BISHOP ELLICOTT ON THE REVISION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.*

IF the Established Church is to undergo the fate which many of her friends as well as of her enemies believe to be already imminent, she will have the credit of having done in her last days a most distinguished service to the cause of religion. in England. It may safely be asserted that it required all her prestige to give to the proposal for revising what is called the Authorized Version of the Scriptures any chance of acceptance. We can easily imagine how hopeless such a proposal would have been. had it proceeded from the most powerful and respected of the Nonconformist communities, or even, had such a combination beeia possible, from the united action of them all. All would probably admit theoretically the importance of having the translation of the Bible as nearly perfect as possible ; but there is no matter in which the via inertim would be more difficult to over- come, or, indeed, in which stronger arguments might be adduced in favour of that acceptable maxim " Quieta non movere." The advantages under which the Established Church takes the initiative in this movement are very great. The principal obstacle is the dread and dislike, not altogether unrea- * Considerations on the Rerision of the English Version of the New Testament By 0. J. Ellicott, D.D., Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol. London; Longinans. 1870. sonable, of change, and change is never so effectually commended as when it is proposed by a body whose tradition as well as whose interest it is to be conservative. The suspicion of possible advan- tage in doctrinal and disciplinary controversies to be gained by the alteration of disputed renderings cannot be entertained, when the question is opened by the very body which, having constructed her formularies on the basis of the old version, would have obviously most to lose by such alterations. Nor could the allega- tion of incompetence be brought against a Church which enjoys a reputation for learning such as no rival can claim, and which, from the stand-point of her dignity, can issue invitations that are tolerably certain to secure the assistance of the ablest scholars outside her own borders. When, after delay which seemed tedious and excessive to many, but which, it may be allowed, made success more certain, the Bishops proposed revision, it was impossible for any but the most timid or the most ignorant to adhere to their objections. Churchmen were inclined, on the whole, to trust their natural leaders ; and Nonconformists, whose role is progress, could not lag behind.

We shall probably have to wait some time before we have any opportunity of seeing what has been done by the " Companies " which have been formed for carrying on the work. Meanwhile the volume before us may be taken as an expositor of the spirit and feeling with which that work will be approached, and may also enable us to judge what amount of change will be made,—in fact, what sort of thing the revised translation will be. Dr. Ellicott, more than any other man, represents the movement which he has done so much to help forward ; his reputation as a commentator is deservedly high ; and the caution of his criticism is exactly such as will commend itself to the general opinion of those who are interested in the matter. Dr. Ellicott's book, which, as our readers will have observed, refers to the New Testament only— naturally divides itself into two parts,—the settlement of the text of the original, and the change of received renderings. As to the text, the course to be pursued seems tolerably plain. That the "Received Text" has no critical value whatever is a fact which it requires but a most elementary knowledge of the case to accept. It must not be supposed that it is actually very bad, differs very widely from what we suppose a really perfect text might be. It is not corrupt, for instance, in the way that the text of the Supplices of ZEschylus is corrupt ; nor has it been extensively altered and interpolated. But it possesses no authority in respect of any critical care used in forming it, or of the excellence of the critical apparatus which was then available. "In the fourth edition of Erasmus," says Dr. Ellicott, "we really have the mother-text of our own Authorized Version." The fourth edi- tion of Erasmus was not, in any very marked degree, an improvement on the first, and the first represented six months' work of a man whose Greek scholarship was not of the very first order, and who had to work with materials of inferior quality, con- sulting absolutely no first-class MS. (the one that he had at hand, the Codex Basiliensis, he did not use, because it differed so much from his own). It is a specimen, though, it must be allowed,

an extreme one, of the way in which the text was formed, that, having to supply a lacuna in the Book of Revelation, Erasmus translated the Vulgate into Greek. Some of these renderings

seem still to hold their place. The additions which have been made to our critical apparatus since the days of Erasmus are immense. The reader will find a good summary of them in Dr. Ellicott's book. But even with them we cannot, be thinks, and thinks doubtless rightly, venture on the task of settling a new text. The practical course which in his judgment the revisers will have to follow will be to settle every question as it comes up. Even here— and this is the easiest part of their work—no small task lies before them. Every impugned passage of any importance, however

small its claim, will find defenders. We lately noticed that Mr. Godwin, who has a character for somewhat advanced opinions among his brethren, defends the last paragraph of St. Mark's Gospel. Even so desperate a cause as the text of "The Three Witnesses" does not want champions. The only safe guide that the revisers can follow will be the rigid determination to decide these questions on purely critical ground, absolutely to banish all theo- logical considerations, and even, we should say, to neglect the considerations of internal evidence on which a private and, so to

speak, irresponsible critic may act. Then cornea the question of renderings. We naturally ask at once, how much change will

there be? The answer must depend in a measure upon what may be done with the text. But Bishop Ellicott, judging from what was found necessary by the "Four Clergymen," who pub- lished a few years ago a revision of the four Gospels and the first three Epistles of St. Paul, calculates that the changes of rendering necessitated by changes of text would be about one for every five verses throughout the New Testament, many of these being of a very unimportant character. The amount of change due to considerations of grammar and general exegesis would be larger, about one in each verse. But we cannot do better than quote a specimen which the Bishop has himself pre- pared, which, though, of course, possessing no authority, probably represents what would be the average result of a revision. The Epistles, it will be remembered, will require more change than the Gospels ; and in the difficult Epistle to the Romans the maximum will probably be reached. We have put the Authorized Version and the Suggested Version in parallel columns, italicizing the alterations made in the latter :—

Some of the more important of these alterations (none of which are textual), those, viz., wherein the article is restored, are happily beyond all controversy. But the passage is, as Dr. Ellicott says, very trying to a reviser. A specimen of the difficulties which will beset him may be found in another passage which has no theo- logical importance, but about which it will be very difficult to come to a conclusion. In the parable of Dives and Lazarus, our version has, after the words describing the misery and poverty of the beggar, "Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores ;" " moreover " representing FaXic acci. The question is, do these two conjunctions signify that the licking was an alleviation or an aggravation of the suffering? 'AXXci suggests the former, ace) the latter ; and this seems better to accord]with the way in which an Eastern thinks of a dog. Yet the majority of commentators hold the other view. So Mr. Maurice, whose instinct in such a matter one would feel disposed to trust, speaks of it "as a beautiful symbol of the sympathy which outward nature and the animal creation expressed for those whom God's chosen witnesses were neglecting." What would probably be done in such a case would be to leave the words alone. Other phrases, very difficult to render, cannot be left. Too; o'wolkiyou;, for instance, can- not be represented by the Calvinistic "such as should be saved." We have not said anything about the style, because on that point everyone seems to be agreed. Bishop Ellicott puts the matter very well when he says, "We must never be reminded that we are not hearing the old Version." If the " Company " can effect this, they need not fear criticism. Another point of import- ance, the present division into chapters and verses, has to be con- sidered. We.gather that the Bishop wishes the opportunity for revising this arbitrary arrangement to be fully used, especially as regards the chapters, though when he writes, "here, at least, we may express the hope that the otherwise safe principle of a mini- mum of alteration will be observed in any future revision," we are driven to conjecture that a " not " has been omitted. There can, we think, be no objection to the restoration of the ancient sections. We take leave of Bishop Ellicott's book with the feeling that its

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"12. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned :

" 13. (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not im- puted when there is no law.

"14. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

"15. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, bath abounded unto many.

"16. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift : for the judgment was by one to condemna- tion, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

"17. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one : much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteous- ness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) "18. Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation ; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."—(Romans v., 12-18.) , Suear.STED Vrastolc.

"For this cause, as by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death ; and so death passed through unto all men, for that all sinned. For until the law sin was in the world ; but sin is not im- puted when there is no law. Never- theless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is the type of him that was to come. Howbeit not as the trespass so also is the free gift. For if by the trespass of the one the many died; much more did the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by the one man, Jesus Christ, abound unto the many. And not as it was through one that sinned, so is the gift ; for the judgment came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification. For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one ; much more shall they which receive the abundance of the grace and of the gift of righteous- ness, reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ. Wherefore, as through one trespass it came unto all men to condemnation ; even so through one righteous act it came unto all men to justification of life." tone of moderation and wisdom will do much to help forward a great work.