provingly, and, as far as regards verse 15 unnecessarily, quote a passage from another work, and immediately after, without offering the least explanation, contradict the same? On the other hand, if we take verse 15, as it stands, to form a genuine and integral part of the Book of Joshua, we should place its author in contradiction with himself. There are two suppositions, both almost equally acceptable, by which, in our judgment, the difficulty may be met. Either the entire v. 15 is a reproduction of v. 43, inserted by some mistake of the copyist, and to which the corresponding conclusion of the v. 14 and 42 might have given rise; or from a similar error the name of Gilgal in our verse has been substituted for that of Makkedah. Our readers being probably more or less acquainted with the history and the condition of the text of the Book of Joshua, we need not state how easily such a circumstance is here accounted for. The latter supposition is supported by the Cod. Alex. and Vatic. of the LXX., in which our verse is wanting; the former by the progress of our narrative itself, and therefore it may, perhaps, be considered as the more probable of the two. From v. 17, cf. 18 seq., and 21, 22 seq., it admits of no doubt that Joshua, after having completed the total defeat of the enemy, led the main body of his army against Makkedah, and that, whilst the rest of his troops were ordered to follow up the pursuit of the Amorites, that city was taken and destroyed by him (v. 28). If we therefore translate v. 15 and 16 thus: And Joshua with the main army of the Israelites, [that may be so rendered is clearly proved by Exod. ix. 6, cf. 19 seq.,] turned back for encampment at Makkedah, [cf. for this construction put upon, Gesenius, Wörterb. art. But those [cf. Isaiah xlix. 12,] five kings had fled and hid themselves in a cave at Makkedah, etc., the harmony of the entire narrative will be restored. : T .[7 .A. No אֵל (u). 'n DVD, about a whole day. The essential property of the Hebrew particle is comparative, expressive of what a thing appears or seems to be, e. g. 7, SOMETHING LIKE the figure of a man (Dan. x. 18); D, LIKE UNTO this day TT כְּהָנִיף שֵׁבֶט אֶת-מְרִימָיו כְּהָרִים; (14 .in our very passage Josh. x) לא עץ T: , AS IF the rod should shake (itself) against them that lift it up (or) AS IF the staff should lift itself up (as if it were) no wood (Isaiah x. 15); naboen my nose, [like unto, as it were,] T SEEMED one of the royal cities (Josh. x. 2), and in numerous other other places. We have therefore the fullest authority for rendering the words of our text (as it were, or as if, or) IT SEEMED A WHOLE DAY. Yet undeniable as is the admissibility of this translation, there is in the saying, "The sun hasted not to go down, it seemed a whole day,' something obscure or rather strange, which would appear to require an explanation. In the Talmud (Gem. tr. Pesach. 5, 3) the following remarkable מנחה גדלה התחלת זמן תמיד שלבין הערבים מכי : passage occurs מתחיל להעריב דהיינו מחצי שבהע ולמעלה דהא חצי שש וחצי שבע חמה עומדת בראש כל אדם וקודרת כנגדה למטה ואינה נוטה which as לשום צד ומחצי שבע ולמעלה נוטה ברקיע למערב : Joshua x. 13.— So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down, it seemed a whole day. comp. with Josh. x. 13, and literally translated, reads thus: From the half-past sixth till the half-past seventh [Jewish] hour [from about 113 to 12 o'clock, according to our mode of reckoning] the sun stands still over the head of all men, throwing his shadow straightforward down before him, and inclining to neither side; but after the half-past seventh hour he declines in the heavens towards evening.' Here we have the solution of our last remaining scruple; for knowing that, according to the view of the ancient Hebrews-a view evidently reflected in the passage of Joshua-the sun every day' tarried' or stood still' in the midst of heaven for the 6 space of about one hour, that passage no longer presents any difficulty; but, in connection with the preceding explanations, at once assumes a perfectly clear and intelligible meaning. If we inquire what can possibly have given rise to so singular a view, we are to bear in mind that the most common timekeeper in those days was a very imperfect description of sun-dial, consisting of a horizontal disk, with a short pole in its centre, and the length of whose shadow served to indicate the twelve divisions of the day. In the morning, therefore, the sun seemed to ascend in the heavens more quickly, as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoicing as a strong man to run a race (Ps. xix. 5); but, as his strength diminished, gradually to slacken his pace, until, having reached the summit of his course, when the more or less perpendicular shadow of the pole did not perceptibly move, he appeared to rest for about an hour, and then, in his descent, to hasten again, at an increasing rate, towards 'evening.' (v). wix bipa nim you that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man. These words do not altogether convey the true import of the text, which is, that never did God so graciously listen to prayer of man as He did on that day to the prayer of Joshua; for He should He Himself (through the hailstorm) fought for Israel. here evidently be taken in the sense of in regard to," as to' (cf. Gesenius, Wörterb., art. ?, a. No. 6). Having thus illustrated the most essential parts of our text, we shall be able to give a correct translation of it, which, in following as closely as possible the Authorized Version, may be rendered as follows:: Ver. 6. And the men of Gibeon sent unto Joshua to the camp at Gilgal, saying, Slack not thy hand from thy servants; come up to us quickly, save us, help us: for all the kings of the Amorites that dwell in the mountains are gathered together against us. 7. So Joshua broke up from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valour. 8. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Fear them not; for not a man of them, they being delivered into thine hand, shall stand before thee. 9. Joshua, therefore, having marched up from Gilgal all night, attacked them straightways. 10. And the Lord discomfited them before Israel, and slew them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, and chased them along the way that goeth up to Beth-horon, and smote them to Azekah, and unto Makkedah. 11. And it came to pass as they fled from before Israel, in the way that goeth down from Beth-horon, that the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon them as far as Azekah, and they perished: they were more which perished by the hail-stones than they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword; because Joshua, on the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, had prayed to the Lord. 12. But in the sight of Israel he said: Sun, stand thou still over Gibeon, And thou, moon, over Ajalon's vale -And the sun stood still, the moon stayed-- Shall have avenged themselves upon Israel's foes! Is it not thus written in the Sepher Hajashar? 13. So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down, it seemed a whole day. 14. And there has been no day like unto that, either before it or after it, as to the Lord's hearkening unto the voice of man; for the Lord himself fought for Israel. The succession of events here related is consequently this:When the Gibeonites, simultaneously attacked by five of the most powerful chiefs of the Amorites, sent for protection and assistance to Joshua, whose camp was at Gilgal, he, perceiving the importance of the juncture, at once resolved to march to the succour of his allies. On the same day on which the message had reached him, he broke up from Gilgal with his whole army, and, after a forced march continued throughout the night, took up a position, probably to the north of Gibeon, on the following morning. His forces (or troops) naturally required some rest. Towards midday they were prepared to do battle, and their leader, after having been engaged in private prayer to God, and received from Him the assurance of victory, then addressed his army to animate them with the same confidence. He had, most likely with the view of surprising the enemy, chosen the hottest part of the day for the attack. The sun was standing nearly in his zenith; the moon, about to set, was still visible in a south-easterly direction, over the valley of Ajalon; and pointing to those two glorious luminaries, they shall not decline in the heavens,' he concluded his harangue to his companions, until they shall have witnessed our triumph.' Such is the evident meaning of his celebrated words, which, we must remember, have come down to us only in the language of the poet. But even he does not make Joshua command the sun to stand still, which would have been a most useless command, since, according to the then common opinion, the sun was about to stand still in the usual course of things; but to stand still until the Hebrew army should have defeated the enemy. Nor was the promise of Joshua held out in vain; the sudden and irresistible attack of the Israelites during midday at once decided the contest, in so incredibly short a time, it appears to the narrator, as if the sun, instead of an hour, had tarried in the midst of heaven' a whole day; and before he 'declined towards evening,' the forces of the enemy were completely routed. During their flight they were, in the narrow pass leading down from Upper Bethhoron, overtaken by a fearful hail-storm, and almost annihilated. The pursuit, however, was kept up with vigour beyond Azekah and Makkedah, at which latter place the Jewish leader, after having taken and destroyed it, encamped. Then the five kings of the Amorites, who, in the meantime, and whilst the remnant of their scattered forces were driven back into their fenced cities, had been discovered and kept secure in a cave in the vicinity of the camp, were brought out unto Joshua, and 'he smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees; and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening' (v. 26). 6 The setting sun of that day had witnessed no other miracle, save those countless miracles, creations of the Eternal One, which crowd around us from morning till night every day, in every shape and in every form, the greatest not more incomprehensible than the least, and higher objects than which for wonder, and admiration, and love, and gratitude, man could never wish to contemplate, unless his heart were hardened and his mind shut. SUGGESTIONS SUGGESTIONS FOR A CRITICAL EDITION OF THE HEBREW BIBLE. By the Rev. HENRY BURGESS. IT requires only a slight acquaintance with the literature of the sacred Scriptures to perceive the disproportionate attention bestowed on the New over the Old Testament. This is more the case in England than on the Continent, where Hebrew learning has certainly received a larger measure of critical skill; yet even with this limitation, the proposition is still generally true, nor are the causes of the preference difficult to discover. It may be advantageous to glance at them, as they will develop more clearly the importance of the undertaking which this article is intended to originate and to recommend. The almost universal study of the Greek language as an element of polite education is the first cause to which the vast critical apparatus of the New Testament is to be attributed. Important as the Semitic dialects are to sacred learning and to our intercourse with many nations of the East, they are rarely taught in schools, and are seldom made a part of the education of gentlemen. Nothing will more clearly exhibit this fact than the difficulty which is found in obtaining correct typographical quotations in any of the Oriental languages connected with Biblical learning. A Greek compositor or reader is common enough, to furnish our printed literature with tolerably exact specimens of that language; but how rarely are we gratified with the scholar-like execution of Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic, or Ethiopic typography. Many first-rate classical scholars are ignorant of even the letters of those interesting languages; and the confession of the amiable and learned Archdeacon Wrangham would, without doubt, be that of many men who stand high in the republic of letters. He says, in his Preface to his edition of Walton's Prolegomena, ' De meipso tandem si vel tantillulum eloqui liceat, vix affirmare audeo (quod de se Reverendissimus Marshius asserit) posse me, Lexicorum ope adjutum, linguam Hebraicam Persicamque quadantenùs interpretari. Alia nempè studia Cantabrigiæ degenti mihi commendabantur, quæ nec gravatè suscepi nec, si verbo sit venia, infelicitèr omninò prosecutus sum.' If such is the state of the case, it is not to be wondered at that the New Testament, which is enshrined in Greek, should have more votaries than the Old, which is hidden |