the results of the literary discoveries which have been made in recent years are gathered up and given in a very clear and useful form. The most important of the many speculations which have been thrown out in connection with these discoveries are also noticed. The book at the same time is more than a mere digest of what has been written by others. It is the work of a scholar who, by independent study, has acquired a first hand acquaintance with much of the field, and is able to give a critical account of the main points. In method and in his general idea of the historian's task, Professor Krüger is most in sympathy with Nitzsch and Overbeck. He limits himself, as far as the case permits, to the strictly literary aspects of his subject, leaving questions of a doctrinal or ecclesiastical interest to the theologian. He also aims at such an arrangement of the matter as will give, as nearly as possible, an organic construction of the case. He does not regard it as belonging to the scope of such a history to give any account of the Jewish and heathen writings of the period in their relations to the Christian. He refers briefly to the New Testament books, and this is the least satisfactory part of the book. It contains too much of the short and easy way of disposing of serious questions. The whole seven Catholic Epistles, for example, are dismissed in a few lines as probably unauthentic. The history is dealt with in three main divisions the Primitive Christian Literature, the Gnostic Literature, and the Ecclesiastical. Each has its sub-divisions, the first dealing in separate chapters with the Epistles, the Apocalypses, the Historical books and the Didactic writings. The closing sections are given to the legendary literature (the Abgar-legend, the Acts of Peter, Paul, and Thecla, and the Clementines) and the Martyria. Within the limits proposed to him Professor Krüger has produced a book which will be of great advantage to students. Its usefulness is increased by the addition of an excellent Chronological Table, showing how the various writings are distributed over different countries and periods. There is perhaps no part of the New Testament that so greatly needs fresh study as the Book of Acts. There is none on which we have fewer commentaries of the first-class ; none to which men have been more tardy in applying the accumulating results of historical investigation. An exposition from a scholar of the reputation of Professor Blass of Halle,1 therefore, is all the more welcome. It is a very material addition to the exegesis of Acts, the work of a 1 Acta Apostolorum sive Lucae ad Theophilum liber alter. Editio philologica, apparatu critico, commentario perpetuo, indice verborum illustrata, auctore Frederico Blass. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht. Edinburgh and London: Williams & Norgate. 8vo, pp. x. 334. Price, M.14. student who is peculiarly strong in his own special department. That department, however, is a somewhat limited, though very definite and important one-that of philology. The Commentary is professedly a philological Commentary, and it does not attempt to overstep its province. There is much, therefore, that we miss in it. It adds little or nothing to the historical study of the book. It touches only slightly in the Prolegomena on some of the broader questions. It has something to say on the miraculous element in the narrative, but mainly with the view of showing how far the genuineness and veracity of the work remain unaffected by the view taken of that element. The questions of authorship, date, and place, are also dealt with rather briefly. The paragraphs given to these, however, are of great interest, especially as regards the value which Professor Blass attaches to the traditional account of the writer, and the testimony which he bears to the general credibility of the narrative, and the remarkable accuracy of its references to persons, places, and institutions. The importance of this new contribution to the interpretation of Acts lies, however, chiefly in two things, philology and textual criticism. The notes are almost entirely philological, but they are of great value in that line of study. On almost every page we have some useful observation on the vocabulary of the book. There is an immense wealth of grammatical and lexical science expended on the illustration of word and phrase in the exegesis proper. In addition to this, the Prolegomena furnish two very instructive studies, one on the composition of the book, and another on the language of the New Testament generally and the diction of Luke in particular. These are of great value. The use of θέλω and βούλομαι, ἵνα and ὅπως, ὁρῶ, βλέπω, and θεάομαι, and other verbs and particles, is clearly defined and admirably illustrated. A more mixed judgment must be pronounced on the treatment of the text. Professor Blass, dropping the titles Occidental and Oriental and the terminology adopted by Westcott and Hort, designates the two great classes of documentary authorities simply as a and B. The former includes the great Uncials, & B A C and their confrères; the latter the witnesses of which D is the best type. Dr Blass's object is to exhibit the distinct text represented by the latter, and to bring out its importance. His book may be said to be an exposition of this text of Acts. His argument is full of interest, and undoubtedly he calls attention to some facts which are apt to be overlooked. On the other hand, he seems to fail entirely in establishing the claims which he makes on behalf of this secondary text. He has to admit the difficulty of disentangling it, which arises from the fact that it is mixed up with the other, even in the purest documents. He makes considerable use of a third or intermediate text, represented by such manuscripts as E, 137, &c. This is skilfully done, yet not quite convincingly. He has further to admit that even his best authorities are depraved or mutilated to an unfortunate extent, and that the consentient testimony of the witnesses included under a can scarcely be gainsaid. And at last he has to fall back upon the expedient of conjectural emendation. The conclusion to which he comes is thus expressed-"Erunt sic quoque antiqui nostra fide digniores, quam recentes, suntque sequendi, nisi ratio cujusque loci aliud jusserit. Eam autem rationem potiorem omni auctoritate codicum habeo." The place which he would give to conjectural emendation is vastly miscalculated. It may suit the kind of criticism with which classical scholars amuse themselves. It is not applicable to the New Testament. 2 Among smaller publications we notice a clear and interesting pamphlet by Dr Julius Friedländer on Spinoza1 and his service to Ethics; a second edition of an instructive discussion of the question of Personality; an acute little treatise on the Ethics of Gambling,3 in the main a reprint from the "Contemporary Review," discussing the theory, economic nature, and moral quality and effects of the practice; a tasteful help to devotion, Week by Week, in which the Epistle or Gospel for each Sunday in the year is accompanied by some suitable verses; a seventh edition of the Rev. George H. Giddins's useful compilation, The Christian Travellers' Continental Handbook: excellent, cheap, and handy additions to Teubner's Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum ; a second edition of an Essay, full of good matter, by Professor Theodor Zahn, on Epictetus; and pamphlets issuing from the Universalist Publishing House, on The Balance-Sheet of Criticisms and the New Testament Narratives of the Resurrection. 5 1 Spinoza, ein Meister der Ethik. 6 Berlin: Dreher. 8vo, pp. 30. 2 Die Macht des Persönlichen im Leben. Berlin: Wiegandt u. Grieben. Small 8vo, pp. 63. 3 By W. Douglas Mackenzie, M. A. London: The Sunday School Union. Small 8vo, pp. 90. Price, 1s. 4 By Fraser Cornish. London: Macmillan. Small 8vo, pp. 111. Price, 3s. 6d. 5 London: Elliot Stock. Cr. 8vo, pp. 162. 6 Anthologiae Latinae Supplementa. Vol. I. Damasi Epigrammata, &c. Edidit Maximilianus Ihm. Cr. 8vo, pp. lii. 145. Price, M.2.40. Alexandri Lycopolitani contra Manichaeos Disputatio, edidit Augustus Brinkmann. Cr. Svo, pp. xxxi. 50. Price, M.1. 7 Der Stoiker Epiktet und sein Verhältniss zum Christenthum. Erlangen u. Leipzig: Deichert. Cr. 8vo, pp. 47. Price, M.0.75. 8 By I. M. Attwood, Boston. Cr. 8vo, pp. 32. 9 By George M. Harmon, Boston. Cr. 8vo, pp. 26. Record of Select Literature. I.-OLD TESTAMENT. WELLHAUSEN, J. Prolegomena zur Geschichte Israels. FRIES, S. A. Den Israelitiska Kultens Centralisation. gamla Testamentes Religionshistoria, 4. Ausg. Bidrag till Upsala: W. Schultz. HERVEY, B., and C. Hole. The Pentateuch. London: Longmans. 12mo, pp. 240. 2s. 6d. Haggai, der Prophet. Von d. Verf. des Propheten Habakuk. Berl.: Buch- u. Tractatgesellsch. 8vo, pp. iii. 152. M.]. BOEHM, F. Das Alte Testament im evangelischen Religionsunterricht. Berl. Gaertner. 4to, pp. 34. M.1. WHITEHEAD, Rev. J. H. Ezra and Nehemiah. Edited with Notes GAMPERT, Auguste, La Critical Edition of the (Sacred Books of the CORNILL, Prof. C. H. The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah. Critical University Press. Cr. 8vo, pp. 856. 7s. 6d. BENNETT, Prof. W. H. The Book of Jeremiah, Chaps. xxi.-xlii. (Expositor's Bible). London: Hodder & Stoughton. Cr. 8vo, pp. 392. 7s. 6d. STÜBE, R. Jüdisch-babylonische Zaubertexte. Halle Krause. 8vo, pp. xiii. 64. M.2.50. Hrsg. u. erklärt. GRUNWALD, M. Die Eigennamen des Alten Testamentes in ihrer Bedeutung f. die Kenntnis des Hebräischen Volksglaubens. Bresl.: Koehner. 8vo, pp. 77. M.2.50. KLUEGER, H. Ueber Genesis u. Composition der Halacha-Sammlung Edujot. Bresl.: Koebner. Svo, pp. 120. M.3. RUPPRECHT, E. Des Rätsels Lösung, od. Beiträge zur richt. Lösung des Pentateuch rätsels f. den Christl. Glauben u. die Wissenschaft. 1. Abtlg. Die Lösg. f. den Christenglauben od. das Zeugnis Jesu Christi u. der Apostel. Unter besond. Berücksicht. der Proff. Köhler, König u. Meinhold. Gütersl.: Bertelsmann. 8vo, pp. viii. 278. M. 3.60. BLEEKER, L. H. K. Jeremia's Profetieën tegen de Volkeren, cap. XXV., XLVI., XLIX. Groningen: Wolters. 8vo, pp. 224. WINCKLER, H. Völker u. Staaten des Alten Orients. 2. Geschichte Israels in Einzeldarstellungen. 1. Tl. Leipz.: Pfeiffer. 8vo, pp. viii. 226. M.7.50. SEESEMANN, O. Die Aeltesten im Alten Testament. Leipz.: Fock. 8vo, pp. 58. M.1. FRANKENBERG, W. Die Composition des Deuteronomischen Richterbuches (Richter II. 6-XVI.) nebst e. Kritik v. Richter XVII.XXI. Marb.: Elwert. 8vo, pp. iv. 81. M.1.60. OLD TESTAMENT ARTICLES. CHEYNE, Rev. Prof. The Archæological Stage of Old Testament Criticism. The Contemporary Review, July 1895. CARRICK, Rev. J. C. The Old Testament in King James's Bible. The Thinker, June 1895. THOMSON, Rev. J. E. H. The Miraculous Element in Daniel. The Thinker, June 1895. DAVIDSON, Prof. A. B. The False Prophets. The Expositor, July 1895. GREEN, Rev. W. C. Ecclesiastes xii. 1-7. The Expositor, July 1895. Les Prophètes et les Prophéties, d'après les travaux de Kuenen. Revue des Religions, Juin 1895. The Mosaic Law and the Higher Criticism. The Church Quarterly Review, July 1895. BISSELL, Edward Cone. The Unity and Continuity of Genesis. The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, July 1895. LAMPE, Joseph J. The Authenticity and Genuineness of Daniel. The Presbyterian and Reformed Review, July 1895. SCHEPPS. Aus lateinischen Handschriften zu den Büchern Samuelis. Ztschr. f. Kirchengeschichte, XV. 4. POTWIN, T. S. Future Life in the Pentateuch. Sacra, July 1895. The Bibliotheca CARRICK, Rev. J. C. The Old Testament in King James's Bible. II. The Thinker, July 1895. KOHLER, Dr K. The Pre-Talmudic Haggada II. The Apocalypse of Abraham and its Kindred. The Jewish Quarterly Review, July 1895. ADLER, Rev. M. A Specimen of a Commentary and Collated Text of the Targum to the Prophets. Nahum. The Jewish Quarterly Review, July 1895. |