Spirit of the times. [volume] (Ironton, Ohio) 1853-1858, 1854-02-21
HISTORY OF THE BIBLE.
ny REV. MARCUS SMITH.

The first writings OF which we have
an ccount, were performed with styl.
tus or steel pen, by which letters were
engraved on hard substances. Writing
was first made on tho bark Of trees,
leaves and parchment, and ,hln plates
ofbra.s and,iron. Even tho original
meaning ofpspcr, (papyrus,) isa shrub
Of whose leaves were made clothes,
mats, ropes, sails and paper.
The Bible was written en- one side,
and rolled up in the form Of scroll..---
This scroll was KEEP, as most choice !
dcrosit, ard one portion after another
was added by the Sanction Of the Jewish
Sanhedriln, who cautiously examined
the authority and truth Of every pre-.
tended prophet. This acc cunts for the
want of order in the arrangement Of
books IN tho Hebrew tox.; Chronicles,
not Mulacchi, is the last book in the
Hebrew Bible. The inspired Ezra dis.
covered that there was on important.
period in tho history of the Jews left
out, and he supplied it. But he must
add it to the scroll, without respect to
the order Of time. The transla.ors dis.
covered this, and wisely put it back in
its proper place. The fathers called
Chronicles the "Book of Books,"-the
book of things left out. .a-
This form Of the Jewish manuscripts
shows Us the reason Of their writing from
the right hand to the loft or as we should
say, Of beginning it back whers it should
end, and ending book where it should
begin. 1t was more convenien, to un.
roll the parchment as it was road. The
sacred writings use,l in the synagogue,
and those used in private families, wcrc
not always in the same form. Fami.
lies often used them in the form Of sheets.
The Samarilans who separated from
the Jews in the reign Of Rshoboam, in
A. M. 3o3s, had only the Pc nta,cuch-
the five books Of Moses. As they were
separated from Israel, thoy were depfi.
we'd of the writings Of the Prophets
The Savior probably alluded 10 this
limi ted or defective volume Of theirs,
when he said 10 the women Of Somaria
Ye worship, for salvation is Of the Jews,
or sa alvation is more clearly revealed to
tho Jews, in those Books which have
been written since you separated from
the Jews. The Samaritan Pentateuch,
Though written in different characters,
is the same as that of the Hebrews
The mode and materials Of the ancient
writings made them very scarce and
very expensive.
The language which God gave to
Adam in the garden was undoubtedly
Hebrew. ..r
Though tho word Hebrew was dsri.
we'd from the word Heber, meaning "to
passover" and was applied 10 Abra.
ham because he passed over the Eupira
tes to enter into Canaan, yet it is prob.
able that this is the language Gol used
with our first par:nts in the garden, for
it is incorporated into almost all Ian.
guages, and from it many Of them are
formed. Many Of the Eastern Ian.
guages are descendants from the He.
brew, and therefore called kindred Ian.
guagcs, or languages with corruption
Of the Hebrew. From the age Of Mo.
ses 10 that Of David has been considered
the golden age of the Hebrew language.
The reign Of Hezekiah, which admitted
some foreign words, was tho silver age.
But the commercial and civil inter:
course of the Jews, their foreign colo.
nics, and their captivities, corrupted
their language, and created numerous
idioms. 1t is probable tnat the forms
OF the Hebrew letters have changed in
different periods. -a
The Old Testament was written in
Hebrew, the New Testament was writ.
ten in Greek. the pure and popular Ian
guage Of the Christian era. But il the
writer's were Jews, they retained the He-
+ brew style, and in some instances used
the Hebrew words. 1t is therefore
sometimes called the Hebrew Greek,
and sometimes called Hellenistic Greek
it was the Greek language used by the
Jews and the Hebrow idom. ~
The Greek manuscripts. like The Flo
brew, were written in different forms ol
letters--some unical and some cursive--
some in entire capitalists, and others in
ordinary letters. They had mo chap.
tera, verses stops or marks, and no di.
vision to words. I ought here to re.
mark, that though writer's Of manu-.
scripts were very cautious and correc,
in copying, yet. there are occasional
mistakes in photography. And yet they
passed down for centuries, without
especial perversion--while the works
f,he learned Greeks, after two or three
copied editions, were pronounced un;
worthy Of their. authors. and consigned
to oblivion. -.,i5 s.. ,.,i,... 4 i9r-.
As was natural and almost .ineyita,
Bile, somo manuscripts were deemed
more correct than others, and were there.
fore regarded as standard manuscripts,
j This gave two or three great families,
or as they called them reversions. The
n 1mber'of Greek manuscripts sls about
500. In looking over these manuscripts
| we find some ol' them have an affinity 10
u each other. In the third century there
wers considered to. ba two families, and
. subsequentl; there was another added.
I Those recensions are called the Alexai,
Idrisn Of Egyptian; The Occidental Of
j western recision--or ike one adopted
.fby'I,sly, Spain, &c.;A The Byzantine oi
fOriental, becsuse II was generally used