CHAPTER I.—EXTENT OF THE FIRST AGE OF THE WORLD.

1. Discrepancies of the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Samaritan Texts—Solution of the difficulty by the chronographers of the middle ages—Consistency of the Septuagint and the New Testament—Numerical errors of the Hebrew text 9

2. Origin and effect of various readings—The immaculate purity and miraculous preservation of the Hebrew text, a figment—Consistency of the word of God 12

3. Tables of the Discrepancies of the three texts with regard to the Antediluvian Patriarchs: Table I., In their Antepaidogonian ages—Table II., In their Postpaidogonian ages—Table III., In their whole lives—Internal evidence afforded by the Tables in favour of the computation of the Septuagint—The Discrepancies of the Hebrew and Samaritan the work of design—Proof of this fact from the Scriptures 14

4. Reasons assigned for the alterations in the Hebrew and Samaritan—Accuracy of the Septuagint demonstrated—An objection to its chronology removed—Utility of the publication of _fac simile_ editions of the codices—Late origin of the _printed_ Hebrew text—Its original agreement with the Septuagint proved 20