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GEORGE FOOT MOORE, M.A., D.D., LL.D.
GEORGE FOOT MOORE, M.A., D.D., LL.D.
London WILLIAMS & NORGATE HENRY HOLT & Co., New York Canada : WM. BRIGGS, Toronto India : R. & T. WASHBOURNE, Ltd. The following volumes of kindred interest have already been published in the Home University Library:— Vol. 56. —THE MAKING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. By Prof. B. W. Bacon , LL.D., D.D.Vol. Vol. 68. —COMPARATIVE RELIGION. By Principal J. Estlin Carpenter , D.Litt. Vol. 15. —MOHAMMEDANISM. By Prof. D. S. Margoliouth , M.A., D.Litt. Vol. 47. —BUDDHISM. By Mrs. Rhys
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THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
THE CANON OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
The early Christians received the Sacred Books of the Jews as inspired Scripture containing a divine revelation and clothed with divine authority, and till well on in the first century of the Christian era the name Scriptures was applied exclusively to these books. In time, as they came to attach the same authority to the Epistles and Gospels, and to call them, too, Scriptures (2 Pet. iii. 16), they distinguished the Christian writings as the Scriptures of the new dispensation, or, as they calle
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THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A NATIONAL LITERATURE
THE OLD TESTAMENT AS A NATIONAL LITERATURE
For the religious apprehension of Jews and Christians the Old Testament is a body of Sacred Scriptures, containing the Word of God as revealed to the chosen people. The revelation was made "at sundry times and in divers manners" through many centuries, that is to say, it has a historical character, an adaptation to the needs or accommodation to the capacities of men, and, from the Christian point of view, makes a progressive disclosure of the divine purpose and plan of salvation. To understand t
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THE PENTATEUCH
THE PENTATEUCH
The Old Testament begins with a comprehensive historical work, reaching from the creation of the world to the fall of the kingdom of Judah (586 B.C. ), which in the Hebrew Bible is divided into nine books (Genesis-Kings). The Jews made a greater division at the end of the fifth book (Deuteronomy) and treated the first five books (the Pentateuch) as a unit, with a character and name of its own, the Law. The names of the several books in our Bibles are derived from the Greek version, and indicate
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CHARACTER OF THE SOURCES: GENESIS
CHARACTER OF THE SOURCES: GENESIS
Of the four main sources of the Pentateuch and Joshua, two are easily recognizable, and may be distinguished with certainty in almost any combination. The Book of Deuteronomy, though itself a composite work, constitutes a whole, with a characteristic religious point of view and marked peculiarities of language and style. The strand akin to it in Joshua is not always so easy to discriminate from additions and editorial retouchings in one of the other sources; but since these are of approximately
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EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS
EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS
In the early chapters of Exodus the narrative is chiefly a combination of J and E; the first considerable extract from P is Exod. vi. 2-vii. 13, recalling the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and announcing its approaching fulfilment, adding, as the signature of the new epoch of the history now opening, the revelation of the name God, Jehovah (Jahveh), which none of the patriarchs had known. In the story of the plagues all three sources are interwoven; a distinctive feature of P is that
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DEUTERONOMY
DEUTERONOMY
Deuteronomy purports to contain the laws under which Israel is to live in the land of Canaan. It deals with the conditions of an agricultural people, settled in towns and villages, in the presence of a native population to the contamination of whose religion and morals the Israelites are exposed. This legislation was revealed to Moses at Horeb (Deut. v. 28-33), but, inasmuch as it was not to go into effect until Israel was established in the possession of Canaan, being in fact wholly inapplicabl
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AGE OF THE SOURCES, COMPOSITION OF THE PENTATEUCH
AGE OF THE SOURCES, COMPOSITION OF THE PENTATEUCH
Deuteronomy is a fixed point, by reference to which the age of other strata in the Pentateuch may be determined, at least relatively. Thus in P the patriarchs never offer sacrifice at the ancient holy places of Canaan, and the notion that legitimate sacrifice can be made only on one altar is so fundamental an article of religion that the first thing at Sinai is the construction of the tabernacle to be transported from one station to another in the desert. The inference is plain that P was writte
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JOSHUA
JOSHUA
In all the sources of the Pentateuch the possession of Canaan is the goal toward which the whole history moves, from the call of Abraham to the last exhortations of Moses in the plains of Moab, and they must all have narrated, however briefly, the occupation of the country. The history of the conquest and division of Canaan is the subject of the Book of Joshua. The author has evidently derived his material from diverse sources, and it is reasonable to expect to find among them the continuation o
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JUDGES
JUDGES
The Book of Judges falls into three parts, namely, (1) Judg. i. 1-ii. 5, which intrudes, as has already been observed, between the close of Joshua and its immediate sequel in Judges ii. 6 ff.; (2) Judg. ii. 6-xvi. 31, stories of a succession of champions and deliverers of Israel in the centuries preceding the establishment of the kingdom; (3) Judg. 17-18; 19-21, two additional stories laid in the time of the Judges. In the Christian Bibles the story of Ruth, which also is said to have occurred i
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SAMUEL
SAMUEL
A different division is adopted in the present books of Judges and Samuel, in which the stories of Eli and of Samuel are not made the close of the period of the judges but the prelude to the history of the kingdom. The Greek Bible divides this history into four books of the Kingdoms, or rather of the Reigns of the Kings; the Hebrew, into two, Samuel and Kings; the modern translations employ the latter names but adopt the subdivisions of the Greek, thus making two books of Samuel and two of Kings
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KINGS
KINGS
David took Jerusalem, which till then had been a Jebusite stronghold, and made it the capital of his kingdom; but he reigned, after as before, in patriarchal fashion, making, so far as appears, few changes in the old institutions. Solomon reorganized the monarchy after the common pattern of Oriental despotisms, dividing the country into provinces for purposes of taxation, without regard to the autonomy of the tribes and their liberties. He built a great palace in the citadel, and, within the sam
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CHRONICLES
CHRONICLES
By the side of this comprehensive history stands another which is in part parallel, in part supplementary, to it, Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah. It differs from the former in being the work of one author, whose characteristic conceptions, interests, and manner make it easy to distinguish his writing from the sources he incorporates. His peculiarities are the better known because there is so much of his own in the books—not far from half the matter contained in them. The succession of the high priests
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EZRA AND NEHEMIAH
EZRA AND NEHEMIAH
The books which in our Bible bear the names Ezra and Nehemiah (in the Jewish Bible, one book, Ezra) are the immediate continuation of Chronicles, by the same author. When they were divided, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22-23, the necessary sequel of vss. 20-21 was repeated at the beginning of Ezra (Ezra i. 1-3). The reason for the division is plain: down to the end of the exile the work was no more than an epitome of the Pentateuch and Historical Books; but from the time of Cyrus to Alexander it was the only
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STORY BOOKS: ESTHER, RUTH, JONAH
STORY BOOKS: ESTHER, RUTH, JONAH
Besides the older and younger historical books we have been considering, the Jewish Bible contains some examples of what we should call the short story, and the church has preserved others. The canonical books of this class are Esther, Ruth, and Jonah; among the apocrypha are Judith and Tobit; others, such as 3 Maccabees, are found in manuscripts of the Greek and Latin Bibles, or in Oriental translations, but did not attain official recognition of any of the great churches. These stories, which,
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THE PROPHETS
THE PROPHETS
In the old story of Saul and Samuel (1 Sam. 9 f.) Samuel is named "the seer," that is, a man endowed with what we call second sight, and a note by an editor explains that what in his time was called a prophet used to be called a seer. Samuel was, indeed, in the apprehension of later times, a prophet, but the story itself makes a clear distinction between the two. The band of prophets whom Saul meets coming down from the high place, working up by music an enthusiasm, or possession, which makes th
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ISAIAH
ISAIAH
The first of the prophetic books bears the name of Isaiah, a Judæan prophet, who dates his call "in the year that king Uzziah died," a year which cannot be fixed with certainty, but was at all events not very long before 734 B.C. , and whose latest dated utterances are from the time of Sennacherib's invasion in the year 701. His prophecies thus range over a period of not far from forty years. He witnessed the humbling of Israel by Tiglath-Pileser in 734, the fall of Samaria in 721, the Assyrian
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JEREMIAH
JEREMIAH
Jeremiah dates his call to the arduous mission of prophet in the thirteenth year of King Josiah (626 B.C. ), and he lived till after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. , so that, like his predecessor Isaiah a century earlier, his career spans a period of about forty years in a time of great events. Only five years after he began to prophesy, Josiah reformed religion in Judah on the new model of the law-book discovered by Hilkiah (Deuteronomy; see above, pp. 62 f.). Jeremiah, scion of a priestly f
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EZEKIEL
EZEKIEL
Ezekiel was one of the priests of Jerusalem who was carried off to Babylonia with King Jehoiachin in the deportation of 597 B.C. Those who were thus deported were the upper classes, including, of course, the royal family and the court and the aristocracy of the priesthood, and skilled artisans, particularly the smiths (armorers). Having thus removed the natural leaders of the rebellious people, Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah, an uncle of Jehoiachin, king in his stead and gave Judah another trial.
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DANIEL
DANIEL
In the Hebrew Bible the Book of Daniel stands, not as in our Bible among the Prophets, after Ezekiel, but among the miscellaneous books in the third division, the "Scriptures." Various reasons have been suggested for this, but by far the most probable is that at the time when Daniel became current, in the second century B.C. , the Prophets were already a definite group of writings with a traditional use in the readings of the Synagogue, to which a new book could not well be added. The Book of Da
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MINOR PROPHETS
MINOR PROPHETS
The Minor Prophets—so called not in depreciation, but because their books are smaller than those of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel—form in the Jewish Bible one book, in which are brought together oracles in the name of various prophets from the eighth century B.C. (Amos, Hosea) to the fifth (Haggai, Zechariah), and one anonymous book (Malachi). As in the collections which bear in their titles the names of Isaiah and Jeremiah, so in the collection of the Twelve, prophecies have been attributed, by
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PSALMS. LAMENTATIONS
PSALMS. LAMENTATIONS
The Book of Psalms counts one hundred and fifty hymns, and this evidently by design, for the Greek Version, which sometimes unites in one what are two psalms in the Hebrew and divides one Hebrew psalm into two, comes out with the same number. It is divided into five books, as is indicated in the Revised English Version, vis. Book I., Pss. 1-41; Book II., Pss. 42-72; Book III., Pss. 73-89; Book IV., Pss. 90-106; Book V., Pss. 107-150, each book ending with a liturgical doxology. The rabbis were p
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PROVERBS
PROVERBS
The Book of Proverbs bears the title "The Proverbs of Solomon son of David, King of Israel." Other titles scattered through the book prove that it is made up of several collections of proverbs which once circulated independently. Thus Prov. 10 begins, "The Proverbs of Solomon"; xxii. 17-21 is an introduction inviting the reader to give attention to "Sayings of Sages," and dwelling on the profit of so doing; xxiv. 23, "These also are by the Sages"; xxv. 1, "These also are Proverbs of Solomon whic
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JOB
JOB
The Book of Job is the greatest work of Hebrew literature that has come down to us, and one of the great poetical works of the world's literature. In the form of a colloquy between Job and his friends, in which at last God intervenes, it discusses the gravest problem of theodicy, How can the suffering of a good man be reconciled with the moral government of God? In a prose introduction the reader is apprised of the true cause of Job's sufferings, of which the parties to the colloquy are, of cour
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ECCLESIASTES. SONG OF SONGS
ECCLESIASTES. SONG OF SONGS
Two singular books remain, about the inspiration of both of which the straitest sect of the Pharisees in the first century of our era had grave difficulties, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. Both are attributed to Solomon, the Song by title, Ecclesiastes by implication in the book itself, and doubtless the supposed authorship had much to do with finally securing the two books a place in the Jewish Bible. Ecclesiastes. —The title of Ecclesiastes runs, "The words of Koheleth the son of David, k
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. General. — Smith, W. Robertson. The Old Testament in the Jewish Church. 1892.—These lectures, first published in 1881, were meant to give to laymen an account of the problems and methods of criticism. They are a remarkably lucid exposition of the subject, and may still be read with profit as a general introduction to criticism. 2. The Canon. — Ryle, H. E. The Canon of the Old Testament. 1892; 2nd ed. 1895.—A history of the growth of the Old Testament rather than a history of the canon. In tha
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The Home University Library
The Home University Library
of Modern Knowledge A Comprehensive Series of New and Specially Written Books EDITORS: Prof. GILBERT MURRAY, D.Litt., LL.D., F.B.A. HERBERT FISHER, LL.D., F.B.A. Prof. J. ARTHUR THOMSON, M.A. Prof. WM. T. BREWSTER, M.A....
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History and Geography
History and Geography
3. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION By Hilaire Belloc , M.A. (With Maps.) "It is coloured with all the militancy of the author's temperament."— Daily News. 4. HISTORY OF WAR AND PEACE By G. H. Perris . The Rt. Hon. James Bryce writes: "I have read it with much interest and pleasure, admiring the skill with which you have managed to compress so many facts and views into so small a volume." 8. POLAR EXPLORATION By Dr W. S. Bruce , F.R.S.E., Leader of the "Scotia" Expedition. (With Maps.) "A very freshly writ
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Literature and Art
Literature and Art
2. SHAKESPEARE By John Masefield . "The book is a joy. We have had half-a-dozen more learned books on Shakespeare in the last few years, but not one so wise."— Manchester Guardian. 27. ENGLISH LITERATURE: MODERN By G. H. Mair , M.A. "Altogether a fresh and individual book."— Observer. 35. LANDMARKS IN FRENCH LITERATURE By G. L. Strachey . "It is difficult to imagine how a better account of French Literature could be given in 250 small pages."— The Times. 39. ARCHITECTURE By Prof. W. R. Lethaby .
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Science
Science
7. MODERN GEOGRAPHY By Dr Marion Newbigin . (Illustrated.) "Geography, again: what a dull, tedious study that was wont to be!... But Miss Marion Newbigin invests its dry bones with the flesh and blood of romantic interest."— Daily Telegraph. 9. THE EVOLUTION OF PLANTS By Dr D. H. Scott , M.A., F.R.S., late Hon. Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory, Kew. (Fully illustrated.) "The information is as trustworthy as first-hand knowledge can make it.... Dr Scott's candid and familiar style makes the diffi
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Philosophy and Religion
Philosophy and Religion
15. MOHAMMEDANISM By Prof. D. S. Margoliouth , M.A., D.Litt. "This generous shilling's worth of wisdom.... A delicate, humorous, and most responsible tractate by an illuminative professor."— Daily Mail. 40. THE PROBLEMS OF PHILOSOPHY By the Hon. Bertrand Russell , F.R.S. "A book that the 'man in the street' will recognise at once to be a boon.... Consistently lucid and non-technical throughout."— Christian World. 47. BUDDHISM By Mrs Rhys Davids , M.A. "The author presents very attractively as we
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Social Science
Social Science
1. PARLIAMENT Its History, Constitution, and Practice. By Sir Courtenay P. Ilbert , G.C.B., K.C.S.I., Clerk of the House of Commons. "The best book on the history and practice of the House of Commons since Bagehot's 'Constitution.'"— Yorkshire Post. 5. THE STOCK EXCHANGE By F. W. Hirst , Editor of "The Economist." "To an unfinancial mind must be a revelation.... The book is as clear, vigorous, and sane as Bagehot's 'Lombard Street,' than which there is no higher compliment."— Morning Leader. 6.
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