CHAPTER I.

CHARACTER OF THE PENTATEUCH.

CONTENTS.-Name of the Books; Antiquity; Author; Composition; Inspiration; Truth; Language: Style; Various Readings.

SECTION I-NAMES OF THE BOOKS THAT MAKE UP THE PENTATEUCH.

1. Pentateuch is the general name of the first five books of the Bible. The name is given to them, because the term itself has the meaning of five books, and is, therefore, an appropriate one in this relation. Each particular division of the Pentateuch takes its name from the subject to which it mainly relates. Genesis means origin, and is applied to the first of these books, because it treats of the origin of the world and of the human race. It is the Greek word, for the same idea, only it is expressed in English characters. Exodus means departure, and is given to the second book, because the departure of the Israelites, is the principal subject to which it relates. Leviticus is a name derived from the tribe of Levi, and is applied to the third book, because it treats mainly of the Levitical Priesthood. Numbers is the fourth book, and as it begins with the numbering of the people, this circumstance has suggested the name. Deuteronomy is made up of two Greek words meaning second law, and is applied to the last of the five books, on account of the repetitions it contains of sundry laws that had been given before.

2. These names are taken from the Septuagint, or Greek translation of the Old Testament. This version

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has for Genesis, "Book of Genesis." Exodus is the same as the English except that the characters in the Septuagint are of course Greek and not English. The same is true of Leviticus. Numbers is an English word and not Greek, but the Greek name for this book (arithmoi) has the same meaning. Deuteronomy is a Greek word in English characters, except that the last letter is changed to give it an English termination.

The Hebrew names of these books are the following, consisting of the first word, or words, with which each book begins, viz: Bereshith, Veelleshemoth, Vayikra, Vayedaber, Ellehadebarim. These are translated "In the beginning," "These are the names," "And he called," "And he spake," "These are the words." The fourth book is very frequently named from the fifth word, as expressing more properly the subject to which it relates. The word is Bemidbar "in the desert."

SECTION II.-ANTIQUITY OF THE PENTATEUCH.

3. Perhaps we have said all we need say on this subject in the first volume; for all the arguments that prove the Book of Genesis to have originated at the time to which it is commonly referred, will apply equally to the rest of the five books. We will add, however, some other considerations derived mainly from the other four books, that can not fail, we think, to remove every lingering doubt on this question.

The only way we know of, to prove the antiquity of a book, is to trace it back by the aid of other books that lie between our time and the time the book in question first appeared. Fortunately there is a multitude of books containing the required references lying along the line of ages between the present and the age of the Pentateuch; though, as we might expect, the number is much less as we go back to very ancient times. And each book, along this line, is proved, in its turn, to belong where we place it, by references to it

this side of the time when it appeared, and which are not found on the other side. In the first two or three centuries of the Christian Church, there are enough references to the New Testament, to replace every word and sentence of that book, if the book itself were destroyed.

4. The number of references to the Old Testament, in the New, in Josephus, in Philo Judeus, &c., make us certain that that sacred volume was then essentially what it is now. The later of these books refer to earlier ones, and these again to earlier still, till we come back to the very time of Moses. A distinguished author states this argument thus, beginning in the time of Ezra :-"The Pentateuch existed in the time of Ezra, for it is expressly mentioned during the captivity in Babylon. Long before that event, it was extant in the time of Josiah, B. C. (before Christ) 624, and was then of such acknowledged authority that the perusal of it occasioned an immediate reformation of the religious usages, which had not been observed, according to the word of the Lord to do after all that is written in this book.' It was extant in the time of Hoshea, king of Israel, B. C. 678, since a captive Israelite priest was sent back from Babylon to instruct the new colonists of Samaria in the religion which it teaches. It was extant in the time of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, B. C. 912, who employed public instructors for its promulgation. Moreover, that the Pentateuch was extant in the time of David, B. C. 1042, is evident from the very numerous allusions made in his Psalms to its contents. Samuel, who judged Israel about the year 1100-1060 or 1061 could not have acquired the knowledge of Egypt which the Pentateuch implies, and in Joshua, (which, though reduced to its present form in later times, was undoubtedly composed in respect to its essential parts, at a very early period,) frequent references may be found to the Book of the Law. The Pentateuch was therefore extant in the time of

Joshua." Bishop Marsh. See for the passages that sustain the above statements, Dan. ix. 11, 13; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 15, 21; 2 Kings xvii. 24; 2 Chron. xvii. 9.

5. The Pentateuch has internal marks that prove its antiquity. The language and style of the book are what we should expect, allowing it to have been written at the time and under the circumstances claimed for it. It agrees with the manners and customs of the people, so far as we are able to learn anything of them, from other sources; and these manners and customs are what we should expect in that age, and they do not agree so well with any other.

6. We know of no other or better method to determine the age to which the book belongs, than the one here described, 1st, the external evidence derived from the references of subsequent authors, and 2d, the internal evidence offered by the book itself. In other cases this method is satisfactory. We know of no reason for making the books of the Bible an exception. It sometimes happens that the great number of witnesses to a fact tends to weaken our confidence in it. I would suggest, therefore, that the present is a case in point, or rather would be, were the number of witnesses increased.

We had no right to expect a great number of references to the Pentateuch in writers immediately subsequent, because the number itself of writers is very limited. Hence, were the number increased above what the age and circumstances would justly allow, we should naturally conclude that some of these witnesses were spurious; and if we could not determine which, our confidence in the whole of them would be weakened. To make out an argument for the antiquity of the Pentateuch, we must not presume on a state of things which we know, from the nature of the case, could not have existed. We think we have all the evidence we have a right to expect. And what we say here of the external evidence, will apply equally

to the internal. The Pentateuch contains very many allusions to the manners, customs, institutions, and localities of Egypt and other countries. That some things are not alluded to, and some too that we might expect would be; and furthermore that some of the allusions do not precisely accord with other and cotemporary or subsequent documents-all this is exactly what we ought to look for in such a work as we claim the Pentateuch to be. No author could be expected to refer to everything, and if Moses does not agree in all things with what is said in Herodotus or Diodorus Siculus or any other ancient author; neither do these authors agree among themselves; and who is authorized to decide that either or all these authors are right and Moses wrong? Doubtless there may be circumstances which, if we knew them, would show them all to be right in many instances where they differ, even in instances where they seem to contradict each other. For it often occurs that authors are contradictory only in appearance and are easily made to harmonize when a few facts bearing on the subject, become known.

We shall have occasion to speak of some apparent discrepancies between the Pentateuch and other ancient documents when treating of other topics.

SECTION III-AUTHOR OF THE PENTATEUCH.

7. That Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, is the universal testimony of antiquity- the only testimony that is fitted to settle a question of this kind. The objections to regarding him as the author, so far as we have seen them stated, are entirely unsatisfactory.

8. (1) That he uses the third person, instead of the first, has its parallel in other ancient writings. Not to mention others, "Cesar's Commentaries" are directly to the point. In the wars of Gaul, Cesar was himself the principal actor. He writes out the history of his doings under the name of "Commentaries," and uni