在19世纪《圣经》汉译史上，委办译本具有划时代的意义：麦都思与王韬所追求的"优雅端正的文言"，为该译本带来了高度声望；然而，另一方面，过于艰深的文言也使得委办译本无法在中下层民众中有效传播，甚至被不少传教士称为"一本密封的书"。文章以19世纪60至80年代围绕委办译本的相关论争为主要研究对象，依据大英圣书公会所藏之原始档案资料，在厘清历史事实的基础上，试图探索委办译本所使用的"标准文言"，究竟对其在19世纪中后期的实际传播范围和使用情况产生了何种影响，进而又如何改变了《圣经》汉译的翻译理路；并以此为切入点，进一步探索近代中国的书面语言使用状况及关于不同语言的社会想象。

In the translation history of the Bible into Chinese in the 19^th century, the Delegates' Version has an epoch-making significance:the "elegant and standard classical Chinese" used by W. H. Medhurst and WANG Tao brought a high reputation to the version; on the other hand, the unfathomable classical Chinese employed also made it impossible for the Delegates' Version to be effectively spread among the masses, and it was even called "a sealed book" by many missionaries. Based on the archives of the British Bible Society, this paper focuses on controversies about the Delegates' Version from the 1860s to the 1880s, analyzes historical facts and explores the influence of the "standard classical Chinese" applied by the Delegates' Version on its spread and reading in the mid-to-late 19^th Century. This paper also examines how the above concerns changed the translating strategies of the Bible into Chinese, and explores the use of written languages and the concern about multiple languages in early modern China.