New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-16
LECTURE ON THE BIBLE
Women at Je5cish Theological Sem
mary Tel of Researches.

\ hall filed with appreCiative listeners greeted
Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson. Of Cambridge. Eng
land at the Jewish Theological Seminary OF
America. last evening. and listened to their
illustrated lecture On Mount Sinai and Its
Manuscripts" These women have doctors de-
grees received from several universities Of the
old World. and the'r discoveries in old Bible
manuscripts have given them fame among
photographic scholars. The lecture from a pop
lar point q vieT. was interesting. illus
tratiEg the methods by which the modern world
has received its best versions OF the Scriptures
n Speaking Of a Syriac manuscript Of the
four Gospels which she and Mrs Gibson dis
covered IN a closet OF the old monastery on
Mount Sinai. Mrs. Lewis explained how it comes
about that there are apparent contradictions
IN the Gospels as commonly translated to-day.
This manuscript was written in the fourth or
fifth century and was much nearer original
sources than that from which the common YER
sion Of to-day is taken. said the lecturer II
consequently corrected many discrepancies The
oio manuscripts were copied by men who were
not necessarily scholars These men would
pause in their work occasionally and resume in
the wrong place. thus interchanging verses al
tering words. dropping lines and writing in
annotations and remarks by former editors The
oftener manuscript was copied the more
liable IL was 10 error
This new discovery corroborated many OF the
theories OF modern critics. and left out some
passages that appeared bemishes in the
common version Among portions thus dis
carded was the story Of the woman taken in
adultery. In the three first Gospels OF the COM
mon version The trial OF Christ was represented
as taking place at the house Of Caiphas John
placed IL al the house Of Annas- The lecturer
showed how the mispacing OF q lire which
else"h here referred to Annas would account for
rNe arFrc ts-f-.r
gospels agreed in placing the trial in the cham
Der OF Caiphas- Martin Luther was the first
sehoiaT oadvance this theory, which Mrs Lewis
ana Mrs Gibson have been the means OF
proving.
another Interesting theory Of variation the
ieeIurer advanced was that a scribe er7n1oved
10 copy Gospel for family which could not
a'-o'o All four would combine in a version OF
one Gospel some features Of the other three not
included in the first. Thus. in the common YER
sioh' 1he story Of Christ walking on the water
occurred in both Matthew and Mark The Sinai
version save ii in Matthew only The inference
vas lilaJ an Oblging scribe had originally copied
'he tale from Matthew in an edition Of Mark
Many other striking examples OF alterations
were cited which clear Up a multitude Of puz-
zAhg questions OF Scriptural interpretation
The account Of the labors Of these two women.
az told 10y Mrs Lewis. was q tale OF years OF
difficult journeys. the opposition OF the native
clergy and discouragements from the scholars
OF their own land. They first became Interested
IN the Sinai collection Of manuscripts through
the travels Of a brother OF Mrs Lewis In that
region ana also by a manuscript OF The ApOl-
ogy Of Aristides.' which DR.. Harris Of Cam
bridge found there and edited. They learned the
syrian tongue and in March - 1881 began the
IiTsL Journey They were nine days in crossing
the desert rom Cairo on camel back. sleeping
III tents or the open air. deiuged by the storms
z NJ "a Tirrr ca-f1r
from which they both suffered later They re-
turned again the next year. and in 1898 made
their final journey.
The SyrIaC manuscript Mrs. Lewis said was
especially valuable. as il was written IN the
tongue that spoken by the Hebrews
sion work or one person as
differences OF diCtion showed. The orig
mai Scripture had been written with
stories or holy women. IN the seventh
sheets were so stained and soied with age and
dust that even the last writing hardly legi-
bic. and the Gospels were only brought TO light
by treating them with acids. Investigation
proved that the first writing had been made not
later than the fourth century. and had proba bly,
women patiently cleaned these sheets nd photo
C-aphed them. and in their three journeys sue
CeeGed in reproducing and editing the whole. In
The last trip they purchased bundle Of old He
brew scraps in the midst OF which found a
page Of the original Hebrew Of ECclesiastes.
This discovery led later u the finding Of TWEEN
ty-cue pages Of this work
Mrs Gibson showed lantern slide views OF the
region over which they travelled. which served
10 give the audience some appreciation Of the
hardshps these scholars had undergone in max
ing their valuable contributions to Biblical lore.