CHAP。14。——HOWTHEMEANINGOFUNKNOWNWORDSANDIDIOMSISTOBEDISCOVERED。
21。Aboutambiguoussigns，however，Ishallspeakafterwards。Iamtreatingatpresentofunknownsigns，ofwhich，asfarasthewordsareconcerned，therearetwokinds，Foreitherawordoranidiom，ofwhichthereaderisignorant，bringshimtoastop。Nowifthesebelongtoforeigntongues，wemusteithermakeinquiryaboutthemfrommenwhospeakthosetongues，orifwehaveleisurewemustlearnthetonguesourselves，orwemustconsultandcompareseveraltranslators。If，however，therearewordsoridiomsinourowntonguethatweareunacquaintedwith，wegraduallycometoknowthemthroughbeingaccustomedtoreadortohearthem。Thereisnothingthatitisbettertocommittomemorythanthosekindsofwordsandphraseswhosemeaningwedonotknow，sothatwherewehappentomeeteitherwithamorelearnedmanofwhomwecaninquire，orwithapassagethatshows，eitherbytheprecedingorsucceedingcontext，orbyboth，theforceandsignificanceofthephraseweareignorantof，wecaneasilybythehelpofourmemoryturnourattentiontothematterandlearnallaboutit。Sogreat，however，istheforceofcustom，eveninregardtolearning，thatthosewhohavebeeninasortofwaynurturedandbroughtuponthestudyofHolyScripture，aresurprisedatotherformsofspeech，andthinkthemlesspureLatinthanthosewhichtheyhavelearntfromScripture，butwhicharenottobefoundinLatinauthors。Inthismatter，too，thegreatnumberofthetranslatorsprovesaverygreatassistance，iftheyareexaminedanddiscussedwithacarefulcomparisonoftheirtexts。Onlyallpositiveerrormustberemoved。Forthosewhoareanxioustoknow，theScripturesoughtinthefirstplacetousetheirskillinthecorrectionofthetexts，sothattheuncorrectedonesshouldgivewaytothecorrected，atleastwhentheyarecopiesofthesametranslation。
CHAP。15——AMONGVERSIONSAPREFERENCEISGIVENTOTHESEPTUAGINTAND
THEITALA。
22。NowamongtranslationsthemselvestheItalian（Itala）（1）istobepreferredtotheothers，foritkeepsclosertothewordswithoutprejudicetoclearnessofexpression。AndtocorrecttheLatinwemustusetheGreekversions，amongwhichtheauthorityoftheSeptuagintispre-eminentasfarastheOldTestamentisconcerned；foritisreportedthroughallthemorelearnedchurchesthattheseventytranslatorsenjoyedsomuchofthepresenceandpoweroftheHolySpiritintheirworkoftranslation，thatamongthatnumberofmentherewasbutonevoice。