MASTER! OF THE BIBLE
ROBERT A. ARMSTRONG

:: '

DIVINITY SCHOOL
TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY

MASTERING THE BOOKS
OF THE BIBLE

BY
ROBERT ALLEN ARMSTRONG, L.H.D.
Head of the Department of English of
West Virginia University

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
NATHAN C. SCHAEFFER, LL.D.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction
of Pennsylvania

NEW YORK
THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1916,
By ROBERT ALLEN ARMSTRONG

TO
MY WIFE
MYRA LOUISE

PREFACE
It is the object of this book to aid those who would
like to master a book of the Bible as they master a
secular classic, to get at its great message and at the
same time enjoy its wonderful literature. The author
will attempt to give this aid by showing the value, sig
nificance, and beauty of Bible literature; by furnishing
materials out of which the student may construct the
proper setting, atmosphere and background for his read
ing; by presenting and explaining a fruitful method
of study; and by giving many type-studies to illustrate
the application of this method.
It will be observed that the word Bible is used in
these pages as if all of the sixty-six books were included
in the studies ; but the fact is that the illustrative type-
studies are all taken from the Old Testament.
Most of the Bible quotations are from the Authorized
Version because it is real English literature; but other
versions have been used when the meaning of particu
lar lines and passages could be made clearer.
A large part of the material of the chapters of the
book has been accumulated in the form of lectures given
in a course of study which has been offered for a num
ber of years at "West Virginia University.
Special thanks are due to my colleagues, Professor
Simeon C. Smith, Dr. L. D. Arnett, and Professor David
Dale Johnson, who have given the author valuable
advice and have kindly read the manuscript.
R. A. A.
Morgantown, W. Va., January 1, 1916.

INTRODUCTION
In the year 1913 the Pennsylvania legislature passed
an act requiring in every public school the daily reading
of at least ten verses from the Holy Bible and imposing
upon school directors the duty of dismissing every
teacher who fails to comply with this legislation. While
this legislation was pending, it was predicted outside of
the State that its enactment into law would be followed
by riots and bloodshed. The prediction has not been
fulfilled. The history of Pennsylvania has never been
stained by the burning of witches nor by any other form
of religious persecution. The teachers have shown them
selves to be law-abiding citizens, and the people although
professing many and various creeds, have shown a most
commendable spirit of religious toleration as well as a
most remarkable appreciation of the value of daily Bible
reading. It was of course not the aim of the legislature to in
troduce religious teaching into the public schools. The
duty of teaching religion belongs to the home, to the
Sunday school, and to the church with its various agen
cies. Teachers in high schools and colleges have some
times been known to go out of their way for the purpose
of throwing doubt upon the religious faith of the pupil
or the pupil's parents. A worse service can not be ren
dered by those who are engaged in education. Destroy
the sense of obligation to a supreme being and you have
robbed the child of one of the strongest incentives to an
upright life.
In eight or nine of the States the Bible has been ex
cluded from the public schools either by decisions of the
supreme court of the State, or by opinions of its attorney
general, or by rulings of the state superintendent of
schools. It does not follow that such exclusion neces
sarily makes the schools godless. The schools become god-
7

8 INTRODUCTION
less when put in charge of godless teachers. As long as
the fear of God and the love of righteousness abide in the
teacher's heart, so long can it be assumed and asserted
that the schools are not godless. Nevertheless, the child
loses much if it grows up without the molding influence
of the daily reading of the Book of books. Abraham Lin
coln had access to few books in his early life. But the
marvelous English of King James's version permeated his
thinking and molded his diction. A letter from his pen
written to a mother who had lost five sons in the Civil
War, is treasured at Oxford University as the, finest speci
men of letter writing in the English language. His Get
tysburg speech has been read and studied as a master
piece of English in thousands of our public schools and
bears unmistakable testimony to the molding influence
of the literary style of the English Bible. When Kos
suth was preparing to visit England and America, he
studied three books, Johnson's dictionary, the writings of
Shakespeare, and the King James version of the Bible.
His eloquent command of English gave him unrivaled
power over the audiences which he addressed in the
United States. Father Faber who renounced Protes
tantism and joined the Catholic Church, says, of our
English Bible: "Who will say that the uncommon
beauty and marvelous English of the Protestant Bible is
not one of the great strongholds of heresy in this coun
try? It lives on the ear like a music that can never be
forgotten, like the sound of church bells which the con
vert scarcely knows how he can forego. Its felicities
seem often to be almost things rather than words. It is
part of a national mind and the author of the national
seriousness. Nay, it is worshiped with a positive idol
atry, in extenuation of whose fanaticism its intrinsic
beauty pleads availingly with the scholar. The memory
of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of child
hood are stereotyped in its verses. It is/ the representa
tive of a man's best moments; all that there has been
about him of soft and gentle and pure and penitent and
good speaks to him forever out of his English Bible. It
is his sacred thing which doubt never dimmed and con
troversy never soiled, and in the length and breadth of

INTRODUCTION 9
the land there is not one Protestant with one spark of
religiousness about him whose spiritual biography is not
in his Saxon Bible."
Of course everything depends upon the spirit and the
way in which the Bible is read. I have seen it read
amid so much noise and irreverence that the reading had
better been omitted. The Old Testament may be studied
for the sake of finding questionable cases of morality in
the lives of David and Solomon and the Patriarchs.
Such study may be harmful to youths in the adolescent
period. The inhabitants of India study the English
Bible in order that they may understand Milton's "Para
dise Lost" and "Paradise Regained" and other English
classics. Surely such study of biblical literature is
justifiable. Teachers of pedagogy sometimes use the Bi
ble to show the wisdom in the methods of the greatest
teacher of all the ages. Such use is very helpful to
teachers. But the legislation which prescribes the daily
reading of the Bible in the public schools has undoubtedly
a different aim. The Bible is the loftiest code of ethics
which the human race possesses. It should be read and
studied for purposes of moral instruction and devotional
uplift. The parent or the teacher who expects the daily read
ing of ten verses from the sacred Scriptures to solve the
problem of moral training will of course be disappointed.
The Bible iffay be abused. A pious father, when his son
was bad, made him learn ten Bible verses by heart, and
when the boy was very bad, he had to memorize and
recite one hundred verses. He grew up hating the Bible
as an instrument of punishment, and his adult years
have been very unsatisfactory from the ethical point of
view. Moreover, much biblical knowledge does not
touch the heart out of which are the issues of life. For
instance, the fact that the books of the Bible were origi
nally not divided into chapters and verses, that the divi
sion into chapters was made in the early part of the thir
teenth century, and that the division of the chapters into
verses was made after the art of printing had been in
vented (about the middle of the sixteenth century) by a
printer on horseback fleeing from Paris to Switzerland to

10 INTRODUCTION
escape persecution, — this is interesting information, but
it does not shape the life and conduct of the individual
nor lift him to higher planes of effort and aspiration.
Moreover, for ethical purposes biblical literature should
be supplemented by other instruction. The Bible does
not tell the reader to brush his teeth or to avoid the ciga
rette habit, and yet these are, for the youth, duties as im
perative as going to church or saying his prayers. The
secular literature which the ages have produced contains
much which we can not afford to despise or neglect in
the ethical training of .the young. This admission does
not detract one iota from the importance of daily reading
of the sacred Scriptures.
The Protestant Reformation is based upon two cardinal
principles: 1. Man is justified by faith. 2. The Bible
is the only rule of religious faith and practice. If the
Bible is to be a guide to faith and conduct, it must be
read and studied and understood. Herein lay the prime
motives for the establishment of schools for the common
people. Schmid's Encyclopaedia is authority for the
statement that as early as 1640 it was impossible in Swe
den to find any one above the age of ten who was unable
to read and write. In the court records of Upland (now
Chester) where the Swedes first settled on the Delaware
River, there is given the action of a teacher who recovered
pay from a father who had agreed to pay two hundred
guilders if his children were taught to read the Scrip
tures in a specified number of months. Facts like these
show the stress that was laid by the early settlers upon
the knowledge of the Bible. And that stress is being
renewed through the attention which the twentieth cen
tury is concentrating upon the Old and New Testaments.
The ensuing treatise on the literature of the Old
Testament is evidence of the revival of interest in the
books of the Bible. A lecturer at a teachers' institute
spoke of the beautiful story of Ruth, a teacher of Eng
lish in the high school who had graduated from a uni
versity, asked the name of the publisher; she did not
even know the names of the books of the Old Testament.
How teachers can manage to teach English literature
where the Bible has been excluded from the school, is a

INTRODUCTION 11
problem which modern pedagogy has been unable to
solve. If this volume serves to point out anew what
every intelligent man should know about the Old Testa
ment, if it helps to give parents, teachers, and pupils a
better appreciation of the Bible narratives and their
value from a literary as well as an ethical point of view,
if it brings the reader to a more adequate conception of
the thoughts and ideas which lie at the foundation of
Christian civilization, and if it succeeds in emphasizing
the beauties and verities upon which the saints of all the
ages have fed their souls, it will prove, we may con
fidently hope, a most important contribution to our
educational literature. Two quotations must suffice to
show the value of such a contribution. "A gilt-clasped
Bible," says Arnold Bennett, "is the secret of England's
greatness." "When the history of twentieth-century
culture shall be written," adds Professor Rankin, "no
feature of that culture will be more noteworthy than the
increasingly conscious recognition of the unclasped Bible
as an impelling force and guide in the life of men of
Anglo-Saxon civilization."
Nathan C. Schaeffee.
Harrisburg, Pa.
March 30, 1916.

TABLE OP CONTENTS PAGE
Preface . ^  „  5
Intboduction .... , ....... 7
Chapter I Method of Masteet  . . 17
Present-day ignorance of the Bible. Not an open
book, for the people. Preliminary preparation. General
knowledge of value and significance. Circumstances of
time and place. Mood and purpose of each author. Cor
rectness and authenticity of texts. Reading books as
¦wholes. Wrong methods of study. The synthetic
method. General directions. Four typical analyses: of
Genesis, of Judges, of Amos and of The Stories of the
Two Prophets. CULTURE VALUE OF THE BIBLE.
Chaptee II Its Educational Value  35
Its emphasis on the value of human life. Its solutions
of the practical problems of life. Its rich material for
nourishing the life of the spirit. Its provision for the
cultivating of man's aesthetic nature. Its high moral
ideals, individual and national.
Chaptee III Its Value as Liteeatuee  44
The critical study of the books of the Bible not ir
reverent. Their message made clear by such study. The
impress of this literature left on secular literature and
everyday speech. Acquaintance with Bible literature the
best preparation for the interpretation of secular litera
ture. Interesting reading in rich and satisfying perfec
tion. The best examples of great literature. A. litera
ture of power.
THE BOOKS OP THE OLD TESTAMENT.
Chaptee IV Oeigin and Growth of the Books of the
Bible  59
The books have a natural and a supernatural history.
Materials and composition. Old manuscript copies.
The canon. Ancient versions. English versions.
Chaptee V Resume of the Contents of Each Book . . 70
The books of the Pentateuch. The historical books.
The books of poetry. The books of the Major Prophets.
The books of the Minor Prophets.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE
OLD TESTAMENT STOEIES.
Chapter VI Chabactebistics of Old Testament Stories 89
The Great Teacher's use of stories. Valuable for
many purposes: To entertain, to instruct, to portray
life, to teach moral lessons, to furnish material for the
education of children. Illustrative stories: Samson and
the Philistines, The Offering of Isaac, The Fable of the
Trees, The One Ewe Lamb.
Chaptee VII Genesis as a Story Book foe Children . 95
Characteristics of these stories that make them suit
able for children. The Great Separation, or Paradise
and the Fall. Cain and Abel: A Lesson of Self -Control.
Noah and the Flood.
Chaptee VIII The Book of Ruth  105
The story. Analysis and Comment.
Chaptee IX The Book of Esther  113
The story. Analysis and Comment.
Chaptee X The Book of Jonah  124
The story. Analysis and Comment.
OLD TESTAMENT POETRY.
Chapter XI Characteristics of Old Testament Poetry 131
Noble qualities of Hebrew poetry. Its form. Shorter
lyrics. Greater poems. A study of David's Lament. A
study of the Song of Deborah.
Chapter XII The Book of Psalms ... ... 142
Divisions, five books. The number of the psalms.
Gradual growth of the Hebrew Psalter. Titles of indi
vidual psalms. The psalms of David. Interpretation of
individual psalms: Psalm I, Psalm XXIV, Psalm XIX,
Psalm XXIX.
Chapter XIII The Book of Job .... . . 153
Authorship. A great drama. Its theme. The char
acters of the drama. Divisions of the drama. Inter
pretation of the poem: (1) The prologue; (2) the de
bate; (3) Elihu's interposition; (4) the Voice out of the
whirlwind; (5) the epilogue; (6) problems of the book
and solutions offered.
Chapter XIV The Song of Songs  166
Difficulties of interpretation. A series of wedding
songs. A drama with two, or three, characters. A brief
synopsis of the story.
Interpretation in five acts and thirteen scenes:
Introductory information.
Act I. King Solomon tries to win favor of captive
Shulamite.

TABLE OF CONTENTS page
Act II. She declares her devotion to her shepherd
lover.
Act III. The Shulamite taken to Jerusalem with the
court.
Act IV. She still protests her allegiance to her
shepherd lover.
Act V. Love has won. The Shulamite returns to
her lover and her vineyards.
Comments on the form and meaning of the poem.
Appreciation of the Song by Canon Driver.
BOOKS OUTSIDE THE CANON.
Chapter XV Old Testament Apocrypha . .177
Definition of the term Apocrypha. Brief account of
each of the fourteen Apocryphal compositions of the Old
Testament. The Book of Ecclesiasticus. Additions to
the Book of Daniel: The Story of Susanna, the Story
of Bel and the Dragon, Daniel in the Lion's Den. The
Book of Judith. The Book of Tobit.
APPENDIX.
Section 1 Geobraphy of Palestine  193
Section 2 A Brief Outline of Hebrew History . 196
Section 3 The Chronological Setting of the Books of
the Old Testament .  199
Section 4 List of the Great Stories of the Old Testa
ment .  . . . 202,
Section 5 The Bible Student's Library  204

MASTERING THE BOOKS OF
THE BIBLE

CHAPTER I
METHOD OF MASTERY
Amos, in the eighth chapter of his prophecy, makes the
following declaration: "Behold, the day is come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not
a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the words of the Lord ; and they shall wander from sea
to sea and from the North even to the East, they shall
run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall
not find it."
If one were inclined to be pessimistic and satirical, he
might interpret this passage by saying that Amos looked
forward to these days and had in mind the woeful ig
norance of the Bible which prevails to-day. It is hard
to explain why such a condition exists but may it not be
accounted for partly by the methods we use in studying
the Bible ? We do not read it or study it as we do any
other book, yet it ought not to be thought irreverent to
study it as closely and critically as we do any secular
book, and to use the same methods that are used with
success in the interpretation of secular masterpieces.
There is no question that the Bible was intended to be
an open book for the people, but it does not yield its
meaning to a careless or superficial reader, not even to
a very earnest one, unless he uses an effective method. It
is the object of this volume to present such a method.
It may be called the "literary and historical" method
as opposed to the "theological and textual" method. It
17

18 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
aims to get at the meaning of passages and books as one
would interpret the meaning of secular literature.
The method requires careful preliminary preparation in
order that the student may bring to his study knowledge
with which to interpret what is new, and enthusiasm to
sustain him in his difficulties.
In the first place, if the student is convinced that there
is "pay ore" in the mine he is going to work, he will go
at his task with assured zeal. Chapters II and III of
this volume are presented for the purpose of showing
what a rich mine of material for education and culture is
found in the old Hebrew volume. An effort is made to
impress the reader with the fact that when he is study
ing these books he is becoming acquainted with a volume
that has influenced the intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic,
and practical life of the world as no other volume has ever
done. He should approach his study knowing and feel
ing this wonderful fact.
Another thing of equal importance is that the reader
should put himself, as far as possible, in the place of
the author of each book, so that the circumstances of
time and place, the mood and purpose of the author may
aid him in getting at the genuine meaning of the book.
The Bible had its origin in antiquity amid Oriental sur
roundings, and hence has local allusions liable to be mis
understood by people of later ages and Western lands.
No other book in the world is more influenced by the
surroundings and experiences of its writers. It is im
portant, then, that the student of the Bible should learn
something of the land in which it was written. He
should be impressed with the fact that this book, which
is a world book in its interest and application, came
from a land which reproduces almost all the features of
world geography. In order that the student may better
understand the book, let him first read Section 1 of the
Appendix of this volume as a sort of introduction to the
geography of Palestine.
Although the Bible sets forth eternal truth, that truth
is presented in the words and literary forms of par
ticular ages, according to the modes of thought of par
ticular periods of history and of a particular country.

METHOD OF MASTERY 19
So, if the student would discover its true meaning, he
must put himself in the circumstances of the authors
and try to think and feel as they did. As an aid to such
sympathy and understanding Section 2 of the Appendix
is offered. Here will be found a brief outline of He
brew history and a condensed statement of that history
as related to the different books of the Bible. There is
given, also, a scheme of Hebrew chronology into which
are fitted all the books of the Bible, each in its proper
place. The chronology and circumstances of a book's
origin are important because each epoch has its own
special characteristics, and any national literature can
not be understood except with a knowledge of the times
which produced it. Of course biblical literature is dif
ferent from other literatures in its wonderful inspira
tion, but it bears also the stamp of the general laws which
influence any national literature ; and acquaintance with
the times in which it was produced is necessary to an
accurate interpretation of its meaning and spirit.
(Since these sections are for reference rather than for
reading, they are placed in the Appendix.)
It is not necessary to say to the intelligent Bible reader
that no man living has read the original copy of a single
book of the Bible; but it is true, and all readers must
depend upon copies, indeed upon copies of copies made
through the centuries. It is somewhat reassuring, how
ever, to know that we have a few copies of the Bible in
manuscript form dating back more than 1500 years.
Chapter IV, the Origin and Growth of the Books of the
Bible, gives an account of three of these most precious
manuscript copies, and the story of its origin, and mi
raculous preservation through its many linguistic trans
formations down the centuries.
Since the truths of the Bible are presented to us in
the same literary forms that are used in secular litera
ture, it is well that each book should be approached in
somewhat the same way that a student approaches the
study of a secular masterpiece. The first important
thing to know, then, about a book of the Bible is its gen
eral literary character. What sort of literature is it?
Is it prose or poetry? If poetry, is it epic, lyric, or

20 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
dramatic poetry? Is it historical narrative, drama, or
proverbial philosophy? Does it set forth law, or par
ables, or prophecies? All these forms and many more
are found in the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament.
To give the reader information concerning the nature and
general character of the books of the Bible Chapter V
of this volume is presented.
But the feature of the method here presented which
needs most to be emphasized, is the reading of the books
of the Bible as wholes. Very few readers, even con
scientious and devoted students, have ever read a book
of the Bible straight through. They fail to recognize
the literary continuity of the books, though there most
certainly is such continuity. When one reads secular
books he begins at the beginning and takes things in
their order. If he is studying Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
he begins with the first scene of the first act, then takes
the second, the third, the fourth, and the fifth scene in
order, then the scenes of the second, third, fourth, and
fifth acts, to the conclusion. He never thinks of reading
a scene in the middle of one of Shakespeare's plays out
of all- connection with what goes before and what comes
after, at least if he expects to get at the author's mean
ing. Yet that is the very thing he does in his study of
the Bible.
The reader may try to persuade himself that he is
doing conscientious work by studying isolated chapters
and verses anywhere in the Bible from Genesis to Revela
tion. Can it be possible that these books of the Bible are
not constructed like other books, with a beginning, a
middle, and an end, with introduction, development, and
conclusion, with order and arrangement, so that the first
part lays the foundation for what follows, and the last
part is better understood in the light of what has gone
before? The fact is that these books of the Bible are
just like other books in this respect. They are to be
taken as units; there is the connecting thread which
runs through from the beginning to the end; and it is
absolutely necessary for one to study them in a logical
way to keep from misunderstanding or misinterpreting
many of the isolated passages. The light of the whole

METHOD OF MASTERY 21
chapter, the whole book, must be thrown on the indi
vidual passage or verse.
The division of the chapters of the English Bible into
paragraph verses was an unfortunate thing. Although
the Hebrew Bible had some such division, the Geneva
Bible was the first English version that split up the
chapters into paragraph verses and numbered them in
order. It is evident that this method of printing the
Bible has been productive of much ignorance concerning
the real meaning, the larger truth, of many of its books.
It has led to the use of the Bible as a sort of dictionary
of religion, such an arrangement being admirably suited
for this use. Indeed, to a great many persons, the Bible
is simply a collection of texts to which they may go to
gather ammunition now to bombard an enemy, now to
defend themselves. The multiplication of sects and
creeds in the world proves that almost any sort of doc
trine can be supported, if one is allowed to select isolated
passages and regard verses as having complete meaning
when taken out of connection with chapter and book.
It is too often the case that texts are interpreted with
out regard to their setting. A good illustration is the
case of the Universalist divine who preached a sermon
on immortality from the text "Thou shalt not surely
die," entirely oblivious of the fact that these were the
words which the Devil spoke to Eve, and that his say
ings are not usually considered to be of unimpeachable
orthodoxy. One may, for instance, quote a text from
the Book of Job without explaining whether the words
were spoken by Job or by one of his friends. For ex
ample, take these two passages: "Yea, the light of the
wicked shall be put out, and the spark of his fire shall
not shine"; and "Wherefore do the wicked live, become
old, yea are mighty in power? Their houses are safe
from fear, neither is the rod of God against them."
There is no reconciling these two passages unless there
is taken into consideration the character of the Book of
Job. The part of the book from which these quotations
are taken is a debate. What Job affirms his friends
deny ; what they affirm he denies ; they are fencing with
one another. In such composition one would expect con-

22 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
tradictions. The only way to understand and reconcile
the conflicting statements and opinions is to remember
the character of that part of the book.
To illustrate the necessity of paying heed to the con
text in interpreting any passage, take a familiar quota
tion: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. XI: 28). That
is a beautiful and comforting text, but it has only the
beauty of a fragment and the comfort of a misappre
hension ; for comfort is not promised on such easy terms.
The context shows that there are other conditions that
must be met: "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of
Me." The invitation is not complete without these two
additional sentences. Only one condition has been com
plied with when we have come to the Master ; two others
are necessary: submission and discipleship ; we must
bear His yoke and must learn of Him. Both of these
things are included in the teaching. Coming and learn
ing and service are equally important conditions in the
attainment of the coveted rest.
While the Bible has many short, terse sayings packed
with thought, many luminous texts, it is by no means a
string of aphorisms. The reader can not be sure of his
interpretation of sentence or verse until he has seen what
leads up to it and to what subsequent thoughts it is
linked. Much more satisfactory is his study if he ex
tends his vision over the sentences of the context of a
verse, over a whole chapter, a whole book; if he studies
the Book of Job as a complete masterpiece ; if he studies
the Book of Revelation as a unit; if he looks upon the
Gospel of Luke as being a continuous and complete nar
rative to be studied all together.
No one reads the lines of secular masterpieces as if
they were complete in themselves and independent of
setting and context; no one expects a single scene from
"Hamlet" to give the author's meaning in that great
play; no one expects a sentence from one of Burke's
great speeches to supply an adequate notion of his states
manlike grasp of thought; no one expects to get even
partially a true impression of Daniel Webster unless he
should read at least one of his great speeches. Why

METHOD OF MASTERY 23
should he not study the books of the Bible in the same
way? Why should he not read Joshua as he reads
Csesar's "Commentaries"? Solomon's Song as he reads
"Romeo and Juliet"? Job as he reads "Hamlet"? A
great literary product is like a great masterpiece of
architecture : the whole must stand out and be taken into
account to reveal the master's thought.
"Walk about Zion, and go round about her;
Tell the towers thereof.
Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces;
That ye may tell it to the generations following."
The method of studying the Bible here recommended
may be called the synthetic method. Such a method is
both logical and pedagogical. In the study of geogra
phy, while it is proper to commence with a little home
geography, after such a basis has been laid, the cor
rect method is to begin with the globe itself, then study
the hemispheres, continents, nations, and smaller di
visions, in order. If one desires to get the best knowl
edge and the best view of a mountain region, he should
go to the highest peak first, look out upon the whole
range, and then he can intelligently and enthusiastically
study the features of the lower levels in their relation to
the whole area. Martin Luther said that he studied the
Bible as he gathered apples. He shook the tree first,
then the limbs, then the branches, and after that he
reached out under the leaves for the remaining fruit.
Such is the best method of study for the mastery of the
books of the Bible.
The following suggestions will be helpful to any one
who desires to follow out a plan of systematic study of
the Bible for a year or longer, reading a few pages every
day and a whole book when possible.
1. Begin at the beginning. It is much better to begin
with Genesis and take the books in their regular order.
2. Read the book. It is not asked that it be studied in
the ordinary sense, or memorized, or even understood
fully at first ; simply read it. The purpose is to make the
task as easy and natural and pleasant as possible. It
does not matter much how rapidly you read, for the time
being, if you only read. There is a great deal of study

24 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
of the Bible by simply reading books that tell about the
Bible. 3. Read it continuously. By continuously two things are
meant: read the book uninfluenced by its division into
chapters and verses ; and second, read it at a single sitting
if it is not too long. The reason for reading a book at a
single sitting is that many of the books of the Bible have
a single thread running through the whole and it is nec
essary to follow this thread continuously and unbrokenly.
4. Read it repeatedly. Mastery of a book can not be
accomplished in one reading. Indeed the suggestion has
been made in the second rule that the first reading may
be rapid. By repeated readings the truth will grow upon
one and a more familiar knowledge will make the whole
book clearer and more impressive.
5. Read it independently. By independently is meant,
first of all, that it should be read without reference to
commentaries and outside aids. These are, of course, in
valuable in their place, but in the mastery of the Eng
lish Bible, according to the plan suggested here, their
place is not before but after one has got an outline of a
given book for himself. (The student will find these sug
gestions elaborated in Dr. James M. Gray's little book,
How to Master the English Bible.)
The following brief analyses show the first steps in the
method here presented. The analyses of the Book of
Genesis, the Book of Judges, and the Book of Amos give
the general survey with which the study of any book
should begin and make clear the relation of the parts
of each ; the lesson plan for the study of the lives and
deeds of the two great prophets, Elijah and Elisha.
shows how related parts of books having so many threads
of interests as the books of the Kings, may be brought
together as a unit.
Analysis of the Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis is divided into two parts. The
first eleven chapters may bear the title: "The Begin
nings of Things," the last thirty-nine, "The Story of the
Chosen People as a Patriarchal Family." Of course
only the main features, the central ideas, and the lead-

METHOD OF MASTERY 25
ing characters in the book can be touched upon in such
a brief outline. The minor characters and incidents are
numerous and interesting, but the first general view
should be confined to the greatest and most significant
facts and characters.
I. The Beginnings of Things.
1. The Story of Creation ; a great poem, The Song of
God and the Universe ; not so much a revelation of fact
as of spiritual trujttu,
2. Paradiseand. the Fall, the Story of Man's Separa
tion from God ; the most serious problem in the universe
— Sin.
3. Cain and Abel, the Story of Self -Control. "Am I
my brother's keeper?"
4. The Great Flood ; corruption can not prevail on the
earth; the bow of promise set in the heavens.
5. The Origin of Nations; the sin of man's arrogance
divides the human race into jealous, warring nations.
II. The Choseri People as A Patriarchal Family.
(XII-L.).
The history set forth in these thirty-nine chapters cen
ters about the four great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, and Joseph. The stories of the lives of these re
nowned men have shaped the ideals and the conduct of
the Hebrew race through the succeeding centuries, and
through the Bible have influenced the ideals and stand
ards of the whole world.
1. Abraham. A pilgrim and a pioneer; a man of
peace, yet a bold warrior ; a man of faith, the father of
the faithful; a man of noble character, perfected through
testing and struggle.
2. Isaac. A child of promise; the man of non-re
sistance; the average man who was great in his quiet
work and unobtrusive ways.
3. Jacob. A supplanter ; a Hebrew Ulysses ; a man of
ambitions and ideals, changed by struggle and sobered
by love and responsibility; a born leader; visions may
encourage but only struggle can permanently change the
character.

26 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
4. Joseph. A spoiled child, but a dreamer ; a boy in
Canaan, he becomes at once a man in Egypt ; separation
and responsibility make him strong and wise ; he is noble
and unselfish and generously loyal to his brothers. The
Joseph stories are dramatic, vivid, and striking; there
is profound feeling, and a pathos that tugs at the heart
strings, incidents of deep human interest, all set forth
in a style simple, picturesque, and charming.
Analysis of the Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is fragmentary and yet is com
posed according to a plan, definite though artificial. It
may be divided into three parts, the preface, chapters I
to III : 6 ; the body of the book, consisting of illustrative
stories, chapters III : 7 to XVI ; and the appendix, chap
ters XVII to XXI.
I. The preface presents first, accounts of several dis
connected events of the time of the conquest, with a
second account of the death of Joshua; second, reflec
tions upon the history to be narrated in the body of the
book and a formula according to which the history of
the period repeats itself. The formula is: The Israel
ites fall into sin, are conquered by some neighboring
tribe, and subjected to grievous oppression; they repent,
reform, become strong, drive out their enemies and enjoy
a period of peace and prosperity, only to fall again into
sin and to repeat the old formula of subjection, oppres
sion, repentance, reformation, victory, and temporary
prosperity. II. The body of the book gives accounts varying in
length, of seven oppressions by foreign conquerors, and
one usurpation by an ambitious Ephraimite. These
stories are vigorous and vivid and the actors in the
rough and daring deeds recorded are living, breathing
men and women who win our admiration and sympathy.
1. Israel is conquered by Chushan-Rishathaim, king of
Mesopotamia, remains in subjection eight years, is de
livered by Othniel, and enjoys peace for a period of
forty years. (Chapt. Ill: 7-11.)
2. Israel is made subject to Eglon, king of Moab, for

METHOD OF MASTERY 27
eighteen years, is freed by the strategy of Ehud, and has
peace for eighty years. (Chapt. Ill : 12-30.)
3. Shamgar delivers the Israelites from the oppression
,of the Philistines by slaying 600 of them with an ox-
goad. (111:31.)
4. Jabin, king of Canaan, rules Israel for twenty years.
Then his army under Sisera is defeated by Deborah and
Barak at the battle of Mount Tabor, and. the land has
rest for forty years. ( I V-V. )
5. The Midianites rule Israel for seven years with such
severity that the condition of the people is unbearable.
Gideon, a cautious but most valiant man, conducts a
vigorous campaign against the invaders and the land
has rest for forty years.
6. Abimelech, the son of Gideon, by the help of the
men of his own family usurps the government, kills his
brothers and has a troubled reign of three years.
7. The Philistines and Ammonites oppress Israel for
eighteen years. Israel is relieved by Jephthah's success
ful campaign against the Ammonites and enjoys rest for
thirty-one years.
8. Again the sins of the Israelites deliver them into
the hands of the Philistines for forty years. Samson
is sent as a judge to the oppressed people, and his ec
centric career through twenty years opens the way for
the more serious and successful rule of the judge and
priest Samuel.
III. The appendix (XVII-XXI), consists of two
stories of Israelitish life showing the lawless and unset
tled condition of things in the days of the judges. The
first story tells of Micah and his Levite priest and the
emigration to the north of a band of the Danites. The
second story is an account of an outrage committed by
the Gibeathites in revenge for which the tribe of Ben
jamin is almost annihilated by the other tribes of Israel.
Analysis of the Book of Amos
This book is placed third in the regular list of the
Minor Prophets, but in point of time it should be first.
It is the first of the written prophecies of the Bible and

28 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
in it Amos originated a new school of prophecy. The
book has unity and follows a well defined plan.
The personality of the prophet and the circumstances
under which he uttered these prophecies are important
in interpreting the book. Amos says of himself: "I
was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I
was a herdman and a gatherer of sycamore fruit : And
the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord
said unto me, Go prophesy unto my people Israel."
Although he disclaims connection with the professional
prophets and was a man of very humble rank, he had
keenness of insight, breadth of mind, and wide knowl
edge of the world. He had command of a logic, a power
of speech, and an eloquence that compelled unwilling
auditors to attend to his message.
The work of Amos was done about the middle of the
eighth century b. c, in the midst of the great military
successes and prosperity of Jeroboam II. But prosperity
brought great moral evils in its train. The rich lived in
luxury and vice. Their wealth was obtained through
violence and robbery. The poor and needy were sold as
slaves, and honesty in business was unknown. Justice
was impossible for the poor because the judges were
notoriously corrupt. The nation regarded its general
prosperity as a mark of Jehovah's favor and of his ap
proval of their corrupt lives and evil practices. It was
in the midst of these conditions that Amos came from
his home at Tekoa in Judea, appeared at the sanctuary
in Bethel, and in burning words and striking imagery
proclaimed to the wondering people that justice between
man and man and between nation and nation is one of
the divine foundations of society and that the people
of Israel were doomed because justice was not to be found
among them. There are four natural divisions of the
Book of Amos :
I. Indictment of Heathen Nations (I and II).
Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and
Judah, are all guilty of sins against common humanity.
Their punishment is sure. Israel, too, shall be punished
because she has broken a holier law. In these chapters

METHOD OF MASTERY 29
Amos declares that Jehovah has authority over all na
tions. II. Arraignment and Doom of Israel (III to VI).
This division consists of three discourses each intro
duced by the emphatic words, "Hear ye this word."
1. (Ill) The fact that Jehovah has chosen the nation
is no guarantee of its safety. Every effect has its ade
quate cause. The causes now exist and destructive jus
tice shall soon come upon Israel.
2. (IV) There is frivolity and formalism ; former chas
tisements have proved ineffectual. Israel is therefore
warned to prepare for judgment.
3. (V-VI) A lamentation for the doom of Israel
which is now imminent. The "Day of Jehovah" will
not be as the people in their infatuation think, an inter
position in their favor. It will be "as if a man did flee
from a lion and a bear met him ; or went into the house,
and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him."
III. Five Visions of Judgment and an Historical In
terlude (VII to IX) :
These visions are arranged in the form of a climax.
1. (VII: 1-3) God sends locusts to devour the vege
tation but they disappear at the prayer of the prophet.
2. (VII: 4-6) God sends fire to devour the great deep
and the land, but this is quenched at the request of the
prophet. 3. (VII: 7-9) The Lord by the plumbline shows
that the time for mercy is past and declares that the
sword shall now be drawn against the house of Jeroboam.
There is here a brief historical interlude (VII : 10-17) .
The plainness and effectiveness of the third vision
aroused the opposition of Amaziah, the priest of the
sanctuary at Bethel, and he commanded Amos to flee to
the land of Judah.
4. (VIII) Through the symbolism of a basket of sum
mer fruit, Jehovah pronounces a fresh and more detailed
denunciation and judgment of doom.
5. (IX: 1-8) This fifth vision pictures the desolation
falling upon the people as they are assembled for wor-

30 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
ship in their own temple, and the futility of any attempt
to escape the decreed doom.
IV. The Messianic Kingdom (IX: 8-15).
The closing verses of the book give brighter hopes
for the future. It is declared that Israel shall be dealt
with as any other nation for its sins ; but that only the
sinners shall perish utterly. "I will raise up the ruins
of the tabernacle of David, and will build it as in the
days of old."
The prophecies of Amos were epoch-making. "He
first wrote for posterity the outlines of an ethical theory
of the world." "Amos is one of the most marvelous
and incomprehensible figures rn the history of the human
mind, the pioneer of a process of evolution from which
a new epoch of humanity dates. . . . Through Amos the
God of Israel, as the God of justice and righteousness,
becomes the God of the whole world, and the religion of
this God, a universal religion."
Stories of the Two Prophets
ELIJAH THE PROPHET OP VENGEANCE
The setting of the story : Northern Israel ; corrupting
foreign alliances ; baleful influence of Phoenicia; the in
crease of luxury; the worship of Baal.
The characters: Ahab, king of Israel; Jezebel, his
wife, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians ; Elijah,
the Tishbite from Gilead; Obadiah, the faithful cham
berlain. Thrilling and dramatic scenes in the life of Elijah:
1. The drought (I Kings, XVII) : Elijah's unheralded
appearance ; the startling prophecy. Elijah seeks hiding
at Cherith; is sent to Zarephath. The unfailing barrel
of meal and cruse of oil. The widow's son.
2. The test of fire (XVIII) : Elijah meets Obadiah,
and reproves Ahab. Demands a chance to expose the
priests of Baal. The test at Carmel. Baal's prophets
slain. The small cloud and the great rain.
3. Flight before Jezebel (XIX) : Jezebel's bloody
threat. Elijah's precipitate flight. Under the juniper

METHOD OF MASTERY 31
tree. The scene at the cave on Mt. Horeb. The three
commands. The choosing of Elisha.
4. Rebuking the tyrant (XXI) : Naboth 's vineyard.
The coveting king. Naboth 's firm refusal. Ahab pouts
and Jezebel plots. Naboth sacrificed to whim of Ahab.
The prophet's rebuke and the king's remorse. Fate of
the messengers from the murderous Ahaziah.
5. A strenuous career ended (II Kings, II) : Elijah
seeks solitude. The bold persistence of Elisha. Covert
sneers of the prophets. But Elisha bears the test. The
chariot of fire. The mantle of Elijah.
ELISHA THE PROPHET OF COMMON LIFE
Each age needs a prophet to fit its conditions. The
passion, the intensity, fierceness and volcanic energy of
Elijah were needed in the strenuous days of Ahab and
Jezebel. But after the fire and the earthquake should
come the still, small voice; after fierce denunciation,
words of winning sympathy. Elisha was not a prophet
of the desert but one who lived among the people and
inspired affection wherever he went. The world needs
once in a while a man strong enough to excite terror,
and then one through whom goodness and sweetness
may work their charm. Elisha was a prophet whose
deeds were gracious and soothing, who showed deep sym-.
pathy with the small wants and misfortunes of daily life.
The cycle of Elisha 's deeds (I Kings, XIX: 19-21; II
Kings, II-VIII : 15 ; XIII : 14-21 ) :
1. The call to the prophetic office.
2. The mantle of Elijah.
3. The healing of the waters.
4. The mocking children.
5. The water trenches in Moab.
6. The widow's magic pot of oil saves her sons from
bondage. 7. The hospitable Shunammite woman's son restored
to life.
8. Death in the pot.
9. The miraculous feeding of the hundred men.
10. The healing of Naaman and the punishment of
Gehazi.

32 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
11. The ax-head that swam.
12. Elisha reveals the secret councils of the Syrian
king. The expedition to arrest him.
13. The siege of Samaria, Elisha 's prophecy and its
fulfillment. 14. The Shunammite woman's estate.
15. Hazael bears a message from Benhadad and is re
vealed to himself by Elisha.
16. Elisha 's sickness, King Joash's visit, and the test
of the king's determination. The death of Elisha. The
man restored to life.

CULTURE VALUE OF THE BIBLE

CHAPTER II
educational value of the bible
The purpose of the best education was well expressed
by the Master Teacher when he explained the object of
his coming into the world : "I came that ye might have
life and that ye might have it more abundantly." This
means, of course, the complete life, the life of action and
of the spirit. This great book furnishes materials for
the preparation of men and women for complete living.
It has great educational value because :
1. It emphasizes the value of human life.
2. It deals with practical problems of life.
3. It is rich in the materials that nourish the life of
the spirit.
4. It provides for the cultivation of man's aesthetic
nature.
5. It presents the highest ideals of life, individual
and national.
1. It is sad to read of the low value set on human life
in ancient pagan times. During the reign of a single
Roman emperor, for example, ten thousand men were
slain in the Coliseum to amuse the populace. Life was
so miserable that suicide became popular. Read the list
of the great men who killed themselves. If the general
lost a battle, he fell on his own sword. The citizen car
ried a dagger with which he might make his quietus if
the market went against him. Slaves were beaten,
maimed, put to death at the pleasure of the master. But
when the Bible came and taught that even a slave bore
two worlds in his heart, life was reckoned more valuable.
It was Christianity, the flower and fruit of this old Book,
that set this proper value on the life of man. Under
35

36 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
its influence this valuation took the sweep of the eter
nities. 2. This book deals also with the practical problems
of the world. There are people who think that because it
deals with religion it must of necessity have nothing to
do with the common affairs of life. But it does in fact
deal with all sorts of every-day activities. It is really a
guide in all human interests, both sacred and secular:
it is a book for this world as well as for the world to
come. It teaches that religion is practical ; that conduct
is its basis. Many of the religions of the world divorce
religion and conduct. What a man believes in a reli
gious way has little to do with how he behaves himself.
But the great central truth of the Old Testament is
righteousness, right conduct, and this is peculiarly the
master truth of the New Testament. Here it goes even
farther and insists that we shall attend to the motives
and feelings whence conduct proceeds.
In accordance with the best precepts and practices of
education, this book gives concrete examples, rich, nu
merous, and varied, to show what is meant by practical
righteousness. It is not true that these examples are so
ancient as to be obsolete. We get wrong notions of the
lives of men who lived in ancient Bible times, if we think
that they felt they were men apart, peculiar men ; if we
look upon Moses, Abraham, and Elijah, as if they knew
they were living in an age that would be strange and
peculiar to us of the twentieth century. An old profes
sor of history once said to his students, ' ' Young gentle
men, you must remember that the ancients did not
know they were the ancients." So this great handbook
of life sets forth the deeds and aspirations of a multi
tude of wonderful men and women who looked upon life
in just as practical a way as we do. to-day, men and
women whose names are on the great bead-rolls of fame,
and whose days are crowded and crowned with prac
tical activities.
3. It is rich in materials that nourish the life of the
spirit. It is a truth of vast importance that the strug
gles, the defeats and victories, the despair and exaltation,

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 37
the worship, the love, the devoted service of the men of
many generations, have given to mankind a wealth of
spiritual force, and have fashioned out of it a world of
idea and emotion into which we are born just as truly
as we are born into the natural physical world. One
great object of education should be to bring the child
into contact with this spiritual force, to bring him into
his race inheritance of idea, emotion, hope, and aspira
tion ; not to have him put on the past as a garment, but
by this contact to have old ideas, emotions, and aspira
tions reborn in his mind and soul. Thus learning is liv
ing. It is coming in contact with the larger life of hu
manity. There ought to be in the school courses material
that has in it the ennobling record of the world's spir
itual achievements, material which is warm with the
thought and life and feeling of humanity. It is only
by contact of spirit with spirit that there can be growth
and development. And when we are selecting material
for the development of character in girls and boys, let
us choose that which is saturated with spiritual energy,
energy from the choicest, the strongest, the richest souls
of all ages.
The great secular books of the world are depositories
of this spiritual energy ; they offer material that makes
for strength and nobility; so that we may say of the
great authors of these books : they are
"The immortal dead who live again
In minds made better by their presence."
But the richest depository of this spiritual force is the
Bible, a book which enables the student to walk and talk
with those choice spirits of the human race that were
permitted to climb to the very mountain-tops of truth
where God's sunlight is not obstructed or dimmed by the
mists and shadows of the earth-valleys, to come in con
tact with the great men, the poets, the priests, the phi
losophers, the prophets, the law-givers, who have en
joyed the open vision.
4. This great text-book recognizes the fact that beauty
and joy have their place in life and so provides for the
cultivation of man's ajsthetic nature. Man is made ca-

38 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
pable of enjoyment. Although his experiences in the
world teach him that life is a very serious matter, he
learns, also, that joy and gladness are his by right. _Why
should he be placed in such a beautiful world if it is not
intended that his mind and heart shall respond to this
beauty? And just as God has made a beautiful world
for us to live in, he has made a beautiful book to tell
us his truth ; it comes to us clothed in the most beautiful
forms of the world's literature. It tells us not only of
the truths of religion, but of the beauty and joy of the
world. It is full of marvelous incidents and engaging
history, with sunny pictures of old-world scenery, and
charming and pathetic anecdotes of patriarchal times.
It is a book of lofty thoughts, clothed in glowing rhetoric
and striking imagery. All the realms of nature, the
majestic, the sublime, the peaceful, and the beautiful are
drawn upon to express its great truths in images of vivid
ness, power, and beauty. As one reads its pages he can
not resist the appeal of these images of sublimity, maj
esty, mystery, joy, and gentleness. What more majes
tic appeal to the imagination, both in thought and
phrase, than is found in the opening paragraph of
Genesis !
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And
the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon
the face of the deep : and the spirit of God moved upon the face
of the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and there was
light. And God saw the light that it was good: and God di
vided the light from the darkness. And God called the light
Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and
the morning were the first day.
Or how could one be better carried on the wings of the
imagination than to follow the flight of the poet in the
135th Psalm!
Whither shall I go from thy spirit
Or Whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning and fly to the uttermost
parts of the sea,
Even there shall thy hand lead me
And thy right hand uphold me.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 39
Or what is more satisfying to one who would meditate
upon the matchless power of the Ruler of the world than
the lines of the 107th Psalm?
They that go down to the sea in ships,
That do business in great waters;
These see the works of the Lord,
And his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,
Which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths;
Their soul melteth away because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits' end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
And he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they are quiet;
So he bringeth them unto the haven where they would be.
What can better "tease us out of thought" than to
read the sublime words of the Voice out of the Whirl
wind as it overwhelms Job with puzzling queries con
cerning the unsolved mysteries of the universe ?
Have the gates of death been revealed unto thee?
Or hast thou seen the gates of the shadow of death?
Where is the way to the dwelling of light?
And as for darkness, where is the place thereof? . . .
By what way is the light parted, .
Or the east wind scattered upon the earth? . . .
Canst thou bind the cluster of the Pleiades
Or loose the bands of Orion? . . .
Canst thou send forth lightnings that they may go,
And say unto thee, Here we are?
How beautiful are the words of Moses in the blessing
pronounced upon Joseph !
Blessed of the Lord be his land;
For the precious things of heaven, for the dew,
And for the deep that coucheth beneath,
And for the precious things of the fruits of the sun,
And for the precious things of the growth of the moons,
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains,
And for the precious things of the everlasting hills,
And for the precious things of the earth and the fullness thereof.

40 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
How vivid, striking, and beautiful are the pictures of
nature used to set forth the attributes of the great Je
hovah, gentle and magnificent !
The hills are girded with joy. . . .
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place
In all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. . . .
The strength of the hills is his also . . .
The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord . . .
Let the floods clap their hands;
Let the hills sing for joy together before the Lord . . .
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills,
From whence cometh my help. . . .
Who hath weighed the mountains in scales,
And the hills in a balance? . . .
The mountains and the hills shall burst forth before you into
singing;
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. . . .
He stood and measured the earth;
He beheld, and drove asunder the nations:
And the eternal mountains were scattered,
The everlasting hills did bow. . . .
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem,
So Jehovah is round about his people,
From this time forth and forever more. . . .
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change,
And though the mountains be moved in the heart of the seas;
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. . . .
Thy righteousness is like the great mountains. . . .
The mountains shall bring peace to the people.
5. It presents the highest ideals of life, national and
individual. The things that we pride ourselves on to-day
are our schools, the humaneness of our laws, freedom of
speech, our active charity organizations, and the protec
tion of the poor against the encroachments of the rich.
But these things are not new in the world. This old
book tells of a compulsory school law: it required com
pulsory education after a fashion — every father was ex
pected to educate his own children. There was freedom
of speech, too, in those ancient days. The prophets and
religious teachers were specially protected from penalties

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 41
for free speech. They suffered in two cases only: when
they preached treason, and when they were guilty of
fraud. The laws of that ancient nation were humane. Rob
ert G. Ingersoll declared that the statutes of Moses were
inhumanly cruel, because, as he said, hundreds of crimes
were punishable by death. Now, the fact is that only
about a dozen crimes were punishable by death according
to the Mosaic code, and its spirit is humane indeed com
pared with the laws of England in the time of Henry
VIII, when more than two hundred offenses were punish
able by death.
We boast that these are the days of great charitable
enterprises and benevolent institutions. Such societies
are multiplied indeed and many distressed people receive
assistance in the time of their need. ' But giving which is
impersonal lacks the most essential elements of benevo
lence ; it fails to call forth gratitude and encourages im
providence. These old Hebrews did not need any such
machinery to deal with their problems of benevolence;
they dealt in practical home charity. This was their
rule: If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren
within any of the gates in thy land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee, thou shalt not shut thy hand from thy poor brother.
But thou shalt open thy hand wide unto him and shall surely
lend him sufficient for his need in which he wanteth.
Indeed this book presents a wonderfully perfect ideal
government, a commonwealth founded upon a sort of
general suffrage, recognizing popular rights, providing
for the protection of these rights, guarding the subjects
from despotic actions of their king, requiring public
education, insisting upon freedom of speech, providing
for charity, and enacting merciful laws. When we con
sider the character and spirit of the government as set
forth in this old book we long for the time when these
ideals shall gain general acceptance and when all the
people shall say :
Come ye and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord ; and he
will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for out
of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from

42 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall
rebuke many peoples: and they shall beat their swords into
plow-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall
not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war
any more.
The Hebrew conception of God may challenge com
parison with that of any other nation whatsoever. To
the Hebrews Jehovah was great enough to know all things
and compassionate enough to stoop to the sorrows of the
humble poor: He gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.
He healeth the broken in heart,
He bindeth up their wounds.
He counteth the number of the stars;
He giveth them all their names.
He is all-powerful, too :
Great is our Lord and mighty in power.
There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the
Lord. Thou hast made the heaven and the earth and by thy great
power and by thy stretched-out arm: there is nothing too hard
for thee.
He is everywhere present and infinite in understanding :
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him?
saith the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord.
Thou understandest my thought afar off.
The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and
the good.
His understanding is infinite.
He has also the gentler, the more compassionate attri
butes : He is just and holy, merciful and full of loving
kindness:Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne.
The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his
works. . . .
Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? . . .
Thy loving kindness is better than life. . . .
Oh, how great is thy goodness.
His pity and care have. the tenderness of a mother and
the protecting power of omnipotence :

EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF THE BIBLE 43
As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you.
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trou
ble. ...
Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them
that fear him.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee;
and through the rivers they shall not overflow thee; when thou
walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned; neither shall
the flame kindle upon thee.
The biblical conception of God being understood, it is
easier to understand the Hebrew ideal of manhood. The
ideals for the individual are lofty and noble. First, he
is made in the image of God and made the master of the
world. No mythologies give man such a noble origin and
destiny. There are presented, also, examples of magnifi
cent, heroic courage. What a line of heroes might be
named !
What shall I say more, for time would fail me to tell of men
who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob
tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio
lence of fires, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were
made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies
of the aliens.
What other book presents such an ennobling, inspiring
ideal of the future life, the hope of divine-like immor
tality? The Greek conception of the life to come was of
a world of darkness and gloom, with nothing to do, every
thing to suffer. What a comforting contrast is the ideal
of the future life as presented in this great book :
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the first heaven
and the first earth are passed away, and the sea is no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her hus
band. And I heard a great voice out of the throne saying,
Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he shall dwell
with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God himself shall
be with them, and be their God: And he shall wipe away every
tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall
there be mourning, nor crying nor pain any more. , . . And
there shall be night no more; and they need no light of lamp,
neither light of sun; for the Lord God shall give them light:
and they shall reign forever and ever.

CHAPTER III
literary value of the bible
No one can claim to be well educated who is not fairly
familiar with the history and literature found in the
Bible. The English Bible has so shaped the ideas and
ideals of the English-speaking people, has been so woven
into all their literature that it has become the one su
preme book in the English tongue. There is operative in
the world a law which may be called the conservation of
spiritual energy. The best vehicles for the transmission
of this energy are the great books of the world. They
transmit to the people of each succeeding generation this
spiritual energy as a most important part of their race
inheritance. The book with the greatest carrying power
and the richest gifts is the Bible. Its original measure of
inspired power has been enlarged by the absorption into
its pages of the faith and trust of multitudes of devoted
readers through the ages ; and as it has passed down the
centuries it has poured into the world, in days of dark
ness and doubt, a flood of the cleansing sunshine of right
eousness. The life and culture of our time, or of any
time, can not be complete without the transforming touch
of this spiritual energy. For this reason and many
others, it is abundantly worth while to study the Bible
with thoroughness and seriousness. In this chapter
seven reasons are given why it should be studied by
literary methods and for its literary value.
1. The charge that it is sacrilegious to study the Bible
as literature can not be sustained; such study may be
wise and reverent.
2. A close and critical study will make its message
clearer. 3. Such study will be profitable because the Bible is a
great storehouse of good English which has been more
44

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 45
powerful in shaping our language, both spoken and writ
ten, than any other influence whatsoever.
4. The specific study of its language, characters, and
stories is profitable because in our everyday speech, and
secular literature there are multitudes of verbal forms
and illustrations drawn from the Bible, whose full mean
ing and force are understood only by those who are fa
miliar with the original sources.
5. It furnishes interesting reading and has a rich and
satisfying variety.
6. It is profitable to study the Bible because in it are
found the best examples of great literature, in diction,
form, and feeling.
7. Its study is worth while because it is a literature
of power. It has shaped the thought and morals of the
best nations of the world.
1. George Eliot makes Adam Bede say : "I prefer to
read the Apocrypha rather than the Bible for in reading
the Apocrypha I can use my own reason." But it is
not really sacrilegious to apply to the Bible the same
standards of excellence and the same canons of good
taste that are applied as a matter of course to any other
book. A man who affected to despise learning one time
said, ' ' I love flowers but I hate botany. ' ' Suppose a bot
anist, a rare reader of God in nature, goes forth into the
fields in search of flowers. He finds a beautiful flower
and at once proceeds to pick it to pieces. "Alas, you ir
reverent man!" you cry, "you are destroying one of
God's beautiful works. What right have you to tear
apart those petals that make a thing of such exquisite
loveliness ? ' ' But the botanist is not animated by a spirit
of ruthless destruction ; he is filled with a spirit of loving
appreciation. He knows that the only way to under
stand the flower completely is to pick it to pieces; that
only in this way can he comprehend the wonderful or
ganism, the splendid beauty, the real significance of the
flower. And just as botany conduces to a greater love
for flowers, so should a close, careful, critical study of
the Bible lead us to a greater and more reverent love
for the truth that it teaches. Of course it should be
remembered that while we study its literary forms very

46 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
much as we study other books, we should not for a mo
ment forget that the truly wonderful thing about this
sacred literature is the divine spirit which animates it,
the everlasting purpose which lies back of it all. But
while this is true, we should not fall into the error of
believing that it is sacrilegious to study it in a careful,
critical way. It has for us ' ' apples of gold in baskets of
silver, ' ' and it is not sacrilegious to examine the baskets
of silver.
2. A study of the Bible as literature will aid in under
standing its message. Language does not give forth its
message with unvarying exactness. It is never easy to
know just how much meaning or how little a writer in
tends to convey by a word or a phrase. One must have
abundant knowledge of the way in which men have
thought and spoken, a large experience in interpreting
the thoughts and feelings of men from their words, to
be at all sure that he is getting what an author intended
he should get. In secular literature no one is bold
enough to set himself up as an interpreter of master
pieces unless he brings to the interpretation a mind
trained to understand and appreciate the force of words
and literary forms, and a method of study and interpre
tation which has stood the test of years of application.
Of course there are things about this great Book that
are so simple that even a child can understand and ap
preciate them; but there are things profound enough to
puzzle the philosopher, and these the reader can not hope
to understand unless he has prepared himself for the
task of weighing and considering. The man of little ex
perience in interpreting men's thoughts and feelings
from their written words must fail to get at the heart
of many a passage. He should be able to read between
the lines, to discern where he ought to rest his full
weight and press out the fullest meaning, and where he
ought to press lightly. The man of no range in his
reading, with no experience in interpretation, must be
inclined inevitably to treat all parts alike, to make one
word just as emphatic, just as literal as another.
The truths of the Bible are offered to us in the same
words, phrases, and literary forms, that are used in all

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 47
other literature; it ought to require no argument to
prove that if the student is to get all that is bound up
in these words, phrases, and forms, he should make
diligent use of all his secular knowledge, of all his cul
ture, of all his best methods of getting at the meaning
and force of language, and of all his trained powers of
interpreting literature.
3. The literary study of the Bible will be profitable
because it is a great storehouse of good English which
has been more powerful in shaping our language, both
spoken and written, than any other influence whatso
ever. Dr. Cook of Yale says :
"From Casdmon's time to the present the influence
of Bible diction upon English speech has been virtually
uninterrupted. The Bible has been an active force in
English literature for over 1200 years, and during the
whole period it has been molding the diction of repre
sentative thinkers and literary artists."
Mr. Saintsbury in his history of English literature
says: "But great as are Bacon and Raleigh, they can not
approach, as writers of prose, the company of scholarly
divines who produced what is probably the greatest
prose work in any language — the Authorized Version of
the Bible in English."
It has often been said that "The Pilgrim's Progress"
of Bunyan stands unrivaled as a model of plain, vigorous
clear, pleasing English. The reason for this excellence
is evident. Bunyan was fairly saturated not only with
the spirit but with the language of the English Bible.
Coleridge declared that intense study of the Bible will
keep any writer from being vulgar in point of style.
And John Ruskin, who was doubtless the greatest master
of pure, idiomatic, vigorous, and eloquent English prose
that the last century produced, says that his mother re
quired him in childhood to commit to memory and re
peat to her over and over again, many passages of the
Bible. We need not seek further for the secret of his
admirable diction and perfect command of English
phraseology.

48 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
4. "It is woven into the literature of the scholar and
colors the talk of the street." A familiar acquaintance
with the words, phrases, stories, and characters of the
Bible is valuable because our everyday speech and our
secular literature have been enriched by the use of and
by allusions to them. There are in our secular litera
ture multitudes of allusions to the Bible. Again and
again does a writer take advantage of the associations
which cluster about a Bible phrase or incident and by a
simple touch bring up in the mind of the understanding
reader all the circumstances and sentiments connected
with the original. Indeed no one who lays claim to any
degree of culture can be ignorant of these incidents,
phrases, and characters. They have been assimilated
into the common speech. The most illiterate man under
stands, after a fashion, the phrases: "the widow's mite,"
"a Judas kiss," "the flesh-pots of Egypt," "a still
small voice, " " a Jehu, " " a perfect babel, " " a Nimrod, ' '
"bread upon the waters," "a Daniel come to judg
ment," "a Solomon," "a Delilah," "a mother in
Israel," "a land flowing with milk and honey," "the
valley of decision," and "the salt of the earth." These
have become the permanent possession of our every-day
speech and convey a meaning not associated directly
with their origin; but to those who are familiar with
the origin and setting of these terms, they have a vigor
and significance which others can not at all appreciate.
All our poets have enriched their pages with thoughts
and images from this wonderful literary storehouse.
If one wishes to know how frequently Tennyson drew
out of this inexhaustible mine treasures both new and
old, let him examine the appendix to Dr. Henry Van
Dyke's study of Tennyson; he will find listed there
more than two hundred references. Among these are
the phrases: "as manna in my wilderness"; "Pharaoh's
darkness"; "Ruth amid the fields of corn"; "stiff as
Lot's wife"; "I have flung thee pearls and find thee
swine"; "and marked me even as Cain"; "the church
on Peter's rock"; "a whole Peter's sheet"; "one was
the Tishbite whom the ravens fed"; "who can call him
friend that dips in the same dish. ' '

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 49
From Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes are selected the fol
lowing allusions, a few from many that might be quoted :
"We too who laugh at Israel's golden calf"; "a cloud
by day, by night a pillared flame"; "He who prayed
the prayer of all mankind"; "Why did the choir of
angels sing for joy"? "I thought of Judas and his
bribe"; "They who gathered manna every morn";
"Mountains are cleft before you
As the sea before the tribes of Israel's wandering sons."
"When Moab's daughter homeless and forlorn,
Found Boaz slumbering by his heaps of corn."
The space of many chapters would be required to set
forth Shakespeare's indebtedness to the Bible. The
following are some of the most familiar allusions :
"Good name in man or woman, dear my lord,
Is the immediate jewel of their soul."
"Samson, master, was a man of good carriage, great carriage;
for he carried the town gates on his back like a porter."
"You found his mote; the king your mote did see;
But I a beam do find in each of thee."
"I am no great Nebuchadnezzar, sir. I have not much skill
in grass." "It is hard to come as for a camel
To thread the postern of a needle's eye."
By the use of these allusions the poet may not only
give completeness to his thought, force to his truth, and
vividness to his imagery, but he may enrich his verse
with a beauty and significance beyond his own power.
He may write, "A little lower than angels" — and at
once we hear added to the music of his lines,
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?
And the son of man that thou visitest him?
For thou hast made him a little lower than angels,
And crowned him with glory and honor."
Or the poet writes the phrase, "Solomon-shaming flow
ers," and we at once hear the matchless lines:

50 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
"Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
They toil not, neither do they spin:
Yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory
Was not arrayed like one of these."
5. There are many people who do not look upon the
Bible as a readable book; yet its pages are full of un
usual charm. It is a book full of marvelous incidents
and engaging history, with sunny pictures of old world
scenery, and charming and pathetic anecdotes of patri
archal times. Any one who wishes literature having
unity, variety, beauty, strength, and interest, can find
it in this volume of sixty-six books. He will there find
law, folk-lore, tradition, official records, historical nar
rative, epic poetry, dramatic poetry, lyric poetry, prover
bial philosophy, patriotic addresses, religious addresses,
parables, prayers, prophecies, biographies, theology,
circular letters, private letters, riddles, fables, dream
literature, love songs, patriotic songs, and songs of
praise. These writings were produced by probably
thirty-one writers through a period of fifteen hundred
years. Some of them lived in palaces and some in pris
ons; some were princes and some were peasants; some
were scholars and some were illiterate men; some were
philosophers and some herdsmen, fishermen, and me
chanics. So it is a book appealing to the learned and
the ignorant, to the prince and the peasant, the sage
and the child, to all races, all nations, all classes, and it
approaches all these in the way they can best be reached.
The place of the origin of the Bible should give it
variety. It originated in a land which is a sort of epi
tome of the world. The configuration of Palestine, its
immense variety of scenery, its vast range of climate, its
extraordinary range of animal and vegetable life, re
produce, in a way, the features of the whole world. So
the book is cosmopolitan in its atmosphere and imagery.
It is full of the imagery of the sea and has in it also the
quiet serenity of the secluded valley and lonely shore.
It is filled with pastoral imagery. It tells of a God
who is a Shepherd, of a king who came from the sheep-
fold. It is warm with the breath and brilliant with the
light of the eastern clime: It tells of gardens and

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 51
spices, of roses and lilies, of gold and jewels, of pome
granates and palms: its imagery is oriental in its rich
ness. On the^ other hand it is also a book of mountains
and snow and ice; its atmosphere is affected by the
winds- from Lebanon and snow-capped Hermon, as well
as by breezes from the City of Palm Trees.
6. The forms of literature found in the Bible are
numerous and varied. Do you want biographies ? Here
you may find biographies which in directness of narra
tive, vigor of movement, interest, and in faithfulness to
life are superior to any that were ever written — cer
tainly more faithful in telling the truth and the whole
truth. Or do you want to study love stories? Here
you can find stories of such genuineness, naturalness.,
noble simplicity, and straightforward truthfulness that
they put to shame the multitude of sickly, silly senti
mental novels of to-day. Or do you want to read an
nals of war? Here your blood may be stirred with ac
counts of battles, sieges, deadly encounters, ignoble
treachery, noble patriotism, galling defeats, glorious vic
tories, and remarkable bravery, records not surpassed
in the history of any nation. Or do you want to study
law literature? Here you can find a system of juris
prudence to which the best countries of the civilized
world must acknowledge themselves indebted ; and these
laws set forth in statutes so simple, so plain, and withal
so unmistakable in their meaning that you will begin to
feel pity for our own lawmakers who use vain repeti
tions as the heathen do, and write their statutes in lan
guage like Samson's riddles.
Or do you want to study fiction? Here you will find
the wonderfully effective parables, the instructive fables,
and the warning dreams, all with a moral lesson so
forcibly put that you need hardly ask why there should
be fiction in the Bible, or why the imagination may not
be inspired as well as the reason and the judgment.
Or do you want to read poetry? Here you may find
poems of transcendent genius, some of the noblest poems
of the world, poems breathing such lofty piety, such
fervent devotion, such noble sentiments, and all ex
pressed in imagery so beautiful and sublime that you

52 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
can not choose but be entranced by their beauty and
their power.
It is profitable to study the Bible because it contains
the best forms of literature in satisfying perfection.
The English historian James Anthony Froude wrote :
' ' The Bible thoroughly known is a literature of itself
— the rarest and the richest in all departments of thought
or imagination which exists."
Dr. Robert South, the great English divine, says:
"In God's word we have not only a body of religion,
but also a system of the best rhetoric; and as the high
est things require the highest expressions, so we shall
find nothing in Scripture so sublime in itself, but it is
reached and sometimes overtopped by the sublimity of
the expression. So that he who said he would not read
the Scripture for fear of spoiling his style showed him
self as much a blockhead as an atheist, and to have as
small a gust of the elegancies of expression as the saered-
ness of the matter."
Sir William Jones testifies :
"I have carefully and regularly perused these holy
Scriptures, and am of opinion that the volume independ
ent of its divine origin, contains more sublimity, purer
morality, more important history, and finer strains of
eloquence, than can be collected from all other books in
whatever language they may have been written. ' '
Do you ask for tenderness and devotion expressed in
faultless rhetoric ?
And Ruth said, Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return
from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will go; and
where thou lodgest I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God; where thou diest I will die, and there
will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if aught
but death part thee and me.
Do you ask for pathos and elegant simplicity?
And Cushi said, Tidings, my lord the king; for the Lord hath
avenged thee this day of all them that rose up against thee.
And the king said unto Cushi, Is the young man Absalom safe?
And Cushi answered, The enemies of my lord the king, and all
that rise against thee to do thpe hurt, be as that young man is.
And the King was much moved, and went up to the chamber

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 53
over the gate, and wept; and as he went, thus he said, O my son
Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee,
O Absalom, my son, my son!
Do you want eloquence of appeal, gentleness of warn
ing, depth of yearning, and glorious promise united with
beauty of poetic form, pleasing imagery, and most pic
turesque metaphor ? Hear Isaiah :
Ho, every one that thirsteth, eome ye to the waters, and he that
hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye
spend your money for that which is not bread? and your labor
for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in
fatness. . . . For ye shall go out with joy and be led forth with
peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you
into singing; and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of
the brier shall come up the myrtle tree, and it shall be to the
Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut
off. Do you want the most practical wisdom set forth in
sentences of the utmost vigor, terseness, and rhythmic
beauty ?
My son, forget not my law; but let thy heart keep my com
mandments ;
For length of days and long life and peace shall they add
unto thee;
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy
neck; write them upon the table of thine heart;
So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight
of God and man. . . .
Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that get-
teth understanding;
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of
silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold.
She is more precious than rubies ; and all the things thou canst
desire are not to be compared unto her.
Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left riches
and honor.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and
happy is every one that retaineth her.
7. The study of the literature of the Bible is worth
while because it is a literature of power; it has shaped
the thought and morals of the Christian world.

54 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
De Quincey divided literature into two classes, the
literature of knowledge and the literature of power.
The Bible belongs peculiarly to the literature of power.
We know that it is the most powerful book that ever
spoke to man. The literature of power is always the
great literature; it is the only literature that has an
unending lease of life. The literature of knowledge will
live only until some one else embodies the old facts in a
partially new form. Literature of power can never be
come obsolete because it deals with things eternally true ;
and the deeper and truer the message of a book, the
more inevitable will be the form in which this message
will state itself. The literature of the Bible is so sur
charged with power that virtue goes out of it whenever
it touches the people. This virtue influences their
thoughts, forms their governments, frames their laws,
shapes their morals, molds their characters, and fashions
their lives. All modern thought, ethics, culture, art,
law, literature, conduct, and the dull, common round of
life, find here most of the materials out of which they
are shaped, and by which they are inspired. Thought
finds here its problems ; ethics, its standards ; culture, its
rich materials; art, its most inspiring subjects; law, its
fundamental ideas ; literature, its spirit and ideals ; eon-
duet, its primary sanctions; and the multitude of com
mon relations and activities of life find here those ele
ments of mystery, hope, and exaltation which make
them at all endurable.
Matthew Arnold, poet and critic, and profound stu
dent of the Bible, says :
"As well imagine a man with a sense for poetry not
cultivating it by the help of Homer and Shakespeare, as
a man with a sense for conduct not cultivating it by the
help of the Bible."
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet, philosopher, and theo
logian, says :
"For more than a thousand years the Bible collectively
taken has gone hand in hand with civilization, science,
law, — in short, with the moral and intellectual cultiva
tion of the species, always supporting and often leading
the way."

LITERARY VALUE OF THE BIBLE 55
Indeed almost an unlimited number of illustrations
and opinions might be offered in evidence, but let a
particular and concrete testimonial conclude the list. It
is an account of the influence of the Bible on a particu
lar nation at a particular time. In his "History of the
English People," John Richard Green says of the time
when the English Bible so powerfully stirred the life
and conscience of England :
' ' So far as the nation at large was concerned, no history,
no romance, hardly any poetry save the little-known
verse of Chaucer, existed in the English tongue when
the Bible was ordered to be set up in the churches. Sun
day after Sunday, day after day, the crowds that gath
ered around the Bible in the nave of St. Paul's, or the
family group that hung on its words in the devotional
exercises at home, were leavened with a new literature.
Legend and annal, war song and psalm, state roll and
biography, the mighty voice of the prophets, the parables
of evangelists, stories of mission journeys, or perils by
the sea and among the heathen, philosophic arguments,
apocalyptic visions, all were flung broadcast over minds
unoccupied for the most part by any rival learning.
But far greater than its effect on literature or social
phrase was the effect of the Bible on the character of
the people at large. The Bible was as yet the one book
which was familiar to every Englishman; and every
where its words as they fell on ears that custom had not
deadened to their force and beauty, kindled a startling
enthusiasm. The effect of the Bible however dispas
sionately we examine it, was simply amazing. The whole
people became a church. The problem of life, and
death, whose questionings found no answers in the higher
minds of Shakespeare's day pressed for an answer not
only from noble and scholar, but from farmer and shop
keeper in the age that followed him. ' '

THE BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

CHAPTER IV
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The Bible has a natural as well as a supernatural his
tory. It was written as thousands of other books have
been written, and preserved and transmitted as thou
sands of other books have been preserved and trans
mitted. The books of the Old Testament were of slow
growth and gave expression to the developing religious
consciousness of the Hebrew race. The writing of the
sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments extended
through a period of about 1500 years. Among the peo
ple of the Hebrew race there appeared again and again
men of lofty vision, men of inspiration, through whom
messages of spiritual truth were given to their fellows
and to the world. These messages were embodied in the
books of the Bible, and the books grew as the messages
grew. In writing these books the authors made use of
materials long since lost to the world. So the Bible as
we have it to-day represents the remains of a very wide
literature. There are in the historical books of the Old
Testament quotations from and references to almost a
score of other books which are now lost. The titles of
some of these books are, The Acts of Solomon, The Chron
icles of King David, The Book of Nathan the Prophet,
The Book of Gad the Seer, The Book of Jasher, and The
Book of the Wars of the Lord.
Materials and Composition. But present day biblical
scholars declare that the first six historical books of the
Old Testament are indebted to older books in a way
quite different from the indebtedness just mentioned.
They assert that these historical books as we have them
to-day are composite, their texture having been formed
by the skillful interweaving of a number of older his
tories. They further assert that they are able to take
59

60 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
any one of the six books mentioned and resolve it into its
original component parts and assign the parts to their
proper original history. These more ancient books in
their chronological order are: The Early Judean Pro
phetic History, The Northern Prophetic History, The
Combined Prophetic Histories, The Priestly History,
and The Combined Priestly and Prophetic Histories.
This last combination constitutes the books of the Hexa-
teuch as they are to-day.
The Early Judean History opens with the primitive
story of the creation found in Genesis II, gives an ac
count of man's fall as found in Genesis III, and pro
ceeds with a brief account of the different human insti
tutions as they were successively developed. It is said
that when the extracts from this ancient history, found
in the Hexateuch, are put together, they make a brief
connected record of all the important events in Israel's
many-sided life down to the reign of Solomon. The lit
erary style of this reconstructed record is simple, con
cise, vivid, picturesque, and dramatic.
The Northern Prophetic History is a similar connected
story composed of the national songs and traditions cur
rent in Northern Israel. This history when recon
structed from the present Hexateuch begins with the life
of Abraham and gives a record of Israel's life down to
the time of Saul. It is closely parallel to the Judean
account, but each has preserved narratives peculiar to
itself and has many distinguishing characteristics. The
mount of revelation in the Northern History is Horeb
instead of Sinai; the people of Palestine are Amorites
instead of Canaanites ; God is called Elohim, not Jeho
vah ; and he communicates with man by messengers in
stead of by word of mouth.
When Northern Israel was carried into captivity in
721 b. c, its literature came into the possession of the
southern prophets who combined the northern history
with their own, making a composite narrative. This
showed some minor inconsistencies but included what
was valuable in both. Thus was formed The Combined
Prophetic Histories.
The Priestly History was written by Judean exiles in

ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 61
Babylon. These prophets under the influence of their
new surroundings in the city of their exile were trans
formed into priests with new ideas about religion and a
strong love for law and ritual. Certain of these priests
wrote a brief history of their race from this new point
of view. This history begins with the story of the
creation as found in the first chapter of Genesis and
presents the chief incidents in Israel's history up to the
time of the conquest of Canaan. The style is formal and
legal and the interest is chiefly in the origin of Israel's
legal and ceremonial institutions. In this narrative
the nation's history is so far idealized that Moses, Jacob,
and other national heroes have no sins or weaknesses
charged against them.
Finally, the composite prophetic history and the
priestly history were combined. This fusion produced
the first six books of the Old Testament in their present
form ; and since the writer of the Hexateuch was a priest
the priestly narrative was given precedence in the fu
sion. For example, the order of events in the priestly
history is adopted in the composite story, and the im
portant introduction to Genesis is from the priestly
narrative. It is indeed such a majestic account of crea
tion that it makes a most fitting introduction to the
whole of the Old Testament.
The other books of the Old Testament have a simpler
history than those of the Hexateuch. The Books of
Samuel were originally a single work, and existed sub
stantially in their present form about 700 b. c. The
Books of Kings were also originally a single book, dating
from 600 b. c. The Book of Judges was formed during
the period of the Exile out of the material of earlier nar
ratives. Ruth was written about 450 B.C. Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther were written about 250
B.C. The collection of the proverbs which make up the Book
of Proverbs was continued through the years from 900
to 250 b. c. The poems of the Psalter were composed
through a period extending from 900 b. c. to the com
pletion of the collection, about 150 b. c. The con
jectured dates of the other books of poetry are, Lamen-

62 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
tations, 540; Job, 350; Canticles, 300; and Ecclesiastes,
250 b. c.
The Books of the Prophets were composed through a
period of 600 years. The Book of Amos, the oldest one,
is assigned to 750, and the Book of Daniel to 160 b. c.
The other prophetic books were written in the interven
ing years in the following order : Hosea, Isaiah, Micah,
Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Obadiah,
Ezekiel, II Isaiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Joel,
and Jonah.
Old Manuscript Copies. The oldest copies of the Bi
ble are not in printed but in manuscript form. This is
necessarily the case because printing was not invented
until the fifteenth century. There are more than three
thousand manuscripts of the Bible in existence, vari
ously dated from 325 a. d., to the thirteenth century.
They are distributed chiefly among the great libraries
throughout the civilized world. Not one of them is ab
solutely complete, but there are about thirty which
contain all the books of the Old and New Testaments,
lacking only a few leaves of being complete. The
greater part of this large number contain only small por
tions of the Scriptures.
Three of these manuscripts are very important and
interesting, because they are so very ancient. All of
them originally contained the entire Greek Bible of the
Old and New Testaments in the Septuagint version.
They are called, the Vatican manuscript, the Alexan
drian manuscript, and the Sinaitic manuscript. The
Vatican manuscript was long the most important one
known. It has been in the Vatican library for about
five hundred years. It formerly belonged to a Greek
priest, Bessarion, and is the oldest of all the manu
scripts. Many scholars assign it to the year 325 a.d.
It has been kept with most jealous care and a complete
copy of it was not given to the world until the year
1866. In that year Dr. Tischendorf, a German scholar,
was allowed, after many attempts and repulses, to
study this jealously guarded book ; and in 1867 he pub
lished a^ copy of it in the common Greek type. Thus
this buried treasure became the property of the world.

ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 63
The Alexandrian manuscript was found in Egypt and
is now kept in the British Museum. It was presented
to Charles I in 1628 by the Patriarch of Constantinople,
who brought it from Alexandria in Egypt. The Vati
can Bible consists of one huge volume, but this one con
sists of four volumes, three of the Old Testament and
one of the New Testament. The Patriarch of Constanti
nople testified that the report concerning it was that it
had been copied by Thecla, a Christian lady of the no
bility, in the fourth century a.d. Nearly all the
critics agree that this manuscript is as old as the fifth
century. The most interesting of the three manuscripts is the
Sinaitic. The story of how it was found is a veritable
romance. It was discovered in 1859 by Dr. Tischen-
dorf, the German scholar before mentioned, in the con
vent of St. Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai. In
1844 Dr. Tischendorf was traveling in the East in search
of ancient documents and when he was in the library of
this convent, his eye fell upon a large basketful of old
parchments, apparently of no value, and waiting only
to be used as fire-kindling. When he looked them over,
he learned, to his great surprise and delight, that they
were sheets of a most ancient copy of the Septuagint.
He was allowed, to take forty sheets, but when he un
warily expressed his delight, he was denied any more.
As he grew persistent the monks grew stubborn in their
refusal. It became known in Europe that Dr. Tischen
dorf had made an important discovery, and the English
government sent out experts to search the East for
lost documents. But the searchers came back empty-
handed. In 1853 Dr. Tischendorf visited the old con
vent again but no traces of the desired manuscript could
be found. He did not despair, but in 1859 once more
visited the convent in the desert. His errand seemed in
vain and he was about to take his leave. However, the
evening before his departure he was invited into the cell
of the steward of the monastery to partake of refresh
ments. When they were alone the monk said, "I, too,
sometimes read a copy of the book which you seek"; and
as he spoke he placed in the hands of the anxious

64 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
searcher a bulky volume wrapped in red cloth. Im
mediately the great scholar knew that his search had
been rewarded, for therein he found the fragments which
he had seen in the basket fifteen years before, with
other parts of the Old Testament and the whole of the
New Testament. He was careful to restrain his joy
this time, and was permitted to take the volume to his
own room, where he declares he literally danced for
joy, and worked so diligently at copying parts of it
that he felt it would be wickedness to sleep. After
much negotiation the manuscript was deposited in the
library of St. Petersburg and in due time Dr. Tischen
dorf, with the aid of assistants, made an edition of it
in facsimile, and in 1863, through the munificence of
the Emperor of Russia, copies of it were sent to the
great libraries throughout Christendom.
The Canon. The word canon is a Greek word mean
ing literally a measuring rod; it means in this connec
tion an authoritative list or catalogue of the books which
the churches receive as given by inspiration and as con
stituting for them the divine rule of faith and practice,
in distinction from apocryphal religious books of un
certain authority. It is an interesting study to follow
out the history of the collection of the books of the
Bible into the canon as we have it to-day. It is be
lieved by the Jews that the thirty-nine books of the Old
Testament, which they arranged as twenty-two, were
collected and arranged by Ezra, Nehemiah, and their
companions after the rebuilding of the Temple, on their
return from captivity. The Talmud says that the He
brew canon was formed gradually by Ezra and Nehe
miah, and the Great Synagogue, a council composed of
120 members, priests, Levites, doctors of the law, and
other eminent representatives of the people. It is said
that Nehemiah was its first president and that it met
at different times in the city of Jerusalem through a
period of over one hundred years.
Ancient Versions. The Bible has been translated into
more than 450 languages and dialects, but there are a
few ancient versions which are of peculiar value be
cause the student must look to them for the authentic

ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 65
text with which he compares his modern version in what
ever language it may be. The two principal ancient
versions are the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vul
gate. The Greek version, called the Septuagint, is
worthy of special notice for several reasons. In it
are the oldest existing copies of the Scriptures or any
part of them in any language ; the Old Testament in this
version exerted the largest influence on the language and
style of the New Testament. It was extensively used in
the time of Christ, not only in Egypt where it originated,
and in the Roman provinces generally, but also in Pales
tine; it is notable, /too, because the quotations from
the Old Testament found in the New Testament are
more commonly from this version than from the He
brew version ; that is, Jesus and his disciples must have
made use of this version.
The Jewish account of the origin of the Septuagint
is that Ptolemy Philadelphus who reigned in Egypt
285-247 B.C., requested Eleazer, the high priest of
Jerusalem, to send him seventy-two chosen men with
a copy of the Jewish law that it might be translated
into the Greek language and laid up in the royal li
brary at Alexandria. Eleazer accordingly selected six
elders from each of the twelve tribes to do this work.
They went to Alexandria, taking with them a copy of
the law written, it is said, on parchment in letters of
gold. These chosen men were received by the king with
high honors, and lodged in a palace on an island sup
posed to have been the island of Pharos in the harbor
of Alexandria, where they completed their work in
seventy-two days and were sent home with munificent
gifts. There is a legend that they were shut up in
separate cells where they had no communication with
each other, and that the results of their work when com
pared were found to be identical, and were hence ac
cepted as inspired. However, the marked inequality
of different parts of the work sufficiently disproves this
legend and seems to support the belief that the version
was the product of different times as well as of dif
ferent hands.
The great Latin version known as the Vulgate is of

66 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
unusual importance to us because it has vitally influ
enced the English Bible. The early English versions
were translations from the Vulgate and much of the
strength and beauty of its Latin passed into the literary
style of the translators. The word Vulgate means com
mon or current. Toward the close of the fourth cen
tury a. d., the various Latin texts of the Bible had be
come so much corrupted that revision was imperative.
The great scholar known as St. Jerome was selected
by Pope Damasus to perform this important task. He
revised the New Testament about the year 385, and com
pleted the Old Testament in the year 405. St. Jerome's
translation was not at first accepted by the Church ; but
it gradually made its way into favor and about two
hundred years after his death, became the universally
received version of the Church. In 1546 it was de
clared to be the authorized version of the Roman church
and has remained so to the present day.
English Versions. The Bible was not translated into
the English tongue all at once. It grew slowly follow
ing closely the course alike of religious and intellectual
life in England. Its story begins with Casdmon of
Whitby on the northeastern coast of England, in the
year 670. Here the English Bible and English^ poetry
both took their rise. Csedmon in his rude rime sang
the song of Genesis and Exodus, and the story of the
Gospel. The next translating was done by the Venera
ble Bede, the father of English learning. At the Mon
astery of Jarrow he translated different parts of the
Bible, the last work he did being a translation of the
Gospel of St. John. King Alfred the Great was the
third translator. While battling with the Danes and
giving laws to his people, he found time to translate
many books. He translated the Ten Commandments,
the Lord's Prayer, the 20th, 21st, and 22nd chapters of
Exodus, and several of the Psalms. When he died he
was engaged in completing the translation of the Psalms.
Wycliffe's Bible, published in 1383, is the first great
monument of English literature. This translation has
influenced every succeeding English translation of the
Bible to the present day. In 1525 the mantle of Wye-

ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 67
liffe fell on William Tyndale, later the martyred hero.
In that year he published his translation of the New
Testament. On account of 'his efforts to put the Bible
into the hands of the common people he was forced to
flee from England, but from his place of refuge on the
continent, he poured copies of the English New Testa
ment into England in a flood. By order of Cardinal
Wolsey, these books were bought up and destroyed ; but
as fast as they were bought up and burned at St. Paul 's
cross, the money paid for them as they were seized, was
used to run the printing presses of Tyndale which turned
out two or three copies'for every one that the authori
ties destroyed. In 1530 Tyndale published his transla
tion of the Pentateuch, and in 1534, a revision of his
New Testament of 1525. In 1536 he was put to death
for his zeal and persistence in the work of giving the
Bible to the English people in their own language.
From 1525 for three quarters of a century there were
numerous versions of the Bible published in England.
Among the most noted and influential were : Miles Cov-
erdale's Bible, 1535; Matthew's Bible, 1537; the Great
Bible, 1540; the Geneva New Testament, 1557; the Ge
neva Bible, 1560; the Bishops' Bible, 1568; the Rheims
New Testament, 1582 ; and the Douay Bible, 1609 ; these
last two are translations of the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1611 what is known as the Authorized Version was
completed. It was translated and published under the
direction of King James I of England. When King
James came to the throne in 1603 he found the Geneva
Bible supported by the people at large, and the Bishops'
Bible supported by ecclesiastical authority. In order
to harmonize the factions he called together fifty-four
learned men from both the High Church and the Inde
pendent Church to undertake a new translation. The
work was completed in 1611. Although this version
did not win immediate acceptance, its qualities were such
that it grew steadily in favor and within half a cen
tury was accepted by all English Protestants. No other
English translation can compare with it in enduring
vitality. It is noted for soundness of scholarship,
breadth of spirit, and beauty of diction.

68 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
For two and a half centuries the Authorized Version
held the field with little question of its supremacy. But
in the nineteenth century the multiplication of ancient
manuscripts hitherto unknown or inaccessible, the ad
vance in textual scholarship, and the inevitable changes
in the English vocabulary were strong reasons for a re
vision of the Authorized Version. Accordingly, in Feb
ruary, 1870, action was taken by the Convocation of
Canterbury and a distinguished array of divines and
scholars began the work of revision. Not long after
wards American scholars were invited to participate in
the work and two American companies began their labors
in October, 1872. The revision of the New Testament
was completed in 1881, and the entire Revised Version
of the Bible appeared in May, 1885.
Since the American committee had been consulted
about all the work of revision, its members pledged them
selves to give their moral support to the authorized edi
tions published in England and not to issue an edition
of their own for a term of fourteen years. During these
fourteen years the American Committee had maintained
its organization and had labored steadily to prepare
a new American edition. So the American Standard
Edition of the Revised Bible was issued in August, 1901.
This edition includes not only the changes agreed upon
by all the members of the British and American Com
mittees, the changes proposed by the American Com
mittee to the British revisers, but other textual changes
and interpretations resulting from the studies of the
American Committee during the fourteen years. Many
verbal revisions were made also, in order that the text
might be more nearly in accord with English usage in
America. While the Revised Version is far superior to the King
James Version in correctness of text, and exactness and
clearness in translation, it will be many years before
it can so completely win the hearts of the people as to
take the place of the old version. It is doubtful whether
in beauty of diction, pleasure of rhythm, and felicity of
phrase it can rival the Authorized Version. Our ears
must have time to become accustomed to its new ca-

ORIGIN OF THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE 69
dences. Still, while the literary beauty of the old ver
sion is to be preferred, it is to be hoped that few will
explain their preference as did the youthful English
clergyman who objected to the new version in the words :
"I much prefer the Authorized Version. A version
that was good enough for St. Paul is good enough for
me."

CHAPTER V
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE INDIVIDUAL BOOKS OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT
The books of the Old Testament as arranged in the
English Bible are classified as follows : The Pentateuch,
five books; Books of History, twelve; Books of Poetry,
five; Books of the Major Prophets, five; Books of the
Minor Prophets, twelve; a total of thirty-nine books.
This classification is hardly logical or accurate, for the
Pentateuch contains a great deal of history; Ecclesi
astes is not a book of poetry though classed as such;
while Lamentations may be classed as both poetry and
prophecy. The arrangement of the books in the English
versions differs much from the order in the Hebrew
Bible. There the division is three-fold: "The law,"
"the prophets," and "the writings."
The word Pentateuch means the "five-volumed book,"
These five books are sometimes called "the five books
of Moses." They are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The books of history are,
in order: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel,
1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, and Esther. The books classed as poetry are :
Job, The Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song
of Solomon. The books of the Greater Prophets are:
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
The Lesser Prophets are : Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi.
So it will be seen that the unity of the Bible is spirit
ual and not mechanical. Though bound up in a single
volume and called the "Bible," that is, the "Book,"
these thirty-nine books are separate works written by
many different authors at different times.
70

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 71

The Pentateuch
The Book of Genesis. The title means the book of
beginnings. The first eleven chapters of the Book of
Genesis give an account of the world's history down to
the origin of the chosen people. An account of the
creation of all things is given; the presence of evil in
the world is explained; the beginning of civilization is
shown ; the necessity for the punishment of sin is em
phasized ; and the diversity of languages and peoples is
accounted for. The chapters from 12 to 50 present the
history of the fathers of the Hebrew race, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The stories about these great
patriarchs make a sort of handbook of life. They fur
nish materials out of which the Hebrew race has con
structed its noblest and most inspiring ideals. Further
discussion of these stories will be found in other chap
ters of this volume.
The Book of Exodus. The word "Exodus" means
"a going out." The Book of Genesis ends with the
death of Joseph. Exodus opens with an account of the
rapid increase of Jacob's descendants in Egypt and of
the attempts to repress them. It shows the various
steps toward the deliverance from bondage, then the
journey to Sinai, the happenings at Sinai, and closes
with the erection of the tabernacle in the second year
of the wanderings. Genesis is pure narrative; Exodus
combines narrative and law; besides, there are other
parts dealing with the organization of the church
and the state. Here it is shown how the great patri
archal family became a nation. As literature Exodus
is not so attractive as Genesis. Genesis presents a suc
cession of hero-stories of absorbing interest; Exodus
presents but one hero, Moses, though he is large enough
and his life is filled with experiences varied and excit
ing enough to kindle the imagination and stir the heart.
The Book of Leviticus. The title means that this is
a book of laws. The book is a continuation of Exodus.
It opens with an account of the laws which should
govern the offerings and the ritual of the Hebrew sanc
tuary. The contents are purely legislative, the laws

72 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
being civil, ceremonial, moral, religious, and sanitary.
There are presented the fundamental laws of sacrifice,
of purification, of atonement, and of vows and tithes.
There is a section of several chapters called the "Law
of Holiness," which is thought to be the oldest part of
the Bible. Deuteronomy is chiefly a manual for the
daily duties of the Hebrew, while Leviticus is a manual
for the priest, giving the details of religious ceremonies
over which he must preside.
The Book of Numbers. This book is so called because
it gives an account of two numberings of the people, at
Sinai, and at Moab. In character it is much like Ex
odus, containing history, law, and accounts of the or
ganization of the nation. It is a brief account of what
the nation did from the time it left Sinai till it arrived
on the eastern border of Canaan. The book opens with
a mustering of all the fighting men. There was to be
hard fighting and every man "from twenty years old
and upward," was enrolled in the army. The narra
tive is not so stirring as that of Genesis or Exodus, the
events of the years of wandering in the wilderness being
neither thrilling nor heroic.
After the mustering the whole nation moves to the
southern border of Canaan, spies are sent northward
through "the promised land," and report a goodly land
"flowing with milk and honey," but presenting so many
obstacles to their invasion that it is not advisable to at
tempt a conquest. The people are panic-stricken and
begin a retreat whose wanderings cover a period of
thirty-eight years. The most attractive parts of the
book are those in which Moses is brought before us, "in
his solitary grandeur, patient strength, and heroic faith ;
steadfast amidst jealousy, suspicion, and rebellion, and
indicated by God himself as a prophet of transcendent
privilege and power."
One interesting feature of the book is the fragments
of ancient poetry which it contains. One of these is
quoted from an old book called ' ' The Book of the Wars
of the Lord," and all, doubtless, belong to a period
earlier than the date of the narrative. The longer
oracular poems spoken by Balaam are fresh and vigor-

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 73
ous in form and imagination and are filled with a high
sense of Israel's national destiny.
The Book of Deuteronomy. The name of this book
indicates that it is a duplicate copy of the law. It was
so called by the Alexandrian Jews because they regarded
it as a restatement of all preceding legislation. There
is first a historical introduction giving the time and
place at which the discourses following were delivered.
Then follow the three orations of Moses. In the first
he reviews the circumstances of the journey of the
Israelites to the border of Canaan, and concludes with
an eloquent and practical appeal not to forget the les
sons learned at Sinai. The second discourse begins
with chapter 5, rehearses the Ten Commandments as
the basis of all the Mosaic legislation, and gives an ex
position of the law regarding reverence for God, and the
duties and obligations regarding the sanctuary, political
life, and social and domestic relations. The third dis
course begins with chapter 27. This oration insists
upon loyalty to Jehovah, appeals to Israel to accept the
terms of the Deuteronomic covenant, gives promise of
restoration, if the nation shall show proper tokens of
penitence, and sets before Israel the choice of life or
death, blessing or cursing. Then follow the call and
installation of Joshua, and the book concludes with the
Song and Blessing of Moses.
The purpose of Deuteronomy was to set forth the
true nature of Israel's religious foundation, the laws
that the people were to obey, and the spirit in which
they were to obey them. It was really a great mani
festo against the dominant tendencies of the times in
which it was written. In a literary way its influence
upon subsequent books of the Old Testament was very
great. Books of History
The Book of Joshua. This book is named from its
chief character, Joshua, the successor to Moses. In its
general characteristics it is much like parts of the Pen
tateuch. In classifying the books of the Bible it is some
times added to the Pentateuch, the whole being then

74 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
called the Hexateuch. It covers a period of about twen
ty-five years, from the crossing of the Jordan to the
allotment of land among the tribes. The first twelve
chapters' give an account of the conquest of Palestine;
the next ten chapters contain full details of the divi
sion of the land among the tribes ; and the last two chap
ters tell of two farewell addresses of Joshua, and of his
death and burial. As literature the Book of Joshua
presents many dull chapters but some parts of stirring
interest. Joshua is the only striking figure, but we do
not stand in awe of him as we did of Moses and we do
not become acquainted with him as we did with Jacob
and Joseph. A few incidents are most vividly and ef
fectively put before us: the taking of Jericho, the sin
and punishment of Achan, the campaign against Ai, the
stratagem of the Gibeonites, and the famous battle at
Bethhoron. The Book of Judges. This book, named from the title
given the rulers of the time, presents pictures of a period
in the history of Israel when the people were trying to
gain complete possession of the land and to achieve na
tional unity. It consists largely of hero stories fitted
into a chronological framework whose object is to show,
by a definite formula, that the prosperity of Israel must
depend upon the nation's faithfulness and devotion to
Jehovah. The book is fragmentary and the events are
chiefly local and tribal, not national. The judges were
military dictators with religious authority, a sort of
union of the warrior and the religious reformer. The
extent of their rule was generally local. This may be
called the age of heroes. As men were needed, they
were raised up for particular emergencies. It was an
age of lawlessness: during all this period there is no
reference to the law of Moses.
The book may be divided into three parts, the pref
ace, the main narrative, and the appendix. The pref
ace, consisting of two chapters and six verses, recounts
a number of incidents of the time of Joshua and presents
a formula according to which the history of the period
repeats itself. The main narrative gives account of the
working of the formula through a specified series of

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 75
years, with emphasis on the exploits of particular judges.
The appendix, five chapters, describes in detail two in
cidents belonging to the period : the migration of a part
of the tribe of Dan, to the north, and the war of the
other tribes against Benjamin, growing out of the out
rage at Gibeah.
The Book of Judges is a most interesting story book.
The characters set forth are real men and women and
the incidents narrated are natural, vivid, striking. We
can understand and sympathize with Gideon in his spec
tacular daring, Jephthah in his fanatical devoutness, De
borah in her exalted patriotism, and Samson in his
fun and folly. The rigid chronological and didactic
framework into which these stories are fitted can not
destroy their charm. The song of Deborah, giving an
account in poetry of the disastrous defeat of the army
of Sisera, is a splendid relic from the early war lyrics
of Israel,
The Booh of Ruth. This is a story of the time of the
Judges. It is a picture of piety, contentment, love, de
votion, and tolerance in strange contrast to the idola
try, bloodshed, and violence of the age. Its purpose is
to give an account of the ancestry of King David, and
it may have been written as a protest against Ezra's
severity concerning foreign wives. An analysis of this
book will be found in another chapter of this volume.
The Book of I Samuel. The two books of Samuel, so
called because Samuel is the chief figure at the opening
of the story, as found in the English versions, form but
one book in the old Hebrew Bible. In the Septuagint
it was divided into two books, as was done also with the
following Book of Kings, and the four resulting books
were called 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Books of the Kings.
First Samuel opens with events belonging to the age
of the Judges when Eli was priest at Shiloh. The nar
rative presents the last days of Eli, the entire life of
Samuel, the reign of Saul, the anointing of David, his
life as an outlaw, his fame as a warrior, and closes with
the death of Saul and Jonathan on Mount Gilboa. First
Samuel is a fine piece of Old Testament historical writ
ing. There are great men presented in its pages; Sam-

76 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
uel, a majestic figure, the founder of the monarchy ; Saul,
one of the saddest and most dramatic characters in Bible
history ; and David the noble young man preparing him
self for a greater career as king of Israel. The tragic
incidents in Saul's career, the romantic outlaw life of
David, and the ideal friendship of Jonathan and David
are set forth with vividness and power.
The Book of II Samuel. This book is closely con
nected with First Samuel. In the first chapter there is
an account of the swift runner telling the news of the
death of Saul and Jonathan to David in his far away
place of refuge. He is overwhelmed with grief and
gives expression to his sorrow in a beautiful poem of
mourning, one of the most spontaneous and picturesque
elegies in any language. The first chapters of the book
tell of David's rule over Judah for seven and a half
years, of his being chosen king of the whole of Israel,
of his selection of the captured city of Jerusalem as his
political capital, of the bringing of the ark to Jerusalem,
and of the extending of the boundaries of the kingdom
from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. The central
part of the book gives an account of the court life and
the unfortunate intrigues of David's family. The last
five chapters detail various disconnected matters and
events. The Book of I Kings. The first two chapters of this
book give an account of the last days of David, of the
plot of Adonijah to make himself king, and of the plac
ing of Solomon on the throne. In the nine following
chapters are recorded the internal relations of the mon
archy, its foreign relations, its general condition of
wealth and weakness, and a prediction of its speedy
disruption. In chapter twelve begins an account of
the division of the tribes, and the remaining ten chap
ters present the varying fortune of the two new king
doms. This section of the book is made up of brief
summaries of the reigns of the kings, interspersed with
longer stories of the interesting and exciting careers
of the prophets. In the shorter narratives the facts
are fitted into a stereotyped chronological framework
which makes much of the recital seem mechanical. The

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 77
stories in this book are more formal and didactic than
those in the two preceding books. There are many
vivid pictures, but we do not know the inner life of
Solomon as we do that of David or Saul or Samuel.
However, the stories of Elijah and Elisha found in the
two books of Kings are among the most vivid narra
tives of the Old Testament.
The Book of II Kings. The book of First Kings closes
with the death of Ahab. Second Kings opens with
Ahaziah on the throne of Israel and Jehoshaphat king
of Judah. Elijah is closing his spectacular career as the
national prophet of Israel, to be followed by the
more commonplace Elisha. The interwoven fortunes of
Judah and Israel are followed until Shalmaneser, king
of Assyria, overcomes Hoshea, Israel's last king, and car
ries the people into captivity, thus ending the history
of the northern kingdom (721 B.C.). The eight clos
ing chapters follow the decline of Judah to its over
throw. The Books of The Chronicles, I and II. The books
of the Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, are evidently
the work of a single author. The Chronicles cover the
period from Adam to the edict of Cyrus permitting the
exiles to return to Judah, 537 b. c. They thus cover
the same period covered by the historical books from
Genesis to Second Kings, but their point of view is very
different. The author got his materials from these his
torical books and from a number of other books named
in the narrative but not now in existence. The first
ten chapters of I Chronicles are introductory and de
voted principally to genealogies from Adam to David
and after. The last nineteen chapters go over again the
history of the reign of David. The first nine chapters
of II Chronicles are devoted to the history of Solomon
and the remaining twenty-seven chapters, to the rest
of the kings. As far as possible, everything discredita
ble to David, Solomon, and the other righteous kings
of Judah is omitted from these books, and since the
northern kingdom was not regarded as a part of the
true Israel, it is almost entirely ignored, even Elijah
and Elisha being scarcely mentioned. The point of

78 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
view in these books is that God has for this people a
particular mission and that all the happenings of their
long and varied history were intended to work out that
one purpose.
The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah. These books oc
cupy the last place in the Old Testament record of the
history of the Hebrew people. The period covered in
them extends from the time of the first return from
captivity (536 b. c), to the second visit of Nehemiah
to Palestine (432 B.C.). The first six chapters of Ezra
give an account of the work done by Zerubbabel as
governor, the chief of which is the rebuilding of the
temple through many delays and discouragements. The
last four chapters give an account of the journey of
Ezra from the Persian court to Jerusalem and of his
work and reforms.
The Book of Nehemiah may be divided into four
parts: the first is the story of Nehemiah's coming to
Jerusalem and of his rebuilding the walls. The second
gives an account of the wonderful revival of interest
in the Scriptures through the influence of Ezra and
Nehemiah. The third part consists of lists of dwellers
in Jerusalem, the names of country towns inhabited by
returned Jews, names of priests and Levites, and of
priestly and Levitical families who returned in the time
of Zerubbabel.
The last section gives an account of the dedication of
the walls, of the second return of Nehemiah, and of the
reforms which he then instituted.
The Book of Esther. The scenes of the Book of
Esther are laid in the court of Ahasuerus, or Xerxes.
It is a book of thrilling interest and of unusual literary
value. There is a study of this book in another chap
ter of this volume. The Books of Poetry
The five books classed as poetry are Job, The Psalms,
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The
fact is that the book of Ecclesiastes is not in the form of
poetry and that another book of the Bible, Lamenta-

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 79
tions, not classed as poetry does have that form. How
ever, we shall discuss Ecclesiastes in this group as we
are here following the old classification.
The Book of Job. The old theory was that the Book
of Job was written by Moses, but it is now believed to
belong to a much later period. The main part of the
book consists of a discussion carried on by Job, his three
friends, Elihu, and Jehovah, in a series of poetic dis
courses. The discussion is introduced and concluded by
brief prose narratives, the Prologue and the Epi
logue. The problem of the poem is to discover whether
righteousness in men is disinterested, and whether the
suffering which a man must endure in the world is al
ways sent as a punishment for sin. A brief study of
the book will be found in another chapter of this volume.
The Book of Psalms. The Hebrew title for this book
is a word meaning "praise-songs." This volume is not
simply one book but is made up of five books containing
the work of a number of authors. There are one hun
dred and fifty of the psalms and they were written
through a period of possibly 1000 years. It is a wonder
ful collection of sacred poetry, lofty in thought and
feeling, and touching all the vicissitudes of human ex
perience from the depths of trouble to the heights of
joy. There is a further discussion of the Psalms in
another chapter of this volume.
The Book of Proverbs. The Book of Proverbs, like
the Book of Job, deals with the system of Providential
rewards and punishments, but deals with their practical
application rather than with their theological signifi
cance. The fundamental idea set forth is that the world
is morally governed. There are seven divisions of the
chapters of this book: The praise of wisdom, chapters
I to IX ; the proverbs of Solomon, chapters X to XXII ;
the sayings of the wise, chapters XXIII to XXIV; the
second selection of Solomon's proverbs, chapters XXV
to XXIX; the words of Augur, chapter XXX; the
words of King Lemuel, chapter XXXI : 1-9 ; an acrostic
poem in praise of the good wife, chapter XXXI : 10-31.
The wise men who spoke these proverbs were a distinct
class apart from priests and prophets. They were keen

80 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE -
observers of all the relations of life. They brought into
sharp contrast with each other the wise and the foolish,
the rich and the poor, the slothful and the diligent ; and
such deep knowledge of human nature did they have
that their sayings are as fresh and true to nature as if
spoken to-day.
The Book of Ecclesiastes. This book, as has been
said before, although classed as a poem, is really in the
form of prose. It deals with the meaning and value
of life, discusses the question whether life, under the
most favorable circumstances, is really worth living.
It is written in the name of Solomon, but simply as a
matter of literary form. In chapters one and two the
"Preacher" reviews the different objects which men
pursue, labor, wisdom, pleasure, riches, and finds in
each only vanity and vexation of spirit. Chapters three
and four declare that there is a time and season for all
things but wonder who can find them. Human society
is surveyed and only trouble, failure, and disappoint
ment are seen. Chapters five to twelve present ma
terials somewhat obscure, yet the conclusion is not so
pessimistic as in the first chapter; the real aim of life
and the true basis of happiness are made clear.
The Song of Solomon. This poem is either a primi
tive drama or a collection of love-songs. The book has
been included in the canon because the Hebrews re
garded it as an allegory of the love of Jehovah and
Israel, and the Christian Fathers held the same view
except that Christ and the Church were substituted for
Jehovah and Israel. See further account of this book
in another chapter.
The Major Prophets v
The Book of Isaiah. Isaiah is reckoned the greatest
of all the prophets of the Old Testament. Little is
known of the details of his life, yet he was a part of
many of the stirring events depicted in his prophecies.
The book is a long one, consisting of sixty-six chapters.
Most scholars attribute the work to two different au
thors, the First Isaiah being credited with the first

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 81
thirty-nine chapters, and the Second Isaiah, with the
last twenty-seven chapters. The first division deals
with prophecies about Israel and Judah and foreign
nations, Assyria being the great enemy. The second
part may be called the "Book of Consolations." It
is a continuous prophecy dealing hopefully with the res
toration of Israel from the Babylonian captivity and
presenting enthusiastic pictures of the ideal kingdom
and the Messianic King.
In literary power the writings of Isaiah take high
rank. He uses a wealth of appropriate and vivid illus
trations. For these he draws on all regions and aspects
of nature and on every department of human life. He
is orator, poet, teacher. He has the declamatory elo
quence and fluency of the orator, the fine imagination
and wonderful vision of the poet, and the didactic con-
creteness, the passionate earnestness, and the singleness
of purpose, of the devoted teacher. The last twenty-
six chapters are full of fine strains of poetry and oratory
made vivid by a glorious imagination, and impressive
by dramatic outbursts of lofty fervor.
The Book of Jeremiah. This book is a combination of
history, biography, and prophecy. Jeremiah lived in
the midst of the tragic scenes of the destruction of
Jerusalem. His words of warning and exhortation were
unheeded by his countrymen, who even persecuted him
for his plain speaking. He was deeply affected by their
attitude and by the ruin which he foresaw would come
upon his country. So he breaks out in bitter lamenta
tions and cries aloud to God for vengeance. The book
closes with an account of the capture of Jerusalem by
the Chaldeans and the sending of the people into exile.
There are many new ideas presented in Jeremiah's
writings. Two grand thoughts are the ideality and the
universality of religion. He declares that every man
as such is born a child of God ; that a pure mind and a
pure heart are all that God requires of a man. Jere
miah's life was so troubled, so sad, so misunderstood,
that his writings are saturated with gloom. But it is
not right to say that his life-story is pathetic; it is
stronger than that — it is tragic; it is the story of a

82 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
courageous and resourceful man fighting a losing bat
tle. The book is indeed a remarkable "human docu
ment." The Book of Ezekiel. The prophet Ezekiel was car
ried in captivity to Babylon, B.C. 597. He was a
younger contemporary of Jeremiah. Ezekiel marks the
transition from the prophet to the scribe or theologian
in Jewish history. (The older prophets were first of all
preachers, and their utterances were usually reduced
to writing by others. But Ezekiel not only delivered his
prophecies to audiences, but wrote them down methodi
cally in a book. His prophecies are rendered vivid and
sometimes obscure by his use of visions and symbols.
The first twenty-four chapters of the book deal with
predictions of the fall of Jerusalem. The next eight
chapters present prophecies regarding foreign nations,
and the last sixteen chapters speak of the restoration
and re-allotment of the land, of the ideal temple, and of
Jehovah — Triumphant. The literary style of Ezekiel
is much more artificial than that of Isaiah. There is
great elaboration of details and profusion of strange
and obscure symbolism.
The Book of Lamentations. An ancient tradition
credits this work to Jeremiah, but modern scholars say
that the author is unknown. The book is poetic in form,
each of the five chapters being a complete and inde
pendent poem. The first four are alphabetic acrostics.
In chapters one, two, and four, each verse of the twenty-
two begins with the corresponding letter of the Hebrew
alphabet, in order ; in chapter three each letter is given
three verses, all three beginning with the corresponding
letter of the alphabet. In chapter five there are twenty-
two verses, but they are not arranged in alphabetical
order. The Book of Daniel. This book consists of twelve
chapters, six relating stories about Daniel and his com
panions, and six presenting his dreams and visions.
The stories of the first division are : faithfulness to a na
tional law; Nebuchadnezzar's dream; idolatry and the
fiery furnace; the tree cut down; the tragic feast; the
lions' den. The last division details four prophetic

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 83
visions: the four beasts; the ram and the he-goat; the
seventy weeks; the last vision. The four beasts sym
bolize the four great world powers, Babylonian, Medo-
Persian, Persian, and Macedonian. The second vision
shows the four-fold development of the Macedonian
power. In the third vision the angel Gabriel delivers
a message regarding the Messianic kingdom. The last
vision foretells the course of events under the tyrannical
king Antiochus Epiphanes. The Minor Prophets
The Book of Hosea. This book is the first and longest
of the twelve. Hosea lived in the northern kingdom.
It appears that his wife had been unfaithful to him and
he uses this experience as an allegory of the unfaithful
ness of Israel to Jehovah. In the last eleven chapters
he denounces Israel for its combination of immorality
and ritualism and for the cruelty and oppression of
nobles and priests.
The Book of Joel. Apparently the prophecies pre
sented in this book were delivered on the occasion of
a plague of locusts which had been so severe as to cause
the regular temple offerings to be suspended. The
prophet proclaims the "Day of the Lord" as a season
of terrible calamities from which Judah may be de
livered by repentance; then the spirit of the Lord will
be poured out upon the people.
The Book of Amos. Amos declares that he is not a
professional prophet, but a peasant of Tekoa, "a herds
man and dresser of sycamore trees." There are three
divisions of the book. The first proclaims the condem
nation and punishment of heathen nations; the second
arraigns Israel and pronounces its doom; and the third
presents five visions depicting the sure destruction of
Jerusalem, and closes with a picture of the coming of
the new kingdom and the reign of plenty.
The Book of Obadiah. The occasion of this prophecy
wasthe brutality of Edom in rejoicing over the captiv
ity and ruin of Jerusalem. The one chapter speaks
of Edom's guilt and punishment, the extension of the

84 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
punishment to all heathen nations, and of the promise
of the restoration of Israel.
The Book of Jonah. Although this book stands among
the prophetical books it does not contain prophecies;
it is an anonymous narrative. A more extended ac
count is given on another page.
The Book of Micah. Micah was a contemporary of
Isaiah, and pronounced judgment upon Israel for na
tional sins, particularly for social sins and covenant-
breaking. He then recounts what God has done for
Israel and promises mercy and restoration after re
pentance. The Book of Nahum. This book has but one theme,
the destruction of Nineveh. The prophet announces the
coming ruin of that city because of its defiance of Je
hovah, its oppression of Judah, and because it was a
"bloody city, all full of lies and robbery."
The Book of Habakkuk. The situation as seen by the
prophet in this book is that Jerusalem must certainly
fall before the rising Chaldean power, and he is greatly
distressed because he can not understand how such a re
sult can advance righteousness in the world. So he
challenges Jehovah to defend his action in thus govern
ing the world. It is the problem of Job over again.
Jehovah is represented as answering the challenge and
telling the prophet that he can see but a small part of
Jehovah's great plan, that so far as the Chaldeans are
wicked they' too must perish, and that righteousness
will at last prevail in the world.
The Book of Zephaniah. Zephaniah was a great
grandson of Hezekiah and prophesied during the reign
of Josiah. A dark day of destruction for all nations is
foretold. Judah shall suffer because of the wickedness
of its rulers, priests, and prophets ; Philistia, Moab, Am
nion, Ethiopia, and Nineveh shall in succession be
ruined. But there shall be a purged and purified rem
nant whom the Lord shall bring back from captivity.
The Books of Haggai and Zechariah. When these
two prophets appeared, 42,000 returned exiles had been
living in Jerusalem sixteen years. For two years they
had worked at rebuilding the Temple ; for fourteen years

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 85
the work had been at a standstill. So Haggai and Zech
ariah were commissioned to arouse the Jews to greater
energy in the rebuilding. Their prophecies delivered
in burning and inspiring words stirred the people to
such ' enthusiasm that the Temple soon rose from its
ruins. The Book of Malachi. This book is anonymous and
undated, but clearly belongs to the days of Ezra and
Nehemiah. The Temple had been restored but the peo
ple were disappointed because they had not realized a
glorious Messianic kingdom. Malachi seeks to recall
the allegiance of the people to Jehovah and revive the
national spirit. He shows that Jehovah is the moral
governor of the world and that it pays to serve him.
The book closes with an exhortation to the people to
obey the law, and with a promise of the coming of
Elijah.

OLD TESTAMENT STORIES

CHAPTER VI
characteristics of old testament stories
The Great Teacher in his teaching made frequent and
effective use of stories. He thus made the abstract ideas,
the vital truths of his Gospel clear and concrete to his
hearers. When a lawyer asked him the meaning of
the word neighbor, he defined it by telling the immortal
story of The Good Samaritan. In order to make forci
ble application of the wonderful Sermon on the Mount,
he concluded it with the story of The Two Houses. In
the ancient days when the prophet Nathan wanted to
reach the conscience of King David, he told him the
simple, moving story of the One Ewe Lamb; and when
Jotham wished to convince the people of Shechem of
their folly in selecting Abimelech to rule over them,
he recited to them the Fable of the Trees.
Stories are valuable for many purposes; they may
entertain, instruct, portray life, move to action, or
teach love for virtue and abhorrence of vice. To amuse
and entertain is an important function of the story.
We can not live always in the work-a-day world. We
are creatures of imagination and must at times be
taken out of our busy lives and forget for a while the
cares that beset us. Stories make this possible. We
who have not the creative power may live in the imagi
nation of the more gifted. The stories of Ruth, of
Esther, and of Joseph appeal strongly to the imagina
tion and are entertaining although their main purpose
is to give definite moral instruction. The stories that
tell of the doings of Samson have a less serious purpose.
He is the nation's humorous hero who discomfits Israel's
enemies by playing pranks on them, pranks which are
fun for Samson but death for the Philistines. One ex
ample of Samson's tragic pranks is found in Judges, XV :
89

90 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
1 to 8. Samson has returned to Timnath to visit his
wife whom he had left in a huff because she had be
trayed the meaning of his riddle. He finds that she has
been given by her father to another man and he takes
characteristic revenge.
And Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blame
less than the Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And
Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took fire
brands, and turned tail to tail, and put a fire brand in the midst
between two tails. And when he had set the brands on fire,
he let them go into the standing corn of the Philistines, and
burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn, with the
vineyards and olives. Then the Philistines said, Who hath done
this? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Tim-
nite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his com
panion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her
father with fire. And Samson said unto them, Though ye
have done this, yet will I be avenged of you, and after that I
will cease. And he smote them hip and thigh with a great
slaughter: and he went down and dwelt in the top of the rock
Etam. Another function of the story is to instruct. This is
the chief purpose of ' ' The Pilgrim 's Progress. " " Oliver
Twist" was written to expose the evils of the poor-law
system of England; "Bleak House" is an indictment
of the courts of equity; "Never Too Late to Mend" was
written to condemn the English penal system; and
doubtless the Book of Ruth is a protest against the nar
row exclusiveness of the Jews of the time of Ezra.
There are many stories of purpose, both long and short,
in the Old Testament. The story of the intended sacri
fice of Isaac is plainly a lesson in supreme obedience, to
the Hebrews of all succeeding generations. It is a story
of fascinating interest told briefly, swiftly, and vividly.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt
Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here
I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac,
whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and
offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of.
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his
ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son,
and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went
unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third

OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 91
day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the
ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come
again to you. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering,
and laid it upon Isaac his son ; and he took the fire in his hand,
and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac
spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he
said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the
wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham
said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offer
ing: so they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and
Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and
bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to
slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of
heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou
anything unto him, for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing
thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And
Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him
a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and
took the ram, and offered him for a burnt offering in the stead
of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-
Jireh : as it is said to this day, In the mount of the Lord it shall
be seen.
And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven
the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the
Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with
held thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee,
and in multiplying I will multiply thy 3eed as the stars of the
heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy
seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed
my voice. So Abraham returned unto the young men, and they
rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt
at Beer-sheba.
Still another function of the story is to portray hu
man life. Stories may give us the most vivid pictures
of life and manners of other times. Homer is the best
authority on early Greek life. Lorna Doone is a fasci
nating picture of the life and times of Charles II ; and
Sir Walter Scott and Dr. Watson give true and vivid
pictures of early and modern Scotch life. Stories may
go further and portray the innermost life of the in
dividual. The historian tells only what has been seen
and heard, the external facts, while the true story-teller

92 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
gathering together the facts, transfuses them in the
crucible of his imagination and presents a living pic
ture of the whole ; it is no half-tone portrait ; it is a liv
ing, breathing picture. Many books of the Bible pre
sent such pictures and portraits. It is possible to con
struct from the narratives of Genesis, for example, the
world of the ancient patriarchs in many definite details,
and to see the men, who speak and act, as real, living
men of heroic size.
But the highest function of the story is to depict the
moral forces of life, the forces which make for good
or evil. If it portrays life faithfully, the reader will re
volt from the evil because it is ugly and repulsive, and
be drawn to the good because it is beautiful and attrac
tive. Many of the Bible stories show unusual direct
ness in striking at the heart of a situation where right
and wrong have been confused. Two shining examples
of such stories, incisive and effective, are Nathan's
story told to David (2 Samuel, XII), and Jotham 's-f able
recited to the men of Shechem (Judges, IX).
It will be remembered that King David, when he
wished to make the beautiful Bathsheba his wife, caused
her husband, the faithful and loyal Uriah, to be put in
the forefront of the battle where he was killed. The
prophet Nathan was sent to David to reprimand him
for this gross sin. He put his rebuke in the form of
a story.
There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other
poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds: But
the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he
had bought and nourished up; and it grew up together with
him, and with his ehildren; it did eat of his own meat and
drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as
a daughter.
And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he spared
to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the
wayfaring man that was come unto him; but he took the poor
man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and
he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done
this thing shall surely die: and he shall restore the lamb four
fold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man!

OLD TESTAMENT STORIES 93
Poe's theory of the short-story is that the writer must
first choose a single effect to be wrought out, and then
make every word tend toward the preestablished design.
This story is a model in terseness and swiftness. Na
than knew the effect he wanted to produce and made
every phrase tend toward it. The design is skillfully
concealed until in the last sentence, it flashes forth like a
stunning lightning stroke.
After the death of Gideon, Abimelech, one of his
seventy sons, was ambitious to succeed his father as the
ruler of Israel. He received financial and military aid
from his mother's people and took upon himself the au
thority of a king. To make himself secure he killed all
his brethren except Jotham who hid himself. Then all
the people of Shechem gathered together to formally
crown their new king.
And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the
top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and
said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God
may hearken unto you: The trees went forth on a time to anoint
a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou
over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my
fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to
be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree,
Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them,
Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be
promoted over the trees? Then the trees said unto the vine,
Come thou, and reign over us. And the vine 6aid unto them,
Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go
to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto
the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And the bramble
said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you,
then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let
fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Gideon and with
his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him
also rejoice in you: but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech
and devour the men of Shechem. And Jotham ran away, and fled,
and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his
brother. Besides the functions given and illustrated, stories
have a peculiar value in the education of children.
Richer educational material for this purpose may be
found in stories than in any other form of literature.

94 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Well chosen stories skillfully and sympathetically pre
sented will open the minds and hearts of children mar-
velously. A very practical use of them may be made
in adding interest to the drudgery of the ordinary les
sons in reading, writing,. and spelling. All the faculties
and interests of children may be appealed to by stories.
They concentrate the flitting attention, cultivate the
feeling, train the imagination, and teach simple lessons
through concrete images. They do in fact give experi
ence in living, living which, besides cultivating the
faculties of the child, is a pure and continuous joy.

CHAPTER VII
genesis as a story book for children
It is the birthright of the child to know, in the years
when he can understand them, the old stories that have
grown out of the heart and imagination of the race.
They contain elements of thought and imagination that
the ages have softened and refined and each succeeding
generation has pronounced worthy and significant
The particular elements that children's stories must
have are found in richer abundance in the Genesis
stories than in any others.
Children's stories must be full of wonder, must ap
peal to the imagination ; must have concreteness and
definiteness; must have an atmosphere of freshness and
vigor; must present feelings not over-refined, not arti
ficial, not romantic; must have indeed a little primitive
savagery; must have strength of plot, something hap
pening all the time. There must be, also, another ele
ment which defies analysis, an ethical element, a some
thing that has been added to them as they have been
told through the ages, a spiritual force that came out
of life and can beget life; herein is the chief value of
stories. It is interesting and important to test the Genesis
stories by these requirements. First, children's stories
must be full of wonder. These stories fulfill this con
dition remarkably well. At the very beginning there
is a Great Being who speaks the word and the world
takes shape. He says, "Let there be light," and the
miracle of light comes. He creates a wonderful garden
out of which flow four great rivers that go to the four
quarters of the globe. And in that garden are planted
wonderful trees, trees of the most luxuriant foliage, bril-
95

96 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
liant blossoms, and delicious fruits. Then there is the
story of the great flood that covered all the earth, of the
large ship in which were collected animals of every kind
to save them from death, of its floating upon the wa
ters until they subsided, and it rested on Mount Ararat.
Then there is the story of the rainbow, that seven-hued
arch which was to be to man a symbol of mercy and
protection ; also the story of the tower of Babel, and the
tragic tale of the cities of the plain consumed by fire
from heaven. These and others furnish rich materials
for the satisfaction of the wonder-loving desires of the
children. In these stories there is a strong appeal to
the imagination. Wordsworth said, "Heaven lies about
us in our infancy." To the Hebrew heaven was ever
close at hand. To him it was no surprise that God's
messengers came and went familiarly between the earth
and the near sky. He had little sense of surprise or
mystery even in the presence of the miraculous. These
stories appeal to the imagination of children because
their writers were children perennially.
The third characteristic of children's stories is con-
creteness and definiteness. The Old Testament is all
pictorial. "All the past is taken up in metaphor for
the future." Abstract truth is made concrete forever
by a story. The story of Cain and Abel is worth a
whole volume on the sin of violence and murder. The
story of Adam and Eve in the Garden makes clear the
problem of temptation and sin.
Children's stories must be somewhat primitive, too;
not over refined, not artificial, not romantic. Even a
little ferocity is desirable. This may seem strange but
it is true. This period of ferocity is a shortened herit
age of primitive instincts — shortened we are glad to
say — but it can not be ignored. Any truthful account
of the history of any people must tell of two forces in
conflict, human nature, brutal, savage, domineering,
and divine nature at work upon the lower nature with
infinite persistence and patience. You can not leave out
the hoof, the nail, and the claw. So Bible stories have
besides their simplicity, tenderness and passion for
holiness, elements of cruelty and horror.

GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 97
There must be feeling in children's stories, but not of
the passionate kind, not the artificial kind. The child
will enjoy a love scene but it must be matter-of-fact and
simple. In Genesis, XXIX: 20 we read, "And Jacob
served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him
but a few days for the love he had to her." This illus
trates the simple, apparently unemotional way the Bible
has of telling a love story. It is effective, but a modern
novel would have made half a score of chapters and as
many "balcony scenes" out of it. Children's stories
must be simple and natural; Bible stories are remark
able for their simplicity and naturalness.
Children demand interesting plots in their stories;
there must something happen and keep on happening.
There can be no psychological analysis and reflection on
things in general while the action of the story waits.
In the Bible stories are found thrilling narratives and
interesting characters who go through most exciting
experiences. There are far-reaching actions told in a
few words. The story of Joseph is interesting to chil
dren from start to finish, from the time he puts on his
little coat of many colors to the time he greets his ven
erable father who has come down into the land of Egypt
to spend the remainder of his life with his famous son.
But the peculiar greatness of the Bible stories is due
to their ethical qualities. No other stories furnish so
richly the knowledge and feeling needed for the guid
ance of the child when he begins to know right and
wrong; when he first becomes personally acquainted
with sin, feels the consequent fear and shame, and
gropes blindly for light and leading. The Genesis
stories seem especially intended for children in their
first struggles with evil.
All minds should be fed, in their youth, on "the
dream stuff of the poets and sages." The myths of
Greece and Rome are good dream stuff, but the Bible
furnishes better. The highest use of literature is not
to fill us with facts, but to set us to thinking and feeling.
The old stories should fill the children with the spirit
of the great men of whom they tell. The most striking
and significant of the Genesis stories are The Fall, Cain

98 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
and Abel, and The Flood. Here follow interpretations
of the three. The Great Separation
This story of the Garden of Eden deals with the
greatest problem of the world, the problem of sin.
The title usually given to the story is Paradise and the
Fall. The meaning is better conveyed by the title given
above, for it is the story of man's separation from God.
Many readers view the story as one of symbolism. It
need make no difference to the children whether we ac
cept it as a literal story or not. The lesson is unmis
takable in either case. Even as a true story the
meaning is symbolical. The serpent symbolizes evil and
represents the force of temptation, and man's heel
crushing the serpent is holiness crushing evil.
The most perplexing of all problems is the problem
of sin, not only as a philosophical question, but as an
intensely practical one which must be dealt with in the
case of every child when he first awakens to a knowledge
of right and wrong. We should expect this great guide
book in matters of conduct to furnish some teaching on
this perplexing point, and we are not disappointed.
The story is clear and illuminating. Every one must
acknowledge that it is a faithful transcript of human
experience. Its teachings may be stated as follows:
there is a period of innocence for all of us, then sin
comes bringing an inevitable struggle. If we lose in
the struggle there follow a sense of shame, a feeling of
fear, and an attempt to hide ourselves. Guilt naturally
brings separation. Then punishment and the curse
must follow.
In every human life there is a period of innocence,
and in this period there is no training of the will
through the exercise of choice, hence no moral charac
ter. It is a law of life that moral character must be
developed by struggle. Even boys will recognize the
fact that their playmate for whom all things are made
easy, is but a weakling. That boy is to be pitied from
whom all temptation has been removed by fond and
foolish parents. This old story shows the true method.

GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 99
A tempter was permitted to suggest to the two children
in the garden that their Father's command of irksome
obedience was not fair. So in the world, every child
may obey or disobey as he chooses.
Shame and fear naturally follow transgression. The
innocent, unoffending child does not think of himself.
He is so full of thoughts of father, mother, brother,
sister, playmates, and pets that he is not at all self-
conscious. It is psychologically true that when he has
done wrong, he does think of himself, he wants to
hide himself. .. Adam and Eve had not thought of them
selves as they went about their tasks in innocent joy;
but now their eyes are no longer turned to their kind
Father, to the beautiful things of the garden, but upon
themselves. They have learned the first lesson in self
ishness and guilt and fear. God had been accustomed
to walk in the garden to meet them, and they, like chil
dren ran joyfully to meet him when they heard him
coming, just as children run to meet their father com
ing home to them at the close of the day. But now
when these first children hear their Father's footsteps
they are, for the first time, startled and afraid. At his
coming they are in terror instead of being glad and
happy. Separation is inevitable after disobedience and sin.
No one will deny that we have something of God's spirit
in us always ; that this spirit dominates us in our hours
of innocent goodness. But this spirit can not dwell
with disobedience and sin. It withdraws from us when
we admit these two into our lives. This separation is
inevitable. Children may not understand very clearly
the symbolism of the story, or not at all the philosophy
of it, but they can understand that these first children
not having obeyed their Father, could not go on living
in his garden. Separation must come. So Adam and
Eve were sent out of the garden, but not because God
was angry with them; the story does not say that.
They were sent out from the protection of the garden
to be tested further. They had had their chance and
had failed. The next test must be made under very
different and very much harder conditions. The

100 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
harder conditions constitute the curse. The sentence
was really a punishment but the punishment was a
blessing to them. It meant hardship but it meant at
the same time character-development. No one should
misread the story and say that a curse was placed upon
them. The curse was placed upon the earth so that
their labor in subduing it should be greater. There
must be a difference between the luxurious life of the
garden and the life of toil in the world, which makes
for character. Man in subduing the earth is to subdue
and at the same time to exalt himself. The real punish
ment is the separation from the great Father who had
been so kind to them.
Cain and Abel, or the Lesson of Self-Control
The story of Cain and Abel is a story to teach self-
control. That is, it is a story of unbridled passion
whieh indirectly teaches the lesson of self-control. The
refusal of Cain's offering is not important, except that
it gives an opportunity for him to control himself or
to give full rein to his passions. Cain was not such a
wicked man but that he might have had his offering
accepted if he had tried again, in humility seeking to
know wherein he had failed at first. The Lord speaks
very kindly to him, wishing to give him another chance :
"Why art thou wroth and why is thy countenance
fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up?
And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door,
and unto thee shall be its desire, but do thou rule over
it." Every disobedient child is like Cain so long as he is
resentful and does not wish to "do well" again. "And
if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door,"
crouching, ready to spring, waiting to be master over
Cain, "but do thou rule over it." In the new version
the word coucheth takes the place of lieth. This new
word makes a stronger appeal to the imagination. It
is as if Cain's sin were some creature, wild and watch
ful, patiently waiting for a chance to use its poison
fangs. Cain is heedless and his tiger-like anger masters
him. This implied allegory is vivid and striking.

GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 101
"And Cain said unto his brother Abel — and it came
to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up
against Abel his brother and slew him." It would ap
pear that there is something omitted from verse 8; it
should most likely read: "And Cain said to his
brother Abel, let us go into the field." We may believe
that Abel accepted the invitation as a reconciliation and
went gladly with his brother. Little did he know what
was in Cain's heart; for while they were talking in the
field together, Cain gave way to his wrath and fell upon
Abel and slew him. Again God spoke to Cain, but in
what a different way ! He was not now trying to induce
Cain to be good, but was passing sentence upon him for
his dreadful sin. And yet, any child may be shown,
and can understand, that God was merciful to Cain
even when he was punishing him, as a father always
is, or should be, when he punishes his child. He had
sent Adam and Eve out of the garden that they might
learn by hard work and sorrow how to be good. Now
he sends Cain away from his home and family that he
may be made better by loneliness and hard work.
The reasons given for Cain's deep grief at his banish
ment seem to be sufficient, but there is another one im
plied whieh may be the strongest one of all. The belief
prevailed at that time and for centuries after that God
was present only in Palestine; therefore, when Cain
went out from the region which had been his home, he
would be going out from God's presence and protec
tion. So the mark that was made for him was .very
significant. No doubt it was a star in the sky or some
natural object which, when seen by Cain, should remind
him that he was not too far away from his Father to
be protected by him, not only from those who might
try to kill him, but from all sorts of danger. Another
important lesson taught by this story is to be drawn
from Cain's answer when Jehovah asked him what had
become of his brother Abel. "Am I my brother's
keeper?" is a question that selfishness has asked in every
age of the world since that time. It is a universal ques
tion; and the most satisfactory answer that has ever
been given to it is the answer found in the story of the
Good Samaritan.

102 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Noah and the Flood
The story of Noah's ark is always popular with chil
dren. It appeals to their imagination because of its
striking features — the great ship so long in building,
the animals so numerous and interesting, the terrible
rain storm, the overwhelming flood, the exciting voyage
of the great ship over the submerged earth, the anxiety
of the inmates, the sending out of the raven, and the
dove, the subsidence of the waters, the landing of Noah
and his family on the mountain. This is all romantic
and wonderful enough to stir the interest of any child.
There is no need to tell children that many other
peoples besides the Hebrews have stories of floods; the
Greeks, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Scandinavians,
and others. Later it will be possible to tell them about
these many flood legends, to show them how other sto
ries differ from the one found in the Bible. For it may
be shown that this story common to so many peoples
has been taken by the writer of Genesis and turned into
a story of wonderful significance, of profound religious
teaching. There are two lessons taught with exceeding great
emphasis by this story. First, wickedness must be pun
ished; and second, God cares for man when he is obedi
ent, and desires to assure him of his safety. It would
appear that the men of those days had few redeeming
traits. Their conduct was not only bad, but their
thoughts and imaginings were always evil. There is
not much room for mercy here. The kindest justice
requires fearful punishment. The earth must have a
thorough, a cleansing bath. The pollution of the old
race must be washed away and the new race have a
fresh, clean start in a new, clean world. The second
lesson is taught by the lovely symbolism of the rainbow.
God had given Cain a sign of mercy in the mark which
was appointed to him; and now the whole future race
is to remember that heaven and earth are not far apart,
that the great Father is always brooding over and pro
tecting his children, and that they may surely know of
his loving guardianship. They are given the glorious,

GENESIS AS A STORY BOOK 103
shining arch of promise, an arch which rests upon the
earth and rises into the heavens bringing them closer
together than men ever before thought they were.
Noah was the first great reformer. Abel and Enoch
were good men but did not impress the world. Noah
took the wickedness of the world more to heart. He
wanted to save the world. And he did, but at a great
cost. At that fearful cost men have been taught for all
time the important lesson that corruption cannot con
quer the world. There will come a time of cleansing
and purification. Noah walked forth from the ark
upon the clean-washed earth, under the rainbow of
hope, to be a shining example of accomplishment to all
who hate wickedness and love righteousness.
These interpretations will serve to show how rich
Genesis is in story material, and how well suited these
stories are to train children in character and conduct.
In the first eleven chapters are found stories of primi
tive life, of a time when standards of conduct and prin
ciples of right and wrong were not yet clearly discerned
by men. The remaining thirty-nine chapters tell the
story of the Patriarchal Family. In these chapters
there is a recital of the incidents in the lives of four
great world characters, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and
Joseph, whose lives are full of qualities and experiences
that influence other lives. From the deeds and char
acters of these four there can be formulated a pretty
complete handbook of life. It is impossible to measure
the influence they have had on the world — Abraham,
the first and greatest, a pioneer, a pilgrim, and the
father of faith; Isaac, the domesticated man, not a far
traveler, but a man of patient, faithful industry ; Jacob,
a Hebrew Ulvsses^ a born leader and a trickster, but
later a man of vision ; Joseph, an optimist, the story of
whose life has a perpetual charm, and out of which the
heart-break and the triumph will never die. It is a
wonderful group and their virtues have become perma
nent ideals in the world.
As further illustrations of the interesting and valu
able qualities of Bible stories, and of the method of
analyzing them, there are presented in the following

104 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
chapters studies of three of the best known and most
instructive of the Bible short stories — Ruth, Esther and
Jonah. These are books that fulfill well the literary
requirements of the short-story, and have also an ethical
purpose plainly but artistically presented.

CHAPTER VIII
the book of ruth
Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that
there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Beth
lehem- judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his
wife, and his two sons. And the name of the man was Elimelech,
and the name of his wife was Naomi, and the name of his two
sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Beth-lehem-judah. And
they came into the country of Moab, and continued there. And
Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two
sons. And they took them wives of the women of Moab: the
name of one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth ; and
they dwelled there about ten years. And Mahlon and Chilion
died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons
and her husband.
Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might re
turn from the country of Moab; for she had heard in the country
of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving
them bread. Wherefore she went forth out of the place where
she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went
on the way to return unto the land of Judah. And Naomi said
unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's
house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the
dead, and me. The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each
of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them;
and they lifted up their voice, and wept. And they said unto
her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. And
Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with
me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may
be your husbands? Turn again, my daughters, go your way;
for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have
hope, if I should have a husband also to-night, and should also
bear sons; would ye tarry for them till they were grown?
would ye stay for them from having husbands? Nay, my daugh
ters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of
the Lord is gone out against me. And they lifted up their voice
and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth
clave unto her>
And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her
people, and unto her gods; return thou after thy sister in law.
And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from
following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and
105

106 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God: where thou diest, will I die, and there will
1 be buried: the Lord do so to me and more also, if aught but
death part thee and me. When she saw that she was steadfastly
minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.
So they two went until they came to Beth-lehem. And it came
to pass, when they were come to Beth-lehem, that all the city
was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi? And
she said unto them, Call me not Naomi (i.e. "'Pleasant"), call
me Mara (i.e. "Bitter") : for the Almighty hath dealt very bit
terly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me
home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord
hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?
So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law,
with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they
came to Beth-lehem in the beginning of barley harvest.
And Naomi had a kinsman of her husband's, a mighty man of
wealth, of the family of Elimelech; and his name was Boaz,
And Ruth the Moabitess said unto Naomi, Let me now go to the
field, and glean ears of corn after him in whose sight 1 shall find
grace. And she said unto her, Go, my daughter. And she
went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and
her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz,
who was of the kindred of Elimelech.
And, behold, Boaz came from Beth-lehem, and said unto the
reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The
Lord biess thee. Then said Boaz unto his servant that was set
over the reapers, Whose damsel is this? And the servant that
was set over the reapers answered and said, It is the Moabitish
damsel that came back with Naomi out of the country of Moab;
and she said, 1 pray you, let me glean and gather after the reap
ers among the sheaves: so she came, and hath continued even
from the morning until now, that she tarried a little in the
house. Then said Boaz unto Ruth, Hearest thou not, my daughter?
Go not to glean in another field, neither go from hence, but abide
here fast by my maidens: let thine eyes be -on the field that
they do reap, and go thou after them: have 1 not charged the
young men that they shall not touch thee? And when thou
art athirst, go unto the vessels, and drink of that which the
young men have drawn. Then she fell on her face, and bowed
herself to the ground, and said unto him, Why have I found
grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
-seeing I am a stranger? And Boaz answered and said unto her,
It hath fully been showed me, all that thou hast done unto thy
mother in law since the death of thine husband; and how thou
hast left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy na
tivity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not here
tofore. The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be
given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou
art come to trust. Then she said, Let me find favor in thy sight,
my Lord; for that thou hast comforted me, and for that thou

THE BOOK OF RUTH 107
hast spoken friendly unto thine handmaid, though I be not like
unto one of thine handmaidens. And Boaz said unto her, At
mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy
morsel in the vinegar. And she sat beside the reapers: and he
reached her parched corn, and she did eat, and was sufficed, and
left. And when she was risen up to glean, Boaz commanded his
young men, saying, Let her glean even among the sheaves, and
reproach her not: and let fall also some of the handfuls of pur
pose for her, and leave them, that she may glean them, and re
buke her not. So she gleaned in the field until even, and beat
out that she had gleaned; and it was about an ephah of
barley. And she took it up, and went into the city: and her mother
in law saw what she had gleaned; and she brought forth, and
gave to her that she had reserved after she was sufficed. And
her mother in law said unto her, Where hast thou gleaned to
day ? And where wroughtest thou ? Blessed be he that did take
knowledge of thee. And she showed her mother in law with whom
she had wrought, and said, The man's name with whom I
wrought to-day is Boaz. And Naomi said unto her daughter in
law, Blessed be he of the Lord, who hath not left off his kind
ness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her,
The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen. And
Ruth the Moabitess said, He said unto me also, Thou shalt keep
fast by my young men, until they have ended all my harvest.
And Naomi said unto Ruth her daughter in law, It is good, my
daughter, that thou go out with his maidens, that they meet
thee not in any other field. So she kept fast by the maidens of
Boaz to glean unto the end of barley harvest and of wheat
harvest; and dwelt with her mother in law. Then Naomi, her
mother in law, said unto her, My daughter, shall I not seek
rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? And now is not
Boaz of our kindred, with whose maidens thou wast? Behold
he winnoweth barley to-night in the threshing floor. Wash thy
self, therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee,
and get thee down to the floor : but make not thyself known unto
the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking. And it
shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where
he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay
thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do. And she
said unto her, All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
And she went down unto the floor, and did according to all
that her mother in law bade her. And when Boaz had eaten and
drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end
of the heap of corn: and she came softly, and uncovered his
feet, and laid her down. And it came to pass at midnight, that
the man was afraid, and turned himself: and behold, a woman
lay at his feet. And he said, Who art thou? And she an
swered, I am Ruth thine handmaid; spread therefore thy skirt
over thine handmaid; for thou art a near kinsman. And he said,
Blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter: for thou hast showed

108 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning, inasmuch
as thou followedst not young men, whether poor or rich. And
now. my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou re-
quirest- for all the city of my people doth know that thou art
a virtuous woman. And now it is true that I am thy near
kinsman: howbeit there is a kinsman nearer than I. Tarry
this night, and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform
unto thee the part of a kinsman, well; let him do the kinsman's
part: but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee then
will I do the part of a kinsman to thee, as the Lord liveth; lie
down until the morning.
And she lay at his feet until the morning: and she rose up
before one could know another. And he said, Let it not be
known that a woman came into the floor. Also he said, Bring
the vail that thou hast upon thee, and hold it. And when she
held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it on her:
and she went into the city. And when she came to her mother
in law, she said, Who art thou my daughter? And she told her
all that the man had done to her. And she said, These six meas
ures of barley gave he me: for he said to me, Go not empty unto
thy mother in law. Then said she, Sit still, my daughter, until
thou know how the matter will fall: for the man will not be
in rest, until he hath finished the thing this day.
Then went Boaz up to the gate, and sat down there: and, be
hold, the kinsman of whom Boaz spake came by; unto whom he
said, Hold, such a one! turn aside, sit down here. And he
turned aside, and sat down. And he took ten men of the elders
of the city, and he said, Sit ye down here. And they sat down.
And he said unto the kinsman, Naomi, that is come again out
of the country of Moab, selleth a parcel of land, whieh was our
brother Elimelech's: and I thought to advertise thee, saying,
Buy it before the inhabitants and before the elders of my people.
If thou wilt redeem it, redeem it; but if thou wilt not redeem it,
then tell me, that I may know : for there is none to redeem it be
sides thee; and I am after thee. And he said, I will redeem it.
Then said Boaz, what day thou buyest the field of the hand
of Naomi, thou must buy it also of Ruth the Moabitess, the wife
of the dead, to raise up the name of the dead upon his in
heritance. And the kinsman said, I can not redeem it for my
self, lest I mar mine own inheritance: redeem thou my right
to thyself; for I can not redeem it. Now this was the manner
in former time in Israel concerning redeeming and concerning
changing, for to confirm all things; a man plucked off his shoe,
and gave it to his neighbor: and this was a testimony in Israel.
Therefore, the kinsman said unto Boaz, Buy it for thee. So he
drew off his shoe.
And Boaz said unto the elders, and unto all the people, Ye are
witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's,
and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's, of the hand of Naomi.
Moreover Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon have I pur
chased to be my wife, to raise up the name of the dead upon his

THE BOOK OF RUTH 109
inheritance, that the name of the dead be not cut off from among
his brethren, and from the gate of his place: ye are witnesses
this day. And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders,
said, We are witnesses And the Lord make the woman that is
come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did
build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and
be famous in Beth-lehem: and let thy house be like the house of
Pharez, whom Tamar bare unto Judah, of the seed which the
Lord shall give thee of this young woman.
So Boaz took Ruth, and she was his wife: and when he went
in unto her, the Lord gave her conception, and she bare a son.
And the women said unto Naomi, Blessed be the Lord, which
hath not left thee this day without a kinsman, that his name
may be famous in Israel. And he shall be unto thee a restorer
of thy life, and a nourisher of thine old age: for thy daughter
in law, which loveth thee, which is better to thee than seven
sons, hath borne him. And. Naomi took the child, and laid it in
her bosom and became nurse unto it. And the women her
neighbors gave it a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi ;
and they called his name Obed: he is the father of Jesse and the
father of David.
Now these are the generations of Pharez: Pharez begat Hez
ron, and Hezron begat Ram, and Ram begat Amminadab, and
Amminadab begat Nahshon, and Nahshon begat Salmon, and
Salmon begat Boaz, and Boaz begat Obed, and Obed begat Jesse,
and Jesse begat David.
Analysis and Comment
The stories of Ruth and Esther are idyls. The word
idyl means a little picture, in this use of it, a little pic
ture of life. The primitive idyl is a picture, in either
prose or poetry, of simple rustic life. The Book of
Ruth is such a story, while the Book of Esther is a
royal story of the court of a mighty king. Both are
models of literary art with hardly a false note of atmos
phere or feeling.
In the Jewish canon the Book of Ruth is classed
among the Ketubim, or "Writings," which are the third
group of the books of the canon in sacredness and value.
It is one of the five books which are read publicly in
the synagogues, at certain sacred seasons : The Song of
Songs at the Passover ; Ruth at Pentecost ; Lamentations
on the ninth of Ab, the day on which Jerusalem was
destroyed ; Ecclesiastes at the Feast of Tabernacles ; and
Esther at the Feast of Purim.

110 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The date of the Book of Ruth is a subject of much
controversy. The language seems to indicate a date
after the Exile. However, this is said, by some scholars,
to be not decisive enough to weigh against other strong
considerations. The fact that the writer speaks of the
custom of taking off the shoe at the transfer of certain
rights and privileges as an archaic one, would indicate
a late date. It has been wisely suggested that it was
written in Ezra's time; that the severity of the rules
regarding foreign wives was not universally approved
and some writer of the time wishing to rebuke the nar
row exclusiveness of Ezra, produced the story of Ruth
to teach a lesson of liberality and toleration.
Scene 1 (1:1-5). The Calamity.
A famine in Judea. Elimelech and Naomi, and their
sons Mahlon and Chilion seek refuge in Moab, a heathen
country. Elimelech dies. The two sons marry women
of Moab, Orpah and Ruth. After ten years both hus
bands die and leave the three widows in poverty and
distress. Scene 2 (1:6-22). On the Boad from Moab.
Naomi turns toward the land of her fathers. Orpah
and Ruth go with her. But Naomi said, "Turn again,
my daughters." The love that forsakes: "and Orpah
kissed her mother-in-law." The love that is steadfast:
"but Ruth clave unto her." The classic formula of
devotion. The arrival: "Call me not Naomi, call me
Mara."Scene 3 (11:1-17). In the Barley Field.
Ruth the gleaner: "and her hap was to light on the
portion of the field belonging to Boaz." Boaz the boun
tiful: " Go not to glean in another field. " "And also
pull out some for her from the bundles."
The meal of the reapers: "Come hither and eat of
the bread and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. And she
sat beside the reapers." Humble prosperity: "and she
beat out that which she had gleaned, and it was an
ephah of barley."

THE BOOK OF RUTH 111
Scene 4 (11:18-23). In the home of Naomi.
Naomi sees the bountiful gleaning and rejoices and
blesses Boaz. She counsels Ruth to glean in no other
fields. Scene 5 (III). At the Winnowing Floor.
Naomi's appeal to the Levirate custom. She gives
minute directions to Ruth. Ruth goes to the threshing-
floor. The midnight interview. Boaz accepts the re
sponsibility — if it shall prove to be his right. Ruth
returns home.
Scene 6 (IV: 1-12). At the City Gate.
The place of justice. The jury of ten. The kins
man's decision. Redeeming the land by custom of the
shoe. The marriage and the witnesses.
Scene 7. Naomi the Happy.
The birth of Obed. Bitterness comforted. "And
Naomi took the child and laid it in her bosom and
nursed it." The royal descendant.
Purposes: (1) To give an account of David's an
cestors. (2) To enforce the obligation to marry a kins
man's widow. (3) As a counterblast to Ezra's crusade
against foreign wives. But what other motive is neces
sary than the simple pleasure of telling a beautiful,
idyllic, charming love story ?
The plot of the story of Ruth, as may be seen from
the preceding analysis, is not at all complex or startling,
being made up of incidents in the uneventful lives of
the people of a sleepy little town of Judea, people who
are interesting and charming, but not of the great ones
of earth. The skill of the narrator is shown in a num
ber of scenes and situations: The pathetic parting
scene closing with Ruth's passionate declaration of de
votion; the sunny picture of the gleaners in the barley
fields; the ideal relation between Boaz and his reapers,
as shown by his greeting, "The Lord be with you," and
their response, "The Lord bless thee"; the delicacy
with which the rather unconventional incident at the

112 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
threshing floor is treated; the scene at the city gate
when Boaz deals fairly with the nearest of kin, but is
plainly anxious to have the redemption fall to him; the
happy lot of Naomi, now that bitterness has been turned
into joy.
The Levirate custom referred to in the fifth scene, is
an interesting institution. The method of attracting
the attention of Boaz may have been invented by Naomi,
but Ruth's right to appeal to him for protection was
based on an ancient law. A widow left without a son
must become the wife of the husband's brother, and the
oldest son of the union must be counted the child of
the deceased brother.
And if the man like not to take his brother's wife, then his
brother's wife shall go up to the gate unto the elders and say:
My husband's brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a
name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband's
brother unto me. Then the elders of the city shall call him
and speak unto him; and if he stand and say: I like not to
take her; then shall his brother's wife come unto him in the
presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and
spit in his face and she shall answer and say: So shall it be
done unto the man that doth not build up his brother's house.
And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that
hath his shoe loosed< (Deut. 25: 7-10.)
This is a charming story presenting a quaint court
ship of the olden time. There are in it no impossible
situations, no unspeakable emotions, no invented char
acters, no sickly sentiment ; all is simple, natural, almost
perfect. It is pleasing enough to be restful; gives in
teresting information about Hebrew life in the time of
the judges; presents characters that are natural and
life-like; and presents also the moral forces of life so
as to attract the reader to the beautiful and the good.
Besides these things it gives an account of David's an
cestors, enforces the obligation to marry a kinsman's
widow, and above and beyond all these, teaches the same
lesson of tolerance that is taught so eloquently in the
Book of Jonah. Such a book is immortal; its charm
increases as time goes on.

CHAPTER IX
THE BOOK OF ESTHER
The scene of the story is laid in Shushan, the palace,
in the city of Susa, the Persian capital, the ancient
Elam, a few hundred miles north of the Persian Gulf —
one of the oldest seats of civilization in the world. The
time is about 482 years before Christ.
The story opens with a great feast lasting 180 days,
which Ahasuerus gives to the princes and officers of the
one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of his king
dom. At the end of the long feast he gives a special
feast of seven days, and to it are invited only his nobles
and officers. On the last day of the seven days' feast
he orders his seven eunuchs to bring before him Queen
Vashti, unveiled, that his drunken companions may ad
mire her beauty. With wise, womanly courage she
refuses to obey the tyrannical summons, which, accord
ing to eastern etiquette would violate all sense of pro
priety and modesty. The courtiers regard Vashti 's re
fusal with consternation. They fear that the wrath of
the king will be turned against them, and they seek
immediate means to please and pacify him. They first
urge him to depose Vashti ; and the order is accordingly
issued. They then persuade him to the opinion that
the queen in her disobedience has not so much wronged
him as she has wronged all the princes and officers of
the kingdom. "For," they declare, "this deed of the
queen will surely come to be known in all the provinces
unto all the women; and when it is known that queen
Vashti refused to come before the king at his command,
what hope can there be that the wives throughout the
great kingdom will continue to be respectfully obedient
to their husbands?" So the king, forgetting for the
time his discomfiture, sends letters to all the provinces,
113

114 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
proclaiming that the man is the head of the household
and that this new idea of the independence of woman,
of the right of woman to question the authority of the
husband to rule the household, should be crushed at
once. It was decreed that all wives everywhere should
give to their husbands honor and obedience — both to
great and small— and that the proclamation should be
written among the laws of the Medes and Persians that
it might not be altered.
Afterwards when the wrath of King Ahasuerus has
subsided and his thoughts turn to the dethroned Vashti,
his officers who advised him to depose the queen seek
security for themselves in a plan to choose a new queen.
They suggest that there be gathered at the palace fair
young virgins from every province of the kingdom and
that the maiden who shall please the king most shall
be made queen instead of Vashti. The plan pleases the
king and the maidens are assembled. Mordecai, an at
tendant at the court, a Jew, places his cousin Esther
among the candidates for the king's favor, and so beau
tiful and charming is she that the king chooses her from
among the great company of maidens as being most
worthy to sit on the throne as queen of the realm.
Soon after the crowning of Esther, Mordecai discovers
a conspiracy against the life of the king and makes it
known to Esther; she informs the king and the con
spirators are arrested and put to death, arid a record
of the faithful service of Esther and Mordecai is made
in the chronicles of the court.
Haman, the villain of the story, is now introduced.
He is a cold, shrewd, cunning politician who has worked
his way close up to the throne and, as prime minister,
is the most influential man in the kingdom. He is not
a man of noble blood, but the king issues an order that
all men shall nevertheless show him the reverence due
to his station. All the courtiers pay deference to him
except one, Mordecai, who refuses to bow down before
him. Haman determines to be revenged for Mordecai 's
disrespect. But he will not be satisfied with revenge
upon Mordecai alone. He will humble the whole hated
race to which Mordecai belongs. Accordingly he ac-

THE BOOK OF ESTHER 115
cuses the Jews in the kingdom of disloyalty to the king
and asks for authority to put them all to death. So
artfully does he put his proposal before the king that
the king at once commits the whole matter into his hands,
gives him the royal signet ring that he may send out de
crees with full authority, and refuses even to accept the
large sum of money which Haman promises to pay into
the treasury when the property of the condemned Jews
is confiscated.
Mordecai learns of the plan to destroy his people, but
is helpless to avert the coming danger. He sends a copy
of the proclamation to Esther, with the urgent request
that she go before the king and protest against the
slaughter of her people. She replies, ' ' I can do nothing ;
for thirty days the king has not called me before him;
I am no longer in favor with the king; I can do noth
ing." But with that sublime faith characteristic of the
Hebrew people all through the ages, Mordecai returns
answer, "Who knows but that you have come to the
kingdom for such a time as this?" And heroically
Esther replies, ' ' I will go into the presence of the king,
and if I perish, I perish."
Esther lays her plans with womanly skill and womanly
courage. She fasts three days and asks her people in the
palace and the city to fast with her. At the end of that
time she prepares to present her petition to the king.
What a thrilling moment it is! The courtiers stand
aghast at the audacity of a woman who would go from
the harem unasked into the presence of the king. With
beating heart and blushing face she rushes through the
throng and throws herself at the king's feet. Is it
death or life ? If the king does not hold out to her his
golden scepter, it is death. There is a pause and
Ahasuerus holds out his scepter. "What is your peti
tion?" he asks, "and I will grant it even to the half of
my kingdom." She merely begs that he honor her by
coming to a banquet of wine that she has prepared for
him, and requests that he bring Haman with him.
They sit down to the banquet of wine. The king per
ceives that there is something weighing on Esther's mind.
"What wilt thou have?" he asks, "and it is granted thee

116 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
even before thou dost ask it." Some providence with
holds her from making known her request. The time is
not yet ripe. She replies, "I only ask that we three may
banquet together again to-morrow; then I will make
known my petition."
Haman goes home from the banquet swelling with a
sense of his importance : ' ' Then went Haman forth that
day joyful and with a glad heart." When he reaches
his home he can contain himself no longer, but begins to
boast to Zeresh his wife and to his friends, of his riches,
his favor with the king, his promotion over the princes,
and ends with: "Yea, Esther, the queen, did let no
man come in with the king unto the banquet that she
prepared but myself! And to-morrow am I invited
unto her also with the king!" Then the thought of
Mordecai 's refusal to bow down before him recurs to him,
his vindictiveness overcomes his exultation, and he
whines to his wife: "Yet all this availeth me nothing
as long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate!"
Then Zeresh suggests that he build a gallows fifty
cubits high and on the morrow ask the king 's permission
to hang Mordecai on it. The suggestion pleases Haman.
He sets the carpenters to work to build the gallows and
doubtless falls asleep to the music of their hammers.
That night sleep flees from the eyes of the king.
Doubtless the strange behavior of Esther disturbs him.
He commands the attendants to read to him. They read
the court records and providentially light on the part of
the record which tells how the life of the king has been
saved through the vigilance of Mordecai. "What has
been done for Mordecai ? ' ' asks the king. ' ' There is no
record of any reward," replies the reader. Then the
king falls asleep and when he wakes in the morning his
first words are, "What shall be done for him whom the
king delighteth to honor?" Just then Haman comes
into the presence of the king to make his request. He
hears the words of the king and thinks that he is plan
ning some new honors for his prime minister. So he
audaciously proposes that the man whom the king de
lighteth to honor shall be set on the king's horse, shall
wear the royal crown and robe, and shall be conducted

THE BOOK OF ESTHER 117
through the city by the chief nobleman of the court, who
shall cry everywhere : ' ' Thus doth King Ahasuerus to
him whom the king delighteth to honor." "Well said,
counsellor," cries the king, "Mordecai the Jew, is the
man whom I delight to honor; and what nobleman so
well suited to lead the horse as Haman?" We are left
to imagine the malice and deep humiliation with which
Haman carries out the king's command. It is a strik
ing example of that
" Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself,
And falls on the other" —
This is the turning point in Haman 's career. The
story writer says: "And Mordecai came again to the
king's gate, but Haman hasted to his own house mourn
ing and having his head covered." Haman tells his
wife and friends what has befallen him, and she gives
him cold comfort by predicting that his fall is near.
While they are talking the king's chamberlain comes to
conduct Haman to that second banquet of which he had
boasted so much. He does not go with a joyful step ; he
is in no mood for feasting now. But his presence at the
little banquet is necessary ; the play could not go on with
out him. Doubtless he did not add much to the gayety
of the occasion. Queen Esther by means of her glori
ous beauty, charming manner, and tactful way of treat
ing the king, has completely won him so that he will do
anything that she wishes. He asks her what her peti
tion is and declares that he will grant it, even to giving
the half of his kingdom. She throws herself at his feet
and with all the pent-up anguish of her heart cries out,
"My lord, the king, some one has devised my death, and
the death of my people; protect me, protect them!"
And the king, who has forgotten his careless gift to
Haman of the lives of the Jewish people, forgotten the
ring, the seal, the decree, answers, "Who has dared to
do this?" With flashing eyes she turns to Haman, the
court favorite, "This is the man! This wicked Haman
is seeking my life and the life of my people ! ' '
It is the crisis in Haman 's life. His doom is sealed.
The king in great wrath goes out and Haman flings

118 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
himself upon the queen's couch to plead for mercy.
The king comes back and looking upon him there cries,
"What, will he insult the queen in my very presence?"
Then one of the courtiers speaks: "Behold also the
gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for
Mordecai who had spoken good of the king; it standeth
in the house of Haman." "Hang him! hang him on
it!" commands the King. Short, sharp, terrible was
Haman 's fate. He fell like Satan — from heaven to the
pit. But Esther's work is not yet finished. The wicked
decree of Haman 's making is still in force and according
to the laws of the land no order once sent out can ever
be recalled ; but she induces the king to issue a counter
decree authorizing the Jews to defend themselves when
attacked under the authority of the first proclamation.
Mordecai is made prime minister in the place of
Haman, and so wisely does he manage the affairs of state
that the Jews are soon in great favor in the kingdom.
Fear falls on the enemies of the Jews because of the
power of Mordecai, and when the day set for the slaugh
ter of the Jews comes, those condemned to death defend
themselves so vigorously that 75,000 of the Jews' enemies
are slain. Then by order of Esther and Mordecai there
is established on the anniversary of the day which had
been turned from sorrow to gladness, a great feast called
Purim, named for Pur, the lot which providentially
fixed the day of Haman 's intended slaughter at a time
when the Jews could provide for their defense. This
anniversary is observed with joy and gladness to this
day by all Jews throughout the world.
Analysis and Comment
The Book of Esther is in order, the last of the histori
cal books of the Bible. It is here presented as a drama
although it does not have the regular dramatic form. It
has all the interest of a stirring tragedy and the action
proceeds very much as in regular drama. The date of
the book is about 470 B. C.
The chief characters are as follows:

THE BOOK OF ESTHER 119
Ahasuerus, who is recognized as being the Xerxes of
history, who, was vainglorious, cowardly, luxurious pu
sillanimous, licentious, and bloodthirsty.
Mordecai, a Jew, a man of ability, honesty, upright
ness, and courage.
Esther, the beautiful heroine of the play, the cousin
and adopted daughter of Mordecai, as lovely in charac
ter as she was in person.
Haman, a man of low parentage, a scheming poli
tician, haughty, vindictive, shrewd, and unscrupulous.
Vashti, the queen of whom we know but little except
that she showed good sense and modesty in refusing to
come into the presence of the drunken revellers.
The story has the five acts found in the classic drama
with a brief epilogue :
Act 1. Esther's elevation to the throne (chaps. I-II).
Act 2. Haman 's plot and Esther's trouble (III-IV).
Act 3. Esther's courage and Haman 's fall (V-VI-
VII). Act. 4. Esther's undoing of Haman 's plot and Morde
cai 's elevation to Haman 's place (VIII).
Act. 5. Esther's deliverance of her people and the in
stitution of Purim (IX).
Epilogue : The glory of Ahasuerus and the greatness
of Modecai (X).
Act I. Esther's Elevation to the Throne.
Scene 1. (1:1-9) The great feast of 180 days. The
special feast of seven days. The elaborate preparations.
The rule of drinking.
Scene 2. (10-22) The last day of the feast. Vashti
called. Her refusal. The king's question. Memucan 's
suggestion. The deposing of Vashti. The king's decree.
Scene 3. (11:1-18) The advice of the king's servants
concerning a new queen. The gathering of the maidens.
Esther is among them. She is the most charming of all
and is chosen queen. The ceremony of her crowning
and her feast.
Scene 4. (21-23) Bigthan and Teresh plot against the

120 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
life of the king. Mordecai makes known the plot to
Esther and she warns the king. The two plotters are
hanged.
Act. II. Haman's Plot and Esther's Trouble.
Scene 1. (Ill: 1-6) Promotion of Haman. Decree de
manding obeisance to Haman. Mordecai refuses to bow
— looks the other way. Mordecai is warned. Haman
is informed of Mordecai 's refusal to honor him. He
plans revenge against the whole Hebrew race.
Scene 2. (8-11) Haman goes before the king and
makes his request for the lives of the Jews and promises
10,000 talents for the king's treasury. The king refuses
the money, but gives Haman full power. The king's
scribes send out the decree "to destroy, to kill, and to
cause to perish" all the Jews.
Scene 3. (7) The casting of the lots. The lots will
not fix a near date. The massacre is put off eleven
months. Scene 4. (IV: 1-17) Mordecai puts on sackcloth and
ashes and mourns. Esther's message to him. His mes
sage in turn. Esther's reply — she is powerless to do
anything. Mordecai 's persistence — "who knoweth
whether thou art not come to the kingdom for such a
time as this?" Esther's courageous resolve.
Act III. Esther's Courage and Haman's Fall.
Scene 1. (V:l-5) Esther's dramatic appeal to the
king. The king holds out the golden scepter. Esther
invites him to a banquet and asks that Haman may
come, too.
Scene 2. (6-8) The banquet. Esther pleases the king.
He asks her to make known her wish. She defers her
plea to the morrow, and invites him and Haman to an
other banquet.
Scene 3. (9-14) Haman's elation. He passes Mor
decai and is filled with wrath. He boasts to his wife
and his friends. Shows his anger against Mordecai.
His wife suggests a gallows, a request of the king, and
the hanging of Mordecai. Haman has the gallows built.
Scene 4. (VI: 1-3) The sleepless king. The court rec-

THE BOOK OF ESTHER 121
ords are read. The record shows that Mordecai had
saved the life of the king against two conspirators.
"What honor and dignity hath been bestowed on Mor
decai for this?" "There is nothing done for him."
The king falls asleep.
Scene 5. (4-10) " Who is in the court ?" asks the king
awaking. Haman is waiting at the door to make his
request for the head of Mordecai. Haman comes in.
"What shall be done unto the man whom the king
delights to honor?" asks the king of Haman. Haman
thinking himself the man, suggests a most signal honor.
' ' Mordecai is the man, ' ' cries the king.
Scene 6. (11-14) The procession through the streets.
Mordecai returns in humility to his post. Haman goes
to his home "mourning and having his head covered."
The chamberlain comes to hasten him to the banquet.
He is not now so anxious to go.
Scene 7. (VII: 1-10) The second banquet. Esther
has completely won the king. He is willing to grant
any request from her. With dramatic intensity she ac
cuses Haman, the Jew's arch enemy, of plotting the
death of her people. The king is enraged against Haman
and condemns him to death at once. He is hanged on
the gallows prepared for Mordecai.
Act. IV. Esther's Undoing of Haman's Wrong ¦ and
Mordecai's Elevation to the Premiership.
Scene 1. (VIII: 1-2) Haman's house given to Esther.
Mordecai made prime minister.
Scene 2. (3-17) Esther again a suppliant at the feet
of the king. She asks for a reversal of the decree
against the Jews. It can not be repealed. But a coun
ter decree is sent out to all the 127 provinces of the
kingdom. Mordecai now appears clothed in his gorgeous
robes of state "and the city of Shushan rejoiced and
was glad."
Act V. Esther's Deliverance of Her People and the
Institution of Purim.
Scene 1. (IX: 1-11) The thirteenth day of the month
of Adar has come. There is bloody strife throughout the

122 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
kingdom. Seventy -five thousand of the Jews' enemies
are slain; 500 in the palace; and Haman's ten sons.
Scene 2. (12-16) Esther again appears before the
king. She asks for a second day of slaughter in Shu-
shan. The plea is granted. On the 14th 300 more
people are killed, and the bodies of Haman's ten sons
are hanged on the gallows.
Scene 3. (17-32) The Jews name the days of slaugh
ter "Purim" and institute a memorial feast. Esther
and Mordecai send orders to all the Jews of the king
dom to observe the days of Purim — the 14th and 15th
of the month of Adar.
Epilogue. The Glory of Ahasuerus and the Greatness
of Mordecai.
King Ahasuerus lays a tribute on the land and on
the isles of the sea ; and Mordecai is next unto the king
and great among the Jews (X: 1-3).
Lessons: 1. The presence of an overruling providence: The
result of the lots. The reading of the court records.
Esther's elevation to the throne.
2. "When the righteous are in authority the people
rejoice (VIII : 15) , but when the wicked beareth rule the
people mourn (111:15)."
3. Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit
before a fall.
4. Courage and faithfulness will win. Examples —
both Esther and Mordecai.
5. There is a large measure of retribution in this
world. The relation and fate of Haman and Mordecai
present a good illustration of poetic justice.
6. God cares for his children individually. The name
of God is not in the book but his presence is there.
The story of Esther is told with noteworthy art and
dramatic power. The characters are well delineated, set
forth by action and not by analysis. The plot is cleverly
constructed. The introduction, of two chapters, pre
sents the setting and the general situation, and disposes
of Vashti and places Esther on the throne. The rising

THE BOOK OF ESTHER 123
action or entanglement begins with the embroilment of
Mordecai and Haman and by a succession of thrilling in
cidents is carried to a climax in the sentence of death
pronounced against Haman. The events following the
climax are important in the story but are on a much lower
plane of interest.
The movement of the plot from the issuing of Haman's
decree to the climax is skilfully managed. The incidents
are all big with importance and some of them thrill-
ingly dramatic. In a spirit of self-sacrifice, Esther
ventures her life for her people by intruding into the
audience chamber of the king. She requests only that
the king and his minister come to a banquet in the
queen's apartments. At the banquet Esther so charms
the king that she may have her wish for the asking, but
she postpones the issue.
The delay gives birth to two important plans, both
affecting Mordecai: one by the king to honor him, the
other by Haman to hang him. When Haman visits
the king early in the morning to ask for the life of
Mordecai, he receives an order to confer a signal honor
upon him. Thus does the writer indicate the changing
fortunes of the two protagonists.
The scene of the second banquet is highly dramatic.
Esther pleads for her life, "for we are sold, I and my
people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish."
"Who is he, and where is he that durst presume in his
heart to do so?" angrily asks the king. The climax
comes in the bitterly accusing words of Esther: "The
adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman!" There
are few stories with better plots and more thrilling
incidents.

CHAPTER X
THE BOOK OF JONAH
Now the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the son of Am-
mittai saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry
against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the
Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it,
to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea, and there
was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be
broken. Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man
unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship
into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down
into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.
So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest
thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will
think upon us, that we perish not.
And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast
lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is come upon
us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah. Then said
they unto him, .Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil
is upon us? What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou?
what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said
unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of
heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were
the men exceedingly afraid and said unto him, Why hast thou
done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of
the Lord, because he had told them. Then said they unto him,
what shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us?
for the sea wrought and was tempestuous. And he said unto
them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the
sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great
tempest is upon you.
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but
they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous
against them. Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said,
We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for
this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, 0
Lord, hast done as it pleased thee. So they took up Jonah, and
east him forth into the sea; and the sea ceased from her
124

THE BOOK OF JONAH 125
raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered
a sacrifice unto the Lord, and made vows.
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three
nights.

And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land.
And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah the second time,
saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto
it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose and went unto
Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was
an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah
began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and
said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
So the people of Nineveh believed God and proclaimed a fast,
and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the
least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and
he arose from his throne, and he laid aside his robe from him,
and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he
caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by
the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man
nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; let them not feed nor
drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth,
and cry mightily unto God, yea, let them turn every one from
his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from
his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works,
that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the
evil that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it
not. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
And he prayed unto the Lord, and said, I pray thee, O Lord, was
not this my saying when I was yet in my country? Therefore
I fled before unto Tarshish; for I knew that thou art a gracious
God and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repentest thee of the evil. Therefore now, O Lord, take, I
beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than
to live.
Then said the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry? So Jonah
went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and
there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till
he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God
prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it
might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief.
So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared
a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the
gourd that it withered.
And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God pre
pared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head
of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said,

126 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
it is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah,
Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do
well to be angry, even unto death. Then said the Lord, Thou
hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not labored,
neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished
in a night: And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city,
wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that can not
discern between their right hand and their left hand, and also
much cattle? Analysis and Comment
Although the book of Jonah is classed among the books
of the Minor Prophets, it does not contain prophecies,
but is an anonymous narrative. The title does not mean
that Jonah is the author but the subject of the book. Its
date is about 350 b. c. The Jonah of the book is doubt
less Jonah ben Amittai, who prophesied the deliverance
of Israel by Jeroboam II. (2 Kings XIV: 23-27).
(1). The call: Jonah receives a call to go to Nine
veh to rebuke it for its wickedness. He refuses to go
and takes ship at Joppa to flee to Tarshish.
(2). The tempest. The sea rages. The sailors fear
for their lives. The gods are angry and must be ap
peased. Jonah it is who has provoked them to send the
storm. He is cast into the sea and there is a great calm.
(3). The deliverance: A great fish swallows Jonah
and after three days casts him forth upon the dry land
uninjured. (4). The warning: Jonah goes about the city of
Nineveh crying, "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be
overthrown." The conscience of the people responds to
the warning. A fast is proclaimed. The king sits in
ashes. The very cattle wear penitential sack cloth. God
hears the cry for mercy and saves the city.
(5). Jonah's anger: Jonah is pitiless, nay, very
angry. He says that his mission has been a failure.
He sits down outside the city to sulk. He is taught the
lesson of pity by the incident of the gourd vine. He is
asked as to the comparative value of the gourd vine and
the six score thousand little ones of Nineveh. There is
no answer to the question. If he is not convinced, he is
silenced.

THE BOOK OF JONAH 127
The lessons:
(1). Jehovah is the God of the whole world; and
Jonah's errand was in the spirit of Christian missions
even in those far away days, and in spite of the bitter
ness of the messenger.
(2). All God's threatenings of penalty are condi
tional. He is a gracious God, slow to anger and plen
teous in mercy.
(3). God's mercy is wider than Israel. "There's a
wideness in God's mercy Like the wideness of the sea."
(4) . The innocent little ones must not suffer for the
sins of those who can discern their right hand from their
left. (5). Love toward God means love toward men.
(6). God's mercy and kindness extend even to our
humbler fellow creatures — the dumb brutes.
" He prayeth best who Ioveth best
All things both great and small,
For the dear God who Ioveth us,
He made and Ioveth all."
Because of the one startling incident the book of Jonah
seems to have taken hold of the imagination of the people
of both ancient and modern days. The incredulous
pagan of the olden time ridiculed the story of Jonah's
escape from the sea as does the skeptic of to-day. But
the pagan and the skeptic are not the only ones who
miss the real meaning of the book ; there are many who
"pore over the whale and forget God."
There are three views of the book held by those who
would interpret it: (1) The whole story is literally true
history; (2) It is an imaginative story with definite les
sons; (3) The whole story including the incident of the
whale is symbolical: Jonah represents rebellious Judah
and the whale symbolizes Babylon, the monster that
swallowed the people of Judah and later disgorged them
and sent them back to Jerusalem.
As a piece of literature this book has a very compact
structure. The movement is swift, and there are no di
gressions except the psalm of the second chapter, and
it is thought to be no part of the story in its first form.

128 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The character of Jonah is strongly and clearly drawn as
a narrow, bigoted Jew, wayward, wilful, intolerant, and
rebellious. The spectacular incidents make a story of
adventure as unusual as the spirit and teaching are new
and startling. For the spirit of the book is very dif
ferent from that of Esther ; the one shows sympathy for
the Gentiles, the other is bitterly hostile towards them ;
the one is imbued with the old spirit of cruel destructive-
ness, the other with the new spirit of mercy. Jonah, if
he felt as the average Jew of that day, must have been
darkly puzzled by the suggestion of special mercy to
children; for it was taken for granted in those early
days that children must suffer for the sins of their
parents. And he must have been struck dumb with
amazament when he is told that the lives of the cattle
also are to be taken into consideration when the fate of
the city is passed upon. There is no other book in the
Old Testament that presents such a vision of the divine
gentleness. Professor C. H. Cornill says : " I have read the Book of
Jonah at least a hundred times, and I will publicly avow,
for I am not ashamed of my weakness that I can not
even now take up this marvelous book, nay nor even
speak of it, without the tears rising to my eyes, and my
heart beating high. This apparently trivial book is
one of the deepest and grandest that was ever written,
and I should like to say to every one who approaches it,
' Take off thy shoes, for the place whereon thou standest
is holy ground.' "

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY

CHAPTER XI
CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD TESTAMENT POETRY
From the very dawn of history poetry has been indis-
solubly connected with the highest instincts of the race.
It has been made the record of the profoundest convic
tions cf men, of their dearest hopes, their divinest
dreams. Men have believed in many ages that the poet
is inspired, that he is the speaker of divine oracles. How
appropriate, then, that the writers of this great Book
should often speak in poetry, that those choice spirits of
the human race who have been permitted to climb to the
very mountain tops of truth where God's sunlight is not
obstructed nor dimmed by the mists and shadows of the
earth-valleys, should give that truth to us in the most
elevated and inspiring form of speech.
The body of Hebrew poetry found in the Bible has
many noble qualities. In the first place it is cosmopoli
tan in spirit. We know that the Hebrews were exclu
sive and in many ways narrow. From their customs and
many of their beliefs, we should little expect to find
in their poetry a sympathy wider than their country,
a spirit kinder than their creed; but we do find them.
It is said that the poetry of the Bible loses less in trans
lation into other languages than any other body of
poetry whatsoever. It is because it deals with things
that are universally true, because it reaches those deep
things that are in the heart of humanity everywhere.
Again, the Bible poetry is full of imaginative power.
The poet here does indeed cast his eye from earth to
heaven and from heaven to earth, and body forth forms
of things unknown more brilliantly than ever poet did
in any other age. He makes the giant hills to skip and
clap their hands ; he makes Jehovah ride upon the wings
131

132 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
of the wind; causes the earth to tremble at the sound
of his voice or the hills to smoke at his touch.
To these qualities may be added the grace of sim
plicity. The grandest ideas are set forth so simply and
plainly that they are brought home to the mind and
heart of every reader who wishes to understand. The
psalms are suited to men of all capacities and degrees
of culture. They are popular and yet elevating, clear
and yet profound, easily comprehended and yet inex
haustibly deep.
But perhaps the poetic beauty in which the Bible most
excels is in its description of the world around us. Here
we find the brightest and most vivacious landscape, the
happiest, most joyous view of things. The poet makes
the whole realm of nature express his thought and feel
ing. The whole universe becomes one vast chorus of
living things. The Bible landscape needs no dryads to
people its woodlands, no oreads to skip over its moun
tains, no naiads to give mirth to its waters or music to
its streams. A higher animation fills them; for every
chiming brook and fluttering spray, every thunder-tone
and bird-note, every zephyr and every blessed sound is
a note in God's anthem. ^
But the most characteristic feaMre of Bible poetry is
its intense theism. Job, the great epic, presents not to
us the deeds of a great hero, but shows us a suffering
hero in agony, wondering at and studying out God's
way in the world. The lyrics, the odes, the anthems
are, with few exceptions, not love songs, not warrior
songs, but songs of praise to God, God the Father, God
the everlasting King. To the poet Jehovah is the maker
and preserver of all things. He shines in the firma
ment ; he rides on the thunderstorm, he clothes the lilies ;
he feeds the ravens and the young lions, and the cattle
on a thousand hills ; he gives rain and fruitful seasons ;
he is the everlasting shield, the comfort and joy of
Israel. The most general law of poetic form is embodied in
the principles of rhythm. We of the western countries
are accustomed to rhythm which is almost purely syl
labic. Of syllabic rhythm there are two sorts, the rhythm

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 133
of accent and the rhythm of quantity. The first pre
vails in the modern tongues, the latter regulates ancient
poetry. That is, in English, for example, we measure
the rhythm by a regular recurring stress of syllables, as,
"Flow gently, sweet Afton, am6ng thy green braes;
Flow gently, I'll sing thee a song in thy praise."
In Latin and Greek poetry rhythm is shown by giving
more time to regularly recurring syllables. Innumer
able attempts to find in Hebrew poetry one or the other
of these forms of rhythm have been unsuccessful. And
yet this poetry has a rhythm of its own, the measured
rise and fall of feeling and utterance. This sort of
rhythm with parallelism of thought and phrase are th'e
plainest characteristics of Hebrew poetry. The ulti
mate unit consists of two lines or members embodying
two answering thoughts. The most common forms of
parallelism are, the synonymous, the antithetic, and the
synthetic. In the first kind of parallelism the second
line enforces the thought of the first by repeating it in
a slightly varied form ; as,
"Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon;
And thou, Moon, in the valley of Aijalon."
In the antithetic form the second line emphasizes the
first by presenting a contrasted thought; as,
"A wise son maketh a glad father,
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked shall perish."
In the synthetic form the second line supplements the
first by adding a new thought ; as,
"Answer not a fool according to his folly,
Lest thou also be like him.
As a bird that wandereth from her nest,
So is a man that wandereth from his place."
The body of poetry in the Old Testament is consid
erable. It embraces a great variety of scattered poems
and fragments, and five complete books, Job, the Psalms,

134 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Proverbs, the Song of Songs, and the Book of* Lamenta
tions. The scattered poems and fragments are lyric in form
and seem to be quotations from older books of lyric
poetry. They include such interesting poems as the
sword-song of Lameeh, the song of the well, Deborah's
song, the predictions of Balaam, the blessings of Jacob,
the song of Moses at the Red Sea, and the dirge of David
over Saul and Jonathan. The oldest specimen of lyric
poetry is the song of Lameeh to his two wives, found in
the fourth chapter of Genesis. It is called the sword-
song because it is supposed to celebrate the invention of
weapons of iron and brass by Tubal-Cain, the son of
Lameeh. The song of Moses at the Red Sea, sung in
honor of the overthrow of Pharoah's host, is great in
its simplicity and sublimity. It has been counted the
oldest specimen of the patriotic ode. The elegy of
David on the death of Saul and Jonathan, found in the
first chapter of Second Samuel is full of strength, pathos,
grief, and tenderness.
The greater poems of the Bible named above make a
remarkable body of poetry. The Book of Job is the
greatest work of Hebrew literature and one of the great
est poems of the world 's literature. The Song of Songs
is a love song with a wholesome lesson of purity and
fidelity. The Psalms are lyrics of devotion, a book of
one hundred and fifty hymns divided into five parts or
books. Among these psalms are many that will always
hold their place among the great poems of the world.
There are further studies of these three books in other
chapters of this volume.
The Book of Proverbs is a book of maxims and pre
cepts which has no equal anywhere in literature. There
are among them maxims which outshine the best ethical
precepts of the sages of Greece, or Rome or Egypt or
India or China. The Book of Lamentations consists of
five poems, each chapter being a complete poem. The
first four are in the Hebrew elegiac meter and are
alphabetic acrostics. The whole five lament the fall of
Jerusalem in varied imagery, most of which is graphic
and moving.

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 135

David's Lament
David's lament over the death of Saul and Jonathan
is a beautiful elegy. The appeal to the imagination is
definite, vivid, and clear, and the images are all simple
and striking. The feeling expressed is simple, natural,
and strong. The poem is a lyric of deep and unaffected
grief, a spontaneous outburst from a great heart bur
dened with sorrow for the loss of a most noble and un
selfish friend, and for the death of one who has done the
poet grievous wrong, but who is nevertheless the Lord 's
anointed. The first stanza of the poem is a cry of grief for the
disastrous defeat of the armies of Israel :
"Thy glory, O Israel,
Is slain upon thy high places!
How are the mighty fallen!"
The second stanza expresses shame at the thought that
the Philistines may know of the defeat of the Israelites
and exult in their humiliation :
"Tell it not in Gath,
Publish it not in the streets of Askelon;
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph."
The mountains, after the classic manner, are reproached
for their part in the tragedy :
"Ye mountains of Gilboa,
Let there be no dew nor rain upon you,
Neither fields of offerings;
For there the shield of the mighty was vilely cast away,
The shield of Saul as if he had not been anointed with oil."
High praise for the valor and prowess of Saul and Jona
than: "From the blood of the slain,
From the fat of the mighty,
The bow of Jonathan turned not back,
And the sword of Saul returned not empty."
The two dauntless warriors had gentle and engaging
qualities, and a most intrepid spirit:

136 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
"Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives,
And in their death they were not divided;
They were swifter than eagles,
They were stronger than lions."
A particular eulogy on Saul :
"Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
Who clothed you in scarlet delicately,
Who put ornaments of gold upon your apparel."
The refrain, expressing the greatness of the calamity :
"How are the mighty fallen
In the midst of the battle!
O Jonathan,
Slain upon thy high places!"
Eulogy on Jonathan with an expression of love and
personal loss :
"I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan:
Very pleasant hast thou been unto me:
Thy love to me was wonderful,
Passing the love of women."
The poem closes with the refrain — with a slight varia
tion: "How are the mighty fallen
And the weapons of war perished!"

The Song of Deborah
The Song of Deborah, of the fifth chapter of Judges,,
is one of the few relics of the splendid lyric poetry that
must have been found in the Book of the Wars of the
Lord and the Book of Jasher. There is some confusion
of text in the central part of the poem, yet all but a few
of the ninety-four lines are coherent, lively, and pic
turesque. The story of the decisive victory of the Israelites
under Deborah and Barak over the Canaanites under
Sisera, is first told in prose in chapter four of the Book
of Judges. Sisera had a large army and many chariots.
Against the chariots the Israelites could not hope to pre
vail except by a sudden and unexpected attack. To
carry out this plan, Barak secretly assembled his forces

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 137
on the heights of Kedesh. But the traitor Heber the
Kenite, warned Sisera of Barak's plan of battle, and
the Canaanite army was drawn up on the plains of
Esdraelon to meet the attack. The Israelites would
have been hopelessly defeated except for divine inter
vention. A great thunderstorm with rain burst upon
the plains where Sisera had expected to maneuver his
nine hundred chariots, converted it into a mass of mud
in whieh the horses and chariots floundered helplessly.
The river Kishon was swollen with the sudden down
pour of rain and swept away multitudes of the soldiers
of Sisera, while the remainder were put to the sword by
the victorious Israelites. Sisera alone escaped from the
battlefield and sought refuge in the tent of Heber where
he was kindly received by Jael the wife of Heber. She
was still loyal to her old friends the Israelites and re
solved to do a deed that would offset the treachery of
her husband. Accordingly while Sisera slept the sleep
of exhaustion, she seized a tent spike and with a ham
mer drove it through his head. "So God subdued on
that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children
of Israel."
For that the leaders took the lead in Israel,
For that the people offered themselves willingly,
Bless ye Jehovah,
Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes;
I, even I, will sing unto Jehovah,
I will sing praises to Jehovah, the God of Israel.
Lord, when thou wentest forth out of Seir,
When thou marchedst out of the field of Edom,
The earth trembled, and the heavens dropped,
The clouds also dropped water,
The mountains quaked at the presence of the Lord,
Even yon Sinai at the presence of Jehovah, the God of Israel.
In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were unoccupied,
And the travelers walked through by-ways.
The inhabitants of the villages ceased; they ceased in Israel,
Until that thou Deborah arose, thou arose a mother in Israel.
They chose new gods;
Then was war in the gates :
Was there a shield or spear seen
Among forty thousand in Israel?

138 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
My heart is toward the governors of Israel,
That offered themselves willingly among the people.
Bless ye the Lord.
Tell of it, ye that ride on white asses,
Ye that sit upon carpets,
Ye too that but walk by the way.
Far from the noise of archers, in the places of drawing water,
There shall they rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord,
Even the righteous acts of his rule in Israel.
Then came down to the gates the people of the Lord.
Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, utter a song:
Arise, Barak, and lead away thy captives, thou son of Abinoam.
Then came down a remnant of the nobles and the people,
Jehovah came down for me against the mighty.
Out of Ephraim came down they whose root is in Amalek ;
After thee, Benjamin, among thy peoples;
Out of Machir came down governors,
And out of Zebulun they that handle the marshal's staff.
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed forth at his feet.
By the watercourses of Reuben were there great resolves of
heart.
Why abodest thou among the sheepfolds
To hear the pipings of the flock?
At the watercourses of Reuben there were great searchings of
heart.
Gilead abode beyond Jordan;
And why did Dan remain in ships?
Asher sat still at the shore of the sea,
And abode by his creeks.
Zebulun were a people that jeoparded their lives unto the death.
And Naphtali upon the high places of the field.
The kings came and fought;
Then fought the kings of Canaan,
In Taanaeh by the waters of Megiddo;
They took no gain of money.
They fought from heaven,
The stars in their courses fought against Sisera.
The river Kishon swept them away,
That ancient river, the river Kishon.
O my soul, march on with strength!
Then did the horsehoofs stamp,
By reason of the prancings, the prancings of their mighty ones.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the Lord,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the Lord,
To the help of the Lord against the mighty.

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 139
Blessed above women be Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite,
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
He asked water and she gave him milk;
She brought forth butter in a lordly dish.
She put her hand to the nail,
And her right hand to the workmen's hammer;
And with the hammer she smote Sisera,
She smote through his head,
Yea, she pierced and struck through his temples.
At her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
At her feet he bowed, he fell:
Where he bowed, there he fell down dead.
Through the window she looked forth, and cried,
The mother of Sisera cried through the lattice:
Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why tarry the wheels of his chariots?
Her wise ladies answered her,
Yea, she returned answer to herself,
Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil:
A damsel, two damsels to every man;
To Sisera, a spoil of dyed garments,
A spoil of dyed garments embroidered,
Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of
the spoil?
So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord:
But let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in
his might.
It will be observed that the poem is divided into seven
paragraphs of twelve, nine, ten, twenty-two, fifteen,
thirteen, and thirteen lines respectively. In the intro
ductory paragraph Deborah and Barak give thanks to
Jehovah for the patriotic willingness of the people who
answered the call to arms, and speak of the miraculous
manifestations of the presence of Jehovah as he marches
majestically to the assistance of Israel. Paragraph two
sets forth the oppressed and helpless condition of Israel
before the revolt. The next short paragraph calls upon
the princes, the merchants, the travelers, and the women
at the wells to tell the story of the zeal of the governors
of Israel and to rehearse the righteous acts of the Lord.
The fourth paragraph calls upon Deborah to sing of the
mustering of the clans. Praise is accorded to those
tribes that answered the call and reproaches heaped
upon those who through fear or irresolution failed to

140 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
come to the defense of the nation. The fifth paragraph
tells of the battle, acknowledges the help of Jehovah,
and bitterly curses Meroz for its traitorous inactivity
because its inhabitants came not "to the help of the
Lord against the mighty." The next paragraph praises
Jael, the wife of Heber, and gives a terribly realistic
picture of the killing of Sisera. The last paragraph,
saving the last two lines, is doubtless a sort of taunt
song; a graphic picture is drawn of Sisera 's mother
anxiously waiting for the return of her son who she is
sure has been victorious. The poet in irony makes her
rejoice over his victory and enumerate the spoils and
captives that he is bringing back in triumph.
The prose account of the victory of Deborah and
Barak over the Canaanites is straightforward and un-
impassioned; but the poem presents the same incidents
in a way to stir the interest and arouse the feelings of
the reader. The prose is transformed into poetry by
the use of the usual poetic form, figures, and devices.
Of course these devices are used consciously by the
writer, but it all seems simple, natural, spontaneous.
There is an effective appeal to the imagination and the
emotions by striking imagery and the multiplication of
concrete details. The most important situations and in
cidents in the story are elaborated and made more per
sonal and dramatic. The movement of the narrative
suggests rapid and energetic action. There is much use
of the figure of parallelism, the first paragraph having
five parallel couplets. The device of repetition is used
with telling effect in the last two paragraphs.
In the prose account bare mention is made of the fact
that "the Lord discomfited Sisera," while the poem
makes the reader feel that Jehovah is with the hosts of
Israel, and that his presence determines the issues of
the battle. There is an impressive picture of the march
of the great Jehovah to the scene of the battle, making
the earth tremble under his footsteps while the heavens
rain death upon the presumptuous enemies of his chosen
people. The poem has an atmosphere of sustained in
tensity, and the excited earnestness of the narrator be
gets a like interest and enthusiasm in the reader. It

OLD TESTAMENT POETRY 141
has been suggested that the pathetic picture in the last
paragraph, of the anxious waiting mother, shows sym
pathetic sorrow, but the truth is that these lines are
spoken in scorn, they make a lively and bitter taunt
song. Seir. Often used' to name the whole of Edom.
Edom. The land southeast of Palestine. The highways
were unoccupied. The oppression of the Israelites was
so bitter and cruel that the people dared not travel the
public roads. Was there a shield or a spear? For fear
that they might raise an insurrection against their con
querors the Israelites had been deprived of all their
weapons and were allowed to keep no smith among
them. Ye that ride on white asses. The princes. Ye
that sit on carpets. The merchants. In the places of
drawing water. Where the women would be found.
All these shall rehearse the great deeds of the warriors
of Israel and speak the praises of Jehovah. Machir. A
clan of Manasseh. Taanach, Megiddo. Two fortified
towns on the border of the plains of Esdraelon where
the battle was fought. The stars in their courses fought,
etc. The stars controlled the destinies of the Canaanites
and destroyed them by sending the fearful storm of
wind and rain. Meroz. Supposed to be a village not
far from the battlefield.

CHAPTER XII
THE book op psalms
The Hebrew title of the Book of Psalms is a word
meaning "praise songs." We get our modern word
Psalms from the Greek word Psalmoi by which the He
brew title was translated into the Greek of the Septua
gint or Greek version of the Bible.
The Book of Psalms is divided into five separate
books; this division is indicated plainly in the Hebrew
Bible and in the English Revised Version. The divi
sions are as follows: Book 1, Psalms 1 to 41; Book 2,
42 to 72 ; Book 3, 73 to 89 ; Book 4, 90 to 106 ; Book 5,
107 to 150. The end of the first four books is marked
by a doxology; in the fifth book the place of such a
doxology seems to be taken by the whole of Psalm 150.
These doxologies are found in the Septuagint transla
tion, which shows that the division of the Psalter into
five books was earlier than the second century b. c.
The number of psalms according to the regular He
brew text is one hundred and fifty, and the Septuagint
agrees except that there is inserted the 151st Psalm
which is declared to be "outside the number." To this
psalm is appended the explanation that it was written
by David with his own hand when he fought in single
combat with Goliath. Some ancient Jewish authorities
reckon the number of psalms to be 149, others 147. The
Jewish Talmud says that the number is 147, ' ' according
to the years of our father Jacob." There is a difference
between the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts in the
numbering of the psalms, though the totals are the same.
Taking the Hebrew text as the standard, the Septuagint
makes one psalm out of IX and X, also of CXIV and
CXV, and divides CXVI and CXVII into two each.
The Vulgate and the older English versions follow the
142

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 143
Septuagint numbering, but the later English versions
follow the Hebrew. Thus while the total number and
the order are the same, the number of any particular
psalm in the Septuagint version is one behind, that of the
Hebrew version in most parts of the Psalter. For ex
ample, David's Shepherd Psalm is number 23 in the
Hebrew and 22 in the Septuagint version.
The Hebrew Psalter was formed by a gradual growth.
It appears that even the individual psalms gradually
grew from a few lines to the length of stately songs.
There is plain evidence that there existed originally a
number of smaller collections of psalms, and that these
were brought together in the five books which make up
the Psalter. It was probably a process like the accumu
lation of the individual songs into the different parts of
the modern Gospel Hymns, first number one, then num
ber two, and so on to number five ; and then a combina
tion of the five parts into one volume. The titles of the
psalms indicate that those of them attributed to the
same author were placed consecutively in the larger col
lections. For example, book three consists of two
minor collections, one attributed to Asaph and the other
to the sons of Korah ; and book five consists of a group
of pilgrim songs and a group of hallelujah songs, each
apparently at one time a distinct song book.
To most of the individual psalms are prefixed titles
or inscriptions designating their poetical, musical, or
liturgical character, their authorship or origin, or the
historical occasion for which they were written or which
they illustrate. One title may include two or more of
these matters. The greatest scholars and most perse
vering translators have been puzzled by the titles re
lating to the poetical, musical, and liturgical character
of the psalms. The inscriptions referring to historical
events are said to be inappropriate in many instances,
and those referring to authorship are not always counted
trustworthy. Evidently many of these titles and in
scriptions are no essential part of the psalms.
Tradition says that David wrote seventy-four out of
the one hundred and fifty psalms of the Psalter. An
interesting study might be made of those psalms which,

144 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
in the Authorized Version, are assigned by introductory
inscriptions, to certain experiences of David or to par
ticular periods of his life. It seems clear that Psalms
8, 19, 23, and 29 reflect the thoughts, emotions, and as
pirations of his early years. In Psalm 8 he humbles
himself before the great Creator when he thinks how he
has been exalted by being made the humble helper of
the great Saul with his harp and his sling. In Psalm
23 his shepherd life furnishes the symbolism for the
expression of his understanding of the kindness and
gentleness of God. The eloquent orbs and spaces above
him, as he lies with his sheep, show to him the great
ness of God, and he, with a poet's inspiration, proclaims
it to the world in Psalm 19. Psalm 29 is a vivid picture
of one of the many storms David must have looked
upon from his sheltered retreat among the mountains.
Psalm 59 is doubtless his prayer for deliverance as
Saul's men have surrounded him and are eager for his
blood; and Psalm 56, his cry for divine help when as a
fugitive from Israel, his life is threatened at the Philis
tine court of King Achish. In Psalm 52 he upbraids
Doeg for causing the death of those who befriended him,
and predicts the utter destruction of this cruel, mis
chief-making Edomite. Psalm 57 is a cave song, or a
hymn from the stronghold of Adullum where David's
enemies roar about him like fierce lions; and Psalm 54
is a cry to Jehovah for help when the people of Ziph
were planning to betray him into the hands of his
enemy Saul.
All the psalms here referred to belong to the youth
of David and to the strenuous years when he was a
fugitive with a price set on his head. Two songs,
Psalms 24 and 68, clearly belong to the prosperous
period of David's life, to the ceremonies of the greatest
event of his history — the placing of the sacred ark on
Mount Moriah. The first was sung as the procession
of priests and people marched up to the gates of the
sacred enclosure and demanded that they be opened in
the name of the Lord of Hosts. The second presents,
obscurely, however, the whole checkered career of Israel
as the nation has fought with its enemies under the

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 145
guidance and protection of Jehovah. It is plainly a
processional hymn used in the ceremonies of this great
celebration. Studies of Individual Psalms
To illustrate a method which may be used in the mas
tery of the individual psalms, there are here presented
interpretations of the first, twenty-fourth, nineteenth,
and twenty-ninth Psalms, all poems of different types.
PSALM I
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scoffers:
But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
And on his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water,
That bringeth forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also doth not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The wicked are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous;
But the way of the wicked shall perish.
This psalm is introductory to the Book of Psalms. It
is a development in poetical language and imagery of
the thought repeated many times in the Book of Prov
erbs, that it is well with the righteous and ill with the
wicked. It proclaims the superiority of the man occu
pied in meditating upon the divine law, to the worldly
man who is without seriousness, stability, accomplish
ment, or security for the future. A suggestive title
might be "The Tree and the Chaff."
Development of the theme: The first stanza of five
lines contrasts the man of pious meditation to three
grades of bad men :
1. The one who. walketh in the counsel of the wicked.
2. The one who standeth in the way of sinners.
3. The one who sitteth in the seat of the scoffers.

146 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Note the three-fold parallelism — walk, stand, sit;
counsel, way, session; wicked, sinners, scoffers. Three
successive steps in a career of evil are presented : adop
tion of principles; persistence in practices; and delib
erate association with those who are notorious offenders.
In the second stanza of six lines the tree rooted, vig
orous, and luxuriant with green leaves, and full of fruit,
is contrasted to the light and unstable chaff driven be
fore the wind. These well symbolize the two contrasted
lives. The conclusion: This is presented in the four lines
of stanza three. The wicked can not stand when his life
is given its true value nor can sinners remain with the
righteous. The judgment referred to is not that of the
last day, but the estimate formed of a man from his acts
from day to day. The meaning of the word knoweth
includes the ideas of approval, care, and guidance by the
Lord. Among the parallelisms are lines four and five (syn-
noymous) ; lines six and seven (synthetic) ; lines four
teen and fifteen (antithetic). The figures of speech are
metaphors and similes. They are numerous, apt, and
vivid. The appeal to the imagination is clear and
definite. PSALM XXIV
This psalm was used on the occasion of the bringing
of the sacred ark to Jerusalem. Let us imagine that
the great procession is forming at the foot of the hill
ready to march up carrying the ark to the temporary
structure prepared to receive it. The procession of
priests and trumpeters is leading the way and the whole
company sings :
"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
The world and they that dwell therein;
For he hath founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods."
Then there is a solo by a priest :
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?"

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 147
Response by another priest :
"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart,
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto falsehood,
And hath not sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of our salvation."
Then a chorus by the whole company as they march
up the hill :
"This is the generation of them that seek after him,
That seek thy face, even Jacob."
The procession is halted at the gates of the enclosure
and a summons is given to open the gates. Certain
words of challenge and response have been agreed upon
and the gates will not open until the proper response
has been given. The leaders of the procession sing
their demands:
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in."
Then comes the challenge from within:
"Who is this King of glory?"
Response from without :
"The Lord, strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle."
This is not the correct response and the gates are not
opened, so the worshipers must repeat their summons :
"Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
Yea, lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
And the King of glory shall come in."
Challenge from within :
"Who is this King of glory?"
Joint chorus from without, in which at last the great
name is spoken :
"The Lord of Hosts,
He is the King of glory!"

148 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
At these words the gates open and the further cere
monies of the inauguration are carried out.
PSALM XIX
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament showeth his handiwork.
Day unto day uttereth speech,
And night unto night showeth knowledge.
There is no speech nor language;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line is gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
And rejoiceth as a strong man to run his course.
His going forth is from the end of the heavens,
And his circuit unto the ends of it;
And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul:
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are. right, rejoicing the heart:
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever:
The ordinances of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the droppings of the honey-comb.
Moreover by them is thy servant warned:
In keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors?
Clear thou me from hidden faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me:
Then shall I be upright,
And I shall be clear from great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in thy sight,
0 Lord, my rock, and my redeemer.
The title of this psalm might be ' ' God 's law in Nature
and in the Human Heart. " It is sometimes called ' ' The
Psalm of the Sun, ' ' because the sun is the chief witness
in the testimony given of the glory of the Creator.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 149
The theme of the first part is : The testimony of the
heavens to the power, majesty, and greatness of the
Creator; of the second part, The beauty and power of
the moral law.
Line of thought. The thought of the first part is that
the heavens bear eloquent and unceasing witness to
God's glory. This statement is made in the first line
and repeated and elaborated beautifully and poetically
in the remaining thirteen lines. The heavens, the firma
ment, the phenomena of day and night, the great sun,
all are witnesses of God 's glory and publish it abroad.
In the second part of the poem the law of God in the
human heart is given different designations — law, testi
mony, precepts, commandment, fear of the Lord, ordi
nances — and the characteristics, power, and influence of
each are set forth. Then the Psalmist, thinking of the
great difficulty a man has in understanding and con
forming his life to the law, so straight and exacting,
prays for divine help that he may be obedient, pure,
clean, and acceptable.
Form. There are two distinct divisions of the poem
as has already been explained. Some readers have
thought that these parts are the work of two authors;
but it is more reasonable to suppose that the contrast of
the two divisions is a part of the plan of the poem. The
setting of these parts off against one another is very
effective and there is certainly a kind of unity in the
plan. The poem is made beautiful, musical, and elo
quent by the most skillful use of parallelism. There are
many figures of speech and the appeal to the imagina
tion is vivid and strong.
Explanation of words and phrases. The heavens, the
space in which the heavenly bodies are placed. The
glory of God, the visible manifestation of his presence;
the heavens in their vastness, splendor, order, and mys
tery are peculiarly suited to show forth God's glory.
The firmament, the vault of heaven. Day unto day ut
tereth speech, each day, each night, pours out its mes
sage to its successor in an unbroken tradition. There
is no speech nor language, their message is inarticulate.
Their voice is not heard, there is a silent eloquence reach-

150 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
ing from one end of the world to the other. Addison
has beautifully paraphrased this line:
"What though in solemn silence all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball?
What though nor real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs is found?
In reason's ear they all rejoice
And utter forth a glorious voice,
Forever singing as they shine,
'The hand that made us is divine.' "
Their line is gone out, the word line means measuring
line. This line has measured the whole earth as the
territory in which the heavens may proclaim their mes
sage. In them hath he set a tabernacle, the sun is the
chief witness. He is a king with his pavilion, his taber
nacle, in the heavens, and marches across the heavens
like a conquering hero. He is splendid in his attire and
has the freshness of youthful vigor and happiness. The
law of the Lord, instruction, doctrine, teaching. Per
fect, complete, a guide which can not mislead or fail.
Restoring, refreshing, invigorating. Testimony, the law
as bearing on God's will and man's duty. Sure, not
variable or uncertain. Simple, the open-minded man.
Commandment, a special injunction in which man's
obligations are set forth. It is straight and gives moral
satisfaction. Pure, a term applied to the sun, light-
giving, giving light to the one who hears and obeys.
Fear of the Lord, another synonym for law. It is clean
in contrast to the immoralities of the heathen. Endur
ing forever, righteousness is immortal. Ordinances,
statutes, laws. They are in accord with absolute justice.
Presumptuous sins, sins committed in a spirit of proud
defiance. PSALM XXIX
This poem may have for its title "The Tempest," or
"The Voice of Jehovah in the Tempest." There is no
phenomenon in nature so awful as a thunderstorm, and
almost every poet from Homer and Virgil down to the
present day has tried to describe it. This psalm is a
description of such a tempest. It is well known that

THE BOOK OF PSALMS 151
storms in Palestine are far more sudden, violent, and
impressive than in western countries. The Hebrews be
lieved that thunder was the voice of Jehovah. And so
the theme of this poem is that the Lord is present in the
destructive thunderstorm and will protect his people
from the power of the tempest.
Form. The first two verses are an introduction to the
poem and call upon the mighty ones to praise Jehovah
because of the power and majesty he shows in the guid
ance of the storm and because of the protection he gives
to his people. The remainder of the poem is devoted to
an account of the geographical progress of the storm.
There are no figures of speech except metaphors and
parallelisms. Line of thought. Let us imagine the spectator-psalm
ist standing with the awe-struck multitude in the Temple
porch at Jerusalem, where they have been driven for
refuge from the coming storm, and watching the march
of the thunderstorm as it rises out of the Mediterranean,
the "mighty sea," and sweeps eastward, strikes the
cedars on the mountains, breaks them, and causes the
mountains to quake. They see the storm continue its way
across the plains, frightening the wild animals, and amid
flashes of lightning burst in a water flood upon the Tem
ple. There are touches of terror in the description of the
geographical progress of the tornado, and it derives a
sacred power from the presence of Jehovah in each suc
cessive peal of thunder.
The storm arises out of the sea and the poet cries :
"The voice of the Lord is on the sea;
The God of glory thundereth;
The Lord is on the mighty sea!
The voice of the Lord is powerful,
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty!"
Now the tempest has swept from the sea and struck
Lebanon with majestic power and a mighty roar. The
people look toward Lebanon and the poet again speaks :
"The voice of the Lord breaketh -the cedars;
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon;
He maketh them to skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn."

152 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Then with flashes of lightning and peals of thunder the
tornado sweeps across the plain toward the Temple, and
the poet cries :
"The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire,
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness, '
The Lord shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve
And discovereth the forests:
And in his Temple doth every one speak of his glory!"
— For there has gone up from the multitude in the Tem
ple porch a shout of praise and admiration for the power
and magnificence of this great manifestation of the
mighty Jehovah.
Now the fury of the storm is spent and showers of
water begin to fall, and the poet cries again :
"The Lord sitteth upon the water torrent!"
Then thinking of the majesty of the storm, of the power
ful King who commands the tempests, and of their safety
in the midst of this spectacular display of destructive
forces, he cries out :
"Yea, the Lord sitteth king forever,
The Lord will give strength unto his people!"
— Here the sun breaks forth in magnificent glory and the
poet utters the closing line :
"The Lord will bless his people with peace."
Explanation of words and phrases. 0 ye mighty, sons
of the mighty, or sons of God, or sons of the gods. In
the beauty of holiness, in holy array. Sirion, Mount
Hermon. Divideth the flames of fire, display of forked
lightning. Maketh the hinds to calve, prematurely,
through fear. Discovereth the forests, uneovereth or
maketh visible, or as in Revised Version, strippeth the
forests bare.

CHAPTER XIII
A STUDY OP THE BOOK OP JOB
The author of the Book of Job is unknown. The date
of its composition is supposed to be between the time of
King Solomon and of the Exile, about 600 B.C. In form
it is a dramatic poem framed in an epic setting. The
prologue, the epilogue, and the explanatory introduction
to Elihu 's speech are prose, the remainder of the book is
poetry. There is plainly a unity pervading the book,
though many scholars declare that it is a composite work
and has been supplemented by successive additions.
The Book of Job ranks with the great poems of litera
ture. Indeed there are many readers who regard it as
the greatest masterpiece of all literature. It has been
well classed with the three greatest dramas of the world,
the Prometheus Bound of iEschylus, Shakespeare's
Hamlet, and Goethe's Faust. In spiritual insight, in
strength, in a certain audacity of courage in dealing
with truth, the author of Job may be said to surpass even
iEschylus, or Goethe, or Shakespeare.
Carlyle says of this book, "I call the Book of Job, apart
from all theories about it, one of the grandest things ever
written with pen. One feels indeed as if it were not
Hebrew, such a noble universality, different from patriot
ism and sectarianism, reigns in it. A noble book; all
men's book! It is our first, oldest statement of the
never-ending Problem — man's destiny and God's way
with him here in the earth. And all in such free flowing
outlines,' grand in its sincerity, in its simplicity, in its
epic melody, and repose of reconcilement. Such living
likenesses were never since drawn. Sublime sorrow, sub
lime reconciliation, oldest choral melody as of the heart
of mankind. There is nothing written, I think, in the
Bible or out of it, of equal literary merit."
153

154 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
Job has been called the problem drama. According to
Professor Conant's view, the subject of the book is "The
mystery of God's providential government of men."
Professor Delitzsch declares that the problem is, "Why
does suffering on suffering befall the righteous?" Pro
fessor Genung in his most excellent study of Job, "The
Epic of The Inner Life," argues that the chief problem
is not the mystery of suffering in the world, but is
expressed in Satan's sneering words, "Does Job serve
God for naught?" There is no doubt that the book dis
cusses all these problems. Indeed it would be difficult
to state the problem or the teaching of the book in one
abstract proposition. It is a true picture of real life,
and in such a picture good and evil, and wisdom and
error, are too much interwoven to say that they are all
working to a certain well-defined pattern. Characters of
the Drama :
Jehovah. He has a majestic part; is fittingly intro
duced in a thunder storm; his words are full of power
and sublimity ; he is kind, just, and forgiving ; gives even
the devil his due.
Satan. Not a very powerful or bad character ; a sort
of prosecuting attorney for the world.
Job. A wealthy sheik ; the hero of the drama ; of mag
nificent courage, humble patience, strong faith, and Pro
methean independence.
Eliphaz. Prince and scholar of Teman; the oldest
and wisest of the three friends; a dignified and noble
character; is firm in his opinion; of plain, common
sense ; a seer of visions and a dreamer of dreams ; a ven
erable theologian.
Bildad. Prince of Shuah ; a sage and a treasure house
of the wisdom of the ancients ; his philosophy not broad,
but clear and definite; his fundamental creed — God's
justice ; a traditionalist.
Zophar. Prince and scholar of Naamah ; is dogmatic
and bigoted; commonplace, sharp, and bitter; prides
himself on being ' ' a plain, blunt man. ' '
Elihu. A young prince and scholar of Buz; of the
family of Ram. Is egotistic, though he dwells on his
modesty; shows the confidence of youth; seems to think

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 155
himself the vehicle of absolute truth ; but makes a strong
and eloquent plea. This is a clever bit of characteriza
tion. Job's Wife. She appears but once; can not under
stand Job's attitude; has been too much maligned by the
commentators. Four Messengers. Field hand, shepherd, drover,
household servant.
Sons of God. Angels, or possibly human worshipers.
Job's brethren, sisters, acquaintances, and a miscel
laneous company of people from the village.
Divisions of the Drama :
There are five definite divisions of the book : The Pro
logue, the Debate, Interposition of Elihu, the Voice out
of the Whirlwind, and the Epilogue.
The Prologue. This presents the preliminary story,
introduces the chief characters and lays the basis for the
rest of the drama. This is written in prose except a few
lines in which the messengers dramatically make their
reports. The Debate. Job driven from the city on account of
his loathsome disease, sits on the ash-mound at the city
gate seven days in silence ; then he begins his complaint
and is answered by his three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad,
and Zophar. The debate continues through three cycles
of speeches, the friends speaking to Job in turn and Job
answering each one.
The Speech of Elihu. A young man, Elihu, has lis
tened impatiently to the efforts of the three friends to
refute Job's arguments and as soon as he has the oppor
tunity he takes the place of the friends and tries to con
vince Job of the error of his opinions and ways.
The Voice of Jehovah. A great storm arises, and out
of the whirlwind the voice of Jehovah speaks to Job to
reprimand him for his impatience, and bitterness, and
presumption, and to convince him that he little under
stands the ways of Jehovah in the world. Job repents of
his rebellious spirit and speeches and submits himself to
Jehovah. The Epilogue. In the prose conclusion of the book Job
is vindicated and restored to his former glory and great-

156 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
ness and the three friends are condemned for their false
speaking. THE PROLOGUE
The Prologue presents a series of five scenes changing
from earth to heaven and back again, the time being
several weeks or months. The first scene opens with Job
at his home devout, prosperous, peaceful, happy, the
greatest of all the men of the East. The second scene
takes place in heaven where the sons of God come to pre
sent themselves before Jehovah. Satan appears in the
company and Jehovah asks him if he has observed the
perfect and upright character of his servant Job.
Satan's reply is a charge that Job's righteousness is mer
cenary and not disinterested. So Job is given into the
hands of Satan to be tested. The third scene presents
Job at his home in Uz where in a most dramatic way four
breathless messengers in quick succession announce to
him the loss of all his flocks and herds, and of the tragic
death of his seven sons and three daughters. Job is
crushed by the calamity but utters no word of complaint
against Jehovah. The fourth scene is the second council
in heaven at which Satan reports his failure and declares
that if Job is touched with physical affliction he will curse
Jehovah to his face. So Job is further given into the
power of Satan except that his life must be spared. In
the fifth scene Job sits upon an ash heap at the gate of his
village, an outcast afflicted with a painful and loathsome
disease. He does not curse Jehovah but is grievously
bewildered and perplexed. THE DEBATE
Here the drama begins. The ash-mound is the stage,
with all surrounding nature for scenery; round about
stand a chorus of silent spectators, gazing on the great
man now fallen so low ; travelers stop and wonder at the
sight. His wife loses her faith and bids him renounce
Jehovah, who treats him thus, and die. His three
friends in pomp of woe are there; they have ascended
the mound and are sitting near their afflicted comrade.
All wait for the suffering hero to break the silence.

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 157
It is taken for granted by all, Job, his wife, and his
friends, that he is, for some reason, the object of God's
wrath. The disease with which he is afflicted, elephanti
asis, was regarded as the dread sign of a visitation from
God. This, then, is Job's difficulty; God is punishing
him — and for what he does not know. He knows'that he
has not sinned. He is conscious of the strictest integ
rity. It is strange that he should be punished without
knowing what his crime is. This distresses him, but his
distress is greater when he feels that he is shut off from
the friendship of God, and greater yet when he thinks
that if a righteous man is punished just as if he were a
wicked man, then the world is out of joint, and right and
wrong, justice and injustice are all confused in the
world. It is this that perplexes his spirit ; and time and
again when his friends try to convince him of the truth
of their theory which declares suffering always to be the
result of sin, and prosperity, the reward of righteousness,
he is sorely tried, for he knows that there is a conflict
between this theory and his own consciousness. And so
the debate and struggle go on. Seven days and seven
nights have Job's friends sat in silence when Job utters
the curse with which the debate opens. It is not a curse
against God but rather an appeal to God in a heart-rend
ing lamentation and a bitter complaint that he must live
and suffer.
Let the day perish wherein I was born;
And the night which said, There is a man child conceived!
Let that day be darkness;
Let not God regard it from above,
Neither let the light shine upon it,
Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own;
Let a cloud dwell upon it;
Let all that maketh black the day terrify it.
Wherefore is light given to him, that is in misery,
And life unto the bitter in soul?
This complaint is the outpouring of an over-burdened
soul who can not see why a life so bitter and hard should
be given at all. Thinking, of course, that his friends
will understand him and sympathize with him, he thus
pours out his heart in bitter anguish. But when he
pauses he is surprised that he does not receive any words

158 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
of sympathy from his friends and soon learns that they
are shocked at his blasphemy in not submitting to this
stroke of misfortune without making any protest. So
they determine to set him right and the debate begins.
Eliphaz gently and kindly rebukes him and gives him the
consolation of a theology which declares that adversity is
always divine punishment. He begins with an apology,
"If one essay a word with thee, wilt thou be offended,
Yet who can forbear speaking?"
Then follows the best, the most elaborate of all the
speeches made by the three friends. It anticipates the
argument of Bildad and Zophar and partly that of Elihu.
Eliphaz asks Job why he, who has comforted so many,
should now fall into despair when affliction comes nigh
him. He declares that in the world everything comes by
justice and desert. When we see a man suffering we
know that he has sinned and we can measure the enor
mity of his transgression by the intensity of his suffering.
He affirms that it is wickedly presumptuous for a man to
pass judgment on the acts of Jehovah. He knows that
he is right in this position because the truth of it was
revealed to him in a vision. In the night a shadowy
form passed before his frightened eyes and a voice was
heard saying, "Shall mortal man be just before God?
Shall a man be pure before his Maker?"
So no man can be right in complaining of God's mis
management of the world. Job should be glad that God
is testing him; this chastening is for his good: God
smites only to heal. The purpose is to lead him into a
broader, richer life where he shall be in league with
nature and every creature. The exhortation concludes:
"Then shalt thou come to thy grave in full age,
Like as a shock of corn cometh in its season.
Lo this! We have searched it, it is so;
Hear it and know it for thy good."
It is a mortifying surprise to Job that his friends do not
accept his new point of view and he defends himself
vigorously against the remonstrances of Eliphaz, laments

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 159
the attitude of his friends, and charges them with being
fickle and unfeeling.
Then Job turns from his friends and addresses the
Almighty, pleads with him, rehearses his miseries, and
pathetically declares that his suffering is too great for
such an insignificant being :
"What is man that thou Bhouldst magnify him,
That thou shouldst visit him every morning,
And try him every moment?
If I have sinned what can I do unto thee,
O thou watcher of men?
Why hast thou set me as a mark for thee;
So that I am a burden to myself?"
Bildad is incensed that Job should seek to maintain his
righteousness in the face of what to him is overwhelming
proof of Job's sin. He emphasizes the perfect justice
that orders all things :
"Will God pervert the right?
Or will the Almighty pervert justice?
If thy children have sinned against him,
So hath he given them over into the hands of their transgressions."
Job's bitter complaint is that there is no right standard
of justice in the world ; the wicked rule and the judges
are blind. He cries out
"The earth is given into the hands of the wicked:
He covereth the faces of the judges thereof.
If it be not he, who then is it?"
Bildad affirms that God is just, always just, therefore
when there is punishment sent, it inevitably argues a sin
committed. Job protests against this with terrible
energy. Then he complains that God hides his face from
him. And since God is thus hidden, he longs for a medi
ator, an interpreter, a daysman,
"Who might lay his hand on both of us;
Let him remove his rod from me,
That the dread of him should not unman me."
As the debate goes on the friends grow more provoking
and Job sometimes loses his patience and speaks in bitter
sarcasm :

160 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
"No doubt but ye are the people,
And wisdom shall die with you.
But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you;
Yea, who knoweth not such things as these?
I am as one that is a laughing stock to his neighbor,
A man that called upon God, and he answered him,
The just, the perfect man, is made a laughing-stock."
He longs in his darkness for the light which the Gospel
afterwards brought to the world. If he could only be
sure that there is a life beyond the grave where justice
would be rendered, — but he is not very hopeful, — and,
for the time he pushes the thought aside.
Zophar affirms that the joy of the ungodly is only for a
moment :
"Knowest thou not this of old time,
Since man was placed upon earth,
That the triumphing of the wicked is short,
And the joy of the godless but for a moment,
Though his excellency mount up to the heavens,
And his head reach unto the clouds;
Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung:
They which have seen him shall say, Where is he?
He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found:
Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night."
But Zophar is not really describing what is but what he
thinks ought to be. Job replies that this is not a true
picture of life and he depicts life as he finds it in the
world :
"Wherefore do the wicked live,
Become old, yea, wax mighty in power?
Their seed is established with them in their sight,
And their offspring before their eyes.
Their houses are safe from fear,
Neither is the rod of God upon them.
They send forth their little ones like a flock,
And their children dance, they sing to the timbrel and harp,
And rejoice at the sound of the pipe.
They spend their days in prosperity,
And in a moment they go down to Sheol.
Yet they said unto God, Depart from us,
For we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.
What is the Almighty that he should serve him?
And what profit should we have if we pray unto him?"

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 161
Once more his friends tell him that he must have
sinned against God. They grapple more closely with
him; they accuse him directly now. Job has been get
ting the better of the argument apparently and in order
to save his theology Eliphaz is determined that Job shall
be wicked, whatever happens to the facts. After accus
ing him of having stripped the poor of their clothing,
withholden bread from the hungry, broken the arms of
the fatherless, and sent widows away empty, he counsels
him to reconcile himself with God and be at peace.
Pathetic indeed is Job's reply here to the heartless com-
f ortings of his friends :
"0 that I knew where I might find him,
That I might come even to his seat!
I would order my cause before him,
And fill my mouth with arguments,
I would know the words which he would answer me,
And understand what he would say unto me.
Would he contend with me in the greatness of his power?
Nay, he would give heed unto me ;
There the upright might reason with him;
So should I be delivered forever from my judge.
Behold I go forward,
But he is not there;
And backward,
But 1 can not perceive him ;
On the left hand, where he doth work,
But I can not behold him;
He hideth himself on the right hand,
That I can not see him.
But he knoweth the way that I take;
When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
My foot hath held fast to his steps;
His way have 1 kept, and turned not aside.
1 have not gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured up the words of his mouth more than my
necessary food."
Job closes the debate by uttering the "oath of clear
ing" in which he protests that he is innocent of the
charges which the friends have brought against him.
He clears himself of all secret sensual desires and prac
tices ; repudiates the charge that he has abused his power
or has been indifferent to the sufferings of others ; clears
himself of any secret dishonorable feelings against God
or man ; then fixes his signature to these earnest protesta
tions.

162 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

THE INTERPOSITION OF ELIHU
Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu when he saw that
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar had no answer for Job.
After some preliminary parleying about his youth and
modesty and ability to refute Job, he begins his argu
ment. He declares that Job's charge that God shows
arbitrary hostility to him is unfounded. He declares
that God never refuses to hear an appeal ; that he speaks
to man in many ways, through dreams and visions, and
through chastenings ; that in the midst of these chasten-
ings he sends his angel messengers who appeal to the suf
ferer to return to the path of rectitude and prosperity.
He declares, also, that God arranges the order of the
world himself and has, therefore, no motive for injustice ;
being higher than the law, whatever God does must be
lawful, just, and right. He says further that Job's
declaration that man is not profited by righteousness is
not true; that man's conduct affects himself alone; that
God is too exalted to be affected by human conduct. He
closes by presenting a picture of the greatness and
unsearchableness of God in nature, and appeals to Job to
consider these wonderful things.
THE DIVINE INTERVENTION
During the last part of Elihu 's speech a storm has been
gathering and now a voice comes out of the whirlwind.
The theme of this address is, Shall mortal man contend
with God ? This thirty-eighth chapter is one of the sub-
limest passages in the world's literature. The lines are
unapproachable as descriptions of the wonders of crea
tion and the greatness of the Creator and are made
splendid by choice diction, startling imagery, and pic
turesque illustrations. The address begins :
"Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up now thy loins like a man;
For I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon were the foundations thereof fastened?

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 163
Or who laid the corner-stone thereof,
When the morning stars sang together,
And all the sons. of God shouted for joy?
Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth,
As if it had issued out of the womb?
When I made the cloud the garment thereof,
And thick darkness a swaddling band for it,
And brake up for it my decreed place,
And set bars and doors,
And said, Hitherto shalt thou come but no further:
And here shall thy proud waves be stayed?"
In this address out of the whirlwind there is first a
setting forth of the most striking features and phenom
ena of the physical world and of the mysteries of crea
tion : The wonders of the earth and the heavens, and the
marvels of God's animal creation : the lion and the raven,
the goats and the hinds, the wild ass, the wild ox, the
ostrich, the war horse, the eagle, and the hawk. Each
one is wonderful and mysterious. Could Job contend
with God in such creative power 1 Then since Job ques
tions the principles of God's rule, he is ironically invited
to govern the world himself. He is told that it will re
quire omnipotence :
"Hast thou an arm like God
And canst thou thunder with a voice like him?"
Besides, there are two monsters, the Behemoth and the
Leviathan; Job must try his hand at conquering them.
There is here a most lively and picturesque account of
these giant monsters. After he has seen this dazzling
panorama of the great and powerful phenomena of Jeho
vah's marvelous universe, Job stands abashed. He cries
out:
"I know that thou canst do all things
And that no purpose of thine can be restrained.
I had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear;
But now mine eyes seeth thee;
Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."
We are not to understand that Job really repents. He
has nothing to repent of. Let his sufferings be presented
to him as a mystery, he can submit and trust ; but if they
are charged to him as punishment for sin, he revolts
against the injustice.

164 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

THE EPILOGUE
Job having humbled himself before God, is restored to
a prosperity twofold that which he enjoyed before. He
is commanded to intercede for his three friends lest pun
ishment for their folly be visited upon them, because
they spoke not that which was right concerning Jehovah.
In Job 's prosperity his friends who had stood aloof, come
back to him to comfort him and to greet him with gifts of
gold. But his blessings do not end with the restoration
of his property and his friends. His home is made
happy by the return of his children, seven stalwart sons
and three fair daughters. In all the land no women were
found so fair as the daughters of Job. So worthy were
they that he disregards the Hebrew practice and gives
them an inheritance, even though he has seven sons.
With his children of three generations about him he lives
in happiness for one hundred and forty years, and dies,
being old and full of days.
The Problem op the Book and the Solutions
Offered.
The real problem of the Book of Job is, Why must the
righteous man endure suffering? Four answers are
given. The Prologue seems to indicate that suffering is
the test of goodness. Satan sneeringly declares that Job
is righteous because it is easy for him to be so in the
midst of presperity; and Jehovah permits a test to be
made to determine whether Job's piety is of the commer
cial sort or of the disinterested kind. Suffering is the
means by which this question is to be determined.
The second solution is presented by the three friends in
the extended debate. Their thesis is that suffering is a
punishment for sin; that the very character and
righteousness of God are involved in the thesis.
The new factor which Elihu adds to the discussion is
that suffering is one of the voices by which God warns
men against their sins and seeks to restore them to
righteous living.
The solution offered by the Voice out of the Whirlwind

A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF JOB 165
is that the whole Universe is an unfathomed and
unfathomable mystery. The good is as mysterious as the
evil. The greatness and grandeur of the Universe with
its secret and uncontrollable forces should teach man that
there are problems which he can not solve, questions
which must remain unanswered. The proper attitude
for one to take in the presence of such mystery is one of
humility and trustfulness. The Voice teaches this and
does, in fact, induce in Job such a state of mind.
Another teaching of the book is that a man should
stand for his honest convictions at all hazards ; that he
should go wherever his search for truth leads him. The
unyielding integrity of Job that could even reproach God
when his rule in the world seemed unjust, was more
acceptable than the servile adoration of the three friends
who sought to twist the truth in order to justify God.

CHAPTER XIV
THE SONG OP SONGS
There has always been much difference of opinion as
to the proper interpretation of The Song of Songs,
among both Jewish and Christian scholars. The subject
is evidently love, but the manner of dealing with the sub
ject is obscure. It seems evident, too, that the poem is in
the form of dialogue, but who the speakers are and how
the lines are distributed among them has always been a
matter of controversy. An interpretation that has been
given prominence in late years by the German scholar,
Budde, is that the book is not a drama at all but consists
of a series of lyric idyls or marriage songs. This critic
explains that even to-day there is a Syrian custom of cele
brating weddings by such ceremonies as are presented in
this poem. The celebration lasts seven days, which are
called "The King's Week," because the young groom
and his bride seated on a kind of throne erected for them
on a threshing floor, as a place of honor, play the parts of
king and queen and receive the homage of a large com
pany of their relatives and friends. The ceremonies con
sist partly of marriage songs accompanied by dances,
participated in by the wedding attendants, a chorus of
men and women, and the young pair themselves.
While it may be that these customs explain the song,
while it is possible thus to divide it into dramatic lyrics
and regard them as a suite of wedding songs, it is possi
ble, also, and more interesting to look upon it as a drama.
It is so considered in the following study. There are two
views of the poem as a drama. According to one of
these, the traditional view, there are but two main char
acters by whom the dialogue is sustained, King Solo
mon and a Shulamite maiden of whom he is enamored.
According to the other view, there are three principal
166

THE SONG OF SONGS 167
characters, King Solomon, the Shulamite maiden, and
her shepherd lover. The second view is more pleasing
and gives a more satisfactory meaning to the poem.
Brief Synopsis of the Story: A beautiful Shulamite
maiden, surprised by the king and his train on a royal
progress in the north of Palestine, has been taken to the
camp and afterwards brought to the king's palace in
Jerusalem. The king hopes to persuade her to exchange
her rustic home in the north for the honor and enjoy
ments which a court life could afford. She has, how
ever, already pledged her heart to a young shepherd, and
the admiration and blandishments which the king lav
ishes upon her are powerless to make her forget her
lover. All the promised luxury and honors can not
induce her to prove unfaithful to her vows to the humble
shepherd lover. In the end she is allowed to return to
her mountain home, where at the close of the poem, the
lovers appear hand in hand, and express in warm and
glowing words the superiority of genuine, spontaneous,
innocent affection over that which may be purchased by
wealth or rank. Interpretation op the Poem.
The drama opens in north Palestine. Solomon and his
court have come up from Jerusalem and are encamped
among the hills of Galilee. The officers of the king have
come upon a beautiful, sunburnt peasant girl who is in
charge of a vineyard. They are struck with her beauty
and are sure that Solomon would be pleased to add her to
his harem. We learn afterwards that she has had a hard
time at her home ; she is apparently living with her step
mother and her stepbrothers are harsh in their treatment
of her. We learn that she has become betrothed to a
peasant in the vicinity and looks upon her betrothal as
sacred and binding. So her faithfulness is in no wise
disturbed by the proffered honor of entering the king's
harem, an honor that was gladly accepted by Bathsheba
and Esther.
In the first scene the Shulamite is presented in a mood
of loneliness longing for the caresses of her absent lover

168 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
and complaining that she is detained at the royal encamp
ment against her will. She inquires eagerly where her
lover may be found, and the court ladies reply ironically
that she should go forth and feed her kids by the shep
herds' tents (verse 8). In the next scene Solomon seeks
to win the love of the maiden but she parries his compli
ments by speaking of her shepherd lover and by giving
reminiscences of the rural scenes from which she has been
taken. In the next scene she speaks to the court ladies
recounting to them an incident in her past life in which
she praises the kindness and love of her betrothed :
"As the apple tree among the trees of the wood,
So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down under his shadow with great delight,
And his fruit was sweet to my taste.
He brought me to the banqueting-house,
And his banner over me was love."
She reminds the court ladies that love is an affection that
comes spontaneously and should not be aroused artifi
cially. She makes an impassioned plea to them to let
innocent, natural love have its way. This plea is made
three times in the drama and may well be taken to
express its central idea :
"I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roes and the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up nor awaken love
Until it please."
In the first scene of the second act (11:8-17), the
Shulamite tells of a visit which her lover paid to her in
her rural home in the springtime, and of the beautiful
spring song he sang to her :
"My beloved spake and said unto me,
Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past;
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is eome,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;
The fig tree ripeneth her green figs,
And the vines are in blossom;
They give forth their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my fair one, come away.

THE SONG OF SONGS 169
0 my dove, that art in the clefts of the rocks,
In the covert of the steep place,
Let me see thy countenance,
Let me hear thy voice;
For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is oomely."
She reaffirms her devotion to her lover and wishes that
the end of their separation may be near :
"My beloved is mine, and I am his:
He feedeth his flock among the lilies.
Until the day be cool, and the shadows flee away,
Turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart
Upon the mountains of Bether."
In the second scene of this act the Shulamite narrates
a dream which she has had since she has been with the
royal company. She had seemed to go through the city
in search of her absent lover and to her joy she found
him. The dream reflects her waking feelings and the
recital of it to the ladies of the chorus is the poet's
method of making known her emotions. This scene
closes appropriately with a repetition of the appeal to the
daughters of Jerusalem :
"I adjure you, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem,
By the roes and by the hinds of the field,
That ye stir not up, nor awaken love
Until it please."
The scene now changes (act 3, sc. 1) . Solomon and his
court have come back to Jerusalem, bringing the beauti
ful Shulamite maiden with them. He will cure her of
her love for the shepherd by separation ; besides he will
dazzle her with the grand ceremony of their entrance
into Jerusalem so that she may appreciate the honor
awaiting her if she yields and becomes the king 's bride.
In the second scene of the third act (IV: 1-7), Solomon
tries to win the maiden by profuse flattery.
"Behold thou art fair, my love ; Behold, thou art fair ;
Thine eyes are as doves behind thy veil.
Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet,
And thy mouth is comely.
Thou art all fair, my love ;
And there is no spot in thee."

170 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The next scene, consisting of the remaining verses of
chapter four and the first verse of chapter five, presents
an ideal interview between the Shulamite and her absent
lover. She recites to the court ladies an imaginary invi
tation from her lover and her reply, followed by his
grateful response. In scene four of this act she relates a
dream of the past night (V:2-8). While she slept she
thought she heard the footsteps of her lover outside;
he bade her open the door ; she delayed ; he went away ;
she rose up and followed him ; the watchmen took her for
an evil woman and wounded her. She wakes and finds
that it was but a fearful dream, yet the memory of it
haunts her and impels her to make a fresh avowal of her
love. "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
If ye find my love,
That ye tell him that I am sick of love,"
The first scene of the fourth act (to VI: 3) is a dia
logue between the Shulamite and the daughters of Jeru
salem respecting her lover. They are surprised at her
persistent refusal of the king and her unfailing devotion
to her absent lover, and they question her :
"What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
O thou fairest among women?
What is thy beloved more than another beloved,
That thou dost so adjure us?"
She replies in an enraptured description of her lover..
The portrait is strained, perhaps to us a little crude, but
we must make allowance for Oriental imagery :
"My beloved is white and ruddy,
The chiefest among ten thousand.
His head is as the most fine gold;
His locks are bushy, and black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves beside the water-brooks,
Washed with milk and fitly set.
His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
As banks of sweet herbs:
His lips are as lilies, dropping liquid myrrh.
His hands are as rings of gold set with beryl:
His body is as ivory work overlaid with sapphires.
His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold.
His aspect is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

THE SONG OF SONGS 171
His mouth is most sweet;
Yea, he is altogether lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
0 daughters of Jerusalem."
This glowing portrait evidently pleases the ladies of the
court for they ask that they may be permitted to aid her
in seeking for him.
In the second scene (VI : 4-13) Solomon again appears
and renews his attempts to win the affections of the
'Shulamite maiden by praising her beauty and promising
her the exceptional honor of being made the head of the
harem, the chief of them all :
"There are three score queens and four score concubines,
And virgins without number.
My dove, my unde tiled, is but one;
The daughters saw her, and called her blessed;
Yea, the queens and the concubines, they praised her."
The king then recalls the occasion when he first met the
Shulamite in the nut orchard and repeats the conversa
tion which he then heard between her and the ladies of
the court, beginning with their greeting to her :
"Who is this that looketh forth as the morning,
Fair as the moon,
Clear as the sun,
Terrible as an army with banner?"
Scene three (VII: 1-9) gives an account of Solomon's
request that the beautiful maiden dance before him. As
she dances he praises her nimble feet, her graceful move
ments, and her beautiful form in words of warm effusive
ness, hoping by this flattery to win her favor. Her
answer is the same old reply of unswerving devotion to
her shepherd lover :
"I am my beloved's;
And his desire is toward me.
Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the fields;
Let us lodge in the villages;
Let us go up early to the vineyard;
Let us see whether the vine hath budded,
And its blossom is open,
And the pomegranates are in flower:
There will I give thee my love.

172 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
The mandrakes give forth fragrance;
And at our doors are all manner of precious fruits, new and old
Which 1 have laid up for thee, 0 my beloved."
We may imagine that she speaks these lines with peculiar
emphasis as this is her last repulse of the king. She con
cludes her answer with the repetition of the refrain of
the drama :
"I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem,
That ye stir not up, nor awaken my love,
Until it please."
In the closing scene (act 5, sc. 1) love has won. The
maiden returns from Jerusalem leaning on the arm of
her shepherd lover. They are welcomed by the shep
herds of Shulem and the Shulamite maiden points out to
her lover the dear scenes of his early life and of their
courtship, and sings to him a song of the irresistible
power of true love :
"Set me as a seal upon thy heart,
As a seal upon thy arm:
For love is stronger than death;
Jealousy is cruel as the grave;
The flashes thereof are flashes of fire,
A very flame of Jehovah.
Many waters can not quench love,
Neither can the floods drown it:
If a man would give all the substance of his house for love,
He would utterly be contemned."
The two step-brothers of the Shulamite maiden are pres
ent, and looking upon her with suspicion, they speak of
their former plans for her welfare. She answers them
declaring that she has fulfilled their best expectations.
The lover asks for a song and she responds as they go
hand in hand over the well-remembered hills.
Comment.
It will have been seen that the Song lends itself to
dramatic interpretation although it is true that much of
the poetry in the book is lyrical in character. There is
dialogue, action, and character presentation, constituting
a rudimentary kind of plot. There is not the chronologi-

THE SONG OF SONGS 173
cal sequence nor the regular development of the ordinary
drama ; in fact, in several passages the speakers acquaint
the hearers with incidents of their previous lives by
introducing passages supposed to have been spoken at
times before the drama opens. This is a somewhat
unusual device ; but any drama must have some devices
more or less artificial.
Some critics have thought that the poem is out of place
in the Bible unless it ia given an allegorical meaning.
But surely it is possible to teach lessons of beauty and
righteousness without telling the reader over and over
again that he must not forget the moral of the story.
That story is worthy which presents well the moral
forces of life. Here we have a story of the battle
between love and ambition, and love is put first; it is
made to come off victor ; so pure love will always be tri
umphant over the allurements of vanity, splendor, and
power. We are shown that genuine love is spontaneous ;
it can not be purchased ; it can not be quenched by many
waters. Even King Solomon can not buy love; it is a
gift of God himself and is, therefore, to be held sacred.
Of the beautiful poetry of the Song Canon Driver
writes: "The poetry of the Song is exquisite. The
movement is graceful and light ; the imagery is beautiful,
and singularly picturesque, and the author revels among
the delights of the country, one scene after another is
brought before us — doves hiding in the clefts of the
rocks or resting beside the water-brooks, gazelles leaping
over the mountains or feeding among the lilies, goats
reclining on the sloping hills of Gilead; trees with their
varied foliage ; flowers with bright hues or richly scented
perfume are ever supplying the poet with fresh picture
or comparison ; we seem to walk with the shepherd-lover
himself among the vineyards and fig trees in the balmy
air of spring, or to see the fragrant, choicely furnished
garden which the charms of his betrothed called up
before his imagination."

BOOKS OUTSIDE THE CANON

CHAPTER XV
the old testament apocrypha
The word Apocrypha means literally "secret" or
"hidden," and was applied first to books or manuscripts
laid away because they were'worn out or were defective.
Later the term was used to designate books defective in
orthodoxy, and this is its meaning to-day when applied
to the non-canonical books of the Old Testament. The
Hebrews declare that there are only thirty-nine authentic
books in the Old Testament, and that they were written
in Hebrew and at a time long before the non-canonical
ones were written. It is clear that the apocryphal books
were, with the exception of a few parts, written origi
nally in Greek. Altogether there are at least forty apoc
ryphal books of the Old Testament, but only fourteen of
these books and parts of books are accepted to-day by the
Roman Catholic Church as belonging to the canonical
Scriptures. It is evident that these fourteen and a few
others were ranked as sacred writings in the early cen
turies of the Christian era because in the copies of the
Septuagint Bible dating from the fourth century, these
apocryphal books are mingled indiscriminately with the
other books, Second Chronicles being followed by Esdras
1 and 2 ; Nehemiah, by Tobit and Judith ; and the Song
of Solomon, by Ecclesiasticus and The Wisdom of Solo
mon. The following are the fourteen separate parts of
the Apocrypha as found in the Roman Catholic canon :
Esdras 1 : made up mainly of extracts from 2 Chroni
cles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Its original part is a legend
of a trial of wisdom in debate between Zerubbabel and
two other young men before Darius, king of Persia.
Esdras 2: apocalyptic literature, the message being in
the form of visions. These visions appeared to Ezra
177

178 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
through the medium of the angel Uriel in the thirtieth
year after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans.
The Book of Tobit: it contains a narrative of the piety,
misfortunes, and final prosperity of Tobit, an exile in
Nineveh. The Book of Judith: it relates the exploits of Judith,
a Jewish widow distinguished alike for her beauty, cour
age, and devotion to her country. She killed Holof ernes,
general of Nebuchadnezzar, and freed Bethulia in Judea.
Additions to the Book of Esther: these consist of six
chapters, and nine additional verses added to chapter 10.
The Wisdom of Solomon: Solomon being to the
ancient Hebrews the representative of all wisdom, the
author of this book personates Solomon and speaks in his
name. Ecclesiasticus: the Greek title is "The Wisdom of
Sirach." It is a copious book, rich in its content,
embracing the whole domain of practical wisdom.
Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah: this book is
formed after the model of Jeremiah, and is ascribed to
his friend Baruch.
Three additions to the Book of Daniel: the Song of
the Three Holy Children in the Fiery Furnace ; The His
tory of Susanna ; and the Story of Bel and the Dragon.
The first is found in the third chapter of Daniel and is a
song of some power and beauty. The two other parts are
discussed at some length later in this chapter.
The Prayer of Manasses: this is given as a prayer by
Manasses, king of Judah, when he was a captive in
Babylon. Maccabees 1: this book is a narrative of the long and
bloody struggle of the Jews under their Maccabean
leaders against their Assyrian oppressors.
Maccabees 2: this book opens with two letters purport
ing to have been written by the Jews of Palestine to their
brethren in Egypt. To these letters is appended an
epitome of the live books of Jason of Cyrene, containing
the history of the Maccabean struggle from about 180
b. c. to 161 b. c.
The limits of this chapter will not allow a discussion of
all these books, interesting as they are. But brief

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 179
accounts will be given of Ecclesiasticus, Susanna, Bel
and the Dragon, Judith and Tobit.
Ecclesiasticus.
This book may be said to be intermediate between the
exclusive Jewish thought and the thought of the Gentile
world ; intermediate also between sacred and secular lit
erature. The date of Ecclesiasticus is about 200 b. c.
In its structure it is divided into four books ; all four rich
in thought. There is vigor and vim, a clearness and
force that is refreshing. The thoughtful and beautiful
monologue on Wisdom in Ecclesiastes finds a parallel
here in the preface to the second book. Wisdom is de
scribed as the breath of the Most High, as covering the
earth like a mist, throned in the pillared cloud, moving
in loneliness over the circling heavens and the bottomless
abyss, until the Creator bids her take up her tabernacle
in Jacob.
In the wisdom literature of the canonical Bible special
attention is given to the sluggard ; at him a multitude of
maxims are aimed; but in this book the fool takes the
place of the sluggard. ' ' Lay not thyself down for a fool
to tread on." "The heart of fools is in their mouth;
but the mouth of the wise is in their heart." "He
that teaches a fool is as one that glueth a potsherd
together." These are good examples of the terse and
trenchant sayings of the book. Others are: "Seven
days are the days of mourning for the dead ; but for a
fool and an ungodly man, all the days of his life ;" "The
heart of a fool is as a cart wheel and his thoughts like a
rolling axletree."
We are taught the evils of pride and vanity: "Glory
not in the putting on of raiment and exalt not thyself
in the day of honor." "Commend not a man for his
beauty, and abhor not a man for his outward appear
ance ; the bee is little among such as fly, and her fruit is
the chief of sweet-meats."
The proverbs of all nations are full of advice concern
ing the use of the tongue. It is said to be the most
unruly, the most dangerous of all the members of the

180 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
body. The son of Sirach tells us : "A slip on the pave
ment is better than a slip with the tongue ; so the fall of
the wicked shall come speedily." "A lie is a foul blot in
a man ; it will be continually in the mouth of the ignor
ant." "A thief is better than a man that is continually
lying." "A whisperer defileth his own soul,
And shall be hated wheresoever he sojourneth."
"Many have fallen by the edge of the sword ;
Yet not so many as they that have fallen by the tongue."
There is a very charming sentence about friendship:
"A faithful friend is a medicine of life." In speaking
further of friendship the wise man says : ' ' Sweet words
will multiply a man 's friends, and a fair-speaking tongue
will multiply courtesies. Let those that are at peace
with thee be many, but thy counselors, one of a
thousand. ' '
There are some exquisitely naive suggestions on table
manners. The one at table is advised not to be greedy,
not to reach across the table, not to fall over himself in
the dish when he dips for anything. "Stretch not thy
hand whithersoever it looketh, and thrust not thyself
with it into the dish." "Consider thy neighbor's liking
by thine own." "If thou sittest among many, reach not
out thy hand before them." "Be first to leave off for
manner's sake." We are told, too, that it is very bad
manners to talk while music is going on: "Hinder not
music ; pour not out talk where there is a performance of
music." The topic of woman is variously treated. The wise
man assumes a lordly superiority over women in general.
He considers all women as available but not all equally
worth having. "A woman will receive any man; but
one daughter is better than another, ' ' he declares. Still
he says graceful and good things about woman and her
influence over man : "Forego not a wise and good wife,
for her grace is above gold." Yet he charges that "All
malice is but little to the malice of a woman." Evi
dently a woman of few words is to his liking: "As the
going up a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 181
wife full of words to a quiet man"; and yet more
strongly: "A silent woman is a gift from the Lord."
He would encourage her in self-control: "Hast thou
heard a word ? let it die with thee : be of good courage, it
will not burst thee." The -words on filial duty are par
ticularly beautiful :
My son, help thy father in his old age; and grieve him not as
long as he liveth. And if he fail in understanding, have patience
with him; and dishonor him not while thou art in thy full
strength. For the relieving of thy father shall not be forgotten;
and instead of sins it shall be added to build thee up In the
day of thine affliction it shall remember thee; as fair weather
upon ice, so shall thy sins also melt away. He that forsaUeth
his father is as a blasphemer; and he that provoketh his mother
is cursed of the Lord.
The teachings of this book of wisdom do not square
with modern ideas of child training. Evidently the son
of Sirach did not believe in the modern "flowery beds of
ease" theory of education. Here is his blunt dictum:
"Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat him on the
sides while he is a child, lest he wax stubborn and dis
obedient unto thee. ' '
It may not be intentional, but the Bible appears to
poke fun at the physicians. In II Chronicles XVI : 12,
we have these words : "And Asa in the thirty and ninth
year of his reign was diseased in his feet until his disease
was exceeding great; yet in his disease he sought not to
the Lord, but to the physicians." There is a full stop in
the story and the next paragraph begins: "And Asa
slept with his fathers." No comment is necessary. The
son of Sirach says, "Honor a physician according to the
need of him with honors due unto him; for verily the
Lord hath created him" — as if there were some doubt
about it. But the most unkindest cut of all is given
when the wise man is seeking for some peculiar punish
ment to inflict upon the very wicked man. This is his
decree : "He that sinneth before his Maker, let him fall
into the hands of the physician. ' '
THE STORY OP SUSANNA
Daniel is the hero of the History of Susanna. His
shrewdness discovers a plan to thwart the wicked con-

182 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
spiraey against the good name and life of Susanna.
Susanna was the wife of Joacim, a wealthy Babylonian
Jew, and was a most beautiful woman. Her husband
had a fair garden adjoining his house, and here she was
accustomed to walk daily. Two of the ancients of the
people, who were judges, came regularly to the house of
Joacim to try the causes that were referred to them.
They saw the beautiful Susanna go .into the garden often,
and "they were both wounded with her love." At last
when they found her alone in the garden they made
shameless proposals to her but she repulsed them in
scorn. Her outcry brought about the discovery of the
two elders and they, in order to save themselves, publicly
accused Susanna of adultery with a young man whom
they said they found in the garden. She was tried and
condemned to death. When the time of execution came
Susanna cried out with a loud voice and said, ' ' 0, ever
lasting God, that knowest the secrets and knowest all
things before they be, thou knowest that they have borne
false witness against me, and behold I must die ; whereas
I never did such things as these men have maliciously
invented against me."
Then Daniel appeared and declared to the people that
if they would return again to the place of judgment he
would show them that Susanna had been condemned by
false witnesses. They all returned and Daniel demanded
that the two witnesses should be separated for the exam
ination. He examined them thus separately and found
that their stories did not agree. So Susanna's life was
saved and the two elders were put to death. It is de
clared that from that day forth Daniel had great repu
tation among the people.
BEL AND THE DRAGON
The story of Bel and the Dragon is another account
of Daniel and his wisdom, and his success in the detec
tion of deceit and wrong. The scene is laid in the days
of Cyrus the Great of Persia, when he ruled in Babylon.
The frauds practiced by the priests of the god Bel are
not very deep or mysterious. The story is no doubt
founded upon facts as the deception practiced here is

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 183
one of the simplest of many that the priests of the old
religions made use of to mystify the people in their
ignorance. King Cyrus and the Babylonians worshiped a great
idol, Bel, and presented to him every day offerings of
twelve great measures of fine flour, forty sheep and six
vessels of wine. Daniel refused to worship this god and
told Cyrus that it was clay within and brass without,
and did never eat or drink anything. So the king called
together the priests and told them that unless they could
show him who devoured these gifts their lives should
pay the penalty. But if they could certify that Bel did
really eat the offerings, then Daniel should die. So the
tables were covered with offerings and the temple door
was shut and sealed with the king's seal.
In the morning Daniel and the king went to the temple
and found the seals unbroken. As soon as they had
opened the door, the king looked upon the table and
cried with a loud voice, "Great art thou, 0 Bel, and with
thee is no deceit at all!" Then Daniel laughed and
holding the king back from going in, said, ' ' Behold now
the pavement and mark well whose footsteps are these."
For Daniel had before this time caused the floor of the
temple to be strewn with fine ashes, so that when the
seventy priests and their families came into the temple
by a private door, as was their custom, and went about
helping themselves to all the good things presented, they
made tracks on the floor everywhere. When the king
saw the footsteps and knew that he had been deceived,
he was very angry. He put the priests to death and
delivered over the idol and temple into the hands of
Daniel and he destroyed them.
In the same place there was a great dragon which the
Babylonians worshiped. Daniel told the king that he
could slay this dragon without sword or staff, and the
king gave him leave. Then Daniel took pitch and fat
and hair, and seethed them together and made them into
lumps which he put into the dragon's mouth; and when
they were swollen the dragon burst asunder; and Dan
iel said: "Lo, these be the gods ye worship." And
when the people learned of all these, doings of Daniel

184 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
and that the king's sympathy was with him, they de
manded that he should be given into their hands else
they would destroy the king. So the king gave up Dan
iel to them and they cast him into a den where there
were seven lions, and there he remained six days. Now
there was a man in Jewry whose name was Habbacuc
who one day was taking dinner out to the reapers in the
field, and the angel of the Lord took him by the hair of
his head and set him down in Babylon over the den of
lions, and he gave the food to Daniel. On the seventh
day the king came to look in the den. When he found
Daniel alive he was greatly surprised. He drew him
out and thrust his accusers into the den, where they
were devoured at once.
THE STORY OF JUDITH
The story of Judith is somewhat like that of Jael, the
slayer of Sisera, though there is more of the heroic in
the latter story. Judith, the heroine, is a much more
¦admirable character than Jael, the wife of Heber. She
shows the same spirit that has immortalized Joan of Arc.
A Spartan mother said to her son who complained that
his sword was too short, "Add a step to it." "Return
with your shield or on it, ' ' said another Spartan mother
to the boy she was sending to the field. There is no sex
in heroism. Among the hundreds of noble heroines
whose names adorn the pages of history Judith deserves
a high place.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Nebuchodonosor,
who reigned in Nineveh, the great city, he sent out a
proclamation that the countries to the west should send
troops to him to assist him in his war against Arphaxad,
the king of Ecbatane. Some of the western countries
refused to respond to this levy. So when the king
had defeated Arphaxad he sent his armies against the
western nations to punish them for their disobedience.
These armies he put under the charge of his chief cap
tain, Holofernes, who attacked the city of Bethulia
where the Israelites were shut up for safety. He soon
cut off their supplies and left them destitute. So great
was their distress that the people began to clamor for

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 185
peace with the Assyrians, declaring that they had rather
die by the sword than of starvation and thirst. The
governors of the city promised the people that if they
would agree to hold out five days longer they should
have' their wish, unless help should come in the mean
time. Now when Judith, who was a widow of goodly
countenance and beautiful to behold, heard the promises
made to the people, she called together the rulers of the
city and said, "Hear me, and I will do a thing which
shall go throughout all generations to the children of our
nation. Ye shall stand this night in the gate, and I will
go forth with my waiting woman, and within the days
that ye have promised to deliver the city to our enemies
the Lord will visit Israel by my hand. But inquire ye
not of mine act; for I will not declare it unto you, till
the things be finished that I do."
So Judith went forth from the city to the Assyrian
camp having put on all her ornaments and decked herself
bravely to allure the eyes of all the men that should see
her. When she reached the camp of Holofernes she told
the guards that she had fled from Bethulia to save her
life, for she felt sure that the Hebrews would be defeated.
So beautiful was she and such an impression did she
make that the soldiers formed a triumphal procession to
conduct her to the tent of their general. Holofernes set
aside for her a lovely tent close to his own and here she
remained four days except that she had received per
mission to go beyond the Assyrian camp toward Bethulia
every night at midnight to offer prayer. This she did in
preparation for the strategy which she was to use later.
On the fourth day Holofernes invited Judith to a
feast in his tent. At the end of the feast they two were
left alone in the tent. Holofernes was then so drunk
that he was lying on the bed in a stupor. The statement
is made that he had drunk more that day than he had
ever drunk in any day in all his life. Judith had com
manded her maid to stand outside the tent to await her
coming for their journey to the accustomed place of
prayer. Then she seized the sword of Holofernes which
was hanging at the head of his bed, took hold of the hair
of his head, and-praying for strength, smote twice upon

186 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
his neck and cut off his head. She tumbled his body
down from the bed, put his head in the bag in which she
was accustomed to carry her food, and left the camp as if
to pray at the accustomed place. But she did not stop
to pray ; she went on to the 'city of Bethulia and with
great joy informed the rulers of the city of what she had
done. The Israelites formed their companies for attack
and at once fell upon the Assyrian camp. The Assyri
ans resisted bravely at first but when they went to rouse
their general that he might lead them, they found his
headless body on the floor of the tent ; then panic seized
them and they fled in disorder and there followed a great
slaughter. After the victory all the people of Israel came unto
Judith, blessed her with one accord, and said unto her,
Thou art the exaltation of Jerusalem, thou art the great glory
of Israel, thou art the rejoicing of our nation.
Then all the women of Israel ran together to see
Judith and blessed her and made a dance among them for
her. They put a garland of olives upon her and her
maid that was with her; then she went before all the
people in the dance, leading all the women; and all the
men of Israel followed in their armor with garlands and
with songs in their mouths.
The Book op Tobit
The scene of the action in Tobit is in Nineveh. The
characters are Tobit, a pious Hebrew, Anna, his wife,
Tobias their son, a young man Raphael, an angel;
Raguel, Tobit 's cousin of Media, Sarah his daughter, a
beautiful maiden, and Edna his wife. Ruth is a story of
great sweetness and simple power; Esther is a thrilling
story that grips the attention ; but Tobit is a tale which,
in its naive simplicity, surpasses them both. It is a story
of marvelous providences, supernatural happenings, and
angelic ministrations; of faithful devotion to religious
duty, and simple, loving family life.
The first part of the story is told by the father, Tobit,
with simple profuseness. He had always been obedient

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 187
to the laws of his people, and now that he is a captive in
a foreign land he does not forget his religious obligations
nor his duty to his poor brethren. He risks his life time
and again by burying those of his brethren who have
fallen victims to the cruel tyrants under whom they live.
One night while he was sleeping in the open air because
of uncleanness from burying a murdered brother He
brew, his eyes were blinded by sparrow's dung falling
from the tree under which he slept. His blindness ren
ders him helpless and he must depend upon his nephew
and the labor of his wife Anna for his support. Tobit
in his helplessness becomes irritable and quarrels with
Anna who reproaches him declaring that his blindness
has come upon him on account of his sins. He is deeply
humiliated by such accusations and prays that he may
die ; but before he leaves the world he must settle up his
affairs and he remembers that once when he was an exile
from Nineveh he left a sum of money in a city of Media
in charge of a friend. This he must have ; so he calls to
him his son Tobias and, after giving him the customary
fatherly advice, directs him to go to Media to get this
sum of money. They look for a guide, and a young man
calling himself Azarias offers his services. To this guide
Tobit commits his son.
On their way the two travelers stop by the river Tigris
and when the young man goes down to the river to wash
himself a great fish leaps up out of the water and at
tempts to swallow the youth. But Azarias, who was
really the angel Raphael, cried to him to grapple the fish
boldly and cast it out on the land. This he did ; and at
the command of the angel he cut the fish open and took
out its heart, liver, and gall, and preserved them for
future use. Tobias was curious to know the value of
these parts of the fish which he had preserved; the
angel's reply was that a smoke made from the heart and
liver would drive away any evil spirit ; and that the gall
was a certain cure for blinded eyes.
When the two came near the town of Rages, the angel
told Tobias that he was going to find a wife for him there,
Sarah the daughter of a kinsman. Now Tobias was not
very well pleased with the idea of marrying Sarah, for he

188 MASTERING THE BOOKS OF THE BIBLE
had heard that she had already married seven husbands
and that each one in turn was found dead in the bride-
chamber. He pleaded that he was the only son of his
father and did not like to run such a great risk. The
explanation of the violent death of the seven husbands
was that a devil was in love with Sarah and killed every
man that married her.
At last the two travelers arrived at the home of Raguel
and were received most kindly. The story sets forth in a
very charmng way the greetings given the visitors, the
inquiries about the homes of the young men, and about
Tobit and Anna in Ninevah. Few stories have more
natural touches of love, sympathy, and pathos. When
Tobias looked upon Sarah he was so delighted with her
that he eagerly whispered to Azarias that he was per
fectly willing to run the risks that had so frightened him
at first and had proved so fatal to the unfortunate seven,
and asked him to speak to the family of his wishes. All
arrangements were made in a short time and they were
married that night. It was Sarah's fond hope that
Tobias would redeem her from the power of the evil
spirit that tormented her. Azarias instructed Tobias
that when he went to the bridal chamber he should put
the heart and liver of the fish on the incense plate and
make a smoke of them. He was obedient to his instruc
tions and when the devil smelled the smoke he fled into
the uttermost parts of Egypt and remained there, and
Sarah was freed from his malignant power.
Now, Raguel, Sarah's father, had become so accus
tomed to digging a grave and burying a victim on the
morning after each wedding that he went out this morn
ing and digged the eighth grave. He expected to bury
Tobias alongside his seven other sons-in-law. But the
maidservant sent on a mission of inquiry, brought the
welcome news that Tobias was alive and well ; and with
great satisfaction Raguel filled up the new-made grave.
After the wedding feast was over Tobias and Sarah and
Azarias all went back to Nineveh to the home of Tobit.
Tobit and Anna had become very much alarmed at the
protracted stay of Tobias and so were overjoyed when
they saw him coming. As soon as he had embraced his

THE OLD TESTAMENT APOCRYPHA 189
father he applied a portion of the gall of the fish which
he had preserved, to his blinded eyes and they were
restored to sight at once. Tobit was so pleased with the
results of the journey of Tobias that he offered Azarias
the guide, a large reward for his services. Then it was
that Azarias declared that he was Raphael, one of the
seven holy angels, and had undertaken this service
because Tobit had shown himself to be a pious and devout
man. The father and son were so troubled when they
knew that they were in the presence of an angel that they
fell upon their faces, and when they arose the angel was
gone. Then Tobit uttered this prayer of rejoicing :
"Let my soul bless God the great King,
For Jerusalem shall be builded with
Sapphires and emeralds and precious stones;
The walls and towers and battlements with pure gold.
And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with
Beryl and carbuncle and stones of Ophir.
And all her streets shall say, Hallelujah, and give praise,
Saying, Blessed Is God, which hath exalted thee forever."

APPENDIX

SECTION 1
GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE
In connection with his reading every student of the Bible .
should study a map of Palestine. Fairly good maps may be
found in most copies of the Bible, but the careful student
may desire one that is larger and more satisfactory. The
location of a great many places mentioned in the narratives
is a matter of conjecture because so many of the ancient
landmarks were obliterated centuries ago. It will be found,
therefore, that maps differ in their location of the division
lines of the tribal possessions, in the location of towns and of
other places of interest. This is the ease because too many
makers of maps rely to a considerable extent upon con
jecture in locating plaees that are obscurely referred to in
the text. But the maps usually found in Bibles are accurate
enough for all practical purposes, and are invaluable aids in
getting clear and definite mental pictures of the plaees and
events described. Before the student is able to read intelli
gently his knowledge of the geography of Palestine should
enable him to locate the countries which he on its borders;
the chief mountains, as Mt. Hermon, on the northern border;
Mt. Carmel, near the coast; Mt. Tabor, Mt. Gilboa, Mt. Ebal,
and Mt. Gerizim, near the center; Mt. Pisgah and Mt. Nebo,
northeast of the Dead Sea; and Mt. Sinai or Horeb, in
Arabia. He should be able to locate the chief towns, also,
as Dan, Jezreel, Dothan, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Bethel,
Jericho, Gibeon, Mizpah, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Gaza, and
Hebron. He should be able, too, to locate the homes of the
different tribes, as Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe Manas-
seh, east of the Jordan; Ephraim, in the center of the west-
Jordan country, with Manasseh on its northern and Dan
and Benjamin on its southern border; Judah, south of Ben
jamin, and Asher and Naphtali, in the far north.
If by the name Palestine we mean the land of Israel's
history, it is not possible to think of fixed boundaries; but
the traditional boundaries are pretty well defined. Palestine
is a country of southwestern Asia, comprising the southern
portion of Syria, and bounded on the west by the Mediter-
193

194 APPENDIX
ranean Sea, on the north by the mountain ranges of Le
banon, and on the south and east by the desert. The area is
10,000 square miles, West Palestine having 6,000 and East
Palestine, 4,000 square miles. Its length from the source
of the Jordan to Beersheba is 143 miles; to the city of
Kadesh Barnea, 187 miles. The width varies from 112 miles
at the south to 47 miles at the north. According to elevation
and character of surface, Palestine is divided into four re
gions or strips running north and south: the Maritime Plain,
the Central Range, the Jordan Valley, and the Eastern Range.
The first is a plain along the coast from five to twenty-five
miles wide. It is of marked fertility and includes the plains
of Esdraelon, Sharon, and Philistia. Adjoining the Phil
istine plain is the Shephelah, a hilly region which curves
round this plain from Gaza to Jaffa like a great amphitheater,
cut by three or four great gaps. It is a region of unusual
interest and importance in the history of Palestine and has
an elevation of from 500 to 1,500 feet above the level of the
sea. The Central Range, the backbone of the country, is really
a continuous range of hills and mountains, though broken by
cross-valleys. In the north are the uplands of Galilee, in the
center, the hills and plains of Samaria, and in the south, the
lofty highlands of Judea.
From the Central Range the descent east to the Jordan
Valley is very rapid. This valley is really a deep gorge, the
deepest depression in the world. The Jordan river takes its
rise at the foot of Mt. Hermon, 705 feet above the level of
the sea, and flowing through Lake Merom and the Sea of
Genessaret empties into the Dead Sea. The length of the
channel from its source to its mouth is 250 miles, although
a straight course is only 135 miles. The fountain spring of the
Jordan is 705 feet above, while the Sea of Genessaret is 682
feet, and the Dead Sea, 1,292 feet below, sea level. The
Jordan Valley varies in width, character of surface, and fer
tility. In the north it is four miles wide and very fertile,
in the last part of its course it is fifteen miles wide, and
alkaline and arid. The Dead Sea basin is but the continuation
of the Jordan cleft, in fact, its deepest part. It is forty-
seven miles long and ten miles wide, and has a maximum
depth of 1,300 feet. To the east of the Jordan Valley rises
the east-Jordan plateau comprising the countries Edom, Moab,
Gilead, and Bashan. This plateau is about 150 miles long
from Mt. Hermon on the north to the south end of the Dead
Sea; its width from the edge of the Jordan Valley to the
edge of the desert, varies from thirty to eighty miles. The

GEOGRAPHY OF PALESTINE 195
elevation averages 2,000 feet above the level of the sea; so it
has a temperate climate. This region varies greatly in soil
and features but is in general hilly, well watered, and well
adapted to grazing.
Palestine is a land of great extremes in climate and natural
features. From the north to the south there is a difference
of elevation of 10,468 feet, Mt. Hermon in the north having
a height of 9,166 feet and the Dead Sea being 1,292 feet
below sea level. There is every kind of climate from the
sub-tropical of Jericho to the sub-Alpine of Lebanon. From
Mt. Carmel may be seen at one sweep all the intervening
climatic steps — the sands and plains of the coast, the wheat
fields of Esdraelon, the oaks and sycamores of Galilee, the
pines, peaks, and eternal snows of Hermon. In its physical
configuration Palestine is an epitome of the whole world.
The great variety of climate and natural features produces
a corresponding diversity in the plant and animal life. There
are said to be 113 species of mammals, 348 of birds, 91 of
reptiles and amphibia, and more than 3,000 kinds of flowering
plants. In many other ways Palestine is a land of contrasts. While
it is almost entirely shut off from the world outside the great
highways of the East pass through it. On the east and south
it is bordered by the desert like a great wall of insulation, on
the west by the almost unnavigable Mediterranean which offers
no great harbor on the whole coast of Palestine. Only on
the north is the land accessible though even there the moun
tains reach across like a natural bar. Within the land, also,
almost everywhere are mountains with deep, abrupt gorges,
making intercourse very difficult. This isolation naturally
developed individuality among the people and shielded them
from the influences of that great leveler, commerce.
But that nation ¦which has a great work to do in the world
must not only be protected from a weakening cosmopolitan
ism, it must be preserved from influences that would make it
narrow, stubborn, and inhospitable. Israel was preserved
from this danger, for while the land was insulated, it was at
the same time a great highway of world commerce. Indeed
all the ancient highways of trade ran through Palestine:
That primitive one from the Nile to the Euphrates, running
the entire length of Palestine and touching at Damascus; the
one connecting Tyre with the Arabian Gulf; another from
beyond Mesopotamia passing through Damascus, the plain of
Esdraelon, Samaria, Jerusalem, Beersheba, and on to Egypt;
and still that other one from Elath, on the Red Sea, running
north through Moab, Ammon, and Gilead to Damascus.

196 APPENDIX
Thus the inhabitants of Palestine were guaranteed the undis
turbed development of their individuality, while they caught
glimpses of the myriad-hued world as it swept past them in
caravans of commerce and armies of conquest.

SECTION 2
A BRIEF OUTLINE OP HEBREW HISTORY
Hebrew history before the Christian era may be divided
into nine general periods: (1) the period of the Patriarchs;
(2) the period of the Judges (  1037) ; (3) the United
Kingdom (1037-937) ; (4) the Divided Kingdom (937-586) ;
(5) the period of the Exile (586-538); (6) the Persian
period (538-332) ; (7) the Greek period (332-164) ; (8) the
Maccabean period (164-63) ; (9) the Roman period (63 b. c.
-400 A.D.).
1. The period of the Patriarchs can not be limited by any
exact dates; but about 1500 B.C. a party of emigrants from
Mesopotamia set out for Palestine under the leadership of
Abraham who had, a few years before, emigrated with his
father Terah from Chaldea. This pioneer hero, by his life,
established such standards of honor, righteousness, and faith
that his achievements have become the permanent possession
of the world and material for the ideals of the multitude of
his descendants. He was succeeded in leadership by his son
Isaac, Isaac by Jacob, and Jacob in turn by Joseph. The
long period of bondage in Egypt to which the Hebrews were
subjected after the time of Joseph was ended by Moses. His
work changed the character of the Hebrew commonwealth
and ushered in the regime of the Judges.
2. The period of the Judges extended to the organization of
the Kingdom under Saul. This may be called the age of
heroes. As men were needed they were raised up; for there
was an opportunity for the strongest and the fittest to come
to the front, such men as Othneil, Ehud, Gideon, Jephthah,
Samson, Samuel. These judges were military dictators with
religious authority, a sort of union of the warrior and the
religious reformer. The nation was unorganized and "every
man did that which was right in his own eyes."
3. The establishment of the Kingdom was not the result of
a sudden impulse. After Gideon's successful campaigns as
judge, the people wanted him to be king; Abimelech tried to
assume kingly authority; and many judges set up a semi-
royal state in imitation of the rulers of surrounding nations.

OUTLINE OF HEBREW HISTORY 197
The example of other peoples, worldly ambition, and their
satisfactory experiences under the wise, strong, and steady
rule of Samuel, convinced the Hebrews that they ought to
have a king. Saul was chosen king and ruled with indifferent
success. David succeeded him, extended the kingdom, and
gave strength and stability to the government. Under Solo
mon the Kingdom attained to great splendor outwardly, but
within were the seeds of revolt.
4. The death of Solomon was followed by the revolt of
Jeroboam and the division of the Kingdom. The people had
petitioned Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor for relief
from the burdens of taxation brought upon them by the splen
dor and extravagance of the government of Solomon. His an
swer to their petition was both foolish and insulting. So the
northern tribes threw off their allegiance and set up a new
kingdom with Jeroboam as their ruler. The northern king
dom was named Israel, the southern, Judah. The exact lines
of division are not known, but in the southern kingdom were
the old tribe of Judah and parts of two or three other
tribes, while the remainder of the people adhered to the
northern kingdom. The capital of the southern kingdom was
Jerusalem, of the northern kingdom, Shechem and Tirza, and
later Samaria. The government of Israel continued two hun
dred and sixteen years under nine dynasties of kings. Judah
lasted one hundred and thirty years longer and was ruled
by descendants of King David in direct succession, with the
exception of the time of Athaliah's usurpation.
5. Israel was conquered and the people carried into cap
tivity in the year 721 b. C. Judah was overcome and the
people taken into captivity in 586. Israel was carried off by
the Assyrians under Sargon; Judah by the Chaldeans under
Nebuchadnezzar. The people of Israel never returned to their
native land; but numbers of the people of Judah came back
and lived as a nation for many years, though the country
was subject to foreign rulers during most of its history. They
went into exile a nation, they returned a church; deprived
of political power, they developed their literature and codi
fied their laws. Their exile changed them in many ways.
They lost their language and many of their habits and char
acteristics. They were changed from farmers to merchants
and traders. Not all of the exiled Jews returned to Pales
tine. More than half of them remained in foreign lands and
formed "Ghettos" in the cities of the ancient world. These
expatriated people were later called the "Jews of the Dis
persion," or the "Grecian Jews."
6. The Persian period was an experiment of civic life for

198 APPENDIX
a subject people in their own land. They rebuilt their cap
ital and its temple, and lived under the rule of a Persian vice
roy, who was sometimes one of their own princes. In this
period Ezra promulgated a new edition of the law, Nehemiah
built the walls of Jerusalem, relieved the poor from oppres
sive financial burdens, and suppressed marriages with for
eigners. 7. Through the conquests of Alexander the Great, Judah
came under Greek rule. The Ptolemies of Alexandria held
control for over a century. They exercised both a political
and an intellectual influence. Alexandria became a great
center of Jewish thought and study, and constant intercourse
with Jerusalem strengthened Judaism in both regions. In the
year 203 b. c. Egyptian gave way to Syrian control under
Antioehus III. This change of rulers brought to the Jews a
change of treatment. The Syrian rulers undertook to com
pel them to renounce their religion. The temple was dese
crated and left to fall in ruins, and the Jewish worshippers
were tortured and slain in one of the most cruel persecutions
of all history. Because of the loyalty of the Jews to their
religion under the most inhuman persecutions, Antioehus de
termined to exterminate the whole nation. But the cruel
oppression of the Syrians caused a new epoch of heroism to
rise upon Israel.
8. The Maccabean period was a period of revolt against
Assyrian oppression and cruelty. A noble priest Mat-
tathias, in the year 167 b. c, unfurled the banner of inde
pendence and revolted from the Assyrian yoke. Five years
later his son and successor, the great Judas Maccabaeus,
recovered Jerusalem, purified the temple, and restored the
ancient religion. In the year 141 b. C. Jewish liberty was
formally recognized, and the Maccabean princes ruled for a
time over an independent state.
9. In the year 63 b. c. Pompey the Great made Syria a
Roman province with Judea as a subordinate part of the
province. Thus Palestine, with other lands, became an in
tegral part of the great Roman empire. In the years that
followed there were revolts, but the Jews never gained a
vestige of their former political freedom. Their condition
remained unchanged during the first four centuries of the
Christian era.

CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS 199
CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS
SECTION 3
THE BOOKS OP THE OLD TESTAMENT AS ARRANGED IN
HEBREW CHRONOLOGY
I. The Beginnings.
1. The beginnings of the human race. — Genesis I-XI.
2. The beginnings of the chosen people. — Genesis
XII-L.
II. A Time of Testing and Trial.
1. The escape from bondage. — Exodus.
2. The discipline of the wilderness. — Numbers.
3. The struggles of the conquest. — Joshua.
4. Striving to find the right way. — Judges, Ruth.
III. Unity, Growth, and Prosperity.
1. Seeking unity in organization and leadership. — 1
Samuel.
2. The United Kingdom under David. — 2 Samuel.
3. The United Kingdom under Solomon. — 1 Kings,
I-XI.
IV. Division and Decline.
1. The Northern Kingdom.
(1) Varying fortunes of the northern kingdom
through 216 years under twenty kings. — 1
Kings XII-2 Kings XVIII.
(2) The voices of the prophets in instruction,
prophecy, warning, and denunciation:
Elijah (cir. 876) — The accusing prophet, a man
of the desert. 1 Kings XVII-2 Kings II.
Elisha (cir. 854) — The sympathetic prophet, a man
among the people. 2 Kings II-XIII.
Amos (cir. 750) — The shepherd prophet who (in
the time of Jeroboam II) denounced the pros
perous corruption of the kingdom. Book of
Amos.
Hosea (cir. 750) — A prophet who proclaimed
God's unquenchable love for Israel. Book of
Hosea.

200 APPENDIX
2. The Southern Kingdom — Judah.
(1) Victories and defeats of Judah through a pe
riod of 389 years, under twenty-two rulers,
with government usually stable and the people
loyal. 1 Kings XIV-2 Kings.
(2) The voices of the Prophets:
Isaiah (cir. 740-690) — The renowned prophet who
was a great statesman, a preacher of right
eousness, and a great optimist proclaiming the
gospel of hope. Book of Isaiah I-XXXIX.
Micah (cir. 720-708) — The prophet who in the
time of Isaiah, from the standpoint of the
peasants, denounced the cruelty and oppres
sion of the rulers, priests, and prophets.
Book of Micah.
Zephaniah (cir. 630-605) — A prophet who lived
in the early days of Josiah and denounced
the corrupt worship and the social injustice
of the time. Book of Zephaniah.
Nahum (cir. 625) — A prophet of the latter days of
Josiah's reign who pronounced the doom of
Nineveh. Book of Nahum.
Habakkuk (cir. 605) — A prophet of the latter
days of Josiah who denounced the cruelty,
injustice, and idolatry of the Chaldeans who
were to be God's instrument for punishing
Judah, a people better than themselves. Book
of Habakkuk.
Jeremiah (cir. 626-586) — A fearless preacher of
truth who lived amid the stirring events of
Josiah's reign, of the capture of Jerusalem
and the deportation of the captives. Book of
Jeremiah.
V. The Captivity of Judah.
1. With the Exile there came a break in the historical
narratives of the Old Testament, but the period
gave rise to several books of prophecy.
2. The Voices of the Prophets:
Lamentations (cir. 540) — Prophecies accredited to
Jeremiah. They give descriptions of the sack
of the city of Jerusalem, of the miserable es
tate of the exiles, and make appeals for de
liverance and for vengeance on the oppressors.
Book of Lamentations.

CHRONOLOGY OF BOOKS 201
Obadiah (cir. 586)— A prophet who delivers bitter
denunciations on Edom for its ill treatment
of the Jews in the ruin of Judah. Book of
Obadiah.
Ezekiel (cir. 592-570)— A young contemporary of
Jeremiah who represents the transition from
the prophet to the scribe or theologian of later
days. In captivity himself, he first tried to
destroy the false hopes of his fellow exiles
in their return, but after the destruction of
Jerusalem he proclaimed the promise of a more
glorious kingdom. Book of Ezekiel.
The Second Isaiah (cir. 546-539)— The "great un
known" prophet who sounded a note of hope
in the closing years of the Exile. The book is
the culmination of Old Testament teaching and
an approach to gospel revelation. Book of
Isaiah XL-LXVI.
VI. The Return from the Exile (cir. 536-458).
1. The history of the return and the building of the
city and temple, and the instituting of many
social reforms. Books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
2. Esther — A book written probably about 350 b. C,
but the events of which belong to the years
soon after the return from exile. It is gen
erally regarded as an allegory with a basis of
historical fact, and is designed to encourage
the Jews by showing how God protects his
people and destroys their enemies.
3. The Voices of the Prophets:
Haggai (cir. 520) and Zechariah (cir. 520-518) —
Two prophets who were commissioned to arouse
the Jews to greater energy in rebuilding the
temple. It is promised that the new temple
shall be more glorious than that of Solomon.
Books of Haggai and Zechariah.
Malachi (cir. 460-430) — A prophet who is inter
ested particularly in the gifts and dues for the
maintenance of the service of the temple, and
the priesthood, showing clearly the transition
from prophet to priest. Book of Malachi.
Joel (cir. 350) — A prophet who proclaims the com
ing of the day of the Lord as a season of
terrible calamities from which Judah must be
delivered by repentance; and this repentance

202 APPENDIX
must be shown in a formal way, by weeping,
fasting, and praying — other proofs of the
change to formalism. Book of Joel.
Jonah (cir. 350) — This book is not a prophecy but
an anonymous narrative whieh should prob
ably be interpreted as a protest against the
narrowness and bitterness of the spirit of Judah
in this age. It teaches the wideness of God's
mercy and would have Jonah learn the lesson
of sympathy for other men and nations. Book
of Jonah.

LIST OF STORIES
SECTION 4
LIST OP STORIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
1. The Creation, Genesis I-II, 3.
2. The Garden of Eden, Genesis II, 4-III.
3. Story of Cain and Abel, Genesis IV, 1-15.
4. The Story of the Flood, Genesis VI, 5-IX, 17.
5. The Tower of Babel, Genesis XI, 1-9.
6. The Call of Abraham, Genesis XI, 27-XII, 9.
7. Abraham and Lot, Genesis XIII-XIV-
8. The story of Hagar and Ishmael, Genesis XVI-XXI,
8-21.
9. The Covenant with Abraham, Genesis XVII.
10. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Genesis XVIII-
XIX
11. The Offering of Isaac, Genesis XXII, 1-19.
12. The Wooing of Rebekah, Genesis XXIV.
13. The Story of Esau and Jacob, Genesis XXV, 19-XXX.
14. Joseph and His Brethren, Genesis XXXVII; XXXIX-
XLVII.
15. The Death of Jacob and Joseph, Genesis XLVIII-L.
16. Early Life of Moses, Exodus I-II.
17. The Call of Moses, Exodus III-IV.
18. The Oppression of the Israelites, Exodus V-VI.
19. The Ten Plagues, Exodus VI-XII.
20. Institution of The Passover, Exodus XII, 42-XIII, 16.
21. The Passage of the Red Sea, Exodus XIII, 17-XIV.
22. The Giving of the Ten Commandments, Exodus XIX-
XX, 21.

LIST OF STORIES 203
23. Incident of the Golden Calf, Exodus XXXII.
24. The Attempt to Enter into Canaan, Numbers XIII-XIV.
25. The Story of Balak and Balaam, Numbers XXII-XXIV.
26. The Death of Moses, Deuteronomy XXXIV.
27. Rahab and the Spies, Joshua II.
28. Crossing the Jordan, Joshua III-IV.
29. The Siege of Jericho, Joshua VI.
30. Joshua at Gibeon, Joshua X.
31. The Death of Joshua, Joshua XXXIII-XXXIV.
32. The Defeat and Death of Sisera, Judges IV-V.
33. The Deeds of Gideon, Judges VI-VII.
34. The Story of Abimelech and Jotham, Judges IX.
35. The Deeds and Vow of Jephthah, Judges XI, 1-11, 30-
XII.
36. The Life and Death of Samson, Judges XIII-XVI.
37. The Story of Ruth and Naomi, Ruth I-IV.
38. The Calling of Samuel, 1 Samuel III.
39. The Ark of the Covenant in Philistia, 1 Samuel IV-VI.
40. The Anointing of Saul, 1 Samuel VIII-X.
41. Jonathan and His Armorbearer, 1 Samuel XIV, 1-23.
42. Saul's Disobedience, 1 Samuel XV.
43. The Anointing of David, 1 Samuel XVI.
44. The Story of David and Goliath, 1 Samuel XVII-XVIII,
16.
45. The Friendship of David and Jonathan, 1 Samuel XVIII,
1-5; XX.
46. Stories of David and Saul, 1 Samuel XXI-XXIV;
XXVI-XXVII, 4.
47. Saul and the Witch of Endor, 1 Samuel XXVIII.
48. Death of Saul and Jonathan, 1 Samuel XXI-2 Samuel I.
49. David Made King, 2 Samuel V.
50. The Story of David and Bathsheba, 2 Samuel XI-XII,
24.
51. Early Career of Absalom, 2 Samuel XIII-XIV, 24.
52. The Rebelhon of Absalom, 2 Samuel XIV, 25-XVIII,
33.
53. The Devotion of Rizpah, 2 Samuel XXI, 1-14.
54. Solomon Made King, 1 Kings I, 11-53.
55. The Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Kings III, 5-28.
56. The Visit of the Queen of Sheba, 1 Kings X, 1-13.
57. Division of the Kingdom — Rehoboam and Jeroboam, 1
Kings XI, 26-XII, 24.
58. Stories of Elijah, 1 Kings, XVI-XIX.
59. Ahab Secures Naboth's Vineyard, 1 Kings XXI.
60. The Death of Ahab, 1 Kings XXII, 29-40.
61. The Translation of Elijah, 2 Kings II, 1-18.

204 APPENDIX
62. Stories of Elisha, 1 Kings XXIX, 19-21; 2 Kings II-IV;
VIII, 7-15; XIII, 14-21.
63. The Healing of Naaman the Leper, 2 Kings V.
64. Elisha and the Syrian King, 2 Kings VI, 8-23.
65. Elisha and the Siege of Samaria, 2 Kings VI, 24-VII, 20.
66. Jehu and Jezebel, 2 Kings IX.
67. Career of the Wicked Athaliah, 2 Kings XII.
68. The Destruction of Sennacherib, 2 Kings XVIII, 13-
XIX 37.
69. The Healing of Hezekiah, 2 Kings XX.
70. The Great Reform under Josiah, 2 Kings XXII-XXIII,
30.
71. The Call of Isaiah, Isaiah VI.
72. The Capture of Jerusalem, 2 Kings XXV.
73. Esther, a Drama of the Court, Esther I-X.
74. Daniel and His Three Friends, Daniel I.
75. Nebuchadnezzar's Forgotten Dream, Daniel II.
76. The Burning Fiery Furnace, Daniel III.
77. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of the Tree Cut Down, Daniel
IV.
78. The Story of Belshazzar's Feast, Daniel V.
79. Daniel in the Den of Lions, Daniel VI.
80. The Story of Jonah, Book of Jonah.

SECTION 5
THE BIBLE STUDENT'S LIBRARY
First, the student must have a Bible dictionary. The best
one is Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, five volumes, pub
lished by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, $6.00 a volume.
The same author and publisher issue a single-volume diction
ary at $5.00. Another good reference book is the Standard
Dictionary of the Bible, in one volume, published by Funk
& Wagnalls, New York.
Very useful special editions of the books of the Bible are
the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges, prices from
40 cents to $2.00 a volume, and the Modern Reader's Bible,
edited by Dr. Richard G. Moulton, in modern literary form,
and published by The Macmillan Company, in small vol
umes at 50 cents. There is also a single-volume edition at
$3.00 and $5.00.
For a study of literary interpretation the following books
are helpful:
"The Old Testament and Its Contents," by Prof. James

LIST OF STORIES 205
Robertson, D.D., pubhshed by the Fleming H. Revell Com
pany, New York.
"The Bible as English Literature," by Prof. J. H. Gardner,
pubhshed by Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
"The Bible as Literature," by Dr. R. G. Moulton, published
by D. C. Heath & Co., Boston.
Along with the study of the literature of the Bible must go
the study of the history of the Hebrew people. For this study
the following books are excellent and authoritative:
"Old Testament History," by H. P. Smith, published by
Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, $2.50.
"Old Testament History," by G. W. Wade, pubhshed by
E. P. Dutton & Co., New York, $1.50.
"History of the People of Israel," by C. H. Cornill, pub
lished by the Open Court Publishing Co., Chicago, $1.50.
"How to Master the English Bible," by Rev. Dr. James M.
Gray, published by the Winona Publishing Co., Chicago.
(Particularly valuable for an elaboration of the suggestions
found on pages 23 and 24 of this volume) .

The End

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