=7. Its Origin and Growth.=--At the time of our Lord's ministry in the
flesh, the Jews were in possession of certain scriptures which they
regarded as canonical or authoritative. There can be little doubt as
to the authenticity of those works, for they were frequently quoted by
both Christ and the apostles, by whom they were designated as "the
scriptures."[734] The Savior specifically refers to them under their
accepted terms of classification as "the law of Moses, the prophets,
and the psalms."[735] The books thus accepted by the people in the
time of Christ are sometimes spoken of as the Jewish canon of
scripture. The term _canon_, now generally current, suggests not books
that are merely credible, authentic, or even inspired, but such books
as are recognized as authoritative guides in profession and practice.
The term is instructive in its derivation. Its Greek original,
_kanon_, signified a straight measuring rod, and hence it came to mean
an authoritative standard of comparison, a rule, or test, as applied
to moral subjects as well as to material objects.
[734] John v, 39; Acts xvii, 11.
[735] Luke xxiv, 44.
=8.= As to the formation of the Jewish canon, or the Old Testament, we
read that Moses wrote the first part of it, viz. the Law; and that he
committed it to the care of the priests, or Levites, with a command
that they preserve it in the ark of the covenant,[736] to be a witness
against Israel in their transgressions. Fore-seeing that a king would
some day govern Israel, Moses commanded that the monarch should make a
copy of the Law for his guidance.[737] Joshua, successor of Moses, as
leader and law-giver of Israel, wrote further of the dealings of God
with the people, and of the Divine precepts; and this writing he
evidently appended to the Law as recorded by Moses.[738] Three
centuries and a half after the time of Moses, when the theocracy had
been replaced by a monarchy, Samuel, the approved prophet of the Lord,
wrote of the change "in a book, and laid it up before the Lord."[739]
And thus we see the law of Moses was augmented by later authoritative
records. From the writings of Isaiah, we learn that the people had
access to the "Book of the Lord;" for the prophet admonished them to
seek it out, and read it.[740] It is evident, then, that in the time
of Isaiah the people had a written authority in doctrine and practice.
[736] Deut. xxxi, 9, 24-26.
[737] Deut. xvii, 18.
[738] Joshua xxiv, 26.
[739] I Sam. x, 25.
[740] Isaiah xxxiv, 16.
=9.= Nearly four centuries later (640-630 B. C.), while the righteous
king Josiah occupied the throne of Judah as a part of divided Israel,
Hilkiah the high priest and father of the prophet Jeremiah found in
the temple "a book of the law of the Lord,"[741] which was read before
the kings.[742] Then, during the fifth century B. C., in the days of
Ezra, the edict of Cyrus permitted the captive people of Judah, a
remnant of once united Israel, to return to Jerusalem,[743] there to
rebuild the temple of the Lord, according to the law[744] of God then
in the hand of Ezra. From this we may infer that the written law was
then known; and to Ezra is usually attributed the credit of compiling
the books of the Old Testament as far as completed in his day, to
which he added his own writings.[745] In this work of compilation he
was probably assisted by Nehemiah and the members of the Great
Synagogue,--a Jewish college of a hundred and twenty scholars.[746]
The book of Nehemiah, which gives a continuation of the historical
story as recorded by Ezra, is supposed to have been written by the
prophet whose name it bears, in part at least during the life of Ezra.
Then, a century later, Malachi,[747] the last of the prophets of note
who flourished before the opening of the dispensation of Christ, added
his record, completing, and virtually closing the pre-Christian canon,
with a prophetic promise of the Messiah and of the messenger whose
commission would be to prepare the way of the Lord.
[741] II Chron. xxxiv, 14-15; see also Deut. xxxi, 26.
[742] II Kings xxii.
[743] Ezra i, 1-3.
[744] See Ezra vii, 12-14.
[745] The Book of Ezra.
[746] This historical information is given in certain of the
apocryphal works; see II Esdras.
[747] Mal. iii, iv.
=10.= Thus, it is evident that the Old Testament grew with the
successive writings of authorized and inspired scribes from Moses to
Malachi, and that its compilation was a natural and gradual process,
each addition being deposited, or, as the sacred record gives it,
"laid up before the Lord," in connection with the previous writings.
Undoubtedly there were known to the Jews many other books, not
included in our present Old Testament; references to such are abundant
in the scriptures themselves, which references prove that many of
those extra-canonical records were regarded as of great authority. But
concerning this we will enquire further in connection with the
Apocrypha. The recognized canonicity of the Old Testament books is
attested by the numerous references in the latter to the earlier
books, and by the many quotations from the Old Testament occurring in
the New. About two hundred and thirty quotations or direct references
have been listed; and in addition to these, hundreds of less direct
allusions occur.
=11. Language of the Old Testament.=--It is highly probable, almost
certain indeed, that nearly all the books of the Old Testament were
originally written in Hebrew. Scholars profess to have found evidence
that small portions of the books of Ezra, Daniel, and Jeremiah were
written in the Chaldee language; but the prevalence of Hebrew as the
language of the original scriptures has given to the Old Testament the
common appellation, Hebrew or Jewish canon. Of the Pentateuch, two
versions have been recognized,--the Hebrew proper and the
Samaritan,[748] the latter of which was preserved in the most ancient
of Hebrew characters by the Samaritans, between whom and the Jews
there was lasting enmity.
[748] See Note 2.
=12. The Septuagint.=--Passing over the Peshito or early Syriac
version of the Old Testament as of minor significance, we recognize as
the first important translation of the Hebrew canon that known as the
_Septuagint_.[749] This was a Greek version of the Old Testament,
translated from the Hebrew at the instance of an Egyptian monarch,
probably Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 286 B. C. The name _Septuagint_
suggests the number seventy, and is said to have been given because
the translation was made by a body of seventy-two elders (in round
numbers seventy); or, as other traditions say, because the work was
accomplished in seventy, or seventy-two days; or, according to yet
other stories, because the version received the sanction of the Jewish
ecclesiastical council, the Sanhedrin, which comprised seventy-two
members. Certain it is that the Septuagint (sometimes indicated by the
numerals LXX) was the current version among the Jews in the days of
Christ's ministry, and was quoted by the Savior and the apostles in
their references to the old canon. It is regarded as the most
authentic of the ancient versions, and is accepted at the present time
by the Greek Christians and other eastern churches. It is evident,
then, that from a time nearly three hundred years before Christ, the
Old Testament has been current in both Hebrew and Greek: this
duplication has been an effective means of protection against
alterations.
[749] See Note 3.
=13. The Present Compilation= recognizes thirty-nine books in the Old
Testament: these were originally combined as twenty-two books,
corresponding to the letters in the Hebrew alphabet. The thirty-nine
books as at present constituted may be conveniently classified as
follows:
(1.) The Pentateuch or Books of the Law 5
(2.) The Historical Books 12
(3.) The Poetical Books 5
(4.) The Books of the Prophets 17
=14.= (1.) =The Books of the Law.=--The first five books in the Bible
are collectively designated as the _Pentateuch_ (_pente_--five,
_teuxos_--volume); and were known among the early Jews as the _Torah_,
or the law. Their authorship is traditionally ascribed to Moses,[750]
and in consequence the "Five Books of Moses" is another commonly used
designation. They give the history, brief though it be, of the human
race from the creation to the flood, and from Noah to Israel; then a
more particular account of the chosen people through their period of
Egyptian bondage; thence during the journey of four decades in the
wilderness to the encampment on the farther side of Jordan.
[750] Ezra vi, 18; vii, 6; Neh. viii, 1; John vii, 19.
=15.= (2.) =The Historical Books=, twelve in number, comprise the
following: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I and II Samuel, I and II Kings, I
and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. They tell the story of the
Israelites entering the land of promise, and their subsequent career
through three distinct periods of their existence as a people:--(1) as
a theocratic nation, with a tribal organization, all parts cemented by
ties of religion and kinship; (2) as a monarchy, at first a united
kingdom, later a nation divided against itself; (3) as a partly
conquered people, their independence curtailed by the hand of their
victors.
=16.= (3.) =The Poetical Books= number five: Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. They are frequently spoken of
as the doctrinal or didactic works, and the Greek designation
Hagiographa (_hagios_--holy, and _graphe_--a writing) is still
applied.[751] These are of widely different ages, and their close
association in the Bible is probably due to their common use as guides
in devotion amongst the Jewish churches.
[751] As stated, the Hagiographa, or "sacred writings," are
generally understood to include the five poetical works of the Old
Testament. By some authorities, the list is extended to include
all the books mentioned in the Talmud as hagiographa; viz., Ruth,
Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations, and Daniel.
=17.= (4.) =The Books of the Prophets= comprise the five larger works
of Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and
Daniel, commonly known as the works of the _Major Prophets_; and the
twelve shorter books of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, known to
Bible scholars as the books of the _Minor Prophets_. These give the
burden of the Lord's word to His people, encouragement, warning and
reproof, as suited their condition, before, during, and after their
captivity.[752]
[752] See Note 4.
=18. The Apocrypha= comprise a number of books of doubtful
authenticity, though such have been at times highly esteemed. Thus,
they were added to the Septuagint, and for a time were accorded
recognition among the Alexandrine Jews. However, they have never been
generally admitted, being of uncertain origin. They are not quoted in
the New Testament. The designation apocryphal (meaning hidden, or
secret) was first applied to the books by Jerome, because, said he,
"the church doth read [them] for example of life and instruction of
manners, but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine."
The Roman church professes to acknowledge them as scripture, action to
this end having been taken by the council of Trent (1546); though the
doubt of the authenticity of the works seems still to exist even among
the Roman Catholic authorities. The sixth article in the Liturgy of
the Church of England defines the orthodox views of the church as to
the meaning and intent of Holy Scripture; and, after specifying the
books of the Old Testament which are regarded as canonical, proceeds
in this wise:--"And the other books (as Hierome [Jerome]
saith) the church doth read for example of life and instruction of
manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine;
such are these following:--The Third Book of Esdras; The Fourth Book
of Esdras; The Book of Tobias; The Book of Judith; The rest of the
Book of Esther; The Book of Wisdom; Jesus, the Son of Sirach; Baruch
the Prophet; The Song of the Three Children; The Story of Susanna; Of
Bel and the Dragon; The Prayer of Manasses; The First Book of
Maccabees; The Second Book of Maccabees."