Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-11-11
HEBREW LETTERS.
A QUESTION INTERESTING TO BIBLICAL
SCHOLARS DISCUSSED.
The Discovery Of DR.. Klsin-An Enlight-
ening NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Saycss
Opinion-Dr. 9uthss Work.

For tho Dispatch-l
Whit we're the forms OF the letters
used by the Israelites IN the composition
of the Old Testament and in their OF or
writings
A very interesting question, aud one
for many centuries unanswerable by
Bible scholars. We possess, it Is true,
the Hebrew Scriptures, but not the on
ginal manuscripts, and the letters IN
their present form have suffered many
and are very unlike those OF
olden time. Explorers have long sought
for inscriptions in the ancient Hebrew
tongue. A few lines would be sufficient
TO reveal the original characters But
while other Oriental languages have
been richly favored during the present
century 10y excavations in the East. He
brew had until recently reaped but Int
tie benefit. Within the last twenty
wears, however, two discoveries have
been made which answer the query
heading this article, AMI also throw
light upon many points IN sa-
cred history.
In 1859 DR.. Klein, a German monk,
while travelling in what was once the
land Of Moab. found among some an
cient ruins curious stone, rounded 1T
the top, two feet broad and nearly
four feet high. Upon it was an IN
scription OF thirty-four lines. Dr.
Klein determined to secure 1t for the
Berlin Museum, but the Prusslan
Government, not realizing its value, de-
layed a year before completing negotla-
tons with the Arabs aud Turkish Off
cials for its purchase. The French had
heard Of the discovery and with unwlse
haste sent men to take squeezes Of the
inscription, and offered for it price
nearly five times as much as that offered
bv the PrusHans. The cupidity Of the
Arabs was Immediately aroused, and
fearing lest it might be taken from them
by the Turkish officials, they put fire
under it. poured cold water over It, broke
it in pieces, and distributed the frag-
ments as charms among the different
families Of the tribe, y Fortunately,
however, the fragments have been re-
covered, and. by means Of the squeezes
taken by the French, been fitted to-
gcthcr, and tho stone may now be seen
in the museum Of the Louvre, at Paris
THE TEANsLATION.
The inscription on the stone is re-
cord of Mcsba, King OF MOab, and is
supplementary TO the account given in
n. Kings, i'll. The translation Is as fol-
lows:
81, Mesha, am the son OF Chemosh-
Cad, King Of Moab. the Dibonites.
Nv father rcigned over Moab thirty
years, and | Tcigned after my father.
And erected this stone to Chemosh at
Kirkha, a (stone Of salvation, for ne
saved me from all dcspoilers and made
me see my desire upon all my eLemies,
even upon Omr, King Of Israel Now
they afflicted Moab many days, for Che
mosh was angry with his land. Ills son
succeeded HIM, and he also said | Will
aflict Moab. In my days (Chemoshj
said (let us GO and ] viii see my desire
on him and his house and | Will destroy
Israel with an everlasting destruction.
Now Omri took the lead of Medeta and
(the enemy occupied 1t in (his days and
I'M the DAYS of his son forty wears. And
(Chemosh) (had mercy on 1t IN my
days; and / fortified hinathaim.
For the men Of Cad dwelt in the land Of
lAtaroth from of Old, aud the King Of
Israel fortified for himself Ataroth and
/ assaulted the walls. and captured 1t,
and killed all the warriors Of the wall
for the well-pleasing of Chemosh and
Moab, and | removed from it all the
spoil and (oiIered) it before Chemosn
IN kirjath and | placed therein the
men Of Sirln and the men of MOcrath.
And Chemosh said to me: Go take Nebo
against Israel. (And u went in the
night and fought against it from the
break Of dawn till noon, and took It,
and ] slew in all 1000 (men, but ! did
not KILL the women (and maidens for
OD devoted them 10 Ashtar- Chemosh.
And ] took from it the vessels Of Yahyeh
and offered them before Chemosh. Bnd
the King Of Israel fortified JahaZ and
occupied it when he made war against
me, and Chemosh drove him out before
(me. and) took from Moab POO men--
all its pocr-and placed them in Jahaz,
and took it to annex it 10 Dibon. |
built Kirkha. the wall Of the forest
and the wall Of the city, and |
built the gates thereof, and ] built
the towers thereof, and l built the
palace, AMI / made tho prisons
for the criminals within the walls. And
there was no cisteTn in the wall at
Kirkha, and said to oil the people,
Make for yourselves, every man, n els
tern in his house. And ! dug the ditch
for kirkha by means Of the (captlye)
men OF Israel. ! built ArOer and | made
The road across the Arnon. ] built
Beth Bamoth, for it was destroyed; l
built Beer, for it was cut down by the
armed men of Dibon, for all Dibon was
now loyal. And reigned from BIkran.
which | added to nay land, and l built
(Both- Gamub and Beth-Diblathaim and
Beth Bee- Neon, and | placed there the
poor (people) OF the land. And as to
Horonaim, (the men of EdOm) dwelt
therein from Of old. And Chemosh
said to me Go down, make war against
HOroualm and take Gt. And assaulted
it and took it and Chemosh restored it,
in my days. Whatever | made
year and l
THE CHARACTERS
The inscription bristles with informa-
ton upon many points. The characters
belong to the Ph1nician alphabet, which
was borrowed from the Egyptian. From
these old PhWnician letters We also re-
ceiyed our alphabet. A witness Of this
fact is our word ai1)hGbof composed OF
aipha and beta, the Greek names of
the first two letters, and these are sim
ply the Phnnician ateph. an OK, and
bCt0, house. These characters were
used by the Moabites, on the eastern
side of the Jordan, and could not have
differed much from those used by the
Israelites on the west side. We are thus
enabled TO see what was the exact mode
OF writing employed by the earlier pro-
phets of the Old Testament. This
knowledge is of untold value in the cor
rection OF corrupt passages and especi-
ally of proper names. The language of
the inscription strongly resembles that
of the Old Testament, all of the words
and grammatical forms. with few eXcep-
lions, being found in scriptural Hebrew.
Another important fact learned from
the inscription Is that Chemosh, who is
is the Old Testament ss the