*

dean, as they did their idolatry; for they made fuccoth benoth, or the tabernacles of the daughters, or booths of Venus, as Selden thinks it may be rendered; and which may have respect to the apartments in the temple of Mylitta, or Venus in Babylon, the like to which those people made in Samaria, in which women, once in their lives, prostituted themselves to whomfoever afked them, in honour of Venus; of which filthy practice, Herodotus makes mention'; and from the Babylonians the Phenicians had the fame cuftom, their women proftituted themfelves before their idols, and dedicated their gain to them, being ftrongly perfuaded they would be propitious to them, and they should enjoy profperity, as Athanafius affirms, and Valerius Maximus relates", that they had a temple called the temple of Secca Venus, which is near in found to fuccoth Benoth, where their matrons before marriage prostituted their bodies for gain; and there was a Phænician colony, three days journey from Carthage, called Sicca Veneria; to which may be added, that it was a custom with the Cyprians, another colony of the Phenicians, for virgins before marriage to prostitute themselves, and give their gain to Venus; by all which, it is plain from whom these Samaritans received their impiety and impurity: others of these people were brought from Cutbab, or Cutba, a city in Erec, a province of Babylon, where it is faid Abraham lived; the Samaritans are commonly called Cutbim, or Cutbites in Jewish writings; and fo these were of the fame country with the former, and had the fame language and letters in all probability; the idol they made for themselves was Nergal, which is part of the name of two of the princes of Babylon, it being ufual with great perfonages in the east, to take their idols into their names; fee Jer. xxxix. 3. This name, according to Hillerus, fignifies the fountain of light, and denotes the fun the Babylonians worshipped; the next that were brought to Samaria by the king of Affyria were brought from Ava, the fame with Iva, Ifai. xxxvii. 17. and perhaps the fame with the Avim, Deut. ii. 23. a people that formerly dwelt in Phænicia, or on the borders of it, from whence might be a colony of them in the country of Affyria, or Babylon; in the Septuagint version of ver. 31. they are called Hivites, which were one of the feven nations of Canaan, or of old Phenicia, the remains of which had fettled in those parts; these had for their

* De Diis Syr. Syntagm. 2. c.7. p. 713..
a Di&t. & Fact. Memorab. 1. 2. c. 6. f. 15.

idols,

Clio five, l. 1. c. 199. m Contr. Gentes, p. 213.

•Ptolem. Geograph. 1.4.c.3. vid.Reines de Ling. Punic.c.8 f. 28. &Rivin. de Majumis, c. 7. §. 26.. P Juftin. e Trogo, l. 18. c. 5 4 Hyde Hifts Relig. Vet. Perf. c. 2. p. 39, 40

'T. Bab. Bava Bathra, fol. 91, 3. Vid. Pirke Eliezer, c. 26. fol., 26. 2. and c. 38. fol. 44, 2.

1

1

idols, Nibhaz and Tartak, which according to Hillerus, fignify the one the "remote one feeth," that is, the fun which beholds all things, and the other, "a chain," denoting either the fixed stars chained to their places, or the Satellites of the planets fixed to their orbs, worshipped by the Chaldeans and Affyrians: the next came from Hamath, a city in Syria, on the northern borders of the land of Canaan, Numb. xxxiv. 8. their idol is called Ashima, which, as Hillerus fays', was with the Arabs the name of a lion, the symbol of the fun; which might be worshipped by these men, under this name, as the fun was the chief object of the worship of the Affyrians and Phænicians, as Macrobius obferves" the laft of this colony of the Samaritans were men that came from Sepharvaim, which was either the Sipharah of Ptolemy", in Mefopotamia, or that which was near Babylon, Abydenus * makes mention of, or rather, as Vitringa thinks', a city in Syro-Phenicia, or a province in which Abydenus places Heliopolis, namely Cale-Syria; and it is certain the idolatry these men were guilty of, is the fame with that of the old Canaanites, or Phænicians, who burnt their children in the fire to Molech, Lev. xviii. 21. as. these did to Anammelech and Adrammelech, the fame with Molech, as the word Melech with which they end, fhews, which fignifies king, as Molech does that the Phanicians facrificed their children to Saturn, or Molech, is obferved by Pliny, Eufebius, and Athanafius; hence those words of Ennius, "Pœni funt foliti, "fuos facrificare puellos," as did the Carthaginians, a colony of the Phænicians, which is affirmed by Porphyry, Juftin, Curtius', Pefcenius Feftus, Diodorus Siculus, and others; from all which it clearly appears, that the Samaritans fprung from the Affyrians, or Chaldeans, and the Phenicians; and fometimes they would call themfelves Sidonians', from Sidon, a chief city in Phænicia; fo that they may well be thought to bring with them to Samaria, the language and letters of the Affyrians and Phenicians: and certain it is, that the Samaritans used the Syrian tongue and letters, Ezra iv. 7. the fame with the Chaldee, Dan. i. 4. and chap. ii. 4. more than two hundred years after they came to Samaria; for their epiftle to the king of Perfia was written in that language and letters; and according to Jofephus, the Syrians, Phœnicians, Ammonites, and Moabites, joined the Samaritans in it; and with great propriety

m

propriety did they use them in writing to a king of Perfia, fince the Perfians and Syrians, for the most part, used the fame letters and characters, as Epiphanius afferts'. Ferom is clear in it, that the old Canaanitish, or old Phenician language, is the fame with the Syrian; and that the Samaritan language approaches nearer to the Chaldee, or Syriac, than to the Hebrew, is affirmed by Bochart; and whoever has but dipped into the Samaritan yerfion of the Pentateuch, will eafily perceive it is in the Chaldee dialect, here and there an Hebrew word; and it is not to be wondered at, that they fhould get into their language, when fome of the Jews had mixed themfelves with them: and Walton owns the fame, that the dialect of the Samaritan verfion is of the fame kindred with the Chaldee language, though it has fome few words proper and peculiar to itself and fo F. Simon fays, that the Samaritan version is written in the Syro-Chaldean language, not impure, which fhews the antiquity of it. There are three dialects of the Syriac language, as Abulpharagius, an Arabic writer, relates; the Aramaan, the most elegant of all, which the inhabitants of Roba, Harran, and outer Syria used; that of Palestine, which was spoken by the inhabitants of Damafcus, mount Libanus, and interior Syria; and the Chaldee Nabathean dialect, the most unpolifhed of all, used by those who dwelt on the mountains of the Affyrians, and in the villages of Erac, or Babylonia; which latter very probably, was spoken by the Samaritans. What were the ancient Syrian or Affyrian letters can only be concluded from the old Phenician, which appears to be the fame with the modern Samaritan; for fince the Phænicians received their letters from the Syrians, or Affyrians, they must be nearly the fame. The ufual Syriac characters, in which are written the versions of the Old and New Teftament, are comparatively of a late date and use, being introduced by the Chriftians of Antioch; who, in imitation of Daniel and Ezra, had used the Hebrew character, but changed it for thofe now in ufe, because they would have nothing in common with the Nazarenes, or Ebionites: the more unusual and more ancient character is the Eftrangelo, ufed only now for capitals and frontifpieces and titles of books, which is rough and unpolished, and bears a resemblance to the old Phenician, or Samaritan; and Mr Caftell is exprefs for it, that the Estrangelo is the Chaldee character; for that the Affyrians and Chaldeans ever ufed the fquare character of the Hebrews cannot be proved, VOL. III.

P Difqu, Critic. c. 11. p. 88.

Sss

m Comment. in Ifai. xix. fol. 29, I.

• Præfat. ad Introdu&t. Ling. Oriental. f. 25.

1 Hift. Dynaft. p. 16, 17.

Boderian. Præfat. ad Lex. Syro-Chald. Walton Præfat. ut fupra, f. 35.

Lexic. Heptoglott. col. 178. vide Pfefferi Critica facra, f. 2. problem, Queft. 1.

fince

fince we have no writings of theirs extant: for what Chaidee books we have were written by Jews, either in, or after the Babylonish captivity; as by Daniel, and Ezra, who wrote Chaldee in the fquare character, because it was what their facred books were written in, they had been used to, and the people alfo, for whofe ufe they wrote; and in after times, the Chaldee paraphrafes were written by Jews; and fo both Talmuds, though lefs pure; and it feems this character was used by the Syrian Chriftians, in imitation of the Jews, before their change of characters already mentioned; but after the Chaldee monarchy ceased, no books were written by any of that people in their own language. Berofus, the Chaldean, and others, wrote in Greek. Theophilus of Antioch indeed fays, that Berofus fhewed the Greeks Chaldee letters; but whether by them he means their learning, laws, and hiftory, or the characters of their letters, is not certain; if the letters, it does not appear what they were : hence Hottinger" concluded that the ancient character of the Affyrians and Chaldeans is unfeen, and unknown, and that nothing certain is had concerning it; fome, he fays, think it is the Samaritan, which is right, others, the Ethiopic; but he himself was in fufpenfe, and hoped, that in fome time would be published by Golius, fome Chaldee writings, in the ancient tongue and character; but whether any ever were published, I never heard. The Jews fay, that after the hand-writing of the angel upon the wall, and the publication of the Hebrew characters by Ezra, the Chaldeans left their own characters, and ufed them; but this feems to be faid without any good foundation.

Now, fince both the Samaritan language and letters differ from the Hebrew being the old Phenician and Affyrian: it was neceffary that, when the Pentateuch of Mofes was brought among them, it should be copied, and put into Samaritan letters, that they might read it; as it was, and that from a copy in the fquare character, as the variations fhew, before obferved; and it was neceffary alfo, that there should be a version of it in their own language, that they might the better understand it, and which alfo has been done; and upon the whole, I think it plainly appears, that they always retained their own language and letters, which were the Affyrian and old Phænician, to the times of Manaffeh their high-prieft, and ages after, as the Hebrews retained their language and letters alfo, the fquare ones; fo that there feems to be no foundation for any fuch change of letters being made by Ezra, as has been contended for.

Ad Autolyc. 1. 3. p. 139.

"Smegma oriental. par. 1. p. 35. Gram. Chald. Syr. p. 4. Buxtorf. de Lit. Heb. Addit.

I

CHAP.

I

CHA P. IV.

Of the Antiquity of the Vowel-Points and Accents.

Put the vowel-points and accents together, because, according to the doctrine of them, they have a dependance on each other; the points are often changed according to the pofition of the accents, and therefore the one must be as early as the other; and as Elias Levita himself obferves, "There is no fyllable without a point, and there is no word without an accent. About the antiquity of these there has been a controversy for a century or two past, and which is not yet decided; nor do I expect it will be by this effay of mine; all that I propofe is, to try how far back, or how high, in point in antiquity, these things can be traced and carried.

There have been divers opinions concerning them. Some think they are of a divine original; and others, that they are of human invention. Some fuppose that they were first invented by Ben Afher and Ben Naphtali, about the year 1037; others, that they were devifed by the Jews of Tiberias, 500 years after Christ at least, or however were invented after the Talmud was finished *;. others afcribe them to Ezra, and the men of the great fynagogue'; who they fuppofe at least revived and restored them, and fixed them to the confonants, which before were only delivered and used in a traditionary way; and others are of opinion, they were given to Mofes on mount Sinai, as to the power of them in pronouncing and reading, though not as to the make and figures of them in writing, but were propagated by tradition to the times of Ezra; whilft others believe they were ab origine, and were invented by Adam together with the letters, or however that they were coeval with the letters, and in ufe as foon as they were: which account is most probable, may appear by tracing them step by step, from one period of time to another; and to begin with the lowest of them.

* Sepher Tob Taam, five, de accent. c. 4. y So Morinus de Sinceritate Heb. & Gr. Text. 1. 2. Exercitat. 14. c. 1. Genebrard. chronolog. p. 181. Calmet. &c. z Elias Levita, præfat 3. a Ben Chayim præfat. Bibl. in principio, & multi fcript Jud. Cofri par. 4, f. 25. Mufcatus in ibid. fol, 229. 1. Meor Enayim, c. 59.