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nope," in the beginning of the second century,' made a literal and faithful version for the use of the Jews, which they preferred to the Septuagint."

nius, De Pond. et Mens. ch. 14. Hieros., Megilla, fol. 71, col. 3, and Kiddush, fol. 59, col. 1, say, "Aquila the proselyte translated, in presence of Rabbi Akiba." See Bartolocci, 1. c. p. 282. Morinus, p. 341. Hody, p. 574. Jerome, in Isaiah xiii.

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According to Epiphanius, he was nεv0ɛgions of Hadrian, [which some translate father-in-law, others, more properly, son of his father-in-law.] Compare Shem. Rabba, § 30. Shalshal. Hakk. fol. 28, col. 2.

Justin, Dial. cum Tryphone, ch. 71, p. 169, seems to cite Aquila: ...... Περὶ τῆς λέξεως τῆς, Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται, ἀντείπατε, λέγοντες εἰρῆσθαι, Ἰδοὺ ἡ νεάνις ἐν γαστρὶ λήψεται. But Credner has shown that this does not refer to him. Beiträge, vol. ii. p. 198. [Irenæus, who flourished about 177-192, seems to speak of him as a contemporary, iii. 24.]

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Jerome, Ep. ad Pammach., speaking of the best kind of interpretation, Opp. iv. pt. ii. p. 255, says, "Aquila, a proselyte, and a contentious interpreter, who has attempted, not only to translate words, but also the etymology of words, is properly rejected by us ;" and adds: Quis enim pro frumento et vino et oleo posset vel legere vel intelligere χεῦμα, ἐπωρισμὸν, στιλπνόTηta, quod nos possumus dicere fusionem, pomationem et splendentiam? Aut quia Hebraici non solum habent άρθρα, sed et πρόαρθρα, ille κακοζήλως et syllabas interpretatur et litteras, dicitque σὺν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ σὺν τὴν γῆν, quod Græca et Latina lingua omnino non recipit. But, Com. in Hos. ii., he calls him "curious and diligent,” and, Ep. 125, ad Damasum, Opp. ii. p. 567, says he is "not contentious, as some think; but he has carefully translated word for word." Ep. 138, ad Marcell. Opp. ii. p. 707, he calls him "a most diligent examiner of Hebrew words," and in Isaiah xlix. says, He is “ profoundly learned in the Hebrew tongue." Origen, Ep. ad Africanum, says he is a slave to the letter of his text ; δουλεύων τῇ Εβραϊκῇ λέξει. See the unfavorable judgment of Irenæus upon this version, 1. c., of Eusebius, 1. c., and Philastrius, [Hæres. ch. 90. See, also, Montfaucon, Prælim. in Hexap. p. 50.] See Carpzov, Crit. sac. p. 556. Kennicott, Diss. Gen. § 69, p. 150.

* Origen, Ep. ad Africanum: Φιλοτιμότερον πεπιστευμένος παρὰ Ιουδαίους founrevxévai tir yoaphy. Augustinus, De Civitat. Dei, xv. 23. Aquila...... quem interpretem Judæi cæteris anteponunt. In the 146th Novella of Justinian, permission is given to use Aquila, [and all the vernacular versions, it would appear,] while the use of the 4evrέowσis was forbidden. Bertholdt, § 160, thinks this was the second edition of Aquila; but it is only the collection of rabbinical writings which he proscribes. See the edict, and an explanation of it in Hody, p. 237, sqq., and 577. It is probable the Ebionites received it. But this does not follow from the following passage of Irenæus, as it is sometimes maintained, iii. 24: 'Αλλ' οὐχ ̓ ὡς ἔνιοι φασὶ τῶν νῦν μεθερ

[We know little about this translator. Epiphanius, or rather an apocryphal writer, to judge from the foolish things with which his narrative is overlaid, is the only one who has furnished us with the life of Aquila. According to him, he was by birth a heathen Greek, from Sinope, in Pontus, and was related to the emperor Hadrian, it is not certain how nearly. When Hadrian returned from the East to Rome, he gave him the charge of rebuilding Jerusalem, which had been reduced to ashes, and called the new city Elia Capitolina. Here he became acquainted with the Christians who had returned from Pella, was pleased with their religion, and was baptized. While a Christian, he continued the practice of astrology, as he had done when a heathen. His new brethren complained to him of this abuse. Instead of amending, he defended himself by sophistical arguments, and was expelled from the Christian church. In revenge for his ignominious expulsion, he went over to the Jews, studied Hebrew with great diligence, and, for the sake of the Jews, made a new Greek version of the Bible, which was injurious to the Christians, as it rendered victory over the Jews more difficult than before.

The above story is very improbable in itself. All that can be determined with certainty is, that this version could not have been made more than one hundred and thirty years A. C., for Irenæus cites it frequently in his books against heresies, written about 176, 177, and not less than forty years must have elapsed after its composition, before it could come into common use in distant countries.

μηνεύειν τολμώντων τὴν γραφήν· ἰδοὺ ἡ νεᾶνις ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξεται υἱὸν, ὡς Θεοδοτίων ἡρμήνευσεν ὁ ̓Εφέσιος καὶ ̓Ακύλας ὁ Ποντικός, ἀμφότεροι Ἰουδαῖοι προσήλυτοι οἷς κατακολουθήσαντες οἱ Εβιωναῖοι, ἐξ ̓Ιωσήφ αὐ τὸν γεγενῆσθαι φάσκουσι.

Antiquity in general agrees that he undertook this version at the instance of the Jews, his new confederIrenæus goes farther, and says it was at the solicitation of his Hebrew teacher, Rabbi Akiba. The Jerusalem Talmud says Akilas, a Greek translator, was assisted in his work by the rabbins who taught him. Perhaps Aquila undertook the work to please the Jews, even if he did not succeed. Afterwards they used the new version, because they could no longer defend themselves with the Septuagint in their controversies with the Christians. The old version seemed too free, and contained numerous glosses and defective passages. Aquila is very literal. He counts Greek words as nothing to the Hebrew. He never lets a syllable of the original escape him; not even the etymology of a Hebrew word. He not only allows himself barbarisms, but all sorts of inaccuracies in the use of Greek, if he can only express the original more rigorously by such means. The Jews excluded the Alexandrian version, and substituted that of Aquila in its place. It seems the Ebionites had adopted it before 178, for Irenæus wrote against the heresies they derived from this version."

Epiphanius says that, though he understood the Hebrew language very well, yet he undertook this translation with no good design, but that he might pervert some passages of Scripture. He attacked the translation of the Seventy, to the end that he might render in a different way the testimony of the Scriptures respecting Christ; and by this means he sought an apology for his absurd conduct, [that is, for his apostasy."

* Epiphanius, 1. c.: Ηρμήνευσεν οὐκ ὀρθῷ λογισμῷ χρησάμενος, ἀλλ' όπως διαστρέψῃ τινὰ τῶν ῥητῶν, ἐνσκήψας τῇ τῶν ἑβδομήκοντα δύο έρω μηνείᾳ· ἵνα τὰ περὶ Χριστοῦ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς μεμαρτυρημένα ἄλλως ἐκδώ σει, δι' ἣν εἶχεν αἰδῶ εἰς ἄλογον αὐτοῦ ἀπολογίαν.

Bruns, in his edition of Kennicott," adds a passage from a Greek manuscript, where Aquila is accused, in bitter words, of falsifying the Hebrew text. However, the charges brought against him are mainly urged by such as did not understand the original, and could only compare this with the old version. The Fathers themselves knew how to appeal to Aquila, when his translation favored their design, especially in the controversy with the Arians. Jerome, the most competent witness, finds no trace of such falsifications. He even says,

"When I compare Aquila's edition with the Hebrew volumes, I do not find that the synagogue has changed any thing through hatred to Christ, and I will gladly confess that I find more which tends to confirm our faith." However, the polemic tendency of Aquila cannot be denied.

Aquila is still very valuable for philological and critical purposes. Since he adheres so closely to the words. of the text, we can prove more easily from him than from any other translator, how slight was the grammatical acquaintance with the Hebrew language at the time. Much may be gained from him to enrich the Hebrew Lexicon, and explain the New Testament. He is a treasure of the greatest value for criticism. It can often be shown from his version, that the readings of our masoretic text, which other old translators seem to condemn, are in fact very ancient; and from this it becomes

Diss. Gen. § 69.

[Jerome, Ep. 24, ad Marcellum. Some particular specifications have been urged against him. Thus Justin Martyr, Dial. p. 310, complains that the Jews translate vɛavis (a young woman) in Isa. vii. 14, where the LXX. has лαçôévos, (a virgin.) But here is no corruption, only a difference of interpretation. In Isa. xlix. 5, Aquila reads, "Israel shall be gathered to him,” instead of “shall not be gathered." But our present editions of the Bible give both readings, and 3. Eichhorn, § 187.]

highly probable that the variations of the other ancient translators arose from no difference in the text, but from the free method of translating.

Although Aquila, at first, made a version that was scrupulously literal, yet here and there some single passages deceived him; at least, he thought they were too free. He therefore revised his work, and made several passages still more slavishly literal. We know of the second edition of his version mainly through Jerome, who sometimes calls it "the second edition of Aquila," and sometimes, "the second edition, which the Hebrews call the accurate," and sometimes, "the second interpretation or translation." The last expression has seduced some of the learned into the belief that it was an entire new version of Aquila; but the fragments of it, preserved in Jerome's commentaries upon Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, only differ from those of the first edition in their accuracy. The second edition certainly extended over Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel; for in these books Jerome uses both editions. Perhaps it comprised all the Old Testament.

But Aquila has not escaped the devastations of time. Nothing but a few fragments is left of him. Flaminius Nobilis, Drusius, and Montfaucon, have collected them from the Fathers and from manuscripts; but they have given him much that was never his, and, on the other hand, have ascribed much that was his to Theodotion and Symmachus.]

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[See Eichhorn, § 188-190. Other works, which treat of this version, are the following: Dathe's treatise De Aquila Reliquiis in Hoseam, in J. A. Dathii Opuscula, &c., ed. Rosenmüller ; Lips. 1796, 8vo. Fischer, Prolusiones; Clavis in Græcas Versiones, and his Censura Versionum Malachiæ. Drusius, Veterum Interpretum Græcorum Fragmenta; Arnheim, 1622, 4to., reprinted in Walton's Polyglot, vol. vi. Montfaucon, Originis Hexapl. quæ supersunt; Paris, 1713, 2 vols. fol.]