The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-01-13

- when g com 3E1NtFEiy. SIa9EE VIII
ing such as the first half Of Isaiah
vas copied. other anonymous prophe-
cfes were added to niece il out, the
whole being called for convenience the
roll OF the Prophet Isaiah: whence our
present book of Isaiah, which is a col
lection OF writings instead Of one
work by a single hand. The minor
prophets. Hosea and Malachi. were all
written on oue roll.
First in sacre6ness came the group
of rolls called the Law. A large sec
ton of the Jews of Jesus day. the
Sadducees. considered that this group
only was authoritative-that is. Gods
Word. The law comprised the first
five books Of our Old Testament
longer name was the law OF Moses
That must not be taken 10 mean that
Moses wrote those books. In Jesus
time a current Jewish opinion held
that Ezra and the members of what
vas called the Great Synagog had
been the final coupilers or editors of
these FIVE books. Just as. IN England
the titles Laws OF Alfred" and Laws
of Edward the Confessor' are given
TO compilations not completed until
years after the deaths of those mon
archs. so the name of Moses was at
tached TO these books. which are codi-
fcations Of laws dating from Moses
time and onward for centuries.
Class second Of the rolls was that of
the Prophets. 1t comprised all the
books from Joshua to End Kings
(znown to us today as HISTORICAL ex-
cept Ruth, and also Isaiah, jeremiah.
Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets.
Glass third. called Writings, con-
tanned ali the rest. In Jesus day
many Jewish leaders considered that
list and End Chronicles. Ezra, Nehe-
miah. Esther, Proverbs Ecclesfastes,
Song of Solomon, and Ezekiel, were
not sacred. but mere secular Htera-
ture The New Testament makes no
mention Of any of these except Chron-
icles and Ezekiel. This silence of the
New Testament is very significant
How then, You may ask, did ali these
works get into our Christian Bible2
During the war with Rome in the year
10 A. D. a council of Jews was held at
Jamnia. This fixed the books which
SIS members considered to be sacred:
Thus determined in a non-critical age
by only a section of the Jewish ma
ton, the Old Testament passed into
use and several centuries later the
Christian Church without special ques-
tim adopted it as whole into its
Bible.
To sum up these points. then: Ex-
Guiding the Sadducees, who were the
agnostics or skeptics Of the time. prac-
ticaIly all devout Jews in our Lords
day regarded as sacred scriptures the
following books: Genesis to End Kings
inclusive, Job, Psalms. Isaiah. Jere-
miah, Lamentations, and Hosea 70
Malachi inclusive Most Palestinian
Jews included more or less of our Old
Testament. Some half hundred.
How did He use these writings? In
the gospels Voc find Him making un-
doubted quotations, reading the scrip
lures once in public, and referring par
ticularly TO at least twenty-four other
passages in the Old Testament. The
references and quotations cover the
i've books of the law, 1 Samuel, / and
2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Psalms, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, possibly once, Dam
lei, Hosea. Joel probably. Jonah, Mi |
cab, Zechariah and Malachi. His IA
vorite scriptures were Psalms and |
Isaiah.
Jesus way Of dealing with these
is most Illuminating. He
cared not for literainess. Often He |
quotes the exact words. frequently He
introduces verbal changes. Twice at /
least the Hebrew original did not con-
tain the thought He wanted. so He /
took the Greek translation in the Sep
tuagint. When the moods or lenses in /
His Old Testament did not suit His
purpose He altered them. He even
added new regulation to the ten
commandments. DO not defraud.'' I
Selling a splendid passage from Mala-
shi. He made il more specific by +
plussing a word or two of His own T
and then 10 emphasize His own mes /
sianic ceim He changed a me IN +
The original to thee Where 1 Kings /
speaks of the third year He more def
nitely says three years and six
MON his IN the sermon on the mount
He cites the scripture. Thou shalt .
owe thy neighhor and hate tn ne Z
enemy Thou shalt hate thine
enemy occurs nowhere in the Old
Testament. but Jesus condenses the
mprecatory psalms into this terse sem
ence and with one word forever ban
shes those Songs Of revenge from the
Word Of God
He refers TO Abiathar where the ac-
count in ] Samuel has Ahimelech AMI i
several times He speaks of words as
E the law or from a prophet when
hey occur in the Psalms
He settled the dispute between Cen
sis and Exodus on the one hand and
on the other concerning
he question of the origin OF the Sab
saith in favor Of Deuteronomy FL
lsily Jesus abrogated the so-caIled
dosaie laws Of upc1ean meats, divorce
nd retaliation. and declared that the
pirit of His teaching. Ike new wine.
would certainly break to pieces the
vorn-out Ieathern bottles Of Jewish
eligious Observance which Old Tesla
nent leaders had SO painstakingIyl
constructed.
Side by side with this perfect free
Iom in His treatment of the Old Tes-
ament. Jesus showed the deepest rev
renee for the book. Large portions
Ie committed 10 memory Nature and
crfDtura outside Him and His own