They are referred back to Moses as their author," and cited as Parash "Balaam," or "Balak," "Sotah," "the Red Cow," &c. They probably began in the earliest times, when their sacred Scriptures were read in public. A similar division was made in the Prophets and Hagiographa.* The of the Samaritans, and the Kegáhala, the Capitula, tituli, and breves of the versions, are similar to these. They are often marked, in manuscripts, by spaces between the lines and large initial letters. The Capitula of Jerome seem to agree with the Parashes, for he appeals to the Hebrew divisions. In Mich. vi. 9, he says, "In the Hebrew, this is the beginning of the next chapter; in the Septuagint, it is the end of the last." They actually agree together. In Sophon. iii. 14, he says, "It need not seem surprising that the Hebrew Capitula end in one way, and the Greek of the Septuagint, and the Latin, also, in another." "But what we have read is the end of this Capitulum, according to the Septuagint." But Hupfeld' says that, for the most part, these Capitula are passages of very various length, taken arbitrarily, not by their connection, and often consist but of a single verse, or half verse, and so are synonymous with locus, place, or subject. • Berach. fol. 12, c. 2. Megill. iv. 4, mention is made of Parashes in the Prophets. The single Psalms are called Parashes, in Berach. p. 9, c. 2, p. 10, c. 1. • See below, § 107. • L. c. p. 842. d Quæst. Heb. Gen. xxv. 13-18. See Jerome, Quæst. in Gen. iv. 15. xv. 16. xxxvi. 24. xlviii. 5. § 78. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. These Parashes differ in their origin and design from the greater Parashes, as they are called, (which are also named,) that is, the passages, fifty-four in number, that are read on the Sabbath in the synagogue. These have a later origin than the others," for they are not mentioned in the Talmud, but appear first in the Masora, and are not observed in the rolls of the synagogue. The smaller have been sometimes considered as subdivisions of the larger, designed for separate readers on week days. But in dividing the Sabbath lesson among the seven readers, regard was had, as far as possible, to the division of the subject, indicated by the smaller Parashes. These Sabbath Parashes, or Sidrim, are not to be confounded with the Sidrim which Jacob Ben Chajim has placed in the Rabbinic Bible, and which amount to four hundred and forty-seven, in the Old Testament. פפפ When the Sabbath lessons agree with one of these greater Parashes, they are marked, if it is shut, with DED; if open, with ooo. However, one (Gen. xlvii. 28) has no vacant space between the lines before it." The passages of the Prophets called Haphtaroth, (,) which are written each on a separate roll, a The opposite doctrine is taught by Morinus, p. 493, and others, as well as in the former edition of this work. See Vitringa, Syn. Vet. p. 969, sq. b [Some of the Jews say Moses or Ezra affixed these letters to mark the divisions; but this opinion has no foundation in fact. There is a great diversity in the use of these letters in the MSS. In common editions of the Hebrew Bible, 290 sections of the Pentateuch are marked with a . See some curious remarks on this subject in Leusden, 1. c. diss. iv., particularly § xiv. and xix., sq.] and are mentioned in the Mishna," are similar to these." Elias the Levite gives the following unlucky conjecture as to the origin of this custom of reading the prophetic passages: "Antiochus the wicked," says he, “king of Greece, forbade the Israelites to read the law. What did the Israelites? They took a Parash from the Prophets, similar in argument to the Parash of that Sabbath." This custom is scarcely to be looked for in the New Testament. It is apparent, from Acts xiii. 18, sqq., and Luke iv. 16, sqq., that the Prophets were then read in the synagogue. But from the latter passage it appears there were then no Haphtara. Our present division into chapters, which the Jews also have accepted, is of Christian origin, and does not extend beyond the thirteenth century. Gilbert Gene • Leusden, Phil. Heb. diss. iii. § 4, p. 28, says the section of the Prophets is called, a dismission, (missa, dimissio,) from, to send away, and has its name from ceasing or finishing, because the Sabbath reading ceased, and was finished, and the people were dismissed, when this passage from the Prophets was read; and the reader of this section was called, dismissing, because he was wont to dismiss the assembly. Elias, in Thisbi, under the word, says Haphtara signifies cessation. Bodenschatz, Kirchl. Verf. d. Juden, ii. 26, sqq., gives a catalogue of the Haphtara. [See Horne, pt. i. ch. ii. sect. iii. § 2, vol. i. p. 213, and pt. iii. ch. 1. sect. iv. vol. ii. p. 105, sq., who also gives a catalogue of both.] C It may be seen from Maccab. i. 41, sqq., and Josephus, Ant. xii. 4, 5, whether this was possible for the Jews at that time. Against the well-formed doubts of Jahn, p. 367, see Bertholdt, p. 204, and the opinion of Vitringa, 1. c. p. 1008. Jahn, 366. On the other hand, Bertholdt, p. 205, who follows Carpzov, p. 147. [It has not been shown that Jesus read the "lesson for the day,” in the synagogue at Nazareth. It is more probable he selected a passage to suit the occasion.] • R. Nathan, A. C. 1440, Præf. Concord. Heb. El. Levita, Vorrede zur Hammas, p. 17. Buxtorf, Præf. Concord. Heb. Col. 4-14. Morinus, l. c. p. 487. Carpzov, Crit. sac. p. 152. The Jewish names of these chapters are . קפיטולין, סימנים, פרקים a brardus says, "About that time, (that is, 1240 A. C.,) the Bibles were divided into chapters, as we have them at this day. It seems to have been the invention of the scholastics, of those, perhaps, who, with Cardinal Hugo, (1262,) were the authors of the Concordances; for the theologians who lived before this time do not use them, [the chapters,] but those who lived later, use them frequently." Balæus' ascribes this invention to his countryman Stephen Langthon, archbishop of Canterbury. Jahn unites both accounts. [In Hugo's Concordance, the chapter was referred to by number, and the page was divided into several sections, marked with the letters of the alphabet. Before his time, the Fathers merely referred to the book; the Jews and Samaritans designated the particular portion of the book by naming the most prominent subject of the passage-the "Bush," the "Deluge," &c., as the Mohamedans, at this day, refer to the Koran, and cite the "Cow," the "Table," the "Woman,” and the like." In the absence of more certain marks to indicate the passage, recourse was had to a name casually given to a paragraph from its contents. Thus Philo says, "For the Law says in the Curses." So, in Mark ii. 26, as some think, the passage in 1 Sam. xxi.-xxii. is referred under the title "Abiathar." In Mark xii. 26, the third chapter of Exodus is apparently referred to as the с Chron. lib. iv. p. 644. H. E. Cent. xiii. c. 7, 10.-Langthon died 1227. [It is plain, from Acts xiii. 33, 35, that the Psalms were divided and marked at an ancient date.] d De Agricult. p. 203. [The words the days of are added in the English version of the passage, and are not certainly implied in the term l'Aßiάag; but see the same usage of inl, for the time, in Luke iii. 2.] a "Bush." In Romans xi. 2, reference is made to 1 Kings xvii.-xix. under the title "Elias." Raschi, commenting on Hosea ix. 9, "As in the days of Gibeah," says, this is Gibeah of Benjamin, spoken of in the "Harlot," referring to Judges xix.-xxi. In psalm ii. he refers to 2 Sam. ii. 8, sqq., under the title "Abner." Sometimes the paragraph is named from the first or second word it contains; thus the first part of Genesis is called "Bereshith;" another passage, "Noah;" another, "Lekâ,", that is, to you. Our English translators were, perhaps, ignorant of this manner of reference, and sometimes made ludicrous mistakes through their ignorance of it. Thus, in 2 Sam. i. 18, it is said David bade them teach the children of Judah the "Bow," referring to the poetical passage from the book of Jasher, that follows, in which the "bow of Jonathan" is mentioned; in our version, it reads, "teach them the use of the bow."] § 79. 2. THE DIVISION INTO STICHS OR VERSES. In the poetical books and passages, the separate sentences or members of the rhythmical passage were separated or broken off into stichs, (otízo,) or verses, or divided into cola and commata, (κῶνα καὶ κόμματα,) greater and smaller verses. This custom was observed by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabians. It is proved that it prevailed among the Jews also, by the fact that the manuscripts of the Septuagint and the old Latin versions are written in [Jahn, vol. i. p. 370. Leusden, Phil. Heb. diss. iii. § 4.] |