It is our purpose, in this and subsequent articles, if the Lord will, to compare the various versions of the sacred Scriptures from the translation of the Authorized Version in 1611 to the present time. There were several translations current at that time; but the Authorized Version—in the production of which King James had taken a leading role—emerged eventually in 1611 as the official Bible of the nation; and in the words of Sir Frederick G. Kenyon, became the personal treasure and the national glory of the English people”.
Since then a great number of manuscripts have been found and examined by scholars, so that modern translators have much more material at hand than those who produced the Authorized Version.
The Revised Version of the New Testament was completed in 1881, and of the Old Testament in 1885. The Revised Standard Version in its complete form was published in September, 1952. The New English Bible, New Testament, was printed in 1961.
Many versions, especially of the New Testament, have been translated by individual scholars, and do not carry the authority or, shall we say, are without the value of translations stemming from the interchange of thought among a group of scholars.
But no translators claim that they have produced a perfect Bible.
The Abbreviations to be used are as follows:
A.V.—Authorized Version.
R.V.—Revised Version.
M.—Moffatt.
ED.—Emphatic Diaglott.
I.V.—”An Improved Version, upon the basis of Archbishop Newcome’s New Translation”: Published 1808.
Amp. N.T.—The Amplified N.T.
F.—The New Testament in modern English, by Ferror Fenton, 1905.
R.S.V.—Revised Standard Version.
N.E.B.—New English Bible, New Testament. S.—The Authentic N.T. by Dr. Hugh J. Schonfield.
C.B.—.Companion Bible.
Comparisons
James 5. 8:
A.V.—”for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
R.V.—“. . . is at hand.”
M.—”the arrival of the Lord is at hand.” E.D.-–the coming. . . has approached.”
I.V—”the appearance . . . draweth near.”
F.—“the nearness of the Lord approaches.”
2. Cor. 9. 15:
A.V.—“Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.–”The word ‘unspeakable’ tends to be applied now to bad rather than to good things.” L. A. Weigle. (Bible Words in Living Language.)
R.S.V.—”Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!”
Amp. N.T.—”Now thanks be to God for his gift, precious beyond telling—His indescribable free gift.” In this Amp. N.T. the translator includes in the text all the associated words necessary to convey the sense of the original thought.
N.E.B.—“Thanks be to God for his gift beyond words!” (Note that “unto.‘ in the A.V. and R.V. is replaced by “to” in all other versions.)
We will now give a few passages from the A.V. and R.V. which are better phrased in other versions:
Matthew 25:35
A.V.—“I was a stranger and ye took me”
R.S.V.—”… and you welcomed me.”
E.D.—”… and you entertained me.
S.—”… and you refreshed me.”
N.E.B.—”…you took me into your home.” (“you” replaces “ye“. The “ye” is discarded in modern versions.)
Take the phrase used in the A.V. when Christ gave the wine to the disciples:
Matt. 26:27
A.V.—“Drink ye all of it.” A presiding brother needs to be careful in saying this, or it may be misconstrued!
R.S.V.-–Drink of it, all of you.”
N.E.B.-–Drink from it, all of you.–
1 Cor. 6:4
A.V.–“If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. This may be read as a command to appoint one who was least esteemed to give judgment on a matter of law: but Paul immediately corrects this idea by saying, (R.S.V.)—“If then you have such cases why do you lay them before those who are least esteemed by the church? I speak this to your shame. Can it be that there is no man among you wise enough to decide between members of the brotherhood?”
C.B.—Gives “least esteemed” as “counted as nothing.”
Amp. N.T.—”If then you do have such cases of every day life to decide, why do you appoint (as judges to lay them before), those who (from the standpoint of the church) count for least and are without standing.”
The Library of St. Catherine’s Monastery digitises ancient texts