LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Shelf .J2l3- 
 
 CNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
HISTORICAL VALUE OF GENESIS I -XL 
 
Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth. — 2 Tim. ii. 19. 
 
THE HISTORICAL VALUE 
 
 First Eleven Chapters of Genesis; 
 
 WITH SOME 
 
 DISCUSSION OF THE NEW CRITICISM. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. D. K BEACH. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWIN B. WEBB, D.D. 
 
 DEC : fot 
 
 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 Congregational ^unoag^cfjool anti ^ubltsfjmg ^octetg. 
 1884. 
 
,1)4- 
 
 Copyright, by 
 
 Congregational S. S. and Publishing Society. 
 
 1884. 
 
 C. J. PETERS AND SON, 
 
 STEREOTYPERS AND EEECTROTYPERS, 
 
 145 Hige St. 
 
} 
 
 Ea rag fflofytvi 
 
 IN "WHOSE PLAIN HEADING OF THE OLD TESTAMENT WERE A 
 
 SPIRIT AND INSIGHT WHICH WENT FAR TO MAKE IT 
 
 TO HER HOUSEHOLD, AS TO HERSELF, 
 
 GOD'S WORD. 
 
 u 
 
. . . It is greatly in favor of the Bible account that it has no phil- 
 osophy, and no appearance of any philosophy, either in the abstract 
 form, or in that earlier poetical form which the first philosophy 
 assumed. Its statements of grand facts have no appearance of bias 
 in favor of any class of ideas. Its great antiquity is beyond dis- 
 pute : it is older, certainly, than history or philosophy. It was be- 
 fore the dawning of anything called science, as is shown by the fact 
 that everything is denoted by its simplest phenomenal or optical 
 name. There is no assigning of non-apparent causations, except 
 the continual going forth of the mighty Word. It is impossible to 
 discover any connection between it and any mythical poetry. The 
 holy sublimity that pervades it is at war with the idea of direct 
 and conscious forgery, designed to impose on others, and the 
 thought of it as a mere work of genius, having its interest in a dis- 
 play of inventive and descriptive talent, is inconsistent with every 
 notion we can form of the thinking and aims of that early youth of 
 the human race. It was not the age then, nor till long after, of lit- 
 erary forgeries or fancy-tales. We are shut up to the conclusion of 
 its subjective truthfulness, and its subjective authenticity. . . . 
 
 . . . This stands alone in the world, like the primeval granite of 
 the Himalaya among the later geological formations. ... — Tayler 
 Levris. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 The matter hereinafter contained was read before the 
 "Woburn Association of Congregational Ministers, at their 
 meeting in Boston, March 27, 1883. It was so favorably 
 received, and so many wishes were expressed for its publica- 
 tion, that the author has been led to present it to the public 
 in this form. 
 
 He does so not because it is new, or exhaustive, or an 
 adequate handling of a great subject, but because it lays 
 bare some of the roots of the present agitation respecting 
 Old Testament criticism; and because it does this briefly 
 and familiarly. It seems to have been in this particular that 
 the paper served the ministers to whom it was first presented ; 
 and it is the author's hope that it may do as much for its 
 lay readers. 
 
 He has amended it in some points, suggested — mainly — 
 by the discussion which followed its reading. Beyond this 
 nothing requires to be said, except on two points : 
 
 1. It is not intended, in the section on the Biblical account 
 of the creation (§ 30), or by the quotation there introduced, 
 to maintain the technical accuracy of that narrative ; but its 
 accuracy in the great characteristic features. And this, in 
 accordance with that structural principle — as it may be 
 called — of Scripture, about which something is said in an 
 earlier section (§ 23, under Number 2). 
 
 2. The expression "New Criticism" is used in reference 
 to the Old Testament, and in a sense clear enough, it is 
 hoped, but somewhat difficult to define, (a.) There is a 
 criticism of the Old Testament, "new," and thoroughly and 
 fearlessly critical, which prosecutes its investigations, never- 
 theless, in the light of an authentic New Testament, and in 
 
viii Preface. 
 
 accordance with the presuppositions of historical Christianity. 
 It thus occupies the true point of approach to the Old Tes- 
 tament, and is devoutly to be welcomed, (b.) The " New 
 Criticism " here meant — though all of its adherents are not to 
 be so characterized — does not occupy such a point of 
 approach. It either denies miracles, or has no freeness of 
 conception regarding them ; and, having thus no fair hold 
 upon even the New Testament, it passes to the Old, hope- 
 lessly prejudiced against the supernatural in it. And, not to 
 give other illustrations, it has for one of its presuppositions an 
 order of religious progress, from the beginning, analogous to 
 that order which has obtained under Christianity, the order, 
 namely, of life, then form (or training) ; instead of the 
 Christian presupposition that, because of the " hardness " of 
 the human heart, a formal training in religion necessarily 
 preceded outbreaking life — so preparing the way for the 
 superabundant life with which, "when the fullness of the 
 time came" (Gal. iv. 4), Christianity broke upon the world. 
 (If it be urged in support of the former presupposition, that 
 there were outbreakings of life early in the history — notably 
 in Abraham's case ; it is to be replied, not only that these out- 
 breakings were sporadic, but that the Scriptures uniformly 
 represent them as earnests merely of what was by and by to 
 obtain — Abraham the father of the faithful, and waiting 
 long for progeny.) (c.) It may be remarked that, on the 
 single presupposition instanced, the " reconstruction " of the 
 Old Testament is a foregone conclusion — in fact, its inver- 
 sion. If, then, this little book shall serve to emphasize the 
 disagreement of so deep-seeing an historian as Ewald with 
 the treatment which Hebrew history is at present under- 
 going at the dictation of this presupposition, one main pur- 
 pose of its publication will be accomplished. 
 
 Wakefield, Mass., May 6, 18S4. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 LITERATURE CONSULTED xi 
 
 Introduction by Edwin B. Webb, D. D xv 
 
 Introduction (§§ 1-4) 1 
 
 Part I. — Origin of the Pentateuch (§§ 5-21): 
 
 I. Some Recent Views (§§ 5-14) 7 
 
 1. Ewald (§§ 5-11) 7 
 
 2. Kuenen (§12) 19 
 
 3. Graf and his School (§ 13) . . . .., . 20 
 
 4. W. Robertson Smith (§14) 22 
 
 II. Remarks upon the Foregoing Views (§§ 15-18) 25 
 
 First Remark (§15) 25 
 
 Second Remark (§ 16) . . 26 
 
 Third Remark (§17) 27 
 
 Fourth Remark (§18) 27 
 
 III. Grounds of Dissent from the Foregoing 
 
 Views (§§ 19-21) 29 
 
 1. General Grounds (§19) 29 
 
 2. Particular Grounds (§20) 33 
 
 3. Grounds in the Nature of the Case 
 
 (§21) 34 
 
Contents. 
 
 Part II. — Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. (§§ 
 22-44) : 
 
 Preliminary Observations (§§ 22-25) 38 
 
 I. Testimony of Secular Historians (§§ 26-28) 46 
 
 1. Lenormant (§ 26) 46 
 
 2. Ewald (§27) 46 
 
 3. Henry and George Rawlins on (§28) . 47 
 II. External Testimony (§§ 29-35) 48 
 
 1. Creation (§30) 49 
 
 2. Man's First Condition — The Fall (§ 31) 50 
 
 3. The Flood (§32) 51 
 
 4. The Confusion of Tongues (§ 33) . . 52 
 
 5. Origin and Distribution of the Nations 
 
 (§34) 54 
 
 6. The Genealogical Chronology (§ 35) . 55 
 
 III. Internal Evidence (§§ 36-39) ...... 56 
 
 IV. Testimony of the Pre-existent Christ (§§ 
 
 40,41) 60 
 
 Conclusion (§§ 42-44) 64 
 
LITERATURE CONSULTED. 
 
 Bibliotheca Sacra: "The Historic Character of the Penta- 
 teuch " (April, 1863 ; President Bartlett) ; " The First Eleven 
 Chapters of Genesis Attested by their Contents " (July, 1865 ; 
 Professor Hackett — from the German of Auberlen, with 
 annotations) ; " The History of Research concerning the 
 Structure of the Old Testament Historical Books" (Oct., 
 1880; July, 1882; Professor Duff) ; "Professor W. Robert- 
 son Smith and his Theories of Old Testament Criticism" 
 (Jan., 1882; C. F. Thwing) ; "Professor W. Robertson 
 Smith from a Conservative Stand-point" (April, 1882; Pro- 
 fessor J. P. Taylor) ; " Proposed Reconstruction of the Pen- 
 tateuch" (Jan., 1883; Professor Bissell). 
 
 Contemporary Review : " The Genealogies between Adam 
 and the Deluge" (April, 1880; F. Lenormant). 
 
 Princeton Review : "Historical Value of the Pentateuch" 
 (July, 1858 ; J. M. Macdonald). 
 
 Smith's Dictionary of the Bible — Articles: "Old Testa- 
 ment" (J. F. Thrupp), "Pentateuch" (Canon Perowne, 
 President Bartlett), "Genesis" (Canon Perowne), "Enoch, 
 Book of" (Canon Westcott). 
 
 Encyclopaedia Britannica (IX.thEd.) — Article: "History." 
 
 Lange on Genesis. 
 
 Keil on the Pentateuch. 
 
 Ewald's "History of Israel." 
 
 Stanley's "Lectures on the History of the Jewish Church." 
 
xii Literature Consulted. 
 
 W. Robertson Smith's "Old Testament in the Jewish 
 Church." 
 
 G. Smith's " Chaldean Account of Genesis." 
 
 Stebbins' " Study of the Pentateuch." 
 
 Geikie's "Hours with the Bible." 
 
 G. Rawlinson's Herodotus. 
 
 G. Rawlinson's "Manual of Ancient History." 
 
 Lenormant's "Beginnings of History." 
 
 "Wright's " Studies in Science and Religion." 
 
 During the fourteen months since the preparation of this volume, 
 there have appeared — written from various points of view — the 
 following articles: Bibliotheca Sacra: "Proposed Reconstruction of 
 the Pentateuch," II. (April, 1883), III. (Oct., 1883), IV. (Jan., 
 1884; Professor Bissell); " On the Origin of the Primitive Historical 
 Traditions of the Hebrews" (July, 1883; G-. H. Whittemore — from 
 the German of Dillmann) ; "A Symposium on the Antediluvian Narra- 
 tives. — Lenormant, Delitzsch, Haupt, Dillmann" (July, 1883; Profes- 
 sor Curtiss); " Sketches of Pentateuch Criticism " (Jan., 1884; Profes- 
 sor Curtiss); " The Inspiration of the Old Testament" (April, 1884; I. 
 P. Warren); Review of W. Robertson Smith's "Prophets of Israel" 
 (April, 1884; Professor Dwinell). Journal of Christian Philosophy: 
 "The Antiquity of Man Historically Considered" (April, 1883; G. 
 Rawlinson); "The Mosaic Authorship of the Pentateuch" (Oct., 
 1883; Dean Payne-Smith); "The Historical Chapters of Daniel 
 Attested by Contemporary Records" (Oct., 1883; W. H. Ward). 
 New Englander : " The Present Outlook for Old Testament Study" 
 (Sept., 1883; Professor Denio). North American Review: "Criti- 
 cism and Christianity" (April, 1883; O. B. Frothingham); "Recent 
 Criticisms of the Bible" (April, 1884; A. G. Mortimer, R. H. New- 
 ton). Presbyterian Review : " The Dogmatic Aspect of Pentateuchal 
 Criticism " (April, 1883 ; Professor Patton). Princeton Review : " The 
 Critical Study of the Scriptures" [with special reference to R. H. 
 Newton's "Right and Wrong Uses of the Bible," and W. Robertson 
 Smith's " Old Testament in the Jewish Church"] (Nov., 1883; F. A. 
 
Literature, April, 1883-May, 1884.. xiii 
 
 Henry). Unitarian Review : " The Hebrew Prophets," III. (April, 
 1883), IV. (Dec, 1883; Professor Stebbins); "Did Ezra Write or 
 Amend Any Portion of the Pentateuch?" (Sept., 1883; Professor 
 Stebbins); "Kuenen vs. Delitzsch" (Oct., 1883; J. Visher). Uni- 
 versal ist Quarterly : "The Bible" (Oct., 1883; G. T. Flanders). 
 
 Also, the following books : Bartlett (President), " Sources of History 
 in the Pentateuch " ; Briggs (Professor), "Biblical Study: Its Princi- 
 ples, Methods, and History; together with a Catalogue of Books of 
 Eeference"; Bush (J. S.), "More Words about the Bible"; Guyot 
 (Professor), " Creation, or the Bible Cosmogony in the Light of 
 Modern Science" ; Howison (R. R.), " God and Creation" ; Mcllvaine 
 (J. H.), "The Wisdom of Holy Scripture, with Reference to Skepti- 
 cal Objections " ; Newton (R. H.), " The Right and Wrong Uses of the 
 Bible"; also, "The Book of the Beginnings: a Study of Genesis; 
 with an Introduction to the Pentateuch"; Bawlinson (G.), "The 
 Early Prevalence of Monotheistic Beliefs " ; Savage (M. J.), "Beliefs 
 about the Bible"; Toy (Professor), "Quotations in the New Testa- 
 ment." To these should be added: Boardman, Curtiss and Scott 
 (Professors), "Current Discussions in Theology" [in the annual 
 volume for 1883, and in the same for 1884 — "Part I. — Exegetical 
 Theology"]; Fisher (Professor), "The Grounds of Theistic and 
 Christian Belief" [Chapters XII., XVII.,XIX.]; and, Green (Pro- 
 fessor), "Moses and the Prophets" [inexpensive edition of an 
 important book which had been issued in more elaborate form late 
 in 1882]. 
 
On any view that does not pass the bounds of reason, " the law 
 came by Moses." The recollection of the leadership of Moses, of his 
 grand and dominating agency in the deliverance of the people from 
 bondage, and in laying the foundations of their theocratic polity, was 
 indelibly stamped upon the Hebrew mind. To discredit a tradition so 
 deeply rooted in the generations that followed would be a folly of 
 incredulity. It might almost be said that the voice of the great 
 Lawgiver reverberates down the subsequent ages of Hebrew history, 
 until the appearance of him whose teaching fulfilled, and in that 
 sense superseded, the utterances of them "of old time." Ewald has 
 dwelt impressively on the living memory, the memory of the heart, 
 transmitted from father to son, of the great redemption from Egyp- 
 tian slavery, — the standing type of the mighty spiritual deliverance 
 to be achieved by a greater than Moses. If Moses was in reality so 
 effective an agent in forming the Israelitish nation, and in shaping its 
 peculiar system ; if, in truth, so powerful an impulse emanated from 
 him . . . , the question is naturally suggested, whether there 
 would be wanting (since the art of writing was then well known) 
 contemporary records, and something from the pen of Moses himself. 
 If there is nothing improbable in the statement that he was learned in 
 all the wisdom of the Egyptians, then it is surely to be expected that 
 he would, to some extent, have committed his laws and injunctions to 
 writing. If so, it cannot be regarded as unlikely that what he thus 
 composed constitute an important part, to say the least, of the 
 materials of the Pentateuch. — George P. Fisher. 
 
INTKODUCTIO^. 
 
 Rev. D. JV. Beach: 
 
 My Dear Brother : To introduce your little 
 book I am very happy. I wish I had a larger 
 acquaintance that I might bespeak for it a wider 
 reception. I wish also the book were bigger. 
 You wish, no doubt, it were better. But a most 
 timely, worthy little book it is : modest, compre- 
 hensive, compact and suggestive. 
 
 "With the pleasure which I have in reading 
 the book I feel that the author has written under 
 the severest self-restraint. And hence I am 
 tempted to say a few words in general on one 
 point — on the testimony of Jesus Christ to the 
 divine character and authority of the Old Tes- 
 tament. 
 
 In all matters of which he spoke Jesus Christ 
 is supreme. The sinless one: the peerless one: 
 the God-man: all are agreed in giving him the 
 throne of their inmost confidence. When he 
 speaks, doubt is settled; debate is ended. His 
 word is final. From his verdict there is no 
 appeal. 
 
xvi Introduction 
 
 The attempt, sometimes made, to distinguish 
 between the ethical and the historical in Christ's 
 teachings cannot obtain. Such an attempt must 
 end in attributing to him either deficiency in 
 knowledge or defect in moral character. To 
 introduce the knife of criticism here, between 
 the written record and the spiritual doctrine, is 
 more than to sever the thread of inspiration; it 
 is to mangle the perfection of his peerless char- 
 acter and to introduce a blood poison into his 
 whole system. It is to destroy the foundations 
 of our confidence in him. It is to chill and 
 cloud with painful uncertainty his solemn assever- 
 ations: "Verily, verily I say unto you." 
 
 Still further it is agreed that the Old Testa- 
 ment, substantially as we have it, existed at the 
 time of Christ's coming. "Wherever Jews set- 
 tled, in country or city, they were found to pos- 
 sess a book, held to be of Divine origin and of 
 peculiar character, recognized as sacred, and 
 read every Sabbath day in the synagogues. 
 
 Copies of this Holy Book in different lan- 
 guages, and catalogues of the contents of it, — 
 copies and catalogues made many generations 
 before Jesus came, — have been wonderfully 
 preserved and brought down to us, so that we 
 know^ that our Old Testament is the book which 
 
by JEdivin B. Webb, D. D. xvii 
 
 Jesus studied and read and taught. Scholars 
 tell us that the Samaritan Pentateuch is found, 
 some say, seven hundred years before Christ. 
 They also tell us that from the Maccabean perse- 
 cution, nearly two hundred years before Christ, 
 the Old Testament appears as a whole ; and that 
 the distinction of three parts, the Law, the Pro- 
 phets, and the Psalms, is readily traced back 
 almost to the same date. This same division 
 Jesus himself recognized when he addressed the 
 disciples after his resurrection — "And he said 
 unto them, These are the words which I spake 
 unto you, while I was yet with you, that all 
 things must be fulfilled, which were written in 
 the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in 
 the psalms, concerning me." 
 
 The translators still at work on the revision 
 of the Old Testament may find occasion, per- 
 haps, to give a modified meaning to some words; 
 to alter the arrangement of some narratives ; to 
 drop out some passages because they are not 
 found in the earlier and original manuscripts, 
 and to add some sentences, or parts of sentences 
 because they are found there. Concede all this; 
 the fact remains that prior to the Christian era 
 the Jews had a book well defined as to its con- 
 tents, peculiar in character, and sacred in their 
 
Introduction 
 
 esteem, a book substantially the same as our Old 
 Testament. 
 
 "With this book, let it be added now, with this 
 book Jesus was perfectly familiar. For this 
 book Jesus had unmistakable reverence. In the 
 wilderness the tempter is rebuked at every as- 
 sault by weapons drawn from the Pentateuch, — 
 particularly from Deuteronomy. As President 
 "Woolsey says: "At the last supper, the words 
 that institute the rite, take their coloring from 
 certain most important passages in the prophets ; 
 his words of agony on the cross are in the lan- 
 guage of the Twenty-second Psalm; and when 
 the risen Lord appeared to his disciples ? He 
 opened their understanding, that they might 
 understand the Scriptures.' And if we go back 
 beyond the commencement of his public minis- 
 try, we find the only habit of life recorded of 
 him to be that * He went into the synagogue on 
 the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read.' 
 Here, then, in this sequestered village, away from 
 the emptiness of Pharisaical learning, and from 
 Sadducean skepticism, he was reared on the 
 divine word in its simplicity." President "Wool- 
 sey adds for substance that God chose this sim- 
 ple method of placing Jesus alone with the 
 ancient Scriptures, away from human teachers 
 
by Edwin B. Webb, D. D. xix 
 
 and comments, that he might partake of and 
 pass down their permanent truth; that for the 
 work of the Messiah which was before him his 
 mind might be filled with the pure truth. 
 
 ~Now for the conclusion: perfectly familiar as 
 he was with these ancient Scriptures, reared 
 upon them, trained in them, did he indorse 
 them? Did Jesus, whose distinguishing claim 
 is that his words are true, who calls amid all the 
 clamor of schools and sects and false teachers, 
 upon the race of man, to look to him as the truth 
 — did Jesus set his signature and the seal of 
 his testimony to the truth of the Old Testament? 
 
 A few sentences from his own teachings an- 
 swer this question beyond a doubt. In private 
 and in public, on occasions the most momentous, 
 and in circumstances the most trying and criti- 
 cal, Jesus appealed to and indorsed the writings 
 of this Book. 
 
 To the lawyer he said: "What is written in 
 the law? how readest thou?" 
 
 In the parable, through the lips of Abraham, 
 to the rich man pleading for instruction and tes- 
 timony to be sent to his brethren while still in a 
 state of probation, he says : K They have Moses 
 and the prophets ; let them hear them." Under 
 circumstances more solemn, or in words more 
 
xx Introduction. 
 
 decisive, could Jesus have indorsed Moses and 
 the prophets? For our instruction; for our sal- 
 vation they are enough. 
 
 Again Jesus says, and the new reading does 
 not weaken the point, — " Search the Scriptures ; 
 for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and 
 they are they which testify of me." 
 
 And on the way to Emmaus, after his resur- 
 rection, to the two disciples he said : " O fools, 
 and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
 have spoken. . . . And beginning at Moses and all 
 the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the 
 Scriptures the things concerning himself." 
 
 To quote further seems needless. Jesus 
 Christ, who came forth from the Father, believed 
 the Old Testament Scriptures. Jesus Christ, 
 who knows what is in man, referred to these 
 Scriptures as supreme and sufficient. Jesus 
 Christ, the truth, set the seal of his testimony to 
 the truth of Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms. 
 And his word is supreme. 
 
 E. B. WEBB. 
 
 Boston, May 28, 1884. 
 
HISTORICAL VALUE OE GENESIS I.-XL 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Prove all things. —1 Thess. v. 21. 
 
 § 1. These chapters contain: 
 
 First, An account of the creation. 
 
 Second, An account of man's first 
 condition, of his first sin, and of its 
 immediate consequences. 
 
 Third, An account of the wicked- 
 ness of the early descendants of man, 
 of their consequent destruction by a 
 flood, and of the preservation from the 
 flood of the parents of anew race. 
 
 Fourth, An account of the ambitious 
 spirit of the new race, and of the check 
 put upon it by the confusion of tongues 
 at Babel. 
 
 Considerable biographical matter is 
 wrought into the narrative, and there 
 are notices respecting geography, the 
 arts, and the earliest literature ; but, 
 particularly : 
 
 §1. Contents 
 of the chap- 
 ters. 
 
Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 § 2. Limita- 
 tion of the in- 
 quiry to the 
 question of 
 their historical 
 trustworthi- 
 ness. 
 
 Fifth, An account is given of the 
 origin and distribution of the earliest 
 tribes and nations; and, 
 
 Sixth, The whole is put within defi- 
 nite time-limits by a chronology in 
 genealogical form. 
 
 § 2. The question is : "What is the 
 historical value of these chapters? 
 
 The expression " historical value " is 
 used in two principal senses: first, as 
 the equivalent of "historical trustwor- 
 thiness ; " and, secondly, as the equiv- 
 alent of " historical importance." The 
 justice of these two uses of the 
 expression is obvious: for, though no 
 historical matter is valuable except in 
 so far as it is trustworthy, much histor- 
 ical matter of unquestionable trust- 
 worthiness is of no value because it is 
 of no importance. 
 
 With regard to the historical value 
 of these chapters in the second sense, 
 it is clear that in so far as trustworthy 
 they are of the highest historical im- 
 portance, since they are occupied with 
 the starting-points of history, and af- 
 
1-3.] 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 ford a key to the most ultimate histori- 
 cal inquiries. 
 
 The present inquiry accordingly lim- 
 its itself, at the outset, to the other 
 principal sense in which the expression 
 " historical value " is used, and becomes 
 simply an examination into the histori- 
 cal trustworthiness — or authenticity — 
 of these chapters. 
 
 § 3. Considered abstractly, such an 
 examination might show these chajrters 
 to be of absolute historical trustworthi- 
 ness; or to be absolutely untrustwor- 
 thy; or to be partly trustworthy and 
 partly not ; and the result of the exam- 
 ination ought to show the first, or the 
 second, or else to constitute a bill of 
 particulars wherein the chapters are 
 trustworthy and wherein not. 
 
 1. But, if the chapters were shown 
 to be absolutely untrustworthy as his- 
 tory, it would not follow that they were 
 ethically untrustworthy : they might be 
 shown to contain the most weighty 
 ethical truths. Nor would it follow 
 that they were untrustworthy as sym- 
 
 Introd. 
 
 § 3. Possible 
 range of the 
 answer. 
 
 1. Less at 
 
 stake than 
 might appear. 
 Consequent 
 fearlessness 
 with lohichth". 
 inquiry should 
 be under- 
 taken. 
 
Historical Value of Genesis 1 -XI. [§§ 
 
 2. The in- 
 quiry should 
 be pursued in 
 a historical 
 rather than 
 dogmatic 
 spirit. 
 
 bols of historical truth : they might 
 constitute, as it were, the algebraic 
 notation of historical verities only to 
 be read at their exact value on some 
 higher plane of human intelligence. 
 For these reasons no one should shrink 
 from eying most critically these begin- 
 nings of Revelation, and from giving 
 candid consideration to the new treat- 
 ment to which they are subjected by 
 the historical methods of our time. 
 
 2. Again, the inquiry may be pursued 
 — as, indeed, the case requires — in a 
 historical rather than in a dogmatic 
 spirit. The dogmatic spirit, properly 
 guarded, must attend inquiries concern- 
 ing principles, inasmuch as principles 
 are so intimately related that one often 
 involves another, and that many princi- 
 ples which offer themselves, and which 
 are plausible enough by themselves, re- 
 quire to be rejected because destructive 
 of known principles. But events — 
 into which it is the province of history 
 to inquire — do not have the same sol- 
 idarity of relation; and, accordingly, 
 
3,4.] 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 are to be judged more independently — 
 that is, not dogmatically, but histor- 
 ically. 
 
 § 4. Though the present inquiry is 
 limited to the question of historical 
 trustworthiness, the possible range of 
 the answer — as outlined above — ren- 
 ders it obvious that little more can be 
 done in this essay than cursorily to 
 glance at a few of the more salient 
 points. It is proposed to do this ac- 
 cording to the following plan : 
 
 Inasmuch as the inquiry turns in part 
 upon the question of the origin of the 
 Pentateuch, some of the more recent 
 views on that subject will first be 
 sketched, and some judgment expressed 
 respecting them. This will constitute 
 Part I. of the essay. 
 
 The question of the historical trust- 
 worthiness — or authenticity — of the 
 chapters under inquiry will next be taken 
 up : 1. As matter of testimony, from their 
 treatment by secular historians; 2. As 
 matter of fact, by external tests; 3. As 
 matter of inference, from internal evi- 
 
 § 4. Cursory 
 treatment of 
 the inquiry 
 necessary. 
 
 Its plan. 
 
6 Historical Value of Genesis I -X.L [§§4,5. 
 
 dence ; and, 4, As matter of testimony, 
 from him, and from the duly accredited 
 representatives of him, who said : w Be- 
 fore Abraham was, I am " (John viii. 
 58). This will constitute Part II. of 
 the essay. 
 
PART I. -ORIGIN OF THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 Whence : 
 The law was given by Moses. — John i. 17. 
 
 What : 
 The law hath been our tutor. — Gal. Hi. 24. 
 
 In what Order : 
 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets. — 
 Luke xxiv. 27. 
 
 How : 
 
 No prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake 
 from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost. — 2 Pet. i. 21. 
 
 I. Some Becent Views. 
 1. JEJivald. 
 
 § 5. Ewald — late Professor at Got- 
 tingen — notes as a peculiarity of He- 
 brew historical literature, its amplitude 
 — besides the extant documents many 
 others referred to, and probably yet 
 many others which failed to receive 
 mention. Partly owing to this ampli- 
 tude, and partly by reason of the habit 
 of the Hebrew^ historians to write 
 anonymously, he maintains that there 
 grew up among them an art of K book- 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 5. Ampli- 
 tude of He- 
 brew historical 
 literature. 
 " Book-com- 
 pounding." 
 Grouping of 
 Hebrew histor- 
 ical remains 
 with this in 
 mind. 
 
8 Historical Value of Genesis I -XL [§§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 6. First 
 group ("an- 
 tiquity of the 
 nation") — 
 the Penta- 
 teuch and 
 Book of 
 Joshua. 
 
 Contains 
 fragments of: 
 
 compounding," as well as of book-mak- 
 ing ; indeed, that the exigencies of 
 Hebrew historical literature demanded 
 and justified such an art. Consequently 
 the present remains of Hebrew histori- 
 cal literature must be received with this 
 fact in mind. So receiving them, and 
 subjecting them to close scrutiny, he 
 finds that they group themselves into 
 three classes: 1. Those devoted to the 
 antiquity of the nation; 2. Those devoted 
 to its middle history, first under judges, 
 then under kings ; and, 3. Those devoted 
 to its later history. 
 
 § 6. To the first group belong the 
 Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua. 
 This group, as the oldest, must have been 
 the oftenest worked over. Searched 
 for fragments of the most ancient books, 
 a considerable number are discovered. 
 They are marked by archaic forms; 
 have no coloring of legislative or of 
 prophetical import, such as later com- 
 positions manifest; are concise, simple, 
 truly antique. When analyzed and 
 grouped these fragments suggest three 
 
5,6.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 ancient, purely historical works, which 
 may be called: The w Book of the Wars 
 of Jehovah" (Num. xxi. 14) ; The w Bi- 
 ography of Moses; " and, The w Book of 
 Covenants." 
 
 1. The first of these, and the sim- 
 plest in style, celebrated the victories 
 under Moses and Joshua, and must 
 have been of nearly contemporaneous 
 origin. 
 
 2. The second of these, from its more 
 finished style, seems to have had a some- 
 what later origin, and to have worked 
 up the principal memories respecting 
 Moses. Of it still fewer fragments 
 remain. 
 
 3. The third of these, the " Book of 
 Covenants," of which there are more 
 numerous remains, was devoted to the 
 various covenants which had been made 
 between distinguished individuals, as 
 Jacob and Laban, or which Jehovah 
 had made with the nation. It is be- 
 lieved to have been composed in the 
 unsettled times under the Judges, when 
 there began to be developed that spirit 
 
 1. "Book of 
 the Wars of Je- 
 hovah" {nearly 
 contemporary 
 with the vic- 
 tories under 
 3Ioses and 
 Joshua) ; 
 
 2. " Biogra- 
 phy of Moses" 
 {somewhat 
 later) ; 
 
 3. "Book of 
 Covenants " 
 {troubled 
 times under 
 the Judges). 
 
10 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I -XL [§§ 
 
 Paht I. 
 
 § 7. "Book 
 of Origins" 
 {nearly con- 
 temporary 
 with the com- 
 pletion of Sol- 
 omon's Tem- 
 ple). 
 
 Hebrew his- 
 tory now first 
 treated com- 
 prehensively, 
 and in its rela- 
 tions to gen- 
 eral history as 
 viewed by the 
 Hebrews. 
 
 of turning to the Lord, and of re-enter- 
 ing a covenant relation with him, which 
 at length produced Samuel and David. 
 
 § 7. Out of such a spirit arose the 
 Hebrew monarchy, and flowered into 
 its golden age almost at once under 
 David and Solomon. In the still pres- 
 ent glory of that age, out of the priestly 
 class which Temple and ritual exalted, 
 arose the historian who first brought 
 together into a compact work an account 
 of the " antiquity of the nation," which 
 may be styled the " Book of Origins " 
 ("generations;" Gen. ii. 4; v. 1; etc.). 
 
 It was the true period for the pro- 
 duction of a great historical work — 
 just as Herodotus and Thucidides arose 
 in Greece, after the victories over the 
 Persians. The work was of that age, 
 as evinced by the " glances that it casts 
 upon its own times in the midst of an 
 exhibition of the patriarchal world ; " as 
 evinced by half-envious acknowledg- 
 ments that other nations possessed 
 kings K before there reigned any king 
 over the children of Israel " (Gen. 
 
6,7.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 11 
 
 xxxvi. 31) ; and as evinced by a frag- 
 ment of this writer found in 1 Kings. 
 His "chief aim was unmistakably to 
 survey from the resting-place which 
 that epoch had reached, the entire mass 
 of historical matter in its greatest 
 extent, and to trace it back up to the 
 ultimate commencement of all creation." 
 He embraced the favorite idea of the 
 cultivated nations, which casts the his- 
 tory of mankind into four ages — the 
 latest, with this writer, the present age ; 
 the next earlier, that of the patriarchs; 
 the next two, the time preceding the 
 patriarchs, marked off into two parts 
 by the deluge. As, however, this writer 
 could not but admit that his nation had 
 only lately achieved eminence, he was 
 led " to show from the store of ancient 
 tradition how Israel, although so recent 
 a community, had yet been separated 
 from all other nations, and become 
 dominant over many in fulfillment of 
 its high destiny." Not only did He- 
 brew tradition assist him, but his 
 acquaintance with other nations through 
 
 Part I. 
 
12 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 the victories of David. According to 
 his plan he disposed of nation after 
 nation, and of family after family, which 
 did not lead down to Israel — Japheth 
 and Ham left to take up Shem; Terah's 
 descendants left to take up Abraham's ; 
 Esau's, to take up Jacob's. In accord- 
 ance with his priestly lineage, and with 
 the hold which the newly erected Tem- 
 ple had upon the popular mind, he 
 expanded ritual legislation so as to 
 constitute a large portion of his work; 
 but showed his real greatness by mak- 
 ing that only central to a greater whole. 
 To him everything was hopeful. With 
 exuberant sympathy, and yet with true 
 art, he threw himself into harmony 
 with the several ages which he depicted, 
 and suited his style — even in minute 
 archaic particulars — to the require- 
 ments of each age. "Lofty spirit!" 
 exclaims Ewald ; " thou whose work 
 has for centuries not unnaturally " been 
 " taken for that of thy great hero Moses 
 himself, I know not thy name, and 
 divine only from thy vestiges when 
 
7,8.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 13 
 
 thou didst live, and what thou didst 
 achieve: but if these thy traces in- 
 controvertibly forbid me to identify 
 thee with him who was greater than 
 thou, and whom thou thyself only 
 desirest to magnify according to his 
 deserts, then see that there is no guile 
 in me, nor any pleasure in knowing 
 thee not absolutely as thou wert ! " 
 
 § 8. This was the unsurpassed work 
 on the earlier Hebrew history. But it 
 was several times recast : partly, because 
 its judicious writer had not exhausted 
 the store of ancient historical material; 
 partly, because of the existence of di- 
 verse traditions in different parts of the 
 country; and, partly, because of addi- 
 tions to the stock of legend and story 
 which further intercourse with foreign 
 nations introduced. Moreover, succes- 
 sive periods saw the history in succes- 
 sive lights, and had successive purposes 
 in view in writing history. Not to go, 
 then, into much detail further : 
 
 1. A Third Narrator (counting the 
 preceding as second, and the authors of 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 8. "Pro- 
 phetical Nar- 
 rators of the 
 
 Primitive 
 History : " 
 
 1. "Third'' 
 
 Narrator 
 (nearly con- 
 
14 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 temporary 
 w it h Elijah) — 
 prophetic ad- 
 ditions ; 
 
 2. " Fourth " 
 Narrator 
 
 {somewhat 
 later) — inde- 
 pendent ivorJc, 
 freely treating 
 the history in 
 accordance 
 with Messi- 
 anic hopes ; 
 
 3. "Fifth" 
 Narrator 
 (nearly con- 
 temporary 
 with Joel) — 
 compilation 
 abridging 
 contempora- 
 neous histori- 
 
 the three ancient works as first), who 
 belonged to about the period of Elijah, 
 and was marked by the prophetic rather 
 than by the legislative spirit, made sev- 
 eral characteristic additions to the 
 " Book of Origins," which may be 
 detected by their style. 
 
 2. A Fourth barrator, somewhat later, 
 in whom the prophetic spirit culminated, 
 constructed an independent work, char- 
 acterized by a free and poetical use of 
 the history to suit his purpose. He 
 sought to work into the primitive his- 
 tory, supports for Messianic hopes ; 
 shaped the history so as to show more 
 clearly the necessary overthrow of every 
 unrighteous power; and, through the 
 ethical purpose of his work, tended to 
 lose sight of the distinctive character- 
 istics of the several ancient periods. 
 
 3. A Fifth barrator, of about the 
 time of the prophet Joel, finding con- 
 temporaneous historical literature swol- 
 len to great bulk, next recast the history 
 into substantially the form of the greater 
 part of the present Pentateuch. He 
 
8,9.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 15 
 
 made use of a variety of authorities, 
 but principally of the foregoing works. 
 The prophetic spirit and tone marked 
 him, but he considerably repressed the 
 Messianic element, and made more of 
 faith victorious through trial. A soured 
 spirit toward surrounding nations* ap- 
 peared in him — a reflex of the times. 
 His style showed deterioration from 
 that of his predecessors. To his abridg- 
 ments are due a variety of breaks now 
 to be found in the narrative. In the 
 process of epitomizing he disregarded 
 minor contradictions which might ap- 
 pear in the completed work. 
 
 Inasmuch as under these writers the 
 legislative spirit of the w Book of Ori- 
 gins " was succeeded by the prophetic, 
 they may be distinguished as " the 
 Prophetical IsTarrators of the primitive 
 history." 
 
 § 9. The greater part of the Penta- 
 teuch having now reached substantially 
 its final shape, it served the purpose of 
 some well-wisher of his nation to ad- 
 dress his countrymen, amidst their 
 
 Part I. 
 
 cal material to 
 substantially 
 the form of the 
 greater part of 
 the present 
 Pentateuch, 
 and consid- 
 erably repress- 
 ing the Messi- 
 anic element. 
 
 § 9. " The 
 Beuterono- 
 mist " (latter 
 halfofJSIanas- 
 seh's reign) — 
 patriotic ad- 
 dress to the 
 nation, under 
 
16 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 Moses' name 
 (Deuterono- 
 my)) supple- 
 mented by a 
 
 recast of the 
 life of Joshua 
 to suit the ad- 
 dress (Book of 
 Joshua). This 
 the book dis- 
 covered in the 
 Temple, under 
 Josiah. 
 
 accumulating misfortunes, with a view 
 to a renewed and reformed national 
 life. He did so by supposing Moses — 
 no longer at the distance of a legislator, 
 speaking in set phrase, but as a familiar 
 orator among the people — to recast 
 the Law, and to mingle with it bright 
 promises and pointed threats. But as 
 this would constitute theory and ex- 
 hortation only, he supplemented this 
 part of his work by recasting the life 
 of Joshua, and by representing him as 
 successfully carrying out the new order 
 of things in the early history. Hence, 
 substantially the present Deuteronomy 
 and Book of Joshua — the former 
 largely fresh matter, the latter the old 
 history worked over to suit the pui^ose 
 in hand. The writer may be called "the 
 Deuteronomist." He did not write 
 fraudulently, but prepared an ethical 
 treatise in historical form. He would 
 seem to have resided in Egypt, and to 
 have written in the latter half of King 
 Manasseh's reign. It was a stray copy 
 of his book, somehow brought, years 
 
9, 10.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 17 
 
 before, into Palestine, and to the Temple, 
 which was discovered there under the 
 good King Josiah (2 Kings xxii.; 2 
 Chron. xxxiv.). 
 
 § 10. The powerful effect which the 
 discovery of this book produced (2 
 Kings xxiii. ; 2 Chron. xxxiv., xxxv.) 
 gave it great distinction. "With slight 
 additional matter, of a similar stamp, 
 it was joined on to the compilation of 
 the Fifth Narrator, and became, with 
 that, the present Pentateuch and Book 
 of Joshua — the whole undergoing, 
 however, trifling editorial modifications 
 later. As the compactest work on the 
 ancient history, and as a work a portion 
 of which had been of great historical 
 service, this composite document was 
 preserved, was revered more and more, 
 and became at length the most sacred 
 Hebrew book. 
 
 "In conclusion," remarks Ewald, "we 
 can now understand what extraordinary 
 fortunes this great work underwent, 
 before it attained its present form. . . . 
 
 2 
 
 §10. The work 
 of the ''Fifth" 
 Narrator and 
 of the Beuter- 
 onomist soon 
 combined, and 
 at length re- 
 vered, as the 
 present Penta- 
 teuch and 
 Book of Josh- 
 ua. From 
 them "still 
 shines forth 
 very muchthat 
 is original." 
 
18 Historical Value of Genesis L-XL [§§ 
 
 Past I. 
 
 § 11. Ewald's 
 point of vieio 
 historical. 
 Characteriza- 
 tion of him. 
 
 From amid the wreck of the oldest 
 writings and the multitude of later ad- 
 ditions, there still shines forth very 
 much that is original." 
 
 § 11. Ewald's point of view is that 
 of an historical critic. He is hardly 
 theological at all. He is characterized 
 by great and comprehensive learning; 
 hy remarkable powers of analysis and 
 of generalization; and above all by a 
 singular talent for actualizing past 
 events. Even in the dry, critical parts 
 of his history, he often quickens one's 
 blood by his life-like touches. Few men 
 have put Biblical scholarship under 
 greater obligations to them. Those 
 scholars who least agree with him con- 
 tinually quote or allude to him. Few, 
 however, follow him. Canon Westcott 
 — not too conservative himself — says 
 of him, in another connection : M Ewald, 
 according to his usual custom, picks 
 out the different elements with a daring 
 confidence, and leaves a result so com- 
 plicated that no one can accept it in its 
 details, while it is characterized in its 
 
10-12.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 19 
 
 great features by masterly judgment 
 and sagacity." 
 
 2. Kuenen. 
 
 § 12. Kuenen — Professor at Leyden, 
 and representative of a considerable 
 school of Dutch Biblical critics — occu- 
 pies a theological point of view, but 
 only in the broadest sense. He exam- 
 ines the religion of the Hebrews as 
 simply one of " the principal religions." 
 It " is one of these religions, nothing 
 less, but also nothing more." " Moses 
 bequeathed no book of the Law to the 
 tribes of Israel. Certainly, nothing 
 more was committed to writing by him, 
 or in his time, than ? the Ten "Words ' 
 [Commandments] in their original 
 form." "The first four books of the 
 Pentateuch are more recent than the 
 seventh century before our era ; " and, 
 accordingly, since King Josiah died 
 within the seventh century, are more 
 recent than the book found during his 
 reign. That book was substantially 
 Deuteronomy. It was — as in Ewald's 
 
 § 12. Kue- 
 rten's point of 
 view theolog- 
 ical in an un- 
 evangelical 
 sense. The 
 Pentateuch 
 neither of the 
 Mosaic age, 
 nor a reposi- 
 tory of much 
 trustioorthy 
 historical mat- 
 ter. 
 
20 Historical Value of Genesis I -XL [§§ 
 
 §13. The 
 point of vieiv 
 of Graf's 
 school, theolog- 
 ical in a more 
 evangelical 
 sense. Its 
 practical con- 
 clusions hard- 
 ly less radical. 
 
 view — a new work ; but it was imposed 
 upon the king — contrary to Ewald, 
 who says : w The want of historical con- 
 scientiousness cannot be more painfully 
 displayed than in suppositions like 
 this." Under Ezra, "priestly ordi- 
 nances were made known and imposed 
 upon the Jewish nation now for the 
 first time." The writer's method of 
 arriving at his conclusions is less his- 
 torical than Ewald's. Indeed, it is 
 dogmatic, with the above view respect- 
 ing K the principal religions " as the 
 point of departure. By consequence, 
 unlike Ewald, he finds little trust- 
 worthy historical matter in the Pen- 
 tateuch. 
 
 3. Graf and his School. 
 
 § 13. In Germany a somewhat health- 
 ier theological point of view is occupied 
 by a school of sufficiently radical Old 
 Testament critics. The results reached 
 by this school are frequently as startling 
 as in the case of Ewald, or of Kuenen; 
 but they are reached in a more evan- 
 
12, 13.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 21 
 
 gelical spirit. This school may be said 
 to have taken definite rise from about 
 1866, when Graf — Professor at Meis- 
 sen, in Saxony — published an essay 
 entitled, " The Historical Books of the 
 Old Testament: Two Historical Exam- 
 inations." The idea of mere historical 
 development, or of mere religious devel- 
 opment (in Kuenen's sense), was aban- 
 doned for confidence in a divine hand 
 underneath the history and underneath 
 the religion. Nevertheless, the divine 
 hand operated under historical condi- 
 tions, and a devout criticism of the Old 
 Testament books must therefore be 
 undertaken. In his treatment of the 
 Pentateuch, Graf entered upon a minute 
 comparison of it, part with part, and 
 by topics, and arrived at conclusions in 
 keeping with his eloquent theory, that 
 ^the Church of the Old Covenant, 
 like the Church of the New, was not 
 founded by a written document. The 
 old Church had its origin, like the 
 new, in the living word of revelation by 
 prophets." 
 
 Part I. 
 
22 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. 
 
 [§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 14. W. Bob- 
 ertson Smith a 
 propagandist 
 
 of the forego- 
 ing school. 
 
 1. Legisla- 
 tion of the 
 Pentateuch 
 not enforced 
 before Ezekiel 
 
 4. W. Robertson Smith. 
 
 § 14. Having noted in this school a 
 movement, rather than its details, it 
 will be profitable to consider briefly the 
 views of that one of its members who 
 is now most before the public eye in 
 Great Britain and America. 
 
 The spirit of W. Robertson Smith — 
 lately Professor at Aberdeen — is, to a 
 good degree, evangelical, and he is 
 intensely in earnest. Always presup- 
 posing these traits, he is an enthusiastic 
 and fascinating propagandist of what 
 may be called Graf's school. Accord- 
 ing to him, the view that the Pentateuch 
 is substantially of Mosaic origin, requires 
 to be tested by the subsequent history. 
 The Pentateuch certainly goes back to 
 Ezra's time : what light is shed upon its 
 origin by the history between Moses 
 and Ezra? 
 
 1. In the first place, the legislation 
 of the Pentateuch was never enforced 
 during that period. Even the success- 
 ive reformers of the people failed to 
 
14.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 23 
 
 comply with it. So pure a character as 
 Samuel had no scruple about sacrificing 
 on high places, contrary to it. " From 
 the Judges to Ezekiel, the Law in its 
 finished system and fundamental the- 
 ories was never the rule of Israel's 
 worship." True, the principal portions 
 of the history are represented as a 
 record of lapses from Jehovah, but the 
 lapses were not lapses from such legis- 
 lation as that of the Pentateuch. 
 
 2. Again, during that period it was 
 not rites and ceremonies — as after the 
 Captivity — which gave a distinct life 
 to the nation, but the living voice of 
 prophets. It was their glory to speak 
 Jehovah's word. It was the people's 
 glory that they possessed prophets. 
 The prophets spake only, and wrote not, 
 until the wicked nation would no longer 
 listen; then they wrote. Moreover, the 
 prophetic idea of forgiveness was direct; 
 not by process of ritual. Hence, since 
 prophecy did not supersede ritual, ritual 
 must have come in only in the last days 
 of prophecy. " The conclusion is in- 
 
 2. From 
 prophecy to 
 ritual, the or- 
 der of the He- 
 brew national 
 life. 
 
2± Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 3. The Pen- 
 tateuch not of 
 the Mosaic 
 age ; its con- 
 stituent parts ; 
 its historical 
 portions com- 
 posed in part 
 from ancient 
 documents. 
 
 evitable, that the ritual element . . . 
 became part of the system of God's 
 grace only after the prophets had 
 spoken." 
 
 Thus radically divergent from Ewald's, 
 is this school's sense of the historical 
 order. (See § 8, above, at the end.) 
 
 3. Once more, the Pentateuch is found 
 to accord with these judgments. It has 
 a kernel of ancient legislation — prin- 
 cipally Ex. xxi.-xxiii. It has the Deu- 
 teronomic code — principally Deut. xii- 
 xxvi. — of about Josiah's time. It has 
 an extended priestly code, of the age of 
 the Captivity — foreshadowed by Eze- 
 kiel in connection with his vision of a 
 new Temple. Its historical portions 
 were composed in Palestine — quite 
 possibly as late as David's period — 
 in part from documents more or less 
 ancient. 
 
 " These results," remarks the writer 
 when he has prepared the way for the 
 conclusions just summarized, "have a 
 much larger interest than the question 
 of the date of the Pentateuch. It 
 
14, 15.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 25 
 
 is more important to understand the 
 method of God's grace in Israel than 
 to settle when a particular book was 
 written." 
 
 II. Kemakks upon the Foregoing 
 Yiews. 
 
 First Remark. 
 
 § 15. The above views — so diverse 
 in themselves — start from a common 
 assumption, and arrive at a common 
 result. 
 
 The assumption from which they 
 start is, that the Hebrew national life 
 developed in accordance with the same 
 general principles that have operated 
 in other history. 
 
 The result at which they arrive is, 
 that the Pentateuch was the outgrowth 
 of the Hebrew national life, not its 
 starting-point. 
 
 Vatke put the assumption and the 
 result concretely eight-and-forty years 
 ago, when he said: "Leviticus must 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 15. Their 
 common as- 
 sumption — 
 
 development 
 of the Hebrew 
 national life 
 according to 
 ordinary his- 
 torical princi- 
 ples. Their 
 common result 
 — the Penta- 
 teuch the out- 
 groiuth, not 
 the starting- 
 point, of the 
 Hebrew 
 national life. 
 
26 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 § 16. Their 
 
 wide preva- 
 lence. 
 
 have followed Isaiah, for sacerdotalism 
 always follows faith." 
 
 Second Remark. 
 
 § 16. "With regard to the extent to 
 which these views prevail, "W. Robert- 
 son Smith affirms that their more evan- 
 gelical type represents "the growing 
 conviction of an overwhelming weight 
 of the most eminent and sober scholar- 
 ship." Professor Bissell, of Hartford, 
 who has lately been in Germany, would 
 materially qualify this statement; but 
 has " no doubt that a large majority of 
 the younger theologians of Germany 
 have really adopted " similar views, " and 
 find in them a happy solution of many 
 perplexing critical problems." It is 
 significant, from an Anglo- American 
 point of view, that a fund has been 
 enthusiastically raised in Scotland from 
 which to support the unseated Aberdeen 
 Professor in his studies and public ex- 
 positions, and that he edits the more 
 important Old Testament matter in the 
 
15-18.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 27 
 
 ninth edition of the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica. 
 
 Third Remark. 
 
 § 17. It should be remarked, also, 
 that the same principles of criticism 
 which appear in these views, are applied 
 to the entire Old Testament. Indeed, 
 it is largely through handling the Old 
 Testament in such a manner, that the 
 conclusions respecting the Pentateuch 
 are reached. As, however, the Penta- 
 teuch is the stem out of which the Old 
 Testament seems to grow (and, in truth, 
 the New), the ~New Criticism reaches 
 its culmination in "reconstructing" 
 that document. 
 
 Fourth Remark. 
 
 § 18. The bearing of these views 
 upon the question in hand — viz., the 
 historical trustworthiness of Genesis 
 i.-xi. — is obvious: 
 
 It is in the light of such views that 
 the question has presented itself at this 
 time. 
 
 §17. The en- 
 tire Old Testa- 
 ment involved 
 in them. 
 
 § 18. Their 
 necessary con- 
 nection with 
 the present 
 inquiry. 
 
28 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§ 
 
 Also, such views, while they differ 
 in their estimate of the chapters under 
 consideration, agree in removing that 
 very considerable voucher for the trust- 
 worthiness of the chapters — a substan- 
 tially Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 Furthermore, unless these chapters 
 have been misconceived, they are the 
 tap-root of the Pentateuch. Ewald, 
 with true historical insight, makes them 
 such in the case of his " Book of Ori- 
 gins " (§7, above) . A cavalier disjDosal 
 of them, therefore, through making the 
 Pentateuch the outgrowth, not the 
 starting-point, of the Hebrew national 
 life, challenges attention in this inquiry. 
 It may be that Genesis i.-xi. and the 
 Pentateuch stand in relations which 
 cannot be broken; and that Genesis 
 i.-xi. will yet break the New Criticism. 
 (See § 43, below.) 
 
18, 19.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 29 
 
 III. Grounds of Dissent from 
 the Foregoing Views. 
 
 1. General Grounds. 
 
 § 19. Respecting the common result 
 of the foregoing views — viz., the con- 
 clusion that the Pentateuch was the 
 outgrowth of the Hebrew national life, 
 not its starting-point — it is to be 
 observed : 
 
 1. First, that the conclusion is not 
 proved. As the advocates of an \\i\- 
 broken evolution of man from the lowest 
 forms of life, have entered upon elabo- 
 rate studies, and have laid science under 
 large obligations to their researches; 
 so have these schools of criticism 
 brought great learning and ingenuity 
 to bear upon the Old Testament docu- 
 ments, with many valuable results. 
 But just as there are many fatal breaks, 
 as yet, in the proof of a complete evo- 
 lution, so are there many breaks here. 
 
 Ewald's account of the origin of the 
 Pentateuch, though instinct with his- 
 
 § 19. Their 
 
 conclusion : 
 
 1. Not 
 proved. 
 
30 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis 1 -XI. [§ 
 
 Part I. 
 
 torical acumen, has never been regarded 
 as proved. 
 
 The Dutch critics make assumptions 
 which are too large, and pass to conclu- 
 sions too lightly. 
 
 The school of which W. Robertson 
 Smith is the exponent rests its case, first, 
 on an attempted proof that the legisla- 
 tion of the Pentateuch was not enforced 
 between Moses and Ezekiel: whereas, 
 if it were not, that fact would no more 
 show that those ages had not the Pen- 
 tateuch, than the want of conformity of 
 the Christian Church to the Gospel, be- 
 tween the sixth and the sixteenth cen- 
 turies, would show that the Church had 
 not the writings of the Evangelists. 
 This school rests its case, secondly, on 
 an attempted proof that the order of 
 the Hebrew national life was from pro- 
 phecy to ritual, and not vice versa: 
 whereas Ewald, who arrives at this 
 school's general conclusion, is unable 
 with his great historical insight to find 
 that such was the fact. This school 
 rests its case, thirdly, upon an analysis 
 
19.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 31 
 
 of the Pentateuch — which, considering 
 the convulsion which the divine plan 
 for Israel seems to have suffered in the 
 Wilderness of the Wandering, affords a 
 narrow margin for argument, much less 
 for proof. 
 
 2. It is to be observed, also, that the 
 different laborers and schools of labor 
 along the line of these views, have 
 reached as yet no detailed agreement. 
 They start with a common assumption ; 
 they arrive at a common conclusion; 
 but they disagree all along the way. 
 " Not even so " does " their witness 
 agree together " (Mark xiv. 59) . But 
 it must reach some agreement before it 
 can carry conviction. For example, 
 the radical divergence between Ewald, 
 and Grafs school, already noted. 
 
 3. It is to be observed, moreover, that 
 these views raise more difficulties than 
 they solve. It is harder to believe in 
 the "reconstructed" Pentateuch than 
 in the Pentateuch as it stands. The 
 sanguine man of Aberdeen leads you 
 confidently along, pointing out how in 
 
 2. Their con- 
 clusion ar- 
 rived at icith- 
 out detailed 
 agreement. 
 
 3. More diffi- 
 culties raised 
 by it than set- 
 tled. 
 
32 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 4. The natu- 
 ralistic plane 
 reached in ar- 
 riving at it, 
 itself a diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 his path you escape this difficult hill, 
 and that too narrow causeway, but he 
 leaves you in a bog. 
 
 4. One difficulty these views seem to 
 escape. By their common assumption 
 
 — viz., ordinary historical development 
 
 — they seem to make the whole history 
 natural. The mystery — the struggle 
 to come to the birth — is gone out of it. 
 And particularly when you have traced 
 with Ewald "what extraordinary for- 
 tunes this great work underwent," you 
 seem to have got a key to Hebrew his- 
 tory made easy. But this escape really 
 involves you in a more serious trouble : 
 for, turn the history over and over as 
 you will, you cannot help feeling that 
 its peculiarity lies precisely in its diffi- 
 culty; that, emptied of difficulty it be- 
 comes commonplace; that, in point of 
 fact, what occurred was not a natural 
 history at all. 
 
 On these general grounds, were there 
 nothing further to be said, it would seem 
 that these views must fail to command 
 assent. 
 
 
19, 20.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 33 
 
 2. Particular Grounds. 
 
 § 20. But there is much more to be 
 said : 
 
 1. There is a strong line of testimony 
 out of the Old Testament books, tracing 
 the Pentateuch of Ezra's time back to 
 the time of Moses — a line of testimony 
 often challenged, but not yet discred- 
 ited. 
 
 2. Also, there is strong internal evi- 
 dence assigning the Pentateuch to the 
 Mosaic age : its archaic words and modes 
 of expression; the accuracy of its nu- 
 merous Egyptian allusions; the nice 
 correspondence of its appropriate por- 
 tions to the wilderness life; its ampli- 
 tude of detail — such a characteristic 
 of authentic writing; its simplicity, 
 fidelity to human nature, and impartial- 
 ity — as of an original record. 
 
 Both these points have been devel- 
 oped with some fullness, and in popular 
 form, in Dr. Stebbins' recent " Study 
 of the Pentateuch." They might, how- 
 
 § 20. The 
 Pentateuch of 
 substantially 
 Mosaic origin: 
 
 1. As shown 
 by a strong 
 line of Old 
 Testament tes- 
 timony ; 
 
 2. As shoion 
 by strong in- 
 ternal evi- 
 dence ; 
 
34 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§§ 
 
 •3. As shown 
 
 by profuse 
 Xeio Testa- 
 ment testi- 
 mony. 
 
 § 21. More- 
 over : 
 1. The as- 
 
 ever, be put more completely and effec- 
 tively. 
 
 3. Moreover, there is profuse testi- 
 mony in the NeAV Testament — in part 
 authenticating the Pentateuch, in part 
 assigning it in general terms to Moses. 
 For a single example, Christ most ex- 
 plicitly says: "If ye believed Moses, 
 ye would believe me; for he wrote of 
 me. But if ye believe not his writings, 
 how shall ye believe my words?" 
 (John v. 46, 47.) But such testimony 
 must be disallowed, according to Kue- 
 nen, who says : " We must either cast 
 aside as worthless our dearly bought 
 scientific method, or must for ever cease 
 to acknowledge the authority of the 
 New Testament in the domain of the 
 exegesis of the Old." (See § 41, below.) 
 
 On these particular grounds it would 
 seem that the foregoing views must be 
 dissented from. 
 
 3. Grounds in the Nature of the Case- 
 
 § 21. But further still: 
 
 1. The assumption with which these 
 
20, 21.] Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 35 
 
 views start (§ 15, above) — viz., that 
 the Hebrew national life developed in 
 accordance with the same general prin- 
 ciples which have operated in other his- 
 tory — is incorrect, if Christianity is a 
 supernatural religion; and if, being- 
 such, " salvation is from the Jews " 
 (John iv. 22). 
 
 2. Also, taken all in all, the Penta- 
 teuch is the masterpiece of Hebrew 
 literature. But masterpieces of litera- 
 ture have authors. Ewald with his 
 usual penetration recognizes this, and 
 in creating and apostrophizing the 
 author of his "Book of Origins " (§ 7, 
 above, at the end), does what little he 
 can toward supplying one. But none 
 of the foregoing views supplies one. 
 And in denying to the master mind of 
 Hebrew history the substantial author- 
 ship of the masterpiece of Hebrew lite- 
 rature, these views leave that master- 
 piece not adequately accounted for. 
 
 3. Moreover, Hebrew history is the 
 masterpiece of ancient history. It, too, 
 requires to be accounted for. "With the 
 
 Part I. 
 
 sumption — de- 
 velopment of 
 the Hebrew 
 national life 
 according to 
 ordinary his- 
 torical princi- 
 ples — incor- 
 rect ; 
 
 2. No ade- 
 quate author- 
 ship of the 
 Pentateuch 
 found ; 
 
 3. Hebrew 
 
 history not ad- 
 equately 
 accountedfor; 
 
36 Historical Value of Genesis I -XL [§ 
 
 ±. The great 
 moral traits of 
 the Jeivs — the 
 point of de- 
 parture for 
 Christianity 
 — rooted in a 
 misapprehen- 
 sion or in a 
 fraud, which 
 unhistorical 
 and unpsycho- 
 logical. 
 
 Pentateuch as its starting-point, all is 
 explained. "With the Pentateuch as its 
 outgrowth, it is left like a majestic tree 
 without roots. 
 
 4. Once more, these views require 
 the belief that the great and distinctive 
 moral traits of the Jews, on which 
 Christianity was engrafted, took their 
 rise in a misapprehension of facts, if 
 not in a fraud. For it was the firm 
 conviction of the Jews for centuries be- 
 fore Christ, that the system of the Pen- 
 tateuch came direct from God to Moses ; 
 and it was that living conviction which 
 produced a Simeon, a John the Baptist, 
 a Paul — which, in short, made it pos- 
 sible to plant Christianity in the world. 
 But that conviction, according to these 
 views, was a mistake. And it was a 
 mistake due either to a misapprehension 
 or to a fraud, mysteriously connected 
 with somebody between Hilkiah and 
 Ezra. 
 
 But to ground such a conviction, and 
 a conviction producing such results, in 
 misapprehension or in fraud — which 
 
21.] 
 
 Origin of the Pentateuch. 
 
 37 
 
 is thus what these views require — is 
 consistent neither with sound history 
 nor with sound psychology. If, then, 
 it is not true that K the law was given 
 by Moses," that which " came by Jesus 
 Christ " was neither " grace " nor 
 "truth" (Johni. 17). 
 
 On these grounds, involved in the 
 very nature of the case, in addition to 
 the general and to the particular 
 grounds previously considered, it would 
 seem that the foregoing views must be 
 rejected. 
 
PART II. -AUTHENTICITY OF CHAPTERS I.-II. 
 
 By faith we understand that the worlds have been 
 framed by the word of God. — Heb. xi. 3. 
 
 Through one man sin entered into the world, and death 
 through sin. — Bom. v. 12. 
 
 3. 
 The flood came, and destroyed them all. — Luke xvii. 27. 
 
 4. 
 (a.) Nothing will be restrained from them. . . . Let us 
 go down, and there confound their language. — Gen. 
 xi. 6, 7. 
 (b.) They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began 
 to speak with other tongues. — Acts ii. 4. 
 
 5. 
 He made of one every nation of men for to dwell on all 
 the face of the earth, having determined . . . the 
 bounds of their habitation. — Acts xvii. 26. 
 
 6. 
 
 Jesus . . . the son of Abraham, . . . the son of Noah, . . . 
 
 the son of Adam, the son of God. — Luke Hi. 23-38. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § 22. Reca- 
 
 Xntulation. 
 
 Preliminary Observations. 
 
 § 22. Some of the principal views 
 which controvert the substantially Mo- 
 saic origin of the Pentateuch having 
 now been examined in a spirit of can- 
 dor, and as comprehensively as the 
 
§§22,23.] Authenticity of Chapters L-XL 39 
 
 present discussion will admit, and a 
 variety of grounds having been found 
 on which these views must be rejected 
 
 — the specific question proposed (§ 2, 
 above) — viz., the historical trustworthi- 
 ness, or authenticity, of Genesis i.-xi. 
 
 — is next in order. 
 
 § 23. It must be stated at the outset 
 in what sense the expression, " historical 
 trustworthiness, or authenticity," is here 
 used. It is used in the same sense that 
 would be employed were it used of any 
 history — a history of the rise of New 
 England Congregationalism, for ex- 
 ample. The question is: Are the con- 
 tents of Genesis i.-xi. historically 
 trustworthy, or authentic? That is: Do 
 they accurately record what occurred 
 in all the matters with which they deal? 
 It is right, however, to make the fol- 
 lowing qualifications : 
 
 1. History has come to have a new 
 sense amidst the prodigious historical 
 labors of recent times. In the new 
 sense it is, perhaps, equivalent to what 
 lias been termed " philosophical history." 
 
 § 23. By 
 
 "authenticity 
 of the chap- 
 ters," meant — 
 an accurate 
 record of what 
 occurred in all 
 the matters 
 described. 
 But: 
 
 1. Philo- 
 sophical histo- 
 ry not meant; 
 
*0 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§ 
 
 Part II. 
 
 2. Nor tech- 
 nical accu- 
 racy ; 
 
 According to this sense, records, annals, 
 monographs, are not history; they are 
 — no matter how trustworthy — only 
 the materials out of which to construct 
 history. Obviously Genesis i.-xi. is 
 not history in this sense. 
 
 2. Again, every department of knowl- 
 edge has come to be thought of as the 
 proper subject of a history all its own. 
 There is cosmological history; there is 
 ethnological history; there is the his- 
 tory of language; etc. Such history, 
 properly written, is technical. But 
 obviously, in so far as the contents of 
 Genesis i.-xi. might properly fall un- 
 der such departments of history, they 
 are not technical. In their specifica- 
 tions respecting the successive orders 
 of life which appeared upon the earth, 
 for example, technical accuracy in de- 
 tails ought not to be expected; inas- 
 much as the account is not of vegeta- 
 tion and of animal life as they would be 
 thought of by the botanist or by the 
 zoologist, but of vegetation and of ani- 
 mal life as they would be thought of by 
 
23.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 41 
 
 the ordinarily intelligent man. Accord- 
 ingly this canon — viz., accuracy as ap- 
 prehended by the ordinarily intelligent 
 man, rather than technical accuracy — 
 is assumed as the test of authenticity 
 whenever such a distinction is of reason- 
 able application in these chapters. 
 
 3. Also, this requirement in con- 
 structing the narrative — viz., capabil- 
 ity of apprehension by the ordinarily 
 intelligent man — must have laid some 
 conditions upon the narrative. It was 
 not to be expected, for example, that 
 the narrative should use the expression 
 "creative period," when the flexible 
 word " day " would so much more 
 simply and effectively serve men who, 
 from want of experience of duration, 
 had as yet no proper sense of time. 
 Nor was it to be expected, for another 
 example, that that occult fact — a cer- 
 tain sex subordination — should be told 
 in the precise terms of its institution to 
 him who, after a sleep that exceeded 
 nature, looked first upon one whom he 
 could not help recognizing as bone of 
 
 Part II. 
 
 3. Nor pre- 
 cise terms {as 
 "creative pe- 
 riod"), when 
 general terms 
 (as "day ") 
 more suitable; 
 
42 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§§ 
 
 Part II. 
 
 4. Nor ex- 
 emption from 
 incidental in- 
 accuracies. 
 
 § 24. By 
 "authenticity 
 of the chap- 
 
 his bones, and flesh of his flesh. This 
 second characteristic, then — viz., the 
 substitution of general for precise terms 
 (sometimes in single words ; sometimes, 
 perhaps, in entire paragraphs) by rea- 
 son of the conditions which capability 
 of apprehension by the ordinarily intel- 
 ligent man laid upon the narrative — is 
 assumed not to discredit the authen- 
 ticity of these chapters. 
 
 4. Once more, those incidental inac- 
 curacies to which all history is liable, 
 and from which even inspired history 
 seems not to be exempt, are not re- 
 garded as vitiating the authenticity of 
 these chapters. For example, Luke's 
 record of the patriarchal line from 
 Abraham to Adam, inserts one name — 
 Cainan, between Shelah and Arphaxad 
 (Luke hi. 36; compare Gen. x. 24, xi. 
 12) — not found in these chapters; and 
 in this respect either his copy of these 
 chapters must have been inaccurate, or 
 ours is — ours of them or of him. 
 
 § 24. There is a way of looking at 
 these chapters not admissible under the 
 
23, 24.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-3LL 
 
 43 
 
 expression " historical trustworthiness, 
 or authenticity," as here used — viz., 
 the allegorical. And some, who would 
 not like to say that these chapters are 
 not historically trustwortrry, seriously 
 inquire : w Historically trustworthy, no 
 doubt: but how? allegoricaliy ? " 
 
 It is not the present purpose to con- 
 trovert such a method of understanding 
 these chapters; though the unreason- 
 ableness of it will be suggested later 
 (§ 42, below). Nor would a part of 
 what is about to be adduced in proof 
 of the authenticity of these chapters, 
 altogether lose force upon such an un- 
 derstanding of them. But clearly, in 
 so far as these chapters are allegorical, 
 they are not true history. They stand 
 for that, perhaps ; but they are not that. 
 And they are valuable, perhaps, ethi- 
 cally, or symbolically, according to the 
 possibility intimated earlier (§ 3, above, 
 under Number 1); but they are not 
 valuable as true history. On this 
 ground, the expression "historical trust- 
 worthiness, or authenticity," as used in 
 
 ters," allegory 
 excluded. 
 
tl4 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§§ 
 
 § 25. Voucher 
 
 this inquiry, excludes — as stated — the 
 allegorical view. 
 
 But it may be asked : " Wherein does 
 the above qualification [§ 23, under 
 Number 3] about ? the substitution of 
 general for precise terms ' — as in the 
 use of ? day ' for c creative period '; or, 
 as in the account of the creation of 
 woman — differ from the allegorical 
 view? " The answer is, that there is 
 no difference in point of quality; but 
 that, in point of extent and of bearing, 
 the difference is radical. Figure, sym- 
 bol, allegory, enter more or less into all 
 language. When, then, such an ele- 
 ment enters in part into a narrative, it 
 does not obscure the substantial fact 
 of the narrative; and it is only in such 
 an application that the above qualifica- 
 tion is intended. But when figure, 
 symbol, allegory, usurp all — so that, 
 for example, what is narrated is entirely 
 allegory — the fact of the narrative is 
 hid; and there is left only a symbol for 
 the history, not the hitsory itself. 
 
 § 25. Returning now from this ex- 
 
24, 25.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 45 
 
 planation of terms to the question in 
 hand, it should be observed that, in the 
 substantially Mosaic origin of the Pen- 
 tateuch — for a belief in which, as 
 shown, there are ample grounds — these 
 its introductory chapters receive strong 
 confirmation. Derived in part from 
 ancient documents or from oral tradi- 
 tion though they seem to have been, 
 they were not incorporated into the 
 Pentateuch without first passing the 
 scrutiny of a great mind and of a 
 highly cultivated mind; nor without 
 first passing also the higher scrutiny 
 of that divine Oracle which, about a far 
 less important matter, said: "And look 
 that thou make them after their pattern, 
 which was showed thee in the mount " 
 (Ex. xxv. 40). 
 
 ~Nov should it be forgotten with what 
 tenacity the Arab tribes to this day, in 
 their monotonous desert solitudes, with- 
 out monuments and with few written 
 memorials, hold their family and tribal 
 histories purely in memory, as in living 
 and imperishable books. "When the 
 
 Part II. 
 
 for authentici- 
 ty of the chap- 
 ters, in the 
 substantially 
 Mosaic origin 
 of the Penta- 
 teuch. 
 
 Also, in 
 Arab tenacity 
 of tradition. 
 
±6 Historical Value of Genesis 1 -XL [§S 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § 26. French 
 writer. 
 
 § 27. Ger- 
 man icriter: 
 
 marvels of recollection often exhibited 
 by the squalid tribes yet extant are con- 
 sidered, the possibility, nay, the prob- 
 ability, that the goodly patriarchal line 
 would hold trustworthy traditions of 
 the primeval Avorld, is obvious. 
 
 To pass on, however, to the line of 
 examination proposed at the outset (§ 
 4, above, at the end) : 
 
 I. Testimony of Secular Historians. 
 
 1. Lenormant. 
 
 § 26. One of the most recent books 
 on ancient history comes from France. 
 It is : " The Beginnings of History," by 
 Francois Lenormant. It consists largely 
 of these chapters, with comments upon 
 them. 
 
 2. Ewalcl. 
 
 § 27. Ewald of Germany — referred 
 to at such length already, and, as was 
 stated, a historian rather than a theo- 
 logian — regards the Hebrew traditions 
 respecting the prehistoric period, the 
 
25-28.] Authenticity of Chapters I -XI. 
 
 47 
 
 purest and most trustworthy in exist- 
 ence. For example, speaking of the 
 tradition of four ages of the world he 
 says : K The Hebrew story presents the 
 most conspicuous fragments of it, and 
 lends us the most aid in inferring its 
 original shape." It w possesses this 
 superior merit, that it accurately dis- 
 tinguishes and bounds the four ages 
 according to their intrinsic nature, so 
 that we see clearly why four — neither 
 more nor less — are assumed, how each 
 of them differs intrinsically from the 
 rest, and has its meaning only in its 
 own place and order." 
 
 3. Henry and George Rawlinson. 
 
 § 28. In England the brothers, Henry 
 and George Rawlinson, who have ren- 
 dered high service in the treatment of 
 ancient history — the former particu- 
 larly in deciphering ancient oriental in- 
 scriptions, the latter in his historical 
 treatises — center ancient history at 
 these chapters. Henry Rawlinson pro- 
 nounces the genealogical table in Gen- 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § 28. Eng- 
 lish writers. 
 
4S Historical Value of Genesis I -XL [§§ 
 
 Past II. 
 
 The chapters 
 variously un- 
 derstood, but 
 regarded as 
 among the 
 most precious 
 memorials of 
 antiquity. 
 
 §29. An in- 
 quiry from the 
 outside 
 proposed. 
 
 esis x., for example, " undoubtedly the 
 most authentic record we possess for 
 the affiliation of those branches of the 
 human race which spring from the 
 triple stock of the Noahchidse." 
 
 In an age when all historical records 
 are being put to the most crucial tests, 
 these examples of the deference paid 
 to the chapters under consideration by 
 recent historians, are significant. These 
 historians have their own way of under- 
 standing the chapters ; and, in some 
 instances, regard them as symbols of 
 history, rather than as history itself: 
 but they agree in soberly ranking them 
 among the most precious memorials of 
 antiquity. 
 
 II. External Testimony. 
 
 § 29. The chapters in question must 
 next be tested as it were from the out- 
 side, in respect to the main facts set 
 forth in them. Are those facts — sum- 
 marized at the outset (§1, above) — 
 credible when judged independently? 
 
28-30.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 49 
 
 1. Creation. 
 
 § 30. And, first, the account of the 
 creation. Considering the creative days 
 to stand for periods, which is allowable, 
 the record is strikingly in accord with 
 the testimony of geology. Professor 
 Dana writes : " The Bible says that man 
 was the last creation ; geology says the 
 same. The Bible says that quadrupeds 
 next preceded man; geology says the 
 same. The Bible says that inferior 
 animal species, up to reptiles, were cre- 
 ated before quadrupeds; geology says 
 the same. The Bible says that there 
 was, earlier, an age without animal life; 
 geology does the same. The Bible 
 says that after the earth had been long 
 in formation (for its three days), the 
 sun, moon, and stars appeared in the 
 heavens. Geology makes this event 
 long after the earth's beginning; and 
 it may be shown to be probable, though 
 not actually demonstrated, that this 
 occurred after the earliest dry land 
 appeared. The Bible says that vege- 
 
 § 30. Account 
 of the creation 
 — its substan- 
 tial accord 
 with science- 
 
50 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 § 31. Ac- 
 count of man's 
 first condition 
 and of the fall 
 — wide sup- 
 port of both 
 from tradi- 
 tion. 
 
 tation was created with the first appear- 
 ance of land, before animal life. Science 
 gathers but indistinct records from the 
 earth on this point, yet plainly has 
 no counter statement; and as far as 
 there are any indications, they favor 
 the above. The Bible sa}^s the world 
 had a beginning; geology, by its 
 very system of progress, points to a 
 beginning" (Bibliotheca Sacra, xx. 
 386). 
 
 2. Man's First Condition — The Fall. 
 
 § 31. There is here the question of 
 the unity of the race, which will be 
 taken up later (§ 34, below). There 
 is here also that double matter — man's 
 first condition, and his lapse from the 
 same. The general tradition of a remote 
 " golden age," is in harmony with the 
 one ; the detailed tradition, varying 
 among different peoples, but involving 
 with greater or less uniformity some- 
 thing eaten, a serpent, a deliberate act, 
 and subsequent misery — is in harmony 
 with the other. Greece, Persia, Thibet, 
 
30-32.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 51 
 
 India, China, Mexico, present traces of 
 snch traditions (Bibliotheca Sacra, xx. 
 392-394). 
 
 3. The Flood. 
 
 § 32. The traditions of this event 
 constitute one of the most startling 
 phenomena of history. When one of 
 the early missionaries to the Sandwich 
 Islands, in preaching, gave an account 
 of Xoah and of the flood, the natives 
 said, that an account had come down to 
 them of a general inundation, and that 
 two men escaped it on a small emerging 
 point of a mountain; but the particu- 
 lars given by the missionary they had 
 not heard {Bibliotlieca Sacra, xxii. 
 418) . This strange corroboration of the 
 flood from an island of the Pacific, is 
 only one of multitudes of testimonies 
 from the old world, and from the new, 
 and from the islands of the sea, repre- 
 senting a score or more of peoples. 
 And although, as in the instance cited, 
 the traditions are often imperfect, yet a 
 close student of the subiect has ob- 
 
 Part II. 
 
 §32. The 
 flood — an al- 
 most universal 
 tradition. 
 
52 Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§§ 
 
 Part II. 
 
 §33. The 
 confusion of 
 tongues : The 
 Plains of Shi- 
 nar a lin- 
 guistic focus. 
 Testimony of 
 Assyrian tab- 
 lets. 
 
 served, that " there is scarcely a single 
 feature in the Biblical account which is 
 not discovered in one or several of 
 these traditions." 
 
 4. The Confusion of Tongues. 
 
 § 33. This catastrophe, which scat- 
 tered the recovering race every whither, 
 is also amply confirmed. There are 
 strong reasons for believing the Abo- 
 rigines of America to have been of 
 Asiatic origin. Bunsen says, w that 
 two imperishable records, language 
 and mythology," assign the origin 
 of the historical races to Central Asia. 
 Henry Rawlinson affirms, "that if we 
 were to be guided by the mere in- 
 tersection of linguistic paths, and 
 independently of all reference to the 
 Scriptural record, we should be led 
 to fix on the plains of Shinar as the 
 focus from which the various lines had 
 radiated." Traditions bearing upon 
 items of the Biblical narrative, have 
 come down from Egyptian, Greek, 
 Mexican, and other sources; but — as 
 
32, 33.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 53 
 
 might be expected — those most signifi- 
 cant are from the country which the 
 Scriptures represent as the scene of the 
 catastrophe. Without presenting de- 
 tails of these last, the following render- 
 ing from mutilated Assyrian tablets 
 brought to England by the late George 
 Smith, of the British Museum, may be 
 cited : " The thoughts of men's hearts 
 were evil, so that the father of the gods 
 turned from them. Babylon had cor- 
 ruptly turned to sin, and set about 
 building a great Tower. Small and 
 great mingled at the task, raising the 
 mound. This they did all the day, 
 raising up their stronghold; but in the 
 night the god Anu entirely made an 
 end of it. In his anger, also, he poured 
 out before the gods his secret counsel 
 to scatter them abroad, and set his face 
 against them, and for this end gave a 
 command to make strange their speech, 
 and thus hinder their progress. jSTu- 
 mantir — the god of confusion — hav- 
 ing gone down, they violently resisted 
 him, but he cast them to the earth when 
 
54 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § U. Two 
 points here: 
 
 1. Tradi- 
 tional and sci- 
 entific testimo- 
 ny to the unity 
 of the race ; 
 
 2. High trib- 
 utes to Gen. x. 
 and xi. as a 
 record of race 
 distribution. 
 
 they would not stop their work " (Hours 
 with the Bible, i. 283,284). 
 
 5. Origin and Distribution of the 
 Nations. 
 
 § 34. Respecting the account given 
 of the origin and distribution of the 
 earliest tribes and nations, two points 
 claim attention: 
 
 1. The question of the unity of the 
 race — for convenience' sake deferred 
 to be touched upon here. This is the 
 voice of tradition, Max Midler testify- 
 ing: "As far as I know, there has been 
 no nation upon the earth, which, if it 
 possessed any traditions on the origin 
 of mankind, did not derive the human 
 race from one pair, if not from one 
 person." It is also the voice of a wide 
 range of anatomical and physiological 
 facts, as many of the ablest physiolo- 
 gists bear witness. 
 
 2. Secondly, the question of the trust- 
 worthiness of the accounts given of the 
 distribution of the race. Henry Eaw- 
 linson has been cited in another con- 
 
33-35.] Authenticity of Chapters I.-XI. 
 
 55 
 
 nection (§ 28, above) as testifying to 
 the importance of Genesis x. as bearing 
 on the several lines of Noah's descend- 
 ants. Ritter, the geographer, says, "that 
 there are no ancient writings which the 
 modern researches in history and geog- 
 raphy so fully confirm as" the "eleventh 
 chapter of Genesis and the works of 
 Herodotus." Such being the testimo- 
 nies to Genesis x., xi., it is reasonable to 
 give the other allusions to this subject 
 in the chapters a like credit. 
 
 6. The Genealogical Chronology. 
 
 § 35. There is left only one other 
 principal matter — the way the chapters 
 in question are put within definite time- 
 limits by a chronology in genealogical 
 form. 
 
 1. Respecting the general limitation 
 of the antiquity of man to a short chro- 
 nology which this matter — according to 
 the ordinary interpretation — involves, 
 it is to be observed that such work as 
 Professor G. Frederick Wright is doing 
 in observing glacial and other deposits, 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § 35. Two 
 
 points here 
 also : 
 
 1. Scientific 
 evidence of a 
 limited anti- 
 quity of man; 
 
ESsk icall lue r~ Genesis I- -XL [§§ 
 
 v 
 
 1 Rfee long 
 rdhs 6b- 
 
 |3S. Impor- 
 
 yf inter- 
 nal evidence. 
 
 tends to fix the first traces of man upon 
 arth much nearer to the supposed 
 
 Biblical period than science has been 
 wont to claim. 
 
 J. Respecting, on the other hand, the 
 long-lived lineage from Adam to Abra- 
 ham, there are no clear tests to apply. 
 See, however, § 38, below, at the end.) 
 
 This twofold and least clear topic of 
 the chapters can certainly, without re- 
 flection on the authenticity of the rec- 
 ord, be left for further fight. 
 
 ITT. fcSTEKNAL EvrDEX I 
 
 ;». The authenticity of no record 
 is established unless it bears within 
 evidences of trustworthiness. 
 "Where records have to do with mat- 
 remote and obscure, these evi- 
 dences are often the most eonch 
 
 J shed. An examina- 
 
 I evidences of authen- 
 
 . chapters, should 
 
 rute, therefore, a leading division 
 
 inquiry. 
 
35-37.] Authenticity of Chapters 1 -XI. 
 
 57 
 
 An article entitled "The First 
 Eleven Chapters of Genesis Attested 
 by their Contents/' which the late Pro- 
 fessor Hackett translated from the 
 German of Anberlen and published 
 with annotations in the Bibliotheca Sa- 
 cra for July, 1865 — presents this part 
 of the subject with admirable brevity, 
 penetration, and suggestiveness. The 
 point of view is broad and philosoph- 
 ical. 
 
 ]^or can too much well be said in 
 praise of the late Professor Tayler 
 Lewis' additions to Lange on these 
 chapters — as bearing on this part of 
 the subject. All the positions taken 
 may not be tenable; but the point of 
 view is that of a seer — acute as a 
 Greek oracle, deep-seeing as a Hebrew 
 prophet. 
 
 § 37. A part of the internal evidence 
 lies in the form of the narrative. Its 
 great simplicity, purity, and dignity; 
 the sharp contrast which marks it, 
 when laid side by side with the noblest 
 forms of collateral tradition; the man- 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Auberlen on 
 this part of the 
 subject. 
 
 Tayler 
 Lewis. 
 
 §37. Internal 
 evidence from 
 the form of the 
 narrative. 
 
Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 § 38. Internal 
 evidence from 
 the matter of 
 the narrative. 
 
 ner in which it is content to leave the 
 mysterious and seemingly incredible, 
 without toning it down, and without 
 trying to explain it — these are some of 
 the marks of a record of facts ; of facts 
 apprehended simply and clearly in their 
 real relations; and of facts so pro- 
 foundly impressing themselves upon a 
 line of serious men, as to be held in 
 tradition clear and unmixed, like bars 
 of gold and inestimable jewels trans- 
 mitted from generation to generation. 
 
 § 38. Another part of the internal 
 evidence lies in the matter of the nar- 
 rative. Everything in it is weighty. 
 There is not one trivial line. The pro- 
 foundest themes are successively under 
 treatment, and a purely original light 
 irradiates them all. There is more sci- 
 ence — clothed in popular language — 
 in Genesis i., than the scientists of all 
 the ages have searched out. There is 
 more theology, than all the chairs of 
 dogmatics have expounded. And so it 
 is from chapter to chapter. Intelli- 
 gently read, they impress themselves 
 
37-39.] Authenticity of Chapters I -ILL 
 
 59 
 
 upon the consciousness as true — for 
 example, the deep significance of those 
 three catastrophes, the fall, the flood, 
 the confusion of tongues. When one 
 reads the blessed and prophetic marvel 
 of Acts ii. 1-11, that baleful marvel of 
 Genesis xi. 1-9, is seen to have an in- 
 dissoluble relation to it. And who 
 shall say but the primeval longevity, 
 over which so many stumble, had its 
 roots not in physiology alone, but in a 
 psychological need, to the end that men 
 should come to have some adequate 
 consciousness of duration and of race- 
 solidarity ? 
 
 § 39. "Ah, the philosopical wits must 
 have so much trouble about the swad- 
 dling bands of our race and must be 
 ashamed of them; must wish the waters 
 of the flood had swept them away, or 
 at least left them to appear only in the 
 juggler's commentary. And yet ye 
 are, dear, oldest, and eternal traditions 
 of my race, kernel and germ of its most 
 hidden history ! Without you, mankind 
 would be what so much else is, a book 
 
 § 39. Herder 
 on the internal 
 evidence. 
 
60 
 
 Historical Value of Genesis I -XI. [§§ 
 
 § 40. Christ's 
 allusions to 
 parts of these 
 chapters. 
 
 without title, without first leaves and 
 explanation; with you, our family ac- 
 quires foundation, stem, and root, back 
 to God and father Abraham. And 
 they are all taken in so simple, child- 
 like a tone, from the mouth of the first 
 tradition among the trees of the eastern 
 land, and are set forth by Moses, so true 
 and one by one, as if he found them 
 there, the echo of eternal tunes." (Her- 
 der, quoted by Auberlen.) 
 
 IV. Testimcxnt of the Pre-exist- 
 ext Christ. 
 
 § 40. But one voice of testimony has 
 not yet been heard — the most compe- 
 tent of all — the voice of him who said: 
 "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 
 viii. 58). 
 
 Jesus said: r 'He which made them 
 in the beginning made them male and 
 female, and said, For this cause shall a 
 man leave his father and mother, and 
 shall cleave to his wife; and the twain 
 
39, 40.] Authenticity of Chapters 1 -XI. 
 
 61 
 
 shall become one flesh " (Matt. xix. 4, 
 5; compare Mark x. 6-8). 
 
 Jesus said: "That upon you may 
 come all the righteous blood shed 
 on the earth, from the blood of Abel 
 the righteous unto the blood of Zacha- 
 riah son of Barachiah" (Matt, xxiii. 
 35; compare Luke xi. 50, 51). 
 
 Jesus said: "Ye are of your father 
 the devil, and the lusts of your father 
 it is your will to do. He was a mur- 
 derer from the beginning, and stood 
 not in the truth, because there is no 
 truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, 
 he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, 
 and the father thereof" (John viii. 44). 
 
 Jesus said: "And as were the days 
 of Noah, so shall be the coming of the 
 Son of man. For as in those days 
 which were before the flood they were 
 eating and drinking, marrying and 
 giving in marriage, until the day that 
 Noah entered into the ark, and they 
 knew not until the flood came, and 
 took them all away; so shall be the 
 coming of the Son of man" (Matt. 
 
62 Historical Value of Genesis I -XL 
 
 Part II. 
 
 Allusions of 
 Christ's duly 
 accredited 
 representa- 
 tives, the JS T ew 
 Testament 
 zo r iters. 
 
 § 41. Futility 
 of attempts to 
 discredit this 
 testimony. 
 
 xxiv. 37-39; compare Luke xvii. 26, 
 
 27). 
 
 Thus in these four instances, with 
 their parallel passages, he refers to and 
 authenticates the account of the cre- 
 ation, of the fall and its bloody se- 
 quence, and of the flood. 
 
 One of the Evangelists traces his 
 genealogy back to Adam, coinciding, 
 except in the single particular already 
 mentioned (§23, above, under Number 
 4), with that genealogical table of the 
 chapters, which is also a chronology. 
 And in other writings of his duly ac- 
 credited representatives, the creation, 
 Adam and Eve, the fall, Cain and Abel, 
 Enoch, and the flood, are mentioned — 
 all the passages amounting to a consid- 
 erable number. 
 
 § 41. It is true that efforts are fre- 
 quently made (see § 20, above, under 
 Number 3) to break the force of the 
 New Testament testimony to the au- 
 thenticity, not of these chapters only, 
 but of the entire Pentateuch. The 
 plea made is, that Christ and the New 
 
40, 41.] Authenticity of Chapters I -XL 63 
 
 Testament writers adapted themselves 
 to the received opinions respecting the 
 Pentateuch, and did not pass judgment 
 upon those opinions. 
 
 Such an adaptation in minor particu- 
 lars is conceivable. But it is not con- 
 ceivable that unauthentic records, and 
 that mistaken notions about the general 
 "method of God's grace in Israel," 
 should be made the foundation of Chris- 
 tian doctrine (e. g., Mark xii. 26, 27), 
 of Christian duty (e. g., Matt. xix. 4-6), 
 and of the gravest warnings and ex- 
 hortations (e. g., Matt. xxiv. 37-39, 
 Heb. xii. 14-17, iii. 13-19). And it is 
 not conceivable because such a suppo- 
 sition: (1.) Either assumes an igno- 
 rance on the part of Christ and of the 
 ]STew Testament writers which unfits 
 them to teach final truth; (2.) Or 
 assumes — in the most momentous con- 
 nections — a connivance at error on 
 their part which morally disqualifies 
 them: (3.) While at the same time, 
 and as already suggested (§21, above, 
 under dumber 4) , it is unhistorical and 
 
64z Historical Value of Genesis I.-XI. [§§ 
 
 § 42. The ev- 
 idence sum- 
 marized. Such 
 a narrative 
 not allegori- 
 cal. 
 
 unpsychological to root Christianity in 
 misapprehension or in fraud. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 § 42. Now, that what — as has been 
 seen — receives such high deference 
 from even the least evangelical secular 
 historians; that what tradition and sci- 
 ence unite more and more to confirm 
 the accuracy of; that what is of such 
 sobriety, steadfast seriousness, dig- 
 nity, and weight, as to authenticate 
 itself; and that what Christ and the 
 New Testament writers grounded more 
 or less of Christianity upon — should 
 be conceived of as true, indeed, but as 
 to any considerable degree allegorical, 
 is solemn trifling. Perhaps the rocks 
 in the successive geological strata are 
 allegorical. Perhaps the remains of 
 prehistoric animals are allegorical. But 
 stratified rock and the fossils of ex- 
 tinct animals are not more a reality in 
 geology, than the contents of these 
 chapters are a reality in histoiy. And 
 
41-44.] Authenticity of Chapters I-3LL 
 
 65 
 
 a most eloquent silence, immutability, 
 and unimpeachableness, characterize 
 both. (See, however, § 23, above; 
 compare § 24.) 
 
 § 43. It might also be fairly ques- 
 tioned, as hinted above (§ 18, at the 
 end), whether — ruling out for the mo- 
 ment so much of the proof of the authen- 
 ticity of these chapters as has been 
 drawn (§ 25, above) from the substan- 
 tially Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch 
 — these chapters do not of themselves 
 constitute one of the most formidable 
 proofs of the substantially Mosaic origin 
 of the Pentateuch. Ought not the peo- 
 ple among whom the contents of these 
 chapters were a cherished hereditary 
 possession, to be expected to have such 
 an intervening history and such a com- 
 ing history, that the appearance of the 
 Pentateuch among them at an early day 
 would be natural? What is the Penta- 
 teuch but these chapters working them- 
 selves out? 
 
 § 44. This inquiry has now been pur- 
 sued throughout the course proposed at 
 
 Part II. 
 
 § 43. Such 
 an introduc- 
 tion, consid- 
 ered by itself, 
 a formidable 
 proof of the 
 substantially 
 Mosaic origin 
 of the Penta- 
 teuch. 
 
 §44. " Con- 
 cerning thy 
 testimonies, I 
 
66 Historical Value of Genesis 1 -XI. [§ 44. 
 
 Part II. 
 
 have knoicn of 
 old that thou 
 hast founded 
 them forever." 
 
 the outset — meagerly, indeed, as the 
 occasion has required, but with fidelity; 
 and no uncertain conclusion has been 
 reached. 
 
 Verily : " Thou art near, O Lord; and 
 all thy commandments are truth. Con- 
 cerning thy testimonies, I have known 
 of old that thou hast founded them 
 forever" (Ps. cxix. 151, 152). 
 
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