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INTRODUCTORY HINTS 
 
 ENGLISH READERS 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JOHN A. CROSS, M.A. 
 
 LONDON: 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO 
 
 1882. 
 
DUBLIN : 
 
 PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 
 
 BY PONSONBY AND WELDRICK. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 rr^HIS volume does not pretend to contribute anything 
 new or original to the literature of the subject 
 with which it deals. Its object is only to give in a short 
 form and in simple language such elementary information 
 about the character and contents of the Books of the Old 
 Testament as may be gathered by those who have time 
 and opportunity, from a study of the books themselves, or 
 from larger and more technical treatises on the subject, 
 but which it may be convenient to some readers of the 
 Bible to have thrown together in this shape. 
 
 As the most effective way of conveying a good general 
 idea of the contents of the Historical Books, and of the 
 relation which their parts bear to the whole, short out- 
 lines of the contents of the more difficult books are given, 
 and are carefully broken up into sections under distinct 
 headings. A similar plan has been adopted with the 
 Prophetical Books. 
 
 In matters of Biblical Criticism the writer has en- 
 deavoured to be guided by the best scholarship of the 
 
iv PREFACE. 
 
 present day. He ventures to hope that this endeavour, 
 as far as it has been successful, may prove a recom- 
 mendation of these Hints to some whose duty it is to 
 teach the Bible to the young, and who are anxious that 
 the religious instruction which they impart may rest 
 upon as secure a foundation as possible. There can be 
 no doubt but that some, at least, of the unbelief which 
 now prevails is due to the fact that many persons have 
 been taught as children opinions about the Bible which 
 the stronger reason and increasing education of maturer 
 years have made it impossible for them to retain, and that 
 in rejecting the error they have thrown away the truth 
 with it. It is not necessary, nor would it be right, to 
 turn the Scriptural education of the young into a series of 
 lessons on Biblical Criticism ; and the mistake of adopt- 
 ing too negative a style of teaching is one that may easily 
 be made. To teach negations is not to teach religion. 
 But the judicious instructor v/ill be anxious to avoid as 
 much as possible allowing the minds of the young to 
 receive any wrong injpressions about the Bible, which 
 may prove dangerous to their faith when they grow older. 
 Children should not be allowed to believe, as too manj^ 
 have been taught, that doubtful matters of history are 
 part of a perfect Divine Kevelation, or that the morality 
 and wisdom of a comparatively rude age are the highest 
 attainable by mankind, because the record of them is to 
 be found "in the Bible." And the young, as well as 
 the old, should learn to practise suspense of judgment at 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 times when the evidence adduced does not warrant a 
 decision on the one side or the other. There are many 
 subjects connected with the Bible on which we may well 
 be diffident in expressing an opinion, when the wisest men 
 and the best scholars are not agreed about them. Such 
 an attitude of mind on points which are comparatively of 
 little importance need not interfere with sincerity in be- 
 lieving, or with decision in teaching, more essential 
 truths.' 
 
 The writer is indebted to the kindness of friends for 
 the correction of many errors of different kinds. 
 
 1 This subject is thoughtfully discussed by the Rev. Canon Sherlock, 
 in a pamphlet on The Bible and the Toung. (Dublin : Hodges, Foster, 
 and Co.) 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Old Testament, ......... 1 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Book of Genesis, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Books of the Pentateuch after Genesis, . . . . .19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Ten Commandments, and the Civil and Religions Ordinances 
 
 in the Pentateuch, . . . . . . . . .29 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, . . ... .44 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Undivided Kingdom, ........ 50 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Division of the Kingdom, .63 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Kingdom of the Ten Tribe.'^, ....... 68 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Foreign Relations of the Kingdom of Judah, ..... 74 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Internal History of the Kingdom of Judah, 81 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Books of Chronicles, .... . . . . .91 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 The Books of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther, 94 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Composition of the Historical Books, . . .108 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Character of the Earlier History, . . • .123 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 On the Later Historical Books, ....... 146 
 
CONTENTS. ix 
 
 PART II. 
 
 THE POETICAL BOOKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Book of Job, 167 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 The Psalms, 179 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, . . . 193 
 
 PART III. 
 THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The Books of the Prophets, 206 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Book of the Prophet Isaiah, 217 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, 247 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Book of the Prophet Ezekiel, 261 
 
 b 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Book of Daniel, 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 The Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah), . 274 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 The Minor TroT^hets—contintied (Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, 
 
 Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi), 292 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL CHAPTER. 
 The Canon of the Old Testament, 314 
 
 INDEX, 321 
 
 CORRECTIONS. 
 
 Page 4, line 8. On the date of the Septuagint. See also page 320. 
 ,, 14, „ 1, /or "Lahai Roi," n'a<? "Lahai-roi." 
 „ 74, „ 18, /or "entered," re«<f "came to." 
 ,, 110, ,, 20, /or " Deuteronony," roflf? " Deuteronomy." 
 „ 224, ,, 3 from end, /or " places," r«ac? " palaces." 
 
INTEODUCTOEY HINTS 
 
 ENGLISH EEADEES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 The Old Testament. 
 
 ALONG- time ago, in an earlier stage of the world's 
 history, before the English nation existed, and 
 when the other countries of EurojDe were as yet unoccu- 
 pied by the races of which its most important nations are 
 now composed, and when many of the arts and sciences 
 with which we are now familiar were quite unknown, or 
 only in their earliest infancy, the Hebrew people dwelt in 
 the country that is now called Palestine, on the eastern 
 shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The Hebrews also called 
 themselves Israelites, or sons of Israel, and in later times 
 they were called Jews, the name by which their descend- 
 ants, who are now scattered through many lands, are most 
 commonly known. The Hebrews were in many respects 
 inferior to the great nations which lived around them ; for 
 the Almighty distributes His gifts amongst nations as He 
 
2 INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 does amongst individuals. He does not give all to one 
 person or nation, but divides them amongst His creatures 
 severally as He wills. The Egyptians were more famous 
 for learning than the Hebrews. The Phoenicians were, 
 at the time of which we speak, the great traders of the 
 world, and the Hebrews never possessed so vast an empire 
 as that which had its seat at Nineveh or at Babylon. The 
 special gift which the Almighty had bestowed upon them 
 was their religion ; and the collection of books in which 
 the records of their religion and of the history of the 
 Hebrew people are preserved is one of the most precious 
 possessions of mankind. The learning of the Egyptians is 
 little known now. The Phoenicians are almost a forgotten 
 people. The strong walls of Babylon and the gorgeous 
 palaces of Nineveh are sunk in shapeless heaps of ruin. 
 Even the religions of these ancient nations have been lost, 
 and a knowledge of them is only now being recovered by 
 the diligent explorations of learned men. The later 
 empires of Grreece and Pome have passed away. But 
 these ancient Hebrew books of which we spoke, translated 
 now into hundreds of languages, are read by old and 
 young in all the continents of the earth, with the same 
 reverence and love as when they were first written. This 
 collection of books forms the first part of our Bible, 
 and is called the Old Testament. It is so called in con- 
 trast with the latter part, which is called the New Testa- 
 ment, because it contains the account of the later and 
 fuller revelation which the Almighty has made to man- 
 kind in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 The Books of the Old Testament. 
 
 The Old Testament consists of thirty-nine distinct 
 books. We are accustomed to see the whole collection 
 bound together as one volume, or even as part of a 
 volume. But it contains within it many compositions of 
 different kinds and of different dates. As they are 
 arranged in the English Bible, the first seventeen of these 
 are historical works relating to different periods of the 
 history of the Hebrew people and their religion. The 
 next five are miscellaneous poetical books, and the last 
 seventeen are the writings of the Hebrew prophets. The 
 following are the titles of the books, as they are given at 
 the beginning of the English Bible : — 
 
 Genesis, 1 
 
 Exodus, j 
 
 Leviticus, [ 
 
 Numbers, I 
 
 Deutekonomy, J 
 Joshua, 
 Judges, 
 Ruth, 
 
 I. Samuel, j 
 
 II. Samuel, 
 
 I. Kings, 
 
 II. Kings, j 
 
 I. Chronicles, 
 
 II. ChRONICIiES, 
 
 Ezra, 
 
 Nehemiah, 
 
 Esther, 
 
 Job, 
 
 Psalms, 
 
 Proverbs, 
 
 The Pentateuch. 
 
 Also called the 
 Four Books of 
 Kings. 
 
 Ecclesiastes, 
 
 The Song of Solomon, 
 
 Isaiah, 
 
 Jeremiah, 
 
 Lamentations, 
 
 Ezekiel, 
 
 Daniel, 
 
 Hosea, 
 
 Joel, 
 
 Amos, 
 
 Obadiah, 
 
 Jonah, 
 
 MiCAH, 
 
 Nahum, 
 
 Habakkuk, 
 
 Zephaniah, 
 
 Haggai, 
 
 Zechariah, 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 b2 
 
PAET I. 
 THE HISTOEICAL BOOKS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 The Pentateuch, or the Five Books of Moses. 
 
 ^T^HE first five books of the Old Testament are commonly 
 -*- known as " the Pentateuch," which is a Greek name 
 signifying the "five volumes." They were also called "the 
 Books of Moses," or " the Book of the Law of Moses," or 
 sometimes simply " the Law." The Greek titles of these 
 hooks are derived from the Septuagint, a Greek translation 
 of the Jewish Sacred Scriptures, which was made from the 
 original Hebrew about the third century b.c, for the use 
 of the Jews living in Egypt. 
 
 The Book of Genesis. 
 
 Genesis, or " the Origin," is the Greek title of the first 
 of the five books of Moses. This book is intended to form 
 a general introduction to the history of the Hebrews. It 
 gives an account of the creation of the heavens and the 
 earth, of the early history of mankind, and of the origin 
 of the Hebrew people, whose descent is traced down from 
 
THE FALL. 5 
 
 the first man Adam, through the patriarchs Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob. An outline of the contents of this 
 venerable book is given in the following paragraphs. 
 
 The Creation. 
 
 (Gex. i.-ii. 3.) 
 
 The Book of Genesis opens with an account of the 
 creation by the Almighty of the heavens and the earth 
 and all things that are therein. In six days the great 
 work was completed, man made in the image of God 
 being the work of the last day. To man was given 
 dominion over everything else that God had made, " over 
 the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over 
 the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping 
 thing that creepeth upon the earth"; and he was com- 
 manded "to be fruitful and multiply, and to replenish the 
 earth and subdue it." On the seventh day the Almighty 
 rested from His work, and, in commemoration of His 
 rest, appointed the observance of the Sabbath day. "God 
 blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it, because that in 
 it he had rested from all His work which God created and 
 made." 
 
 The Fall. 
 
 (Gen. ii. 4-iii, 24.) 
 
 Adam and Eve, the first created man and woman, are 
 placed in a state of innocence in the beautiful garden of 
 Eden. But this happy state of things does not continue 
 long. Eve is tempted by the serpent, which " was more 
 subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord (3-od 
 had made," to eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of 
 the knowledge of good and evil ; she induces her hus- 
 band to follow her example, and their united act of 
 
6 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 disobedience brings a curse upon all creation. Sentence 
 of death is passed upon the human race. The unhappy 
 pair are driven out of Paradise lest they " put forth their 
 hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for 
 ever." Since that day labour and sorrow have been the 
 lot of man. On his account the very ground is cui'sed. 
 It brings forth " thorns and thistles," and it is only by 
 painful labour in the sweat of his brow that man can win 
 from it his hardly earned subsistence, until the day when 
 he shall return again to the dust from which he was 
 taken. Unto the woman, who misled the man, the 
 Almighty declared — " I will greatly multiply thy sorrow 
 and thy conception ; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth 
 children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he 
 shall rule over thee." The serpent, the author of all the 
 mischief, was cursed " above every beast of the field." 
 " Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat 
 all the days of thy life ; and I will put enmity between 
 thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed ; 
 it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his {i.e. its) 
 heel." It is from this part of the Book of Grenesis that 
 the subject of Milton's Paradise Lost^ the great epic poem 
 of the English language, is taken. He sings — 
 
 " Of man's first disobedience and the fruit 
 Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste 
 Brought death into the world and all our woe." 
 
 The Descendants of Adam. 
 
 (Gex. iv. l-v. 32.) 
 
 The consequences of the fall soon begin to develop 
 themselves. The sin of the parents bears bitter fruit 
 
THE FLOOD. 7 
 
 among the children, and disobedience to Grod is followed 
 by crime against man. Cain, the eldest son of Adam, 
 slays his innocent brother Abel in a fit of jealousy, and 
 is driven out by the Divine sentence to be " a fugitive and 
 a vagabond in the earth." He wanders to the " land of 
 Nod," on the east of Eden, and there became the father 
 of a race amongst whom occur the names of many who 
 were celebrated for the invention of arts. Cain himself 
 was the first to build a city, which he named after his son 
 Enoch. His descendant Jabal was " the father of all such 
 as dwell in tents, and have cattle "; Jubal was the first 
 musician, " the father of all such as handle the harp and 
 organ"; and Tubal-Cain was "an instructor of every 
 artificer in brass and iron." But there is no mention of 
 religion amongst the descendants of Cain. The seed of 
 goodness must therefore be preserved in another line. 
 After the crime of Cain had deprived Eve of her two 
 sons in one day, God had given her a third son, Seth. 
 From Seth the better race is descended. When his son 
 Enos was born " then began men to call upon the name of 
 the Lord"; and amongst his later descendants occur the 
 names of Enoch, who " walked with God, and he was not, 
 for God took him," and of Lamech the father of Noah. 
 
 The Flood. 
 
 (Gen. vi.-viii.) 
 
 But in spite of the presence of the good seed, the power 
 of wickedness increases. " There were giants in the earth 
 in those days," and " the earth was filled with violence." 
 It soon becomes evident that there is no hope for the 
 future but in sweeping away the existing generation. 
 " God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the 
 
8 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his 
 heart was only evil continually. And it repented the 
 Lord that he had made man upon the earth ; and it 
 grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will 
 destroy man whom I have created from the face of the 
 earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and 
 the fowls of the air ; for it repenteth me that I have made 
 them." The purification of the world is accomplished by 
 the great catastrophe of the Flood. For days and months 
 the earth is buried deep beneath the waters, while the 
 family of Noah, the one man whose household had been 
 found righteous before the Lord, floats securely on the 
 surface in the ark which he had prepared by the command 
 of God, and into which had been gathered pairs of every 
 kind of living creature, " to keep their seed alive upon the 
 face of all the earth." 
 
 The Re-peopling of the Earth, and the Genealogy of the 
 
 Nations. 
 
 (Gen. ix.-xi.) 
 
 As the waters of the Flood begin to abate, the ark rests 
 upon the top of Mount Ararat, in Armenia, and when the 
 earth is dry, God opens the door, and all its occupants 
 come forth. Noah's first act is to build an altar and offer 
 a sacrifice to the Lord who had so mercifully preserved 
 him. The rainbow is set in the sky, in token that the 
 earth shall never again be destroyed by a flood, and a new 
 and more hopeful era begins. But it is not long until 
 its purity is sullied by sin, and Noah pronounces a curse 
 upon Canaan, the descendant of his son Ham. Then fol- 
 lows the genealogy of the nations, which is traced with 
 great minuteness from Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three 
 
ABRAM, OR ABRAHAM. 9 
 
 sons of Noah. The diversity of languages is accounted 
 for by the story of the tower of Babel. The descendants 
 of Shem are traced with especial care. From him in the 
 tenth generation is derived Abram or Abraham, " the 
 father of the faithful," the founder of the Hebrew race ; 
 and on him and his descendants the history henceforth 
 concentrates itself. 
 
 Abram, or Abraham. 
 
 (Gen, xi. 27-xii. 5.) 
 
 Abram, or Abraham, is the most prominent and impor- 
 tant figure in the Book of Genesis, and many chapters are 
 devoted to his history. His first home was in " Ur of the 
 Chaldees," a place which some have identified with Mu- 
 gheir on the Euphrates. But this opinion is not univer- 
 sally accepted. From Ur Abram's father Terah migrates 
 to Haran or, as it is sometimes written, Charran in 
 Mesopotamia. But Haran is not to be the resting-place 
 of the chosen race, and after Terah's death Grod calls 
 Abram to leave it, promising to bring him to another 
 land, where He will bless him and make him a great 
 nation. Setting out from Haran, in company with his 
 nephew Lot and their respective companies of followers, 
 Abram moves southward and westward until he reaches 
 the land of Canaan, the future home of the Hebrews. 
 The time for them to obtain possession of it has, however, 
 not yet arrived, and Abram lives as a pilgrim and a 
 stranger in the land which Grod has given to his children. 
 
 (Gen. xii. 6-xiii. IS.) 
 
 After Abram's arrival in the land of Canaan, the nar- 
 rative of his life becomes more minute. The details of it 
 
10 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 should be read in the Book of Genesis, and are well 
 known to readers of the Bible. Here we can only men- 
 tion the chief events in the order in which they occur. 
 At first he has no settled resting-place, and encamps near 
 Sichem, which will be found on the map about the centre 
 of the part of the country which was afterwards called 
 Samaria. From Sichem he moves to the neighbourhood 
 of Bethel. " Groing on still towards the south," Abram 
 is compelled by a famine to remove for a time into 
 Egypt. During the visit to Egypt is related the story 
 of his first denial of his wife. Keturning from Egypt he 
 settles again at Bethel. Here a dispute arises between his 
 herdsmen and those of his nephew Lot, and leads to 
 their separation. To avoid all chance of a quarrel be- 
 tween " brethren " Abram generously allows Lot to select 
 for himself whatever part of the country he prefers, 
 agreeing himself to move away in the opposite direction. 
 Lot selects the plain of Jordan, because it was rich and 
 well watered. " But," as the narrative significantly adds, 
 the inhabitants were " wicked and sinners before the Lord 
 exceedingly," Abram settles at Hebron, after receiving a 
 renewal of the promise that his seed should inherit the 
 land. 
 
 (Gen. xiv.) 
 
 The next event related of Abram shows him in a new 
 character as the prompt and successful leader of his clan 
 in a military enterprise. The cities of the plain where 
 Lot was settled revolted from a foreign power, to which 
 they had been subject, and the confederate armies of four 
 kings invaded the country. The invaders defeated the 
 armies of the people of the plain, sacked their cities, and 
 carried off Lot amongst other captives. As soon as 
 
ABHAM, OR ABRAHAM . 11 
 
 Abram heard of the disaster, he armed his followers, and 
 assisted by three Canaanite chiefs, with whom he was 
 confederate, pursued the retreating invaders, overtook 
 them in the neighbourhood of Damascus, routed them in 
 a night attack, and brought back Lot and the other 
 prisoners in safety. For this exploit he received the con- 
 gratulations of the kings of the land, and was blessed by 
 Melchizedeo, king of Salem, and " priest of the most high 
 G-od," who met him on his return. 
 
 (Gen. XV. 1.— xxi. 34.) 
 
 After this the Divine promise, that Abram's seed should 
 inherit the land, is again renewed, and is confirmed by a 
 vision ; though as yet there is no apparent prospect of its 
 fulfilment, for Abram is still childless. The birth of Ish- 
 mael, his son by Hagar an Egyptian handmaid of his wife 
 Sarai, seems to bring the promise nearer to its fulfilment : 
 but Ishmael is not to be the chosen seed. As if to assure 
 him that the promise is not forgotten, though the fulfilment 
 of it is so long delayed, the covenant is once again renewed, 
 and confirmed by the change of his own name from Abram 
 to Abraham, by the institution of the rite of circumci- 
 sion, and by the change of Sarai's name to Sarah. Then 
 the actual birth of the promised heir is announced to be 
 close at hand. But even yet several incidents are inter- 
 posed before it actually takes place. The cities of the 
 plain, where Lot dwelt, are destroyed by fire from hea- 
 ven, in consequence of the wickedness of their inhabitants, 
 after Abraham had vainly interceded that they should be 
 spared. Lot, escaping from the burning city, becomes 
 the father of the Moabites and Ammonites, two nations 
 whose names- we shall often meet again. Abraham's de- 
 nial of his wife is again repeated — ^this time at Grerar, in 
 
12 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 the country of the Philistines, whither he had removed 
 from Hebron. At last Isaac is born and circumcised when 
 his father is one hundred years old. Hagar and her son 
 Ishmael are driven away. They settle in the wilderness 
 of Paran, and Abraham is comforted for the expulsion of 
 his first-born by the promise that he too shall become a 
 nation. Abraham's power and position in the land of 
 Canaan at this time is shown by his covenant with the 
 Philistine prince Abimelech and his captain Phicol. 
 
 (Gen. xxii. 1-19.) 
 
 The trial of Abraham's faith is completed by the com- 
 mand to sacrifice his son Isaac, upon whom all the hopes 
 of the future depended. His faith proves equal to the 
 great demand made upon it. In obedience to the Divine 
 command he has lifted up the knife to slay his son, but 
 the execution of the cruel deed is not required of him. 
 The angel of the Lord calls to him out of heaven and for- 
 bids him to lay his hand upon the lad. Another — a more 
 acceptable — sacrifice is provided, and a second voice from 
 heaven announces the blessing of Abraham's posterity for 
 this remarkable act of faithful obedience. 
 
 (Gen. xxiii. 1-xxv. 10.) 
 
 After this Sarah dies at Hebron, and is buried in the 
 Cave of Machpelah, which Abraham buys for a posses- 
 sion — the first possession in the promised land — from 
 Ephron the Hittite. After Sarah's death, Abraham sends 
 the eldest servant of his house to Haran, where his brother 
 Nahor had settled, to find a wife for Isaac from his own 
 family, that he might not intermarry with the Canaanites. 
 A most interesting account is given of the old servant's 
 mission ; and Isaac marries his cousin Rebekah. After 
 
ISA4C. 13 
 
 Sarah's death Abraham again marries Keturah, by whom 
 he has six sons ; and then, after distributing his property 
 between his sons, giving Isaac the chief portion, and hav- 
 ing sent away the sons of Keturah into the East Country, 
 he dies, at the age of one hundred and seventy-five, and 
 is buried by his sons Isaac and Ishmael in the Cave of 
 Machpelah, by the side of Sarah his wife. 
 
 The Covenant. 
 
 An idea which holds a prominent place in the history of 
 Abraham is that of a Covenant, or definite statement of a 
 relation existing between Grod and man. Such a relation 
 cannot be of man's making — it is due to the gracious con- 
 descension of the Divine Being — it originates in His 
 eternal purpose before the world began, and becomes 
 manifest in time. Man has only the power of accepting 
 or refusing it — of keeping or breaking it. If the spiritual 
 Covenant, the invisible relation between God and man, is 
 to be known and remembered by the generality of man- 
 kind, there must be something tangible— something that 
 they can see, or hear, or touch — to remind them of its exist- 
 ence and of their acceptance of it. The tangible mark of 
 the Covenant in the Jewish religion was circumcision. 
 Circumcision was therefore to the Jew, as baptism is to the 
 Christian, " the outward and visible sign of an inward 
 and spiritual grace." 
 
 Isaac. 
 (Gen. xxvi. 1-33 ; xxxv. 27-29.) 
 
 Isaac, the second patriarch, is not by any means so in- 
 teresting or important a personage as his father, and his 
 history occupies a remarkably small part of the book. 
 Like Abraham, he lives a wandering life. At first we 
 
14 THE BOOK OF GEXESIS. 
 
 find him dwelling by the well Lahai Roi in the South 
 Country.^ We then read of his removing to Gerar, the 
 city of the Philistine king Abimelech, to escape from a 
 famine. During his sojourn at Gerar a story is told of his 
 denying his wife, which bears a remarkable resemblance to 
 those which are related of his father on the two occasions 
 of his visits to Egypt and to this same Gerar. The jea- 
 lousy of the Philistines drives Isaac away from Gerar, and 
 he moves from one place to another until he settles at 
 Beersheba, the "Well of the Oath, at the southern limit of 
 the land of Canaan. Here again we meet with another 
 incident bearing a striking resemblance to a similar pas- 
 sage in Abraham's history. He is visited by a Philistine 
 king Abimelech, who, also in conjunction with a chief 
 captain Phicol, makes a league with Isaac.- Beersheba is 
 not the end of Isaac's wanderings. A long time after we 
 find him at Mamre, near the city of Hebron, where his 
 father dwelt. Here he dies at the age of one hundred 
 and eighty years, and is buried by his sons Esau and 
 Jacob. 
 
 Jacoh and Esau. 
 
 (Gen. XXV. 19-34 ; xxvii. 1-40.) 
 
 Like Sarah, Isaac's wife Eebekah was for a long time 
 without children. But, in answer to the prayer of her 
 husband, twin sons were born twenty years after their 
 marriage. Esau was the elder, and entitled to certain 
 privileges in consequence. Coming home hungry from 
 his hunting, he contemptuously sold his bu'thright to his 
 brother Jacob for a mess of pottage. To us the calcu- 
 lating Jacob, who was so ready to take a selfish advantage 
 
 1 Gen. xxiv. 62. 2 See p. 12. 
 
JACOB AND ESAU. 15 
 
 of his brother's folly, seems little, if at all, more worthy 
 of respect than Esau. And his character appears in a 
 worse light still when he allows himself to be led by his 
 mother to personate the absent Esau, and fraudulently to 
 obtain from his aged father, who is too blind to distin- 
 guish between his sons, the blessing which he intended 
 for Esau. Still the story of Jacob and Esau is in 
 accordance with a common experience, when it gives 
 the ultimate success in life to the brother who lives 
 with a purpose, rather than to him who is the mere crea- 
 ture of impulse, even though the character which makes 
 its way to success be not in itself the most attractive at 
 first. And it sometimes happens, too, that a character 
 like that of Jacob, which at first is merely prudent, 
 becomes purified in time by the educating influence of 
 life, and by the grace of Grod develops in a higher 
 direction. 
 
 (Gen. xxvii. 41-xxviii. 9 ; xxxvi.) 
 
 Esau threatens vengeance against his brother for the 
 wrong that he has suffered; and to save her favourite 
 son Eebekah resolves to send Jacob away to Haran to 
 her brother Laban. She induces his father to send him 
 thither, that he may take a wife from his own people. 
 Esau had abeady two wives of the daughters of the 
 land; and now when he saw that the daughters of 
 Canaan "pleased not" his father, he took, in addition to 
 the wives which he had, a daughter of Abraham's son 
 Ishmael. He afterwards moved to Mount Seir, a hill 
 district to the south of Canaan. The Edomites, who 
 dwell in Mount Seir, are the descendants of Esau. 
 
16 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 Jacob, or " Israel" 
 
 (Gen. xxviii. 10-22.) 
 
 Jacob set out upon his solitary journey. But the 
 heir of Abraham was not left without an intimation of 
 the Divine favour and presence. As night fell he 
 " lighted upon a certain place," where he laid him 
 down to sleep with a stone "of that place" for his pil- 
 low. In the visions of the night he saw a ladder 
 reaching up to heaven, and the angels of God ascend- 
 ing and descending upon it. And behold ! the Lord 
 stood above. The Almighty renewed to Isaac the pro- 
 mises which he had made to Abraham ; he assured him 
 of the Divine guidance and protection in his present 
 journey, and promised him a safe return to the land 
 of promise. Awaking from sleep, Jacob recognises the 
 sacred character of the place ; he marks the spot, which 
 he calls Bethel, or the House of God, by setting up the 
 stone upon which he had slept, as a pillar ; and after 
 making an offering and vowing to serve " the God of 
 Bethel," if he retm-ns to his father's house in peace, he 
 sets forward upon his journey. 
 
 (Gen. xxix.-xxxi.) 
 
 Arrived at Haran, he meets his future wife Eachel 
 at a well, much as his father's servant had met Eebekah. 
 But the course of his wooing does not run so smoothly as 
 that of his father's had done. The avaricious Laban 
 takes advantage of his passion to obtain from him seven 
 years' service for his daughter. At the end of the seven 
 years he gives him another daughter Leah instead of 
 Rachel, for whom Jacob has to consent to serve seven 
 years more. It is a contest of wits between Jacob and his 
 
JACOB, OR "ISRAEL." 17 
 
 father-in-law, and in the end the cunning Jacob wins. 
 After twenty years' exile he returns to Canaan a rich 
 man, and the father of eleven sons, whose mothers are 
 the two sisters and their two handmaids. Benjamin, the 
 youngest, is horn after his return to Canaan ; and the 
 twelve are the forefathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. 
 
 (Gen. xxxii. 1-xxxiii. 16.) 
 
 On his return to Canaan Jacob meets with fresh 
 tokens of the Divine favour. At Mahanaim "the angels 
 of God met him," and in memory of the occurrence 
 the place receives its name, which signifies " the two 
 camps." At this period in his history also occurs the 
 story of his mysterious wrestling until daybreak by the 
 lonely stream of Jabbok with " a man," from whom he 
 receives a blessing, his name being then changed from 
 Jacob to Israel, the prince of God, in commemoration 
 of the event. 
 
 There is an interesting account of his meeting with 
 his brother Esau, when the old characters of the brothers 
 come out again after their long separation : Jacob is pru- 
 dent, cautious, suspicious ; Esau is frank and off-handed ; 
 he has quite forgotten the injury of former years. 
 
 (Gen. xxxiii. 17-xxxv.) 
 
 After his return he lives, like his fathers, the life of a 
 wanderer in Canaan. He dwells for a time at Succoth, 
 the place of booths ; at Shalem, where he bought a piece 
 of ground from the Shechemites and built an altar to 
 the God of Israel ; at Bethel, the scene of his vision, 
 where he now fulfills his vow by causing his household 
 to put away the strange gods that were among them, 
 
IS THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 
 
 perhaps the relies of his sojourn in the East ; and at 
 Mamre, where Isaac dies, and is buried hj his two sons 
 Jacob and Esau. 
 
 (Gen. xsxvli : xxxix-L.) 
 
 The most important event in the later part of Israel's 
 life is the migration of the whole family into Egypt, 
 which is told in the beautiful and well-known story of 
 Joseph and his brethern. Jacob dies in Egypt, and, in 
 accordance Avith his dying request, his body is brought 
 back to Canaan, the land that God has promised to his 
 children, and bmied by Joseph in the cave of Mach- 
 pelah with Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah, 
 and where Leah his own wife had been laid before him. 
 Joseph also dies in Egypt, having seen his children of 
 the third generation sitting upon his knees, and having 
 enjoined his brethren with his latest breath to embalm 
 his body, and to bring it with them into Canaan, for 
 God has promised to bring them thither again, and His 
 promise cannot fail. 
 
ISEAEL IN EGYPT. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 ■ Exodus, Leviticus, and Numhers. 
 
 ^ I ^HE next three books of the Pentateuch are (1) Exodus, 
 -'- or "the going out," which rehxtes the departure of the 
 Israehtes from Egypt ; (2) Leviticus, which is almost en- 
 tirely composed of directions about the offering of sacrifices 
 and other ceremonial observances, and derives its title from 
 the tribe of Levi, which was set apart for the performance 
 of public duties connected with religion ; and (3) Numbers, 
 which contains, with other things, two accounts of the 
 numbering of the host, once in the wilderness of Sinai 
 during the second year after the departure from Egypt, 
 and again in the last year on the eve of their entrance 
 into the Land of Canaan. 
 
 The contents of these three books are, in more detail, as 
 follows : — 
 
 Israel in Egypt. 
 
 (Ex. i.) 
 
 A long time elapses after the events related in the end 
 of the book of Genesis before the history of the Israelites is 
 again taken up and continued in the beginning of the book 
 of Exodus. According to one passage in the book of Exo- 
 dus, the length of this period is 430 years; but according to 
 the Septuagint reading of the same passage, and the chrono- 
 logy more commonly accepted among the Jews, the inter- 
 val between the migration into Egypt and the Exodus 
 
 C2 
 
20 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 would be nearer to 200 years.' During this time tlie 
 family of Jacob has. grown into a powerful nation : the 
 "threescore and ten persons" who went down into Egypt 
 have become " as the stars of heaven for multitude." 
 Other changes too have taken place : Joseph and all his 
 generation are dead, and another king has arisen "which 
 knew not Joseph." The memory of Joseph's services to 
 Egypt in the days of the famine is forgotten ; and when 
 the rapid growth of the Hebrew population begins to 
 alarm the Egyptians, cruel measures are adopted to keep 
 them down. The Hebrews are compelled to work like 
 slaves, under rigorous taskmasters, at brickmaking, and 
 city building, and " all manner of service in the field." 
 " They built for Pharaoh the treasure cities" — or store cities 
 — "Pithom and Raamses." When this oppression fails in 
 its object of weakening the Hebrews, for "the more they 
 afflicted them the more they multiplied and grew," a com- 
 mand is given to destroy all the male Hebrew children at 
 their birth. 
 
 Moses. 
 
 (Ex. ii.) 
 
 At this juncture Moses, the future deliverer, is born. 
 The romantic story of the manner in which he escaped 
 being put to death as an infant, and came to be brought 
 up by Pharaoh's daughter at the Egyptian court, is well 
 known. When he is forty years of age he slays an 
 
 1 Ex. xii. 40, 41 (sec also Gen. xv. 13). The LXX. inserts some words so 
 as to include in the 430 years the sojourn of the Patriarchs in Canaan before 
 the migration into Egypt. This insertion is probably made to bring the 
 passage into harmony with Ex. vi. lG-20 ; or possibly "in deference to 
 chronological records to which the writers had access in Egyjjt." — {Lightfoot 
 on Gal. iii. 17.) The shorter chronology is adopted in Gal. iii. 17. Acts 
 vii. 6, refers to Gen. xv. 13. 
 
THE EXODUS. 21 
 
 Egyptian who has been illtreating one of the Hebrew 
 labourers. But his first attempt to act the part of de- 
 liverer is not favourably received by his own people, and 
 fearing the consequences of his act, Moses flies to the land 
 of Midian. There he passes another forty years of his 
 life, tending the flocks of Jethro "the priest of Midian," 
 whose daughter Zipporah he marries. 
 
 The Exodus. 
 
 (Ex. iii.-xiii.) 
 
 When the time comes for Moses to effect the deliver- 
 ance of his brethren, the Lord appears to him in a flame 
 of fire in a bush, as he tends the fiocks of Jethro in the 
 wilderness, and reveals Himself as the Grreat I AM, the 
 self-existent Being. Jehovah commissions Moses to return 
 to Egypt, and to lead His people back to the land of 
 Canaan. At first 'Moses shrinks before the difficulty of 
 the task, but he is reproved for his want of faith in hesi- 
 tating to undertake the work which the Almighty com- 
 missions him to do, and reluctantly consents to go. His 
 brother Aaron is allowed to accompany him as spokes- 
 man, for Moses had complained that he was "slow of speech 
 and of a slow tongue." Moses is further armed with the 
 power of working mii^aculous signs, to convince his countr}^- 
 men of the truth of his commission to effect their deliver- 
 ance ; and the two brothers go down to Egypt. There is 
 a long struggle before Pharaoh consents to let the Israel- 
 ites go : but he is compelled to yield by the infliction of 
 the ten plagues, which come in dread succession at the 
 word of Moses, and he gives them permission to depart. 
 They set out in haste by night at the urgent request of the 
 people of Egypt, who are afraid that their longer continu- 
 
22 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 ance in the country may bring some fresh calamity upon 
 them, and the mighty host moves forward, " about six 
 hundred thousand on foot that were men, beside children. 
 And a mixed multitude went up also with them, and flocks, 
 and herds, even very much cattle." Their march is led 
 by a "j)ill^^ of a cloud" by day, and "a pillar of fire" 
 by night, in which "the Lord went before them." In 
 memory of their great deliverance and their hasty depar- 
 ture the Feast of the Passover is instituted : a feast to be 
 kept "by an ordinance for ever among their generations." 
 
 The Israelites cross the Heel Sea, and march to Mount 
 Sinai. 
 
 (Ex. xiv.— xviii.) 
 
 But though the Israelites have escaped out of Egypt 
 their troubles are not yet over — their great trial is, in fact, 
 only beginning. They have no sooner reached the Red 
 Sea and encamped upon its shore, than they learn that the 
 army of Pharaoh is piu-suiug them. With " the sea be- 
 fore" and "the foe behind" their position seems hopeless, 
 and the people give way to despair. But Moses en- 
 courages them, and assures them that if they will but 
 trust in God they shall see His salvation that day ; the 
 Egyptians, whom they see pursuing now, they are look- 
 ing upon for the last time — they " shall see them again no 
 more for ever." He then lifts up his rod over the sea, and 
 the waters divide. The Israelites pass over on diy land 
 in the midst of the sea, while the waters are " a wall unto 
 them on their right hand and on their left." When the 
 Egyptians attempt to follow, the returning waves close 
 around them, and they are " drowned in the depths of the 
 sea." This wonderful deliverance is followed by others no 
 
AT SINAI. 23 
 
 less remarkable. When the people cannot drink the bit- 
 ter waters of Marah, the Lord shows Moses a tree which 
 he casts into them, and straightway they become sweet. 
 When the hungry people murmur for food, multitudes of 
 quails come up and cover the camp, and manna falls from 
 heaven, sufficient for their daily supply, and never fails 
 them during all the years of their wanderings in the 
 wilderness. Again, when they are in want of water, 
 Moses strikes a rock in the barren wilderness, and a plen- 
 tiful supply gushes forth at once. When they fight with 
 Amalek, if Moses holds up his hands in supplication Israel 
 prevails; if he lets them droop Amalek prevails : and the 
 success of the arms of Israel is secured by Aaron and 
 Hur, who place Moses sitting upon a stone, and support 
 his hands in an attitude of supplication until the evening. 
 After this is related the arrival in the camp of Jethro the 
 father-in-law of Moses, who brings his daughter to join 
 her husband. Jethro sacrifices to the God of Israel, and 
 strikes a league with the elders of Israel. By the advice 
 of the Midianite chief, Moses organizes a system of govern- 
 ment for the vast host under his command. He selects 
 " able men, such as fear Grod — men of truth, hating co- 
 vetousness," and makes them "rulers of thousands, and 
 rulers of hundreds ; rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens," 
 who are to judge the people " at all seasons " "in small 
 matters," reserving all " great matters" for his own deci- 
 sion. 
 
 At Sinai. 
 
 (Ex. xix.-xl., Leviticus, Numb. i.-x. 10.) 
 
 In the third month from the departure out of Egypt, 
 the host reaches the wilderness of Sinai. Here Moses re- 
 ceives from the Almighty the Divine laws for the future 
 
24 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 guidance of the people. The account of the giving of the 
 Law from Mount Sinai ; of the idolatry of the people, who 
 compel Aaron to make the golden calf during the absence 
 of Moses on the Mount, which causes Moses to break 
 the two tables of the Law, and renders it necessary that 
 the tables be inscribed a second time ; the account of the 
 making of the tabernacle, the movable tent temple of the 
 nomad congregation, with the details of the Mosaic legis- 
 lation and of the Jewish ritual, run on through the rest of 
 Exodus and the whole of Leviticus, the details of law and 
 ritual regulation being often interwoven with the histo- 
 rical narrative in a way that makes it at times difficult to 
 follow the thread of the story. Then follows, in the be- 
 ginning of the Book of Numbers, the census at Mount 
 Sinai, more ceremonial details, the dedication of the 
 Tabernacle, and the celebration of the Passover. 
 
 The Israelites leave Sinai. 
 
 (NvMB. X. ll-xii.) 
 
 On the twentieth day of the second month, in the 
 second year after their departure from Egypt, the c^mp 
 at Sinai is broken up, and the host moves forward again. 
 Theii' second advance is attended by circumstances some 
 of which strike us by their resemblance to those which 
 were related in the account of their former march from 
 Egypt. Moses' father-in-law again appears, this time 
 under the name of " Hobab, the son of Baguel " ; a " fire 
 of the Lord " " burns among " the people, and consumes 
 some of them, when they displease Him by their com- 
 plainings ; there is another account of " elders " being 
 appointed to assist Moses in the government of the host ; 
 when the people again lust for flesh, another enormous 
 supply of quails is sent. Aaron and his sister Mu'iam 
 
FORTY TEARS' WANDERING. 25 
 
 murmuring against their brother Moses, Miriam is smit- 
 ten with leprosy; but is restored at the intercession of 
 Moses. 
 
 The Spies. 
 
 (Numb, xiii., xiv.) 
 
 Twelve spies, one from each tribe, are sent to explore 
 the land of Canaan. They bring back such discouraging 
 accounts of the might of the inhabitants and the strength 
 of their strongholds that the Israelites lose heart entirely, 
 and for their lack of faith are condemned by the Divine 
 sentence to wander in the wilderness for forty years. 
 None of that generation shall ever set foot in the land 
 of their inheritance. When they are dead their children 
 shall take possession of it. Only two men in all the host 
 are excepted from the terms of the sentence — Joshua and 
 Caleb, two of the spies, who did their best to encourage 
 their brethren, and counteract the effect of the alarming 
 reports which the other spies brought back. Their ten 
 faint-hearted companions die by a plague. 
 
 On hearing the sentence of exclusion from the promised 
 land the people, with a temporary accession of courage, 
 rashly resolve to attempt the invasion at once. Moses 
 refuses to join them, and the ark of the covenant does not 
 move from its place. But the people advance amongst 
 the hills, and the inhabitants of the district, " Amalek- 
 ites " and " Canaanites," come down upon them and 
 smite them, and drive them discomfited from their ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 Forty Years' Wandering. 
 
 (Numb, xv.-xsxvi.) 
 
 Of the time coming after the return of the spies until 
 the Israelites reach the eastern borders of the land of 
 
26 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 Canaan, which is the great part of the " forty years," we 
 are not told many particulars. The occurrences which 
 are given a place in this part of the narrative are as 
 follows : — 
 
 (Numb, xvi., xvii.) 
 
 The rebellion of Korah and others against the authority 
 of Moses and Aaron. The rebels are destroyed by an 
 earthquake and a plague, and the right of Aaron to the 
 priestly office is vindicated by the mysterious budding of 
 his rod. 
 
 (Numb. xx. i.) 
 
 Miriam, the sister of Moses, dies in the wilderness of 
 
 Zin. 
 
 (Numb. xx. 2-13.) 
 
 Water again supplied by Moses striking a rock. He 
 and Aaron are prohibited from entering the promised 
 land. 
 
 (Numb. xx. 14-21.) 
 
 The Edomites refuse to let Israel pass through their 
 country. 
 
 (Numb. xx. 23-29.) 
 
 Aaron dies, and Eleazar his son succeeds to the priest's 
 
 office. 
 
 (Numb. xxi. 1-3.) 
 
 Successful raid on " King Arad the Canaanite," who 
 " dwelt in the south," to avenge his attack on the Israel- 
 ites. The Canaanites and their cities are " utterly de- 
 stroyed." 
 
 (Numb. xxi. 4-9.) 
 
 Having failed to enter Canaan from the south, and 
 having been refused a passage across the mountains of 
 the Edomites, the host marches southward " to compass 
 the land of Edom." The people are discouraged by the 
 journey, and murmur for bread. Fiery flying serpents 
 are sent to punish them. Moses makes a brazen serpent, 
 
FORTY YEARS' WANDERING. 27 
 
 and lifts it up iipon a pole, and "when a serpent had 
 bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass 
 he lived." 
 
 (NuMB.xxi. 10-35.) 
 
 Having compassed the territory of the Edomites, and 
 marched northwards again along their eastern border, 
 the Israelites fight against Sihon, king of the Amorites, 
 and Og the king of Bashan. They conquer both kings 
 and occupy their land. 
 
 (Numb, xxii.— xxv ; xxxi.) 
 
 War with Balak, king of Moab, and the Midianites, 
 rendered specially interesting by the episode of Balaam 
 the soothsayer. Balak the Moabite king hires Balaam 
 from Mesopotamia to curse the enemy before he ventures 
 to engage them. The reality of Balaam's prophetic 
 powers is recognised by the whole course of the narra- 
 tive. He is supposed to have belonged to one of the 
 Eastern tribes akin to the Hebrews. But he is unable 
 to curse the people of God. He cannot reverse the 
 course of providence, he can only declare it. Instead of 
 cursing the people of Israel he, therefore, pronounces 
 them blessed, and predicts theu- future greatness. The 
 end of Balaam is melancholy. He tries to earn his 
 pay from Balak by bringing a curse upon the Is- 
 raelites in another way. It is by his advice that the 
 Moabites tempt Israel to commit idolatry ; but the 
 spread of idolatry among Grod's people is stopped by the 
 bold deed of Phineas, the son of Eleazar the high 
 priest. A terrible vengeance is taken upon the Midian- 
 ites : all the males are slain ; and in the general 
 slaughter the unworthy Balaam perishes. 
 
28 THE BOOKS OF THE PENTATEUCH AFTER GENESIS. 
 
 (Numb, xxvi.) 
 
 Another census is taken in the plains of Moab. The 
 numbers correspond pretty nearly with those given by 
 the former census, being in both cases about 600,000 
 fighting men, which would represent a total population 
 of between two and three milKons. 
 
 The Book of Deuteronomy. 
 
 The Book of Deuteronomy, or the second laiv-giving, 
 contains another and more compact edition of the law, 
 together with a summary of the history from the exodus 
 to the end of the desert wanderings. These are given 
 in two great speeches, which are put in the mouth of 
 Moses, just before his death, in the last year of the 
 ■v^andering.^ The style of these addresses is more orato- 
 rical than that of the earlier books, and the composition 
 of them is more uniform and connected. The two great 
 addresses are followed by — (1) various exhortations and 
 directions for the guidance of the Israelites when they 
 shall have reached the land of their inheritance- ; (2) the 
 song of Moses^ ; and (3) the blessing of Moses, " where- 
 with he blessed the children of Israel before his death."* 
 The death of Moses follows, at the age of 120; the 
 third period of 40 years in his life being then con- 
 cluded. He is buried by the Lord in Mount Nebo, 
 but " no man knoweth his sepulchre unto this day." 
 When Moses is dead, Joshua the son of Nun, the 
 faithful spy, who had been his constant companion 
 during life, takes his place as leader of Israel.^ 
 
 ' Deut. i.-iv. 40, andiv. 44-xxvi. 19. ■• Deut. xxxiii. 
 
 ^ Deut. xxvii.-xxxi. 13. ' Deut. xxxiv. 
 
 ^ Deut. xxxi. 14— xxxii. 52. 
 
THE LAWS OF MOSES. 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND THE CIVIL AND RELIGIOUS 
 ORDINANCES IN THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 The Ten Commandments. 
 
 AT the head of the Mosaic Legislation, in the twentieth 
 chapter of Exodus, stand the Ten Commandments, 
 which, ever since their first promulgation, have been ac- 
 cepted by the Jewish and Christian Churches as contain- 
 ing the fundamental principles of religious and moral 
 obligation. Thousands of years have passed, and to-day 
 they are adopted by the wisest and best of mankind, as 
 the highest rules of life; and in their simple words the 
 first elements of religious duty are taught to children. 
 
 The Ten Commandments, engraven on two tables of 
 stone, were inclosed in the ark or sacred chest, which 
 was carried in the centre of the host of Israel during all 
 their wanderings. When the army halted the tabernacle 
 was set up, and the ark was placed within it. 
 
 The Laws of Moses. 
 
 After the ten commandments come the other enact- 
 ments, which contain the civil and ceremonial law of the 
 Jews. The laws are contained in a number of distinct 
 sections or chapters, the beginning of each being marked 
 by the words ''And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,'' or 
 some similar formula. Sometimes the origin of a law is 
 connected with a historical occurrence, which is related in 
 
30 THE CIVIL LAW. 
 
 the section. The same or similar laws are often repeated ; 
 occasionally one law appears to contradict another, and the 
 arrangement of the whole is complicated and confusing. 
 In these particulars this portion of the Pentateuch reminds 
 us of the Koran, the diiierent chaj^ters of which are said 
 to have been composed by Mahomet from time to time, as 
 the inspiration seized him, and then thrown aside, and to 
 have been collected by his followers after^his death. There 
 is, however, this difference between the two, that the suras 
 or chapters of the Koran are arranged entirely without 
 any regard to their subject matter, the only principle that 
 can be discerned in the arrangement of them being that 
 the longer are placed first and the shorter last. In the 
 Pentateuch the law is undoubtedly arranged according to 
 a fixed plan, but it is not always easy to say what the 
 plan is. 
 
 The Civil Laic ; Service for Debt. 
 
 (Ex. xxi. 2-11 ; xxii. 3 : Lev. xxv. 39-55 : Deut. xv. 12-18.) 
 
 It is remarkable that the first provision of the civil law 
 was for the protection of native-born Hebrews who were 
 in servitude to their brethren. Such servitude might com- 
 mence by the voluntary act of a poor man selling himself 
 to his richer neighbour ; or he might be sold as an insol- 
 vent debtor, or as a thief unable to make restitution. But 
 in any case the service was not compulsory beyond six 
 years. In the seventh year the bond-servant was free, if 
 he wished to go; but he might, if he preferred, remain 
 with his master " for ever." One reason why he might 
 prefer to remain was, that if his master had given him a 
 wife during his bondage, she and her children continued 
 to belong to the master. 
 
LAND LAW ; HOUSE PROPERTY ; INHERITANCE. 31 
 
 According to the law in Leviticus, it was in the year of 
 Jubilee — the fiftieth year — that all service for debt ter- 
 minated. In order to reconcile the two laws, it has been 
 supposed that even the voluntary service came to an end 
 in the Jubilee.^ 
 
 The Jewish law of service for debt had an evident ad- 
 vantage over the English law of imprisonment for debt, 
 which was only abolished in the present century : for the 
 labour of the Jewish debtor was turned to use, and went 
 to compensate the creditor, while the English debtor lan- 
 guished in a useless and demoralizing confinement. 
 
 The Jewish law was only for the protection of their own 
 people, "their brethren." It was allowable to keep stran- 
 gers or foreigners in perpetual slavery. 
 
 Land Law ; House Property ; Inheritance. 
 (Lev. XXV. : Numb, xxvii. 1— H, xxxvi. : Deut. xxi. 15—17.) 
 
 The Jews held their land as the immediate tenants of 
 the Almighty, and the tenure of each farm was secured to 
 its occupant b}'' a law similar to that which protected his 
 personal liberty. If at any time he w^as compelled by 
 poverty to part with any portion of his inheritance, he 
 retained the right to redeem it, whenever he could, by 
 repaying the purchase-money, less the value of the use 
 which the buyer had enjoyed. If the land was not so 
 redeemed before the year of Jubilee, it then reverted 
 without any payment to its original owner or his represen- 
 tatives. This law applied to holdings in the country and 
 in villages, and to the possessions of the Levites. It did 
 not apply to houses in non-Levitical cities. In the case 
 of such property there was a right of redemption, but it 
 
 1 See The Speaker's Commentarj- on Exodus xxi. 5, 6. 
 
32 THE CIVIL LAW. 
 
 only lasted for one year from the date of purchase ; and 
 the property did not return at the Jubilee. 
 
 The eldest son was entitled to a double portion. Wo- 
 men could inherit, but only in default of male heirs. 
 
 Murder and other Offences Punishable by Death. 
 
 (Ex. xxi. 12-21, 29; xxxi. 12-17: Lev. xx. 9-16; xxiv. 13-lG: Numb. 
 XV. 32-36; xxxv. 9-34 : Deut. iv. 41-43 ; xiii. ; xvii. 2-7 ; xix. 1-13, 
 15 ; xxi. 18-21 ; xxii. 13-27 ; xxiv. 7.) 
 
 The murderer was to be put to death, and the sentence 
 was to be executed by " the revenger of blood." But if the 
 slayer fled to one of the " cities of refuge " — six cities so 
 situated in the country that one or other of them could be 
 easily reached from any part of it — then the revenger 
 could not touch him until it was settled by a competent 
 tribunal whether the killing was accidental or not. If it 
 was decided to be accidental the slayer was safe from the 
 avenger, provided that he remained in the city of refuge 
 until the death of the high priest then in office. If he 
 was proved guilty of murder the sanctuary did not pro- 
 tect him. 
 
 The following crimes, as well as murder, were to be 
 punished with death : — 
 
 (1) Homicide by wilful carelessness, as when anyone 
 
 was killed by an ox after the owner had been 
 warned that the animal was dangerous. 
 
 (2) Smiting or cursing a father or mother, or incor- 
 
 rigible disobedience to parents. 
 
 (3) Adultery, incest, or unnatural sins. 
 
 (4) Man-stealing. 
 
 (5) Witchcraft. 
 
 (6) Sacrificing " to any other^God," or blaspheming 
 
 the God of Israel. 
 
 (7) Sabbath-breakiug. 
 
TRESPASS ; OFFENCES AGAINST PROPERTY. 33 
 
 Two witnesses, at least, were necessary to condemn any- 
 one to death, and the hand of the witness was to be the 
 first in inflicting the punishment. 
 
 Minor Offences against the Person ; Lex Talionis. 
 
 (Ex. xxi. 22-27, 33-36 : Lev. xxiv. 17-22 : Deut. xxv. 1-3 ; 
 xix. 16-21.) 
 
 The infliction of injuries to the person was punished by 
 the law of retaliation. As in the case of murder the law 
 was "life for life," so in lesser injuries it was "eye for 
 eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning 
 for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe." False 
 witnesses were subject to the same law. They had to 
 bear the punishment which their false evidence would 
 have been the means of inflicting on the accused. In some 
 instances of injuries done by a master to his own slave, 
 compensation was made by setting the slave at liberty. 
 Apparently also the penalty for injuries done to the per- 
 son might be commuted for a money payment. Punish- 
 ment with stripes is also mentioned. 
 
 Trespass ; Offences against Property. 
 
 (Ex. xxii. 1-15.) 
 
 In cases of damage done to property, reparation was 
 made by restitution. Even a thief was punished in the 
 same way, but the restitution which he had to make was 
 much heavier, sometimes amounting to as much as five 
 times the property stolen. If he was not able to pay, he 
 was sold for the debt. But a thief in the act of breaking 
 into a house in the night time, not in the day, might be 
 killed by the householder with imjjunity. 
 
31 THE CIVIL LAW. 
 
 Women. 
 
 (Ex. xxi. 7-11, 22-25; xxii. 16-17: I^umb. v. 11-31; xx-\-ii. ; xxxvi. : 
 Deut. xxii. 13-30 ; xxiv. 1—5.) 
 
 Women were protected from injustice by many special 
 enactments. But female frailty was punished with ex- 
 treme severity. Divorce was allowed in certain cases. 
 The right of women to inherit, in default of male heirs, 
 has already been mentioned. 
 
 Spirit of Humanity in the Law. 
 
 (Ex. xxii. 21-27 ; xxiii. 1-13 : Lev. xix. 13-19, 32-37 ; xxii. 26-28 ; xxv. 
 35-55: Deut. x. 12-22 : xx. 19, 20; xxii. 1-12; xxiv. 6, 10-22.) 
 
 Intermingled with the laws which were enforced by 
 definite penalties are to be found a number of precepts to 
 which no fixed penalties are attached, and which were 
 probably intended as appeals to conscience, and good feel- 
 ing, and public opinion. Humanity to the poor and help- 
 less, whom positive enactments alone can never protect 
 from a certain kind of oppression, was especially inculcated 
 in this way. Thus, the creditor was forbidden to take 
 the upper or the nether millstone in security for his debt, 
 for that would be taking "a man's life to pledge." And 
 if the debtor was poor, the creditor was to give him back 
 his pledge at night, that he might "sleep in his own rai- 
 ment." There is great delicacy of feeling in the direction 
 to the creditor not to go into a poor man's house " to fetch 
 his pledge," but to stand without until it was brought to 
 him. The hired servant, again, was to receive his hire " at 
 his day" "before the sun go down," "for he is poor, and 
 setteth his heart upon it." Humanity is frequently en- 
 couraged by a touching appeal to the past experience of 
 God's people : — " Thou shalt neither vex a stranger ncr 
 
SPIEIT OF HUMANITY IN THE LAW. 35 
 
 oppress him, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt"; 
 or, as it is j)ut elsewhere, " for ye know the heart of a 
 stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 
 The Israelite was ever to remember that he was under the 
 eye of One higher than the law. If he saw his enemy's 
 beast fallen on the road, and " would forbear to help him," 
 he was not in anywise to hide himself from him, but to help 
 to raise the fallen. Consideration for the lower animals 
 was also commanded: " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when 
 he treadeth out the corn" ; " Thou shalt not seethe a kid in 
 its mother's milk"; "Thou shalt not plough with an ox and 
 an ass together." It is true that there is an uncertainty 
 about the last two precepts. The former of them may have 
 reference to some unknown religious rite or superstitious 
 custom ; but even so, we cannot doubt that a condemnation 
 of the want of delicate feeling shown in such a proceeding- 
 is included in its prohibition. The command against 
 ploughing with an ox and an ass together no doubt be- 
 longs to a series of directions against causing " confusion," 
 by mixing together things of "diverse" natures. But, 
 on another side, it also has reference to the cruelty of en- 
 forcing an " unequally yoked " union. A command not 
 to take the mother bird from the nest along with her eggs 
 or young ones may have been a " Bii'ds' Protection Act," 
 dictated by motives of prudence and economy. But the 
 rule was not due to economy alone, for we find elsewhere 
 a similar direction against killing a cow or ewe on the 
 same day with her young. 
 
 The Ceremonial Law ; The Great Festivals. 
 
 (Ex. xxiii. 14-19: Lev. xvi ; xxiii: Numb. ix. 1—14: 
 Deut. xvi. 1-17.) 
 
 In addition to the weekly and monthly holy-days on 
 the sabbaths and the new moons, there were three great 
 
 D 2 
 
36 THE CEREMONIAL LAW. 
 
 annual festivals, at which every male Jew was expected, 
 if possible, to attend in Jerusalem. These were — The 
 Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and 
 the Feast of Ingathering. 
 
 The Passover, or Feast of Unleavened Bread. 
 
 The Feast of Unleavened Bread was held for seven 
 days, from the fourteenth day of the first month " at 
 even " to the twenty-first day. It must be remembered 
 that the Jewish day commenced at sunset, consisting 
 of "the evening and the morning," not the morning and 
 the evening or the day and night, as we should say. At 
 the beginning of the Festival, on the fourteenth day at 
 even, the paschal lamb was slain, and eaten the same 
 night, those who partook of it doing so with their loins 
 girded, their shoes on their feet, their staves by their 
 sides, in memory of their hasty departure from Egypt; 
 and during the whole Festival no leaven was to be used, 
 or even " found " in any of their houses. The English 
 name " Passover," applied either to the lamb that was 
 eaten at this Festival, or to the Festival itself, is a happy 
 rendering of the Hebrew word pascha, which has also been 
 transferred to the Greek. 
 
 The Harvest Festival, or Pentecost. 
 
 On a certain day, connected with the Feast of the Pass- 
 over, and spoken of as " the morrow after the Sabbath" — 
 an expression about the meaning of which there is much 
 uncertainty — before any of the harvest was used, one sheaf 
 was presented to the Lord along with other offerings. On 
 the fiftieth day from the performance of this ceremony the 
 
FEASTS, ETC. 37 
 
 Harvest Festival was kept. It lasted for only one day. 
 It was also called the Feast of Weeks, because it occurred 
 after the lapse of a week of weeks, forty-nine days, from 
 *' the morrow after the Sabbath " on which the sheaf was 
 presented. The Greek name Pentecost means the fiftieth 
 day. Another name for it was "the Feast of the First 
 Fruits of the Wheat Harvest." At this feast two loaves 
 made of the first fruits of the harvest were presented, and 
 appropriate sacrifices were offered. 
 
 Feast of Ingathering or Tabernacles; Feast of Trumjoets ; 
 Day of Atonement. 
 
 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when the 
 fruits of the land had been gathered in, the third great 
 Festival began. Like the Passover, it lasted for seven 
 days. It was called the Feast of Ingathering, and also 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, because part of the celebra- 
 tion of it consisted in making booths or bowers in the open 
 air, under which the people dwelt for the seven days while 
 the Festival lasted. This custom still continues, and may 
 be seen in Jewish quarters at the present day. We are 
 told that it was intended to commemorate the dwelling in 
 tents when the people came out of Egypt. In the earlier 
 part of the same month with the third great Festival were 
 two holy-days, the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of 
 Atonement. The former was held on the first day of the 
 seventh month. Jewish scholars say that it was to com- 
 memorate the creation of the world, when "all the sons of 
 God shouted for joy." Others regarded it as the anniver- 
 sary of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai. On the 
 tenth day of the month was the great Day of Atonement 
 — a day of humiliation and atonement for the sins and 
 
38 THE CEREMONIAL LAW. 
 
 imcleanness of all Israel. It was on this day that the 
 remarkable ceremony of the scapegoat was observed. 
 
 Sacrifices. 
 
 (Leviticus i-vii. : Numb, xxviii., xxix.) 
 
 The offering of Sacrifices held an important place in the 
 Jewish ceremonial ; and full and minute particulars are 
 given in the law as to the different kinds of Sacrifices, 
 and the order to be observed in performing them. The 
 Book of Leviticus enumerates five distinct kinds of sacri- 
 fice, as follows : — 
 
 (1). The Burnt Offering consisted of a bullock or a 
 ram, a turtle dove or a pigeon. The flesh of the burnt 
 offering was wholly consumed on the altar. The skin 
 was given to the priest. 
 
 (2). The Meat Offering, or Minchah, consisted of corn 
 parched or ground into flour, or baked into cakes or 
 wafers. Oil and salt, and sometimes frankincense, were 
 used with the corn. Honey and leaven were both 
 expressly forbidden. A handful of the meat offering 
 was consumed on the altar, and the remainder given 
 to the priests. In the English name of this sacrifice 
 the word "meat" is used in its earlier signification of 
 food, not of flesh meat. 
 
 (3). The Peace Offering might be of the herd or of 
 the flock, male or female. Part of it was burnt upon 
 the altar — offered "by fire unto the Lord," part was 
 given to the priests, and part was consumed by the 
 offerer. A meat offering sometimes accompanied it. 
 
 (4) . The Sin Offering, if offered for the priest or for the 
 congregation, was a bullock ; if for a ruler, a male goat ; 
 
SACRIFICES. 39 
 
 for any of the common people a less valuable presenta- 
 tion was accepted. In the case of a very poor person a 
 little flour sufficed. Part of the sin offering was consumed 
 on the altar, and part went to the priest, or was destroyed 
 when the priest could not accept it. 
 
 (5) . When the offence to be atoned for affected the rights 
 of property, and the damage done could be estimated in a 
 pecuniary way, a Tresjjciss Offeriug took the place of the sin 
 offering. It resembled the sin offering, and also included 
 restitution for the wrong done. The amount of the resti- 
 tution made was one-fifth part more than the damage done. 
 In cases of sacrilege it was to be paid to the Temple. In 
 case of injury done to a private person it was given to the 
 sufferer. 
 
 (Lev. i. 4, 5, 9; iii. 17 ; iv. 5-9 ; viii. 14, 15 ; xvii. 10-16.) 
 
 The symbolical meaning of the ritual of the sacrifices is 
 sometimes explained. When the person who offered the 
 sacrifice laid his hand on the head of the victim, as he did 
 in the burnt offering, the peace offering and the sin offer- 
 ing, he thereby, as it were, identified himself with the 
 victim, which was then accepted as "an atonement for 
 him." Bm-ning upon the altar was equivalent to offering 
 to the Lord — it was " offering by fire." The substance 
 consumed ascended to heaven as " a sweet savour." Burn- 
 ing elsewhere, as when the parts of the victim unused in 
 the sacrifice were burned " outside the camp," was merely 
 for the purpose of consuming what was not required for 
 the sacrifice, but ought not to be exposed to any defilement 
 after being connected with the holy rite. The blood was 
 considered to be " the life," and for this reason the use of 
 it for food was expressly forbidden. It was also forbidden 
 to use certain parts of the fat of animals, but no explana- 
 
40 THE CEREMONIAL LAW. 
 
 tion is offered of this prohibition. The throwing of the 
 blood upon the altar was probably only a reverent way of 
 disposing of it, and to be distinguished from sprinkling it 
 in certain cases. In the peace offering the participation 
 of the offerer in the sacrificial meal with the altar and the 
 priests seems like the ratification of peace between the Lord 
 and His ministers and the worshipper. 
 
 (Numb, xxviii., xxix.) 
 
 Stated sacrifices were offered on behalf of the whole 
 people every morning and evening, every Sabbath day, 
 every new moon, and at the great festivals. 
 
 Clean and Unclean. 
 
 (Lev. xi.-xv. : Numb. v. 1-4 ; xix. : Deut. xiv. 1-21 ; xxiii. 9-14.) 
 
 The ideas of defilement and purification are constantly 
 to be met with in the Jewish religious ceremonies, and the 
 influence of them largely pervades the entire system. Not 
 only persons, but things and places, may become defiled by 
 contact with that which is unclean, or from other causes ; 
 and the rites necessary for their purification occupy a large 
 place amongst the ceremonial laws. There can be no 
 doubt that the observance of these rules about purification 
 contributed greatly to habits of personal cleanliness and 
 the preservation of health. Some persons have therefore 
 been disposed to look upon them as merely sanitary laws, 
 enforced by the sanctions of religion. But this is clearly a 
 mistake. Tlie outward and the visible are types of the in- 
 ward and spiritual. As uncleanliness dishonours the body 
 and renders it unfit for its highest uses, so sin defiles the 
 soul ; as the body must be purified from the filth of the 
 flesh, so must the soul be cleansed from sin. It is impos- 
 
THE TABERNACLE. 41 
 
 sible to explain the existence of these rules about purifica- 
 tion, which are common to so many ancient religions, as if 
 they were only sanitary laws. They have a deeper root in 
 the necessary connexion which we feel to exist between a 
 regard for external cleanliness and purity of heart. There 
 is a truth, which many persons do not suspect, in the old 
 adage that cleanliness is next to godliness. It is this truth 
 which renders these external purifications of the body so 
 suitable as signs of that internal purification of the spirit 
 and life, to which they are intended to lead the thoughts of 
 the worshipper. 
 
 The Tabernacle. 
 
 (Ex. xxv.-xxvii. : 1 Kings vi.) 
 
 Elaborate directions are given in the book of Exodus for 
 the construction of the Tabernacle, the measurements and 
 materials being carefully specified — the latter of the most 
 rare and costly kind. The Tabernacle itself was an oblong 
 tent, thirty cubits long and ten wide. It was constructed 
 of a moveable wooden framework, all the wood being- 
 sheeted in gold, with golden fittings, and the upright 
 timbers resting in silver sockets. This framework was 
 heavily covered by four curtains, one over the other, of 
 different materials. The interior was divided by a hang- 
 ing curtain into two chambers, the inner one, called the 
 holy of holies, being ten cubits square, the outer one 
 twenty by ten. This tent stood in an enclosed court, also 
 oblong, being one hundred cubits by fifty ; the enclosing 
 fence being made of brass railings, from which curtains of 
 "fine twined linen" were suspended by silver hooks and 
 fillets. The whole, therefore, consisted of three parts : — 
 (1) the outer court in which stood the large altar, or altar 
 
42 THE CEEEMOXIAL LAW. 
 
 of burnt offerings. This altar was five cubits square, and 
 three cubits high ; it had four " horns " at the corners. 
 This court also contained a brazen laver, at which the 
 priests washed their hands and their feet before engaging 
 in any service of the sanctuary. (2) Next to the court 
 came the holy place — the outer chamber of the tabernacle 
 proper. None but the priests were allowed to enter it. 
 In it stood the golden candlestick on one side, the table of 
 shewbread opposite, and the altar of incense in the centre 
 between them. (3) The inner chamber — the holy of 
 holies — was only entered by the high priest on certain 
 most solemn occasions. It contained the mercy-seat " of 
 pure gold," on which was placed the ark containing the 
 tables of the law. The ark was overshadowed by the ex- 
 tended wings of the golden cherubim, which stood one on 
 each end of the mercy-seat. 
 
 When the moveable tent temple of the Hebrews was re- 
 placed by a permanent building, in Solomon's reign, all 
 the principal parts of the tabernacle were preserved in the 
 new structure, under the same names. The proportions of 
 the temple were also generally the same as those of the 
 tabernacle, though the scale was larger. 
 
 Priests and Levites. 
 
 (Ex. xxviii. ; xxix. : Lev. yu. 28-38 ; viii. ; ix. ; xvi. ; xxi. ; xxii. ; xxv. 
 32-35 : Numb. i. 47-54 ; iii. ; iv. ; viii. ; xviii. ; xxxv. : Deut. x. 
 8-9.) 
 
 All duties in connexion with the tabernacle and temple 
 were performed by the members of the tribe of Levi. 
 This tribe had no possessions of land in Canaan; they 
 received only certain cities with their environs to dwell 
 in. They received tithes from the other tribes. Aaron's 
 family, from which the priests were taken, was a branch 
 of the tribe of Levi. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS. 43 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 The reader who wishes to study the provisions of the 
 Jewish Law upon some other important subjects may find 
 the following references useful : — 
 
 Dedication of first fruits.— Ex. xiii. 2, 11-16; xxii. 29-30; xxxiv. 
 19-20: Lev. xxvii. 26-33: Numb. tii. 11-13; xviii. 12-17: Deut. xv. 
 19-23. 
 
 Judges, judicial procedure, evidence, sentence, &c. — Ex. xviii. 13-26 ; 
 xxii. 7-13, 28 ; xxiii. 3 : Lev. xix. 11, 15 ; xxiv. 10-23: Numb. v. 11-31 : 
 Deut. i. 9-18 ; xvi. 18-20 ; xvii. 8-13 ; xix. ; xxi. 1-9, 22, 23; xxii. 24. 
 
 Money-lending, usury, &c. — Ex. xxii. 25-27 : Lev. xxv. 35-38 : Deut. 
 xxiii. 19-20 ; xxiv. 10-13. 
 
 Sabbatical year, year of jubilee, &c. — Ex. xxi. 2 ; xxiii. 10-12 : Lev. 
 xxv. : Deut. xv. 1-18 ; xxxi. 9-13. 
 
 Strangers, treatment of. — Ex. xii. 38, 43-51; xx. 10; xxii. 21; xxiii. 
 9: Lev. xvi. 29; xix. 9, 10, 33, 34; xxv. 44, 55: Numb. ix. 14; xv. 
 14-16; XXXV. 15 : Deut. i. 16; x. 18, 19; xvii. 15 ; xxiii. 19, 20. 
 
 Taxation, provision for poor, &c. — Ex. xxx. 11-16: Lev. xix. 9, 10; 
 xxiii. 22; xxvii. 26-33: Numb. iii. 44-51; vii. ; xviii. 20-32: Deut. 
 xiv. 22-29 ; xxiv. 19-22. 
 
 Vows. — Lev. xxvii. : Numb. vi. 1-21 ; xxx. : Deut. xxiii. 21-23. 
 
 Warfare, military service, treatment of captives, &c. — Nimib. i. 20 ; x. 
 9 : Deut. xx. ; xxi. 10-14 ; xxiii. 9-14 ; xxiv. 5. 
 
44 THE BOOKS OF JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 
 The Boole of Joshua. 
 
 ON the death of Moses the lawgiver the guidance of 
 the people passes into the hands of Joshua the man 
 of war ; and the Book of Joshua gives a vivid account of 
 the occupation of the land of Canaan under his command. 
 Immediately on his appointment the new leader, strong 
 in the assurance of the Lord's assistance, leads the tribes 
 across the Jordan, the waters once again miraculously 
 standing on a heap, as in the Red Sea, to let the chosen 
 people pass. The tribe of Reuben, of Gad, and half of 
 the tribe of Manasseh had already received their inherit- 
 ance on the eastern side of the river, in territory that had 
 been won in the time of Moses ; and the warriors of these 
 tribes march in the van of the invading army, in accord- 
 ance with their promise to hold this post of danger until 
 the Lord should "have given their brethren rest, as He had 
 given them." Jericho, the first large town in theu* line 
 of march, is delivered into their hands by a miracle. Ai 
 is taken by stratagem, after a momentary failure of 
 courage on the part of the assailants. Alarmed at these 
 successes, the chiefs of Canaan combine against the in- 
 vaders. But no power can stand before the people of God. 
 Five kings of the south, marching to punish Gibeon, a 
 "royal city" that had submitted to Joshua, are surprised 
 by a night march, and utterly defeated. The Lord rains 
 hailstones from heaven upon their flying forces, and the 
 
THE BOOK OF JUDGES. 45 
 
 hailstones slay "more than the children of Israel slew with 
 the sword," while the siin and moon stand still in the 
 heavens until the soldiers of God avenge themselves upon 
 their enemies. After the battle the kings are taken from 
 the cave to which tliey had fled, and are put to death, and 
 their bodies hanged upon five trees " until the evening." 
 
 Having completely subdued the south, where " he left 
 none remaining, but utterly destroyed all that breathed, as 
 the Lord Grod of Israel commanded," Joshua, by another 
 rapid march, comes suddenly upon the kings of the north, 
 who had assembled at the summons of Jabin, king of 
 Hazor. By the waters of Merom, the northernmost ex- 
 pansion of the Jordan stream, he routs a host " as the sand 
 that is on the sea shore in multitude, with horses and 
 chariots very many," and Israel smites them till they leave 
 them "none remaining." They " hough their horses and 
 burn their chariots with fire." ^ 
 
 Next, the Anakim, the children of the giants, are exter- 
 minated, and then the people proceed to divide the land. 
 But though the land is all nominally divided between the 
 remaining tribes, part of it is still actually in the posses- 
 sion of the Canaanites, who had not been conquered, and 
 whose presence will be the fruitful source of future 
 troubles. 
 
 The Book of Judges. 
 
 The next book exhibits a very different view of the state 
 of the people of Israel from that which was presented by 
 the Book of Joshua. Instead of the victorious people 
 united under one head, and bonded together in the enthu- 
 siasm of a great enterprise, and in devotion to one reKgion, 
 we find in the Book of Judges a number of separate tribes 
 without any common government, for the most part acting 
 
46 THE BOOKS OF JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND RUTH. 
 
 without concord among themselves, and, in their divided 
 state, unable to maintain their independenec against 
 the neighbouring powers. This state of things, we are 
 told, only came about after the death of Joshua and of 
 the generation " who had seen all the great works of the 
 Lord, which He did for Israel" in Joshua's time, and 
 when " there arose another generation after them which 
 knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done 
 for Israel." Then they began to " follow other gods," and 
 were delivered "into the hands of their enemies roimd 
 about," until the Lord in His mercy raised up ''judges" 
 to deliver them/ 
 
 The Book of Judges is composed of a series of indepen- 
 dent narratives, for the most part recording the warlike 
 exploits of these judges. The book is full of life and spiiit, 
 but it pictures a time of the greatest lawlessness and vio- 
 lence. In reading it we must be careful to notice that 
 each narrative only concerns a particular tribe or locality, 
 and that the authority of the ruler mentioned does not 
 appear to have extended beyond the limits of that part of 
 the country to which the narrative refers. It is even pos- 
 sible that there may have been two or more judges ruling 
 simultaneously in different parts of the country, a con- 
 sideration which should be borne in mind in attempting to 
 make out the chronology of the time. 
 
 The principal heroes of the Book of Judges are Othniel 
 the vo.nquisher of Chusanrishathaim, king of Mesopotamia ; 
 Ehud the daring assassin of Eglon, king of Moab; Sham- 
 gar the son of Anath, " which slew of the Philistines six 
 hundred men with an ox-goad" ; Deborah the woman- 
 judge, and Jael the fierce slayer of her sleeping guest ; 
 Gideon the destroyer of Baal ; Abimelech the usurper ; 
 
 1 Judges, ii. 7-23. 
 
THE HEBREW HEROES. 47 
 
 Jephthah, who, rather than break the vow which he had 
 rashly made to Jehovah, sacrificed his only daughter ; and 
 Samson, the strong man. These are the leaders of a time 
 the character of which is pithily summed up in the last 
 words of the book : — "In those days there was no king in 
 Israel ; every man did that which was right in his own 
 eyes." 
 
 (Judges, xix.-xxi.) 
 
 Once, however, if only once in all this period, do we 
 read that "all the men of Israel were . . . knit together 
 as one man," and then it was not against a foreign enemy, 
 but to wreak a terrible vengeance on one of their own 
 tribes for harbouring the perpetrator of a grime dis- 
 honouring to the name of the God of Israel. 
 
 The Hehreic Heroes. 
 
 In judging of the heroes of these primitive times we 
 must bear in mind the circumstances in which they lived, 
 and the age in which these books were written. We 
 are not to expect from those times the virtues or the ad- 
 vanced religious knowledge which are to be found in later 
 times in the followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord 
 Himself warned us of this when He said that John the 
 Baptist was greater than any of the prophets that were 
 before him, but that the least in the kingdom of heaven 
 (that is, in the Christian Church which He founded) 
 was greater than he. On the other hand, the religious 
 earnestness and general elevation of character of these 
 Old Testament worthies will come out more strongly 
 when we contrast them with the state of the times in 
 which they lived. 
 
48 THE BOOKS OF JOSHUA, JUDGES, AND EUTH. 
 
 The Book of Ruth. 
 
 This book introduces us to very different scenes from 
 those depicted in the Book of Judges, to which it forms an 
 appendix. In simple and touching language it tells how, 
 in the days when the judges ruled, a Jewish family left 
 the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, in consequence of a 
 famine, to settle in the country of the Moabites on the 
 other side of the Jordan. There the father died, leaving 
 his two sons with their mother. After a time the sons, 
 who had married wives of the Moabite women, also died. 
 When her husband and her two sons were gone, the deso- 
 late mother Naomi set out to return to her own land, 
 advising her daughters-in-law to remain with their own 
 people, where they might marry again and make homes 
 for themselves. But one of them, Ruth, refused to sepa- 
 rate from the mother of her dead husband, and resolved 
 to accompany her to the land of Israel. The beautiful 
 words in which Euth expresses her resolution to share the 
 fortunes of Naomi are often quoted : — 
 
 " Intreat me not to leave thee, 
 Or to return from following after thee : 
 For -whither thou goest I will go ; 
 And where thou lodgest I wiU lodge : 
 Thy people shall be my people, 
 And thy God my God. 
 "Where thou diest I will die, 
 And there will I be buried. 
 The Lord do so to me, and more also, 
 If ought but death part thee and mo." 
 
 The unselfishness of Ruth's conduct met with a fitting 
 reward. On their return to Bethlehem, where the story of 
 Naomi's sorrows excited much sympathy, the younger 
 woman goes to glean in the fields of Boaz, a rich farmer. 
 
THE BOOK OF RUTH. 49 
 
 Boaz, sharing the general feeling in favour of the two wo- 
 men, bids his people to be kind to her, and tells the reapers 
 to let some handfuls of com fall on pui'pose in her way. It 
 afterwards turns out that Boaz is a kinsman of Naomi's de- 
 ceased husband ; and in accordance with the Jewish cus- 
 tom, he redeems the inheritance of the family and marries 
 Euth. From the Moabitish stranger Euth is traced the 
 descent of David the king of Israel, and of Another 
 greater than David. 
 
 This charming story is an agreeable appendage to the 
 Book of Judges. It is pleasant to turn from scenes of 
 violence and bloodshed to the peaceful harvest-field of 
 Boaz, and the quiet village life of Bethlehem, and to be 
 reminded that the life of the people of God in those days 
 was not all fighting, but that God's people in the olden 
 time knew what it was to be good men and women in 
 peace, as well as brave soldiers in war. 
 
50 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 Authorities for the Regal Period. 
 
 nnHE two Books of Samuel and the two Books of 
 -■- Kings form one consecutive history of the Hebrew 
 Monarchy. They are also called the First, Second, Third, 
 and Fourth Books of the Kings. 
 
 The two Books of Chronicles, which follow these books, 
 contain a separate record of the same period, so that we 
 have in the Old Testament two consecutive histories of the 
 times of the Monarchy. 
 
 The Prophetical Books, of which we shall speak in their 
 own place, also supply us with some additional particulars 
 of the history, and throw much light upon the character 
 of the time. 
 
 We shall now give an outline of the contents of the 
 Books of Samuel and Kings. These books continue the 
 narrative of the Books of Judges and Ruth. The Book of 
 Joshua is more closely connected with the Pentateuch, 
 though the history runs on through all. 
 
 Eli. 
 
 (1 Sam. i.-iv.) 
 
 The First Book of Samuel covers the period of transition 
 from the rule of the Judges to that of the Kings, and re- 
 lates the reign of Saul, the first king. At the opening of 
 the book we find Eli, who has not been previously men- 
 
SAMUEL. 51 
 
 tioned, occupying the position of judge. He is priest as 
 well as judge, and ministers before the Ark in Shiloh, the 
 sj)ot which had been selected in the time of Joshua as the 
 religious centre of the tribes, but which is now soon to give 
 place to a more famous sanctuary. Eli himself is repre- 
 sented as a good old man, but the wickedness of^his sons 
 forbids the continuance of the government in his family, 
 and a terrible judgment falls on them and on^ their aged 
 father in consequence of their e\il deeds. The two sons 
 are slain in one day in a battle against the Philistines, in 
 which the Israelitish army is routed with great slaughter. 
 In the same battle the Ark, which had been brought from 
 Shiloh to the camp in hopes of securing victory for the 
 arms of Israel, falls into the hand of the enemy ; and the 
 old man Eli, who was sitting at the gate of the city wait- 
 ing anxiously for tidings of the battle, when he hears that 
 the Ark of Grod is taken, falls hea^dly to the earth and 
 is killed. 
 
 Samuel, 
 
 (1 Sam. vii.-x.) 
 
 After Eli the guidance of the people passes in due 
 time into the hands of Samuel the prophet. Samuel, 
 from whom the first two books of the monarchy derive 
 their title, as the first five books of the Bible do from 
 Moses, is one of the great names of Hebrew history, and 
 his influence upon the course which it took was probably 
 only second to that of the great lawgiver himself. The 
 greatness of his character is shown by the way in which 
 he met the inevitable change in the constitution of the 
 nation which was to take place in his day. "When he was 
 old, and his sons, like the sons of Eli, walked not in their 
 
 E 2 
 
52 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 father's ways, the people demanded that he should ap- 
 point a king over them, that they might he like the 
 other nations which were around them. Though Samuel 
 was at first greatly displeased at this request, and was 
 fully sensible of the abuses to which the regal power 
 would be liable, yet when he found it to be the will of 
 Grod that the " old order " should " yield place to the 
 new," he complied with the request of the nation, and 
 appointed a king ; and during the remainder of his long- 
 life he watched over the fortunes of the people with the 
 same anxious devotion as if the new order of things had 
 been entirely of his own choosing. 
 
 Saul, the first King. 
 
 (1 Sam. x.-xvi.) 
 
 Saul the son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, was the 
 first king of united Israel. He proved an able comman- 
 der in war, and immediately after his appointment won 
 the hearts of the whole nation by his brilliant rescue of 
 the town of Jabesh Gilead, which was on the point of 
 being surrendered to the Ammonites. But the later 
 years of his reign did not fulfil its early promise. In 
 spite of occasional successes on the side of Israel, due 
 chiefly to the personal valour of Saul and his heroic son 
 Jonathan, a harassing and exhausting war vdth the Phi- 
 listines continued. Saul's disregard of the counsels of 
 Samuel gradually alienated the prophet from the king, 
 and at last caused a complete separation between them. 
 In despising the inspii'ed directions of Samuel, Saul " re- 
 jected the word of the Lord," and the Lord "rejected" 
 him " from being king." Some one else must be sought 
 to found the line of Hebrew kings. The prophet, there- 
 
SAUL AND DAVID. 53 
 
 fore, unknown to Saul, anointed David, the son of Jesse, 
 of the tribe of Judah, to succeed Saul on the throne. 
 
 Saul and David. 
 
 (1 Sam. xvi.-xxxi.) 
 
 After this the king became subject to some form of 
 madness — " an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." 
 In all the kingdom no one could be found to soothe the 
 vexed spirit of the king like the young David. At the 
 sound of his sweet playing upon the harp "Saul was 
 refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from 
 him." David was thus introduced to Court life. He soon 
 showed himself a good soldier as well as a musician, and 
 he became the king's armour-bearer. But his growing 
 popularity with the nation aroused a great jealousy in the 
 mind of the king. When he slew the huge Philistine 
 giant Goliath, the women sang that " Saul had slain his 
 thousands, and David his tens of thousands " ; and more 
 than once the passionate king, in his frenzy, attempted to 
 slay him. In the end David had to flee from the Court, 
 and maintain himself by the sword in the southern bor- 
 ders of Judah, with a band of outlawed followers. This 
 was the position of affairs when Saul's death opened the 
 ■way to David to take the crown for which in the provi- 
 dence of Grod he had been selected. At the fatal battle 
 of Gilboa, Saul's army was defeated by the Philistines 
 with great slaughter ; and the first king of Israel, his 
 army defeated, his three sons lying dead upon the field 
 of battle, and himself " sore wounded of the archers," 
 fell upon his own sword and died. 
 
54 THE rXDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 The First Book of Samuel. 
 
 The First Book of Samuel, from which we have taken 
 this outline of the histories of Eli, Samuel, and Saul, is full 
 of interesting matter. It contains the well-known account 
 of the bu'th and childhood of Samuel, and the story of Eli 
 and his sons ;^ the adventures of the Ark in the country 
 of the Philistines, and its final restoration to Israel ; - the 
 appointment of the first king, and the rescue of Jabesh- 
 Grilead;^ Samuel's farewell addi'ess to his countrymen;^ 
 the warlike exploits of Saul and Jonathan, and the two 
 errors that lost Saul the kingdom ; ^ the early Kf e of 
 David — his being anointed by Samuel as heii' to the king- 
 dom — his battle with the huge Philistine giant — Saul's 
 persecution of him — the friendship between him and Jona- 
 than the son of Saul — his many adventures and hair- 
 breadth escapes while he fled from Saul.® AU of these, 
 with the gloomy picture of Saul's visit to the witch of 
 Endor,^ his last great fight at Gilboa, and the gratitude 
 of the men of Jabesh-Gilead, who requited the service 
 which he had rendered to them at the beginning of his 
 reign by rescuing his body and the bodies of his sons 
 from the hands of the Philistines,^ have made the Fu'st 
 Book of Samuel a special favourite with both old and 
 young. 
 
 Kimj David. 
 
 (2 Sam. i.-xxiv.) 
 
 David was at Ziklag, a southern town of which the 
 situation is uncertain, when he heard of Saul's death. 
 
 1 Ch. i.-iv. 
 
 * Ch. xii. 
 
 ' Ch. xxviii, 
 
 ~ Ch. v.-vii. 
 
 5 Ch. xiii.-xv. 
 
 8 Ch. xxxi. 
 
 ^ Ch. viii.-xi. 
 
 ^ Ch. xvi.-xxvii. 
 
 
KING DAVID. 55 
 
 Some days before lie had been marching with the Philis- 
 tines, with whom he had friendly relations, but had left 
 them to return to Ziklag. On reaching the town he foimd 
 that it had been sacked by the Amalekites in his absence, 
 and he set out on an expedition still further from the scene 
 of Saul's disaster to punish the marauders and recover the 
 spoil. It was two days after his return from this expedi- 
 tion that the news of the battle of Gilboa reached him. 
 The historian is careful to give these particulars, apparently 
 with the view of saving David from any appearance of 
 complicity in the death of Saul. He also tells us how 
 David ordered the man who brought the news of the battle 
 to be put to death, because he claimed, whether truly or 
 falsely, to have had a hand in killing the king ; and he 
 preserves to us the touching Psalm in which David "la- 
 mented over Saul, and over Jonathan his son." 
 
 Soon after the death of Saul, David moved to Hebron, a 
 city of Judah, and was recognised as king by the great 
 tribe of the south. North of Judah it would appear as if 
 the Philistines held a large part of the country in subjec- 
 tion after the victory at Gilboa, and Ishbosheth, Saul's 
 son, was set up as king at Mahanaim beyond the Jor- 
 dan by Abner, who had been commander-in-chief of his 
 father^s army. After a time Abner__jy.aS-.-treaclierQUsly 
 slain by Joab, David's nephew and general. The cause of 
 Ishbosheth " waxed weaker and weaker," and he was at 
 last assassinated by two of his followers, who brought his 
 head to David, from whom they received the same reward 
 of their treachery as the messenger of Saul's death had 
 received before. David was then acknowledged as sole 
 sovereign. He establ ished himself at Jerusalem, which 
 was hoW for the first time taken from the olct inhabitants 
 of the land, and made the capital of the twelve tribes. 
 
56 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 Here David compl£tfid_fclie_fQrtv^j^ears of his reign, and 
 hither, with due pomp and ceremony, hejbimight t he Ark 
 ^of^&od, which had been recovered from its Philistine 
 captivity, and located it Jn a city which was henceforth 
 to be associated with the name and religion of the JewisIT 
 people, and to be the scene of some of the most momentous 
 events in the history of the human race. 
 
 In David's reign the Hebrews obtained a position 
 among the nations which they had never held before. 
 Under the command of Joab and his brother Abishai the 
 armies of Israel were successful on every side. The Philis- 
 tines, who had long been their most formidable enemies, 
 and who, after the battle of Gilboa, threatened to overrun 
 the whole country west of the Jordan, and to drive the 
 Hebrews out of the land, were reduced to order, and com- 
 pelled to confine themselves to the slip of coast territory 
 which bears their name on the map. The Amalekites were 
 " subdued," and " all they of Edom became David's ser- 
 vants." The Moabites were made tributaiy, and the 
 Ammonites were conquered, though supported by a strong 
 Syrian alliance. The Syrians themselves felt the weight 
 of the arm of Israel, and acknowledged the rule of David 
 eastward as far as the Euphrates, and far away to the 
 north beyond Damascus which was garrisoned by David, 
 even to Hamath in the vaUey of the distant Orontes.' 
 
 The Character of David. 
 
 The character of David, as it appears from the narrative 
 of his life, and as it has been filled out with the aid of the 
 Psalms that bear his name, all of which have been not 
 uncommonly assumed to be his composition, has long been 
 a favourite subject with religious writers, and has ex- 
 
 ^ 2 Sam. viii. 
 
THE CHARACTEE OF DAVID. 57 
 
 ercised a wide influence for good upon the lives of man- 
 kind. It was David's religious character, more than his 
 military exploits or his political successes, that made him, 
 and not his more splendid successor, the typical ruler of 
 Grod's people : so that the greatest of his descendants was 
 not unworthily called the Son of David. The value of the 
 portrait, as well as the beauty of it, is enhanced by the 
 fact that his biographer has not concealed his sins, or the 
 sorrows in which they involved him. We may quote once 
 more an often-quoted passage on this subject : — " David, 
 the Hebrew king, had fallen into sins enough — blackest 
 crimes — there was no want of sin. And therefore your 
 unbelievers sneer, and ask, ' Is this your man according to 
 Grod's heart ? ' The sneer, I must say, seems to me a shal- 
 low one. What are faults — what are the outward details 
 of a life, if the inner secret of it — the remorse — tempta- 
 tions — the often-baflSed, never-ended struggle of it be for- 
 gotten ? ... David's life and history, as written for us 
 in those Psalms of his, I consider to be the truest emblem 
 ever given to us of a man's moral progress and warfare 
 here below. All earnest souls will ever discern in it the 
 faithful struggle of an earnest human soul towards what is 
 good and best — struggle often baffled — sore baffled — driven 
 as into entire wreck ; yet a struggle never ended — ever 
 with tears, repentance, true unconquerable purpose begun 
 anew," ^ " The last words of David " — last and sweetest 
 of all the songs of the sweet Psalmist of Israel, as they are 
 rendered in the present English version of the Second 
 Book of Samuel,^ suggest a similar view of the character 
 of David, and fitly supplement the utterance of the Chelsea 
 
 ' Carlyle: Seroes and Hero-worship, p. 219. 
 
 ^ 2 Samuel xxiii. 1—7. Some scholars translate verse 5 — •" Is not my 
 house so with God, that he hath made," &c. 
 
58 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 prophet. It is not on his actual attainments in goodness 
 that man's hope depends, but on faith in Grod, who has 
 called him to glory and virtue : — " Although my house be 
 not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlast- 
 ing covenant, ordered in all things, and siu-e : for this is 
 all my salvation, and all my desire." 
 
 Absalom'' s ReheUion. 
 
 (2 Sam. xv.— xviii.) 
 
 The greatest of David's trials was the rebellion-oUiis 
 J3JiQJiiite.,son Absalom, who very nearly succeeded in his 
 impious attempt to drive his father from the throne. The 
 story of the event is told with great power. David was at 
 first taken by surprise, and had to leave Jerusalem, and 
 retreat across the Jordan with the military force which re- 
 mained faithful to him, and take shelter in the fortress of 
 Mahanaim. When Absalom's army crossed the river, a 
 battle was fought before the walls of Mahanaim, in "the 
 wood of Ephraim " ; and the king's forces, under the com- 
 mand of his three generals, Joab and Abishai and Ittai 
 the Grittite, a faithful Philistine soldier who had attached 
 himself to the fortunes of David, completely routed the 
 rebels. But in the pursuit after the battle Absalom was 
 slain by Joab, in spite of the king's special injunctions 
 ' that his life should be spared ; and the death of his son 
 almost made the victory more painful to David than a 
 defeat would have been. 
 
 Adonijah's Rebellion. 
 (1 Kings i.) 
 
 Absalom was not the only one of David's sons who 
 gave him trouble. When the king was old and feeble. 
 
SOLOMON. 59 
 
 Adonjiah. another favomit e of the same tjpe j;S^bsalom^ 
 made an at tempt with the~ aicT of Joab and Abiathar 
 the pri est to s ecure the throne for himself. When this 
 attempt_wjis_jdefeated^ Solonion the son of David and 
 ^aihsheba, was designated by the aged king as his suc- 
 cessac; and when his father died, Solomon quietly occupied 
 the throne. These events and the reign of Solomon are 
 the subjects of eleven chapters in the First Book of the 
 Kings. 
 
 Solomon. 
 
 (1 Kings ii.-xi.) 
 
 In the reign of Solomon, the Hebrew_empire_reaQhe_d.it§ 
 greatest height of material splendour. The wars of Saul 
 and David were succeeded by a time of peace, during 
 which population and wealth greatly increased under the 
 wise administration of the new king. If we except a few 
 events of its closing years, the history of his reign is a con- 
 tinued record of ^imbroken prosperity and magnificence. 
 We read of the princes who were over the different de- 
 partments of the state; of the twelve officers whose duty 
 it was to provide victuals for the king and his household, 
 each during a month in turn ; of the vast amount of pro- 
 visions required for each day's supply ; of the king's forty- 
 thousand stalls of chariot horses, and his twelve thousand 
 horsemen. Fortifications and frontier cities were built or 
 strengthened. Jerusalem, was adorned with splendid build- 
 ings, and the temple — Solomon's temple — was built and 
 dedicated for the reception of the Ark. Solom on also en- 
 couragfid^jtrad£_with foreign nations ; and now, for the first 
 time, we read of the Jews engaging in maritime commerce. 
 They had navies trading to the east and to the west, on 
 the Eed Sea and on the Mediterranean. The historian 
 
60 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 dwells with enthusiastic admiration on the wealth and 
 splendour of the times, and on the wisdom of their famous 
 king, whose reputation brought eager inquiries from " all 
 the earth " to Jerusalem. " King Solomon exceeded all 
 the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom." He 
 "made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees 
 made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale 
 for abundance." " And all the earth sought to Solomon 
 to hear his wisdom which God hath put in his heart." 
 
 Very different are the feelings with which he tells how 
 Solomon, when he had married many wives of the sur- 
 rounding nations, which were not of the Hebrew religion, 
 tolerated their foreign religions, and encouraged the 
 practice of heathen rites in Jerusalem ; — " it came to pass 
 when Solomon was old that his wives turned away his 
 heart after other gods : and his heart was not perfect with 
 the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. 
 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the 
 Zidonians, and after Milcom, the abomination of the Am- 
 monites "; and he built " an high place for Chemosh, the 
 abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, 
 and for Moleeh, the abomination of the children of Ammon. 
 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt 
 incense and sacrificed unto their gods." 
 
 The Times of Solomon. 
 
 Though the historian is so decided in his condemnation 
 of the wise king for the course which he took in dealing 
 with foreign religions, it does not appear that Solomon 
 himself ever left the religion of Jehovah, or that he sacri- 
 ficed with his own hands to heathen gods ; and religious 
 toleration would seem to have been the necessary growth 
 of an age in which the new development of commerce 
 
THE TIMES OF SOLOMON. 61 
 
 brouglit the Jews into friendly communication with so 
 many foreign peoples, and when the extended limits of 
 their own empire must have included within them many 
 diverse forms of religion. Solomon may have been in error 
 in attempting to anticipate a state of religious toleration 
 for which the times were not ripe. It will give a practical 
 turn to our thoughts on this question if we reflect that the 
 circumstances of our own day are, in many respects, like 
 the state of things which is described in the history of 
 Solomon's reign. We, too, live under an empire within 
 which the greatest possible variety of opinion exists on 
 almost every subject ; and the increased intercourse be- 
 tween nations, as well as the investigations of learned 
 men, have afforded us the opportunity of acquuing a more 
 accurate knowledge of the various religions of the world 
 than it was possible for our forefathers to possess. It is a 
 great advantage of such a state of things that men are led 
 to tolerate differences of opinion ; to consider the beliefs of 
 others as well as their own, estimating them fairly and 
 without prejudice, and to be ready to acknowledge what- 
 ever goodness or truth may be found in any sect or de- 
 nomination, even where we believe it to be accompanied 
 by error. But there is a corresponding danger, against 
 which we should be ever on our guard. There is the dan- 
 ger that toleration may degenerate into indifference, that 
 good-nature should usurp the place of principle, and that 
 men should be too ready weakly to sm'render or to 
 suppress their own convictions, as if there were no real 
 standard of truth, or as if truth were entirely unattain- 
 able by us. 
 
 In another respect also the age of Solomon resembles 
 our own. It was an age in which there were many com- 
 forts and refinements ; there was good living ; there were 
 
G2 THE UNDIVIDED KINGDOM. 
 
 luxurious dwellings, gorgeous public buildings, costly- 
 works of art. It is the well-known tendency of such an 
 age to make men self-indulgent ; to render them less in- 
 clined to make sacrifices for the sake of duty, and to break 
 down the strength of principle and of will which is some- 
 times the growth of rougher times. 
 
 It will be a useful exercise for us to compare the days 
 of Solomon with the earlier days of Joshua and the Judges, 
 of Phinehas the son of Eleazar, and of Gideon the de- 
 stroyer of Baal. And it will be well for us if our study 
 of the Bible leads us, with Grod's help, to emulate the 
 peculiar virtues of every age, while we avoid its faults. 
 The many comforts of modern life, even its culture and 
 refinements, would be dearly purchased indeed if they 
 could only be had at the cost of earnestness and zeal and 
 real generosity. 
 
 We shall now see that the reign of Solomon, in spite of 
 its magnificence and splendour, was the precursor of a 
 great calamity to the Hebrew nation, from which it never 
 quite recovered. 
 
THE DISRUPTIOX. 63 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM. 
 
 The Disruption. 
 
 (1 Kings xii. 1-20.) 
 
 TT is evident that Solomon's expensive administration 
 -*- could not have been kept up without imposing heavy 
 burdens upon, his-peopie. And we are not surprised to 
 find that some of them objected to supporting a state of 
 magnificence from which they did not see that they them- 
 selves derived any compensating advantage. 
 
 When Solomon was dead, and when all Israel had 
 assembled at Shechem " to make " his son Rehoboam 
 king, before agreeing to accept the new ruler, the north- 
 em tribes, acting under the guidance of Jeroboam the 
 son of Nebat, demanded that the weight of their burdens 
 should be lightened. The wise old men who had been his 
 father's counsellors advised RehobpaDpL to return a con- 
 ciHatory answer to this demand j but the son of Solomon 
 preferred to take the advice of his own gay companions, 
 and met the request for a milder rule with an uncom- 
 promising and scornful refusal . The consequence of this 
 foolish act was the immediate rejection of his authority by 
 " all Israel " — that is, by all the tribes of the north. The 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin alone, with Jerasalem, 
 David's capital, remained faithful to the son of Solomon. 
 The revolting tribes aj^pointed Jeroboam their king. 
 
64 THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM. 
 
 There is reason to believe tliat this separation of the 
 kingdom into two parts was not so unexpected an event as 
 it would appear to have been, if we only knew the story of 
 Eehoboam's coronation. Already in the time of Solomon 
 Jeroboam had been obliged to fly the kingdom in conse- 
 quence of his ambitious designs, and it is probable that he 
 aimed even then at drawing away the northern tribes from 
 their allegiance to the house of David.' It is not unlikely 
 that these tribes were never quite reconciled to the supre- 
 macy of Judah and Benjamin, which would seem to 
 be implied in the selection of the first three kings from 
 the two tribes of the South. 
 
 It would also appear that there was a religious element 
 in the causes which led to the revolt ; for in the account of 
 Jeroboam's first "lifting up his hand" against Solomon 
 the coming disruption of the kingdom is announced as a 
 judgment on the idolatries of Solomon's reign, and the 
 designs of Jeroboam are countenanced by the prophet 
 Ahijah the Shilonite. 
 
 Whatever were the causes that led to the division, the 
 breach was irreparable. The kingdoms of Judah and 
 Israel continued separate till both were destroyed. Dur- 
 ing the remaining chapters of the Books of the Kings the 
 history follows a divided line, passing back and forward 
 from the one kingdom to the other with a rapidity by which 
 the reader is sometimes liable to be confused. It will not 
 be possible for us here to refer to the particulars of the 
 different reigns. We can only give, in the folio wing- 
 Table, the names and order of the several kings, with 
 the length of the reign of each, taken from the Books 
 of Kings ; and then briefly indicate in a general way the 
 course which events took in each of the two kingdoms. 
 
 1 1 Kings xi. 26-40. 
 
THE KINGS OF JUDAH AND OF ISRAEL. 
 
 65 
 
 Table of the Kings of Judah and of Israel. 
 
 N.B. — The brackets are intended to show the relative dates of the kings 
 in the two lines. Thus, the first bracket means that Asa's reign in Judah 
 began while Jeroboam was ruling in Israel and ended in the time of Ahab, 
 Asa having been thus contemporary wdth seven kings of Israel. Similarly 
 Ahab's reign is shown to have begun in the reign of Asa and ended in that 
 of Jehoshaphat ; Jehoshaphat having been contemporary wdth Ahab, Ahaziah, 
 and Jehoram ; and so on. 
 
 KINGS OF JUDAH. 
 
 Rehoboam. 17 years. ^ 
 
 (I. K. xii. 1-24; xiv. 21-31.) 
 
 Abijam. 3 years. 
 (I. K. XV. 1-8.) 
 
 Asa. 41 years. 
 (I. K. XV. 9-24.) 
 
 Jehoshaphat. 25 years. 
 (I. K. xxii. 41-50.) 
 
 Jehokam. 8 years. 
 (II. K. viii. 16-24.) 
 
 Ahaziah. 1 year. 
 
 (II. K. viii. 2o-ix. 29.) 
 
 KINGS OF ISRAEL. 
 
 Jeroboam. 22 years. 
 (I. K. xii. 25-xiv. 20.) 
 
 Nadab. 2 years. 
 (I. K. XV. 25-31.) 
 
 *Baasha. 24 years. 
 (I. K. XV. 27-xvi. 7.) 
 
 Elah. 2 years. 
 (I. K. xvL 8-10.) 
 
 *ZiMRi. 7 daj's. 
 
 (L K. xvi. 11-20.) 
 
 [Two years' civil war. J 
 
 *Omei. 12 j'ears. 
 (I. K. xvi. 21-28.) 
 
 > Ahab. 22 years. 
 
 (I. K. xvi. 29-xxii. 40.) 
 
 Ahaziah. 2 years. 
 
 (I. K. xxii. 51-11. K. i. 15.) 
 
 ^ Jehoram. 12 years. 
 
 (II. K. iii. 1-ix. 26.) 
 F 
 
66 
 
 THE DIVISION OF THE KINGDOM. 
 
 KINGS OF JUDAH — continued. 
 Queen Athaliah. 6 years. 
 (II. K. xi.) 
 
 Jehoash (Joast). 40 years. 
 (II. K. xii.) 
 
 Amaziah. 29 years. 
 (II. K. xiv. 1-20.) 
 
 KINGS OF l^'R.k^'L— continued. 
 
 ' *Jehu. 28 years. 
 (II. K. ix., X.) 
 
 Azariah (ITzziah). 52 years. 
 (II. K. xiv. 21, 22; xv. 1-7.) 
 
 Jotham. 16 years. 
 (II. K. XV. 32-38.) 
 
 Ahaz. 16 years. 
 (II. K. xvi.) 
 
 Hezekiah. 29 years. 
 (IT. K. xviii.— XX.) 
 
 Jehoahaz. 17 j'ears. 
 (II. K. xiii. 1-9.) 
 
 Jehoash (Joash). 16 years. 
 (II. K. xiii. 10-25.) 
 
 Jeroboam II. 41 years. 
 (II. K. xiv. 23-29.) 
 
 [Eleven years' interregniun.] 
 
 Zachariah. 6 montlis. 
 (II. K. XV. 8-12.) 
 
 *Shallum. 1 montli. 
 (II. K. XV. 13-15.) 
 
 *Menahem. 10 years. 
 (II. K. XV. 16-22.) 
 
 Pekahiah. 2 years. 
 (II. K. XV. 23-26.) 
 
 *Pekah. 20 years. 
 (II. K. XV. 27-31.) 
 
 ) 
 
 *Hoshea. 9 years. 
 (II. K. xvii. 1-23.) 
 
THE KIXGS OF JUDAH AND OF ISRAEL. 67 
 
 KINGS OF JVDAR—contimied. KINGS OF ISRAEL— contlnwd. 
 
 Manasseh. 55 years. 
 (II. K. xxi. 1-18.) 
 
 Amon. 2 years. 
 {II. K. xxi. 19-26.) 
 
 Josi.iH. 31 years. 
 
 (II. K xxii. l-xxiii. 30.) 
 
 Jehoahaz (ShaUum, Jer. xxii. 11). 
 3 montlis. 
 
 (II. K. xxiii, 31-34.) 
 
 Jehoiakim. 11 years. 
 (II. K. xxiii. 34— xxiv. 7.) 
 
 Jehoiachin (Jechoniah, Coniah). 
 3 months. 
 (II. K. xxiv. 8-16.) 
 
 Zedekiah. 11 years. 
 (II. K. xxiv. 17-xxv. 7.) 
 
 F2 
 
68 THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TEIBES. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES. 
 Internal Revolutions. 
 
 ^ I ^HE asterisks prefixed to the names of eight of the 
 -*- kings of Israel in the foregoing Table indicate so 
 many changes of dynasty. And it will be the shortest 
 way of giving some idea of the troubled course which the 
 domestic history of the Ten Tribes ran, when we mention 
 that every change of dynasty was accomplished by force. 
 Not one of these eight kings succeeded to the throne of 
 Israel without seeing his predecessor die by a violent 
 death. 
 
 The Sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nehat. 
 
 (1 Kings xii. 2o-xiii. 34.) 
 
 When the nation was divided, Jeroboam established a 
 new form of worship for his own people. He " made two 
 calves of gold," and set them up in Bethel and in Dan, 
 two cities which lay one in the south, and the other at the 
 extreme north of his kingdom, and which already pos- 
 sessed a sacred character in the traditions of Israel. He 
 also instituted a new order of priests — he "made priests 
 of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of 
 Levi "; the Levites having probably remained faithful to 
 the services of Solomon's Temple ; and he established a 
 new festival in the eighth month instead of the Jewish 
 feast of Tabernacles, which was held a month earlier. 
 
THE HOUSE OF OMRI. 69 
 
 It is nowhere implied that in making these changes 
 Jerohoam had any intention of deserting the worship of 
 the Grod of IsraeL The writer of the Book of Kings 
 assigns as the motive of his religious policy simply a 
 desire to provide the people of the Ten Tribes with places 
 of worship in their own territory, lest they should be 
 drawn away from their allegiance to his rule by going to 
 the Temple at Jerusalem : and says that he ofiered the 
 golden calves, for the worship of the people, as represent- 
 ing the Grod which brought them up out of Egypt. But 
 the schism which he wilfully made in the national Church 
 was fraught with disastrous consequences in the future, and 
 his religious institutions are condemned in the most un- 
 qualified terms. Throughout the Books of Kings they are 
 invariably spoken of as " the sins of Jeroboam, the son of 
 Nebat," and in consequence of them the first king of 
 Israel is described, with equal persistency, as " Jeroboam, 
 the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin." 
 
 The House of Omri ; Elijah, Elisha, the City of 
 Samaria. 
 
 (1 Kings xvi. 23 to 2 Kings x. 11.) 
 
 But a worse evil was introduced by Ahab the son of 
 Omri, the second king of the foui'th dynasty. " It came 
 to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in 
 the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to 
 wifeJezebel_the_da3ighter_oJ_E^^^ ^f the_Zido- 
 
 nians, and went and serv edEaal and worshipped him ." 
 Not only did Ahab serve Baal, but he a llowed his wife to 
 carry _o]a_ an exterminati ng persecution of^ the prophets of 
 Jehovah. It is in opposition to the idolatries and wicked- 
 
70 THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES. 
 
 ness of this bad king that the prophet J Eli.l ah the Tishbite 
 first appears upon the scene, and the striking figure of the 
 fai^iful^sfirsant of tTpha£ah_occupies a prominent place in 
 this part of the history of Israel. His contest with the 
 prophets of Baal u]3 onM ount Carmel, his own desp^^__ 
 dejQ cy at the condition of his country and the reviyal of _ 
 his drooping faith amid the solit udes of Sina i, his bold 
 rebuke of Ahab in the matteT'oTNaboth's vineyard, and 
 the story of his miraculous removal from the earth, are the 
 most remarkable episodes in these chapters. After the re- 
 moval of Elijah his place was taken by Elisha, of whom 
 many wonders are related. Elisha anointed Jehu captain 
 of the host of Israel, to supersede the idolatrous house of 
 Omri, and with an unsparing hand the fierce soldier swept 
 away the apostate race. "With the edge of the sword" 
 Jehu " destroyed Baal out of Israel." 
 
 Omri, the first king of this dynasty, " bought the hill 
 Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on 
 the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, 
 after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria." 
 The city, the origin of which is thus recorded, became the 
 capital of the kingdom of the Ten Tribes, and has had a 
 history almost as remarkable as that of Jerusalem. It was 
 situated on the top of a hill, which rose with steep sides 
 from the basin of a sheltered valley ; and the same site is 
 now occupied by a village, the name of which connects it 
 with the ancient capital. Before the time of Omri the 
 capital had been first at Shechem, and then at Tirzah, both 
 ancient Canaanite cities, the latter famous for its beauty.^ 
 
 1 The following references will enable the reader to trace the history of 
 these capitals : — 1 K. xii. 1, 25 {see Judges ix. 45) ; xiv. 17 {see Cant. vi. 4) ; 
 XV. 21, 33; xvi. 6-18, 23, 24, 32 ; xx. 1 : 2 K. vi. 24-vii. 20; x. 25-27; 
 XV. 13-18 ; xvii. 5, G ; xviii. 9, 10. 
 
DYNASTY OF JEHU. 71 
 
 Dynasty of Jehu ; Jeroboam, the son of Joash. 
 
 (2 Kings X. 15-36; xiii ; xiv. 8-16, 23-29; xv. 8-12.) 
 
 But though Jehu exhibited such zeal against the wor- 
 shippers of Baal, he "took no heed to walk in the law of 
 the Lord Grod of Israel with all his heart : for he departed 
 not from the sins of Jeroboam, which made Israel to sin." 
 The schismatical institutions of Jeroboam, in fact, con- 
 tinued as long as the kingdom of Israel lasted ; unless we 
 are to make a possible exception during the reign of Hoshea 
 the last king. We are told of him, as of the other kings 
 of Israel,^ that " he did that which was evil in the sight of 
 the Lord," "but not," the historian adds, " as the kings of 
 Israel that were before him." A Jewish comment on 
 the exception which is thus made in favour of Hoshea, 
 explains it by saying that he allowed his subjects to 
 attend the worship of the Temple at Jerusalem. 
 
 The family of Jehu remained in possession of the 
 throne of Israel longer than any other. Jeroboam the 
 Second, who came thii'd in succession after Jehu, reigned 
 for forty-one years, and seems to have been the most 
 powerful and successful of the kings of Israel. The ac- 
 count given of his reign is very brief, but it tells us that 
 *' he recovered Damascus and Hamath, which belonged to 
 Judah, for Israel," and " restored the coast of Israel from 
 the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain." The ex- 
 pression " the entering of Hamath" refers to the pass from 
 the north along the valley of the Orontes, which the city of 
 Hamath commanded ; the " sea of the plain " is the Dead 
 Sea ; and the meaning of the whole account of his victories 
 is, that he re-established the authority of Israel over all the 
 
 ^ The only one iipon whom this verdict is not pronounced is Shallum, who 
 "reigned a full month." 
 
72 THE KINGDOM OF THE TEN TRIBES. 
 
 territory to the north and east, which had been subject to 
 Solomon in the most prosperous days of the undivided 
 kingdom. In the end of Solomon's reign there had been 
 a revolt against his authority at Damascus, and after the 
 division of Solomon's kingdom Damascus had become the 
 seat of a most formidable Syrian power. 
 
 The Syrians. 
 
 The Syrians of Damascus were the most important 
 foreign power with which the kingdom of Israel had as 
 yet come in contact, and frequent wars with them occupy 
 a large part of the annals of the northern kingdom. The 
 relations between the Israelites and the Syrians were not, 
 however, always of a hostile character, and there are some 
 interesting passages in the life of EHsha the prophet 
 which show that friendly feelings sometimes existed be- 
 tween the people of the two kingdoms. On one occasion 
 Elisha is even related to have appeared in his prophetic 
 character at the capital of the Syrian king.^ 
 
 The Assyrians. 
 (2 Kings xv. 19, 20, 29 ; x\-ii.) 
 
 But a mightier power than either Syrians or Israelites 
 had arisen — a power before which both the one and the 
 other were to go down. This was the Assyrian empire, 
 whose conquering armies were now approaching the 
 borders of Palestine. In the reign of Menahem, who 
 came to the throne about twelve years after the death of 
 Jeroboam II., the Assyrians invaded Israel, under a king 
 whose name appears in the English Bible as Pul. Again, 
 
 ' 2 KiiiffP viii. 7— lo. 
 
THE ASSYRIANS. 73 
 
 " in the days of Pekah came Tiglath-pileser, king of 
 Assyria," and seized all tlie Israelitish territory to the 
 east of Jordan, and carried away the inhabitants into 
 captivity. Pekah's successor was Hoshea, and in his time 
 the end came. The country was once again invaded by 
 the Assyrians, and Hoshea reduced to the condition of a 
 tributary. Attempting to rid himself of this yoke by the 
 aid of Egypt, he was thrown into prison by the Assyrian 
 king. Then the Assyrian army invaded Israel for the 
 last time. They took Samaria after a three years' siege, 
 and, according to their usual custom in dealing with con- 
 quered nations, removed all the inhabitants of the country 
 to other regions of their vast dominions. They " carried 
 Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in Halah, and 
 in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the 
 Medes." 
 
74 FOREIGN EELATIONS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 War betioeen Judah and Israel. 
 
 (1 Kings xii. 21-24; xiv. 25-31 ; xv. 6, 7, 16-22.) 
 
 'TTT'HEN the ten tribes revolted, Eehoboam raised an 
 ^ ^ army to compel them to return to their alle- 
 giance to the House of David. But the tribe of Judah 
 was forbidden by the prophet Shemaiah to " fight against 
 their brethren the children of Israel." In spite of the 
 prophet's prohibition we read that there was war between 
 Judah and Israel all the days of E-ehoboam, and of the 
 two following kings of Judah. It is possible, however, 
 that this means, not that there was actual warfare going 
 on during all this time, but that there was an unfriendly 
 feeling between the two countries, which at times broke 
 out into actual hostilities.' It may have been in con- 
 nexion with this state of things that Rehoboam's territory 
 was invaded by Shishak, king of Egypt, for this Shishak 
 was the king at whose court Jeroboam had met with a 
 friendly reception when he fled from Jerusalem in the 
 days of Solomon. Whatever was the cause of the inva- 
 sion, the Egyptian army entered Jerusalem and plundered 
 the temple and the royal palace. 
 
 ' 1 Kings XV. 6, is omitted by the LXX. , and seems a little out of place ; 
 but verses 6 and 7 taken together may mean that the state of things which 
 existed under Eehoboam continued under Abijam. 
 
JEHOSHAPHAT. 75 
 
 We are not left to conjecture the cause of an invasion 
 of Israel by the Syrians, which took place some years 
 later, for we are expressly told that king " Asa took all 
 the silver and the gold that were left in the treasures of 
 the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's 
 house," and sent them to Benhadad, king of Syria, to 
 induce him to "break his league with Baasha" and invade 
 Israel ; which Benhadad did. 
 
 Jehoshaphat. 
 (l Kings xxii. 1-36, 41-50 : 2 Kings iii. 6-27.) 
 
 This unhappy warfare between Israel and Judah was 
 brought to an end by Jehoshaphat. He "made peace with 
 the king of Israel," and joined him in an attempt to re- 
 cover the territory which the Syrians had taken from 
 Israel. The friendly relations which Jehoshaphat kept 
 up between Judah and Israel, and the vigour with which 
 he asserted his authority abroad, did much towards restor- 
 ing the twelve tribes to their former position amongst the 
 nations. In his time, we read, "there was no king in 
 Edom; a deputy was king," which may mean either that 
 he kept Edom in subjection to Judah, or that he reduced 
 it again to subjection, after it had asserted its indepen- 
 dence under his predecessors. Assisted by the subject 
 king of Edom, he joined Jehoram the son of Ahab in 
 a successful invasion of the territory of Moab, which had 
 revolted from Israel. Nor was it only for success in war 
 that he was distinguished. We are reminded of the 
 peaceful glories of Solomon's reign when we read that 
 "Jehoshaphat made ships of Tharshish to go to Ophir for 
 gold." But the ships were wrecked at Ezion-Geber, the 
 Edomite harbour at the head of the eastern tongue of the 
 Red Sea, and the enterprise was given up. 
 
76 FOEEIGX EELATIONS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 Decline of Judah after the death of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 (2 Kings viii. 20-22, 28, 29 ; xii. 17, 18.) 
 
 After the death of the powerful Jehoshaphat the pros- 
 perity of Judah experienced a rapid decline. The Edom- 
 ites rebelled against his idolatrous son Jehoram, and 
 succeeded in establishing their independence ; and at the 
 same time Libnah, a city of Judah, " revolted," probably 
 to the Philistines, near whose territory it lay. Jehoram's 
 successor, Ahaziah, went with Joram, king of Israel, to 
 war against Hazael, king of Syria ; but the only recorded 
 result of the campaign was, that Joram retiy:ned wounded 
 from the scene of hostilities. 
 
 In the later years of Joash, king of Judah, amongst the 
 misfortunes that befel him after the death of his friend 
 and counsellor Jehoiada, we find the Syrians campaigning 
 in the south, taking Gath, a Philistine city which the Jews 
 had occupied and fortified, and threatening Jerusalem. 
 To buy them off, the temple and the palace treasuries 
 were again put in requisition. 
 
 Ahaz appeals to the Assyrians for aid against Syria 
 and Israel, 
 
 (2 Kings xvi. 1-9.) 
 
 Again, in the reign of Ahaz, Rezin, king of Syria, and 
 Pekah, son of Remaliah, king of Israel, have marched 
 together to the south, and have besieged Jerusalem ; but, 
 failing to take it, have seized and occupied Elath, a sea- 
 port on the Red Sea which the Jews had held. This 
 invasion drives Ahaz to appeal to the Assyrians for help. 
 He sends an embassy to Nineveh, the inexhaustible temple 
 treasures supplying the usual " present," and he promises 
 
INVASION OF SENNACHERIB. 77 
 
 to be the "servant" of the king of Assyria if the latter 
 will protect him from Syria and Israel. " And the king of 
 Assyria hearkened unto him, for the king of Assyria went 
 up against Damascus and took it, and carried the people 
 of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin." It is clear, how- 
 ever, that the Assyrians thought more of extending their 
 own dominions than of helping the Jews, for Elath was 
 not restored, and Judah became subject to Assyria. 
 
 Assyria and Egypt. 
 
 The rapid advance of the Assyrians is now the most 
 important fact in the foreign outlook of the kingdom 
 of Judah. Already they have destroyed Damascus and 
 put an end to the kingdom of Syria. In a few years 
 Israel also will be carried into captivity, and then Assyria 
 and Egypt will stand alone as the two powers with which 
 the kingdom of Judah has any important concern. After 
 a time the great Assyrian empire will be broken up, but 
 that will make little difference to the Jews. The Baby- 
 lonians or Chaldseans, as they are also called, will step into 
 power in the place of the Assyrians, and whether from 
 Nineveh or from Babylon the waves of conquest will still 
 roll on, until, like Syria and Israel, Judah too shall be en- 
 gulfed. Egypt will not be able to save her. She shall 
 hardly save herself. The waves will beat upon her own 
 borders, if they do not actually run over them. 
 
 Invasion of Sennacherib. 
 
 (2 Kings x\'iii. 7, 13-xLx. 37.) 
 
 Apparently encouraged by some successes against the 
 Philistines, and relying on the aid of Egypt, Hezekiah 
 ventured to throw off the yoke of Assyria. But when his 
 
78 FOREIGN RELATIONS OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 country was invaded by Sennacherib, he sent in his sub- 
 mission to the Assyrian king, and agreed to pay a heavy 
 fine. Nevertheless, either then or at a later time, a large 
 detachment of the Assyrian army was sent against Jeru- 
 salem, while the main body was advancing along the sea 
 coast in the direction of Egypt. From the walls of the 
 city the Jews looked in dismay at the host which they 
 could not meet in the field. The emissaries of the 
 Assyrian offered to the Jews that if they would open 
 their gates, and pay another fine, they should be left in 
 peace in their own land until it might be convenient for 
 their conquerors to carry them away, and settle them else- 
 where, as they had done with the people of Syria and 
 Israel. Covered with sackcloth, the king humbly prayed 
 in the temple for the deliverance of his people. The 
 answer to his prayers came through the prophet Isaiah. 
 He, at least, was not afraid ; and when a deputation from 
 the king waited upon him, he assured the nation that if 
 they would but trust in God and stand firm, they should 
 soon be delivered from the Assyrians. In accordance with 
 his prediction, the siege of Jerusalem was unexpectedly 
 raised, and the whole Assyrian army, having met with 
 some sudden calamity, the exact nature of which is not 
 told to us, retired to their own country. 
 
 The Battle of Megiddo. 
 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 29, 30 : 2 Chron. xxxv. 20-27.) 
 
 In the days of Josiah a different policy prevailed. He 
 appears to have thrown in his lot with Assyria, and when 
 Pharaoh Necho was marching to invade Asia, Josiah led 
 out an army to oppose him. He was defeated and slain at 
 the battle of Megiddo. Great was the grief and loud were 
 the lamentations in Jerusalem when the body of the brave 
 
THE LAST DAYS. 79 
 
 and pious king was brought back to be buried in the 
 sepulchre of his fathers, and the very name of Megiddo 
 long continued a word of sorrowful import to the Jews. 
 On the death of Josiah, the Jews set up his son Jehoahaz 
 as king. But after he had reigned three months he was 
 deposed and put in bonds by the Egyptians, who placed 
 his brother Jehoiakim upon the throne. 
 
 Egypt unable to save. 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 36-xxiv. 7.) 
 
 The friendship of Egypt was of no avail to Jehoiakim. 
 He was speedily subjugated by Nebuchadnezzar, king of 
 Babylon. After three years' submission he rebelled, only 
 to see Judah made the prey of " bands of the Chaldees, 
 and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and 
 bands of the Children of Ammon," whom the Lord "sent 
 against Judah to destroy it." The fact was, that Egypt 
 was no longer able to protect him ; " the king of Egypt 
 came not again any more out of his land, for the king of 
 Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river 
 Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt." 
 These words show to what extent the power of Egypt 
 had previously advanced. It will help the reader to 
 understand some passages in the history of this time, if 
 he bears in mind that the sway of Egypt at one time 
 reached to the Euphrates.^ The important fortress of 
 Carchemish on that river was held for some years by 
 the Egyptians.- 
 
 The last Days. 
 
 (2 Kings xxiv. 8— xxv. 26.) 
 
 There was nothing now to resist the might of Babylon. 
 Jehoiakim was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, called 
 
 1 2 Kings xxiii. 33. - 2 Chron. xxxv. 20: Jer. xlvi. 2. 
 
80 FOEEIGN RELATIONS OF THE KIXGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 also Jechoniah or Coniah/ who came to tlie throne on his 
 father's death. Three months afterwards Jehoiachin was 
 carried into captivity, and with him were carried " all the 
 princes and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thou- 
 sand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths : none re- 
 mained save the poorest sort of the people of the land." 
 His uncle Zedekiah was placed upon the throne, only to 
 provoke another invasion by another rebellion, for so 
 " through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jeru- 
 salem and Judah, until he had cast them off from his pre- 
 sence." Jerusalem was besieged for four months, and 
 when the surrender of the city was inevitable, Zedekiah 
 attempted to escape with the fighting men by stealing out 
 at night ; but being overtaken by the enemy, the soldiers 
 were scattered and the king made prisoner. His sons 
 were slain before his face. His own eyes were then put 
 out, having been allowed to look their last upon that 
 terrible spectacle ; and, like his predecessor, he was sent 
 in chains to Babylon. The walls of Jerusalem were 
 thrown down, the temple and the principal buildings of 
 the city were burnt, and the inhabitants were carried 
 away, some to be put to death, the remainder into capti- 
 vity. Even still a small remnant of the people was left 
 in the land, and over these a governor was appointed. 
 This governor was murdered by the leader of a rival 
 faction ; and then all the people "both small and great" 
 " arose and came to Egypt, for they were afraid of the 
 Chaldees." 
 
 ^ 1 Chron. iii. 15 : Jer. xxiv. 1, &c. ; xxii. 24, &c. 
 
THE BAMOTH, OR HIGH PLACES. 81 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 INTERNAL HISTOKY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 Religious Parties in Judak. 
 
 ^ I ^HE domestic history of the kingdom of Judah pre- 
 -^ sents in one particular a remarkable contrast to that 
 of the northern Kingdom. The rulers who succeeded 
 Eehohoam were all of the line of David, and the sceptre 
 for the most part passed down from hand to hand iii un- 
 disturbed succession. But the people of Judah did not 
 escape the religious troubles from which their brethren 
 of the ten tribes suffered. In Judah, as in Israel, there 
 were two parties — ^those who contended for the exclusive 
 worship of Jehovah, and those who sympathized in a 
 greater or less degree with the heathen religions of the 
 surrounding nations, and encouraged, or at least tolerated, 
 the practice of their idolatrous rites. The struggle be- 
 tween these two influences went on with varying results. 
 Sometimes the one prevailed, sometimes the other; and 
 the reign of each king is briefly characterized by the his- 
 torian as good or bad, according to the side which he took 
 in this all-important struggle. 
 
 The Bamoth, or Migh Places. 
 
 Many of the kings of Judah who are praised for putting 
 down idolatry are blamed for allowing " the high places " 
 to continue. Again and again we read that the king '*did 
 right in the sight of the Lord," but "the high places were 
 
 G 
 
82 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAII. 
 
 not taken away," " the people did sacrifice, and burned 
 incense on the high places." 
 
 The " high places," thus referred to, were centres 
 of worship at different places throughout the country. 
 Some of them appear to have been ancient sacred places 
 of the earlier inhabitants of the land, the use of which, 
 for religious purposes, was continued by the Hebrew 
 conquerors, probably in conjunction with the Canaan- 
 ites ; though we also read of high places having been 
 established in later times by the kings of Judah.^ 
 
 For a long time the worship at these shrines appears to 
 have been allowed to go on without any objection being 
 made to it, and it is not until the reign of Hezekiah that 
 we he'ar of any decided effort being made to put it down. 
 The law is distinct and emphatic in condemning it, and 
 strictly enjoins that there should be one central place of 
 worship for the whole people, at which alone sacrifices 
 might be offered. The object of this injunction was, 
 no doubt, in the first place, to preserve the unity of the 
 national religion; but there is reason to believe that it 
 was also intended to prevent the use of places of worship 
 which had been associated with heathen rites, for it stands 
 in close connexion with the command to destroy all the 
 monuments of idolatry in the land, and with warnings 
 against the seductions of false religions.^ 
 
 When we are told of many of the kings that they put 
 down idolatry, but that they allowed the high places to 
 continue, we are probably to understand that the high 
 places were left with the intention that they should be 
 used for the worship of Jehovah alone : though it may 
 also be implied, in the brief account of what took place on 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxi. 11 ; xxviii. 25. - Dcut. xii. 1-7 : Lev. xvii. 1-7. 
 
THE FIRST REFORMATION IN JUDAII. 83 
 
 these occasions, that the reformation which was effected in 
 Jerusalem and its immediate neighbourhood did not always 
 extend to the remoter parts of the country. In any case, 
 the continued existence and use of these sanctuaries, which 
 had been so long used for idolatrous purposes, would have 
 been a constant invitation to restore the heathen rites ; and 
 we can easily understand how the complete destruction of 
 them should have been required as a necessary part of any 
 thorough-going reformation in the interests of the exclu- 
 sive worship of Jehovah. 
 
 The first Reformation in Judah ; Asa and JeJioshaphat. 
 (1 Kings xv. 9-24 ; xxii. 41-50.) 
 
 Both the use of the high places and the permission of 
 idolatry, which were inherited from Solomon's time, were 
 continued byRehoboam and his successor Abi jam. But it 
 would appear that the toleration of heathen rites which 
 Solomon introduced took a more unjustifiable form in his 
 son's time, and that Eehoboam, whose mother was an 
 Ammonitess, permitted the practice of abominations in 
 Jerusalem which had not existed there before.^ 
 
 In the reign of Asa a reformation took place. The 
 unholy rites were put down, the idols removed, and the 
 king showed the reality of his zeal by deposing the queen 
 mother, because " she had made an idol in a grove." ' 
 The same policy was continued by his powerful successor 
 
 1 1 Kings xiv. 22-24. 
 
 - It is now generally agreed that the Hebrew word Asherah, which in this 
 and corresponding passages is translated " grove," really means an idol or 
 vipright figure, which appears to have been connected with the worship of 
 the Phoenician goddess Ashtoreth. In the pi'esent instance the symbol 
 seems to be used for the goddess which it represents. Translate "an idol 
 unto Asherah." 
 
 G2 
 
84 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 Jehoshapliat, who removed some remaining abominations 
 which Asa had spared. " Nevertheless," adds the histo- 
 rian, "the high places were not taken away" either by Asa 
 or Jehoshaphat. 
 
 Relapse into Idolatry ; Jehorarn, Ahaziah, Queen 
 Athaliah. 
 
 (2 Kings viii. 16-29 ; ix. 27-29 ; x. 12-14 ; xi.) 
 
 Though Jehoshaphat was a decided opponent of idolatry 
 in his own kingdom, he always kept on friendly terms 
 with the people of Israel ; and in an evil hour he allowed 
 his son Jehoram to marry a daughter of the idolatrous 
 king Ahab. The consequence was, that when Jehoram 
 came to the throne "he walked in the way of the kings of 
 Israel, as did the house of Ahab," and "he did evil in the 
 sight of the Lord." His son Ahaziah walked in the same 
 steps, and in consequence met his end after a short reign 
 of one year. When Jehu rose against the idolatrous house 
 of Omri in Samaria, at the instigation of the prophet 
 Elisha, Ahaziah was actually staying on a visit in the 
 palace of the king of Israel, and was slain along with his 
 host by the followers of Jehu. But though the king was 
 killed, the benefits of the revolution did not yet extend to 
 the kingdom of Judah. In the slaughter that followed 
 the death of the two kings, forty-two of Ahaziah's male 
 relatives, who also happened to be in Israel, were put 
 to death. When Athaliah the queen-mother, Jehoram's 
 widow, heard of their death, she planned the wholesale 
 destruction of the remaining male representatives of the 
 house of David, and seized the throne in the interest of 
 the idolatrous party. She held possession of it for six 
 years, and then the high priest Jehoiada had her deposed 
 by a well-organized movement, and placed upon the throne 
 
THE SECOND EEFORMATION, ETC. 85 
 
 Ahaziah's son Joash. The wretclied Athaliah was put to 
 death by the people at the command of Jehoiada. 
 
 The Second Reformation ; Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, 
 Jotham. 
 
 (2 KiXGs xii. ; xiv. 1-4. 17-22; xv. 1-7, 32-38.) 
 
 Joash was the only representative of the late king who 
 had escaped the cruel queen's massacre. He had been 
 saved as an infant by his aunt, the wife of the high priest, 
 and had been kept in concealment in the temple until the 
 time came to make him king. When he began to reign 
 he was a boy of seven, and the same influence which 
 jDlaced him on the throne directed the course of his reign : 
 he "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord 
 all his days, wherein Jehoiada the high priest instructed 
 him." He restored the temple, which was in a state of 
 ruin, and took away from the priests the management of 
 the money which was contributed for the purpose of keep- 
 ing the sacred edifice in order, because he found that they 
 appropriated it to their own purposes. Still " the high 
 places were not taken away ": the people continued to 
 sacrifice and burn incense in them. 
 
 The approval of the reign of Joash in the Book of the 
 Kings is expressly limited to the time wherein Jehoiada 
 "instructed" him. In the Book of the Chronicles we read 
 that after Jehoiada's death there was a reaction in favour 
 of idolatry amongst the "princes of Judah," and that when 
 Zechariah the son of Jehoiada stood up to protest against 
 it, he was stoned to death by the king's command. The 
 apostacy and ingratitude of the king are not related in the 
 Books of Kings, but we are told of the misfortunes which 
 gathered round the close of his reign. Judah was invaded 
 
86 INTEKNAL HISTOEY OF THE KINGDOM OF JFDAH. 
 
 by the Syrians, who had to be bought off with the temple 
 treasures. Joash was killed by some of his own officers 
 who had conspired against him. 
 
 The next three kings, including Uzziah who reigned for 
 fifty-two years, were all loyal to the worship of Jehovah. 
 They "did that which was right in the sight of the Lord," 
 only with the usual exception — that the high places were 
 not removed. 
 
 Ahaz. 
 
 (2 Kings xvi.) 
 
 Ahaz was a bad king, worse than any that preceded 
 him. " He walked in the way of the kings of Israel, 
 yea, and made his son to pass through the fire " — that is, 
 caused him to be burnt alive as an offering to Moloch, the 
 fire-god of the children of Ammon — " according to the 
 abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out 
 from before the children of Israel," and he " sacrificed 
 and burned incense in the high places, and on the hills, 
 and under every green tree." 
 
 JSezeldah ; the Third Reformation. 
 (2 Kings xviii. 1-6.) 
 
 The excesses of Ahaz called for another reformation, 
 which took place in the reign of his good son Hezekiah, 
 and was more thorough than any that had preceded it. 
 In Hezekiah we at last come to a king to whom praise is 
 given without stint — " He did that which was right in 
 the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his 
 father had done." " He trusted in the Lord God of 
 Israel ; so that after him was none like him among all the 
 kings of Judah, nor any that were before him." " He re- 
 
JOSIAH; THE FOURTH REFORMATION. 87 
 
 moved the high places," which none of his predecessors 
 had done, " and brake the images, and cut down the 
 groves." He even " brake in pieces the brazen serpent 
 that Moses had made : for unto those days the children of 
 Israel did burn incense to it, and he called it Nehiishtan,''^ 
 a piece of brass. 
 
 Manasseh. 
 
 (2 Kings xxi. 1-22.) 
 
 The end of the struggle was yet far away. On the 
 death of Hezekiah the returning wave of idolatry swept 
 over the country again, and the flood was as extreme 
 as the ebb had been. Manasseh the next king brought 
 back all the evil that his father had banished. Altars 
 were rebuilt, images set up again, and the cruel fires of 
 Moloch flamed through the land as in the days of Ahaz. 
 Though the historian seemed to have exhausted the power 
 of his language in describing Ahaz, he has a worse account 
 still to give of Manasseh. His idolatries surpassed any- 
 thing that had yet been known. He caused the people of 
 Grod "to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord 
 destroyed from before the children of Israel "; and murder 
 was added to idolatry — he "shed innocent blood very much 
 till he filled Jerusalem from one end to another." 
 
 Manasseh's son Amon, who succeeded him, was a king 
 of the same type as his father. He " did that which was 
 evil in the sight of the Lord, as his father Manasseh did." 
 
 Josiah; the Fourth Reformation. 
 
 (2 Kings xxii. ; xxiii. 1-28.) 
 
 After a reign of two years, Amon was slain by con- 
 spirators, and the reaction came in the days of his son 
 
88 INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 Josiah. Like an earlier reformer, Josiah was little more 
 than a cliild — eight years old — when he was called to the 
 throne ; and the character of his administration was, no 
 doubt, due in some degree to influences similar to those 
 which guided the youth of Joash. He did not, however, 
 commence his reforms until the eighteenth year of his 
 reign, when he was twenty-six years of age — old enough 
 to think and act for himself. The reformation, when it 
 came, was very thorough, more so than any that had pre- 
 ceded it. The temple was first purified, and every vessel 
 that had been defiled by use in any idolatrous rite was 
 burnt. The *' grove," which Manasseh had again set up 
 in the sacred edifice, was burnt, and "stamped to powder," 
 and the powder cast upon dead men's graves. The houses 
 of the shameless votaries of Ashtoreth were levelled with 
 the ground. Throughout the land high places were torn 
 down, altars were defiled, images broken, every vestige of 
 idolatry was swept away, and the priests of Jehovah who 
 had contaminated themselves with it were forbidden ever 
 again to approach the altar of the Lord. Nor was the 
 crusade against idolatry confined to Judah. It was carried, 
 imder the personal supervision of the king, into the coim- 
 try which had lately been occupied by the ten tribes. At 
 Bethel, and throughout the cities of Samaria, the altars 
 were defiled and thrown down, as they had been in Judah, 
 and the priests who ministered at them were put to death. 
 This account shows that there must have been some rem- 
 nants of the Israelites still existing there, and that they 
 acknowledged the authority of Josiah. The priests who 
 were put to death in Samaria were probably not of the 
 family of Levi, which fact would account for their being 
 treated with less consideration than those who had offended 
 in Judah. When idolatry was put down, Josiah kept the 
 
THE STRUGGLE NOT ENDED. 89 
 
 passover — such a passover as had not been kept "from the 
 days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days 
 of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah." 
 
 The Book of the Lata that ivasfoimd in the Temple. 
 
 A story, to which we shall ha.ve occasion to refer again, 
 is told in the Book of Kings of the occasion which led to 
 Josiah's reformation. The Temple had fallen into decay 
 during the preceding reigns, and it was about to be re- 
 stored. When the king sent his scribe to Hilkiah the 
 high priest to sum the money that had been collected for 
 the purpose, he was informed that Hilkiah had found in 
 the Temple "the Book of the Law," or "a book of the law " 
 — the Hebrew words would bear either translation. The 
 book was brought and read before the king, who was 
 horrified to discover that the nation had been long ignor- 
 ing the Divine precepts contained in this volume, and had 
 by its neglect of them incurred the most dreadful penalties. 
 A deputation was immediately sent to consult the pro- 
 phetess Huldah, who announced that nothing could now 
 avert the threatened doom from the nation, but that owing 
 to the king's repentance the evil would not come in his 
 day. Nevertheless, the king summoned all the people to 
 the Temple, and having read the entire book before them, 
 bound himself and them in a solemn covenant to keep its 
 provisions for the future. 
 
 The Struggle not ended. 
 
 The blood shed by Manasseh and the violent measures 
 that accompanied Josiah's reforms show the height to 
 which party feeling had been raised by the long struggle, 
 the course of which we have been following. As was to 
 
90 INTEENAL HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 
 
 have been expected, the victory won by such means was 
 not permanent. On the death of Josiah the reaction came 
 once again, and the heathen party appear to have con- 
 tinued in the ascendant until the end of the monarchy. 
 The account that is given of the four remaining kings is 
 very brief, but the side which they took in this controversy 
 is sufficiently indicated by the sentence with which each 
 one in succession is dismissed by the writer of the Books 
 of the Kings — that "he did evil in the sight of the 
 Lord." 
 
THE EEIGNS OF DAVID AND SOLOMON 91 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. 
 
 ^ I ^HE historical summary which we have given of the 
 -*- regal period has been taken almost entirely from 
 the Books of Samuel and Kings. There is, as we have 
 already mentioned, another history of the same period 
 contained in the Books of Chronicles, which follow the 
 Books of the Kings in the English Bible. 
 
 The Genealogical Tables in the First Book of Chronicles. 
 
 The first ten chapters of the First Book of the Chronicles 
 are taken up with a series of genealogical tables, beginning 
 with that of the family of Adam. These tables contain a 
 number of short historical and geographical notices scat- 
 tered through them, many of which are of great interest 
 and importance, as containing information which is not 
 recorded elsewhere. These chapters are, in fact, a sort of 
 skeleton of the Bible history down to the writer's time, 
 and serve as a general introduction to the detailed history 
 contained in the remainder of the work. 
 
 The Reigns of David and Solomon in the Books of 
 Chronicles. 
 
 The detailed history commences in the tenth chapter 
 with an account of the death of Saul, and in the eleventh 
 chapter takes up the history of David. The reigns 'of 
 
92 THE BOOKS OF CHROXICLES. 
 
 David and Solomon are related at length, and tlie account 
 of them which is contained in the Book of Kings is sup- 
 plemented by some additional matter. But some remark- 
 able incidents, which are recorded in the Books of Kings 
 about these reigns, are not mentioned in the Chronicles. 
 In more than one instance they seem to be not only 
 omitted, but positively excluded by the course of the 
 narrative. 
 
 The Kings of Judah in the Second Book of Chronicles. 
 
 After the death of Solomon, the narrative in the Books 
 of Chronicles follows the line of the kings of Judah. The 
 history of the northern kingdom is not related ; and the 
 kings of Israel are only mentioned occasionally, when they 
 happen to come in contact with the southern kingdom. 
 The reigns of the successors of Solomon on the throne of 
 Judah are treated, on the whole, more fully than in the 
 Books of Kings, and some interesting particulars are 
 added to the account of these times which is given in 
 the preceding history. The important reign of Jehosha- 
 phat, for instance, is treated at considerable length, and 
 in the Chronicles we hear, for the first time, of this great 
 king's plans for the religious education of the people of 
 Judah, of the system of law-courts which he established, 
 and of the success generally of his home administration, as 
 well as some additional accounts of his foreign wars. We 
 hear something, too, though still but little, of the long and 
 prosperous reign of Uzziah, which, in the Books of Kings, 
 was dismissed with the briefest notice. He sought Grod, 
 we are told, in the days of Zechariah the prophet, " who 
 had understanding in the visions of God"; and as long as 
 he sought the Lokd, God made him to prosper. He forti- 
 fied Jerusalem, which was defended by engines "invented 
 
THE KINGS OF JUDAH. 93 
 
 by cunning men "; he improved the organization of the 
 army, and was successful in foreign wars, extending the 
 influence of Judah, even to the entering in of Egypt. But 
 in his pride he attempted to usurp the functions of the 
 priesthood. Having entered the Temple to burn incense, 
 as he stood with the censer in his hand, he was confronted 
 by a body of fourscore priests of the Lord, headed by 
 Azariah the high priest, all " valiant men," who did not 
 fear to withstand even kings in God's cause ; and when 
 his passion rose at this rebellious opposition, he was smit- 
 ten with leprosy there and then, and continued a leper till 
 the day of his death. 
 
 The news that Manasseh was carried captive to Babylon 
 will be a surprise to the reader of the earlier history ; and 
 equally unexpected will be the story of his humbling him- 
 self and repenting in the land of his captivity, and of the 
 religious reforms which he executed on his restoration to 
 his native country. These are a few instances of the 
 diiferences that will be found to exist between the two 
 histories. The student who wishes to make a more com- 
 plete comparison of them can easily do so by the aid of an 
 ordinary reference Bible. We shall have to consider more 
 fully in a later chapter the relation in which the Books of 
 Chronicles stand to the Books of Samuel and Kings, and to 
 the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, 
 
94 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 
 
 The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 
 TN tlie year 538 b.c, Babylon was taken by Cyrus, and 
 -^ the Persians stepped into the place of the Chaldseans 
 in relation to the Jews, as the Chaldseans had themselves 
 superseded the Assyrians. One of the first acts of the new 
 ruler was to give to all the Jews throughout his dominions 
 permission to return to their own country. Some of the 
 captive people gladly accepted the favour. The return of 
 the exiles, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the growth 
 of the restored community under the protection of succes- 
 sive Persian kings, are the subjects of the Books of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah. These two books form a continuation of 
 the Books of Chronicles. A more detailed summary of 
 their contents is given in the following sections. 
 
 The Return of the Jeics to Jerusalem, and the Rehuilding 
 of the Temple. 
 
 (Ezra i.-vi.) 
 
 Cyrus issues a decree that all the Jews who are willing 
 to return to Jerusalem, and " build the house of the Lord 
 God of Israel," may do so, and that those who do not 
 themselves wish to return may help their brethren with 
 supplies and offerings for the work : Cyrus himself gives 
 as his contribution the vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had 
 taken from the Temple. About fifty thousand persons, 
 
NEHEMIAH. 95 
 
 members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with priests 
 and Levites, respond to the invitation, and set out for 
 home. They re-occupy Jerusalem and commence to re- 
 build the Temple. But the work is hardly commenced 
 when it is stopped again by the jealous opposition of their 
 neighbours, who persuade the Persians that if the Jews 
 are allowed to rebuild and fortify their city, they will 
 revolt. The opposition is successful until the reign of the 
 Persian king Darius, who gives the Jews the protection of 
 a new decree, and the Temple is finished. The leaders of 
 this first migration were Zerubbabel of the royal house of 
 David, and Jeshua (or Joshua) the high priest. They 
 were assisted in the work of rebuilding the Temple by the 
 prophets Haggai and Zechariah the son of Iddo. 
 
 Arrival of Ezra. 
 (Ezra vii.-x.) 
 
 A long time elapses, of which no account is given, until 
 the reign of Artaxerxes, when the settlement is reinforced 
 by a second migration, which arrives under the guidance 
 of Ezra the scribe. Ezra is greatly distressed to discover 
 that many of the Jews have contracted marriages with 
 the surrounding heathen. He binds all the offenders 
 under a solemn oath to put away the idolatrous wives and 
 their children, and the Book of Ezra ends with an inte- 
 resting account of the carrying out of this reform. 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 (Nehemiah i.-vii.) 
 
 The next arrival on the scene is Nehemiah. He was 
 cupbearer to that same Artaxerxes who had already 
 allowed Ezra to come to the assistance of his brethren; 
 
96 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH, ANB ESTHER. 
 
 and finding favour with his royal master, he obtained 
 authority to come to Jerusalem, and build the walls of 
 the city, which were still in ruins. 
 
 In carrying out this task, Nehemiah has to contend 
 against the angry opposition of many enemies ; but he 
 urges on the work with vigour. The masons and their 
 labourers have to build and carry materials with their 
 swords by their sides. Along the rising walls are sta- 
 tioned guards and sentinels, while a trumpeter stands by 
 Nehemiah ready to sound the alarm. So they laboui' 
 and watch day after day " from the rising of the morning 
 till the stars appeared." At night everyone is compelled 
 to come within the walls for mutual protection, and the 
 guard is kept up. Nehemiah himself is ever on the 
 watch. While the work goes on, neither he nor his im- 
 mediate friends and attendants put oif their clothes. In 
 fifty-two days the walls are finished, and the city safe. 
 
 Hard work and open enemies outside were not all that 
 Nehemiah had to contend with. The state of siege in 
 which they had been living had reduced the poorer Jews 
 to the greatest extremities, and their hardships had been 
 increased by the selfishness of the rich, who had lent them 
 money on usury, taking their possessions in pledge, and 
 when all else failed taking their children as slaves. " A 
 great cry" was raised by the suffering people, complain- 
 ing of the cruelty of their brethren, and demanding a 
 distribution of corn. Nehemiah was able to persuade the 
 money-lenders to restore the pledges, and to deal with 
 their poorer brethren in a more liberal and patriotic spirit. 
 Another serious danger was caused by the existence with- 
 in the walls of the city of a disloyal party amongst the 
 nobles, who kept up a secret correspondence with the 
 enemies outside. This state of things caused Nehemiah 
 
PUBLIC READING OF THE LAW. 97 
 
 the greatest anxiety in the unprotected state of the city, 
 for though the walls had been built, the city was as yet 
 but partially inhabited, and the large unoccupied spaces 
 left it perilously open to surprise. He, therefore, gave 
 anxious charge to his brother Hanani, " a faithful man," 
 to keep a careful watch over the city, and especially to see 
 that the gates were shut and securely fastened every even- 
 ing, before the day guards were relieved by the sentinels 
 for the night, and that they were not opened again before 
 broad daylight in the morning. 
 
 Public Reading of the Law. 
 
 (Nehemiah viii.— X.) 
 
 Although Ezra's name has not been mentioned in the 
 earlier part of the Book of Nehemiah he is still at Jerusa- 
 lem, and he now appears as the leading figure in a great 
 public reading of " the law," which lasts for seven daj^s, 
 and is accompanied by public rejoicings and thanksgiving. 
 At the same time the Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated. 
 After the Festival a solemn fast was proclaimed, and the 
 whole people having confessed and bewailed their offences, 
 deliberately renewed their covenant with the God of their 
 fathers : an oath was administered that they would keep 
 the law, avoid intermarriages with strangers, neither buy 
 nor sell on the Sabbath, observe the Sabbatical year, and 
 remit all debts according to the law, pay a tax of a third 
 of a shekel for the service of the Temple, and offer all first- 
 fruits and all tithes to the Levites. Ezra is supposed to 
 have died soon after these services, for his name is not 
 mentioned again. 
 
 H 
 
98 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAII, AND ESTHER. 
 Conclusion of the Book ; NeliemiaW s Second Visit. 
 
 (Nehemiah xi.-xiii.) 
 
 The remaining contents of the Book of Nehemiah are 
 the selection of a tenth part of the whole people to dwell 
 within the walls of the city, the solemn dedication of the 
 walls, and a second visit of Nehemiah, who had gone back 
 to his duties at the Persian Court. On his return to Jeru- 
 salem he had again to correct abuses which had revived to 
 a considerable extent during his absence, in spite of the 
 public resolutions and vows to the contrary. 
 
 " The Adcersaries of Jitdah and Benjamin^'' Samaritans^ 
 Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites. 
 
 In Ezra and Nehemiah we read that the efforts of the 
 Jews to rebuild the Temple and the walls of their city 
 were persistently opposed by the Samaritans. These peo- 
 ple are described as a mixed multitude of foreigners, whom 
 the Assyrian conqueror had planted in the territory of the 
 ten tribes, when he took the Israelites away ; and who had 
 adopted the religion of Israel along with their own multi- 
 farious idolatries. We must remember that this is the 
 Jewish representation of them, and that we have already 
 seen reason to think that there was some proportion, 
 greater or less, of the descendants of Jacob amongst the 
 people who dwelt in the territory of the ten tribes, as it is 
 hardly likely that King Josiah would have attempted a 
 religious reformation amongst them, if they were purely 
 heathen.' The expression, "adversaries of Judah and 
 Benjamin," which is used of them, would seem to point to 
 the same conclusion. When Zerubbabel's baud of immi- 
 
 1 See p. 88. 
 
"THE ADVEESAEIES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMINS'." 99 
 
 grants first arrived in Jerusalem, and began to build the 
 Temple, these people, whoever they were, asked to be 
 allowed to join in the work. This the Jews refused, and 
 the refusal converted the Samaritans into the bitter oppo- 
 nents of the undertaking, in which they had been anxious 
 to have a share. Though it may seem a matter for regret 
 that an opportunity was thus thrown away of enlisting 
 supporters in the cause of the Lord, it is also possible that 
 the preservation of the Jewish faith was involved in the 
 rejection of the proffered assistance, for the Jewish ele- 
 ment in the alliance might not have been strong enough to 
 resist the idolatrous influences with which it would have 
 been brought into contact by the proposed union. 
 
 We know from the New Testament that the enmity 
 between the Jews and Samaritans continued till a later 
 age. But it is only by reading the history of the inter- 
 vening centuries that we can understand how the bitterness 
 of this feeling was exasperated by a long series of events. 
 Over and over again during this period did the Samaritans 
 act the same two parts which they acted on the occasion of 
 the rebuilding of the Temple. When the Jews were pros- 
 perous, or when any advantage seemed likely to result 
 from an alliance with them, the Samaritans were ready to 
 claim relationship with them ; but more frequently we 
 find Jews and Samaritans engaged in bitter hostilities. 
 When Alexander the Grreat visited the Temple on Mount 
 Sion, and granted the Jews special privileges in respect of 
 their religion, the Samaritans, "with great alacrity," in- 
 vited the royal conqueror to visit their temple on Mount 
 Gerizim, claiming to be Hebrews, and expecting to be 
 treated with the same favour as their neighbours had 
 been ; but when one of the successors of Alexander was 
 endeavouring to extirpate the worship of Jehovah, and 
 
 H2 
 
100 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, XEHEMIAH, AXD ESTHER. 
 
 tlie Jews in Palestine were fighting for their very exist- 
 ence under Judas Maccahreus, a Samaritan host joined 
 their heathen enemies. On one occasion a band of pil- 
 grims w'ho were going from Galilee to the Temple at 
 Jerusalem w^ere attacked, as they passed through Samaria, 
 and numbers of them slain ; and in later times it was 
 customary for many of those who went up from Galilee to 
 attend the Festivals at Jerusalem, to travel by the longer 
 route on the east of the Jordan. Two stories related 
 by Josephus, whether they are true or false, will show 
 the kind of feeling that existed between the two neigh- 
 bouring communities. He says that some Samaritans 
 succeeded in gaining access to the Temple at Jerusalem, 
 and desecrated the sacred building by scattering dead 
 men's. bones upon the pavement. He also relates that, 
 when the people of Sion were accustomed to communicate 
 to their brethren in Babylon the time of the rising of the 
 paschal moon by means of a series of beacon fires, the 
 Samaritans used to light fires upon their mountains to 
 mislead the watchmen. 
 
 One of '' the adversaries," " Sanballat the Horonite," 
 was a Moabite of the city of Horonaim, who held office 
 under the Persians in Samaria.^ Other opponents, who 
 are mentioned by name, are " Tobiah, the slave, the 
 Ammonite," and " Geshem," or Gashmu, " the Ai-abian." 
 Tobiah, who is called a slave perhaps in contemptuous 
 allusion to the meanness of his origin, was governor of the 
 country of the Ammonites to the east of the Jordan, hold- 
 ing this appoinment, like Sanballat, from the Persians. 
 Geshem " the Arabian" held a similar appointment in the 
 Edomite district to the south of Judaja. The hostility 
 between the Jews and the three races here mentioned, the 
 
 1 Xeh. ii, 19. 
 
THE LOST TRIBES. 101 
 
 Moabites, Ammonites, and Edomites, was a thing of long 
 standing, and, as in the case of the Samaritans, continued 
 for centuries after the time of which we are now reading.^ 
 
 The Lost Tribes. 
 
 According to the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the 
 people who returned to Jerusalem after the Captivity 
 were only members of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, 
 with some Levites and their servants. They were the re- 
 presentatives of the people of the Southern Kingdom. 
 There is no mention in these books of the population that 
 had been carried into captivity from the Northern King- 
 dom. It may have been this fact that gave rise to the 
 idea that the ten tribes have been lost. The prophets had 
 foretold that they, as well as the tribes of Judah and of 
 Benjamin, should be restored again to their own land.- 
 But there was no record of any such restoration having 
 taken place. On the contrary, according to the represen- 
 tation of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the occupants 
 of their ancient territory were the descendants of the hea- 
 then who had been planted in their place. What had 
 become of them ? According to Josephus, they were in 
 his time still living in countless hosts beyond the Eu- 
 phrates.^ That they would yet return to their own land, 
 when the times of the Messiah had come, was the dream 
 of another writer.* But they have not returned, nor are 
 they to be found in the East. In the ninth century after 
 Christ, a learned Jew, Eldad, himself of the tribe of Dan, 
 
 ^ Gen. xL\. 30-38 ; xxvii. : Numb. xx. 14-21 : Deut. xxiii. 3-6. : Pss. 
 Ix. 8, 9 ; cxxxvii. ; Neh. xiii. 1, 2 ; 1 Mace. v. 1-7- But see also Deut. ii. 
 1-8, 9, 19; xxiii. 7, 8. 
 
 - Is. xi. : Zech. x. 8-11 : Micah vii. 14 : Jer. iii. 12-19 ; xxxi. : Ezek. 
 vi., xxxvii. 
 
 ^ Ant. xi. 5, 2. * 2 Esdras xiii. 
 
102 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, XEHEMIAH, AXD ESTHER. 
 
 took a journey in search of tlie ten tribes, but without 
 success. Other Jewish travellers of the later middle ages 
 were on the look out for them. The inquiry has been 
 taken up by Christian writers, and even in the present 
 day continues to interest a considerable number of per- 
 sons. Since the lost tribes are not to be found beyond the 
 Euphrates, or anywhere in the world bearing their own 
 ancient name, their representatives have been sought 
 amongst other races. Attempts have been made to dis- 
 cover them in the Afghans, in the Chinese Jews, in the 
 Parthians and Buddhists, and, when speculation on the 
 subject began to run wild, anywhere at all where any real 
 or fancied resemblance of feature or character, or religious 
 tradition, could be adduced in favour of the alleged iden- 
 tification, from the North American Indians to the British 
 people. Equally worthy of credit with these modern specu- 
 lations, and much more beautiful, is the ancient Jewish 
 legend, preserved in the apocryphal Book of Second 
 Esdras,^ that the captive people " took this counsel among 
 themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the 
 heathen, and go forth into a further country, where never 
 mankind dwelt, that they might there keep their statutes, 
 which they never kept in their own land," and that they 
 are still waiting there in the unknown country, until the 
 time when " the Highest shall stay the springs of the 
 stream again," and bring them back once more to their 
 old home : — 
 
 — "A legend wild — 
 JIow the Ten Tribes, the banish'd of the Lord 
 Took counsel with themselves, that they would leave 
 The multitude of heathens, and fare forth 
 To a far country, where there never came 
 Oarsman or sail. A penitential host, 
 They entered the Euphrates by the ford. 
 
 1 2 Esdras xiii. 40-47. 
 
THE LOST TEIBES. 103 
 
 And often hath the moon at midnight hung 
 
 Pillars of luminous silver o'er the wave, 
 
 But not a pillar half so broad and bright 
 
 As that which steered them on, while the Most High 
 
 Held still the flood. And aye their way they took 
 
 Twice nine long months, until they reach'd the land 
 
 Arsareth. There the mountains gird them in — 
 
 And o'er the gleaming granite pass white clouds, 
 
 That sail from awful waterfalls, and catch, 
 
 And tear their silvery fleeces on the pines. 
 
 And never hunter scaled those granite peaks. 
 
 And never wandering man hath heard the roar 
 
 Of cataracts soften' d through those folds of fir. 
 
 But a great temple hangs upon the hills, 
 
 And ever and anon rolls through its gates 
 
 A mighty music washing thi'ough the pines. 
 
 And silver trumps still snarl at the new moon ; 
 
 And all their life is sacrament and psalm. 
 
 Vesper or festival, and holy deed. 
 
 There do they dwell until the latter time, 
 
 "When God Most High shall stay the springs again." ' 
 
 Returning from the region of poetry to sober prose, if 
 we ask what really became of the inhabitants of the king- 
 dom of Israel, after they were carried away from their 
 own land, we shall, perhaps, be guided to the correct 
 answer by a number of scattered hints. There is reason 
 to believe that many of the Israelites, as well as of the 
 people of Judah, lapsed into the heathenism that sur- 
 rounded them in the land of their captivity, and also in 
 the many other lands to which, even at that early period, 
 they were carried by their flight from persecution, or by 
 their zeal for commercial pursuits.- It is also very like- 
 ly that under the same government which allowed the 
 
 ^ Bishop Alexander : "T/(e Waters of Babylon.'''' 
 
 2 Is. xi. 12 ; Ivii. ; Ixv. : Jer. x. ; xxvi. 21 ; xxxi. 10 ; xliv. : Ezek. v. 
 2, 10, 12 ; xiv. 3 sq. : Jonah i. 3 : Deut. xxviii. 64. 
 
104 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, XEHEMIAH, AND ESTHER. 
 
 southern tribes to return and rebuild Jerusalem, many of 
 the other exiles also found their way back to their old set- 
 tlements. Some of them, perhaps, came to Jerusalem and 
 Judah. It is certain that in later times we find a popu- 
 lation in Galilee, and in the country to the east of the 
 Jordan, keeping up their connexion with the Jewish Tem- 
 ple, and recognized by the people of Jerusalem as belong- 
 ing to the Jewish community. And one name, at least, 
 mentioned in the New Testament, that of Anna the daugh- 
 ter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher,' shows that there 
 was nothing to forbid persons belonging to the other tribes 
 residing in Jerusalem along with Judah and Benjamin. 
 The name of " Jew," originally confined to the people of 
 the Southern Kingdom, and derived from the tribe of 
 Judah, now became the common title of all the nation, 
 wherever settled. We may conclude, therefore, that the 
 foreign " Jewish " communities,- some of which were very 
 numerous indeed, included members from all the tribes. 
 The address of one of the Epistles in the New Testament 
 " to the Twelve tribes of the dispersion " confirms this 
 supposition.^ In the Book of the Acts, too, the whole 
 community of those who held the faith of Israel is spoken 
 of as " our twelve tribes." * 
 
 Esther. 
 
 The Book of Esther is a tale of a Jewish maiden, one of 
 " the children of the captivity," who was chosen for her 
 beauty to be the royal consort of the Persian king Aha- 
 suerus. Wicked Haman, the prime minister, had a spite 
 against her foster-father Mordecai, and obtained a decree 
 from the king, that on a certain day all the Jews through- 
 
 1 Luke ii. 3G, 37. - Acts ii. 5-11. ^ James i. 1. * Acts xxvi. 7. 
 
ESTHEE. 105 
 
 out his vast dominions should be given up to slaughter. 
 On the thirteenth of the month Adar all are to be de- 
 stroyed, "both young and old, little children and women," 
 and their enemies are to take their spoil. But through 
 Esther's influence with the king the cruel plot is coi^nter- 
 mined. Haman is exposed in his true character, and so 
 completely are the tables turned against him that he is 
 himself hanged upon the gallows fifty cubits high, which 
 he had prepared for the hated Mordecai. Mordecai now 
 becomes prime minister in Haman's place, and in his new 
 position is able to befriend his countrymen. Assisted by 
 Esther, he obtains the reversal of the decree which had 
 been passed against them. In place of it a new decree is 
 issued, giving permission to the Jews " to stand for their 
 lives" and take vengeance on their enemies. The decree 
 is addressed to all persons in authority through the king's 
 dominions, and is despatched by couriers to the " one 
 hundred and twenty-seven provinces," " from India to 
 Ethiopia." On the stated day, the thirteenth of the 
 month Adar, a tremendous slaughter of the enemies of 
 the Jews takes place. Seventy-five thousand are mas- 
 sacred. But the Jews lay not a hand upon the spoil. In 
 the palace of Shushan alone, where the Jews were allowed 
 a second day at the dreadful work, eight hundred are 
 killed, amongst whom are the ten sons of Haman. In 
 memory of this great deliverance an annual festival is in- 
 stituted. Two days are kept as " days of feasting and 
 joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to 
 the poor." The two days of the feast are the fourteenth 
 and fifteenth of the month Adar, those being the days 
 upon which " the Jews rested from their enemies." In 
 the provinces they rested on the fourteenth after the one 
 day's slaughter, and in Shushan, where they were allowed 
 
106 THE BOOKS OF EZRA, NEHEMIAH, AXD ESTHER. 
 
 a second day's slaughter, they rested on the fifteenth. 
 The festival which is kept on these days is the Feast of 
 Purim. The writer of the Book of Esther tells us that 
 the name " Purim" is the plural of Pur, a lot, which is 
 probably a Persian word; and that the feast was so called 
 because Haman cast lots to determine a favourable day 
 for the massacre of the Jews. 
 
 T/te Book of Esther and the Canon. 
 
 The admission of the Book of Esther into the Canon 
 shows that all the Jews, both those who remained scat- 
 tered abroad amongst the heathen, as well as those who had 
 elected to retm-n to Jerusalem, were recognized as belong- 
 ing to the Jewish Church. The book makes no mention 
 of Judah or Jerusalem ; it only speaks of the children of 
 the Captivity. It does not however throw any light upon 
 the question about the lost tribes, for Esther and Mordecai 
 are described as belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, and 
 the scattered people are spoken of as " Jews," a name 
 which might, or might not, include all the exiles. 
 
 TJie Feast of Purim. 
 
 The Feast of Purim is still kept by the Jews on the 
 fourteenth and fifteenth days of the month Adar. It has 
 come to be considered a sort of preliminary festival to the 
 Passover, which is held exactly a month later, ^ and it has 
 been called the Passover of the Dispersion. Part of the 
 ceremonial at the Feast is the solemn reading of the Book 
 of Esther, and it was long the custom, whenever the hated 
 name of Haman was mentioned by the reader, for the 
 
 ' Lev. xxiii. o, 6, &c. 
 
THE FEAST OF PUEIM. 107 
 
 whole congregation to hiss and stamp, and shake their 
 clenched fists and say, " Let his name be blotted out," 
 " Let the name of the wicked perish." The boys who 
 were present at the same time rubbed out the name which 
 they had written for the purpose upon pieces of wood or 
 stone, making a great clatter with their hands, or by 
 knocking the pieces of wood or stone- together. At the 
 conclusion of the reading the whole congregation ex- 
 claimed " Cursed be Haman, blessed be Mordecai ; cursed 
 be Zeresh (the wife of Haman), blessed be Esther; cursed 
 be all idolaters, blessed be all Israelites ; and blessed be 
 Harbonah, who hanged Haman." The passage from the 
 Book of Exodus which relates the destruction of the 
 Amalekites, the people of Agag the supposed ancestor of 
 Haman, is also read.^ 
 
 The idea which the Book of Esther gives of the perse- 
 cutions to which the scattered Jews were liable even in 
 those early ages, and the spirit in which it shows those 
 persecutions to have been met, make the book read like an 
 epitome of much of the history of the dispersion from that 
 time to this. Even in our own day we have witnessed a 
 remarkable instance of the persecutions which have so long 
 followed the ancient people ; and the modem observances 
 in connexion with the Feast of Purim show the late sur- 
 vival of the spirit generated by the fortunes of the Jews 
 and the treatment which they have received from other 
 races. The persistence with which these features in the 
 history of the Jews have continued to manifest themselves 
 is one of the most remarkable facts in history. 
 
 1 Ex. xvii. 8-1 G : 1 Sam. xv. 8 : Esther iii. 1. 
 
108 COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 Biblical Cnticism. 
 
 ^ I ^HE object of the preceding chapters has been merely 
 -*- to give such a general idea of the contents of the 
 Historical Books, and of the course of the narrative which 
 they contain, as may be found a useful guide to those 
 readers of the Bible who are not already familiar with 
 this portion of it. Nothing has been said of the date, or 
 authorship, or historical value of these writings. On these 
 subjects we propose to say a little in this and the two fol- 
 lowing chapters. 
 
 Unfortunately the Hebrew Historical Books are anony- 
 mous. Unlike most other historical works with which 
 we are acquainted, they do not give the names of their 
 authors,^ or say when they were written. There are, no 
 doubt, many Jewish traditions relating to the authorship 
 and composition of the Books of the Bible ; but many 
 of these traditions are so obviously untrustworthy, that we 
 can place little reliance upon those which are not actually 
 disproved, and are compelled to be very cautious in making 
 any use of them for the purpose of historical investigation. 
 In recent times some scholars have devoted much attention 
 to the careful examination of the contents of the Books of 
 
 > Unless the Book of Nehemiah be an exception. But see the section on 
 the sources of the Books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, in chap. XIY. 
 
THE HISTOKICAL BOOKS. 109 
 
 the Bible, in order to ascertain whether anything can he 
 learned from the writings themselves as to their origin 
 and character. This branch of the study of the Bible is 
 called Biblical Criticism. In the following sections we 
 shall give some of the results of Biblical Criticism which 
 aiiect the Historical Books. We can only give results, 
 though we may in some cases indicate the lines of argu- 
 ment by which the critics have arrived at their conclusions. 
 
 The Ilistorical Books contain Quotations and Extracts 
 from earlier Compositions. 
 
 One of the first results of Biblical Criticism was the dis- 
 covery that, whatever may ha^^e been the date of the com- 
 position of the Historical Books, they contain in their 
 present text fragments of earlier compositions from which 
 they have been, to a greater or less extent, compiled. In 
 a few cases the Biblical writers mention the earlier sources 
 from which these extracts are taken. " The Book of the 
 Wars of the Lord " is quoted in Numbers.^ The Book 
 of Jasher, which was perhaps a collection of warlike poems, 
 is also twice mentioned, once in Joshua, and again in the 
 Second Book of Samuel.- But there are also many places 
 in which, though" nothing is said to show that a quota- 
 tion is intended, the earlier pieces can be unmistakeably 
 discerned lying embedded in the present text. The two 
 narratives of the Creation, for instance, which stand at the 
 beginning of the Book of Genesis, are evidently the work 
 of different hands, and are, no doubt, earlier com]3ositions 
 which were used by a later compiler. The sections into 
 which the chapters of the Book of Genesis immediately 
 following these narratives naturally divide themselves also 
 
 ^ Numb. xsi. 14. 2 jogij_ x. 13 ; 2 Sam i. 18. 
 
no COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 si low signs of diverse origin ; and a close inspection of the 
 story of tlie Elood will show that its puzzling complica- 
 tions and contradictions can be most easily explained on 
 the supposition that it has been made up of at least two 
 stories woven together. The interesting account of the 
 invasion of Canaan by the kings of the East, which now 
 stands as the fourteenth chapter of Grenesis, is a piece 
 which is recognized by general consent as exhibiting signs 
 of a very early date in comparison with its j)resent sur- 
 roundings. Attention has already been called to the fre- 
 quent repetitions in the history of the patriarchs, which 
 evidently arise from the manner in which the Book of 
 G-enesis has been composed ; and also to the fragmentary 
 character of the sections in which the Mosaic legisla- 
 tion and the narrative of the Mosaic period are given. 
 The catalogue of the stations occupied by the Israelites 
 during their desert wanderings, given in Numbers xxxiii., 
 may be particularly mentioned as an acknowledged piece 
 of earlier date, and should be compared with the little 
 fragment relating to the same subject which has been 
 introduced into Deuteronony x.^ The poetical song of 
 Moses in Exodus xv., the other song in Deuteronomy 
 xxxii., and "the Blessing" of Moses, which follows it, are 
 fm^ther examples of the use of earlier materials. 
 
 In the later books the same peculiarity is to be noticed, 
 though not to the same extent or with the same distinct- 
 ness as in the Pentateuch. Instances are however to be 
 found, about which no reasonable doubt can be entertained. 
 One has abead}'- been quoted from the Book of Joshua. 
 The Book of Judges has the appearance of having been 
 compiled from a number of separate traditions relating to 
 the different tribes, which have been put together in theu' 
 
 ' Dcut. X. 6, 7. 
 
COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. Ill 
 
 present framework by a later hand. In the First Book of 
 Samuel the history of David's youth "reads," to quote 
 from the late Dean Milman, " much like a collection of 
 traditions, unharmonized, and taken from earlier lives or 
 from poems in his praise."^ 
 
 The composite Character of the Book of Genesis exemplified in 
 the case of the Narrative of the Flood. 
 
 The following attempt to separate the component parts 
 of the Flood narrative will illustrate what has been said in 
 the preceding paragraph of the manner in which the His- 
 torical Books are supposed to have been composed ; and 
 will make it clear that, in this narrative at least, there are 
 unmistakeable traces of two original stories. In the ex- 
 tracts which are placed to the left hand the name for the 
 Divine Being is " Lord "; in those on the right hand the 
 word used is " Grod." In the left hand column, again, the 
 Flood begins after seven days' notice, and continues for 
 forty days, and then abates during two^ periods of seven 
 days each ; while in the other column Noah continues in 
 the ark for 370 days, and the time is marked in quite a 
 different way from that in which it is marked in the frag- 
 ments on the left hand, namely, by months of thirty days 
 each, twelve months making the year. The chronology 
 of each story is thus simple and consistent with itself, 
 while the result produced by interweaving the two is com- 
 plicated and confusing.^ Once more, according to the ex- 
 tracts on the left hand, Noah takes into the ark seven 
 
 ' Milman: Jetoish Hist., Book Yii., Note c. 
 
 - Or, three. See Gen. viii. 10. 
 
 ^ The difficulty which the compiler experienced in putting his materials 
 together will he fmlher evident from a comparison of ch. viii. 5 ■with v. 9 
 in the same chapter. 
 
112 COMPOSITIOX OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 pairs of all the clean beasts ; and this is quite consistent 
 with the account of his sacrifice on leaving the ark, which 
 belongs to the same story. In the other story, according 
 to which only one pair of each kind is preserved from the 
 flood, the renewal of the covenant, when Noah leaves the 
 ark, is marked by the sign of the rainbow, and there is 
 no mention of a sacrifice. These are some of the reasons 
 which have led to the conclusion that the present text 
 contains fragments of at least two stories. At the same 
 time, it must be admitted that the attempt to extract these 
 two stories in their entirety out of the present text is not 
 quite successful. The verses given in the right-hand 
 column form a complete whole in themselves, but in the 
 left-hand column there are both deficiencies and redun- 
 dancies. It is possible that the compiler may have added 
 or left out some things in order to harmonize his narrative. 
 The division of the text is in some places conjectural ; 
 and it may be, and has been, made in other ways than 
 that in which we make it here. 
 
 (Gen. vi. 5-8.) (Gen. vi. 9-22.) 
 
 5 And tlie Lord saw that the These are the generations of 
 wickedness of man u-as great in the Noah : Noah was a just man and 
 earth, and that every imagination perfect in his generations, and Noah 
 of the thoughts of his heart ivas only walked with God. 
 
 evil continually. 10 And Noah begat three sons, 
 
 6 And it repented tlie Lord that ^-hcm., Ham, and Japheth. 
 
 he had made man on the earth, and ^, , ■, t 
 
 , , . X 1 . 1. . 11 The earth also was con-upt be- 
 lt grieved him at his heart. 
 
 Z K -, .1 -I -1 T -n 1 fore God, and the earth was hUed 
 
 7 And the Lord said, 1 will de- 
 stroy man whom I have created from ^^ 
 
 the face of the earth ; both man and 12 And God looked upon the earth, 
 
 beast, and the creeping thing, and and, behold, it was corrupt ; for all 
 
 the fowls of the air; for it repenteth flesh had corrupted his way upon 
 
 me that I have made them. the earth. 
 
COMPOSITE CHAEACTEE, OF THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 113 
 
 8 But Xoah found grace in the 
 eyes of the Lord. 
 
 (Gen. vii. 1-5.) 
 
 And the Lord said unto Noah, 
 Come thou and all thy house into 
 the ark ; for thee have I seen right- 
 eous before me in this generation. 
 
 2 Of every clean beast thou shalt 
 take to thee by sevens, the male and 
 his female : and of beasts that are not 
 clean by t^^o, the male and his fe- 
 male. 
 
 3 Of fowls also of the air by 
 sevens, the male and the female ; to 
 keep seed alive upon the face of all 
 the earth. 
 
 4 For yet seven days, and I -will 
 cause it to rain upon the earth forty 
 days and forty nights ; and every 
 living substance that I have made 
 will I destroy from off the face of 
 the earth. 
 
 5 And Noah did according unto 
 all that the Loed commanded him. 
 
 13 And God said unto Noah, The 
 end of all ilesh is come before me ; 
 for the earth is filled with violence 
 through them; and, behold, I will 
 destroy them with the earth. 
 
 14 Make thee an ark of gopher 
 wood ; rooms shalt thou make in 
 the ark, and shalt pitch it within 
 and without with pitch. 
 
 15 And this is the fashion which 
 thou shalt make it of : &c. [To end 
 of V. 16.] 
 
 17 And, behold, I, even I, do 
 bring a flood of waters iipon the 
 earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein 
 is the breath of life, from under 
 heaven ; and every thing that is in 
 the earth shall die. 
 
 18 But with thee will I establish 
 my covenant ; and thou shalt come 
 into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and 
 thy wife, and thy sons' wives with 
 thee. 
 
 19 And of every living thing of aU 
 flesh, two of every sort shalt thou 
 bring into the ark, to keep them 
 alive with thee ; they shaU be male 
 and female. 
 
 20 Of fowls after their kind, and 
 of cattle after their kind, of every 
 creeping thing of the earth after his 
 kind, two of every sort shall come 
 unto thee, to keep tJiein alive. 
 
 21 And take thou unto thee of all 
 food that is eaten, and thou shalt 
 gather it to thee ; and it shall be for 
 food for thee and for them. 
 
 22 Thus did Noah ; according to 
 aU that God commanded him, so did 
 he. 
 
lu coMPOsrriox of the historical books. 
 
 (Gen. vii. 10, 12, IQb, 17, lSb-20a, (Gex. vii. 6-9, 11, 13-16<?, 18*, 
 22, 23«.) 205, 21.) 
 
 G And Noah 9cas six hundred 
 years o]d when the flood of waters 
 was upon the earth. 
 
 7 And Noah went in, and his 
 sons, and his wife, and his sons' 
 ■vvives with him, into the ark, be- 
 cause of the waters of the flood. 
 
 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts 
 that are not clean, and of fowls, and 
 of every thing that creepeth upon 
 the earth, 
 
 9 There went in two and two 
 • imto Noah into the ark, the male 
 
 and the female, as God had com- 
 manded Noah. 
 10 And it came to pass after seven 
 days, that the waters of the flood 
 were upon the earth. 
 
 11 In the six hundreth year of 
 Noah's life, in the second month, 
 the seventeenth day of the month, 
 the same day were all the fountains 
 of the great deep broken iip, and the 
 windows of heaven were opened. 
 (12 And the rain Avas upon the 
 earth forty days and forty nights.) 
 
 13 In the selfsame day entered 
 Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and 
 Japheth, the sons of Noah, and 
 Noah's wife, and the three wives 
 of his sons M'ith them, into the ark ; 
 
 14 They, and every beast after his 
 (16^^ And the Lord shut him in.) ^jnd, and all the cattle after their 
 17 And the flood was forty days ^ind, and every creeping thing that 
 
 upon the earth ; and the waters in- creepeth upon the earth after his 
 creased, and bare up the ark, and it j-i^d, and every fowl after his kind, 
 ^^■as lift up above the earth. g^gj-y bird of every sort. 
 
 15 And they went in unto Noah 
 185 And the ark Avent upon the into the ark, two and two of all 
 
 face of tlie waters. flesh, wherein is the breath of life. 
 
COMPOSITE CHARACTER OF THE ROOK OF GEXESIS. 115 
 
 19 And the waters prevailed ex- 
 ceedingly upon the earth ; and all 
 the high hills that tvere under the 
 whole heaven were covered. 
 
 20« Fifteen cubits upward did the 
 waters prevail. 
 
 22 All in whose nostrils teas the 
 breath of life, of aU that was in the 
 dry land, died. 
 
 23a And every living substance 
 was destroyed which was upon the 
 face of the ground, both man, and 
 cattle, and the creeping things, and 
 the fowl of the heaven; and they 
 were destroyed from the earth. 
 
 16 And they that went in, went in 
 male and female of all flesh, as God 
 had commanded him. 
 
 18a And the waters prevailed, and 
 were increased greatly upon the 
 earth. 
 
 205 And the moimtains were co- 
 vered. 
 
 21 And all flesh died that moved 
 upon the earth, both of fowl and of 
 cattle, and of beast, and of every 
 creeping thing that creepeth upon 
 the earth, and every man. 
 
 (Gen. viii. G-12, 135.) 
 
 6 And it came to pass at the end 
 of forty days, that Noah opened the 
 window of the ark which he had 
 made : 
 
 7 And he sent forth a raven, 
 which went forth to and fro, until 
 the waters were dried up from 
 the earth. 
 
 8 Also he sent forth a dove 
 from him, to see if the waters were 
 abated from off the face of the 
 ground ; 
 
 9 But the dove found no rest for 
 the sole of her foot, and she returned 
 unto him into the ark, for the waters 
 u'C}-e on the face of the whole earth : 
 then he put forth his hand, and took 
 her, and pulled her in unto him into 
 the ark. 
 
 10 And he stayed yet other seven 
 days ; and again he sent forth the 
 dove out of the ark ; 
 
 (Gen. vii. 235-viii. 5, 13a-19.) 
 
 235 And Noah only remained alive, 
 and they that were with him in the 
 ark. 
 
 24 And the waters prevailed upon 
 the earth an hundred and fifty days. 
 And God remembered Noah, and 
 every li%dng thing, and all the cattle 
 that tvas with him in the ark : and 
 God made a wind to pass over the 
 earth, and the waters asswaged ; 
 
 2 The fountains also of the deep 
 and the windows of heaven were 
 stopped, and the rain from hea-\-en 
 was restrained ; 
 
 3 And the waters returned from 
 off the earth continually : and after 
 the end of the hundred and fifty 
 days the waters were abated. 
 
 4 And the ark rested in the 
 seventh month, on the seventeenth 
 day of the month, upon the moun- 
 tains of Ararat. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 
 
 COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 11 And the dove came in to him 
 in the evening ; and, lo, in her 
 mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off : 
 so Noah knew that the waters were 
 abated from off the earth. 
 
 12 And he stayed yet other seven 
 days; and sent forth the dove; 
 which returned not again unto him 
 any more. 
 
 5 And the waters decreased con- 
 tinually imtil the tenth month ; in 
 the tenth month, on the fii'st day of 
 the month, were the tops of the 
 mountains seen. 
 
 135 And Noah removed the cover- 
 ing of the ark, and looked, and, he- 
 hold, the face of the ground was 
 dry. 
 
 13a And it came to pass in the six 
 hundreth and first year, in the first 
 month, the first da?/ of the month, 
 the waters were dried up from off 
 the earth. 
 
 14 And in the second month, on 
 the seven and twentieth day of the 
 month, was the earth dried. 
 
 15 And God spake unto Noah, saying, 
 
 16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and 
 thy sons' wives with thee. 
 
 1 7 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of 
 all flesh, lioth of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing 
 that creepeth upon the earth ; that they may breed abundantly in 
 the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. 
 
 18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his 
 sons' ■wives with him : 
 
 19 Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, ajid 
 whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth 
 out of the ark. 
 
 (Gen. viii. 20-22.) 
 
 20 And Noah builded an altar unto 
 the LoKD ; and took of every clean 
 beast, and of every clean fowl, 
 and offered burnt offerings on the 
 altar. 
 
 21 And the Lord smeUed a sweet 
 savour ; and the Loeji said in his 
 heart, I will not again curse the 
 ground any more for man's sake ; 
 for the imagination of man's heart is 
 evil from his vouth ; neither N\i!l I 
 
 (Gex. ix. 1-17.) 
 
 And God blessed Noah and his 
 sons, and said unto them, Be fruit- 
 ful, and multiply, and replenish the 
 earth. 
 
 2 And the fear of you and the 
 dread of you shall be upon every 
 beast of the earth, and upon every 
 fowl of the air, upon all that moveth 
 upon the earth, and upon all the 
 fishes of the sea ; into your hand 
 are thev delivered. 
 
ELOHISTIC AND JEHOVISTIC ELEMENTS, ETC. 117 
 
 again smite any more every thing 3 Every moving thing that Uveth 
 
 Hving, as I have done. shall be meat for you ; even as the 
 
 green herb have I given you all 
 22 While the earth remaineth, seed- things. 
 time and harvest, and cold and heat, 4 But flesh with the life thereof, 
 
 and summer and winter, and day icUch is the blood thereof, shall ye 
 and night shall not cease. not eat. 
 
 5 And surely your blood of your Uves will I requii-e ; at the 
 hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man, &c., 
 [to end of v. 7]. 
 
 8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, 
 
 9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with 
 your seed after you ; 
 
 10 And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, 
 of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from 
 all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. 
 
 11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall 
 all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither 
 shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. 
 
 12 And God said. This is the token of the covenant which I make 
 between me and you and every Uving creature that is with you, 
 for perpetual generations : 
 
 13 I do set my bow in the cloud, &c. [to end of v. 17.1 
 
 Elohistic and Jehovistic Elements in the Old Testament; 
 Reconstructive Theories ; Names of the Divine Being. 
 
 We have mentioned that the two sets of selections, 
 which we have just given from the narrative of the Flood, 
 are distinguished from each other by the use of different 
 names for the Divine Being. In the one case the name 
 Elohim, translated in the English by "God," is used; 
 in the other, the word used is Jehovah, translated by 
 " LoRD."^ The same distinctive use of these two names 
 characterizes parallel passages in other parts of the Penta- 
 
 1 In Gen. vi. 5 we have altered the translation from "God" to "the 
 Lord," to correspond with the original. 
 
118 COMPOSITIOA^ OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 teucli, and is also to be noticed elsewhere. This fact has 
 given rise to the theory that there were two writers or sets 
 of writers, whose labours contributed in different ways to 
 the formation of the Historical Books, as they now exist ; 
 and that the work of each may still be recognized by the 
 preference which it displays for the use of the name 
 Jehovah .or Elohim, as well as by other marks. Some 
 scholars have supposed that they have been able, by the 
 aid of these indications, to discern in the historical books 
 the earlier forms of composition, from which the later 
 works came ; and even to distinguish the contributions of 
 many subsequent revisers and editors, by whom the work 
 was gradually brought to its present shape. It is im- 
 possible here to give the particulars of the different 
 theories on this subject, which have been worked out 
 with great elaboration and much diversity of detail. The 
 reader who wishes for fuller information about them must 
 consult some larger treatise than this. On one point, 
 however, there is a pretty general agreement amongst the 
 scholars of whom we are now speaking. By putting to- 
 gether a number of Elohistic passages in the Book of 
 Grenesis, a narrative can be formed which presents an 
 appearance of completeness in itself ; ' and it is supposed 
 
 ^ An examination, of the following portions of the Book of Genesis will 
 show that they are distinguished by ceiiiaia common characteristics, and 
 that they form a continuous naiTative :— The Creation of the Heavens and 
 the Earth (i. 1-ii. 3) ; The Generations of Adam (v. 1-32) ; The Genera- 
 tions of Noah (vi. 9-22, and the other Elohistic portions of the Flood nar- 
 rative, including ix. 28, 29) ; The Generations of Shem (xi. 10-26) ; The 
 Generations of Ishmael (xxv. 12-17) ; The Generations of Esau (xxx\'i. 
 1-S) ; The Generations of Esau, in Mount Seir (xxxvi. 9-43). Other 
 fragments which bear the same characteristics may also be recognized ; but 
 in the longer biographies of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, they are 
 more broken up and mixed with other matter, as in the Flood narrative {see 
 xi. 27 ; xxv. 19 ; xxxvii. 2). 
 
ELOHISTIC AND JEHOYISTIC ELEMENTS, ETC. 119 
 
 that this Elohistic narrative represents an early connected 
 history, from which the later forms of the hook were de- 
 rived, additions or alterations having been made by subse- 
 quent writers, or sections from other works having been 
 incorporated in the text. The same foundation document 
 can also be traced later on ; but its connected character is 
 gradually lost, and its identification becomes more purely 
 a matter of conjecture. 
 
 A passage in the Book of Exodus,^ which appears to 
 say that the name Jehovah was of later origin among the 
 Hebrews than another title for the Divine Being, has been 
 supposed to favour the idea that the earliest written docu- 
 ment was Elohistic, and that the Jehovistic passages are, 
 generally speaking, later. 
 
 Much has been written, and much difference of opinion 
 has been expressed, as to the exact meanings of the two 
 words Elohim and Jehovah. It would appear that the 
 former is the more general term. It is used of the gods 
 of the heathen, as well as of the God of the Jews. The 
 name Jehovah (or Jahveh, as it is, perhaps, to be pro- 
 nounced) is used only of the God of the Hebrews. Be- 
 sides the two names Elohim and Jehovah, which are of 
 most common occurrence, and which, in the English ver- 
 sion, are represented respectively by the words "God" 
 and " Lord," the latter printed in small capitals, there 
 are other names for the Supreme Being, which are more 
 rarely used: El, which is also translated "God"; Adoxai, 
 " Lord "; El Shaddai, " The Almighty God "; and El 
 Elyon, " The Most High God." These names occur so 
 rarely that we cannot attempt any generalization as to the 
 use of them. Sometimes two or more of them are used in 
 
 ^ Ex. vi. 3. 
 
120 COMPOSITIOX OF THE HISTORICAL LOOKS. 
 
 conjunction. In one long section the combination Jehovah 
 Elohim is regularly used.' 
 
 The Documentary Hypothesis exjjlains Difficulties. 
 
 Though we may not be prepared at present to accept 
 the reconstructive theories of the critics, and may have to 
 wait a long time yet before we can say for certain what 
 permanent results will follow from their labours in this 
 direction, there are some important conclusions which fol- 
 low from the discovery that the Historical Books contain 
 fragments of earlier compositions. This discovery affords 
 the obvious solution of many difficulties, which have long 
 puzzled careful readers of the Bible. Anyone who is 
 accustomed to the use of the ordinary Biblical commen- 
 taries may remember many forced and unnatural inter- 
 pretations of the text, which have been proposed for the 
 purpose of reconciling contradictory or otherwise incon- 
 sistent passages in the Historical Books.- The true ex- 
 planation of many of the inconsistencies between different 
 parts of these books is evidently to be found in the fact 
 that the iiTcconcilable passages are extracts from indepen- 
 dent earlier writings. We do not mean by this that the 
 later writers did not aim at presenting the entire history 
 as a harmonious whole. On the contrary, a carefiil study 
 of theu' work — of the Flood narrative, for instance, or of 
 the history of the life and times of Abraham, will show 
 that the greatest care was taken, and much skill exercised, 
 in the endeavour to construct a consecutive narrative out 
 of the different traditions or other materials with which 
 
 1 Gen. ii. 4-iii. 24. 
 
 - Compare, for instance, the order of Creation in Gen. i. 20-28, with that 
 in ch. ii. 18-25 ; Gen. viii. 5, with v. 9; Gen. xxvi. 34, and xxviii. 9, with 
 ch. xxxvi. 2, 3 ; Gen. xxxii. 3, and xxxiii. 16, with xxxvi. G— 8. 
 
THE DOCUMENTARY THEORY. 121 
 
 the compilers had to deal. It affords a striking proof of 
 the respect with which the earlier reminiscences were 
 treated by the literary workmen of later times, that they 
 preferred to allow these pieces to stand exactly as they 
 found them rather than to make alterations in them, even 
 in cases where the inconsistencies between the component 
 parts manifestly interfered with the success of their efforts 
 to harmonize the whole. 
 
 Further Consequences of accepting the Documentary 
 
 Theory. 
 
 There is another consequence which follows from our 
 conclusions as to the manner in which the Historical 
 Books were composed. Where we find the present narra- 
 tive to have been compiled from earlier compositions, and 
 can see — as we sometimes can — that the order and arrange- 
 ment of the history are produced by the endeavour of the 
 later writer to make a connected story out of the earlier 
 records, there the materials out of which the story is con- 
 structed will have a more real historical value for us than 
 the form which the later writer gave to the whole. Thus, 
 to take one of the examples already quoted of the compo- 
 site character of the Book of Genesis, there can be no 
 doubt that we have in that book a collection of genuine 
 traditions relating to the times of Abraham and his 
 immediate descendants. But it is equally clear to the 
 careful student of the book that its narrative has been 
 artificially constructed out of these traditions, and that 
 some of its parts do not fit well into their present places. 
 The historical value of this portion of the Book of Grenesis, 
 therefore, consists in the general ideas which it gives us of 
 the course of events, and in its pictures of life ; not in the 
 detailed succession of events, or in the minutiae of its 
 
122 COMPOSITION OF THE HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 clironology. That the forefathers of the Hebrew race 
 migrated from the East through the land of Canaan, and* 
 from Canaan passed on to Egypt, are facts of history that 
 no reasonable person would doubt. It would be quite 
 another thing to maintain that their wanderings from 
 place to place followed the exact course given in the Book 
 of Q-enesis. 
 
 It will further follow, as a consequence of accepting the 
 documentary theory, that the question of the date of the 
 composition of the Pentateuch, which has been so eagerly 
 debated, will lose much of its importance as bearing upon 
 the f miher question of the credibility of the early history ; 
 for it is agreed on all hands that, whether the Pentateuch 
 was composed in the time of the Second Temple, or, as 
 some think, was only re-edited then, having been com- 
 posed long before, it unquestionably contains records 
 which were committed to writing in a much earlier age. 
 The exact date of the writing of these earlier records is, 
 however, still unfortunately an open question. There 
 is no decisive external testimony on the subject ; and 
 it can only be decided approximately, if it can be de- 
 cided at all, from the internal evidence of the records 
 themselves. These remarks apply only to the historical 
 narrative of the Pentateuch. We shall presently see that 
 there is a question as to the date of some of the laws, 
 which would be at once settled against those who main- 
 tain that they belong to the time of the Second Temple, if 
 it could be shown that the Pentateuch was completed be- 
 fore the Babylonian Cajitivity. 
 
TRADITIONS IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS. 123 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CHAEACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 The Traditions in the Book of Genesis relating to the early 
 Eistonj of Mankind came to Palestine from the East. 
 
 MOST of the ideas relating to the early history of 
 mankind, which are contained in the opening 
 chapters of the Book of Genesis, are also to be met with 
 elsewhere, in more or less modified forms. In the Classi- 
 cal Mythology, and in the religious traditions of other 
 nations, we find stories of the manner of the creation of 
 the world, of the decline of mankind from a primitive 
 state of happiness, of the giants that were once upon the 
 earth, of the destruction by a flood of all mankind except 
 a chosen few, of the origin of the rainbow, of the impious 
 attempts of man to reach the dwellings of the gods, and 
 so on. No doubt the wide dissemination of these com- 
 mon ideas is in most cases to be accounted for by the exist- 
 ence of a primseval tradition amongst the parent people, 
 before the separation of the races amongst whose mem- 
 bers these ideas are now to be found. In some cases, 
 however, these thoughts may have passed from one people 
 to another in later times, and it is even possible that simi- 
 lar stories may have originated independently in different 
 places. In the case of the Hebrew traditions relating to 
 the Creation of the World and the early history of man- 
 kind, we are not left entirely dependent upon conjecture 
 as to the source from which they were derived, for we 
 
124 CHAEACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 have clear evidence connecting some of them with the 
 region and people from which the Book of Genesis traces 
 the descent of the Hebrews themselves. One of the most 
 interesting results of the decyphering of the cuneiform, or 
 arrow-headed characters, in which the monumental and 
 other inscriptions of Assyria and Babylon are written, has 
 been the discovery of Chaldsean legends of the creation of 
 the world, and of the drowning of mankind by a flood, 
 which exhibit some striking resemblances to the narratives 
 in Grenesis.^ Proofs have also been discovered in these 
 inscriptions of the existence of the institution of a seventh 
 day's rest. 
 
 The materials from which those early chapters of the 
 Book of Grenesis were composed may, therefore, have been 
 traditions brought from the East by the forefathers of the 
 Hebrew race, and preserved independently by them and 
 their descendants, until they received their present place 
 in the Hebrew Bible. But we cannot exclude the possi- 
 bility that the verbal and other resemblances between the 
 two traditions may be due, in some degree, to later com- 
 munications between the Jews and their ancient home. 
 
 Origin and Significance of these Traditions. 
 
 When we ask how these traditions first came into exist- 
 ence, and what is their meaning and historical signifi- 
 cance, we approach more diflicult questions, which have 
 
 ^ It is remarkable that the tablets in the British Museum contain frag- 
 ments of three or four different legends of the Flood, shoM'ing that there 
 were several vaiiations of this story, and thus in some degree confirming 
 the results of the critical examination of the narrative in Genesis. See an 
 interesting article on the Flood Tablets in The Nineteenth Century for 
 January, 1882, by Professor C. H. II. Wright. 
 
OEIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE TEADITIONS. 125 
 
 mucli exercised the minde of scholars. Some of them 
 may have been due to a primitive form of philosophical 
 speculation. It is hard to conceive what other origin there 
 could have been for the story of the creation of the world 
 and its inhabitants in six days ; unless, indeed, we are to 
 suppose that the story was not originally intended as a 
 narrative of actual facts, but as some kind of parable or 
 allegory with another meaning than that which appears 
 on the surface. It would seem, however, that the com- 
 piler of the Book of Grenesis intended the accounts of the 
 Creation and of the Fall to be regarded as narratives of 
 facts, when he placed them at the beginning of his work, 
 without giving any hint that they were not to be inter- 
 preted in the same way as the other portions of the book. 
 
 The idea of the Fall might have been suggested by an 
 attempt to explain the contradiction which we feel in life 
 between the lofty aims and aspirations of man and his 
 disappointing failures and hampered condition. But the 
 story of the Fall differs from the account of the Creation, 
 which precedes it in the Book of Grenesis, inasmuch as it 
 relates to a matter which may have come within the range 
 of human experience. Whatever were the first begin- 
 nings of the human race, man must, at some time or 
 another, have become conscious of sin for the first time ; 
 and it may be that the story of the Fall contains some 
 traditional recollection of this first consciousness of sin, 
 and of the sorrowful experiences connected with it. 
 
 The idea of an earthly paradise like the Garden of Eden 
 is a common element in the religious traditions of man- 
 kind. The Arabs, the Indians, the Chinese, the Persians, 
 all have legends of a garden or beautiful country, where 
 the fairest flowers flourish, and from which living waters 
 flow. In the Indian and Chinese legends, as in the Bible 
 
126 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 story, the stream that flows froii Paradise is the source of 
 four great rivers that water the Earth, 
 
 It need hardly be said that there is no place in existence 
 which corresponds to this description. Still it is tiot un- 
 likely that all these traditions are founded on the recollec- 
 tion of some common home from which these different 
 races originally came. The land which is supposed to be 
 thus indicated is believed by many to have been situated 
 somewhere in the centre of Asia. 
 
 The wide-spread traditions of the Flood must surely 
 point to some great primaeval catastrophe, the ineffaceable 
 impression of which has been carried by the different 
 branches of the human race into the remotest corners of 
 the Earth ; imless we are to suppose — and the supposition 
 is not an unreasonable one — that there have been more 
 than one such calamity affecting different races of man- 
 kind. The striking peculiarity of the Hebrew narrative 
 is not that it relates the story of such a catastrophe, but 
 that it connects it with the suggestions of conscience in 
 the human breast, and with the far-reaching designs of 
 Providence for the development and purification of the 
 human race. 
 
 Abraham was a real Person. 
 
 Though many later traditions have gathered around the 
 name of Abraham, there can be no doubt that he was a 
 real historical character, and that the main outlines of his 
 history are truly preserved in the Book of Grenesis. The 
 ancient fragment in chapter xiv., to which we have already 
 referred, and in which he ax:)pears as the warlike chief of a 
 small body of immigrants settled in the land of Canaan, 
 no doubt gives an accurate picture of " Abram the He- 
 brew," as he appeared to his contemporaries. But the 
 
THE DESCENDANTS OF ABllAHAM, ETC. 127 
 
 traditions about liim agree in also representing the brave 
 soldier and the trusty friend as the founder of a great 
 religious movement, and in connecting his migration from 
 the East with religion. 
 
 The memory of Abraham and of his son " Ismail" is 
 preserved in the traditions of the Arabs as well as of the 
 Jews. In the Koran he is described by the title ElKhalil^ 
 or the Friend, that is of God. This title is also found in 
 Holy Scripture, and though it does not occur in the Book 
 of G-enesis, it may well have been founded on some of the 
 narratives in that book. Many of the Scripture narratives 
 and other Jewish stories about Abraham are reproduced in 
 the Koran with little or no alteration. It is not supposed, 
 however, that this resemblance is altogether due to the 
 correspondence of two independent traditions, but to the 
 fact that Mahomet borrowed much of the contents of the 
 Koran from Jewish sources. Still it is not doubted that 
 there was a genuine tradition about Abraham existing 
 among the Arabians before the time of Mahomet. But it 
 is impossible now to separate this original Arabian tradi- 
 tion from the Jewish materials which have become incor- 
 porated with it in the Koran. 
 
 The Descendants of AhmJiam ; the Biblical Genealogies. 
 
 In the Book of Genesis Abraham is represented as the 
 father of many nations. Through Isaac and Jacob he is 
 the progenitor of the people of Israel, and through Ishmael 
 of the Ishmaelites, another nation of twelve tribes.^ From 
 the sons of Keturah are also descended many nations, some 
 of whose names we find mentioned again.- Esau, the 
 grandson of Abraham, is the father of the Edomites.^ In 
 
 1 Gen. XXV. 12-16. - Gen. xxv. 1—1. ^ Gen xxxvi. 1-19. 
 
128 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 addition to all this, the Moabites and Ammonites are said 
 to have derived their origin from Lot, Abraham's nephew;^ 
 and Nahor, Abraham's brother, who was settled at Haran, 
 was the father of twelve nations by his two wives Milcah 
 and Reumah." This account of the origin of the nations 
 more immediately connected with the Jews is part of a 
 genealogical system, which runs like a network through 
 the whole of the Historical Books. It begins with the 
 first man, Adam, and is carried down to the very latest 
 names that are mentioned in the Old Testament. When 
 we look over the whole of these genealogies, it seems 
 impossible to say for certain what we are to make of 
 them. At times they appear to be plainly put forward 
 as personal pedigrees, in the ordinary sense of the word. 
 There can be no doubt that Abraham and Lot, for 
 instance, are represented as real persons, or that the 
 account of the birth of Isaac, or of the twelve sons of 
 Jacob, is intended to be understood in a literal sense. 
 Even the ancestors of Noah, and his immediate descend- 
 ants, in spite of their enormous ages, are unquestionably 
 meant for real men ; for the date of the birth of each, and 
 the number of years which his father lived afterwards, 
 are particularly given. But elsewhere we find pedigrees 
 which the writer can hardly have expected his readers to 
 accept as literally true. In many instances not only races, 
 but names of places, are worked into them, and treated 
 exactly as if they were persons. Thus, Mizraim, that is 
 the dual name for Northern and Southern Egypt, is the 
 son of Ham and the father of several races.^ Canaan, 
 another son of Ham, begat "Sidon his first-born," and the 
 Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Grirgasite.^ In a later 
 
 1 Gen. xix. 30-38. 3 Qen. x. C, 13, 14. 
 
 - Cen. xxii. 20-24, ■^ Gen. x. 15, 16. 
 
HISTORICAL TRUTH OF THE EXODUS. 129 
 
 genealogy the cities of Ziph, Mareshah, Hebron, Tappuah, 
 Maon, Bethzur, Madmanna, and Gribea are all counted as 
 descendants of Caleb the companion of Joshua.^ It is 
 well known that the Jews in later times preserved their 
 family registers with great care ; and perhaps we are to 
 suppose that the whole genealogical tree was completed by 
 working into it ancient records or other materials, as the 
 names of cities or races, and by using such other infor- 
 mation about the descent of the different nations as ex- 
 isted at the time, from whatever sources it may have 
 been derived. In the table of the descendants of Seth, in 
 Grenesis v. some names correspond with those of the de- 
 scendants of Cain in the preceding chapter. This cor- 
 respondence suggests that we have here two branches of 
 the same tradition, and that the antiquity of the names at 
 least is hereby proved. The conclusions of modern scho- 
 larship as to the classification of nations and languages 
 have been, on the whole, wonderfully in accord with the 
 division of mankind in the Book of Cenesis, though there 
 have been some difficulties and some divergences between 
 the two ; and we may presume that the pedigrees of the 
 descendants of Abraham and his brother Nahor correctly 
 represent the relationship between the Jews and the kin- 
 dred races that lived near them. 
 
 Sistorical Truth of the Exodus. 
 
 It is easy to see that the numbers of the Israelites who 
 marched out of Egypt, as they are given in the Penta- 
 teuch, are too large to be reconciled with other passages in 
 the history of these times ; and the artificial character of 
 the present narrative, as well as the legendary nature of 
 
 ' Compare 1 Chroii. ii. 42—50, with Joshua xv. 
 K 
 
130 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 some of the materials from which it has been compiled, 
 betray themselves in many particulars. But it is impos- 
 sible to doubt that the story is founded on fact, and that 
 it is true in its leading features. Some of the narratives 
 relating to this period are no doubt of very early date, 
 and were perhaps almost contemporaneous with the events 
 to which they refer. In any case, we may accept as in- 
 disputable facts of history the sojourn of the Hebrew peo- 
 ple in Egypt after their migration from the East, their 
 departure from Egypt under the guidance of Moses, their 
 escape from their pursurers through the Red Sea, the in- 
 fluence of Moses as a great legislator and Divine teacher 
 on the future character and institutions of the people, and 
 their occupation of the land of Canaan, after his death, 
 under the command of his successor Joshua. AVherever 
 we look in the books of the Old Testament, in the Psalms 
 and the prophetical writings, as well as in the history, we 
 find traces of the deep impression which these events made 
 upon the national mind of Israel. The stories of " the 
 wondrous works in the land of Ham," and " the fearful 
 things by the Red Sea," of the days when the Almighty 
 led His people "like sheep, by the hand of Moses and 
 Aaron," were the constant subjects of their thoughts. 
 They were themes for thanksgiving in the happiest days; 
 they were the foundation of their hopes in adversity; they 
 were to Israel, as a nation, what the ineffaceable memories 
 of the days of childhood are to each of us individually, an 
 abiding influence upon the character for ever.^ 
 
 It must be borne in mind — and the same remark will 
 apply elsewhere — that the importance of these great oc- 
 currences to the Jewish people and to mankind at large 
 does not depend upon the miraculous details or the poeti- 
 
 ' Sec Pss. Ixxvii., Ixxviii., cv., cvi., &c. 
 
EGYPTIAN KECOLLECTIONS OF THE EXODUS. 131 
 
 cal embellishments of the narrative in which they are re- 
 corded, but upon the reality of the great facts tliemselves, 
 and the results that followed from them. It is not because 
 we read of Moses' rod being turned into a serpent, or of 
 the waters of the sea or the river standing upon an heap, 
 of the walls of Jericho falling down, or the sun and the 
 moon standing still, that we see the hand of God in He- 
 brew history. But when we take a wider view of things, 
 and see how the long course of events resulted in the pre- 
 servation of the Jewish people, and in the progress and 
 purification of their national religion, until its further 
 development in Christianity, then we understand, as far 
 as we can be said to understand anything on these sub- 
 jects,^ how the Providence of God was specially manifested 
 in the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, in their 
 occupation of the Land of Canaan, and in the rest of that 
 long series of events of which these two formed a part. 
 
 Egyptian Recollections of the Exodus. 
 
 Josephus quotes from Manetho an account of the Exo- 
 dus, which differs from the Jewish story in the colour 
 which it gives to the transaction, but which also curiously 
 
 ^ Our power of understanding Providence has been well compared to the 
 power of a person who appreciates music, but has little or no knowledge of 
 mechanics, to understand an organ. He can recognize a tune when it is 
 played ; he can feel its power ; he can be sure that it has been produced in- 
 tentionally, and not by accident. But when he looks into the interior of the 
 instrument, and endeavours to understand its mechanism, he is quite be- 
 wildered. So we can understand the results of Providence ; we can be sure 
 that they were designed, or at least that they indicate something in the 
 Infinite miad of God, which we, with our limited human understandings, 
 can only think of as design. But when we turn away from the practical 
 aspect of the question, and attempt to understand the methods by which 
 these results are produced, then we are liable to get confused. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 CHAEACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 agrees with it, and thereby confirms it in some important 
 particulars/ According to Manetho's account, the Exo- 
 dus took place in the reign of a King Amenophis. This 
 Amenophis wishing to purify the country, in order that he 
 might be permitted " to see the gods," banished a large 
 body of lepers and other unclean persons, forcing them to 
 labour in the quarries east of the Nile, along with other 
 Egyptians who were already there. But there were some 
 educated priests amongst these lepers, and the Divine 
 anger was kindled against the king. The lepers requested 
 permission to settle in the ruined city of Avaris. As soon 
 as they got possession of this defensible position, they 
 chose as leader one Osarsiph, a priest of Heliopolis. Osar- 
 siph, who was afterwards called Moses, established re- 
 ligious institutions among the lepers directly .opposed to 
 those of Egypt. He fortified Avaris, and revolted against 
 the king. The rebels sent ambassadors to Jerusalem, and 
 called in the aid of the Shepherds who had been expelled 
 from Egypt by a former king. The allies completely oc- 
 cupied lower Egypt, Amenophis having retired to Ethio- 
 pia, convinced that to fight against the lepers would be to 
 fight against the gods. For thirteen years the rebels held 
 possession of the countrj', trampling it under foot, and in- 
 sulting the Egyptian religion in every way. Then Ame- 
 nophis returned, and with the aid of his son Raamses 
 drove the invaders from Egypt, pursuing them as far as 
 the Syrian (/. e. the Palestinian) boundarj-. 
 
 1 Ag. Apion. i. 26, &c. MSnetlio was an Egyptian priest mIio lived in 
 the time of the first Ptolemy (n.c, 323-285). He wrote an account of the 
 religion and history of his country in the Greek language. His M'ork is now 
 lost, and is only known to us by the extracts in Joscphus, and by lists of the 
 Egyptian kings taken from it by the Christian historians Africanus and 
 Eusebius. 
 
HISTORY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 133 
 
 The way in wliicli this story differs from that in the 
 Book of Exodns, and the additional particulars which it 
 gives, show that it represents an independent tradition. 
 It agrees with the Jewish account in the following points: 
 the unjust oppression of the Hebrews in Egypt, the facts 
 that others were associated with them in their revolt/ and 
 that the movement received assistance from outside.'^ The 
 name Raamses, differently introduced, also forms an in- 
 teresting point of correspondence.^ The respect with which 
 the religious character of the lepers is at first treated in the 
 Egyptian tradition is also very remarkable. It suggests 
 some common ground between the Mosaic religion and 
 that of Egypt, while the new departure which the Jewish 
 religion takes under Moses is also clearly indicated. 
 
 The tradition of the Exodus also appears in later Egyp- 
 tian writers ; but with them it is more fanciful, and evi- 
 dently wanders farther from the truth. It has been a 
 great disappointment to scholars that they have not as yet 
 been able to find any allusions to the Exodus in the monu- 
 mental records of Egypt. 
 
 History of the Ten Commandments. 
 
 If the version of the Ten Commandments which is 
 given in Exodus be compared with that given in Deu- 
 teronomy, it will be seen that there are some variations 
 between the two.^ It may also be noticed that the varia- 
 tions occur, not in the primary commands themselves, but 
 in the additions which are made to them by waj^ of expan- 
 sion or explanation. The fourth commandment supplies 
 an instance of this. In both versions the observance of 
 
 1 Ex. xii. 38. See also Ex. i. 15-21. ^ Ex. i. 11. 
 
 - Ex. iv. 18, 27 ; xviii. : Numb. x. 29—32. ^ Exodus xx. and Deut. v. 
 
l;J4 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 the seventh day as a day of rest is enjoined. But in 
 Exodus the rest of the Almighty after the sis days' work 
 of creation is assigned as the reason for the observance ; 
 in Deuteronomy the command to kee-p the Sabbath day is 
 connected with the deliverance from Egypt. If either of 
 these reasons possessed the authority of an original Mosaic 
 GO-pj, it is very unlikely that its place would have been 
 usurped by the other. It has therefore been conjectured 
 that the Ten Commandments — the ten " words" — existed 
 at first in the simplest form, and that the additions and 
 explanations in both versions were accretions of later 
 growth. Ewald is of opinion that some of these additions, 
 which are the same in both versions, are in style of lan- 
 guage so like the original commands, that they must be 
 supposed to belong to the Mosaic age, if not, indeed, to 
 have been added by Moses himself. He supposes that 
 the ten words, as inscribed upon the two tables of stone, 
 were as follows : — 
 
 I. 
 
 I am Ja/ire//, thy God, toJio delivered tJiec out of Egypt, out 
 of the house of bondage. 
 
 (1) Thou shalt have no other God he/ore me. 
 
 (2) Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image. 
 
 (3) Thou shalt not idly utter the name qfJahreh, thy God. 
 
 (4) TJiou shalt remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 
 
 (5) Thou sl/alt honour thy father and thy mother. 
 
 II. 
 
 (1) Thoic shalt not murder. 
 
 (2) Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 (3) Thou Shalt not steal. 
 
 (4) Thou shalt not bear false tcitness against thy neighbour. 
 
 (5) Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house. 
 
THE TEN COMMAXDMEXTS. 13o 
 
 This division into two tables, each containing five com- 
 mands, is not that to which we are now accustomed : the 
 first four being generally taken as the table containing 
 our duty towards Grod, and the last six as the second 
 table, containing our duty towards our neighbours. Tlie 
 equal division into two fives is in itself more natural; and 
 any classical scholar who remembers the meaning of the 
 Latin word pietas, which includes filial affection as well as 
 "piety" in the more common sense of the word, will find 
 no difficulty in supposing that the Hebrew lawgiver placed 
 the fifth commandment on the same tablet with the first 
 four. 
 
 Are the Ten Commandments of Permanent Ohligation ? 
 
 It is commonly said that the Decalogue contains the 
 "moral law" as distinguished from the ceremonial and 
 civil law which follows it in the Pentateuch. But this 
 distinction is not quite correct. There are many other laws 
 in the Pentateuch that may be called moral in just the 
 same sense that any of the Ten Commandments may be so 
 called. And there are two of the Ten Commandments, 
 namely, the second and the fourth, which must be ad- 
 mitted to be positive or temporary in their nature as dis- 
 tinguished from moral or permanent. The transitory 
 nature of the fourth commandment has been unanimously 
 acknowledged by the Christian Church, which has uni- 
 versally substituted the first day of the week as a day of 
 rest and worship in place of the Jewish Sabbath, and 
 nowhere makes the Jewish regulations respecting the 
 observance of the Sabbath binding on Cliristians in the 
 observance of Sunday. And, in spite of the prohibition of 
 the Jewish second commandment, a great part of the 
 Christian Church, if not the whole, has thought it allow- 
 
136 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 able and expedient to employ images and pictures as aids 
 to devotion. But if we look at the spirit of these command- 
 ments, and not at the letter, we shall find that they both 
 contain valuable principles of permanent application. The 
 fourth may be taken as an expression of the principle that 
 rest from earthly toil and anxiety, and the devotion of 
 part of our time to the study and contemplation of Divine 
 things, are needful for our spiritual welfare, and are there- 
 fore a part of our duty. And while we freely acknowledge 
 the differences between the position of Christians at the 
 present day and the cii'cumstances of the Jews when the 
 command not to make graven images for worship was first 
 given to them, we may still find in the second command- 
 ment a warning of the dangers that attend the use of all 
 symbolism in religious worship, as well as a wholesome 
 reminder of the impossibility of picturing by human art 
 or imagination that Being whom no man hath seen at 
 any time, but who has been pleased to make known to 
 us creatures of time some of His relations to us and part 
 of His will and pm-pose concerning us. 
 
 When we come to read the New Testament we shall see 
 how the principles of these commandments are preserved 
 and developed in the teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 He did not come to destroy them but to fulfil them — to 
 fill them out — to give them a fuller meaning — to complete 
 the revelation of the will of God, which in them was made 
 incompletely but truly. 
 
 Date of the Ceremonial and Cicil Law. 
 
 The careful student cannot fail to be struck by the fact 
 that many of the laws, which in the Pentateuch are repre- 
 sented as having been given to the people in the wilder- 
 ness, appear from the subsequent history not to have come 
 
DATE OF THE CEREMONIAL AND CIVIL LAW. 137 
 
 into actual operation for a long time after. According to 
 the Law, the people are to destroy all the " high places " 
 at which the Canaanites served their gods, and they are 
 strictly forbidden to sacrifice anywhere except in the one 
 appointed place, which the Lord "shall choose out of all 
 the tribes."^ But in point of fact the high places are not 
 destroyed for centuries. They are allowed to continue, 
 and sacrifices are offered at them and at other places 
 through the land by the Hebrews, and that not by the 
 careless and disobedient, but by many who are held up as 
 patterns of zeal and obedience, by the repentant people at 
 Bochim, by Gideon at Ophrah, by Mauoah at Zorah, by 
 Samuel at Mizpeh and elsewhere, at Eamah, Gilgal, and 
 Bethlehem, by David at the threshing-floor of Araunah, 
 by "the people" generall}^ until the time of Solomon, and 
 afterwards, as we have already seen, under the best kings 
 of Judah, until the time of Hezekiah.- Many of these 
 same instances also surprise us by a seeming disregard of 
 another provision of the Law, which forbad any person who 
 was not of the family of Aaron to perform the office of 
 a priest under pain of the heaviest penalties.^ Inter- 
 marriage with the heathen, again, is most strictly pro- 
 hibited. But Eahab of Jericho and Ruth the Moabitess 
 are admitted by marriage into the family of Israel. . Sam- 
 son takes a wife from among the Philistines. David 
 marries Maachah, daughter of Talmai king of Greshur. 
 Solomon's marriages are not condemned until his wives 
 "turn away his heart" from Grod, and one of the Psalms 
 
 ^ Deut. xii. 1-14 : Lev. xvii. 1-7. 
 
 5 Jud. ii. 5; vi. 24 ; xiii. 19 : 1 Sam. vii. 9, 10, 17 ; ix. 13, 14 ; x. 8; 
 xvi. 1-5: 2 Sam. xxiv, 25: 1 Kings iii. 2, 3; xy. 14, <S:c. See pp. 81, 
 82, ice. 
 
 ^ Xumb. iii. 10; xviii. 7. 
 
138 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 celebrates the marriage of a king of Israel, probably 
 Solomon, with a foreign princess.^ The account of 
 Samuel's objection to the appointment of a king, when 
 provision for the kingdom had already been made in the 
 Divine law, is an old subject of perplexity.' The dismay 
 of the good King Josiah when the book of the law was 
 found in the Temple, and his declaration that their fathers 
 had not hearkened to the words of that book, also occur to 
 us." Even as late as the time of Nehemiah, when the feast 
 of tabernacles was celebrated by the people in strict ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of the Pentateuchal law, we 
 are told that " since the days of Joshua the son of Nun 
 unto that day had not the children of Israel done so."^ 
 
 Though some of these instances of apparent ignorance 
 of the Law may be explained away, the most probable 
 account of the whole matter is that which is now accepted 
 by most of the ablest scholars who have studied the subject, 
 that many of the laws, and especially of the ceremonial 
 laws, which in the Pentateuch are associated with the 
 name and time of Moses, really belong to a later date. On 
 the other hand, it is obvious that many of the principles of 
 Hebrew law must have been established before the time of 
 Moses. No lawgiver, however great, has ever been known 
 to make the laws of his country entirely from the begin- 
 ning, as none has been known to leave them in such a 
 state that they have not required subsequent additions or 
 modifications, according to the altered circumstances of 
 later times. Two instances will be sufficient to show that 
 
 1 Dent. vii. 3: Josh, xxiii. 12 : Josh. vi. 25 : Matt. i. 5 : Ruth i. 4 ; iv. 
 13, 21 : Judges xiv. : 1 Kings iii. 1-4 ; xi. 1-10 : 1 Chron. iii. 2 : Ps. 
 xlv. 
 
 - 1 Sam. viii. 6-22: Dcut. xvii. 14-20. 
 
 3 2 Iviim-s xxii. 11-13. ■« Xeh. viii. 14-17. 
 
DATE OF THE CEREMONIAL AND CIVIL LAW. 139 
 
 Moses was no exception to one part of this rule, any more 
 than to the other. The observance of the Sabbath may 
 have been re-enacted and regulated by him at the time of 
 the Exodus ; but there is the strongest evidence that a 
 seventh day's rest was an ancient institution amongst the 
 Hebrews. The punishment of murder by the goel or re- 
 venger of blood is also extremely like an ancient custom. 
 It is not the kind of institution that is usually called into 
 existence by the fiat of a lawgiver ; and instances are to 
 be found elsewhere of similar usages surviving from ruder 
 ages. But we can understand that Moses should have 
 imposed checks upon the evils of a custom, which he 
 could not abolish, or perhaps did not wish to abolish as 
 yet.^ 
 
 As it is certain that some of the principles of Jewish 
 law are older than the legislation of Moses, it is not im- 
 possible that some of the statutes, in the very words in 
 which we still read them, were in existence before his 
 time. But whether any of the words of the Law are 
 pre-Mosaic or not, there can be little doubt that the diffi- 
 culty which we occasionally find in reconciling its pro- 
 visions one with another is due, in some eases at least, to 
 the fact that the Pentateuch contains ordinances of diffe- 
 rent dates. The unique position which Moses held in 
 connexion with the history of Hebrew legislation would 
 account for the fact that the Law came to be known by 
 his name. The fact that it was so known might go some 
 
 ^ It is not improbable that in the laws relating to the observance of the 
 Sabbath, and in those relating to homicide, we have examples of later 
 additions to the Law, as well as of elements that belonged both to the age of 
 Moses and to the times before him ; for there are many repetitions and some 
 inconsistencies in the laws relating to Sabbatical observances, and the selec- 
 tion of the cities of refuge, and some of the regulations with regard to them, 
 have every appearance of being ante-dated in the Pentateuch. 
 
UO CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 way towards explaining how it came about that all its 
 ordinances were attributed to him, and that the story of 
 their origin was woven in the Pentateuch into the narra- 
 tive of the Mosaic time. Probably the construction of the 
 Books of the Law in their present shape and order was 
 not all the work of one man. There may have been re- 
 arrangements or re -editings of the different portions of the 
 collection, or of the whole of it, executed from time to 
 time, before it finally appeared in its present shape. 
 
 Attempts have been made by critics to assign their re- 
 spective dates to the different component parts of the 
 Pentateuchal collection of laws, but not as yet with any 
 very satisfactory results. One theory is that the earliest 
 legislation is contained in the section which immediately 
 follows the Decalogue in the Book of Exodus. But there 
 are other summaries of the law, as well as this one, to be 
 found among the materials from which the Pentateuch is 
 compiled. There is one in Leviticus xix., described in the 
 English Bible as "A repetition of sundry laws." There 
 is another in Exodus xxxiv. No sufficient reason can be 
 given why one of these summaries may not have been 
 made in the same way as the others. 
 
 Was Dciderono)nij the Book of tlie Law that icas found 
 ill the Temple in the reign of JosiaJi ? 
 
 There is a very strong consensus of critical opinion in 
 favour of the view which connects the Book of Deuter- 
 onomy with the time of Josiah's reformation. It is sup- 
 posed by many that it was the book found in the Temple, 
 the reading of which had such an effect upon the king ; 
 that it had been written with a view to helping on the re- 
 forms then in contemplation, and that the story of its 
 having been found was an invention — a pious fraud — on 
 
THE CEREMONIAL SYSTEM IN LATER TIMES. 141 
 
 the part of Hilkiali, or else that the high priest was him- 
 self deceived by some other person, who had secreted the 
 book in the Temple. 
 
 Though the Book of Deuteronomy is now part of the 
 Pentateuch, and wrought into its plan, it certainly did 
 not originate in the same way as the other four books. 
 It is distinguished from them by its flowing and rhetori- 
 cal style, as well as by the unity of its structure ; and it is 
 evidently the composition of one writer. Moreover, the 
 allusions to the contents of the book found in the Temple 
 would suit the Book of Deuteronomy very well. But 
 further than this we can hardly go with safety. "We must 
 be very chary of accepting theories, which, after all, are 
 only conjectural explanations of facts, of which there may 
 be many other explanations unknown to us. And that is 
 distinctly the state of the case with respect to this question 
 about the Book of the Law found in the Temple. 
 
 The objection that Hilkiah would not have been likely 
 to be guilty of such a piece of deception in such a cause 
 is hardly of much weight, for the standard of morality on 
 such matters among the Jews at that day may have been 
 very different from what it is in our Christian times ;^ and 
 a zealous advocate of the reformation would have found 
 much to urge in favour of the deceit. 
 
 Development of the Ceremonial System after the Return 
 from BaJjylon. 
 
 In the period that followed the rebuilding of the Temple 
 the minute study of the law became the absorbing pursuit 
 of religious Jews ; and there is much to be said for the 
 opinion, held by some scholars, that the complete cere- 
 
 1 Compare Gen. xii. 10-20 ; xx ; xxvi. G-II ; xxx. 37-i3, &c. 
 
142 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 monial system, as we find it in tlie Book of Leviticus, was 
 uot developed until that time. If this be so, the compo- 
 sition of the Book of Leviticus would have to be placed in 
 that period. It would not, however, be necessary to sup- 
 pose that all the Pentateuch was composed then. Part of 
 it might have existed before, and the Book of Leviticus 
 and other portions might have been added at the same 
 time that the whole underwent a general revision. 
 
 The Bible a Record of Progressive Revelation. 
 
 As later writers pushed back into the past the date of 
 the completed ceremonial law, so it is also jDrobable that, 
 in other respects, they read back into the past the more 
 advanced ideas of their own days. There are hints that 
 the faith of earlier times was more elementary and im- 
 perfect than a superficial reading of their pages would 
 lead us to believe. Many passages show that the Hebrews 
 were slow in emancipating themselves from the service of 
 the gods which their fathers served beyond the river Eu- 
 phrates, or in Egypt ;^ and that the worship which they 
 once offered was of a very different kind from that which 
 in more enlightened times they understood the Almighty 
 to require of his creatures.- There is much difference of 
 opinion as to the exact interpretation of these hints ; but 
 there is clear evidence, even from the most cursory study 
 of the history of the Jews, that God's revelation of Him- 
 self to them was a progressive revelation. No doubt we 
 should see this even more clearly than we do if we could 
 disentangle the different records contained in the history, 
 and arrange them in order, according to the dates to 
 
 > Gen. xxxi. 19 ; xxxv. 2 : Ex. xxxii. 1-G : Jos. xxiv. 2, 14, 23. 
 - Gen. xxii. 1-19 : Jud. xi. 30-40 : JMicali vi. G-8. 
 
T^YOFOLD TEADITIOX OF THE CONQUEST OF CAXAAX. 143 
 
 wliich they respectively belong; and so compare the re- 
 ligious views of the representative writers of different ages, 
 as some critical scholars have attempted to do. 
 
 This study of the gradual progress of Revelation is of 
 great practical importance to us ; for one of the strongest 
 proofs of the truth of the Religion of the present day is to 
 be found in its relation to the Religion of the past. By 
 this study our faith in the Unseen is shown to be no mere 
 passing fancy of to-day or yesterday. Religion is not a 
 mere bubble floating for a little while upon the stream of 
 time, to be seen one moment, to be gone the next. It is a 
 living, growing Trath, whose roots reach far back into the 
 centuries — even to the beginning. The earliest ages of 
 creation were a preparation for its appearance. It showed 
 itself in the Revelation of Divine Truth made to those 
 who were first able to receive it. With unfailing vitality 
 it grew on through many vicissitudes. The prophets 
 nurtured it. The law also gave its guiding and protect- 
 ing care. Both the law and the prophets tended to the 
 same end — " to bring us to Christ." 
 
 Twofold Tradition of the Conquest of Canaan. 
 
 When we compare the historical portions of the later 
 books of the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua with the 
 Book of Judges, we find that there are apparently traces 
 of two traditions of the occupation of the land of Canaan, 
 one of which places in the days of Moses and Joshua 
 events which, according to the other, did not occur until 
 a later period. Thus, in the Book of Numbers the Israel- 
 ites under Moses are said to have utterly destroyed the 
 Canaanites of the south and their cities, so that the place 
 w^as called Hormah, or Destruction;^ but in the Book of 
 
 ^ Xiimb. xxi. 1-3. 
 
144 CHARACTER OF THE EARLIER HISTORY. 
 
 Judges the origin of the name Hormah is connected with 
 a slaughter of the Canaanites and the destruction of their 
 city by the tribes of Judah and Simeon, after the occupa- 
 tion of the land of Canaan.' The Books of Numbers and 
 Deuteronomy, again, relate before the death of Moses the 
 seizure of part of the territory beyond Jordan by Jair the 
 son of Manasseh, who calls the district after his own name ; 
 while, according to another account, the name of the 
 district is derived from Jair the Judge, who lived long 
 after.- The town of Debir is related to have been taken 
 by Joshua and utterly destroyed ; but a passage which 
 describes the taking of the same town by Othniel the 
 Kenizzite is inserted twice after, the second insertion 
 being in the Book of Judges, and as a part of the his- 
 tory of the period after Joshua's death."' To quote one 
 more instance, Jabin, king of Hazor, and his confederates 
 are beaten by Joshua, Hazor itself is burned, and its in- 
 habitants are all put to the sword ; yet in the days of the 
 Judges another Jabin, king of the same Hazor, aj)pears, 
 who mightily oppresses the children of Israel, and is also 
 destroyed with his city and people. The resemblance be- 
 tween the two narratives in this case is very remarkable/ 
 Much ingenuity has been expended on the endeavour to 
 explain these and other repetitions without sacrificing the 
 accuracy of the history of this period. The true explana- 
 tion is, no doubt, that which we have suggested, namely, 
 that there are combined in the present narrative two tra- 
 ditions of the Conquest of Canaan. It is also probable 
 that the tradition which represents these conquests as 
 
 ' Judges i. 16, 17. ^ Numb, xxxii. 41 : Deut. iii. 14 : Judges x. 3-5. 
 
 ^ Jos. X. 38-39 ; xy. 15-19 : Judges i. 11—15. Compare Judges i. 1 and 
 i. 9. 
 
 4 Josh. xi. 1-14: Judges iv. See the articles "Barak" and "JaLin" 
 in Smith's Bib. Diet. 
 
TWOFOLD TEADITION OF THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN. 145 
 
 having taken place at the later date is, on the whole, the 
 more correct ; that the first occupation of the land of 
 Canaan did not take place in one great triumphant move- 
 ment, such as is represented in the Book of Joshua ; but 
 that it was made more gradually by a smaller force, per- 
 haps by a succession of invasions by kindred or allied 
 tribes ; tliat the hold on the land was only slowly ac- 
 quired, and grew with the strength of the immigrant peo- 
 ple, and that the legends, which throw back many of the 
 events and represent all as having taken place in the time 
 of Moses and Joshua, arose from the tendency, which we 
 observe elsewhere, to overlook gradual movements, and to 
 gather the events of history together round great favourite 
 names. This would agree with the conviction, forced upon 
 us by other considerations, that the strength of Israel in 
 the wilderness cannot have been at all so great, or their 
 organization so complete, as the narrative in the Penta- 
 teuch and the Book of Joshua would lead us to suppose. 
 It would be iitterly opposed to all historical probability to 
 suppose that, if the Hebrews entered Canaan with such a 
 force of fighting men as is described in the Book of Num- 
 bers, the people of Canaan could have again re-established 
 their independence so soon after having suffered such de- 
 feats at the hands of Joshua. 
 
146 OX THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ox THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 The Boohs of Samuel mid Kings. 
 
 THE four books, which we know as the Books of 
 Samuel and Kings, formed in the original Hebrew 
 only two, viz., one Book of Samuel and one Book of 
 Kings ; and they are still so reckoned by the Jews of the 
 present day. The division into four was first made by the 
 Greek translators in the Septuagint. From the Septua- 
 gint it passed into the Vulgate.^ From the Yulgate it 
 has been adopted in all the later Christian translations ; 
 and it is now used even in our modern versions of the 
 Hebrew Bible. 
 
 Jewish Tradition as to the Bate and Authorship of the 
 Boohs of Samuel and Kings. 
 
 Of the authorship of these books nothing is known ; nor 
 do we know the exact date at which they were written. 
 It is even uncertain whether they are both the work of 
 one writer or not, different opinions having been main- 
 tained by scholars on this question. There is a late Jewish 
 tradition which says that the Book of Kings was written 
 by the prophet Jeremiah in the time of the captivity. But 
 
 1 The Vidgate was a Latin translation of the Old Testament, made by 
 S. Jerome at the end of the fourth centurj-. It became the commonly 
 received version in all the Latin churches, and from that fact the name 
 Yidgate {vidgata vcrsio) was given to it. 
 
THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL AND KINGS. 147 
 
 the same passage in wliicli this statement is made ascribes 
 to Samuel the authorship of " his book," that is of our 
 First and Second Books of Samuel, notwithstanding the 
 fact that Samuel's own death is recorded in the first of 
 these books, and though it is quite evident from many 
 passages that the author of the Books of Samuel regarded 
 the times of which he was writing as belonging to the past. 
 In one passage of the First Book of Samuel "the kings of 
 Judah" are mentioned,^ which shows that the book cannot 
 have been written before the division of the kingdom. 
 This statement about the authorship of the Books of 
 Samuel is a fau' sample of many of the traditional Jewish 
 ideas on the subject of the authorship and origin of the 
 sacred books. The Book of Samuel evidently derived its 
 name from the fact that Samuel was the leading character 
 in the period to which it relates, just as the Books that 
 precede it were called the Books of Joshua, Judges, and 
 Eiuth. It was, perhaps, for a similar reason that the first 
 five books were originally called the Books of Moses, and 
 not from any idea that Moses was the writer of them. 
 The theory of the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch 
 may have arisen from its title, in the same way as the 
 tradition that Samuel wrote the book which bore his name. 
 The Books of Kings cannot have been completed before 
 the latter part of the Babylonish captivity, for the last 
 chapter of the Second Book relates the release of Jehoia- 
 chin from prison in the thirty-seventh year of his capti- 
 vity, and adds that he was kindly treated by the king of 
 Babylon during the remainder of his life. 
 
 ' 1 Sam. xxvii. 6 
 
 I. 2 
 
148 OX THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 Sources of the Hidonj of the Regal Period in the Books 
 of Samuel and Kings. 
 
 The Book of Jasher, which is mentioned in the Book of 
 Joshua in connexion with the poetical account of the sun 
 and the moon standing still to give time for the rout of 
 the followers of the five kings, is again quoted in the 
 Second Book of Samuel as the source from which the 
 writer of that book derived the lamentation with which 
 ■" David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan his son " 
 after the battle of G-ilboa. ^ This Book of Jasher wauld 
 appear, from these two references to it, to have con- 
 tained a collection of poetical pieces, perhaps to have been 
 exclusively a collection of such pieces relating to the war- 
 like exploits of the early heroes. It is further evident 
 from other passages that some of the materials for the 
 history of the regal period were derived from sources 
 similar to those from which so much of the earlier his- 
 tories was compiled. But it is also clear that the writer, 
 or writers, of the Books of Samuel and Kings had access 
 to more accurate and reliable authorities ; and we feel, as 
 we read these books, that we are at length passing into the 
 region of exact history, resting upon contemjporary records. 
 It is generally agreed that public annals were regularly 
 kept during the time of the kings. The public recorder, 
 or remembrancer, is mentioned among the state officials in 
 the reigns of David and Solomon, as well as under the 
 later kings.* It is probable that the notices, so uniformly 
 given in the Historical Books, of the children and wives 
 of the several kings, and in Judah of the king's mother 
 also, and the accounts of their buildings and other under- 
 
 1 Jos. X. 13; 2 Sam. i. IS. 
 
 2 2 Sam. viii. 16 ; xx. 24 : 1 Kings iv. 3 : 2 Kings xviii. 18-37- 
 
SOURCES OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL AND KINGS. 149 
 
 takings, were derived from these public records. There 
 are also many lists of names and some other portions both 
 of these histories and of the Books of Chronicles, which 
 are supposed to have come from the same source.^ But it 
 is not so clear whether the writer of our books drew his 
 information directly from the public records or not. A 
 " Book of the Acts of Solomon " is quoted," and Books of 
 the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel and Judah are men- 
 tioned as authorities for the reigns of most of the suc- 
 ceeding kings.^ These Books of Chronicles — not to be 
 confounded with our canonical Books of Chronicles — and 
 this Life of Solomon may possibly have been the original 
 state records; but it is more likely that they were historical 
 works, preceding our Books of Samuel and Kings, com- 
 piled wholly or in part from the public annals. It is 
 certain that some writing intervened between the contem- 
 porary record and our present completed books. One 
 reference will be sufficient to prove this. In the passage 
 in the First Book of Kings which tells how the ark of the 
 covenant was brought into Solomon's Temple, after the 
 description of the position in which the staves of the ark 
 were placed, the words are added — " and there they are 
 unto this day."^ These words could not have been written 
 by a contemporary, for they speak of the time of writing 
 as a later day ; neither could they have been written at 
 the time when the Book of Kings was completed, for the 
 Temple had then been long destroyed. They must there- 
 fore have been written at some intervening time. The 
 passage in which the words occur, as well as other passages 
 in these books in which similar expressions occur, may be 
 
 1 2 Sam. xxi. 1.5-22; xxiii. 8-39 : 1 Chron. xii. 1-22, 23-40 ; xx. 4-8; 
 xxvii. 
 
 - 1 Kings xi. 41. 3 i Kings xiv. 19, 29, &c. * 1 Kings viii. S. 
 
150 OX THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 quotations from works which were used in the composition 
 of the Books of Samuel and Kings, perhaps from the Life 
 of Solomon and the Chronicles mentioned above. Or it 
 may be that the books, which we now know as the Books 
 of Samuel and Kings, themselves existed in earlier forms 
 and received later additions. Of this we cannot be certain. 
 As in the case of the Pentateuch, we know not what the 
 process was by which the present histories reached their 
 final shape. What we do know for certain may be 
 summed up in three propositions, viz., (1) There were 
 contemporary records. (2) Whether directly or indirectly, 
 some of the materials of the present histories were derived 
 from those records. (3) The present books also contain 
 materials drawn from other sources. 
 
 The Moahite Stone. 
 
 In the first verse of the Second Book of the Kings the 
 brief statement is made that " Moab rebelled against Israel 
 after the death of Ahab." From a later chapter we learn 
 that this rebellion took place under a king named Mesha, 
 and an account is given of some of the military operations 
 that ensued.^ Though one victory over the Moabites is 
 said to have been gained by the allied forces of Israel and 
 Judah, aided by the subject king of Edom, it is evident, 
 even from the account given by their own side, that the 
 Israelites failed to accomplish the main object of the war, 
 and that the Moabites succeeded in establishing their in- 
 dependence. 
 
 In quite recent times a discovery has been made which 
 is of much interest in connexion with this passage in the 
 history of Israel. In the year 1868 an inscribed stone was 
 
 1 2 Kings i. 1 ; iii. 4-27 ; xiii. 20, 21. 
 
THE MOABITE STONE. 151 
 
 unexpectedly found at a place which had previously been 
 identified as the site of the ancient Moabite city of Dibon, 
 frequently mentioned in the Old Testament.^ This stone, 
 which is now in the Louvre at Paris, is a slab of basalt, a 
 very hard and durable substance ; and proves on examina- 
 tion to have been a memorial set up by the king of Moab, 
 to commemorate the deliverance of his country from the 
 Israelitish yoke. The inscription is in a dialect closely 
 akin to Hebrew, and written in Phoenician characters. It 
 contains many names both of persons and of places already 
 well known to us ; and there is hardly a sentence in it 
 which is not, from this or from some other reason, full of 
 interest to the student of the Old Testament. The writer 
 describes himself as Mesha, the son of Chemoshgad, king 
 of Moab, the Dibonite, and says that he erected this stone 
 to his god Chemosh, who saved Moab from its spoilers; for 
 it had been oppressed many days by \^Omr^ i king of Israel 
 and his son. Part of the name of the king of Israel is 
 unfortunately missing, some fragments of the stone having 
 been lost ; but the final i is left, and the name of Omri as 
 the oppressor of Moab occurs in full elsewhere on the stone. 
 The inscription describes the successive victories by which 
 Mesha gradually wrested the territory of Moab from the 
 hands of Israel. It then goes on to enumerate the public 
 works which he executed, telling how he fortified the cities 
 which he recovered from the enemy, and made other im- 
 provements in them, rebuilding some which had been re- 
 duced to ruins in the war, and directing special attention 
 to providing cisterns within the fortifications, and how he 
 
 ^ On the invasion of Canaan, Dibon was taken and occupied by the tribe 
 of Gad. It is sometimes called Dibon-Gad (Numb. xxi. 30 ; xxxii. 3, 34 ; 
 xxxiii. 45, 46). In later times we find it again in possession of Moab (Is. 
 XV. 2 ; Jer. xlviii. 18, 22, 24). 
 
152 OX THE LATER HISTOEICAL BOOKS. 
 
 made a road across the Arnon. The inscription concludes 
 with an account of an expedition, apparently to recover 
 Horonaim, which is mentioned in the Bible as a Moabite 
 town ; ^ hut some fragments of the stone are lost here, and 
 the meaning is obscure. 
 
 There can be little doubt that this remarkable monu- 
 ment of antiquity refers to the war by which Moab estab- 
 lished her independence of Israel. The inscription agrees 
 with the history in the time of the revolt, and in the name 
 of the rebel king. The account of Mesha's labours in city 
 building and otherwise repairing the damage done in 
 the war, and of his care to provide a water supply in a 
 situation protected from the ravages of future invaders, 
 curiously coincides with a passage in the Book of Kings in 
 reference to the devastation of Moab by the invading 
 armies, which .were to "smite every fenced city and every 
 choice city," and "fell every good tree, and stop all the 
 wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with 
 stones."" It is also interesting to find on the Moabite 
 monument so many names of places which are mentioned 
 in the Bible as belonging to the Moabite district; and it 
 is worth noticing that the name of the Moabitish king 
 Ohemoshgad strangely combines the title of the heathen 
 divinity with that of the Hebrew tribe which had so long 
 occupied a part of his country. 
 
 Assyrian Kings mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 
 Five kings of Assyria are mentioned by name in the 
 Historical Books, and another, Sargou, is mentioned in 
 one passage in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. The 
 names of all these kings except one are to be fouud in the 
 
 ^ Is. XV. .>; Jcr. xlviii. 3, 5, 34. - 2 Kings iii. 19. 
 
ASSYRIA]^ KIXGS IX THE OLD TESTAMENT. 153 
 
 Assyrian inscriptions, whicli also contain many references 
 to the campaigns and conquests of the Assyrians in Pales- 
 tine and the neighbouring countries, and throw much 
 light upon the history of this period. In general the two 
 histories agree well together ; but, as was to have been ex- 
 pected, the attempt to reconcile them in detail has not 
 been in all cases quite successful, and some discrepancies 
 exist, about which it would be premature to speak posi- 
 tively in the present state of our knowledge. The chief 
 difficulty arises from the chronological differences between 
 the two records. In the words of a late distinguished 
 Assyrian scholar, " although there is a striking agreement 
 in the order and substance of the events mentioned in 
 both histories, there sometimes appears to be considerable 
 difference as to dates." ^ 
 
 The following list gives the names of the kings that 
 reigned about the time in question, with the approximate 
 dates of each, according to the inscriptions. The names 
 of those kings who are also mentioned in the Old Testa- 
 ment are in large print : — 
 
 VUL-NIRARI III. (B.C. 812-783.) Fill ? 
 
 Shaxmaxeser III. (B.C. 783-773.) 
 
 AssuR-DAN III. (B.C.' 773-755.) 
 
 AssuR-NiRARi II. (B.C. 755-745.) Piil? (2 K. xv. 19, 20; 1 Chi-, v. 26.) 
 
 TIGLATH-PILESER II. (b.c. 745-727.) (2 K. xv. 29 ; xvi. 7-18, &c.) 
 
 SHALMANESER IV. (b.c. 727-722^) (2 K.xvii. 3-41 ;- xviii. 9-12, &c.) 
 
 SARGOjST. (B.C. 722-705.) (Is. xx. 1.) 
 
 SENNACHERIB, (b.c 705-681.) (2 K. xviii. 13-37 ; xix. 1-36, &c.) 
 
 ESARHADDON. (b.c. 681-668.) (2 K. xLx. 37, &c.) 
 
 1 Preface to the S. P. C. K. Histonj of Assyria, by the late George 
 Smith. 
 
 - It is not clear whether there is a second king of Assyria referred to in 
 this chapter. An inscription of Sargon claims for him the honour of having 
 taken Samaria in the first year of his reign. 
 
154 ON THE LATER HISTOEICAL BOOKS. 
 
 None of the Assyrian inscriptions contain the name of 
 Pul, who, according to the Hebrew historians, was an 
 Assyrian king who invaded Samaria before Tiglath-pileser 
 and received tribute from Menahem, king of Israel ; and 
 the identification of this monarch has become a standing 
 puzzle with the students of Assyrian history. It has been 
 suggested that Pul may have been another name for 
 Tiglath-pileser ; in spite of the obvious objection that the 
 two appear to be clearly distinguished by the Jewish his- 
 torians.^ The name Pul resembles the first part of the 
 name of Vul-nirari, a king who made expeditions to Pales- 
 tine, and claims in his inscriptions to have conquered Omri 
 (or Samaria), Philistia, and Edom. It is, however, an 
 objection to the identification of Pul with Yul-nirari III., 
 that in the Assyrian record Vul-nirari precedes Tiglath- 
 pileser by a much longer period than Pul does in the 
 Hebrew history. Yery few inscriptions have as yet been 
 discovered relating to the reigns of the two kings who 
 immediately preceded Tiglath-pileser ; it is therefore pos- 
 sible that we may yet find some record which will throw 
 light upon the subject of Pul's identity. 
 
 The Books of ChronkJes and the Books of Ezra and 
 Nchenuali ; When icere they icritten ? 
 
 Like the Books of Samuel and of Kings, the two Books 
 of Chronicles formed but one work in the original Hebrew, 
 and the history of the division is the same in all three 
 cases.^ The Greek title of the Books of Chronicles is 
 ^* Paralipomena,^'' or "things left out," a title which S. 
 Athanasius explains by telling us that " many things 
 omitted in the Books of the Kings are contained here." 
 
 ^ See also 1 Chron. v. 26. - See p. 146. 
 
DATE OF CHKONICLES, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAII. 1.55 
 
 The Books of Chronicles and the Book of Ezra form a 
 continuous history, and it is generally agreed that both 
 compositions were the work of the same writer. The 
 reasons for this belief are thus given by Keil, who attri- 
 butes the authorship to Ezra : — " The great affinity in 
 language, the frequent references made to the law in simi- 
 lar formulas, the predilection for extended descriptions of 
 the proceedings at acts of worship, along with the temple 
 music and the songs of praise by the Levites, in standing 
 liturgical formulas, also the predilection for genealogies 
 and public registers — all of which are common to the two 
 works — elevate this probability of common authorship into 
 a certainty."^ But the same argument which proves the 
 common authorship of Chronicles and Ezra is also appli- 
 cable to the Book of Nehemiah, which in the Hebrew is, 
 moreover, closely connected with the Book of Ezra, being 
 described as a second part of the same work. It has, 
 therefore, been concluded by Ewald and others that the 
 three books form one complete history, by the same 
 author. If this be so, it is pretty certain that this author 
 was not Ezra or Nehemiah, but some one who lived long 
 after, probably about the time of Alexander the Grreat : for 
 though Ezra and Nehemiah are both allowed to speak at 
 times in the first person, they are also spoken of in the 
 third person ; the days of Ezra and Nehemiah are, more- 
 over, regarded as belonging to the past;- finally there 
 are two genealogies, one in Chronicles and the other in 
 Nehemiah, which would bring the date down to about the 
 time which we have named. The one is the genealogy of 
 the sons of Zerubbabel, which is brought down six gene- 
 rations after him.^ The other is the genealogy of the 
 high priests, which is traced down five generations after 
 
 1 Keil, Introd. § 142. - ^oh. xii. 2C. ^ i Chron. iii. 17-21. 
 
1.56 ON THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 Joshua, the contemporary of Zerubbabel, and ends with 
 Jaddua, who is supposed to have been the same that hekl 
 office in the time of Alexander the Great. ^ Unless, there- 
 fore, we are to resort to the theory of later additions, we 
 must suppose that the author of these books lived about 
 the time mentioned above. There may also be some 
 weight in the argument, that the description of Darius, 
 the last king mentioned, as " the Persian" looks as if the 
 Persian dynasty had been succeeded by another at the 
 time when the book was written.- The late date of the 
 Books of Chronicles is, moreover, confirmed by the plaoe 
 which they occupy in the Hebrew Canon. 
 
 Scoj)e of tJie Boohs of Chronicles^ Ezra, and NeJiemiah. 
 
 Different explanations have been offered of the method 
 which the chronicler has pursued in his selections and 
 omissions from the history of the kings. To those who 
 separate the Book of Chronicles from the Book of Ezr;i, 
 the facts of his commencing the detailed history after the 
 reign of Saul, and omitting the kings of the ten tribes, at 
 once suggest that his object was to write a history of the 
 House of David. And this supposition is confirmed by 
 the fact that he omits the most discreditable and calami- 
 tous incidents of David's reign, the mm'der of Uriah, 
 David's adultery with Bathsheba, the rebellion of David's 
 two sons, and the other parts of the history of Absolom ; 
 and in the record of Solomon's reign passes over the king's 
 declension into idolatry. Ewald, however, who looks upon 
 the four books as one composition, reminds us that it was 
 written at a time when the only representatives of the 
 kingdom of the ten tribes were the hated Samaritans ; 
 
 ' Neh. xii. 10, 11, 22. Compare Joseph. Ant. xi. 8. - Neli. xii. 22. 
 
SACERDOTAL BIAS OF THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES. 157 
 
 when the interests of the Jews in the holy land had in 
 fact almost shrunk within the limits of Jerusalem and its 
 surroundings. Little remained of the ancient possessions 
 of the people but their religion, and that had its seat in 
 the Temple, Thus it is, he says, that the work is pre- 
 eminently a history of Jerusalem only : the shortest and, at 
 the same time, most accurate name for it would be Chronicle 
 of Jerusalem, including in the history of Jerusalem the 
 history of the religion which gave Jerusalem its greatness 
 and its permanence. All this would explain why the 
 kings of Israel are passed by, and why the history begins 
 with David's removal to Jerusalem. The faults and follies 
 of David and Solomon are, he thinks, omitted for another 
 reason, namely, because these kings were, at the time 
 when the book was written, the ideal heroes of anti- 
 quity. 
 
 Sacerdotal Bias- of the JBooJis of CJironkles. 
 
 In connexion with the subject considered in the preced- 
 ing section, the following passage may be quoted from a 
 note in the late Dean Milman's History of the Jews : — 
 
 " The Book of Kings is properly so called ; it dwells 
 chiefly on the succession of kings to the two thrones, the 
 acts of the kings, their lives and their deaths. The books 
 of Chronicles may be rather called the books of the High 
 Priests, more especially those of the House of Zadok, the 
 line of Eleazar. Throughout there is a sacerdotal bias : 
 though relating the same events, and the same royal 
 reigns, wherever power or influence may be attributed to 
 the priesthood, it comes forth in the Chronicles into greater 
 importance. Even in the life of David and of Solomon, 
 Zadok the priest is more prominent ; and this sacerdo- 
 
158 OX THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 talism becomes more maDifest as the history darkens to 
 its close. The reason of this seems to he simple. From 
 its own internal evidence, and from its words, the book or 
 books of Chronicles cannot have been written before the 
 Captivity, not before the time of Ezra, to which they de- 
 scend. But at that time the high priesthood was aspiring 
 towards supremacy ; it was gradually acquiring that kingly 
 power which it afterwards assumed. The compiler, there- 
 fore, one perhaps of that order, would adopt that tradition, 
 that version, or that colouring of events, which would give 
 the sanction of antiquity or authority to these sacerdotal 
 claims. This perhaps unconscious and hardly perceptible 
 leaning does not necessarily imply either dishonesty or 
 untruth. At that period the best and wisest Jews might 
 look to the ascendancy of the religious power of the high 
 priesthood as the only saving influence (especially while 
 the nation was still under a foreign yoke). It was the 
 only guarantee for the unity of the nation, which dej)ended 
 on the unity and therefore on the strength of the religion. 
 The Temple (now that they had no king) was the true 
 centre around which the tribes might gather ; in which 
 the Jewish life, and that which was the life of its life — the 
 worship of Jehovah — might take refuge as in its last sanc- 
 tuary, and work outwards, if not to the temporal, to the 
 spiritual independence of the nation."' 
 
 Sources of the Books of Chronicles, Ezra, and 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 The advocates of the later date of authorship account 
 for the occurrence of Nehemiah's name at the besinniuo- 
 of the book relatiDg to his time, and also for the use of the 
 
 ' Milman : Ills'. Jews. Book vii., note 1. 
 
SOURCES OF CHEOXICLES, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH. 1.59 
 
 first person in some passages, in which the acts of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah are recorded, by supposing that the later 
 writer incorporated in his work portions of personal me- 
 moirs written hy these leaders. The numerous genea- 
 logical tables found in all four books may also point to 
 another source from which materials were derived. It 
 would appear that such genealogical registers were care- 
 fully kept for taxation and other purposes.^ We cannot 
 say whether the genealogies in these books were copied 
 directly from the original records, or taken from some 
 earlier work, into which they had already been introduced. 
 Some of the earlier of them are evidently the same that 
 we have already met with in the Pentateuch and the fol- 
 lowing books, though in a slightly altered form. In the 
 Books of Chronicles frequent mention is made of historical 
 works relating to the reigns of the kings,'^ and also to 
 works bearing the names of individual prophets, the 
 " Words of Samuel the Seer, of Nathan the Prophet, of 
 Grad the Seer," "the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite,"^ 
 and so on. It is quite uncertain what any of these works 
 were. In two cases at least the prophetical writings re- 
 ferred to were contained in the historical works.^ The 
 corresjDondence of many passages in the Books of Chroni- 
 cles with passages in the Canonical Books of Kings at once 
 suggests that the Books of Kings formed the foundation 
 of the later history, and that they are the historical autho- 
 rities to which reference is frequently made under the title 
 
 1 2 Sam. xxiv. : 1 Chron. v. 17; vii. 2; xxiii. 3, 27 ; xx\'i. 31 ; xxvii. 
 23, 24 : Ezra ii. 62 : Neh. vii. 5, 64 ; xii. 23. 
 
 - 2 Chron. xvi. 11 ; xx. 3i ; xxv. 27 ; xxvii. 7 ; xxviii. 26 ; xxxii. 32 ; 
 xxxiii. 18 ; xxxv. 27. 
 
 3 1 Chron. xxLx. 29, 30: 2 Chron. ix. 29; xii, 15; xiii. 22; xx. 34; 
 xxvi. 22; xxxii. 32 ; xxxiii. 18. 
 
 * 2 Chron. xx. 34; xxxii. 32. 
 
160 ON THE LATER HISTOEICAL BOOKS. 
 
 of " the Book of the Kings of Israel and Judah," or other 
 titles of similar import. But the deviations from the 
 Books of Kings, not only in spirit, but even in statements 
 of fact, are very marked. It must therefore be admitted 
 that, if the chronicler used the Books of Kings as the 
 foundation of his work, he used them with very great 
 freedom. The difficulty is hardly escaped by supposing, 
 with some authors, that he did not draw directly from the 
 canonical Books of Kings, but that he used the same 
 authorities as the writer of the earlier work. A few 
 scholars have advocated the extreme view that the alleged 
 authorities of the Chronicles had really no existence at aU, 
 and that he invented the history, as it suited his purpose. 
 Without countenancing such a charge as this, we may say 
 that, where the Books of Kings and Chronicles differ, the 
 earlier history is undoubtedly to be preferred to the state- 
 ments of the chronicler. The latter apparently threw back 
 into the time of the kings the complete ceremonial and the 
 religious feelings of his own time. Some of his numbers 
 also are plainly too great.' But that is a fault which is 
 not peculiar to him. 
 
 The Persian Kings mentioned in the BooJiS of Ezra and 
 Nehcmiah. 
 
 The names of the Persian kings in the Books of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah wiU present an obvious difficulty to students 
 of the Classics, who are familiar with the succession of Per- 
 sian kings as given by Herodotus. The following table 
 gives, on the left hand, the names of the Persian kings as 
 they are to be found in the classical writers, and, on the 
 
 1 1 Chron. xxii. 14; xxix. 4, 7 : 2 Chioii. xiii. 3, 17 : xiv. 8, 9 ; xvii. 
 14-19 ; xxviii. 8. 
 
PERSIAN KINGS IN EZEA AND NEHEMIAH. 
 
 161 
 
 right hand, the names which we find in the Books of Ezra 
 and Nehemiah, in the order in which they occur : — 
 
 PERSIAN KINGS, 
 
 according to the Greek historians. 
 
 B.C. 
 
 
 558. 
 
 Cyrus. 
 
 529. 
 
 Cambyses. 
 
 522. 
 
 Pseudo-Smerdis. 
 
 521. 
 
 Darius (Hystaspis). 
 
 486. 
 
 Xerxes. 
 
 465. 
 
 Artaxerxes {Longimanus) 
 
 425-4, 
 
 . Darius [Nothus). 
 
 405. 
 
 Artaxerxes (Mnemon). 
 
 359. 
 
 Artaxerxes (Ochiis). 
 
 338. 
 
 Arses. 
 
 336. 
 
 Darius (Codomannus). 
 
 331. 
 
 (Battle of Arbela) . 
 
 PERSIAN KINGS 
 
 iu Ezra and Nehemiah. 
 
 Cyrus. 
 
 Ahasuerus. Ez. iv. 6. 
 
 Artaxerxes. Ez. iv. 7. 
 
 Darius. Ez. iv. 24, &c. 
 
 Artaxerxes. Ez. vii. 1, &c. 
 
 [22. 
 Darius the Persian (?). Neh.-xii. 
 
 It is strange that the names which follow the name of 
 Cyrus in the right-hand column would, if moved down a 
 little, correspond exactly with the names which are printed 
 in italics in the left-hand column, for Ahasuerus is the 
 Hebrew form of Xerxes. But this would leave a gap be- 
 tween Cyrus and the following king, which the Scriptural 
 writer cannot have intended. It is hard to believe that 
 the compiler of the Book of Ezra could have confounded 
 Darius Hystaspis with Darius Nothus, even though he 
 lived -under the Greek supremacy, and after the Persian 
 rule had passed away. But the other alternatives that 
 have been suggested are at least equally hard to accept. 
 Ewald's solution of the dijfficulty is that by Ahasuerus 
 and Artaxerxes the writer meant Cambyses and Pseudo- 
 Smerdis. This is extremly unlikely. Almost equally 
 
 M 
 
162 OX THE LATEE HISTOEICAL BOOKS. 
 
 bard to believe is tbe explanation offered by Keil and 
 otbers, tbat tbe section in tbe foiirtb cbapter of Ezra, in 
 wbicb tbe names of Abasuerus and Artaxerxes occur/ is 
 not intended to describe wbat took place before tbe reign 
 of Darius, but after it ; tbat it is " an episode inserted by 
 tbe bistorian for tbe sake of giving a sbort and compre- 
 bensive view of all tbe bostile acts against tbe Jewisb com- 
 munity on tbe part of tbe Samaritans and surrounding 
 nations,"" 
 
 Who was the Ahasuenis of the Booh of Esther ? 
 
 On tbis subject also tbere has been considerable differ- 
 ence of opinion amongst scbolars. Tbe fact tbat tbe 
 Book of Estber makes no mention of tbe Jews wbo bad 
 returned to Judsea, or of tbe Temple or tbe city of Jeru- 
 salem, bas led some to suppose tbat tbe events related in 
 tbis book must be placed in tbe period before tbe Return ; 
 and Abasuerus bas accordingly been identified witb tbe 
 Median king Cyaxares. But tbe kingdom described in 
 tbe Book of Estber cannot be tbe Median, for tbe Median 
 kingdom never extended " from India to Etbiopia." ^ 
 Abasuerus is probably tbe Persian Xerxes, tbe son of 
 Darius Hystaspis. It bas been tbougbt by some scbolars 
 tbat tbis supposition derives support from tbe resemblance 
 between tbe name of Estber and tbat of Amestris, tbe 
 wife of Xerxes, whose revengful and bloodthirsty cha- 
 racter appears in the stories related of her by Herodotus. 
 One writer speaks of tbis as a " perilous " likeness. An- 
 other argues that Esther's character may not have im- 
 proved after her elevation to so high a station, and that 
 the vengeance inflicted on Haman and bis sons shows her 
 
 ^ Ezra iv. 6-22. - Keil : Com. in loc. ■' Esth. i. 1. 
 
THE BIBLE AND THE YOUXG. 163 
 
 vindictive disposition. It tends to shake our confidence in 
 all these conjectural identifications of names, when we find 
 another distinguished scholar asserting that the resem- 
 blance is, not between the names of Esther and Amestris, 
 but between Amestris and Vashti, the queen who precedes 
 Esther in the story. 
 
 Is the Book of Esther a History or a Romance ? 
 
 The difficulty of settling the question about Ahasuerus 
 is increased by our uncertainty as to the character of the 
 book. We cannot be sure how far the story of Esther is 
 founded on fact, or to what extent the writer of it may 
 have drawn upon his imagination. Possibly the decipher- 
 ing of the Eastern records may throw some light upon the 
 matter. The way in which the book is connected with the 
 feast of Purim can hardly be accepted as a proof of the 
 truth of every particular related in it, as the book may 
 have been written for the purpose of recommending the 
 feast, or for reading at it. If the Jews are right in sup- 
 posing that the term " Agagite" applied to Haman means 
 that he was an Amalekite,^ it would be a pretty clear proof 
 of the fictitious nature of the narrative. But though Jo- 
 sephus adopts this interpretation, it is not at all certain 
 that it is correct. The real meaning of the expression is 
 not known. 
 
 The Bible and the Young. 
 
 From what we have said about the character of the 
 Historical Books and the manner of their composition, 
 the evils of a method of reading and teaching the Bible, 
 
 ^ Estli. iii. 1, Sic. See 1 Sam. xv. 8, and Jos. Antiq. xi. vi. 5. 
 M 2 
 
164 OX TEE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 wliicli, it is to be feared, is still onlj too common, will be 
 evident. How often have children been drilled in the dry 
 minutiae of these Old Testament narratives, the ages of the 
 patriarchs, the names of their wives, the days and dates in 
 the story of the Flood, and so on, as if they were learning 
 tables of carefully compiled statistics ! And how often 
 have they been allowed to believe, if not actually taught, 
 that these details are of equal importance with the great 
 spiritual truths contained in the Bible, and that the know- 
 ledge of them brings with it some mysterious spiritual 
 benefit ! Need we add that the evils of this method of 
 teaching the Bible are sometimes aggravated by ingenious 
 attempts to reconcile discrepancies which undoubtedly exist 
 in the text of the Bible, and to explain difficulties which can- 
 not be explained. In the effort to effect these reconcilia- 
 tions, and to make the Books of the Old Testament conform 
 to rules of historical composition, which were unknown when 
 these books were written, the plain meaning of the text is 
 often distorted and the interests of simple truth sacrificed. 
 The danger of such a method of teaching is evident. The 
 w'.iole system turns away the thoughts of the learner from 
 the more important things to these historical details ; and 
 the practice of perverse ingenuity cultivates a habit of in- 
 tellectual dishonesty, and insensibl}'" alienates the mind 
 from the moral and spiritual truths with which such me- 
 thods of interpretation are unfortunately associated. On 
 the difficult question of teaching these books to the young, 
 may we be allowed to suggest that it will be best to treat 
 the great spiritual and moral truths which are to be learned 
 from them as the things of real importance, and to allow 
 the details of the narratives to fall into a subordinate 
 place ? It need not lessen the appreciation of the religious 
 truths, but should rather increase it, when we see that they 
 
THE BIBLE AND THE YOUXG. 165 
 
 found an echo in the human heart and conscience, even in 
 those early days when men were so backward and ignorant 
 in many things, and even when their power of apprehend- 
 ing these great truths was so imperfect, and their concep- 
 tions of them mixed with error. The truth that the world 
 could not have made itself, that it could not have grown 
 up out of nothing, that no account of its origin can be 
 given better than that "in the beginning" Grod made it — 
 this truth is not the less true, but our conviction of it is 
 infinitely increased when we observe that, by the grace of 
 God, it was patent to the minds of the great and good 
 men of former days, even though their ideas of the process 
 by which the world must have arrived at its present state 
 were somewhat diiferent from those which the more accu- 
 rate investigations of modern science have proposed for our 
 acceptance. The story of the Fall — whatever we think 
 now of the origin and first meaning of it, whether we 
 believe that it was intended from the first to be under- 
 stood figuratively or not — ^bears witness to the great law, 
 to which common experience also bears such abundant 
 testimony, that the consequences of wrong-doing do not 
 end with the evil-doer, but spread in an ever-widening 
 circle ; and shows that men felt long ago, as we feel now, 
 the essential imperfection of human nature and the "some- 
 thing wrong about this world" with which man has to 
 struggle in pain and sorrow until the final enfranchise- 
 ment from sin and evil, to which he has been taught to 
 look forward as his true goal. From the accounts of the 
 great flood we may, in like manner, at the very least learn 
 this, how the conscience of man has led him to see in the 
 great convulsions of nature the Divine judgment on the 
 sins of the earth ; and the value of this lesson remains, 
 even though we do not always interpret providence now 
 
166 ON THE LATER HISTORICAL BOOKS. 
 
 in exactly the same way as our forefathers did. Finally, 
 the examples of bravery, of goodness, of devotion to the 
 service of God, which are presented to us in the lives of the 
 men and women of old time, are, not less but more, valu- 
 able to us, because we see that the persons who exhibited 
 these virtues were people of like passions with ourselves, 
 by whom Grod teaches us, as He does by the men and 
 women of our own day, to recognize the heavenly treasure 
 even in an earthly vessel, and ever to follow that which is 
 good. By thus drawing special attention to those things 
 in the Bible to which reason and conscience bear indepen- 
 dent testimony, we shall both impress these truths them- 
 selves upon the minds of the young, and secure that their 
 attachment to the Bible shall be built upon a foundation 
 which cannot be shaken. 
 
PAET 11. 
 
 THE POETICAL BOOKS, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 Sehreio Poetry. 
 
 ^ I ^HE reader must not expect to find in the Hebrew 
 -*- poems either the rhymes or accents of Enghsh 
 poetry, or the classical metres. Nothing like any of these 
 is to be found either in the Hebrew original or in the 
 authorized English translation.^ English readers are 
 sometimes apt to think that we cannot have poetry with- 
 out rhyme, or at least without metre ; because they become 
 accustomed to one or both of these in the poems with which 
 they first make acquaintance. But this is a mistake. The 
 use of any peculiar form or mode of expression is not essen- 
 tial to poetry. The essence of poetry consists in the spirit 
 by which it is animated. At the same time, it is usual for 
 poetry in all languages to assume some special form of 
 
 ^ Instances are sometimes found of assonance, that is, the concmrence of 
 words resembling each other in sound. But this occurs only occasionally, 
 as it may occur in oratorical prose ; and cannot he considered a general 
 characteristic of Hebrew poetry. 
 
168 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 its own, by which it is distinguished from prose, and by 
 which its effect upon the mind is assisted. In Hebrew 
 poetry there is such a form, though it is not like any to 
 which we have become accustomed elsewhere. It consists 
 in parallelism, that is, the repetition of the same or similar 
 sentiments in sentences which also correspond more or 
 less with each other in construction. Something like this 
 is occasionally to be found in English poetry, as, for 
 instance, in the following verses: — 
 
 ' ' When the dark waves round us roll, 
 And -we look in vain for aid, 
 Speak, Lord, to the trembling soul, 
 ' It is I ; be not afraid.' 
 
 When our brightest hopes depart, 
 When our fairest visions fade, 
 Whisper to the fainting heart, 
 ' It is I ; be not afraid.' " 
 
 Here it will be noticed that there is a close correspond- 
 ence between the two lines of each couplet. This cor- 
 respondence depends on the resemblance, or other relation, 
 between the thoughts expressed in the lines ; and in the 
 third couplet — 
 
 ' ' When our brightest hopes depart. 
 When our fairest visions fade" — 
 
 it amounts to an actual repetition of the same thought 
 in two sentences of the same construction, and almost in 
 the same words. Many of the parallelisms in Hebrew 
 poetry are equally distinct and complete. The second 
 Psalm, for instance, begins thus: — 
 
 " Why do the heathen so furiously rage together : 
 And why do the people imagine a vain thing ? 
 
HEBREW POETRY. 169 
 
 The kings of the earth stand up, 
 And the rulers take counsel together : 
 
 Against the Lord, 
 
 And against his Anointed." 
 
 Take another example from Psalm cxliv. : — 
 
 ' ' Lord, what is man that thou hast such respect unto him : 
 Or the son of man that thou so regardest him ? 
 
 Man is like a thing of nought : 
 
 His time passeth away Uke a shadow." 
 
 It is easy to see how the parallelism aids the effect of 
 the poem in all these instances. The corresponding lengths 
 of the lines, or sentences, with the natural pause at the 
 end of each, give rest to the mind, while the repetition of 
 the thought leaves it full time to produce its proper effect 
 upon the feelings. The parallelism in the poetical hooks 
 of the Bible is not always so simple or so clearly marked 
 as in the examples given above. It is sometimes found 
 in more complicated combinations; it is repeated more 
 than once, or it occurs alternately, or in some other order. 
 But no definite rules can be laid down; and, in fact, 
 nothing is known on the subject beyond what the reader 
 can observe for himself. Sometimes the parallelism be- 
 comes so indefinite that it is hard to say whether it exists at 
 all or not ; it gradually fades away, and, as far as form is 
 concerned, the poetry becomes ordinary prose. 
 
 Both in the poetical and other books of the Old Testa- 
 ment there are frequent allusions to music, which appears 
 to have been much cultivated by the Hebrews, especially 
 in connexion with religious worship. But little or nothing 
 is known of the nature ofHebrew music, beyond the names 
 of some of the instruments. We may, liowever, conjectm-e 
 
170 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 that it resembled the music of Egypt and of other neigh- 
 bouring countries. 
 
 The Booh of Joh. 
 
 This Book is a dramatic composition, relating the suffer- 
 ings and trials of Job, an Arabian chief, and introducing 
 a discussion on the subject of human suffering. When we 
 call it dramatic, we do not mean that it was intended for 
 representation on a stage. There is no trace of anything 
 like theatrical representations having been in use among 
 the Hebrews.^ We only mean that several speakers are 
 introduced who engage in conversation with each other. 
 The outline of the story is as follows : — 
 
 Job was a good man " perfect and upright, and one 
 that feared God, and eschewed evil." Even in the Divine 
 estimate there was " none like him in the earth." He 
 was also a prosperous man, highly blessed in his family 
 and his possessions, and universally respected by all about 
 him. This prosperity leads the accusing angel to suggest 
 that Job does not "fear Grod for nought," that hii=5 appn- 
 rent piety is simply due to his prosperity, and that if his 
 lot were changed he would appear in a different character ; 
 though he be now so religious and circumspect in word and 
 deed, if he met with misfortune like other folk he would 
 curse God to His face. To meet this taunt of the enemy, 
 the Almighty allows His servant Job to be tried. One 
 after another the strokes of adversity fall upon him in 
 terrible succession. His flocks and herds, the source of his 
 wealth, are carried off by bands of marauders, or destroyed 
 by fire from heaven. His faithful servants die in defence 
 
 1 It is a mere conjecture that the Song of Solomon was intended for stage 
 representation. See p. 202. 
 
THE BOOK OF JOB. 171 
 
 of their master's property, or perish by the visitation of 
 God. His ten children, the pride of his heart, are taken 
 from him in one day. But the good man sins not, nor 
 charges Grod foolishly. " Naked came I out of my 
 mother's womb," is his only cry, "and naked shall I 
 return thither; the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken 
 away ; blessed be the name of the Lord," Then the 
 tempter obtains permission to add acute bodily suffering 
 to Job's other misfortunes. He is afflicted with a most 
 painful disease, and sits upon the ground a miserable and 
 loathsome object. To complete the trial, his wife's faith 
 entirely breaks down. She begs her husband to " curse 
 God, and die." But Job sins not with his lips ; — " Thou 
 speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What ? 
 Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we 
 not receive evil ? " 
 
 Three of Job's friends make " an appointment together 
 to come to mourn with him, and to comfort him." Their 
 arrival touches the heart of the afflicted man, and occasions 
 a passionate outburst of grief and perplexity. He curses 
 the day of his birth, he asks why was he ever born, or why 
 did he not die in infancy before these troubles had come ; 
 then he should have been at peace, in that silent darkness 
 where all have rest. These complaints, in which Job 
 appears to lose his former self-control, lead to an earnest 
 conversation between him and his friends. Their discus- 
 sion runs on through many chapters, and with the con- 
 cluding speeches evidently forms the pith of the book. 
 Parts of the dialogue are obscure, and there is some un- 
 certainty as to the minor turns of thought, but the broad 
 outline of the whole is pretty clear. One of the comfort- 
 ers, Eliphaz the Temanite, begins by laying down the 
 principle that all suffering comes as a chastisement for 
 
172 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 sin ; Job must therefore have been guilty of some wicked- 
 ness, to give occasion for this calamity ; if he will acknow- 
 ledge his fault and accept the Divine correction, his former 
 happiness will be restored. But Job can find no comfort 
 in this reasoning. He complains of the worthlessness of 
 such attempts at consolation, and renews his lamentations. 
 Then Bildad the Shuhite, another of the three visitors, 
 joins in, taking the same ground as Eliphaz ; and so the 
 discussion goes on, Job continuing to assert his innocence 
 — at least his innocence of any such exceptional wicked- 
 ness as the theory of his three friends would imply ; the 
 friends, on the other hand, clinging to their first idea, and 
 in the end, losing temper with Job's obstinate justification 
 of himself, and j)lainly hinting that his conduct must be 
 due to hypocrisy and wilful rebellion against the Almighty. 
 When it becomes evident that no satisfactory result can be 
 expected from this controversy, a new character appears 
 'upon the scene, Elihu the son of Barachel, a young man, 
 whose name has not been previously mentioned, and who 
 describes himself as having listened, at first in expectation, 
 but in the end with bitter disappointment, to the speeches 
 of his elders. Elihu condems Job because " he justified 
 himself rather than Grod," that is, because he was too 
 eager and hasty in putting forward the plea of his own 
 innocence, and did not rather occupy himself with the 
 reflection that the Almighty may have had good purposes 
 in the infliction of suffering — purposes beneficial even to 
 the sufferer. Elihu also reproves the three friends. Their 
 narrow philosophy was "no answer" to the anguished cry 
 of Job's afflicted soul. But so great a cause needs a higher 
 arbiter, and in a passage of extreme grandeur the Almighty 
 is described as manifesting Himself to Job. In that awful 
 Presence — the Presence which is manifest in all creation 
 
WAS JOB A REAL OR IMAGINARY CHARACTER ? 173 
 
 for those who have eyes to see it, and the heart to feel it — 
 Job's troubled soul is completely subdued. He complains 
 no more. He has no mind to rebel against the dispensa- 
 tions of that Being in whose Presence he feels himself 
 unfit to stand. The Almighty also approves Elihu's 
 judgment of the vain attempt of Job's friends to make 
 their I3etty maxims the measure of His dealings. They 
 had been guilty of "folly," and had not spoken of Him 
 the thing which was right. However Job intercedes for 
 his friends, and their error is pardoned. The book con- 
 cludes with an account of the complete restoration of Job's 
 prosperity, and the doubling of his former possessions. 
 
 Was Job a JReal or an Imaginary Character ? 
 
 The poetical justice with which Job is treated when his 
 trial is over is of itself sufficient to show that we cannot 
 regard the book as strictly historical. The family with 
 which he was blessed after his restoration was exactly the 
 same as that which he had possessed before his trial. His 
 other possessions were exactly doubled. In place of 
 "seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and 
 five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses," 
 he received "fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand 
 camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she 
 asses," Moreover, we are told that he lived one hundred 
 and forty years to enjoy his recovered happiness, though 
 he had been old enough to be the father of a grown up 
 family before his trial. But while there can be no doubt 
 of the poetical character of the present narrative, it is not 
 likely that the whole story of Job was a pure invention. 
 There is a reference to Job in the Book of Ezekiel in 
 which he seems to be regarded as a real historical charac- 
 
174 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 ter.^ It is probable, therefore, that the writer of the pre- 
 sent book worked upon some traditional remembrances of 
 a real person. This, or something like it, would appear to 
 have been the opinion of Luther, though he has expressed 
 himself in rather awkward language. " I look upon the 
 Book of Job," he said, "as a true history, yet I do not 
 believe that all took place just as it is written, but that an 
 ingenious, pious, and learned man brought it into its pre- 
 sent form." 
 
 Authorship and Date of the Book of Job. 
 
 We are quite unable to say who was the author of the 
 Book of Job, or where or when it was -oT-itten. The quaint 
 note in the margin of the English Bible, which says that 
 " Moses is thought to have wrote the Book of Job whilst 
 among the Madianites, Before Christ cir. 1520," expresses 
 only one opinion out of many on the subject, and one 
 which at present does not find much favour among scho- 
 lars. 
 
 Literary Estimate of the Book of Job. 
 
 Whoever was the author of the book, its literary ex- 
 cellence has been acknowledged by the highest authorities. 
 Edmund Burke, in his Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful, 
 quotes the description, in the first chapter, of the messen- 
 gers arriving one after another with the tidings of Job's 
 successive calamities, as a notable instance of the powerful 
 effect which may be produced by the simple repetition of 
 similar impressive incidents. He compares the effect of 
 the passage to that produced by a succession of solemn 
 sounds, such as the tolling of a funeral bell, or the boom- 
 ing of heavy artillery at regular intervals over a battle- 
 
 ^ Ezek. xiv. 14, &c. 
 
LITERARY ESTIMATE OF THE BOOK OF JOB. 175 
 
 field. The narrative portions, the one at the beginning of 
 the hook which contains the passage to which Burke refers, 
 and the other at the end, both together forming the frame- 
 work in which the discourses are set, are not poetical in 
 form. At least they do not display that peculiarity of 
 parallelism which we have mentioned as a distinguishing 
 characteristic of Hebrew poetry. It is only in the dis- 
 courses that the parallelism appears. The descriptions of 
 nature and natural objects as exhibiting the power and 
 majesty of the Almighty, which frequently occur in these 
 discourses, are especially remarkable. Some of them can- 
 not be surpassed for grandeur. This feature of the book 
 is noticed in the following extract from Carlyle's Lectures 
 on Heroes: — "I call that" — the Book of Job — "apart 
 from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever 
 written with pen. One feels, indeed, as if it were not 
 Hebrew ; such a noble universality, different from noble 
 patriotism or sectarianism, reigns in it. A noble Book; 
 all men's Book ! It is our first oldest statement of the 
 never-ending problem — man's destiny, and Grod's ways 
 with him here in this earth. And all in such free flowing 
 outlines ; grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity ; in its 
 epic melody, and repose of reconcilement. There is the 
 seeing eye, the mildly understanding heart. So true every 
 way ; true eyesight and vision for all things, material 
 things no less than spiritual : the horse — ' hast thou 
 clothed his neck with thunder?^ — he ^laughs at the shak- 
 ing of the spear.' Such living likenesses were never since 
 drawn. Sublime sorrow, sublime reconciliation ; oldest 
 choral melody as of the heart of mankind^so soft, and 
 great ; as the summer midnight, as the world with its seas 
 and stars ! There is nothing written, I think, in the Bible 
 or out of it, of equal literary merit." 
 
176 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 JFith ivhat object ims the Book of Job written ? 
 
 A great deal has been written upon this subject, and 
 many speculations may be found in the commentaries as 
 to the object which the writer of the Book of Job had in 
 view. Instead of entering here into these doubtful in- 
 quiries as to what the writer intended his book to teach, 
 perhaps it will be more profitable for us to remind the 
 reader of some things which the book does unquestionably 
 teach. 
 
 In the first place, then, when it pictures Job, as it 
 does in the opening narrative, retaining his faith in Grod 
 in spite of adversity, it reminds us that in all ages and 
 countries, and under different circumstances, men have 
 been found to do the same. This fact effectually disposes 
 of the taunt against religion implied in the tempter's 
 question, " Doth Job serve God for nought ?" Religious 
 faith, whatever may be the true account of its origin, is 
 not, as some have said, merely prudence under another 
 name. It is not a selfish satisfaction with one's own wel- 
 fare, hypocritically assuming the garb of religion. It is 
 something quite distinct from prudence, something deep 
 down in the human mind which clings to the thought of 
 God, and retains faith in God in spite of all changes in 
 external circumstances. It is true that it may sometimes 
 fail, true that external circumstances may sometimes prove 
 too much for it, true that it oftentimes connects itself with 
 errors of thought and imperfect standards of morality ; 
 but still, in spite of all this, there it is, something that 
 cannot be denied, and that must receive due recognition in 
 any philosophy of human nature or human destiny that 
 expects to be considered at all worthy of the name. 
 
 In the second place, the Book of Job condemns the 
 
SIDE LESSONS FROM THE BOOK OP JOB. 177 
 
 assumption, upon which Job's friends argued, that suffer- 
 ing is inflicted only as a consequence of wrong-doing, so 
 that the wickedness of the sufferer may be measured by 
 the amount of his suffering. Suffering has other objects 
 to accomplish besides those of punishment and correction. 
 This truth may be plain enough to us now, but it has not 
 always been so to everyone. Even in the Book of Psalms 
 we shall find the writers sometimes struggling with the 
 difficulties caused by an imperfect apprehension of it. 
 
 Lastly, the account of Job's complete submission in the 
 presence of the Almighty reminds us that, though our 
 minds are sometimes disturbed and lose their balance ; and 
 though the understanding must be always at a loss to 
 explain the mysteries of life, there is a Voice which reaches 
 the soul of man through the manifestations of the Deity 
 which surround him, a Yoice which can calm the soul even 
 in the midst of perplexity and trial, and which invites 
 an unmurmuring submission to the irresistible decrees of 
 Providence — " All those things " — the heavens and the 
 earth — ^^hath mine hand made, and so all these things arose : 
 but on this man will I look, even on him that is poor and of 
 a contrite spirit and tremhleth at my loordP 
 
 Side Lessons from the Book of Job. 
 
 Three admirable remarks are appended to the section 
 on the Book of Job in NichoUs' Eelj) to the Reading of the 
 Bible :— 
 
 " 1. Let the young imitate Elihu's humility. Though 
 competent to speak best, he spoke last. 
 
 " 2. How much of heavenly wisdom is necessary to 
 conduct controversy properly, when even Job failed in 
 
 it: 
 
178 THE BOOK OF JOB. 
 
 " 3. It well becomes us to confess ourselves to be mise- 
 rable offenders, "when even Job abhorred himself, and said, 
 'Behold, I am vile.' He who knows himself best esteems 
 himself least." 
 
JEWISH AND CHRISTIAN USE OF THE PSALTER. 179 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 The Psalms in the Jewish and Christian Churches. 
 
 'n^HE Book of Psalms is a collection of one hundred 
 -*- and fifty sacred poems. It was the Psalm-book of 
 the Jewish Temple, and is still used in the public and 
 private d^evotions of the ancient people amongst whom it 
 had its origin. The modern Jewish use of the Psalms is 
 thus described by one of themselves : — " The Psalms are 
 embodied in every portion of our religious service," and 
 " in private prayer in our family circle, when we rise up, 
 and when we lie down ; when we dedicate our house on 
 entering it ; when a family is seated around the table ; 
 when we hail the coming in of the Sabbath, and as we 
 watch the departure of the holy day ; when life has left 
 our loved ones, and we deposit their remains in their last 
 resting-place, and when we place over that last home a 
 slab recording their name, we read Psalms ; for in that 
 glorious book of poesy we find words appropriate to the 
 occasion." 
 
 The Christian use of the Psalms, both in the public 
 offices of the Church and as a manual of private devotion, 
 can be traced back to a very early date. It is probable 
 that both uses were adopted from the Jewish Chui'ch at 
 the very first. In the liturgies of the Greek and Roman 
 Churches the Psalms are employed to the same extent as 
 in that of the Church of England. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 THE PSALMS. 
 
 An Evidence of Religion. 
 
 The general response wMcli these devotional poems have 
 met with from the hearts of so large a portion of mankind, 
 through many ages, and in varying conditions of society, is 
 a most remarkable fact in the history of the human mind, 
 and is in itself no small evidence of the truth of Religion. 
 
 The Different Versions of the Psalms in the Bible 
 and in the Prayer-hook. 
 
 To most English readers the Psalms are much better 
 known in the Prayer-book Version than in that contained 
 in the Bible. The Prayer-book Version is the older of 
 the two, being the version of "Cranmer's Great Bible," 
 which was published in the year 1539. Cranmer's Bible 
 was only an improved edition of Coverdale's Bible, a 
 translation which had been made a few years before; and 
 in Coverdale's Bible the Psalms were not translated di- 
 rectly from the Hebrew. They were taken from a Latin 
 version of the Psalms which was in use in the Galilean 
 Church, and is known as the Galilean Psalter. The ver- 
 sion of the Psalms now contained in the Bible is part of 
 the translation made " out of the original sacred tongues" 
 by order of James I. in the year 1610. It is more criti- 
 cally accurate tlian the Prayer-book Version, and may be 
 sometimes found of use in ascertaining the true meaning 
 of the Hebrew, when it is not correctly given in the other. 
 But the Prayer-book Version has never been superseded 
 by any later translation either in the public services of the 
 Church or in the hearts of the people. It is more rhythmi- 
 cal, and therefore better adapted for singing than the 
 Bible translation. It is moreover now secured in its place 
 by many old associations. 
 
OEIGIN OF THE PSALTER. 181 
 
 Origin of the Psalter. 
 
 In the Prayer-book the Psalms are called "The Psalms 
 of David." This is a very ancient description of them ; 
 but we are not to infer from it that they were all written 
 by " the sweet Psalmist of Israel," or that the collection 
 was completed in his time. Some of the Psalms obviously 
 belong to a date long subsequent to the reign of David ; 
 Psalm cxxxvii., for example, which relates the sorrows of 
 the people " by the waters of Babylon." Many others are 
 as late, if not later still. There may also be some Psalms 
 in the collection which are earlier than David's day. We 
 cannot give any weight to the heading of the ninetieth 
 Psalm, which describes it as " a prayer of Moses "; but 
 there are interwoven with the historical narrative speci- 
 mens of poetical composition, some of which are evidently 
 of great antiquity. It is, no doubt, because the Hebrew 
 Psalter owes its existence to the impulse which David gave 
 to the practice of sacred song, and perhaps because some 
 hymns actually composed by him formed the nucleus of 
 the collection, that it bears his name. The superscriptions 
 in the Hebrew Bible which ascribe seventy-three of them 
 to him cannot be relied on. Many scholars are, however, 
 agreed as to his authorship of a smaller number. It is 
 not impossible that a collection of Psalms containing some 
 of his composition may have been made for use in the 
 service of the Tabernacle or of the Temple, and that this 
 collection was the basis of our present Psalter, later addi- 
 tions having been made to it, and rearrangements of the 
 whole having taken place from time to time.^ Hezekiah, 
 
 ' Some scholars now doubt David's authorship of any of the Psalms. 
 They are of opinion that the Psalms generally represent a later religious 
 
182 THE PSALMS. 
 
 when re-arranging the services of the Temple, is said to 
 have " commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the 
 Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer." ^ 
 The present collection is marked off into five divisions 
 by doxologies, which occur at the end of each.- These five 
 divisions are sometimes called the Five Books of the 
 Psalms. 
 
 Personal and National, Elements in the Psalms. 
 
 Some of the Psalms are purely personal in their refe- 
 rence. They express the joys and sorrows, the struggles 
 and aspirations of the individual soul of the writer. Others 
 have for their subject the fortunes and hopes of the Jew- 
 ish community. But it is so natural for the personal and 
 national elements to run together, that it is impossible 
 sharply to divide the Psalms into two classes in this re- 
 spect, as it is in any other classification which has been 
 proposed. Psalm cii. may be quoted as a beautiful in- 
 stance of the intermingling of the individual and national 
 sentiments. It is evidently written by a Jew of the Capti- 
 vity in Babylon. Harassed and heartbroken, the mourn- 
 ing exile pours forth the sorrows that oppress him. His 
 
 standpoint than the time of David or Solomon. See Kuenen, Eel. of Is., 
 vol. i., p. 322. It is evident that once -we acknowledge that we cannot 
 rely upon the titles of the Psalms, we have no certain rule left hy which 
 we can determine the authorship. The Psalms which Ewald on internal 
 grounds attrihutes to David are the following — Psalms ii., iii., iv., vii., 
 viii., xi., XV., xviii., xix., xxi., xxiv., xxxii., Ix. 6-8 (cviii. 7—10), ci., ex., 
 cxliv. 12-15 ; to which he adds 2 Sam. i. 19-27 ; iii. 33, 34 ; xxiii. 1-7. 
 Examples of Psalms most commonly supposed to helong to the Maccahasan 
 period are — Psalms xlix., Ix., Ixxiv., Ixxix. 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxix. 30. 
 
 2 See Pss. xli. 13 ; Ixviii. 35; Ixxxix. 52 ; civ. 35 ; el. 
 
PERSONAL AND NATIONAL ELEMENTS. 183 
 
 life is passing away in pain and sorrow. He cannot live 
 to see the restoration to Jerusalem, which seems even now 
 close at hand. But he rests on the thought of Clod's 
 Eternity and Faithfulness, and consoles himself with the 
 hope that, after he is gone, the Lord will revive the for- 
 tunes of His people, and restore His worship, as of old : — 
 
 " My days are gone like a shadow : 
 And I am withered like grass. 
 
 But Thou, Lord, shalt endure for ever : 
 
 And Thy remembrance throughout all generations. 
 
 Thou shalt arise, 
 
 And have mercy upon Zion : 
 
 For it is time that Thou have mercy upon her ; 
 Yea, the time is come. 
 
 For Thy servants think upon her stones, 
 And it pitieth them to see her in the dust. 
 
 The heathen shall fear Thy name, Lord : 
 And all the kings of the earth Thy majesty ; 
 
 "When the Lord shall buUd up Zion : 
 And when His glory shall appear. 
 
 The children of Thy servants shall continue, 
 And their seed shall stand fast in Thy sight." 
 
 It is not ofteji that the internal evidence of a Psalm 
 points so clearly to the date and circumstances of the 
 writer as in this case. But our uncertainty as to matters 
 of this sort need not interfere with our devotional use of 
 the Psalms. Whoever the writers were, whenever or 
 wherever they lived, they were men of like passions with 
 ourselves, contending with the same kind of trials and 
 temptations that we have to contend with, and by the 
 
184 THE PSALMS. 
 
 grace of God maintaining, witli more or less of effort, 
 their faith in the great Truths of Religion. 
 
 Faith Militant. 
 
 Occasionally we find the writers of the Psalms strug- 
 gling with the same kind of difficulty as that with which 
 the soul of Job was perplexed. The seventy-third Psalm 
 states very distinctly the trial of faith arising from the 
 apparent injustice of the distribution of happiness and 
 prosperity in life : — 
 
 ' ' My feet were almost gone : 
 My treadings had well nigh slipt. 
 
 And why ? I was grieved at the wicked : 
 I do also see the ungodly in such prosperity. 
 
 For they are in no peril of death : 
 But are lusty and strong. 
 
 They come in no misfortune like other folk : 
 Neither are they plagued like other men. 
 
 And this is the cause that pride is as a chain around their neck : 
 And cruelty encompasses them like a garment. 
 
 Lo, these arc the ungodly, 
 
 These prosper in the world, 
 
 And these have riches in possession : 
 
 And I said. 
 
 Then have I cleansed my heart in vain, 
 
 And washed my hands in innocency. 
 
 All the day long have I heen punished, 
 And chastened every morning." 
 
 It is only when the mind of the Psalmist is calmed and 
 elevated by communion with Grod that he can throw these 
 doubts aside. Then he can understand the worthlessness 
 
FAITH MILITANT. 185 
 
 of that prosperity that is "without Grod in the world." 
 Then he sees that what the Almighty has to give to those 
 who love Him is something better than the uncertain 
 possessions of earth : — 
 
 " Then thought I to understand this : 
 But it was too hard for me, 
 
 Until I went into the sanctuary of God : 
 Then understood I the end of these men ; 
 
 Namely, how Thou dost set them in slippery places : 
 And castest them down, and destroyest them. 
 
 how suddenly do they consume : 
 Perish, and come to a fearful end ! 
 
 So foolish was I, and ignorant : 
 Even as it were a beast before Thee. 
 
 Nevertheless I am always by Thee : 
 
 For Thou hast holden me by my right hand. 
 
 Thou shalt guide me with Thy counsel : 
 And after that receive me with glory. 
 
 Whom have I in heaven but Thee : 
 
 And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of Thee. 
 
 My flesh and my heart faileth : 
 But God is the strength of my heart, 
 And my portion for ever." 
 
 This Psalm appears to be one of the few in which the 
 writer arrives at the thought of a future existence as the 
 key to some of the mysteries of this life. In another 
 Psalm in which the writer maintains, against the same 
 appearances to the contrary that are stated in the seventy- 
 third, that 
 
 "A small thing that the righteous hath : 
 Is better than great riches of the ungodly," 
 
1R6 THE PSALMS. 
 
 lie seems to depend altogether on the certainty that good- 
 ness would ultimately meet with success in_this life.^ His 
 conviction that righteousness would be ultimately justified 
 in some way or another is not the less valuable to us be- 
 cause we may not now expect to see the justification come 
 about in exactly the way in which he expected. 
 
 Faith Triumphant and Unclouded. 
 
 It would leave a wrong impression of the Psalms if we 
 did not, after speaking of those in which faith appears 
 contending with difficulties, recall to the mind of the 
 reader how many there are of a different character. The 
 hundredth Psalm, for instance, is a type of many in which 
 all the enemies of faith are beaten down. They are 
 trampled under foot in exulting triumph. They are as 
 as if they had never been. 
 
 " be joyful in the Lord, all ye lands : 
 Serve the Lord with gladness, 
 And come before his presence with a song. 
 
 Be ye sure that the Lord He is God : 
 
 It is He that hath made us, and not we oui'selves ; 
 
 "We are His peojjle, and the sheep of His pasture. 
 
 go your way into His gates with thanksgiving, 
 
 And into His courts with praise : 
 
 Be thankful unto Him, 
 
 And speak good of His Name. 
 
 For the Lord is gracious, 
 His mercy is everlasting : 
 And His truth endureth 
 From generation to generation." 
 
 ' Ps. xxxvii. 
 
UNFORGIVING SPIRIT OF SOME OF THE PSALMS. 187 
 
 In others, again, there is no thought or hint of any 
 difficulty in believing. Such is the twenty-third Psalm, 
 in which, as in many others, the voice of faith is calm 
 and clear, like the light of a summer evening : — 
 
 ' ' The Lord is my Shepherd : 
 Therefore can I lack nothing." 
 
 Of such faith the one aspiration is that its sweetness may 
 be shared everlastingly by all : — 
 
 " Israel, 
 
 Trust in the Lord : 
 From this time forth, 
 For evermore." 
 
 Unforgiving Spirit of some of the Psalms. 
 
 It has been a sore puzzle to many persons that the 
 writers of some of the Psalms should exhibit so much 
 bitterness of feehng against their personal and national 
 enemies. But we must remember that the writers of 
 these Psalms were but men, and men belonging to an 
 age in which the Christian law of forgiveness had not 
 been preached. Is it any wonder that in their utter- 
 ances, lofty and spiritual though they are in the main, 
 we should occasionally find traces of imperfect human 
 feeling? Would not the wonder really be if any such 
 collection of human compositions were found to be quite 
 free from imperfection? At the same time, before we 
 pronounce final judgment on the utterances in question, 
 we should consider carefully to what extent the feelings, 
 to which exception has been taken, are to be condemned. 
 
188 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Because it is one of the special glories of Christianity 
 to have brought into due recognition the value of the 
 milder virtues, there is a tendency in the minds of many 
 persons to assume that they, and they alone, constitute the 
 whole of goodness. But this is a great mistake. Zeal for 
 right, and indignation against wrong, are also parts of 
 the highest goodness, as they were of the character of Jesus 
 Christ.* The man who fails in them fails as really and as 
 badly as the man who fails in gentleness or in forgiveness 
 of injuries. In judging, therefore, of the expressions which 
 are used in the Psalms about enemies, we should bear in 
 mind that righteous indignation against evil may have 
 been a great part, if not all, of the feeling that dictated 
 them ; that the Psalmists may have had good reason for 
 seeing in the enemies of Israel, or even of themselves, the 
 enemies of Grod. 
 
 ''By the Waters of Babylon:' 
 
 The feelings with which some of the writers of 11;'^ 
 Psalms may have regarded the enemies of Israel are well 
 described in the following passage relating to the one hun- 
 dred and thirty-seventh Psalm — "Even though we acknow- 
 ledge that his words are too bitter and cruel, and are 
 forced to condemn his prayers for revenge, we cannot but 
 feel that it was not the worst kind of Jew who wrote this 
 Psalm. Ignorant he may have been ; passionate and re- 
 vengeful, and perhaps even cruel, he was. These were the 
 faults of his day, and of days long after his. But with 
 
 ' Sec, for instance, Matt, xxiii. Comii. John ii. 17. 
 
" BY THE WATERS OP BABYLON." 189 
 
 all this there was something noble and touching in his 
 grief — something of that living faith that saved in Babylon 
 a remnant to return seventy years later. There were other 
 Jews by the waters of Babylon more sordid and less pas- 
 sionate, who soon forgot their country's injuries, and lost 
 their home-sickness for Zion ; who mingled with their 
 heathen captors, ate their food, married their daughters, 
 built houses, traded, and made homes ; easily consoling 
 themselves in the present, and forgetting as quickly as 
 possible the glories and misfortunes of the past. Quick- 
 witted, worldly-wise, and soft-spoken men, who soon for- 
 got the songs of Zion, and learned those of Babylon 
 instead, and who accordingly prospered in captivity, and, 
 prospering, sunk into the stream of heathenism. For them 
 Babylon was no place of penance, nor had Jerusalem a 
 sacred meaning. They ceased to be Grod's people. It was 
 only those ' irreconcileables ' who nursed still the love of 
 their own land, and said in their impassioned grief, 'If I 
 forget thee, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her 
 cunning ; if I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave 
 to the roof of my mouth' ; who, when the time of deliver- 
 ance came, had the courage and the faith to leave the 
 riches and the pleasures of Babylon, to brave the long and 
 dangerous journey, and to settle in a land for so many 
 years forsaken, there to build up the holy city slowly and 
 painfully amid the ridicule of their enemies, and to set up 
 again the Temple, though so poor, so shorn of its ancient 
 glory, so mean in comparison with that of days gone by, 
 that even in the joy of consecration they could not but 
 weep at the contrast."^ 
 
 ^ See a pamphlet on The Vindictive Psalms, p. 42, by the Rev. Canon 
 Sherlock. (Dublin : Ilodgcs k Smith.) 
 
190 THE rSALMS. 
 
 The Psalter as a Modern Book of Devotion. 
 
 It may be freely admitted that there are some disadvan- 
 tages attending the use of the Hebrew Psalter as a modern 
 book of devotion. In a collection of Psalms made so long 
 ago under an earlier religious dispensation, and in a state 
 of society differing in many respects from our own, it is to 
 be expected that there should occur occasional passages 
 that are obscure or unintelligible ; and that some thoughts 
 and expressions should be found which are in themselves 
 unsuitable to the religion of the present day. But on the 
 other hand there is a great counter-balancing gain in the 
 use of a book with such historical associations as those of 
 the Book of Psalms. It is a bond of union between our 
 faith and the faith of other days, when we remember the 
 origin of these words of prayer and praise which we can 
 still use. Since they were first used many changes have 
 taken place, the thoughts of men have widened, old ideas 
 have passed away, and much new knowledge has been ac- 
 cepted. Our notions of duty, our standards of right and 
 wrong may not always be the notions and the standards 
 of the age and country in which the Psalms were first pro- 
 duced. Our anticipations of the ways in which the provi- 
 dence of God will vindicate itself may not be in all respects 
 the same as those of the Psalmists appear to have been. 
 But at heart we are one with them. Like them, we feel 
 called to battle for right and truth. Like them, we know 
 what it is to be wearied with the burden of our own sin. 
 Still, as of old, the spirit of man leans for rest upon the 
 Eternal and the Infinite, and finds in communion with 
 God the satisfaction of its deepest wants. Thus, across 
 the ages, 
 
 " Brother clasps the hand of brother," 
 
THE PSALTER AS A MODERN BOOK OF DEVOTIOX. 191 
 
 and thus, in the deepest and best sense, it is true that our 
 faith and the faith of the fathers are one : 
 
 " One the object of oiu- journey, 
 
 One the Faith which which never tires, 
 One the eai-nest looking forward, 
 One the Hope om- God inspires." 
 
192 THE PEOVEPvBS, ETC. 
 
 CHAPTER XYII. 
 
 THE PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AJSD THE SOJs'G OF 
 SOLOMON. 
 
 The Book of Proverbs. 
 
 ^ I ^HIS Book is not merely a collection of those short, 
 -■- pithy sayings which we call proverbs. It does cer- 
 tainly contain a number of such sayings; but the Hebrew 
 word {mashal) which gives its title to the book is one of 
 wider signification than the English word by which it is 
 translated in the present instance. It is the word which 
 is used of one of Balaam's prophecies and of some of the 
 speeches in the Book of Job, being in those cases trans- 
 lated "parable" in the Euglish Yersion.^ The present 
 book includes in its contents some short sententious poems. 
 The materials of which it is composed appear to have 
 been derived from different sources. Like the Books of 
 the Law and the Psalms, it is divisible into five parts, 
 as follows: — 
 
 Peov. i-ix. 
 
 A series of addresses in which the praise of Wisdom is celebrated, 
 and the young are exhorted to follow her footsteps. At the head of 
 this section stands the title " 2'he Proverbs of Solomoii the son of 
 David, King of Israel,''^ followed by a short statement of the objects 
 of the succeeding composition. This title and description may apply 
 either to the whole book or to this division of it. 
 
 Pro v. x-xxiv. 
 
 " The Froverls of Solomon.''^ These chapters consist almost 
 entirely of proverbs in our sense of the word, each proverb being 
 
 ^ Xuml). xxiii. 7— 10 ; Job x-wii. 1. 
 
THE WISDOM OF THE PEOVERBS. 193 
 
 contained in one verse, and being expressed in two parts. From 
 verse 17 of chapter xxii. to the end of the section the composition is, 
 however, of a more connected character. A short appendix is attached 
 by the words " These things also belong to the loisej'''^ 
 
 Peov. xxv.-xxix. 
 
 Additional ^'Proverbs of Solomon, lohich the men of Hezehiah, 
 King of Judah, copied out.^^ 
 
 Peov. xxx. 
 
 " The ivords of Agur the son of Jakeh." A collection of wise 
 thoughts. It is not known who Agur the son of Jakeh was. 
 
 PrOV. XXXI. 
 
 " The words of King Lemuel, the jifophecy that his mother taught 
 him^ Another collection like the preceding. King Lemuel is also 
 an unknown personage. The fine description of a virtuous woman in 
 this chapter is, like some of the Psalms, an alphabetical acrostic in 
 the original. 
 
 Solomon and the Book of Proverbs. 
 
 From the way in which Solomon's name is connected 
 with this book, it is probable that the wise king did for 
 proverbial philosophy what his father did for psalmody, 
 and that the Book of Proverbs originated from a collection 
 of j)roverbial sayings which he uttered, or collected, or 
 perhaps both. In the Book of Kings he is said to have 
 spoken "three thousand proverbs."^ 
 
 The Wisdom of the Proverbs. 
 
 It has been well said that the presence of the Book of 
 Proverbs in the Bible is a standing reminder of the place 
 
 ^ Prov. xxiv. 23. "^ 1 Kings iv. 32. 
 
194 THE PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTE.S. AXi) CANTICLES. 
 
 whicli prudence and common sense with respect to the 
 affairs of every-day life ought to hold in practical religion. 
 It would, however, be a great mistake to suppose that the 
 wisdom which is the subject of the Book of Proverbs is 
 only prudence in the lower sense of that word. The wise 
 man applies his intelligence and foresight to every concern 
 and interest of life ; but he remembers that without re- 
 ligious principle the highest wisdom cannot exist. The 
 heart which is enlightened by the Spirit of God with the 
 love of goodness and truth, and which fears to do evil, is 
 the truly understanding heart. The key-note of the Book 
 of Proverbs is to be found in the saying which is fre- 
 quently repeated in different forms: — 
 
 ' ' The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom : 
 And the knowledge of the holy is understanding." 
 
 It is impossible by means of a few extracts to give any 
 idea of the manifold contents of the Book of Proverbs, of 
 its high principles, its practical common sense, its exten- 
 sive observation of life, its wide sympathies, its occasional 
 gleams of humour ; but the following characteristic exam- 
 ples will show what the Hebrew proverbs are like, and 
 may induce some readers, who are not already acquainted 
 with this book, to search further for themselves in the 
 mine from which these are taken : — 
 
 " The lip of truth shall he established for ever : 
 Bnt a lying tongue is but for a moment." 
 
 " lie that opprcsseth the poor reproacheth his Maker : 
 But he that honoureth Ilim hath mercy on the poor. 
 
 " There is that scattereth, and yet inereaseth ; 
 And there is that wlthho'dtth more than is meet, 
 But it tendeth to poverty." 
 
THE WISDOM OF THE PROVERBS. 195 
 
 " Say not unto thy neighbour, 
 Go, and come again, and to-morrow I will give ; 
 When thou hast it by thee." 
 
 ' ' A faithful man shall abound with blessings : 
 But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. ' ' 
 
 " Where no oxen are the crib is clean : 
 But much increase is by the strength of the ox." 
 
 " The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, 
 I shall be slain in the streets." 
 
 " Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging : 
 And whosoever is deceived thereby is not ^dse." 
 
 " It is an honour for a man to cease from strife : 
 But every fool wUl be meddling." 
 
 " A wliip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, 
 And a rod for the fool's back." 
 
 " It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer : 
 But when he is gone his way, then he boasteth." 
 
 ' ' He that is despised and hath a servant. 
 Is better than he that honoureth himself, and lacketh bread." 
 
 " Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop : 
 But a good word maketh it glad." 
 
 " A man that hath friends must show himself friendly : 
 And there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." 
 
 " As in M-ater face answereth to face, 
 So the heart of man to man." 
 
 " As a bird that wandereth from her nest. 
 So is a man that wandereth from his place." 
 
 ' ' A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not : 
 But knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.' ' 
 
 " Righteousness exalteth a nation : 
 But sin is a reproach to any people." 
 
 " The eyes of the Lord are in every place, 
 Beholding the evil and the good." 
 02 
 
19G THE PROVERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND CANTICLES. 
 
 Of the longer passages the following will perhaps be 
 the most appropriate for quotation, though it is hard to 
 
 select : — 
 
 " Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, 
 And the man that getteth understanding. 
 
 For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver. 
 And the gain thereof than fine gold. 
 
 She is more precious than ruhies : 
 
 And all the things that thou can'st desire are not to be compared unto her. 
 
 Length of days is in her right hand ; 
 And in her left hand riches and honour. 
 
 Her ways are ways of pleasantness, 
 And all her paths are peace. 
 
 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her : 
 And happy is every one that retaineth her. 
 
 The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth ; 
 
 By understanding hath He established the Heavens. 
 
 By His knowledge the depths are broken up, 
 And the clouds drop down the deM\" 
 
 Eeclesiastes. 
 
 The Book of Eeclesiastes is a composition of somewhat 
 the same nature as the Book of Job. It is written in the 
 person of Solomon, " the sad and splendid " king, and 
 describes his search for real satisfaction through all the 
 ways of life. After failing in all, finding everywhere 
 only " vanity and vexation of spirit," he comes at last to 
 the conclusion of the whole matter that it is not for us to 
 understand the mysteries of life, that to " fear God and 
 keep His commandments " is the whole duty of man. 
 
SEARCHING FOR WISDOM. 197 
 
 Searching for Wisdom. 
 
 The Book of Ecclesiastes contains many proverbial say- 
 ings whicli remind us of the Book of Proverbs, and some 
 remarkable and striking passages. But it is not possible 
 to trace, w^ith any degree of confidence, a continuous 
 thread of thought running through it. Until we come 
 close to the end of the book, the writer seems to wander 
 incomprehensibly from one subject to another. At one 
 time he seems to contradict the conclusions at which he 
 has just arrived ; at another, he stops short just as we 
 think that he is coming to the discovery for which he is 
 looking. As we read it we seem to be travelling on a 
 road richly strewn with brilliant fragments of knowledge 
 and wisdom. But they are only fragments, partial im- 
 perfect fragments ; and the road itself, after many wind- 
 ings and doublings, seems to leave us again at the same 
 point from which we started. The successive chapters 
 read like a collection of extracts from the common-place 
 book of some serious and thoughtful man, looking at life 
 with eyes of anxious observation, and jotting down from 
 day to day the various thoughts that occur to him, but, 
 for a long time at least, arriving at no certain or definite 
 conclusion from it all. Perhaps it will be wisest for us, 
 without troubling ourselves about critical questions, to see 
 in all this the picture of a man looking for his way through 
 life. To-day he sees one truth clearly ; to-morrow he sees 
 another. Sometimes the partial knowledge of to-day 
 appears to conflict witli the impressions of yesterday. 
 Often he comes round and crosses his old track, or finds 
 himself unexpectedly tracing his former footsteps. Gleams 
 of light clear and strong are ever flashing upon him, but 
 they are only gleams, broken and unsatisfactory, until at 
 last he finds the true Light of Life. 
 
19S THE TROVERBS. ECOLESTASTES. AXD CAXTIOLES. 
 
 Solomon and the Book of Eccledastes. 
 
 It is not now generally supposed that Solomon really 
 wrote the Book of Eeclesiastes, but that it was composed 
 by some later author in his name. It would appear that 
 at the time when it was written the material splendour of 
 Solomon's reign — so difPerent from the spiritual excellence 
 which is associated with the name of his father — so sud- 
 denly to vanish away on the break-up of the kingdom at 
 his death, was already recognized as the type of the mere 
 earthly glory that has in it no element of permanence and 
 no power of affording real satisfaction. This was the view 
 which Our Lord took of it when He said that " Solomon 
 in all his glory " was not to be compared with the lilies 
 of the field. 
 
 Our Earthly House of this Tahernacle. 
 
 As an example of the style of the more connected parts 
 of the Book of Eeclesiastes, we may quote the well-known 
 passage on the importance of using life rightly while the 
 powers of mind and body are at their best, and before the 
 feebleness and decay of old age come on : — 
 
 " Rejoice, young man, in thy youth ; 
 And let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, 
 And walk in the ways of thine heart, 
 And in the sight of thine eyes : 
 But know thou, 
 
 That for all these things God will bring thee into judgment, 
 Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart. 
 And put away evil from thy flesh : 
 For childhood and youth are vanity. 
 
OUR EARTHLY HOUSE OF THIS TABERNACLE. 190 
 
 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 
 
 "While the evil clays come not, 
 
 Nor the years draw nigh, when thoxi shalt say, I have no pleasure in them ; 
 
 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars be not darkened. 
 
 Nor the clouds return after the rain ; 
 
 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, 
 
 And the strong men shall bow themselves. 
 
 And the grinders cease because they are few, 
 
 And those that look out of the windows be darkened, 
 
 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, 
 
 When the sound of the grinding is low, 
 
 And he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, 
 
 And aU the daughters of musick shall be brought low ; 
 
 Also M-hen they shall be afraid of that which is high, 
 
 And fears shall be in the way, 
 
 And the almond tree shall flourish. 
 
 And the grasshopper shall be a burden. 
 
 And desire shall fail : 
 
 Because man goeth to his long home, 
 
 And the mourners go about the streets : 
 
 Or ever the silver cord be loosed. 
 
 Or the golden bowl be broken, 
 
 (Jr the pitcher be broken at the fountain. 
 
 Or the wheel broken at the cistern. 
 
 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was : 
 
 And the spirit shall return unto God who gave it." 
 
 The latter part of the above passage is generally inter- 
 preted as an allegory. According to this interpretation 
 the house is the body, the dwelling-place of man's spirit. 
 The keepers of the house are the hands, which tremble 
 when old age conies on ; the strong men are the legs, the 
 supporters of the body ; the eyes are the windows through 
 which the soul looks out from its earthly tabernacle. The 
 doors " shut in the streets, when the sound of the grind- 
 ing is low," are the lips fallen close together in the aged 
 face, when the teeth are gone. The ears are the " daughters 
 
200 THE PROVERBS, ECCLESTASTES, AXD CANTICLES. 
 
 of musick." They are brought low, because their deli- 
 cate powers of perception have failed. Like the old 
 Barzillai, their owner can hear no more the voice of sing- 
 ing men or singing women. ^ Nevertheless wakeful old 
 age " rises up at the voice of the bird " — it is aroused at 
 the first signs of daybreak. It is afraid of that which is 
 high, and fears are in the way, because it is timid and 
 fearful of every danger ; and to the enfeebled frame even 
 the grasshopper is a burden, for the very slightest weight 
 presses heavily upon it. The almond tree, sheeted with 
 blossoms, is generally supposed to represent the white 
 hairs of old age, in spite of the ob\ious objection that the 
 tint of the almond blossoms renders the comparison some- 
 what inappropriate. When the silver cord, which binds 
 body and soul together, is broken, then the body, by 
 whatever figure we may describe its relation to the soul — 
 whether we call it the golden bowl of the lamp in which 
 the flame of life is nourished, or the earthen vessel which 
 receives the living waters from their divine source, or the 
 cunningly contrived mechanism by which the deep springs 
 of Divine Life are made manifest in human existence — 
 crumbles into dust, and the spirit returns to God who 
 gave it. Many persons will think that the beauty of the 
 passage is marred by thus regarding it as an elaborate and 
 artificial allegory. But there can be little doubt that this 
 is the correct interpretation. The alphabetical acrostics in 
 the Psalms and elsewhere will occur to the reader as an 
 illustration of the artificial form which Hebrew poetical 
 composition sometimes assumed. The idea of man's body 
 as the house or dwelling-place of his spirit is very com- 
 mon. In the Book of Job human beings are they ** that 
 
 ' 2 Sam. xix. 31-40. 
 
OUR EARTHLY HOUSE OF THIS TABERNACLE. 201 
 
 dwell in houses of clay."' There are some well-known 
 examples of a similar manner of speaking in the New 
 Testament." The comparison has been elaborated by an 
 old English writer witli quite as much minuteness as by 
 the writer of Ecclesiastes ^ : — 
 
 " Man's Bodifs like a Souse : his greater Bones 
 Are the main Timber ; and the lesser ones 
 TLre smaller Splints : his Ribs are Laths, daub'd o'er, 
 Plaster'd with Flesh and Blood: his Month's the Boor, 
 His Throat'' s the narrow Entry ; and his Heart 
 Is the Great Chamber, fuU of curioiis Art." 
 
 And so on, even to greater detail. A closer parallel to the 
 spirit of the Hebrew moralist is to be found in " The 
 Deserted House " of Mr. Tennyson :— 
 
 " Life and Thought have gone away 
 Side by side, 
 
 Leaving door and windows wide : 
 Careless tenants they ! 
 
 All within is dark as night : 
 In the windows is no light ; 
 And no murmur at the door, 
 So frequent on its hinge before. 
 
 Close the door, the shutters close, 
 
 Or thro' the windows we shall see 
 
 The nakedness and vacancy 
 Of the dark, deserted house. 
 
 Come away : no more of mirth 
 
 Is here, or merry-making sound. 
 The house was builded of the earth, 
 
 And shall fall again to ground." 
 
 1 Job iv. 19. 2 2 Cor. v. 1 : 2 Pet. i. 13, 14. 
 
 3 Francis Quarles, quoted in A. S. Palmer's Leaves from a Word-hunter' s 
 Note-book, p. 11. Mr. Palmer's interesting chapter contains many illustra- 
 tions of the same comparison. According to Quarles, the nose is the 
 chimney, the eyes the windows, the stomach the kitchen, &c. 
 
202 THE PROYEEBS, ECCLESIASTES, AND CANTICLES. 
 
 The Christian poet adds a thought, which appears hut 
 indistinctly, if it appears at all, in the Jewish poem : — 
 
 ' ' Come away : for Life and Thought 
 Here no longer dwell ; 
 But in a city glorious — 
 A great and distant city — have bought 
 A mansion incorruptible. 
 Would they could have stayed with us !" 
 
 The Song of Solomon, also called " tlic Canticles " and 
 '' the Song of Songs:' 
 
 No hook in the Bible has been the subject of such ex- 
 treme diversity of opinion as this. It is evidently a love 
 poem of some kind ; and in the opinion of many scholars 
 it is a dramatic composition describing the unsuccessful 
 efforts of Solomon to win the affections of a Shulamite 
 shepherdess, who continues faithful to her rustic lover. 
 If this opinion be correct, the moral of the piece would be 
 "the victory of humble and constant love over the tempta- 
 tions of wealth and royalty."' According to those who 
 advocate the dramatic character of the work, the spealcprs 
 introduced are the Shulamite shepherdess, her rustic 
 lover, King Solomon, the ladies of his court, addressed 
 as " Daughters of Jerusalem," the brothers of the shep- 
 hei'dess, and others. Some have gone so far as to suppose 
 that the piece was originally intended for a simple kind of 
 stage representation. There is, however, no evidence for 
 this beyond the fact that it may be capable of being so 
 represented. No names of speakers are given in the text, 
 as they are in the Book of Job, nor is there in the Song of 
 Songs anything corresponding to the initial letters or 
 names which are usually prefixed to the speeches in a 
 
 ' Smith's Bib. Bid., s. v. 
 
TTIR SONG OF SOLOMOX. 203 
 
 drama to indicate the change of speaker. The different 
 grammatical forms used in different parts of the original, 
 the employment of certain characteristic expressions which 
 are supposed to distinguish the speakers from each other, 
 and the general sense of the whole, have afforded the clues 
 by the aid of which students of the hook have endeavoured 
 to assign their parts to the several characters. There is a 
 general agreement amongst them as to the main outlines 
 of the distribution; but it is not surprising that they differ 
 amongst themselves as to some of the less important de- 
 tails. In other respects, as well as in the distribution of 
 the parts, tlie interpretation of the book is uncertain ; the 
 allusions are obscure ; and the whole is likely to prove 
 perplexing and unsatisfactory to the ordinary student. 
 We do not recommend anyone to attempt to master the 
 literal meaning of the Song of Solomon without the aid of 
 a good commentary; and we fear that, even with such 
 assistance, the book will be found by many difficult and 
 unprofitable reading. The following little spring song, 
 addressed to the shepherdess by her rustic lover, is more 
 intelligible than the rest, and is quite modern in its tone : — 
 
 " Eise up, my love, 
 My fair one, 
 And come awaj'. 
 
 For, lo, the winter is past. 
 The rain is over and gone ; 
 
 The flowers appear on the earth ; 
 
 The time of the singing of birds is come. 
 
 And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land ; 
 
 The fig-tree spices her green figs. 
 
 And the vines in bloom give forth their scent. 
 
 Arise, my love, 
 My fair one, 
 And come away. 
 
204 THE rKOYERBS, ECCLESIASTES, AXD CAXTICLES. 
 
 Mystical Interpretation of the Song of Songs. 
 
 From very early times it has been the fashion both with 
 Jewish and Christian writers to interpret the Song of 
 Songs in an allegorical and mystical sense, treating it as a 
 parable with a deep spiritual meaning. According to the 
 tradition current among the Christian writers who treat 
 the book in this way, Solomon is the only male speaker. 
 As king and shepherd of Israel he typifies Christ, who is 
 botli king and shepherd of His people, and a Eoyal Bride- 
 groom. The Church is His Bride, represented in the 
 poem by the female speaker ; who in some passages also 
 represents the soul of the individual believer, and occasion- 
 ally, according to the views of some interpreters, that first 
 and Queen of believers, the Virgin Mother of Christ. The 
 florid style and the rich imagery of the poem render it a 
 convenient subject for this kind of treatment, and many 
 commentaries, in which the mystical method of interpre- 
 tation has been adopted, have been adorned with great 
 beauties of thought and expression. It is also acknow- 
 ledged that such commentaries have formed the favov.ri^o 
 study of many pious souls, and have contributed much to 
 the spiritual edification of the Church of Christ. But we 
 cannot agree with those who set up the mystical method 
 of interpretation as the only way in which this and other 
 parts of Scripture can be treated, and disparage the efforts 
 of those scholars who have endeavoured to ascertain the 
 literal meaning of the text. Much as there is undoubtedly 
 to be said in favour of the mystical method of interpreta- 
 tion in the case of the Song of Solomon, there is no j)roof, 
 and not much probability, that the writer of the book had 
 any intention that it should be treated in this way. 
 
AUTHORSHIP OF THE SONG OF SONGS. 205 
 
 Authorship. 
 
 It is not known who the writer was. Some scholars 
 still adhere to the belief that the book was written by 
 Solomon. Dr. Littledale, who has produced an interesting 
 commentary on the Song of Songs, by weaving together 
 the best mystical interpretations gathered from the works 
 of a long succession of Christian writers, argues in his pre- 
 face that there is internal evidence to show that the poem 
 was written before the separation of the kingdoms of 
 Israel and Judah, and that there is no reason why it may 
 not have been composed by Solomon. Bishop Wordsworth, 
 who takes a very conservative line in his Commentary on 
 the Bible, speaks of this and the two preceding books as 
 " the trilogy of Solomon." These three books, he says, 
 " are not arranged according to the chronological dates .of 
 their composition. The Song of Solomon was written first, 
 in the spring-time of Solomon's best and holiest years. 
 The Proverbs were the fruit of his maturer age. Ecclesi- 
 astes was his farewell utterance to the world, when he was 
 on the brink of the grave." ^ 
 
 ' 0. T. Com. : Introd. to Proverbs, p. ix. 
 
PAET III. 
 
 THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 The Hebrew Prophets. 
 
 A N often-quoted passage from the Book of Deute- 
 -^ -^ ronomj will be our best guide to the meaniug of 
 the word Prophet: — " When thou art come into the land 
 lohich the Lord thy God givcth thee, thou shalt not learn to 
 do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not 
 he found among you any one that maheth his son or his 
 daughter to j^ass through the fire, or that useth divination, or 
 an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a uitch, or a charmer, 
 or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a idzard, or a necro- 
 mancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto 
 the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God 
 doth drive them out from before thee. . . The Lord thy God 
 will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, 
 of thy brethren, like unto me (Moses) ; unto him ye shall 
 hearlcen."^ And again : — "/ uill raise them up a Prophet 
 
 1 Duut. xviii. 9-12, 15. 
 
TUE HEBREW rEOPIIETS. 207 
 
 j'roiii amony their brethren, like unto thee, and icill put my 
 icords in his mouth; and he shall sjjeak unto them all that I 
 shall command himJ'^ 
 
 This passage is, in the first place, a condemnation of 
 the unnatural and inhuman practices by which the hea- 
 then sought to know the secrets of Providence. It was 
 not by such methods that the people of God were to ascer- 
 tain tlie Divine will, but in the natural and true way, 
 namely — from tlie mouth of living men and women *'from 
 among their brethren." When such teachers are them- 
 selves taught of God, they are the real revealers of the 
 Divine will — the true prophets. It is in accordance with 
 this meaning of the word that all the great servants of 
 God, who were leaders of religious movements, or whose 
 heaven-sent wisdom was a light and guide to their fellow- 
 men, have been called "prophets ": the patriarch Abraham, 
 the lawgiver Moses, Samuel the father of his country, and 
 David the royal psalmist, no less than Isaiah, or Elijah, 
 or^Haggai. And we may add that it is in accordance 
 with the same use of the word that a greater Teacher than 
 any of these, who looks at life with human eyes, and 
 speaks with human lips, and whose words of heavenly 
 wisdom' comes to us with Divine authority and power, is 
 called " Jesus of Nazareth, the Prophet of Galilee." 
 
 But in addition to this general sense in which the 
 word "prophet" may be used of all teachers of Divine 
 truth, we find it also used, in the Old Testament, in a 
 more limited sense, of certain persons who were regarded 
 as the recognized ofiicial channels through which the 
 Almighty was accustomed to communicate His will to 
 His people, and who formed an order as distinct and 
 
 1 Dcut. sviii. 18. 
 
20S THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 definite as the priesthood. When Jerusalem was threat- 
 ened with destruction by the Assyrians, Hezekiah sent a 
 solemn deputation to " Isaiah the prophet" "to inquire of 
 the Lord." Josiah sent a similar deputation to " Huldah 
 the prophetess." Elijah also was " the prophet," and 
 when the end of his ministry was at hand, he anointed 
 Elisha to be "prophet" in his room. Gad even held an 
 official position as prophet at David's court ; he was 
 " David's seer," " the king's seer," ^ and was called on 
 along with "Nathan the prophet" to assist the king in 
 arranging the musical services of the temple. These in- 
 stances are enough to show that the name " prophet " 
 marked a distinct order of persons. 
 
 Three Hebrew Names for a Prophet ; Meaning of the 
 English Word. 
 
 The ordinary Hebrew name for the prophet is Ndhi, a 
 word which is supposed to be derived from a verb signi- 
 fying to "bubble forth" like a fountain. The meaning of 
 the title would therefore be one who pours forth words of 
 Divine truth. The G-reek word Proj)hetes, from which the 
 English word " prophet " is derived, had originally a 
 similar signification. It meant one who interpreted or 
 declared the will of God. The idea of predicting the 
 future, which is commonly associated with the word "pro- 
 phet," did not originally belong to the Greek word, and 
 does not now of necessity belong to the Enghsh word. 
 The prophet is a teacher, who may predict the future, as 
 
 ^ 2 Sam. xxiv. 11: 2 Chron. xxix. 25. See also 1 Chion. xxv. o: 
 2 Chron. xxxv. 15. 
 
NABI, ROEH, AND CHOZEII. 209 
 
 he may explain the present or the past.^ It is, however, 
 easy to see how the word should have come to signify, in 
 common use, little more than a predictor of future events, 
 in conseqiience of the number of predictions contained in 
 the prophetical writings, and connected with the names of 
 prophets elsewhere in the Old Testament. 
 
 There are two other Hebrew names, RoeJi- and ChozeJi, 
 which are less frequently used to describe the prophetical 
 office. Each of these words signifies " one who sees," and 
 is translated in the English Bible by the word "seer." 
 The former of them is the word by which Samuel is com- 
 monly described ; and we learn from a passage in the 
 First Book of Samuel that it was an early word, which 
 afterwards went out of use, and was superseded by the 
 word Nuhi.'^ It has been supposed that this change of 
 title indicates a corresponding change in the functions of 
 the prophet; and it is not in itself improbable that the 
 prophetical office should have undergone a process of 
 development, and that the idea of the prophet as a 
 divinely-guided teacher of men should have become in 
 later times more definite and distinct than it had been in 
 earlier ages. But the change in the name alone is hardly 
 
 ^ The title of Jeremy Taylor's Discourse of the Liberty of Prophesying, 
 i. e. freedom of teaching, is the standard instance used to sho^v the general 
 meaning of the English -word " prophesy " or " prophet." A concordance 
 wiU supply examples in plenty from the Bible. The use of the compound 
 "fore-prophesied," in the heading of 2 Kings xxui., shows that the simple 
 word "prophesy" did not necessarily imply foretelling. 
 
 2 1 Sam. ix. 9. The other places in which Eo'ih occurs are (used of 
 Samuel) 1 Sam. ix. 11, 18, 19: 1 Chron. ix. 22; xxvi. 28; sxix. 29; 
 also in 2 Chron. xvi. 7, 10 : Is. xxx. 10, &c. Chozeh is used of Gad in 
 2 Sam. xxiv. 11 : 1 Chron. xxi. 9 ; xxix. 29 : 2 Chron. xxix. 25 ; also in 
 2 Kings xvii. 13:1 Chron. xxv. 5 : 2 Chron. ix. 29 ; xii. 15 ; xix. 2 ; 
 xxix. 30 ; XXXV. 15 : Is. xxix. 10 : Amos vii. 12 : Micah iii. 7, Sec. 
 Samuel is called a prophet {Nubi) in 1 Sam. iii. 20 : 2 Chi-on. xxxv. 18. 
 
 P 
 
210 THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 sufficient foundation upon wkicli to build sucli a theory of 
 development. 
 
 Tltc Prophetical Communities. 
 
 There is no record of the origin of the prophetical 
 order, but it is generally supposed that the machinery 
 which secured its continuance amongst the Hebrews was 
 due to Samuel. In his time and in connexion with his 
 history we first read of companies of persons who were 
 called " prophets," or " sons of the prophets," who lived 
 together in a common dwelling, and appear to have been 
 under the headship of some distinguished teacher. These 
 communities are supposed to have been of the nature of 
 schools for educating candidates for the prophetical office, 
 perhaps bearing some resemblance to our modern theo- 
 logical colleges. Of com'se it did not follow that every 
 one who received the prophet's training possessed of neces- 
 sity the light and goodness to make him a true teacher 
 and a safe guide. There are frequent warnings against 
 false and unworthy prophets. On the other hand we have, 
 in the case of Amos, an example of one who was called by 
 Grod to prophesy, though he had not the regular profes- 
 sional training or the formal commission of a prophet. 
 "I am no prophet," he says, "neither am I a prophet's 
 son, but I am a herdman and a gatherer of sycomore 
 fruit ; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and 
 the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people 
 Israel."^ 
 
 Functions of the Hebrew Prophets. 
 
 Many of the prophets were historians, and some of the 
 finest examples of Hebrew poetry are to be found in the 
 
 ^ A'lios vii. 1-1, 15. 
 
THE PEOPHETICAL BOOKS. 211 
 
 prophetical writings ; music also is mentioned in con- 
 nexion with prophesying,' and on one occasion, at least, 
 we read of a prophet taking the place of a physician.' 
 Possihly all these subjects, literature, music, perhaps 
 medicine, as well as national history and the study of 
 the civil and religious law, were included in the curricu- 
 lum of the prophetical seminaries. But the men who, 
 under the title of " prophets," took part in the public life 
 of Judah and Israel were much more than the national 
 historians, or poets, or musicians. They were the moral 
 and religious teachers — the divinely-appointed guides of 
 God's people. In great national emergencies appeal is 
 made to them for counsel and direction, and their words 
 are listened to with the deepest reverence, as for the voice 
 of G-od Himself. Sometimes they come forward of their 
 own accord, unbidden, except by the Divine command, to 
 reprove irreligion, to champion the oppressed; if necessary, 
 to rebuke even kings, or to rekindle heavenly hope in the 
 breasts of God's servants. 
 
 The Projiohetical Books. 
 
 In the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament we have 
 preserved to us examples of the teaching of the Hebrew 
 prophets. But some of the prophets who occupy the most 
 prominent places in the Historical Books — Elijah, for in- 
 stance, and Elisha, the great prophets of the northern 
 kingdom — left no written memorials of their teaching ; or, 
 if they did, no memory of them has reached us. Mention 
 is made, in the case of other prophets, of books written by 
 them which have not been preserved. On the other hand, 
 some of those whose writings are preserved amongst the 
 
 ^ 1 Sam. X. 5 : 2 Kings iii. 15. - 2 Kings xx. 7. Comp. 2 Kings iv. 22. 
 
 P 2 
 
212 THE BOOKS OF THE PEOPHETS. 
 
 Prophetical Books are not mentioned at all in the history ; 
 and in a few instances, where they tell us nothing about 
 themselves, we are left to gather by conjecture from their 
 writings the time and circumstances in which they lived. 
 
 Tlic FrophcU of the Last Day.s. 
 
 Of the prophets whose writings are preserved in the 
 Canon of the Old Testament, a large proportion lived at 
 the time when the existence of the Jewish state and of 
 many of the surrounding nations was threatened by the 
 approaching power, first, of the Assyrians, and then of the 
 Babylonians. The recollection of this fact will help us to 
 understand many of the allusions in the Prophetical Books. 
 A few words which the late Dean Milman has written on 
 this subject are so appropriate that we must quote them 
 here : — "As the storm darkened over the Hebrew king- 
 doms, the voices of the Prophets became louder and more 
 wild. Those whose writings have been preserved in om- 
 sacred volume now come upon the scene. In their 
 magnificent lyric odes we have a poetical history of those 
 momentous times, not merely describing the fall of the 
 two Hebrew nations, but that of the adjacent kingdoms 
 likewise. As each independent tribe or monarchy was 
 swallowed up in the great universal empire of Assyria, the 
 seers of Judah watched the progress of the invader, and 
 uttered their sublime funeral anthems over the greatness, 
 the prosperity, and independence of Moab and Ammon, 
 Damascus and Tyre. They were like the great tragic 
 chorus to the awful drama which was unfolding itself in 
 the Eastern world. Nor did they confine their views to 
 their own internal affairs, or to their own immediate 
 neighbourhood. Jonah appeared as a man under Divine 
 
THE SUFFEEING SERVANT OF JEHOVAH. 213 
 
 influence iu Nineveh; and Nahum described tlie subse- 
 quent fate of that vast city in images which human imagi- 
 nation or human language has never surpassed."^ 
 
 The Kingdom of the Messiah. 
 
 But in the general confusion and downfall of the old 
 order of things, the prophets did not lose faith in the 
 future. Beyond the present troubles they always saw 
 hope for the people of God. Righteousness and truth 
 could not die. Though other kingdoms were to fall, the 
 Kingdom of God must stand. If for a time it appeared 
 to have fallen, it was only in appearance ; it would rise 
 again ; it would outlast all others ; in the end it would 
 have universal dominion. In prophetic visions, which 
 took their form from the cherished memories of past days, 
 the prophets of Judah saw this kingdom established at 
 Jerusalem. A Prince of the Royal House of David would 
 yet reign in Zion, beneath whose sceptre all the glories of 
 David's and Solomon's times should be revived ; yea, and 
 more than revived, they should be infinitely surpassed. 
 Israel and Judah should then be united again, and their 
 old enemies should bow beneath their yoke. More than 
 this, righteousness and truth should prevail within their 
 borders, and all nations would acknowledge the God of 
 Israel, and would flock to worship on Mount Zion. 
 
 The Suffering Servant of Jehovah. 
 
 By the side of this picture of a future kingdom, which 
 is frequently represented as established by force, and as 
 trampling the nations of earth beneath its feet, there ap- 
 pears, in one remarkable series of passages at least, another 
 
 1 Milman: Hist, of Jews, Book viii., pp. 368-9. 
 
214 THE BOOKS OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 picture of a people and a Person — the people and the 
 person sometimes distinctly separated, sometimes strangely 
 identified — who are to act a very different part. The 
 meek-spirited servant of Jehovah shall not cry, nor lift up 
 his voice, nor cause it to be heard in the street. A bruised 
 reed shall he not break, nor quench the smoking flax. 
 Himself despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows 
 and acquainted with grief, he shall bear with unmurmur- 
 ing patience the sorrows of others, and shall carry their 
 griefs. Even his life shall be willingly offered as a sacri- 
 fice for their transgressions. He shall be brought as a 
 lamb to the slaughter ; and as a sheep before her shearers 
 is dumb, so he shall not open his mouth. But He, too, 
 shall win His victory, and establish His kingdom — " the 
 meek-spirited shall inherit the earth"; He shall see of the 
 travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied. 
 
 Affinities betiveeu the 'Prophetical Writings and other jiarts 
 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 Most of the ideas which are to be found in the Propheti- 
 cal Writings appear, more or less, in other parts of the Old 
 Testament. The Psalms, especially, resemble the Pro- 
 phetical Writings in many particulars. In them, as well 
 as in the Books of the Prophets, these two pictures of the 
 triumphant kingdom and the suffering Servant of Jehovah 
 are also to be found. In the forty-fifth Psalm, for in- 
 stance, we read of an anointed King, who is described in 
 language closely resembling that of the prophets, when 
 they speak of the coming Messiah. He is fairer than the 
 children of men, He is full of grace. He reigns in 
 righteousness and truth for ever ; but He is terrible to 
 those that oppose Him — His arrows are sharp in the 
 hearts of His enemies. In the twenty-second Psalm, on 
 
THE PREDICTIVE ELEMENT. 215 
 
 the other hand, though the name of the Servant of Jeho- 
 vah is not mentioned, there are so many points of resem- 
 blance to the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, that we can 
 hardly be wrong in identifying the subjects of the two 
 passages. The Book of Job may also be compared as ex- 
 pressing a somewhat similar idea in another form. 
 
 The Predictive Element in the Prophetical Writings. 
 
 The nature of the predictive element in the Prophetical 
 Writings is a subject which has given rise to much eager 
 discussion. Were the prophets able to announce before- 
 hand definite dates and events, names of persons, and sucli 
 circumstances as we commonly call accidental, long i:i 
 advance of the time of their occurrence ? Did Isaiah, 
 for instance, who died about a century before the com- 
 mencement of the Babylonian Captivity, and long before 
 the Persians had appeared as a prominent power in Asia, 
 foretell that the Jews were to be delivered from Babylon, 
 and restored to their native country, through the instru- 
 mentality of a Persian leader named Cyrus ? Or did the 
 secret of prophetical foresight rest in this, that, enlightened 
 by the Divine Spirit which dwelt in them, the prophets 
 saw into the heart of things, apprehending the deep prin- 
 ciples which underlie all life, and which determine the 
 course of history, whether of the individual or of the 
 nation, and so foresaw the future, as they understood the 
 present ? To us it seems that, if we must make a choice 
 between these two views, the latter comes nearer to the 
 truth than the former. We do not mean that such a pre- 
 diction as that of the name of the future deliverer of 
 Israel would be absolutely incredible, if there were clear 
 evidence that it had been made and was fulfilled. Nor 
 would it be philosophical to pronounce at once that the 
 
216 THE EOOKS OF THE PEOPHETS. 
 
 fulfilment of it must have been accidental. But there is 
 no proof that such predictions were made/ We know, 
 moreover, that the attempt to maintain " the literal fulfil- 
 ment of prophecy " always leads to endless confusion and 
 perplexity. On the other hand, when we say that it 
 seems to us more reasonable to regard prophecy as dealing 
 with the spirit and the principles of history rather than 
 with its details, we do not claim to understand all the 
 principles that govern the course of history, or to appre- 
 ciate its spirit, as the prophets did. To make such a claim 
 would be equivalent to claiming the gift of prophecy for 
 ourselves. We are not, however, to assume that the two 
 theories which we have indicated exhaust all the possible 
 explanations of the facts of Hebrew prophecy. Even the 
 facts themselves are but very imperfectly known to us, 
 and until our knowledge of them is more accurate and 
 complete than it is at present, it would be rash to put 
 forward as final any theory on the subject. 
 
 ' The question of the date of the passages in which the name of Cynis is 
 mentioned is, at the very least, an open question. 
 
THE PROPHET. 217 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 TITLE. 
 
 "THE VISION OF ISAIAH THE SON OF AMOZ, WHICH HE SAW CONCERNING 
 JUDAH AND JERUSALEM IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AHAZ, AND 
 HEZEKIAH, KINGS OF JUDAH." ^ 
 
 w 
 
 The Pro2)het. 
 
 "E have already met witli tlie Propliet Isaiah in 
 the history of Hezekiah's reign, and we are told 
 elsewhere that he wrote an account of the reign of an 
 earlier king Uzziah.^- The title of the present book says 
 that he prophesied during the reigns of these two kings, 
 and during the two intervening reigns. Of his personal 
 history we know very little. We gather from the book 
 which bears his name that he was married, that he had 
 two sons, and that he lived in Jerusalem. Amoz the 
 father of Isaiah was not Amos the prophet. Though the 
 two names are similar in English and the same in the 
 Grreek, they are quite distinct in the Hebrew. 
 
 1 Though these titles of the prophetical books, and the headings which 
 are prefixed to some of the particular prophecies are printed as part of the 
 text in the English Bible, while the headings of the Psahns are printed 
 separately, there is no such distinction in the original. Like the headings 
 of the Psalms, those in the prophetical books are not always to be de- 
 pended on. 
 
 - 2 Chron. xxvi. 22. 
 
218 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 The Book. 
 
 The book wliicb. bears the name of the Prophet Isaiah 
 consists of a number of prophetical pieces, put together in 
 such a way as to form a connected whole. The collection 
 appears to include pieces of widely different dates ; but 
 there is no doubt that the genuine prophecies of Isaiah 
 form the basis of the work. In its present form it was 
 probably not completed until some time after the return 
 from Babylon ; though, as in the case of the Pentateuch 
 and other parts of the Old Testament, some of its ma- 
 terials may have previously existed in other forms. 
 
 The Hebrew Tenses. 
 
 The reader who compares the Analyses which we are 
 about to give of the contents of the prophetical books with 
 the English text of the books themselves may occasionally 
 notice a difference between the two in the tenses of verbs. 
 Similar differences will be found to exist between the 
 authorized version and the revised translations given in 
 any of the standard commentaries. It may appear strange 
 that there should be room for such difference of opinion 
 on so simple a matter as the tenses of verbs. But the ex- 
 planation of the uncertainty is to be found in the incom- 
 pleteness of the Hebrew tense system. There are, in fact, 
 only two tense forms in the Hebrew — an imperfect tense 
 which expresses simply an incomplete action, and a per- 
 fect tense which expresses a completed action. Each of 
 these may be used in relation to the past, the present, or 
 the futm-e ; and in general it can be determined only by 
 the sense of the whole passage, or by the context, to which 
 of these three times the verb relates. Another cause of 
 
AN EXPOSTULATION WITH THE PEOPLE OF JUL AH. 219 
 
 occasional uncertainty as to the time to wliich the pro- 
 phetical descriptions apply is that, like the wiiters in other 
 languages, the Hebrew prophets sometimes use the perfect 
 tense of a future event, when they wish to speak of it 
 as sure to come to pass — as sure as if it had already 
 occurred. The perfect used in this way is called the per- 
 fect of prophetic certainty. 
 
 Analysis of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 
 
 An Expostulation icith the People ofJudah. 
 (Is. I.) 
 
 At a time when Judah has been devastated by enemies and the 
 capital hardly spared, the prophet makes a powerful and afiectionate 
 appeal to his countrymen to repent and amend, ere it be too late. He 
 points out that it is not sacrifices and the mere outward performance 
 of the rites of religion that the Almighty requires, but to " cease to 
 do evil," to "learn to do well," to act justly, to put down oppression, 
 to judge the cause of the fatherless, to plead for the widow. The 
 neglect of these duties will be the ruin of Jerusalem. But there is 
 still time for repentance, and if they will repent and amend there is 
 no limit to what the mercj^ of God will yet do for them ; though their 
 sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; thoiigh they 
 be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If they be willing and 
 obedient, they shall yet eat the good of the land : but if they refuse 
 and rebel, they shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the 
 Lord hath spoken it. 
 
 Though this piece is now placed at the beginning of the book of 
 prophecies, to which it serves as a suitable introduction, we shall see, 
 when we have examined the order and arrangement of the contents 
 of the book a little further, that this fact is no proof of the early date 
 of its composition. It reads like the expostulation of a prophet who 
 has been for some time ministering amongst the people, rather than 
 the address of a beginner. The opinion most commonly entertained 
 is that it was written at some time during the reign of Hezekiah, in 
 which reign we know that Palestine was twice invaded by the Assy- 
 rians. 
 
220 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 The Glories of the 2Iessi(mic Kingdom, and the Judgments tvhich 
 must precede its Advent. 
 
 (Is. II. -IV.) 
 
 A prophecy "concerning Judah and Jerusalem." It commences 
 with a glorious description of the Messianic time. The days are 
 coming when "the mountain of the Lord's house" — Mount Zion, upon 
 which the Temple of Jehovah stands, " shall be exalted above the 
 hills," and " all nations shall flow unto it." " Out of Zion shall go 
 forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem," and God's 
 peaceful rule shall be established amongst the nations. But before 
 that time comes there must be a heavy judgment, which is called for 
 bj' the sins of the people of God. The sins specially mentioned are 
 idolatry, and oppression of the poor, and the pride and luxury of the 
 women of Jerusalem ; all of which the prophet seems to say have 
 arisen from foreign trade and association with heathen nations. 
 When Judah shall have been purified by adversity, then, but not till 
 then, shall her true glory appear. 
 
 (Is. T.) 
 
 The parable of the Lord's vineyard, which has brought forth wild 
 grapes after all the care that has been expended upon it. ' ' For the 
 vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of 
 Judah his pleasant plant ; and he looked for judgment, but behold 
 oppression ; for righteousness, but behold a cry." The parable is 
 followed by a denouncement of woes upon the evil-doers ; upon the 
 selfish owners of property, " that join house to house, that lay field 
 to field, till there be no place left," and upon the revellers, "that 
 rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink, that 
 continue until night, till wine inflame them." The great houses 
 shall be desolate ; the fields shall yield no produce ; and the ban- 
 queters shall go into captivity, or be swallowed by the grave : for a 
 great tribulation is coming upon the country, and the Lord is sum- 
 moning hostile nations (the Assyrians ?) against it from afar. 
 
 Chapters ii.-v. form a connected prophecy, though it is not certain 
 that all parts of it were originally composed at the same time. The 
 Messianic passage with which this prophecy opens is also to be found 
 in the prophet Micah. It is possible that both writers may have 
 derived it from some earlier source. 
 
EPHRAIM AND SYRIA, AXD THE SOX OF TABEAL. 221 
 Tlie Projihet's Commission. 
 
 (Is. VI.) 
 
 A vision whicli the prophet saw " in the year that King Uzziah 
 died." The Almighty appeared as a king sitting in state upon his 
 throne, attended by seraphim. When the prophet was overwhelmed 
 with the sense of his unfitness to stand in the Divine presence, one of 
 the seraphim touched his lips with a coal (or a stone) from the altar, 
 and his sin was removed. He then received the commission to go as 
 God's messenger to his countrymen. But he was warned, even then, 
 that they would be deaf to the teachings of heavenly wisdom, until 
 their land was wasted and left without inhabitants. 
 
 No doubt intended to describe Isaiah's first call to prophetical 
 activity. It may be compared with the accounts given of the way in 
 which Jeremiah and Ezekiel received their first commissions, which 
 stand at the beginning of theii" books. Probably this vision istood at 
 the beginning of some earlier edition of Isaiah's prophecies, and in 
 subsequent alterations the preceding chapters, which are general in 
 their character, were placed before it as an introduction to the larger 
 work. 
 
 UjjJtraim and Syria, and the So)t. of Tabeal. 
 (Is. vn. 1— VIII. 4.) 
 In the reign of Ahaz, when the allied kings of Ephraim and Syria 
 are threatening Jerusalem, with the design of setting "the son of 
 Tabeal" upon the throne of Judah, Isaiah comes forward to encourage 
 the Jewish king. He bids him trust in God, and not to fear the 
 allies, whose cause shall not stand. Ahaz shows himself unwilling to 
 be guided by the prophet's counsel. Isaiah therefore warns him that 
 the power of Ephraim and Syria shall be broken, but that his own 
 country too shall be desolated between Assyria and Egypt. Three 
 signs are given by which the truth of the prophet's predictions may 
 be verified : (1.) Before a chUd, then about to be born, to whom the 
 name Immanuel, God tvith us, is to be given, shall be old enough to 
 "refuse the evil and choose the good," the land of the enemies shall 
 be desolated. But desolation shall come upon Judah too, for the 
 Lord shall hiss for the flies from Egypt and the bees from Assyria ; 
 he shall shave with a razor hired from the banks of the river (the 
 
222 THE BOOK OF THE PROrHET ISAIAK. 
 
 king of Assyria) ; and the land shall be swept of its inhabitants. 
 (2.) As a sign to which he can appeal, when this prediction is ful- 
 filled, the prophet writes upon a large tablet in the presence of unim- 
 peachable witnesses the words Maher shalal hash baz, Hasten booty, 
 speed sjjoil, (3.) These words are further given as a name to a new- 
 born son of the prophet, "for before the child shall have knowledge to 
 cry My father and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of 
 Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria." 
 
 Shear-jashub, the name of another of the prophet's sons, who is 
 mentioned in this section, is also evidently symbolical ; it means 
 A remnant shall return. In the Book of Hosea there is a similar 
 example of a prophet teaching through the names of his children. ^ 
 Some have therefore thought that the child Immanuel, who was 
 about to be born at the time to which this section refers, was simply 
 a third instance of one of the prophet's children bearing a symbolical 
 name. The Hebrew word used in Isaiah vii. 14 to describe the 
 mother of the child is more general than the English word "virgin," 
 by which it is translated. It may mean either a married or im- 
 married woman ; and would therefore be applicable to the prophet's 
 wife. Ewald and others are of opinion that the child referred to was 
 the coming Messiah, and that His advent was expected about that 
 time (see ch. ix. 6, 7, and ch. xi.) ; but that "there is nothing said as 
 to who the young woman was," "because it has nothing to do with 
 the connexion" in the present passage. !Many other conjectures have 
 been put forward on the subject. 
 
 The invasion of Judah by the allied forces of Israel and Syria is 
 mentioned in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. ^ It is probable 
 that the object of the invading kings in trying to place "the son of 
 Tabeal" (whose name is otherwise unknown to us) upon the throne of 
 Judah, was to form a combination of the western powers to resist the 
 advance of Assyria. 
 
 The reader will notice that in this section, as well as elsewhere, the 
 northern kingdom is called Ephraim, after the name of the tribe 
 which was chief in the north, as Judah was in the south. The name 
 Israel is not always used exclusively of the Kingdom of the Ten 
 Tribes, as it is in the Books of Kings and Chronicles. In the 
 Prophets it is sometimes applied to all the descendants of Jacob. 
 
 1 IIos. i. 4, G, 9, &c. - Sec p. 76. 
 
THE ASSYRIANS. 223 
 
 (Is. Tin. 5— IX. 7.) 
 
 A further discourse dealing with the same subject. It would 
 appear from the opening verses that some of the Jews were in favour 
 of the plans of Syria and Israel, and that the object of the prophet 
 was to induce the Jews simply to stand by themselves, in the con- 
 fidence that God would protect His own people, and not to be looking 
 for foreign alliances. Because they will not do this, he sees nothing 
 but disaster before them. Still through all in the watchword 
 Immanuel there is an unf aiUng source of hope, and the end of the 
 piece is bright with the most joyful anticipations of the future; the 
 afflicted land beyond the Jordan has a happier future before it, and 
 by the favour of the Almighty the long-promised ruler shall yet sit 
 upon the throne of David. 
 
 (Is. IX. 8-x. 4.) 
 
 A prophecy against the Kingdom of Israel, belonging to the same 
 time. The efforts to rebuild the fortunes of the Eingdom of the 
 Ten Tribes are in vain, for they have alienated the favour of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 If we are right in supposing that the alliance of Israel and Syria 
 and the attempt to set up a king friendly to the two kingdoms in 
 Judsea were due to a design to form a combination against Assyria, 
 the object of this address may have been to convince Judah of the 
 hopelessness of the attempt, and the folly of taking part in it. 
 
 The Assyrians. 
 (Is. X. 5-xii.) 
 A piece belonging to a later date, after Samaria had been destroyed, 
 and when Jerusalem itself was threatened by the Assyrians. The 
 prophet lifts up his voice against the powerful enemies, and bids them 
 remember that though the Almighty employs them to chastise His 
 people, they are not to forget that they are but instruments in His 
 hands. It is the purpose of Jehovah to allow the destruction of 
 Israel — all except a remnant, which shall learn from adversity to 
 trust in God, and not in earthly alliances. But the faithful in Zion 
 need not fear ; though the Assyrian advance to the very walls of 
 Jerusalem, his pride shall be brought down. And the Kingdom of 
 the Messiah shall yet be established. The Gentiles shall seek shelter 
 beneath His peaceful and righteous sway ; the exiles shall return from 
 
224 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 all lands ; the enmity between Judah and Epliraiin shall depart ; all 
 the old enemies shall be put down, Egypt shall be humbled, and 
 Assyria send back her captives, and songs of praise and thanksgiving 
 shall echo within the walls of Zion. 
 
 Babylon. 
 (Is. xm.-xiT. 23.) 
 
 The prophecy about the Assyrians is followed by a number of other 
 pieces also relating to foreign nations, which are put together here 
 in accordance with the general plan of the book of which they now 
 form a part, but apparently without regard to the origin or rela- 
 tive dates of the several pieces. The first of these is the grand com- 
 position describing the doom of Babylon — its destruction by the 
 Medes, its subsequent desolation, and the return of the Israelite 
 captives to their own land: — 
 
 The tumxilt of assembling nations is heard amid the mountains ; 
 the Lord is mustering His forces, for His day is at hand — a day of 
 terror for all evil-doers. Behold, against Babylon He is summoning 
 the Medes, a people that will not spare. The Babylonian warriors 
 shall fall by the sword, the women shall be hurried into captivity, 
 and their children shall be "dashed against the stones." Their 
 houses shall be spoiled; 
 
 And Babylon, 
 
 The glory of Mugdoms, 
 
 The beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, 
 
 Shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 It shall never be inhabited, 
 
 Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 
 
 Even the wandering Bedwin shall not pitch his tent upon the ill-omened 
 spot which its ruins shall mark, nor shall any shepherds lead their 
 flocks there. It shall be the home of unclean creatures, and the 
 haunt of evil spirits: — 
 
 The wild boasts of the islands shall cry in theh desolate houses, 
 
 And dragons in their pleasant places ; 
 
 And her time is near to come, 
 
 And her days shall not be prolonged. 
 
THE PHILISTINES. 225 
 
 But the Lord will have mercy upon Jacob, and restore the banished 
 people to their own land. He will fulfil all His promises to them, and 
 "they shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and rule 
 over their oppressors." As for the king of Babylon, he shall become 
 a proverb for vanished greatness. He goes down to the shadowy 
 regions of Hades, weak as the weakest there. Ah! how has he fallen, 
 and his glory departed ! He that said he would ascend to heaven is 
 brought down to hell. His family is extinguished, and his once 
 proud city a desolation. 
 
 This prophecy, though now placed with some appropriateness in 
 continuation of the prediction of the downfall of the Assyrians, is 
 believed by many to belong to a much later period, probably to the 
 close of the Babylonian Captivity. See the remarks on chapter xxi. 
 1-10, and on chapters xxiv.-xxvii. 
 
 The Assyrian Invader. 
 
 (Is. XIV. 24-27.) 
 
 The power of the Assyrian shall be broken in the Holy Land, and 
 his yoke removed. This is the purpose of the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 The Philistines. 
 (Is. XIV. 28-32.) 
 
 Palestine (the country of the Philistines) is not to rejoice because 
 of the downfall of her oppressor ; for though the rod that smote her 
 is broken, "out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, 
 and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent." The smoke of burning 
 towns is advancing from the ]!^orth ; but the needy (the sufiering 
 people of Zion) shall dwell safely under the protection of the 
 Almighty. 
 
 The heading, which says that this prophecy was uttered in the year 
 that King Ahaz died, seems to imply that Ahaz vas the rod that 
 smote the Philistines. The invaders from the North are the Assyrians. 
 The way in which the last oppressor is described as coming out of the 
 root of the first hardly agrees with this interpretation. The pro- 
 phecy, as first composed, may have had a different application. 
 
22(5 THE BOOK OF THE TROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 Moah. 
 (Is. XV., XVI.) 
 
 " The Burden of Moab." — A pitiful lament for her desolations. 
 Her chief cities are taken and laid waste. The weeping people 
 throng the high places ; the land is full of mourning and woe. The 
 fugitives shall but escape one enemy to fall into the hands of 
 another. Moab is exhorted to send in her submission to Judah ; ^ 
 and Judah to deal pitifully with the afflicted, and give asylum to the 
 outcasts :- so shall the throne of David be established in mercy and 
 in justice. This word spoken long ago by the Lord of the humbling 
 of Moab 3 shall now be fultilled. " Within three years, as the years 
 of an hireling, and the glory of Moab shall be contemned, with all 
 that great multitude ; and the remnant shall be very small and 
 feeble." 
 
 An earlier piece, recalled and applied to current events. The style 
 of the quoted piece is peculiar, and not like Isaiah's style. It is 
 interesting to note that very many of the names of places mentioned 
 in it are to be found upon the Moabite stone.* The " years of an 
 hireling" are years stiictly measured. 
 
 The Syrians. 
 
 (Is. XVII. 1-11.) 
 
 "The Burden of Damascus." — "Damascus is taken away from 
 being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap." Her ally Israel is also 
 threatened. But a remnant of the Israelites shall turn to God and 
 be saved. 
 
 The JRushiuff of the Nations. 
 (Is. XVII. 12-14.) 
 
 A short and striking piece, apparently not originally connected 
 with the preceding. It is supposed to have referred to the numerous 
 nations marching under the banner of Assyria : — 
 
 "Woe to the multitude of many peoples, which make a noise like 
 the noise of the seas ; and to the rushing of nations, that make a 
 
 1 Is. xvi. 1, comp. 2 Kings iii. 4. - Is. xvi. 3, 4 (alternative translation). 
 3 Is. xvi. 13 (amended translation). * See p.l oO. 
 
ETHIOPIA. 227 
 
 rushing like the rushing of mighty waters I The nations shall rush 
 like the rushing of many waters : but God shall rebuke them, and 
 they shall flee far oif, and shall be chased as the chaff of the 
 mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirl- 
 wind. And behold at evening-tide trouble ; and before the morning 
 he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of 
 them that rob us." 
 
 Ethiopia. 
 
 (Is. XVIII.) 
 
 Alarmed by the advance of the Assyrians (?) Ethiopia is sending 
 swift messengers in papyrus boats along her river highways ; but the 
 prophet bids the messengers to announce to their swarthy country- 
 men — and calls all the earth to witness — that the Lord, whose seat is 
 in heaven, will suddenly cut down the power of the approaching 
 enemy. His warriors shall fall like the half -ripe clusters of grapes 
 before the pruning-knife, and their bodies shall be left unburied 
 upon the mountains. Then the warlike Ethiopians, a nation hitherto 
 unconquered, shall acknowledge the sovereignty of Jehovah. 
 
 A difficult piece. According to Ewald's view, it was occasioned by 
 the arrival in Jerusalem of an Ethiopian embassy, offering alliance 
 and assistance against the Assyrians. The statement that the mes- 
 sengers travelled on the sea seems to favour this idea ; but they 
 would not have crossed the Mediterranean in papjTus boats, and 
 ^' the sea" may mean the Nile, so that the messengers are more 
 probably those sent through their own dominions to summon the 
 Ethiopian warriors to oppose the advance of the Assyrians. There is 
 much uncertainty as to the meaning of the expressions used in this 
 chapter to describe the Ethiopians and their country. Instead of 
 " the land shadowing with wings," some translate " the land of the 
 whirring of wings" {i.e. of innumerable insects), or "the land of 
 winged boats," &c. A nation " scattered and peeled" should perhaps 
 be " tall and polished" {i.e. sunburnt), or " tall and nimble." The 
 Hebrew words rendered " meted out and trodden down " are better 
 imderstood in an active sense, as in the margin of the English Bible, 
 to express the all-subduing strength of the Ethiopians. " Whose 
 land the rivers have spoiled " may also be rendered " whose land the 
 rivers divide," or " cut through." 
 
 Q2 
 
228 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 EyypU 
 
 (Is. XIX.) 
 
 A Diyiue judgment is threatening Egypt, whose idols cannot stand 
 hefore Jehovah — the land shall be torn by civil war, and its strength 
 shall waste away, and Egypt shall be subjected to a cruel master. 
 The waters of the river, the source of her fertility, shall fail, and 
 vegetation shall wither away, and every trade shall be depressed. 
 Her princes are foolish ; they cannot help her, for the Lord has con- 
 founded their wisdom. In that day Egypt shall be afraid, and shall 
 acknowledge the power of Judah ; the language of Palestine shall be 
 spoken in Egj-pt ; there shall be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of 
 the land ; and the power of Jehovah shall be felt and acknowledged. 
 In that day Judah shall be the third with Assyria and Egypt, for all 
 three shall be united in the service of Jehovah. 
 
 The Siege of Ashdod. 
 
 (Is. XX.) 
 
 In the year that an Assyrian army under the Tartan, or com- 
 mander-in-chief, was sent by Sargon to lay siege to the Philistine 
 town Ashdod, Isaiah was commanded to loose the sackcloth from his 
 loins, and put off his sandals from his feet, and appear "naked and 
 barefoot " before the people, and to tell them that so should the king 
 of Assyria lead away the Ethiopians and Egyptians naked and bare- 
 foot into captivity ; and those who depended on Egypt to save them 
 from Assyria should see the vanity of their expectation. 
 
 The strong town of Ashdod commanded the route to Egypt by the 
 Mediterranean shore. The siege of Ashdod was therefore a threat to 
 Egypt. 
 
 The Fall of Bahrjlon. 
 
 (Is. XXI. 1-10.) 
 Another piece relating to the taking of Babylon. Her fate is com- 
 ing upon her like a whirlwind in the desert. The prophet sees a vision 
 of the capture ; Elam and Media are advancing to the attack ; 
 the mercUess conquerors are dealing mercilessly. Filled with sorrow 
 and dismay at the sight, he appeals to the princes of Babylon to leave 
 their banc[uets and make ready for defence. But his warning is in 
 
THE SILENT LAND. 229 
 
 Tain. It is too late, for as the Lord's wateliman stands upon his 
 tower of observation, he sees the columns of the assailants already 
 advancing — horsemen, and chariots, and camels. After long and 
 anxious waiting he sees part of the cavalcade returning ; and then 
 he knows the truth : — ' ' Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and all the 
 graven images of her gods he hath dashed to the ground." Terrible 
 are the Lord's chastisements ! but His prophets must declare the 
 truth. 
 
 The title "Burden of the Desert of the Sea," prefixed to this piece, 
 may have been suggested by the mention of the desert in the first 
 verse, and may have been meant to describe the plain of Babylon, 
 which was intersected by the Euphrates and Tigris.^ 
 
 The date of these pieces relating to the fall of Babylon is a much 
 debated question. They may be later compositions, belonging to the 
 period of the Babylonian Captivity, and relating to the siege and cap- 
 ture of that great city by Cyrus ; or they may be genuine Isaianic 
 fragments relating to earlier events. We know from the inscriptions 
 that Babylon was once besieged by Sargon, and twice by Sennacherib ; 
 and these three sieges would have fallen in the lifetime of Isaiah, 
 It is not unlikely that earlier compositions should have been slightly 
 ■altered, so as to suit later events. 
 
 llie Silent Land. 
 (Is. XXI. 11, 12.) 
 
 Out of Seir (the country of the Edomites) an eager inquiry comes, 
 asking the prophetical watchman if the night will soon be over : — 
 " Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the night ? " 
 To which the prophet returns the enigmatical answer — " The morn- 
 ing Cometh, and also the night : if ye will enquire, enquire ye : 
 return, come." 
 
 Perhaps the meaning of this obscm-e answer may be : — The night 
 of sorrow will certainly pass, but it shall be as surely succeeded in 
 time by some other visitation; for, while the earth remaineth, the 
 day of joy and the night of sorrow shall not cease to succeed one 
 another. If you, who are strangers to Israel's God, wish for the 
 gu.iding counsel of His prophet while yoii are passing through 
 
 ^ Comp. Ps. c•xxx^ii. 1 ; Jer. li, 13, kc. 
 
230 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPnET ISAIAH. 
 
 these changing scenes of life, come, inquire ! He is ready to 
 answer. 
 
 The word Dumah, which occurs in the title of this prophecj', is also 
 a puzzle. It may be a name of Edom, or of some city in Edom ; or it 
 may mean " silence," in which case the title would be " Oracle con- 
 cerning the silent (or desolate) land," or, " Oracle of silence," i. e. 
 that gives no answer. 
 
 Arabia. 
 (Is. XXI. 13-17.) 
 The fugitive Dedanites (an Ai'abian tribe) must camp in the wilds. 
 Let the Temanites (another tribe) afford them supplies, for they are 
 fleeing fi'om war — war that within a year, strictly measured, shall 
 dim the glory of Kedar {i. e. the tribes of Arabia generally), and cut 
 their warriors short. 
 
 Both Sargou and Sennacherib in their inscriptions claim to have 
 subjugated the Arabian tribes. 
 
 Ill-timed Rejoicinr/s in Jerasaleni. 
 (Is. XXII. 1-14.) 
 
 The prophet asks the meaning of the public rejoicings in the city. 
 It was no time for rejoicing, but a day of sorrow. Their lighting men 
 had not fallen in battle, but had fled, or had been made prisoners ; 
 their country was flooded with enemies ; Jerusalem had been almost 
 taken, in spite of their defensive works. It was to God alone that 
 they should look for protection. A day of humiliation would be more 
 in place than their joyous festival. 
 
 Ewald conjectures that this was an utterance of Isaiah, occasioned 
 by the conclusion of a dishonourable peace with the Assyrians. The 
 title, " Burden of the Valley of Vision," was evidently derived from 
 V. 5, where the Valley of Vision is supposed by some to mean Jerusa- 
 lem, the city of the prophets ; but this is very uncertain. 
 
 Shehna the Prime Minister is Denounced. 
 (Is. XXII. 15-25.) 
 The prophet is sent to denounce the pride of Slicbna the prime 
 minister, who has had a sepulchre hewn for himself in the rock 
 
THE DIVINE JUDGMENTS. 231 
 
 during his life-time, after the manner of Eastern grandees. He shall 
 be hurled down from his lofty station, and shall die in another land ; 
 and his place shall he filled by the more trusted Eliakim the son of 
 Hilkiah. 
 
 Eliakim and Shebna are both mentioned again as holding office at 
 the time of Sennacherib's invasion. Eliakim is then steward of the 
 royal household, and iShebna only scribe or secretary.^ 
 
 Tyre, 
 
 (Is. XXIII.) 
 
 The sad fate of Tyre. The fleets of merchantmen, returning home 
 from her western colonies, hear at Chittim (Cyprus) the sorrowful 
 tidings that their homes are ruined and their harbour destroyed. 
 The inhabitants of the coast,- whose prosperity depended upon the 
 trade of Tyre and Sidon, are smitten with dismay ; and when the 
 report shall reach Egypt,^ her people shall be sorely pained at the 
 tidings, for it was by Phoenician merchants that the grain of Egypt* 
 was carried across the great waters of the Mediterranean. Tyre was 
 the mart of nations, but now the sea disowns her daughter (?). The 
 joyous city, whose antiquity was of ancient days, cannot be recog- 
 nized. Her people mvist pass away to other lands amid the lamenta- 
 tions of theii" neighbours, for it is the purpose of Jehovah to bring 
 down her pride. Let the ships of Tarshish howl, for their stronghold 
 is laid waste. 
 
 The prophecy, having returned again in v. 14 to the address to the 
 ships, with which it started, is followed by an appendix, apparently 
 a later addition, to the effect that after seventy years Tyre shall be 
 restored again, and become a centre of trade ; but her wealth shall 
 he for the support of God's people. 
 
 The Dicine Judgments and their Final Itesiilts. 
 
 (Is. XXIV.) 
 
 A curse has fallen upon the earth (or upon the land of Judah). Its 
 inhabitants from the highest to the lowest are scattered, its fields lie 
 waste, the city is in utter ruin, and the sound of its revelry is heard 
 
 1 Is. xxxvi. 3. ^ Verse 5 (translation amended). 
 
 2 " Isle," vv. 2, 6. ^ " The seed of Silior" (the Xile), v. 3. 
 
232 THE BOOK OF THE PEOrHET ISAIAH. 
 
 no more. From the remnant left in distant lands a song of praise 
 uprises. But alas ! what scenes of desolation ! It is a terrible time 
 for the inhabitants of the earth (or Judaea). Nevertheless the day is 
 at hand when Jehovah shall have put down all powers that oppose 
 Him, whether in heaven or on earth, and will reign gloriously in 
 Mount Zion. 
 
 (Is. XXV.) 
 
 Praise be to Jehovah, who brings to ruin the strong city of the 
 oppressor, and compels the proud to acknowledge His might. He is 
 the sure defence of the weak. Now shall Mount Zion be the centre of 
 blessing to the earth. Its light shall dispel the darkness that over- 
 spreads the nations. Sorrow and death shall be no more. The pa- 
 tience of those who have waited for the Lord shall be rewarded with 
 full salvation, and the hateful Moabites shall be trampled down. 
 
 (Is. XXVI.) 
 
 In that day shall songs of praise be sung in the laud of Judah : — 
 
 We have a strong city ; 
 
 Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. 
 
 Open ye the gates, 
 
 That the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. 
 
 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee : 
 Because he trusteth in Thee. 
 
 Trust ye in the Lord for ever : 
 
 For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. 
 
 For God's judgments are in all the earth ; He brings down the proud 
 and exalts the lowly ; and for them, who through all changes wait on 
 Him with a patient teachable spirit, a calm and glorious future is 
 certain. 
 
 (Is. XXVII.) 
 
 In that day the Lord shall judge the powers of the earth ; but He 
 will take care of the vineyard which He has planted. His wrath is 
 not against it, but against those who destroy it. His merciful judg- 
 ments shall purify it from all traces of idolatry, while the defenced 
 city of this world's power shall perish for ever. He shall gather His 
 people again from Assyria and from Egypt. 
 
THE ASSYEIAX IXYASIONS— PKOPHECIES. 233 
 
 The subject of these four chapters may be described as a general 
 judgment upon the earth, resulting in the purification and final 
 triumph of the people of God. The prophecy may belong to the 
 Assyrian period, and may have been suggested by the events of that 
 period, but its descriptions are too vague to be tied down to any 
 actual facts ; they "start from apparently sharply defined historical cir- 
 cumstances, which vanish, however, like will-o'-the-wisps, as soon as 
 you attempt to follow and seize them ; for the simple reason that the 
 prophet lays hold of their radical ideas, carries them out beyond their 
 outward historical form, and uses them as emblems of far-off events of 
 the last days." ^ This remark applies elsewhere as well as here. 
 
 Another view supposes that Judtea and Jerusalem are the scenes of 
 the desolation described in ch. xxiv., and that the whole belongs to 
 the Babylonian period. But this does not suit so well with the 
 following chapters. 
 
 A Series of ProjjJiccies connected with the Assyrian Invasions. 
 
 (Is. XXVIII.) 
 
 "Woe to the senseless and dissolute rulers of Ephraim ! The Lord 
 has an irresistible destroyer for them. Their glory is a fading flower, 
 a fruit soon to be devoured. Nevertheless, a remnant shall be pre- 
 served. "Woe, too, to the priest and prophet in Judah ! They also 
 have erred. They ridicule the true prophet, repeating his words ; 
 but the Lord shall requite them. Their covenant with death — per- 
 haps the alliance with Egypt — shall be in vain. The foundation- 
 stone of Zion is the only true salvation. Their covenant shall be 
 disannulled, and destruction shall overtake them. There is a mean- 
 ing and purpose in all God's dealings. 
 
 (Is. XXIX.) 
 
 "Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! The revolving 
 years are bringing distress ; but she shall still be Ariel (God's lion). 
 Though the enemies shall camp around her, they shall vanish like a 
 di'eam. The besotted leaders of the people cannot read this riddle : 
 but in a little while their foolish designs shall be exposed, and the 
 truth, so often foretold, shall be plain to all. Then shall the meek 
 and lowly rejoice, when the terrible foe is brought to nought, and thf 
 
 ' Delitzsch, in loc. 
 
234 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 scornful leaders consumed ; then shall Jacob be ashamed of his 
 children no more. 
 
 (Is. XXX.) 
 
 Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help ! The ambassadors 
 have gone to a people that cannot profit them, and to no purpose have 
 their rich presents been sent through the terrible wilderness. Vainly 
 has the prophet cried against this folly, vainly has he assured them 
 that in quietness and confidence, and not in foreign alliances, is the 
 strength of God's people. But they would not listen, and now their 
 perversity shall be their ruin. Still God is waiting to be gracious — 
 longing to bind up the wounds of His people, and to crown them 
 with blessings. The storm of His indignation shall yet burst upon 
 Assyria. 
 
 (Is. XXXI.) 
 
 Woe, again, to those who go down to Egypt for help, who trust in 
 
 chariots and horsemen, and look not to the Holy One of Israel. The 
 
 Egyptians are men and not God, and their horses are flesh and not 
 
 spirit. If the Almighty stretches forth His hand, there is an end to 
 
 both helpers and holpen. The Lord of Hosts will defend Jerusalem 
 
 Himself. that Israel would return to Him whom they have so 
 
 deeply offended ! Then should Assyria fall, but not by the hand of 
 
 man. 
 
 (Is. xxxii. 1-8.) 
 
 The rulers of Judah shall not be blind or foolish any more ; the 
 
 king shall reign in righteousness, and the princes shall rule justly. 
 
 They shall be a hiding-place from the wind and a covert from the 
 
 tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great 
 
 rock in a weary land. In that day men's eyes shall be opened, and 
 
 the truth shall be spoken plainly, and each one shall be known for 
 
 what he is. 
 
 (Is. XXXII. 9-20.) 
 
 An address to the women of Judah. They are careless women now. 
 But the days of lamentation are at hand, when they shall put off 
 their gay attire, and clothe themselves with sackcloth ; for the plea- 
 sant fields must be overgrown with briers, and all the palaces for- 
 saken, before righteousness and peace can be established. 
 
 (Is. XXXIII.) 
 
 Woe to the (Assyrian) spoiler! Their multitudes shall be scattered 
 when Jehovah shall arise ; and He will yet be gracious to His people 
 
THE ASSYEIAN INYASIOXS— PROPHECIES. 235 
 
 that have waited for Him. The strong men weep; the highways are 
 deserted, "the wayfaring man ceaseth"; the very land, with its 
 mountains and valleys, seems to mourn and languish. But Jehovah 
 will arise and bring the plans of the destroyer to nought. Their 
 avenging God shall be a terror to the sinners in Zion, as well as to 
 the foreign enemy ; but to the upright He shall be a tower of strength. 
 They shall yet dwell in a peaceful land, surrounded by plenty ; their 
 eyes shall see the king in his beauty, ruling over an extended terri- 
 tory ; and the days of the fierce invader shall be a memory of the 
 past. They shall see Jerusalem a city of solemn assemblies, a quiet 
 habitation, a permanent home. The presence of the glorious Lord 
 shall be to her a sufficient substitute for the broad rivers and streams 
 of Babylon, or other capitals, though no galley shall go with oars near 
 her mountain walls, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. The 
 inhabitant of that city shall no more say " I am sick": the people 
 that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. 
 
 (Is. xxxiv.) 
 
 Judgment upon all nations, and especially upon Edom. The land 
 of Edom shall be utterly destroyed. " The streams thereof shall be 
 turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land 
 shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day ; 
 the smoke thereof shall go up for ever : from generation to genera- 
 tion it shall lie waste ; none shall pass through it for ever and ever." 
 Wild creatures shall inhabit it; the voice of her nobles shall be 
 heard there no more, but thorns shall come up in her palaces, and 
 nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof. 
 
 (Is. XXXV.) 
 
 The glorious future. A picture, partly symbolical, partly literal, 
 of that happy time, when "the wilderness and the solitary place 
 shall be glad," when "the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the 
 rose." Then the feeble faith shall be strong, and evil shaU be no 
 more, " and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion 
 with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : they shall obtain 
 joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." 
 
236 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 The Invasion of Sennacherib. 
 
 (Is. XXXVI., XXXVII.) 
 
 The story of the invasion of Sennacherib, as already related in the 
 Book of Kings, is repeated here. While the Assyrian king is besieg- 
 ing Lachish, he sends a detachment of his army, under the command 
 of the " Rabshakeh," against Jerusalem, and demands the sur- 
 render of the city. Encouraged by Isaiah, Hezekiah refuses to com- 
 ply with the demand. The Assyrian generals retire, and rejoin their 
 master, who is warring against Tirhakah, king of Ethiopia. Smitten 
 by the angel of the Lord, in accordance with the prediction of Isaiah, 
 one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrian warriors perish 
 in a single night, and Sennacherib returns to Nineveh, where he is 
 assassinated by two of his sons. 
 
 The contents of these two chapters and of the two which follow them 
 are almost word for word the same as the corresponding narratives in 
 the Book of Kings, ^ with the exception that the poetical piece de- 
 scribed as "the writing of Hezekiah " is not contained in Kings. In 
 other respects the narrative in the Book of Kings is somewhat fuller, 
 and it looks as if the compiler of ''Isaiah" abridged a portion of that 
 book relating to the history of the prophet, and introduced it here. 
 "We are, however, in the same uncertainty as to the original relation 
 between these parallel passages as we are in similar cases elsewhere. 
 Possibly both passages may have been founded upon some original 
 memoirs of Isaiah. 
 
 The comparison of these chapters with the Assyrian inscriptions 
 affords an illustration of a remark already quoted as to the relation 
 between the two records.^ The general outlines of the Bible narra- 
 tive are fuUy confirmed by the inscriptions, but it is impossible to 
 harmonize the Jewish and Assyrian dates. Accoi'ding to the in- 
 scriptions it was Sargon and not Sennacherib who was king of Assyria 
 in the fourteenth year of Hezekiah (714 B.C.). According to the 
 same authority Sargon did actually invade Palestine about that time, 
 and besieged Ashdod f and there is some evidence to show that 
 he also made war on Judah. Sennacherib did not come to the throne 
 until 705 15. c, and the inscriptions place his invasion of Judi«a 
 
 ^ 2 Kings xviii. lo, to xx. 19. See p. 77- 
 - See p. lij',i. ■' See Isaiah xx. 1. 
 
AN EMBASSY FROM BABYLON. 237 
 
 in 701 B.C., which would be the twenty-seventh year of Hezekiah's 
 reign. It would appear that the Jewish compiler, living some time 
 after the events, confused the records which came down to him. If 
 it be asked why we prefer to accommodate the Jewish chronology to 
 the Assyrian, and not vice versa, the answer is that the Assyrian 
 chronology is, in the present instance, more likely to be correct, as 
 the inscriptions were contemporaneous with the reigns of the kings 
 to which they relate, and the dates are checked by many parallel 
 records. The narrative in Kings looks as if there had been some 
 confusion in it.^ 
 
 HezekiaJCs Illness. 
 
 (Is. XXXYIII.) 
 
 Hezekiah is "sick unto death," and Isaiah warns him that he 
 must die. Moved by the king's prayer, Jehovah commissions the 
 prophet to inform him that he shall be allowed to live for fifteen 
 years more, and as a sign that the promise will be fulfilled, causes 
 the shadow to go back ten degrees upon the sun-dial of Ahaz. Isaiah 
 directs the application of a cake of figs to the boil from which the 
 king is sufi'ering, and Hezekiah recovers. 
 
 The chapter also contains the "writing," or thanksgiving-psalm, 
 of Hezekiah on the occasion of his recovery, "a peculiarly sweet and 
 plaintive specimen of Hebrew psalmody." - 
 
 An Embassy from Bahylon. 
 
 (Is. XXXIX.) 
 
 On the recovery of Hezekiah from his illness, Merodach Baladau, 
 king of Babylon, sends an embassy with a present to congratulate 
 him. Hezekiah welcomes the ambassadors, and shows them his 
 treasures and his armoury. Isaiah fearlessly condemns the conduct of 
 the king, and teUs him that the day will come when the treasures of 
 his house shall be carried away to Babylon, and his sons shall become 
 attendants in the palace of the king of Babylon. 
 
 The real object of Merodach Baladan's embassy was probably to 
 bring about an alliance with Judah for the purpose of resisting 
 
 ' Compare 2 Kings xviii. 15, 16, with 17. 
 
 2 T. K. Chevne. The Prophecies of Isaiah. In loc. 
 
238 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 Assyria. It would be in accordance with the line which Isaiah took 
 on other occasions to oppose any such alliance. 
 
 The TrmmpJiaiit lichirn of the Jews from Babylon, and the 
 Restoration of the Worship of Jehovah on 3Iotmt Zion. 
 
 Most, if not all, of the remainder of the book appears to have been 
 the composition of a writer who lived about the time of the Return. 
 It does not speak of the Captivity as future, but as haAdng already 
 actually occurred ; and it differs in style from the earlier parts of the 
 book. Those who believe that all the prophecies in this collection 
 must have been composed by Isaiah suppose that he prophetically 
 anticipated the circumstances of the Captivity, and wrote these con- 
 cluding chapters from the point of view of one living with the exOes 
 in Babylon on the eve of the Return. 
 
 (Is. XL.) 
 
 The prophet is commissioned to bring tidings of consolation to the 
 people of God : — " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 
 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her war- 
 fare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath 
 received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." Let the way be 
 prepared, let the rugged wilderness become a level road, let every 
 valley be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low, for 
 Jehovah is returning to Mount Zion, and will make His glory mani- 
 fest to all flesh. How faithful are his promises ! The generations of 
 men pass away, they fade like the flowers of the field ; but the 
 word of our God shall stand for ever.^ Glad tidings for Jerusalem ! 
 Her God is coming with might, and will take her children to His 
 arms again. He is indeed the Almighty One, the Maker of the 
 heavens and the earth, the Ruler of the nations, not like the idols of 
 the heathen, mere stocks of wood or stone. They that have Him for 
 their God shall never be forsaken, and need never despair : — 
 
 ' ' Hast thou not known ? 
 Hast thou not heard. 
 That the everlasting God, the Lord, 
 The Creator of the ends of the earth, 
 Fainteth not, neither is weary ? 
 
 ' Comp. Ps. cii., and see p. 182. 
 
RETUEN OF THE JEWS FROM BABYLOX, ETC. 239 
 
 Thei'e is no searching of his understanding. 
 
 He giveth power to the faint ; 
 
 And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 
 
 Even the youths shall faint and he weary, 
 
 And the young men shall utterly fall : 
 
 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; 
 
 They shall mount up with wings as eagles ; 
 
 They shall run, and not he weary ; 
 
 And they shall walk, and not faint." 
 
 (Is. XLI.— XLV.) 
 
 The prophet continues to dilate upon the same theme, returning 
 again and again to the leading thoughts. Cyrus, who is mentioned 
 by name, is the instrument by whom the great deHverance is to be 
 effected. Through his agency Jerusalem and the cities of Judah 
 shall be rebuUt, and the foundations of the Temple laid again. It is 
 for this purpose that he has been raised up. He is a terror to the 
 nations and their false gods ; but Israel is the Servant of Jehovah, 
 and need not be afraid, though she be sometimes chastised for her sins. 
 The contrast between the One Living God and the senseless idols of 
 the heathen is the subject of many striking passages, in some of 
 which the power and majesty of the Almighty are finely described, 
 and the vanity of the idol-gods exhibited with mucb sarcastic force. 
 In this connexion the prophet frequently appeals to the truth and 
 foreknowledge of the Almighty, as shown by the fulfilment of His 
 promises to Jerusalem, and proclaims the futility of the predictions 
 of the heathen soothsayers. 
 
 (Is. XLVI.-XLYIII.) 
 
 Bel and xfebo, the deities of Babylon, are specially mentioned. 
 They are described as borne away by the victors, a heavy load, " a 
 burden to the weary beast." 
 
 Babylon, the virgin city, the tender and deKcate daughter of the 
 Chaldajans, shall go into captivity as a common slave. There is no 
 longer a throne for the lady of kingdoms, she must sit in silent 
 obscurity. 
 
 The Lord has mercy upon Israel, in spite of her past transgres- 
 sions, and leads her away rejoicing from the land of her captivity. 
 
2 40 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 21ie same subject continued — TJie Restoratioti of the Peojile of God : 
 The Servant of Jehovah ; Necessary Judgments. 
 
 The Servant of Jehovah has ah-eady been mentioned in the pre- 
 ceding section. The meaning of this expression has been the subject 
 of much difference of opinion. It has been maintained by many that 
 when the prophetical writer uses it he means simply to personify 
 the people of Israel, or the best part of the nation — the ideal Israel as 
 distinguished from the actual. Others have supposed that the refe- 
 rence is to the prophetical body ; or even to some individual prophet, 
 to himself, or to the prophet Jeremiah. But whatever degree of truth 
 there may be in any of these views, no one of them by itself affords 
 a satisfactory key to the meaning of the whole series of passages re- 
 lating to the Servant of Jehovah.^ The expression is at first certainly 
 used of Israel, without any hint that it is limited to the ideal Israel. 
 It is equally certain that the description of the Servant of Jehovah, 
 which is afterwards given, is not applicable to the actual Israel. 
 Much is also to be said for the idea that in some of the passages the 
 writer of them had the prophets or one of the prophets in view. But 
 whatever points of contact may be found between these descriptions 
 and the people or persons actually existing at the time when they 
 were written, and however true it may be that the thought of the 
 writer began with the people of his own day and their prophetical 
 leaders, it would appear from the simplest exegesis of the text that 
 his mind gradually rose from its first thoughts, until it arrived at the 
 conception of an ideal Person — an individual Ptedeemer of Israel and 
 of all mankind. 
 
 (Is. XLIX.) 
 
 Proclamation to all lands that the Servant of the Lord is a chosen 
 instrument for the accomplishment of the Divine purposes, not only 
 to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel, 
 but to be a light to the Gentiles and salvation to the ends of the earth. 
 Though the Servant is disheartened, though Zion thinks that her God 
 has forsaken her, the promises shall not fail. The despised and re- 
 jected shall be honoured by kings. The prisoners shall come forth, 
 and their sorrows shall be over ; they shall not hunger or thirst any 
 
 1 See Is. xli. 8-20; xlii. 1-7, 19; xliii. 10; xliv. 1, 2, 21; xlv. 4; 
 xlviii. 20; xlix. 1-12; lii. 13-15; liii. 
 
EETURN OF THE JEWS FROM BABYLON, ETC. 241 
 
 more, for their God. shall supply every want, and guard them from 
 every danger. His love is lasting, surpassing even a mother's love. 
 The waste and desolate places shall be inhabited again — shall be 
 too narrow for their inhabitants, for Israel shall increase and the 
 Gentiles shall come in. 
 A chapter full of pathetic eloquence. 
 
 (Is. L.) 
 
 It was Israel's own doing that the Lord had rejected her. When 
 He offered His all-powerful aid, none would accept it. The patient 
 Servant of the Lord shall be justified. 
 
 (Is. LI.) 
 
 The Lord comforts Zion. In answer to the prophet's appeal, He 
 assures her that she need not fear ; no oppressor can stand before 
 Him. Jerusalem has drunk to the full the cup of affliction ; but 
 now it shall be taken from her, and put into the hand of them that 
 oppressed her. 
 
 (Is. Lll. 1-12.) 
 
 Let Jerusalem arise from the dust and put on her beautiful gar- 
 ments ; for her captivity is over, the days of her mourning are ended. 
 How beautiful upon the mountains is the coming of the messenger 
 that brings the glad tidings ! At his approach the watchmen lift up 
 their voices together. Let their cry be taken up by the city : — 
 
 " Break forth into joy, 
 Sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem ; 
 For the Lord hath comforted His people, 
 He hath redeemed Jerusalem." 
 
 But they that are to occupy the new Jerusalem must touch no un- 
 clean thing. 
 
 (Is. LII. 13-LIII.) 
 
 The humiliation and sorrows of the Servant of Jehovah, His vica- 
 rious suffering. His final victory : — 
 
 He is despised and rejected of men ; 
 A man of sorroM's, and acquainted with grief : 
 And we hid as it were our faces from Him ; 
 He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 
 
242 THE EOOK OF THE TEOPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 And yet 
 
 He hath home oui- griefs and carried our son-ows ; 
 
 tliougli 
 
 We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted : 
 
 for 
 
 He was wounded for our transgressions, 
 He was bruised for our iniquities : 
 The chastisement of our peace was upon Him ; 
 And with His stripes we are healed. 
 
 All we like sheep have gone astray ; 
 
 We have turned every one to his own way ; 
 
 And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 
 
 But in spite of contempt and oppression, even t hough death itself be 
 allowed to do its worst against Him, He shall attain a final victory. 
 His soul shall be an effectual offering for the sins of those for whom 
 He dies, and He shall yet live to see the fruit of His suflierings. 
 
 He shall see His seed, 
 
 He shaU prolong His days, 
 
 And the pleasiure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 
 
 (Is. LIV.) 
 
 A song of joy for Zion. The desolate mother hath many childi-en, 
 the forsaken wife is reconciled to her husband ; for Zion's husband 
 is the LoKD of Hosts, her Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel : — 
 
 " thou afflicted, 
 Tossed with tempest, 
 And not comforted ! 
 
 Eehold I wUl lay thy stones with fair colours, 
 And lay thy foundations with sapphires. 
 
 And I will make thy windows of agates. 
 
 And thy gates of carbuncles, 
 
 And all thy borders of pleasant stones. 
 
 And thy children shall be taught of the Loud ; 
 
 And great shall be the peace of thy children. 
 
RETUEX OF THE JEWS FEOM BABTLOX, ETC. 243 
 
 In righteousness shalt thou be established : 
 
 Thou shalt be far from oppression ; 
 
 For thou shalt not fear : 
 
 And from terror ; 
 
 For it shall not come near thee." 
 
 (Is. LV.) 
 
 A loving invitation to all who feel the need of it, to come and share 
 the Lord's salvation : — 
 
 Ah ! every one that thirsteth, 
 
 Come ye to the waters ; 
 And he that hath no money, 
 
 Come ye, buy and eat ; 
 Tea, come, buy wine and milk 
 Without money, and without price. 
 
 Let the wicked forsake his way, 
 
 And the imrighteous man his thoughts ; 
 
 And let him return unto the Lord, 
 
 And He will have mercy upon him ; 
 And to our God, 
 
 For He will abundantly pardon. 
 
 (Is. LVI. 1-8.) 
 
 The foreigners who have become converts to the faith of Jehovah, 
 and the Jews who have been forced to become eunuchs in the palaces 
 of their captors, need not think that they are to be excluded from the 
 coming blessings. i The salvation is for every one that keeps the 
 law and practises righteousness. 
 
 (Is. LVI. 9-LVII,) 
 
 The faithless and self-indulgent pastors are thi'eatened. The peo- 
 ple are severely reproved for their licentious and cruel idolatries ; 
 their heaps of idols cannot deliver them. To those who transgress 
 life is a troubled sea, but in the service of Jehovah is a haven of 
 rest. 
 
 ' Comp. Deut. xxiii. 1-8: Neh. xiii. 1-3. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE BOOK OF THE TROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 Supposed by some to be a quotation from a prophet who lived in 
 Palestine before the exile. 
 
 (Is. LVIII.) 
 
 The formalism of the people is condemned. The fast which the 
 Almighty chooses is to abstain from sin — to loose the bands of 
 wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free. 
 The Sabbath also should be rightly observed. 
 
 (Is. LIX.) 
 
 The Lord's hand is not shortened that He cannot save ; but the 
 iniquities of His people have separated them from Him. Their hands 
 are defiled with blood, their lips have spoken Mes; therefore they are 
 far from the happy state of the righteous. But when there is no one 
 else to help, the Lord himself comes to the rescue of His people. 
 
 (Is. LX.) 
 
 A song of the glory of Zion : — 
 
 " Arise, shine ; for thy light is come. 
 And the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." 
 
 Her sons return from afar. The caravans throng the approaches to 
 Jerusalem. Like clouds of doves flying to the dove-cot, the Gentiles 
 come from aU lands, bearing rich offerings to the temple. The walls 
 are rebuilt. Prosperity and peace shall prevail. 
 
 " Thy sun shall no more go down ; 
 Neither shall thy moon withdraw itself : 
 For the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, 
 And the days of thy momning shall be ended." 
 
 (Is. LXI.) 
 
 The Restoration of Zion. The wounds of the broken-hearted are to 
 be bound up, and the captives set free ; the ruins are to be rebuilt, 
 and joy to take the place of sorrow. 
 
 Perhaps spoken in the person of the Servant of Jehovah. 
 
RETURN OF THE JEWS FROM BABYLON, ETC. 245 
 
 (Is. LXII.) 
 
 The rigliteousness of Zion shall shine as a light to the nations. 
 She that was called Forsaken and Desolate shall be known by another 
 name. She shall be called Sought out, A city not forsaken. 
 
 (Is. LXIII. 1-6.) 
 
 The vengeance of Jehovah is described in a dramatic dialogue be- 
 tween the prophet and the Mighty Warrior who is returning vic- 
 torious from Edom, having trampled His enemies under His feet. 
 
 (Is. LXIII. 7— LXIV.) 
 
 An humble supplication to the Almighty, recalling His mercies of 
 old time, and His often-tried patience, and praying that He would 
 now appear on the side of His people. The suppliants freely acknow- 
 ledge that they cannot claim the interference as a right : — 
 
 " We are all as an unclean thing. 
 And aU our righteousnesses are as filthy rags ; 
 And we all do fade as a leaf ; 
 And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." 
 
 Their wretched condition is their only plea : — 
 
 Thy holy cities are a wilderness, 
 Zion is a wilderness, 
 Jerusalem a desolation. 
 
 Our holy and beautiful house, 
 
 Where our fathers praised Thee, 
 
 Is burned up with fire : 
 
 And all our pleasant things are laid waste. 
 
 (Is. LXV.) 
 
 Carelessness and idolatry have called for punishment. But Jeho- 
 vah will have mercy upon a remnant. Still the disobedient must be 
 destroyed. Thej' shall have no share in the coming blessings. The 
 glories of the Messianic time are described. 
 
 (Is. LXVI.) 
 
 The Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth requires no Temple 
 built by the hand of man. His delight is in humble worshippers ; 
 
246 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH. 
 
 not in the formal sacrifices of sinners. He will bring peace and 
 blessing to Jerusalera ; but those that rebel against Him, whether 
 faithless Jews or foreign enemies, shall be consigned to endless 
 torments. 
 
 Arrangement of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah. 
 
 A glance over the preceding Analysis will show that 
 the collection of prophecies may he roughly divided into 
 three parts, the first relating to the chastening dealings of 
 the Almighty with His chosen people, the second contain- 
 ing His judgments on foreign nations, and the concluding 
 part describing the glorious future. 
 
DATE OF JEREMIAH. 247 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 TITLE. 
 
 "the words of JEREMIAH THE SON OF HILKIAH, OF THE PRIESTS THAT 
 "WERE IN ANATHOTH IN THE LAND OF BENJAMIN : TO "WHOM THE "WORD 
 OF THE LORD CAME IN THE DAYS OF JOSIAH THE SON OF AMON KING OF 
 JUDAH, IN THE THIRTEENTH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. IT CAME ALSO IN THE 
 DAYS OF JEHOIAKIM THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF JUDAH, UNTO THE END 
 OF THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF ZEDEKIAH THE SON OF JOSIAH KING OF 
 JUDAH, UNTO THE CARRYING A"WAY OF JERUSALEM CAPTIVE IN THE 
 FIFTH MONTH." 
 
 Bate of Jeremiah. 
 
 A LONG- interval of time separates Isaiah from 
 -^^ Jeremiah. Hezekiah was the last king in whose 
 reign Isaiah prophesied; and from the death of Hezekiah 
 to the thirteenth year of Josiah, in which year the com- 
 mencement of Jeremiah's public ministry is dated, is, 
 according to the chronology of the Books of Kings, ex- 
 actly seventy years. It wiU help to fix Jeremiah's date 
 in the mind when we add that from the same thirteenth 
 year of Josiah to the destruction of the city was exactly 
 forty years more. Jeremiah's public ministry did not come 
 to an end with the destruction of Jerusalem. He re- 
 mained in Judrea as the adviser of the remnant that was 
 left there. By them he was carried into Egypt when 
 they fled from Judsea for fear of the Chaldees. In Egypt 
 he still continued to exercise his prophetic ministry, and 
 some of his prophecies are interesting, as throwing light 
 upon the state of the Jews in that country. 
 
248 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 Personal History of Jeremiah. 
 
 Jeremiah belonged to a priestly family, and was born 
 at Anathoth, a village not far from Jerusalem, in the ter- 
 ritory of the tribe of Benjamin. When he began his 
 ministry he was young. He speaks of himself as a child,^ 
 but it is not likely that we are to understand this expres- 
 sion literally. Jerusalem was the scene of his labours, and 
 some of his addresses were delivered to the people as- 
 sembled in the coiu-t of the temple. When it became 
 evident that the Jews could no longer resist the power of 
 Babylon, Jeremiah was one of those who counselled sub- 
 mission, and, like Isaiah, he steadily protested against 
 trusting to the support of Egypt. By his continued advo- 
 cacy of this policy he provoked the bitter hostility of the 
 Egyptian party, from whom he suffered much persecution. 
 His complaints against his enemies, and his lamentations 
 over the mournful prospects of his country, give a melan- 
 choly hue to the idea of his character which we derive from 
 his prophecies. But some incidents in his career show that 
 he was not deficient in courage and determination. If he 
 had bitter enemies, he also had staunch friends. Fore- 
 most among the latter were the two brothers Baruch and 
 Seraiah. The name of Baruch especially is closely asso- 
 ciated with that of Jeremiah. He assisted the prophet in 
 his labours, frequently acting as his amanuensis, and shar- 
 ing his dangers in Jerusalem. He went down to Egypt 
 with Jeremiah ; and an affecting address of the prophet to 
 his faithful friend, in which he laments the failure of their 
 efforts on behalf of Judcea, and warns Baruch not to 
 expect great things for himself, is placed in the Book of 
 
 1 Jcr. i. 6. 
 
THE PROPHET'S MISSION TO JUDAH. 249 
 
 Prophecies in connexion with the migration into Egypt. ^ 
 Tradition says that the Book of the Prophecies was put 
 together by Baruch, Ahikam the son of Shaphan the 
 high priest, and Ebedmelech, an "Ethiopian" in the ser- 
 vice of the court, are also mentioned among those who 
 took the side of Jeremiah, and rendered him valuable ser- 
 vice on more than one occasion. Jeremiah is believed to 
 have died in Egypt, but we have no certain record on the 
 subject. We may hope that there is no truth in the tradi- 
 tion, which we find in a later age, that he was stoned to 
 death by his countrymen. 
 
 Analysis of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 (Jer. I. 1-3.) 
 
 The Title of the Book. It speaks of the prophecies as extending 
 only to the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah. We have already 
 mentioned that a part of the book belongs to a later date than this. 
 It may be that the title belongs to an earlier and less complete edition, 
 or that what occurred after the destruction of the city is looked on as 
 comparatively insignificant. 
 
 (Jer. I. 4-19.) 
 The call of Jeremiah to the office of prophet. Isaiah vi., and 
 Ezekiel i.-iii. may be compared. 
 
 The Pi'Ojihefs Mission to the People of Jiidah. 
 (Jer. II.— III. 5.) 
 
 A complaint of the unfaithfulness of IsraeL They have forgotten 
 the Lord their God, who brought them up out of Egypt, and have 
 forsaken Him for other gods, changing the fountain of living waters 
 for broken cisterns. Judah shall be ashamed of her affection for 
 Egypt, as she was formerly ashamed of Assyria. 
 
 1 Jer. xlv. 
 
250 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 " Israel" is here used in the more general sense. In the next 
 section it means the Northern Kingdom only. 
 
 (Jer. III. 6-vi.) 
 
 Judah has not taken warning by the fate of Israel. And yet Israel 
 ■was not so bad as Judah is now. Though Israel has been long in 
 captivity, the Almighty has not lost His love for her, and there is yet 
 hope that she may acknowledge her transgressions, and be restored to 
 favour. But against obdurate Judah a terrible evil is coming. From 
 the north the destroyer is on his way to lay waste her cities, and 
 make her land desolate. StiU she wiU not learn. There is neither 
 justice nor truth in Jerusalem. The people are without understand- 
 ing, and their leaders are wilfully blind. 
 
 This section is dated in the days of Josiah. The enemy from the 
 north may be the Scythians, who about this time invaded Asia and 
 conquered the Medes.^ Others think that the reference is to the Chal- 
 doeans, as the Scythians are not mentioned by the Jewish historians. 
 
 (Jer. VII.— X.) 
 
 An address to the people of Judah delivered at the gate of the 
 Temple. The worshippers are not to trust in the Temple, or in burnt 
 offerings or sacrifices. They are to amend their lives, to cease from 
 oppression and bloodshed, to obey the commands of God, to give up 
 idolatry ; and then it will be well with them. But because they 
 have refused to amend, and boast themselves of the Book of the Lavr, 
 and "have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, 
 saying Peace, peace, when there was no peace " (perhaps an allusion 
 to Josiah's reformation), therefore theii' land is (or wiU be) in the 
 possession of the invader. The prophet bitterly laments the condition 
 of his people. 
 
 There is no date to this powerful address, but it looks like a fuller 
 report of one which, in a later section, is connected with the beginning 
 of the reign of Jehoiakim, and the public delivery of which nearly 
 cost Jeremiah his life.- 
 
 (Jer. XI. -XIII.) 
 
 The unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah to the Divine Covenant, and 
 their frequent idolatries. As it is now with Judah, so it has always 
 
 ^ See a section on " The Scythians in Asia,''^ in Chap. XXIV. 
 - Jer. xxvi. 
 
THE PEOPHET'S MISSION TO JUDAH. 251 
 
 been witli tliem. It is of little avail that the prophet sees the 
 truth. He only provokes hostiKty by declaring it. Even his own 
 townsmen at Anathoth seek his life. But God will yet vindicate His 
 name. The judgment of Judah shown by the two types of the marred 
 girdle, and the bottles filled with wine. The girdle is hidden away 
 upon the banks of the Euphrates, and is worthless. The people are 
 filled with the wine of folly and madness. 
 
 (Jer. xiv.-xvii.) 
 
 Lamentations and forebodings on the occasion of a succession of 
 dry seasons. Jeremiah complains of the false prophets who "pro- 
 phesy lies " in the name of the Lord. He complains of the persecu- 
 tion to which he is exposed : — " Every- one curses " him ; he is a man of 
 strife and contention to the whole earth. The Jews must be utterly 
 cast out of their own land. StiU through aU there is hope. If they 
 wiU but be obedient and keep the Sabbath day, the city may yet 
 stand. 
 
 (Jer. xviii.-xx.) 
 
 The clay in the hand of the potter represents God's power over the 
 house of Israel. The potter's vessel being broken is a sign of the 
 destruction of Jerusalem. The devices of Jeremiah's enemies. He is 
 beaten and put in the stocks by the overseer of the Temple, upon 
 whom he pronounces a fearful doom. He complains bitterly of the 
 treatment which he receives, and curses the day of his birth. 
 
 (Jer. xxi.-xxiy.) 
 
 On the occasion of Nebuchadnezzar's invasion Zedeldah sends to 
 consult Jeremiah. The prophet predicts the captivity of Jerusalem, 
 and advises submission to the Chaldteans. Has not the coming judg- 
 ment on the royal house of David been visible in the mournful fate 
 of the three preceding kings ? Nevertheless a righteous king shall 
 yet reign and prosper on the throne of David. The prophets, too, 
 have failed, and the priests, and they shall be brought to shame. 
 By the type of the good and bad figs the prophet declares that it is 
 better for those Jews who have already gone to Babylon than for 
 those who have remained in Jerusalem or have taken refuge in Egypt ; 
 for the latter shall be utterly scattered into all the kingdoms of the 
 earth. 
 
2.52 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 (Jer. xxy.) 
 
 The seventy years' captivity in Babylon. The punishment of the 
 Chaldeeans, when the seventy years are expired, and the general 
 judgment of the nations. Dated in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
 the first of Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 (Jer. XXVI.) 
 " In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim" Jeremiah narrowly 
 escapes being put to death by the priests and false prophets for 
 announcing the destruction of the Temple. He is saved by his friend 
 Ahikam and other influential persons. The danger was serious, for 
 another prophet, Urijah, lost his life in the same reign for a similar 
 offence. 
 
 (JeE. XXVII., XXVIII.) 
 
 In opposition to the false prophets Jeremiah warns the nations, 
 through their representatives at Jerusalem, of the futility of the 
 attempt to resist Nebuchadnezzar. Their only hope is to submit 
 quietly, and then they may be left in their own countries. The false 
 prophet Hananiah, who contradicts Jeremiah in the Temple, dies the 
 same year in accordance with Jeremiah's word. 
 
 In the dating of this section Jehoiakim is apparently a mistake for 
 
 Zedekiah. 
 
 (Jer. XXIX.) 
 
 Jeremiah writes to the Jews that have Ijisen already carried into 
 captivity to tell them to look on Babylon as their appointed resting- 
 place for the present, and not to listen to the delusive hopes held out 
 by the false prophets. Their brethren in Judah shall bitterly regret 
 that they have not listened to his advice. He predicts the terrible 
 fate of Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, 
 two false prophets, whom the king of Babylon " roasted in the fire." 
 The name of Shemaiah, who advised the imprisonment of Jeremiah, 
 shall perish, because he " taught rebellion against the Lord." 
 
 (Jer. XXX., xxxi.) 
 The return of Israel and Judah, and xhe rebuilding of Jerusalem. 
 The Lord will make a new covenant with His people. 
 
 (Jer. XXXII.) 
 While Jerusalem is besieged by the Chaldocans, Jeremiah, who is 
 in prison, buys his cousiu's field in Anathoth, and deposits the evi- 
 
THE PROPHET'S MISSION TO JUDAH. 253 
 
 dence of his purchase in a secure place, thus showing his faith in his 
 own assertion that "houses and fields and vinej^ards shall be possessed 
 again in this land," which is now in the hands of the Chaldajans. 
 
 A similar incident is related by Livy as having taken place during 
 Hannibal's campaign in Italy, when a Roman citizen bought at its 
 full price the piece of ground upon which Hannibal's camp was 
 pitched. 
 
 (JeR. XXXIII.) 
 
 Jeremiah in prison again asserts the certain fulfilment of the 
 Divine promises to Jerusalem. 
 
 (Jer. XXXIV. 1—7.) 
 "When the huge host of Nebuchadnezzar advances against Jeru- 
 salem, Jeremiah assures Zedekiah that the city will fall, and that the 
 king shall be taken captive himself, but that he shall not be put to 
 
 death. 
 
 (Jer. XXXIV. 8-22.) 
 
 Jeremiah denounces the wealthy Jews who held their brethren in 
 service for debt. Though the law compelled them to let the debtors 
 go free at the end of seven years, they evaded its provisions by again 
 reducing them to bondage. 
 
 (Jer. XXXV.) 
 By the example of the Eechabites, who had kept the vows of their 
 ancestor Jonadab the son of Rechab, Jeremiah reproves the incon- 
 stancy of the Jews. Date — " In the days of Jehoiakim." 
 
 (Jer. XXXVI.) 
 Jeremiah, being unable to go to the Temple himself, gets Baruch to 
 read his prophecies to the people on the fast day. Jehoiakim, hearing 
 of this, sends for the manuscript, and as soon as he sees the nature of 
 its contents, throws it into the fire. He issues an order to have 
 Jeremiah and Baruch arrested. But they cannot be found. Jeremiah 
 directs Baruch to write another roll, and to add more prophecies to it. 
 
 (Jer. xxxvii.-xxxix.) 
 A narrative of events affecting Jeremiah during Zedekiah's reign. 
 The advance of an Egyptian army compels the Chaldteans to raise 
 the siege of Jerusalem. Jeremiah warns the king that the relief is 
 only temporary, and that the Chalda;ans will return again. Jeremiah 
 lea%'ing the city when the besiegers had retired, is seized by a Jewish 
 
254 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET JEEEMIAH. 
 
 officer as a deserter to the ChaldaDans, and is beaten and thrown into 
 prison. The king secretly consults him, and mitigates the severity 
 of his imprisonment. But through the influence of his enemies he is 
 thrown into a dismal dungeon, where his life is in danger. He is 
 saved by Ebedmelech, the Ethiopian, who gets the king's permission 
 to take him out of the dungeon. The king again secretly consults 
 the prophet, only to be told, as before, that the only chance is to 
 submit to the Chaldasans. When the city is at length taken, 
 Jeremiah is treated with respect by the Chaldaians. He is allowed 
 to stay with the remnant of the people in Judaea. Gedaliah, the son 
 of his old friend Ahikam, is appointed governor over them, and 
 Jeremiah is committed to his care. 
 
 (JeR. XL.— xliii.) 
 
 After the departure of the Chaldseans the people who had escaped 
 begin to settle down again in the country, and things begin to look a 
 little brighter. But Gedaliah is foully raui'dered by Ishmael, the son 
 of Nethaniah. In alarm the people resolve to flee into Egypt for fear 
 of the Chaldajans. Jeremiah attempts to dissuade them, but in vain. 
 They carry Jeremiah and Baruch down to Egypt with them. Jere- 
 miah in Egypt thi-eatens the Egyptians with an invasion of the 
 Chaldaiaus. 
 
 (Jer. xliv.) 
 
 A denunciation of the Jews in Egypt for their idolatries. They 
 refuse to reform. Jeremiah repeats his denunciation, and threatens 
 the Egyptian king with the fate of Zedekiah. 
 
 The date of this section must be considerably later than the time 
 referred to in the preceding one. 
 
 (Jer. xlv.) 
 
 Jeremiah's mournful warning to Baruch that he is not to seek 
 ** great things " for himself. In the general calamity it will be 
 enough for him that the Almighty gives him his own life ' ' for a 
 prey " in all places whither he goes. 
 
 This chapter may have originally stood as an appendix to the 
 collection of prophecies mentioned in chapter xxxvi. Its insertion in 
 its present place is probably intended to bring it into connexion with 
 Baruch' b removal to Egypt. 
 
WARNINGS TO THE GENTILES. 255 
 
 Warnings to the Gentiles. 
 
 (JeR. XL VI. ] .) 
 
 Under the general heading "against the Gentiles" a number of 
 prophecies against foreign nations are here brought together, though 
 they belong to various dates. 
 
 (Jek. xlvi. 2-12.) 
 
 " Against Egypt." The defeat by the Chaldteans of an Egyptian 
 army at Carchemish on the Euphrates " in the fourth year of 
 Jehoiakim." Carchemish was probably taken by Pharaoh Necho 
 soon after the battle of Megiddo, and held by the Egyptians until 
 their defeat. After this the Egyptian cause declined, and they were 
 forced back to their own country. ^ 
 
 (Jer. xlvi. 13-28.) 
 
 " How Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, should come and smite 
 the land of Egypt." 
 
 No date. There is another somewhat similar prophecy in ch, xliii., 
 where it is placed in a different chi'onological connexion. 
 
 (Jer. xlvii.) 
 
 " The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against 
 the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza." This title, which 
 appears to refer the prophecy to an Egyptian attack on Gaza is hard 
 to reconcile with the prophecy itself, which speaks of the enemy as 
 coming "out of the north." It is possible, but not likely, that the 
 defeated Egyptian army returning from Carchemish may have taken 
 Gaza on its way. But even so, the Egyptians would hardly be de- 
 scribed as a flood " rising up out of the north." 
 
 ■ (Jer. xlviii.) 
 
 " Against Moab." The Moabites had often been threatened 
 already. 2 The present prophecy, which shows an acquaintance with 
 the language of that in Isaiah, describes the spoiling and destruction 
 of the country, but ends with the promise that the Lord will " bring 
 again the captivity of Moab in the latter days." 
 
 ^ See p. 79. - Amos ii. 1-3 : Is. xv. ; xvi. ; xxv. 10-12. 
 
256 THE BOOK OF TPIE PEOPIIET JEREMIAH. 
 
 (Jer. xhx. 1-6.) 
 " Concerning the Ammonites," who liad occupied the territory of 
 the tribe of Gad, when the latter were carried away by the Assyrians, 
 as if Israel had " no heirs. "^ But an alarm of war shall be heard by 
 Rabbah of the Ammonites, and it shall be a desolate heap, and her 
 daughters shall be burned with fire. " Then shall Israel be heir unto 
 them that were his heirs, saith the Lord." Like the Moabites, the 
 Ammonites also shall be restored " afterwards." 
 
 (Jer. xlix. 7-22.) 
 
 "Concerning Edom." The far-famed wisdom of Teman (an Edomite 
 town or district) will not save her ; nor her home in the clefts of the 
 rocks. " Edom shall be a desolation." 
 
 The resemblances between this prophecy and that of Obadiah2 are 
 considered in the section on the date and composition of Obadiah. 
 
 (Jer. xlix. 23-27.) 
 *' Concerning Damascus," which shall share in the general judg- 
 ment of the nations. She shall be wasted with fire and sword. 
 
 (Jer. xlix. 28-33.) 
 
 "Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, which 
 Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon smote." Hazor, which is here 
 placed with Kedar, can hardly be the city of Hazor in the north of 
 Palestine, though the name may have been the reason why this piece 
 was put next to that about Damascus. We are probably to under- 
 stand by it some tribe or district of nomad Arabs. The tranquil 
 nation " that dwelleth without care," " which have neither gates nor 
 bars, which dwell alone," shaU see their camels made a booty, and 
 their multitudes of sheep a spoil, and they shall be scattered ' ' into 
 all winds," and Hazor shall be a dwelling for wild creatures, and " a 
 desolation for ever." 
 
 (Jer. xlix. 34-39.) 
 
 ' ' The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet against 
 Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah." The bow of Elam 
 shall be broken, and they shall be scattered to the four winds of 
 heaven. But in the latter days the Lord will bring again the cap- 
 
 1 Sec 2 Kings .\v. 29 ; and compare Amos i. 13-15. - Obad. 1-9. 
 
CRITICISM. 257 
 
 tivity of Elam. The offence of Elam, an Eastern people, may have 
 been that they took some special part in the Chaldeean invasions. ^ 
 
 (JeB. L., LI.) 
 
 " Against Babylon." " For out of the north there cometh up a 
 nation against her, which shall make her land desolate." In chap, li., 
 apparently a second prophecy, the enemy is more expressly defined: — 
 " The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes" 
 against her. An appendix attributes these two prophecies to Jere- 
 miah in the reign of Zedekiah. He is said to have sent them to 
 Babylon with directions to the bearer to bind a stone to the volume, 
 and cast it into the Euphrates. Thus should " Babylon sink " and 
 not rise again. 
 
 At the end of chapter li. occur the words " Thus far are the words 
 of Jeremiah." 
 
 Concluding Chapter. 
 
 (Jer. lii.) 
 An account of the Chaldtean invasion in the reign of Zedekiah, and 
 the capture of the city, also of the favourable treatment of Jehoiachin 
 in captivity by Evil-Merodach, king of Babylon. Jeremiah's name 
 is not mentioned in this section, which is almost identical with the 
 conclusion of the Second Book of Kings. 
 
 Tlte Book of the Fvopliet Jeremiah and Criticism, 
 
 When and how was the present collection of prophecies 
 put together ? and how far do its contents represent the 
 actual utterances of Jeremiah ? These are the most im- 
 portant questions with which the critics of this book have 
 busied themselves. 
 
 The account which is given of Baruch writing from the 
 lips of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, all the 
 public utterances of the prophet up to that date, leads to 
 two valuable conclusions : first, that writing was employed 
 
 ' See Is. xsii. 6, <S:c. 
 S 
 
258 THE BOOK OF THE TROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 to preserve the prophecies of Jeremiah from his own dic- 
 tation, and, secondly, that at least one collection of his 
 prophecies was made in the prophet's lifetime.^ When we 
 further read that, on these prophecies being written out 
 a second time by Baruch, there were added to them 
 " many like words," we are naturally led to the second 
 inference, that the published editions of the prophecies 
 may have been enlarged or re- arranged, or otherwise 
 altered from time to time.^ There is therefore nothing 
 unlikely in Ewald's conjecture that Jeremiah employed 
 his leisure time after the destruction of Jerusalem in edit- 
 ing a collection of the prophecies that he had delivered 
 during the last years of the monarchy, and that this col- 
 lection forms the basis of the present work ; or, again, in 
 the other conjecture that after the death of Jeremiah 
 Baruch made a collection of his prophecies and of other 
 historical pieces relating to his ministry. But however 
 reasonable these conjectures may be, they are only conjec- 
 tures. There is something more satisfactory in the gene- 
 ral consent of critics that, whoever put the book together, 
 or whatever was the design of its present arrangement, 
 the great bulk of it represents the prophecies of Jeremiah 
 as they were delivered by him, and contemporary records 
 of his life. But on the other hand it is impossible to deny 
 that the present book may contain later additions or al- 
 terations." The remarkable variations between the Hebrew 
 text and that of the Septuagint, both in matter and 
 arrangement, show either the great uncertainty of the 
 text or the liberties which were taken with the book, even 
 after its admission to the Canon of Holy Scripture. 
 
 1 Jer. xxxvi. 1-26. ~ Jer. xxxvi. 27-32. 
 
 3 Jer. X. 1-16, xxx.-xxxiii., 1., li., are suppo-sed to show signs of later 
 workmanship. With Jer. 1., li., compare Is. xiii., xxxiv., &c. 
 
THE LAMENTATIONS. 259 
 
 The Lamentations. 
 
 In our Bibles the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah is fol- 
 lowed by a short book entitled " The Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah." In the Hebrew Bible these Lamentations 
 occupy a different place, and they are not connected with 
 the name of Jeremiah. But in the Septuagint they are 
 placed as in our version, and described as the Lamentations 
 with which Jeremiah " sat in tears and lamented over 
 Jerusalem " after her capture and desolation.^ Each of 
 the five chapters in this little book is a separate poem. 
 The first four are alphabetical acrostics in the Hebrew. 
 To some it may appear as if this artificial style of compo- 
 sition were not suited to subjects so mournful, and as if 
 the use of it implied a want of reality in the feelings ex- 
 pressed. But the same objection might be made to the 
 use of any art at all in connexion with such themes. It 
 will be appropriate to quote the words in which the writer 
 of another Lamentation speaks of the careful art with 
 which he elaborated his work, until it became one of the 
 most finished poems of the English language : — 
 
 " I sometimes hold it half a sin 
 
 To put in words the grief I feel ; 
 For words, like Nature, half reveal 
 And half conceal the Soul within. 
 
 But, for the unquiet heart and hrain, 
 
 A use in measured language lies ; 
 
 The sad mechanic exercise, 
 Like dull narcotics, numbing pain." 
 
 These elegies dwell upon the sorrowful fate of the fallen 
 city, and recall, as with the accurate memory of an eye- 
 witness, the troubles that preceded its downfall. " They 
 
 ^ Modern criticism questions Jeremiah's authorship. 
 S2 
 
260 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET JEREMIAH. 
 
 combine," wrote the late Dean Milman, "the truth of his- 
 tory with the deepest pathos of poetry " ^ : — 
 
 How doth the city sit solitary, 
 
 That was full of people ! 
 How is she become as a widow ! 
 
 She that was great among the nations, 
 
 And princess among the provinces. 
 How is she become tributary ! 
 
 She weepeth sore in the night, 
 
 And her tears are on her cheeks ; 
 Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her ; 
 All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, 
 
 They are become her enemies.^ 
 
 It is in the latter part of the same chapter that we first 
 meet with words which have become familiar to us from 
 the Christian use of them in another connexion. The city 
 speaks : — 
 
 Is it nothing to you, aU ye that pass by ? 
 
 Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow.^ 
 
 The third of the Lamentations, in which the personal 
 grief of the poet is the most prominent feature, will occa- 
 sionally remind the reader of the Book of Job, and should 
 also be read in connexion with the passages in the later 
 part of " Isaiah " relating to the suffering Servant of 
 Jehovah. 
 
 ^ Jewisli Hint. Book vtii., p. 401. ' Lam. i. 1, 2. ^ Lam. i. 12. 
 
THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 261 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 The Prophet. 
 
 ^T^HE name of the propliet Ezekiel is not mentioned in 
 -^ the Historical Books. From the opening of the 
 prophetical work which bears his name we learn that he 
 dwelt "among the captives by the river of Chebar." 
 There "by the waters of Babylon" he had his home, and 
 prophesied to his fellow-exiles, amongst whom he was 
 held in high estimation both as a priest and prophet. 
 Tradition says that he had come from Judijea amongst the 
 captives who were carried away with King Jehoiachin ; 
 and the first date which is given in the book, the date of 
 his prophetical call, is in the fifth year of Jehoiachin's 
 captivity.^ The latest date mentioned in the book is the 
 twenty-seventh year of the same era.' Ezekiel was thus 
 partly contemporary with, and partly later than Jeremiah. 
 
 The Bool: 
 
 The chosen people, their sins and sorrows, their hopes 
 and fears, are the principal subjects of the prophecies of 
 Ezekiel, as they are of the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. 
 
 ^ Ezek. i. 2. In the first verse the same year is called the thirtieth of 
 another era, supposed by some to be the Babylonian era of I^abopolassar, 
 the father of Nebuchadnezzar, who began to reign b.c. 625. 
 
 - Ezek, xxix. 17. 
 
262 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 There are also some chapters relating to the nations out- 
 side, which were affected by the great changes of the 
 time. The prophecies relating to foreign nations are 
 grouped together hy themselves in the middle of the 
 book, as the corresponding prophecies are in the Book 
 of Isaiah, and are followed, as in " Isaiah," by a third 
 and last division of the book, in which the glorious future 
 of Zion and the blessing of all nations through her instru- 
 mentality are predicted. 
 
 This similarity of arrangement seems to imply that the 
 Books of Isaiah and Ezekiel were put together by literary 
 workmen of the same school, or at least that they were 
 arranged under the influence of the same ideas as to the 
 construction of a prophetical work ; and a few scholars have 
 thought that they could discern in the Book of Ezekiel 
 the productions of more writers than one. But the gene- 
 ral opinion is in favour of unity of authorship. The book 
 certainly does not exhibit the same marks of diversity of 
 authorship as the two that precede it ; the prophetical 
 pieces are more uniform in style than in the Book of Isaiah, 
 and there are no historical sections intermingled with 
 them, as there are in both "Isaiah" and "Jeremiah." It 
 has, moreover, been conjectured that the Book of Ezekiel 
 may have been edited by the prophet himself. It is 
 argued that the circumstances of Ezekiel's life, as com- 
 pared with those of the two preceding prophets, would 
 agree with this supposition. Isaiah and Jeremiah were 
 men deeply engaged in public affairs at most exciting 
 times. In the less eventful life of the captive settlement 
 by the river of Chebar Ezekiel may have had more leisure 
 for literary composition, and may have been more of a 
 writer than a public man. When we know so little of 
 the personal history of Ezekiel, there cannot be much 
 
PROPHECIES ABOUT THE JEWS. 263 
 
 value in our conjectures as to what his occupations may 
 have been ; but there appears no reason why he may not 
 have himself edited this collection of prophetical writings 
 in the later years of his life. 
 
 EzeMeVs Prophecies about the Jews before the Destruction 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 (EZEKIEL I.-XXIV.) 
 
 After the usual preliminary account of his call to the 
 prophetical office, Ezekiel immediately begins to announce 
 the Divine will and purposes concerning his countrymen. 
 But chiefly to Jerusalem and " the mountains of Israel," 
 and to the critical position of affairs there, his thoughts 
 turn from the "plain " of his captivity. "His own home, 
 where he dwelt with his wife, and guided the counsels of 
 the small community of the Chebar, faded from his eyes. 
 Across the rich garden of that fertile region, across the 
 vast Euphrates, across the intervening desert, his spirit 
 still yearned towards Jerusalem, still lived in the Temple 
 courts, where once he had ministered. Though an exile 
 he was still one with his countrymen." ^ The subjects of 
 these chapters are the siege of Jerusalem, the coming judg- 
 ments, outspoken condemnation of the sins and idolatries 
 of Grod's people, fearless reproof of their presumptuous 
 leaders and the false prophets, expostulation, like that of 
 Jeremiah, against the folly of trusting to Egypt. His 
 lamentations over the impending ruin of his country 
 answer to those of Jeremiah at Jerusalem. "Each of 
 the two prophets, without communicating with the other, 
 is the echo of the other's sorrow. Deep answers to deep 
 across the Assyrian desert ; the depths of woe in him who, 
 
 1 Stanley: Jewish Church, vol. ii., p. oO. 
 
264 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 from the walls of Zion, saw the storm approaching, is 
 equalled, if not surpassed, by the depths of woe in him 
 who lived, as it were, in the skirts of the storm itself — the 
 ' whirlwind, the great cloud, the fire, unfolding itself 
 from the north V gathering round the whole horizon be- 
 fore it reached the frontiers of Palestine." - 
 
 The last of the prophecies in this division of the book is 
 dated on the fatal day on which the army of the Chal- 
 doeans laid siege, to Jerusalem, The other dates which are 
 given are also, no doubt, intended to connect the prophe- 
 cies to which they are attached with important turns in 
 the course of events. But unfortunately, from our imper- 
 fect knowledge of the time, these references are now en- 
 tirely lost to us, or can be only matter of conjecture. We 
 might suppose, from the example of Jeremiah sending 
 messages to " them of the Captivity," that the substance 
 of these prophecies of Ezekiel was sent in a similar way 
 to the Jews at Jerusalem. 
 
 EzeldeVs Prophecies concerning Foreign Nations. 
 
 (EZEK. XXV.-XXXII.) 
 
 In these chapters the prophet pronounces the doom of 
 the other neighbouring nations that were subdued by the 
 Babylonians ; of the Ammonites and Moabites, the Edom- 
 ites, the Philistines, of Tyre the mistress of the sea, and of 
 her sister-city Sidon. Even Egypt must succumb to the 
 irresistible power, as had the once powerful Assyria. 
 Egypt shall lie waste and desolate; "no foot of man 
 shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through 
 it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years." ^ 
 
 Three out of the eight chapters are taken up by a series 
 
 1 Ezek. i. 4. ~ Stanley: ib. ^ Ezek. xxix. 11-13. 
 
PEOPHECIES CONCERNING FOEEIGN NATIONS. 265 
 
 of prophecies against Tyre and her neighhour Siclon, and 
 four more by the series relating to Egypt. All of these 
 prophecies are placed ahout the time of the fall of Jerusa- 
 lem, with the exception of one against Egypt, which is 
 dated about fifteen years later. ^ After the capture of 
 Jerusalem Nebuchadnezzar invaded Phoenicia and be- 
 sieged Tyre. The siege continued for thirteen years ; 
 but a passage in a later prophecy against Egypt implies 
 that it was not successful,' and there is no historical 
 record to show that the city was taken. It is certain that 
 Egypt was menaced by the Babylonian power about the 
 same time, but it has been a disputed question how far the 
 threats of Ezekiel against Egypt were fulfilled. Ezekiel's 
 predictions of the final destruction of Tyre by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar,^ and of the utter desolation of Egypt for forty 
 years ought to be a sufficient warning to those who argue 
 for the literal fulfilment of these prophecies. 
 
 The prophet's descriptions of the wealth and power of 
 Tyre, and of her vast trade, are very striking, and, taken 
 with the other pieces relating to the same subject, show 
 that the Jews were much impressed by the commercial 
 importance of the great seaport. In the prophecies 
 against Egypt there is a fine passage, in which the down- 
 fall of Assyria is described as a warning to Pharaoh and 
 his people. The Assyrian monarchy is compared to a 
 mighty cedar fallen upon Lebanon. Once it was exalted 
 above all the trees of the field ; the birds of heaven 
 lodged in its branches ; beneath them the beasts of the 
 earth brought forth their young, and the nations of the 
 world were protected by its far-reaching shadow. But 
 now its branches lie crushed and broken on the hill and in 
 the valley, and hj the rivers of the land. The fowls of 
 
 1 Ezek. xxix. 17-21. - Ezek. xxix. 18. ■- Ezek. xxvi. 7-14, &c. 
 
266 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET EZEKIEL. 
 
 heaven roost upon them, and the wild beasts hide beneath 
 them as before, but their shade protects the nations no 
 longer; "all the people of the earth are gone down from 
 his shadow, and have left him." ' 
 
 Prophecies concerning the Jeics after the Destruction 
 of the City. 
 
 (EZEK. XXXIIl-XLVIII.) 
 
 When tidings of the destruction of Jerusalem reach the 
 captives in the East, Ezekiel does not lose heart, but im- 
 mediately re-commences his exhortations and instructions. 
 His duty as the Lord's watchman is not abrogated be- 
 cause the circumstances of the people are changed. The 
 Almighty Shepherd is still watching over His flock, 
 even through " the cloudy and dark day." The enemies 
 shall be judged, and Israel shall be gathered again from 
 among the heathen. In the vision of the resurrection of 
 the dry bones in the valley he sees the sure token of their 
 restoration. By the symbol of the two sticks, which be- 
 come one in his hand, he predicts the healing of the great 
 schism in David's kingdom. There shall be " one nation 
 in the land upon the mountains of Israel." They shall 
 not " defile themselves any more with their idols," and 
 " David " " shall be king over them." 
 
 The Book concludes with a vision dated thirteen years 
 later, in which the prophet sees the Temple and its services 
 restored on a magnificent scale." The measurements and 
 particulars of the visioned Temple are drawn with the 
 minutest care. The priests and their duties are described. 
 A prince shall rule in righteousness. From the Temple 
 shall flow a stream to water the land re-occupied by the 
 
 ^ Ezek. xxxi. - Ezek. xl.-xlviii. 
 
STYLE AXD DOCTEINE OF EZEKIEL. 267 
 
 twelve tribes. Wherever that stream comes there shall 
 be life. " And by the river, upon the bank thereof, on 
 this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, 
 whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be 
 consumed ; it shall bring forth new fruit according to his 
 months, because their waters they issued out of the sanc- 
 tuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf 
 thereof for medicine." 
 
 ' Style and Doctrine of Ezehel. 
 
 The most striking characteristic of Ezekiel's style is 
 the frequent use which he makes of symbolism. Visions, 
 types, parables, symbolical actions, are to be met with in 
 almost every chapter. The first chapter affords a good 
 example of his symbolic imagery, the well-known vision 
 of the four living creatures, which accompanies " the ap- 
 pearance of the likeness of the glory of Grod." The idea 
 of these creatures was perhaps derived by Ezekiel from 
 the composite figures of animals, which recent exploration 
 has shown to have been so common amongst the monu- 
 ments of the East. 
 
 Ezekiel lays special emphasis on the doctrine of per- 
 sonal responsibility. " The soul that sinneth it shall die," 
 it and not another, is a text which he enforces with the 
 greatest clearness : — " The son shall not hear the iniquity of 
 the father, neither shall the father hear the iniquity of the 
 son : the righteousness of the righteous shall he upon him, 
 and the toickedness of the ivicked shall he upon Jiini." ^ Nor 
 does he shrink from applying this doctrine to himself, in 
 respect to his prophetical office. The prophet is the Lord's 
 watchman, and if the w^atchraan fail to sound the trumpet 
 
 ' Ezek. xviii. 20. 
 
268 THE BOOK OF THE PEOPHET EZEKTEL. 
 
 at the approach of danger, the blood of those who are 
 taken by surprise is on his head: — ">So tJiou, son of man, 
 I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore 
 thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them, from 
 me. When I say unto the wicked, wicked man, thou shalt 
 surely die; if thou dost not speah to loarn the wicked from his 
 w'ay, that tvicked man shall die in his iniquity ; hut his blood 
 xvill I require at thine hand. N'evertheless, if thou warn the 
 wicked of his way to turn from it ; if he do not turn from his 
 way, he shall die in his iniquity ; hut thou hast delivered thy 
 soui:' ' 
 
 1 Ezek. xxxiii. 7-9. 
 
THE NAUEATIVE OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 269 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 The Narrative. 
 
 ^ I ^HIS remarkable book contains a narrative and a 
 -*- number of "visions" or "dreams." It stands 
 almost quite alone in the Old Testament, having nothing- 
 else exactly like it ; though the narrative finds a parallel 
 in the Book of Jonah, and the visions in Ezekiel approxi- 
 mate to those in the Book of Daniel. Most of the visions 
 have but little connexion with the narrative, and occur in 
 the form of an appendix at the end of the book. Only 
 two of them, Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the great image, 
 and the vision in which his own madness is foretold to 
 him, are introduced into the narrative in the earlier part 
 of the book. 
 
 The narrative portion tells of four Jewish captives 
 brought from Judsea by King Nebuchadnezzar. In the 
 land of their captivity they are exposed to many extra- 
 ordinary trials, which they meet with undaunted con- 
 stancy ; but by the miraculous assistance of the Almighty 
 they are delivered from them all, and Daniel, the chief of 
 the four, rises to the highest place in the state, and retains 
 his position under three successive dynasties. On their 
 first arrival the captives refuse to defile themselves with 
 the king's meat, and ask to be allowed to live on pulse and 
 water. On this spare diet they grow " fairer and fatter 
 
270 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 than all the children which did eat the portion of the 
 king's meat." Moreover, " in all matters of wisdom and 
 understanding" the four Jewish captives are "ten times 
 better than all the magicians and astrologers " that were 
 in all the king's realm ; and for recalling and interpreting 
 a forgotten dream of the king, Daniel is made " ruler over 
 the whole province of Babylon," and chief master of the 
 wise men. 
 
 After this, the three companions of Daniel are cast into 
 a burning fierj furnace for refusing to worship a golden 
 image which the king had set up. But they are miracu- 
 lously delivered. They walk unhurt through the midst of 
 the 'furious flames, accompanied by a mysterious figm^e 
 whose "form is like the Son of God," neither is "the 
 smell of fire passed on them." Again and again Daniel 
 interprets the signs of the future to the kings of Babylon. 
 He has the courage to announce to Nebuchadnezzar the 
 fit of madness by which he is to be humbled ; and in the 
 midst of the splendour of Belshazzar's feast he declares to 
 the vain king and his thousand lords that he is weighed in 
 the balances and found wanting, that his days are num- 
 bered and his kingdom finished, and that his empii'e is 
 soon to be taken by the Medes and Persians. 
 
 In the reign of Darius the Mede Daniel is cast into the 
 den of lions for his faithfulness to the worship of his Grod, 
 but the Lord sends His angel and shuts the mouths of the 
 lions, and Daniel is delivered from this danger as his 
 three companions were from the fire. He is taken from 
 the den of lions and restored to his high position, which 
 he retains to the end of a long life. Thenceforward 
 " Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the 
 reign of Cyrus the Persian." 
 
THE VISIONS OF THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 271 
 
 The Book of Daniel and History, 
 
 In the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel the names of Noah, 
 Daniel, and Job are mentioned as familiar instances of 
 distinguished servants of God. As it is hardly possible 
 that the reference can be to the present Book of Daniel, it 
 seems most probable that the name of Daniel was well 
 known, and that the writer of the present book made use 
 of it, and perhaps of traditions attached to it, just as the 
 writer of the Book of Job may have made use of the name 
 of a real person, or as the Book of Ecclesiastes was written 
 in the person of Solomon. The Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus 
 of the Book of Daniel are clearly intended for the well- 
 known kings of those names. But no investigation of 
 written history or monumental records has as yet enabled 
 us to conjecture, with any degree of confidence, what 
 kings the writer meant to describe under the names of 
 Belshazzar or Darius the Mede.^ 
 
 The Visions of the Booh of Daniel. 
 
 The main drift of the meaning of all the visions in the 
 Book of Daniel is the same, namely, that when everything 
 that sets itself up against the Almighty shall be put down, 
 and when all the kingdoms of earth have run their com'se, 
 then the Most High shall set up His Kingdom, and shall 
 reign for ever and ever. It will thus be seen that, though 
 the form of this book is so different from that of the other 
 prophetical writings, its teaching is essentially the same 
 as theirs. It is one more repetition, in a new form, of the 
 old truths, " I know that all things come to an end, but 
 
 ' See a pamphlet, JS'otcs on the Bcfenco of the Book of Daniel. (Dublin: 
 Maft-ee. ) 
 
272 THE BOOK OF DANIEL. 
 
 Thy commandment is exceeding broad," and " Thou 
 that hearest the prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come." 
 
 The Four Kingdoms of the Booh of Daniel . 
 
 The four kingdoms which are described in these visions 
 as preceding the Kingdom of the Almighty have been the 
 subject of much difference of opinion. If we are to allow 
 ourselves to be guided by the early part of the book, in 
 which the kingdom of Darius the Mede appears to be dis- 
 tinguished from that of Cyrus the Persian, we shall have 
 no hesitation in supposing that the four kingdoms meant 
 are those of the Chaldseans, the Medes, the Persians, and 
 the Greeks. This would be the simplest account of the 
 matter, and a strong point in its favour is that all the 
 kingdoms referred to would be actually mentioned by 
 name in the book itself. The only objection to it is that 
 no hint can be found, outside of this book, of the Medes 
 having held any rule at Babylon between the dominion of 
 the Chaldieans and that of the Persians. That the last 
 kingdom mentioned, the earthly horizon of the Book of 
 Daniel, is the kingdom of the Greeks, is shown by the 
 mention of Grecia by name as the power by which the 
 empire of Persia is destroyed, and by the exact correspon- 
 dence of the description of the events immediately preced- 
 ing the expected kingdom of God's people with those that 
 actually took place under the successors of Alexander, 
 especially the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epi- 
 phanes, which led to the famous war of indej^endence under 
 the heroic leadership of the Maccabees.' This last fact has 
 given rise to the opinion that " the Book of Daniel " was 
 composed, or re-edited, in the time of the persecution by 
 
 1 Dan. viii. 21-27 ; x. 20 ; xi. 
 
DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. 273 
 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, with a view to stimulate the faith 
 and courage of the Jews in their terrible struggle against 
 his power. 
 
 The Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Bead. 
 
 In the last chapter of the Book of Daniel we come to the 
 most direct and unquestionable statement of the doctrine 
 of a future life that is to be found in the Old Testament.^ 
 After the great tribulation, when the final deliverance 
 shall have come, then "many of them that sleep in the 
 dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, 
 and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they 
 that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firma- 
 ment ; and they that turn the many to righteousness as 
 the stars for ever and ever." 
 
 1 Conip. 2 Mace. vii. 9, 14, 22, 23, &c. 
 
274 THE MINOR mOPHETS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 The Twelve Minor Trophets. 
 
 nnHE title of these writings, whicli were regarded by 
 -■- tlie Jews as forming one book, is intended to dis- 
 tinguish them from the Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and 
 Ezekiel, who were called the three major prophets. The 
 Book of Daniel was not counted in either collection ; its 
 place was in another part of the Hebrew Bible.^ As their 
 name indicates, these compositions are all comparatively 
 short, the two longest, those, namely, which bear the 
 names of Hosea and Zechariah, consisting of only four- 
 teen chapters each ; and the whole collection together does 
 not occupy as many pages in the English Bible as the 
 least of the greater prophetical books. In a few instances, 
 but only in a few, they present the appearance of being 
 composed of materials derived from diiferent sources, like 
 the Book of the Prophet Isaiah.^ 
 
 Ilo^ea. 
 
 " THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME UNTO HOSEA THE SON OF BEERI, IN 
 THE DAYS OF UZZIAH, JOTHAM, AHAZ, AND HEZEKIAH KINGS OF JUDAH, 
 AND IN THE DAYS OF JEROBOAM THE SOX OF JOASH, KING OF ISRAEL." 
 
 If we do not suppose the opening chapters of this book to 
 refer to actual experiences in the prophet's life — a suppo- 
 
 1 The order of the Eooks in the English Version is that of the Septua- 
 giut. 
 - See the observations on Micah, Ilabakkuk, and Zechariah. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOE: OF IIOSEA. 275 
 
 sition about which something will be said in a subsequent 
 note, the title of the book is the only source of information 
 which we possess about the personal history of Hosea.^ 
 And even the correctness of the title has been disputed, 
 the length of time during which it makes the prophet's 
 ministry to have continued having been made an objec- 
 tion to it. There is, however, nothing absolutely impossi- 
 ble in the supposition that Hosea prophesied under all the 
 kings here mentioned. In the book itself there is no king 
 of Israel or Judah mentioned by name; but there is a 
 reference in the first chapter to " the House of Jehu," to 
 which Jeroboam II. belonged. The promise that Judah 
 should be saved, but not " by bow, nor by sword, nor by 
 battle, by horses, nor by horsemen,"- looks like an allu- 
 sion to the military successes of Jeroboam, after whose 
 death the empire established by such means miserably 
 collapsed. In the later chapters there are frequent allu- 
 sions to Assyria and Egypt, and to the tendency of the 
 people of Israel to rely on the support of these nations, 
 which would agree very well with the state of things in 
 the northern kingdom after the death of Jeroboam. 
 
 Analysis of the Booh of Hosea. 
 
 The book begins abruptly ■with a description of the unhappy mar- 
 riage of the prophet, and the unfaithfulness of his wife Gomer, the 
 daughter of Diblaim, She and her three children are made to typify 
 the unfaithfulness of Israel and her sons to theii- covenant with the 
 Almighty. As the prophet pleads with the erring woman, appealing 
 to her thi'ough her children, and waiting lovingly till the vanity and 
 disappointment of her sinfid life di'ive her back to her home, so her 
 Maker, who is her "husband,"^ pleads with Israel and waits for her, 
 
 ^ The name of the prophet is the same as that of the last king- of Israel, 
 which, in the Book of Kings, is more accurately translated Hoshea. 
 - IIos. i. 7. 3 Is. Uv. 5. 
 
 T2 
 
276 THE MIXOll PROPHETS. 
 
 until she grows weary of idolatry and sin, and returns to lier God, 
 that He may betroth her uuto Him anew for ever " in righteousness 
 and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies." 
 
 After these typical representations in the first three chapters of the 
 condition and prospects of the people whom the Almighty has called 
 to be His own, there follows a series of appeals addressed directly to 
 the people, which deal with the same subject, and which occupy the 
 eleven remaining chapters of the book. In these addresses the pro- 
 phet denounces the sins of his time with directness and energy : — 
 " There is no truth, nor mercy, n^ r knowledge of God, in the land," 
 but "swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing 
 adultery " ; and one deed of bloodshed follows close upon another. 
 High and low are alike bad ; " they make the king glad with their 
 wickedness and the princes with their lies." Even " the company of 
 X)riests miirder in the way" like a gang of highway robbers. Bethel, 
 the centre of their worship, that was once the " House of God," is 
 now Bethaven, the house of vanity and sin. But still, in spite of all, 
 the true prophet does not give way to despair, and through this 
 rugged composition there runs a series of passages of remarkable 
 sweetness and pathos, and of iindying hopefulness. The funda- 
 mental thought, the love of the husband for the wife, of Jehovah for 
 His people, is never lost sight of. It appears again and again, inter- 
 rupted though it be by accusation, by reproof, by threatening. It is 
 the sole ground of hope. It was this love that called Israel out of 
 Egypt in the beginning ; it has often been sorely tried ; " it punishes 
 now in deep grief ; but it can never deny its nature and fail ; it will 
 ever save, and one day must heal all evils." ^ The last chapter of 
 Hosea is not to be surpassed for earnestness and tenderness of feeling 
 by any passage in the prophetical books : — 
 
 " Israel, return unto the Lord thy God ; 
 For thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. 
 
 Take with you words, and turn to the Lord : 
 
 Say unto him, ^Take away all iniquity, and 7-ecelve us graciously : 
 
 So tvill we render the calves of our Hps.^ 
 
 1 Ewald : Prophets of the Old Testament. Eng. trans., vol. i., p. 221. 
 - i.e. the sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving. Comp. Pss. li. 15-10 ; 
 Ixix. 30, 31. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF HOSEA. 277 
 
 Asshur shall not save us ; we will not ride upon horses : ^ 
 
 Neither will toe say any more to the loork oj- our hands, Ye are our gods : 
 
 For in Thee the fatherless Jindeth mercy. ^ 
 
 I -vrill heal their backsliding, 
 
 I will love them freely : 
 
 For mine anger is turned away from him. 
 
 Who is wise, and he shall imderstand these things ? — prudent, and he 
 
 shall know them ? 
 For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them : 
 But the transgressors shall fall therein." 
 
 The style of Hosea is rugged and abrux^t; and, for the length of the 
 book, it probably contains more obsciu'e and uncertain passages than 
 any other book of the Old Testament. 
 
 It is a disputed question whether the description in the earlier 
 chapters of the prophet's relations with his wife represents a reality, 
 or was merely an imaginary picture drawn by the prophet to illus- 
 ti'ate the relation between Israel and her Grod. Ewald maintains 
 the former view. He argues from the particularity vsrith which the 
 •woman's name is given, and says that as she was probably dead when 
 the prophet wrote the book long after, " he need not scruple to men- 
 tion her name." Bishop Wordsworth is also on the same side. He 
 urges that the prophet was not directed to marry a wife who had 
 ali'eady misconducted herself, but one who afterwards turned out to 
 be unfaithful. He quotes Dr.Waterland : — "I xmderstand here a wife 
 which, after marriage, however chaste before, should prove false to 
 her marriage vow ; and so the case of Hosea and Gromer might be the 
 after-parallel to represent the case of God and His people Israel," 
 which "had become unfaithful after it had been espoused to Him." 
 On the other hand, it may be due to the abruptness of the style of this 
 book that these narrations which appear to be spoken of actual facts, 
 are really meant as descriptions of visions, or as parables. Elsewhere 
 in the prophets there are narratives which appear to describe facts, 
 but which cannot be accepted as literally true. 
 
 ^ i.e. we will not trust in Assyria nor in Egypt. Comp. Is. xxxi. 1 : 
 Ps. XX. 7. 
 
278 THE MTXOR PROPHETS. 
 
 Joel. 
 
 " THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO JOEL THE SON OP PETHUEL." 
 
 About the person of Joel we are even more in the dark 
 than we are about Hosea. No Joel the son of Pethuel is 
 mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. His prophecy 
 concerns Judah, and he is believed by many to have been 
 the earliest of the Jewish canonical prophets. The most 
 tangible argument in favour of this belief is drawn from 
 the fact that he does not mention the Assyrians amongst 
 the enemies of Judah, though he speaks of other hostile 
 nations by name. This looks as if he wrote before the 
 rise of the Assyrian power. According to another view, 
 however, which finds favour with some modern scholars, 
 the contents of the Book of Joel would better agree with 
 the supposition that it was written after the Captivity. 
 
 Analysis of the Booh of Joel. 
 
 The occasion of the prophecy which is contained in this book is the 
 visitation of Judah by a plague of locusts, accompanied by severe 
 droughts. A powerful description of this terrible infliction is given 
 by the prophet. He speaks of it as if it had brought the kingdom to 
 the verge of ruin. When these plagues had now lasted for more than 
 one year, and the further continuance of them seemed to threaten the 
 actual extinction of the people, the prophet appeals to his countrymen 
 to turn to the Lord with penitence and prayer, if haply the impending 
 doom may be averted. It would a^ipear as if a day of public humilia- 
 tion was held in answer to this appeal, and that a favourable change 
 took place ; for we are told that ' ' then the Lord was jealous for His 
 land, and pitied His people "; i that He answered them, and promised 
 to send them the corn and the wine and the oil, and that He would 
 remove far off from them the invading plague, that He would drive 
 their resistless enemy into the desert, and there destroy him. In 
 
 ' Joel ii. IS (translation amended). 
 
JOEL : THE VALLEY OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 279 
 
 gratitude for tliis gracious deliverance the prophet breaks out into a 
 joyful psalm of thanksgiving: — 
 
 " Fear not, land; be glad and rejoice : 
 
 For the Lord doeth great things. 
 
 Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field : 
 
 For the pastures of the wilderness do spring. 
 For the tree beareth her fniit, 
 The fig-tree and the vine do yield their strength." 
 
 The children of Zion are to "be glad and rejoice in the Lord " their 
 God, for it is He that has wi'ought this favourable change ; and He 
 will continue it until their floors are full of wheat, and the vats over- 
 flow with wine and oil, and all the losses of the evil years are re- 
 stored. Moreover, these temporal blessings are but types and earnests 
 of the spiritual gifts that He has in store for His people ; and so the 
 prophet goes on to promise a great spiritual awakening, a day when 
 the Lord will pour out His spirit upon all flesh, and all the Lord's 
 people shall be prophets. Still, along with this thought of a day of 
 blessing, and inseparable from it, is another thought of a coming 
 judgment, a judgment for *' all nations" which shall be gathered in 
 "the Valley of Jehoshaphat " to hear the Divine sentence. The 
 prophecy concludes with the description of that great day of judg- 
 ment and the justification of the righteous. 
 
 The Valley of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 It is not known whether the Valley of Jehoshaphat was a real or 
 imaginary place. It is mentioned nowhere else in Scripture, and as 
 the word Jehoshaphat means " God judges," or "Judgment of God," 
 it may have been merely used as an appropriate title of the imaginary 
 scene of the coming judgment. The Valley of Jehoshaphat which 
 may be seen in maps of the Holy Land lying to the east of Jerusalem, 
 probably received its title in Christian, or later Jewish, times from 
 this very passage. Ewald supposes that there may have been some 
 real valley, though not that near Jerusalem, in which a heathen host 
 had already been discomfited by King Jehoshaphat ; and that the 
 prophet pictures the future destruction of the hostile powers in the 
 same place. 
 
280 THE MINOR PEOPHETS. 
 
 Amos. 
 
 " THE WORDS OF AMOS, WHO WAS AMONG THE HEKDMEN OF TEKOA, WHICH 
 HE SAW CONCERNING ISRAEL IN THE DAYS OF UZZIAH KING OF JTIDAH, 
 AND IN THE DAYS OF JEROBOAM THE SON OF JOASH KING OF ISRAEL, TWO 
 YEARS BEFORE THE EARTHQUAKE." 
 
 We learn from tlie title of the book which hears his 
 name that Amos delivered his prophecy in the time when 
 Uzziah reigned in Judah simultaneously with Jeroboam II. 
 in Israel, that is to say, at some time during the first half 
 of Uzziah's long reign. He spoke therefore before Isaiah, 
 and probably about the time of the commencement of 
 Hosea's ministry, and at a time when both kingdoms were 
 in a high state of prosperity, and when, as we learn from his 
 prophecy, prosperity had produced, in the kingdom of the 
 Ten Tribes at least, many of those evils which commonly 
 spring from it. The further statement, that Amos de- 
 livered his prophecy " two years before the earthquake," 
 does not enable us to fix his date more closely, for we do 
 not know in what year this earthquake occurred, though 
 the terror whicli it occasioned is mentioned in another 
 prophetical book.' We also learn from the contents of the 
 book that Amos was a herdsman of Tekoa, a pastoral vil- 
 lage in Judah, and that, though he had not received the 
 usual prophet's training, he went with the Divine commis- 
 sion to warn the people of the northern kingdom of the 
 judgment which they were provoking. Amaziah, the 
 priest of Bethel, misrepresenting his words to Jeroboam, 
 compelled the messenger of Grod to return to Judah. It 
 was in answer to Amaziah's taunt that he prophesied to 
 earn his bread, that Amos explained that he was not a 
 proj)het by profession, but a herdsman, whom the Lord 
 
 ^ Zecli. xiv. 5. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF AMOS. 281 
 
 had sent upon this mission. It is remarked that the un- 
 usually large number of allusions to out-of-door country 
 life in this book falls in well with the account which Amos 
 gives of himself/ 
 
 Analysis of the Book of Amos. 
 
 (Amos i., ii.) 
 The prophet begins by announcing the coming of jiidgraent in 
 words which also occur in the prophecy of Joel, and ai'e perhaps here 
 quoted from him, and which give point to the mention of the earth- 
 quake in the title: — 
 
 " The Lord will roar from Zion, 
 And utter His Toice from Jerusalem." 
 
 The judgment will come upon the siu-rounding nations, upon Damas- 
 cus, upon Gaza and the cities of the Philistines, upon Tyre, upon 
 Edom, upon Ammon and Moab, upon Judah, and above all upon 
 Israel, for Israel, so highly favoured, is now become the home of 
 oppression, licentiousness, and idolatry. 
 
 (Amos hi.) 
 Though he belongs to Judah, the mission of Amos is to the '* whole 
 family" of Israel. He appeals to common sense in support of his 
 threatenings. He calls on the nobles of Philistine and Egypt to 
 testify to the crime and oppression in the palaces of Samaria. There- 
 fore the winter house and the summer house shall be smitten, and 
 th.e palaces of ivory shall perish. 
 
 (Amos iv.) 
 
 The proud and luxurious women, "the kine of Bashan," " which 
 oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, 
 Bring, and let us drink," shall go into captivity from their ruined 
 mansions. In bitter irony the prophet invites them- to continue their 
 idolatrous services at Bethel, and at Gilgal. Past trials have had no 
 eflEect upon them. The famine and the drought, the failure of the crops, 
 
 1 See oh. i. 3 ; ii. 13 ; iii. 4, 5 ; iv. 2, 7, 9 : v. 8, 19 ; \i. 12 ; vii. 1 ; 
 ix. 3, 9, 13, 14. 
 
282 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 the locusts, all have been in vain. In vain have their •warriors fallen, 
 till the stench of the putrid corpses of their young men has filled the 
 land. Israel must prepare to meet her God in a more terrible visita- 
 tion. 
 
 (Amos v.) 
 
 A lamentation for the house of Israel. "The virgin of Israel is 
 fallen, she shall no more rise." She will not turn from the vanities 
 of idolatry to the Almighty Maker of all things. Sacrifices and reli- 
 gious observances are not what He requires. "Let judgment run 
 down as water, and righteousness as a mighty stream." But they 
 shall go into captivity, and carry the idols that they have chosen 
 with them.^ 
 
 (Amos vi.) 
 
 Woe to the careless rulers at Zion, and in the mountains of Samaria ! 
 Carousing upon their couches of ivory " they are not grieved for the 
 affliction of Joseph." But they shall go into captivity, and their 
 banqueting shall have an end. The Lord will raise against them a 
 nation that shall afflict the whole country ' ' from the entering in of 
 Hamath unto the river of the wilderness." 
 
 (Amos vii., viii. 1—3.) 
 
 In a series of three successive visions the prophet sees the steady 
 approach of judgment against Israel. The ruin threatened in the 
 first and second is averted by his intercession. But in the third he 
 sees the Lord standing with a plumb-line in His hand, and hears Him 
 declare that He will not pass bj' His people any more, but will rise 
 against the house of Jeroboam with the sword ; and the sanctuaries of 
 Israel shall be laid waste. Then Amaziah expels Amos from Bethel. 
 Thereupon the prophet turns his denunciation upon the faithless 
 priest, and predicts the doom of him and his family. Then follows a 
 fourth vision, in which the Lord announces that the end is come upon 
 His people Israel. Once more He declares that He will not again 
 pass by them any more. 
 
 1 Verse 26 is translated in the future by some scholars, and connected 
 with verse 27 : — " Yc shall take up " your idols, " and I will cause you to 
 go into captivity," &c. 
 
OBADIAH. 283 
 
 (Amos viii. 4-14.) 
 An eloquent appeal to tlie avaricious oppressors of tlie poor. This 
 work shall not be forgotten by the God of Israel. 
 
 " Shall not the land tremble for this, 
 And every one mourn that dwelleth therein ? " 
 
 When the snn is darkened in the heavens, when their feasts are 
 turned into mourning, and their songs into lamentation, when the 
 land is filled with mourning as for an only son, then they shall seek 
 in vain for the Divine direction that they are now so lightly dismiss- 
 ing from them : — 
 
 " Behold ! the days come, saith the Lord God, 
 That I will send a famine in the land, 
 Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, 
 But of hearing the words of the Lord : 
 And they shall wander from sea to sea, 
 And from the north even to the east, 
 They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, 
 And shall not find it." 
 
 (Amos ix.) 
 A fifth and last vision of the judgment, followed at the end by the 
 usual assurance of final blessing. In that day the Lord will raise up 
 the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches 
 thereof, and raise up its ruins, and build it as in the days of old, and 
 will bring again the captivity of Israel, and they shall build the 
 waste places and inhabit them, and they shall be planted for ever in 
 their own land, and Heaven shall shower all its blessings in richest 
 abundance upon them. 
 
 Ohadiah. 
 
 This short Look, which occuj)ies only one chapter in the 
 English version, is entitled " The Vision of Ohadiah.'" It 
 is a prophecy against Edom. Of Obadiah himself we 
 know nothing. The prophecy runs as follows : — 
 
284 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 The ruin of Eclom is determined upon in the counsels of the 
 Almighty, and the nations have been summoned against her. She 
 has been deceived by her confidence in her mountain defences. If it 
 were only a thief robbing by night, he would have ceased to phmder 
 when he had enoiigh. If the grape -gatherers came, they would have 
 left some grapes. But Edom is utterly destroyed, utterly robbed and 
 ransacked. Her own allies have treacherously turned against her, 
 and driven her to the wall. And a day of fuller judgment is coming, 
 when the boasted wisdom of Edom shall fail in her mountains. For 
 when strangers carried her brother Jacob into captivity, "and foreign- 
 ers entered into his gates, and cast lots upon Jerusalem," Edom was 
 one of them, and " stood in the crossway" to bar the escape of the 
 fugitives, and marched into the conquered city, triumphing in her 
 destruction. Aye ! the day of the Lord^is near upon all the heathen. 
 As Edom has done, it shall be done to her; and her work shall return 
 upon her own head. But upon Mount Zion shall be freedom and 
 holiness, and the kingdom of the Lord shall be established. The 
 house of Jacob shall be a fire to burn up its enemies, they shall ex- 
 tend their borders as of old, they shall possess "the Mount of Esau," 
 and the plain of the Philistines, and the fields of Ephraim and Sama- 
 ria, and Gilead, and the country of the Canaanites to the city of 
 Zarephath, and the cities of the south. 
 
 Date and Composition of the Book of OhacUah. 
 
 "The day" of Jerusalem to which this book refers^ can 
 hardly be any other than the day of its destruction by the 
 Chaldcoans, which is spoken of elsewhere in language 
 which bears a strildng resemblance to that used about it 
 in the Book of Obadiah." If this be so, the date of the 
 Book of Obadiah is probably to be placed soon after that 
 great catastrophe. Some writers, however, who maintain 
 the strict chronological accuracj' of the order of the Minor 
 
 1 Obad. 11-14. 
 
 - Comp. Ps. cxxxvii., Lara, iv., Ezek. xxv. 12-14, xxxv., \\\i\\ Obad. 
 10-14. 
 
DATE AND COMPOSITION OF OBADIAH. 285 
 
 Prophets, and consequently date Obadiah long before the 
 Babylonian Captivity, look for some earlier day of Jerusa- 
 lem to which its language may have referred. Such an 
 event they find in a capture and plunder of the city by 
 the combined forces of the Philistines and Arabians in the 
 reign of King Jehoram, which is recorded in the Book of 
 Chronicles.' A third opinion is advocated by Bishop 
 Wordsworth in his Commentary on the Old Testament. 
 He believes that the place of " Obadiah " shows it to have 
 been composed long before the destruction of Jerusalem 
 by the Chaldaeans ; but he thinks that " the day " about 
 which question has arisen is the day of that destruction. 
 He therefore thinks that the passage referring to the con- 
 duct of the Edomites on that occasion is predictive, and 
 should be translated in the future. These three opinions 
 afford a fair illustration of the kind of controversy which 
 goes on about many parts of the prophetical writings, and 
 of the uncertainty which may exist as to the translation 
 from the Hebrew of the tenses of verbs. 
 
 The writer of Jeremiah xlix. 7-22, would seem to have 
 had the prophecy of Obadiah before him," u.nless we are to 
 suppose that both drew from some earlier source. There 
 were, no doubt, many literary pieces current among the 
 Jews which have not come down to us. However it came 
 about, it is evident from this and other coincidences that 
 not only many of the ideas upon subjects like this, but 
 also much of the language in which they were expressed, 
 were common property with the prophetical writers. 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxi. 16, 17. Comp. verses 8-10. 
 
 « Compare verses 7, 9, 10, 14-16, with Obad. 1-8. 
 
286 THE MINOR PEOPHETS. 
 
 Jonah. 
 
 UnlLke the great part of the other prophetical writings, 
 the Book of Jonah is not the writing of a prophet but a 
 writing about a prophet. It is more like the earlier chap- 
 ters of the Book of Daniel than anything else in these 
 books. The story is as follows : — 
 
 Shrinking from the duty imposed on him by the word of the Lord 
 to go to Nineveh and prophesy against it for its wickedness, Jonah 
 goes down to Joppa, a seaport on the Mediterranean coast, the 
 modern Jaffa, and takes ship for Tarshish, hoping to escape "from 
 the presence of the Lord." But a terrible storm arises, and thi'eatens 
 the destruction of the ship. When their prayers avail nothing 
 to calm the storm, the sailors cast lots to find the guilty one, on 
 whose account this evil has befallen them. The lot falls on Jonah. 
 He confesses that he is a Hebrew fleeing from the presence of his God, 
 the God " which hath made the sea and the dry land"; and he de- 
 mands of his owTi accord that he be cast into the sea. The sailors at 
 first hesitate to do so terrible a deed ; but in their despair they at 
 length throw him overboard, and the sea becomes calm. Jonah is 
 swallowed by a great fish, which after three days vomits him out in 
 safety upon the shore. Receiving a second command to go to Nineveh, 
 he goes at once. The people of Nineveh repent at his preaching, a 
 great fast is proclaimed throughout the city, and the anger of the 
 Lord is averted. Then Jonah sins again. He is " displeased" and 
 "very angry" at the repentance of the Ninevites, and has to be re- 
 proved again by the Almighty. A gourd which grew up in a night 
 to shelter him from the heat, as he sat before the city to see what the 
 end would be, is eaten by a worm, and withers away as rapidly as it 
 had grown. The sultry east wind bio ws upon the prophet, the fierce 
 glare of the sun beats down upon his unprotected head. Fainting 
 with the heat, he prays, in angry despair, that his life may be taken 
 from him. Then the Lord reminds him of his previous indignation at 
 the sparing of Nineveh: — " Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the 
 which thou hast not laboured, neither made it to grow ; which came 
 up in a night and perished in a night : aud should not I spare Nine- 
 veh, that great city, wherein are more than six-score thousand per- 
 
MICAH. 287 
 
 sons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left 
 hand ; and also much cattle ? " 
 
 In the Book of Kings a " Jonah the son of Amittai," no doubt the 
 same about whom this book is wiitten, is said to have foretold the 
 victories by which Jeroboam II. recovered the Israelitish territory to 
 the north and east.^ 
 
 The Tarshish to which Jonah attemped to flee was probably Tar- 
 tessus, the Phoenician settlement on the coast of Spain. Josephus 
 makes it Tarsus in Cilicia. He also says that Jonah was carried into 
 the Euxine Sea, and thrown ashore there, and that he made his way 
 overland from the coast of the Euxine to Nineveh. 
 
 The prayer of Jonah in this book is mainly a compilation of frag- 
 ments of the Psalms. 
 
 The thousands in Nineveh, who could not discern their right hand 
 from their left, are probably the children. The references to the 
 size and population of this great city may be compared with the 
 statement of Diodorus, who makes the circuit of the city 480 stadia, 
 over fifty-five miles. This may not be an exaggeration if we sup- 
 pose the city to have been built very open. 
 
 The Book of Jonah contained a mueh-needed moral for the Jews. 
 The story of God's mercy to the repentant Ninevites was a rebuke to 
 their j)ride and exclusiveness. Xeil weU remarks that Jonah's 
 anger at the sparing of Nineveh " reflected the feelings and general 
 state of mind of the Israelite nation towards the Gentiles." 2 
 
 Mkah. 
 
 " THE WORD OF THE LORD THAT CAME TO MICAH THE MOEASTHITE IN THE 
 DAYS OF JOTHAM, AHAZ, AND HEZEKIAH, KINGS OF JUDAH, WHICH HE 
 SAW CONCERNING SAMARIA AND JERUSALEM." 
 
 When the priests and the prophets in Jerusalem de- 
 manded that Jeremiah should be executed for predicting 
 the destruction of the temple, his friends appealed to the ex- 
 ample of Micah the Morasthite, who was not put to death, 
 
 ^ 2 Kings xiv. 25. 
 
 - Cum. OH the Minor FfojjJieds, vol. i., p. 381, Eng. Irans. 
 
288 THE MINOR PROPHETS, 
 
 though "he prophesied in the days of Hezekiah," saying, 
 " Zion shall be ploughed like a field, and Jerusalem shall 
 become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high 
 places of a forest." ^ The passage thus quoted as having 
 been spoken in the reign of Hezekiah occurs in the present 
 book.- We cannot, however, divide the Book of Micah into 
 distinct prophecies to be assigned to the several reigns 
 mentioned in the title, though it seems to have been made 
 up of a number of separate compositions, put rather loosely 
 together. It also appears to contain some later insertions. 
 Perhaps all that we are to understand from the title is 
 that this book represents the teaching of a prophet who 
 ministered dming the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and 
 Hezekiah. 
 
 The friends of Jeremiah added that Micah's prediction 
 did not come to pass, because of the king's repentance. 
 
 Moresheth-Grath, which is mentioned in the first chap- 
 ter, was probably the place from which Micah derived his 
 title of "the Morasthite." 
 
 Analysis of the Book of Micah. 
 
 (Mic. I.) 
 
 Hear, all ye people ! Hearken, earth, and all that therein is ! 
 The Lord is coming forth out of His place to judge the house of Jacob. 
 Samaria shall he made " as an heap of the field," and her stones 
 poured down into the valley.^ Her graven images shall be broken 
 in pieces. The evil is coming against Judah too. It has reached 
 the gate of Jerusalem, and is making its way through her towns. 
 
 The point of the passage in which the names of so many towns are 
 mentioned depends on a play upon words which is not apparent in 
 
 1 Jer. xxvi. - Micah iii. 12. ^ ggg p_ -jq 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 289 
 
 tlie English translation. Every proper name in the list is treated in 
 this way. The effect in the original -would be something like — 
 
 Tell it not in Teltown, 
 
 Hold back your tears by the enemy's hold ; 
 
 But in the homes of Ashford weep in dust and ashes ; 
 
 Pass away, people of Fairtown, captives no longer fair, &c. 
 
 There is a difficulty in recognizing many of the names mentioned, 
 which may be explained by the supposition that in some instances 
 they have been altered to correspond with the new meaning imposed 
 upon them. 
 
 (Mic. II.) 
 
 TVoe to them that have brought this upon themselves by their 
 covetousness and oppression, who ask their prophets to prophesy 
 smooth things, while they rob the peaceful traveller, and drive the 
 widow and the orphan from their homes. For this they must go into 
 captivity : they cannot rest in the land that they have polluted. 
 Still a remnant of Israel shall yet be restored. 
 
 (Mic. III.) 
 
 Judgment on the unworthy princes, who cruelly oppress God's peo- 
 ple, and upon the mercenary and rapacious prophets. The princes 
 judge for reward, the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine 
 for money. Therefore Jerusalem, like Samaria, shall be a heap of 
 ruins, and the mountain of the Lord's House like a mound in the 
 forest. 
 
 (Mic. IV.) 
 
 Prediction of the Messianic time. The day shall come when the 
 mountain of the Lord's House shall be exalted above all hiUs, for a 
 peaceful rule shall be established at Jerusalem, and shall extend to 
 distant nations. In that day the wounds of Israel shall be healed, 
 and the old dominion of Judah shall be restored; though a time 
 of sorrow and captivity must precede it. God's people, though 
 threatened by many enemies, shall trample the nations under their 
 feet, and consecrate their possessions to the Lord. 
 
290 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 (Mic. V.) 
 
 The troops of the insulting invader may gather. But from Bethle- 
 hem, the ancient home of the House of David, small and unimportant 
 though it be, the destined Riiler of Israel shall arise. The Lord will 
 give His people into the hand of the enemies, until the appointed 
 time of deliverance. Then the restoration shall take place. The new 
 ruler shall be the shepherd of Israel ; he will govern in the strength 
 and majesty of the name of the Lord. His kingdom shall extend to 
 the ends of the earth. Through him Assyria shall be put down ; and 
 the remnant of Jacob shall stand irresistible amongst the nations, 
 blessed of the Lord and purified. 
 
 (Mic. VI., VII.) 
 
 The last section is in the form of a "controversy" between the 
 Lord and His people. Though different parts of the composition are 
 evidently supposed to come from different speakers, it is hard to de- 
 termine with certainty in all cases where the divisions between the 
 speeches should be made, and who the speakers are. The following 
 distribution of the parts will give an intelligible sense, though it 
 may not be in all particulars what the writer intended : — 
 
 The prophet announces the controversy, (vi. 1-2.) 
 
 Jehovah pleads with His people, (vi. 3-5.) 
 
 The people, through one of their number who acts as spokesman, 
 ask what they are to do. Will the Lord be satisfied with sacrifices ? 
 (vi. 6-7.) 
 
 The prophet answers that sacrifice is not what the Almighty re- 
 quires, "but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly 
 with thy God." (vi. 8.) 
 
 The terrible contrast between this requirement of the Almighty 
 and the actual state of society is pointed out. (vi. 9-16.) 
 
 Lamentations over the condition of the people. Perhaps there are 
 three different speakers, according to the paragraphs in the English 
 Bible, (vii. 1-6.) 
 
 The people express confidence in God, and submission to His wiU. 
 (vii. 7-10.) 
 
 The Lord answers with a promise of blessing in due time. (vii. 
 11-13.) 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF MICAH. 291 
 
 The prophet prays for blessing upon Israel, (vii. 14.) 
 The Lord answers again, promising marvellous things, as in the 
 days of the coming out of Egypt, (vii. 15.) 
 
 Concluding strains of triumph and praise, the first perhaps from 
 the prophet (vv. 16-17), the second in chorus from the whole congre- 
 gation (w. 18-20). 
 
 V 2 
 
292 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 (continued.) 
 
 Nahum. 
 
 "the JirRDEN OF NINEVEH. THE BOOK OF THE VISION OF NAHtM THE 
 ELKOSHITE." 
 
 OF the personal history of Nahum we know nothing, 
 nor do we know whence his title " the Elkoshite " 
 was derived. There is a village on the Tigris named 
 Alkosh, where his tomb is shown. " It is a place," Mr. 
 Layard says, " held in great reverence by Mahomedans 
 and Christians, but especially by Jews, who keep the 
 building in repair, and flock to it in great numbers at 
 certain seasons of the year."' But the tomb of Nahum at 
 Alkosh has no more claim to be considered genuine than 
 the tomb of Jonah, which is shown upon what was for- 
 merly supposed to be the site of Nineveh. Still Ewald 
 thinks that Alkosh was really the home of Nahum, and 
 that he was " a descendant of the Israelites that had at 
 one time been carried into Assyria," and saw " with his 
 own eyes" the approach of the danger to Nineveh about 
 which he writes. On the other hand, we know of no 
 mention of this village of Alkosh on the Tigris before the 
 sixteenth century, and the early Christians looked for the 
 birth-place of Nahum in the Holy Land. Jerome, who 
 
 1 Laj'ard's Nineveh, p. 171. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE PEOPHECY OF NAHUM. 293 
 
 wrote about the end of tlie fourth century of the Christian 
 era, was shown a village called Helcessei in Galilee, which 
 he supposed to he Elkosh. 
 
 The date of the prophet is also uncertain. It was after 
 the kingdoms of Israel and Judah had suffered from 
 Assyrian invasions. If we knew the date of the destruc- 
 tion of Thebes in Egypt, which is apparently referred to 
 as of recent occurrence, it might help us. But we do not. 
 Ewald is of opinion that, at the time when the prophecy 
 was written, "a hostile march upon Nineveh was in active 
 progress, that the border fortresses were already falling, 
 and that the kingdom appeared to be abandoned of its 
 leaders and lost beyond recovery."' 
 
 Analysis of the Prophecy of Nahwn. 
 
 (Nahum I.) 
 
 The Lord is a jealous God. He is slow to anger ; He is a tower of 
 strength to those that trust in Him ; but to His enemies He is a con- 
 suming fire. "When His wrath is kindled nothing can stand before 
 Him. If He strikes, He will not strike twice (?) Out of Nineveh 
 came one (Sennacherib) who afflicted Israel. But Grod's people need 
 fear Nineveh no more. Her doom is decreed. Her end is near. 
 Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that brings the good 
 tidings — tidings of peace for Judah — tidings that should stimulate 
 her to renewed zeal in the service of her Grod. 
 
 (Nahum II.) 
 The enemy has appeared before the walls of Nineveh. Now shall 
 the wasting of Judah be avenged. The approaches to the city are 
 gleaming with the advancing host. Within the city is hurry and 
 confusion. The rattling chariots throng the streets. The defenders 
 rush to the ramparts. But the river gates are opened,- and the 
 
 1 See eh. iii. 12, 13, 18, 19. 
 
 2 The meaning may be that <^he sluices of the canal are opened to flood 
 the country. 
 
294 THE MINOR PEOPHETS. 
 
 enemy pours in. The terrified occupants of the palace take to 
 flight. Hussab the Queen (?) surrounded by her weeping attendants 
 is led into captivity. In vain the Ninevites call upon each other to 
 stand ; none looks back. The city is abandoned by the fugitives, 
 and plundered. The lion's den is empty. Nineveh shall send no 
 more ambassadors. 
 
 (Nahum III ) 
 
 Woe to the guilty city ! Now shall she pay the penalty of her sins. 
 The storm of battle is driving fuU upon her. Nineveh shall be laid 
 waste. Her desolation will pass into a proverb. How can she 
 expect to escape when populous No (Egyptian Thebes) was captured, 
 though it was defended by Egypt and Ethiopia, backed by their 
 African allies. The strongholds of Nineveh are like ripe fruit, which 
 falls at the touch of the eater. Her warriors are but women. The 
 passes are left undefended, and the land is wasted with fire and 
 sword. Nineveh's merchants shall disappear, and her battalions flee 
 away, like the locusts in the morning sun. 
 
 The princes of Assyria sleep in the dust,^ and the people are scat- 
 tered upon the mountains. There is no healing of her wound. AU 
 that hear of it shall clap their hands, for who has not suffered from 
 her tyranny ? 
 
 Hahaklmk. 
 
 "the burden which habaSkuk the prophet did see." 
 
 Of the personal history of Habakkuk we know nothing. 
 There are conjectures in plenty as to the time and place 
 at which he lived. All that we can say for certain is that 
 the prophecy belongs to the Chaldsean period. 
 
 Analysis of the Book of Habakkuk. 
 
 (Hab. I. 2-4.) 
 The prophet complains of the violence and lawlessness of his time. 
 
 (Hab. I. 5-11.) 
 The Almighty replies that He is bringing the Chalda}ans to punish 
 the nations. 
 
 1 Or perhaps simply "sleep." 
 
AI^ALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF HABAKKUK. 295 
 
 (Hab. I. 12-17.) 
 
 The prophet expresses his confident hope that the Almighty will 
 not allow the impious oppressor entirely to destroy, to take His peo- 
 ple like fish of the sea, that have no ruler — no one to defend them 
 against their enemies. 
 
 (Hab. II.) 
 
 He takes his stand to hear what the Lord will answer. 
 
 The answer is that the proud oppressor shall not be justified, but 
 that the just shall live by his faith. Judgment is then pronounced 
 upon the Chalda^an for his rapacity and covetousness, for building 
 his house by wrong, for the national sin of intemperance and his ill- 
 treatment of the conquered, and finally for idolatry. The chapter 
 concludes with an assertion of the sovereign majesty of the Lord, in 
 contrast with the dumb idols of the Chaldseans : — 
 
 " The Lord is in His holy temple ; 
 Let all the earth keep silence before Him." 
 
 (Hab. hi.) 
 The next chapter is " ^ Prayer of Hahahkuh the prophet" which 
 forms a fitting conclusion to the whole prophecy. The prophet, awe- 
 stricken at the announcement of the coming judgment, supplicates 
 the Lord to "revive" his "work in the midst of the years". — not to 
 leave his people without support during their long trial (F). This 
 prayer is answered by a psalm, the subject of which is God's coming 
 of old to deliver Israel from Egypt through the waters of the sea. 
 The prophet finally expresses his resolution to wait on the Lord in 
 patience and faith, though he knows that the days of trouble shall be 
 many: — 
 
 " Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, 
 
 Neither shall fmit be in the vines ; 
 
 The produce of the olive shall faU, 
 
 And the fields shall yield no meat ; 
 
 The flock shall be cut off from the fold. 
 
 And there shall be no herd in the stalls : 
 
 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, 
 
 I will joy in the God of my salvation. 
 
 The Lord God is my strength. 
 
 And He makes my feet like hind's feet, 
 
 And He makes me to walk upon mine high places." 
 
296 THE MIXOR PROPHETS. 
 
 There are musical notes attached to this " Prayer of Hahakkuk" 
 like those that are to be found in the Psalter, probably showing that 
 it was used in the public service of the Temple. 
 
 ZephaniaJi. 
 
 " THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH CAME UNTO ZEPHANIAH THE SON OF 
 CTJSHI, THE SON OF GEDALIAH, THE SON OF AMARIAH, THE SON OF 
 HIZKIAH (hEZEKIAh), IN THE DAYS OF JOSIAH THE SON OF AMON, KING 
 OF JUDAH." 
 
 Analysis. 
 
 (Zeph. I., 11.) 
 For the idolatries practised in Jerusalem, for the misconduct of the 
 princes and the violence and exactions of their subordinates, and for 
 the money- seeking of the traders, a terrible day of wrath is coming, 
 when the idolatrous priests shall be cut off, and the princes and their 
 followers visited ; and the wealth of Jerusalem shall be spoiled, and 
 her homes made desolate. The great day is near, very near, hasten- 
 ing on, a dark and terrible day, "a day of the trumpet and alarm 
 against the fenced cities and against the liigh towers," a day when 
 blood shall be " poured out as dust," and bodies trampled under foot 
 like dung. The storm wiU sweep over the Philistine coast ; their 
 cities shaU be forsaken ; the remnant of the Jews will take posses- 
 sion of them, when the danger is over. Moab also and Ammon shall 
 be punished for their bitterness ; they shall be as Sodom and Gomor- 
 rah, overgrown with nettles, a perpetual desolation. The Ethiopians 
 also shall be slain with the sword; and Assyria shall be destroyed. 
 Nineveh, the proud, rejoicing city, that dwelt carelessly, shall be a 
 desolate heap of ruins ; wild beasts shall make their dens there, and 
 the pelican and the bittern shall roost upon the fragments of her 
 palaces. 
 
 (Zeph. hi.) 
 
 Woe to Jerusalem, the rebellious, sin-stained city ! From her 
 better things might have been expected ; but her princes, her pro- 
 phets, and her priests have Joined to increase her condemnation. She 
 has not been taught by the devastation of foreign countries. There- 
 fore a general day of judgment for all nations must come. After that 
 all lands wUl serve the Lord, and the humbled remnant in Zion shall 
 
ZEPHANIAH ; THE SCYTHIANS IN ASIA. 297 
 
 be piu'ified. Then may the daughter of Zion sing and rejoice ; the 
 Lord shall be King in the midst of her ; she shall not see evil any 
 more, but she shall be a name and a praise among all the nations of 
 the earth. 
 
 Zephaniah's protest against the idolatry in Jerusalem reminds us 
 of the reformation which was effected in the reign of Josiah. 
 
 Wars and Humours of Wars ; the Scythians in Asia. 
 
 As we do not know exactly the time at which, the pro- 
 phecy of Zephaniah was composed, it would be rash to 
 venture on any definite assertions as to the public events 
 which may have given rise to his anticipations of such 
 universal calamities. We know, however, generally, that 
 during the thirty-one years of Josiah's reign the most 
 momentous changes were taking place in Asia, and that 
 the dwellers at Jerusalem must often have heard tidings 
 which deeply concerned themselves as well as the sur- 
 rounding nations, of the march of hostile armies and of 
 the siege and sack of cities.^ The end of the Assyrian 
 empire, which had long been supreme in Asia, was draw- 
 ing near, and many nations — the Medes, the Chaldseans, 
 the Egyptians — were watching for a share of the prey. 
 Nineveh was frequently threatened. Herodotus records two 
 unsuccessful sieges of the vast city by the Medes, as well 
 as that in which it was finally taken. The second of these 
 sieges was raised by the arrival of the Scythians on the 
 scene. Herodotus says that these wild hordes from " the 
 north" overran "the whole of Asia," plundering in all di- 
 rections and overturning everything, and were not finally 
 expelled until they had held possession for twenty-eight 
 years. On their march to Egypt they must have passed 
 close to the borders of the Jews, and on their return they 
 
 1 Herod, i. 102-106. 
 
298 THE MINOE PROPHETS. 
 
 fell foul of the Philistine city of Askelon. The Philistine 
 cities were especially exposed to danger from the passing 
 and repassing of hostile armies in the great struggle be- 
 tween Egypt on the one hand and the Asiatic powers on 
 the other, for the main road from central Asia to Egypt 
 which ran along the level coast of the Mediterranean lay 
 through their country. Up amongst the mountains of 
 Judah Jerusalem was comparatively out of the way, and 
 "the daughter of Zion" may often have "laughed"^ in 
 security, while the armies from the north or the south 
 were marching through the plain of Esdraelon, or along 
 the Mediterranean shore. Josiah abandoned this advan- 
 tage when he went down to meet Pharaoh Necho at 
 Megiddo. 
 
 Haggai. 
 
 Haggai and Zechariah are the two prophets whose 
 names have been already mentioned together in the Book 
 of Ezra as encouraging Zerubbabel and Joshua to recom- 
 mence the restoration of the Temple, after it had been 
 stopped for some time by the opposition of the adversaries, 
 and as assisting them in prosecuting the work. The book 
 which bears the name of Haggai relates more fully the 
 part which he took at that time, and consists mainly of 
 four addresses, said to have been delivered by him, and 
 dated in the second year of Darius, the year in which the 
 rebuilding was resumed. These addresses are so short 
 that they are probably intended to be regarded merely as 
 summaries and not full reports. Unlike the other pro- 
 phecies, they are in simple prose, exhibiting, however, an 
 occasional tendency to assume the poetical form. 
 
 ^ 2 Kings xix. 21. 
 
ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OP HAGGAI. 299 
 
 Analysis of the Book of Sagged . 
 
 (Hag. 1. 1-11.) 
 After calling the attention of Zerubbabel and Joshua to the delay in. 
 resuming the rebuilding of the Temple, the prophet reproaches the 
 people with their dilatoriness and want of zeal. They have found 
 time to build hixurious dwellings for themselves, but they say that 
 the time has not yet come to raise the House of God from its ruins. 
 This is the reason, he tells them, that the labours of their hands have 
 not yielded them satisfaction, and the earth has withheld its fruits. 
 
 (Hag. I. 12-15.) 
 The first appeal having met with a favourable response, the pro- 
 phet encourages the two leaders and the people with the assurance 
 that the Lord is with them. The work is then actually commenced. 
 
 (Hag. II. 1-9.) 
 In less than a month, however, it would appear that their zeal has 
 flagged again. They are apparently discouraged at the poorness of 
 the result of their labours. There are some amongst them who re- 
 member the former glory of the Temple, and, in comparison, the 
 building that they are now raising is as nothing.^ But the prophet 
 bids them not to be discouraged. The Temple may be small and mean 
 in appearance at the beginning, the builders may be fcAV and despised, 
 but, in accordance with the ancient covenant, the Spirit of God is 
 amongst them as of old. Soon there shall be a great awakening, and 
 all nations shall be roused, and they will bring their desirable things 
 to that House, 2 and it shall be filled with glory. The silver and the 
 gold are the Lord's, and He will make the later glory greater than the 
 former, and in this house will He give peace. 
 
 (Hag. II. 10-19.) 
 In a third address the people are assured that, though their neglect 
 of the Temple hitherto has been suflS.cient to bring a blight upon all 
 their labours, yet from that day forward the Lord will bless them with 
 plenty. 
 
 1 Compare Ezra iii. 12. 
 
 '^ Hag. ii. 7. Instead of " the desire of all nations," many scholars trans- 
 late, with the LXX., " the desirable things of all nations." Compare Is. 
 Ix. 5-13. 
 
300 THE MINOR PEOPHETS. 
 
 (Hag. II. 20-23.) 
 Finally the prophet addresses Zerubbabel individually, telling him 
 that all thrones shall be overturned, and all the kingdoms of the 
 earth destroyed, but that the Lord has chosen him, and will preserve 
 him for high honour. As Zerubbabel was the representative at that 
 time of the house of David, we are probably to understand this pro- 
 mise as made, not only to himself indi-sddually, but to the house 
 which he represented, and from which the Messiah was to come, as 
 the promises made to David were made to himself " and to his seed 
 for ever." 
 
 Zechariah. 
 
 The book which bears the name of Zechariah divides 
 itself into three parts. 
 
 FIRST PART. 
 (Zech. r.-viii.) 
 
 The first part is in style and manner like the preceding book, and 
 is fixed to the same period by the dates which are given. It begins 
 with a general exhortation to the people to learn from the past, and 
 to be wiser than their fathers, upon whom God's judgments came. 
 This exhortation is dated in the eighth month of the second year of 
 Darius. It is followed by a series of visions, the first of which is 
 dated on the four-and-twentieth day of the eleventh month of the 
 same year. 
 
 (Zech. i. 7-17.) 
 
 First Vision. An apparition of horsemen. They are the Lord's 
 messengers who have been to and fro through the earth, and bring 
 back tidings that the nations are still and at rest. The question is 
 therefore asked, evidently in reference to the promised awakening of 
 the nations, "When will the Lord have mercy upon Jerusalem, and 
 upon the cities of Judah ? The Lord answers that the Temple shall 
 be built, and the cities of Judah shall overflow with prosperity. 
 
 (Zech. i. 18-21.) 
 Second Vision. Four horns. They are the powers of the earth 
 that " have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem." They are 
 broken to pieces by four workmen. 
 
ZECHARIAH. 301 
 
 (Zech. II.) 
 Tldrd Vision. A man with a measuring-line in liis hand, " to 
 measure Jerusalem." But the extent of Jerusalem shall be without 
 measure. She shall be too wide for walls, and the Lord " wQl be 
 unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the 
 midst of her." Her children shall return from their banishment, 
 her God will dwell in the midst of her, and many nations shall join 
 themselves to the Lord, and be His people. 
 
 (Zech. hi.) 
 
 Fourth Vision, The prophet sees Joshua the high priest standing 
 before the angel of the Lord, and the accuser standing beside him. 
 The Lord rebukes the accuser. The filthy garments — the sign of an 
 accused person — with which Joshua is clad, are taken off him, and he 
 is clad in festal robes, in token of acquittal. He is assured that he 
 need not fear ; if he walks in God's ways, and keeps His charge, he 
 shall retain his place in God's house. Furthermore, Joshua and his 
 fellows are men of portent (that is, they are signs or types of others 
 to whom they direct our thoughts. Comp. same word in Is. viii. 18). 
 The Lord will bring forth His servant Tzemach (the springing 
 shoot). The eyes of the Lord are upon the stone laid before Joshua 
 (the foundation-stone of the Temple) ; He will perfect it, and the 
 land will be the home of purity and peace. 
 
 The iii-st part of this vision may have reference to some charge laid 
 against Joshua at the Persian court by an adversary. The im- 
 mediate reference in the mention of God's servant Tzemach may have 
 been to Zerubbabel, who was at that time the actual representative of 
 the royal house of David, and under whose rule the building of the 
 Temple was to be completed, i Such a reference to Zerubbabel need 
 not imply that the fulfilment of the hope was exhausted in him. 
 (See the note on ch. vi. 9-15.) 
 
 (Zech. iv.) 
 Fifth Vision. A golden candelabrum, with seven pipes leading 
 from the oU-bowl to the seven lamps. By the candelabrum are two 
 olive trees. The oil feeding the lights represents Divine Grace, and 
 the object of the vision is shown by the message conveyed to 
 Zerubbabel, "not by might, nor by power, but by my Spiiit saith 
 
 ^ See Zech. iv. ; vi. O-lo : 1 Chron. iii. 19 : Jer. xsiii. 5. 
 
302 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 the Lord of Hosts." Before Zerubbabel mountains shall vanish 
 and become plains. Through the grace of God he shall place the 
 last stone upon the Temple. As his hands have laid the foundation, 
 " his hands shall also finish it." The two olive trees are " the two 
 anointed ones," no doubt Zerubbabel and Joshua. 
 
 (Zech. v. 1-4.) 
 Sixth Vision. A huge roll flying over the land. It is the sen- 
 tence of Divine condemnation upon the wickedness, the thieving, and 
 false swearing in Judah. 
 
 (Zech. v. 5-11.) 
 
 Seventh Vision, An Ephah, or vessel. The lid of the Ephah 
 being raised, the prophet sees wickedness in the form of a woman 
 sitting within. The heavy Ud is closed down upon her, and she is 
 carried away out of the land, and cast into the land of Shinar. 
 
 The meaning is, no doubt, the purification of the holy land from 
 evil. Shinar, or Babylonia, is selected as the final abode of wicked- 
 ness, apparently in consec[uence of the many hateful memories con- 
 nected with that land. 
 
 (Zech. vi. 1-8.) 
 
 Eighth Vision. Chariots and horses coming out from between two 
 brazen mountains (perhaps the mountains of Jerusalem), and from 
 the presence of God, and going to the north, and to the south, and to 
 and fro through the earth. Some special importance is attached to 
 the mission of those which go into the north country, though the 
 exact meaning of the passage is not quite clear, as is the case with 
 some other parts of these visions. 
 
 This last vision is apparently the climax of the whole, and proba« 
 bly represents the completion of the work, the progress of which has 
 been traced through the preceding seven, viz. : the establishment of 
 the Divine rule in the purified Jerusalem where the Temple of God 
 stands, and its extension over all the earth. 
 
 (Zech. vi. 9-15.) 
 
 The prophet is next directed to take gold and silver, which had 
 
 been brought from Babylon as a donation to the Temple (?), and to 
 
 make crowns, and to set them upon the head of Joshua, and proclaim 
 
 that "the man whose name is Txemach^^ shall build the Temple of 
 
ZECHARIAH. 303 
 
 the Lord, and sliall sit upon the throne, which is to be the centre of 
 spiritual and temporal blessing. 
 
 This passage, as well as the other in which the name Tzemach is 
 mentioned, is perplexing. The name of Zerubbabel is not actually 
 mentioned in either. The majority of commentators therefore sup- 
 pose that the reference is to a future greater representative of the line 
 of David. Some boldly propose to insert Zerubbabel's name along 
 with Joshua's in chapter vi. 11, a proposition which may derive some 
 support from the fact that the word "crowns" is in the plural. But 
 such a short and easy method of making a passage say what the com- 
 mentator thinks that it ought to say is not satisfactory. 
 
 (Zech. VII.) 
 
 In the fourth year of Darius, in answer to the question whether 
 the fasts which had been kept during the Captivity were to be con- 
 tinued now that the people were restored to their own land, and that 
 the Temple was being rebuilt, Zechariah answers in a strain which 
 reminds us of the older prophets, to whose teaching he appeals. What 
 the Lord requires now, as then, is that those who caU upon His name 
 should "execute true/ judgment, and show mercy and compassion 
 every man to his brother, and oppress not the widow, nor the father- 
 less, the stranger, nor the poor," and that none should "imagine evil 
 against his brother." It was for the neglect of these duties that God 
 had scattered them among the nations. 
 
 (Zech. yiii.) 
 
 Once again the word of the Lord comes with the assurance of com- 
 plete forgiveness and full recompense to Jerusalem for all that she has 
 suffered. Amongst the many promises of blessing is one, having an 
 evident reference to the spavseness as yet of the population of the 
 city, that the old men and old women shall yet sit in the streets of 
 Jerusalem, " and every man with his staff in his hand for very age ; 
 and the streets of the city shall be fuU of boys and girls playing in 
 the streets thereof." And because of the manifold blessings of that 
 time, and because of the mercy and goodness of God, who turns their 
 fasts into "joy and gladness and cheerful feasts," therefore their 
 hands ought to be strong to do the Lord's work, and therefore they 
 ought to love goodness and truth, and hate evil. 
 
304 THE MIXOR PROPHETS. 
 
 SECOND PART. 
 (Zech. IX.— XI.) 
 
 The next division of tlie book, both in form and matter, completely 
 recalls the style of the prophets of the regal period. The following 
 is an outline of its contents : — A heavy visitation comes upon Syria 
 and Damascus, and upon the Phoenician and Philistine cities of the 
 Mediterranean coast. But Jerusalem need not fear. The Lord will 
 encamp about His house, and no oppressor shall pass through Zion 
 any more. But there, secure from war's alarms, a peaceful king 
 shall reign. His beneficent rule will include Ephraim and Judah, 
 and wUl extend to the ends of the earth. There is hope for the pri- 
 soners too; they shall return home, and united Israel shall stand 
 against the world ; Judah shall be the bow in the hands of the Lord, 
 and Ephraim the arrow, and Zion shall be His sword. Their power 
 shall be irresistible, and the blessing of Heaven will be upon them. 
 Idolatry and false shepherds have been snares ; therefore the flock is 
 scattered. But Judah is the Lord's battle-horse ; He will strengthen 
 Judah and save Ephraim, and the rejected ones shall be restored. 
 Ephraim may be scattered among the nations, but they shall be 
 brought again from Egypt and from Assyria, and planted in GfUead 
 and Lebanon, tni there be no room for them. The pride of Assyi'ia 
 shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 
 
 Chapter iri. dwells more fully on the false shepherds, who have been 
 only casually mentioned in the chapter before. When the alarm comes 
 from Lebanon and Bashan, the prophet is directed to take charge of 
 the flock, which has been destroyed by its own leaders. He takes 
 two staves, Graciousness and Union, and tends the suffering flock. 
 Three of the evil shepherds are cut off" in one month. But the de- 
 moralized people will not understand or accept his guidance. Reluct- 
 antly, step by step, he resigns his charge. First, by breaking the 
 staff" Graciousness, he intimates that the foolish people are destroy- 
 ing the gracious covenant of the Almighty. This has no effect. He 
 next tries to elicit some appreciation of his services by asking for his 
 hire. They gravely give him the paltry sum of thirty pieces of silver. 
 It is useless to contend any more. Hp casts the money into the 
 Temple treasury, ^ and breaks the remaining staff", the emblem of 
 
 ^ Probcably the correct translation in verse 13, instead of "the potter." 
 
ZECHARIAH. 305 
 
 " brotherhood between Judah and Israel." The sheep must be left 
 to the evil shepherds, whom they have chosen, and whose tender 
 mercies are cruel. Nevertheless, a judgment shall fall upon the 
 shepherds. 
 
 THIRD PART. 
 (ZeCH. XII. -xiy.). 
 
 In the day of the siege, when Jerusalem is compassed aboTit bj^ all 
 nations, the Lord will smite her enemies with confusion, and defend 
 her inhabitants. Along with the temporal deliverance will come a 
 spiritual awakening ; the Lord " will pour upon the house of David, 
 and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of sup- 
 plications," and they shall mourn for the past. A fountain shall be 
 opened for sin and for uncleanness. Idolatry and false prophecy 
 and the spirit of uncleanness shall pass out of the land. Their own 
 parents will be first to lay hands upon the false prophets, who shall 
 be exposed in their true characters ; they will throw aside the pro- 
 phet's garb, and disown their late occupation. — Awake, sword, 
 against the unworthy shepherds ! for a day of trial is at hand, a day 
 of sifting and purification for God's people. — Behold, the day of the 
 Lord Cometh, when all nations shall be gathered against Jerusalem to 
 battle, and the city shall be taken, and plundered, and half of the in- 
 habitants carried into captivity. Then shall the Lord come forth to 
 battle against the nations. At His appearance the earth shall cleave 
 asunder. Even His own people shall flee in terror at the sight, as 
 they fled from the earthquake in the reign of King TJzziah. But it 
 will be the dawning of the eternal day — day that shall never give 
 place to night. A perennial fountain of life shall stream from Jeru- 
 salem to the east and to the west.i In that day the Lord alone shall 
 be King. All the land from the north to the south shall become a 
 plain; Jerusalem shaU stand on high in the midst of it;- she shall 
 dwell safely, and no accui'sed thing shall be found within her walls. 
 The nations that fought against her shall be smitten with plagues and 
 confusion. Then all who are left of them shall come up year by year 
 to the holy city *' to worship the King, the Lord of Hosts." 
 
 * Comp. Ezek. xlvii., and Joel iii. 18-21. 
 2 Comp. Is. ii. 2. 
 
 X 
 
306 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 Authorship of " Zechariah.''^ 
 
 An unusually large number of critics are agreed that 
 Zechariah ix.-xi. and xii.-xiv. are not the productions of 
 the writer of the earlier part of the book. There is much 
 in chapters ix.-xi. to fall in with the supposition that this 
 portion belongs to the time when the kingdom of the ten 
 tribes was being destroyed by the Assyrians. The men- 
 tion by name of the Assyrian oppressor, the mention of 
 Egypt along with Assyria, the coming of the storm from 
 Lebanon and the north, the list of foreign nations suffer- 
 ing at the same time, the scattering of Ephraim, Gilead 
 and Lebanon being named as the districts to which the 
 exiles are to return, while Judah is promised exemption 
 from conquest, and is apparently the centre of hope for 
 the whole race in the great calamity — all this would suit 
 the times of the Assyrian conquest very well.^ But it is 
 not hard to find an application for at least some of it to 
 the times of Joshua the son of Jozadak and Zerubbabel, 
 so that, if it be an older fragment, it was not without con- 
 sideration that it was attached to the Book of Zechariah. 
 Chapters xii.-xiv. look like the utterance of a prophet in 
 the last days of the Old Jerusalem, when its destruction 
 by the Chaldseans was at hand. But the announcement of 
 the terrors of the judgment to come, the promise of plen- 
 teous mercy to the humble and contrite heart, the asser- 
 
 ^ Those -who assign an early date to this portion of the book naturally 
 look among the kings of Israel for the three shepherds which were cut off 
 in one month (eh. xi. 8). Ewald finds that in 2 Kings xv. 10, instead of the 
 Hebrew words ti'anslated "before the people," the LXX. has the name of 
 a person (Keblaam), who joined with ShaUiim in his conspiracy against 
 Zechariah. lie thinks that Zechariah, ShaUum, and Keblaam Avcre the 
 three shepherds. 
 
MALACHI. 307 
 
 tion of the final purification of the Church, and of the cer- 
 tain dawning of the eternal day, which are to be found in 
 these chapters — these are subjects suitable to all times, 
 and not least to that particular time when the Jewish 
 Temple, upon which one judgment had already fallen so 
 heavily, was rising again from its ruins in the hope of a 
 better future. 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 " THE BURDEN OF THE WORD OF THE LORD TO ISRAEL BY MALACHI." 
 
 Of the personal history of the last of the prophets no- 
 thing is known. It is not even certain that we are right 
 in giving him the name of Malachi. The word which is 
 so translated in the title of the prophecy is the same that 
 is rendered " messenger " in another part of the book ;^ 
 and in the Septuagint translation the title of the book 
 actually runs — "the sum of the word of the Lord to Israel 
 by the hand of His messenger." It is possible that this 
 interpretation may be the correct one. Thus, the words 
 of the last of the Old Testament prophets, like the words 
 of so many more of those whose remains we have been 
 considering, come to us, as the first of the prophets of the 
 New Testament wished his words to come, merely as " the 
 voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way 
 of the Lord." 
 
 We are not even sure of the exact date to which the 
 book belongs. It has been conjectured that the writer of 
 it flourished at the time of Nehemiah's second visit to 
 Jerusalem, and that he perhaps assisted Nehemiah in his 
 work of reform, as Haggai and Zechariah had assisted at 
 the rebuilding of the Temple, and other prophets at pre- 
 vious reformations. The internal indications would agree 
 
 1 Mai. iii. 1. 
 X2 
 
308 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 very well with this date : there is no mention of the Cap- 
 tivity, which looks as if the memory of that great chastise- 
 ment was not so fresh as in the early years of the return ; 
 the Temple is built and the priests already growing care- 
 less in the service of it ; the sins of which the prophet 
 complains so bitterly are the same as those which called 
 for the interference of Nehemiah — neglect of their duties 
 by the priesthood, marriages with foreign women, and 
 oppression of the poor by the rich. 
 
 Analysis of the Book of Malachi. 
 
 The prophet begins by reminding the Jews of the privileges which 
 have been conferred upon their race. Of old Israel was preferred to 
 Esau. The mountains of Edom, the heritage of the descendants of 
 Esau, are now laid waste, while the Jews dwell in their own land 
 under the protection of the Almighty. But in spite of all this, Israel 
 does not give to her God the honour that is His due. The priests 
 treat His service with contempt ; they offer upon His altar imperfect 
 victims — the blind, the lame, the sick — such as they would not dare 
 to offer to their national governor. The prophet, therefore, sternly 
 warns them not to presume upon the privilege of the chosen race. In 
 every nation, from the rising to the setting sun, the Almighty has 
 those who worship Him, and offer Him pure and acceptable sacrifice. 
 He threatens the priests with a curse, if they do not improve; and 
 contrasts their present conduct with the example set by their right- 
 eous forefathers of the tribe of Levi. He next condemns the Jews 
 who have married heathen women, putting away their own Jewish 
 wives for the purpose, and so " covering the altar of the Lord with 
 tears, with weeping, and with crying out" from the ill-treated ones. 
 In vain they allege the example of the conduct of Abraham towards 
 Hagar. There was a special reason in his case, namely, that he was 
 seeking to preserve free from contamination the seed to which the 
 promises were made.' But, behold! the Lord will come to His 
 
 ^ This is perhaps the meaning of eh. ii. 15, which may be rendered: — 
 ' ' No one ever did this («. c. put away his wife) who has had in him a rem- 
 nant of the Spirit. And (if ye say) Why did the one {i.e. Abraham) do it? 
 — the answer is, Because he sought," &c. 
 
OTHER PROPHETS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. 309 
 
 Temple — suddenly, and purge away the evil, and make the offering of 
 Judah. acceptable, as in the old days. After a further expostulation 
 with the evil-doers, the book concludes with a repetition of the an- 
 nouncement that the Lord will visit the earth with great and terrible 
 judgment, sending His messenger, Elijah the prophet, before His face 
 to prepare His people for the coming of the great day. ^ 
 
 Other ProjjJiets mentioned in the Old Testament. 
 
 In addition to the prophets whose names are preserved 
 in connexion with their writings, some others, who have 
 left no literary remains that are now recognizable, are 
 mentioned in the historical narrative. In the histories of 
 David and Solomon the names of " Gad the Seer " and of 
 "Nathan the Prophet" frequently occur. Ahijah the 
 Shilonite, /. e. a native of Shiloh in the tribe of Ephraim, 
 the seat of the ancient sanctuary of Israel, instigated the 
 revolt of the ten tribes, and continued to exercise his pro- 
 phetic functions dming the reign of Jeroboam I. She- 
 maiah and "Iddo the Seer" belonged to the same period, 
 ministering to the kingdom of Judah, Shemaiah pro- 
 phesied under Rehoboam, and wrote an account of his 
 reign. The writings of Iddo were referred to as authorities 
 for the reigns of Solomon, Rehoboam, and Abijah. The 
 writings of both the one and the other are now lost, but it 
 is possible that, like some others that are mentioned in a 
 similar way, they may form the foundation of parts of the 
 Books of the Chronicles. Azariah and Hanani belong to 
 the reign of Asa. The prophesying of the former against 
 existing abuses led to Asa's reformation. The latter was 
 put to death by the king for daring to rebuke his want of 
 faith in making terms with the Syrian enemies. Jehu the 
 son of Hanani, a prophet of Judah, is mentioned first as 
 
 1 See p. 313. 
 
310 THE MIXOE PROPHETS. 
 
 denouncing the sins of Baaslia king of Israel, and after- 
 wards as condemning Jehoshaphat's alliance with the 
 idolatrous Ahab. He, too, was historian as well as 
 prophet, and wrote an account of Jehoshaphat's reign. 
 Two other prophets in Jehoshaphat's time were Jahaziel 
 the son of Zechariah, who encouraged the king and people 
 in their war with the Moabites and a host of other ene- 
 mies ; and Eliezer, who condemned Jehoshaphat's alliance 
 with Ahaziah, as Jehu had condemned his alliance with 
 Ahab. We have already mentioned the parts which Elijah 
 and Elisha played in the northern kingdoms about this 
 time. Micaiah the son of Imlah also appears in the 
 northern kingdom in the reign of Ahab, and is not un- 
 worthy of a place beside the great Elijah. His fearless 
 stand against Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah and four 
 hundred other prophets of falsehood, in that remarkable 
 scene when the approaching fate of Ahab was announced, 
 bears some resemblance to the scene upon Mount Carmel, 
 when Elijah defied the prophets of Baal. In the reign of 
 Uzziah is mentioned an earlier Zechariah, not to be con- 
 founded with his namesake of the Second Temple, though 
 the conjecture has been hazarded that part of the book of 
 Zechariah may have been the composition of the former 
 prophet. In the reign of Pekah king of Israel, when 
 there was war with Judah, and an enormous number of 
 Jewish captives had been taken by the army of Israel, it 
 was "a prophet of the Lord whose name was Oded" who 
 advised the magnanimous restoration of the prisoners — a 
 deed of brotherly kindness which illumines with a late 
 gleam of light the rapidly closing day of the northern 
 kingdom. "Huldah the Prophetess " belongs to the reign 
 of Josiah. Urijah the son of Shemaiah was put to death 
 in the reign of Jehoiakim for prophesying the approaching 
 
SUCCESSION OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 311 
 
 ruin of tlie Temple. The reference to his fate made 
 in the story of Jeremiah's danger has abeady been men- 
 tioned. 
 
 Succession of the Prophets. 
 
 The whole succession of the prophets as far as it is 
 known to us will therefore stand at something like the 
 following. The names of those who are not known to 
 have left any writings which have come down to us are 
 printed in italics. At the head of the list we place the 
 name of 
 
 SAMUEL. 
 
 Gad the Seer. 
 Nathan the Prophet. 
 Ahijah the Shilonite. 
 
 (in judau.) 
 
 Iddo the Seer. 
 Shemaiah. 
 
 (in ISRAEL.) 
 
 Ahijah (continued to prophesy in 
 Israel.) 
 
 Azariah. 
 Sanani. 
 
 Jehu the son of Sanani. 
 
 Eliezer. 
 
 Jahaziel. 
 
 Micaiah the son of Imlah. 
 
 ELIJAH. 
 
 Elisha. 
 
 Joel (?) 
 
 Amos (?) 
 Jonah (?) 
 
312 THE MINOR PROPHETS. 
 
 Succession of the Pro/j/ie^s^-continued. 
 
 (in judah.) 
 
 (in ISRAEL.) 
 
 Zechariah I. 
 
 Oded. 
 
 HOSEA. 
 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 
 MicAH the Morasthite. 
 
 
 Zephaniah (?) 
 
 Nahum (?) 
 
 Habakkuk (?) 
 
 
 Huldah the Frophetess. 
 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 
 TJrijah. 
 
 
 EzEKIEIi. 
 
 
 Obadiah (P) 
 
 
 Deutero-Isaiah (?) 
 
 
 Hagoai. 
 
 
 Zechariah II. 
 
 
 Joel (?) 
 
 
 Malachi. 
 
 
 Tlie Book of Jonah written (?) 
 The Book of Daniel written (?) 
 
 Of course it is not to be supposed that the above list con- 
 tains the names of all who held the prophetical office in 
 Judah or Israel. There were many other prophets besides 
 these. These are but the few whose names have been pre- 
 served from the undistinguished throng. At one time at 
 least it would appear that the prophets of Jehovah in 
 
THE DAYS WITHOUT A PROPHET. 313 
 
 Israel were to be counted by tbe hundred, like the pro- 
 phets of Baal or other heathen deities.^ 
 
 The Days without a Trophet. 
 
 With Malachi the succession of the Prophets came to an 
 end. He was " the last of the prophets," and the writers 
 of the apocryphal Jewish books, which belong to the suc- 
 ceeding period, touchingly speak of their own day as the 
 time when no prophet was seen among them. But the 
 darkness was illumined by the trust that the prophetic 
 spirit was not dead but only sleeping, and the day was 
 looked for, with perfect confidence, when "there should 
 arise a faithful prophet." This expectation was connected 
 with the belief, existing at the time when the Book of 
 Malachi was written, that Elijah or some other of the 
 ancient prophets was to visit the earth again.- In the 
 opening pages of the New Testament we shall read how 
 this expectation was fulfilled in the spirit, if not in the 
 letter. 
 
 ^ 1 Kings xviii. 4, 19, 22 ; xxii. 6 : 2 Kings ii. 7 : Jer. xxix. 1 : Hos. 
 xii 10, &c. 
 
 2 Mai. iv. 5. Comp. Ezek. xxxvi. 24, 25. See p. 309. 
 
314 THE CANOX OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 SUPPLEMENTAL CHAPTER. 
 
 THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.^ 
 
 The Order of the Books in the Hebrew Bible. 
 
 'T^HE order of tlie Books of the Old Testament as we 
 -^ have given them is the order of the English Bible/ 
 which is the same as the present order of the Septuagint, 
 from which the first English translation was descended 
 through the Vulgate.^ In the Hebrew Bible the books 
 are differently arranged. They are divided into three 
 great groups, called respectively — 
 
 1. THE LAW (Torah). 
 
 2. THE PEOPHETS (Nebeini). 
 
 3. THE SACRED WEITINGS (Kethubim). 
 
 The Law consists of the five Books of Moses, viz. — 
 
 1. Genesis (Beresliitli) . 
 
 2. ExoDTJS (Shemoth). 
 
 3. Leviticus (Yayikra). 
 
 4. Numbers (Banidbar). 
 
 5. Deuteronomy (Debarim). 
 
 1 Canon was originally a Greek ■vrord meaning a straight rod or nde. It 
 was also used to signify a collection of books. Wlien used of the books of 
 the Bible it is to be understood as meaning the collection of books recognized 
 by the Chiu'ch as containing an authoritative ride of faith and practice. A 
 book belonging to the Canon is called Canonical. 
 
 2 See p. 3. 
 
 ^ See pp. i, H6 (note). 
 
ORDER OF THE BOOKS m THE HEBREW BIBLE. 315 
 
 In the Prophets are included not only some of what we 
 have called Prophetical Books, but also some of the His- 
 torical Books, which were, perhaps, placed under this 
 heading as being the work of prophetical writers. This 
 group is again subdivided into the Former and the Latter 
 Prophets. The Books of the Former Prophets are — 
 
 1. Joshua. 
 
 2. Judges. 
 
 3. I. and II. Samuel. 
 
 4. I. and II. Kings. 
 
 The Books of the Latter Prophets are — 
 
 1. Isaiah. 
 
 2. Jeremiah. 
 
 3. EZEKIEL. 
 
 4. The Book of the Twelve Minor Prophets, arranged as in 
 
 tlie English Bible. 
 
 The Kethubim, or Sacred Writings, called in Grreek 
 Hagiographa, are as follows : — 
 
 1. Psalms. 
 
 2. Proverbs. 
 
 3. Job. 
 
 4. Song of Solomon. 
 
 5. Ruth. 
 
 6. Lamentations. 
 
 7. Ecclesiastes. 
 
 8. Esther. 
 
 9. Daniel. 
 
 10. Ezra. 
 
 11. Nehemiah. 
 
 12. Chronicles. 
 
 The, Formation of the Canon. 
 
 Of the process by which this collection of books came 
 to be put together and to occupy its present position of 
 authority we have no distinct record. Our knowledge on 
 the subject is vague and mainly conjectural. 
 
316 THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 The account of the finding of the Book of the Law in 
 the Temple in the reign of Josiah, and of the proceedings 
 in connexion with that event, shows that the Hebrews be- 
 fore the Captivity were familiar with the idea of a book as 
 an authoritative guide on the subject of religion, and that 
 some book of the law, whether an early version of the 
 Book of Deuteronomy or some other, was then recognized 
 as holding such a position of authority.^ Whether any other 
 writings were admitted to the same position of authority 
 as the Book of the Law before the Captivity is a point 
 upon which we have no evidence. 
 
 Many circumstances tend to confirm the tradition, which 
 has long been current in the Jewish and Christian Churches, 
 that the work of collecting and editing the Hebrew Sacred 
 Books received its great impulse in the times of Ezra and 
 Nehemiah. There is first the account of tlie great public 
 reading of the law which took place in their time, coupled 
 with the description of Ezra, the leading spirit on the oc- 
 casion, as "a ready scribe in the law of Moses," who "had 
 prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do 
 it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments."- Th-U 
 there is in the Apocryphal Book of 2 Esdras a legend, 
 which was no doubt founded upon some truth, that the 
 law having been completely lost was recovered again by 
 Ezra, who received a special Divine inspiration to dictate 
 it anew to five scribes.^ The Second Book of Maccabees 
 contains a statement quoted from some earlier writing that 
 Nehemiah founded a library, and " gathered together the 
 
 1 See 2 Kings xxii. 8-20 ; xxiii. 1-25. See pp. 89, 1 10. See also 
 Ex. xxiv. 7 : Dciit. xx.xi. 2G, &c. 
 
 2 Ezra vii. 6, 10. A ready scribe is here a skilful man of letters, not a 
 quick writer. 
 
 ^ 2 Esflras xiv. 19-48. 
 
THE FORMATION OF THE CAKOX. 317 
 
 [writings] concerniug the kings and prophets, and the 
 [writings] of David, and letters of kings concerning offer- 
 ings."^ All this clearly indicates the age of Ezra and 
 Nehemiah as a time when some important advance was 
 made in the formation of the Canon. The Books of the 
 Law were probably edited by Ezra. Whether in theii- 
 final form or not we cannot be certain ; there is nothing to 
 forbid the supposition that they may have received some 
 later revision. In the account of the collection of books 
 attributed to Nehemiah the expression " the writings con- 
 cerning the kings and prophets " looks like a description 
 of the second part of the Hebrew Canon, and it has been 
 conjectured that the " letters of kings concerning offer- 
 ings " may have been some early records relating to the 
 time of the Return and the rebuilding of the Temple, 
 which were afterwards used in compiling the Books of 
 Ezra and Nehemiah. If so, we must suppose that a 
 second collection was soon added to the five Books of the 
 Law, and that it contained most or all of what was after- 
 wards the second division of the Hebrew Canon, together 
 with the " letters of the kings" and a collection of Psalms. 
 It must be admitted, however, that this passage from 
 2 Maccabees appears in company with some very apocry- 
 phal stories, and may not be trustworthy. But in any 
 case we may assume that the work commenced by Ezra 
 was continued after his time, and that " the Prophets " 
 were soon added to " the Law." 
 
 Some writers have endeavoured to prove that the Canon 
 was closed before the end of the Persian period. But 
 there is no evidence to show this. On the contrary, the 
 statements that Antiochus Epiphanes, in his persecution of 
 the Jews, sought out and burnt the Books of the Law, and 
 
 1 2 JIacc. ii. 13. 
 
318 THE CAXOX OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 that Judas Maccabseus gathered together again the books 
 which had been lost during the war, may be accepted as 
 proving that something yet remained to be done for the 
 Sacred Books even in the Grrecian period.^ 
 
 There is, therefore, no argument to be derived from the 
 history of the Canon to contradict the opinions which we 
 have mentioned elsewhere as to the later date of some of 
 the books.'^ The position of the Book of Daniel, and of 
 Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles, in the last division of the 
 Canon, would be in favour of the supposition of their late 
 composition.^ The Psalter shows signs of perhaps mor« 
 than one rearrangement, and may have received very late 
 accessions, though some former edition of it may have been 
 used in the Temple from a very early period. 
 
 In the prologue to the Book of Ecclesiasticus, a writing 
 of uncertain date, but probably to be placed in the latter 
 part of the second century b.c, we meet with words which 
 show clearly that the Canon had then reached its thi'eef old 
 form. The writer speaks of "the Law, and the Prophecies, 
 and the rest of the Books." ^ Even this does not, however, 
 show that the list of books was then finally settled, for as 
 late as the first Christian century there were disputes 
 amongst the Jewish authorities as to the admission of 
 some books, questions having been raised as to the right 
 of Ecclesiastes, the Canticles, Esther, and Proverbs, to a 
 place in the Canon. Josephus, who wrote near the end of 
 that century, gave the number of the Sacred Books as 
 
 ^ 1 Mace. i. 56; 2 Mace. ii. 14 ; Jos. Aiit. xii. 5, § 4. 
 
 2 See pp. 154-156, 181, 272, 273. 
 
 ^ The order in wliicli these thi-ee hooks occiu- is strange, if they -n-ere ori- 
 ginally one work. It may he that Ezra and Nehemiah were separated from 
 Chronicles and first admitted to the Canon, to fonn a continuation of the 
 Book of Kings, and that Chronicles was added after. 
 
 * Comp. Luke xxiv. 44. See Acts xxviii. 23. 
 
LATER JEWISH TEADITIOX. 319 
 
 twenty-two, viz. — five of Moses, thirteen of the Prophets, 
 and four of "Hymns to Grod, and precepts for the conduct 
 of human life."^ It is evident that he included in the 
 Prophetical Books some of the later historical works, but 
 it is not clear how he made up the numbers thirteen and 
 four. His list, however, must have been nearly, if not 
 exactly, the present list, and we may regard the Canon as 
 having been practically closed about this time, though we 
 still find some uncertainty on the subject among the early 
 Christian writers. 
 
 Later Jewish Tradition. 
 
 Centuries later Jewish tradition has much to tell about 
 the history of the Sacred Books. But it is impossible to 
 separate whatever grains of truth these traditions may 
 contain from their mountains of rubbish. One passage 
 from the Talmud will afford an illustration : — 
 
 " But who wrote [the Books of the Bible] ? Moses 
 wrote his Book and the section of Balaam, and Job. 
 Joshua wrote his Book and eight verses in the Law. 
 Samuel wrote his Book and Judges and Ruth. David 
 wrote the Psalms [of which, however, some were com- 
 posed] by the ten venerable elders, Adam the first man, 
 Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, Haman (Heman), Jedu- 
 thun, Asaph, and the three sons of Korah. Jeremiah 
 wrote his Book, Kings, and Lamentations. Hezekiah and 
 his friends wrote [reduced to writing ?] Isaiah, Proverbs, 
 Canticles, and Ecclesiastes. The men of the Grreat Syna- 
 gogue wrote [reduced to writing?] Ezekiel, the Twelve 
 Prophets, Daniel, and Esther. Ezra wrote his Book and 
 the genealogy in Chronicles down to himself. . . . Who 
 
 1 Against Ap. i. 8. 
 
320 THE CANOX OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 brought the remainder of the Books [of Chronicles] to a 
 close ? Nehemiah the son of Hachalijah." ^ 
 
 The Septuagint, or Alexandrian Version ; The Apocrypha. 
 
 Besides the Hebrew Bible there was also a Greek Bible 
 which was used by the Grreek-speaking Jews of Alexandria 
 and elsewhere. It is generally agreed that the commence- 
 ment of this version was made in the first half of the 
 third century b.c-, by the translation of the Pentateuch 
 into Grreek. The translations of the following books ap- 
 pear to have been the work of different persons, and were 
 probably made at different times. 
 
 In addition to the Greek version of the Hebrew Canoni- 
 cal Books, the Septuagint also contains the writings which 
 are known as the Apocrypha. These Apocryphal Books 
 belong to a later period of Jewish literature than the Books 
 of the Hebrew Canon. Few, if any, of them "can be 
 thrown further back than the commencement of the third 
 century b.c."^ Some of them are translations from 
 Hebrew originals which have been lost, and others were 
 apparently written from the first in Greek. They are, on 
 the whole, much inferior in character to the Canonical 
 Books. They are included in the Canon of the Church of 
 Eome, but the English Church allows them a position of 
 only secondary importance. A translation of them is 
 contained in some English Bibles along with the Canon- 
 ical Books, but it is more commonly printed by itself. 
 
 1 Baba Bathi-a, f. 14, b. Quoted in Smith's Bih. Diet., Art. Canon, and 
 The Canon of the Bible by Samuel Davidson, p. 41. 
 - B. F. Westcott, in Smith's Bib. Die., Art. A^pocrypha. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Aaron, 23, 24, 26. 
 Abel, 7. 
 Abiathar, 59. 
 Abijab : see Abijam. 
 Abijam, 6.5, 83, 309. 
 Abimelech, 12, 14. 
 Abishai, 56, 58. 
 Abner, 55. 
 
 Abrabam, Abram, 9-13, 126, 127, 128, 129, 207, 308, 319. 
 Absalom, 58, 156. 
 
 Acrostics [Alphabetical), 193, 200, 259. 
 Adam, 5, 128, 319. 
 Adam (^Descendants of), 7, 128. 
 Adonijah, 58. 
 
 Adversaries of Judah and Benjamin [The), 98. 
 Agur, the son of Jakeh, 193. 
 Ahab, king of Israel, 65, 69, 310. 
 Ahab, the son of Kolaiah, 252. 
 Ahasuerus, 161, 162. 
 Ahaz, 66, 76, 86, 225. 
 Ahaziah, king of Israel, 65, 86, 310. 
 Ahaziah, king of Judah, 65, 76, 84. 
 Ahijah the Shilonite, 64, 309, 311. 
 Ahikam, 249, 252, 254. 
 Alexander the Great, 99, 155. 
 Amalek, Amalekites, 55, oG. 
 Amaziah, king of Judah, 66, 85. 
 Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, 280, 282. 
 
 Y 
 
322 INDEX. 
 
 Amnion, Ammonites, 11, 52, 56, 60, 79, 86, 98, 128, 212, 256, 264, 
 
 281, 296. 
 Amon, 66, 87. 
 Amorites, 27, 128. 
 Amos, 210, 217, and note, 280, 311. 
 Amos (The Book of), 280-283. 
 Amoz, 217, and note. 
 Anakim, 45. 
 Anath, 46. 
 
 Anathoth, 248, 251, 252. 
 Antiochus Epii^hanes, 272, 317. 
 Apocrypha, Apocryphal Books , 316, 317, 320. 
 Arab, Arabia, 230, 256, 285. 
 Arad the Canaanite, 26. 
 Ariel, 233. 
 
 Ark {The), 29, 61, 54, 56, 59, 149. 
 Arsareth, 103. 
 Art and Feeling, 259. 
 Artaxerxes, 95. 
 Asa, 41, 75, 83, 309. 
 AsMod, 228, 236. 
 Asherah, 83 (note). 
 Asbtoreth, 60, 88. 
 Askelon, 298. 
 
 Assonance in Mebreiv Poetry, 167 (note). 
 Assyria, Assyrians, 72, 76, 77, 212, 221, 223, 225, 226, 228, 232, 233, 236, 
 
 249, 265, 291, 304, 306. 
 Assyrian kings mentioned in the Old Testament, 153. 
 Athaliah, 66, 84. 
 Athanasius (S.), 154. 
 Atonement {Day of), 37. 
 Azariah (IJzziah), 66, 85, 92, 2 1 7, 305. 
 Azariah the prophet, 309, 311. 
 
 Baal, 46, 69, 70. 
 
 Baal {Prophets of), 313. 
 
 Baasha, 65, 75, 310. 
 
 Babel, 9. 
 
 Babylon, Babylonians, 77, 79, 94, 181, 182, 189, 212, 224, 228. 237, 238, 
 
 248, 261, 252, 257, 294, 295. 
 Balak, 27. 
 Balam, 27. 
 
INDEX . 323 
 
 Bamoth : see High Places. 
 
 Baptism, 13. 
 
 Baruch, 248, 253, 254, 257. 
 
 BarziUai (The aged), 199. 
 
 Bashan, 27. 
 
 Bathsheba, 59. 
 
 Beersheba, 14. 
 
 Belshazzar, 270, 271. 
 
 Benhadad, 75. 
 
 Benjamin, 17. 
 
 Bethaven, 276. 
 
 Bethel, 16, 17, 68, 88, 276, 280, 281, 282. 
 
 Bethlehem, 290. 
 
 Bible (The English), 2, 3, 180, 274, 314. 
 
 Bible (The Greek), 4, 146, 314, 320. 
 
 Bible (The Hebrew), 146, 274, 314, 320. 
 
 Bible {The), a record of progr-essive revelation, 142. 
 
 Bible {The), and the Young, 163 and Preface. 
 
 BHdadthe Shuhite, 172. 
 
 Boaz, 48. 
 
 Book of Jasher, 109, 148. 
 
 Book of the Wars of the Lord, 109. 
 
 Book of the Law found in the Temple, 89, 138, 140, 250, 297, 316. 
 
 Burke (Edmund), 174. 
 
 Cain, 7, 128. 
 
 Gain {Descendants of), 7, 128, 129. 
 
 Caleb, 25, 129. 
 
 Canaan, 8, 9, 128. 
 
 Canaan (Conquest of), 44, 45, 143. 
 
 Canon, Canonical, 314-320. 
 
 Canticles: see Song of Solomon. 
 
 Carchemish, 79, 255. 
 
 Carlyle (Thomas), 57, 175. 
 
 Census, 19, 28, 129. 
 
 Chaldaeans : see Babylonians. 
 
 Charran, 9. 
 
 Chebar, 261, 262, 263. 
 
 Chemosh, 60. 
 
 Cheyne (T. K.), 237. 
 
 Chittim = Cyprus, 231. 
 
 Y2 
 
324 INDEX. 
 
 Chozeh, 209. 
 
 Christianity, Christian Writers, &c., 2, 47, 49, 131, 136, 141, 143, 204, 
 
 207. 
 Chronicles (The Canonical Books of), 50, 91-93, 149, 154, 156, 157, 
 
 158, 309, 315, 318, 319, 320. 
 " Chronicles of the kings of Israel and Judah," 149, 160. 
 Chronology, 19, 20 (note), 153. 
 Chusanrishathaim, 46. 
 Circumcision, 11, 13. 
 Cities of the plain, 10. 
 Clean and Unclean, 40. 
 
 Commerce, 59, 60, 75, 220 : see also Strangers. 
 Coniah, 80. 
 Covenant {The), 13. 
 Creation, 5, 123, 125, 165. 
 Criticism {Biblical), 108, chapters xii., xiii., xiv. passim, 197, 257, 300, 
 
 &c, 
 Cyrus, 94, 161, 239, 270, 271, 272. 
 
 Damascus, 11, 56, 71, 72, 77, 212, 226, 256, 304. 
 
 Dan, 68. 
 
 Daniel, 269, 271. 
 
 Daniel (The Book of), 269-273, 274, 312, 318, 319. 
 
 Darius, 95, 161. 
 
 Darius the Mede, 270, 271, 272. 
 
 Darius the Persian, 156, 161. 
 
 David, 53-69, 81, 91, 137, 156, 181, 207, 266, 319. 
 
 Davidson (Samuel), 320. 
 
 Dehir, 144. 
 
 Deborah, 46. 
 
 Debt {Law of), 30, 253. 
 
 Decalogue {The) : see Ten Commandments. 
 
 Delitzsch (Dr. Franz), 233. 
 
 Deuteronomy (The Book of), 28, 110, 140, 144, 314, 316. 
 
 Dibon, 151. 
 
 Divine Being {Names of ) , 117-119. 
 
 Documentary Hypothesis, 109, 111, 117, 120, 121. 
 
 FMrthquake {The), 280, 281, 305. 
 
 Ebed-melech, 249, 254. 
 
 EccLEsiASTEs (The Book of) 196-202, 271, 315, 318, 319. 
 
INDEX. 325 
 
 Ecclesiasticus (Book of), 318. 
 
 Eden, 5, 123, 125. 
 
 Edom, Edomites, 15, 26, 27, 56, 75, 76, 98, 127, 229, 235, 245, 256, 264, 
 
 281, 284, 308. 
 Eglon, king of Moab, 46. 
 Egypt, Egyptians, 18, 19, 74, 77, 78, 79, 80, 128, 130, 221, 224, 228, 232, 
 
 233, 247, 249, 253, 254, 255, 262, 264, 265, 306. 
 Ehud, 46. 
 Elah, 65. 
 
 Elam, Elamites, 228, 256 
 Elath, 76. 
 
 Elders appointed, 24. 
 Eleazer, the priest, 26. 
 Eli, 50. 
 Eliakim, 231. 
 
 Eliezer, the prophet, 310,311. 
 Elihu, the son of Barachel, 172. 
 EUjah, 69, 207, 211, 310, 311, 313. 
 Eliphaz the Temanite, 171. 
 Elisha, 69, 72, 211, 310, 311. 
 Elkosh, 292, 293. 
 Elohim, Elohist, &c., 117-119. 
 Endor (The "Witch of), 54. 
 Enoch, 7. 
 Enos, 7. 
 
 Ephraim, Ephraimites, see also Kingdom of Israel, 221, 222. 224, 233, 306. 
 Ephi-on the Hittite, 12. 
 Esau, see also Edom, 14, 15, 17, 127, 308. 
 Esdras (Second Book of), 102. 
 Esther, 104, 163. 
 
 Esther (The Book of), 104-107, 162, 163, 315, 318, 319. 
 Ethiopia, Ethiopians, 227, 236, 249, 296. 
 Euphrates, 56, 79, 102, 257. 
 Eve, 5. 
 
 Evil-Merodach, 257. 
 Ewald (Professor Heinrich), 155, 156, 157, 161, 182, 222, 227, 258, 277, 
 
 293. 
 Exodus (The), 21, 129, 131, 249, 295. 
 Exodus (The Book of), 19, 19-24, 110, 314. 
 Ezekiol, 261, 262, 263, 266, 267, 312. 
 EzEKiEL (The Book of), 261-2C8, 319. 
 
326 INDEX. 
 
 Ezra, 95,97, 316, 317, 319. 
 
 Ezra (The Book of), 94, 95, 98, 101, 154, 156, 158, 160, 315, 317, 318, 
 319. 
 
 Fall {The), 6, 123, 125, 165. 
 
 Festivals, 35-38. 
 
 First-Fruita 43. 
 
 Five-fold Division of Old Testament Books, 4, 182, 192. 
 
 Flood [The), 7, 110, 111, 123, 126, 164, 165. 
 
 Forty Years' Wanderings of tlie Israelites, 25. 
 
 Gad the Seer, 309, 311. 
 
 Gad (Tribe of), 44. 
 
 Gaza, 225, 281. 
 
 Gedaliah, 254. 
 
 Genealogies, 8, 91, 127, 155, 159. 
 
 Genesis (The Book of), 5-18, 109, 110, 111, 123, 124, 126, 127, 314. 
 
 Gerar, 11, 14. 
 
 Geshem the Arabian, 100. 
 
 Giants {The), 17, 45, 53, 123, 124. 
 
 Gibeon, 44, 45. 
 
 Gideon, 46, 137. 
 
 Gilboa (Battle of), 63, 65, 56. 
 
 Gilgal, 281. 
 
 Goliath, 53. 
 
 Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, 275, 277. 
 
 Greeks, Grecia, Grecian period, 155, 272, 318, 320. 
 
 HAB.\KKrK (The Book of), 294-296, 312. 
 
 Hagar, 11, 12, 308. 
 
 Haggai, 95, 207, 298, 307, 312. 
 
 Haggai (The Book of), 298-300. 
 
 Hagiographa {The), 315. 
 
 Ham, 8, 128, 130. 
 
 Haman, 104. 
 
 Hamath, 56, 71. 
 
 Ilanani, Nohemiah's brother, 97. 
 
 Ilanani, the prophet, 309, 311. 
 
 Ilananiah, a false prophet, 252. 
 
INDEX. 327 
 
 Haran, 9, 12, 15, 16. 
 
 Harvest Festival, 36. 
 
 Hazael, 76. 
 
 Hazor, 45, 144, 256. 
 
 Hebrews (The), 1, 137. 
 
 Hebron, 10, 12, 14, 55, 128. 
 
 Herodotus, 160, 297. 
 
 Heroes [The Hebrew), 47. 
 
 Hezekiah, 66, 77, 86, 182, 193, 208, 236, 237, 319. 
 
 High Places (TJte), 81, 84, 86, 87, 88, 137. 
 
 HilMab the high priest, 89, 141. 
 
 Historical Books (The), 3, 4-107, 108-166. 
 
 Hobab, 24. 
 
 Homiah, 143, 144. 
 
 Hosea the prophet, 274, 275 (note), 312. 
 
 HosEA (The Book of), 222, 274, 274-277. 
 
 Hoshea, king of Israel, 66, 71, 73, 275. 
 
 Hiildah, the prophetess, 89, 208, 310, 312. 
 
 Hussab (P), 294. 
 
 Iddo the Seer, 309, 311. 
 
 Idols, idolatry, 239. 
 
 Images [Use of ), 136. 
 
 Immanuel, 221, 222, 223. 
 
 Inlwritance [Law of), 31. 
 
 Isaac, 12, 13, 127. 
 
 Isaiah, 78, 208, 215, 217, 312, 319. 
 
 Isaiah (The Book of), 217-246, 319. 
 
 Ishbosheth, 55. 
 
 Ishmael, Ishmaelites, 11, 12, 127. 
 
 Ishmael, the son of Xethauiah, 254. 
 
 Israel, Israelites, 1, 16-18, 248. 
 
 Israel (The kingdom of), 68-73, 221-223, 226, 250, 281. 
 
 Ittai the Gittite, 58. 
 
 Jabal, 7. 
 
 Jabbok, 17. 
 
 Jabesh-Gilead, 52, 54. 
 
 Jabin, 144. 
 
 Jacob, 14-18, 127, 12S 
 
;J28 . INDEX. 
 
 Jael, 46. 
 
 Jahaziel, 310, 311. 
 
 Jair the judge, 144. 
 
 Jair the son of Manasseh, 144. 
 
 Japheth, 8. 
 
 Jasher : see Book of. 
 
 Jeconiah, 80. 
 
 Jehoahaz, king of Israel, 66. 
 
 Jehoahaz, king of Judah, 67. 
 
 Jehoash (Joash), king of Israel, 66. 
 
 Jehoash (Joash), king of Judah, 66, 76, 86. 
 
 Jehoiachin, 67, 79. 
 
 Jehoiada, 67, 85. 
 
 Jehoiakim, 67, 77, 79, 247, 250-253. 310. 
 
 Jehoram (Joram), king of Israel, 65, 95. 
 
 Jehoram (Joram), king of Judah, 66, 76, 84 
 
 Jehoshaphat, 65, 75, 76, 83, 92, 310. 
 
 Jehoshaphat (Valley of), 279. 
 
 Jehotah, Jehovist, 117-119. 
 
 Jehu the son of Nimshi, 66, 70, 71. 
 
 Jehu the son of Hanani, 309, 311. 
 
 Jephthah, 47. 
 
 Jeremiah, 146, 240, 247, 248, 249-254, 261, 312, 319. 
 
 Jeremiah (The Book of), 247-260, 263, 319. 
 
 Jericho, 44. 
 
 Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, 63, 65, 68, 69. 
 
 Jeroboam, the son of Joash, 66, 71. 
 
 Jerusalem, see also Zion, 55, 58, 59, 63, 80, 93, 157, 219, 230, 232, 235^ 
 
 286, 303, 305, 306. 
 Jeshua: see Joshua. 
 Jethro, 21, 23. 
 Jeivs, 1, 104. 
 Joab, 56, 58, 69. 
 Joash: see Jehoash. 
 Job, 170, 173, 174. 
 
 Job (The Book of), 167-178, 215, 260, 271, 315. 
 Joel, 278, 311, 312. 
 Joel (The Book of), 278, 279. 
 Jonah, 212, 286, 287. 
 Jonah (The Book of), 286, 287, 312. 
 Jonathan, 54, 55. 
 Joseph, 20. 
 
INDEX. 329 
 
 Josephiis, 100, 101, 287, 318. 
 
 Joshua the son of Nun, 25, 44, 143, 145. 
 
 Joshua (The Book of), 44, 45, 50, 62, 110, 143, 144, 145, 314. 
 
 Joshua the son of Jozadak, 95, 298, 299, 301, 302. 
 
 Josiah, 66, 78, 87, 138, 208, 297, 298. 
 
 Jotham, 66, 85. 
 
 Juhal, 7. 
 
 Judah (The kingdom of), 74-80, 81-90, 233, 234, 249, 250, 281. 
 
 Judas Maccahseus, 100, 272, 318. 
 
 Judges, judicial procedure, &c., 43. 
 
 Judges (The Book of), 45-47, 62, 110, 143, 144, 315. 
 
 Judgments {The Divine), 231, 281. 
 
 Kedar, 256. 
 
 KeU(Dr. C. F.), 155, 162, 287. 
 
 Kethubim, 314, 315. 
 
 Keturah, 13, 127. 
 
 Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, 68-73. 
 
 Kingdom of Judah : see Judah. 
 
 Kings (The Books of), 50, 58-90, 146, 148, 149, 315, 319. 
 
 Kings of Assyria mentioned in the Bible [Table of), 153. 
 
 Kings of Judah and Israel [Table of), 65. 
 
 Kings of Persia mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah [Table of), 160-162. 
 
 Korah, 26. 
 
 Koran (The), 30, 127. 
 
 Kuenen (Dr. A.), 182 (note). 
 
 Laban, 16. 
 
 Lahai-roi (The well), 14. 
 
 Lamech, 7. 
 
 Lamentations (The Book of), 259, 260, 315, 319. 
 
 Land law [Hebrew), 31. 
 
 "Law (The)," 4, 314, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320. 
 
 Law: see Book. 
 
 Law (Date of Ceremonial and Civil), 136, 141. 
 
 Law [Public reading of, by Ezra), 97, 316, 317. 
 
 Laws of Moses [The), 23, 29-43, 133, 134, 136. 
 
 Leah, 16. 
 
 Lemuel (King), 193. 
 
 Levi, Levites, 42, 68, 88, 95, 308. 
 
330 INDEX. 
 
 Leviticus (The Book of), 3, 19, 30-43, 142, 314. 
 
 Lex Talionis, 33. 
 
 Libnah, 76. 
 
 Littledale (Dr. R. F.), 205. 
 
 Livy, 253. 
 
 Lot, 9-12, 128. 
 
 Luther, 174. 
 
 Machpelah (Cave of), 12, 13, 18. 
 
 Mahanaim, 17, 58. 
 
 Maher-shalal-hash-baz, 222. 
 
 Mahomet, 30. 
 
 Malachi, 307, 312, 313. 
 
 Malachi (The Book of), 307-300. 
 
 Mamre, 14, 18. 
 
 Manasseh, king of Judah, 66, 87, 93. 
 
 Manasseh (The Tribe of), 44. 
 
 Manetho, 131, 132 (note). 
 
 Manna, 23. 
 
 Manoah, 137. 
 
 Marah, 23. 
 
 Medicine, perhaps p}-actised by the prophets, 211. 
 
 Medes (The), Media, 224, 228, 250. 
 
 Megiddo (Battle of), 78, 255, 298. 
 
 Melchizedek, 11, 319. 
 
 Menahem, 66, 72, 154. 
 
 Merodach-Baladan, 237. 
 
 Merom (Waters of), 45. 
 
 Mesha, king of Moab, 151, 152. 
 
 Mesopotamia, 29, 46. 
 
 Messiah (The), 101, 213, 214, 220, 222, 223, 245, 251, 271, 289, 300. 
 
 Micah the Morasthite, 287, 288, 312. 
 
 MiCAH (The Book of), 287-291. 
 
 Micaiah the son of Imlah, 310, 311. 
 
 Midian, Midianites, 21, 27. 
 
 Milcah, 128. 
 
 Milcom, 60. 
 
 Milman (H. H.), Ill, 157, 212, 260. 
 
 Miracles, 130. 
 
 Miriam, 24, 26. 
 
 Mizraim, 128. 
 
INDEX. 331 
 
 Moab, Moabites, 11, 27, 28, 46, 56, 60, 79, 98, 128, 150, 212, 226, 255, 
 
 264, 281, 296. 
 Moabite Stone, 150, 226. 
 Molech, Moloch, 60, 86, 87. 
 Mordecai, 104, 105. 
 Moresheth-Gath, Morasthite, 207. 
 Moses, 20, 21-28, 130, 139, 145, 174, 207, 319. 
 Music [Hebrew), 169, 211. 
 Mythology [The Classical), 123. 
 
 Nabi, 208. 
 
 Nadab, 65. 
 
 Xahor, Nahoreans, 12, 128. 
 
 Nahum, 213,292, 312. 
 
 Nahum (The Book of), 292-294. 
 
 Naomi, 48. 
 
 Natban, 309, 311. 
 
 Nations {The rushing of the), 226. 
 
 Xebeim, 314. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar, 79, 269, 270, 271. 
 
 Nehemiah, 95, 98, 158, 307, 316, 317, 319, 320. 
 
 Nehemiah (The Book of), 93, 94-98, 108 (note), 154, 156, 158, 160, 315, 
 
 317, 318, (and note), 319. 
 Neiv Testament, see also Christian, &c., 2, 307, 313. 
 NichoUs' Selp to the Beading of the Bible, 177. 
 Nile (The), 227, 231. 
 
 Nineveh, 286, 287, 292, 293, 294, 296, 297. 
 No (Egyptian Thebes), 293, 294. 
 Noah, 7, 8, 128. 
 Numbers (The Book of), 3, 19, 23-28, 110, 143, 144, 314. 
 
 Obadiah (The Book of), 283-285, 312. 
 
 Oded, 310, 312. 
 
 Offerings, 38. 
 
 Og, king of Bashan, 27. 
 
 Old age, 198. 
 
 Old Testament, 1,3. 
 
 Omri, 65, 69, 70. 
 
 Ophir, 75. 
 
332 INDEX. 
 
 Orontes (The river), 56, 71. 
 Othniel, 46. 
 
 Palestine, 1, 225. 
 
 Palmer (A. S.), 201 (note). 
 
 Paradise, 6, 123, 125. 
 
 Paradise Lost, 6. 
 
 Paran (Wilderness of), 12. 
 
 Passover {The), 22, 24, 36, 89. 
 
 Pekah, 66, 73, 76, 310. 
 
 Pekahiah, 66. 
 
 Pentateuch (The), 4, 4-43, 109, 110, 122, 129, 138, 143, 147, 159. 
 
 Pentecost, 36. 
 
 Persia, Persians, 94, 317. 
 
 Persian Kings (Table of), 161. 
 
 Pharaoh, 20, 21, 22. 
 
 Philistines, Philistia, 12, 14, 52, 54, 55, 56, 70, 77, 225, 228, 255, 2G4, 
 
 281, 284, 296, 304. 
 Phineas, 27, 62. 
 Pithom, 20. 
 
 Poetry [Hebrew), bb, 167, 198-202, 202, 210. 
 Predictions : see Prophecy. 
 Prophecy {Literal ftdjilment of), 266. 
 Prophecy {Predictive element in), 215, 285. 
 
 Prophet, prophesy, &c. {Meaning of the ivords) , 208, 209 (note). 
 Prophetical Books (The), 3, 50, 206-313, 314, 315, 317, 318, 319. 
 Prophetical Book {Arrangement of a), 246, 258, 262. 
 Prophets {The Hebreiv), 206-208, 210, 309, 311, 315. 
 Prophets (The Minor), 274, 274-313, 319. 
 Prophets {Succession of), 309, 311. 
 Prophets {The Days tvithout), 313. 
 Prophets of the Last Pays {The), 212. 
 Prophets of heathen deities, 310, 313. 
 Proverbs (The Book of), 192-196, 315, 318, 319. 
 Providence {Our power of comprehending), 131 (and note). 
 Psalms (The Book of), 56, 130, 137, 168, 169, 179-191, 193, 214, 315, 
 
 317, 318, 319. 
 Psalmody {Other examples of), bb, 57, 237, 295. 
 Pul, king of Assyria, 72, 153, 154. 
 Puns, play on words, 221, 222, 276, 288. 
 Purim {The Feast of), 106, 107, 103. 
 
INDEX. 333 
 
 Quarles ( B'rancis) , 201. 
 
 Raamses, 20, 132, 133. 
 
 Rachel, 16. 
 
 Rahab, 137. 
 
 Rainboiv (The), 8, 112, 123. 
 
 Ramah, 137. 
 
 Rebekah, 12, 14. 
 
 Recbab, Rechabites, 253. 
 
 Recorder [The office of), 148. 
 
 Beformations in Judah, 83, 85, 86, 87, 89. 
 
 Reboboam, 63, 74, 83, 309. 
 
 Religion {An Evidence of), 180. 
 
 Religion {Reality of), 176, 184, 186, 190. 
 
 Religious parties in Judah, 81. 
 
 Responsibility {Personal), 267. 
 
 Resurrection of the dead {Doctrine of), 273 : see also 185. 
 
 Return from Babylon {The), 94, 189. 
 
 Reumab, 128. 
 
 Revelation {The Bible a record of progressive), 142. 
 
 Rezin, 76. 
 
 Roih, 209. 
 
 Ruth (The Book of), 48, 49, 137, 315, 319. 
 
 Sabbath (^The), Sabbatical Year, &c., 5, 32, 35, 40, 43, 97, 134, 135, 
 
 139 (and note), 179. 
 Sacrifices, 38. 
 Salem, 11. 
 
 Samaria, Samaritans, 69, 73, 88, 98, 256, 281, 282. 
 Samuel, 51, 52, 137, 138, 159, 207, 210, 311, 319. 
 Samuel (The Books of), 50, 54, 50-58, 146, 148, 315. 
 Sanballat, 100. 
 Sarah, Sarai, 11. 
 Sargon, 153, 229, 230, 236. 
 Saul, 52, 53, 54. 
 
 Scythians in Asia (The), 250, 297. 
 Seer, 209. 
 
 Seir (Mount), 15, 229. 
 Sennacherib, 77, 153, 229, 236, 239, 293 
 Septmgint {The), 4, 19, 20 (and note), 146, 154, 258, 307, 314, 320. 
 
334 INDEX. 
 
 Seraiah, 243. 
 
 Servant of Jehovah {The), 213, 215, 239, 240, 260. 
 
 Seth, 7, 128. 
 
 Seth {Descendants of }, 7, 128, 129. 
 
 Shalem, 17- 
 
 Shallum, king of Israel, G6, 71 (note). 
 
 ShaUum, king of Judah, G7. 
 
 Shamgar, 46. 
 
 Shear-jashul, 222. 
 
 Shebna, 230. 
 
 Shechem: see Sicheni. 
 
 Shem, 8. 
 
 Shemaiah, 252, 309, 311. 
 
 Sherlock (Rev. TT.), 188, 189, and Preface. 
 
 Shiloh, 51, 309. 
 
 SMshak, 74. 
 
 Sichem, or Shechem, 10, 17, 70. 
 
 Sidon, 128, 231, 264, 304, 
 
 Sihor (= the Nile), 231 (note). 
 
 Sihon, 27. 
 
 Silent Land {The), 229. 
 
 Sinai, 22, 23. 
 
 Smith (George), 153. 
 
 Solomon, 59-62, 91, 137, 149, 156, 192, 193, 198, 202, 205, 300. 
 
 Solomon (The Song of), 202-205, 316, 318, 319. 
 
 Spies {The), 25. 
 
 Stanley (A. V.), 264. 
 
 Strangers : see also Commerce, 34, 43, 59, 220, 243. 
 
 Succoth, 17. 
 
 Syria, Syrians: see also Damascus, 56, 72, 75, 76, 77, 79, 86, 221. 
 
 Tabeal (The son of), 221, 222. 
 
 Tabernacle {The), 29, 41. 
 
 Tabernacles {Feast of), 37, 68, 97, 138. 
 
 Tarshish: sec Tharshish. 
 
 Taxes, 42. 
 
 Temple {The), 42, 59, 78, 80, 85, 88, 89, 93, 94, 95, 97, 99, 104, 138, 140, 
 
 149, 157. 179, 189, 220, 238, 245, 250, 266, 298, 299, 301, 302, 303, 
 
 305, 307, 309, 311, 
 Ten Commandments {The), 23, 29, 133, 135. 
 Tennyson (Alfred), 201, 259. 
 
INDEX. 335 
 
 Tenses [The Hebrew), 218,285. 
 
 Tekoa, 280. 
 
 Terah, 9. 
 
 Tharshish, 75, 231, 287. 
 
 Tiglath-pileser, 73, 153, 154. 
 
 Tirzah, 70 (and note). 
 
 Titles of Books, 147, 181 (and note), 217 (note). 
 
 Tobiah the Ammonite, 100. 
 
 Toleration [Eeligious), 61. 
 
 Torah, 314. 
 
 Tradition {Jewish, about the Sacred Books), 108, 146, 249, 3l".>. 
 
 Trespass {Law of), 33. 
 
 Trespass Offering, 39. 
 
 Tribes {The lost), 101-104, 106. 
 
 Trumpets [Feast of), 37. 
 
 Tubal-cain, 7. 
 
 Tyre, 212, 231, 264, 265, 281, 304. 
 
 Tzemach, 301, 302. " 
 
 Unleavened Bread {Feast of), 36. 
 
 Ur of the Chaldees, 9. 
 
 Urijah the son of Shemaiah, 252, 310, 312. 
 
 Usiiry, 43, 96. 
 
 Uzziah: see Azariah. 
 
 Vows, 43, 47. 
 
 Vulgate {The), 146 (and note), 314. 
 
 War, tvarfare, &c., 43. 
 
 Water from the rock, 23, 26. 
 
 Waterland (Dr.), 277. 
 
 Westcott (B. F.), 320. 
 
 Wisdom {Searching for), 197. 
 
 Witchcraft, 32, 54, 206, 207. 
 
 Women, 5, 6, 34, 220, 234, 275, 277, 281, 302, 308. 
 
 Wordsworth (Dr. C), 206, 277, 285. 
 
 Young {The Bible and the), 163, and Preface. 
 Youth and old age, 198. 
 
336 INDEX. 
 
 Zachariah [properly Zechariah), king of Israel, 66. 
 
 Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, 85. 
 
 Zechariah, a prophet in the reign of Uzziah, 92, 310, 312. 
 
 Zechariah, the son of Iddo, 95, 298, 300, 307, 312. 
 
 Zechariah (The Book of), 274, .300-307, 312. 
 
 Zedekiah, king of Judah, 67, 80, 90, 251, 252, 253, 254, 257. 
 
 Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, 310. 
 
 Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, 252. 
 
 Zephaniah (The Book of), 296-298, 312. 
 
 Zembbahel, 95, 298, 299, 300, 301, 303. 
 
 Ziklag, 54. 
 
 Zimri, 66. 
 
 Zion: see also Jerusalem, 232, 235, 262. 
 
 Zipporah, 21. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Date Due 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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BS1171.C95 
 
 Introductory hints to English readers of 
 
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