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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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of no intrinsic merit ^ -raad * perhaps * the chief advantage to be derived from a critical study of them is the light which they throw on the spirit and character of the times in which they were written .
Of the Apocryphal Scriptures of the Old Testament generally . —The literary productions of the Hebrews subsequent to the Babylonian exile of a character widely differing from
their compositions prior to that period . —During their exile a general change had taken place among them—not only their language but the general train of their ideas became gradually more and more assimilated to those of
the nations among whom they lived or by whom they were surrounded—and when at length , under Alexander the Great , they became mote intimately connected with the Greeks , their religious doctrines ceased to bear the
genuine Mosaic stamp , and exhibited a strange medley , in which the philosophy of Plato , Pythagoras and the sages of Chaldsea and Persia appeared grafted on that of their original legislator . — From that period the nation seems divided into two distinct classes—the
Jews of Palestine and those of E ^ ypt —the former adhering to their ancient Hebrew or Chaldaean tongue—the latter availing themselves of the Greek language . —It is to be remarked , that the productions of the former only were admitted into the Jewish canon , to the exclusion of the latter .
—General character and contents of the books of the Apocrypha—Whilst those of a moral and philosophical character tend to give us an idea of the state of mental cultivation and refinement to which the Jews in general had attained at a
period immediately preceding the birth of Christ , the historical books have also their value in a chronological point of view , aB an adherence to the keleucidan sera is maintained in them , and all may be used with advantage in a critical examination of the New
Testament , by their contributing not a little to elucidate its phraseology and doctrines . Of the Ethics of Jesus tTie Son of Siradh . Jesus 8 irach , the only Apocryphal writer iti the Old Testament who has accompanied hu work with aomp ap-
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count of himself * and givefr a triue < d ascertain . the age in which he lived . ^ - * - Disquifcition oil the real period in which this apocryphal Work wb& writ * ten . —It contains a rhapsody of moral declamations on mundane affairs , enlivened with a variety of apposite Itnd
frequently witty remarks oti 66 e truife enjoyrpent of life—and k most probably a collection of essays of different Jewish sages , written at very different periods of time . —Originally It was written in Hebrew , or j > erhfeps the Syro - Chaldean dialect . —That this Apocryphal book is & translation only
is fully evident from numerous passages in which the Greek text is wholly unintelligible , or even exhibits direct blunders , which any one acquainted with Hebrew may easily rectify . —For the rest , a strange mixture of supeiv station and religious refinement characterizes the Ethics of Jesus Siradfc- — Sketch of the history of this book .
Of the Wisdom of Solomon . General ideas attached by the Jews to the word crofyiat , , Heb . HDDn— -sy&& nymous wkh the more modest t # m of philosophy Used by their Grefek
neighbours , and , in fact , embracing a union of Jewish theology with Grseeo * Oriental philosophy . —The Wisdmn of Solomon consists of two parts— -the first comprising ch . L- *~ xi . L— the second , ch . xi . 2—xix . 22 .
Of the first part of the Wisdom of Solomon . — -The name of Solomon merely assumed .- ~ -It contains a geheral panegyric on wisdom , and is written in a style of greater purity at * d sublimity than is easily met with ia the writings of the Ancient philosophers or Jewish sages .
Of the second part of the Wisdom of Solomon . * —In point of style and sentiment it is greatly inferior to the first—being , in all probability , the composition of a different authorand only attached to the other by way of securing its preservation . —Of the character of the author .
Of the Wisdom of Solomon generally . —On the conjecture of Fhilo being the author of both parts—this rendered highly improbable by a comparison drawn between passagesy ^ ctracted from his works and the Wfei dona of Solomon , in which the s $ me sulyects . are differently treated **—Ano-
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Eichkwn * s Introduction to the Old Te&ement . f&f
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1821, page 707, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2507/page/11/
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