(5.) The entire Book of Isaiah, whether in the original or in the English translation, has been considered by men of all classes as a rhetorical masterpiece. From a literary point of view, it occupies as high a position to every unprejudiced mind, with reference to the other books of the Old Testament, as that which Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Divine Comedy do to other poems. It is perhaps unexampled that one author should enter so completely into the spirit of the most eloquent of the prophets at a remove of 150 years, that he

should be able to reproduce his style with not inferior, indeed with much greater eloquence, so that he is like a risen and glorified Isaiah. Besides, it is highly improbable that a prophet living in the time of the exile, who presented such hopes to the people, should have been unknown and forgotten by them, while the names of a less esteemed Jeremiah and Ezekiel 2 have been preserved.

1 In the Pesikta of Rab Kahana, ed. Buber, Lyck 1868, f. 125b, Isaiah receives the divine testimony: "By thy life! all the prophets prophesy the one out of the mouth of the other (

''), ... but thou prophesiest out of the mouth of the

י.(מפי הגבורה) Majesty

* The following interesting comparison is instituted, in Chagigah 136, between Isaiah and Ezekiel with reference to the style of their prophecies: “Rabba said, Isaiah saw everything that Ezekiel Ezekiel is like a villager who has seen the king, but Isaiah is like a man from the city who has seen him."

saw.

APPENDIX IV.

הכהנים הלוים THE TEXT OF

THE

HE Talmud in the Palestinian, as well as the Babylonian Gemara, mentions that there are twenty-four places in the Old Testament where the priests are called Levites.1

It is evident from this, and from the enumeration of the Massora, that vav might have been wanting in five more passages of the text of the Old Testament, as known to Rabbi Joshua ben-Levi, than in the later copies.3

1 In Jebamoth, 86b; Bechoroth, 4a; Chullin, 24b; Tamid, 61a; and in the Jerusalem Gemara, Sota vii. 4, it is written in regard to Ezek. xliv. 15: "But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok," etc.; "Rabbi Joshua, the son of Levi (250 A.D.), says: In twentyfour places the priests are called Levites, and this is one of them."

2 The Massora, which was collated for us by Dr. S. Baer from codices Nos. 1-3 of the Erfurt Library (for a description of these MSS. see Paul de Lagarde's Symmicta, Goettingen 1877, S. 129164), enumerates only the nineteen passages, which we had already found, as follows--in thirteen passages: Deut. xvii. 9, 18, xxiv. 8; Josh. viii. 33; Ezek. xliii. 19; Ezra x. 5; Neh. x. 29, 35, xi. 20; 1 Chron. ix. 2; 2 Chron. v. 5, xxiii. 18, xxx. 27. on a thrice: Deut. xxvii. 9; Josh. iii. 3; Ezek. xliv. 15. Deut. xviii. 1. b b

once (70DT N'S): Jer. xxxiii. 18.

: (לית דסמיך) once לכהנים הלוים

.21 .Isa. lxvi : (לית דסמיך) once לכהנים ללוים

3 See the Note I. to this Appendix, p. 227.

2

We were first moved to a critical examination of the text, by Graf's sweeping statement that the expression "priests Levites" does not occur in Chronicles1 (including Ezra and Nehemiah). As we found a number of such passages, we were surprised, and at first thought it possible that Graf might have rejected them for critical reasons, without apprising his readers of the fact. We found in the collations given in Kennicott's Bible that some Hebrew MSS. inserted a vav in one or more of these passages, while the great majority of MSS., in every case except that of Isa. lxvi. 21, sustained the received reading, without vav; hence the examination of the state of the text seemed worthy of special attention. We believe the citations given by Kennicott are substantially correct. We were glad, however, to see the passages with our own eyes, in which we were much assisted by Dr. S. M. SchillerSzinessy, of the University Library, Cambridge, and Mr. Adolph Neubauer, of the Bodleian Library, Oxford; the latter afterwards sent us information in regard to some MSS. which we had not time to see. We ourselves examined Isa. lxvi. 21 in fourteen MSS.3 of the British Museum without finding any variation, and the

3

1 Graf, Die Geschichtl. Bücher d. A. T., Leipzig 1866, S. 46. See pp. 114-15.

2 Vetus Testamentum Hebraicum, cum variis lectionibus, Oxonii 1776-80; De Rossi in his Variae Lectiones V. T., Parmae 178486, mentions only three of the eighteen passages where variations occur: Josh. iii. 3; Isa. lxvi. 21; 2 Chron. v. 5.

3 Harleian, 1528, 5498, 5711, 5720, 5722, 5774; King's, 1; additional, 4708, 9398, 9399, 11657, 15252, 21161, 27046.

nineteen passages in thirty-three MSS. of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, besides a part of these passages in seven MSS. mostly of the Pentateuch. Monsieur H. Zotenberg very kindly furnished us information in regard to five Samaritan Pentateuchs, which afford no variations, and the Syriac version of James of Edessa (beginning of the eighth century), which varies from our printed versions of the Peschito in two places.

It was our purpose to verify all Kennicott's readings as far as possible. To this end we addressed letters to all the libraries on the Continent, where the MSS. which he mentions in connection with the nineteen passages are to be found. Owing to the lateness of the season, most of the libraries were closed;1 still the librarian of the Hamburg library very kindly arranged to have a collation made for us there. We also received the readings of the Reuchlin MSS. and the Soncino Bible at Carlsruhe, through the great courtesy of Messrs. Director W. Brambach and Dr. F. Teufel, and readings from the Royal and University Library at Königsberg, through Professor Dr. Simson and Director Dr. Reicke. A complete collation of the Hebrew MSS. and the Brescia Bible in Berlin was arranged for us by Dr. Moritz Steinschneider. R. Ruetschi, D.D., of Berne, Professor Dr. Holzammer of Mayence, and Dr. Fausto Lasinio of Florence, each very kindly verified one reading; Director Bruun, of the

1 Of Kennicott's 207 variations we have verified 72, have secured the verification of 38 of De Rossi's variations, and have added 58 new readings.