The two most noted MSS. of the Septuagint Version are the Codex Alexandrinus and the Codex Vaticanus. The Codex Vaticanus, or Vatican copy, is so called from belonging to the Vatican Library, at Rome; and contains not only the Old Testament, but also the New. It is supposed to have been written in the fifth or sixth century; and is executed in the uncial or square characters, (what we commonly call capitals,) without distinction of chapters, verses, or words. Cardinal Carafa edited the first printed edition of this MS. by order of Pope Sixtus V. in folio; but without the New Testament. The Cardinal and his associates were employed nine years upon this edition, which was printed at Rome, by Franciscus Zunetti, in 1587. The Codex Alexandrinus, or Alexandrian copy, was presented to king Charles 1. by Sir Thomas Roe, from Cyril Lucar, Patriarch of Constantinople, who accompanied the MS. with the following note, written by his own hand : 6 Liber iste Scripturæ Sacræ Novi et Veteris Testamenti, prout ex Traditione habemus, est scriptus manu Theclæ, nobilis fœminæ Egyptiæ, ante mile (pro mille) et tricentos Annos circiter, paulo post concilium Nicænum. Nomen The'clæ in fine Libri erat exaratum; sed extincto Christianismo in Egypto à Mahometanis, et Libri una Christianorum in similem 'sunt redacti conditionem ; extinctum ergo et (lege est) Thecla ⚫ nomen et laceratum, sed memoria et traditio recens observat.' Cyrillus, Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus. (TRANSLATION.) 6 This book of the Holy Scriptures of the New and Old Tes'tament, was written, according to tradition, by the hand of Thecla, a noble Egyptian woman, about thirteen hundred years since, a little after the council at Nice. The name of Thecla was formerly written at the end of the book, but Christianity being suppressed in Egypt, by the Mohammedans, the books also of the Christians shared the same fate. * Cyril's note was written in the year 1628. The council of Nice was held at a city of that name in Nicomedia, in 324. The most strenuous advocates of this MS., however, consider this date as too early, and it is much more probable, that it is about the same age as the Codex Vaticanus. 6 But though the name of Thecla be blotted and torn out, yet memory and tradition continue to preserve it.' Cyril, Patriarch of Constantinople. It is written on parchment, and like all the most ancient manuscripts, in uncial characters, without distinction of chapters, verses, or words, and originally without accents. It consists of four folios, three of which contain the Old Testament, and the fourth, the New Testament. It formerly belonged to the King's Library, from whence it was transferred in 1753, to the British Museum. A fac simile edition of the New Testament of this MS. was published in 1786, by Dr. C. G. Woide, with types cast for that purpose, line for line, without intervals between the words, as in the manuscript itself. It is a splendid folio; and is accompanied with a learned preface, containing an accurate description of the manuscript, with an exact list of all its various readings. In 1814, the British House of Commons ordered, that a fac simile edition also of the Old Testament should be executed at the public expence. The Rev. Henry Harvey Baber, one of the librarians of the British Museum, and editor of a beautiful edition of "Wiclif's New Testament," printed in 4to. 1810, was appointed the editor, and has since published the book of Psalms, for which he had issued proposals prior to his appointment; and several other parts of it, The Autograph, or original copy of the Septuagint version, was, most probably, consumed in the fire which destroyed the Alexandrian Library, in the time of Julius Cæsar, about 50 years before the Christian era; but the translation was preserved by the numerous transcripts taken for the use of the different synagogues in Egypt, Greece, and Italy, and which were sure to be copied with the utmost accuracy and care. Other copies were also taken for the use of individuals. The Evangelists, and Apostles, and primitive Fathers, made their quotations from this translation; all the Greek churches used it; and the Latins, till the time of Jerom, had no version of * Eclectic Review, II. pt. i. p. 216. Marsh's Michaelis, II. pt. ii. p. 651. the Old Testament, but what had been translated from it; and nearly all the older Oriental versions, as well as several of the Western, are derived from it. 7 The Hellenist Jews, i. e. those who spoke the Greek language, continued the use of this version from the time of its formation, till about 100 years after the Incarnation of our Lord, when they began to disuse it, and formed another for themselves. For as this version grew into use among the Christians, it grew out of credit with the Jews; and they, being pressed in many particulars urged against them out of this version, by the Christians, in order to deprive them of the benefit of that authority, began to deny that it agreed with the Hebrew text. Further, to discredit the character of the Septuagint, the Jews instituted a solemn fast, on the eighth day of the month Thebet (December), to execrate the memory of its having been made. Not satisfied with this measure, we are assured by Justin Martyr, who lived in the former part of the second century, that they proceeded to expunge several passages out of the Septuagint; and abandoning this, adopted the version of Aquila,† a native of Sinope, a city of Pontus, who, having been expelled from the Christian church for addicting himself to magic and judicial astrology, turned Jew, and was admitted into the school of Rabbi Akiba, the most celebrated Jewish teacher of his day. This man, having made considerable proficiency in Hebrew, was thought sufficient for the translation, which he undertook and published in the year of our Lord 128. This is the translation mentioned in the Talmud, and not the Septuagint with which it has been confounded.§ The Septuagint being written in the same dialect as the New Testament (the formation of whose style was influenced by it), * EXλVEÇ sunt pagani. EXλas Judæi Græcis Bibliis in Synagogis utentes.lo. Scaliger apud Hody, De Bib. Text. Orig. p. 221. + Owen's Inquiry into the present state of the Septuagint version, pp. 29-87.; and 126-138. Prideaux's Connection, &c. III. pt. ii. b. 1, and Hody, De Bibl. Text. Orig. Lib. iv. p. 573. 'Prideaux, II. p. 50, and Lightfoot's Works, II. pp. 806, 807. it becomes a very important source of interpretation: for not only does it frequently serve to determine the genuine reading, but also to ascertain the meaning of particular idiomatic expressions and passages in the New Testament, the true import of which could not be known but from their use in the Septuagint. Grotius, Reuchenius, Biel, Schleuzner, and Dr. A. Clarke, are the critics who have most successfully applied this version to the interpretation of the New Testament. Poetry. DAVID'S LAMENTATION FOR SAUL AND JONATHAN. And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son: The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places; how are the mighty fallen? Tell it not in Gath, publish if not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty, Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights; who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are mighty fallen in the midst of the battle. O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places. I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished! unto me: (2 SAMUEL 1. 17—27. BEHOLD how thy beauty, Oh Israel, is slain; Behold where the mighty the valliant, the brave, Oh! tell not in Gath why 'tis thus we bewail ;- Lest the maids of Philistia rejoice in our fall, And triumph to find that invincible Saul Was subdued by their sharp-edged sword. *See Townley's Illustrations of Biblical Literature, vol. i. pp. 59—68; and Horne's Introduction, vol. ii. pt. i. ch. v. sec. 1. Ye hills of Gilboa ! no more may the dew, No more may rich off'rings be seen, Where the mighty have vilely thrown down the bright shield,— Where the buckler of Saul lays to rust on the field, As tho' unanointed he'd been. From the plain where the blood of the fearless was shed,— To exhibit their prowess in fight, The bow of brave Jonathan turn'd not away, And the sword of great Saul from the fatal affray, How fair in their lives was the son and the sire! United in death as in life: They were stronger than lions when roused from the lair, To the red scenes of slaughter and strife. Come forth ye fair daughters of Israel, and mourn, Who made your appearance so bright to behold, In the midst of the battle, Oh how have the brave Been swept from the earth by the blood crimsoned glaive! Oh how have the mighty ones fell! Brave Jonathan, thou too hast met the same fate With thy gallant companions, the noble and great; Since Jonathan lives not, then mute let me be, For I'm grieved, noble warrior, when thinking of thee, No more shall thy friend that kind tenderness prove, Which even in women appear. Oh how have the mighty, who erst when then they rose, Fall'n down, and shall conquer no more; While perished are all the bright weapons of war ;- H. D. |