"dictated to the holy penmen, and by them committed to writing, and pre"served both by Jews and Chriftians;" and that "they pointed the text ac

cording to the true and received reading, which expreffed the true fenfe of the "Holy Ghost, and not as they pleased; nor is it lawful for any one to reject "their reading at pleasure, but all are tied to it, unless fome error or better "reading can be clearly proved;" and Capellus himself fays", "none are "to be obliged to admit the punctuation of the Maforetes, because, and as it "is from them; but all may be bound by this punctuation, as and because "it can be demonftrated, that it almost every where both agrees with the "confonants to which it is added, with the series and ftructure of the words "in the paffage, and that it produces a fense commodious, true, coherent, "&c. nor can any other punctuation be produced more apt and more com" modious."

7. The infpiration of scripture is affected thereby. If all fcripture, or the whole writing of the Bible, is by inspiration of God, then not the matter only, but the words in which it is written, are of divine inspiration; and indeed what else are meant by the words the Holy Ghoft teacheth? 1 Cor. ii. 13. and if the words of fcripture are of divine inspiration, and given by God himself, then, furely, not half words, as confonants without vowels are; and if whole words, which is most agreeable to the wisdom and honour of the Divine Being, then both confonants and yowels were given by inspiration; and if the latter were not, but of human invention, then fo far as they have been and are in use, and the fenfe of fcripture has been and still is taken from them, and made to depend on them, fuch fenfe ftands not upon divine authority, but upon human authority; and on that of a fett of men, blinded, befotted, and deftitute of the Spirit of God, bitter enemies to chriftianity, and perhaps a fett of men, as bad as ever was on earth; and if the points are of their invention and addition, they ought never to ftand in our Bibles, and be ufed by us, but should be rejected with great indignation: a pointed Bible, if poffible, should not be in the world, having in it fuch an addition to the word of God, which ought not to be made, and which is fo directly contrary to his order, Deut iv. 2. and xii. 32. Prov. xxxi. 6. And to which may be farther obferved,

The Confiderator confidered, p. 200.

h Arcan. Punct. 1. 2. c. 26. f. 2.

i

Qui puncta vel negligunt, vel prorfum rejiciunt, certe carent omni judicio & rationes Calvin. in Zech, xi, 7.

8. If the vowel-points were not annexed to the letters by the penmen of the facred writings, when penned by them, but have had a later and a new beginning, that would have been known; fome would have divulged it; it would have been on record fomewhere or another, and we fhould have been informed by fome means or another, by whom they were placed, and where and at what time; but nothing of this has ever transpired. The ftory of Elias about the men of Tiberias merits no regard; and even that the points were annexed by Ezra, or by the men of his congregation, is mere conjecture, without any foundation; and therefore upon the whole it may be concluded that they were originally put by the facred penmen, Mofes and the prophets. It is often faid, in favour of reading the Bible without points, that Rabbinical books are written without them, and are eafily read. But then it should be observed, that they are read by fuch who have first read the Hebrew Bible with points, and who are well verfed in Bible-Hebrew; and by fuch the commentaries of Kimchi, Abarbinel, and others, may be read with some ease, whose ftyle is plain and clear; and by degrees other writings more rough, crabbed and difficult may be read alfo; but as Buxtorff and others obferve, there is a great difference between the Bible and Rabbinical books, in writing, in style, in manner and means of learning and reading them. In Rabbinical books, the matres lectionis, as " are called, are used to fupply the want of vowels; whereas in the Bible they are most frequently omitted, and even in places where they might be expected, and least of all fhould be omitted: the style of Rabbinical books is for the most part plain, and where it is not, as in the Talmud and other writings, it is hard and difficult to read them; but the style of the Bible is generally fhort, concife, full of ellipfes and other figures, especially in the prophetic writings; add to which, what is contained in Rabbinical writings are things ufually before known, or eafily understood, and to be read without much stop or hindrance; but the facred fcriptures contain mysteries, things fublime, and more remote from the capacities of men, and require more attention, help and affiftance in reading them; and befides, if a mistake is made in Rabbinical writings, it is not of that importance, as in reading the Bible; and therefore we may venture to read with lefs pain and with more fafety, the one without points than the other. Buxtorff, the fon, upon his own obfervation afferts, that it is more eafy to read Rabbinical books unpointed, than any of the books of the Bible pointed; and that he could venture to fay, that he could more readily and certainly read any Rabbinical * Ibid. par. 2. par, 376.

De Punct, Antiq. par. 3. p. 370.

books

557 books never seen by him before, than any book of the Bible even pointed, and though well known by him, and often read over and over again. Yet, notwithstanding all the advantages on the fide of Rabbinical writings, how many mistakes have been made by learned men, as by Scaliger, Schickard, Kircher, Vorftius, and others? what blunders in tranflation has Buxtorff expofed in Morinus and Capellus? and even those great masters in Rabbinical literature, as the Buxtorffs themselves, Selden, Lightfoot, &c. are not without their errors; nor need it be wondered at, fince, in the Talmuds efpecially, there are many places which feem quite unintelligible, and befides are written in the Chaldee dialect, and that very impure, and abounding with exotic words.

It is frequently objected against the Bible being written and read with points, that the copy of the law every where kept in the Jewish fynagogues is without points, as anfwering to the Mofaic Archetype. That it is an unpointed copy of the law which is ufually kept in the Jewish fynagogues now, will be allowed', but that the Archetype or Autograph of Mofes was without points may be afferted, but not eafily proved; nor can it be faid, with any precifion, how long it has been the custom of the Jews to have an unpointed copy of the law in their fynagogues; nor can what they have, be thought to be an ectype of, or to answer to the copy of Mofes, nor be kept with that view. For had the Autograph of Moses the Keri, or marginal readings it will not be faid by the oppofers of the points that it had; but the prefent copies of the law in the fynagogues of the Jews have, if I mistake not, and even the pricks and points which they call crowns"; are the present copies in the fynagogues written in Samaritan characters? they are not: and yet, according to the hypothefis of Morinus, Capellus, and thofe that follow them, they ought to be fo written, to be an ectype of, or to answer to that of Mofes; fince that, according to them, was in that character: but to have a copy in that character now would be contrary to their own rules, one of which runs thus", "they do not write (the facred books) neither in the lan

guage beyond the river (or the Samaritan) nor in the Syriac, nor in the "Median, nor in Greek; and in whatsoever language or writing they are writ"ten, they may not be read (that is, publicly) until they are written in the Affyrian," or fquare character. There are other reasons to be given, why unpointed copies are kept and used in the fynagogues of the Jews, and which

ઃઃ

Lyra in Hof. ix. 12. Menaffeh ben Ifracl. Conciliator, in Exod. qu. 50. p. 170. Schulchan Aruch, par. 1. c. 141. f. 8. & par. 2. c. 275. f. 6. Vid. Hackfpan. Cabala, p. 309. Maffechet Sopherim, c. 1. f. 6.

which may serve to lead to the original of this cuftom, and the reason of its continuance.

1. One reason was, that the Cabalifts, and those who had got into the allegorizing way of interpreting the fcriptures, might have the opportunity of framing and establishing their own and even various senses of them, which an unpointed Bible will admit of, when a pointed one will not. Hence that faying of R. Menachem, "a book of the law in which there are many faces

(or on which many fenfes may be put is one not pointed; for, as he fays, "when letters are not pointed, they have many faces (or may be differently "read;) but when they are pointed, they have only one fenfe, according to "the punctuation :" and this R. Bechai plainly fuggests, is the original cause and reafon of ufing unpointed copies; "letters not pointed, he says, admit "of various fenfes, and are divided into divers parts; and because of this we (6 are commanded not to point the book of the law; for the literal sense of every "word is according to the punctuation, and there is but one literal fense in "a pointed word; but an unpointed word a man may understand many ways, "and find out many wonderful and excellent things:" and it is for much the fame reason, that men may not be tied down to one sense of a word, that points are now fo much oppofed. Some have drawn an argument for the novelty and against the antiquity of the points, from the Cabalifts making no ufe nor mention of them in their writings, but drew their various fenfes, it is faid, from the letters only, and the combination of them, and not from the vowels and accents; but this has been abundantly confuted by Buxtorff, The commentator on the book of Cofri' makes mention of R. Aaron, a great Mekubbal or Cabbalift, the head of the university at Babylon, as the author of a book of pointing, and which is quoted by Rittangelius; and in the Cabaliftic Lexicon, under the word mp3, mention is made of nine points, and their names are given, Kametz, Patach, Zere, &c. and the ufe that is made of them is obferved; and Menaffeb ben Ifrael describes the Cabalifts, as employing themselves in fearching out the deep mysteries of the law, which are contained in the letters, points and mufical accents; and a little after, he observes,

Apud Munster. Præfat. ad Vet. Test. • Ut fupra, par. 1. c. 5. p, 54, &c. 'R. Judah Muscatus in Cofri, fol. 230. 4. • De Verit. Relig. Christ. p. 27. 40. * Conciliat. in Exod. qu. 50. p. 169, 172, 13. p. 106. & Philolog. Heb. Differt. 26.

u

that "the law was given without points, like the books the Jews now have "in their fynagogues; fo that when any word occurs, whofe letters now are "not tied to certain vowels, men may put what points they please to them, "and fo the words may be read one way and another."

2. Another reason of the Jews having an unpointed copy of the law in their fynagogues is, that it might be a memorial of the oral tradition of points and accents, from the times of Mofes to Ezra. They suppose the points were of Mofes, but not annexed by him to the Pentateuch; but that they were delivered and handed down by oral tradition from one to another until Ezra, who added them to it; and therefore to keep in memory this wonderful affair, they always have an unpointed copy in their fynagogues.

3. Another reason why only unpointed copies of the law are kept in the fynagogues, may be their fuperftitious accuracy and exactness in writing the law; fo as to letters, if any are wanting, or not rightly placed, or fimilar ones put for each other, the copy is profane or rejected; and as it is still more difficult to have the points and accents exactly put, they choose to have none at all hence they fay", "A pointed copy is profane, or to be rejected, even though the punctuation is razed out;" partly because it will not admit of various fenfes, as before obferved, and partly because of the difficulty and almost impoffibility of a perfect pointed copy; and the rather they are indifferent to one, and like as well to have an unpointed one in their fynagogues, fince there, none but their learned men, as priests, &c. read in them.

66

4. But the chief reafon of unpointed copies in the fynagogues feems to be, that none but learned men, or fuch who are well verfed in the Hebrew language, fhould be admitted readers there; for if the copy was pointed, as then, any common man might read it, so any fuch man might be chofen to the office of a reader, though otherwife very illiterate; and to prevent any fuch being introduced into it, is the principal reason now, why it is unpointed. And though those who are expert in the language, and are able to read without points, and are chofen into the office of reader in the fynagogue, and have exercised that office many years; yet it is their cuftom, as one of thofe readers told Cocceius long ago, to prepare themselves at home by reading out of a pointed copy, for their better, easier, and more accurate reading in the fynagogue. And it is their usual method to this day, for the precentor of the fynagogue, though ever fo well versed in the fcripture, and ever fo exact in the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, the day before the fabbath, to read the paffages,

w Schulchan Aruch, par. 2. c. 274. 6. 7. * Coccei Defenf. Cod. Heb. f. 19. p. 22. tom 7.