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Page 25
(104) Further, from this testimony concerning Ezra, we see that he prepared
his heart, not only to seek the law of the Lord, but also to set it forth;
and, in Nehemiah viii:8, we read that "they read in the book of the law of
God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the
reading."
(105) As, then, in Deuteronomy, we find not only the book of the law of
Moses, or the greater part of it, but also many things inserted for its
better explanation, I conjecture that this Deuteronomy is the book of the
law of God, written, set forth, and explained by Ezra, which is referred to
in the text above quoted. (106) Two examples of the way matters were
inserted parenthetically in the text of Deuteronomy, with a view to its
fuller explanation, we have already given, in speaking of Aben Ezra's
opinion. (107) Many others are found in the course of the work: for
instance, in chap. ii:12: "The Horims dwelt also in Seir beforetime; but the
children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before
them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his
possession, which the Lord gave unto them." (108) This explains verses 3 and
4 of the same chapter, where it is stated that Mount Seir, which had come to
the children of Esau for a possession, did not fall into their hands
uninhabited; but that they invaded it, and turned out and destroyed the
Horims, who formerly dwelt therein, even as the children of Israel had done
unto the Canaanites after the death of Moses.
(109) So, also, verses 6, 7, 8, 9, of the tenth chapter are inserted
parenthetically among the words of Moses. Everyone must see that verse 8,
which begins, "At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi,"
necessarily refers to verse 5, and not to the death of Aaron, which is only
mentioned here by Ezra because Moses, in telling of the golden calf
worshipped by the people, stated that he had prayed for Aaron.
(110) He then explains that at the time at which Moses spoke, God had chosen
for Himself the tribe of Levi in order that He may point out the reason for
their election, and for the fact of their not sharing in the inheritance;
after this digression, he resumes the thread of Moses' speech. (111) To
these parentheses we must add the preface to the book, and all the passages
in which Moses is spoken of in the third person, besides many which we
cannot now distinguish, though, doubtless, they would have been plainly
recognized by the writer's contemporaries.
(112) If, I say, we were in possession of the book of the law as Moses wrote
it, I do not doubt that we should find a great difference in the words of
the precepts, the order in which they are given, and the reasons by which
they are supported.
(113) A comparison of the decalogue in Deuteronomy with the decalogue in
Exodus, where its history is explicitly set forth, will be sufficient to
show us a wide discrepancy in all these three particulars, for the fourth
commandment is given not only in a different form, but at much greater
length, while the reason for its observance differs wholly from that stated
in Exodus. (114) Again, the order in which the tenth commandment is
explained differs in the two versions. (115) I think that the differences
here as elsewhere are the work of Ezra, who explained the law of God to his
contemporaries, and who wrote this book of the law of God, before anything
else; this I gather from the fact that it contains the laws of the country,
of which the people stood in most need, and also because it is not joined to
the book which precedes it by any connecting phrase, but begins with the
independent statement, "these are the words of Moses." (116) After this task
was completed, I think Ezra set himself to give a complete account of the
history of the Hebrew nation from the creation of the world to the entire
destruction of the city, and in this account he inserted the book of
Deuteronomy, and, possibly, he called the first five books by the name of
Moses, because his life is chiefly contained therein, and forms their
principal subject; for the same reason he called the sixth Joshua, the
seventh Judges, the eighth Ruth, the ninth, and perhaps the tenth, Samuel,
and, lastly, the eleventh and twelfth Kings. (117) Whether Ezra put the
finishing touches to this work and finished it as he intended, we will
discuss in the next chapter.
CHAPTER IX - OTHER QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE SAME BOOKS: NAMELY, WHETHER THEY
WERE COMPLETELY FINISHED BY EZRA, AND, FURTHER, WHETHER THE MARGINAL
NOTES WHICH ARE FOUND IN THE HEBREW TEXTS WERE VARIOUS READINGS.
(1) How greatly the inquiry we have just made concerning the real writer of
the twelve books aids us in attaining a complete understanding of them, may
be easily gathered solely from the passages which we have adduced in
confirmation of our opinion, and which would be most obscure without it. (2)
But besides the question of the writer, there are other points to notice
which common superstition forbids the multitude to apprehend. (3) Of these
the chief is, that Ezra (whom I will take to be the author of the aforesaid
books until some more likely person be suggested) did not put the finishing
touches to the narrative contained therein, but merely collected the
histories from various writers, and sometimes simply set them down, leaving
their examination and arrangement to posterity.
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