B I B 



B I B 



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books. Rabbotli, PirkeElic7.fr, and Cozr. Saadlas, who again 'renewed in 1635 by ManalTeh Ben 'Ifrael. Thefe 



floiiriftied about the year 1000, is alfo referred to as having read 

 diftereiitly from the' printed text ; and Hai, about the fame 

 period, is (hewn to have followed thofe MSS., which were 

 defeftive in Jodiua, chap, x.ti., where two whole verfcs, ab- 

 lolutely necelTarv, thougli expelled by the Mafora, have 

 been found in 149 Hebrew oopies. At the end of this pe- 

 riod, Dr, Kennicott introduces the Arabic verlion, generally 

 alcribed to R. Saadias, which has hitherto been reputed 

 0:dy ftcondary, as if it liad been always taken from the 

 Greek a!l,the Syriac ; whereas, it is honoured with the title 

 of a primLy verlion in feveral places ; becaufe it is found to 

 ai?ret with the Hebrew MSS. where both Greek and Syriac 

 dilfer from it. Tliis Arabic verfion has fome very impor- 

 tant readings, particularly in preferving that word which 

 exprtfles the caufe of God's anger agaiiift Balaam, Numb, 

 xxii. 2 J. It is alfo important where it is only fecondary ; 

 becaufo it helps to determine the true reading of the Greek 

 veriion, where the Greek MSS. are now at variance ; as in 

 Pfalm xviii. 14. Ixvii'. 9. Micah v. i. and 2cchariah xiii. -. 

 To the clofe of this period, Dr. Kennicott refers the two 

 oldcll and bed Hebrew MSS. now extant, one at Oxford, 

 and the other at Vienna. Of the Bodleian MS., fuppofed 

 to be 800 years old, he obferves, that it contains about 

 14,000 variations In the pentatcuch of this MS. the Greek 

 verfion is confirmed by 109 various readings ; the Syriac, 

 by 98 ; the Ara'jic, by 82 ; the Vulgate, by 88 ; and the 

 Chaldee paiaphrafe, by 42. It alfo agrees with the Samari- 

 tan test, agair.ll the Hebrew, in 700 inltances. This, it 

 is added, is the only one which has preferved a word of great 

 importance for underftanding, 2 Sam. xxiii. 3, — 7. ; which 

 word is confirmed by the Greek verfion, and recovers to us 

 a prophecy of the Meffiah. 



The fourth period, from 1 000 to 1450, is introduced 

 with an obfervation, that the oldeft Hebrew MS. which has 

 a certain date (1106), though containing only 9120 verfes, 

 has above 6coo variations. Tlie teftimonies of Aben-Ezra, 

 Jarchi, Maimonides, and Kimchi, who all flourilhcd be- 

 tween I [50 and 1250, belong to this period. After taking 

 notice of feveral true readings preferved by thefe four Rab- 

 bies. Dr. Kennicott introduces Meir Hallevi, who died in 

 1244, with his pathetic lamentation over the many varia- 

 tions in the Htbrew MSS. 



Under the fifth and lall period, from 1450 to 17S0, in- 

 cluding the printed Hebrew text, Dr. Kennicott takes par- 

 ticular notice of the five firil editions of different parts, and 

 of the firft edition of the whole together. He adds, that 

 the Pfalms, as firll printed in 1477, contain about 600 va- 

 riations ; and that the Hebrew Bible, as firft printed in 

 14S8, contains above 12,000. Thefe, and fome other very 

 early editions, agree with the older MSS. much more than 

 the editions after the year 1500, but ftill more than that by 

 Jacob Ben Cliaim, in 1526, which has been in general the 

 llandard down to tiie prefent time. About the year 1500, 

 began the fuperftitious regard for the Mafora ; and fuch 

 MSS. as had been maforeticatly conefted, were preferred 

 for tlie editions of Cardinal Ximenes and Felix Pratcnfis. 

 But the Mafora being highly venerated by Ben Chaim, he 

 chofe for his text fuch MSS. as had the Mafora moft per- 

 feft ; which MSS. were the latefl and the worft : and yet, 

 unfortunately, tiiis text became the general ftandaid fcr the 

 Antwerp, Paris, and London Polyglotts, as well as for other 

 editions of lefs note afterwards. The Jews have not, how- 



tellimonies are concluded with the Mantuan edition, called 

 Minchath Shai, in which are about 20CO various readings, 

 collected from MSS. and early editions, by Solomon Me- 

 norzi, in the laft century : 'but it was not printed till 1744- 

 So that, at the time when Chriftians were generally infilling 

 on the perfection of the Hebrew text, the Jews were la- 

 bouring to correA it, and lamenting its great imperfeflion 

 in the following terms: " Quis reftituet decus ? Quis ejiciet 

 raphanos et Ipinas ? Horror confredit me : quum viderem 

 multitudinem variantium, quae ceciderunt in libros ! Editores 

 eunt oblcurati, neque ijx eil cis ; neque eft qui quacrit cefla- 

 tionem hujus diverfitatis ! Ecce nos p.'.'pantes tanquam cscci, 

 in obfcuritate diverfitatum 1 Deusauteiat tenebras noftras !" 

 On examining the teftimonies of Chriftian writers with 

 regard to the ftate of the Hebrew text. Dr. Kennicott be- 

 gins with the Evangehfts and Apoftles ; and here he adverts 

 to the q'lotations made in the New Teftameiit from the Old: 

 on which fubjeft, fee Quotation. It appears, by unquef- 

 tionable evidence, that the Old T':itament ha> been cor- 

 rupted, in many inl^.mces ; and that a juft coireftion of the 

 Hebrew text, grounded on the authorities of Hebrew MSS., 

 the Samaritan pentateuch, and the ancient verlions, vn\l, in 

 many places, reftore to the Old Tellament that harmony 

 with the New which it has long wanted. Inftances occur 

 in Gen. ii. 24. : Pfalm xvi. xxxiv. 22. compared with Juhn 

 xix. 36, 37, and xl. compared with Hubrews x. ; Jeremiah 

 xxxi. compared with Hebrews viii. ; Amos i>:. compared 

 with Adls XV. : Ifaiah vii. 14. hii. Plalm Ixviii. 19. Hof. 

 xiii. 14. Amos v. 26. Dent, xxxii. y. and Habakkuk ii. 4. 

 Many arguments are adduced by Dr. Kennicntt to (hew, 

 that the Jews have corrupted the chronology, from the crea- 

 tion to Abraham, either by fubtrafting or by adding 1300 

 years ; and this great corruption is not in the Greek ver- 

 fion, but in the Hebrew text ; and that it was introduced in 

 the fecoud century. As it was a very ancient tradition, that 

 the Mefliah was to come in the fixth chihad, becaufe he was 

 to come in " the laft days," (founded on a myllical apphca- 

 tion of the fix days' creation), it was contrived to ftiorten 

 the age of the world from about 5500 to 376c, and thence 

 to prove that Jefus could not be the Meffiah, becaufe at the 

 a»ra of his birth the time for the advent of the Meffiah was 

 not yet come. The time of this grand corruption is fhewn 

 to have between the years 175 and 200. The old Italic 

 verfion, made from the Greek about the year 100, is ad- 

 duced to confirm fome ancient readings of the Greek ver- 

 fion, particularly as to the more extended chronology. 

 Dr. Kennicott, after various pertinent quotations from Ig- 

 natius, Juftin Martyr, and Irenseus, refers more particularly 

 to TertuUian, witli a view of proving that, in his time, the 

 palTage in Ifaiah llii. 4. exprelfed the fcnfe afcribed to it in 

 the 8th chapter of St. Matthew, where the Evangclift quotes 

 it as foretelling, that " the Meffiah lliould heal bodily di- 

 feafes." The Hebrew words, it is (hewn, admit this fenfe : 

 TertuUian fo expreffes them ; and fo did the old Greek 

 verfion, which has been ftrangely altered in this place, 

 out of oppofition to the gofpel. Origen is cited, as afford- 

 ing many iuterefting particulars, with regard to the dif- 

 ferences in the Hebrew copies, and the true readings of the 

 Greek verfions ; and Eufebius, Theophilus Antiochenus, 

 Ephraim Syrus, Jerom, Epiphanius, Auguftin, and Sul- 

 picius Severus, are quoted to the fame pui-pofe. The 

 firft period of the Chriftian writers terminates with the 



ever, been fatisfied with the correftnefs of Chaim's edition, oldeft MSS. of the Greek verfion, particularly the Vati- 

 For Rabbi Lonzano was afterwards encouraged to vifit can and Alexandrian MSS. written about the year 400, 

 many countries, and to collate ten MSS. in order to render which fee. Dr. Kennicott proceeds to the period that e- 

 thc text more perfedt ; and yet this complaint of errors was lapfed between the years 500 and 1000, and avails himfelf 



of 



