Eloquence Or Clarity
For more than three centuries the Authorized King James Version has dazzled us with its bewitching eloquence. To the English ear, no tones fall more smoothly or harmoniously than those from the court of King James. The pattern, the tempo, the rhythm of the sentence have charmed us all, have captivated our senses. We listen spellbound to the mesmeric music of the Psalms, to the sad, lovely songs of the prophets and reflect that for beauty of expression the version has no peer.
But like the blossom behind which lies the thorn, the version, we note, is at times vague; unclear, in - explicable. The language which so charmed us becomes our master, making short work of our understanding. Witness, for example, I Peter 3:8. The exhortation to be pitiful seems unseemly. The word, of course, has undergone a change of meaning, as have more than three hundred other English words which are used in the King James Version in a sense quite different from that which they now convey.
Responding to the need for a Bible written in clear, meaningful language, the International Council of Religious Education engaged thirty-two scholars to undertake the revision of the American Standard Version. The product of their labors was the Revised Standard Version, a version couched in the language of the day but spoiled by excessive looseness of translation. In 1961 The New English Bible was presented to the public in the hope that it would succeed where its predecessor had failed. But it did not, for the translation was altogether too casually done. The rendering of Acts 20:7, for example, was at odds with all other previous translations. It read as follows: "On the Saturday night, in our assembly for the breaking of bread, Paul, who was to leave next day, addressed them, and went on speaking until midnight." Such inexactness did not commend the version, to be sure, but brought it into disfavor.
In 1960 a translation both accurate and lucid was published. The purpose of the Editorial Board was to present a revision of the American Standard Version that was written in clear and contemporary English and that was true to the original Greek. Both purposes were realized. Here at last was a version understandable to the masses, a version that presented the deep truths of the Gospel in simple language, a version that told a story not disguised in phrases that were no longer clear or buried beneath words that had lost their meaning. Speaking with fresh power, the New American Standard Version Bible gives new insight into the Scriptures for those who have the courage to cut loose the stone that has hung about our necks for three hundred years, (Editor's note: This last name (New American Standard) is the New Testament which we have been advertising in the Guardian so much lately, and which has had such an enthusiastic reception from all parts of the country. We have them in stock, price $4.95.)
-Alameda, California