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Show ~ s• of their writjng~ t·lieir MaforiteJ, &c. LIB. V ~~ - enquire who the Mt~forites ~ere_: Secondly. w~rat tbeu work was; and then to deliver tn a propofitton what may be probably thought in this point. Firit concerning-the Maforites, we a:e to know ~hat 10~ Jl,Jafar·fignificth trtl:_dere, to deliver, and M~ .. for a tr~tdition, delivered from hand to hand to pofterity without writing, as the PJthagoreans .and Drn .. ides were wont to do; but by the figure syne~doche,_ it fignifieth thofe critical nof.eJ.or sc~olion, Written in the margine of the Bible, and tho~e that were the Authors of thofe critieal obfervattons were termed kAbenE.fra viti. !vlaforitd:, Mafo,itel# Concerning thefe Authc:>rs,whoBMxr. commerr. they were there are two opinions.Some Cit) thtnk that. Mlljor C• 3 • • • h c· Tt • · they were certain learned Jews ltvtn~ tn_t ~ · tty .' .. heritlf they termed them Sapientes Ttbertad"~ the wife-· . . . men ofTiberi~U. Thefe wlfe men are thought ~o have ! Ella: LevrM added theie vJaro·inal notes unto the Hebrew Btb/e.s{l) tnprt~,at.ter- ~ . • .c h b l ,.. / d ti~t . 1. Ma[oreth fame time after the fintfbtng 01 t e BA 1) on .1. a mu . , - hammaforet~.· which was about the year of our Lord,. 506. Thts m Buxtorf. ,,. • • • h r. [i ( ) ~e- 4:omment. opinton JS unltkely for .t e•~ tw~ rea ons. I • _m · ~for. '·7· caufe we cannot find 10 Htfi:ones~ the conttnuance of any Colledg or School in TiberitH fo Ion~, ~ut ra•· tber that degrees in learning ~eafed .the.re Wlthln four · n Buxtorf. ;" hundred years afte_r on.t Sav.zour hll btrth~ z. (n) In . ctJmment., d f h "'"' ,r; d h MaJor. c. a. both TJJlmuds mentton ts rna e o t e n.~oaJora, an t · e . th1··ngs contained therein. Others therefore more o R• A{~rtal. N tf • h t w t~t: J¥. Gedafia.. probably fay ,(o )that the aJorttel w~re t a . .c.cc f:Jia· B14xtor rn com· ·{tital .Senttte or Coftncit held by 1ifra)Haggat:;ZacharJ, ~:;~·.~a[or. Malachi and divers others affembled for the reforma-tion of.,the Church after their return from ~ab,lon ; they are called Jliri syntJgog£ magnre. T~ts Coun-· cil continued at leaH forty years : for Stmeon the ittfl? who went out in his Prieflly ~obe_s, to ~eet and pact fie Alexander the Gri4t-) comtng tn hofhle man· · ner. LIB. VI. Of their writing, their-Ma}orites, &c. 25 r ner againft ]erufolem, (p) was the Jafi of that CliUHcil, p Pir~~ AboFh· a~d that was above three hundred years before the r.r. btrth_ofour Saviour. Efra was the Pre/ident or Chief of thts Council; he was of fuch repute among the Je-ao.t ~ that they parallel'd hinf'1\vith ~lifes' raying, . ( q) D~gn~ erat Efra, quod data fuif{et lex per man111 q Tt~lmMd .. an ept:r lfraeh,Ji noN prtecejfiffet eum Mofes. bedrim, c. 2 • • In 'he fecond place we are to confider the tVor~ fol· 21~ what Fhe men of this great SJnagogua, being the tru~ Mafor{tet, did: their work may be reduced to thefe particplars. 1. When this great Council was affem. bled~ ;the~, am~ng ~h~m Ezra was chief (who was a~fl:ed With the tnfptra,tlon of f!odt Spiril) (r) deter. r EuxtQrf. in mtned what Boo~s wereCanon1cal,whatJPurio~n and comme,r. .ApocrJphal.Secondl), (f) the authentic!{ and C 11nonical fltJafor. c.n~ B L d b h f l Terrull. I. de 00~' w~re _purge r t e~, ~ al errors crept into htthit • .,.tlithr. the Text tn ume of thetr capuvay. Thirdly, they Ct) Chryfoft.hom.a~ digefied the Old7aflament into tweNty two htJoLs ac.- ~~:ehr~tod1" d• h 'J~b . ~' t.fUIIlVtr .. cor t~g ~o t ~ n~m. er of the I-Iehrewletter.t.FoNrthly, h£re{.Jib. ,.,.· they dtfbngutllit tt Into great SeOions and Verte1 • for~ li_. Ah"lufl- de· h h h L '.J{;, ' mtra • facrtt, t ong t e aw was not fa confufedly written~Jcripr.1.2.cir-without any fpace or note of difiinction between cafinem. word and word ~hat it feemed all one contintltd 1Jerfe') ~~~nt:;:~~ '1 · or as the Kab~alifls !peak, M;N ll::l,~ Theba agnath, one WIJr~, _untt! tRe .ume of the lt-1 aforites; yet it was not fo dtfttnguiiht 1ntq SelJions atld Yerfe.t, ;s now we have it. Fifthl,, they added their cenfurc~s and , c'ritic4lobfer'lJa~ioNs, copcerning the irregualarity of many words, In refpect of the vowels and ~tctentJ.. Sixth!,, they numbered the verfe.t) wordJ, and letteY.r of every Book,to prevent all poffibility of corrupting the Text in future times; for now they fay, the gift ofProphefie fhould ceafe. Laflly, they noted the --dif-ferent writing, and different reading; for the under- K k 2 fiandiQg |