ninth or tenth century: from its general resemblance—not | 13. No. 1190. is a manuscript on vellum, written with to say coincidence-with the handwriting of the Codex singular neatness in the thirteenth century. Formerly it Boernerianus of the Epistles (described in page 233.), it is contained the Acts of the Apostles, and the Catholic Episnot improbable that these two manuscripts originally formed tles, together with the whole of Saint Paul's Epistles. It is two parts of the same volume. Dr. Scholz could not obtain sadly mutilated and torn, both in the middle and at the end. permission to collate the Codex San-Gallensis: he has 14. No. 1191. is a lectionary, from the Acts of the Aposnoted it with the letter a, having cited it on John viii. from tles and the Epistles. It is on vellum, in quarto, of the Gerbert's Travels, published in 1773, who first appears to thirteenth century. It is mutilated both at the beginning have inspected it; and from the readings there given he and end. All the preceding manuscripts were brought by considers it as following the Alexandrine recension. Professor Carlyle from the Greek islands.

II. The CODICES MANNERS-SUTTONIANI are a choice col

lection of manuscripts, in the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth, which were purchased and presented to that library by Archbishop Dr. Charles Manners Sutton. They are principally the collection made by the Rev. J. D. Carlyle, Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge, during his travels in the East, with a view to a critical edition of the New Testament, with various readings which, however, was never undertaken, in consequence of his decease.' Of these manuscripts (which are chiefly of the New Testament) the following are particularly worthy of notice, on account of the harvest of various lections which they may be expected to afford :—

1. No. 1175. is a manuscript of the four Gospels, written on vellum, in quarto, towards the end of the eleventh or at the beginning of the twelfth century. The two first verses of the first chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel are wanting. At the end of this manuscript, on a single leaf, there are part of the last verse of the seventh chapter of Saint John's Gospel and the first eleven verses of the eighth chapter. 2. No. 1176. is another manuscript of the four Gospels, on vellum, in quarto, written in the twelfth century. On the first leaf there are some figures painted and gilt, which have nearly disappeared from age. This is followed by the chapters of the four Gospels.

15-17. Nos. 1194, 1195, and 1196. are lectionaries from the Acts of the Apostles and Epistles. They are on vellum, in quarto, and were written in the thirteenth century. No. 1194. is mutilated at the end: the writing of this manuscript is singularly neat, and many of the letters are gilt. No. 1195. is also mutilated at the beginning, and No. 1196. at the end.

18. No. 1192. is a very beautiful manuscript of the four Gospels, in quarto, written on vellum in the thirteenth

century.

written on vellum, in the thirteenth century. It is mutilated 19. No. 1193. is a lectionary from the four Gospels, also at the end. The six last manuscripts, Nos. 1191–1196., were brought from Syria.2

III. The CODICES BURNEIANI form part of the Collection of Classical and other Ancient Manuscripts, now deposited in the Library of the British Museum. They were purchased, under the sanction of parliament, of the representatives of the late Rev. Dr. Charles Burney, in the year 1818. manuscripts of the Scriptures. The following are those In this collection there are many valuable Greek and Latin which contain the New Testament, entire or in part, which do not appear to have been hitherto collated :—

1. No. 18. contains the four Gospels, elegantly written 3. No. 1177. is a manuscript of the four Gospels, on The letters in the first pages of the sections are of gold. on vellum, by one Joasaph, in the year 6874., or A. D. 1366. vellum, of the twelfth century, which is very much muti-To each Gospel is prefixed an index of chapters; and a lated in the beginning. tles is subjoined. synaxarion, or table of ecclesiastical lessons from the Epis

4. No. 1178. contains the four Gospels, most beautifully written on vellum, in quarto, in the tenth century. The first seven verses and part of the eighth verse of the first chapter of Saint Matthew's Gospel are wanting.

5. No. 1179. contains the four Gospels, mutilated at the beginning and end. It is on vellum, in quarto, of the twelfth century.

- 6-8. Nos. 1182, 1183. and 1185. are manuscripts, containing the Acts of the Apostles, the Catholic Epistles, and the whole of Saint Paul's Epistles. They are all written in quarto and on paper. No. 1182. is of the twelfth century: the conclusion of St. John's First Epistle, and the subsequent part of this manuscript to the end, have been added by a later hand. No. 1183. is of the fourteenth century. No. 1185. is of the fifteenth century, and is mutilated at the end.

9. No. 1186. is a quarto manuscript on vellum, written in the eleventh century, and contains the Epistles of Saint Paul and the Apocalypse. It is unfortunately mutilated at the beginning and end. It commences with Rom. xvi. 15. ....παν (that is, Ολυμπαν) και τους συν αυτώς παντας αγίους,... pas (that is Olympas) and all the saints which are with them: and it ends with the words, To Igovæ Xeyotes Aμnv,-on the throne, saying, Amen. Rev. xix. 4. The Rev. H. J. Todd has given a fac-simile of this precious manuscript in his Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth.

10-12. Nos. 1187-1189. are evangelisteria or lessons from the four Gospels, written on vellum in the thirteenth century.

Six of these precious MSS. having been reclaimed by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, as having been lent only to Professor Carlyle, they were returned to him in 1817, by his Grace the ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.

Full particulars relative to this transaction, so honourable to the noble

and munificent character of the Primate of all England, may be seen in the Rev. H. J. Todd's "Account of Greek Manuscripts, chiefly Biblical, which had been in the Possession of the late Professor Carlyle, the greater Part of which are now deposited in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth Palace." London. [1818.] 8vo.

2. No. 19. is a manuscript of the four Gospels, written on vellum in the eleventh century. It has pictures of the evangelists and ornaments prefixed to the sections. This manuscript formerly belonged to the library of San Lorenzo in the Escurial.

3. No. 20. is a manuscript of the four Gospels, on vellum, written by one Theophylus, a monk, in the year 6793, or A. D. 1285. It has pictures of the evangelists, and the Eusebian canons are prefixed. There are also arguments, and tables of the chapters of the several Gospels: and at the end there is an eclogadion of the four Gospels, that is, a table of the beginning and end of each Gospel throughout the year, together with a synaxarion.

4. No. 21. is a manuscript of the four Gospels, very neatly written on paper by one Theodore, a monk, in the

year 6800, or a. D. 1292.

5. No. 22. is an evangelisterium, on vellum, written in 1330.

6. No. 23. is an imperfect manuscript, on vellum, containing the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and John i-viii. 14. It was probably written in the twelfth century. A synaxarion and the epistle of Eusebius to Carpianus are prefixed, with tables of the chapters of the several Gospels.

IV. The CODICES BUTLERIANI are a choice collection of manuscripts in the library of the Rt. Rev. Samuel Butler, D.D., Bishop of Lichfield, to whom the author is indebted for the following critical notices of them.

1. NOVUM TESTAMENTUM, Græce. This manuscript is a very thick octavo, of the twelfth century, on vellum. It contains the whole of the New Testament, except the Apoca

2 Catalogue of the MSS. in the Archiepiscopal Library at Lambeth. By the Rev. H. J. Todd, pp. 261, 262. London, 1812. folio.

3 Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the British Museum. Vol. I. Part II. (Cat. Libr. MSS. Bibliothecæ Burneiana) pp. 3-6.

:

modern the former were made immediately from the original languages by persons to whom they were familiar; and who, it may be reasonably supposed, had better opportunities for ascertaining the force and meaning of words, than more recent translators can possibly have. Modern versions are those made in later times, and chiefly since the Reformation; they are useful for explaining the sense of the inspired writers, while ancient versions are of the utmost importance both for the criticism and interpretation of the Scriptures. The present section will therefore be appropriated to giving an account of those which are most esteemed for their antiquity and excellence.'

The principal ANCIENT VERSIONS, which illustrate the Scriptures, are the Chaldee Paraphrases, generally called Targums, the Septuagint, or Alexandrian Greek Version, the translations of Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion, and what are called the fifth, sixth, and seventh versions (of which latter translations fragments only are extant), together with the Syriac, and Latin or Vulgate versions. Although the authors of these versions did not flourish at the time when the Hebrew language was spoken, yet they enjoyed many advantages for understanding the Bible, especially the Old Testament, which are not possessed by the moderns: for, living near the time when that language was vernacular, they could learn by tradition the true signification of some Hebrew words, which is now forgotten. Many of them also being Jews, and from their childhood accustomed to hear the rabbins explain the Scriptures, the study of which they diligently cultivated, and likewise speaking a dialect allied to the Hebrew, they could not but become well acquainted with the latter. Hence it may be safely inferred that the ancient versions generally give the true sense of Scripture, and not unfrequently in passages where it could scarcely be discovered by any other means. All the ancient versions, indeed, are of great importance both in the criticism, as well as in the interpretation, of the sacred writings, but they are not all witnesses of equal value; for the authority of the different versions depends partly on the age and country of their respective authors, partly on the text whence their translations were made, and partly on the ability and fidelity with which they were executed. It will therefore be not irrelevant to offer a short historical notice of the principal versions above mentioned, as well as of some other ancient versions of less celebrity perhaps, but which have been beneficially consulted by biblical critics.

1. ON THE TARGUMS, OR CHALDEE PARAPHRASES OF THE
OLD TESTAMENT.

I. Targum of Onkelos;-II. Of the Pseudo-Jonathan ;-III.
The Jerusalem Targum;-IV. The Targum of Jonathan
Ben Uzziel;-V. The Targum on the Hagiographa ;-VI.
The Targum on the Megilloth;—VII. VIII. ÍX. Three
Targums on the book of Esther;-X. A Targum on the
books of Chronicles;-XI. Real value of the different
Targums.

and was more known to them than the Hebrew itself: so

Targums prior to those of Onkelos and Jonathan, who are supposed to have lived about the time of our Saviour, it is highly probable that these paraphrases were at first merely oral; that, subsequently, the ordinary glosses on the more difficult passages were committed to writing; and that, as the Jews were bound by an ordinance of their elders to possess a copy of the law, these glosses were either afterwards collected together and deficiencies in them supplied, or new and connected paraphrases were formed.

There are at present extant ten paraphrases on different parts of the Old Testament, three of which comprise the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses:-1. The Targum of Onkelos; 2. That falsely ascribed to Jonathan, and usually cited as the Targum of the Pseudo-Jonathan; and, 3. The Jerusalem Targum; 4. The Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel (.e. the son of Uzziel), on the Prophets; 5. The Targum of Rabbi Joseph the blind, or one-eyed, on the Hagicgrapha; 6. An anonymous Targum on the five Megilloth, or books of Ruth, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah; 7, 8, 9. Three Targums on the bock of Esther; and, 10. A Targum or paraphrase on the two books of Chronicles. These Targums, taken together, form a continued paraphrase on the Old Testament, with the exception of the books of Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah (anciently reputed to be part of Ezra); which being for the most part written in Chaldee, it has been conjectured that no paraphrases were written on them, as being unnecessary; though Dr. Prideaux is of opinion that Targums were composed on these books also, which have perished in the lapse of ages.

The language, in which these paraphrases are composed, varies in purity according to the time when they were respectively written. Thus, the Targums of Onkelos and the Pseudo-Jonathan are much purer than the others, approximating very nearly to the Aramæan dialect in which some parts of Daniel and Ezra are written, except, indeed, that the orthography does not always correspond; while the language of the later Targums whence the rabbinical dialect derives its source is far more impure, and is intermixed with barbarous and foreign words. Originally, all the Chaldee paraphrases were written without vowel-points, like all other oriental manuscripts; but at length some persons ventured to add points to them, though very erroneously, and this irregular punctuation was retained in the Venice and other early editions of the Hebrew Bible. Some further impe. fect attempts towards regular pointing were made both in the Complutensian and in the Antwerp Polyglotts, until at length the elder Buxtorf, in his edition of the Hebrew Bible published at Basil, undertook the thankless task3 of improving the punctuation of the Targums, according to such rules as he had formed from the pointing which he had found in the Chaldee parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra; and his method of punctuation is followed in Bishop Walton's Polyglott.

and

1. The TARGUM OF ONKELOS.-It is not known with certainty at what time Onkelos flourished, nor of what nation he was: Professor Eichhorn conjectures that he was a native THE Chaldee word on (TaRGUM) signifies, in general, Talmud; secondly, because his dialect is not the Chaldee of Babylon, first, because he is mentioned in the Babylonish any version or explanation; but this appellation is more particularly restricted to the versions or paraphrases of the spoken in Palestine, but much purer, and more closely reOld Testament, executed in the East-Aramaan or Chaldeesembling the style of Daniel and Ezra; and, lastly, because dialect, as it is usually called. These Targums are termed which the Jews of Palestine were so much attached, and he has not interwoven any of those fabulous narratives to paraphrases or expositions, because they are rather com- from which they could with difficulty refrain. The genements and explications, than literal translations of the text: they are written in the Chaldee tongue, which became fami- rally received opinion is, that he was a proselyte to Judaism, liar to the Jews after the time of their captivity in Babylon, about fifty years before the Christian æra; and consequently a disciple of the celebrated Rabbi Hillel, who flourished that, when the law was "read in the synagogue every Sab-and Jahn, however, place him in the second century. The that Onkelos was contemporary with our Saviour: Bauer bath-day," in pure biblical Hebrew, an explanation was Targum of Onkelos comprises the Pentateuch of five books subjoined to it in Chaldee; in order to render it intelligible of Moses, and is justly preferred to all the others both by to the people, who had but an imperfect knowledge of the Jews and Christians, on account of the purity of its style, Hebrew language. This practice, as already observed, originated with Ezra :2 as there are no traces of any written and its general freedom from idle legends. It is rather a version than a paraphrase, and renders the Hebrew text word for word, with so much accuracy and exactness, that being set to the same musical notes, with the original Hebrew, it could be read or cantillated in the same tone as the latter in the public assemblies of the Jews. And this we find was the practice of the Jews up to the time of Rabbi Elias Levita; who flourished in the early part of the sixteenth century, and expressly states that the Jews read the law in their

For an account of the principal MODERN VERSIONS, the reader is referred to the BIBLIOGRAPHICAL APPENDIX to Vol. II. Part I. Chap. I. Sect. VI. 2 See p. 190. supra. Our account of the Chaldee paraphrases is drawn up from a careful consideration of what has been written on them, by Carpzov, in his Critica Sacra, part ii. c. i. pp. 430-481.; Bishop Walton, Prol. c. 12. sect. ii. pp. 568-592; Leusden, in Philolog. Hebræo Mixt. Diss. v. vi. and vii. pp. 36–58. ; Dr. Prideaux, Connection, part ii. book viii. sub anno 37. B. C. vol. iii. pp. 531-555. (edit. 1718.) Kortholt, De variis Scripturæ Editionibus, c. iii. pp. 34-51.; Pfeiffer, Critica Sacra, cap. viii. sect. ii. (Op. tom. ii. pp. 750-771.) and in his Treatise de Theologia Judaica, &c. Exer cit. ii. (Ibid. tom. ii. pp. 862-889.); Bauer, Critica Sacra, tract. iii. pp. 288308; Rambach, Inst. Herm. Sacræ, pp. 606-611.; Pictet, Théologie Chrétienne, tom. i. p. 145. et seq.; Jahn, Introductio ad Libros Veteris Fœderis, pp. 69-75.; and Wæhner's Antiquitates Ebræorum, tom. i. pp. 156-170.

3 Père Simon, Hist. Crit. du Vieux Test. liv. ii. c. viii. has censured Buxtorf's mode of pointing the Chaldee paraphrases with great severity; observing, that he would have done much better if he had more diligently examined manuscripts that were more correctly pointed.

synagogues, first in Hebrew and then in the Targum of
Onkelos. This Targum has been translated into Latin by
Alfonso de Zamora, Paulus Fagius, Bernardinus Baldus, and
Andrew de Leon of Zamora.1

Both the language

which abound in the latter Targums.
and method of interpretation, however, are irregular: in the
exposition of the former prophets, the text is more closely
rendered than in that on the latter, which is less accurate, as
well as more paraphrastical, and interspersed with some tra-
ditions and fabulous legends. In order to attach the greater
authority to the Targum of Jonathan Ben Uzziel, the Jews,
not satisfied with making him contemporary with the pro-
phets Malachi, Zachariah, and Haggai, and asserting that
he received it from their lips, have related, that while Jona-,
than was composing his paraphrase, there was an earthquake
for forty leagues around him; and that if any bird happened
to pass over him, or a fly alighted on his paper while wri-
ting, they were immediately consumed by fire from heaven,
without any injury being sustained either by his person or
his paper!! The whole of this Targum was translated into
Latin by Alfonzo de Zamora, Andrea de Leon, and Conrad
Pellican; and the paraphrase on the twelve minor prophets,
by Immanuel Tremellius.

II. The second Targum, which is a more liberal paraphrase of the Pentateuch than the preceding, is usually called the TARGUM OF THE PSEUDO-JONATHAN, being ascribed by many to Jonathan Ben Uzziel, who wrote the much esteemed paraphrase on the prophets. But the difference in the style and diction of this Targum, which is very impure, as well as in the method of paraphrasing adopted in it, clearly proves that it could not have been written by Jonathan Ben Uzziel, who indeed sometimes indulges in allegories, and has introduced a few barbarisms; but this Targum on the law abounds with the most idle Jewish legends that can well be conceived: which, together with the barbarous and foreign words it contains, render it of very little utility. From its mentioning the six parts of the Talmud (on Exod. xxvi. 9.), which compilation was not written till two centuries after the birth of Christ;-Constantinople (on Num. xxiv. 19.), which city V. The TARGUM ON THE CETUBIM, HACIOGRAPHA, or Holy was always called Byzantium until it received its name from Writings, is ascribed by some Jewish writers to Ruf Jose, or Constantine the Great, in the beginning of the fourth cen-Rabbi Joseph, surnamed the one-eyed or blind, who is said tury; the Lombards (on Num. xxiv. 24.), whose first irrup- to have been at the head of the academy at Sora, in the third tion into Italy did not take place until the year 570; and the century; though others affirm that its author is unknown. Turks (on Gen. x. 2.), who did not become conspicuous till The style is barbarous, impure, and very unequal, interspersed the middle of the sixth century,-learned men are unani- with numerous digressions and legendary narratives: on mously of opinion that this Targum of the Pseudo-Jonathan which account the younger Buxtorf, and after him Bauer could not have been written before the seventh, or even the and Jahn, are of opinion that the whole is a compilation of eighth century. It was probably compiled from older inter- later times; and this sentiment appears to be the most corpretations. This Chaldee paraphrase was translated into rect. Dr. Prideaux characterizes its language as the most Latin by Anthony Ralph de Chevalier, an eminent French corrupt Chaldee of the Jerusalem dialect. The translators of Protestant divine, in the sixteenth century. the preceding Targum, together with Arias Montanus, have given a Latin version of this Targum.

III. The JERUSALEM TARGUM, which also paraphrases the five books of Moses, derives its name from the dialect in which it is composed. It is by no means a connected paraphrase, sometimes omitting whole verses, or even chapters; at other times explaining only a single word of a verse, of which it sometimes gives a twofold interpretation; and at others, Hebrew words are inserted without any explanation whatever. In many respects it corresponds with the paraphrase of the Pseudo-Jonathan, whose legendary tales are here frequently repeated, abridged, or expanded. From the impurity of its style, and the number of Greek, Latin, and Persian words which it contains, Bishop Walton, Carpzov, Wolfius, and many other eminent philologers, are of opinion, that it is a compilation by several authors, and consists of extracts and collections. From these internal evidences, the commencement of the seventh century has been assigned as its probable date; but it is more likely not to have been written before the eighth or perhaps the ninth century. This Targum was also translated into Latin by Chevalier and by Francis Taylor.

VI. The TARGUM ON THE MEGILLOTH, or five books of Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ruth, and Esther, is evidently a compilation by several persons: the barbarism of its style, numerous digressions, and idle legends which are inserted, all concur to prove it to be of late date, and certainly not earlier than the sixth century. The paraphrase on the book of Ruth and the Lamentations of Jeremiah is the best executed portion: Ecclesiastes is more freely paraphrased; but the text of the Song of Solomon is absolutely lost amidst the diffuse circumscription of its author, and his dull glosses and fabulous additions.

VII. VIII. IX. The THREE TARGUMS ON THE BOOK OF ESTHER.-This book has always been held in the highest estimation by the Jews; which circumstance induced them to translate it repeatedly into the Chaldee dialect. Three paraphrases on it have been printed: one in the Antwerp Polyglott, which is much shorter and contains fewer digressions than the others; another in Bishop Walton's Polyglott, which is more diffuse, and comprises more numerous Jewish fables and traditions; and a third, of which a Latin version was published by Francis Taylor; and which, according to Carpzov, is more stupid and diffuse than either of the preceding. They are all three of very late date.

X. A TARGUM ON THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES, which for a long time was unknown both to Jews and Christians, was discovered in the library at Erfurt, belonging to the ministers of the Augsburg confession, by Matthias Frederick Beck; who published it in 1680, 3, 4, in two quarto volumes. Another edition was published at Amsterdam by the learned David Wilkins (1715, 4to.), from a manuscript in the university library at Cambridge. It is more complete than Beck's edition, and supplies many of its deficiences. This Targum, however, is of very little value; like all the other Chaldee paraphrases, it blends legendary tales with the narrative, and introduces numerous Greek words, such as

IV. The TARGUM of Jonathan BEN UZZIEL.-According to the talmudical traditions, the author of this paraphrase was chief of the eighty distinguished scholars of Rabbi Hillel the elder, and a fellow-disciple of Simeon the Just, who bore the infant Messiah in his arms: consequently he would be nearly contemporary with Onkelos. Wolfius, however, adopts the opinion of Dr. Prideaux, that he flourished a short time before the birth of Christ, and compiled the work which bears his name, from more ancient Targums, that had been preserved to his time by oral tradition. From the silence of Origen and Jerome concerning this Targum, of which they could not but have availed themselves if it had really existed in their time, and also from its being cited in the Talmud, both Bauer and Jahn date it much later than is generally admitted the former, indeed, is of opinion, that its true date cannot be ascertained; and the latter, from the inequalities of style and method observable in it, considers it as a com-oxos, coisas, apxar, &c. pilation from the interpretations of several learned men, made XI. Of all the Chaldee paraphrases above noticed, the about the close of the third or fourth century. This para Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel are most phrase treats on the Prophets, that is (according to the Jew-highly valued by the Jews, who implicitly receive their exish classification of the sacred writings), on the books of Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Sam. 1 & 2 Kings, who are termed the former prophets; and on Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets, who are designated as the latter prophets. Though the style of this Targum is not so pure and elegant as that of Onkelos, yet it is not disfigured by those legendary tales and numerous foreign and barbarous words

The fullest formation, concerning the Targum of Onkelos, is to be found in the disquisition of G. B. Winer, entitled De Onkeloso ejusque Paraphrasi Chaldaica Dissertatio, 4to. Lipsiæ, 1820. Bibliotheca Hebraica, tom. i. p. 1160. VOL. I. 2 N

positions of doubtful passages. Shickhard, Mayer, Helvicus, Leusden, Hottinger, and Dr. Prideaux, have conjectured that some Chaldee Targum was in use in the synagogue where our Lord read Iså. lxi. 1,2. (Luke iv. 17—19.); and that he quoted Psal. xxii. 1. when on the cross (Matt. xvii. 46.), not out of the Hebrew text, but out of a Chaldee paraphrase. But there does not appear to be sufficient ground for this hypothesis: for as the Chaldee or East Aramaan dialect was spoken at Jerusalem, it is at least as probable that Jesus Christ interpreted the Hebrew into the vernacular dialect in the first instance, as that he should have read from