Books

Books As these in ancient times were always in MS. form, the treatment of this subject necessarily resolves itself into a consideration of writing. We give the following particulars in addition to those under that head. This is an art by which facts or ideas are communicated from one person to another by means of graphic signs, such as symbols or letters.

I. Origin of Writing. — It has been a generally received and popular opinion that writing was first used and imparted to mankind when God wrote the Ten Commandments on the tables of stone; but the silence of Scripture upon the subject would rather suggest that so necessary an art had been known long before that time, or otherwise the sacred historian would probably have added this extraordinary and divine revelation to the other parts of his information respecting the transactions on Mount Sinai.

It is a remarkable fact, however, that although, with respect to other arts, as, for instance, those of music and metal-working, the Hebrews have assigned the honor of their discovery to the heroes of a remote antiquity. there is no trace or tradition whatever of the origin of letters, a discovery many times more remarkable and important than either of these. Throughout the book' of Genesis there is not a single allusion, direct or indirect, either to the practice or to the existence of writing. The word כָּתִב, kathdb, "to write," does not once occur; none of its derivatives are used; and סֵפֶר, sepher, "a book," is found only in a single passage (Ge 5:1), and there. not in a connection which involves the supposition that the art of writing was known at the time to which it refers. The signet of Judah (Ge 38:18,25) which had probably some device engraven upon it, and Pharaoh's ring (41, 42) with which Joseph was invested, have been appealed to as indicating a knowledge quite consistent with the existence of writing. But as there is nothing to show that the devices upon these rings, supposing them to exist, were written characters, or in fact anything more than emblematical figures, they cannot be considered as throwing much light upon the question. That the Egyptians in the time of Joseph were acquainted with writing of a certain kind there is other evidence to prove; but there is nothing to show that up to this period the knowledge extended to the Hebrew family. At the same time there is no evidence against it. The instance brought forward by Hengstenberg to prove that "signets commonly bore alphabetic writings," is by no means so decisive as he would have it appear. It is Ex 39:30: "And they made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and wrote upon it a writing of the engravings of a signet, 'Holiness to the Lord.'" That is this inscription was engraved upon the plate as the device is engraved upon a signet, in intaglio; and the expression has reference to the manner of engraving, and not to the figures engraved, and therefore cannot be appealed to as proving the existence of alphabetic characters upon Judah's signet or Pharaoh's ring. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in 17:14, and the connection clearly implies that it was not then employed for the first time, but was so familiar as to be used for historic records. Moses is commanded to preserve the memory of Amalek's onslaught in the desert by committing it to writing. "And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in the book (not 'a book,' as in the A.V.), and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua." It is clear that some special book is here referred to, perhaps, as Aben-Ezra suggests, the book of the wars of Jehovah, or the book of Jashar, or one of the many documents of the ancient Hebrews which have long since perished. Or it may have been the book in which Moses wrote the words of Jehovah (Ex 24:4), that is, the laws contained in chaps. 20-23. The tables of. the testimony are said to be "written by the finger of God" (Ex 31:18) on both sides, and "the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables" (Ex 23:15). It is not clear whether the passage in Ex 34:28 implies that the second tables were written by Moses or by God himself. The engraving of the gems of the high-priest's breastplate with the names of the children of Israel (Ex 28:11), and the inscription upon the mitre (Ex 39:30), have to do more with the art of the engraver than of the writer, but both imply the existence of alphabetic characters. The next allusion is not so clear. The Israelites were forbidden, in imitation of the idolatrous nations, to put any "brand" (lit. "writing of burning") upon themselves. The figures thus branded upon the skin might have been alphabetical characters, but they were more probably emblematical devices, symbolizing some object of worship; for the root כָּתִב, kathdb (to write) is applied to picture-drawing (Jg 8:14), to mapping out a country (Jos 18:8), and to plan-drawing (1Ch 28:19). The curses against the adulteress were written by the priest" in the book," as before; and blotted out with water (Nu 5:23). This proceeding, though principally distinguished by its symbolical character, involves the use of some kind of ink, and of a material on which the curses were written which would not be destroyed by water. The writing on door-posts and gates, alludled to in De 6:9; De 11:20, though perhaps to be taken figuratively rather than literally, implies certainly an acquaintance with the art and the use of alphabetic characters. Hitherto, however, nothing has been said of the application of writing to the purposes of ordinary life, or of the knowledge of the art among the common people. Up to this point such knowledge is only attributed to Moses arid the priests. From De 24:1,3, however, it would appear that it was extended to others. A man who wished to be separated from his wife for her infidelity, could relieve himself by a summary process. "Let him write her a bill (סֵפֶר, sephe;, "a book") of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house." It is not absolutely necessary to infer from this that the art of writing was an accomplishment possessed by every Hebrew citizen, though there is no mention of a third party; and it is more than probable that these "bills of divorcement," though apparently so informal, were the work of professional scribes. It was enjoined as one of the duties of the king (17:18), that he should transcribe the book of the law for his own private study, and we shall find hereafter in the history that distinct allusions to writing occur in the case of several kings. The remaining instances in the Pentateuch are the writing of laws upon, stone covered with plaster, upon which. while soft the inscription was cut (De 27:3,8), the writing of the song of Moses. (De 31:22), and of the law in a book which was placed in the side of the ark (De 31:24). One of the first acts of Joshua on entering the Promised Land was to inscribe a copy of the law on the stones of the altar on Mount Ebal (Jos 8:32). The survey of the country was drawn out in a book (18:8). In the time of the Judges we first meet with the professional scribe (סֹפֵר, sophier), in his important capacity as marshal of the host of warriors (Jg 5:14), with his staff (A. V. "pen") of office. Ewald (Poet. Bich.'i, 129) regards sopher in this passage as equivalent to שֹׁפֵט, shophet, "judge," and certainly the context implies the high rank which the art of writing conferred upon its possessor. Later on in the history we read of Samuel writing in "the book" the manner of the kingdom (1Sa 10:25); but it is not till the reign of David that we hear for the first time of writing being used for the purposes of ordinary communication. The letter (lit. "book") which contained Uriah's death-warrant was written by David, and must have been intended for the eye of Joab alone, who was therefore able to read writing, and probably to write himself, though his message to the king, conveying the intelligence of Uriah's death, was a verbal one (2Sa 11:14-15). If we examine the instances in which writing is mentioned in connection with individuals, we shall find that in all cases the writers were men of superior position. In the Pentateuch the knowledge of the art is attributed to Moses, Joshua, and the priest alone. Samuel, who was educated by the high-priest, is mentioned as one of the earliest historians (1Ch 29:29), as well as Nathan the prophet (2Ch 9:29), Shemaiah the prophet, Iddo the seer (2Ch 12:15; 2Ch 13:22), and Jehu the son of Hanani (20:34). Letters. were written by Jezebel in the name of Ahab and sealed with his seal (1Ki 21:8-9,11); by Jehu (2Ki 11:6); by Hezekiah (2Ch 29:1); by Rabshakeh the Assyrian general (32:17); by the Persian satraps (Ezr 4:6-8); by Sanballat (Ne 6:5), Tobiah (6:19), Haman (Es 8:5), Mordecai and Esther (Es 9:29). The prophet Elijah wrote to Ahab (2Ch 21:2); Isaiah wrote some of the history of his time (26:22); Jeremiah committed his prophecies to writing (Jer 51:60), sometimes by the help of Baruch the scribe (36:4, 32); and the false prophet, Shemaiah the Nehelamite, endeavored to undermine Jeremiah's influence by the letters which he wrote to the high- priest (Jer 29:25). In Isa 29:11-12, there is clearly a distinction drawn between the man who was able to read and the man who was not, and it seems a natural inference from what has been said that the accomplishments of reading and writing were not widely spread among the people, when we find that they are universally attributed to those of high rank or education, kings, priests, prophets, and professional scribes.