sent some of his Princes, and of the Priests and Levites, to teach in the
cities of _Judah_: and they had the book of the Law with them, and went
about throughout all the cities of _Judah_, and taught the people. This is
that book of the Law which was afterwards lost in the reign of _Manasses_,
and found again in the reign of _Josiah_, and therefore it was written
before the third year of _Jehosaphat_.

The same book of the Law was preserved and handed down to posterity by the
_Samaritans_, and therefore was received by the ten Tribes before their
captivity. For [6] when the ten Tribes were captivated, a Priest or the
captivity was sent back to _Bethel_, by order of the King of _Assyria_, to
instruct the new inhabitants of _Samaria_, in _the manner of the God of the
land_; and the _Samaritans_ had the _Pentateuch_ from this Priest, as
containing the law or _manner of the God of the land_, which he was to
teach them. For [7] they persevered in the religion which he taught them,
joining with it the worship of their own Gods; and by persevering in what
they had been taught, they preserved this book of their Law in the original
character of the _Hebrews_, while the two Tribes, after their return from
_Babylon_, changed the character to that of the _Chaldees_, which they had
learned at _Babylon_.

And since the _Pentateuch_ was received as the book of the Law, both by the
two Tribes and by the ten Tribes, it follows that they received it before
they became divided into two Kingdoms. For after the division, they
received not laws from one another, but continued at variance. _Judah_
could not reclaim _Israel_ from the sin of _Jeroboam_, and _Israel_ could
not bring _Judah_ to it. The _Pentateuch_ therefore was the book of the Law
in the days of _David_ and _Solomon_. The affairs of the Tabernacle and
Temple were ordered by _David_ and _Solomon_, according to the Law of this
book; and _David_ in the 78th Psalm, admonishing the people to give ear to