Plymouth advertiser. [volume] (Plymouth, Ohio) 1853-1988, 1854-07-29
History Of tho bib,e.

The first writings OF which we have
any account, were performed by stylus
or steel pen. by which letters we're en-
graved on hard substances. Writing was
fret n,udo on the herk nf trees. leaves
aud parchment, and thin plates Of brass
and iron. Even the original meaning OF
paper, papyruS. Is Il shtub, oil whose
leaves were mude clothes, mats, ropes,
sails and paper. The bible was written
on parchment. The parchment was writ
tea one side, snd rolled up in the form of
scroll. The scroll was kept as most
choice deposit, and one petition after an !
other was added by the sanction If the /.
Jewish Sanhedrim, who cautiously ex-
amined the au hority and truth OF every .
pretended prophet. This accounts for the
want oforder IN lhe arrangement OF books
IN the Hebrew text Chronicle, not Nal
achi, is the last book in the Hebrew BIZ
Bile. The inspired Ezra discovered that
there was an lmporlsnt period in the is
tory Of the Jews left out, and he supplied
it. But he must add il 10 the scro |,
without respect to the order Of time. The
rrsnsla,ors discovered this, and wise Y put
ii back in its proper place. The fathers
Gated Chronicles the Book Of Books, the
book of thin, loft out. This form Of the
Jewish manuscripts .hows Us the reason
OF their wiring from the right hand to
the left, or, as we would say, of b"gin-
ming it back where it should end, and enl-
ding book where i. should begin. |
; was more convenient TO uuroIl the parch
mept as you read. The sacred writings
used in the synagogue, and those used IL
! private families, were not always in the
/ same form FarniI es often used them iii
I IN the Lo:m OF sheets.
The Samarians who separated from
4 the Jews in the reien Of Rebn5oan il
, A H., 3038, had only the peotateUcE,-
i the five bo ks of Moeos. As tDey were
separated from, Israel, they we're deprived
i Of the writings Of tho prophets. The Sa-
;. vior prubab y alluded TO this m!Ied or
n defective volume of theirs, when he SAID
. to the woman IF Samaria, the worship
for salvation is Of the Jcws"--or, saliva
r ion is more clearly revealed to the jews
q in those books which have been written
o nee YOU separated from the Jews. The
Semarilan Pen'ateuch, though written III
different characters, is the Same rs that
Il Of the Hebrews. The mode and mae
IT rlals Of the ancient writings, made them
n very scarce and expensive.
The language which God gave TO Ad-
am in the garden, was undoubtedly He"
brew.
" Though the word Hebrew was derived
: from the word tleber, meaning 'to pass
e over" and Y as applied to Abraham be
~ cause he passed over the EuPhrltes K
~ enter into Cannan. yet it is probable tia
= this Ia the language God used with oui
~ first parents in the garden, for tins is the
" most ancient OK languages. 1t is incor
- porated into a|mos' all languages. and
from !, MANY Of them nre framed. tZany
! of the Eastern languages are Lesccn !ann
~ from the Hebrew, and arr therefore ca iet
~ Kindred languages, or Languages with
e corruption of the Hebrew. From tn
. age of Moses 10 hat David, has been con
- -. sldered the golden age Of he lichrcV
" = language Tie rriga Of HrzeEIah
''S which admitted some foreign waF't-, wa
NJ the silver age. But TIE commerala} an
III civil intercourse OF the Jews their !u:rtgi
u. ~ colonies and their captlvjles, corEuglet
VI y their language. and created numerous id
~ ons. 1t is probable that the forms Of III
~ Hebrew letters have changed IN man.
''' different periods.
4, The old Testament was then written i
nc Hebrew; the new was written in Greek
the pure and popular languages of III
w w,, first centuries of the Christian era. b.
10 if the writer's were Jews, they retalne
of the Hebrew style and in some instance:
. used the Hebrew words. 1t is, there ore
49, sem4time called the Hebrew Greek, an
~ sometimes the HeIlenstlc Greek, and
Al. was the Greek language u'ed by tn
m s,a Jews, and with the Hebrew Idom.
~ The Greek manuscripts, like the H'
- brew was written in different forms
~. Ietters-some uncial and some cursive-
Il some in entire capitals and others in o
III, binary letters. They had no chapter
Oh. verses, stops, or marks, and no divlsic
o. to words. | ough, here to remrrk III
WEltGES Vi "ClC VIC
.rn correct in copying, yet there are, occa
nr ionally, mistakes In or.hography. Al
i,e vet they passed down century after ce
i, tury without essential perversiop-whl
i, the works of the learned Greeks, aft
ra. Two or three copied editions were pr
nv nounced unworthy Of their authors, al
md consigned to oblivion. AS was ma ur
In. and almost inevitable, some manuscr,p
was deemed more correct than others, al
were, therefore, regarded as standard ma
,,s uscripts, This gave rise to TWO or thr
~ ~, gre2, families, or, as they csled them, I
~ visions. The number of Greek man
, scripts is about 500. la looking ov
'p' these manuscripts, we find some OF the
w have an sffini y to each other. In t
y; third Gentry there were considered to
49, TWO families, and subsequently, there "
ou' another added These recisions are ca