Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 62:1 | To the overseer, to Jeduthun: chanting to David. Surely my soul was silent to God: from him my salvation. |
| 62:2 | Surely he my rock and my salvation, my height; I shall not be greatly moved. |
| 62:3 | How long will ye set upon a man? ye will kill all of you: as a wall inclining, a wall thrust down. |
| 62:4 | Surely they counseled to thrust down his lifting up: they will delight in falsehood: with their mouth they will praise, and in their inward parts they will curse. Silence. |
| 62:5 | Only, my soul be thou silent to God; for from him my hope. |
| 62:6 | Surely he my rock and my salvation: my height; I shall not be moved. |
| 62:7 | Upon God my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, my refuge in God. |
| 62:8 | Trust in him in all time; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Silence. |
| 62:9 | Surely the sons of man vanity, the sons of man falsehood: to be brought up into the balances, they together of vanity. |
| 62:10 | Ye shall not trust in oppression, ye shall not become vain in plunder: if wealth shall increase ye shall not set the heart |
| 62:11 | Once God spake; twice I heard this; that strength is to God. |
| 62:12 | And to thee, O Jehovah, mercy: for thou wilt recompense to each according to his work. |
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
The Julia Evelina Smith Parker Translation is considered the first complete translation of the Bible into English by a woman. The Bible was titled The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments; Translated Literally from the Original Tongues, and was published in 1876.
Julia Smith, of Glastonbury, Connecticut had a working knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Her father had been a Congregationalist minister before he became a lawyer. Having read the Bible in its original languages, she set about creating her own translation, which she completed in 1855, after a number of drafts. The work is a strictly literal rendering, always translating a Greek or Hebrew word with the same word wherever possible. Smith accomplished this work on her own in the span of eight years (1847 to 1855). She had sought out no help in the venture, even writing, "I do not see that anybody can know more about it than I do." Smith's insistence on complete literalness, plus an effort to translate each original word with the same English word, combined with an odd notion of Hebrew tenses (often translating the Hebrew imperfect tense with the English future) results in a translation that is mechanical and often nonsensical. However, such a translation if overly literal might be valuable to consult in checking the meaning of some individual verse. One notable feature of this translation was the prominent use of the Divine Name, Jehovah, throughout the Old Testament of this Bible version.
In 1876, at 84 years of age some 21 years after completing her work, she finally sought publication. The publication costs ($4,000) were personally funded by Julia and her sister Abby Smith. The 1,000 copies printed were offered for $2.50 each, but her household auction in 1884 sold about 50 remaining copies.
The translation fell into obscurity as it was for the most part too literal and lacked any flow. For example, Jer. 22:23 was given as follows: "Thou dwelling in Lebanon, building as nest in the cedars, how being compassionated in pangs coming to thee the pain as in her bringing forth." However, the translation was the only Contemporary English translation out of the original languages available to English readers until the publication of The British Revised Version in 1881-1894.(The New testament was published in 1881, the Old in 1884, and the Apocrypha in 1894.) This makes it an invaluable Bible for its period.