mode of pronunciation peculiar to themselves, we have perhaps no means of ascertaining. Of one thing, however, we are certain, that the dialect in use by them in the fourth and fifth centuries differed somewhat considerably from that used in the first and second at least, the language of the Mishna (about the middle of the second century) differs greatly from that of the Jerusalem Talmud, written also at Tiberias, not later, says Zunz, than the first half of the fourth century, and from the style of the Jerusalem Targum on the Pentateuch. It would seem from some expressions which Jerome uses that he recognized a difference between the Arabic and other Semitic tongues. His language, when speaking of the book of Job, is, Hæc autem translatio nullum de veteribus sequitur Interpretum, sed ex ipso Hebraico Arabicoque sermone, et interdum Syro, nunc verba, nunc sensus, nunc simul utrumque resonabit' (Præf. in Job.). Job quoque cum Arabica lingua plurimum habere societatem' (Præf. in Dan. See Delitzsch, Jes. p. 66; Hengstenberg on Job in Kitto's Cyclopædia). STATE OF HEBREW LEARNING IN PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF JEROME. 6 After the sanguinary conquest of Palestine by Hadrian, which had almost depopulated the country, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus, were required to exert their power in quelling serious insurrections among the Jews. Even as late as the twenty-fifth year of Constantine's reign the Jews in Palestine rebelled, aud killed many of other nations, both Greeks and Samaritans, but they were extirpated by the Roman army' (Theophanes, p. 33; Socrates, Hist. xi. 31). Peace had now, however, been enjoyed for some length of time. Hence the academies of Lydda and Tiberias were in a more flourishing state when Jerome resided in Palestine than had been the case for many years' (Delitzsch, Jes. p. 7; Carp. Crit. S. vi. § 2). Great activity prevailed in these seats of Jewish history at this time. The Jews even endeavoured to become somewhat thoroughly acquainted with the Gospels, which they had translated into Hebrew," doubtless for the purpose of controversy. The voluminous work of the Jerusalem Talmud was then compiled. * Justin Martyr says to Trypho, καὶ προσέτι ἡ γῆ ὑμῶν ἠρεμώθη, καὶ ὡς ὄπωροQuλáKIOV KATAλEλETTα (Dial. c. 52). Jerome writes, Terram Judæ penitus fuerit depredatus' (Com. Is. vi.). z Epiphanius speaks of the Gospel of John and the Acts of the Apostles as having been translated into Hebrew, and as having been kept εν τοις των Ιουδαίων γαζοφυλακίοις . . . . . . εν τη Τιβεριάδι (Η. 30). Great Great care was paid to the correctness of the manuscripts, and to the proper pronunciation of the Hebrew (see p. 6). The labours were now commencing which resulted in the present system of vowels and accents, and in the Masora.a Between the Jews, however, and their fellow-subjects little intercourse subsisted, religious hate being as strong as ever. Hence their literary labours were in a great measure confined to themselves. In Jerome's time imprecations against the Christians were repeated three times a day in the synagogues (Com in Jes. v. 18; xlix. 7; xii. 5; Com. in Amos, i. 11). All discussion on religious subjects with Christians was expressly forbidden (Justin, Dial. c. Tryph. c. 38, 112), although the reiteration of this command shows that it was not always obeyed. From the influence of these circumstances Jerome found great difficulty in obtaining the instruction he required. Quo labore,' says he, 'quo prætio, Baraninam nocturnum habui præceptorem! Timebat enim Judæos, et mihi alterum exhibebat Nicodemum ' (Ep. ad Pam.). 'Memini me ob intelligentiam hujus voluminis Lyddæum quondam præceptorem, qui apud Hebræos primus haberi putabatur, non parvis redemisse nummis' (Præf. in Job.). Nor was this all; Jerome was greatly taken to task by his Christian brethren for learning Hebrew from Jews (Adv. Ruf. i. Ruf. Adv. Hieron.). These difficulties were not, however, insurmountable. Good teachers could be obtained for money. Some, indeed, of the Jewish Rabbins seemed to be above the narrow prejudices of their brethren. Thus Origen became intimately acquainted with the patriarch Jullus. In refuting the objections of his brethren, Jerome says, Ipse Origenes, et Clemens, et Eusebius, atque alii complures, quando de Scripturis aliqua disputant, et volunt approbare quod dicunt, sic solent scribere: Referebat mihi Hebræus; et audivi ab Hebræo; et Hebræorum ista sententia est' (Adv. Ruf.). 6 6 The good example thus set by Origen, and especially by Jerome, was soon followed. A taste for oriental learning was excited. Paula and her daughter were somewhat proficients in Hebrew. 'Hebræam linguam,' says Jerome, discere voluit, et consecuta est, ita ut Psalmos Hebraice caneret, et sermonem absque ulla Latina linguæ proprietate personaret. Quod quidem usque hodie in sancta filia Eustochio cernimus' (Ep. ad Eust.). a It is interesting to find that the support now rendered to Palestine Jews by their brethren in other parts was rendered in Jerome's time: 'Apud Hebræos,' says he, ut qui in lege Domini meditantur die ac nocte, et partem non habent_in terra, nisi solum Deum, synagogarum et totius orbis foveantur ministeriis' (Jer. adv. Vigil.). At At the funeral of the good lady Paula psalms were sung by attendant monks and nuns in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and Syriac. Besides the Jews and their pupils, there were in Palestine numerous sects of Jewish Christians as zealously attached to the study of the Hebrew Bible, and as well versed in traditionary lore as the Hebrews themselves. The Nazareans living, according to Epiphanius, in Berœa, in Syria, in Colo-Syria, Decapolis, and Basanitis, were most attentive readers of the Hebrew Scriptures. Such was the case also with the Ebionites of Nabathea, Paneas, Moabitis, and Cocabe. Even the Gnostic Jewish sects appear to have cultivated Hebrew learning with much success. The number of these Christianized Jews was very great. Among them various apocryphal writings were in circulation. Thus we read of the book called the Jubilees, the Parva Genesis (twice mentioned by Jerome, Ep. ad Fab. de Mans. 18, 24, evidently as written in Hebrew, since he refers to the word as found there), and the Hebrew Gospel of the Nazarenes, translated by Jerome. Besides these, the Wisdom of Solomon, Jesus son of Sirach, Judith, Tobit, Shepherd of Hermas, First Book of Maccabees, were in circulation in Palestine at this time, all written in Aramean. In addition to these works, many of the Greek apocryphal writings then in use, viz., The Test. of XII. Patriarchs, the Sibylline Oracles, the Fourth Book of Ezra, are extremely Aramean in style and Jewish in doctrine. In all these writings the strong influence of Hebrew and Rabbinical study is plainly discernible. b Epiphanius says of the Nazarenes, Ἑβραϊκήν δὲ διάλεκτον ἀκριβῶς εἰσὶν ἠσκημένοι παρ' αυτοῖς πᾶς ὁ νόμος, καὶ οἱ προφῆται, καὶ τὰ γραφεῖα λεγόμενα—Εβραϊκῶς ἀναγινώσκεται ὥσπερ ἀμέλει καὶ παρὰ Ιουδαίοις. ON ON CUSTOMS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE BIBLE. No. I. By the Rev. D. G. WAIT, D.C.L., Rector of Blagdon, Somerset. THE most ancient manner of perpetuating events in the very early times was by indenting the records of them in stone. In Yemen several specimens, which have been averred to relate to the Hamyarites, have been found; but every interpretation of them that has been offered is doubtful. Ibn Mokri has recorded that this mode of perpetuating events was customary among the Arabs of Yemen; and there is a proverb in Meidáni which corroborates his statement. The arrow-headed inscriptions in Persia and Babylonia are sufficient to prove the extensive prevalence of the practice, which is confirmed by inscriptions of another class, which India and Egypt supply. The Tarikhi Sung at Mazenderàn, and the Rosetta Stone, were national records. The Tables of the Law, which consisted of the Decalogue engraven on stone, whilst they afford an evidence that this style was designed for endurance, yield in the context an intimation that another style was known also in the days of Moses. Without bestowing an implicit credit on the statement of Eupolemus, that Moses first invented alphabetic characters, we may safely aver, from Exod. xxxii. 32, 33, that the art of writing on other substances had been at that time discovered. For it would have been impossible that, especially if the word had then the full sense a which the Kamus and Sihah attribute to its Arabic counterpart, could have been applied to any engraving on stone; nor could it have been so applied if the idea of an entire perforation, suggested by Michaelis, be correct. The North American Indians and other barbarous people were accustomed to commemorate, as well on bark as on rocks, the histories of men and events in hieroglyphics; and the use of the papyrus was doubtless known in Egypt in a very remote antiquity; if it were known to Moses, might it not have been the material of the DD mentioned in these passages? With the inscribed pillars assigned to Seth, or the boundaries attributed to Joseph, or the characters on Mount Horeb, we are not concerned; for the books of Genesis, Job, and Joshua present authorities sufficient for our inquiry. Hence, in proportion to the a The Arabic root implies the obliteration of every trace of a thing. VOL. III.NO. VL Y increase increase of idolatry was the veneration attached to particular stones which were supposed to be inhabited by a Deity: the abo ux, the Hindu Salagrama, and the residences of the Duergar were such; and among the ancient inhabitants of Denmark and Norway the runic characters engraven on rocks in historical remembrance of the martial deeds of Odin and other barbarians contributed not a little to that veneration. Whether we advert to the spirits of rocks and mines, to the Bætulia, to the marks of Divine feet, to pyramids, to obelisks, to gigantic temples of stone, to cairns and cromlechs, to caves or excavations, such as those at Nakshi-rustam, at Dendera, Elephantine, and Salsette, to the stupendous monuments and temples in Upper Egypt and Abyssinia, to all that Masúdi has recorded on this branch of superstition, or to all that the Druidical religion will present to us, we shall find an ample justification of every denunciation in the Bible against the worship of stocks and stones. The unction of stones, which was permitted to the patriarchs, soon became abused; the Hebrews themselves applied it to idolatry. They poured their libations, and they presented their meat-offerings to them, and slew children, as victims, in the clefts of the rocks. Images of stone were not only anointed, but were crowned with garlands, and exalted to the rank of tutelary divinities; so writes Tibullus (i. 1. 11): 'Nam veneror, seu stipes habet desertus in agris, And Clemens Alexandrinus, in the seventh book of his Stromata, strongly alludes to this idolatry, with which also osculation was connected, as we know it to have been with that (Job xxxi. 27; . 1 Kings xix. 18; Hosea xiii. 2) which is recorded in the Scriptures. The earliest habitations of mankind were in the excavations of rocks and mountains, whether natural or artificial; from whence those places became the dormitories of the dead. Palestine and Persia abound with them. And, where persons were otherwise buried, it was the custom among some nations for their friends and passengers to throw stones by way of remembrance on their graves; but among the Hebrews and Arabs stones piled over graves were tokens of ignominy. Thus upon Achan, upon the king of Ai, and upon Absalom was a heap of stones piled; thus, also, when the people had transgressed the law by eating the cattle of the Philistines with the blood, Saul exclaimed, ' Roll a great stone unto me this day!' Hence likewise arose the proverb to roll away reproach. Several particulars in the interments at Machpelah bear a sin gular |