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Outlines of Introduction to the Hebrew Bible

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Outlines of Introduction to the Hebrew Bible PRINCIPAL W .. TAYLOR COLLECTION 1951 OUTLINES OF INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE OUTLINES OF INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE ALFRED S; GEDEN, M.A., D.D. TUTOR IN HEBREW AND BIBLICAL LITERATURE AT THE WESLEVAN COLLEGE, RICHMOND is. s.si EDINBURGH: T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 909 Printed by MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED FOR T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. NEW YORK : CHARLES SCRIBNER's SONS. tljOSE nig JFtlloin- Utlj0 toitlj me ftunnrj suctcssibt ircars Ijairc founir icligljt anti instrurtion in tljc stu&5 of Ur SestantEnt ^aip 3 tfE&icatE ifris ook PREFACE THE following chapters have formed substantially the groundwork or basis of a series of lectures introductory to the study of the Old Testament, which for several years past have been delivered at the Wesleyan College, Bichmond. I have ventured to dedicate them accord- ingly to niy fellow-students, past and present, to some of whom, I would fain trust, the memory of studies pursued in common may prove as pleasant as it has often been to me. It has been my aim throughout rather to stimulate and suggest, than ex cathedrd to instruct and I have been led to in the ; publish hope that others also, students in a broader field, may find herein interest and aid. That the lectures make no pretension to exhaustiveness, on a theme amongst the most enravelled that the human mind can essay to resolve, will be patent to all. In every instance, however, I have sought to indicate lines of profitable or necessary research, and of set purpose have refrained from attempting to discuss details or to present and criticise the varying conclusions and results of many minds. In viii PREFACE a study at once so many-sided,, and so absorbing, that demands exceptionally well-balanced qualities of mind and heart, no help or guidance which those who have trodden the way beforehand may be able to place at the disposal of those who come after may justifiably be withheld. It is not every type of mind that finds attraction in the and of the Old Testament teaching thought ; while to some its form is difficult or even repellent. By others, again, the importance of the New Testament is so vividly realised, that the tendency to depreciate by comparison the Old is almost welcomed, and its present interest and significance is made of little account. If, however, half a century ago it was upon the New Testament that attention was concentrated, and upon its genuineness and authority attack was directed by those who desired the overthrow of Christian doctrine and influence, the position is altogether altered to-day. It is the dignity and authority, the credibility and claims of the Old Testament that are debated most keenly, and most confidently called in question. And it is vain for the Christian Church to suppose that she can surrender her heritage in the Old, and yet maintain unimpaired the validity of the doctrines, and the power of the truth which she finds in the New. the former the latter is Upon founded and established ; from the to New the Old there lies a constant appeal, as to its Master and authoritative source. And if the New is the crown and completion of the Old, the Old is no less the basis and underwork of the New. PREFACE ix The weakening or destruction of the one involves the ultimate downfall of the other. The two, indeed, are not two but one. The New Testament ; indissolubly will share in any discredit cast upon the Old, and will follow it to a fall while the of the Old will ; strength be a fresh bulwark and permanent support of the New. There are signs as I cannot but think that the return of the tide has already set in, and that the next quarter of a century will witness a significant rehabilitation Old of the rights and authority of the books of the Testament, as religious and historical records second to none. It will be seen that the writer holds a conservative position with regard to modern controversies on the authorship of the Pentateuch, and the books of the Old Testament in general. My aim, however, through- out has been to the best of my ability to state facts, to furnish not to formulate or discuss theories ; and references to the best and most accessible literature where the various branches of a complex subject may be further studied under the most competent guidance. Only in the last chapter, as the necessities of the case seemed to demand, have I departed from this rule, and have endeavoured to set forth the hypothesis which appears to me best calculated to satisfy the conditions, as far as the limitations of our present " " knowledge allow. To maintain Mosaic authorship of the entire Pentateuch literatim et formatim is as impracticable, and betrays as much lack of appreciation of the true place and value of the Law, as to deny x PREFACE of Israel's and the presence of the spirit great Lawgiver, worth of his and the majesty and permanent teaching other the for the thought. On the hand, arguments of its I believe, been late origin of many parts have, In overstated, and will be corrected by further study. consideration has not been to particular, sufficient given the difference in character between literature handed down in the first instance at least by an oral and Eastern to be tradition, and what might be expected produced his desk in by a Western student or scholar sitting at the nineteenth or twentieth century. The spirit and methods of the two are incommensurable. And the failure of so much modern criticism has its origin, to dis- in part at least, in inability or unwillingness criminate, and to make allowance for a difference of standpoint as widely separated from our own as the era at which the author lived. The breath of the and East is over the whole of the Old Testament ; sympathy and imagination are as indispensable for a right interpretation thereof as exact scholarship or a knowledge of the rules of grammar. I am indebted to the courtesy of W. L. Nash, Esq., F.S.A., for permission to reproduce the facsimile of the pre-Massoretic Hebrew papyrus, which was published originally in vol. xxv. (1903) of the Proceedings of the of Biblical and more Society Archaeology ; especially to the generosity and kindness of the Officers and Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who have allowed me freely to avail myself of the rich stores of their Library. The greater number of the PREFACE xi are the latter source for the illustrations from ; photo- graphs of the Eabbinic Bible, Complutensian Polyglott, Copenhagen MS. (p. 90), and all thenceforward to the end of the book, I am under obligation to them. The originals of the Pentateuch Roll and the London Polyglott are in the possession of the Library of the Wesleyan College, Richmond. A. S. GEDEN. RICHMOND, January 1909. CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE vii CHAP. I. LANGUAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT " " Origin and Meaning of the term Hebrew . 4 of . Characteristics the Language ... 8 Classification of Semitic Languages . .10 II. THE TEXT OP THE OLD TESTAMENT 1. The Hebrew Character and 29 Alphabet ; Inscriptions 2. Sources and of the Text History ; Manuscripts ; Editions 46 3. The Massorah and the Massoretes ; Form and Contents of the Massorah ; Qeri and Kethibh ; Clausulcr, 85 4. - Points and and Vowel Accents ; Babylonian Palestinian Systems .105 III. THE HEBREW AND GREEK CANONS OF THE OLD TESTA- MENT ; CLASSIFICATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF THE SACRED BOOKS 116 IV. LATER HEBREW LITERATURE ; MIDRASH, MISHNA AND GEMARA, TALMUD 138 xiii XIV CONTENTS CHAP. V. THE VERSIONS PAOK Versions . 153 1. The Targums and Syriac other Greek Versions ; Greek 2. The Septuagint and Testament Editions . 165 Manuscripts of the Old ; 3. Latin Versions . .217 235 4. Egyptian Versions . 243 5. Ethiopic Version . 247 6. Arabic Versions . 249 7. Armenian Version . 251 8. Georgian Version . 9. Gothic Version 251 VI. THE PENTATEUCH 254 Literary Criticism 275 Authorship . History of Criticism . 279 " " Documents or Authors . 284 . 289 Analysis of Documentary Sources Characteristics of Documents . 303 External History of Critical Theories . 309 Chronology of the Documents . .315 Analogies of Literary Growth . 343 Early Environment and Life of Israel . 348 Summary and Conclusions ... , 350 ILLUSTRATIONS HEBREW ROLL OF THE PENTATEUCH, Ex. XL. 18- LEV. in. 2 Facing p. 48 PRE-MASSORETIC HEBREW PAPYRUS, Ex. xx. 2- 17, DEUT. vi. 4 f ,,57 ST. PETERSBURG MANUSCRIPT, WITH SUPERLINEAR VOCALISATION AND MASSORAH, Hos. i. 2-n. 5 62 RABBINIC BIBLE (BASLE), Ex. xx. 8-18 . ,,73 COMPLUTENSIAN POLYGLOTT, DEUT. VI. 3-13 . 78 LONDON POLYGLOTT, TITLE-PAGE . 80 LONDON POLYGLOTT, Ex. ix. 9-19 . Between pp. 82 and 83 HEBREW MANUSCRIPT (COPENHAGEN), WITH MAS- SORAH, 1 KINGS vin. 3-11, LEV. i. 1, 2 . Facing p. 90 CHISIAN DANIEL, TITLE-PAGE . 193 CHISIAN DANIEL, CH. xn. 7-13 . Facing pp. 193 and 194 SIXTINE SEPTUAGINT, TITLE-PAGE .... Facing p. 210 SIXTINE SEPTUAGINT, Pss. xvn. (xvm.) 22-xix. 6 (xx. 5) 212 HOLMES AND PARSON'S SEPTUAGINT, Ex. xix. 19- xx. 4 ... 214 ILLUMINATED TITLE-PAGE OP ARMENIAN GOS- PELS ...... Between pp. 250 and 251 OUTLINES OF INTRODUCTION TO THE HEBREW BIBLE CHAPTER I. LANGUAGE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. CLASSIFICATION OF SEMITIC LANGUAGES. Hebrew language, in which the books of the Old Testament are written, is of great antiquity, and takes a place among the oldest known languages. It is true that the literary documents themselves are comparatively late in the history of its growth and but the form under which it there progress ; presents itself presupposes a long period of grammatical and linguistic development, which would carry back its origin, as separate from, other branches of Semitic speech, to a remote past.
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