WRITING
memory.
'
We
have
heard
with
our
ears
and
our
fathers
have
told
us'
(Ps
44')
is
the
formula
by
which
the
process
of
acquiring
knowledge
of
ancient
history
is
described.
The
conception
of
the
Law
as
a
book
to
be
read,
whereas
other
literary
matter
was
to
be
learned
and
recited
without
note,
is
due
to
the
growth
of
syna-gogal
services,
such
as
commenced
long
after
the
first
Exile.
Even
in
the
time
of
Josephus
it
would
appear
that
a
community
rather
than
an
individual
was
ordinarily
the
possessor
of
a
copy
of
the
Law,
whence
the
term
'to
read,'
as
in
Lk
10",
is
the
formula
em-ployed
in
quoting
texts
of
Scripture
only,
whereas
'
to
repeat'
would
be
used
when
the
Tradition
was
cited.
Both
were
doubtless
habitually
committed
to
memory
and
so
cited,
whence
it
comes
that
quotations
are
so
often
inaccurate.
6.
Writing
materials.—
The
ordinary
verb
used
in
Hebrew
for
'writing'
has
in
Arabic
as
its
primary
sense
that
of
sewing
or
stitching,
whence
it
might
be
inferred
that
the
earliest
form
of
writing
known
to
the
peoples
who
employ
that
word
consisted
in
embroidery
or
the
perforation
of
stuffs
and
leaves.
More
probably
the
sense
of
'writing'
comes
through
an
intermediate
signification
to
put
together,
make
a
list,
compose,
of
which
we
have
examples
in
Jg
8",
Is
10",
and
perhaps
Hos
8"
and
Pr
22™;
this
sense
is
preserved
in
Arabic
in
the
word
kadbah,
'
regiment
or
list
of
men
en-rolled.'
From
the
Heb.
word
kmhabh,
then,
we
learn
nothing
as
to
the
nature
of
the
material
;
more
is
indi-cated
by
a
rarer
word
chOqaq,
lit.
'to
scratch,'
which
implies
a
hard
surface,
such
as
that
of
stone
or
wood;
and
of
'
books
'
of
this
sort,
calculated
to
last
for
ever,
we
read
in
Is
30*
and
Job
192»-
m.
Wooden
staves
are
specified
as
material
for
writing
in
Nu
17^
and
Ezk
37";
and
a
'polished
surface,'
probably
of
metal,
in
Is
8'.
The
instrument
(AV
pen)
employed
in
this
fast
case
has
a
peculiar
name:
that
which
was
employed
on
stone
was
called
'St,
and
was
of
iron,
with
a
point
at
times
of
some
harder
substance,
such
as
diamond
(Jer
17').
There
appears
to
be
a
reference
in
Job
(I.e.)
to
the
practice
of
filling
up
the
scratches
with
lead
for
the
sake
of
greater
permanence,
but
some
suppose
the
reference
to
be
rather
to
leaden
tablets.
At
some
time
near
the
end
of
the
Jewish
kingdom,
the
employment
of
less
cumbrous
materials
came
into
fashion,
and
the
word
for
'book'
(sSpfter)
came
to
suggest
something
which
could
be
rolled
or
unrolled,
as
in
Is
34*,
where
a
simile
is
drawn
from
the
latter
process,
and
Is
37",
where
a
letter
from
the
king
of
Assyria
—
which
we
should
expect
to
be
on
clay
—
is
'spread
out';
in
the
parallel
narrative
of
2
Kings
this
detail
is
omitted.
Allusions
to
rolls
become
common
in
the
time
of
Jere-miah
and
Ezekiel,
and
though
their
material
is
not
specified,
it
was
probably
papyrus;
but
skins
may
also
have
been
employed.
For
writing
on
these
lighter
substances,
reeds
and
pigments
were
required;
refer-ences
to
the
latter
are
to
be
found
in
Jer
36'=,
Ezk
23",
but
of
the
former
(3
Jn
''
('
pen
'))
there
is
no
mention
in
the
OT,
though
it
has
been
conjectured
that
the
name
of
the
graving
tool
was
used
for
the
lighter
instrument
(Ps
45');
the
later
Jews
adopted
the
Greek
name,
still
in
use
in
the
East,
and
various
Greek
inventions
connected
with
the
preparation
of
skins.
To
an
instru-ment
containing
ink
and
probably
pens,
worn
at
the
waist,
there
is
a
reference
in
Ezk
9"
(EV
inktaom),
and
to
a
penknife
in
Jer
36''.
XERXES
In
Roman
times
parchment
appears
to
have
been
largely
used
for
rough
copies
and
notes,
and
to
this
there
is
a
reference
in
2
Ti
4".
The
Apostolic
letters
were
written
with
ink
on
papyrus
(2
Co
3',
2
Jn'-
'^
etc.).
Zacharias
(Lk
1")
uses
a
tablet,
probably
of
wood
filled
in
with
wax.
Literary
works,
when
rolls
were
employed,
were
divided
into
portions
which
would
fill
a
roll
of
con-venient
size
for
holding
in
the
hand:
on
this
principle
the
division
of
continuous
works
into
'
books
'
is
based,
while
in
other
cases
a
collection
of
small
pieces
by
a
variety
of
authors
was
crowded
into
a
single
roll.
The
roll
form
for
copies
of
the
Hebrew
Scriptures
was
main-tained
long
after
that
form
had
been
abandoned
(perhaps
as
early
as
the
2nd
cent.)
for
the
quire
by
Christians
in
the
case
of
Greek
and
Syriao
copies.
The
quire
was
employed,
it
would
appear,
only
when
the
material
was
parchment,
the
roll
form
being
still
retained
'{.f
papyrus.
Paper
was
brought
from
the
far
East
by
Moslems
in
the
7th
cent,
a.d.,
when
factories
were
founded
at
Ispahan
and
elsewhere,
and
owing
to
its
great
cheapness
it
soon
superseded
both
papyrus
and
parchment
for
ordinary
purposes.
The
Jews,
however,
who
were
in
possession
of
a
system
of
rules
for
writing
the
Law
on
the
latter
material,
did
not
readily
adopt
the
new
invention
for
multiplying
copies
of
the
Sacred
Books.
7.
Writing
as
afiecting
the
text.
—
It
has
often
been
shown
that
accuracy
in
the
modern
sense
was
scarcely
known
in
ancient
times,
and
the
cases
in
which
we
have
parallel
texts
of
the
same
narrative
in
the
Bible
show
that
the
copyists
took
very
great
liberties.
Besides
arbitrary
alterations,
there
were
others
produced
accidentally
by
the
nature
of
the
rolls.
The
writing
in
these
was
in
columns
of
breadth
suited
to
the
con-venience
of
the
eye;
in
some
cases
lines
were
repeated
through
the
eye
of
the
scribe
wandering
from
one
column
to
another.
Such
a
case
probably
occurs
in
Gn
4',
repeated
from
3'°.
Omissions
were
ordinarily
supplied
on
the
margin,
whence
sometimes
they
were
afterwards
inserted
in
a
wrong
place.
There
is
a
notable
case
of
this
in
Is
38"-
'',
whose
true
place
is
learned
from
2
K
20'-
'.
Probably
some
various
readings
were
written
on
the
margin
also,
and
such
a
marginal
note
has
got
into
the
text
of
Ps
40"'.
Ancient
readers,
like
modern
ones,
at
times
inserted
their
judgment
of
the
propositions
of
the
text
in
marginal
comments.
Such
an
observation
has
got
into
the
text
in
2
Mac
12«
'it
is
a
holy
and
godly
thought,'
and
there
are
probably
many
more
in
which
the
criticism
of
an
unknown
reader
has
accidentally
got
embodied
with
the
original:
Ec
10"
appears
to
contain
a
case
of
this
sort.
A
less
trouble-some
form
of
insertion
was
the
colophon,
or
statement
that
a
book
was
finished,
e.g.
Ps
72".
Similar
editorial
matter
is
found
in
Pr
25',
and
frequently
elsewhere.
An
end
was
finally
put
to
these
alterations
and
addi-tions
by
the
registration
of
words,
letters,
and
gram-matical
forms
called
Massorah,
of
which
the
origin,
like
all
Hebrew
literary
history,
is
obscure,
but
which
probably
was
perfected
during
the
course
of
many
generations.
Yet,
even
so,
Jewish
writers
of
the
Law
were
thought
to
be
less
accurate
than
copyists
of
the
Koran.
D.
S.
Marqoliouth.
WTOLIF'S
VERSION.—
See
Enqush
Vebsionb,
§7
if.
XANTHICUS.—
See
TrME,
p.
937°.
