BIB ^^^ 



V f i-),i. „,.^,. -.rt.M- rnntMiucd laR chapter of the fiift book of Chionkks ; the difcourfcs 

 the Prophets. thercadu,gofwhKhth_cyeveraftc^^^^^^^^^ 1^^ ^^^^^ ^.^^^ a Chron. xxxiii. 18, 19. the " Afts of 



1 



Law was read to the people firft in the Hebrew language, and 

 then rendered by an interpreter into the Chaldee language ; 

 and this was done period by period. To diftinguilh thefe 

 periods was an objeft of importance ; and hence arofe the 

 divifion into verfes, which was firll applied to the Law, and 

 afterwards to the Prophets and Hagiographa. The man- 

 ner by which thefe divifions, or verfes, are now diftinguifhed 

 is by the " Soph-Pafuk ;" but it is not certain that this 

 was the ancient method. Prideaux apprehends, that the 

 Ptfukini, or verfes of the Hebr.w bibles, were anciently di- 

 ftinguifhed in the fame manner as the " Stichi" afterwards 

 were in the Greek Bibles. The manner of their writing 

 thefe llichi at firft was to allow a line to every ftichus, and 

 there to end the writing, where they ended the ftichus, 

 leaving the reft of the line a void break. But this mode oc- 

 cafiouuig a wafte of parchment, on which their books were 

 written, and making their bulk too heavy ; in order to 

 avoid thefe inconveniences, they afterwards put a point at 

 the end of every ftichus, and continued the writing without 

 leaving any blank. In the Hebrew Bibles they adopted the 

 fame mode, and put the two points, calkd " Soph-pafuk," 

 at the place where one verfe ended, and continued the writ- 

 ing of the next verfe in the fame line, without leaving any 

 void fpace. The divifion of t!ie holy Scriptures into chap- 

 ters is of a much later date. The Pfalms, indeed, appear to 

 have been always divided as they are at prtfent. Ac^s. xiii. 

 33, But as to the reft of the Bible, the prefent divifion 

 into chapters was unknown to the ancients. See Chapter 

 and Concordance. 



Befides thofe books which were received into the canons 

 of the books of the Old Teftament, and thofe that have 

 been deemed apocryphal, there are feveral others which 

 are cited in the Old, and alfo in the New Teftament, which 

 feem tither to have been loft, or excluded by Ezra from his 

 canon. Of fuch books are the books "of the wars of the 

 Lord," cited Numb. xxi. 4. but it does not appear that in 

 this place any book is mentioned, " of the Covenant," of 

 which it is faid mention is made Exod. xxiv. 7. but evidently 

 referring to the laws received by Mofes from the hand of 

 God, related in the preceding chapters ; the ''book of the 

 Lord," mentioned If. xxxiv. 16. which does not feem to be 

 any particular book; " the book of Ja(her, or the upright," 

 cited in Jofliiia. x. 13. and 2 Sam. i. iS. fuppofed by fome 

 to be an hiftorical book, but more probably conriltiiig of 



cabees 

 wife," 



" the genealogy of Job," and " a fpeech of Job'; 

 annexed to the Greek edition of the book of Job ; 

 " a Pfalm," affixed to the Greek edition of the Pfalms ; 

 " the book of Enoch," not entire, cited by feveral of tha 

 fathers, and regarded by them as apocryphal, and referred 

 to by Jude, v. 14. the book of the " AfFumption of Mofes," 

 Slid his " Tcftament," placed by St. Athanafius among 

 the apocryphal books ; " the Afiumption, Apocalypfe, or 

 Secrets of Elijah," cited by Origen ; and a number of others 

 forged by the Jews, and fathered on the Patriarchs. Sec 

 New Testament. 



It may not be improper to refer, in one view, the books 

 of the Old and New Teftaments to their proper authors. 

 We m.ay fuppofe then, without afcending to the region of 

 conjcfturc, and tracing the origin of any books, or parts of 

 books of the Bible to patriarchal times, that the Pentateuch 

 confifts of the writings of Mofes, put together, perhaps, by 

 Samuel, with a very few additions ; that the books of Jo- 

 ftiua and Judges were, in like manner, coUecled by him; and 

 the book of Ruth, with the firft part of the firft book of 

 Samuel, written by him ; that the latter part of the firll 

 book of Samuel, and the fecond book, were written by the 

 prophets who fucceeded Samuel, viz. Nathan and Gad ; that 

 the books of Kings and Chronicles are extrafts from the 

 records of the lucceeding prophets, concerning their owa 

 times, and from the public genealogical tables, made by 

 Ezra ; that the books of Ezra and Nchemiah are coUeftions 

 of like record?, fome written by Ezra and Nchemiah, and 

 fome by their predeceffbrs ; that the book of Efther was 

 written by fome eminent Jew, in or near the times of the 

 tranfadlions there recorded, perhaps Mordecai ; the book of 

 Job by Mofes, or a Jew of an uncertain period ; the Pfalms 

 by David, and other pious perfons ; the books of Proverbs 

 and Canticles by Solomon ; the book of Eccleliaftes by So- 

 lomon, or perhaps by a Jew of later times, fpeaking in his 

 perfon, but not with an intention to make him pafs for the 

 author ; the Prophecies by the prophets, whofe names they 

 bear ; and the books of the New Teftament by the perfons 

 to whom they are ufually afcribed. See New Testament. 

 There are many internal evidences, and in the cafe of the 

 New Teftament, many external evidences alfo, by which 

 thefe books may be known to belong to the authors here 

 named. Or, if there be any doubts, they are merely of a 

 critical nature, and do not at all afifeft the genuinenefs of 



hymns and fongs; and " the books of Nathan (i Chron. the books, or not alter, at leaft materially, the arguments 



xxix. 29. 2 Chron. ix. 29.) of Gad, (i Chron. xxix. 29.) that may be adduced in favour of their authenticity and au- 



ofShemaiah, (2 Chron. xii. 15.) of Iddo, (2 Chron. ix. thority. It is readily allowed, that objeiflions have been 



29. xii. 15. xiii. 22.) of Abijah, (2 Chron. ix. 29.) and of made to the alledged authors of feveral of thefe books. 



Jehu, (2 Clnon. xx. 34.), which were memoirs compofed by Abenezra, followed by Plobbes, Pereira, Spinoza, and fome 



thofe prophets, or rather prophecies, which contained a others, deny the firft five books to have been written by 



part of the hiftory. The fame may be faid of the book of Mofes. F. Simon, in particular, alTcrts, that the books, as 



the " Journals or Chronicles" of the kings of Jndah or we now have them, arc not the originals written by the in- 



of Ifrael ; which are difTerent from the Paralipomena, or fpired penmen, but abridgments of them, made in after- 



Chronicks ; the book tf " Samuel the Seer," cited in the times by a kind of college, or order, of public aftuaries, or 



fcribes, 



