The Greatest English Classic: A Study of the King James Version of the Bible and Its Influence on Life and LiteratureMcAfee, Cleland Boyd
Religion
The Greatest English Classic: A Study of the King James Version of the Bible and Its Influence on Life and Literature
McAfee, Cleland Boyd
Bible -- History; Bible -- Influence; Bible and literature; Bible. English -- Versions -- Authorized
There is even less of the oratorical element in the Scripture. There is,
to be sure, a considerable amount of quotation, and men do speak at some
length, but seldom oratorically. The prophetical writings are generally
too fragmentary to suggest oratory, and the quotations in the New
Testament, especially from the preaching of our Lord, are evidently for
the most part excerpts from longer addresses than are given. There are few
of the statements of Paul, as in the 26th chapter of Acts, which could be
delivered oratorically; but here again the Old Testament is more marked
than the New. The earliest specimen of oratory is also one of the finest
specimens. It is in the 44th chapter of Genesis, and is the account of
Judah's reply to his unrecognized brother Joseph:
"Then Judah came near unto him, and said, O my lord, let thy
servant, I pray thee, speak a word in my lord's ears, and let not
thine anger burn against thy servant: for thou art even as Pharoah.
My lord asked his servants, saying, Have ye a father, or a brother?
And we said unto my lord, We have a father, an old man, and a child
of his old age, a little one; and his brother is dead, and he alone
is left of his mother, and his father loveth him. And thou saidst
unto thy servants, Bring him down unto me, that I may set mine eyes
upon him. And we said unto my lord, The lad cannot leave his
father: for if he should leave his father, his father would die.
And thou saidst unto thy servant, Except your youngest brother come
down with you, ye shall see my face no more. And it came to pass
when we came up unto thy servant my father, we told him the words
of my lord. And our father said, Go again and buy us a little food.
And we said, We cannot go down; if our youngest brother be with us,
then we will go down: for we may not see the man's face, except our
youngest brother be with us. And thy servant my father said unto
us, Ye know that my wife bare me two sons: and the one went out
from me, and I said, Surely he is torn in pieces; and I saw him not
since: and if ye take this also from me, and mischief befall him,
ye shall bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. Now
therefore when I come to thy servant my father, and the lad be not
with us; seeing that his life is bound up in the lad's life; it
shall come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that
he will die: and thy servants shall bring down the gray hairs of
thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave. For thy servant
became surety for the lad unto my father, saying, If I bring him
not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.
Now therefore, I pray thee, let thy servant abide instead of the
lad a bondman to my lord; and let the lad go up with his brethren.
For how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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