INTRODUCTION. THE Jewish Scriptures are divided into three parts, the Threefold Tôrâh or Law consisting of the Pentateuch; the N'bîîm or Old Testadivision of Prophets; and the C'thoobîm or Hagiographa. The "Pro- ment. phets" are again subdivided into the “former” and the “latter prophets." The "former prophets" include the books called Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; these are called "prophets" probably because they were written by members of the prophetic schools, and "former" because they precede the "latter prophets” (viz. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets). The Hagiographa consist of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the five Rolls, viz. Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther (arranged according to the sequence of the festivals on which they are read), and Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles. In 2 Macc. ii. 13, тà Toû ▲avid seems to be the designation of this third division of Scripture, and in S. Luke xxiv. 44, where the threefold division of the Scriptures is referred to, aλuoí appears to include the whole Hagiographa. The third division of Holy Scripture is not, according to Jewish tradition, written by a strictly prophetic inspiration, but b'rooach hak-kôdesh, "in the Holy Spirit," to Nature of inspiration which distinction it is possible that our Lord refers when he of Hagiospeaks of David év πveúμarı (i. e. in The Spirit, vevμari being grapha, anarthrous after prep.), calling the Messiah Lord. And this tradition, at any rate as far as the book of Pss. is concerned, is quite in accordance with reason. Psalms are the outpourings of a full heart; the words, "My heart is o'erflowing with a good matter” (Ps. xlv. 1), denote the spirit in which a man writes a Psalm. Naturally, then, we should not expect to find direct prophecies in the book of Pss., but rather to see the hopes of the nation, as built upon the words of the J. L. P. b and specially of Psalms. of the Book The Law and the Kabbalah. The Law more care fully preserved than the Kabbalah. Corruptions of text. prophets and cherished by pious servants of Jehovah, expressed with all the confidence of faith, in poetical and figurative language. But though as a rule we should not look for prophecy in the book of Pss., yet to deny the possibility of a Psalmist's being upon occasions endued with the gift of prophecy is at least perfectly arbitrary. And that the expression brooach hak-kôdesh was not held to exclude prediction is evident from the fact, that Kimchi, who expressly says in the Introduction to his commentary on Pss., that they are written b’rooach hak-kôdesh and not bin’booâh, “by prophecy," constantly in his commentary declares (rightly or wrongly) that David wrote such and such a psalm concerning the captivity. There is another distinction, not generally known to Christians, which the Jews of the early centuries of the Christian era made between different parts of the Old Test. In contra-distinction to the Tôrâh, the books of Moses, they applied to the rest of Holy Scripture the term Kabbalah or Tradition (cf. Mechilta, ed. Friedmann 30a, 5a, 27a, 28b, &c.); this distinction was not meant as any disparagement of the Prophets and Hagiographa, as though denying them to be part of the Word of God, but is merely intended to enhance the authority of the Tôrâh or Law, and implies (whether rightly or wrongly it is not for us to decide) that no subsequent scriptures could assert anything which is not capable of being developed from the words of the Law. And this fact is of interest to ourselves as supplying one of the reasons why the strict rules which were in force with regard to the transcription of the Law were somewhat relaxed in the case of the rest of the Scriptures: which being the case, we are more ready to admit the probability of corruptions in the text of the Prophets and Hagiographa than in that of the Law. With regard to these it should be noticed that in the Hebrew Scriptures there are in many passages two readings, the one called Krî or read, and the other C'thib or written. The former indicates the ancient traditional reading, or "textus receptus," and has been followed by us in most cases. The K'ri and C'thib affect the consonants of words; there are also minor differences of pointing and accentuation in many passages, as handed down by Eastern and Western Tradition respectively. Also, there are some slight variations in different MSS. and printed editions. The Pss. are in the Hebrew Text divided into five books, Five books as follows-Bk. 1. i.—xli., Bk. II. xlii.--lxxii., Bk. III. lxxiii. of Psalms. —lxxxix., Bk. IV. xc.—cvi., Bk. v. cvii.—cl. (a) Ancient The oldest translation which we possess of the Pss. is Aids to contained in the Alexandrine, or Septuagint version of the Old Criticism: Test. (LXX.). This version appears to have been begun Versions. under Ptolemy Philadelphus, cir. 285 B.C. On the legends relating to its origin we need not enter here, for they really affect only the Pentateuch of the LXX. It will be sufficient to state that the translation of the Prophets and Hagiographa had apparently been joined to that of the Pentateuch at the time when the grandson of Jesus the son of Sirach came to Egypt: cir. 131 B.C. The interest attaching to the LXX. LXX. is enhanced by the fact that the New Test. citations from the book of Pss. are, with a few exceptions, based upon that version. A diversity exists between the divisions of the Pss. in the original Hebrew and the LXX. version, as will be seen from the following table :— The Chaldee Version or Targum (Targ.) represents the Targum. Jewish interpretation of the first centuries of the Christian era, though of course there were embodied in it traditions of a very much earlier date. The Peshito (Syr.) is the oldest Peshito, Syriac version of the Christian Church. It was made from the original Hebrew, with the assistance of the LXX. lar Syriac. and Targ. cir. A.D. 160. A new Syriac translation was and Hexapmade from the Hexaplar text of the LXX. in A.D. 617. In the early part of the second century Aquila (Aq.) a Aquila. Jewish proselyte, made a Greek version of the Hebrew 62 Scriptures for the use of the Jews. This version is noted for its literal following of the Hebrew, to the utter disregard of Greek idiom; but the exactness and ingenuity with which this very difficult task is performed, testifies to the translator's profound knowledge of both languages. During the latter half of the second century the Greek translation of Theodotion. Theodotion (Theod.) was published, it was an attempt by the use of Aquila's translation to bring the LXX. more nearly into conformity with the Hebrew. To the translation of TheoSymmachus. dotion succeeded, probably cir. A.D. 200, that of Symmachus (Symm.). He took the LXX. as the basis of his work, altogether discarded the literal method of Aquila, and performed his emendations from the original Hebrew with a masterly hand. Jerome's Latin version of the Pss., "juxta Hebraicam veritatem," cir. 400 A. D., was not included among the books of the Vulgate. The Psalterium Romanum, and Gallicanum, his first and second revision of the Old Latin Vers., which had been originally made from the LXX., became, on account of the familiarity of the people with them through their Liturgical use, embodied in the Vulgate, and never gave place to his more correct translation from the original Hebrew. Consequently the Vulgate Psalter is little better than a reproduction of that of the LXX. At the beginning of the tenth century Saadia Gaon, a native of Egypt, translated the Psalter, and most of the books of the Old Test., into Arabic. Jerome. Saadia. (b) Ancient Exegesis. Talmud. Gemara. Besides the help which the ancient versions afford, occasional aid is to be obtained from such Rabbinical writings as the Talmudim and Midrashim. The Talmud consists of two parts, Mishnah and Gemara. The Mishnah is an embodiment of the Oral Tradition; it may be said to have been compiled by Rabbi Judah in the second century of the Christian era. It contains, however, the actual sayings of men who lived more than a hundred years before Christ, and claims to contain, among others, traditions handed down from Moses. In the Gemara the conclusions arrived at in the Mishnah are discussed by the Amoraim, the sages who succeeded the Tanaim or Mishnah teachers. The explanations of Biblical verses, found in the Gemara, are only obiter dicta; its proper office is to explain the Mishnah. Rab Ashi, in |