The Hebrew New Testament of the British and foreign Bible Society: a contribution to Hebrew philology

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.

THE SLOSS COLLECTION OK THE SEMITIC LIBKAKV
OK THE LMVERSITY OK CALIKORMA.

GIFT OF

LOUIS SLOSS.

February, 1897.

rtbKUAKY, I03/. I

Accession No. . Class No. 1 ^ W^

THE

HEBREW NEW TESTAMENT

OF THE

BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

A CONTEIBUTION

TO HEBREW PHH^OLOGY

BY

PROF. FRANZ DELITZSCH.

OfTMK

LEIPZIG.

DOKFFLING & FEANKE.

1883.

/ (^

M4^

PREFACE.

Some one will ask me, why have you written this
in English. In truth, I myself do not know. I did so
without premeditation, driven instinctively by the gra-
titude which I owe to the English publishers and patrons
of my Hebrew New Testament.

And should one ask, what is the aim of these pages,
I answer: firstly, they will afford a glimpse into the
work, of which the Hebrew N. T. is the fruit. Secondly,
they show what instructive results have proceeded there-
from for Hebrew grammar, especially syntax.

Leipzig, May 1888.

Fr. D.

In a forgotten book, entitled Wissenschaft , Kunst, Juden-
thum, I issued in the year 1838 St. Paul's hymn on love
1 Cor. XIII, translated into Hebrew, as a specimen of a new Hebrew
version of the New Testament. After laborious and expensive prepa-
rations, which were aided chiefly by the Bavarian and Norwegian
])rethren, I published in 1870 as a larger specimen of the work the
Epistle of St. Paul to the Komans. Many years I sought for a
publisher of the whole, who would take upon himself the expense of
publishing and provide for its circulation. At last the British and
Foreign Bible Society lent me its helpful hand, and having obtained
such a powerful and generous protection, the new translation went
through the press and forthwith enjoyed God's wonderful blessing.
It was completed in the spring of 1877. The text, followed there, is
substantially that of the Sinaitic codex, with the principal varia-
tions of the Textus Eeceptus in brackets. But I soon felt, that a text
formed by myself alone could not be exempt from individual arbitra-
riness, and that it was more natural to base the translation on the
Eeceptus and to supplement it mth critical remarks. After half a
I year a second edition became necessary, which I based on these prin-
Kciples; it bears the date of 1878. Only two years later, in 1880,
pa third edition appeared, in a larger form. Even the copies of this
third were quickly exhausted, and already in October of the same
year I prepared at Berlin with my never to be forgotten friend, the
late Rev. Palmer Davie s, a fourth electrotyped edition. The text
had now to be definitively settled and the work demanded redoubled
care. I revised it a third time and was successfully aided by the

-^ 6 —

Eev. S. E. Driver, now Pusey's successor as Professor of Hebrew at
Oxford. Each of these editions represents, as I liope, a new degree
of approximation to the ideal, which even in the fourth electrotyped
edition of 1882 is still not attained. Therefore I was agreeably
surprised, when Mr. James Watt, the successor of the late Davies,
informed me, that the 5000 copies of the fourth edition were sold
without any remaining. In truth, God has abundantly blessed our
work. Far from ])riding myself, I acknowledge on the contrary the
merits of my fellow- labourers, among whom are also not a small
number of Jewish friends. We have cause to say, that our new
translation has cojatributed somewhat to bring the New Testament
nearer to the Jews as a prominent Avork of their literature. In a
letter to D^ Eahmer at Magdeburg I declared the New Testament to be
the highest work that the Jewish genius has produced. He remarks
in his Lilei^aiurhlatt (1879 No 9), that this statement is relatively
true, and D^ Immanuel Deutsch in his review there owns, that fonn
and matter, contents and dress, are productions of the Hebrew spirit
and of Hebrew intuition.

In the revision of the text for the fifth edition I thought myself
at first restricted to slight emendations in the plates, but when I was
in Berlin and Messrs. Watt and Shaep heard that I should like to
make some more material corrections, they proposed it to the Com-
mittee and Eev. W™ Weight -wTote me, March 6. : „The Committee
are much pleased to hear of the pains you are taking to make the
fifth edition as perfect as possible, and they very cordially sanction
any necessary outlay in the completion of the plates".

Consequently the fifth edition is revised more than superficially.
I pass over in silence all the corrections concerning unavoidable
typographical faults, as disfig-urement of letters or defects as to
vowels and signs, and I give only an account of the grammatical and
stilistic emendations, by which, as I hope, this edition differs advan-
tageously from the former.
Matth. IX. 21 •^?"!P^ ^y^^ ^^ for she said within herself.

Changed to f^sVa n^^jt 12, because n'npa ^72X is without support

in the biblical Hebrew. I may here remark once for all, that in

every verse of my Hebrew N. T. the accentuation has been care-
fully considered: the ^^y^ or ns'n is everywliere the consequence
of the regular accentuation, which requires here nnba, for it
ought to be accentuated na^a ^^^"^^ ^^■- Other examples:
Matth. VII. 8 for every one that asketh receiveth, and he
that seeketh findeth, in our Hebrew text, the accents being
added: ^"^^cp^ ^I'^Il''! ^^'.P'! ^^i'^'T^s i ''S. Hence deliberately -bs,
not -^3 is written. Matth. XXVI. 26 'issia K^iri nt this is my
■ body, not ^t^^, for it ought to be accentuated ii^iri nt, comp.
Koh. I. 17. 1 Cln*. XXII. 1. Whoever is not acquainted with
the laws of accentuology, is unable to inseii; or omit the Dagesh
correctly. Such a one will hesitate at n^q ^i.r^!i 2 Cor. XI. 14,
not knowing, that these two words as the first half of the verse
must be accentuated &<bs i2pxi.

Matth. XI. 5. on nr'^tj'^^ '^"^"^^^ D^^.55;i and the poor have the
gospel preached to them. I have corrected '^t}^2ri^ (as in the
translation of Luk. VII. 22), because the biblical Hebrew employs
not the Pual but the Hithpael in this passive sense of suaYye-
XtCsaBat, see 2 Sam. XVIII. 31.

Matth. XI. 7 ^Th, ^^n ?^T^:l Onb ^Dbn nian as they departed
Jesus began to say. I thought for some time to prefer '^ty^^
^2'ic' ^'i^!! ^nr? ^^r'^l ^^^.5- Sut the syntactic scheme of tem-
poral coincidence like 1 Sam. IX. 11. 1 Kings XIV. 17 al. is
here in the right place, for as soon as the messengers of John went
away Jesus began to vindicate before the people the honour of
the Baptist. Together with the synchronistic construction I
retained also the ethic dative on^ as in 1 Sam. XXVI. 1 2, although
the biblical Hebrew likes better i^ T^^f^ (in French: il s'en est
alle). Instances of the plural of the ethic dative of the 3. pers.
are Ps. LXVI. 7. LXXX. 7, but not Job VI. 19 (Miiller-
Kobertson's Hebrew Syntax § 51, 3); there i^b is in my
opinion dative of the object, refening to Q'lbns.

Matth. XI. 18 '^^? I'S""®^ he has a devil. I have preferred ia ^d
a devil (demon) is ,in him, for iij'^ makes tlie impression of an
emphasis, which is foreign to the original.

— 8 —

Matth. XVI. 24 T^^t^'B^ ^^^ if any man will The revised
text has ^3 ^-^n; like Lev. XXVTE. 2. It sounds more biblical.

Matth. XVn. 5 "^^^^1 The reader will refer that to God: and he
said like Ezek. 11. 1. But the meaning is that the heavenly
voice said» Therefore now is written' ^r&<. At the same time
I have remodelled the following verse.

Matth. XVn. 6 ^^; D'^l^^^rir; n^r l^bl^D-l And when the dis-
ciples heard it, they fell . . This construction follows the
pattern of the Chronicler 2 Chr. XV. 8. But the stress lies
there upon 'i??^^ , here upon iTrsaov ; I have therefore preferred
the more classical construction si^"^! d^n'^Tsbriri ?b\2:3 "rnii. Con-
sequently the expression of the object by nitT or nj<t rx could ])e
dispensed with just as in the original text. ^

Matth. XVn. 11 in, rather nsn, which more clearly hints that it
must be explained: Elias shall first come. Indeed "ih coitc-
sponds better to the Greek jxev, but it is of more importance
that by tiin the following t<n is better characterised as paiiiciple
according to the ep^^exat of the original text.

Matth. XVn. 20 DP)?^^^ 5^^ ]Tl. The Elzevirian text has 5ia
xrjv amoitav up,aiv because of your unbelief. The Hebrew
of the 4*^^ edition, taken fi'om Num. XX. 12, will be understood
historically: because you have not believed. Therefore I have
substituted D'ip5a&<TQ Dss-iJt *iL;i< '^35^.

Matth. XX. 6 5i:?T? ^ntos? nn«3 about the eleventh hour. The
expression corresponds to that used in the computation of years
Ezek. XXX. 20. XXVI. 1. Jer. XXXIX. 2, and months Deut. I. 3;
riDTi: or tnr\ in this case is accusative of determination, see Miiller-
Kobertson's Hebrew Syntax § 100 comp. 44. But in statements
of the hours the construction nnbr nnx n^uJa Jer. LII. 29.
Est. in. 7 seemed in v. 6 as well as in v. 9 preferable. After

1) Prof. Driver wrote me: „l fmd ver}' few instances (Josh. XXII. 24.
Jer. IX. 11. Ps. XCn. 7) of nXtTK after S^tJ etc., indeed none at all in a
large part of the historical books : where there is not some distinct empha-
sis on the xauxa etc., might HN perhaps be omitted? or even sometimes
PiKf nx altogether?" The passage remodelled above is of this latter sort.

— 9 —

the stvle of the Mishna must be said ni's^ij n^iirjs) nni<a, for
there ni3)\a ^^tw^ signifies at two o'clock, ni^Jia ^^^>^^ or simply
^ih^'z at three o'clock, Sanhedrin V. 3. Berachoth 4^;
u:pn-V3 the whole fifth hour, w n^nrn the heginning
of the sixth, Pesachim I. 4; n^riTssi ni^m half past eight,
Pesachim V. 1.

Matth. XX. 10 '^'^1'!!) they supposed. I have added d^BSS as more
conformable to the narrative. In the speech XXIV. 44 n^a'n ,to
imagine' needs no addition.

Matth. XX. 34 ^J^^"^ D'^fiS^ and immediately their eyes received
sight. That ^x'n does not express exactly the force of the Greek

avipXstJ^av ; our revised text substitutes nis^b ^ty^^^^si ii^nti t35<nsi.

Matth. XXL 1 D^Jn^Tn nn-b^ unto the mount of Olives. The
Elzevirian text shows irpo? (not si?) ; I have now expressed it by
^^N, yet without changing Mark. XI. 1. Luk. XIX. 29. where
h^ stands still unaltered. The preposition b::x does not exclude
the site of the village on the slope of the mountain.

Matth. XXIV. 43 ^^"l t'^T'^'^ ^1?^ C?'? ^^^^l n^T-lnJJI but know
this, that if . . had known. The biblicxal usage exhibits "r^ s?"!
Job V. 27., but not Dsb "-iS^ (comp. above on Matth. XI. 7). For
this reason I have chosen to write sJ^'^-ib ^tiix li^inn inxt-n&<i

- T • • T

without the inf. intensivus, for the Greek text has simple si fj6si.

Matth. XXVn. 46 ^n^?^ ^H^^. Changed into ^^}f^ ^h^, because yJXi
tqXi of the Receptus is here as well authenticated as iXwt sXtot
of the same Mark. XV. 34.

Matth. XXVn. 51 'rh'SWZ from the top. The biblical idiom knows
only \>^W2 above and rn^SJ^V? f?'om above. Thus I have corrected.

Mark. VII. 3 ^"'^^^ with the fist. I have removed this translation
of the Erasmian and Elzevirian reading ttoyja^,^ because it is

1) Erasmus in his editions has in the Greek text xyjii.^, in the Latin
version crehro like the Vulgate (after the reading iruxva), whence Tyn-
dale often, Luther manchmal. Westcott and Hort acknowledge tzu-^\i-^
as the original reading, which, owing to its obscurity, has been variously
altered and translated.

— 10 —

incompatible with the Jewish rite of washing the hands. I thought
for a moment, tliat iroY|i-(j might correspond to the rabbinical n=3
•naSi (ChulUn 107^), which excludes the use of aqueduct-water and
requires the application of manly strength. But at last it seemed
to me rfore probable, that the Greek writer of the gospel had
in mind p'nBn-^;? as far as the wrist, a phrase common in the
statutes of hand-washing. If that expresses the true sense, tcoyjat^
indicates the whole hand fi'om the Angel's' end to the lower end
of the fore-arm. 1 The text, thus translated, accords with the law,
while the former translation rprixm was senseless and ofTensive.

Mark. VII. 4 J^IIO'D^ and of couches. Statutes, concerning the wash-
ing of beds (xXtvwv), are unkno^vn. I have now put this nitaai
into round brackets, which indicate Avhat the Revised English
Version says in the margin: „Many ancient authorities add
and couches^'. The addition is wanting in the Vaticanus and
Sinaiticus.

Mark. Xn. 38 D^ib«-3ni^n and salutations. Here after theMakkeph
nibjjiia (comp. niD-na Eccl. n. 6) or nibx^ (comp. the forms Job
VI. 8. Ps. CVI. 15) in the 4*^ edition had fallen out, it is now
inserted in conformity with Matth. XXm. 7. Luk. XI. 43.

Mark. Xm. 12 and children shall rise up DtiiSi^'b^. I have
now prefeiTed dniaxs conformably to the fundamental passage
Micah Vn. 6 compare Sota IX. 15.

Luk. X, 28 n^rtl and thou shall live. This form with Segol in
pausa is received by Baer Prov. IV. 4. VII. 2., but most

1) The terminus ad quern wliich is defined by p^BM ^5 of the
Mischna Jadajim 11. 3 is already c(»ntroverted in the Gemara. Maimonides
in Hilchoth Berachoth VI. § 4 repeats the formula without explanation.
There are interpreters, who understand T^^i qsb n*i5:3SKn ^^1'n Bipa,
that is, the place where the fingers are joined to the middle hand (meta-
carpus). But after the predominant interpretation of Alfasi and others
pnsn n5 signifies S-ntn-dS ^^sisn u^p•Q ^"^n C]^G that is, the end of
the hand (carpus), where it is joined with the arm. A third definition
as a comment on Mark's xuyij-t^ is given by Theophylact and Euthjinius
u.sypt Tou aYxojvoc as far the elhorv. But in the law of the profane,
not priestly hand-wasliing this terminns remains out of consideration.

— 11 —

readers would thinlv it a misprint, therefore I have written
si^ri'i with Zere like Gen. XX. 7.

John Vni. 53 ^^:t:?-ni5 ^nn ^^b ivhom makest thou thyself?

I have now prefen-ed "jTo^is-nN nt;5.;ri"ri^ as more intelligible.

The former rendering followed the construction Is. XLII. G.

Comp. Jalkut Ezek. XXVIII. 2 where it is said to the king of

Tyre: m^s -|^:t:) n\tJi:> nrx.
Act. II. 15 Qi'^b n^p'ibt^ n:^TO ^3 u is the third hour of the

day. I have preferred Di'^a as more according to Ps. XC. 4^'

and to the usage of the Mishna e. gr. ^Kna d^itj the second

of the month, Sanhedrin V. 3. nsTrin in&< the first day of

the week, Taanith 27^.

Act. IV. 17 D?:? f '"IS^.I ^IJ'nn r^-jr^'b )^:^^ ^^«^ 27 ^/?rea^ wo
further among the people. I have transposed '|'*"»B']'i era,
so that no one should think of the phrase s y^ti ,to break into'
or ,to urge'.

Act. Vn. 58 Dn^n:j:n-lni5 rj^-psn Md down their clothes.
I have preferred the Kal siia^as as more exactly the idiom of the
Bible and Mishna 1 Sam. XIX. 24. Ezek. XLIV. 19. Joma
m. 4. 6 and throughout; hu'^iiJS signifies stripping off oneself,
ntjwsn {n. actionis of the Hiphil) stripping off another.

Act. VIII. 18 1^)3 was given, in the Greek SiSoiai. I have changed
the participle into the 3. prefer, "jna.

Act. IX. 38 Dtl'^b^ ^1lh to come to them. After b^£5>n the neg-a-
five ninra seemed more significant. But the alteration is of
questionable merit, and there was no need to depart from the
type Judg. XVm. 9.

Act. XIV. 2 Q''n^?7 ^>}, against the brethren. After o-^rsn
without doubt the preposition ^35 is better and quite intelligible.
In the postbiblical literature b? G^3 is frequent for ,to be angry
at one', e. gr. Ahoda zara 54^.

Act. XXI. 24 (23) "1"^? Onb ^"i^D ^m which have a vow on
them. This tanb is the worst dativus ethicus which I had ad-

V T

mitted; for everywhere b after i^a denotes the person to whom

— 12 —

one makes the vow. The correct rendering, which indeed corre-
sponds more closely to the Greek text, is Qn*^^?) 'n'li ^^t^ (Nimi.
XXX. 7. Ps. LVI. 13).

Rom. V. 1 ^ifp'n^n "^yri^ being justified. Instead of the Hophal,
which is liot biblical, I have put ^sp'n^i after Dan. VIII. 14.

Rom. Vn. 5 nninn ^T.'^t ^"i^^^? ^M ^^ch were stirred
up through the law. The Nithpael is nnnecessary, i*iil5>riri
signifies the same (Job XVII. 8).

Rom. VIII. 20 »^tj^ T^43 1?'^^ hy reason of him who has sub-
jected it. I have prefixed the article to the participle, which
does not need it, when a determination follows (Ps. LVII. 3,
Am. IX. 12. Cant. VII. 5), but, followed by Pink as well as by
dnb Ezek. XXI. 19 the article cfin scarcely be omitted and the
. construct state is in tliis case inadmissible; *»ri< ^rTit-Q Jor.
XXXin. 22 is a unique anomaly (Muller- Robertson, Hebrew
Syntax § 73).

Rom. XI, 6 ^"^^.^ f^'T^'7'? ^'^H'v •^^?'^'^ work is no more work.
A similar case is Act. IX. 38. The cliange m'^r^ after 1 Kings
XV. 21 was not necessary, but it agrees better with the later
style (see the article \nr\ in Kimchi's Lexicon) and with tlie
aramaic type (""in^^p ppQ Trg. Gen. XVni. 11 Targ.).

2 Cor. vn. 11 ^"^^ in this matter. I have added fi<!inn. On the
contrary I could not decide to cliange ^in'na Matth. VIII, 16
into i'^n'13, because the meaning of Xoftp is „only by virtue of
a word", comp. Is. XXIX. 21.

2 Cor. vn. 12 •l^'^P) might appear. Changed into n^atn in con-
gruity with (pavspwBTJvai.

2 Cor. vn. 15 t3Db rOT) ^W ITiV ^'^yty^ and his inward
affection is more abundant toward you. I think: "ini"'!'!
DDb si^fn i'is?tt is much better.

V T T T ••

2 Cor. Vni. 3 Dnb"b:? ^Tf^^"^, and beyond their power, "ini'^'!

Drb?a says the same more plainly.
2 Cor. Vni. 22 nn-|n D'^^I^E oftentimes. The biblical Hebrew

says always ms^i o'^aS'B, now presented by the revised text.

— 13 —

Gal. I. 14 ''^'i^^ ^"^^^1?^ of the traditions of my fathers. Ha-
ving long disliked the form ni'b3|5, I have now acknowledged it
as alone regular, just as n^'aSD (dangers) 2 Cor. XI. 26.

Gal. V. 1 TiJJ52nb he entangled. I have now preferred ^l^jn^, as
reminding of t^i-a snare, although the one form is as free
from objection as the other, comp. Deut. XII. 30 with VII. 25.

Eph. I. 20 iS^J!< y^y^^ QT^n'l^ i'^'^^r!^ when he raised him
from the dead and set him . . I regard now -"j^ inx ^"^r^'.^s
^iS'^di^i Q^'n^an as better and nearer the Greek.

Eph. I. 22 "i-t^? bbn'b:? l^i^h ^tjy; m^^l and has given him who
is head over all things. I have inserted x^n after ^\U5< ri<i.
The English Version (unaltered by the revisers) follows an-
other manner of construction : and gave him to be head etc.

Eph. m. 10 ^'^^iT} ^li^'^Mn D^ri^^ trQ:)rj the manifold (ttoXo-
irotxiXo?) wisdom of God. The foim r^)>y^'q is analogous to
nxbss Deut. XXX. 11, but less doubtful, as to the Hiphil, is
the form nx'^^BSii.

Eph. m. 17 tD^TiJlM rooted. The biblical Hebrew uses in the
sense of taking root the Poel Is. XL. 24 and in the sense of
being rooted the Poal Jer. XII. 2., I have therefore substituted

• T :

Eph. V. 33 ^"^"^^ "^rVTln let her see that she fear . . The infini-
tive of K^i is 5<Hi Josh. XXII. 25, mostly nsii, with b once \x^h
1 Sam. XVEII. 29., elsewhere always n5<"i'^V, but exclusively in
reference to God. Consequently t^^'rh was inapplicable, 5<"nb
would be too affected, \iM} is without precedent, I escaped all
difficulty by wiiting ^"'pT}^ intn.

Phil. II. 15 T^i^^ "^'I'^n ^"if^^ in the midst of a crooked . .

nation, li'nn instead of ^ii (without article) was a misprint.
Phil. n. 21 1^1i!'*^7'^ ^^^y ^^^k. I have given up the emphatic

form Is. LVIII. 2 and reestablished the regular form of the

pause •lizji'i'^ (jidrosu), which needs no strengthening.
1 Thess. n. 2 ^3''33^ we had suffered. The 1. pers. sing, is "^rr^^^

Ps. CXIX. 71. Hence !|5">32) seemed to be preferable , perhaps

— 14 —

without sufficient gi'ound, because the Chirek is protected by
sirsr Is. LVm. 3., see Bottcher, Lehrhuch der Hehr. Spra-
che n pag. 410.

1 Tim. VI. 20 ^^.T^n ^y^"^ ni^SSn oppositions of science

falsely so called. I have now written wssn adj. relat. from
TjBh inversion. The old Syriac version has here \iLs m , the

OP

plural of jfiwascn.

2 Tim. I. 3 inlbbj?! "^11^12 aTco lupoYovtov. Changed into '^ninst

of my forefathers , for irpoYovoi means ancestors in the spe-
cial sense of kindred.

Hebr. Vs\ 13 ^i'^l^'^ bl^n-^^S^^b. The meaning of the words irpo?
ov TqjjLtv 6 XoYo;, Avhich I liave rendered by is'^'ini bw, is
questionable ' ; m^ interpretation agrees with the English ver-
sion, which runs here thus: unto the eyes of him with whom
we have to do. d-^nnn b5i Ex. XXrV..13 is the name of him
who has a judicial matter to do with another. I suppose that
the author had this phrase in mind. But I have supplied it
with the suffix in an unjustiffable manner. The QinnT are
not oui-s, but of our countei-part. He is our d'l-iriT b»n, the
suffix belongs to the whole notion, therefore I5"''ni'i ^53 needed
correction. The 5*^ edition ofTers Jii^d n'l'^n^ b?5, just as in
the Talnmd Mezia 14*: '^^'^'i o'^-in^ bsa; Kethuhoth 81^':
nx iTi^i d'l^inn nbs3, comp. Kamma 46'\

Hebr. IX. 28 ^^^ 'J^'^b to hear. Eather n&tb, because nxb is only
in nx^ub the usual form; without b we read nxb, n&^iaa, rm^-o.

1) The Hebrew N. T. of the London Society has "iS^n siab -^\^_ ^dx.
Tliat is literal, but suggests a false idea, as appears by eomparison ol
1 Kings n. 14. 2 Kings IX. 5. Judg. HI. 20. The best interpretation,
which is as much justified by the context as by the Greek use of
language (see Cremer's WoHerhuch der neatest. Gnicitlit pag. 502), is
Calvin's: qui nohiscum agit vel cum quo nobis est negotium, accepted by
Joseph B. M'Caul (in liis Commentary 1871): „with whom we have to
do". Xo-foi; in this phrase signifies a judicial relation, having two sides :
the meaning is that God is our judge and that we are responsible to him.
Therefore I have rendered it by a forensic phrase of classical Hebrew.

— 15 —

1 Petr. I. 1 3 ^^p J^^pl and hope perfectly (xeXeio)?). I am now
informed, that the in/ini inienswus, when combined with an
imperative, always follows it, therefore nip ^isipi, differently
from Ps. XL, 2, see Gesenius-Kautzscli § 131, 3^,

1 Petr. IV, 15 nsiS D3tt t^^ ^^S^V^^ ^^ ^'^t ^^^ '^one o/*
you suffer as a murderer. The particles b« ^"2 are scarcely
to be found together, I have written -bt^ p^ like Ex, Vm, 25.

Revel. IX, 17 tin'^riis'^nffil "^m having breastplates. The i must
be blotted out.

Revel. XI, 18 ^^?p thy wrath. I have preferred ?;i3^iD according-
to Ps. XXXVni. 2. The Chirek arises in the pause by dissi-
milation: 7iQ:spi Ps. Cn. 11.

I have already said that the correct use of W^i"! and na*i was
not possible without thinking of the Hebrew text as throughout
accented. Constant care, has been bestowed also upon 5<b^ and ion,
that is, plena or defectiva scriptio. The orthography of the text
has been settled in such a manner that it may present an appear-
ance similar to the text of the 0. T., which e. g. exhibits ts^^bn,
D'l^ar, but always d^i^ and with only one exception d^ia. Instead
of ^liaxb only three times is written *iiaxb. The active participle
is more often written without i than with it e, g. always i^'n, bsb,
tr^'j, tvf^ and at least more fxequently ^a&t, n^s^, bsijt, n^i>;. some-
times however the writing varies indifferently as 6<^"'i, 5<S'i''; D'laia,
d-^iis; d'l^'^■^ d'^rjJ'ii^ The infinitive of Kal follows the same ortho-
graphy: l)bi<)3 is never found, ^im: scarcely, almost always i't^.
Double 1 in the same word as ninsina occurs sometimes, but predo-,
minantly the writing seeks to avoid it, so that e, g. mibi:? is found
only twice. It is a mle to write t\^'p2, tmt\ (comp. 2 Cor, VIII. 14
ni^jin^), and to write either nibHa or n'M^a or even n"^^a, not nibi^ia.

A serious error in the London translation was d^ribx^ (to God)
and d"'r!■b^^a (in God), which signify ,to the heathen gods' Ex. XXII. 19
and „among the gods" Ps. LXXXVIII. 7, instead of d^h'^fi*]?, d^h'^xa
which is the only form allowable. It is also worthy of note, that the
0. T. Hebrew savs ^i^sSkV, I'^shxb, n-iahxb, but sir3"i&<i, sia-^^hfi^^.

— 16 —

As to the form instn^ his gift Eom. V. 15. 1 Cor. YII. 7.,
I have queried till now, whether it has need of being altered into
insrip or not. At last, I have resolved to retain iniinio. Certainly
the analogy^ of ir^^B^ f^tJ^^P requires irift^, but along with the
form nitn^ a more aramaic form nsri^o can be supposed, whence
insn^, like 'r^ninri thy gifts Dan. V. 17.

There were in the fourth edition but few misprints in punc-
tuation, these are now corrected, viz. hS5in&< Matth. lY. 9 instead of
nssnst; ^tj^jsb ib. XXn. 21 instead of ^dt^; ''^^^ ^'^- ^' 45
instead of ''i:n^; 6*1^^^73*1 Act. X. 46 instead of dib^iTa*!; d^nan
1 Cor. XV. 12 instead of Q'^rittn; ^^ansasi 1 John IV. 3 instead of
"i^atn^an. Two oversights in the consonants are noted above, Phil.
II. 15 and Eevel. IX. 17.

* *

A gi-eat difficulty is occcasioned to the translator by the notion
of doubting and its Greek expressions. The language of the Mishna
offers pBD and psoia (Targ. pBGp) not of doubting persons S but
of dubious things. This adjective was applicable in rendering [jltqB^v
Siaxpivo[i£vo? James I. 6 by pao ''V^a, that is, indubitably, yet the
following 6 Yap Biaxpivojxsvo? requires a verb which signifies the
action of doubting, because pQppJi would signify a man of dubious
character, not a doubter. I have written pBD ^5>a a man who enter-
tains doubts. In Matth. XXI. 21 if ye have faith and doubt not
the translation f^a pBiD-T^fi<i nai^x dab n^nn-dfi< would mean: if
nothing dubious is in it, that is, if your faith is genuine. Also
sia^iBn &<'bl is useless, because the opinion that the biblical otira^
7£Ypa[X|i£vov n3iiB5< Ps. LXXXVEII. 16 signifies / am doubtful
starts from the false supposition, that "jiB is derived from the
particle )^. Therefore I have ventured to use here the Keflexive
pBtndrt as an equivalent of BiaxptveoOai to doubt after the manner

1) The only passage of the old literature, where pBG has the sense
of personal action, is Job XXXIS^. 37 Trg. : 5<35''2 pQd^, which seems to
signify: he excites doubts, he shakes the faith by doubts.

-^ 17 --

of the later Hebrew S the same verb, which Phil. IV. 11 renders
after the Talmudic use the Greek auxapxT]? eivat to he satisfied.
In two passages pBG was applicable, see Mark. XI. 23. Eoin. XIV.
23; in four others, Rom. IV. 20. James II. 4. Matth. XIV. 31.
XXVni. 17 I have applied Hosea's csb p^n their heart is
divided (X. 2) and in two others the translation was easy, because
there ,7vilhout doubt' is the same as without tarrying Act. X. 20.
XI. 12. By this it appears that it is unpracticable to translate a
Greek word everywhere by the same Hebrew word. The one
}(api? for example comprehends the significations of iryn (John
I. 17), -in (Luk. I. 30) and nh-:n thanks (Rom. VI. 17).

The equivalent of XsixoupYia in the sense of worship is n^h2>
e. g. Luk. I. 23 (different from r^^i^?, the word for 5ouXeia); yet
there are passages e. g. Hebr. VIII. 6 where it could not be used.
There only n^i^^ was in place, the word that elsewhere e. g. 2 Cor.
IX. 12 expresses the Greek Siaxovta. Also this Stotxovta cannot
be always translated by the same word. The Hebrew name of the
deacon is t'B^ (Phil. I. 1 and 1 Tim.) , of the deaconess n^'te^TS
(Rom. XVI. 1), the n. actionis d^ayj is employed Act. XII. 25 and
even VI. 4 where ir\Tit seemed not so suitable. So although the
word d^^5> is employed for xoojao? in 1 John II. 15, in 1 John
n. 16. 17 it seemed liable to misinterpretation. The principle, that,
when the context and meaning is similar, uniformity ought to be
carried through, has been from the first my standard. I fear
however, that even in the fifth edition there still occurs some
fluctuation in the rendering of certain words. Yet on the other

1) E. g. ia § 2 of the first chapter of Jore Deah {Tur and Schulchcm
aruch): ^&^11231 pSnb^D ^n^i'^n nt ini ^3) ,,in this case being uncertain I
will ask", and in the code Mordechai where the recapitulation of
Chullin begins: ^tt^nttJ nisbnn xn^i^) n^s ^rh 'j'^pBn&a D-^^^n „tiie
learned men were in doubt about many things in the statutes of cattle
slaughtering", comp. Samuel Hanagid in his "Ji^^rn x^.s^ on "P^*^
(the Talmudic non liquet): T^:i\i7^ -m dim ni'obr.n pSrD^r pBOn
'13X Maimonides is wont to say i^ psnna {HUchoth Schema II. 18)
he was doubtful. The Hebrew of the middle age says not only of
things, but also of persons: stin pSd^ he is doubting.

2

— 18 —

side the critic must beware of rashness and pedantry. Sometimes
where no reason for the varying expression can be discovered, the
translator may be guided by his exegetical or stylistic feeling, which
asserts a claim to the acknowledgement of its relative right.

In closfiig I may refer to several passages, the translation of

which has suggested weighty questions about Hebrew syntax. An

oppoi-tunity is thereby afforded to make public some interesting

l)ortions of Pi'ofessor Driver's coiTespondence, containing the results

of his critical examination of the earlier editions.

Matth. II. 1 n^-ibT^ini^ nnra f'^m n'^tp^riti ^i<h;!i there came

wise men from the East to Jerusalem. The biblical Hebrew

says sometimes nia'i^irn'^ or d'^b^'n">b , but mostly the bare

accusative D'i^ir'i"i': without the mark of direction. „I notice —

S. E. Driver says — that in 0. T. the names of places, especially

well known ones, occur usuallv after verbs of motion without n

locale; this I have observed pai*ticularly in the liistorical books".

The observation is correct: accordingly the n locale in the later

editions is employed only occasionally where clearness and

rhythm seemed to demand it.

Matth. n. 22 Di^Jl^ H^iri TTBlt To\h i^n^ * * iS^tltDp^ Bat when

he heard . , being afraid to go thither he was warned

in a dream. Many readers may expect rather ^y^^, but the

construction designedly does not follow the type of Gren.

XXVn. 34, but of 2 Chr. XV. 8. The main fact is T^^:s.^^ , the

perfect expresses the previous circumstance. In the first edition

after ^^"xd, 3 etc. the consecutive imperfect with strong Waw

without preceding ^T\^\ was used too frequently, whilst in the

earlier books of 0. T. this construction is relatively rare, comp.

1 Sam. IV. 20 mth Gen. XXXV. 17. I have left it sometimes,

but removed it in such i)assages as the above mentioned. See

Driver's Use of the Tenses in Hebrew § 127.^

1) In one of his letters, concerning my Hebrew version of the Acts
he says: „The instances of Waw consec. in answer to ''^nx, ^iTita,
"JSJ"^, 3 etc. are very abundant in this book. Considering that this con-
struction occurs (if 1 mistake not) not more than 4 times in Genesis,

— 19 —

Mark. IV. 33 And with many parables spake he the word unto
them, as they were able to hear it. My Mend proposed "la^i
and si^^l'i and similarly ^a^'; in v. 34 as idiomatically con-esponding
to the Greek sXocXst, T^Suvavio, sXaXei. It is true, this synchro-
nistic Imperfect is used by the old Hebrew especially to express
that which one was wont to do (lob I. 5) or what was done con-
tinuously (Ex. XXXin. 9. XXXIV. 34).' I have preferred
however the perfect: 1) because "is^'; in the sense of sXaXst
occurs only with tx preceding Josh. X. 12 or tm Hos. XII. 5;
2) because also the perfect can be used of an action begun
in the past and continued Ex. XXXm. 11. Euth IN. 7. Ps. .
CXLIV. 8.

Mark. V. 39 "^^^ li^hn^ And when he was come in, he saith.
In the tAvo first editions I have rendered this ^^K oassiassi, in
the fourth n^ox iisb;!!!, for in the Hebrew of the 0. T. 5<ia signifies
to enter like d_233 in the Hebrew of the Mishna. My friend
proposed ^^i< K^ni fi<n t^^n, which I adopted in the third edition,
but afterwards set it aside: 1) because the Greek elosXOojv
XsYst denotes both the actions as successive, not as simul-
taneous ; 2) because it seemed advisable to be sparing with this
antique scheme of temporal coincidence. I have accepted it e. g.
Matth. XI. 7 (see above the remark on this passage).

^once in Jiid., G tunes in 1 — 2 Sam., would not once in three chapters

^be a sufficiently large allowance in the Acts? It seems to me that

it is the tendency of the earher Hebrew, in the case of temporal or

causal clauses, which Greek often places early in a sentence, either
!«) to postpone them somewhat, or p) to prefix '^»7']l!; it is the later
Hebrew, that is apt to introduce them at the beginning. Compare ad
,cz) Gen. XIX. 16. XXXIV. 7. L. 17. Ex. XXX. 18. Jud. VHI. 3 with
[2 Chron. XH. 7. XV. 8. XX. 20. XXIV. 25. XXVL 10. 19^. XXXHI. 12.
I XXXIV. 14. Dan. X. 9. 11. 15. 19 and ad p) (d)M^3D1 2 Chr. VH. 1.
,XXIV. 14. XX. 23b. XXIX. 29. XXX. 1 against some 14 times in
[earher books with ''•T^l prefixed". This observation is keen; hence the
;tUsapproval was well founded. In the later editions, as I hope, the
[two constructions are proportionally mixed and alternating not only
[for the sake of variation, but according to the importance of the

several facts within the historical nan'ative.

2*

— 20 —

Matth. XXIV. 27 D^iJ'i^-btD ixi^-D^ T^'^T}'' 1? so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be. In the first edition I had left
out this ,also' (xai) of the Greek text. It is questionable whether
it is better to translate it or to leave it untranslated. There
arc many cases, esi)ecially in the Gospels, where this question
arises. On this point also we have coiTesponded. „I would liko
to know — my friend wrote me — whether , if Hebrew writers
of 0. T. could express fully what they wished to say without d:^
(aft«r "nirx or -p) , it was needful always to represent verbalh
the xat: it seemed to be at times superfluous and make the
sentence unidiomatic. Hebrews either felt the sense was com-
])lete without it (with Luk. XVII. 37 , where 6<B exhibit xat o'l
aetot and Elzev. only ol asxot. conip. Job XXXIX. 30) or
sometimes seem to have adopted a difterent mode of expression
(with Matth. X. 4 d xai icapaSou; aoxov comp. Gen. XXXVn. 24.
Ex. VI. 26 s.). Would not such a comparison for instance as
Matth. XXIV. 27 have been felt to be complete by an 0. T.
author without the Da? The matter is worthy of attention. In
general it nmst be siiid that the omission of the xai at times
is allowable. The LXX add xai Deut. H. 21. VIE. 20. Is.
LX. 13 al., where the Hebrew text runs without na; hence vice
versa it is permitted to the Hebrew translator to omit it some-
times where the Greek text has it." But the passage Matth.
XXIV. 27 to which I have attiiched this remark, shows how
difficult the decision is in some cases. It may seem inconsistent
that I have left xat untranslated Luk. X. 39, but not likewise
Matth. X. 4. Hebr. VII. 25. Even this little word renders the
work of tmnslation very difficult.

Luk. VL 1 1'^'7''t)bn ^S-Jpi:i n^sj^n l^a -in:^ • • W^ And it came
to pass . . that he weht through the corn-fields and his dis-
ciples plucked. The construction is like Gen. XLL 1. Jewish
readers often declared, that ^h5!«i ought to be written. But
Prof. S. R. Driver in our con*espondence on the Hebrew N. T.
has rightly observed : ,,The schemes m^ ^-q^ • ' •'nil and • • '^rr^i
i:ax r\1^ (e. g. Gen. XXII. 1) occur frequently in the Old Testa-

— 21 —

ment, no less than m 'i^X'^i • • ''JT'i, might they not be employed,
especially the first, more often than is the case, for the sake of
variety ?'' I have made use of them in such passages, where
the perfect after '^n^'i, followed by consecutive imperfect, denotes
a preparatory fact, ou which the following rests. But not too
often, because this classical construction makes a strange appear-
ance to Jewish readers.
Luk. X. 33 tjn^a tfbn '^:inti'b" li'^r^^ But a certain Samaritan
as he journeyed . . The first edition had rendered this T|fi<
'lai inx "^rl-ip^r. This -x as equivalent of the Greek Ss was
awkward: I had not yet freed myself ft'om the unidiomatic
manner of the London version, which is sadly marred by the
abundant use of the -j6< in place of Ss. ,,I much doubt —
S. R. Driver wrote me — if "|i< is in place here? At least the
earlier historical style would not have had recourse to it. Take
all the passages in two or tliree books, given by Noldius, e. g.
in the books of Genesis, Judges and Samuel: it is prefixed to
single words as D2>sn -i<, piuJ2? "|5<, and it introduces a limita-
tion upon some preceding clause. It also occurs more frequently
in speeches than in the narrative, but hardly any — not even
1 Sam. XXIX. 9. 2 Sam. II. 10 — seem quite parallel to its
use here''. This is the fact. In the later editions these offensive
"|5< are. I hope, all dropped out.

^

— 22

Besides these passages of the s\Tioptic Gospels the following-
passages also have occasioned grammatical queries and researches,
the result of which seems to be not unimportant. Indeed, if I
should give all the passages and words which have been matter
of inquiry and discussion, it would be difficult to come to an end.
Many questions are not even yet quite satisfactorily solved.
Matth. Vn. 21. Vm. 2. 6 etc. xupis Lord! In the later Hebrew
of liturgical prayer and poetry often "jinx without article or
suffix is employed as vocative e. g. Kir? "p^ist irbs? "1*^25 ^ix, but
in the biblical Hebrew neither "p^ix nor 'jI'ik occurs in direct
address, for 'ji'is Jer. XXII. 18 is exclamation, not address.
Therefore I was constrained to substitute either ^'■Jii^ or ^5'^5H&<
(not !i5:Sk which is to be found only once 1 Sam. XVI. 16).
The later postexilic language says also without article "jHS lUJi&t
bi^a Mylord high priest! Joma I. 3. d'^shd, d-ii^, bxnu:''
0 priests, o Levites, o Israelites! Meg ilia 3*. D''u:i*ib, B^pi^j^t
0 Pharisees, o Sadducees! Jadajim IV. 7.

Matth. XV. 9 (= Is. XXIX. 13^) T'^ Q^^T. ^^^1 ^^^ in vain
do they worship me. The LXX read ^'nr.^ instead of ^t)t\\
And what follows ft'^'isabifl fi'ittJax ni^fia joins closely to the Targum
which has fB^s y^^it w^'srQ like ordinances of teaching
men. LXX and Targum together bear here witness to a text
different from the masoretic. I felt obliged to render the
Hebrew text just as it lay before these ancient authorities. A
similar case is Hebr. X. 5. In other places w^here the Greek

— 23 —

version does not necessarily presuppose a different text,
e. g. Rom. IX. 28 = Is. X. 23 and Hebr. X. 30 = Dent.
XXXn. 35 I have retained our received Hebrew text. Of course,
the decision could sometimes but be precarious.

Luk. VI. 1 [n^is^n inyr^cb mm] n:am. in the following
editions I have removed these brackets, which indicated in the
first, that the Sinaiticus (like the Vaticanus) has only iv
aajBpaxa) without osuxepoirptoTq). The remark of the late
Tischendorf: tit ah additamenii ratione allenum est, ita
cur omisetHnt in promptu est seemes to me convincing. In
the interpretation of this Seoxepoirpwxw I agree with John
Ligthfoot, understanding the first sabbath after the second
Easter-day, or, as can also be said, the second sabbath after the
day of offering the barley sheaf, which is the terminus a quo
of the seven sabbaths (weeks) till Pentecost (Lev. XXIII. 15),
consequently the second sabbath within n^isJn n*i'^st3 (the com-
putation commencing from the Omer- offering). Instead naurn
n*!?^;."! the later editions have ^ydn nnuJ2, just as Luk. XXin. 54
!^n'l^<r^ nsu:ni afterwards is changed into S'^an nnu:m. The
name of the Sabbath is originally feminine, wherefore liturgi-
cally it is represented as the royal bride of Israel (comp.
however Is. LVIII. 13). We have used it in the passages
above mentioned as masculine confomiablv to Is. LVI. 2. 6 and
bi^sn nn;y, the name of the Sabbath before Easter. Concerning
the Pentecost, the expression Act. n. 1 iv x(^ oofiirXYjpouo&ai
x/jV r^jXEpav x^? TtsvxsxooxTjc is very concise and not easily
translatable. I believe, the translation m^miJn anb Q-'ia^n ^ixbri^i
(ed. rV. V) shall be satisfactory. The revisers of the English
version have blotted out the word fully of the received text. But
fully points back to complete Lev. XXTTT. 15.

John IV. 31 ^'^'7^'a^tl in*^ ^b^llj the disciples prayed him. The
verb bttu: occurs sometimes construed with the accusative of
the thing begged for, but never with the accusative of the
person, from whom one prays something, bsuj seq. accus.
signifies ,to ask one'; but ,to beseech one' must be expressed

— 24 ~

by )-q bx^ 1 Sam. Vm. 10 or n&<^ bx^ Ps. 11. 8. This rule
is observed in the later editions.

John VI. 27 n^n'^^n 'l'^^^ I'^t^n ^m for him the Father, God
hath sealed. Thus the first edition, the following more accura-
tely and clearly: D'ln'bxn Tiatt i^nin cnn in ^^s, not mthout
influence from the conjecture , which the reno^vned grammarian
Moses Eeichersohn at Wilna proposed to me that the Lord,
comparing liimself with heavenly meat, alludes to anna, which
is the Pelestinian name of the baker as one who impresses
certain marks upon his loaves.

Act. vm. 26. IX. 11 tfb"] D^p arise and go. The ■: copulative
after op ist not false (comp. 1 Sam. XXIX. 7) , but contrary
to the usage; the second imperative after Dip follows ^vithout
exception aauvSlxo)?. Therefore from the second edition on the
1 is omitted.

Act. X. 28 i^^n 'l^Dif nCi^ Dn:^1'; DP^ ye yourselves know
how that is an unlawful thing. From the second edition I
have "ym^ corrected to *»?, because the biblical jt^ ist mostly
consti'ued with ^d, scarcely wath *im Ex. XI. 7. Deut. X\TII. 21.
Eccl. vm. 12. Ezek. XX. 26., and except the last passage
always the word after 'nttjx is a verb.

Rom. XVI. 20 shall bruise ^?'!l'l Satan under your feet. One
might expect c^rr;;, for St. Paul's hope recalls the promise,
which is interwoven in the curse of the serpent, and C)i\u, at
least the first C]ittJ, ^ sig-nifies there ,to bruise' like the targumic
t^ and "^BTr, by which the Hebrew 6<S"n ist wont to be ti-anslated.
Nevertheless I did not dare to employ this verb, though I would
have used it, if the apostle had said ouvxpi'j^si xr^v xscpaXrjv
xou ocpEo)? or only xov ocpiv. In other passages the expression.

1) Tlie second means, as many think, attack by blow^g. Indeed
Pilia in the Palestinian dialect of the Aramaic language signifies ,to
blow' e. g. Bereschith rahha c. U: wXB"'"^^:: ni^ mu: T^^l „eyen m
sultrj' heat the wind blows (upon the water)".

i - '' -

which I have chosen brings out intentionally certain reminis-
censes, e. g. Matth. XV. 28 ^^5<i s^^'^ n5:> t&t reminds of

7o -t:-"ttt

Cant. n. 10; John XIX. 30 n'?3 (TSTlXsotat) of ah::^^ Gen.
n. 1 and in^^'ri< ^j5S?i of Ps. XXXI. 6; 2 Cor. VH. 5 7^1^73
n^s'^x Q-^^^n^!! m'anV^ of Dent. XXXII. 25 (suggestion of the
Rev. G. H. Handler); 2 Thess. H. 8 i-^nab nsi^a of Is. XI. 4;
Hebr. VTH. 2 'isSx 13513 ^lyNt of Ex. XV. 1 7 (suggestion of the
Eev. D. Biesenthal).

Gal. m. 16 ^^ini^l^-jTb^ ib "Tc^ i^bl he saith not: (to thee)
and (thy) seeds. The plural ni^s^nt is employed by the Talmud
in similar arguments e. g. Sanhedrin 37^, and the collective 5Jit
appears similarly concentrated on shth ini&< the one seed who
shall arise from another place (Esth. IV. 14), that is, tlie king
Messiah, in tlie Midrasch Ruth sect. VII extr. and often.

Gal. IV. 22 (hy the free woman) 26 (Jerusalem that is above
is free). I have rendered IXsu&spa in both verses by n^izisn.
But it is true, as may fiiend at Wilna has objected, that H^^sn
denotes a woman which is set free (in Aramaic rnnrittJia, in

• • • \ •

Latin liberfa), and that it is unsuitable so to name Sarah.
For that reason 'I'l^'in-na (comp. Gal. III. 28. Hebr.) might
be deemed preferable in Gal. IV. 22 sqq.

1 Thess. IV. 14 D^DTtJ'^n-njJ D^ 5?^©:) ^T,'^^. D^^^lbiJin i^^n^i 'JS
ir\i< even so them also that are fallen asleep will God by
Jesus briny with him. Prof. John J. Given (Londonderry)
thinks tliis passage mistranslated and sadly marred through
wrong connexion. The English version, the authorized as
well as the revised, translates: which sleep in Jesus. But the
Greek text says 5ia xou 'Iyjoou, which belongs to ,he will
brings, because sleep through Jesus is an unexampled ex-
pression.

1 Tim. n. 5 one mediator between God and men. Here and
Hebr. Vm. 6 the employment of the rabbinical "nb^o = [isot-
TT]? could be dispensed with by imitating the circumlocution of
Deut. V. 5. Ex. XVEII. 19. The modem Hebrew ventures to
say ?Sf5aa and even T^lino, but these copies of the occidental

U^?VrT?«*»^v

— 26 —

mediator are as repudiable as tsii'^an ^"^Nt said of Goliath, who

proceeds betw^een the Philistines and Israel to decide the war

by single combat 1 Sam. XVn. 4. 23. As to nb^G, it is a

noble word. The Talmud itself (jer. Megilla IV, 1^ says :

"I'l&'nb ''^'^ b3> hin^s n-iirn (the law is given by the hand of a

mediator).

I subjoin here a list of forms, which occur in the fii-st edition,

but have disappeared in the folloAving as grammatically incorrect or

objectionable.

John XIX. 35 •^^'^^n he has home witness, changed into wrn
(m. IV: T^rn), comp. in-^ian 1 Kings XIII. 20 and on the other
hand in^cn^ Gen. XXXVII. 22 wliich is the pronunciation of
the infinitive. — Acts XV. 14 (D'^nbx) nxy^^ oepojilvYj (xov
Osov), rather n.H^'^, Prov. XXXI. 30 like '^^^v Ps. XXH. 29 —
Acts XIX. 9 (ohT?) ^w he departed (from them), rather
"id^i. The imperf. consec. of Kal and of Hiphil have the same
vowels, e. g. Ex. Vin. 27. Gen. VIH. 13 — Act. XXI. 5 *irs-^3
our knees after '^^ii's'is Dan. VI, 11 with aspirate Caph, but
the con-esponding Hebrew fonns all have Dagesh: '^S'^a, '^s'la.
T^sna, n'is-ja and only with grave suffix Dn-'D'na — Act. XXII. 9
i3?a^ (at the end of the verse) they heard. The pausal form is
always wp^ — Kom. Xm. 1 isans (last word of the verse)
they are ordained. I have changed the Kamets into Pathach ;
the form sisra Ez. XXVU. 19 (Kal with Dagesh a/fectuosum)
is unconfonnable — 1 Cor. VI. 13 o^a belly. I have after-
wards preferred fc'na (\Nith Sin after Jer. LI. 34) as warranted
by the Syiiac w»^s — 1 Cor. XI. 28 "jha"^ let a man prove,
better 'ina'i Ps. XI. 5 like ina'^ — 2 Cor. XI. 21 r^'S^ rrx he
is hold, I am hold, wrong instead of tr^, tr5< Hiphil of t?:? —
Eph. VI. 15 d'^b3J373 da^'bi'ni and having shod your feet,
erroneously for nib^pp; the names of such organs as are double
belong to the feminine nouns — 1 Tim. EE. 9 nisVnoa with
hr aided hair, altered into izJxnn nie^naa after Judg. XVI.
13. 19; niB^riTD looks like a plural of t^Vi^ knife Ezr. I. 9 —
1 Pet. III. 22 ni''^->ni and authorities, better ri'^cr^ri fi-om

— 27 —

nsiia*;! with stable Dagesh, see Brief an die Romer (1870)
pag. 94 sq. — 2 Pet. I. 4 dDip^ssria having escaped, misprint
for DDiabaria — Apoc. XTV. 15 '^yo thy sickle from hi-q like
*>bj:5^, ibpri from bjsia. In spite of that, though uncertain, I have
afterwards written 't^^'Q.
The name of Tiberias John VI. 1. 23. XXI. 1 is written rr^'nna

T :- •

(n^*ii"i::), because n^^sip is the Babylonian form, s^!;^i'^I? the Palesti-
nian; the final letter is sometimes s sometimes n, but more often n
(see Levy's Dictionaries) — The name of the town 'Ecppat|i. John
XI 54 could be transcribed d'^'ns? like Menachoth 83^. 85 % but
"I'l^is? according to 2 Chron. XIII. 1 9 seemed better as less exposed
to misunderstanding — In place of "p&i-)i:Bfi< STcixpoiroi Gal. IV. 2
I have written in the second and later editions 'j'^OB'i^iDB^, the one
form is as unobjectionable as the other, both are used in the talmudic
language — I have left unaltered "jinnr a^papwva 2 Cor. I. 22
and in other passages; the form is the same as •jiis^'n'n Constr. I'ix'nn,
■ii'itri Constr. "ji^m — The plural nip^nri oxto(Aaxa 1 Cor. I. 10
did not need correction; nipbna signifies classes and mp'bna (from
the same singular npbna) signifies litigations (scliisms), see Tosefta
(ed. Zuckermandel) pag. 321 lin. 1.

I was not susprised, when my sharp-sighted critic in Oxford after
the perusal of the first edition imposed upon a translator higher ol)-
ligations than he found there fulfilled. ..Hebrew as we have it in
0. T. — thus he ^Tote me — being in certain points a more
limited language than Greek , and only able sometimes to express
with difficulty what Greek can do with ease and lightness, does it not
seem to you, that to translate a phrase word for word results at
times in a sentence, which sounds slightly heavy and unnatural?
In a piece of historical narrative, or a speech, it seems to me that
in such cases we should endeavour to translate tlie phrase as a
whole, to frame a sentence idiomatically, which, though it may not
in every detail correspond to the Greek, shall still , taken altogether,
express accurately the whole idea which the Amter intends to
convey. To translate S. Luke into Hebrew does not appear to me
to be quite the same thing as to translate him into English or
German; it is more like making an idiomatic translation of a piece
of Plato or Thucydides. I notice you have allowed yourself the
practice sometimes: might it be a little extended? I should of
course not suggest it in the case of any technical or dogmatic term,
where verbal exactness is evidently of primary consequence. But
would it not also often secure as a collateral advantage — not
unimportant, even in the Acts — a style more resembling that
of 0. T. , in being at once more compressed and more antique?**
Briefly, my friend demands more liberty from the letter, more
compliance towards the genius of Hebrew. I acknowledge the right
of this plus ultra, but appeal at once to the ultra posse nemo

— 29 —

ohligatur. Two instances may show what I mean. The sentence
Matth. X. 10 the workman is worthy of Ms food is translated
"h^n^ '''n bifsn r\rt. Thereto my reviser remarked: ,J do not
criticize the exactness of the rendering, but would only ask whether
for such a ,,spruchartiger Satz" some equivalent more in the
pointed style of the old h'^'o might not be found Avithout the use of
such a w^ord as r\y6 of the book of Esther? The sti-ess appears to
lie in the general principle of human conduct appealed to by our
Lord, rather than in the special word ot^io?." Indeed that tm as
not classical displeases me, but I do not know how to avoid it, for
in'^rn ui*! bsB-bsb would signify that each labourer receives his
food, but not that he is worthy to receive it. Similarly the rendering
of the synoptic therefore ye shall receive the greater condem-
nation (Matth. XXIII. 14. Mark. XU. 40. Luk. XX. 47 j by isb
5inj5n "ir-^-b? ^stz^P does not satisfy me, and revising the text of the
fourth edition I have pondered, whether that rendering might be
improved in any way, yet having exhausted all possibilities I saw
myself thrown back upon the ti*anslation liitheiix) given. If I had
the choice between a classical, but too free version, and a less classi-
cal, but more iaithful one, I would give the preference to the
latter, because it is much more important, to preserve the originality
of the divine word than to level it in favour of a more genuine
Hebrew shape. The spirit of the N. T. has created for itself its
o\\\\ i^eculiar form of thinking and speaking, and the N. T. writers,
especially St. Paul and St. John, liave their own style. I was
anxious not to withhold from the Jewish readers the impression
of these peculiarities, even wliere the fonn is stiff, monotonous cfnd
unpleasing, for in the Holy scripture as the earthly vessel of
]iea\'enly thoughts and directions all is as much human as divine.
We are not permitted to make the human fonn of the K T. more
beautiful than it is. I know, in this point my friend agrees with
me. And I willingly gi'ant him that I may have sacrificed regula-
rity or elegance to fidelity in several i)laces where both could be
united. I am far from presuming that I have realized the ideal.
A tme and satisfactory version of the N. T. is a thing of the

— 30

future, and onl}' am' 11 be i)roduc^, when tlio new Thorn of tlie Gospel
has been received into its heart of hearts hj the regenerated remnant
of Isiuel.

A friend of mine does not cease to entreat me to translate the
New Testament into tlie Aramaic idiom which wcis spoken in
Palestine in the days of Christ and his apostles, that is. into the
language of the Palestinian Talmud and the Palestinian Targiuns.
But his desire rests on an illusion. The Hebrew remained even
after the exile the language of Jewish literature. The Ecclesiasticus
of Jesus Sirach was AM'itten in Hebrew, as its fragments in the
Talnmd show. The original of the first book of Maccabees and ot
the so called Psalter of Solomon was Hebrew. The inscriptions on
coins, the epitaphs, the litui'gic prayers were Hebrew. The form
of the laws Avas Hebrew, as appears from their codification in the
Mishna. Also the book, in Avhich, as Papias says, Matthew had
collected the sermons of the Lord, Avas written k^pcdh hioiXinzv^.
It is true, that in that time ippatori and j^aXSaioxt were not
accurately distinguished. Nevertheless it is quite unlikely that
MatthoAv AATote in Ammaic; for the Aramaic dialect of Palestine —
AA'hich in the Talmud is called '^&*iit3, and there and in the Targiims
can be l)etter learned than from the so called EvangeUarium
Uierosolymitanum and the fragments of a Palestinian version d
Psalms, published by J. P. N. Land fLugduni Bat. 1875) — AAas
the language of daily life, the A^ilgar language, in which the
people and also the learned were wont to converse and to hold
controversies, but i^ ^Eppoti; SidtXsxTo?, in which St. Paul was
accosted bv the exalted Saviour Act. XXVI. 14 and in which he
himself addressed the people of Jerusalem Act. XXI. 40. XXII. 2.
was the holy language, the language of the temple worship, ot
synagogical and domestic prayer, of all formulas of benediction, of
the traditional law^; further the parables, the animal fables, the
lament<ations for the deatl in the Talmuds and Midmshim are

— 31 —

mostly Hebrew: the holy language continued to be the language
of the higher form of speech, even the popular proverbs Avere only
partly Aramaic. Josephus, stating in the Preface of his work on
the Jewish war, that his narrative was originally drawn up for his
compatriots of inner Asia in the common mother -tongue, certainly
means the Hebrew, not the Aramaic language. Knowledge of
Hebrew was then as now universal among the educated of the
nation. Aramaic, on the contrary, was understood only by a small
part of the Diaspora. Even now knowledge of Hebrew is much
the more general, whereas acquaintance with the idiom of the
so called Talmud Jerashalmi is a prerogative of very few Jewish
scholars. Therefore it would be a useless attempt to translate the
New Testament into the Palestinian Sursi. The Shemitic woof of the
New Testament Hellenism is Hebrew , not Aramaic. Our Lord and
his apostles thought and spoke for the most part in Hebrew. And the
XcAV Testament, as the new Thora, the completive half of God's
revelation, must be translated into Hebrew, if we intend to make it
a reading book for the Jews of all countries and a constituent
part of the worship of the futui'e Israel, who shall be saved after the
entering in of the fulness of the Gentiles. The translation into
Aramaic would be an artificial work, not without relative advan-
tage — for it would exhibit in the New Testament language some
features of the vernacular dialect of Palestine — but without
l)ractical ahn. A proof of its restricted utility is the little help,
which the Peschito affords to the HebreAv translator.^

The project of a version of the N. T. in the Targumic idiom is
in some degTee favoured by Jolm I. 1. Prof. Driver remarks
regarding my translation of this overture to the fourth Gospel:
..The rendering of Xoyo? has doubtless been well weighed. I wish
that it were possible to employ the ^^i s^^a^a in some way or other.
AYould not that term have the advantage of suggesting to the

1) I mean help in finding the intended or equivalent shemitic
l)hrases; for as regards tlie Palestinian form of proper names, the
Aramaic versions of the New Testament are entirely useless: they
transcribe slavislily the Greek forms.

— 32 —

Jewish reader associations analogous to, if not identical with, thoso
suggested by Xoyo; to the Greek? fi<-i^'ia, unlike -c^ (if I mistake
not), but like Xoy©;, would be a significant word, having a previous
liistory to which to attach itself and which gives it its meaning."
Nevertheless after careful deliberation I have rendered Xo'yo? by
im, because the Word not only as mediator of the world's
creation and conservation is called nn"i Ps. XXXIII. 6. CXLVII. 18,
but also as mediator of salvation Ps. CVU. 20. Is. LY. 10 sq.
For some time I thought of iritan as an equivalent of »'^'Q"c . but
I rejected it, because the Hebrew of the Mislma and its age knows
^^5<?2 only as denoting the word of command, by which the world
arose e. g. Abolh V. 1. Even ^i^ia^n I did not like, for it is a post-
biblical word, and yet it was of gi'cat importance to obviate the
o])inion, that the Logos was an invention of Stoic and Alexandrian
philosophy, and not, as it is really the case, rooting and already
germinant in the 0. T. Certainly the Logos, more and more
acknow^ledged as a divine hypostasis, which paiixikes of God's
personality , is ordinarily called 1131 e. g. in the Midrash to Cant.
IL 13*: nii2^ D5 -i3T?a ^^innn the Word spoke with Moses. And
in the Palestinian Targimi the word as revealer of God and as God
himself in his revelation bears besides the name x-i'd'^i: also the
name j<'nsia'n or x*i3'n (see Lavy's Targumic Dictionary). But even
these synonymous terms lead to ^3'n as the word really corre-
sponding, especially in regard to such passages as 1 John T. 1
^\'here only ts'^^nn ^i-n, neither ^i^ktd nor nia-n is suitable.

Finally I cannot forbear to mention a New Testament term by
which Jewish readers are offended, as I have heard from mauA
sides. It is known that our Lord is wont to confirm his sentences
by opening them with ajir^v, in the Gospel of St. Matthew thirfv
times with ajii^v Xsyo), in the Gospel of St. John twenty fi^•e times
with a|nr]v ajxTiv XEya) ujjitv. I have translated it in the Synoptics
by dD^ "^ix -i^x i^j^ and in St. Jolm by csb ^bx -^sx "ica iiax.
How many times Jewish friends have exclaimed: .That is not
Hebrew', and insisted that instead of "j^x ought to be said nr-ax or
d:^x or n^x3. This i^x at the head of the sentence is indeed

— 33 —

fc- entirely foreign as much to the biblical as to the postbiblical
style and has not its like in the whole Jewish literature.
However it would be inconsiderate and arbitrary to remove this
anomaly in favour of stylistic regularity and elegance. For if every
great man has his own style, how much more the greatest of all!
His manner of speaking contains much hitherto unheard of, for
instance that he calls himself the Son of Man, which is infinitely
different from it^ma fi<inn i, by which in the vernacular language of
that time the speaker designated himself. This l^fci also was a
new and peculiar expression in the mouth of our Lord. Speaking the ^
dialect of the people he began his solemn speeches with fi<i'^^i< )'ci<
liD^, in Hebrew dsb ^55< "y^zk yoi^^ not dib ir5< i5&< i^x, because this
order of the words obliterates the significant alliteration, which
St. John intends to imitate by doubling the p&t.^ I am persuaded,
that the name 6 'Ajjltjv, which is given to Christ Eevel. IH. 14
alludes to the oft repeated ajirjv of the incomparable master.

Charles Dickens wrote to his son, as he was about to under-
take a journey: „I have put a New Testament among your books,
because it is the best book, which the world has known and will
ever know".^ In truth, it is the best in every respect. What a full-
ness and depth of contents this small volume encloses, its like is
not to be found among the literatures of mankind. And every
dispassionate inquirer must allow, that Jesus Christ, who is the
centre of this book, has created a new era of human history. The
root of Jesse has become the root of a new world. Even those, who
deny His Messiahship, are not without a share in some fmits of
his redemption. But it shall come to pass in the last days, that

1) In Sursi the speaker says &^*'S5 &<lhri (xnr^5< i<*inh) not only
of himself, but also of the person addressed; consequently this phrase
is of no use to explain the self- denomination of our Lord by 6 utoc
toy av^pwTTou Matth. VHI. 20 etc.

2) See No IX of my Talmudic Studies in Lutherische Zeitschrift 1856
p 422 — 424 and No H of my „Traces of the vernacular tongue in the
Gospels" in The Hebrew Student (Chicago), Dec. 1882 p. 104—105.

3) Translated back from the German.

3

— 34 —

they shall aclinowledge Him whom they have so long despised.
Israel will then become confessor and interpreter and apostle of the
Xew Testament, andj the new Thora, which is gone forth out of Zion,
Avill then Je gloriously transfigured into the holy tongue. Jacob
shall then take root, Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face
of the world with fruit. For if the casting away of them be the
reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be but
life from the dead! — 0 house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk
in the light of the Lord and his Christ ! Their light is one , light of
the only One, the heavenly soui'ce of life, as Christ has said: This
is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and
Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

APPENDIX.

A list of essays and notices of F. D., more or less closely
connected with the translation work.

A. Talmudische Studien in the Lutherische Zeit-
schrift, edited by Eudelbach and Guericke, from
1863 by Guericke and Delitzsch, Leipzig, Dorff-
ling & Franke.

I. Das Holielied verunreinigt die Hande (contribution to the

history of the 0. T. Canon) 1854 pag. 280—283.
II. Die Discussion der Amtsfrage in Mischna und Gemara ibid,
pag. 446—449.

III. Mkodemos ibid. pag. 643—647.

IV. Der Passaritus des zweiten Tempels 1855 p. 257 — 268.

V. Ein talmudisches Seitensttick des "Weihnachtsevangeliums ibid.

pag. 401—404.
VI. Der Hosiannaruf ibid. pag. 653 — 656.
Vn. Erwahnt der Talmud Ebioniten und Nazaraer? ibid,
pag. 75 — 79.
Vni. Sichem und Sychar ibid. pag. 240 — 244.
IX. AMHN AMHN 1856 pag. 422—424.
X. Bethesda 1856 pag. 622—624.
XI. Das Deuteronomium 1860 pag. 220—222.
Xn. Die zwiefache Genealogie des Messias ibid. pag. 460 — 465.

3*

— 36 —

Xin. Eechtfertigung von Hebr. Vn, 27 ibid. pag. 593—596.
XIV. Eechtfertigung von Hebr. YH, 5 1863 pag. 16—22.
XV (sic) Die im N. T. bezeugte Unreinheit heidnischer Hauser

nach jiidischem Begriff 1874 pag. 1 — 4.
XVI (sic) Der Jesus-Name 1876 pag. 209 — 214.
XVn (sic) Der Ezra der Ueberlieferung und der Ezra der neuesten

Pentateuchkritik 1877 pag. 445 — 450.
Not numbered: Die Schriftlehre von den drei Himmeln (and the
Je^vish doctrine on seven heavens with respect to 2 Cor.
XII. 1—4) 1873 pag. 609—613.
Not continued: Beitrage zur hebr. Grammatik (concerning tlie
orthography of the Hebrew N. T.j. I. Die Dagessirung der
Tenues 1878 pag. 585—590.

B. Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae. Erganzungen
zu Lightfoot und Schoettgen in the same Quarterly
Lutheran Journal.

I. Matthaus 1876 pag. 401—406.
n. Marcus ibid. pag. 406 — 409.
m. Lucas ibid. pag. 593—602.
rv. Johannes ibid. pag. 602—606.
V. Apostelgeschichte 1877 pag. 1 — 11.
VI. Brief an die Romer ibid. p. 11 — 17.
Vn. Erster Brief an die Corinther ibid. pag. 209 — 215.
Vin. Zweiter Brief an die Corinther ibid. pag. 450 — 454.
IX. Brief an die Galater ibid. pag. 599 — 607.
X (sic) Brief an die Epheser 1878 p. 1—9 (with a supplement

on Pappouvt and with other additions on the Gospels).
XI (sic) Brief an die Philipper ibid. pag. 209 — 215.
Xn (sic) Brief an die Colosser ibid. pag. 401 — 410.

With the year 1878 the Journal ceased to appear. Present price
of a whole volume 3 Mark, of a single number 1 Mark.

— 37 —

C. Notices in ,^8aat auf Hoffnung", the Quarterly
Journal of the Lutheran Central Society for
preaching the Gospel to the Jews.

Eine neue hebraische Uebersetzimg des Neuen Testaments. Aufnif.

1864, 3 pag. 59—62.
Das Uebersetzungswerk. 1865, 1 pag. 61 f.
Ueber die palastinische Volkssprache welche Jesus und seine Jtinger

geredet haben. 1874 pag. 195 — 210. With an appendix

on the camel and the needle's eye and on Dalmanutha

pag. 210—215.
Ueber Matth. XV, 3 — 6 mit Bezug auf die Mischna 1875

pag. 37—40.
Ezechiel E^kibi, der hebraische Uebersetzer des N. T. in Kotschin

1876 pag. 186—190.1
Der Stand des neutestamenthchen Uebersetzungswerkes am 8. Juni

1876. 1877 pag. 80—89.
Der Stand desselben am 24. Mai 1877. ibid. pag. 242 — 245.
Ueber die 1. Ausgabe und Vorbereitung einer zweiten (11. Juni 1878)

1878 pag. 222—231.
Ankiindigung der 2. den Text der Elzeviriana vom J. 1624 zu

Grunde legenden Ausgabe mit Erklarung ihrer textkritischen

Zeichen 1879 pag. 55 — 57.
Ankiindigung der 3. Ausgabe in etwas grosserem Fonnat 1880

pag. 62.
Nachruf an den sel. Director George Palmer Davies 1881 pag. 201 f.
Ueber die elektrotypirte 4. Ausgabe 1882 pag. 208.

1) This Hebrew translation is one of the Buchanan MSS. of the
University Library, Cambridge. The Ms. has in front the notice:
,,This MS. was found in one of the Sjnagogues of the Black Jews of
Cochin in India by the Eev. Claudius Buchanan in the year 1806".

z'

K

Thirteen years ago as a first specimen of the translation was
published :

Paulus des Apostels

Brief an die Romer

aus dem

Griechischen Urtext auf Grund des Sinai-Codex in das
Hebraische ubersetzt und aus Talmud und Midrascli

erlautert

von

Franz Delitzsch.

[Mit einem Riickblick auf die Uebersetzimgsgeschichte vom orston
bis ins neunzehnte Jahrhundert.]

Leipzig, Dorffling & Franke

1870.

Price: 2 Mark.

Printed by Ackermann and Glaser. Leipzig.

'■HIS BOOK IS DtTE ON TTrr- r

STAMPED BE^V'^ST DATE

'^''''-""'»'-7. •39(402.,

<;0t7tt3331

9

/

/

■*i'fcrfdMHHHVtfta»>lff«b'**^^Vtt)Bfem-32'll.' '~r-