Ah! He who wrote to the seven churches of Asia those Revival-letters, speaks to us too. are whose "hands fall down, and he exclaims to the Reform: Seeing how many there whose knees are feeble," "Hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Keep that which is committed to thy trust by the spirit which dwelleth in thee." The Reform is the church of the present day; the Confession of the present, as a German writer calls it. Its special work, given to it by the Lord, is the bringing together of the nations. Let it then advance with freedom and courage in the world, and let it there accomplish the sacred function which it has received from the Most High, and, as the sixteenth century was the century of a great separation, may the nineteenth become, by the prayers and labors of the Reform, the century of a great union. “I will make thee a pillar in the temple of my God." ARTICLE VII. DOMINICI DIODATI I. C. NEAPOLITANI, DE CHRISTO GRÆCE LOQUENTE EXERCITATIO. Translated by O. T. DOBBIN, LL. D., of Western Independent College, Exeter, England. Continued from page 476, Vol. XII. 5. The Jews taught their children the Greek alphabet in their schools. To the points already enlarged upon is added another, drawn from the book De Infantia Domini, or the Protevangelion of Thomas, lately published by the learned John 1 "Die Confession der Gegenwart."-LANGE. Aloysius Mingarelli, Greek professor in the High School at Bonn. And although I own the tract to be stuffed with fables and lying prodigies of the Saviour, why should I not seek to extract truth from fables, as chemists do the antidote from poison, the more so as the proverb justly says, "The Cretans do not always lie." We are urged to the attempt by the very remote antiquity of this fabrication, being supposed a production of the Marcosians, or Gnostic heretics of the second century. For not only have Cyril of Jerusalem,* Gelasius, the seventh œcumenical council, and other ancient authorities, mentioned it, but also Irenæus, who lived in that century, and Origen, who was nearly as early. 3 In the sixth chapter of this work, Zacchæus the schoolmaster is introduced teaching the child Jesus the Greek letters :Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ γράμματα, ἀπὸ τοῦ 4 ἕως τοῦ Ω, μετὰ πολλῆς ἐξετάσεως ξανῶς· ἐμβλέψας δε τῷ καθηγητή Ζακ 'A fragment of the Pseudo-Evangelium of Thomas was first published by Jean Baptiste Cotelier, (1) from a MS. discovered by him in the Bibliothèque Royale in Paris. This was published a second time by Lambecius, with the addition of various readings from a manuscript in the Royal Library, Vienna. (2) It next appeared in John Albert Fabricius's Codex Apocryphus of the New Testament. (3) At length the entire Pseudo-Evangelium appeared under the hands of J. A. Mingarelli, Reg. Canon of St. Saviour's, at Bonn, from a paper MS. of the fifteenth century in the library of that church. But though this copy of Mingarelli appears to be in all essential respects identical with Cotelier's, nevertheless there will be found no slight variations between them upon examination. But whereas the Mingarellian Codex introduces the schoolmaster Zaccheus teaching Jesus the Greek letters, which is Irenæus's reading-and not the Hebrew as in Cotelier-the testimony of that early father confirms the codex of Mingarelli rather than the fragment of Cotelier. For further information, however, in regard to this topic, we must refer to the very learned letter of Mingarelli to Father Ricchinius at the end of the Pseudo-Evangel, well deserving the attention of the reader. [See Jones on the Canon, p. 3, c. 23. ED.] 2 Cyrillus Hierosol. Catechesi. 4 et 6. 3 Gelasius in Decreto de libris apocryphis. Synodus Actio 2, par 5, tom. 7, edit. Labbæi. Irenæus, Adversus Hæreses, lib. 1, cap. 20. • Origenes, Homilia 1 in Lucam, tom. 3, p. 933. (1) Cotelerius in Not. ad Const. Apost. lib. 6, cap. 16. χαίῳ λέγει αὐτῷ, Σὺ τὸ ἄλφα μὴ εἰδῶς κατὰ φύσιν, τὸ βῆτα πῶς ἄλλους διδάσκεις; ὑποκριτά, πρῶτον εἰ δίδαξον τὸ Α· καὶ τότε σοι πιςεύσωμεν περὶ τοῦ Β· “ Et (Zacchus) dixit ei (id est Jesu) omnes literas ab alpha ad omega, dilucide singulas expendens, atque accurate. Intuens autem magistrum Zacchaum dicit ei Jesus, Tu quum literæ alpha naturam ignores, quomodo alios doces literam beta? Hyprocrita doce prius si nosti literam alpha, et tunc tibi credemus dicenti de litera beta.” And although the Parisian copy here names the Hebrew letters, and the Arabic Pseudo-Evangelium also in its 48th chapter, yet is the Mingarellian reading to be preferred, because it is evidently the oldest; for thus too reads Irenæus, whose testimony follows:— Ως τοῦ Κυρίου παιδὸς ὄντος, καὶ γράμματα μανθάνοντος, καὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου αὐτῷ φήσαντος, και θῶς ἔθος ἐςὶν, Εἰπὲ ἄλφα, ἀποκρίνασθαι τὸ ἄλφα· πάλιν τε τὸ βῆτα τοῦ διδασκάλου κελεύσαντος εἰπεῖν, ἀποκρίνασθαι τόν Κύριον. Σύ μοι πρότερον εἰπὲ τί ἐςι τὸ ἄλφα, καὶ τότε σοὶ ἐρῶ τί ἐςι τό βῆτα. καὶ τοῦτο ἐξηγοῦνται, ὡς αὐτοῦ μόνου τὸ ἄγνωςον ἐπιςαμένου, ὁ ἐφανέρωσεν ἐν τῷ τύπῳ τοῦ ἄλφα; “ Quum Dominus puerili ætate esset, atque elementa disceret, ac ludimagister, ut mos est, ei dixisset, Dic alpha, respondit, alpha: quumque rursus beta dicere jussisset, respondit Dominus, Tu mihi prius. dic, quid sit alpha, tumque dicam quid sit beta. Idque ita interpretantur, quasi solus ipse id quod cognitionem superat norit, quod quidem in figura ipsius alpha declaravit." This reading, then, as that of Irenæus, is obviously the one to be retained. Besides, in the 14th chapter of the Protevangelion it is written :δει γὰρ ὁ διδάσκαλος τὴν πείραν τοῦ παιδίου, καὶ ἐφοβήθη αὐτόν· ὅπως γράψας τὸν ἀλφάβητον, ἐπετήχευεν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ πολλὴν ὥραν, καὶ οὐκ ἀπεκρίνατο αὐτῷ· εἶπε δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰη σους· Εἱ ὄντως διδάσκαλος εἶ, καὶ εἰ οἶδας καλῶς τὰ γράμματα, εἰπέ μοι τοῦ ἄλφα τὴν δύναμιν· καγώ σοι ἐρῶ τὴν τοῦ βῆτα· “Noverat enim magister peritiam pueri, et tinuit eum: et scribens alphabetum, exercuit illum ad longam horam, et nou respondit ei. Dixit autem illi Jesus, Si vere magister es, ac si recte literas nosti, dic mihi vim literæ alpha, et ego tibi dicam vim litera beta.” What then do these passages indicate, if not that in the time of Christ the Greek was vernacular in Judæa-so prevailing, in fact, that their children learned Greek at school? This apocryphal volume was composed, as we have already said, in the second century after Christ, not long after the subversion of Judæa, and consequently while it was well known what language the Jews spoke at that period. Nor, we must add, is it at all likely that the forger of the narrative, who of course desired to win general credence for his work, would have committed a mistake in a matter in which detection was the easiest thing in the world. Must we not, then, allow the Jews the use of the Greek language, seeing that this production claims it for them so clearly? 6. The Jews used Greek Bibles. Our sixth proof is derived from the use of Greek Bibles by the Jews. In early times, the sacred books only appeared in Hebrew; and although the pure Hebrew was no longer commonly understood by the Jews after the Babylonish captivity, yet on account of their veneration for the sacred tongue, the Hebrew Scriptures continued to be read in their religious assemblies, an interpreter standing by the reader and explaining the text as he proceeded.' But about the time of Christ, the Jews, giving up the use of the Hebrew original, adopted the Greek version of the Seventy interpreters, and read it in their synagogues. We assert this on the authority of Justin Martyr, a Samaritan, who lived at the beginning of the second century, and who, treating of this same version, says "If any one should now object that these are not our books, but those of the Jews, because up to the present day they are kept in the synagogues," etc., etc. Tertullian's testimony is the counterpart of this, who says, "The Jews also read in public: the tributary (vectigalis) liberty is commonly enjoyed on every Sabbath." By the word vectigalis, is generally cap. 4. Maimonides, Hilcoth Tephil. cap, 12, § 10. Mischna in Tract. Megill. * Justinus Martyr, Cohort. ad Græcos, p. 14, lit. c. ed. Paris. Tertullianus, Apolog. cap. 18, p. 64. understood the liberty of hearing and reading, which the Jews purchased by the payment of a tax. The Rabbins confirm our view regarding the Septuagint, among whom R. Azarias, for instance, writes:-"The interpretation of the Greeks was confirmed by the whole congregation of Israel." Again he says: "It was confirmed by a decree of the Talmudists, that the law should be written in the Greek characters only, they did not allow the שיכתבו ספרים בכל לשון אלא ביוגית: sacred books to be written in any tongue but Greek." All these circumstances clearly prove that the knowledge of the Jews was confined to that language. But we also read, in the Talmud of Jerusalem, of a certain Rabbi Levi, who, hearing the Jews at Cæsarea reading the lesson, "Hear, O Israel," from the 6th of Deuteronomy, in Greek, would have stopped them; but Rabbi Jose was indignant, and said, Shall not he, who cannot read Hebrew, read at all? Nay, let him read in any language he understands and knows, for this is enough. An incident of a similar kind happened under Justinian, for during his reign the question was agitated of returning to the use of Hebrew in the synagogue; but Justinian interfered, and bade the Jews adhere to their vernacular tongue, the Greek, and the traditionary usage of the Septuagint. Nor were the Greek sacred books only read publicly in the synagogues; they were also commonly read and quoted by the Jews in private, by Christ, and by the apostles and evangelists, as has been noted over and over again by the learned. Of this the clearest proof is furnished in the New Testament, the writers of which, in citing the Old, depart widely from the Hebrew text, and follow closely the Seventy, whether they quote, as the technical phrase is, κατὰ λέξιν, or κατὰ διάνοιαν. Now this the Jews would never have allowed, had not the prevalence of the Greek among 1 Talmud. Hierosolym. Sota, cap. 7. Vide Buxtorfium, in Thesau. Rab אליגסתין binico, voce * Justinianus, in Novella Constitutione cxlvi. * Vide Lud. Capellum, in Critica Sacra, p. 62 et alibi. |