any one of his men.' But in Num. xxxi. 49 both versions have,' Not one of them is missing.' In Exod. xxviii. 26, ‘Manifestation and Truth' is given for So in the Greek rendering of Urim and Thummim.' 1 Kings (Sam.) xiv. 41 the translator has, 'Give clear manifestations.' An answer,' oracular response, or disclosure, would express the meaning better. In Exod. xxix. 34, the word ȧpaípeμa is rendered (1) 'separate offering,' and (2) 'special offering;' as in Num. xviii. 19; in xxxiv. 5, an offering.' But in Num. xv. 19 (1) 'wave-offering,' and (2) 'heave-offering.' Surely one rendering would have expressed the meaning throughout. In Exod. xxxii. 25, ‘A rejoicing to their enemies.' Howard renders it 'laughing-stock,' in accordance with the English version of Ecclus. vi. 4, xviii. 31, where the same Greek word occurs. Their condition was contemptible as well as defenceless, and open to the assault of an enemy. In Lev. xvi. 8, атопоμтаí♣ (Hebrew, Azazel) is rendered 'scapegoat;' and in verse 10, ȧπожоμтý is so rendered. It is a question whether the true meaning is not the averter of The Latin versions seem, wrath' rather than 'one dismissed.' however, to support the other rendering. In Lev. xxvi. 16, àπopíav is rendered 'perplexity.' Howard's conjecture, 'imbecillity,' or 'poverty of intellect,' seems to deserve consideration. In Num. xii. 32, 'They refreshed themselves round about the camp.' Howard has, They dried for themselves dryings,' and it seems to have been understood as denoting 'preserves for the meat,' rather than the act of refreshing or cooling themselves. The word occurs in Ezekiel in the description of the 'drying' of the nets. In Num. xiv. 9, 'Depart not' should have been translated literally 'Be not apostates :' and the 'season' is departed from them, would be rendered better 'their time,' the time of the completion of their iniquity, according to Gen. xv. 16. In Num. xxi. 2, 'I will devote it and its cities to thee.' The meaning is rather I will anathematize, or devote to utter destruction:' and the translator has so rendered it in I Kings (Sam.) xv. 3. In Num. xxi. 19, 'Quarried rock' is given as the LXX interpretation of Pisgah. Howard gives scarped mountain,' which is preferable, as a natural feature is denoted by To λeλağevμévov. The same remark applies to Deut. iii. 27, Num. xxiii. 14. In Num. xxii. 22, 'He went.' The Greek adds aurÓS. He went of himself.' This expresses Balaam's stubbornness and self-will. In Num. xxxv. 2, 3, 4, three Greek words are employed for the portions of land annexed to the cities of the Levites. The last word should be rendered 'allotments,' rather than suburbs,' or 'precincts.' In Deut. i. 12, vπóσтασis is rendered 'burden.' The sense is rather sustenance. or maintenance, with reference to the provision of food, as in Wisd. xvi. 21. The literal rendering of Greek aorists, especially participles, is often a sacrifice of English idiom without any proportionate gain: nor has the translator in this respect been consistent with himself. Thus in Gen. xxvii. 42, we have 'She sent and called': whilst a few verses below, 'Isaac having called for Jacob, blessed him;' and presently, 'Rise and depart.' There are similar inconsistencies in Gen. xxxi. 23, 33, and they recur continually in the Pentateuch. The Hebraism in Exod. xi. 1, 'He will expel you with an expulsion,' is not adequately expressed by the paraphrase, He will indeed drive you out,' which is too weak. So in Exod. xiii. 18, Visit you with a visitation' is weakened by paraphrasing it 'Will surely visit you.' This objection would not hold where the qualifying adverb is stronger, as in Exod. xvii. 14, 'I will utterly blot out,' for Blotting I will blot out.' In Num. xxii. 30, 'utterly disregarded' somewhat exaggerates the force of the expression ὑπεροράσει ὑπεριδοῦσα. In Gen. v. 22, and elsewhere, evapeσTEîv is rendered 'to be well-pleasing.' But the verb, both in Genesis and in the Psalms, denotes a course of behaviour and action, and not the fact of acceptance by God. Two passages in S. Paul's Epistles combine the two ideas of περιπατεῖν and εὐάρεστοι εἶναι: (1) 2. Cor. v. 7-9; (2) 1 Thess. iv. i. Also in Gen. xlviii. 15, and Psalm cxiv. [cxvi.] 9, evapɛστɛîv is intransitive, being followed by ἐνώπιον Κυρίου. Το walk’may be therefore nearer to the Greek as well as to the Hebrew, though an inadequate rendering of either. Here the translator follows Dean Howard. In Exod. iii. 14, 'Eyó ɛiμi ó *v is rendered, 'I am THE BEING.' This rendering is open to some weighty objections. Howard has rightly given the more literal version, 'I am He which is.' In the first place the phrase occurs in several places in the New Testament, as in Rom. ix. 5, Rev. i. 4, 8, iv. 8, xi. 17, xvi. 5, and in none of these passages could such a rendering as THE BEING be intelligible. Again, the Latin QUI EST has always answered to ov, whilst being' has been represented by substantia or essentia. In the older English theology, as in Pearson, BEING stands for ovcía or substantia, and not for the PERSON who possesses in himself, or communicates to the creature, that existence or property of 'being.' On the other hand, the word 'being' since the time of Bishop Butler has come to mean little more than Cŵov. The Greek here requires careful discrimination from the ideas which would be severally expressed by ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ζῶον, or τὸ ὄν, or ἡ οὐσία, any one of which might be in English ‘I am the Being.' The necessities of theological accuracy in a doctrine of the gravest import require that we should in this adhere to the Latin 'Ego sum Qui est'—'I am HE WHICH IS.' The above instances, taken from the Pentateuch, which is on the whole the easiest part to translate, and the closest to the Hebrew, will shew the difficulties which have attended the work, and the way in which they have been handled. Some additional references to parallel passages and phrases in the Septuagint itself and in the New Testament, especially the latter, would have increased the value of this part of the work. A few words may now be added with reference to the Apocryphal additions to the Greek Old Testament, amongst which the 151st Psalm, the 3rd of Esdras, and the 3rd and 4th of Maccabees are not included in the Old Testament Canon as defined by the decrees of Trent. The plan of this new translation of the Septuagint is as follows: The 151st Psalm is included in the version of the Psalter; but the chief Apocryphal additions to the Septuagint are classed separately at the end of the volume. A brief introduction is prefixed to them, which appears to be somewhat defective and inaccurate, as it omits any full account of the variations both in the text and the number of books between the Septuagint, the old Vulgate before the Council of Trent, and the Deutero-canon' of the Council itself, only observing that the Council itself made no distinction between Canonical and Deutero-canonical books, and that this distinction is due to later Roman controversial writers. The Apocrypha in this volume, however, is not a mere reproduction of the Apocrypha of the English Bible. It omits the fourth of Esdras, which is not extant in Greek, and the Prayer of Manasses, which is found classed with some Evangelical and Christian hymns in the Appendix to the Psalter in the Codex Alexandrinus, and has therefore only a doubtful claim to form part of the Septuagint. It adds, on the other hand, a translation of the third and fourth Books of Maccabees. Of the four Books of Maccabees which are found in the Greek editions of the Old Testament, two only have been received into the Vulgate, or into most of the versions founded on the Vulgate. The Greek Church appears to have received three, and some of the Dutch and German versions of the 16th century include three.. The fourth Book of Maccabees has often been ascribed to Josephus, and it differs so slightly from the 'Martyrdom,' included in some of the editions of the works of Josephus, that the one appears to be little more than a revision of the other. 'The five Books of Maccabees in English, with notes and illustrations,' were published by Archdeacon Cotton in 1832. His observation on the fourth book is as follows:- 'It exists in Greek, in the Alexandrian manuscript of the Septuagint, and from thence was printed by Dr. Grabe, about one hundred and twenty-five years ago, and was reprinted at Oxford in 1817,8vo., and again in the folio Septuagint by Parsons. In fact it had appeared in Greek Bibles at least so long ago as the year 1545. The author is not known for a certainty, but it has been generally attributed to Josephus, with whose treatise "De Maccabæis " or "De imperio rationis" it certainly agrees very much; yet not entirely, as may be readily seen upon a close comparison. 'I do not believe that it has ever yet appeared in English, except in a very loose paraphrase, in L'Estrange's edition of Josephus, folio, 1702; but Whiston, a subsequent translator of that author, does not consider it as the production of Josephus, and therefore has wholly passed it by.' 'The Martyrdom,' which appears to be a recension of the fourth Book of Maccabees, is also included in the English translation of the works of Josephus, founded on the French translation of Arnauld d'Antilly, and printed in 1676. In this volume it follows the book against Apion and bears the title, Flavius Josephus of the Rule of Reason; a most. eloquent book, corrected by Desiderius Erasmus, most lively setting down the Martyrdom of the Maccabees.' The introduction prefixed to it states that the Greek text, from which the translation was made, was partly conjectured by Erasmus from a Latin edition of the treatise. Erasmus commended it. for the eloquence of the style, citing S. Jerome to that effect : 'We call it the Rule of Reason: for the scope of this Book is to prove that Reason is of no force in man, except it bear sovereignty over all inordinate appetites. This is most evidently proved by the Books of the Maccabees in the Scripture, which books the Jews accounted among their sacred writings, though they did not receive them as canonical.' The differences of this treatise from the fourth of Maccabees are scarcely sufficient to justify its description as a separate work. They are perhaps less important than the variations between the versions and texts of the Book of Tobit. Improvements in style and language seem to have been the sole objects of the recension. In the Apocryphal books which are contained in our English Bibles, no fresh translation has been attempted in this version of the Septuagint. This is perhaps to be regretted, as our present English version is in many places obscure and unsatisfactory. A few footnotes, showing the chief divergences between the Septuagint and Vulgate, using the Douay version of the latter, would have also added something to the value of the work. Though we have pointed out some deficiencies in this translation of the Septuagint, we gladly express our opinion that the volume will prove a useful contribution to our theological text-books, and may remove some obstacles from the way of students who are discouraged by the unsatisfactory state of the text of the Septuagint from pursuing a study which is almost indispensable to the right interpretation of the text of the New Testament. The literature of the Septuagint, though extensive, is not so accessible as might be wished; whilst the variety of conjectures and conflicting results which it has produced have greatly embarrassed the study of the Greek version at its outset. ART. IV. THE TITHE COMMUTATION. An Act for the Commutation of Tithes in England and Wales, 1836. (London, 1879.) THERE are few things more demoralizing to the character than money einbarrassments. While a man is able to pay his way from year to year, to add a little to the sum of his indulgences in the way of expenditure without sensible effort, and to increase in some degree his balance at his banker's, he can. be wonderfully liberal and wonderfully honest. He has a |