time the scape-goat was always broken to pieces when cast down from the precipice, but afterwards he escaped and was eaten by the Saracens; and that before the death of this high-priest, the lot on the day of expiation always came out on the right hand, but afterwards on the left. In his days the western lamp in the golden candlestick, always continued burning, but after his death sometimes it did not. So, likewise, as long as he lived, the fire on the altar burned bright and clear, and when they had laid on two sticks of wood, they needed no more all the day. Before this event the blessings of God so attended the distribution of the two loaves waved at the feast of Pentecost, that when they were distributed, every priest after being satisfied had something left; whereas, afterwards, the quantity was so small that the modest priests would not take any part, and the greedy were not satisfied. Here we may see at what period the age of superstition commenced among the Jews.

SECTION VIII.

THE REIGN OF PTOLEMY PHILADELPHUS-TOWER OF PHAROS-SEPTUAGINT VERSION LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA.

PTOLEMY SOTER, having reigned twenty years in Egypt, from the time of his assuming the title of king, and thirty-nine from the death of Alexander, placed his son Philadelphus, as a partner, on the throne. This event occurred in the year 285 B. C.

In the first year of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the famous lighthouse on the island of Pharos was finished. It has been reckoned among the seven wonders of the world. It was built entirely of white marble, and was furnished with lights on the top for the direction of seamen. It is said to have cost eight hundred talents; which, if estimated by the value of the attic talent, will amount to more than seven hundred thousand dollars, and if according to the Alexandrian, to double that sum. The architect, Sostratus, practised an ingenious fraud to perpetuate his own fame; for being directed to inscribe the name of the king, at whose expense it was erected, deeply in the marble, accompanied with a suitable device, he first inscribed his own name, which he plastered over with white mortar, and on this he placed the inscription directed by the king, so that for a while nothing else was seen; but when the mortar wore away, there appeared the indelible name of the artist. But as an evidence of the transitory nature of all human glory, the building itself is not to be found.

Here it may be mentioned, that what was formerly the island of Pharos is now connected with the main land, of which it forms a peninsula.

Ptolemy Soter died in the second year after his son Philadelphus ascended the throne, in the eighty-fourth year of his age. He was the wisest and best of his race, and left behind him an example of prudence, decency, and justice, which none of his successors were emulous to imitate. During his long reign of forty years, Egypt, notwithstanding the continual wars in which she was engaged, was brought into a very prosperous condition. This first Ptolemy was a great patron of learning, to promote which, he instituted a society of learned men at Alexandria, and laid the foundation of that famous library, which was afterwards greatly augmented by his successors. Ptolemy Philadel phus, at his death, left in it no less than a hundred thousand volumes; and his successors went on adding to it, until at length, it amounted to the number of seven hundred thousand volumes.

One method of obtaining books for this library was not very honourable. They seized the MSS. of every learned stranger, who came into the country, and had a fair transcript made, which they presented to the owner, while the original was placed in the library.

When Julius Cæsar besieged Alexandria, one part of this immense library was burned, containing four hundred thousand volumes. But Cleopatra afterwards augmented it by the addition of two hundred thousand volumes, brought from Pergamus; and others, until it was fully as large as it ever had been before the disaster above mentioned.

This library continued to be famous until the year 642. It is said to have been burnt by order of the Caliph Omar, whose memorable reason for this barbarous act is often repeated: "If those works," said he, "contain nothing but what is in the Koran, they are useless; but if they contain something different from what is read there, they are impious:" and accordingly the order was given to commit the whole of them to the flames. They were distributed for the purpose of heating the baths, which end they answered, during a period of six months. By some, however, all this is denied.

The person principally depended on by Ptolemy Soter, in the collection and general superintendence of this library, was Demetrius Phalereus. Indeed, according to Plutarch, he was properly the projector of the whole scheme, by whose persuasion Ptolemy was induced to engage in the enterprise. After the death of Ptolemy, only two of the captains of Alexander remained, Seleucus and Lysimachus, both of them above eighty years of age. But old as they were, and wide as the world was over which they ruled, they again engaged in war with each other; the result of which was the overthrow and death of Lysimachus, which left Seleucus master of all that had belonged

to him. This, however, he did not live long to enjoy, for on his way to Macedonia, he was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus, whom he had most kindly received and entertained in his family. A more base act of ingratitude is hardly to be found in the annals of any age.

Upon the death of Seleucus, which occurred in the year 280 B. C., his son Antiochus succeeded him in the empire of Asia, over which he ruled for nineteen years.

According to Usher, the version of the Old Testament into Greek, commonly called the Septuagint, was executed in the year 277 B. C., and if we give any credit to the history of Aristmas, it must have occurred about this time; for he tells us that this translation was made while Eleazar was high-priest of the Jews, who died about the beginning of the following year. And it cannot be placed at an earlier period, because Eleazar addressed an epistle to Ptolemy, in which, according to the aforesaid author, he speaks of his queen, Arsinoe, to whom he was not married before this year.

The account given by Aristæas, and implicitly followed by Josephus, is briefly this. Demetrius Phalereus, while collecting the royal library, of which some account has been given, had heard of the book of the Jewish law, and told the king that it would be desirable to obtain a correct copy of it, and also a version in the Greek tongue.

On this occasion, certain persons, of whom Aristæas himself was one, petitioned the king for the release of the Jewish captives, who were held in bondage, alleging that unless they were released, it would be in vain to expect from the Jews a correct copy of their law, or a faithful translation of it. Upon which the king made a decree for the release of all Jewish captives, whose number amounted to more than a hundred thousand, and ordered that an equivalent for their redemption should be paid to their owners, which was computed at four hundred talents; but to this must be added the sum requisite for the redemption of the children of the captives, which raised the whole amount to the enormous sum of six hundred and sixty talents. epistle was then addressed to Eleazar the priest, by the king, requesting a correct copy of the Law of Moses, and six elders out of each tribe to translate it into Greek. The messengers sent on this embassy were Aristmas, the author of the narrative, and Andreas, who carried as a present for the use of the temple, one hundred talents, from the king.

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On their arrival at Jerusalem, they were received with great respect by Eleazar the high-priest, and by all the people of the Jews, and their requests were finally granted. A copy of the Law, written in letters of gold, was sent, and six men out of each tribe, well skilled in both languages, to turn it into Greek.

When these men arrived at Alexandria, they were received with much honour by the king, and the island of Pharos was selected as a suitable place for their residence, while occupied with the translation. Demetrius attended them all the time, and when by mutual conference, the interpreters had agreed on the version of any portion of the Law, he immediately wrote it down. Thus, in seventy-two days, the work was completed. The king having heard and approved the version, and presented to each of them three suits of garments and two talents of gold, with a cup of gold of the weight of a talent, sent them back to their own country.

The next author who makes mention of this version, is Aristobulus, an Alexandrian Jew, who flourished about 125 B. C. He is said to have written a commentary on the five books of Moses, and to have spoken of the Greek version, made under the superintendence of Demetrius Phalereus, by the command. of Ptolemy Philadelphus. This book is not now extant; all that remains are a few fragments, preserved by Clemens Alexandrinus and Eusebius, who cite this author to prove that the Holy Scriptures were partly translated into Greek before the time of Alexander, but that a more perfect translation was made of the whole, by the care of Demetrius Phalereus.

The next who speaks of this version, is Philo, also an Alexandrian Jew, who was contemporary with our Saviour. His account agrees with that of Aristæas, as to Ptolemy's sending to Judea for elders to make this version; and their returning to the island of Pharos, all which he undoubtedly took from Aristæas; but he adds this remarkable circumstance, that in their interpretation they all agreed, to a word, whence he concludes they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. He also states, that the Jews of Alexandria celebrated the event by a solemn anniversary, when they went to Pharos, and praised God for his divine assistance in making this version.

Josephus, who wrote his antiquities towards the close of the first century of the Christian era, closely follows Aristæas.

The first Christian writer who speaks of the origin of this version, is Justin Martyr, who flourished in the middle of the second century. He had been to Alexandria, and informs us that the account of the wonderful agreement of all the interpreters, as related by Philo, was the common belief of the Jews then residing in Alexandria; and adds, that each interpreter had a separate cell, the ruins of which were shown to him.

All the Christian fathers who come after Justin, and make mention of this subject, agree as to the foregoing facts. But by the time when Epiphanius wrote, the story of Aristmas had gathered new circumstances to render it more marvellous. He

says, that the interpreters were shut up in cells by pairs; and that to each pair one book was given, and that the whole of the books of the Old Testament were by them rendered into Greek: that when one pair had finished a book, another was given to them; and so every pair made a separate version of each book; that is, each of the twenty-seven books was translated thirty-six times. By modern critics, the whole story is believed to be fictitious, and to have been written, not by Aristæas, but by some Jew, to give celebrity to the version. And it is probable, that some fabulous circumstances are connected with the history, which were increased from time to time. But in a matter of historical fact, it seems dangerous to set aside such an array of testimony, Jewish and Christian, on the ground of probable arguments. Leaving out the wonderful facts of this story, there is nothing incredible in the substance of the narrative ascribed to Aristeas. If that history had been entirely fabulous, would it have been so implicitly adopted by Josephus and Philo, and by all the Christian fathers? It seems safest to receive ancient facts on the uncontradicted testimony of the ancients, rather than reject them upon the critical conjectures of the moderns. It should be admitted then, that this version (or at least that of the Law) was made by order of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and by seventy-two men obtained from Judea, for the purpose.

But whatever may be thought of the origin of the Septuagint version, there is no doubt entertained by any, that it was made at Alexandria, and by learned men of the Jewish nation, in the days of the Ptolemies. The only doubt is, whether the whole Bible was translated at once, and by the same interpreters. None of the authors quoted above, say this, except Epiphanius, whose testimony in such a case is of little value. Aristæas, Josephus, &c., speak only of the Law of Moses; and there is internal evidence sufficiently strong to convince us that all the books were not translated by the same interpreters; for there is a marked difference in the style as well as in the words used to express particular things. The faithfulness and skill too, with which the version of the several parts is executed, proves conclusively that the whole is not the work of one man, nor of one set of translators. The probability is, that the five books of Moses were first turned into Greek, in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 277 B. C., and that the other books were added after no long interval, by different interpreters, until all the books of the Old Testament were finished.

There is no reason, however, to believe that any of these translators were divinely inspired. It has every mark of being a human production; yet its value is great. And this version for a long time was held in the highest veneration by the Jews,