^ one day, able to lay before you the whole harveft. That the/e * or that will be worthy of your Lordship's and the Pubx.ic's acceptance, it would be prefumptuous in me to faV, but is ex- tremely natural for me to wifli. Meanwhile, I have the honour to be, with very great refped, o P My Lord, Your Lordfhip's Ever grateful and Moft obedient humble fervant, a n A. G. es ;548255 TO THE READER. THE following Profpedus was fairly written out for the prefs nearly two years ago. This, it is hoped, will account for fome things being added in the notes, which, perhaps, might have been more properly incorporated in the text. In reading over the printed fheets, I have obferved fome typographical errors, the prin- cipal of which are corrected on the reverfe of this leaf: but there is a miftake page loo line 15, that needs to be apologized for. An edition of the New Teflament is there faid to have been men- tioned before, although it is not mentioned till afterwards, in the ijote, p. 131, which the reader is requefled to attend to. TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. Page 3a. in the note read — Septuaginta. 36. in tlie note read — counfils. 38. 1. 10. read — a more correft. 63. 1. II. read — perfuade. 1 10. 1. 5. read — trandators. 116. 1. 9. read — Oecnmenius. 121. I. 5. read — memoirei. 137. 1. 19. read — exclude. PROSPECTUS O F A NEW TRANSLATION O F THE HOLY BIBLE. H AVING long made the Holy Scriptures and the lan- guages in which they were originally written, my particular fludy, I ventured, fome years ago, to give an Idea of a new Tranflation of the whole Bible; at the requeft: of a perfon of diftinclion, who wifhed I would undertake fuch a work. That Iketch, imperfecfl as it was, meeting with the approbation of fome of the moft learned and refpedlable characflers in the kingdom, I have been fince ad- vifcd by my friends to publifh a more ample Trofpeftus; and, for many reafons, I find myfelf ftrongly difpofed to follow their advice. For although it mufl be yet fome confiderable time, before the Tranflation itfelf will be ready for the prefs, there can be no impro- priety in letting the learned public know, that it is preparing; and putting it in the power of thofe who choofe it, to help me with their A 2 PROSPECTUS. counfel and afllftance, in the profecution of fo laborious and ardu- ous an undertaking. That a new Tranflatlon of the Bible, particularly of the Old Teftament, is ftill wanted, I fhall affume as a pofition generally a- greed upon. T.> explore the caufes that have concurred to render former Tranflations defedlive, and to point out the means and me- thod by which a part of their defedls may be removed, is the inten- tion of this Prospectus; which I now deliver to the public, with •all that anxious diffidence, which the great importance of the fub- jedl and the mediocrity of my abilities demand. The firft and principal caufe of the imperfection of almoft all modern Tranflations of the Bible is to be fought for in the imper- fection and incorretftnefs of the originals, from which they were made ; for, when the text to be tranflated is itfelf corrupted, the tranflatlon mufl neceflTarily participate of its corruption: but mo- dern tranflations of the Bible have, almoft all, been made from a text in many places corrupted : How then could they fail to be, at leaft, equally faulty? It is an afl^ertion no lefs ftrange than true, that the text of fcarcely any profane author of note has been fo incorredly publiflied as that of the Hebrew Scriptures. To reftore Demofthenes, Tully, Virgil, Horace, as nearly as poflible, to their firft integrity, no human pains have been fpared : libraries have been ranfacked, nia- nufcrlpts collated, parallel places compared, hiftory, geography, PROSPECTUS. 3 crlticifm alternately called in to affiftance : and happy was the man who, after a length of time, and with immenfe labour, could fill up the fmallefl; chafm ; detedl the moft infignificant interpolation ; redlify a fmgle tranfpofition ; alter a fingle fentence, or change a fingle letter to the improvement of his favourite author. This fort of labour gave celebrity, during the two laft centuries, to many perfons of real genius and learning; and although, in thefe days of pretended refinement and philofophy, we are too apt to call them pedants, and to depretiate their fludies ; yet to them we certainly owe a great part of the pleafure which we find in perufing the works of antiquity. But why were not the fame pains taken, and the fame means employed, to give a corredl edition of the Bible ? and how is it, that, of all edited books, it flill remains the moll incorred that ever came from the prefs ? Was it accounted of lefs importance than the refl ? Not fo : both Jews and Chriflians, the orthodox and the feparatift, equally confldered it as the richefl treafure they could polfefs ; as a code of laws and a fyflem of morality delivered to them from Heaven ; the objedl of their belief and the rule of their con- dud ; in fhort, the Book of books ; compared with which, all other compofitions are trifling and vain. Were the editors, then, ignorant or carelefs ? Quite the contrary : many of them were men of uncommon erudition ; and all of them boafted of the incredible pains they had been at, to give to their A 2 4 PROSPECTUS. feveral editions, as great a degree of perfedlion, as can be attained by human induflry. This was their uniform language, from Bom- berg to Vanderhooght ; and it muft be allowed that, in fome re- fpedls, their diligence was, at lead, equal to their learning. Had they exerted the fame talents, and taken the fame pains to corre(5l the text, by fuch helps as yet remained; as they employed to prefcrve and embellifh it, in its flate of depravation ; we might have, long fmce, been in the poffelTion of a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, as nearly perfedl as, at this diftance of time, we can reafonably look for ; and freed, at lead, from innumerable imper- fe^lions that ftill difgrace it: but the more thofe men laboured, the lefs they may be faid to have advanced ; and we fcruple not to ajffirm that the celebrated edition of Amflerdam in 1705, is a lefs valuable copy of the primitive Hebrew text, than that which was printed at Soncino, nearly 300 years ago *. It could not, indeed, well be otherwife. The editors, or at leaft the corredlors of the prefs, were generally Jews ; entirely devoted to their rabbinical prejudices. By thefe they appretiated the manu- fcript that was to ferve as an archetype for the impreffion. The Mafora was to thofe text-torturers the bed of Procruftes, to the exadt length and breadth of which every word was to be fitted with the greatefl precifion; and, this pretended ftandard being once eftabliCh- ed as infallible, all pofterior editions were judged to be accurate • In 1488. Sec Fabricy Titres Primtifi. PROSPECTUS. 5 or erroneous, only as far as they agreed or difagreed with it. To fome it may feem hard to conceive, how the learned of the Chriftian perfualion fhould have adopted the fame ideas; and, in this point, given implicit credit to a fet of men, whom, in almoft every other refpedl, they believed to be the vileft impoftors. Several caufes, however, concurred to beget and propagate this grofs delufion. The (ludy of Hebrew, which had been but little cultivated among Chriflians, even in the brighteft periods of Chriftianity, had now for many ages been almoft totally neglecfled. The firll teachers of it, on the revival of letters, were Jews, or converts from Judaifm. Thefe failed not to imprefs upon the minds of their too credulous dif- ciples the higheft ideas of the learning of the Maforetes, and of their fcrupulous attention to preferve the facred records from every fhadow of error, by means of a certain canon of divine origin, traditionally handed down to them from their great law-giver Mo- fes; or, at lead, from the prophet Ezra. Independent of this canon the fcriptures were, they affirmed, a locked-up treafiire. The Ma- fora was both a key to open, and a hedge to guard them : the very grammar of the language in which they were written could not be learned without it. The fcholars of thofe pedagogues became pedagogues in their turn ; and as we are ever apt to think that method of attaining fcience the beft, which we have followed, efpecially if it has been a painful one, they inculcated to their pupils the abfolute neceffity 6 PROSPECTUS. of purfuing the fame rugged and thorny path, which they had themfelves purfued before, as the only one that could lead, dlredlly and infallibly, to the fandluary of holy writ. Thus, with the firft elements of Hebrew learning, were propagated in the Chriftian fchools the moft ridiculous notions of the Rabbins ; and no one called in queftion their bold aflertions, becaufe no one fuppofed he could know any thing of the matter, but through them *. Befides, it was a flattering confideration to thofe who believed the Bible to be from God, to think that God had provided for it a perpetual fafeguard, which fliould fecure every word, fyllable, let- ter, and apex from all forts of corruption or alteration, to the end of time. They did not think of enquiring how this fame fecurity had, for fo many ages, been itfelf fecured ; nor did they reflect, that, if it had ever been the intention of the Deity to preferve, in a miraculous manner, the primitive text of fcripture from fuch ac- cidental errors, as all other writings are liable to, it would have been more agreeable to what we know of his wifdom, to have made the miracle accompany the text itfelf, than, leaving the text to common rifks, have provided a feparate oral canon, by which it * Hence it foon became a fort of axiom among theologians, that a thorough knowledge of the Hebrew could not be acquired without the aid of the Mafora; and that none but a fkil- ful Maforete could give a good edition of the Bible. Thefe prepofleffions were fo deeply rooted, that they kept their ground for almoft three centuiies, and are not yet quite eradica- ted. They were adopted, in part, even by F. Simon; in other refpedls, a critic of great acu- men, and no way a flave to inveterate opinions. PROSPECTUS, 7 might, from time to time, be recflified, and which fliould have the wonderful privilege of being liable to no corruption ; a canon, too, fo prolix, fo intricate, and fo confufed as the Mafora *. /Nor did they call to mind, that thofe of the firfl Chriftians who had ftudied the Hebrew, while it was yet, in fome meafure, a liv- ing tongue, were totally ignorant of fuch a canon ; and knew of no other rules for corredling the fcriptures, but a careful collation of the bed manufcripts, and the ufe of a fober criticifm. They overlooked even the obvious argument which they might have drawn from a comparifon of the New Teflament, their own pecu- liar code, with the Old, which more particularly appertained to the Jews. For the former, they could not be ignorant, God had provided no fuch fecurity ; why fhould he have done it for the latter ? giving more to the figure than to the reality, and prefer- ring the fon of the bond woman to that of the free ? To thefe, and other abfurdities, connedied with this opinion, they did not at- tend : it was enough for them that it flattered their prejudices and favoured their belief : that alone was fufficient to give it a general currency. It is not, however, probable that fo bafe a metal could have long continued to circulate, if it had not received a new degree of * The Englifh reader, vho wiAes to have fome idea of the Mafora, may confult Simon's critical hijiory of the Old Teflament, Prideaux's conneilions, or Kentiicott'j fccond dijfcrtation on the Jiate of the Hebrew text. 8 PROSPECTUS. credit from the revolution in religion that happened foon after. The Proteftants, on feparating from the communion of Rome, feem to have thought they could not get at too great a diftance *. Find- ing it convenient to appeal from the decifions of a living affembly to the dead letter of fcripture, they confidered themfelves as under a neceflity of maintaining, that the fcripture-text was not only in- corrupted, but even incorruptible ; and as the Maforetic fyftem favoured this hypothefis, they adopted it without hefitation, and If- defended it with more pertinacy than even the Jews themfelves. To recede from it in the fmalleft degree, was, they imagined, to open a door for Popery, by overturning this fundamental article of Proteftantifm, " That the fcripture alone is a fufficient and infal- " lible rule of faith." So generally diffufed, and fo flrongly rivetted was this prejudice, that when Capellus firfl ventured to unclinch it, in his Critica Sacra, he was accounted a fort of apoftate from the found doflrine of the reformed churches, and could not find a Proteftant book- fcllcr to print his work. And, what is flill more ilrange, when * Many other inftances could be given of this difpofition to run into extremes. " Some of «' our reformed brethren" (fays Bifhop Berkley in the charaifler of Crito) " bccaufe the Ro- " manifts attributed too much to the fathers, feem to have attributed too little to them, from " a very ufual, though no very judicious oppofition." Min. Phil. Dial. vi. Sefl. 27. — Rey- nolds thought it a fufficient reafon to rcje>5l altogether the ufe of the crofs, becaufe the Papifts had abufedlt; and fome of the Scotch Calvinifts had fuch averfion to liturgies and fet forms of prayer, that they would not ufe even that of our Lord. PROSPECTUS. 9 Dr. Kennicott, not many years ago, publifhed his excellent Differ- tations on the ftate of the Hebrew text, thofe were not wanting, even in this country, who brought the fame charges againft him as had been formerly brought againft Capellus ; nor did it depend on them, that the greateft literary undertaking of this, or indeed of any other age, was not quafhed in its very beginning, as hurtful to Chriftianity. It cannot be denied, that the Catholic divines in general form- ed a founder judgment of the ftate of the Hebrew text than the ■g-enerality of Proteftants. Whether it was always a fmcere love for the truth, or fometimes an exceflive partiality for the Vulgate veiiion, that made them fo keen and clear-fighted in difcovering the faults of the original, I will not take upon me to determine : but the fadl is certain, they generally judged rightly of the then ftate of the original ; and there are few palliiges of it impugned as erroneous by Bellarmine, Gordon *, Morinus, &c. which are not now acknowledged to be fo by the moft learned Proteftants. From this, however, it is true fome Catholic writers drew con- clufions, that were by no means fairly deducible. They argued, * James Gordon (commonly called I/unt/aeur, becaufe of the Huntly family, to diftinguifh him from another Jefuit of the fame name of the family of Lefmore) was one of the moft acute and artful adverfaries of the prefent Hebrew text. It was to oppofe his little traift D^ Verba Dei, that Glafllus wrote his Phiblogia Sacra. Gordon's ftile is clear and concife ; and his arguments generally conclufive. It muft be confefled, however, that he extols the Vul- gate above meafure, and advances fome unfupportable propofitions. B 10 PROSPECTUS. that, becaufe the Hebrew text was in many places corrupted^ where the Vulgate was not ; therefare the Vulgate was, every where, preferable to the Hebrew text. The ftrange mlfconception of a decree of the Council of Trent gave rife, or at leaft new flrength to this abfurd opinion. That Synod had declared the Vulgate to be an authentic verlion of the Scripture, in the plain and obvious fenfe we fhall fee in the fequel ; yet the word authentic became a fubjedl of eager controverfy in the Catholic univerfities : fome af- firming it only meant, that the Vulgate was in general a faithful verfion, containing nothing contrary to faith or morality, and hav- ing every thing neceflary to conftitute an authentic document; while others contended, with more zeal than prudence, that it im- plied an abfolute and exclufive authenticity in the ftri(5left fenfe of the word ; which gave it a preference and fuperiority not only over all other tranflations, but alfo over the originals themfelves. It is to be remarked that this laft opinion was that of the moft igno- rant, the former that of the mod learned of the Catholic theo- logians; and that they, who were the foremoft in depreffing the Hebrew text to enhance the value of the Vulgate, were the leaft of all qualified to appretiate the merits of either. At prefent there feems to be but one opinion on this fubjedl; and that is, luckily, the right one. With regard to the ftate of the Hebrew text, there has of late been a wonderful revolution in the minds of men. Proteftants and PROSPECTUS. II Catholics feem to have changed fides ; and while many of the for- mer, in every country, find arata in it by thoufands, there are fome of the latter, who can hardly difcern in it any error at all. Thus it is, and thus it always will be, where parties are concerned. What is particularly relifhed by one, will, for that veiy reafon, be difliked by another ; and few, very few indeed, will be found, on either fide, to hold that golden medium, beyond which the truth is vainly fought for. Here the truth is, at lead fo to me it appears, that the original Hebrew text is neither fo very much corrupted as Ibme Catholics of former, and many Proteflants of latter days af- firm, nor yet fo void of errors as fome Catholics of this, and al- mofl all the Proteftants of the Lift age maintained it to be. Still, however, its moft ftrenuous advocates, whether Catholic or Prote- ftant, will now, we prefume, be obliged to confefs, that it is evi- dently more or lefs erroneous*; and, confequently, that it is the * The fticklers for the abfolute integrity of the Hebrew text have fo often changed iheir ;ground, and aflumed fo many different pofitions, that it requires, if not great (kill, at leaft much patience to continue the conteft with them. Their firft grand palladium was the Ma- fora, under the proteiSion of which they deemed their fortrefs impregnable. Capellus did not, like Ulyfles, rob them of their facred guardian; he (lormed their citadel in defpite of her, and revealed to the wondering world her impotency to defend them. — Forced from this hold, they took polTeffion of another. " Let it be granted," faid they, " that the Mafora is of rab- " binical, not divine authority ; yet the wonderful uniformity of all the Hebrew manu- " fcripts, and their perfeft agreement with die printed copy is the ftrongeft evidence of the " integrity of the latter; and implies, if not a miraculous prefervation of the text, an atten- •' tion in the copyifts that borders on a miracle." This was long a c.ipital and a favourite argument. It was an argument founded on a matter of faft, which even Capellus did net B 2 12 PROSPECTUS. firfl duty of a tranflator to examine into, and afcertain its errors ; to trace them up, if poffible, to their fource; and endeavour to re- move them by every mean in his power. chufe to deny; becaiife it was aflerted with fuch confidence, and becaufe he had no dlreifl proofs of the contrary. In vain he attacked them with other weapons ; in vain he proved thai: the ancients had frequently read otherwife than we do ; in vain he fhewed that the prelent reading is often improbable, fometimes feemingly abfurd : flill the pretended uniformity of all the copies was confidered as an unfurmountable obftacle, even by many of thofe who, in other refpefls, acknowledged the full force of CapeUus's reafoning; and, thus, his opponents infultingly triumphed, under die fecurity of a mere prefumption. When, by an aiflual exami- nation and collation of manufcripts, they were at length driven out of this poft aUb, they fought fecurity for tliemfelves, by trying to make their adverfaries invidious ; and held forth to the public the dreadful confequences to religion, if it fhould be once allowed that the Scrip- tures had not come down to us in their full original purity. In this new mode of warfare, they employed ftratagems not much to their honour. They imputed to the defenders of the oppofite fyftem, views which they never dreamed of, and fentiments which they openly dif- avowed. The advantage that arofe from fuch difingenuous artifices, could not be of long duration. The difcerning public foon perceived the weaknefs of an argument merely nega- tive, oppofed to faifls and demonftrations ; and the popular odium, which its abettors had endeavoured to throw on others, was turned into a ftream of ridicule againfl themfelves. They now feem difpofed to give up the diVine authority of the Mafora, the miraculous pre- fervation of the text, and even its abfolute integrity tlirough any means whatever : but dill they ftrenuoufly defend the abfolute fuperiority of the prcfent printed copy, to all other co- pies or verfions ; and maintain, that we have no right to alter or corre<5l it, even on the autho- rity of manufcripts. Hear their reafon. " The firft editors of the Hebrew Bible had manu- "i fcripts as well as we, and probably more ancient and coneifl manufcripts tlian now exift : the " new critic-collators have riot yet foimd one fo correft, in the whole, as the printed copy ; " therefore, the printed copy is not to be correfled by manufcripts confefledly more errone- "■ ous than itfelf." Never was the abufe of logic carried to a greater excefs. We will grants what perhaps we (hould not grant, that the prefent printed text is, in the whole, more corredl than any fingle mamifcript : does it hence follow, that, in every particular part, it is more correft than all the manufcripts together; or even than fome one individual manufcript, fingly confidered? Had the firft editors accurately defcribcd the manufcripts they ufed, and PROSPECTUS. 13. All the corruptions, that get into the text of any writing,' are owing either to defiga or overfight. Whether or not any parts of the Hebrew fcriptures have been deiignedly corrupted, is a que- flion, that was early agitated in the Chriftian church; and, for the firfl four centuries, the afErmative feems to have been the pre- vailing opinion, among both the Greek and Latin fathers. That opinion, which the authority of Saint Jerom * and Saint Auguf- tine had, in a great meafure, rendered obfolete for many ages, has, in modern times, been revived and warmly defended by critics of the firfl abilities, and as warmly oppofedby others of equal celebrity. ■ indicated the repofitoi ies they were to be found in ; we fhould have it in our power to compare tliem with the printed text, and with one another, and be able to form a better judgment, both of the fidelity of the editors, and of the refpedlive merit of their manufcripts ; or, if tliefe no more exiftcd, we fhould know, at leaft, that they are loft. As things are, the faireft inference we can draw, and the moft favourable judgment we can form is this, that the edi- tors followed the beft manufcripts they could find. But fo did all other firft editors, if they were not fools : yet it has never, I think, been affirmed that pofterior editions, of any other book but the Bible, might not, and may not ftill, be improved by a collation of more manu- fcripts ; fhould thefe even, taken feparately, be lefs correct and valuable than the firft that •were ufed. But what if I fhould aflert that there are feveral fingle manufcripts cf the He- hrtvf fcriptures ; any one of which is a more correft copy of the original, than die printed one ? what method would tliey take to redargue my affertion ; and by what criterion could the queftion between us be rationally decided ? By none other, I prefume, than analogy and circumftantial evidence, examined at the bar of found and fober cricicifm. • This father is not always confiftent with himfelf. Sometimes he pofitively charges the Jews with having wilfully corrupted the text; at other times, he feems to exculpate them of this grievous accufation. We will not fay, with Simon, that when he accufes them he fpeaki againft his own fentiments ; but rather fuppofe, that he aftervrards changed them, as many other honeft men have done. 14 PROSPECTUS. There is this obfervable difference, however, in their refpecfkive modes of reafoning. The former fupport their fentiment by po- fitive arguments and indifputable fadls ; whereas the latter ground theirs, chiefly, on negative improbabilities, and the dangerous con- fequences which flow, they pretend, from the oppofite hypothefis. I fhall have occalion, elfewhere, to treat largely on this fubjedl : at prefent I fhall only fay that the truth ftill appears to be in the middle. For although we fliould not, perhaps, eafily admit that fo many paffages have been delignedly. corrupted, as a certain clafs of writers would have us believe ; yet it cannot, I think, be well denied, that there are, in fome infliances, fuch ftrong marks of wil- ful contamination, as to leave little room for doubt. But by far the greater part of Biblical corruptions, are to be afcribed to the fame ordinary caufes, that produce them in all other writings ; the ignorance, the careleflnefs, the inaccuracy of copyiflis ; and as the number of fuch corruptions, in any writing, is generally in proportion to the number of years it has exifled, and the number of times it has been copied; is it to be wondered that the Hebrew text of the Bible fliould, at this day, contain a very great number of fuch corruptions ? It would be a wonder in- deed, if it did not: for how could it be, with any fliew of reafon, imagined, that a book fo old as the Bible; written in a language, that has long fmce ceafed to be vernacular; tranfcribed by fo many different perfons, in fo many different places ; and under fo many PROSPECTUS. 15 different circumftances and fituations; through all that viclffitude of fortune, that has attended the Jewilh people; Ihould have contrac- ted no fpot nor blemifh, in the courfe of two thoufand years ? That waters, which have rolled for ages through a thoufand different foils and channels, fhould be ftill as pure and untainted as when they iflued from their primitive fburce, would he far lefs wonder- ful, than that the Hebrew fcriptures fliould have remained in their firft integrity. Befide thefe clrcumflantial and extraneous caufes of miftake, that are more or lefs common to them with all old writings, there are others which make the Hebrew fcriptures particularly liable to chirographical errors ; and which may be called intrinfic fources of corruption. At one period, the whole text was changed from the Hebrew to the Chaldee charaders *. Many of the letters in both alphabets have a ftrong refemblance to one another ; and, in, fome of them, the diacritic marks are hardly diftinguifhable. The invention of vowel-points, by rendering the genuine vocal elements quiefcent, gave frequently occafion to throw them out as ufclefs ; and that very thing, which was abfurdly looked upon as the chief prefervative of the facred text from future errors, largely contribu- ted to make it ftill more erroneous. If, with all this, we take into confideration the colloquial tauto- * This at lead is the common belief j and the arguments that have been urged againft it, appear not fufl&cient to overturn it. i6 PROSPECTUS. logy of the Scripture flile, the frequent occuiTence of the fame words and phrafes, the repetition of the fame or nearly the fame fentences, the proximity and contiguity of the fame terminations, the conilant return of the fame particles, pronouns and proper names, and the deceptions continually arifing from the afFociation of ideas, fimila- rity of founds and equivalence of meaning, we fliall be obliged to -confefs that it was fcarcely pofllble for the moft diligent and atten- tive tranfcriber to avoid committing many overfights. Tliat many fuch overfights have been adually committed, and -that a great number of corruptions have, by that means, gradually crept into the text, are pofitions which have, of late, been fo invin- cibly eftabliflied, that no one, we truft, will in future prefume to call them in queflion. But let not this alarm the pious reader, as if the authenticity of the Scriptures were thereby weakened, or their authority rendered precarious. Were it neceffary, to conflitute an authentic deed, that the moft recent and remote copies of it fliould be exacftly the fame with the firfh autograph, there would be no fuch thing in the world as any ancient authentic deed, of which the autograph had been loft : there could be no fuch thing, without a continual miracle. It is enough, that there is fufficient evidence of its being eflentially the fame with the original ; and that the changes it has undergone, whether from defign or accident, are not fuch as can afFe(5l its authority, as a genuine record. Such, precifely, is the cafe of the Hebrew fcriptures. Notwith- PROSPECTUS. 17 ftanding all the various corruptions of whatfoever fort, that now disfigure them; it is as certain, as any pofition of this kind can poflibly be, that they are ftill eflentially the fame; and that the whole hiftorical tenor of the divine oeconomy towards man has been preferved in them, without any important alteration, to the prefent time. Take the mofl modern and moft; imperfe6l tranfcript of their originals, that now exifhs; or even the moft erroneous copy of the moft erroneous verlion, that ever was made from them ; and you fliall find in it every thing that is abfolutely necelTary to confti- tute an authentic writing ; and to anfwer all the great purpofes, for which they were intended *. * From this acknowledgement, made by all thofe who have been the foremoft to dete(ft flie corruptions of the Hebrew text, fome perfons have drawn this ridiculous conclufion ; That it.is therefore unneceflary, nay unexpedient, to correft it at all. Since it is allowed, fay they, to be ftill eflentially the fame, and to contain every thing neceiTary to falvation, what need is there to trouble the peace of the world with collations, amendments, &c ? The a- nonymous French author of a feries of petulant and declamatory letters, addrefled to Dr. Kennicott, urges this argument in the following extraordinary manner: " If the great ar- " tides of the Chriftian faith are untouched in the text which we already have, why diflurb " the church with correftions and innovations that are of no fervice to religion? VlTiat ad- " vantage will accrue to Chriflians from knowing, that yacob is written fometimes with a van " and fometimes without a zau? Or that in the word David there was nojoJ before the Ba- " bylonilh captivity? Is the incarnation of Jefus Chrift the lefs true for that, &c." No; nor v;oald it be lefs true, if the entire book of Job or the Song of Solomon were wanting. The chain of religion would be uninterrupted without either, yet we fhould be exceedingly forry they were loft. We can make a fhift to do without the original text of Ecclefiafticus ; al- though it is devoutly to be wilhcd that it flill exifted. There were once many pieces of He- brew fcripture, of which we have not now even a tranflation: will it be faid that, becaufe the incarnation of Chrift can be afcertained without their aid, it would be of no utilitv to i8 PROSPECTUS. For befide the internal marks of genuinenefs, which they fuper- eminently pofTefs ; they are fupported by fuch a continued and clofely connected chain of external evidence, as is not to be met with in favour of any other compofition whatever. Who, but the paradoxical Hardouin, ever doubted of the authenticity of Plato's dialogues, or Demofthenes's orations ? yet they have come down, to us with not half the number of vouchers, that accompany the Jewilh writings ; and it would be eafier to find ingenious argu- ments to prove that thofe were invented by the monks in the thir- teenth century, than that thefe were fabricated at any particular period-. It is true they have been tranfmitted with many errors, and are at this day extremely incorredl : but, here again, they have an ad- vantage over mofl other writings ; the means of correding them are. more obvious and abundant. What thefe are, and how they are to be employed, it is now time to enquire. The firft fource of emendation of any writing is the collatioa and comparifon of manufcripts ; a fource but recently opened with refpefl to the Hebrew fcriptures; and not yet fo deeply explored, as we hope it will foon be. religion, that they could ftill be recovered? Every thing mufl be of utility to religion tjiat tends to corroborate the great charters on which it is grounded, or to reftore them to their original purity, were it but the addition or retrenchment of a fingle letter. For the red, there are few of the amendments propofed to be made in the Hebrew text from the collation of manufcripts, of fo very little importance, as thofc which this flippaijt fuperficial writer has feleiSed for theobjedl of his unfeafonable gibes. PROSPECTUS. 19 Hebrew manufcripts are of two forts, the one written in the old or Samaritan, the other in the new or Chaldee characters. Thefe are two collateral branches from the fame flem; two copies of the fame original inftrument, under the guardianfhip of two different peoples*, jealous of one another, abominating one another; and, therefore, altogether unlikely to enter into any collufion. Yet, as both copies were the fame at the beginning, they ilill remain fo in all effentials ; and reciprocally vouch for one another's authenticity. It was the faying of St. Aug-Cifline, that the Jews, through a parti- cular difpenfation of Providence, were the Chriftians book-keepers. In like manner, the Samaritans may be faid to have been book- keepers to the Jews; and I will venture to atErm, that they have been the bed keepers of the two. The Samaritan fcriptui-e, as far as it goes, (for it contains only the Pentateuch) muft appear to e- very one, who examines it with any degree of attention, and void of rabbinical prepoffeifions, a far more faithful reprefentative of the prototype, than any Maforetic copy, at this day extant. It is, iiadeed, only of late, that we knew the full value of this long latent treafure. The firft edition of it was publiflied by Mo- rinus, in the Paris polyglott, in the year 1645; and only from one manufcript. The variations of that manufcript, from the prefent Hebrew text, were reprinted more accurately, by Houbigant, in * I have ventured, after B. Lowth, to ufc the plural of this word; which in feme cafes feems to be neceflkry, and is perfeiflly analogous. C 2 20 PROSPECTUS. 1753' Since that time, feventeen other manufcripts have been collated, either in the whole, or in feledl paffages ; by the aid of which, the greateft part of the errors, that are in the firft printed copy, may be correded; and the futile objedlions of Hottinger and his followers effedlually obviated. Although the Jewifli manufcripts are of lefs utility, in refloring the true text, than the Samaritan ; having been all written pofteri- orly to the introdudlion of the Mafora ; and, for the moft part, re- modelled by the fame examplar of it ; yet they afford many impor- tant readings, with regard to the fenfe; and of grammatical correc- tions a number almoft infinite. Tliis laft advantage alone defer- ved all the labour and expence that have been beftowed in collating them; and the world is principally indebted to the liberality of this nation, and to the indefatigable perfeverance of the late Dr. Kenni- cott for fo ufeful a work. The prejudices at firft ralfed againft it, by ignorance or miftaken zeal, are daily dying away ; and its value muft rife, in the eftimation of the learned, in proportion as it is known and examined. Notwithftanding Dr. Kennlcott's various readings were colleded- from upwards of fix hundred manufcripts, and all the printed co- pies he could procure, yet the harveft is far from being over. A very large fupplement is promlfed by De Roffi of Parma *, from * The firft volume was publidied laft year, 1784; and, befides a very fenfible preface, canons and chi-jh, contains various readings on the three firft books of Mofes. The ftcond volume will be publiflied in tlie courfe of the prefent year. PROSPECTUS. 21 more than four hundred manufcripts, fome of which are faid to be of the feventh or eighth century ; as well as from a confiderable number of rare and unnoted editions : and, no doubt, there will be ftill plentiful gleanings, even after De Roffi; efpecially, if ever the repofitories of the Eaft happen to be freely opened, and men of learning and enterprize be found to avail themfelves of the occafion. Meanwhile, let us be heartily thankful for the riches we already pofTefs, and employ them to the beft advantage. A-kin to the various readings of Hebrew manufcripts, and of much the fame utility in correcting the Hebrew text, are the pa- rallel places of the text itfelf ; and the quotations made from it at different times, whether by Jewifli or Chriflian writers *. By parallel places, we mean thofe pafFages of Scripture, in which the fame precept is reiterated ; the fame hiftorical fa(ft repeated ; or the fame canticle, pfalm or prophecy, entirely or partially reinferted. When, in any of thefe cafes, there is a manlfeft contradidion, or glaring inconfiftency, between the two palTages, we may conclude, that one of them, at leaft, is corrupted; and it is the province of criticifm to determine, from circumflances, where the error and where the truth lies. Examples, not a few, may be feen in Hou- bigant, Kennicott, Starck, &c. With regard to quotations ; if we were fure^ that they had aj- * We fpeak here only of fuch quotations as have been made from the original, whetber exhibited in Hebrew charaders, or in thofe of any othtr language. 22 PROSPECTUS. 'ways been extraded from books, they might be confidered as fo many various readings, of equal eftimation with thofe found in manufcripts of the fame antiquity ; but it may be fufpedled that they were, fometimes made from memory; and, therefore, they are to be examined with care, and adopted with caution. It can- not, however, be denied that they are frequently of ufe in reftor- ing the true reading ; and it were to be wilhed that a ftill more ample colledlion were made of them than has yet been done *. Another moft copious fource of emendation of the Hebrew text, are the tranflations that have been made of it, at different periods, and in different languages ; which, while they ferve, in general, to evidence its authenticity, enable us, at the fame time, to corredl, or even reflore many particular paffages, that are now either en- tirely loft or ftrangely corrupted: an advantage v/hich belongs not, in the fame degree, to any other ancient writing. To illuftrate this by an example — It is w^ell known, that Lon- ginus's celebrated treatife on the fublime has come down to us er- roneous and imperfecl. But if it had been accurately tranflated in- to Latin, while it was yet intire and uncorrupted ; and if many * The various readings in the Talmud and other rabbinical writings were coUef>s, and many excellent occaflonal remarks in the Monthly and Critical Reviews, and Gentleman's Ma- gazine. f See Rutherforth's, and the French Abbe's Letters to Kennicott, Robertfon's Analyfis of the Pentateuch, Baruh's Critica Sacra examined — Durel on the Hebrew text, Home's View, Purver's Annotations. See alfo different works of Schmld, Eichorn, Tychfen, Razenber- ger, &c. &c. 126 PROSPECTUS. Having thus pretty copioufly treated on the principal caufes of the imperfe(5lion of modern verfions, and pointed out what I deem- ed the fureft means of removing them, I will now venture to give my opinion of the diftinguifhing characlers of a good tranflation^ and of the chief qualifications necefTary for a tranflator. Firflof all then, a tranflation of the Bible ought to be faithful; that is, ought to exprefs all the meaning and no more than the meaning of the original. But though this is unlverfally allowed to be the firft quality of a good verfion, it is not eafy to determine how it is to be attained : and one of the greateft difficulties I have met with, was to fix vipon that precife mode of rendering which fhould be the befl: calculated to give a genuine copy of the Scrip- tures, in intelligible Englifli ; without prejudice to the fimplicity and dignity of the originals. Two oppofite extremes were, I knew, to be equally avoided, a wild paraphrafe and a fervile ver- fion ; but in what particular point between them I fhould refl, or ■how the happy medium was to be always preferved, were problems, of which, the more I revolved them in my mind, the more hard I experienced it to find a fatisfaclory folution, I confulted my learned friends ; but they differed fo widely in "their fentiments, that I was more perplexed than before j and, af- ter all, obliged to rely on my own judgment, fuch as it is; and to prefcribe for myfelf one uniform route, that feemed the mofl likely to lead me on, with the leafl danger, to the intended goal. I en- PROSPECTUS. 127 tcred into it with the greater confidence, becaufe it had been trod- den before by Symmachus and Jerom ; and recommended by the befl critics of every age, as the fureft way to fucceed. My tranllation, then, is neither literal nor verbal; but, if I may ufe the term, fb'i^lly fentential ; that is, every lentence of the Eng- lifh correfponds as exa(5lly to the Hebrew, as the difference of the two idioms will permit; and although I have not made myfelf fo much a flave to the original, as to adopt its peculiar phrafeology and conftrucflion, where they greatly differed from our own, I have always kept as clofely to it as was compatible with the ideas I had formed to myfelf of a good tranflation *. I am not ignorant of the arguments that are urged in favour of a fervilely literal verfion. I have long and fcrioufly pondered them, and found them to be light as air. The chief, and indeed the only fpecious one, is that in a free tranflation, there is no fmall danger of fubftituting the tranflator's ideas, in the room of the author's ; and confequently of mifleading the reader: but it would be eafy to prove that this danger is greater in literal verfions ; and that Pagni- nus and Montanus are lefs faithful guides than even Caftalio, Mi- chaelis or Wynne. It is indeed abfolutely impoffible to tranflate literally from any language whatever, without being often barba- * Tranflatio vera cjl cujiu fenfus a fuo fonte non deviat, fed fentcntiai reddit et lafdtm cl ae- quales. Greg, de Valentia apud Walton. 1^8 PROSPECTUS. rous, obfcure and equivocal ; and this alone is a fufEcient reafon for tranflating freely *. For perfpiculty is the fecond moft eflential quality of a good tranllation ; nor need we the authority of Horace or Ariftotle to eftabllfla a propofition fo agreeable to common fenfe. The Jewifh, like all other writers, certainly wrote to be underftood. The poets ■and prophets themfelves are not obfcure on account of their ftile ; which, though bold and figurative, mufl have been perfedly intel- ligible when they wrote ; but from our imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew idiom and of the cuftoms and manners of thofe times. A tranllator, therefore, who, under the pretext that his originals are * From this the reader muft by no means infer that my tranflation is not a clofe one. Be- . tween loofe and liberal the diftance is great ; and even of liberal tranllations there are many va- rious kinds ; feme of which are little different from what is often, though improperly, called a literal verfion. Wlial I mean is, that perfpicuity and the other qualities of a good tranflation . ought never to be facrificed to a fcrupulous adiierence to tlie letter of the original : and, in- deed, an Englifh tranflator will not often have occafion to make fuch facrifices. Our lan- guage eafily moulds itfelf into the Hebrew form; and it rarely happens that we are under any neceffity of having recourfe to paraphraze or circumlocution, to exprefsthe full meaning of the text. Even when the fyntaclieal arrangement is different, there is a ftriking equipollence of fimplicity, concifenefs and energy to be attained; which, perhaps no other modern lan- guage can boaft of; and which is not found in ours, with regard to any other language, btt the Hebrew. With this natural advantage, I flatter myfelf I (hall be able to give a verfion in nearly as few words as are in the original ; and, at any rate, lefs vcrbofe than even our pre- fent vulgar tranflation. The very few liberties I have taken with the text, to render my ver- fion more intelligible, and I flatter myfelf more encrgic; and the fmall deviations I have made from the track of my anteceflbrs, for the fake of a more eafy and unembaralTed march, ihall be noted and examplified, in my General preface. :• PROSPECTUS. 129 obfcure, afFedls to give an obfcure tranflatlon, betrays either his idlenefs or his ignorance ; offers an infult to his reader ; and throws an oblique ridicule on the author he pretends to interpret. If the Scriptures are at all to be tranflated, of which we can have no doubt, they fliould certainly be made as plain and perfpicuous as poffible ; and not a fingle ambiguity fliould be left in them that can be by any means removed. That there arc certain myfterious words of the originals, which fliould not be rendered, may be a pious, but is not a rational notion. The Greek and Hebrew are not, of their own nature, more facred languages than the Welch or Wallachian : and furely, to a mere Englifli reader, pafs-over and praife ye the Lord, are not lefs fignificant and far more edifying founds than pafch^ and hallelujah. A third quality of a good verfion is elegance ; but an elegance of a fpecial kind, and of peculiar charatflerifticks. That an elegant tranflation of the Bible has a great advantage over a barbarous one, is ftrongly verified by that of Luther ; which would never have been fo well received at firft, nor continued fo long the favourite of the German nation ; if it had not, in an eminent degree, poffeffed the charms of an inchanting (lilc, and all the graces of a corredl and elegant didlion. The idle fneer of F. Simon, " that Luther " feemed to have only in view to make the Holy Ghoft fpeak good " German," is in reality a great panegyric; and the aim of Luther ought to be that of every other tranflator. It is an odd manner of ■ R 130 PROSPECTUS. conciliating the tafte and fixing the attention of the reader, to tell, him, you defpife elegancy of compolition. But how is this elegancy to be acquired? Perhaps, it is not entirely to be acquired. It muft be, in part, the gift of nature; but the talent may certainly be cultivated and improved ; and the ob- fcrvation of the following rules, I apprehend, will be found contri- hutive to that purpofe. In the firft: place, a tranflator of tafte will be careful to make ae jufl and proper feledion of terms. Secondly, he will arrange them, in the moll natural order. Thirdly, he will rejedl all meretrici- ous ornaments. Let us illuftrate thefe rules by a few examples. A proper choice of terms is the firft and perhaps the hardefl duty of a tranflator. It is even harder for him, than for an ori- * ginal compofer. The latter may accomodate the fentence to his v/ords ; but the former is under an abfolute neceflity of adapting words to fentences. Now as there is, in no language, a perfed: Jynonymity of any two terms, it becomes a matter of great difficulty to make always a jufl diftin(5lion. The fame Hebrew word, Ge- nefis i. i6. has been rendered lights, luminaries, and illuminations. The firfl was the term adopted by our laft tranflators; the fecond is ufcd by Wells, Stackhoufe, and Doddj and the third by Lookup: but whoever examines the analogical propriety of the three terms, and compares them with the original, will clearly perceive, that lu7ninaries is here a more luitable term than lights, and lights thaai PROSPECTUS. 131 illuminations — To divide, to feparatc, and to dijlinguijjj arc words of nearly the fame fignification ; yet I lliould fay, " to divide a vic- *' tim, a portion, an inheritance, the land, the fpoil; to JeparateY\Q\\t " from darknefs, waters from waters, the fons of Levi from the " other tribes ; to dijlingui/h the clean from the unclean, the holy *' from the profane, the children of Ifrael from the Egyptians." It may, however, happen that a word fhall properly enough ex- prefs the meaning of the original, and yet be inelegant and inad- miffible ; either, becaufe it is altogether obfolete, or is of low and trite ufage, or has fome ludicrous idea annexed to it, or, in fine, favours of afFecflation and pedantry. In all thefe cafes a judicious tranflator will fubftitute fome more modern, more noble, more de- cent, and more unaffeded term ; though, perhaps, it fhould not be quite fo fignificant and emphatical. Albeit^ fet, hofeny leafing^ Jith^ feeth, fod were in the days of our forefathers as exprellive and con- gruous words, as thofe we now ufe inflead of them ; yet no tran*- flator, who ftudies elegance, will admit them into his verfion ; much lefs will he admit fuch indelicate vulgarifms, as we find in almofl every page of Purver's tranflation ; or fuch quaintnefs of exprellion, as is too often chargeable on Le Cene *. All this, I think, will be readily granted by thofe who are in the leaft acquainted with the laws of good writing. But, in the * Both thefe vices are wonderfully united in a ridiculous and. profane verfion of the New Teftament, publilhed with the Greek, in two volumes oflavo, in the year 1729. R 2 13a PROSPECTUS. courfe of my laDours, a doubt has occurred, relative to this fubjedl; which I wifh to propofe to the confideration of the learned. It has been, I believe, a generally received idea that a tranflator fhould prefer words that are originally of the language into which be tran- llates, to words that have been adopted from other languages; and, Iconfefs, I was once ftrongly prepofTefFed with this idea. For why, faid I, fliould we have recourfe to Greek and Latin, when we can find equivalent terms of good Saxon etymology ? I am now convinced I was in the wrong; and that words of a foreign extra(5lion are, not feldom, preferable to thofe of our own growth. I will give my reafons, and fupport them by examples. It will not, I think, be denied, that, of words equally fignifi- cant, thofe are the moft eligible, which are the leaft produ(5live of ambiguity, the leafl liable to receive new and accefTary meanings, and the leafl likely to deviate into tritenefs and vulgarity *. But to me it appears evident, that words, which we have adopted from other languages, have generally all thofe qualities in a greater de- gree than the' original terms of our own. They are therefore ge- ri,erally to be preferred. For this reafon I fhould rather fay to " ejl- '* hhjh''' than ' ' X-ofet up a covenant ;" "to regulate'' rather than " to rule *' the day and the night ;" ahyfi rather than deep ; difmifs rather than fend aivay; parad'ife rather xXxSlW garden; deludge rather thzn food; conflux or affejnblage of waters rather than gathering together of wa- ters; genealogy rather than book of the generations^ &c, * See Michaclis's DiiTertation on the inffucncs of opinions on language. Sz€t. z. PROSPECTUS. ^33 This rule, however, admits of very many exceptions ; and great difcretion, is required in the ufe of it. A word of foreign deriva- tion, though fully naturalized, is often lefs proper than another aboriginal one of the fame fignification. Thus, there is no doubt but that the common verfion of Geneiis xi. 8. "The Lord/catiered •' themj" is preferable to Lookup's: " The Lord dijfipated themj" although perhaps, d'lfperfed would here be better than either. In like manner, I fhould prefer cm ijfue of blood or a blood ijjhe to a fanguinary Jlux ; after thefe things to after thefe tranfaflions ; nakednefs to nudity ; pO'wer to ability ; foolijlmefs to infatuation, &c. It may fometimes even happen, that a word of our own growth and an exotic one of the fame force, are of fuch a nature as to be, xefpeclively, more proper in one circumflance, and lefs fo in another. Thus, of the terms drunk and inebriated, I fhould ufe the firfl, Job xii. 1^, " he maketh them to ftagger, like a drunk man :" but the latter Gen. ix. 21. " and he drunk of the wine until he was inebri- " ated;^^ forreafons which, I think, willbe obvious to every intelli- gent reader. I would not in the laft inftance tranflate intoxicated with Lookup ; becaufe intoxication does not properly denote drunk- ennefs, in as far as it proceeds fromexcefs in drinking; but from a poifonous quality fuppofed to be in the drink. Again, though cq/l out and expel be both good words, yet, if I am not deceived, the laft v/ould be the moft proper word Gen. iii. 24. " So he expelled the *' man," &c. but, in the mouth of Sarah, Gen. xxi, 10. "Crt,/?ott/that 134 PROSPECTUS. " bond woman" feems to be a more eligible rendering. In fliort, that term is ever to be preferred, which is the mod difcriminateljr cxpreflive of the particular idea, it is meant to convey. Our lalt tranflators paid great attention to this fort of propriety; which gives uncommon beauty and energy to their fliie. They generally, indeed, preferred old Englifh terms to recently imported ones * ; and, at this day, they may appear to have fometimes car- ried that preference beyond due bounds : but we fliould confider, that 1 74 years are pafTed fince their tranflation was made ; and that many words are now grown familiar to us which were not then at all in ufe ; while many others, that were then of the bell ufage, have gradually gone into defuetude. But it is not enough that the words be properly chofen ; they muft alfo be properly arranged, we are told that Addifon was fo fcrupuloufly nice in this particular, that he would often alter a whole paper for the fake of a few niifplaced particles. Be this as it may, it is certain that nothing contributes more to elegance than the appofite arrangement of words. " In the beginning God cre- ated the heaven and the earth," and *' God created the heaven and *' the earth in the beginning," are in reality compofed of the fame terms : but how flat is the lall, which is Purver's tranflation, com- * Sometimes, howe%'er, they abandoned this mode of rendering without necefllty, and even to the detriment of their verfion. Ezek. ix. 1 1. They tranflate " the Ta?ia reported the matter" inllead of " the man brought back word"; tliough the laft be not only a more Enghfh, but alfo a more literal tranflation. PROSPECTUS. r^c pared with the firft, which is the common one ? It is equal, as to the meaning, whether we fay with Lookup : " They had ferved Che- *' dorlaomer twelve years, and rebelled in the thirteenth," or with King James's tranflators, " Twelve years they had ferved Chedorla- *' omer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled ;" yet it will not,: ^ we prefume, be denied that the latter is by far the mofl elegant mode of arrangement *. With regard to meretricious ornaments, the flrid mode of ren- dering which, thofe who have translated the Scriptures have ge- nerally prefcribed to themfelves, has luckily preferved them from falling into tliat defed : and this is, perhaps, the ftrongcft argu- ment that can be urged in favour of literal verfions. The flile of Pliny, Seneca, or even of Cicero might be clothed, with fome de- gree of feeming propriety, in the Englifh drefs of a Stanhope, or Leftrange; but Caefar, Sallufl, or Demofthenes would appear ftrangely metamorphofed in fuch a garb. Lefs ftill does the facred Scripture admit of this fort of embellifhment. The elegance that * From an improper arrangement of words arifes, not only inelegance, but often obfcurity and fometimes a mifapprehenfion of the tranflator's meaning. Inftances of this are extremely frequent in Purver. But I (Lall prefent the reader with one from the common verfion. In Ezek. vi. 12. we find thefe words: "And thou flialt eat it as barley- cakes, and thou flialt " bake it with dung that cometh out of a man, in their fight." By this arrangement it fhould feem, as if the dung were to come out of the man, in the fight of the people; nor does the com- ma after nutn, entirely remove the ambiguity : whereas, tranfpofe the words thus, as tliey indeed ftand in the original: •' As barley-cakes thou fhalt eat it, and with dung, that cometh *' from man, thou (halt bake it in their fight." The fenfe is plain and obvious, the turn, if I am not miftaken, lefs profaical, and yet the tranflation more literal than before. 156 PROSPECTUS. fuits it is fimple and unafFeded ; not the elegance of a court-lady decked out for a ball or birth-day, but that of rural beauty in her Sunday's apparel, modeftly decorated with fuch flowers as grow in her native meads. The example of Caflalio, whofe greateft and almoft only fault was an affedlation to adorn his verfion with ex- otic finery, fliould be a powerful warning to all future tranflators, to avoid repeating an experiment that proved unfuccefsful even in his hands. Compare his Latin verfion with that of Houbigant, or Harwood's Englifla New Teftament with the vulgar tranllation, and you will have a flriking illuftration of what I have here advanced. A fourth quality of a good tranflation is as ftridl a uniformity of flile and manner as is confiftent with the other foregoing pro- perties. It fliould not be clofe in one place and free in another ; fometimes corre(5l, and at other times carelefs ; here, arrayed in the robes of a fafliionable tafte, and there, only covered with the rags of rufticity ; much lefs mufl: it appear a piece of patch work by diifer- ent hands. fer'uelur ad imum ^alis ab incepto procejferit, et j%i conjlet. It does not, however, hence follow, that the fame words or even the fame phrafes fliould always, and without the leafl; variation, be rendered in the fame manner. Thofe critics, who have required this, have reqviired too mvich. A compliance with fo rigorous a law would often produce a tranflation not only unintelligible but PROSPECTUS. 137 extremely erroneous. "When Lookup, Gen. v. i. tranflates "This *' is the roll of the hiflories of Adam," he tranflates with fome fort •of propriety, becaufe the Hebrew word there fignifies a narrati've^ and narratives were commonly written on rolls: but when. Gen. XV. 5. he renders the fame Hebrew term by the fame vernacular one: " Look toward the roll oi the ftars," he gives to the word roll an acceptation of which it is not fufceptible; and, perhaps, im- prelTes a falfe idea on the mind of his reader. For who would ima- gine that roll here were the fame as number ; and not rather that it meant rolling or rotation ? not to mention that the original word is in this place a verb, and well rendered in the common verfion, ■tell; ft ill better by Bate, number. It is, then, enough that the fame word or phrafe be, in the fame =circumftances and in the fame acceptation, tranflated in the fame manner: nor can this be confidered as a hard reftridion on the tran- flator ; for if he has once hit on a good term or mode of expreffion, why would he feek to change it merely for the fake of variety, at ■the rifk of ftumbling on a worfe ? Yet this general uniformity in tranflating fhould not preclude a particular attention to that diverfity of ftile which characterifes the different Scripture-writers. This is a fifth quality of a good tran- flation, which, however difficult to attain, ought certainly and by all means, to be aimed at. The hiftorical parts of the Bible are not to be rendered in the fame manner, as the poetical ; nor thefe, as the S 138 PROSPECTUS. fentential. The ftile of the book of Job is not the ftlle of Ifaiah, nor the flile of Ifaiah that of any other prophet. Every writer, whe- ther facred or profane, has fomething peculiar to himfelf, and it ought to be the endeavour of a tranflator to retain as much as pof- fible of that pecuharity. He muft, as Bifhop Lowth finely ex- prefles it, *' imitate his features, his air, his gefture, and, as far as " the difference of language will permit, even his voice." By this time the reader will be fufficiently prepared to draw this inference — That a good tranflation of the Bible is a moft arduous tafk ; and he will, probably, wonder at the refolution, or rafhnefs, of that individual, who ventures fingly to undertake it. Nor will his aftonifhment be IclTened by viewing the following fketch of the neceffary qualifications of a tranflator ; which with a trembling hand I now venture to delineate. A tranflator, then, mufl in the firfl place be well acquainted with the language from which, and the language into which he tranflates; and, for that purpofe, mufl have made a long and fe- rious ftudy of both. It is even hard to fay, to which of them he ought to have paid the greatefl attention : fo nearly balanced are the inconveniences that would enfue from inattention to either. It is indeed natural enough to fuppofe that a due knowledge of that language, which we have been accuflomed to fpeak from our infancy, would be much more eafily acquired, than that of one, which we are obliged to learn, by the dint of memory, from books. PROSPECTUS. 139 But that very facility with which we attain our mother-tongue in a certain degree of Idiomatical propriety, is a real obftacle to our attaining it in perfecllon. We are too apt to imagine that he, who readily exprefTes himfelf, cxpreffes himfelf well ; and the negligen- ces and even the folecifms of a familiar or provincial flile, will fometimes imperceptibly fteal into our mofl elaborate compofitions. There is no colloquial dialedl perfectly pure : not that of the capi- tal, not that of the court, not that of the college ; and many expref- iions iffue daily from the mouths of our mod accurate and polite ipeakers, that would not bear the tell of a fevere criticifm. A writer mud, therefore, be continually on his guard againft the ob- trufion of a low and vulgar phrafeology, and weigh every word and fentence with grammatical Ikill and logical precilion. On the other hand the difficulty of learning a dead language is evident ; efpecially of fuch a language as the Hebrew. The com- pofitions in it are few, and incorredly tranfmitted to us : the belt lexicons are yet very imperfecl : the fignification of many words is extremely dubious, and their etymology very often equivocal. Hence he, who afpires at but a competent knowledge of it, mufl frequently have recourfe to the other Oriental diale' lllil III Illlllll 'II D 000 711 386 3 Ml! !il M WW mu Ti^TTTt\TTTTiTnTTT iiMitUtiaWiiilidii NT¥rk»fcil»