Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Burgon on dealing with errors in the KJV

Finally I found a place where Burgon refers to the "blemishes" in the King James, specifically to the translators' feeling that it's good to vary the English even when the writer hammers away at a particular Greek word, which some debaters I've encountered also emphasized. I'd even marked the page on a previous reading but had forgotten about it. The link to the book online is in the margin so anyone can check it.
But if the learned men who gave us our A.V may be thought to have erred on the side of excess, there can be no doubt whatever, (at least among competent judges,) that our Revisionists have sinned far more grievously and with greater injury to the Deposit, by their slavish proclivity to the opposite form of error. We must needs speak out plainly: for the question before us is not, What defects are discoverable in our Authorized Version? -- but, What amount of gain would be likely to accrue to the Church if the present Revision were accepted as a substitute? And we assert without hesitation, that the amount of certain loss would so largely outweigh the amount of possible gain, that the proposal may not be seriously entertained for a moment. As well on grounds of Scholarship and Taste, as of Textual Criticism (as explained at large in our former Article), the work before us is immensely inferior. To speak plainly, it is an utter failure. [p. 190, Revision Revised]
And then he goes on to discuss how the Revisers refuse to vary the English even when it's necessary.

If their revision hadn't been so horrible overall, and their policy of change so irresponsible, I suppose he'd have seen the point of changing some of the KJV's blemishes.

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