nds too much
in quotations from the Poets, and many profane authors; in which he
seems rather to affect appearing a man of learning and erudition, than a
man of judgment and a critic. Had he avoided this fault, his Notes would
have been much shorter, and not less excellent. They are chiefly
valuable for his frequent collation of the ancient Greek translation of
the bible with the Hebrew text, and his freedom from prejudice in favour
of the Masoretic version: though he generally chuses the best
explanation of the text, he sometimes multiplies the various readings
without necessity. After all (adds the author of the Critical history)
though I blame Grotius for quoting too frequently the profane authors,
these quotations contain some very good things, serving to explain the
difficulties in Scripture. I could only have wished, that, agreeable to
the rules of criticism, he had not adduced the testimonies of profane
authors, and especially the Poets, except in places that required those
elucidations."

M. Le Clerc, after examining this judgment, speaks thus of Grotius[523]:
"If you desire to know what is chiefly valuable in Grotius's Notes on
the Old Testament, and not to be found elsewhere, it is first his
explanation of an infinite number of passages of Scripture by the
assistance of Pagan antiquity. Secondly, an admirable knowledge of the
different manners of speaking used in Scripture, which he so happily
compares with one another, that no interpreter ancient or modern has
thrown so much light on them; and in fine, an extraordinary penetration
in discovering the true sense of the prophecies."

M. Fabricius[524] tells us, that one thing which highly recommends
Grotius's Commentary on the New Testament is the design, which he
happily executed, of proving the truth of the Christian Religion by the
Scripture itself.

Before we conclude this article we must take notice that it has been
pretended by some learned men, who otherwise do him justice, that
Grotius is frequently mistaken in his quotations from the Rabbis,
because he took them at second-hand. Esdras Edzardi, well skilled in
these matters, made a small collection of his mistakes, which he shewed
to Morhof[525].

FOOTNOTES:

[504] Ep. 1520. p. 689.

[505] Ep. 639. p. 948.

[506] Ep. 640. p. 949.

[507] Ep. 648. p. 952.

[508] Ep. 859. p. 377. & 964. p. 432.

[509] Ep. 1056. p. 476.

[510] Ep. 1056. p. 476.

[511] Ep. 1256. p. 570. & 1315. p. 596.

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