Suppose we wrote down the authorised translation, using consonants only, and leaving entirely out the vowels, the result would be as follows (reading from left to right, as in English), NTHBGNNGGDCRTDTHHVNSNDTHRTH, which would be entirely unpronounceable unless we added vowels; and, by adding vowels indiscriminately, a variety of renderings would result. The absurdity of a written language composed only of consonants is thus made very apparent. This difficulty opposed itself to the Jewish priests, and was obviated by the introduction of vowel points, the manufacture of five final letters, and the division of sentences into words according to the arbitrary rendering of the introducers of the vowel points; so that now we possess a Hebrew language which may be, and probably is, as unlike the ancient Hebrew dialect as chalk is unlike cheese. By slightly altering the vowel points of a sentence or a word, the whole sense may be entirely destroyed; and that this has been frequently enough done requires no proof here, for it has been abundantly shown elsewhere. Certain priests have attempted to prove that the vowel points and final letters were in use in Ezra’s time; but it is now generally admitted by scholars that they were inventions of the middle ages. Hear what the learned Christian Dupin, Doctor of the Sorbonne, says:—“The Hebrew alphabet is composed of twenty-two letters, like those of the Samaritans, Chaldeans, and Syrians. But, of these letters, _none are vowels_, and, in consequence, the pronunciation cannot be determined. The Hebrews have invented _points_, which, being put under the letters, answer the purpose of vowels. Those vowel-points serve not only to fix the pronunciation, _but also the signification of a word, because, many times, the word being differently pointed and pronounced alters the meaning entirely_. This is the consideration which has made the question as to the antiquity of the points of so much importance, and has, consequently, had such elaborate treatment. Some have pretended that these points are as ancient as the Hebrew tongue, and that Abraham made use of them. Others make Moses the author of them. But the most common opinion among the Jews is that, Moses _having learnt of God the true pronunciation of Hebrew words_, this science was preserved in the synagogue by oral tradition till the time of Ezra, who invented the points and accents to fix the meaning. Elias Levita, a German Jew of the last generation, and deeply learned in Hebrew grammar, has rejected this opinion, and contended that the invention of points took place in much more recent times. He ascribes the invention to the Jews of Tiberias and to the year 500 A.D., and alleges that the invention was not perfected till about the year 1040 A.D., by two famous Maserites, Ben-Ascher and Ben-Naphtali.”