Revised version

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Bible edition of the Revised Version

The Revised Version , sometimes also the English Revised Version , abbreviated RV , is a revision of the English King James Bible translation . It came out in three parts from 1881 to 1895. The revision took place in several working groups with a total of about 50 clergy and scholars. The King James Bible from 1611, also officially called the Authorized Version (AV), was revised for the first time in 270 years. There were two areas in need of revision: firstly, the Greek text on which the old King James Bible was based was out of date; secondly, the translation was to be freed from errors, formulations that were now incomprehensible and possible misunderstandings.

Establishment of the revision and principles

The new revision began with a Synod of the Province of Canterbury in February 1870 and the plan was introduced to the two houses of the Province. Two Old Testament and New Testament Appeal Commissions were formed in May and began work in June. It was also decided to involve American scholars; so two more groups were formed in America to work with the two English working groups.

The basic resolution of the Canterbury meeting of May 1870 included the following:

  1. A revision of the Authorized Version is desirable.
  2. The revision should take up previous alternative translations from the marginal notes and introduce necessary improvements.
  3. A new translation or a change of language is not sought unless such is necessary in the judgment of the best scholars.
  4. With such changes, the previous style should be followed closely.
  5. The synod is to set up a committee of its own people to carry out the revision. They are free to invite any important scholar, regardless of nationality or religious affiliation, to participate.

The principles of the appointment committee of May 25, 1870 were as follows:

  1. Make as few changes as possible to the text of the Authorized Version, but remain true to the text.
  2. To limit the changes as far as possible to those that correspond to the Authorized Version or other earlier editions.
  3. The working groups should work through the text twice, once in the draft and then for the final version, and should enable voting.
  4. The text should be the one for which the evidence prevails, and in the event of a deviation from the AV, the change should be indicated in the marginal notes.
  5. In the final version, no changes or maintenance should be made to the text for which there is no two-thirds majority of those present. However, the draft version may be based on a simple majority.
  6. In the case of all controversial amendments, the decision should be postponed to the next meeting, even if a third of the members present consider this to be necessary. Such intended votes should be announced for the next meeting.
  7. The chapter headings, the page headings, the division into sections, the use of italics and punctuation should be revised.
  8. If so desired, the working groups should ask clergymen, scholars and educated men for their opinions, be they local or foreign.

The American working groups sent in their proposals, which were then incorporated into the considerations and voted on. Changes proposed by the American groups that have not been included are printed at the end of the Old and New Testaments. There was an agreement with the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge over copyright, which included a regulation for the expenses of printing costs. This had the advantage that the publication was done by the same bodies that were previously responsible for the AV.

Text basis

The old text basis of the Authorized Version for the New Testament was still based on the incorrect readings of the Textus receptus of the first Greek text editions, in some cases on the Latin Vulgate . The later editions of Stephanus and Beza as well as the Complutensische Polyglotte were probably decisive for the source text . It has long been agreed among scholars that the Textus receptus (the traditional text) needed careful revision. In the years before the revision, new text witnesses of the Alexandrian text type came to light. The Bible text got a whole new and broader basis. The publication of these witnesses not only brought new text editions of the New Testament with it, but also intensive discussions and new approaches to the rules for differentiating the readings. A revision of the Greek text was necessary as a basis for the translation. For many years Brooke Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort had been preparing a new edition of the text. They were both members of the revision's working groups and submitted their text proposals. The rule "The text for which the evidence predominates" made it possible to follow the documented evidence without having to follow a special printed text edition, and therefore to use the best resources for text-critical decisions.

Different directions were involved in the decisions: some wanted to keep the Textus receptus as the basis, others wanted the shorter text version corresponding to the Alexandrian text type, as can be found in the Codex Sinaiticus and the Codex Vaticanus . The working groups discussed and decided in the first steps about the text basis. It was possible for either side to have a full discussion of any reading, and these opportunities were used extensively. According to Rule 5, the readings were decided by a simple majority in the first phase, then discussed again in the second phase and accepted or rejected by a two-thirds majority. In many places, however, no clear decision could be made in favor of one reading while completely excluding the other. These passages have been included in the margin notes. It was noted: "some ancient authorities" or "many ancient authorities" to indicate the breadth of support, and "authorities" included not only Greek text witnesses, but also the ancient translations and the church fathers. However, it was not sufficient to note them in the margin text, so the underlying text was also printed in full in a text output.

For the Old Testament, the Masoretic text remained the basis, supplemented in individual places by the Septuagint . The Apocrypha could be supplemented and improved by including additional manuscripts.

Special features of the translation

The basic rule for the revision was to introduce as few changes as possible to the AV. The task was a revision, not a new translation. Changes happened in five categories:

  1. Changes that became necessary due to the changed text basis.
  2. Changes in places where the AV appeared incorrect or where, in cases of doubt, the less likely reproduction was selected.
  3. Changes from unclear or ambiguous representations to those that are clear and precise.
  4. Changes where the AV was inconsistent in similar or parallel passages. This concerned the parallel passages of the Gospels, but in the Old Testament, too, the same formulations were standardized by the same translation.
  5. Changes that would not have been necessary according to the rule of text fidelity, e.g. B. to avoid unwanted alliterations or word duplications.

The elimination of archaisms was largely dispensed with in the language, including changes to the peculiar word order of the AV. Quotes from the poetic books were set in metrical form, as were the hymns in the Gospel of Luke. Punctuation has been reinforced by using more and stronger punctuation marks to aid reading ( heavier system of stopping ). Overall, the translation became closer to the text, but lost some of the previous linguistic expressiveness. The ancient personal pronouns such as thy and thee remained.

Apocrypha

After the end of the NT, the members of the working groups continued to work on the Apocrypha until 1895, but the American working groups were no longer involved. The group was divided into three committees in London, Westminster and Cambridge, each of which worked on different books. The rough versions were presented to the other groups. In contrast to the Old and New Testaments, the apocryphal decisions were made with a simple majority.

American edition

After the Revised Version was completed, the American working groups continued to improve the text and in 1901 brought out the American Standard Version (ASV), also known as the American Revised Version or Standard American Edition . It largely corresponds to the RV, but the proposals made by the American working groups but not adopted in the RV and included in the appendix have been included in the official text. In the Old Testament, contrary to the AV and RV, Jehovah is used instead of the rendering LORD in small caps for the name of God. In addition, the grammar and spelling have been modernized somewhat, the system of reinforced punctuation marks has been reversed.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 1. The New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Translated out of the Greek, Being the Version set forth AD 1611 compared with the most ancient Authorities and revised AD 1881. 2. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments, Translated out of the original tongues, Being the Version set forth AD 1611, compared with the most ancient authorities and revised. 1885. 3. The Apocrypha, Translated out of the Greek and Latin Tongues, Being the Version set forth AD 1611, Compared with the most ancient Authorities and revised AD 1894.
  2. ^ Foreword to the New Testamenthttp: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dholybiblecontain1895camb~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn901~ double-sided%3D~LT%3Dforeword%20zum%20Neuen%20Testament~PUR%3D , p. Viii.
  3. ↑ The text basis of the Revised Version was printed in the text edition of the New Testament from 1881 edited by Edwin Palmer (1824–1895) http: //vorlage_digitalisat.test/1%3D~GB%3D~IA%3Dgreektestamentw04unkngoog~MDZ%3D%0A~SZ%3Dn6~doppelseiten%3D~LT%3DTextausgabe%20des%20Neuen%20%Testaments%20von%201881~PURPUR 3D, which lists the text basis deviating from the Textus receptus. This text is based in part, but not entirely, on work on the text edition by Westcott and Hort , which came out that year.

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