Textus Receptus Bibles
Julia E. Smith Translation 1876
| 47:1 | The word of Jehovah which was to Jeremiah the prophet, against the rovers, before Pharaoh will smite Gaza. |
| 47:2 | Thus said Jehovah, Behold, waters coming up from the north, and they were for an overflowing torrent, and they shall overflow the land, and its fulness; the city and those dwelling in it: and the men cried out, and all inhabiting the land wailed. |
| 47:3 | From the voice of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, from the bounding of his chariot, the noise of his wheels, the fathers turned not back to the sons from slackness of hands; |
| 47:4 | For the day came to lay waste all the rovers, to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every one left of help: for Jehovah laid waste the rovers, the remnant of the island of Caphtor. |
| 47:5 | Baldness came upon Gaza; Ashkelon was destroyed, the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself? |
| 47:6 | Alas, thou sword of Jehovah, till when wilt thou rest? be gathered to thy sheath; be quiet and be still. |
| 47:7 | How shalt thou rest, and Jehovah commanded to it against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? there he confirmed it. |
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.