3329.—Italics in Scripture
By G. S.
What is the meaning of italics in Scripture? Does it mean that the words are to be especially emphasized? In ordinary books and printing italics are used to indicate emphasis, sometimes quotation, but this is not the case in Scripture. Italics in Scripture are used to represent words which are not in the original. Sometimes these words are absolutely necessary to the sense. Different languages have different idioms—that is, different forms of expressing thought; and idioms when transferred are not pleasant. Sometimes in one language one word will express a great deal, and it will require a whole sentence in the language into which it is translated to express the thought of the one word. Sometimes a whole sentence in the language translated can be expressed by one word in the language into which it is rendered. All these things must be taken into account. Sometimes in order to express the thought a word is necessary which is not in the original. In some languages the verb is expressed in the form of the noun itself. Not so in our English language. In such case sometimes the verb is placed in italics in Scripture, especially in our Common Version. You will find much fewer italics in the Revised Version than in the Common Version. We must not get the idea that because the words are in italics we can utterly ignore them, for sometimes they are absolutely necessary to the expression of the sense. There are instances perhaps where they could be ignored, and there may be other instances when some other word ought to have been supplied; but as a general thing they are necessary to the expression of the original in our language, and are true to the thought.