C. D. Ginsburg, E. W. Bullinger, etc.Bullinger's Bible, Appendix 33.
Numeri 11:15. Decât să Te porţi aşa cu mine, mai bine omoară-mă, Te rog, dacă mai
am vreo trecere înaintea Ta, ca să nu-mi mai văd nenorocirea." "și nu mă lăsa să văd răul tău. "
"And if thou deal thus with
me,
kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight;
and let me not see my wretchedness."
Originally:
"And if thou deal thus with
me,
kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight;
and let me not see thy evil."
Apparently, God should not
be able
to possess evil.
Let’s look next at some of
the
18 emendations listed in Bullinger's Bible, Appendix 33.
1. Genesis 18:22 (KJV):
"And the men turned their
faces
from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before
the
LORD."
Originally:
"And the men turned their
faces
from thence, and went toward Sodom: but the LORD stood yet before
Abraham."
Apparently, it was
demeaning to
God to have Him stand before Abraham, so the Sopherim turned it around
so that the lesser, Abraham, would stand before the greater, God.
2. Numbers 11:15
"And if thou deal thus with
me,
kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight;
and let me not see my wretchedness."
Originally:
"And if thou deal thus with
me,
kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in thy sight;
and let me not see thy evil."
Apparently, God should not
be able
to possess evil.
3. 1 Samuel 3:13:
"For I have told him that I
will
judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his
sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not."
Originally:
"For I have told him that I
will
judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his
sons cursed God, and he restrained them not."
This text was softened
because
it was a harsh thing to think of someone cursing God.
4. 2 Samuel 12:14:
"Howbeit, because by this
deed
thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to
blaspheme,
the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die."
Originally:
"Howbeit, because by this
deed
thou hast greatly blasphemed the LORD, the child also that is
born
unto thee shall surely die."
How could King David be a
blasphemer?
A man after God’s own heart! So this was changed so that David would be
the vehicle through which others -- enemies -- might blaspheme God.
Yet,
the original shows that God forgives blasphemy upon repentance, and
that
adultery and murder -- David’s sins in question here -- are considered
blasphemy.
5. I Kings 12:16:
"So when all Israel saw
that the
king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying,
What
portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse:
to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So
Israel
departed unto their tents."
Originally:
"So when all Israel saw
that the
king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying,
What
portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of
Jesse:
to your gods, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So
Israel
departed unto their tents."
6. Job 7:20:
"I have sinned; what shall
I do
unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark
against
thee, so that I am a burden to myself?"
Originally:
"I have sinned; what shall
I do
unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark
against
thee, so that I am a burden to thee?"
Could a mere mortal be a
burden
to God? The Sopherim thought not, but that is what Job said
about
himself.
7. Job 32:3:
"Also against his three
friends
was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had
condemned
Job."
Originally:
"Also against his three
friends
was his wrath kindled, because they had found no answer, and yet had
condemned
God."
But if Job’s three friends
had
only condemned Job, that wasn’t such a big deal. But if what they had
said
had condemned God, as it says in the original, we might want to study
what
they had said, so we can avoid condemning God ourselves!
8. Psalm 10:3:
"For the wicked boasteth of
his
heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth."
Originally:
"For the wicked boasteth of
his
heart's desire, and the covetous man blasphemeth, yea, abhoreth the
LORD."
Here is another place where
a derogatory
reference to God was changed.
9. Psalm 106:20:
"Thus they changed their
glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass."
Originally:
"Thus they changed My
glory
into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass."
Again, a derogatory comment
about
God is altered.
10. Ezekiel 8:17:
"Then he said unto me, Hast
thou
seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that
they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have
filled
the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and,
lo, they put the branch to their nose."
Originally:
"Then he said unto me, Hast
thou
seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that
they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have
filled
the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and,
lo, they put the branch to My nose."
It makes no sense that they
would
try to spite themselves. Whatever the phrase may mean, putting the
branch
to God’s nose is definitely an act of rebellion and
mischief
against God. But the Sopherim apparently felt that it was
derogatory
to God to refer to Him as having a nose, even when using hyperbole, as
this verse does.
11. Hosea 4:7:
"As they were increased, so
they
sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame."
Originally:
"As they were increased, so
they
sinned against me: My glory have they changed into shame."
The real meaning of the
verse is
that when men sin, they bring shame to God’s glory.
12. Habbakuk 1:12:
"Art thou not from
everlasting,
O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou
hast
ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established
them
for correction."
Originally:
"Art thou not from
everlasting,
O LORD my God, mine Holy One, who diest not? O LORD, thou hast
ordained
them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for
correction."
The emendation transferred
immortality
from God to men. It makes no sense, and has no bearing on the context.
In its original form, it glorifies God who is immortal.
13. Malachi 1:11-12:
"For from the rising of the
sun
even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the
Gentiles;
and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure
offering:
for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD
is
polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible."
Originally:
"But ye have profaned Me,
in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit
thereof,
even his meat, is contemptible."
The Sopherim wanted
to protect
God against men, and made it seem that men were profaning God’s name,
rather
than profaning God Himself.
14. Malachi 3:9:
"Ye are cursed with
a curse:
for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."
Originally:
"Ye have cursed Me
with
a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation."
