Karaite Bible History (3)

**List: Karaite Ministry the Bible ( the Bible ) Karaite... KARAITE-TARTAR. "THE Karaites, or "Sons of the Text," are a Jewish sect, so called from the Hebrew word קרא, to read; on account of their reverence for the written law.   They are the Protestants of Judaism, and are distinguished from other Jews by their rejection of the oral law, and of all traditionary inter- pretation, and by their exclusive attachment to the Scriptures of the Old Testament as the only infallible source and test of truth.   This sect, according to Dr. Henderson and other authorities, was, in all probability, originally the same with that of the Sadducees, one of the sects into which the Jewish nation was divided about two hundred years before the coming of Christ.   The erroneous doctrines which were entertained by the Sadducees during the time of our Lord appear to have formed no part of their original creed, and it has been thought that the adoption of these unscriptural tenets, by the disciples of Sadok, gave birth to the Karaim.    No statistical accounts have been given recently of the Karaite Jews, but it is certain that they are very few in number as compared with the Jews of the Rabbinical sect.   About the middle of the seventeenth century there were 2000 Karaites in Poland, 70 in Constantinople, 1200 in Theodosia, 300 in Cairo, 200 in Damascus, 30 in Jerusalem, 100 in Babylonia, and 600 in Persia.   At the present day the Karaites are dispersed through various parts of Russia, in Austria, Turkey, Egypt, Abyssinia, Hindoostan, and Palestine.   They are highly esteemed by the nations among whom they dwell on account of their amiable and moral deportment; but by their Rabbinical brethren they are held in utter abhorrence.    The Karaites have long been in possession of a Tartar version of the Old Testament.   The date and author of this ancient document are alike unknown; but we find a quotation from it (consisting of the first three verses of Genesis) in an epistle, dated 1691, written by Gustavus Peringer, and inserted in Tenzel's Monthly Accounts.   Further descriptions of this version were subsequently given by Wolfius and others: yet little was known concerning it in Europe until Dr. Pinkerton, when travelling in the Crimea, visited one of the settlements of the Karaites, and purchased a complete copy. The two books of Chronicles do not appear to have been inserted in this version, but it comprises all the other books of the Old Testament.   It is written in the Rabbinical character, with the addition of certain points and signs indicative of the pronunciation of Tartar sounds.   The headings of the chapters are in Hebrew, and the first and last verses of every book, with the exception of the Minor Prophets, are also given in Hebrew.   The dialect in which the translation is made was at one time supposed to be the Jagatai, spoken by the Tartars of Bokhara.   This hypothesis, however, was unsup- ported by history or experience; and it has since been proved that the Karaite-Tartar (as this dialect is termed) could never have been vernacular or even intelligible to any Tartar nation.   The words, indeed, are mostly of Tartar origin, but they are ranged in the exact order of the Hebrew, and the style, construction, grammatical observances, and idioms, are all conformable to the Shemitic type. This version is, in fact, so truly Hebrew in its character, that to the Turks and Tartars it is a sealed book: and even Tartar Jews, if unacquainted with their ancient language, are unable to read it.   Nor is it likely to be of more general service even in Biblical criticism; for notwithstanding the known attachment of the Karaites to the letter of the sacred text, many of the interpretations in this version are obviously drawn from the Chaldee Targums, and from the renderings in Rabbinical commentaries.    On account of this deficiency in point of practical utility, the British and Foreign Bible Society have printed but a small specimen portion of this version.   An edition of 2000 copies of the book of Genesis was published at their expense in 1819, at the mission press of Astrakhan: these copies were sent to various parts of Russia and Tartary; but, not being found available for my. purposes among any of the Tartar tribes, no further portions of the version have been issued by the Society. An edition of the entire version has been subsequently published by the Jews of South Russia, who defrayed the expense by means of subscriptions collected for the purpose: the work, which is in two volumes, is said to be very inaccurately printed."--The Bible of Every Land. (1860, Second Edition)   Samuel Bagster   [Info only] KARAITE-TARTAR.--1860   S. Bagster   [Info only: n.d. Genesis 1:1-8 unknown.]

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