testimony of the MSS. that, in endeavoring to establish the true text, we must first have recourse.
The comparative purity of the Hebrew text is probably different in different parts of the Old
Testament. In the revision of Dr. Davidson, who has generally restricted himself to the admission
of corrections warranted by MS., Masoretic or Talmudic authority, those in the book of Genesis
do not exceed eleven; those in the Psalms are proportionately three times as numerous; those in
the historical books and the Prophets are proportionately more numerous than those in the Psalms.
II. QUOTATIONS FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT.—The New
Testament quotations from the Old form one of the outward bonds of connection between the two
parts of the Bible. They are manifold in kind. In the quotations of all kinds from the Old Testament
in the New. We find a continual variation from the letter of the older Scriptures. To this variation
three causes may be specified as having contributed: First, all the New Testament writers quoted
from the Septuagint; correcting it indeed more or less by the Hebrew, especially when it was
needful for their purpose occasionally deserting it altogether; still abiding by it to so large an extent
as to show that it was the primary source whence their quotations were drawn. Secondly, the New
Testament writers must have frequently quoted from memory. Thirdly, combined with this there
was an alteration of conscious or unconscious design. Sometimes the object of this was to obtain
increased force. Sometimes an Old Testament passage is abridged, and in the abridgment so
adjusted, by a little alteration, as to present an aspect of completeness, and yet omit what is foreign
to the immediate purpose. (Acts 1:20; 1 Corinthians 1:31) At other times a passage is enlarged by
the incorporation of a passage from another source: thus in (Luke 4:18,19) although the contents
are professedly those, read by our Lord from (Isaiah 61:1) ... we have the words “to set at liberty
them that are bruised,” introduced from (Isaiah 58:6) (Sept.); similarly in (Romans 11:8; 29:4) is
combined with (Isaiah 29:10) In some cases still greater liberty of alteration assumed. In
someplaces,again, the a words of the original are taken up, but employed with a new meaning.
Almost more remarkable than any alteration in the quotation itself is the circumstance that in
(Matthew 27:9) Jeremiah should be named as the author of a prophecy really delivered by
Zechariah; the being that the prophecy is based upon that in (Jeremiah 18:1; Jeremiah 19:1) ... and
that without a reference to this original source the most essential features of the fulfillment of
Zechariah’s prophecy would be misunderstood.
Olive
The olive was among the most abundant and characteristic vegetation of Judea. The olive tree
grows freely almost everywhere on the shores of the Mediterranean, but it was peculiarly abundant
in Palestine. See (6:11; 8:8; 28:40) Oliveyards are a matter of course in descriptions of the country
like vines and cornfields. (Judges 15:5; 1 Samuel 8:14) The kings had very extensive ones. ( 1
Chronicles 27:28) Even now the is very abundant in the country. Almost every village has its olive
grove. Certain districts may be specified where at various times this tree been very luxuriant. The
cultivation of the olive tree had the closest connection with the domestic life of the Israelites ( 2
Chronicles 2:10) their trade, (Ezekiel 27:17; Hosea 12:1) and even their Public ceremonies and
religious worship. In Solomon’s temple the cherubim were “of olive tree,” (1 Kings 6:23) as also
the doors, vs. (1 Kings 6:31,32) and posts. ver. (1 Kings 6:33) For the various uses of olive oil see
Oil. The wind was dreaded by the cultivator of the olive for the least ruffling of a breeze is apt to
cause the flowers to fall. (Job 15:33) It is needless to add that the locust was a formidable enemy
of the olive. It happened not unfrequently that hopes were disappointed, and that “the labor of the
olive failed.” (Habakkuk 3:17) As to the growth of the tree, it thrives best in warm and sunny
frankie
(Frankie)
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