Does anyone use J N DARBY BIBLE?
Is it of any value today?
If you had to choose between Young's and Darby translation? Which one would you choose and why?
P A
I believe some dispensationalists still use Darby... Young's is a literal translation... It really doesn't always flow naturally... Darby I am always suspect of with his theological bent maybe colouring his translation (although this is the issue with all translations I know). Having to pick one I would go with Young but personally I usually stay away from both.
“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, turned back from the Jordan, and was brought in the Spirit to the wilderness, forty days being tempted by the Devil, and he did not eat anything in those days, and they having been ended, he afterward hungered, and the Devil said to him, ‘If Son thou art of God, speak to this stone that it may become bread.’ And Jesus answered him, saying, ‘It hath been written, that, not on bread only shall man live, but on every saying of God.’ And the Devil having brought him up to an high mountain, shewed to him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and the Devil said to him, ‘To thee I will give all this authority, and their glory, because to me it hath been delivered, and to whomsoever I will, I do give it; thou, then, if thou mayest bow before me — all shall be thine.’ And Jesus answering him said, ‘Get thee behind me, Adversary, for it hath been written, Thou shalt bow before the Lord thy God, and Him only thou shalt serve.’ And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If the Son thou art of God, cast thyself down hence, for it hath been written — To His messengers He will give charge concerning thee, to guard over thee, and — On hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou mayest dash against a stone thy foot.’ And Jesus answering said to him — ‘It hath been said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ And having ended all temptation, the Devil departed from him till a convenient season.” (Luke 4:1–13 Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible)
“But Jesus, full of [the] Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, tempted of the devil; and in those days he did not eat anything, and when they were finished he hungered. And the devil said to him, If thou be Son of God, speak to this stone, that it become bread. And Jesus answered unto him saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And [the devil], leading him up into a high mountain, shewed him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, I will give thee all this power, and their glory; for it is given up to me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If therefore thou wilt do homage before me, all [of it] shall be thine. And Jesus answering him said, It is written, Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve. And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the edge of the temple, and said to him, If thou be Son of God, cast thyself down hence; for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee to keep thee; and on [their] hands shall they bear thee, lest in any wise thou strike thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said to him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt [the] Lord thy God. And the devil, having completed every temptation, departed from him for a time.” (Luke 4:1–13 The ‘Holy Scriptures’: A New Translation from the Original Languages--DARBY)
-Dan
I like the Darby transalation although I believe the Old Testament was transalated from Darby's German translation to English. The reason why I prefer it to Youngs is for the shallow reason that I admire and respect (but do not always agree with) Darby's theology and influence while on the other hand I have no idea who Young was.
I have no idea who Young was.
YOUNG, ROBERT: Lay theologian and orientalist; b. at Edinburgh Sept. 10, 1822; d. there Oct. 14, 1888. He received his education at private schools, 1827–38; served an apprenticeship to the printing business, 1838–45, using his spare time to study the oriental languages; became a communicant in 1842; joined the Free Church, and became a Sabbath-school teacher in 1843. In 1847 he took up printing and bookselling on his own account, proceeding to publish books that tended to further the study of the Old Testament and its ancient versions; his first publication was an edition with translation of Maimonides’ 613 precepts. He went to India as a literary missionary and superintendent of the mission press at Surat, in 1856, returning in 1861; conducted the “Missionary Institute,” 1864–1874; and visited America in 1867. He was a moderate Calvinist, a simple Presbyterian, and a strict textual critic and theologian. His important work was the Analytical Concordance to the Bible … containing every Word in alphabetical Order, arranged under its Hebrew or Greek Original (Edinburgh, 1879); one may cite also his Concise Commentary on the Holy Bible, being a Companion to the new Translation of the Old and New Covenants … 2 pt. (1865); Contributions to a New Revision; or, a critical Companion to the New Testament (1881); and the Christology of the Targums, or the Doctrine of the Messiah, as it is unfolded in the ancient Jewish Targums, or Chaldee Paraphrases of the Holy Scriptures. Young was celebrated as an editor and translator of Jewish and Biblical writings in various languages, especially in Hebrew, Samaritan, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Gujarati, thus and in other ways contributing to the apparatus for textual criticism. He was also active in the region of comparative linguistics and in Semitic philology.
Bibliography: Banner of Ulster, Dec. 18, 1855; DNB, lxiii. 390.
DNB L. Stephen and S. Lee, Dictionary of National Biography, 63 Vols. and supplement 3 vols., London, 1885–1901
Samuel Macauley Jackson, ed., The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Embracing Biblical, Historical, Doctrinal, and Practical Theology and Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Biography from the Earliest Times to the Present Day (New York; London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1908–1914), 490.
-DAN
I have it and only refer to it when someone else does (article, commentary, etc.).
This link offers a brief history of Darby's New Translation. I wish the Logos edition had his textual footnotes. I have often referred to it with profit. I find it more accurate than the YLT.
I don't use either one as a primary Bible. I do usually take a look at Young when doing a text comparison across my collection of English Bibles. For that purpose I've generally found it more useful than Darby, perhaps because it is a rather literal translation.
For what it's worth, there are Wikipedia articles on both versions:
