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Untitled Article
correspondent J . C , M . in my ideas respecting the miracles recorded in the Old Testament . As , however , Tfhave already staged myopihibn respecting what I consider to be the real miracle recorded in Joshua x . 12 , 13 , and as that may serve as a clue to my views' on the subject generally , there is no necessity for troubling your readers with a repetition of it here . Nothing more would remain to notice in the communication of J . C . M .
save the remark , that " the passage under consideration is intelligible in the Authorized Version , whilst in Mr . Bellamy ' s translation it is not so . " As , however , the powers of understanding in different mortals vary not a little , I content myself with submitting the grand point on which any difference of opinion on Joshua x . 12 , 13 , can exist to the generality of your re&d&rs- and leave them to determine for themselves whether it be easier to understand a
-verse which states , that " when Joshua commanded , in the sight of Israel , the sun was setting on Gibeon , whilst the moon was rising on the Valley of Ajalon , " or a translation which asserts , that " the same chieftain said , in the sight of Israel , Sun , stand thou still upon Gibeon , and thou , Mbon , in the Valley of Ajalon . "
But I hasten to comply with your correspondent J . C . M . ' s wish to be furnished with Mr . Bellamy ' s translation of Joshua x . 13 , 14 , and , in so doing , shall endeavour to use the utmost brevity , throwing myself upon the indulgence of J . C . M . and your readers for the protracted length of the preceding introduction . The verses , then , here alluded to , are thus given by Mr . Bellamy :
Ver . 13 . " Then the sun set and the moon was up when he had avenged the nation of his enemies . Is it not written in the book of Jashur , while the sun was up in the division of the heaven , ( i . e . the horizon , ) he f Moses J hasted not to depart until the day ended ? Ver . 14 . * There was no day like that before it or after it , when Jehovah hearkened to the voice of man : surely Jehovah fought for Israel . " In both verses the acquaintance of your readers with Hebrew need only be put in requisition for the better understanding of a single expression , since the common dictionaries will supply all the rest . The translators of the Authorized Version have applied the words > 2 fTO in the second sentence
of the 13 th verse to the midst , or in the meridian , and have accordingly rendered it by in the midst . Now the word > OT means strictly a visible division of any whole into its respective moieties . It cannot , however , as Mr . Bellamy justly observes , be said with any propriety , that the sun is in the visible division of the heaven , except when he is on the horizon , inasmuch as he is only then in that circle which divides the upper from the lower hemisphere , and which , in Hebrew , is , with the utmost propriety , called the division of the heaven , or in English , simply the horizon , But there is a difficulty in these verses which has long baffled commentaand
tors ^ which , though J . C M . seems careless about it , ( for m quoting the portions of the 13 th and 14 th verses , which he wishes to see rendered by Mr ; Bellamy , he has wholly omitted the passage in them to which it refers , ) 1 deqm it necessary to elucidate for the benefit of your more inquisitive readers ^ The 'difficulty here alluded to is contained in that part of the" 1 Mi verse , beginning with , ** Ts it not written in the book of Jashtrir , " and continues through the whole of the 14 th verse . It niay here be h&ess ^ yfa *
state > that * what follows is merel y an extract of Mt . BellamyVItpfnhdtirf notes , and as it must necessarily be greatly condensed , the reader who i $ desirous of further information will find himself' airitily repaid by consulting theorigihal . - - "'' " - '" " '¦ " ¦¦¦ •" "' ™'' - < ' ( -V ' V \ t ^ Notwithstanding the wdMknowH ckreof 'the JeWsTto ^ resefv ^ tH eftr SafcWl
