Excerpt from General Introduction to the Old Testament the Text The question then arises, how has this original text of the Old Testament been transmitted to us, and what guarantee is there of the fidelity and care with which this has been done? This leads to the consideration of manuscripts, their various classes, the oversight ex tended over them, the rigid rules prescribed for their transcription, their age, their wide dispersion and gen eral character. The Old Testament was besides early translated into various languages, and these ancient versions still exist. It is important to know something of the character and history of these versions, that some judgment may be formed of the value of the testimony which they render respecting the primitive text. Man uscripts, Versions, the quotations of Scriptural passages in early writers, and their statements about them, includ ing that vast body of critical annotations known as the Massora, comprise the apparatus available for tracing the history of the text from age to age during the long interval which has elapsed from the time of the sacred writers to the present day. They constitute likewise the material for what is technically called textual criti cism, the object of which is to ascertain with the utmost possible precision the exact words of the sacred pen men, as determined by a minute and painstaking exam ination of all external authorities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.