labours of Fell, Mill, Bengel, Wetstein, Griesbach, Matthæi, Scholz, Hahn, Lachmann, and Tischendorf, the Greek text has been brought to its present state. A similar work was carried on for the Hebrew text by the "London Polyglot," Athias, a Jewish rabbi and printer, Van der Hooght, Michaelis, Houbigant, Kennicott, De Rossi, Jahn, and Boothroyd. The majority of those critical editors were ProLestants; but, in fact, Protestants agree with Roman Catholics in the text of the New Testament, and Christians with Jews in the text of the Old. No statement can better illustrate the satisfactoriness of the results of these protracted inquiries.

versions.

One most important means of fixing the text of the sacred volume, and of ascertaining its meaning, has been the publication of ancient Dr. Adam Clarke, indeed, ascribes to the publication of these versions much of the taste for sacred literature and for general knowledge which has been diffused through Europe during the seventeenth century; and it is certain that Polyglot Bibles-that is, Bibles in many tongues-have excited great interest among all classes of literary men. The earliest of these noble works was the Polyglot printed at Alcalá, or Complutum, by cardinal Ximenes, of Toledo. Dreading the spread of false doctrines, with captious interpretations of the Scripture, which, whilst they deluded the simple, might appear unanswerable to the learned," he devoted much time and large sums to this

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work. It contained the Hebrew, Greek, anɑ Chaldee of the Old Testament, with a Latin version of each; and the Greek and Latin Vulgate of the New. The whole was printed in 1517; but the cardinal dying soon after, it was doubted whether it ought to be circulated; nor was it till the year 1522 that copies were distributed to the world at large. It is a curious instance of human weakness, that on the conversion of the Moors of Spain, Ximenes strenuously and successfully opposed the translation of the Bible in Arabic. It was best, he said, that the Scripture should be kept in the three languages consecrated by the inscription over the head of the dying Saviour-Hebrew, Greek, and Latin !

The next polyglot was published at Antwerp, under the patronage of the king of Spain. It was executed between the years 1568 and 1573. In addition to the versions given in the Complutensian Polyglot, it contains the Syriac version of the New Testament, and a version into Latin by Pagninus, with a large apparatus of grammars and lexicons at the close. The London Polyglot (1654-7) was prepared and printed by Brian Walton, afterwards bishop of Chester. It added to the versions given by Ximenes, the Samaritan, the Syriac, the Arabic, the Ethiopic, and the Persic, with a Latin version of each, and various Targums. Lexicons were added by Dr. Castell. In 1628-45, the French Polyglot appeared under the editorship of Le Jay. It contained all that had leen

POLYGLOTS: LONDON: PARIJ.

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printed in the Complutensian edition, and, for the first time, the Samaritan Pentateuch, besides Syriac and Arabic; but without the grammars and lexicons which gave so much value to the editions of Antwerp and London. Ximenes, Castell, and Le Jay, all spent in these works sums which were never repaid them. Le Jay's edition cost him a hundred thousand crowns; Castell spent all his fortune of twelve thousand pounds upon his two volumes; and through the incessant labour required in the preparation of them, he became nearly blind. Various similar works were published during the centuries just named. Hutter printed the New Testament in 1599, in twelve languages; Wolder, of Hamburg, the whole Bible in four; Schindler, extracts from Scripture in six. At Wittemberg, in 1578, five different German versions appeared in a Pentaglot Bible, published in 1710, at Wansbeck; and the Leipsic Polyglot, in four languages, appeared in 1713. Early in the present century, Dr. A. Clarke and the rev. J. Pratt proposed to reprint Walton's Polyglot, but they did not meet with sufficient encouragement. The modern Polyglot Bibles of Bagster, and of Tauchnitz of Leipsic, are well known, and universally admired.

The number of editions of single versions of Scripture in ancient languages published during this period, shows what attention Scripture was receiving among all classes. Between 1500 and 1536, Panzer enumerates as printed, eleven

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NEW TRANSLATIONS.

Hebrew Bibles, besides seventy editions of separate books. In Greek, there were printed twelve editions of the New Testament and three of the Old, and seven of separate books; in Latin, 107 editions of the whole Bible, 62 of the New Testament, besides 108 separate books. In the seventeenth century, the number of editions in various oriental and ancient languages amounted to upwards of two thousand.

The results of these inquiries and studies were given from time to time in improved Latin versions. Those of the Romanists are generally extremely literal, and often very obscure the versions of Pagninus (1528.) Montanus (1584,) Cajetan (1639,) and Malvenda (1650,) are little else than verbal translations. A version, by Houbigant, of his amended Hebrew text, is elegant and accurate. The New Testament has also been translated

by Erasmus and Sebastiani. Among Protestants, the version of Munster (1543) is extremely literal, though accurate. Leo Juda (1543) began another version, which was completed by Bibliander and others, and is highly esteemed. Castalio (1573) gives a version of elegant classical Latin. Beza's version is well known. The version of Junius and Tremellius is deemed by Poole to be one of the best. The version of the Osianders simply corrects the Vulgate. Schmidt's (1696) is literal, and Dathe's (1773) both faithful and elegant. These versions, and others in the vernacular languages,

are all important auxiliaries to the great work on which the church has now entered of giving the Bible to the world.

During the same period, commentaries of Scriptures were written much more extensively than had been usual since the days of the fathers. The Reformation itself began with the expositions published by Luther and Melancthon, and even in the Romish church there were many who admired these portions of their writings, but hesitated to adopt their system. Zwingle and Calvin both engaged in the same work. Beza's notes, and Diodati's, are well known to have exercised great influence, not only in France and Italy, but throughout the continent and in our own country; many of them being incorporated in the Geneva, or other versions of the English Scriptures. Nor must we leave out of view the labours of the men to whom we owe the marginal references of our Bibles, a kind of comment at once most scriptural and suggestive. To the same class belong the collection of critical commentaries which appeared soon after the publication of these polyglot versions, and were no doubt suggested by them. Various" Catenæ patrum"

-Comments of the Fathers-had been collected much earlier, by Strabo (846,) and by the venerable Bede (780;) but collections of more modern commentators belong to the seventeenth century. The first was published by father De la Haye, in 1642; it appeared under the title of "Biblia Magua," in five vols. folio;