Before this appeared he had written two dissertations entitled The State of the Printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament considered, published respectively in 1753 and 1759, which were designed to combat contemporary ideas as to the "absolute integrity" of the received Hebrew text.
Antes de que realizala, escribira dúas disertacións tituladas The State of the Printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament considered publicadas respectivamente en 1753 e 1759, pensadas para combater as ideas contemporáneas sobre a "integridade absoluta" do texto hebreo recibido.