but in the Translation, for "the stars" are here mentioned in apposition with "the great lights" which God made to rule the day and the night; and should be rendered thus,

"And God made two great lights: the greater light to

rule the day and the lesser light, and the stars, to rule the night."

The Italics in verse 30th are explanatory, and find their authority from the words going before, " And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb, &c.-And to every beast of the earth, &c. I have given every green herb for meat and it was so:"but the sense is complete without this interpolation.

The Hebrew verb which signifies to bring forth children, should be accordingly rendered, ch. vi. ver. 4. " and they bare children to them:" there is no propriety in mutilating this text with Italics. See ch. x. 21. Nor is there the least occasion for Italics in ch. vi. ver. 15.; the passage may be rendered as follows:

"And this is it which thou shalt make: the length of the ark three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits and the height of it thirty cubits."

From these remarks which have been made, and innumerable are the examples which might be produced, it appears, that the Translation of the Bible, as it is now received, is capable of great and extensive improvement in the restoration of all those numerous Italic words which are essential to strict grammatical sense, and in a careful revisal of many words, thought necessary to clear the reading from obscurity and ambiguity.

There is, moreover, wanting an adjustment of the paragraphs, by which the argument of the Sacred Text may be more correctly pointed out, and in which there is found no small difference in comparing together the same in different editions of the Bible; there are also many instances of these paragraphs being wrongly placed in all editions, of which an instance may be found in the 6th chapter of Genesis. The command of God to Noah for building the ark, and the decreed destruction of the earth, begins with the 13th verse: "And God said unto Noah." Here begins the paragraph, which ends with the chapter.

With regard to the reading points, the later editions afford some examples of alteration not for the better: in the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis, the Oxford 4to. edition of 1800 has made a division, which the Hebrew critics call a verse within a verse, marked with a capital after a full point, thus,

"And the earth was without form and void; and darkness

was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

Edition by Barker, 1639.

"And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

This verse in the old editions conforms with the Hebrew more correctly than in the edition above-mentioned; but the pointing in both examples is incorrect. The verse divides itself into three parts, and requires the colon points thus—

"And the earth was without form and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the 'waters."

Edition 1639.
Ver. 5.

Edition 1800.
Ibid.

Edition 1639.
Ver. 8.

Edition 1800.
Ibid.

Edition 1639.

Exam. 2.

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called, Night: and the evening and the morning were the first day."

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

Exam. 3.

"And God called the firmament, Heaven: and the evening and the morning were the second day."

"And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

Exam. 4.

"And God saw every thing that he had made: and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." In neither of these editions is the pointing correct, and the dividing of one verse into two gives the appearance of an interpolation.

Edition 1639.

Gen. iv. 5.

Edition 1800.
Ibid.

Edition 1639.

Ver. 7.

Exam. 5.

"But unto Cain, and to his offering he had not respect: and Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

"But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

Exam. 6.

"If thou do well, shalt thou not be ac

́Edition 1800.
Ibid.

cepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door: And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

In these examples, the old edition of 1639 has the preference to the new and for this reason; the pre-eminence of Cain, on account of his transgression, depended on his repentance, but the condition is made absolute in the present pointing of the verse: the translation of the verse is obscure, and should be revised thus:

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him; and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door."

Examples of the Paragraphs.

From these examples it appears that the pointing of the paragraphs requires revision: and that some rule should be adopted to direct the printers, who follow different copies, and consequently these variations are increased or diminished according to the copies and the rule of the old and new editions.

The contents of chapters ought to be so indexed as to correspond with their divisions into paragraphs: this is not uniformly the case; and there are editions which afford considerable exceptions. Neither do the old and modern editions agree in the form and manner of enunciating the subject matter; particularly in the New Testament, where the contents in the later editions considerably amplify beyond the limits of the former: compare the chapters in the Epistle to the Romans in the different editions published by authority.

As an improvement in this article, it is recommended to insert the index of the paragraphs in the contents, together with the numerical figure of the verses, after the following manner :