APR 3 1902 iaoz FACSIMILE OF KING JAMES VERSION, 1611 [Green Fund Book, No. 10.] OUR Sixty-Six Sacred Books; OR, HOW OUR BIBLE WAS MADE. A POPULAR HANDBOOK FOR COLLEGES, NORMAL CLASSES AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS ON THE AUTHORSHIP, CONTENTS, PRESERVATION AND CIRCULATION OF THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES. ENLARGED .EDITION, WITH ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. TENTH THOUSAND. By the REV. EDWIN W. RICE, D. D., Author of Commentaries on Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, The Acts, Dictionary of the Bible, Handy Helps for Busy Workers, etc. PHILADELPHIA: AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 1 1 22 Chestnut Street. 1902. Copyright, 1891, by The American Sunday-School Union. Copyright, 1901, by The American Sunday-School Union. PREFACE. This book grew out of a "Bible Study Circle" of advanced students and teachers, who pursued a course of studies under the direction of the author. Within ten years since the course was published the book has run through several editions. The work has now been carefully re-written, and much enlarged, to incorporate the accepted results of recent explorations and the researches of critical scholars within the past decade. These results have been gleaned from all available sources, criticisms and facts having been sought, and generously furnished by some of the most eminent Biblical scholars living. The author specialty acknowledges important sugges- tions and facts from the Oxford and Cambridge Uni- versity Presses, from the secretaries of the American, the British and Foreign and other Bible societies, and from Bible publishing houses of America and Europe. He is also deeply indebted to specialists among the learned professors of some of the leading universities and theological seminaries and schools of England and America, without whose aid the book could not have been perfected. The work is now sent forth in this enlarged form in the hope that it will continue to stimulate a more earnest study, and further a more accurate knowledge, of the character and divine authority of our Christian Scriptures. EDWIN W. RICE. December, 1 90 1. OUR SIXTY-SIX SACRED BOOKS. CHAPTER I. the bible: — title: — books: — two divisions: — lan- guages : — preservation : — structure ■ — anglo-ameri- can version : — king james version. i. The Bible is the greatest book in the world: (i) in the number of copies circulated and read; (2) in promot- ing the highest civilizations ; (3) in a clear revelation of God, of a reasonable religion, and of the mighty conflict between good and evil. The nations that are swayed by its teachings now rule over more than 800,000,000 of the human race, and prac- tically control the world. For, the foremost powers of the world — (1) in learning and literature; (2) in science and invention; (3) in com- merce and wealth ; are the United States of America; Great Britain^and Germany. Ask these three foremost nations for their greatest book in respect of: (1) its circulation; (2) its influence on na- tional life ; (3) its power in promoting virtue, the stability and purity of the people, and without hesitation they will answer, The Bible. 2. Its Title. — The name or title, The Bible, is of com- paratively recent date. It came from the Greek Biblian — (7) 8 the bible: its title. "little book," and the Greek and Latin Biblia — " books." The Latin plural was used by Chaucer in Canterbury Tales, by Wyckliffe in his preface to a translation of the Scrip- tures, and was adopted as a title by Coverdale in his Eng- lish Version. Jerome, and Latin Christians, with greater precision called the collection of sacred Scriptures Bibli- otheca Divina, or Sane ta — " Divine "or " Sacred Library," and Greek Christians, as Chrysostom termed them, Theia Biblia — " Divine Books," thus showing that they regarded the Scriptures as a collection, rather than a single book. During the growth of this collection it would be likely to be given different titles, and this we find to be the fact. In the apostolic era the Jewish sacred books (now our " Old Testament ") were referred to as " the Scriptures," l and evidently some New Testament writings were called "Scriptures." 2 The Jewish Scriptures were also spoken of as "the law," "the prophets" and "the Psalms." 8 Sometimes the term used was " holy Scriptures." 4 The title "Testament " comes from the Latin testamentum — "will," "Testament," or "covenant." It was in use before Tertullian (200-240 A. D.) who preferred instru- mentum — "document," but testamentum survived, probably from a misapprehension of the Greek terms palaia diatheke — " old covenant," used by Paul, 2 Cor. 3 : 14, which was understood in the technical sense of " will " or "testament" instead of the usual sense of "covenant," as used in the classic Greek, and in the Septuagint, where it represents the Hebrew word frith — "covenant." A similar term mean- 1 Matt. 22 : 29 ; Mark 12 : 24 ; John 10 : 35. 2 2 Pet. 3:16. 3 Luke 24 : 44 ; John 12 : 34 ; Acts I : 20 ; 28 : 23. 4 Rom. 1 :2; 2 Tim. 3 : 15. NUMBER OF BOOKS: THE LANGUAGES. 9 ing "New Covenant " is found in Jer. 31 : 31. Thus the Hebrew Scriptures were termed the "Old Covenant," or " Old Testament " — the " book of the covenant." * 3. Number of Books. — The Hebrews accepted the 39 books which now comprise the " Old Testament " as sacred Scriptures. The early Christians accepted 27 books writ- ten by apostles and apostolic men as also sacred, and these comprise the New Testament. Hence the Bible is com- posed of sixty-six sacred books, gathered into one volume, and for several centuries has been known as The Bible. 4. The people of every nation and race — Asiatic, Afri- can, European, American, and dwellers in the isles of the sea — want to know about this great book. What kind of a book is the Bible ? Who wrote it ? In what language? How long ago was it written? For whom ? How did you get it ? What other peoples have it ? Into how many languages is it translated ? What does it teach ? By what authority ? How do you know that the original is truthfully represented by the copies now extant ? These and a hundred other questions demand intelli- gent answers. What do Christians know of the origin, languages, history, contents, authors and purpose of this great book ? These questions are worthy of clear and scholarly consideration. Let us address ourselves to some of them. 5. The Languages. — The several books of the Bible were written in different languages. The 39 books of the Old Testament were originally written in the Hebrew lan- guage, except small portions, as Dan. 2:4 to 7 : 28 ; Ezra 2 Cor. 3 : 14; Ex. 24 : 7; Heb. 8:8, 13; — 9:15; I Mace. 1 : 57. 10 THE LANGUAGES. 4: 8 to 6 : 18 and 7 : 12-26 and Jer. 10 : 11. which were writ- ten in Aramaic. The Aramaic has been described as a Syrian Hebrew spoken to the Northeast of Palestine in the patriarchal era, while the Hebrew is regarded as the Canaanitish speech, used in the same era and later, until it was gradually displaced by the Aramaic. The traditional view that the Jews abandoned their national speech, the Hebrew, at Babylon, for the Aramaic, is now held to be an error. The change was gradual. The Aramaic was the popular trade language of Mesopotamia and the region northeast of Palestine, and slowly displaced the Hebrew, which remained in use as a sacred language in religious services. These languages belong to a large group of dialects known as the Semitic languages, from Shem, the eldest son of Noah, and include the Assyrian, Baby- lonian, Arabic, Hebrew, Samaritan, Aramaic, Syriac, Phoe- nician, Ethiopic, and several other tongues as yet imper- fectly known to us. The apocryphal books were written in Greek and not in Hebrew, but were sometimes attached to the Old Testament. The 27 books of the New Testament were written in Greek, after that language had passed its classic stage, and had become one of the world-wide tongues. In the form or dialect found in the New Testament it is usually desig- nated Hellenistic Greek. The Hebrew and the Greek languages therefore, were not in the "classic" but in a transition state — a con- dition of flux when the books of the Bible were written. The Hebrew had become enriched by contact with the Egyptian, Phoenician and Assyrian. The Greek, by the conquests of Alexander, had ceased to be an Attic dialect, and had become a world-wide tongue. On this account GROWTH AND PRESERVATION. 11 the languages had become more flexible and more copious in expression, yielding themselves more readily to translations into other families of tongues, without that marked loss which often characterizes literature written in a pure classic dialect. This is a great gain in a text-book of religion for the whole world. 6. Growth and Preservation. — The books of the Bible were not all written in one century. From the time when " Moses wrote all the words of the Lord'' in the wilderness to the close of the apostolic era, when John's recollections and the revelation of Jesus were written, was about fifteen centuries. During this long period the Bible was slowly growing ; the prophetical, historical and poetical books were added to the collection in succession, and finally the Gospels and the other apostolic writings. These were carefully preserved, for from the first a writ- ten copy of the law or covenant was kept in an ark or chest, which was on this account called " the ark of the cove- nant. ' ' The writing was frequently spoken of as " the books of the covenant." ] Recent explorations assure us that records have been pre- served which reach back upwards of 4000 to 6000 years be- fore the Christian era, for " Moses was learned in ali the wisdom of the Egyptians," 2 while the Tel-el-Amarna letters show that the Egyptians and early Assyrians wrote back and forth in the Assyrian dialect, so it is quite prob- able that the Assyrian accounts of the flood and of other events were known to Moses. After the collection of sixty-six sacred books was com- pleted, copies continued to be made in writing until the 'Ex. 24:7, 16; 34:28; Deut. 29:21; 31:26; Heb. 9:4. 8 Acts 7 : 22. 12 REVISED ENGLISH VERSIONS. invention of printing. Since that time copies of the Scrip- tures have been multiplied by the press, until it is asserted that more volumes of the Bible are now printed every year than of two hundred of the most popular books of our own and of all preceding ages, and in more languages of the world than are these popular works. Beginning with the "Anglo-American," or " Revised Version," of the Bible in English, let us inquire " how the Bible was made," tracing the history of the sixty-six sacred books up the stream of time to the source, or be- ginning. This method is in accord with one of the best settled principles of education, namely: " Begin with what is known and proceed to what is unknown." 7. Revised English Versions. — Prominent among later translations of the Bible into English is the Anglo-Ameri- can version. It was prepared by English and American scholars, 187 1 to 1881-5, and first printed by the Univer- sity presses at Oxford and Cambridge, England, placing in the text the readings and renderings preferred by the British scholars, and in an appendix other readings and renderings of the American scholars, to which the British could not agree. This revised New Testament was issued in May, 1881, and the Revised Old Testament in 1885. Thirteen years later, 1898, the same presses issued in England and America a revised Bible, with readings and renderings of the American company of revision that had been hitherto placed in an appendix, now incorporated into the text, and those to which they could not agree, but which the British scholars preferred, placed in an appendix. 1 1 The American committee, as a concession to the University presses, had agreed not to issue an edition of their own for fourteen years after REVISED ENGLISH VERSIONS. 13 l> The American standard edition of the revised Bible " was issued in 1901 under the direction of the surviving members of the committee of revision and their associates. The American " Standard Edition " combines the old ver- sicular with the new paragraph divisions, and gives new running topical headlines at the top of the page. Thus the reader has the advantage of the arrangement into sec- tions or paragraphs, and also the division into chapters and verses distinctly marked in the text, without breaking up or seriously marring the division into paragraphs. Moreover, the American committee and its associates have had time fully to consider the various criticisms and objections to the revised version as heretofore published. Certain readings and renderings, receiving a decided ma- jority often, but not the two-thirds vote required to 'replace the text, will be found in the margin opposite the text, rather than in an appendix or in foot-notes. These mar- ginal readings sometimes express the real preferences and views of a majority of the revisers, and hence, in fact, of the committee, but could not go into the text under the rule requiring a vote of two-thirds of the members. The revision is called the Anglo-American, because it was originally the joint work of British and American scholars. Each committee, however, worked independently, then compared and collated the results. The English Bible, known as the " King James Version," was made in 161 1, and is also called the "Authorized Version," because it was supposed (but erroneously) to have been approved or the first issue of the revised Bible. This implied also that the British presses would refrain from forestalling an edition by the American committee containing their preferred readings in the text, at least for America. The American committee defrayed their own expenses, re- ceiving no allowance therefor from the British University presses. 14 REVISION PROPOSED. authorized by royal authority of James I. of England. He did propose (1604) to have it " ratified by royal authority " when completed, but this does not appear to have been carried out. It is called the " Common Version " because it is the one most commonly used by all English-speaking peoples. 8. A Revision Proposed. — The Anglo-American ver- sion is a revision of the English translation of the Bible made under James I. in 161 1. The revision was suggested in 1856 by Prof. W. Selwyn, and again by Bishops Wil- berforce, Ellicott and Ollivant in 1870. In that year the Convocation of Canterbury appointed a committee of 16 (8 from each house), with authority to invite other eminent Biblical scholars to join them in a revision of the Bible. The Convocation of York, England, declined to join in the revision, but eminent scholars of Great Britian and America engaged in the work. American scholars from nine de- nominations formed a committee in 1871 to co-operate with British scholars in revising the translation of the Bible of 161 1. The whole number of scholars engaged upon the Revised version was 101, of whom 67 were British and 34 American. Ten years after the work was begun the active members were 79, of whom 52 were British and 27 American. By 1883 the British committee had lost 52 members by death and resignation and the American company 23. 9. The Literary Event of the Century. — The issue of the Revised New Testament in England May 17, in America May 22, 1881, aroused a profound interest. Millions of copies were sold in a few months. Two millions were sold in London, half a million in New York and Philadel- phia. The entire text of the revised New Testament was PAC-SIMIIJS OF TITLE PAGE TYNDALE'S NEW TESTAMENT. PLAN OF REVISION. 15 telegraphed to two newspapers in Chicago, and printed complete in their morning issues. More than twenty re- printed editions at once appeared in the United States. For once, popular interest in the newspaper was supplanted by that in the revised New Testament. It was sought by crowds at bookstores, and news stands, was hawked on the streets, read on the cars, in the omnibus and in the stage- coach. But when the revised Old Testament appeared in May, 1885, it awakened comparatively little interest. Pub- lic curiosity and interest had apparently exhausted itself on the revised New Testament. The revised version of the apocrypha appeared in 1896. The popular demand for the revised version is comparatively small, and has not in- creased for ten years past. 10. Why Revise King James Version? — (1) To re- move obsolete words and phrases — as "let " in the sense of " hinder ; " " ear," meaning " to plow ; " " prevent " in the sense of " going before; " "carriages," meaning "lug- gage " or " baggage. " (2) To give the sense of the origi- nal Greek and Hebrew with greater precision. (3) To conform to a purer original text. More than 500 ancient manuscripts, many ancient versions, and works of nearly 100 of the Christian fathers, have been examined and col- lated for use in perfecting the original text since 161 1. (4) To secure greater uniformity in the rendering of the same words and phrases, removing artificial distinctions, and restoring distinctions that were obliterated or obscured. 11. Plafi of Revision. — The rules guiding the revisers were conservative. They were to make "as few altera- tions as possible" in the Authorized Version, " consist- ently with faithfulness." "To limit, as far as possible, the expression of these alterations to the language of the 16 CHANGES MADE. Authorized and earlier English versions." The original text (Hebrew and Greek) adopted to "be that for which the evidence is decidedly preponderating." "To make or retain no change in the final revision except two-thirds of those present approve." No radical changes could be made under the rules, much less could an essentially new translation be introduced under cover of a revision. Those who criticise the English of the revision as sometimes in- felicitous, admit that the new renderings generally repre- sent the original more accurately than previous English versions. 12. Changes Made. — About 36,000 changes in the Authorized Version of the New Testament were made, nearly 6,000 of which were due to changes made in the Greek text. 1 The great majority of these changes are triv- ial, or of minor importance. 2 Over 900 American sug- gestions in the New Testament were adopted by the Brit- ish revisers. A large number of changes proposed by the American committee were not adopted by the British committee. These were greatly reduced by mutual concessions, but many remained which the American scholars felt impor- tant. These only are noted in the appendix to the Eng- lish Revised Version. This appendix, therefore, does not 1 The " Guardian," England, reported the changes in the English text as 36,191, an average of 4^ changes for every one of the 7,959 verses. The changes in the Greek text are 5,788, according to Dr. Scriv- ener's Notes and Canon Cook's statement. Dean Burgon found thirty changes in thirty-eight words in 2 Pet. 1 : 5-7. Sixteen entire verses are omitted by the revisers, and 122 sentences or parts of sentences disappear. Ten new clauses, very brief, are added. 2 The Authorized Version of the new Testament has 181,253 words. The Revised Version has 459 words less, or 180,794, of which 154,526 are retained from the Authorized Version. See R. Wendell, Revised New Testament. MERITS AND DEFECTS. 17 give all the preferences of the American committee in either the New or the Old Testament. In the book of Job the Americans proposed 1,781 changes, while the British made only 1,004.* 13. Merits and Defects of the English Revision. — The improvements claimed for the Revised Version are : (1) An older and purer Greek text for the New Testament ; (2) re- moval of errors, inconsistencies, artificial distinctions and obsolete words and phrases in the translation ; (3) restor- ation of real distinctions that were obscured ; (4) arrange- ment of the text in paragraphs, while noting the old chap- ter and verse divisions ; (5) arranging and printing the poetical books of the Old Testament as poetry, and in general a closer conformity to the original. The objections to the Revision are mainly: (1) Omis- sions, or frequent changes, in passages long familiar, and of forms of expression deeply endeared to the Christian heart. (2) Unnecessary changes in the Greek text and changes in the translation not required by faith- fulness to the original text, some of them not being good idiomatic English. (3) Want of uniformity in rendering the same idiomatic phrases of the original 1 Among the more important American renderings which the Eng- lish revisers were unwilling to adopt were: (1) " demon " or " demons" for " devil " or " devils " in such phrases as " to cast out devils." The Bible speaks of many evil spirits, but of only one devil ; (2) " who" or " that" in place of " which " when applied to persons, and to substi- tute modern forms of speech for such archaic forms as " wot," " wist," "hale;" (3) "sheol" wherever it occurs in the Hebrew text for "grave," "the pit," and "hell," and omit these words from the margin; also put "Jehovah" where found in Hebrew, for the "Lord" and "God;" (4) a more accurate designation of coins; (5) omit the title "Saint" and "Apostle" in the headings to New Testament books. See "Ap- pendix" to Revised Testament, and Companion to Revised Version by A. Roberts, Am. ed., pp. 177 ff. Also Companion to revised N. T, by Schaff. 18 tTSE OF REVtSED VERSION. text. 1 (5) Disregarding the breaks of chapter and verse. Marking the chapters and verses in the margin does not overcome this objection. The eye misses the familiar breaks in the text, and cannot quickly catch the verse or clause desired for reference. The same objection lies against the omission of chapter headings, and of running headlines at the top of each page. It has been alleged that while the revision, as a gram- matical word for word version, is closer to the original, it is wanting in the perspicuous, smooth, idiomatic English so characteristic of the King James Version. 14. Use of the Revised Version. — The Revised Version is not gaining in circulation among the people. It is used by students and scholars, and is quoted in Sabbath-school lesson helps, in recent commentaries and critical works. It is also read by some pastors and in some churches. But in the twenty years it has been before the public, it has not won its way into general favor with the common peo- 1 For example, "God's throne" changed to " the throne of God." Matt. 5 : 34. " Whale's belly " changed to "the belly of the whale;" " his footstool " changed to "the footstool of his feet." Matt. 5:35. See Mark 12:36. ''To Annas" in John 18:13, but "to the house of Caiaphas " in Matt. 26: 57 (the Greek idiom the same in both cases). So, " Therefore when " changed to " When, therefore," the Greek order being the same; "at home " for a similar Greek idiom is changed to "in the house" sometimes. See Acts 5 142; 20: 20; I Cor. II: 34; 14: 35, etc. Variant renderings also "in heaven" and "in the heavens." Also variant renderings of Greek tenses, especially the aorist, by the English present, imperfect, perfect, and also pluperfect, sometimes by three different English tenses in one paragraph. See Mark 5 : 39-41. Compare also Rom. 11:3, 32, 34; Luke I: 46,55, as English perfect ; Mark 6: 17; Matt. 8: 1,5; Acts 23:14, as English pluperfect; Matt. 11:19; John 15:9; Philemon 19, as English present; Acts 20:34 as English im- perfect. So in John 18: 23 the English imperfect is used, while in John 3: 33,34 the English perfect, and in many other instances, though the Greek is the same tense in these cases. KING JAMES, or AUTHORIZED VERSION. 19 pie. Will it win general acceptance? It required from thirty to fifty years for the King James Version to displace the older Bishop's and Genevan Versions. But now, in an age of steam and electricity, events move quickly; ten years bring greater changes than fifty years did in the seventeenth century. In view of this, the prospect for any edition of the present Revised Version, with its acknowl- edged excellencies, is, that it will continue to be a version for students and scholars, but not for the people. " The American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible " looks for a rather better reception. For it has profited by the public judgment of twenty years, and has cor- rected some errors and infelicities that have been freely pointed out, and has added not a few features and excel- lencies not possible in 1881-1885. The multiplied attempts to produce an acceptable version of the New Testament in English since the Anglo-American revision was first suggested indicate a strong desire for some improvement of the Common Version. This restlessness continues. The revisions so far put forth do not allay it. But error and prejudice will be finally overcome, and some changes will ultimately be made that will be satisfactory. 15. The "King James" or Authorized Version. — This version of the Bible was pi*oposed at a conference of the Conformists and the Puritans of England, held at Hamp- ton Court, January 14, 16 and 18, 1604. King James I. presided over the conference, and Dr. John Reynolds, a leader of the Puritans and President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, suggested the desirableness of a better translation or version of the Bible. This pleased the king, who, in July, 1604, named fifty-four learned men as translators. The work was delayed three years, and the 20 JULES OUIDINfi TRANSLATORS. lists preserved give only forty-seven scholars who actually entered upon the work. They were divided into six com- panies, eacli having a portion of the Bible (including the Apocrypha) to translate. Two companies met at West- minister, two at Oxford, and two at Cambridge. To the first company at Westminster (ten members) were assigned the books of the Old Testament from Genesis to 2 Kings inclusive ; to the second company (seven mem- bers) the Epistles of the New Testament ; to the first com- pany at Oxford (seven members) the prophetical books from Isaiah to Malachi ; to the second company (eight members) the Gospels, Acts and Revelation ; to the first company at Cambridge (eight members) the other Old Testament books ; to the second company (seven members) all the Old Testament Apocryphal books. Some of the most eminent men of learning in Great Britain were among these translators. Bishop Andrewes, Dr. H. Saravia (" the greatest of Hebraists "), Dr. Lively, Drs. Richardson, Spaldinge, Kilby and Smith (who *'had Hebrew at his fingers' ends") were noted for Hebrew learning ; Bedwell and Brett were famous Arabic scholars, besides many others equally famed for their skill in Greek and in several other tongues, shared in this translation. Seven of these were made bishops, and seventeen or eigh- teen received church preferments. 1 6. Rules Guiding the Translators, 1611. — The trans- lation was to conform to the Hebrew and Greek texts ; but the then current Bishops' Version was to be "as little altered as the truth of the original will permit." The older translations to be used when they agree better with the text than the "Bishops' Bible" were " Tyndale's, Coverdale's, Matthew's, Whitchurch's [Cranmer's] and KING JAMES VERSION A REVISION. 21 Geneva." No compensation was provided except possible church preferment and free entertainment in the colleges. Those who completed the final revision at London were paid their expenses, about thirty shillings each, a week, probably provided by R. Barker, who gave ^3500 for the right to print the version. Very little is definitely known of the methods pursued by the translators. Some hints are given in their preface and in the delegates' report to the Synod of Dort, 1618, and in John Selden's account. Selden says: "That part of the Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a tongue, and then they met together, and one read the translation, the rest hold- ing in their hands some Bible, either of the learned tongues or French, 1 Spanish, 2 Italian 3 and so forth; if they found any fault, they spoke; if not, he read on." When a com- pany had passed on the translation, it was sent to the other companies for approval, and then referred to the final revisers. 17. King James Version a Revision. — The translators themselves say of their work: "We never thought from the beginning that we should need to make a new transla- tion," . . . " nor a bad translation good," but "a good one better," and their rules show that they were aiming simply to make a revision. This also appears from the title-page. 4 The final revision of the work of the King James trans- 1 Olivetan's, 1535 revised at Geneva. 2 DeReyna's, 1569, and DeValera, 1602. 3 Diodati's, 1607. * " The Holy Bible, containing the Old Testament and the New. Newly translated out of the original tongues; and with the former translations diligently compared and revised." Some English Bibles add : " By His Majesty's special commandment." " Appointed to be read in churches." " Imprinted at London by Robert Barker, printer to the King's most Excellent Majesty. Anno Dom., 1611." 22 WHY CALLED AUTHORIZED VERSION. lators was committed to six of their number (some say twelve), who spent nine months in London upon it, and in correcting the printer's proofs ; Dr. Smith and Bishop Bilson seeing it through the press. It was issued in a black letter folio volume by R. Barker. 1 An octavo and also a quarto edition was issued in 1612. The fulsome dedication to King James is still printed, but the learned and somewhat pedantic, though very suggestive, preface by Dr. Miles Smith unhappily is now never found in English Bible>. 18. Why Called "Authorized Version." — The King James Version is popularly, though not accurately, called the " Authorized Version." On the title-page as now printed in England is a notice : "Appointed to be read in churches." But this was not on the first edition of the New Testament of 1611, nor on some (8) editions of the Bible issued in the first five years after the issue of the King James Version. The most diligent search of officials and scholars has failed to find any evidence that the version was ever publicly sanctioned in 161 1 by convocation, privy council, parliament or by the king. It gained the title possibly because the work was ordered by the king. The version by its excellencies gradually displaced the existing versions (the Bishops' and the Genevan), and won its way to popular acceptance on its superior merits. But the con- test was a long one. The King James Version was attacked for lack of fidelity to the Hebrew and Greek text. Ro- 1 There were in fact three issues, each claimed to be the first, called the He-Bible, the She-Bible, and the 1613-1611 edition, that is, the Old Testament title-page dated 1613, and the New Testament 161 1. The "He" and "She" editions gain their names from the varied reading of Ruth 3 : 15. One reads "and he went into the city/' the other "and she went into the city. M Some copies have a steel-plate and some a wood-cut title, or a wood-block title used in the Bishops' Bible of 1602. FAC-SIMILE (REDUCED) OF TITLE PAGE OF THE GREAT BIBLE. Design Attributed to Hans Holbein. CHANGES IN VERSION OF 1611. 23 manists likewise accused it of misrepresenting Scripture to favor Protestantism. Arminians charged it with a Calvin- istic bias, Puritans with a leaning to the Church of Eng- land, and others with favoring monarchical notions. (See i Pet. 2 : 13.) 19. Use of King James Version. — The Genevan Version continued to be used in private, and in some churches for over twenty years after the issue of the King James Ver- sion. The Bishops' Version was also widely used in the Church of England services. Five editions, at least, of the New Testament in the Bishops' Version appeared from 1608-1618, though no edition of the Bishops' Bible com- plete was issued after 1608. But editions of the Genevan Version continued to be issued up to 1644. Texts were taken from the Genevan and other older versions by bishops and by many in high authority for a quarter of a century after 1611. So late as 1653 a bill was proposed in Parliament for the appointment of a committee to revise the English Bible. But Parliament was soon after dis- solved and the project died. The house of Stuart was restored to the rule of England, and the King James Ver- sion of 161 1, after some changes, was left to win its way into favor over all previous versions, and to become the popular English version since that period. 20. Changes in the Version 0/161 1. — Comparing a com- mon English Bible of now with a copy of the first issue of 161 1, marked differences are at once seen. Not only is a difference seen in the forms of the letters and in the spell- ing of many words, but in the readings of numerous passages. 1 After the folio edition of 161 1, The King James 1 For instances of this, see Scrivener's Preface to the Cambridge Paragraph Bible. Even the folio edition of 1613 differs from that of 161 1 in over four hundred places. 24 NO STANDARD EDITION OF Version appeared in an octavo form in 1612, and in an edition omitting the apocryphal books in 1629. The errors of the earlier issues were corrected in editions of 1616, but especially of 1629 and 1638. 1 Bishop Lloyd's edition, of London, 1701, 3 vols., folio, first gave chronological dates in the margin, based chiefly upon the chronology of Ussher. Additional marginal references were inserted by Dr. Paris in 1762, and by Dr. Blayney in 1769, in all about 60,000 references. Some words are put in italics in our Bibles generally, but not always, to show that they have no equivalent words in the Hebrew and Greek texts, but were added by the translator to make complete sense. These words were marked by brackets in Coverdale's Testament, 1538, by small Roman type in King James Version, 1611, but later by italics. 2 21. No Standard Edition of the King James Version. — The Committee on Versions (1851-56) of the American Bible Society found twenty-four thousand variations in six different editions of the Authorized Version, and recom- mended improvements, which were adopted, including re- visions of the chapter headings. So great was the popular 1 The errors of some editions gave them celebrity, as the " Vinegar Bible " (a splendid and costly one), Oxford, 1 7 17, so called from a misprint of vinegar- for vineyard in the heading of Luke 20. The "Wicked Bible" (8vo., 1631) was so called from the omission of "not" in the seventh commandment, and Laud fined the king's printers ,£300 for their carelessness in printing it. A copy of the " Wicked Bible " is in the Lenox Library, New York. There is a German Bible, 1731, with a similar blunder. The "Breeches Bible " was so called from a reading of the Genevan version, "made them- selves breeches." Gen. 3: 7. 2 There is a notable exception in the King James Version, 1 John 2: 23, last clause; this is in italics in our common Bibles because it was not found in some of the old Greek manuscripts used by the trans- lators, but the genuineness of the clause has since been proved beyond question. THE KING JAMES VERSION. 25 opposition to these changes, that the society was compelled to discontinue issuing the amended edition and return to the old issues, with all their variations and imper- fections. This, however, shows how strong a hold the Bible has upon the popular heart. We have therefore no standard edition of the "Authorized Version" of the English Bible. 1 The King James Version of the English Bible belongs to the golden age of English literature, the age of Shakespeare and Milton and the greatest of English classics. It possesses the strength of the Saxon, the grace of the Norman French, and the dignity of the Latin, har- moniously mingled into vigorous and perspicuous English. 1 The octavo edition (bourgeois) of the American Bible Society is nearest to a standard of any American edition. CHAPTER II. EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS THE DOUAI, BISHOPS', GENEVA, • GREAT BIBLE, MATTHFW's, TAVERNER'S, TYNDALE'S, WYCKLIFFE'S, ENGLISH AND SAXON ; LANGUAGE OR VO- CABULARY ; LEADING FACTS. i. The Common Version a Growth. — Our common Eng- lish Bible, the King James or so-called "Authorized Ver- sion," is the outgrowth of many preceding versions, and the fruit of more than two centuries of labor by many eminent Biblical scholars. 2. The Douai Version. — The great eagerness of the people for the Bible in their own tongue compelled the Romanists to issue a version, as they state, " specially for the discovery of the corruptions of divers late translations and for clearing the controversies in religion of these days." 1 The New Testament was published at Rheims, 1582. The Old Testament was translated about the same time, but was not published until 1609-10 at Douai or Douay, and the Douai Bible complete at Rouen, 1633-35. The work is believed to owe its origin to William Allen, one of the founders of the college at Douai. The transla- tion is from the Latin Vulgate, and was made by Gregory Martin and three or four other English scholars. Modern editions of the Douai Version differ widely from the orig- inal version. Cardinal Wiseman says, " To call the Roman Catholic version now in use the version of Rheims and Douai is an abuse of terms. It has been altered and mod- 1 From title-page, Rhemish New Testament, 1582. (26) £ S p g srs 3 s-2 »*» C^SSrCr V-S^S «> ^ » 5 S r^ro *> v o • '?^ j o *^ *■*■ "T5 P «T* 3 ^"3* O T» C <* 3 7£ ^ en ori i~ — ,iS <3*^^ 5>ffo £ p ^T^e *a-£S-2 <* §•*> ^ 2 9 ** if? o x p S<«5 *» 3 «> 5 ** -t x 3 S^. o s^s^Jf?.^ 182 p ° o <* O ~t «> -i *> S3 S 3 -1^^a P S. 53 s*. a. gg EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. 27 ified till scarcely any verse remains as it was originally published." l The Roman Church has never been friendly to vernacular translations of the Bible, and hence the Douai Version has had a comparatively small circulation. Though it may have contributed some minor improvements to the King James Version, it is not in the line of succession of that version. The next link immediately back of the King James Version is the Bishops' Bible. 3. The Bishops' Bible was prepared by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, and ten or fifteen men of learn- ing, most of whom were bishops; hence its title Bishops' Bible. It was completed, and a copy presented to Queen Elizabeth, in 1568. Parker issued a revised edition in 1572. This edition is also sometimes called Parker' s Bible. 4. Why Made. — The Genevan Version (seep. 21) with brief explanatory notes had become the Bible of the com- mon people, having displaced the Great Bible of Cranmer, used by the clergy and in the church services. As the Great Bible was not as accurate a translation as the Genevan, and could not regain its former popularity, a new version was attempted which would be more acceptable to royalists than the Calvinistic and republican ideas reflected in some of the comments of the version by the Puritan reformers of Geneva. 5. The Bishops' Bible was completed in about three years. The rules laid down by "Parker were conservative and simple : (O To follow the common English translation used in the churches, except where it varied from the orig- inal ; (2) to use chapter and verse divisions as in Pagninus and Munster ; (3) to make no "bitter notes;" (4) to change indelicate words to " more convenient terms." It Wiseman's Essays, vol. i. pp. 73-75. 28 EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. contained marginal notes, references and brief comments explanatory of the text. 1 6. Several editions of the Bishops' Bible were issued ; the last in 1608. In 15 71 Convocation ordered that every archbishop and bishop should have a copy of this version, <( of the largest volume," placed in his hall or dining-room for the use of servants or strangers, and also a copy in every cathedral, and if possible in every church. This was clearly at that time the so-called "Authorized Version." It supplanted the Great Bible, but the Genevan held its place with the people. 7. The Genevan Version was made by English reform- ers who found a refuge in Geneva from the persecution of Queen Mary, and was published in 1560. 8. Genevan New Testament, 1557. — Three years earlier a translation of the New Testament into English was made at Geneva by William Whittingham (aided perhaps by others), who had married Calvin's sister. 9. The Genevan Bible was a distinct work, begun in 1558 and completed in 1560. The translation was the joint work of a company of learned men, among whom were Coverdale, Knox, Whittingham, Goodman and Cole. But the translation of the New Testament in the Genevan Bible was a careful revision of the Genevan New Testament of 1557- 10. Popular Merits of the Genevan Bible. — (1) The translation was from the best original texts then known. (2) Its form was a neat quarto instead of the clumsy folio. 1 Some of the comments are curious: Rom. II : 8 reads, " the spirit of remorse;" the comment is, "pricking and unquietness of conscience." Isa. 66 : 3 reads, " he that killeth a sheep for me knetcheth a dog ; " the note explains, "that is, cutteth off a dog's neck;" a much-needed note ! teARLV English versions. 29 (3) Explanatory notes on hard texts (Swiss in doctrine and politics) were given in the margin. (4) The type was clear Roman in place of the unsightly black letter formerly used. (5) The text was broken into chapters and verses after Stephens' Greek Testament ( 155 1) and Pagninus' Latin (1528), but adding numerals at the beginning of each verse. (6) Chapter headings, references and (in Henry's edition, 1578) a Bible dictionary of value. 11. A careful revision was made by L. Tomson, in 1576, and the Genevan was the first Bible printed in Scotland, 1579. It was the first complete Englisli translation of the Bible direct from the Hebrew and Greek} The comments were lucid, vigorous, sometimes dogmatic, but generally practical. It quickly gained a wide popularity. At the accession of the Roman Catholic Mary, the public use of the English Bible was forbidden in churches ; all copies that could be found were burnt (with an army of martyrs), and not a single Bible was printed in England during her five years' rule. When Elizabeth became queen in 1558, the Bible was again freely read. Not less than 130 editions of the Genevan Bible were printed, over 90 of them before 161 1. It retained its popularity for a generation after the King James Version appeared. 2 12. The Great Bible (1539) was edited by Miles Cover- dale under direction of Thomas Crumwell. Paris was 1 The Old Testament shows that Coverdale's Great Bible was care- fully consulted, and the New Testament that Tyndale's Version was followed. It is nicknamed the " Breeches Bible," from its rendering " made themselves breeches," Gen. 3 : 7. 2 Yet the King James editions of 1612-13 had a title-page the fac- simile of the Genevan (heart-shaped oval with twelve tribes and twelve apostles in margin), and other editions copied the form and style of the Bishops' Bible in order to supplant more easily these popular versions. Eadie, Hist., vol. ii. p. 291. 30 EAHLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. famous for the excellence of its paper and type. Cover- dale went thither to have it printed. But the work was in- terrupted by order of the Inquisition and many sheets seized. Most of these were recovered, and, with types, presses and men, brought to England, where the work was issued in 1539. It has an elaborately engraved title-page attributed to Hans Holbein, the most famous wood-en- graver of his day. 1 From its large size, 14 x 9 inches, this work was called The Great Bible. A second edition in 1540 had a preface by Cranmer, from which it has been in- accurately called Cranmer 1 s Bible. It is likewise called White church' 's or Whitchurch's Bible, after the name of the printer. The version is mainly a careful revision of Cover- dale's Bible of 1535, and is of special interest because the Psalter and the Scripture selections in the communion ser- vice of the English Church Prayer-book are from the Great Bible. It remained the "Authorized Version " for twenty- eight years; indeed, strictly it is the only "Authorized Version," for neither the Bishops' nor the King James Ver- sion ever had formal royal approbation or authority. 2 13. CoverdaW s Bible, 1535, which the Great Bible closely resembled, was based largely upon the Latin Vul- gate and German Versions, as the title to his New Testa- ment honestly states. 3 The German versions used were doubtless Luther's and the Zurich ; Pagninus and the Latin Vulgate, and Tyndale, probably make up the "five inter- preters" Coverdale says he followed. The chief merit of 1 A fac-simile of the title-page is given from Moulton's History of the English Bible. 2 See Eadie, Hist. Eng. Bible, vol. i. p. 383. 3 " Biblia — the Bihle : that is the Holy Scripture of the Olde and Newe Testament faithfully and truly translated out of Douche [t. e. German] and Latyn in to Englishe xMDXXXV." ^oa& ■S.^ ua •• « o 5 B.7STS ** ^P 5 ST* ^ ^p p «T fP ry <** i* £> CT _ *• jr ca £ to •* £**£ p* s w S=>^ § ^5i*t«^ £ P » g-^^^g P S3§ ►» ^ 3 -I ■» o g 2-^ ?> <- S *-.-* O 1 2 .-C=> 5^. *<$ a ^~* cr ft fi EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. .*>! his version is its pure, strong English idiom, sometimes quaint withal, but generally musical. Some of the most rhythmical and familiar passages in the Psalms come to us from Coverdale's Version. He also edited a New Testa- ment, 1538, with the Latin and English side by side. 14. Matthew's Bible, 1537, which was issued soon after Coverdale's, and before the Great Bible, was the reputed work of Thomas Matthew. But th ; s was clearly an as- sumed name, and it is almost certain that the real author was John Rogers the martyr. Rogers was a friend of Tyn- dale, and the translation is substantially the version of Tyndale except from Ezra to Malachi, which is almost identical with Coverdale's, 1535. 15. Taverner s Bible, 1539, * s a comparatively unimpor- tant revision of Matthew's Bible, chiefly changes in the notes in the Old Testament, and some changes in the New Testament text. He quaintly says of his edition : " I have brought you some fine biscuits baked in the oven of charity, carefully conserved for the chickens of the church, the sparrows of the Spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation." 16. Tyndale's New Testament Version, 1526. — When a learned papist declared with some zeal to William Tyn- dale, "We were better be without God's law than the pope's," Tyndale replied, " If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a ploughboy to know more of the Scripture than thou doest." Though he died a martyr, 1536, he was able to fulfill his declaration. But he was compelled to leave England in 1524 and completed his translation in exile. 17. Tyndale's New Testament, 1526, was the first Eng- lish version made directly from the Greek, (since Wyc- liffe's version was from the Latin Vulgate), and the first 32 EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. English New Testament printed. 1 It was issued at Worms in two editions, a quarto and an octavo; 3000 copies of each were printed and sent to England in the spring of 1526. The title-page has an illuminated border showing figures of the four Evangelists and the Apostles Peter, Paul, James and Jude ; but it gives no clue to editor, printer, place or date of publication. 18. Its Chief Features. — The version is vigorous, clear and simple enough in style for the " ploughboy " to under- stand. The text is arranged in paragraphs, with chapter divisions but no verses. It omits the doxology to the Lord's Prayer. Tyndale also translated various portions of the Old Testament, including all of the Pentateuch, which were published after his death. Tyndale's work was revised and incorporated into Matthew 's Bible, 1537, as already stated. 19. Our Common Version is more deeply indebted for its felicities of language to Tyndale's than to any other version. " Our English Testament," says Ellicott, "after all its changes, revisions and remodellings, is still truly and substantially the venerable version of Tyndale the martyr." 2 " The peculiar genius," says Froude, '.' which breathes through it [our English Bible], the mingled ten- derness and majesty — the Saxon simplicity — the preternat- ural grandeur — unequalled, unapproached in the attempted improvements of modern scholars, all are here, and bear the impress of the mind of one man — William Tyndale." 3 20. Wycliffe's Version, 1382, was the first complete 1 The only portion of the Scriptures printed in English before this was a portion of the Psalms, in 1505. 2 On Revision, p. 85. 3 Hist. Eng., vol. iii. p. 84. EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. 33 translation of the Bible into English. 1 But it was made from the Latin Vulgate, and as it was before the invention of the art of printing, it was a manuscript or written Bible. This translation of the New Testament was completed in 1380, and was entirely by John de Wycliffe or Wiclif,* The Old Testament was finished about 1382, Nich- olas de Hereford aiding Wycliffe in this portion of the work. 21. A careful revision, called Purvey' 's Version, has sev- eral important changes, and as a marked feature, short comments in the margin. These versions are anonymous. A translator of the Bible was exposed to peril, making con- cealment necessary. But the versions were not hid. They were eagerly sought and read. Copies were made and passed into the hands of all classes of people. The king and the princes had them. Nearly 170 manuscript copies of Purvey's Version made before 1430 have been preserved and examined, although a strict inquisition in that age searched for and burned all the writings of Wycliffe and his followers which could be found. Of the character of this first English Bible it must be said that it was baldly 1 Metrical versions and paraphrases of portions of the Bible were made in English earlier than Wycliffe, and two prose versions of the Psalms, one by William of Shoreham, 1327, and the other soon after by Richard Rolle. Foxe, Johnson, Newcomeand others, including Sir Thomas More, have asserted that Bede translated the Scriptures com- plete into the vernacular ; but their assertion is not supported by his- tory. More appears to have referred to portions of the Bible rendered into Anglo-Saxon, and the statements of others rest upon mistaken in- formation. See George P. Marsh, Lects. Eng. Lang. ; Preface to Wyckliffe by Forshall and Madden. 2 His name was spelled about thirty different ways, giving an excel- lent illustration of the unsettled condition of the English tongue at that period. A copy of the Bible in 1429 cost from £2 to £3, and for a few leaves poor persons gladly gave a load of hay. 34 EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. literal. Yet, thrown into modern forms of spelling, the version has ^ 6 many words and phrases that were 2 2 retained in later translations. It § was the language of the people, and a fed their hungry souls with the bread 2 1 from God. §5— 22. Anglo-Saxon Versions. — Most 3 g of the translations of portions of the *"g Bible, earlier than WyclifiV s, were | o- mere paraphrases, sometimes failing = = to give the correct sense of Scrip- 5 3 ture. Such a paraphrase of the wji Gospels and the Acts in English, H = J but written in the Saxon characters, | _£ was made in the latter half of the - ^ twelfth century by Orme or Ormun, |'i and is called the "Ormulum." Several interlinear versions (Vul- gate of Jerome and the Vernacular) were made in the tenth and eleventh centuries, a part of one known as the " Rushworth Gloss" being now in the Bodleian library. These interlinear versions were probably made for the use of priests who did not understand the Latin. King Alfred made a translation of the Ten Commandments, portions of the Gospels, and he projected a translation of the Psalter, but his death prevented its completion. The Venerable Bede a -a O !/) ►J aj EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. 35 1672-755) completed a translation of the Gospel of John into the vernacular and wrote commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. His Church History was among the first books printed in Germany (1474). The earliest Anglo-Saxon paraphrases of portions of the Bible were in verse, by Guthloe, Aldhelm, and the most noted one by Caedmon, about 680. The Christian Scriptures were re- puted to have been introduced into England by the Monk Augustin, about 596, who used copies of the Old Latin Version, from which the earlier Anglo-Saxon trans- lations were made. 23. Language of English Bible. — (1) In many paragraphs of the common English Version 39 words in 40 are of Anglo-Saxon derivation. (2) In the story of Joseph (Gen. 42 : 21-29), there are only 7 words beside proper names which are not Anglo- Saxon. (3) In the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13, etc.), of 106 different words, only 3 are not Anglo-Saxon. (4) The Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6 : 9-13) has 65 words ("forever" one word), 59 are of Anglo-Saxon and 6 are of Latin derivation. (5) In John 11 : 32-36, 70 words in 72 are of Anglo- Saxon origin. In Milton's " Paradise Lost," Book IV : 639, etc., of 90 words only 74 are Anglo-Saxon. In the famous passage of Shakespeare, " To be or not to be," of 81 words 13 are not Anglo-Saxon. This shows the great comparative strength of the English Bible in words of Anglo-Saxon origin. 24. Leading Facts about English Bibles. (1) First complete Bible in English (by Wycliffe)//w« the Latin, 1382. 36 EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. (2) First complete New Testament in English (by Tyn- dale) from the Greek, 1526. (3) First printed English Bible, complete (Coverdale's), I535- 1 (4) First English Testament divided into verses (Gene- van), 1557. (5) First English Bible divided into verses (Genevan), 1560. (6) First English Bible, translated complete from the original languages, Greek and Hebrew (the Genevan Ver- sion), 1560. (7) Cost of early English Bibles : two arches of the Lon- don bridge, built in the thirteenth century, are reported to have cost ^25 ; a written copy of the Bible cost £$0. A laborer's wages was \\d. a day and board ; hence the cost of a Bible would be equal to a laborer's wages for about fifteen years. It was perilous for common people to read or to own a Bible. For example, in 1429, Marjery Back- ster was indicted for asking her maid to hear her husband read the Bible by night. In 15 14-15 19, John Stevenson was arrested for teaching the Ten Commandments, and Thomas Collins had his father arrested for the same offence. Robert Pope informed against his wife, son and father for hearing the Gospel of Matthew read to them. 1 First Bible published in English with an American imprint, " R. Aitken, Philadelphia, 1782." But Eliot's Bible in the Indian language (Algonkin) was printed in Cambridge, Mass., 1663. The <; Saur Bible " was printed, in the German language, at Germantown, Pa., 1743. CHAPTER III. OTHER MODERN VERSIONS — GERMAN, LUTHER'S, DUTCH, FRENCH, ITALIAN, SPANISH, DANISH, SWEDISH, ARABIC, MISSION VERSIONS. i. Next to a knowledge of our own versions, all English- speaking peoples should gain some knowledge of the Ger- man versions of the Bible. While the Common Version of the English Bible is the growth of centuries, the mature fruit of successive generacions of Biblical scholars from Wyckliffe to the King James revisers, the German version bears largely the impress of one mind and one genius — Mar- tin Luther. There were earlier versions in German, but the great version, the one version and the only popular one that is truly German, is that made by the great reformer. 2. Earlier German Versions. — Passing the Gothic ver- sion of the fourth century, there was a translation of the Bible made in the fifteenth century, by some unknown scholars, 1 from the Latin Vulgate. No less than seventeen editions of it were printed between 1462 and 1522 — four- teen of them in High German and three or four in Low German dialect. Most of these were issued of folio size, in two volumes, with wood engravings. The Archbishop of Mainz in i486 forbade the printing of sacred and learned books, especially the German Bible, on the ground that the German language was incapable of correctly rep- 1 Some have ascribed the earlier German version to the Waldenses (Keller, Haupt), but it may have sprung from a love of the word within the Romish Church (Jostes, Schaff and others). In the Munich Library are twenty-one written copies of the Gospels and Epistles in early German versions. (37) 38 MODERN VERSIONS OTHER THAN ENGLISH. resenting religious ideas and the profound sense of Greek and Latin works ! 3. Lather* s Version. — While Luther was held a willing prisoner in Wartburg Castle, he translated the New Testa- ment into German, and it was published in 1522. Its title was " Das Newe Testament Deutzsch. Wittemberg." It was illustrated with wood engravings by the famous Lucas Cranach, having one illustration at the beginning of each book and twenty-one in the book of Revelation. It was divided into chapters like the Latin Bible, and into para- graphs, but not into verses. The Pentateuch appeared in 1523, the Psalms in 1524, and the entire Bible (including the Apocrypha) in 1534. In translating the Old Testament, Luther formed a committee (Bible club) of his colleagues, Melanchthon, Justus Jonas and four others, who aided him in the work. Luther continued to amend and improve the version, issuing five successive revisions of it, the last in 1545. He retained a Latin form of title, Biblia, and the translation was issued in folio, with numerous engravings. 4. Merits of Luther 1 s Version. — The German Bible was received with great enthusiasm. A hundred thousand copies — an enormous number for that age — were sold be- tween 1534 and 15 74. 1 If his version did not form, it may be said to have reformed, unified and crystallized the German language. It gave it wings, and made it intelli- gible to the common people in all parts of Germany. It is the first great German classic. It brought one language out of many dialects — the language afterward of the golden era of German literature, the speech of Lessing, Herder, Goethe and Schiller. 2 1 See Schafif, Hist. Christ. C/i., vol. vi. p. 350. ' Heinrich Heine, the poet, critic and German Voltaire, says of MODERN VERSION?! OTHER THAN ENGLISH. :J9 5. The original text of the New Testament, upon which Luther based his version, was the Greek text edited by Erasmus, 15 19. The Old Testament was translated from the Massoretic Hebrew text, edited by G. Ben Moseh, 1494 ; but the Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate were often consulted, and in the Apocrypha the latter was chiefly used as a basis. 1 6. Revisions of Luther 1 s Version. — A comparison of Lu- ther's Version as finally revised by himself with copies as now printed will reveal many minor changes. A thorough revision of it was ordered by the General Eisenach Confer- ence of 1863, and a probe-bibel (proof-Bible) issued in 1883, recommitted in 1886, and a final revision issued in 1892 by the Canstein Bible House. Many eminent schol- ars were among the revision company, such as Tholuck, Riehm, Dillmann, Delitzsch, Meyer, Dorner and Bey- schlag. The revision was issued in editions like the old version, with this note: "The revised version is no new Bible, but the old Luther Bible with the correction of mistakes, for which Luther cannot be blamed, as they were due to the knowledge of his time." It is used by students, but does not win popular favor over the old Luther version. 7. The Roman Catholics, though stoutly opposed to giv- ing the people the Bible in the vernacular, were compelled Luther, " He created the German language. He did this by his trans- lation of the Bible." — Hist, of Religion and Poetry in Germany, Lon- don, vol. i. pp. 425, 427. 1 Luther omitted the famous text respecting the three heavenly wit- nesses, I John 5:7, which appears first in the Frankfort edition of Luther's version (from Erasmus' Greek text of 1522), and is retained in the revised version of Luther, 1883, but is placed in brackets. Tin best text of the Revised and of the old Luther Bible is that by the Canstein Bible House. 40 MODERN VERSIONS OTHER THAN ENGLISH. by Luther's work to issue rival versions in self-defence. 1 The chief German versions by Romanists were by Emser (N. T.), 1527, Dietenberger, 1534, and Eck, 1537. They are all from the Vulgate, and generally clumsy and stiff, lacking the purity of German idiom which is found in Luther's version. Dietenberger's revision was revised by Ulen- berg, 1630, and re-revised by theologians of Mainz, 1662, and has been issued as the Catholic Bible used in Ger- many and by German Catholics. Among German versions or translations of the Bible made for scholars, that by De Wette, 1809, 4th ed. 1858, and that of the N. T. by Weizsacker, Tubingen, 1875, are tne best. 8. Dutch Versions. — The first complete translation of the Bible into Dutch was made by Jacob Van Liesveldt, and issued in two volumes folio, Antwerp, 1526. The second edition cost the printer his head. The version was par- tially supplanted by Utenhove's version in 1556. These versions were not in the best idiomatic Dutch. The first was based on Luther's version and the Cologne Bible ; the second upon Luther's German and Olivetan's French version. 9. A new version was ordered by the Dutch synod in 15 7 1 ; but owing to troubles and divisions in affairs, and to the deaths of scholars, the work was twice interrupted and long delayed. It was again ordered by the famous Synod of Dort, 1618, which appointed three translators and four- teen revisers ; but the new order was not approved by the States General until 1624, and the work was begun in 1626 and was carried on at Leyden for eleven years. The new 1 Emser charged Luther with a thousand grammatical and heretical errors, four being in the Lord's Prayer; among them, that he added the doxology, which is not in the Latin Vulgate. MODERN VERSIONS OTHER . THAN ENGLISH. 41 translation finally appeared in two editions — one with and one without marginal readings and references — in 1637. It is called the States' Bible ; and so superior was its merit that within fifteen years it gained unanimous popular favor and ecclesiastical approval. It is remarkable for its felicity of expression, and scholars regard it as one of the best of existing versions. 10. The General Synod appointed a committee of four- teen, in 1854, to revise the old translation, in view of the progress in Biblical criticism. The New Testament re- vision was completed and issued in 1867, but its reception was not hearty ; indeed it was so adverse that the Old Tes- tament part was indefinitely postponed. 11. French Versions. — Pierre, about 11 70, made a Bible History in French, and Gruars, in 1286-89, prepared a similar French Bible History. The first complete French version of the Bible was by Jean de Rely (Romanist), from the Vulgate, 1487, running into twelve editions; De Sacy's, 1666-68, and Geronde's, 1820-24. Another version was made by Lefevre d'Etaples, and issued in Antwerp, 1530. Pierre Robert Olivetan with the aid of that version made another, corrected by Calvin, issued at the expense of the Waldenses in 1535, which is known as the first Protestant version. The evangelical pastors of Geneva appointed a company from their own number (among them Beza) to issue a new version, which was completed in 1588. This version was revised by Mar- tin, Amsterdam, 1707, and by Ostervald, 1724. 12. Louis Segond issued a new version, Geneva, 1874, third ed. 1879, being a direct translation from Hebrew and Greek into French. This version was printed by the Oxford press (fifty thousand copies first edition), with prose text in 42 -MODERN VERSIONS OTHER THAN ENGLISH. paragraphs, poetical books in verse. A second edition was issued in France, and another in Geneva, with brief notes. Though highly esteemed by many, a popular National French Version is yet needed. The older versions of Mar- tin, De Sacy and Ostervald, revised by the Bible Society of France, are circulated by Protestants and Evangelists, the latter using Segond's Version also. 13. Italian Versions. — The chief Italian versions before the Reformation were those by Melerni, Venice, 1471, and by Bruccioli, from the Greek and Hebrew, Venice, 1530-2. The latter sharply censured any prohibition of the Bible in the vernacular, but his version was put in the first class of Ro- man Catholic prohibited books. Archbishop Martini made an Italian version from the Vulgate with notes, issued at Turin, 1769-79, that was approved by Pope Pius VI. It is used by some Protestants also. 14. An Italian version was made under Protestant influence by Teofilo, revised by Gallors and Beza, and issued at Geneva, 1562, for Italian fugitives. It was soon displaced by the version of G. Diodati, made from the Greek and Hebrew, issued at Geneva, 1603, and with notes, 1607. It was in the Lucchese or peasant's dialect. Revisions of Diodati's and of Martini's versions are now circulated by Bible societies and Bible colporteurs. 15. Spanish Versions. — The Albigenses made Spanish versions of portions of the Bible in the Middle Ages, and a Catalan version was made in 1478. Francisco Enzina translated the New Testament into Spanish, issued at Ant- werp, 1543, and Juan Perez made a version, Venice, 1556. Cassidore De Reyna issued the entire Bible in Spanish, at Basel, 1569. It was revised by De Valera, Amsterdam, 1602. Scio made a translation from the Vulgate into MODERN VERSIONS OTHER THAN ENGLISH. 4-*5 Spanish, and San Miguel another, issued at Madrid, 1794, in nineteen volumes, with Latin and Spanish texts and notes. Bishop Amat also issued aversion with notes, Madrid, 1824, and one was issued in Mexico, 1831-33. The Protestants use Enzina's and Valera's versions chiefly ; the Catholics, Scio's or Amat's. 16. Danish Versions. — The first complete Danish ver- sion of the Bible was edited under the name of C. Peder- son in 1550, and has been often revised, a thorough revi- sion being made in 1815 to 1824. A special revision was made in 1871, which is used by the Norwegian Bible Society. 17. A Swedish version was completed in 1541 by Lau- rentius and Olaus Petri. This has been often revised. 18. Besides the versions in the principal languages of Europe, there have been many versions and revisions made in other European languages and dialects, as the Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Portuguese, Lap, Polish, Bohemian, Russ, Slavonic, Modern Greek and many others. Of these, and the three hundred and more missionary translations, par- ticular notice cannot here be given. 19. The modern Arabic version begun by Eli Smith, 1847, an d completed by his co-laborer, C. V. A. Van Dyck, 1866, is a monument of patient, persevering and profound scholarship. It is accounted one of the most faithful and finished of all modern missionary versions. The Bible is now issued entire, or in portions, in more than four hundred languages and dialects; having been translated into about four hundred and fifty tongues, of which twenty to twenty-five versions have been discontinued. Over three hundred and fifty versions have been made by Protestant missionaries within the past century. CHAPTER IV. ANCIENT VERSIONS ARMENIAN, GOTHIC, EGYPTIAN, ETHI- OPIAN, SYRIAN, LATIN, GREEK j THE HEBREW TARGUMS. i. One book of religion — the Bible — has been valued and loved by the learned and unlearned, by priest and people, for more than eighteen centuries. No other sacred book has been so deeply or so widely endeared to the human heart. There is no other book with a history like that of the Bible. In the early centuries of Christian- ity, translations of the Bible into the vernacular or common speech of the peoples were made and circulated wherever the gospel gained a foothold among a nation or a people. Several of the more important of these translations, or por- tions of them, have been preserved to our times, and are of value in establishing the early and often the true reading of the original copy of the Christian Scriptures. Some of these versions will now be briefly described. 2. The Armenian. — The gospel was introduced into Ar- menia from Cappadocia ; and the translations of the Bible into Armenian were probably made from Greek manuscripts obtained from some portion of Asia Minor. At first the Armenian disciples may have used Syriac copies of the Scriptures ; but early in the fourth century they had a writ- ten language, formed from an alphabet of thirty-six letters. The earliest version of the Scriptures in Armenian appears to have been made from the Peshito fSyriac). Later in (44) ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. 45 that century (431 to 450) a new translation, direct from the Greek, was suggested by Miesrob and Moses Chorenen- sis, and was completed by two scholars, Joseph and Eznak, who went to Alexandria to perfect their knowledge of the Greek. The existing manuscripts of this version are not very ancient, but they contain the entire Bible. The best printed edition is by Zohrab, and is now issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society. 3. The Gothic. — The Goths, in their old home about Mcesia, were early led to accept Christianity. Their sec- ond bishop, Ulphilas (Ulfilas or Wulfilas), 348 a. d., who was an Arian, translated the Bible (except I., II. Sam. and I., II. Kings) from Greek into Gothic. The gospels are placed in the " western " order, that is, Matthew, John, Luke, Mark. Seven manuscripts containing portions of this version have been preserved ; but they are fragmentary, large gaps occurring and missing leaves in both the Old and New Testament portions. The best-printed editions are: A. Uppstrom, Upsala, 1854-1868, and E. Bernhardt, Halle, 1875, — tne l at ter being the Gothic and Greek, with critical notes. 1 4. The Coptic or Egyptian Versions. — Little has been definitely known of these ancient Coptic translations until recently. Three are known in three different dialects: (1) The Memphitic or Bahiric dialect of lower Egypt. This translation belongs to the second century. There are in the various libraries of Europe twenty-eight manuscript copies of the Gospels in the Memphitic dialect, seventeen copies of the Pauline and catholic Epistles and the Acts (the Acts follow instead of precede the Epistles), and ten af the book of Revelation. This translation is regarded as of great importance, because it is believed to indicate 1 Also Gothic Version by G. H. Balg, Ph.D., N. Y., 1891. n; ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. the text current at Alexandria, free from many corruptions prevailing in the second century. (2) The Thebaic or Sa- hidic version, in the dialect of upper Egypt, also exists in manuscripts, but only in a very fragmentary form. 1 The best-printed edition of the Thebaic translation is by C. G. Woide, completed by Ford, Oxford, 1799. (3) The Bash- muric or Fayamic translation, probably belonging to the third century, of which only fragments of John's Gos- pel and of the Pauline Epistles have been found. This version is based upon the Thebaic, the Bashmuric being a modification of the Thebaic dialect, and the Bashmuric translation is chiefly useful in texts where the Thebaic is wanting. 5. An Ethiopic version was early made for use in Abys- sinia, probably in the fourth century. The manuscript copies of this version are not very ancient ; but the Ethi- opic has now given place to a later dialect, the Amharic, into which the Bible has been translated. 6. The Syriac Versions. — The old Syriac language be- longs to the Semitic family of languages, and is older than the patriarch Jacob. It is copious, flexible and dignified, and the Old and New Testaments were translated into that tongue and used in public worship from the second century downward. 1 These ancient Coptic translations show that the hooks then in- cluded in the New Testament were the same as now, except the Apoc- alypse. The order, however, was different ; the four Gospels were first, but usually in this order — John, Matthew, Mark, Luke; then came the Pauline Epistles, including that to the Hebrews, next the catholic or general epistles, and lastly Acts. In some of the manu- scripts the book of Revelation appears at the end ; but there are lec- tionaries or Scripture service lessons between the book of Acts and the book of Revelation. This would indicate that Revelation was not admitted to the New Testament in the opinion of those who made the ANCIENT VERSIONS OTHER THAN ENGLISH. 47 7. The oldest Syriac version yet found is conceded to be the Cureionia?i, a fragment of the Gospels found by Dr. Cureton in a convent of the Nitrian desert, in 1842, and published, with an English translation, in 1858, and with three added leaves in 1870-72. A nearly complete copy of the Gospels in Syriac was found at Mt. Sinai, in 1892, by Mrs. Lewis, and published later. The Syriac Bible, the Peshitto or Peshitta — " simple" or "literal," belongs to the third or fourth century. It does not contain the apocrypha, but only the Hebrew canonical books. It has been known to scholars for over three centuries. 1 Another Syriac version is called the Philoxenian, after Philoxenes, a bishop of eastern Syria, and was made by one Polycarp in the sixth century. A later revision has been preserved, called the Harklean, after Thomas of Harkel, who revised it. A good manuscript of this version from Mardin, is preserved in the Protestant College, Beirut. A third Syriac version in a peculiar dialect is known as the Jerusalem Syriac. It is an Evangelistary, or Gospel selections for church service. It is preserved in five manuscripts in the Vatican, Rome, and dates from the fifth century. 8. The Latin. — The ancient versions of the Bible in Latin may be classed in two groups: — (1) Old Latin ; (2) The Vulgate, by Jerome, in its varied recensions. The Old Latin translation was known to the Latin fathers, as Tertullian, Cyprian, the two Hilarys, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Pelagius and others. It dates back to the mid- translation, or else that it belonged to a second canon, as we know was the case for a time with some of the shorter epistles. 1 The best printed edition in England is by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and by Bagster. A better American edition is by Dr. J. Perkins, Oroomiah, 1841, and New York, 1874; also a literal trans- lation from the Syriac Peshito, by Dr. Murdock, New York, 1857. 48 ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. die or latter half of the second century. It was made from the Septuagint, in the Old Testament, and is in the rough Latin of the second century, which lacks classic pol- ish, yet is not without vigor and terseness of expression. 9. Fragments of the Old Latin translations are still extant, and indicate three variant types of the text — an African, a European, and one of the character which Augustine commends as the Itala. Whether all these forms are based upon one African translation or on different in- dependent translations is an unsettled question. This much seems to be generally agreed by the best critics, that the earliest form of the Old Latin version is of north Afri- can origin. From thirty to forty manuscripts of portions of the Old Latin version are known to be in existence. A carefully-edited and printed edition of these Old Latin versions is a thing desired. Many religious terms and ex- pressions continually used by us are due to the Latin Bible. 10. The Vulgate. — Jerome, one of the most learned men of his time, urged by the Roman bishop Damasus, about 383 a.d., undertook a thorough revision of the Old Latin ver- sions, that he might make a Vulgate (Vulgata) or Latin text of the Bible which would be universally accepted by Latin-speaking peoples. His work of revising the Old Latin versions led Jerome to undertake a new and more faithful translation of the Old Testament from the Hebrew. He spent about fourteen years (390 to 405) at Bethlehem, the town in which our Saviour was born, in these labors. 1 Jerome's version was not at first regarded with favor; but after some years its superior merit brought it into general 1 At Bethlehem, in the crypt under the Church of the Nativity, is a room called the " Chapel of St. Jerome," in which this great man is said to have pursued his studies and work of translating the Bible. ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. 49 use. For years it raised a howl of indignation. Jerome was irritated by the attacks of the ignorant priests, whom he calls bipedes asellos, " two-legged donkeys." Long after Jerome's death his version was accepted, and iooo years later was counted superior to the original text ! The Latin Bible which came thus into use as Jerome's version was in fact a composite work. The Old Testament, excepting the Psalms, was from his new translation made from the He- brew. The Psalms were his revision of the Old Latin, based not upon the original Hebrew but upon the Septua- gint. 1 The Apocrypha was based on the Old Latin trans- lation, excepting the two books of Judith and Tobit, which were from Jerome's new version. The New Testament books were revised from the Old Latin version. The text became so corrupt that Charlemagne about 802 directed Alcuin to collate the copies and revise the Latin text. 11. The Council of Trent, 1546, decreed what books were to be received as canonical, and that the text of the Latin edition was authentic. But the question at once arose, Which Latin text, and which edition of it, is the authentic one? Pope Sixtus V. issued a revised edition of the Vulgate text in 1590, which he decreed to be the au- thoritative edition, and threatened excommunication against any who used any other. Sixtus died that year. So many errors, however, were pointed out in the Sixtine edition that Bellarmin proposed to issue a corrected edition in Six- tus' name, and this pious fraud was actually undertaken, and in the new edition all the principal blunders in the 1 It was called the Roman Psalter, while Jerome's new translation was known as the Galilean Psalter. The former was retained in the Latin Bibles until Pius V., 1566, when it was displaced by the Galilean Psalter. 50 ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. former edition were charged to the printers ! Clement VIII. had the new edition of the Latin text prepared with greater care and issued in 1592, in the face of the threat- ened anathema of his predecessor, Sixtus V. 1 This Clem- entine text is the standard Roman Catholic Bible, taking precedence in that church of the Hebrew and Greek origi- nal texts in questions of doctrine and life. A critical edi- tion of Jerome's Latin version is wanting, though the materials for it are abundant. 12. The Septuagint, or Greek version of the Old Testa- ment, was made by Hellenistic Jews of Alexandria, be- tween 285 and 247 B.C. According to Jewish tradition, it was made by seventy or seventy-two elders (hence its title; Septuaginta, or seventy) sent from Jerusalem ; but great obscurity rests upon the real time and history of its origin. 2 It is also very difficult now to ascertain precisely what was the reading of the original Septuagint, but it is assumed that the text we have is in the main that current in the days of our Lord. From this version Jesus quotes, and so do the apostles. It was the accepted Scriptures of the dis- persed Jews, and is the basis of the Greek used by early Christian writers. The Septuagint is in the main faithful to the Hebrew text, although it cannot be said to be minutely accurate, judged by the Hebrew now current, for it some- 1 These are known as the Sixtine or Clementine Latin texts. 2 The importance of this translation is apparent not merely from its great antiquity, which, between conflicting Hebrew readings, indicates the one then current, but also from the fact that of 290 direct quota- tions from the Old Testament in the New, the great majority agree bet- ter with the Septuagint than with the Hebrew. More exactly, accord- ing to Turpie, 90 quotations agree with the Septuagint, of which 53 also agree with the Hebrew ; 10 agree with the Hebrew but not with the Septuagint; 175 differ from both, but these generally are nearer to the Septuagint than to the Hebrew. ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. 51 times gives a paraphrase rather than a close translation of the Hebrew text. It was freely used by the early Christian fathers. The current text of the Greek Scriptures had be- come corrupted from frequent copying during several centuries. In order to attain a better text, Origen (184- 254) edited a tetrapla, or fourfold text, and later on his hexapla, or sixfold Bible text. In parallel columns, Origen arranged (1) the Hebrew text in Hebrew letters; (2) the Hebrew text in Greek letters; (3) a Greek version by Aquila; (4) a Greek version by Symmachus; (5) the Greek version known as the Septuagint ; (6) a Greek version by Theodotion. Fragments only of this work have been pre- served to us, chiefly in quotations from the fathers. 1 13. The Targums is the general term for the Chaldee or Aramaic versions and paraphrases of portions of the Old Testament. Eight are now extant, of which three are upon the Pentateuch, two on Esther, and others upon the prophets, poetical books and other portions of the Old Testament. These are generally very free translations, and often diffuse paraphrases. The so-called Targum of Onke- los on the Pentateuch and of Jernshalmi in its first form are the most literal versions. These works were a growth from oral traditions and teachings, and of great interest to Old Testament students. The earliest historic instance of a targum is when Ezra read the law to the returned exiles, and the scribes were compelled to "give the sense and 1 Aquila was a Jewish proselyte of Pontus, who made a Greek ver- sion of the Hebrew Scriptures, 1 17-138 A.D., to use in discussions with the Christians, because the Septuagint version was used against the Jews. Theodotion made a revision of the Greek version of the Old Testament about the same period as the work by Aquila, and his ver- sion is retained in Greek Bibles. The version by Symmachus, an Ebionite disciple, was made somewhat later. 52 ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BlBLP!. cause them to understand the reading," Neh. 8 : 8. From these oral interpretations the Targums grew. The date of the origin of these Targums is uncertain. The Aramaic was an international tongue of North Semitic peoples before the exile, but not understood by Palestine Jews. Is. 36 : n. Some hold that in very early times it was forbidden to write or transcribe these translations, but this is not proven. The Targums on the Law and the Prophets probably represent the earlier synagogue readings and comments, no doubt of pre-Christian times, though reduced to writing at some later period. In Palestine they were not recog- nized as proper authorities. The principal Targums were: Baby Ionian : 1 . The Targum of Onkelos-Aquila, on the Pentateuch ; " Onkelos " probably being a mistake for the Greek translator Aquilas. 2. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel on the Prophets. How it came to be ascribed to Jonathan, the pupil of Hillel, has not been satisfactorily explained. Palestinian : 3. The Targum Jeruschalmii, in two forms, I. II., on the Law : I. is complete ; II. is in frag- ments only. The first is also referred to as Targum Jona- than (Pseudo-Jonathan). 4. The Targum on the Prophets, existing in fragments only. 5. Targums on the Hagio- grapha; the portion on the Book of Esther being an especial favorite. 6. The Samaritan Targums on the Law. The Melurgeman was an assistant interpreter, aiding the reader in the synagogue service. His office was allied to the modern dragoman of the East. CHAPTER V. ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE — GREEK MSS., HOW WRITTEN, UNCIALS, CURSIVES OR MINUSCULES, HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS, MASSORAH. The Hebrew manuscripts are not ancient compared with the versions of the Old Testament. See 16, 17. 1. How Written. — The oldest existing copies of the books of the New Testament, in their original Greek, are written upon fine vellum, made from the skins of very young calves. Some are written upon parchment, made from the skins of sheep or goats. The Sinaitic MS. is made of fine skins of antelopes. The leaves of this MS. are so large that the skin of one antelope would make only two leaves. As the MS. in its present fragmentary state has 346J leaves, and, adding the 43 previously discovered, 389 \ leaves, it must have required 195 antelopes to make the vellum on which it is written ! The Vatican MS. is written upon vellum admired by all who have seen it, for the beauty of its finish and texture. It is supposed that earlier copies of the New Testament books were written upon less durable papyrus, and hence have perished. The manuscript copies of the New Testa- ment are older than any existing written copies of the Old Testament in Hebrew ; but the oldest MSS. of the New Testament contain the whole or large portions of the Old Testament in Greek. (53) 54 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 2. How Classified. — The ancient manuscripts of the New Testament are classified: (i) By their supposed origin, or source from which each manuscript text was derived. Thus they are grouped as Alexandrian, Western, and Neutral, according to their genealogical source. (2) By the style of their writing, as (a) Uncials; that is, those written in capitals, and (£) Cursives, or Minuscules ; that is, those written in a small, running hand. As many of these manu- scripts contain only fragments of the New Testament, the book MSS. are arranged in four or five groups — Gospels, Acts, General Epistles, Pauline Epistles, Apocalypse — so that some manuscripts may be counted more than once, since each group of books has its own separate numbering of the manuscripts. This must be remembered in speaking of the number of manuscripts given below. See 14. 3. The Uncial manuscripts of the New Testament, reck- oned in the way just stated, now number about 120, and of Cursives, from 2500 to 3500. But the number varies because of different ways of counting. Thus Scrivener gives 97 Uncials, 1997 Cursives ; Abbot 92 Uncials and 1600 Cur- sives; Gregory 109 Uncials and 3553 Cursives; Rendel Harris, 120 Uncials, 2400 to 2500 Cursives. 4. Divisions of the Text. — In the earliest manuscripts there are no spaces between the words, and no marks be- tween sentences except an occasional dot at the top of the line. But there are divisions into paragraphs, and marks indicating sections. For example, in the Gospels there are numerals marking and dividing the text of Matthew into 170 unequal sections, Mark into 62, Luke into 150 and John into 80. Similar sections, though not as ancient, are found in the Acts and Epistles. 5. Titloi. — In other MSS. of the fifth century and later ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 00 there are divisions into sections or chapters, called t'ltXoi = titloi, as the title of the section is given with its number. These differ from the former divisions, for in the Gospels they uniformly begin with what we would regard as the second section. The general title to the book was appar- ently sufficient to designate the first section. Of these titloi = titles, Matthew has 68, Mark 48, Luke 83 and John 18. There was a similar division of the Acts and Epistles into " headings " or chapters, of a later origin. 6. The Ammonian or Eusebian sections of the Gospels was another and different grouping, made to facilitate the finding of the different passages that were parallel in the four Gospels ; hence some were long and some very short. John 19 : 6, for example, is divided into three sections. These sections were numbered in the margin consecutively from the beginning of each Gospel. Matthew had 355 such sections, Mark (originally) 233, Luke 342 and John 232. Eusebius divided the numbers of these sections into ten tables or " canons." The first, in four columns, notes the sections that are parallel in all four Gospels ; the next three, the sections that are parallel in three of the Gospels ; the next five tables note the sections parallel in two of the Gospels ; the last table gives the sections peculiar to each Gospel. 7. Modern Divisions. — The origin of the present chapter and verse divisions of the Bible rests in some obscurity. They were probably the work of the Spanish Cardinal, Hugues de St. Cher (1262), or some say of the British Archbishop Langton (1228), being used first in the Latin Vulgate, and was transferred from that to the Hebrew text by Rabbi I. Nathan in the fifteenth century, and by others into the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, and thence by Robert Stephens, 155 1, to the margin of his 56 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. printed Greek Testament. 1 The Old Testament verse divisions were doubtless based upon the ancient paragraphs, probably introduced for the convenience of reading in the synagogue service. (See 19.) The English Revised Ver- sions have attempted to restore the ancient divisions. 8. Uncial Manuscripts. — Among the most important un- cial manuscripts is the Sinaitic (known as n), found by Prof. Constantine Tischendorf, in 1859, in the Convent of St. Catherine, at Mount Sinai, and now in the Imperial libra- ry, St. Petersburg, Russia. It contains the whole of the New Testament in Greek, the Epistle of Barnabas and part of the Shepherd of Hermas, and a large part of the Old Tes- toth ceyceBa kc MYCTH f / o Noce Fourth Cent. Codex Sinaiticus. — I Tim. 3 : 16. to T7]Q evGEfieiag \ juvarr/piov [6e late corr.] og e. tament in the Greek version. It consists of 346* leaves 1 of very fine thin vellum, 13* inches long by T4I inches wide. The text is written with four columns of 48 lines each on a page, except in the poetical books of the Old Testament, which have but two columns on a page. The words have no spaces between them, and are often abbrevi- ated by a line over the letters. There are corrections or alterations by later hands in succession, noticeable from the different form of the letters and different shades of inks, so that Prof. Tischendorf distinguished the work of ten different correctors. A fac-simile edition of the MS. was printed at the expense of the emperor of Russia, and 1 To these are to be added 43 leaves found in 1844 and called Codex Friderico-Angustanns, and two leaves and a fragment of a leaf found in 1853 and belonging originally to this Sinaitic MS., making in all upwards of 391^ leaves. ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. Oi about a dozen copies came to the United States, to several important libraries, as the Astor, Lenox and American Bible Society libraries. The MS. belongs to the fourth century, and Teschendorf supposed it might be one of the fifty copies which Constantine had prepared in 331 a. d. T -^eNeinotsjScpa&oYN ■*- X y<*Tg^ T< S yjiAf kON *» Fourth Cent. Codex Vaticanus. — Mark 16:8. craaiQ nai ovdevi ov \ Sev einov etyofiovv \ to -)ap : 9. The Vatican manuscript (known as B) also belongs to the fourth century, and contains most of the Old Testa- ment in Greek and the New Testament to Heb. 9 : 14. 1 It is written on fine vellum, in three columns of 42 lines each to a page. It has 759 leaves, 10 by 10^ inches, and is per- haps more carefully written than the Sinaitic MS. It is be- lieved to have been copied in Egypt, and was brought to Rome in 1448. Early in this century it was for a time in Paris, but was soon restored to Rome, and is kept in the Vatican library. This MS. also shows numerous cor- rections by different hands. Several editions of it have been printed: Tischendorf 's, Vercellone and Cozza's, and the best, a photographic facsimile, 1890-91. There is another Vatican MS. B (No. 2066), containing the Book of Reve- lation, which is of later origin and belongs to the eighth 1 The rest of Heb., 1 and 2 Tim., Titus, Philemon, and Rev., only are wanting. The order of the books varies from that in English Bibles. 58 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. century. The Vatican MS. is of the first importance in critical study of the New Testament text ; and the Sinaitic ranks next in value. 10. The Alexandrian manuscript was sent from the Patri- arch of Constantinople as a present to Charles I. (1628), and was placed in the British Museum, London, in 1753. It is a vellum of 773 leaves, 12I by iol inches, each page contain- ing two columns of 50 lines each. It contains nearly the whole of the Old Testament in Greek, and of the New Testament except Matt. 1 to 25 : 26, two leaves from John's Gospel, three from 2 Corinthians, and portions from the edges of the leaves, carelessly cut away in binding, Added to it are the first Epistle of Clement and a part of the sec- NApvrtHNOxqroCKAioXorocM XI fOCTO M 6NKA 1 a C HNO\ OroC< Fifth Cent. Codex Alexandrinus. — John I : 1. Et-> apxv 1 V ° %oyog mi "koyog rjv \ Trpog tov 0[_eo~\i>: kcii 0[eo] g tjv h>yog. ond also. It was probably written in Alexandria in the fifth century, and has initial letters, and the first four lines of each column of the first page of Genesis in bright ver- milion ink. It was among the first of the uncial MSS. used by critical scholars. A photographic fac-simile edition has been published by the British Museum, 1879-82. 11. The Ephraem manuscript is in the National Library at Paris, France, and consists of 209 leaves, 64 of the Old Testament in Greek and 145 of the New. It was brought to Florence from the East in the sixteenth century, and is a rescript or palimpsest on vellum ; that is, the old writing (the Bible text) has been partially effaced and some works 4 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 59 of Ephraem the Syrian were written over it in the twelfth century. The original writing was known to Wetstein (1716), and edited by Teschendorf (1843-45). Unfortu- nately, large gaps occur in the New Testament text, so that 37 chapters of the Gospels, 15 of the Acts, 45 chap- ters of the Epistles and 1 1 of Revelation are missing. It belongs to the fifth century. 12. The Greco-Latin manuscript of Beza, in Cambridge University library, Eng., contains the Gospels and the Acts. These are written on vellum, one column of 34 lines on a page, the left-hand page presenting the Greek text and the opposite right-hand page having the corresponding Latin version. The great scholar and reformer Theodore Beza says he found the MS. in Lyons (1562), and he gave it to Cambridge University, England, in 1581. The text has many and peculiar variant readings, and an addition after Luke 6:5, that has no parallel in other manuscripts. The Greco-Roman Manuscript Laudiamus used by Bede resem- bles the Beza text in the Acts. 13. New Manuscripts. — Valuable old manuscripts are being constantly found in old convents of Africa and Asia. Besides the Sinaitic MS. found in 1859, the Codex Rossan- ensis was found in Calabria in 1879, a purple vellum of 188 leaves, written in silver letters, having the Gospels of Matthew and Mark ; these Gospels are in the Beratinus MS., an uncial found in Albania, and described in 1886, by Batiffol. Like the Rossanensis, it has the doxology to the Lord's Prayer. A Syriac MS. was discovered at Sinai in 1892-3, by Mrs. A. S. Lewis, which throws light on the true reading of some disputed texts. The remaining uncial MSS. are of secondary importance, and do not call for particular description. 60 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 14. The Cursives (or Minuscules, "small letters ") are z numerous class of manuscripts, written on vellum or parch- ment, and some on cotton or linen paper. They are often richly illuminated, and date from the ninth to the middle of the fifteenth century, when they were superseded by printed copies of the Bibie. About 30 of them are known to contain the entire New Testament ; others have portions ; as 600 the Gospels, 300 the Pauline Epistles, 200 the Catholic Epistles, 100 the Book of Revelation, while there are 350 Evangelistaries, that is, "lessons" from the Gos- pels, and so on. A number have been critically collated, but they do not throw as important light upon our present text as the older uncial manuscripts. 15. Hebrew Manuscripts. — Written copies of the He- brew text of the Old Testament are of comparatively re- cent age, the oldest of the Law not being older than 840 a.d. They have all been written since the period of the Massoretes. The rule of the old Talmudists was that all faulty or imperfect MSS. of their sacred books should be destroyed. This may partially account for the scarcity of them. But about fourteen hundred different Hebrew MSS. have been found and examined by Hebrew scholars — chiefly Kennicott and De Rossi. 16. The Hebrew MSS. are of two classes: those pre- pared for use in the synagogue services, and those intended for private reading. The rules for preparing the manu- script copies of the CWd Testament to be used in public worship were many and very strict. The parchment must be made by a Jew, from the skin of an animal that was ceremonially clean. The writing must be in columns ex- actly equal in length. If more than three words were off the line, the whole work must be thrown aside. It must be ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 61 written with a black ink made according to a specific rec- ipe, and the forms of the letters were minutely specified, as also the spaces, points and use of the pen. The work must be carefully revised within thirty days after the copy was completed, and if then there was a letter wanting in a word, or if one letter touched another, the manuscript was condemned. Manuscripts for private use were subject to less rigorous rules. Although these rules must have been burdensome to copyists, they were very effective in promot- ing the preservation of a purer text of the Hebrew Scrip- tures. 17. The Hebrew Text. — It is not easy to determine the original reading of the text of the Old Testament for the reasons already stated. It was formerly supposed that in Hebrew the words were written continuously, as in the an- cient Greek manuscripts, but the discovery of the ancient writing on the Moabite stone indicates that this was not so. The words on the Moabite stone are separated by points, and the text is separated into parts or verses by vertical strokes. There are about 7000 words in the old Hebrew vocabulary. 18. The Massorah is a collection of critical and other notes relating to the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. These were intended to preserve the text in a certain fixed charac- ter. The notes of the Massoretes referred to — ( 1 ) What is in the text? (2) What should be in the text? They counted the letters ; they marked the wauv in Lev. 1 1 : 42 as the middle letter in the Pentateuch. They noted that the let- ter aleph (A) occurs 42,377 times, and beth (B) 35,288 times, and so on of each letter in the Hebrew alphabet. They noted when a word occurred only once, and a multi- tude of other minute points about the text. 62 ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. But in making a new copy, they sometimes found a word in the written copy before them, which they had reason to believe was incorrect. They would not alter it, but they would write in the margin the consonants of the word they believed to be the right one. Then they would add under the word in the text the vowel points of the right word which they had written in the margin. The word in the text they called Kethibh — " What is written ; " the word in the margin Keri — " What must be read." 19. Old Divisions of the Hebrew Text. — It was formerly supposed that Hebrew was written without spaces between the words, just as Greek manuscripts of the fourth century were written, but this is now believed to be an error. For the inscriptions on the Moabite stone used in the Siloam tunnel have marks or points between several words. But their use was not uniform. The division of the Hebrew text into paragraphs and breaks similar to our verses is neither Babylonian nor Palestinian, but probably was in- vented by the Massoretes. It appears to imitate the par- allelisms of the poetical books. The smaller divisions were called pesugim, verses. The Babylonians are said to have divided the law into 5888 pesuqim, the Psalms into 5896, and the Chronicles into 5880; but the Palestinians had a different division. Larger sections of the law were grouped into parashas of two kinds — "open" and "closed." The Law had 298 open, and 379 closed parashas, the former marked by the Hebrew letter Pe, and the latter by Samech. These were grouped into 54 liturgical lessons for reading in the synagogue. The Prophets were also in sections called Haphtaras. References to similar sections are found in the New Testament, Mark, 12:26; Rom. 11: 2, where "the Bush" and "Elijah" note the topic of the section quoted. The modern chapter and ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. ()•') verse divisions in Hebrew Bibles, however, were borrowed by the Jews from the Christians. (Chap. v. 7). Jacob ben Chajim (1525), divided the text into Sedarim, chapters, which some assert were based on an earlier liturgical division for a three years' course of reading the Law. It agrees closely with the old midrashim, or homily sections. 20. Letters and Voivel Points. — Hebrew is now printed or written in the square character, which can be traced back to the third century before Christ. But earlier it was written in the Phoenician character, as we know from the Siloam inscription. The Tel-el-Amarna tablets prove that in the time of Abraham officials of Egypt and Palestine corresponded in the Babylonian language, perhaps before the Phoenician character or alphabet was known. The Hebrew was written without vowels or vowel points. They were unknown to Jerome (400 a. d.), but the precise date of their origin is obscure. The Karite, or Babylonian system of points, puts the vowel points above the line. It was not widely used. The common system of vowel points can be traced to the Massoretes in the tenth century of our era. These Jewish scholars were at great pains to affix them to the text in order to preserve the proper pronunciation of the ancient and sacred Hebrew. The system was prob- ably borrowed from the Christian Syrians, and adapted to the Hebrew text. See Prof. Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, p. 224, London, 1900. No data are known sufficient to determine the original Hebrew text. In the "Polychrome Bible" Prof. Haupt and others have attempted to make conjectural emendations in the Massoretic text, while making a new English version. CHAPTER VI. THE NEW TESTAMENT — HOW ONE BOOK, TESTS, NEW TESTA- MENT COMPLETED, HOW ATTESTED. i . New Testament One Book. — The twenty -seven treatises or books of the New Testament were all written within one century. But they were not made into one book at once. Written by apostles and apostolical men, aided by the Holy Spirit, the twenty-seven books were gathered into one, and accepted as of divine authority. But the collection was not formed by decree of church council, nor by some individual church father, scholar or saint, nor by one local body of believers or one church at Rome, Jerusalem, or Antioch. 2. The Result of a General Agreement. — The collection of the various writings into one book, now called the New Testament, was the result of a general agreement among all early Christians scattered over the then known civilized world. The line between those writings which were re- garded "sacred" and of divine authority, and those that were "apocryphal," was sharply drawn in the fourth cen- tury. The persecution of Christians under Diocletian (a.d. 303) was directed against their sacred books as well as against their faith and person. The order was to burn all copies of their Scriptures, and Christians were forced to give them up or be condemned themselves. Some gave up their Scriptures,and were branded as traditores (traitors) by their fellow-disciples. Others apparently complied by giv- ing up heretical or apocryphal writings, and thus escaped (64) HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK. 65 the censure of the church. This implied a general agree- ment among Christians respecting what were and what were not Scriptures of divine authority. 3. The Testing. — The formation of the entire New Tes- tament was a gradual process. While twenty books were universally accepted, seven were questioned by some and tested severely. Hebrews and James, though accepted early by the Syrian churches, were so tested ; 2 and 3 John and Jude also, though early received by Western churches, and Revelation also by the churches of Asia Minor. But finally all the books now in the New Testament were universally accepted as of divine authority, and no other. 1 4. The Tests. — Christians coming out of Judaism had deep reverence for the Old Testament. The New Testa- ment writers quote it about three hundred times. The idea of a new collection of sacred writings, which should be held in like veneration with the Old, was of slow growth among early Christians. But it grew out of the spirit of the old. And Protestant Christians have with great unan- imity accepted the collection of sacred books accepted by the early Christian church in the third and fourth centuries. The crucial tests which a book must pass before it could be accepted as of divine authority do not come within the scope of this book. The purpose here is to state, histo- rically, what writings were accepted. It may be proper, however, to add that Protestants require more than the external testimony of the church to certify what writings are sacred and of divine authority. Thus Luther against Eck said, "A council cannot make that to be of Scripture 1 See Weiss, Intro., vol. i. p. 119 ff. ; Schaff, Hist. Christn. Church, vol. iii. p. 608 ff. ; Eusebius, H. E„ bk. iii. 25, bk. vi. 25. QQ THE new testament: which is not by nature Scripture." Calvin called it " a most pernicious error" to hold "that the Scriptures have only so much weight as is conceded to them by the suffrages of the church; as though," he adds, "the eternal and in- violable truth of God depended on the arbitrary will of men." (Inst, i : 7.) Scripture must be God-given, by men inspired of the Holy Spirit to declare a divine rule of faith. Added to this, the test of the right of a book to a place in the Scriptures may be stated as threefold : (1) external evidence, as the historic testimony of the church; (2) internal evidence from the book itself, determined in part by the consensus of Christian scholarship; and (3) wit- ness of the Spirit to the truth and authority of the word in the heart of believers. See 2d Helvetic Conf., chaps, i., ii. ; Gallican Conf., art. iv. ; Belgian, art. v. ; Thirty-nine Articles, art. vi. ; Scotch Conf., 1560, art. xix. ; Westmin- ster Conf., art. i., § 2-5 ; Reuss, Hist. Canon, 313. 5. Books not Accepted. — Under these tests, a mass of' Christian and sub-apostolic writings were not accepted as of divine authority. The Epistles of Barnabas, of Clement and the Shepherd of Hernias were read in some churches, but never widely ranked with the accepted books of the New Testament. So spurious Gospels (about fifty are known) of the Hebrews, of Nicodemus, Acts of Paul and Thekla, Epistle to the Laodiceans, and Apocalypse of Peter, and many others, were never classed with the N. T. books. 6. Formation in the Western Church. — In marking the process of gathering apostolic writings into one New Tes- tament, let it be noticed that councils and the great Chris- tian Fathers did not decide nor so strongly discuss what writings ought to be included, as declare what in fact were accepted and included among those of divine authority. It HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK, 67 appears, however, that generally, early Christians devoutly applied substantially the same principles to test the nature of each book of the New Testament as later Protestant Christians have applied. The early Christians clearly re- quired that the books must be written by an apostle or apostolic men, and must have been adopted for reading in public service. In the western church all the writings now in the New Testament were readily acknowledged, except Hebrews. The hesitation in respect to Hebrews sprang largely from the uncertainty as to the author. Some held that it was written by Paul, but many doubted its Pauline authorship. The frequent contact of western with eastern Christians, however, and the studies of Origen, Ambrose, Augustine, Rufinus and Jerome, led to the general acceptance of the Epistle to the Hebrews in the western church about the close of the fourth century, and the New Testament col- lection was "closed" as we now have it. The West had no desire to include other writings beyond these in the Scriptures. See Weiss, Intro., vol. i. p. 137. 7. Formation in the Eastern Church. — It was a more dif- ficult process to perfect the collection of New Testament writings in the East. At a very early period at least twenty books were admitted without question. These were some- times spoken of as homologoumena, that is, " acknowledged." Two others were generally "acknowledged;" but five were called antilegomena, literally, "spoken against," meaning that some were in doubt whether they had a right to a place in the collection or not. 1 Eusebius wrote a history of the church in the fourth century. In his narrative of the first and second centuries he gives a statement of the books of the New Testament. 1 See Eusebius, bk. iii. : 25 ; vi. : 25. 68 THE NEW testament: He asserts that twenty books were acknowledged without question. Some hesitated to accept Revelation, " but others rank it among the genuine. ' ' Among the antilegom- ena, or books that were questioned, although he says "they are well known and approved by many," he men- tions James, Jude, 2 Peter, 2 and 3 John — in all five. He then refers to several books as spurious — as the Acts of Paul, Shepherd of Hermas, Epistle of Barnabas, Revelation of Peter, and Institutions of the Apostles. When Eusebius comes to the period of Origen, he quotes the testimony of that Father, that the Revelation of John and the Epistle to the Hebrews were then accepted, but reports that some still have doubts respecting 2 Peter and 2 and 3 John, al- though he implies that the many receive them as genuine portions of Scripture. H. E. vi. 25. 8. Early Catalogue of New Testament Books. — In the writings that have been preserved of the early Chris- tian Fathers of the first four centuries, not less than eight or ten catalogues, more or less complete, of the books of the New Testament are given, and scores of writers quote from the New Testament books as of divine authority. 1 When it is considered how very small a portion of those early writings has come down to us, this evidence will be counted of great value. Augustine gives a full list corre- sponding to those now accepted, as do Athanasius, Jerome and Eusebius. Some of these omit Revelation, and some Hebrews also. In all the Christian writings of importance belonging to that early period that have come down to us, the books of the New Testament are referred to, quoted or accepted as sacred and of divine authority. The citations 1 See Laidner's works. HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK. 69 by some of these early writers, as Justin Martyr of the sec- ond century, and Origen, would fill a volume. These ref- erences and quotations are widely distributed, including writers of each century, from those of Clemens Romanus and Ignatius of the first century to those of Augustine, Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria, near the close of the fourth century. 9. Process of Forming the Collection. — The beginning and the steps in the process of gathering the sacred writings into one book of divine authority rest in some obscurity. Yet the main features are indicated in the fragmentary works of contemporary writers, and accord with similar known facts of history. While the apostles were proclaiming the gospel, Chris- tians looked to them for authoritative instruction, and did not feel the need of written teachings upon matters of faith and belief. Yet Paul wrote brief instructions to the churches he had planted at Thessalonica and in Galatia, which are now generally acknowledged to be the earliest written books in the form found in the New Testament, and date from about the middle of the first century. 1 Most of the books have internal evidence that they were written before the fall of Jerusalem, a.d. 70; that all of them date before the end of the first century has been successfully showr* Some critical scholars of the destructive school 1 Papias, of Hierapolis, in the early part of the second century, speaks of fttftXia — books from which the commands of the Lord might be known — and alludes to a history written by Mark, and a collection of "sayings" in Hebrew made by Matthew. Even the epistles of Barnabas and of Clement clearly have statements in almost the exact words of Matthew. The second epistle of Clement and the Didache have clear evidence of the influence of Luke's Gospel. Compare Weiss, Intro., i. 38, 39. 70 THE NEW testament: who have sought to maintain a later date have been forced to abandon their position and concede a date not far from the close of the first century. As the number of Christians increased, and became too numerous for the apostles and their immediate disciples to instruct orally, there was a necessity for writings of authority to preserve the church in purity and prevent serious here- sies and unbelief. In fact, history tells us that divisions and heretical views did prevail in many quarters, and even that spurious works were written and circulated under the cover of apostolic names. The true believers, therefore, gathered the genuine writings of the apostolic age, and the New Testament collection began to be formed. 1 In the second century, Christian writers, as Dionysius of Corinth and Theophilus of Antioch (a.d. 180), refer to the "Script- ures of the Lord "as of the same authority as the Old Testament. The testimony of history is clear that twenty books, comprising eight-ninths of the entire New Testa- ment, were thus generally accepted as Holy Scripture by the early Christians from 170 a.d. and onward. 10. Completion of the New Testament.— Although the other seven books already mentioned were more slow in securing universal acknowledgment, yet they were finally so accepted, while others, as the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hennas, were rejected. The sharp perse- cutions which the early Christians endured, called for a most careful and devout spiritual testing of every writing ; for the acceptance of a work as "sacred" and of divine authority might put their lives in jeopardy. It was only natural that some should hesitate to accept a few books, perhaps less known from their small size or the peculiar character of their contents than were the other books. It ^ee \ 12, p. 70. HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK. 71 is not inconsistent with this natural process of gathering the books of the New Testament to hold, as some do, that the Gospels and Acts were early formed into one collection, to which the apostolic teachings were added. Nor is it im- probable that these apostolic epistles were circulated by themselves for a brief period. But that they were finally accepted in the face of such circumstances is strong proof of their title to a place in the New Testament. The Council of Carthage (397 a.d.) declared that "besides the canonical Scriptures, nothing [is to] be read in the church under the title of divine Scriptures." It then adds a list of the books accepted as canonical, which besides the Old Testament includes the twenty-seven New Testament books and no others. In this gradual process of sifting out of the mass of writ- ings of the apostolic period, and of testing and settling which were of divine authority, we find that while several books were on the line of doubt and some were rejected, only seven of the New Testament books were ever on that line, and that these stood the test and were finally admitted. The chief hesitation was over five of these books, compris- ing only about one-thirty-sixth part of the entire New Testament. 11. Attested by the Church and the Spirit. — The conclu- sion is that the great body of early Christians, the general church of Jesus Christ, of every speech, East and West, Syrian, Asiatic, African and European, devoutly seeking to know the mind of Christ, was led by the Spirit of God to fix upon these twenty-seven books and no others as the New Testament Scriptures having divine authority as the word of God. This is far more satisfactory, and gives us a much stronger attestation and assurance of the purity 72 THE NEW TESTAMENT. and authority of this collection as the word of God, than if it had been made and decreed by a church council, or only by the early Christian Fathers, as Augustine, Jerome, Ter- tullian, Origen, Irenaeus, Cyril, Justin Martyr or Polycarp. They testify that the church universal, guided by the Spirit, did receive these books as the word of God ; and thus the promise of Christ to the apostles was fulfilled : " When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into all the truth" (John 16: 13, Revised Version) 12. Order of Acceptance. — Some hold that as each Gospel or Epistle was written it. was added to the Jewish Old Testament as Scriptures. 1 But the prevailing view is that the Synoptic Gospels were received, and that another col- lection of apostolic epistles was also circulated, and that these were later joined into one collection, forming the Christian Scriptures, the New Testament. Such titles early used as " Memoirs of the Apostles," " Gospels," "Apos- tolicon" the former relating to the life of Christ, the latter to the work and letters of the apostles, imply that there were first some separate collections and individual books, as "Acts" and "Apocalypse," which, being accepted separately as authoritative, were brought into one collec- tion, the New Testament. This is further implied by 2 Pet. 3, 15, 16, where Paul's Epistles appear to be classed with "other Scriptures." Whatever view of the order of the acceptance of the twenty-seven books be taken, it is cer- tain they were received as having divine authority. 2 1 Canon of New Testament, Prof. B. B. Warfield, D. D., LL, D., Phila., 1894. 3 Alexander on the Canon; Prof. F. R. Wynne, D. D., Literature of the Second Century, N. T. Canon, pp. 79-89, N. Y., 1892. New Testament, its Contents, Prof. W. Sanday, D. D., 1896. CHAPTER VII. NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS : WRITERS, COMPOSITION AND CON- TENTS — SVNOPTIC GOSPELS, ACTS, PAUL'S EPISTLES, HEBREWS, EPISTLES OF JAMES, PETER, JOHN AND JUDE, REVELATION — TABLE OF BOOKS. i. The Writers. — The twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written by eight or nine writers in the first century of our era. Four or five of the writers were called apostles (Matthew, John, Peter, Paul, and possibly, but not probably, James), and three or four were evange- lists and apostolic men (Mark, Luke and Jude). The writer of one book (Hebrews) is not certainly known, and whether 2 Peter was written by that apostle is a question that has lately been revived. These writers varied widely in temperament, talents, edu- cation and traits of character. Paul was the accomplished scholar, a profound thinker, true and lofty in character — the greatest of the apostles. He was called to be an Apostle to the Gentiles by Jesus Christ, " through the will of God." 1 Luke was the Greek medical scholar; Matthew the shrewd, practical man of business, con- versing with equal facility in either Aramaic or Greek. John was the prosperous fisherman, meditative, the Chris- 1 See Acts 26 : 16, 17, compared with I Cor. 9: 1, 2, and Gal. I : I, Eph. 1 : 1, with 1 Cor. 1 : 1. (73) 74 NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS. tian philosopher, with deep affections. Peter was impul- sive, ardent, energetic, self-confident, a born leader of men. Thus the writers represented many phases of life and of Christian experience. In eighteen of the New Testament books the names of the writers are distinctly stated in avowal of their author- ship. The titles to the books now given in the Bible were not affixed by the original writers, but are of com- paratively recent origin. The ancient titles varied in dif- ferent copies, and generally were brief. For example, the title to the Hebrew letter was not " The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews," but simply "To the Hebrews". This must be kept in mind in considering the question of the author of each book. The names of the authors of nine books must be ascer- tained, if at all, from other sources, such as the testimony of Christians in the period immediately following the Apostolic era, and by internal evidence found in the books themselves, since the titles are not a part of the books. Thus the structure, style, topics and allusions in a book may agree so well with what is known of the person to whom a work is imputed, as fully to discover the authorship. Six of the eight or nine writers of the New Testament books have been identified beyond reasonable question. Concerning two of the others, James and Jude, it is not yet settled which of the several persons called James and Jude, or Judas, was the writer of the respective epistles bearing these names. Who wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews, is also a question that has been discussed since the days of Origen (186-253 a. d.), and is still unsettled. The writers of twenty-three of the twenty-seven New Testament books have been identified beyond reasonable doubt. The others GROUPS OF BOOKS. 75 are accepted as authoritative, though the writers are not yet surely identified. 2. Groups of Books. — The first three Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke — are often called the "Synoptic Gospels" (from two Greek words), meaning "seen together," and are so designated because of the amount of matter common to the three. This large amount of common material in them, was due either to some early written documents, or, more likely, to the oral teaching of the apostles while they were proclaiming the gospel in Palestine. The "Synoptic Gospels" were primarily written for different circles of readers, while the Fourth Gospel was written to persuade all readers that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. The Epistles of Paul and of other apostles were also current among the churches, and some of them admitted for reading at public services of congregations at an early period, probably before our Gospels existed in their pres- ent form. But writings of the apostles only, and of those who wrote under apostolic direction or influence, were so accepted. Apostolic letters appear to have been collected and designated " Apostolicon." And besides these " The Acts," the catholic or general Epistles and the Apoca- lypse were read in worship and circulated under the com- mon name "The Apostles," though seldom were all con- tained in one manuscript. The books are now often grouped into three classes, cor- responding to the threefold divisions of the Jewish Scrip- tures: (i) Historical, five books ; (2) Didactic and epistol- ary, twenty-one books ; (3) Prophetic, one book. They are also spoken of as "The Gospels," " The Acts," "The Epistles" (Pauline and Pastoral) and "Revelation." 76 DATE OF WRITING THE BOOKS. The order of the books in ancient collections varied slightly, and was not the same as in our English New Testa- ment. Sometimes, though rarely, the order of the Gospels was Matthew, Mark, John, Luke. The catholic or gen- eral Epistles sometimes followed The Acts, then Epistles of Paul and Revelation. 3. Date of Writing the Books. — With much confidence, the date of the composition of the first three Gospels and of The Acts may be placed within a period of fifteen years, 55 to 70 a. D. The date of Paul's Epistles may be put in four periods, roughly about five years apart. The two letters to the Thessalonians come in the first period, about 52-53 a. d., and probably were the earliest written of the twenty-seven New Testament books. In the second period are four Epistles — 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians and Romans, about 57-58 a. d. In the third period are four — Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon, about 61-63 a. d., and in the fourth period three — Titus, 1 and 2 Timothy, about 65-67 a. d. The catholic Epistles of James, Peter and Jude may be approximately assigned between 60 and 70 A. d. Some put James in 40-44 a. d., but on insufficient grounds. The Gospels, Revelation and Epistles of John must be placed latest, 75 (?) to 95 A. D. See table at end of the chapter. 4. Matthew's Gospel — Was it written in Hebrew? His- torical testimony from the first half of the second century affirms that the first gospel was written by Matthew, one of the twelve, who was also called Levi. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis (130-160 a. d.), says: " Matthew composed the * Logia ' (or Oracles of our Lord) in the Hebrew tongue, and every one interpreted them as he was able." Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, about 180 a. d., also says it MATTHEW IN GREEK: CONTENTS OF FIRST GOSPEL. 77 was originally written in Hebrew, and adds that it was ■' while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and found- ing the church." 1 The earliest witnesses agree that the Gospel was first written in Hebrew, that is, Aramaic. How this was related to a so-called "Gospel of the Hebrews" current in the second century is an unsettled question. It is agreed that the fragments preserved are not from Matthew's Hebrew Gospel, though they may be based upon it. 5. Matthew in Greek. — But the Gospel of Matthew, as we now have it, reads like a Greek original. Certain pas- sages in which it agrees with Mark and Luke indicate that the writer used a Greek source. How can it be that the Gospel was written in Hebrew, and yet our Greek copy not be a translation ? An answer is not difficult. Mat- thew, as a tax collector, would become familiar with Aramaic and Greek. For Hebrews, he would naturally have first written his Gospel in Aramaic. Then the Hel- lenistic Christians would desire it in Greek, and he proba- bly wrote it in Greek also for them. The Hebrew copy has perished, and the Greek alone has been preserved. There is a similar parallel in the writings of Josephus in the same era. His history of the Jewish wars was first written in Aramaic, but afterwards in Greek. The Aramaic copy has perished ; the one in Greek has been preserved to our time. 6. Contents of First Gospel. — Matthew was the gospel Herald for the Hebrews. He proves from their Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. His Gospel narrates the descent and birth of Jesus, the preaching of John the Baptist, the baptism, temptation and Galilaean ministry of 1 See Eusebius, H. E. 3 : 39. 78 mark's gospel: contents. Jesus, his final teachings and passion, resurrection, appear- ance and commission to disciples. It alone gives the Sermon on the Mount quite fully, three miracles (two blind men, dumb demoniac, and money in the fish), and eleven parables (tares, hid treasure, pearl, drag-net, unmerciful servant, laborers, two sons, marriage of king's son, ten virgins, ten talents, sheep and goats), and incidents connected with the events of passion week, not found in the other Gospels. It is the Gospel of Dis- courses and for the Hebrews. His symbol is a man. 7. Mark's Gospel. — Historic testimony confirmed by internal evidence has uniformly declared Mark to be the author of the second Gospel. Beyond reasonable doubt he is the same as John Mark, son of Mary, at whose house in Jerusalem Peter found the disciples praying. Acts 12:21. Papias, bishop of Hierapolis (135 a. d.), states "the elder [John] used to say, Mark having become inter- preter [secretary] to Peter, wrote accurately, but not in order, all that he remembered of the things that were said and done by Christ." Irenaeus also says : " Mark, the dis- ciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also wrote and handed to us what Peter preached." And Clement of Alexandria reports that Mark wrote by request of Peter's hearers at Rome. Compare also 1 Pet. v. 13 with Col. 4: 10, and 2 Tim. 4: 11, showing that Mark was probably twice in Rome. 8. Contents. — Mark's Gospel is graphic, realistic, pic- turesque, vivid in description, concise, yet touched with minute detail that give life to the narrative. It is a photo- graphic representation of the ministry of Jesus. It was a Gospel for the businesslike and practical Roman. It pre- sents Jesus as the God-man and the miracle-worker. Ara- luke's gospel: contents. 79 maic expressions and Hebrew customs are explained for his Roman readers (see 3:17; 5:41; 7:3,4,11,34; 14: 36), and Latin words and idioms are frequent, as " legion," "centurion," " quadrantes," " Alexander and Rufus." A large part of the matter is common with Mat- thew and Luke. Two miracles, a parable and the incident of the young man only are peculiar to Mark. The last twelve verses, Mark 16 : 9-20, may have been added by him or another writer before the Gospel was put in circu- lation, as they are wanting in some ancient copies. 9. Luke's Gospel. — As Mark's Gospel represents the teaching of Peter, so the third Gospel represents the teach- ing of Paul. That this Gospel and The Acts were written by the same person is fairly proven by the opening sen- tence of the respective books (compare Luke 1 : 3 with Acts 1 : 1), and also by the structure and style of the two treatises. History testifies that Luke was a physician (Col. 4 : 14), a Greek, a companion of Paul (2 Tim. 4 : 11). The internal evidence from the books themselves confirm this testimony. From 100 to 400 medical terms have been pointed out in Luke and The Acts. 10. Contents. — The characteristics of Luke's Gospel are a copious vocabulary, better Greek, and more detailed narra- tive than in either of the other Gospels. A large amount of the matter is peculiar to Luke. Six miracles, sixteen para- bles, the birth of Jesus, the visit of the shepherds, the presen- tation in the temple, the boy Jesus with the doctors, mission of the seventy, almost the entire Peraean ministry, the walk to Emmaus, and many other details, are given by Luke alone. These are in addition to the matter given in com- mon with Matthew and Mark. Hence Luke's was the Gospel for the Greeks, the Gentile readers of his age. It 80 John's gospel. is a candid, manly, conscientious, orderly, history of the Christian religion established by the apostles and attested to the writer by these eye-witnesses. ii. John's Gospel. — Ancient historical evidence uni- formly testified that the Apostle John was the writer of the Fourth Gospel. His authorship of it was fiercely assailed in the nineteenth century, but the discussions and recent discoveries have strengthened the historic evi- dence. It was ascribed to John by Irenaeus, a pupil of Polycarp, the friend and companion of John, by Clement, and is quoted by Justin Martyr, and was combined in the Diatessaron, or Harmony of the Four Gospels, by Tatian, c. 170 a. D., of which Arabic and Armenian versions have lately been found. 1 The internal evidence from the book itself is also strong, proving that the writer was a Pales- tinian Jew, an eye-witness, the " apostle whom Jesus.loved," and, therefore, John, the son of Zebedee. In the face of this irrefragable evidence, the late efforts to deny that John wrote the Fourth Gospel, because a plain fisherman would not be qualified to write such a book, or that the same person could not be the author of the book of Revelation and of so dissimilar a work as the Gospel, are shallow and savor of "begging the question " under color of specious argument. Few would believe a priori that a poor tinker like Bunyan could have written the most famous uninspired book in the world, the Pilgrim' s Pro- gress ; yet no sane person doubts that Bunyan did write it. And who can doubt that the Apostle John, taught three years by a divine Teacher, followed by a long life of study, observation and experience in Christian truth, and guided by the Holy Spirit, could write the Gospel ascribed to him, 1 See also "Authorship of the Fourth Gospel," Ezra Abbot, Boston. CHARACTER AND CONTENTS : THE ACTS. 81 and also possess versatility enough to write a work like the Revelation ? Literary writers on secular topics of far less training and experience show a wide versatility. 12. Character and Contents. — From early times it has been called the "Spiritual Gospel." It draws aside the veil revealing to us " the heart of Christ," the mystery of the Son of God and Son of man, in a sublimity of thought, a depth of spiritual philosophy and a wealth of language that lift us into a new world, giving us a glimpse of heavenly and eternal realities. He aims to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 20:31. His Gospel declares Jesus as Creator, Messiah, Son of God, his glory flashing forth among the Jews in miracles and divine teachings. He gives long personal discourses on the deepest things of God and religion. It is peculiar in these respects and in declar- ing events that preceded and attended the beginnings of human history. It alone narrates the Judsean ministry of Jesus, presenting a series of divine manifestations and mighty conflicts between the powers of darkness and the Author of Light and Life. 1 13. The Acts. — The Acts has been described as the second historical book, 2 of which the third Gospel is the first. It is the sequel, or supplement, to that Gospel. Historical testimony, internal evidence and undesigned coincident testimony combine to show that The Acts was written by Luke, the "beloved physician," the companion of Paul. The theory that The Acts is of composite or unknown authorship has been argued by some modern 1 See "Commentary on John," revised edition, 1900. By Edwin W. Rice, D. D., pp. 17-24. 2 Prof. W. M. Ramsay, in " Nelson's Bible Treasury." 1896. 82 THE THEME AND CONTENTS: PAUL'S EPISTLES. critics/ but has no historic, and slender evidential support, nor does it explain the facts as satisfactorily as the historic view that Luke was the author. 2 " Of all the companions of St. Paul," says Prof. Sanday, " Luke is the one who best satisfies the conditions of the problem, and he is named by an unwavering tradition." The Theme and Contents. — The theme of the book may be regarded chiefly as the Acts of Peter and Paul. The narrative centres about the mission work of these great apostles. It records briefly in the first part (chaps, i to 12) the beginnings of Christianity at Jerusalem, the pentecostal gift of the Holy Spirit, the evangelizing power of the apostles in the face of persecution from Jewish rulers, the plea of Stephen the martyr, the spread of Christianity to Samaria by Philip the evangelist, by Peter to Gentiles in Judaea, and by Barnabas and Saul in Antioch and Syria. The second part (chaps. 13 to 28) treats of Paul's three missionary journeys to Cyprus, Asia Minor, Macedonia and Achaia; his arrest; his defence before the Sanhedrin, before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, and, after two years in prison at Caesarea, his appeal to Caesar, his voyage and shipwreck, and arrival at Rome, where, while prisoner for two years, he preached. And with this the narrative abruptly ends. 14. Paul's Epistles. — Thirteen of the Epistles (not counting Hebrews) claim the apostle Paul as their author. They all belong to the latter half of Paul's apos- tolic ministry. They are placed in four groups, according 1 " History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age." Prof. A. C. McGiffert, D. D. New York, 1897, pp. 237, 433 ff. 2 " Blass. Acta Apostolorum ; " Prof. W. M. Ramsay ; A. C. Head- lam in " Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible; " Art., Acts. ROMANS: 1 AND 2 CORINTHIANS. 83 to dates. See sec. 3. Some have seen related doctrines prominent in the Epistles of each of these groups, as: (1) The Lord's second coming; (2) justification by faith; (3) the person of Christ, and (4) pastoral duties. Ten of them were used by the heretic Marcion (c. 140 A. d.), and are generally accepted as genuine. The three pastoral Epistles to Timothy and Titus are still questioned by some critics, but have been maintained as genuine by unanswerable evidences. All the thirteen are distinctly recognized in the Muratorian Fragment, a historical docu- ment written about 170 a. d. Four epistles, 1 and 2 Corin- thians, Romans and Galatians have been universally admitted, practically without question, to be by Paul. The others are supported by the strongest external and internal evidences. 15. Romans. — This was written to disciples at Rome, which the apostle had not then visited, and belongs to the second group of his letters. It begins with proof of the universal guilt of mankind, of God's gift of righteousness by faith, of Christ and his righteousness offered for all, of Israel and the salvation of Gentiles, of various duties as Christians in society, the State and the Church, and ends with salutations from the apostle and six or eight of his fellow-laborers to nearly thirty Christians by name at Rome. 16. 1 and 2 Corinthians. — These epistles belong also to the second group, and were written to the disciples, in Corinth, a wealthy, worldly, licentious Greek city. In the first letter, after salutation, Paul rebukes their factious and sectarian spirit, and their sinful intercourse with heathen, in impurity and lawsuits, then answers their letter to him about marriage and heathen feasts, gives advice 84 GALATIANS \ EPHESIAN-s. respecting public worship, on spiritual gifts, on love, and closes with a declaration of the doctrine of the resurrec- tion. In the second letter, after salutation and an explanation of his change of plan, that disappointed them, Paul com- mends their wise action in a case of discipline, and urges a collection for poor saints at Jerusalem, affirms his apostolic authority, and his independence of support among them, and closes with warnings and Christian salutations. 17. Galatians. — This letter was addressed to a group of churches in Galatia. The topics and treatment resemble those in the letter to the Romans. The contents have been roughly put into three parts — personal, doctrinal, practical. (1) Paul answers for his apostolic authority and his gospel by sketching his divine call, his recognition by apostles, his controversy with Peter. (2) He teaches that faith is greater than Judaism, and can alone save, since the law does not destroy it, refers to the past zeal of the Galatians and to their present coldness. (3) Urges them to use their liberty not as license, but in love, with sympathy and liberality, and warns them against falling back into Judaism ; he glories in the cross of Christ. 18. Ephesians. — From the absence of the usual saluta- tions, and from the omission of the words " to the saints which are at Ephesus," in two ancient manuscripts, it has been inferred that this letter was originally sent to a group of churches of which Ephesus may have been the chief. It belongs to the third group of epistles, those of the imprisonment. The apostle treats of the power and grace of Christ, the privileges and unity of the saints in Christ, and closes by urging them to walk worthy of their calling, privileges PHILIPPIANS: CHARACTER AND CONTENTS. 85 and gifts, not like the old man of sin, but the new man in Christ; tells of the relation of husband and wife, of chil- dren and parents, of the armor of God, and asks for their prayers in his trials. 19. Philippians. — It is generally admitted that Paul wrote this epistle, the historic evidence being very strong for it. Tertullian, 200 a. d., affirms that it was all along read and acknowledged by the church of Philippi. Character and Contents. — It has a strong personal char- acter, breaking out in warm salutation, thanksgiving and prayer, and a cheerful report of his personal circumstances, imprisonment, and of the gospel in Rome. He urges humility from the humility of Christ, tells of his intended movements, warns against Judaism, formalism and mistak- ing liberty for unlawful license, rejoices in the aid sent by them, closing with a joyful benediction. 20. Colossians. — The peculiar phrase and style of this epistle has caused some recent critics to question its Pauline authorship. But the historic testimony is practically unbroken, and the late objection from apparent novelty in language and teaching as compared with Paul's earlier epistles have small weight against uniform testimony, and the conceded fitness of the epistle to Paul's known circum- stances. 21. Character and Contents. — It strongly resembles the letter to the Ephesians, written about the same time. After salutation, thanksgiving and prayer, the apostle declares Christ as the Redeemer, the image of God, head of all things. To him they owe their reconciliation, and should, therefore, be steadfast. He then warns them to cling to Christ — that old ordinances are done away by Christ, and formal and angel worship should not be ; they have died 86 1 AND 2 THESSALONIANS. in him and should live to Christ; passions should be restrained, graces cultivated, daily and domestic duties practiced ; his personal state would be given by Tychi- cus. He closes with salutations and a message about Mark and about his own epistles. Seventy-eight of 155 verses of Ephesians have expressions like those found in the Colossians. 22. 1 a?id 2 Thessalonia?is. — The external evidence that these letters were written by Paul is full, uniform, and has not been successfully questioned. Some modern critics have argued that, because the language and subjects differed from the later epistles ascribed to Paul, he could not be the author. Or, from the unlikeness of the others, these could not, nor could either of them have been Paul's. Thus they argue in a circle. But their theories have been repeatedly shown to be untenable. The Thessalonian letters are generally held to be by Paul and the earliest written of his epistles. 23. Topics of 1 Thessaloniafis. — The great theme of this letter is the second coming of Christ. Paul warmly recognizes their faith and works, chap. 1 ; excuses and defends his sudden and reluctant departure from them, chap. 2 ; tells of his love, joy and prayers for them, chap. 3 ; exhorts them to live godly, holy, loving, industrious lives, because the Lord will come, chap. 4; for whose coming they should watch joyfully, and gives various precepts for right daily living, chap. 5. 24. Topics of 2 Thessalonians. — The purpose of 2 Thes- salonians was briefly to encourage the readers under perse- cution to correct mistaken inferences from his first letter, and to guard them against unauthorized teaching. A marked passage, like an episode, is the prediction of "a 1 AND 2 TIMOTHY, AUTHOR. 87 falling away from the faith," chap. 2 : 1-12, probably refer- ring to two great tendencies, to secular ambition and to ungodly socialism, a sign of the coming of Christ in power and glory. 25. 1 and 2 Timothy, Author. — These with Titus and Philemon have been called pastoral epistles. The first two belong to the latest group of Paul's Epistles. From their marked individuality some modern critics argue that Paul could not have been the author. But the conjecture that the Epistles to Timothy are from a later, or the second century, has proved untenable, their peculiarity accounted for and their Pauline authorship abundantly confirmed. Within the second century the first epistle was universally accepted as Paul's, and a similar condition has been main- tained in regard to the second epistle. 26. Topics in 1 Timothy. — Paul instructs Timothy to reprove wrong speculations, to preach the gospel as Paul had done \ gives rules for public prayer, for conduct of women, for choosing of bishops and deacons, tells him how to conduct himself, advises respecting widows, elders, servants, heresy, covetousness, the rich and fidelity. 27. Topic of 2 Timothy. — This has uniformly been regarded as Paul's farewell message to his spiritual son, Timothy. Paul warmly commends Timothy, with grief mentions the defection, the heresy of some, refers to the kindness of Onesiphorus, urges Timothy to faithfulness and constancy in face of enemies, tells of perilous times from evil men ; rejoices that Timothy was early trained in the Jewish Scriptures, charges him to be firm, then declares that his own (Paul's) course is run, and closes with affec- tionate words for fellow-laborers and friends. 28. Titus. — This short letter is conspicuous for Pauline 88 TITUS : HEBREWS, AUTHORSHIP. characteristics. It tells Titus the qualifications for elders, the bad character of the Cretans, the duty of various classes called to be Christians, bases exhortations upon what Christ has done for them, and closes with personal messages and greetings. 29. Philemon. — This short, loving letter was written in behalf of a runaway slave, who had found his way to Rome and been led to Christ. Paul would gladly have retained him, but sent him back to his master, Philemon, urging the master to be considerate and receive the servant into his confidence again. Philemon seems to have been a loving, faithful disciple, probably having Apphia for his wife and Archippus for his son, a delightful Christian household. 30. Hebrews, Authorship. — Among the Eastern churches in ancient times the epistle to the Hebrews was generally accepted as the work of Paul. A few held that Paul might have written an original letter in Hebrew, which some dis- ciple translated and perhaps expanded it from other teach- ings of the apostle. Pantsenus of Alexandria declares that Paul wrote it, as Eusebius reports. But the western churches hesitated to receive this epistle, for they were not assured that it was written by Paul. In the fourth century the West accepted it as Paul's, and it was universally received as part of Scripture. Origen said it has thoughts worthy of Paul, but who wrote it only God certainly knows. The Westminster Confession accepts it as canoni- cal, but does not include it among the Epistles of Paul. The prevailing view is now that Paul was not the author. It must be remembered that its present title was not prefixed by the author, but is of comparatively recent date. The arguments which are used to prove that Paul was not the CHARACTER : CATHOLIC EPISTLES. 89 author are almost equally strong against Luke or any dis- ciple of Paul. Of others suggested the most probable are Barnabas or Apollos. There is no historic testimony for Apollos, but there is some external evidence in favor of Barnabas, since Tertullian refers to him as the writer to the Hebrews. But the authorship is an unsettled question. It was written, probably, to the Jews in Palestine, and the greeting with which it ends leads to the inference that it was written from Rome. 31. Character. — The great theme of the epistle is the superiority of Christ to Moses, of his priesthood to that of Aaron, and of which Milchizedek was the type. Upon this is based a strong exhortation for the Hebrew Christians not to fall back from the faith of Christ into Mosaic wor- ship. The new way and dispensation had all the strength and glory of the old, with the added glory that it is not transitory, but eternal. The eleventh chapter contains a notable definition of faith, and a magnificent panegyric concerning the sublime faith of the Old Testament heroes. It closes by commending the exercise of this faith to the readers, and to the daily practice of various Christian duties. 32. Catholic Epistles. — Since the fourth century seven epistles — James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2 and 3 John, Jude — have been called "The Catholic" or "General Epistles." The term was probably first applied to three only (James, 1 Peter and 1 John), but later to the entire seven. The term implies that the letters were primarily intended for a wider circle of readers than a single congregation of Chris- tians. This appears to be the case with five of the letters, while two of them (2 and 3 John) are addressed to indi- viduals. In some ancient Greek manuscripts these epistles 90 JAMES, THE AUTHOR. were placed next to The Acts and before Paul's Epistles, as elsewhere stated. Five of these short books were classed among the Antilegomena — literally, "spoken against," because some questioned them ; so they were not univer- sally accepted among early Christians until about the fourth century. The Council of Laodicea, 364 a. d., and the Council of Carthage, 397 a. d., listed them as accepted. 33. James, The Author. — The James who wrote this epistle was evidently known to the Jews of " the disper- sion," to whom it was addressed, and whose pastoral authority was not questioned. He was not James, the son of Zebedee, for the letter was written after the persecution in which Herod slew that James. The facts respecting James, the "bishop" of Jerusalem (Acts 1,5:13; Gal. 2 : 9), best suits the external and internal evidence in regard to the author of this epistle. James of Jerusalem is held by many to be the same as "James, the Lord's brother." Gal. 1 : 19. The eastern church also regarded that James as the son of Joseph and Mary, or the son of Joseph by a former marriage. But Jerome says James, the author of this epistle, is the same as "James the less," son of Alphaeus, a cousin of the Lord. The term "brother" was sometimes used broadly to include cousins. In the latter case this James would be one of the twelve apostles. Either view has grave difficul- ties, and the matter is unsettled. The epistle was accepted from the first by Syrian Chris- tians and is in the Syriac version. Later it was received by the eastern churches generally, and finally by all, as Scripture. Luther questioned it from a mistaken view of its teachings, thinking it contrary to those of Paul. But CHARACTER AND TOPICS. 91 Prof. Sanday and others have proved that the two agree in opposing Pharisaic orthodoxy. The date of the epistle has been placed by some at 44 to 50. This would make it the earliest of New Testament writings. Others with greater probability put it about 60 to 63 a. d., since this would give time for the growth of practices and doctrines reproved in the epistle. 34. Character and Topics. — The Epistle of James is a collection of moral precepts — the New Testament "Book of Proverbs." His theme is: "Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only." 1:22. Ask wisdom, resist tempta- tions, show kindness to poor and rich, avoid boasting, have faith that works (chaps. 1, 2), control the tongue, avoid strife, trust in God's providence (chaps. 3, 4), be patient in trials, pray over the sick, win souls (chap. 5). These are a few of the many topics of this epistle rich in instruction. 35. 1 Peter. — This epistle is strongly attested as the work of Peter. Traces of its early use and internal evidence point to Peter as the author. It was written for Jewish Christians in Asia Minor, unless the first sentence of the letter is to be taken in a broad spiritual sense, as meaning spiritual exiles bound for the heavenly Canaan. See 1 Peter 2:11. This view is possible, but the literal meaning seems more natural and consistent. The place and date are uncertain, possibly from Rome (if Peter was ever there), and about 60-65 A - D - 36. Character and Topics. — It aims to give hope under persecution, proclaiming Christ, his incarnation, sacrifice and the new birth, exhorting to faithful living, to hope through holiness and holiness through Christ (chaps. 1, 2). This leads him to urge blameless living — in the family, 92 2 PETER. THE AUTHORSHIP. and society, and when persecuted (chaps. 3, 4), to obedi- ence and fidelity in faith, which perfects Christian character (chap. 5). 37. 2 Peter, The Authorship. — This is sharply disputed now. Its genuineness was questioned widely even in the early church. It was the last book to take its place as New Testament Scripture. But after this searching ques- tioning it was admitted. Origen, Eusebius and Jerome refer to doubts respecting its genuineness, but the latter says they were due to its differences in style and thought from the first epistle, which he ascribes to the use of differ- ent interpreters by Peter ; that is, secretaries. Prof. San- day regards this as a probable view, and this may also explain its resemblance to the Epistle of Jude. It resem- bles Jude in an allusion to false teachers, to rebel angels, to Sodom, and to corruptors like Balaam. There are two leading views in regard to the authorship. (1) Either it is by Peter, as it claims to be; or (2) it is a forgery. The latter view is held by some modern critics. 1 But against this view many critics urge that wilful forgery is disproved by internal evidence. Moreover, the writer was familiar with the contents of the first epistle (see 2 Pet. 3 : 1). Now, a wilful forger writing the second would have been likely to imitate the first epistle in his introduc- tion and closing, or doxology, and to have used elsewhere similar expressions to the first in order to have his work appear genuine. Neither of these has the writer done, as we would expect a forger to do. Two forged works pur- porting to be by Peter, lately discovered, show how inferior the forgeries usually were to the second epistle. Again, this epistle has many verbal coincidences with Mark's 1 See Principal Chase in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible. JOHN S EPISTLES. 93 Gospel written under Peter's influence, and with Peter's addresses reported in The Acts. 1 The question, however, is still an open one, though the work has been and still is accepted as that of Peter. 38. John' s Epistles. — Three epistles in the New Testa- ment are ascribed to John. The first was generally received by the early church as written by John, the "beloved disciple," and one of the twelve. It was used by Polycarp and Papias, disciples of John, and also by Irenaeus, Clement and Tertullian. The three epistles are also in the earliest lists of New Testament books, about 1 70 a. d. In contents and style the first epistle agrees well with the fourth Gospel. It was intended to guard against false teachings, and to confirm the faith of believers in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God. It was probably first written for Christians at Ephesus and that region. The second and third Epistles of John were widely but not universally received as the letters of John, although the writer calls himself elder or presbyter rather than apostle. The second letter was probably written to a per- son whose proper name was Kyria, or it is possible that the term was used in a figurative sense and meant the church ; possibly the church in this woman's house, similar to that in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (1 Cor. 16 : 19 ; Romans 16: 3, 5). It expresses joy for her sons, exhorts to love, warns against deceivers, and closes with a Christian greeting. The third epistle is addressed to Gaius, or more correctly Caius — possibly the same who is mentioned in 1 Cor. 1:14; Romans 16:23. The writer commends Gaius and his Christian hospitality, warns him against a false teacher, and commends to him the one who delivers the letter. 1 See Lumby in Speakers' Commentary. 94 JtTDE : REVELATION, THE AUTHOR. 39. Jude. — This short epistle was distinctly recognized by Clement, Tertullian, Origen and the author of the Muratorian Fragment. Which Jude was the " brother of James" partially depends upon which James is intended. Jude was not probably an apostle, or he would have written as an apostle. He cites some apocryphal books, as book of Enoch, and Origen says Assumption of Moses. But Paul cites from heathen poets, so that this fact should not affect its authority. His epistle has striking resemblances to the second Epistle of Peter. This has been explained on the supposition that the two writers used a common document, but later critics regard the resemblances either as coincidences, or suppose that the second letter of Peter may have been unconsciously influenced by the language and expression of Jude. It was apparently written for Jews in Palestine, 64-67 a. d. Contents. — After greeting, the writer warns against false teachers, who will share the fate of unbelievers, of fallen angels and of Sodom. They resemble Cain and Balaam, and are those of whom Enoch foretold. Believers are to keep themselves in the love of God. 40. Revelation, The Author. — The external evidence for the Apostle John as the author of the Apocalypse or Revel- ation is clear and strong. It was so received by the western church, and upon this book the first known com- mentary in the New Testament was written. It was made by Melito, bishop of Sardis, and the book is quoted repeatedly by Justin Martyr and Papias. The eastern church, however, hesitated to admit the work to be John's, and to put it with New Testament literature, apparently because of certain millenarian views. Hence Dionysius of Alexandria suggested it was possibly written by another THEMES AND CONTENTS. 95 John, a presbyter, basing his idea upon the differences of style and expression in it, as compared with those in the fourth Gospel. But these differences can be accounted for by the different circumstances under, which the two works were written. The date of the writing is yet unsettled, some being disposed to place it quite early before the destruction of Jerusalem, and others quite late, in the last decade of the first century. 41. Themes and Contents. — The interpretation of this confessedly obscure book is one of the most difficult of Biblical problems. Clearly the work is full of symbols, and is written in symbolic language. After an introduction and a description of the speaker there follow seven themes or sections : (1) Messages to seven churches of Asia, chaps. 1-3. (2) A vision of the court of heaven, the sealed book and the opening of seven seals, chaps. 4-7. (3) The seven trumpets, chaps. 9-1 1. (4) Seven symbolic figures, sun-clothed woman, red dragon and war, man-child, seven -headed beast out of the sea, two-horned beast from the earth, the Lamb on Zion, the cloud-borne Son of man, chaps. 12-14. (5) Seven angels with seven plagues in seven golden bowls, chaps. 15, 16. (6) Judgment of Christ's foes, marriage of the Lamb, Satan bound, chaps. 17-20. (7) New heaven and new earth, with farewell words, chaps. 21, 22. There are three groups of interpretations of the Revela- tion of John: (1) That it predicted events connected with the fall of Jerusalem and persecutions of disci- ples. (2) That it predicts future changes attending the end of the world. (3) That it is being gradually fulfilled in the course of human history. Attempts to give a detailed application of its symbols to special events or 96 TABLE OF NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS. great crises in history have not been generally satisfactory. It may be regarded as presenting a panoramic view, a series of great symbolic pictures of the periods or long eras — eons — of history to the end of the Christian dispen- sation. It is intended to give comfort under daily bur- dens, courage in facing terrible persecutions and sufferings, and solid peace and hope in view of the glories that await the disciples of the Lord in the City of God. Thus, while the Old Testament begins with the Creator and closes with an impending curse, the New Testament begins with a Saviour and ends with a benediction. Table of New Testament Books. By whom, to whom, when and where written, and the subject of each book. N. B. — The dates are approximate only. The place of writing is also not certain. The titles of the books and the statement at the end of the Epistles in our English version are not by the original writer, but were added by some subsequent hand. Book, Matt.... Mark... Luke ... John Acts Rom.... i Cor.... 2 Cor Gal Eph Phil Col i Thess. Whiter. Matthew. Mark Luke John Luke Paul Where Written. Judaea — Rome (?)., Caesarea or Rome(?) Ephesus or Patmos 1 .. Rome Corinth .... Ephesus ... Mac'donia Ephesus... Rome Date. 60-64 1. 60-67... 58-65-. 85-90 2 61, 66... 58 57 To Whom. 57 57, 58- 61-63..., 61-63. 61-63., .Corinth .... 53. I I Jewish Christ'ns Roman Christ'ns Theophilus All Christians.... Theophilus Roman Christ'ns Ch. at Corinth... Ch. at Galatia... Ch. at Ephesus.. Ch. at Philippi.. Ch. at Colosse.. Ch. atThessal'a Topic. Jesus the Messiah. Jesus the Son of Man. Jesus the World's Redeemer. Jesus the Eternal Son of God. Planting of Apos- tolic Churches. Sin and Grace. [Unity and Resur- rection in Christ. Christian Graces. Salvation by Faith. Principles, Life and Unity of the Church. Personal Counsels. Correcting False Doctrines. Holiness aiid Sec- ond Coming. 1 A Hebrew original may have been written as early as 45 A. d. 2 Whether the last chapter is an appendix or not, it is quite clear that 21 : 24, 25 was added, probably by the Church at Ephesus, before the publication of the gos- pel. Thus it may have been written while John was first at Ephesus, but not cir- culated until his exile in Patmos. I 1 ABLE OF NEW TESTAMENT BOOKS. 97 Table of New Testament Books — Continued. Book. 2 Thess. i Tim... 2 Tim... Titus.... Philem., Heb James... i Peter.. 2 Peter. i John.., 2 John.., 3 John.., Jude Rev.. Writers. Paul Corinth.... Paul, Barnabas or Apollos (?) a James, brother of the Lord (?) Simon Peter Apostle John. Jude Apostle John. Where Written, Date. To Whom. 53- Mac'donia 57 or 65 1 Rome 64 or 67 1 65 Mac'donia Rome Italy (?).... Jerusalem. Babylon... Ch. at Thessal'a, Timothy 61-63 63-66 45 or 63 64 Titus Philemon. Judaean Chris'ns [Scattered Jewish Christians . jTo all Christians Topic. Ephesus... J90-95 ! Believers.... " ... j " 'Elect Lady. ' " iGaius Jerusalem, Patmos (?) 65-68.. .. Jewish Chris'ns. 68 or 96 , Seven ch's, Asia. Correcting Wrong Views of First Letter. Duties of Church Officers. Triumphant Faith. Special Rules f o r the Pastor. Freedom and Sla- very. Christ's Priesthood Superior to the Mosaic. Works, Faith and Prayer. Duties of Christians to One Another. A New Heaven and Earth. Redeeming Love. Obedience to Christ. Personal Piety. Against Dangerous Doctrines. The Church in Con- flict and Glory. 1 The date depends upon whether there was a second imprisonment of Paul at Rome. If there was, the latter date is the correct one. -Opinions of critical scholars are now divided between the three, with the ten- dency strong against the Pauline authorship of Hebrews. CHAPTER VIII. THE OLD TESTAMENT : HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK — THE OLD TESTAMENT A GROWTH — EARLY COLLECTIONS — GREEK SEPTUAGINT — MISHNA AND SYNOD OF JAMNIA — TESTI- MONY OF JOSEPHUS — EZRA AND THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE — WHAT NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS SAY — OLD TESTAMENT BOOKS QUOTED IN THE NEW — ORDER OF THE BOOKS — CATALOGUES — OLD TESTAMENT AMONG CHRISTIANS. i. The Old Testament a Growth. — The writings of the New Testament were all written and gathered into one collection within a single century. The writings compris- ing the Old Testament were written in different centuries stretching over a period of at least one thousand years. They were the outgrowth of great eras in the Hebrew national life. They span ten centuries from Moses and the Exodus to the Restoration and the era of Ezra and Malachi. As in the building of a vast, magnificent palace, so the production and gathering into one book of these marvel- lous writings of the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms in- volved a gradual process. Precisely how and when all the Old Testament books were separated from other writings, and were accepted among the Jews themselves as of divine authority, is still veiled in much obscurity. The collection appears to have been complete and clearly defined in the period of the persecution by Antiochus, about 168 b. c. For in that period " sacred books" were sought out and (98) EARLY COLLECTIONS. 99 burnt, and the possession of a book of the Covenant ex- posed the possessor to the penalty of death. 2. Early Collections. — Over two thousand years ago the Hebrew Sacred Scriptures were recognized as comprising three portions, the Law, the Prophets, the " writings " (Hebrew, K'thubhim). The third part was often referred to as the Psalms, the Greek title being Hagiographa — " Holy Writings." These divisions and the designations of them were certainly known two generations before Ben Sirach and as early as 170 b. c l For he records how his grandfather gave himself to the study of "the Law," "the Prophets "and " the other books." This threefold division is also clearly recognized by numerous references in the Old Testament as " the law of Moses, and the Pro- phets, and the Psalms." Luke 24:44. Compare also Matt. 22 : 40 ; Acts 28 : 23. The three portions were also recognized as one collec- tion, and called the "Scriptures." Mark 12:24; Luke 24: 27, 44, 45 ; John 5 : 39 ; 2 Tim. 3 : 15. The internal evidence from the books themselves proves that a collection called the " Law " or " Law of Moses," was made at a very early period. Ezra read to the people "in the book of the law of God" seven days. Nehemiah 8. It was that collection which was found by Hilkiah the priest in the reign of Josiah. 2 Chron. 34: 15. The book of the law * was systematically taught to the nation by a delegation of teachers appointed under the royal authority of Jehosha- phat. 2 Chron. 17:7-9. Joshua also read "all the words" "in the book of the law" of Moses after the Hebrews entered Canaan. Josh. 8:32-35. This shows that a collection known as the law existed from the time 1 Buhl, Canon and Text, O. T., p. 11. 100 THE GREEK SEPTUAGINT. of Moses and was accepted as having divine authority. Precisely when the other portions were accepted is uncer- tain. The approximate dates suggested, as the result of the study of historical data handed down to our time, will be given further on. 3. The Greek Septuagint. — During the first centuries of the Christian era and before, there was in common use a Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures known as the Sep- tuagint ; that is " seventy," so called because seventy trans- lators were supposed to have made the version. Along with the books accepted by Palestinian Jews were placed certain other writings which were sometimes read or quoted as if they possessed an authority similar to the generally accepted sacred books themselves. Sharp controversies between the Jews and their opponents caused the distinc- tion between this Greek collection and the strict Hebrew Scriptures to be defined, and those held to be of divine authority were limited to the books now comprising the Hebrew Old Testament. The origin and early history of this Greek version, as well as what books it comprised, are very imperfectly known. The version appears to have disregarded the threefold divi- sion of the books common among the Jews, although that grouping was not an uncommon one among Greek-speak- ing Jews. Ben Sirach in his preface to the Greek version of the Apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus refers to this triple division. While the Alexandrian collection included several books now of the Apocrypha, yet these were more or less of a religious character. The Vatican MS. (b) has the book of Wisdom, Ben Sirach, additions to Esther, Daniel and Ezra, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, and the letter of Jeremiah, besides THE MISHNA AND SYNOD OF JAMNIA. 101 the canonical books. The Alexandrian MS. (a) has all these and four books of Maccabees, and the prayer of Manasseh, and probably had the Psalms of Solomon, as a list of contents indicates. It is evident, however, that the Alexandrians had no Canon as distinct from the Palestinian Jews. 1 But even the Alexandrians would not include among the volumes of sacred books works like those of Philo. This fact has been urged as proof of an independent Alexan- drian Canon. If taken in connection with other known facts, however, it gives no support to such a view, but may rather be regarded as disproving it. 2 The most that can be claimed from the existing copies of the Septuagint is that at the time the translation was made the precise extent of the third division of the Jew- ish Scriptures had not perhaps been finally settled. 4. The Mishna and Synod of Jam?iia. — The controver- sies among the Jews over the teachings of Jesus and his disciples probably gave rise to a fresh discussion respecting the books actually recognized as of divine authority by the Hebrews. These questions came up before the Jewish Synod at Jabne (Jamnia near Jaffa), about 90 a. d. This Jewish Council did not attempt to select a list of sacred books, but simply to declare what books were and had been universally acknowledged among them as sacred. Their decree in regard to the Scriptures included all the books now in the Hebrew Canon and no others. The fact that a few among the Zealots, Sadducees and 1 " We cannot, therefore, speak of a Canon of the Alexandrines in the strict sense of the word." Buhl, Canon of O. T. f p. 47. " The Alexandrians knew no fixed Canon." Wildeboer, Origin of the Canon, p. 33. See also Green, Introduction and Canon, p. 127 ff ! See Green, Introduction and Canon, pp. 125-130. 102 TESTIMONY OF JOSEPHUS. Samaritans dissented from the views of the majority shows that the historical testimony was carefully sifted, and the facts ascertained and declared by the great assembly. The smaller heretical sects had doctrinal and not historical reasons for their dissent. Thus the Synod considered the historical facts in respect to the books that had and had not been accepted among them as divine. This declara- tion was further confirmed later by the Mishna, both re- stricting the Hebrew Canonical books to the " 24 writ- ings," including Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. It is well known that the Hebrews reckoned our twelve Minor Prophets as one book, our two books of Samuel as one, also our two books of Kings one, and our two of Chronicles, and that they joined Ezra and Nehemiah in one, thus reducing our thirty-nine to twenty-four books. The origin of the division of Samuel, Kings, Chronicles and Ezra, each into two books, is in obscurity. It appears in the Bomberg Bible, 15 21. And Jerome alludes to each of them as "double" books, but it is not clear whether he means the Hebrew or the Greek or the Latin versions. The decree of Jamnia is of special interest because it in- dicates the collection which our Lord and the New Testa- ment writers cite from or refer to as the Scriptures. 5. Testimony of Josephns. — The early Christians, espec- ially those who were formerly Jews, in quoting the Old Testament books in arguments with Jews, would require to know what books the Hebrews accepted as sacred. Their hopes concerning the Messiah, the doctrines of their reli- gion, and the truth of the things taught by Jesus, were all to be proved by these Scriptures. What books, then, were comprised in the Hebrew Scriptures? The Jewish writer Josephus, about 38-110 a. d., recognizes a definite and dis- TESTIMONY OF JOSEPH US. 103 tinct body of books as divine. From his writings and other statements, the Hebrew Scriptures current at that period can be accurately determined. Josephus says : "We have not tens of thousands of books, discordant and conflicting, but only twenty-two, containing the record of all time, which have been justly believed divine. And of these five are the books of Moses. . . . The prophets who succeeded Moses wrote what was done in thirteen books The remaining four books, embrace hymns to God and counsel for men for the con- duct of life. From Artaxerxes until our time every- thing has been recorded, but has not been deemed worthy of like credit with what preceded, because the exact succession of the prophets ceased. But what faith we have placed in our own writings is evident by our conduct, for though so long a time has now passed, no one has dared either to add anything to them, or to take anything from them, or to alter anything in them. But it is instinc- tive in all Jews at once from their very birth to regard them as commands of God, and to abide by them, and, if need be, willingly to die for them." Contra Apion., i : 8. Josephus here reckons the number of the books, twenty- two in accord with some of the Jews of his time. Com- monly they were counted twenty-four as already stated. By regarding Ruth as an appendix to Judges, and Lamen- tations as part of Jeremiah, the whole number was made twenty-two (equal to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet), a method followed by Josephus. Efforts to dis- credit this testimony, on the ground that Josephus was stat- ing his personal opinion, and not the current belief of his people, have signally failed, for his testimony is strongly sustained by other historical evidences. 1 1 See Green, Introduction and Canon, p. 38 ff. Ryle, Canon, p. 160 ff. 104 EZRA AND THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE. The decree of Jamnia, the writings of Philo, and Jewish literature for two centuries next to the Christian era com- bine to confirm the general accuracy of Josephus' state- ment. The Jewish dissent from the strict Hebrew Canon was small and partial and can easily be accounted for. The disturbed conditions of Hebrew life after the restoration, the persecutions, wars and heresies that sprang up partly from mingling with Gentiles, fully account for these com- paratively few dissenting views. The Samaritans accepted the five books of Moses only, rejecting the former and later prophets and the other books of the Hebrew Canon. But they held Gerizim to be the central place of worship, and hence rejected the books which pointed to Jerusalem as that place, as may be in- ferred from the talk between Christ and the woman of Samaria. John 4. The Sadducees also held heretical views in regard to the resurrection and the future state, and hence loose views in respect to the Hebrew Canon. The Essenes, according to Josephus (Wars, 2:8, 7), also accepted some special writings as sacred, but their charac- ter is unknown. The great body of the Hebrew people never questioned the divine authority of their sacred books, nor did they refer to apocryphal writings as having such authority. Even Philo does not use apocryphal writings as he does those of the Hebrew canon. Josephus expressly disclaims all divine authority for the apocryphal books. (See Con- tra Apion, 1 : 8.) 6. Ezra and the Great Synagogue. — The writer of Mac- cabees reports that Nehemiah " founded a library and gathered together the acts of the kings and prophets, and EZRA AND THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE. 105 the writings of David and the Epistles of the Kings con- cerning the holy gifts." 2 Mace. 2 : 13. This reads like a description of the Jewish Scriptures comprising the Prophets and the Psalms, with the other sacred writings usually classed with the Psalms in later times. The same writer also states that after Antiochus Epiphanes had tried to destroy the existing copies of the Jewish sacred books Judas Maccabaeus again "gathered together all those things that were lost by reason of the war we had, and they remain with us." 2 Mace. 2 : 14. Some hold that this describes the origin and closing of the third division of the Old Testament called the Hagio- grapha, " Holy Writings." But the context seems rather to imply, not the making of a collection, but rather the restoration of one before known and lost or scattered through the persecution of Antiochus. There is indeed an oral tradition reduced to writing at a later period that the collection of Old Testament books was made under divine appointment by Ezra or by 120 men of the so-called Great Synagogue. This tradition, though widely prevalent among the Jews for centuries, has no satisfactory historical basis. Whether the collection was or was not so made, it is certain that there was a complete collection before the Christian era, and that there was a book of the law, the germ of the collection of divine authority, which was known and accepted eight or ten centuries earlier. 1 The evidence on the whole points strongly to the third century b. c. as the date when the entire collection of Hebrew sacred Scriptures was completed and closed, al- though the certainty of this date is still an open question. ^uhl, Canon O. T., p. 10 ff. See 2 Chr. 34:15; Josh. 1:8; 8:34; Deut. 30: 10; 31 :26. 106 WHAT NEW TESTAMENT WRITERS SAY. 7. What New Testament Writers Say. — It is generally conceded that the New Testament writers recognized groups of sacred books, and quoted from them and from a collection also, which they regarded of divine authority. They represent Christ also as referring to them and quoting from them in attestation of his mission. The Hebrew Scriptures are frequently so cited under the titles "The Law," "The Law of Moses," or simply "Moses," and as "The Prophets," "The Psalms," or "The Writings;" that is, "The Scriptures." They do not so quote the apocryphal books. They are alluded to as a unit, one divine record ; " the Scriptures" in the broader sense. 1 Christ quoted the Jewish "Scriptures" as sacred books of divine authority. By "Scriptures" he did not refer simply to the K'tubhim or Hagiographa, that is, the so-called third group ; for the passages thus cited were frequently from the prophets, which belonged to the so-called second group. For example, "not knowing the Scriptures," Matt. 22:29, 31, evidently has reference to Ex. 3:6; and " how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled?" refers to Isa. 53: 10; and a similar phrase in Mark 15 : 28 is followed by a cita- tion from Isa. 53 : 12. 8. Old Testament Books Quoted in the New. — Not 1 For notice of the Old Testament books in the commonly-accepted groups see Matt. 5:17; 7:12; 12:5; 22:40; Mark 1:2; John 1:45; 7:19; 8:5; 15:25; Luke 10:26; 24:44. For reference to them as one work see Matt. 21 : 42 ; 22 : 29 ; 26 : 54 ; Mark 12 : 24; 14 : 49 ; Luke 24 : 27, 32, 45 ; John 5 : 39 ; Acts 1 7 : 2, 1 1 ; 18 : 24 ; Rom. 1:2; 15:4; 16:26; 1 Cor. 15:3; 2 Tim. 3:15; 2 Pet. 3:16. Those who assert that when Jesus referred to the group called the Psalms (which included all the books not in the groups of the law and of the prophets) he referred always to the single book of Psalms (which he did sometimes do), and never to the group so called, are simply " begging the question" at issue. HEBREW ORDER OF BOOKS. 1()7 less than thirty of the thirty-nine Old Testament books are quoted in the New Testament. Our Lord himself quotes from twenty of them. There are about 280 direct quotations (including those in Revelation) of passages and clauses, and about 220 references to incidents and indirect quotations in the New Testament (exclusive of Revela- tion) 1 from the Old Testament. The book of Revelation is almost a mosaic of thoughts, figures and expressions from the prophetic books of the Old Testament. 2 Again, the numerous citations in the Gospels and Epistles clearly indicate divisions in the Hebrew Scriptures recog- nized and well known in that era, while at the same time all these groups were known as one work, called, by way of eminence, " the Scriptures." 9. Hebrew Order of Books. — The order of the Old Testament books in the Hebrew Bible is not the same as in our common English Bibles. In the face of the rigid rules for making copies of the Hebrew Scriptures, the varia- tions found in Hebrew manuscripts and in Hebrew printed Bibles number about thirty thousand (some esti- mate two hundred thousand), but they are mostly quite unimportant. The Old Testament we have now is sub- stantially that of Ezra and Nehemiah and the " received text ' ' of our Lord's day, except as to the order of the books. 1 Some older writers roughly counted 265 direct quotations and 350 allusions in the New Testament from the Old. The tables in Bagster's " Helps to Bible Study " note about 850 such direct and indirect quotations and allusions. The tables in Oxford " Helps to the Study of the Bible " give a list of exact quotations and a somewhat less com- plete list of indirect quotations and allusions. 2 From a careful examination of the book of Revelation, it appears that in fifteen passages the book of Revelation uses the exact language and expressions of some Old Testament hooks, besides 129 distinct allusions to the Old Testament, and upwards of 100 less distinct references. 108 k'tubhim or hagiographa. The Hebrew order varied, but the following was a com- mon one: I. Pentateuch. — Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. II. Former Prophets. — Joshua, Judges, i and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings. III. Later Prophets. — {a) Greater: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. {b) Lesser : Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. IV. K'tubhim or Hagiographa. — {a) Psalms, Proverbs, Job. (6) Five Rolls : Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther. (V) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 and 2 Chronicles. 1 But the Massoretes had this order: Chroni- cles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah. It will be observed that the Hebrew Old Testament usually closed with the Chronicles, regarded as one book. This will throw light on the reference to "Abel and Zacha- riah " as the first and last-mentioned martyr (Matt. 23 : 35). An earlier Hebrew arrangement, it is held, existed, by which Ruth was a part of or appendix to Judges, and Lamentations to Jeremiah. The books of Samuel were one, as also the two books of Kings, and the twelve minor prophets one, thus making twenty-four books in the Hebrew Bible. The Palestinian Jews, according to Melito (200 a. d.), had this order: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Minor Prophets, Daniel, Ezekiel. The Syriac and Armenian Versions put the Minor Prophets between Isaiah and Jeremiah, while the Septuagint puts them before the Major Prophets. 1 Ezra I : 1-3 is the verbal duplicate of 2 Chron. 36: 22, 23, com- pleting the record with which 2 Chron. ends, which looks as if Ezra and probably Nehemiah were originally a part of Chronicles, but it is more likely that the chronicler copied them. CATALOGUES OF O. T. BOOKS. 109 The Greek order of the twelve minor prophets differs from the Hebrew, and runs : Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zecha- riah, Malachi. The order in the Hagiographa was : Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, Daniel, Esther, Ezra, Chronicles. 10. Catalogues of O. T. Books. — The oldest extant cata- logue of O. T. books is by Melito, Bishop of Sardis, and dates from the last half of the second century. It con- tains all the books in the Hebrew Old Testament except Esther, and no others. 1 Various reasons for the omission of Esther in his list have been suggested, but none of them is wholly satisfac- tory. Justin Martyr, 151-164 a. d., does not give a catalogue, but cites from the Old Testament books, not from the apocryphal books. Origen (d. 254 a. d.) reckons the Old Testament books at twenty-two, and gives the names of all in the Hebrew, and in our Old Testament, and then adds: ''Apart from these are books of Macca- bees." By which he means that Maccabees did not belong to the accepted books. 2 Tertullian also numbers the books of the Old Testament as twenty-four, in which he follows the common Hebrew count and that of the Talmud, which is identical with the Hebrew Canon of Josephus, since he counts Lamentations and Ruth as separate books. Five Greek fathers — Athanasius, Cyril, Epiphanius, Amphiloch- ius and Gregory Nazianzen — give catalogues, and Basil the Great, and Chrysostom also imply that the Hebrew Canon only was accepted. Basil says the books are twenty-two (as reckoned by Josephus), and Chrysostom says: "All the 1 Eusebius, Eccl. Hist., 4. 26. - Eusebius, Eccle. Hist., 6. 25. 110 CATALOGUES OF 0. T. BOOKS. books of the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew, as all among us confess." 1 In the Latin church, Hilary, Ruffin and Jerome give catalogues of the Old Testament which agree in substance with the Hebrew canon. So for four centuries, Christians of the Eastern, Western, Greek and Latin churches agree in accepting the books and those alone in our Old Testa- ment. Augustine, however, in his catalogue reckons forty- four Old Testament books. He includes apocryphal books. But it is claimed that he ranked the books of the strict Hebrew canon above the books which he associated with them. He says: "The Jews do not hold this Scrip- ture which is called Maccabees as they do the Law and the Prophets, to which the Lord bears testimony as to his wit- nesses." 2 Cardinal Ximenes, in a preface to his Complu- tensian Polyglot Bible, and Cardinal Cajetan, in his Com- mentary on Hebrews, declare that the books in Hebrew are alone canonical. The latter adds : "We have chosen the rule of Jerome that we may not err in distinguishing the canonical books." And these three therefore bear virtual testimony to the acceptance of the Hebrew canon alone, which is identical with our thirty-nine Old Testa- ment books. The firm appeal of the Reformers to Holy Scriptures probably influenced the Council of Trent, 1546, to extend the list of accepted books and include several apocryphal writings not found in the Hebrew tongue. The Council also sanctioned all traditions of the church, and declared that they must likewise be received upon pain of anathema. This led to the acceptance in the Roman Catholic Church 1 Homily 4, on Genesis. 2 De Civitate Dei., 18 :26. THE OLD TESTAMENT AMONG CHRISTIANS. Ill of the apocrypha as of equal authority with the Hebrew Old Testament books. ii. The Old Testament Among Christians. — The early Christians agree in excluding the apocrypha from the "Scriptures." This was the practice of the Syrians, the exceptions among them being of persons acting on their personal responsibility, and not representing their churches. a. The Greek Church. — The Alexandrian and other African Greek-speaking Christians often referred to writ- ings called apocryphal, but to what extent and precisely how far these were believed to have authority is now un- known. Some say that the Alexandrian Christians made no distinction between these books and those of the true Hebrew canon. Others maintain that the apocryphal books were used and referred to for instruction only, but were not ranked in authority with the Hebrew books. Whether this is true or not, it is clear that a large portion of the Greek Christians constantly asserted that the apocryphal books had not received the sanction among them which the Hebrew books had received. Hence the term apoc- ryphal, "hidden;" in contrast with the "open" or "mani- fest" books that were in the clear daylight of universal ecclesiastical acceptance. The modern Greek Church is not wholly consistent nor uniform in practice. The Synod of Constantinople, 1638, of Jassy, 1642, of Jerusalem, 1672, declined to mark off the canonical from the apocryphal books of the Old Tes- tament, though Cyril and others of the Greek fathers had done so. But the Larger Catechism of the Russian Greek Church, Moscow, 1839, excludes the apocrypha, because "they do not exist in Hebrew." The earlier Confession by Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, 1631, also sane- 112 THE LATIN CHURCH. tions the Hebrew canon, and so does the Confession of the Metropolitan of Moscow, 1836. But the Confession of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, 1672, prepared, it is alleged, under Romish influence, receives the apocrypha. b. The Latin Church. — Previous to the Reformation the Latin Church, generally following Jerome, Gregory the Great, 604, Ximenes, Cajetan, and others of its learned men, accepted the Hebrew canon. But there were several exceptions, as Augustine, 393-397, and others, who were undecided, like Cassiodorus, 556 a. d., Isidore, 636 a. d. The Reformers within the Latin Church in the sixteenth century appealed to Scripture as supreme authority in reli- gion, using the Hebrew Old Testament books only. But the Council of Trent (4th Session), 1546, declared con- cerning the Scriptures of authority : "[The Synod], following the examples of the orthodox Fathers, receives and venerates with an equal affection of piety and reverence all the books both of the Old and of the New Testaments, seeing that one God is the author of both, as also the unwritten traditions, as well those apper- taining to faith as to morals, as having been dictated either by Christ's own word of mouth or by the Holy Ghost, and preserved in the Catholic Church by a continuous suc- cession." x The books named in the decree include the apocryphal Old Testament books, and placed unwritten traditions of the church upon an equal footing with Holy Scriptures as approved of Christ or of the Holy Spirit. Any appeal to Holy Scripture as expressing the supreme will of God was thereafter useless in the Latin Church. Canons and Dogmatic Decrees of the Council of Trent, Eng. Trans., by Rev. J. Waterworth, R. C, London, 1848. THE PROTESTANT CHURCH. 113 The Old Catholic Union, 1874, declares " that the apoc- ryphal or deutero-canonical books of the Old Testament are not of the same canonicity as the books contained in the Hebrew canon." They also say that no translation can have superior authority to the original text. c. The Protestant Churches. — The churches of the Refor- mation are generally agreed in accepting the books of the Hebrew Old Testament, and in rejecting other books. Yet some have approved the Apocrypha for reading, but not for proving any doctrines of religion. Luther translated the non-canonical books, and used great freedom in criti- cising books of the Old Testament. He thought the book of Esther, for example, should have been excluded, and the first book of Maccabees included in the canon. He had a low opinion also of Ecclesiastes and the Chronicles. He did not base his views on historical grounds, but upon the contents and style of the books themselves. The other Lutheran Reformers, however, as Carlstadt followed Jerome in accepting the Hebrew books only, and in this practice Luther acquiesced. Thus the Lutheran Church, following Luther, usually places the Apocrypha after the Hebrew canonical books. Luther in his translation said of the Apocrypha: " These are books not to be held in equal esteem with those of Holy Scripture, but yet good and useful reading." Bible socie- ties in Germany continue to print this explanation on the title-page to the Apocrypha, which comprises fourteen books. The table of contents of Old Testament books in German Bibles usually count only thirty-eight books, regard- ing Lamentations as a part of Jeremiah, although in the text they give Lamentations a separate title, like that pre- fixed to other books. 114 THE PROTESTANT CHURCH. The Church of England allows the reading of the apoc- ryphal books " for example of life and instruction of manners ; but yet doth it not apply to them to establish any doctrine." The Belgic Confession holds a similar position. The Westminster Confession says: "The books com- monly called Apocrypha, not being of divine inspiration, are no part of the canon of the Scripture ; and therefore are of no authority in the Church of God, nor to be any other- wise approved, or made use of, than other human writings." Chap, i, 3. This view is generally approved by non-litur- gical churches holding to the evangelical system of doc- trine. These two views brought on the famous controversy over the Apocrypha in the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1811-1827. That society had circulated and aided in circulating Bibles containing the Apocrypha, through aux- iliaries on the continent of Europe, especially in editions of Roman Catholic versions. This was vigorously op- posed by many of its contributors for several years. Com- promises were made, but proved unsatisfactory, and the final decision was that no aid should be given to the circu- lation of any Bibles which had the Apocrypha bound in them. This is "the distinguishing excellence of the Pro- testant church over against the Romish and the Greek churches, that it has put before its members the canonical books pure and without any admixture." 1 It was this strict Hebrew list of Old Testament books which com- prised the Scriptures, the Bible of our Lord and of his apostles, which they sanctioned by their use, and which has come down to us with the New Testament as contain- ing the revealed will of God. 1 Buhl, Canon and Text of O. T., p. 73. CHAPTER IX. THE BOOKS OF THE LAW : PENTATEUCH, DIVISIONS, AUTHOR- SHIP AND COMPOSITION. The Pentateuch, as the first five books of the Bible are often called, were counted the " five-fifths of the Law" by the Hebrews, being one complex work, and in the early times was written in one Hebrew roll, or book. In the Greek translation it was arranged in five books, as now in our English Bibles. i. Name. — These five books are often called " The Pen- tateuch," from the Greek 6 izevrdrevxog (ho pentatenchos), meaning " the five-volnmed" book. The Hebrews call it Torah, "Law," and, more fully, "The Law of Moses." The unity of this entire portion of the Scriptures is founded upon history and the close continuity of the con- tents of the books. For example, in Hebrew manuscripts, Genesis is reckoned not as one of five books, but as one part of one book. A Hebrew conjunctive word connects Exo- dus with Genesis, as it does each of the five books except Deuteronomy. 2. Division. — The division into five books is ascribed by some to the Alexandrian translators (285 B.C.), and by others to the Maccabaean period, or possibly to the era of Ezra. The one roll, however, continued to be referred to as " The Law " even to the time of Christ ; for under this title he quoted several of the first five books. 1 The title of 1 Matt. 12 ; 5, *\ g., refers to Numbers ; Luke 10 : 26, 27 to Deuter- onomy and Leviticus ; Luke 2 : 22, 23 to Exodus and Leviticus, etc., but under the one designation, The Law. (115) 116 THE BOOKS OF THE LAW. each of the five separate books in our English version is derived through the Latin from the Alexandrian Greek version. These titles indicate the topic or contents of the respective books. Genesis tells of the birth or creation of the world ; Exodus, of the exodus or departure of the He- brews from Egypt ; Leviticus, of the law or rules of worship; Numbers, of the census of the people in the wilderness; and Deuteronomy — meaning " the second law " — is a sum- mary or re-statement of the law. The Hebrew title for each of these books (when they note any division) was the first words with which each book began. The writers often referred to the roll as "Moses "or "The Law," and pointed out the place by the first word or words of the section, as "the bush," Luke 20: 57, which is the phrase there used to refer to the section in Ex. 3 : 6. This ap- pears clearly in the Revised Version. Sec. V. § 19. The Talmud and Hebrew Bibles divided the "Law " into 54 sections called Pershyoth. These were subdivided into smaller sections of two kinds; that is, 298 " open " and 379 "closed" sections. 1 These were marked P. and S. Possibly this is the origin of the " \ " in modern Bibles. One of these longer sections was to be read each Sabbath of the year. Broadly, then, Genesis may be called the book of beginnings; Exodus, the book of deliverance ; Leviticus, the priestly book ; Numbers, the book of marches and of wars ; Deuter- onomy, the statute or code book of the Hebrew people. 3. Authorship. — The uniform historic testimony of early Christian, of Hebrew and of heathen writers is that Moses was the author of the body of the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible. This view has been held, practi- cally without question, until comparatively recent times. 1 Buhl supposes they originated in the 14th century. THE BOOKS OF THE LAW: 117 The Talmud says, " Moses wrote his book, the Pentateuch, with the exception of eight verses, the last eight verses, which were written by Joshua." Philo and Josephus held that these books were written by Moses. "Newer crit- icism" has reopened the question. It concedes that He- brew testimony and tradition say Moses was the author ; but is tradition right? or was the "Law" compiled by Samuel, Solomon, Josiah, Ezra, or by some unknown " re- dactor " of a later period ? x These theories have been varied, progressing from one hypothesis to another, or dis- agreeing among themselves as to the authorship and com- position of the books. Astruc (1760) held that Genesis was composed of two different documents by two writers. Then this "docu- mentary" character was declared to run through the three books following Genesis ; the documents being loosely put together. Then came a "fragmentary" theory, which pushed aside the documentary one. It was claimed that the " Elohistic " portion was the possible basis, but that there was a multitude of other fragments. This was again changed to the view that the three or more so-called orig- inal "documents" were themselves composite works, and were wrought into one composite work by some unknown "redactor," and probably two or three successive " redac- tors." No sooner are the difficulties of the position on one theory shown than objectors shift to another theory. 2 1 Ben Ezra, of the twefth century, feebly raised this inquiry. It was revived by Carlstadt, Spinoza, Astruc, Eichhorn and Hupfeld. These have been followed by Bleek, Graf, Wellhausen, Robertson Smith and others of the more or less destructive and radical schools of critics. It is not unfair to charge that the tendency of this criticism is to deny or minify the divine element, the supernatural, in the Scriptures. 2 In general it may be stated that according to this " newer criti. 118 THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. Closely related to the author and mode of composition of the five books is the date of these several portions. Some have urged that the " priestly code " (Elohistic) was the oldest; others have as stoutly maintained that it was the newest and surely belonged to the post-exilic era. 4. Coifiposition. — The Pentateuch — five books — are com- plex, yet are conceded generally to have unity — in fact, to be one volume. Who was the author? Who gave the contents this unity? (1) There is no definite avowal of authorship that can surely apply to the entire Pentateuch; but it must apply to very large portions, especially of the law. For ex- ample, God commanded Moses to write the words of the covenant (Ex. 34: 27); Moses declared these words to Israel (Ex. 35 : 1). Again, it is declared in Deut. 31 : 24, 26, that "when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites, . . . Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God." This is a distinct assertion that Moses was the writer of some Hebrew code of laws. (2) The whole history is chiefly given in the third person. " The Lord spake unto Moses " frequently occurs. "And Moses commanded," "Moses said," or "the words of Moses," are other expressions frequently found in the Pentateuch. (3) Deut. 34 records the death of Moses. This was added by a later hand (see "unto this day" of v. 6), probably during the period of the judges. cism " the Pentateuch was composed in three or more portions, called the Elohistic, Jehovistic and Deuteronomic. THE BOOKS OF THE LAW: 119 (4) The five books contain several remarkably graphic and interesting biographies. Yet obviously the main pur- pose of these books is not biography, nor personal or local history. The object is clearly to record the origin of the Hebrew people and to chronicle their early national annals. (5) Is this form not the one most suitable for national annals ? Indeed, if these books were intended as authentic theocratic records of the origin of the race, and of the Hebrew nation in particular, would not the itnpersonal form be the most natural one ? In official annals of gov- ernment, the identity of the writer is of smaller importance than the authenticity of the record. Moses, as the great lawgiver of Israel, would be expected to leave some au- thorized copy of the laws received for the people. Hebrew writers say he did leave such a record in the Pentateuch. There is nothing in the books themselves against their general Mosaic authorship. There are many incidental evidences in favor of it, — particularly that they were written as national annals by direction and authority of Moses ; the death of Moses being added by an authorized successor. Since, however, the discussions respecting the composition and date of the Pentateuch are pressing upon popular attention, a few leading points may be helpful in showing the character of the conflict. 5. Against the traditional view, beside the literary and linguistic argument, the newer criticism urges — (i) That the Pentateuch sanctions one central place of worship. But it is said that several places were allowed up to the time of Josiah. To this it may be said, one, the tent, prevailed in the wilderness. (2) Leviticus requires priests to be of the family of Aaron, while Deuteronomy and Judges ap- 120 THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. pear to treat Levites as priests. (3) The Levitical cities named in the Pentateuch, it is asserted, are not to be found as such in history. (4) The feasts were not observed as the Pentateuch required. (5) The details of the narrative and history of the Hebrew worship are said to be against the early Mosaic date. 6. Let it be carefully noted : (1) that a general Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch accounts for repeated assertions about Moses in the texts (p. 118). It does not imply that Moses wrote the account of his own death, nor make him responsible for the divisions of the work m\.o five books, nor into chapters, nor verses, nor even Hebrew sections. Nor for changes by later prophets, or compilers through whom the Pentateuch may have reached its present literary form. (2) It does not preclude the use of ancient documents by Moses. These may have been incorporated, or recast, for his purpose. Nor does this view preclude growth in forms of worship, nor changes in the Hebrew ritual estab- lished by Moses. (3) But if Moses was not the author of the body, or substance, of the law and worship in the Pentateuch, it seems difficult to clear the supposed writers of literary fraud. It is well-nigh inconceivable that writings cast in such a high moral, solemn and spiritual tone could be written by those who would deliberately deceive readers. (4) It has been lately proved that our Pentateuch is prac- tically the same as that known to the author of the Book of Wisdom. The existence of separate documents is without historical evidence, and rests solely on conjectures and the knowledge of a language but partially investigated. 1 1 See Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, chapter II., London, 1900. THE BOOKS OF THE LAW*. 121 (5) The Hebrew people must have had laws and a his- tory for ages previous to the exilic period. The new theory of the Pentateuch leaves them practically without either. The records of the five books of Moses, however, fit well with what we know of Egypt and other nations in the Mo- saic era. Grant for a moment that this is not history: here stands Moses, the greatest name in ancient records as lawgiver, reformer and general, to be accounted for. How did he get into history? (6) Early Hebrews, though enslaved in Egypt, were not a savage horde. The monumental records of the Mosaic age constantly coming to light are confirming the civiliza- tion existing in the land where they dwelt and the accuracy of the Mosaic records. (7) The weight of literary and linguistic facts, in truth, tells strongly for the general Mosaic authority for the Pentateuch. The language has an infusion of Egyptian words ; yet the system of religious worship is in sharp contrast with Egyptian sacrifices and worship. The place of worship is the tent (tabernacle) ; excommunication is to be " cast out of the camp; " the scapegoat goes into the wilderness ; all the ritual speaks of the wandering life, consistent with the belief that the main portion of the Pen- tateuch was written at the period and in the region where it professes to have been written. The ark had the law ; and the ark certainly dates back to the wilderness life. (8) Finally, the archaic quality in the language of the Pentateuch is marked ; the apparent tinges of a later speech are too few to weigh against the weightier evidence for the antiquity of the writing. Recent discoveries are increasing the proofs for the Mosaic age and composition ; while all the material objections of modern criticism can be ex- 122 THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. plained upon the Mosaic theory. The objectors are beset with more numerous and far greater difficulties. They must reconstruct Hebrew history, account for the long- existing belief in regard to that history as popularly ac- cepted, and explain the monumental and other records which fit well into Hebrew history as hitherto understood, and which imply the early existence of the Hebrew people in conditions similar to those described in the Mosaic books. (9) Conceive for a moment portions of the Pentateuch, as the Ten Words, or Commandments, to have been composed by Ben-Sirach, Ezra, or Hilkiah ; that, to win acceptance and reverence, the writer had ascribed them to Moses, and had invented the story of Sinai, the writing on stone tables, with all the details in Exodus 19, 20 ff. Would the Jews have given them credit ? Can we conceive the credulity that would regard such a theory more credible, or "scientific," or worthy to displace the traditional account imbedded in Jewish litera- ture, and accepted for more than two thousand years ? (10) The annals bear marks of being composed at or near the period of their occurrence. A writer making such a record centuries later would almost surely fall into errors and anachronisms which the earlier monumental records would expose. Such a composition without errors would itself be a greater miracle than the gift of supernatural guidance by divine inspiration. (11) The New Testament evidence cannot be blown aside by a breath. Jesus says of Moses, "He wrote of me" (John 5: 46, 47). So also, "beginning at Moses, . . . he," etc. (Luke 24: 27). The conclusion then is that the historic evidence respecting the general Mosaic authority for the first five books of the Bible is entirely trustworthy, and modern research and adverse criticism THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. 123 have caused new and yet stronger evidence to be brought to light in support of that view. (12) The remarkable explorations in Egypt and Assyria, during the last ten years, have well-nigh revolutionized for- mer knowledge and belief respecting the early civilizations of the human race, and have shown that the ancient great empires of the East possessed a literary culture, a literature and a mastery of the liberal arts far exceeding anything that had hitherto been conceived of by historians. The explorer has uncovered immense libraries, which have been marvellously preserved, a record of the details of a civiliz- ation and of a life of a high order of intelligence. They had written and gathered all this into these libraries two thousand to three thousand years before the days of Moses. These tens of thousands of written documents found also in Egypt, and in the vast Assyrian libraries, so far as they have been examined, tend to confirm the historical char- acter of the Biblical books : more especially do they confirm the accuracy of the books attributed to Moses. . The Chal- daean account of the flood is a clear recognition of that great catastrophe. And yet the Mosaic narrative is as clearly not a translation of the Chaldsean nor of any other early record, but an original work written in the Hebrew tongue. So also the Tel el-Amarna tablets show that when a ruler of the 18th Egyptian dynasty accepted an Asiatic form of faith, the highest officers were foreigners, as the book of Moses represents, and that later they were expelled. And Ramses I. and II. formed a new dynasty, built Pa-Turn, or Pithom, and Menepthah a son of Ramses II. , says that Bedouins (Israelites?) were allowed to feed themselves at Succoth. Thus the Mosaic narrative is confirmed at these and many other points. 124 THE BOOKS OF THE LAW: The question of the Pentateuch is therefore far from be- ing settled ; the advanced critics have yet many facts of the explorer and archaeologist to fit into their theory. The more moderate school of critics have not yet been fully heard. The last word on. the authorship of the " five books of Moses " has not been spoken. Advocates of new theories in their fresh zeal naturally assume extreme positions, which are necessarily modified under more extended and sober investigation. Witness, for example, the recent Hittite controversy. The four main arguments which they for- merly relied upon, namely, that from " tendentious altera- tions," from " silence," from the hypothesis of "pieced documents," and from " words of assumed dates," have been frequently of late shown to be elusive, if not delusive, and in very similar sets of circumstances to lead to opposite conclusions. Witness the case of the Cairene Ecclesiasticus. Hence the historic traditions and records may prove better and more trustworthy guides than rash critical conjectures or " scientific hypotheses." Recent critical investigations satisfactorily show that the book of Genesis was known to Solomon, and the book of Judges to the prophet Isaiah. Wise minds can patiently wait with confidence the last word on the historical character and the authorship of the Pentateuch. 1 7. Contents. — Genesis gives the primeval history of the race and of the patriarchs. Its literary form is in ten un- equal parts, each beginning with "These are the genera- 1 See Driver's Introduction to the Old Testament; Green's Introduc- tion to the Old Testament, 1898; also " Unity of Genesis," " Higher Crit- icism and the Pentateuch," Bissell's "Pentateuch," Hastings' Diction- ary of the Bible, "Genesis," " Pentateuch," etc. Hilprecht, " Discov- eries in Assyria;" Naville, "Dawn of Civilization," etc. 3 vols. Margoliouth " Lines of Defense of Bibical Revelation," London, 1900. THEIR AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. 125 tions," as Creation story, 2:4; Adam, 5:1; Noah, 6:9; Sons of Noah, 10 : 1 ; Shem, it: 10; Terah, 11: 27; Ish- raael, 25 : 12 ; Isaac, 25 : 19 ; Esau, 36 : 1 ; Jacob, 37:2. The last five parts tell of the founding of the Hebrew nation, followed by an account of the sojourn and bondage in Egypt, 39-50. Exodus tells of the oppression and deliver- ance of Israel, the covenant, laws and worship in Sinai. Leviticus records rules for offerings, ceremonial laws, ordi- nances, and precepts for personal, social and religious conduct. Numbers gives further details respecting worship and various laws at Sinai, the journeying to Moab, events on the plains of Moab, numbering the people, and further precepts. Deuteronomy contains formal rituals of worship and of the law in three parts, 1-4: 40; 4: 44-26; 27-30, followed by songs, the appointment of Joshua, and the death of Moses, the latter added by Joshua, perhaps, or by some later hand. CHAPTER X. HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS : AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THE MONUMENTS. Modern critics claim that there are two series of histories in the Old Testament. The first begins with creation and ends with Jehoiachin's release (Genesis to 2 Kings) ; the second begins with Adam and ends with Nehemiah's second visit to Jerusalem. (Chron., Ezra, and Neh.) Others, di- viding the books according to their literary form, find twelve almost wholly historical. In English Bibles these twelve books follow the five books of the law ; that is, Joshua to Esther. 1. Hebreiu Order. — In the Hebrew Bible six of these books, from Joshua to 2 Kings inclusive (not counting Ruth), are in a separate division called "Former Prophets." They were so named by the Massoretes, because these books recount the deeds of prophets, and Jewish tradition declared that they were written by prophets. The other six historical books are placed in the last division, the Hagiographa of the Hebrew Bible, following the Psalms, Ruth having the 5th place in that division, Esther the 8th, Ezra the 10th, Nehemiah the nth and the Chronicles the last and closing one of the Hebrew Scriptures. 2. Period Covered. — These twelve historical books cover about 1000 years of Hebrew history from the death of Moses to the restoration and rebuilding of the temple after the great exile. This history of ten centuries may be di- vided into three unequal periods : from the death of Moses to Saul, about 350 years ; from Saul's accession to the fall of Samaria, about 375 years; from the fall of Samaria to the restoration of the temple and Jerusalem after Nehemiah, (126) HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS: 127 about 300 years. Or, again, the era covered by the his- torical books may be divided into — (1) the Conquest of Canaan (Joshua) ; (2) The Rule of Judges (Judges, Ruth and 1 Sam. 1 to 12); (3) The United Monarchy (1 Sam. 12 to 1 Kings 12, and 1 Chron. 1 to 2 Chron. 10); (4) The Two Monarchies (1 Kings 12 to 2 Kings 25 and 2 Chron. 10 to 36) ; (5) The Exile and Restoration (Esther, Ezra and Nehemiah). The books have little regard to crises in the history. 3. Authors. — The authors of the twelve historical books are not definitely known. According to Jewish tradition the chief writers of them were Joshua, Samuel, Jeremiah, Ezra and Nehemiah, Nathan, Gad the Seer, Ahijah, Iddo, Shemaiah and other prophets. See 9. 4. Joshua is so named from the exploits of the hero de- scribed in it, and not as a mark of authorship. Modern critics have grouped it with the five books of Moses, and called the whole "The Hexateuch." But if Joshua was once joined to the Pentateuch, it must have been separated early, before the rise of the Samaritans, for they have the Pentateuch, but not the book of Joshua. Author. — Large portions record the exploits and ad- dresses of Joshua, and must have been written by him or by an eye-witness soon after the events. See " until this day," implying a record not long after the events. See chaps. J > 3> 5> 7> 23, 24. Contents. — There are two parts — 1, the entrance and par- tial conquest of Canaan by Joshua ; 2, the settlement of the 12 tribes in Canaan, and the division of the land among them. The whole records the history of Israel from the death of Moses to that of Joshua. 5. Judges. — This book is so named because it records i28 AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. the deeds of some of the early judges (about thirteen) who were raised up to deliver Israel from the oppression of hostile nations and tribes on its borders. The length of the period covered by this book is variously computed from 250 to 450 years. The supposed reference to the length of this period in the speech of Paul (Acts 13: 19, 20) is now generally regarded as referring not alone to the period of the judges, but to the possession of the land from the Abrahamic promise to Joshua. " He gave them their land for an inheritance, for about four hundred and fifty years : and after these things he gave them judges until Samuel" (Acts 13 : 19, 20, Revised Version). It is evidently a book of annals. The author is not known, though the Talmud ascribes it to Samuel, and this is a popular belief. It ap- pears to have been gathered from various documents, to impress moral and religious lessons. The difficulties of the book are the chronology, apparently two introductions, and the adjustment of the rule of the several judges. It con- tains some of the most deeply interesting biographical sketches in the Old Testament. The reader never wearies of the stories of Gideon, Samson, Deborah and Jeph- thah. 6. Ruth. — The book itself fixes the period when the beautiful heroine lived. It was " in the days when the judges ruled" (Ruth 1 : 1). But this does not fix the date of its composition. Unless the closing verses were added by another than the original author, it cannot have been written before the time of David. In the Hebrew Bible it is placed as the fifth book after the Psalms. In the Septuagint it follows Judges, as in English Bibles. His- torically it may be counted an appendix to Judges an i an in- troduction to the books of Samuel. It may have been written HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS! 129 by Samuel, as one Jewish tradition asserts. The Arama- isms, which are supposed by some to indicate a later date, are represented as spoken by foreigners and are not in the language of the author. They are not conclusive against an early date. Nor is the mention of "plucking off the shoe" against, but rather in favor of, its composition as early as the period of David. The book is a touching and dramatic picture of domestic life in that period. 7. Samuel. — The two books of Samuel were originally one in the Hebrew Bible. Even the Massoretic note at the end of the second book, giving the number of verses, treats them as one book. The Septuagint regarded the books of Samuel and of Kings as a complete history of the Hebrew kingdom, and divided them into four, calling them " Books of the Kingdoms." This division is followed in the Latin and Douay versions, where they are named the 1st, 2d, 3d and 4th Books of Kings. The division was introduced into Hebrew printed Bibles in 15 18. The author of the first two, now called 1 and 2 Samuel, is unknown. The name of the books probably arises from the fact that Samuel is the hero of the first part. Samuel could have written only twenty-four chapters of the first book, since the twenty-fifth chapter records his death. The contents indicate that official records may have been consulted by the writer, and national hymns were incor- porated in the work, as the song of Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1- 10); David's song over Abner (2 Sam. 3:33, 34); his thanksgiving song, and his farewell song (2 Sam. 22; 23 : 1-7). The date of composition was according to some not later than 700 b. c, but others say about David's time. "It is pure Hebrew, free from Aramaisms and late forms. Con- J 30 AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. structions such as are found in Kings are not found in Samuel." The difficulties are not important, being the adjustment of the chronology, the variations between the Hebrew and Greek texts, and the appare?it discrepancies, as i Sam. 23: 19; 24: 22, and ch. 26. 8. Kings. — The two books of Kings (one in Hebrew) are a continuation of the history in the books of Samuel. The author is not certainly known. Jewish tradition names Jeremiah, and the language and style favor the tra- dition. Later scholars have conjectured that the author was Ezra or Baruch. The writer used existing records, as "Acts of Solomon," " Chronicles of the Kings of Judah " and " Chronicles of the Kings of Israel " (1 Kings 11 : 41 ; 14: 19, 29). Yet there is a unity, a peculiar plan and symmetry of purpose in the books, indicative of a well- wrought work, and not a mere compilation. The date can- not be earlier than the exile. It probably belongs to the last half of the period of the exile. Recent Assyrian dis- coveries have thrown much new light upon the various dynasties mentioned in the books. 1 The obscurities are not many nor important, and scholars have suggested various reasonable explanations. These books close the "Former Prophets" of the Hebrew Bible. 9. Chronicles. — These two books were also originally one, and are placed at the end of the Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew title is "The Diaries" or "The Affairs of the Times." The Septuagint calls them " Paralipomena" or "Things Omitted," under the erroneous idea that they were intended to supply omissions in the history in the four books of Kings. Jerome named them " Chronicles," and 1 See Hilprecht, Discoveries in Assyria; Sayce, Fresh Light, etc., and Rogers, Assyria, Chaldrea, etc. HISTORICAL (0. T.) BOOKS: 131 was followed by Luther and by the English translators. Their composition is ascribed to Ezra by Jewish and Chris- tian tradition, and in language and style they resemble the book of Ezra. The Chronicles are clearly independent history, not written to supply omissions in Kings, but to give the returned exiles information needful for them in re- settling the land of Canaan. The tribal and family de- scent would be very important in settling inheritances. Jerome said these books form a record of the whole of sacred history. The plan differs from that of Kings, because of the different purpose of the writer. The accounts of the temple service, the covenant, the reforms under Josiah and Hezekiah, point to an early origin of the Penta- teuch. The date of Chronicles cannot be fixed earlier than the restoration from exile ; and as the history ends with the decree of Cyrus, that may be assumed as the time of their composition. Much of the work is evidently based upon existing and apparently official documents. For example, the first nine chapters appear to cite tribal genealogical records ; and in chaps. 23-26 the priestly records seem to be the basis of the history. In fact, eleven sources are distinctly named: "the book of Samuel the seer," "of Nathan the prophet," " of Gad the seer," "the prophecy of Ahijah," "the visions" or "the story" of " Iddo the seer against Jeroboam," another by him " con- cerning genealogies," "the book of Shemaiah the proph- et," "the book of Jehu," "the book of the kings of Israel," " the book of the kings of Israel and Judah," and a book by Isaiah ; see 1 Chron. 29 : 29 ; 2 Chron. 9 : 29 ; 12: 15; 13 : 22; 16: 11 ; 20: 34; 26 : 22 ; 27 : 7; 32 : 32. These numerous references to existing books containing more full records of the events very briefly mentioned in 132 AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. the Chronicles show how abundant were the written sources to which the author had access, and how familiar he was with the contents of those original records. They tend strongly to confirm the trustworthiness of his chronicle. The chronicles sum up Hebrew history, cen- tered in the temple-worship and the house of David. 10. Ezra. — This book in the Hebrew Bible is the tenth after the Psalms. The Jews (Josephus and the Talmud), Origen and Jerome, regard Ezra and Nehemiah as one book in two parts. But Nehemiah has its own title in He- brew. The two books are called Esdras and Nehemiah in the Septuagint, and i and 2 Esdras in the Vulgate. Historically Ezra follows close after Chronicles ; hence the order in our Bibles is in better accord with the contents than the order in Hebrew Bibles. The author, according to the Jews, was Ezra. Modern critics admit that he wrote a portion, but deem the whole a compilation by some un- known though contemporaneous writer. A portion of it is written in Chaldee or Aramaic, e. g., chaps. 4 : 8 to 6 : 6 and 7 : 1-26 ; but these are probably from public records. The varying use of the first and third persons in the last portion of chaps. 6 to 10 has a parallel in Daniel and Isaiah. The writer in the latter case speaks of himself historically j in the former he writes of events which he witnessed. That Ezra was the author has been fairly sustained. The date must be placed in the fifth century before Christ, in the age of Cy- rus, etc., and after Ezra's return to Jerusalem with the exiles. 11. Nehemiah. — This book is the eleventh in order after Psalms in the Hebrew Bible. The author of the first seven chapters was surely Nehemiah, for it is so avowed in the book itself. The writer of chaps. 8-13 is questioned by many, although Keil accepts Nehemiah as their author. HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS: 133 The objections urged against his authorship of this portion are that the narrative changes to the third person, and Ne- hemiah is spoken of as "Tirshatha" (Neh. 8 : 9), and that the name of Jaddua appears as high priest (Neh. 12:1- 26), who lived in the time of Alexander, a century later than Nehemiah. But the other portions of chap. 12 and chap. 13 are usually credited to Nehemiah. The language of the book has a strong infusion of Aramaisms and of words of Persian origin. After an interval of about twelve years, it carries on the history of Ezra for about thirty years, un- til the temple of Zerubbabel was rebuilt. It is the latest of the historical books of the Old Testament. 12. Esther. — Historically this book belongs to the period of the exiles, previous to Nehemiah and a portion of Ezra. Some regard it as an episode in the history of those Israelites that did not return from exile, and an illus- tration of their moral decline. The incident related in the book of Esther gave rise to the feast of Purim, still cele- brated among the Jews. This book is the eighth following the Psalms in the Hebrew Bible. It appears to have been regarded as an appendix to the history of the exilic period, as Ruth was to Judges. It does not contain the name of God. It is not quoted in the New Testament. Luther did not hold it in high esteem, and Ewald declared it below other Old Testament books in character. The author, some say, was Ezra ; others say Mordecai. The date of the composition of the book cannot be definitely stated, although the events surely occurred between 480 and 430 b. c. As it seems to have been written by an eye-witness, internal evidence favors Mordecai as author and 480 to 470 b. c. as the date. The book contains many Persian words; but the l?A AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. literary character is high, and the style lively. The sum- mary execution of Haman and the sudden elevation of Mordecai rind frequent illustrations in later history of Orien- tal courts. 13. These twelve books of the Old Testament contain the richest history of a race. Written by men illumined by the Holy Spirit, the vast purposes of God's provi- dence are unfolded with marvellous compactness and clear- ness. The long succession of bloody struggles, the aston- ishing deliverances of God's people, their weak and wicked relapses into sin, the glorious power of Jehovah manifested to them, and preparing them for the future advent of Mes- siah, the promised Redeemer, give diversity and charm to the history and instruction to the devout mind. The dis- tinctly moral and religious purpose of these sacred writings cannot fail to impress every reader. 14. The Old Testament and the Monuments. — Searching criticism has been repeatedly applied to the his- tory, prophecy and teaching of the Bible. The accuracy and truthfulness of the Scriptural statements have been boldly denied. But the more thoroughly the times and peoples which the Biblical books describe have been in- vestigated and understood, the more completely has the accuracy of the historical statements and illustrations in Scripture been confirmed, as heretofore stated. Chap. IX., §12. The explorer, the excavator and the decipherer, working together, have brought to light in recent times such an overwhelming mass of evidence respecting the long forgotten cities and empires of the past, and have uncov- ered such vast libraries, literature, works of art and of skill, and have revealed such a high state of civilization in the East at such a remotely early age as to amaze the world. Ancient cities of the world have been buried great, AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. 135 empires have passed into oblivion, and later generations had come to doubt their very existence. But the explorer defined and located the hills and mounds under which the cities were buried, the excavator uncovered the great palaces, the marvelous works of art, and the evidences of a high civilization, and the decipherer, grappling with the very ancient records made in a strange and unknown writing, at last succeeded in reading these ancient records, revealing to the astonished gaze of the world the military, civil, social and religious history of empires wholly for- gotten except as they were mentioned in the books of Scripture and here and there by a few secular writers of old. 15. The Restoration of Ancient Cities. — It is scarcely more than 100 years since skeptics and rationalists boldly asserted that no such cities as Babylon, Nineveh, Lachish and Ur were historic places, or ever existed. The Biblical descriptions of them were classed with highly im- aginative works, like the " Arabian Nights" and similar Oriental tales of fiction. The prophecies therefore of their destruction, it was asserted, were never fulfilled, because there never were such cities to be destroyed. So the doubters said. But the explorers, Rich, 1811, Layard and Rawlinson, 1846, and their companions and followers, Botta, Oppert, Hicks, George Smith, Rassam, and more recently Naville and Petrie in Egypt, and Hilprecht in Assyria, have uncovered great groups of cities peopling the valleys of the Euphrates and Tigris and the Nile, so that we see not only Nineveh and Babylon and Ur, but scores of other ancient cities named in Scripture and remarkable for their size and their civilization, uncovered by the spade and caused to stand forth like an exceeding great army of cities springing out of the ground to prove the Scriptural records. 136 HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS '. Thus the skeptics and the rationalists who questioned the existence of these ancient cities and disputed the Biblical records are silenced and put to shame. 1 6. The Era of Writing. — It is hardly a generation ago since not merely skeptics and rationalists, but Biblical critics, asserted that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch. They even attempted to show how impossible it was for it to be written by anybody in his age, since, it was assumed, that no literature of this kind outside of these five books of the Law had been written, and that even writing was not a common art in Moses' day. But within the past few years these arguments have been exploded. For a mass of literature of a high order has been brought to light in the vast libraries of Assyria as well as in the records on the Nile. Prof. Hilprecht, for example, has actually found libraries consisting of upward of 30,000 tablets (and believes that over 100,000 more exist), in every form of literature relating to medicine, law, society and the liberal arts, and reaching back full two millenniums before the period of Abraham. Similar ancient literature has been found in the great temples buried in the valley of the Nile. The critics who asserted a few years ago that Moses could not have written the Pentateuch, should they now repeat their assertion, would be laughed at for their ignorance. Indeed, intelligent archaeologists declare that, considering the abundance of literature and the prevalence of writing in the age of Moses, it would be almost a wonder if Moses had not written the five books of the law ascribed to him. These written records go back to 3800 b. c, and some aver that the earliest tablets may yet reveal a literature 4500 to 6000 B. c. 17. The Hittites and their Empire. — In the last AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. 137 quarter of the nineteenth century Biblical scholars of the higher critical school not only doubted the existence of a great Hittite empire, but attempted to prove that the mention of the Hittites in the Bible was a mistake due to the ignorance of the sacred writers. Unfortunately for these critics, while they were conjec- turing how the Biblical writers fell into this supposed mistake, the explorers were finding inscriptions, records and monuments of these same Hittites widely scattered in Western Asia. These discoveries pointed also to hidden cities, once powerful and great, and to a vast empire of the Hittites, revealing a high state of civilization as well as the wide extent of their sway. And each year has added some new facts to our knowledge of this wonderful people, until now a fairly full history of the great Hittite empire can be written, fully showing that the Biblical writers were better informed in regard to some ancient history than their modern critics. The accuracy of the descriptions of the Hittite peoples in the Bible is fully confirmed by these re- cent discoveries. Thus step by step, year by year, as archae- ological explorations progress, the historical truthfulness of the Biblical books is more and more firmly established. 18. In view of these discoveries, attempts have been made lately to reconstruct a civil history of Israel in accord with the monuments. These bring it into substantial accord with the current views held by conservative scholars. The religious history and literature of Israel, however, are assumed to be of comparatively recent origin. For ex- ample, the Old Testament books are supposed by the higher critics to be composite, and to have been written, as we have them, about the period of the exile or later, 1 1 See Prof. McCurdy, History, Prophecy and the Monuments, 3 vols., 1894-1900. 138 HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS. though the civil history of Israel began from one thousand to fifteen hundred years before the exile. But this splitting of the civil from the religious history does not fairly account for all the facts. If the civil history has been hitherto in the main rightly understood as to periods, the religious history almost inevitably must follow in parallel lines and receive a similar interpretation. Then the Jewish and current Christian view of the literature of Israel like- wise receives confirmation. 1 1 See Prof. Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, London, 1900. CHAPTER XL HEBREW POETRY : POETICAL BOOKS, PSALMS, WISDOM LITER- ATURE, PROVERBS, JOB, SONG OF SONGS, LA- MENTATIONS, ECCLESIASTES. The Psalms were at the head of the Hebrew group of poetical books, and were followed by Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Lamentations and Ecclesiastes. The latter book is poetic in spirit, though not wholly so in literary form. i. The Oriental mind delights in figures, metaphors and in brilliantly-imaginative forms of speech. The Hebrews were also in surroundings exceedingly favorable for sub- lime poetic creations. Poetry was their delight from the earliest beginnings of their history. More than one third of the entire Old Testament is poetry. Its poetry is among the oldest, the purest and the most sublime in the world. It is fitted to stir the deepest spiritual nature of man in all ages. In other languages much of the poetry relates to the temporal interests of the people; Hebrew poetry is truly the daughter of religion. 2. Forms of Hebrew Poetry. — Strictly there is neither epic nor dramatic poetry in Hebrew. The reason is ob- vious. Epic poetry springs from an effort to glorify human greatness — the heroic in man ; the Hebrew was taught to glorify God. Hebrew poetry is almost wholly lyric and didactic, and some add also gnomic. There are no lyrics in the world comparable with the Psalms of David, no gnomic poetry equal to the Proverbs, and no didactic poem so perfect in form, so profound and majestic in thought or so exalted and spiritual in conception as the book of Job. 3. Rhyme and metre, common in modern poetry, are seldom found in Hebrew. Josephus tried to find hexame- ters in the songs of Ex. 15 and Deut. 32, and trimeters or (139) 140 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. pentameters in the Psalms. Eusebius sought an heroic measure of sixteen syllables; while Jerome represented Job as written in dactyls and spondees, comparing Hebrew poetry with the Greek poems of Pindar, Alcseus and Sap- pho. Later scholars, as Sir W. Jones, Grove and Saal- schiitz, have applied similar rules; but no real system of metres can be found in Hebrew on any method of vocal- izing now known, nor without destroying the Massoretic pointing. Bickell would make it conform td the Syriac, which is plausible, but has not found much favor with scholars. 4. Parallelisms. — Hebrew poetry, as Lowth and others have shown, consists chiefly of parallelisms and a certain swing and balance in the sentences which give an inde- scribable charm to their poetic compositions. The parallelisms in Hebrew have been roughly divided into three kinds: (1) Synonymous, that is, where each line of the distich or tristich has the same thought, but in varied expression ; (2) Antithetic, where the thought of the second member of the parallelism is in contrast with that of the first ; and (3) Synthetic, where the thought is cumu- lative upon the same topic. 5. Alliteration and assonance are frequently used in Hebrew poetry, and rhyme occasionally, but the latter seldom runs beyond two or three lines. The Hebrew poetic writers delighted in the older and sometimes the fuller forms of words. They use not the learned or artificial, but the simpler and more archaic speech, giving strength and music to the movement of their sentences. 6. Poetic Books. — There are five so-called poetical books in the Old Testament : Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 141 and Song of Solomon. But beside these, large portions of other books are poetic in spirit. The prophetical books except Daniel are chiefly poetry. The girls of Shiloh sang as they gathered grapes ; the maidens of Gilead chanted the story of Jephthah's daughter ; the boys learned David's song of lament over Jonathan, and hunters and shepherds whiled away the tediousness of the hunt and watch, by songs and the flute. 1 7. Early Songs. — The earliest specimen of poetry in the Old Testament is Lamech's Sword Song. Some of the most noted of Hebrew songs, outside the poetical books, are those of Moses and Miriam, of Balaam, Deborah and Hannah. The following list, though incomplete, will be helpful to the student : Lamech's Sword Song Gen. 4 : 23, 24. Noah's Song Gen. 9 : 25-27. About Rebekah Gen. 25 : 23. Isaac's Blessings Gen. 27 : 27-29, 39, 40. Jacob's Farewell Gen. 49 : 2-27. Moses' and Miriam's Song. .. .Ex. 15: 1-19, 21. War Songs, etc Num. 21 : 14, 15, 17, 18, 27-30. Balaam's Prophecies Num. 23 : 7-10, 18-24; 24 : 3-9, 15-24. Moses' Prophetic Song Deut. 32 : 1-43. Moses' Blessing. Deut. ^ '• 2-29. Joshua to the Sun Josh. 10 : 12, 13. Song of Deborah and Barak. Judg. 5 : 2-2 1. Samson's Riddle Song Judg. 15 : 16. Hannah's Magnificat I Sam. 2 : 1-10. David's Song of the Bow. . . .2 Sam. 1 : 19-27. David's Song over Abner 2 Sam. 3 : ^^, 34. David's Deliverance 2 Sam. 22 : 2-51 (cf. Ps. 18). David's Last Words 2 Sam. 23 : 1-7. David's Thanksgiving 1 Chron. 16 : 8-36. 1 See Reuss, Hebrew Poetry, Herzog's Enc. 142 HEBREW POETRY ASD POETICAL BOOKS. Hezekiah's Song Isa. 38 : 10-20. Jonah's Prayer Song Jonah 2 : 2-9. Habakkuk's Prayer Song Hab. 3 : 2-19. There are four original songs in the New Testament cast in the spirit of Hebrew poetry : the so-called, Magnificat Luke I : 46-55. Benedictus Luke 1 : 68-80. Gloria in Excelsis Luke 2 : 14. Nunc Dimittis Luke 2 : 29-33. 8. The Psalms. — The book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible was the first of the KUhubhim or "Writings." The Psalms, Proverbs and Job were regarded as pre-eminently poetical books, and the Massoretes distinguished them by a peculiar accentuation. The Psalms were called "Sepher Thellim" or "Book of Praises." The Greeks called it " Psalmos" from which the English "Psalms" is derived. 9. Groups of Psalms. — The Psalms, counted commonly one book, in the Hebrew Bible are divided into five collec- tions, rather inaptly termed "books" in the Revised English Version. The end of each of the first four " books " is indicated by a doxology. The books are: (I.) Ps. 1-41 ; (II.) Ps. 42-72; (III.) p s. 73-89; (IV.) Ps. 90-106; (V.) Ps. 107-150. The topics of the Psalms have been compared to an oratorio in five parts : (1) Decline of man ; (2) Revival ; (3) Plaintive complaint ; (4) Response to the complaint ; (5) Final thanksgiving and triumph. This five-fold division of the Psalms is- very ancient, but when or by whom it was made is uncertain. Some ascribe it to Nehemiah or his time ; it certainly is two or HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 14^ three centuries older than the Christian era. The division appears in the Septuagint. Why it was made is not clear. Some conjecture that it was in accord with the supposed chronological order of the Psalms, or was an arrangement according to authors, topics, or for liturgical use. The col- lection could not have been completed before the time of Ezra. About fifty Psalms are quoted in the New Testament. 10. Authors. — The titles or inscriptions of the Psalms are not by the original authors, but belong to an early age. They are attached to 101 psalms. The 49 not having titles, the Talmud calls " Orphan Psalms." According to these titles, 73 psalms are ascribed to David, 1 12 to Asaph one of David's singers, 12 to the sons of Korah 2 a priestly family of singers of David's time, 2 (72d and 127th) to Solomon, 1 (90th) to Moses, and 1 (89th) to Ethan. The other 49 are anonymous. But the Septuagint assigns the 127th to Jeremiah, the 146th to Haggai, and the 147th to Zechariah. It is worthy of note that the great Hallel songs, Ps. 115-118, and the famous alphabetic hymn, the 119th, are among the anonymous songs. 11. Classification of Songs. — The most ancient classification, aside from the division into five collections, is also found in the titles. The meaning of these is obscure. Some are termed Shir, a solo for the voice ; Mizmor, song of praise accompanied with an instrument ; Maschil, ode or didactic song ; Michtam, a. catch-word poem (Delitzsch) ; Shiggaion, an excited ode ; T'phillah, a prayer-song; Shir jedidoth, 1 The Septuagint ascribes 85 psalms to David. The New Testament cites Pss. 2 and 95 as his. This reduces the number by anonymous writers to 34. But Delitzsch thinks only 50 can be defended as David's from internal evidence. 2 If, however, Ps. 88 is ascribed to Hemnan, as some render the title, then only 1 1 were by the sons of Korah. 144 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. a song of loves ; Shir hamma'aloth, a song of ascent or pilgrim songs; Kinah, dirge or elegy. Modern groups are based upon the contents, as seven (some say eight) penitential (6th, 25th, 32d [38th], 51st, io2d, 130th, 143d), seven imprecatory psalms (35th, 5 2d, 58th, 59th, 69th, 109th, 137th), pilgrim songs, psalms of thanksgiving, of adoration, of faith and hope, Messianic psalms, and historic psalms. Some psalms have parallelisms or longer stanzas, each beginning with an initial letter corresponding to the twenty- two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. There are seven of these alphabetic psalms and five other alphabetic poems in the Old Testament. Some psalms are choral, as 24th, 115th, 135th; some gradational, as 121st, 124th. Of the psalms ascribed to David, several have Chaldaic or Aramaic forms that betray a later editing. 12. Date. — The date of the composition of only a few of the Psalms can now be determined. For example, Ps. 18 is distinctly ascribed to David, when "The Lord had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul." 2 Sam. 22:1. David must have composed many Psalms, for he was popularly called " the sweet psalmist of Israel," or " pleas- ant in the psalms of Israel," as the margin of the R. V. renders it. 2 Sam. 23 : 1. His Psalms were used in the first temple. For " Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph." 2 Chron. 29 : 30. " Songs of Zion " had gained a reputation for sweetness in foreign lands even before the exile, as the response of the Jews indicates in Ps. 137:3, 4. Many Psalms whose composition is assigned by some HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 145 critics to the Maccabsean era have been shown by Bishop Westcott to be devoid of the "slightest trace of those in- ternal divisions of the people" which marked the Macca- baean struggle. Moreover, all the Psalms most surely as- signed to that era by the critics belong to the collection wherein Elohim, the most ancient name of God, is used. In the Pentateuch the same class of critics assume that the use of this ancient name proves that those portions of the Pentateuch are from the oldest document. Hence these Psalms must be antique. Then, too, some of these alleged Maccabaean Psalms have musical titles prefixed. But the meaning of these titles had been already lost by or before the time of the Septuagint translators. Yet these transla- tors were nearly contemporary with the Maccabaean writers. If these Psalms, therefore, had been written by writers of the Maccabsean period, it is incredible to believe that the meaning of the titles could have been forgotten so soon as the period of the Greek translators. Hence we conclude that these Psalms must have been written much earlier. The meaning of these titles had been forgotten even when the books of the Chronicles were written. Again, it is fair to assume that the Psalms allude to the chief events of importance, and to the most distinguished persons in Hebrew history, down to the completion of the collection of the book of Psalms. Now David and Samuel are the latest saints or heroes noted in the Psalms. Of the great historical events the prophets intimate that the res- toration would outshine any miracle of the exodus. Yet there is no trace of the wonderful restoration of Israel in the Psalms that can be distinctly recognized. 1 1 See Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, pp. i86ff. 14h' HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. In historical events the Psalms end with a mention of those of the captivity. The antiquity of the Psalms may be judged, therefore, from these facts. 13. Topics. — As many and varied as human experiences are the subjects of the Psalms. In several instances several topics are found in one and the same Psalm. The subjects may be roughly grouped : 1. Psalms of Praise. — Ps. 9, 18, 19, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31, 34, 41, 42, 46, 50, 60, 62, 66, 72, 75, 76, 77, 82, 87, 89, 91, 92,94, 99, 100, 101, 103, 104, 108, in, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 138, 139, 144, I45> M6, I47> x 48, i49> l 5° — in all 48 Psalms. 2. 0/ Prayer.— Ps. 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 17, 20, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32, 35, 38, 43> 5 1 * 54, 55' 5 6 > 57, 59> 61, 64, 67, 68, 70, 74, 79, 80, 86, 88, 90, 102, 140, 141, 142, 143 — 39 Psalms. 3. Of Thanksgiving.— Vs. 8, 21, 33, 40, 45, 47, 48, 65, 69, 71, 81, 84, 85, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 107, 118 — 20 Psalms. 4. Of Meditation. — Ps. 1, 2, 3, io ; 11, 12, 14, 15, 36, 37> 39- 44, 49> 5 2 > 53> 5^ 6 3> 73, io 9, "°? 1 37~ 2I Psalms. 5. Pi/grim Songs. — Ps. 120 to 134 — 15 Psalms. 6. Historical Psalms. — Ps. 78, 83, 105, 106, 114, 135, 136 — 7 Psalms. 14. Wisdom Literature. — Special study has recently been given to this class of Biblical literature, so that its importance and meaning are now better understood. It has been denned and distinctly marked off from the law and Biblical history on one hand and from prophecy on the other. While it is chiefly poetic in spirit and expres- sion, it is further varied in literary form, being sometimes lyric, at others dramatic, epigrammatic and gnomic, and HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 147 expressed in proverbs, riddles, axioms, but always belong- ing to the reflective form of thought. The books containing it deal with the profoundest bio- logical, psychical and spiritual problems : the mystery of sin and suffering, the struggles of the soul, the philosophy of all religion ; this is characteristic of the wisdom literature of the Bible. The canonical books of Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes contain this philosophy, the "wisdom" of the Bible. Similar reflective thought is found also in portions of the Apocrypha, so aptly termed " the transitional literature " of the Hebrews. 15. Proverbs. — In Hebrew the book of Proverbs begins with " Mishle Sti lomo" "sayings" or "Proverbs of Solomon." But this can hardly be regarded as the title to the entire collection, for other titles follow at the head of sections. See Prov. 10: i and 25 : 1. The Hebrew term for proverb is used in a variety of meanings, as " parable," "maxim," "proverb," and is even applied to an extended illustration. See Micah 2 : 4; Hab. 2:651 Sam. 10: 12; Prov. 1:1, Eccl. 12:9; Num. 23 : 7. The proverb with the Oriental was and is popular, be- cause of its brevity, and because it condenses great wisdom and wide experience into a few words. The "sayings of the Seven Wise Men of Greece," the "Golden Songs" ascribed to Pythagoras and the "Fables of ^Esop " are famous instances of wisdom in secular literature. The Proverbs of the Bible are unequaled in wit and wisdom. The book abounds in polished and sparkling gems of condensed thought bearing the stamp of the highest wisdom. The book of Proverbs presents a sevenfold division, be- sides a very full title or caption in chap. I., vs. 1-6, thus ; 148 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. Book i, chaps, i : 7 to chap. 9. Book 2 repeats the title, chap. 10: 1 to chap. 22: 16. Book 3 begins with an ex- hortation to hear "the words of the wise" which follow (or, some say precede), chap. 22 : 17 to chap. 24. Book 4 has a new title or caption : " Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, King of Judah, copied out," chap. 25: 1 to Chap. 29. Book 5 has also a title or heading, " The Words of Agur," chap. 30: 1-33. Book 6 is entitled "The words of King Lemuel," and consists of a few aphorisms, chap. 31: T-9. Book 7 concludes the collection appropriately with (in Hebrew) the famous acrostic poem on the virtuous woman. Chap. 31 : 10-31. 16. The Structure of the book of Proverbs is that of poetic parallelisms, in lines of single, double, triple or more couplets. The sense or thought is usually synonymous or antithetic in these couplets. For example — " Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, And the man that getteth understanding " (3 : 13), is synonymous in thought. "A wise son maketh a glad father : But a foolish son is the heaviness [grief] of his mother" (10 : 1) is an antithetic parallelism. " As a bird that wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his place " (27 : 8), is an instance of simple comparison. " Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler ; And whosoever erreth [reeleth] thereby is not wise" (20: 1), is an example of amplification of thought. HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 149 " Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to sleep : So shall thy poverty come as a robber, And thy want as an armed man " (6 : 10, 1 1), is a specimen of an epigram, and the entire paragraph (6 : 6-i i) may be taken as a Hebrew sonnet. 1 The book of Proverbs is a storehouse of practical wisdom, filled with the choicest truths of past ages, and teaching that the true source of wisdom is Jehovah. 17. Authors and Date. — Large portions of the Proverbs are ascribed to Solomon, 2 even the portion compiled by the "men of Hezekiah," but later portions to Agur, Lemuel and certain wise men. The origin of the Proverbs must have been very ancient, for proverbial sayings are a growth. The date of the larger divisions as collections may be fixed in the period from Solomon to Hezekiah, though the completed collection as we now have it must be placed at some later period, but previous to the completion of the Hebrew Old Testament. 18. Job. — The book of Job is the great dramatic poem of the Bible. It is so named, not to indicate the author, but the hero of the book. The name of the author is not stated. Jews and early Christian writers ascribed it to Moses. Many parts of the book resemble the book of Genesis in style, and Job is represented as a patriarch, offering sacrifice like the head of a great family, as the patriarchs are described in Genesis. 15 The scenes are gen- ' See Moulton, Literary Study of the Bible, p. 281. 2 There is a Jewish tradition that Solomon composed the Song of Songs in his youth, Proverbs in mature manhood and Ecclesiastes in his old age. 3 Driver, Introduction to Literature of 0. T., p. 405. 150 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. erally believed geographically to suit Arabia, and the ex- periences of Moses might well lead him while in Midian to meditate profoundly upon the mystery of suffering. The contents imply in the main that when the work was written the Mosaic ceremonial worship was not known, or at least not observed. Many scholars, however, in recent times ascribe it to the age of Jeremiah or the Babylonian captivity (so Driver), chiefly on the ground of obscure allusions apparently to the law; of the advanced state of society which the book pre- supposes and of the nature of the problem discussed. The reasons for this view have, however, been rendered weak by the discoveries in the past ten years of the high state of society existing in the East two or three millenniums before the age of Moses, and also by the discovery of the lit- erature of that remote period which is found to deal with similar themes. The inferences in favor of a comparatively late author in the age of Jeremiah, based upon the linguistic peculiarities of the book, have likewise been weakened by the late investigations respecting the Hebrew and Aramaean dialects. The supposed allusions to the law are so obscure as to render it probable that they are nothing more than mere coincidences of expression. The Aramaisms maybe accounted for on the view that the book was written in Edom, Arabia, or in the Euphrates valley, since the Ara- maean was spoken before or as early as the time of Abraham. The old suggestion that it was originally written in ancient Arabic has lately been revived and advocated with much learning and skill. 1 The names are alleged to be Arabic, and the scenes to fit an Arabic coloring, and Uz is identi- 1 See Prof. Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, London, 1900, pp. 167 ff. HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 151 fied with A/-'fss, south of Palestine in Arabia. The teach- ing of the book is in no wise dependent, however, upon the place of its composition, the date, nor upon the nativity of the human author. 19. The Structure. — The book of Job is a sacred drama, in five (some say seven) parts, or, in modern phrase, five or seven acts. Unlike most modern dramas, not the end, but the beginning is tragic; it has a happy end. The dramatis personce, or characters, are Jehovah, Job, Satan, Job's wife, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, Elihu, children, ser- vants, messengers and attendants. The book begins with an extended prose introduction or prologue, describing Job's family and possessions and the test question of Satan, chaps. 1 and 2 ; followed by (1) Job's curse, chap. 3 ; (2) first cycle of reproofs by three friends and answers by Job, chaps. 4 to 14; (3) second cycle of charges and answers, chaps. 15 to 21 ; (4) third cycle of charges and answers, chaps. 22 to 30; (5) Job's vindication, chap. 31; (6) Elihu's argument, chaps. 32 to 37 ; (7) Jehovah's decla- ration and Job's submission. The book closes with a brief prose statement of Job's later prosperity. 1 Some critics have attempted to show by analysis that the book is a composite collection, but without much success. A widely acknowledged principle of criticism is that texts should be regarded as entire, unless there are grave reasons for a contrary view, and that any explanation of a text that does not require some secondary conjecture to support it is to be preferred. The book of Job as one, a unity, is at least intelligible, but as a patchwork it is next to inex- plicable. 2 1 See Moulton, Literary Study of the Bible, pp, 471, 472. 3 ft*. 2 See Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, p. 139, ff. 152 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 20. The Subject. — The subject of the book is contained in Satan's question, " Doth Job fear God for naught?" i : 9. That is, Does he not serve God for wages? When Satan was baffled, he then declares: " All that a man hath will he give for his life," 2 : 4. That is, Satan implies that the godly are hypocrites, and will throw away their integ- rity, their religion, their faith, to save their life. Thus it takes up broadly this profound problem of the mystery of human suffering, upon which many in our times have made shipwreck of their spiritual character. From the ancient and Oriental point of view, it is also a close philosophical discussion upon the question whether Job's reputation or the integrity of his character can be defended in view of the mysterious afflictions that had befallen him. The conclu- sion of the discussion cuts under both of the positions taken by Satan and repeated often by evil men, and proves that true religion does not spring from any form of selfishness. It also shows the rectitude of the divine government when the righteous are afflicted. Special trials do not imply special guilt. They may exhibit God's benevolent design toward the sufferer, and they are intended to beget submission to God's holy will. In modern times some of the greatest events and greatest characters in history have been set forth in drama. The characters were real persons, the great events were historic. So, reverent and thoughtful scholars accept this ancient dramatic book as presenting a great historic character and historic events clothed in rich Oriental figures and poetic imagery. Job was a real person, mentioned by Ezekiel and James, Ezk. 14: 14, 16, 18, 20; Jas. 5: it, as dis- tinguished for faith, patience and piety. 21. Is the Book History? — Josephus, Jewish rabbis an4 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 153 early Christian writers answered "Yes." Some modern critics answer " No," it was intended as a poetic creation, not an historic production. Both answers may be largely true. The trials, the Satanic influence, the losses, the complaints, the restoration, are surely true to life, and may be therefore historic, we may well believe. The construc- tion of the poem, the order and forms of the thought are wrought out by the inspired poet, so as to show how human history is related to the divine purpose for the comfort and instruction of suffering humanity in all ages. 22. Song of Songs. — In the Hebrew Bible the "Song of Songs" follows Job. In structure this book is a poetic dialogue. Modern literary critics are not agreed respecting its precise character. Some hold that it is dramatic, others that it is a lyric idyl ; the author was generally held to be Solomon until about a century ago. This view was based on the title and statement in the first clause of the book, "The Song of Songs " which is Solomon's, i : i, and on the familiarity with the reign, person and character of Solomon which the book itself reveals. The linguistic forms found in it appear also in other poetic books and songs, as that of Deborah, Judges 5 and Amos, which are conceded to belong to a period near to Solomon. Some modern critics, from a study of its internal and linguistic peculiarities, assert that the title or superscription in the first verse was not affixed by the original writer, but by some later hand, and assign the composition of the work to some period between the exile and the Maccabsean era. Others, from a similar study, urge that the title is certainly very ancient, probably representing a pre-exilic tradition, and that, because the Jews believed it was by Solomon, gave it a place in Scripture. It is also alleged that the ancient 154 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. traditional interpretation was unknown to the Septuagint translators, having been lost during the exile. 1 So the question as to its authorship and date are still unsettled. 23. Structure and Interpretation. — As has already been stated, the structure is variously denned. From the change in number and gender in the Hebrew, it is clear that it is a dialogue between different persons. Sometimes a woman speaks, and sometimes a man, and sometimes a number, like a chorus. Prof. Moulton finds the book to contain seven idyls, the first being broken into antiphonal songs between a bride, bridegroom and an attendant chorus. Each of the seven is broken into similar anthiphonal strains. Others recognize six divisions: (1) by the bride, 1 : 2 to 2:7; (2) the bride on the beauty of the bridegroom, 2 : 8 to 3 : 5 5 (3) tne royal groom and antistrophists, 3 : 6 to 5 : 1 ; (4) the groom departs and is described, 5 : 2 to 6 : 9 ; (5) the bride described, 6 : 10 to 7 : 9 ; (6) the bride's devo- tion, 7: 10 to 8: 14. Or in six parts or acts, thus: (1) the lovers meeting, 1 : 2 to 2 : 7; (2) the Shulamite songs, 2 : 8 to 3 : 5 ; (3) rova l espousal, 3:6 to 5:1; (4) l° st and found, 5 : 2 to 6 : 9 ; (5) the queen, 6 : 10 to 8 : 4 ; (6) the lovers in the Shulamite's home, 8: 5-14- The interpretation is even more varied than the views as to its structure. They may be chiefly grouped under three divisions : (1) The allegorical. This is as old or older than the Christian era, and held that the love of Solomon and the Shulamite set forth the love of Jehovah for his peo- ple. (2) The literal was the opposite extreme of the alle- gorical view, and was held by the early Syrian school. In later times these views were modified by the typical inter- nee Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, PP- 25-31- HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 155 pretation, in which the love of Solomon and of the Shula- mite were held to be a type of the love of Christ and the Church. (3) The historical and moral view is that the Shulamite's lover is not Solomon nor a royal person, but a shepherd youth, who had won her affections before she had been seen by the king. On this view the book has a strong moral lesson in the triumph of pure love for one wife over the arts of the rich who may have a harem. Whatever may be the spiritual lessons that it illustrates, it graphically shows the Hebrew idea of true bi idal and conjugal love. It is aromatic with the fragrance of spring flowers, singing birds and the charms of a sweet and strong love. It is fitting that one book of Scriptures should breathe the joy, peace and beauty that spring from domestic life of human love, a symbol and reflex of that divine love Christ has for His people. 24. Lamentations. — In the Septuagint (Greek) version, followed by our English versions, Lamentations is placed after Jeremiah. In the Hebrew Bible it is the third of the " Five Rolls." See Chap. VIII. It is regarded as a most pathetic Hebrew elegy in five parts. The first four parts are acrostics. The English reader will notice that the first, second, and fourth and fifth chapters have twenty-two verses in each, while the third chapter has three times twenty- two, or sixty-six verses. Now, there are twenty-two letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The first verse in each of the first, second and fourth chapters begins with the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and the second verse in each with the second letter, and so on through the twenty-two verses of each chapter. It follows the order commonly prevail- ing in the Hebrew alphabet. In the third chapter, how- ever, every third verse begins with the successive letter of 156 HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. the Hebrew alphabet. The fifth is not thus constructed, and the poem appears to have been left unfinished. The subject is the lament of the prophet over the desolation of Jerusalem and the calamities of Zion. The author, accord- ing to a tradition of great antiquity, was Jeremiah. Many modern Hebrew scholars urge a later author and date, but other able Hebraists do not regard the arguments against its authorship by Jeremiah as conclusive, and adhere to the testimony of tradition. 25. EccUsiastes. — This book may perhaps be regarded as upon the border-line betwixt Hebrew poetry and Hebrew prose. 1 It belongs to the so-called ''Wisdom literature," the reflective and philosophic type of thought. Much of it is in prose, but frequently in elevated flights of thought the writer almost unconsciously swings into the poetic forms of Hebrew rhythm and parallelisms. His first utterance is of this type : Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher. Vanity of vanities: all is vanity. Thus again chapter 3 : "To everything there is a season, And a time to every purpose under the heaven ; A time to be born, and a time to die ; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted ; A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up ; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance ; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; J Of course the same might be said of several of the prophecies, HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 157 A time to seek, and a time to lose ; A time to keep, and a time to cast away ; A time to rend, and a time to sew ; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak ; A time to love, and a time to hate ; A time for war, and a time for peace/' The author is called in Hebrew " Qoheleth " — " the preacher," the "Son of David," in the title or superscrip- tion. Many modern critics claim that this title or super- scription does not prove that Solomon was the author. From the language and the despairing tone of the writer they would assign it a very late date and to a late author, perhaps in the Persian period (440-336 b. a), or later. Others, as Pusey, Tayler Lewis, Milman, Margoliouth and others, do not regard the arguments for a late date and against its origin in the age of Solomon as conclusive, and hence adhere to historical tradition that the book was written by Solomon probably in his old age. But the question is clearly an unsettled one. The theme of the book is the highest good, and is found in the conclusion : " Fear God, and keep his command- ments, for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12 : 13. CHAPTER XII. PROPHECY ; PROPHETS, THEIR MISSION, MESSAGES ; PROPH- ETICAL LITERATURE ; ISAIAH \ JEREMIAH ; EZEKIEL \ DANIEL ; THE TWELVE MINOR PROPHETS. Prophecy is that portion of Biblical literature which con- tains special divine messages, usually attested by an explicit "Thus saith the Lord." It forms a large division of He- brew literature. It is found in various forms of prose and poetry, and sometimes where verse and prose appear to meet and overlap. Thus in prophecy we find : (i) simple discourse ; (2) poetry ; Hebrew parallelisms, dramatic and lyric; (3) figurative language, emblems and symbols, highly wrought, as in Ezekiel ; (4) interlocutory or dialogue forms, and (5) the rhapsody of visions disclosing future blessings and judgments, and enforcing lessons from past and pass- ing events. 1. The Prophets therefore revealed and interpreted the will of God, and were the great religious teachers of their age. "Prophet" now is commonly taken in the narrow sense, meaning one who "predicts" or "foretells" future events. But in Scripture the Hebrew prophet, in a much broader sense, designates any person authorized to declare the will of God. His chief mission was not to fore- (158) PROPHECY AM) PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 159 tell future things, but to proclaim righteousness, truth, and the worship of Jehovah. 1 While prediction was a part of the mission of the Hebrew prophet, it was but a very small part of his lifework. Prophets were needed from the earliest period. Moses was a great prophet. Deut. 18: 15. Schools of the prophets sprang up in the time of Samuel, and those thus trained were called "sons of the prophets," a recognized profes- sional class. 1 Sam. 10: 12 ; 2 Kings 2: 3. Some of this class were not divinely authorized or inspired, however, to teach, but were false prophets. (Jer. 14: 14; 23: 21 ; Ezek. 22: 28.) True prophets were sometimes called from out- side of this class to interpret the Lord's will, and were directed to denounce some professional prophets and their teachings as false. Amos 7: 14, 15 ; 1 Kings 13: 20-22. 2. The Mission and Era of the Hebrew prophets may be divided into five historical periods, each marked by a great crisis, thus: (1) The establishment of the nation in the time of Samuel. (2) The suppression of idolatrous worship in the time of Elijah and Elisha. (3) The proclamation of righteousness as a ground of God's favor in the days of Joel and Amos. (4) Prophecies concerning the Messianic hopes of Israel, as in the time of Isaiah. (5) The call for personal piety by repentance and reformation, as in the days of Nehemiah and Malachi. The Hebrew nation might cease to be a theocracy, and become a subject people under the great world powers, yet God required of his chosen people purity of heart and holiness of life. Thus the great prophetic eras were from Moses to Elijah, 1 The early English signification of " prophet " was not simply to " foretell," but to " forth-tell." Thus a seventeenth century work on "The Liberty of Prophesying" was a plea for freedom in the English pulpit, and not for the liberty to foretell events. 160 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL ROOKS. from Elijah to Jeremiah and the great captivity, during the captivity and the restoration, followed by four centuries of silence preceding the Christian era. Hebrew history from the captivity to the Christian era (including the four cen- turies of prohpetic silence) may be roughly divided into four periods: (i) Persian period (537-33° B.C.); (2) Greek period (330-167 b. a); (3) Maccabsean period (167-63 b. a); (4) Roman period to the fall of Jeru- salem (63 b. a-70 a. d.). Keeping these in mind will give a clearer idea of some problems relating to the prophets and prophecy. 3. Prophetical Literature. — A sharp distinction must be drawn between three diverse things : (1) The oral proc- lamation of prophecies ; (2) The original writing of such prophecies as were recorded, and (3) the final collecting and putting prophecies into the form in which we now have them. Keeping these distinctions firmly in mind, may further aid us in examining several at present per- plexing critical problems.- The great bulk of prophetic utterances, even of what may have been reduced to writing, and at one time or another circulated among the Hebrew people, has been lost. It was, we may believe, of temporary importance. What has been permanently preserved presents the substance of the di- vine teachings useful for all time. It is gleaned from the richest Hebrew experience in contact with world powers for over a thousand years. The Hebrews divided this great group of their sacred literature into "Former Prophets," embracing the books from Joshua to the end of Kings. These have been consid- ered. The remaining sixteen prophetical books, from Isaiah PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 161 to Malachi (excepting Daniel 1 ) were called "Latter Pro- phets." They are now popularly regarded as pre-eminently prophetical books. Large portions of these books are Hebrew poetry and poetic in spirit. Imbedded in these are some of the noblest rhapsodies and the finest lyrics in the language, as the Messianic odes in Isaiah (52, 53), the elegies of Jeremiah, Ezekiel's doom song over Egypt, (32 : 18-32), and the prayer of Habakkuk (3 : 2-19). These sixteen prophetic books are divided into four Major or greater, and twelve Minor, or lesser prophets. The Major or greater were not so called because they were considered greater in character or in importance, but simply because their recorded prophecies were of greater length than the recorded prophecies of those called the Minor or lesser prophets. There are reasons for believing that the oral or unrecorded utterances of some of the so- called Minor prophets equalled and perhaps exceeded in length some of those of the so-called Major prophets. It is conceivable that only a small part of the lifelong teachings and messages of any prophet has been preserved to our time. It will be convenient to consider these prophetic books in the order in which they are found in the English versions of the Bible. 4. Isaiah — The prophecies in this book were named after Isaiah, son of Amoz, a great prophet of Judah in the reigns of four or five kings — Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Heze- kiah — and tradition adds Manasseh, when he is said to have suffered martyrdom by being sawn asunder. Isaiah means salvation of Jehovah. 1 The Hebrews placed Daniel among the KUhabhim, the Hagio- grapha ("Holy writings ") of the Greeks. Various conjectures have been made to account for this, but the reason for it is Dot definitely known. K32 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. Structure and Contents. — The book of Isaiah consists of two parts: (a) Prophecies, chaps. 1-35; (//) Prophecies, chaps. 40-66. These two parts are joined together by a prose narrative of the invasion of Sennacherib and the sickness of Hezekiah, chaps. 36-39. The first part, in its literary structure, is a collection of prophecies divisible m\o five sections or groups: (1) arrangement and collec- tion, chap. 1: 1-6; (2) the alliance, 1:7-10:4; (3) Assyrian invasion, 10: 5-12; (4) judgments, 13-27; (5) destructions and redemption, 28-35. Imbedded in each of these sections are lyrics and odes of great beauty and sublimity. They lack in metre, but are rhythmic and majes- tic in movement, somewhat resembling in form a collection of the odes of Horace. The second part of Isaiah, chaps. 40-66, according to some literary critics, is a rhapsody on " Zion Redeemed," advancing in seven phases or steps to a climax. 1 It begins by a chorus, or prelude of voices, 40: 1-11, followed by (1) Prophecy against Babylon, introduced by a sublime description of the power of Jehovah, chaps. 40 : 12-48 : 22. (2) Call of the Redeemer to despairing Zion, chaps. (3) The awakening of Zion, chaps. 51 to 52 : 12. (4) Jehovah's servant exalted, chaps. 52: 13-53: 12. (5) Zion exalted, chaps. 54, 55. (6) A Redeemer in Zion, chaps. 56-62. (7) Judgments and blessings on Zion restored and on the nations, chaps. 63-66. Others divide the second part into three divisions, marked by the phrase "no peace to the wicked," 48: 22 and 57: 21. Prof. W. J. Beecher suggests that "each of these 1 See R. G. Moulton, Literary Study of the Bible, p. 396 ff. PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 163 divisions has three subdivisions, and each of these subdi- visions is resolvable into three separate, though often closely connected little poems." In his view these poems generally coincide with the present chapters. While others dissent from this, all agree that the prophetic poems form one composition, with unity of feeling not merely, but unity also of subject and purpose. Broadly the entire prophecies in the book of Isaiah centre about the one great theme of redemption in three aspects — redemption promised, provided and accomplished. In poetic majesty, in holy rapture, in pathos, power and unction these prophecies are unequalled in literature. 5. Authorship. — The book or collection was uniformly ascribed to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, by the New Testament writers, Christian scholars and Jewish historians, includ- ing the authors of the apocryphal books of the Old Testa- ment, Josephus and the Talmuds, and was not seriously questioned until within the past century. The book is quoted about 120 times in the New Testament as that of Isaiah, the quotations being about equally divided between the first and the second parts of the book. The authorship has been sharply discussed during the past century. Various theories have been advanced. Ewald assigned the book of Isaiah to seven authors, 1 and other radical critics to several more than seven authors. Scholars of the "higher" critical school now, however, generally ascribe the book to two authors, the historic Isaiah, and a "pseudo" or " deutero " — a "great un- known " Isaiah, who is the supposed author of chaps. 40-66. Three lines of argument are chiefly urged in support of the theory of a plurality of authors: (1) The internal evi- 1 Moulton divides the prophecies into seven books or parts. 164 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. dence, which, it is claimed, points to a later period for the latter half of the book than the age of Isaiah, such as allu- sions to Jerusalem in ruins, the prospect of speedy restora- tion, the references to exiles, the mention of Cyrus and of the Chaldseans as if contemporaries of the writer; (2) The differences of literary style between the first and the second part of the book, based chiefly on special words, expressions and certain linguistic peculiarities ; (3) The differences in thought, in the conception of Jehovah and of his relation to Israel, especially the idea of a Messianic King. 1 The unity of the authorship is maintained (1) negatively on the ground that the foregoing lines of argument for a plu- rality of authors are inconclusive. Those strongly favor a plurality theory who seek to explain away miracles and the supernatural, and aim to eliminate predictive prophecy from Scripture. This creates a suspicion that in some cases arguments are sought, perhaps unconsciously, or are warped to support a preconceived theory. But some "higher critics" concede that even the last part of Isaiah, 40-66, was written prior to the events which it describes. 2 This admission, however, weakens, if it does not virtually de- stroy, the force of their first line of argument (internal evidence) in support of the theory of plurality of authors. To assume that Isaiah could not name Cyrus because prophets did not usually " project themselves into a distant future 7 ' is not only "begging the question," but is an assumption without due warrant. It amounts to assuming that Isaiah did not or could not write prophecy which would turn out true history, and leads to a logical denial 1 See S. R. Driver's Introduction to Literature of the O. T., pp. 223 ff; Delitzsch, Commentary, 4th ed. ; G. A. Smith, Isaia h (Ex- positor's Bible); C.A. Briggs, Messianic Prophecy. 2 See Driver, Introduction, etc., p. 230. PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 165 of all prophecy. Again, the argument, from the differences in style and from the linguistic peculiarities, has been shown to be illusive, if not delusive. For a same line of argument from the similarities of style has been used to disprove plurality and to support a unity of authorship. And the third line of argument for " two Isaiahs " has been seriously weakened by an increasing agreement among scholars, that the Messianic idea runs through the entire book (for ex- ample, see chap. 2), and indicates that this conception was then current among the Jewish people. The unity of authorship is urged (2) positively, on the ground — (1) Of the external evidence, which uniformly has de- clared Isaiah to be the author (see Ecclus. 48 : 24, 25). As we have seen, Josephus ascribes the book to that prophet only. The many citations in the New Testament imply the same, and give no hint of the "great unknown" prophet conjectured by modern critics. Hence tradition and historic testimony agree in support of the unity of authorship. The Jewish historians were not dishonest, and it is almost inconceivable that a batch of poems by a wholly unknown writer could have been passed off as those of the great Isaiah, almost within 200 years of the latter's lifetime. (2) The literary style and a large portion of the lin- guistic peculiarities favor the view of one author, as recent critics have ably shown. For example, the writer of the second half of the book uses words the meaning of which was partially lost by Jeremiah's time. And he possesses a familiarity with a vocabulary the mastery of which the writer of the first half alone shares with him. 1 1 See Margoliotith, Lines of Defence of the Bibical Revetation, p. i3 6 - 166 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. (3) The geographical matter and allusions in 40-66 fit an earlier period than that of the exile, and the idolatrous practices rebuked in the last half of Isaiah cannot be at- tributed to Israel during or after the exile without grave anachronisms. (4) Again, the prophecy even in 40-66 has been found to present a situation unlike that in the time of Cyrus, and not different from that in the time of Isaiah, the son of Amoz. For Jerusalem and the cities around her are con- ceived as standing, her exiles as in prisons. The theory of two authors for Isaiah fails to fit these facts. 1 (5) Moreover, passages in the so-called " second Isaiah," declaring that he had foretold events, occur early in the second half of the book. Compare also the similarity of Isa. 35 : 10 with 59 : 20 and many like passages in the two parts. Rationally to account for this, it is held either that the first Isaiah wrote the work ascribed to the second, or the second Isaiah wrote the work ascribed to the first. 2 The first view is the most natural one. For it is almost incredible that an author so eminent as the conjectured "great unknown" or "deutero Isaiah" could have been so utterly forgotten within about 200 years of his age as to allow his name to pass into oblivion, and his monu- mental work to be ascribed to another prophet four or five generations earlier, and more marvellous still to be patched or pieced into the current well accredited work of the historic Isaiah. The theory of "two Isaiahs" makes too large demands upon credulity to be regarded as conclusive. The situation may be briefly stated as follows : The tide of 1 See W. J. Beecher in Nelson's Illustrated Bible Treasury, p. 97. 2 Margoliouth, Lines of Defence, etc., pp. 89, 90 ff ; Hastings, Diet, of the Bible, Isaiah, which declares that if 40-66 is exilic, part of I-39 musi also fall into the same date, Vol. II., p. 487". PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 167 Hebrew scholarship ran in favor of two or more authors for the book of Isaiah during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but with decided indications of a turn in favor of one author, and the historic view of the unity of the book at the opening of the twentieth century. Whether this be conceded or not, it is certain the question of the author- ship of the book of Isaiah is "open" and unsettled; the historic view of unity in authorship and that by Isaiah gaining in strength. The book rests for its divine authority upon grounds quite independent of the dispute about its authorship. It was held in reverence by Christ and the apostles, and has been so held, a comfort and a blessing to believing children of God for more than two thousand years, ever responding to their souls and revealing to their hearts the mind of God. Thus the internal evidence, to generations of the godly combines with the external historic evidences to establish its divine authority. The date and the place of composition hinge on the question of authorship. If the historic testimony that Isaiah is the author is accepted, the date may be placed about 740-690 b. c, and the place of composition mainly Jeru- salem. 6. Jeremiah — Structure and Contents. — The book of Jeremiah in its literary structure is not sharply marked into divisions. Some scholars hold that it is a collection of prophecies in five parts; others split it into ten "books" or sections. In five parts it is noted that the first contains six discourses, chaps. 1-20, each of the last three begin- ning with " The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord." n: 1; 14:1; 18:1. A similar attestation is given nine times in the first three chapters, and many times 168 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. throughout the entire book. The second part has fifteen discourses or prophecies, chaps. 21-36, every chapter con- taining a "Thus saith the Lord," or a similar attestation of divine authority. The third part is an historical narra- tive, that may have been recorded by Baruch at the dicta- tion of Jeremiah (see Jer. 36: 44). The fourth part con- sists of elegies or doom songs over Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Damascus, Kedar, Elam and Babylon. The fifth part gives details on the fall of Jerusalem, which some regard as an appendix to the book by another author. The style is simple and rugged. An evangelical and Messianic prophet, Jeremiah is a bold preacher of right- eousness to a sinning people. Some have likened him to Dante proclaiming coming judgments, and to the Trojan Cassandra. He is the poet of desolation and sorrow, " the weeping prophet," but also of restoration, brightening the general blackness of the storm. Portions of the book were intended to instruct and comfort the Jewish captives at Babylon, and other portions were warnings to the nations, and thus indirectly inspiring hope in Israel. Later critics have found resemblances in thought and in literary expressions to those in the book of Deuteronomy, and infer that the prophet was a careful student of that book. His themes, aside from those already mentioned, were the unfailing covenant of Jehovah, the Messianic hope, the promise of return from exile, a prophecy which led to their return (see 2 Chron. 36: 22 ; Ezra. 1 : 1, with Dan. 9 : 2). The author was Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, priest of Anathoth, a little town a few miles north of Jerusalem. He dictated portions of the book to Baruch, a scribe, who wrote them out. Jer. 36: 4; 45 : 1. The prophecies ex- tended over about forty years, and were proclaimed in the PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 169 kingdom of Judah in the period from Josiah to Zedekiah, about 625-586 b. c. 7. Ezekiel. — The name means " God strengthens." Conte?its and structure. The book is a collection of mys- terious visions, discourses, parables and elegies or doom poems. Jerome called it "an ocean and labyrinth of the mysteries of God." Its mysterious character caused the Jews to declare that no one should read it until thirty years of age. The prophecies are sometimes dated, but are not now arranged in chronological order. Some divide it into three parts (Driver, Davidson, and Moulton) — (i) on the fall of Jerusalem, chaps. 1-24; (2) on the nations, chaps. 25-32 ; (3) on the restoration of Israel, chaps. 33-48. Each of these parts is divisible into short prophecies, dis- courses, visions, or poems, with a general thought or unity looking to the restoration of Israel. The exposition or interpretation is confessedly difficult. The methods of interpretation applied to Ezekiel may be placed in four groups: (1) The allegorical, varying, hazy often and tending to doubtful results; (2) the historical, also varying and perilous ; (3) the symbolical, fairly safe when carefully guarded by proper qualifications ; (4) the typical, a safer method, yet requiring the insight of a seer and the reverent spirit of a saint. The author. — Ezekiel was of a priestly family and a prophet of the exile, living in mature life a captive at Tel-Abib on the banks of Chebar, probably an artificial stream, or royal canal, connecting the Euphrates with the Tigris north of Babylon. It is generally conceded that he recorded his prophecies soon after they were spoken, though there is a Jewish tradition that they with other books were written by men of the Jewish synagogue. But 170 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. this is explained by the fact that Ezekiel himself was doubtless one of the men of the Great Synagogue. His style is often diffuse, abounding in allegory, symbol, and apocalyptic figures. 8. Daniel. — In the Hebrew Bible the book of Daniel is not among the books of prophecy, but in the third division, called K'thubhim, at the head of which was the book of Psalms. Structure and Language. — In structure it is complex, partly history and partly prophecy. This may account for its position in the Hebrew Bible. Chapters 2 : 4 to 7 are in Aramaic ; the other portions in Hebrew. The intro- duction and the Aramaic portion are written in the third person. This may be accounted for by difference of the matter; the former is chiefly history, the latter visions. The Aramaic in Daniel resembles closely the Aramaic of Ezra. Some hold that it is distinctly a western Aramaic dialect, due to a later period. But the close resemblance to the dialect of Ezra throws doubt on this opinion. The view that the Jews forgot their Hebrew in Babylon and spoke ''Aramaic" on their return to Palestine is now dis- proved. The Aramaic dialect was in upper Syria long before and gradually won the field. This dialect in the Bible is not strictly " Chaldaic." The conietits may be divided into two parts: (1) A narra- tive of the life of Daniel and his friends while captives in Babylon, chaps. 1-6 ; (2) four prophetic or apocalyptic visions, chaps. 7-12, namely, of four beasts, of the ram and he-goat, of the period of restoration, and of the time of the end. 9. Authorship. — The visions in the text are declared to have been spoken by Daniel. The author of the narrative por- PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL HOOKS. 171 tion is not stated in the book itself. Historic testimonyand tradition ascribe the entire book, however, to the prophet Daniel. Some modern critics declare that this view cannot be sustained, and hold that it was written by an author of a later age, between 300 and 168 b. c. The chief arguments urged for their view are: (1) The position of the book in Hebrew Scriptures (it is not placed with the prophets); (2) the silence of the son of Sirach (200 b. c), who men- tions Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and minor prophets, but not Daniel ; (3) the date of the siege of Jerusalem, the making the Chaldaeans of the caste of wise men, the calling Belshazzar King, and Darius, a Mede, a ruler in Babylon, and the mention of " the books" as if a collection or canon, are claimed to point to a later writer ; (4) the language — Persian and Greek words and the dialect of Aramaic — are held also to point to a later date ; and finally (5) the theology of the book is claimed to be that of a later period than the exile. These arguments, on the other hand, are held to be in- conclusive by many critics for the following among other reasons: (1) The position of the book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible shows a truer insight into its character than has prevailed in later times. The book differs from all prophetic books except Jonah ; it is not homiletic, as are the prophetic books, nor is it altogether "prophetic" in the modern sense; that is prediction. Hence it is not strange that it should be placed by the Jews with the books of the Hagiographa, for they are surely held to be of pro- phetic authorship. (2) The argument from silence is worthless, for the son of Sirach is silent also concerning Ezra, though he lauds Nehemiah. Yet it would be absurd to infer therefrom that Ezra was unknown to him. But, in 172 PROPHPCY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. fact, it has lately been proved that the son of Sirach quotes from the book of Daniel and from both parts of it. 1 This proves that the book of Daniel must have been written before Ecclesiasticus. (3) All the inferences from the historic allusions are conceded to be inconclusive and weak. 2 In fact, most of them or similar facts can be turned to sustain the historic view, that the book belongs to the ex- ilic period, and may therefore have been written by Daniel. The book fits his age, and presents facts that he was in a position to know, as few others were. (4) The linguistic arguments are weak, if not delusive, being based on a mere opinion. (5) The fifth argument (from the theological ideas) for a late author is greatly exaggerated, and with sober minds has no independent weight. The traditional view that it is mainly by Daniel is posi- tively maintained on the grounds ; (1) of the historic testi- mony before mentioned ; (2) of the utter improbability that the Hebrews would place a late work which was a forgery among their sacred Scriptures. For, if this book of Daniel was written near 200 b. c, it must have been by a writer who assumed to write in Daniel's name. See Dan. 8 : 1, 15, 27 ; 9 : 2 ; 10 : 2 \ 12:5. It is incredible that such a forged work, could be passed off, in that age, as genuine ; for, in that era the Hebrew collection of Scriptures was completed. (3) Modern discoveries have steadily strength- ened the former evidences for an early rather than a late date. Belshazzar has been identified as historic, the capture of Babylon was by stratagem rather than battles, the old gods and religion of Babylon, were not destroyed by the 1 See Margoliouth, Lines of Defence of the Biblical Revelation, pp. 181 and 182. 2 See Driver, Introduction, p. 469. PROPHECY AM) PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 173 conqueror (all inferred in Daniel). Darius the Mede has not been identified, but so many of the persons in Daniel have been confirmed as historic that it is safe to infer the others will be, in time. (4) Daniel and Ezra both wrote partly in Aramaic, but Nehemiah insisted that the Jews should speak Hebrew. The son of Sirach may have omitted both these heroes from Ecclesiasticus, because they did not use pure Hebrew. They were not unknown to him, for, as has already been shown, he quotes from Daniel. Aramaic had long been used in diplomatic business. See 2 Kings 18 : 26. And both languages were spoken by many Israelites in the time of Daniel. Why should he not naturally use both dialects? It is needless to conceive of a later writer to ex- plain this circumstance. And the use of a few stray Greek and Persian terms only proves what might be inferred, that these were current in the exilic period, since Nebuchad- nezzar had brought captives from Lydia and Egypt, and Medes and Elamites were neighbors. (5) The Hebrews counted a part of the book predictive. Those who believe that prophets did not predict future events will prefer to think the book was by an author in the Maccabaean era. The question is unsettled, and, in view of the increasing light from explorations and scholarly investigations, it is comparatively easy calmly to await further light. 10. The Minor Prophets. — In modern Bibles these are counted twelve separate books, but in the Hebrew Bible the twelve are counted as one book. The Hebrew order is the same as in modern Bibles, but the order in the Septuagint or Greek Version is, Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. Some of the earliest and of the latest prophetic books are among the minor prophets. They also exhibit 174 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. a wide diversity af style, thought, structure and illustration. Here are the uncultured herdsman Amos, the passionate, erratic Jonah, the impassioned Zephaniah, the polished poetical ode of Habakkuk, and the didactic discourses of Malachi. The variety and richness of Hebrew prophetic literature are well illustrated in the Minor Prophets. ii. Hosea. — The last great prophet of Israel, the north- ern kingdom, was Hosea, his name meaning ''salvation." His prophetic mission covered from fifty to seventy years from the reign of Jeroboam II. on towards the fall of Samaria, 786-722 b. c. The book may be divided into two parts : (1) Israel's unfaithfulness under the figure of Gomer, chaps. 1-3. (2) Prophetic discourses; the Lord's controversey with his people, chaps. 4-14. The last part is broken into numerous short prophecies, the record probably giving barely abstracts of extended spoken teachings. Their interpretation is con- fessedly difficult. Some interpret the first part literally, that the prophet actually married a profligate woman; others hold that it is a vision, and yet others that he typically sets forth the relation of Israel to Jehovah by the wife unfaithful to her husband. The second part is subdivided into sev- eral sections, chiefly depicting Israel's sins and punishment, and closing with a call to repentance. The style is senten- tious, concise, abrupt, and hence sometimes obscure. Stanley calls him the Jeremiah of the northern kingdom. But he was earlier and contemporary with Amos, Jonah and perhaps Joel. This prophecy is often cited in the New Testament. Matt. 2:15; 9:13; 12:7; Rom. 9 : 25, 26. 12. Joel. — This prophecy declares God's judgments of locusts, caterpillars and the like, and the blessings to God's people. It is in two parts: (r) The visitation, chaps. 1 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 175 to 2: 17; (2) The repentance and blessings, chap. 2: 18 to 3 : 21. The style is pure Hebrew, easy, flowing, elegant and classical, with bold, sublime imagery, vivid description, bearing the impress of high culture. All these point to an early date in the monarchy. Peter cites the prediction of Joel, and points to its fulfilment in the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. See Acts 2 : 16-21 and Joel 2 : 28-32. Some place the date about 770 b. c. and just before Amos and Hosea. 13. Amos. — The prophecy of Amos was also chiefly one of judgments. His themes were righteousness and the certainty of punishment upon sin and immoralty. The book may be said to have three parts: (1) Retribution on the nations, chaps. 1,2; (2) Israel not to escape, chaps. 3-6; (3) Visions and a historical explanation, chaps. 7-9. His prophecy has been called a Hebrew manual of the prin- ciples of social reform. Amos was a shepherd and grower of sycamore trees at Tekoa, a few miles south of Jerusalem. He was not of the line of professional prophets, and had not been trained at their schools, but he was distinctly called of Jehovah to be a prophet. Amos 7: 14, 15. His style is bold, fearless, as a stern reformer, homely, rugged, direct, and remarkable for vigor and effectiveness. Thus it is in strong contrast with that of Joel and the sweeping rhapsodies of Isaiah. There is simplicity mingled with sublimity, and an imagery fragrant of the pasture, the flocks, and flowering fruit trees. He is pre-eminently the prophet of the common people. The dates of the prophecies are probably near that of Joel and Hosea, in the eighth century, B. c. 14. Obadiah. — This short book has been called a ''doom 176 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. prophecy" over Edom, and in two parts : (i) Edom doomed in spite of its fastnesses; (2) due to cruelty to Israel. This the smallest of the prophetic books reminds the reader of the old feud between Jacob and Esau. The sweeping declaration of judgment against Edom for its unnatural conduct toward Judah in its day of misfortune is plain and energetic in style. The date is uncertain. It turns on vs. 11-14. Some place it in 889-884 b. c. ; others 606-588 b. c. or later. There is a strong resemblance in this book to Jer. 49 : 7-21, where there is a similar prophecy against Edom. 15. Jonah. — This book has been termed a "prophetic epic " (Moulton). It is in four parts, corresponding nearly to the four chapters : (1) the call and rebellion of the prophet ; (2) ode or psalm of deliverance ; (3) preaching to and repentance of Ninevites ; (4) anger of the prophet. Its literary form and contents are wholly different from other prophetic books, making it surprising that it was not among the Hagiographa, or third division of the Hebrew Bible with Daniel, rather than among the prophets. The authorship and date of the book are sharply dis- cussed, with few signs that the question will soon be settled. It is alleged that it must have been written long after the lifetime of Jonah, because (1) of the language, showing Aramaisms ; (2) the song or Psalm in chap. 2 reflects the sentiment of many other Psalms supposed to be of later origin than the prophet ; (3) of a similar reflection of the teaching of the great prophets, also later than Jonah ; (4) the absence of the name of any king of Nineveh. A careful sifting of these arguments reveals weakness and haziness. Jonah was a real prophet of Gath-hepher, a town of northern Palestine between Nazareth and Tiberias. The PROPHECY AM) PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 177 book is a simple, natural and graphic story, bearing the marks of true history, unless the reader discards miracles. The miracle of the "great fish " (it does not say " whale ") has been made the butt of ridicule by skeptics since the days of Julian the Apostate. As a type of Christ, the narrative of Jonah must include the miracle of the fish, for Christ himself points to it as such a type. Matt. 12: 39-41; Luke 11 : 29-32. The book reads like history. Those who hold that all records of the supernatural in Scripture are unhistoric naturally hold that the book of Jonah is a moral fiction, possibly having some historic basis. It is counted a "beautiful poem," teaching the tenderness of Jehovah towards the heathen, contrasted with the imperfect conception of some Hebrew prophets. No one disputes that Jonah was an historical person and prophet of Jehovah. 16. Micah. — This is generally regarded as a Messianic prophecy, but variously divided into two parts (Driver and Moulton), or three parts (Davidson), or four parts (Mc- Curdy). The more simple grouping into two parts is: (i) Miscellaneous prophecies, chaps. 1-5 ; (2) dramatic proph- ecies, chaps. 6, 7. He was of Gath, on the Mediterranean plain, and a con- temporary of Isaiah. His style is varied, generally smooth and artistic, often bold and energetic, and sometimes ab- rupt and vehement. He abounds in images and figures and in sudden transitions, making it difficult to follow him. As a Messianic prophet his predictions are caught up and echoed in the song of Zacharias (Luke 1 : 72, 73), and by the priests of Jerusalem. Matt. 2:5,6. The authorship of the prophecy has been disputed. It is asserted that only a part of the book can be from Micah, owing to the diverse 178 PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. character and style of portions. Then it is assumed that one portion, in chaps. 6 and 7, states matters in prospect, which in another portion, 7 : 7 ff, have actually passed (see Hastings' Diet, of Bible, Micah). But what if the first be predictive? The assertions and arguments are insufficient, seriously to weaken the historical view. 17. Nahum contains an alphabetic poem and a prophecy of the doom of Nineveh. It opens with a vivid and sub- lime picture of the power and majesty of Jehovah. With marvellous vigor, dignity and sublimity of language he then depicts the downfall and miserable ruin of Nineveh. Next to Isaiah, Nahum is the richest in poetic imagery, in vivid picturesque force and dignity of all the Hebrew prophets. Little is known of the prophet. He was probably of Elkosh, in Galilee, though there is a place near Mosul opposite Nineveh, now shown as Elkush, but the tradition is of the sixteenth century of our era. The date of the prophecy is probably somewhere between 660 and 606 b. c. 18. Habakkuk. — The theme of this prophecy is the overthrow of Judaea by the Chald?eans, and the overthrow of the Chaldaeans, closing with a magnificent prayer-ode on the majesty of Jehovah. His style is strong, beautiful, with artistic and descriptive power "that enlivens and adorns everything with charming effect" (Evvald). Little is known of the prophet-author, except that he was a Levite. His sublime prayer-song, chap. 3, Lowth calls "an anthem unequalled in majesty and splendor of language and im- agery." From this book Paul cites the famous text " the just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4; Rom. 1 : 17), which was caught up by Luther and became the ringing watchword of the great Reformation. The date of the prophecy is an- PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL ROOKS. 171* certain, some placing it about 600 e. c, others much earlier. 19. Zephaniah. — This prophecy has been called a "rhapsodic discourse " and divided into three parts: (1) The menace, chap. 1 ; (2) admonition, chap. 2-3:7; (3) promise, chap. 3: 8-20, and is declared to have been uttered during the reign of Josiah, 640-608 B. c. The book has been termed the great judgment hymn. That marvellous description beginning "The great day of Jehovah is near, . . . That day ... of wrath" (Zeph. 1 : 14, 15), furnished the keynote to that sublime Latin hymn ascribed to Thomas of Celano (1250), Dies irce, dies ilia, esteemed the grandest hymn of the Middle Ages — a hymn more frequently translated than any other, yet never equalled, and which brings before us, with thrilling power, the final judgment as an awful impending reality. 20. Haggai. — A prophecy to instruct and encourage the returned exiles, mfour sections or mixed prose and poetical discourses, each being carefully dated. The first relates to the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, 1 : 1-15 ; the second to the glory of the temple, 2 : 1-9 ; the third to clean and unclean offerings, 2 : 10-19, and the fourth to Zerubbabel's triumph over heathen people. The date of the first prophecy is about 520 B. c. The allusion to " the desire of all nations," or "the desirable things of all nations" (2: 7), is understood to apply to Christ and his kingdom. His style is simple, direct, practical, with some poetical imagination, shaping his thoughts sometimes into the parallelisms of Hebrew poetry. 21. Zechariah — Contents. — A prophecy of the restora- tion era, variously divided into two parts (Davidson, McCurdy,) into three books (Moulton), and into Jive 180 PROPHECV AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. prophecies (Driver). The two parts are : (a) Visions of symbols presenting the future of God's people, chaps. 1-8. There are eight visions : (i) Man on a red horse ; (2) four horses ; (3) Man with a measuring line ; (4) high priest and Satan ; (5) the lampstand and two olive trees ; (6) a flying roll ; (7) the ephah and two women ; (8) four chariots and horses, black, white, grisled and bay, followed by a descrip- tion (in chapters 7, 8) of the restoration of Jerusalem. {£) Prophetic discourses— (1) the king of Zion, chap. 9; (2) false shepherds, 10: 1-12; (3) slaughtered flocks, 11: 1-17; (4) a fountain for Jerusalem, 12: 1-13 ; (5) visions of a sword and calamities, followed by a reign of holiness. Author. — The first part is ascribed to and universally conceded to be by Zechariah. The authorship of the second part is disputed. Some have held that it was by Jeremiah, because of the quotation, Matt. 27: 9, 10, a theory with weak support. Others ascribe it to some prophet or prophets before 700 b. c. (so Kuenen, Cheyne and Driver). The external evidence for unity of authorship of the entire book is uniform and strong. The Septuagint ascribes it to Zechariah. The New Testament allusions give no hint of more than one author for the prophecy. The arguments for plurality of authors rests wholly upon internal evidence ; inferences from interpretations of the prophetic discourses in the last half of the book and from differences in phrase- ology, thought and description between the first and the last half. This may be largely accounted for by the widely different presentation of the two ; one consisting of sym- bols, the other of direct discourses. The question is, how- ever, unsettled. All recognize its authority, and many scholars discover that the thought is essentially Messianic, giving unity of theme, one indication of unity of authorship. PROPHECY AND PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 181 22. Malachi. — A prophecy in six discourses, relating to Israel after the return from exile and during the Persian period. It contains rebukes of the people and of the priests, promises of grace mingled with sweeping judgment. It dis- tinctly foretells that Elijah will come as the forerunner of the Messiah. Should the forerunner not come, or fail in his mission, the prophet threatens that Jehovah will come and "smite the earth with a curse." And thus prophecy in the Old Testament closes with a terrible warning, await- ing the opening of the New Testament with an angelic song, the Gloria in Excelsis. Malachi means ''my messenger," and some have sup- posed that it referred to Ezra as the author. But this con- jecture has no other support and the style is unlike that of Ezra. Nothing definite is known of the prophet. His style is terse and the literary structure of his book Socratic, his aphorisms being in the form of question and answer. Four centuries of prophetic silence follow, broken by the advent of the Messiah. CHAPTER XIII. LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. The books of the Bible have been translated into a greater number of languages than any other book of the world. i. Languages of the World. — How many languages are there in the world ? It is not easy to ascertain the number spoken by the fifteen hundred millions of peoples on the earth. What is a language? What marks off any form of speech from other forms so distinctly as to make it a different language? These questions are not so simple to answer as some might suppose. It may be agreed that a language is any form of speech that is not intelligible to those speaking other forms. But it is obvious that the line of intelligibility will vary widely with different minds, and therefore in practice become very elastic and indefinite. Some specified form of speech might appear to one mind to have clear marks of a dis- tinct language, but to another mind it might seem to be nothing more than a dialect. The practical application, therefore, of any definition of language would vary with the aptitude of the inquirer to discern nice shades of differences and similarities in speech.. One requires to be skilled in the subject, besides having a keen aptness, in order to decide when an idiom or a patois passes into a dialect, and when a dialect has really grown (182) LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. 183 into an independent language. Otherwise, he will be liable to multiply languages far beyond the number which the more sober judgment of skilled inquirers would recog- nize to be in existence. Moreover, if one is dealing with living languages only, it is not so simple a matter as one might suppose to pronounce a language dead, or surely dying even. For in a state of temporary coma or of transition, it may be mistaken for a dead or dying language. Some languages that once were reckoned among the dead are now recog- nized alive and still spoken, as the Hebrew, for example. Taking all these facts into consideration, and comparing the results of those linguists who have held a moderately conservative point of view, we are justified in assuming that there are about one thousand distinct languages or living forms of human speech. If, however, the slighter varieties of speech, loosely called dialects, are added, the number would be increased to two thousand or more. 1 It is safe to assert that about one hundred of the widest- spoken languages of the world would be sufficient intel- ligibly to communicate with full nine-tenths of the entire population of the globe. 2. The Bible in Many Tongues. — It might seem a very easy problem to ascertain the exact number of lan- guages and dialects into which books of the Bible have been translated. What would it require more than to secure a list of the different versions published by each Bible society, Bible publishing house and missionary asso- ciation, and the adding of the several lists together to get the result ? 1 Century Dictionary, Arts. Dialect, Language ; (Ecumenical List of Translations of the Holy Scriptures, by Robert N. Cust, LL.D.. pp. 9-12, London, 1 900. 184 LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. In fact, however, the versions in separate languages and dialects are not always so distinctly marked off as to enable one to say which are really diverse. It calls for close, critical examination by one expert in languages to make this computation. As the scientific inquirer, who attempts to determine the number of species in the animal or vege- table kingdom, finds himself compelled to have world- wide observation and to master a vast variety of details, so the inquirer into the number of languages that have existing versions of the Scriptures is confronted with a similar multitude of puzzling details. 1 The versions are presented in a large variety of written characters. Over fifty different types of character, chiefly alphabetic, but some syllabic and some ideographic, are recorded. Thus every reader recognizes the difference in alphabetic character, between the Latin, French, English and many other languages, which are alike expressed in the Roman character or alphabet, and the German and Danish languages, which are commonly written in the German character or letter, although they are sometimes written in the Roman character or alphabet also. These are widely diverse from the Greek alphabet. The Hebrew is again diverse in written character from either of the others. The Arabic, the Sanscrit and the Chinese are each diverse from any other in written character. Tims there are from fifty to sixty diverse written types of char- acter to express the different forms of speech. 2 Some of these characters are written from left to right, some from right to left, and some from top to bottom on the page. 1 See Four Hundred Tongues, by Rev. J. Gordon Watt, London, 1899; and Dr. Cust's (Ecumenical List of Translations, London, 1900. 2 See Report British and Foreign Bible Society, p. 324 ff, London, 1900 Dr. Cust's List of Translations, p. 33, London, 1900. LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. 185 Moreover, it has been discovered that versions in the same dialect or language, made by persons quite unknown to each other, and of different speech as their mother tongue, have unwittingly given different titles to their versions, and have used different idioms to express the same ideas in the new tongue, so that the inquirer after the exact number of languages is confused, perplexed and quite at a loss to know whether he is dealing with two different languages, or with only two versions in the same language. 1 Thus a critical examination made in 1900 of the carefully- prepared "Historical Table of Languages and Dialects," issued by the British and Foreign Bible Society, resulted in reducing the previous reckoning by ten languages and dialects. Some were found to be duplicates, and some were not represented by any published book of the Bible translated, or prepared for translation. A similar examina- tion made in 1836 reduced the then existing count by five languages, and in T837 it was further reduced by twenty- five more, thus making a total reduction of forty versions in the enumeration. As one ground for this reduction, it may be noted that the Danish and the Norwegian were counted two languages in reports previous to 1900, but were reckoned as only one language in 1901. In like manner the Mongo and the Lolo (or Ba-Lolo) had been counted two dialects, but in fact are one and the same ; and this is the case with the Gwamba and the Thonga, also the Toro and Nyoro, and some others. At the beginning of the nineteenth century (1801) the Scriptures had been translated into scarcely more than 1 See Four Hundred Tongues, by Rev. J. Gordon Watt, p. 9, ff, London, 1899. 186 LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. fifty languages. These were chiefly those of Europe, Western Asia, Northern Africa and America. During the past century, books of the Bible have been translated into upward of three hundred and fifty other languages and dialects. The activity in Bible translation may be inferred from the record of about one hundred and fifty languages and dialects into which books of the Bible were newly translated in the last twenty-five years of the nineteenth century. These languages had not before possessed any book of the Scriptures in the vernacular. In the same period partial or imperfect versions were revised and perfected in about two hundred other languages, making a total of nearly three hundred and fifty versions in as many languages and dialects that were handled and perfected in the past quarter of a century. 1 3. Versions of the Bible. — Dropping the forty versions already described as erroneously enumerated, and retaining such languages and dialects only, as have at least one entire book of the Bible, and the summary of translations of the Scriptures may be computed as follows : Languages with versions of the whole Bible Languages with versions of the New Testament Languages with versions of other portions of the Bible Translations in languages not now in active use . Total of languages and dialects having translations of the tures Scrip 93 26 449 This summary excludes all estimates, and includes only 1 In Our Tongues, G. A. King, 2d Ed., London, 1900 ; (Ecumeni- cal List of Translations, R.N. Cust, LL. D., London, 1900 ; Four Hundred Tongues, J. (i. Watt, London, 1899; Reports, British and Foreign Bible Society, 1 875 to 1 901 ; Reports, American Bible Society, 1875 to 1901. LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. 187 those languages and dialects concerning which some definite authoritative record was found. It therefore omits some languages that, up to this date, have appeared in various lists issued in England and America. It is not pretended that further critical examination will prove this summary to be free from error, but it is believed to be approximately correct up to the twentieth century. It does not count all the translations of the Bible, for several different translations have often been made into the same tongue. In all cases only one translation into each language or dialect is counted, so that this summary repre- sents the number of different languages and dialects into which the Bible, or some entire book of the Bible, has been translated and published. 1 The mortality of translations, due chiefly to new versions made for tribes that have since become extinct, is very small compared with the birth-rate of new versions, called forth by modern missions. Since the gospel is extant in over four hundred of the widest spoken languages of the world, it is evident that all the populous nations on the globe, and many of the smaller 1 Several persons have lately made tentative lists of translations of the Scriptures on scientific principles. J. G. Watt, in 1 899, noted living versions of the entire Bible, ill; of New Testament, 91; of portions, 204; total, 406; all in active use. Dr.. Cust, in 1900, grouped versions in 340 distinct languages and 73 dialects; total, 443. He excluded 25 versions not in use. Dr. Dennis computed versions in 447 languages and dialects, but ten or more were duplicates erroneously counted. Dr. B. Pick compiled an alphabetical (not scientific) list, reprinted in American Bible Society Record, 1901, of versions made in the nineteenth century, enumerating 432 languages. But his alphabetical list often notes the same language, under different titles, twice, thus increasing his list by many duplicates. See S. S. World, Jan., 1902; Watt's Four Hundred Tongues, 1899; Cust's List of Translations, 1900; Am. Bib. Soc. Rep., 1901 ; G. A. King, " In Our Tongues," second issue, 1900 ; Hist. Table of Lang, and Dialects, Brit, and For. Bib. Soc, 1901. 188 LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. tribes, now possess the Scriptures in their own tongue. While there are several hundred languages yet to be sup- plied with translations of the Scriptures, these languages are spoken by comparatively a small number out of the mil- lions of the human race. If there are no vast fields for Christians of the twentieth century to enter and win with new translations of the Scriptures, still there is a vast army of dialects, over nine hundred strong, yet wanting a version of the entire Bible, and a large number into which the gospel of Jesus Christ is yet to be translated. 4. Circulation of the Scriptures to 1800. — Cen- turies before the Christian era the Jews made written copies of their sacred Scriptures (our Old Testament) in Hebrew. They also had written copies of the Septuagint or Greek version of the Old Testament made one or two centuries before Christ. These our Lord and his disciples frequently cited. The early Christians made and circulated written copies of the gospel at a very early date, since Luke tells us that "many" had written such narratives before he composed the gospel that bears his name. It has been computed that 60,000 copies of the gospels were circulated among Christians before the end of the second century. 1 Origen employed virgins skilled in calligraphy to make copies of the sacred books. Eusebius had fifty imperial copies of the Scriptures made by order of the Emperor Constantine. Great numbers of copies of portions of Scrip- ture were made for public and private use in the days of the Christian fathers. But before the invention of printing the multiplication 1 Norton, Genuineness of the Gospels, Vol. I., pp. 28-36. LANUIAGF.S AND (ILKTLATION of the bible. i89 of copies of books of the Bible was slow, tedious and ex- pensive. Yet so diligent were the early Syrian Christians, for example, in the circulation of the Scriptures that copies of their translation reached Ceylon in the sixth century, and China in the seventh, while Dr. Wace has shown that Tatian's Harmony of the Four Gospels had an im- mense circulation in the East and in the West, taking a Latin form in the sixth century, and in the ninth century was current in old Saxon. The Latin (Vulgate) was cur- rent over Europe, Northern Africa and portions of Western Asia. Twenty editions of it were printed before Luther was born, and fourteen editions of a German Bible (trans- lated from the Vulgate) had been printed before he nailed his thesis on the door of the church at Wittenberg. "The Poor Man's Bible," an octavo Latin version, appeared in 1491. The Hebrew Old Testament was printed as early as 1488. Cardinal Ximenes printed his Polyglot (Greek) in 15 14 (but not for the public), and Erasmus published his Greek Testament, dedicated to the Pope, in 15 16. This activity in popular Bible circulation in the Latin church received a fatal check by the decision of the Coun- cil of Trent in 1546. x When Luther issued his German version of the Bible, 100,000 copies were sold within forty years (1534-1574)? besides probably a million copies of portions of the Bible, and between 1524 and 161 1 not less than 278 editions of Bibles and Testaments were issued in English, among them 21,000 copies of the Great Bible. In three years (1611- 1613), after its issue, five editions of the King James 1 A trustworthy and candid statement on this subject is given in the address of Canon Edmonds, before the CEcumenical Conference of Missions, New York, 1900. See also Dr. Gilman's Eighty-four Years of Bible Society Work, 2d Revised Edition, New York, 1900. 190 LANGUAGES AND CtRCtTLATtON OF THE BIBLE. Version were printed, besides separate editions of the New Testament. 2 The first English Bible printed in America was a small i8mo. book issued in Philadelphia in 1782, on which the publisher lost about £3,000 (815,000) in specie, but the book is so rare now that a single copy lately brought $650. 3 Robert Aitken, the same publisher, had also printed the New Testament in 1777. In 1790 the Douay Version was printed in Philadelphia, and 111 the same year William Young issued an edition of the King James' Version in the same city. The next year (1791) two other editions were printed in America, one by Isaiah Thomas, in Wor- cester, Mass., and the other by Isaac Collins, of the Society of Friends, in Trenton, N. J. A German Bible was also printed by Christopher Sauer in Germantown, Pa., in 1743, Eliot's version in the Indian (Algonquin) language, was printed in Cambridge, Mass.; the Testament in 1661, the entire Bible in 1663, and again in 1680 and 1685. Thus the Scriptures in English, German and in many other tongues had a large circulation in civilized nations before the beginning of the nineteenth century, though it was never so free or large among Latin Christians after 1546, as in earlier times. ! 5. Bible Circulation in the Nineteenth Century. — 1 Schafk Hist. Christian Church. Vol. VI., p. 350. Manual Am. Bible Society, 1898, p. 44. 2 See Gilman's Eighty-four Years of Bible Society Work, 2d. Edi- tion, 1900, p. 11. 3 " Only one great church in Christendom remains implacably op- posed to the free circulation of»the Scriptures. The rooted hostility of the Roman Curia to an open Bible bears bitter fruit, conspicuously among the Latin nations." Report of the British and Foreign Bible Society, p. 10, 1900. LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE KtBLE. 191 The total circulation of the Scriptures during the nine- teenth century ran into the hundreds of millions of copies. Their circulation is said to exceed the combined circula- tion of two hundred of the best, greatest and most popular literary works of the world. Within the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century private publishers in America issued 134 editions of the Bible and sixty-five editions of the New Testament. From 1800 to 1865 there were issued in America about 600 different editions of the Bible and 200 editions of the New Testament, besides 100 editions of the Scriptures in foreign languages, and 100 editions of separate books of the Bible. Some of these editions had a very large cir- culation. As early as 1850 there were over thirty firms in the United States, some of them having a large capital, engaged in publishing the Scriptures, and issuing not less than 400,000 copies annually. Of these about 200,000 copies were large family Bibles. At the same time many thousands of copies were yearly imported from Great Britain and Germany. The number of copies printed and circulated in these and other Christian countries of Europe and the world vastly exceeded those distributed in America, while those distributed by Bible and mission- ary agencies in other parts of the world increased the number to several millions of copies. Some conception of the immense circulation of the Scriptures in the last quarter of a century may be gained from the fact that the University presses of Oxford and Cambridge, England, had orders for over 2,000,000 copies of the Revised New Testament of 1881 before it was printed, and 2.000,000 copies were actually sold in Lon- don, and 500,000 in New York and Philadelphia, of these 102 LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. University editions, besides reprints of over twenty edi- tions which private publishers issued in the United States within a year of its completion. The Oxford presses printed for the British Bible Society 5,000,000 copies of the Penny Testament in a single edition. Many thousands of copies of " Teachers' Bibles " have been printed and circulated by private publishing firms and Sunday-school societies within the past twenty- five years. The British and Foreign Bible Society up to 1901 had issued 169,971,544 copies of the Bible and of portions. The American Bible Society also had issued 68,953,434 copies of the Scriptures and portions. The Canstein Bible Institue reported issuing 6,100,000 copies up to 1879. Its reports indicate that it has put forth about 750,000 copies since that date. The National Bible Society of Scot- land, the Prussian Bible Society, the Wurtemberg Society, and the Bible Translation Society, are all active in circu- lating the Bible. To these must be added the great national religious societies, like the Religious Tract So- ciety ; the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; the American Sunday-school Union ; American Tract So- ciety ; the various missionary societies, and denominational and other large publishing firms of Great Britian, America and Europe, with the mission presses in other lands, all pouring forth millions of copies of the books of the Bible. The issues of the three Bible societies named amounted during the century past to 245,774,978 copies. If to these are added the copies of the Scriptures printed by all the other Bible societies and great publishing firms of the world during the nineteenth century, the total will exceed LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. 193 rather than fall below 500,000,000 of copies of the Word of God scattered abroad for the healing of the nations. 6. Annual Bible Circulation in 1900. — The yearly circulation of the Bible, New Testament and separate books of the Bible may be stated as follows : The British and Foreign Bible Society reports in 1900 issuing 5,047,792 copies of the Bible and portions in 305 languages "di- rectly" and in 68 other languages "indirectly." Of these eight were translations in new languages not before having the Scriptures. In 1901 it reports issuing 4,914,359 copies, in 363 languages and dialects, direct and indirect, of which four were entirely new translations in languages not before entered. The British Society does not print the Scriptures, but employs others to do it, who are granted the privilege or right by royal authority. The American Bible Society reports in 1900 issuing 1,406,801 copies of the Scriptures, in whole or in part, and 1,554,128 copies for 1901, in about sixty different languages. This society prints the Scriptures it circulates, excepting some editions in foreign tongues which are printed by mission presses, chiefly in Asiatic countries. The total yearly circulation of Bibles, Testaments and books of the Bible, may be properly computed by counting only complete copies of the whole Bible, and of New Testaments, and of some one complete Bible book. Thus, all the issues of the entire Bible, and of books of the Bible, in some one of the many languages of the globe, in one year, by all the Bible Societies of the world, and by the various other great societies and publishing firms, printing the Scripture (both for circulation by their own and through other organizations) may be tabulated as follows : 104 LANGUAGES AND CIRCULATION OF THE BIBLE. Copies of Bibles, Testaments and books of the Bible by the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1901 J 4,91 4,359 Copies issued by the American Bible Society, 1901 1,554,128 Copies by the National Bible Society of Scotland, 1901 3 .... 941,535 Copies by the German Bible Societies, 1900 (exclusive of those furnished by British and American societies 4 .... 579>37i Copies by other Bible societies (Swiss, French, Danish, etc.) 287,000 Copies by English firms (University Presses, Bagster's, Eyre and Spottiswood, and others 5 3,520,000 Copies by American, German and other private publishers, exclusive of imported and exported copies 5 605,000 12,401,393 Add Psalms and portions of the Bible in prayer books 5 . . . . 1,500,000 Total yearly circulation 1 3>9 0l >393 These trustworthy sources of information give a total yearly circulation for the beginning of the twentieth century of about fourteen millions of copies of the Word of God, exclusive of commentaries, Sunday-school and catechetical lessons, and special works explaining and enforcing Scripture. Though the total is immense and unprecedented in the history of Christianity up to this century, yet it would require about forty years of such activity in Bible printing and circulation to provide enough copies for each family of the globe to possess a copy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 1 Reports British and Foreign Bible Society, 1900, 1 901. 2 Reports American Bible Society, 1900, 1901. 3 Reports British Society, 1900, 1901. 4 Reports of the Societies for 1900. 6 Private and Personal information furnished the author, 1901. CHAPTER XIV. CARE OF BIBLE TEXT. Chapters, Words and Letters. 1. To the statements on pp. 62, 63, it may be added that the Jews not only counted the books, sections and paragraphs in their Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, but also marked the number of times the same word occurred in each paragraph, the middle verse or para- graph of each book, every verse where words were supposed to be changed, or something forgotten, any letters deemed superfluous, letters that were inverted, not pronounced, or did not hang perpendicular, and counted and recorded the number of each. 2. The Massoretes also noted how many times each letter occurred in the Hebrew Bible. Walton in his Prolegomena gives the table of the Massoretes : LETTERS. TIMES. Jf Aleph in Hebrew Bible 42,377 '< 38,218 " 29,537 3 Beth y Gimel "[ Daleth H He I Vau J Zayin II Hheth tO Teth 1 Yodh 3 Kaph LETTERS. TIMES. 7 Lamedh in HebrewBible 41,517 ft Mem ^ Nun 2 >53° D Samekh 47,504 76,922 22,876 23,447 11,052 66,420 48,253 fi Tau J? Ayin £ Pe V Tsadhe P Koph *) Resh J^ Shin 77,778 41,696 i3,58o 20,175 22,725 21,882 22,972 22,147 32,148 59,343 When a word was found in the text with a small circle annexed to it, then a word they supposed to be the true one would be written in the margin. (195) 19(3 CARE OF BIBLE TEXT. 3. The Massoretes had a cabalistic way of noting the number of the sections, words, letters and the like in the Hebrew text, as putting the number of a congregation in one verse and the number of animals in the next, and the two added together made the number of times the letter indicated occurred in the book or in the Old Testament. Then they noted that two verses of the law began with the letter Mem ; eleven verses began and ended with the letter Nun ; forty verses had the word " Lo " three times, and so on. 4. As a curious specimen of what this minuteness of the Massoretes stimulated others to do, it is said that some anonymous writer of the last century spent three years in counting and recording similar facts in respect to the Common English, or King James' Version of the Scrip- tures. As the English text varies in spelling and form, not having the fixed type of the old Hebrew, such a count of the English text must vary considerable, at different periods. The Revised English Version from various omissions of verses, portions of verses, and change of words in italics, which the English translators insert to make the sense clearer to the common reader, would vary more widely than would different editions of King James' Version. The compiler called his work Old and Nerv Testament Dissected, and gave the following sum- mary of the English Bible : Old Testament. New Testament. Total. Books 39 27 66 Chapters. . 929 260 1,189 Verses 23,214 7,959 3hi73 Words.... 592,439 181,253 773,692 l Letters 2,728,110 838,380 3,566,490 The shortest and the middle chapter in the Bible is Ps. 117. The middle verse of the Bible is Ps. 1 18: 8. The word and occurs in the Old Testament 35,543 times. The same word occurs in the New Testament 6,853 times. The word Jehovah occurs 6,853 times. The middle book of the Old Testament is Proverbs. The middle chapter of the Old Testament, Job 29. The middle of the verses in the Old Testament is between 2 Chron. 20 : 17 and 2 Chron. 20 : 18. The shortest verse in the Old Testament is 1 Chron. 1 : 25. The middle book of the New Testament is 2 Thess. The middle of the chapters of the New Testament is between the 13th and 14th chapters of Romans. The middle verse of the New Testament is Acts 17 : 17. The shortest verse in the New Testament and in the Bible is John ":35. 1 The American Bible Society Manual gives the total number of words in the English Bible, 773,746; and the total number of letters, 3,566,480. This is doubtless due to a different division, as counting some compounds as two words, which some Bibles print as one word. CARE OF BIBLE TEXT. 197 Ezra 7 : 21 has all the letters of the alphabet except/ There are several passages of some length alike, as Isa. 37 is like 2 Kings 19. 5. The Greek words. — In the Greek text of the first three Gospels, Matthew contains 18,370 words (Revised Greek Text, Oxford, 1881) ; Mark 10,981 words; Luke 19,496 words, a total of 48,847 Greek words in the three synoptic Gospels. The Revised English New Testament according to Rev. Rufus Wen- dell (Student's Edition, Albany, 1882) contains: No. of paragraphs '. 1,128 No. of verses 7,943 No. of words 179,914 The total number of words belonging to each writer is as follows: Paul (fourteen books) 50,649 Luke (two books) 49,865 John (five books) 34,236 Matthew (one book) 23,407 Mark (one book) 14,854 Peter (two books) 3,966 James (one book) 2,306 Jude (one book) 631 6. The vocabulary, or number of different Greek words used by each writer, is much smaller. For example, while the total number of Greek words in the first three Gospels is 48,847, the number of different Greek words used by these three writers in the Gospels is only about 2400, of which Luke uses nearly 1800. ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. CHAPTER I. THE HIBLE, TITLE, LANGUAGES, STRUCTURE, LATE ENGLISH VERSIONS. 1. Which is the greatest book in the world? In what three things? How many are swayed by it ? Which are the three foremost nations of the world ? In what three respects are they greatest ? Which is their greatest book? In what six things? 2. What is the origin of the title, The Bible ? What was the col- lection called by Jerome? What by Chrysostom ? By Jews? From what was the title " Testament " derived ? 3. How many books were accepted as " Sacred Scriptures " by the Jews? How many are accepted in the New Testament? How many in the entire Bible ? 4. Who want to know about the Bible ? State some things they wish to know. State six of the things we shall consider. 5. In what languages was the Old Testament first written ? What portions were in Aramaic ? Where was that language spoken ? How early? How did it displace the Hebrew ? To what group of languages does it belong ? In what language was the New Testament fir>t written ? What dialect of the Greek ? Were these " classic " dialects ? What gain was there in the languages being in a " transition " rather than " classic " state ? 6. How long was the Bible in process of formation ? How early preserved ? How old are the records found in Assyria and Egypt ? How copies of the Bible have been multiplied? What method of study is adopted in this book ? What principle of education is thus followed ? 7. When was the Anglo-American revision of the Bible made ? What added features are in the " American Standard Revised Bible" of 1901 ? Why was it called "Anglo-American" version? When was the King James Version made? By what other name is it known ? Why called " Authorized Version ? " Why " Common Version ?" 8. When was the revision of the Common English or King James Version proposed, and when begun? By what class of scholars? When was the American Committee of Revision formed ? How many British and how many American scholars were engaged as revisers ? 9. When was the revised New Testament issued ? How many copies sold in a few months ? How many editions were issued in the United States? How was the revised Old Testament received in 1885? When did the revision of the Apocrypha appear ? 10. Why was King James Version revised ? What class of words (198) ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 199 was to be removed ? How was a better Greek text obtained ? In what was greater uniformity to be secured ? H. How were the revisers guided in revising ? How limited as to alterations ? What text was to be adopted ? 12. How many changes were made in the New Testament ? How many were due to changes in the Greek text ? How many American suggestions were adopted ? What were put in an appendix ? Does this appendix represent all the preferences of the American Committee ? 13. State five points of merit claimed for the Anglo-American revision. State five points of objection to it. What changes were urged by the American scholars, but not adopted by the British ? [See note. p. 17.] 14. How is the Revised Version used? Is it likely to win popular favor ? What advantages has the American Standard Edition of 1901 ? 15. When was the "King James Version" proposed? By what body? How many were appointed to do the work? How many actually engaged in it ? How was the work divided among the com- panies ? What portions of the Bible were assigned to the two com- panies at Westminster? To the two at Oxford? To the two at Cambridge? What noted scholars were among the King James revisers ? 16. What rules were to guide these translators? What texts were they to use ? What older versions might be used ? How were they compensated for their labor ? What methods were pursued by them ? 17. What did the translators say of their work? What shows that they aimed to make a revision rather than a new translation ? When and by whom was the King James Version issued ? In what three editions ? 18. Why is it called " Authorized Version ? " Was it so author- ized ? By whom was it ordered ? How long was it in gaining popular favor ? What charges were made against it? 19. How long was the Genevan Version retained in use? When was a new revision proposed in parliament ? Why was it not carried ? 20. How many changes are noted in present editions, as compared with the 161 1 editions of the King James Version? When were dates first placed in the margins ? Upon whose chronology were they based ? Why are some words in italics ? 21. When was an attempt to improve the Common Version made ? By what committee ? How many variations did they find ? What propose to do ? Why was their edition not continued ? Have we a Standard Edition of the English Version ? What are some notorious editions ? What is said of the English of our Common Version as a classic ? 200 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. CHAPTER II. EARLY ENGLISH VERSIONS. (Douai, Bishops', Genevan, Coverdale's, Cranmer, Taverner, Tyndale and Wycliffe Versions.) 1. Of what was the Common Version the outgrowth? Of how many centuries' labor ? 2. What is meant by the Douai Version ? Why was it issued? When and where was the Rheims or Douai New Testament published ? When and where was the Douai Old Testament issued ? The whole Bible ? To whom does this work owe its origin ? What was the basis of this translation ? By whom was it made ? On what was the Douai Version based ? How has it been changed ? Has it been much used ? Why ? Is there any connection between this and the King James Version ? 3. The Bishops' Bible, why so called ? By whom was it prepared When was it completed ? When and by whom was it revised ? By what other name is it sometimes called ? 4. Why was it made ? Why was the Great Bible not satisfactory? 5. How long a time was spent upon the Bishops' Version? By what four rules were its translators governed ? What did this Bible contain beside the text ? 6. When was the last edition issued ? What rule was made by Con- vocation concerning it? Was it popular? 7. The Genevan version, made in what era? When and by whom was this version made ? Whence does it derive it- name? 8. In what year was the Genevan New Testament made ? Where was it translated, by whom, and when ? 9. Was that New Testament version made a part of the Genevan Bible ? Where was the Genevan Bible made ? Mention the names of some of the translators of the Genevan Bible. Was the New Tes- tament in this work a translation directly from the original ? 10. What were some of the merits of this translation ? What kind of notes were made ? How was the text printed ? 11. When was it first printed in Scotland? By whom revised ? How is it distinguished from others ? What nickname was given to it, and why? Was it popular ? How long was it under Queen Mary's ban ? How many editions of the Genevan Bible were printed ? How long did it retain its popularity ? What was done in the first editions of King James' Version to win popularity? 1 2. The Great Bible, why so called ? When was this version issued ? By whom was the translation made ? Where was it printed ? What difficulties were met by the translator in its printing? What is meant by Cranmer's Bible? W r hitechurch's? What was its relation to Coverdale's Bible ? Where may selections from the Great Bible be ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 201 found ? For how many years was the Great Bible the " Authorized Version? " 13. When was Coverdale's Bible translated? Upon what was it based ? What German versions is it probable that he used ? What merits had this version ? What other work was done by him ? 14. When was Matthew's Bible issued ? Who is Matthew thought to have been ? What other versions does this resemble ? In what respects ? 15. On what was Taverner's Bible based? Of what value is his version ? What did he say of it ? 16. Tyndale's New Testament Version, when issued ? What aim did Tyndale keep before him ? Did he fulfil this declaration ? When did he die, and how ? When did he leave England ? 17. Which was the. first translation of the New Testament from Greek into English ? Where was it issued ? Describe the title page. 18. What are some characteristics of its style ? How is the text ar- ranged ? How does the Lord's Prayer in it differ from other versions ? Did Tyndale translate only the New Testament ? 19. What do we owe to Tyndale's Version? What does Froude say of his talent? What part of the Bible was printed before this ? 20. When was Wycliffe's Version made ? What text was the basis of the translation ? How was it issued ? Who assisted Wycliffe in translating the Old Testament ? 21. What is meant by Purvey 's Version ? Why were these versions anonymous ? How many copies of Purvey's Version have been pre- served ? What is said of the character of this early English version ? What earlier metrical versions are mentioned ? By whom made ? In how many ways is the name of Wycliffe spelled ? What is said of the cost of a Bible in 1429 ? 22. Mention three important Anglo-Saxon versions of portions of the Bible. By whom were they made ? What translator wrote a church history ? 23. What is said of the Anglo-Saxon words in the Common English Version ? Give examples of the proportion of Anglo-Saxon words in the story of Joseph. The parable of the Sower. The Lord's Prayer. How does the proportion of Anglo-Saxon of the Bible compare with that in Milton ? 24. When was the first complete English Bible made ? From what text? When was the New Testament in English first translated from the Greek? When was the first English Bible printed? When was the English New Testament first divided into verses ? When was the English Bible so divided ? State comparative cost of early English Bibles. 202 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. CHAPTER III. OTHER MODERN VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. 1. Of what other versions of the Bible should English readers have some knowledge? Who chiefly made the German Version of the Bible? 2. What earlier versions of the Bible in German are noticed ? What are the two theories with regard to the earlier translations? In what form was this version issued ? What objections were made to the trans- lation of religious works into German ? 3. When and where was Luther's version made ? Describe its title, form and illustrations. Who assisted Luther in the work ? 4. How was Luther's Bible received ? W T hat did it do for the Ger- man language ? 5. What original text of the New Testament did Luther use ? From what was his Old Testament translated? What does Heine say of Luther ? 6. What is meant by the Probebibel ? When was it published? Mention some of the scholars connected with it. How is it used ? 7. What effect did Luther's version have upon the Roman Catholics? Mention the chief Catholic versions. How do they compare with Luther's translation ? Which one is now used ? 8. When was the fust complete translation of the Bible into Dutch made ? By whom was it made ? What did its printer suffer for his work ? By whom was the next version made ? On what were these versions based ? 9. How long was it before another was made ? How delayed ? When finally begun ? How long was it carried on ? What name was given to this new version ? What is its character ? 10. Why was a new revision ordered in 1854? When completed? How received? 11. When and by whom was the first French version made ? When was the first French Protestant version made ? Where and by whom was it made ? Mention some other French versions. 12. Describe the version by Louis Segond. Where was it printed? How many copies of the first edition ? 13. What Italian versions were made before the Reformation? Whose version was prohibited by the Roman Church ? 14. When and where did the first Italian Protestant version appear? In what dialect ? Which versions are circulated by the Bible Society ? 15. Which is the earliest of Spanish versions? Where was Reyna's Version published ? By whom revised ? When? Describe the version published at Madrid in 1794. Which versions are now published? 16. Give the history of the Danish Bible. 17. When and by whom was the Bible translated into Swedish? ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 203 18. Into how many other languages has the Bible been translated? Mention some of the important languages. 19. Who made the modern Arabic version ? What is said of its merits ? CHAPTER IV. ANCIENT VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE. 1. Of what value are ancient translations of the Bible to us? 2. Whence was the gospel introduced into Armenia ? What was the basis of the translations of the Bible into Armenian ? When did the Armenians have a written language ? What version did they first use ? From what manuscript does the first Armenian version seem to have been translated ? By whom and where was the next translation made? What virtue does this translation possess ? 3. Who translated the Bible into Gothic ? What is meant by the " Western order" of the Gospels ? What books are missing from this version ? 4. The Coptic or Egyptian versions, in how many dialects? What versions of the Bible exist in Egypt? To what century does the first belong? How many and what manuscripts of this dialect exist? What are the advantages of this translation ? What does the second version lack ? How do these Coptic versions differ from ours ? [See note.] What part of the Bible still exists in the Bashmuric dialect ? W T here is this version chiefly useful ? 5. When was the Ethiopic version first made ? What has now dis- placed it? 6. The Syriac versions : to what family of languages belong ? What are the characteristics of the Syriac language? 7. Name some Syriac versions. What is the meaning of Peshito? Which is the earliest of these versions? "Is it complete? Where and when was it found? How old is the Harkel ? Where is the best manuscript of this version? What is the date of the Jerusalem ver- sion ? Describe it. 8. In what groups may the Latin versions be classed ? How old is the first of these groups? What is the basis of this translation? 9. What three types of the text are indicated ? How many manu scripts are in existence ? 10. Who undertook the revision of these texts, to make the Vul- gate ? Into what did his work develope ? How long did he work and where ? What are the names of the two Psalters Jerome made ? How was the whole Bible finally made up? How received? 11. What is meant by the Sixtine text? Its history ? The Clemen- tine text ? What is the standard text in the Roman Church? 12. When and by whom was the Septuagint version made? Why 204 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. is it called Septuagint ? In what language is it ? Why is this trans- lation very important ? How was it regarded by the Jews? By New Testament writers? What version did Jesus often quote ? Describe Origen's Hexapla. Who were Aquila, Theodotion and Symmachus? 13. What is meant by the Targums? How many are now in exist- ence? What are they? How have they been preserved? Of what value are they in reading the Old Testament ? CHAPTER V. ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS OF THE BIBLE. 1. Upon what are the oldest existing copies of the New Testament written? Of what is the parchment of the Sinaitic manuscript made ? For what is the Vatican manuscript admired ? Upon what were other early copies of the New Testament written ? Why have many perished ? What do the oldest manuscripts contain beside the New Testament ? 2. How are ancient manuscripts of the New Testament classified? What two divisions were made by their contents? What two by their supposed age? How divided by the style of their writing? State a more recent division. 3. How many uncial MSS. are now known ? Why are they called uncial ? How many cursives are known ? Why so called ? 4. How was the text written in the early MSS. ? What marks of division were found ? Into how many sections was Matthew divided ? Mark? Luke? John? What is said of Acts and the Epistles? 5. What is meant by titloi? Why not given to the first section in each book ? 6. What is meant by the Ammonian or Eusebian sections ? How many of these sections were there in each Gospel ? How did Eusebius classify them ? 7. To whom do we owe the chapter divisions in our modern Bibles? To whom the verse divisions ? 8. Name the uncial manuscripts mentioned here. When, where and by whom was the Sinaitic manuscript found ? Describe it. What is the Codex Angustanus ? Where may printed copies of the Sinaitic manuscript be seen ? What is Tischendorf 's conjecture about it ? 9. Of what age is the Vatican MS. ? Describe it. What part of the Bible does it contain ? How is it written ? What is supposed to be its origin? How long has it been known to modern scholars? Whose is the last edition of this text ? What is meant by the Vatican manuscript B. No. 2066 ? 10. Where is the Alexandrian manuscript? How long has it been there ? Describe it. When and where is it probable that it was written ? What does it contain beside the New Testament ? ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 9Q5 11. Which uncial MS. is in Paris ? What is meant by a palimpsest ? How long has that been known ? What parts of the Bible are missing from it ? To what century does it belong ? 12. What does the Greco-Latin manuscript of Beza contain? De- scribe it. Where is it ? How long has it been there ? By whom was it placed there? 13. What is said of new MSS. ? What new ones are mentioned? Where were they found ? 14. Why are some mss. called cursives ? To what centuries do they belong ? How many are there ? How classed ? 15. What is the probable date of the oldest Hebrew MS. i What was the rule of the old Talmudists regarding faulty or imperfect manu- scripts? How many have been found? 16. What are the two classes of Hebrew MSS. ? What rules governed the copying of mss. for synagogue use ? What for private use ? What do we owe to this care ? 17. How was the ancient Hebrew formerly supposed to- have been written? How was the true form discovered ? 18. What is the Massorah ? To what do the notes of the Massorites refer ? How did they make corrections ? Did they correct the text itself? 19, 20. Describe the old Hebrew text, divisions, letters and vowel points. CHAPTER VI. THE NEW TESTAMENT : HOW AND WHEN ONE BOOK, pp. 62-70. 1. What is said of the New Testament as a book? How were the books made up ? Was there any single decree selecting the books in it? 2. How was the collection made? When was the line between " sacred " and " apochryphal " books first sharply drawn ? What caused the drawing of this line? 3. Were all books accepted with equal readiness ? How were some books finally admitted? What books were so tested in the Eastern church? What book was questioned in the Western church ? When was the New Testament finally " closed " ? 4. How long was it allowed to remain closed? Who revived the discussion and on what grounds? What has been the general belief among Protestants in all times ? What tests are applied to a book to decide its right to be considered one of the sacred books? What did Luther and Calvin say with regard to the decree of a council as a test of the sacred books? What creeds substantially agree in the tests? 5. What writings were not accepted ? What epistles were ex- cluded ? What gospels were excluded as spurious? What apoc- alypse ? 6. What is the nature of the declarations of Councils and the Fathers 206 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. concerning the books ? What tests did early Christians apply ? Which book caused the Western church to hesitate ? Why did they hesitate ? When was it finally accepted ? Whose studies lead to its acceptance 7 How did the Western church regard other writings than those now in the New Testament ? 7. How many books were early admitted by the Eastern church I What were they called ? What were the others called ? How many were there ? When did Eusebius write a history of the church ? What does he say of the accepted books? Which books does he mention as questioned ? Which were questioned by Origen ? 8. What light is thrown on this research by the Fathers of the first four centuries ? What adds to the value of their testimony? What list is given by Augustine ? By Athanasius, Jerome and Eusebius ? How are citations made by these writers ? What writers are included in this reference ? 9. Why were not books of the New Testament written sooner? Which two are considered the first? What allusions were made by Papias of Hierapolis ? In what books is Luke's influence traceable? When were most of the New Testament books written ? What made written instructions necessary ? Were there heresies in the early church ? By what name is the New Testament called by second cen- tury writers ? How early were the twenty unquestioned books col- lected as Scriptures ? 10. Why were the early Christians so careful in their selection ? Is it improbable that the Gospels and Acts were first combined, the others being separate ? What evidence is added by the circumstances under which the selections were made ? What declaration concerning them was made by the Council of Carthage ? Over what proportion was there any hesitation ? 11. What advantage is there in this gradual sifting of the writings ? What promise of Christ was fulfilled ? 12. By what titles were some New Testament books early called? In what order were they probably brought togethei ? How were they received ? CHAPTER VII. THE NEW TESTAMENT. 1. How many writers wrote the New Testament books? When were they written? What is said of their character? Of their knowl- edge of languages ? Of how many books are the authors known ? Of how many, not known ? How are these to be ascertained ? 2. What are the first three Gospels called ? Why called " synoptic ? " Which books were called " Apostolicon ? " Into how many classes are the New Testament books divided ? Name them. What is said of the order of the books ? ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 207 3. What is said of the date of the Gospels and the Acts? Of the dates of Paul's Epistles? Into how many periods are they divided? How many years between the periods? To what date are the Catholic Epistles assigned ? 4. Was Matthew's Gospel written in Hebrew? What evidences support this view ? Was it the same as the " Gospel to the Hebrews ? " Have any fragments of it been preserved ? 5. Is Matthew's Greek Gospel a translation? Why not? How explain that the Gospel was written in two languages ? 6. What was Matthew's Gospel called? Whose work affords a similar history? What does he prove? What special things relate ? What is his symbol ? 7. Who wrote the Gospel of Mark ? Which Mark? Whose secre- tary was Mark ? What does Papias say of Mark ? What does Irenaeus say? And Clement? 8. What are some characteristics of Mark's Gospel? For whom primarily did he write ? What evidences of this are there ? What is said of the last twelve verses ? 9. Whose teachings does Luke's Gospel represent? What evidences that Luke wrote it are given? How many medical terms are found in Luke and Acts ? 10. What is said of Luke's vocabulary ? Of matter that is peculiar to his Gospel ? For whom was his Gospel primarily written ? What portion of Christ's ministry does it specially give? 11. State some of the evidences that John wrote the fourth Gospel. When was this disputed ? What four facts are proved as to the author of the fourth Gospel in the work itself? How answer the diversity of character in this Gospel and the Revelation ? 12. Why called the " Spiritual Gospel ? " What does the writer aim to do ? What give, that is peculiar to his Gospel ? 13. To what is " The Acts" a sequel? By whom written? How proven that Luke was the author? What is the theme of the book? About whom does the first part centre ? The second part relates what ? How end ? 14. How many letters of Paul are surely given in the New Testa- ment ? In what part of his ministry written? In how many groups are they arranged ? How early were these epistles recognized ? 15. To which group of Paul's Epistles does the letter to the Romans belong? With what does it begin ? State some of the other topics in the letter. 16. To which group do the letters to the Corinthians belong? What kind of a city was Corinth? What did Paul rebuke in the Corinthians? What answer give in the first letter ? What command in his second letter? For whom did he urge contributions? What affirm of himself ? 17. To whom was the Galatian letter addressed? Into how many 208 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. parts divided ? How does Paul defend his apostolic authority ? What alone can save ? How limit liberty ? In what glory? 18. Why is it inferred that the letter to the Ephesians was general ? For what group of churches ? To which group of epistles does it belong? What is its chief theme? 19. What proofs are there that Paul wrote the Philippians? Where was Paul when he wrote it? [In prison at Rome.] What incidental proof of this is given ? See Phil. 1 : 13 ; 4 : 22. What does Paul urge upon the Philippians ? In what rejoice ? 20. Why has the authorship of Colossians been questioned ? W T hen ? How answered? 21. What does this letter resemble in contents? W 7 ho reconciled them to God? What warnings does Paul give the Colossians? Who would tell them of his personal state ? 22. What strong evidence is there that Paul wrote Thessalonians ? Why questioned ? How do the questioners reason ? 23. What is the theme of I Thessalonians ? What does Paul excuse? Of what tell? How exhort them? For whose coming to watch ? 24. What is the purpose of 2 Thessalonians? What does it pre- dict ? To what refer ? 25. What are called pastoral epistles ? On what ground has their authorship been questioned ? With what result? 26. What does Paul in his first letter instruct Timothy to do ? What rules give ? What say as to Timothy's conduct and pastoral work ? 27. How does Paul speak of Timothy in his second letter ? What urge? In what rejoice? How charge him? 28. Of what does Paul tell Titus ? With what close his letter ? 29. In whose behalf was the letter to Philemon written ? How was he to receive the runaway slave? 30. What is said of the authorship of the letter to the Hebrews ? Why not certainly by Paul ? What did Pantsenus and Origen say of it ? What is the prevailing view now ? By whom may it have been written ? 31. What is the theme of the letter? What does the eleventh chapter contain ? What does the entire letter aim to do ? 32. Which are the " Catholic " Epistles? Why called Catholic? To which letters first applied ? How many were among the antilegomena ? Why so termed ? When were they universally accepted ? 2^. Which James wrote that epistle ? Why not known ? To whom was it addressed ? By whom first accepted ? Why did Luther question it? When written ? 34. Why called N. T. " book of Proverbs ? " What is the theme ? What does it urge for the sick ? 35. For whom was I Peter written ? About when ? 36. What does it aim to give ? In what way ? How urge Christians to live ? ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 209 37. After what kind of examination was 2 Peter accepted ? What are two leading views as to its authorship? What evidences show it is not a forgery ? 38. How many epistles of John are in the New Testament? By whom was the first epistle used? In what lists are the three found? With what do the contents of the first epistle agree ? To whom was the second epistle addressed ? W T hat express ? To whom was the third epistle addressed ? How does John commend Caius? 39. What proofs are cited that Jude wrote the epistle bearing his name ? Which Jude was it ? Why uncertain ? What other letter does his epistle resemble ? How is it explained ? How does the writer warn his readers ? In what urge them to keep ? 40. Who wrote the book of Revelation ? What proofs of this are given ? Why questioned ? How can the differences between John's Gospel and Revelation be accounted for ? 41. What are the seven themes or topics of Revelation? How in- terpreted ? What is the first group of interpretations? The second ? The third ? How may the book be regarded ? What to do ? How does the New Testament close ? What table is given ? Can you give the approximate date of each N. T. book ? Where written ? And the topic of each book ? CHAPTER VIII. THE OLD TESTAMENT. 1. Of what were the Old Testament books the outgrowth ? How long did it take to write them ? When was the collection completed ? 2. How long ago were groups of Hebrew Scriptures recognized ? What were the three parts called ? Who mentioned them ? How long before the Christian era ? How are the divisions spoken of in the New Testament? How early and by whom was the Law taught or read ? 3. What translation was used at the beginning of the Christian era? What other writings were placed with the Septuagint ? Why was this Greek version called the Septuagint ? What class of books were not placed with the Septuagint ? What can be inferred from this ? 4. What questions came before the Synod of Jamnia ? When ? What did the Synod decide? By what facts decide it? What does the dissent of Samaritans indicate ? How is the decision confirmed by the Mishna? How did they count the books? What proves that their 24 included all our 39 books ? 5. Whose testimony is cited? What does Josephus say? How many books does he count ? In what way did he join books together? Why? How many letters are there in the Hebrew alphabet? What books did the Samaritans accept ? Why reject others ? Did Josephus or Philo use apocryphal books as of divine authority? 210 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 6. Who attempted to destroy the Jewish sacred books? Who gathered them together again ? What does historic tradition say of the formation of the Old Testament ? When was it probably formed ? 7. What groups of Old Testament Scriptures do New Testament writers recognize ? What did Christ call the Hebrew writings which he quoted ? What does this imply ? 8. How many Old Testament books are quoted in the New ? Are these quotations from one or from all the groups ? What do these quotations indicate ? 9. Is the Hebrew order of Old Testament books the same as ours ? How many variations in the text have been found ? Are they im- portant? State the most common Hebrew order of the books. With what book does the Hebrew Bible end ? On what does this throw light? 10. What is the oldest catalogue of O. T. books known? What does it include ? What other catalogues are mentioned ? How do lists in the Latin church vary? To what books were the catalogues of the early Latin fathers limited? What exception is noted ? What state- ment shows that Augustine was not a real exception ? What is the testimony of Cardinals Ximenes and Cajetan ? To what did the Re- formers appeal ? What probably led the Latin church formally to accept the apocryphal books as sacred Scriptures ? 11. What books did the early Christians agree in excluding from the Scriptures ? How were the apocryphal books used by the Greek Christians? What did they generally assert? What is said of the practice in the Greek church ? What of the usage of the Latin church? What did the Council of Trent, 1546, decree? Why was appeal to Scriptures useless after that decree? What is the position of Protestant churches on the Scriptures? How do they regard the apocryphal books? State the position of the Lutherans. The Church of England. The Belgic Confession. The controversy in the British Bible Society. What is said to be the excellence of the Protestant churches on this question ? CHAPTER IX. THE BOOKS OF THE LAW. What did the Hebrews call the five books of the law ? When were they written as one, and when as five books ? 1. What name is often given to these books ? What is its derivation ? By what names did the Hebrews call them ? Upon what is the unity of these books based? How are they connected in the original? 2. What differences of opinion as to the division of these books aie mentioned ? How did Christ speak of them ? Whence are their English titles derived ? What is the meaning of each name ? What ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 9^ were their Hebrew titles? What were the larger Hebrew sections called? How were these again subdivided? How often were the selections from the Law read ? Designate broadly each of the books by its contents. 3. By whom were these books written ? By whom is the question of authorship reopened? To whom would these critics ascribe them? How early was this inquiry raised ? What was Astruc's theory ? What was the "fragmentary " theory ? What is a third theory mentioned ? What general division of the Pentateuch is made by this " newer criti- cism ? " What differences of opinion have been expressed as to the date of the Pentateuch ? 4. Is there a definite avowal of authorship of the whole Pentateuch? Quote verses to show that Moses was the author of at least a large part of the work. In what person is the book written ? What event is recorded in Deut. 34? What is the object of the writings ? What do they contain besides the fulfilment of this object? What form would be most natural for the authentic record of the origin of the race? Is knowledge of the writer of government annals of great importance ? Why not? What would be expected of Moses as the great lawgiver of Israel ? What is the testimony of Hebrew writers as to his having done so? 5. What evidences in the books themselves against their Mosaic authorship are urged ? 6. What does the general Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch account for? What does not imply? Is Moses responsible for its divisions into five books? Or into chapters ? Or into sections? Does this pre- clude the use of early documents? Or the growth of the ritual ? To what does the other theory lead ? What must be accounted for on any theory ? What is said of the civilization of Egypt in the Mosaic era ? What is the evidence from language ? Is the religious system copied from the Egyptian ? What peculiarities of the worship indicate the wilderness life ? Are there many characteristics of later speech in the language of the Pentateuch? What accounts for the differences between earlier and later portions ? What is said of New Testament evidence? What is said of recent explorations? State the topics of each of the five books. CHAPTER X. HISTORICAL (O. T.) BOOKS: AUTHORSHIP AND COMPOSITION. How many historical books are there in the Old Testament? In what order do they come in the English Bible ? Which is first and which last ? 212 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. i. What is the Hebrew order? Which were called the Earlier Prophets, and why ? How were the other six books placed ? Which were the closing books ? 2. How many years are covered by these books ? What event opens and what closes the period ? Into how many periods can the time be divided? What are they? Into what five periods may the time be divided? Give the portions of the text included in each period. 3. Who are mentioned by Jewish tradition as the chief writers of these books ? 4. Whence does the book of Joshua derive its name ? What do modern critics say concerning it? To whom do tradition and reverent scholars assign its authorship ? When do they think it was composed ? How can the clauses urged to prove a later date be accounted for ? Of what importance is this book to the Bible student? 5. Whence does Judges take its name? How many judges were there ? How long was this period ? What reference is made by Paul to this period ? To whom does the Talmud ascribe this book ? Whence was it gathered ? for what reason ? What are the difficulties of the book ? 6. When did Ruth live ? When was the book probably written ? Where is it placed in the Hebrew Bible ? What is its historical value ? What is the Jewish tradition concerning its writer ? Are the arguments against an early date tenable ? 7. How were the two books of Samuel originally written ? How were the books of Samuel and Kings divided by the Septuagint ? When was this division introduced into Hebrew Bibles ? What is known of the author of I and 2 Samuel ? Whence arises the name ? Why could Samuel not have written both? Mention some national songs incor- porated into the work. What is its date ? State some difficulties. 8. What history do the two books of Kings continue ? Whom does Jewish tradition name as the author of Kings ? Who else has been named ? Do they refer to older documents ? What is their probable date? W r hat new light has recently been thrown on the dynasties mentioned by these books ? What difficulties are there ? 9. Where were the Chronicles originally placed ? What is the Hebrew title ? What does the Septuagint call them ? Who named them Chronicles ? By whom were they probably written ? Why were they written ? What do they contain confirmatory of the Pentateuch ? What date is assigned to them ? How many sources are named in them? Mention them. What value have the numerous references to other sources ? 10. Where was Ezra placed in the Hebrew Bible ? What names are given to Ezra and Nehemiah in the Septuagint ? In the Vulgate ? Who was the author of Ezra ? When was it written ? 11. Where is AWiemiah in the Hebrew Bible? Who wrote it? What doubts are there as to its authorship ? What peculiarities are ANALYSTS AND QUESTIONS. 213 mentioned in its language ? 12. To what era does Esther belong ? What peculiarity is noted in it ? Why ? When written ? Who are named as the probable authors ? 13. What is said of the twelve historical books? * 14. What has been boldly denied ? How have the statements been reaffirmed of late? By what classes of scientific persons? 15. W'ho denied the existence of ancient cities named in the Bible? About how long ago ? How has their existence been proved ? 16. What was asserted of writing in the age of Moses? How long since ? What has now been proved as to the era of writing ? How was it proved ? What assumptions are thus proved to be false ? 17. What used to be said of the existence of a Hittite nation? In what way were these assertions proved false ? What does this show as to the historical accuracy of the Biblical books ? 18. What attempts have recently been made respecting Hebrew civil history? Why are literature and religion made an exception? Are they likely to prove exceptions to the general rule ? Is this known of any other nation ? CHAPTER XL HEBREW POETRY AND POETICAL BOOKS. 1. What is a leading characteristic of the Oriental mind? Were the Hebrew people affected by these feelings ? What portion of the Old Testament is poetry ? How does Hebrew poetry differ from that of other nations ? 2. Why is there no epic poetry among them ? What kinds of poe- try were written in Hebrew ? How does it compare with other poetry ? 3. Are rhyme and meter found in Hebrew poetry ? What attempts have been made to find them ? Have they succeeded ? 4. Of what does Hebrew poetry consist chiefly ? Name and define the three kinds of parallelisms. 5. Are alliteration and assonance used? What kind of language is used by these writers ? 6. How many poetical books are there in the Old Testament ? Name them. Are these the only ones that contain poetry? Mention five of the most noted songs outside of these books. 7. Which is the earliest specimen of poetry in the Old Testament? How many songs are mentioned in the Old Testament? How many are found in the New Testament ? Mention them. Where are they found ? 8. Where is the book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible? Which books were regarded as preeminently poetical ? What names have 214 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. been given to the Psalms ? Whence is the name Psalms derived? 9. How are the Psalms divided in the Hebrew ? How are these divisions marked ? What are the groups ? To what have the topics of the Psalms been compared ? How old is this division ? What sugges- tions have been made as to the reasons for its existence? How many Psalms are quoted in the New Testament ? 10. Were the titles of the Psalms made by their authors? To how many are they attached ? What name is given by the Talmud to the others ? How many Psalms are ascribed to David ? To whom are the others assigned? How many are anonymous ? To whom does the Septua- gint ascribe the 127th? the 146th ? the 147th? What famous ones are anonymous ? What is said of the Hallel Songs? 11. How are the Psalms divided by their contents? How many alphabetic Psalms are there? Mention other classifications. 12. Can the dates of the Psalms be determined ? Of which can this be done ? What objections are made to assigning some to the Maccabean era ? 13. What is said of the topics of the Psalms? Under what general topics are they grouped ? 14. What is said of the study of "Wisdom Literature?" Which books of the Bible are so classed ? What other books are sometimes put into a similar class ? 15. Has the book of Proverbs a tide ? State what titles. What is said of these Proverbs ? Into how many books or sections are they divided ? 16. State the structure of some proverbs and how many varieties of forms are noted. 17. Who were the authors of the book of Proverbs? What is said of their origin and collection ? 18. What is the book of Job called ? To whom was the book early ascribed ? To whom in later times ? What new suggestion is made as to its origin ? 19. What is said of its structure? Give an outline of the book. 20. What question does the book of Job attempt to answer? What does its arguments show ? Was Job a real person ? By whom named ? 21. By whom was the book believed to be real history? How do some modern critics regard it ? May both be partly right ? 22. What is said of the structure of " Solomon's Song ? " By whom written according to ancient historic testimony ? What objections are made to this? Are they conclusive? 23. Into what divisions is the song grouped ? How interpreted ? State the chief lines of interpretation. What moral lesson is it believed to teach? ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 215 24. How are Lamentations described ? What kind of poems form the first four chapters? What is the topic of the book ? 25. Is Ecclesiastes poetry or prose ? Where is it placed ? What is found in chapter 3 ? Is the authorship settled ? What is its theme ? CHAPTER XII. PROPHECY AND THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. What phrase usually marks prophecy in the Bible ? In how many literary forms is it found ? 1. How may the term prophet be defined? How early were schools of the prophets formed ? Were all prophets called from this trained class ? 2. Into how many periods may the mission of Hebrew prophets be divided ? Name the periods. Into what periods are the four centuries of prophetic silence divided ? 3. In considering prophecy what three distinctions are suggested ? Have we probably a large or small portion of spoken prophecy ? What are the books from Joshua to Kings called ? What are the books from Isaiah to Malachi called ? What prophet is excepted ? Are these books chiefly poetry or prose ? Into what two groups are they divided? Which are the major prophets? Why so called? Name the minor prophets. 4. In what reigns did Isaiah prophesy ? What does Isaiah mean ? Into how many parts is the prophecy of Isaiah divided ? What nar- rative connects the two parts ? Into how many sections or prophecies is the first part of Isaiah divided ? What is the theme of the second part ? Into how many steps or phases is it subdivided ? What phrase marks a triple division of the second part ? What great theme runs through the entire book ? 5. To whom has the entire book been ascribed ? By whom ? How many authors have been suggested for this book in recent times ? By what arguments is the plurality of authors for Isaiah supported ? How is the unity of authorship for Isaiah negatively maintained ? On what five grounds urged positively ? Is it likely that a great writer like the conjectured "Second Isaiah" would be forgotten? Is the question of the authorship of Isaiah settled ? What can be surely said of the authority of the book ? 6. How has the prophecy of Jeremiah been divided ? By what phrase is the book attested ? How many times is it used in the first three chapters ? Who recorded a portion of the book ? At whose dictation? Of what does the " fourth part" consist? What is said of his style ? What is Jeremiah called ? What earlier book does his prophecies resemble ? In what period did he prophecy ? For how long ? Where did he live ? 216 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 7. What is the meaning of Ezekiel ? What did Jerome call his prophecies ? In what order are they arranged ? In how many ways has the book been interpreted ? Of what family was Ezekiel ? Where live in exile ? When were his prophecies recorded ? In what do they abound ? 8. Where was the book of Daniel placed in the Hebrew Bible ? In what other language than Hebrew was it partly written ? What portion is in Aramaic ? How are the contents divided ? How many visions are recorded ? 9. Who is said to have seen the visions of the book? To whom is the entire book ascribed ? By whom is this questioned? For what reasons? Why are the reasons held by others to be inconclusive? What reason is given for the position of the book in the Hebrew Bible ? How is the argument from silence answered ? How may the historic allusions be used ? On what five grounds is it still urged that Daniel is the probable author ? What have modern discoveries already shown ? What is it fair to infer from this ? How had the Aramaic long been used ? For what may we wait ? 10. How many are the minor prophets ? Name them. What are some of their chief characteristics ? 11. Who was the last great prophet of the northern kingdom? What is the meaning of Hosea? How long was his mission ? How are his prophecies divided? What is said of their interpretation? In how many ways have they been interpreted? What is said of his style ? Where is the prophecy cited ? 12. What judgments are declared by Joel? In what two parts? What apostle cites this prophecy ? Where and how ? 13. What is the chief character of Amos' prophecy ? How divided ? What kind of a manual has it been called ? What was Amos' occu- pation ? By whom called to be a prophet ? What is said of the style and character of his prophecies ? 14. Concerning whom did Obadiah prophecy? Of what feud does it remind us ? What kind of a prophecy is it called ? 15. What has the book of Jonah been termed ? What is the theme of each of its four chapters ? Why has its authorship by Jonah been questioned ? Was Jonah a real prophet ? How is the book char- acterized by some modern critics ? Who cited the chief event in the book as a type of himself? 16. What type of prophecy is that of Micah? What simple di- vision of the book is suggested ? In what does it abound ? Why do some question whether Micah was its author ? How is this met ? 17. Of what does the prophecy of Nahum consist? The downfall of what city does it describe ? In what rank does it stand as to poetic imagery and vivid force ? What is known of the prophet ? 18. What is the chief theme of Habakkuk ?, What does Lowth call ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. 217 his prophecy ? Where does Paul cite from it ? What did this phrase become ? What is said of the date of it ? 19. What has the prophecy of Zephaniah been called ? What great hymn is based on it ? When did he prophesy ? 20. What was the object of Haggai's prophecy ? To what four things does his prophecy relate ? What allusion make to Christ? 21. How many visions are there in the first part of the prophecy of Zechariah? To what subjects does the second part relate? Which part is certainly believed to be by Zechariah ? To whom do some ascribe the second part ? On what grounds? How possibly may these facts be explained ? What essenlial thought runs through the prophecy ? 22. Which is the last prophet of the Old Testament ? Into how many discourses is his prophecy divided ? What does Malachi plainly foretell ? With what does he close ? How many centuries of prophetic silence followed ? By what glorious advent were they broken ? CHAPTER XIII. I. What marks a form of speech as a distinct language? Why difficult to apply the definition ? How many languages are there in the world ? How many dialects ? 2. Why is it difficult to state the number of languages into which the Bible has been translated ? How many types of written characters are there ? How many versions have been found to be erroneously enu- merated up to this time ? Into how many tongues had the Bible been translated up to the nineteenth century? 3. How many languages now have some one entire book of the Bible? What portion of the human race is reached by these versions? What is said of the work yet to be done ? 4. How were copies of the Scriptures early made for circulation ? What is said of the circulation of the Syrian versions? Of the Latin Vulgate ? How many copies of Luther's first version were issued ? How many editions of the English Bible before 1611 ? Name some of the first printed Bibles in America. 5. What is said of the circulation of the Bible in the early part of the nineteenth century ? Of the issues of the Revised New Testa- ment? Of the copies issued by the Bible societies? Of the issues within the century ? 6. How many copies are annually sent out by the British and Foreign Bible Society ? By the American Bible Society ? What is computed to be the total annual circulation now ? What is said of the trust- worthy nature of these figures ? How long would it require to provide each family in the world with the gospel ? 218 ANALYSIS AND QUESTIONS. CHAPTER XIV. CARE OF BIBLE TEXT. 1. What did the Jews note concerning their Scripture text besides the number of books ? 2. What table is given in section two? 3. How did the Massoretes number the words and letters of the Hebrew text ? 4. What did their minuteness lead some to do for the text of the English Bible ? State the number of books, chapters and verses in the English Bible. 5. How many Greek words are there in the text of the first three Gospels? How many Greek words are used in the Pauline writings? How many by Luke ? 6. What is the number of Greek words in the vocabulary of Luke's Gospel? How many in the first three Gospels? INDEX. Acts, 81, 82. Alexandrian MS., 58. See MSS. Alliteration, see Hebrew Poetry. American Standard Version, 13. Amos, 175. Ancient MSS., 53, ff. Ancient Versions, 44, ff. Anglo-American Versions, 12, ff. Anglo-Saxon Versions, 34. Anglo-Saxon in the Bible, 35. Aramaic language, 10. Armenian translations (see Versions), 44- Authorship of Gospels and Acts, 73-82. Authorized Version, why so called, 13, Barker, R. Printer, 21, 22. Beza's MSS., 59. Books of the Bible, 9. Books of the Law, 115, ff. authorship of, 116, ff. composition of, 118. division of, 115. Mosaic authorship of, 120, ff. name of, 115. Bible, Alexandrian (written) 58. Anglo-American, 12. Anglo-Saxon, 34. Armenian, 44. Authorized Version of, 13, 22. Biblia by Chaucer, 8. Bishops', 27. Books, number of, 9. Cambridge Paragraph, 23. chapters and verses in, 196. circulation of, 188, 190. Coptic, 45. Coverdale's, 30. Cranmer's, 30. Danish, 43. divisions of, 55, 116, 126, 139, 158. Douai, 26. Dutch, 40. Egyptian, 45. English, facts about, 35. Bible, Ethiopic, 46. French, 41. Genevan, 28, 29. German, 37. Gothic, 45. Great, 29, 30. greatest book, 7. growth of, 11. Greek Septuagin.t, 50. Hebrew, 9, 51, 60, 98, 114, 126, 195. Holy, English title, 21. Italian, 42. King James, 17-25. Revision of, 14. languages translated into, 183-186. Latin, 48. Luther's, 38, 39. Matthew's, 31. nations swayed by, 7. Polychrome, 63. Purvey's, 33. preservation of, 11. Questions about, 9. Sinaitic (written), 53. Societies, 183, passim. Spanish, 42. Swedish, 43. Syriac, 46, 47. Tavemer's, 31 title, used by Chaucer, 7. Tyndale's, 31. Vatican (written), 57. Vulgate, 47, 48. Whitechurch's, 30. Wyckliffe's, 32. Bible Societies: American, 187-194, et passim. British and Foreign, 114, 185-194 Bible, versions of, 186. Catholic Epistles, 89. Chronicles, 130. Cities, ancient, restored, 135. Colossians, 85. Coptic or Egyptian Versions, 45. Corinthians, 83, 84. (219) 220 INDEX. Covenant, a title, 8. book of, 8. Coverdale's Bible, 30. Cranmer's Bible, 30. Cursive MSS., tbe, he written, 60. Daniel, book of, 170-173. Danish Version, 43. Date of N. T. books, 96. Deuteronomy (see Pentateuch), 118, 125. Douai Version, the, 26. Dutch Versions, 40. Eastern Church on N. T. books, 67. Ecclesiastes, 156. Ephesians, (see Pauline EpS.), 84. Ephraem MSS., 58. Epistles, Catholic, 89. Esther, 133. Ethiopic Versions, 46. Exodus (see Pentateuch), 125. Ezekiel, i6g Ezra, 132. Fac-Simile — Tyndale's New Testament. Frontispiece King James' Version, 20, 21. Great Bible, 29, 30. Matt. 13 : 1-15, Tyndale, 31-32. Isaiah, Chap. 13. Tyndale, 33,34. early English MS. Bible, 33, 34. Rushworth Gospels, 34. Fourth Cent Codex Smaiticus, 56. Fifth Cent. Codex Alexandrinus. 58. Galatians (see Pauline Eps.), 84. Genesis (see Pentateueh), 116-125. Gospels, Synoptic, 75, 76. Gothic Versions, 45. Greek language. 10. Scptuagint, 50, 100. words, 197. Habakkuk, 178. Haggai, 179. Hebrew MS. (see MS. 60. poetry, 139. alliteration in, 140. early songs in, list of, forms of, 139. Orientals' delight in, parallelisms of, 140. rhyme and metre in, 1 letters, 195. text, 61. vowel points, 63. sections, 62. Hebrews, book of, 88, 89 Hebrew poetry, 140. songs, 141. Historical O. T. books, 126. authors of, 127, ff. general character, 134. order of, in Hebrew, 126. period covered by, 126. proved by discoveries, 137. Hittites, Empire of, 136. Hosea, 174. Isaiah, book of, 161, ff. Italian versions, 42. Jamnia, Synod of, 101, 104. James, Epistle of, 90. Jeremiah, 167, ff. Lamentations of, 155. Job, book of, 149-153. Joel, 174. John's Epistles, 93. John, Gospel by, 80, 81. Jonah, 176. Josephiis, testimony of, 102. Joshua, 127. Judges, 127. Jude, 94. Kings, book of, 130. King James' Version, 17-25. Lamentations, 155. Language of the English Bible, 34. Languages of the Bible, 9, 35, 183. not classic, 10. Aramaic, 10. Greek, 10. Languages of the world, 182. Latin Versions, 47. Leviticus (see Pentateuch), 125. Luke, Gospel of, 79. Luther's Version, 37, 38. Malachi, book of, 181. Manuscripts, ancient, 53. Alexandrian, 58. Beza's, 59. Cursives, the, 60. divisions of, modern, 55. Ephraem, 58. Greco-Latin, 59. Hebrew, 60. classes of, 60. Hebrew, strict rule> for preparing, 60. N. T., how written, 53 how classified, 54. new, 59. 221 Manuscripts, sections in, Ammonian, Old Testament, Westminster Confession sections in, how numbered, 55. Sinaitic, 56. text, divisions of, 54. Titloi-titles, number of, 54. Uncial, number of, 56. Sinaitic, how found, 56. Vatican, beauty of, 53. character of, 57. Mark, Gospel of, 7S. Massorah, the, 61. Massoretes, care of Bible, 195, 196 Matthew, Gospel of, 76, 77. Matthew's Bible, 31. Micah, book of, 177. Minor Prophets, 173. Mishna, 101. Monuments and O. T., 134. Moses, books of, 119, ff. law of, 115, ff. Nahum, 178. Nehemiah, 132. Nations, three foremost of the world, 7. greatest book of, 7. New MSS. of Bible, 59. New Testament, one book, 64. agreement on, 64. books, groups of, 75. completion of, 70, 72. how found, 69. Eastern Church on, 67. Luther on, 65. forming of, 66, 67. Western Church on, 66. books of, questioned, 66. catalogue of, 68. character of writers, 73 . date of the book, 76-96. early catalogue of, 68. names of writers known, 73, 74. table of, 96, 97. testing books of, 05. variety of writing in, 73. writers of, 74. Revised, 12, 14. words in, 197. Tyndale's, 31. Numbers (see Pentateuch), 125. Obadiah, 175. Old Testament, a growth, 98. books quoted in the New, 106. early collections of, 99. Ezra and the Great Synagogue, 104. how formed, 98-105. Josephus on, 102, 103. and monuments, 134. on, 114. order of books, Hebrew, 107, 108. Septuagint, books in, 100. Synod of Jamnia on, 10 1. Origen and Josephus on. 102, 109. triple division of, 105, 106. variations, supposed, in the list-, 109. what Philo and Talmudists say, 104. Christ and N. T. writers say, 106. views of Latin Church, no. of Greeks, in. of Protestants, 113. of Lutherans, 113. Origen's Hexapla, 51. Pauline Epistles, 75-88. Pentateuch, 115. authorship of, 116, ff. composition of, 118, ff. contents of, 124, 125. division of, 115, 116. Peter, Epistles by, 91, 92. Philippians, 85. Philemon, 88. Poetic books O. T., 139, ff. Poetry, Hebrew, 140, 141. Polychrome Bible, 6 . Prophecy and prophetical books, 158, ff. Ezekiel, 169. Daniel, author, 170-173. division, 160. Isaiah, author of, 161, ff. structure of, 162. Jeremiah, character of, 167, ff. Lamentations, 155. Minor Prophets, 173. Prophetic literature, 160. Prophets, great work of, 158, 159. Proverbs, 147-149. Psalms, 139, 142-147. classification of, 143, 146. date of, 144. topics of, 146. Purvey's Version, 33. Reformers, appeal to Bible, no. Revelation, book of, 94-96. Revision, plan of, 15. changes by, 16-18. objections to, 17. American committee of, 14, 16. English committee of, 14-16. Rhyme and Metre in Hebrew, 139. Romans, Epistle to, 83. Rushworth Gospels, fac-simile, 34. Ruth. 128. 222 INDEX. Samuel, book of, 129, 130. Scriptures, Jewish, 99, ff. circulation of, 188, ff. Septuagint (Greek O. T.), 50, 100. Sinaitic MS., 56. Solomon's Song, 153. Song of Songs, 153-155. Songs, early sacred, 141. classification of, 143. Spanish Versions, 42. byriac Versions, 46, 47. Swedish Versions, 43. Table of N. T. books, 96, 97. Targums, their character, 51. Taverner's Bible, 31. Testament, how derived, 8. New, Revised, 12, 14. Old, Revised, 12, 15. Tel-el-Amarna, tablets. 11. Text, early divisions of, 54. Hebrew, 61. Hebrew, old divisions, 62. Thessalonians, Epistles to, 86. Timothy, Epistles to, 87. Tischendorf, 56. Titus, Eps to (see Pauline Eps.i, 87. Translators, King James, 20. Tyndale's N. T. Version, 31, 32. Tyndale's N. T., fac-simile. Frontispiece. Uncial MS., 54-59- Vatican MSS., 57. Versions, ancient, 44. Armenian, 44. Coptic or Egyptian, three, 45. (1) Memphitic or Bahiric, 45. (2) Thebaic or Sahidic, 46. (3) Bashmuric or Eleaarchian, 46. Ethiopic, 46. Gothic, 45. Greek, 50, 100. Latin, (1) old Latin, (2) Vulgate, 47. Septuagint, 50, 100. Syriac, character of, 46, 47. Vulgate, by Jerome, 48. Council of Trent on, 49. Sixtine edition, corrected, 49. Clementine Text, 50. Version, authorized, 13, 22. changes in, 16. charges against, 23. Anglo-American, 12, ff. Version, American Standard, 13. King James, 15, 19. English, Revised, 12. Common, why so called, 14. editions, noted mistakes in, 24. principles of, 20. title-page, fac-simile of, 22, 23. King James, 13, 17-25. why revise, 15. Versions, early English. Anglo-Saxon, 34. Bishop's, 27. Coverdale's, 30. Cranmer's, 30. Douai, 26. early English MSS. Bibles. 33. Genevan, by English reformers ,27, 28. New Testament, 28. Great Bible, 29. fac-simile of title-page, 29, 30. Matthew's, 31. Metrical, 33. Parker's, 27, 28. Purvey's, 33. Rushworth's, 34. Taverner's, 31. Tyndale's New Testament, 31, 32. first, directly from Greek, 31. Wycliffe's, 32. Versions, Modern, etc., not English, 37. Arabic, 43. Danish, 43. Dutch, 40. States' Bible, excellence of, 41.' French, 41. Segond's, 41. German, earlier, 39. by Romanists, 40. Italian, 42. Luther's, 37, 38. Spanish, 42. Swedish, 43. Versions of Bible, 186. Version, Revised. 12-15. Use of. t8 Vulgate, 48. Western church on N. T., 66. Wisdom Literature, 146, ff. Writers of N. T., 73, 74. Writing, era of, 11, 136. Wycliffe's Version, 1382, 32. Zechanah, book of, 179. Zephaniah, book of, 179. BS511 .R49 1902 Our sixty-six sacred books; or, How our Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library 1 1012 00047 5600