ebrew Scriptures, namely, that called the
Septuagint (Chap. 16, Nos. 1-7), which was begun, if not completed, in
the latter part of the third century before Christ. Though this version
encountered bitter opposition on the part of the unbelieving Jews
_after_ the establishment of the Christian church, in consequence of the
effective use made of it against them by Christian writers, it was
received from its first appearance and onward with general favor. The
Hellenistic Jews--those using the Greek language and conforming
themselves to Grecian civilization--made constant use of it, and the
knowledge of it was very widely diffused beyond the boundaries of Egypt.
In our Saviour's day it was in very general use, as the abundant
quotations from it in the New Testament show; and it must have
contributed largely to the spread of the knowledge of the Greek language
among the Jewish people in and out of Palestine. Though the Roman empire
succeeded to that of the Greeks, the Roman could not supplant the more
polished Greek tongue, with its immense and varied literature. On the
contrary, the Greek language penetrated into Italy, and especially into
Rome, the metropolis of the civilized world, where, in our Saviour's
day, Greek literature was in high repute, and the Greek language was
very generally understood. Thus, in the good providence of God, the
writers of the New Testament, also, found ready at hand a language
singularly adapted to their service.

Biblical scholars have noticed the significant fact that of the
long list of names in the sixteenth chapter of Romans, the
greater number belongs to the Greek language, not to the Latin.
"The flexibility of the Greek language gained for it in ancient
time a general currency similar to that which French enjoys in
modern Europe; but with this important difference, that Greek
was not only the language of educated men, but also the language
of the masses in the great centres of commerce." Westcott in
Smith's Bible Dict., Art. Hellenist.

5. Respecting the _character_ of the New Testament Greek there was in
former times much controversy, often accompanied with unnecessary heat
and bitterness. One class of writers seemed to think that the honor of
the New Testament was involved in their ability to show the classic
purity and elegance of its style; as if, forsooth, the Spirit of
inspiration could only address men through the medium of language
conformed