103 



nniLK. 



BII1LK. 



i. i 



of viper*, which, with other dingiurting article*, were once used in 

 medicine, but are now Uid mode. 



lill'.I.K. mflx/a. HiMU, meaning loot*, U the name which wag K^ 

 in the 5th century by Chrywutoiu to the collection of i-ixty-six writing* 

 whi.-h are recognised by Christians u divine. To these sixty-six some- 

 timM re erroneously joined about fourteen apocryphal writings, so 

 that the total number amounU to about eighty, of which thirty-nine 



* the Old, and twenty-Heron in the New Testament 

 Before Chrytostom, the more complete expressions for Bible were 

 .fiA(a <;. kaott dirime ; or Ifpa. yff>i, tin fpo^h, o>'o ?/>#>, sacred 

 writings, Ac. 



Independently of all consideration of its religious advantages, no 

 book has conduced more than the Bible to the high cultivation and 

 moral advancement of the human mind. The labour bestowed by so 

 many of the learned upon the just interpretation of thi- in. --tim -iMe 

 book is of itself an attestation of ita worth, and countenances the suppo- 

 sition that Divine Providence has appointed it for the attainment of 

 great designs. So long as the professors of that religion, whose doctrine 

 and morals are contained in the Bible, apply themselves, as they have 

 hitherto done, to explain its contents, the learning of Christiana will 

 be eminently conspicuous. Nay, a well-grounded system of biblical 

 interpretation presupposes no slight degree of knowledge, and compels 

 the instructors of toe rising clergy to apply themselves closely to 

 literary pursuits, in order to acquire a knowledge of the ancient oriental 

 languages ; of the most celebrated works of the Greeks and KomaiiH ; 

 of ancient history; and of many sciences for which the constant 

 exercise of the power of thinking is required. It cannot be denied 

 that the interpreters of Holy Scripture, both Jews and Christians, have 

 often swerved from the truth, and introduced error, superstition, and 

 prejudice, instead of a sound knowledge of religion and ethics. But it 

 was precisely the want of a well-regulated and systematic scheme of 

 interpretation, which produced such disorders of a fanatical imagination, 

 or, to say the least, such palpable aberrations of the understanding. 

 As, even with the possession of much knowledge, both philological and 

 philosophical, numerous and long-continued errors have been mixed up 

 with the important work of biblical interpretation, it is evident that a 

 system of interpretation, founded on sound principles of reason on 

 philology, grammar, and history, is in the highest degree necessary for 

 future teachers of religion." (Seller's ' Biblical Hermeneutics.') 



The Bible is divided into the Old and the New Testament. At 

 present we confine our observations to the Old, which is written in 

 Hebrew, with the exception of some chapters in Daniel and Ezra, and 

 a verse in Jeremiah written in Chaldee. 



The name OM Tatauitnt was introduced by the apostle Paul, who 

 wrote concerning the Jews : " Their minds were blinded : for until 

 this day remaineth the same vail [put over the face of Moses] untaken 

 away in the reading of the Old Testament," 2 Cor. iii. 14. 



The Greek expression iroXo/a Jiaf^mj (Palaia IHttt/ickr) means old 

 cnrenant or old testament, and was translated in the Latin Vulgate, 

 Vftiu Tentamtntum. This name became usual among those European 

 nations who recognised the supremacy of the Roman See and the 

 authority of the Vulgate ; but Sclavonic nations, for instance the 

 Russians and Poles, divide the Bible into the Old and the New Law. 

 Tertullianus (' adv. Marcionem,' iv. 1.) and Augustinus (' de Civitate 

 Dei,' xx. 4. epist. Pelag. iii.) call the Old Testament Vtim fnxlriimtntum. 

 The following ancient appellations given to the Old Testament 

 are more or less expressive of the veneration in which it was held : 

 M3H? aVlfn, >,#, (2 Pet. i. 20), <J wa^ol (Matt. xxii. 29 ; 



r& (Rm- ' 2); M yfxbl*<*ra (2 Tim. iii. 15.) 



Acts rviii. 24.) 



ttf-tpn "ana, 



Bfaj?n 'yyo, c^sp TO <0Afo, rrrin, i f<w (John xn. 34). 



c5 vlpm, ol TrptxfnjTai xol 01 1^0X^10) (Luc. xxiv. 44). 

 6 yifiot ital o/ tfoifniTan (Acta xxviii. 23, &c.), a vopuit, ol vpo^njTat KO! 

 TO. <AAo /JijSAi'a, Tes. Sir. Prol. 



c^tpjji n^2~iMn ~ip : nyaisi c'ntpy 



Neh. viii. 8, where this word occurs, but in a different sense), 

 tZ?T|7^n /V3- n > B7^I[7D, $i0\ta riji laAamr Siaff^m)?, vetus Testa- 



mentum, sivo Instrumcntum (compare i> oAo(a J.ofl^KT). 2 Cor. iii. 14, 

 /3i/J\os -nji Siaff^iojf, 1 Mac. i. 57 ; 2 Kings xxiii. 2, according to the 

 Septuagint). 



The names of the New Testament are, TO fliayyi\iov xoi & o.w6o-ro\os, 

 or TO ii/ayifi\iitbr icol TO iiroirraAw^. or ^ ai^) oiatHiKri. Noviini 

 Testamentum. sive Instrumentum. 



With the collection of the did Testament arose ita division into 



1 . rnin, tiu>t. lex. law, \. e., the five books of Moses. 



2. C'r^ISJ, rpo^ffriu, prophetaj, propheta. 



Thaw D^M^aa, or propheta, are subdivided into D^jitP'S"? C^N^Da, 

 "the former propheta" (containing the books of Joshua, Judges, 

 Samuel, and Kings), and into D^J'nnM C^aj, " the later propheta. 1 

 The later propheta (which we alone call propheta, Isa. Jer. Ezech. tc.) 

 arc again divided into C^itJ, " the great ;" and D^3t3|7, " the small," 



twelve minor propheta. 

 3. 



r, i. 



, holy writings, containing the 1'- 



Proverlw. Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, i 

 Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, two books of Chronicles. 



The Jews being fond of making new names of the initial* of nih.-r 

 appeUati'jns, call the three first books of thuir D^iinB, " holy writiii?.-." 



by the name of " the books," f\&A from a'i'y Job, ^bl^lj Pr< 



and D^bnn Psalms ; the word n?JH means truth. The books nCS 



are also called poetical Ixwks, ami ilifliT in their arcvntuntion from th.- 

 rest of the Hebrew Old Testament. Solomon's Song, or S.mg of 8 



Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Lamentations, and Esther, from the 



i. e., the fire rollt, so called because they are read on ceitain fotiv.-iN in 

 their synagogues from manuscript rolls, and are even printed in tin- 

 8hai>e of rolls. Christians reckon the Song of Songs and the ' 

 siastes among the poetical books, and they gave to Danifl the fourth 

 place among the great prophets, who are calletl yreat Iwicausc their 

 remains are more voluminous than those of the so called i/u'w/r pro 



. although the latter are not inferior in matter and style. 

 From the initials of rnW, C'S" and C^aiTIS the Jews make 



another name for the whole Bible ^D T'narli, perhaps in allu 

 the root Tf3n, he ceated, or was JinMed. 



If we count both books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, \\ 

 tliat the Old Testament consists of thirty-nine books ; but the Talmuil 

 covmte only twenty-four books, because the twelve minor propheta are 

 eonsid'.'red as one book, and the books of Samuel, Kiug^ < 

 V./.r.i. and Nehemiah constitute, according to the TaJniudiata, only 

 four books. (Baba Bathra, f. 14, c. 2.) After the five books of Hoses, 

 the rest of the biblical books are enumerated as follows : 



rroT 



OIDBIUTI uunrr tuwa; bw pnc 

 pns : ~\wy nm r^r^ 



npi ^01 avi own nn 



:i mrpi 



The arrangement of the Septuagint and Vulgate, which is followed 

 in the English Bible, will be explained under SEITU AOINT, and VCLOATE. 



JosephiiH, who wax born A i>. 37, in a passage which we shall soon 

 quote from Winston's translation, enumerates twenty-two biblical books 

 (060 nAva, *pbs rotr ftxoai f}t/3\la), which he probably numbered as 

 follows : 



1. Genesis. 



2. Exodus. 



3. Leviticus. 



4. Numlwrii. 



5. Deuteronomy. 



6. Joshua. 



7. Judges and Ruth. 



8. Two Books of Samuel. 



9. Kings. 



10. Chronicles. 



11. E/.ra and Nehemiah. 



12. Esther. 



13. Isaiah. 



Five liooks of Moses. 



The Propheta in thirteen books. 



The other four contain hymns 

 to God and maxims for the con- 

 duct of life. 



14. Jeremiah and Lamentations. 



15. Kzekiel. 

 1C. Daniel. 



17. Twelve minor propheta. 



18. Job. 



19. Psalm*. 



20. Proverbs. 

 '21. Kcclesiastes. 

 22. Song of Song.s. 



This rather artificial arrangement arose from a de*ire of having as 

 many and no more biblical books than there are letters in the Hebrew 

 alphabet. 



In the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius (iv. 26), Meliton, in a 

 letter to Onesimus, states that lie travelled i in order to 



investigate exactly the nature of the Old Testament in those countries 

 in which it WOK written, anil where the eventa related therein happened ; 

 and that he found the following to be the names of the books con- 

 tained in the did Testament: Muvfffus virrf r/i-ir.r,'E{oSot,AwTiK4x, 

 "Apifyiut, AtvTtpovdfjuov' 'lljtrovt Navi), K/iToi. Poir0, BainAfiaii' Ttffaa^fv 

 (that in, 2 Sam. and 2 Kin^), Ho(xiAiiro^>'i' Siio, *oA/uw>/ Ao/3iS, 

 2o\ouufO! Tlapointai, ^ tol 2f>io, 'F.KK^tifficurr^s, 'Airjuo dtrfidruf, 'lw$' 

 npo<tnfT&i>, 'Hvatov, 'IfpploV TUH Ju'Stxn if fu>vo0l$\u, ACVIT/A, 'lt(tni)i\, 

 'Eo-Spai. Here we have Nehemiah and Esther omitted, but again the 

 number twenty-two. 



In the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius (vi. 25), a passage from 

 Origen is quoted, which states that, according to the tradition ol tin- 

 Hebrews, there are twenty-two canonical books, which is the number 



