Bible

Bible, the English form of the Greek name Biblia, meaning “books,” the name which in the fifth century began to be given to the entire collection of sacred books, the “Library of Divine Revelation.” The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists of sixty-six different books, composed by many different writers, in three different languages, under different circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests, tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet, after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man’s redemption. It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The names given to the Old in the writings of the New are “the scriptures” (Matt. 21:42), “scripture” (2 Pet. 1:20), “the holy scriptures” (Rom. 1:2), “the law” (John 12:34), “the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms” (Luke 24:44), “the law and the prophets” (Matt. 5:17), “the old covenant” (2 Cor. 3:14, R.V.). There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament and the New. (See APOCRYPHA.) The Old Testament is divided into three parts:, 1. The Law (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses. 2. The Prophets, consisting of (1) the former, namely, Joshua, Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings; (2) the latter, namely, the greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets. 3. The Hagiographa, or holy writings, including the rest of the books. These were ranked in three divisions:, (1) The Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, distinguished by the Hebrew name, a word formed of the initial letters of these books, emeth, meaning truth. (2) Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, called the five rolls, as being written for the synagogue use on five separate rolls. (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles. Between the Old and the New Testament no addition was made to the revelation God had already given. The period of New Testament revelation, extending over a century, began with the appearance of John the Baptist. The New Testament consists of (1) the historical books, viz., the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; (2) the Epistles; and (3) the book of prophecy, the Revelation. The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later period, in the ninth century A.D., into verses. Our modern system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced by Cardinal Hugo about the middle of the thirteenth century (he died 1263). The system of verses for the New Testament was introduced by Stephens in 1551, and generally adopted, although neither Tyndale’s nor Coverdale’s English translation of the Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it is very useful. (See VERSION.)

The Bible is the name given to the revelation of God to man contained in sixty-six books or pamphlets, bound together and forming one book and only one, for it has in reality one author and one purpose and plan, and is the development of one scheme of the redemption of man. I. ITS Names.— (1) The Bible, i.e. The Book, from the Greek “ta biblia,” the books. The word is derived from a root designating the inner bark of the linden tree, on which the ancients wrote their books. It is the book as being superior to all other books. But the application of the word BIBLE to the collected books of the Old and New Testaments is not to be traced farther back than the fifth century of our era. (2) The Scriptures, i.e. the writings, as recording what was spoken by God. (3) The Oracles, i.e. the things spoken, because the Bible is what God spoke to man, and hence also called (4) The Word. (5) The Testaments or Covenants, because it is the testimony of God to man, the truths to which God bears witness; and is also the covenant or agreement of God with man for his salvation. (6) The Law, to express that it contains God’s commands to men. II. COMPOSITION.—The Bible consists of two great parts, called the Old and New Testaments, separated by an interval of nearly four hundred years. These Testaments are further divided into sixty-six books, thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New. These books are a library in themselves being written in every known form old literature. Twenty-two of them are historical, five are poetical, eighteen are prophetical, twenty-one are epistolary. They contain logical arguments, poetry, songs and hymns, history, biography, stories, parables, fables, eloquence, law, letters and philosophy. There are at least thirty-six different authors, who wrote in three continents, in many countries, in three languages, and from every possible human standpoint. Among these authors were kings, farmers, mechanics, scientific men, lawyers, generals, fishermen, ministers and priests, a tax-collector, a doctor, some rich, some poor, some city bred, some country born—thus touching all the experiences of men extending over 1500 years. III. UNITY.—And yet the Bible is but one book, because God was its real author, and therefore, though he added new revelations as men could receive them, he never had to change what was once revealed. The Bible is a unit, because (1) It has but one purpose, the salvation of men. (2) The character of God is the same. (3) The moral law is the same. (4) It contains the development of one great scheme of salvation. IV. ORIGINAL LANGUAGES.—The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, a Shemitic language, except that parts of the books of Ezra (Ezra 5:8; 6:12; 7:12-26) and of Daniel (Daniel 2:4-7,28) and one verse in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 10:11) were written in the Chaldee language. The New Testament is written wholly in Greek. V. ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE ORIGINAL.—There are no ancient Hebrew manuscripts older than the tenth century, but we know that these are in the main correct, because we have a translation of the Hebrew into Greek, called the Septuagint, made nearly three hundred years before Christ. Our Hebrew Bibles are a reprint from what is called the Masoretic text. The ancient Hebrew had only the consonant printed, and the vowels were vocalized in pronunciation, but were not written. Some Jewish scholars living at Tiberias, and at Sora by the Euphrates, from the sixth to the twelfth century, punctuated the Hebrew text, and wrote is the vowel points and other tone-marks to aid in the reading of the Hebrew; and these, together with notes of various kinds, they called Masora (tradition), hence the name Masoretic text. 0F the Greek of the New Testament there are a number of ancient manuscripts They are divided into two kinds, the Uncials, written wholly in capitals, and the Cursives, written in a running hand . The chief of these are— (1) the Alexandrian (codex Alexandrinus, marked A), so named because it was found in Aiexandria in Egypt, in 1628. It date back to A.D. 350, and is now in the British Museum. (2) The Vatican (codex Vaticanus, B), named from the Vatican library at Rome, where it is kept. Its date is A.D. 300 to 325. (3) The Sinaitic (codex Sinaiticus) so called from the convent of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai, there it was discovered by or Tichendorf in 1844. It is now at St. Petersburg Russia. This is one of the earliest best of all the manuscripts. VI. TRANSLATIONS.—The Old Testament was translated into Greek by a company of learned Jews at Alexandria, who began their labor about the year B.C. 286. It is called the Septuagint, i.e. the seventy, from the tradition that it was translated by seventy (more exactly seventy-two) translators. The Vulgate, or translation of the Bible into Latin by Jerome, A.D. 385-405, is the authorized version of the Roman Catholic Church. The first English translation of the whole Bible was by John Deuteronomy Wickliffe (1324-1384)

BI'BLE "The Holy Bible" is the name given to the collection of books which contains the revelation of God in the creation, redemption, and sanctification of the world; a history of the past dealing of God with his people; a prophecy of coming events till the final consummation; and a living exhibition of saving truth in doctrine, precept, and example for all men and all time. The name is from the Greek (?ra. ^l^Ala?, "the books"), and means the Book of books, the best of all books (so used since the fifth century in distinction from heretical and all uninspired writings). The collection is likewise spoken of as the "Scriptures," "the word of God." The Bible embraces the work of about forty authors from all classes of society, from the shepherd to the king, living during an interval of sixteen hundred years, but all of the Hebrew extraction, with the single exception of Luke, whose Gospel, however, came from Jewish sources, and whose fame from his association with Paul. All forms of literary composition unite to give the Bible its unique interest, aside from its religious importance. These books, though differing in age, contents, and style, represent one and the same system of truth as revealed by God in its various aspects and adaptations to the existing wants and progressive understanding of his people. The Bible is not a book simply; it is an institution. It never grows old; it renews its youth with every age of humanity, and increases in interest and importance as history advances. It is to the Christian the only infallible source and rule of his faith and conduct; it is his daily bread of life, his faithful guide in holy living and dying, his best friend and companion — far more precious than all other books combined. It is now more extensively studied than ever, and its readers will continue to multiply from day to day to all parts of the earth and to the end of time. Let us add some testimonies to its importance. The eloquent F. W. Robertson says: "This collection of books has been to the world what no other book has ever been to a nation. States have been founded on its principles; kings rule by a compact based on it; men hold it in their hands when they give solemn evidence affecting death or property; the sick man is almost afraid to die unless the Book be within reach of his hands; the battle-ship goes into action with one on board whose office is to expound it; its prayers, its psalms, are the language we use when we speak to God; eighteen centuries have found no holier, no diviner language. The very translation of it has fixed language and settled the idioms of speech. It has made the most illiterate peasant more familiar with the history, customs, and geography of ancient Palestine than with the localities of his own country. . . . The orator holds a thousand men for half an hour breathless, a thousand men as one listening to his single word. But this word of God has held a thousand nations for thrice a thousand years spell-bound — held them by an abiding power, even the universality of its truth; and we feel it to be no more a collection of books, but the Book." The translators of the A. V., in their Address unto the Reader (reprinted in the Cambridge Paragraph Bible), say of the Bible: "And what marvel? — the original thereof being from heaven, not from earth; the author being God, not man; the inditer, the Holy Spirit, not the wit of the apostles or prophets; the penmen, such as were sanctified from the womb and endued with a principal portion of God's Spirit; the matter, verity, piety, purity, uprightness; the form, God's word, God's testimony, God's oracles, the word of truth, the word of salvation, etc.; the effects, light of understanding, stableness of persuasion, repentance from dead works, newness of life, holiness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost; lastly, the end and reward of the study thereof, fellowship with the saints, participation of the heavenly nature, fruition of an inheritance immortal, undefiled, and that shall never fade away. Happy is the man that delighteth in the Scripture, and thrice happy that meditateth in it day and night!" The Bible is ordinarily divided into two parts, called the Old and New Testaments. But it would be more accurate to say "the Old and New Covenants," inasmuch as "testament" implies the idea of a will and the death of the testator. In the present article the general questions in regard to the Bible will be discussed. The matters relating to the formation of the collection will be found under Canon, and the particulars of the different books under their respective names. The O. T. is written in Hebrew, a Shemitic tongue, differing in most respects very widely from the Japhetic or Aryan languages, to which family ours belongs. The difference is not simply in vocabulary, but in grammatical structure, and also in the manner of writing, which is from right to left, giving rise to the common saying that Hebrew books begin at the last page. It is triliteral — i. e. its words are built up according to certain rules from roots formed of three consonants. The verb has only two tenses, the perfect and the imperfect. There is no proper declension of nouns, and only two genders, masculine and feminine. There are three numbers, singular, dual, and plural. There are no compounds, in our sense of the term; the article, conjunction, and preposition, expressed each by a single consonant, are attached directly to the word. Pronouns undergo a similar treatment, "whether they are the subject or object of verbs or dependent upon other forms of speech. Thus the Hebrew 'and from his land' is written as one word, though it embraces a conjunction, preposition, noun, and pronoun; but this is a mere aggregate, in which each element retains its separate force unchanged, not a compound, in which the several constituents combine in the expression of one idea." — Prof. W. H. Green. Hebrew is highly figurative — pre-eminently fitted for devotion, but by lack of precision singularly unfitted for philosophy. It was therefore just the requisite medium for an introductory revelation. The O. T. does not argue against or analyze or defend any religion in set phrase, but it fills the mind with the knowledge of the true God and inspires the heart in his service. The N. T. was written in Greek, which had, since the Macedonian conquest of Alexander the Great, supplanted Hebrew in common use among the Jews who dwelt in the Roman provinces, and was the medium of communication between all parts of the civilized world. The ancient Greek literature is a perennial source of inspiration and knowledge. The language is at once vigorous and flexible, profound and clear, remarkably well suited to express every variety of thought. It is equally adapted to the concise, the critical, and the commonplace. In short, every order of mind can use it appropriately. It was in that day a better channel than the Hebrew for a divine revelation, and that of the highest kind. Hebrew no longer met the wants of culture. By nature it was hampered. It was the language of monotheism, but not of developed trinitarianism. The N. T. Greek is the Macedonian, and more particularly the Hellenistic, dialect, more or less mixed with Hebraisms, arising from the fact that the writers were Jews. In some books this tinge is very strong, especially in Matthew, Mark, and Revelation. On the contrary, the Greek of James and Luke, particularly in the preface of Luke's Gospel and in the latter part of the Acts, is good and forcible. Paul has a style of his own; broken and involved, interminable at times, as his sentences are, they are bold, pregnant, and lively. But whether with classical finish or unadorned simplicity, in this language the apostles addressed their own countrymen and the Gentiles upon the momentous truths and facts of the everlasting gospel. The Bible, like the Saviour whom it presents, is divine-human in its character. The written word became flesh, as well as the personal Word. The eternal truth of God passed through the mental faculties of the prophets and apostles, and uttered itself in human speech. Its contents were first in the mind, and then written out, either directly by the inspired man or at his dictation. The autographs have perished. We possess at best but copies of other copies. These, although made with reverent care, are not free from the imperfections of human writings. Errors would be perpetuated and new ones constantly made. This was pre-eminently the case with the N. T. The number of textual variations in the Greek N. T. or "different readings," as they are called, amounts to 150,000. And yet we may claim that a special Providence has watched over the purity and integrity of the text of Holy Scripture, since only about 400 of these are of any consequence, the rest being trifles of spelling, etc., and none of these 400 affect a doctrine or precept. 1 The Hebrew Bible of to-day is a reprint of the so-called Masoretic text — i. e. the text punctuated and vocalized by a body of Jewish scholars who lived at Tiberias, and at Sora in the Euphrates valley, from the sixth to the twelfth century, and who committed to writing the mass of traditional notes of all kinds called the Masora — i. e. tradition. Up to the beginning of that period the Hebrew text was written without "points," as the vowel-points are called. These were added, and thus the pronunciation was fixed. By means of other marks punctuation and the tone-syllables were indicated. The separation of the text into verses by means of two dots arranged like a colon and the assortment of the books in a fixed order had been previously effected. It is stated that after the Masoretes had finished their labors all the manuscripts which had not this text were condemned as "profane and illegitimate," which caused most of these rejected copies to perish. Thus the facts that there are very few old Hebrew manuscripts — the oldest dating from the tenth century — and that the same text is found in each, are accounted for. But happily for the scholars of Hebrew, the Masoretes marked their corrections upon the margin instead of inserting them in the text, and therefore they are at liberty to reject or use them. The Hebrew character has changed from an irregular to a square form. The Rabbins, however, in their books employed still another form, which is more cramped. The manuscripts whose use is obligatory in the synagogues to-day are written without punctuation-marks upon rolls, and are very carefully written and preserved. The whole Hebrew Bible was first printed in 1488; a second edition appeared in 1494. This was the one used by Luther. All subsequent Hebrew Bibles have been little more than reproductions of these two editions. 2 The Greek New Testament. — It is quite in keeping with the character of Christianity, which is free, active, bold, and progressive, that the little book upon which it rests for its initial history, its theology, and, to a certain extent, for its polity, should exhibit such diverse elements at work upon it, and likewise that the book itself should exist in so many more or less variant texts. Superstition, which secured the Jew a verbatim copy, as far as possible, of his sacred Scriptures, did not operate to anything like the same extent in the case of the Christians. They esteemed it a great privilege to have the Gospels and Epistles, but as copies multiply in the Church we find the thoughts of the inspired writer are better preserved than his exact words. At all events, the "various readings" increased. A very fruitful source of variation was the habit of writing at dictation, for a word incorrectly heard would be of course incorrectly written. Then, too, the use of "ligatures," or combinations of letters, to save time, the arbitrary signs employed, and the marks of correction or doubt gradually worked into the text from the margin, each and all contributed to destroy the correctness of the copy. Superfluous words, filling out one sentence by piecing to it a part of another (e. g. Rom 8:1 compared with Rom 8:4 shows conclusively that the latter clause of ver. 1 is repeated by inadvertence from ver. 4), marginal glosses which at last crept into the text, — these are some of the unintentional faults of all copies. But these variations evince the lively interest which all classes took in the book, and therefore are an indirect proof of its divinity. They multiply the means for ascertaining the original reading and supersede the necessity of conjecture, to which we must often resort in the case of the ancient classics. So far from being alarmed at this state of things, we see in it the hand of God, who does not want his Church to be bound to the letter, but to be free in the Spirit, and to exercise all its powers of research upon his holy word. In the case of the N. T. the number of manuscripts is very large, considering the labor and expense of transcribing. They are divided into two classes: The uncials, which are written throughout in capitals, and with no division of words or of sentences, and with very few and simple marks of punctuation. The writing is in columns of uniform width, from one to four on a page, the letters filling out the page irrespective of the completion of a word. The material was parchment in book-form. The uncials go down to the tenth century. The most important uncial manuscripts are the Sinaitic of the fourth century (discovered by Prof. Tischendorf in the convent of St. Catherine, on Mount Sinai, 1859, and published in fac-simile, 1862), the Vatican of the same age (in the Vatican Library at Rome), and the somewhat later Alexandrian (in the British Museum, London). The second kind of manuscripts, the cursives, are so called because written in running-hand. The uncial form was, however, retained for some time after this in church copies. From about the eleventh century paper made from cotton or linen superseded parchment. The style of penmanship and other peculiarities in writing enable "diplomatists," as such experts are called, to tell the century to which any given manuscript belongs. The later manuscripts are of little or no critical account since the discovery of the older or uncial manuscripts. The N. T. in Greek was first printed as part of the Complutensian Polyglot, which Cardinal Ximenes patronized, at Alcala, the modern name for the Spanish town Complutum, in 1514, but the Polyglot was not published till 1522. The editors, probably in their ignorance, pretended to have relied for the text upon very ancient manuscripts received from Rome; but as a matter of fact, the manuscripts were comparatively recent and very inaccurate. The first Greek Testament published was that of Erasmus, which appeared in 1516. The so-called "Textus Receptus," or received text, is derived from the second edition of Elzevir, published at Leyden, 1633. It is in the main a copy of Beza's (1565-1589). The typographical beauty of the Elzevir edition and its handy shape, and not its critical merit, determined its acceptance. In England the text of Stephens (1550), which is substantially the same with the text of Elzevir, has often been reprinted and taken as the basis of critical editions from Mills down to Tregelles, although Bentley suggested a new basis from the oldest sources. The text of the N. T. has been brought into its present satisfactory condition after long-continued and patient study, and every Bible student should thank God for the scholars he has raised up to do this work. All honor to the immortal names of Griesbach (1754-1812), Lachmann (1793-1851), Tischendorf (1815-1874), Tregelles (1813-1875), Westcott, and Hort, for to them are we indebted for the oldest and purest text of the Greek Testament which can be attained at the present day, and which makes a revision of our English version at once desirable and safe. 1 The Old Testament. — The Jewish arrangement differs widely from ours. The N. T. recognizes a division of the O. into "the Law and the Prophets," Matt 11:13; Matt 22:40; Acts 13:15, etc., which phrase was doubtless a popular way of speaking of the whole book. We also find a longer phrase, "the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms," Luke 24:44. The Jews divided their sacred Scriptures into (a) the Law — i. e. the five books of Moses, commonly known as the Pentateuch, the five-fold book; (b) the Prophets, divided into the earlier, including Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, First and Second Kings, and later, which are subdivided into the greater — Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel — and the twelve so-called minor prophets; (c) The Holy Writings, or Hagiographa, as they are usually denominated, comprising the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, First and Second Chronicles. In this probably chronological order the books are arranged in the Hebrew Bibles. The Christian division into historical, poetical, and prophetical books is topical and more appropriate. It is not necessary to enumerate the books, as a full list is appended to almost every copy of the Bible. 2 The New Testament is divided into the Gospels, Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles, both Pauline and Catholic (the latter — those of James, Peter, John, and Jude — so called because not addressed to particular churches or individuals, but of universal import), and the Revelation; or more briefly into the historical, the doctrinal, and the prophetical books. The oldest manuscripts vary in their arrangement. Many put the Catholic Epistles immediately after the Acts, while the Sinaitic puts the Pauline Epistles before the Acts. The ancient mode of writing was continuous; no stops of any kind were made, nor were words separated. See article Book. As soon as any break is made we get the germs of a system of division, for these breaks will indicate punctuation, and thus serve the secondary purpose of facilitating reference and remembrance. We find that the division of the sacred text into sections was early made as a matter of necessity, but that chapters and verses were of much later origin. 1 The Old Testament. — The Rabbinic Specimens of existing MSS. of the Scriptures. 4th Cent. Codex Sinaiticus. — 1 Tim. iii. 16. το της ευσεβειας | μυστηριον [θε late corr.] ος ε. 4th Cent. Codex Sinaiticus. — John i. 18. νογενης θ(εο)ς [o ων corr.] εις τον. 4th Cent. Codex Vaticanus. — Mark xvi. 8. στασις και ουδενι ου | δεν ειπαν εφοβουν | το γαρ: 5th Cent. Codex Alexandrinus. — John i. 1. εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην | προς τον θ(εο)ν και θ(εο)ς ην ο λογος 10th Cent. Codex Basiliensis, known to Erasmus, but little used by him. -Luke i. 1-2 nearly, as in all Greek Testaments. division is very elaborate. It originated in the liturgical use in worship; and so, the more the books were used, the more complete was the notation. The N. T. quotations from the O. T. for the most part are cited with no more specific reference than to the book from which they come, but sometimes in other ways: thus, "the bush " quoted from in Mark 12:26 and Luke 20:37 was a familiar section of our present Exodus, and was only one of similar terms for other parts. In like manner, the existence of a cycle of lessons is indicated by Luke 4:17; Acts 13:15; Acts 15:21; 2 Cor 3:14, and this, whether identical or not with the later Rabbinic cycle, must have involved an analogous arrangement to that subsequently adopted. Prof. Plumptre, in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible says:"The Law was divided first, much later the Prophets; the former into fifty-four sections, to correspond with the number of Sabbaths in the Jewish intercalary year. But these sections were subdivided to fit them for reading by different persons in the synagogue service. The Prophets were not so uniformly nor so imperatively divided. Yet in intention these sections corresponded to the sections of the Law, so that they together constitute a 'table of lessons' for Sabbath public use. Some time in the ninth century a.d. the sections were divided into verses." 2 The New Testament. — The Gospels were divided first about the middle of the third century (a.d. 220), by Ammonius of Alexandria, into short chapters, "constructed to facilitate the comparison of corresponding passages of the several Gospels." Later on the Acts, the Pauline and the Catholic Epistles, and finally, about a.d. 500, the Revelation, were thrown into chapters. Our present division of all the books in the Bible into chapters is much later, dating from Cardinal Hugo de St. Cher (died 1263), whose Concordance to the Vulgate popularized the use of verses likewise. This division was introduced into the Latin Bible, and afterward into the Greek O. T. The present system of verses was prepared and introduced by Robert Stephens in his Greek Testament, 1551. While both these divisions are on the whole well made, there are numerous places where correction is loudly demanded; chapters begin in wrong places, and verses end in the midst of a sentence. These divisions are at best necessary evils. The reading of the Bible is interrupted by them, owing to the practice of ending with a chapter. Paragraph Bibles are to be commended, because in them the sections are arranged according to the writer's thought, irrespective of the chapters, and the verses are merely indicated by numbers on the margin. No verses are marked in Tyndale, Coverdale, or the Great Bible. (a) Into Chaldee. — Since the Jews, during the Captivity, had lost command over Hebrew, it became necessary to translate the sacred books into their vernacular, the Chaldee. We find a reference to this state of things in Neh 8:8. These Chaldee translations and paraphrases are called Targums (the word means interpretation), but there is no one which comprises the whole O. T. (b) Into Greek. — The best known is called the Septuagint, and is commonly represented in scholarly books by the Roman numerals LXX. It was made direct from the Hebrew by a company of learned Alexandrian Jews in that city under the patronage of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and begun b.c. 285. It is not of equal fidelity throughout. The name Septuagint — i. e. seventy, a round number for the more exact seventy-two — arose from a tradition that the work was executed in seventy-two days by seventy-two Jewish scholars. The version was made from Egyptian Hebrew manuscripts, and probably at different times, which may account for the inequality. As it now stands, it includes the Apocrypha, but did not at the beginning. Those books were gradually added. The LXX. has exerted great influence, was claimed by the Jews to be inspired, was in universal use among them in Christ's day, is continually quoted by the N. T. writers and by the Greek Fathers, was translated instead of the Hebrew into Latin, and is the authority in the Greek Church to-day. When the Christians in debate quoted it against their Jewish adversaries, the latter awoke to the fact that their own regard for it was excessive, and therefore abandoned it and returned to the study and use of the original Hebrew. Though not literal, and perhaps intentionally so, it is very valuable in explaining the Hebrew text. Other Greek translations were made by Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus, but they exist only in fragments. (c) Into Siriac. — A translation into this language, made by Christians, direct from the Hebrew, called the Peshito (simple, because it was literal, and not paraphrastic), was in common use in the fourth century, but probably dates from the latter part of the second. It is the earliest of these direct versions. (d) Into Latin. — The one called the Itala, made from the Septuagint, existed very early in the Latin Church. But the one which is now the "authorized version " in the Church of Rome was made by Jerome, the most learned Christian of his day, directly from the Hebrew, a.d. 385-405. It is called the Vulgate, and was declared by the Council of Trent (1563) to be of equal authority with the original Bible. All Roman Catholic versions must be conformed to it. It was very natural that the first book printed was the Bible. Gutenberg, the inventor of the art of printing, turned his skill unto the service of God (1450-55). Before discussing other versions,we quote a few lines upon pre-Reformation Bibles: "The earliest printed Bibles in the modern European languages were the first and second German Bibles by Mentelin and Eggesteyn of Strasburg, of rather uncertain date, but certainly not later than 1466. In 1471 appeared at Venice two translations into Italian — the one by Malermi, printed by Vindelin de Spira, and the other by Nicolas Jenson. In 1477 was printed the first N. T. in French, by Buyer, at Lyons, and the same year appeared the first edition of the O. T. in Dutch, printed at Delft by Jacob Jacobs zoen and Mauritius Yemants zoen. In 1480 was published the splendid Bible in the Saxon or Low German language, from the press of Heinrich Quental, of Cologne, followed by a second edition in 1491, and a third in 1494. The Psalms, in Dutch, first came out in 1480, in small octavo, and in Greek and Latin in 1481, while the first Hebrew Pentateuch appeared in 1482. The entire Bible, done into French paraphrase, was published by Guyard de Moulins in 1487. A full translation appeared in the Bohemian language, printed at Prague in 1488. The same year appeared the entire O. T. in Hebrew from the press of Abraham ben Chayim de'Tintori, at Soncino. This chronological arrangement shows us also many noteworthy points, such as that nearly all the earliest Bibles were huge folios; that the first Bibles printed at Rome and Venice appeared in 1471, and that the sixth German Bible, by G. Zainer, in 1475, at Augsburg, was the first with the leaves folioed or numbered; that the first quarto Bible appeared in 1475, printed by John Peter de Ferratis at Placentia, which also was the first book printed at Placentia; that the first of Coburger's celebrated Bibles appeared in Nuremberg in 1475, and that by the end of the century no less than thirteen large folio Bibles had come from this house alone; that the four splendid Bibles printed in 1476 all bear the printers' signatures, though it is difficult to say with certainty which was the first; that the first Bible with a distinct title-page was printed at Venice, by George de Ravabenis, in 1487, in small quarto, and that the first Bible in small octavo — or the poor man's Bible — was the earliest, or among the earliest books, from the press of Johann Froben, of Basle, in 1491. "Prior to the discovery of America no less than twelve grand patriarchal editions of the entire Bible, being of several different translations, appeared from time to time in the German language; to which add the two editions by the Otmars of Augsburg of 1507 and 1518, and we have the total number of no less than fourteen distinct large folio pre-Reformation or ante-Lutheran Bibles. No other language except the Latin can boast of anything like this number." — Henry Stevens: Bibles in the Caxton Exhibition, pp. 27, 28. Thus, prior to the Reformation, there were translations of the entire Bible into the principal languages. Still, their unwieldy size and great cost kept them from popular use, although, more than is commonly supposed, they carried a knowledge of the Word unto the common people, and thus prepared the way for better things. These several translations were from the Vulgate; those now to be very briefly mentioned were made after the Reformation, and from the original tongues. (a) Into German. — We have already seen that there were fourteen editions of the entire Bible printed and circulated in Germany before Luther (1483-1546) nailed his theses upon the church-door at Wittenberg, Oct. 31, 1517. But to the great Reformer is due the credit of translating the entire Bible, together with the Apocrypha, out of the original tongues. He conceived the idea, and carried it out by translating the N. T. while in friendly captivity in the Wartburg during 1521. He published the work in the fall of 1522. Then he began at the O. T., and published the translation in sections as he advanced. The first edition of the entire Bible appeared in 1534. Ten editions of the original version were printed. In 1541 he issued an edition in which the first had been faithfully revised by his colleagues and himself. This translation is that used in Germany to-day. It has often been remarked that it fixed the German language and at the same time established Protestantism. (b) Into French. — A French version by Le Fevre was published at Antwerp in 1530. But there is no national French version; that which comes nearest to it is Olivetan's, which, however, is sadly defective, though improved by Calvin, his cousin. This version appeared in 1535 in the village of Serrieres, near Neufchatel, at the expense of the Waldenses. Of existing versions, Segond's (1880) is by far the best. (c) Into Dutch. — The States-general's translation, ordered by the Synod of Dort (1619), is reputed the most accurate of all present modern versions. (d) Into English. — The story of the English Bible begins before the Reformation. (1.) John de Wycliffe (about 1324-84), aided by Hereford, was the first to translate the entire Bible into English. The greater part of the translation of the N. T. was made by him; this appeared in 1381. The O. T. was principally the work of Nicholas de Hereford, but Wycliffe finished it. Manuscript copies were multiplied. Many poor priests went through the country preaching from this version. The first true text was not brought out in print before 1850, in the edition of Forshall and Madden, in 4 vols. (The earliest printed editions of the N. T. by Baber and in Bagster's English Hexupla are not the version of Wycliffe, but of one of his followers). Wycliffe simply translated from the Vulgate, and hence there was need of a new and independent version. Besides, the change in the language required it. The invention of printing rendered it possible to give the Bible in the vernacular to the masses, but the Roman Church has never been favorable to this, knowing full well that Bible study means independent research and protest against unscriptural traditions. It was not until the gathering storm of the Reformation burst upon the deformed and diseased Roman communion that the English people received a translation from the original languages of the entire Bible. (2.) For doing this the credit belongs to William Tyndale (born 1484), who was burnt at the stake, a martyr to the cause of religious liberty, Oct. 6, 1536; but not before he had by his work won an imperishable fame. Filled with the one wish, which he lived to realize — to give every one who could read English the opportunity of reading for himself God's holy word — he endured the contradiction of sinners against himself. Understanding, as he says, "that there was no place to translate the N. T. in all England," he went to Europe in 1524, and carried on his work amid every sort of difficulty and danger. The N. T. appeared at Worms in the latter part of 1525, and arrived in England the early part of 1526, where it was extensively circulated. Tyndale revised it, and published in this enforced and stealthy way several editions under his personal supervision. He also issued at intervals various books of the O. T., and the manuscript translation of other parts was just before his death transmitted to Thomas Poynitz of Antwerp, who finally delivered them to John Rogers (alias Thomas Matthew), who subsequently edited them. (3.) Miles Coverdale (1488-1569) is the next name upon the list. He differed greatly from his predecessor, Tyndale, lacking his independence and devotion and his knowledge of the original languages, yet on the whole he deserves well of posterity. His translation of the entire Bible appeared Oct. 4, 1535, prefaced by a fulsome dedication to the king, Henry VIII. In order to render the volume more attractive, it was illustrated with several wood-cuts. It was avowedly not made from the original tongues, but from three Latin and two German translations (viz. the Vulgate, Erasmus, Pagninus, Luther, and Leo Judii). The O. T. was based chiefly on the Swiss-German (Zurich) Bible, and the N. T. on Tyndale, although with many variations. It was printed in Antwerp at the expense of Jacob van Meteren,*Vide Henry Stevens|Bibles in Caxton Exhibition, pp. 38, seq. but published in London. This translation had but little influence upon the so-called A. V. (4.) The "Thomas Matthew" Bible was a compilation, although not a mechanical one, under this assumed name, made by John Rogers (1505-55), Tyndale's friend, who is famous as the first Marian martyr, burnt at Smithfield, Feb. 4, 1555, from the above-mentioned translations of Tyndale and Coverdale. It was published in London, 1537, but probably printed by Jacob van Meteren in AntwerpStevens, p. 75.. The publishers, Messrs. Grafton & Whitechurch, in some way interested Archbishop Cranmer in this edition, who through Crumwell procured a royal license for it, and this Bible became the first authorized version. And so it came about that this edition of the Bible, which was two thirds Tyndale's translation, "that had been again and again publicly stigmatized and condemned by authority of this same king, Henry VIII., and even actually prohibited seven years before, was now 'set forth with the king's most gracious license,' this authorization being printed in red ink in each separate volume." Appended to the chapters are notes; upon this part the editor laid out his strength. (5.) Richard Tavener (1505-1575) issued a revised edition of the Matthew Bible in 1539, but it never was widely used. Its sale may have been stopped by the publication of the so-called Great Bible. (6.) The "Great Bible," sometimes called Whitechurch's, after one of the printers' names, or oftener "Cranmer's Bible," from the mistaken idea that he was the editor of it, was published in London, 1539. Its name came from its size; its pages are fully 15 inches in length and over 9 in breadth. Its text is Matthew's, revised by Coverdale, who in his singular humility thus revised his own work. To Crumwell's Protestant zeal and triumphant energy do we owe the volume. It was devoid of notes. It was the first edition which printed in a different type the words not found in the original. It also derives interest from the fact that the Scripture sentences in the English Prayer-book in the Communion Service, in the Homilies, and the entire Psalter are taken from it. In 1540 appeared the Cranmer Bible, so called from the archbishop's prologue, but in fact only a new revised edition of the Great Bible of the previous year. (7.) The Geneva Version (1560), made by the refugees from the Marian persecution, principally by William Whittingham (1524-89), whose wife was Calvin's sister. But the Genevan Bible must not be confounded with the New Testament which appeared there in June, 1557, the fruit of the editorial labors of Whittingham. The Genevan Bible was begun the January following. The N. T. had for the first time the division of verses (following the Greek of Stephens, 1551), with the numbers prefixed. It had also characteristic marginal notes, and marks by italics the words supplied. The Genevan Bible, having been begun, was carried resolutely through. It is not known how many were engaged upon it, but a large share of the work fell upon Whittingham, who tarried in Geneva along with Gilby and Sampson a year and a half after Queen Elizabeth's accession in order to complete the work begun during the dark days of ''Bloody Mary." The Bible finally appeared April, 1560, with a dedication to the queen. The translation is careful and scholarly work, based chiefly upon Tyndale and Cranmer, with many proofs of the influence of Beza. It is really the first complete direct English translation from the original Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. It at once became widely popular. "It was printed in Roman characters, with division into chapters and verses. It was not a heavy, unhandy folio like the editions of Coverdale, Rogers, or the Great Bible, but a moderate and manageable quarto. Its marginal notes were a kind of running comment, vigorous and lucid, dogmatic and practical. ... It became at once the people's book in England and Scotland, and it held its place not only during the time of the Bishops' Bible, but even against the present A. V. for at least thirty years. It was the first Bible ever printed in Scotland (1576-79), and it was the cherished volume in all Covenanting and Puritan households." — Eadie:The English Bible, vol. ii. p. 16. (8.) The Bishops' Bible. — In the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign the Great Bible was allowed to be read in the churches as the authorized version, but the Genevan edition was a formidable rival, greatly excelling it in popularity and, besides, in accuracy. Thus it came about that a revision was demanded, and this Archbishop Parker (1504—75) was anxious to make. He began it about 1563-64, having distributed the work to 15 scholars, 8 of whom were bishops, and therefore the Bible was called "The Bishops' Bible," and the book was published in 1568. It contained no word of flattery, nor even a dedication, but was ornamented with 143 copper-plate engravings of maps, portraits, coats of arms, etc.; it also had notes, brief but valuable, generally on matters of interpretation, but occasionally dogmatic. It was a revision of the Great Bible, which in turn was based on "Matthew's" recension of Tyndale. An effort was made to secure for the Bishops' Bible the royal sanction, but ineffectually. Convocation, however, passed a decree in 1571 "that every archbishop and bishop should have at his house a copy of the Holy Bible of the largest volume as lately printed in London, and that it should be placed in the hall or large dining room, that it might be useful to their servants or to strangers." The order applied to each cathedral, and, "so far as could be conveniently done, to all the churches." The Bishops' Bible supplanted the Great Bible, but could not the Genevan, because that was wide-spread among the people. The most important fact in its history is that it was made the basis for the recension which resulted in our present A. V. (9.) Roman Catholic Translations. — The Roman Church has never been friendly to vernacular translations of the Scriptures. Hence we should not expect it would spontaneously make one; but when the Genevan version became so popular in England, it seemed desirable that, since English Roman Catholics were sure to fall in with it, they should be given a corrective in the shape of a translation by some of the faithful. The N. T. appeared at Rheims, in France, in 1582, and the O. T. at Douai (1609-10), although it had been prepared before the appearance of the N. T., but delayed for lack of means. The first complete edition of the entire Bible according to this recension was published at Rouen (1633-35). Its translators were good scholars, but were obliged to take the Latin Vulgate as the basis, and to adhere very closely to it. They accompanied the translation with polemical notes. On the whole, the work is inferior to our version, and disfigured by unintelligible Latinisms. No effort was made to give this translation any circulation. It was issued in an expensive form, and none of the Church dignitaries concerned themselves with it. Cardinal Wiseman (Essays, vol. i. pp. 73-75) says:"To call the Roman Catholic version now in use the version of Rheims and Douai is an abuse of terms. It has been altered and modified till scarcely any verse remains as it was originally published; and so far as simplicity and energy of style are concerned, the changes are in general for the worse." The revision was chiefly made by Dr. Challoner (1750) and by Dr. Troy (1791). The Catholic version has retained from the Vulgate some of the oldest and best readings and a large number of Latinisms, some good (as advent, victim, allegory, prevarication, altercation, fallacy), others which have never gone into public use (as azyntes, corhana, parasceve, consubstantial, coinquination, scenopegia). It has contributed some improvements to King James's revisers. See examples in Moulton's History of the English Bible, p. 187 (London, 1878). "Nothing is easier," says Dr. Moulton, " than to accumulate instances of the eccentricity of this revision, of its obscure and inflated renderings; but only minute study can do justice to its faithfulness and to the care with which the translators executed their work." (10.) The King James's Version (1611). — The final outcome of this series of original translations and revisions of translations of the Scriptures was the so called A. V., which for 250 years has been the channel whereby God's truth has flowed into Anglo-Saxon minds. But it has been even an instructor in other things than those of religion, for from it the language has drawn its stability. Its style is regarded with admiration by natives and foreigners alike. It is the first of English classics. Even seceders to Rome admit this, as the sweet and fervent hymnist, Dr. F. William Faber, whose remarkable judgment (often falsely attributed to Dr. John Henry Newman) is well worth quoting in full: "Who will say that the uncommon beauty and marvellous English of the Protestant Bible is not one of the great strongholds of heresy in this country? It lives on the ear like a music that can never be forgotten, like the sound of church-bells, which the convert hardly knows how he can forego. Its felicities often seem to be almost things rather than mere words. It is part of the national mind and the anchor of national seriousness. Nay, it is worshipped with a positive idolatry, in extenuation of whose grotesque fanaticism its intrinsic beauty pleads availingly with the man of letters and the scholar. The memory of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of childhood are stereotyped in its verses. The power of all the griefs and trials of a man is hidden beneath its words. It is the representative of his best moments; and all that there has been about him of soft, and gentle, and pure, and penitent, and good speaks to him for ever out of his English Bible. It is his sacred thing, which doubt has never dimmed, and controversy never soiled. It has been to him all along as the silent — but oh how intelligible ! — voice of his guardian angel, and in the length and breadth of the land there is not a Protestant, with one spark of religiousness about him, whose spiritual biography is not in his Saxon Bible. And all this is an unhallowed power!" The A. V. is a monument to the memory of King James I. of England, but he had no more to do with it than to appoint the commission, and did not contribute a penny for its execution. It was abruptly proposed in the Hampton Court Conference (Jan., 1604) by a learned Puritan divine, the Rev. Dr. Reynolds (1549-1607), president of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who suggested to His Majesty "that there might be a new translation of the Bible, because those which were allowed in the reign of King Henry VIII. and Edward VI. were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original." Bishop Bancroft opposed the motion as impertinent, but the vain king, who thought himself as wise as Solomon, unexpectedly and at once agreed to it, and displayed his biblical erudition by criticising the previous translations, especially that of Geneva, which he hated on account of its marginal notes. He invited a number of distinguished scholars to do the work (June 30, 1604), but without any expense to himself. Professing his own poverty, he held out before the revisers the hope of Church preferment, giving orders to the bishops to that effect, and for their immediate expenses he called upon the bishops and chapters to contribute toward the requisite amount. Revision had no attractions for the clergy nor for the people. The Bishops' and Geneva Bibles already in their hands seemed to answer every purpose. Accordingly, as far as can be determined, no one responded to the king's call for money; yet since the whole amount was only about £700, the proportion from each diocese was really small. "King James's version never cost King James a farthing." At the chancellor's suggestion, the revisers met at the universities, where they received board and lodging free of cost; and "at the final revision the 6 or 12 revisers received each, according to one statement, 20 shillings a week from the Company of Stationers." The work of revision thus arranged in the summer of 1604 was not really begun in earnest till the spring of 1607, and then occupied about 2 years and 9 months. Dr. Reynolds, who had proposed the work, and who was well qualified to carry it on, died in that year, just as his wish was to be gratified. The original number of revisers appointed by the king at the suggestion of some one unknown, but probably Richard Bancroft (1544-1610), then the bishop of London, soon afterward the archbishop of Canterbury, was 54, but owing to death, declinature, and other causes there were only 47 actually engaged. These 47 formed themselves into 6 companies, two meeting at Westminster, Cambridge, and Oxford respectively. The following are the rules which were composed to govern them in their labors: "(1.) The ordinary Bible read in the Church, commonly called 'The Bishops' Bible,' to be followed, and as little altered as the truth of the original will permit. "(2.) The names of the prophets and the holy writers, with tiie other names of the text, to be retained as nigh as may be, accordingly as they were vulgarly used. " (3.) The old ecclesiastical words to be kept; viz.:the word church not to be translated congregation, etc. "(4.) When a word hath divers significations, that to be kept which hath been most commonly used by the most ancient fathers, being agreeable to the propriety of the place and the analogy of the faith. "(5.) The division of the chapters to be altered either not at all or as little as may be, if necessity so require. " (6.) No marginal notes at all to be affixed, but only for the explanation of the Hebrew or Greek words which cannot, without some circumlocution, so briefly and fitly be preserved in the text. "(7.) Such quotations of places to be originally set down as shall serve for the fit reference of one Scripture to another. "(8.) Every particular man of each company to take the same chapter or chapters; and having translated or amended them severally by himself where he thinketh good, all to meet together, confer what they have done, and agree for their parts what shall stand. "(9.) As any one company hath despatched any one book in this manner, they shall send to the rest to be considered of seriously and judiciously; for His Majesty is very careful in this point. "(10.) If any company, upon the review of the book so sent, doubt or differ upon any place, to send then) word thereof, note the place, and withal send the reasons; to which if they consent not, the difference to be compounded at the general meeting, which is to be of the chief persons of each company at the end of the work. "(11.) When any place of special obscurity is doubted of, letters to be directed by authority to send to any learned man in the land for his judgment of such a place. "(12.) Letters to be sent from every bishop to the rest of his clergy, admonishing them of this translation in hand, and to move and charge as many as being skilful in the tongues, and having taken pains in that kind, to send his particular observations to the company either at Westminster, Cambridge, or Oxford. "(13.) The directors in each company to be the deans of Westminster and Chester for that place, and the king's professors of Hebrew and Greek in either university. "(14.) These translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the Bishops' Bible: Tindale's, Matthew's [Rogers'], Coverdale's, Whitchurch's [Cranmer's], Geneva. "(15.) Besides the said directors before mentioned, three or four of the most ancient and grave divines in either of the universities, not employed in translating, to be assigned by the vice-chancellor, upon conference with the rest of the heads, to be overseers of the translations, as well Hebrew as Greek, for the better observation of the fourth rule above specified." How closely these rules were followed it is impossible to say. The secrets of their sessions have been inviolably kept; for although the translators were engaged for 3 years, of the incidents of their labor little can be gathered from contemporaneous history, and little was probably known beyond the circle of the translators. A passing remark of Selden furnishes nearly all that can now be known of what may be termed the private history of our English Bible:"The translation in King James's time took an excellent way. That part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue, and then they met together, and one read the translation, the rest holding in their hands some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or French, Spanish, Italian, etc. If they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on." — Table Talk. When the revision was completed, three copies of the whole Bible were sent [to London] — one from Cambridge, a second from Oxford, and a third from Westminster — where they were committed to six persons, two from each company, who reviewed the whole. This final revision lasted 9 months. The work was at last given up to the printer, Robert Barker; the proofs were read by Dr. Thomas Bilson, bishop of Winchester, and Dr. Myles Smith (appointed bishop of Gloucester in 1612). The first edition of the A. V., including the Apocrypha, appeared, bearing date 1611, in handsome folio, in black letter, with a beautiful frontispiece engraved by C. Boel of Richmont. Besides the translation, there were given a Calendar, a Table of Lessons, and elaborate Tables of Genealogies. The dedication was fulsome in its praise of James. The preface, entitled "The Translators to the Reader," written by Dr. Myles Smith, is pedantic, according to our notions, but written in excellent English, and important as a clear statement of the principles upon which the revision was made. The title-page contained the words ''Appointed to be read in the churches " — i. e. of England. But there is no evidence that this appointment was ever made by convocation or Parliament, privy council or the king. The version "gained currency partly by the weight of the king's name, partly by the personal authority of the prelates and scholars who had been engaged upon it, but still more by its own intrinsic superiority over its rivals." — Westcott. The printing of the so-called A. V. at once stopped the printing of the Bishops' Bible, though it did not that of the Genevan Bible, which continued to be used, especially in New England, until about the middle of the seventeenth century, when King James's version was on all hands accepted as the English Bible. "When all critical helps and sources of influence have been taken into account, the student whose analysis [of the A. V.] has been most complete will find most to admire in the work that the translation or revision of 1607-11 has given us. The praise he will award to the revisers will not be indiscriminate eulogy. He will discover that very much that they have transmitted to us was inherited by them from others; the execution of different parts of the work will prove to be unequal, the Epistles, for example, standing far below the Pentateuch in accuracy and felicity of rendering; many flaws and inconsistencies will reveal themselves; occasionally it will be found that better renderings have been deliberately laid aside, and worse preferred; but, notwithstanding, almost every paragraph will bear testimony to the tact, care, diligence, and faithfulness of the men to whom, in God's providence, we owe the version of the Scriptures which has come down to us consecrated by the associations of 250 years." — Moulton:History of the English Bible, pp. 207-8. The modern edition of the English Bible is a great improvement upon that of 1611. In that year there were two issues, both incorrectly printed, and both containing errors which were not typographical. Much care has been taken since that date to make the version, in grammatical and typographical correctness, as nearly perfect as possible. Three editions of the A. V. deserve particular mention: (1.) Bishop Lloyd's (London, 1701), containing, for the first time, marginal dates, derived principally from Archbishop Ussher; (2.) the Cambridge Bible of 1762, edited by Dr. Paris; (3.) the Oxford edition of 1769, edited by Dr. Blayney. ''These editors sought to apply with greater consistency the principle of denoting additions to the original text by italic type, substituted ordinary forms of words for such as had, in their opinion, become obsolete, and made very large additions to the number of marginal references, which in our present Bible are said to be seven times as numerous as in the edition of 1611.... [But] as late as 1830, Bibles were often printed with serious want of accuracy. The last forty years have witnessed a considerable improvement, and recent editions have left little to be desired. The Cambridge Paragraph Bible, edited by Dr. Scrivener, is the classic edition of the A. V., and is a monument of minute accuracy and unsparing labor." — Moulton:History of the Engish Bible, pp. 209-11. In the Jubilee Memorial of the American Bible Society, prepared by Rev. Isaac Ferris, D. D., LL.D. (New York, 1867), it is stated (p. 25) that the American Bible Society's Version Committee in 1847 undertook a "most careful revision of our English text in order to secure its conformity to the British, so as to make what should be a standard edition.'' Their final report was made in 1851. But inasmuch as their changes were many and important, there was a constitutional objection to the Society's adopting this revision, and then, moreover, there was a deep prejudice or reluctance to any alteration; and therefore the revision was rejected in 1852. A new committee was appointed, and the Bible, as it came from their hands, with some fruits of the labors of the previous committee, is now (since 1860) the standard of the American Bible Society. The reasons for desiring a revision may be thus stated: (1.) During the 268 years since our version was finished the English language has undergone some changes; some words have become obsolete, and others have changed their signification. In this way sentences which conveyed a clear and correct meaning to our ancestors mislead or mystify us. It will be sufficient to instance such examples as: to ?ear? for to plough; to ?prevent? for to go before, to precede; to let for to hinder; carriage for baggage. (2.) Immense strides have been made in all biblical studies. The geography and archaeology of the Holy Land, the Hebrew and Greek languages, both in grammar and dictionary, are far better known now than they could be in King James's time. The A. V. is very careless and inconsistent in the use of the article, the tenses and modes of verbs. (3.) The text of the Bible is now in a very satisfactory state — much nearer the ipsissima verba of the inspired writers than that known in 1611. ''The number of the various readings," says Prof. Ezra Abbot, "which have been collected from more than 500 manuscripts, more than a dozen ancient versions, and from the quotations in the writings of more than a hundred Christian fathers, only attests the exuberance of our critical resources, which enable us ?note? to settle the true text of the N. T. with a confidence and precision which are wholly unattainable in the case of any Greek or Latin classical author; [but] in the time of our translators of 1611 only a small fraction of our present critical helps was available." We are able to appreciate this remark when we remember that the best texts rely on manuscripts of the fourth and fifth centuries, while of our Greek and Latin classics many (e. g. Schyliis and Sophocles) are transcriptions from only one ancient manuscript, and that not earlier than the tenth century. The Anglo-American Bible revision movement originated in the Convocation of Canterbury, May 6, 1870, by the appointment of a committee of eminent biblical scholars and dignitaries of the Church of England to undertake the revision in association with scholars from other denominations. The English committee was divided into two companies, one for each Testament, who held monthly meetings in the Jerusalem Chamber and the Chapter Library at the deanery of Westminster, London. The American committee was organized in 1871, on invitation of the British committee, to co-operate with it. It was similarly composed of representative scholars of different denominations, and met for several days of each month in the Bible House, New York. The two committees embraced about 80 active members (exclusive of about 20 more who died or resigned after the work began), and were in constant correspondence. They submitted to each other portions of their work as it advanced, and issued one and the same revision. The variations of the American committee were embodied in an appendix. Some American editions embody these variations in the text. The object set before them was to bring King James's version up to the present state of the English language without changing the idiom and vocabulary, and to the present standard of biblical scholarship. It was not the intention to furnish a new version, but merely a conservative revision of the received version, so deservedly esteemed in all churches. And so slight are most of the changes that the mass of readers and hearers will scarcely mark them, while a careful comparison will reveal improvements in every chapter and almost every verse. The object was to remove acknowledged errors, obscurities, and inconsistencies, to make a good and faithful version better and more faithful, and thus to bring the old Bible nearer the understanding and make it dearer to the heart of English-speaking Christendom. The general principles followed by both committees are as follows: "(1.) To introduce as few alterations as possible in the text of the A. V. consistently with faithfulness. "(2.) To limit, as far as possible, the expression of such alterations to the language of the Authorized and earlier English versions. "(3.) Each company to go twice over the portion to be revised — once provisionally, the second time finally, and on principles of voting as hereinafter is provided. "(4.) That the text to be adopted be that for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating; and that when the text so adopted differs from that from which the A. V. was made, the alteration be indicated in the margin. "(5.) To make or retain no change in the text on the second final revision by each company except two-thirds of those present approve of the same, but on the first revision to decide by simple majorities. "(6.) In every case of proposed alteration that may have given rise to discussion, to defer the voting thereupon till the next meeting whensoever the same shall be required by one-third of those present at the meeting, such intended vote to be announced in the notice for the next meeting. "(7.) To revise the headings of chapters, pages, paragraphs, italics, and punctuation. "(8.) To refer, on the part of each company, when considered desirable, to divines, scholars, and literary men, whether at home or abroad, for their opinions." The revised New Testament appeared in England May 17, and in America May 20, 1881. Several million copies were sold in a few months. In the United States there were, almost at once, upwards of twenty reprints. The New Testament for the first time in history supplanted the newspaper in popular interest. It was sold upon news-stands, hawked through the streets, and read on all public conveyances. It was the literary event of the century. Its reception by the religious public was most flattering. The revised Old Testament is expected in 1885. It will then be for the churches to decide, through their ecclesiastical authorities, whether the Anglo-American revision shall supersede King James's Version. If the verdict be favorable, the British and Foreign and the American Bible Societies can amend their constitutions so as to allow them to publish the revised version. The Bible is now printed in 226 different languages or dialects. More than four-fifths of these versions are the product of missionary scholarship and zeal. In many cases the very language needed to be reduced to a written form and permeated with Christian thought before a translation could be made. The chief agencies in giving the Scriptures this world-wide distribution are: (1.) The British and Foreign Bible Society, founded March 7, 1804. Its predecessors, the most prominent of which were the "Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge," 1698, and the "Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts," 1701, had cultivated a much narrower field. The honor of suggesting a society to send Bibles all through the world has been assigned to Rev. Joseph Hughes, a Baptist and one of the secretaries of the London Religious Tract Society, Lord Teignmouth was the first president. Up to 1878 this society had issued 82,407,062 copies of the Scriptures. (2.) The American Bible Society, founded May 8, 1816. The need of a national society had been felt for some time, but the obstacles in the way prevented its formation. Hon. Elias Boudinot, LL.D., was the first president. The society had, up to Jan. 1, 1879, issued 35,621,262 copies of the Scriptures. Twice as many copies of the Bible have been circulated in the present century in heathen lands as were issued between the first printed Bible (1450-1455 — to date) and the era of Bible societies, in 1804. One hundred and forty nine million copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions have been distributed by the various Bible societies in this and other countries since 1804. And thousands of copies have been privately printed. ''The demand for the printed Bible has always been great. It is supposed that within three years after the publication of the Great Bible in 1539, no less than 21,000 copies were printed. Between 1524 and 1611, 278 editions of Bibles and Testaments in English were printed. In 1611, 1612, 1613, five editions of King James's Version were published, besides separate editions of the New Testament." — Manual of the American Bible Society, 1876, p. 34. The enormous demand for the Bible still continues, and it is a most healthy sign. The entrance of God's Word giveth light. It is a veritable miracle how rapidly its use dissipates moral and spiritual darkness. As Chancellor Kent once said: "The general distribution of the Bible is the most effectual way to civilize and humanize mankind; to purify and exalt the general system of public morals; to give efficacy to the just precepts of international and municipal law; to enforce the observance of prudence, temperance, justice, and fortitude, and to improve all the relations of social and domestic life."

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A book. [Obs.] Chaucer.

2. The Book by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted sense, the Old Testament; as, King James's Bible; Douay Bible; Luther's Bible. Also, the book which is made up of writings similarly accepted by the Jews; as, a rabbinical Bible.

3. A book containing the sacred writings belonging to any religion; as, the Koran is often called the Mohammedan Bible. Fig.)

4. A book with an authoritative exposition of some topic, respected by many experts on the field. Bible Society, an association for securing the multiplication and wide distribution of the Bible. -- Douay Bible. See Douay Bible. -- Geneva Bible. See under Geneva.