ised by the prevalence of Hebrew phraseology, the language of the New Testament being formed by a mixture of oriental idioms and expressions, with those which are properly Greek. Hence it has been termed Hebraic Greek: and, from the circumstance of the Jews having acquired the Greek language rather by practice than by grammar from the Greeks, among whom they resided, it has also been termed the Hellenistic Greek. A large proportion of the phrases and constructions of the New Testament, however, is pure Greek, that is, of the same degree of purity as the Greek spoken in Macedonia, and that in which Polybius wrote his Roman History: whence the language of the New Testament will derive considerable illustration from consulting the works of classic authors, and particularly from the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament.

III. The popular Greek dialect was not spoken and written by the Jews, without some intermixtures of a foreign kind in particular, they intermixed many idioms with the general complexion of their vernacular language. These peculiar idioms are termed Hebraisms; and their nature and classes have been treated at considerable length by various writers. A few examples will suffice to show the nature of these Hebraisms. Thus:

1. To be called, to arise, and to be found, are the same as to be. See Isa. lxi. 3. Matt. v. 9. 1 John iii. 1. Esth. iv. 14. Luke xxiv. 38. Dan. v. 12. Luke xvii. 18.

2. Verbs expressive of a person's doing an action are often used to signify his supposing the thing or discovering and acknowledging the fact, or his declaring and foretelling the event. Matt. x. 39. 1 Cor. iii. 18. Isa. vi. 9, 10. Acts x. 15.

3. Negative verbs are often put for a strong positive affirmation. Psal. lxxxiv. 11. Rom. iv. 19. John xiv. 8.

4. The privileges of the first-born among the Jews being very great, the chief or most eminent thing of any kind is called the first-born. Job xviii. 13. The first-born of death is the most fatal and cruel death.

5. The words son, and children, have various peculiar signifi

cations as, Sons of Belial, wicked men; Children of disobedi. ence (Eph. ii.) are disobedient persons, &c.

6. Name is frequently synonymous with Persons. John i. 12. iii. 18. Rev. iii. 4.

7. The Jews, having but few adjectives and no superlatives, in their language, had recourse to substantives to supply their place. Thus kingdom and glory denote a glorious kingdom, 1 Thess. ii. 12.; glory of his power denotes glorious power, 2 Thess. i. 9.; Moun tains of God are exceeding high mountains, Psal. xxxvi. 7, &c.

8. According to the Hebrew idiom, a sword has a mouth; or, the edge of a sword is called a mouth. Luke xxi. 24. Heb. xi. 34. 9. The verb to know frequently denotes to approve; as in Psal. i. 6. Matt. vii. 23.

10. To hear denotes to understand, to attend to, and to regard what is said, Deut. xviii. 15. with Acts iii. 23. Matt. xvii. 5. Luke viii. 8.

Besides these Hebraisms there are found in the New Testament various Syriac, Chaldee, Latin, and other idioms and words, which are respectively denominated Syriasms, Persisms, Latinisms, &c. &c.

1. Syriasms are the idioms peculiar to the Syriac or WestAramæan dialect; and Chaldaisms are those peculiar to the Chaldee or East-Aramæan dialect. Instances of these idioms occur in Rom. viii. 15. Matt. xxvii. 46. Mark v. 41. vii. 34.

2. Latinisms are those Latin words and phrases which occur in the New Testament, in consequence of the intercourse of the Jews with the Romans, after Judæa had been reduced into a Roman province. See Matt. x. 29. John ii, 15. Acts vi. 9, &c.

3. The number of words used by St. Paul in peculiar senses, as well as words not ordinarily occurring in Greek writers, are considered to be provincial idioms at that time used in Cilicia: whence they have been termed Cilicisms.

SECTION III.-On the Cognate or Kindred Languages.

The COGNATE or KINDRED Languages are those which are allied to the Hebrew, and which preserve nearly the same structure and analogy. The principal cognate lan

guages are the Aramæan and the Arabic, with their respective dialects or derivatives.

I. The ARAMÆan Language (which in the authorised English version of 2 Kings xviii. 26., and Dan. ii. 4., is rendered the Syrian or Syriack) derives its name from the very extensive region of Aram, in which it was antiently vernacular. As that region extended from the Mediterranean sea through Syria and Mesopotamia, beyond the river Tigris, the language there spoken necessarily diverged into various dialects; the two principal of which are the Chaldee and the Syriac.

1. The Chaldee, but more correctly the Babylonian, Assyrian, or Eastern Aramæan dialect was formerly spoken in Babylonia and Assyria, and was the vernacular dialect spoken in Judæa after the captivity of the Hebrews. Besides the portions of the Old Testament already stated in page 85. as being written in this tongue, numerous Chaldaic words occur in the book of Job, the Proverbs, and other parts of the sacred writings, for the correct understanding of which the knowledge of Chaldee is necessary. It is further of great use for enabling us to read the Chaldee paraphrases, which show the sense put by the Jews themselves on the words of Scripture.

2. The Syriac or Western Aramaan was spoken both in Syria and Mesopotamia; after the captivity it became vernacular in Galilee. Hence, though several of the sacred writers of the New Testament expressed themselves in Greek, their ideas were Syriac ; and they consequently used many Syriac idioms, and a few Syriac words.

II. Though more remotely allied to the Hebrew than either of the preceding dialects, the ARABIC LANGUAGE possesses sufficient analogy to explain and illustrate the former, and is not, perhaps, inferior in importance to the Chaldee or the Syriac; particularly, as it is a living language, in which almost every subject has been discussed, and has received the minutest investigation from native writers and lexicographers. The Arabic language has

many roots in common with the Hebrew tongue; and this again contains very many words which are no longer to be found in the Hebrew writings that are extant, but which exist in the Arabic language.

The Ethiopic language, which is immediately derived from the Arabic, has been applied with great advantage to the illustration of the Scriptures by various learned

men.

III. The Cognate or Kindred Languages are of considerable use in sacred criticism. They may lead us to discover the occasions of such false readings as transcribers unskilled in the Hebrew, but accustomed to some of the other dialects, have made by writing words in the form of that dialect instead of the Hebrew form. Further, the knowledge of these languages will frequently serve to prevent ill-grounded conjectures that a passage is corrupted, by showing that the common reading is susceptible of the very sense which such passage requires : and when different readings are found in copies of the Bible, these languages may sometimes assist us in determining which of them ought to be preferred.

CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF THE VERSIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES.

To those who possess ability, means, and leisure, of consulting them, the ANTIENT VERSIONS of the Old Testament are a very important source of criticism and interpretation of the sacred writings: the value of them, however, varies according to the age and country of their respective authors, the purity of the text whence these versions were made, and the ability and fidelity of the translators.

SECTION I.

$ 1.

History of the Antient Versions of the Scriptures.

On the Targums or Chaldee Paraphrases.

TARGUM is a Chaldee word, signifying generally any version or explanation: but this appellation is particularly restricted to the versions or paraphrases of the Old Testament, which have been composed in the Chaldee Dialect. Ten of these expositions have been preserved to our times; viz.

I. The TARGUM of ONKELOS on the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, was composed by a learned Jewish rabbi of the same name, who is supposed to have been contemporary with our Saviour. It is preferred to every other on account of the purity of its style, and its general freedom from idle legends.

II. The TARGUM of the PSEUDO-JONATHAN, so called from being erroneously ascribed to Jonathan Ben Uzziel, is a more liberal paraphrase of the Pentateuch than the preceding, but abounds with the most idle Jewish legends. From internal evidence, learned men concur in referring its date to the seventh or eighth century of the Christian Æra.

III. The JERUSALEM Targum, also on the five books of Moses, in many respects agrees with that of the PseudoJonathan, in the impurity of its style, legendary tales, &c. It was most probably written in the eighth or ninth century.

IV. The TARGUM of JONATHAN BEN UZZIEL, on the Prophets (that is, according to the Jewish Division of the sacred books mentioned in p. 120.), is held in the highest estimation. Its date cannot be exactly ascertained; some learned men making it nearly coeval with the time of Christ, while others place it three or four hundred years later.

V. The barbarous and in many places obscure TARGUM on the CETUBIM, or Holy Writings, though ascribed to