ONE THOUSAND TONGUES

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4675, 25 January 1945, Page 4

ONE THOUSAND TONGUES

TRANSLATION Of BIBLE

LATEST IN BASIC ENGLISH

News has come from England to uie effect that the New Testament has been published in basic English. This is very interesting and especially so to the .advocates of the new “language" as well as to those interested in the Bible. Baa.c English was invented by a Mr Ogden who, to encourage the use 'f a universal .language based on English, reduced the parts of speech from seme tens of thousands of words to 850 and the verbs nom 4000 to 18, writes Canon Melville Gerry in the Melbourne Argus.’ For many years work has been in progress on the task of producing the Bible in basic English, and now >t is announced that t : ; New Testament part is ready. It has been found necessary however, to increase the BSO words of basic English by another 150 in this version of the New Testament. ' It must be understood that this in not an attempt to alter the Bible. The Scripture! were not originally written in English, but in Hebrew and Greek, the Old Testament in the former and the New Testament in the latter. As the average Englishman cannot read Hebrew or Greek, it was necessary to translate the Scripture into Engli-m. Many translations have been made King Alfred, who burnt the cakes, ;ml the Psalms into the English of hU day. In the 14th century the complete Bible was issued in English. Prior to that the So, atv,,,j been current in the language of the learned (Latin). The 14th century issue was not translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek, but from the current Latin one, known as the Vulgate. Tins 14th century translation was not par alar in sore auarto a, because its authors were suspected of being, r.s some would say today. “Reds,” and it was believed that anything they were connected with would bo colored by their “redness.” | William Tyndalei in the 16th century. made the translation into Engl’»h which has become the foundation r.i all later ones. Tire “Great Bible” ordered to be placed in ail parish churches 400 years ago, was made up of Tyndale’s New Testament and as much o IJra Olu Testament, as be had translated the remainder being rut into English by Tyndalo’s contern- ■ -ary. Covet dale. In the next century ,tho 17th, came ■the famous Authorised Version—the ordmary one of the present day—and then in 1881 the Revised Version Later times have witnessed many attempts to put the Bible into presentday language, and the version in basic English is the latest o? these. Many of these modern versions abandon the system of cutting up the Scriptures into chapters and verses and employ instead the ordinary para graphs of present-day usage.” The chapters and verses, invented for facility in reference, were no part of the o-iginal Scriptures. When we consider the question, “Which is the best translation of the Lille in English” we shall probably find that it comes down to a choice - between the A.V. (Authorised Vo - sion), the H.V. (Revised Version), and the modern versions. As to which o these tlu-ce is the best depends cn the purpose to be served. Generally speaking, there is nothing to be compared with the A.V. for easy flowing diction and rhythm and beauty of language. The R.V. is the ’he to use for' literal accuracy of translation. And the modern versions like Moffatt’s or the Twentieth Bsc English one—serve the purpc.se when explanation o' meaning is sought. The following quotation from IV Sermon on the Mount gives the ror-dori-g of the A.V., the R.V. and too modern versions; A.V.: Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the . day is the evil hereof. R.V.: Be not therefore anxious iov the morrow; for the morrow will haanxious for itself. Sufficient unto the day Is the evil thereof. Moffatt: So do not be troubled about to-morrow; to-morrow will take care of itself. The day’s own trouble is quite enough for itself, Basic: Then have no care for tomorrow; to-morrow will take care of itself. Take the trouble of the dav as it comes. Apart from versions in English, the Bible, or parts of it, has been translated from the original Hebrew and Greek into nearly 1000 languages and dialects. One organisation alone has issued it in between 700 and 800 languages.