Dr Schaff, Professor Harper of Chicago, Mr Spurrell, Mr Pinches, Dr Plummer, Principal Whitehouse, and other competent scholars. It has been prepared under the efficient editorial supervision of Dr Wright. Barring its very small type, it makes a very useful companion for the Bible student. Genesis and Semitic Tradition1 is the title given to a collection of papers on the Creation of the Universe; the Sabbath; the Creation of Man; the Help-meet for Man; the Site of the Garden of Eden; the Temptation of Man; the Serpent of the Temptation; the Cherubim; Cain and Abel; Cainites and Sethites; the Sons of God; the Deluge; the Mighty Hunter; the Tower of Babel. The author gives a brief but interesting statement on the cuneiform documents bearing upon these subjects, and acknowledges the large amount of "valuable material which has been obtained from these records of the past." He points out at the same time that much that is either worthless or positively misleading has been published in connection with these Babylonian-Assyrian discoveries, mistranslations, false conclusions, partial and mistaken quotations. Much of this is due, he thinks, to haste and prepossession as well as to faults which easily occur in the infancy of any branch of knowledge. His object, therefore, is "to attempt the removal of the accumulated mass of rubbish and expose the true material; and, when the work has been accomplished as thoroughly as possible, to subject the genuine materials to careful investigation." Professor Davis is certainly right in what he says of the precipitancy of some of our Assyriologists, and the way in which their work has been prejudiced by their anxiety to get more out of the inscriptions than can be made scientifically good. There is a wide difference, however, between the extremes of certain archæologists and the idea that the Semitic narratives in Genesis must be quite original. Professor Davis overstates his position at times in arguing that the Hebrew narratives owe nothing to the Babylonian. He shows very clearly and pointedly, however, the remarkable differences between the two series, although he fails to make sufficient allowance perhaps for the spread of ideas and the possibilities of contact between AssyroBabylonian beliefs and Hebrew thought. He makes out a strong case, however, for the general independence of the Hebrew narratives alongside their community in origin with the Babylonian. His book is ably and carefully written, and is helpful in various ways. The Paddock Lectures for 1894 have for their subject the Permanent Value of the Book of Genesis as an integral part of the 1 By John D. Davis, Ph.D., Professor of Semitic Philology and Old Testament History in the Theological Seminary at Princeton, N.J. London: David Nutt. Crown 8vo, pp. 150. Price, 4s. 6d. Christian Revelation. They deal, in the first place, with the critical problem in Genesis, on which they take up the reasonable position that the "literary question may be considered on its own merits," and that the "historical questions involved may be considered separately." They pass on to review the literary analyses critically and historically. Then follows a careful examination of the narratives of the Creation, the Fall, the Deluge, and the Patriarchal Period. The general conclusion to which the writer comes is that the critical analysis requires to be looked at again on broader and deeper grounds, and that the Wellhausen theory cannot stand. The book is written in an excellent spirit. It cannot be said to succeed in many of the points of question or refutation which it attempts to make against the critical explanation of the early Hebrew records; neither does it show a complete grasp of Wellhausen's work. It calls attention, however, to considerations of a larger kind to which regard ought to be paid, and it asserts in a just and proper way the value which in any circumstances belongs to the Book of Genesis as a religious record and a section of revelation. The Sweet Singer of Israel2 is the title given to a volume on Old Testament subjects which Dr Benjamin Gregory contributes to the Books for Bible Students series. The book contains chapters on the Old Testament doctrine of the Future Life, and the New Testament comment on the eighth Psalm. There is also an appendix on "The Greatness of Human Nature as revealed in Scripture." But the main subject is a study of certain select Psalms (Pss. v., vi., viê, viii., ix., xi., xiii., and xviii.). On these Dr Gregory gives us a series of chapters well suited for edification. Dr Whyte, carrying on the studies which he has made so much his own, and which have been so much appreciated, publishes the Third Series of his Lectures on Bunyan Characters.3 The subject this time is the Holy War. The book itself is described and estimated, and the pictures and characters which have made it famous are dealt with in Dr Whyte's pointed style. The city of Mansoul and its Cinque Ports, Emmanuel's Land, Mansoul's Magna Charta, and similar topics form a rich field for the exercise of Dr Whyte's gifts. Still more is this the case with My Lord Willbewill, Old Mr Prejudice, Captain Anything, Clip-Promise, Stiff Mr Loth-to-Stoop, the Varlet Ill-Pause, and the other characters 1 By C. W. E. Body, M.A., D.C.L., Professor of Old Testament Literature and Interpretation in the General Theological Seminary, New York. London: Longmans & Co. Crown 8vo, pp. xxi. 230. Price, 58. 2 London: Charles Kelly. Small cr. 8vo, pp. 274. Price, 2s. 6d. 3 Lectures delivered in St George's Free Church, Edinburgh, by Alexander Whyte, D.D. Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier. Post 8vo, pp. 301. Price, 2s. 6d. created by Bunyan's genius. Dr Whyte discourses of these like one who is at home with them. We owe very cordial thanks to the Trustees of the Lightfoot Fund for publishing a collection of Notes on the Epistles of St Paul,1 gathered from unpublished commentaries at which the late Bishop of Durham had been working. The volume gives the analysis and interpretation of the two Epistles to the Thessalonians, the first seven chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the first seven chapters also of the Epistle to the Romans, and the first fourteen verses of the Epistle to the Ephesians. There are also valuable indices. Except in the case of the short section of the Epistle to the Ephesians, nothing seems to have been finally prepared by the author himself with a view to publication. For all else the editor had only rough notes left by the Bishop, eked out by what could be got from the note-books of students. The editor's task therefore, was difficult, but it has been well done. The Bishop's own work, fragmentary as it is and unfinished, is of great value. A special feature of it is the attention given to particular terms, βίος, ζωή, οψώνια, μετασχηματίζω, ἱλαστήριον, and many more. One of the most interesting discussions is on the ανακεφαλαιώσασθαι of Eph. i. 10, where some weighty considerations are adduced in favour of the simple sense of summing up rather than that of summing up again. The second volume of Professor Kirkpatrick's Commentary on the Book of Psalms 2 has all the excellent qualities which characterised the first. It is moderate in all that concerns the questions of the Higher Criticism, while it does not shrink from putting the most important of them fairly before the readers. It gives what is best in the philology of the subject. Its notes furnish what is most needed and most useful. Its literary style is attractive. It furnishes all that is of real value in the form of introduction, and it has a studious regard for the devout as well as intelligent understanding of the Psalms. This part embraces the second and third books of the Psalter. The expositions of the best known Psalms are excellent in every way. There are many points of interest in Professor Kirkpatrick's interpretation on which it is impossible to touch at present. The volume is quite up to the high standard of its predecessor. It is one of the most careful and satisfactory contributions which have been made to the very useful series to which it belongs. We look forward with expectation to the speedy 1 London: Macmillan & Co. 2 The Psalms. Books II., III. Edited by A. F. Kirkpatrick, D.D. Cambridge University Press. Extra fcap. 8vo, pp. lxxix. 556. Price, 3s. 6d. 8vo, pp. ix. 336. Price, 12s. completion of the work. An extended notice of Professor Kirkpatrick's exposition of the Book of Psalms must be reserved till then. 1 We welcome also another section of Professor Staehelin's Life of Zwingli. The author has qualified himself as few men have by previous studies for dealing with a subject like this. The present volume brings the history down to the Reformer's conflicts with the Anabaptists. The story of Zwingli's youth, of the beginnings and progress of the Reformation at Zurich, and the difficulties which originated with the sectaries and the peasants, are told with great fulness and power. We look forward with great interest to the author's study of the theological system of Zwingli and to the completion of this most able and informing history. The Didaché, or Teaching of the Twelve Apostles. Restored to its Original State from Various Sources, with an Introduction, Translation, and Notes by C. H. Hoole, M.A., Student of Christ Church, Oxford. London: D. Nutt, 1894. 4to, pp. xlii. 90. Price, 28. 6d. net. IT is hard to take Mr Hoole's new theory of the Didaché quite seriously. The mortar holding it together is far too untempered. It is well-nigh impossible even to conceive the details of the theory with any clearness. Its own author has not succeeded in so doing; for, apart from general vagueness of statement, his versions of the matter in two separate places are at variance, owing to his not having made up his mind as to the relative priority of the "Apostolic Constitutions" and the document styled indifferently "Epitome of the Holy Apostles" (Kirchenordnung), "Duæ Viæ," or "Judicium Petri." This being so, we need wonder the less at the theory itself, reactionary and arbitrary as it is. In brief, it amounts to this, that our Didaché is an abridgment of a compilation based upon Barnabas, Hermas, and the "Epitome," if not the "Apostolic Constitutions" likewise. But as to the object of the comparatively late author in thus simplifying the tradition, including the omission of the Apostles' names, we are not enlightened. VERNON BARTLET. 1 Huldreich Zwingli: Sein Leben und Wirken, nach den Quellen dargestellt von Dr Rudolf Staehelin, ord. Prof. der Theologie zu Basel. Zweiter Halbband. Basel: Schwabe. Pp. 257-535. Price, M.4.80. Record of Select Literature. I.-OLD TESTAMENT. DRIVER, Prof. S. R. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on 12s. T. & T. Clark. Crown 8vo, pp. xii. 292. 4s. DILLON, E. J. The Sceptics of the Old Testament: Job, Koheleth, Agur. London: Isbister. 8vo, pp. 280. 7s. 6d. GRINDON, L. H. The Science and Poetry of the Old Testament. London: J. Speirs. Cr. 8vo, pp. viii. 108. 1s. PEMBER, G. H. The Great Prophecies of the Centuries concerning Israel and the Gentiles. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Cr. 8vo, pp. 506. 7s. 6d. MEIGNAN, Cardinal. L'Ancien Testament dans ses rapports avec le nouveau et la critique moderne. De l'Eden a Moïse. Paris: Lecoffre. 8vo, pp. 531. F. 7.50. BISCHOFF, E. Ein jüdisch-deutsches Leben Jesu. Tholdoth Jeschu hanozri, &c. (Geschichte Jesu v. Nazareth, geboren im J. 3760 seit Erschaffg. der Welt.) Zum ersten Male nach dem Oxforder Orig. Manuskript hrsg. v. B. Leipz.: Friedrich. 8vo, pp. 61. M. 2. Gregorii Abulfaragii Bar-Hebraei Scholia in Leviticum ex IV. codicibus Horrei mysteriorum in Germania asservatis edita a G. Kerber. Bresl.: Koebner. 8vo, pp. 30. M. 1.30. Semitische Studien. Ergänzungshefte zur Zeitschrift f. Assyriologie. Hrsg. v. C. Bezold. 4. u. 5. Hft. Die neu-Aramäischen Handschriften der königl. Bibliothek zu Berlin, in Auswahl hrsg., übers. u. erläutert v. M. Lidzbarski. 1. Tl. 8vo, pp. iv. 320. M. 20. NOWACK, W. Die Entstehung der Israëlitischen Religion. Rede. Strassburg Heitz. 8vo, pp. 31. M. 0.80. : SEIFS, J. A. Göttliche Stimmen aus Babylon. Die Weissaggn. des 8vo, pp. vi. 380. M. 9. Paderb.: F. Schöningh. KÖHLER, A. Ueber Berechtigung der Kritik des Alten Testamentes. Leipz.: Deichert Nachf. 8vo, pp. 68. M. 1. Gregorius Abulfarag, Barhebraeus genannt; die Scholien zum Buch der Könige (1 u. II.). Hrsg. v. A. Morgenstern. Berl.: Calvary & Co. 8vo, pp. vii. 39. M. 2. SCHIAN, M. Die Ebed-Jahwe-Lieder in Jesais 40-66. Ein litterarkrit. Versuch. Halle, Krause. 8vo, pp. iv. 62. Vol. V.-No. 3. M. 1. X |