portions of it; and many have become mutilated by the consuming hand of time.

V. As the Hebrew Manuscripts, which have been in use since the 11th century, have all been corrected after some particular recension or edition, they have, from this circumstance, been classed into three or four families, according to the country where such recension has obtained: viz.

1. The Spanish Manuscripts, which were corrected after the Codex of Hillel, follow the Masoretic System with great accuracy. They are beautifully written, and highly valued by the Jews, though some critics hold them in little estimation.

2. The Oriental Manuscripts are nearly the same as the Spanish MSS. and may be referred to the same class.

3. The German Manuscripts are less elegantly written than the Spanish MSS. They do not follow the Masoretic Notation, and frequently exhibit important various readings, that are not to be found in the Spanish MSS. This class, though little esteemed by the Jews, is highly valued by biblical critics.

4. The Italian Manuscripts hold a middle place, both in execution and critical value, between the Spanish and German MSS.

VI. The total number of manuscripts collated by Dr. Kennicott for his edition of the Hebrew Bible is about 630: the total number collated by M. De Rossi for his Collection of Various Readings is 479 MSS., besides 288 printed editions.

Almost all the Hebrew Manuscripts of the Old Testament, at present known to be extant, were written between the years 1000 and 1457; whence Dr. Kennicott infers that all the MSS. written before the years 700 or 800 were destroyed by some decree of the Jewish senate, on account of their numerous differences from the copies then declared genuine.

VII. Among the valuable biblical manuscripts brought

from India by the late Rev. Dr. Claudius Buchanan, and now deposited in the University Library at Cambridge, there is a roll of the Pentateuch, which he procured from the black Jews in Malabar, who (there is every reason to believe) are descended from the remains of the first dispersion of that nation by Nebuchadnezzar. The date of this MS. cannot be ascertained; but it is supposed to be derived from those copies which their ancestors brought with them into India. It agrees in all material points with our common printed Hebrew text, and affords an additional argument for the integrity of the Pentateuch.

SECTION II.

On the Manuscripts of the Samaritan Pentateuch.

I, ORIGIN of the Samaritans.

The Samaritans, mentioned in the New Testament, were descended from an intermixture of the ten tribes with the Gentile nations. This origin rendered them odious to the Jews, who refused to acknowledge them as Jewish citizens, or to permit them to assist in rebuilding the Temple, after their return from the Babylonish captivity. In consequence of this rejection, as well as of other causes of dissension, the Samaritans erected a temple on Mount Gerizim, and instituted sacrifices according to the prescriptions of the Mosaic law. Hence arose that inveterate schism and enmity between the two nations, so frequently mentioned or alluded to in the New Testament. The Samaritans (who still exist, but are greatly reduced in numbers,) reject all the sacred books of the Jews except the PENTATEUCH, or five books of Moses, of which they preserve copies in the antient Hebrew characters: these agree in all material points with our present copies, which were those of the Jews, and thus prove that the important books of Moses have been transmitted to us uncorrupted, in any thing material.

II. Seventeen MANUSCRIPTS of the Samaritan Penta

teuch are known to be extant, of which Dr. Kennicott has given a minute description in his second dissertation on the state of the Hebrew text. Six of these manuscripts are in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and one in the Cotton Library in the British Museum: they were written principally between the tenth and the fourteenth centuries.

III. The few differences that actually exist between the Samaritan and Hebrew Pentateuchs, may be satisfactorily accounted for by the usual sources of various readings, viz. the negligence of copyists, the confounding of similar letters, transposition of letters, &c. The Samaritan Pentateuch is of great importance in establishing correct readings. Two versions of it are extant.

1. The Samaritan Version, made in the Aramæan dialect (which is intermediate between the Chaldee and the Syriac languages), by an unknown author in Samaritan characters before the schism took place between the Jews and Samaritans. It is close, and faithful to the original.

2. An Arabic Version, in Samaritan characters, which was made by Abu Said in A. D. 1070, to supplant the Arabic translation of the Jewish Rabbi, Saadia Gaon, which had till that time been in use among the Samaritans.

SECTION III. Account of Greek Manuscripts containing the Old and New Testaments.

I. MATERIALS of Greek Manuscripts. These are twofold; viz. 1. Vellum, of various thickness, which is either purple-coloured, or of its natural hue; and, 2. Paper, made of cotton or linen. MSS. on paper are of much later date than those on vellum.

II. FORM of Letters.-The letters are either CAPITAL, which in the time of Jerome were called uncial, i. e. initial, or cursive, that is, small, Greek MSS. were

written in capital letters till the seventh century; and a few so lately even as the ninth century: but the small letters were generally adopted towards the close of the tenth century. The most antient MSS. were written without accents, spirits, or indeed any separations of the words, until the ninth century.

III. Numerous ABBREVIATIONS exist in the earliest MSS. They are made by putting together the first and last letters, and sometimes also the middle letter: thus KC (KS) for Κυριος (kurios) Lord, ΣΗΡ (sER) for Σωτηρ (soter), Saviour, &c.

In the author's larger work, fac-simile specimens are given of some of the more antient MSS., which could not be reduced within the size of this page, so as to convey an accurate idea of them: but the following literal rendering of Matt. v. 1-3., according to the Codex Bezæ, or Cambridge MSS. of the Four Gospels and Acts (which is described in p. 119. infra), will convey to the English reader some idea of the manner in which manuscripts were antiently written :

Matt. v. 1-3.

ANDSEEINGTHEMULTITUDES HEWENTUPINTOAMOUNTAIN

ANDWHENHEWASSETDOWN CAMETOHIM

HISDISCIPLES AND OPENINGHISMOUTH

HETAUGHTTHEMSAYING

BLESSEDARETHE POORINSPT FORTHEIRSIS

THE KINGDOMOFHEAVEN.

Very few MSS. contain the whole either of the Old or the New Testament; and almost all the more antient manuscripts are imperfect.

Corrections and erasures occur in all MSS. Such corrections as were made à primâ manu, that is, by the copyist of a manuscript, are preferable to those made

*SPT is contracted for spirit: the original Greek is ПINI (pni) for ПNevμaтI (PNeumatI).

à secundâ manu, that is, by later hands. Erasures were made, either by drawing a line through a word, or with the penknife, or sometimes the old writing was obliterated with a sponge, and other words treatises indeed were written in lieu of it. Manuscripts thus re-written are termed CODICES PALIMPSESTI, or RESCRIPTI: many of them are of considerable antiquity. They may be easily known, as it rarely happens that the former writing is so completely erased, as not to exhibit some traces. In a few instances both writings are legible.

IV. Account of GREEK MANUSCRIPTS, containing the Old and New Testaments.

No existing MSS. of the New Testament can be traced higher than the fourth century; and most of them are still later. Some contain the whole New Testament; others comprise particular books or fragments of books, and several contain only detached portions or lessons appointed to be read in the public service of the Church. Some are accompanied with a version, either interlined or in a parallel column. These are called Codices Bilingues: the greatest number of them is in Greek and Latin; and the Latin version is in general one of those which existed before the time of Jerome.*

1. The Codex Alexandrinus, or ALEXANDRIAN MANUSCRIPT, is one of the most precious relics of Christian antiquity. It consists of four folio volumes: the three first containing the Old Testament and Apocryphal Books; the fourth comprising the New Testament, together with the first epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, the apocryphal psalms ascribed to Solomon,

* As the author found it impracticable to abridge the numerous bibliographical accounts of MSS., which are given in his larger Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, so as to convey a full idea of their various contents, he has been obliged to confine the analysis, contained in this section, to a notice of the three most important manuscripts; viz. the Alexandrian, Vatican, and Cambridge, MSS.