BARHAM ' S BIBLE REVISED—ECCLESIASTES.
Ma. BABHAM appears to be one of those learned men of whom a great country can afford to maintain a few, among its " curiosities of literature," but of whom the multiplication would not much tend to the advancement of useful knowledge or the promotion of orthodoxy. We have got our authorized version, or " English Vulgate," as Mr. Barham calls it rather affectedly; and the general approval of it among scholars, coupled with the solemn attestation of the Church, has given to it among the people, after the lapse of two centuries, something like the infallibility of the ori- ginal text. All critics are agreed that, upon the whole, the sense is given faithfully, and in a rich, picturesque, and idiomatic style, which has ren. dered it one of the standards of our mother tongue. Those who wish for perfect accuracy in the detail may seek it in the common resources of philology ; nor is it likely that any " improved version " will be re. ceived until the Church think it necessary to produce, in council, a new edition of its own work. Looked at, however, as an amateur per- formance, Mr. Barham's work evinces the possession of those qualifica- tions that are indispensable for the task. It requires little scholarship in the critic to perceive that the translator has narrowed his vision to the specialties of the subject, until it has become powerfully microscopic. He is determined to fulfil the prediction that "one jot or tittle shall not pass away." To him her i and chetib have an infinite importance, and the Masoretic points are pregnant with esoteric wisdom. His mind has dwelt among these old Hebrew oracles until it has become quite Oriental. It is so filled with covenants and dispensation; the law and the prophets, the ancient and the modern commentators, the Cabala, the Targums, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate, polyglotts and pentaglotts, the dreams of the Synagogne,,the speculations of the Sehoolmen, and the dogmas of the Church, that he alludes to them as household words, and almost frightens us with the grins catalogue of his authorities.
Mr. Barham comes to his task with the further advantage of an im- plicit faith in the genuineness of the book of Ecclesiastes as the production of Solomon, in the authenticity of the text, and, we suppose, likewise in the verbal inspiration. He is not troubled with Rationalistic doubts; although Hugo Grotias, himself no very profound scholar, was able to detect in it Chaldaisms, Hellenisms, and Syriasms,—internal evidence irreconcileable, in point of chronology, with the hypothesis that Solomon was the author. Our limits prevent us from going critically into the de- tails of the new translation. But we perceive in some parts an excessive refinement, which we think is not justified, and would be condemned, by a profound appreciation of the Hebrew idiom as compared with that of other languages. The very first chapter would afford matter for con- troversy of this kind. For example, why does he reduplicate the use of the word choheleth in Hebrew and in English ? The one word only ex- ists in the original; and, in the Septuagint and all the ancient and modern versions, is rendered "preacher." Mr. Barham seems to understand it as a proper name, and uses the translation of it as an epithet. Surely this is taking liberties with the text, and is hardly tolerable in a disciple of Solomon ben Jarchi, Uzziel, or Maimonides. The Rabbinical doctors must look to it before the translation proceeds further. Again : why are the words habel habalim rendered "in vain are vanities," instead of the old phrase "vanity of vanities,"—which commends itself as in accordance with a general law of the Hebrew tongue, and is transmitted to us, as the proper formula, by the old Greek and Roman translators, who must have heard it when used in the spoken language, at least in the kindred dialects ?
If our space permitted, we could point out what appear to us some other inaccuracies in the translation. For instance, in the third verse-. "Some profit," &c.: we know of no passage in the Hebrew Bible where the word malt is used in any other than an interrogative sense. Again, we see no reason for taking the words rendered "they should execute" in the subjunctive or potential mood; and, the radical word being the same in both cases, we do not see why one should be translated "labour" and the other "execute." The whole force of the sentence appears to us to depend upon the repetition of the word, which gives the idea of the re- doubled toil and endlessness of all human industry.
Mr. Barham has done well in restoring the metrical form; though the principle of Hebrew metre has not yet been satisfactorily determined. The fault has been, that scholars have thought it necessary to look for something corresponding to the laws of quantity in the Greek and Latin languages. If there is anything of the kind, it seems rather to be deter- minable by accent or emphasis—something, with all reverence belt spoken, like that of English doggrel verses, marked by the periodical recurrence of an ictus, without regard to the number of syllables. This is the im- pression we take from listening to the deep sonorous chanting we have heard in the Synagogue; one of the greatest treats a lover of music can have. We remember hearing the late Dr. Herschel], the venerable Chief Rabbi, intone the Decalogne in this manner, which no doubt is tradi- tional; and it disclosed to us at once the true origin of the Gregorian chant. The only certain way, however, of arranging the distichs of He- brew poetry, is that adopted by Mr. Barham from Bishop Lovrth,—ac- cording to the sense. We cannot go into the mysteries of " parallelism," "reduplication," &c.; but will give a brief example.
MR. BARHAM'S ECCLESIASTES—CHAPTER XII.
I Remember now thy Creator In the days of thy youth; While the evil days come not, Nor the years draw nigh, When thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. 2 While the sun and the light of the moon And the stars be not darkened, Nor the clouds return after rain; 8 Ere the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, And the strong men shall bow themselves, And the grinders shall cease because they are few,
And the watchers have their windows darkened.
4 When the doors shall be shut in the street, And the sound of the grinding be low, And the voice of the bird be hushed, And all the daughters of music be depressed 5 When they shall be afraid in high places, And be terrified in the way; When energy shall wither, And festivity shall be a burden, And desire shall fail; For man goeth to his long home, And the mourners go about the streets; 6 When the silver cord is relaxed, And the golden bowl is broken, And the pitcher is shivered at the fountain, And the wheel shattered at the cistern ; 7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, And the spirit shall return to God who gave it.
8 In vain are vanities, Said the preacher—all in vain. 9 And the wiser the preacher became, The more he taught the people knowledge; And he examined and investigated, And arranged many proverbs. 10 The preacher sought to find The words that should be acceptable, And he has written right words of truth.
11 The words of the wise should be as goads, And their decisions should be fixed like nails, That the assemblies may devote themselves To one true discipline.
We may add, that if Mr. Barham had given us the criticisms on which his emendations are founded, we might have been better satisfied as to their value and importance. Wishing not to discourage him in the culti- vation of obsolete learning, we would at the same time remind him, in the language of his author, that
"Of making many books there is no end, And excessive study is weariness to the body."
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