PHILADELPHIA, Pa., May 1, 1869.      

      DEAR BRO. PENDLETON:--In my wanderings I reached this city; and remembering that I wished to examine the Septuagint, I went to a bookstore and found the Septuagint edited by Tischendorf, 1860, Third Edition. It contains copious varied readings, rendering it very valuable. I have looked through Cruden's Concordance on the word Wind, and I find pneuma (pneuma) in the following places.

      Gen. viii. 1. And God brought a wind, pneuma, (pneuma), over the earth.

      Exod. xv. 10. Thou didst send thy wind: the sea covered them.

      Num. xi. 31. And a wind went out from the Lord.

      1 Kings, xviii. 45. The heaven was darkened with clouds and wind.

      1 Kings xix. 11. A great, strong wind rent, the mountains. The Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, Pneuma (pneuma) three times.

      II Kings iii. 17. You shall not not see wind, and you shall not see rain.

      Job i. 19. Suddenly a great wind came from the desert.

        "   vii. 7. My life is wind.

        "   xxx. 15. My hope departed as wind.

      Psalms lxxviii. 39. A wind that goes and returns not.

          "     cxlvii. 18. He shall blow with his wind.

      Eccl. i. 6. The wind goes in circuits, and the wind returns in its circuits.

      Isaiah vii. 2. As the wood is shaken by the wind.

          "     xi. 15. He shall stretch his hand over the river with a strong wind. [317]

      Ezek. v. 2. The fourth thou shalt scatter to the wind.

          "     xxxvii. In the fifth verse is pneuma zwhV, (pneuma zoes) the breath of life. In the sixth, I will put, pneuma mon, (pneuma mon), my spirit within you. In the eighth, There was no pneuma, (pneuma), breath within them. In the ninth, Prophesy for the wind, pneuma, (pneuma), and say to the wind, tw pneumati, (to pneumati) come from the four winds, ek twn tessarwn pneumatwn, (ek ton tessaron pneumaton), and breathe on the dead, and let them live. In the tenth, And there came breath into them and they lived.

      Here, then, is a clear instance of the use of pneuma (pneuma) in three different senses, in the same connection. So, I think it is, in John iii. 8.

      Daniel ii. 35. And, to pleqoV tou pneumatoV, (to plethos tou pneumatos), the greatness of the wind took them away.

      Jonah i. 4. And the Lord brought a wind upon the sea.

      Zach. v. 9. And wind was in their wings.

      These are proofs of the use of pneuma (pneuma) in the sense of wind. I shall restore the English version in John iii. 8.

      If you find this of any use to you, you can make what use of it you please.

      I have bought ten acres ground in old Va., twelve miles from Fredericksburg, near the railroad. Ana looking for money to pay for it, and some to help me through life. Am no longer in employment as a preacher. My family is on the place I bought.--Shall go home when I can raise a little money. My post office is Guineys, Caroline county, East Va.

      DEAR BRO. ANDERSON:--I thank you for the very interesting and valuable results of your examination into the Septuagint use of Pneuma. I have long been thoroughly satisfied that the translation by "wind" is the true one for Jno. iii. 8, and am glad to hear that you have concluded to restore it. I am much pleased with the spirit you show in making your revision. We naturally love our convictions, and cling to them, especially when we have written and published them, but I see you love the truth above all pride of opinion or consistency, and can still look for it as hidden pearl, even after you think you have found it. This is the noblest trait of the translator of the Word of God, and I pray that you may be enabled to bring out before long, the [318] mature results of your protracted and laborious studies of the mind of the Spirit as revealed to us in the blessed Word of God.

      I doubt not your many friends will think of you in your retired life, as a translator, and remember your needs, while working for the common good. I wrote to you about the time you moved from Washington, D. C., and I fear you have not received my letter. It was of no particular value, save as you may esteem it for some remarks on questions connected with your translation. If it has not come to you, you can find it doubtless in the office at Washington.

      Present us very kindly to your family, and believe me,

[The Millennial Harbinger 40 (June 1869): 317-319.]

      H. T. Anderson's "Septuagint Use of Pneuma" and W. K. Pendleton's reply were first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Vol. 40, No. 6, June 1869. The electronic version of the essay has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. W. K. Pendleton (Bethany, WV: W. K. Pendleton, 1869), pp. 317-319.

      Pagination in the electronic version has been represented by placing the page number in brackets following the last complete word on the printed page. Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 318:    the eight, [ the eighth,
 

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
373 Wilson Street
Derry, PA 15627-9770
stefanik westol.com

Created 31 January 1999.