achieved in various departments of the science. Many important truths and principles have been discovered; many weighty obstacles have been removed; the way to farther progress has been laid open. The value of these labours, and the merit of those who have achieved them, I have commended with no niggard praise; and, whatever may be the tendency of particular parts, I feel confident that the impression left by a perusal of my volume, as a whole, will not be one of despondency or discontent, but of cheerful hope. In the preparation of the Plates and Illustrations, I have taken very great pains, and have been well seconded by the careful and ingenious artists in the employment of Messrs. Ward & Co. Belfast, by whom I have been assisted. They give as faithful a representation of the MSS. from which they are taken, as our joint efforts have enabled us to produce; and I hope that, in point of correctness, they will not be found deficient. Any person who has attempted such imitations of ancient documents, will know how extremely difficult it is to give an exact idea of the beautiful execution of the originals. I believe the copies given in this book to be more exact, in several instances, than any others which I have seen taken from the same exemplars; but I am not fully satisfied with them all myself, and only offer them as approximations. It is due to Sir Frederick Madden, and the other officers in the Manuscript Department of the Library of the British Museum, to acknowledge the very great courtesy which I have uniformly received while prosecuting my researches in that collection, and the facilities afforded me for procuring accurate representations of some of its most important and interesting documents. In repeated visits to that excellent Institution, I have availed myself to the utmost of these facilities,-I trust not without advantage to the readers of my work. I must add that the typographical execution is, in my opinion, highly creditable to Messrs. Simms & M'Intyre, the printers and publishers of the work. They have spared neither trouble nor expense to bring it out in a correct and useful style; and in looking it over before publication, I have not been able to discover a single erratum that can throw a difficulty in the way of the reader. A few oversights, for which I alone am answerable, are noted in the following page. BELFAST, August 1, 1848. b 180, Cancel the note marked, and substitute the following: * The Masoretic Annotation is thus given by Jahn and various other editors; but in Buxtorff's edition, the very contrary direction is given: viz. "A space to be left vacant in the middle of this verse," which greatly strengthens the reasoning above indicated. CONTENTS. PAGE Example showing its utility. Various Readings exist in the Scriptures. Their existence acknowledged from an early period. Not dangerous to Christianity. Unavoidable. Criticism endeavours to Text of Scripture to be ascertained in the same manner as that of any other ancient book. MSS., Versions, and Citations must be consulted. The importance of the books will only be a motive for more patient and searching Errors are of various kinds, and may be classified according to the causes which produce them.-I. Pure Inadvertence; which may occasion Additions, Omissions, and Substitutions.-II. Misconception of the Text as given in the Exemplar, may lead a transcriber to mistake the proper division of words, the meaning of an abbreviation, the intention of a marginal note, or the use of a word written as a guide to the public reader. Defects in the Exemplar might lead to errors of the same kind.-III. Wilful Departure from the Exemplar for the purpose of correcting its supposed mistakes.-IV. Desire to favour the sect to which the Copyist belonged. In this case the tran- scriber's motives might possibly be pure and good. Example from John Crellius, and from the Orthodox Copyists, as expressly recorded by The Principles stated in the preceding Chapter form our safe guide. A reading is probably spurious which can be accounted for by the operation of known causes of error; and one which cannot be so explained genuine. Readings of similar form-of similar sound. Ομοιοτελευτόν. Marginal scholium. Lectio Durior. Pious Readings. Dogmatic Readings. Examples from the Old and New Testaments. Lectio Brevior. Usage of the Writer. The Reading which explains the origin of all others probably genuine Materials for such a History scanty. The Sacred Writers were not in all cases made in the second and third centuries of our æra. Origen, Jerome, The Talmud, Jerusalem, and Babylonish. Mikra Sopherim. Ittur Sopherim. Krijin velo Kthibin. Kthibin velo Krijin. The Masorets, and their labours. Their endeavours to secure purity of the text ineffectual. Eastern and Western Readings. Recensions of Aaron Ben Asher and Jacob Ben Naph- tali. Standard MSS. Codex of Hillel, of Sinai, of Sanbouki, of Jericho. Printed Editions of Soncino, of Brescia, of Alcala; the two editions of Bomberg at Venice. Disputes among Christians as to the state of the Hebrew Text. Capellus. Morinus. Walton's Polyglott. Father Simon, Vanderhooght, Kennicott, De Rossi. Editions of Doederlein, Jahn, Booth- Origin of the Samaritans. Early Notices of their Pentateuch. Copies of it procured by Morinus and Usher. Printed in the Paris and London Polyglotts. Dr. Blayney's edition. Value of the Samaritan Text: Inferior to the Masoretic, but pre- serves some good readings. Its faults arise from a desire to favour the Samaritan people and church, against the Jewish-to exhibit copious readings-and to adhere to grammatical analogy SECT. II.-Jewish MSS. Synagogue Rolls. Rules for the Scribes who copy them. Tam Character and Velshi Character. Sepher Torah at Toledo, called Codex Azaræ. MSS. of the Haphtaroth. Copies of the Book of Esther. MSS. intended for private study. Pointed and unpointed; with or without the Masorah, Targum, Comment, &c. Some copies appear to have been written by Christians, probably converted Jews. MSS. of the Jews in the East, Malabar Roll, the MSS. of the Jews in China, all are conformable to the Masorah. Number of Hebrew MSS. very con- siderable many of them uncollated. Description of the most cele- SECT. I.-The Septuagint. Origin of this Version. Fabulous Account by the |