upon the throne of his kingdom, he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests, the Levites."[1] In after time, when the Jewish nation fell into a state of misrule and disorder, the original manuscript of the law was for a long time neglected and forgotten―which very circumstance, however, contributed perhaps to its preservation. In the reign of Josiah, it was brought to light, and again read by the command of that good king to the people. Says a writer on this subject, "The temple copy of the Pentateuch was discovered by Hilkiah in the reign of Josiah (B.C. 623,) and brought to light from the obscurity in which it had long been buried (2 Kings, xxii. 8,)—a fact which must have contributed greatly to restore the uniformity of the manuscripts that were in common use, and to preserve from corruption future transcripts. The writings of the Prophets, and some of the Historical Books, not being regarded by the Jews as of equal importance as the Law, were probably but seldom transcribed: their text would thus be preserved, in some degree, safe from corruption; while some of the sacred Books were not composed till after the return from the Captivity, about which time the Jews began to be exceedingly scrupulous respecting the preservation of the text of their Scriptures."[2]
In the time of our Saviour, we find in existence a class of persons, the Scribes, whose special business it seems to have been to transcribe the Sacred Writings. And with what exceeding care transcripts were made, especially for public use in the Synagogues, may be
