BIB ( 5>p )
Acquaintance With which making a considerable Article ih Theological Criticifm; we iTiall here fubjoin fome Account thereof.
Hebrew Bibles are either Manufcript or Printed. The belt Manufcripts arc thofe copied by the Jews of Spain. Thofe copied by the Jews oiGcrmany, arc lefs exact, but more common : The two Kinds are eallly diftinguifh'd from each, other ; the former being in beautiful Characters, like the Hebrew 'Bibles of Stephens and '■'Planting the. latter in Characters like thofe of Munjlcr and Gryphmis. F. Si- mon obferves, that the oldeft Manufcript Hebrew 'Bibles
- not above 6 or 700 Years old ; nor does Rabbi Met,
B I B
The little Bible 6f R. Stephens in i6tc; is much pri- ced for the Beauty of the Character. Care, however j mufi be taken 5 there being another Edition of Geneva exceedingly like it, excepting, that the Print is worfcj and the Text lels correct. To thefe may be added fome other Hebrew Bibles without Points, in &vo. and 14/0, which are much coveted by rhe Jews$ not that they are more exact, but more commodious than the reit, and are ufed in their Synagogues and Schools: of thefe there are two beautiful Editions, the one of Plautin, in Hvo^ with two Columns, and the other in 24/1,, reprinted by Rf.} [ ha- leiige ztZeideh, in 16*10. There is alfo an Edition of them
ham, who quotes a vail Number of 'em, pretend any of by Laurens at Amflerdam, in 1631, in a larger Character;
'cm exceed 600 Years. another in iz?no at Frankfort, in 1694, full of Faults, with
The molt antient printed Hebrew Bibles are thofe pub- a Preface of M. Leufden at the head of it. limed by the Jews of Italy, especially ofPcfaro and£rej?e. Greek Bifles. There are a great Number of Editions
Thofe of Portugal alfo printed fome Parts of the 'Bible at of the Bible in Greek ; but they may be all reduced to
Lisbon, before their Expuliion. This may be obferv'd in three or four principal ones, viz. that of Complut&m, or of
the general, that the belt Hebrew Bibles are thofe printed Alcala de Henares, that of Venice^ that of Rome, and that
under the inflection of the Jews 3 there being fo many of Oxford, The firit was publifli'd in 151-5 by Cardinal
MinutitS to be obferv'd, that 'tis fcarcc poffible for any other to fucceed in it.
In the beginning of the fixtfa Century "Ban. Bombcrgua printed feveral Hebrew Bibles in Folio and ^to at Venice^ moil: of which arc efteem'd both by the Jews andChriJli- anS: The firit in 1 5 1 7, which is the lead exact, and ge- nerally goes by the Name of Felix 'Pratenjis, the Perfon who reviled it : The fecond in 1 52c?, with the Maflbra and the Commentaries of feveral Rabbins, and a Hebrew Pre- face by Rabbi J. Benchajim. In 1548 the fame Bomber
Ximcnes, and inferred in the 'Polyglot Bible, ufually call'd the Complutcnfian Bible. This Edition is not jult, rhe Greek of the Seventy being altered in a great many places according to x\ie Hebrew Text. This Edition has been re- printed in the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp ■> in thofe of Pa- ris, and in the ^to Bible commonly call'd the Bible of the Vat able.
The fecond Greek Bible is that of Venice in 1 518. Here the Greek Text of the Septuagint is reprinted jutt as it flood in the MS. full of Faults of the Co;.iits, but eafily
gua printed the Folio Bible of Rabbi Benchajim, which is amended. This Edition has been reprinted at Strasbur the belt and moll perfect of 'em all: 'Tis diftinguifh'd - from the firit of the fame Rabbi, by the Comment of Rab- bi 2). Kimchi on the Paralipomena, which arc not in the preceding. From this Edition it was, that Buxtorf the Father, printed his Hebrew Bible of the Rabbins at Bofil, in 1618 ; but in this are feveral Faults, cfpecially in the Commentaries of the Rabbins, where that learned Man corrected fome places that were again tl the Chrifiians. In the fame Year appear'd at Venice a new Edition of the Bible of the Rabbins by Leo de Modena, a Rabbin of that City, who pretended to have corrected a great Number of Faults in the former Edition j but, befides that 'tis much inferior to the other Hebrew Bibles of Venice, with regard to Paper and Print, it has pafs'd thro the Hands of the InquiAtors, who have alter'd many Paflages in the Commen- taries, of the Rabbins.
For Hebrew Bibles in 4^0, that of R. Stephens is ef- teem'd for the Beauty of the Characters ; but 'tis very in- correct. Plantin alfo printed feveral beautiful Hebrew Bi- bles at Antwerp 5 .the beft is that of 151*6*, 1n4.ro. M&- •naffeb Ben Lfrael, a learned Portuguese Jew, published two Editions of the Hebrew Bible ac Amfierdatn, the one in \to, the other in SvOj the firit has two Columns, and for that reafbn is commodious for the Reader. In 1634, R. J&c L.ombrofo publifli'd a new Edition in 4/0 at Venice, with fmall literal Notes at the bottom of each Page, wnere he explains the Hebrew Words by Spanijh Words. This Bi- ble is much eltcem'd by thej/fews at Conjlantinople : In the Text they have diltinguim'd between Words where the Point Camcts is to be read with a Camets-hatupb, that is, by an o and nor an a.
Of all the Editions of the Hebrew Bible in %vo, the molt beautiful and correct are the two of Jo. Athia, a Jew of Amflerdam. The firit, of 1661, is the bell Papery but that of 1667, the molt exact : That however, publifli'd fmce at Amjlerdam by Vander Hocght in 1705, is preferable to any of 'em.
After Athia, three HebraifingProteflants engaged them- felves in reviling and publifliing the Hebrew Bible, viz. Clodius, Jablonski, and Opitius. Clodius's Edition was publifli'd at Frankfort in 1677, in o,to : At the bottom of the Page it has the various Readings of the former Ed. r
Bafil, Frankfort, and other Places, with fame Alterations* to bring it nearer the Hebrew. The molt commodious is that of Frankfort, there being added to this, little Scholia where are Ihewn the different Interpretations of the old Greek Trar.lJators : The Author of this (. olleition has not added his Name 5 but 'tis commonly alcribed to Junius.
The third Greek Bible is thar of Rome in 1587; with Greek Scholia collected -from the MSS. in the Roman Li- braries by Pet. Morin. This fine Edition has been reprin- ted at Paris in 1628, by J. Mcrin, Prielt of the Oratory, who has added the JLatin Translation, which in the Roman was printed feparately, with Scholia. The Greek Edition of Rome has been reprinted in the Polyglot Bible of Lou- don ; to which are added, at bottom, the various Read- ings of the Alexandrian MS. This has been alfo reprin- ted in F.77gland in 4/0 and izmo, with fome Alterations. It has been again publi/h'd dxFraneker in 1709, by 3oz> who has added all the various Readings he cqu'd find.
The fourth Greek Bible is that done from the Alexan- drian MS. begun at Oxford by Dr. Grabe in 1707. In this the Alexandrian MS. is not printed fuch as it is, but fuch as 'twas thought it fhoukl be, /". e. 'tis alter'd where- ever there appear'd any Fault of the Copiils, or any Word inierted from any particular Dialect : This, fome think a piece of Merit, but others a Fault; urging that the MS. mould be given abfolutcly and entirely of itfclf, and alt Conjectures, as to the Readings, to be thrown into the Notes.
Latin Bibles, how numerous focver, may be all redue'd to three Gaffes, viz. the Antient Vulgate, 'made from the Greek Sep'tuagiut ; rhe Modern Vulgate, the greatctt part of which is done from the Hebrew Text $ and the New Latin P'ran flat ions, done alio from the Hebrew Text in the itfth Century. We have nothing remaining of the An- tient Vulgate uled in the Primitive Times in "the Weftern Churches, but the Pfabns, Wifdom, and Ecclefiaftes. No- bilius has endeavour'd to retrieve it from the Works of the antient Latin Fathers 5 but 'twas impoffiblc to do it ex- actly, in regard molt of the Fathers did not keep clofe to it in their Citations.
As to the Modern Vulgate, there arc a vaft Number of Editions very different from each other. Cardinal Ximenes
tions; but the Author does not appear fufficiently vcrs'd in has inferted one in the Bible of Complutum, corrected and
the Accenting, eipccially in the Poetical Books; befides that not being publifli'd under his Eye, many Faults have crept in. That of Jablonski in 1699, in 4^0, at Berlin, is very beautiful, as to Letter and Print : bur, tho the Edi- tor pretends he made ufe of the Editions of Athia and Clo- dius, fome Griticks find it fcarcc different in any thing from the tfo Edition ofBombergua. That of Of it his is al- fo in 4ft 1 , at Keii in 1709 5 the Character is large and good, but the Paper bad : 'Tis done with a great deal of Care ; but the Editor made ufe of no MSS. but thofe of the Ger- man Libraries ; neglecting the French one, which is an Omiflion common to all three. They have this Advan- tage however, that befides thcDivifions ufed by the Jcws y both general and particular, into Parafchcs and Pcfukim, they have alfo thofe of the Chrifiians, or of the Latin Bi- bles, into Chapters and Vcrfes; the Keriketib or various Readings, Latin Summaries, £?£. which make 'em of con- iidcrable Ufe, with regard to the Latin Editions and the Concordances.
alter'd in many Places. R. Stephens, and the Doctors of Louvaiu, have took a world of Pains in correcting the Mo- dern Vulgate. The belt Edition of Stephens's Lathi Bi- ble is that of 1 540, reprinted in 1 545 ; in which are added, on the Margin, the various Readings of feveral Latin MSS. which he had confultcd. The Doctors of Louvain revifed the Modern Vulgate after R. Stephens ; and added the va- rious Readings of feveral Latin MSS. The belt of the Lou- vain Editions arc thofe, at the End of which are added the Critical Notes of Francis Luke, of Bruges.
All thefe Reformations of the Latin Bible were made before the Time of Pope Sixties V. and Clement VIII. Since which, People have not dared to make any Altera- tions, exceping in Comments, and leparate Notes. The Correction of C ement VIII. in 1592, is now the Standard throughout all the Roman Churches : That Pontiff made two Reformations ; but 'lis the firit of 'em th it is follow'd. From this the 2 1 bit's of Plantm were done, and from thofe
of
