Hebrew.--The greater portion of the Jewish Scriptures was written in the ancient Hebrew language, while a smaller portion was written in the Aramaic or Chaldaic dialect of this language. The written language of the Hebrew contained no vowels. The meaning of many words was mere conjecture. About one thousand years ago Jewish scholars developed a system of vowel points and made a revision of the Hebrew Scriptures in what is known as the Masoretic text. The early Christian versions of the Old Testament, including that of the Roman Catholic church, are based upon the earlier or consonantal text; the Protestant versions are based upon the later or Masoretic text. The accepted Hebrew versions generally omitted the Apocryphal books. Samaritan.--The Samaritan Bible, the canonical Scriptures of the Samaritan Israelites, contained but six books--the Pentateuch and what is styled a corrupt version of Joshua. Some scholars believe that the Samaritan Pentateuch is the most correct version we have of this work. Septuagint.--The Septuagint was a Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures, including the Apocryphal books. We are told that about 285 b. c. seventy scholars, each in a separate cell, translated all of these books. The translations, it is stated, were exactly alike, a proof of divine supervision. This story is a fiction. Instead of seventy translations of fifty books, there was one translation of five books. The Pentateuch alone was translated at this time. The Prophets, the Hagiographa, and the Apocrypha were translated at various times during the succeeding three hundred years. The Septuagint was the version used by the Hellenistic Jews and by the primitive Christians. Ancient Christian Versions. Peshito.--The Peshito is probably the oldest version of the Christian Bible. It is in Aramaic, and is the Bible of Syrian Christians. It omits Second Peter, Second and Third John, Jude, and Revelation. Egyptian.--There were two versions of the Egyptian Bible, the Thebaic, written in the language of Upper Egypt, and the Memphitic or Coptic, written in the language of Lower Egypt. These versions included the Apocrypha and excluded Revelation. Ethiopic.--This was the Bible of Ethiopian Christians. The Old Testament contained four divisions: 1. The Law; 2. Kings; 3. Solomon; 4. The Prophets. It also contained the Book of Enoch, a book found in no other version. The New Testament omitted Revelation and included the Apostolic Constitutions. Gothic.--This version was made by a Gothic bishop in the fourth century. It omitted four of the principal books of the Old Testament, First and Second Samuel, and First and Second Kings. Italic.--The Italic version was one of the earliest Latin versions of the Bible. The New Testament contained but twenty-four books. It omitted Hebrews, James, and Second Peter.