Jan.9] PROCEEDINGS. [1894.
THE HEBREWTEXT OF ONE OF THE TESTAMENTS
OF THE TWELVE PATRIARCHS.DearMr. Rylands,
I venture to offer a few remarks on the Greek of the Testaments
of the XII Patriarchs; first acknowledging the important service
which Dr. Caster has rendered to Biblical Archaeology. It is a
greatgainto have proved,whatwas before inferred,thatthe Testa
mentshavebeeninterpolatedandadaptedby a Christian writer.
Thisfact,coupledwiththe very acuteandpenetratingobserva
tionswhichprefaceDr. Gaster's paper,is an invaluable guideto the
understandingof the not inconsiderable bodyof Judaeo-Christian
literature.
In addition to the mistakes whichDr. Gaster has so ingeniously
detected,the occasional parallelismsand the frequent use of ' all —
not'for 'not any,' and such like,betraythe translator's hand. To
thismaybe added a certain stiffnessin places, andsomephrases
whichare unintelligible as they stand,but give the impression that
thereis a meaning behindthem.
Thestyleof the Testaments is very similarto that of the Gospels.
Pointsof resemblance whichmaybe specified are the vocabulary,
the absence of rhetorical colour, the paucity of conjunctions and
particles,the frequent insertionof the unemphatic pronounatnoti,
&c,and the occurrence of eV in an instrumental sense.
Thebook presents a very curious contrast. The writeris a
man of ability, and hasa command of the languagewhich he
employs. He is at home in the use of compounds ; he sometimes
arrestsattention by a bold and happyinnovation. Forinstance,
elv- uvtspa vwoKptvofievoi, appliedto the appearance of the Godhead
in the form of man, is a masterly expression,and,as far as I know,
quite unique. "E.evO*p<tniji is also a successful variation of the
terms ordinarilyusedto denote SaviourandRedeemer. On the
other hand, uncouth forms of words are found, and also some
solecisms in grammar. This contrast is still more strongly ex
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