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This restoring of uniformity is shown in two ways:--
(1)
The rendering of the same Greek word by one English equivalent, as far as the
English idiom would permit;
(2)
The distinguishing of words which in the A.V. were liable to be confused with
other words in the original.
Let us take as an example the recurrence of the word katargeo in I Cor. 13::--
A. 5:
R. 5:
"Whether there be prophecies, they shall
"Whether there be prophecies,
they
fail" (8).
shall be done away."
"Whether there be knowledge, it shall
"Whether there be knowledge, it
shall
vanish away" (8).
be done away."
"That which is in part shall be done
"That which is in part shall be
done
away" (10).
away."
"When I became a man, I put away
"Now that I am become a man, I
have
childish things" (11).
put away childish things."
Here it will be seen that the R.V. seeks to give the English reader the insistent
connection is so obvious to the reader of the Greek. Moreover, the A.V. makes a false
connection, by translating two different words by "fail" in verse 8.
The Revisers seem to have failed in the last reference. The whole argument of
I Cor. 13: 8-13 is to show that the supernatural gifts of the early church were to be
considered as pertaining to the "partial" and not to the "perfect"; in other words, gifts
belong to the "childhood" of the church and not to its "manhood". This should be
allowed its full force, and the same word should be repeated four times. The R.V. has
gone some way in this direction, but has just failed of completeness.
Both Mark and Luke record the healing of blind Bartimæus (Mark 10: 53 and
Luke 18: 42). The language in the original is the same in both cases, but the A.V.
translates Mark's account: "Thy faith hath made thee whole"; and Luke's account:
"Thy faith hath saved thee." Now it is easy to condemn, but we are enjoined in
Philippians "to take account" of the smallest virtue (Phil. 4: 8, R.V. margin); and on
examination we shall find that this lack of verbal agreement has some degree of
justification. The fact is that neither of the translations offered is adequate. The original
says both things, for the word "to save" includes the conception of "healing". The A.V.
informed the reader of this by a marginal note. The Revisers adopted the other plan, of
keeping the translation of the two passages identical and supplying the reader with the
necessary information in the margin. Of the two the R.V. is the better. This is but one
instance out of many where these small but important adjustments have been made.
As a further example of the better course adopted by the Revisers, we may take two
other parallel passages in the Gospels:--
"There was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour" (Mark 15: 33, A.V.).
"There was a darkness over all the earth, until the ninth hour" (Luke 23: 44, A.V.
margin--"or land").