(44) IV. The narrative is prolonged after the death of Moses, for in
Exodus xvi:34 we read that "the children of Israel did eat manna forty
years until they came to a land inhabited, until they came unto the borders
of the land of Canaan." (45) In other words, until the time alluded to in
Joshua vi:12.

(46) So, too, in Genesis xxxvi:31 it is stated, "These are the kings that
reigned in Edom before there reigned any king over the children of Israel."
(47) The historian, doubtless, here relates the kings of Idumaea before that
territory was conquered by David [Endnote 10] and garrisoned, as we read
in 2 Sam. viii:14. (48) From what has been said, it is thus clearer than the
sun at noonday that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses, but by someone
who lived long after Moses. (49) Let us now turn our attention to the books
which Moses actually did write, and which are cited in the Pentateuch; thus,
also, shall we see that they were different from the Pentateuch. (50)
Firstly, it appears from Exodus xvii:14 that Moses, by the command of God,
wrote an account of the war against Amalek. (51) The book in which he did so
is not named in the chapter just quoted, but in Numb. xxi:12 a book is
referred to under the title of the wars of God, and doubtless this war
against Amalek and the castrametations said in Numb. xxxiii:2 to have been
written by Moses are therein described. (52) We hear also in Exod. xxiv:4 of
another book called the Book of the Covenant, which Moses read before the
Israelites when they first made a covenant with God. (53) But this book or
this writing contained very little, namely, the laws or commandments of God
which we find in Exodus xx:22 to the end of chap. xxiv., and this no one
will deny who reads the aforesaid chapter rationally and impartially. (54)
It is there stated that as soon as Moses had learnt the feeling of the
people on the subject of making a covenant with God, he immediately wrote
down God's laws and utterances, and in the morning, after some ceremonies
had been performed, read out the conditions of the covenant to an assembly
of the whole people. (55) When these had been gone through, and doubtless
understood by all, the whole people gave their assent.

(56) Now from the shortness of the time taken in its perusal and also from
its nature as a compact, this document evidently contained nothing more than
that which we have just described. (57) Further, it is clear that Moses
explained all the laws which he had received in the fortieth year after the
exodus from Egypt; also that he bound over the people a second time to
observe them, and that finally he committed them to writing (Deut. i:5;
xxix:14; xxxi:9), in a book which contained these laws explained, and the
new covenant, and this book was therefore called the book of the law of God:
the same which was afterwards added to by Joshua when he set forth the fresh
covenant with which he bound over the people and which he entered into
with God (Josh. xxiv:25, 26).

(58) Now, as we have extent no book containing this covenant of Moses and
also the covenant of Joshua, we must perforce conclude that it has perished,
unless, indeed, we adopt the wild conjecture of the Chaldean paraphrast
Jonathan, and twist about the words of Scripture to our heart's content.
(59) This commentator, in the face of our present difficulty, preferred
corrupting the sacred text to confessing his own ignorance. (60) The passage
in the book of Joshua which runs, "and Joshua wrote these words in the
book of the law of God," he changes into "and Joshua wrote these words
and kept them with the book of the law of God." (61) What is to be done with
persons who will only see what pleases them? (62) What is such a proceeding
if it is not denying Scripture, and inventing another Bible out of our own
heads? (63) We may therefore conclude that the book of the law of God which
Moses wrote was not the Pentateuch, but something quite different, which the
author of the Pentateuch duly inserted into his book. (64) So much is
abundantly plain both from what I have said and from what I am about to add.
(65) For in the passage of Deuteronomy above quoted, where it is related
that Moses wrote the book of the law, the historian adds that he handed it
over to the priests and bade them read it out at a stated time to the whole
people. (66) This shows that the work was of much less length than the
Pentateuch, inasmuch as it could be read through at one sitting so as to be
understood by all; further, we must not omit to notice that out of all the
books which Moses wrote, this one book of the second covenant and the song
(which latter he wrote afterwards so that all the people might learn it),
was the only one which he caused to be religiously guarded and preserved.
(67) In the first covenant he had only bound over those who were present,
but in the second covenant he bound over all their descendants also (Dent.
xxix:14), and therefore ordered this covenant with future ages to be
religiously preserved, together with the Song, which was especially
addressed to posterity: as, then, we have no proof that Moses wrote any
book save this of the covenant, and as he committed no other to the care of
posterity; and, lastly, as there are many passages in the Pentateuch which
Moses could not have written, it follows that the belief that Moses was the
author of the Pentateuch is ungrounded and even irrational. (68) Someone
will perhaps ask whether Moses did not also write down other laws when they
were first revealed to him - in other words, whether, during the course of
forty years, he did not write down any of the laws which he promulgated,
save only those few which I have stated to be contained in the book of the
first covenant. (69) To this I would answer, that although it seems
reasonable to suppose that Moses wrote down the laws at the time when he
wished to communicate them to the people, yet we are not warranted to take
it as proved, for I have shown above that we must make no assertions in such
matters which we do not gather from Scripture, or which do not flow as
legitimate consequences from its fundamental principles. (70) We must not
accept whatever is reasonably probable. (71) However even reason in this
case would not force such a conclusion upon us: for it may be that the
assembly of elders wrote down the decrees of Moses and communicated them to
the people, and the historian collected them, and duly set them forth in his
narrative of the life of Moses. (72) So much for the five books of Moses: it
is now time for us to turn to the other sacred writings.

(73) The book of Joshua may be proved not to be an autograph by reasons
similar to those we have just employed: for it must be some other than
Joshua who testifies that the fame of Joshua was spread over the whole
world; that he omitted nothing of what Moses had taught (Josh. vi:27; viii.
last verse; xi:15); that he grew old and summoned an assembly of the whole
people, and finally that he departed this life. (74) Furthermore, events are
related which took place after Joshua's death. (75) For instance, that the
Israelites worshipped God, after his death, so long as there were any old
men alive who remembered him; and in chap. xvi:10, we read that "Ephraim and
Manasseh did not drive out the Canaanites which dwelt in Gezer, but the
Canaanite dwelt in the land of Ephraim unto this day, and was tributary to
him." (76) This is the same statement as that in Judges, chap. i., and the
phrase "unto this day" shows that the writer was speaking of ancient times.
(77) With these texts we may compare the last verse of chap. xv., concerning
the sons of Judah, and also the history of Caleb in the same chap. v:14.
(78) Further, the building of an altar beyond Jordan by the two tribes and a
half, chap. xxii:10, sqq., seems to have taken place after the death of
Joshua, for in the whole narrative his name is never mentioned, but the
people alone held council as to waging war, sent out legates, waited for
their return, and finally approved of their answer.

(79) Lastly, from chap. x:14, it is clear that the book was written many
generations after the death of Joshua, for it bears witness, there was
never any, day like unto, that day, either before or after, that the Lord
hearkened to the voice of a man," &c. (80) If, therefore, Joshua wrote any
book at all, it was that which is quoted in the work now before us,
chap. x:13.

(81) With regard to the book of Judges, I suppose no rational person
persuades himself that it was written by the actual Judges. (82) For the
conclusion of the whole history contained in chap. ii. clearly shows that it
is all the work - of a single historian. (83) Further, inasmuch as the
writer frequently tells us that there was then no king in Israel, it is
evident that the book was written after the establishment of the monarchy.

(84) The books of Samuel need not detain us long, inasmuch as the narrative
in them is continued long after Samuel's death; but I should like to draw
attention to the fact that it was written many generations after Samuel's
death. (85) For in book i. chap. ix:9, the historian remarks in a,
parenthesis, "Beforetime, in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, thus
he spake: Come, and let us go to the seer; for he that is now called a
prophet was beforetime called a seer."

(86) Lastly, the books of Kings, as we gather from internal evidence, were
compiled from the books of King Solomon (I Kings xi:41), from the chronicles
of the kings of Judah (1 Kings xiv:19, 29), and the chronicles of the kings
of Israel.

(87) We may, therefore, conclude that all the books we have considered
hitherto are compilations, and that the events therein are recorded as
having happened in old time. (88) Now, if we turn our attention to the
connection and argument of all these books, we shall easily see that they
were all written by a single historian, who wished to relate the antiquities
of the Jews from their first beginning down to the first destruction of the
city. (89) The way in which the several books are connected one with the
other is alone enough to show us that they form the narrative of one and the
same writer. (90) For as soon as he has related the life of Moses, the
historian thus passes on to the story of Joshua: "And it came to pass after
that Moses the servant of the Lord was dead, that God spake unto Joshua,"
&c., so in the same way, after the death of Joshua was concluded, he passes
with identically the same transition and connection to the history of the
Judges: "And it came to pass after that Joshua was dead, that the children
of Israel sought from God," &c. (91) To the book of Judges he adds the story
of Ruth, as a sort of appendix, in these words: "Now it came to pass in the
days that the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land."

(92) The first book of Samuel is introduced with a similar phrase; and so is
the second book of Samuel. (93) Then, before the history of David is
concluded, the historian passes in the same way to the first book of Kings,
and, after David's death, to the Second book of Kings.

(94) The putting together, and the order of the narratives, show that they
are all the work of one man, writing with a create aim; for the historian
begins with relating the first origin of the Hebrew nation, and then sets
forth in order the times and the occasions in which Moses put forth his
laws, and made his predictions. (95) He then proceeds to relate how the
Israelites invaded the promised land in accordance with Moses' prophecy
(Deut. vii.); and how, when the land was subdued, they turned their backs on
their laws, and thereby incurred many misfortunes (Deut. xxxi:16, 17). (96)
He tells how they wished to elect rulers, and how, according as these rulers
observed the law, the people flourished or suffered (Deut. xxviii:36);
finally, how destruction came upon the nation, even as Moses had foretold.
(97) In regard to other matters, which do not serve to confirm the law, the
writer either passes over them in silence, or refers the reader to other
books for information. (98) All that is set down in the books we have
conduces to the sole object of setting forth the words and laws of Moses,
and proving them by subsequent events.(99) When we put together these three
considerations, namely, the unity of the subject of all the books, the
connection between them, and the fact that they are compilations made many
generations after the events they relate had taken place, we come to the
conclusion, as I have just stated, that they are all the work of a single
historian. (100) Who this historian was, it is not so easy to show; but I
suspect that he was Ezra, and there are several strong reasons for adopting
this hypothesis.

(101) The historian whom we already know to be but one individual brings his
history down to the liberation of Jehoiakim, and adds that he himself sat at
the king's table all his life - that is, at the table either of Jehoiakim,
or of the son of Nebuchadnezzar, for the sense of the passage is ambiguous:
hence it follows that he did not live before the time of Ezra. (102) But
Scripture does not testify of any except of Ezra (Ezra vii:10), that he
"prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to set it forth, and
further that he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses." (103) Therefore, I
can not find anyone, save Ezra, to whom to attribute the sacred books.

(104) Further, from this testimony concerning Ezra, we see that he prepared
his heart, not only to seek the law of the Lord, but also to set it forth;
and, in Nehemiah viii:8, we read that "they read in the book of the law of
God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading."

(105) As, then, in Deuteronomy, we find not only the book of the law of
Moses, or the greater part of it, but also many things inserted for its
better explanation, I conjecture that this Deuteronomy is the book of the
law of God, written, set forth, and explained by Ezra, which is referred to
in the text above quoted. (106) Two examples of the way matters were
inserted parenthetically in the text of Deuteronomy, with a view to its
fuller explanation, we have already given, in speaking of Aben Ezra's
opinion. (107) Many others are found in the course of the work: for
instance, in chap. ii:12: "The Horims dwelt also in Seir beforetime; but the
children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before
them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his
possession, which the Lord gave unto them." (108) This explains verses 3 and
4 of the same chapter, where it is stated that Mount Seir, which had come to
the children of Esau for a possession, did not fall into their hands
uninhabited; but that they invaded it, and turned out and destroyed the
Horims, who formerly dwelt therein, even as the children of Israel had done
unto the Canaanites after the death of Moses.

(109) So, also, verses 6, 7, 8, 9, of the tenth chapter are inserted
parenthetically among the words of Moses. Everyone must see that verse 8,
which begins, "At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi,"
necessarily refers to verse 5, and not to the death of Aaron, which is only
mentioned here by Ezra because Moses, in telling of the golden calf
worshipped by the people, stated that he had prayed for Aaron.

(110) He then explains that at the time at which Moses spoke, God had chosen
for Himself the tribe of Levi in order that He may point out the reason for
their election, and for the fact of their not sharing in the inheritance;
after this digression, he resumes the thread of Moses' speech. (111) To
these parentheses we must add the preface to the book, and all the passages
in which Moses is spoken of in the third person, besides many which we
cannot now distinguish, though, doubtless, they would have been plainly
recognized by the writer's contemporaries.

(112) If, I say, we were in possession of the book of the law as Moses wrote
it, I do not doubt that we should find a great difference in the words of
the precepts, the order in which they are given, and the reasons by which
they are supported.

(113) A comparison of the decalogue in Deuteronomy with the decalogue in
Exodus, where its history is explicitly set forth, will be sufficient to
show us a wide discrepancy in all these three particulars, for the fourth
commandment is given not only in a different form, but at much greater
length, while the reason for its observance differs wholly from that stated
in Exodus. (114) Again, the order in which the tenth commandment is
explained differs in the two versions. (115) I think that the differences
here as elsewhere are the work of Ezra, who explained the law of God to his
contemporaries, and who wrote this book of the law of God, before anything
else; this I gather from the fact that it contains the laws of the country,
of which the people stood in most need, and also because it is not joined to
the book which precedes it by any connecting phrase, but begins with the
independent statement, "these are the words of Moses." (116) After this task
was completed, I think Ezra set himself to give a complete account of the
history of the Hebrew nation from the creation of the world to the entire
destruction of the city, and in this account he inserted the book of
Deuteronomy, and, possibly, he called the first five books by the name of
Moses, because his life is chiefly contained therein, and forms their
principal subject; for the same reason he called the sixth Joshua, the
seventh Judges, the eighth Ruth, the ninth, and perhaps the tenth, Samuel,
and, lastly, the eleventh and twelfth Kings. (117) Whether Ezra put the
finishing touches to this work and finished it as he intended, we will
discuss in the next chapter.




CHAPTER IX  -  OTHER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE SAME BOOKS: NAMELY, WHETHER THEY
WERE COMPLETELY FINISHED BY EZRA, AND, FURTHER, WHETHER THE MARGINAL
NOTES WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE HEBREW TEXTS WERE VARIOUS READINGS.

(1) How greatly the inquiry we have just made concerning the real writer of
the twelve books aids us in attaining a complete understanding of them, may
be easily gathered solely from the passages which we have adduced in
confirmation of our opinion, and which would be most obscure without it. (2)
But besides the question of the writer, there are other points to notice
which common superstition forbids the multitude to apprehend. (3) Of these
the chief is, that Ezra (whom I will take to be the author of the aforesaid
books until some more likely person be suggested) did not put the finishing
touches to the narrative contained therein, but merely collected the
histories from various writers, and sometimes simply set them down, leaving
their examination and arrangement to posterity.

(4) The cause (if it were not untimely death) which prevented him from
completing his work in all its portions, I cannot conjecture, but the fact
remains most clear, although we have lost the writings of the ancient Hebrew
historians, and can only judge from the few fragments which are still
extant. (5) For the history of Hezekiah (2 Kings xviii:17), as written in
the vision of Isaiah, is related as it is found in the chronicles of the
kings of Judah. (6) We read the same story, told with few exceptions,
[Endnote 11], in the same words, in the book of Isaiah which was contained
in the chronicles of the kings of Judah (2 Chron. xxxii:32). (7) From this
we must conclude that there were various versions of this narrative of
Isaiah's, unless, indeed, anyone would dream that in this, too, there lurks
a mystery. (8) Further, the last chapter of 2 Kings 27-30 is repeated in the
last chapter of Jeremiah, v.31-34.

(9) Again, we find 2 Sam. vii. repeated in I Chron. xvii., but the
expressions in the two passages are so curiously varied [Endnote 12], that
we can very easily see that these two chapters were taken from two different
versions of the history of Nathan.

(10) Lastly, the genealogy of the kings of Idumaea contained in Genesis
xxxvi:31, is repeated in the same words in 1 Chron. i., though we know that
the author of the latter work took his materials from other historians, not
from the twelve books we have ascribed to Ezra. (10) We may therefore be
sure that if we still possessed the writings of the historians, the matter
would be made clear; however, as we have lost them, we can only examine the
writings still extant, and from their order and connection, their various
repetitions, and, lastly, the contradictions in dates which they contain,
judge of the rest.

(11) These, then, or the chief of them, we will now go through. (12) First,
in the story of Judah and Tamar (Gen. xxxviii.) the historian thus begins:
"And it came to pass at that time that Judah went down from his brethren."
(13) This time cannot refer to what immediately precedes [Endnote 13], but
must necessarily refer to something else, for from the time when Joseph was
sold into Egypt to the time when the patriarch Jacob, with all his family,
set out thither, cannot be reckoned as more than twenty-two years, for
Joseph, when he was sold by his brethren, was seventeen years old, and when
he was summoned by Pharaoh from prison was thirty; if to this we add the
seven years of plenty and two of famine, the total amounts to twenty-two
years. (14) Now, in so short a period, no one can suppose that so many
things happened as are described; that Judah had three children, one after
the other, from one wife, whom he married at the beginning of the period;
that the eldest of these, when he was old enough, married Tamar, and that
after he died his next brother succeeded to her; that, after all this,
Judah, without knowing it, had intercourse with his daughter-in-law, and
that she bore him twins, and, finally, that the eldest of these twins became
a father within the aforesaid period. (15) As all these events cannot have
taken place within the period mentioned in Genesis, the reference must
necessarily be to something treated of in another book: and Ezra in this
instance simply related the story, and inserted it without examination among
his other writings.

(16) However, not only this chapter but the whole narrative of Joseph and
Jacob is collected and set forth from various histories, inasmuch as it is
quite inconsistent with itself. (17) For in Gen. xlvii. we are told that
Jacob, when he came at Joseph's bidding to salute Pharaoh, was 130 years
old. (18) If from this we deduct the twenty-two years which he passed
sorrowing for the absence of Joseph and the seventeen years forming Joseph's
age when he was sold, and, lastly, the seven years for which Jacob served
for Rachel, we find that he was very advanced in life, namely, eighty four,
when he took Leah to wife, whereas Dinah was scarcely seven years old when
she was violated by Shechem, [Endnote 14]. (19) Simeon and Levi were aged
respectively eleven and twelve when they spoiled the city and slew all the
males therein with the sword.

(20) There is no need that I should go through the whole Pentateuch. (21) If
anyone pays attention to the way in which all the histories and precepts in
these five books are set down promiscuously and without order, with no
regard for dates; and further, how the same story is often repeated,
sometimes in a different version, he will easily, I say, discern that all
the materials were promiscuously collected and heaped together, in order
that they might at some subsequent time be more readily examined and reduced
to order. (22) Not only these five books, but also the narratives contained
in the remaining seven, going down to the destruction of the city, are
compiled in the same way. (23) For who does not see that in Judges ii:6 a
new historian is being quoted, who had also written of the deeds of Joshua,
and that his words are simply copied? (24) For after our historian has
stated in the last chapter of the book of Joshua that Joshua died and was
buried, and has promised, in the first chapter of Judges, to relate what
happened after his death, in what way, if he wished to continue the thread
of his history, could he connect the statement here made about Joshua with
what had gone before?

(25) So, too, 1 Sam. 17, 18, are taken from another historian, who assigns a
cause for David's first frequenting Saul's court very different from that
given in chap. xvi. of the same book. (26) For he did not think that David
came to Saul in consequence of the advice of Saul's servants, as is
narrated in chap. xvi., but that being sent by chance to the camp by his
father on a message to his brothers, he was for the first time remarked by
Saul on the occasion of his victory, over Goliath the Philistine, and was
retained at his court.

(27) I suspect the same thing has taken place in chap. xxvi. of the same
book, for the historian there seems to repeat the narrative given in chap.
xxiv. according to another man's version. (28) But I pass over this, and go
on to the computation of dates.

(29) In I Kings, chap. vi., it is said that Solomon built the Temple in the
four hundred and eightieth year after the exodus from Egypt; but from the
historians themselves we get a much longer period, for:
                                                                      Years.
Moses governed the people in the desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Joshua, who lived 110 years, did not, according to Josephus and
    others' opinion rule more than . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 26
Cusban Rishathaim held the people in subjection . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
Othniel, son of Kenag, was judge for . . . . . . . . . . . [Endnote 15] 40
Eglon, King of Moab, governed the people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
Ehucl and Shamgar were judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Jachin, King of Canaan, held the people in subjection . . . . . . . . . 20
The people was at peace subsequently for . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 40
It was under subjection to Median . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 7
It obtained freedom under Gideon for . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
It fell under the rule of Abimelech  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Tola, son of Puah, was judge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Jair was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 22
The people was in subjection to the Philistines and Ammonites . . . . . 18
Jephthah was judge  . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Ibzan, the Bethlehemite, was judge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 7
Elon, the Zabulonite . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Abclon, the Pirathonite . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The people was again subject to the Philistines . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Samson was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [Endnote 16] 20
Eli was judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
The people again fell into subjection to the Philistines,
    till they were delivered by Samuel .  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
David reigned . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Solomon reigned before he built the temple  . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 4

(30) All these periods added together make a total of 580 years. (31) But to
these must be added the years during which the Hebrew republic flourished
after the death of Joshua, until it was conquered by Cushan Rishathaim,
which I take to be very numerous, for I cannot bring myself to believe that
immediately after the death of Joshua all those who had witnessed his
miracles died simultaneously, nor that their successors at one stroke bid
farewell to their laws, and plunged from the highest virtue into the depth
of wickedness and obstinacy.

(32) Nor, lastly, that Cushan Rishathaim subdued them on the instant; each
one of these circumstances requires almost a generation, and there is no
doubt that Judges ii:7, 9, 10, comprehends a great many years which it
passes over in silence. (33) We must also add the years during which Samuel
was judge, the number of which is not stated in Scripture, and also the
years during which Saul reigned, which are not clearly shown from his
history. (34) It is, indeed, stated in 1 Sam. xiii:1, that he reigned two
years, but the text in that passage is mutilated, and the records of his
reign lead us to suppose a longer period. (35) That the text is mutilated I
suppose no one will doubt who has ever advanced so far as the threshold of
the Hebrew language, for it runs as follows: "Saul was in his -- year, when
he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel." (36) Who, I say,
does not see that the number of the years of Saul's age when he began to
reign has been omitted? (37) That the record of the reign presupposes a
greater number of years is equally beyond doubt, for in the same book, chap.
xxvii:7, it is stated that David sojourned among the Philistines, to whom he
had fled on account of Saul, a year and four months; thus the rest of the
reign must have been comprised in a space of eight months, which I think
no one will credit. (38) Josephus, at the end of the sixth book of his
antiquities, thus corrects the text: Saul reigned eighteen years while
Samuel was alive, and two years after his death. (39) However, all the
narrative in chap. Xiii. is in complete disagreement with what goes before.
(40) At the end of chap. vii. it is narrated that the Philistines were so
crushed by the Hebrews that they did not venture, during Samuel's life, to
invade the borders of Israel; but in chap. xiii. we are told that the
Hebrews were invaded during the life of Samuel by the Philistines, and
reduced by them to such a state of wretchedness and poverty that they were
deprived not only of weapons with which to defend themselves, but also of
the means of making more. (41) I should be at pains enough if I were to try
and harmonize all the narratives contained in this first book of Samuel so
that they should seem to be all written and arranged by a single historian.
(42) But I return to my object. (43) The years, then, during which Saul
reigned must be added to the above computation; and, lastly, I have not
counted the years of the Hebrew anarchy, for I cannot from Scripture gather
their number. (44) I cannot, I say, be certain as to the period occupied by
the events related in Judges chap. xvii. on till the end of the book.

(45) It is thus abundantly evident that we cannot arrive at a true
computation of years from the histories, and, further, that the histories
are inconsistent themselves on the subject. (46) We are compelled to confess
that these histories were compiled from various writers without previous
arrangement and examination. (47) Not less discrepancy is found between the
dates given in the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah, and those in the
Chronicles of the Kings of Israel; in the latter, it is stated that Jehoram,
the son of Ahab, began to reign in the second year of the reign of Jehoram,
the son of Jehoshaphat (2 Kings i:17), but in the former we read that
Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign in the fifth year of
Jehoram, the son of Ahab (2 Kings viii:16). (48) Anyone who compares the
narratives in Chronicles with the narratives in the books of Kings, will
find many similar discrepancies. (49) These there is no need for me to
examine here, and still less am I called upon to treat of the commentaries
of those who endeavour to harmonize them. (50) The Rabbis evidently let their
fancy run wild. (51) Such commentators as I have, read, dream, invent, and
as a last resort, play fast and loose with the language. (52) For instance,
when it is said in 2 Chronicles, that Ahab was forty-two years old when he
began to reign, they pretend that these years are computed from the reign of
Omri, not from the birth of Ahab. (53) If this can be shown to be the real
meaning of the writer of the book of Chronicles, all I can say is, that he
did not know how to state a fact. (54) The commentators make many other
assertions of this kind, which if true, would prove that the ancient Hebrews
were ignorant both of their own language, and of the way to relate a plain
narrative. (55) I should in such case recognize no rule or reason in
interpreting Scripture, but it would be permissible to hypothesize to one's
heart's content.

(56) If anyone thinks that I am speaking too generally, and without
sufficient warrant, I would ask him to set himself to showing us some fixed
plan in these histories which might be followed without blame by other
writers of chronicles, and in his efforts at harmonizing and interpretation,
so strictly to observe and explain the phrases and expressions, the order
and the connections, that we may be able to imitate these also in our
writings (17). (57) If he succeeds, I will at once give him my hand, and he
shall be to me as great Apollo; for I confess that after long endeavours I
have been unable to discover anything of the kind. (58) I may add that I set
down nothing here which I have not long reflected upon, and that, though I
was imbued from my boyhood up with the ordinary opinions about the
Scriptures, I have been unable to withstand the force of what I have urged.

(59) However, there is no need to detain the reader with this question, and
drive him to attempt an impossible task; I merely mentioned the fact in
order to throw light on my intention.

(60) I now pass on to other points concerning the treatment of these books.
(61) For we must remark, in addition to what has been shown, that these
books were not guarded by posterity with such care that no faults crept in.
(62) The ancient scribes draw attention to many doubtful readings, and some
mutilated passages, but not to all that exist: whether the faults are
of sufficient importance to greatly embarrass the reader I will not now
discuss. (63) I am inclined to think that they are of minor moment to those,
at any rate, who read the Scriptures with enlightenment: and I can
positively, affirm that I have not noticed any fault or various reading in
doctrinal passages sufficient to render them obscure or doubtful.

(64) There are some people, however, who will not admit that there is any
corruption, even in other passages, but maintain that by some unique
exercise of providence God has preserved from corruption every word in the
Bible: they say that the various readings are the symbols of profoundest
mysteries, and that mighty secrets lie hid in the twenty-eight hiatus which
occur, nay, even in the very form of the letters.

(65) Whether they are actuated by folly and anile devotion, or whether by
arrogance and malice so that they alone may be held to possess the secrets
of God, I know not: this much I do know, that I find in their writings
nothing which has the air of a Divine secret, but only childish
lucubrations. (66) I have read and known certain Kabbalistic triflers, whose
insanity provokes my unceasing as astonishment. (67) That faults have crept
in will, I think, be denied by no sensible person who reads the passage
about Saul, above quoted (1 Sam. xiii:1) and also 2 Sam. vi:2: "And David
arose and went with all the people that were with him from Judah, to bring
up from thence the ark of God."

(68) No one can fail to remark that the name of their destination, viz.,
Kirjath-jearim [Endnote 18], has been omitted: nor can we deny that
2 Sam. xiii:37, has been tampered with and mutilated. "And Absalom fled, and
went to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur. (69) And he mourned for
his son every day. So Absalom fled, and went to Geshur, and was there three
years." (70) I know that I have remarked other passages of the same kind,
but I cannot recall them at the moment.

(71) That the marginal notes which are found continually in the Hebrew
Codices are doubtful readings will, I think, be evident to everyone who has
noticed that they often arise from the great similarity, of some of the
Hebrew letters, such for instance, as the similarity between Kaph and Beth,
Jod and Van, Daleth and Reth, &c. (72) For example, the text in
2 Sam. v:24, runs "in the time when thou hearest," and similarly in
Judges xxi:22, "And it shall be when their fathers or their brothers come
unto us often," the marginal version is "come unto us to complain."

(73) So also many various readings have arisen from the use of the letters
named mutes, which are generally not sounded in pronunciation, and are taken
promiscuously, one for the other. (74) For example, in Levit. xxv:29, it is
written, "The house shall be established which is not in the walled city,"
but the margin has it, "which is in a walled city."

(75) Though these matters are self-evident, [Endnore 6], it is necessary, to
answer the reasonings of certain Pharisees, by which they endeavour to
convince us that the marginal notes serve to indicate some mystery, and were
added or pointed out by the writers of the sacred books. (76) The first of
these reasons, which, in my, opinion, carries little weight, is taken from
the practice of reading the Scriptures aloud.

(77) If, it is urged, these notes were added to show various readings which
could not be decided upon by posterity, why has custom prevailed that the
marginal readings should always be retained? (78) Why has the meaning which
is preferred been set down in the margin when it ought to have been
incorporated in the text, and not relegated to a side note?

(79) The second reason is more specious, and is taken from the nature of the
case. (80) It is admitted that faults have crept into the sacred writings by
chance and not by design; but they say that in the five books the word for a
girl is, with one exception, written without the letter "he," contrary to
all grammatical rules, whereas in the margin it is written correctly
according to the universal rule of grammar. (81) Can this have happened by
mistake? Is it possible to imagine a clerical error to have been committed
every, time the word occurs? (82) Moreover, it would have been easy, to
supply the emendation. (83) Hence, when these readings are not accidental
or corrections of manifest mistakes, it is supposed that they must have been
set down on purpose by the original writers, and have a meaning. (84)
However, it is easy to answer such arguments; as to the question of custom
having prevailed in the reading of the marginal versions, I will not spare
much time for its consideration: I know not the promptings of superstition,
and perhaps the practice may have arisen from the idea that both readings
were deemed equally good or tolerable, and therefore, lest either should be
neglected, one was appointed to be written, and the other to be read. (85)
They feared to pronounce judgment in so weighty a matter lest they should
mistake the false for the true, and therefore they would give preference to
neither, as they must necessarily have done if they had commanded one only
to be both read and written. (86) This would be especially the case where
the marginal readings were not written down in the sacred books: or the
custom may have originated because some things though rightly written down
were desired to be read otherwise according to the marginal version, and
therefore the general rule was made that the marginal version should be
followed in reading the Scriptures. (87) The cause which induced the scribes
to expressly prescribe certain passages to be read in the marginal version,
I will now touch on, for not all the marginal notes are various readings,
but some mark expressions which have passed out of common use, obsolete
words and terms which current decency did not allow to be read in a public
assembly. (88) The ancient writers, without any evil intention, employed no
courtly paraphrase, but called things by their plain names. (891)
Afterwards, through the spread of evil thoughts and luxury, words which
could be used by the ancients without offence, came to be considered
obscene. (90) There was no need for this cause to change the text of
Scripture. (91) Still, as a concession to the popular weakness, it became
the custom to substitute more decent terms for words denoting sexual
intercourse, exereta, &c., and to read them as they were given in the
margin.

(92) At any rate, whatever may have been the origin of the practice of
reading Scripture according to the marginal version, it was not that the
true interpretation is contained therein. (93) For besides that, the
Rabbins in the Talmud often differ from the Massoretes, and give other
readings which they approve of, as I will shortly show, certain things are
found in the margin which appear less warranted by the uses of the Hebrew
language. (94) For example, in 2 Samuel xiv:22, we read, "In that the king
hath fulfilled the request of his servant," a construction plainly
regular, and agreeing with that in chap. xvi. (95) But the margin has it
"of thy servant," which does not agree with the person of the verb. (96)
So, too, chap. xvi:25 of the same book, we find, "As if one had inquired at
the oracle of God," the margin adding "someone" to stand as a nominative to
the verb. (97) But the correction is not apparently warranted, for it is
a common practice, well known to grammarians in the Hebrew language, to use
the third person singular of the active verb impersonally.

(98) The second argument advanced by the Pharisees is easily answered from
what has just been said, namely, that the scribes besides the various
readings called attention to obsolete words. (99) For there is no doubt
that in Hebrew as in other languages, changes of use made many words
obsolete and antiquated, and such were found by the later scribes in the
sacred books and noted by them with a view to the books being publicly read
according to custom. (100) For this reason the word nahgar is always found
marked because its gender was originally common, and it had the same meaning
as the Latin juvenis (a young person). (101) So also the Hebrew capital was
anciently called Jerusalem, not Jerusalaim. (102) As to the pronouns himself
and herself, I think that the later scribes changed vau into jod (a very
frequent change in Hebrew) when they wished to express the feminine gender,
but that the ancients only distinguished the two genders by a change of
vowels. (103) I may also remark that the irregular tenses of certain verbs
differ in the ancient and modern forms, it being formerly considered a mark
of elegance to employ certain letters agreeable to the ear.

(104) In a word, I could easily multiply proofs of this kind if I were not
afraid of abusing the patience of the reader. (105) Perhaps I shall be asked
how I became acquainted with the fact that all these expressions are
obsolete. (106) I reply that I have found them in the most ancient Hebrew
writers in the Bible itself, and that they have not been imitated by
subsequent authors, and thus they are recognized as antiquated, though the
language in which they occur is dead. (107) But perhaps someone may press
the question why, if it be true, as I say, that the marginal notes of the
Bible generally mark various readings, there are never more than two
readings of a passage, that in the text and that in the margin, instead of
three or more; and further, how the scribes can have hesitated between two
readings, one of which is evidently contrary to grammar, and the other a
plain correction.

(108) The answer to these questions also is easy: I will premise that it is
almost certain that there once were more various readings than those now
recorded. (119) For instance, one finds many in the Talmud which the
Massoretes have neglected, and are so different one from the other that
even the superstitious editor of the Bomberg Bible confesses that he cannot
harmonize them. (110) "We cannot say anything," he writes, "except what we
have said above, namely, that the Talmud is generally in contradiction to
the Massorete." (111) So that we are nor bound to hold that there never were
more than two readings of any passage, yet I am willing to admit, and
indeed I believe that more than two readings are never found: and for the
following reasons:-(112) (I.) The cause of the differences of reading only
admits of two, being generally the similarity of certain letters, so that
the question resolved itself into which should be written Beth, or Kaf,
Jod or Vau, Daleth or Reth: cases which are constantly occurring, and
frequently yielding a fairly good meaning whichever alternative be adopted.
(113) Sometimes, too, it is a question whether a syllable be long or short,
quantity being determined by the letters called mutes. (114) Moreover, we
never asserted that all the marginal versions, without exception, marked
various readings; on the contrary, we have stated that many were due to
motives of decency or a desire to explain obsolete words. (115) (II.) I am
inclined to attribute the fact that more than two readings are never found
to the paucity of exemplars, perhaps not more than two or three, found by
the scribes. (116) In the treatise of the scribes, chap. vi., mention is
made of three only, pretended to have been found in the time of Ezra, in
order that the marginal versions might be attributed to him.

(117) However that may be, if the scribes only had three codices we may
easily imagine that in a given passage two of them would be in accord, for
it would be extraordinary if each one of the three gave a different reading
of the same text.

(118) The dearth of copies after the time of Ezra will surprise no one who
has read the 1st chapter of Maccabees, or Josephus's "Antiquities," Bk. 12,
chap. 5. (119) Nay, it appears wonderful considering the fierce and daily
persecution, that even these few should have been preserved. (120) This
will, I think, be plain to even a cursory reader of the history of those
times.

(121) We have thus discovered the reasons why there are never more than two
readings of a passage in the Bible, but this is a long way from supposing
that we may therefore conclude that the Bible was purposely written
incorrectly in such passages in order to signify some mystery. (122) As to
the second argument, that some passages are so faultily written that they
are at plain variance with all grammar, and should have been corrected in
the text and not in the margin, I attach little weight to it, for I am not
concerned to say what religious motive the scribes may have had for acting
as they did: possibly they did so from candour, wishing to transmit the few
exemplars of the Bible which they had found exactly in their original state,
marking the differences they discovered in the margin, not as doubtful
readings, but as simple variants. (123) I have myself called them doubtful
readings, because it would be generally impossible to say which of the two
versions is preferable.

(124) Lastly, besides these doubtful readings the scribes have (by leaving a
hiatus in the middle of a paragraph) marked several passages as mutilated.
(125) The Massoretes have counted up such instances, and they amount to
eight-and-twenty. (126) I do not know whether any mystery is thought to lurk
in the number, at any rate the Pharisees religiously preserve a certain
amount of empty space.

(127) One of such hiatus occurs (to give an instance) in Gen. iv:8, where it
is written, "And Cain said to his brother . . . . and it came to pass while
they were in the field, &c.," a space being left in which we should expect
to hear what it was that Cain said.

(128) Similarly there are (besides those points we have noticed) eight-and-
twenty hiatus left by the scribes. (129) Many of these would not be
recognized as mutilated if it were not for the empty space left. But I have
said enough on this subject.




CHAPTER X. - AN EXAMINATION OF THE REMAINING BOOKS OF
THE OLD TESTAMENT ACCORDING TO THE PRECEDING METHOD.

(1) I now pass on to the remaining books of the Old Testament. (2)
Concerning the two books of Chronicles I have nothing particular or
important to remark, except that they were certainly written after the time
of Ezra, and possibly after the restoration of the Temple by Judas
Maccabaeus [Endnote 19]. (2) For in chap. ix. of the first book we find a
reckoning of the families who were the first to live in Jerusalem, and in
verse 17 the names of the porters, of which two recur in Nehemiah. (3) This
shows that the books were certainly compiled after the rebuilding of the
city. (4) As to their actual writer, their authority, utility, and doctrine,
I come to no conclusion. (5) I have always been astonished that they have
been included in the Bible by men who shut out from the canon the books of
Wisdom, Tobit, and the others styled apocryphal. (6) I do not aim at
disparaging their authority, but as they are universally received I will
leave them as they are.

(7) The Psalms were collected and divided into five books in the time of the
second temple, for Ps. lxxxviii. was published, according to Philo-Judaeus,
while king Jehoiachin was still a prisoner in Babylon; and Ps. lxxxix. when
the same king obtained his liberty: I do not think Philo would have made the
statement unless either it had been the received opinion in his time, or
else had been told him by trustworthy persons.

(8) The Proverbs of Solomon were, I believe, collected at the same time, or
at least in the time of King Josiah; for in chap. xxv:1, it is written,
"These are also proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of
Judah, copied out." (9) I cannot here pass over in silence the audacity
of the Rabbis who wished to exclude from the sacred canon both the Proverbs
and Ecclesiastes, and to put them both in the Apocrypha. (10) In fact, they
would actually have done so, if they had not lighted on certain passages in
which the law of Moses is extolled. (11) It is, indeed, grievous to think
that the settling of the sacred canon lay in the hands of such men; however,
I congratulate them, in this instance, on their suffering us to see these
books in question, though I cannot refrain from doubting whether they have
transmitted them in absolute good faith; but I will not now linger on this
point.