BIBLE . The word " Bible," which in See also:

• ENGLISH

Certainly in the apocryphal See also:

• BOOK

269 ff.), the legend—for it is nothing better—grew, until finally, in the hands of See also:

• ELIAS, JOHN (1774-1841)

The threefold See also:

• DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

44. A collection of sacred books, including in particular the prophets, is also referred to in See also:

• DAN

Among the See also:

• HEBREWS, EPISTLE TO THE

These two series differ from one another materially in See also:

• SCOPE (through Ital. scopo, aim, purpose, intent, from Gr. o'KOaos, mark to shoot at, aim, o ic07reiv, to see, whence the termination in telescope, microscope, &c.)

(Abraham's servant sent to find a wife for See also:

• ISAAC (Hebrew for " he laughs," on explanatory references to the name, see ABRAHAM)

1-17, xxi. 8-32, xxii. 1-14, xl.–xlii. and xlv. (except a few isolated passages); Ex. xviii., xx.–xxiii. (including the decalogue—in its original, terser form, without the explanatory additions now attached to several of the commandments—and the collection of See also:

• LAWS

For this purpose he selected extracts from the two narratives, " J " and " E," and combined them together into a single narrative, introducing in some places additions of his own. This combined narrative is commonly known as "JE." As distinguished from the Priestly Narrative (to be mentioned presently), it has a distinctly prophetical character; it treats the history from the standpoint of the prophets, and the religious ideas characteristic of the prophets often find expression in it. Most of the best-known narratives of the patriarchal and See also:

• MOSAIC (corresponding to Lat. opus musivum, from Gr. µovoeiov, an artificial grotto often decorated with mosaics; the word is only found in the sense of mosaic in late Greek, which generally uses k oXI yrlµa)

In the course of his argument (especially. in chs. xii.–xxvi.), the writer takes up most of the laws, both civil and ceremonial, which (see above) had been incorporated before in " J " and " E," together with many besides which were current in Israel; these, as a rule, he expands, applies or enforces with motives; for obedience to them is not to be rendered merely in deference to external authority, it is to be prompted by right moral and religious motives. The ideal of Deuteronomy is a community of which every member is full of love and reverence towards his God, and of sympathy and regard for his See also:

• FELLOW

The compilers of Judges and Kings are also (see below) strongly influenced by Deuteronomy. The Priestly sections of the Hexateuch (known as " P ") remain still to be considered. That these are later than " JE," and even than Deut., is apparent—to mention but one feature—from the more complex See also:

• RITUAL (from Lat. ritus, a custom, especially a religious rite or custom)

The following examples of passages from " P " will illustrate what has been said:—Gen. i. 1-ii. 4", xvii. (institution of See also:

• CIRCUMCISION (Lat. circum, round, and caedere, to cut)

28 (See also:

• CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

The compiler will not have written before c. 600 B.C.; the narratives incorporated by him will in most cases have been considerably earlier. The books of Samuel centre See also:

• ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

A number of narratives, evidently written by prophets, and in many of which also (as those See also:

• RELATING

7-10", xvii. 7-23. The Latter Prophets.—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Twelve. The writings of the canonical prophets form another important See also:

• ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

Chs. xl.–lxvi., how-ever, are not by Isaiah, but are the work of a prophet who wrote about 540 B.C., shortly before the conquest of See also:

• BABYLON (mod. Hillah)

23, and xxi. I-Io, looking forward similarly to the approaching fall of Babylon; chs. xxiv.–xxvii. have a character of their own, and form an See also:

• APOCALYPSE
• APOCALYPSE (Gr. aaoKaXvti/hr, disclosure)
• APOCALYPSE, KNIGHTS OF THE

Prophecies of restoration are contained in chs. See also:

• XXX

The book of Ezekiel bears throughout the See also:

• STAMP (from " to stamp," to strike or tread heavily, hence to impress, O. Eng. stempen, Du. stampen, Ger. stampfen, whence, O. Fr. estamper, mod. etamper)

Why these prophecies were attached to Zech. i.–viii. must remain matter of conjecture; but there are reasons for supposing that, together with the prophecy of Malachi, they came to the compiler of the "book" of the Twelve Prophets anonymously, and he simply attached them at the point which his collection had reached (i.e. at the end of Zech. viii.). The Psalms.—The Psalter is that part of the Old Testament in which the devotional aspect of the religious character finds its completest expression; and in lyrics of exquisite tenderness and beauty the most varied emotions are poured forth by the psalmists to their God—despondency and See also:

• DISTRESS

Its compilation can hardly have been finally completed before the 3rd century B.C.; if it is true, as many scholars think, that there are psalms dating from the time of the Maccabee struggle (Ps. xliv., lxxiv., lxxix., lxxxiii., and perhaps others), it cannot have been completed till after 165 B.C. The Book of Proverbs.—This is the first of the three books belonging to the " Wisdom-literature " of the Hebrews, the other two books being Job and Ecclesiastes. The Wisdom-literature of the Hebrews concerned itself with what we should call the See also:

• PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

A small nucleus of the proverbs may be. Solomon's; but the great majority represent no doubt the generalizations of a long succession of " See also:

• WISE, HENRY ALEXANDER (1806-1876)
• WISE, ISAAC MAYER (1819-1900)

There follow (in the Hebrew Bible) the. five short books, which, as explained above, are now known by the Jews as the Megilloth, or " Rolls," viz. Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther. Of these, the Song of Songs, in exquisite poetry, extols the power and sweetness of pure and faithful human love. The date at which it was written is uncertain; there are features in it which point to its having been the work of a poet living[O.T. CANON in See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

The book of Esther, which describes, with many legendary traits, how the beautiful Jewess succeeded in rescuing her people from the destruction which Haman had prepared for them, will not be earlier than the closing years of the 4th century B.C., and is thought by many scholars to be even later. The Book of Daniel: The aim of this book is to strengthen and encourage the pious Jews in their sufferings under the persecution of See also:

• ANTIOCHUS

12-26); Neh. i. x-vii. 73°', Xii. 31-41, xiii.; and a narrative written in Aramaic (Ezra iv. 8-vi. i8); Ezra x. and Neh. viii: x. also are in all probability based See also:

• PRETTY

15, xvi. 7-11, xvii., xix. I—XX. 30, xxvi. 16-20, xxii. 3-xxii. 21. On account of the interest shown by the compiler in the ecclesiastical aspects of the history, his work has been not inaptly called the " Ecclesiastical See also:

• CHRONICLE (from Gr. Xpovos, time)

Text.—The form in which the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is presented to us in all MSS. and printed See also:

• EDITIONS

These notes for the most part constitute a sort of See also:

• INDEX

564 f., and P. Kahle in Z.A.T. W. xxi. (1901), pp. 273 f. Probably the idea of providing vowel points was borrowed from the Syrians.variants, or, more probably, as emendations corresponding to the errata or corrigenda of a modern printed book, They do not point to any critical editing of the text; for the aim of the Massoretes was essentially conservative. Their object was not to create a new text, but rather to ensure the accurate trans-See also:

• MISSION

Nor is the occasion far to seek. After the fall of Jerusalem the new system of biblical exegesis founded by Rabbi See also:

• HILLEL

6; cf. the older forms Eshbaal and Meribaal, r Chron. viii. 34, 35); the use of the verb "to bless" (n) in the sense of cursing (1 Kings xxi. ro, 13; Job i. 5, II, ii. 5, 9; Ps. X. 3); and the insertion of " the enemies of " in r Sam. xxv. 22, 2 Sam. xii. 14. These intentional alterations, however, only affect a very limited portion of the text, and, though it is possible that other changes were introduced at different times, it is very 3 This represents the Western tradition as opposed to the Eastern text of ben See also:

• NAPHTALI

Strack, Proleg. Critica, PP. 14 f- a Cf. F. C. Burkitt, Fragments of the Books of Kings according to the Translation of Aquila. a The Talmudic story of the three MSS. preserved in the court of the temple (Sopherim, vi. 4) sufficiently illustrates the tentative efforts of the rabbis in this direction. s W. See also:

• ROBERTSON, FREDERICK WILLIAM (1816-1853)
• ROBERTSON, GEORGE CROOM (1842-1892)
• ROBERTSON, JOSEPH (1810-1866)
• ROBERTSON, THOMAS WILLIAM (1829-1871)
• ROBERTSON, WILLIAM BRUCE (182o-1886)

308 f.; Strack, Prolegomena Critica, p. 87; Buhl, Canon and Text of the Old Testament, pp. 103 f. In the Mekilta (Exod. xv. 7) only eleven passages are mentioned. Less important are the Itture Sopherim, or five passages in which the scribes have omitted a waw from the text. 8,6 unlikely that they were either more extensive in range or more important in character. At the same time it is clear both from internal and external evidence that the archetype from which our MSS. are descended was far from being a perfect representative of the original text. For a comparison of the different parallel passages which occur in the Old Testament (e.g. 1 and 2 Samuel, r and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles; 2 Kings xviii. 13–xx. 19 and Isaiah xxxvi.–xxxix; 2 Sam. xxii. and Ps. xviii.; Ps. xiv. and 'iii., &c.) reveals many variations which are obviously due to textual corruption, while there are many passages which in their present form are either ungrammatical, or inconsistent with the context or with other passages.

Externally also the ancient versions, especially the Septuagint, frequently exhibit variations from the Hebrew which are not only intrinsically more probable, but often explain the difficulties presented by the Massoretic text. Our estimate of the value of these variant readings, moreover, is considerably heightened when we consider that the MSS. on which the versions are based are older by several centuries than those from which the Massoretic text was derived; hence the text which they presuppose has no slight claim to be regarded as an important See also:

• WITNESS
• WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)

The Targums, or Aramaic paraphrases of the books of the Old Testament (see TARGUM), date from the time when Hebrew had Aramaic. become superseded by Aramaic as the language spoken by the Jews, i.e. during the period immediately preceding the Christian era. In their written form, however, the earlier Targums, viz. those on the Pentateuch and the prophetical books, cannot be earlier than the 4th or 5th century A.D. Since they were designed to meet the needs of the people and had a directly edificatory aim, they are naturally characterized by expansion and See also:

• PARAPHRASE (Gr. irapa¢pavis, from rrapa4p4av, to relate something in different words, 'raga, beside, and ¢pai"eav, speak, tell)

- e.g. Ex. xx. 17.19 ff. ; Num. xx. f.: Deut. xxvii. 4.[O.T. TEXTS has come down to us cannot be regarded as historical, yet it seems to have preserved correctly both the date and the locality of the version. The name Septuagint, strictly speaking, only applies to the translation of the Pentateuch, but it was afterwards extended to include the other books of the Old Testament as they were translated. That the interval which elapsed before the Prophets and the Hagiographa were also translated was no great one is shown by the See also:

• PROLOGUE (from Gr. 7rpo, before, and Myer, a word)

Aquila was a Jewish See also:

• PROSELYTE (Gr.IrpoaiXvros)

A peculiar feature of his translation is his excessive use of transliteration, but, apart from this, his work has many points of contact with the Septuagint, which it closely resembles in style; hence it is not surprising to find that later MSS. of the Septuagint have been largely influenced by Theodotion's translation. In the case of the book of Daniel, as we learn from Jerome (praefatio in Dan.), the translation of Theodotion was definitely adopted by the Church, and is accordingly found in the place of the original Septuagint in all MSS. and editions.' It is interesting to See also:

• NOTE
• NOTE (Lat. nota, mark, sign, from noscere, to know)

5 On the question of Theodotion's date, Scharer (Geschichte See also:

• DES

Indeed, the result of his monumental labours has been to impede rather than to promote the restoration of the genuine Septuagint. For the Hexaplar text which he thus produced not only effaced many of the most characteristic features of the old version, but also exercised a prejudicial influence on the MSS. of that version. The Hexapla as a whole was far too large to be copied, but the revised Septuagint text was published separately by Eusebius and Hesychlus, See also:

• PAMPHILUS
• PAMPHILUS (1st century A.D.)