| |
Writing
|
rit'-ing
RELATED: Scribe |
|
|
|
|
|
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The art of writing must have been known in the time of
the early Pharaohs. Moses is commanded "to write for a memorial in a book" ( Exodus
17:14 ) a record of the attack of Amalek. Frequent mention is afterwards made
of writing ( Exodus
28:11 ,
28:21 ,
28:29 ,
28:36 ;
31:18 ;
32:15 ,
32:16 ;
34:1 ,
34:28 ;
39:6 ,
39:14 ,
39:30 ). The origin of this art is unknown, but there is reason to conclude
that in the age of Moses it was well known. The inspired books of Moses are the
most ancient extant writings, although there are written monuments as old as about
B.C. 2000. The words expressive of "writing," "book," and "ink," are common to
all the branches or dialects of the Semitic language, and hence it has been concluded
that this art must have been known to the earliest Semites before they separated
into their various tribes, and nations, and families.
"The Old Testament and the discoveries of Oriental archaeology alike tell us that
the age of the Exodus was throughout the world of Western Asia an age of literature
and books, of readers and writers, and that the cities of Palestine were stored
with the contemporaneous records of past events inscribed on imperishable clay.
They further tell us that the kinsfolk and neighbours of the Israelites were already
acquainted with alphabetic writing, that the wanderers in the desert and the tribes
of Edom were in contact with the cultured scribes and traders of Ma'in [Southern
Arabia], and that the 'house of bondage' from which Israel had escaped was a land
where the art of writing was blazoned not only on the temples of the gods, but
also on the dwellings of the rich and powerful.", Sayce. (See DEBIR; PHOENICIA
.)
The "Book of the Dead" was a collection of prayers and formulae, by the use of
which the souls of the dead were supposed to attain to rest and peace in the next
world. It was composed at various periods from the earliest time to the Persian
conquest. It affords an interesting glimpse into the religious life and system
of belief among the ancient Egyptians. We learn from it that they believed in
the existence of one Supreme Being, the immortality of the soul, judgement after
death, and the resurrection of the body. It shows, too, a high state of literary
activity in Egypt in the time of Moses. It refers to extensive libraries then
existing. That of Ramessium, in Thebes, e.g., built by Rameses II., contained
20,000 books.
When the Hebrews entered Canaan it is evident that the art of writing was known
to the original inhabitants, as appears, e.g., from the name of the city Debir
having been at first Kirjath-sepher, i.e., the "city of the book," or the "book
town" ( Joshua
10:38 ;
15:15 ; Judges
1:11 ).
The first mention of letter-writing is in the time of David ( 2
Samuel 11:14 ,
11:15 ). Letters are afterwards frequently spoken of ( 1
Kings 21:8 , 21:9
, 21:11
; 2
Kings 10:1 , 2
Kings 10:3 , 2
Kings 10:6 , 2
Kings 10:7 ; 2
Kings 19:14 ; 2
Chronicles 21:12 - 15
; 30:1
, 30:6
- 9
, etc.).
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
There is no account in the Bible of the origin of writing.
That the Egyptians in the time of Joseph were acquainted with writing of a certain
kind there is evidence to prove, but there is nothing to show that up to this
period the knowledge extended to the Hebrew family. At the same time there is
no evidence against it. Writing is first distinctly mentioned in ( Exodus 17:14
) and the connection clearly implies that it was not then employed for the first
time but was so familiar as to be used for historic records. It is not absolutely
necessary to infer from this that the art of writing was an accomplishment possessed
by every Hebrew citizen. If we examine the instances in which writing is mentioned
in connection with individuals, we shall find that in all cases the writers were
men of superior position. In ( Isaiah 29:11 , 29:12 ) there is clearly a distinction
drawn between the man who was able to read and the man who was not, and it seems
a natural inference that the accomplishments of reading and writing were not widely
spread among the people, when we find that they are universally attributed to
those of high rank or education-kings, priests, prophets and professional scribes.
In the name Kirjathsepher (book-town), ( Joshua 15:15 ) there is an indication
of a knowledge of writing among the Phoenicians. The Hebrews, then, a branch of
the great Semitic family, being in possession of the art of writing, according
to their own historical records, at a very early period, the further questions
arise, what character they made use of, and whence they obtained it. Recent investigations
have shown that the square Hebrew character is of comparatively modern date, and
has been formed from a more ancient type by a gradual process of development.
What then was this ancient type? Most probably the Phoenician. Pliny was of opinion
that letters were of Assyrian origin. Dioderus Siculus (v. 74) says that the Syrians
invented letters, and from them the Phoenicians, having learned them transferred
them to the Greeks. According to Tacitus (Ann. xi. 14,, Egypt was believed to
be the source whence the Phoenicians got their knowledge. Be this as it may, to
the Phoenicians, the daring seamen and adventurous colonizers of the ancient world
the voice of tradition has assigned the honor of the invention of letters. Whether
it came to them from an Aramean or an Egyptian source can at best he but the subject
of conjecture. It may, however, be reasonably inferred that the ancient Hebrews
derived from or shared with the Phoenicians the knowledge of writing and the use
of letters. The names of the Hebrew letters indicate that they must have been
the invention of a Shemitic people, and that they were moreover a pastoral people
may be inferred from the same evidence. But whether or not the Phoenicians were
the inventors of the Shemitic alphabet, there can be no doubt of their just claim
to being its chief disseminators; and with this understanding we may accept the
genealogy of alphabets as given by Gesenius, and exhibited in the accompanying
table. The old Semitic alphabets may he divided into two principal classes: The
Phoenician as it exists in the inscriptions in Cyprus, Malta, Carpentras, and
the coins of Phoenicia and her colonies. From it are derived the Samaritan and
the Greek character. The Hebrew-Chaldee character; to which belong the Hebrew
square character; the which has some traces of a cursive hand; the Estrangelo,
or ancient Syriac; and the ancient Arabic or Cufic. It was probably about the
first or second century after Christ that the square character assumed its present
form; though in a question involved in so much uncertainty it is impossible to
pronounce with great positiveness.
The alphabet. --
The oldest evidence on the subject of the Hebrew alphabet
is derived from the alphabetical psalms and poems: Psalm 25 , 34 , 37 , 111 ,
112 , 119 , 145; ( Proverbs 31:10 - 31 ; Lamentations 1:1 - 4 ) From these we
ascertain that the number of the letters was twenty-two, as at present. The Arabic
alphabet originally consisted of the same number. It has been argued by many that
the alphabet of the Phoenicians at first consisted of only sixteen letters. The
legend, as told by Pliny (vii. 56), is as follows; Cadmus brought with him into
Greece sixteen letters; at the time of the Trojan war Palamedes added four others,
theta, epsilon, phi, chi, and Simonides of Melos four more dzeta, eta, psi, omega.
Divisions of words. --
Hebrew was originally written, like most ancient languages, without any divisions
between the words. The same is the case with the Phoenician inscriptions, The
various readings in the LXX. show that, at the version was made, in the Hebrew
MSS. which the translators used the words were written in a continuous series.
The modern synagogue rolls and the MSS. of the Samaritan Pentateuch have no vowel-points,
but the words are divided, and the Samaritan in this respect differs hut little
from the Hebrew.
Writing materials, etc. --
The oldest documents which contain the writing of a Semitic
race are probably the bricks of Nineveh and Babylon, on which are impressed the
cuneiform Syrian inscriptions. There is, however, no evidence that they were ever
used by the Hebrews. It is highly probable that the ancient as well as the most
common material which the Hebrews used for writing was dressed skin in some form
or other. We know that the dressing of skins was practiced by the Hebrews, ( Exodus
25:5 ; Leviticus 13:48 ) and they may have acquired the knowledge of the art from
the Egyptians, among whom if had attained great perfection, the leather-cutters
constituting one of the principal subdivisions of the third caste. Perhaps the
Hebrews may have borrowed among their either acquirements, the use of papyrus
from the Egyptians, but of this we have no positive evidence. In the Bible the
only allusions to the use of papyrus are in ( 2 John 1:12 ) where chartes (Authorized
Version "paper") occurs, which refers especially to papyrus paper, and 3 Macc.
4:20, where charteria is found in the same sense. Herodotus, after telling us
that the Ionians learned the art of writing from the Phoenicians, adds that they
called their books skins, because they made use of sheep-skins and goat-skins
when short of paper. Parchment was used for the MSS. of the Pentateuch in the
time of Josephus, and the membranae of ( 2 Timothy 4:13 ) were skins of parchment.
It was one of the provisions in the Talmud that the law should be written on the
skins of clean animals, tame or wild, or even of clean birds. The skins when written
upon were formed into rolls (megilloth ). ( Psalms 40:7 ) comp. Isaiah 34:4; Jeremiah
36:14 ; Ezekiel 2:9 ; Zechariah 5:1 They were rolled upon one or two sticks and
fastened with a thread, the ends of which were sealed. ( Isaiah 29:11 ; Daniel
12:4 ; Revelation 5:1 ) etc. The rolls were generally written on one side only,
except in ( Ezekiel 2:9 ; Revelation 5:1 ) They were divided into columns (Authorized
Version "leaves,") ( Jeremiah 36:23 ) the upper margin was to be not less than
three fingers broad, the lower not less than four; and a space of two fingers
breadth was to be left between every two columns. But besides skins, which were
used for the more permanent kinds of writing, tablets of wood covered with wax,
( Luke 11:63 ) served for the ordinary purposes of life. Several of these were
fastened together and formed volumes. They were written upon with a pointed style,
( Job 19:24 ) sometimes of iron. ( Psalms 45:1 ; Jeremiah 8:8 ; 17:1 ) For harder
materials a graver, ( Exodus 32:4 ; Isaiah 8:1 ) was employed. For parchment or
skins a reed was used. ( 3 John 1:13 ) 3 Macc. 5:20. The ink, ( Jeremiah 36:18
) literally "black," like the Greek melan , ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 ; 2 John 1:12
; 3 John 1:13 ) was of lampblack dissolved in gall-juice. It was carried in an
inkstand which was suspended at the girdle, ( Ezekiel 9:2 , 9:3 ) as is done at
the present day in the East. To professional scribes there are allusions in (
Ezra 7:8 ; Psalms 45:1 ) 2 Esdr. 14:24.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
(no entry)
Tags:
bible commentary, bible history, bible reference, bible study, define, writing
Comments:
|
 |
|
