118. They who introduced them, no doubt intended them for expreffing, as nearly as poffible, the pronunciation of the Hebrew as then in ufe; and often fuccessfully; but it had been so long a dead language, that they could not fail to be often mistaken; and their fyftem of punctuation renders letters, at one time, quiefcent and useless, which, at other times, have a variety of founds, and produces great intricacy in the flexions of nouns and verbs.

119. From fuppofing the vowel points modern, it will not follow that the Hebrew must have been a language confifting only of confonants, which would indeed be abfurd; for it is exprefsly maintained, that there are vowel letters in the Hebrew alphabet, a, Tu,i, to which are now commonly added e, and yo, by means of which, that language might be read without points, almost as well as any other can; and that these are really vowels, appears-from their being expreffed as fuch, in moft proper names, by the 70,from the letters correfponding to them in place, being Vowels in the Greek alphabet, which was borrowed from the Phenician,—and from the frequency of their recurrence, which is found to be juft fuch as ought to belong to these vowels.

120. Though there be many fyllables, and even words, in which none of thefe letters (called Matres lectionis) occur, and though, on that account, they feem infufficient for the pronunciation of the Hebrew ; yet they might have been fufficient when that was a

living language, or even as long as it was preserved entire. They exprefs all the long vowels; and it may be, that the words in which none of them occur, had only short vowels, which it was not unnatural for a rude and fimple language, like the Hebrew, to omit in writing, as being implied in enunciating the confonants. On the introduction of the vowel points, the vowel letters were omitted wherever they feemed to the introducers to ferve only as vowels, which has increafed the difficulty of reading without points; but as, even in the printed bibles, words which want these letters in one place, retain them in another, as ancient MSS. preserve them in many words which are always printed without them, and as they are constantly retained in the Samaritan Pentateuch ;-from these fources, the full writing and regular form of moft Hebrew words, might perhaps be recovered.

Simon, V. T. 1. I. c. 27. 1. 2. c. 8. Herder on Hebrew
Poetry,

121. The Maforetes, in expunging the matres lectionis, where they thought they served only for vowels, and their place would confequently be fupplied by the newly invented points, have often been mistaken; and by that means, have introduced a multitude of falfe readings, or omiffions of thefe letters, where they are effential to the sense.

122. From fuppofing the vowel points modern, it will not follow, that the sense of the text would be altogether uncertain; for though, in that cafe, words of

different

different fignifications would confift of precisely the fame letters, this is no more than what happens in all languages, where the fenfe and connexion, nevertheless, enable us fufficiently to distinguish them; and many words, which now would, without points, be the fame, were, before the invention of these, diftinguished in writing, by fome of the vowel letters.

123. By affixing to words which confift of the fame letters, different vowel points, according to the diversity of their fignifications, the Maforetes have determined the sense of fcripture according to their own idea of it, or their traditional interpretation; and this sense should not be lightly or haftily departed from. But they were fallible, and have mistaken in many instances; and therefore, that fenfe fhould not be implicitly followed, but abandoned without fcruple, whenever there are good reafons for preferring another fenfe.

Lowth's Ifaiah, Prelim. Diff. p. 54. Simon, V. T. 1. 3.

C. I.

124. Though the vowel points be not of authority, yet they are of confiderable use; not only for afcertaining the sense in many instances; but also, as they often indicate the true reading, by their agreeing to it, not to the false reading received into the text,-as their not being affixed to fome words, points out these as erroneous, and as they fometimes give intimation, where, in confequence of their introduction, vowel letters have been omitted; and thus lead us to reftore the true reading.

Ken. Diff. 1. p. 343. Houbig. prol. p. 49.

"he" is often erroneously put up

fhe," but al

חיא for

have אדני הוא ways flhown to be an error by being pointed

ing been often, through the fuperftition of the Jews, written instead of, is often shown to be fo, by its having the points of this latter word.

Judg. xvi. 18. "He hath fhowed (5) her; " but pointed as , which right. Keri. 6. MSS. fenfe.

Ken. in loc. and Diff. 1. p. 446.

125. A great multiplicity of accents have been used in Hebrew, concerning which different opinions have been entertained, fimilar to thofe concerning the vowel points. There can be no doubt, however, that they were introduced along with these by the Maforetes; and they are of no authority nor moment, but only embarrafs the language.

126. There has been a question of the fame kind, concerning fome particulars in the Greek language, on which the fense of words in the New Testament fometimes depends; the iota fubfcriptum, the fpirits, and the accents.

127. It appears that the ancient Greeks did often exprefs the force of the iota fubfcriptum, though by at different figure from ours; but it is certain that they often omitted it in writing and as it is never found in the most ancient MSS. of the New Teftament, we are fure, either, that the apoftles did not write it, or, that we cannot discover where they wrote it; but that it has

been

been placed as we now have it, by late transcribers or printers; and confequently, we are at liberty to determine for, or against it, in particular paffages, according to the fenfe.

Michael. Int. Lect. § 35, 39. fect. 6.

Marth's Michael. ch. 13.

128. Moft anciently, the Greeks expreffed the afpiration by the letter H. When, in place of this, they adopted the fpiritus afper, it appears from medals and monuments that they did not always write it, and never the fpiritus lenis. That it was not written originally in the New Testament, appears from the most ancient verfions often confounding words diftinguished only by the fpirits; and therefore, we are at liberty to interpret fuch words, in the manner most suitable to the fenfe, without regarding the fpirits by which late transcribers or editors have reftricted them.

Michael. ib. § 40. Marth's Michael. ib. fect. 7.

129. Without inquiring whether the Greeks pronounced their language according to the accents, or not, it is allowed that they did not commonly write the accents; and, as none are found in any MSS. of the New Teftament, prior to the eighth century, it is clear that the present accents are not authorised by the apoftles; and therefore, we are not bound to determine the fignification of words according to them.

Michael. ib. 42. Marfh's Michael. ib. fect. 8.