§172b, §173] CONCLUSION OF JOHN'S GOSPEL.

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was "taken up: and a cloud received him out of their sight, 'and he ''was 'carried up 'and 'received ['up] 2 into heaven, 'and 'sat down at the right hand of God. Aud while they were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in "white apparel: who also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, 'shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.

'And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually 'in the temple, blessing God.

'And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and "confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.

$173. CONCLUSION OF JOHN'S GOSPEL.

John 20:30-31; 21:25.

MANY other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book: "but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the

n 1 Tim. 3:16, "Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness; He... .. was manifested in the flesh, . . . received up in glory."

o Psa. 110:1, "The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool." Acts 7:55.

p Matt. 28:3 ( 160), “His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow.' Mark 16:5. Luke 24:4 (§ 162). John 20:11 ( 164). Acts 10:3. q Acts 2:7,"Behold, are not all these who speak, Galilæans?" 13:30.

r Dan. 7:13, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days." Matt. 24:30. Mark 13:26 and Luke 21:27 (§ 126b). John 14:2 (§ 136a). Rev. 1:7. 8 Matt. 28:16 (§ 171). See note a, § 171.

t Acts 2:46.

u Acts 5:12, "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.”

a Luke 1:4 (2) [From Luke's preface]," To write unto thee in order, . . . that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed."

Christ, the Son of God; and 'that believing ye may have life in his name.

And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written.

b John 3:15, 16 (§ 24); 5:24 (§ 39). 1 Pet. 1:8, 9," Jesus Christ: whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

THE END.

A BRIEF HISTORY

OF THE

TRANSLATIONS OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE;

ALSO,

AN ACCOUNT OF THE SEPTUAGINT AND VULGATE.

THE Bible was written in the languages which were spoken by the people for whom its different parts were originally prepared.

The Old Testament was given in Hebrew (except a small portion, viz.: a few words of Gen. 31:47 and Jer. 10:11, and of Ezra 4:8 to 6:18 and 7:12-26, and of Dan. 2.4 to 7:28, which was in the cognate dialect, Chaldaic), and the New Testament was given in Greek. It is a remarkable fact that both the Hebrew and the Greek became in turn practically dead languages very soon after the completion of each scripture canon, the former giving way to the latter as the result of the conquest of Alexander, and the latter yielding to the Latin when the supremacy of the Romans had become general. Thus these languages became, as it were, sealed up, and their words no longer subject to the changes incident to all living languages.

THE SEPTUAGINT (seventy).-This the most important of the ancient versions of the Old Testament Scriptures, is supposed to have been made at Alexandria about 285 B.C., by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus. Most of the books of the Old Testament are known to us by the Greek names

first used in this translation; thus, Genesis means beginning; Exodus, departure (from Egypt); Deuteronomy, the second (giving of) the law, etc. Some portions of this version, noticeably the five books of Moses, are said to be much more accurate than others, thus showing different grades of scholarship. This was the version in common use at the time of Christ, and both he and the apostles freely quoted from it, and this is the chief reason that the Old Testament quotations, which we find in the New Testament so often differ from the words as found in the Old Testament itself.

THE VULGATE.-The received Latin version of the Bible. It was completed by Jerome in 405 A.D. He drew largely upon the Septuagint, and also upon somewhat imperfect original MSS., and did much of his work hurriedly, so that his version contains many errors, as he himself admitted. The Clementine edition of this version is the present standard of the Romish church.

But notwithstanding their errors, the Vulgate and the Septuagint are very important versions, and highly prized by all Biblical scholars.

During the Dark Ages, for a period of nearly one thousand years, the Bible in the native tongue of the people was practically a closed book, and remained so until the days of the great John Wycliffe in the fourteenth century. During this dark time a few straggling rays of Biblical light were here and there seen, as when in the seventh century, Cædmon translated the Psalms into English poetry, and in the eighth century the venerable Bede translated some of the Gospels into English prose, and in the tenth century King Alfred translated a small portion of the New Testament.

WYCLIFFE'S TRANSLATION.-To the learned and courageous John Wycliffe, however, belongs the great honor of having made the first translation of the whole Bible into English. He commenced his labors in 1375, and finished

TRANSLATIONS OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE.

361

the New Testament in 1380, and the Old Testament in 1384, the last date being just one hundred years before the birth of Luther. The heroic life of Wycliffe is thrillingly interesting and ought to be familiar to all. The study of his life and times will cause the Christian to appreciate as never before the inestimable value of the Holy Scriptures in his own tongue. At that time the printing press was unknown, and every copy of the Bible had to be made by hand. So anxious were the people to obtain the word of God that they often gave a load of hay for a few chapters of St. James or St. Paul. Some gave the savings of years for the same object. Men even gave $40 to $50 for a little tract of Wycliffe's, containing scripture texts. It then required nearly three years to make a copy of the whole Bible, at a cost of about $1,500.*

We now come down about one hundred and fifty years to the second great period in the history of the English Bible, viz. that of the martyr,

WILLIAM TYNDALE.-Between the time of Wycliffe and Tyndale the art of printing had been invented, thus enabling the latter to print the larger part of his version which he completed in 1530. From the time of the printing of Tyndale's New Testament in 1525 till 1611, when King James' version appeared, no less than seven different translations and revisions of the English Bible were issued, but nearly all of them had Tyndale's version as their principal model and basis. Of the Protestant versions the most important ones were Matthews', Coverdale's, Cranmer's or the Great Bible, Genevan, Bishops', and King James'. The Roman Catholics translated the New Testament at Rheims in 1452, and the Old Testament at Douay in 1609, both from the Latin Vulgate. Cranmer's, or the Great Bible, already mentioned, was issued in 1541, and

*The American Bible Society, Bible House, Astor Place, New York city, now furnish the entire Bible, C. V., in cloth, Agate ed., for 25 cents, and the New Testament for 5 cents.