B~4- 0e54t. Ed copy 4- 3.clif..'o/, PRESENTED TO THE LIBRARY PRINCETON THEOLOGIML SEMINARY BS 1174 .03813 1884 Oehler, Gust. Fr . 1812-1872. Theology of the Old Testament JcUc^ / /^^^^ ^ THEOLOGY THE OLD TESTAMENT. BY DR. GUSTAY FRIEDEICH OEHLER, LATE PROFESSOR ORDINARIUS OP THEOLOGY, AND EPHORUS OP THE EVANGELICAL THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN TUBINGEN. A BE VISION OF THE TRANSLATION IN CLARETS FOREIGN THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY, WITH THE ADDITIONS OF THE SECOND GERMAN EDITION, AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, GEORGE E. DAY, PROFESSOR OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE AND LETERATURE AND BIBLICAL THEOLOGY IN YALE COLLEGE. SitfluiJ OBbilion. NEW YORK: FUNK & WAGNALLS, Publishers, 10 AND 12 Det Street. 18S4. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1883, By FUNK & WAGNALLS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. INTRODTJCTION BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. The singular helpfulness of Oehler's Theology of the Old Testament to ministers of the Gospel and other biblical students, who have made themselves acquainted with its contents, either in the original or through the Edinburgh translation, is due to its subject, the wide range of thought which it opens, the thoroughness with which the several topics are examined and discussed, and the positive and in general satisfactory results to which the author arrives. Of the subject — the supernatural character and gradual progress of revelation as exhibited in the Old Testament — a subject now so prominent in the face of the sceptical denials of our times, little need be said beyond what is contained in the suggestive and stimulating introduction of the author. No one can read the clear and firm statements in § 7 without being stirred by the wide sweep of thought proposed to be presented. Embracing as it does the whole field of Israelitish history in its connection with the founding of a kingdom of God among men, the kindred subject of the theocratic ordinances and sacred antiqui- ties of the 'Jews as giving the limited and temporary form in which that king- dom for ages appeared, and finally the form, extent, and limits of the doctrinal truths presented in the Old Testament, it aims to weave the whole into an organic unity of which the final expression is Christ. The thoroughness with which this has been done, and the repeated revisions to which the author subjected his work during the thirty years in which he lectured upon the theology of the Old Testa- ment, are evident not only in the present volume, but in the forty articles con- tributed by him to Herzog's Real-Enc^jMopadie^ in which several of the most im- portant subjects in this department of study are more fully discussed.* The foundation of the whole superstructure was laid by the author in a severe * Of these may be mentioned particularly : Feste der alten Hebraer, Ilerz im bibliseheu Sinn, Iloherpriester, Jehova, Kanon des Alten Testaments, KOnige in Israel, Leviten, Messias, Opfer- cultus des A. T.. Priesterthum im A. T., Prophetenthum des A. T., Sabbath, Sabbath- und Jubel- jahr, Stamme Israels, Tag bei den Ilebraern, Testament (Altes u. Neues),Volk Gottes, Weissagung, Elohim, Heiligkeit Gottes, Unsterblichkeit (Lehre des A. T.), VersGhnungstag. These in a very compressed form will be found translated in Dr. Schaff's Bdigious Encyclopedia, 3 vols. imp. Svo, 1882-1884. IV INTRODUCTIOK. process of critical and exegetical study of the Hebrew Scriptures, the fruits of which appear at every step. It was once said of him that he seemed to be pre- destined to be an expositor of the Old Testament. His decisions upon the mean- ing of its most important and difficult passages will bear a comparison, there is no reason to doubt, with the Revised Version of that part of the Bible soon to be issued, as they certainly do with the best results of German biblical learning. So numerous are these passages, which are either critically explained or brought into luminous connection with the subjects to which they relate, tliat, taken along with the explanations given of their meaning, they supply to a large degree the place of a critical commentary. The history of the Israelitish people, as recorded in the Old Testament, needs now, more than ever, to be made familiar, not only as exhibiting the divine guidance of a chosen race, with the constant revelation of the character and will of God which it involves, and also as containing the setting in which prophecy is put, and exhibiting the relations in which it was uttered, but as furnishing the means of judging of the validity of many objections which have been recently urged. The best refutation of not a few of the strange and distorted representations of sacred history now persistently made, is the history itself, and in presenting this in clear outline, to be filled up by the careful study of the biblical narratives, an important help is furnished for gaining a true idea of divine revelation. The same remark may be made of the sacrificial system and sacred ordinances of the people of Israel, with the additional consideration that the attempt of the recent criticism to represent the biblical account of them as self-contradictory, and to a large extent of comparatively late origin, renders necessary a more par- ticular study of these institutions and laws than has ordinarily been given to them. Altar, tabernacle, sacrifice, feasts, priests, and Levites have now again become subjects of critical inquiry and investigation w^hich cannot safely be neg- lected. The principal difficulties urged by the scepticism of De Wette and the reconstruction of biblical history proposed by the Hegelian speculations of Vatkc, will be found discussed and placed in their true light by Dr. Oehler.* In their more recent form, as presented by the Wellhausen school, and repeated by Prof. Robertson Smith, they are stated and often sharply refuted in the additional notes in the second German edition, a translation of which is given in the present vol- ume. If these notes do not cover the whole ground, which in the nature of the case they cannot undertake to do in a Biblicjil Theology, they indicate some of the cliief points in the present critical controversy, and will certainly be of service in * An approximation to the proper pronunciation of this name will be made, by those not familiar with German, by giving to the first syllable ol Oehler the soana ot ey in " thej'." INTRODUCTIOi^. Y the reading of the new literature which is sure to appear, devoted exclusively to these discussions. The crowning part of this wide range of subjects is the clear exhibition of the revelatiou of Himself, made by the Most High, and the Divine thoughts by which men were educated for the coming of Christ and the truths which He came to teach. In the careful tracing of these thoughts, as revealed in facts and by words in the Old Testament, the author, avoiding both the mystical tendency of Von Meyer and Stier and the mistake of Hengstenberg and others, in endeavoring to put more of completed Christian doctrine into the Old Testament than can be done without violence, has presented the theology of the older part of the Bible in a form which at one and the same time meets the demands of theological science and the practical wants of the Christian believer, and has produced a work which stands, as Dr. Schaff has rightly said {Rsligious Encydo'pa.dia^ ii., p. IG80), at the head of this department of biblical study. It was, therefore, only a de- served tribute to its merit that in the Examinatorium,* or series of examination questions on the best manuals in the different branches of theology, which has been recently prepared and published for the use of students in the German uni- versities, the Old Testament Theology of Oehler was selected to accompany the treatises of Neander, Hagenbach, Winer, Bleek, and others in their own special dei:)artments. It should also be mentioned that the publication of the original in Germany in 1873-4 was immediately foUow-ed by a translation into English by E. D. Smith and S. Taylor in 1874-5, into French by De Rougemont in 1876, and into Dutch by Dr. Hartog, of Utrecht, in 1879. With these facts in view, and in the hope of rendering this work, which has been used for two or three years in his class-room with uniformly gratifying results, more accessible and helpful to biblical students, the American editor ac- cepted the invitation of the publishers to undertake a general revision of the English translation in Clark's Foreign Theological Library with the addition of notes on points of special difficulty or importance. Some progress in this direc- tion had been made, when the appearance of a new edition of the original in Ger- many, by Dr. Theodore Oehler, a younger son of the author, dictated the pro- priety of bringing this edition into substantial conformity with it. In this proc- ess the Edinburgh translation of the text or body of the work, containing the lectures of Dr. Oehler as originally delivered (which has not been materially changed in the recent German edition, although some additions have been made), and of such ports of the notes as have been retained, has been subjected to a thorough revision, requiring numerous changes, in which errors incidental to a * Examinatorium uber die theologischen Disciplinen nach den gangbarsten Lehrhilchern. Leipz., 1871-1880. VI INTKODUCTION". first translation have been corrected and passages obscurely rendered have been made more intelligible. In these changes, in which it has been sometimes neces- sary to resort to paraphrase, or at least to abandon a strictly verbal rendering, the excellent Dutch translation of Dr. Hartog has been of appreciable service. The large amount of new matter in the recent German edition (generally indicated by brackets) referring to current discussions on questions of biblical criticism, jihilol- ogy, exegesis, and the history of religions, with references to the most recent liter- ature, rendered necessary in that edition the omission of a number of notes of subordinate importance, which accordingly are for the most part omitted also in this translation. For the same reason it became necessary for the American edi- tor, in the additional notes which seemed to be called for, to restrict himself to the utmost brevity, and even in some cases not to indicate points on which it appf irs to him the positions or conclusions of the author are not sufficiently guarded or are not supported by evidence. The other additions and changes made in order to give an increased value to this edition are (1) the greatly enlarged and complete index of texts, (2) the references, to the pages of the English translations of German works rather than to the orig- inal, and (3) the restoration of italics in the words and sentences designed to bf made prominent in the original (also in a few other places), which were neglect- to a great extent in the Edinburgh edition. The Hebrew words in the tc ' and notes, while likely to be welcomed by the increasing number of those en gaged in the work of the ministry who feel the importance of studying the Old Testament in the original, will occasion no special difficulty to others, as the translation immediately follows, or the meaning can be easily gathered from the connection. The verification of the numerous references to the Bible has been entirely com- mitted to the Rev. J. A. Spencer, D.D., of New York, who has also revised and corrected the full index of texts, which was originally prepared and thrown into a printed form by the class of 1882 in tlie Yale Divinity School for their own use, and has adapted the enlarged index of subjects to the paging of the present edition. My thanks are also due to Mr. Arthur D. Bissell, of the Graduate Class in this Seminary, for aid in making the pages referred to in German books cor- respond to the English or American translations where such exist. G. E. D. Divinity School op Yale College, New Haven, Conn., Nov. 27, 1883. TITLES OF EECENT WORKS MOST FREQUENTLY CITED OR REFERRED TO IN THIS EDITION. Baudissin, W. W. " Studien zur Semitisclien Religionsgeschichte. " Heft. II. Leipz., 1876-79. BoHL, E. " Christologie des Alten Testamentes, oder Auslegung der wichtigsten Messianischen Weissagungen." Wien. 1882. Bkedenkamp, C. J. " Gesetz und Propheten. Eia Beitnig zur alttestamentl. Kritik." Erlangen, 1881. DiLLMANN, A. " Die Bilcher Exodus und Leviticus." Leipz., 1880. DuiiM, B, "Die Theologie der Propheten." Bonn, 1875. EwALD, H. " Lehre der Bibel von Gott oder Tlieologie des Alten und Neuea Bundes." 4 Bde. Leipz., 1871-1876. Green, W. H. "Moses and the Prophets." K Y., 1883. Hekzog. " Real-Encyklopadie fiir Protestantische Theologie und Kirche." Leipz. 23 vols. 1854-1866. 2d ed., 10 vols, (not yet completed), 1877-1882. Abridged and translated with additions under the sujiervision of Dr. Schall. New York. 3 vols., imp. 8vo. 1882-1884. HiTziG, F. " Vorlesungen iiber biblische Theologie und Messianische Weis- sagungen." Karlsruhe, 1880. KoNiG, F. E. "Der Offenbarungsbegriff des Alten Testamentes." 2 Bde. Leipz., 1882. KoHLER, A. " Biblische Geschichte des Alten Testamentes." 2 Bde. Erlangen, 1877-1882. KuENEN, A. "De profeten en de profetie in der Israel." Leiden, 1875. — " Tlie Prophets and Prophecy in Israel," translated from the Dutch. London, 1877. Okelli von, C. "Die alttestamentliche Weissagung von der Vollendung des Gottesreiches." Wien, 1882. Reuss, E. "Die Geschichte der heiligen Schriften des Alten Testaments." 2 Halfte. Braunschweig, 1881-82. Riehm, E. "Die Messianische Weissagung. " Gotha, 1875. — "Messianic Prophe- cy." Edinb., 1875. " Handworterbuch des biblischen Altertums." Leipz., 1875-83. (Com- pleted as far as 16. Lief., pp. 1-1536. ScnRADEB, E. "Die Keilinschrif ten und das Alte Testament." 2. Aufl. Gies- sen, 1883. ScHULTZ, F. W. "Alttestamentliche Theologie." 2. Aufl. Frankf. a. M., 1878. Smith, R, Payne. " Prophecy a Preparation for Christ." (Bampton Lecture.) 2d ed. Lond. and N. Y., 1871. Vlll TITLES OF WORKS REFEKRED TO. Smith, W. EoBERTSON. "The Old Testament in the Jewish Church," Lond. and N. Y., 1881. "The Prophets of Israel." Lond. and N. Y., 1882. Wellhausen, J. " Ausgabe der Geschichte Israels. " Band I., 1878. 2d edition, under the title " Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israel." Berlin, 1883. ZocKLER. " Handbuch der theologischen Wissenschaften." 4Halbbande. 1882- 83. (Not completed. To be translated for Clark's Foreign Theol. Library.) To these may be added : Briggs, C. a. "Biblical Study, its Principles, Methods, and History, together with a Catalogue of Books of Reference." N. Y., 1883. BoHL, E. " Zum Gesetz und zum Zeugniss. Eine Abwehr wider die kritische Schriftforschung im Alten Testament," 1883. The latter two have ap- peared as the last sheets of this work were passing through the press. CONTENTS. PAGB INTEODUCTION, by the American Editor iii INTEODUCTOKY LECTURE, by the Author 1 PRELIMINARY STATEMENTS. § 1. Summary 5 I. Definition and Limits of Old Testament Theology. § 2. Definition of Old Testament theology. It embraces the whole field of revelation in the Old Testament 5 § 3. Relation of Old Testament theology to other Old Testament branches. § 4. Sources of Old Testament theology 10 II. FuLLEB Statement of the Scientific Sta^ndpoint of Old Testament Theology. § 5. The view of the Old Testament religion proper to Christian theology. 13 § 6. The Biblical idea of revelation. General and special revelation 14: § 7. Historical character and gradual progress of revelation. Its rela- tion to the whole of man's life. Its supernatural character 17 § 8. The Old and the New Testament in their relation to heathenism and to each other 18 III. History of the Cultivation of Old Testament Theology in the Christian Church. § 9. Theological view of the Old Testament in the Early Church and in the Middle Ages 22 § 10. Theological view of the Old Testament in the age of the Reforma- tion 24 § 11. Theological conception of the Old Testament in the older Protes- tant theology 27 § 12. Conception and treatment of the Old Testament from the end of the 17th to the end of the 18th century 30 § 13. Rise of a Biblical theology distinct from a dogmatic treatment of the Old Testament by Rationalism, and by the newer history and philosophy of religion 32 § 14a, Theological view of the Old Testament in the earlier Supernatural- ism, and in the most recent literature 3G § 146. Continuation : The most recent literature 39 X CONTENTS. IV. Method of Biblicax, Theology. Division of Old Testament Theology. FAGE § 15. Characteristics of the historico-genetic method 41 § 16. Division of Old Testament Theology stated and defended 43 PART I. MOSAISM. FiEST Section. THE HISTOKY OF REVELATION FEOM THE CREATION, TO THE SETTLEMENT OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE IN THE HOLY LAND. § 17. Division of this history 49 I. The Primeval Age. § 18. The account of the creation ; . . . . 50 § 19. The origin of evil 52 § 20. The first oflEering. Cainites and Sethites. Tradition of the Flood . 54 n. The Second Age of the Wokld. § 21. Covenant with the world. Noah's saying. Division of mankind... 56 § 22. The foundation of a people of God 58 in. The Time of the Patkiarchs. § 23. Abraham 60 § 24. Isaac and Jacob 64 § 25. The twelve patriarchs 65 rV. The Time of Moses and Joshua. 1. The deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage. § 26. Condition of the people of Israel in Egypt 68 § 27. The deliverance from Egypt 70 2. The institution of the covenant of the law and the march through the wilderness. § 28. Educational aim of the march through the wilderness. The Cove- nant of the Law established 72 § 29. The first breach of the covenant. Order of the camji. Departure from Sinai. Sentence on the people 74 § 30. The wandering during thirty-seven years in the wilderness, and events up to the occupation of the land on the east side of the Jordan. 76 § 31. Deuteronomy. Death of Moses. His position among the organs of revelation 78 3. The settlement of Israel in the Holy Land. § 32. Occupation of Canaan. Extermination of the Canaanites 81 § 33. Division of the land. Character of the Promised Land. Israel at the close of this period , 83 Second Section. THE DOCTRINES AND ORDINANCES OF MOSAISM. § 34. Survey 88 Krst Division. The Doctkine of God and His Relation to the "Woeld. CONTENTS. XI First Chapter. The Mosaic Idea of God. PAGK § 35. Survey ^^ I. The most Genekal Names of the Divine Being, El, Eloah, Elohim, El- Elyon. § 36 ^'^ II. El-Shaddai. § 37 ^^ III. The Name Jehovah. § 38. Pronunciation and grammatical explanation of the name . . 92 § 39. Signification of the name 9o § 40. Age and origin of the name Jehovah 96 § 41. Comparison of the name Jehovah with Elohim and El 98 § 42. Attributes or names of God which are derived immediately from the idea of Jehovah 100 § 43. The unity of God 102 IV. God as the Holy One. § 44. Formal definition of the idea. 105 § 45. Fuller definition of the idea 109 § 46. Characteristics connected with the Divine holiness : Impossibility of l^icturing God, Omnipresence, Spirituality Ill § 47. The Divine righteousness, faithfulness, and truth 112 § 48. The jealous God H^ Second Chapter. TJie Relation of God to the World. § 49. General survey H^ First Doctrine. On the Creation and Treservation of the World. I. On the Creation. § 50. Creation by the Word H^ § 51. The Divine Spirit in the Creation H^ II. On the Preserv.vtion of the World. §52 ^^^ Second Doctrine. The Divine Aim of the World. Divine Providence. § 53. The design of Creation, and its realization through Providence 121 § 54. Eelation of the Divine causality to moral and physical evil 122 Third Doctrine. Of Kevelation. § 55. Introductory remark and general view 12* I. The Revelation of the Divine Being. 194. § 56. The Divme name ^^* § 57. The Divine countenance, and the Divine glory 127 II. The Forms of Revelation. §58. The Divine voice ^■'^ / Xll CONTENTS. PAGE § 59. The doctrine of the Angel of the Lord, of the Countenance, of the Covenant. The exegetical state of the case 129 § 60. Continuation. The different views 131 § 61. Other points of the Mosaic Angelology 134 §62. TheShekhina 137 § 63. The doctrine of miracle. Its appearance in history and various names 138 § 64. Continuation. More exact definition of miracle 139 § 65. On the Spirit of God 141 § 66. The psychical states of the organs of revelation 142 Second Division. The Doctrine of Man. § 67. General view 145 Flrst Chaptek. TJie nature of man in Us main unchangeable features. I. The Idea of Man. § 68 145 II. Man in Kelation to Sex and Kace. § 69 147 III. The Constituent Paets of Man. § 70. Body, soul, spirit 149 § 71. The heart, and its relation to the soul 152 Second Chaptee. The doctrine of man in reference to the contradictory elements which entered by sin into its development. I. The Peimitive State of Man. § 72 156 II. Of Sin. 1. The origin of sin. § 73. The formal principle of sin 158 § 74. The material principle of sin. The Old Testament names of sin. . . . 159 2. The state of sin. § 75. Sin as an inclination. Transmission of sin 161 § 76. Antagonism of the good and the evil in man. Degrees of sin. Possibility of a relative righteousness 164 III. On Death and the State aftee Death. § 77. The connection between sin and death 166 § 78-79. The doctrine of Mosaism on the condition after death 169 Tliird Division. The Covenant of God with Iseael and the Theocracy. FiEST Chapter. Tlie nature of the Covenant. § 80 Preliminary remarks and general survey , 175 Rrst Doctrine. The Divine Election. § 81. Israel's election as the full act of God's love 176 \ § 82. Forms in which the election of the people is expressed 178 CONTENTS. xiii Second Doctrine. Man's Obligation. PAGB § 83. The servant of Jehovah 181 § 84. The Law 182 § 85-86. The Decalogue. Its division 184 i^ § 87. Circumcision. Its historical origin 191 § 88. Religious import of circumcision. The giving of a name 193 Third Doctrine. Divine Retribution. § 89. Blessing and curse 195 § 90. Solution of the apparent contradiction between the Divine election and the Mosaic doctrine of retribution. Attacks on the latter 197 Second Chaptek. The Theocracy. § 91. The idea of the Divine Kingship 199 First Doctrine. The Theocratic Organism, and the Ordinances of Law and Jus- tice connected therewith. I. Theockatic Okganization of the People. §92. The division into tribes. Israel's representation before Jehovah. .. . 200 1. The Levites. § 93. The mode and meaning of the representation of Israel by the Levites 203 § 94. Ofl&cial functions, dedication, and social i^osition of the Levites 20G 2. The priesthood. §95 209 3. The high priest. § 96 214 II. The Theoceatic Authority. 1. The legislative authority. §97.. 217 2. The judicial power. § 98. The principle and organization of the administration of justice. . . . 219 § 99. The course of justice and punishment 221 3. The executive jMwer. § 100 223 III. The Organization of the Familt, and the Legal Provisions connected therewith. § 101. The subdivisions of the tribes. The principles and division of Mosaic family law 225 1. The law of marriage. § 102. The contracting of marriage : the dependent position of the wife and the forms of the marriage contract 228 § 103. Bars to marriage 228 § 104. The dissolution of marriage 230 2. The relation of parents to children. §105 232 XIV CONTENTS. PAGE 3. The law of inheritance, and provisions for the permanence of families and iheir inheritance. § 106. The law of inheritance. Laws concerning heiresses and the levirate marriage 234 § 107. Provisions concerning the preservation of the family inheritance. . 235 § 108. The avenging of blood 238 4. The riijhts of servants in the house 239 § 109. Bondage in the time of the patriarchs. The principles of the rights of bondmen 239 § 110. The regulations concerning Hebrew servants 240 § 111. The position of servants not Israelites 244 Second Doctrine. The Mosaic Public Worship. §112. General introductory remarks. Essential character of this worship. 246 § 113. The place of the word in public worshij) 248 Appendix : The oath 248 I. The Place of Worship. § 114. The requisites for a place of worship 250 § 115 The arrangement of the Mosaic sanctuary 252 § 110. Meaning of the sanctuary. Its three divisions 254 § 117. Sacred vessels in the court and in the sanctuary 255 § 118. The ark of the covenant, with the Kapporeth and the tables of the law 257 § 119. The Cherubim 258 II. The Actions of the Mosaic Worship. § 120. Introductory remarks. On the idea of offerings in general 201 § 121. Pre-Mosaic sacrifice and the Mosaic covenant. Sacrifice as the basis of the Mosaic sacrificial worship 263 1. Til e material of the offerings. § 122. Bloody and bloodless offerings 267 § 123. The material of animal offerings 268. § 124. The ingredients of the vegetable offerings. Salt in the offerings. . . 270 § 125. The principle on which the material of offerings was fixed 272 2. The ritual of sacrifice. § 126. The ritual of animal sacrifice. Presentation at the altar ; laj'ing on of hands ; slaughter 274 § 127. The use made of the shed blood 270 § 128. The burning of the-offering 281 § 129. Ritual of the food-offering 283 3. On the various Jdnds of offerings iciih reference to their ivirpose. § 130. Various kinds of offerings as thus distinguished 284 (a) Tlie hurnt-offering. § 131 285 (b) Hie peace-offering. § 132. Its name, notion, and division , 287 § 133. The ritual of the peace-offering 289 CONTEXTS. XV TAG?: § 134. Of vows 292 § 135. Nazaritism 291 Api)endix. The theocraiic taxes. § 136 298 (c) The atoning sacrifices. § 137. The difference between the trespass-offering and the sin-offering with respect to the end in view 300 § 138. The ritual and import of the trespass and the sin offerings. The trespass-offering 304 § 139. The ritual of the sin-offering 305 § 140. The ritual of the Day of Atonement 309 § 141. Signification of the ritual and antiquity of the Day of Atonement. . 315 Ajypendix. Purifications. § 142. The Levitical purifications 319 § 143. Acts of purifications for removing the suspicion of guilt 320 m. The Sacked Seasons. 1. The Sacred Seasons in general. § 144. Survey of the sacred peasons and their designations 323 § 145. Seasons which determine the times of the feasts 324 § 146. The celebration of the holy days 320 2. The Sabbatical Seasons. (a) The weekly Sabbath. § 147. Antiquity and origin of the Sabbath 328 § 148. The idea of the Sabbath 332 § 149. The celebration of the Sabbath 334 (b) Tlie new moon Sabbath. § 150 2^'' (c) TJie Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee. § 151. Legal enactments 337 § 152. Import and practicability of the institution of the Sabbatical year and the year of Jubilee 3-±-4 3. The three pilgrimage feasts. (a) The Passover. § 153. Enactments concerning the solemnity 34.j & 154 Significance of the feast of the passover, and questions connected withit 34« (6) The feast of weeks {Pentecost). §155 3^'^ (c) The feast of Tabernacles. § 156.......... ^^^ / XVI CONTENTS. PART II.— PROPHETISM. FiEST Section. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THEOCRACY FEOM THE DEATH OF JOSHUA TO THE CLOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT REVELATION. Urst Division. The Times of the Judges. I. The Disintegration of the Theoceacy till the Times of Samuel. PAGE § 157. Course of events. Import of the office of Jiidge 353 §158. Religious condition. Decline of the theocratic institutions 355 § 159. Religious syncretism of this period 359 n. Restoration of the Theocratic Unity by Samuel. Growth of Prophetism. Foundation of the Monarchy. § 160. The Philistine oppression. Changes effected by Samuel 361 § 161. Nature, importance, and first beginnings of the prophetic office. . . . 362 § 162. The so-called schools of the Prophets. The prophetic office of watchman , , 363 § 163. The foundation of the Israelitish Kingdom : consecration of the king. 368 Second Division. Period of the Undivided Kingdom. I. Saul. §164 370 II. David. § 165. History of his reign. His theocratic position and personal religious development 371 § 166. The form of worship under David 376 III. Solomon. § 167. The building of the temple 378 § 168. Significance and dedication of the temple 380 § 169. Hebrew proverbial poetry. The Hhakhamim 382 § 170. Solomon's external organizations. The dark sides of his reign. Division of the Kingdom 384 Third Division. The Kingdom of the Ten Tribes. § 171. Preliminary remarks. First Period. E^om Jeroboam I. to the overthrow of the dynasty of Omri. § 172. Jeroboam I. to Omri 387 § 173. The dynasty of Omri 390 § 174. Schools of the Prophets and characteristics of the prophetism of the period. The Rechabites 392 Second Period. From Jehu to the overthrow of the kingdom of the ten tribes. § 175. The dynasty of Jehu 395 § 176. From Zachariah to the carrying away of the ten tribes 396 § 177. Origin of the Samaritans 399 CONTENTS. xvii Faurih Division. The Eongdom of Judah. PAGE § 178. Preliminary remarks and survey , , 400 FiEST Pekiod. From Rehoboam to Ahaz. § 179. Eehoboam to Jehoshapliat 403 § 180. Jehoram to Jotham 404 Second Period. From Ahaz io Josiah. § 181. Ahaz and Hezekiah 408 § 182. Manasseli and Amon 412 Thied Peeiod. From Josiah io the overthrow of the state. § 183. Josiah 414 § 184. Profane history of this period. Death of Josiah. Jehoahaz 416 § 185. Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin 417 § 186. Zedekiah. Fall of the State and of Jerusalem 419 § 187. Gedeliah and the remnant of the people 421 Vlfth Division. Histoet or the jEwasH Nation from the Babylonian Captiyity TO the Cessation of Prophecy. § 188. Condition of the people and agency of the Prophets during the Captivity 422 § 189. Deliverance and return of Jews from Babylon. Commencement of the rebuilding of the temple 424 § 190. The period from Cyrus to Darius Hystaspis 427 § 191. The Jews under Xerxes. Beginning of Ezra's administration 428 § 192. Ezra and Nehemiah. The close of prophecy 431 § 193. The beginning of Sopherism. Public worship at the close of this period 434 Second Section. THE THEOLOGY OF PEOPHETISM. § 194. Summary 437 First Division. The Doctrine of the Lord of Hosts and of Angels. § 195. Form and occurrence of this name of God. Partial views concern- ing its original meaning 437 ^ 196. The host of heaven. The heavenly bodies 439 § 197. The host of the heavenly spirits 441 § 198. Kesult with respect to the name Jehovah Sabaoth 443 § 199. Angels of higher order and special ofl&ce , 444 § 200. The doctrine of Satan 448 Second Division. Man' s PiEligious and Moral Eelation to God. L Distinction between the Ceremonial and the Moral Law. § 201 451 II. The Euinous Natuee of Sin. The Need of a new Dispensation of Grace. § 202 455 2.viii CONTENTS, m. Justification by Faith. PAQB § 203. The Old Testament form of faith .^ 459 § 204. The Old Testament experience of salvation. 461 Third Division. Or Pkophect. First Subdivision. The prophetic consciousness. § 205. Negative propositions 464 § 206. Positive propositions 465 § 207. Psychological definition of the prophetic state in ancient times 468 § 208. Phase of this subject under Protestant theology 471 § 209. Continuity and elevation of the individual life in the prophetic state 473 § 210. Prophecy an inward intiiition 474 & 211. The prophetic state illustrated by analogies : Dreams. Communion with God in prayer *'^ § 212. The conceptions of genius and the natural powers of divination 481 Second Subdivision. Of prophecy. § 213. Its office in general ^^^ § 214. The prediction of particidar events an essential element of prophecy. 486 § 215-216. The peculiarities of Old Testament prophecy 488 Fourth Division. Of the Kingdom of God. § 217. Survey ^^^ Fast Subdivision. The purpose of God's Kingdom; the contradiction thereto presented by the present ; the abolition of this contradiction by judgment. I. The Design of God's Kingdom. § 218 495 II. The Eelation of the Pkesent to the Purpose of the Divine Kingdom. § 219 497 III. The Judgment. § 220. The day of the Lord. The judgment upon the Covenant people. .. 499 § 221. The judgment upon the heathen nations • 501 Second Subdivision. The future Eedemption. I. The Delivekance and Bestobation of the Covenant People. ^ 222. The restoration of Israel a necessary event 505 § 223. The remnant of Jacob. The new covenant an everlasting one. The forgiveness of sins. The outpouring of the Spirit 506 § 224. Other features of the times of redemption 509 § 225, 226. Death destroyed 511 II. The Admission of the Heathen into the Kingdom of God. § 227. The extension of the Kingdom of God in the times of redemption 516 § 228. The conditions under which the admission of the heathen into the kingdom of God is to take place 518 I^TEODUCTOET LEOTUBE.* Within the last few years it has frequently been said, especially in ecclesiastical meetings, that a special need of the age is a fuller recognition of the importance of the Old Testament for religious knowledge and life, and that the treasures of this book, so little known, especially to so-called persons of culture, should be more fully laid open to the body of the Church. To this end the first requisite is, that theologians form a more thorough acquaintance with the Old Testament, especially that tliey become more familiar with it as a whole. It is true of every in- tellectual product, that it cannot be properly estimated by those who concern them- selves merely with its external features, or with individual fragments of it ; and of the Bible this is peculiarly true. What is unfolded in the Scriptures is one great economy of salvation— M?z?im continuum systema, as Bengel puts it— an organ- ism of divine acts and testimonies, which, beginning in Genesis with the creation, advances progressively to its completion in the person and work of Christ, and is to find its close in the new heaven and earth predicted in the Apocalypse ; and it is only in connection with this whole that the details can be iKoperly estimated. He who has not learned to understand the Old Testament in its historical connec- tion may bring to light much that is valuable and worth knowing in respect to particular things, but he lacks the right key to its meaning, and therefore true joy in the study of it ; he easily stumbles at the puzzles which lie everywhere on the surface of the Old Testament, and from them he condemns the whole. Now, to introduce to the organic historical knowledge of the Old Testament is the ob- ject of the branch of study to which these lectures are to be devoted. We must not think its dignity impaired by meeting the practical want indicated above ; nay, in general, he is no true theologian who leaves an open breach between science and life. We claim for Old Testament Theology also no small importance for science, especially for Systematic Theology. This importance it possesses as a part of Biblical Theology, since, in virtue of the Protestant principle of the authority of Scripture, every question for which the Protestant theologian seeks an answer leads back, directly or indirectly, to Scripture, and the historical in- vestigation of the divine revelation it contains. In its development as an independent science, Biblical Theology is one of the most recent branches of theology. We shall see by and by that the name and conception of Biblical Theology as a special historical science arose only in the * Delivered at the beginning of the course, in October, 1870. A few of the first sentences, as being of only passing interest, are omitted.— D. 3 OPENING WORDS. course of the last century, and that the division into Old and New Testament Theology was made still later. The earlier theologians did not distinguish between Dogmatic and Biblical Theology, and were still farther from the idea of dividing (>ld and New Testament Theology, thus ignoring the gradual progress of revelation, and the constant connection of the revealed word with the progres- sive history of revelation, and treating the Old and New Testament as a sort of promptuarium, which could be used alike in all its parts — proof-texts for every Christian doctrine being brought together from the various parts of the Bible. We are now far beyond such onesidedness, although some recent Old Testament theologians (Hcngstenberg) still show a tendency to confound the two Testa- ments after the fashion of the older orthodoxy. On the other hand, we are met in recent times by a view of the Old Testa- ment which entirely dissevers the Old Testament religion from any specific connection with the New Testament, placing it on tlie same line with the other pre-Christian religions, which also in their own way were a preparation for Christianity — a view of the Old Testament which scarcely allows its theology to claim a higher significance for the theological knowledge of the Chris- tian, than could, for example, be ascribed to the theology of Homer. This antipathy to the Old Testament in the spirit of Marcion and Schleiermaclier is still prevalent among theologians, though far less so than it was twenty or thirty years ago. From their point of view, the name Old Testament religion is as far as possible avoided, and Judaism and Jewish religion are spoken of by preference, although every one may learn from history that the Old Testament and Judaism are distinct — that Judaism begins where the Old Testa- ment is about to end, viz., with Ezra and the wisdom of the scribes who succeeded him. This view consistently leads to the denial of the specific char- acter, as a divine revelation, of the New Testament also — of Christianity. On this point we must not allow ourselves to be deceived. The relation of the New Testament to the Old is such that both stand or fall together. The New Tes- tament assumes the existence of the Old Testament law and prophecy as its positive presupposition. According to the New Testament, God made Chris- tianity to issue from other elements than those which the modern destructive criticism is accustomed to recognize. "We cannot have the redeeming God of the New Covenant without the Creator and covenant God preached in the Old ; we cannot disconnect the Redeemer from the Old Testament predictions which He came to fulfil. No New Testament idea, indeed, is fully set forth in the Old Testament, but tlie genesis of all the ideas of the New Testament relating to salvation lies in the Old Testament. Even Schleiermacher was compelled to give a striking testimony to the organic connection of the two Testaments, which in theory he denied, when he reintroduced into doctrinal theology the treatment of the work of Christ according to His threefold office [of prophet, priest, and king]. Against the assertion that, to gain the true sense of Scripture, we must put aside everything that is Israelitish, or, as the saying is, everything that is Jewish, or, in Bunsen's words, must translate from Semitic into Japhetic, our position is with Hofmann (in his Schriftbeweis), that the history contained in Scripture being the history of Israel, is what makes it Holy Scripture ; for Israel is the people whose history is the call to salvation. 'II curi^pia etc tuv 'lovSaioiv OPENING WORDS. 3 eariv, says our Lord to tlie woman of Samaria. Not to conceal God from the world, but to reveal him to the world as the Holy One of whom heathenism is ignorant, is the work for which Israel was chosen. In Israel such living forces were implanted, that it was only from this people that the God-man, the Re- deemer of the world, could be born. The whole national figure of Israel ; the election and the rejection ; the curse that lies upon the nation, which Hitzig has compared to the oyster, which produces the pearl by its own destruction — all these are revelations of God to the world. The theology of the Old Testament therefore still retains its importance for Christian doctrine, though not in the same way in which the older Protestant theology employed it. The old atomistic system of Scripture proof must be super- seded by one which shows that the truths of salvation formulated in doctrinal statements ai*e the result of the whole historical process through which Revela- tion has passed. The possibility of such Scripture proof is presented by Biblical Theology, which exhibits the Bible revelation in its totality and in its gradual historical course, and so displays the genesis of the scriptural teachings from which doctrinal propositions are to be coined, and the connection in which they appear in the divine economy of salvation. Biblical Theology employed in the construction of Systematic Theology not only serves continually to renew and deepen the latter in regard to existing dogmas, but also to give fuller justice to those biblical doctrines which, in the dogmatic labors of former centuries, fell too much into the shade. For Scripture is, as Oetinger has called it, the store- book of the world, the store-book of all times : it offers to the Church in every age just such instruction as it specially requires. Thus, to give a single example, recent times have directed attention to biblical eschatology and invested it with an interest in which the older Protestant Theology had no share. In these remarks I think I have brought forward the principal points of view from which the importance of Old Testament Theology is to be estimated, and which are my guides in dealing with the Old Testament. Of the greatness and difficulty of the task, no one can have a livelier conviction than myself. There are good reasons why, although there are innumerable monographs on isolated portions of Biblical Theology, there are few works on the whole subject, and in particular, works on the Theology of the Old Testament. Some of these are posthumous. If these lectures awske in one or other of you an inclination to labor at the solution of this problem independently, and not through the glasses of a theological system or a critical school, and to devote to the Old Testament more thorough study, with a receptive sense of its holy grandeur, this will be the best result which I could wish. Let us begin, then, the journey that lies before us, with trust in God, that we may pass through it without interruption to the end, and, on reaching it, may thank Him for His help in the way. INTEODUOTION". §1. Summary. The Introduction has — 1. To define the theology of the Old Testament, and its relation to the cognate branches of biblical science. 2. To present the conception of the Old Testament religion presupposed in our exhibition of the subject, together with the scientific standpoint of Old Testament theology thereby given. Followed by — 3. A survey of the history of this branch of theology ; and 4. A discussion of the method of Old Testament theology, and its divisions. I.— DEFINITION AND LIMITS OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. DEFINITION OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. IT EMBRACES THE WHOLE FIELD OP REVELATION IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. The theology of the Old Testament, the first main division of Biblical The- oloo'y, is the historical exhibition of the development of the religion contained in the canonical hoolcs of the Old Testament. As a historical science. Biblical Theology is distinguished from the systematic statement of biblical doctrine by this, that while the latter investigates the unity of divine truth, as seen in the whole course of revelation, and the aggregate of its manifestations, the former has the task of exhibiting the religion of the Bible, according to its progressive development and the variety of the forms in which it appears. The theology of the Old Testament has therefore to folloAv the gradual progress by which* the Old Testament revelation advanced to the com- pletion of salvation in Christ ; and to bring into view from all sides the forms in which, under the Old Covenant, the communion between God and man found expression. Now, since the Old Testament revelation (cf. § 6) did not present itself simply in words and as a divine testimony concerning doctrine, but was made in a connected course of divine deeds and institutions, and on the basis of these pro- duced a peculiarly shaped religious life ; and further, since all knowledge derived 6 IISTTRODUCTION". [§ 2. from revelation is not given independently of the facts of the history of salvation and the divinely instituted rules of life, but develops itself in continual connec- tion with them ; it follows that the theology of the Old Testament cannot limit itself to the directly didactic matter in the Old Testament. It must embrace the essential factors of the history of the divine kingdom in the Old Covenant : its task is, in short, the exhibition of the whole of the Old Testament dispensation (1). Even on this view of the subject, the name Old Testament Theology is still too broad (2), but it is at least more aj^propriate than other names which have been chosen for the exhibition of the Old Testament revelation, particularly than the term, Old Testament Dogmatics (3). (1) This conception of the theology of the Old Testament is in accordance with the conception of Biblical Theology presented by Ch. Fr. Schmid (in a treatise On the Interests and Position of the Biblical Theology of the New Testament in our Time, Tiib. Zeitschr. f. Tlieol. 1838 ; and in his well-known Handbook of New Testament Theology). Tliis conception has, however, met with much opposition. The common conception is, that this branch should limit itself to the exhibition of the specially didactic contents of buth Testaments. But here arises in the Old Testament the great difficulty, that this contains proportionally very little directly didactic matter. A separate exhibition of Old Testament religious teaching is, to be sure, possible ; but if it is not to prove quite incomplete, it will not be able to dispense with a reference at all points to the history of the covenant people and the institutions of the theocracy. This has been distinctly recognized even by Steudel {Vorlesungen iiber die Theol. des A. T., 1»40), although he limits this branch to the exhibition of the doctrines of the Old Testament. He says with truth (p. 18 f.) : " We should form for ourselves an incomplete idea of the substance of the Old Testament religion, and of biblical religion in general, if we looked upon it only as doctrine. It is facts which, with the greatest distinctness, are held before us as the source of the growth of religious conceptions and religious life. It was not on the basis of consciousness that objective views in religion established themselves. Consciousness did not create the thing held forth as fact ; but, on the contrary, the consciousness was produced by the facts, and often the facts lie before us, from which at a later time was deduced the religious element which they represented and offered as their lesson." Now, although this is recognized by biblical theologians, it has been generally thought to be sufficient to give a merely introductory survey of the history of revela- tion, as has been done by Steudel, and also by Schultz, in the most recent Old Testament Theology. But on this plan it is not possible to exhibit properly the internal connection of the doctrine of Revelation with the revealing history — the continual progress of the former in connection with the latter. We include, therefore, in Old Testament Theology the chief features of the history of the divine kingdom in the Old Covenant. (2) Projjerly speaking, all the biblical branches, viz. Biblical Introduction, Hermeneutics, etc., should be included under the name Biblical Theology, as has been done by Rosenkrauz in his Encyclopctdia of Theological Science, and by others. (3) The term Dogmatics (which De Wette and Rosenkranz substitute), or even History of Old Testament Doctrine, is not appropriate for the exhibition of the doc- trinal contents of the Old Testament, even if we extend the notion of Dogmatics (see Rothe, Zur Dogmatil\ p. 11) to the practical sphere, in the sense of 66ynara, Eph. ii. 15. Col. ii. 14. Dogmas, the positive doctrines of faith and life which de- mand acknowledgment and obedience, are found in the Old Testament, for the most part only in the Pentateuch (as, for example, the imposing passage : " Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one Jehovah" — Dent. vi. 4). The further develop- ment of religioQs knowledge, which is found in the prophetic books, tlie Psalms, §3.] IIELATION TO OTHER O. T, BRAXCHES. 7 and the books of the Hhokhma (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastcs), are inaccurately characterized by this expression. Even the prophetic announcements of the Messiah and His kingdom, of the resurrection of the dead, and the like, first became doctrinal propositions — essential parts of religious confession- — from the standpoint of the New Testament fulfilment. Still less does that wrestling of the Israelitish spirit with the problems of life, brought out in many Psalms and in the book of Job, lead to a doctrinal result. The theology of the Old Tes- tament has to handle as such what is only in germ, and of the nature of presen- timent ; it has to show how the Old Testament, in the narrowness and unfinished state which characterizes in many parts its doctrinal contents, points from itself to something higher. The Old Testament is of course treated differently by the later Judaism. Judaism finds in the Old Testament the completion of dogma, as Mohammedanism does in the Koran. However, it is characteristic of the Jewish theology that it always takes pains to prove from the Pentateuch even the doc- trines primarily drawn from prophecy, such as those of the Messiah and the resur- rection, in order to invest them with a doctrinal character. § 3. RELATION OF OLD TESTAMENT TnEOLOGY TO OTHER OLD TESTAMENT BRANCHES. Among the other branches of Old Testament study, what is called Introduction to the Old Testament, or the history of the Old Testament writings, falls quite outside of the sphere of Old Testament Theology ; they stand, however, in a relation of mutual dependence on each other, in virtue of which the criticism of the Old Testament writings must also have respect to the results of Old Testament Theology (1). On the other hand, Old Testament Theology has a part of its contents in common with Biblical ArchcEology, which treats of the whole natural and social condition of the old Israelitisli people ; for, in fact, all the important relations of life in Israel are treated as parts of religion, and belong essentially to the manifestation of the Old Testament religion, because the stamp of the communion of the people with the holy covenant God was to be imprinted upon them. Still, even such common constituents in the above-mentioned branches will demand in each case a treatment differing not merely in fulness, but in some measure also in form. With regard to the ordinances of worship, the theology of the Old Testament must treat of these so far as the communion of God and the people is carried out in them, and as they consequently present a system of re- ligious symbols. On the other hand, the discussion of all purely technical questions must be left to archaeology (2). Finally, as to the relation of Old Testament Theology to the Israelitish history, the former has certainly to present the leading features in the facts of revelation which form the historical basis of the Old Testament religion, and in the divine leading of Israel ; but only as this history lived in the spirit of the organs of revelation, and was the object of religious faith. It is bound to reproduce faith- fully, and without admixture of modern ways of looking at history, the view which the Holy Scriptures themselves give of the purpose of salvation which is carried out in Israel. The history of Israel, on the other hand, has not only to present all sides of the historical development of the people of Israel, even in its purely secular connections, thus necessitating the examina;tion of chronological and such like questions, but to sift and vindicate, by historico-critical research, 8 INTRODUCTION". [§ 3. the real historical facts which the theology of the Old Testament reproduces as the contents of faith (3). (1) The prevalent manner of treating Biblical Theology places it in an entirely one-sided relation of dependence upon the criticism of the biblical writings. This process is described by Rothe, for instance (Zu)- Dogmatik, p. 304 If.), as follows : "In order to extract the actual facts of revelation from the Bible, the theologian must beforehand, by critical methods, make the Bible ' available ' for his^purpose. For only when he has completed his investigation of the origin of the biblical books, and has tested on this basis their value as historical sources, can he gain from them, as far as they are interpreted, the true teachings of reve- lation." There would be nothing to object against this proposition of Rothe, were it not that the position toward the contents of the records of revelation, which the critic takes beforehand, in many respects determines for him the way in which he conceives of the origin of the biblical books. If a critic takes a view of revelation which is far from harmonious with the biblical one, and clevises a scheme of sacred history which the history itself does not acknowledge, he will of course from these presuppositions judge of the time when these books origi- nated, and of other things, quite differently from what they themselves testify. Besides, Rothe does not himself claim for the critic an absolute freedom from all preconceived opinions, for he says, p. 309 : " The one important point here is, that to us revelation is in itself, apart from the Bible, actually a reality.^ He before whose eyes, by means of the Bible as its record, revelation stands, in all its living majesty, as a mighty historical fact, can confidently exercise the most thorough and impartial criticism on the Holy Scriptures ; he takes toward it as a leliever, a free position, without any anxiety whatever." On the point "that revelation in itself, aside from the Bible, is something real," there can be no reasonable controversy. The Bible is not revelation itself ; it is the record of revelation. Neither do we deny the proposition, that he to whom the reality of revelation is made certain by means of the Bible as its record, takes toward the Scriptures "a free position of faith." But now, if it is only through the Bible that the theologian receives this impression of the majesty of revelation as a mighty historical fact, it should rather be expected of him that, before he criticises the Bible, he should first surrender himself to its contents without preconceived opinions — should let the revelation in its majesty work directly upon him, in order, as Rothe (p. 339) strikingly expresses it, " to make it a constant factor in the experiences of his personal life." He who has won in this way the conviction that Holy Scripture is the truly witnessing record of the divine purpose of salvation, and of the historical facts which serve to its realization, and that in it is contained the word of God as the means by which every one can lay hold of salvation — he, in the joyful consciousness of his faith in revelation, will certainly refuse to be bound by human traditions concerning Holy Scripture, whetlier these originated with the Jewish scribes or with the ancient Church, or with our older Protestant theology, whatever be the respect which he may feel due to them ; but neither will he surrender himself to a criticism in which we can everywhere see that it does not rest upon the con- sciousness of faith which Rothe commends. He knows that a criticism, with the results of which this treatment of the Bible is incompatible, cannot have found the truth, because it fails to explain that wliich the Bible in the Church has proved itself to be, and so leaves unsolved the very problem of historical criti- cism—the explanation of the facts. He simply makes the inquiry, What sort of a Bible would be the result of the factors which that criticism employs ? Would it be a Bible which presents to us this grand course of development of revelation, this grand system of facts and witnesses through the written word i which, moreover, finds its proof in men's hearts, as the Bible has done for two thousand years ? Especially in regard to the Old Testament, the believer in revelation recognizes it as his task, before all things, to follow the gradual path § 3.] RELATION TO OTHER 0. T. BRANCHES. 9 of development presented therein, and at the same time to vahie the continuous connection in which the Old Testament Scrijitures stand to the ever-advancino- revelation. In this respect it is inexplicable, when, for example, Schultz in hi*! recent Theology of the Old Testament, which contains so nmch excellent matter on the one hand sets Moses so high as an organ of revelation, but thinks this man who lived in an age in which, as shown by the Egyptian antiquities, writino- was quite a familiar art, to have written absolutely nothing but a few scanty scraps. We must not forget that the Old Testament Scriptures stand in such essential cinmection with the history of revelation, that the fultiller of Old Testament reve- lation could at the same time represent himself as the fulfiller of Old Testament Scripture. As regards the mutual relations hetwcen Introduction and Old Testament Theology, it will often be shown in the course of this work how the Old Testament, in reference to its didactic contents, presents not a uniform (completed) whole, but a regular progression of religious knowledge. Moreover, not only must the general view which we have of the gradual progress of Old Testament revelation influence our determination of the position which is due to any one book in the whole of the Old Testament, but the criticism of the Old Testament must pay regard to the course of development of the individual doctrines of the Old Testament. For example, how is a genetic exhibition of the Old Testament doctrine of the nature and attributes of God, of angelology, of the doctrine of the state of man after death, etc., possible, on the presupposition that the Pentateuch is a comparatively recent production ? We shall see how in many cases the Penta- teuch manifestly contains that which constitutes the basis for the development of the didactic matter in Proi^hecy and Hhokhma [for definition of this term see § 235]. This is a feature which the criticism of the Old Testament books, as a rule, either completelj'' overlooks or handles in the most superficial manner. It is, to be sure, no proof that the Pentateuch in its present form is a production of Moses ; but it does show the relative age of the Pentateuch, even in its construc- tion, as compared with the prophetical books. (3) The definition of archosology given in the text is that of Gesenius {Hall. Encykloji., x. 74) and De Wette (Lehrhuch der hebr. jud. Arch. § 1 and 2), with which Keil {ILtndh. der hibl. Arch. § 1) agrees, according to which it has to exhibit the forms of life in Israel as the people elected to be the bearer of revelation. (3) In reference to the relation of Old Testament Theology to the history of Israel, I agree with Schmid (comp. § ii. 1) and differ most from the ordinary view. That history contains a series of farts which form the basis of the Old Testament religion. If we deny the exodus of Israel from Egypt, and the giving of the law from Sinai, the Old Testment religion floats in the air. Such facts can no more be separated from the religion of the Old Testament than the historical facts of Christ's person can be from Christianity. Hence Old Testament theology must embrace the chief facts in the history of the divine kingdom, since it must present the Old Testament religion not only as doctrine, but in the whole compass of its manifestation. But because it ouglit to report what men in the Old Testamentf\ believed, in what faith they lived and died, it has to exhibit the history as Israel \ ielieved it. As it cannot be our task in an Old Testament Theology to harmonize j the Old Testament history of creation and other things of this kind with the propositions of the newer physical sciences, we have only, in the exhibition of the history of revelation, to reproduce the view which Holy Scripture itself has. With ethnological and geooraphical research and the like we have nothing to do. We thus conceive of the relation of the theology of the Old Testament to the Israelitish history, in a manner similar to that in which C. F. Niigelsbach, in his excellent and well-known work, has placed the relations of the Homeric theol- ogy to mythology, when he states, as the object of the former (Preface to Home- rische Theol. ed. 2, p. xiv.), to give " the knowledge which Homer's men had of the Deity, and the effects produced by this knowledge in life and faith," and, on the other hand, makes the work of the mythologist to consist in " the criticism and deciphering of the historical development of mythological representations." 10 INTRODUCTIOiq". f"§ 4. That Old Testament Theology has a history, as its critical sister science, while Homeric theology has only !i mythology, is owing to the different character of the two religions. Here, indeed, there must be strife between those who — and I avow myself to belong to this class — acknowledge as facts what the Old Tes- tament religion lays down as such, and are consequently convinced that the tiling lelieved was also a thing which tookjjlace ; and between those who see in the Old Testament faith mainly a product of religious ideas, the historical basis of which can be ascertained only by a critical process resting on rationalistic presupposi- tions. The latter party, who despise the key offered by the Old Testament itself for the comprehension of its history, have been so fortunate in their attempts at explanation, as to have turned the providential leading of Israel into a dark riddle. (Rosenkranz, in his biography of Hegel, p. 49, informs us that the Jewish history repelled him (Hegel) just as violently as it captivated him, and troubled him like a dark riddle all his life.) But whoever occupies the historico-critical standpoint on this subject should endeavor to get at the point of view of the Bible itself in its purity, without admixture of modern views. In the common treatment of the theology of the Old Testament, however, we find a peculiar lack of firmness; where it is acknowledged that the Old Testament religion Tests on facts, what these facts are is stated as indefinitely as possible. On the other hand, no criticism has as yet robbed of its force the judgment of Herder respecting the history of the Old Testament : " A thing of that kind cannot be invented ; such history, with all that depends on it, and all that is connected with it — in short, such a people cannot be a fiction. Its yet uncompleted provi- dential guidance is the greatest poem of the ages, and advances probably (we say certainly, on the ground of Rom. xi. 25 ff.) to the solution of the mysterious riddle of the world's history." §4. SOURCES OP OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. The Theology of the Old Testament, according to the definition in § 2, mu?t limit itself to the books of the Old Testament canon as received by the scribes in Palestine, and acknowledged by the Protestant Church, thus excluding the Apocrypha. For the canonical writings alone are a record of the history of revelation, and a genuine productioQ of the spirit, which ruled as the principle of life in the Old Testament economy. According to the declarations of Christ in Lukexxiv, 44, Matt. xi. 13, etc., and the whole apostolic doctrine, there can be no doubt concerning the limits of the Holy Scriptures of the Old Covenant (1). Looking from the biblical standpoint, a specific difference must be made between the law, which claims divine authority, and the [human] jjrescrijitions added to it and fencing it round — between prophecy, which knows itself to be the organ of the Divine Spirit, and the scribes in their collective capacity, who lean only on human authority, since, even to a man so eminent as Ezra, who stands at the head of the latter, the authority of an organ of revelation is not ascribed (2). It may be said, perhaps, that the distinction between the Hagio- grapha and the Apocryphal books is incapable of precise determination (as also that the composition of some of the Hagiographa falls later than the epoch which is marked by the silence of prophecy). Yet even in the better Apocryphal books it is impossible to ignore a lack of the depth of meaning that is found in the Old Testament, and in many cases an admixture of foreign elements (3). At all events, as soon as the theology of the Old Testament goes beyond the canoni- cal books, there is no firm principle on which to fix its limits (4), [Prof. W. §4.] SOURCES OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. H Robertson Smith {Old Testament,^. 141) lias well stated the case : "They (the Apocryphal books) were not only written after the end of the living progress of the Old Testament revelation, but their contents add nothing to our knowledge of that progress, and therefore, ou a purely historical argument, and without going into any knotty theological questions as to the precise nature of inspiration, we can say on broad grounds of common-sense that these books must not be in- cluded in the Bible record, but that their value is simply that of documents for the history of the connection of tlie Old and the New Testament." Comp. also Ewald {Lehre vom Worte Gottcs) to the same effect. — D.] (1) Inmost statements of Old Testament theology the so-called Apocrypha is /n- cluded (Schultz, p. 15 ff., excludes it). In this way the significance of the Old Testament canon is lost sight of. We take the following lemmata from the Introduc- tion to the Old Testament (compare my article, " Kanon des A. 7'.," in Ilerzoo-'g Theol. Rcal-Encyklop. vii. p. 244 ff.). The Hebrew writings in the Old Testame'nt form one corpus, which consists of three parts : 1. •Tl'in, the Pentateuch • 2. D'KOJ, including (a) D'Jltr^XT, tJw earlier prophets, the historical books from Joshua to Kings— (6) D'jnnx^ the later propihets, consisting of the three greater and the twelve lesser prophets ; 3. D'?^n3, Hagiographa. From this comes the full title of the Hebrew Bible, D"3inD1 D'NOJ Hlin. With the books contained in the Hebrew Bible are united, in the Alexandrian translation, a number of writings of later origin, and thus a more extensive collection of Old Testament writings has been formed. On the question, what value should be attached to the writings added in the Greek Bible, in comparison with those in the Hebrew col- lection, the dispute has been chiefly as to the recognition of the bounds of the Old Testament canon in the Christian Church. The Catholic Church sanctioned as canonical at the Council of Trent the books which are added in the Septua- gint, called in the early Church Anagigncskomena or ecclesiastical lessons (hence a Theology of the Old Testament from the standpoint of the Romish Church must of necessity embrace the theology of these books). But the Protestant Church, following the example of Jerome, gives the Anagigncskomena of the Romish Church the not quite suitable name of Apocrypha, and rejects them. That the canon of the Protestant Church is that of the Judaism of Palestine is not dis- puted. As certainly must it be maintained, that the canon of the Judaism of Palestine, as established in the last century before Christ, and then re-sanctioned after temporary hesitation at the Sanhedrim in Jamnia toward the end of the tirst century of our era [about a.d. 90J or a few years later, did not, as has been maintained, rest upon an interest of a simply literary nature, viz., to unite all the remains of Hebrew writings which were still to be had • for then it would be inconceivable why it did not embrace the book of the Son of Sirach, which long existed in the original Hebrew text. The point in question in the collection of the Old Testament writings was rather, as Josephus distinctly says in the well- known passage on the canon (c. Ap. i. 8), concerning tiie (hKaiug dela irETna-evfitva ^i^lla. In the same passage Josephus limits the Old Testament canon to the time of Artaxerxes, because from that time forward an exact succession of proph- ets is wanting. It may be said that this is an arbitrary limitation of the Pales- tinian scribes, and it has lately become the fashion (Ewald, Dillmann, Noeldeke) to efface this distinction between canonical and non-canonical Scriptures. But if we look into the NeiD Testament, no doubt can remain as to where the Old and the New Covenants are connected ; since even the beginning of the New Testa- ment history of revelation attaches itself directly (comp. Matt. xi. IB f.) to the close of Old Testament prophecy in Malachi. — A sharp controversy on the Apocrypha was carried on about the middle of the present century among the German theologians. On both sides weighty arguments were brought for- ward along with many controvensial exaggerations. The conclusion reached is, 12 INTRODUCTION". [§ 4. that that word of the Old Testament, which is so often referred to in the New Testament as a fulfilled Avord, is found only in the writings of the Hebrew canon ; that even if we admit as possible that there are allusions in some of the epistles, jiarticularly the Epistle of James, to passages in the book of the Son of Sirach and the book of Wisdom, " yet there is never more than a simple allusion, and never a quotation properly so called," as even Stier, who is particularly zealous in searching out such correspondences {I. c. p. 12}, candidly acknowl- edges. X^) With Graf {The Historical Bools of tie OU Testament, 1866), the criticism of the Pentateuch has taken the turn, that many, declaring the legislation of Deuteronomy to be older than the law in the middle books, regard the Penta- teuch as having reached its final shape only in the time of Ezra through the labors of a supplementing editor. But it is historically certain that, in the time .•ifter the exile, the Pentateuch was regarded as an inviolable whole, because of which the fencing in (J'P) of the Pentateuch then began with those ordinances to which our Lord assumes an attitude quite different from His relation to the po/iof. Conf. § 192 and Strack's art. ''■ Kanon des A. T.," in Herzog, 2d ed. [On the appearance of Graf's treatise, an account of which will be found in the Bibliotheca Sacra, Oct. 1880 and July, 1882, it was promptly reviewed by Ewald in the Gottingen, Gelehrte Anzeiger, June 1866, pp. 985-991, who pronounced it deficient in thoroughness, superficial and unsatisfactory. He says, "Whoever adopts the opinion that the middle books of the Pentateuch were written after Deuteronomy will never be able to prove it, to say nothing of the fact that we should then be obliged to regard the contents of these books as imaginary and unhistorical." The theory, however, of the Levitical law as being of later origin than the earlier jjropheticat books, was defended by Reuss, who claims to be its author, Kuenen, Wellhausen, and others, and has been made familiar to the Eng- lish and American public by Prof. W. Robertson Smith in his lectures on The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, 1881, and the article "Israel" in the Encyclopmlia Britannica, by Wellhausen. On the other hand it is repudiated by Dillmann, whose eminence in Hebrew scholarship and special familiarity with the Levitical legislation entitle his opinion to respectful attention, Bredenkamp, Oesetz u. Projtheten, 1880, and Delitzsch in a series of articles in Luthardt'sZeiYscAr//'i(, 1880. In America the work of Prof. Curtiss on The Levitical Priests, 1877, is directed against the Graf- Wellhausen theory on the single point that previous to the exile the priesthood was not confined to the family of Aaron, and that all Levites might be priests ; Prof. Green of Princeton, in Moses and the Prophets, 1883, has examined the views of Prof. Smith and Kuenen, and assigned his reasons for rejecting them, which has also been done by writers in the Presbyterian Review and other quarter- lies. Conf. also the art. ^'■Pentateuch'''' by Strack in the 2d ed. of Herzog, licid- Encyl-lop. Particular points in this controversy will be found discussed in the notes of this edition of Oehler. It can only here be said that the theory of de- velopment applied to the Old Testament in the central proposition that the ritual law or Levitical legislation is the latest product of the Old Testament develop- ment and belongs to the period of the second temple, while ardently embraced by some in Germany and elsewhere, is regarded by most scholars as wholly un- supported by facts, and as requiring too many assumptions to render it worthy of acceptance. — D.] (3) This is especially true of the celebrated book of the Son of Sirach, which, to mention only a single point, presses the Pentateuchal doctrine of retribution to an offensive Eudaemonisra, without any consideration of the features through which the Old Testament itself breaks through the externalism of the doctrine of retribution. (See my remarks on the theological character of the book in the article, " Psedagogik des A. T.," in Schmid's Pcedagog. Encyhlop. V. p. 694 f.). The same thing is true of the book of Wisdom, the most beautiful and excellent of the books of the Apocrypha. The ideas of the Greek philosophy are united in it with Old Testament doctrine, without any organic union of these elements. A tendency to syncretism [a mingling of ideas from other religions] is character- § 5.] VIEW OF O. T. RELIGION PROPER TO CHRISTIA]!f THEOLOGY. 13 istic of the later Jewish theology ; whereas, in the development of the Old Testa- ment religion presented in the canonical writings, the fundamental principle of the latter has force sufficient to subdue and assimilate tlie foreign elements which are taken up. This may be seen especially in the traditions of Genesis and the institutions of the Mosaic worship, and also in doctrines of the later books, such as the doctrine of Satan and the Angels, if we assume in these cases, as is gener- ally done, the presence of a foreign influence. (4) No settled types of doctrine are found in the Old Testament Apocrypha. A thorough statement of the doctrinal system of the Book of Wisdom would bring us to the discussion of Jewish Alexandrinism. If the historical influence of the forms of post-canonical Judaism on the development of Christian doctrine were attempted, we should have to take up, along with the history of the Jew- ish Alexandrian philosophy of religion, the no less interesting and important his- tory of the Jewish Apocalyptic books, the book of Enoch, the fourth book of Ezra, and the Psalter of Solomon ; and further still, the Jewish religious sects, and the earlier Rabbinic theology found in the older Targums and Midrashim, as well as in the Mishna, etc., would have to be discussed, as is done in the treatises of De Wette and von Colin. Instead of burdening the Old Testament with such bal- last, it will be more proper to refer the delineation of post-canonical Judaism to a special theological science to which Schnecken burger (in the lectures published by Loehlein, 18G2) has given the name of the History of the Times of the New Testament. [Since Schneckenburger, the same subject has been treated by several writers — by Holtzmann, Hausrath, and finally by Schlirer, Lehrlmh der Neutestamentllcken Zeitgeschiclite, Leipzig, 1874. — Eng. Ed.] II.— FULLER STATEMENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC STANDPOINT OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. §5. THE VIEW OP THE OLD TESTAMENT EELIGION PROPER TO CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY. The Christian theological stand-point for the theology of the Old Testament is already expressed in its name, by virtue of which it does not treat its subject as the Jewish religion, but as the divine revelation of the Old Covenant, which on the one hand is fundamentally different from all heathen religions, and on the other forms the preliminary stage to the revelation of the Neio Covenant, which is witli it comprehended in one divine economy of salvation (1). Since the definition of Old Testament revelation will be discussed more fully further on (comp. §55 ff.), only the more general propositions will here be stated. (1) That view of the Old Testament -which is now prominent in claiming that it seeks to understand the Old Testament historically, and j'et at the same time to be just to its religious value, amounts essentially to this : that Israel, by virtue of a certain genius for religion rooted in the natural peculiarity of the Semitic race, was more successful in the search after the true religion than the other nations of antiquity, and soared higher than the rest tov/ard the purest divine thoughts and endeavors. As the Greeks in the ancient world were the people of art and philosophy, and the Romans the people of law, so the people of religion Kaf i^oxvv sprang by natural growth from the Semitic stem. While it pleased the earlier rationalists to reduce the contents of the Old Testament as much as possible to tilings of little value, and then to condemn the wliole as Jewish national delusion, this newer view, whose principal representative is Uwald, 14 INTR0DUCT10]Sr. [§ G. fully reco<,niizes the depth of thought and moral loftiness of the Old Testa' ment ; indeed, it finds there already, more or less distinctly expressed, the eter- nal truths which Cliristianity subsequently placed in full light. [As Doruer (Hist, of Pi'ot. Theology, ii. 486) sharply states it : He suppresses all that is new in the New Testament, and makes it nothing more than a purified Judaism. — D.] Yet, although individual contributions made to the matter of Old Testament theology from this standpoint have great value, the Old Testament can never be historically understood in this way. Does even a single page of the Old Testa- ment agree with this view, by which Israel is represented as a people of such genius in the production of religious thought, and the Old Testament religion as a natural product of the Israelitish spirit ? All that the Bible recognizes is the decided opposition in which the Old Testament religion stood from the very beginning to all that Israel had sought and found in the path of nature. And how this view fails to recognize the difficulty of the divine tuition expressed in Isa. xliii. 24 : " Thou hast made me labor with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities." In Jer. ii. 10 f. we 'find Israel's position toward revela- tion distinctly characterized. When it is there said, " Pass over to the isles of Chittim, and see ; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing : Hath a nation changed its gods, wliich are yet no gods ? but ray people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit," this charge becomes intelligible, if we remember that the gods of the heathens were a pro- duction of the natural national mind, but not so the God of Israel. And there- fore the heathen nations do not exchange their gods — so long, that is, as their religions thus originated have power to develop organically ; but Israel had to exercise on itself a certain compulsion in order to rise to the s[)here of the spirit- ual Jehovah-worship, and therefore it sought after the gods of the heathen — this borrowing from other religions, in fact, being characteristic of Israel, so far as it was not subject to revelation. The entire Old Testament remains a sealed book, if we fail to see that the sub- duing of the natural character of the people is the whole aim of the divine tui- tion, and that therefore the whole providential guidance of the nation moves in this antagonism. [From the point of view here controverted, the objection might arise that as in every department of mental activity the mass of the people occu- py a lower position than that of the more gifted intellects, while yet we re- gard the latter as the highest development of a nation's mind (the Greek philosophy, for example, as a production of the Greek national mind), so the loftiest religious teachings found in the prophets may be regarded as the highest development of the Israelitish national mind. This objection would hold good, if the struggle which goes through the whole history of Israel, between what Israel should be and what it was, had respect only to such an antagonism as we find, for instance, in the reproof in Is. i. or subsequently between John the Baptist and the Pharisees. But the antagonism which really appears is one entirely dif- ferent. The struggle maintained by Moses and the prophets is not a struggle on the part of those who have embraced the religious principle in its purity and truth, against the mass who stand upon a lower plane and are under the influence of sense, but it is a struggle of men who remain true to the God who has re- vealed himself to their fathers, against the mass who have apostatized to strange gods and to strange religions. Not bondage to sense but unfaithfulness is the charge against the people made by the true servants of Jehovah.] §6. THE BIBLICAL IDEA OF REVELATION. I. GENERAL AND SPECIAL REVELATION. 77