The Sanhedrim or great national council of the Jews was established by Moses: it consisted of 70 persons, besides the president, who after the time of Moses was usually the High Priest.
The Septuagint is a Greek translation of the Bible, made at Alexandria, when Ptolemy Philadelphus was king of Egypt. It is often signified in books by "the LXX."
The Vulgate was a very ancient version of the Bible in Latin.
The Bible commences with an account of the creation of the world, 4004 B. C., the history of our first parents, their deviation from virtue, and the evil consequences that ensued. To Adam and Eve were born sons and daughters. The only three mentioned by name, are Cain, Abel and Seth, and the sacred historian has chiefly confined himself to the posterity of Seth, from whom Noah descended: in his time mankind became very wicked, and to punish them, God sent a violent rain upon the earth which caused a general deluge, and all the inhabitants of the world were drowned, except Noah, his wife, their three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives, and a few animals of every kind. The descendants of Noah and his sons multiplied greatly, and "they were all of one language," after a time the whole race of men moved from their original habitations in Armenia, and settled in the plains of Shinar near the Euphrates. Here they determined to establish themselves, and build a tower whose top might reach the heavens. God was displeased with this work, which seems to have been undertaken in defiance of his power, and he confounded the language of those who were engaged in it. This obliged them to discontinue their labour; they soon after dispersed, and the different parts of the world became inhabited.
Terah the father of Abraham was a descendant of Shem; he settled with his family in Haran in Mesopotamia, where he died: God soon after commanded Abraham to remove with his wife Sarah into the land of Canaan, and here when they were far advanced in age, their son Isaac was born. God made many remarkable promises to Abraham, and one of them was, "that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed." This was a declaration that the Messiah should be a descendant of Abraham. To make trial of his obedience, God ordered him to offer up Isaac, as a burnt offering on Mount Moriah, but just as he was going to slay him, an angel of the Lord appeared, and told him not to touch the lad, but to take a ram and offer it up in his stead. It was upon this mountain that Solomon's temple was afterwards built and here our Saviour was crucified, the mountain being then called Calvary.
Isaac married Rebekah, and had two sons, Esau and Jacob. Jacob though the younger obtained the rights of primogeniture; he also procured his father's blessing by very unjustifiable means; and then repaired to Padan-aram to take a wife out of his own family. He married Leah and Rachel, and had twelve sons, who were called the twelve Patriarchs or fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel, their names were, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphthali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zabulon, Joseph and Benjamin. They were all born in Padan-aram; but Jacob returned to Canaan before his father's death. Joseph was the favourite son of Jacob; on which account his brethren hated him, and at length sold him to some Ishmaelites, who were merchants, and the descendants of Ishmael a son of Abraham; these Ishmaelites carried Joseph into Egypt, where he became a slave to Potiphar, the chief officer under the king. His good conduct soon gained the esteem and confidence of his master, but the wickedness of Potiphar's wife caused him to be thrown into prison. He was released from this confinement, in order to interpret two dreams of Pharoah's. God enabled him to discover that they predicted seven years of plenty which would be followed by seven years of famine; and the wise advice Joseph gave the king on this subject, induced the monarch to raise him to a very high office in his kingdom, and entrust to him the whole care of collecting and managing the corn. This famine was severely felt in Canaan, and Jacob sent his sons into Egypt to purchase corn. Joseph recognised his brethren, and after putting them to several trials, for the purpose of making them properly sensible of their former cruel conduct, he discovered himself to them in a very affectionate manner; he enquired concerning his father, and when he found the old man was still alive, he desired his brothers to fetch him, and their families out of Canaan. Jacob who had bitterly wept the loss of his favourite son, whom he believed from the accounts of his other children to have been devoured by a wild beast, rejoiced when he heard of his safety, and desired to go to Egypt to see him before he died. Pharoah gave Joseph's family the land of Goshen for their residence; and during his reign, the Hebrews were held in great estimation. The descendants of Jacob multiplied to so great a degree, that about sixty years after the death of Joseph, the king who then reigned over Egypt became jealous of their numbers, and endeavoured to check their increase by slaying the infants, and reducing the parents to a state of slavery. They suffered many hardships during several years, but at length God was pleased to deliver them in a miraculous manner by the hand of Moses, who would soon have conducted them into the promised land, had not their disobedience and perverseness brought upon them the punishment of a forty years' wandering in the wilderness. During this time, God commanded Moses to deliver his laws to the people of Israel. Aaron the brother of Moses was made High Priest, and to him was committed the superintendance of religious ceremonies.
Neither Moses nor Aaron were permitted to enter the promised land on account of their disobedience to a command of God; and they both died in the wilderness during the last year of their wandering. Joshua was appointed to succeed Moses in the important office of leader of the people, God promised him his support, and when all things were prepared, he led the Israelites to the banks of the river Jordan: as soon as their feet touched the water, the current was stopped, the river became dry ground, and the people entered the country opposite to the city of Jericho, which was taken in a miraculous manner.