A common-sense view of the books of the Old Testament

Dedication

To the churches of which I have been the pastor ; to the Bible classes which I have taught during half a century ; but more especially to the graduates of the Meadville Theological School who were under my care, and to the two hundred young men of Cornell University who not only listened to my Biblical teaching but also earnestly and repeatedly requested me to publish the views which were to them so satisfactory, — this book is dedicated, in the hope that it may keep my memory fresh in the ?ninds and hearts of those with whom I have shared so many joys, and from whom I have received so many favors.

R. P. S.

Newton Centre, Mass., A ugust, 1885.

Preface

Had the author of this book lived to write its preface, he would have stated with characteristic force and clearness the reasons which led him to prepare the work. The present writer recalls the earnest manner in which Dr. Stebbins often spoke of the pressing need of such a book. The average reader of the Bible, he argued, is shut out from that knowledge of Biblical criticism which has made the Old Testament a new volume to the modern theological student. He felt that liberal scholarship should do something to make known to our young people, who seldom study the Old Testament as they study English or German literature, and to busy men and women who have no time for critical inquiries or historical researches, the inestimable value of the Hebrew Scriptures. To this end he wrote the present work, using many of the lectures which he had originally prepared for his Bible-classes and theological students, but throughout the book addressing the common reader, to whom he would give, in the words of its title, "a co7n?non-sense view of the books of the Old Testament." He hoped in this way to accomplish two objects : on the one hand to remove from these precious fragments of Hebrew literature the incrustations of ancient errors, dogmatic prepossessions, and superstitious fancies under which the Old Testament has been

VI PREFACE.

worshipped as a fetich or discarded as a relic ; and on the other hand to give to the ordinary Bible-reader such information concerning the age, character, and contents of the Old Testament books as would enable him rightly to apprehend and fully to appreciate their literary excellence and their spiritual worth.

At a time when the new Revised Version of the Old Testament is calling popular attention to the Hebrew Scriptures, this volume, the outcome of patient study, ripe scholarship, and a consecrated spirit, is sent forth in the hope that as a manual for Bible-classes, as well as a book for the individual reader, it may be a bringer of light and an aid to faith ; — a helper to that trust in the Eternal, and that loyalty to righteousness, which make the Old Testament writers the sources of an ever-fresh inspiration to all, in every age and nation, who seek to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.

H. G. S.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR. STEBBINS.

Rufus Phineas Stebbins was born at South Wilbraham, Mass., March 3, 18 10. He grew up under the discipline of poverty and hard work. By his unaided efforts, — teaching school in the winter, toiling on the farm during vacations, — he fitted himself for college and paid his expenses while there, graduating at Amherst in 1834. He had been reared under the influence of Methodism, his mother being a devoted member of that church ; and up to the time of his entering college he had hardly known of any other faith. Some work by Dr. Channing which fell into his hands led him to a careful reading of the Bible with reference to its theological teachings; and the result of a long and patient study was the acceptance of Unitarian views, to the preaching of which he then consecrated his life.

Entering the Divinity School at Cambridge, he pursued the usual course of study, and graduated in the class of 1837, of which Henry W. Bellows and Edmund H. Sears were members. In September following he was ordained and settled over the Unitarian church in Leominster, having been united in marriage the week before with Miss Eliza Livermore, of Cambridgeport. The next seven years of his life were spent in the care of this large and flourishing

Vlll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

parish, in the preparation of boys for college, and in the oversight and tutorship of boys " rusticated " from college. As a teacher and disciplinarian he was eminently successful. What he knew he knew thoroughly, and could state forcibly and in an interesting manner. Never was he more happy than when engaged with a class of Sunday-school teachers in the study of the Scriptures.

His ability as a teacher and organizer led to his selection for the presidency of the Meadville Theological School, a position which he took in 1844, and continued to hold for twelve years. Dr. Stebbins was a born teacher, and at Meadville the best work of his life was done. Having a warm sympathy with young men, an earnest desire to lead them in the paths of knowledge and of usefulness, positive views of Christian truth, tireless industry in preparing himself to meet his classes, and great fertility of illustration and force of argument in presenting his ideas, he inspired his pupils with something of his own enthusiasm in devotion to their work. He was teacher, friend, and father to all under his charge. During the twelve years that he spent in the school, a large number of young men were trained under his instruction and influence for the ministry, many of whom have filled their places worthily, and acquitted themselves as faithful ministers of the gospel. He never lost his interest in them ; and they have never been unmindful of their indebtedness to his wise, patient, and loving care.

After leaving Meadville, Dr. Stebbins was settled at Woburn, where several years were passed in the service of the Unitarian church there, and of the Unitarian denomination as one of the Directors of the Association. He was subsequently chosen President of the Association, and was

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. IX

continued in that office for three years. While he occupied this position, just before the close of the war, a great awakening of interest in the missionary work of the denomination took place. From that movement, carried through largely by his wise planning and his earnest toil, the Unitarian body has gone on enlarging its activities and extending its influence.

The next work undertaken by Dr. Stebbins was at Ithaca, N. Y., where he placed the Unitarian church, just organized there, upon a permanent basis, and brought it up to a fair degree of prosperity. During the four years of his ministry there he attained no little influence with a limited number of the students of Cornell University through his Bible class and his lectures upon theological and Biblical subjects. By his persistent efforts he secured the erection of a house of worship for the new church, which was completed and dedicated free of debt.

In the year 1877 he took charge of another new movement at Newton Centre ; and here the remaining years of his life were passed, — bringing together and building up an earnest body of Christian believers, securing for them a neat and attractive church-home, and inspiring them with something of his own fidelity and enthusiasm.

He had finished reading the proof-sheets of this book, and said, " My vacation now begins, — my work is done," when he was called to a higher and larger service in the immortal world. When told that the end was near, he was not surprised nor alarmed.

Forty-eight years of faithful ministerial service, with the break of but one Sunday from sickness in all that time, is a noble record. A sound mind in a sound body, ever reaching

X BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

• out for larger knowledge and pressing on to new usefulness ; an indomitable will and tireless energy ; strong positive views of truth, which he stoutly maintained and defended ; great reluctance to give up the old for the new, in his habit of thought ; and, underneath the Puritan sternness, a warm sympathy with all classes of men, and the genial, joyful, trustful heart of a child, — such were some of the characteristics of our friend.

He died suddenly, at Cambridgeport, August 13, 1885, in the seventy-sixth year of his age.

Part I

Section I. The Bible — Two Books, 3, 4. Sect. II. The Apocrypha, 4. Sect. III. Other Jewish Books, 5-7. Sect. IV. Further Divisions of the Bible, 7. Sect. V. Literary Character of the Books, 8 ; language, 8 ; manuscripts, 9 ; chapters, punctuation, 9 ; headings of chapters and pages, 10 ; words in Italics, 11; transcriptions and interpolations, 12-16; mistranslation and obsolete words, 16, 17. Conclusion, 18.

Part II

Chapter I. Pentateuch — Creation to Abraham (Gen. i.-ix.), 23-33 > why called Pentateuch, 23 ; divisions, 24 ; preface to the Law, 25 ; first portion of it, 25 ; the two documents, 25-28 ; tradition among the Etrurians and the legend of Isdubar, 28, 29; origin and trustworthiness of traditions and genealogies, 29 ; difference between first and second accounts, 31 ; poetry, 32, 33.

Chapter II. Brief Biographies of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen. xii.-l.), 34-44; documents, 34; trustworthiness, 36 ; Abraham, 38, — his princeliness, 40 ; two marked events respecting Lot and Isaac, 41 ; character of Isaac and of Jacob, 42 ; history of Joseph, 43.

Xll CONTENTS.

$art III.

An Introduction to the Pentateuch {continued) . . 47-72

Chapter I. The Israelites in Egypt (Exodus i.-xix.), 47-53; birth of Moses, 47 ; author of these chapters, 48 ; contents, 48, 49 ; when written, and trustworthiness, 49 ; escape, and pillar of fire, 51 ; triumphal song, 52.

Chapter II. The Law, and its Appendix (Exodus xx.-Deuteronomy), 54-72 ; contents of this division, 54 ; facts to be noticed, 55—59 ; sacrifices, 56. Sect. I. Author, 59. Sect. II. Age, 60. Sect. III. Journal-like Character, 61. Sect. IV. Archaic Language, 62. Sect. V. Authenticity, 62. Note A. Recent German and Dutch Hypotheses, 64-67. Note B. The Story of Balaam, 68-72.

Part IV

Chapter I. The Book of Joshua, 75-82; contents, 75. Sect. I. Author, 76. Sect. II. Age, 76-78. Sect. III. Authenticity, 78-80. Sect. IV. Inspiration, 81.

Chapter II. The Books of Judges, 82-94 ; chronology, 82. Sect. I. Contents, 83 ; office of judges, 84. Sect. II. Age, 86. Sect. III. Authorities, 87; Song of Deborah, 88-91. Sect. IV. Author, 91. Sect. V. Inspiration, 92. Note. Remarkable Facts, 93.

Chapter III. The Book of Ruth, 94-97. Sect. I. What is it? 94. Sect. II. Age, 95. Sect. III. Author, 95. Sect. IV. Authorities, 96. Sect. V. Authenticity and Inspiration, 96.

Chapter IV. The Books of Samuel, 98-102. General character of the books, 98. Sect. I. Contents, 99 ; witch of Endor, 99. Sect. II. Object, 100. Sect. III. Authorities. 100. Sect. IV. Author and Age, 101. Sect. V. Authenticity and Inspiration, 102.

CONTENTS. Xlll

Chapter V. The Books of the Kings, 103-108 ; divisions, 103- 105. Sect. I. Object, 105. Sect. II. Authenticity, 106. Sect. III. Author and Age, 10S. Sect. IV. Inspiration, 108.

Chapter VI. The Books of the Chronicles, 109-115. Sect. I. Contents, 109-111 ; no partiality to the priesthood, ill. Sect.

II. Authorities, 112. Sect. III. Authenticity, 114. Sect. IV. Age, 1 14. Sect. V. Inspiration, 115.

Chapter VII. The Book of Ezra, 116-1 18. Sect. I. Contents, 116. Sect. II. Author and Language, 117. Sect. III. Authenticity and Inspiration, 117.

Chapter VIII. The Book of Nehemiah, 1 18-120. Sect. I. Contents, 118. Sect. II. Language, Age, and Author, 119. Sect.

III. Inspiration, 119.

Chapter IX. The Book of Esther, 120-123. Sect. I. Contents, 120.

Sect. II. Object and Author, 121 ; historical romance, 121. Chapter X. Conclusion of the Historical Books, 123.

Part V

Chapter I. General Observations on Hebrew Poetry, 129-166. Sect. I. Books, 129; classes of poetry, 129. Sect. II. Early Fragments, 130. Sect. III. Form or Structure, 131 ; parallelism, 132, — synonymous, 133; antithetic, 134; synthetic, 135 ; alphabetical, 136. Sect. IV. Subjects, 138; power of God, 138 ; knowledge of God, 139 ; omnipresence of God, 139 ; eternity of God, 139 ; goodness, tenderness, mercifulness of God, 140; trust in God, 140; exultation, aspiration, penitence, 141 ; revenge, patriotism, 142. Sect. V. Sources of Imagery, 143 ; nature, light, and darkness, 144 ; storms, deluges, rains, and dews, 145; mountains, plains, 147; forests, 148; animal kingdom, 149; occupations, 151 ; harvest, threshing-floor, 151; vineyard, wine-press, 153 ; shepherd, family, 156 ; burial-places, 157; vices, 158; sacred places, seasons, offices, services, 158; dress, 160; remarkable events, primitive earth, 160; exodus from Egypt, 161 ; phenomena at Sinai, 163 ; fabulous creatures, 163. Conclusion, 165.

XIV CONTENTS.

Chapter II. The Book of Job, 167-178. Sect I. Age, 16S. Sect. II. Author, 170. Sect. III. Integrity and Style, 170. Sect. IV. Subject, 172. Sect. V. Structure, 172 ; prologue, 173 ; dialogue, 174; epilogue, 176. Sect. VI. Immortality, 177. Sect. VII. Theology and Inspiration, 178.

Chapter III. The Book of Psalms, 179-192. Sect. I. Compilations, 179. Sect. II. Notes and Tunes, 183; imprecatory psalms, 184. Sect. III. Messianic Psalms, 185. Sect. IV. Inspiration, 189. Conclusion, 191.

Chapter IV. The Book of Proverbs, 192-196. Sect. I. Divisions, 193. Sect. II. Morality and Inspiration, 195.

Chapter V. Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher, 197-200 ; subject, 197. Sect. I. Style, 197. Sect. II. Divisions, 198. Sect. III. Age and Authorship, 199. Sect. IV. Motives and Inspiration, 199.

Chapter VI. The Song of Solomon, 200-205 ; an amatory poem, 200. Sect. I Arrangement, Subject, and Plot, 201. Sect. II. Age and Author, 203 ; object, 204.

Part VI

Chapter I. General Introduction to the Prophetical Books, 209. Sect. I. The Prophetic Office, 209 ; the prophets as reformers, 209, — courageousness of, 211 ; number of, 212 ; Mill and Bunsen on, 214. Sect. II. Qualifications for the Prophetic Work, 215 ; public speaking, 215 ; meaning of Nabi, 215. Sect. III. Schools of the Prophets, 216, — by whom established, and where, 216 ; life in, 217; uneducated prophets, 218. Sect. IV. Style of the Prophets, etc., 218, — not predictors of future events, 219 ; meaning of "sent of God," 220. Sect. V. Method and Style of Prophetic Teaching, 221 ; dreams, visions, 224; symbols, 225. Sect. VI. Fundamental Principles, etc., 228 ; righteousness, 228 ; the law of God supreme, 230 ; moral law superior to ceremonial, 230 ; final prevalence of righteousness, 232 ; immortality, 233. Sect. VII. Rules of Interpretation, 234 ; predictions conditioned, 235 ; Oriental poetry, 235, — use made

CONTENTS. XV

of, by later writers, 238 ; previous prophecies, 238 ; marginal notes, 240. Sect. VIII. Origin of Authority, 240 ; early traditions of the nation, 241 ; fundamental law of the State, 242 ; results of obedience and disobedience, 243. Conclusion, 246. Chapter II. Introduction to the Separate Books of the Prophets, 248-328. Sect. I. Joel, 248 ; style of the book, 249 ; kingdoms of Israel and Judah idolatrous, 250 ; fast-day sermon of Joel, 251 ; prophecy of the return of captives, 252; no prediction of the day of Pentecost in the Book of Joel, 253. Sect. II. Amos, 253 ; the prophet to be regarded as a lay preacher, 254 ; his authority the law of Moses and the law of right, 255 ; prophecy divided into two parts, 257. Sect. III. Hosea, 259; wickedness of the people to whom the prophet spoke, 262 ; two divisions of the book, 263 ; promises of blessings to follow repentance, 264. Sect. IV. Isaiah, 264 ; title to the book of his prophecies, 265 ; courage and wisdom of the prophet, 267 ; corruption of the people, 268 ; hope for them in the distant future, 270; two parts of the book, 271 ; no supernatural revelation made to Isaiah, 272 ; style of the prophet, 279 ; explanation of Isaiah ix. 1-7, 280. Sect. V. Micah, 286; themes of Micah's discourses, 287 ; God's law his authority, 290. Sect. VI. Nahum, 291 ; no evidence of inspiration, 292. Sect. VII. Zephaniah, 293. Sect. VIII. Habakkuk, 294; no evidence in the prophecy of divine aid, 295. Sect. IX. Obadiah, 295. Sect. X. Jeremiah, 296; announcement of his call to the prophetic office, 297 ; prophecies of the restoration of the Jewish State, 301; prophecies against foreign nations, 302; style of the book, 303 ; Lamentations, 304. Sect. XI. Ezekiel, 304; prophecy divided into three parts, 305 ; translation from Rosenmuller, 306-308 ; Ezekiel inferior to Jeremiah, 309 Sect. XII. Daniel, 310 ; two divisions of the book, 311 ; written in two languages, 312 ; explanation cf the prophetical part, 313 ; age, 316. Sect. XIII. Jonah, 317. Sect. XIV. Haggai, 320. Sect. XV. Zechariah, 322; two divisions of the book, 322. Sect. XVI. Malachi, 326; annunciations based upon the law of Moses, 328.

Part I. General Remarks

COMMON-SENSE VIEW

BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

PART I.

GENERAL REMARKS.

Section I. — The Bible

When we open the Bible, we find that the sacred books of two religions are contained in it, — the sacred book of the Jews, called the Old Testament, and the sacred book of Christians, called the New Testament. It would have been well for the world if the books of these two religions had never been bound up together, as there is a tendency to believe that they include only one religion, and that both are of equal authority to the Christian. This is a most pernicious error, and has led to the saddest results. The Old Testament is the authority of the Jew's religion ; the New Testament is that of the Christian's religion. The commands given in the Old Testament are not binding upon the Christian, unless they are repeated in the New Testament. Whatever Old

Testament laws are repeated in the New Testament are obligatory upon Christians ; no others are. It is vain to quote the Old Testament as proving either Christian doctrine or duty. To find these we must confine ourselves to the New Testament. We are not under obligation to keep the seventh day simply because the Jews were commanded to keep it, nor to offer sacrifices, nor to pay tithes, — the Law was for the Jews, — just as we are not obliged to obey the old articles of the Confederation, which were in full force before the formation of the Constitution of the United States. Whatever articles of the old Confederation were embodied in the new Constitution we are bound to obey, not because they were in that, but because they are in the new Constitution.

It is of no avail, therefore, in proving a doctrine or duty of a Christian, to quote passages from the Old Testament which teach it and command it. Let this fact be settled immovably in the mind of every person who would intelligently read the Bible. It contains the sacred books of two religions, the Jewish and the Christian. If you are a Jew, study and obey the Old Testament. If you are a Christian, you can read and study for instruction the Old Testament ; but you must study and read the New Testament for a knowledge of your own religion.

Section II. — The Apocrypha

Nor is this all. In many Bibles there are bound up between the Old and New Testaments several writings,

OTHER JEWISH BOOKS. 5

called "The Apocrypha." These are books which the Jews supposed not to be of equal value with the others, and hence they were not joined with them. They are received by the Roman Catholics as partly inspired, but not of equal authority with the other Old Testament books. As these books are not generally, probably very seldom, read by Christians, whether Protestant or Catholic, I shall pass them by with the remark that the Wisdom of Solomon and Ecclesiasticus are rich in instruction, and as worthy a place in the Old Testament as Solomon's Song and Ecclesiastes. The stories of Bel and the Dragon, and Susannah and Tobit and Judith, are as instructive as Daniel and Jonah; and the Books of the Maccabees thrill us as deeply with their accounts of the exploits of the heroes of the people as do those contained in Judges. These neglected books are worthy of being read.

Section III. — Other Jewish Books

The literature of the Jews before the time of the Babylonian Captivity is all lost save the fragments of it contained in our Bible. That they had a literature which was quite extensive and comprehensive, is evident from books or works which are referred to in the Old Testament. It may interest the reader to see a list of them ; and for this reason, as well as for other reasons which will appear further on, I will name them : —

i. " The Book of Jasher," referred to in Joshua x. 13, and 2 Samuel i. 18. This was probably a book of paeans on great victories, and poetic eulogies on great warriors and chiefs, statesmen and others.

2. "The Book of the Wars of the Lord," Numbers xxi. 14. This was apparently much like the Book of Jasher, but may have been more historical.

3. " The Visions of Iddo the Seer," 2 Chronicles ix. 29, and elsewhere. This was probably a book of instruction founded on dreams and visions, like Daniel and Ezekiel.

4. "The Book of Gad the Seer," 1 Chronicles xxix. 29. This was probably chiefly historical or biographical, since the author of Chronicles refers to it as authority for his account of David.

5. "The Book of Nathan the Prophet," 1 Chronicles, xxix. 29. This also was apparently a history of his times.

6. "The Book of Samuel the Seer," 1 Chronicles xxix. 29. This book, also, appears to have been to a large extent historical.

7. "The Book of Shemaiah the Prophet," 2 Chronicles, xii. 15. This author is said to have written the acts of Rehoboam, and he was probably a historian as well as a biographer.

8. " The Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel," 1 Kings, xvi. 5. It appears that the kings of Israel, like other Oriental kings, employed scribes who wrote down, perhaps daily, the doings of the government; and this book is one of the books of records.

9. "The Book of Jehu, son of Hanani," 2 Chronicles, xx. 34. This author was also a chronicle --writer and biographer.

FURTHER DIVISIONS OF THE BIBLE. 7

Solomon was a voluminous writer, though it may be that the number of proverbs which he spake, " three thousand," and the number of songs which he wrote, "a thousand and five," are exaggerated. He was also a botanist, and " spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." He pushed his studies in other directions also; " he spake of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes." It is not probable that Solomon was the only student of Nature, though no others are named.

Section IV. — Further Divisions of the Bible

I have said that our Bible contains two books, the Old Testament, in which is the Jewish religion, and the New Testament, in which is the Christian religion, and between the two there is sometimes placed the Apocrypha. I now say that both the Old Testament and the New are made up of many separate books or works, written by many different authors, and during many centuries.

The Old Testament may be divided into three parts : —

I. The Law : Genesis to Deuteronomy. II. History : Joshua to Esther. III. Literature, mostly poetry : Job to Malachi.

But there is another division, which indicates to us the different authors whose works are contained in the Bible, and shows us that one author is not responsible for the writings of another, any more than Paul is responsible for the writings of Peter.

If we open the Old Testament, we shall find that it is made up, as now divided in our Bibles, of no less than thirty-nine different books, — the longest, the Psalms, containing one hundred and fifty-nine chapters or psalms, and the shortest, the prophecy of Obadiah, containing one chapter. How many different writers were engaged in composing these thirty-nine books it is impossible to tell, but probably as many as thirty-five. Seventeen books of prophecies are named, then Moses, then a writer of Joshua, another of Judges, another of Ruth, another of the Samuels, another of the Kings, another of perhaps the Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, another of Esther, another of Job, half a dozen of the Psalms, and of Proverbs three certainly and no one knows how many more, and of Ecclesiastes and Solomon's Song one or two. This is only an approximation to the truth.

Section V. — Literary Character of the Books

If we examine the literary character of these books, we shall find very different styles of composition, and very different subjects treated. All readers know that our English Bible is a translation of the book from the language in which it was first written. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, with the exception of Ezra iv. 8 to vi. 1 8, Daniel ii. 4 to vii. 28, Ezra vii. 12-16, and Jeremiah x. 11. Before the invention of printing, the Bible was copied by persons who made it a business to copy books. In writing them, some employed capital letters

LITERARY CHARACTER OF THE BOOKS. 9

only, others wrote in small letters. No spaces were left between the words, nor was there any punctuation. The page was not broken into paragraphs, but written continuously j and abbreviations were often used for words, as if in English I should write " Gd " for God, and " sn " for son, and " tt " for that. Hence, when the letters began to be separated into words, it was often a question what division to make ; for sometimes the change of a letter from the end of one word to the beginning of another would change very materially the sense, and very serious errors might be made unintentionally by those who engaged in this separation of the continuous letters into proper words. Often, also, bad work was made in dividing the page into verses, by letting a verse end with a comma before any full sense was expressed. Sometimes, even, a chapter ends with a comma instead of continuing until a full stop would give the reader the meaning of the passage. This whole work of dividing the Bible into chapters and verses was very carelessly done, and is of no value in determining the meaning of the writer.

The punctuation of the Bible is not the work of the authors of the books, but was made by the translators or previous critics, and very often changes entirely the meaning of the writer. A doctrine receives its support sometimes from a comma or period which was inserted by the translator of our Bible into English. Romans ix. 5 is a notable instance of such improper punctuation (see Revised Version). This example must suffice to illustrate what effect punctuation has upon the sense of a

IO GENERAL REMARKS.

passage while the author has no direction of the matter. All these things — the division of his work into chapters and verses and its punctuation — the author had nothing to do with ; and however infallibly inspired he may have been, his translators and punctuators and chapter-andverse makers did not share it in any degree.

Nor is this all which is the work of the translators of the Bible with which the original authors had nothing to do. If you will open your Bible in the Book of Psalms, at Psalm li. you will find the heading, " To the chief musician : A Psalm of David, when Nathan came unto him," etc., and similar headings to the Psalms which immediately follow. All these headings are the work of unknown persons, who wrote them to give information respecting the author of the Psalm. They are no part of the original work, and cannot be relied upon as correct. The word " Selah," found in Psalm lii. and in several others, makes no part of the original composition, but was inserted to direct the musicians, when the psalm was sung, where to pause.

Once more : all the headings of the chapters, and all the running summary of the contents of a page at the top of the page, are the work of our translators. What is said in these headings is not to be relied on, and is often false. They are nothing but a commentary on the chapter by the translator. Turn to Solomon's Song, and you will read in these headings of " the church's love unto Christ," of " the mutual love of Christ and his church," " the church is sick of love," and much more of the same amatory character, when there is not a word said in the Song

LITERARY CHARACTER OF THE BOOKS. II

about Christ or about his church, or the remotest allusion to either. Nearly as false headings are found in the Prophets and the Psalms, which make no part of the original Bible. And still more : all the words printed in italic are the insertion of our translators to express more clearly what they thought was the true sense of the original ; but being most of them men of strong doctrinal bias, they would be liable, even unconsciously, to give a doubtful passage a strong doctrinal signification in support of their opinions. In Acts vii. 59, where Stephen is represented as " calling upon God and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," there is no such word as " God " in the original, and the passage should be translated, " Calling aloud, or out, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." In 2 Samuel i. 18, is a very striking instance of a failure by the translators to apprehend the meaning of the writer, and a curious leading astray of the reader by the insertion of words in italic. The passage is the introduction of David's most beautiful elegy on Saul and Jonathan. "And he [David] bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow, behold it is written in the Book of Jasher." Now, to exhort the people of Judah to teach their children to shoot arrows, was a thing the farthest possible from David's mind. Leave out the italic words, and. you have just what David desired to have taught ; namely, " The Bow," that is, this most tender eulogy on his friends, which was called " The Bow." This was the name of the poem, and this poem he would have taught through all generations in memory of the fallen heroes. We should be grateful to our translators for warning us of the words which they have inserted by printing them in italic letters. There is no ground for charging the translators of our Bible with adding words for the purpose of sustaining their peculiar doctrines ; but there can be no question that their doctrinal bias did influence them in the rendering of all doubtful words, and in the construction of all equivocal sentences. They would probably do it unconsciously more frequently than consciously.