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1) The spirit of the original writer. That implies a knowledge of—
2) The language of the original; and—
The peculiar idiom of that language at the time the author wrote.
3) The time,
4) The manners and customs, and—
5) The external circumstances, of the times in which the original author lived.
On the other hand, a truthful rendering of the literal sense of the original text into another language, implies
1) An intimate acquaintance with that language, as it is both written and spoken;
2) With the genius, manners, and customs,
3) The religious tenets,
4) The ideas, notions, and prejudices, of the people who speak it.
Hence it must appear that, in point of learning alone, it is above the power of any one man to bring to perfection the translation of the whole Word of God. Besides, the mind, be it ever so well balanced, will gravitate more or less towards itself, if left long alone; and the judgment, however correct, must get warped in time, from want of interchange of thought with others. And that must also tell upon the work
