The original text and its history. 1.  Chaldee Passages in the Hebrew Scriptures—­Divisions of the Hebrew and Cognate Languages—­2.  The Assyrian or Square Character not Primitive—­Jewish Tradition respecting its Origin—­3.  The Hebrew Alphabet and its Character—­4.  Change in the Language of the Hebrew Nation—­5.  Introduction of the Vowel-Points and Accents—­The Question of their Antiquity—­6.  Jewish Rules for the Guidance of Copyists—­Their Deep Reverence for the Sacred Text—­Its Uncorrupt Transmission to Us—­7.  Age and Character of Hebrew Manuscripts—­8.  Form of Hebrew Manuscripts—­the Public in Rolls, the Private in the Book Form, Poetical Passages, Columns, Pen and Ink Accompaniments—­9.  The Samaritan Pentateuch

CHAPTER XV.

Formation and history of the Hebrew canon.  I. Meaning of the Word “Canon”—­Gradual Formation of the Hebrew Canon—­Its Main Divisions—­1. The Pentateuch—­2.  General Remark on its Hebrew Name—­3.  The Pentateuch forms the Nucleus of the Old Testament Canon—­It was given by Divine Authority, committed to the Charge of the Priests, kept by the Side of the Ark, and to be publicly read at Stated Times—­II. The Historical Books—­4.  The Authors and Exact Date of Many of them Unknown—­Important Historical Documents were deposited in the Sanctuary—­5.  The Authors of the Books of Joshua and Judges made Use of such Documents—­6.  The Author of the Books of Samuel also—­7.  Original Sources for the Books of Kings and Chronicles—­8.  These Two Works refer not to Each Other, but to a Larger Collection of Original Documents—­9.  Character of these Documents—­They were written, in Part at Least, by Prophets, and they all come to us with the Stamp of Prophetic Authority.—­10.  The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther—­III. The Prophetical Books—­11.  The Books enumerated—­Paucity of Prophets before Samuel—­Schools of the Prophets established by him—­The Prophets a Distinct Order of Men in the Theocracy from his Day onward—­12.  The Era of Written Prophecy—­IV. The Poetical Books—­13.  Their General Character—­The Book of Job—­14.  The Book of Psalms—­15.  Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles—­Completion of the Canon—­16.  Preservation of the Sacred Books to the Time of Ezra—­The Law; the Prophetical Books; the Psalms and other Canonical Writings—­17.  The Completion of the Canon ascribed by the Jews to Ezra and his Coadjutors—­This Tradition True for Substance.—­No Psalms written in the Maccabean Age—­18.  Contents of the Hebrew Canon—­as given by Jesus the Son of Sirach, by Josephus, by Origen and Eusebius, by Jerome—­19.  The Apocryphal Books

CHAPTER XVI.