|
6. And all the directions that I have given about ambiguous
punctuations are to be observed likewise in the case of doubtful
pronunciations. For these too, unless the fault lies in the
carelessness of the reader, are corrected either by the rule of faith,
or by a reference to the preceding or succeeding context; or if neither
of these methods is applied with success, they will remain doubtful,
but so that the reader will not be in fault in whatever way he may
pronounce them. For example, if our faith that God will not bring
any charges against His elect, and that Christ will not condemn His
elect, did not stand in the way, this passage, "Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect?" might be pronounced in such
a way as to make what follows an answer to this question, "God who
justifieth," and to make a second question, "Who is he that
condemneth?" with the answer, "Christ Jesus who died." But as
it would be the height of madness to believe this, the passage will be
pronounced in such a way as to make the first part a question of
inquiry, and the second a rhetorical interrogative. Now the ancients
said that the difference between an inquiry and an interrogative was
this, that an inquiry admits of many answers, but loan interrogative
the answer must be either "No" or "Yes." The passage will be
pronounced, then, in such a way that after the inquiry, "Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect?" what follows will be put
as an interrogative: "Shall God who justifieth?" the answer"
No" being understood. And in the same way we shall have the
inquiry, "Who is he that condemneth?" and the answer here again in
the form of an interrogative, "Is it Christ who died? yea,
rather, who is risen again? who is even at the right hand of God?
who also maketh intercession for us?" the answer "No" being
understood to every one of these questions. On the other hand, in
that passage where the apostle says, "What shall we say then? That
the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained to
righteousness;" unless after the inquiry, "What shall we say
then?" what follows were given as the answer to this question:
"That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have
attained to righteousness;" it would not be in harmony with the
succeeding context. But with whatever tone of voice one may choose to
pronounce that saying of Nathanael's, "Can any good thing come out
of Nazareth?" whether with that of a man who gives an affirmative
answer, so that "out of Nazareth" is the only part that belongs to
the interrogation, or with that of a man who asks the whole question
with doubt and hesitation, I do not see how a difference can be made.
But neither sense is opposed to faith.
7. There is, again, an ambiguity arising out of the doubtful sound
of syllables; and this of course has relation to pronunciation. For
example, in the passage, "My bone [os meum] was not hid from
Thee, which Thou didst make in secret," it is not clear to the
reader whether he should take the word os as short or long. If he make
it short, it is the singular of ossa [bones]; if he make it long,
it is the singular of ora [mouths]. Now difficulties such as this
are cleared up by looking into the original tongue, for in the Greek
we find not [mouth], but [bone]. And for this reason the vulgar
idiom is frequently more useful in conveying the sense than the pure
speech of the educated. For I would rather have the barbarism, non
est absconditum a te assure meum, than have the passage in better
Latin, but the sense less clear. But sometimes when the sound of a
syllable is doubtful, it is decided by a word near it belonging to the
same sentence. As, for example, that saying of the apostle, "Of
the which I tell you before [praedico], as I have also told you in
time past [praedixi], that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God." Now if he had only said, "Of the
which I tell you before [quae praedico vobis]," and had not added,
"as I have also told you in time past [sicut praedixi]," we could
not know without going back to the original whether in the word praedico
the middle syllable should be pronounced long or short. But as it is,
it is clear that it should be pronounced long; for he does not say,
sicut praedicavi, but sicut praedixi.
|
|