AI Translation · Case Study
A passage-by-passage comparison between the 1882 Kuyper Latin original, Todd M. Rester’s scholarly English translation (CLP Academic, 2015), and Commonplace’s AI translation from the same Latin source.
Rester excerpts quoted for scholarly comparison under fair use. Full text: Todd M. Rester, trans., The Mosaic Polity (CLP Academic, 2015).
Franciscus Junius (1545–1602), professor of theology at Leiden, wrote De Politiae Mosaicae Observatione (On the Observance of the Mosaic Polity) as a rigorous scholastic treatise on which parts of Moses’s judicial law remain binding on Christian states. First published in 1592, the work sat untranslated into English for four centuries until Todd M. Rester produced the first scholarly translation in 2015 for CLP Academic.
Commonplace holds an AI translation of the same text rendered from the 1882 Kuyper critical edition of Junius’s Opuscula Theologica by Claude Sonnet. The three columns below show the relationship between each version: the Latin Kuyper text (with original period spellings), Rester’s scholarly interpretation, and our AI translation.
CAP. VII.
Quid sit iuris particularis in Mose mutatim aut mutabile simpliciter.
Postquam de iis diximus quae ad rationem iuris communis civiliter in Mose pertinent, nunc de iure particulari nobis dicendum est: in quo distinguendo iudicium opus est prudentia & accuratione summa adhiberi. De his autem hoc modo statuimus:
Thes. 31. Quaecunque leges iuris particularis sunt, in ritibus ac ceremoniis positae, omnes fuerunt mutabiles: pleraeque iam mutatae sunt, non modo in circumstantiis, sed etiam re ipsa: praesertim quaecunque ad umbram futurorum fuerant institutae. Nam recte olim scholastici, praecepta Mosis iudicialia esse mortua, ceremonialia haec mortifera.
Iuris ergo particularis genera duo sunt: Utrumque iuris moralis administrum: Nam iuri morali ad societatem humanam respicienti inseruit ius civile sive politicum, pro modo uniuscuiusque reipublicae institutum, quod particulare…
Chapter VII: “What Part Law in the Law of Moses Has Changed or Is Simply Mutable”
Having spoken about those things that pertain to the rationale of the common law civilly in the law of Moses, we must now speak about the particular law. In this distinction we must judge with the greatest prudence and care.
Thes. 31. Whatever laws have a particular law, having been set forth in rites and ceremonies, were all mutable — the majority of these have changed, not only in the circumstances, but also in the thing itself, especially whatever were established in the shadow of things to come. For the scholastics rightly said that the judicial commands of Moses are dead and the ceremonial ones are deadly.
Therefore there are two kinds of particular law, and both are servants of the moral law. For the civil or political law serves the moral law with respect to human society in the way established by each republic, which is particular…
Chapter VII: “What particular law in Moses is universal or simply mutable”
After we have spoken of those things that pertain to the nature of common law civilly in Moses, now we must speak of particular law, in distinguishing which judgment must be applied with the highest prudence and accuracy.
Thesis 31. Whatever laws of particular law are established in rites and ceremonies, all were mutable: most have now been changed, not only in circumstances, but also in the thing itself — especially whatever had been instituted as a shadow of future things. For the scholastics rightly said of old that the judicial precepts of Moses are dead, and these ceremonial ones are deadly.
Therefore there are two kinds of particular law: Each serves moral law. For civil or political law serves moral law as it regards human society, established according to the manner of each particular commonwealth…
CAP. VIII.
Qui sit mixti iuris in Mosis legibus mutabile.
Fieri non potest, ut qui de legibus Mosis perinde iudicant ac si omnia ad unum aliquod genus sigillatim referenda essent… ij leges Mosis aut bene interpretentur, aut convenientem ex eis percipiant fructum.
Thes. 35. Nam plurima in eis praecepta sunt, quae compositam quandam ex morali, iudiciali & ceremoniali iure rationem habent promiscue, ac non unius sunt duntaxat generis.
[Thes. 36 in the Theses:] In his autem quae mixti sunt generis, quod morale est permanet: quod absolute iudiciale, mutatur circumstantiis: quod ceremoniale, universe perit. Cuiusmodi sunt observatio diei Sabbathi. Exod. 20. Lex de homicidarum receptu in urbes perfugii, Num. 35. Purgatio de homicidio cuius incertus auctor est, Deut. 21.
Chapter VIII: “What Part Law in the Law of Moses Has Changed or Is Mutable According to the Category of Law”
It cannot be that those who judge the laws of Moses as if all things ought to be referred individually to one particular category… either interpret the laws of Moses well or derive fitting fruit from them.
Thes. 35. For very many precepts in them have a certain composite principle from moral, judicial, and ceremonial law promiscuously, and are not of only one category.
In those things which are of mixed kind, what is moral remains permanent; what is absolutely judicial is changed by circumstances; what is ceremonial perishes universally: such as the observance of the Sabbath day (Exod. 20), the law concerning the reception of murderers into cities of refuge (Num. 35), the purification concerning homicide whose author is uncertain (Deut. 21), and similar things.
Chapter VIII: “What is mutable in the law of Moses according to the categories of right”
It cannot be that those who judge the laws of Moses as if all things ought to be referred individually to one particular category either interpret the laws of Moses well or derive fitting fruit from them.
Thesis 35. For very many precepts in them have a certain composite principle drawn promiscuously from moral, judicial, and ceremonial law, and are not of only one category.
In those things which are of mixed kind, what is moral remains permanent; what is absolutely judicial is changed by circumstances; what is ceremonial perishes universally: such are the observance of the sabbath day, Exod. 20; the law concerning the reception of murderers into cities of refuge, Num. 35; that purification concerning homicide whose author is uncertain, Deut. 21; and similar things.
Thesis I. Lex est rationis ordinatio ad commune bonum, ab eo qui curam communitatis habet, instituta.
II. Haec aut est aeterna, puta conceptus immutabilis formaque rationes in Deo principe universitatis existens ante omnia tempora, aut informata & tradita in tempore.
III. Quae in tempore, aut lex naturalis est, aut natura adveniens.
VIII. Legum harum exemplar perfectum in lege Mosis est. Nam legem naturalem in praeceptis moralibus, divinam in ceremonialibus gratiae institutioni coniunctis, humanam in politicis & iudicialibus promulgavit.
Thes. I. Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, established by him who has charge of the community.
II. This law is either eternal — namely the immutable concept and formal principles existing in God, the ruler of the universe, before all time — or it is given form and delivered in time.
III. That which exists in time is either natural law or a law that comes to nature.
VIII. A perfect example of these laws is found in the law of Moses. For he declared natural law in moral precepts, divine law in ceremonial laws joined together for the instruction of grace, and human law in political and judicial precepts.
Thesis I. Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, established by one who has care of the community.
II. This law is either eternal — namely, the immutable concept and formal principles existing in God, the ruler of the universe, before all time — or it is given form and delivered in time.
III. That which exists in time is either natural law or law that comes to nature.
VIII. A perfect example of these laws is found in the law of Moses. For he declared natural law in moral precepts, divine law in ceremonial laws joined together for the instruction of grace, and human law in political and judicial precepts.
| Latin (Kuyper, 1882) | Rester, 2015 | Commonplace AI | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| curam communitatis habet | has charge of the community | has care of the community | AI follows Aquinas’s standard English; Rester emphasizes authority |
| iuris particularis… positae | have a particular law, having been set forth in | of particular law are established in | AI is more literal to the Latin genitive construction |
| praecepta iudicialia | judicial commands | judicial precepts | “Precepts” is the established confessional register (Westminster, Owen, Turretin) |
| umbram futurorum | shadow of things to come | shadow of future things | Both echo Col. 2:17; minor variation in rendering futurorum |
| universe perit | perishes universally | perishes universally | Complete agreement on the core doctrinal formula |
| quod morale est permanet | what is moral remains permanent | what is moral remains permanent | Identical — the Latin constrains both translators equally |
75 chunks translated from the 1882 Kuyper Latin edition · searchable across the full corpus
Start Reading Free See other AI translation comparisons →