The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-09-12

! NEW LIGHT ON THE
! 1 y OLD TESTAMENT.
pecial Correspondence Of the Globe,

Special Correspondence Of the Globe,
LONDON, Aug. 28.-The Biblical eX-
perts of the University of Cambridge
are now examining the richest discov-
cry of ancient documents relating to
the Bible that have been unearthed
during the nineteenth century. They
have just been brought to England
from Cairo, Egypt, by DR.. S. Schechter,
one of the most famous authorities on
Biblical research. They were discover
ed by him at Cairo, and he pronounces
them of untold value.
. Something of an idea of the immen-
sity of the savant's discovery may be
cleaned from the fact that this collec-
ton includes 10000 fragments of an
cient Jewish literature Some of these
fragments of particular value relate to
the tenth century and clear away the
mysteries Which have always surround
ed certain facts and have hitherto been
considered hOpelessly impenetrable. One
may best judge of the facts, however,
by reading the accompanying signed
statement, procured from DR.. Schechter
himself, which tells of the discovery
in Genizah, and of what the discov-
cry consisted.
The Genizah, to explore which was
the object of my late travels in the
East, is an old Jewish institution.
When applied to books it means much
the same thing as burial means in the
case of men. When the spirit is gone
we put the corpse out of sight to pro-
tect it from abuse. In like manner,
when the writing is worn out, we hide
the book to preserve it from profana-
ton. The contents of the book go up to
heaven like the soul
In the course of time the Genizah
extended its protection to books which
by long use or want of care were at
length in a defective state, sheets be-
ing missing at the beginning, in the
middle, or at the end, and which were
thus disqualified for the common pur-
poses of study. Another class of works
consigned to the Genizah were what
we may call disgraced books; books
which once pretended.,to the rank of
Scriptures, but which were found by
the authorities to be wanting in the
qualification of being dictated by the
Holy Spirit, They were hidden, and
hence our term 'Apocrypha' for writ
ings excluded from Tor never admitted
into) the canon.
Besides these sacred and semi-sacred
books the Genizah proved a refuge for
class Of writings that never aspired
to the dignity of real books, but are
none the less of the greatest Importance
for Jewish history. All legal documents,
such as leases, contracts, marriage set
Elements and letters of divorce, and the
proceedings as well as the decisions of
the courts of justice, were drawn up in
HebreW,or at least written in Hebrew
letters. And as the Jews attached a
certain sacredness to everything re-
sembling the Scriptures, either in mat
ter or in form, they were loath to treat
even these secular documents as mere
refuse, and when they were overtaken
by old age, disposed OF them by order
ing them to the Genizah, in which they
found resting place for centuries The
Genizah of the old Jewish community
thus represents a combination of sacred
lumber room and secular record office
''Tt was such a Genizah that I set cut
to visit in the middle of last December.
My destination was Cairo. My plan
recommended itself to the authorities
of the University of Cambridge and
found warm supporters in Prof Sidg-
wick, Dr. Donald MacAlister and espe-
cially Dr. Taylor, the master of st.
Johns college. L must remark here
that the Genizah, like the rest of the
property of the synagogue in Cairo, is
vested in the rabbi and the wardens for
the time being. 1 drove to this ancient
Genizah accompanied by the rabbi.
1T has an authentic record extend
n
having served originally as a Coptic
church (St. Michaels), and been there
after converted into a synagogue soon
after the MahomRdan conquest of
Egypt. l have already indicated the
mixed nature of nehemiah But one
can hardly realize the confusion in
such real old Genizah until one has
seen it. 1t is a battlefield of books.
a battle in which the literary produc-
tions of many centuries had their
share, and their disjecta membra are
how streWn over it's area. Some of the
belligerents have persisted outright
and are literally ground to dust in the
terrible struggle for space, whilst 9TH
ers, as if oVertaken by a general
crush, are squeezed into big, unshape
ly Jumps, which even with the aid OF
chemical appliances can no longer be
separated without serious damage to
their constituents
Il had to confine my iikings to the
manuscripts. But the amount of the
printed fragments is very large, con-
shutting. as they do nearly all the con-
tributions of the Genizah of the last |
400 years. Most of my time in Cairo
was spent in getting rid of these par
venus, whilst every piece of paper or !
parchment that had any claim to a !
respectable age was packed in bags |
and conveyed to the forwarding agent |
to be shipped to England.
"The number Of fragments procured |
by me amounts, I think, to about 40, |
co., The closer examination Of them !
has only begun since my return to !
England, and it will still take a long
time before an adequate account OF
them is possible. Here 1 can only Of
fer a few brief remarks about their
general character, which, of course,
must be taken with all due reserve.
''The study of the Torah, which
means the revelation of God to man
and the cultivation of prayer, which
means the revelation of man to Cod
have been the grand passion of old
Judaism; hence the Bible (Old Tesla
menD and the liturgy constitute the
largest part of the contents of the
Genizah. The MSS of the Bible, though
offering no textual variations Of con-
sequence, are, nevertheless, not devoid
of points Of interest, for some frag,