tians, but the Old was received from the Jews; and it is from them, therefore, that we must learn what the number of the books of it originally was, and every thing else relating to this most ancient and interesting production.

The celebrated Jewish writers, Josephus and Philo, reckon two and twenty canonical books in the Old Testament, which is the number of the letters in the Hebrew alphabet; and to make out this, they join the book of Ruth to that of Judges, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah to the book of his Prophecies. But other Jewish doctors divide the book of Ruth from that of Judges, and, making likewise a separate book of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, they reckon four and twenty books in all. In order to accommodate this number to that of the letters of the alphabet, they repeat the letter yod three times, as they say, in honor to the great name of God Jehovah, of which yod is the first letter; and in Chaldee, three yods together were used to express this adorable name; but as the modern Jews thought this savored too much of what Christians call the Trinity, they use only two yods for this purpose. St. Jerome is of opinion that St. John had this division of the Hebrew scriptures in view, when in his Revelation he speaks of the four and twenty elders who paid adoration to the Lamb of God.

Songs, (6) Daniel, (7) Chronicles, (8)
Ezra, with Nehemiah, and (9) Esther. The
Jews do not put Daniel in the rank of a
prophet, although they acknowledge him to
have been a man inspired by God, and whose
writings are full of the clearest prophecies
concerning the time of the Messiah's coming,
and what should happen to their nation.
Jesus Christ, therefore, gives him the name
of a Prophet, and the Jewish doctors are
much puzzled to find out a proper reason for
their not doing the same.
"It is," says
Maimonides, because every thing that
Daniel wrote was not revealed to him when
he was awake and had the use of his reason,
but in the night, and in obscure dreams.”
But this is a very unsatisfactory account of
the matter; and others are of opinion that
the name of a Prophet was commonly given
to those only who were of a certain college,
and whose business it was to write the an-
nals; and that, therefore, their works were
ranked among the prophetical books, though
they did not contain a single prediction of
any thing to come, as the books of Joshua and
Judges; while, on the contrary, the works
of those who were not of these colleges of
the prophets were not ranked among the pro-
phetical books, although they contained true
prophecies.

In

The Latins agree with the Jews as to the number of the Psalms, which is a hundred and fifty; but both they and the Greeks divide them differently from the Hebrews. the Greek Bible and the Vulgate, or common Latin version, the ninth and tenth, according to the Hebrew, make but one psalm; and therefore, in order to make up the number of a hundred and fifty, they divide the hundred and forty-seventh into two.

The Jews divide the whole of these books into three classes, namely, the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiographa or Holy Writings, which last division includes more particularly the poetical parts; and some are of opinion that Jesus Christ alludes to this division of the Scriptures, when he says that "all things must be fulfilled that were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, This is the general division of the sacred and in the psalms, concerning" him. For books among the Jews. But they divide the the book of Psalms, they understand all the Pentateuch, in particular, into certain parabooks of the third class. The Law compre- graphs or sections, which they call Parashihends the Pentateuch; that is, Genesis, Ex-uth, and which they subdivide into the Great odus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. and Little. A Great section contains as The prophetical books are eight, viz.: (1) much as is to be read in the synagogue in a Joshua, (2) Judges, with Ruth, (3) Sam- week. There are in all fifty-four of these, uel, (4) Kings, (5) Isaiah, (6) Jeremiah, conforming to the number of lessons in a (7) Ezekiel, and (8) the twelve Lesser year; for the Jews are obliged to read all the Prophets. The first four books of this di- Pentateuch over once every year, finishing it vision are called the Former Prophets, on the feast of tabernacles, and beginning it and the last four the Latter Prophets. again on the next sabbath day. In the time The Hagiographa, or Holy Writings, are of the persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes, nine, viz.: (1) Job, (2) the Psalms, (3) they also selected fifty-four sections to be Proverbs, (4) Ecclesiastes, (5) The Song of read out of the Prophets, which have ever

was so, is commonly called Hugo Cardinalis.

This Cardinal Hugo, who flourished about the year 1240, and died in 1262, had la bored much in the study of the Holy Scriptures, and made a comment upon the whole of them. The carrying on of this work gave him the occasion of inventing the first con cordance that was made of the Scriptures — that is, of the vulgar Latin Bible; for, con ceiving that such an index of all the words and phrases in the Bible would be of great use for the attaining of a better understanding of it, he projected a scheme for the making of such aù index, and forthwith set a great number of the monks of his crder on the collecting of the words under their proper classes in every letter of the alphabet, in order to this design; and, by the help of so many hands, he soon brought it to what he intended. This work was afterward much improved by those who followed him, especially by Arlottus Thuseus, and Conradus Halberstadius, the former a Franciscan and the other a Dominican friar, who both lived about the end of the same century. But the whole intention of the work being for the easier finding of any word or passage in the Scriptures, to make it answer this purpose the cardinal found it necessary, in the first place, to divide the book into sections,

since constituted the second lessons in the was Hugo de Sancto Caro, who, being from Jewish synagogue-service. The Little sec-a Dominican monk advanced to the dignity tions, which are subdivisions of the Greater, of a cardinal, and the first of that order that are made according to the subjects they treat of; and these Great and Little sections are again of two sorts, one of which is called Petuchoth, that is, open sections; and the other Sethumoth, that is, close sections. The former commences in the Hebrew Bibles always at the beginning of lines, and are marked with three P's if it be a great section, and with only one if it be a little section; because P is the first letter of the word Petuchoth. Every open section takes its name from its first word; and thus the first section in the whole Bible is called Bereshith, which is the first word of the Book of Genesis in Hebrew. The close sections begin the middle of a line, and are marked with the letter Samech, which is the first letter of the word Sethumoth; if it be a great section it has three Samechs; if a little section, only one. Every great section is also divided again into seven parts, which are read in the synagogue by so many different persons. If any priest be present, he begins, and a Levite reads after him; and in the choice of the rest, regard is had to their dignity and condition. The divisions of the prophetical books already mentioned are read jointly with those of Moses, in the same manner. These latter divisions they call Haphteroth, a term which signifies, in Hebrew, dismissions; because after this reading is over they dismiss the people. and the sections into other divisions, that by The Jews call the division of the Holy these he might the better make the referScriptures into chapters, Perakim, which ences, and the more exactly point out in the signifies fragments; and the division into index where any word or passage might be verses they call Pesukim, a word of nearly found in the text; and these sections are the same signification as the former. These the chapters into which the Bible has ever last are marked out in the Hebrew Bibles since been divided. For, on the publishing by two great points at the end of them, called of this concordance, the usefulness of it behence Soph-Pasuk, that is, the end of the ing immediately discerned, all were desirous But the division of the Scriptures to have it; and, for the sake of the use of into chapters and verses, as we now have it, they all divided their bibles as Hugo had them, is of a much later date. The Psalms, done; for the references in the concordance indeed, were always divided as at present; being made by these chapters and the subdifor St. Paul, in his sermon at Antioch in visions of them, unless their bibles were so Pisidia, quotes the second Psalm. But as divided too, the concordance would be of no to the rest of the Holy Scriptures, the divis- use to them. And thus this division of the ion of them into such chapters as at present, several books of the Bible into chapters had is what the ancients knew nothing of. Some its original, which has ever since been made attribute it to Stephen Langton, who was use of in all places and among all people, archbishop of Canterbury in the reigns of wherever the Bible itself is used in these King John and his son Henry the Third. western parts of the world; for before this But the true author of this invention, as is there was no division of the books in the shown by Dean Prideaux at great length, vulgar Latin bibles at all.

verse.

* Taylor's Hebrew concordance has been pub- neva in 1559, gets the credit of being the lished since, and extensively used.

lections. The rules laid down by the Jews with respect to their manuscripts have undoubtedly tended much to preserve the integrity of the text. They are directed to be written upon parchment, made from the skin

Egyptian Scribe.

the New Testament into verses, and for the | in the synagogues, and the square ones, or same reason as Rabbi Nathan had done be- those which are to be found in private colfore him as to the Old Testament; that is, for the sake of a concordance which he was then composing for the Greek Testament, and which was afterward printed by Henry Stephens, his son, who gives this account of the matter in his preface to the concordance. Since that time, this division of the whole Bible by chapters and verses, and the quoting of all passages in them by the numbers of both, has grown into use everywhere among us in these western parts; so that not only all Latin bibles, but all Greek ones also, as well as every other that has been printed in any of the modern languages, have followed this division. They who most approve of this division of the Bible into chapters and verses, as at present used, agree that a of a clean animal, and to be tied together much more convenient one might be made; with strings of similar substance, or sewn ce it often happens that things which with goat's-hair, which has been spun and ught to be separated are joined together, prepared by a Jewess. It must be likewise and many things which ought to be joined a Jew that writes the law, and they are together are divided. extremely diligent and exact in it, because the least fault profanes the book. Every skin of parchment is to contain a certain number of columns, which are to be of a precise length and breadth, and to contain a They are to be certain number of words. written with the purest ink, and no word is to be written by heart or with the points; it must be first orally pronounced by the copyist. The name of God is directed to be written with the utmost attention and devotion, and the transcriber is to wash his pen before he inscribes it on the parchment. If there should chance to be a word with either a deficient or a redundant letter, or should any of the prosaic part of the Old Testament be written as verse, or vice versa, the manu script is vitiated. No Hebrew manuscript. with any illumination is, on any account, admitted into a synagogue, although private individuals are permitted to have them ornamented for their own use; but in the illustrations, the resemblance of any animal denounced by the Jews as unclean cannot be admitted. Among the modern Jews, the book of Esther, in particular, is frequently decorated with rude figures of various kinds but with respect to this book, it must be observed that, owing to its wanting the sacred name of God, it is not held in such repute for holiness as the other books are. The manuscripts for private use may be either upon parchment, vellum, or paper, and of

The respect which the Jews have for the sacred books, and which even degenerates into superstition, is one of the principal of their religious practices. Nothing can be added to the care they take in writing them. The books of the ancients were of a different form from ours; they did not consist of several leaves, but of one or more skins or parchments sewn together, and fastened at the ends to rollers of wood, upon which they were rolled up; so that a book when thus shut up might easily be sealed in several places. And such was the book mentioned in the Revelations, which St. John says was sealed with seven seals," and which no one but "the Lion of the tribe of Judah could open and explain."

The Hebrew manuscripts of the Bible are of two kinds the rolled ones, or those used

various sizes. "There is, says Prideaux, "in the church of St. Dominic, in Bononia, a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures, kept with a great deal of care, which they pretend to be the original copy written by Ezra himself; and therefore it is there valued at so high a rate, that great sums of money have been borrowed by the Bononians upon the pawn of it, and again repaid for its redemption. It is written in a very fair character upon a sort of leather, and made up in a roll accord ing to the ancient manner; but it having the vowel-points annexed, and the writing being fresh and fair, without any decay, both these particulars prove the novelty of that copy. But such forgeries are no uncommon things among the papistical sect.

the lesson is ended the book is rolled up, and wrapped in a piece of silk.

The Jews still retain so great a veneration for the Hebrew tongue, that they do not think it lawful to use any other bibles in the synagogues but such as are written in that language. This was what enraged them so much against the Hellenistic or Grecizing Jews, who read the Septuagint Greek version in their synagogues; and so much were they grieved that this version was ever made, that they instituted a fast, in which they annually lament this as a misfortune. But because the Hebrew was, after the captivity, no longer the vulgar tongue, there was an interpreter in the synagogues, who explained to the people in the Chaldee, or common tongue, what was read to them in the Hebrew. The use they made of the Scriptures, however, gave the people at least an imperfect knowledge of the Hebrew language. And thus we see the eunuch who is mentioned in the Acts, could read Isaiah, and understand enough of it to form the question which he put to Philip, concerning the passage in the prophecy relating to Jesus Christ.

After having spoken of the books contained in the Bible, and of the divisions of those books which have been used by the Jews and the Christians, both in ancient and modern times, it may now be necessary

Το open and shut up the roll or book of the law, to hold it, and to raise and show it to the people, are three offices, which are sold, and bring in a great deal of money. The skins on which the law is written are fastened to two rollers, whose ends jut out at the sides, beyond the skins, and are usually adorned with silver; and it is by them that they hold the book when they lift it up, and exhibit it to the congregation; because they are forbidden to touch the book itself with their hands. All who are in the synagogue kiss it, and they who are not near enough to reach it with their mouths, touch the silken cover of it, and then kiss their hands, and put the two fingers with to examine a little into the language in which they touched it upon their eyes, which they think preserves the sight. They keep it in a cupboard, which supplies the place of the ark of the covenant, and they therefore call this cupboard Aaron, which is the Hebrew name for the ark; and this is always placed in the east end of the synagogue. He who presides chooses any one whom he pleases to read and explain the scripture, which was a mark of distinction; as we see in the thirteenth chapter of the Acts, where we find the rulers of the synagogue desiring the apostles, when they were in the synagogue, to make a discourse to the people. Ordinarily speaking, a priest began, a Levite read on, and at last one of the people, whom the president chose, concluded He who reads stands upright, and is not suffered so much as to lean against a wall. Before he begins, he says with a loud voice, “Bless ye God;" and the congregation answer, Blessed be thou, O my God, blessed be thou, forever;" and when

By

which they were written. The Old Testa-
ment was originally written in the Hebrew
tongue; and this language is generally con-
sidered as having the best claims to be
considered the most ancient at present ex-
isting in the world, and, perhaps, as the
primeval tongue of the human race.
the Hebrew language, therefore, is meant
that which was spoken by Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, which was
afterward preserved among their posterity,
and in which Moses wrote, it being improbable
that he would employ any other language
than that which was in use among the Jews.

This language is supposed by some to derive its name from Heber, great-grandson to Shem, whose posterity were denominated Hebrews; but it is much more likely that it received its name from its being the mother-tongue of the descendants of Abraham, who were called Hebrews, not because they were descended from Heber, but because Abraham, having received a command