WRITING
Indeed
the
Jewish
inventions
seem
based
on
those
already
employed
by
Syrians
and
Arabs,
and
both
in
form
and
in
nomenclature
bear
evidence
of
this
origin.
It
would
seem,
however,
that
the
first
employment
of
vowel-signs
for
a
Semitic
language
is
to
be
found
in
the
monuments
of
pagan
Abyssinia.
We
should
expect
the
introduction
of
extraneous
signs
into
the
sacred
page
to
meet
with
violent
opposition,
yet
of
this
we
have
no
record;
there
is,
however,
evidence
that
the
employment
of
the
same
signs
for
the
punctuation
of
non-Biblical
texts
was
disapproved
by
a
party.
The
Karaite
Jews
appear
to
have
saved
the
text
from
these
additions
by
the
ex-pedient
of
transliterating
it
into
Arabic
characters,
but
this
practice
was
soon
abandoned,
and
the
MSS
which
illustrate
it
belong
to
a
limited
period.
Some
record
of
the
process
by
which
the
text
was
vocalized
would
be
welcome,
for
without
this
it
has
to
be
re-constructed
by
analogies
drawn
from
the
history
of
the
Koran,
which
itself
is
imperfectly
known.
There
are
clearly
many
cases
in
which
the
vocalization
has
been
affected
by
dogmatic
considerations;
it
is
not,
however,
certain
that
the
punctuators
were
responsible
for
this,
as
there
is
evidence
that
before
the
invention
of
vowel-signs
there
were
cases
where
fault
was
found
with
the
traditional
vocalization.
The
familiar
series
of
variants
known
as
Qere,
opposed
to
Kethibh,
appears
to
embody
suggestions
for
the
improvement
of
the
text,
dating
from
various
ages.
So
elaborate
a
task
as
the
vocaliza-tion
must
have
been
accomplished
by
a
large
and
authoritative
committee,
labouring
for
at
least
some
years;
but
whether
there
was
any
reason
for
secrecy
or
not,
there
is
ground
for
thinking
that
even
in
the
9th
cent,
the
memory
of
the
event
was
exceedingly
hazy.
5.
Character
of
writers.
—
The
OT
gives
little
informa-tion
on
such
subjects
as
schools
and
methods
of
instruction.
In
Isaiah's
time
(29"'
'^)
an
ordinary
Israelite
might
or
might
not
be
able
to
read;
apparently,
however,
such
knowledge
was
usual
in
the
higher
classes
(8^),
and
the
same
seems
to
be
implied
by
a
scene
in
Jeremiah
(ch.
36),
whereas
the
precepts
of
Deuteronomy
from
their
wording
(6s)
rather
suggest
that
the
process
of
writing
would
be
familiar
to
every
Israelite,
and
in
one
case
(24')
distinctly
imply
it.
Of
association
of
the
art
of
writing
with
the
priestly
caste
there
is
per-haps
no
trace
except
in
Nu
5",
where
a
priest
has
to
write
a
magical
formula;
and
the
fact
that
In
later
times
the
order
of
scribes
was
quite
distinct
from
that
of
priests
shows
that
there
was
no
such
association.
Unless
we
are
to
infer
from
Jg
5"
that
the
art
of
writing
was
cultivated
at
an
early
time
in
the
tribe
of
Zebulun,
it
would
appear
that
the
foreign
policy
of
David
first
led
to
the
employment
of
a
scribe
(2
S
8"),
such
a
person
doubtless
corresponding
with
the
kotib
or
munshi'
of
Mohammedan
States,
whose
business
it
is
to
write
letters
for
the
sovereign,
himself
often
un-acquainted
with
the
art;
these
persons
set
the
fashion
and
invent
the
technicalities
which
other
writers
adopt.
Less
distinguished
scribes
attach
themselves
to
par-ticular
individuals,
at
whose
dictation
they
write
(as
Baruch
for
Jeremiah),
or
earn
their
living
by
writing
and
reading
letters
for
those
who
require
the
service.
Closely
connected
with
this
protession.is
that
of
copyist,
but
the
development
of
the
latter
in
Israel
seems
to
have
been
peculiar.
In
Deuteronomy
Moses
writes
the
Law
himself
CAV),
and
the
kings
are
to
make
their
own
copies
(17'*);
of
a
professional
copsist
of
the
Law
we
do
not
hear
till
the
time
of
Ezra,
who
is
clearly
regarded
as
editor
as
well
as
copyist;
and
though
the
word
'
scribe
'
technically
means
one
who
copies
the
Law,
its
sense
in
Sirach
(10'
etc.)
approaches
that
of
savant,
while
in
the
NT
it
might
be
rendered
by
'theologian.'
Publication
in
ancient
times
was
usually
effected
by
recitation,
whence
one
copy
would
serve
for
a
large
community;
but
the
emplojrment
of
writing
altogether
for
the
composition
and
perpetuation
of
books
appears
WRITING
to
have
commenced
late
in
Israelitish
history.
Thus
Solomon's
'wisdom'
was
spoken,
not
written
(1
K
4'2-M),
and
those
who
wished
to
profit
by
it
had
to
come
and
hear
the'king,
who
may
be
thought
of
as
holding
siarwes
for
the
recitation
of
his
works.
In
Isaiah's
time
the
amount
of
a
prophecy
written
appears
to
have
been
confined
to
just
sufficient
to
remind
the
hearer
of
its
content
(8');
and
this
might
be
attested
by
witnesses.
When
the
prophecies
of
Jeremiah
were
written
at
length,
the
process
appears
to
have
been
regarded
as
an
innovation
of
which
some
account
was
required
(36");
but
after
this
time
it
seems
to
have
become
familiar,
and
in
Hab
2'
the
prophet
is
com-manded
to
write
his
prophecy
clearly,
to
enable
it
to
be
read
easily.
Of
a
written
Law,
apart
from
the
tradition
of
the
Two
Tables,
there
seems
to
be
little
or
no
trace
prior
to
the
discovery
of
Deuteronomy;
how
the
older
code
embodied
in
Exodus
was
preserved
is
not
known.
Official
chronicles
—
perhaps
engraved
on
stone,
but
this
is
uncertain
—
seem
to
have
commenced
in
the
time
of
David,
when
we
first
hear
of
an
official
called
'the
recorder'
(2
S
8'«);
and
to
his
age
or
that
of
his
suc-cessor
it
is
possible
that
certain
collections
of
tribal
lays
go
back,
which
afterwards
furnished
the
basis
of
prose
histories
whose
substance
is
preserved
in
the
Pentateuch
and
following
books;
but
the
older
theory
of
the
documents
contained
in
the
Pentateuch
(e.g.
Ex.
13')
is
that
the
memory
of
events
would
be
pre-served
by
ceremonies,
accompanied
with
explanatory
formulEe,
rather
than
by
written
monuments.
The
found-ing
of
libraries
(cf
.
2
Mac
2'^)
and
circulation
of
literature
in
masses
probably
belong
to
post-exilic
times,
when
Ecclesiastes
can
complain
that
too
many
books
are
written
(12"),
and
Daniel
thinks
of
the
OT
as
a
library
(9^).
But
for
legal
and
commercial
purposes
(as
well
as
epistolography)
the
use
of
writing
was
common
in
pre-exilic
times.
So
Jezebel
sends
a
circular
note
in
many
copies
(1
K
218),
which
bear
the
king's
seal,
probably
in
clay
(Job
38»);
Job
(132«
and
3138)
thinks
of
his
indict-ment
as
written,
and
Isaiah
(10')
appears
to
condemn
the
practice
of
drawing
up
documents
fraudulently.
Contracts
of
divorce
and
purchase
of
land
are
mentioned
by
Jeremiah
(3'
32'*
etc.),
the
latter
requiring
attesta-tion
by
witnesses.
The
Images
of
Is
34'«,
Ps
139'6
etc.
appear
to
be
taken
from
the
practice
of
boolckeeping,
which
ben-Sira
in
the
2nd
cent.
B.C.
so
strongly
recom-mends
(42').
Of
genealogical
rolls
we
hear
first
in
post-exilic
times,
but
the
comparison
of
1
Ch
9
with
Neh
11
shows
that
such
documents
were
sometimes
old
enough
to
make
it
difficult
for
the
archEeologists
to
locate
them
with
certainty.
In
the
Persian
period
a
few
new
terms
for
writings
and
copies
were
introduced
into
Hebrew,
and
we
hear
of
translations
(Ezr
4'
'
written
in
Aramaic
and
translated
into
Aramaic,'
where
the
first
'Aramaic'
is
surely
corrupt),
and
of
foreign
scripts
being
learned
by
Jews
(Dn
1*).
In
Esther
we
read
of
an
elaborate
system
in
use
in
the
Persian
empire
for
the
postage
of
royal
communications.
On
the
whole,
we
are
probably
justified
in
asserting
that
the
notion
connected
with
writing
in
the
classical
period
of
Hebrew
literature
was
rather
that
of
rendering
matter
permanent
than
that
of
enabling
it
to
reach
a
wide
circle.
Hence
the
objection
that
some
have
found
to
the
Two
Tables
of
stone
being
hidden
away
in
the
ark
(unlike
the
Greek
and
Roman
decrees
en-graved
on
public
stelce)
is
not
really
a
valid
one;
the
contents
are
supposed
to
be
graven
on
the
memory
(Jer
31"),
the
written
copy
serving
merely
as
an
authentic
text
for
possible
reference
in
case
of
doubt
—
like
the
standard
measures
of
our
time.
This
theory
is
very
clearly
expressed
in
Dt
31*
and
1
S
lO^*,
and
renders
it
quite
intelligible
that
the
Law
should
have
been
forgotten,
and
recovered
after
centuries
of
oblivion.
Such
instruction
as
was
given
to
the
young
was
in
all
probability
without
the
use
of
any
written
manuals,
and
in
the
form
of
traditions
to
be
committed
to
