2. The age of Hebrew MSS. is not easily determined. It is true that they often contain subscriptions giving an account of the time when they were written, and the name of the scribe, or also of the possessor. But these accounts are often ambiguous, occasionally incorrect. Where they are altogether wanting it is still more diffi- cult to discover the age. In the latter case the charac- ter of tlie writing, the color of the ink, the quality and complexion of the parchment, the absence of the Maso- rah, of the vowel-points, of the unusual letters, etc., have been chiefly rested upon. Still, how- ever, such particulars are uncertain marks of age. The oldest Hebrew BIS. known to Kennicott or De Rossi was 634 of De Rossi, a mere frag- ment, containing small portions of Leviticus and Numbers. According to its former possessor, it belongs to the 8th cen- tury. So much uncer- tainty attaches to the in- ternal marks adopted by these two Hebraists that the ages to which they assign several Hebrew - ?>ISS. are gratuitous.
Since Pinner examine<l a number of JISS. belonging to I vowels, accents, or ISIasorah. The roll consists of forty- the Bible Society of Odessa, older ones are now known, five pieces. As to the form of the letters, it diflfers con- (For the dates of his MSS., see below.) In the imperial I siderably from the present style. This is particularly
Odessa MS., No. 1 of Pinner (Mai. iv, 6).
MANUSCRIPTS
V23
MANUSCRIPTS
observable in the case of X 3 il T b 72. The variations in the text from the Masoretic recension are few and in- considerable. The IMS., according to the subscription, was corrected in the year 580, consequently the roll must have been written upwards of 1280 years. It was brought from Derbend, in Daghestan, and is now at St. Petersburg. If the subscription be genuine, it is the oldest MS. known, except that one in the Firkowicz col- lection dated 489. (See Rule, Karaites, p. 100 sq.)
No. Go4, De Kossi, quarto. This is but the fragment of a MS., containing Lev. xxi, 19-Numb. i, 50. It is on parchment, without the vowel-points, Masorah, or Ke- ris. It lias also no interval between the parshioth or sections. But there are sometimes points between the words. It belongs, in De Rossi's opinion, to the 8th century, and is corroded by age. The character of tlie letters is intermediate, approaching the German. It is now at Parma.
No. 5, Pinner. This is a roll of the Pentateuch, but incomplete. The writing begins with Numb, xiii, 19. The form of the letters is very different from the pres- ent style. It is carelessly written, words and letters be- ing frecjuently omitted. The subscription states that it was written A.D. 843.
No. 11, Pinner. This is a fragment of a synagogue roll, beginning with Deut. xxxi, 1. The date is 881.
No. 503, De Rossi, in quarto. This is a JIS. of the Pentateuch, made up of different pieces. It begins with Gen. xlii, 15, and ends with Deut. xv, 12. There is a chasm in it from Lev. xxi, 19 to Numb, i, 50, because De Rossi separated this portion, thinking it to be older than the rest, and characterized it as an independent fragment by the No. 634. The vowel-points are at- tached, but not throughout, evidently bj' the same hand as that ^vhich ^\Tote the consonants. There are no traces of tlie Masorah or Keris. Sometimes its readings have a remarkable agreement with those of the Samaritan text and ancient versions. De Rossi places the various ]iieccs of which it is made up in the 9th and 10th cen- turies.
No. 3, Pinner, small folio. This MS. contains the greater and lesser prophets, on 225 leaves. Everj' page is written in two columns, between which, as well as below, and in the outer margin, stands the Masorah. Every column contains twenty-one lines. After each verse are two points, to which, without any interval, a new verse succeeds. The vowels and accents, as well as the greater and lesser INIasorah, are wholly different from the Masoretic. The former are placed above the consonants. The first page has a twofold pointing, viz. above and below, but this does not occur again except occasionally in verses or words. From Zech. xiv, 6 to iMal. i, 13 there is no punctuation, and the first three verses of ]\lalachi alone have been pointed much later in tlie manner now usual. The whole Codex is very cor- rectly written. The form of the consonants differs con- siderably from the present text. The various readings of this jMS., according to Pinner's collation, are numer- ous and important. The date is 916. Two others in the same collection, Nos. 15 and 17, have the same vowel and accent system, i. e. the Babylonian or Eastern, which originated in the 6th century, and from which, in the 7th, that of the Western, or the school of Tiberias, was developed. Pinsker has written alily on the subject {Kinleiiung hi das Bah/lonisch-Heh-dische Pun/ctations- system, etc.,\Vien, 1683), reviewed by Flirst in the Zeit- svhrift der detitschen morgenlandischcn Gesellschoft, xviii, 314 sq.
No. 13, Pinner, folio. This is an incomplete ]\IS., consisting of 115 leaves, on good parchment, containing 2 Samuel from vi, 10 to the end, and the books of Kings. Each page has three columns, between which, as also at tlie sides of the text, stands the Masorah. The vowels and accents are different from those now in use. The text has many and important readings; and the Maso- rali deserves to be examined. Two points stand after each verse ; and 2d succeeds 1st Kings without a vacant