In this man's judgment (which also is my own), it is evident to all how obnoxious to the opinion now opposed the truth is that I am contendine: for.
S72 INTEGRITY AND PURITY OF THE HEBREW AND GREEK TEXT.
To these also may be added the great Buxtorfs, father^ and son," Gerard/ Glassius/ Voetius/ Flacius lUyricus,® Polanus, Whitaker, Hassret/ Wolthius.^
It is well known what use the Papists make of this conceit. Bel- larmine maintains that there are errors crept into the original by this addition of the points : De Verb. Dei, lib. ii. cap. ii., " Hisce duabus sententiis refutatis, restat tertia, quam ego verissimam puto, quae est, Sciipturas Hebraicas non esse in universum depravatas opera et malitia Judseorum, nee tamen omnino esse integras et puras, sed habere suos errores quosdam, qui partim irrepserint negli- gentia et ignorantia librariorum, etc., partim ignorantia Rabbinorum qui puncta addiderunt; itaque possumus, si volumus, puncta detra- here et aliter legere;" — " These two opinions being confuted, the third remaineth, which I suppose to be most true; which is, that the Hebrew Scriptures are not universally corrupted by the malicious work of the Jews, nor yet are wholly pure and entire, but that they have errors, which have crept in partly by the negligence and igno- rance of the transcribers, partly by the ignorance of the Rabbins who added the points; Avhence we may, if we please, reject the points and read otherwise."
In the voluminous opposition to the truth made by that learned man, I know nothing more perniciously spoken, nor do yet know how his inference can be avoided on the hypothesis in question. To what purpose this insinuation is made by him is well known, and his companions in design exactly declare it. That their Hebrew text be corrected by the Vulgar Latin is the express desire of Gregory de Valentia, torn. i. disput, 5, q. 3 ; and that because the church hath approved that translation, it being corrected (says Huntley) by Je- rome before the invention of points. But this is put out of doubt by Morinus, who from hence argues the Hebrew tongue to be a very nose of wax, to be turned by men which way they please, and to be so given of God on purpose that men might subject their consciences to their infallible church, Exercit. lib. i. exer. i. cap. ii. Great hath been the endeavour of this sort of men, wherein they have left no stone unturned, to decry the originals. Some of them cry out that the Old Testament is corrupted by the Jews, as Leo Gastrins,^ Gor- donius Huntlseus," Melchior Canus," Petrus Galatinus,^^ Morinus," Salmeron, Pintus, Mersennus, Animad. in Problem. Georgii Venet, etc., p. 233;" — that many corruptions have crept into it by negligence
' Buxtorf. Tiberias. * De Antiquitate Punct. ' Exeg. loc. com. torn. i. de
Sa. Sc. * De Text. Hcb. Purl. s i^c. com. quousque se extendat. Author S. Sa.
« Clav. Scrip. Sel. p. 2, trac. 6. < De Tempi. Ezec. ^ Disputat. Jenas. » De
Translat. Rcripturse. '" Controversarium P]pitome. " Loc. Theol. lib. ii. cap. xiii. " Arcan. Cathol. lib. i. " Exercit, de Heb. Text, Sincer. " Proleg.
ORIGIN OF THE HEBREW POINTS. 373
and the carelessness of scribes, so Bellarmine/ Genebrard/ Sixtus Senensis/ with most of the rest of them. In these things, indeed, they have been opposed by the most learned of their own side, as Arias Montanus,'* Johannes Isaac," Pineda," Masius,'^ Ferrarius,^ Andradius, and sundry others, who speak honourably of the origi- nals. But in nothing do they so pride themselves as in this conceit of the novelty of the Hebrew punctuation, whereby they hope, with Abimelecli's servants, utterly to stop the wells and fountains from whence we should draw our souls' refreshment
This may serve for a short view of the opinions of the parties at variance, and their several interests in these opinions. The import- ance of the points is on all hands acknowledged, whether aiming at the honour or dishonour of the originals. Vowels are the life of words; consonants without them are dead and immovable ; by them are they carried to any sense, and may be to divers. It is true that men who have come to acquaintance with the Scriptures by the help of the vowels and accents, being in possession of an habitual notion and apprehension of that sense and meaning which ariseth from them, may possibly think that it were a facile thing to find out and fix upon the same sense by the help of the mutres lectionis "•"inx, and the consideration of antecedents and consequents, with such like assistances. But let them be all taken out of the way (as I shall manifest it is fit they should be, if they have the original assigned to them by the Prolegomena), and let men lay aside that advantage they have received from them, and it will quickly appear into what devious ways all sorts of such persons will run. Scarce a chapter, it may be a verse, or a word, in a short time, would be left free from perplexing, contradicting conjectures. The words are altogether in- numerable whose significations may be varied by an arbitrary sup- plying of the points. And when the regulation of the punctuation shall be left to every single person's conjectures upon antecedents and consequents (for who shall give a rule to the rest), what end shall we have of fruitless contests? What various, what pernicious senses shall we have to contend about ! Suppose that men sober, modest, humble, pious, might be preserved from such miscarriages, and be brought to some agreement about these things (which yet in these days, upon many accounts, is not to be looked for, yea, from the nature of the thing itself seems impossible), yet this gives us but a human, fallible persuasion, that the readings fixed on by them are according to the mind of God; but to expect such an agreement is fond and foolish. Besides, who shall secure us against the luxuriant,