:■ tihvary of tire ti\eolo0ical ^tminavy PRINCETON • NEW JERSEY PRESENTED BY The Estate of Phil Id H. Waddell Smith 351111 £3t /- /J(r ViL ,: . , .^^^/< OUTLINES OF AN INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT OUTLINES OF AN INTRODUCTION to the OLD TESTAMENT JOHN WALTER BEARDSLEE, D.D. PROFESSOR IN THE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF THE REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. AUTHOR OF "THE BIBLE AMONG THE NATIONS" Chicago New York Toronto Fleming H. Revell Company London ^ Edinburgh MCMIII Copyright, 1903, by FI.EMING H. REVEI.L COMPANY Chicago: 63 Washington Street New York: 158 Fifth Avenue Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W. London: 21 Paternoster Square Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street To thie man)} students wl^ose welfare has prompted me to man}> an hour of study, whose good will and appreciation have been my constant reward and through wliom I am k^ppY to tliink I am multiplying my own feeble efforts to preach the Gospel I love so well, I gladly dedicate this little book. PREFACE These Outlines are the outgrowth of fifteen years of study and teaching. They are designed simply to indicate the lines along which study is demanded if one is to understand the teachings of the Old Testa- ment. No effort has been made to present an exhaust- ive review of the ideas which have been advanced by others in regard to these remarkable books, or to give completeness to the views of the author. Only such points as seem necessary to a correct understanding of the text are presented and these are stated in the briefest form, with such references as may guide the way to further study. If the position here taken seem conservative, it is not because the writer has ignored the later criticism or underestimates its value, but because the newer ideas do not seem to be sufficiently established to demand the abandonment of the older. Great gain has already come from the learned and laborious investigations of the new school of criticism and we hope for still richer fruitage in the future, but the results thus far secured are too vague to become a satisfactory basis for the interpretation of Scripture. The leading objections to the work now being done under the name of the Higher Criticism may be summed up briefly as follows: The primary laws of exegesis are too easily violated too much importance 7 8 Preface is attached to minute and unessential details, the integ- rity of the text is not sufficiently guarded, constant pressure is put upon the text to make it yield a result in harmony with a preconceived theory, and the sub- jective impulses of the critic have too much influence in determining his conclusions. We have presented their arguments on the more important issues, giving them as nearly as possible in their own terms and as found in their latest books. When they have finished their work no one will hesi- tate to acknowledge its value. The brevity of the study prevents much direct quo- tation of individual authors, and no attempt has been made to trace each statement to its source. The more important references have been acknowledged, and the author would express his general indebtedness to the numerous works already before the public, and he wishes also to say that the only reason for his publish- ing this volume is that he does not find among them all one which recognizes the latest thought and is suitably arranged for systematic study. Seminary work is now so crowded as to demand the utmost brevity and clear- ness of statement. Special attention has been given to a careful analysis of the contents of the different books. At the cost of a seeming repetition the references to helpful literature are appended to each book, and in the selection of such works variety rather than com- pleteness has governed the choice. CONTENTS PAGE The Old Testament Its Name 15 The Text 15 Divisions of the Text 17 The Torah or Law Its Name 19 Its Scope 20 Its Author 20 Its Sources 29 Outline of Genesis 32 Outline of Exodus 35 Outline of Leviticus 37 Outline of Numbers 39 Outline of Deuteronomy 42 The Nebiim or Prophets The Former Prophets 46 The Latter Prophets 47 Their Chronology 48 I. The Former Prophets 50 Joshua 50 The Name 50 Position of the Book 51 Its Scope 51 Analysis 52 Literary Features 52 Authorship 53 Religious Value of the Book 54 Literature 55 Judges 55 The Name 55 Contents 56 Chronology 57 Authorship 58 9 10 Coiitents PAGE Value of the Book 59 Literature 59 Samuel 59 Its Name 59 Contents 60 Authorship 61 Design 63 Samuel and Chronicles 63 Literature 64 Kings 65 The Name 65 Contents 65 Characteristics 65 Sources 67 Chronology 68 Authorship 69 Literature 70 2. The Latter Prophets 70 Isaiah 70 The Name 70 Position among the Books 71 Conditions under Which Written 71 Contents 73 Authorship 77 Literature 81 Jeremiah 82 The Name 82 Conditions under Which Written 83 Peculiarities of His Book 84 Style 85 Doctrinal Teachings 86 Contents 87 Literature 89 Ezekiel 89 The Name 89 Date 89 Characteristics go Contents 92 Literature 94 Hosea 95 The Name 95 Political Conditions 95 Contents 1 1 PAGE The Text 96 Contents 96 Characteristics 98 Literature 99 Joel 99 The Name 99 Date 100 Analysis loi Peculiarities 102 Literature 103 Amos 103 The Name 103 Style 104 Date 105 Contents io5 Characteristic Teachings 106 Literature io7 Obadiah io7 The Name io7 Date 107 Unity 108 Contents 109 Literature no Jonah no The Name no Contents no Authorship m Interpretation 113 . Literature n4 Micah "4 The Name "4 Date "4 Unity 115 Style 115 Contents "5 Characteristics 1 17 Literature "7 Nahum n7 The Name 117 Date n8 Style 118 Contents "9 Literature n9 Habakkuk "9 The Name "9 12 Contents PAGE Date I20 Unity 121 Contents 121 Literature 123 Zephaniah 123 The Name 123 Date 123 Unity 123 Style and Teaching 124 Contents 1 24 Literature 125 Haggai 125 The Name 125 Genuineness and Date 125 Style and Thought 126 Contents 126 Literature 127 Zechariah 127 The Name 127 Unity 128 Teaching of the Book 130 Contents 131 Literature 133 Malachi 133 The Name 133 Date 134 Style 134 Teaching i35 Contents I35 Literature 136 The Kethubim or Writings Classification of the Books i37 Its Formation i37 Features of Hebrew Poetry 138 Its Extent i39 Its Tone 139 Its External Form 140 Literature 142 The Psalms 142 The Name 142 Position 143 Structure I43 The Inscriptions 145 Co7itents 1 3 PAGE Authorship 148 Teachings 151 Literature 154 Proverbs 154 The Name 154 Analysis 155 Age and Authorship 156 Literature 158 Job 158 The Name 158 Text 159 Authorship 159 Teachings 161 Structure 162 Integrity of the Book 165 Literature 167 Song of Songs 168 The Name 168 Authorship 168 Analysis 169 Form 169 Design 171 Literature 1 73 Ruth 173 The Name and Contents 173 Position of the Book 174 Date 174 Purpose 176 Literature 176 Lamentations 176 The Name 176 Position 176 Contents 177 Structure 177 Author 178 Literature 180 Ecclesiastes 1 80 The Name 180 Position 181 14 Contents PAGE Contents i8i Authorship 183 Religious Value of the Book 185 Literature 185 Esther 186 Position 1 86 Contents 186 Credibility 187 Date 188 Author 189 Teachings 189 Literature 190 Daniel 190 The Name 190 Position igi Contents 192 Origin 193 Design 200 Literature 201 Ezra, Nehemiah 201 The Name 201 Position 201 Relation of the Books to Each Other and to Chron- icles 202 Contents 202 Peculiarities of Structure 204 Authorship 205 Value of These Books 208 Literature 208 Chronicles 208 The Name 208 Position 209 Contents 209 Historical Character 211 Authorship and Date 214 Literature 215 Outlines of an Introduction to The Old Testament THE OLD TESTAMENT I. Name The name, Old Testament, is applied to that portion of our Bible which has come to us from the Jews. By them it was called "The Books," Dan. 9:2; 'The Holy Books," I Mac. 12:9; "The Books of the Law," i Mac. 1:56, or "A Book of the Covenant" R. V., I Mac. 1:57. In the New Testament it is called " Scripture," 2 Tim. 3:16, or "The Scriptures," Matt. 21:42; "The Sacred Writings," 2 Tim. 3:15; "Law," John 10:34. Among the early Christian writers we find the term "The Old Testament" or "The Old Covenant." The Latin translation of the Greek word {diatheke), employed in 2 Cor. 3:14, is Testamentiim, out of which has been formed our English word Testament, which, although not very accurate, has become so familiar that its use is generally retained. n. Text The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, except Dan. 2:4 to 7:28, Jer. io:ii, Ezra 4:8 to 6:18, and 15 1 6 Oiitlmes of a?i Ifitrodtictiofi to the Old Testament 7:12-26, which are written in Aramaic, a language closely allied to the Hebrew, both belonging to the great Semitic group, different dialects of which were used in Arabia and among the Phoenicians. Originally the Hebrew was written without vowels; these not being added until about one thousand years after the advent of Christ. For the preservation of the text of the Old Testa- ment we depend on the Hebrew Manuscripts, whose accuracy we can test by comparing them with the Greek version made while yet the Hebrew was a liv- ing language, about 250 B. C. Much help may also be found by comparing them with the Samaritan Pen- tateuch and with the Greek translations made by Sym- machus, Aquila, and Theodotion, and with the Old Latin Version made in the second Christian century. The oldest Hebrew Manuscripts are one containing the Pentateuch, 820-850 A. D., and one containing the Prophets, 916 A. D., the former kept in the British Museum and the latter in St. Petersburg. These Manuscripts were originally written on parch- ment or papyrus, prepared in long scrolls on which the text was written crosswise in columns, and these scrolls were rolled when not in use. Separate rolls were made for such parts as were used in their public service. This form is still preserved in those copies read in the Jewish synagogues. Later the Manuscripts were arranged in book form, the book sometimes contain- ing the entire Old Testament, but more frequently each division or book having a volume to itself. The small number of old Manuscripts and their sub- stantial agreement has occasioned much comment. Some ascribe it to the determined effort of the Jews The Old Testament 1 7 to secure a standard text by destroying such Manu- scripts as were not in agreement with their ideas; others see in the fact an evidence of the extreme care exer- cised in securing only correct copies, very severe rules being observed to obtain accurate work by the tran- scribers. There is no evidence that the Jews have ever sought to corrupt the text, but very much to prove their earnest efforts to preserve its purity. III. Divisions of the Text The Jews maintained a two-fold division of the text, one general, into The Torah, or Law, The Prophets ^ and The Kethubint, or Miscellaneous Writings; the other into the individual books which we still recognize. The three-fold division is based on the character and position of the writers; the Torah being all regarded as the work of Moses, the Prophets as the work of men who gave themselves wholly to teaching and proclaiming the will of God, and the Kethubim as the writings of men prepared by God to produce them, but whose life-work lay in other fields, as David the king, Daniel the statesman. This three-fold order is not recognized in the Septuagint or in our English Bible, where the arrangement is more topical, but in the New Testament it is frequently referred to (Luke 24:44.) According to the Jewish numbering there were twenty-two or twenty-four books in the Old Testa- ment. Josephus {Cofitra Apiofi, L, 8) says there were twenty-two, which he divides as follows: The five books of Moses, thirteen prophetical writings, and four books with hymns and precepts for practical life. 1 8 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament Other Jewish writers make twenty-four, counting Ruth and Lamentations as separate books, while Josephus seems to have included them with Judges and Jere- miah. This number is based on the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. In our English Bible the thirty-nine books are obtained by considering Ruth and Lamentations as independent books, dividing the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles each into two books, separating Ezra from Nehemiah and counting the Minor Prophets as twelve, while the Jews reckoned them as one. The order in which the individual books appear in the Hebrew Bible has been quite uniform, although a few changes are noted. The books of the Torah have always maintained the order in which they now appear in our English Bible. Among the Prophets Isaiah sometimes follows Ezekiel and sometimes is inserted between Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but generally stands first, as in English. Among the Kethubim the varia- tions in the order of the books are very numerous. In our examination of these books we follow the order usually found in our printed Hebrew Bibles. THE TORAH OR THE LAW I. Name The Hebrew name given to the first five books of the Old Testament is ToraJi, Law, Neh. Z\2^ or more fully, 'This Book of the Law," Deut. 31:26. This is sometimes modified so as to read 'The Book of the Law of Moses," Josh. 8:31; or simply "The Book of Moses," Ezra 6:18. The later Jews frequently speak of it as the Five-fifths of the Law, in allusion to the fact that the entire Pentateuch is divided into five books. The term Pentateuch comes to us through the Latin from the Greek, being the name given this portion of the Bible in the Alexandrian or Septuagint version, and meaning the five-fold book. Although the Pentateuch is now divided into five books, there are many indications that it was originally one connected work. Exodus, Leviticus, and Num- bers are connected to the books before them by the conjunction and, as if they simply continued the nar- rative of the former book. But on the other hand there is an individuality about each part which might easily explain their separate existence from the begin- ning. It is certain that Josephus {Contra Apion L, 8) mentions the division into five books, and it was recog- nized by the Septuagint translators, 250 B. C. This is also probably the occasion of the five-fold division of the Book of Psalms in the Hebrew Bible, a division now recognized in our Revised Version. 19 20 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament II. Scope The single design of the Pentateuch is to explain the origin and religion of the Jewish people. To do this it follows two lines, historical and religious. Historically it traces the origin of the world as pre- paratory to the advent of man and then tells of man's history down to the deluge. From that point the field of observation is contracted so as to cover only the origin and history of the Jews until they are ready to enter Canaan. The religious development of the people is carried along with the historical. We learn of man's crea- tion, how sin entered with its disastrous results, and how God revealed Himself to the patriarchs and then to Moses, providing a well-organized form of worship and revealing the gracious purpose of God in provid- ing salvation for His people. Although these two currents flow along side by side, there is such perfect subordination of both to the one grand purpose for which the book was written that its unity has never been successfully assailed. In its present form it betrays so plainly the presence of one mind that we cannot conceive that the five books have been written independently and then for convenience brought together. III. Author The question as to the authorship of the Pentateuch is one of the most difficult to determine of all those connected with Old Testament criticism. Against the traditional view, which ascribes it wholly to Moses, stands the radical criticism which claims that the Pen- The Tor ah or the Law 21 tateuch, in its present form at least, is the gradual accumulation of ages long subsequent to the time of Moses and having no separate existence until after the exile. From a very early period doubts were expressed as to the Mosaic origin of such passages as the narrative of the death of Moses, but not until the seventeenth century did these assaults assume a very serious form. In 1753 Astruc, a Roman Catholic physician in France, issued the first volume of a series of assaults against the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch, which have been growing rapidly in numbers and in fierceness, until almost nothing has been left without challenge. All such critics contend that the Pentateuch is a composite work, put together from different documents by a suc- cession of editors who, in succeeding ages, have sought to give completeness to their work. They claim that it did not assume anything like its present form until the period following the exile, when the priestly influ- ence gained the supremacy and the Levitical legisla- tion was skillfully connected with a historical statement to give it greater authority. Their more important reasons are as follows: 1. Unnecessary repetitions, as in the account of the creation in Genesis, first and second chapters; three repetitions of the story of the laughter which occa- sioned the naming of Isaac, Gen. 17:17, 18:12, 21:6, 7; the laws in regard to the burnt offering found in Lev. I and repeated in chapter 22:i7ff. 2. Frequent discrepancies and inconsistencies, as in the account of the flood. Gen. 7 and 8; and the mate- rials for building an altar in Ex. 20:24 and 27:1-8. 3. Want of continuity. The history of Noah, they 22 Otiili?ies of ail bitrodnctioii to the Old Testament tell us, is strangely confused, and the Song of Moses, in Deuteronomy, is out of place. 4. Differences of style and conception, as seen in the creation story and the statements of Ex. 4:10-17 and Num. 12:3 in regard to the character of Moses, compared with his eloquence in Deuteronomy. 5. Long periods, especially in the times succeeding Moses, which show no evidence of the practical opera- tion of such a law. These difficulties have arisen, according to these critics, from the fact that different documents were used by successive redactors who were so careless or unskilled that they did not observe the contradictions or did not know how to correct them. The difficulties connected with such criticism arise chiefly from the fact that it is so largely subjective, and its weakness is seen in the fact that the conclusions of one critic are set aside by the next, so that the course of this method of criticism is marked by an almost innumerable number of theories which have been cast aside and now serve only as skeletons mark- ing the path along which the critics have passed. We may perhaps sum up the general conclusions of the school, so far as at present defined and agreed upon by themselves, in the statement that the Pentateuch is composed of certain more or less independent docu- ments, dealing largely with the same series of events, but composed at different periods or under different auspices, and afterward revised and combined so as to form the book as it now exists. (Hastings, Die. of the Bible II., 365.) In favor of the Mosaic origin of the book we sub- mit the following: The ToraJi or the Law 23 1. In the New Testament it is uniformly ascribed to Moses. Christ calls it "The Book of Moses," Mark 12:26, and it is alluded to by Paul, 2 Cor. 3:15, by James, Acts 15:21, and by Luke, 24:27. Christ says Moses gave the Law, John 7:19, and in Mark 10:4, 5 that Moses wrote the Law, as also in John 5:46, 47. If we say that Christ here simply accommodates Him- self to popular opinion, we make use of an assumption which generally applied would lead to disastrous results. Christ's apparent reason for the mention of the name of Moses is the great respect the Jews had for that name, and we can hardly suppose that He would try to enforce an argument by pleading as a fact what He knew to be a fiction. On this point Canon Liddon says {The Worth of the Old Testame?it, p. 12): "His (Christ's) authority is as vital an element in the settlement of controverted mat- ters respecting the Old Testament as is the science of language or the science of history. . . . The appeal to Him in these Old Testament questions really cor- responds to a reference to an axiom in mathematics, or to a first principle in morals." And Abp. W. Smith {The Book of Moses, or the Pentateuch in Its Atithorship, p.25ff.) shows that Christ's reference to the Book of Moses could have but one meaning, namely to assert directly that Moses wrote it. 2. The Pentateuch claims for itself, in part at least, a Mosaic origin. In Ex. 24:3, 4 we read that Moses came from the presence of Jehovah and told the people what God had said to him and then wrote all the words. Admitting for the present that these words refer not to the completed book of the law, as the Jews have always known it, but only to Chs. 20 to 23 24 Outli7ies of an hitroduction to the Old Testament immediately preceding, a point by no means conclu- sively shown, they do at least show that these laws, which confessedly are among the most important in the Pentateuch, were written by Moses himself. Again in Ex. 34:27 Jehovah directs Moses to write these words. Looking at the context we find that these words must include at least the legislation included in the preceding chapters, which form what is called "The Priest's Code." Passing on to Deut. 31:9 the statement is made, "And Moses wrote this law and delivered it unto the priests," and in verses 24-26, when he had finished the writing of the law in a book, or as the Hebrew says, in the book, he gave an em- phatic charge for its guarding. On the most limited construction this must mean the law he had just been expounding and which constitutes a large part of the present Book of Deuteronomy, so that in these refer- ences we cover the essential parts of the legislation found in the Pentateuch. But there are other references. In Ex. 17:14 Moses is told to write in a book the story of Israel's discom- fiture of Amalek, and in Num. 33:2 we learn that Moses wrote the account of the wanderings of Israel in the wilderness. If there was a reason for recording such events surely there was a much stronger reason why Moses should write the more important matters pertaining to their history. Those who object to the Mosaic origin here call attention, as an offset, to other passages which seem to imply that Moses did not write them. Ex. 11:3 speaks of Moses as a very great man in Egypt, and Num. 12:3 refers to his meekness, and Deut. 34:10 to his remarkable position as a prophet before Jehovah. The Tor ah or the Law 25 Such expressions, they tell us, could not come from the pen of a man like Moses. In other places expla- nations are made, as Gen. 12:6; genealogies are intro- duced, as Gen. 36; places are given names they did not have till a much later period, as Deut. 34:1; and the death of Moses is recorded in Deut. 34. These and other similar objections are hard to meet with a positive answer, but so far as they relate to Moses himself do not present any serious difficulty, for the assertion that he did not write them is at least no stronger than the contrary assertion that he did write them. As for the change of names and anachronisms, these are exceedingly frail foundations for an argu- ment, since we are confessedly so ignorant of the con- ditions then existing; and it may easily be that the same place had two names, one popular, the other official, as we now call our greatest metropolis New York or Gotham, or later copyists may have given the names common in their day. 3. When we examine the later books of the Old Testament we find constant reference to the Penta- teuch in a way which proves that it was a well-known work. Joshua is directed to regulate his conduct by it, 1:7, 8. David observes Mosaic regulations when removing the ark, i Chron. 15:15. Solomon arranged the temple service according to the commandment of Moses, 2 Chron. 8:13. David charges Solomon to live as it is written in the Law of Moses, i Kings 2:3. So with Amaziah, 2 Kings 14:6, and Hezekiah, 2 Kings 18:6. In Josiah's time the finding of a copy of it resulted in a great reformation, 2 Kings 22:8ff. But it was known far beyond such limits. The High Priest, Jehoiada, arranged the ritual services "as it is 26 Otitli?ies of a?i httroduction to the Old Testa?ne7it written in the Law of Moses," 2 Chron. 23:18. We are told that Ezra was a ready scribe in the Law of Moses, Ezra 7:6. And the last utterance of the last prophet was an injunction to remember the Law of Moses, Mai. 4:4. If we examine these and similar references in these later books we find they take us to almost every part of the Pentateuch, thus linking the name of Moses with the entire work. To say that in all these allu- sions the thought of the writer does not go be^^ond the immediate words quoted and that he does not intend to ascribe the entire book to Moses, is simply begging the question. If Moses wrote the passages quoted the reasonable inference is that he wrote the books in which they occur. 4. Still further evidence for the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch is found in its unique manner of state- ment. In the references to Egypt there is the fresh- ness of personal experience. The wilderness life bears all the marks of a personal narrative prepared while yet it was in progress. The call of Moses, the consecration of Aaron and his sons, the allusions to Canaan as a land yet to be possessed, the details of their camp life, the construction of the tabernacle with the account of the voluntary gifts of the people for its furnishing, and the remarkably personal character of the Book of Deuteronomy, with many other items, reveal the work of a personal actor and one deeply interested in the preservation of their records. It is autobiographical rather than historical in form, and there is no one around whom all this centers as around Moses. Bleek, in his bit. Old Test. I., p. 212, while doubting that the Pentateuch, in its present form, came The Tor ah or the Law 27 directly from the hand of Moses, adds that "The laws, as they stand in these books, make, as a whole, one and the same claim to have proceeded from Moses"; and then he says, "It is in the highest degree likely that these laws, not only in their essential purport proceeded from Moses, but also that they were writ- ten down by Moses, or at least in the Mosaic age." 5. Lastly, the failure of other theories drives us back to the plain utterance of the book itself. The theory that the Pentateuch was produced after the captivity, either by Ezra or those who succeeded him, does not suit the conditions then existing. Literary production was not a characteristic of that period. The original work of Ezra, the most literary man among them, is represented at best by the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, mainly a record of con- temporary events. The post-exilic prophets, as con- trasted with those before the exile, are not only inferior in amount but still more in their power of literary expression. To suppose that these men would attempt such a work as the production of a book like the Pentateuch is to give them an impor- tance which they neither claim nor deserve. Nor can we find a probable author in the priestly character of Ezekiel; for his book is plainly based on the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is not the outgrowth of Ezekiel. And the same difficulty meets us if we try to locate the book in the days of Josiah, 2 Kings 22; for the entire account there shows that the interest aroused grew out of the fact that an old book had been discovered, not a new one written. And if we say that there was an intentional deception in this matter, the priests actually writing it but putting it in 28 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament the name of Moses to give it authority, we come to a result which vitiates the entire assumption. It would be amazing if the Israelitish nation, then far gone in idolatry, having the rich and the learned and the noble elements in thorough sympathy with their idolatrous customs, should hear such denunciation of their course and never raise a protest against such teachings, as they could easily have done if they were something entirely new. There must have been a knowledge of such a book, although it might have been long hid- den in the dark days of Manasseh, and now when it was brought to light it had a power which swept everything before it. Nor can we appeal to the idea that such teaching as we find in the Pentateuch is too far advanced for the Mosaic era. The theory of an ethical development of the religious idea underlies all the objections raised against the early origin of the book. The literary activities, the religious ideas, and the social condi- tions, they tell us, make it impossible that anyone living in the Mosaic age should produce such an elab- orate and finished structure. These ideas of govern- ment, of social life, of religion and of God were of slow growth so that generations and centuries were neces- sary before they could formulate such lofty and spiritual conceptions. The laws would not be made until they were needed, and they were not needed until by long deliberation and wise selection the right idea had at last been reached. Recent archaeological research, showing similar advancement in Egypt and Assyria, breaks the force of this argument. Such questions were largely discussed at that time. Fur- ther, this reasoning is so directly opposed to the entire The ToraJi or the Law 29 teaching of the Scriptures that it refutes itself. Our knowledge of God and of the fit manner of His wor- ship, as well as our knowledge of ourselves and of our relations to our fellow men, is not a matter of development or wise deliberation but of direct revela- tion. God Himself is the fountain of truth and of His fullness have we received. And there can be no reason given why He should not have imparted that knowledge to Moses. It was then preeminently needed, and God always responds to man's need. It is not true therefore that centuries of human struggle must precede a true knowledge of God. He speaks and the truth becomes the light of life in which all generations can walk. IV. Sources of the Pentateuch The length of time embraced in the Pentateuch pre- cludes the idea that one author could produce it from his own observation. How then did he obtain his facts? This question has been discussed by those who refer the Pentateuch to Moses, as well as by those who deny his authorship of it. According to the critical theories now so largely entertained there is properly no author. It is a growth or a systematizing of facts or traditions in which many men have had a part not so much in the way of orig- inal investigation as of editorial elaboration and com- ment. Hence they speak of different editors or redactors. Around an original nucleus these men have added items from various sources until the pres- ent work is the result. This work of editing went on down to post-exilic times, and the different documents making up the present book are still so clearly marked 30 Outlifies of a?t hitroduciion to the Old Testament that they can be separated from each other and their age determined. These different documents hav^e received different names according to some peculiarity they possess; as, the Jehovist docum&nt, because the name of God found in it is Jehovah; the Elohist, because the name of God in it is Elohim; the Priestly code, because the contents relate largely to the ceremonial law; or the Deuteronomic code, because it constitutes a large part of our present Book of Deuteronomy. There is the greatest variety of opinion as to what the original basis of the Pentateuch was, or where these different documents originated or when they were first put into their present shape. The theory of one critic frequently destroys that of another. The only point on which they are all agreed is that they are all much later than the time of Moses. Those who hold to the Mosaic origin of the Penta- teuch have likewise had different ideas as to the man- ner in which he came into possession of his facts. Some, like Carpzov, have held that Moses received the entire contents by immediate inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Others hold that he obtained his historical facts either from oral tradition or from written docu- ments, while the Holy Spirit directed him in the selection of the truth and the proper expression of it. As for the legal or religious ordinances the fact is often stated that he received them directly from God who told him to write carefully what he had seen and heard. The creation narrative must have been revealed either to Moses personally or to some one before him. The most probable theory is that written documents The Tor all or the Law 31 existed and were used by Moses as the basis of the narrative composing the Pentateuch. That such docu- ments were in existence we may infer from what we have learned from the monuments and records in Egypt and Babylon concerning the knowledge of that age. Out of such material Moses selected the facts and wrote the record under divine direction, not joining different and sometimes conflicting statements as the critics contend, but so arranging the facts as to pre- sent the subject in its proper light when seen from different directions. He was a historian, basing his record on facts, and not an editor, clumsily patching together documents which had no mutual relation. Hence his work has a unity and a clearly seen pur- pose, and is worthy of its position at the head of the divine revelation. We conclude then that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch, that he used either written documents or oral tradition as the historical basis of his work, that he received the legal portions directly from God, and that in writing it he was constantly guided by the Holy Spirit both in the selection and preparation of his material. In thus asserting the Mosaic origin of the Penta- teuch we do not mean that every word of it, in just the form in which we now have it, is just as he left it. The account of the death of Moses, Deut. 34, is plainly a supplement; the personal allusion to the exalted position of Moses in Egypt, Ex. 11:3, and to his excessive meekness, Num. 12:3, may have been inserted by some one anxious to call attention to his splendid character; although we see no reason for such an admission, some passages which are supposed 32 Outlines of an hitroduction to the Old Testament to refer to later events in their history, Gen. 12:6, 14:14, Ex. 16:35, Deut. 33:1, may have been inserted as explanations. Such incidental references do not affect the main proposition, which is that in the Penta- teuch as it now exists we have a work which has come down to us from Moses as an original composition, not as the result of successive redactions and piecing together of undigested documents. Using the term as we are accustomed to use it, we say that Moses wrote it. If in the course of time certain words became obscure and an explanation was inserted, or if changes in their national life called for modification of their older customs it would not be strange if they were inserted, but such a fact does not discredit its Mosaic origin. V. Outline of the Separate Books The fundamental character of the Pentateuch may be learned from the following general outline of the separate books: GENESIS I. Name The Hebrew name of the first book of the Old Testa- ment is appropriately taken from the word with which the book o^tns, Bereshith, "in the beginning. " The Septuagint translates this word Genesis, "origin," "beginning," and the Vulgate and most other versions have adopted the Greek word. It is well called "The Book of Origins." II. Contents The analysis of the book is very simple. We have first a statement of facts relating to the primeval world, The Tor ah or the Lazv 33 then a sketch of patriarchal history until the death of Joseph in Egypt, telling us of the origin of the nation and explaining how they came to be in bondage there. Each of these divisions is again subdivided into five minor subdivisions: A. The primeval period. Chs. 1-11:26 1. Generations of the heavens and the earth. Chs. 1-4. 2. Generations of Adam. Chs. 5:1-6:8. 3. Generations of Noah. Chs. 6:9-9:29. 4. Generations of the sons of Noah. Chs. 10:1-11:9. 5. Generations of Shem. Ch. 11:10-26. B. The patriarchal period. Chs. 11 :2y-§o:26 1. The generations of Terah. Chs. 11:27-25:11. 2. The generations of Ishmael. Ch. 25:12-18. 3. The generations of Isaac. Chs. 25:19-35:29. 4. The generations of Esau. Chs. 36:1-37:1. 5. The generations of Jacob. Chs. 37:2-50:26. Each of these ten subdivisions, except the first, is introduced by the formula "These are the genera- tions." In the first, instead of standing at the begin- ning, it is found at 2:4, Chs. 1:1-2:3 being regarded as a general introduction. This expression is plainly intended as a heading to the statement which follows it. The length of the section depends in every case upon its importance as related to the general theme of the book. Hence the generations of Ishmael are con- fined to six verses while those of Terah, which relate principally to Abraham, fill fourteen chapters. The manifest design of the writer is to explain the origin of the Jewish nation and its peculiar relation to God. This appears in his record of the origin of the 34 Outlines of an IntroductioJL to the Old Testameiit earth and of man, thus giving to the book a value v^hich not only justifies its place at the beginning of the Bible, but also shows how fundamental its teach- ings are to all that follows. Equally manifest is the deep religious tone which pervades the book. Although designed to set forth the historical records of the past, every fact is seen to have a profound moral and spiritual value. Every- thing begins with God and is of importance because of its relation to God. The grandest feature of the Jew- ish nation is the manifest presence of God in it, and the truth is constantly enforced that man is as much under the divine direction as the heavens and the earth, because both are the direct Vv^orks of God's hand and are intended to advance the divine glory. But the most remarkable feature of this narrative is its constant reference to the future of the nation and of the world. It is to be the center of the world's religious history. Already in 3:13-15 the fact of a great world conflict with evil is announced; in 9:18-27 deliverance is promised through the descendants of Shem; in 12:1-3 Abraham is declared to be the one in whom all the families of the earth are to be blessed; in 26:1-5 his son, Isaac, is chosen; in 28:10-17 Jacob, the son of Isaac, is selected as the one through whom the final deliverance will come; and in 49:8-12, out of Jacob's twelve sons, Judah is pointed out as the one through whom the great salvation will be secured. These utterances form the beginning of a series run- ning all through the Old Testament, growing more explicit as time goes on, until the national life is per- meated with the thought of a Messiah in whom the world would find salvation. I The ToraJi or the Lazv 35 EXODUS I. Name The Hebrew name is We-elleh shemoth, "and these are the names," the words with which the book opens. The name Exodus was given it by the Greek translators and has passed through the Latin into most transla- tions. II. Contents The book is easily divided into three sections: Israel in Egypt, Israel on the way to Sinai, Israel at Sinai. The line of thought may be more fully indicated as follows: 1. Israel i7i Egypt. — After a brief statement in regard to those who originally went to Egypt and their rapid increase in numbers, 1:1-7, we are told of the harsh measures taken by the Egyptian king to keep them in subjection, 1:8-22. Then follows a sketch of the birth and early life of Moses, 2:i£f; of his call to become their deliverer, 3:iff; of his appearance with Aaron, his brother, before Pharaoh to demand Israel's release, 5:iff ; and of the ten plagues sent upon the Egyptians because they would not listen to the divine command, Chs. 7 to II. In connection with the last plague we have the account of the institution of the Passover as an annual ceremonial in memory of their deliverance, Chs. 12 and 13. 2. Israel on the way to Sinai. — They cross the Red Sea, Ch. 14, a fact celebrated in a song by Moses, Ch. 15, and march through the wilderness of Shur, receiv- ing from God food, Ch. 16, and water, Ch. 17, triumph- ing over their adversaries, 17:8, until in the third 36 Otitliius of an Introductio7i to the Old Testament month after they left Egypt they come to the wilder- ness of Sinai, 19:1. 3. Israel at Sinai. — At Sinai the theocracy is formally organized by the giving of the Ten Commandments, 20:1-17, accompanied by a code of laws regulating their social and religious life, 21:1-24:11. Moses is then instructed in regard to building the tabernacle and its furniture, 24:12-31:18, the incident of the golden calf is related, 32:1-34:35, and the book closes with a full state- ment of the work of Moses in carrying out the divine instructions in regard to the tabernacle, Chs. 35-40. The opening words of the book prepare us to under- stand that a considerable period must have elapsed between the close of Genesis and the opening of Exodus. This silence is easily explained. We have no history of Israel in the proper sense of that term, but a series of historical events leading up to and pre- paring the way for the advent of the Messiah, the one event to which they all point. The period of slavery in Egypt, having nothing bearing specially on that point, is passed over in silence. The credibility of the book has been fiercely assailed; the historical part by those who object to miracles, and the legislative by those who claim that instead of pre- ceding the national life the laws are a product of the times of the captivity and later. But the historical stands unimpeached. The statements concerning Egypt and the condition of Israel while there, and the geographical knowledge revealed concerning both Egypt and Arabia are abundantly confirmed by the latest researches in archaeology, while the laws both social and religious are simple and fundamental, such as their condition at Sinai demanded. The Tor ah or the Law 37 The relation between this book and Genesis is mani- fest. We pass now to the records of a nation, we are in the midst of a people having a past and planning for a future. The conditions here demand those of Genesis as a basis, and the moral and spiritual no less than the national conditions are the natural outgrowth of the life in Genesis. Equally plain is its relation to the books following it. No theory of the origin of the kingdom of David is adequate which ignores the foun- dations laid down in Exodus. To place the origin of the laws after the establishment of the kingdom is to reverse the natural order. LEVITICUS I. Name In the Hebrew the name is Wa-yikra, "and he called," these being the first words of the book. The name Leviticus comes to us through the Greek and signifies matters pertaining to the Levitical services. Among the later Jews it is frequently called Torah Kohanim, "Law of Priests." n. Contents The book has a specific theme, priestly regulations, which is everywhere kept in view, but in its details it does not follow a logical order as closely as the two books which precede it. This may, however, be largely explained from the fact that the different topics treated frequently overlap each other. The following is a general outline: I. Laws respecting sacrifice, Chs. i-y. — Instructions are here given concerning the Burnt Offering, Ch. i, the 38 Outlines of an iTitroduction to the Old Testament Meal Offering, 2; the Peace Offering, 3; the Sin Offer- ing, 47-5:13, and the Trespass Offering, 5:14-67. Instructions in regard to making these offerings are found in Chs. 6 and 7. 2. The i7istitntio7i of the priesthood. Chs. 8-10. — Moses first consecrates Aaron and his sons to the priesthood, 8; and after eight days they present their first offer- ings, 9; consisting of an offering for the priest and then an offering for the people. Nadab and Abihu, two priests, sons of Aaron, are slain because they offer strange fire before Jehovah, 10:1-7. The priests are forbidden to drink wine while exercising their priestly functions, 10:8-11; and their portion of the sacrifice is defined, io:i2ff. 3. Laws defining clean and unclean. Chs. 11-16. — Clean and unclean animals, 11; uncleanness arising from child-birth, 12; leprosy and its treatment, 13:1- 15:33; and rules for the day of atonement, 16. 4. The law of holiness. Chs. 17-2^. — Laws regulating personal holiness, Chs. 17-20; laws for securing purity of the priests, Chs. 21 and 22; laws defining sacred seasons, Chs. 23 and 24; laws respecting idolatry and the Sabbath, with admonitions in regard to observing them, Chs. 25-27. The relation between Exodus and Leviticus is evi- dent, not only from the opening words of Leviticus which join it to the former book, but also in the mat- ters treated. In Exodus Moses receives the command to build the tabernacle and in Leviticus he proceeds at once to arrange for the orderly performance of divine service in it. Much discussion has arisen over the origin and arrangement of these laws. In the book itself it is The Torah or the Law 39 said of them, "J^^ovah spake unto Moses," 4:1, or "Jehovah spake unto Moses and to Aaron," ii:i, or "Jehovah spake unto Aaron," 10:8. We note also that Moses is told to speak unto the children of Israel, 12:1, 2, to command Aaron and his sons, 6:9, to speak unto Aaron and his sons and all the children of Israel, 17:2, while at 7:37, 38 and at 26:46 words occur which seem as though they were intended to be the end of the book. These facts do not necessarily imply that the book was the outgrowth of a long period during which laws were added as occasion arose, as many critics assume, but maybe explained as sections added by Moses himself, who received instruction at differ- ent times at Sinai and wrote them as he received them, or we may suppose that they were added during the wanderings of Israel, while Moses was their leader and recorded by him as he was about leaving them. NUMBERS I. Name The name is called in Hebrew Wa-yedabber, "and he spake," the first words of the book, or sometimes Bemidbar, "in the desert," because it deals with their wilderness life. In the Greek it is called Arithmoi and in the Latin Nti?neri^ of which the English word Num- bers is the equivalent. It receives this name from the numbering or marshalling of the people found both at the beginning and end of the book. II. Contents In a general way the book is a record of their prepa- ration for their departure from Sinai and of their 40 Outlines of an Introductioii to the Old Testament doings until they encamp on the borders of the Land of Promise. Three sections are plainly marked: 1. Preparation for departure from Sinai. Chs. i:i- io:io, — A census is taken of all the tribes, except Levi, 1:1-46, the members of which tribe were appointed to have charge of the tabernacle and were to remain encamped around it, 1:47-54. The total num- ber was found to be 603,550. The position of each tribe in the camp is located, Ch. 2; the Levites are numbered, 3:15, and are substituted for the first-born, 3:44, and special duties are assigned them, Ch. 4. Laws are provided for cases of leprosy and other forms of uncleanness, 5:1-4; restitution for trespass, 5-10; an unfaithful wife, 11-31; vows, 6:1-12; the Naza- rite, 13-21, and the form of priestly benediction given, 24-27. A record is made of special offerings at the dedication of the tabernacle, Ch. 7; instructions are given as to the care of the sacred vessels and the con- secration and length of the public service of the priests are fixed, Ch. 8. The Passover is celebrated and final arrangements are made for their departure, Chs. 9 and 10. 2. From Sinai to Moab. Chs. 10:11-22:1. — The prin- cipal facts are: The parting of Moses and Hobab, 10:29-32; the sedition of Aaron and Miriam, Ch. 12; the spies sent to explore Canaan, Ch. 13; the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, Ch. 16; the death of Miriam, the sin of Moses and Aaron at Meribah, the death of Aaron, Ch. 20; the brazen serpent, Ch. 21; and the encampment on the plains of Moab, 22:1. 3. Preparations for e?itering Ca?iaan. Chs. 22-J6.— Here we have Balak's encounter with Israel, Chs. The Tor all or the Law 41 22-24; second census of Israel, Ch. 26; specific laws respecting inheritance, selection of Joshua as leader, offerings and vows, Chs. 27-30; allotment of tribes on the east of Jordan, Ch. 32; names of stations on their journey, Ch. 33; boundaries of Canaan, Ch. 34; cities of refuge, Ch. 35; rules for the preservation of families and estates, Ch. 36. The relation between the books of Numbers and Leviticus is very manifest. The opening words of Numbers refer us directly to Leviticus, and the sequence of thought and style is still more complete. In Num- bers we are carried onward in the preparation for the national and religious life of a people for whose greatness the foundations are here being laid. Equally fundamental is its relation to the books which follow it. They not only quote it freely but assume the existence of the institutions and the cor- rectness of the historical situation here presented. In a figurative, typical way the records of this book underlie all Christian worship and service. The sacri- ficial system here originated has given our Christian nomenclature such words as sacrifice, priesthood, tabernacle, Passover; and their long journey through the wilderness, with its trials and triumphs, has sug- gested such terms as the army of God, Christian sol- diers, victory over sin, which have been a constant inspiration to the church as well as to the individual Christian. Certain difficulties suggested by the census of Ex. 38:26 and Num. i:i, the remarkable reduction in some of the tribes as Simeon, during the wilderness life, and the question of food in the desert belong more appropriately to exegesis and, whatever may be 42 Outlmes of an Introduction to the Old Testament their final solution, cannot affect the general accuracy and value of the book. DEUTERONOMY I. Name The Hebrew name is taken from the opening words, Elleh haddebarim, "these are the words." In later Hebrew it is often called "The Book of Threatenings," from the threatenings found in the latter part of it. The name, Deuteronomy, "Second Law," or "The repetition of the Law," is the Latin form of the Greek name given it in the Septuagint. The title, growing out of the translation of 17:18, although inexact, is appropriate since the book contains the laws found in the previous books of the Pentateuch with practical exhortations based upon them. H. Contents As indicated in the title, the book contains a restate- ment of laws already in force, with reasons why they should be faithfully obeyed. It may be regarded as an extended discourse covering the entire subject, but there are breaks in the transition from one part to another which make it more convenient to divide it into three discourses with a general conclusion. I . The historical review. Chs. i :i-4 :4j. — After a brief statement concerning the time and occasion of the utterance, 1:1-5, we have a review of Israel's history during the forty years in the wilderness, showing that obedience had always brought a blessing, and disobe- dience loss and failure, 1:6-4:40. This is followed by a statement in regard to the three cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan, 4:41-43. The Torah or the Lazv 43 2. Repetition of the Laiv. Chs. 4:44-26 :ig. — After an introduction, 4:44-49, Moses enters upon a discussion and review of their law, basing his address on the Ten Commandments, 5:1-21. In the first part of his address he dwells especially on the first two commands, their duty to God, enforcing love for Jehovah, 6:4, 5; the abhorrence of idolatry, 7:iff; the danger of self- righteousness, 8:ioff ; and the true nature of God's serv- ice, Chs. 10 and 11. He then treats more generally of laws relating to religion, Chs. 12:1-16:17; civil admin- istration, 16:18-21:23; and private and social life, 22:1- 26:19. 3. The blessi?ig a?id the curse. Chs. 2^/ :i-jo\2o. — After instructing the people in regard to preserving the law after they cross the Jordan, Moses and the Elders declare the Blessing and the Curse, 27:1; and urge fidelity to Jehovah, Ch. 30. 4. Conclusiofi. — The law is entrusted to the Levites, 31:1-13; Joshua takes the placeof Moses, 31:14; and we have the Song of Moses, Ch. 32; the blessing of the Twelve Tribes, Ch. 33; and the death of Moses, Ch. 34. The time element of the book is small, only about forty days. Compare 1:3 with Joshua 4:19 and Deut. 34:8. It completes the historical record up to the assumption of the leadership by Joshua and the cross- ing of the Jordan. its close relation to the preceding books is evident, but it has a strong individuality. A decided peculi- arity is its hortatory tone. It does not say, like the preceding books, "Thus saith Jehovah," but tells us what Moses says to the people. But we must note that Moses speaks only in explanation and enforce- 44 Outlines of ail Introduction to the Old Testainent ment of what God had first spoken to him. The cen- tral thought is, Jehovah has chosen Israel, let Israel now choose Jehovah. Its relation to the later books is most intimate, while the New Testament makes constant reference to it and uses it as an unquestioned authority. The unity of the book cannot be assailed. It has one purpose, to arouse Israel's loyalty; it proceeds along one line, its language has great uniformity and is very pure, and all the details point to a definite, brief period when it would be likely to arise. The death of their great leader and their passage into their promised land furnish just the conditions which would naturally produce such a work, and the various objec- tions to such an origin, mostly technical, do not fur- nish a sufficient reason for abandoning its Mosaic origin. That it was written in the days of Josiah, 2 Kings 22:8, or perhaps in the troublous times of Man- asseh, by one who sought to dramatize Moses and so to arouse the people to a higher life, is an assumption requiring so many unlikely conditions for its fulfill- ment that it becomes almost impossible of acceptance. The Book of Deuteronomy fitly closes the formative period of Israel's history. With the death of their great leader, Moses, the whole scenery and action change. The foundations have been laid and the work of development now begins. Those critics who ignore the old Hebrew division, known as the Torah or the Law, and contend for a Hexateuch, made by the addition of the Book of Joshua to the Pentateuch, forget the importance of this distinction. Joshua marks the beginning of a new era in their history; it does not form the conclusion of an older order. This is as The Tor all or the Law 45 manifest locally as historically and doctrinally. Out of slavery and the long and weary migratory life to which Deuteronomy brings us, they pass in Joshua to their settlement in a permanent home. The national spirit now begins to arouse them to a sense of their unique position among the nations. Doctrinally Moses had brought them to know and honor the idea of law, and especially had he taught them the supreme importance of that Law of Love to Jehovah, 6:4, 5, which is the underlying principle of all noble charac- ter, and is used by Christ as expressing the succinct and all-comprehensive principle of the New Dispensa- tion, where love to God and love to man form the supreme attainment to which the Gospel leads. Mark 12:29-31. Works of Reference on the Pentateuch. — Conirncii- taries: Delitzsch, Dillmann, and older, Lange and Bush. hitroductiojis : Driver, Keil, Bleek and Kautzsch's Literature of the Old Testament. Criticism: Green's Higher Criticism of the Pe?itatetich a?id Unity of the Book of Genesis. Bissell's Genesis Printed in Colors. Sayce, The LligJier Criticisin and the Montifnents. W. R. Smith, The Old Testafnent vi tJie Jeivish Church. Gigot, Special Lntroduction to the Study of the Old Testament. Chambers, Moses and His Rece?it Critics. The article "Pentateuch," in Smith's Bible Dictionary, and "Hexa- teuch," in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. See also an article by Dr. A. J. F. Behrends in Methodist Reviezv, Sept. to Oct., 1902, p. 785. Hilprecht, Explorations in Bible La?ids in the igth Century. THE PROPHETS NABIIM The second section of the Hebrew Bible is called "The Prophets," Nabiim. The title indicates its gen- eral character, for it relates to that period of Jewish life which came more directly under the influence of the prophets who were the great teachers of the people. This section is divided into Former Prophets and Latter Prophets. The books composing the Former Prophets are historical in character; those composing the Latter Prophets are hortatory. L The Former Prophets The books known as the Former Prophets are Joshua, Judges, I and 2 Samuel, and I and 2 Kings. Various reasons have been given for calling these books prophetical. Some say it is because they were written by or under the direction of the prophets, or because they relate largely to the lives of the older prophets, like Samuel, Elijah, and others whose teach- ings have not been fully recorded. But a more suit- able reason may be found in the underlying purpose for which these books were written. While largely occupied with historical matters, the purpose in record- ing them is to set forth the development of the king- dom of God. Whatever of Jewish history is needful to explain that development is recorded in these 46 TJie Prophets 47 books, sometimes with a prominence and prolixity which seem out of all proportion to the importance of the fact itself, and whatever is not necessary to that result is either ignored or passed over in the briefest manner, although it would be considered an important fact by the ordinary historian. This conception of these books is necessary to any proper understanding of them, or to explain the great prominence assigned them in the Hebrew Canon. They do not profess to be a general history of the old world, not even a history of the Jewish race, but a record of God's revelation of His plan of salvation, and only so much history is given as will enable us to trace the unfolding of that divine plan. This will help us to understand why some periods are so fully treated while others are passed over almost without notice. This will also explain to some extent why the author of these books is not mentioned. Throughout it is God who is brought into prominence, the human agency is seldom recognized. H. The Latter Prophets The books composing this division differ from those of the Former Prophets in that they give the author's name and are hortatory rather than historical in their contents. They are divided into Major and Minor Prophets. Of the Major we have three, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel; of the Minor we have twelve, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malacni. The terms Major and Minor refer simply to the size of the books. 48 Oiitlhies of a7i hitrodiictioii to the Old Testament The peculiar feature of these books is that they record the teachings of the men whose names they bear. From them we learn but little of Jewish history, and that in a very fragmentary and incidental way. The Latter Prophets were preeminently the teachers of the divine will to their generation, giving God's message relating to their own time and revealing also God's purpose in regard to the future development of His kingdom. When they refer to history it is to furnish a background to their teaching, or so to locate the truth they utter that the people may recognize the presence and the power of God in its fulfillment. Many attempts have been made to fix the dates of the Minor Prophets. The older critics considered the order in which they now appear in the Bible as the true chronological order, but later scholarship has shown that this is incorrect. Some have thought the length of the book decided the location of it. Some have seen an effort to secure a continuity of thought in the arrangement. In a very broad way we may classify them under the three periods of Jewish history: I. Assyrian: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah. II. Chaldean: Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah. III. Post-Exilic: Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. Those who would fix the order by the internal evi- dence arrange as follows: I. Assyrian: Amos, Hosea, Joel, Micah, and Jonah. II. Chaldean: Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Obadiah. III. Post-Exilic; Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi. Fortunately it is not the time element so much as llic Prophets 49 the contents that is interesting and important. When we reflect that the period embraced in these books covers ahiiost all of Jewish history after the separation of the two kingdoms, that these writers were among the most broad-minded and spiritual of the nation, that they discuss fundamental questions of statesman- ship, morals, and religion, that their one purpose was to hold in check the bad elements of society and give broader opportunity to secure the choicest results of living both here and hereafter, we see that these books are minor only in size, and we do not wonder that those who have carefully filled in the outlines here presented have found them intensely interesting and valuable. The prophet usually delivered his message orally, and this oral message was afterward written out by him or his amanuensis. (Jer. 36:4.) These written reports, prepared by the prophets themselves, consti- tute our present prophetical books. The Minor Prophets have been preserved in a very condensed form, while in the Major Prophets we approach much more nearly to the form of the oral address. Kautzsch well says (Lit. of the 0. T., p. 49), "The inspiration of the prophets is the heart of the Old Testament Revelation: their whole appearance is the strongest guarantee of the choice and training of Israel as a special arrangement of God's, as the beginning of his saving ways towards mankind." The following Table will show the dates assigned to the different Prophets by different authorities. Many of them are largely conjectural. Those marked "Ussher" are those generally found in our English Bible. 50 OtUlines of an Introdiictioti to the Old Testament USSHER G. A. SMITH DRIVER Isaiah 76o-698(?) 741-701 740-701 Jeremiah 629-587 (?) 627-586 626-586 Ezekiel 595-572 592-570 Daniel (?) 607-534 165 300-167 Hosea 785-725 741-736 746-734 Joel 800 404 Amos 787 759-745 760-746 Obadiah 587 Early exile 586 Jonah 862 301 In Fifth Cent. Micah 750-710 720-681 Before 722 (?) Nahum 713 607 (?) 664-607 Habakkuk 626 610 (?) 602-597 Zephaniah 630 626 Before 621 Haggai 520 520-516 520 „ , . , . , w i Ch. 1-8 520-516 520 Zectariah 520-517 ] ch. 9-14 332-301 333 Malachi 397 464 432 I. THE FORMER PROPHETS JOSHUA I. Name The book receives its name from the man whose life-work it records. Joshua (Heb., Jehoshua; in Neh. 8:17 Jeshua, "Jehovah is Salvation"; Greek equivalent, "Jesus"), the son of Nun, of the tribe of Ephraim, was born in Egypt, about forty years before the exodus, became the confidential counsellor of Moses, and suc- ceeded to the leadership after Moses died. Num. 27:18. His great work, the conquest of Canaan and the settlement of the tribes, was done after he was eighty-five years old. His leadership continued for a quarter of a century, and after a farewell address he died and was buried in the city allotted him for his home, Timnath-Serah, 24:30, when he was one hun- dred and ten years old. He was a brave soldier, a great statesman, and a faithful servant of God. TJic Prophets 51 II. Position Its position has always been at the head of the Former Prophets, the second division of the Hebrew Bible, immediately after the Pentateuch, where its his- torical position would place it. Its close relation to the Pentateuch is intimated by the word "And" with which the book begins. It appears also in the fact that it gives completeness to much of which we find the beginning in the Pentateuch. We note further that there is a great similarity in the style and the general conditions surrounding the people. These facts have led many later critics to ignore the old Jewish divisions of the books, and speak of the Hexateuch instead of the Pentateuch. But there is no good reason for such a change. At no time did the Jews ever consider them in any such relation, and the fact that the Samaritans accepted the Pentateuch but rejected Joshua shows there was abroad line of separa- tion between them. The book has all the features of an independent work, having a definite purpose with a regular beginning and conclusion. As the Pentateuch closes with the death of Moses, their first leader, so Joshua closes with the death of Joshua. Some of the regulations made in the Pentateuch, in regard to the cities of refuge, are changed in the book of Joshua, and the orthography is different, implying independ- ence of authorship. III. Scope It does not give us a complete history of the nation under Joshua's administration, but is limited to the story of the conquest and the settlement of Canaan, with a few details in regard to Joshua's death. Nor 52 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testame?it do we find anything like a full account of these mat- ters, for it makes a record of only a few of the great battles, and gives only a general sketch of the location of the tribes, with almost nothing to indicate the extent or thoroughness with which the work was done. It covers the period from 145 1 B. C. to 1426, about twenty-five years. IV. Analysis The book has three main divisions: 1. The Conquest. Chs. 1-12. a. Preparation. Commission of Joshua. Ch. I. Spies sent to Jericho. Ch. 2. Crossing the Jordan. Chs. 3 and 4. Consecration to the work. Ch. 5. b. The war. Capture of strongholds. Chs. 6-8. Defeat of allied kings at Beth-Horon. Chs. g-ii. Review of victories. Ch. 12. 2. Division of the land. Chs. 13-21. Assignment of East Jordan. Ch. 13. The gift to Caleb. Ch. 14. Division of West Jordan. Chs. 15-21. 3. The farewell. Chs. 22-24. Departure of tribes for East Jordan. Ch. 22. Joshua's first farewell. Ch. 23. His second address. Ch. 24. His death. Ch. 24. V. Literary Features The general style so closely resembles that of the Pentateuch that later critics usually discuss them together, finding evidence of what they call a com- The Prophets 53 posite work, i.e., a work depending on earlier docu- ments which have been here put together by one or more editors. The evidence for this is partly chro- nological and partly literary. Events are introduced, it is said, out of their chronological order, the editor not being careful in the use of his documents to arrange them as the events occurred. Or certain liter- ary characteristics appear, such as different names for God; or contradictory statements, such as those rela- ting to the conquest of the land and the destruction of the Canaanites, which show the careless use of docu- ments rather than work of an original writer. The unsatisfactory results of such criticism have so far prevented their general acceptance. It is found utterly impossible to discover any test by which these documents can be distinguished from each other. The attempt to reconstruct these so-called original docu- ments so as to show they form separate accounts of the same facts has never yet proved satisfactory. And the apparent discrepancies are usually nothing more than we find in all historical writings where the same facts are considered from a different point of view, and items are mentioned or omitted as the imme- diate occasion demands. Almost any historical record, subjected to such arbitrary and elastic rules would encounter the same objections. VI. Authorship The book presents nothing by which we can deter- mine positively as to its authorship. It seems certain that it must have been written soon after the death of Joshua, if he did not write it. We read, 6:25, "Rahab dwelleth in Israel unto this day." In 15:63 we are 54 Otitli7ics ofa?t Introductio7i to the Old Tcstame?tt told, "The Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." The writer identifies himself with the times, 5:1; speaking of the crossing of the Jordan he says, "Until zve were passed over." On the other hand events are recorded which took place after the death of Joshua, as in 15:13-20, the account of Caleb's taking possession of Hebron; 12:14, the reference to Hormah (see Judges 1:17); 19:47, the migration of Dan, which took place during the Judges. But in 24:26 we read, "And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the Law of God," which may mean that he wrote all of the book which precedes this passage, or may be limited to the immediate context, the material prepared by Joshua being arranged in present form afterward. Conjectures as to authorship vary from Joshua to Ezra, and even later. VII. Religious Value of the Book The profound religious tone is manifest from the first summons of Joshua to the day of his death. In 1:6-9 Jehovah calls him to take the place from which Moses is taken; in 5:13-15 the Prince of the Host of Jehovah comes to him, and all through his leadership there is a close fellowship with Jehovah such as we find in no later leader. To all this his own heart was profoundly submissive, and when at the end of his honorable career he reviews his life-work he freely ascribes all the glory to God. His biography shows how the soldier spirit can har- monize with devout loyalty to God. Exception has been taken to his treatment of the Canaanites, Ch. 11, but this can be defended, not only by the command of God, but by the stern necessities of the time, when The Prophets 55 the religious interests of Israel and the overflowing wickedness of the Canaanites demanded that the land be rescued from their power. LITERATURE Com7nc?ttanes : Keil and Delitzsch, Dillmann, Bush, Calvin. Literature : Stanley, History of the Jewish CJiurcJi ; Addis, Doeu?ne?its of the HexatencJi; Smith, The Old Testame7it in tJie Jewish OmrcJi ; Smith's and Hastings' Bible Dictionaries. JUDGES I. Name The Book of Judges rightly occupies the second place among the Former Prophets, since it continues the history of Israel from the death of Joshua. It does not profess to give a continuous history of the time, but tells of a series of distinguished leaders who governed the people during the period between Joshua and Samuel, when the affairs of Israel were in a very disorganized condition. The Hebrew name, Shophetim, "J^^^g^s," but imper- fectly describes the office occupied by these men. They were leaders appointed by God to rescue the people from the oppression of foreign nations, and their civil functions seem to have grown out of their success in battle. Hence they are called "Saviours/' 3:9, as well as "Judges," 2:16. Their position was due to their personal character, and except in the case of Gideon there does not seem to have been any attempt to make the office hereditary. 56 Outlmcs ofa?i Introductio7i to the Old Testament II. Contents The book opens with an introduction which tells of the incompleteness of the work of conquest begun by Joshua, and then explains why Israel remained so long in such an unenviable condition, subject to the constant inroads of their enemies, viz., their unfaithfulness to God, It then relates the work of the leaders whom God raised up when they besought His help, and con- cludes with two narratives of such prominence as to have seriously affected the national history. The following outline will show the course of thought: 1. Introduction. Chs. 1:1-3:6. Review of the work of conquest after the death of Joshua. Chs. 1:1-2:5. The general condition during the period of the Judges. Chs. 2:6-3:6. 2. Narratives of the judges. Chs. 3:7-16:31. Of these judges we have an account of twelve, if we reckon as one Deborah and Barak who were associated in their work, and omit Abimelech, the son of Gideon, who was regarded as a usurper. The work of six of these judges is recorded with considerable detail: (i) Othniel, 3:7-11; (2) Ehud, 3:12-30; (3) Deborah and Barak, Chs. 4 and 5; (4) Gideon, Chs. 6:1-8:32; (5) Jephthah, 10:6-12:7; (6) Samson, Chs. 13-16. We are told almost nothing of the work of the remaining six: (i) Shamgar, 3:31; (2) Tola, 10:1, 2; (3) Jair, 10:3-5; (4) Ibzan, 12:8-10; (5) Elon, 12:11, 12; (6) Abdon, 12:13-15. 3. Two supplemental narratives. Chs. 17-21. a. The story of the migration of a part of the tribe of Dan to the north, where they captured Laish and gave it the name of Dan and instituted The Prophets 57 a system of idolatrous worship under Micah. Chs. 17 and 18. b. The story of the terrible slaughter of the tribe of Benjamin by the other tribes, on account of its defense of the men of Gibeah who had assaulted and murdered the concubine of a Levite, and of the measures taken to prevent the total extinction of that guilty tribe. Chs. 19-21. III. Chronology The fragmentary character of the book makes it almost impossible to fix the date of the different events or tell how long a period they all embrace. From I Kings 6:1 we learn that the period from the exodus to the fourth year of Solomon covered 480 years. If we add the figures given in our book they amount to 410 years, and this would leave only 70 years for the administration of Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David. To overcome this difficulty some have sup- posed the years mentioned are not intended to be exact but round numbers, and the frequent recurrence of 20, 40, 80 years v^^ould give some force to the sug- gestion. Others question the accuracy of i Kings 6:1, where the Hebrew has 480 years while the Septuagint has 440, and Josephus {Aiitiq. 8:3:1) gives 592. But the more general explanation is that these judges did not succeed each other, but that there was often more than one exercising the office in different parts of the country at the same time. In 10:7 we are told the Lord sold the people into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the children of Ammon. The Philistines were on the west, the Ammonites on the east, and the statement reads as though an invasion 58 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament from both directions occurred at the same time. The same thing may have happened in regard to other judges, and thus the number of years may be reduced until it coincides with the figures given in other places. The two narratives at the end of the book are evi- dently placed where they are in order not to disturb the record of the judges, and not because they occurred at the end of the period. Dan is mentioned in Deborah's Song, 5:17, but nothing is said of this expedition, from which we infer that it took place after Deborah's time, although Moore {Com. on Judges, p. 372) would place it soon after the occupation of Canaan. The incident in regard to Benjamin occurred before the death of Phinehas, 20:28, but we do not know when he died. IV. Authorship The Talmud ascribes it to Samuel, while modern critics refer it to various persons down to the time of Ezra. We know nothing as to the authorship. The freshness and minuteness of the narratives imply they were written while yet the memory of the events was fresh, while the decided difference in the style of different parts would indicate that the book was not all written by one person. The double preface and the double appendix, have a common form, but the record of the judges is evidently by another hand. It seems likely that the book was put into its present form by some one who collected different documents and arranged them as we now find them. The expression "Unto this day," 15:19, and the fact that the Jebusites, 1:21, still occupied Jerusalem would suggest that this was done at an early date. The Prophets 59 V. Value of the Book As a connecting link between Joshua and the Kings the book has great value. From it we learn how the work of conquest, begun by Joshua, was carried for- ward; how the tribes were drawn together, both for defense against their enemies and for their own inter- nal development, until they became a great nation and were ready for a fully-equipped government under Saul and David. It is invaluable also for the light it throws on the historical books which follow it. The career of Saul and the splendid reign of David stand out in their true color only when we see behind them the dark background of the period of the judges. As the record of a great transition period in Jewish his- tory, both in religious and secular affairs, it has great value. LITERATURE Commentaries : Moore, The hiternational Critical Com- mentary ; Bush; Keil and Delitzsch. FIRST AND SECOND SAMUEL I. Name The two books of Samuel receive their name Shemu-el, "Name of God," or "Asked of God," i Sam. 1:20, not from their author, but from the prophet who is such a conspicuous character in them. In the Hebrew they formed but one book, called "The Book of Samuel," but in the Septuagint and other ancient versions it was divided into two, and in 15 17 the Hebrew was divided, by Bomberg in his first edition of the Rabbinic Bible, to correspond with them. Because of its similarity in contents to the Book of Kings, 6o Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testame?it which was also originally one book but has been divided into two, the four books of Samuel and Kings were in the older versions called First, Second, Third and Fourth Kings. This second title passed over into our Authorized Version, but has been omitted by the Revisers. Its individuality is well marked. In style and manner of treatment it is widely separated from both Judges and Kings. II. Contents As the two books of Samuel form a continuous nar- rative we shall treat them together. The facts are grouped around three leading characters. 1. Samuel. a. The book opens with a statement of the birth of Samuel, when Eli was High Priest, and the affairs of Israel were in a disorderly condition. Chs. 1-3. b. Samuel's judgeship, growing out of the invasion of the Philistines, with the loss of the Ark and its restoration. Chs. 4-7. c. The clamor of Israel for a king, the anointing of Saul, and his confirmation by the people. Chs. 8-12. 2. Saul. a. The disastrous reign of Saul up to the time of his rejection. Chs. 13-15. b. The selection of David as his successor with an account of the relations existing between David and Saul. Chs. 16-30. c. The tragic death of Saul and his sons on the bat- tlefield. Ch. 31. 3. David. a. David's lament over Saul and his crowning as king over Judah. 2 Sam. Chs. 1-4. The Prophets 6 1 b. David is crowned as king over all Israel, makes provision for the public worship, and overcomes the opposition to his royal position. Chs. 5-9. c. The public acts of David and the sins and sorrows of his later years, with the account of his repentance and spiritual progress. Chs. 10-24. III. Authorship The name of the author cannot now be determined. The book bears plain marks of diverse authorship. The claim of the Talmud, that Samuel wrote it, cannot possibly be correct beyond the twenty-fifth chapter of the first book, since his death is there recorded, and the strong probabilities are that he did not write even those parts which precede his death. The prevalent opinion is that the writer collected his facts from different documents of a historical character and arranged them in their proper order. These docu- ments, prepared near the time in which the events occurred, give to the work the strongest assurance of its truthfulness. In support of this theory it is noted: (i) That parts of the work are composed of brief fragments, while other parts are written with much more detail. (2) Different accounts of the same event are given, such as the manner of Saul's appointment, i Sam. 9:1-10:16 and 10:17-27, and the sparing of Saul's life by David, Chs. 24 and 26, which accounts are not contradictory as some assert, but emphasize different features of the same transaction. (3) Detached observations are added, apparently by the compiler. 62 Outlines of an Introduction to tJie Old Testament (4) A comparison of different events as recorded by the author of this book and as found in the book of Chronicles, indicate different sources of information. The evidence seems to show that the writer drew from documents which were easily accessible and of a well-known historical character, such as the Book of Jashar, 2 Sam. 1:18, and a History of David, i Chron. 29:29. The practice of preserving such documents is too well known to need reference. (2 Sam. 8:16.) It has been claimed that there is a discrepancy in some of the statements which discredits the whole nar- rative. Thus, the statement in i Sam. 7:13, in regard to the expulsion of the Philistines, seems at variance with I Sam. 9:16, where they are still seen in conflict with Israel; and the manner of Saul's becoming king in I Sam. 9:1-10:16 differs from what is said in 10:17-27; the statement of the early relations between Saul and David, found in i Sam. 16:14-23, seems to conflict with i Sam. 17:55-58. But these admit of a solution which is consistent with the general accuracy of the record. The driving out of the Philistines at one period does not preclude their reappearance many years later. Saul's anointing by the prophet does not conflict with his official acceptance by the people afterward; and when we consider the mental condition of Saul, his seeming ignorance of David need not be thought strange. Other apparent discrepancies are doubtless due to the brevity of the statement and our ignorance of the details. Nor do these facts necessarily imply a late origin of the book as many assert. On the contrary, it was probably written not long after the period to which The Prophets 63 the events refer. The language places it among the products of the purest period of Hebrew literature, and the limited reference to historical documents shows that it preceded the fuller literature of a later period. The indications point to a time not long after the death of Solomon. IV. Design It is apparent that the author did not intend to give a complete history of Israel during the time of which he wrote or even a complete history of the men whose lives are so prominent in the book. Had this been his purpose he would certainly have told us something of the last days of David. For this we must go to another and later work, the Book of Kings. He is not writing a general history, but as the Jews well under- stood, a theocratic history, in which the grand aim is to show how God is working out his plan of redemp- tion through Israel. Hence many things are omitted as not bearing on this theme, while the Messianic ele- ment is everywhere made prominent. The establish- ment of the kingdom, the selection of David and his typical character, the renewal and enlargement of the Messianic promises, — these are the central thoughts and they are .wrought out in such a way as to show that God is always present and so guiding in the affairs of His people as to make His purpose better known and bring it nearer to its consummation. V. Differences between Samuel and Chronicles Since the same period of history is treated in the books of Samuel and Chronicles it is natural to com- pare them. Attention has been called frequently to the fact that many events recorded in Samuel are 64 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament omitted in Chronicles, such as David's kindness to Mephibosheth, 2 Sam. Ch. 9; the story of Bath-sheba and Uriah, 2 Sam. Chs. 11 and 12; the rebellion of Absalom, 2 Sam. 15; and David's song and last words, 2 Sam. Chs. 22 and 23. On the other hand Chronicles contains much that is omitted in Samuel, as David's preparation for the building of the temple, the arrangement of the Levites and priests for the temple service, and David's officers and heroes. In other places the order in which the events occurred is different, and the numbers given in Sam- uel differ widely from those found in Chronicles. But if we remember the different purpose of the two books, these variations present little difficulty. In Samuel the object is to record such facts as bear on the public welfare, the affairs of state; while Chronicles has its motive in the religious life of the time. Each writer would naturally select those facts which bore directly on his theme and develop them more fully, while he would pass lightly over, or altogether omit those which were not essential for his purpose. The difference in numbers is sometimes perplexing, but the confusion may be due to causes for which the writers are not responsible, especially the primitive method of Hebrew reckoning by figures, or the liability to mistake in transcribing. LITERATURE Commentaries: Keil and Delitzsch; Smith, Interna- tioTial Critical Commentary . Driver' s Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samnel ; Keil's and Driver's I?itro- diiction to the Old Testament; Articles on Samuel, in Smith's and Hastings' Bible Dictio?iaries . The Prophets 65 FIRST AND SECOND KINGS I. Name In the Hebrew the First and Second Book of Kings originally formed one book, called in Hebrew Sepher Melakim, "The Book of Kings," or more briefly Mela- kim, "Kings." They complete the series of historic records covering the period from the entrance into the land of Canaan to the Babylonian Captivity. H. Contents The two books are naturally divided into three sec- tions. 1. The reign of Solomon. Chs. i-ii. Solomon chosen as the successor to King David, and the successful inauguration of his work. Chs. 1-3. The magnificence of his reign and his public buildings, including the temple. Chs. 4-10. His gradual decline in morals, and his death. Ch. 11. 2. The divided kingdom, i Kings Ch. 12 to 2 Kings Ch. 17. The disruption and antagonism between the two kingdoms. Chs. 12-16. Elijah and his work. Chs. 17-19. The period of intermarriage between the royal families of the two kingdoms, i Kings Ch. 20 to 2 Kings Ch. 11. The period ending with the overthrow of Israel. Chs. 12-17. 3. The kingdom of Judah. Chs. 18-25. Hezekiah's reforms. Chs. 18-20. The reaction. Ch. 21. Josiah and the Book of the Law. Chs. 22, 23. The final plunge into idolatry and the overthrow. Chs. 24 and 25. III. Characteristics I. The books are in no proper sense a history of the period of which they treat, much less a collection of biographical sketches of their kings. They attempt to 66 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament explain the relation of the kingdom to God, and to show how plainly obedience to God brought prosperity and disobedience ruin. 2. A special feature of the record is the prominence given to the prophet. The book covers the main period of the prophetic activity, and continual refer- ence is made to what they said and did. During Solo- mon's reign Nathan, I Kings 1:22, and Ahijah, i Kings 11:29, exert great influence over both king and people. Later we have the record of Elijah, during the reign of Ahab, followed by that of Elisha. Still later we find Isaiah speaking for God in a way which gave him a tremendous power in the national life. Incidental reference is made to many others like Micaiah, i Kings 22:5-9, Huldah, 2 Kings 22:14, and an unnamed prophet, I Kings 13:1-32. The prophet becomes the eye of God to detect their breach of faith to their covenant with Jehovah, and the voice of God to pronounce judgment on the rebellious and assure mercy to those who are faithful. 3. A strong theocratic tone pervades the book. Frequent reference is made to the Mosaic law, i Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 17:36, 37, and these grow more frequent as the history advances. Mention is made of special divine interference, I Kings 11:31; God is recognized in the appoinment of their kings, i Kings 15:4. Large space is given to the building of God's Temple, I Kings Ch. 5-8, and it is specially noted that at its dedication the divine glory filled it, I Kings 8:10, ii. When the writer sums up the record of each king, he estimates his success or failure not by the magnificence of his reign, but by his relation to God, 2 Kings 15:18; 2 Kings 12:2. The Praphcts 6y IV. Sources The book covers about 450 years and the writer had to depend on historical documents as the foundation of his narrative, but he has so woven his material together as to give a unity to his work and show his ability to understand the relative value of the facts with which he had to deal. For the first time we find authorities regularly quoted and the reader is referred to documents where addi- tional information may be obtained in regard to the subject under consideration, I Kings 14:29. Three such documents are regularly mentioned: (i) "The Book of the Acts of Solomon," I Kings 11:41, is the authority in regard to matters relating to the reign of Solomon. (2) For the kings of Judah he refers to "The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Judah," I Kings 14:29. (3) For the kings of Israel he quotes from "The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel," i Kings 15:31. These seem to have been con- temporary records, official and historical, of the several kings. From David's time onward a special officer was appointed for this purpose. 2 Sam. 20:25. From the Book of Chronicles we learn of several other his- torical documents, 2 Chron. 12:15, to which he doubt- less had access. For the latter part of his history there were numerous prophetical writings containing much historical material. The fidelity with which he refers to these documents and the entire tone of his narrative impress us with confidence as to his accu- racy. The method of treatment of the different kings is also worthy of notice. When treating of the kings of Judah, he first mentions the name of the king of Israel, 68 Outlines of an I?ttroduction to the Old Testament then gives the king's name, the length of his reign, and his mother's name. He then tells us what the king did, and completes the record by referring us to his authorities and making a statement regarding his death, burial, and the name of his successor, i Kings 15:9-24; 2 Kings 8:16-24. The record of the kings of Israel is more brief but equally methodical, i Kings 15:33; 16:5,6. Immediately after the opening formula he shows the theocratic impulse which underlies his work by telling us what was the king's relation to God, and then presenting the facts on which he bases his judgment, i Kings 16:15-20. V. Chronology The general accuracy of these books is beyond ques- tion, but certain difficulties are encountered when we attempt to locate special events. These difficulties may be traced to two causes, the lack of any exact point from which to compute the time, and the pres- ence of certain facts which do not seem to harmonize with other known facts. Thus, in dating the acces- sion of the kings of Judah, instead of giving the exact year on which his reign began, he tells us how long the contemporary king of Israel had been on the throne, and conversely for the kings of Israel. When we add these reigns together we find that for the period from the death of Solomon to the destruction of Samaria, 260 years are allotted to the kings of Judah, while the kings of Israel have 241 years, 7 months, and 7 days. (Kautzsch, Lit. of the 0. T., p. 73.) Here is a difference of nearly twenty years. This may doubt- less be explained, in part at least, by the habit of reckoning the part of a year during which a king The Prophets 69 reigned as a whole year, and in part by the fact that in some cases the successor of a king was appointed before the death of his predecessor, as in the case of Azariah and Jotham, 2 Kings 15:5, where the old king may have been regarded as reigning until his death, while his successor may have dated his reign from the time when he became coadjutor to the old king. Or there may have been an interregnum which was omitted in the record. On the other hand specific dates, which seem incor- rect, may have been inserted by a later hand, as i Kings 6:1, which many reject. . The dates in regard to the reign of Jehoram are greatly confused, as are those of Menahem. But these defects do not properly invalidate the history whose extreme brevity prevents the introduction of facts which might easily remove our confusion. When we compare the Book of Kings with the Assyrian inscriptions many difficulties are explained and the two independent records are found to agree in their general outlines. It is there seen that the state- ments made in the Scriptures in regard to the relation of the Jews to the surrounding nations agree with the record made by those nations, with differences so trifling as to occasion no serious difficulty. The Moabite Stone confirms the facts mentioned in 2 Kings 3:4-27. (Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible , III., p. 404.) VI. Authorship The silence of the book as to its origin opens the way for many conjectures. The record properly closes with the overthrow of Judah, and such advanced critics as Wellhausen claim for it substantially a pre- 70 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament exilic date, with occasional statements inserted later. If 2 Kings 25:27 is a part of the original record, the history is continued to the thirty-seventh year of the captivity, 560 B. C. The character of the Hebrew would indicate that it was written about that time. The old Jewish tradition, found in the Talmud, ascribes the work to the prophet Jeremiah. With this the general tone and literary style agree. Some modern critics refer it to Ezra. Keil thinks it was written by some unknown Jew living in the Babylonian exile. LITERATURE Commentaries: Rawlinson in Speaker's Cojnmentary, Keil, Lange. hitroductions of Driver, Keil and Bleek. Smith, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church; Stanley, History of the Jezvish Church. II. THE LATTER PROPHETS ISAIAH I. Name The book receives its name from its author, which in Hebrew signifies "Salvation of God." Of his per- sonal history we know but little. His father's name was Amoz, i:i, by some thought to be a brother of king Amaziah. He is not to be confused with the prophet Amos; the two names being in Hebrew spelled quite differently. He was married, 8:3, and had two sons, 7:3 and 8:3. The period of his prophet- ical activity was from the last year of Uzziah, 6:1, to the fourteenth year of Hezekiah, 36:1. An unreliable Jewish tradition locates his death in the reign of Manasseh, when he was sawn asunder by that king on The Prophets 71 account of his persistent rebuke of his idolatry. His literary activity, as appears from 2 Chron. 26:22 and 32:32, was not confined to the book which now bears his name. Hosea and Amos were his contemporary prophets during the earlier part of his ministry, and Micah during the latter. The scene of his ministry was Jerusalem, where he seems to have lived, 2 Kings 20:4, and where he exerted a powerful influence upon the king and the people, especially during the reign of Hezekiah, 37:2. His strong personality, his great influence in civil affairs, his broad conception of the world, the length of his ministry, his magnificent style, and the profound spiritual tone of his writings have placed him at the head of the prophetic order. H. Position In our Hebrew Bible Isaiah stands first in the list of "Latter Prophets," and this order is found in the Spanish manuscripts and in the Jewish Massorah. This gives it its correct chronological position. In the Talmud and in the German manuscripts it follows Eze- kiel, being third in the list, which reads Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah. The reason assigned for this by Kimchi is that the arrangement is due to the subject matter, Jeremiah opening with a sentiment akin to that found in the end of the Book of Kings. Bleek thinks the latter was the original arrangement. HI. Conditions under Which the Book Was Written Isaiah began his career just as the long and splendid reign of King Uzziah was drawing to its close, 6:1. It 72 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament had been an era of great material prosperity, which continued under Jotham, his successor, but declined under Ahaz, whose numerous wars resulted disastrously to the physical resources of his kingdom. The acces- sion of Hezekiah, with his high moral purposes and his heroic effort to rescue his country from the grasp of her haughty invaders, checked the decline, but could not finally avert it. If, according to Jewish tradition, the prophet lived to witness the turbulence and the growing weakness of the nation under Manasseh, his experience must have been both exciting and depress- ing. Spiritually the changes were equally great and dis- heartening. Uzziah had sought the true spiritual development of his people. Ahaz openly cast aside the faith of his fathers and embraced idolatry. Under Hezekiah a grand reformation was wrought, owing doubtless to the persistent effort of Isaiah; but under the influence of Manasseh the nation sank again to the lowest depths of spiritual degradation and was swept away by the Babylonian invasion ending in the great captivity. In both civil and religious affairs Isaiah was a lead- ing factor, always stoutly maintaining fidelity to God and justice to man. His personal relations with the royal families seem to have been very intimate, and he did not hesitate to speak boldly against their wickedness. He was so outspoken against all the prevalent forms of sin that both court and people feared and honored him. Few men have had such a grand field in which to labor; none have faced their responsibilities more manfully, or worked more energetically and hopefully The Prophets 73 in the face of difficulty and defeat. As a statesman he was profound in detecting the evil influences at work among his people, and telling how to avert them; as a prophet he shows a knowledge of the kingdom of God surpassing that of any other prophet. IV. Contents It is difficult to make a formal analysis of the con- tents of this book. The arrangement is neither chro- nological nor topical, although we frequently find similar topics grouped together. The following will give a general idea of the contents: A. Earlier prophecies, centering mainly around the invasion of Judah by the allied forces of Syria and Ephraim. Chs. 1-12. 1. Introductory. Chs. 1-6. The book opens with a formal arraignment charging the people with unfaithfulness and ingratitude to God. Chs. 2-4 relate to the judgment of God for the pride and luxury of the people, but contain a vision of bless- ing for those who are "left in Zion." Ch. 5 shows how God is displeased with their ingratitude. The sixth chapter presents the peculiar and sublime account of Isaiah's formal call to his prophetic office. 2. Prophecies of the Syro-Ephraimitish war. Chs. 7-12. The prophet addresses Ahaz on the alliances against him, and tells him he is not to fear the approach of his enemies, Ch. 7:3; predicts the birth of Immanuel, 7:14; announces the terrible judgments which will fall on those who do not trust in Jehovah, and the surpass- ing blessedness to follow the advent of the wonderful child to be born, 9:1-7- The peculiar recurring refrain 74 OtUlines of an Introductio7i to the Old Testament Ch. 9:12, 17, 21, gives great solemnity to this utter- ance. The section closes with a lengthy statement of the ambition and fall of the Assyrians, Ch. 10, and gives a most consoling picture of the kingdom of Messiah, Ch. 11, and of the gratitude which will inspire the hearts of the faithful as they enter upon their blessings, Ch. 12. B. Oracles regarding foreign nations. Chs. 13-27. 1. The various nations which have in any way tried to embarrass God's people are brought in review, and in a very searching way told of their sin and of the judgment which will follow. Chs. 13-23. In these oracles, or burdens, the prophet displays a profound knowledge of the peculiarities of the nations and of their designs upon the Jews. 2. The section concludes with a grand song of tri- umph, beginning with the recital of God's judgment on the ungodly nations which have thought to destroy Israel, Ch. 24, and then passing on to praise God for His tender care of His people. Both the language and the thought are of the highest order. The con- ception is lofty and the scope universal; the poetical diction placing it among the choicest specimens of Old Testament literature. Embedded in the general song are four beautiful hymns, 25:1-4; 25:6-8; 26:1- 10; 27:2-6, which add greatly to the effect. C. Prophecies arising from the relations between Judah, Assyria, and Edom, during the earlier years of Hezekiah. Chs. 28-35. The doom of Ephraim is sure, Ch. 28:1-13, but God will lay the corner-stone of His kingdom, 28:14-22; Assyria will grievously afflict Jerusalem, 29:1-8, but God will follow the downfall of the oppressor with a The Prophets 75 condition of unparalleled blessedness for His people, 29:9-24. When the people turn to Egypt for relief from the advancing armies of the Assyrians, 30:2, Isaiah tells how unsatisfactory such an alliance would be, 30:8-32:8, and declares that the end of the Assyrian will soon come, 33:1-12; relieving the sadness of his narrative by painting glowing pictures of the peace and security of God's kingdom, 33:13-24. Turning to Edom, he contrasts its fearful doom, Ch. 34, with the joyful condition of Israel, when, as the "Ransomed of the Lord," they return to Zion, Ch. 35. D. Historical narrative of some events in the life of Hezekiah. Chs. 36-39. The close correspondence between this section and 2 Kings 18:13-20:19 must be carefully noted. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, invades Judah and demands the surrender of Jerusalem, Ch. 36. At Hezekiah's request Isaiah remonstrates with the enemy and predicts his utter overthrow, which quickly follows, Ch. 37. When Hezekiah was sick Isaiah pre- dicts his recovery, and when restored utters a song of thanksgiving, Ch. 38. When Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon, sends an embassy to Hezekiah, he shows them his treasures, for which he is rebuked by the prophet, who predicts that the nation will soon be carried away to Babylon, Ch. 39. E. The great deliverance. Chs. 40-66. The thought of deliverance from bondage and return to their home-land pervades the entire section. Beginning with the proclamation of Cyrus, authorizing their return, it moves grandly forward to its consum- mation, their settlement in their own land in the midst of unspeakable blessings. 76 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament This part of the prophecy may be divided into three nearly equal sections, each ending with a similar sentiment, (i) Chs. 40-48; (2) 49-57; (3) 58-66. 1. In the first section, 40-48, the certainty of deliver- ance is emphasized. After a statement of the fact of deliverance, 40:1, 2; and of the preparations made for it, 40:3; the almighty power of God is exalted in contrast with heathen idols, 40:12-44:27; and then the name of the human agent of deliverance, Cyrus, is given, 44:28-45:1. As if to add confirmation, the prophet draws a further contrast between Jehovah and idols, Chs. 45 and 46; tells how the nation which oppressed them is to be overthrown, Ch. 47; and reasserts the unchangeable purpose of God, Ch. 48. 2. In the second section, Chs. 49-57, ^^^ call is to preparation for this return. In Ch. 49 "The Lord's Servant" is described, the nature of His mission is stated, and His sufferings to secure their release are foretold in Chs. 52 and 53. Zion is comforted by the assurance of the restoration of the divine favor, 56; the faithless and unjust are reproved and repentance urged, Ch. 57. The growing intensity of the indi- viduality of the "Lord's Servant" is to be specially noted throughout this section, as also the clearness with which the idea of vicarious suffering is presented. 3. In the third section, Chs. 58-66, the grand result of deliverance is presented. If the people respond to God's call He will grant rich blessings, 58-60. In Ch. 60 we find a glowing picture of the restored Zion, and in Ch. 61 the Servant of the Lord reappears. Ch. 62 tells of His mission, and the blessings of the restored people are recounted. Chs. 63 and 64 celebrate Israel's triumph over her enemies, and contain a hymn of The Prophets yy thanksgiving and humble confession, full of spiritual fervor and gratitude, magnifying the divine mercy to the chosen people. In Ch. 65 the unfaithful are rejected from the coming blessings and the clioseii seed are assured that a new order will soon be inaugurated, greatly to their peace and happiness. Ch. 66 sets forth the majesty of God's dwelling-place and depicts the severe judgments to fall upon the faithless and the supreme felicity of those who dwell with God. V. Authorship A careful reading of the book reveals a great diver- sity of style and sentiment in different parts of it. This has led to much discussion of the question whether one person wrote all of it. At first Chs. 40-66 were assigned to a person living in Babylon near the end of the captivity. Then a large part of the first thirty-nine chapters were declared to be the work of some one else besides Isaiah. Mitchell, in A Study of Chapters 1-12, declares that at least ten full chapters, besides large portions of others, are not the genuine writings of Isaiah. Some he assigns to a predecessor of Isaiah, but declares they are mostly exilic or post-exilic, thus leaving to Isaiah but a small part, and that the least important part of the book. Driver, in his hitrodiiction to the Old Testa77te?it, page 236 (Sixth Ed.), writing especially of Chs. 40-66, thus presents the argument for a later authorship, under three heads: I. Internal Evide?ice. — Jerusalem is represented in ruins, 44:26; 58:12; 61:4; 63:18; 64:10. The suffer- ings of the Jews are ascribed to the Chaldeans, 42:22, 78 Outli7ies of an Introduction to the Old Testament 25; 43:28 (Rev. Ver. marg.) ; 47:6; 52:5. The end of the captivity is near, 40:2; 46:13; 48:20. The prophet speaks not to men in Jerusalem, but to exiles in Baby- lon, 40:21, 26, 28; 43:10; 48:8; 50:10; 51:6, 12; 58:3. It would be "contrary to the nature of prophecy," he tells us, for one like Isaiah to so project himself into the future. We must suppose the words were written by one living near the facts recited. 2. Literary Style. — Isaiah, he tells us, shows marked individualities of style. "His style is terse and com- pact." "In the chapters which contain evident allu- sions to the age of Isaiah these expressions occur repeatedly; in the chapters which are without such allusions, they are absent and new images and phrases appear instead." On the other hand, the writer of chapters 40-66 "has a style more flowing; the rhetoric is warm and impassioned, and the prophet often bursts into a lyric strain." In Isaiah's imagination grandeur is the most conspicuous characteristic, while in the writer of 40-66 it is pathos. 3. Theology. — "The theological ideas of Chs. 40-66 differ remarkably from those which appear from Chs. 1-39 to be distinctive of Isaiah. Thus, on the nature of God generally, the ideas expressed are much larger and fuller. Isaiah depicts the ;;/^V.y/)/ of Jehovah; in Chs. 40-66 the prophet emphasizes His irifinitiide y "Truths which are merely affirmed in Isaiah are here made the subject of reflection and argument." "The relation of Israel to Jehovah is developed in different terms and under different conceptions from those used by Isaiah." The argument in favor of assigning the authorship to Isaiah alone may be stated as follows: The Prophets 79 1. From the earliest reference to it Isaiah has been regarded as the author of the entire book. The Apoc- ryphal book Ecclesiasticus, 48:22-25, contains an indirect quotation from Isa. 38:8 and 40:1, 2; the first reference being found in the earlier portion of Isaiah, the second in the latter, and both are assigned to Isaiah. The Septuagint, 250 B.C., gives it as one book, and ascribes it to Isaiah. Josephus, Afitiq. XI., i, 2, says it was by reading the prophecies of Isaiah, Cyrus was led to issue the decree allowing the Jews to return from captivity. Allusion to Cyrus is found only in the second part of Isaiah. It would be strange that Cyrus could have been deceived into believing that a writing of his own time had been uttered so long before. In the New Testament Isaiah is quoted more than one hundred times; his name being mentioned twenty- two times, eleven of which are in the first section and eleven in the second. In none of them is any intima- tion given of a division of authorship. Christ quotes from both sections, ascribing them to Isaiah. 2. The book, as it now stands, forms a systematic work; if we separate it, both parts are incomplete. Each part is necessary to explain the other. Chs. 36-39 form a prose connection between these parts, throwing light on what precedes, and opening the way for what follows. In the earlier parts, Chs. 1-39, is a picture of woe and suffering, a just judgment for sin; in the second part, Chs. 40-66, the dark picture is relieved by the promise of deliverance and salvation when that sin is repented of and forgiven. This is the usual course of prophetical teaching, warning fol- lowed by encouragement. To place one hundred and So Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament fifty years between these two parts renders both incomplete and makes Isaiah, as seen in the first sec- tion, a prophet of woe unlike any other of the prophets. Delitzsch, in his Commentary on Isaiah, II., 65, says, "The first half of the collection is a staircase leading up to the addresses to the exiles." 3. Over against the first argument of Driver, "In- ternal Evidence," we find many passages in the second part which read as if they were written, not in Baby- lon, during the exile, but before the exile began. In 42:9 Isaiah expressly says he is about to reveal new things before they spring forth. In 43:22,23 he charges the people with neglecting the sacrificial wor- ship, and in 66:3 says their sacrifices are offered with an improper spirit; charges hardly applicable to the people in Babylon. In 40:2 he speaks comfortably to Jerusalem; a strange procedure if the city had long lain in ashes and was forsaken of her people. 4. As opposed to the second objection of Driver, "Literary Style," we argue that the language of the book shows unity of authorship. This is seen in the special use of words, as 14:7, "They break forth into singing," used also in 44:23 and 49:13, and nowhere else in the Old Testament. The peculiar pointing of the verb amar, when introducing a special message from Jehovah, in i:ii, 18; 33:10, agrees with that found in 40:1, 25; 41:21, and is peculiar to Isaiah. The ex- pression "The Holy One of Israel" is found fourteen times in each section, and nowhere else in the Old Testament. 5. The same fact appears in the theological ideas of the book. In the first part, Chs. 7-1 1, we have the Immanuel prophecy, and this is fitly supplemented in The Prophets 8 1 Chs. 52 and 53 by the Suffering Messiah. Orelli, Comm.y p. 213, who thinks the work as it now stands has been edited by a later hand, says, "That the entire book as it now lies before us comes from one author is undoubted." "The book in its present form was written by one author, from whom we have scarcely anything else in the Bible." In another place, speaking of Chs. 13, 14, 21, 25, which some critics claim were not written by Isaiah, he says, "The resem- blances point to this, that the author, if not identical with Isaiah, drank in the spirit of his book as regards form." If the spirit is identical, why is it necessary to tear the book into fragments and then assign each fragment to a different author? From this survey of the arguments, while we acknowledge the cogency of many of the points raised in opposition to the unity of the book, we see no sufficient reason for departing from the settled opinion that Isaiah is the author of the entire book. It has doubtless met with some modifications by later editors, as have so many of the Old Testament books, yet they are not of such a character as to deprive Isaiah of the claim to authorship. Until more positive and decisive reasons are presented, the claim for a divided author- ship must stand as "not proven." LITERATURE Conunciitaries : Delitzsch, Alexander, Cheyne and G. A. Smith. Introductions of Driver and Keil. For a very exhaustive and satisfactory defense of the unity of Isaiah, see Margoliouth, Li7ies of Defe7ise of the Biblical Revelation, pp. 72-138. For the more radical view, see Cheyne, The Book of Isaiah Chronologically 82 Otttlmes of a?i Iiitroductioti to the Old Testament Arranged; Driver, Isaiah, His Life and Times. For the unity of the book see Douglas, Isaiah 0?ie and His Book One ; Sayce, Fresh Light from the Ancient Montmients a?id The Times of Isaiah; Forbes, The Servant of the Lord; articles on Isaiah in Smith's Bible Diction- ary^ and Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, JEREMIAH I. Name The Hebrew name, Yeremyahu, or more briefly Yermeyah, has been variously explained. Jerome, "Whom Jehovah exalts" ; Gesenius, "Whom Jehovah appoints"; Bleek, "Whom Jehovah hurls or casts." He was born in Anathoth, i:i, in the tribe of Benja- min, two and one-half miles northeast of Jerusalem. He belonged to a priestly family, his father's name being Hilkiah. This was not the High Priest of that name, whose home would have been in Jerusalem, but probably a descendant of Abiathar, whom Solomon banished to Anathoth, i Kings 2:26. Jeremiah fre- quently visited his native place, ii:i8ff. ; 37:1 iff., although his severe condemnation of the sins of his people caused them to treat him with contempt, 29:27, and even to seek his life, 11:21. By divine command he remained unmarried, 16:2. While yet a youth he was called to be a prophet, 1:6; and the sad character of his mission was revealed to him, 1:10. He began his official career in the thir- teenth year of King Josiah, 626 B. C, and continued it until the captivity in 586 B. C. When Nebuzaradan first arranged to take the people to Babylon, Jeremiah was given the choice of going to Babylon, with the The Prophets 83 promise of promotion in the royal palace, 40:4; or remaining with the remnant in Mizpah, 40:6; choosing the latter. Shortly after, apparently against his will, 43:5, he went into Egypt and settled in Tahpanhes, 43:9, where he continued his stern rebuke of their sin, and according to tradition was stoned to death for his fidelity. According to another tradition he died in Babylon. In 2 Mac. 2:iff. there is a curious account telling how Jeremiah, when the temple was burned, took the ark and other holy things and hid them in a cave on Mt. Horeb, there to remain until Messiah should appear. Another idea was that Jeremiah him- self would one day reappear. Matt. 16:14. II. The Conditions under Which He Wrote The announcement made to him when he received his call, 1:10, is the key to his ministry. He appeared at a time when the nation was absorbed in idolatry and sensuality, and his life-work was to rebuke it. Because of this he was reproached as disloyal, 26:8; and treated with contempt, 38:4-6; and great harshness, 37:21. The men of his native town tried to kill him, 11:21; the king hated and imprisoned him, and was prevented from killing him only by fear of the consequences upon himself. His life was a perpetual conflict. He bewails the day of his birth, 20:14; he sheds bitter tears over the persistent sins of the people, 9:1; he suffers the most humiliating punishment, 20:2; lan- guishes in filthy prisons, 38:6; but never once with- holds the divine word, and dies with so little affection that no one has recorded either the time or the manner of his death. 84 Oiitlmcs of a?i Introduction to the Old Testament III. Peculiarities of His Book The Book of Jeremiah is apparently written in a v^ery disconnected way. It is made up of addresses, some of them very brief, which are neither topically nor chronologically arranged. Possibly the conditions under which he wrote may explain this, for the state was fast rushing down to its doom and Jeremiah him- self lived in a state of constant unrest. In 36:1-4 we are told how the book came to be writ- ten. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim, twenty years after he began to prophesy, Jehovah tells him to write it. Later, when Jehoiakim threw his prophetic roll into the fire, 36:23, he greatly enlarged it. In 30:2 a record is made of another command to write, but how much of our present book is included in it we have no means of knowing. That the present book is a compend of Jeremiah's teaching, rather than a full report, may be assumed, since so long and active a ministry would result in a larger amount of material than is here represented. A very perplexing feature of the book is the great difference between the Hebrew text as we have it in our Hebrew Bible and the Greek text known as the Septuagint, made about 250 B. C. Two points may be specially noted: (i) The Greek text is much shorter than the Hebrew, the difference being about 2,700 words, one-eighth of the entire amount. Sometimes only a word is omitted, at other times an entire paragraph. (10:6-8; 33:14-26.) (2) There is also a great difference in the order in which the events are recorded. A series of utterances against foreign nations begins in the Hebrew with Ch. 46, and continues to the end of Ch. 51. In the The Prophets 85 Septuagint this is inserted after Ch. 25:13, and the order in which they are mentioned is different. These variations have been explained as due to the carelessness of the scribes, or to the existence of two different copies of the Hebrew text, prepared perhaps by the same person, but designed for different pur- poses. Neither explanation is satisfactory. Most critics agree that the Hebrew is the form in which Jere- miah left it. IV. Style It is difficult to form an opinion as to the true style of Jeremiah, from the fact that his book is largely a condensed statement made long after the original address was delivered, 36:2; and his purpose was to preserve the contents of his thought rather than the full form in which it was originally expressed. Com- pared with the earlier prophets, Jeremiah lacks the condensed energy which marks their writings. He has many repetitions, and there is little of the rhyth- mical flow seen in Isaiah. This may be accounted for, in part, by the fact that his utterances are largely limited to one theme, and that of a depressing char- acter. But he is not lacking in force and often rises to a lofty poetical power, 8:20. The expression of his sadness over the perversity of the people is most ten- der and pathetic, 2:13; 9:1. His denunciation of the persistent sinner is most energetic and at times almost fierce in its energy, I5:iff; 5:15-19. At times there is an elegiac beauty which is rarely equalled, i8:i4ff, 22:6ff, 14:7-9; while his symbolic teachings are pointed and effective, as the linen girdle, 13:1; break- 86 Outlines of mi hitroductio^i to the Old Testament ing the earthen pitcher, 19:1; the good and bad figs, 24:iff; the wooden and iron yoke, 27:2ff. V. Doctrinal Teachings Owing partly to the peculiar mission of Jeremiah and partly to his own personality, he has given unusually full expression to the cardinal doctrines which underlie religion. This may be seen in his utterances: I. About God. He maintains the unique character of Jehovah as contrasted with idols, 16:19-21. He alone rules among the nations, 10:1-16; 25:15-31. He knows the hearts of men, 17:10. There is no hiding from Him, 23:23, 24. He loves His people, 2:1-3. He hears the cry of the needy, 4:1, 2. He will punish wrong-doers, 11:8. He will save the penitent, 3:11-15; 24:4-7. He is a cove- nant-keeping God, 33:20, 21. Especially does he exalt the love of God for His people. Nothing can exceed the tenderness of passages like Chs. 2 and 33, in which Jehovah tells of the delight He has in His people and of the great things He is ready to do for them. If He punishes them it is that by their return to Him He may renew and enlarge His mercies, Ch. 31. His love is an everlasting love, 31:3. He is the Father of His people, 31:9. His heart yearns over them, 31:20. Nowhere in the Old Testament is the doctrine of the divine love made more conspicuous than in Jeremiah. 2. About sin. The wretched condition of the people is not occa- sioned by anything in God, 2:5, but grows out of the people's disregard for God, 1:16; 2:13. The seat of The Prophets 87 sin is in the heart, 17:9. Sin brings down the judg- ments of God, 16:18. Man alone cannot overcome it, 13:23; but God is willing to forgive it, 31:34; 36:3. 3. About salvation. Although Jeremiah sees the people defiant in their sin and doomed to destruction, he sees also a day of better knowledge of God, 24:7; when God will write His law on their hearts, 31:31-34; and a good shepherd will come to lead His people back to God, 23:4; and they shall be His people forever, 32:36-42. A formal analysis is exceedingly difficult, owing to the lack of either topical or chronological arrange- ment. The earlier part is a condensed abstract of the work of years, with few indications of the time or cir- cumstances under which it was written; in the latter part the time of the different utterances is carefully stated, but the grouping of the facts is based largely on the contents. We submit the following as a gen- eral outline, but subject to many modifications, VI. Contents 1. A condensed abstract of Jeremiah's earlier work, Chs. 1-21. This section opens with the account of Jeremiah's call, 1:1, and covers his work until the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The general subjects are rebukes for sin, warning to those who do not repent, and promises of forgiveness and mercy to those who are faithful. 2. Short prophecies against the kings of Israel and the false prophets in whom they were confiding, Chs. 22-28. The growing disregard for God ends in the announcement of the great captivity which will con- tinue for seventy years, 25:12. This is followed, in 88 Outlines of an hitroduction to the Old Testament Chs. 26-28, by more detailed accounts of the coming disaster, the shock of which will be felt by all nations, 25:15, and of the manner in which Jeremiah's message is received by the people. 3. Advice to the captives in Babylon, and the prom- ise of restoration, Chs. 29-33. At the opening of Ch. 29 we find the people in Babylon, according to the prophet's declaration, but restless because false proph- ets tell of a speedy end of the captivity. Jeremiah urges them to be quiet and build houses and seek the peace [of the city where they dwell, 29:4-7, and patiently wait for the completion of the seventy years when God will open the way for their return and Jeru- salem will be rebuilt, 30:18. In that day a new and better covenant, written on the heart, will ensure faithfulness on the part of the people and great spirit- ual blessing from God, 31:31-34. In this section the sublimest heights of Messianic prophecy are reached, 33:14-26. 4. Details of Jeremiah's efforts during the siege of Jersualem and after it had fallen, Chs. 34-45. This narrative is interrupted by Chs. 35 and 36, which refer back to the time of Jehoiakim. Chs. 34, 37, 38 describe the personal work of Jeremiah before the city fell, and Chs. 39 to 45 relate Jeremiah's history after the fall of the city and the flight of the remnant into Egypt. 5. Prophecies concerning foreign nations, Chs. 46-51. We note here a great similarity to Chs. 13 to 23 of Isaiah. Egypt, the Philistines, Moab, the Ammonites, and Babylon are severely arraigned for their sins and their overthrow predicted. 6. Historical appendix. Ch. 52 tells of the time when Jerusalem was destroyed and the people carried The Prophets 89 away to Babylon. It is almost a verbal reproduction of the account found in 2 Kings 24 and 25. LITERATURE Commentaries : Lange, Keil, and Ball in Expositor s Bible. Workman, The Text of Jeremiah ; Cheyne, Jere- 7niah^ His Life and Times ; Stanley, Lecttires o?i the Jewish Church, II., p. 57off; article "J<^^^"^^^h" in Bible Dic- tionaries of Smith and Hastings. EZEKIEL I. Name Ezekiel, "God is strong," or "God strengthens," the son of Buzi, was a priest whose high position is indi- cated by the fact that he was among the captives who accompanied King Jehoiachin to Babylon in 597 B. C, eleven years before the destruction of Jerusalem, 2 Kings 24:14, 15. This company was located on the river or canal Chebar, 1:3, supposed to be near Baby- lon, where they enjoyed much comfort and freedom. Ezekiel had his own house, 3:24, to which the elders frequently came for advice and study of the Scrip- tures, 8:1. His mission as a prophet was at first misunderstood, 3:24-26; I2:iff. ; but after the fall of Jerusalem was more highly appreciated, 33:30-32, although his advice was not always followed. Beyond the fact of his marriage, 24:15-18, we know nothing of his personal history. II. Date His prophetic work began, 1:2, in the fifth year of the exile of Jehoiachin, 592 B. C, and continued until 570 B. C, a period of twenty-two years, 29:17. It is 90 Outlines of a?i Introdtiction to the Old Testame^it worthy of note that between 584 B. C. (32:1) and 572 B. C. (40:1) no prophecies are recorded; but his work as a teacher was unbroken. During the earlier part of his ministry Jeremiah was his co-laborer, as Daniel was during the latter part. III. Characteristics 1. There is no question as to authorship; the unity and authenticity being unassailed. 2. The style in its literary finish falls below that of Isaiah and Jeremiah, giving plain evidence of his resi- dence in Babylon, and having many irregularities in its grammatical construction. Words and expres- sions peculiar to himself frequently occur. Sym- bols, 4:1-17; 21:18-27; allegories, 16:1-63; 24:1-14; visions, 8:iff; 37:1-14; and parables, 15:1-8; I7:iff, abound. These figures are presented with much vigor and are often elaborately developed, 23:1-49. Some of them possess great beauty both of conception and expression, as the lamentation over Tyre, 27:iff, and the figure of Jerusalem as a foundling child, i6:iff. His vivid imagination is perhaps his most marked char- acteristic, although some of his passages reveal a won- derful richness and elegance of expression, 8:11-19. 3. The moral earnestness of Ezekiel is conspicuous. This may be seen especially in his fearless denuncia- tion of idolatry during his early ministry, 6:1-7; I4:iff. His bold words often endangered his life, 3:25-27. He denounces their Sabbath desecration, 20:13; 23:38. He reproves them for their alliance with Egypt, 20:7; 16:26. He emphasizes the need of studying God's law, 8:1; 14:1, and encourages them by promising great blessings in the future, Chs. 40-48. The Prophets g i 4. His apocalyptic teachings are a new feature of prophecy and are the basis of what we find more elab- orately developed in Daniel, Zechariah, and in the Revelation of John. Compare 3:12-14 with Rev. 1:10; 4:2. Compare also 11:24 with Dan. 7:2, Zech. 1:8, Rev. 17:3. 5. The evidence of Ezekiel's priestly character is everywhere apparent. He dwells lovingly on every- thing peculiar to the Jewish ceremonial; deplores the abuses of it by the priests, 22:26; is himself an ardent student of the law and encourages the people to study it, 20:1; 33:30-32. In his picture of restored Israel, the temple is the central feature, 37:26-28; Chs. 40-48. He makes neglect of God's law the foundation of all their troubles, and when they shall return to it a glory will attend Israel more luminous than that of old. This devotion to the law, especially the priestly func- tions of it, exerted a powerful influence on Israel and was felt with increasing power in their later history. 6. In his doctrinal statements Ezekiel is very clear. His idea of God, as seen in Chs. i, 8, 10, 43, develops not only His holiness and spirituality, but His rela- tion to men and the world. The relation of the indi- vidual to God is strongly emphasized, i8:iff. The ultimate reason for all God's dealings with Israel is made to reside in God Himself, 36:21; 20:44. The special teachings of Chs. 40 and 48 gave color to their Messianic hopes. The combination of religious and civil elements in that glowing picture gave inspiration to their struggles to throw off their yoke of bondage to a foreign nation and greatly intensified their love for the temple and its services. 7. In Chs. 40 to 48 Ezekiel develops his Messianic 92 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament conceptions with great force. He looks not so much at the person of the Messiah as at His kingdom. The central figure of the kingdom is the temple, where Jehovah dwells and where all nations gather and become holy unto Jehovah. The words of Ezekiel in regard to this reconstructed kingdom and temple became an inspiration to the people. When they returned and began to rebuild, under Haggai and Zechariah, they saw not the plain structure their hands were erecting, but the magnificent building pic- tured by Ezekiel, whose glory was ultimately to fill the earth, Hag. 2:6-9. -^^^^ ^^^s thought never left them. IV. Contents The book is naturally divided into four sections: 1. Prophecies directed agai?istjtcdah. Chs. 1-24. These were all uttered previous to the final capture and destruction of Jerusalem. The earlier ones are care- fully dated. After the account of his call to the prophetic office, 1:1-3:27, he predicts the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, Chs. 4 and 5, and includes the entire kingdom in the ruin, Chs. 6 and 7. The idolatries and shameful sins of the people are vividly set forth, Chs. 8-11, and the certainty of doom again declared, Chs. 12-24. 2. Prophecies agahist foreign 7mtio?is. Chs. 2j-j2. Most of these were uttered soon after the fall of Jeru- salem and are designed not only to declare the utter overthrow of Israel's enemies who now seemed to tri- umph over them, but to reassure Israel who now needed encouragement. These prophecies relate to Ammon, 25:1-7; Moab, 25:8-11; Edom, 25:12-14; the Philistines, The PropJicts 93 25:15-17; Tyre, 26:1 to 28:19; Sidon, 28:20-26; a group of six utterances against Egypt, 29:1 to 32:32. 3. Prophecies littered after the fall of Jerusalem. Chs. JJ-jg. After a long silence anew statement respecting the prophetic office is made, Ch. 33, and he proceeds to speak. (a) Of the shepherding of his people. Ch. 34. They have had very unfaithful shepherds, 34:1-16; even the flock itself has become demoralized, 17-22; but Jeho- vah will raise up a good shepherd, 23, 24, even His own servant David, and will make a covenant of peace with His flock, 25-31. (See this thought as developed in Jer. 23.) (d) Of their own land after the fall of Jerusalem. Chs. 35 and 36. After the fall of Jerusalem Edom had invaded the territory of Judah and needlessly humili- ated and caused suffering to the few remaining there. On this account God will make Edom a perpetual desolation, 35:1-15; while the holy land will be rebuilt and inhabited by a happy people restored to joyful relations with their God, 36:1-15. All this is to be done, not for their sake, but for the glory of God's holy name, 36:16-38. (c) Of the future of his people. Ch. 37. They are now scattered and seemingly lifeless as dead men's bones, 37:1. They thought they were cut off and dis- owned, 11; but God will put new life into them and place them again in their own land, 14. Under the symbol of two sticks united into one, I7ff, God teaches that this restored glory is not for Judah alone, but Ephraim shall also share in it, 22, and David shall become king over them, 24. {d) Of the final conflict between Israel and her 94 Outlines of an Introdiictio7i to the Old Testament enemies. Chs. 38, 39. Gog, leader of vast hosts, 38:2, appears to overthrow the people of God. He is told that Jehovah will protect Israel, 17-23; Gog will be utterly destroyed, 39:1-10; wild beasts will devour the carcasses of his mighty army, 17-20; but Israel will be established forever, 25-29. 4. The coming glory of Israel. CJis. 40-48. In this section he minutely describes. {a) The Temple. Chs. 40 to 43:12. In a vision Eze- kiel is transported from Babylon to Jerusalem in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, 40:1; there he meets a man who proceeds to measure the temple, which has been rebuilt, and to describe minutely all its parts, 40:5 to 42:20. Into this temple "the glory of God" enters and fills it, 43:1-12, as it had departed from the old temple nineteen years before, 10:18. {b) The Service. Chs. 43:13-46:24. The altar of this new temple is described, 43:13-27; foreigners are excluded, 44:5-14; regulations for priestly services are made, 44:15 to 45:8, and for the prince, 45:9-17; and offerings prescribed, 45:18 to 46:24. {c) The Holy Land. Chs. 47 and 48. The living waters from the temple flow through it, 47:1-12; its boundaries are designated, 48:13-23; the tribes are located in it, seven on the north and five on the south of the temple, 48:1-29; the twelve gates of the city are named, 48:30-34; and its new name, Jehovah Sham- mah, "Jehovah is there," is given to it, 48:35. LITERATURE Comme7itaries : Skinner, in Expositors Bible^ Keil, Fairbairn, and Lange. Article "Ezekiel" in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings; Introdiictio7is of Driver, Keil, Bleek. The Prophets 95 HOSEA I. Name Hosea, "Salvation." The name is conspicuous in Jewish history, having been the original name of Joshua, the successor of Moses, Num. 13:8, and of the last king of Israel, 2 Kings 17:1. He lived in the kingdom of Israel, and his prophecies relate almost wholly to that kingdom. His father's name was Beeri, 1:1, and his wife's name Gomer, 1:3. He had three children, whose names had a symbolic meaning. From the constant introduction of figures drawn from agriculture, it has been inferred that he belonged to that class. Others, for a similar reason, have thought he was a priest. From 9:7, 8 it would seem that he suffered reproach on account of his message. II. The Political Conditions According to the inscription, whose genuineness has been doubted (Driver, I?it. to the 0. T., p. 302), Hosea began to prophesy toward the end of the reign of Jeroboam II., about 750 B. C. Driver fixes his date 746-734 B. C. Jeroboam II. had a long and illustrious career, greatly strengthening his kingdom and gaining many victories abroad; but morally there was a great decline. Selfishness, oppression of the poor, luxury, and lust sapped the moral energies of the nation, Chs. 3, 4, and the priesthood shared in the degradation, Ch. 5. After the death of Jeroboam came a period of fear- ful political corruption and disorder. Scarcely would a king be seated on the throne before he was mur- dered by a rival who succeeded him. Lust and greed 96 Outlines of an Tntroductio?i to the Old Testament increased until the confusion foretold disaster and ruin, Ch. 6. Ominous movements toward Egypt and Assyria, 7:11, reveal the uneasiness and insecurity and prepare the way for the fall of the nation, to which it is so rapidly hastening. III. The Text The Hebrew text of Hosea has not been preserved as accurately as most other books of the Old Testa- ment. But we may doubtless explain many of the grammatical peculiarities by the fact that the language was less accurately used in the north than in the south. The style is very characteristic. It is epigram- matic and abrupt, and the different members of the sentence are frequently without connective particles. Added to these difficulties there is frequent use of archaic words, symbols, and other figurative forms of expression which in places make it almost unintel- ligible. But, allowing all this, there is a force and a musical cadence which make it exceedingly attractive. The rapid transitions, the pathetic tenderness, the fearless invective carry us along with rapt attention. IV. Contents The book presents a summary of Hosea's teachings rather than complete addresses, and is naturally divided into two sections, one relating to the reign of Jeroboam II., the other to the troublous times which followed. I. First sectio7i. Chs. i-j. After a brief introduc- tion, 1:1; the prophet tells the pathetic story of his marriage to Gomer, "a wife of whoredom," 1:2; and of the birth of his three children, 1:2-9. This marriage The Prophets 97 was by divine command, 1:2; as was also the naming of his children, 1:6-9. Ch. 3 tells how he afterward took the unfaithful wife back to his home, while the second chapter tells how all this action was designed as an object lesson to Israel whom Jehovah had put away because of her idolatrous fornications, but would finally allure her back to Himself, 2:14; and on her repentance give her the choicest blessings, 2:21-23. 2. Second sectio7i. 015,4-14. These chapters contain a summary of the prophet's work after the death of Jeroboam II., made by himself at the close of his ministry. Although there are no very positive marks of transition, most critics find three topics treated in the section, Israel's sin, punishment, and the final outlook. {a) Israel's sin. Chs. 4-8. There is great moral pollution, Ch. 4; for which the conduct of the priests is largely responsible, Ch. 5, as well as that of the rulers. Against this terrible indictment the prophet sets the picture of the divine yearning for Israel, Ch. 6, but all in vain, for the riot of sin increases, Ch. 7; until Israel is swallowed up, 8:8; and Jehovah will no longer accept her, 8:13. {b) Israel's punishment. Chs. 9 to ii:ii. Forsaken of God, 9:1; abandoned to vilest idolatry, 9:3; the sentence of banishment is pronounced, 9:3. The mis- ery of such a position is graphically pictured, 9:4ff. No help will be found in the idols to which they have gone, Ch. 10. But even when the blow falls God will show mercy, and His love will prevent their utter destruction, ii:i-ii. {c) Israel's future. Chs. 11:12 to 14:9. The shameful conduct of Israel in forsaking God is set forth, Ii:i2 98 Outlines of a?i Introduction to the Old Testament to 13:3, and in beautiful contrast the changeless love of Jehovah, 13:4-16; and the book closes with a charm- ing picture of what will be when Israel again becomes faithful to God and He restores to her the fullness of His love, Ch. 14. V. Characteristics 1. The question whether Chs. 1-3 refer to a real marriage, or are a symbol, has been much debated. The most satisfactory explanation is perhaps that of Robertson Smith, who suggests that Hosea married a woman who afterward became unfaithful. When he bewails his wretchedness, God reveals to him the fact that his whole married life is a symbol of Jehovah's marriage to Israel, the pure virgin, who had gone astray after idols until He was compelled to cast her off. On her repentance He would restore her to the full exercise of His love. 2. Hosea deals very plainly with moral questions. The great trouble with Israel is that they have for- saken God, 8:14; and His law, 4:6. They feed on sin, 4:8; and therefore the whole land is defiled. When the people think to appease God by making offerings of flesh, he tells them Jehovah desires goodness and the knowledge of God, 6:6. Israel's iniquity has been its ruin, and only when that iniquity is pardoned in response to their penitent prayer will they find relief, 14:1. 3. Most conspicuous of all his teachings are those which set forth the inalienable love of God for His people. When Israel was a child God loved him, ii:i. He taught Israel how to walk, holding him in His arms, 11:3. When Israel, like an adulterous wife, The Prophets 99 abandoned God He allured her unto Himself, 2:14; grieving over her fall, 11:8. The restoration of Israel furnishes opportunity for the fullest and most fruitful manifestations of God's love for His people, Ch. 14. This thought of God's love for His people, even in their sinful wanderings, illuminates the entire book and shows that in those early ages the true character of Jehovah was understood by the people. 4. The influence of Hosea on later writers is very manifest. See Jer. Chs. 2, 3, 31; Ezek. Chs. 16, 23. In the New Testament compare Hos. 6:6 with Matt. 9:13, 127; Hos. 1 1:1 with Matt. 2:15; Hos. 2:23 with Rom. 9:25, 26. LITERATURE Commentaries: Orelli; G. A. Smith, The Book of the Twelve Prophets ; Keil and Delitzsch; Pusey. Heng- stenberg's Christology ; Robertson Smith, The Prophets of Israel ; Farrar, The Minor Prophets ; article "Hosea" in Bible Dictio?iaries of Smith and Hastings; Introduc- tions of Driver, Keil, Bleek; Stanley, History of the Jewish Church. JOEL I. Name Joel, "Jehovah is God," or "whose God is Jehovah," is a common name in Old Testament history, no less than fourteen persons bearing it. His father's name was Pethuel, or as the Septuagint reads it Bathouel. Beyond this all is conjecture. From the contents some have inferred that he belonged to the priesthood and was an inhabitant of Jerusalem. 100 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament 11. Date The absence of any recorded date and the peculiar contents render the date exceedingly uncertain. Different critics have reached widely different con- clusions. Keil gives 877-847 B. C. Bleek puts him about 800 B. C, making him one of the earliest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us. Driver rather undecidedly refers the book to "a date after the captivity." George Adam Smith says after 444 B. C. All agree that he must be placed either at a very early or a very late date. The arguments for an early date are: (i) The position of the book among the Minor Prophets and its literary peculiarities. (2) No historical allusions are made to the Syrians, Assyrians, or Chaldeans, as we find in the prophets from Amos to the exile, while he does mention Tyre, 3:4; Egypt, and Edom, 3:19, who were early enemies of Israel. (3) No mention is made of Judah as distinct from Israel. (4) The fact that the government is in the hands of elders, 1:14, instead of a king seems to point to the time when Jehoash was a minor and the government was conducted by Jehoiada, a priest, 2 Kings 12:1-3. (5) Many resemblances are traced between Joel and Amos, Joel 1:4 and 2:25 with Amos 4:6-9; and also between Joel and other prophets, Joel 1:15 and Isaiah 13:6, 9 and Ezek. 30:2, which seem to show that they quoted from Joel rather than Joel from them. On the other hand, there are some allusions which are thought to point to a later date. The mention of Greeks, 3:6; the failure to distinguish between Judah The Prophets lOl and Israel; the scattering of the people and the parti- tion of the land among the enemies of Israel, 3:2; and the great devotion to the temple service, 1:9, 13; 2:14, are regarded as implying a post-exilic time. But these points can be explained so as to admit an early origin more readily than can those which favor an early origin be made to agree with a late date, and we would therefore accept the former, making Joel one of the first of the prophets whose writings have come down to us. III. Analysis The prophecy consists of two parts: 1. First sectiofi. Chs. i :i to 2 :ij. After introducing himself, 1:1, the prophet gives a picture of a fearful judgment which had befallen the people in the swarms of locusts which had devoured all vegetation and the drought which now threatened all animal life, 1:2-20. The picture of desolation is most graphically drawn, and the suffering and ruin are vividly and pathetically delineated. A second picture follows. An invading army sweeps down from the north, 2:2ff, changing the land from a garden to a desolate wilderness, 2:3. Jehovah himself is marching at the head of this army, 2:11. This is followed by an urgent call to repentance and prayer that Jehovah will avert the ruin before which the people are utterly helpless, 2:12-17. 2. Second section. Chs. 2:18 to j :2i. In response to the call for humiliation and prayer Jehovah promises blessings in which not only the people shall find relief, but the beasts of the field and the very earth itself will rejoice, 2:18-27. Better still, there will be a 102 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament remarkable outpouring of God's Spirit in which all classes shall have a share, and salvation will be secured by every one who calls upon the name of the Lord, 2:28-32. This will usher in "the day of Jeho- vah," when hostile nations will meet a fearful, well- deserved doom in the valley of Jehoshaphat, 3:2, while Judah shall abide forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation, 3:20, 21. IV. Peculiarities 1. Style. The narrative is bold and picturesque. The details are given in rapid outline which is con- stantly changing. The Hebrew is simple and the words well chosen. In the very sound and movement of the words v\^e are reminded of the noise and onrush of the locusts, 1:10. Bleek says, "In a literary and poetical point of view Joel's prophecy is one of the most beautiful productions of Hebrew literature; in florid and vivid description it is surpassed by none." (Int. to 0. r., II., p. 136.) 2. The proper interpretation of the word locusts has been much discussed. The early fathers and many moderns, as Hengstenberg, Pusey, understand it figur- atively, symbolizing the assault of the future great world-powers on the church. A second interpretation regards the passage as apocalyptic, like the living creatures of Ezekiel and Daniel and the strange figures of the Book of Revelation. A third and more natural interpretation is that they are real locusts, such as sometimes swarm over those lands, whose desolating march is suggestive to the prophet of still more fear- ful scourges which will come unless the people repent and return to God. The Prophets 103 3. Joel uses some expressions which have attained great prominence. "The day of Jehovah," 1:15; 2:1, II, is to be carefully noted. He represents it as at hand, 1:15; 2:1; as great and very terrible, 2:11, 3:14 ff; it is not simply a day of judgment for the ungodly, but the day of fuller spiritual manifestations to His people. The outpouring of the Spirit, 2:28-32, fur- nishes one of the most positive statements concerning the New Testament times to be found in the Old Testament. Applied by Peter to the marvels of Pentecost, Acts 2:i4ff. , it finds ever new and wonder- ful confirmations in the renewing and upbuilding of souls in every land and age where the Gospel has been preached. 4. The prophecy of Joel has become a fountain from which many later Scripture writers have drawn with great freeness. "The day of Jehovah" of Joel finds an echo in Isa. 31:9; Ezek. 32:7, 8; Amos 8:9, and in many places in the New Testament. The fountain watering the dry places, 3:18; is taken up in Ezek, 47:1; Zech. 13:1; 14:8. The great promise concerning the Spirit, 2:28, reappears in Isa. 44:3; Ezek. 39:29; Zech. 12:10. From these and other illustrations we may learn how widely these writings must have circulated and how carefully they were studied by those who were watching for the coming of the kingdom of God. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. AMOS I. Name Amos, "Burden-bearer," had his home in Tekoa, twelve miles south of Jerusalem. In 1:1 he calls him- self a "herdsman," and in 7:14 he adds, "and a dresser 104 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament of sycomore - trees." The Hebrew term rendered herdsman means a keeper of a special breed of sheep valuable for their wool, 2 Kings 3:4. Negatively he tells us that he did not belong to the prophetic order, 7:14. While attending to his calling Jehovah sum- mons him, 7:15, to go to the northern kingdom and declare the divine message. He seems to have gone directly to Bethel, the capital of that kingdom, 4:4, and there boldly declared the coming judgment. Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, told the king what the prophet was saying and accused him of treason, 7:10. Having uttered his message, he returns to Tekoa, where he wrote his book, closing it with the sublime vision of a restored tabernacle and a reunited people, 9:11-15. n. Authorship, Style and Date There is no question as to authorship, although a few verses have by some been regarded as later addi- tions, for reasons which are not very convincing. The Style. Jerome's well-known dictum, '' Imperittis sermone sed non scientia'' (Rude in speech but not in knowledge), has given way to a juster estimate which places him among the foremost of the Old Testament writers. His thought is clearly conceived and ex- pressed with great vividness and artistic beauty. Drawing his illustrations largely from nature, with which his occupation brought him into such close relation, he displays great familiarity and a keen discernment of the objects with which he enlivens his discourse. At times there is a great perfection of poetical expression, as in his judgment on the nations. The realism and the intense moral earnest- ness of the man are everywhere apparent, while his TJie Prophets 105 grasp of the meaning of what he saw and of the pur- poses of God, place him among the most important of the prophets. The Date. All agree that his prophecy was uttered about the middle of the eighth century, 750 B.C. This is indicated by the title, 1:1, as well as by the general tenor of the contents which agree perfectly with the conditions then existing in the kingdom to which he was sent. He is thus placed among the first of the prophets. Whether his prophecy in Israel actually preceded that of Joel in Judah is an open question which eminent critics have decided some for the ear- lier, some for the later date. III. Contents The book has three clearly-marked divisions: 1. The great acaisatio?i. Chs. /, 2. After a brief introduction, i:i, 2, in which he identifies himself and magnifies Jehovah's power as giving importance to what he has to say, he arraigns the nations surround- ing Israel, — Damascus, 1:3-5; Gaza, 1:6-8; Tyre, 1:9, 10; Edom, i:ii, 12; Ammon, 1:13-15; Moab, 2:1-3; Judah, 2:4, 5, — and then concludes with Israel herself, 2:6-16. Both the growing intensity and the detail with which the sin is described as he mentions Israel, to whom especially God has sent him, give a startling force to his message. 2. Israel's sin and ptinishment. Chs. j-6. In this section the sin of Israel is set forth in detail and the certainty of punishment emphasized. Three addresses are indicated by an introductory formula, 3:1; 4:1; 5:1, followed by two beginning with the word "woe," 5:18 and 6:1. Each address leads up to a declaration of io6 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament coming judgment, 3:15; 4:12; 5:16, 17; 5:27; 6:14; each judgment being more severe than the one before it. 3. Visions. Chs. y-g. By a series of visions, with brief statements as to his treatment when delivering his message and some account of his final words, the prophet concludes his work in Israel. There are five of these visions, the first two are tokens of disaster, locusts, 7:1-3, and fire, 7:4-6, where the judgment is stayed on account of the intercession of the prophet; the third, Jehovah standing with a plumb-line in His hand, 7:7-9, so enrages Amaziah, the priest at Bethel, that he accuses Amos of treason against the king and orders him to leave the kingdom; the fourth, a basket of summer fruit, 8:1-14, prepares the way for a message that the end of the kingdom is near; the fifth presents Jehovah standing beside the altar, 9:1, ready to smite it into fragments, as if ready to break His covenant and disown His people. With 9:8 light breaks through the fearful darkness, and the prophet tells how the sifting of Israel by such severe judgments will reveal a faithful element unto whom mercy will be shown; and the book closes, 9:11-15, with a beautiful picture of the future Israel, purified and reunited, rejoicing in the overflowing abundance of the divine mercy. IV. Characteristic Teachings The prophet's conception of Jehovah and His char- acter is remarkably clear and comprehensive, — His power, 1:2; His law, 2:4; His keen regard for right- eousness, 5:12; His holiness, 4:2; His judgment on the ungodly, 8:4-14; His nearness to and care for His faithful ones, 9:8, 9. Equally clear is it that the rela- The Prophets 107 tion of Israel to God is a moral one, and that the essential sin of Israel consists in their disregard for God, out of which have come their sensuality and injustice and idolatry. The special conception embodied in the words, "The day of Jehovah," 5:i8ff., is fully developed, and his picture of Messianic times, 9:11-15, embodies the substance of previous utterances and exhibits them in a very attractive form. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. Also Mitchell's Amos. OBADIAH I. Name The name, Obadiah, "Servant or Worshipper of Jehovah," is frequently found in the Old Testament, no less than thirteen persons bearing it, ranging all the way from a prince of the royal house, 2 Chron. 17:7, to an overseer of workmen, 2 Chron. 34:12; but of the personal history of this Obadiah we know nothing. II. Date As the book gives no clue to its origin, beyond the name of the author, we are thrown upon a study of the contents to determine its date. Two widely differ- ent opinions are held. By some Obadiah is regarded as the oldest of the prophets whose writings have come down to us. Keil, Orelli, and Delitzsch agree upon 889-884 B. C. The position of the book among the prophets of the Assyrian period would indicate this. But the special argument is the historical reference in verses 10-14. The capture of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people there referred to are assigned to the invasion io8 Outlines ofa?i Introduction to the Old Testament in the time of Jehoram, 2 Chron. 2i:i6, 17, of which Joel 3:19 and Amos 1:6 speak. Others place the prophecy among the latest in the Old Testament. Hastings, Die. of the Bible, favoring 432 B. C. and perhaps later still, and Hitzig giving 312 B. C. George A. Smith and Driver decide on a time shortly after the Babylonian captivity, 586 B. C. These all claim that the words of verses 10, 20 must refer to the conquest of Nebuchadnezzar. Another fact bearing on the date is the similarity between Obadiah and Jeremiah. Obad. 1-9 and Jer. 49:7-22 have so much in common that they must have some relation. The question is, did Obadiah quote Jeremiah or Jeremiah quote Obadiah, or did both quote from some older document? The latter sugges- tion may be dismissed as altogether improbable. The question lies between Obadiah and Jeremiah. Oba- diah presents the narrative in a simple form; Jeremiah adds to it elements suited to the use he would make of it. Jeremiah was, we know, fond of such quota- tions. Jer. 48:29 and Isa. 16:6; Jer. 49:1-6 and Amos 1:13-15. As the simple and more compact narrative is more likely to be the older Vv^e think the priority must be given to Obadiah. III. Unity Those who advocate a late origin of the prophecy find evidence of a composite authorship which they use to strengthen their position. Verses 1-9 they assign to an unknown but very early author; the rest they regard as post-exilic. They find a decided con- trast between the style of the two parts, the first being animated and terse, the second diffuse and trite. The Prophets 109 Many find this contrast between the two parts and de- cide for a dual authorship, but make both post-exilic. But there is not sufificient evidence for such a divi- sion of the contents of the book. It is homogeneous, and the sequence of thought is very apparent. The clear discernment of judgment about to fall on guilty Edom is justified by stating the reason for it, and then, after the manner of the prophets, when the judgment is executed, the abiding love of Jehovah for His people and the blessings they will enjoy under His fostering care are set forth. The argument drawn from the style is exceedingly precarious; so short a passage affording no real basis for critical compari- son. The different shades of thought in different parts of the prophecy abundantly justify the difference in the style. IV. Contents The prophecy is directed against Edom, 1:1. Three points are treated: 1. The iinpendiiig overthrow of Edom. Vers. i-g. The nations are aroused against Edom, i, 2; and her pride and strong defenses cannot save her, 3, 4. Complete ruin will come, 5, 6; even her former friends will betray her, 7; and her wise men will utterly fail to deliver her, 8, 9. 2. The reason for such an overthroiv. Vers. 10-14. Edom has grossly insulted and injured Judah in the day of her affliction, eagerly joining those who were plundering her, 10, 11. From such unbrotherly con- duct the prophet urges her to desist, 12-14. 3. The outlook for Israel. Vers. i§-2i. The day of Jehovah draws near when Edom will be treated as she no Otitli?ies of an Introduction to the Old Testament has treated others, 15, 16; and when Judah united to Israel, will become a consuming fire for the destruc- tion of Edom, 17, 18. In that day God's people will go forth from Zion to possess the land and the king- dom shall be Jehovah's, 21. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. JONAH I. Name Jonah, "Dove," was the son of Amittai of Gath- Hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun. In 2 Kings 14:25 we find the same name, and there can be no doubt that both refer to the same person. The statement in Kings locates him in the reign of Jeroboam II., 783-743 B. C, probably in the early part of that reign, while the book now before us belongs to the latter part of it when Jonah was an old man. II. Contents The book contains an account of the mission of Jonah to Nineveh. 1. The first call. Chs. i and 2. Jehovah commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and cry against it on account of its wickedness, 1:2. Instead of obeying, Jonah takes a ship for Tarshish, a place in the opposite direction, 1 13. A violent storm arising, Jonah is thrown into the sea, 1:15; and is swallowed by a great fish, 1:17; where he remains for three days, composing a prayer expressed in poetical form, 2:1-9; after which he is restored to the dry land, 2:10. 2. The seco?id command to go. Chs. j a?id 4. Jeho- vah gives a second command to Jonah to go to Nine- veh, 3:1, to which the prophet immediately responds, TJie Prophets 1 1 1 and at his preaching there is a great repentance, 3:5-9, so that the threatened destruction is averted, 3:10. This displeased Jonah, 4:1-3, whereupon Jehovah teaches him a lesson of compassion by means of a gourd, 4:6-11. III. Authorship The important question is, Did Jonah himself write the book or is it a book about Jonah written by some one else? The common opinion is that Jonah himself wrote it and that it is an episode in the prophet's own life. In favor of this we note: 1. Its place among the Minor Prophets who are gen- erally understood to have recorded their own utter- ances. It has the same authentication as many other prophetical books, Joel 1:1; Hag. 1:1; Micah 1:1. 2. The reference to it in Tobit 14:4 assumes that it is historical. 3. All the details of the narrative lead us to regard it as a personal record. The fact that some of it is written in the third person has many parallels in the Biblical narratives, as Daniel, Ezra. 4. The tone of the book, teaching so plainly the willingness of God to regard the cry of the heathen, is more in harmony with Jonah's time than with the later post-exilic period to which some would assign it. 5. The use made of it by Christ, Matt. 12:39-41; 16:4; Luke 11:29-32, demands a historical basis. Against this position many modern critics have taken a decided stand. Driver places it in the fifth century, and others still later. The following are the reasons given: 112 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament 1. The book is a narrative rather than a prophecy. But other prophets have written narratives, why not Jonah? 2. The language indicates a late origin. But Driver says, "Some of the linguistic features might (possibly) be compatible with a pre-exilic origin in northern Israel." (Int. to 0. 7"., p. 322.) The idiom and vocab- ulary are regarded as those of the latest period of Old Testament Hebrew. We reply that the language agrees well with that used in the northern kingdom, to which Jonah belonged, at the time when he lived. 3. The reference to Nineveh, 3:3, is thought to imply that when the book was written the city had long since passed away But in a historical narrative such an inference is not necessary. It was a great city when Jonah went there. 4. The miraculous element has been urged strongly against it. But if we admit the possibility of miracles under any conditions, they are no more difficult here than elsewhere. 5. The peculiar nature of his mission to a foreign nation is urged as out of keeping with Old Testament prophecy, and the fact that history does not confirm the statement in regard to the repentance of Nineveh has been used as proof that it never happened. But other prophets had to deal with foreign nations, Amos I, Isa. 14, and it was eminently fitting that the lesson of God's mercy to the penitent should be plainly stated as a rebuke to the narrowness of the Jews. God's people, then as now, needed to be taught their responsibility to bring the message of God to all the world. That history does not corroborate the narrative is The Prophets 113 not strange when we remember how little historical confirmation we have to the prophetical teachings of the Old Testament. It reads like the historical nar- ratives of Elijah and Elisha in the Book of Kings, and the peculiar opening words, "And it came to pass," lead to the suggestion that if it had been inserted immediately after 2 Kings 14:25, its fitness and natural- ness would have been at once apparent. While then the question of authorship is an exceed- ingly complicated one, we do not find any reason for assuming the late origin of the book sufficient to cause us to abandon the old position maintained by the church that it was written by the prophet as a record of his own personal experience. IV. Its Interpretation 1. Some have thought the book a Hebrew attempt to teach ideas similar to the Greek stories of Hercules or Andromeda, but this needs no reply. 2. The symbolic character of the book has been maintained. The prophets, it is said, taught much in this way, Jer. 25:15. Israel had a world commission to preach the forgiving love of God, but being recreant to duty, was rejected, and when repentant becomes the evangelizer of the world, but always fails to grasp the fullness of the divine purpose. But the story seems too complicated for such a purpose. 3. The form is historical, and all the incidents can best be explained in that way. It is history, but his- tory told for a purpose. It sets forth more than a mere statement of the fortunes of Jonah. In the his- tory of Jonah the history of one greater than Jonah is typified. This the New Testament use of it plainly 1 1 4 Outlmcs of mi Introductioii to the Old Testament shows, Matt. 12:39. It is also designed, doubtless, to make plain the fact that God's government embraces all nations and that His mercy to the penitent is not limited to any one people; a truth as much needing expression then as now. For Literature, see Hosea, p. 99. Also Stewart; Mitchell, Exposition of the Book of Jonah ; Banks, Jonah ill Fact and Fancy; Kennedy, On the Book of Jo?iah; Trumbull, Jonah in Nineveh. MICAH I. Name The name is variously spelled in Hebrew. In this book we have the shortened form, Micah i:i. In Jer. 26:18 it is written Micaiah, and in Judges I7:iff the Hebrew spelling is Micayehu. It means, "Who is like Jehovah?" being an exact equivalent of the name Michael found in Num. 13:13. He is called the Morashtite, i:i, from his native town, which cannot now be clearly identified, but is supposed to have been on the border between Judah and the Philistine territory. He is to be distinguished from another prophet of the same name, of Elijah's time, I Kings 22:28, whose words are identical with those of our prophet in 1:2. II. Date The prophecy is dated "In the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah." i:i. This is further confirmed from Jer. 26:18. He was therefore a younger contemporary of Isaiah, 720-695 B. C. The Prophets 115 III. Unity The narrative is consecutive though abrupt and speaks strongly for the unity of authorship. Some exception has been made to Chs. 6 and 7, because of the more subdued tone of the writing and the more pronounced feeling of despair over the ever-increasing corruption among the people and especially among the rulers. Ewald refers these chapters to the cor- rupt reign of Manasseh, but the tendency in Hezekiah's time, during which Micah prophesied, would amply justify the increasing sadness of the prophet's thought. Driver practically concedes the unity of the book. IV. Style Micah's home was in a country town and this fact gives tone to his style. It is at times quaintly poet- ical, quite abrupt both in conception and expression of thought, 2:3-5. Much in it reminds us of Isaiah and Hosea. Micah 4:1-3 with Isa. 2:2-4. Great con- trasts are presented and sometimes very peculiar fig- ures are employed, 3:2, 3. The prayer at the close of the book reveals a spirit of trust in God and a wide conception of His loving mercy. V. Contents The prophecy may be grouped under three divi- sions: I. Threatening. Chs. 1-3. Jehovah is coming for judgment, 1:3; and Samaria will suffer a fearful over- throw, 6, 7. Judah, even Jerusalem, will be consumed in the resistless assault, 8-16. In Ch. 2 the sin of the people, especially of the rulers, is graphically described. Ii6 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Tcstamefit the character of their punishment indicated, ii; and the divine mercy revealed, 12, 13. The shameful greed and oppression of the poor by the rulers is severely denounced, 3:1-8; and the prophet tells them that they are the cause of the ruin of the nation, 3:9-12. 2. The restoration. Chs. 4 and 5. With Ch. 4 the vision changes. Zion is no longer guilty and forsaken, trampled under foot by her enemies, but restored as a center of national life, 4:1-5, and the object of venera- tion by all men. Her foes shall be scattered by a great leader springing from Bethlehem, 5:2-5; under whom Israel will dwell safely, 6-15. 3. The great controversy. Chs. 6 and 7. In this section the truth is presented in a series of personal statements. First, Jehovah speaks, asking the people why they repay His kindness with such ingratitude, 6:1-5. Then the people, humbled, ask how they may suitably appear before Jehovah, 6, 7. The prophet replies that Jehovah requires nothing but uprightness, 8; and Jehovah pronounces His condemnation of their sins, 9-16. The prophet renews his assertion of their inexcusable and deliberate sin resulting in the utter demoralization of the nation, 7:1-6. With y.y the scene again changes and penitent Israel utters its lament, 7-10; to which the prophet replies in the assurance that their sin may be forgiven and the banished ones restored to the divine favor, although there must first come a period of desolation, 13. He then pleads with Jehovah for mercy and God promises His blessing, 14, 15. The prophecy closes with a declaration of the marvelous character of God who pardons iniquity and performs His truth to Jacob, 20. The Prophets 117 VI. Characteristics The deep moral earnestness of the prophet is every- where apparent. He condemns unsparingly but with an evident desire to arouse the people to repentance. The chief blame is thrown on the leaders of the people and the necessity for practical righteousness is rigidly enforced. God's mercy is for the upright in heart and life. It is also worthy of note that Micah does not speak of God's judgments as resulting from their relations with other nations, but as the necessary result of their own internal corruption. The oppression of the poor by the rich, the social irregularities of the people, the greed of those in power, — these bring the wrath of God. Micah has very advanced ideas of the kingdom of God, when the people shall be restored to the divine favor, and through obedience to God and justice to man, shall attain a glory which will make them the center of spiritual life to all the world. His declara- tion concerning the birth of the Messiah in Bethlehem is one of the most notew^orthy of the prophetic utter- ances on this subject. The language of Micah is quoted in Matt. 2:5,6, and indirect reference is made to it in all the Gospels. Matt. 10:35, 36; Mark 13:12; Luke 1:72; John 7:42. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. NAHUM I. Name Nahum, "Full of compassion," "Comforter," is called the Elkoshite, probably from the town where he lived. There has been much discussion as to the 1 1 8 Outli?tes of a?i hitroductiofi to the Old Testament location of this town. The various conjectures are, a town on the Tigris, north of Nineveh, where his tomb is shown; Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, because that name might mean Village of Nahum; an unknown place in northern Galilee and a town in the south of Judah. The latter has most in its favor, although none of them can be relied upon. II. Date From the contents the date can be fixed within cer- tain limits. From 3:8-10 we learn that No-Amon, the Egyptian Thebes, had been destroyed. This took place about 664 B. C. On the other hand, Babylonian records show that Nineveh fell 606 B. C. The proph- ecy was doubtless uttered in the earlier half of this period. III. Style Nahum occupies a foremost place in Hebrew liter- ature. In boldness and vigor he approaches Isaiah. His description of the onslaught of the army besieging Nineveh, of the wild confusion and helpless dismay of the people, of the sw^eeping desolation which marks the overthrow of the city, have few equals in literary composition. Lowth, in his Sacred Poetjy of the Hebrews, Lecture XXL, says, "None of the Minor Prophets seem to equal Nahum in boldness, ardor and sublimity. His prophecy, too, forms a regular and perfect poem; the exordium is not merely magnifi- cent, it is truly majestic; the preparation for the destruction of Nineveh, and the description of its downfall and desolation, are expressed in the most vivid colors, and are bold and luminous in the highest degree." The Prop] lets Iig IV. Contents The book is entitled "The Burden or Oracle of Nine- veh." By way of introduction he presents a noble hymn descriptive of the character and doings of Jeho- vah, i:2ff. In the second chapter the fall of Nineveh is described in a most realistic manner. We have the siege, with a picture of the advancing army, soldiers clad in scarlet, chariots flashing with steel, brandish- ing of spears, 3; the streets drenched with blood, 4; the rush to defend the walls, 5; the opening of the water- gates, the panic in the palace, the frantic efforts to escape, the mad rush of the invaders to secure plun- der, 9; and the fear which causes paleness on the faces of the terrified inhabitants, 10. In the third chapter the reason is given for such a fearful overthrow. The city is full of lies and rapine, 3:1; and whoredoms, 4. There will be none to comfort her, 7; her people will be as women, 13; they will van- ish like locusts, 17; they will perish amid the exulting shouts of those who have suffered from her oppres- sion, 19. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. HABAKKUK I. Name The book itself says nothing as to the author, nor have we any mention of him elsewhere in the Scrip- tures. But Hebrew tradition is as prolific as history is reticent. It tells us he was the son of the Shunammite woman raised up by Elisha, 2 Kings 4, and that he was transported by an angel to Babylon to provide for Daniel when cast into the lions' den. From a study 120 Outlines of a?i hitroductioji to the Old Testament of his book a few facts are gathered which help us to determine his place. He is called a Nabi, Prophet, a term not applied to anyone but a recognized divine teacher. His name signifies, "One who embraces," which Luther understands to mean, "One who embraces his people, takes them in his arms, comforts them." From the closing words, 3:19, it has been inferred that he was of the tribe of Levi and took part in the song service of the temple. n. Date This must be decided entirely from internal evi- dence. The obscurity of the historical allusions has given rise to many suggestions, ranging from the time of Manasseh to that of Jehoiakim. The more precise date will be determined by our understanding of the references in the text. If the wrong complained of by the prophet is that committed by the chosen people themselves, and the avengers are the Chaldaeans, who in turn will suffer for their oppressions, then the latter part of Manasseh's reign or the beginning of that of Josiah seems the proper date. And this idea is strengthened by the fact that during the reign of Josiah the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah told of the coming of the Chaldaeans, at the bidding of God, to punish his rebellious people, and both these prophets allude to the prophecy of Habakkuk, showing he must have preceded them in such a message. This would fix the time about 650-625 B. C. Budde assigns it to 626-621 B. C. Those who wish to bring the prophet and the subject of his prophecy nearer together fix on a period a little before 600 B. C. The Prophets 121 III. Unity of the Book The unity of the book has been questioned by some who regard the poem, Ch. 3, as a post-exilic addition, on account of its likeness to the Psalms assigned to that period. But it forms a natural conclusion to the book and there is nothing in the ideas which demands a later date unless it be the directions given for the rendering of the Psalm, Ch. 3, in public worship, and these are in harmony with what we know of the mu- sical service of Josiah's time. Besides, the Psalms might as well have quoted from Habakkuk as Habak- kuk from the Psalms. The book is easily divided into three sections: 1. In the form of a dialogue between himself and God the prophet asks why violence and injustice go unpunished, 1:1-4. God replies that He has prepared an instrument for the punishment of wrong-doers, even a "bitter and hasty nation," the Chaldaeans, whose swift and terrible advance no one can resist until they have executed His purpose of judgment, 5-1 1. The prophet then appeals to God to spare his people in the day of such a visitation, and God answers that the proud oppressor will finally meet his just doom, while he that fears God will be rescued, 1:12 to 2:4. 2. In the second chapter the prophet utters a parable, a taunting proverb against the Chaldaean oppressor, which he puts in the mouth of all who have suffered by his oppression. This parable consists of five parts, the first four of which begin with the word "Woe." In succession he denounces the rapacity of the Chal- daeans, 6-8; declares that their wrong-doing will be their ruin, 9-1 1; that their magnificence, being the result of greed, will end in vanity, 12-14; denounces 122 Outlines of a7i Introduction to the Old Testament their heartless cruelty toward those whom they have conquered, 15-17; and scouts their trust in idols who are nothing compared with Jehovah before whom all the earth must stand in awe, 18-20. 3. In the third chapter the prophecy rises into poetic form in a lyric ode, which for sublime imagery and elegance of expression has few equals in Hebrew poetry. The prophet prays that in the midst of the prevailing wickedness and oppression Jehovah will remember mercy. Then follows one of the most marvelous conceptions of God and His coming to avenge His oppressed people. Jehovah is seen march- ing forth from Teman, or Edom, His glory illumina- ing the heavens, the earth trembling beneath Him. The mountains are scattered at His approach and the tem- pest roars about Him. The nations flee in terror but fail to escape His punishment, 2-12. When he seeks a reason for such an appearance of Jehovah he is told it is for the salvation of His people, His anointed ones, 13-15. The poem ends with a statement of the confi- dence produced in the prophet by this revelation of Jehovah. Though all nature should perish he will rejoice in Jehovah, the God of his salvation, i6-ig. Besides the beauty of style and the loftiness of con- ception which mark the book, there are two thoughts which stand out with great prominence. One is the calm assurance of absolute justice in God. No one, not even the chosen people, can escape. Even though the wicked rise to great power it is that they may be destroyed, while he that trusts in the Lord will always be safe. The second is embodied in the decla- ration, "The just shall live by His faith, or in His faithfulness," a truth which has been used by the The Prophets 123 great Apostle as one of the foundation stones of our Christian life. Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. ZEPHANIAH I. Name Zephaniah, "One whom God protects," or "Watch- man of Jehovah," according to i:i was a descendant of Hezekiah, generally supposed to be the king of that name. This fact probably accounts for his lengthy pedigree. Beyond this we know nothing. Jeremiah was his companion prophet. II. Date The date is fixed by the words, "In the days of Josiah," 639-608 B. C. From the description of sins prevailing in Jerusalem and the prophecy concerning Nineveh, it seems probable that he prophesied during the early part of Josiah's reign, before 621. III. Unity The unity of the book has been assailed by some but without much reason. Especially has the latter part of Chapter 3 been assigned to a much later date, on account of its hopeful tone as contrasted with the severe threatenings of the preceding sections. But in this Zephaniah follows the example of other prophets and presents a logical order of thought. The design in rebuking sin is to awaken repentance, and repent- ance leads to a restoration of the divine favor, and the divine favor is the overflowing fountain of all blessing. This is the line of thought which pervades all prophecy 124 Ontlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament from the beginning, and instead of these verses being out of place, they form a fitting conclusion by reveal- ing the mercy of God toward the penitent and the uni- versal blessing which will fill the earth when God's kingdom everywhere prevails. IV. Style and Teaching The style of Zephaniah lacks the fine lyrical tone of Habakkuk and is often abrupt in thought, but a deep earnestness pervades it and the conception of his theme is broad and clear. He has a strong hold of the spiritual nature of the kingdom of God and of the divine supervision of all human affairs, regulating them and by means of them perfecting his own ever- lasting kingdom of righteousness and truth. V. Contents The book is a continuous composition in which the thought proceeds in an orderly way from beginning to end. We may note three stages in the development of the^theme. 1. The Judgment. Ch. i. The Day of Jehovah is near, a day of universal and overwhelming punishment of transgressors. It will sweep away all the ungodly, especially those of Judah and Jerusalem, 4; and will reach all manner of transgression, luxury, dishonesty, indifference. No sinner can hope to escape when that day comes, 18. 2. The Admonition. Chs. 2:1 to 3:7. Ruin stares the nations in the face. Philistia, Moab, Ethiopia, Assyria, Nineveh, all will fall. Jerusalem also, full of godless sinners, will be overthrown. 3. The Promise. Ch. 3:8-20. The God-fearing are Tlic Prophets 125 not to be dismayed by all this proclamation of doom. The depisers of God will perish but the faithful will find protection and deliverance. Out of their trials they will come with songs from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, and God will rejoice over them and save them and make them a name and a praise among all the people of the earth. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99. HAGGAI I. Name Nothing is known of Haggai save what can be learned from his book. His name means Festal, but why he bore it we know not. From 2:3 it has been assumed that he was born before the exile began; if so, he must have been quite old when he uttered his prophecy. He is mentioned with Zechariah in Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 as one greatly instrumental in persuading the people to rebuild their temple. A Jewish legend makes him a member of the Great Synagogue. Another legend, based on 1:13, says that he, as well as Malachi and John the Baptist, were not men but angels. In the Septuagint his name, with that of Zechariah, is given as the author of Psalms 138, 146-148. H. Genuineness and Date All agree that Haggai wrote the book and that it has come down to us as he wrote it. The date is also beyond question. The second year of Darius fixes it in 520, sixteen years after the first colony returned from Babylon. His prophecy is confined to a period of four months. He is the first of the post-exilic prophets. 1 26 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament III. Style and Thought The style is quite prosaic, having nothing of the lofty imaginative utterance of the prophets before the captivity. There are many repetitions, and a very free use of the interrogation detracts from the effect. But if he is thus plain in manner he does not lack strength of thought. He sees that there is a profound relation between the physical and the spiritual sur- roundings, that poverty does not mean inability, and especially that when they work along the line of the divine plan they may expect great results. His con- ception of the future Messianic glory comes out very clearly when he speaks of the shaking of all nations and of their bringing their most desirable things to adorn the house of God, of which the latter glory would be in splendid contrast with its present small beginnings, 27. IV. Contents The mission of Haggai was to induce the returned exiles to rebuild their temple. The prophecy is divided into four sections, the time of each of which is carefully stated. 1. On the first day of the sixth month, 520 B. C, he reproves the people for building such elegant houses for themselves while the house of God lies waste. This neglect has brought poverty and drought. Such was the effect of his appeal that on the twenty-fourth day of the same month work on the temple was begun, 1:1-15. 2. On the twenty-first day of the seventh month he encourages the leaders and the people by assuring those who had seen the former temple that the latter Tlic Prophets 127 glory of this new building would far exceed its former glory; that Jehovah would shake all nations and cause them to bring their desirable things into it and make it a fountain of peace, 2:1-9. 3. On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month he teaches, by a parable, the cause of their feebleness and promises anew that the blessing of God will attend their efforts to rebuild the temple, 2:10-19. 4. On the same day Haggai comes to Zerubbabel, the governor, with the announcement that God is about to shake the heavens and the earth, overthrow the king- doms with great slaughter and make him a signet, an object which he would cherish with great care, 2:20-23. (See Mai. 3:17.) For Literature, see Hosea, page 99; also Perowne: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi in Cambridge Bible for Schools; and T. V. Moore: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. ZECHARIAH I. Name In the superscription he is called Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet. We learn from Neh. 12:16 that Iddo was the head of one of the priestly families who accompanied Zerubbabel and Joshua, leaders of the first company who went from Babylon to Jerusalem in 537 B. C. Ezra 5:1 and 6:14 further identify him with Haggai in appeals to secure the rebuilding of the temple. He seems to have been quite young when he began to prophesy, 2:4. His first recorded utterance is dated in the eighth month of the second year of Darius, 520 B. C, only two months after Haggai delivered his first message. 128 Outlines of a?i Introduction to the Old Testament How long his work continued we have no record, but if the last chapters of his book belong to him, he must have prophesied many years. II. Unity All critics agree that the first eight chapters were written by Zechariah. But Mede, an English critic who died in 1638, on account of Matt. 27:9 ascribing Zech. 1 1:12, 13 to Jeremiah, argued that chapters 9-1 1 were written by Jeremiah instead of Zechariah. Some later critics assign chapters 12-14 to an unknown prophet who lived just before the destruction of Jerusa- lem, while others claim they are post-exilic. This idea of a dual authorship has been accepted by very many. Their reasons for detaching these chapters are numer- ous and some of them complicated. Many of these reasons are so frivolous as not to need any answer, such as that in the first eight chapters we have visions, but not in the last six chapters; or that the first sec- tion is carefully dated while the latter part is not. More reasonable are the following: 1. Difference in style. Words are used, it is claimed, in different senses in the two sections, the idioms differ, and especially the first part is very prosaic while the latter is full of force. 2. The general conception of society and the refer- ences to other nations in the second section do not fit Zechariah's time. 3. The Messianic teaching differs. In the first part the prevailing conception of the Messiah is that he is a priest; in the second part he is a king. 4. Some hold that the facts dwelt upon in the second section occurred before Zechariah's time and there- TJic Prop] lets I2g fore are not a subject for his prophecy. Others hold that they deal with subjects so far in the future that Zechariah could know nothing about them, nor could the people have understood them if he had mentioned them. Those who deny that Zechariah was the author of the second part are very much divided as to the person to whom they should be assigned. Some refer chapters 9-1 1 to one author and chapters 12-14 to another, while others refer them all to one person. Some claim that chapters 9-1 1 were written in the time of Isaiah, others give them to Jeremiah, while others place them later than Zechariah. All of the objections grow out of the difficulty in finding his- torical facts to fit the allusions of the prophecy, or out of the conception of prophecy entertained by the critic. The argument in favor of the unity of the book may be thus stated: 1. The fundamental ideas of both sections are the same. The bold condemnation of the enemies of God's people; the stern and fearless rebuke of sin in Judah and Israel; the firm conviction that God rules and therefore good will finally prevail; the hopeful- ness which does not fail in the darkest hour, but enables him to see that the kingdom of the Messiah will prevail among the nations; these thoughts pervade alike both sections of the book. 2. It is evident also that while the outward form of the message differs, the general style remains un- changed throughout. 3. There is the same tendency as is found in other later prophets to refer to older prophecies. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah are often quoted and their prominent 1 30 Outlines of a?L Introduction to the Old Testament sayings are introduced to emphasize the prophet's appeal. 4. The first part is without question written by Zecha- riah in the period following the first return from Baby- lon, and there is nothing in the circumstances of the second part which is inconsistent with this period. The legitimate field of prophecy embraces the future as well as the present, and the contests and triumphs of Messiah's kingdom might be set forth by Zechariah as well as by one who lived earlier or later. 5. Besides, it is very difficult to understand why those who prepared the Canon should assign so many separate productions to one man, living so near the time of the man who is known to have written a part of them, and that their mistake should be accepted without question by those who had such good oppor- tunity of knowing all the facts in the case. For an exhaustive treatment of the argument in favor of the unity of the book, see The American Jour- nal of Se?mtic Languages and Literatures, Vol. XII., p. I. These considerations, taken in connection with the remarkably divergent conclusions of those who deny the unity of the book, lead us to decide that the attempt to divide the authorship has not been success- ful, and we must continue to maintain that the book was all written by Zechariah. III. The Teaching of the Book The Book of Zechariah has much that is character- istic and valuable. Its strange visions, apocalyptic in form, find fuller expression in the great Apocalypse of the New Testament. Its teaching concerning sin is very thorough. Its pictures of the Messiah and of His The Prophets 131 kingdom are wonderfully clear and comprehensive when viewed in the light of the person and work of Christ as revealed in the Gospel. Few of the prophets have been so often recognized and their words incor- porated into the New Testament as Zechariah. IV. Contents The book has four main divisions: 1. An exhortation to repentance, in which he urges them not to make the mistake of their fathers, whose neglect of God's Word proved so disastrous to them, i;i-6. 2. A series of eight visions, seen in one night, the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month of the second year of Darius. These were accompanied with a sym- bolical action of the prophet in crowning Joshua, the High Priest. Chs. 1:7 to 6:15. These are designed to encourage the Jews to go on with the building of their temple. The visions are: (a) The horseman among the myrtle trees, 1:7-17, teaching that although the earth seems quiet, God is preparing to fulfill His promise to His people in regard to the rebuilding of the temple. {b) The four horns broken by four smiths, 1:18-21, teaching that God is about to break the power of the enemies of His people. {c) The man with a measuring-line, 2:1-13, teaching the great increase of Jerusalem because the nations join themselves to her. (d) Joshua, the High Priest, and Satan, 3:1-10. Joshua is accused by Satan but vindicated and receives a promise in regard to the coming Messiah. {e) The golden candlestick and the two olive trees, 132 Otitlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament 4:1-14, teaching that divine grace will be given through God's chosen channels, the priesthood and the civil power. (/) The flying roll, 5:1-4, teaching that every sin is recorded andevery sinner found and punished. {g) The woman cast into the ephah and borne away, 5:5-11, teaching that God will remove the iniquity of the land. {Ji) The four chariots with different colored horses, 6:1-8. These go all through the earth to execute the divine judgments. These visions are followed by a symbolic act, 6:9-15, the crowning of the High Priest, accompanied by a promise concerning the work of the Branch, the Mes- siah, who as King and Priest will rule successfully and gather all nations about Plim. 3. Nearly three years after the visions Zechariah is asked by the people in regard to the fast they kept in memory of the destruction of the first temple, whether it should be observed now that they had a new temple, Chs. 7, 8. The answer is that God does not require such fasts but obedience to His commands. This will secure a future of unparalleled blessings. The struc- ture of Chapter 8 is to be noted with its ten brief but encouraging messages, each beginning with "Thus saith Jehovah." 4. Chapters 9-14 are made up of two prophetic utterances, both of which begin with the special word "burden." {a) Chapters 9-1 1 declare that a judgment is about to fall upon the surrounding nations, but the Messiah will come to save His own. The people are urged to forsake idolatry and mercy is promised them. If they TJic Prophets 133 trust in the Lord they will be regathered from their wanderings. When they refuse God's offer their judg- ment is proclaimed, they are abandoned to the care of shepherds who oppress and slay them. By the breaking of his staff, "Beauty," the prophet sym- bolizes his estimate of their folly in rejecting the true Shepherd and shows the hopeless antagonism between Judah and Israel. {b) Chapters 12-14, the second burden, tell how the nations gather against Jerusalem, but Jehovah saves His people, opens a fountain for purification of sin and destroys idolatry. Another assault is made on Jerusa- lem and the city captured, but God cleaves the Mount of Olives to make a way of escape for His people. The Messiah appears, streams of salvation flow to the ends of the earth, the nations join themselves to God and His people, and holiness everywhere prevails. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99, also Moore: Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi; Perowne: Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi in Cambridge Bible for Schools ; Alexander, Zechariah, His Visions and ]/Var?ii?igs ; Geo. L. Robinson, "The Prophecies of Zechariah with Spe- cial Reference to the Origin and Date of Chapters IX-XIV," printed in The A7nerican Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures yNo\, XH., p. i. MALACHI L Name Malachi, "My messenger," or "Messenger of Jeho- vah." The book throws no light on the question of authorship, beyond the mere name given in i:i. Some, as Geo. A. Smith, finding the same word in 3:1, 134 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament have concluded that we do not have even the name of the prophet, and Jewish tradition has the singular notion that he was not a man but an angel. Other Jewish traditions are that the real author was Ezra, or Mordecai, or Nehemiah, or Zerubbabel. It is much better to regard Malachi as the proper name of the author of the book. II. Date From internal evidence we learn that it was written after the captivity, but not until after the temple had been rebuilt and the sacrifices reestablished, i:6 to 2:9. The people are represented as having fallen into the habit of contracting foreign marriages, 2:10-16; and an irreligious and skeptical spirit pervades all classes, 2:17 to 3:6. In civil life they were under a governor, 1:8, and constituted a province of the Persian empire. These facts point to the time of Nehemiah 's second term as governor, 430-425 B. C. Malachi would then stand related to Nehemiah much in the same relation as Zechariah stood to Ezra. III. Style The method pursued by the writer is peculiar. He first presents an accusation charging the people with some neglect of duty, then assumes that an objection is made to his charge, and concludes by answering the objection. In this way he drives the truth home with great power. It is written in good Hebrew but has many characteristics of the period. His matter of fact way of arguing prevents any elaboration of style, but when he dwells upon the Messianic future he pre- sents much that is original in conception and expres- sion. The Prophets 135 IV. Teaching In his treatment of the future he reveals the true prophetic spirit. He finds genuine worship of God among all nations, i:ii. The quenchless love of God for His people is graphically pictured, 1:2. The reality of repentance is tested by the life which fol- lows, 2:13. He beholds the dawning of the sun of righteousness, and sees in it the only hope of deliver- ance, 4:2. Very graphic also is his apocalyptic vision of the coming of the Lord. To the wicked it will be like a fire sweeping through a forest leaving neither root nor branch, while to the righteous it will be as the morning dawn which ushers in the perfect day of salvation. But before that day Elijah the prophet will come to prepare the way by preaching repentance, 4:5. V. Contents The aim of the writer is to show the people that their weakened religious life is the cause of their moral and social troubles. The book contains seven paragraphs: 1. Ch. 1:1-5. God's love for Israel is shown in the contrast between their condition and that of Edom. 2. Chs. 1:6 to 2:9. In consequence of Israel's fail- ure to respond to the divine love, seen preeminently in the disgraceful conduct of the priests, Jehovah will send a curse on the nation. 3. Ch. 2:10-16. The sin of heathen marriages is denounced. 4. Chs. 2:17 to 3:6. The prevailing skepticism is exposed and the declaration is made that Jehovah will come suddenly to purge the priesthood and become a swift witness against transgressors. 136 Ontlincs of a?i bitrodtictioii to the Old Testament 5. Ch. 37-12. The people withholding tithes, God sends drought, and the assurance is given that if the people remember their obligations to God He will pour out rich blessings upon them. 6. Chs. 3:13 to 4:3. To the complaint of the people that it is idle to serve God, the prophet responds that Jehovah will come and make a distinction between those who serve God and those who do not. 7. Ch. 4:4-6. He then urges to a faithful compli- ance with the law of Moses and promises that Elijah will come to prepare the way for Jehovah's appearance. For Literature, see Hosea, page 99, and Zechariah, page 133. THE KETHUBIM OR WRITINGS The third section of the Hebrew Bible is made up of a miscellaneous collection of books consisting of Poetry, Philosophy, Prophecy and History. That a book was placed in this section does not mean that it was written after the other parts were collected or was of less importance, but that it was of a special char- acter. I. Classification of Its Books The books of this section are classified as follows: 1. Three poetical: Psalms, Proverbs and Job, which were called "Emeth," a word formed by taking the first letter of the Hebrew title of each book. These are especially marked by a peculiar system of accents in the Hebrew text. 2. Five Megilloth (Rolls): Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes and Esther, which were read on the great feast days as follows: Song of Solo- mon on the Feast of the Passover, Ruth on the Feast of Pentecost, Lamentations on the Feast of the De- struction of the Temple, Ecclesiastes on the Feast of Tabernacles, Esther on the Feast of Purim. 3. Four other books, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles. Of these Ezra and Nehemiah were often classed as one book, while Ezra, Nehemiah and Chron- icles form a continuous history of the nation. II. Its Formation There is great difficulty in determining the con- ditions attending the formation of this third group of 137 138 Outlines of an hitroduction to the Old Testament Old Testament writings. A Jewish theory is that the three divisions, Law, Prophets and Kethubim, represent three descending degrees of inspiration, compared by them to the Holy of Holies, the Holy Place and the Temple Court, a theory which has no historical evi- dence in its favor and which is not confirmed by the contents of the books. A more probable theory is that the books of the Kethubim were gathered later than the others and included those works which they thought were undoubtedly inspired but which for various reasons could not properly be included in the first two divi- sions. We may perhaps find a further reason for their sep- arate classification in the subjective character of these books. They present truth, not in the abstract, nor yet as an external force claiming dominion over man both in thought and life, but as developed in the thought and experience of men. Even Daniel, intensely prophetic as his work is, seems to come up to it in a personal way peculiar to himself, growing out of his profound study of the Scriptures and of the providence of God, and his own participation in the great questions of state around which his prophecies center. So, too, the historical books, Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles, develop the history, not along general lines, but as it bears specifically on the religious, sub- jective life of the nation to which the history relates. HI. The Poetical Books The first place in this division is given to the poetical books. Before taking up the individual books we present some features of Hebrew poetry, common to The Kcthubim or Writings 139 all of them and which must be understood in order to a just appreciation of their contents. I. Its Extent 1. Poetical forms of expression may be found in the very beginning of Hebrew literature and its first speci- mens show the same critical features as mark the Psalms of David and his successors. In Genesis 4:23, 24 we have the Song of Lamech, and in Genesis 49 the Benediction of the dying Jacob, which possess all the characteristics of the latest forms of Hebrew poetry. 2. The extent of the poetical element in the Old Testament will be seen when we note the fact that five entire books, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Lamentations and the Song of Solomon are written in poetry, while in the historical books many beautiful poems are recorded, e.g., Judges 5 has the Song of Deborah, and in 2 Sam. 1:19 and 3:33 are the Elegies of David. The prophets, too, often express their teaching in poetical form and their words must be so understood before we can adequately comprehend their meaning. Some- times a complete poem is introduced in the midst of the prophecy, as in Jonah 2:2-9; Isaiah's triumph over Babylon, 14:4-23; and Habakkuk's prayer, Ch. 3. Fully one-third of the Old Testament is expressed in poetical form. II. Its Tone I. Hebrew poetry is preeminently subjective and hence we find nothing which corresponds to the mod- ern epic, or narrative, but little of the dramatic, more of the didactic, while the great mass is lyric, which calls for the subjective form of expression in the personal emotions and experiences of the writer. 140 Outlines of an Introductio7i to the Old Testame7it 2. It is also intensely theistic. The idea of a God is assumed and His personal action seen in nature and in the varying fortunes of man, while man attains his highest glory in resignation to the will of God and heartfelt obedience to His commands. 3. It may be also called cosmopolitan. The heart- throb of the ancient Psalmist stirs the heart of man to-day as it did of old. Persons under the utmost diversity of earthly conditions and doctrinal ideas find in the Psalms a common channel for the expression of their loftiest thoughts. 4. More than all else it is profoundly religious. Its chosen themes are God and th-e soul, the unrest caused by sin and the peace which follows forgiveness; it answers the cry of impotence and ignorance by reveal- ing a God whose loving care satisfies the soul. III. Its External Form 1. Like the poets of all lands the Hebrew poet makes large use of archaic forms and modes of expres- sion, and loves to introduce words rarely used in ordi- nary composition. 2. Often, too, we find the poet resorting to special devices calculated to increase the interest of the reader. Such are the Acrostic Psalms 34, 35, in which the first verse begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second verse with the second letter, and so through the Psalm. Psalm 119 begins the first eight verses with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the second eight verses with the second letter and continues this arrangement until all the letters of the alphabet are employed. The Book of Ecclesiastes presents a re- markable acrostic structure. TJic Kcthiibim or Writings 14 1 3. More characteristic is the pronounced rhythm of the sentence in Hebrew poetry. There is nothing to correspond with our meter as found in the regular sequence of syllables and in each line having a prescribed number of syllables, nor do we find any attempt at the modern rhyme where the last syllables of certain lines are similar in tone. The lines may be longer or shorter, although usually consisting of seven or eight syllables, and their sequence is regulated so that in their utterance a musical cadence is obtained, some- what like our modern intoning. 4. The most prominent feature of Hebrew poetry is its parallelism. The verse is usually divided into two sections, sometimes into three or more, generally of about the same length, in which the second clause reechoes in some way the thought of the first clause. The different forms of parallelism are thus stated: (i) Synonymous parallelism, where the second line repeats the thought of the first. Ps. 19:1; Isa. 55:6; Prov. 6:2. This is the most common form of parallel- ism. (2) Antithetic parallelism, where the expression of the second line stands opposed to that of the first. Prov. 10:1; Ps. 1:6. This form is very common in the gnomic poetry of the Book of Proverbs. (3) Synthetic parallelism, where the succeeding lines supplement or complete the first, or stand related to it as cause or consequence. Ps. 2:6; 19:8-11. These different forms of parallelism are frequently interwoven in the same Psalm. Occasionally the thought is fully expressed in a single line, at other times several are employed. Ps. 46:9; Isa. 1:3. The relation of the lines to each other is often varied, 142 Otitlijics of an Intro diictio7i to the Old Testament bringing the first and third, second and fourth together, or the first and fourth, second and third. 2 Sam. 3'33> 34- Frequent changes in these combinations give great variety to the poem. In Job 39:19-25 fifteen lines are thus grouped, and in Deut. 33 the Blessing of Moses on Levi has seventeen lines. 5. The Strophe. When several parallelisms have a unity of thought they form a strophe or stanza. This is similar to but not identical with the Greek strophe, where we find a regularly recurring arrangement in the lines of a poem. In the Hebrew the lines may be longer or shorter, few or many, uniform throughout the poem or each line different from the others, Num. 21:27-30, the only demand being that they center around one theme. Often the strophe ends with a refrain or chorus. In Ps. 8 we find two strophes of eight lines each, the first having the refrain at the beginning, the second at the end. For a study of Hebrew poetry see Lowth's Sacred Poetry of the Hebrezvs, Herder's Spirit of Hehrezv Poetry, Taylor's Spirit of Hebrezv Poetry, Briggs' Study of Holy Scripture and his articles on the subject in Hebraica, Vols. HI and IV. THE PSALMS I. Name The Hebrew name of the book is Sepher Tehillim, "Book of Praises," frequently shortened to Tehillim or Tillim, "Praises." In a note at the end of Psalm 72 they are called Tephilloth, "Prayers." See also titles of Ps. 17, 86, 90, 102. The Septuagint name of the book \sPsalmoi, "Psalms,' ' because they were to be sung with an instrumental accompaniment. In Luke 20:42 and Tlie Kcthtibim or Writings 143 Acts 1:20 it is called "The Book of Psalms." In the early Christian church it is called "The Psalter." Its place in the Jewish service corresponds to the hymn book in our Protestant churches. Herder well calls it "The Hymn Book for all Time," for it is more com- prehensive than any modern collection designed for religious service. II. Its Position in the Old Testament In most German manuscripts and in our printed He- brew Bibles the Psalms occupy the first place in the third section, the Kethubim, into which the Hebrew Bible is divided. In Spanish manuscripts generally, and in Masoretic lists, it follows Chronicles. In one list the Psalms follow Job, which stands first in this third section, and this order is followed in the Septuagint, the Vulgate and our English Bible. According to the Babylonian Talmud the order is Ruth, Psalms, Job, etc., Ruth being regarded as a sort of prelude to the Psalms because David was descended from Ruth. The order of the Hebrew Bible is the most natural on account of the prominence of the Psalms. III. Structure of the Book I. In the Hebrew, as in our English Bible, there are 150 Psalms. The Septuagint and Syriac have 151, but the last is apocryphal. But in making up the num- ber the Septuagint differs from the Syriac, and both differ from the Hebrew. The Septuagint and the Vul- gate join together Psalms 9 and 10, also 114 and 115, and then divide 116 and 147. The Syriac joins Psalms 114 and 115, and divides 147. The Hebrew frequently differs from the English in numbering the verses of a 144 Outlines of an Introductioji to the Old Testament Psalm. The Hebrew regards the superscription as the first verse while the English never so regards it. 2. The Book of Psalms is, in Hebrew, as in our Revised Version, divided into five books, each having its own characteristics. In this there is an evident attempt to conform to the five books of the Penta- teuch. Jewish tradition says that as Moses gave them the five books of the Pentateuch, so David gave them the five books of Psalms. These books are divided as follows: First Book, Psalms i to 41; Second Book, Psalms 42 to 72; Third Book, Psalms 73 to 89; Fourth Book, Psalms 90 to 106; Fifth Book, Psalms 107 to 150. 3. Each book ends with a suitable doxology, except that the last Psalm of the entire collection forms a sort of amplified doxology for the entire series. 4. The structure of the Book of Psalms as it now stands suggests the idea that at first it consisted only of the Psalms now comprising the first book and that the other books were afterward added as the number of Psalms available for worship increased. The individuality of each book is easily recognized. The difference in the divine name employed in the different parts shows that a different thought has controlled each collection. Thus, in the First Book the name Jehovah is used 272 times, while Elohim occurs only 15 times. In the Second Book we find the opposite, for there Jehovah is used only 30 times and Elohim 164 times. In the Third Book each name is used nearly the same number of times, while in the fourth Jehovah only is used, as it is also in the Fifth Book except in Psalms 108 and 144. Groups of Psalms written by one author or having a The KetJiiibim or Writings 145 common purpose are found in each book. In the First Book all the Psalms are ascribed to David, except four, I, 2, 10, and 33, which are anonymous. In the Second Book we have a series by "the Sons of Korah." In the Third Book a series by Asaph, and in the Fifth Book are "The Songs of Degrees, or Ascents." Kirkpatrick says {The Psalms^ Introd. Iviii), "Speaking broadly and generally, the Psalms of the First Division are perso7ial^ those of the Second 7mtional^ those of the Third liturgical ^ From a careful study of the contents of these differ- ent books we may draw the general conclusion that the First Book was prepared soon after the death of David, possibly by Solomon who took such an interest in the temple service. The Second and Third Books point to the time of Hezekiah or Josiah, 2 Chron. 29:30. The Fourth and Fifth Books plainly reveal a post-exilian origin, and may be referred to the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. But this conclusion must be received with some exceptions for there are Psalms in one collection which manifestly belong to the period assigned to another, and possibly some are even later than the time of Ezra and Nehemiah. While there is an evident general adherence to chronological order there is also a manifest desire to group similar Psalms, which has caused a deviation from that order. IV. The Inscriptions One hundred and sixteen of the Psalms have some sort of an inscription, pointing out their author, or the place or manner of their use, while the remaining thirty-four are without any mark by which we can locate them. The Jews call the latter "Orphan Psalms." 146 Outli?ies of an Introdiictioji to the Old Testament While these inscriptions are very old and in some cases may be genuine, they cannot be relied upon as a part of the original Psalm, nor are they always correct. These inscriptions may be classified as follows: 1. Those relating to authorship. In Hebrew we find the preposition Lamed, "Belonging to," prefixed to the name of an author as an indication of authorship. Ps, 3. Thus Lamed David or Asaph would indicate that David or Asaph was the author. In this way we find 73 Psalms assigned to David; 24 to the famous musicians of David who had charge of the temple music (viz., 12 to Asaph, ii to the sons of Korah, and I to Ethan); 2 to Solomon; i to Moses, and i to Heman. In the Talmud, Psalm 92 is assigned to Adam, Psalm no to Melchisedek, and Ethan is said to be another name for Abraham. 2. Those which tell the circumstances under which the Psalm was written. Nearly all these relate to well-known historical events. Ps. 54 refers to I Sam. 23:19. Ps. 59 rests on i Sam. 19. It is worthy of note that this class of inscriptions is limited to those Psalms which are ascribed to David and Asaph. 3. Those which give directions in regard to the use to be made of them. Some of them are evidently liturgical. Thus, Lamnatstseahh, "For the Precentor," which occurs in 55 Psalms, means that the Psalm was to go to the leader of the singers, who would see to its musical rendering in the worship. Other similar inscriptions are Mizmor, "A song to be sung with a musical accompaniment," found in 57 Psalms, mostly ascribed to David; Maskil, "A skillfully prepared or didactic song," or one requiring careful attention in the rendering. The KctJuibim or Writings 147 4. Other inscriptions designate the instruments to be employed, as NcliilotJi, "To or with the flute," Ps. 5. Ncginoth, "With stringed instruments," Ps. 4. 5. Still others refer to the kind of music appropriate to the Psalm, e. g., Ps. 22,Ayyclcth HaslishahJiar, "Upon the hind of the dawn," means that the Psalm is to be rendered to the tune known by that name. 6. Ps. 120-134 have the inscription "Song of De- grees," or as the Revised Version has it, "Song of Ascents." The words have been variously explained. Delitzsch finds the key in the rhythmical structure of the Psalm, the thought ascending verse by verse from the beginning to the end. But this is not true of all of them, and is by no means peculiar to these Psalms, as the same feature may be found in other Psalms. Some Jewish writers refer it to the fifteen steps leading from the court of the men to that of the women, upon which the singers stood singing one Psalm on each step as they w^ent up the ascent. By others the term is explained by saying these Psalms were sung by the exiles as they went up from Babylon after their long captivity was ended, Ezra 7:9. They are admirably adapted for such service. From the fact that the word "ascents" is in the plural, others think it refers to the annual pilgrimages which the devout Jew made to Jerusalem to observe the great feasts, Isa. 30:29. Such a historical basis gives a fine setting to the Psalms, and may be accepted as the most probable solution. 7. To these musical terms, although it is not strictly speaking an inscription, we may add the word Sclali, which occurs frequently in the body of the Psalm, and has greatly perplexed the critics. By the 1 48 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament older Hebrew writers it is regarded as equivalent to "Eternity." Gesenius would render it "Pause," used like the word "Rest" in our modern tunes, indicating that here there is to be a rest in the singing, or in the use of instruments, or both. The Septuagint takes the opposite view and understands it to mean that here there is to be a louder, loftier strain, an interlude in which the instruments alone are to be used to their fullest capacity. No one would venture to be very positive in regard to the use of a word so variously construed, but the latter suggestion seems best to explain its use. In regard to all these inscriptions there is much uncertainty attending them, owing to the enigmatical character of the terms employed. While unquestion- ably very ancient they cannot be traced back to the time when the Psalm was written. That the author of a Psalm might prefix his name to it or give some instruction as to its musical rendering does not seem improbable, but there is nothing to show that such was the custom. We are therefore left largely to internal evidence, which is an exceedingly uncertain founda- tion for assertion. While therefore we admit that these inscriptions are very old and as such entitled to the greatest respect, yet they must be tested as to their historical accuracy before they are accepted. Fortu- nately it is a question of comparatively little impor- tance since the contents and not the writer must determine the value of the production. V. Authorship The question in regard to the authorship of the Psalms is one of the most perplexing connected with The Kctlmbim or Writings 1 49 our study and the most diverse answers have been given. If we may trust the inscriptions, the authorship is fixed for a large majority of them and the age 6i the others might be determined largely by comparing them with those Psalms the authorship of which is given. But we cannot show positively that the inscriptions were added by the original writers of the Psalms. Indeed, while they are very ancient, it is almost cer- tain that some of them, at least, are not a part of the original Psalm. If we attempt to fix the authorship by internal evidence we are at once involved in almost hopeless difificulty. We do not know enough about the details of the life of David, for example, to say that the references in a certain Psalm must refer only to events in his life or could not possibly refer to him. The local conditions would give to an event a very different color from our conception of it when the cen- turies have stripped it of its surroundings. The modern tendency is to insist positively on such internal identification before admitting the correctness of the inscription. The extreme position of Wellhau- sen, Cheyne, Duhm and others who follow this school of thought, is seen in the declaration of Wellhausen: "The question is not whether it (the Psalter) contains any post-exilic Psalms, but whether it contains any pre-exilic Psalms." Professor Cheyne, in his Bampton Lectures, maintains that with the possible exception of a few verses in Psalm 18 the entire Psalter is post- exilic. Duhm goes still further from the traditional view and declares that most if not all of the Psalter is a product of the Maccabean troubles. (B. C. 178-70.) The historical evidence seems effectually to refute such an extreme position. The post-exilic writers 1 50 02itlines of an bitrodtictioji to the Old Testamefit refer to the collection as one in familiar use, often quoting directly or indirectly from it; it is evidently older than the Septuagint translation; such produc- tions were common, as seen from Jer. 33:11 where Jeremiah quotes from Psalm 106:1; Isa. 30:29 and, earlier still, Amos 5:23 and 8:10 refer to songs for religious purposes; the antiquity of the inscriptions given to many Psalms shows a strong probability, if it does not furnish absolute proof, of David's authorship; and there is much about the man which would lead us to expect such work from him. If, as some assert, the internal evidence is sometimes unfavorable to David, in very many other instances it seems almost impos- sible to find any other application. Instances of this are so numerous and so unique as to need no specifica- tion. It is David, and not some one representing him, who cries out in his distress, who shouts forth his joy or tells in plaintive strains the story of his own tempta- tion, sin and restoration. To say that some one, hun- dreds of years later, is here simulating the experience of David is a most unlikely assumption. David had just such experiences and he was abundantly able to describe them in penitential song or in magnificent odes where the imagery conforms to the grandeur of the thought. In his boyhood he appears before Saul as a skillful musician, i Sam. i6:i7ff. From 2 Sam. 1:17 and 22:1 we discover his ability as a poet. From Amos 6:5 we learn how the memory of his poetical melodies lingered long among the people. If, as the external testimony shows and as most critics agree, the eighteenth Psalm was written by David there is no inherent reason why he should not have written many more. In this eighteenth Psalm TJic Kethicbim or Writings 151 there is a high degree of poetic skill, a deep insight into spiritual matters, a profound conception of the divine character, both in its sterner and more merciful qualities, such as we find pervading that large part of the Psalter ascribed to David. If one has no theory to uphold the evidence for David's authorship of those ascribed to him seems to stand on an equality with the evidence for his authorship of the eighteenth. Some of the inscriptions are manifestly incorrect while many Psalms have no inscription. That these should be of later origin we may readily admit. With the growing experience of both personal and national life poems devoted to the new conditions would find expression and naturally be added to the older collec- tions. While then we confess to the great uncertainty sur- rounding the origin of many of the Psalms we find no valid reason for refusing to believe that the tradition expressed in the inscriptions is substantially correct. That heroic age and its matchless leader find a fit expression in this collection of Psalms and this cannot be said so appropriately of any other period of Jewish history. VI. The Teachings of the Psalms I. The Psalms cover the entire field of ethical thought. God, man, nature, providence, good and evil, the deep problems of sin and suffering, righteous- ness and peace with God, the origin and destiny of the individual and of the nation, all these and many another question are here discussed with a breadth of vision and a loftiness of conception which give to their teaching a universal application. In all ages men have 152 Outlines of a?i Introductio7i to the Old Testame?it been content to clothe their most profound convictions in the language here employed. 2. Much exception has been taken to what are called the Imprecatory Psalms. In Psalms like 58, 69, 137, in the midst of the sweetest meditations on the love of God and absolute trust in Him, we find the most fearful imprecations, anathemas which leave no good to be hoped for and most terrible suffering to be endured, 69:22-28. Even children are not spared, 137:9. Certainly they cannot be justified as personal maledictions against evil-doers. Nor is it enough to say they are a product of the Old Dispensation as con- trasted with the New, although that may somewhat relieve the strain, for they did not have the strong light we enjoy on these moral questions. If we may accept the idea that in the Psalms we are to consider the writer as expressing not his own personal thoughts but as representing the community, the nation, the Israel- itish church, then they represent the intense yearning zeal for God which would sweep away every barrier to the coming of His kingdom, and which regards per- sistent, willful opposition to God as really deserving absolute destruction. The Psalmists, like the Proph- ets, had a most vivid sense of the wickedness of such stubborn hatred, manifesting itself in continual and intentional wrong-doing, and felt that it deserved exemplary and condign punishment. All this is far removed from thoughts of personal vengeance. They have no desire to become the instruments of such pun- ishment. The thought is, Let God arise and vindicate His truth and protect His own. In proportion as the heart rises up to God, as the human spirit is con- formed to the divine spirit, as all personal passion and TJic KctJmbim or Writings 153 prejudice are removed and sin stands out in its hateful perversity there comes a feeling that such wickedness ought not to go unpunished, that the cause of truth demands that vengeance overtake the wrong-doer. There is such a thing as inspired passion for justice, which cannot be ignored. 3. The Messianic element in the Psalms appears in many forms. He is the King, crowned by Jehovah Himself, Ps. 2, that all nations may be subdued unto God. His triumph is celebrated, Ps. 18. His noble, beneficent character is eulogized, Pss. 45 and 72. He is a priest uniting in Himself royal and priestly func- tions, Ps. no. He has universal dominion, Pss. 22 and 45. He triumphs through suffering and death, Pss. 22 and 6g. Of this the suffering of David often becomes typical. Thus the lesson of Messiahship is slowly unfolded. The nation is made familiar with the thought of a King whose prowess is invincible and a Priest whose personal sacrifice avails for the rescue of His people. The true light shone on them, not in the full-orbed glory which the Sun of Righteousness casts around us, but in the growing beauty and invigorating freshness of the early morning when the dawn chases the night away. 4. Plow adequately and grandly do these Psalms express the highest aspirations of humanity! If they seem optimistic in regard to the final triumph of right- eousness it is an optimism which has been the inspiration of every heroic effort to reach a higher and nobler life. Men seeking after God, believing that in fellowship with Him is their true life, have always found in these productions words which have supported them in the severest trials and urged them to their grandest triumphs. 154 O^Ulmcs of an Introduction to the Old Tcsta?ne?it LITERATURE Commentaries: Kirkpatrick, Delitzsch, Perowne. Hengstenberg's Christology ; Isaac Taylor, The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry ; Lowth, Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews ; Alexander, The Witness of the Psalms to Christ a7id Christia?iity ; Cheyne, Origin and Religiotis Contents of the Psalter ; Margoliouth, Lines of DefeJise of the Biblical Revelation^ page 182; DeWitt, The Psalms, a New Translation (Metrical) with Introduction and Notes; James Robertson, The Poetry aJid Religion of the Psabns ; Chambers, The Psalter, A Witness to the Divine Origin of the Bible ; Spurgeon, Treasury of David ; Introductions of Driver and Keil; article "Psalms" in Bible Diction- aries of Smith and Hastings. PROVERBS I. Name The Hebrew title of this book is Mishle Shelomoh, "Proverbs of Solomon." It belongs to what is called the Hhokhma or wisdom literature, because it is largely given to philosophical speculation on the great questions which agitated the Jewish mind. The word Mashal, "proverb," means properly, "A representation, i.e., a statement not resting solely on a single fact, but standing for or representing other simi- lar facts." "The Mashal is by usage limited almost entirely to observations relative to human life and character, and is expressed commonly in a short, pointed form." (Driver, Int. 6th Ed., p. 394.) This literature embodies the practical ethics of the times. Cheyne calls these writers the humanists and realists Tlic Kcthubini or Writings 155 of their times. {Job and Solomon, p. 119.) They were not opposed to the prophets but moved in a different sphere, the practical affairs of daily life. They embodied the result of their study in short pithy sayings which the people could easily grasp, putting them in similitudes, riddles, dark sayings and parables. The Book of Proverbs is the best specimen of this liter- ature. II. Analysis The Book is divided into seven parts with an intro- ductory statement at the head of each part except three and seven. 1. The Praise of Wisdom. Chs. 1-9. (i) Introduction. 1:1-6. The general purpose of the Book showing what wisdom will secure. Verse 7 may be considered the text of the entire book. (2) Chs. 1:7 to 9:18 contain a series of discourses about wisdom, in fifteen sections (Delitzsch), each one treating of some quality of wisdom. The poetical structure is highly developed, and the personification of wisdom is one of the most beautiful conceptions of Hebrew literature. 2. The Proverbs of Solomon. Chs. 10:1 to 22:16. This section contains moral teachings and maxims of worldly prudence. The separate proverbs are marked by great regularity of form. Each proverb is com- posed of two antithetic members. The tone is usually bright and cheerful. 3. Words of the Wise. Chs. 22:17 to 24:34. These relate to justice, intemperance and evil associations. They are much freer in construction than those of the second section, the thought generally extending over 156 Otctlifies of a?i Introduction to the Old Testament four members and often more, that on wine drinking, 23:29-35, forming a complete poem. 4. Proverbs copied by Hezekiah's men. Chs. 25 to 29. This section has a strong likeness in form to sec- tion two, but with a tendency to extend the distich so as to embrace several members. The tone of the teaching is less cheerful and deals with the harsher phases of life. There is also much repetition of thought and even of expression. 5. The Words of Agur. Ch. 30. These "Words" are quite philosophical and the manner of expression peculiar. After a prayer, 7-9, we find nine groups of proverbs in regard to human conduct, each group being composed of four specifications. If we may read the word "Massa" as a proper name, and regard it as the country over which Agur was king, thus throwing the proverbs outside of Jewish thought, the peculiar- ities of expression might be easily explained. But this is not certain. 6. The Words of King Lemuel. Ch. 31:1-9. The title should perhaps read, "The Words of Lemuel, King of Massa." These are said to have been taught him by his mother, and consist of pithy maxims in regard to the bad effects of sensuality and intemper- ance. 7. In 31 :io-3i we have the description of the virtuous or thrifty woman, in which the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in their order. III. Age and Authorship From this general outline of the contents it is plain that the book is of compo-site origin. Parts of it are ascribed to Solomon, other parts to other authors. The Kethubim or Writi?igs 157 Sections i, 2 and 4 are directly assigned to Solomon, unless the title of Section i be regarded as a heading given to the entire collection by the final editor. The general opinion is that Section 2 is the personal work of Solomon and forms the basis around which the entire collection was gathered. This breathes the atmosphere of the best thought and the greatest pros- perity of the nation. Delitzsch locates the formal col- lection of this section in the reign of Jehoshaphat, about a century after Solomon, but there is no good reason why we should not trace the authorship of the proverbs in it back directly to Solomon himself. His fitness for such work may be inferred from i Kings 4:32. To this original nucleus Hezekiah's men added Chs. 25 to 29, ascribing them to Solomon. The difference in thought and language between this section and Chs. 10 to 24 is thought by many to indicate a later origin. In Chs. 10-24 the work is very symmetrical, the paral- lelism very regular, the tone cheerful and the royal position honored without question. In Chs. 25 to 29 the formation is quite irregular, the proverbs are not confined to two members but extend to four, five, or even ten members, the evidences are numerous that the country is less prosperous and the king less hon- ored. But all these conditions may be due to the unfortunate decay of Solomon's later life. It is not necessary to show that Solomon wrote every proverb of the section. He originated the form of expression, and others, with less artistic skill and literary finish, followed his models as closely as they were able. As for the other sections of the book, Chs. i to 9, which form a general introduction, almost certainly 158 Outli?ies of ail Introdtiction to the Old Testament belong to Solomon, although there is room for the suggestion that the style, which differs somewhat from the portions which are traced to Solomon, indicates that it may have been revised by the one who finally completed the collection. Sections 3, 5, 6 and 7 fur- nish no clue to their authorship beyond what the text supplies. Much difference of opinion exists as to the time when the final collection was made. Kautzsch, The Literature of the Old Testament, p. 153, and Cheyne, Founders of Old Testament Criticism, p. 340, place it after the exile; Delitzsch, in the reign of Jehoshaphat, a century after Solomon; Ewald, in the beginning of the eighth century B. C. The earlier dates seem more likely to be correct. LITERATURE Commentaries of Lange, To}^ Keil, Stuart, Delitzsch. Cheyne, Job and Solo^non; Introductions of Keil and Driver; "Proverbs" in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings. JOB I. Name Job, Hebrew lyyob, "the persecuted one," or "the penitent." The book receives its name from its hero not from its author. Who Job was we do not know. He is represented as a man abounding in wealth and eminent for his piety, living in patriarchal times in the land of Uz. The mention of the name in Ezekiel 14:14-20 and James 5:11 is evidence of his historical character. From the language it is probable his home Tlic Kcthiibim or Writings 1 59 was somewhere northeast of Palestine where the Aramaic language was spoken. VVe need not suppose that everything happened to him just as here narrated. The author uses that well-known character as a person around whom to group facts in human experience which bear upon the great questions before him. It is not a biography of Job, but a poem discussing the problem of human suffering. Luther says, "I look upon the Book of Job as a true history, yet I do not believe that all took place just as it is written, but that a pious and learned man of genius brought it into its present form." II. Text There is a remarkable difference between the Hebrew text and the oldest form of the Greek Septuagint, the latter being over seven hundred verses shorter than the former. No very satisfactory reason for this has been given, but Hatch, Essays in Biblical Greek, p. 215, offers a solution which has much to commend it. He thinks that the Hebrew text was enlarged after the Greek translation was made and that Origen in his great work, The Hexapla, enlarged the Greek text so as to make it conform to the Hebrew as he found it. Margoliouth, Li?ies of Defeiise of The Biblical Revela- tio?i, p. I38ff, explains many difficulties in the text by assuming an Arabic original which was afterward translated into Hebrew. HI. Authorship The author's name is not attached to the book, neither is there anything in the book from which we can draw a positive conclusion as to its authorship. i6o Outli?ics of an Introduction to the Old Tcstamait We must decide from a study of its contents and hence many opinions have been advanced. These opinions may be thus classified: 1. It was written by Moses. In favor of such early authorship the following considerations are offered: (i) The Jewish and early Christian traditions (2) Its utter silence in regard to Jewish ritual. (3) Its strong foreign tone. (4) The divine names are those used by the patriarchs. Elohim is commonly used instead of Jehovah. But other considerations entirely break the force of such arguments. We must not confuse the date of the hero with the time when the book was written. The teachings of the book presuppose an advanced state of society, they point to a period when serious thought on the great problems of life was well advanced. The troubled and uncertain condition of affairs also bespeaks a period later than the patriarchs. 2. Going to an opposite extreme some fix the date of the book during or after the exile. Such claim that the book is designed to comfort the Jews, personified in Job, during the fearful struggles which came upon them when their State was destroyed. Much stress is also laid on the character of the language, which is said to be weakened by words and idioms used by the sur- rounding nations at that late period. They tell us further that the advanced ideas of God, and of His gov- ernment, and of Satan demand a late date, since the Jews did not have them until they came into contact with other nations, and especially after they were in Babylon. But against this we may say that the doctrines found in the Psalms and other pre-exilic literature are simi- TJic KctJiubim or IVritifigs i6i lar to the teachings found in Job. The peculiarities may be due to the idiosyncrasies of the author, for different sections of the land had many local varia- tions both in words and in grammar. Besides it is altogether likely that the book came originally from beyond the boundaries of Palestine. The spiritual teachings of the book are not beyond those found in the writings of Solomon and Isaiah and the book may be safely referred to that period. 3. A third class assign it to the time when such literature was most flourishing among the Jews, the time of Solomon or the literary period following. The artistic structure, the philosophic speculation, the cosmopolitan civilization of that period, the tendency to use words brought among the Jews by their contact with foreign nations and the advanced religious ideas all seem to favor such a date. During the exile and later we do not find such a tendency to speculation. The troubles of the captivity and the demands made by the return to Palestine were not suited to the pro- duction of such literature. Its general harmony with the Psalms and the wisdom literature of that period furnishes a suitable background for such a discussion. IV. Teaching of the Book The question before the author is nothing less than the purpose of God in the afflictions of the righteous. The idea that suffering is infallible proof of intentional sin sometimes fails to explain God's dealings with men. The devout, upright man sometimes carries the heaviest burden of sorrow, and life ends without any vindication for him who goes to his grave conscious that his char- acter is not to be measured by his sufferings. Job was 1 62 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament such a man. When his friends insisted that he must be guilty of some secret sin, he stoutly maintains his innocence. Even when the darkness shuts out all hope of a vindication in this life, he declares his con- viction that God will in some way and somehow remove the brand and show that He approves him. This is the height of the argument. When Job casts himself upon God and declares his willingness to wait for his justification until this life is ended, he reveals a conviction concerning the government of God which is far in advance of his friends. He regards his suffer- ings not as a punishment for his sins but as a test of his character, a discipline which will yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness if received in a spirit of humble resignation to the will of God. V. Its Structure That the book of Job is poetical in form as well as in sentiment is generally admitted. The ancient Jews made it one of the three books to which they gave the name "Poetical." The question which has agitated critics is the kind of poetry to which they should assign it. Many have found in it the essential elements of a dramatic production. The clearly defined characters and their parts are preserved with absolute precision, and while it lacks the details of the Greek or modern drama, its steady movement toward the vindication of a noble but maligned character is highly dramatic. Others have contended for an epic form. It has its hero whose virtues are praised and whose trials are unique and thrilling, and the strength and nobility of his character are in the end admirably vindicated. TJic KctJiubim or Writings 163 It is not necessary to go into minute details on such a question, for in those early ages the modern distinc- tions had not been established. But it is of the utmost importance that its poetical structure be clearly recog- nized as preliminary to any just conception of its grandeur. VI. Contents In a general way we note the division into three parts, the prologue, the discussion and the epilogue. Looking farther we notice that the discussion is divided into three parts, the dispute between Job and his three friends, the addresses of Elihu and those of God who ends the controversy. Again, the three friends each make three addresses, except that Zophar fails to speak the third time, giving way, apparently, to Elihu. The course of thought is as follows: 1. The Introduction. Chs. I and 2. (In prose.) Job's position and character, Ch. 1:1-5. ^^^ trials, Ch. 1:6-2:10. The visit of his three friends, Ch. 2:11-13. 2. The argument with the three friends, Chs. 3 to 31. (In poetry). First Course. Chs. 3 to 14. Job's lament. Ch. 3. Eliphaz accuses Job. Chs. 4 and 5. Job justifies him- self. Chs. 6 and 7. Bildad reproves Job. Ch. 8. Job maintains his innocence. Chs. 9 and 10. Zophar severely censures Job. Ch. ii. Job attacks his friends and bewails his lot. Chs. 12 to 14. Second Course. Chs 15 to 21. The controversy becomes more personal and bitter. Eliphaz argues 164 Oiitliiics of an Introduction to the Old Testament that suffering proves sin. Ch. 15. Job bewails the injustice of his accusers and longs for vindication. Chs. 16 and 17. Bildad calls Job a boaster and warns him. Ch. 18. Job turns from his friends to God. Ch. ig. Zophar tells of the bitter lot of the ungodly. Ch. 20. Job answers that the wicked often prosper while the good suffer. Ch. 21. Third Course. Chs. 22 to 31. The controversy reaches its climax. Eliphaz accuses Job of secret sin and urges him to repent. Ch. 22. Job calls on God for vindication. Chs. 23 and 24. Bildad contrasts God's greatness and man's vileness. Ch. 25. Job ridi- cules Bildad and speaks of God's sovereignty. Ch. 26. Zophar fails to appear. Job reasserts his inno- cence and intimates that the true way to receive chas- tening is reverent submission to the divine will. Chs. 27 to 31. 3. The argument with Elihu and God. Chs. 32 to 42:6 (In poetry). Elihu makes four addresses to which Job makes no reply. He speaks (i) Of the ground and object of suffering. Chs. 32 and 33. (2) Of the righteousness of God. Ch. 34, (3) Accuses Job of self-righteousness. Ch. 35. (4) The righteous and beneficent government of God. Chs. 36 and 37- God closes the discussion. He shows the folly of contending with God. Chs. 38 to 40:2 Job's reply. Ch. 40:3-5. God's power and majesty. Chs. 40:6 to 41:34. Job's humble confession. Ch. 42:1-6. 4. The Epilogue. Ch. 42:7-17. (In prose.) The judgment on the three friends. Ch. 42:7-9. The restoration of Job. Ch. 42:10-15. The death of Job. Ch. 42:16, 17. The KctJmbim or Writings 165 VI. The Integrity of the Poem Various objections have been raised against the work as it now stands. 1. One is against the Prologue and the Epilogue. Objections are made that these are in prose while the body of the work is in poetry, that Jehovah is the name for God in them while Elohim is used elsewhere, that the character of Satan is foreign to early Jewish history and thought. To this we answer that the choice of prose for the historical statement is a habit of the author, Chs. 32:iff; 38:1, and if these parts had been written by a forger, he would have imitated the manner of the rest of the poem instead of changing to prose. As for the change in the divine names, it was common for the Jews to call God Jehovah, while a foreigner, or a Jew writing for a foreigner, more frequently used the name Elohim. As for Satan, a careful study of what is said of him removes the objection, for he is represented not as the antagonist of God, but as the agent by whom Job's integrity was tested, and the idea of God employing agents to accomplish His purpose is as old as the Jewish nation. 2. Objection is made against Ch. 27:7-23, on the ground that it contradicts the sentiments of Job expressed elsewhere in the poem, in regard to the retributive justice of God. But there is nothing in the passage which suggests another speaker than Job and the ideas advanced do not necessarily conflict with what he has to say elsewhere. They help to explain his previous statements. 3. A third objection is against the general tone of 1 66 Oiitliiics of an Introduction to the Old Testament the speeches attributed to God, and claiming espe- cially that the long passages describing the behe- moth and leviathan are not on a level with the sublime energy of the rest of the discourse. But if the daring of the poet in putting such a lengthy address in the mouth of God is very unusual, it is entirely in keeping with other strange features of the poem, and the nature of the discussion makes it very appropriate that when all the resources of men are exhausted, then God should be heard. There is absolutely nothing to show that these addresses were not a part of the orig- inal work, and they serve admirably to bring Job and his friends back to the necessity of an uncomplaining trust in the goodness and justice of God. As for the description of the behemoth and leviathan, if they seem rather heavy and unapt to a modern, western mind, we must remember that to an oriental mind, moving in the circle of ideas which then prevailed, it would seem very different. Whether they add to or detract from the poem is simply a matter of taste and has no bearing on the question of authorship. 4. The most persistent objection is against the intro- duction of Elihu. This is claimed to be an interpolation because he is not mentioned in the Prologue or Epi- logue with the other speakers, his speeches add noth- ing to the argument, they disturb the movement of the plot and his style differs from the rest of the book. But we answer that a brief introduction is not sup- posed to mention all the subordinate characters intro- duced in the discussion, and if the part attributed to Elihu had been an interpolation, the person inserting it would have been likely to add his name in the Epi- logue so as to make it seem more like an integral part The KetJmbim or Writings 167 of the poem, while the author of the rest of the book, not having mentioned Elihu in the Prologue, because he was not one of the main characters, would naturally omit him from the Epilogue for the same reason. He is introduced simply to add what the others have failed to say. It is evident also that instead of being a superfluous element the teaching of Elihu adds much to the dis- cussion. He emphasizes the goodness of God which has been overlooked by the others and which must always be taken into account when trying to explain the dealings of God with men. God is not the imper- sonation of arbitrary power but a being who deals with men for their good. Whether He gives prosperity or overwhelms with suffering and sorrow the same love inspires His action. This is very different from and superior to the arguments advanced by the three friends who have preceded Elihu, and if Job does not make a formal answer it is not because he does not think his words are unworthy of notice, but because he feels that his argument is sound and meets his case. Under such conditions he had promised silence. 6:24, 25. That the movement of the poem is interfered with or the final issue needlessly delayed by the introduc- tion of Elihu is then an unjust criticism. So impor- tant a consideration demanded recognition and the poem would have lacked one of its best elements if Elihu had not spoken. LITERATURE Commentaries: Watson in The Expositors Bible; Cook in The Speaker s Commentary ; Davidson in TJie 1 68 Outliiics of a?i I?itrodnctio?i to the Old Testa?nent Cambridge Bible for Schools; Hengstenberg; Lange; Delitzsch. Green, The Argtime?it for the Book of Job ; Gilbert, The Poetry of Job ; Genung, The Epic of the hiner Life ; Margoliouth, Lijies of Defejise of the Biblical Revelatio?i, p. 138; Dillon, The Sceptics of the Old Testament ; Cheyne, Job a7id Solomon; Hatch, Essays i?t Biblical Greeks p. 215; Introductions of Driver, Bleek, Keil; Article "J^^" ^" Bible Dictionaries of Smith, Kitto, Hastings, and in Encyclopaedia Britan?nca. For poetical features see Lowth, Sacred Poetry of the He- brews; and Taylor, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. SONG OF SONGS I. Name In Yiohx^v^ Shir Hashshirim, "The Song of Songs,** which Bleek renders "The most beautiful, the most valuable of Songs." In the Jewish canon it forms the first of the five Megilloth, or Rolls, which were read during their annual festivals, the Song of Songs being reserved for the Passover. II. Authorship The idea of authorship rests largely upon the inter- pretation of the book. Those who find but two leading characters generally make Solomon the author as well as the hero. They give the following reasons: the title; the extensive knowledge of nature; the frequency with which foreign products are mentioned; the apparent prosperity of the times; the accurate knowledge of different parts of the country; and Solomon's well-known love for women. Those who find three leading characters in the poem TJlc Kctlmbim or Writings 169 do not regard Solomon as the author, although many of them admit that it was written not long after Solo- mon's time, — Orelli says about 950 B. C. A few, more radical, date it after the exile. Such claim that the title should be rendered, "A Song concerning Solo- mon"; that the picture of Solomon is not such as he would be likely to paint of himself, since it presents the deformities of his character without its redeeming qualities; that the language used is that of northern Palestine, where the Aramaic forms are more frequent; and that the allusions to natural scenery, plants, cus- toms, etc., fit that section and would come more appropriately from a writer living in that section than from one, like Solomon, living in the southern part of the land. III. Analysis Delitzsch present the following outline: Act I. The lovers meeting. i:i to 2:7. Act 2. Monologues of the Shulamite. 2:8 to 3:5. Act 3. The royal espousals. 3:6 to 5:1. Act 4. Love lost and found again. 5:2 to 6:9. Act 5. The lovely but modest queen. 6:10 to 8:4. Act 6. The bridal pair in the Shulamite's home. 8:5-14. Dr. W. E. Griffis {The Lily among Thorns, p. 129) pre- sents a much more elaborate scheme, with much suc- cess. In Lange's Com.^ Intro. ^ p. 10, several others, adapted to different theories, are given. IV. Form To what form of poetical composition does it belong? I. Some, Herder, Bleek, say it is a collection of independent lyrics, setting forth love under a variety 1 70 Outli?ies of an bitroduction to the Old Testament of aspects, but without any attempt at unity. From twelve to twenty different poems, besides numerous fragments and choruses, are found by these critics. They explain the present connected form by the fact that originally it was the custom to attach one piece to another without separating them by titles or other indi- cations of change. But the fact that the same charac- ters and many of the special terms reappear in all parts of the poem, and that the theme is not love in general but wedded love, are strongly against this idea of a series of unconnected poems. 2. Others, Kingsbury (Bible Com.) and the older wri- ters generally, find in it a complete poem, idyllic, as the title indicates, a song of songs, or a beautiful song. This they justify by the almost perfect structure of the poem, its subject and the frequent recurrence of the refrain or chorus, thus magnifying the effect produced by the sentiment. But the title is evidently designed to refer to the quality and not to the form of the poem, and the frequent changes of persons and of the scenes of action, together with the irregular structure, are against the rules of idyllic poetry. 3. A third class, Delitzsch and most modern critics, consider the poem dramatic in essence, although quite undeveloped in form. A few, Renan, try to find a fully developed drama according to the modern con- struction, designed for presentation before an audience, but this is an extreme which refutes itself. The essen- tials of the drama are here, the conversation between the characters, the change of scene, the complicated conditions and the triumphant deliverance of the hero, but it has the lyric tone of the ancient poets. In this it is a companion piece to the Book of Job. The Kctlmbmt or Writifigs 1 7 1 Those who favor the dramatic structure are divided into two groups; those who find two principal charac- ters (Delitzsch), Solomon and the Shulamite maiden, and those who find three (Ewald), Solomon, a rustic lover and the Shulamite. Whichever of these be adopted, much must be supplied by the reader to develop the sense and this fact has led to a great variety of ingenious suggestions, the most of which are more fanciful than probable. The third character seems necessary to make the poem consistent with what we know of Solomon and his time. V. The Design Critics are agreed on two points. It is poetical in form and its theme is love. Beyond this there is almost every conceivable shade of opinion as to its design. The leading methods of interpretation are these: 1. The Allegorical, which treats the characters as altogether imaginary, names assumed simply as a framework for the story. This was the favorite view of the Jewish church, in a modified form was accepted by the early church, and still has many followers. The Jews regarded it as setting forth the love of Jehovah for His church, Solomon representing God and the Shulamite woman the Jews. Origen regarded Solomon as representing Christ and the maiden the Christian church. Others put the individual Christian in the place of the church. This view, if consistently carried out, creates more difficulties than it explains, is con- trary to sound exegetical principles, destroys the his- torical basis of the book and is now seldom advocated. 2. The Typical. This view treats the framework of 1/2 Outlines of an hitrodiictio7i to the Old Testame?it the book as historical, it tells of a real episode in the life of Solomon, who was in this one respect typical of a spiritual love and represents the supreme love of God for His people (Keil), or of the soul for God (Stuart), or the love of Christ for His people (Kingsbury). This theory has many and great attractions and has a large following. The idea of wedded love being typical of the divine love for man pervades both the Old and the New Testaments. But the character of Solomon, with his promiscuous marriages, and the general tone of his treatment of maidens, are very far removed from the person he is supposed to represent. This theory fails also to account for the introduc- tion of a second lover who at length prevails over Solomon. 3. The Literal. This finds three principal charac- ters in the Book: Solomon, a shepherd, and a maiden. The design of the writer is to set forth the strength and purity of a true love existing between the shep- herd and the maiden, by representing her as being brought to the court of Solomon, where every device is employed to persuade her to break her engagement to the 'shepherd and become the wife of Solomon. She rejects every advance of Solomon, repeatedly declares her unalterable love for the shepherd, longs for restoration to him, preferring his humble home among the vineyards on her native hills to the splen- did luxury of Solomon's palace and finally finds her satisfaction in the embrace of the one to whom her love is plighted. This theory has the advantage of allowing a place for the three characters such as the story demands, preserves their individuality and makes the words of each fit their station. It furnishes a The KctJiubiin or Writings 1 73 splendid picture of what the Scriptures everywhere exalt, the beauty and power of a true lov^e between man and woman. Such an example has a lesson for every age and could be best conveyed in those days in this objective way. The keynote may be found in Ch. Z\^, 7. Nor does this interpretation at all inter- fere with our seeing in the story a picture of that unchanging, divine love whose constancy is the foun- dation of all our hope. LITERATURE Commentaries : Delitzsch, Hengstenberg, Keil, Kings- bury in Bible Commentary, Lange. W. E. Grififis, TJie Lily amo?ig Thor?is ; Herder, Spirit of Hebrew Poetry; Lowth, Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews ; Taylor, The Spirit of Hebrew Poetry ; Introductions of Driver, Bleek, Keil, and articles in Bible Dictionaries of Smith, Kitto and Hastings and "Canticles" in E?icyclopcedia Britamdca. See also Paul Haupt's treatment of the book in American Journal of Semitic Lariguagesy July, 1902, and George L. Robin- son's in Biblical Worlds September, 1902, p. 191. RUTH I. Name and Contents The book takes its name from the person around whose fortunes it centers. Ruth was a Moabitess who became the wife of Mahlon, son of Elimelech and Naomi, who were driven by a famine in Bethlehem to dwell for a season in the land of Moab. Naomi, after the death of her husband and two sons, resolves to return to her old 174 Otitlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament home and kindred and Ruth accompanies her. There she goes to glean in the field of Boaz and finally mar- ries him and becomes the ancestor of David. The genealogy of David, given in the end of the book, connects the history found in Samuel with David's ancestors in the tribe of Judah. Two points of inter- est thus center in it, the singularly picturesque nar- rative of the social life of the period and the light it throws on the ancestry of David, with its mingling of Jewish and Moabitish blood. II. Its Position In the Hebrew Bible it is the second of the five Megilloth and in later times was read annually at the Feast of Pentecost. In the Spanish manuscripts it is placed first among these rolls. In the Talmud it is spoken of as being the first book in the Kethubim or Hagiographa. In the Septuagint and in our English Bible it is placed between Judges and Samuel because of its historical relations and to give proper introduc- tion to the genealogy of David. There is no good reason to think it was ever considered a part of Judges, from which it is widely separated in the Hebrew Bible. III. Its Date The date of the facts recorded is probably about sixty years before the birth of David. There is nothing to fix positively the date of the composition of the book. The birth of David fixes a point back of which we need not go, but how long after David's time we must go will depend on certain internal conditions which are not very decisive. The KetJmbirn or Writings 175 Some would allow a long time for the mellowing tone which pervades the book. The contrast between the rough, lawless times recounted in the book of Judges and the rural security and peacefulness of this book is indeed very great, but the two might easily coexist as we can see from the history of any country. During the most harrowing times of our own Revolutionary and Civil wars there were not wanting beautiful visions of domestic and rural tran- quillity. From the fact that it traces the genealogy of David but does not mention Solomon some have inferred that it was written in the lifetime of David. The language shows no signs of decay such as we find after the exile, or even after Solomon's time. Driver says it stands on a level with the best parts of Samuel. The few words which have been called Aramaic may easily have been current in the colloquial language of the people at any period of their history. There does not seem any strong reason for assigning the composition of the book to a date much later than that of David. The hostility of the Jews to marriage with foreigners became more intense from that time, i Kings 1 1:1, 2, until it soon became a cause of reproach. The intense bitterness of this feeling in Ezra's time would seem effectually to show that it could not have originated in his day. The passage in 47, explaining the casting off of the shoe, is the strongest argument for a late date, but this does not call for an exilic or post-exilic date, as Ewald and Wellhausen think, for in the primitive conditions then existing one or two centuries often bring about great changes of social customs. 1 76 Outlines of an Introdtiction to the Old Testament IV. Its Purpose Various reasons have been assigned for the exist- ence of the book: to recommend the duty of Levirate marriage, Deut. 25:5; to reprove the intolerance of the Jews toward foreign marriages; to soften the dark out- lines of the book of Judges; and to record the gene- alogy of David. The latter seems the stronger reason. Goethe speaks of it as "The loveliest little epic and idyllic whole which has come down to us." LITERATURE Commentaries : Keil and Delitzsch and Lange. Ryle, Cano?i of the Old Testame7tt, pp. 115 and 132; Stanley, Lectures on the History of the J ezvish Church, I. 336. Intro- ductions of Bleek, Driver, Keil. Article "Ruth," in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings and xw Ency- clopcedia Britan?iica. LAMENTATIONS I. Name In our Hebrew Bible it is called Ekhah, "Ah, how!" from the fact that this word begins three of the five sections into which the book is divided. In the Tal- mud, and among the later Jews it is called Qinoth, "Dirges," "Elegies." In the Septuagint it is called Threnoiy in the Vulgate, Lamentationes. Hence our English Lamentations. The words "Of Jeremiah" are added to the title in the Septuagint. II. Position In the Hebrew Bible it forms the third of the five Megilloth and was read annually on the ninth day of Tlic Kcthubim or Writings 177 the month Ab (our August), the day observed in com- memoration of the destruction of the Temple. In the Septuagint and the Vulgate it follows the book of Jeremiah and this is its position in our English Bible. Bleek thinks that in the Hebrew Bible it originally stood next to Jeremiah, but was removed to its pres- ent position among the Megilloth in order to have them all in one place. III. Contents The book consists of five dirges, having the same general subject, the overthrow of the kingdom of Judah, but each one giving expression to a special phase of the calamity. In the third the nation is per- sonified in the person of the writer. Dirge i. The desolation wrought by transgression. Ch I. Dirge 2. The terrors of judgment when Jehovah appears. Ch. 2. Dirge 3. The nation's anguish and its hope. Ch. 3. Dirge 4. The sad contrast between the past and the present. Ch. 4. Dirge 5. The confession and plea for help. Ch. 5. The nature of the subject allows a freedom of treat- ment which would not be expected in an ordinary com- position. IV. Its Structure The mechanical structure demands attention. The first four of the five dirges are acrostics, each verse beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in suc- cession. In the third dirge the initial letter is repeated three times, thus giving to it sixty-six verses while the 1 78 Outlines of an hitroduction to the Old Testament others have only twenty-two. The fifth has twenty- two verses but they lack the alphabetical order. In the first four the verses are longer than usual and are generally marked by the cacsural pause, which divides the line into a longer and a shorter section, the second being less closely allied to the first than is common in Hebrew poetry. (i:i; 2:3.) As a specimen of elegiac poetry the book stands without a rival. Its characteristic feature is the irreg- ular formation of the verse lines. The peculiar rhythm is well sustained throughout. As it dwells upon the details of the misery and suffering, laments the causes which have occasioned it, seeks for relief in the thought of God's mercy and sees a gleam of hope in the abiding faithfulness of Him who has shown His displeasure by visiting them in judgment, we are reminded of Tennyson's In Memoriam. The nation has fallen, the sorrow is unmeasured, but God has done it and through repentance His favor may be regained. The book is plainly the product of art as well as the expression of grief, but the art gives an added pathos to the grief, since it brings out the details in such a way as to lead us through the various elements of the suffering up to the final supplication for mercy and the relief found in the thought of a covenant-keeping God. V. The Author In the Septuagint we find this statement in the way of a preface: "And it came to pass, after Israel was taken captive and Jerusalem devastated, that Jeremiah sat weeping, and lamented this lamentation over Jeru- salem, and said." This is not in the Hebrew text, but its presence in the first translation shows that the idea The KctJmbim or Writings 179 that Jeremiah wrote the book is of very early origin. The Targum repeats the assertion and Josephus, Aiitiq.^ X. 5, I, speaks of such a work of Jeremiah, but says it referred to the death of King Josiah, rather than to the destruction of Jerusalem. This statement seems to have grown out of the assertion made in 2 Chron. 35:25, but the two works are evidently inde- pendent of each other. That Jeremiah is the author is inferred from the fact that the Septuagint and Syriac translations have placed it along with the prophecies of Jeremiah and added to the title, "Lamentations," the words "of Jeremiah." The same tender, reverent spirit, broken yet submis- sive because the punishment was deserved, runs through the entire poem and is entirely in agreement with Jeremiah as seen in his prophecies. It was evidently written by an eye-witness of the disaster and one able to appreciate the greatness of the destruction, because of his intimate knowledge of all the details of the condition of both city and people, as Jeremiah was. There is great similarity of style and manner of individual expression between the two books, such as "Daughter of my people," Lam. 2:11, 3:48, 4:10, and Jer. 8:11, 14:17; and the reference to tears as evidence of grief, Lam. I:i6, 3:48, and Jer. 9:1, 14:17. This similarity extends also to the peculiar words. Lam. 3 :47 and Jer. 48:43. Later critics have denied both the unity of the book and the authorship of Jeremiah, claiming that the fifth poem, not having the acrostic arrangement, and the first four, not being constructed alike, call for differ- ent authorship, as if such technical variations could i8o Outlines of a?i Introdtictioti to the Old Testament not be the work of one man. They also find occa- sional expressions which do not seem to them to be suitable to Jeremiah, while some words found in Lamentations are not found in the Prophecies. They argue also that a writer of Jeremiah's genius would not submit himself to such restraint as is demanded in the acrostic composition of the Lamentations. To whicli we may reply that such technicalities are often resorted to to increase the power of a poem, and further it is idle to attempt to define the limits within which a writer will confine himself in the expression of his ideas. Kautzsch, The Literature of the Old Testamejit, p. 92, says, "Lamentations betrays in almost every part so lively a recollection of the closing period of the siege and taking of Jerusalem, that at least the greater por- tion of it can have been written by no one who was not an eye-witness or a younger contemporary of these events." And Bleek says, bitroduction to the Old Testa- me?it, IL p. 102, "The traditional view that Jeremiah was the author of these songs . . . may be assumed as certain." LITERATURE Commentaries of Keil, Cheyne, Plumptre and Hen- derson at the end of their commentaries on Jeremiah. Introductions of Bleek, Driver, Keil, and article "Lamentations," in Bible Dictio7iaries oi Kitto, Smith, Hastings, and same article in Encyclopaedia Brita?i?iica. ECCLESIASTES L Name The Hebrew name of this book is Qoheleth, a word of doubtful significance, but derived from a root The Kcthubim or Writings i8i which means "to call," "to assemble." This would give the sense, "One who assembles the people for the purpose of addressing them." Our English Bible, which renders it "Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher," is a good rendering of the term. The feminine of the Hebrew word has led some to infer that it is a sym- bolic name for an assembly called for consultation, when the title would refer to the teaching of the book rather than to the speaker. Plumptre {Com. on Ecclesiastes) would translate it "Debater." II. Position In our Hebrew Bible it forms the fourth among the Megilloth and was read annually on the feast of Taber- nacles. In the Septuagint and in our English Bible it is placed next to Proverbs, because it was ascribed to the same author. While there has been an occasional voice against its admission to the Canon, as among the Jews of the second century, on account of its peculiar teaching, it has never been seriously questioned by the Christian church. III. Contents To understand the book we must cast aside the almost innumerable so called expositions, which have treated it as a most grotesque, undigested, pessimistic and sensual production, and remember that it is a poem embodying a conception of life and giving a con- clusion as to its attainment. We must read it as a specimen of oriental poetry, remembering the ten- dency of the oriental to embody his thought in lan- guage which seems to us so extravagant as to become almost untruthful. 1 82 Outli?ies of an I?itroductio?i to the Old Testament It also gives us one of the most serious and earnest efforts to attain the hig-hest good while surrounded by the perplexities of life. To understand it we must remember that the oriental does not reason out a fixed proposition as we do, but presents facts and compares them with other facts often seeming to have no rela- tion to each other, and we must put ourselves into his methods rather than ask him to conform to ours, if we would understand him. Its key-note is not "Vanity of vanities," but "Fear God and keep His command- ments." The following outline, condensed from Dr. Gins- burg's article on "Ecclesiastes" in i\\G E?icyclop(sdia Britannica^ will show the course of thought: Theme, Searching for the highest good. Ch. i:i-ii. The testing of knowledge. 1:12-18. The testing of pleasure. 2:1-26. The testing of stoicism. 3:1-22. The testing of human society. 4:1-16. The testing of formalism. 5:1-20. The testing of riches. 6:1-12. The testing of human foresight. 7:1 to 8:15. The testing of firm confidence in God. 8:16 to 12:7. Conclusion, Fear God and keep His commandments. 12:8-14. The idea that the book has an incipient dramatic form, in which a youth presents his exaggerated views of life and an old man corrects them, or that it is a colloquy between Solomon and various skeptics of his times, has been favored from the days of Jerome. Herder finds in the book two voices, one of a person looking on the surface of life and reaching the most gloomy conclusions, which find expression in the The KctJmbim or Writings 183 words "Vanity of vanities"; the other of one who has learned the true significance of life and the benefits which may be gained by its varied discipline, whose conclusion is expressed in the words "Fear God and keep His commandments." Tennyson's Tivo Voices is a modern illustration of such a scheme. IV. Authorship The book is strictly anonymous. Jewish tradition ascribed it to Solomon and this opinion received the almost unanimous support of the early church and still has many adherents. Among the arguments favoring this view the follow- ing are the most convincing: The statement in 1:1 seems to limit it to Solomon, as he was the only son of David who ever reigned over Israel in Jerusalem, The allusions to wisdom, 1:16-18, remind us of what is said in Proverbs, and the account of his gathering riches and enjoying honors and his experience with women, 7:26-28, agree well with what we know of Solomon. He had an extensive knowl- edge of what men were thinking and could give them advice in their perplexities. But many serious, even insuperable objections com- pel us to deny the validity of these arguments. It is almost certain that Solomon did not write the book. As for the Jewish tradition, we know that the early Christian church accepted Solomon as the author because the Jewish church did so, but the Jewish tradi- tion does not reach further back than seven hundred years after Solomon's death, and has no solid histori- cal basis. As for the seeming reference to Solomon in such 1 84 Oi(tli?ies of mi hitrodiictioii to the Old Testament expressions as "son of David," "king of Jerusalem," l:i, the structure of the book shows that the writer gathers his statements around Solomon as a represent- ative man, thereby giving the force of a concrete example to his teachings, without intending to claim that the writer was himself Solomon. Evidence of this is found in the fact that much of the picture does not apply to Solomon and his times. "I was king," 1:1, implies that he was not king when the writing was produced. Solomon himself would hardly write such depreciative statements as those which imply discon- tent when state affairs are mentioned, 3:16, 5:8, or degeneration, 4:1, or decay, 10:7. Especially does the language indicate a much later period than that of Solomon. It has many features common to that used after the exile. Delitzsch men- tions over one hundred words found in this book, but not elsewhere in the Bible, except in the post-exilic literature. He thinks it was written last of all the books of the Old Testament. The numerous Aramaic terms point clearly to such an origin. Many think they can trace the influence of Greek philosophy in the book, especially that of the Stoics and Epicureans. But these speculations as to life and its meaning were not peculiar to the Greeks, although they gave much attention to them. They belong to the world and may be found in all ages and among all men who have tried to solve the mystery of life. The absence of any Greek words or objects, while those of Persian origin are frequent, would also call for a date prior to the invasion of Greek ideas. It is not possible then to fix the authorship or date of the book except in the most general way. It was The Kcthubim or Writings 185 written before the Septuagint translation was made for it is included in that work. It is apparently the work of one familiar with Jewish thought after the exile, who had come into close contact with the life and thought in the latter part of the Persian Empire, and before the Greek philosophy had exerted much influ- ence on Jewish thought. This would give us as limits from about 400 B. C. to 250 B. C. Delitzsch, Ewald and Driver favor about 332 B. C. Luther thinks it was compiled by Sirach in the time of the Maccabees. V. The Religious Value of the Book The great value of the book consists in the fact that it refers everything to the ultimate decision of God. In this life there is no true test of character which may be easily applied and which all will accept as final, but when a man appears before the judgment bar of God he will receive a righteous judgment. The book is ethical not dogmatic. It gives us ideas suggested by a wide experience of life, with a keen penetration into its hidden meanings and a firm trust in providence. Its oriental intensity of expression confuses our more subdued manner of thought, but if one will translate the thought and not the expression into the language of our own times he will be surprised to find how his own life and experiences and ideas are mirrored in this picture drawn so long ago. literature Commentaries: Delitzsch, Stuart, Ginsburg, Lange, Cox in Expositor' s Bible, and Strong in Studejifs Co7n- m,entary. Stanley, History of the Jewish Church, II. p. 281; Dillon, The Skeptics of the Old Testa?ne7it, pp. 85 1 86 Outlines of an Introductio7i to the Old Testament and 239; Cheyne, Job and Solomon^ p. 199. Introduc- tions of Driver, Bleek, Keil. Article "Ecclesiastes" in Bible Dictionaries of Kitto, Smith, Hastings, and in Encyclopcedia Britannica. ESTHER I. Position In the Hebrew Canon the book of Esther forms the fifth of the Megilloth, and was read annually during the feast of Purim, which came on the fourteenth and fifteenth of Adar, our March, and celebrated the deliverance of the Jews in Persia from the plot laid for their destruction by Haman. In our English Bible it follows Nehemiah and forms the conclusion of the historical books of the Old Testament. Its right to a place in the canon was long disputed among the Jews, but afterward it was held in honor second only to the Pentateuch. Maimonides said that when the Messiah came the only Scriptures would be the Law and Esther. The Christian church has also been divided as to its merits. It is not quoted in the New Testament, and is not mentioned in many cata- logues of the Old Testament. Many critics, in all ages, have contested its right to be in the canon. Luther wished the book had never been written. But there is no good reason for its rejection. It is found in the Hebrew and the Septuagint, and most critics agree that it is properly inserted. II. Contents Esther, a Jewish maiden of the captivity, suddenly becomes the queen of Ahasuerus, more generally The KctJiubim or Writiiigs 187 known as Xerxes, king of Persia, and there learns of a plot to destroy all her nation. After conferring with her foster-father, Mordecai, she approaches the king, at the risk of her life, secures the downfall and death of Haman the grand vizier of the king, who has plotted the destruction of her people, and obtains a decree from the king which enables them to defend themselves on the day fixed for their death. The joy of her people over their escape results in the feast of Purim, which becomes the great national holiday of the Jews. The story is admirably told and the literary finish of the narrative equals the work done in the golden age of the Jewish literature. III. Credibility Doubts as to its credibility have existed from the earliest times. I. Its historical character has been assailed. The difficulty of locating Ahasuerus, the fact that according to Persian custom the king was limited in the selection of his queen to certain prominent families among the nobility, the fact that eleven months' notice was given before the decree was carried into execution, besides other difficulties of less value, have been mentioned against it. But we may meet these by saying that the difficulty of locating Ahasuerus is now removed, since all are agreed that Ahasuerus is but another name for Xerxes, one of the greatest of Persian monarchs, whose char- acter well agrees with the facts here related. So capricious and willful a king might easily ignore any restraints thrown around his marriage, and the long notice of the edict is accounted for when we remember 1 88 Otitlijics of an Introduction to the Old Testament the immense size of the kingdom and the slow methods of communication then employed. It is also admitted that those statements which can be verified from Persian sources agree perfectly with the facts as narrated in the Bible, while the minute description of customs and localities indicate a thorough knowledge on the part of the writer, so that the historical character of his narrative stands unim- peached until it can be positively proved to be untrust- worthy. 2. It has also been objected that the book, while pro- fessing to be a part of Jewish history, has almost noth- ing of a Jewish tone. It contains no allusion to Jewish history outside of the immediate facts involved, no reference to religious services, even the name of God is not once found in it. But when we examine the character of the book and find that it is not religious, but intended simply to explain the reason for the celebration of a feast which was secular in its nature, it is not strange that the name of God is not found in it. There is no virtue in introducing that name where there is no occasion for it. The entire book is pervaded with the idea of God. Its lack of Jewish ideas may be explained when we remember that it relates to a special exigency, a single crisis in Jewish history, and that there was no occasion to enter upon a discussion of themes connected with their general history. IV. Date A more serious difficulty is met when we attempt to fix the date at which it was written. That the facts refer to the reign of Xerxes is now The KctJuibim or Writings 189 conceded. His reign extended from 485 to 465 B. C, and Esther became his queen in the seventh year of his reign, Ch. 2:16. The freshness of the narrative inclines one to the idea that the book was written soon after the events occurred. But the tendency now is to bring it down to the early years of the Greek period, 332 B. C. For this no sufficient reason can be given. The writer was evidently familiar with the Persian records, 9:32, 10:2, and the style has much in common with that of Ezra and Nehemiah, but with many Persian words. Keil fixes upon 465-425 B. C. Driver, 332 B. C. The probabilities favor the date given by Keil. V. Author An attempt, based on Ch. 9:20, 32, has been made to trace the writing to Mordecai, but the reference does not justify it. Among the Jews it was sometimes ascribed to the "Men of the Great Synagogue." The most that can be said is that it was written by a Jew familiar with matters at the Persian court and with the conditions of the Jewish people. VI. Teachings 1. Its manifest aim is to account for the feast of Purim. Although there is some discussion about the origin of the word Purim or Pur, there can be little doubt that the origin of the festival is here correctly given. And on the other hand the existence of the festival is a guarantee of the accuracy of the account here given. 2. Much has been said as to the morals of the book, the evident determination to exalt the Jew, and the 1 90 Outlifies of an hitrodtiction to the Old Testament apparent lack of moral sentiment pervading it. But the book must be judged, not by our standards, but by the spirit of the times in which it was written. The writer simply records the facts without any expression of opinion in regard to them. 3. The book certainly teaches a grand lesson in regard to divine providence. The author did not evi- dently so design it, but the facts show it. In their distress God kept them from harm and gave them a triumphant deliverance. Such a lesson is worthy of preservation. 4. It is to be noted that the Septuagint adds a para- graph to the Hebrew as a continuation of Ch. 10, and to this the Vulgate adds six chapters more. But these are late additions so different in style and sentiment that the Protestant church has never regarded them as a part of the inspired record. LITERATURE Commentaries : Keil and Delitzsch, Lange. Introduc- tions of Driver, Keil, Bleek. Article "Esther" in Bible Dictionaries of Smith and Hastings, and in EncyclopcE- dia Britannica, DANIEL I. Name Daniel, "God is my judge." The book receives its name from its chief character, who is also probably its author. Daniel, who belonged to a prominent family in the tribe of Judah, 1:1-7, was taken captive by Nebu- chadnezzar about 605 B. C. He soon rose to eminence in the service of the king and his successors, Darius and Cyrus. Nothing is known as to his death, although The Ketlmbim or Writings 191 according to Mohammedan tradition he returned to Judea and died in Susa, where his tomb is still shown. II. Position In our Hebrew Bible Daniel is placed between Esther and Ezra in the third division, Kethubim, which is made up of miscellaneous writings, and not as we might expect, and as it is in our English Bible, in the second division, among the Prophets. Later critics have used this fact as an important link in their argument for a late origin of the book. But it admits of an explana- tion which leaves the question of date untouched. No book was placed among the prophets unless the writer belonged to the prophetic order, a distinct class having carefully defined limits. Daniel did not belong to this order but was a statesman whose religious teaching was not his principal occupation. He does not tell us, as other prophets do, of his divine call, but in the midst of his duties as an officer of the state, utters the truth which God has enabled him to see, for the benefit of his distressed countrymen. Again, Daniel lived in a foreign land and gave his time and talents to a foreign king. In this he stands alone. Ezekiel indeed prophesied in a foreign land but his time was wholly given to his fellow captives whom he taught and for whom he prophesied. To the Jew this would mean much. Again, when we examine the book of Daniel care- fully, we see that it is largely historical, while the rest is prophecy of a very peculiar character. It is a series of apocalyptic visions rather than an utterance of truth suited to popular edification and encouragement. The theme itself is outside the usual course of prophecy. 192 Outli?ies of a?i Introdiictmi to the Old Testament It does not tell of the future of Israel so much as of the overturning of the nations until the kingdom of God should come. Such reasons justify the assign- ment of the book to the position given it in the Hebrew Canon. III. Contents Westcott (Smith's Bible Dictionary) divides it into three parts: (i) Introduction. Ch. i. (2) A general view of the progressive history of the powers of the world and of the principles of the divine government as seen in the life of Daniel. Chs. 2 to 7. (3) The fortunes of the people of God as typical of the fortunes of the church in all ages Chs. 8 to 12. But a more natural division makes two sections. 1. History of Daniel. Chs. i to 6. Daniel's training. Ch. i. Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its interpretation. Ch. 2. Nebuchadnezzar's golden image and its worship. Ch. 3. Nebuchad- nezzar's dream and madness. Ch. 4. Belshazzar's feast and the fall of Babylon. Ch. 5. Daniel in the lion's den. Ch. 6. 2. Visions seen by Daniel. Chs. 7 to 12. Vision of the four beasts. Ch. 7. Vision of the ram and he goat. Ch. 8. Vision of the seventy weeks. Ch. 9. Vision of the great world powers. Chs. 10 to 12. Several facts are worthy of mention in regard to this book. I. The record is not continuous, but of separate events in the life of Daniel. They probably stand in chronological order, but each is complete in itself. In most cases there is no connecting word when passing from one theme to another. TJic Kcthubim or Writings 193 2. Two languages are used. Chs. i to 2:4a and Chs. 8 to 12 are in Hebrew, while Chs. 2:4b to 7:28 are Aramaic. A parallel to this is found in Ezra. Kamp- hausen {Polychramc Bible, p. 16) thinks the entire book was originally written in Hebrew, and when some portions of it were afterward lost they were supplied from an Aramaic translation made by the author of the original Hebrew. This explanation creates more diffi- culties than it removes. In those transition times both languages would be readily understood by all classes. 3. In the first three chapters the record is made in the third person as might be expected from the fact that they are descriptive, in the remainder of the book the first person is employed because the writer is him- self the actor. By some this has been thought to con- flict with the unity of the book, and it has been divided among many authors, Michaelis making eight and Eichhorn ten. This is criticism run mad. All liter- ature, ancient and modern, furnishes similar changes. The unity of the book is now generally conceded even by the most radical school of criticism. The interre- lation of the two parts is so intimate that they must be referred to the same source. IV. Origin Two widely different opinions are held in regard to its origin. According to the traditional view it was written by Daniel himself and so belongs to the period of captivity. Many modern critics hold that it could not have been written before 300 B. C. and in all probability not until 168 B. C. Driver {IfUroduction to the Old Testament , p. 497) pre- 194 Outlines of an Introduction to the Old Testament sents the argument for the modern view under three heads, as follows: I. Historical. As difficulties in the way of assign- ing the authorship to Daniel he mentions especially: The position of the book in the Jewish Canon; the Chaldeans are made synonymous with the wise men, a use of the term not found until after the close of the Babylonian Empire; Belshazzar is called y^2>/^of Baby- lon and Nebuchadnezzar is represented as his father, while the history shows that Belshazzar was not king neither was Nebuchadnezzar his father; the difficulty of finding a place for Darius, since Cyrus was the immediate successor of the Persian kings; Daniel 9:2 implies that a collection of sacred books already existed, whereas the first collection was not made before 536 B. C. We would suggest — the position of the book in the Jewish Canon is easily explained if we remember the principles established by them for determining in which division of the canon a book ought to be placed. The words, "Chaldeans," "wise men," "magicians" have a history which reaches back to the earliest records; the position was substantially the same throughout, but different names were given them, a fact which need occasion little trouble. The difficulty in regard to the royal names and relations is being gradually solved and each advance confirms the accuracy of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was associated with his father and according to a common form of speech in the Bible was called king when in reality he was only an asso- ciate king. (See the case of Jehoram, 2 Kings 8:16 with 1:17, and Jotham, 2 Kings 15:5.) From his official position he might easily be called the king's son. The Kcthubim or Writings 195 Price {The Momiments arid the Old Testament, p. 245) tells of an inscription of Shalmaneser II. which speaks of "Jehu son of Omri," when in fact Jehu was simply the successor of Omri, having reached the throne through the murder of his predecessor. As for Darius, great difficulty still surrounds the name; but if Darius is to be identified with Gobryas or Guvrau of the Inscriptions, and this is a growing conviction of the critics, then the mystery is broken, for the inscriptions tell us that Gobryas was governor of Babylon. Whether this is the solution or not, in our present state of ignorance it is very unsafe to argue that because we cannot clear up a statement it must there- fore be false. Let us wait for more light. The allu- sion to the booksy 9:2, furnishes occasion for a needless difficulty if we assume that Daniel here refers to an official collection, such as the Jews afterward had in their canon. The difficulty disappears, however, if we understand that Daniel here refers to the writings of Jeremiah in which the passage is found, although from Ezekiel we may readily infer that the Jews in Babylon did have copies of their sacred books which were care- fully studied, even if not yet gathered into one volume. In regard to all these historical difficulties, Driver himself says, "They do not show positively that the book is the work of the second century B. C.; they only show that it tends to reflect the traditions and his- torical impressions of an age considerably later than that of Daniel himself." 2. Language. He finds fifteen Persian words, largely in the Aramaic portion of the book. This he thinks is strange for Daniel who lived under the Babylonian 196 Outlines of a?i hitroduction to the Old Testament supremacy. Some of them, he says, are official and some are found in Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. This latter fact would seem to imply an earlier origin than the theory calls for, while the commercial relations existing between the two countries might easily account for all of them. He finds also three Greek words, all of which are names of musical instruments. Here again there is nothing so strange in the Baby- lonians importing musical instruments from Greece, where the art of music was highly developed. It was nothing uncommon to employ slaves brought from foreign countries to sing their native songs, accom- panied with their native instruments. So they did with the Jews in Babylon, Ps. 137. He also thinks the Aramaic and Hebrew are of a late period, although he admits the Aramaic "is all but identical with that of Ezra." But on the other hand, Westcott, whose scholarship is unquestioned, says, "The character of the Hebrew (of Daniel) bears the closest affinity to that of Ezekiel and Habakkuk." "The Aramaic, like that of Ezra, is also of an earlier form." Other schol- ars hold the same opinion. Dr. Cheyne says that from the Hebrew of the book of Daniel no important inference can be drawn. 3. Theology. Driver tells us that in Daniel "the doc- trines of the Messiah, of angels, of the resurrection and of a judgment on the world are taught with greater dis- tinctness and in a more developed form than else- where in the Old Testament." In other words, the time of Daniel was too early for such clear teaching on these cardinal doctrines. This, and the kindred idea that the prophetical teachings of the book are too minute for a person to detail so long before the TJie Kcthubijn or Writings 197 events happened, form the most serious objection to assigning the work to Daniel. Assuming that the minute predictions found in Ch. 11 refer to Antiochus Epiphanes they think it strange that they should have been made by one who lived nearly four hundred years before. This conflicts with their theory that God never inspires a man to prophesy in regard to events so far in the future and concerning which there are no intimations of His purpose in the conditions surround- ing the prophet. But such a limitation of the pro- phetic office we can by no means admit. God reveals His purposes when and as He pleases and we must not limit Him by our ideas of fitness. When we set up a standard of criticism to which a book will not con- form, it is well that we inquire whether there is not something wrong with our standard, before we con- demn the book. The arguments in favor of assigning the book directly to Daniel may be summed up as follows: External Arguments 1. The book has had a place in the Jewish Canon as far back as the records go. Its canonicity was not called in question by the Great Synagogue. And no book having so late an origin as that claimed for Daniel by the later critics could possibly have found admission. Long before the date assumed the Jews understood that the prophetical office was vacant and would not put any other works on a level with their sacred Scriptures. On this point Josephus voices the universal judgment of the Jews. (Agai?ist Apion, I. 8.) 2. It has also a place in the earliest version of the Scriptures, the Septuagint, about 250 B. C, and must 1 98 Otitlines of an hitroduction to the Old Testament have been in existence long enough before that date to have secured its place as a part of the Jewish Scrip- tures. 3. The references in Ezekiel 14:14, 20 and 28:3 prove the historical character of Daniel and show that it was such as we might expect for the author of this book. In Zech, i:i8, 19 and 6:1 the form of the prophecy suggests knowledge of the form in which Daniel had clothed his prophecy, both passages receiving much light from the use of the figures in Daniel. 4. In the apochryphal books, especially I Macca- bees, whose historical character is well attested, evi- dent allusion is made to Daniel. If we compare i Mac. 1:54, 59 with Dan. 11:31, or I Mac. 2:59, 60 with Dan. Ch. 3, it is impossible to resist the impression that the statements of the apochryphal book depend on the writer's acquaintance with the book of Daniel. 5. Josephus also, whose general accuracy must be recognized, even when we reject many of his embel- lishments, has in his A?itiq. X. 1 1, 7 and XI. 8, 5 made such allusions to Daniel and his book that its exist- ence is plainly demanded, and if the facts are as there stated its early date is beyond question. 6. In the early Christian church it was received with- out question, except in a single instance. Porphyry objected to the authorship of Daniel because he thought such minute knowledge of events so far in the future could not be possible. But an objection growing out of a doctrinal position ought to have little weight when considering such a question. 7. The use made of the book by Christ ought to set- tle the question. One cannot read passages like Matt. 24: 15, 16, where Christ expressly quotes Daniel in The Kethubim or lVriti?igs 199 regard to the coming destruction of Jerusalem, without feeling that Christ based His use of the reference on the fact of its historical character, and expected its ful- fillment because it was a genuine prophecy. The attempt to evade the force of this use of this passage must be either to impugn the judgment of Christ or deprive the words of any real value. Thus we see that the historical succession of testi- mony for the genuineness of Daniel is even more com- plete than that of many other books of the Bible. There is no way to reduce the force of such testimony but by disputing the accuracy of the witnesses, a thing hard to do. The Internal Evidence 1. The book certainly professes to be historical. It has an abundance of historical references, as if inviting testing, and if our knowledge were more complete the difficulties which now trouble us would doubtless quickly vanish away. We note such direct statements as 1:1, 2:1, 7:1, 8:1, 2, 9:1. 2. The writer seems to be recording his own per- sonal experience. (7:2, 10:3, 10:1 1.) If we say that all such expressions are intended merely for effect we destroy the value of the entire book. 3. The writer displays a very intimate acquaintance with Babylonian customs and history, while he has little to say concerning the Persian period and still less concerning the Greek period which followed. This is just what we would expect in a writer of the time of Daniel, while just the reverse would be likely to be found in a writer living as late as many critics now claim. 200 Outlines of an Introdiictio7i to the Old Testament 4. The language employed is a strong point in favor of Daniel. The intimate familiarity with both the Hebrew and Aramaic is precisely what we would expect from a man whose mother tongue was Hebrew, but who had a life-long familiarity with the Aramaic. Moreover, in regard to both Hebrew and Aramaic, the testimony of competent scholars is that both bear a strong likeness to the language used by Ezekiel and Ezra, contemporaries of Daniel, while neither of them has the verbal peculiarities of which those languages partook as late as 168 B. C. when the Aramaic had superseded the Hebrew in the daily use of the people. V. Design It is primarily neither prophetic nor historic. It is designed rather to show how God cares for His people even when everything seems against them, with their temple destroyed, their nation scattered and the severe burdens of slavery resting upon the nation. Especially great is the value of the book in its treat- ment of the idea of the kingdom of God, and its rela- tion to the kingdoms of this world. It tells, in plainer language than had been used before, of the subjection of the world to God, and indicates clearly the evidence of the divine rule, and assures us that the progress of God's kingdom is absolutely irresist- ible and that all things will be ultimately brought into submission to God. Its apocalyptic form has added immensely to its power. It has given tone to much of the New Testa- ment literature, it has engaged the attention of many who have been drawn to it by its peculiar methods of expression, it has been the inspiration of the persecuted The Kcthubim or IVritrngs 201 and the burdened in all ages. Terry well says {Mcth. Rev., Jan., 1902, p. 128), "Whether written during the exile or in the time of the Maccabees, they contain a picture of the kingdoms of the world and their ulti- mate subjection to the kingdom of God worthy of rank with any prophecies to be found in the Hebrew Scrip- tures. Nowhere else do we find before the advent of Christ such a magnificent conception of the kingdom of Heaven." LITERATURE Commentaries: Driver in Cambridge Bible for Schools ; Lange; Barnes; Hengstenberg; Kamphausen in 5(E- dia Britanrdca. TO STIMULATE LIFE AND FAITH By REV. JAMES M. LUDLOW, D.D. Author of DEBORAH In/^Antil/AC 4r\r I EfA Personal and Public. 3d Editiotu ismo, |lli/dlllVt?9 lUr lallC decorated cloth, gilt top. net, |i.2S. "A book of unusual excellence, full of the best ethical teaching, virile, humane, Chris- tian. Its 'incentives' are found not in precept only, but in examples that give precedents for the achievements that precepts urge. These brighten every page with anecdote and illustration frotfi biography, science, literature, history, and personal reminiscence, that carry the readfer on to the end. ... In form and finish this book is literature, the litera- ture of powen, Indicative of this is its appropriate dedication to President Roosevelt, 'with afifectionate recollection of a boy in the pew who has since, in public life and personal char- acter, signally exemplified the precepts contained in this book.' The reader needs no further introduction, and finds none." — The Outlook. "Dr. Ludlow shows his versatility and rare culture in this book of essays. From the first page one is impressed with the beautifully clear "style, the brilliant thought which flashes through every sentence, and the nian-elous storehouse of illustration from which the author draws. Illustrations, drawn from literature, art, science, and life, light up every page, and give the work a value apart from its primary purpose. The vital importance of will power in the formation of character and the incentives which lie back of it as motives to action, are set forth with vigor and power." — Christian Observer. 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