THE PUNCTUATION by H. L. Wayland

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 30.

THE PUNCTUATION.

By H. L. Wayland

BY H. L. WAYLAND, D.D.

Our English Bible frequently loses clearness and force because of faulty punctuation, and because of the superstition which invests the existing punctuation with something of sacredness, and the fear lest any suggestion toward change in the punctuation should bring us within the scope of the judgment pronounced (Rev. 22:18, 19) against “any man” who “shall add unto these things” or “take away” from them. We may bear in mind that the Bible is one thing, and our impressions about the Bible, perhaps derived from tradition, perhaps evolved from our own brain, are quite another. It is not necessary to remind the intelligent reader that the Bible, in the original documents, knew nothing of punctuation or chapter or verse, and that all these, as also the several versions, are merely the result of human judgment.

Many passages are unmeaning, or contradictory, which become harmonious and significant with a better punctuation, or with a better division of the chapters or verses. In Rev. 22:1, 2 we read: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, . . . proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits.” Here is an impossible situation. How can the tree of life be in the midst of the street, and, at the same time, on either side of the river? But put a comma after the word “Lamb,” and a period after the word “it,” and ignore the division into verses, and let the passage read: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, . . . proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the street of it. And on either side of the river was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruit,” etc.

An instance somewhat similar is found in Ps. 32:3, 4. As it now stands, verse 3 conveys no meaning: “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.” One is reminded of the days when it was customary to line the hymns (as I have often myself done when preaching to the colored in South Carolina during the war), and when a minister, not addicted to logical sequence, lined as follows:—

“The Lord will come, and he will not.”

When this line had been sung, he read the next:—

“Keep silence, but speak out.”

How is it possible for a man to “keep silence,” and, at the same time, to be “roaring all the day long”? But put a period after the word “old;” the psalmist is emphasizing the fact that there was no relief from his inward disquiet and remorse, either in silence or in vociferous speech. “When I kept silence, my bones waxed old. Through my roaring all the day long (for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me), my moisture is turned into the drought of summer.” Turning one’s thoughts inward in silence, or roaring to one’s fellow-men, all does no good, but “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid . . . and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.”

In John 12:27, 28 we read: “Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.” The words, “Father, save me from this hour,” as now punctuated, convey no meaning; but change the period to an interrogation point, and the whole passage is irradiated. Our Lord says: “My soul is troubled, and what shall I say, what shall I ask for, what prayer offer? Shall I offer the prayer, ‘Father, save me from this hour’?—No, since it was for this very cause, in order that I might pass through this crisis and agony, the price of human redemption, that I came unto this hour. I may not offer this prayer, but I may rather pray, ‘Father, glorify thy name.’” If the verses are read with a rising inflection on the clause, “Father, save me from this hour?” implying that the clause is both a quotation and a question (and perhaps with a word of explanation thrown in), the passage becomes full of meaning, and gives us an insight into the mysterious mental struggle through which our Lord was passing. . . .

In Ex. 20:5, 6 very much is lost for want of a comma: “I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” As the passage is now punctuated, it would appear that “the thousands of them that love me” has reference merely to thousands of persons. But this is not its meaning. The Revised Version very properly inserts a comma, and reads thus, “showing mercy unto thousands, of them that love me and keep my commandments.” And the margin reads, “or a thousand generations,” and refers to Deut. 7:9, “The faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations.” The comma inserted

after “thousands” implies an omission, and the words omitted are “of generations,” so that the contrast is between God’s visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation, and, on the other hand, showing mercy unto thousands of generations—so much more does God love to exercise mercy than to visit iniquity, so much more copious and all-compassing and inexhaustible is his love than his severer attributes.

When a passage seems difficult, or self-contradictory, or devoid of meaning, we may well remember that God intended that all the words of his servants should be intelligible. The plain man, destitute of profound erudition, is warranted, as he reads his Bible upon his knees, in asking God so to illumine his judgment and common sense that he may remark what are the natural divisions and the proper punctuation.—S. S. Times.