Review Questions
Review and answer again the questions on Sections I, II, III, IV of this lesson. What is meant by "versions"? How did versions of the Old Testament become necessary to the Jews? What were these versions called, and how did they arise? How were they preserved? What called forth the Septuagint Version?
In what language was it? When was it prepared? What was the Jewish legend concerning it? How did the Vulgate arise? Who made it? Why did it receive that name? What did the Vulgate become? Repeat the names of the three most important early versions. Name the nine most important modern versions. Who was Wyclif? When did he live? When did his translation of the Bible appear? How was it circulated? What two events in modern times increased the desire for the Bible in the language of the people? What is said of Tyndale"s version? What was the Great Bible? Who directed its preparation? Who edited it? When was it published?
What was the Geneva Bible? Wherein did it differ from earlier Bibles? Give the facts concerning the Bishops"
Bible--originator, translators, date, characteristics.
What was the history of the Douai Bible? Where is that Bible used? Tell the facts about the Authorized Version. How did the Revised Version arise? How was it prepared? What new version has recently appeared, and how is it regarded?
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The chronology of the Bible is not a matter of the divine revelation, and scholars are not agreed with respect to the dates of early Scripture history. The system of chronology commonly found in reference Bibles is that of Archbishop Usher, who lived 1580-1656, long before the modern period of investigation in Bible lands. According to this chronology A"dam was created B. C. 4004, the flood took place B. C.
2348, and the call of A"bra-ham was B. C. 1928. But it is now an attested and recognized fact that kingdoms were established in the Eu-phra"tes valley and beside the Nile more than 4000 years before Christ. All of Usher"s dates earlier than the captivity of the Jews in Bab"y-lon are now discarded by scholars. We give in these lessons no dates earlier than the call of A"bra-ham, which is doubtfully placed at B. C. 2280, and regard none as certain before B. C. 1000.
[2] When the birth of Christ was adopted as an era of chronology, about A. D. 400 a mistake of four years was made by the historian who first fixed it. Hence the year in which Christ was born was in reality B. C.
4.
[3] We give Mount Hor the traditional location, east of the Desert of Zin; but there is strong reason for finding it west of the Desert of Zin, near Ka"desh-bar"ne-a.
[4] Called in the Revised Version "guilt offering."
[5] This is called in the Revised Version "the meal offering"; that is, the offering to G.o.d of a meal to be eaten. It might be called "food offering."
[6] According to Josephus; the fact is not stated in the Bible.
[7] The ecclesiastical year began with the month Abib, or Nisan, in the spring: the civil year with the month Ethanim in the fall.
[8] The Old Testament name for the Sea of Gal"i-lee is Chin"ne-reth (ch as k), a word meaning "harp-shaped."
[9] The account of the sun and moon standing still is an extract from an ancient poem, and is so printed in the Revised Version. The subject is discussed in Geikie"s Hours with the Bible, footnote with chapter 13.
[10] With regard to the destruction of the Ca"naan-ites: 1. Such destruction was the almost universal custom of the ancient world. 2. It was observed by the Ca"naan-ites, who were among the most wicked of ancient peoples. 3. It was necessary if Is"ra-el was to be kept from the corruption of their morals, and upon Is"ra-el"s character depended the world in after ages. 4. As a result of failing to extirpate the Ca"naan-ites a vastly greater number of the Is"ra-el-ites were destroyed during the succeeding centuries.
[11] With Jeph"thah is a.s.sociated the only instance of human sacrifice offered to Je-ho"vah in all Bible history; and this was by an ignorant freebooter, in a part of the land farthest from the instructions of the tabernacle and the priesthood. When we consider that the practice of human sacrifice was universal in the ancient world, and that not only captives taken in war, but also the children of the worshipers, were offered (2 Kings 3. 26, 27; Mic. 6. 7), this fact is a remarkable evidence of the elevating power of the Is"ra-el-ite worship.
[12] With regard to Da"vid"s crimes against U-ri"ah and his wife, note that no other ancient monarch would have hesitated to commit such an act, or would have cared for it afterward; while Da"vid submitted to the prophet"s rebuke, publicly confessed his sin, and showed every token of a true repentance.
[13] Notice that while the prophets had been friendly to Da"vid, they were strongly opposed to Sol"o-mon, and gave aid to his enemy Jer-o-bo"am (1 Kings 11. 29-39).
[14] The dimensions as given in the Bible are all in cubits, a measure of uncertain length, which I have estimated at eighteen inches; consequently all the figures given in this study are to be regarded as approximate, not exact.
[15] There is no mention of either the table or the candlestick in Sol"o-mon"s temple, but instead ten tables and ten candlesticks in the Holy Place (2 Chron. 4. 7, 8). The table and candlestick were in the tabernacle, and were also in the second and third temples; but it is uncertain whether they actually stood in the temple of Sol"o-mon.
[16] Nearly all the material in this lesson is drawn in an abbreviated form from The Literary Study of the Bible, by Richard G. Moulton (Boston D. C. Heath & Co.), a masterpiece on this subject, strongly recommended to the student. I have, however, ventured to vary from Dr. Moulton"s cla.s.sification on some minor points--J. L. H.