﻿476 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  Old 
  Testament 
  in 
  two 
  folio 
  volumes. 
  The 
  Hebrew 
  text 
  is 
  sur- 
  

   rounded 
  by 
  the 
  Massora, 
  the 
  Targum, 
  and 
  the 
  commentaries 
  of 
  Rashi, 
  

   Ibn 
  Ezra, 
  Kimchi, 
  and 
  others. 
  

  

  Greek 
  New 
  Testament. 
  First 
  American 
  edition. 
  Printed 
  by 
  

   Isaiah 
  Thomas, 
  Worcester, 
  Massachusetts, 
  1800. 
  (PL 
  36.) 
  

  

  Greek 
  New 
  Testament. 
  Second 
  American 
  edition. 
  Printed 
  by 
  S. 
  

   F. 
  Bradford, 
  Philadelphia, 
  1806. 
  

  

  ANCIENT 
  VERSIONS 
  OF 
  THE 
  BIBLE. 
  

  

  The 
  oldest 
  and 
  most 
  important 
  version 
  of 
  the 
  Old 
  Testament, 
  

   which 
  in 
  turn 
  became 
  the 
  parent 
  of 
  many 
  other 
  translations, 
  is 
  the 
  

   Greek 
  of 
  Alexandria, 
  Egypt, 
  known 
  by 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  the 
  Septuagint. 
  

   The 
  name 
  Septuagint 
  is 
  derived 
  from 
  the 
  tradition 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  made 
  

   by 
  a 
  company 
  of 
  seventy 
  (sometimes 
  seventy-two) 
  Jewish 
  scholars, 
  

   at 
  Alexandria, 
  under 
  the 
  reign 
  of 
  Ptolemy 
  Philadelphus, 
  285-247 
  

   B. 
  C, 
  who 
  desired 
  a 
  copy 
  for 
  the 
  library 
  he 
  was 
  gathering. 
  The 
  

   truth 
  of 
  its 
  origin 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  that 
  Alexandria 
  became, 
  after 
  the 
  

   Babylonian 
  captivity, 
  a 
  center 
  of 
  the 
  Jewish 
  population. 
  As 
  time 
  

   went 
  on, 
  the 
  Jews 
  lost 
  command 
  of 
  the 
  Hebrew 
  language 
  and 
  re- 
  

   quired 
  a 
  translation 
  of 
  their 
  sacred 
  books 
  into 
  Greek. 
  The 
  men 
  who 
  

   met 
  this 
  want 
  differed 
  very 
  much 
  in 
  knowledge 
  and 
  skill, 
  were 
  of 
  

   an 
  indeterminate 
  number 
  and 
  of 
  different 
  periods, 
  beginning 
  the 
  

   work 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Ptolemy 
  Philadelphus 
  and 
  ending 
  it 
  about 
  150 
  

   B. 
  C. 
  The 
  Pantateuch 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  carefully 
  translated 
  than 
  the 
  

   rest 
  of 
  the 
  Bible. 
  Books 
  now 
  considered 
  apocryphal 
  were 
  included 
  

   in 
  the 
  Canon. 
  The 
  Septuagint 
  was 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  Jews 
  until 
  the 
  

   second 
  century 
  of 
  the 
  Christian 
  era, 
  when 
  they 
  reverted 
  to 
  the 
  He- 
  

   brew. 
  It 
  was 
  also, 
  no 
  doubt, 
  used 
  by 
  the 
  Apostles 
  and 
  by 
  the 
  Church 
  

   Fathers, 
  who 
  refer 
  to 
  it 
  under 
  the 
  name 
  "Vulgata." 
  

  

  Codex 
  Vaticanus. 
  Containing 
  the 
  Old 
  and 
  New 
  Testament. 
  Fac- 
  

   simile. 
  Six 
  volumes. 
  Rome, 
  1868-1881. 
  The 
  Codex 
  Vaticanus, 
  so 
  

   called 
  from 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  preserved 
  in 
  the 
  Vatican 
  at 
  Rome, 
  is 
  

   the 
  best 
  and 
  oldest 
  Biblical 
  manuscript 
  now 
  known. 
  It 
  is 
  written 
  

   in 
  Greek 
  in 
  uncial 
  characters 
  (capitals) 
  , 
  and 
  was 
  probably 
  the 
  work 
  

   of 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  scribes 
  in 
  Egypt 
  during 
  the 
  fourth 
  century. 
  The 
  

   original 
  is 
  probably 
  the 
  most 
  valuable 
  treasure 
  of 
  the 
  Vatican 
  li- 
  

   brary. 
  It 
  was 
  brought 
  to 
  Rome 
  by 
  Pope 
  Nicholas 
  V 
  in 
  1448. 
  The 
  

   manuscript 
  is 
  not 
  quite 
  complete; 
  there 
  are 
  a 
  few 
  gaps 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  

   Testament, 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  Testament 
  ends 
  with 
  Hebrews 
  ix, 
  14. 
  

  

  Codex 
  Sinaiticus. 
  Facsimile 
  edition, 
  Petrograd, 
  4 
  volumes. 
  1862. 
  

   The 
  Codex 
  Sinaiticus 
  was 
  discovered 
  in 
  1859 
  by 
  Constantine 
  Tisch- 
  

   endorf 
  in 
  the 
  Convent 
  of 
  St. 
  Catharine 
  at 
  the 
  foot 
  of 
  Mount 
  

   Sinai. 
  It 
  was 
  transferred 
  to 
  Cairo, 
  then 
  to 
  Leipzig, 
  and 
  later 
  to 
  

   Petrograd, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  preserved 
  in 
  the 
  Imperial 
  Library. 
  This 
  

  

  