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givfen i& v ^ r ^ E ^ & the 014 Testament , As tlJa is thje C&se , our translation ought by ail means to be altered . T ^ is great ; defect in our Bibles probably arose from the superstitious ideas that the . Jejvs have of the term Jehovah , which is
so great that tfyey only use it on some very solemn occasions , but in the place of it adopt some of the inferior names of God , as Elohim or Adonai , which also express power or authority , and are often given to human beings ,
and even to idol gods , © r they , use fanciful terms of their own coining , all which are very improper substitutes for the most p ^ gper and distin - guishing name of the Supreme Being . And as we find the term Jehovah in
the original Scriptures , without any caution to pronounce it but seldom , surely we ought to pronounce it whenever we find it : why else was it piit there ? Beza , and , I believe , some others , have , in their Latin translations of the Old Testament , rendered it Jehova . And several learned
modern translators of the Scriptures into the English language have rendered it Jehovah , as Lowth , Newcome , Blayney , Geddes , Bellamy and Wellbeloved .
This would distinguish the Supreme Being from all other beings in the universe ; for , however great so me of them may be , His name alone is Jehovah . Ps . lxxxiii . 18 .
, what a moral lustre and dignity it would give to the word of God , to have this most expressive of all terms scattered about four thousand times
over its sacred pages 1 Such a translation would be far v superior to any one now existing in the English language ^ and its value would , I persuade myself , soon be felt and
acknowledged by a diecerning public . All intelligent readers pf . the Holy Scriptures would then , when they wished to purchase a copy of $ * e Old Testament , ask for that vvhi ^ h has the word Jehovah so many times in
it . Let , me then recommend it to our gentlemen stationers and printers to undertake so honourable , so useful and lucrative a work . It must answer
in th « cad . Great is the truth , and it J ViU ... prevail ,, especially so important k truth as this is . If it shall be deferred until the higher powers shall
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ifAv $ jivde ? $ f& the poing ^ of it > jt fear St ; wiU be ^ hng while fij-sfc , tl ^ £ k jthey vjrill do it at length , j The inarch of truth is slow , but certain , ^ ^ Permit oieto call your attention to the sentiments of several of the
learned on this subject . And first it will be proper to refer you again to the learned translations of Lowjth , JBtaytn ^ y , Newcome , Geddes , Bellamy and r We ! lbelovesd , 8 cc . All of them have
acted on the principle 1 am recommending ' , in those parts of ; tlie Old Testament which they have translated into the English lang-page . Actions speak louder than words . Htnvever , as their words united with . their deeds
will strengthen my arguments , I think myself happy in being able to produce some of them . , Archbishop Newcome says , " I therefore propose , 1 , that translators should previously agree on the
rendering of certain wqrds arid phrases . For instance , that mrrv should alvVay §; be rendered by Jehovah , and ni ^^ V rtiri * by Jehovah , God of Hosts , " Newcome on the Twelve Minor Prophets , Introd . p . 27 . ; - . - . ?
Bishop Horsley , speaking of the Seventy having translated Jehoyah > Lord , says , Later translators have followed their mischievous example , —mischievous in its consequences , though innocently meant , and bur English translators among * the rest ; in innumerable instances for the
original Jehovah , which ought upon all occasions to have been religiously retained , have put the mere general title of the Lord ., A flagrant instance of this occurs in tUat solemn proem of the Decalogue in the xxtb qhapiter
of Exodus , * I am the Lord thy God , ' so we read in our English Bibles , * who brought thee out of the land of Egypt , out ^ ff the house of bondage / In the original it is , * I am Jehovah thy God , \ vl ^ o have brought thee out of the land
of Egypt , out of the house of bondage . ' Another example of the same unhappy alteration we find in thjat passage of the cxth Psalm » whijqh I have already had occasion to produce , The Lord said unto iiujt Lord / which i ^ in the aid
Hebrew , ' Jeboy ^ h sunto my JjQrd * * If translators have uged this unwarrantahle licence of substituting a title , pf the Deity * for his proper n ^ nrve , ip ; text 9 whare , tba . fr . n ^ itn ^ is applied to the Alpighty Father- —r— > J BisKop
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82 To Stationers and s Print&rs , on an amended Translation of the Bible ..
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1824, page 82, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2521/page/18/
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