essay on the massorah

7/29/2019 Essay on the Massorah

1/45

CHAPTER I.Th e titndy of tb " M11sHorah neeCtOaouy to a rcconsion of the Hebrew Text. Negleat

of it on th o part of Biblical critics. Dt.finition of Mauo,....h an d M a B B O n ~ t i atext. Import, Fonu, 11nd Development of th e Maasorah. Number of lo&teniu th o Jliblo. 8nsptouded L .. tera. Peculiarly Pointed LeUera. Th e la7eortedL"ttcJra. Th e IWtiqnity of this pan of tho Massorah.

Fon. th e last seven years I have been engaged in a criticalrecension of th e text of the Hebrew Scriptures, attemptingto do , in a humble way, that fo r th e Ol d Testament whiehGriesbach, Scholz, Lachmann, and Tischendortf in Germanyand Bloomfield, Alford, an d Tregelles in England, have donefo r th e Ne w Testament. Soon after embarking in this prodigious task, I found that it wa s absolutely necessary, first ofall, to master an(l work out the lJittssoralt. Now, thoughalmost every Introduction to th e Bible speaks about th eMassorah, and although the te.ctus receptus of the HebrewScriptures is technically called " t h e MASSORETIO Text." yetI venture to say, without intending to give offence, bu t withou t fear of contradiction, that with th e exception of a fewJews, an d on e or two Christians, al l those who have editedth e Hebrew text, or written upon it s Massorah in theirrespective Introductions, could neither master nor describeth e entire domain of this ancient critical apparatus.

Yo u will understand this better after I laave describedsuccinctly th e origin, import, and development of th e Massorah, as well as th e manner in which it ha s been writtenand transmitted. Perhaps i t will be better tlaat. I , at th eoutset, explain th e meaning of the name itself.

II

Th e expression, ltlrtslwmlt, n;ic9, ltlassoretlt, n ; 1 ~ , orltiftBRortlta, K ~ : ' ~ c r ; > , by which this critical upparatus isaltermttely called (from ,Ct>, to tlelicer, to transmit) , literallymeans tradition genemlly. I t is so used in the Chaldeeversions of tho BiLle; in the Tu.lmud, and in th e Midrashim.Afterwards, however, it becume to denote th e tradi.tioualJ>rommciatiou o f the words iu the text. 1 Such an authoritative and traditional fixing of th e pronunciation is of th eutmost importance, an d was culled forth at th e earliestperiod of th e Jewish commonwealth. For be it rememberedthat th o Hebrew Scriptures were originally without vowelpoints, and thut th e same word somewhat differently pro-

I In Biblical Hebrew th e root ~ = ~ occurs only twice, IUid denotes, '" ~ p a r a t e , to ~ p a r a l e D l l ~ e l . f , in the sen..., o! falling away (Nom. xxxi. 16), an d in tb uNiphal , tube eparated, in th u sens of being ~ t i t ap....t or nnaJberCJd (Nom. xxxi. 5).Ia Jlost Biblic11l Hubrew, howover, u wtlll "" in Aramaic, it is DS8d almost exclusivelyin th o c v ~ : l o p t : d BtslltitJ of separat ing, in order to hand over, i.e. r a t ~ m i l t i ~ t g , lrliveri"IITbwo, "Mosos r e c d v t ~ d the Law (:pun;r') OTIOC') an d lelivered it to Joshua. (.lbuthi. 1), IUid th e Chaldc., of Onkelos, on Gtln. xxxix. t!, renders th e phrase be com.mitted to my b11nl" ' ~ ! I l r : ' ~ , ".Uiivered ("100) into my hand. Hence, tho noun~ ' 0 ' 9 (according to tht> analOSY of J.,rt>m. i l l. 7), traclitiull, lrudiliul


2/45

noonced yields several meanings. Hence, when th e prescriptions of th e Law became th e legal guide fo r praetice. th eexact an d definite pronunciation of the vowelless words.which is tantamount to th e precise meaning, had to be fixed.

Thus, for instance, th e la w laid down in Exod. xxiii. 19 ,when read without points, may either mean thou shaltnot seethe a kid in it s mother's milk," or it may denote"' thou shalt not seethe a ki d in i ts mother's fat ," as i tentirely depends upon the pointing of the same word,:lf:,n:l, whether it is made : l ~ ! : ! l l (i n th e milk), or : l ~ ! : ' ~ (i ntlte fa t) . Again, th e injunction in Levit. xii. o, . ~ i t h o u tpoints, may either mean, ' ' if sh e bear a maid-child, thensh e shall be unclean tw o weeks," or , " i f sh e bear a maidchild sh e shall be unclean seventy days," inasmuch as i tentirely depends whether th e word D'17:lll:' is pronounced

l : l ~ J ! ~ ~ (two weeks), or D ' P ~ ~ (seventy).To avoid th e serious consequence which might arise from

such divergency, the ancient scribes, lawyers, an d spiritualguides of th e people, upon whom i t wa s incumbent to propound the import an d enforce th e observance of th e divineLaw, fixed th e pronunciation, an d with it th e meaning ofthese and all other words. Bot as the present vowel-pointsor signs, which indicate th e pronunciation of each word,did not then exist, th e pronunciation fixed by th e exponents of the Law were for centuries transmitted in theacademies orally. Hence th e name MaBBorak, i . e oraltransmission, tradition, traditimMl pronunciation.

Apart from fixing th e pronunciation, however, theyextended their attention in th e course of time to all thephenomena of the text, such as to peculiarities of caligraphy and orthography, to grammar and exegesis, variousreadings, etc., etc. Now th e whole of this critical apparatus, which developed itself during centuries of labour,

4retains th e name Massoralt, which was originally given toa part of it . So that Massoretio text denotes o. recensionof the Hebrew Scriptures, according to the originally transmitted, afterwards extended, an d now written-down remarksof th e doctors of the Law, who ar e called ll-Iassorites, becausethey devoted themselves to tho annotation an d rubrication ofthese textut1l peculiarities.// As to th e contents of the Massorah. it is no t too muchto say that it embraces al l th e phenomena of th e text, fromth e simple letter to th e peculiarities of each book. Thus,(i.) it gives th e number of times each letter of the entirealphabet occurs throughout th e Bible. (ii.) I t registers th eMajuscular Letters. the Minuscular Letters, the Inverted Letters, the Suspended Letters, the Peculiarly Pointed Letters.(iii.) I t enumerates a n o m a l ~ u s forms of words. (iv.) I tmarks fX1racE )1.;;-yop.evac, or wortls which are unique. (v.)describes how many times certain words an d phrases occurin a particular book, or t,htoughout th e Scriptures, an d howmany verses each book has. (vi.) I t notes parallel passages.(vii.) I t rubricates homonyms. (viii.) It registers th e variations in words, and in construction of the same enactmentor statement r ~ p e a t e d or recorded in different parts of theBible. (ix.) I t gives various readings. (x.) I t specifies th ealterations in th e text designedly made by th e scribes. (xi.) I tcatalogues conjectural readings, 1md thousands of other things.

The form in which these phenomena ar e recorded varies,according to the magnitude and import of th e peculiarities.Al l th e anomalies which ar e of the same kind ar e generallycatalogued in one register. An d i f th e words coming underone Rubric ar c numerous, or will admit of it, they ar eranged alphabetically; and if they ar e too few, or not ofan alphabetical nature, they arc enumerated according to th eorder of the books in the Bible. with different superscrip-


3/45

6tions, stating the special import of th e Rubric, and generallyalso specifying th e number of the words or phrases registeredin the Rubric. When the contents of th e Rubric ar e alphabetically arranged, th e superscription states it ; and if th efllphabet is imperfeot , - that is , i f two or three letters areno t represented,- it is , as a rule, likewise expressed in th ebeading of the List. When th e words ar e not alphabeticallyranged, and if th e number of the Rubric exceeds te ninstances, it is either headed (JZ) nCE') "A List o f so many,"etc., or simply (J'te,n rl;lc -:\) ' ' T1oenty words are unique,"etc. A few illustrations will explain both th e import andform of th e Massorah.

Tile letters.-The Massoretic Poem on th e letters of th eB ~ b l e gives th e following computation of the number of times9ach letter occurs throughout th e Bible.

" .-llrph. occurs 4:t,377 times. c Pinal Me m occurs 24,073 times.::& li e iL a"',:! t"' l Nu11 32,077l Uimel 20,637 1 Ilillttl Nuu ~ . 7 1 0, lJaletlt 112,lHJO 0 :Sttmeck IS,M!O." HB -17,76-1 :p A.gil& 20,176, VttU 711,02:! D p. , 20,760I z,,;, 22,H07 '1 Pimtl Pa 1,076n Chetl 23,-147 S' 7'zmli Ul,060

Th e it 11,05:! y I


4/45

7of the text. Thus, for instance, th e fact that the l 'av inJlnl (Levit. xi . 42,) is the middle letter in the entirePentuteuell, shows wh y it is written larger than th e rest ofth e letters, an d why it is found in th e liat of the .llajuscularLetters. Th e same reacron explains tlle phenomenon in,J7o (Ps. lxxx. 14), which has a suspended letter, booauaeth e Ayin is the middle letter in th e Psalter. Indeed, i tought properly to be a majuseular letter, and should not beamong th e list of suspended letters. The three words,having suspended letters, which really constitute this Rubric,exhibit various readings. Thus th e suspended Nu11. in

n ~ l o , Manasseh (.Judges xviii. SO), indicates that i t iswanted in MSS., and that i t should be read ~ . .J-Ioses, asin 1 Chron. xxvi. 24 , which is really th e reading of the Vulgate, an d in th e Syriac Hexapla. of .Judges an d Ruth, editedby Dr. Rordam, Copenhagen, 1861 ; whilst th e suspendedAyin, in c l 7 ~ , in th e two instances (.Job xxxviii. 13 and 15 )shows that it is likewise to be dropped, an d that the word inquestion should be read without it, i. e., C'V1 = cl::'an, inthe double sense of c/,iefs an d poor.

The same is th e ease with th e letters which have extraordinary marks in fifteen passages of the Bible. To maketh e explanation more intelligible, we subjoin the list.

, : . , . ~ , , trlld bettceell the Gen. xvi.~ ' i ' = l ' tmaol (S.,Irdrill lOS b) ~ '::1, -

8Tho mysterious marks over these expressions &rE

nothing else, an d nothing less, than th e signs which theancient scribes pu t over spurious letters or words, to indicatethat th e letter or expression thus marked is no t to beregarded. They preforred this mode of cancelling, to

~ t r i k i n g out a l t o g e t h e ~ , b e c a ~ s e _ it di d not deface th e appearlance of th e Codex. 'I hat thts Is really th e case, will be seenfrom an analysis of th e words in question. Thus the secondJo d in ~ ~ ~ . betweelt thee, is marked, because between.with the singular suffix, it is ulways treated as a singular:i. e. , ; ~ ~ in pause ~ - ~ ~ - (Comp. Gen. xviii. 9, xix. 33 ,xxxiii. 4, xxxvii. 12 , Num. iii. 39 , ix . 10 , xxi. 30 , xxix. 15,Dent. xxix. 28.) The second Vat' in 1 ' 1 9 4 i ' ~ \ awl Iter1"l/Jlllfl up , is marked, because in other Codices it is defective,as in \'Orse 35 of the same chapter. , , ~ ~ . to /tim, is markedbecause runny Codices ha d an d in some th e word wasabsent altogethm. For the same reason th e whole words inGen. xxxiii .J, in xxxviii. 12 , and in Nom. iii. 39 , are marked,no t being found in th e Codices. In Num. ix . 10 , eitherth e l ie alone i ~ ; ; wanting, Lecause 1 1 : ' ~ . uwy, is frequentlymasculine, or the whole word mu y have been wnntiug, as inverse 13 of the sume chapter. Iu Num. xxi. 30 , th eReslt is maaked, becanso ~ ; o r n e Codices llad }ire, whichis indicated in th e 'l 'ulmudic explanation of this passage,(Baba !Jatltra 19 a) aud is uctually to be found in th eSeptuagint (oriip eorl l\lc.c . 19), etc. In Num. xxix. 15 th esecond l ' tH ' in t 1 , ~ l . aml a tenth, is marked, hecause in

t : ~ W f':t' :-rtl :E:C .,::l:'n ;'1-::,, :1:',11 C,lM t : ~ C :t ' JC' l :1;1:n N'O 111';:>' ppm ., .'l'::J ;'l':!n:JJ .. , .:Tn-c?o -.:n lTCl 'J ;n:c?o 1Z1l t : ,M }'l::l l'1.,.,n.,.;::l;'l p orcnJ 'nE n1 :n t:l-.::'0 'lCM ' l n l ,, w ,,:n :cc ,C H '1Tl 'lll7'':M . ,R. Simul l b. Luki f t l . tlke.l., 11"1111 hu c ~ o (Job s:xs.viii. 16) a I U 4 p ~ 1 1 c l e d All; , , ,[Reply] Bccau,u, "'-It'll " ' " " b,.tume a r iHi f upo11. ~ a r l l 1 , l1e become puor II& heuue-".Bu t uAu ' " ' ~ " ;. 1 ( l. t!., th u . f v i n ] UJI'i'lt>ll at ull., Jl. Jucltal&al& 4UJIII, n ~ c u e u llul to oJfr:ttd lle dipcilll ol David 1 whilt R. 1:.'/iezer aid. Bet:uu.e ,.ut to offend th dtliJJIIitv o f ~ . V t t / , e m u l . , uti o f Hecl.uliul. Com),. Ma.imonides, OD .-Iboll i. 8 ; Jacob b.Asher, Baal HaTurim on Nomb. i. 50 ; Ueiger, l 'rolcrift, I' 258.


5/45

9many Codices i t is defect.ive; whilst th e words marked in Dent.xxix. 28 ) show that ancient Codices ha d here a differentreading. . The marks on I C ~ ! (2 Sam. xix. 20), show that itis a euphemism fo r n'n, as the Chaldee version translates it .C,:lnn the temple, which is marked at th e en d of verse 20

( E ; e - ~ . xli.), an d is repeated again a t th e beginning of verse 21is also recognised by th e Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, &c.,as spurious, an d hence is once omitted ; an d there can beno doubt that n i p ~ ~ ' ? . comers, (Ibid. xlvi. 22) iswrong. That th e pleonastic i ' l ~ i ) , tlte!f (Isa. xliv. 9), indicatesa change in the text, is also evident, from th e fact that th eSeptuagint and Syriac deviate from th e textus 'l"eceptus; whilstth e word t e ~ ? e.1cept (Ps. xxvii. 18) is omitted in theSeptuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, &c. 5Th o strange appearance of inverted Nulls in th e ninepassages of th e Bible, also exhibits th e earliest etforts attextual critici


6/45

11call of Abraham is recorded, but must follow it , and thatthere is simply a transposition.

Before leaving this part of the Massorah, it is necessaryto remark that th e different Rubrics discussed therein ar e'of very ancient date. They form th e topic fo r discussionan d speculations in the earliest post-Biblical Hebrew writings, an d even in these early documents their antiquity isalready acknowledged. ' l'hus th e numbering of the lettersis adverted to in the Talmud (K,iclclltsltin SO a) ; th e Suspended lettets ar e mentioned in both th e Talmuds (Jerusalem.Beraclwtlt ix . 1 ; Jerusalem Sanhedrin i. 4 ; Baba Batltra,10 9 b; Tosepltttt Scwltedrin cap. xiv.); and in the Midrashim(V a yikra llablm, cap. xiii.; lt-Iiclrasltim on Psalm lxxx. 14 ;Song of Songs iii. 4 ; Abotlt cl' R. Nat/tan, cap. xxxiv.) Th ePeculiarly Pointed Letters ar e quoted in the Mishna (Pessac-Jtim ix. 2) ; the Talmud (Nazir 28 a ; .Baba lt-Iezia 81 a ;Saultetl,.in 48 b; Horajoth 10 b; Jl-'Ie1utclwtlt 81 b; Bee/toroth 4 a) ; an d in th e Midrashim (ll:litlrash Rabbotlt, on th erespective passages; Sipltre on Numb. ix. 10). Th e InvertedLetters are referred to in Sipltre on Numb. x. 95, 36 ; Sabbath 11 5 b, an d th e Midrashim on th e respective passages.

Though tho MIUI&oretia Poem, giving tho number of t imes each let ter OCCIIU'Bthrough.>Ut th e Bible, was written towards the end of tho tweUth century (Comp.

M a ~ U u r e t l a 1/a--AituMJrt:th, p. ~ 6 ! ) , etc., ed . Ginribuq;, where it is printed with anEnglish commuutary), yot, from th e above quoted passage, it is evitlent, tLat as earlyas th" fourth century of the Chris t ian ora, tho totters were already counted an dregititered. Indeed the T..tmud, u t SUJra, will httvu it that th e titlu, Soplerin&

( 0 ~ 0 ) , wa s given to th e ancient doctors of th e Law, heauo.e they numbered everyluttur of tho Scriptures (:rrtn:I.'ID nl'n"IMO't 'p c. ,g10 ,,l"'''D C"""!nn C'l'111lM'l lM'Ipl -p'!h).butt duriviug th e word - .c'o from "11:0, to COUllI, to t&Ut l lkr , and not from to eoritttJ

12

CHAPTER IT.

N111Dbor of llooks in th e Hebrew Snripturea, according to th e PaloliniauaBat.yloniauH, Josupbus, Mel i to , Ori11en, St. Jerome, th o Talmud, th e Midrashim, IUld tb e MuHBorah. Th e Threefold Di.-ision of tho Books, an d th eDesignation of th respective Groups. Th e Massoretic Oroupinga. Diversity of Opinion about th e Sequence of th e Books. Tabulated Order accordin g to the Talmud, St . Jerome, the Maasorab, th e Spanish 1\ISS., the Germar,antll ' 'rench Codices, an d tho \ ' ieuna Codex. Th o Diriaiou of tbe Pentateuchinto Si " Hundred anti Sixty Nine Open an d CIOBed Sections. Table of theSSections. Their Origiu anti Import. Their Antiquity. How they ar e indicatul iu th., MSS. and Printed Text. Th e llivision of tbe Te:d to securePericol"'s for th e Semi-Sat.batical Cycle, an d for the Triennial Cycle. Tableof thu Triennial Divisions. Th e Antiquity of tho retipective Liturgical Divisions. Th o P


7/45

18Judges- Ruth ;1 8, Samu el ; 9, Kings; 10, Chronicles; 11,Ezra - Nehemiah ; 12 , Esther ; 13, Isaiah; 14 , Je remiahLamentations; 15 , Ezekiel ; 16 , Danie l ; . 17 , the MinorProphets ; 18 , Jo b ; 19, th e Psalms ; 20, Proverbs; 21,Ecclesiastes, and 22, the Song of Songs. The Babylonians,on the other hand, divided the Bible into twenty-four books,answering to th e twenty-four letters of the Greek alphabet,for which reason th e Iliad and Odyssey ar e also respectively1 ivided into twenty-four books. The two addit ional booksto make up th e tw o letters which th e Greek alphabet hasmore than th e Hebrew, were obtained by separating Ruthfrom Judges, and Lamenta t ions from Jeremiah. Th at th edivision into twenty-two books is th e Palestinian, an d hence

1th e older of th e two, is evident from th e following facts. 1.This number is mentioned by Josephus (Contra A p i o ~ t . , i. 8).2. Melito, bishop of Sardis, wh o travelled to Palestine in thesecond century, in order to ascertain on th e spot wLich wereth e sacred hooks of th e Hebrews, gives this numerical division (Eusebius, .flist. Eccles. iv . 26). 3. Origen, who dividesthe Hebrew canon into twenty-two books, appeals to th etradition ol th e Jews in support of his numbering (Eusebius,i.bicl. iv . 25). And 4. St. Jerome, wh o adopted th e generalarrangement of the Palestinian Jews in hi s days, gives thisnumber (Prologus Galeatus). Both Origen an d St. Jeromedistinctly declare that this division was made in accordancewith th e letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Indeed the lattertells us that the five final letters were also represented in thesymholisution of the books of Scripture. "' The Hebrews,"he remarks, "have five double letters , viz., Caph, Mem,,Ntm, Pe , an d 1'zadi, and hence there ar e five books which

1 Hence Bath wa s 110welimes w:&ually ealled t.he book of J adgee C"CDIDn IOIIID ~from t.he initial words wit.h which it begine. This name ie giyen to it iaCodeJ< of tho llrit.iah Ma...,am (No. 6118, Had.), and in a M118110rah of a Spulilrla,Codex of t.he Bible, No. 8, by KOIUlico&t. Comp. Bnme, .A d Kcruicotli zn-rc.General., PP- 18, 19 .

14ar e double, viz., Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra , and Jeremiah, which contains in it. L11meutations. "" Still, th e Alexandrian and Babylonian division into twenty-four ~ o o k ~ , wa salready known au d ttdoptcd by some in Palestmo Il l St.T t'tme anJ like manv other variations between th e.. erome s , Easterns an d "\Vcsterns, th e Babylonian usage s u p o r s ~ d e dth e Palestinian, an d is adopted in tho ' l 'almud, 1 \ l a ~ r a -shim, and the Massorah. Hence th o technical desagnatiOn,

J 1 ~ " 1 K l c ~ . jour aud twenty, fo r th e Old Testament.aTh e Classi f icat iou.- The twenty-four sacred books ar e

divided into three classes, viz., tho Law, th e P1ophets,th e Hugiographa. Like th o numberiug th o books, t ~ 1 sthreefold division first obtained in Palm;tme. Hence 1t sH b c.:nn:n ctt::ll n,,J'l which is of frequent occur-e ro w name ,renee in tho Talmudic literature (Baba Batltra 14 h) , an dwhich is adopted in the 1\lasBotah, both in th o full title an din th e abbreviation :un (comp. Massorah on Gen. iii. 11. x.18 ) I t is to be 1emu.rked that th e Massorah frequentlycails th e first division by th e C h a l d ~ e Lame Kn,,K, Law,which it abbreviates into .,,K, or simply .,K (comp. Massorah on Gen. i. 1, ii . 22, vi . 5, 6, 16 , xii. 14 , 20 , xiv. 9,

tc ) Hence th e abbreviation of all th e three divisions,0 121'l"M = c::l,n::l cK:::J.l Kn,,tt (comp. Massorah on Gen. 1. , 20 16 1v 4 vi 2 x 13 xiv. 20). 'l 'he second class,11. , Ill. , , , ' - ..;, e. the Prophets, are subdivided into tw o rumor classes,

' , r (C'l,t:'tt, ctt:::J.l)respectively denominated th e .8arlur Propttets .comprising Joshua, Judges, Samuel, un d Kmgs ; an d .theLater P.ropltds (C'll.,ntt ctt':::ll), embracing Isaiah, Jerem1ah,


8/45

15Ezekiel , an d th e Minor Prophets.th e Mnssorah calls ~ n " O , i ' ~ h o ~ e . o ~

These tw o subdivisionsand ~ l ' J n N n o ~ C ' ~

The Greek-speaking Jews, wh o 1dso adopted tripledivision, had, up to th e t ime of Christ, no technical expression fm the third class, i. c., th e o : n n : ~ , lltt[lioyraplur.Hence it is nltetnately designated T


9/45

17Pr1'tensis (1516-1517) .7 The Minor Prophets, which ar ecalled in th e MQssorah "1DY .,n, 01 ,o,,n, tl'e twelve, ar e alsotreated as on e book, though th e beginning and terminationof each are indicated by a small or large vacant space in th JMSS. The reason wh y these twelve Prophets are puttogether that owing to their smallness they might be lostif written separately.

From the definite rule laid down by th e sages it wouldnaturally be concluded that th e order of the books in theMSS. an d in th e Massoretic text should be uniform. B ut agreater diversity ca n hardly be conceived. Apart from th eSeptuagint an d Vulgate, which have neither the threefolddivision nor follow th e prescribed order, great variations ar eto be found in th e MSS., in th e Massorah, an d in the earlyeditions of th e text. 'l'o render t.hese differences intelligible,we subjoin th e following table, in which, however, we do notinclude th e first of the three divisions, since the Pentateuchuniformly occupies th e same position and has th e samesequence in the books.

7 It. wa,; Felix Prat..neia, th e editor of l lomherg'a f tnt Rabhinio Bible (Veaic:e,1516-17), an d no t R. Jacob b. Chajim Ib n Adouijah, th e editor of the IIIICOIIdRabbiuio Bible (Venice, 152-&-:!5), .. some aapatoae, wh o t int introduced thiscli-rision. At the end of what is now marked 1 816111. xxxi. IS , Pratensia pa t th ewonlao c'J:rM EM'Io 711:1 = ..,, 'ilnD'ID ~ 'l'ID - ,a , c-un'm c.;.nnc JtO ,w,.., tire

. R o m a ~ : e 6egi11 tAe eeamd buui: o f St1111wl, tuAicA u by t/,ru, tle 11Uu11d buul.: ti fK i11gs. '1'heae words fonD a complete line in th e column, an d aa they ar e in theli&llle"ize of type - th u text, they are only diatiDRUished fn>m it by th e absence of th e,owel eigua. Th u division between th e &rat an d &eOOIId K i D W ~ , howe,er, ia siauplyindicated by an .. ..risk in the middle of a fnU l iue, referring to the margin, wherei t is remaa-ked Tl., "":)'nl ,lCD c'lln'nt c"rnnc 1" Acre tlul Roma, . 6egi,. tilefuurt4 6uol: o f K i ~ t q e . Bostweeu Ezra aud N oshemiah, in th e _,. iue oeeapied by th etenDillation of tho oue au d th e beginuing of th e other, is remarked, noan: -,.., llulLluul; oJ Nclcemiuicl .a iJeRill a new Iiiia ; aud theremark 'l"G' "1llD ecu11tl Buol:, is ill th e margin. All these boob thaa divided haveauparate "hapteriDga, eo t ha t Pratensie aleo th e f tnt wb . broke np the t..x& inloehaptera.

a This, accordiug to Baehi, was done by Hapai , Zeubariah, an 4 Malachi1-,a, ..,... - DD f t D'M'D:"I l:lUn:S tiJ n1)'1!:i' crrn 'IMUl 1omD ,n c ~ D'l 'G1"11:1ln C' l 'nnM D'M':U C:"l ' \ 'mD VlnDD 'IIMjln m, - .n1 >:3M'7D1 ~ 1 'ln 'IM:I1m1ep ncnc 1"1l.M tm11 .,,l "1llD c,_, cmr nll 'Ci ' n'IM1D "'lnln c r rmMUl un:nC omp. on Baba Batlrra 15 a.

18

TABLE I.OnDER oF . ruE PnoPHE'l"::; AN D HAGIOGR APU.A. .

I.Tut: . J t : w > ~ , .\t:onJuusn

"l'O :ST. Jt:IIUllt:.

. mila Utl. utlgcs- H nth.Snmucl.Kingsl!ininh.JeLemiuh-Lnaucnt.n tinus.Ezokicl.

Hosen.Joel.Amns.Obtulinh.,Jonnh.1\licah.Nnhum.l lnl111klmkZcphnuitllaH111{gli.Zcchnrinh.l\I,Liacbi.

Job.Psa1lms.Paoverbs.EcclesiastesSong of Soul:!'"llau1iol.Cbruniclcs.Ezl"ll-Nelacauiuh.l!;,;thtlr.

II .'l'ut.: '1'.\l.llllU.

Ti lE PH.Ol'HETS.")i!.\RI.It:R 111l


10/45

19

TABLE 1 . - c o ~ & t i ~ t u e t l .O R D E R OF T H E P R o P H E T S AND IIAoiOORAPH.A..

IV .Tau: MASSORAII.

Joshua . udges.Samuel.Kings.

Isaiah. eremiah.Ezekiel.

Hosea.Joel.Amos.Obadiah.Jonah..Micah.Nahum.Habakkuk.Zcphanirlh.Hug-gai.Zechariuh.Malachi.Chronicles.Psalms.Job.Proverbs.Ruth.Song of Songs.Ecclesiastes.Lamenta.tiontl.Esther.DanielEzra-Nehemiah.

v.SaANISH ANu IT.,LIANCoDIOEtl.T H E PROPHETS... EARLIJ::R PaoPU.t:Ts.

Joshua .JudgesSamuel.Kings."LATER Pnoi'III':Ts.Isaiah.Jercmil lhEzekiel.

M I N O R PR O PH ETS.Hosea.Joel.A1nos.Ob&diah.Jonuh.1\licah.Nalmm.HabakkukZephaniah.Hag-gt\i.Zechariah.Malachi.

HAGIOGRAPHA..Chronicles.Psalms.Job.Proverbs.Ruth .Song of 8 n u ~ , t " .Ecclesiastes.Lo.nlenta.tiotts.Esther.llaniel.Ezra-N ehemiah.

VI .Vu:NNA Con.t:x.

Joshua..Judges.Stunuel.Kings.

ltuliah.J er


11/45

21whence it derives the name open section; whilst th e closedsection begins a line partly occupied by th e termination ofth e lust section. I t is only when th e hebdomadal lesson ofth e annual cycle begins with a closed section, that th e lattercommences a ne w line. The vacant space in the line,indicative of a closed section, must be sufficient to occupya triliteral word. There ar e in al l tw o hundred and ninetyopen sections, an d three hundred an d seventy-nine closedsections, as fol lows:-

TABLE IT.O PEN AN D CLOSED SECTIONS.

OJ!GD SecUona. Cloded SecUooa. 1 Open SecUona.

1 a84667

..

910

1112

Gt:NJ!: tUi t . . I G&NICall l lI. S-H I 16

loAxi. 1- 9D-18

J.l-19 :211-:!U !I9-1--31 '

10 11

II. 1-8

Il l

vi.

lx."

.,_UI. 161 I l l .9

lv.v.

16 i17-a! '1-!16 I 16

1- 6 ; 1d6- 8 ; 17&-n:

lll-1-& I16-17 '18-211

l i l l ...xiv. l-It10 181-IU84667H9

10 21-IU 18 xvlll. 1-xlx. 881112 ali-27118-8118 11".&-vl. 4 lD xxl.

li-S lJO xxU.9-Ia :a

18 au 11-1-&

14 vi. lB--vlll. 1-& all xaill.lli viii. 16-lx. 71d IX. 8-17 26 XXV.

Illali

I 17j1s " 16-110 i 116 XXVI.l!1-8ll

al l "'1-19- I l l

1-110111

1:1-1819-8-&1-88

Closed 8eoUooa.o . . . . . . . .

19ao1!111 128Il lali116

:d . 1 ~ 1 8

""1!8 xvl.liD xvll .8081 XX.II i xxl.

88 xxlv.

1._1516- l ' l18-1990-lll11:.1-28

9 & - ~a6-B:l

1-911-111-J.I

11i-ll71-181-91

1-a'J

Tb d e f u e o e e < ~ 1o th e C bap te r . aaut , .e. . . ._, . . . . accard la to " '" ' H b " w Bibl"- Th e ariadoabe&weeo &be ( l r ~ P o a l azad th e Aatbod.Hd VuaiOD.,.. a a . m u a ~ below.

Open Sections.GEME l l iH.

27 xxxl l ._xxxl!i. 17

28 XXXV. 1-ll298081 xxxvl.8:!83 xxxvii.IH XXX\"111.

u - ~ . ,~ ~ ~ - : . . ' 9

1-1981-4111-au1- l l l l

8586

xl . 1-:!3xll. 1-xliv. 17

87Uti8!l411414ll

xlvlll.xJix.

1-2:11-4f>--7

1!-1:!111

1-l-15

I.I) it.3 ..4 iv .li ..6 vi .7 "

R9

27-1. 20

Es:oDUH.

18--a&27-vl. 1

1 ~ 1 218

vii . 1-78-18

I

22TABLE I I .-continued.

Cloded Suction.OENE::i iK. 1nt xxvi. ::

115 xxvll. 1-xx\ili. II 11116 xxvli l . 1 ~ x x x l l . 6 i1 1087 xxxlll.3H xxxiv. 18-:!0 1!1-81 !InI, 12

1839 XXX' \" i . H

1

R4

1-:l:l

xllv. 18-xlvl. 7xlvl . 8-:!7

,. :!8-xlvll. Ill

:dix. 16-11!1al l l l21

2:!-:.!6

15lfl

II!10211

I :!1

25

! l ' l;!!d

ExonuR. 29

Ill. 1-lv. 11

81)81sa

vi . 2- 9 88

14-28,!9-80 :!

O(JCU SecUoos . Closed 8ect.lon11.ExuDU! i , ExoDus

vii.

lx.

"xi.

xll .

xl l l .

s . i v . ~

xv.

xv ixvii.

X\"111.xis.

xx.

1-78-1:!

li vii .61 vi i i .s2

1._1819-26

1-1112-11i16-l!H

10 lx . 18--21~ - 8 5

1-11l!J-llU I

1- 8

21-281-10

11-161-14

11>-2526-81

1-19

11 x.

l: l xi .13H xll.15

16

17 xlll.

l l l !- l !1 I 18i 19I 20!

X'\ '.

xvl.11-27 : 21

1-78-18U-161-271-l!li

8-1128

alill6

127IE

XX .

12-20

4- a9-101-110

61

17-!!:!

11:.1-26:n-xvl . 3-l-10

1l l-6

'1

l!l18HII i1611


12/45

!198081l l l l88a.1161111

28.TABLE IT.-:--continrted.

Open Sections.Ex.oous.u: . 18-!llu: l . 1- 3

87 l-212:!-:.!.'i26-27

4:l IJS...3l4S lllHIII~ 87-xxU.B46 xxll. 446 li47 6- 848 9-1:!

u-1: 15-171d1 9 - ~27-301-8

45

6-19119 ltVW. 6-12

I

6162: xxvll .636&116 :r.xvii i .66fr11111

81-371- 8

9--1920-21

1- 6IS-1-i15-3081-86

Open Sootlona. Oloae4 Sectlona.Exooua.

Ii i xxxU.6263 XXS. lil .M55 xx.xtv.56

1-10u_:ul17-ll l2:!-s.

19-177- H

l lHI I i19-1617-2111-l!&

27-35

Exooua.IIIJ xxviiL70 xxlx.71

'12 xsx.78 xsxl.

116-481-81116-


13/45

1ll8>8'I89

1011u18u

II>16171819

110Il l2:!211

'11911081Ill!113Sf8111111

I.

II .

w.

lv .

v.

vi .

llll-113U..116ll6-27!18-29110-31t i-88M-85M-417118-81140-11--& 7t iHi41-9~

1-1617-11091-28

1- ili-10

11-811-lll-

TABLE ll .-continued.01o""d 8eoUoDB.

1

ll846

87

I II9

10111!1181416

Nuxa&Ba.I. lll}-21

II.

Ul.

h.

vi .

vii.

10--1817

18-11425-81

1141161!6'n

1-11w-l'l

-l74849liO

51113liS5&M58

67

110

816:1113

OpeD 8eotJoDB.Nuaaaa.

vW .

lx.

x.

xi.

xU.

1-89-141-111

11-28

1-1616-112l l l \ -86

l- 8

xiU. 1-xlv. 10xlv. 11-25

96- t l ixv .

svi.

s:vll.

1-1617-lll

61 ..vw.

:ds.""

'lO . .U.

18

1'1

18Ill

YIU.

b .

"

..u.

.. v.

.......

xvll.

28 xvUI.

""xx.l.

111-118

-l 'Hil

9-11>

l-'1

1-11

26TABLE II.-.:ontinued.

Open 8eot1one. I Clo- &ocUona.NCMD&BB. NC.. BB.

71 xxl. IU-xxll . 1 I xxL 17 :!0xx.ll. B-xxlv. 1161- 8:!78

74:&XV.

75 """''

76

10-lli16-19

1-10

77 ....vn. &-n76 12-H79 xxviU. 1- 880 D-1081 11-15

112 xxlx. 1-8

811 """" S6S788894041424S44454641 ,. u.

49 xxv!U.liO

51 xxlx.52liS5&M5667

8884

1:sxz.xxxt.

11-17 It-1!1 II

11-1411>-1819-2223-:!lil iB-'n28-8481>-87118-4142-tS44-41-ls-6167-85

1- 6

16-2626-817-11

12-1617-192B-221!8-laSll6-2829-81112-8481>-,.,.,.. 1

IE xx:d. 18-110xxxiL811S7 xxx.JU.

l-46S xxxil .64

111-9426-64

li-1616-10

Open Seot!OIUI.NCIIBZBB.

88 zx:&iv.8000 XXXV.01In uxvl .

1-lli16-119

1- 8D-841-18

DZUTBilOICOKY.

1 lv.984 . v.

6 vi .

6 vii.7 viii.80 lx .

Ill x.II

1:! xlll.

1-9426-40U-491- 6

111-161-18

19-1101-291-11111-xl. 9

11-8

D & u T a a o w o ~ .1 IL Il-liGll '81>-188 . 17-ao-l 81-UI. Ill!6 w. liS-lit

8 ... 6-107 118 111-11>9 18

10111!118141618171819110 ..u.

17 417617o17d.18418619-vl. 8

10--11>16-19---11

ll1 17-28

22 x.l. 19-1!113 18-ll llK --16 96-18116 119-xll. 18ll7 xU. ...18 119-xUI. 1

'1-U


14/45

2'1TABLE fl .-continued.

OpeD 8eoUOIUI. Ol"""d BecUoDa. Open SocUona. Oloaad 8eaUollLDtJTJiac>KOJn'. D&ln'JIROKOIIY. D&UT&ac>KOIO. D n a o o ~ n .

110 xw . 18-19 ' I ll xsJU. 81 ldv. 1- 2 7 ...,82 IH I 7li 8- 888 (}..10 78 11}-UM 11-91 77 18-1178 18-lltU-97 'lit .....18 "'" M-29588 XV. 1- 8 80 2S-H87 7- U 81 ll 6118 1li-18 89 ..

H XV. 1&-1111 88 ltXlv. 1 -t15 llri. 1- 8 sa li-8

89 xri. s..-1!! ' 85 716 18-1'1 ll8 8-8

40 18-llill 81 1(}..18u 111-22 88 1-Uti xvU. 1 81 184S ll--'1 90 1'1-18

91 19'1 xril. 8-18 I 911 20-U" l ~ l l i O 93 XXV. 1- 4S :o:vW. 1-11 IH 1>-10,8 8- 6 96 11-H.7 8- 6191

ll8 18-U.11 9-224.9 xllL. 1-10 xsv. 11-9111-18 !2 2 ,..... 1-11 l


15/45

29etc., existed before th e compilation of th e Pentateuch, isreadily granted. A careful perusal of th e Books of Moses alsoshows that many of the precepts existed among differentfamilies, who described th e same narrative an d expressed th esame laws in diff'ment wmds. When these traditional narratives came to be written down, each story and enactment wasinscribed upon a separate roll, an d was circulated as a distinctsmoll. Thus th e genealogy of Adam was written upon asoparate scroll, and hence is called a book (Gen. v. 1) . Thecontents of Exod. xx . 19-xxi i i . 33 , ar e called in Exod. xxiv.7 th e Book of th e Covenant (n,::li1 ,!lC). Even th e smallformula of divorce is designatetl th e Book of Divorce

( n n ~ ,!DC), because it was written on a scroll (Dent. xxiv.1, 3) . A single precept, enactment, or statement is denominated " the Law;" a term which wa s afterwards applied toth e whols Pentateuch, because it was written on a separatescroll. Thus the Song of Moses (Deut. xxxii. 1-43) iscalled a Law (Dent. xxxii. -16).

When all these different narratives and 'laws, ' written onseparate scrolls, and circnlatetl an10ng various tribes, werecompiled into one scroil, no t only were duplicate narrativesan d laws recording th e same thing in different words inserted,bu t they were incorprated without regard to logicul sequenceor chronological order. We propound here no theories ofou r own, bu t simply record the statements of the ancientdoctors an d spiritual guides of the nation, who were th e

.1stodians of th e Hebrew Scriptures, an d who copied andtransmitted to us th e text in its present form.

Thus the Talmud distinctly declares that th e Pentateuch is composed of separate pieces, which were originallywritten upon separate scrolls, an d at different times, without an y organic connection.1 For instance, Exod. xxiv.

to rnnl mlc mJo m1n the Pe11tateuch was writtera on eparate croll. R.Jochauan, who recorda thia fact in th e DIUDe of B. Benaah, quotea the eapnallioD "1EID n'll'O (Pa. :d. 8), aa deDoliDg a IM!GtioD in th e Peutatawoh. B. Le9i,

301-11 ought to have been inserted before cap. xx., since th eevents recorded therein happened prior to th e promulgationof th e Decalogue on th e fourth of Nisan." Now, in lookingat the Hebtew, it will be seen that this inversion, which isduly indicated in the original by an open SCQ.tion (El) at th ebeginning (xxiv. 1) an d a closed section ('C) at the end (ver.11), hegins with a verb ( , ~ ) without a subject, thus showingthat it has no antecedent in the section immediately preceding. Moreover, th e Talmud tells us that E.xod .x.x.xi. 18-x.xxiv. 35, ought to precede x.xv. 1-xxxi . 17 ; since th einstitution of th e sacrificial service wa s in consequence of th erelapsing of the people into the worship of the EgyptianApis.12 Here, again, th e section is no t only marked at th ecommencement (Exod. x.x.xi. 18), an d th e termination (xx.xiv.35), as closed ('D), bu t it begins with a verb ( l r : ! ~ ) without asubject; thus showing that i t has no connection with th e preceding section. Again, th e record of th e cities of refuge forth e land on th e west of Jordan {Dent. xi.x. 1-10) is insertedafter Dent. xviii., instead of following immediately Dent. iv .41-49, which speaks of th e cities of refuge on the east ofwbo maintains the ... . . . , riew, declare tbat e ight sections (viz., Levit. x:d. 1-9,Numb. viti. 6-:!S, Levit. xaii. 1-16, Numb. v. l -4, Lev. sri . l -S I , s . 8-11 ;Numb. viii. 1-4, six. 1-22) were written upon separate seroUs at th e erection ofth e Tabernacle (Gitri" 6fl a--61 b) . Th e same thing ia stated in th e M.idraa!Wn,"TOM 'nt m1n w iT 'n1"a1D 1m l M'! the ectioM in the L'e11tatllllch notarranged ;,. chrunulogical order. Comp. Mitlrah Tillim eap. i i i .u Ccmp. Mechilta Pericope IQ section i i i . p. 4 a, ed . Weiao, Vienoa, 1865;.Joma 4 a au d b; Sabbath 86 b, an d Rasbi 's remark on Esod. :axiv. 1, mzTUl~ 1'1 1T'1'0Hl 11'0l , l n1"1lT.l m11n1 C'l'lj7 OTIDMl 1 thia ~ ~ U t i o n (Esod. ll 9 iY.I - l l ) IDaa Cl>n&municated before the D e c a l o ~ , a it WtU o,. 1M fourtl. o i&ivan tlaat Muu 10a con"'aa nded to aund the mountain.

U Comp. Setkr Olam Rabba, cap. ri., an d Raahi'a remark on Eaod. ax:ai.,.8,, mo rrn cl, = p'mn:IM roM'Ic .,,r, c ,p 'lnm l'1"a:)ft) m vu "1mM'I:I1 tnp1'0 7'1'l l l , l l ,.,.,n., m n c ' n 'lon'IZM :o-p;, m n r u c ~ 1 m n c,:11 n1m'ln TUn1Dl n c r u .-- lD'.U '1111Q c;:n;n P'mn:IM tla&0 chro .ulogical ..rder ;, . the r e . ateucA; tAIDOralaip of the golde11 cal_/ too.l: piau lo"o before the buildi11g o f tlu: Tal>e.-..ack&.-'nee tlae l iDo tablu IDill"tJ brokf!ll Ol t the eventeenth da y o f TaPauz, tlae Hoi""One, blued be Ju:, hoiDtld himelf merciful to the I . .-aelitu o>& tlae Da y o f.&to11eme,t, an d the followillg rraorning tlaey commenced 1M free-IDill contril>Kt&o,.., fo r tlae Tabernacle, IDhido was erected 011 tlae jirllt "f NiJia,..


16/45

81Jordan. Here again two fragments ar e respectively JQ&rked8 8 separate sections. Indeed the Talmud says that therear e confusion and transposition of sections throughout Exod.xxi. 1- xxi.v. 18., . Hence th e ancient doctors and inte,;preters of th e Scriptures felt themselves constra.il).ed to .ydown th e exegetical canon, that . . there is t&O chrorwlogit;alorder in the sections of the Pentateuch."

No w whether or no t we accept the .emphatio assertiDne ofthese ancient custodians of the Law, that th e P e n t a . t . e J ~ c h j scompiled of different fragments, without regard fR logi.,..seqoence or chronological order, th e fact unq.,.estiollallly "1/J-mains, that th e sages made the marks in question to i n 4 i ~th e detached constituencies of th e compilation. In d e ~ n c e ,(this theory, however, is to he urged, that th e open sectioJJe,which indicate th e separate scrolls from which each book Jl.,.abeen compiled, always comprise a complete narrative or b.w;that th e closed or enclosed sections which interveno alwayscontain new matter of a ditWrent impor1i, sl;ww tlaat theywere written upon the same scroll ; and that no ~ p e t i ~ n oftb e same narrative or law ever occurs in an open section; wh,LQhfOOS fa r to show that each such section was originally . ,n t tenuprin a separate scroll, an d was comp'-'te i.o itself.16

Moreover, i t il l to be remarked that many W. ~ AC tions have separate titles.Lan d are quoted in ~ oldet ~ < ) . ~ Biblical writings, where i t is taken fo r granw.l tW..t t;Aeywere well known to al l Madera of the Script.W,J:l T ~ s

u pc :lZU "''1ITID ::1'M'll ir& tAe MoaaiD la - (C"'CClDD 'I)) U I ' I G ~ r & tau.o- taGNS .U.plaMd ar&4i IAizul y l l l i ~ ollter p tUMQ . (cqmp. B....rudnA 6 ; Ha6aK a a a 1 < ~ ) .

Ll ~ M'm'C "1mMD D"'II"'O which b t.be laat of t.be &hiriJ'&wo raJM ofill&upntalion, ....Ueo&ecl aJWl .ya&ematiaecl h7 B. Elieaer h. JON &he GaliJeaD,cme of &he principal oxpoaiton of th o PeD*-&each iA &he ......,..d . , .a ' -J ' oft.be OhriatiaD ua . (Comp. Kil&o, O I J d o ~ o f Biblical L i u r a i M r t ~ , lbDi ld l l ) .u Dr . HocluoU.d&er, wh o was th e ftn& to point oa t &hia fact, --*-for &behell&bomeroa baYing open ( 1:1) ....,tioaa iaa&ead of d.,..,. ('D), Oi l th o bnootlaeeiaib M MGh da y a...o&ea ~ epoch, .. fJrGID U. . adaen b;r .,,...,.. -

82in . Genesis, Open Sections, i. I - 7 ar e quoted in th eM t s ~ n a Taanith iv . 3; ~ l e g i l l a iii. 6. In Exodus, OpenSectwns, Nos. 29 , 30 , 47, are quoted Mishna 11-legilla iii. 4,6 ; Closed Sections, Nos. 14, 22-31 are quoted MishnaMegilla i i i . 4, Taanith v. I. In Leviticus, Open Sections,!'!_os. 32 , 42, 50 , ar e quoted Mishna Joma vii. I ; Megillam. 5, 6; Closed Sections, Nos. 37, 45; Mishna Joma vi . 1 .Megilla iii. 6. In Numbers, Open Sections, Nos. 26, 29:

~ ~ - 58 , 66 , 8I, ar e quoted 1\fishna Sota vii. I ; Megillam. 4- 6 ; Taanttlt v. 1 ; Berac/wtlt ii . 2 ; Closed Sections,

~ o s . 10-13, 1 - ~ ~ ar e quoted Mishna Taanitlt v. 1 ; 11-Iegilla111. 6 ; Jada;un. m. 5. In Deuteronomy, Open Sections,Nos. 5, 18, I9 , 2I, 22 , ar e quoted Mishna Taanitlt v. I .Beracltotlt ii. 2; Sota, vii. 2 ; JIIegilut i i i . 4, an d C l o s ~ d S e c ~tions,. Nos. 23, 89, 44, 52, 94, 97 , are quoted MishnaTaamth v. I ; Bcrachoth ii . 2 ; Aiegilla i i i . 5 . 12 . a vu . , T ~ e s e ~ e c b o n s ar e respectively fixed for lessons on specialoecaswns, m accordance with their import.

I t is upon this theory, moreover, that th e following enact~ e n t . of the. ancient. sages with respect to th e Pericopes1s s a ~ t s f a c t o r d y explamed. They ordained that each onewh o ts called to th e public reading of th e La w must read noless t h a ~ three verses, an d that in case these readings donot hcgm an d end such a section, they must at least commence three verses after th e section, and terminate threeverses before th e section, in order that those who in th eeYolatioDII an d that th - fal l e tl'l'en . o eery day may probably "-e been writ&e n y oa a &eparale Eawntia n Ongt tbere .oJ r n pupynu. Jo"or aimilar reaaou, we finll here an d... __ other o p e ~ eectioua ("DI between cloaell oaea of a


17/45

88interim happen to leave or to come into the Synagoguema y not think that be who reads the Law before their goingout or coming in only read one or tw o verses (ltiegiUa 21 a-22 b). The section therefore detennined the Pericope an dnot the lesson th e section. This importance of the Sectionsle d th e ancients to decree that a. Scroll of the Lawwherein some open sections ar e by mistake marked as closed,or vice versa, is useless, just as it is illegal to read in a. Codexwherein th e letters are interchanged, or th e poetical portionsar e written like prose (Sabbath 10 8 b) . Indeed, according toMaimonides, i t is not even lawful to correct such a Codex(Hilclwth Sep/ier Thora viii. 8) .

W e have only to ad d that in the Massoretic manuscriptsan d editions th e open sections ar e generally indicated by th einitial letter Pe ( o = n r y c t ~ , open), and th e closed sections ar emarked by th e initial letter Sameclt (C = n ~ m c , closed). Butwhen these sections begin the hebdomadal lesson, th e opensection bas t-hree Pe s (D o D), an d th e closed section threeSamechs (C 0 C). In th e Synagogal Scrolls, from which th ePericopes ar e read, these letters ar e entirely absent, andth e sections ar e simply indicated by th e prescribed vacantspace, whilst in some of th e more carefully written MSS. th emark, nn1no, Open Section, or n ~ 1 n c , Closecl Section, isfully written out at each such break. This is th e case inCodex No. 5710 (Harleian) of t.be British Museum. InCodex No. 1528 (Harleiao), on th e contrary, the mark isomitted, an d a. vacant space alone indicates th e sections._7'/re Semi-Sabbatical Year C y c l ~ - Next in point of antiquity is th e division of the Pentateuch into one hundredan d seventy-five Pericopes. Th e design of this division is1tha.t th e entire Law should be read through, publicly, oncein every three years an d a half, or twice in every Sabbaticalyear. I t is beyond th e scope of this essay to describe th eguild of Metlturgemanin, or Interpreters, to which th e in&ti-

utution of the Pericopes gave rise or to h h 6'--. , s ow ow aa r th eanment versions, viz., the Greek of the Septua!rint Aq uTheod t S c ' 01 a,0 lQn, ymmachus, &c., th e Syriac Peshito, th e Chaldeeparaphrase

that the injunction to "read th e Book of th e L .., acallI I " h F a. oresrae , on. t e east Tabernacles of every Sabbatical year(Dent. XXXI. 10-18 wtth Neb vii 2 8) t 1 . . . ' , no on y gave nseto th e dtVIston of the Pentateuch into hebdom da l 1h h a essons.w tc are read publicly to this da y in th e s. . ynagognes o r th e1nstructwn an d edification of the Israelites, bu t to th e belief

that Moses himself instituted th e Pericopes (Acts xv. 21 .Josephus, contra Apion., ii . 17 ; Jerusalem Megilla i 1Babylon Megilla, 81. b; Baba Kama 82 a) . . ~ o w , _ it immaterial to ou r ipquiry wh o th e author of thismshtuhon ts , as we have simply to point ou t it s eWe tth a . . f h c s upone tvtston o t e text. There ca n hardly be an y doubt thata t ~ r s t there were no fixed an d measured hebdomadal lessonsassigned for th e ordinary Sabbaths ; that th e Feasts andFas_ts alone had their appropriate lessons, and that th e par

c e l l ~ n g ou t of the entire Pentateuch into a certain number ofPertcopes was a gradual development, and became genera}

a b o u ~ tw o centuries before Ch.-ist. Ancient authoritiesmentiOn. a cycle of three years an d a half (Jerusalem. Sab:atiL 1; Suplte,.im xvi. 10), and the Hebrew text, as

r a ~ s m t ~ t e d to us , ha s a twofold pericopal division namelya trtennia.J an d 1 . an annua. eye e, an d th e question is whichIS th e oldest of th e three?

From the Bible itself we gather that th e Law " .read before th e whole community every Sabbatical as(Dent 10-18 ye.ar ~ x x 1 . ). After th e return of th e Jews from tilBabyloDian captivity, th e readings in the Book of th e L .,of Go d , aw,an d . were undoubtedly more frequent (Neb. viii. 2, 8)specnal and appropriate lessons were appointed fo r solemn


18/45

an d great occasions. I t is therefore natural that as soon asfixing of Pericopes for Feasts and Fasts gave rise to the firstdivision of th e entire Pentateuch, it would be into on e hundredan d seventy-five hebdomadal sections, so that the Law mightbe read through in three years an d a half, or twice in everySabbatical year, th e first cycle terminating in the month ofNisan, and the second in the month of Tiskri; so that th een d of the Pentateuch should coincide with th e end of th eYear of Release, which appeared more in harmony with th espirit of the original institution (Dent. xxxi. 10-13).

Th e Trienrtictl Pericopes. - T h e la x observance of th eSabbatical year, however, and the ultimate total neglectto celebrate it , brought this pericopal division of the text- i n t o one hundred an d seventy-five sections- into disuse,an d gave rise to the trienni1Ll cycle, or th e division ofth e text into a hundred and fifty-four sections ( D.,"1D ).According to this division, th e reading of th e La w wa s asfollows : -Gen . i. 1-Exodus xiii. 16 , comprising ll.istorg,i. e., from the Creation of the world to the Exodus, wa s readin th e first year ; Exod. xiii. 17 -Num. vi . 27 , embracingthe laws of both Sinai an d th e Tabernacle, formed th ehebdomadal lessons fo r th e second year ; an d Numbers vii.1-Deu t . xxxiv. 12 , containing both history (i.e., th e accountof th e thirty-nine years' wanderings in th e wilderness), an dlaw (i.e. , th e repetition of the Mosaic precepts), constitutedth e Sabbatical lessons for the third year. Whether the SemiSabbatical Year Cycle ha d a division of th e text into ahundred and seventy five sections entirely different from th edivision of th e Triennial on e into a hundred an d fiftyfour sections ; or whether these two divisions are identical,and the additional .number of lessons for th e half year wa sobtained by th e special Pericopes fo r the Feasts and Fasts,will be discussed in th e sequel. We subjoin a Table of theTriennial Division.

36

TABLE III.THE TRIENNIAL CYCLE.

GENESIS.Gen. i. I .. . i. 8 .

.. ii. 4 .. . ii. 21 .4/}

" iii. 22 .. iv. 28 ." v. l . . vi. 8." vi. 0 . viii. u.fl1H!}

10111:!l: l1-l15Il l17IH1!1

'.!1

,iii. 15 . . x. 17 ." ix . IIL.xi. :12.. xii. 1 11.. xii. IO xiii. lB ." xiv. I . 2-l..

XV. 1. . .!1." xvi. I .. . In... xvii. 1. . !7 .

X\jjj_ 1. . :13.. xix. 1. . lA. XX. I lfl.

xxi. 1. . 14 .xxii. L .. xxjji. 20 _.. xxiv. 1. 4 1.xxiv. 42 .. 67 .

xxv. I. . HI. xxv. lll .. xxvi. 36 .xxvii. 1. . 27 _

xxvii. :m ... xx,iii. 0xx.viii. IO xxix. so:xxrx. :n ... xxx. l... xxx. :.?:.! xxxi > xxx!: 3 .. xxxii." ; :., XXXII. 4 .. . XXxiii. 17

xxxiii. lH xxxv. a."" xxxv. u .. xxx,i.xxx,;; . l . . Jo.

2t'i:I,);11ll;J:I Ia.)au

;J ;

xxxviii. l. .ao... xxxix. l. . xl . 23xli. l . .a7. ." xli. I J ~ i . .xJii. 17

xlii. ll!l .. . xlijj_ IS

GENESIS .Gen. xliii. H .xliv. 17

xliv. 18 .. xlvi. 27.".. xhi. 28 . xlvii. 31.xlviii. 1. .

xlix. 1. .1.

40.u

l2:145ll7H!}

101112l:JIS151617IIi19202 l

232-l.?.5202721!120

Exonus.Exod. i. I .. . i. :.!IS.

iii. l. . v. 17.iv . 18 vi . l.vi. 2 .. . vii. 7.vii. ~ - - v i i i 15 .viii. 111 . ix. 35 .X. 1. . 20 .xi. l . .xii. 28 .xii. :.!U . 5 1.xiii. l .. . xh. 14.xiv. l:, .. . xvi. 8.xvi. 4 .!7.xvi. 28 x,'ii. 16_x '"iii. I xix. 6.xix. ll . xx . 2ll.xxi. I . xxii. 23xxii. 2-t xxiv. ~ t t .xxv. 1. . -to.xxvi. 1 .. 3u .xxvi. IJI. xxvii. 21.XX\'Ui. 1. . !3.Xxix. I -!6.xxx. 1. . 88.xxxi. l .xxxii. 14 .xxxii. 16 xxxiv. 26xxxiv. 27 .. xxxvi. 38xxxv!!: I .. .xxxvili. 20 :xxx_nu. 21 .. xxxix. B.a.xx.xu:. 33 .. xJ. 38 .


19/45

12s4I)6s9

1011121314u1617II i1920212223

1346II7HD

10J.11: !13u.

87TABLE m.-continued.THE TRIENNIAL CYoLE .

LEVITIOOS.

Levit . i. 1 . ii. 11 .iv . 1 . vi. 11 .vi. 12 .. vii. 38 .'\'iii. l. .x. 7.X. 8 . 20.xi . 1 . .47 .xii. l. .xiii. 28 .xii i. 2U 51J.xiv. 1. .32 .xiv. sa .57 .XV . 1. .24 .xv . 2r. xvi. 34 .xvii. 1. . 16 .xviii. l. .ao.xix. 1 . 22 .xix. 23 xx . 27 .xxi. 1 .. .xxii. 16 .xxii . 17 . xxiii. 14 .xxiii. ll i xxv. 13.XXV. 14 xxv. 3\J xxvi. 2.xxvi. 3 . .46 .xxvii. 1. 3-t..NUM B E R S .

Num. i. 1 64 .ii . 1...3-l.iii. 1. . iv . 16 .iv . 17 . v. 10.v. 11 vi. 21.vi . :!2 YU 47 .vii. -tt:S viii. l . . x. 23.X. l .. .xi. 16.xi . 16 .. 22 .xi . 23 .. xii . 16 .xil i . l. .xiv. 10 .xiv. 11 . 46 .xv . 1 41 .

16161718 *I l l202122232- i2{)2627282\J303182

NuMBERS.Num. xvi . l. .xvii. 16 .

xvii. 16 . xviii. 24.xviii. 2{) xx . 18 .xx . u ...xxii. 1.xxii. 2 .xxiii. 9.xxili. IO xxiv. 26 .XXV. 1 . 9.XXV. 10 xxvi 61 .xxvi. l)2 xxvii. 14 xxvii . 16 .xxviii. 26 .xxviii. 20 .xxx. 1.XXX. 2 17 .xxxi. 1. 24 .xxxi. 2{) 6-1xxxii. 1. .42 .xxxiii. 1. .66 .xxxiv. 1 . xxxv. 8.XXXV. 9 .xxxvi. 13 .

DE UT E R ONOM Y.1 Deut. i. l . i. 1.2 ii . 2 .80 .3 ii . 8I. ii . 22.4. iii. 23 v. 40 .6 iv ..ll. vi. 8.6 vi . 4 . vii. 11 .7 vii. l: viii. 20 .8 ix . 1. .29 .9 x. l. .xi . 9.10 xi . IO xii. 19 .

11 xii. 20 xii i . 19 .12 xiv. l. .xv . 6.13 xv . 7 xvi. 17 .l .. l xvi. lt i . xvii. 13 .16 xvii. 1-t xx . 9.16 xx . IO xxii . 6.17 xxi i 6 xxili. 9.1tl xx.ili. 10 .. 21 .19 xxiii. 22 xxiv. 18 .

38TABLE III.-continued.THE TRIENNIAL CYOLE.

Dt :UT E R ONOAIY.23 xxiv. 1U. xxv. IIJ.21 xxvi. l. .xxvii. 26 .2:.! xxvili. l. .xxix. H.23 xxix. O xxx. 10.2-1 xxx. 1 l . xxxi. 13 .:.!5 xxxi. 14 30 .26 xxxii. 1. . 62.27 xxxili I . xxxiv. 12 .

JosJtUA1 .Josh. i. l . . ii. fl.!! iii. 7 uiV. 23.:l iv . 2-l vi. 2ti.-1 vi. :.!7 viii. :12.[) ,.iii. :13 .....x. 7.ti l.:. t! . .t l .7 x. -1:.! xii. :.!4.H xiii. l. .xiv. 14 .0 xiv. 16 .. xvii. :l.In x\'ii. 4 . xvili. 27 .11 xviii. :.!H xix. 60 .1:.! xix. IH xxi. 4:.!.13 xxi. -ta xxii. :J:t.1-t xxii. ;1-j xxiv. 33 .

1a4/)II1"'fl

1011121314.

Jumn:s ..rudg. i. 1. .ii. 11.

ii. 7 iii. :w.iii. :JI .. . . 30 .\". :11 vi. :I ll.\'i. "'' ' viii.viii. a . x. 11.ix . 7 1'17.x. i .. . >:.i :n.xi. :1:! . xiii 2:1.xiii. . xvi. :!.xvi. a . .xviH. : .xviii. tl xix. 111.xix. :W ... xx. :.!fl.xx . :n ..xxi, 2-&.

1234ljII7ti!)

10111218141.')1f l17lHw:!02122:!;I::-t:.!5:.!11

l23

S A A I O E L .1 Sam. i. I. . i. 9.

ii . 10 .. ii . 19.i i i . 20 vi. 13 .vi . 14 . x. 1.i:x. 2 x. 23 .

IF X. 24 .. xU. 21 .xii . 22 xiv. 22 .xiv 23 xv. 16.XV . 17 . X\-i. 17 .:xvi. 18 xvii. 3ft:xvii. 3 7 xviii. 13 .:xviii. 14 .. xx . 3.XX . 4 41 .xx . 42 .. xxiii. 3.xxili. 4 . xxiv. 20 .xxiv. 21 .. . xxv. 8:!.XXV. 1\:Jxxvi. 24 .xxvi. 25 . xxviii. 28 .xxvili. 24 . . xxx. 24 .xxx. 26 .. 2 Sam. ii . u.

:! Sam. ii. 7 ii . 20 .

**

iii. 21 . v. 0.v. IO .vii. 15.vii. l6 x. 11 .x. 1:! xii. 12 .xii. 13 xiv. 17 .xiv. ll:l xv . 24 .xv . 26 . xvi. 15 .xvi. ll i . xvii. Ill.:xvii. :!O xviii. :w.xviii. 27 ..xix. au.xix. 40 xxi. 11.xxi. 7 xxii. lW .xxii. Ol . xxiv. 25 .KI NGS .

I Kings. i. 1. 4 7.i. 41i i. 4-1.ii. 46 v. 19


20/45

89TABLE m.-continued.T u x TIUBNNIAL CYcLE.

KJNOB.4 1 Kings iv . 20 vi. 12 .6678g

101113141616

vi. 18 . vii. 20 .vii. 21 . viii. 10 .viii. 11 67 .viii. x. 8.x. o .xi . 27 .xi . 28 xii. 28 .xii. 2-1 xiii. 22 .xiii. 23 xv . '1.xv . s ...xvi. 1.4.

x v i ~ 1b xvii. 23 .xvii. :U xviii. 38 .xviii. 3o xx . 12 .XX . 13 xxi. 16 .

la.uAB.6 Isaiah xiv. 2 xvi. 4.789

10111218141616171919

xvi. 6 xix. : t4.xix. 26 . xxii. 22 .xxii. 23 . xxiv. 22 .xxiv. 23 xxvii. l l .xxvii. u ...xxix. 22 .xxix. 23 xxxii. 17 .xxxii. 13 xxxv. 9.XXXV. lO xxxvii. 19.xxxvii. 20 xxxix. 8.xi . l. .xli.xli. 27 .. xliv. 6.xliv. 6 . xlv. 16 .

17113 xxi. 17 xxii . 42 . 20xlv. l'l . .xlviii. I.xlvi i i . 2 xlix. 26 .xlix. 26 li . 6.19 ,. xxii. 43 2 Kings. ii . 14. 21 Iii. 1 .. lv . 12 .20 2 Kings. ii. l l i v. 26 .

2122:l3262627282930:n3233M

*iv. 26 vi . 22 .vi . 23 vii. 16 .vii. J6 x. 12.ix . 13 x. xiv.x. 16 xii. 2.xii. 3 xiii. 22 .xiii. 23 xv . 6.xv . 7 xvi. 10 .xvi. 20 xviii. 6.xviii. 6 .. .xix. 18 .xix. IO xx . 7.XX . 8 .. .xxU. 1.xxii. 2 .. .xxiii. 24 .xxiii. 26 .. xxiv. 17.x.xiv. 18 xxv. SO.I sAIAH.

1 Isaiah i. 1 .. . v. 2.2s *4 *0

iv . s ...vi . 2.vi . :i x . 6.ix . 6 xi . 1.:U. 2 xiv. 1.

2223242626

lv . 13 lviii. 13.lviii. 14 .. x i. 8.lxi. o .. xv. 8.lxv. o .. xvi. 2-l.

JE R E M I AH.1 Jeremiah i. 1 .. . ii . 3.2 ii i .& v. l.s v. l .. .vi. 1.4 vi. 2 vii. 22 .6 vii. 2S .. x. 22.6 ix . 23 xii. 14 .7 xii. 16 .. Dv. 21 .80

10111213141616

xiv. 22 xvii. 6.xvii. 7 . x.vili. 18 .xviii. Ut .. xx . 12 .XX . 13 . xxii i . 6.xxiii. 6 . x.xiv. 6.xxiv. 7 .. .xxv. 38 .xxvi. 1 xxvii. 4.xxvii. 6 xxix. 6.ssis . 7 XXX. 8.

40TABLE m.-continued.THE TRIENNIAL CYCLE.

J E n E ~ J J A H . EzEKJJ::L.17 Jerowiuh xxx. u . .xxxi. 112. 211 Ezekiel xxxvii . 28 XJCrix. 21 .HI xxxi. :Ja xxxii. 21 . 24 xxxix 22 x1. 44 .111 xxxii. 2:! xxxili. 1/:i 2:'> xi. 46 xli i . 12 .20 xxxiii. lf l xxxv. 9. 2fl xli i . 18 xlili. 26 .21 xxxv. 10 .. xxxvi. 25. 27 xlili 27 .. xlv. 14.2:.! xxxvi. 2l l . xxxvili. 7. 28 xlv. 1o xlvii. 11.23 xxxvili. IL . xx...Ux. 17. 2U xlvii. J 2 xlviii. 36 .

xxxix. 18 xli i . 11 .2:'>:.!11272H;.:Uan:I I

7

10111:.!1a1-l11'>16171H1U:w2122

xlii. 12 xliv. LU.xliv. 20 .. xlvi. w.xlvi. 27 .. xlviii 11.xlviii. 1:! .. 1. 4.J. 6 .. i. 9.li . 10 6!i.li. liU li . 34 .

Ez..:KrEL.Ezokiol i. 1 .. . ii. 11 .

iii. 12 . v. 17.vi. 1 .. vii. 27 .viii. l. .x. H.X. ll xi . 10.xi. 2o ... xiii. 2:1.xiv. 1 ... xvi. 1:1.xvi. 1-l :m.xvi. IIO xviii. li .xvili. U xix. 14 .XX . 1 . .40 .XX. 41 . xxii. 15 .xxii. lU .. xxiii. 26 .xxiii. :!7 .. .xxiv. 2:1. ;x x i ~ . 2-l .. x v i . _ ~ o . 1 1

,XXVI. 20 .. XXXVIU. 1:...xxvili. 1a .. xx.ix. :!0. 1xxix. :! l xxxi. 18 . 1xxxii. J .. .xxxiii . 16. I

x ~ . 16 .. xxxiv: 25.1XXXJV. 2U XXXV1. :U.xxxvi. 26 xxxvii. :n.

M r r - ~ o R PRoPHETs.1 Hosea. i. l . .vi . 1.2 vi . 2 x. 11 .a x. 12 xiv. o.4 xiv. fi Joel. ii . 26 .5 Joel. ii. 27 ... Anlos. ii. 9.

'II Anlos. ii. 10 .. v. lli.v. 1-! .. vii. 14 .H vii. 15 . . 0bad. i. 20 .u Obad. i. 21 Jonah iv . 11.

I 1011I:J14la111li11'11!1:!021

1:!a45tl7

Micah. i. l. . v. 4.iv. 6 .. . vii. 19 .vii. :.!O Nah. iii. 1U.

Hab . i. l. . ii . IU.Zoph. i. l. . li . 10 .

iii. 20 Hag . ii. 22.ii. :!3 Zeoh. iv . 1.iv. 2 . vi . 13vi. 14 .. viii. 3.viii. -1 xi . 17 .xii. l. .xiv. 20 .xiv. :!1 . Mal . i l l. U .

C IUION ICLJ::S.1 Chron. i. l. . v. u.

iv . lO .. vi . 38 .vi. :J4.. .viii. ao.viii. 40 .. xi . 8,xi . 4 .. . xii. an.xii. 40 .. xvi. 86 .xvi. Sll xix. 1:!.


21/45


22/45

41TABLE m.-contiJ&ued.TH E TRIENNIAL CYcLE.

81Chron.9

1011

xix. 1S xxii. 19.xxili. 1 .. .xxvi ..l.xxvi. a .. xxviii. 10.xxviii. 11 .. 2 Chron.

ii. 1.12 2 Cbron. ii. 2 . . v. U .13 vi . l. .vii. 10 .1-l11)161718li t:!0:.H

232.&:!5

1a45fl78It

101112131416IG1718

vii. 11 . x. 2 l .ix . 22 .. xii. 12.xii. 13 .. xv . 14.xv . 11) .. .xviii. 17.xviii. 18 .. xx . 30 .xx . 3 l . .xxiii. 11 .xxili. 12 .. xxvi. 2.xxvi. ;J .. .xxix. 10.xxix. 11 .. xxxi. 10.xxxi. 11. .xxxiv. 2.xxxiv. S . . . xxxv. II.XXXV. 10 .. xxxvi. :!3.

PsALMS.Pz1alm i. l .. .xi . 0.

xi . 7 .. .xx . 10.xxi. 1. . xxix. 11 .xxx. l .. .xxxv. 28 .xxxvi. l .. .xli. 1-lxlii. 1 .. .xlix. 21 .l. t .. . vii. 12.lviii. 1 .. . xvii. 8.lx'l.iii. 1 .. . xxii. 20 .lxxili. 1 .. xxviii. 37 .lxxviii. 3H .. . xxxiv.13.lxxxv. 1 .. .xc . 17xci. 1 .. .c. :.ci . 1 .. cv . 45 .cvi. 1 .. cxix. 72 .cxix. 73 ... cxxviii. IIcxxix. l. .cxl. 14.cxli. 1 .. .cL o.

12

5II7li

1

67R

12a..lti

12a"'

Jo b

Prov.

..

Joa.i. 1 .. .v. 27.vi. l .. .xi . 20 .xii. l. .xvii. 8.xvii. 9 .. .xxii. 30 .xxiii. l. .xxix. 13 .xxix. 14 .. xxxili . 33.xxxiv. 1 .. .xxxviii. 34xxxviii. Sl) .. xlii. 1'7.Paov&aas.i. 1 .. .v. 111.v. 20 .. x. 10.ix . n ...xiv. 3.xiv. 4 .. .xviii. n.xviii. lO .. .xxii. 21 .xxii. 22 .. xxv. 12.XXV. 13 .. xxviii. 16.xxviii. 17 .. .xxxi. 31.

EcoLESlA&TEB.Eccles. i. l .. . ii. 12.i i i. 1S .. vi . 12 .

vii. l . . x. 6.ix. 7 .. .xii. 14.

E t ~ T I I E R .Jo!sther i. 1 .. . i. -i.ii . 6 .. . ii. 7.

iii. 8 .. .vi . 10... vi 11 .. viii. 14..viii. 16 .. x. a.

D ~ : l U E I ..Daniel i. 1 i. 3-l.ii . 36 .. ii . so.

iii. 31 .. v. 12 .v. 1S .. vi . 10.n. u ... x. 3.

42TABLE m.-continued.TH E TRIENNIAL CYCLE.

D ~ N l l i : l EzRA -NEHEMIAH.6 Daniel ix. 4... . x. 21. 4 Ezra viii. 31io .. .Neh. i. 10 .7 xi . 1 .. .xii. 13. li Neb. i. n ... i. l t l.

6 ii. 1U .. .vi . 16 .EzRA. -N :HEliiAII. 7 vi . 16 .. viii. D.

1 Ezra i. l. . ii. 1:J. H viii. lO .. x . 37 .2 iv . l. .vi . 1H. II X. ) .. .xii. 26 .3 vi. 1U .. .viii. 3-l. 10 xii. 27 .. xiii. 31.

Before proceeding to discuss th e antiquity of this cycle,I must make a few remarks upon th e textual conditionof th e List itself. As none of the MSS. that I have hithertocollated give it fotmally, I have been obliged to work it ou taccording to the printed e4ition of Jacob b. Chajim Ib nAdonijah, which, as we shall presently see, is both defectivean d incorrect in several instances. Th e oldest MS . in th eBritish Museum (No. 5,720, Ha.rl.), which is of about th eeleventh century, an d which is unfortunately imperfect, givesat th e en d of each book both the number of verses an dSedarim (C'"l,C), or triennial sections therein contained.But us thi1:1 MS. is simply a fragment, beginning witltJoshua vii. 22, an d breaking off at Ezek. xlv. 19 , we havethe sum total of the Sedarim in six books only. They aren.s follows-

Joshua:l Judgesa Samuel

1-l1434

4 Kingsr. lsaisho Jeremiah

352113:!

I t \vill be seen that in five ou t of the six books th esu m total of this MS . agrees with th e printed text, an dthat in th e sixth book, i.. e., Jeremiah, th e Codex givesone more than the List. As it does not, however, give th ecommencing words of th e respective Sedari.m, it is impossiule to say whether the mistake rests with th e MS . or


23/45

48with th e printed List, which not only gives the sum totalof each book, but also th e words wherewith every sectionbegins.

As to the omissions an d errors in th e publishedtext, which admit of no doubt, we have to remark thati t omits on e section in Genesis. This is evident fromthe distinct declaration of the superscription that Genesis(!1"0 ,,,,0) "has forty-tltree sectio11B," an d moreover is placedbeyond th e possibility of a doubt by th e Massoreticremark a t the end of Genesis, which no t only gives thisnumber in letters, bu t also expresses it in th e followingmnemonical sign toc l'l, .,,,, l" O , , ,c, , "Genesis ltas forty-three Sedarim, ancl tlte sifl'' thereof is J smnuu ; whichname is numerically forty-three. Heidenheim ha s actuallyfound th e omitted section (Gen. viii. 1-14) in a MS .10 In deed there is another section omitted from the Pentateuch,since no less an authority than Ra b (i . e., Abba Areka),the President of th e College a t Babylon (A. D. 200), whocame from Palestine, where th e cycle obtained, distinctlygives illP, pure/laser [= 155] as the mnemonical sign forthe number of th e Sedarim. 17

Besides these omissions, there are the following blunders.In Numbers, section 18 ought to be c : : : ~ a c C , c n l i : ' D " ~ ' . an dMosEs s c ~ & t messengers, instead of c : : : ~ a c C , c , ' , ~ . , , an d he sentmessengers (xx. 14). In Samuel, section 6 should beDl1i'1 C , : : : ~ C,ac )tc\t:IB' , t : ~ t c t , aml Samuel saicl To al l th e people(x . 24), and not Dlln ' > : : : ~ '>actr:x=r ,oact, ancl Samuel saitl

10 Finding that the Liat gives only forty-two inatance11 in Genellia, Hus&Drf, inhis edit ion of th " Rabbinic Bible, altered the aapeneriptioa into forty-two, ba t overlooked th e fact that th e number forty-three i11 gien still more distinctly a t th e ea dof Genesis, aucl thaa, by hia ..W.takea correction, made th e ... two atatementa to contradict each other. He rightly conected section 6 in Samuel, ba t left ..U the othere r r o r e ~

,.,go 11D!!ln -u., l'D'i7 >c C:l::& '!'"" 11"Uo"Y ""1::&., cn ' l j l n Wm >''lJ "n:lM :a., 17l f idrruA, 011 Eather, a t th e > e f P D D i D ~ , or -t. 116. l'Dp 'hD "::rQ

44al l the people. Section 27 , 'IIO":ltc 'ac 1?t:li'1 OM'\, an d tlteking said to Abislwi, is a mistake for ',ac ,t:lact 1':10i'1 Ill'\

n ~ a c n , an d the king answered, an d saicl to tlte woman,(2 Sam. xiv. 18). Section 28 , 1'>cn '>ac :1M\' ,etc\, au d Joabsaid to the killfJ, should be i ' 1 , ~ ; 1.,t:ln ,t:ltct, au d the kiugsaid to Zadok (xv. 25), because this is th e section in th e MSS.,an d because th e former passage only occurs once, and that atthe end of th e book (xxiv. S), where there is no break.Section 29 , , i'1P, ,cac,, an d Husltai, David's f,.ieucl,said, is evidently a mistake, since these words occur nowhere,an d it ought to be , , , mn '::l,tcl'l 'C"'n tc:::1. ~ a c ! l nt, a 1ulit ccww to pass when Husltai the A1chite, David's frientl,was come (xvi. 16). In Kings, section 24 , np\ nnct, mu ltl.ey hasteuecl autl he took, is a mistake for \np'\ ,,l"lt:l'\an d tltey haste1ted awl they took (2 Kings ix . 13). In Isaiah:again, sect10ns S an d 4 ar e transposed. It will moreoverbe seen that Ruth, th e Song of Songs, an d Lamentations ar eentirely omitted in Jacob b. Chajim's List of Sedarim.

A more serious difficulty connected with this List is th efilet that th e verse ending th e previous section or th e secondin the Sedar is frequently given as th e sign for th e new division. Should this be doubted, I refer to th e Table of Chapters throughout. th e Bible. which Jacob b. Chajim also giveswith th e List of th e Sedarim. Th e signs for th e chapters,which arc divided according to the Vulgate, instead of beingth e commencing words of th e new chapter, ar e frequently th etermination of th e previous one. Thus, fo r instance, th esign fo r Exod. xxix. is ,ll,r':l1 ,c, D ~ , p np,n, it shall be a s t a t u t e ~fo r eter 1tnto hi m aud his seed, which is th e concluding verseof cap. xxviii. Fo r Numb. xiii. th e sign is \liC!I ,ntc,, an d

a . ( ' _ t e n ~ c r r t l s _the people J"enwtecl, which is th e last verse of cap.xu . The stgn fo r Numb. xxi. is n,pn \tc,t, an d when al ltlte eouure!fatiou. saw, which is th e concluding verse of cap.xx. The sign for 1 Sam. x. is 1.:1'lD) ,,::11"1 "'\PlC, ,,etc, bid


24/45

45the servant pass on before u.s, which is 27 . The s ~ g n fo r1 S VU 1s ~ : I . , , & , , , , so Davtd went on Ius way,am. xx hi h constitutes th e middle of 1 Sam. xxvi. 5. These few: s : :uces , which might easily be multiplied, will s u ~ c e tosubstantiate th e correctness of my remark. I f other eVldence d I simply refer to th e divisions of th e Psalms1s reqwre , . . . . th e original of the Trienmal L1st Itself, Hence, m: :ducing th e signs to chapter an d verse, I h a . v ~ not h ~ ~ ~ t e dto correct th e references, a.ccording to th e sectiOnal diVISionsin the MSS. Still the difference between th e List an d mycorrections rarely amounts to more than a single verse.

As th e tr iennial division has been overlooked in Introductions to an d Dissertations on the text of th e Old Testament where th e annual division is alone spoken of , it willbe n ~ c e s s a r y to demonstrate th e greater antiquity of theformer. The design an d nature of these Pericopes presuppose th e shorter, i.e. th e triennial, rather than th e longer,or the annual, cycle. Every hebdomadal lesson was dividedinto seven sections, corresponding to th e seven days of theweek an d seven individuals were called in succession up toth e desk to read respectively on e of those sections (MishnaJI-Iegilla iv . 2.). The honour to be prmlector of theDivine La w wa s deemed so great, that an order of precedence ha d to be fixed (Mishna Gitti11, v. 8) . With a du eregard for th e feelings of al l juvenile members of the c o ~ -gregation, and to stimulate them to th e study of Holy W nt,children had a full right to be among th e seven prrelectors ;an d that each child might be able to read hi s respectiveportion of th e Perieope with fluency an d intelligence, it wa sallowed him, by way of exemption, to prepare th e lesson byth e oi l lamp on Sabbath eve, a practice forbidden to all grownup persons." . The law that each one of the seven called up to

46th e lectern should personally read his part of th e seven portions of the Sabbatic lesson, was still observed as late as th etwelfth century. 8 When it is borne in mind that th e Syna-gogal Scrolls of the La w from which th e Pericopes are readhave neither th e vowel points, no r th e accents, it will be seenu.t once that it would have been very difficult for th e ordinarypeople, and more especially for children, to read such longsections as are contained in th e annual cycle. To obviatethis difficulty, a rule was laid down, "the shorter th e lessonth e better.so Hence, if there were no other evidence, weshould conclude, from this fact alone, that the triennialcycle was th e older.

Moreover, we ar e distinctly told that th e minimum of th eSabbatic lesson is to be twenty-one verses, an d th e maximu m thirty-five verses; that even th e ordinary cycle of Pericopes is to be interrupted if a festival or New Moon happensto occur on a Sabbath when a special lesson appropr iate to th eoccasion is read; an d that after th e interruption th e ordinaryJ>ropare th e l 'cricope, an d tho pormiuion that they might do it by tho oi llamp on Sabbath eYe, l ike all other laws, were afterwards extended &o aU,IUld it "" " Waisted upon that every on e 10honld read ov"r th e Ieason twoor three times, though none bu t children wore &o do 110 by the lamp on&bbatb eve. Midrruh T a ~ & c h u , . a , Poricopo Jet/m, p. !:12 b.

ID 'l 'bo.., wh o conld no t read were debarred from th e pririlege o f beingcalled &o tho lectern. AB such ignonwce of th e sacred tongue oecuned onlyin thu cougrugations oa t of Pa l ...Uue, it wa s ouacted that, in "'""" thoro isonly one student in the 1188ombly, he is &o read the whole l 'ericopo n,nnmom:> nH '"'i' llW"':11 nH "1m :vn mn n'n:> l11!7'1m ') ) M"\1p "1m """ 'P ' l n l tth"lj) ,,m ""i' l:l'j71Cil l P 'n ' "111M . ~ M " ' j ) pn'n:J f i " ' i l "l flM'' nPJ.'CII Jeru&aleuJlo:villa iv. S. As la te as tho tenth century ... , find that Suadia would only111low, by WilY of e:.cuption, an ignorant pries t or Lerite to be called &o th ore,.dinlf tnl'TID c'7 ~ n ~ :P'n' U'M'CII 117'1m i1t) f:J""lS Cl"' CM'CII ~ ., 310,mCM'7 P,,, M'l:l:l n'J!l ,., M"'j)"Cl CM n ?lzl m'm -.nM CCD rMl .,; '1M Jl1:::ln'lP'o .,.; ,.,.., CM1 n,"1pi 'n:l> R . Suudiu. declarc


25/45

47course is to be resumed!1 Now, i f twenty-one verses ar eallowed for each lesson, we obtain a fa r greater number ofordinary Pericopes than there are weeks in the year ; an d ifwe ad d to this th e number of extraordinary Pericopes forthe F easts and New Moons which occur on th e Sabbath,i t will be seen at once that th e triennial cycle alone iaspoken of in th e Mishna.H any other evidence is required to show the. priority inag e of the tr iennial cycle, we quote th e testimony of th eBabylonian Talmud, which most explicitly declares that .. th ePalesti,,iaus read througll. the P e ~ t t a t e u c 1 1 . in tl&ree year (Megilla 29 b).'"" As th e reading of th e Law is a Palestinianinstitution of pre-Christian date, no on e will question thatthis Babylonian post-Christian record assigns the priority torn11m ~ mm '1n . ~ m:nc::a M r o w : ~ . mm "nTTZl .,,.. 'I'ITin a n 'IIT1m1 ~ : l " \ : : 1 ol"'D1'1M mD ~ o"\1:11 n':nD:l .mme rn'flh f i "C' l01 ~ J ' D ~

m : ~ r n D'I"\\113.1 .n:mu D"'''TTn ' a n : ~ J'I"CClD 'r.h T""'I:)., r:mn r1'1D'Dn:l .m., mnD"'UEE::In D,.:l, nnft : l : l , " JVAe" tlae Ne w Noo11 o f .dclar lw.ppe11 "" a Ba6batA,tAe Seetior& S&B K.&L UI ' [Esod. l l l< l l . 11-16) u to h read; i f it lkr.ppcru Or&" -.t day, th u t!ctio11 " ' ' " ' be read o tlus prcudi11g Sabbatl&, ar11l tlacsrtJf!Ular order U. ir&terruptecl fo r tlae otht!r Sabbath. 011 the ~ n t l , tAet i- RzMBI IBBR ' [Deut. " " ' ~ ' 1'7-19] u to 6e rdGtl; t.W tlur


26/45


27/45


28/45

58Indeed the .Benediction recited at the reading of these lessonsis still preserved. . . He who reads in th e Hagiographa," saysth e Masseclretll. Sopite rim, (xii. 4) "mus t say, Blessed beJehovah, ou r God, King of th e Universe, who hast sanctifiedus with Th y comn1andments an d enjoined us to read in th eHagiographa. ' 10

Tile .Am&ual Oycle.-The next division of the Pentateuchaltext in point of antiquity is into fifty-four hebdomadal lessons,to provide a special section fo r every Sabbath of those yearswhich have fifty-four Sabbaths. I t is here to be remarkedthat th e maximum number of Sabbaths in th e year is fiftyfour, whilst the minimum is forty-seven, and that in dividingth e La w into Pericopes provision ha d to be made for th emaximum number. 'l'he fifty-four lessons are required inth e intercalary year in which th e Feast of New Year falls onThursday, au d the months CltellltValt ( 1 1 ~ ) an d Ki11lev ('.,C:::S)have respectively twenty-nine days. Th e years which haveonly forty-seven Sabbaths are those in which New Year fallson a Monday, and the months Cltesltvall. an d K-i11lev haverespectively thirty days, or in which New Year falls on aSaturday, and the months in question ar e regular, that is ,Cites/wart has twenty-nine days, an d Kislev thirty. To provide for the maximum number of weeks, i t ba s been ordainedthat fourteen of th e fifty-four Pericopes are to be read inpairs. They are as follows, Nos. 22 an d 28, 27 and 28 , 29an d SO, 82 and SS, 89 and 40, 42 and 48 , 50 an d 51 . H th eyear has neither of these extremes, only so many of th e fourteen are read in pairs as will supply Pericopes for th e varyingnumber of Sabbaths. Th e first Pericope is read on th e Sabbath after th e Feast of Tabernacles, and th e last on th e concluding day of th e following Feast of Tabernacles, so thatth e whole Pentateuch is read through in a year.~ "WM D'11n -po uon'IM mrr nnM ,-u -m1'1 ,-w C>:lln::l3 1M"117oW 'ID"IlP '3l1:D nT 1l'nn l ' l rnnn

54

TABLE IV .TD E Alni 'U4L 0YCLI!!l0 OB P E B I C O P 4 L DIYIBIO!f.111

lCam.e or eaab Pedaope. -. . . , . or v - ....III.Demoalcal illcri.l1'1DM'U B"ruAitllo Oeu. J. l - ' r i .B lM = ll"''jnn'o Jolla-.wah. rMr'!IMA- l< l lo .2 9 m NotU:IIo vJ. 9-:ld. 89 168 1D11moo 'lM " " 'fa l lwrof la:allo u Lot ,'M':::a BuaiMl.

8 s -p -p .rA . a.r..ella xll. 1-x'riJ. D'1 1la8 = 'l."D:JD --dal , 1'1Dl " "' o,l... .. ..,., V a u e r ~ & x'rill. 1-x:ldJ. sa U7 = JllCMAIIO._II li l'T"'1D "" CllagtiBArah :xxW. 1-xzv 18 lOll = lM"U1' .Telloo,.,.._,II 6 ,,,.,, Tuldulh xxv. 19-xx\"iU. 9 106 = 'wH1:f' JeltaLoLol.'I 'I M:r1 Vall""" xxvW. 19-x:sxU. 8 148 = D'lnt:) . l la l taMI-,

n'l1zM ';"Jn H"Urai.8 H v .. , . , , . ,,. liJ:xil. 4-xxxvl. 48 1M - :m.r,p Kdlla .9. 8 ::111:1 Va11uheb XXXVII. 1-Jd.llll 112 = p:::a Ja66ok.10 Ill ji'C . l l ibt . xU. 1-xU.-. 17 146 = ,J:P ..., n-.r . .half 6


29/45


30/45


31/45


32/45

61there ca n be no doubt about th e fact. In th e MassoretioTriennial List it is still divided, and th e Ta.lmud (Kidllu,!JitinSO a) uses this division, viz., th e first verse of the secondpart, or verse S8, according to th e present arrangement,to indicate th e tota.l number of verses in the Psalter. Thatverses 38-72 formed a distinct Psa.lm, is moreover evident fromth e fact that i t was recited with Dent. xxviii. 58-59, xxix. 8,during th e administration, upon delinquents, of th e fortystripes save one (Mishna Maccoth iii. 14), to which th e Apostlewas subjected five times (2 Cor. xi. 24). Hence Psalmlxxviii. 1-S7 of th e present text is Psalm lxxv., Psalm lxxviii.38-72 is Psalm lxxvi., whilst Psalm lxxix. is lxxvii. Hencetoo Psalm civ. of the present text is distinctly called inth e Ta.lmud an d Midrashim cii., where it is remarked thatit is th e on e hundred and third Psalm, viz., civ. of thepresent division, where th e expression Hallelujah occurs forth e first time as an ejaculation of praise. 8

Psalms cxiv. and cxv. were joined together as on e composition. This Pa.lestinian practice found it s way intoAlexandria, an d hence th e two Psa.lms ar e also on e composition in the Septuagint, Syriac, Arabic, an d lEthiopio.Accordingly, Psalms cxiv. an d cxv. of the present text constituted Psalm cxii., and what is no w Psalm cxvi. was,according to th e traditional division, cxiii.

Psalm cxviii. wa s divided into tw o compositions, viz.,1- 4 wa s on e Psalm, and 5 - 29 wa s another Psalm,a division still preserved in the Vienna Codex. Accordingly, th e first part of Psalm cxviii. of the present numbering was. according to tradition, Psalm cxiv., an d th esecond part Psalm cxv. Hence, what is now Psalm exix.should be Psalm cxvi., and the last Psalm, i. e., cl., is cxlvii.

"" rM'fr.l ,O N M'n ,, "ION n'I"'ZT11J C'l'1171 TfM!:l Damd : a r ~ E H J - ' one huudrt:dan d ttoo P .. . nUJ before he uttered t4 e wonl Hallelujah. Comp. Beradlot4 9 b.MidraJ. oo LowiL cap. iw., Midnula 011 &bo Paabwl cap. cis., Midnula Jallcut on Pa .civ.

62The Rabbins, who a.lways endeavoured to find a mnemonicalsign fo r every important number, have therefore d ~ c l a r e dthat . . the Psalter consists of on e hundred and forty-sevenhymns, according to th e years of our fatuer Jacob."..,It is necestuuy to remark that, owing to liturgical arrangements, two portions of the Psa lter are quoted in th e Massorahby distinct titles. During the second Temple, when th e service was reorgunised, th e Psalter, or th e National Hymn Book,as it ma y properly be designated, was largely used in theworship of tho Sanctuary. Passing over as beyond th e scopeof this Essay, th e several portions which were used on different occasions we have to notice th e group of Psalms calledHaUel


33/45

68cxxxvi., and is so called beoa.use it greatly abounds withresponses of praise, repeating no le:is than twenty-six timesth e same ejaculation. Some, however, ad d to th e latter thePilgrim Psalms (Pesacltim. 118 a). I t is the ordinary .fiallelwhich was sung by Christ and his disciples at th e conclusionof the Passover supper, and is chanted by th e Israelites onth e same occasion to the present day: which th e Massorahquotes by th e Chaldee name N",':m. Thus, on 2 Sam. xxii.5, the Massorah remarks that .. th e word , ~ ~ ! ) ~ ~ . sttrroruuledme, occurs three times, viz., 2 Sam. xxii. 5, Ps. xviii. 5,and the parallel passage in the Hallel," i. e., Ps . oxvi. S."

Another portion of the Psalter which ha s a separate titleis Ps. cxix. This Psalm is quoted by th e title "GreatAlphabet " e n ~ . , ~ " & < ) , because th e hundred and seventysi x verses contained therein are divided into twenty-twogroups; and th e groups no t only answer to the number,an d .espectively begin with on e of tho letters of th e Hebrewalphabet, bu t every verse in each group conforms to it .Thus th e eight verses of the first group begin each withA leplt, th e first letter ; al l th e eight verses of the secondgroup beh.riu with Beth, th e second letter; and so all throughth e twenty-two groups.Piska. - Returning to th e breaks in th e text of th eHebrew Scriptures, we have to notice th e Piska. In no lessthan thirty-one passages, there are, in th e m o t ~ t acceptableeditions, b reaks or vacant spaces in the middle of th e verses,with a little circle occupying th e centre of th e vacancy.They ar e as fol lows-

u Dean Alford, in hi s Greek New Testament ( lla&t. :ur i . SO), no t only eonfoiiDclath e Eyyptia,. Jf,.[kl chanted by th e Jews a t th e Pa..,hal supper with th a Oreal/allt:l, bu t enoneoualy aaya that tha la tter consists of Pa. Cl


34/45


35/45

67th e MSS. I have examined ; and that the solitary Codexwhich notices it remarks against it in the margin O!I,D,which is an abbreviation of tcOl',!l, an d is either the Greek

~ p t i - y / A - , a shutting-up, a paragraph, l break, or more probably th e Latin FRAGMEN, a fracture, a piece broke,, off, ahiatus ,. I t is therefore surprising that Kennicott, followingth e example of Leusden an d others, should have arguedfrom Gen. iv . 8, which is not included in the List of Piskas,an d which is marked quite differently, that tcpO!l denotesa hiatus, a11. omission; and that wherever th e Massoritesleft such a vacant space, aud made the remark in themargin, "ltere is a Pi.ska i.tt. tlte middle o f the verse," theyintended to indicate thereby a. deficiency, or that some wordor words ha d dropped out of th e text.

ChapterL..-The Massoretic chapters must not be confounded with those which are to be found in th e ordinaryeditions, an d which were first introduced into th e RubbinioBible (Venice, 1516-17), together with th e divisions of th efour books into eight (i . e., Samuel, Kings, Ezra an dChronicles), by Felix Pratensis, who copied it from th eHebrew Concordance of R. Isaac Nathan.44 'I 'he chaptraldivision of th e Massorah, like th e Pericopal cycle, is purelyliturgical. As seven persons read the hebdomadal lessons,each Pericope was divided into seven chapters, so that everyprmlector ha d a separate portion to read. Th e discontinuance of th e 'I'riennial cycle renders it no w impossible togive this more ancient chaptral division. If th e List of the

.a Tb .ug h Jacob b. Chajim Ib n Adollijah, th e first editor of th e Hassorah, andperhaps also some o f th e Codices from whioh he compiled hi s edition, ~ ~ d ~ d Gen.iv. S as on e of th e PU.laa, an d although Lovita eeponiiGd th e BalD O optntoo (,U,....IJUrct/1. ffa.Jfaaaorctll., p. 26:!, od. Uiuaburg), yet it i now certllin that this paeaagodoes no t belong to th e category. Indeed n. Non:i, tho c t ~ l u l m a t e d Dilllio11l oritiu,w >ady pointed out the mistake of iuclutliug Oeu. iv . 8 in thi11 Li.at, at th.e b e g i o n i ~ gof the aeventeenth century, in hi s Miru:luu Sll.ai, an d ~ < p r e s a e d hta aurpnseat Lev1&afalling into this bJODdor

..S Comp. l tUJtra. p. 259, note 7.

68two hundred and eighty-nine Pericopes into which th e Prophets an d Hagiographa are divided be correct, an d if th emode of reading these lessons was the same as the mannerin which th e Law was read, these two groups of th e HebrewScriptures consisted of two thousand an d twenty-three chapters (289 X 7 = 2023) ;07 whilst th e .hundred an d fifty-fivePericopes of the Law ha d one thousand and eighty-fivechapters (155 x 7 = 1085). Hence the Old Testament hadanciently three thousand one hundred and eight chapters.Through the discarding, however, of the Triennial system,an d th e discontinuance of parceling out the Prophets andHugiographa into hebdomadal lessons, all marks of the chaptral divisions iu these books have entirely disappeared, sothat th e chapters of the Annual cycle of the Pentateuch alonehave been preserved. According to this system, Genesis,which, as wo have seen, yields twelve Pericopes, has, therefore, eighty-four chapters ; Exo


36/45

0&KB81B .u s.svtl. IJ8-xxrill. -&42 xxviii. 1>-043 10-2:1" :&Jdx. 1-1746 .. ~ x x x . 1 346 """ .,....:n47 23-x:ui . 1646 XXJtvliL 6-911118 xxxvli. 17-99 1108 lli-4!01M xxxviiL 1-liO :IlK xlx. 1-14166 .. ill->t>txlx. 1 llOii 15-911156 ltXXlx. ll-:U li06 liiHI:J167 ~ llO'l 8S-8'115 6 as..a. ll08 Xlt. 1- 7160 xl. 1-16 209 6-ll i160 17-27 lJ10 18-ll'l161 ll8 81 911 xxi. 1-18

16ll1681M16616616'1168ure1701111721781'1'1761761171781'19111018118:l188

861861n 718818019019 119ll1118

lllla .. 17-xxll. 16L& V lTlO O S. 91 9 xxlt. 17-88

Lu.w.lv.v.

vi.vU.

vtJI.

"'lt .

xU.xi l i .

xtv.

lll4 xxiiL 1- t i1-18 1116

14-11.6 2167-16 !11'11-11 lll81-28 210

l l ' l -v. 10 lt 11-26 11211-11 121

1il-vU. 10 228ll941-18 ll:l6

14-lll l!ll6l!ll-11:1 'k n

xxlv.sav.

XS:YL

118-U88-M

lll-81-1814-1819-2-&15-98SIHI81111-4847-xxvl.ll--810-aD

8066 2lll:l xxvu. 1-11116-111all-*' Il i9-M

1-1017-28114-x. 111:&-1616-001-3:1118-47

1-:I-:u. 62119 xx . 7-13270 H--:Jl2'11 2:1-xxi. 027:! xxl. IU-:!1.1273 21-n i i . 1ll74 Xxil. :.ll:l2'16 J:l-20276 21-&1277 . W..x:dil . 1:!2'18 xxUI. l:J..26

NUI I B E B S. D B U TEf t O K O JI Y . I DEU'rJIBOICOIIT.2'19 xx.IU. 27--xxlv. 13 811 lv. fl....U 846 xxvl. 16-1928 0 xxlv. H-xxv. 0 81!1 v. 1-18 IU7 xxvll . 1-10281 xxv. 10-xxvl. 4 813 111-vl. 8 318 .. 11-xxvll l . 6289 xxvi. 5-:n 814 vi . ..J-25 319 xx.vi.U.. 7-69283 5a-xxvll. 6 8lli vii . 1- l l 860 xxlx.28t xxvll. 6-23 HIO , 1a-v111. 10 1161 9- U28S xxvtJI. >1 5 31 7 viiL 11-h:. 8 85 2 12-Ua86 .. 16-:ulx. 11 818 lx. 4-29 853 15-28287 xxlx. 1 !-xxx. 1 810 x. 1-11 8M x:u. 1- 621!8 XXX. ll-J'l 8:JO Jl!-!19 8.55 7-102811 xxxl. 1-1:1 8lJl xi. 1-9 836 11-14liDO 1 ~ 2 4 1122 10-:!6 861 15-llO2111 !'5-41 8:!3 .. 116-xil. 10 85lf """' 1- 829'.! 4:1-54 B!!t xU. 11-28 859 -1-6200 XXXII. 1-11 8:!6 ., 29-xW. 10 660 7- 92lU !l0--!:1 / 8:!6 xlv. 1-!11 661 J0-18:!:15 xxxlll. 1-lll 8:7 2:!-211 36:! U-19:!00 l l -4o I s-.!8 xv. 1-1s oou 20-9.4!.117 .. 60-xxxh. 16 l ~ t . l l l .. 10-xvl. 17 ~ 26--30!!Oil xxxh. 16-:!9111311 xvl. 111-xll. 18 865 xxxii. 1-0:!11'.1 XXXV . 1-'8 831 XVII. U-:!1.1 666 7-li l800 0-31 11:1:! :n i l ! . 1- 6 867 l:J..JS801 xxxvl. 1-13 ' 11H3 6-18 3&1 19-28ll:H 14-xix. 18 800 !!!1-89DEUTERONOMY. ~ xix. 14-xx. II 87 0 40-48

uu v xx. 11}-xxl. 9 871 44-6:1110-..l J. I - l l 8:17 xxl. 10-:.11 872 x:uJII. 1-'11108 1:!-:ll 8:11! 2:!-xxli. 7 , 3'18 11-13:J04 2:!-&1 IJH!l xxil . H-xxll l . 7

1; 874 13-11

806 110-11. 1 IUO xxll l . 8-:!-1 876 1-!11:106 II. 2-H


37/45


38/45


39/45


40/45

77th e better understanding of their critical value, we shall givethem in extenso. The first passage occurs in th e Talmud(Kiddushi11. SO a), and is as follows :61 "Th e ancients werecalled Sopherim (i . e., colmte,.s), because they counted al l th eletters [words, an d verses] in the Scriptures, for they say thatth e Va v in t ; n ~ , belly (Levit. xi . 42), is th e middle letter inth e Pentateuch, ~ 1 c;-,1, seeking he sought (Levit. x. 16),ar e th e middle words, an d n ~ ~ J " ) i : ' 1 , an d he shall be shaven(Levit. xiii. SS), is th e middle verse; that th e A !l in in , ! ' ~ ? ; 1 , ou to f tlte woocl (Ps. lxxx. 14), th e middle letter in the Psalter,and that ' but he, being full of compassion, forgave theiriniquity ' (Ps. lxxviii. 38 ) is th e middle verse. WhereuponR. Joseph asked, 'Does th e Va v in t l n ~ , belly, belong to th efirst or second half of th e Pentateuch? ' He [i . e., R.Saphra] was answered, ' Let us fetch a Pentateuch andcount it ; ' and Rabba bar bar Chana says, ' They di d notleave th e place until a Pentateuch was fetched, and theyaccomplished th e counting. H e then said to him, they(i .e., th e Scpherim) were conversant with th e plenes anddefectives, uu t we ar e no t conversant. [Hence we cannotfind it out .] ' R. Joseph asked again, ' Does th e word

n ? ~ r : ' i : ' 1 , an d he shall be shaven, belong to th e first or secondhalf [o f th e Pentateuch]?' Abaja answered, 'Ou r countingth e verses is of no use, as we ar e not conversant with th eversicular divisions,' fo r when R. Acha ba r Ada came [t oBabylonia] he said, 'The Westerns divide Exod. xix. 19into three verses. The Rabbins submit th e Pentateuch haJV;T'\llUIZl IO'j710D'I nun11 mm.. U C ~ 1 0 1 ' " o ' 1 1 Z l C,D'IO C'l ' l ' lmn 'IM"'j)l -p'll'l 61'nl:l ~ 111'1, 'ID'TI .:r11n "' 'l l l 'nl:l I'Wn'M 'nl:l ~ rn n 1''M1 C,D'IM 1"o11ZlHlrn C"r.tn 'no c ~ OW', j"l! .,11'10 , ' tTl mctn:l C'i"'CC 'nl:l m:m:n . m : ~ . n. .O l 'WolD .,.. , . .Cl 'M::t!:l pnn ,." ' '101' :1, "37:1 1 tl'j71CEn 1':11 "Ill:! ' c1n-1"117 C'IDC 111 ttl olln "1:1 "1:1 tt:l , ,D M tt l "D 1mJo .n : n1n '1ElO nJ m ,O M:1, "l':l ll'"'l':l tt l P" ' m-,n, m-,on:l 'H'jl:l pmM m ,l!:M C1MlD1 ;T'I1n '1DO 'IM':lmD'i"'lJD:l m'JD.., m.., 'ar.1'D 'i"'CD ~ : l M ;M ,D . I


41/45


42/45


43/45

83Massoretic divisions, depatts in some cases from th e original,we subjoin a list of variations, which is necessitated by th efact that ou r rAferences in this Essay ar e to th e Hebrew. I tis therefore hoped that the subjoined list will explain th eapparent diffiuultietl which may arise from th e differences inth e citations.

TABLE Vll.VARIATIONS IN CuAPTEBII AND VERSES B E T WE E N ruE HEDIIEW AND THI!l

AUTHORISED VERSION.

Hebrew. Autb. VenJlou.0BMEtUI:I .

JUtxU. xxxi. 66

Hebrew. Autb. Venloo.I ebrew. Autb. VanJloo.DB1JTBil0MOIIY. I KliiiOtl.

xxW. 1 xxli. 110 ""' :!-84 :o;x. IIll xxUI. 1 8b 8xx:UJ. 1l l-a3 :1-8li 3--:!6 :1-26 :o;xll. ~ b - ! . t & """ llllltXviil. liD :o;xlx. 1 ~ 48

Exonua. u ~ 1 2 U "~ - : ! I f 3--211 -16-M ~vU. 00 vUi. 1:n-29 :&-1 Jot tUOA.vli l . 1 li Not iM the}JlauorfJtiCTe etQ3-2H ~ xxl.xxl. H7 xxii. 1xxU. 1 9 Jtxl. 116:.Hill IHII H'l-43LzVITICUB .

v. !110 vt.~ - 0 0

vi. 1:1-113NuKBEBB.

ltvil. 1 "" ' >1-1616 ltVil.17-2H x.s.v. 194 x

essay on the massorah

Documents