113 



BIBLE. 



BIBLE. 



114 



old school of the Buxtorfs and their followers believed in the general 

 correctness of the Masoretical text. The correctness of this opinion, 

 however, has been established, not by the opposition of the old school 

 to critical examination, but by the exertions of those critics who for 

 some time overrated the authority of the Samaritan Pentateuch and 

 that of the ancient translations, and overstated the faults of the Maso- 

 retical text. 



Critics now distinguish, 1st, the text before the conclusion of the 

 canon in the parallel passages of the Old Testament ; 2nd, the text 

 before the Masora in the quotations of the Talmud ; 3rd, the Samaritan 

 and Alexandrine ; 4th, the Masoretical. 



The first Samaritan MSS. were brought into Europe in the year of 

 our Lord 1620. Achill. Harlay de Sancy directed Pietro della Valle in 

 1616 to purchase them at Damascus, and presented them to the library 

 of the Oratorium at Paris. There are extant, besides these, a Codex 

 Cottonianus, a Codex S. Genov. at Paris. Compare also the Barberini 

 Triglotta and the Paris and London Polyglotts in Samaritan types, 

 and the Pent. Hebrseo-Samarit. ed. Benj. Blayney, Oxon. 1790, in the 

 usual square characters. [SAMARITANS.] 



The earliest translations of the Old Testament were made from a 

 text which belongs to a period from which no manuscripts have been 

 preserved. These translations confirm the significations which are 

 given in our Lexicons to Hebrew words, and show how the biblical 

 text was understood at a period when the original language was still 

 living, or when, at least, many helps to its understanding, which have 

 since disappeared, were still accessible. We shall treat in separate 

 articled on the following most important ancient translations : 



The Septuagint is written in the Hellenistic or Jewish Greek lan- 

 guage, and was formerly read in many sj-nagogues. Josephus makes 

 more use of the Septuagint than of the Hebrew text ; but at a later 

 period, when Christians employed the Septuagint, the Jews rejected it. 

 The Talmud appoints a fast-day on the eighth day of Tebeth, because 

 " on that day the law was written in Greek through King Ptolemy, 

 and darkne.su came over the earth for three days ; and that day was 

 fatal to Israel as the day on which the calf was made." (' Megillath 

 Taanith,' fol. 50, c. 2 ed. Bas. 1758 ; ' Tract. Sopher.' ci.) 



The fragments which have been preserved of the translation made 

 by the Jewish proselyte, Aquila of Sinope, at the commencement of 

 the second century, are very valuable, because they are so literal that 

 they exactly represent the text which was before the eye of the trans- 

 lator. [AQUILA.] Theodotion only remodelled the Septuagint. His 

 latiun of Daniel was used among the Christians instead of the 

 Keptuagiut. Symmachus wrote better Greek, but translated more 

 freely. Each of these three translated with more accuracy than the 

 translators of the Septuagint. 



There are, besides, fragments of three anonymous Greek translations, 

 which have been called, from the places which they occupy in the 

 ' Hexapla ' of Origen, Quinta, Sexta, Septima. 



Parts of the Old Testament have been translated into a Jewish 

 modern Greek, of which ' Wolfii Bibliotheca Hebnca,' vol. iii. Appendix, 

 and vol. iv. p. 1219-26, contains curious specimens printed in Hebrew 

 type. 



According to Origen, Luciauus and Hesychius bestowed then- critical 

 labours upon the text of the Septuagint ; and their editions came into 

 puMic use, but have entirely disappeared. It appears from Georg. 

 Sync-ell. Chronogr. p. 203, that the labours of Basilius the Great on the 

 Sc'ptiiagint consisted in his care to obtain correct copies. 



In the days of St. Augustine, several Latin translations existed : 

 aiming these he preferred the Itala, which was in more general use, 

 and which had originated in the first period of Christianity. The 

 fragments of the Itala still extant prove that it was made from the 

 utgint. Hieronymus corrected it about the year A.D. 382; but 

 the greater part of his labours was lost during his own lifetime, and he 

 could not gratify the desire of Augustine to restore the loss, because 

 he had not sufficient scribes at his command. 



According to Abulfaragius, the Syrians had, along with the Peschito, 

 another translation of the Septuagint, which has been called, according 

 to an erroneous reading of Pococke, the Figurata. 



Of the Syrian translation by Philoxenus, bishop of Hierapolis, we 

 know so little that we cannot say whether it was the same with the 

 i ata. 



In the Ambrosian library at Milan there are the Psalms, Job, Pro- 

 . Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, 

 the twelve minor prophets, Jeremiah, Baruch, Lamentations, Daniel, 

 K/.-kicl, and Isaiah, in an Hexaplar Syriac translation by Paul, bishop 

 of Telia, of the year 616. Of the same translation there is a copy at 

 Paris of the fourth, or, as we call it, the second book of Kings. This 

 version was translated into Arabic by Hareth Ben St-nau, A.D. 1486, 

 and is'preserved in the Arabic at Paris and at Oxford. 



The Ethiopians have, in the Geez, an anonymous translation of the 

 whole Bible, the origin of which cannot be earlier than the 4th century. 

 This version was made by Christians from the Alexandrine Greek 

 translation, but it is now used by Jews also. Of this there are several 

 complete manuscript copies in Europe, a list of which is given by 

 [.urli.lf: parts of it have been printed. Other copies have been 

 brought to Europe by Bruce and Ruppcll. 



There exists also a translation in the dialect of Lower Egypt, the 

 no-called Coptic or Memphitic ; and another in the dialect of Upper 



ABTS AHD SCI. DIV. VOL. II. 



Egypt, the Sahidic, or Thebaic. The origin of these translations, parts 

 of which have been printed, belongs probably to the end of the 3rd, or 

 the commencement of the 4th century. Both were made from the 

 Septuagint. 



The Armenian translation by Miesrob was executed with the assis- 

 tance of Johannes Ekelensis and Jos. Palnensis, about A.D. 410. With 

 this translation, Miesrob gave to the Armenians an alphabet. He 

 followed the Septuagint, and in Daniel the Greek of Theodotion. 

 Miesrob's translation is said to have been interpolated in the 6th 

 century according to the Peschito, and in the 13th century according 

 to the Vulgate. 



The Georgian or Grusingian translation was made in the 6th century, 

 and follows the Septuagint. 



The Sclavonic translation is said to have been made in the 9th 

 century, from the text of the Septuagint; but, according to Alter, 

 it originated from the Itala, and was altered in the 14th century 

 according to Greek MSS. 



It is unnecessary, in an article so limited as the present, to do more 

 than name the Arabic translations, the Veneta, the Targumim, the 

 Samaritan translation, the Peschito, the Vulgate, the Gothic, the Anglo- 

 Saxon, and Persian translations, &c. 



The Hebrews had, like other nations, their prose and poetical styles. 

 The poetical style is distinguished by great boldness and freshness of 

 expression, and by a rhythmical movement or cadence of language. 

 This rhythmus occurs in various degrees. There are parts in the 

 prophets, and in the book of Ecclesiastes, which are scarcely elevated 

 above the level of prose. The gradual ascent from prose to rhythmus, 

 and the descent from rhythmus to prose, constitutes one of the 

 beautiful characteristics of Hebrew poetry. The rhythmus of syllables 

 is, in Hebrew, so free, that some have preferred to call it " numerus by 

 accentuation." This uumerus consists usually in a free mixture of 

 iambics, trochees, amphibrachs, and anapaests. 



" The books and passages of the Old Testament, which are com- 

 posed in a poetical style, have such a diversity of character, from the 

 various times at which they were written, that it is necessary to 

 distinguish them into several periods. Four of these periodical divi- 

 sions may be conveniently adopted. 



" The first embraces short historical songs, and oracular sentences : 

 simplicity and obscure brevity are the characteristics of these. The 

 second era is that of heroic song. In the times of the Judges, the 

 actions of the protectors and defenders of Israel were celebrated iu 

 this style. Of the same description are inspiriting war-songs, and songs 

 of triumph. The third period commences with the schools of the 

 prophets, founded by Samuel, in which the art of poetry was enlarged, 

 refined, and ennobled. Historical poems,, pastorals, and hymns in 

 praise of God, and war-songs, were produced by these schools. At 

 length, under David and Solomon's reign, we approach the golden age 

 of Hebrew poetry, to which succeeded the sublime oracles of the 

 prophets. They uttered, in solemn strains, promises and threatenings, 

 and described better times to come, in imagery borrowed from the 

 golden age. The fourth epoch coincides with the time about and 

 subsequent to the Babylonian captivity. Then the fiery energy of the 

 prophetic poetry was lost, and plaintive songs of woe were blended 

 alternately with joyful strains, sung in hope of their return to Zion, 

 and with cheerful festive hymns, in which the expectation of a universal 

 kingdom of God on earth was expressed in various ways. 



" With respect to the external form, the various species of Hebrew 

 poetry may, upon the whole, be described by the names given to their 

 poetic compositions by the Greeks and Romans ; but it must not be 

 imagined that their arrangement and disposition are of the same 

 kind. The following may be considered as distinct species of Hebrew 

 poetry : 



"First, short traditional poems, containing anecdotes of families, 

 for the purpose of handing them down to posterity. Second, longer 

 historico-religious poems ; as, for example, 1 Moses (Gen.) i. and ii., 

 also Psalms cxxxv. cxxxvi.; and poems of a mythic form, 1 Moses 

 (Gen.) iii. xi. Third, odes : these are subdivided into 1, Hymns, 

 songs of praise and thanksgiving, for divine worslu'p ; 2, Common odes, 

 in which other important objects were expressed in sublime imagery ; 

 and, finally, 3, War-songs, which often ascend to the dignity of the ode. 

 Fourth, elegies, lamentations, pastoral lays, and songs in praise of love 

 Fifth, songs of a middle species, which do not attain the character of 

 the ode. Sixth, didactic poems, of which there are 1, Many short 

 ones in the Psalms; and, 2, Some of greater length in Job and 

 Ecclesiastes. To these latter belong 3, Parables, fables, and alle- 

 gories ; and, finally 4, Single sententious apophthegms, or proverbs. 



"Descriptions of the separate prophetical books are given in the 

 Introductions (such as those of Eichhorn, Jahn, Berthold, and De 

 Wette) to the Old Testament : but those books must be divided into 

 two classes, in order to facilitate their interpretation, namely, those 

 written before, and those written after the captivity, as the character 

 and contents of the latter differ materially from those of the former 

 writings. 



" The first period of those writings is that between Moses and the 

 captivity. The prophets who lived in this period laboured to oppose 

 idolatry; and continually exercised this grand theme of their dis- 

 courses and denunciations in new forms, and under various images and 

 conceptions. They announced on these occasions the approach of 



