apostacy, and their regeneration afterwards by the MESSIAH: in further reference to which, Isaiah, invites them, lv. 1," Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;" in manifest allusion to which, JESUS, as the MESSIAH, or CHRIST, also invited the Jews, John, vii. 37: "If any one thirst, let "him come unto me and drink." Whereas the stream of commentators suppose, that this obscure prophecy of Balaam relates to the temporal aggrandizement of the Jewish nation that "their prosperity and posterity "shall be very great," as well summed up in the marginal note of the Geneva Bible. And "the waters" alluded to by Isaiah may as well relate to the foregoing verse, Num. xxiv. 6, in which the formidable host of the Israelites are represented spread forth in the valley, full in Balaam's view, from the top of mount Peor," as gardens by the ri"ver's side; as trees of Lign-aloes which the "Lord planted; and as cedar trees beside "the waters;" therefore the present Hebrew reading of the 7th verse is superfluous and unnecessary, considered as a point of re ference 2. But But the context itself furnishes INTERNAL EVIDENCE of the corruption and irrelevancy of the present text. The heathen diviner, by a natural transition from the present to the future prosperity of the Israelites, was led to advert to the fortunes of Jacob's posterity, and especially of Judah; foretold by the venerable patriarch Jacob, on his death-bed, Gen. xlix. 9, 10, "A lion's whelp is Judah; "From the prey, my son, art thou gone up: "He couched as a nursing lioness ; To this former part, Balaam twice alludes; in the foregoing prophecy, Numb. xxiii. 24 ; and immediately after, Numb. xxiv. 9, where he expressly recites the three last lines, "He " lay down," &c. The sequel of Jacob's prophecy, respecting the future destiny of the state of Judah, both civil and ecclesiastical, may be rendered thus more correctly: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, " Nor a scribe, of his offspring; c 2 " Until 66 "Until SHILOH (THE APOSTLE) shall come, "And [until] to him, a congregation of peoples." And to this latter part of Jacob's prophecy Balaam likewise twice alludes: first in this prophecy, according to the Septuagint, and again shortly after, Numb. xxiv. 17. " I see him-but not now ; "A star shall come forth from Jacob, In this noble prophecy there is a marked reference to some kingly personage; the same noticed in the foregoing prophecy in question; and unless that prophecy refers to him, and not merely to the national prosperity of the Jews, there is no personal antecedent, I conceive, to be found throughout the whole foregoing range of Balaam's prophecies. And this argument, when well weighed and thoroughly considered, will be decisive, I trust, to crown the authenticity of the reformed text furnished by the Septuagint version. III. And now I shall briefly state THE FACILITY FACILITY OF THE ADULTERATION of the original Hebrew text. The verb jatsa, (which is the term applied to CHRIST's birth in the signal prophecy of Micah, v. 2,) was easily changed intor jazal, by altering the two last letters; and aish into D' maim, by altering the first and last letters; 1 Mīldiv into 1 Mildiv, by erasing the second small letter Jod; w Zarahu into w into Zărahu, by erasing the second letter vau; and by Bhamim into D' Bamim, by erasing the second letter y ain. Thus have I stated, as concisely as the nature of the subject would admit, the leading grounds of the proposed reformation. I presume not to dictate to others, but I most earnesly deprecate a hasty rejection, until the whole of the argument be coolly, candidly, and skilfully discussed. The obscurity of this text is universally acknowledged-and if any other student will retrieve its character, or detect any error in the foregoing chain of reasoning, he shall receive my grateful acknowledgments. DISSERTATION II. OBSERVING in the Orthodox Churchman's Magazine, vol. i. p. 292, 330, 373, 392, some crude and desultory remarks, and counterremarks, on two most important passages of the OLD TESTAMENT, Psalm xvi. 10, and Psalm xlv, 6, (the former, considered in the NEW TESTAMENT as prophetical of our LORD's resurrection from the dead; the latter, as expressive of his divinity), tending, perhaps, by a shew of learning, rather to unsettle than to "increase the faith" of such orthodox readers, as are incompetent to explore the sacred sources of information themselves; from ignorance of the original languages, unavoidably relying on the most approved translations of Holy Writ; I shall now endeavour to vindicate the correctness of our public translation of these passages also. On this occasion I shall confine myself to the sixteenth Psalm; the drift of which seems |