' De Verbo Dei, lib. ii. ^ In Ps. xxi. ' Biblioth. lib; viii. ITaeres. 13.
* Prtefat ad Bib. Interlin. « Rcspons. ad Lindan. « De rebus Solom. cap. iv.
sect. 1. ' Prsefat. ad Josu. 8 Proleg. Biblica.
S7J< INTEGRITY AND PUIHTY OF THE HEBREW AND GREEK TEXT.
atheistical wits and spirits of these days, who are bold upon all ad- vantages dxlvriTK, KinTv, and to break in upon every thing that is holy and sacredj that they will not, by their huckstering, utterly corrupt the word of God? How easy is it to foresee the dangerous conse- quents of contending for various readings, though not false nor per- nicious, by men pertinaciously adhering to their own conjectures! The word of God, as to its literal sense, or reading of the words of it, hath hitherto been l^aydjviov, and the acknowledged touchstone of all expositions; render this now a, mXov spidog, and what have we remaining firm and unshaken?
Let men, with all their confidence as to the knowledge of the sense and meaning of the Scriptures which they have already re- ceived, by such helps and means as are all of them resolved into the present punctuation of the Bible (for all grammars, all lexicons, the whole Masora, all helps to this language, new and old in the world, are built on this foundation), reduce themselves to such an indif- ferency as some of late have fancied as a meet rise for knowledge, and fall seriously to the reading of some of the prophets, whose mat- ter is sublime and mystical, and their style elliptical and abstruse, without the help of points and accents, — let them fix them, or any figures to answer their sounds, arhitrarily, merely on their judgment in the language and conjectures at the sense of the place, without any advantage from what they have been instructed in, — and let us see whether they will agree, as they fabulously report of the seventy translators ! Whatever may be the issue of their industry, we need not fear quickly to find as learned as they that would lay their work level with the ground. I confess, considering the days we live in, wherein the bold and curious wits of men, under pretence of critical observations, alluring and enticing with a show of learning, have ventured to question almost every word in the Scripture, I cannot but tremble to think what would be the issue of this supposition, that the points or vowels, and accents, are no better guides unto us than may be expected from those who are pretended to be their authors. The Lord, I hope, will safeguard his own from the poison of such attempts. The least of its evil is not yet thoroughly considered. So that whereas, saving to myself the liberty of my judgment as to sundry particulars, both in the impression itself and in sundry trans- lations, I acknowledge the great usefulness of this work, and am thankful for it, which I here publicly testify, yet I must needs say, I had rather that it, and all works of the like kind, were out of the world, than that this one opinion should be received, with the con- sequences that unavoidably attend it.
" But this trial needs not be feared. Grant the points to have the original pretended, yet they deserve all regard, and are of singular
OEIGIN OF THE HEBREW POINTS, 875
use for the right understanding of the Scripture; so that it is not lawful to depart from them without urgent necessity, and evidences of a better lection to be substituted in the room of that refused." But as this relieves us not, but still leaves us within the sphere of rational conjectures, so whether it can honestly be pretended and pleaded in this case comes nextly to be discovered by the considera- tion of the supposed authors of this invention.
The founders of this story of the invention of the Hebrew points tell us that it was the work of some Rabbins living at Tiberias, a city in Galilee, about the year of Christ 500, or in the next century after the death of Jerome and the finishing of the Babylonian Tal- mud. The improbability of this story or legend I am not now to in- sist upon. Morinus makes the lie lower. He tells us that the Baby- lonian Talmud was finished but a little before the year 700, Exer. ii. cap. iii., par. poster. ; and that the Masoretes (to whom he ascribes the invention of the points) wrote a long time after the finishing of the Talmud and the year 700, p. p. 5, cap. iii. This long time cannot de- note less than some hundreds of years. And yet the same man in his preface to his •' Samaritica Opuscula," boasting of his finding B. Jehuda Chiug, manifests that he was acquainted with the present punctuation, and wrote about it. Now, this rabbi was a gram- marian,— which kind of learning among the Jews succeeded that of the Masoretes, — and he lived about the year 1030; so that no room at all seems to be left for this work. That there was formerly a famous school of the Jews and learned men at Tiberias is granted. Jerome tells us that he hired a learned Jew from thence for his as- sistance, Epist. ad Chromat, Among others, Dr Lightfoot^ hath well traced the shadow of their sanhedrim, with their presidents in it, in some kind of succession, to that place. That they continued there in any esteem, number, or reputation, unto the time assigned by our authors for this work, is not made to appear from any history or record of Jews or Christians; yea, it is certain that about the time mentioned, the chiefest flourishing of the Jewish doctors was at Babylon, with some other cities in the east, where they had newly completed their Talmud, the great pandect of Jewish laws and con- stitutions, as themselves everywhere witness and declare. That any persons considerably learned were then in Tiberias is a mere con- jecture; and it is most improbable, considering what destruction had been made of them at Diocsesarea and Tiberias, about the year of Christ 352, by Gallus, at the command of Constantius. That there should be such a collection of them so learned, so authorized, as to invent this work and impose it on the world, no man once taking notice that any such persons ever were, is beyond all belief Isot- ' Lightfoot, Fall of Hierus. sect. 3—5, etc.