THE LETTERS OF ST. PAUL.
The Letters of St. Paul. Translated by Arthur S. Way, M.A. (Macmillan and Co. 5s. net.)—Mr. Way, after acquitting himself with great success in versions of Homer, Euripides, Apollonius Ithodius, and Horace, makes a bolder venture. He translates Nt. Paul's " Letters,"—the substitution of the word for " Epistles " is significant. This is to be a version into the vernacular. It, is not exactly a paraphrase ; it is a free transla- tion in which the spirit is kept, the letter dispensed with. We have not space to give at adequate length a specimen of Mr. Way's work; the great value of this lies in the working out of the connection of the Apostle's thoughts and arguments. No writer needs it more, so parenthetic, and, so to speak, so discursive, is his style. Here, however, is .a brief quotation (Gal. vi. 1-5) which will give the reader some idea of the helpfulness of Mr Way's version. There is no particular difficulty in the passage ; yet, probably, most readers will allow that they see more in it after reading this rendering than they saw before :—" My brothers, even if a man have been surprised into the commission of some positive transgression, do you in whom is God's Spirit reinstate such a man, in a spirit all gentleness. Look to your- self : you too may yet be tempted, Ever bear each other's burdens ; fulfil in this way Messiah's Law of Love. If any of you thinks himself too big for such condescension (whereas he is really nothing exceptional), he is the victim of self-delusion. Let each man candidly appraise his own real services to the cause ; then in his acts (not in some fancied superiority over his neighbour) will he find what legitimate ground there is, if any, for his boasting. Ah, but there is not one but will find that he has his own load of sins and infirmities to bear !" It will be observed that this is somewhat expanded, containing one hundred and thirty-five words, while the Authorised Version has eighty- eight, the Revised Version ninety-two, and the original Greek seventy-eight. The whole of Galatians is about half as much again in bulk ; but the added clearness more than compensates.
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