THE BIBLE IN ONE HUNDRED LANGUAGES.
By G. W. A.
One of the very many interesting things at the Centennial Exhibition, is the Pavilion of the Pennsylvania Bible Society. In this building is shown the word of God in one hundred languages. Just think! what an interesting exhibit of the Bible that must be! The Society has prepared for the great Exhibition a neat little volume of fifty pages, in which is printed, in one hundred and sixty languages, that precious verse, “FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE.” John 3:16. This little book of itself is a rare polyglott treasure. In this collection it will be seen that in ninety-nine languages the English character is used. Many of these, however, have variously accented letters, and some peculiar characters that we do not employ. In thirteen languages the German type is used. Six employ the famous Arabic. Five languages use the queer Russian character, and five others are in Sanskrit. In four languages the Greek letter is used. Three use the Burman style of type, three others are in Armenian, three are in Ethiopic, and still other three are in Chinese. In the Syriac, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, and Cree styles of characters, there are two versions each. There is one each in the Hebrew, Irish, Georgian, Orissa, Japanese, Coptic, and the Cherokee characters. This makes twenty-five different styles of alphabets that are used in printing this interesting little polyglott. Nine of these read just opposite to the English method, that is, from right to left, as the Hebrew, Arabic, Sanskrit, and others. Two, the Japanese and Chinese, read from the top to the bottom of the page, in single lines. The styles of character used in several of them are singular indeed. The exhibit of the Scriptures at the Centennial shows the blessed results of the joint work of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and of the American Bible Society. The former was first organized in 1804, and at the close of its seventy-first year, in 1875, it had published and put into circulation, seventy-four million copies of the Bible and parts of the Bible, in above two hundred languages and dialects. To do this, it has expended about forty million dollars. The American Bible Society was organized in 1816, and up to the present time, being the sixtieth year of its existence, it has printed over thirty-three million Bibles and Testaments, and Bible portions, at a cost of over seventeen million dollars. These noble societies have translated and printed the Scriptures, and circulated them in nearly every quarter and section of the globe. They have their agents and colporteurs and Bible depots in every part of Europe and America. And besides this, through their instrumentality and Christian efforts, most of the native population of Asia, Africa, and Australasia, and of the islands of the sea, can hear and read in their own barbarous tongues the wonderful works of God. To carry forward the great work, the British and American Bible Societies are constantly employing their printing presses in New York, London, Oxford, and Cambridge, besides others also in Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Cologne, Vienna, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Stockholm, St.103Petersburg, Constantinople, Beyrout, Bombay, Madras, Calcutta, Shanghai, Cape Town, Sydney, and other centers of activity. In the building of the Pennsylvania Bible Society near the Exhibition, may be seen a valuable collection of Bibles, in the various languages and dialects of the world, showing what has been done in the last four centuries, since the invention of printing. One shelf is filled with a series of bi-lingual volumes, showing on the same page the English Scriptures combined with German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc. Three shelves are wholly devoted to the languages of Europe, one to those of Africa, and three to those of Asia. One entire shelf is filled with specimens of the numerous versions printed in the various Chinese dialects. The Scriptures in the multitudinous dialects of the Pacific Isles fill one entire shelf. On another is a series of translations made for the aborigines of America. It may be interesting here to state that in the Book Department in the Centennial Exhibition may be seen the veritable copy of the Bible which was owned and used by Martin Luther, the great reformer! It is a small, common-looking book, lying in a case, and labeled, “Martin Luther’s Bible!” What an interesting relic! During the time that the Bible Societies have been in existence, the Christian scholars of the world have produced not far from two hundred and fifty versions of the Bible, or parts of the Bible. And probably two hundred languages and dialects have thus for the first time been enriched with the literature of God’s holy word. Many of them, indeed, were by this means, for the first time, reduced to writing. It is said that few persons appreciate the great difficulty of translating the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into languages which have not previously been pervaded and moulded by Christian thought. It took Dr. Eli Smith and Dr. Van Dyck sixteen years to translate the Bible into Arabic. Dr. Schauffler was fourteen years in making the Osmanlee version. Dr. Schereschewsky was fifteen years in rendering the Old Testament into the Mandarin Colloquial. Dr. Williamson and Dr. Riggs have labored nearly forty years on their Dakota version, and one of them estimates that he has spent on an average full thirty minutes on each verse he has translated. These cases are illustrations of the great amount of labor spent by Christian missionaries on making new versions of the Scriptures. May the blessing of the God of truth rest upon the Bible Societies, and others, who are making his word intelligible to the inhabitants of the “dark corners of the earth.”