B I B 





I B 



>i ni off 

 i', 'Iliraioi'. 'hpiuou' Tuv 



t^fita if fMMj&jJXv, Aaxi>i\. 'K.riijX, 'Kffipaf. Here we 

 find Nehcmiah and Esther omitted, but again the nuuilier 

 twenty-two. 



In i'.ie Kcclcsiostieal History of Eusebiu (vi. 2S), a pas- 

 sage fn>iu Orison is quoted, which states that, according to 

 the tradition uf the Hebrews, there are twenty-two canonical 

 books, which is the number of their letters. The follow ing 

 words of this passage prove much for the high antiquity of 

 the Greek and Hebrew appellations given to the biblical 

 bojks ; wo transcribe the list iti Greek, which may be read 

 by all who will refer to the article ALPHABET. 



EiVri ft at ittooi liio flifooi cod' 'K^paioi'C a'ttf i; rap' fiftlv 

 Fivioif iriftipapiurii, wapa Si 'K^pauxf. awA ri}c apxif Piffrov 

 Bpi)7<^> uirtp iffriv Iv apxf' 'Kolas, OuaXt opuS, oirip Ian 

 raitra ovopara' Atuiruriv, Ovicpd, rat ucaXt<r<V 'AniSjioi 

 'Jiftftia^ttvltif' Afvnpot'Oftiuv, 'BXXi aldi&apifi, 

 OITOI oi Xoyoc' \tl<">''t **C Nawij, 'lutrovt ftif N o 5 * Kptrai, 

 PoA3, op' avroic iv *vi Sw^trtp' liaffiXtulv rpwrtj, imrfpa, 

 Tap' aurolf if Sa/owi)X o ^fueXifroc' BamXiiwv rpiri), rtr- 

 rapri/. i* ivl Otia/ifXix A a (3 1 5, oirip fern /3affiX(ia 

 napaXiiro/ifi'wy irpoirov fcvnpol', iv Jvl Ai/3pt; 'A'i 

 oirip j<m Xoyoi tiptpuV *EaSpaf trpurot icni fourtpoc 

 ' J p a, o iffn jSoftic Bi^Xoc' ^aXp.ii', 2 t # t p O i X X i fC 0X0- 

 fiuvrof Uapot/tiai MtffXii3 - EX>/<ria<7ri}f, KwtXtS- *Aff/ia 

 (T/iarwv, iip affffipi/i' 'HffaJac, Iiffaia' Itpe/iia; ffi>> 

 Sptjiwc :ai rij i-rino\fi, tf M Itpffiia' AdviqX, A a M i; V 

 'li^tciqX, If f vcqX' 'Iii/3, 'Ici/3. 'KffS^p, K<rSijp. Besides 

 those, Origen adds, there ore TO Mona/jaura, which bear 

 the inscription, SapjSifrS ap/3avf IX. This passage 

 proves that the Greeks about 1500 years ago found the 

 pronunciation of iy s/i as difiicult as they find it now, and 

 that the Hebrew vowels were pronounced as at present. 



Origcn seems to have forgotten the book of the twelve 

 minor prophets ; and so it happens that, having promised 

 to count twenty-two books, he enumerates only twenty-one. 

 In the Latin version of Eusebius by Ruffinus the book of 

 the minor prophets is inserted after the Canticles : and in a 

 similar manner Hilarius expresses himself in thy prologue 

 to the Psalms which he translated from Orison. 



According to a Jewish tradition, Moses was the first who 

 wrote. In the subsequent heroic times of the Hebrews we 

 11 nd the noting down of historical facts and the composition 

 of poems ; but Hebrew literature received its chief impulse 

 at a later epoch from Samuel's SchnoU of the Prophets, 

 which produced the best specimens of moral or didactic 

 and lyric poetry, and the finest prophetical compositions. 



That several documents and books of anticnt Hebrew li- 

 terature have been lost, is in itself very credible, and it 

 appears, from the difference of style, that Genesis is formed 

 out of various documents. (See GENKSIS.) The book of 

 Jashcr is twice quoted (Jos. x. 13. ; 1 Sam. i. 18.), but the 

 compilations in Hebrew and in English extant under this 

 title are forgeries. (See JASHKR ) The books of Chronicles 

 and Kings are extracts from larger records, to which the 

 reader i* frequently referred by such phrases, ' Now the 

 acts of David the king, first and last, behold they are 

 written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of 

 Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer.' 

 1 Chron. xxix. 29. 'And the rest of the acts of Solomon, 

 and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in 

 the book of the acts of Solomon ?' 1 Kings xi. 41. 'Now 

 thr rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not 

 written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the pro- 

 phecy of Ahijah the Shiionite, and in the visions of Iddo 

 the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebnt?' 2 Chron. ix. 

 29. Solomon 'spake three thousand proverbs, a:nl In-, 

 tongit were a thousand and five,' most of which are not 

 extant now. Even by counting the subdivisions in the 

 Solomonic, writings now extant, the above numbers cannot 

 lie produced. According to the rabbinical mode of count- 

 ing stated in Hebrew at the conclusion of biblical books, 

 the number of verses in the book of Proverbs is 915, in the 



_' of Songs 1 1 7, in Ecclesiaste* 222. 

 \\ .! . ii.. i, v,. .ration of the antient constitution and man- 

 ners there was excited a literary zeal for collcrtin 



uns of national literature which were neglected during 

 the Babylonian captivity. To this zeal for collecting the 

 nntient Imly writings the Old Testament owes its formation. 

 But the zeal for natiun.il literature survived the national 

 language, ninl ai-'-.irilingly the body of the Apocrypha was 

 added, after the Old Testament had been brought'to a con- 



clusion, all-put w.c. 150. Ezra, nnd tin 1 other members 

 of the git-at syiKiL'Kgiii-, have lui-n frvqwnlly cun^idc-r.Ml 



the . > <u : but the Talmudic passages 



upon which this opinion rests are by n> means aech 

 and we have therefore more reason to ascribe this merit to 

 Nehemiah, concerning whom wo read in the 2 Maccabees, 

 ch. 11. v. l.t, 'the same tilings also were reported in tho 

 writings and commentaries of Neemias, and how he founded 

 a library, gathered together the nets of the kings, and the 

 prophets, and of David, and the epistlo uf the kings con- 

 cerning the holy i;iUs. In like manner Judas also gathered 

 together all those things that were lost by reason of tlu 

 we hail; and they remain with us.' 



The most anlient record of the Old Testament as a collec- 

 tion is in thu prologue of Jesus son of Sirach, about B.C. 1 ". 

 under the appellation of vii/ioc <ai jrpo^ijTai, ' the law and 

 the prophets.' ' Whereas many and great things have been 

 delivered to us by the law and the prophets and by others 

 that have followed their steps, for which things Israel ought 

 to be commended for learning and wisdom, and whereof the 

 readers must not only become skilful thcmsehe-, but they 

 also that de*ire to learn be able to profit them which are. 

 without both by speaking and writing: my grandfather, 

 Jesus, when he had given himself much to the law and the 

 prophets and the other books of our fathers, and had gotten 

 therein good judgment, was drawn out also himself to write 

 something pertaining to learning and wisdom, to the intent 

 that those who arc desirous to learn and are addicted to 

 these things, might profit much more by living according 

 to the law.' With this we may compare Luke, ch. \AI\. 

 v. 44 ; 'All things must be fulfilled which were written in the 

 law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms con- 

 cerning me.' The Psalms seem here to be the representa- 

 lixes of the Hagiograprm or holy writings, which constituted 

 the third part of the Old Testament and followed the law 

 and the prophets. 



From the above passages we infer that the Old Testament 

 existed as a collection in the two centuries preceding Christ. 



1'liilo, who flourished about B.C. 41, seems likewise to 

 appeal to the Old Testament as to a collection of books. 

 (See Hornemann, Observationes ad Illustrat. Doctritm 

 de Canone Vet. Test, ex Philone, 1775.) 



But the clearest proof for the existence of our present 

 canon of the Old Testament is in the first book of Josepbus 

 agnintt Apt on, c. 8. 



\Ve have not an innumerable multitude of books among 

 us. disagreeing from and contradicting one another (as the 

 Greeks have), but only twenty-two books, which contain 

 the records of all time, and are justly believed to be divine: 

 and of them five belong to Moses, which contain his laws 

 and the tradition of the origin of mankind till his death. 

 This time was little short of three thousand years. But 

 as to the time from the death of Moses till the re: 

 Artaxerxes, king of Persia, who reigned after Xcrxe 

 prophets who were after Moses wrote down what was doue 

 in their times in thirteen books; the remaining four l,oks 

 contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of 

 human life. 



' It is true our history hath been written since Artav 

 very particularly, but hath not been esteemed of the like 

 authority with the former by our forefathers, because 

 hath not been an exact succession of prophets since that 

 time; and how firmly we have given credit to these l>o,>ks 

 of our own nation is evident by what we do: for during so 

 many ages as have already passed, no one hath been so ho!d 

 as either to add any thing to them, to take am ihing from 

 them, or to make any change in them : but it is 1 

 natural to all Jews immediately and from their very birth 

 to esteem these books to contain divine doctrines and to 

 t in them, and, if occasion be, willingly to die for 

 them, &c.' (Comp. Antiquit. Jud. 1. xi. c. 6, s. 13.) 



When the Hebrew language died away, the canon of tho 

 Old Testament became el 



The Samaritans reen^nis.-il the authority of the Penu- 

 tctich only, and of the book of Joshua. They slightly in- 

 terpolated' the Pciilale.wh, but considerably altered' the 

 Their rejection of the other books of the 

 Old Testament may 'e compared with the opinion of Philo, 

 according to \vhi<-h Moses alone is the teacher of rr! 



lies, although he ascribes inspiration to the other 

 books of the Old Testament as well as to his own writings. 



During the first centuries after Christ the writings of tho 

 New Testament were placed on a level with those of the 



