THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 CLEWS TO HOLY WRIT
 
 CLEWS TO HOLY WRIT 
 
 OR, THE 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE 
 
 A SCHEME FOR STUDYING THE WHOLE BIBLE IN ITS 
 HISTORICAL ORDER DURING THREE YEARS 
 
 BY 
 
 MARY LOUISA GEORGINA PETRIE, B.A. 
 
 (MRS. ASHLEY CARUS-WILSON) 
 
 NINTH THOUSAND 
 
 %axiinm 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
 MDCCCXC1V
 
 V tinted by Haull, Watson, & Vituy, Lrt., London and Aylesbury.
 
 57/ 
 
 TO ADELINE, 
 
 DUCHESS OF BEDFORD, 
 
 ONE OF THE FIRST 
 
 OUTSIDE OUR COLLEGE BY POST TO ADOPT 
 
 THE C.S.C. SCHEME, 
 
 AND THE FIRST TO SUGGEST 
 
 ITS ISSUE IN THIS FORM FOR A WIDER PUBLIC, 
 
 % DeDlcate 
 MY LITTLE BOOK. 
 
 1966726
 
 PREFACE TO THE SIXTH THOUSAND 
 
 / I ''HE reception which my little volume has had from 
 the reviewers and the public has been most gratifying 
 to the author of a first book. The few adverse criticisms 
 were based on the idea that I was daring enough to at- 
 tempt the difficult, if not impossible, task of setting forth 
 an authoritative scheme of Biblical chronology. Prepara- 
 tion of this book has, on the contrary, led me to doubt if 
 an undisputed date can be assigned to any single event 
 in Scripture history. Modern research has not yet re- 
 placed the generally condemned old chronology by a 
 generally accepted new one. Hence it seemed best, in 
 a popular book, to use the " received chronology " as a 
 convenient working basis, indicating that it is only ap- 
 proximately true anywhere, and in many places very 
 doubtful. 
 
 My marriage, on August 31st, 1893, to Professor 
 Ashley Carus-Wilson, of McGill University, Montreal, has 
 changed both my name and my address, and puts it out 
 of my power to admit any new students into the College 
 by Post, at any rate until the summer of 1894. All
 
 vi PREFACE 
 
 letters referring to it should be addressed to " The 
 Secretary of the College by Post," at Hanover Lodge, 
 Kensington Park. Letters intended for me should go to 
 Canada. We are arranging to lend the MS. answers to 
 the questions to the many leaders of Scripture classes, 
 etc., who are using this book, on payment of a subscrip- 
 tion of at least 2s. 6d. to the Prize Fund of the College 
 by Post. 
 
 MARY L. G. CARUS-WILSON. 
 
 September, 1893.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 " \A/ ^^ ^' ou as a y° un S student help another young 
 V V student ? " The request was made by the founder 
 of the " Christian Women's Education Union " to me in my 
 early college days, when I had only matriculated and all 
 the hardest part of my work for the University of London 
 lay before me. So I began an informal correspondence 
 with two or three other girls whose schoolroom days were 
 over, and who were isolated from educational advantages. 
 A few months later, casual mention in the Girl's Own 
 Paper of this brought such scores of applications for the 
 proffered aid that the organisation now known as the 
 COLLEGE BY POST came suddenly into being. 
 
 Born thus in the summer of 1 88 1, it has grown steadily 
 since. University College, London ; Westfield College, 
 Hampstead ; Girton and Newnham Colleges, Cambridge ; 
 Somerville and Lady Margaret Halls, Oxford ; the Ladies' 
 College, Cheltenham, and kindred institutions for higher 
 education of women have contributed able teachers glad 
 to share with others what they have themselves received 
 to a staff on which 200 have now been enrolled. 
 
 From all parts of the United Kingdom, from the Con- 
 tinent and the Colonies, students representing many 
 different conditions of life and degrees of education, to the 
 number of 3000, have entered our classes. We do not 
 prepare for any public examinations, but many who have 
 small opportunity of availing themselves of professional
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 tuition arc eaeer to continue self-culture of various kinds 
 under definite guidance through correspondence. We 
 would fain lead them to prefer wise books to foolish ones ; 
 to enrich their lives by caring for history, literature, and 
 science, when continuing to learn ceases to be a duty 
 imposed from without and one is free to arrest or foster 
 further intellectual growth. And since the most important 
 history, the noblest literature, and the highest knowledge 
 should always come first, every one of our students under- 
 takes to give half an hour a day to Bible study on some 
 regular system. Some do this merely because it is the 
 condition of receiving gratuitous instruction in other sub- 
 jects. But these soon find that to know the Bible aright 
 is to love it above all other books. And an ever-increasing 
 number who do not need our teaching in other subjects 
 join Scripture classes only, and continue Scripture study 
 year after year when marriage or pressure of other fresh 
 claims on time has made secular study with us impossible. 
 During more than six years we availed ourselves of four 
 plans of Bible reading, each of which joins us to organisa- 
 tions of larger extent than our own, and each of which 
 has its peculiar advantages : (a) The Lectionary of the 
 Church of England, by which the Old Testament is read 
 once and the New Testament twice in the year. Four chap- 
 ters a day are, however, too large a portion for thorough 
 study, save in the case of those who have abundant leisure. 
 (b) (c) The two Bible Unions shaped some sixteen years 
 ago by two clergymen of the Church of England, and now 
 numbering many thousand adherents all over the world — 
 viz., the Bible and Prayer Union, which reads the Bible 
 straight through in three years and three months at the 
 rate of one chapter a day ; and the Christian Progress 
 Union, which reads the Old Testament and New Testa- 
 ment straight through together, in rather more than two 
 years and a half. Both arc clear and simple plans, but 
 tend to ignore the historical connection of the books of the
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 Bible with each other, id) The Bible study plan, varying from 
 year to year, of the Young Women's Christian Association. 
 This, as a rule, is only adopted by those few of us who 
 are connected with the practical work of that good society. 
 No one of these schemes completely meets our special 
 needs as students ; and my desire to add a fifth scheme 
 took shape during a long ramble among the moors and 
 mountains of Argyllshire in August 1887. Surely the most 
 intelligent and profitable method of studying the Bible is 
 to read it in the chronological order of the events it relates 
 and the books it contains, so far as that can be ascertained. 
 Thus we can illustrate the story of what was done by the 
 poetry and other literature which explains the motives and 
 sets forth the results of those deeds " in order " (Luke i. 3, 
 Acts xi. 4). This rearrangement will produce fresh in- 
 terest in the narratives ; fresh proof of their power, and 
 irresistible evidence of their authenticity as history ; fresh 
 light on the will of God when we see the truths He has 
 revealed, not as isolated things, but as parts of a whole set 
 forth in regular progression, from the dim dawn of the first 
 promise in Eden to that bright noontide when the Eternal 
 Son came in the Father's Name to reveal God to man 
 perfectly. 
 
 Such was the idea embodied in the CHRONOLOGICAL 
 Scripture Cycle. Those who first adopted it began 
 work with MS. papers on February 1st, 1888, and hence- 
 forth the number of C.S.C. classes rapidly increased. 
 Then many whose lives are too busy to admit of their 
 joining our classes, who are engaged in Bible teaching at 
 home or in missionary work in distant lands, asked for the 
 set of C.S.C. pamphlets which had been prepared in the first 
 instance solely for our own students. 
 
 That there is a real need for such aid as we seek to 
 give among the more thoughtful Bible readers of to-day, 
 who cannot easily obtain or use the larger works of modern 
 scholars, is indicated by these facts. In little more than
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 four years our students and their friends have subscribed 
 for 3000 sets of pamphlets ; and the scheme is now being 
 followed by 50 out of 60 of our Scripture classes, as well 
 as by nearly 1700 individual Bible readers. To many 
 Holy Writ has thus become not only interesting but 
 fascinating ; and the promised half-hour has grown into 
 an hour at the expense of less absorbing secular studies. 
 
 This volume forms the third edition or fourth thousand 
 of the C.S.C. Papers. In revising them I have been much 
 indebted to my colleagues in the COLLEGE BY POST for hints 
 and criticisms founded upon experience of the practical 
 work of our C.S.C. classes. Of other friends whose larger 
 knowledge has in various ways aided my responsible task, 
 special mention must be made of the Principal of St. John's 
 Hall, Highbury. Throughout I write for the plain reader 
 who knows no language but English. Should more erudite 
 persons use " Clews to Holy Writ," 1 trust they will 
 forgive explanations of far from recondite things, recom- 
 mendations of popular and inexpensive books, and studious 
 avoidance of learned allusions and deep and difficult 
 questions. 
 
 And now, as with sails trimmed anew my humble craft 
 speeds out to sea from its inland lake, I pray God that 
 this effort to help my fellow-students, not discoursing from 
 a pulpit, but meeting them on common ground, may be 
 used to stir many others up to fresh study of His in- 
 exhaustible and everlasting Word. 
 
 MARY L. G. PETRIE.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PREFACE .......... Vll 
 
 INTRODUCTION ........ I 
 
 GENERAL PLAN OF THE CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE 9 
 
 FIRST TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF THE PATRIARCHS . . . . -19 
 
 SECOND TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF MOSES ....... 39 
 
 THIRD TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF DAVID ....... 60 
 
 FOURTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF SOLOMON ....... 78 
 
 FIFTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF THE PROPHETS ...... 95 
 
 SIXTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF JEREMIAH . . . . . IlS 
 
 SEVENTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF EZRA . . . . . . . 1 38 
 
 THE SIX CENTURIES FROM JUDAH's FALL TO THE BIRTH 
 
 OF CHRIST ...... .164
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE PSALMS IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE . . . I70 
 
 EIGHTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN . . . . . 213 
 
 THE GOSPELS IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE . . . 244 
 
 NINTH TERM. 
 THE DAYS OF S. PAUL ....... 278 
 
 SECOND SERIES OF QUESTIONS ... . 309 
 
 GENERAL INDEX .... -335 
 
 INDEX TO THE PSALMS ....... 337
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 _ " The word of the Lord was precious in those days ; there was no open 
 vision."— i Sam. iii. i. 
 
 "The Bible is an interpretation of the eternal, intelligible to every man 
 through all time in the language in which he was born." — Dr. Westcott, 
 Bishop of Durham. 
 
 " Let us read every word, ponder every word, first in its plain human sense : 
 then if, in after years, we can see any safe law or rule by which we may find 
 out its hidden meaning, let us use it, and search into the deep things of God, 
 not from men's theories, but from His own words." — Canon Kingsley. 
 
 GOD is silent now as He was in the days of Eli, and for 
 us there is no open vision. In one sense, indeed, He 
 is ever revealing Himself as " the thoughts of men arc 
 widened with the process of the suns." With fresh insight 
 into Nature we gain fresh knowledge of His ways, while 
 the course of History is constantly showing us more and 
 more of His will concerning man. But His supreme 
 revelation was when He " spoke unto us in His Son," whom 
 the heaven has now received until the times of restoration 
 of all things (Acts iii. 21, R.V.) ; and since that Divine voice 
 is heard no longer among us, most " rare " and " precious " 
 is the Book that contains its words, with all the Prophetic 
 teaching that led up to them and all the Apostolic teaching 
 that flowed out of them (Heb. i. 1, ii. 3, 4). We are 
 Christians because we believe in Christ, not because we 
 believe in the Bible. Our faith is centred in a Person, not 
 in a book. But, being Christians, we prize and study the 
 Bible, because we can abundantly prove that in the Gospels 
 we have the authentic record of Christ's life and teaching, 
 that He has set His seal upon the Old Testament as " the 
 Scriptures of the prophets which cannot be broken " (Matt, 
 xxvi. 56; John x. 35 ; cf. Rom. i. 2), and that the whole 
 New Testament is the work of men to whom He promised
 
 2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that His Holy Spirit should teach them all things and 
 bring all that He had said to their remembrance (John 
 xiv. 26). The Bible tells us of a Living Christ, and is 
 interpreted to us by the Living Spirit of God who once 
 moved its writers (2 Peter i. 21). Therefore it stands alone 
 among the " sacred books " of the world in being itself 
 living, not dead. Too often, however, it has been treated 
 as. if it were dead. No book is more read and less studied ; 
 no book has been more grievously misunderstood, since the 
 Jews who reverenced the paper on which it was written 
 rejected Him of whom it spake. For it is read more 
 devoutly but less intelligently than other books. And so 
 we hear those who are eager and well-informed on other 
 subjects confess that, while they make some acquaintance 
 with the New Testament, they cannot find the Old Testa- 
 ment interesting. How could they, when they hardly read 
 it at all, or else, like Browning's half-learned, but wholly 
 self-satisfied preacher in " Christmas Eve and Easter Day," 
 "hug the book of books to pieces," reading it piece- 
 meal and haphazard, isolating it from its New Testament 
 elucidations, and never inquiring into those circumstances 
 of time and place without knowledge of which any record 
 of the past loses most of its meaning ? Should we venture 
 to treat any other book whose author we respected in such 
 a way ? Others again read as a compendium of theology or 
 a philosophical dissertation, what is really a collection of 
 Literature in its four most attractive forms : Biography, that 
 is, portraits of the heroes who make history ; Letters, that is, 
 the most spontaneous utterances of human thought ; Poetry, 
 that is, the loftiest utterances of human thought ; and, above 
 all, History, that is, "philosophy teaching by example." 
 
 In these days secular history is being re-written by men 
 with highest gifts of thought and expression. Instead of 
 retailing trivial anecdotes, small personalities, crude state- 
 ments of character, and partisan arguments, they show 
 which were really the important events of the past, what 
 led up to them, and what new developments of national life 
 and human progress may be derived from them. The 
 materials for secular history are contradictory, fragmentary, 
 and in many ways unsatisfactory. But the materials for 
 sacred history contain all \vc need know, if not all that
 
 INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 would gratify our curiosity. Its writers, under Divine 
 guidance, were unbiassed and absolutely truthful. (Occa- 
 sional trifling confusions of names and numbers, which are 
 inevitable in writings preserved for hundreds of years in 
 MS., cannot affect the historic worth of the Scriptures for 
 any candid reader.) Rightly read, this history shows 
 explicitly what can only be found implicitly in other 
 histories, how from age to age, in spite of man's weakness 
 and wickedness, the purposes of God are carried out. 
 
 Yet, instead of tracing the march of events by aid of 
 chronology and geography, the handmaids of all history, 
 and using the field-glass that shows each part in relation to 
 the whole, we take the microscope for minute investigation 
 of words and phrases ; we revel in whimsical applications 
 of morsels of misunderstood narrative : using for instance, 
 I quote facts, Gen. xliii. 27 and 1 Sam. xxi. 8 (last clause) 
 as texts for exhortations that might have been fitly based 
 upon Rom. vi. 6 and Rom. xii. 1 1 ; and thus treat the Bible 
 as the fashionable folks of the Regency in Louis XV.'s 
 reign treated the fine and valuable engravings whose 
 figures they cut out to paste on fans and fire-screens. We 
 can prove anything from Holy Writ when we regard it as 
 a long string of " texts " whose dates and contexts may be 
 ignored — e.g., that God does not exist, from a sentence of 
 Psalm xiv. I. 
 
 Sometimes indeed we read it straight through, content tc 
 pass from the history of Esther to that of Job, who lived 
 more than 1000 years earlier ; from the end of Judah's 
 Captivity in Daniel to the latter days of the kingdom 
 of Israel in Hosea ; from Obadiah's denunciation of Edom's 
 exultation over the fall of Jerusalem to Jonah's message 
 200 years before to Nineveh, which had been swept away 
 ere Jerusalem was attacked ; from S. Paul in his Roman 
 prison writing to the Colossians to S. Paul at Corinth, 
 eleven years back, writing to the Thessalonians. Then we 
 complain that the prophets are uninteresting, and S. Paul's 
 teaching hard to understand ! 
 
 The first " clew " (or guiding thread) to a right under- 
 standing of Holy Writ is to realise that it is an organic 
 whole, to which each of its parts has a definite relation ; 
 the second clew is to ascertain that relation. Not that we
 
 4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are to substitute a vague " general idea " of the Bible for a 
 close study of its details. Every flower in it, as Luther 
 quaintly says, is a garden, and every tree a forest. But we 
 must first find out where, when, by whom, and under what 
 conditions, a passage was penned, and what it could have 
 meant for those who originally read it, before we go on to 
 ask what meanings its words may be made to include for 
 us. Of course this will involve some trouble, but while 
 God does make provision for our unavoidable ignorance, 
 He does not make provision for our uncalled-for indolence. 
 The good we each get from the Bible must depend upon 
 the amount of earnest effort we put into our reading of it. 
 Often, because we will not make that effort, we are half- 
 hearted and unstable in the faith, when we might be whole- 
 hearted and strong. 
 
 The whole Bible must always be looked at in its two 
 complementary aspects of Unity as a Divine Book on the 
 one hand, and Diversity as a Human Book on the other. 
 
 Observe (a) Unity of AutJwrsJiip. Throughout God 
 speaks, and He changeth not (James i. 17). The same 
 Lord who said to Adam, " Thou shalt not eat of it " 
 (Gen. ii. 17), said to S. John, "Fear not" (Rev. i. 17). But 
 very different was the knowledge of the Apostle. from that 
 of our first father. From Eden to Patmos, God's revelation 
 of Himself was gradual, as men were able to bear it (John 
 xvi. 12 ; 1 Cor. iii. 2). " Truth is one, and right is ever one," 
 sings Edmund Spenser ; but humanity, educated by God, is 
 ever making progress, and so His teaching, though one, was 
 not uniform. From age to age there was a continuous 
 advance, not from less to more true, but from simple to com- 
 plex manifestations of truth, each of which must therefore 
 be considered in connexion with its own period. And 
 though the Canon was closed 1800 years ago, the Bible is a 
 book of progress still, for its meaning can never be exhausted. 
 Its Divine Author still leads us into all the truth, and 
 each generation may learn more from its pages than the 
 last. Many things are clearer to the average Christian of 
 to-day than to the most enlightened Christian of bygone 
 times, as those of us who read the religious books of the 
 remote past know well. 
 
 (b) Unity of Time. Its history covers 3700 years, but
 
 INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 is most unequally distributed over that period. More than 
 2000 years is compressed into nine chapters of Genesis ; 
 while the 40 years from 149 1 to 145 1 fills more than 140 
 chapters ; the 48 years from 1064 to 1016 fills more than 
 130 chapters; the week of our Lord's Passion fills 25 
 chapters ; the last 15 years of S. Paul's life 100 chapters, 
 reckoning his Epistles. 
 
 (c) Unity of Place. Find on the globe Rome, the Black 
 Sea, the Persian Gulf, and Sinai. The area enclosed by 
 a curved line drawn through these four places is the scene 
 of the whole Biblical history. By far the greatest part of 
 it is concerned wholly with a little strip of coast, scarcely 
 140 miles long, between Sidon and Gaza. 
 
 {d) Unity of Subject. The Bible is not a history of the 
 world, but of God's Kingdom on earth, and of His testa- 
 ments or covenants (see 2 Cor. iii. 6, 14, R.V. margin) with 
 a Chosen People whom He called, redeemed, and trained, 
 in order that He might come to them bringing full salva- 
 tion. The Old Covenant was with Israel in anticipation 
 of His first coming ; the New Covenant is with the Church 
 in anticipation of His second coming. 
 
 Hence the structure of the Old Testament corresponds 
 throughout to that of the New Testament. In each we have 
 (1) God's Revelation and Covenant. See PentateucJi and 
 Gospels. (2) What was therefore done, i.e., Plistory. See 
 Joshua to Esther and Acts. (3) What was therefore taught, 
 i.e., Doctrine. See Job to Malachi and Romans to Revela- 
 tion. The curse which closes the Old Testament (Mai. 
 iv. 6) passes into the blessing which closes the New Testa- 
 ment (Rev. xxii. 21). Moreover "the New Testament is 
 latent in the Old Testament ; the Old Testament is laid 
 open in the New Testament." Each is the necessary 
 complement of the other, and we cannot neglect the Old 
 Testament without in the end losing our hold upon the 
 New Testament. This is well brought out in Dr. Saphir's 
 " Christ and the Scriptures" (Morgan & Scott, is. 6d.). 
 
 The Old Testament is the Divine introduction to the 
 New Testament. Israel's history is the key to the history 
 of the whole world ; and since it is typical throughout of 
 the history of the Church, it has a peculiar application to 
 ourselves (1 Cor. x. 11).
 
 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The Scriptures have one theme, for they refer to one 
 Person. Throughout " they contain the display of His 
 excellences, and are the lively picture of His matchless 
 beauty " (ArcJibisJiop Leighton). 
 
 The whole subject of the inspiration of the Bible is 
 handled in a very helpful way in the first chapter of Dr. 
 Westcott's "Introduction to the Study of the Gospels" 
 (Macmillan, \os. 6d.). 
 
 We turn now to the human side of the Bible, and con- 
 sider its diversity. 
 
 (a) Diversity of AutJiorsJiip. "The Bible is authoritative, 
 for it is the Voice of God ; it is intelligible, for it is in the 
 language of man." Its authors were, penmen, not mere pens. 
 The Old Testament contains 39 books, all written in 
 Hebrew (except Ezra iv. 8 — vi. 18, vii. 12-26; Jer. x. 11, 
 and Dan. ii. 4 — vii. 28, which are in Aramaic), during 
 rather less than 1100 years (1490 to 39/), by 26 widely 
 different authors whose names we know (viz., Moses, 
 Samuel, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, Agur, 
 Ezra, Nehemiah, and the sixteen Prophets), and doubtless 
 by others also. The New Testament contains 27 books, 
 all written in Greek, during rather less than 50 years, by 
 nine authors, viz., SS. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, 
 Peter, James, Jude, and the author of Hebrews. With the 
 possible exception of S. Luke's two books, it was all 
 written by Israelites, though not for Israelites only. 
 
 Questions too complex to be entered upon fully here 
 have recently arisen as to the date and authorship of vari- 
 ous portions of the Bible. That, for instance, Deuteronomy 
 was written, not merely discovered, in the reign of Josiah ; 
 that the second part of Isaiah is from the hand of a much 
 later prophet than the first, are hypotheses fascinating to 
 some minds. But they are only hypotheses, not proved 
 facts, and wider knowledge has frequently overthrown 
 hypotheses which seemed equally plausible. The argu- 
 ments in favour of the earlier dates assigned for generations 
 to these books are so strong that, until more convincing 
 evidence than any as yet brought forward can be given for 
 setting those dates aside, the most accurate and judicious 
 scholars hesitate to treat such hypotheses as if they 
 belonged to the region of knowledge and not of conjecture.
 
 INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 We must avoid on the one hand rash assumption that 
 traditional views are wrong ; and on the other hand 
 equally rash assumption that all traditional views can hold 
 their own. That Job is a contemporary biography, or that 
 Joshua was written by him whose name it bears, is neither 
 proved nor provable ; in either case it is possible, but not 
 probable, and the question is not of vital importance. 
 That all the four Gospels were written before the end of 
 the first Christian century, and are therefore contemporary 
 biography, has in our own days been established upon 
 evidence to which our fathers had no access, and to this 
 question the gravest issues belong. 
 
 {b) Diversity of Method. More and more clearly from age 
 to age God has made known to man His truth by history, 
 type, prophecy, sign, vision, and parable, " by divers portions 
 and in divers manners" (Heb. i. I, R.V.). The Bible may 
 be the history of one nation only, but that, as the one 
 unmingled race of high antiquity, has the most persistent 
 of nationalities, and the longest of histories, and is connected 
 with almost every other important nation in the world. 
 
 Nowadays it is said in some quarters that the Bible is 
 in peril from " Higher Criticism," and certain good people, 
 whose piety is greater than their intelligence, echo the 
 assertion, and deprecate criticism altogether. The faith 
 of unstable souls is indeed in peril from a criticism that 
 errs in not being high enough. But from criticism of 
 the right kind the Bible has everything to gain, and if 
 we are wise we shall read it in the fullest light our own 
 age can throw upon it. Ignorance, not knowledge, is the 
 'real foe ; and just as the Church gains fresh strength in 
 times of persecution, so Holy Writ wins fresh appreciation 
 in times when it is being tried (Psalm cxix. 140, R.V. 
 margin). For when unassailed, it is also in great 
 measure unstudied ; whereas the labours of scholars in 
 various departments have lately, as never before, shown 
 the unity and beauty of its literary structure, and the 
 minute accuracy of its historical narratives. And when 
 we cease to read into it what it does not say, and clearly 
 ascertain what it does say, we discover again and again 
 that its statements are in harmony with the latest results 
 of scientific research.
 
 8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Moreover, living in days of worldwide missionary effort 
 and worldwide missionary success, we can assert as the 
 Christians of past times could not assert, that the Bible, 
 written in a remote age and an obscure country, has proved 
 its Divine origin by its power to win human hearts of every 
 race and to transform human lives in every clime as no 
 other book ever did or ever could do. S. T. Coleridge, that 
 profound thinker, says that for him the most convincing 
 proof of its Divine origin is that it finds him at deeper 
 depths of his being than any other book. These are 
 matters that claim our earnest consideration. For in the 
 near future (I quote Bishop Phillips Brooks, preaching 
 from Matt. xxii. 37, on " The Mind's Love for God ") " there 
 will be an ever-increasing demand for thoughtful saints ; 
 for men and women, earnest, lofty, spiritual, but also full of 
 intelligence, knowing the meaning and the reasons of the 
 things they believe, and not content to worship the God 
 to whom they owe everything with less than their whole 
 nature." 
 
 By the Word we are quickened, that is, made alive (Psalm 
 cxix. 50), by it we grow (1 Peter ii. 2), by it we become 
 strong (1 John ii. 14). There is no surer sign of bodily 
 sickness than lack of appetite for wholesome food. There 
 is no surer sign of spiritual sickness than lack of appetite 
 for that which is sweeter than honey (Psalm xix. 10 ; Jer. 
 xv. 16; Ezek. iii. 1-3). Does the Christian life seem unreal? 
 Is the Christian faith beset with difficulties amid the conflict 
 of human opinions and the clatter of controversies and 
 arguments ? Is this your bewildered query concerning the 
 Son of God, as concerning a Being, awful, distant, vague, 
 " Who is He that I may believe on Him ? " (John ix. 36). 
 
 "Have ye not read?" (Matt. xix. 4), " Understandest 
 thou what thou readest?" (Acts viii. 30). Take comfort in 
 the knowledge that all may read and all may understand, 
 for all who ask may have the guidance of Him through 
 whom the Scripture not only was but is inspired to be the 
 living and life-giving Word for every age and every race 
 (Luke xi. 13 ; James i. 5).
 
 FIRST TERM. 
 The Days of the Patriarchs. 
 The Chosen Family. B.C. 4004 — 1490. From the Creation to the erection 
 of the Tabernacle . . . . • . . . p. 19. 
 
 SECOND TERM. 
 The Days of Moses. 
 The Chosen Nation. The Tabernacle and the Theocracy. B.C. 1490 — 1256. 
 From the erection of the Tabernacle to the Midianite Oppression p. 39. 
 
 THIRD TERM. 
 
 The Days of David. 
 
 The Chosen Nation under one King, b.c 1256 — 1018. From the Midianite 
 Oppression to the choice of a site for the Temple , . . p. 60. 
 
 FOURTH TERM. 
 The Days of Solomon. 
 The Chosen Nation Centre of an Empire. The First Temple, b.c. 101S — 915. 
 From the choice of a site for the Temple to the accessions of Jehoshaphat 
 and Ahab . . p. 7^- 
 
 FIFTH TERM. 
 The Days of the Prophets. 
 Decline and Fall of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, b.c. 915 — 697. From 
 the accessions of Jehoshaphat and Ahab to the death of Hezckiah p. 95. 
 
 SIXTH TERM. 
 The Days of Jeremiah. 
 Decline and Fall of the Kingdom of Judah. b.c. 697 — 588. From the 
 death of Hezekiah to the Fall of Jerusalem . . . . p. 118. 
 
 SEVENTH TERM. 
 The Days of Ezra. 
 The Restoration and the Second Temple. B.C. 606—397. From the Fall 
 of Jerusalem to the close of the Old Testament Canon . . p. 138. 
 
 EIGHTH TERM. 
 The Days of the Son of Man. 
 
 The Gospel preached to the Jews. B.C. 6 — a.d. 51. From the coming of 
 Christ to the Conference at Jerusalem . . . . . p. 213. 
 
 NINTH TERM. 
 The Days of S. Paul. 
 The Gospel preached to the Gentiles, a.d. 51 — 97. From the Conference 
 at Jerusalem to the close of the New Testament Canon , . p. 278. 
 
 9
 
 GENERAL PLAN 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. 
 
 DIVIDING the Bible, which contains 1189 chapters, 
 into nine portions of about 132 chapters each, we 
 read it through in 3 years, 36 months, 1095 days, or nine 
 terms of four months, taking one chapter a day and an 
 extra chapter in the course of every 12 days. 
 
 The section for each term is headed by (a) A title 
 showing the main subject of the term's reading ; (6) The 
 dates marking off its period of history ; (c) The names of 
 the books and parts of books to be read ; (d) A motto for 
 the Bible student, taken from these books ; (<?) A tabular 
 scheme of the term's reading. It consists of nine chapters, 
 each of which may be read either in connexion with the 
 rest of the section or with the corresponding chapters of 
 the other sections : that is, either historically or topically, 
 as we divide the Bible into nine successive sections, or take 
 a ninefold view of it from beginning to end. 
 
 "Clews to Holy Writ" is not a commentary to be 
 merely read through, but a scries of suggestions which 
 mean little for those who do not work each out for them- 
 selves, studying every section closely and constantly, and 
 looking up all passages referred to. 
 
 The chapters in each section are as follows : — 
 
 I. GENERAL SUMMARY, gathering up the threads of 
 our story, and ascertaining the main events and most 
 striking lessons of our period as we glance backwards and 
 forwan 
 
 II. Books TO BE READ, indicating their literary char- 
 acteristics and keynotes, and marking off from the history 
 
 10
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. u 
 
 which relates the action of the period, the poetry which 
 utters its best thought. We do not read the Bible only for 
 the intellectual enjoyment of its many literary charms, but 
 we shall enter into its higher aspects all the better for not 
 ignoring these. 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. — Here we arrange the order 
 of our reading in detail, and map out our whole period into 
 forty well-defined shorter epochs. Where exact dates are 
 out of the question, approximate dates are given, and here 
 and there we disregard the actual order of time in order to 
 round off an important subject. Very numerous careful 
 statements of hours, days, weeks, and years in Holy Writ 
 show the importance attributed to chronology by its writers. 
 
 IV. GEOGRAPHY. — Here we connect each chapter of 
 history with particular places, whose physical characteristics 
 are swiftly sketched. 
 
 V. HEROES. — The biographical interest of any period 
 centres round the makers of its history. We are apt to 
 think of Bible characters as mere abstractions rather than 
 " men of like passions with us." Hence we must endeavour 
 to realise the individualities of those who long years ago 
 strove with the power of evil and were strong in the grace 
 of God, that we may take to ourselves the practical 
 lessons of their lives, which will be given as a rule through 
 New Testament quotations for the first seven, and Old 
 Testament quotations for the last two terms. 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. — It has been well said that 
 the best key to the mystery of the written Word is the 
 mystery of the Incarnate Word. So, beginning at Moses, 
 we trace the dominant theme of the Bible (Luke xxiv. 27), 
 its one great Hope of ever-growing brightness, brought at 
 each crisis in the providential history of the world within 
 narrower limits, and illustrated by fresh details. There are 
 two kinds of Messianic prophecy. 
 
 (a) Types, or prophecies in picture or action. " Type " 
 means " likeness," and Scripture types are " likenesses " of 
 good things to come, or earthly shadows of heavenly 
 substances. We discriminate typical (1) Persons — e.g., 
 Moses ; (2) Things — e.g., Manna ; (3) Ordinances — e.g., the 
 Day of Atonement ; (4) Offices — e.g., Prophet, Priest, and 
 King ; (5) Events — e.g., the Exodus ; (6) Acts — e.g., the
 
 12 GENERAL PLAN OF THE 
 
 burial of Jeremiah's girdle. These last are often called 
 Signs. Observe, that although we may use types to illus- 
 trate and confirm doctrines, we cannot prove doctrines 
 from them ; also that search for new and far-fetched types 
 often leads us astray. There are quite enough unmistakable 
 ones to afford study for our whole lives. Here again the 
 Bible is its own best explanation. 
 
 {b) Predictions, or prophecies in words or speech, which 
 are cither (i) Direct, i.e., referring only to Christ {e.g., Zech. 
 ix. 9) ; (2) Indirect, having a primary historical fulfilment 
 in some one who partially realised what Christ realised 
 wholly {e.g., Psalm lxxii.). " While the words of the Psalms 
 and Prophecies not only admit of, but even demand, 
 germinant and springing developments, they are primarily 
 applicable to events and circumstances of their own days " 
 {Calvin). Their ultimate fulfilments grow out of primary 
 fulfilments which it must be our first business to under- 
 stand, but neither contradict nor supersede them. 
 
 These Predictions fall into three classes — viz., those 
 fulfilled at the first Advent, those to be fulfilled at the 
 second Advent, and those that have a double fulfilment in 
 both. 
 
 The evidence of miracle is strongest in the age when the 
 miracle is wrought ; the evidence of prophecy is strongest 
 in the age most remote from its utterance. Yet even the 
 earliest Christian apologists appeal, especially in argument 
 with Jews, to prophecy rather than miracle (see Blunt's 
 " Christian Church of the First Three Centuries," chap. vii.). 
 For us the progress of events, and the greatly increased 
 knowledge of the past now possessed, give the prophetic 
 aspect of Scripture a special importance. But we must 
 remember that Predictions are not mere adjuncts of rc- 
 velation, attached to it from without, in order to prove it 
 to us, but essential parts of it. The Scripture record is 
 nearly always twofold. The Prophet looks forward, and 
 says, " It shall be," ere the Historian looks backward and 
 says, " It was " (comp. Gen. xv. 13, 14 with Exodus). Its 
 Prophecy is History anticipated, its History is Prophecy 
 fulfilled ; but while its History ceases 1800 years ago, its 
 l'l-Dpliecy looks on to the end of the world. 
 
 In our eighth term we open the New Testament as if
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. 13 
 
 we had never opened it before, to discover how far the 
 Messiah of History realises, and how far He transcends, the 
 Messiah of Prophecy whom we have learned to know. " And 
 by the title of Christ or Messiah, so slowly defined, so 
 variously interpreted, so gloriously fulfilled, God teaches 
 us to find the true meaning of all history, teaches us at 
 all times to wait, to watch, to hope " ( Westcotf). 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man — 
 " Revelation is not the sum of the happiest guesses, or wisest 
 observations and reflections, which devout and thoughtful 
 men have made regarding God ; but it is the sum of what 
 God Himself has imparted to the minds of men to guide 
 and rule their thoughts about Him " {Dr. Marcus Dods). 
 Man seeking God is the origin of other religions. God 
 seeking man is the origin of the Christian religion. Slowly 
 and gradually, as we shall see, did God make Himself 
 known by new Names and new dealings with men. Yet 
 our revelation of " the glory of the Eternal Trinity " is not 
 only in harmony with, but was dimly adumbrated by, the 
 earliest manifestations of the God of Israel. 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. — The 
 history of religion is the history of man's response to these 
 manifestations. This will lead us through Sacrifice and 
 Prayer in their most general form, to the Mosaic Ritual, 
 the Tabernacle, the two Temples, and the organisation of 
 the Church. Here too we notice the ever-recurring tendency 
 to some form of idolatry. 
 
 For the first two terms illustrative passages are in- 
 dicated. After this we come to periods fully elucidated by 
 contemporary Psalms. In the later sections we note how 
 sacred history is corroborated by secular history. 
 
 IX. Thirty-two Questions. — These are not intended 
 as a test of memory at the end of the term's reading, but 
 of observation and thought from day to day. Many of 
 them are planned to suggest topics and modes of research. 
 At first sight they may seem full of unknown things, but 
 though some are more difficult than others, the most 
 difficult are less difficult than they appear. That they 
 demand care and accuracy rather than much previous 
 knowledge has been proved by the following fact. In our 
 classes, although the best papers are always sent in by those
 
 14 GENERAL PLAN OF THE 
 
 who take the most pains, they are not always sent in by 
 those who have had most educational advantages. 
 
 Every examination paper follows out the term's reading in 
 order, and winds up with some questions glancing through 
 the whole of it. Early in each term, those Students of the 
 College by Post who have sent in answers to the questions 
 of last term receive the loan of a MS. containing the com- 
 plete Answers to compare with their own and copy. They 
 thus get the full benefit of the questions they were not 
 successful over themselves as well as the benefit of having 
 their work corrected by our teachers. These Answers are 
 not always exactly in the same form as those expected 
 from students. A mere reference sometimes stands for the 
 statement asked for, and in order to supply information 
 not readily accessible to students, explanations or quotations 
 are added in other cases to the actual reply. 
 
 The figure at the end of each question represents the 
 marks to be gained by answering it completely. The 
 maximum of marks for each term's paper is 400, and 
 for all the nine papers, 3600. 
 
 Most of those who have been through the C.S.C. once 
 wish to go through it again. At their request a second 
 series of questions and answers more advanced than the 
 first has been prepared (see p. 309). These should in no 
 case be attempted until the first series has been worked out. 
 
 Some of those who have found' the C.S.C. course useful 
 and stimulating are helping me to form a Prize Fund, by 
 means of which we are able to reward those of our students 
 who work out all the nine papers well. Those who obtain 
 over 3000 marks choose as a First Class prize a book or 
 books to the value of \os. 6d. ; those who obtain over 
 2400 marks choose a Second Class prize to the value of 
 ys. 6d. ; and those who obtain over 1800 marks choose a 
 Third Class prize to the value of $s. 
 
 The names of prize-winners are published in my annual 
 Letter to our Students. 
 
 Over 100 students have already won these rewards, 
 and the number promises to increase steadily. Possibly 
 some readers of " Clews to Holy Writ " who are independent 
 of such aid as our classes give, and desire to encourage 
 systematic Bible study, may feel kindly disposed to con-
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. 15 
 
 tribute towards these hardly earned and greatly appreciated 
 prizes. 
 
 Let me conclude with twelve practical suggestions to 
 C.S.C. students, and to others who adopt the C.S.C. scheme. 
 I will word them abruptly for the sake of brevity. 
 
 What we read Heb. iv. 12 ; 2 Peter i. 20, 21. 
 
 Why we read .... Luke i. 4 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 
 
 C Acts xvii. 1 1 ; Prov. ii. 4, 5 ; 
 How we sJwuld read . . -< 1 Cor. ii. 13; James i. 21 ; 
 
 ( 1 Thess. ii. 13. 
 We must ( Critically, in order to know What to Believe. 
 read < Devotionally „ „ Whom to Love, 
 
 the Bible ( Practically „ „ How to Live. 
 
 I. Provide yourself with the following books : — , 
 
 (a) The Authorised Version of the Bible, with references. 
 
 (b) The Revised Version, which may now be had for 
 tenpence. This is most helpful to the student, not only 
 because of its greater accuracy and marginal information, 
 but also in discriminating poetry from prose, and substi- 
 tuting for the little " verses " that are so largely responsible 
 for the " collection of texts " view of Scripture, a first-rate 
 system of paragraphs. Read the two prefaces to it care- 
 fully. 
 
 Look out the A.V. references, and study the daily 
 chapter in both A.V. and R.V. Striking differences 
 between them might be underlined in the latter. 
 
 (c) Helps to the Study of the Bible (Frowde, Clarendon 
 Press, is. and 3s. 6d.). This you need not get if you 
 already have " The Oxford Bible for Teachers." It is 
 referred to here as " Oxford Helps." 
 
 Those who wish for more books will find the following 
 useful : — 
 
 (a) " The Bible Handbook," by Dr. Angus (Religious 
 Tract Society, $s.). 
 
 (b) The Student's Old Testament History and The 
 Student's New Testament History (each js. 6d., Murray). 
 
 (c) Concise Dictionary of the Bible, 21s., or. smaller 
 Bible Dictionary, by Dr. Smith, js. 6d. (Murray), or Cassell's 
 Bible Dictionary, 7s. 6d.
 
 1 6 GENERAL PLAN OF THE 
 
 id) Student's Edition of the Speaker's Commentary, in 
 six volumes (ys. 6d. each, Murray). 
 
 (e) Bishop Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, in 
 eight volumes (21s. each, Cassell). 
 
 (/) A good Concordance, say Eadie's Cruden. 
 
 But unless you can give much more than half an hour a 
 day to C.S.C., you will find your whole time occupied by 
 right use of the three books named as absolutely necessary, 
 and of " Clews to Holy Writ." A single chapter will claim 
 more and more of your time with growing interest and 
 knowledge. If you not only " read," but " mark, learn, and 
 inwardly digest " (four distinct processes), you will probably 
 feel inclined to diminish rather than increase the quantity 
 of your reading as you improve its quality. 
 
 II. Pray daily ere you read your chapter, in such words 
 as Psalm xxv. 4, 5, or Psalm cxix. 18, or Eph. i. 17-19, for 
 the Holy Spirit's aid. Could we have greater help towards 
 understanding a difficult book than the power of speaking 
 constantly with its author ? 
 
 Pray also after you have read, for every precept may be 
 turned into petition, and every promise into praise. 
 
 " Young men," Professor Beck of Tubingen used to say 
 to his students, " let me remind you that theology without 
 the Holy Spirit is not only a cold stone, but absolute 
 poison." 
 
 III. Mark one striking text in each chapter, and look at 
 yesterday's marked text ere you begin to-day's reading. 
 There are many advantages in using 1 always one copy of 
 the Bible, so mark it neatly or you may regret not having 
 done so hereafter. 
 
 IV. Find for each Old Testament chapter a New Testa- 
 ment quotation or allusion or precept or illustration. The 
 references will help you here. 
 
 V. Ask daily after you have read your chapter, " What 
 docs it teach me concerning (a) God, (£) Man, (c) Christ, 
 who is the Son of God, the very image of God's substance 
 as the Incarnate God ; who is the Son of Man, made like 
 unto His brethren in all things as the Divine Man?" Ask 
 also what practical lessons you may gain from it for your 
 own daily life. Treat the Bible as a matchless temple, 
 wherein we may increase our awe and excite our devotion
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. 17 
 
 to God (I quote Robert Boyle's fine simile). For we suffer 
 great spiritual loss when we regard it merely as an arsenal 
 for weapons of defence and offence ; when we only take 
 our own views to it for confirmation and other people's 
 views to it for condemnation. Controversy is both easier 
 and more exciting than humble search for truth, and there- 
 fore it pervades so much of the so-called " religious " 
 writing and talking of the day. But if we would really 
 benefit by the study of God's Word, we must, as Bible 
 readers, avoid this spirit of contention altogether. 
 
 Of the three kinds of study indicated in the table above, 
 " Clews to Holy Writ " deals mainly with Critical study, 
 not because we regard it as the most important, but because 
 the Bible must appeal to the intelligence ere it can appeal 
 to the heart and will. Critical study is a means to a higher 
 end which we do not ignore, but lead up to — viz., those 
 Devotional and Practical applications of our study in which 
 others can help us least, since we must each of us make 
 them for ourselves, if they are to be worth anything. 
 
 VI. Commit to memory at the rate of one or two verses 
 a day, some specially beautiful and important passages in 
 the term's reading. We cannot store up what we take in 
 too carefully, since we know not how soon we may be 
 called upon to give it out. 
 
 VII. The C.S.C. scheme is not meant to be tried for a 
 term or two, but to be followed throughout. Hence all 
 should begin at the beginning, and do each month's reading 
 in the month and each term's in the term. If one term's 
 work is interrupted, another term should be given to it, as 
 it is far better to extend the whole course over more than 
 three years than to break the continuous chain of study ; 
 for each section takes all the preceding sections for granted 
 and is closely linked with the following sections. The 
 tabular schemes should be used throughout together with 
 the chapters headed " Periods and Dates." As the course 
 is planned for any three years, particular months cannot be 
 considered, but since three years contain thirty-six months, 
 and the Bible contains 1189 chapters, the average number 
 of chapters read each month will be -If— 33, as shown 
 in the arabic numerals on the tabular schemes. A second 
 chapter can be read on any day that there is more time
 
 18 CHRONOLOGICAL SCRIPTURE CYCLE. 
 
 and when the first chapter is very short or a mere list of 
 names. 
 
 VIII. Set up a note book or a sheaf of loose sheets 
 fastened at the corner, for working out subjects as you read, 
 and accumulating material for answers to the questions, 
 which should be before you throughout the term. 
 
 IX. Towards the end of the term, begin to prepare a 
 fair copy of your answers. Boiling down several pages of 
 notes into a few lines of terse and concentrated information 
 is a most instructive process. Let it become familiar to 
 you, for you will lighten your teachers' work not a little by 
 sending them concise, clearly arranged, and clearly written 
 answers instead of diffuse and confused ones. 
 
 X. Answer some questions if you cannot answer all, and 
 remember that since no answer can win more than maxi- 
 mum marks, nothing is gained by giving Diove than you 
 arc asked for. Write on both sides of the paper, leaving 
 a margin, and number your answers in the margin. Give 
 your name and address at the end of your paper. It will 
 be corrected if it reaches your teacher at the time 
 appointed. 
 
 XI. Remember (i) That if the chapter is difficult, the 
 difficulties will probably disappear as you read on. There 
 arc few which cannot be traced, if we are honest, either to 
 Prejudice, Presumption, Ignorance,or Carelessness. " When 
 two texts contradict one another, a third will be found to 
 reconcile them," was the helpful rule of the Rabbi Ishmael. 
 (2) That if the chapter seems barren, your Biblical know- 
 ledge and spiritual insight is still imperfect, and also that 
 forced applications arc a fruitful cause of errors. (3) That 
 to the reader of devout heart and holy life God reveals 
 what is hidden from mere ability and learning (John vii. 17, 
 Matt. v. 8). 
 
 XII. Finally, will you pray for all who are following this 
 scheme that to them, as well as to you, the C.S.C. may be 
 not only an intellectual interest, but a means of growth in 
 grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ?
 
 FIRST TERM. 
 
 The Days of the Patriarchs 
 The Chosen Family. 
 
 B.C. 4OO4 — I49O. 
 
 Genesis. Job. Exodus. (132 chapters?) 
 
 '* Moses took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the 
 people." — Exod. xxiv. 7. 
 
 1st MONTH (33). 3 r <i MONTH (33). 
 
 Genesis I.— XXXIII. 
 
 2nd MONTH (33). 
 
 Genesis XXXIV— L. 
 Job I.— XVI. 
 
 Job XVIL— XLII. 
 Exodus I.— VII. 
 
 4th MONTH (s^). 
 Exodus VIII.— XL. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 THE keynote of Gen. i. is God said. As regards Nature, 
 His will is fully carried out (Psalm xxxiii. 9). 
 
 The keynote of Gen. iii. is Hath God said ? As regards 
 Man, His will is thwarted (Eccles. vii. 29). Gen. iii. 17-19 
 is the declaration, not of a threat or of an arbitrary punish- 
 ment, but of an inevitable result, brought about by man 
 himself, and working in accordance with God's great natural 
 laws. Far heavier would have been the doom of living on 
 for ever, sinful and idle. 
 
 The rest of the Bible unfolds the Divine plan whereby 
 God's purpose is notwithstanding accomplished, and man 
 redeemed. Throughout God calls, tests, and chooses for 
 special privilege not Cain, but Abel ; not the rest of man- 
 kind, but Noah's family ; not Japhet the elder, but Shem 
 the younger (Gen. x. 21, ix. 26) ; not the eldest brother 
 Haran's son, but the younger brother Abraham (Isa. 
 
 19
 
 20 FIRST TERM. 
 
 li. 2) ; not Ishmael, but Isaac ; not Esau, but Jacob ; not 
 Reuben, but Joseph (1 Chron. v. 1, 2); not Manasseh, but 
 Ephraim (Gen. xlviii.) ; not Aaron, but Moses (Exod. iv. 
 16) ; not Nadab and Abihu, but Eleazar (Num. xx. 28). 
 
 From the whole race God chose one family, whose 
 training is described in Genesis. When it had suffered s^ 
 severely that it had become utterly helpless, God sent a 
 twofold message through Moses ; to Israel, a promise, " I 
 will deliver you," which was received with faith and 
 worship ; to Pharaoh, a command, " Let My people go," 
 signified by (1) Word, (2) Signs, (3) Judgments ; and 
 received with (1) Scornful refusal, (2) Defiant imitation, 
 (3) Unwilling recognition of the Divine power, and notwith- 
 standing continued hardness of heart (Job xxxiii. 14; Isa. 
 xxvi. 9). Then God brought that family from Africa to 
 Asia ; from the garden of Egypt to the desert of Sinai ; 
 from slavery to freedom ; and not only a great nation, but 
 " History itself was born on that night when Moses led 
 forth his countrymen from the land of Goshen " (Bunsen). 
 
 This chosen nation (Deut. vii. 6 ; Amos iii. 2 ; Rom. ix. 
 3, 4) were not the substitutes for, but the representatives of, 
 all mankind. They were not blessed merely for their own 
 sake, so their national history, unlike any other national 
 history, is of interest and importance for all the world. 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (Sec " Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term we read one great poem, and two of the 
 historical books of Moses, which contain four archaic frag- 
 ments of Hebrew verse and two magnificent odes — viz., 
 
 (a) Lamech's Sword-song (Gen. iv. 23, 24). 
 
 (6) Noah's Prophecy concerning his sons, an epitome of 
 universal history (Gen. ix. 25-7). 
 
 (c) Jehovah's Prophecy concerning Rcbckah's sons, an 
 < pitome of Israel's history (Gen. xxv. 23). 
 
 (d) Isaac's Prophecy concerning his sons, an amplification 
 of (c) (Gen. xxvii. 27-9, 39, 40). 
 
 (e) Jacob's Benediction, giving the destinies of the Twelve 
 Tribes (Gen. xlix.). 
 
 (_/) Moses' Song of Victory, in three stanzas, the grandest
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 21 
 
 national hymn ever sung to the glory of Jehovah and to 
 liberty, and the first specimen of responsive choral music 
 (Exod. xv. 1 -1 8). 
 
 Genesis is not only the oldest complete book in the 
 world, its earlier chapters appear to embody records far 
 more ancient than Moses, going back to the very beginning 
 of human history (Luke i. 70). About these there is 
 nothing distinctively Hebrew, their simplicity of treatment 
 and subject belongs to the dawn of civilisation, and they 
 have interesting features in common with the earliest 
 Egyptian and Chaldean literature. It is not, however, a 
 mere compilation of old annals, but a religious history, 
 whose unity and symmetry show that it was penned 
 throughout with a definite design. Genesis falls into twelve 
 natural divisions beginning Gen. i. I, ii. 4, v. i, vi. 9, x. 1, 
 xi. 10, xi. 27, xxv. 12, xxv. 19, xxxvi. 1, xxxvi. 9, and 
 xxxvii. 2, all save the first headed by " These are the genera- 
 tions [i.e., " offspring " : comp. Matt. iii. 7, A.V. and R.V.] 
 
 of " The first five portions refer to General, and the 
 
 last seven to Church History ; and their relative lengths are 
 very significant. Its keynote is Called and chosen (Matt, 
 xxii. 14 ; 1 Peter iii. 9). 
 
 Job, undoubtedly an historical character, probably lived 
 before Moses, as his patriarchal length of days indicates ; 
 and after Abraham, since his friends refer to the destruc- 
 tion of Sodom. The question whether the Book of Job is a 
 veracious record of his actual words, brought by Moses 
 from Midian, or a truthful general picture of his character 
 and life, shaped by a poet of Solomon's age and made the 
 groundwork of a lesson for all time, does not affect its 
 canonicity. All Scripture is divinely inspired and true in 
 the highest sense. But its loftiest truths are clothed not in 
 the barely literal, but in the poetical form that contemplates 
 everything in its permanent and typical aspect. Whatever 
 view we take of the date and authorship of Job, we read it 
 now to fill the century that divides Gen. 1. from Exod. i. ; 
 because it illustrates individual before we pass to national 
 religion, the Patriarchal before we pass to the Mosaic age, 
 God's dealings with a Gentile before we pass to His deal- 
 ings with Israel. Its keynote is Fear the Almighty and 
 IncompreJiensible ; Trust the A 11- Wise and All-Loving"
 
 22 FIRST TERM. 
 
 (Rom. xi. 33, viii. 28, v. 3,4). Natural instinct, strengthened 
 by simple faith in God, connects happiness with goodness. 
 Obedience to God's law must lead to the blessedness He 
 means His creatures to enjoy. This is our first thought, 
 exemplified in the speeches of Job's friends and in Psalm i. 
 Experience of the imperfections and contradictions of life 
 shows that too often the wicked prosper and the righteous 
 suffer. How then can God be all-wise, all-powerful, and 
 all-loving? This is our second thought, and this is what 
 Satan tempted Job to think. Mature conviction, growing 
 out of closer study of God's law and man's nature, teaches 
 us that through man's free-will the mysterious power of 
 evil makes exceptions to God's law, which is a general law 
 connecting goodness and happiness. This is our third 
 thought, and third thoughts are best and truest. We may 
 go on to say concerning these exceptions : — 
 
 (1) God's ways are past our comprehension, but we have 
 good cause to believe that His wisdom, power, and love are 
 infinite. This is the answer to the problem given in Job. 
 
 (2) In the next life all wrong will be completely redressed. 
 This answer is suggested in Psalm lxxiii. 
 
 (3) The righteous may not be happy, but they are 
 blessed even in the midst of sorrow. 
 
 " 111 that Thou blessest is our good, 
 And unblest good is ill ; 
 And all is right that seems most wrong, 
 If it be Thy sweet will." — Fader. 
 
 This answer is suggested in Psalm xvii. 14, 15. In the 
 Fourth Term we shall have a striking example of " unblest 
 good," and in the Seventh and Ninth Terms of "blest 
 ill." But these two last answers could not be fully worked 
 out until after the anguish of the Cross and the glory of 
 the Resurrection. Job remains true as one solution, no 
 longer the only solution, of the problem. 
 
 It falls into five sections : — 
 
 (a) i. — ii. Prose Prologue stating the Problem concern- 
 ing Affliction. The trouble and temptation of unproved 
 Job. 
 • (b) iii. — xxxi. Discussion of the Problem from the 
 human point of view, by Job who regards Affliction as 
 an unfathomable mystery (" Wherefore hidest Thou Thy
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 23 
 
 face?" xiii. 24); and by his three friends who, as dogged 
 defenders of the traditional popular belief, regard Affliction 
 as a punishment for sin (" Who ever perished, being 
 innocent? " iv. 7). 
 
 (c) xxxii. — xxxvii. Exposition of the Problem from 
 the point of view of one divinely enlightened, by Elihu 
 who regards Affliction as a merciful discipline for our 
 instruction (" God, who teacheth us more than the beasts," 
 xxxv. 1 1). 
 
 (d) xxxviii. — xlii. 6. Solution of the Problem by- 
 Jehovah Himself, who shows that Affliction is a test of 
 integrity towards and trust in Him ("Though He slay me 
 yet will I wait for Hjm," xiii. 15, is followed by "My 
 servant Job . . . him will I accept," xlii. 8). 
 
 (e) xlii. 7-17. Prose Epilogue. The blessing of proved 
 and trustful Job. 
 
 Exodus continues Genesis, begins the national history 
 of Israel, and contains the first portion of the Mosaic Law. 
 Its keynote is Redeemed of the Lord (Luke i. 68 ; 1 Peter 
 i. 18, 19; Gal. iv. 4, 5> 
 
 According to a continuous stream of credible testimony 
 from the earliest days of Israel's history, we have attributed 
 the Pentateuch to the fifteenth century before Christ, and 
 no book has had more external evidence to its authorship. 
 One school of modern critics, however, professing to be 
 guided by internal evidence, declares that its account of 
 the Creation is unscientific, and contradicts facts ascertained 
 by recent investigations ; that its records are legendary ; 
 and that instead of being contemporary history, it is a 
 compilation made many centuries after Moses. We cannot 
 enter into the question at length, but one or two suggestions 
 may be made in passing. 
 
 (1) It is one thing to have a reasonable faith, another to 
 be able to answer all the hard questions concerning it that 
 could be asked. 
 
 (2) If, as regards isolated passages, there are difficulties 
 in believing the Bible to be a Divine and human book, 
 there are still more serious difficulties in believing it 
 to be a merely human book as a whole, which is the 
 alternative. 
 
 (3) Gen. i. was not intended to satisfy the scientific
 
 24 FIRST TERM. 
 
 curiosity of the learned few, but to instruct the mass of 
 mankind, for whom it would have been utterly unintelligible 
 had it been written in technical scientific terms. 
 
 (4) When the exact translation is ascertained, and the 
 rash interpretations of prejudiced opponents of the faith 
 and also of half-learned apologists for it are swept away, 
 this oldest of all books proves to be almost the only non- 
 scientific book in the world that does not contain one 
 incorrect statement about natural facts ; while at the same 
 time it accounts for things that science confesses itself 
 unable to account for. See Liddon's " Elements of 
 Religion," Lecture II. (Longmans, is. 6d.). 
 
 (5) Geology shows that the general order of the Creation 
 must have been that of Gen. i. 
 
 (6) Ethnology points to the Euphrates Valley as the 
 probable cradle of the race, and traces its dispersion thence 
 under conditions entirely compatible with those described 
 in Genesis. 
 
 (7) Archaeology proves, from records of the past long 
 hidden, but now uncovered in many unexpected ways and 
 places, the minute accuracy of the Biblical description of 
 ancient Egypt. 
 
 (8) The Ordnance Survey of the Sinaitic Peninsula 
 examined, some 25 years ago, the geography of the Exodus 
 and the Wanderings, demonstrating that the story in the 
 Pentateuch could only have been written by a contem- 
 porary and eye witness. 
 
 (9) Many converging arguments show that it is not only 
 possible but probable that the Deluge took place. 
 
 Before all this positive evidence of an early date, in- 
 genious speculations as to a late date based mainly on 
 linguistic considerations that may be entirely fallacious, do 
 not look very satisfactory. To those who wish to pursue 
 these subjects further, I recommend Sir J. W. Dawson's 
 "Modern Science in Bible Lands " (Hoddcr & Stoughton, 
 6s.), the work of an eminent scientist who speaks with 
 authority ; and I know of no more profound or masterly 
 treatment of the relation of modern science to revelation 
 a> .1 whole, than "Can the Old Faith live with the 
 New?" by Dr. George Matheson, of Edinburgh (Black- 
 wood, ys. Gd.).
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 25 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 The whole history of the human race, now nearly 6000 
 years of age, may be divided into three great periods ac- 
 cording to three successive phases of God's dealings with 
 man. Each is about 2000 years long. 
 
 (a) The Patriarchal Dispensation, or Probation of all men 
 under the Law of Conscience, during which God mani- 
 fested His Power. B.C. 4004 to 1921, from Adam to 
 Abraham (Gal. iii. 16), 2083 years. 
 
 (b) The Jewish Dispensation, or Probation of one Chosen 
 People under the Law of Moses, during which God mani- 
 fested His Righteousness. B.C. 1921 to A.D. 70, from 
 Abraham to the Fall of Jerusalem, 1990 years. 
 
 (c) The Christian Dispe?isation, or " Times of the Gentiles " 
 (Luke xxi. 24), under the Law of Christ, during which 
 God manifests His Love. A.D. 70 onwards. 
 
 Some would, however, bring (a) down to 1491, i.e., to 
 Moses (see Rom. v. 13, 14), and would date (c) from B.C. 
 625, i.e., from the founding of the Babylonian Empire, the 
 first of the mighty Gentile powers that prepared Christ's 
 way. In this case (b) overlaps both (a) and (c). 
 
 The scanty records of the 2514 years we study this term 
 leave its chronology uncertain. Here we follow the com- 
 monly received dates as given in " Oxford Helps," § vii. 
 
 430 years (i.e., ign — 1491) is spoken of in Exod. xii. 
 40, 41, as the whole period of the sojourning or pilgrimage of 
 the Chosen Family, during which Abraham and his children 
 were homeless wanderers. S. Paul reckons 430 years (Gal. 
 iii. 17) from the promise given in Ur to the law given at 
 Sinai. Rather more than 400 years elapsed between the 
 vision of Gen. xv. (which foreshadowed the whole history 
 of Israel) and the Exodus (Gen. xv. 13 ; Acts vii. 6). 
 
 (1) B.C. 4004 — 2348 (1656 years). From the Creation 
 
 to the Deluge. Probation of the whole human race. 
 Gen. i. — viii. 
 
 (2) B.C. 2348 — 192 1 (427 years). From the Deluge to 
 
 the Call of Abraham. Probation of the descendants 
 of Noah. Gen. ix.— xi. 
 
 (3) B.C. 192 1 — 1491 (430 years). From the Call of
 
 26 FIRST TERM. 
 
 Abraham to the Exodus. Probation of the Chosen 
 Family. 
 
 (a) 1921 — 1706 (215 years). The Sojourning in 
 
 Canaan. Gen. xii.— xlv. 
 (£>) 1706 — 1491 (215 years). The Sojourning in 
 Egypt. Gen. xlvi.-T. ; Job ; Exod. i. — xii. 
 (4) B.C. 1 49 1 — 1490 (one year). From the Exodus to 
 the erection of the Tabernacle. Redemption of the 
 Chosen People. 
 
 (a) From Passover to Pentecost, 1491 (seven 
 weeks). The great Deliverances. Exod. 
 xiii. — xviii. 
 (J?) From Pentecost 1491, to Passover, 1490 (10 
 months and 10 days). The Revelation at 
 Sinai. Exod. xix.— xl. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 
 (See " Oxford Helps," Maps I., II., III., IV., and VIII., 
 
 and §§ ix., xxx.) 
 
 Geology demonstrates that before the Deluge a con- 
 siderable portion of what is now the Persian GuM" was land. 
 Immediately after the Deluge, a considerable portion of 
 what is now land was swallowed up by the Persian Gulf. 
 Through this once high and well-wooded, then submerged, 
 and now low and marshy country, flows a broad tide, fed 
 by four great rivers — viz., the Euphrates ; the Hiddckel, or 
 Tigris ; the Gihon, or Choaspcs, watering not the African, 
 but Ximrod's Cush ; and the Pishon or Pasitigris rising in 
 mountains rich in mineral products, and descending through 
 a fertile country where the beautiful Persian capital of 
 Shushan (Esth. i. 2) afterwards was (see Map VIII.). Here 
 our story begins, for here (as Sir J. W. Dawson shows in 
 an argument too long to quote) was Eden ; hither, as to 
 their cradle, Noah's descendants made their way south- 
 eastwards (Gen. xi. 2) from the mountains where the Ark 
 grounded ; and hence therefore, according to Indian, 
 Persian, and Chaldean tradition, mankind originated. In 
 the plain of Shinar also they built the city whose name 
 runs all through the Bible from Gen. x. to Rev. xviii. 
 
 Prof. Saycc identifies Mugheir immediately to the west of
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 27 
 
 Erech with Ur whence Abraham set forth. Others, however, 
 identify Ur with Orfah or Edessa in Mesopotamia, much 
 higher up the river, which an abundant spring and high 
 crag prove even now to have been a well-watered and 
 well-protected place for an early settlement. He went on 
 to Haran, the headquarters of Laban's family, whence the 
 two great caravan routes to the Euphrates and Tigris 
 diverge ; and then to Damascus, the oldest city now exist- 
 ing ; and through Palestine (whose geography we take 
 next term) to Egypt, a most fertile, thoroughly cultivated, 
 and thickly populated country, which was to the wandering 
 tribes of Asia then what Italy has since been to Gauls and 
 Goths. For it was the home of the earliest civilisation in 
 the world, which archseology traces back beyond B.C. 3000 ; 
 of a race skilled both in the fine and the mechanical arts, 
 loving nature, honouring women, deeply impressed with 
 the seriousness of life on both sides of the grave, and exer- 
 cising an influence, whose whole power we are only now 
 beginning to estimate, upon the two nations of antiquity, 
 the Hebrews and the Greeks, to whom we ourselves owe 
 most. The Valley of the Nile (which is the true Egypt) 
 is unlike • any other part of the world. It has neither 
 Alpine grandeur nor pastoral softness, nor variety of plain 
 and upland, meadow and forest. Its hills have neither 
 heather nor pine upon them, in its rainless sky there is 
 neither cloud nor mist. The Nile (worshipped as " The 
 Hidden One," because until the middle of this nineteenth 
 century its source was a mystery) rises once a year and covers 
 the whole valley and plain, so that from desert to desert, 
 river and country are one (Amos viii. 8, R.V.). Thus the 
 soil is renewed and fertilised for its three annual harvests. 
 Egypt is the land of light, of glowing sunshine, and of 
 moonshine and starshine so brilliant that night is but a 
 softer day. From the time that Israel's ancestors went 
 down thither, it has drawn men of every clime with a resist- 
 less fascination. 
 
 From Egypt, the scene of our story shifts to the Wilder- 
 ness (Hos. xi. 1 ; Jer. ii. 2), not an uninhabited place, for two 
 powerful nations, the Kcnites and the Amalekitcs, were 
 there ; but a place wild and desolate, and shut out from the 
 rest of the world. As Israel advanced, the mountains
 
 28 FIRST TERM. 
 
 closed round them : they found themselves in an avenue 
 of lofty rocks at the end of which, rising immediately out 
 of the level plain, towered massive Sinai, like a huge altar 
 in a vast sanctuary, whence every form of life, animal and 
 vegetable, was withdrawn. To them the rugged and deso- 
 late grandeur of the scene must have suggested that they 
 had reached the end of the world, as they waited there for 
 the revelation of their God. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 C Abraham, I John 'v. 4. 
 Keynotes -J Joseph, 2 Peter i. 5-7. 
 I^Job, James i. 12. 
 
 We see in Abraham the great Bedouin sheikh, the prince 
 of the desert, leading a vast caravan of servants, flocks, and 
 herds, and wandering homeless for exactly a century in the 
 land promised to his heirs ; the saint whose unflinching 
 loyalty won him the title of " God's friend," and who, putting 
 God first in all the relations of life, became also " the father 
 of the faithful " : in Joseph the able statesman, vicegerent of 
 the greatest monarch of his age, wielding almost absolute 
 power in a highly civilised foreign land, fearing God, and 
 therefore fearing nought else : in Job the patriarch dwelling 
 amidst his own people, as father and ruler of a pastoral 
 tribe, proved in the fire of manifold temptations, to the 
 glory of God and the comfort of God's suffering servants 
 in all ages. 
 
 The Bible gives us much valuable teaching through con- 
 trasted types of character. Besides these almost perfect 
 heroes we have the mixed character of Jacob, erring greatly, 
 and yet through the teaching of adversity proving that 
 
 " Men may rise on stepping-stones 
 Of their dead selves to higher things." — Tennyson. 
 
 Mark these seven stages of his life : (1) Gen. xxv. 31, 
 (2) xxvii. 35, (3) xxviii. 20-22, (4) xxxi. 5, (5) xxxii. 10, 
 (6) xxxii. 28, (7) xlix. 18. Side by side also with the 
 three ancestors of the Chosen People, who inherited, the 
 blessing, arc three others, and the more nearly these are 
 related to those in the flesh the more widely are they 
 separated from them in the sight of God. From the begin-
 
 THE COMING MESSIAH. 29 
 
 ning the wheat and tares grew together, and men often 
 found it hard to discriminate them (Matt. xiii. 30). Lot, 
 Abraham's nephew, who is called a righteous man, started 
 at God's command for the Promised Land. Mercy as well 
 as judgment was predicted for his descendants in the end 
 (Jer. xlviii. 47, xlix. 6), and Ruth, one of them, was Christ's 
 ancestor. But, more worldly than Abraham, he com- 
 promised his religion for the sake of wealth, enjoyed 
 neither happiness nor influence in this world, lost all he 
 had in it, barely saved his own soul " as through fire " 
 (i Cor. iii. 15), and was forefather of nations expressly shut 
 out from the Lord's congregation (Deut. xxiii. 3). IshmaeL 
 Isaac's half-brother, whose personal character is not de- 
 scribed, was received into covenant with God (Gen. xvii.), 
 and his descendants have never been destroyed. But he 
 and they were outcasts, and are regarded as representatives 
 of those who have only a form of religion according to the 
 spirit of bondage, instead of its living power according 
 to the spirit of adoption (Gal. iv.). Esau, Jacob's twin 
 brother, who is called a profane person, was born heir to 
 God's blessing. He despised his birthright, bartered it 
 away, and defied God by marrying heathens. Thus he 
 turned the greatest blessing into the most irreparable loss. 
 God hated him (Mai. i. 3), and called his descendants " the 
 people of My curse " (Isa. xxxiv. 5). So we first learn the 
 lesson that S. Paul finally sums up in his Epistle to 
 the Romans. There is nothing arbitrary in God's ways : 
 the greater the privilege, the greater the responsibility. 
 By abusing the blessings He freely bestows we earn curses 
 that were never intended for us. 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day.'* 
 
 John viii. 56. 
 
 Many histories look back to a golden age which is past 
 and gone. Jewish history looks forward (Heb. xi. 40 ; Acts 
 xxvi. 6, 7). And just as we teach children first from pic- 
 tures, and afterwards from the printed page, so early in the 
 Old Testament we find many Types and few Predictions, 
 and later on many Predictions and few Types. All the six
 
 3o FIRST TERM. 
 
 kinds of Types occur this term ; but leaving ordinances, acts, 
 and offices to be considered with the Mosaic Law generally, 
 we note as typical events, the offering of Isaac and the 
 Exodus ; as typical things, Jacob's Ladder (access through 
 Christ, Eph. ii. 18), the Pillar of Cloud and Fire (presence 
 of Christ, Matt, xxviii. 20), the Manna (Christ the Bread of 
 Heaven, John vi.), the Smitten Rock (Christ's gift of Living 
 Water, John iv.) ; and as typical persons, Adam, Enoch, 
 Noah, Mclchizedek, Isaac, and Joseph. The first of these, 
 a type by contrast, is worked out below ; the working out 
 of the last, a type by comparison, forms one of our 
 Questions. 
 
 THE FIRST ADAM (i) Was created in the image of God. 
 (2) Was of the earth. (3) Became a living soul. (4) Was 
 made to have dominion over all. (5) Was appointed to 
 subdue the earth. (6) Was overcome by desire of pleasure 
 in a garden. (7) Yielded to the lust of the flesh, the lust 
 of the eyes, and the vainglory of life (Gen. iii. 6 ; 1 John 
 ii. 16). (8) Excused himself when justly accused. (9) After 
 the fall God pronounced judgment on the Serpent, judg- 
 ment on the Woman, judgment on the Man ; of sorrow, 
 weariness, and death (Gen. iii. 14-19). (10) By his one 
 trespass death reigned. 
 
 THE SECOND ADAM (i) Is the very image of God's sub- 
 stance (Heb. i. 3). (2) Is of heaven (1 Cor. xv. 47). (3) 
 Became a life-giving spirit (1 Cor. xv. 45). (4) Is Lord of 
 all (Phil. ii. 11). (5) Will subdue all things (1 Cor. xv. 25). 
 (6) Overcame by endurance of pain in a garden (Matt. 
 xxvi. 36-44). (7) Conquered the lust of the flesh (Luke 
 iv. 3), the lust of the eyes (Luke iv. 5), and the vainglory 
 of life (Luke iv. 9). (8) Was silent when unjustly accused 
 (Matt, xxvii. 12). (9) Destroyed the serpent (Rev. xii. 
 9, 10) ; was born of woman (Gal. iv. 4) ; endured sorrow 
 (Isa. liii. 3, 4 ; Matt. viii. 17), weariness (John iv. 6) and death 
 (Psalm xxii. 15). (10) By His one act of righteousness 
 grace reigned unto eternal life (Rom. v.) 
 
 Observe these parallels also : — 
 
 Gen. i. Heaven and earth Rev. xxi. Heaven and earth 
 
 created. renewed. 
 
 Gen. ii. God with man in a Rev. xxi. God with man in 
 
 garden. a city.
 
 THE COMING MESSIAH 31 
 
 Gen. ii. Eat not lest thou die. John vi. Eat and live. 
 
 Gen. iii. Tree of life withheld. Rev. xxii. Tree of live given. 
 
 Gen. viii. Earth destroyed by 2 Peter iii. Earth destroyed 
 
 water. by fire. 
 
 Gen. xi. # Confusion of Acts ii. Gift of Tongues. 
 
 Tongues. 
 
 To us, all these Types speak far more plainly than they 
 did to those who first saw them, but to that age were also 
 given nine Predictions of growing fulness and clearness. 
 The Coming One would be the descendant of Eve, of Seth, 
 of Noah, of Shem, of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob, of Judah. 
 (1) Gen. iii. 15. An enigmatical prophecy that he (or they) 
 who are born of woman should suffer from, and yet in the 
 end triumph over, the power of evil. (2) Gen. ix. 26, 27. 
 A dim announcement of blessing to Shem, and to 
 Japhet through him. (3) Gen. xii. 3 ; (4) Gen. xviii. 18 ; 
 (5) Gen. xxii. 18 ; (6) Gen. xxviii. 14. Definite promises of 
 blessing through Abraham's descendants to all nations. 
 (7) Gen. xlix. 10. A promise which for the first time centres 
 in one Person, a ruler descended from Judah. (8, 9) Job 
 xix. 25-7 ; Job xxxiii. 23, 24. Trustful aspirations 
 rather than direct predictions, and made outside the 
 Chosen Family, therefore on a different footing from the 
 others, even if we regard this as their chronological place. 
 
 Besides types and predictions, there are in the Old 
 Testament three special lines of preparatory revelation 
 concerning the Divine Nature of the Coming One, not to 
 be associated with the expectation of the Messiah, until, in 
 the course of many ages, as we shall see, the conception of 
 the Messiah rises above that of a merely human deliverer. 
 The Divine Son is called (1) the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 
 i. 24), anticipated by Prov. viii. (2) The Word of God ; the 
 opening statement of Genesis that in the beginning God 
 created through His Word, is repeated and filled with new 
 meaning as the opening statement of S. John's Gospel. 
 (3) The Messenger or Angel of God (Mai. iii. 1 ; Job xxxiii. 
 23, R.V- ; John xx. 21 ; Heb. i. 2). All through the Old 
 Testament we see an Angel of God's Presence (or Counten- 
 ance), who is worshipped as God and yet seen of men ; who 
 is not only commissioned by Jehovah, but represents Him 
 so directly and fully that when He speaks or acts God
 
 32 FIRST TERM. 
 
 Himself is felt to speak or act. Comparison of John i. 18, 
 x. 30 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 ; Acts vii. 38 ; 1 Cor. x. 4, 9 (R.V. 
 margin) ; Jude 5 (R.V. margin) leads to the inevitable 
 inference that in this Angel there is a mysterious fore- 
 shadowing of the Incarnation. More than half the allusions 
 to Him occur this term. See Gen. xvi. 7, 13, xviii., xxi. 
 17-19, xxii. 11, 12, xxxi. 11, 13, xxxii. 24, 29, 30 {cp. Hos. 
 xii. 4, 5), xlviii. 15, 16; Exod. iii. 2, 6, 14, iv. 5, xiv. 19, 
 xxiii. 20-23, xxxii. 34, xxxiii. 2, 14 ; Num. xxii. 23, 32, 
 35 ; Josh. v. 15, with vi. 2 ; Judg. ii. 1, v. 23, vi. II, 12, xiii. 
 3,6, 18; comp. Rev. xix. 11-13 ; 1 Kings xix. 7, 9; Isa. 
 lxiii. 9 ; Zech. i. 11, iii. 5, xii. 8. " There was One desig- 
 nated, not as an epithet but as a description of his being, 
 the Angel of the Lord, in whom God accustomed His crea- 
 tures to the thought of beholding Himself in human form. 
 Whether it was God the Son who so manifested Himself 
 beforehand (this was the common belief of the early 
 Fathers) or not, yet there was One, known as the Angel of 
 the Lord, distinct from and above all the rest." (Pzisey.) 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 Wrong ideas about God lie at the root of every form of 
 error and superstition (Psalm 1. 21 ; Acts xvii. 29). Hence 
 the need of His gradual self-manifestation. This came first, 
 through the negative declaration that He is invisible and 
 incomprehensible (Deut. iv. 14-19), whose result was that 
 to the heathen world Israel seemed to have a religion with- 
 out a God. But " let those who wish to understand the 
 hidden wisdom of the Second Commandment, study the 
 history of ancient religions. No argument can prove that 
 there is anything very wrong in all these outward signs 
 and symbols. To many people we know they arc even a 
 help and comfort. But history is sometimes a stronger 
 and sterner teacher than argument, and one of the lessons 
 which the history of religions certainly teaches is this, that 
 the curse pronounced against those who would change the 
 invisible into the visible, the spiritual into the material, the 
 Divine into the human, the infinite into the finite, has come 
 true in every nation on earth." {Max Miiller.) Secondly, 
 God manifested Himself through that positive declaration 
 of His attributes which forms the Old Testament Creed
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 33 
 
 (Exod. xxxiv. 5-7). To Israel, unable to know Him in 
 His absolute and unapproachable majesty, and forbidden 
 to make unworthy representations, each fresh and lasting 
 revelation came in a new Name, gathering up what was 
 shown of God's character, working, and will from age to 
 age. Throughout the Old Testament we shall trace these 
 names, and observe the different circumstances under which 
 different names are used. Here we note the four earliest : — ■ 
 
 (1) ELOHIM, a title, meaning "the Mighty One" and 
 translated " God," is used in those passages which speak 
 of the God of nature, and of the world as under a general 
 Divine influence {e.g., in the account of the Creation and 
 of heathen nations). It is a plural word, understood and 
 used as a singular. This had a present reference to the 
 polytheism (worship of many gods) of the nations around, 
 showing that the God of Israel united in Himself all the 
 various powers and attributes of Deity. It had also a 
 future reference to the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, 
 foreshadowed in Gen. i. 26, iii. 22, xi. 7. The singular of 
 Elohim forms part of many names {i.e., " Daniel "), and we 
 find it in Matt, xxvii. 46, and know it well in its Arabic 
 form, " Allah." 
 
 (2) El Shaddai, meaning " God Almighty," the above 
 title qualified, was the special, but not the only name by 
 which God was known to the Patriarchs, in whom He 
 sought to create and to cherish the sense of personal 
 dependence on a strong Helper. It only occurs in the 
 Pentateuch and in Ezek. x. 5, but we find Shaddai {i.e., the 
 Almighty) in Num. xxiv. 4, 16, and often in Job. 
 
 (3) ADONAI, a title, meaning " lords " (plural of majesty), 
 translated " Lord," and probably the same word as the 
 name of the Egyptian god " Aten " ; is used in Gen. xv. 2, 
 xx. 4, etc., and occurs in many proper names. 
 
 (4) Jehovah, a proper name, meaning " He Who Is " 
 (Rev. i. 8 ; Heb. xiii. 8), used in those passages which speak 
 of the God of the covenant, and of the world as under 
 a supernatural overruling Power demanding our adora- 
 tion {e.g., in the history of the Chosen People). It is " a 
 declaration of the simplicity, unity, and self-existence of the 
 Divine Nature, exactly opposite to all the multiplied forms 
 of idolatry, human, animal and celestial, that prevailed, so
 
 34 FIRST TERM. 
 
 far as we know, everywhere else " (Stanley), and " a mani- 
 festation of the Eternal who makes Himself known in time ' 
 {Wcstcotf). In the French Bible it is well translated by 
 " L'Eternel." It was occasionally used in Patriarchal times 
 (Gen. iv. 1 , 26), but its frequent use dates from the Exodus. 
 Kuenen reckons that about 190 Old Testament personal 
 names are compounded with it, including those of fourteen 
 out of the nineteen kings of Judah. The contexts in 
 which it and Elohim respectively occur should always be 
 noted {e.g., Psalm xix. 1, 14). In later times a feeling of 
 reverence (founded on Lev. xxiv. 16), which became a 
 superstition, led the Jews to replace Jehovah by Adonai. 
 Hence our English Bible translates it LORD and some- 
 times God (R.V. Preface, p. 2). In Psalm lxviii. 4, 
 lxxxix. 8 (R.V.) ; Isa. xxxviii. 1 1 (R.V.), etc., we have 
 a shortened form, which also occurs in Hallelu^/iz^. The 
 name Ehyeh (Exod. iii. 14, 15, R.V. margin) is from the 
 same root, and has the same meaning. 
 
 Summing up, we may say, outside Israel God is anony- 
 mous, to Israel He is Jehovah, to the Church He is Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost (Saphir). 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 Ever since Adam left Eden men have tried to approach 
 God through Sacrifice. This may be of two kinds : — 
 
 (a) A thank-offering for God's favour in the past, or a gift 
 to secure His favour for the future, generally in the form of 
 fruits of the earth. Such was the sacrifice of Cain, who 
 worshipped Elohim the Creator, as the type of the Deist, 
 and whose form of religion finally degenerated into mere 
 nature worship. It was, however, not only the incomplete 
 character of his offering, but the spirit in which it was 
 offered that caused its rejection (Prov. xv. 8). 
 
 (b) An expiation for sin, generally in the form of an 
 unblemished creature whose blood is shed (Hcb. ix. 22). 
 Such was the sacrifice of Abel, who worshipped Jehovah, 
 and looked for the coming Redeemer, as the type of the 
 Christian, and whose form of religion finally degenerated 
 into worship of subordinate redeemers and intercessors. 
 All the various religions of the world go back to those two 
 primaeval altars ; and since animal food is first permitted in
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 35 
 
 Gen. ix. 3, Gen. iii. 21 may indicate that sacrifices, such as 
 Abel's, were divinely instituted. Elsewhere also in Genesis 
 we find the germ of those Mosaic institutions which we shall 
 consider next term. 
 
 The offering of Isaac is sometimes misunderstood, and 
 criticised as if it were an example of human sacrifice for sin. 
 So far from sanctioning, it condemns such sacrifice. For 
 (a) Abraham had committed no particular sin, and appre- 
 hended no special danger. (b) It was not a sacrifice 
 to atone for sin, or to propitiate God, but a burnt offer- 
 ing, the meaning of which throughout the Bible is dedica- 
 tion of oneself to God, and perfect obedience to His will. 
 It was not made in the spirit of Mic. vi. 6, but of Acts 
 xxi. 13. (c) Isaac is a type of humanity devoted to death, 
 but not actually slain. The ram, divinely provided and 
 slain in his stead, is a type of the Lamb of God. 
 
 Prayer is first mentioned in Gen. iv. 26 ; we have the 
 first specimen of prayer for others in Gen. xvii. 18, xviii. ; 
 and of prayer for oneself in Gen. xxxii. (omitting Lot's 
 hasty request in Gen. xix. 18, 19). No grander examples 
 could be given of its true nature, and of its power with 
 God. (See " Oxford Helps," § xii.) 
 
 Passages illustrating Genesis. — i Chron. i. i — ii. 6 ; 
 Psalm cv. 1-23 ; Josh. xxiv. 2-4; Neh. ix. 7, 8; Hos. xii. 
 2-5, 12 ; Acts vii. 2-16 ; Heb. xi. 3-22. 
 
 Passages illustrating Exodus.— i Chron. ii. 18— 
 viii. ; Psalm cv. 24-45 > Josh. xxiv. 5-7 ; Neh. ix. 9-20 ; 
 Hos. xii. 13; Acts vii. 17-44; Heb. xi. 23-9; 1 Cor. x. 
 i-n ; Psalm lxxvii. 14-20, lxxviii. 1-54, lxxxi., cxiv., cvi. 
 7-13, 19-23, exxxv. 8, 9, exxxvi. 10-16; Judg. v. 4, 5 ; 
 Hab. iii. 3-13 ; lsa. lxiii. 11-14. 
 
 Here we pause, but if we have entered into our First 
 Term's reading we cannot stop here. We are but half 
 through the career of a man who has had a greater influence 
 upon the world than any other man we could name, except 
 S. Paul. We reserve the full consideration of his character 
 and work till we finish the story of his life next term. The 
 Chosen People are wandering in the Wilderness. What 
 will their destiny as a nation be after this long training ? 
 The Tabernacle has been set up. What is the nature and 
 meaning of the worship for which it is established ?
 
 36 FIRST TERM. 
 
 IX. Questions 
 (See pp. 13, 1 8.) 
 
 [Questions I., VII., XI., XIV., XXIII., XXIV, and XXVIII. may be 
 
 answ ered with help of any books. The other 28 questions should be answered 
 with the help of a reference Bible and the R.V. only.] 
 
 I. Explain fully the meanings of these words as shown 
 by their derivations : — Bible, Scriptures, Canon, Testament, 
 Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus. (14.) 
 
 II. Classify the books of the Bible in four groups, as 
 (a) History, (b) Biography, (c) Letters, (d) Poetry. (4.) 
 
 III. Give three references to prove each of these state- 
 ments '.—{a) God spoke through Old Testament writers, 
 {b) God spoke through New Testament writers ; (c) Christ 
 insisted upon the importance and authority of the Old Testa- 
 ment, (d) The first Christians studied it diligently. (12.) 
 
 IV. Specify the three acts of creation recorded in Gen. i. 
 What further act of creation is mentioned by S. Paul ? (4.) 
 
 V. Show by Old Testament and New Testament refer- 
 ences that the world and all in it was created by God the 
 Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. (6.) 
 
 VI. On what were the first three curses pronounced? (3.) 
 
 VII. What brought about the Deluge? State its extent 
 and duration. What were the dimensions of the Ark ? 
 What did it contain ? Name three new precepts and two 
 promises given after the Deluge. (20.) 
 
 VIII. Illustrate Heb. xi. 9 by a brief summary of 
 Abraham's wanderings in Canaan, noting his four chief 
 halting-places. (12.) 
 
 IX. Discuss the character of Abraham, with special 
 reference to New Testament allusions to him, and justify 
 from Scripture his two titles, (a) Friend of God, (p) Father 
 of the Faithful. (14.) 
 
 X. Prove that Abraham's immediate ancestors, and also 
 that his descendants in Egypt, worshipped false gods. (3.) 
 
 XI. Name four important descendants of Esau in the New 
 Testament, in whom his striking but cruel, worldly, and 
 unstable character was reproduced. How was the prophecy 
 that he should first serve, and then have dominion over his 
 brother, fulfilled in his descendants? (6.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 37 
 
 XII. Consider Joseph as a type of Christ in 'character 
 and circumstances. (14.) 
 
 XIII. Name the first two possessions of Abraham's family 
 in Canaan. To whom did they ultimately belong? (6.) 
 
 XIV. Reconcile Gen. xlvi. 27 and Acts vii. 14. (6.) 
 
 XV. Mention two incidents in the life of Ephraim. (4.) 
 
 XVI. How old was Noah's father when Adam died? 
 How old was Abraham's father when Noah died? How 
 old were Jacob and Esau when Abraham died ? How old 
 was Joseph when Isaac died? (12.) 
 
 XVII. On how many occasions are we told of God 
 speaking to man in Genesis ? To whom did He speak ? (15.) 
 
 XVIII. What allusions to Job are there in Scripture 
 outside the Book of Job ? Find a New Testament quota- 
 tion from Job. (3.) 
 
 XIX. Summarise the four parts of Elihu's discourse. (14.) 
 
 XX. Quote two passages proving that Amram was a 
 pious man. (N.B. He is not actually named in either.) (2.) 
 
 XXI. Give the seven reasons Moses gave for not going 
 before Pharaoh, and God's answers to them. How many 
 interviews had Moses with Pharaoh? (14.) 
 
 XXII. What were the four compromises Pharaoh tried 
 to make ? Give the names of the magicians who withstood 
 Moses. (6.) 
 
 XXIII. Make a list of the ten plagues of Egypt, showing 
 the object or victims, duration, significance, and immediate 
 result of each. (20.) 
 
 XXIV. Explain the following passages : — Gen. vi. 2, 6; 
 Job iv. 18, xix. 25, xxvi. 5, 6, xxxi. 26, xxxvii. 16, xxxviii. 
 31 ; Exod. iii. 22, ix. 12. (30.) 
 
 XXV. Where, when, by whom, and with what result was 
 the battle of Rephidim fought ? (4.) 
 
 XXVI. Have we Biblical warrant for speaking of the ten 
 Commandments ? Show from Genesis that each of the ten 
 was recognised before they were given on Sinai. (22.) 
 
 XXVII. Give the passages in which the first mention is 
 made of the following :— (1) A Prophet, (2) a Priest, (3) a 
 King, (4) a Covenant, (5) Believing in God, (6) a " Righ- 
 teous Man," (7) Musical Instruments, (8) a Tombstone, 
 (9) Money, (10) a City, (11) Egypt, (12) more wives than one, 
 (13) written History, (14) the written Word of God. (14.)
 
 38 FIRST TERM. 
 
 * 
 
 XXVIII. What are the meanings of the following names ? 
 — Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Seth, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, 
 Ishmael, Isaac, Edom, Jacob, Israel, Judah, Joseph, Ephraim, 
 Manasseh, Moses, Abimelech, Pharaoh. (20.) 
 
 XXIX. How many New Testament allusions can you 
 find to Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Lot, Sarah, 
 Hagar, Esau ? (20.) 
 
 XXX. What do you know of the following? — Asenath, 
 Bashemath, Deborah (of Haran), Eliezer of Damascus, Hur, 
 Iscah, Jochebed, Kezia, Oholiab, and Shiphrah. (20.) 
 
 XXXI. Make a list of all the names of God that you 
 can find in Genesis, Job, and Exodus. (30.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following passages 
 occurring in this term's reading : — (a) " Where art thou ? " 
 (b) " Be thou a blessing." (c) " Submit thyself." (d) " I 
 withheld thee from sinning." (e) " I have filled him with 
 the Spirit of God." (/) " Remember this day." (g) " Stand 
 still." {k) " Go forward." (7) " I fear God." (J) " I am not 
 worthy." (Je) " I abhor myself." (/) " Teach Thou me." 
 (in) " Let us make us a name." (n) " We desire not the 
 knowledge of Thy ways." (0) " Come, let us slay him." 
 (/) " For we are brethren." (q) " Who is on the Lord's 
 side ? " (r) " Am I in the place of God ? " (s) " If a man 
 die, shall he live again ? " (t) " There is a spirit in man." 
 («) " God took him." (v) " God heard, . . . remembered, 
 . . . saw, . . . took knowledge of them." (tv) " The Lord 
 is in this place." (x) " That rebel against the light." 
 (y) " I have bought you this day." (z) " He that voucheth 
 for me is on high." (26.) 
 
 For Second Scries of Questions, sec p. 309.
 
 SECOND TERM. 
 
 The Days of Moses. 
 
 The Chosen Nation. 
 
 The Tabernacle and the Theocracy. 
 
 b.c. 1490 — 1256. 
 
 Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. Psalm XC. Joshua. 
 Judges I— V. and XVII. —XXI. Ruth. ( 1 36 chapters.) 
 
 " These words . . . shall be upon thine heart, and thou shalt teach 
 them, . . . talk of them, . . . bind them upon thine hand . . . and between 
 thine eyes, . . . and write them upon the door posts." — Deut. vi. 6-9. 
 
 5th MONTH (34). 
 
 Leviticus I.— XXVII. 
 Numbers I. — VII. 
 
 6th MONTH (34). 
 
 Numbers VIII.— XXXVI. 
 Deut. I.— V. 
 
 7th MONTH (34). 
 
 Deut. VI.— XXXIV. 
 Psalm XC. Joshua I. 
 
 -IV. 
 
 8th MONTH (34). 
 
 Joshua V.— XXIV. Judges I.— V. 
 and XVII.— XXI. Ruth. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 GOD has redeemed the people whom He chose to be His 
 own purchased possession. They did not deliver them- 
 selves by such a battle as Marathon, or Morgarten, or Ban- 
 nockburn ; He did for them what they could not do for 
 themselves. In the Red Sea they have been baptised into 
 Moses for a new life (1 Cor. x. 2). They have been claimed 
 by God as His sons (Exod. iv. 22 ; Deut. xiv. 1 ; Hos. xi. 1). 
 They have been made heirs of the Promised Land (Exod. 
 vi. 8). Will they live the new life as obedient children, 
 and enter into their inheritance ? This is the question our 
 second term's reading will answer sadly enough by showing 
 that only two of the grown men who crossed the Red Sea 
 also crossed Jordan (Num. xxvi. 64, 65). A like question 
 confronts us, baptised into Christ as " children of God and
 
 40 SECOND TERM. 
 
 inheritors of the kingdom of heaven," and redeemed not by 
 the blood of the many lambs of the Passover, but by the 
 precious blood of the one adorable and immaculate Lamb 
 of God (Eph. i. 4-7). The solemn lesson drawn for us from 
 Israel's unbelief in Heb. iii. is brought before us whenever 
 we join in singing Psalm xcv. at the public worship wherein 
 we claim our Christian privileges. 
 
 In Israel's Exodus, which revived worship of the True 
 God and hope of the Messiah, when both were perishing, 
 we see the roots of all that is most valuable in religion to- 
 day. Recently discovered Egyptian records show us how 
 the way was divinely prepared for this important event by 
 the victorious campaigns in Western Asia of Rameses II., 
 whose harsh but able features were seen by our contem- 
 poraries when his mummy was unrolled a year or two ago. 
 His wars weakened the Canaanites, but also overstrained 
 the resources of Egypt, and led, in the reigns of his weak 
 successors, to counter-invasions, which depleted the garri- 
 sons that held Israel in subjection. It is possible that the 
 Pharaoh of Exod. i. was Seti, son of Rameses I. That the 
 Pharaoh of Exod. ii. 23 was Rameses II., son of Seti ; and 
 that the Pharaoh of Exod. v.-xiv. was Menephtah II., son 
 of Rameses II., are widely received conclusions of modern 
 archaeology. See Dr. Kinns' " Graven in the Rock " (Cassell, 
 12s. 6d.), Prof. Poole's " Cities of Egypt" (Smith, Elder, $s.). 
 
 Some profess to account for the most characteristic 
 Hebrew institutions by the sojourn in Egypt, but M. Le 
 Page Renouf entirely gainsays this theory. The following 
 results of their bondage may, however, be certainly traced : 
 — (a) An ever-recurring tendency to idolatry, (b) A pre- 
 ference for non-monarchical institutions which lasted 400 
 years, (c) A liability to leprosy, consequence of long ex- 
 posure and hardship. Moreover, in fertile and cultivated 
 Egypt they acquired the arts of civilisation and industry, 
 and affliction welded them together into one nation. During 
 more than half their sojourn there, however, they seem to 
 have been wealthy and prosperous (Exod. i. 9). 
 
 The number who left Egypt must have amounted to 
 between two and three millions in all, and if we would 
 understand how a horde of unruly and craven bondmen 
 were transformed into dauntless warriors who provea the
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 41 
 
 most faithful generation in Israel's history, we must gain 
 a clear idea of the exact sequence of events in the wilder- 
 ness. Each incident there has its own particular place and 
 its special relation to the whole, and no part of that whole 
 was more fruitful than the n\ years whose story occupies 
 only five chapters. Then it was that the slave-generation 
 died out (Psalm xc. 5-8) and the conqueror-generation grew 
 up. The conquest began when they crossed the brook 
 Zered (Deut. ii. 13), and ended when they occupied Galilee 
 (which was to the Canaanites what Wales and Cornwall 
 were to the Britons), or, in a larger sense, when David took 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 God's command to exterminate the heathen, which first 
 appears in Num. xxxi., has been misunderstood and there- 
 fore questioned. By their heinous sins, these heathen 
 had forfeited the lives God gave them (Deut. ix. 5). The 
 agents of His judgments were therefore no more murderers 
 than are the executioners who carry put a legal sentence. 
 Moreover, distance in time from heathen Europe, and in 
 space from heathen Asia and Africa, causes us to have but 
 a vague notion of what heathenism really is. The testimony 
 of those who have studied it closely either in past or present 
 forms proves that it not only permits and sanctions, but 
 enjoins iniquities and abominations which Christian influ- 
 ence has made utterly hateful in Christian lands, even for 
 those who do not confess the name of Christ. This 
 heathenism came to a climax in the Canaanites and their 
 neighbours, and in those pre-Christian days evil was so 
 strong that toleration of those who habitually practised it 
 would have been dangerous and even fatal. We, under 
 different conditions, are commanded to hate sin, and love 
 the sinner ; Israel's only safety lay in hating the sinner as 
 well as his sin. S. Chrysostom finds a key to this command 
 in Psalm cxxxix. 21, 22, and it is further explained by our 
 Lord's words in Matt. v. 38, 39, 43-5 ; Luke ix. 54-6. 
 The political wisdom of a command which made Israel 
 the instrument of deserved and inevitable punishment to 
 these notorious idolaters was proved again and again by 
 the long train of evils which followed upon their incomplete 
 obedience to it. The Israelites fought not only for them- 
 selves, but for us. Just as the intellectual progress of
 
 42 SECOND TERM. 
 
 mankind depended upon the victory of Greece at Marathon, 
 so the future of morality and religion for the whole race 
 depended upon the victory of Israel at Bethhoron. 
 
 We are apt to estimate the days after Joshua by those 
 closing episodes of Judges, which account for the omission 
 of Dan in I Chron. iv.-vii. and Rev. vii., and for the phrase 
 " little Benjamin " in Psalm lxviii. 27. Three-quarters of 
 the whole period seem, however, to have passed in a peace 
 and prosperity which has little history, but which finds 
 beautiful illustration in the story of Ruth. 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term we read the three remaining books of Moses 
 and his one Psalm, the history of his successor Joshua, half 
 the story of the Judges, and the biography of Ruth. 
 Glancing at their surface, this appears the least attractive 
 of all the nine portions into which we divide the Bible. The 
 first three books seem to be full of obsolete laws and cere- 
 monies; Joshua seems full of barbarous exterminations and 
 lifeless geography ; Judges of petty strifes stirred up by 
 evil passions. When, however, instead of carelessly reading, 
 we search these Scriptures diligently, we find them rich in 
 historical interest and spiritual instruction. And even the 
 details that we are tempted to regard as wearisome and 
 barren, teach us that we must stoop to individual names 
 and minute particulars, if we would appreciate God's con- 
 descension and the reality of His special oversight of the 
 children of men (Luke xii. 6, 7). 
 
 Moreover, they contain five short poems or fragments 
 and four sustained songs all singularly attractive — viz., 
 
 (a) The Aaronic Benediction of the people given at the 
 close of the daily sacrifice (Num. vi. 24-6). 
 
 (6) Fragment from the Book of the Wars of the Lord 
 concerning the crossing of Arnon, the first river they had 
 come to since they left the Nile (Num. xxi. 14, 15). 
 
 (c) The jubilant Song of the Well, perhaps a common 
 water-drawing chant in after-times (Num. xxi. 17, 18). 
 
 (d) A shout of triumph over the Amorites after their 
 second victory (Num. xxi. 27-30).
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 43 
 
 (e) Stanza from the Book of Jashar of a Battle Ode com- 
 memorating their greatest victory (Josh. x. 12-15). 
 
 (/) The sevenfold Prophecy of Balaam touching Israel's 
 destiny and finally glancing at the Gentile world beyond 
 (Num. xxiii., xxiv.). 
 
 (g) The magnificent Song of Witness for God by Moses 
 (Dcut. xxxii.). 
 
 (h) The Benediction of the Twelve Tribes by Moses 
 (Dcut. xxxiii.). 
 
 (i) Deborah's ecstatic Paean over Sisera, the only pro- 
 phetic utterance between Moses and Samuel (Judg. v.). 
 
 This term also we make our first acquaintance with the 
 Book of Psalms (see p. 1 70). 
 
 Leviticus, the shortest book of Moses, consists of God's 
 own words to His people, excepting only chaps, viii.-x., 
 xxiv. 10-16, 23. Its structure is as symmetrical as that of 
 Genesis. In it God makes provision for man to draw near 
 Him in worship. Its keynote is Separated unto the Lord 
 (John xvii. 15; I Peter i. 15, 16, ii. 24). 
 
 Numbers describes that journey through the wilderness 
 which has ever since been regarded as a parable of human 
 life in its spiritual aspect of a pilgrimage. Its keynote is 
 Sinners against their own lives (Prov. viii. 36 ; Jer. xxvi. 
 19, R.V. ; Luke xiii. 34 ; John v. 40, 44). 
 
 Deuteronomy is to the other books of the Pentateuch 
 what S. John is to the other Gospels, not merely repeating, 
 but enlarging upon their theme, and showing its full signifi- 
 cance. Its keynote is Choose (Matt. vi. 24 ; 1 John ii. 15 ; 
 Heb. x. 38, 39) ; and it falls into seven portions : 
 
 (1) First address by Moses in the Arabah, i. — iv. 40 ; 
 (2) Second address by Moses in the valley opposite Beth- 
 peor, iv. 41 — xxvi. ; (3) Third address by Moses and the 
 Elders at Ebal and Gerizim, xxvii. — xxx. ; (4) The Charge, 
 xxxi. ; (5) The Song, xxxii. ; (6) The Benediction, xxxiii. ; 
 (7) Appendix, probably by Joshua, xxxiv. 
 
 Joshua (which may be written by him whose name it 
 bears, or by one of the elders who out-lived him, Josh. xxiv. 
 31) is the Book of the Wars of Israel, and the Doomsday 
 Book of Israel also, and shows how their heritage was 
 won and divided. Of course it must be illustrated by the 
 map. Setting aside the somewhat doubtful sentiment which
 
 44 SECOND TERM. 
 
 interprets Jordan as death and Canaan as heaven, we have 
 here a parable of human life in its spiritual aspect of a 
 warfare. Its keynote is Be strong and of a good courage 
 (Heb. xiii. 5, 6 ; 1 Peter iii. 13, 14 ; Eph. vi. 13). 
 
 fudges is a mournful history of Israel's decline into 
 anarchy and apostasy, when indolently enjoying their 
 fertile land, they tolerated their foes, and strove with their 
 brethren, and a national war degenerated into struggles 
 of separate tribes against their immediate enemies. Its 
 keynote is Called out from the world, yet of the world 
 (James iv. 4 ; I Cor. xv. 33 ; 2 Peter ii. 20, 21). 
 
 Ruth, a prose idyll, is the first chapter in the history 
 of the family of which Christ was a member. Its keynote 
 is In the world, yet not of the world (Rom. ii. 10, 11 ; 
 Matt. xix. 29). No other ancient history contains such 
 vivid pictures of the life of the past as Judges and Ruth, 
 and the mixed characters of this transition period have 
 been well likened to those who made the history of the 
 Middle Aces. 
 
 't> v 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 (See " Oxford Helps," § ix.) 
 
 We are still unable to fix exact dates, but may roughly 
 map out these 234 years as follows : — (3) is fixed at 25 
 years in accordance with the statement of Josephus that 
 Joshua, who died aged no, was 35 years younger than 
 Moses. Of this we cannot be quite sure, but it must be 
 correct within a year or two. Josh. xiv. 7, 10 shows that 
 Joshua's subjugation of the land occupied seven years. 
 
 (1) B.C. 1490 — 1452 (38 years). From the erection of 
 
 the Tabernacle to the second arrival at Kadcsh. 
 
 Probation of the Chosen People in the Wilderness. 
 
 (a) From Passover to Pentecost, 1490 (7 weeks). 
 
 The close of the year of organisation at Sinai. 
 
 Lev.; Num. i.— x. 10. 
 
 (£) From Pentecost to Feast of Tabernacles, 1490 
 
 (4 months and 10 days). March from Sinai 
 
 to Kadesh, and unsuccessful attempt to
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 45 
 
 enter the Promised Land from the South. 
 Num. x. 11— xiv. 
 (c) From the Feast of Tabernacles, 1490, to 
 Passover, 1452 (37^ years). The Wander 
 ings, probably in the neighbourhood of Seir. 
 Num. xv. — xix. 
 
 (2) B.C. 1452 — 145 1 (1 year). From the second arrival 
 
 at Kadesh to the death of Moses. Conquest of the 
 Land of Gilead, east of for dan. 
 
 (a) From Passover to end of Tebeth, 1452 
 (10 months). March from Kadesh to the 
 Plains of Moab. Successful attempt to 
 enter the Promised Land from the East. 
 Num. xx. — xxxvi. 
 
 (b) From Tebeth, 1452, to Passover, 145 1 (2 
 months). Encampment in the Plains of Moab. 
 Farewell address of Moses. Deut. ; Psalm xc. 
 
 (3) B.C. 145 1 — 1426 (25 years). From the death of 
 
 Moses to the death of Joshua. Conquest of the Land 
 of Canaan, west of f 01 dan. 
 
 (a) Occupation of the Valley of the Jordan. 
 Josh. i. — viii. 
 
 (b) Occupation of Judaea and Samaria. 
 
 Josh, ix., x. 
 
 (c) Occupation of Galilee. Josh, xi., xii. 
 
 (d) Settlement in the Promised Land. 
 
 Josh. xiii. — xxiv. 
 
 (4) B.C. 1426 — 1256 (170 years). From the death of 
 
 Joshua to the beginning of the Midianite oppression, 
 Israel under tlie first four fudges. 
 
 (a) Eight years' oppression of the Syrians on the 
 
 north-east (1402— 1394), and rule of Othniel. 
 Judg. i.— iii. 11. 
 
 (b) Eighteen years' oppression of the Moabites on 
 
 the east (1354 — 1336), and rule of Ehud. 
 Judg. iii. 12-31. 
 
 (c) Twenty years' oppression of the Canaanites on 
 
 the north (1316 — 1296), and rule of Deborah 
 and Barak. Judg. iv., V. 
 
 (d) Three undated episodes of the early days of 
 
 the Judges, inserted between the histories of
 
 46 SECOND TERM. 
 
 Samson and Samuel, who were probably about 
 the same age — viz., the origin of the idola- 
 trous worship at Dan, Judg. xvii., xviii. ; 
 " the battle in Gibeah against the children of 
 iniquity " (as Hosea calls it), whose details 
 may be passed over, Judg". xix. — xxi. ; and 
 the story of Ruth, Ruth. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 
 (See "Oxford Helps," Maps IV., V., and §§ ix., 
 xxx., and xxxiii.) 
 
 A few days' journey along the shore of the Mediterranean 
 might have brought Israel from Egypt into Palestine. But 
 with their minds cankered and their bodies enfeebled by 
 slavery they would have been unfit either to conquer or to 
 re-people the land. They needed the free air of the desert 
 to make them bold and hardy, and the discipline of their 
 wanderings to train them in the fear of God. Moreover, 
 they needed a time of withdrawal from the rest of mankind 
 that their religious and social institutions might be fully 
 organised, and that they might learn, as they could never 
 have learned elsewhere, to depend wholly upon God. 
 Modern travellers describe the scanty vegetation, inade- 
 quate rainfall, poor and scarce water, and absence of animal 
 life in the wilderness in a way which plainly shows that 
 Israel's needs must have been miraculously supplied. 
 During the Wanderings, Kadesh, the only city named, 
 seems to have been their headquarters. 
 
 Aaron died gazing back from Hor across the Wilderness 
 to Egypt. Moses died gazing forward from Pisgah across 
 Jordan to the Land of Promise ; and already the rich 
 forest and pasture lands cast of Jordan (Dcut. xxxii. 14 ; 
 2 Kings iii. 4; Psalm xxii. 12) had been subdued and 
 assigned to tribes whose character was especially pastoral 
 (Judg. v. 16). 
 
 . Palestine proper lies between the Arabah or wiMerness 
 beyond the Dead or Salt Sea, the Jordan valley, the 
 Lebanon mountains, and the Mediterranean, " the sea " or 
 " the great sea" of the Scriptures, just as the Euphrates is 
 "the river" or "the great river" (Num. xxxiv. 7; Dcut.
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 47 
 
 xxx. 13 ; Psalm lxxii. 8 ; I Kings iv. 21). It is called 
 
 (a) Canaan (Exod. xv. 15) ; (b) the Land of Canaan (Judg. 
 xxi. 12) ; (c) Palestine or Philistia (Exod. xv. 14; Isa. xiv. 
 2 9> 3 1 ! J oe l iii- 4 5 comp. A.V. and R.V.) ; (d) the Land of 
 the Hittites (Josh. i. 4) ; (e) the Land of the Hebrews (Gen. 
 xl. 15) ; (/) the Land of Israel (1 Sam. xiii. 19) ; (g-) the 
 Land of Jehovah (Hos. ix. 3) ; (k) the Glorious Land (Dan. 
 xi. 41) ; (z) the Holy Land (Zech. ii. 12) ; (/) the Land 
 (Ruth i. 1). It is 139 miles long from Dan to Beersheba, 
 and 55 miles wide at its widest from Gaza to the Dead 
 Sea — i.e., it is about the size of Wales, and as mountainous 
 as Switzerland ; and for its beauty, variety, small extent, 
 and great influence it may be compared to Greece. From 
 north to south it falls into four parallel bands : (a) Seaboard, 
 a maritime plain broken only by the spur of Carmel ; 
 
 (b) hill country from Lebanon to the desert, broken into two 
 masses by the plain of Jezreel ; (c) the deep trench of the 
 Jordan valley ; (d) from Hcrmon to the Red Sea, the 
 hills of Gilead and Moab. Beyond these lie wide prairies. 
 
 The position of Palestine links it both to the East and 
 to the West. For though it is in Asia, a broad and im- 
 passable desert separates it from the rest of that continent ; 
 and it looks towards Europe and Africa. In the Greek 
 church at Jerusalem, a circle of marble pavement and short 
 column marks that spot as the centre of the world. And 
 it tells a truthful tale. Palestine is set in the midst of all 
 the worldwide empires of history, including the British 
 Empire of to-day (Ezek. v. 5) ; and it commands the 
 Mediterranean, the one great highway of nations until the 
 discovery of America. It became the cradle of the only 
 literature which was written for all mankind, and which finds 
 response in every human heart. Within its narrow borders 
 every variety of scenery and temperature is illustrated ; 
 and the products of almost every region from the Poles to 
 the Tropics may be acclimatised (Deut. viii. 7-9). There 
 are found the mighty range of Lebanon, " the great white 
 mountain," grim with eternal snow ; the gentle uplands of 
 Galilee ; the rugged hills and rocky gorges of Judasa ; 
 coasts here shelving and there abrupt, washed by the 
 sparkling waves of the Tideless Sea ; the laughing Lake of 
 Galilee fringed with flowers of every hue, and lovelier than
 
 48 SECOND TERM. 
 
 even the far-famed lakes of Italy ; the awful Dead Sea, 
 whose leaden ripple breaks over the deepest depression on 
 the whole surface of the earth ; brooks overflowing and 
 impetuous in winter that well-nigh vanish in summer ; 
 bubbling springs that can be identified to-day where cities 
 are sought in vain ; vineyards on very fruitful hills ; corn 
 as tall as a horseman, standing thick on fertile vale and 
 plain ; shadowy forest and sunny garden, sandy desert and 
 arid steep. Still, off the beaten track, we find abundant 
 proof that no country better repays cultivation, while so 
 rich is it in wild flowers that from one blasted rock nearly 
 iooo lbs. of honey were lately taken (Psalm lxxxi. 16). 
 We ask the travellers of to-day to give us their impressions 
 of Palestine. They are at once enchanted with its sur- 
 passing natural beauty and depressed by the ruin and 
 desolation which proclaims that it is under a long-enduring 
 curse. See Henderson's " Palestine " (T. & T. Clark, 
 Edinburgh, 2s. 6d.) ; Thomson's " The Land and the Book " 
 (Nelson, ys. 6d.) ; Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine " (Murray, 
 12s.) ; and the maps and publications of the Palestine Ex- 
 ploration Society. 
 
 The Jordan, never called "the river" like the Euphrates 
 or Nile, but always spoken of by its significant proper name, 
 which means " the Descender," is unlike any other stream 
 on the face of the earth. It rises iooo ft. above the Medi- 
 terranean, flows through the two lakes of Merom and 
 Galilee, and empties itself into the Dead Sea 1300 ft. below 
 the Mediterranean, having fallen 2300 ft. in a course of 150 
 miles. It never turns aside from its course due north and 
 south, and never loses itself in ocean ; its bed is so deep 
 that its stream flows unseen almost to the end ; its down- 
 ward course in one long cataract is so rapid that no boat 
 can swim upon it for more than half a mile, and it is as 
 useless for navigation as it is for irrigation. No wonder 
 the Canaanites were overcome with fear and amazement 
 on beholding the vehement rush of such a river arrested 
 where its tide is strongest, at flood time (Josh. iii. 15, v. 1), 
 when the Ark of God stood in its bed, as the Son of God 
 was hereafter to stand there in prayer to be set apart for 
 His work on earth, and acknowledged by a voice from the 
 excellent glory of Heaven.
 
 HEROES. 49 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 C Moses, 2 Cor. xii. 15. 
 Keynotes < P/unehas, Gal. i. 8. 
 
 ( Joshua, 1 Cor. xvi. 13. 
 
 During forty years Moses grew from an exceeding fair 
 child into a student at the most learned university, and a 
 prince at the most brilliant court of his age. His wisdom 
 must have been acquired at On, the mother university of the 
 world ; and, according to Josephus, he became general of 
 the Egyptian army and won renown by his victory over the 
 Ethiopians. Then having shown himself an ardent patriot, 
 he endured, for another forty years, exile, through which he 
 became acquainted not only with the desert in which he 
 was to guide a nation, but with the will of God, which he 
 was to declare as it had never been declared before (Psalm 
 ciii. 7). Then after this long training he came forward for a 
 third period of forty years, as the God-sent deliverer, daunt- 
 less leader, enlightened lawgiver, and victorious commander, 
 judging sin, yet pleading for the sinner ; bearing, believing, 
 hoping, and enduring all things for his discouraged, dis- 
 affected, and erring people. And mighty not only in his 
 works, but in his words, he was for the Hebrews the father 
 both of poetry and history. He died at last with his heart's 
 prayer ungranted, leaving others to enter into his labours, 
 beholding from Pisgah the goodly land which he would 
 not enter until, after a lapse of fifteen centuries, he talked 
 upon another high mountain with the Christ of whom he 
 wrote (Matt. xvii. 1-3 ; John v. 46). Abraham and David 
 are both called prophets incidentally (Gen. xx. 7 ; Acts 
 ii. 30). But never, either before or after, were the lofty 
 thought of the prophet and the bold action of the ruler 
 joined as they were joined in Moses. Beside Moses stood 
 the eloquent Aaron (Exod. iv. 14), greater in office, less 
 great in character ; and the dignified Hur (husband of 
 Miriam, according to Josephus), who seems to have been 
 the head of those seventy elders in whom some trace the 
 origin of the Sanhcdrin (Exod. xxiv. 9, 14; Num. xi. 16). 
 
 For our other heroes, however, we take rather his 
 minister Joshua, and his grand-nephew Phinehas. PhincJias, 
 third high priest of Israel, is the first example of the 
 
 4
 
 So SECOND TERM. 
 
 uncompromising warrior-ecclesiastic, who will not only 
 maintain truth, but punish error with the sword, whose 
 staunchness is rewarded by that " covenant of everlasting 
 priesthood," through which (if we except the period between 
 Eli and Solomon) all the high priests of Israel were his 
 descendants until the Fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. 
 
 Joshua is the first example of the God-fearing soldier, 
 simple, straightforward, undaunted ; strong, yet gentle ; 
 devout, yet practical ; one who had learned how to command 
 by obeying ; as a servant, jealous for his master's honour ; 
 as a ruler, jealous for God's honour ; never putting himself 
 forward, never seeking aught for himself until all had 
 received their portions, this greatest of Ephraimites stands 
 forth as one of the few Old Testament worthies whose 
 memory is blameless, and as the first who bore that name 
 which was to become the Name above every name (Heb. 
 iv. 8, R.V. margin ; Phil. ii. 9, 10). 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " CJirist Jiaving come a high priest of the good things to 
 come, through the greater and more perfect Tabernacle 
 . . . through His own blood, entered in once for all into 
 the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption." — 
 Heb. ix. 11, 12 (R.V.). 
 
 No period is richer in Messianic Types. Moses is the 
 one person to whom, as a Prophet, our Lord directly com- 
 pares Himself; Aaron is His great type as a Priest ; Joshua, 
 His namesake, foreshadowed Him both as Servant of God 
 and as victorious King ; and Boaz as the Kinsman Redeemer 
 whom Job foretold. 
 
 The Tabernacle, God's holy dwelling-place set in the 
 midst of the people, is a type of Christ as God Incarnate 
 (Heb. viii. 2, 5, ix. 1 1, x. 5 ; Dan. ii. 34 ; Col. ii. 9 ; John i. 14, 
 R.V. margin ; Rev. xiii. 6, xxi. 3). Each of its contents 
 has spiritual significance. Its Door (John x. 9) and its 
 Veil (Heb. x. 20) are typical ; Christ is foreshadowed in 
 the Table of Shewbread as the Bread of Life and the King ; 
 in the Golden Candlestick as the Light of the World and 
 the Prophet ; in the Altar of License as the Intercessor and 
 Priest ; in the Ark as the Fulfiller of all God's will ; in the
 
 THE COMING MESSIAH. 51 
 
 Mercy Seat as the Propitiation for our sins through whom 
 we have our access to the Father (Eph. ii. 18). In the 
 Laver we see our Regeneration through Him who came by 
 water as well as by blood, to renew as well as to justify 
 (Titus iii. 5, R.V. margin ; 1 John v. 6) ; while the Brazen 
 Altar points to the Cross, where He not only offered 
 Himself as Priest, but suffered as Victim (Heb. xiii. 
 10-12). 
 
 Each of the five Sacrifices there made showed a different 
 aspect of the one " full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, 
 oblation, and satisfaction for the sins of the whole world." 
 I give them in the order in which they were offered. The 
 Sin Offering — made monthly and yearly for the congrega- 
 tion, and occasionally for individuals, partly burned on the 
 altar, and, in two special cases, partly burned outside the 
 camp, in other cases partly eaten by the priests ; the only 
 sacrifice whose blood was poured at the base of the altar, 
 and the most fundamental of all — shows Christ's Atonement 
 for the sin of the world, for " the fault and corruption of 
 the nature of every man" (Article IX.), for our unconscious 
 sinfulness (Isa. liii. 12; John i. 29 ; 2 Cor. v. 21). The 
 Trespass or Guilt Offering — only made occasionally for 
 individuals, partly burned on the altar, and partly eaten by 
 the priests, and accompanied by confession, restitution, and 
 a special ransom — shows Christ's Expiation for the particular 
 sins of particular sinners, for our known sins (Isa. liii. 1 1 ; 
 1 John iii. 5, i. 7-9). The Burnt Offering—made daily, 
 weekly, monthly, and yearly for the congregation, and 
 occasionally for individuals, wholly burned upon the altar, 
 the earliest kind clearly discriminated, the commonest, and 
 the most comprehensive in its meaning — shows Christ's 
 Satisfaction for man's rebellion and disobedience when He 
 gave Himself up without blemish and without spot before 
 God in perfect self-consecration as our Representative 
 (Isa. liii. 10; John x. 17, 18; Eph. v. 2; Heb. x. 6-9). 
 The Meal Offering — made daily and on special occasions 
 for the congregation, and occasionally for individuals, partly 
 burned on the altar, and partly eaten by the priests, and 
 pervaded throughout by oil, type of the Holy Spirit ; 
 in one sense the earliest, since its name is given to the 
 offerings of Cain and Abel, though only Cain's was, strictly
 
 52 SECOND TERM. 
 
 speaking, a meal offering, — shows Christ's acceptable 
 Oblation of a perfectly holy human character and life 
 before men (Isa. liii. 9; Matt. iii. 17; I Peter ii. 22; 
 Rom. v.). The Peace Offering — made both for the congre- 
 gation and for individuals on many occasions, always after 
 other sacrifices, partly burned on the altar, partly eaten by 
 the priests, and partly eaten by the people — shows Christ's 
 Reconciliation of man to God (Isa. liii. 5 ; Eph. ii. 14 ; Col. 
 i. 20 ; John xiv. 27). 
 
 Summing up, these offerings embody three main ideas : — 
 (a) Expiation in the Sin and Trespass Offerings, made for 
 (i.e., to obtain) communion with God, never accompanied 
 by meat and drink offerings, and consumed in token of 
 wrath. Sacrifices of this type were the creation of the 
 Mosaic Law (Rom. iii. 20), though they had been imper- 
 fectly anticipated already. Their whole meaning is brought 
 out for the first time in the Epistle to the Hebrews, after the 
 great Antitype had died, (b) Self-devotion in the Burnt 
 Offering. Christ dedicating Himself for us, we daily 
 dedicating ourselves to Him (Rom. xii. 1), was its teaching, 
 the deepest of all, which links all the five Jewish sacrifices 
 together, and constitutes the chief difference between them 
 and the heathen sacrifices. We see from the prophets 
 also that this teaching was the one most often ignored. 
 (c) Thanskgiving in the Meal and Peace Offerings (see 
 p. 34). Burnt, Meal, and Peace Offerings were all made 
 in (i.e., having obtained) communion with God, were of a 
 sweet savour, and were burned in token of acceptance. 
 (" Consumed " and " burned" are here used to represent two 
 quite different words in the Hebrew.) 
 
 Note in conclusion these three special sacrifices, with 
 their New Testament explanations : — (a) The annual 
 Peace Offering of the Paschal Lamb, 1 Cor. v. 7. (b) The 
 annual Sin Offering of the Goat for Azazel, Heb. ix. 7. 
 (c) The occasional Sin Offering (made but seven or nine 
 times in all Israel's history, said the Rabbis) of the Red 
 'Heifer, Heb. ix. 13. 
 
 At the base of the whole Levitical worship lay the 
 conception that only Blood, the material vehicle of that 
 immaterial thing which we call Life, can atone for (i.e., 
 cover) human sin, whose inevitable result is death. Thus it
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 53 
 
 taught that nothing short of the Death of Christ could 
 retrieve man's Fall (Lev. xvii. 1 1 ; Heb. ix. 22 ; Acts xx. 
 28 ; 1 Peter i. 1 5-20). Before He came, the Jews clearly- 
 recognised the reference of their sacrifices to the coming 
 Messiah, and since He was rejected by them, sacrifice has 
 disappeared from their worship. 
 
 For the meanings of the High Priest's Robes, and of the 
 other ordinances and acts of the Mosaic ritual, and for fuller 
 working out of those suggested above, reference must be 
 made to the New Testament, and especially to the Epistle 
 to the Hebrews, an inspired commentary upon the Mosaic 
 Law that students would do well to learn by heart at the 
 rate of 7.\ verses a day, if possible, in the course of this 
 term. One typical event of our period is referred to by 
 Christ (John iii. 14), and another by S. Paul (1 Cor. x. 4). 
 
 Lastly, this term's reading contains two Predictions. 
 
 (a) Num. xxiv. 17-19, wherein, looking forward to the 
 future triumph of the Hebrew race and their King, the 
 heathen seer, like Caiaphas hereafter, condemned himself. 
 This had partial fulfilment in David's conquest of Moab ; 
 its complete fulfilment will be when Christ rules as King 
 (Matt. ii. 2 ; 1 Cor. xv. 25). {&) Deut. xviii. 15-19. This 
 occurs in a book which proved the sheath whence Christ 
 thrice drew the sword of the Spirit for His own use (Matt, 
 iv.), and was expounded by Him of Himself when He taught 
 as a Prophet (John v. 45-7 ; Acts iii. 22). All that was per- 
 manent in the new relation established by Moses between 
 God and Man is here transferred to a future Lawgiver. 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 This term's reading speaks less of new names of God, 
 and more of a new relation of God to man. As the uncon- 
 scious freedom and innocence of childhood gives place to 
 the deeper seriousness and independence of manhood, so 
 the direct and familiar, but occasional intercourse of God 
 with the Patriarchs ceased when Moses no longer spake 
 face to face with Him. Joshua was the first man who 
 received for his guidance a copy of the Scriptures, which 
 are mentioned for the first time in connexion with him 
 (Exod. xvii. 14 ; Josh. i. 8).
 
 54 SECOND TERM. 
 
 This fuller revelation was associated with a sterner law 
 Jehovah was the unseen King and Head of Israel then, 
 just as Christ is the unseen King and Head of His Church 
 now. Theocracy (government by God) is a word used by 
 the Jewish historian Josephus, and commonly applied to 
 the 400 years between the Exodus and the reign of Saul. 
 Strictly speaking, however, Israel's constitution was a 
 theocracy always, whether its human ruler was a prophet 
 like Moses, or a priest like Eli, or a king like David. God 
 was always their supreme King (1 Sam. xii. 12 ; Isa. vi.. 5, 
 xxxiii. 17), and they were called then, as the Church is 
 called now, to be His special people for a special reason 
 (1 Peter ii. 9). 
 
 Observe how the threefold form of the Aaronic Bene- 
 diction anticipates a clearer revelation of the Triune God 
 (Num. vi. 24-6). 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 Two cardinal truths were uttered at Sinai : 
 
 (a) That the people of Israel were set apart as a holy 
 nation, which explains why the Ceremonial Law was given 
 at first to separate them, and abrogated later on when their 
 privileges were to be shared by others. 
 
 (b) That their God was " eternal, incorruptible, invisible," 
 which explains but does not excuse their besetting sin. 
 
 The various laws of Moses may be classified under three 
 heads. (1) Moral, referring to our duty to ourselves. All 
 sin wrongs ourselves in the first place, while most sins 
 wrong others also. These laws are the same in all ages 
 (Matt. v. 17-48). (2) Political, Civil, and Criminal, refer- 
 ring to our duty to our neighbour. Of these laws, changed 
 social conditions have altered the details though not the 
 principles (Mark x. 5). (3) Religious and Ceremonial, 
 referring to our duty to God. These laws, so far as they 
 referred to outward observances, were modified after the 
 more perfect manifestation of God in Christ. (Contrast 
 Lev. xi. and Deut. xiv. with I Tim. iv. 4 and Rom. xiv. 
 20, 21.) 
 
 In spite of the written Law, a people constantly engaged 
 in war or agriculture would have sunk into ignurance and
 
 MAN'S RELATION 10 GOD IN WORSHIP. 55 
 
 barbarism had not a leisured and learned class not wholly 
 dependent on their own toil been set apart to teach it to 
 their fellows (2 Chron. xxxi. 4). Such were the Levites 
 (see Exod. xxxii. 26-9, which explains the contrast 
 between Gen. xlix. 5-7 and Deut. x. 8, 9, xxxiii. 8-11). 
 They had neither political power nor personal wealth, and 
 were free to devote themselves to the maintenance of 
 public worship. In time they became chroniclers and 
 psalmists also. 
 
 The Israelites proved too "carnal" (1 Cor. iii. 1) to 
 understand the worship of an unseen God and King. 
 Hence Idolatry became their great national sin until the 
 Babylonian Captivity. There were two kinds of idolatry, 
 which must be carefully distinguished throughout the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 (a) Transgression of the First Commandment, worship- 
 ping false gods instead of or together with Jehovah. This 
 apostasy formed the sin of Israel at Shittim (Num. xxv.), 
 of Joash the Abiczrite (Judg. vi.), and of King Ahab. 
 
 (b) Transgression of the Second Commandment, worship- 
 ping Jehovah, the one Creator, under the symbolic likeness 
 of a created thing (2 Kings xviii. 22, xvii. 41). These un- 
 lawful "aids to devotion " formed the sin of Israel at Sinai 
 (Exod. xxxii.), of Micah (Judg. xvii.), and of King 
 Jeroboam I. 
 
 Passages illustrating Leviticus, etc. — i Chron. 
 ii.-viii. ; Neh. ix. 21-31; Psalm xliv. 1-3, lxxviii. 55-8, 
 xcv. 8-1 1, cvi. 13-18 and 24-48, cxiv., exxxv. 10-12, 
 exxxvi. 16-22; Micah vi. 4-9; Acts vii. 45, xiii. 18-20; 
 Hebrews. Whitfield's " Tabernacle, Priesthood, and Offer- 
 ings of Israel " (Nisbct, $s.) deals with the symbolism 
 of the Mosaic ritual in a simple and popular way. 
 
 Again we pause, but what we have read only stimulates 
 us to read on. When and how will a strong nation be 
 formed out of this chaos of warring tribes? Will the 
 Israelitish dodecarchy give place to monarchy as the 
 English heptarchy did ? Will Shiloh continue to be the 
 capital, and Ephraim the leading tribe ? Will the struggle 
 with their heathen neighbours for independence, nay for 
 existence, pass into an assured mastery over them ? Who 
 is this David, whose ancestry has been so fully described ?
 
 56 SECOND TERM. 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions L, II, XII., XXI.. and XXIV. may be answered with help of 
 any books. The other 27 questions should be answered with the help of A.V. 
 and R.V. only.] 
 
 I. Draw, with fine pen and ruler : — 
 
 (a) A ground plan of the Tabernacle, showing the 
 relative size and position of the Court, the Holy Place, and 
 the Holy of Holies, and also their contents. 
 
 (b) A ground plan of the Camp of Israel, showing the 
 positions of the three companies of Levites and of Moses 
 and Aaron with regard to the Tabernacle, and stating the 
 leader, number, and charge of each ; and secondly, the 
 positions of the twelve tribes, naming their leaders. Mark 
 the points of the compass on both plans. (25.) 
 
 II. Quote one description of the wilderness from the 
 Psalms, and two from the Prophets, which indicate the 
 hardships of those who wandered there. (3.) 
 
 III. Enumerate seven occasions on which the Israelites 
 murmured. (7.) 
 
 IV. Show from several passages that they transgressed 
 the First as well as the Second Commandment in the 
 wilderness. (6.) 
 
 V. Quote a conversation between Balaam and Balak on 
 the subject of the sacrifices that are pleasing to God, and 
 prove from the Second Book of Kings that human sacrifice 
 was not unknown among the Moabites. (4.) 
 
 VI. Give the total number of the children of Israel 
 (a) in B.C. 1706 ; (b) in B.C. 1490 ; (c) in B.C. 1452. Which 
 tribe increased and which tribe decreased most between 
 1490 and 1452 ? (8.) 
 
 VII. "Let me die the death of the righteous!" Was 
 this aspiration fulfilled in the case of the man who uttered 
 it? (2.) 
 
 VIII. Quote three New Testament precepts enforcing 
 each of the Ten Commandments. (30.) 
 
 IX. "Of all the ancient lawgivers, Moses alone endea- 
 voured to mitigate the evils of slavery as a domestic 
 institution " (Milmari). Point out some of these mitiga- 
 tions. (8.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 57 
 
 X. Name the five kinds of animals that might be offered 
 in sacrifice, stating for which of the five kinds of sacrifice 
 each was available. (8.) 
 
 XI. Mention (a) The one offering that need not be 
 unblemished ; (b) the one fast appointed by Moses. (2.) 
 
 XII. What were the three great annual festivals? By 
 what various names are they called ? How were they 
 observed ? What was their significance in relation to 
 (a) The seasons of the year ; (b) the history of Israel ; 
 (c) the Gospel of Christ ? What additional annual festivals 
 were instituted after the Captivity ? (30.) 
 
 XIII. " Nazirite " means "one separated." From what 
 was the Nazirite separated ? Name some famous men who 
 were Nazirites. (6.) 
 
 XIV. Point out the differences in privilege, garb, function, 
 etc., between the high priest and the priest, and between 
 the priest and the Levite. (10.) 
 
 XV. Find in the Gospels or Acts of the Apostles an 
 exemplification of each of the following passages : — 
 (1) Exod. xxx. 7, 8; (2) Exod. xxxviii. 26; (3) Lev. x. 6, 
 xxi. 10 ; (4) Lev. xi. ; (5) Lev. xii. 3 ; (6) Lev. xii. 8 ; (7) Lev. 
 xiii. 45, 46 ; (8) Lev. xiv. 3, 4 ; (9) Lev. xx. 10; (10) Lev. 
 xxiii. 3 ; (11) Deut. xvi. 16 ; (12) Deut. xix. 15 ; (13) Deut. 
 xxi. 23 ; (14) Deut. xxiii. 25 ; (15) Deut. xxv. 1-3 ; (16) Deut. 
 xxv. 5. (16.) 
 
 XVI. In Deuteronomy, Israel is bidden to remember 
 twelve times. Give references, and name the things to be 
 remembered, (n.) 
 
 XVII. Quote a verse in Deuteronomy where God is 
 called Israel's Father. His love to us, and our love to Him 
 is a thought running all through that book, which thus 
 anticipates Christ's teaching. Trace this out carefully. (12.) 
 
 XVIII. Where is Moses called (1) a prophet, (2) a 
 priest, (3) a king, (4) a leader, (5) a lawgiver, (6) a shepherd 
 of God's flock, (7) a man of God, (8) a man mighty in his 
 words and works ? Show by a genealogical table his 
 relationship to Levi and to Bezalel. What do we know to 
 the discredit of one of his grandsons? (15.) 
 
 XIX. Dean Stanley suggests "heedless of self" as the 
 exact meaning of the word rendered " meek " in Num. xii. 3. 
 Discuss the character of Moses, showing how this trait was
 
 58 SECOND TERM. 
 
 impressed upon all his actions from first to last. How 
 often did he intercede successfully for his people ? (12.) 
 
 XX. Mention a speech and two actions of Moses recorded 
 in Hebrews and not in the Old Testament. What do we 
 learn from the New Testament as to his motive in throw- 
 ing in his lot with Israel ? Consider Moses as a type of 
 Christ. (15.) 
 
 XXI. The exhortation, " Be strong " occurs more than 
 twenty times in the Bible. Give as many references as 
 you can. (10.) 
 
 XXII. How and when was the curse in Josh. vi. 26 
 fulfilled ? What New Testament allusions are there to 
 Jericho ? (4.) 
 
 XXIII. "They asked not counsel at the mouth of the 
 Lord." What were the circumstances and the results of 
 this omission ? Give other instances of enterprises under- 
 taken with and without prayer. (12.) 
 
 XXIV. Draw on card or drawing paper a map of Canaan 
 as divided among the tribes, indicating the portion of each, 
 and marking the six cities of refuge in red. Mark also the 
 Sea of Chinnereth, the Dead Sea, the Arnon, the Jordan, 
 the Kishon ; Hermon, Carmel, Ebal, Gerizim, Tabor, Dan, 
 Beersheba, Bethel, Jericho, Ai, Gibeon, and any other cities 
 you please which are mentioned in this term's reading. 
 
 N.B. — Rule margins, latitudes, and longitudes ; outline in 
 pencil, then in ink with a very fine pen ; then colour in 
 transparent washes, and lastly print the names. (25.) 
 
 XXV. Sketch the character and career of Phinehas. In 
 what words, six times repeated, is the character of Caleb 
 summed up? (10.) 
 
 XXVI. Prove that the mother and grandmother of 
 David's grandfather were not Israelites. (5.) 
 
 XXVII. Illustrate I Chron. v. 1, 2, by showing very 
 briefly — (a) that up to the days of Samuel, Ephraim and 
 Manasseh were the leading tribes ; (J?) that from Samuel to 
 the Captivity, Judah was the leading tribe ; {c) that Reuben 
 made an unsuccessful attempt to claim the right of the 
 firstborn. (15.) 
 
 XXVIII. Where, when, by whom, and with what result 
 were the following battles fought? — Hormah, Jahaz, Edrci, 
 Bcthhoron, Merom, Megiddo. (24.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 59 
 
 XXIX. How many New Testament allusions can you 
 find to Aaron, Joshua, Korah, Balaam, Rahab, Barak ? (10.) 
 
 XXX. What do you know of the following? — Achsah, 
 Adoni-bezek, Chilion, Eldad, Heber, Hobab, Jair the 
 Manassite, Mahlah, Mishael, Shamgar, the Kenites, Chit- 
 tim ? (24.) 
 
 XXXI. Show how the following attributes of God are 
 revealed in this term's reading : — Living, Holy, Jealous. 
 Where is He called the Rock five times, and in what book 
 is He called " God of the spirits of all flesh " twice ? (5.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "A 
 mother in Israel." (d) " Children in whom is no faith." 
 (c) " The land ye have rejected." (d) " Because ye believed 
 not in Me." (e) " Every man in his place." (/) " Every 
 man straight before him." (g-) " Every man shall be put 
 to death for his own sin." (/z) Be sure your sin will find 
 you out." (z) " Wroth with me for your sakes." (J) " My 
 son, give glory to the Lord." {k) " Let us go up at once." 
 (/) " Whithersoever thou sendest us we will go." (m) " Come 
 thou with us." (n) " A full reward be given thee of the 
 Lord." (p) " I am come forth for an adversary." (p) " I 
 am not among you." (q) " I dwell in the midst of the 
 children of Israel." (r) " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself." (j) Thou shalt be altogether joyful." (7) " The 
 Lord your God proveth you." (zz) " That ye go not about 
 after your own heart and your own eyes." (z/) " It is not too 
 hard for thee." (w) " The secret things belong unto the 
 Lord our God." (x) " What hath God wrought ! " (j) " He 
 is thy life." (2) " He hath known thy walking through this 
 great wilderness." (26.) 
 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 THIRD TERM. 
 The Days of David. 
 The Chosen Nation under One King, 
 b.c. 1256 — 1018. 
 
 Judges VI. — XVI. 1 Samuel. 2 Samuel I. — XXIII. 1 Chronicles 
 I. —XX. Psalms II— XXV. XXVII. XXIX. XXXI. XXXII. 
 XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVIII— XLI. LI.—LXIV. IXVIII.—IXX. 
 LXXVIII. CI. CVIII.— CX. CXXXVIII. CXL.— CXLII1. 
 (146 chapters?) 
 
 " The law of the Lord is perfect, ... the testimony of the Lord is sure, 
 . . . the precepts of the Lord are right, . . . the commandment of the Lord is 
 pure, ... the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether." — 
 Psalm xix. 7-9. 
 
 9th MONTH (35). 
 
 Judg. VI.— XVI. 1 Sam. I.— 
 
 XVII. Psalms VIII., XIX., 
 XXIIL, XXIX. 1 Sam. 
 
 XVIII. Psalms CXL., CXLI. 
 
 10th MONTH (37). 
 
 1 Sam. XIX., XX. Psalms 
 LIX..XIIL, XI. 1 Sam. XXI. 
 Psalms LVL, XXV. 1 Sam. 
 XXII. Psalms XXXIV., 
 CXLIL, LVIL, LII. 1 Sam. 
 XXIIL — XXVI. Psalms 
 LVIIL, XXXV., LIV., VII., 
 XVII. 1 Sam. XXVII.— 
 XXXI. 1 Chron. I.— X. 
 
 nth MONTH (37). 
 
 2 Sam. I. — V. 16. I Chron. 
 XL 1-9, XIV. 1-7. 2 Sam. 
 XXIIL 8-39. 1 Chron. XI. 
 10-47, XII. Psalm LXXVIII., 
 
 nth MONTH Continued. 
 
 Psalm XVI. 2 Sam. VI., VII. 
 
 1 Chron. XIII., XV.— XVII. 
 Psalms CI., XXIV., XV., CX., 
 CXXXVIII. 2 Sam. V. 17-25, 
 VIII.— XL I, XII. 26-31, 
 XXL 15-22. 1 Chron. XIV. 
 8-17, XVIIL— XX. Psalms 
 XX., XXL, LX., CVIIL, IX., 
 II., XVIIL 2 Sam. XXII. 
 Psalm LXVIII. 
 
 12th MONTH (37). 
 
 2 Sam. XL 2 — XII. 25. Psalms 
 LI., XXXIL, VI., XXXVIIL, 
 XXXIX , XLI., XL., LXX.. V. 
 2 Sam. XIII —XV. 12. Psalms 
 X., XII., XIV., LIIL, LXIL, 
 LXIV. 2 Sam. XV. 13— XVII. 
 Psalms CXLIIL, LXIIL, 
 XXVIL, LV., CIX., LXIX, 
 XXIL, XXXI., LXL, III., IV. 
 2 Sam. XVIIL— XXI. 14. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 HE Promised Land has been claimed, but. secure pos 
 session can only be won through conflict with all the 
 neighbouring nations (see " Oxford Helps," § xxx.). Syrians, 
 
 60 
 
 T
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 61 
 
 Moabites, and Canaanites have already been defeated, and 
 a preliminary encounter with the Philistines (Judg. iii. 31, 
 x. 11) has taken place. Three greater struggles remain, 
 whose story occupies us throughout this term. 
 
 At its beginning we find Palestine overrun by hordes of 
 Midianites and Amalekites from the desert, and the Israel- 
 ites fleeing for their lives to mountains and caves. Their 
 signal deliverance from this extremity is often referred to 
 afterwards (Psalm lxxxiii. 9-12 ; Isa. ix. 4, x. 26). 
 
 Eighty years later came the Ammonite invasion, and lastly 
 the Hundred Years War with the Philistines (Gen. x. 14). 
 A pastoral tribe of that name occupied the fertile plain of 
 South-West Palestine in Abraham's days (Gen. xx., xxi.). 
 By 1 49 1 they had become a formidable military and com- 
 mercial nation with five strongholds (Exod. xiii. 17, xv. 14) 
 who had already given Israel cause to fear them (1 Chron. 
 vii. 20-22, viii. 13). When their territory was assigned to 
 Dan and Judah, they contested these invaders' succession 
 and obtained the mastery for a period of forty years known 
 as "the days of the Philistines" (Judg. xiii. I, xiv. 4, xv. 
 1 1, 20). Shamgar and Samson began to deliver Israel from 
 them (Judg. iii. 31, xiii. 5), and it was probably to avenge the 
 crowning exploit of the latter that they put themselves in 
 array against Israel at Aphek, and inflicted a defeat which 
 seemed to destroy her national existence. This overthrow 
 was referred to as "the day of the captivity of the land " 
 (Judg. xviii. 30 ; Psalm lxviii. 18), and the catastrophe which 
 desolated Shiloh can only be paralleled in Israel's history 
 with the Fall of Jerusalem in B.C. 588 and in A.D. 70. 
 Hence the murderous fury which Jeremiah's allusion to it 
 provoked. The rout of Israel under priests whose " sin 
 was very great before the Lord " was retrieved on the same 
 spot twenty years later by the blameless prophet Samuel 
 (1 Sam. vii. 13). Then Israel asked for a king to strengthen 
 their hands, and God gave them Saul (1 Sam. ix. 16, 
 xiv. 52). Central Palestine had now become a Philistine 
 country, and its heirs had passed over Jordan again. He 
 turned the tide of war, but because he rejected the word of 
 the Lord his great victory at Michmash ended in defeat on 
 the scene of Gideon's triumph over Midian. Final deliver- 
 ance came through the faithful King David, who fought
 
 62 THIRD TERM. 
 
 his first battle in 1064, and his last battle some thirty years 
 later, against the Philistines. He carried the war into the 
 enemy's country, captured their strongholds, and made them 
 tributary (2 Sam. iii. 18, xix. 9). Not until the disastrous 
 reign of wicked Jehoram (889 — '885) shall we meet with 
 them again ; but in " Palestine " {i.e., " Philistia "), the most 
 familiar name of the land of Israel, they left a lasting trace 
 of their long domination. 
 
 David's wars were the summary and the conclusion of 
 the whole contest (Acts vii. 45). The victories of Barak 
 and Gideon over the Canaanites and Midianites were final ; 
 but it was David who, besides subduing the Edomites, 
 finally vanquished the Syrians, Moabites, Amalekites, Am- 
 monites, and Philistines. And so " the heathen perished 
 out of God's land " at last (Psalm x. 16), and Israel became 
 united, independent, and strong (Josh. xxi. 45). 
 
 Of the 3 30 years between Joshua's death and Saul's acces- 
 sion, 1 1 1 were passed by some portion, sometimes a large 
 portion, of God's People in servitude. This was not part 
 of God's plan for them, but the result of their own worldli- 
 ness and disobedience, and pursuit of what they considered 
 expedient and not of what was right. (Observe these four 
 stages : Judg. i. 21, iii. 5, xxi. 25, x. 6.) They sought to 
 serve their own true God and the false gods of their neigh- 
 bours as well ; they wanted to have both God and God's 
 enemies for their friends (Psalm cvi. 34-6). Now those who 
 live wholly for the world may be happy, though not in the 
 highest way ; those who live wholly for God must be happy 
 in the highest way. But those who try to serve God and the 
 world at once must be miserable. That is our lesson from 
 those ancient wars. What was their result for Israel ? 
 
 Nine hundred years elapsed between the Exodus and 
 the Babylonian Captivity — viz., 400 years of irregular 
 government by fifteen judges, and 500 years of monarchy. 
 The progress and prosperity of the nation under David 
 and Solomon fully justified the establishment of monarchy, 
 which we have now to consider. 
 
 Two hundred years after the death of Moses they offered 
 an hereditary crown to Gideon. He refused it, and the 
 power of his son was too limited to warrant us in calling 
 him the first King of Israel. 150 years later, under Philis-
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 63 
 
 tine pressure, the need for a permanent guarantee ot 
 national unity again asserted itself with irresistible force. 
 Different judges had ruled different tribes ; Samuel for the 
 first time ruled all Israel (1 Sam. iii. 20), and when Shiloh 
 lay desolate and Jerusalem was still a Jebusite city, his 
 abode at Ramah became the national centre. Events were 
 ripe for more settled political institutions than the casual 
 rule of men who claimed uncertain allegiance during their 
 lives, and left certain confusion at their deaths (Judg. xvii. 6, 
 xviii. 1, xix. 1, xxi. 25). Monarchy, though not established 
 by Moses, was clearly contemplated by the Mosaic Law 
 (Deut. xvii. 14-20). But wilfully and defiantly the people 
 demanded a king, that they might be " like all the nations," 
 ignoring their peculiar position as the People of God. And 
 God, who sometimes allows us to mete out our own punish- 
 ment when we importune Him to give according to our own 
 will, not His (Psalm cvi. 15), gave them a king after their 
 own heart of the tribe of Benjamin. When they had learned 
 that " unblest good is ill," He gave them a king after His 
 own heart of the tribe of Judah, and established his 
 dynasty for ever (Acts xiii. 21, 22). 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See "Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term our time is divided between four of the his- 
 torical and one of the poetical books of the Old Testament. 
 The larger number of appointed chapters does not represent 
 more work. For we have already made some acquaintance 
 with 1 Chron. i.-viii., and several of the following chapters 
 are almost verbal repetitions of chapters in Samuel ; many 
 of the Psalms are very short, and four of them occur twice 
 over. We are in the age of one of the greatest poets of 
 the world, and, with two exceptions, the following poems 
 are all from his hand : — 
 
 (a) The Song of Hannah, the earliest " hymn " properly 
 so-called, a first outpouring of individual as distinct from 
 national devotion (1 Sam. ii. I-IO; comp. Luke i. 46-55). 
 
 (£) David's Song of the Bow, from the Book of Jashar, 
 the finest and the most ancient of all dirges, mourning 
 Saul with the harp that had so often soothed him, and, full
 
 64 THIRD TERM. 
 
 of charity as it is of poetry, saying nought but good of 
 David's enemy, while commemorating David's friend, the 
 mighty archer of the archer tribe, in words destined to be 
 used by David's own tribe as they learned to handle the 
 archer's weapon (2 Sam. i. 19-27). 
 
 (c) David's Elegy over Abner, a brief outburst of grief 
 for the sudden and violent end of a great prince (2 Sam. 
 
 iii- 33, 34). 
 
 (d) David's Song of Praise on the greatest day of his 
 
 life, when he was at once conqueror and king, poet and 
 musician. Two liturgical psalms, added to the Psalter 
 after the Captivity, were founded upon it (Psalm cv. 1-15, 
 xcvi., cvi. 47, 48), as our Prayer Book makes general use of 
 the three canticles in S. Luke (1 Chron. xvi. 7-36). 
 
 (e) David's Song of Victory, recalling his conflicts with 
 all his enemies from the first and most implacable, and 
 ascribing his success wholly to God (2 Sam. xxii. ; comp. 
 Psalm xviii.). 
 
 (/) David's Last Words, one of his most notable psalms. 
 It sums up all his life's experience of the faithfulness of 
 God (2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7). (We read this next term, but 
 note it now to complete the list.) 
 
 Sixty-one Psalms, all, save one, by David ; see p. 180. 
 
 1 and 2 Samuel with I and 2 Kings are spoken of in the 
 Septuagint as " the four books of Kings." They form one 
 historical compilation based upon the writings of Samuel, 
 Nathan, Gad, Isaiah, and others (1 Chron. xxix. 29), and, 
 it seems, completed and finally edited by Jeremiah the 
 prophet immediately after the Captivity. They were 
 written by Prophets with all the freshness and fulness of 
 contemporary records. They are political, military, and 
 poetical, and contain the history of all Israel. Only they 
 insert accounts of the reign of Saul, of David's wanderings 
 and of his fall, and of the rebellions of Absalom and 
 Adonijah. Their keynote is The Throne of the Lords 
 Anointed (John i. 41, 49, xii. 13, xviii. 33-7). 
 
 1 and 2 Chronicles are called in the Septuagint, " The 
 history of the things left out." They are based upon the 
 public records first instituted by David (1 Chron. xxvii. 24), 
 but were edited after the Captivity, probably by Ezra the 
 priest, some 1 50 years later than Kings. They cover the
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 65 
 
 whole period of the four Books of Kings, which they are 
 evidently designed to supplement. In contrast to Kings, 
 they were written by Priests and Levites, with the dis- 
 passionate judgment befitting records of events long past. 
 They are ecclesiastical, genealogical, and prosaic, and 
 contain the history of Judah (1 Chron. v. 2, xxviii. 4). 
 Only they insert complete genealogies from Adam, com- 
 plete statistics of David's kingdom, full descriptions of his 
 preparations for the Temple, and henceforth of everything 
 relating to its worship. Their keynote is The Lord dwelleth 
 in Jerusalem (1 Chron. xxiii. 25, R.V. ; Matt. v. 35 ; John 
 iv. 20; Rev. xxi. 2, 3). 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 The chronology becomes more definite as this period 
 of 238 years draws to a close, but several very perplexing 
 questions are connected with it. S. Paul's statement in 
 Acts xiii. 20 (but see R.V.) agrees with the result of 
 adding up the periods of servitude and judgeship named 
 in Judges, but it cannot be reconciled with the assertion 
 in 1 Kings vi. 1, that 12 periods of forty years elapsed 
 between the Exodus and the erection of the Temple. 
 Some, therefore, regard this assertion as an erroneous in- 
 terpolation and throw the Exodus back 140 years ; others 
 more reasonably recognise that the periods in Judges are 
 not successive but overlap each other. For instance, Judg. 
 xi. 26 indicates that Jephthah's rule began in 11 52, and 
 since Samson's cannot have begun later than 11 36, Ibzan, 
 Elon, and Abdon must have been contemporary in another 
 part of Palestine with one or other of these two. Thus in 
 a period only extending over 130 years, 450 years are 
 accounted for. 
 
 (1) B.C. 1256 — 1 136 (120 years). From the Midianite 
 oppression to the beginning of Samson's rule. 
 Israel under eight Judges. 
 
 (a) Seven years' oppression of the Midianites 
 
 and Amalekites in Central Palestine (1256 — 
 
 1249), and rule of Gideon, Abimelech, Tola, 
 
 and jair. Judg. vi. — x. 5. 
 
 {!>) Eighteen years' oppression of the Ammonites 
 
 5
 
 66 THIRD TERM. 
 
 on the cast (1170 — r 1 52), and rule of Jeph- 
 thah, Ibzan, Elon, Abdon (and Eli ?) Judg. 
 x. 6 — xii. 
 
 (2) B.C. 1 136 — 1096 (40 years). From the beginning of 
 
 Samson's rule to the accession of Saul. Israel tinder 
 the last three Judges. " The days of the Philistines." 
 
 (a) 1 1 36 — 1 1 16. The rule of Samson and Eli, 
 and defeat at Aphek. Judg. xiii. — xvi. ; 
 1 Sam. i. — iv. 
 
 (b) 1 1 16 — 1096. The rule of Samuel and victory 
 
 at Ebenezer. 1 Sam. v. — vii. 
 
 (3) B.C. 1096 — 1056 (40 years). From the accession of 
 
 Saul to his death. Israel under Samuel and Saul. 
 
 (a) 1096 — 1064. The probation of Saul through 
 prosperity. 1 Sam. viii. — xv. 
 
 (b) 1064 — 1056. The probation of David through 
 
 adversity 1 Sam. xvi., xvii. ; Psalms viii., xix., 
 xxiii., xxix. ; 1 Sam. xviii. ; Psalms cxl., cxli. ; 
 
 1 Sam. xix. ; Psalm lix. ; 1 Sam. xx. ; Psalms 
 xiii., xi. ; 1 Sam. xxi. ; Psalms lvi., xxv. ; 1 Sam. 
 xxii. ; Psalms xxxiv., cxlii., lvii., lii. ; 1 Sam. 
 xxiii. — xxvi. ; Psalms lviii., xxxv., liv., vii., 
 xvii. ; 1 Sam. xxvii. — xxxi. ; 1 Chron. i. — x. 
 
 (4) B.C. 1056 — 1018 (38 years). From the death of 
 Saul to the choice of a site for the Temple. 
 Israel under David. 
 
 (a) 1056 — 1049. His reign at Hebron over Judah. 
 
 2 Sam. i. — iv. 
 
 (b) 1049 — 1036. His reign at Jerusalem over all 
 
 Israel. His victories, glory, and prosperity. 
 2 Sam. v. 1-16; 1 Chron. xi. 1-9, xiv. 1-7; 2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 8-39 ; 1 Chron. xi. 10-47, xii. ; Psalms 
 lxxviii., xvi. ; 2 Sam. vi., vii. ; 1 Chron. xiii., 
 xv. — xvii.; Psalms ci., xxiv., xv, ex., exxxviii. ; 
 2 Sam. v. 17-25, viii.— xi. 1, xii. 26-31, xxi. 
 15-22; 1 Chron. xiv. 8-17, xviii.— xx.; Psalms xx., 
 xxi., lx., cviii., ix., ii., xviii.; 2 Sam. xxii.; 
 Psalm lxviii. 
 
 (c) 1036 — 1018. His sin and suffering. 2 Sam. 
 
 xi. 1 — xii. 25; Psalms li., xxxii., vi., xxxviii., 
 xxxix., xii., xl., lxx., v.; 2 Sam. xiii. — xv. 12;
 
 GEOGRAPHY, 67 
 
 Psalms x., xii., xiv., liii., lxii., lxiv., 2 Sam. xv. 
 13— xvii. ; Psalms cxliii., lxiii., xxvii., lv., cix., 
 lxix., xxii., xxxi., lxi., iii., iv. ; 2 Sam. xviii. — 
 xxi. 14. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 (See "Oxford Helps," Maps V. and VI.) 
 
 We have already studied Palestine, the scene of all this 
 term's events, and although Jerusalem is characterised as 
 "the city where David encamped" (Isa. xxix. 1), there 
 are several good reasons for postponing its topography 
 to the reign of David's son, who was " King in Jerusalem " 
 (Eccles. i. 1). 
 
 How much of the whole land which God promised was 
 possessed by Israel? This geographical question now calls 
 for solution. 
 
 By God Himself to Abraham, through Moses to Israel 
 on leaving Egypt, and again through Ezekiel to Israel 
 during the Babylonian Captivity, a territory was promised 
 to the Chosen People, which was 2\ times as large as Great 
 Britain and Ireland, or 300,000 square miles in extent. 
 Speaking generally, it lay between the Nile and the 
 Euphrates, the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf or 
 the Syrian Desert. Solomon for a short time ruled the 
 whole of it as King of Israel and suzerain of Israel's 
 neighbours. But, omitting the Trans-Jordanic provinces 
 whose occupants soon ceased to have any close connexion 
 with their compatriots, we find that what they actually 
 possessed lay between Beersheba and Dan, the Mediter- 
 ranean and Jordan, and was little larger than Wales. Did 
 Israel's sin make void the promise, or will it be fulfilled 
 hereafter? Jer. xxxii. 37-42 ; Amos ix. 15 ; Rom. xi. 29. 
 
 Careful comparison of the following passages with each 
 other and the maps will show the exact boundaries : — 
 Gen. xiii. 14, 15, xv. 18; Exod. xxiii. 31 ; Num. xiii. 21, 
 xxxiv. 2-8 ; Deut. xi. 24; Josh. i. 3, 4; 1 Kings iv. 21, 24, 
 viii. 65 ; 2 Chron. vii. 8, ix. 26; Psalm lxxii. 8, lxxx. 11, 
 lxxxix. 25; Isa. xxvii. 12 (R.V.) ; Ezek. xlvii. 13-21; 
 Zech. ix. 10,
 
 68 THIRD TERM. 
 
 On the north. Mount Hor (that is, either Mount Casius 
 on the Bay of Antioch, or the Lebanon Range generally), 
 the entering in of Hamath to Zebad, and the River, or 
 the Great River, that is, the Euphrates. 
 
 On the cast, the Euphrates and Syrian Desert, or else 
 the Orontes, Jordan, the Salt (or Dead) Sea, and Red Sea. 
 
 On the south, the deserts of Paran and Zin, called " the 
 ends of the earth," to " the brook of Egypt " (that is, the 
 W'adi l'Areesh or Rhinocolura). The Nile, or " river of 
 Egypt," is only mentioned in Gen. xv. 18. 
 
 On the west, the Great, Hinder, or Western Sea, or Sea 
 of the Philistines, that is, the Mediterranean. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 (Gideon, Phil. iv. 13, 17 (R.V.), 
 Keynotes < Samuel, Eph. vi. 18. 
 (^ David, Eph. vi. 6. 
 
 Each of this term's heroes stands out sharply contrasted 
 with a contemporary in a way that throws much light 
 upon him. Gideon is the most heroic character in Judges, 
 and he wrought the greatest deliverance there recorded. 
 Mighty in faith, he recalls the past greatness of Joshua ; 
 courteous, forbearing, and humble, he anticipates the future 
 grace of David. His disinterested patriotism finds a 
 modern parallel in George Washington. He yields to 
 none of the judges in dignity ; Samuel only, who rose 
 above his superstitious devotion, excels him in holiness. 
 The crown he set aside was seized by the rash and 
 unscrupulous Abimelech, the one judge who performed 
 no public service 
 
 Samson and Samuel were about the same age. Both 
 were Nazirites from birth ; both were raised up to deliver 
 Israel, and received a special call and a special training 
 for their work. Samson's extraordinary physical power 
 enabled him to strike terror into the Philistines and 
 1 ncourage Israel, but his wayward inconsistency and 
 uncontrolled passions wasted that power on isolated feats, 
 and he carried out no organised plan of national defence 
 and founded no national institutions. Samuel's extra- 
 ordinary moral power was an outcome of the holy and
 
 HEROES. 69 
 
 consistent life of one who had served the Lord from his 
 youth. He and S. John are the great Scripture examples 
 of inward, silent, unbroken growth in grace from childhood, 
 as Jacob and S. Paul are of sudden and decisive conversion 
 in mature years. Note that the same religious surround- 
 ings which aided this growth in him only hardened the 
 sons of Eli. ' Warrior, ruler, counsellor, intercessor, and 
 prophet, Samuel was neither king nor priest nor poet. He 
 was not, like Moses, the originator of new institutions, 
 nor, like Jeremiah, the upholder of old ones. To him 
 was committed the hardest task of guiding his country 
 safely through a time of transition, when new conditions 
 brought new needs. He was the last judge, and the first 
 of that long succession of prophets who will claim our 
 chief attention later on. And as the Levite son of 
 Zacharias was forerunner of the Son of David, so the 
 Levite son of Elkanah was forerunner of David. 
 
 Chosen of the Lord (2 Sam. xxi. 6, R.V.), endowed with 
 the Spirit, with Samuel for his counsellor and David for his 
 friend, Saul was favoured in all his circumstances. But his 
 fierce Benjamite temper was ungoverned, his better impulses 
 were guided by no steady principle, his religion did not 
 influence his moral nature. Ever and always he did accord- 
 ing to his own will, and sought what was right in his own 
 eyes. God put him to a test less severe than those which 
 Abraham and Gideon had undergone triumphantly. First, 
 by a trial of endurance under pressure from the enemy 
 (1 Sam. xiii.). In his rash superstition and impatience he 
 broke through the restraint imposed upon him by Samuel. 
 Secondly, by a trial of obedience under pressure from 
 the people (1 Sam. xv.). In blind self-confidence he dis- 
 regarded God's plain command to him. These failures 
 proved him unfit for the trust committed to him, so, in 
 mercy to Israel, God first took the kingdom away from 
 his family, and secondly rejected him from being king. 
 His third and crowning sin was asking counsel of one that 
 had a familiar spirit in defiance of the law of Moses 
 (1 Chron. x. 13, 14). Suicide, possibly completed by the 
 hand of one of those Amalekites concerning whom he had 
 sinned, was the dark close of a career that might have been 
 full of light. So he perished, self-willed king of a self-
 
 7C THIRD TERM. 
 
 willed people ; and, though fits of madness came over him 
 as they have come over more than one unhappy monarch 
 whose imperious will has been unchecked by either prin- 
 ciple or circumstances, we cannot assert that he was not 
 responsible for his own destruction (2 Peter ii. 21). 
 
 David and S. Paul stand alone among the characters of 
 Holy Writ in leaving writings through which we can look 
 into their heart of hearts, and, of all the heroes of the Old 
 Testament, David is the one we know best; 131 of its 
 chapters have him for their theme or their author, and he 
 is frequently mentioned in Scripture elsewhere. His daring 
 courage, his quick sagacity, the prudence that never deserted 
 him, his prompt resource in difficulty, his singular mixture 
 of tenderness and severity, his inborn power to rule, his 
 skill to plan and enterprise in carrying out his plans, 
 remind us of the champions of the past. His intellectual 
 gifts link him to the " wise men " of the age which suc- 
 ceeded his. For, while we speak of the rod of Moses, the 
 spear of Joshua, the sword of Gideon, and the mantle of 
 Samuel, we refer to the harp of David. As Moses the 
 Prophet anticipated Samuel, so Moses the Psalmist antici- 
 pated David, who was the greatest of Israel's poets, and 
 the first of all poets to give utterance to man's deep joy 
 in nature's beauty and man's deep longings after com- 
 munion with God. " David " means " beloved," and no 
 one ever gave or received more passionate and devoted 
 love than he, from the day the young hero of Ephes- 
 Dammim was the nation's darling, to the day the aged 
 king bowed the hearts of all as the heart of one man 
 (1 Sam. xviii. 1, 3, 5, 16, 20, 22, 28, 30 ; 2 Sam. xix. 14). 
 I lis was that highly emotional nature that feels pleasure 
 and pain and is conscious of the good and evil in others 
 to a very rare degree. The versatility and complexity of 
 character and gifts which we note in many of the tribe 
 of Judah reached their climax in David, and the training 
 for his life work was unusually complete. The early years 
 of pastoral solitude and meditation ; the camp and court, 
 fust of Israel, then of Philistia the great military power 
 of the day ; the College of Prophets at Ramah, in which 
 we may discover a germ of the universities of Christendom ; 
 the life of hardship and risk in the wilderness where David
 
 HEROES. 71 
 
 gathered followers, not as a mere rebel against Saul, but 
 as an independent chieftain, destined to be king, fighting 
 Israel's foes, and having with him Abiathar, the High Priest, 
 and Gad, the prophet of God ; — in all these he learned, 
 above every other lesson, to know God, to trust Him wholly, 
 and to commune with Him daily and hourly. " Servant 
 of God " is the title given to him oftener than any other, 
 which he shares with Moses and Joshua only of all Old 
 Testament saints in the New Testament, the title in which 
 S. Paul, the greatest of all the sons of Abraham, gloried. 
 " The way of David " becomes as proverbial as " the way 
 of Jeroboam " afterwards, and God, who rejected Saul, 
 made with David an everlasting covenant (2 Sam. xxiii. 5). 
 But, it may be said, surely the shortcomings of David 
 were even more grievous than those of Saul. When his 
 throne was established in peace and prosperity, despite the 
 generosity and chivalry, the self-control and faithful friend- 
 ship which had hitherto distinguished him, he was hurried 
 away into shameful sin against God and man. It is not 
 enough to reply that we cannot judge a Jewish king by 
 a Christian standard, since his temptations were greater 
 and his restraints fewer than ours. His crimes would, 
 it is true, have been thought little of by contemporary 
 monarchs, but then he had the law of Moses. To his 
 disregard of one clear precept in it (Deut. xvii. 17) may 
 be traced not only all the evils and troubles in his own 
 family, but his successor's apostasy and the consequent 
 disasters to his house and to Israel. Yes, like Saul, David 
 sinned, and many men have been more blameless than he. 
 Yet few have been so good, for notwithstanding his sin 
 it remained the habit of his life to fulfil God's will from 
 his heart (1 Kings xv. 3-5 ; Acts xiii. 22), and therefore, 
 unlike Saul's sins, his sins were followed by fullest acknow- 
 ledgment, deepest contrition, and meekest endurance of 
 the appointed chastisement. David's " heinous sin, hearty 
 repentance, and heavy punishment " (to quote Fuller's 
 expressive phrase) is recorded for our everlasting in- 
 struction. From the record we learn these three things. 
 That the noblest intellectual gifts, the greatest religious 
 privileges, the fullest knowledge of the truth, and the 
 highest spiritual attainments cannot keep us from the most
 
 72 THIRD TERM. 
 
 flagrant transgressions if we cease to depend humbly 
 upon God and to use diligently all the means of grace 
 (i Cor. x. 12). That repentance means much more than 
 penance and much more than remorse, and that "the 
 forgiveness of sins," in which we so continually profess our 
 belief, is free, final, and abundant (with Isa. xliii. 25 
 compare I Kings xiv. 7, 8). Lastly, we learn that in this 
 life we must reap the natural consequences even of for- 
 given sin. David's own words of self-vindication in 
 Psalm vii. 3-5 were terribly taken in earnest, although death, 
 the legal penalty he had incurred, was remitted ; and from 
 the Psalms he wrote beyond Jordan, ten years later, we 
 perceive that there is anguish worse than death ; it can 
 never be with us as it would have been if we had not 
 sinned. 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " How then doth David in the Spirit call Him Lord ? " 
 Matt. xxii. 41-5 (R.V.). 
 
 Each of the " saviours " whom God gave Israel (Neh. 
 ix. 27) was a more or less perfect Type of Him whom the 
 angel named JESUS (Matt. i. 21). Gideon sets aside the 
 crown, Jephthah gives his dearest a willing sacrifice to free 
 her country from a terrible obligation, Samson dies with 
 the Philistines, for Israel, Samuel prays without ceasing 
 for his people. But " the good things to come " were 
 most distinctly foreshadowed in " the man whom God 
 raised on high" (with 2 Sam. xxiii. 1 comp. Acts v. 31) 
 as His Anointed. The whole history of David is a type 
 of the militant kingdom of Christ, and all his utterances in 
 the Psalms find their deepest and highest application as 
 the utterances of his greater Son (Luke xxiv. 44, and 
 
 P- 177)- 
 
 That our Lord would spring out of Judah had been 
 
 already foretold. This term we learn to add "Son of 
 David" to "Son of Abraham" (Matt i. 1). Three Pre- 
 dictions in the historical books give more definite shape 
 than had been given heretofore to the hopes which reached 
 their highest pitch just lOOO years after David. 
 
 (a) 1 Sam. ii. io, which makes first mention of the 
 Lord's Anointed (Luke ii. 26 ; Acts iv. 26, 2/, R.V.).
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 73 
 
 (&) I Sam. ii. 35. The original allusion is to Zadok, 
 whose descendants held the high-priesthood till the Fall 
 of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but it finds complete fulfilment in 
 Christ (Heb. ii. 17). 
 
 (c) 2 Sam. vii. 12-16 ; 1 Chron. xvii. 11-14. Here again 
 the immediate reference is to Solomon, but even without 
 David's own comments on the promise in 2 Sam. xxiii. 3-5, 
 and in the Psalms, the words " for ever " show for the 
 first time that the Messiah would not only be a King, 
 but that He would be more than human (Isa. lv. 3 ; Luke 
 i. 31-3; Acts ii. 30, 31, xiii. 34; Heb. i. 5). This being 
 so, we may see in the " house for God's name " the earliest 
 mention of the Church of Christ (1 Tim. iii. 15 ; Heb. iii. 6). 
 Henceforth there was an ever-growing expectation of a 
 second David greater than the first (Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 25 ; 
 Amos ix. 11). 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 To the Patriarchs God was known as El Shaddai ; to 
 Moses as Jehovah. Now in a fresh crisis of His people's 
 history, He reveals Himself again by a new name, 
 Jehovah Sabaoth (i Sam. i. 3, 11, xvii. 45), first 
 publicly proclaimed by David on the day he brought up 
 the Ark to Zion (2 Sam. vi. 2, 18, vii. 26 ; Psalm xxiv.). 
 Sabaoth, like " host," is used both of the stars of the 
 material heaven and of the angels of the invisible world, 
 and this name means " Lord of Hosts or Armies," i.e., of 
 all the intelligent creatures who perform the Divine will in 
 heaven and earth (1 Kings xxii. 19; Neh. ix. 6; Dan. 
 iv. 35 ; Psalm ciii. 21 ; Matt. vi. 10 ; Luke ii. 13), and is 
 translated in the Septuagint by a Greek word which in 
 2 Cor. vi. 18, and nine times in Revelation, is rendered 
 " Almighty," but which should rather be rendered " All- 
 sovereign." To the newly settled fabric of Church and 
 State it was a pledge of victory and glory, and while 
 it indirectly rebuked idolatrous worship of the host of 
 heaven (Acts vii. 42), it answered to the wider range of 
 vision opening on Israel with a new epoch of her civilisa- 
 tion. Jehovah Sabaoth remained the chief name of God 
 throughout the monarchical period. It occurs over 260
 
 74 THIRD TERM. 
 
 times in the Old Testament and twice in the New Testa- 
 ment (Rom. ix. 29 ; James v. 4), and is used to-day all 
 over Christendom when " the holy Church throughout all 
 the world " echoes the songs of heaven in her grandest 
 hymn of praise. 
 
 Observe how David's enumeration of the God of Israel, 
 the Rock of Israel, and the Spirit of the Lord (2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 2, 3) points on to future manifestation of the Three 
 in One. 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 We have seen how the days when every man did what 
 was right in his own eyes (Judg. xxi. 25 ; Deut xii. 8, 28) 
 ended in a corrupt priesthood, a desolate sanctuary, and 
 a captive Ark. The Ark never returned to the dis- 
 honoured Tabernacle in ruined Shiloh, but during the 
 succeeding age of political change and religious confusion 
 both were carried from place to place, and worship seems 
 to have been offered at each. Meanwhile the people 
 relapsed again and again into the two forms of idolatry 
 explained last term, and the practice of various unauthor- 
 ised superstitions prevailed (Judg. xviii. 24-7 ; 1 Sam. xv. 
 23, R.V., xix. 13). But at length God chose a place for 
 His abode (1 Chron. xxiii. 25,R.V. ; Psalm lxviii. 16, lxxviii. 
 67, 68, lxxxvii. 2, exxxii. 13, 14), and it was the desire 
 of David's heart there to build a House for Him who had 
 so long been served in a roving tent. 
 
 How David prepared for that House, and how Solomon 
 reared it, we shall learn next term 
 
 IX". Questions. 
 (Sec pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions III., TV., V., VI., XV., XVI., XVII., XXV., and XXIX. 
 may be answered with the help of any books. The other 23 questions should 
 be answered with the help of A.V. and R.V. only.] 
 
 I. " The Lord sent Jerubbaal and Jephthah and 
 Samuel." Complete the quotation, and show in a few 
 words for what purpose each was sent, and how he carried 
 out that purpose. (6.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 75 
 
 II. Make a chronological table of the fifteen Judges, 
 stating where they ruled, how long they ruled, and what 
 they did for Israel. Which of them are commended for 
 their faith in the New Testament ? (30.) 
 
 III. At what times and in what ways was the judgment 
 upon Eli's house completely fulfilled ? (5.) 
 
 IV. Prove from Jeremiah and the Psalms that Shiloh was 
 desolated after the capture of the Ark. (3.) 
 
 V. Show without reference to the books bearing his 
 name that Samuel was a prophet, acceptable to God, and 
 a man of faith and prayer. (6.) 
 
 VI. What do we know to the credit of one of Samuel's 
 grandsons ? (4.) 
 
 VII. Give examples of the vehement vows that were 
 one characteristic of the age between Moses and David. (8.) 
 
 VIII. Sketch briefly the history of Saul's persecution of 
 David, and trace David's wanderings. (20.) 
 
 IX. Why did David commit his parents to the King 
 of Moab ? Did he keep the oath recorded in 1 Sam. xxiv. 
 21,22? (4.) 
 
 X. Rehearse briefly the chief incidents in the career 
 of Jonathan, and illustrate his faith, courage, patience, 
 generosity, unselfishness, and piety. (15.) 
 
 XI. How may we account for the conduct of the men 
 of Jabesh Gilead to Saul, and for that of Joab to Abner ? (4.) 
 
 XII. Prove that each of the following tribes furnished 
 Israel with at least one ruler between B.C. 1500 and B.C. 
 1000: — Levi, Judah, Zebulon, Issachar, Dan, Naphtali, 
 Manasseh, Ephraim, Benjamin. (12.) 
 
 XIII. How often was David anointed ? (2.) 
 
 XIV. Give as full an account as you can of David's 
 nephews, omitting Joab. (14.) 
 
 XV. Which of Solomon's great-grandfathers is parti- 
 cularly described in the Psalms ? (3.) 
 
 XVI. Where is David called (1) a prophet, (2) a 
 patriarch, (3) " David the King," (4) " a leader and com- 
 mander," (5) "the man of God," (6) " the servant of God," 
 (7) God's " firstborn," (8) God's " anointed," (9) " a man 
 after God's own heart," (10) "one chosen out of the 
 people," (11) "the sweet psalmist," (12) inventor of instru- 
 ments of music, (13) "light or lamp of Israel," (14) father
 
 76 THIRD TERM. 
 
 of the Messiah ? On what occasion did he wear the dress 
 and perform the office of a priest ? (16.) 
 
 XVII. Find six New Testament references to David as 
 inspired, and ten to him as the ancestor of the Messiah. 
 On how many occasions was our Lord addressed as " Son 
 of David " ? What events in David's life are alluded to in 
 the New Testament ? (22.) 
 
 XVIII. What does "Samuel" mean? Show how the 
 lives of Samuel and David illustrate the power of prayer. 
 
 XIX. Consider David as a type of Christ in character 
 and circumstances. (15.) 
 
 XX. Briefly relate the history of the Ark of God from 
 B.C. 1451 till it "had rest" in B.C. 1041. (15.) 
 
 XXI. Trace the application of 1 Chron. xvi. 20-22 to 
 Abraham, Jacob, David, and the Ark. (8.) 
 
 XXII. " The Lord was with him." Find 14 passages in 
 which this is said of David. (14.) 
 
 XXIII. Is there any evidence that Absalom's effeminate 
 vanity caused his death ? (2.) 
 
 XXIV. Name three heroes who slew lions. (3.) 
 
 XXV. Explain the Old Testament historical allusions in 
 the following passages in the Psalms : — ii. 7, iv. 7, vii. 4, 
 xi. 6, xxi. 3, li. 11, lv. 3, 12-14, l- x - 6-9, lxi. 2, lxviii. II, 29 
 R.V., lxxviii. 60-68, ex. 4. (28.) 
 
 XXVI. Show by New Testament quotations that these 
 ten Psalms refer to Christ : — ii., viii., xvi., xxii., xxiv., xl., 
 xli., lxviii., lxix., ex. (20.) 
 
 XXVII. By whom and to whom was the oldest letter 
 whose contents are on record written ? Who uttered the 
 oldest parable, and who invented the oldest riddle extant ? 
 To whom was the first temple mentioned in Scripture 
 dedicated? (4.) 
 
 XXVIII. Name the first instance of a foreigner holding 
 high office in Israel, and the first instance of a ruler who 
 awxd his elevation wholly to popular suffrage. (4.) 
 
 XXIX. Illustrate .Acts x. 35 by naming representatives 
 of the nations whom -God bade Israel destroy or shun 
 among the friends and followers of David. (8.) 
 
 XXX. Where, when, by whom, and with what result 
 were the following battles fought? — Ilarod, Oreb's Rock,
 
 QUESTIONS. 77 
 
 Karkor, Aroer, Aphek, Ebenezcr, Michmash, Havilah, 
 Ephes-Dammim, Gilboa. (40.) 
 
 XXXI. What do you know of the following ? — Ahitub, 
 Chimham, Gaal, Hushai, Ichabod, Ittai, Merab, Purah, 
 Sheba, Ziba, the Cherethites, and Pelethites. (24.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "Thy 
 people offer themselves willingly " ; (b) " I have looked 
 upon My people " ; (c) "The Lord seeth not as man seeth " ; 
 (d) " Who daily beareth our burden " ; (e) " Go in this thy 
 might " ; (J) " God is gone out before thee " ; (g) " God is 
 for me " ; (/i) " Them that honour Me I will honour " ; 
 (z) " That they might set their hope in God " ; (z) " God was 
 entreated of them because they put their trust in Him " ; 
 (k)"l have no good beyond Thee"; (/) "Thou knowest 
 Thy servant " ; (m) " Strengthen me only this once " ; 
 (;/) " O that Thou wouldest keep me from evil" ; (<?) " Blessed 
 be the Lord that hath kept back His servant from evil " ; 
 (p) " Thou art worth ten thousand of us " ; (q) " Thine are 
 we, David " ; (r) " With me thou shalt be in safeguard " ; 
 (s) " Thou shalt surely prevail " ; (7) " The wicked shall 
 return to Sheol " ; («) " Thou shalt not die " ; (z/) " The 
 Lord sat as King at the Flood " ; (w) " The host was 
 secure " ; (x) " But little lower than God " ; (y) " The 
 woman went in her wisdom " ; (z) " I shall be satis- 
 fied." (26) 
 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of Solomon 
 
 The Chosen Nation Centre of an Empire. 
 The First Temple. 
 
 b.c. 1018 — 915. 
 
 2 Sam. XXIII. 1-7, XXIV., 1 Kings I.—XVI. 28, 1 Chron. 
 XXI— XXIX. 2 Chron. I.—XVI. Son* of Songs, Proverbs, 
 Ecclesiastes, Psalms I, XXVI, XXVIII, XXX, XXXVI, XXXVII, 
 XLII, XLIII, XLV, XL1X., L., LXXII, LXXIII, LXXVII, 
 LXXXI, LXXXII, LXXXIV, LXXXVI, LXXXVIII, LXXXIX., 
 XCI, CXI, CXII., CXXVII, CXXVIII, CXXXI, CXXXII, 
 CXXXIII, CXXXIX, CXLV. (123 chapters.) 
 
 "Blessed is the man 
 -Psalm i. 2. 
 
 13th MONTH (29).' 
 
 Psalms XXXVI., XXXVII., 
 CXXXIII. 2 Sam. XXIV. 
 1 Chron. XXL— XXIX. 22. 
 Psalms XXVI., XXVIII., 
 XXX., CXXXIX., CXXXI., 
 LXXXVI., CXLV. 2 Sam. 
 XXIII. 1-7. 1 Kings I.— V. 
 1 Chron. XXIX. 2^-30. 2 Chron. 
 I., II., Psalms LXXII., XLV. 
 
 14th MONTH (31). 
 
 1 Kings VI.— IX. 9. 2 Chron. 
 III.— 'VI I. Psalms CXXXI I., 
 I., CXXVII., CXXVIII., L, 
 LXXXI, LXXVII., LXXXII., 
 XLII., XLIII, LXXXIV. 
 1 Kings IX. 10— X. 
 
 . . whose delight is in the law of the Lord." 
 
 14th MONTH Continued. 
 
 2 Chron. VIII.— IX. 2S. The 
 Song of Songs. 
 
 15th MONTH (31). 
 Proverbs. 
 
 1 6th MONTH (32). 
 
 1 Kings XL 2 Chron. IX. 
 29-31. Ecclesiastes. Psalms 
 LXXXVIII., XLIX., LXXIII., 
 
 CXI, CXII, XCI, 1 Kings 
 XII. 1-19. 2 Chron. X. 
 
 1 Kings XII. 20— XIV. 
 
 2 Chron. XL, XII. Psalm 
 LXXXIX. 1 Kings XV. i-S. 
 2 Chron. XIII. 1 Kings XV. 
 9-24. 2 Chron.. XIV. XVI. 
 1 Kings XV. 25— XVI. 28. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 AUL had been little more than the pastoral chief of amal- 
 ^3 gamated tribes, ruling Central Palestine only. David 
 succeeded to a kingdom distracted 
 
 7» 
 
 <; 
 
 by civil dissensions,
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 79 
 
 without a capital, almost without an army, but loosely knit 
 together, and everywhere surrounded by powerful and 
 victorious enemies. He founded an hereditary monarchy, 
 shaped its institutions, and left a compact and united state, 
 not only independent but powerful, and rapidly rising to a 
 prosperity that had every prospect of permanence. His 
 kingdom became Solomon's empire, which extended over 
 the whole territory promised to the Chosen Nation. For 
 the first and last time it took its place among the great 
 powers of the East, its history culminating just as Greek 
 history was beginning. We may institute a threefold com- 
 parison between this Hebrew golden age and England's 
 golden age under Elizabeth and James I. 
 
 (a) Politically. Just as the old world of the East and the 
 new world of the West were thrown open to Elizabethan 
 exploration, and the way was thus prepared for the 
 " Greater Britain " of to-day ; so eastern Ophir and western 
 Tarshish were sought out by Solomon's subjects, which 
 resulted in a vigorous foreign policy, far-reaching com- 
 mercial enterprise abroad, and wealth and splendour 
 hitherto unknown at home. 
 
 (b) Intellectually. Just . as the widened Elizabethan 
 horizon stimulated patriotism, and nourished our greatest 
 English literature and earliest English research ; so Israel's 
 enlarged knowledge, new sympathies, and grander ideals 
 found expression in a profounder and more highly finished 
 literature, whose finest specimens we still have, and in a 
 new interest in botany and natural history, of which only 
 the record survives, since it is not the object of Holy Writ 
 to chronicle scientific discovery of Nature's wonders. 
 
 (c) Religiously. Just as the outward ceremonial of our 
 national worship was reconstructed in a more spiritual and 
 less superstitious form in Elizabeth's days ; so Israel reared 
 an abode for God as worthy as human skill and lavished 
 wealth could make it, and Solomon uttered Israel's creed 
 in its highest form at the dedication of this long-desired 
 House. 
 
 The main interest of this period, unlike that of the pre- 
 ceding, is ecclesiastical and political rather than personal, 
 and its history forms the most secular chapter of the sacred 
 record. Because the glory of Solomon was after the fashion
 
 8o FOURTH TERM. 
 
 of this world it passed away (i Cor. vii. 31), and no story 
 is more disappointing than the tale of how its fair promise 
 was blighted. There are but three allusions to Solomon in 
 the New Testament, and they are keys to his whole history. 
 He attained much, yet he fell short of perfection, politically, 
 in spite of his splendour (Matt. vi. 29) ; intellectually, in 
 spite of his wisdom (Matt. xii. 42) ; religiously, in spite of 
 the noble fabric he reared (Acts vii. 47, 48). Judged by 
 Deut. xvii. 14-20, he violated every principle of the Hebrew 
 Constitution ; and he left an insecure throne, a discontented 
 people, and formidable enemies upon his frontiers. 
 
 On the surface, the Disruption that took place imme- 
 diately after his death was due to the thoughtless self-will 
 of Rehoboam and the revolutionary ability of Jeroboam ; 
 ultimately, it was to be traced to national luxury, pride, self- 
 confidence, and godlessness ; also to Solomon's impoverish- 
 ing lavishness ; Egypt's jealousy of Israel's prosperity ; and 
 the revival of old tribal heartburnings as one result of 
 David's sin (2 Sam. xx.). Rachel's children owned the most 
 fertile tracts of Palestine ; Shechem and Shiloh, chief seats 
 hitherto of secular and religious greatness ; and the historic 
 cities of Jericho, Gilgal, Bethel, and Ramah. From them 
 had sprung Gideon, Jephthah, Ehud, Jair, and Abdon, 
 among the judges ; Deborah and (by birth though not 
 descent) Samuel among the prophets ; Abimelech and 
 Saul, the first kings ; Joshua, Jonathan, and Abner. So 
 they had always been inclined to resent the domination 
 of Judah ere they broke into open and final revolt. Hence- 
 forth we deal with two struggling kingdoms, weak halves of 
 what had once been a strong whole. The lesson plainly is 
 that nations and individuals may miss an opportunity God 
 will not give them again, if they reject His counsel for 
 them (Luke vii. 30, R.V. ; Psalm lxxxi. 13-16). 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (Sec " Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term two-thirds of our reading is literature, and 
 only one-third history. In contrast to our Third Term, we 
 read a smaller number of chapters than the average, because 
 that literature demands special care and thought. The
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 8 1 
 
 historical books we continue call for no further comment. 
 For the thirty Psalms of this period, see p. 194. 
 
 Three other works depict in a threefold philosophy of 
 life, the development of Solomon's character and of the 
 thought of his age. 
 
 The Song of Songs is pure poetry, idyllic or pastoral as 
 regards its subject, and lyric and dramatic (though scarcely 
 a drama) as regards its form. (If the composition of the 
 Book of Job, the nearest approach to an epic in the Bible, 
 is rightly referred to Solomon's reign, all the three great 
 species of poetry are represented in this age.) The only 
 survivor of his 1005 songs, doubtless the finest of them all, 
 this Song pictures the brilliant promise of Solomon's youth. 
 It evidently describes ideal human love, and its keynote is 
 Love is strong, indestructible, and priceless (2 Cor. v. 14 ; 
 Rom. viii. 35-7 ; I John iv. 10, 11). It has been variously 
 explained, but the following summary of its purport is at 
 once reasonable and widely accepted : — 
 
 The scene of i. 2 — iii. 5, and of viii. 5-14, is laid in a 
 wooded district of Northern Palestine, where Solomon is 
 spending part of the summer in tents ; the scene of iii. 6 — 
 viii. 4 is the royal palace at Jerusalem. There are two chief 
 speakers and three choruses— viz., Shelomoh or Solomon 
 (1 Chron. xxii. 9), the King of Israel ; Shulammith, a village 
 maiden of Northern Palestine, whom he woos in the guise 
 of a shepherd ; Chorus of young men, his companions 
 (iii. 6- 11); Chorus of virgins, her companions (i. 2-4, i. 8, 
 i. 11, v. 9, vi. 1, vi. 10, vi. 13, vii. 1-5, viii. 5 a) ; Chorus of 
 Shulammith's brothers (viii. 8, 9). The King's 13 speeches 
 are the following: i. 9, 10, i. 15, i. 17, ii. 2, ii. 7, iii. 5, iv. 
 1-15, v. 1, vi. 4-9, vii. 6-9, viii. 4, viii. 5 b, viii. 13. The rest 
 is uttered by the Bride. The alternate speeches should be 
 marked off before one reads the poem in the R.V., which 
 gives each a separate paragraph. R.V. is to be preferred 
 throughout for this book. 
 
 First Canto. The King seeks and wins the Bride 
 and brings her to Jerusalem (" My Beloved is mine," 
 ii. 16). 
 
 (a) i. 2 — ii. 7. The Bride in the King's pavilion. 
 
 (b) ii. 8 — iii. 5. The Bride's first dream. 
 
 (c) iii. 6 — v. 1. The royal Espousals.
 
 82 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 Second Canto. The Bride seeks and finds the King 
 and brings him to her home (" I am my Beloved's," vi. 3, 
 vii. 10). 
 
 (a) v. 2 — vi. 9. The Bride's second dream. 
 
 (b) vi. 10 — viii. 4. Homeward thoughts. 
 
 (c) viii. 5-14. The Return home. 
 
 For the higher meaning of the whole poem, see p. 89. 
 
 Proverbs rises ever and anon into lofty flights of song, 
 but, as a whole, it consists of gnomic and didactic rather 
 than pure poetry. As the wisest sayings of Israel's wisest 
 men, this book represents the mature experience of 
 Solomon's prosperous middle life ; and to its selection from 
 the 3000 proverbs uttered by Israel's chief sage are added 
 other terse apophthegms from the school which he founded. 
 Chaps, xxx., xxxi. are probably much later than his reign, 
 but as we cannot fix their date they are best read here. 
 The Hebrew name of the book includes both " proverb " 
 and " parable " in its meaning, and was applied to any 
 pointed saying, especially if it conveyed its thought through 
 a figure. Its root idea is that of comparison, putting this 
 and that together, and noting their likeness and unlikcness 
 that they may illustrate each other. Such forms of instruc- 
 tion date from an early stage of civilisation. The Greek 
 name of the book is frequently used of the parables of 
 Christ, which find their Old Testament counterpart here. 
 Proverbs is ethical rather than theological, guiding to action 
 as the Psalms guide to devotion. Even when religious, it 
 deals with the moral aspect of religion common to all creeds, 
 and exhorts to a faithful performance of duty in all relations 
 of life, though it speaks throughout of our conduct as it is 
 in the sight of God. Hence in later days it appealed more 
 directly to the Gentile mind than any other Hebrew book. 
 Moreover, as its wisdom bears far more on conduct than on 
 speculation, it is practical rather than philosophical. Its 
 keynote is Justice and judgment arc more acceptable than 
 sacrifice, xxi. 3 (Matt. ix. 13, xxiii. 23 ; Mark xii. 32-4). 
 The thought that the fear of God, which is the beginning 
 of wisdom, is something grander and wider than conformity 
 to any outward rites, is a remarkable one for a book pro- 
 duced in an age which saw the noblest outcome of the 
 Ceremonial Law in the Temple. Its sections are : —
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 83 
 
 (a) i. 1-6. Introduction stating that the aim of the whole 
 is to answer the question " What is wisdom ? " 
 
 (b) i. 7 — ix. 18. First exhortation concerning wisdom. 
 
 (c) x. 1 — xxii. 16. First collection of 400 proverbs. 
 
 (d) xxii. 17 — xxiv. 22. Second exhortation concerning 
 wisdom. 
 
 (e) xxiv. 23-34. Some sayings of the wise. 
 
 {/) xxv. 1 — xxix. 27. Second collection of proverbs made 
 under Hezekiah. 
 
 (g) xxx. Prophecy of Agur, son of Jakeh. 
 
 (h) xxxi. Prophecy of Lemuel's mother. 
 
 In Ecclcsiastes the lyric outburst which began with the 
 Psalms of Israel's foremost poet dies down into prose, yet 
 prose of a highly poetical cast. A period of literary 
 stagnancy succeeds. The reasons given for assigning the 
 book to a later age than Solomon's do not amount to con- 
 vincing proofs, so we act upon the time-honoured view that 
 it represents the repentance of his sorrowful old age. " Many 
 go through David's sins without his repentance, and 
 Solomon's experiences without his conclusions, and these 
 are the men who rail at both " (Kcr). This saddest book 
 of the Bible is often misunderstood by those who fail to 
 perceive in it the utterances of two voices in a single soul. 
 The lower voice is that of the man of the world, who tries 
 every form of earthly pleasure, base and noble, and finds 
 that none can satisfy the heart of man ; who goes the whole 
 round of human speculation seeking to read the riddle of 
 the world before he has been chastened by submission and 
 elevated by trust in God. It is a voice of doubt, sinking 
 into despair, and we have its keynote in the phrase Under 
 the sun, which occurs here 29 times and nowhere else. The 
 higher voice is that of a divinely taught man, who desires 
 to teach others through his own painful experience. He 
 cannot solve all the perplexities of life, but he can point out 
 the path of true blessedness. Its keynote is God is in heaven, 
 riding the whole earth and rewarding those who serve Him. 
 (1 Cor. xv. 58). The sections of Ecclesiastes are : — 
 
 (a) i., ii. The search after Happiness and its failure. 
 
 (&) iii. 1 — vi. 9. Nature's harmony and man's discord. 
 
 (c) vi. 10 — viii. 15. Life as a whole is unsatisfying, yet 
 it shall be well with the godly.
 
 84 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 (d) viii. 16 — xii. 14. The highest good attainable is 
 being what God means us to be. 
 
 Observe that in Proverbs " wisdom " means " piety " ; in 
 Ecclesiastes " sagacity" and " knowledge." 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 The dates for these 103 years are those given in " Oxford 
 Helps." Some good authorities make them one year later 
 throughout. Henceforth a table of Reigns, which form 
 most convenient landmarks, will be given each term for 
 constant reference. 
 
 Observe that the reign of David fills 93 chapters, that of 
 Solomon 89 chapters ; also that the reigns of Saul (1096— 
 1056), David (1056 — 1016), and Solomon (1016 — 976) each 
 occupy 40 years ; and that Asa was contemporary with al) 
 the first seven Kinsrs of Israel. 
 
 't>^ 
 
 (1) B.C. 1 01 8 — 1004 (14 years). From the choice of a 
 
 site for the Temple to its Dedication. The House 
 of God that Solomon built. 
 
 (a) 1018 — 1016. David's Preparation. Psalms 
 xxxvi, xxxvii., cxxxiii. ; 2 Sam. xxiv. ; 1 Chron. 
 xxi. — xxix. 22 ; Psalms xxvi., xxviii, xxx., 
 cxxxix., cxxxi., lxxxvi., cxlv. ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 1-7. 
 (&) 1016 — 1012. Solomon's Preparation. 1 Kings 
 i.— v. ; 1 Chron. xxix. 23-30 ; 2 Chron. i., ii. ; 
 Psalms lxxii., xlv. 
 (c) The Building and Dedication (1012 — 1004), 
 1 Kings vi. — ix. 9 ; 2 Chron. iii. — vii. ; Psalms 
 cxxxii., i., cxxvii., cxxviii., 1., lxxxi., lxxvii., 
 lxxxii., xlii., xliii., lxxxiv. 
 
 (2) B.C. 1004 — 976 (28 years). From the dedication of 
 
 the Temple to the revolt of the Ten Tribes. The 
 Glory and Declension of Solomon. 1 Kings ix. 10 — 
 x. ; 2 Chron. viii. — ix. 28 ; Song of Songs ; Proverbs ; 
 1 Kings xi. ; 2 Chron. ix. 29-31 ; Ecclesiastes ; Psalms 
 lxxxviii., xlix., lxxiii., cxi., cxii., xci. ; 1 Kings xii. 
 1-19 ; 2 Chron. x. 
 
 (3) B.C. 976- 955 (21 years). From the revolt of the 
 
 Ten Tribes to thr death of Jeroboam. Thereligious 
 Schism and political Disruption. 1 Kings xii. 20 —
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 85 
 
 xiv. ; 2 Chron. xi., xii. ; Psalm lxxxix. ; 1 Kings xv. 
 1-8 ; 2 Chron. xiii. 
 (4) B.C. 95 5 — 915 (40 years). From the death of Jeroboam 
 to the accessions of Jehoshaphat and Ahab. The 
 Strife between Israel and Judah. 1 Kings xv. 9-24 ; 
 2 Chron. xiv. — xvi. ; 1 Kings xv. 25 — xvi. 28. 
 
 Three Kings of Judah. Six Kings of Israel. 
 
 Rehoboam, 976—959. Jeroboam I., 976 — 955. 
 
 Abijah, 959— 956. Nadab, 955— 953. 
 
 Asa, 956— 915. Baasha, 953— 931. 
 
 Elah, 931 — 929. 
 
 Zimri, seven days. 
 
 Omri, 929 — 917. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 
 (Sec " Oxford Helps," Maps VI., VII., and IX., 
 
 and § xxxiii.) 
 
 About the middle of the mountain ridge, or rather, high 
 uneven plateau, which traverses Palestine from the Plain of 
 Jezreel to the Desert of Paran, rise two hills, Zion on the 
 west (2540 ft. above the sea), with the lower height of Acra 
 or Millo to its north, and Moriah on the east (2435 ft), with 
 the lower height of Bezetha to its north. The Tyropaean 
 Valley divides them. They form an almost impregnable 
 natural fortress (2 Sam. v. 6, 7, R.V. margin; Psalm cxxv. 1), 
 round three sides of which the deep ravines of Hinnom 
 and Jehoshaphat or Kidron wind like a continuous natural 
 fosse. Other mountains surround them, of which the chief 
 is Olivet (2724 ft.), " the mount before Jerusalem " (1 Kings 
 xi. 7). The climate of this high region is more healthy, 
 equable, and temperate than that of any other part of 
 Palestine. Upon these twin hills, the " rock of the plain 
 or table land" (Jer. xxi. 13), clusters the city of Jerusalem, 
 " beautiful in elevation " (Psalm xlviii.), which God chose 
 for His abode. They mark its twofold character as a 
 political centre from the time when David set up his throne 
 on " Zion " (which means " the sunny mount "), and as a 
 religious centre from the day the Temple rose on " Moriah "
 
 86 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 (which means "the mount provided by Jehovah"). After 
 the Disruption, and still more after the Babylonian Captivity, 
 when little was left of corporate national life, it was Moriah 
 rather than Zion that formed Israel's focus. 
 
 Jerusalem at its largest in the days of Agrippa was rather 
 more than four miles in circumference. If we set aside the 
 probable but not certain identification of it with the Salem 
 of Gen. xiv. 18, and the Moriah of Gen. xxii. 2, we find first 
 mention of it in Josh. xv. 8, and the first incident in its 
 history was, like the last, a destructive siege (Judg. i. 8 ; 
 Luke xix. 43, 44). In the sixteen centuries between its 
 capture by Judah and its capture by Hadrian, it was besieged 
 at least 25 times and twice razed to the ground. No other 
 city has had such a fate. David chose it for his seat 
 of government, as strong, central (Ezek. v. 5), brilliantly 
 captured, and common property of Judah and Benjamin. 
 Judah's capital henceforth, like Judah's dynasty, was un- 
 changed. It surpassed every other city both in its glory 
 and its humiliation. For ere human sin and Divine love 
 found their lowest and highest exemplifications there (Rev. 
 xi. 8) it had been at once the Holy City, Ariel (" the hearth 
 of God," Isa. xxix. 1, R.V.), and the unholy city, shrine 
 of foul and horrid idols. The old Jebusite worships clung 
 to its soil, and were never thoroughly rooted up. So at 
 the base of Mount Zion, which has given a name to heaven 
 (Hcb. xii. 22), lay Gi-hinnom (in Greek, Gehenna), that 
 defiled valley where ever-burning fires consumed the refuse 
 of the city (Isa. xxx. 33, R.V. margin), whose name the 
 Jews borrowed for hell (Mark ix. 43, R.V.). 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 Keynote, Solomoti, 1 Cor. i. 19, 20. 
 
 A number of men of unusual power and influence for 
 good or evil had made David's age, and he was greatest 
 among the great. The calm prosperity of his latter days 
 and of his son's reign moulded no such grand characters 
 as those which had made the building of the Temple 
 possible. Of the men who first worshipped in it, Solomon 
 only stands out in bold relief during an age notable for its 
 works rather than its heroes. No one occupies so large a
 
 HEROES. S7 
 
 space in sacred history of whom we have so few personal 
 details. He seems to have inherited the beauty and fascina- 
 tion of both his parents, and some of his rare sagacity may 
 be traced to Ahithophel (2 Sam. xii. 24, xi. 3, xxiii. 34). 
 His great intellectual powers were strenuously cultivated 
 with a view to his filling the post of heir (1 Kings i. 30) 
 left vacant by Absalom's death when he was about ten 
 years old. David had united the genius of a poet and the 
 insight of a prophet with the prudence of a man of action. 
 In Solomon we see a new intellectual type (1 Kings ii. 6, 9, 
 v. 7). He was the first of " the wise " of whom we often 
 read hereafter (Prov. i. 6 ; Isa. xxix. 14 ; Jer. xviii. 18). The 
 wisdom he sought and obtained of God was that of Ecclesi- 
 astes rather than of Proverbs, and was displayed in the 
 administration of justice (1 Kings iii. 28 ; Prov. xxix. 4, 14, 
 xxv. 5), and in ardent pursuit of knowledge (1 Kings iv. 
 29-34). Finally, God was with him (1 Kings i. 37, iii. 28; 
 1 Chron. xxii. 11, 16, xxviii. 20; 2 Chron. i. 1), took him 
 for His own son (2 Sam. vii. 14; I Chron. xvii. 13, xxii. 10, 
 xxviii. 6), and gave him a great work to do. 
 
 Such were the gifts and privileges of Solomon. Never 
 had earthly glory and human wisdom a greater opportunity, 
 never was their insufficiency for man's goodness and happi- 
 ness more strikingly shown. He and his people instead of 
 influencing their heathen neighbours were influenced by 
 them. Like that other brilliant young man for whom 
 Christ longed (Mark x. 21), Solomon loved the world more 
 than he loved God. He knew the good, and chose the 
 evil. He expounded a father's duties, and apparently 
 spoiled his own son ; he painted ideal marriage (Prov. v. 
 18, 19), and crowded his harem with foreign women against 
 whose wiles his wisdom was as powerless as Samson's 
 strength (Neh. xiii. 26). He preached justice, yet practised 
 oppression (1 Kings xii. 4). He was sagacious and equit- 
 able, yet he actually thought to thwart God's purposes by 
 slaying his appointed successor. With one hand he reared 
 the Temple of the God of Israel ; with the other, pursuing 
 an unlawful, short-sighted, and disastrous policy of tolera- 
 tion, he raised long-enduring altars (2 Kings xxiii. 13) for 
 the shameful worship of the Phoenician Ashtoreth, the cruel 
 worship of the Ammonite Molcch, and even for that worship
 
 88 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 of the Moabite Chemosh or Baalpeor whose terrible punish- 
 ment in the wilderness (Num. xxv.) ought to have made 
 its revival impossible (2 Cor. vi. 16). We will not add one 
 to the divers speculations as to the final destiny of this 
 man who sinned against so much light, but we note that 
 the utterances of his God-given wisdom are not shut out 
 from the Book of God because his crime was as great as 
 his genius, nor was his dynasty supplanted because he had 
 done his best to throw away a rare heritage of loyalty. 
 Heir to a kingdom whose strength depended upon its 
 unity, and whose unity depended upon its faith, he had 
 made shipwreck of both. We speak of the trial of adversity. 
 It was prosperity which led even a David astray and which 
 destroyed a Solomon (see Ecclus. xlvii. 12-23). 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " One greater than the Temple is here. . . . A greater 
 than Solomon is here" — Matt. xii. 6, 42. 
 
 As the militant kingdom of Christ in the present is 
 typified by the reign of David, so the triumphant kingdom 
 of Christ in the future is typified by the reign of Solomon 
 (Isa. xi., xxxii. ; Rev. xix. 16), the peaceful king whom 
 God called His son, who ruled Israel, and extended his 
 dominion over the heathen ; the wise prophet, who taught 
 the fear of the Lord ; the priestly prince who offered prayer 
 for his people, who entered the Temple Court with sacrifices 
 (2 Chron. viii. 12, 13), and even burned incense in the Holy 
 Place (1 Kings ix. 25); who also performed the highest 
 sacerdotal act in solemnly blessing the people (2 Chron. vi. 3). 
 The Psalms which celebrate his glory arc only entirely 
 true of the one Son of David who fulfilled all the con- 
 ditions of God's covenant with him (Luke i. 32), and so 
 realised the ideal not realised by Solomon, and obtained 
 God's infallible (Num. xxiii. 19) promises to David and 
 his seed, which Psalm lxxxix. reiterates, in order to point 
 the mournful contrast between what might have been and 
 what was. 
 
 Of direct Prediction our period contains little. Under 
 the secularising spell of Solomon's reign, Israel's great
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 89 
 
 Hope was in abeyance. The Jewish Talmud regarded the 
 Song of Songs as an allegory of the dealings of Jehovah 
 with Israel, and Christian theology has from very early 
 times found a key to it in Eph. v. 25-32, and expounded 
 it of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church (not of the 
 individual soul, that is only the unscriptural fancy of un- 
 wise mystics). While we learn from it what His love is, 
 and what our devotion to Him should be, we must beware 
 of fantastic application of details, for the colouring is local 
 and Oriental throughout. Canto I. typifies His First 
 Coming to dwell with us (Psalm cxxxvi. 23 ; 2 Chron. vi. 18 ; 
 John i. 14) ; Canto II. typifies His Second Coming to take 
 us to Himself when He has made our earth His (Heb. 
 ix. 28 ; 1 Thess. iv. 17). 
 
 The Rabbis referred Prov. x. 25 to the Messiah (Isa. 
 xxviii. 16), and it is impossible not to see ultimate reference 
 to truths yet to be revealed in Prov. xxx. 4 (Col. i. 13-19 ; 
 1 Cor. i. 24 ; John i. 1-4), and in Prov. viii., which anticipates 
 the doctrine of the Incarnation by teaching that the Wisdom 
 of God dwelt with men (1 Cor. i. 30; Col. ii. 3). 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 Jehovah, El Shaddai, and Jehovah Sabaoth had expressed 
 God's Eternity, God's Omnipotence, and " the Majesty of 
 His Glory." Solomon's Dedicatory Prayer is far in advance 
 of its age in its intensely spiritual apprehension of His 
 Infinitude and in placing Prayer above Sacrifice. The 
 profounder thought of this period, ever looking within, 
 recognising that the external things of life are not its 
 most important things, and uttering itself in the Sapiental 
 Books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and perhaps Job, found rest 
 in apprehending God's Wisdom (Prov. viii.) and God's 
 Holiness. He is first spoken of as the Holy One in Job 
 vi. 10 ; Prov. ix. io(R.V.), xxx. 3 (R.V.) ; Psalm lxxviii. 41, 
 lxxxix. 18 (the word used in Deut. xxxiii. 8 and Psalm 
 xvi. 10 is different). This name, occurring very often in 
 the prophets of later times, reminds us of that threefold 
 assertion three times over of God's holiness, which may 
 be directly connected with the doctrine of the Three in One 
 (Psalm xcix. 3, 5, 9, R.V. ; Isa. vi. 3 ; Rev. iv. 8).
 
 go FOURTH TERM. 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 At Solomon's accession, Zion and Gibeon were both 
 centres of national worship. This dual system ended when 
 Solomon had spent 7^ years in carrying out the plan 
 David received (as Moses received the plan of the Taber- 
 nacle) from God Himself. His Temple only existed 34 
 years in its original splendour, but Israel's history ramifies 
 from it as a centre henceforth. The boundary between 
 Judah and Benjamin passed through it. So it belonged 
 to no one tribe, but was for the whole nation forum, fortress, 
 sanctuary, and university. 
 
 Imagine a massive stone building about 45 ft. high, 
 cased in cedar without, so that it resembled a log house, 
 and overlaid with gold within, so that it shone like the sun, 
 in three divisions, (a) The Porch, 15 ft. deep and 180 ft. 
 high, supported upon two pillars of richly ornamented 
 capitals, and hung with shields (2 Chron. xxiii. 9). In every 
 view of the Holy City, this must have been the most con- 
 spicuous object, (b) The Holy Place (60 ft. by 30 ft.), where 
 the priests ministered. It contained the Table and Altar 
 of Incense, and was lighted by ten lamps. Round it 
 clustered 30 small chambers in three stories, forming three 
 terraces, and, seen from without, not unlike the side aisles 
 of a church, (c) The Holy of Holies (30 ft. square), where 
 only the high priest ministered. It contained the Ark 
 with its guardian Cherubim, and was dark save for the 
 Shechinah. Outside this structure was the Court (612 ft. 
 square), where the people worshipped round the great 
 Brazen Altar, which stood on the natural surface of the 
 rock, once Araunah's threshing floor. The irregular mass 
 of that rock may still be seen beneath the Kubbct es 
 Sakhra (miscalled "the Mosque of Omar"), together with 
 some of the mighty and highly finished masonry of 
 Solomon's outer wall. 
 
 Solomon's Temple differed (a) from the Tabernacle, for 
 it exactly doubled all its dimensions, and was far more per- 
 manent and splendid ; (//) from Herod's Temple, whose 
 area was 1000 ft. square, in being smaller and more 
 primitive, and in having no separate courts for Gentiles and 
 lor women ; (c) from Pagan Temples, in that it contained
 
 QUESTIONS. 91 
 
 no statue or sacred animal to represent the indwelling 
 divinity ; (d) from Christian sanctuaries, in that it was 
 smaller than many parish churches, in that its holiest 
 place was at the west end, and in that it was intended 
 only for the priests, and surrounded, not by a quiet cloister, 
 but by a court crowded with sacrificing priests, worshipping 
 people, sheep, and oxen. 
 
 Observe that when the externals of public worship were 
 most sumptuous and imposing, the most flagrant example 
 of apostasy in high- places was given. 
 
 The national unity so recently achieved has been broken 
 up for ever. That portion which has Ephraim for its leader 
 (Hosea xiii. I, R.V.) and Samaria for its capital has already 
 departed from the true worship, and is ready to depart from 
 the true faith. Its history will be our chief subject next 
 term, while Judah, its more faithful and longer-lived rival, 
 will occupy us wholly during our Sixth Term. How the 
 Ten Tribes differed from the Two in character, position, 
 and destiny must be our first consideration. 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions I., V., XV., XVII., XXL, XXIV., XXVII., and XXX. may 
 
 be answered with the help of any books.] 
 
 I. How did David sin in numbering the people? (10.) 
 
 II. Show that David and his people endured each of the 
 calamities specified in 1 Chron. xxi. 12. (6.) 
 
 III. (a) God loved Solomon ; (J?) Solomon loved God ; 
 (c) God loved Solomon's people ; (d) Solomon's people 
 served God. Give one reference for each of these asser- 
 tions. (4.) 
 
 IV. Name the two tribes that furnished architects for 
 the Tabernacle and the Temple. What allusions to the 
 Tabernacle are there in the history of Solomon ? (6.) 
 
 V. Draw a ground plan of Solomon's Temple. (15.) 
 
 VI. Consider Solomon's Prayer of Dedication as a 
 prophecy of Israel's future history. (10.) 
 
 VII. What was the only recorded conquest of Solomon's 
 reign ? What three incidents of Bathsheba's life are 
 recorded in this term's reading ? (4.)
 
 92 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 VIII. Describe the condition of the original inhabitants 
 of Palestine during Solomon's reign. (6.) 
 
 IX. Give a brief account of the three occasions on which 
 God spoke to Solomon. (6.) 
 
 X. Consider Solomon as a type of Christ. (i5-) 
 
 XI. Does the name of God occur in the Song of Songs ? 
 G'wefour New Testament references to justify the Christian 
 allegorical interpretation of the Song of Songs. (6.) 
 
 XII. Illustrate by two examples from Scripture history 
 the truth of each of the following sayings : — Prov. i. 7, 
 i. 32, iii. 6, v. 22, ix. 8, x. 24, xi. 2, xi. 10, xi. 21, xii. 19, 
 xiv. 32, xv. 1. (24.) 
 
 XIII. What may we learn from Proverbs as to the right 
 and as to wrong use of the lips ? Give twelve references 
 on each subject. (12.) 
 
 XIV. Prove that the teaching of the Incarnate Wisdom 
 of God was anticipated by the teaching of Wisdom in the 
 Book of Proverbs, by writing out short Gospel parallels to 
 as many passages as you can in Prov. i. — ix. (30.) 
 
 XV. Show that " Under the sun " is a key to Ecclesi- 
 astcs, by proving from other passages of Scripture that 
 the following statements are not absolutely true in them- 
 selves, but only relatively true from the speaker's point 
 of view : — Eccles. i. 4, i. 8, i. 9, 10, i. 15, ii. 11, ii. 16, iii. 19, 
 vi. 8, viii. 15, ix. 5. (20.) 
 
 XVI. Find nine allusions to a life beyond the grave in 
 Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Psalms read this term. (9.) 
 
 XVII. Briefly explain the allusions or metaphors in the 
 following passages: — I Kings i. 5 ; Cant. i. 5, ii. 5 ; Prov. 
 iii. 20, xxv. 11, 23 ; Eccles. xii. 6 ; Psalm xlii. 1. (24.) 
 
 XVIII. For each of the following Psalms give two 
 references to Proverbs, Job, or Ecclesiastes, tracing the 
 resemblance between the Psalter and the Sapicntal 
 Books : — i., xxxvii., xlix., 1., lxxiii., lxxxviii., xci., cxi., 
 cxii., exxxix. (20.) 
 
 XIX. How often docs "vexation of spirit" occur in 
 Ecclesiastes? How does R.V. render it? (4.) 
 
 XX. What allusion can you find in the Psalter to the 
 office of the Korahitcs described in 1 Chron. xxvi. 12-19? 
 
 (2.) 
 
 XXI. Point out the probable allusions to contemporary
 
 QUESTIONS. 93 
 
 or earlier history in Psalm lxxii. 8, xlv. 12, exxxii. 6, 
 lxxxi. 5, 7. Describe the probable occasion of Psalm 
 lxxxix. (10.) 
 
 XXII. What relation was Rehoboam's favourite wife to 
 him? What do you know about her? (5.) 
 
 XXIII. What historical associations guided Jeroboam in 
 choosing Bethel and Dan for religious centres? (10.) 
 
 XXIV. Show clearly what constituted "the sin of Jero- 
 boam, the son of Nebat." (9.) 
 
 XXV. What king was named as a reformer 300 years 
 before he lived ? Mention another monarch named in 
 prophecy long before he was born. (2.) 
 
 XXVI. Where, when, by whom, and with what result 
 were the battles of Zemaraim and Mareshah fought ? (8.) 
 
 XXVII. What do you know of the following places? — 
 Cabul, Ezion-geber, Gezer, Gibbethon, Ophir, Sheba, 
 Tadmor, Tarshish, Tirzah. (27.) 
 
 XXVIII. What do you know of the following people? 
 — Adoram, Asaph, Ethan, Hadad, Jonathan son of 
 Abiathar, Lemuel, Rezon, Tibni. (16.) 
 
 XXIX. Make a complete list of the prophets who were 
 sent to Israel and Judah during this period. (14.) 
 
 XXX. What allusion can you find in the prophetical 
 books to (a) David, (b) Solomon's molten sea, (c) the 
 schismatic worship at Bethel, (d) the enmity between 
 Ephraim and Judah, (e) Omri ? (10.) 
 
 XXXI. Make a list of the names of God in the Psalms 
 of this period. (30.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "A bag 
 of gems in a heap of stones." (b) " The dance of Mahanaim." 
 (c) " Rest on every side." (d) " The lamp of the wicked is 
 sin." (e) " They walk to and fro in darkness." (/) " Ex- 
 tortion maketh a wise man foolish." (g) " He that uttereth 
 a slander is a fool." (Ji) " He abhorreth not evil." (z) " The 
 way of him that is laden with guilt is exceeding crooked." 
 (/) " Death shall be their shepherd." (k) " Weary not 
 thyself to be rich:' (/) " Follow after faithfulness." 
 (m) " Let thy garments be always white." (n) " Of thine 
 own have we given Thee." (0) "In all labour there is 
 profit." (p) " Your work shall be rewarded." (</) " I was 
 by Him as a master workman." (r) " He shall have pity
 
 94 FOURTH TERM. 
 
 on the poor and needy." (s) " Then they will be thy 
 servants for ever." (/) " A man is tried by his praise." 
 (u) " It was brought about of God." (y) " The early rain 
 covereth it with blessings." (w) " God seeketh again that 
 which is driven away." (x) " Whoso offereth the sacrifice of 
 thanksgiving glorifieth Me." (jy) " She laugheth at the time 
 to come." (#) " God hath set eternity in their heart." (26.) 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of the Prophets. Decline and Fall 
 of the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes. 
 
 b.c. 915—697. 
 
 1 Kings XVI. 29— XXII., 2 Kings I.— XX., 2 Chron. XVII— 
 XXXII. Psalms XXXIII, XLVI., XL VII., XLVIII., LXV., 
 LXVI, LXVIL, LXXV, LXXVI, LXXX, LXXXIIL, LXXXVII. 
 Jonah. Amos. Hosea. Joel. Isaiah I. — XXXIX. Micah. Nahum. 
 (133 chapters?) 
 
 "Should not a people seek unto their God? 
 the testimony ! " — Isa. viii. 19, 20. 
 
 To the law and to 
 
 17th MONTH (34). 
 
 1 Kings XVI. 29— XXII. 49. 
 
 2 Chron. XVII— XX. Psalms 
 XXX1IL, LXXXIIL, XLVI., 
 XLVIL, XLVIII. 1 Kings 
 XXII. 50-53. 2 Kings I.— 
 VIII. 24. ' 2 Chron. XXI. 
 2 Kings VIII. 25— IX. 2 Chron. 
 XXII. 1-9. 2 Kings X., XI., 
 2 Chron. XXII. 10— XXIII. 
 2 Kings XII. — XIII. 9. 
 2 Chron. XXIV. 2 Kings XIII. 
 10— XIV. 2 Chron. XXV. 
 
 18th MONTH (33). 
 
 Jonah. Amos. Hosea I.— IV. 
 2 Kings XV 1- 1 2. 2 Chron. 
 
 XXVI. Joel. Isa. VI. 
 2 Kings XV. 13-38. 2 Chron. 
 
 XXVII. Isa. II.— V. 2 Kings 
 XVI. 2 Chron. XXVIII. 
 Micah I., II. Isa. I. 
 
 19th MONTH (33). 
 
 Isa. VII.— X. 4, XIV. 28-32. 
 XXVIII. 2 Kings XVII., 
 XVIII. 9-12. Hosea V.— XIV. 
 Psalm LXXX. 2 Kings XVIII. 
 1-8. 2 Chron. XXIX.— 
 
 XXXI. Micah III. — VII. 
 2 Kings XVIII. 13. 2 Chron. 
 
 XXXII. 1. Isa. XXXVI. 1, 
 X. 5— XII. 2 Kings XX. 1-11. 
 2 Chron. XXXII. 24. Isa. 
 XXXVIII. 2 Kings XX. 12-19. 
 2 Chron. XXXII. 23, 25-31. 
 Isa. XXXIX. Psalm LXXXVII. 
 Isa. XIIL— XIV. 27. 
 
 20th MONTH (33). 
 
 Isa. XV.— XXVII. Nahum. 
 2 Kings XVIII. 14— XIX., 
 XX. 20,21. 2 Chron. XXXII. 
 2-22, 32, 33. Isa. XXXVI. 
 2-22, XXXVIL, XXIX.— 
 XXXV. Psalms LXXV., 
 LXXVL, LXV., LXVI.,LXVII 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 LOOKING at the extent and fertility of its territory 
 and its material resources, the kingdom of the Ten 
 Tribes promised to be greater and more prosperous than 
 
 95
 
 96 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 that of the Two, which had only half its population. 
 Looking at guarantees for political endurance and religious 
 welfare, Judah had the capital chosen for God's abode 
 (Psalm lxxxvii. 1-3), the Temple with the visible sign 
 of His presence (1 Kings viii. n), the Priests and Levites 
 (2 Chron. xi. 13, 14), the accumulated treasure of Solomon, 
 and sovereigns reigning by Divine right. 
 
 Nineteen kings, of nine different families, ruled Israel 
 during 255 years. Nineteen kings, all of the House of 
 David, ruled Judah during 388 years. The turbulent 
 usurpers who seized Israel's crown never gained that 
 stable power which came naturally to the monarchs of 
 a long hereditary line, associated with Divine promises of 
 permanence and glory. The very smallness of Judah's 
 kingdom strengthened it by concentrating its interests 
 about one dynasty and one city. 
 
 Not one of the kings who received Israel's allegiance did 
 right in the eyes of the Lord ; and since no worthy people 
 is ever ruled for centuries by unworthy kings, this was an 
 effect quite as, much as a cause of the estrangement from 
 God which proved that nation's destruction (Hos. xiii. 9, 
 R.V.). Seven of Judah's kings could be commended for 
 piety, and though their people in her last evil days sinned 
 as deeply against the First Commandment as Israel had 
 done, throughout her history they kept the Second Com- 
 mandment better (see p. 55). 
 
 We must sometimes follow the common usage of calling 
 the Northern Kingdom " Israel " (1 Kings xii. 20), which 
 strictly includes too much ; as " Ephraim," a frequent name 
 for it in later prophets, strictly includes too little. The 
 popular use of the term "Jews," i.e., men c c Judah (a term 
 which first occurs in 2 Kings xvi. 6), for th^ whole nation 
 before the Captivity, is misleading. 
 
 The first half-century of Israel's history was occupied by 
 a desultory war with Judah, in which Judah not only gained 
 the day, but weakened her neighbour until their powers 
 were about equal (Prov. xviii. 19). This struggle was 
 followed by an alliance as fatal to Judah as the war had 
 been to Israel, and by a century of peace till Amaziah's rash 
 vanity provoked fresh strife, in which Judah was worsted. 
 The Syrian wars, with their varied fortune, form a back-
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 97 
 
 ground to the history of the 40 years of Omri's dynasty, 
 Israel's king being practically Benhadad's vassal at one 
 time (1 Kings xx. 2, 3, 34). The vigorous rule of Jehu's 
 house for 100 years raised Israel to her greatest prosperity. 
 Then during her last half-century a rapid succession of 
 fierce soldiers possessed themselves of the throne (Hosea viii. 
 4, x. 3), while her enemies closed about her. Palestine lay 
 between the great rival powers, Egypt and Assyria. Had 
 Israel and Judah been united and faithful to God they might 
 have withstood both. Instead, we see the miserable spectacle 
 of Israel combining with Syria for a third and last conflict 
 with Judah, in presence of their two common foes. Twenty 
 years later, Israel's futile struggle against Assyria and 
 equally futile attempts at friendship with Egypt ended in 
 her downfall. 
 
 Assyria's first direct attack was in 771 (2 Kings xv. 19). 
 God's mercy rather than Israel's merit had averted an 
 earlier one (2 Kings xiv. 25-7), and deferred her fall for 
 a century; but in 771 evidently Israel, and possibly Judah 
 also, was already tributary to that all-absorbing power. 
 The story of Israel's Captivity is (like that of Judah's) in 
 three chapters. (Compare the prediction uttered by Isaiah 
 in 742, Isa. vii. 8.) 
 
 (a) 740. Captivity of the Trans-Jordanic Tribes and of 
 Galilee, under Tiglath-pileser. 
 
 (b) 721. Fall and captivity of Samaria and its neigh- 
 bours, under Shalmaneser IV. and Sargon. 
 
 (c) 6yj. Colonisation of Samaria with Gentiles, under 
 Esar-haddon. 
 
 Judah's Chronicles we have, but not the corresponding 
 volume for Israel (1 Kings xxii. 39). So all her history is 
 but partially known to us, and her ultimate fate is wrapped 
 in still deeper obscurity. Judah was restored and re- 
 established after her fall, but Samaria was left to bear her 
 guilt (Hos. xiii. 16, R.V.), and her national existence has 
 never been renewed. From the Chosen Race, God has 
 made a further choice of Two Tribes only. What became 
 of the Ten ? Archaeology has now cast such a broad light 
 on the lands of their captivity, that it smiles at the popular 
 notion of them as " lost," and at all the extravagant specu- 
 lations born of that notion. How far they remained in the
 
 98 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 lands they had been deported to, were merged in the neigh- 
 bouring Gentiles (Hosea ix. 17), and may be recognised now 
 among the gallant Afghans who bear Hebrew names and 
 cherish Hebrew traditions ; and among the Nestorians by 
 Lake Oroomiah, who also bear Hebrew names and have 
 Hebrew faces, speak a Syriac dialect, retain many Mosaic 
 observances, and reckon themselves Israelites : how far they 
 returned with their Jewish brethren who are spoken of as 
 t: Israel " (Ezek. xiv. 1 ; Ezra x. 1 ; Zech. xii. 1), and as 
 representing the Twelve Tribes (Ezra vi. 17 ; Acts xxvi. 7) 
 after the Restoration (see also Ezek. xxxvii. 16, 17) : how 
 far they can be identified with the Samaritans and other 
 peoples of Northern Palestine who spoke their language, 
 reproduced their customs, claimed to be Israelites and 
 faithful adherents of the Mosaic Law, and fostered abiding 
 enmity with Judah, and who in the New Testament are 
 accounted strangers rather than Gentiles, are matters on 
 which those who have thought most are least ready with 
 positive assertions. (See Wilkinson's " Israel My Glory.") 
 We know that there are promises of blessing to Ephraim 
 as distinct from Judah still unfulfilled. We know that the 
 Messiah, who was born and who died in Judah, chiefly 
 lived and taught in what had been the Northern Kingdom, 
 among " the lost sheep of Israel's house," and that the 
 witnesses of His Resurrection and builders of His Church 
 were " men of Galilee " (Acts i. 1 1, ii. 7). 
 
 This lesson at any rate stands out for all time in the 
 prophets of Ephraim. Heartless luxury, grasping dis- 
 honesty, violence and oppression, careless disregard of 
 Divine laws, and self-willed impiety ruin not only indivi- 
 dual lives, but the corporate life of the state whose welfare 
 is entrusted to each of its citizens (Num. xxxii. 15). 
 
 Reserving special consideration of Judah for next term, 
 we notice her prosperity under Jehoshaphat ; her depression 
 after his death ; that most striking and fully told episode 
 of her history when the dynasty was barely saved from 
 extinction ; a century of recovery and renewed vigour 
 under three able sovereigns, followed by the disastrous 
 reign of her worst king ; and finally how faithful Hezekiah 
 and Isaiah saved her from the false friendship of Egypt, 
 and how when the people's own utmost effort had been
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 99 
 
 made, God saved her from the determined enmity of 
 Assyria (2 Chron. xxxii. 1, 7, 8, R.V.). 
 
 We have reached an age when there are frequent points 
 of contact between sacred and secular history, and many 
 recently discovered monuments confirm the Biblical 
 narrative. See Prof. Sayce's " Fresh Light from Ancient 
 Monuments " (Religious Tract Society, 3s.), Dr. Kinns' 
 "Graven in the Rock" (Cassell, \2s. 6d.), and the Bishop 
 of Ossory's " Echoes of Bible History " (Sunday School 
 Institute, 4s.). 
 
 Rehoboam's defeat by Shishak is pictured in the great 
 Egyptian Temple of Karnak. Ahab is named as an ally 
 of Benhadad on a monolith from Nimrud commemorating 
 Shalmaneser I.'s victories. Mesha describes his successful 
 revolt from Israel on the Moabite stone now in the Louvre, 
 Paris. Jehu appears among the tributaries of Shalma- 
 neser II. of Assyria on the famous obelisk of black basalt 
 from Nimrud. Uzziah and Ahaz are mentioned more than 
 once on some fragments of Assyrian tablets recording the 
 reign of Tiglath-pileser II. The monolith and black 
 obelisk may be seen in the British Museum ; so also may 
 the bas-reliefs of Sennacherib seated on his throne before 
 besieged Lachish, his countenance defaced (doubtless by 
 the sons who slew him) ; and a cylinder whereon he, telling 
 half a story whose other half he must have wished for ever 
 untold, relates how he shut up Hezekiah the Jew in 
 Jerusalem as a bird is shut up in a cage. 
 
 Of the three offices associated with Israel's national and 
 religious life to which men were set apart by a solemn 
 anointing (Lev viii ; 1 Sam. xvi. ; 1 Kings xix. 16 ; 1 Chron. 
 xvi. 22), which all foreshadowed the Christ (John i. 41, 
 R.V.), we considered the Priestly in the Second, and the 
 Kingly in our Third Term. This term the Prophetic 
 claims our chief attention. Enoch was the first (Jude 14) 
 and S. John the last (Rev. x. 11) who "prophesied." The 
 Seventy whom Moses the Prophet chose anticipated that 
 prophetic order (Num. xi.), which actually dates from 
 Samuel (Acts iii. 24) and ends with Malachi ; and prophets 
 first take a leading part in Israel, a kingdom built up by 
 two prophets, Ahijah and Shemaiah, rather than in Judah 
 which still had the regular priesthood.
 
 ioo FIFTH TERM. 
 
 Etymologically, the Greek work whence u prophet " 
 comes has this threefold significance : (a) Telling forth, 
 teaching and preaching, announcing God's will (2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 15, 16); (b) Telling for, interpreting and expound- 
 ing God's will (Exod. vii. 1) ; (c) Fore-telling, predicting 
 future events, revealing God's will (1 Peter i. 10. 11). 
 
 All this the Hebrew Prophets did, and they were at 
 once the national poets, historians, evangelists, pastors, 
 teachers, censors of morals, physicians, patriots, and states- 
 men ; often living together and wearing a distinctive garb 
 (Zech. xiii. 4). From every part of the country, and every 
 station in life, sometimes honoured, sometimes insulted 
 and persecuted, they came before men with their great 
 commission, "Thus saith Jehovah" (Deut. xviii. 18; Jer. 
 i. 9) ; and their simultaneous rise in this age was a first 
 fulfilment of Joel ii. 28, 29. The nations of whom they 
 wrote have passed away, but the same types of national 
 character still exist ; and if we read their threatenings and 
 warnings aright, we learn from them the great lessons 
 which all history has to. teach (Prov. xiv. 34), and see how 
 the whole course of this world carries out the purposes of 
 God (Isa. xiv. 24-7). 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See "Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term two-thirds of our reading is from the prophetic 
 books, with which we now make our first acquaintance. 
 These seven books form the first of the three groups into 
 which the sixteen prophets whose works are preserved fall. 
 An interval of silence for half a century during the evil 
 reign of Manasseh succeeds them. They arc all written in 
 highly poetical prose, varied by occasional bursts of actual 
 poetry. After each prophet's name and country, etc., is 
 given the approximate date of his prophecy, the name 
 of the people to whom he was sent, and of the king then 
 reigning. For the twelve Psalms of this period, sec p. 200. 
 
 Jonah, son of Amittai, of Gath-hepher in Zebulon, 
 Klisha's successor, and also Elijah's servant, if we may 
 believe the ancient Jewish tradition which finds him in 
 I Kings xvii. 17, xviii. 43, and 2 Kings ix. 4. (823-— 782.
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 101 
 
 Concerning Nineveh. In the reign of Jeroboam II.) His 
 keynote is Judgment averted by repentance, which has a 
 threefold illustration in the Phoenician crew, the Hebrew 
 prophet, and the men of Nineveh (Jer. xviii. 7, 8 ; Acts 
 x. 35 ; 2 Peter iii. 9). He was the first apostle of the Gentiles, 
 the first missionary, and he shows forth God's dealings with 
 the vast Gentile world. We have through him a majestic 
 revelation of God's wrath and pity, each bestowed where 
 most deserved and least expected, anticipating Matt. xx. 
 16; Luke xv. 31, 32, xviii. 14. National rather than per- 
 sonal feeling made him grudge God's mercy to Nineveh, 
 and his narrowness was divinely rebuked. For what the 
 Ninevites were called upon to abandon was probably a 
 scheme for attacking Israel (2 Kings xiv. 25-7). The 
 message to them resembled that to Pharaoh (Exod. v. I ; 
 Psalm cv. 15), and their conduct and its issue may be 
 contrasted with his. There is no finer illustration of the 
 moral grandeur of true religion than this solitary prophet 
 of a petty state in the midst of the greatest city in the 
 world. Observe also that Jonah, writing the story of his 
 own typical life, forms the link between Elijah and Elisha, 
 uttering unwritten prophecy, and the later authors of written 
 prophecy. 
 
 Amos, a herdsman of Tekoa, in Judah. (808 — 782. Con- 
 cerning Israel. In the reign of Jeroboam II.) While 
 Jonah was pleading Israel's cause abroad, Amos was in 
 direct conflict with her sins at home. No prophet describes 
 and denounces them with more vigour, and Special punish- 
 ments for special sins is his keynote (Heb. ii. 2 ; James iv. 
 17). He also foretells judgments on Israel's immediate 
 neighbours, including Judah. Unlike his contemporary 
 Joel, he is orator rather than poet, and he takes many 
 illustrations from his calling. 
 
 Hosea, son of Beeri, and, according to tradition, of the tribe 
 of Issachar. (782 — 721. Concerning Israel and Judah. In 
 the reigns of Jeroboam II., Jotham, and Ahaz.) God's know- 
 ledge of us, the knowledge that we may have and that 
 Israel refused to have of Him is the keynote (Luke xix. 44 ; 
 John xvii. 3) of " the Jeremiah of Israel," contemporary of 
 her last seven kings, through whom God uttered His last 
 gracious, pitiful, and urgent pleadings with the incorrigible
 
 102 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 nation. He is the first, but not the last, prophet whose 
 personal history is made a symbol to his countrymen 
 (Hos. xii. io), and he and Amos together enable us to 
 expand the historian's brief statement that " Israel did 
 evil." Through them also we can picture the gathering 
 calamities of her last days : drought and failing harvests 
 (Hos. ii. 9 ; Amos iv. 7-9, i. 2), plague (Amos iv. io), 
 earthquake (Amos iii. 14, 15, ix. 1), eclipse (Amos viii. 9), 
 and the gradual approach of the Assyrian host (Amos i. 
 2-15, vi. 14, vii. 17, ix. 7-10; Hos. v. 13, x. 6; Isa. v. 
 26-30). There are nine brief allusions to Judah, and no 
 predictions concerning the Gentiles. The close of this 
 sorrowful book is lighted by a promise of future restoration. 
 
 Joel, son of Pethuel, according to an uncertain tradition 
 a Reubenite. (808 — 790. Concerning Judah. In the reign 
 of Uzziah.) Conjecture as to his date ranges from Jeho- 
 shaphat to Josiah, but most probably he lived in the reign 
 of Uzziah, and was the earliest prophet of Judah. His 
 abrupt and direct address, whose vigorous diction and 
 impassioned fervour place it high in Hebrew literature, 
 marks the transition from the earlier prophets, whose deeds 
 and sayings only are recorded, to the later writers of 
 elaborate predictions and revelations. The cry of repent- 
 ance folloivcd by deliverance is his keynote (Acts iii. 19). 
 His book contains what is probably the first dim prophecy 
 of the Assyrian invasion, and the first mention of the 
 Greeks who were destined to play a part only second to 
 that of the Jews in moulding the world's future history. 
 
 Isaiah, son of Amoz, of the house of David, (756 — 697. 
 Concerning Judah. In the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, 
 and Hezekiah.) This greatest Old Testament prophecy falls 
 into two portions, separated by four chapters of history. 
 
 Part I., chaps, i. — xxxix. Predictions directly referring to 
 the times in which they were written. 
 
 Part 1 1., chaps, xl.— lxvi. Predictions from the standpoint 
 of the Babylonian Captivity, which we reserve therefore for 
 next term. Salvation of Jehovah is the meaning of the 
 prophet's name (which, like those of his sons, was symbolical, 
 Isa. viii. 18), and the keynote of his book (Titus ii. 11 ; 
 Ilcb. v. 9). lie utters the first clear prediction of the 
 Babylonian Captivity (xxxix. 6, 7) 112 years before it
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 103 
 
 took place, and 20 years after Ephraim's captivity (see 
 also Micah iv. 10). He is the chief, as Jonah was the first, 
 messenger of good tidings to the Gentiles (Rom. x. 20), 
 and there are nearly 80 quotations from him in the New 
 Testament, where he is named 21 times. 
 
 Micah, of Moresheth Gath, or of Mareshah in Judah. 
 (756—697. Concerning Israel and Judah. In the reigns 
 of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.) His threefold prophecy, 
 calling upon (a) all men, (b) Israel and Judah, and (c) the 
 mountains, to hearken, was uttered during Israel's destruc- 
 tion, and Judah's devastation under Ahaz and restoration 
 under Hezekiah. Man sinful and justly punished; God 
 righteous and yet merciful is his keynote (Rom. iii. 26), 
 and he looks beyond the impending destruction of Israel 
 into the far future of Judah. Like Amos, he makes many 
 rural allusions. He is mentioned by Jeremiah (Jer. xxvi. 
 18, 19), and quoted by Zephaniah and Isaiah. 
 
 Nahum, of Elkosh in Galilee, or possibly born in captivity 
 at Alkush on the Tigris. (726—697. Concerning Nineveh. 
 In the reign of Hezekiah.) Conjecture as to his date 
 ranges from 850 to the Restoration, but most probably 
 he wrote shortly before Sennacherib's invasion. He was 
 the last, as Ahijah of Shiloh was the first, prophet of Israel, 
 and his prophecy is one sustained shout of wild exultation 
 over the fall of his nation's great conqueror. Its awful 
 keynote is / am against thee (James iv. 4; Rev. ii. 16). 
 220 years after the judgment foretold by Jonah had been 
 averted, 100 years after the circumstances of its capture 
 and desolation had been exactly described by Nahum, i.e., 
 in 606, Nineveh was taken by Cyaxares. 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 We divide these 218 years into four periods, of which 
 the last two overlap by five years that we may have a 
 complete view of Hezekiah's reign. Isa. xxxviii. 6, and 
 2 Kings xx. 13, compared with 2 Kings xviii. 15, are among 
 several proofs that the true order of its events is given 
 below. Observe that Chronicles emphasizes (a), Isaiah (c) 
 and {ii), and Kings (e). 
 
 Assyrian records show that the first of the two Assyrian
 
 104 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 invasions, that in 713, took place in the reign of Sargon 
 (Isa. xx. 1). Sennacherib may have acted as his lieutenant 
 in it. Our information about the Kings of Assyria is 
 still fragmentary, and all their dates as given below are 
 more or less uncertain. All in italics are named in Scrip- 
 ture. The table of reigns should be before the student 
 throughout. 
 
 (1) B.C. 915 — 883 (32 years). From the accessions of 
 Jehoshaphat and Ahab to those of Athaliah and 
 Jehu. The Mission of Elijah and Elisha. First 
 conflict with Baalism. 1 Kings xvi. 29 — xxii. 49 ; 
 2 Chron. xvii. — xx. ; Psalms xxxiii., lxxxiii., xlvi, 
 xlvii, xlviii. ; 1 King's xxii. 50-53 ; 2 Kings i. — viii. 24 ; 
 2 Chron. xxi. ; 2 Kings viii. 25 — ix. ; 2 Chron. xxii. 1-9. 
 
 (2) B.C. 883 — 770 (113 years). From the accessions of 
 
 Athaliah and Jehu to the death of Zechariah. (The 
 readings carry us to 756 in the history of Judah.) 
 Ephrainis best days under Jehiis House. Second 
 conflict with Baalism. 2 Kings x., xi. ; 2 Chron 
 xxii. 10 — xxiii. ; 2 Kings xii. — xiii. 9 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. ; 
 2 Kings xiii. 10 — xiv. ; 2 Chron. xxv. ; Jonah ; Amos ; 
 Hosea i. — iv. ; 2 Kings xv. 1-12 ; 2 Chron. xxvi. ; Joel ; 
 Isa. vi. 
 
 (3) 77° — 7 21 (49 years). From the death of Zechariah 
 
 to the Fall of Samaria. EpJirainis Decline and De- 
 struction. 2 Kings xv. 13-38 ; 2 Chron. xxvii. ; Isa. 
 ii. — v. ; 2 Kings xvi. ; 2 Chron. xxviii. ; Micah i., ii. ; 
 Isa. i., vii. — x. 4, xiv. 28-32, xxviii. ; 2 Kings xvii., 
 xviii. 9-12 ; Hosea v. — xiv. : Psalm lxxx. 
 
 (4) B.C. 726 — 697 (29 years). From the accession to the 
 
 death of Hezekiah. Judalis Reformation and Deliver- 
 ance under Jier greatest King. 
 
 (a) The great Passover (726 — 713). 2 Kings xviii. 
 
 1-8 ; 2 Chron. xxix., xxx., xxxi. ; Micah iii. — 
 viii. 
 
 (b) The Invasion of Sargon (713). 2 Kings xviii. 
 
 13 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 1 ; Isa. xxxvi. 1, x. 5 — xii. 
 
 (c) Hczckiah's sickness (712). 2 Kings xx. 1-11; 
 
 2 Chron. xxxii. 24 ; Isa. xxxviii.
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 
 
 105 
 
 (d) The Babylonian Embassy (712—701). 2 Kings 
 
 xx. 12-19 ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 23, 25-31 ; Isa. xxxix. ; 
 Psalm lxxxvii. ; Isa. xiii. — xiv. 27, xv.— xxiii. 
 (Oracles concerning ten of Judah's neighbours.) 
 Isa. xxiv. — xxvii. (Prophecy concerning the 
 whole earth.) Nahum. 
 
 (e) The Invasion of Sennacherib (701 — 697). 
 
 2 Kings xviii. 14— xix., xx. 20, 21; 2 Chron. 
 xxxii. 2-22, 32, 33; Isa. xxxvi. 2-22, xxxvii., 
 xxix. — xxxv. (Prophecies during Invasion.) 
 Psalms lxxv., lxxvi., lxv., lxvi., lxvii. 
 
 Ten Sovereigns 
 
 Jehoshaphat 
 
 Jehoram 
 
 Ahaziah 
 
 Athaliah 
 
 Joash 
 
 Amaziah 
 
 Uzziah . . . 
 
 Jotham ... 
 
 Ahaz 
 
 Hezekiah 
 
 of Jndah. 
 
 .. 915—889 
 
 .. 893—885 
 
 .. 885—883 
 
 • • 883—877 
 
 • • 877—838 
 .. 838—808 
 .. 808—756 
 
 •• 75 6 —742 
 
 .. 742 — 726 
 
 .. 726 — 697 
 
 Thirteen Kings of Israel. 
 
 Ahab 917- 
 
 Ahaziah ... 898- 
 
 Joram §97" 
 
 Jehu 883- 
 
 Jehoahaz ... 855- 
 Jehoash ... 838- 
 Jeroboam II. 823- 
 
 -898. 
 -897. 
 -883. 
 
 -355- 
 -838. 
 -823. 
 -782. 
 
 Inierregnum 
 
 • 
 
 Zechariah ... 771— 
 Shallum ... One 
 Menahem ... 770- 
 Pekahiah ... 761- 
 Pekah 759— 
 
 -770- 
 month 
 -761. 
 
 -759- 
 
 -739- 
 
 Interregnum. 
 Hoshea ... 730 — 721. 
 
 The last nine Kings of Assyria. 
 
 Pul 
 
 Tiglath-Pileser II. 
 
 Shalmaneser IV. 
 
 Sargon 
 
 Sennacherib 
 
 Esarhaddo7i I. 
 
 Assur-bani-pal 
 
 Assur-etil-ilani-ukinni. 
 
 Sin-sarra-iskun (or Saracus), 
 
 770—? 
 
 745—727 
 727 — 722 
 
 722—705 
 
 705 — 681 
 
 681—668 
 
 670 — 630 ?
 
 io6 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," Maps VII., VIII., and IX.) 
 
 The kingdom of Israel was 9375 square miles in extent, 
 or a little less than Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumberland. 
 Jeroboam II. extended it from Hamath on the north to 
 the Valley of Willows, between Moab and Edom, on the 
 south. When it broke up, large portions to the east and 
 south-east of Jordan fell to Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 10). 
 The kingdom of Judah was 3435 square miles in extent, 
 or a little less than Northumberland, Durham, and West- 
 moreland. Besides Benjamin, South Dan and Simeon were 
 reckoned in it, but early sank into insignificance. Samaria 
 was the only city in Palestine created, like Alexandria and 
 Constantinople, by a monarch for his capital. It clustered 
 on the side of a long flat-topped hill, rising in the centre 
 of a wide basin-shaped valley, encircled by the mountains 
 of Ephraim. Rather more than 20 miles to the north-east, 
 on a hill gently swelling from the plain of Esdraelon (the 
 Greek form of " Jezreel "), beautiful with trees and springs, 
 stood Jezreel, "the Versailles of Israel's Paris." 
 
 With Jonah we embark for the first time in sacred history 
 on the Mediterranean, and cross the desert to the banks 
 of the Tigris. Assyria was the oldest of those great 
 empires of history of which the British Empire is the 
 youngest. At its largest, its sway stretched from Ethiopia 
 to India, and it extended from the Halys and Mediter- 
 ranean on the west to the Caspian Sea and the great Salt 
 Desert on the east, from Armenia on the north to the 
 Persian Gulf and Arabian Desert on the south. It included 
 peoples as diverse as those in the modern Turkish Empire, 
 and the Assyrians themselves were an amalgam of three 
 races, yellow-skinned Shcmitcs, dark-skinned Cushites, and 
 fair-skinned Chaldeans of Mongolian origin. Nineveh, 
 once the chief centre of commerce, and the largest and 
 richest city in the world, was so utterly destroyed that only 
 shapeless mounds of earth and rubbish marked its site until 
 Botta, Layard, and others lifted its shroud of sand between 
 40 and 50 years ago. Since then Sir Henry Rawlinson 
 and other archaeologists, unriddling the secret of the
 
 Keynotes 
 
 HEROES. 107 
 
 cuneiform character, have read on countless clay tablets 
 the story of its remote past. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 'ElijaJi, Acts xxvii. 23. 
 
 Elisha, Gal. vi. 10. 
 JehosJiaphat, 1 Peter ii. 13, 14. 
 Jehoiada, Mai. ii. 7. 
 
 Hezekiah, Psalm cxlvi. 3-5. 
 JsaiaJi, Gal. i. II, 12. 
 
 The Kingdom of the Ten Tribes produced the grandest 
 character of this age, the greatest prophet since Moses. 
 Elijah, like Melchizedek, is " without father, without 
 mother, without genealogy." The Rabbis said that in him 
 the uncompromising Phinehas returned to earth, and for 
 centuries the Jews believed that he would come again to 
 restore and relieve (John i. 21). Improbable conjecture 
 makes him a native of Thisbe in Naphtali. He was a 
 sojourner among the brave but rude shepherds of Gilead, 
 which was to Jerusalem and Samaria what the Scottish 
 Highlands were to the Lowlands a century ago. Some 
 five or six times he appeared among men, disappearing 
 as suddenly. Bold and swift as David's Gadite allies 
 (i Chron. xii. 8), stern and lofty, of fiery zeal and unflinch- 
 ing courage, he stood forth as a witness (a) For the dis- 
 established worship of Jehovah ; his name means " Jehovah 
 is my God." (p) For the national unity, apparently 
 shattered for ever (1 Kings xviii. 31). (V) For the moral 
 law (1 Kings xxi. 20) trampled under foot by the weak 
 apostate Ahab, who, not wholly without conscience but 
 wholly without resolution, became a tool in the hands of 
 that most relentless and unscrupulous of women who was 
 the very embodiment of lawless paganism and the first 
 persecutor of the Church. The characteristic words after- 
 wards adopted by his successor (1 Kings xvii. 1, xviii. 15 ; 
 2 Kings iii. 14, v. 16 ; Luke xxi. 36) give us the secret 
 of his power ; and his short, urgent petitions afford glimpses 
 into a life of unbroken communion with God. Lest, how- 
 ever, we should feel only the distant awe with which he 
 inspired his contemporaries when he came among them
 
 ro8 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 in the all-constraining influence of a divinely guided life 
 (i Kings xviii. 7), we are allowed to hear that one un- 
 answered prayer for death, wrung from him when, after 
 facing Ahab and 850 false prophets, he fled from Jezebel, 
 mind and body alike over-wrought (1 Kings xix. 3, R.V. 
 margin). Round him the prophets rallied as they had not 
 rallied since Samuel ; and our next hero is his successor, 
 a contrast to him at every point. Elijah, the prophet 
 of the desert, living with God apart from men. the solitary 
 champion of truth (1 Kings xviii. 22, xix. 10, 14) 
 " ordained for reproofs, whose word burned like a lamp " 
 (Ecclus. xlviii. 1-11), who came to denounce and destroy, 
 to challenge the world's standards of thought and action, 
 to rebuke boldly and directly vain-glorious luxury and 
 popular sin, was the type of Christ's Forerunner, the 
 predecessor of the hermit, the monk, the ascetic, and the 
 Puritan. Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah in 
 Manasseh, giving up considerable wealth to be the servant 
 of God (1 Kings xix. 19), dwelling in cities among men, 
 the life and soul of the patriotic party (as Isaiah and Micah 
 were later), the friend and counsellor and father (2 Kings 
 vi. 21, xiii. 14) of all men, ever ready to comfort the 
 sorrowful and succour the poor, is the type of Christ 
 Himself (Matt. xi. 18, 19; Acts x. 38), and thus, though 
 less in personal grandeur, he is greater because more 
 Christ-like in spirit than Elijah. He was the first Hebrew 
 prophet who became an oracle and monitor of other 
 nations. His whole ministry covers 65 years, and of 
 its last 50 years there is little record. Miracles, mainly 
 of mercy, are more prominent in it than in that of Elijah. 
 No express teaching of either is handed down, but their 
 successor Jonah begins the line of literary prophets. 
 
 Judah's heroes this term are two kings, one priest, and 
 one prophet. Jchoshapliat is the most like David in 
 character of all her kings (2 Chron. xvii. 3-5 ; I Kings 
 xxii. 43). His zeal for God's law, his personal piety, 
 his righteous administration and vigorous foreign policy 
 raised his kingdom to the highest point reached since the 
 Disruption. Jehoiada, who was born in the reign of 
 Solomon and lived to sec eight sovereigns of Judah and 
 eleven sovereigns of Israel, reared again the stem of
 
 HEROES. 109 
 
 David, when it had been cut down to the very roots. In 
 his person the priesthood took a more important place 
 than it had ever done before, so he is reckoned its second 
 as Aaron was its first founder. The power thus gained it 
 never wholly lost afterwards. Public-spirited integrity was 
 the most noteworthy characteristic of this faithful guardian 
 of Church and State. Hesekiah, whose character is thrown 
 into strong relief by those of his father and his son, is 
 more unreservedly commended than any other king of 
 Judah, and no king had a more lofty sense of his mission. 
 His reign and its literature fills yy chapters of the Bible. 
 Possibly grandson of one prophet (2 Chron. xxvi. 5 ; 
 Isa. viii. 2 ; 2 Kings xviii. 2), and son-in-law of another 
 (tradition makes Hephzibah Isaiah's daughter, 2 Kings 
 xxi. 1 ; Isa. lxii. 4), he reigned during a period of the 
 strongest prophetic influence since Elijah. No sickness is so 
 pathetically recorded in Scripture as that which threatened 
 to leave Judah without an heir to the throne and defence- 
 less before the fell swoop of the Assyrian. In Hezekiah's 
 great reformation he cared equally for the restoration of 
 true worship and the preservation of true doctrine (2 
 Chron. xxix. 25 ; Prov. xxv. 1), and sought, like David, 
 to gather all Israel about him in the bond of a common 
 faith (2 Chron. xxx. 1). With one hand he cultivated 
 the arts of peace, and was, like David, a poet ; with the 
 other he strengthened Judah for war, and, like David, 
 defeated on their own ground the Philistines, who in the 
 days of Ahaz had again become formidable foes (2 Chron. 
 xxviii. 18 ; 2 Kings xviii. 8). God delivered him from 
 the power which defied all human might, and since he 
 guided the Jews through that great crisis of their history 
 which determined whether they would trust in God or 
 in man, to him Judah owed in no small degree the con- 
 tinuance of her existence for another century. But by 
 his side throughout there stood his trusted kinsman 
 Isaiah, the first Jewish prophet of whom we have personal 
 details. Save the facts named in 2 Chron. xxvi. 22, xxxii, 
 20, 32, and the tradition that he was sawn asunder under 
 Manasseh (suffering martyrdom for an alleged contra- 
 diction between Exod. xxxiii. 20 and Isa. vi. 1 ; see Heb. 
 xi- iy), all we know about him is from his own book.
 
 no FIFTH TERM. 
 
 The turning-point of his life was the vision described in 
 Isa. vi. Henceforth the great powers of intellect, imagina- 
 tion, enthusiasm, and will of the young descendant of 
 David were consecrated to the service of God and his 
 country. For 60 years he guided the affairs of the nation, 
 and he has since influenced Christendom more than any 
 other Old Testament author with the possible exception 
 of David. The abrupt and impassioned utterances of his 
 predecessors gave place to his magnificent rhythm and 
 sustained grandeur of expression, while at the same time 
 his inspired genius uttered loftiest thoughts with a direct- 
 ness and simplicity that provoked the satire of the inflated 
 rhetoricians of the age (Isa. xxviii. 9-13), but won then 
 as now many an ear and heart to attend to the things 
 of God. 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " This is of a truth the Prophet." " Isaiah . . . saw His 
 glory and spake of Hun." — John vi. 14, xii. 41. 
 
 Three successive prophets present to us one complete 
 Type of Christ. The two greatest Old Testament miracles 
 are the raising of the poor Gentile's son by Elijah, and the 
 raising of the rich Israelite's son by Elisha. The story of 
 Elijah's Assumption is the grandest Old Testament asser- 
 tion that for the righteous departure from this life is gain, 
 and though Elisha died like other men, "after his death 
 (to quote the Apocrypha) his body prophesied" (Ecclus. 
 xlviii. 13). These miracles were typical of that moral resur- 
 rection from Israel's darkest days which made her pros- 
 perity under Jeroboam II. possible. But also, together 
 with the story of Jonah, whose meaning Christ Himself 
 expounded, they foreshadow the ascension, resurrection, and 
 death of Him who is the Life (1 Cor. xv. 22). 
 
 Types we have often met with already, but (always 
 excepting the Psalms) Predictions have been few, brief, 
 and isolated hitherto. Now in the Days of the Prophets, 
 when the hopes first raised by the Hebrew monarchy are 
 fast waning, we discern, according to the fine metaphor of 
 Dclitzsch, one star of promise describing a path from above 
 downwards — " Jehovah will come to save His people and
 
 THE COMING MESSIAH. m 
 
 reign for ever " ; and another describing a path from below 
 upwards—" The anointed Son of David, greater than David 
 himself, will reign over a regenerate Israel." The first 
 promise found a preliminary fulfilment in the Restoration 
 as we shall see, the second in Hezekiah. But we cannot 
 examine them carefully without perceiving that they ulti- 
 mately involve a more personal coming and a more extended 
 reign of the Lord, and that the kingdom of David's Son 
 would be more than earthly and human. The kingship no 
 less than the priesthood of the Old Covenant made nothing 
 perfect. It is when these two stars merge in one light that 
 the twilight of the Old Testament vanishes before the 
 glorious day of the Gospel. 
 
 There are two more allusions to the Promise to David 
 in the historical books, 2 Kings viii. 19; 2 Chron. xxi. 7. 
 
 Nahum is the only one of the 16 prophetical books that 
 contains no clear Messianic reference. The following 
 summary of those in this term's Prophets are explained 
 (like those in the Psalms) by New Testament references. 
 
 (1) Joel ii. 28-32; Acts ii. 16-21 ; Rom. x. 12, 13. 
 
 (2) Joel iii. 2 ; Matt. xxv. 31-46. 
 
 (3) Amos viii. 9, 10 ; Luke xxiii. 44, 45, 48. 
 
 (4) Amos ix. 11-15 ; Acts xv. 15-18. 
 
 (5) Hosea iii. 5 ; Matt. xxi. 9 ; John i. 49. 
 
 (6) Hosea vi. 2 ; 1 Cor. xv. 4 ; Matt. xx. 17-19. 
 
 (7) Hosea xi. 1 ; Matt. ii. 1 5, 20. 
 
 (8) Hosea xiii. 14 ; Heb. ii. 14 ; 1 Cor. xv. 54. 
 
 (9) Micah iv. 1-7 ; Luke i. 33 ; xxi v. 47 ; Rev. xxi. 24. 
 
 (10) Micah v. 1 ; Matt, xxvii. 30. 
 
 (11) Micah v. 2-5 ; Matt. ii. 1, 5, 6 ; Eph. ii. 14. 
 
 (12) Micah vii. 20 ; Luke i. 68-75. 
 
 Isaiah has been called " the Gospel Prophet " and " the 
 Fifth Evangelist." Six of the 16 prophecies in chapters 
 i. — xxxix. are directly quoted in the New Testament. 
 
 (13) Isa. ii. 2-4; Rev. xi. 15. 
 
 (14) Isa. iv. 2-6 ; Matt. xi. 28 ; Rev. vii. 15 (R.V.). 
 
 (15) Isa. vi. 13 ; Gal. iii. 16. 
 
 (16) Isa. vii. 14-16 ; Matt. i. 22, 23 ; John iv. 34. 
 
 (17) Isa. viii. 14 ; Matt. xxi. 42-4 ; I Peter ii. 8. 
 
 (18) Isa. ix. 1-7; Matt. iv. 14-16; Luke ii. 11, 32; 
 
 Heb. i. 8.
 
 112 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 (19) Isa. x. 27 ; Acts x. 38. 
 
 (20) Isa. xi., xii. ; Acts xiii. 22, 23 ; Rom. xv. 12. 
 
 (21) Isa. xiii. 12 ; 1 Peter ii. 7. 
 
 (22) Isa. xvi. 5 ; Luke i. 32. 
 
 (23) Isa. xxiv. 23 ; Matt. xix. 28. 
 
 (24) Isa. xxv. 6-8 ; 1 Cor. xv. 54-7 ; Rev. xxi. 4. 
 
 (25) Isa. xxviii. 16 ; Matt. xxi. 42 ; Rom. ix. 32, x. n. 
 
 (26) Isa. xxix. 18-24 > Luke vii. 22 ; John. iii. 2. 
 
 (27) Isa. xxxii. ; Rom. xiv. 17 ; Acts ii. 
 
 (28) Isa. xxxv. ; Matt. xi. 5 ; John xiv. 6, 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 On the spot where Moses had been taught " the Old 
 Testament Creed " (Exod. xxxiv. 5-7) Elijah received a 
 still higher revelation of God. More than in the wind 
 which drove the Red Sea before it ; more than in the 
 earthquake which shattered the walls of Jericho ; more 
 than in the answering fire on Mount Carmel, God is to be 
 heard in the voice of His Word (John i. 14, 18), and 
 " declares His almighty power most chiefly in showing 
 mercy and pity." Elijah was also taught then to dis- 
 criminate from that Israel of the Called who had aposta- 
 tised, an Israel of the Chosen (Matt. xxii. 16), who held 
 and preserved invincible truth. This doctrine of a Rem- 
 nant (Rom. xi. 1-5), of an Invisible Church, first enunciated 
 to him, was further developed by Isaiah (Isa. vi. 13, x. 20, 21, 
 xi. 11, 16, xxviii. 5, lxv. 8, 9), and so passed into the 
 New Testament. Isaiah also was privileged to hear (as 
 S. John heard 850 years later) echoes of the adoration 
 offered by the unfallen company of heaven to the Holy, 
 Blessed, and Glorious Trinity. (With Isa. vi. 1, 3, 8, com- 
 pare John xii. 36, 41 ; Acts xxviii. 25, 26 ; Rev. iv.). 
 
 Each of the Prophets conveys some characteristic revela- 
 tion. " God of Heaven," which became common when the 
 Restoration brought Jew and Gentile into a new relation, 
 is anticipated once in Jonah. "Jehovah," the special name 
 under which God made a covenant with Israel, occurs 33 
 times in JoePs brief exhortation to return to Him. "God 
 of Hosts" occurs nine times in Amos, and only once else- 
 where, t.e. t in the contemporary Psalm lxxx. In Hosea (the
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 113 
 
 Old Testament exemplification of the wondrous Divine 
 yearning over man which culminates in Luke xix. 41) the 
 Lord not only declares Himself the Saviour and invites Israel 
 to call Him " my God," but in the term " Ishi " uses a yet 
 tenderer metaphor, occurring again in Jeremiah's last plead- 
 ings with Judah (Hos. ii. 16; Jer. iii. 14). The God of 
 Vengeance, described in MicaJi i. 2-4, and Nahum i. 2-6, 
 may be contrasted with the God of Nature, described in 
 Amos iv. 13, v. 8, 9, ix. 6. Isaiah contains at least 40 names 
 of God, some peculiar to himself, some having striking New 
 Testament parallels. He speaks of " the Holy One " about 
 30 times, and of the " Lord of Hosts " about twice as often. 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 From the earliest times there had been High Places all 
 over the land of Israel : that is, altars on which oil, honey, 
 flour, incense, and sometimes animals were offered to God. 
 They were sanctioned by the Patriarchs, by Samuel and 
 Elijah, and by some of the most pious kii.js, notwithstand- 
 ing Lev. xvii. 8, 9, and Deut. xii. 10-27 ; but at last Hezekiah 
 removed them, for exactly the same reason that our Re- 
 formers swept away many mediaeval usages, originally 
 devout in intention, but inseparably connected at length 
 with error and superstition. Two of these High Places 
 became centres of idolatrous and schismatic worship of the 
 True God under Jeroboam I., who led Ephraim at its worst, 
 as Joshua had led it at its best. His great sin led to the 
 far greater sin of Ahab, who disestablished the worship of 
 Jehovah in favour of the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth or 
 Astarte, Phoenician gods whose counterparts are easily 
 recognised in every other heathen system. Solomon had 
 already reared altars to them, and their worship is named 
 among; the sins of Israel's last days 2 King xvii. 16. 
 (Asherah denotes Ashtoreth's wooden symbol.) But only 
 for one evil period of 34 years (917 — 883) did Ephraim 
 offend in Baal (Hos. xiii. 1) to the extent of constituting 
 Baalism the state religion. Jehu, who combined the furious 
 zeal of the fanatic with the cold-hearted remorselessness 
 of the scheming politician, made a partial reformation, 
 but there was no one to re-construct the true worship 
 
 8
 
 ii4 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 when he had destroyed the false, and neither he nor any one 
 of the son of Nebat's successors was free from his sin of 
 idolatry. Not arbitrary favour for Judah, but Israel's 
 persistent sin accounts for the different fates of the two 
 kingdoms (Hos. xi. 12). 
 
 In Judah we read of seven Apostasies of king and 
 people, and of four Reformations, the full consideration of 
 which we reserve for next term. Israel's day of grace is 
 gone, her vine is " burned with fire and cut down." Will 
 Judah, newly reformed and delivered, learn once for all the 
 lessons of her sister's fall ? 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions XV., XXII., XXIII., XXIV., and XXV. may be answered with 
 the help of any books.] 
 
 I. Name the successive capitals of Northern Palestine 
 from 1426 to 721. How many capitals had Judah? (8.) 
 
 II. Mention the exact duration of the drought foretold 
 in 1 Kings xvii. I. (2.) 
 
 III. Illustrate I Kings xviii. 24 by quoting 12 previous 
 occasions on which God " answered by fire." (12.) 
 
 IV. Can you name any of the 7000 spoken of in 1 Kings 
 xix. 18? (4.) 
 
 V. Had Elijah any message for the House of David ? (2.) 
 
 VI. Briefly discuss the character of Elijah, and point 
 out some striking parallels between his life and those of 
 Moses and our Lord. (15.) 
 
 VII. To how many kings living in her own lifetime 
 was Jezebel nearly related ? Was Ahab's marriage to her 
 sinful ? (6.) 
 
 VIII. "The Syrian prophet said to the King of Israel, 
 ' Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ? ' " 
 Criticise the historical accuracy of this illustration in the 
 speech of an English Cabinet Minister. (3.) 
 
 IX. Make 1 list of Elisha's miracles, naming for each 
 a parallel or a contrast among the miracles wrought by our 
 Lord. Explain 2 Kings ii. 9. (16.) 
 
 X. What noted preacher of " total abstinence " assisted 
 a royal reformer ? (2.)
 
 QUESTTONS 115 
 
 XI. Name the only subject buried in the royal sepulchre 
 at Jerusalem, giving the reason for this special honour. (2.) 
 
 XII. Two calamities not alluded to in Kings or 
 Chronicles took place in Uzziah's reign. One is described 
 in a contemporary prophet, the other is mentioned by two 
 contemporary prophets, and by a prophet 250 years later. 
 What were they ? (4.) 
 
 XIII. When and how did the King of Israel try to put 
 a usurper on the throne of David ? (2.) 
 
 XIV. (a) How many kings of Israel were there? 
 (b) Which had the longest and which had the shortest 
 reign ? (c) Which founded the longest-lived dynasty ? 
 
 (d) Which took Jerusalem ? (e) Of which only is the 
 expression " all his might " used ? (/} Which were 
 wounded by Syrian bowmen ? (g) Which died violent 
 deaths? {h) Name the best, the worst, and the greatest 
 of them all. (16.) 
 
 XV. Explain the following allusions in Hosea : — (a) " The 
 blood of Jezreel " ; (b) " The valley of Achor " ; (c) " Their 
 staff declareth " ; (d) " The new moon shall devour them " ; 
 
 (e) " A cake not turned " ; (/) "The wickedness of Samaria" ; 
 (g) " The calves of Bethaven " ; (/i) " The calves of our 
 lips " ; (z) " Memphis shall bury them." (18.) 
 
 XVI. What allusions are there in the prophets to the 
 fall of Samaria ? (6.) 
 
 XVII. Make a complete list of the prophets sent to 
 Israel and Judah between 915 and 697. (12.) 
 
 XVIII. Point out the probable allusions to contem- 
 porary or earlier history in Psalms xlviii. 7, lxvi. 6, lxxvi. 
 5, n,lxxxiii. 5, 9, 11, lxxxvii. 2. What occasioned Psalms 
 xlvi., xlvii., and xlviii. ? Explain by Pentateuch references 
 Psalm lxxx. I, 2, 8. (14.) 
 
 XIX. Draw out a genealogical table of the Kings of 
 Judah down to Hezekiah, showing their descent from 
 Solomon and relation to one another. (12.) 
 
 XX. Make a list of the chief names of God in the 
 prophets of this period. (32.) 
 
 XXI. What allusions do they contain to (a) the Garden 
 of Eden, (b) Adam, (c) Abraham, {d) the destruction of 
 the Cities of the Plain, (c) Jacob, (/) Moses, (g) Miriam, 
 (h) Israel's sin at Shittim, (z) Israel's idolatry in the
 
 n6 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 wilderness, (J) Edom's conduct to Israel, {k) the battle 
 of Bethhoron, (/) Gideon's victories ? (15.) 
 
 XXII. What does Isaiah mean by (a) "the crown of 
 pride," (b) " the valley of vision," (V) " the rod of God's 
 anger," (d) " the land of the rustling of wings," (e) " the 
 wilderness of the sea," (/) " the isles of the sea " ? (6.) 
 
 XXIII. Explain briefly the following passages in Isaiah : 
 —(a) vi. 13, (b) vii. 16, (c) xiv. 12, (d) xvi. I, (e) xxii. 22, 
 (/) xxx. 7, (£•) xxx. 33, (/i) xxxiii. 14, (z) xxxiv. 16, 
 (_/) xxxviii. 12. (30.) 
 
 XXIV. Explain fully Nahum's reference to " populous 
 
 No." (4.) 
 
 XXV. Give as many instances as you can of worship 
 being offered at High Places. (15.) 
 
 XXVI. Under what names and how often is the 
 Pentateuch referred to in Chronicles ? What was the 
 first instance after the days of Moses of God's commands 
 being committed to writing and regularly taught ? (12.) 
 
 XXVII. What took place at Jerusalem on the first 
 Sabbath day of which we have a detailed account ? (2.) 
 
 XXVIII. What do you know of the following? — 
 Amaziah the priest, Azariah the priest, Bidkar, Gomer, 
 Jehosheba, Mattan, Shear-jashub, Shebna, Zedekiah son 
 of Chenaanah, Zichri. (20.) 
 
 XXIX. Where, when, by whom, and with what results 
 were the following battles of this period fought ? — Aphek, 
 Ramoth-Gilead, Tekoa, Desert of Edom, Zair, Valley of 
 Salt, Beth-shemesh, Gaza. (32.) 
 
 XXX. How many New Testament allusions can you find 
 to Elijah, Elisha, Jezebel, Uzziah, Zechariah son of Jehoiada, 
 Jonah, and Joel ? How many New Testament quotations 
 are there from Amos, Hosea, Micah, and Isaiah i. — xxxix. ? 
 
 (40.) 
 
 XXXI. Illustrate the following passages from the history 
 of this period : — James v. 10 ; 2 Cor. vii. 10 ; 2 Cor. vi. 
 14-16; Phil. iv. 17 ; Matt. x. 41. (10.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "The 
 grievousness of war." (b) " That sing idle songs." (c) " Swift 
 to do righteousness." (d) " Sudden destruction upon the 
 strong."' 0) "The twilight that I desired." (/) "The 
 king's son shall reign." (^) " Reproaches shall not depart"
 
 QUESTIONS. 117 
 
 (//) " There shall be no gloom to her that was in anguish." 
 (2) " Her rulers dearly love shame." (J) " Her pillars shall 
 be broken in pieces." (k) " The man of God wept." 
 (/) " Take your pleasure and be blind." (;//) " His sin is 
 laid up in store." («) " Hast thou found me, O mine 
 enemy ? " (0) " Let the feasts come round." (p) " Answer 
 him not." (q) " I fear the Lord from my youth." (r) " Be 
 Thou my surety." (s) Our eyes are upon Thee." (t) " I 
 write My law in ten thousand precepts." (u) " The word of 
 the Lord is with him." (v) " Every work that he began he 
 did with all his heart." (w) " Thy worthies are at rest." 
 (x) " He departed without being desired." (y) " They 
 became abominable like that which they loved." (z) " Whei* 
 he was strong his heart was lifted up." (26.) 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309
 
 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of Jeremiah. 
 Decline and Fall of the Kingdom of Judah. 
 
 B.C. 697 — 588. 
 
 2 Kings XXI.— XXV., 2 Chron. XXXIII.— XXXVI. 21. Psalms 
 XLIV., LXXI, LXXIV, LXXIX, CXXIX, CXXX. Isaiah XL.— 
 LXVI, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel I. — XXIV. 
 Lametitations, Obadiah. (130 chapters.) 
 
 " All My words . 
 Ezek. iii. 10. 
 
 receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears." — 
 
 21st MONTH (33). 
 
 XXI. 2 Chron- 
 2 Kings XXII. — 
 
 2 Kings 
 XXXIH 
 
 XXIII. 30. 2 Chron. XXXIV. 
 XXXV. Zephaniah. Jer. I.— 
 VI. 2 Kings XXIII. 31-7. 
 2 Chron. XXXVI. 1-5. Psalm 
 XLIV. Habakkuk. Jer. XXVI. 
 1-7. VII.— X., XXVI. 8-24, XL, 
 XII., XIV.— XX. 
 
 22nd MONTH (32). 
 
 Jer. XXII., XXIII. 2 Kings 
 
 XXIV. 1-17. 2 Chron. XXXVI. 
 6-10. Psalm LXXI. Jer. 
 XLVL— XLIX. 33, XXXV, 
 XXV., XXXVL, XLV., XIII. 
 2 Kings XXIV. 18-20. 2 Chron. 
 XXXVL 11-16. Jer. XXIV., 
 XXIX., XLIX. 34-9, XXVIL, 
 XXVIII., L., LI. Ezek. L— 
 XII. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 OUR story of the newly delivered Jewish Kingdom 
 during its last century is one of unfulfilled promise 
 and lost opportunity, similar to the story of ancient Israel in 
 
 11S 
 
 23rd MONTH (33). 
 
 Ezek. XIIL— XXIII. 2 Kings 
 XXV. 2 Chron. XXXVL 17- 
 21. Jer. XXI. Ezek. XXIV. 
 Jer. XXXIV., XXXVII., 
 XXXIL, XXX., XXXI., 
 XXXIII. .XXXVIIL, XXXIX. 
 15-18. 1-14. LII. Psalms 
 LXXIV., LXXIX. Lamenta- 
 tions. Obadiah. Jer. XL., 
 XLI. 
 
 24th MONTH (32). 
 
 Jer. XLIL— XLIV. Psalms 
 CXXX., CXXIX. Isaiah XL. 
 —LXVI.
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 119 
 
 Psalm cvi. 12, 13. It is among those deep disappointments 
 of history that demand most thoughtful consideration. The 
 fifteen years of life for which Hezekiah prayed gave him 
 an heir to whom the throne of David owed its destruction. 
 Of the incidents of Manasseh's long reign we know little ; 
 though the Prophets supply many details about its idolatries. 
 But its terrible result is plainly stated in Jer. xv. 4, and 
 Jewish tradition places Manasseh beside Jeroboam and 
 Ahab as having no part in the life to come. " Too late " 
 was written on all Josiah's gallant efforts ; and the four weak 
 and wicked kings (Isa. iii. 4, R.V.) who followed him were 
 mere puppets (three of them actual nominees) of the two 
 powers who acted like two huge beasts of prey, seeking to 
 devour each other, but turning aside from time to time to 
 snatch at the frightened creature who crosses their path. 
 Foolish Judah clung still to the friendship of Egypt. In 
 vain her later prophets denounced this treacherous alliance 
 as Isaiah had done. His words (Isa. xxx. 7, R.V.) were 
 justified when Pharaoh's feint of raising the siege of Jeru- 
 salem ended in retirement, without a battle, leaving it to its 
 fate (Jer. xxxvii.). Yet, when all was over, they fled from 
 their own ruin to Egypt, in spite of the warning that in so 
 doing they would only share her ruin (Jer. xlvi. 17). For 
 Egypt had now a mightier rival than even Assyria, and 
 Judah, after defying Sennacherib, could only quail before 
 Nebuchadnezzar. Nineveh had been taken in 606 (625 
 according to some authorities), and on its downfall rose 
 the Babylonian Empire which overthrew, and the Persian 
 Empire which restored the Jewish State. Isaiah had 
 strenuously preached resistance to Assyria. Jeremiah as 
 strenuously, but less successfully, advocated submission to 
 Babylon as the foreordained conqueror of Judah. 
 
 Now, as Israel represents the Church, Dr. Arnold takes 
 Egypt to represent in its milder, and Babylon in its darker 
 aspect, that world in which the Church has to bear her 
 witness and do her work. If it is so, we may find this lesson 
 here. Dallying with the world's better side ends in destruc- 
 tion by its worse side. They will never win it for God 
 who give it the trust and affection due to Him alone 
 (James iv. 4). Jeremiah's policy may symbolise the teach- 
 ing of Christ, and His practice in refusing to head a nation
 
 iso SIXTH TERM. 
 
 of insurgents (Matt. v. 39, xxvi. 52 ; John vi. 15, xviii. 36; 
 2 Cor. x. 4). 
 
 Observe how the Prophets fill in the historian's brief 
 outline. They show us Jehoiakim alarmed for once and 
 proclaiming a fast before the Lord. But when God's 
 gracious response is brought to him, sitting in that luxurious 
 palace whose builders are wrongfully left unpaid, he defies 
 and destroys the written Word, and, in vain dependence on 
 his Egyptian suzerain, meets with sceptical effrontery the 
 predictions about the Babylonian host that was actually 
 approaching his gates ; and so we understand why he is 
 omitted from S. Matthew's genealogy of Christ (Rev. 
 xxii. 19), together with the wicked son of Jezebel's daughter 
 (Psalm cix. 14), and Joash and Amaziah, who began well 
 but ended ill (Ezek. xviii. 24). The prophets show us also 
 the crooked intrigues of Zedekiah, and his treacherous folly 
 in making compacts on all sides only to break them. 
 
 Such were the last of that grand line of kings whose 
 crown for four and a half centuries had passed, in a way 
 unparalleled in any other dynasty, from father to son in 
 regular succession (1 Chron. iii. 10-16), without one civil war 
 or one interregnum, save Athaliah's brief usurpation 
 (1 Kings xv. 4). Moreover, for 250 out of 388 years Judah 
 had been ruled by pious sovereigns, and had enjoyed unusual 
 peace and prosperty. Ere we leave these kings of long 
 ago I may help the reader to think of them as more than 
 mere names, by suggesting, from the most familiar pages of 
 modern history, one or two monarchs whom they resembled. 
 Compare for instance, David with Robert Bruce, Solomon 
 with Henry VIII., Rehoboam with Ethelrcd the Unready 
 (that is, "deaf to good advice"), Asa with Edward III., 
 Jehoshaphat with David I., Joash with Richard II., 
 Amaziah with James IV., Hezckiah with Alfred the 
 Great, Josiah with Edward VI., and Jehoiakim with 
 Charles II. 
 
 From the three sieges of Jerusalem, which Nebuchad- 
 nezzar took three times, date three periods of seventy 
 years or ten Sabbatical years, which it is helpful to 
 discriminate. 
 
 (a) 606—536. The Servitude. In 605 King Jehoiakim 
 seems to have been released and suffered to remain on his
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 12 1 
 
 throne as a tributary prince, but much of the treasure of 
 the Temple, several members of the royal family, and 
 perhaps others, were carried off. 
 
 (p) 599 — 529. The Exile. In 599 King Jeconiah, with 
 the royal family, the princes, nobles, artificers, and warriors, 
 and much Temple and palace treasure, followed them to 
 Babylon. 
 
 (c) 588—518. The Desolations. In 588 Judah's Cap- 
 tivity was completed by the deportation of King Zedekiah, 
 the rest of his people, and the remaining spoil of the 
 Temple. A wretched handful was left in Palestine, who 
 might, however, have become the nucleus for a regathering 
 of Israel without break on their own soil. ■ For they were 
 taught by Jeremiah, and ruled by the able and generous 
 Gedaliah. The reckless violence of a scheming Jewish 
 prince broke up this little community, and the Jews rightly 
 regarded Gedaliah's assassination as a calamity great 
 enough to be annually commemorated by a fast (Zech. 
 vii. 5, viii. 19). 
 
 And now the House of God has been sacked ; the City 
 of God has been burned ; His " Anointed " is a mutilated 
 prisoner in a foreign land ; prince and priest have fallen by 
 the sword, and Judah is numbered among the nations no 
 longer. Successive troops of captives have been driven by 
 weary marches into the Eastern land, whence their father 
 Abraham was called out. Others have found their way as 
 fugitives to the Western land, whence God brought out their 
 ancestors. A yet greater catastrophe calls forth their loudest 
 lamentations, one which involves all the rest. Jehovah, 
 who once chose them and crowned them with blessings, 
 has now, after long provocation, cast them out from His 
 Presence (2 Kings xxiv. 20, xiii. 23 ; Jer. xxiii. 39). That 
 they can ever be a nation again is contrary to all proba- 
 bility and all analogy. Against it is the might of the 
 vastest empire the world has ever seen, ruled by its greatest 
 conqueror. Against it is the fact that their own wilfulness 
 has rendered their destruction even more complete than he 
 meant it to be ; and that their moral and spiritual degrada- 
 tion seems past hope. But for it there is the promise of a 
 faithful God.
 
 122 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term more than half our period is represented by 
 only two chapters. For the Prophets supply yfths of our 
 reading, and they were silent during the reigns of Manasseh 
 and Amon. Of the six prophets who form the second 
 group, we read all save Daniel, whose book stands midway 
 between the second and third group, as it stands midway 
 between history and prophecy. 
 
 For the six Psalms of this period, see p. 203. 
 
 Isaiah, Part I, is a mixture of narrative and prediction : 
 its pulses throb with all the hopes and fears, the terror and 
 defiance and exultation of the changeful age in which it 
 was written. Isaiah, Part II, is one majestic and sym- 
 metrical poem in three cantos — viz., 
 
 (a) xl. — xlviii. Concerning Cyrus and the restoration 
 of Israel as a nation. 
 
 (b) xlix. — lvii. Concerning the Servant of Jehovah and 
 the salvation of many nations through Him. 
 
 (c) lviii. — lxvi. Concerning Zion's Light, through which 
 all nations shall see God's glory and worship Him. 
 
 Ruined Judah and desolate Jerusalem form the fore- 
 ground of its picture, though Isaiah cannot long have 
 survived the able and prosperous King who reconstituted 
 the state and fortified the capital. All the 66 chapters of 
 Isaiah were universally ascribed to one author until some 
 recent critics, observing this difference in their points of 
 view, put forth the theory that while the son of Amoz 
 wrote the first Book of Denunciation and Woe, the second 
 Book of Consolation was penned 160 years later, by a 
 member of the school of prophets which Isaiah founded 
 (Isa. viii. 16), the whole being called after his name, as the 
 whole Psalter is called after David. Were this proved, we 
 might still receive Isa. xl. — lxvi. as part of the Canon. But 
 it is not proved. The literary argument from alleged 
 differences of vocabulary and style is far from conclusive, 
 and though prophets generally speak of the future revealed 
 to them from the standpoint of the present, there is no in- 
 superable difficulty in conceiving that Isaiah may have been
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 123 
 
 inspired vividly to imagine and depict the Captivity he had 
 already foretold. Eleven New Testament quotations from 
 chaps, xl. — lxvi. are directly referred to Isaiah, and no other 
 prophet capable of penning thoughts so high and deep has 
 ever been heard of. Their author was an incomparably 
 greater man than any man of the Post-Exilian age ; and had 
 he been contemporary with Ezra, it is inconceivable that his 
 name and personality should have been wholly forgotten. 
 Minute study of Jeremiah also indicates that Isa. xl. — lxvi. 
 had been already written. But we recognise it as a legacy 
 to posterity rather than a gift to contemporaries (Isa. xlviii. 
 4-7), and therefore read it in connexion with the later age 
 for which it was no longer a sealed book (Dan. xii. 9). 
 Observe its frequent reference to "all nations," and these 
 recurring notes in its glorious song, " Hearken," " Listen," 
 " Keep silence," " Cry," " Awake," " Remember," " Fear not." 
 
 Zephaniah, son of Cushi, and perhaps great-great-grand- 
 son of King Hezekiah. (630 — 610. Concerning Judah. 
 In the reign of Josiah.) His keynote is The pure worsJiip 
 required by God (Matt. iv. 10 ; Phil iii. 3), and he predicts 
 judgments and blessings for Gentiles as well as Jews. 
 
 Habakkuk, probably a Levite if not a priest, and one of 
 the Temple choir. (609 — 599? Concerning Judah. In the 
 reign of Jehoiakim ?) His keynote is Life by faith (Gal. 
 ii. 20 ; Heb. xi. 6), and the perplexities which he faces and 
 solves are those of the individual soul rather than of the 
 nation. His Prayer, which recalls the finest lyrics of earlier 
 times and expands Isa. 1. 10, is considered by Bishop Lowth 
 " one of the most perfect specimens of the Hebrew ode." It 
 is preceded by a dialogue between the Prophet (i. 2-4, i. 12 — 
 ii. 1) and the Lord (i. 5-1 1, ii. 2-20), concerning the approach- 
 ing Chaldean invasion. That is blended here with the 
 Scythian invasion about the middle of the seventh century 
 B.C., which was the earliest recorded movement behind their 
 mountain barrier in Asia of those Northern nomadic tribes 
 who ultimately swept away the Roman Empire and built 
 up modern Europe on its ruins. (See p. 140, and comp. 
 Zeph. ii. 4-6; Jer. i. 13-15, vi. 3-5 ; Col. iii. 11.) 
 
 Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah (perhaps the high priest of 2 
 Chron. xxxiv.), a priest of Anathoth. (627 — 588. Concern- 
 ing Judah. In the reigns of Josiah, Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and
 
 124 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 Zedekiah.) Continue in sin, and it will prove its own punish- 
 ment ; Cojtfess, and ye shall find mercy is his keynote (Rom. 
 vi. 21 ; i John i. 9). Like Nehemiah's history, his prophecy 
 is interspersed with short and urgent prayers, and charac- 
 teristic expressions recur again and again, such as, " Lord, 
 Thou knowest " (xxix. 23, R.V.), " I swear by Myself," 
 "The days come," "Not a full end." Twice (xxv. II, 
 xxix. 10) he clearly foretells the exact duration of the 
 Captivity which Isaiah first announced (Dan. ix. 2). Isaiah 
 soars like an eagle to behold with undimmed eye the source 
 of light. Jeremiah sits in shadow like a dove to mourn 
 over his fallen people with infinite pathos and tenderness. 
 " Jeremiah is my favourite book now. It has taught me 
 more than tongue can tell," writes Kingsley in 1850. 
 
 ObadiaJi. (588. Concerning Edom. In the reign of 
 Zedekiah.) Its resemblance to Jer. xlix. 7-22 ; Lam. iv. 
 21 ; Ezek. xxxv. ; and Psalm cxxxvii. 7 suggests that it 
 is of the same period, and most probably it was written 
 shortly before Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Edom in 583. 
 Judgment without mercy to the merciless is its keynote 
 (James ii. 13). "It expresses," says Stanley, " the Divine 
 malediction on the sin most difficult to be forgiven, the 
 desertion of kinsmen by kinsmen, of friends by friends, 
 the readiness to take advantage of the weaker side, 
 hounding on the victorious party, and standing on the 
 other side in the day of the sorest need." (Comp. Isa. 
 xxxiv. 5.) 
 
 Ezekiel, son of Buzi, a priest carried captive in 599, who 
 prophesied by the banks of the Chebar in Northern Meso- 
 potamia, 200 miles from Babylon, and who is not mentioned 
 outside his own book. (594 — 574. Concerning Judah. In 
 the reign of Zedekiah.) Tradition says that he was put to 
 death by his fellow-exiles for rebuking their idolatry. His 
 differs from former prophetical books in being chronological 
 throughout, for in him the author preponderates over the 
 seer, the poet, and the statesman. His prose is, however, 
 always poetical, and the Dirge of the Kings (xix.), the Lay 
 of the Sword (xxi. 8-17), the Dirge of Tyre (xxvii., xxviii.), 
 and the Dirge of Egypt (xxxi., xxxii.) are actual poetry. 
 His keynote is Knowledge of God (a) by Israel (Hos. ii. 20 ; 
 John iv. 22), (b) by the Gentiles (Isa. xxvi. 9 ; Acts xi. 18 ;
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 125 
 
 Matt. viii. 11); and he develops more fully the doctrine, 
 found in germ in Jeremiah, of the responsibility of the 
 individual soul as separate from the collective nation. The 
 independence of man from man is brought out by such a 
 calamity as the fall of Jerusalem, and no prophet teaches 
 this great moral lesson so simply. Observe these recurring 
 phrases : " A rebellious house," " I, the Lord, have spoken 
 and will do it," " I will recompense the sinner's way on his 
 own head." Of the three parts into which Ezekiel's book 
 falls, we read this term only Part I. (chaps, L— xxiv.), 
 Exhortations to Repentance before the Fall of Jerusalem. 
 Ezekiel has been called " the Old Testament Apocalypse," 
 and the parallels between it and Revelation are very close 
 and numerous. Miss E. S. Elliott's " Prophecies of Jeremiah 
 and Ezekiel " (Morgan & Scott, 6d.) is a helpful analysis 
 of both books. 
 
 The Lamentations of Jeremiah, sixth and latest poetical 
 book of the Old Testament, was written, perhaps at Mizpah 
 immediately after the Fall of Jerusalem. It consists of 
 four independent acrostics (see p. 176), and a concluding 
 poem, not acrostic, and may be thus divided : — 
 
 I. (a) The Prophet's Lament, (i. 1-11.) 
 
 (b) The Lament of Jerusalem, (i. 11-22.) 
 II. (a) The Prophet's Lament, (ii. 1-19.) 
 (6) The Lament of Jerusalem, (ii. 20-22.) 
 
 III. The Prophet's Personal Sorrow, (iii.) 
 
 IV. (a) The Prophet's Lament, (iv. 1-16.) 
 
 (b) The People's Lament, (iv. 17-21.) 
 
 (c) The Prophet's Consolation, (iv. 22.) 
 V. The People's Prayer, (v.) 
 
 Its keynote is God chastens unwillingly and only for out 
 good (2 Cor. vii. 10 ; Heb. xii. 5-1 1). In Jewish synagogues 
 it is still recited every year on the anniversary of the 
 Temple's destruction. " Never did city suffer a more 
 miserable fate, never was ruined city lamented in language 
 so exquisitely pathetic" (Milman). It is probable that 
 Jeremiah also wrote several of those Psalms of the Cap- 
 tivity which succeed, at the interval of a century, the 
 jubilant Psalms of Hezekiah's reign. Their long wail best 
 expresses the woe of Judah's fall.
 
 126 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 I follow the common chronology as usual, but some good 
 authorities extend this period of 109 years to 112 years 
 by placing Manasseh's accession in 698 and the Fall of 
 Jerusalem in 586. 
 
 (1) B.C. 697 — 640 (57 years). From the death of Heze- 
 
 kiah to the accession of Josiah. fudah's Undoing 
 through Manasseh. 2 Kings xxi. ; 2 Chron. xxxiii. 
 
 (2) B.C. 640 — 606 (34 years). From Josiah's accession to 
 
 the First Siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 JudaJis last'' true King, and First Subjection, to 
 Egypt. 2 Kings xxii. — xxiii. 30; 2 Chron. xxxiv., 
 xxxv. ; Zephaniah ; Jer. i. — vi. (Commission, Expos- 
 tulation, and Vision of coming invasion). 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 31-7; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 1-5; Psalm xliv.; Habakkuk; 
 Jer. xxvi. 1-7, vii. — x., xxvi. 8-24 (Denunciation in 
 the Temple Court). Jer. xi., xii. (Prophetic Tour 
 and Conspiracy against Jeremiah). Jer. xiv. — xvii. 
 (the Drought ; approaching Fall and Restoration ; 
 the Sabbath). Jer. xviii.— xx. (the Potter's House 
 and Valley of Hinnom). Jer. xxii., xxiii. (the Three 
 Kings, the Rulers, and Prophets). 
 
 (3) B.C. 606 — 599 (7 years). From the First Siege to the 
 
 Second Capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar. 
 fudah's Second Subjection, to Babylon. 2 Kings 
 xxiv. 1-17 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6-10 ; Psalm lxxi. ; Jer. 
 xlvi. — xlix. 33 (concerning the Nations). Jer. xxxv. 
 (the Rcchabites). Jer. xxv. (the Cup of God's fury). 
 Jer. xxxvi., xlv. (Jeremiah's Roll). Jer. xiii. (the 
 Journey to Euphrates). 
 
 (4) B.C. 599 — 588 (11 years). From the Second Capture 
 
 of Jerusalem to its Third Capture and the Flight 
 into Egypt. JudafUs Destruction and Dispersion. 
 2 Kings xxiv. 18-20 ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 11-16. 
 
 598. Jer. xxiv., xxix., xlix. 34-9 (Those taken and those 
 
 left. Elam). 
 
 595. Jer. xxvii., xxviii. (the Yokes. Hananiah). 
 
 1., li. (Babylon). 
 
 594. Ezek. i. — vii. (opening Visions and Signs).
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 
 
 127 
 
 593. Ezek. viii. — xix. (Judah's Apostasy and its result). 
 
 592. Ezek. xx. — xxiii. (against the Elders, the Land, the 
 Princes, the King, and the Capital). 
 
 590. 2 Kings xxv. ; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-21 ; Jer. xxi. 
 (Zedekiah's Inquiry just before the siege began). Ezek. 
 xxiv. (Prediction of Jerusalem's Fall). Jer. xxxiv., xxxvii. 
 (last Offer of Mercy during a pause in the siege). 
 
 589. Jer. xxxii., xxx., xxxi., xxxiii. (Promise of 
 Restoration). 
 
 588. Jer. xxxviii., xxxix. 15-18 (Imprisonment and 
 Rescue of Jeremiah). Jer. xxxix. 1-14 (the Fall of Jeru- 
 salem). Jer. lii. (Supplement to Jeremiah, by another hand 
 probably). Psalms lxxiv., lxxix ; Lamentations ; Obadiah ; 
 Jer. xl. — xliv. (the Flight to Egypt). 
 
 Psalms cxxx., cxxix. (the Sorrow). 
 
 Isa. xl. — lxvi. (the Hope). 
 
 Seven Kings of Judah. 
 Manasseh ... 
 Amon 
 
 Josiah 
 Jehoahaz 
 Jehoiakim 
 Jeconiah 
 Zedekiah . 
 
 697 — 642. 
 642 — 640. 
 640 — 609. 
 Three months. 
 609— 599. 
 Three months. 
 599-588. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 
 (See " Oxford Helps," Maps IV., VII., VIII., and IX.) 
 
 Next term we shall follow Judah into the land of her 
 captivity. We now leave her disobedient remnant, in 
 defiance of a very ancient command (Deut. xvii. 16), and 
 fulfilment of as ancient a prophecy (Deut. xxviii. 68), 
 forcing one of Israel's last great prophets back into the 
 Egypt from which their first great prophet had brought 
 them out (Jer. xliii. 7). We infer from Ezekiel, Jeremiah, 
 and Josephus that most of these fugitives perished there, 
 or were carried to Babylon later ; but from that day to this, 
 a Jewish colony has existed in Egypt. 250 years after- 
 wards Alexandria became a centre of Judaism only second 
 in importance to Jerusalem (Acts ii. 10, xviii. 24). The site 
 of TahpanJie.s, clearly an important frontier town (Jer. ii. 
 16, xliii., xlvi. 14; Ezek. xxx. 18), whither the fugitives
 
 128 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 went, long baffled inquirers. Within the last year or two, 
 Dr. Flinders Petrie has found, in the lonely desert sands 
 near the mud swamp of Pelusium, below a lofty mound 
 long known in the Arab speech as " The Castle of the Jew's 
 daughter," the palace of Pharaoh Hophra, and the court- 
 yard where Jeremiah hid " in mortar in the brickwork " the 
 symbols of Nebuchadnezzar's capture of this building. Its 
 newly uncovered ruins tell plainly that the fiery destruction 
 predicted for it by the prophet came to pass. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 Tr f JosiaJi, Acts xx. 27. 
 
 Keynotes \ J Jerem > iahy 2 Con xii> 9> 
 
 Josiah was the only one of Judah's last seven kings who 
 served the Lord. We blame Joash and Manasseh the 
 more because they were impious in spite of their circum- 
 stances. We admire Josiah the more because amid utterly 
 corrupt princes, priests, prophets, and people, he resolved 
 to serve God himself, and to do all he could to recall the 
 nation to His service also. He reformed with little support 
 and little hope, and therefore he reformed fiercely and 
 vehemently. The sunset light of Judah's history plays 
 round him, and no death in her annals is so lamentable as 
 that of her last royal hero. 
 
 Hezekiah had Isaiah beside him ; Josiah had Jeremiah, 
 not only able as a prophet to proclaim, in season, out of 
 season, in palace and street, in venerated Temple and 
 abhorred Gi-hinnom, the most unwelcome and unpalatable 
 truths ; but also able as a poet to pour out the mournfullest 
 of dirges over imprisoned king, captive people, ruined 
 sanctuary, and desolate city, when all had been said in vain 
 More than half our reading this term is from Jeremiah's 
 pen (for he was in all probability editor of the earlier, and 
 author of the later parts of I., II. Kings), and he is "the 
 one grand immovable figure which alone redeems the 
 miserable downfall of his country from triviality and shame." 
 He was the last seer who was also a statesman and coun- 
 sellor of kings. He was the first who uttered his inspired 
 counsel in that epistolary form afterwards made so illus- 
 trious by S. Paul. Like S. Paul also, we find him the
 
 HEROES. 129 
 
 centre and life of a group of devoted friends and faithful 
 adherents, who were direct inheritors of the traditions of 
 Josiah's reign ; such as his brother Gemariah ; his uncle 
 and aunt Shallum and Huldah, with their son Hanamel ; 
 Delaiah and Urijah, the sons of Shemaiah ; Hanan the son 
 of Igdaliah ; Zephaniah the son, and Seraiah and Baruch 
 the grandsons of Maaseiah. Baruch was his Timothy and 
 his Tertius, and as the first notable Scribe who committed 
 God's word to writing, may be regarded as the predecessor 
 of Ezra. And Jeremiah, forbidden to seek the love of wife 
 and child, needed the sympathy and affection of friends 
 not a little. At once priest and prophet (a rare combina- 
 tion), he could not, like Hosea, fall back upon Judah, 
 though despairing of Israel ; he could not, like Isaiah 
 and Amos, fall back upon her prophets, though despair- 
 ing of her priests ; he saw that priest and prophet were 
 alike corrupt, and he was called upon to declare it (Jer. 
 xxiii. 11). Hence the rancorous hostility of both orders 
 to their noblest representative. Jeremiah the priest was 
 excluded from the Temple (Jer. xxxvi. 5). Jeremiah the 
 prophet was persistently traduced and persecuted as a liar 
 and traitor by the smooth-tongued utterers of popular 
 predictions. And his was one of those gentle, sensitive, 
 and highly strung souls for which the trust and love of 
 others is the very breath of life. No prophet reveals 
 himself so clearly in his writings. By nature shy, timid, 
 shrinking, hesitating, and desponding, suffering deepest 
 sorrow of heart at seeing things as they are, and called to 
 the hard task of proving that all Judah most relied upon 
 would avail her nothing, and of preaching submission and 
 repentance to a self-willed and hardened people bent on 
 resistance ; by God's grace and his own manful resolve, he 
 was bold, fearless, unflinching, determined, and even hopeful, 
 through that faith tried in the fire which enabled him to 
 read in the bright possibilities of the future a balance for 
 the difficulties and distresses of the present. After forty 
 years of courageous testimony, he refused the favour of the 
 greatest of monarchs, and " gladly clung " (says Josephus) 
 " to the ruins of his country, and to the hope of living out 
 the rest of his life with its surviving relics." Here history 
 leaves him (2 Chron. xxxv. 25, xxxvi. 12, 21, are the only
 
 i 3 o SIXTH TERM. 
 
 Biblical mentions of him outside his own book), and con- 
 flicting traditions speak of a peaceful end in Babylon, and 
 a death by stoning in Egypt at the hands of his reprobate 
 countrymen. Afterwards they reckoned him not a whit 
 behind the very chiefest prophets, and daily expected that 
 he, like Elijah, would return as the restorer of Israel (Matt, 
 xvi. 14 ; John i. 21). 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 "Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? " 
 
 Acts i. 6. 
 
 Isa. xl. — lxvi., which may have been penned during the 
 first persecution of the true faith in Jerusalem, contains the 
 greatest Messianic Predictions of the Old Testament. A 
 Messiah winning through much tribulation a kingdom not 
 of this world, is a promise as appropriate to the age of 
 Judah's Fall as the promise of a triumphant and glorious 
 Messiah was to the age of David and Solomon. Isaiah's 
 prophecies were fulfilled by Jews whose eyes were blinded 
 to this aspect of the Coming One. The predictions about 
 Cyrus in xli. 2, 25-7, have an ultimate fulfilment in Him 
 who was to all mankind spiritually what Cyrus was to 
 captive Judah politically. There are also nine great and 
 detailed predictions, eight of which are quoted in the New 
 Testament. Notice that the section about " the Servant 
 of the Lord " is followed by one that speaks often of " the 
 servants of the Lord" (Rom. v. 15-19). 
 
 (1) Isa. xl. i-n ; Matt. iii. ; John x. 
 
 (2) Isa. xlii. ; Matt. xii. 17-21 ; Luke ii. 32. 
 
 (3) Isa. xlix. ; Acts iv. 27 (R.V.), xiii. 47 ; Phil. ii. 7. 
 
 (4) Isa. 1. 4-7 ; Heb. v. 8 ; Matt. xxvi. 67 ; John xvi. 32. 
 
 (5) Isa. Hi. 13 — liii. 12 ; Acts viii. 27-35. 
 
 (6) Isa. lix. 20, 21 ; Rom. xi. 26 ; Matt. i. 21. 
 
 (7) Isa. lx. 1-3 ; Matt. ii. ; John viii. 12 ; Eph. v. 14. 
 
 (8) Isa. lxi. 1-3 ; Luke iv. 17-21, iii. 22 ; John xii. 28. 
 
 (9) Isa. lxii. 10 — lxiii. 6; Matt. xxv. 19, xxi. 5 ; 2 Thcss. ii. 
 (10) Zeph. ii. 7 ; Luke i. 68. 
 
 (n) Zeph. iii. 8-20 ; John. i. 49, iv. 24 ; Acts viii. 27-38. 
 
 (12) Hab. ii. 3 ; Heb. x. $7. 
 
 (13) Hab. ii. 14 ; 1 John ii. 13, iv. 16, v. 20.
 
 GODS REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN 131 
 
 (14) Hab. iii. 13 ; 2 Cor. v. 19 (but see R.V.). 
 
 (15) Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 ; Rom. i. 3 ; 1 Cor. i. 30. 
 
 (16) Jer. xxx. 8, 9, 21, 22 ; Acts ii. 29-32 ; Heb. ii. 14-17. 
 
 (17) Jer. xxxi. 22 ; Luke i. 26-35. 
 
 (18) Jer. xxxiii. 15-17, 21,22 ; Actsxiii. 22, 23; 2 Tim. ii. 8. 
 
 (19) Obad. 17-21 ; Rev. xi. 15-17. 
 
 (20) Ezek. xvii. 22-4 ; Rev. xxii. 16 ; Matt. xiii. 31, 32. 
 
 (21) Ezek. xxi. 27 ; John xviii. 36, 37 ; Matt, xxviii. 18. 
 
 Lamentations is read both in the English and the Latin 
 Church during the week in which we commemorate the 
 sufferings of our Lord (Lam. i. 12). 
 
 Compared with Isaiah's, Jeremiah's Messianic predictions 
 are few. But through him we hear, for the first time, that 
 the Old Covenant or Testament, which forms the theme of 
 the first part of the Bible and gives it a name, was to be 
 superseded. Nebuchadnezzar had just re-formed his siege 
 for a final assault upon the famine-stricken city, when 
 Jeremiah's sorrowful pleadings and warnings gave place to 
 a joyous message of blessing for Israel's latter end (xxxi. 
 31-6). After a dim presage of the Incarnation (ver. 22) he 
 passes to a clear announcement of a New Covenant, looking 
 more than 500 years beyond the Restoration (contrast Jer. 
 xxxi. 32 and Hag. ii. 5) to that Upper Room (Luke xxii. 
 11, 12 ; Acts i. 13, R.V., ii. 1), which became the birthplace 
 of the Church of Christ, and in which each of the four 
 clauses of this Royal Charter was reiterated and ratified. 
 The promise is fourfold (see Heb. viii. 6-13, x. 9-18) : — 
 
 (a) Remission of Sins (Matt. xxvi. 27, 28, R.V.). 
 
 (6) A New Law (John xiii. 34, xiv. 23, 26, xv. 13, 14). 
 
 (c) A New Relationship (John xv. 15, 16, xvii. 
 6, 9, 11). 
 
 (d) A New Fellowship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit 
 (John xiv. 7, 9, 17; 1 John i. 3, ii. 20). See Miss Elliott's 
 " Jeremiah and Ezekiel." 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 Again we note characteristic revelations in the Prophets 
 of our period. Twice over from Isaiah we learn (Isa. xiii. 
 8, xlviii. 11) that the glory of God can be shared by no 
 other being. Yet in Isa. ix. 6, 7 (as in Micah v. 2, 4 ; 
 Psalm xiv. 6, 7, ex. ; and Jer. xxiii. 5, 6), two Divine and
 
 132 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 Eternal Beings are spoken of; and in Isa. xlviii. 16, lxi. 1-3 
 we have still plainer pre-Christian enumeration of the Co- 
 eternal Three who ever live and reign One God. Zephaniah, 
 the earliest of the group of prophets whose great theme 
 will be God's judgment, seen in the convulsion and over- 
 throw of all the kingdoms of that age, proclaims that He 
 is righteous (iii. 5). Habakkuk humbly adores Him as the 
 mysterious and awful Holy One (i. 12, 13, ii. 20). JeremiaJi 
 delivers the terrible message recalling the Name by which 
 He had made Himself known to Israel (xliv. 26). He is 
 henceforth " God of all flesh," " God in the Heavens " (cp. 
 2 Chron. xxxvi. 23), " King of the Nations," and, 65 times, 
 " Lord of Hosts." Yet He has been in Jeremiah also 
 " Jacob's Portion," " Israel's God and Hope and Holy One," 
 and the " God of all Israel's families." Obadiah's message 
 is from Adonai Jehovah, recalling Amos and Micah. 
 Ezekicl, worldwide rather than national in his outlook, 
 revives the ancient patriarchal name of El Shaddai (x. 5), 
 which we met with last in Exodus. " God of Israel " 
 occurs once, and in striking contrast to Isaiah and Jeremiah, 
 Ezekiel contains no other name save " Jehovah." 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 Eight of Judah's kings led their people into seven 
 Apostasies. Save Rehoboam, who repented in time, each 
 was visited with a personal punishment in addition to the 
 national punishment that followed the national sin. 
 
 (1) Rehoboam : hence Egyptian Invasion (2 Chron. xii. I ; 
 
 1 Kings xiv. 21-6). 
 
 (2) JeJioram : hence Philistine and Arabian Invasion 
 (2 Chron. xxi. ; 2 Kings xi. 18). 
 
 (3) Joash : hence Syrian Invasion (2 Chron. xxiv. 18-23). 
 
 (4) Amaziah : hence Israelite Invasion (2 Chron. xxv. 
 14, 20-22). 
 
 (5) Alias : hence Invasion by Israelites, Syrians, Philis- 
 tines, Edomitcs, and Assyrians (2 Chron. xxviii. 2, 19, 25 ; 
 
 2 Kings xvi. 2-4). 
 
 (6) Manasseh : hence Assyrian Invasion (2 Chron. xxxiii. 
 3-1 1 ; 2 Kings xxi. 1-16). 
 
 (7) Jehoiakim and Zcdckiah : hence Babylonian Invasion 
 (2 Chron. xxxvi. 8, 14; Jcr. xi. 13, xvii. 2, xix. 5).
 
 QUESTIONS. 133 
 
 (1) and (2) may both be traced to the influence of a queen 
 of foreign extraction. (4) is the only one of which we are 
 not told that worship of Ashtoreth was set up. In (2), (5), 
 (6), and (7) special mention is made of the worship of Baal. 
 In (6) the worship of Jehovah was actually disestablished, 
 and the true faith, for the first time in Judah, persecuted. 
 Amaziah, Manasseh, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah were taken 
 captive, Jehoram and Joash were smitten with sickness, and 
 Ahaz was ruined with his people. (1), (2), (5), and (6) 
 were followed by Reformations, (3) and (4) being less 
 flagrant, and (7) past reforming, save by the stern discipline 
 of the Captivity. These Reformations, by which evil was 
 for the time overcome of good, and ruin averted, were 
 through 
 
 (a) Asa, completed by JeJiosJiapJiat. 
 
 (b) Jehoiada in the reign of Joash. 
 
 (c) Hezckiah. 
 
 (d) Josiah. 
 
 Students would do well to work out fully this brief 
 summary of Judah's religious history, for it has many 
 lessons to teach us, as a nation, as a church, and as 
 individuals. 
 
 We leave the Chosen People ruined, as Moses had warned 
 them they might be ruined (Deut. xxix.), by serving false 
 gods. Our next two terms will show them purged from 
 this gross idolatry and restored, only to fall into a subtler 
 idolatry which, under the outward forms of the true 
 religion, will lead to another rejection of God and a yet 
 more terrible fall. But before we resume their story we 
 shall glance round at Nebuchadnezzar's work elsewhere as 
 pictured by the Hebrew prophets. 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions III., XIII., XVII., XVIII., XIX., XX., and XXVI. may be 
 answered with help of any books.] 
 
 I. Where, when, by whom, and with what results were the 
 battles of Megiddo and Carchemish fought ? (8.) 
 
 II. Complete the genealogical table of the Kings of 
 Judah from Hezekiah onwards. (7.)
 
 134 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 III. Reconcile Jer. xxxii. 4, 5 and xxxiv. 2, 3 witn Ezek. 
 xii. 13 ; also Jer. xxii. 28, 30 with Matt. i. 12. (6.) 
 
 IV. (a) How many sovereigns of Judah were there? 
 (b) Which had the longest and which had the shortest 
 reign ? (c) Which attained the greatest age ? (d) Which 
 of them made war with Israel ? (e) Of which of them is 
 it said that the Lord was with them ? (/) Which of them 
 were taken captive by their enemies? (g) Which died 
 violent deaths? (Ji) Name the four best, the four worst, 
 and the four greatest of them all. (z) Which of them 
 is called King of Israel ? {j) Which of them were buried 
 in the royal sepulchres ? (24.) 
 
 V. Make a complete list of the prophets sent to Judah 
 between 697 and 588, and name three false prophets of the 
 period. (8.) 
 
 VI. What do you know of Shaphan the scribe, and of 
 four sons and two grandsons of his mentioned in the 
 Bible? (7.) 
 
 VII. What do you know of the following? — Elnathan, 
 Irijah, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Jaazaniah son of Azur, 
 Jehudi, Nehushta. (12.) 
 
 VIII. "We will not ride upon horses." Explain this 
 vow by quotations from Isaiah and Ezekiel. (3.) 
 
 IX. What circumstances recorded by Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel account for Nebuchadnezzar's relentless policy to 
 Jerusalem the third time he took it, though he had spared 
 it twice before? (5.) 
 
 X. Show that Jerusalem was captured and the Temple 
 pillaged at least eight times between 976 and 588. (12.) 
 
 XI. Give a brief summary of the chief incidents in 
 Jeremiah's life. (10.) 
 
 XII. Quote ten prayers in the Book of Jeremiah, giving 
 references only. (10.) 
 
 XIII. What does Jeremiah mean by (a) " The throne of 
 God's glory," (b) " God's footstool," (c) " The mountain 
 in the field," (d) "The joy of the whole earth," (e) "The 
 King of Sheshach," (/) "The king ... my servant," 
 (V) " God's battle axe," (//) " The hammer of the whole 
 earth," (0 "The iron furnace," (J) "The sword of the 
 wilderness," {k) " The queen of heaven," (/) " The breath 
 of our nostrils "? (12.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 135 
 
 XIV. Point out 20 coincidences of thought and expres- 
 sion between the Psalms read this term and Jeremiah's 
 writings. (10.) 
 
 XV. To whom was the promise made that their life 
 should be given them for a prey ? (3.) 
 
 XVI. Consider Jeremiah and Ezekiel as types of Christ. 
 
 ('SO 
 
 XVII. Enumerate four signs (or prophecies through 
 
 symbolic acts done by the prophet) shown by Jeremiah to 
 Israel, indicating what each signified. (8.) 
 
 XVIII. Enumerate six signs shown by Ezekiel, indica- 
 ting what each signified. (12.) 
 
 XIX. Give short historical explanations of the vision of 
 Ezek. viii., ix., and the parables of Ezek. xvii., xix. (8.) 
 
 XX. What may be gathered by comparison of Ezekiel 
 with Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, and Revelation as to the 
 appearance and nature of the Cherubim and Seraphim? 
 (10.) 
 
 XXI. Find 20 allusions to the Holy Spirit in Ezek. i. — 
 xxiv., and Isa. xl. — lxvi. (10.) 
 
 XXII. Prove by quotations that Isa. xl. — lxvi. speaks 
 of Judah's Captivity as past and not future, and account 
 for this. (10.) 
 
 XXIII. Illustrate Acts viii. 28-38 by finding 20 New 
 Testament quotations or references for Isa. Hi. 13 — liii. 12. 
 (10.) 
 
 XXIV. Find 25 other New Testament quotations from 
 Isa. xl. — lxvi., 6 from Jeremiah, and 5 from Habakkuk. 
 (18.) 
 
 XXV. " The word peace runs as a golden thread through 
 the tissue of the whole Book of Isaiah." Illustrate this. 
 (10.) 
 
 XXVI. Explain briefly the following passages : — Zeph. i. 
 4, 5, 11 ; Hab. ii. 11 ; Jer. ii. 30, xii. 5, xxii. 10 ; Ezek. xviii. 
 4; Isa. lxv. 3,4, 11. (16.) 
 
 XXVII. How often is God spoken of as King in the 
 literature of this period? Give some of the other chief 
 names of God in Jeremiah and Isa. xl. — lxvi. (24.) 
 
 XXVIII. What may we learn from the prophets of this 
 period as to (a) the wages of sin, (7?) the forgiveness of 
 sins, (c) God's desire to save, (d) God's power to save.
 
 136 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 (e) guidance by God, (/) rest in God ? Do not give more 
 than 36 references altogether. (36.) 
 
 XXIX. What allusions do they contain to (a) the 
 Creation, (b) the Garden of Eden, (V) Noah, (d) Job, 
 (e) Abraham, (/) the destruction of Sodom, (g) Rachel, 
 (Ji) Moses, (/) the Plagues of Egypt, (J) the Exodus, 
 (k) Israel in the Wilderness, (/) Samuel ? (14.) 
 
 XXX. Illustrate the following passages from the history 
 of this period. Psalm cxix. 71 ; James v. 1-6 ; Heb. xiii. 3 ; 
 Luke ix. 24 ; 1 John ii. 11 ; 1 Cor. vii. 29-31. (12.) 
 
 XXXI. Indicate briefly the contexts of the following : — 
 
 (1) "lam against them," " I am with thee." 
 
 (2) " I have made thee despised," " I will glorify them." 
 
 (3) " There is no healing for thee," " I will heal him." 
 
 (4) " I will make this city a curse," " A blessing is 
 in it." 
 
 (5) " They shall be weary," " They shall not be weary." 
 
 (6) " The nations weary themselves for vanity," " Thy 
 work shall be rewarded." 
 
 (7) " Take ye no rest," " Ye shall find rest." 
 
 (8) " Wilt Thou be angry for ever ? " "I will not keep 
 anger for ever." 
 
 (9) " Remember not former iniquities," " I will not re- 
 member thy sins." 
 
 (10) "We walk in darkness," "I will make darkness 
 light." 
 
 (11) "We are called by Thy name," " I have called thee 
 by thy name." 
 
 (12) " Come ye," " We come unto Thee." (24.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "O 
 deadly wounded wicked one !." (b) " The false pen of the 
 scribes." (c) " O nation that hath no shame ! " (d) " Neither 
 could they blush." (e) " He whose might is his god." 
 (/) "His boastings have wrought nothing." {g) "New 
 every morning." (//) "Satisfied with My goodness." 
 (z) "At peace with Me." (J) "A nation before Me for 
 ever." (k) " Mighty to save." (/) " Plenteous redemption." 
 {m) " Abundance of peace and truth." («) " Why will ye 
 die ? " (0) " Seek meekness." (J>) " Eat ye that which is 
 good." (ff) " Keep not back a word." (r) " Begin at My 
 sanctuary." (j) " I said, Behold Me." (/) " I made him
 
 QUESTIONS. 137 
 
 many." (u) " Because thine heart was tender, I have 
 heard." (v) " He knoweth the secrets of the heart." 
 (w) " Foolish prophets that follow their own spirit." 
 (x) " They turned in fear one toward another." {y) " He 
 shall come as a rushing stream." (2) " My sleep was 
 sweet." (26.) 
 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of Ezra. 
 The Restoration and the Second Temple. 
 
 b.c. 606- 
 
 -397- 
 
 2 Chron.. XXXVL, 22, 23. Psalms LXXXV., XCII.—C, CIL~ 
 CVII., CXIII.—CXXVI., CXXXIV.—CXXXVII., CXLIV., CXLVI. 
 — CL. Ezekiel XXV. — XLVIII. Daniel. Ezra. Esther. Nehemiah. 
 Haggai. Zechariah. Malachi. (129 chapters?) 
 
 " All the people went their way ... to make great mirth, because they had 
 understood the words that were declared unto them." — Neh. viii. 12. 
 
 25th MONTH (32). 
 
 Ezek. XXV. — XLVIII. Dan. 
 I. — IV., VII., V., VIII., 
 IX. 
 
 26th MONTH (32). 
 
 Dan. VI. 2 Chron. XXXVL 
 22, 23. Ezra I. — III. 7. 
 PsalmsCIL— CVII.,CXXXVII. 
 CXX. — CXXIL, LXXXV. 
 Ezra III. 8-13. Ezra IV. 1-5. 
 Dan. X.-XII. Ezra IV. 6— 
 VI. 13 
 
 Haggai. Zech. I.— VIII. 
 
 27th MONTH (33). 
 
 Ezra VI. 14-22. Esther. Ezra 
 VII.— X. Zech. IX.— XIV. Neh. 
 I.— VII. Psalm CXXIII.— 
 CXXVI. Neh. VIII., IX. 
 
 28th MONTH (32). 
 
 Neh. X. 
 
 CXLIV., 
 
 CXXXVI. 
 
 Psalms 
 
 XCV.— c, 
 Neh. XII. 
 CXLVI. — CL. 
 4-31. Malachi 
 
 Psalms XCIV., 
 
 CXXXIV. — 
 
 Neh. XL— XII. 26. 
 
 XCIL, XCIIL, 
 
 CXIIL— CXVII1. 
 
 27— XIII. 3. Psalm 
 
 Neh. XIII. 
 
 Psalm CXIX. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 THAT God is the God of Gentiles as well as of Jews 
 is the first note of this term's reading. The world's 
 history has been divided into three great epochs. 
 
 (1) Primceval History, from the dawn of civilisation in 
 Egypt to the Fall of Babylon, the first capital of the world, 
 in B.C. 538. Here the Semitic races predominate, but Israel 
 is the only one of which we have more than a fragmentary 
 account. (2) Classical History, from B.C. 538 to the Fall 
 
 138
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 139 
 
 of Rome, the second capital of the world, in A.D. 476. 
 Here the Aryan races predominate. (3) Mediaeval and 
 Modern History, from A.D. 476 onward. Here history deals 
 with all mankind. 
 
 We now approach the end of the first epoch, and sacred 
 and secular history, hitherto quite distinct, begin to mingle. 
 Israel influences and is influenced by Gentile powers, and 
 thus the way is prepared for the mystery revealed to S. Paul 
 (Eph. iii.), the subject of our Ninth Term's work. 
 
 In the first epoch the ruling power is physical, in the 
 second intellectual, in the third spiritual. Of physical 
 power, Nebuchadnezzar, the last of the Primaeval conquerors, 
 was the greatest representative. He was used to bring about 
 the new historical epoch, and the Hebrew prophets were used 
 to point out the significance of his work. " Like the great 
 tragic chorus to the awful drama which was unfolding itself 
 in the Eastern world," they uttered their sublime funeral 
 anthems over the falling Primseval monarchies, and summed 
 up the everlasting lesson of " the ruins of time " (see Isa. 
 xl. 6-8). Joel, Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, 
 Jeremiah, Obadiah, and Ezekiel picture the falls of Israel 
 and JudaJi, descendants of Jacob ; the Edomites, descend- 
 ants of Esau ; the Arabians, descendants of Ishmael ; Moab 
 and Amnion, descendants of Lot ; the Syrians and Elamites, 
 descendants of Shem ; the Philistines, Tyrians, Sidonians, 
 and Ethiopians, descendants of Ham ; also of the Egyptians, 
 and finally of the Chaldeans, when Babylon drank of the 
 cup she mingled for others (Jer. xxv. 17-26). (They are 
 named above according to the nearness of their relation to 
 Israel. Students are advised to look them out on the map, 
 to read about them in § xxx. of " Oxford Helps," to find 
 the references in the Prophets, and to observe that for Israel, 
 Judah, Moab, Amnion, Elam, and Egypt, mercy as well as 
 judgment was predicted.) 
 
 The political reconstruction of the world was then the 
 Prophets' theme, surely a grand enough one to claim our 
 attention. Yet they looked beyond that. Daniel com- 
 pleted their predictions with an announcement of the 
 spiritual kingdom which would supersede and transcend 
 for ever all the kingdoms founded on force. 
 
 A recently discovered inscription of Nebuchadnezzar's
 
 140 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 runs thus : " I have made completely strong the defences 
 of Babylon. May it last for evei." But on the north side 
 of the mountain barrier that crosses the world from the 
 Himalayas to the Pyrenees, lived fierce races who have 
 more than once swept down upon the fertile south side, and 
 dispossessed its less hardy inhabitants. Such a descent 
 thence of a great Aryan tribe the Hebrew prophets had 
 long foretold. History calls it the Medo-Persian conquest 
 of Babylon. Its leader was Cyrus, the first of the ancient 
 conquerors who was more than a despot and a destroyer, 
 the first great man in Scripture who spoke a language akin 
 to our own ; referred to more honourably in Hebrew 
 prophecy by Isaiah than any other Gentile ; and in Greek 
 literature by Xenophon than any other " barbarian " prince. 
 His people went on and prospered till they met a still 
 stronger Aryan race in Greece, and then the conquering 
 Ahasuerus of the Hebrew Book of Esther became the 
 conquered Xerxes of Greek history. 
 
 And now " the set time to have pity on Zion " had come 
 (Psalm cii. 13 ; Dan. ix. 2). Her Captivity in Babylon was 
 not, like that in Egypt, the personal bondage of individuals, 
 but the political subjection of a nation. In Greek it is 
 described by a word meaning " transportation " or " migra- 
 tion." The exiles were allowed to dwell together in con- 
 siderable bodies, and to acquire property (Jer. xxix. 4-7). 
 Yet we see the anguish of their exile not only through its 
 Hebrew name which means "stripped bare," but through 
 Isaiah, Lamentations, Ezekiek and the Psalms. Its litera- 
 ture has a permanent interest, because it expounds " the 
 sweet uses of adversity," and the power of the consolation 
 that comes from God. The highest comfort offered to 
 them, through Isaiah, was a picture of that supreme 
 suffering of supreme Love, which was to ennoble suffering 
 for ever, and console our sorrowful hearts again and again 
 (see Isa. liii.). 
 
 Their Restoration, an event without parallel in history, 
 was regarded as a second birth, a second Exodus. But 
 from Egypt there came out, by the extraordinary inter- 
 position of God's power and in spite of an earthly sovereign, 
 an entire people, bound together by common descent and 
 common suffering, to take possession of a promised king-
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 141 
 
 dom and assert their national independence. From Babylon 
 there came out, by the ordinary working of God's provi- 
 dence, and through the action of an earthly sovereign, some 
 50,000 out of a whole nation, to form the central part of 
 a scattered church, to hear the last words of prophecy, and 
 to recognise in the writings of the past the abiding lessons 
 of God. 
 
 For the mass of the exiles had accumulated property 
 to the amount of ^"4,000,000 (Esth. iii. 9) in their new 
 homes, and preferred to retain their faith, but sacrifice their 
 patriotism ; types of those who, ceasing to watch against 
 sin, leave a higher for a lower religious life, and though 
 distressed at first by the change, learn by degrees to find more 
 pleasure in the world and less pleasure in the things of God. 
 These Jews (known as " the Dispersion " : see John vii. 35, 
 R.V.) gradually spread far and wide, until, according to 
 Josephus, there was scarcely a corner of the Roman Empire 
 where they might not be found. The Greek conquest opened 
 the way for this, and Greek rule neutralised many of the 
 evils by which it was attended. In A.D. 1 there were three 
 great sections of the Dispersion, the Babylonian, Syrian, 
 and Egyptian. They still prided themselves on the purity 
 of their descent, and a spiritual bond still united them. 
 Jerusalem, no longer the centre of a nation and the capital 
 of a royal race, became the holy city of a church and the 
 capital of a creed, whose monotheism and Messianic hope 
 had a far-reaching influence. Never again was the race to 
 be confined within the borders of Palestine, and its name 
 of Hebrew or Israelite henceforth gives place to the name 
 of Jew, " born," says Josephus, " on the day they came out 
 of Babylon." But all alike looked to the Temple as their 
 religious centre, and contributed largely to its funds. No 
 rival sanctuary disputed its place henceforth, though every- 
 where it was supplemented by synagogues. 
 
 Other results of the Captivity may be summed up thus : — 
 
 (1) Hitherto Israel had been constantly led away into 
 the old idolatries that still clung to their soil. Henceforth, 
 after close contact with heathenism in its fullest develop- 
 ment at Babylon, they hated idolatry with a fanatical 
 hatred. (See Psalm cxv.) 
 
 (2) Hitherto they had stumbled through too frank an
 
 i 4 2 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 intercourse with other nations. Henceforth their religion 
 became intensely national and exclusive, and they held 
 that a man who read foreign books risked his hopes of 
 eternal life. Yet their dispersion among other peoples 
 made them perforce more cosmopolitan in their ideas, and 
 this dispersion, with the accompanying stern purification 
 from heathenism, fitted their faith to become the seedplot 
 of the one truly universal religion of the world. 
 
 (3) Hitherto they had been ruled by kings. Henceforth 
 they were ruled by priests. 
 
 (4) Hitherto they had paid little heed to the written 
 word of God. Henceforth they regarded it with a well-nigh 
 exaggerated reverence. Contrast Elijah, who was almost 
 exclusively a preacher, with Ezekiel, who was almost exclu- 
 sively an author. 
 
 (5) Hitherto the external ceremonies of religion had been 
 all important, and their religious life mainly corporate. 
 Henceforth reading the Scriptures, preaching, and above 
 all prayer, became the essential things in public worship, 
 and there was a new sense of individual responsibility, and 
 of the grandeur of being true to one's convictions in the 
 face of the whole world. 
 
 (6) Hitherto the Hebrew in which the Old Testament is 
 penned had been a living tongue, written in the old Phoe- 
 nician characters. Henceforth it gradually became a dead 
 tongue, and at some unknown date before B.C. 300 the 
 square characters now used were adopted. At the Restora- 
 tion the Jews were bilingual. The last of their prophets 
 still wrote in Hebrew, but the language of daily life and of 
 all their subsequent literature was Aramaic or Chaldean 
 (2 Kings xviii. 26, R.V.), the kindred tongue of the land of 
 exile. * Jcr. x. 1 1, Dan. ii. 4 — vii. 28, and parts of Ezra (see 
 R.V.), all of which refer to the Gentiles, are in Aramaic, 
 and it is called " Hebrew " in Acts xxii. 2. 
 
 (7) Hitherto they had been an agricultural people. 
 Henceforth they became what they arc now, a trading 
 people, their commercial enterprise finding a first outlet at 
 Alexandria. 
 
 The nation had returned, but not to be what it had been. 
 The opportunity for proving a leader among the peoples 
 as God's People, once lost, did not recur. Its humbler
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 143 
 
 career henceforth teaches the sad lesson that in this life an 
 evil past can never be entirely retrieved. The moral of 
 the whole Captivity, which Jeremiah had foretold, is given 
 by Ezekiel where he points to a restoration and renewal, 
 not of national glory, but of individual goodness through 
 the operation of the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," § v.) 
 
 This term history, psalmody, and prophecy are repre- 
 sented in almost equal proportions. The three historical 
 books cover only one of the six centuries between Judah's 
 Fall and the Birth of Christ. Of the first seventy years 
 we glean particulars from psalms and prophecies ; of the 
 last 393 from the Apocrypha. For the forty Psalms of 
 this period, see p. 204. The life of Daniel, the last prophet 
 of the second group, bridges the age of the Captivity. 
 The three Post-Exilian prophets forming the third group 
 close the Canon. They give us the result of former 
 teaching rather than new doctrines. 
 
 Part I. of Ezekiel has already been uttered as a final 
 message to Judah before her fall. Part II. (xxv. — xxxii.) 
 proclaims God's Judgments upon seven foreign nations, 
 and was written between the besieging and the capture of 
 Jerusalem (with the exception of xxix. 17 — xxx. 19, the 
 date of which is 572). Part III. (xxxiii. — xlviii.), all written 
 immediately after the capture, is a glorious Promise of 
 Restoration, culminating in a vision of the Temple re-built 
 and the land re-peopled. 
 
 Daniel, of the royal house of David (603 — 534). Chaps, 
 i. — vi. are history mingled with prophecy. Chaps, vii. — xii. 
 are prophecy written with the detail of history. There is 
 no other book in the Bible with which this unique book can 
 be classed. The Jews put it among the " Scriptures," not 
 among the "Prophets." (See "Oxford Helps," § v.) Its 
 Hebrew is strikingly like that of Ezekiel ; there are many 
 traces of its literary influence upon each of the Post-Exilian 
 prophets, and many close parallels between it and Revela- 
 tion. The narrative is interspersed, like Nehemiah's, with 
 characteristic utterances of personal devotion. That its
 
 144 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 history is authentic is proved by contemporary and later 
 references to its incidents. That its prophecies are inspired 
 communications from God is attested by our Lord's 
 reference to Daniel. That it may have taken its present 
 form after Daniel's death is possible, and according to 
 some authorities probable. Its keynote is God's supreme 
 and everlasting kingdom (Mark i. 1 5 ; Rev. xi. 1 5), and it 
 forms the first philosophy of history, " the first recognition 
 of the continuous succession of ages, of the instructive fact 
 that the story of humanity is that of a regular development 
 of epochs, one growing out of another, cause leading to 
 effect, race following race, and empire following empire, in 
 a majestic plan in which the Divine economy is as deeply 
 concerned as in the fate of the Chosen People " {Stanley). 
 
 Ezra and Nehemiah, which in many ancient MSS. form 
 one book, are probably a compilation by various authors 
 in continuation of Chronicles, which they closely resemble 
 in style. Ezra i. (whose chronological place is between 
 Dan. ix. and x.) is probably by Daniel ; and Ezra ii. — 
 iii. 1, and Neh. i. — vii. and xii. 27 — xiii. 31, by Nehemiah. 
 Ezra iii. 2 — iv. 5 and iv. 24 — vi. may be by Haggai. Cer- 
 tainly Ezra vii. — x., and probably Neh. viii. — x. are by 
 Ezra. Ezra iv. 6-23 is probably a later addition by Ezra, 
 and the statistics in Neh. xi. 1 — xii. 26, which are brought 
 down to B.C. 330, were probably prepared under Nehemiah's 
 direction and added to after his death. 
 
 EstJier is probably from the pen of Mordecai, and may 
 have formed part of those Persian official records to which 
 it alludes more than once. The story of how Haman gives 
 to Mordecai what he had chosen for himself, while what he 
 had chosen for Mordecai is given to him, fills the most 
 secular book in the Bible, and the one which the Christian 
 Church has hesitated most about receiving into the Canon. 
 But the Jews said it would outlast all the rest of the Old 
 Testament save the Pentateuch. And rightly. For not 
 only is it a picture of the Dispersion, without which their 
 history would not be complete ; it also teaches once for all 
 that what we falsely call " chance " works out God's purposes 
 even when His hand is hidden (Matt. x. 29, 30 ; Rom. 
 viii. 28). As Herodotus, Xenophon, and Bcrosus fill in the 
 brief statement of Dan. v. 30 with details exactly corro-
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 145 
 
 borating the predictions of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk 
 concerning the Fall of Babylon, so the historians of Greece 
 paint the same wilfully imperious monarch that appears in 
 Esther, and account for the fact that two foreigners were 
 apparently rivals for the office of Grand Vizier by de- 
 scribing the great destruction of Persian nobles in the war 
 with Greece that took place between Vashti's repudiation 
 and Esther's marriage. This same war also explains the 
 willingness of Xerxes' successor to have Jerusalem fortified as 
 an important post on the line of communication with Egypt. 
 
 Haggai (520). His keynote is Do your appointed work at 
 tJie appointed time, zealously and steadily (Mark xiii. 34 ; 
 Heb. vi. 10). He dwells on hindrances from within, as 
 the contemporary historians dwell on those from without. 
 Both have in all ages to be overcome. With little of the 
 poetic fire of his great predecessors, he utters vigorous 
 and practical exhortation to men to consider their ways, 
 and see themselves as they really are. No prophet ever 
 appeared at a more critical juncture, and no prophet was 
 more immediately successful. 
 
 ZecJiariaJi, son of Berachiah, priest as well as prophet, 
 like Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and probably young since he 
 returned with his grandfather Iddo, as Haggai was pro- 
 bably aged (520 — 518). His keynote is The holy people 
 with whom God dwells (John xiv. 23 ; Eph. iii. 17). Part I. 
 (i. — viii.) is dated, continuous, full of clear allusions to 
 the events and circumstances of the time, and evidently all 
 from the same hand. Part II. (ix. — xi.) and Part III. (xii. 
 — xiv.) are very dissimilar in their subject-matter and style, 
 undated, and disconnected. The contemporary allusions 
 they contain are vague, and seem to point to a different, 
 perhaps to a much earlier, state of affairs. Nor are they else- 
 where attributed to the son of Berachiah. Hence some critics 
 regard chs. ix. — xiv. as an anonymous prophecy, accidentally 
 incorporated with Zechariah. The question does not at all 
 affect its right to a place in the Bible (it is more than once 
 quoted in the New Testament) ; and opinions differ so 
 widely as to its date, if it is not by Zechariah, that I merely 
 separate it from Part I., without placing it in a different 
 period. See Dr. Marcus Dods' " Post-Exilian Prophets " 
 for fuller discussion of the subject (T. & T. Clark, is. 6d.). 
 
 10
 
 146 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 Malachi (397 ?). We are not even certain of this 
 prophet's name. He is never mentioned elsewhere, and 
 his designation means "messenger." Its use in Hag. i. 13, 
 and Mai. ii. 7, iii. I, has suggested that this book, which 
 the Jews called " the seal of the prophets," is anonymous. 
 (See Mai. i. 1, R.V. margin.) Its author was to Ezra and 
 Nehemiah what Haggai and Zechariah had been to Joshua 
 and Zerubbabel. In its rebuke of the demoralisation of 
 the priesthood, the insolence of wealth, and the loosening 
 of family ties, there are three leading thoughts. The Lord's 
 Messenger, as contrasted with the Lord's Anointed ot 
 earlier prophecy ; the ideal priest, as contrasted with the 
 actual priest ; the faithful few, as contrasted with the faith- 
 less many ; all leading up to the keynote of Pure and 
 spiritual religion (James i. 27 ; John iv. 23, 24). Malachi 
 points to no new prophet, but to Elijah himself as the 
 herald of the last and greatest crisis of Israel's history, and 
 as the Old Testament closes we see the way opened by the 
 great for the Greatest, and the Sun of Righteousness appears 
 ''with Moses and Elias" (see Luke ix. 30). "The age of Ezra 
 was the last pure glow of the long days of the Old Testa- 
 ment seers, and Malachi closes the prophetic writings in a 
 manner not unworthy of such lofty predecessors " (Ewald). 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 Of the 584 years which elapsed between the Fall of 
 Jerusalem and the Birth of Christ, 191 bring us to the end 
 of the Old Testament. But we deal with 209 years alto- 
 gether this term, going back 18 years first of all, in order 
 to trace the whole history of the captives from the First 
 Deportation, since we did not follow any of the Jews to 
 Babylon last term. The reigns of the Babylonian and 
 Persian Kings form landmarks as convenient as those of 
 the sovereigns of Palestine have hitherto been. Note these 
 four Decrees : — 
 
 ('0 536. First Decree of Cyrus to the Jews generally, 
 authorising their Return and the re-building of the Temple. 
 
 (h) 520. Second Decree of Darius to their opponents, to 
 give effect to the First Decree. 
 
 (c) 458. Third Decree of Artaxcrxcs to Ezra, author- 
 ising the restoration of the Temple worship.
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 147 
 
 (d) 445. Fourth Decree of Artaxerxes to Nehemiah, 
 authorising the building of Jerusalem. 
 
 (1) B.C. 606 — 536 (70 years). From the First Siege of 
 
 Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar to the First Decree. 
 The Captivity of JudaJi. 590 — 572. Ezek. xxv. — xlviii. 
 
 606. Dan. i. 603 — 561. Dan. ii. — iv. 540. Dan. vii. 
 
 538. Dan. v., viii., ix. 537. Dan. vi. 
 
 (2) B.C. 536 — 516 (20 years). From the First Decree to 
 
 the Dedication of the Second Temple. The Jews 
 under Joshua and Zerubbabel. 
 
 536. 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23; Ezra i. — iii. 7; Psalms 
 cii. — cvii., exxxvii., cxx. — exxii., lxxxv. 
 
 535. Ezra iii. 8-13. 534. Ezra iv. 1-5 ; Dan. x. — xii. 
 
 529. Ezra iv. 6. 522. Ezra iv. 7-24. 
 
 520. Ezra v. — vi. 13 ; Haggai ; Zech. i. — viii. 
 
 516. Ezra vi. 14-22. 
 
 (3) Bc - 5 J 6 — 458 (58 years). From the Dedication of 
 
 the Second Temple to the Third Decree. The Jews 
 of the Dispersion. 
 
 483. Esth. i. 479. Esth ii. 
 
 474 — 473. Esth. iii.— x. 
 
 (4) B.C. 458—397 (61 years). From the Third Decree to 
 
 the close of the Old Testament Canon. The Jews 
 tinder Ezra and Nehemiah. 458. Ezra. vii. — x. 15. 
 457. Ezra x. 1644 ; Zech. ix. — xiv. 
 445 — 433. Neh. i. — vii. ; Psalms exxiii. — exxvi. ; Neh. 
 
 viii. — x. ; Psalms xeiv., cxliv., exxxiv. — exxxvi. ; 
 
 Neh. xi. 1 — xii. 26 ; Psalms xcii., xciii., xcv. — c, 
 
 cxiii. — cxviii. ; Neh. xii. 27 — xiii. 3 ; Psalms cxlvi. 
 
 — cl. 
 432 ? (or 428 ? or 423 ?). Neh. xiii. 4-31. 
 397 (?). Malachi ; Psalm cxix. 
 
 Six Kings of Babylon. 
 
 1. Nabopolassar. 625 — 604. 
 
 2. Nebuchadnezzar. 604 — 561. 
 
 3. Evil Merodach. 561 — 559. 
 
 4. Neriglassax (Nergal-sharezer, Jer. xxxix. 3). 559 — 556. 
 
 5. Laborosoarchod. 556 — 555. 
 
 6. Nabonadius. 555 — 538.
 
 148 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 Nabopolassar was the founder of the empire, and Nebu- 
 chadnezzar was his son ; Evil Merodach and Nabonadius 
 were son and grandson of Nebuchadnezzar (see Jer. xxvii. 
 6, 7) ; Neriglassar and Laborosoarchod his son were usurpers. 
 At the end of his reign Nabonadius made his son Belsliazzar 
 his associate in the kingdom and governor of Babylon. 
 Those mentioned in the Bible are in italics. 
 
 Two Kings of Media. 
 
 1. Cyaxares {Ahasuerus, Dan. ix. 1). 634—595. 
 
 2. Astyages {Darius, Dan. v. 31). 594 — 536. 
 
 Six Kings of Persia. 
 
 1. Cyrus, founder of the empire. 558 — 529. 
 
 2. Cambyses {Ahasuerus, Ezra iv. 6). 529 — 522. 
 
 3. Gomates {Artaxerxes, Ezra iv. 7). 522 — 521. 
 
 4. Darius Hystaspes {Darius, Ezra iv. 5, 24, v., vi.). 
 521—486. 
 
 5. Xerxes {Ahasuerus, Esther). 486 — 465. 
 
 6. Artaxerxes Longimanus (Ezravii. ; Neh.). 465 — 423. 
 The mother of Cyrus was the daughter of Astyages, 
 
 Cambyses was the son, and Xerxes' mother the daughter 
 of Cyrus. Xerxes was son of Hystaspes and father of 
 Longimanus. Gomates was a usurper. Cambyses, Gomates, 
 Darius Hystaspes, and Xerxes are mentioned in Dan. xi. 2. 
 The Bible name of each is given in italics. Many of the 
 identifications are among the most recent discoveries of 
 Biblical scholarship. Ahasuerus (like Pharaoh, Sultan, or 
 Czar) is a title, not a name, and is applied to three different 
 sovereigns in Scripture. 
 
 Of the five kings who followed Artaxerxes only the last, 
 Darius Codomannus (336 — 331), is named in Scripture 
 (Neh. xii. 22). 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 
 (Sec " Oxford Helps," Maps VIII., IX., X.) 
 
 From their mountain fastnesses and land of varied scenery 
 and diverse products, from the hurrying, unnavigablc torrent
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 149 
 
 of Jordan, from their simple pastoral and agricultural life, 
 the Jews, who since the Exodus had been isolated from the 
 rest of mankind, were taken to the vast alluvial plains of 
 Babylon, unbroken save by the works of their teeming 
 population, nourished by broad and majestic willow-fringed 
 rivers, where ships laden with merchandise (Isa. xliii. 14) 
 thronged, and whence straight tributary canals irrigated 
 the whole country (Psalm cxxxvii. I, 2), to the largest walled 
 city ever built, the capital of the world, the seat of empire 
 of the greatest primaeval conqueror. Its present desolation 
 exactly fulfils Isa. xiii., but in the Hebrew prophets we 
 catch glimpses of its ancient wealth and splendour, of its 
 learning and its pride, of the glitter of its arms and the 
 clash of" its music. Secular historians have fully described 
 its broad streets at right angles to each other, its four- 
 storied houses, its parks and gardens and colossal public 
 buildings, and its aged sanctuary, the grandest place of 
 worship ever raised. Its influence on the captive race was 
 permanent ; and henceforth Babylon, Queen of the East 
 and destroyer of Jerusalem, becomes in Scripture the type 
 of the World, reappearing thus in S. John's vision of 
 Imperial Rome, Queen of the West and destroyer likewise 
 of Jerusalem, the only other seat of worldwide empire that 
 can be named beside it (Rev. xviii.). 
 
 The Jewish caravans who, after the four months' march 
 across the desert so joyously predicted in Isa. li. 11, regained 
 their own land, found its state very different from that of 
 the Palestine they had left. What was henceforth known 
 as " Galilee of the Gentiles," was occupied by a half heathen 
 people ; in the centre were the Samaritans, whom they 
 branded as Cuthites, i.e., Assyrians, and as " proselytes of 
 the lion " (2 Kings xvii. 26, 27), their determined an- 
 tagonists ever after ; beyond Jordan, Moab and Ammon 
 had returned to a fearfully devastated land ; on the west 
 coast their ancient foes, the Philistines, were reasserting 
 their independence ; and on the south, hostile and vin- 
 dictive Edom claimed all Judaea. The whole country 
 west of the Euphrates was ruled by a Persian Satrap. 
 Under him Zerubbabel (Ezra ii. 63) and Nehemiah 
 (Neh. viii. 9) were successively Tirshathas or Pashas of 
 Palestine.
 
 i 5 o SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 ( Zcrubbabcl, i Cor. i. 27. 
 
 ,^ J Daniel. I Peter iii. 14-16. 
 
 Keynotes ^ R ^ MaU _ ^ 52 
 
 \Nehemiah, Luke xviii. 1. 
 
 Two princes of David's house, a statesman of the tribe 
 of Judah, and a priest are the chief makers of this period 
 of history. Of these one was a prophet and three were 
 authors. Zerubbabel, or Sheshbazzar (both Chaldaean 
 names, possibly indicating service to the King of Babylon, 
 comp. Dan. i. 7), was the representative of David at the 
 time of the Return, and the direct ancestor of Christ. He 
 seems to have been the descendant of David's son Nathan, 
 the son of Pedaiah, and the adopted son of Pedaiah's brother 
 Shealtiel ; his father and uncle both being sons of Neri, 
 and adopted sons of the childless (Jer. xxii. 30) King 
 Jcconiah, in whom Solomon's line died out (1 Chron. iii. 
 17-19 ; Luke iii. 27, 28, 31). The promise to Solomon was 
 conditional (1 Kings ix. 4, 5), while the promise to David 
 was absolute (2 Sam. vii. 12). Judah's royal line had been 
 mown down relentlessly by Jehoram, the Arabians, Jehu, and 
 Athaliah (2 Chron. xxi., xxii. ; 2 Kings x.). Zedekiah had 
 left daughters only, of whom we hear no more ; Ishmael's 
 violence had proved his unworthiness ; and Daniel and his 
 companions held office at the court of Babylon as Isaiah 
 had foretold (Isa. xxxix. 7). Hence Zcrubbabcl's claim to 
 be leader of his countrymen. Like Solomon, he built the 
 Temple ; like David, he regulated the courses of priests 
 and Lcvites ; like Hezckiah, he celebrated a great Passover. 
 His life illustrates the sure success of a lofty and strenuous 
 purpose. Of his death there are vague traditions only, and 
 his children were without authority. But the hope of a 
 renewal in him of the royal line found glorious fulfilment 
 in the Son of Mary 500 years later. Since then there has 
 been no undoubted representative of David. 
 
 DanieVs personality is far clearer than that of Zcrub- 
 babcl. Tradition even tells us that " he had a spare, dry, 
 tall figure, with a beautiful expression." Like Moses 
 before, and S. Paul after, he acquired the wisdom and
 
 HEROES. 151 
 
 learning of the Gentiles to fit him for wide influence and 
 great achievements, and became Rab-Mag, head of the 
 wise men, or chief astrologer at the court of Babylon. Like 
 Joseph in earlier, and other Jews in later times, he rose by 
 sheer force of personal ascendency to the highest place 
 among the Gentiles, as the mighty Nebuchadnezzar's Grand 
 Vizier, and vindicated his royal descent by showing himself 
 a born king of men. An incorruptible statesman, who 
 risked his head to give advice wholesome both for prince 
 and people ; a devout servant of God, "wearing the white 
 flower of a blameless life " at the headquarters of Vanity 
 Fair ; he showed that greater than the material power of 
 Babylon was the moral power of one man doing his duty 
 " with God to friend," cost what it might. And to him was 
 given the eagle vision of the prophet, or rather of the seer, 
 with extraordinary knowledge of the counsels of God, and 
 he only of all the Old Testament saints received assurance 
 from God Himself of his personal salvation. " He was 
 one "(I quote Bishop Ken), " that kept his station in the 
 greatest of revolutions, reconciling policy and religion, 
 business and devotion, magnanimity and humility, authority 
 and affability, conversation and retirement, interest and 
 integrity, Heaven and the Court, the favour of God and the 
 favour of the king." 
 
 We turn from Daniel to Ezra, from the prince born in 
 David's palace to the priest born in exile, from the large- 
 minded statesman to the stern reformer, from one of the 
 last of the seers to the first of the editors and compilers 
 whose scholarship and research shape the literature of that 
 age of criticism and reflection (when, according to the 
 Talmud, " the crown of learning was nobler than that of 
 empire ") which followed the great creative age of soaring 
 poesy and inspired prophecy. We see him firing his 
 countrymen's enthusiasm for God's law by precept and 
 example, and inexorably putting down abuses, like his 
 ancestor Hilkiah,in the strength of "the good hand of God 
 upon him." And while he, the aged theologian and scribe, 
 helped forward the political revival, NehcniiaJi, the young 
 layman, half warrior, half statesman, architect, engineer, 
 and earliest of archaeologists, helped forward the moral 
 reformation. The learned son of Aaron cannot be separ-
 
 152 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 ated from the firm and upright but quick-tempered pasha. 
 He, too, was a man of prayer as well as a man of action, 
 and he left a splendid monument of his prudence and 
 fidelity, of his devotion to duty and self-denying liberality, 
 in making Jerusalem a strong fortress once more. We can 
 easily understand why in early traditions his renown 
 eclipses that of Zerubbabel or Ezra. But in calling our 
 whole period after Ezra we act in the spirit of those later 
 traditions which place Nehemiah's colleague on a level with 
 Moses and Elijah. For what Nehemiah had done for the 
 Holy City, Ezra did for the Holy Book (see Ezra vii. 14), 
 whose influence has been yet more extensive and endur- 
 ing. The " Moses of the Second Exodus," he is said also 
 to have lived 120 years, to have written I. and II. Chronicles, 
 to have formed the Old Testament Canon, and the council 
 afterwards known as the Great Synagogue, to have intro- 
 duced the character in which Hebrew has been written 
 ever since, and to have established synagogues. These 
 traditions may not be exactly true, but their existence 
 proves Ezra's importance. For ourselves, we learn the 
 same great lesson from all these four heroes of a crushed 
 nationality : that we are impotent ; that God is infinitely 
 potent ; that by living in fellowship with Him through 
 prayer we may be endowed with a power not our own 
 (Zcch. iv. 6, 7 ; Dan. vi. 10 ; Ezra vii. 28, viii. 22 ; Neh. ii. 4). 
 
 VI. The Coming Messiah. 
 
 " They brought Jesus up to Jerusalem . . . into the Temple" 
 "Jesus entered into the Temple oj God, and cast out 
 all them that sold and bought."— Luke ii. 22, 27 ; 
 Matt. xxi. 12. 
 
 The cycle of Old Testament prophecy closes by telling 
 both the time and the place of Messiah's coming. 
 
 (1) Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24 ; John x. ; Acts v. 31. 
 
 (2) Ezek. xxxiv. 29 ; John vi. 35. 
 
 (3) Ezek. xxxvii. 22-4 ; John i. 49 ; Rev. xxi. 3-5. 
 
 (4) Dan. ii. 34-45 ; Matt. xxi. 44; Rev. ii. 26, 27, xix. 
 15, 16. 
 
 (5) Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Matt. xxiv. 30, xxv. 31,32, xxvi. 64. 
 
 (6) Dan. ix. 24-7 ; Heb. ix. 26-8 ; Acts x. 38.
 
 THE COMING MESSIAH. 153 
 
 (7) Hag. ii. 7-9 ; Luke ii. 26, 27, 46 ; John xiv. 27. 
 
 (8) Zech. iii. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 16. 
 
 (9) Zech. vi. 12-15 ; Heb. iii. 3, viii. I ; Acts ii. 39. 
 
 (10) Zech. ix. 9-1 1 ; Matt. xxi. 4, 5, xxvi. 28; Heb. xii. 
 24, xiii. 20. 
 (n) Zech. xi. 12, 13 ; Matt. xxvi. 15, xxvii. 3-10. 
 
 (12) Zech. xii. 10; Luke xxiii. 48; John xix. 34, ^ ; 
 Rev. i. 7. 
 
 (13) Zech. xiii. 7 ; Matt. xxvi. 31, 56 ; John xvi. 32. 
 
 (14) Zech. xiv. ; Acts i. u, 12 ; John iv. 10. 
 
 (15) Mai. iii. 1-3 ; Luke vii. 27, ii. 27 ; John ii. 13-16. 
 
 (16) Mah iv. 2-6 ; Luke i. 17, 78 ; Matt. xi. 14, xvii. 10-13. 
 The Rabbis referred to Messiah the passages in Ezek. 
 
 xliv.— xlviii. about the Prince, but looking at Ezek. xlvi. 
 16-18, etc., it seems more probable that they mainly refer 
 to Zerubbabel. 
 
 Dan. ix. 24-7 is one of the most remarkable and also 
 most difficult of Messianic prophecies. It sets forth the 
 time and the purpose of Christ's death, and upon it was 
 based an universal expectation of His approach at the 
 Christian era. Clearly 70 weeks means 490 years, or 70 
 cycles of Sabbatic years, or an enlarged jubilee, or seven 
 times the period of the Captivity. A similar period had 
 already elapsed between Abraham's call and Joshua's con- 
 quest of Palestine (B.C. 1921 — 1431), and between Saul's 
 accession and the Captivity (1096—606), and reckoning in 
 lunar years, we find a similar period from the Persian era 
 of Jewish restoration to the Roman era of Christ's coming 
 (B.C. 538 — 62). Concerning the exact application of this 
 prophecy there have been since the days of Jerome many 
 conflicting opinions. Had the prediction been absolutely 
 explicit, it must have compelled recognition of the true 
 Messiah when He came, and thus thwarted its own 
 fulfilment. Hence it was dim, but not too dim for the 
 spiritually enlightened. (See Dan. xii. 10.) We do not 
 know («) which of the four Decrees (see p. 146) the com- 
 mandment " of v. 25 refers to; (£) whether the Messiah's 
 death occurs at the end of the 70 weeks (490 years) or the 
 69 weeks (483 years') ; (c) whether the years are solar years 
 of 365 days or luni-solar years of 360 days ; (d) what was 
 the exact date of the Crucifixion. Out of many, varying
 
 154 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 slightly, I give two calculations, both of which place the 
 Crucifixion in A.D. 32. (a) Taking the Third Decree, 70 
 weeks, and solar years, 458 B.C. to 32 A.D. is 490 years. 
 (b) Taking the Fourth Decree, 69 weeks and lunar years, 
 March 14th, B.C. 445 to April 6th, A.D. 32, is 483 years. 
 April 6th is calculated as the day (see Luke xix. 42) of 
 Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. The first seven weeks (v. 25) 
 are also shown to bring us in lunar years to the close 
 of the Canon, B.C. 445 to 397 being 49 lunar years. There 
 is probably a threefold reference to (a) the profanation 
 of the Temple in B.C. 168 and its restoration three years 
 later, (6) the death of Christ, (c) the Last Days ; and a corre- 
 sponding explanation of " the prince that shall come " as 
 Antiochus Epiphanes, Titus, and Antichrist. 
 
 Haggai foretells the place of Christ's coming. In the 
 R.V., ii. 7 refers to the rich gifts brought by Gentiles to 
 the House of God. 
 
 Next to Isaiah, Zcchariah has the most numerous and 
 detailed prophecies of Christ, especially of Christ suffering. 
 To us they seem particularly easy of interpretation, but 
 they must have been particularly hard to those who first 
 heard them, while what was plainest to them probably 
 seems hardest to us. Tscmach (shoot or sprout) is a title 
 which occurs five times (sometimes without article, as if it 
 had become a proper name) of the Messiah as 
 
 (a) Son of David, Jcr. xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 15 (com p. S. 
 Matthew). 
 
 (d) God's Servant, Zcch. iii. S (comp. S. Mark). 
 
 (c) Son of Man, Zech. vi. 12 (comp. S. Luke). 
 
 (d) Son of God, Isa. iv. 2 (comp. S. John). 
 
 The title has special reference to the house of David, and 
 therefore refers primarily to Zerubbabel. Further, its root 
 idea is that Messiah was the grand result God looked for 
 from Israel, the fruit-bearing Branch which would compen- 
 sate for the barrenness of the rest of His vine. A different 
 word (netser) is used in Isa. xi. 1 and Psalm lxxx. 15. 
 
 The Old Testament ends with the hopeful word, " He 
 will come." The New Testament opens with the triumph- 
 ant word, "lie has come." In the Apocrypha there arc 
 no Messianic allusions beyond vague reference to the glory 
 of the Chosen People. But in other literature of this later
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN 155 
 
 age, such as the Book of Enoch, the Psalms of Solomon, and 
 the Fourth Book of Esdras, there are visions of a coming 
 Deliverer, unlike the Old Testament prophecies in their 
 extravagant fancies and frequent trivialities ; unlike them 
 also in not acknowledging His essentially Divine Nature, 
 or the true import of His Human Nature. Yet these 
 books speak of the Messiah as " Son of God " ; and from 
 the time of Daniel, " Son of Man " was universally regarded 
 as a Messianic title. Hence the import of John i. 34 ; 
 Matt. xvi. 13, xxvi. 63, 64. 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 That enlarged conception of God which taught the later 
 prophets of the second group to dwell on His dealings with 
 all mankind, appears in such titles as " Most High," " Lord 
 and King of Heaven" (Dan.), "God of Gods" (Dan., 
 Psalms), " God of Heaven " (Ezra, Neh., Dan., Psalms), 
 " Lord of all the Earth " (Zech.). " Lord of Hosts " occurs 
 87 times in the three Post-Exilian prophets. The Court 
 now for the first time set apart for Gentiles in the Temple 
 was a symbol of the truth so grandly proclaimed in Mai. 
 i. 1 1. " God of Jerusalem " occurs first in 2 Chron. xxxii. 
 19, and also in Ezra, marking the fact that only a part 
 of the Chosen People had remained faithful (comp. Ezek 
 xlviii. 35). 
 
 The thought that their God was no mere national deity 
 such as other peoples acknowledged, and that He was no 
 longer in direct communication with them, led to a deeper 
 awe of Him, which showed itself in two ways, (a) By a 
 " seasonable development " (to quote Westcott) of that 
 doctrine of angels as agents and messengers between God 
 and man, of which there are much earlier hints, (p) By 
 a false reverence which, at some unknown date, replaced 
 "Jehovah" by "Adonai" in Old Testament MSS., and 
 then translated that by a Greek word which in its turn was 
 literally translated " Dominus " in the Vulgate and " LORD " 
 in our English Bible (see p. 34). At last the Name 
 itself was only uttered in a whisper by the High Priest on 
 the Day of Atonement, and came to be regarded as alto- 
 gether mystical if not magical. This reticence was a sad
 
 156 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 symbol of the fresh joy of spiritual life sinking under the 
 pressure of superstition. In the same spirit the Samaritans 
 replaced " Jehovah " by " Shcmeh," which means " the 
 Name." 
 
 Esther is the only book in the Bible where the Name of 
 God does not occur. But in the Hebrew text the four 
 letters of the name Jehovah are found four times (Esth. 
 i. 20, v. 4, 13, vii. 7), and the five letters of the name 
 Ehyeh (Exod. iii. 14, R.V. margin) once (Esth. vii. 5), in 
 an acrostic form. These sentences are the pivots of the 
 whole story, the arrangement of letters is in each case 
 too ingenious to be accidental, and three ancient MSS. 
 emphasize these letters in all the five passages. All this goes 
 to prove that the sacred Name was thus buried designedly 
 in a book, which is remarkable throughout for " that under- 
 current of faith which refers all to the Providence of Him 
 whose name is never mentioned." The nearest literary 
 parallel I know of is the signature Cynewulf, Bishop of 
 Lindisfarne, put to his " Elena." 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 When in 538 the Persians became masters of Jerusalem, 
 they ordered the re-building of the Temple in such generous 
 terms that the descendants of those who had reared the 
 Tabernacle with the spoils of Egypt enriched the Second 
 Temple with the free-will offerings of Assyria. When in 
 480 the Persians became masters of Athens, they wrecked 
 its national sanctuary, the Parthenon, and, as recent exca- 
 vations on the Acropolis have proved, smashed all its 
 exquisite statuary into ten thousand fragments. These 
 two different effects were produced by the same cause, the 
 Persian religion, which took its name from Zoroaster or 
 Zarathustra, round whom the mists of ages have now 
 gathered so thickly that scholars are not agreed as to 
 whether he was an enlightened human teacher (some have 
 ventured to fancy him Daniel's pupil) who was ultimately 
 regarded as a god, or a mythical god whom time trans- 
 formed into a man. (Sec Darmcstctcr's Zend-avcsta). 
 Mis followers worshipped without idolatry one supreme 
 God, all good and all knowing, Ahura Mazda. The Evil
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 157 
 
 One, they said, is at war with Him, and men must range 
 themselves on one side or other in the conflict, which will 
 end in the triumph of good. (Both the creed and the race 
 who professed it are now represented by the Parsis who 
 1 100 years ago took refuge from religious persecution in 
 India, whence their creed had originally sprung 1400 years 
 before.) That God is a Spirit, and that He is One, had 
 been far more fully revealed to the Jews ages before, yet 
 they had worshipped Him idolatrously and gone after false 
 gods. They never repeated these sins after the Captivity, 
 and the extinction of them may be attributed not only to 
 the wholesome discipline of sorrow, to the substitution of 
 priestly for kingly rule, and to the new zeal of the teachers 
 of God's law ; but also to the influence of Zoroastrianism, 
 which Judaism probably influenced in its turn, and to the 
 impressive sight of the destruction of Babylon's imposing 
 idolatries by the Persian iconoclasts, as Isaiah had foretold 
 in days when they seemed invincible (Isa. xxi. 9, xlvi. I, 2). 
 So while the corrupted religion of the Ten Tribes does 
 not seem to have survived their transportation, the faith of 
 the Two, cherished by faithful Kings, Priests, and Prophets, 
 preserved their inextinguishable nationality, while its own 
 preservation became henceforth the great end of the restored 
 nation. Those three great historic offices were no longer 
 what they had been. Zerubbabel's kingship was a mere 
 shadow of the old royal rule. Zechariah's last vision (Zech. 
 vi.) had shown how in Maccabaean days it was to be merged 
 in the priesthood. The crown is set on Joshua, not on 
 Zerubbabel. " That would have been confusing ; a seeming 
 restoration of the kingdom when it was not to be restored ; 
 an encouragement of the temporal hopes which were the 
 bane of Israel " {Pusey). The prophetic order had done 
 its work of expunging from God's worship the popular 
 heathenism. Habakkuk, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah 
 had blended its ideal (Micah vi. 8) with the priestly ideal 
 (Lev. xix. 2), and now the prophets and the condition de- 
 scribed in Amos iii. 7 had passed away, and the first effect 
 was an increased power of the priests, who must have been 
 almost as numerous in proportion to the population in 
 Judaea as the ecclesiastics in Papal Rome, and whose persons 
 were almost as sacred to the multitude as those of the
 
 i 5 8 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 Brahmins to the Hindus now. But three causes combined 
 to lesson this importance ultimately. 
 
 {a) The diminished glory of the Temple. If the decree 
 recorded in Ezra vi. was carried out, the Second Temple must 
 have been larger than Solomon's, and its worship was more 
 elaborate. It is characteristic of the age that, through the 
 Psalms we know more about its worship than about its walls, 
 more of its liturgy than of its structure. But the Holy of 
 Holies was empty. The Ark, for which the restored sacred 
 vessels were but a poor substitute, and round which their 
 religion had centred for nine centuries, had been carried up 
 to heaven (Rev. xi. 19), swallowed up by the earth, taken 
 by an angel to some secret place, hidden on Gerizim to 
 be found there at Messiah's coming (according to the 
 Samaritans), buried on Mount Nebo by Jeremiah in a place 
 that should not be known until God gathered His people 
 again together (2 Mace, ii.), or laid up in the mysterious 
 caverns of the Temple rock, once Araunah's granary 
 (1 Chron. xxi. 20), where the wood was stored, by Josiah 
 (a curious inference from 2 Chron. xxxv. 3) or by Jeremiah. 
 Such were the six various traditions about it, and as no 
 one has entered the Temple caverns for ages it may be 
 there still. 
 
 (J?) The dispersion of the Jews, through which Jehovah's 
 worship was no longer associated only with the soil of 
 Palestine as it had once been (1 Sam. xxvi. 19). When 
 a compact state had given place to a scattered church, 
 Synagogues, originating probably in the religious meetings 
 of the captives in Babylon, became numerous, and were 
 " the inspiring soul and abiding nurture of Judaism " 
 (Geikie). Finding out the inevitable results of withdrawal 
 from all ordinary religious privileges (which arc too often 
 illustrated in our remote colonies now), the exiles, whose 
 two saving influences at first had been the personal teaching 
 of Ezekicl and the literary teaching of the Psalms, deter- 
 mined that wherever ten Jews settled a congregation must 
 be formed, if only in a little river-side oratory (Acts xvi. 13). 
 So the synagogue gradually grew up, though we find 
 few mentions of it until after the Maccabaean war. To a 
 great extent its ritual reproduced that of the Temple, but 
 it had neither sacrifices nor priests. The public worship
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 159 
 
 which was now the chief witness to God's Presence amoiF 
 them was conducted by laymen learned in the Law, and 
 consisted chiefly of prayer, a short sermon, and, above all, 
 that stated reading of the Law which had been inaugurated 
 by Moses and firmly established by Ezra. When the 
 Syrian persecution made copies of the Law scarce, a second 
 lesson from the Prophets was added to the daily service 
 (Luke iv. 16, 17). 
 
 (V) The supplanting of the hierarchy of caste by the 
 hierarchy of education. The Scribes originally were re- 
 gistrars or clerks (Jer. Hi. 25) and royal secretaries (2 Kings 
 xii. 10). Hezekiah seems to have employed them first 
 in transcribing and preserving ancient writings (Prov. 
 xxv. 1), and from the times of Baruch and Ezra their main 
 work was handing down, expounding and enforcing the 
 words of God, no longer a living voice through His prophets, 
 but fixed in a Book whose growing value to the Jew may 
 best be estimated from Psalm cxix., " the golden alphabet 
 of Hebrew faithfulness." To these scribes (or " lawyers " 
 to call them by their less official name) the ancient authority 
 of priest and prophet was transmitted ; and our modern 
 clergy as " messengers, watchmen, and stewards of the 
 Lord " {Ordering of Priests) go back rather to Ezra's pulpit 
 than to Samuel's college or to Aaron's altar. 
 
 All Christians are spoken of as kings and priests, God 
 still makes known His truth to them by the Holy Spirit as 
 He did to the prophets of old ; the princes of Christendom 
 " rule all states and degrees committed to their charge by 
 God" (Article XXXVII.), and "from the Apostles' time 
 there have been orders of ministers in Christ's Church " for its 
 regulation as an organised society. But the Church owns 
 no earthly supreme head, offers no daily sacrifice for sins, 
 and acknowledges no new prophetic messages from God. 
 Christ only is our King, Priest, and Prophet in the full 
 sense of these words now. The modification of those three 
 ancient offices after 536 already foreshadows " the more 
 excellent ministry " and " the better covenant " yet to come 
 (Heb. viii. 6). 
 
 From the Post-Exilian Jews we may learn much con- 
 cerning zeal for God's honour and love for God's word. 
 But while every error in religion is the distortion of a truth,
 
 160 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 there is no religious truth that has not at some time been 
 distorted into an error. The intensely national character 
 of their religion degenerated into a haughty spirit of exclu- 
 siveness and an arrogant assumption of superiority to all 
 other men. They doubted that a Jew could be lost or a 
 Gentile saved, and the Book of Sifri in the Talmud maintains 
 that " a single Israelite is of more worth in God's sight- 
 than all the nations of the world." Their zeal for the law 
 of Moses, which had never been so rigidly observed, degene- 
 rated into a hardening of living principles to dead rules. 
 Their three favourite maxims were : Be discreet in judging, 
 Train up many scholars, Make a hedge around the Law. 
 That hedge of elaborate tradition not only emphasized and 
 fixed the Law, but gradually choked it with formulas and 
 mere external observances. " It is a well-known principle 
 in history that when the ceremonial is elevated to the same 
 rank with the moral, the latter will soon be lost sight of" 
 {Stalker), and so " duty had ceased to be infinite." All these 
 types of degeneracy illustrate and are abundantly illustrated 
 by the New Testament. 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (Seep. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions II., V., VII., IX., XI., XII., XVI., XVIII., XXIII., XXVIII., 
 
 and XXXI., may be answered with help of any books.] 
 
 I. Find three lists of precious stones in the Bible. (3.) 
 
 II. Illustrate Ezek. xxxiv. by quoting 20 other passages 
 from the Old and New Testament in which God's relation 
 to man is spoken of under the same metaphor. (15.) 
 
 III. Without referring to Daniel's book, prove that its 
 author was a prophet and a man of faith, very wise and 
 very righteous. What passages in Daniel arc quoted or 
 referred to in the New Testament? (12.) 
 
 IV. Consider Daniel as a type of Christ. Do you agree 
 with the statement that he is " the most perfect of all Scrip- 
 ture characters " ? (1 5.) 
 
 V. What may we learn from the writings of this period 
 as to the nature and ministry of angels ? Of how many 
 archangels do we hear in Scripture ? (12.) 
 
 VI. Give a very concise history of what occurred between
 
 QUESTIONS.. 161 
 
 B.C. 192 1 and B.C. 1490 in quotations from (not references 
 to) the Psalms of this period. (15.) 
 
 VII. Did those who returned from the Captivity represent 
 twelve tribes or two ? (9.) 
 
 VIII. The Second Temple was built " according to the 
 command of God and the decree of Cyrus," both issued 
 before the Return. Which prophet pictured its establish- 
 ment, and where do we find the decree completely 
 quoted ? (2.) 
 
 IX. Briefly enumerate the particulars in which the 
 Second Temple differed from the First Temple. (8.) 
 
 X. Give six New Testament references showing what 
 constitutes the Temple of the Christian Dispensation. (6.) 
 
 XI. Of how many Passovers and of what notable events 
 occurring at the Feast of Tabernacles is there record in the 
 Old Testament ? (9.) 
 
 XII. Mention under descriptive titles the eight visions 
 of Zech. i. — vi., very shortly indicating the significance of 
 each. (24.) 
 
 XIII. From what opposed monarchs of earlier times 
 were Mordecai and Haman respectively descended ? How 
 is the group of captives to which Mordecai belonged 
 characterised by Jeremiah ? (4.) 
 
 XIV. Explain why intermarriage with aliens was pro- 
 hibited to Israel. (5.) 
 
 XV. Name a good man falsely accused of wishing to 
 make himself a king, and find a New Testament parallel. (2.) 
 
 XVI. How far was the solemn national compact described 
 in Neh. x. 28-39 observed afterwards ? (5.) 
 
 XVII. Chronologically, who is the latest person men- 
 tioned by name in the Old Testament ? (2.) 
 
 XVIII. Illustrate Heb. xi. 33-8 from the history of the 
 period from B.C. 606 to A.D. I. (16.) 
 
 XIX. Where is common prayer first mentioned as part 
 of the public worship of God ? Show that prayer became 
 more and ritual less important after the Captivity. (6.) 
 
 XX. Where do these expressions first occur : " the Jews," 
 " the Holy Land," " the Holy City " ? (6.) 
 
 XXI. Eight rebellious questions are asked by the Jews 
 in answer to God's pleadings through Malachi. Quote in 
 each case the pleading and the question. (4.) 
 
 11
 
 1 62 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 XXII. Find eight New Testament quotations from 
 Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. (8.) 
 
 XXIII. Explain briefly the following passages :— Ezek. 
 xxviii. 14 ; Dan. iii. 25 ; Neh. viii. 8 ; Hag. i. 2 ; Zech. 
 i. 21, viii. 19, ix. 13, xii. 1 1, xiii. 6 ; Mai. iv. 6. (30.) 
 
 XXIV. What allusions are therein the prophets of this 
 period to (a) the Garden of Eden, (b) the institution of 
 marriage, (c) Abraham, (d) Esau, (e) the Exodus, (/) the 
 Law given on Horeb, (g) David, (h) Alexander the Great, 
 (z) the Maccabees. (14.) 
 
 XXV. Make a list of the chief names of God in the 
 writings of this period. (30.) 
 
 XXVI. Quote ten sentences from Psalm cxix. (R.V.) in 
 which the Scriptures are called by ten different names. (5.) 
 
 XXVII. Name the only historical Old Testament book 
 In which Palestine is not referred to, and the only prophetic 
 book that contains no clear Messianic allusion. (2.) 
 
 XXVIII. Find the earliest Biblical allusions to {a) the 
 King of Assyria, {b) Nineveh, (V) the Chaldeans, (d) Babylon, 
 (e) Persia, (/) the Grecians, (g) the Romans, (h) Cyprus, 
 (z) Spain, (j) India, {k) China, (/) The ancestors of the 
 present nations of Europe. (Those in italics are mentioned 
 under other names.) (12.) 
 
 XXIX. From the Old Testament prophets generally 
 quote passages enforcing the fourth commandment. (7.) 
 
 XXX. From the Old Testament prophets generally 
 quote passages anticipating the " mystery " spoken of in 
 Eph. iii. 3-6, and give six Old Testament instances of 
 Gentiles spiritually blest by contact with the Chosen 
 People. (16.) 
 
 XXXI. From the direct prophecies (not general allusions) 
 in the Old Testament construct a description of the 
 Messiah's character, offices, and life on earth. (70.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — {a) "The 
 light dwcllcth with Him." (b) " Light is sown for the 
 righteous." (c) " I will curse your blessings." (d) " God 
 turned the curse into a blessing." (e) " There shall be no 
 more curse." (/) " I will make them a blessing." (g) " Thou 
 hast made me glad through Thy work." (/z) " The Lord 
 hath made them joyful." (z) " The joy of the Lord is your 
 strength." (J) " The day that I do make." (/■) " Who
 
 QUESTIONS. 163 
 
 maketh winds His messengers." (/) " Boys and girls play- 
 ing in the streets." (m) "A people near unto Him." 
 (n) " Satisfied with good." (<?) " Every one unto his work." 
 (/>) " Be strong and work." (q) " Show the house." (r) Love 
 truth and peace." (s) " Teach ye him that knoweth not." 
 (£) " O that ye would hear His voice." (u) " In their 
 security shall he destroy many." (v) "We are His." 
 (w) " Because they wrought for Me." (x) " In his hand 
 shall be destruction." (y) " I shall not die, but live." 
 (2) " Righteousness shall make His footsteps a way to walk 
 in." (26.) 
 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 1 64 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 The Six Centuries from Judah's Fall to the 
 Birth of Christ. 
 
 (i) B.C. 606 — 536 (70 years). The Subjection to Babylon 
 
 (2) B.C. 536 — 332 (204 years). The Domination of Persia. 
 
 (3) B.C. 332 — 301 (31 years). The Domination of Macedon. 
 
 (4) B.C. 301 — 198 (103 years). The Domination of Egypt. 
 
 (5) B.C. 198 — 168 (30 years). The Domination of Syria. 
 
 (6) B.C. 168 — 63 (105 years). Independence under the 
 Asmoneans. 
 
 (7) B.C. 63 — 4 (59 years). The Domination of Rome. 
 
 " The great epochs of revelation are widely separated 
 by ages which serve at once for seed-time and harvest " 
 ( Westcotf). Such were the periods of silence before Abraham's 
 Call and the missions of Moses, Samuel, and the Baptist, 
 when God no longer spoke directly to men, but left them to 
 themselves to live out the law He had already given. We 
 must acquire some knowledge of the four centuries of Divine 
 silence which form the last of these periods, if we would 
 understand the state of affairs when our Lord came. Four 
 centuries never brought about a greater change in any 
 country than they brought about then in Palestine. The 
 literature of this age, which we call the Apocrypha, is far 
 less familiar than the Old Testament and the New Testa- 
 ment, for it was not placed in the Canon by the Jews 
 or by the Church, in accordance with the well-established 
 principle " no living Prophet, no further Scripture." The 
 character and names of its various books are given in the 
 Sixth Article, each is described in § vi. of "Oxford Helps," 
 and the books themselves arc bound up with many old 
 Bibles. External and internal evidence both place it on a 
 lower level than the Canon, but it forms a valuable link 
 between the Old and New Testament, so we do well to 
 make some acquaintance with it. Its most noteworthy books 
 arc, from the historical point of view, 1 and 2 Maccabees ; 
 and from the literary point of view, Ecclcsiasticus, represent- 
 ing the Hebraic Judaism of Palestine, and full of practical 
 piety and wise humanity ; and Wisdom, representing the
 
 FROM JUDAH'S FALL TO CHRIST'S BIRTH. 165 
 
 Hellenistic Judaism of Alexandria, and full of earnest 
 thought and high philosophy, the last and fairest growth of 
 Judaism. There is no certain reference to an Apocryphal 
 book in the recorded words of Christ, but S. James in his 
 short Epistle refers five times to Wisdom and 1 5 times to 
 Ecclesiasticus, and there are other traces of the Apocrypha 
 in the New Testament. 
 
 We will now look at this period of history, taking for our 
 guide Dan. xi., whose circumstantial details of the first 240 
 years make it unlike any other Old Testament prophecy. 
 Its picture of Judah's suzerains passes by a transition hard 
 to mark into a far-reaching vision of the end of the world. 
 This outline should be compared with § xiii. of " Oxford 
 Helps," and also, if possible, with some such account of 
 the period as those in Smith's " New Testament History," 
 Angus's "Handbook," Milman's "History of the Jews," 
 Westcott's " Introduction, to the Study of the Gospels," or 
 Stanley's " Jewish Church," vol. iii. 
 
 Perfect religious liberty and sympathy with their rulers, 
 born of a common monotheism and hatred of idolatry, made 
 the Persian Domination one of the happiest periods of Jewish 
 history. Of the century following Nehemiah's rule we know 
 almost nothing. Then the young Greek conqueror of the 
 world, whose career is vividly pictured in Daniel, and who 
 believed himself to be the Heaven-sent reconciler and paci- 
 ficator of all mankind, spared and favoured Judaea, and 
 linked East and West in a bond which has never since been 
 broken, thus preparing the way for Christianity with its 
 Eastern cradle and its Western throne. His work was per- 
 petuated in Alexandria, the city he founded to bear his 
 name, a second capital of the Jewish faith henceforth, and 
 the common portal of the East and West to this day. The 
 spiritual gains of the Persian period were followed by the 
 intellectual gains of the Greek period, and on the banks of 
 the Nile a new Israel, trained in all the wisdom of a new 
 Egypt, arose. After Alexander's death in 323, the maritime 
 regions of Palestine were for some 20 years buffeted in the 
 strife between his successors. Then followed a peaceful 
 century under five Macedonian Kings of Egypt, whose 
 capital was Alexandria. All are mentioned as " Kings of 
 the South " in Dan. xi. They were, —
 
 1 66 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 (i) Ptolemy Soter, 320 — 283 (Dan. xi. 5). 
 
 (2) Ptolemy Philadelphus, 285 — 247 (v. 6). 
 
 (3) Ptolemy Euergetes, 247 — 222 (v. 7, 9). 
 
 (4) Ptolemy Philopater, 222 — 205 (v. 11). 
 
 (5) Ptolemy Epiphanes, 205 — 181 (v. 14). 
 
 Under Ptolemy Soter lived Simon the Just, the greatest 
 High Priest between Joshua the son of Jehozadak and 
 Jonathan the Asmonean. He is said to have finished 
 Ezra's work by completing the Old Testament Canon and 
 Nehemiah's work by fortifying the Temple. Under Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus was produced the Septuagint. The Greek 
 tongue had already proved itself the most perfect expression 
 of human thought by becoming practically universal, and 
 now God's Word appeared in what was hereafter to be the 
 language of the New Testament. The Septuagint has been 
 well called " The first Apostle of the Gentiles." Ptolemy 
 Philopater alienated the Jews by forcing his way into the 
 Holy of Holies, and cruelly persecuting them when a super- 
 natural terror drove him forth. He was then at war with 
 the Syrian king who had just taken " the well-fenced city " 
 of Sidon. Him the Jews rashly welcomed as a deliverer, 
 and thus passed under the sway of three Macedonian 
 Kings of Syria, whose capital was Antioch, and who are 
 mentioned in Dan. xi. as " Kings of the North." They 
 were, — 
 
 (1) Antiochus the Great, 223 — 187 (Dan. xi. 10, 15). 
 
 (2) Seleucus IV., 187 — 175 (v. 20). 
 
 (3) Antiochus Epiphanes, 175 — 164 (v. 21, etc.). 
 
 Hitherto Israel's foreign suzerains, while exacting tribute, 
 had respected their customs and left the conduct of their 
 affairs to their own princes and priests. To the Ptolemies 
 their relations had been almost wholly friendly, and they 
 were yielding more and more to the spell of Greek art and 
 culture. But between them and the Syrian Kings there 
 was antagonism from the beginning, ending in the wanton 
 attempt of Antiochus Kpiphancs (a half-mad despot whose 
 character reappears in great measure in Nero 200 years 
 later) to Hellenise Judaea completely, to substitute the 
 heathen " god of fortresses " for the God of Israel, and to 
 extinguish their ancient religion by a ruthless persecution,
 
 FROM JUDAH'S FALL TO CHRIST'S BIRTH. 167 
 
 which proved in the end its truest safeguard. The deter- 
 mined effort to destroy or deface every copy of the Law 
 increased love for God's Word and zeal for its multiplication ; 
 the determined effort to trample out their nation roused an 
 indomitable spirit of patriotism, which gave unity and com- 
 plete independence to a race that had been a subject race 
 for nearly 4 J centuries. It was for this crisis, which settled 
 whether the true faith would perish or prevail, that the 
 wonderful Book of Daniel had been "sealed up" (Dan. 
 xii. 4). " Its sword-edge utterance, its piercing exhortation to 
 endure in face of the despot, and its promise full of Divine 
 joy of near and sure salvation " {Ewald) quickened their 
 courage, and its earliest glorification of the martyr spirit 
 spoke to the hearts of the first martyrs of whom history gives 
 us any details. The story of this great struggle for civil and 
 religious liberty is the finest episode of the whole period. 
 Mattathias, a descendant of Eleazar, son of Aaron, had five 
 heroic sons, who achieved Judah's deliverance and founded 
 a family which ruled for more than a century. From its 
 ancestor Chashmon it was called Asmonean, or Maccabaean 
 from a word meaning " hammer " (comp. Jer. 1. 23, and 
 Charles Martel), or from the initials of the first sentence of 
 Exod. xv. 11. These priestly rulers were, — 
 
 (1) Judas, 166 — 161 "1 
 
 (2) Jonathan, 161 — 143 > Sons of Mattathias. 
 
 (3) Simon, 143— 135 j 
 
 (4) John Hyrcanus I., 135 — 106. Son of Simon. 
 
 (5) Aristobulus I., 106 — 105 ) Sons of Hyr- 
 
 (6) Alexander Jannaeus, 105 — 78 ) canus I. 
 
 (7) Alexandra, 78 — 69. Widow of Jannaeus. 
 
 (8) Hyrcanus II., 3 months ") c r T 
 
 > < . J . . , , tt /- r I Sons of Jannaeus 
 
 (9) Aristobulus II., 69—63 V , Alex J andra 
 
 (8) Hyrcanus II., 63-40 j and Ale * andra - 
 (10) Antigonus, 40 — ^y. Son of Aristobulus II. 
 
 Judas is the Wallace of Hebrew history. No one ever 
 united more generous valour with a better cause, and of all 
 military chiefs he accomplished the largest ends with the 
 smallest means. As Israel's preserver in its extremity, he has 
 a place beside Moses, Samuel, and David. In 168 the stand- 
 ard was raised. In 167 he won decisive victories at Samaria,
 
 1 68 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 Bethhoron and Emmaus in Philistia, and at Bethzur in 166, 
 thus regaining the Temple. The crowning conflict of Adasa 
 or Bethhoron, the Marathon of Jewish history, took place 
 in 161, on the scene of Joshua's greatest triumph in 1450, 
 traditionally also the scene of Sennacherib's destruction in 
 701. The army of Judas "advanced to victory," says the 
 historian, " fighting with their hands and praying with their 
 hearts." In the same year, the great " Hammer of the 
 Gentiles " fell at Eleasa, the Hebrew Thermopylae, dying, 
 as all his brothers did, a violent death. 
 
 The last undoubted representative of the High Priest 
 Joshua fled in 167 from the desecrated Temple to Egypt, 
 and at Leontopolis founded a secondary rather than a rival 
 Temple, to form a religious centre for the Hellenistic Jews 
 of the Dispersion, thus professing to fulfil Isa. xix. 18, 19. 
 This lasted for three centuries. Great was the degradation 
 of the high priesthood, when in 162 the Syrians gave it 
 to Alcimus, who had placed himself at the head of the 
 Hellenising party. In Jonathan, however, a new and noble 
 line of high priests was instituted. But alteration of a 
 succession which had remained unbroken for nearly 900 
 years paved the way for further changes, and one Rabbi 
 finds an explanation of Prov. x. 27 in the fact that during 
 410 years the First Temple had 18 high priests, while the 
 Second Temple, during 426 years, had more than 300. 
 
 Simon snapped the last Syrian fetter when in 142 he 
 took the citadel that over-awed God's sanctuary, and his 
 successor saw the issue of a 40 years' strife in the formal 
 recognition of Judah's independence in 128. Hyrcanus I. 
 also conquered her two nearest relatives and bitterest 
 enemies, Edom and Samaria, and in 109 razed the rival 
 temple of Gerizim to the ground, thus triumphantly closing 
 the 60 years of ecclesiastical commonwealth which form 
 the first and best half of the Maccabajan age. 
 
 Seventy years of ecclesiastical monarchy (the last 37 
 merely nominal) followed. For the last six Maccabnsan 
 rulers assumed the title, not of " King of Israel," but of 
 " King of the Jews " (contrast John i. 49 and Matt, xxvii. ^,7), 
 the new phrase marking the new character of the monarchy. 
 Their Greek names indicate the growing strength of 
 Hellenism. Already in the reign of Hyrcanus the parfy
 
 FROM JUDAH'S FALL TO CHRLSTS BIRTH. 169 
 
 strife between the two opposed sects of Pharisees and 
 Sadducees, henceforth to play so large a part in Jewish 
 history, had begun. The self-seeking ambition of the later 
 Asmoneans led to family discord and political confusion, 
 till Alexander, grandson of the Simon whose wisdom and 
 valour " had made his honourable name renowned unto 
 the end of the world," was a detested tyrant, and six years 
 of civil war between his two sons ended in appeal to the 
 arbitration of Rome. That ever encroaching and irresistible 
 power restored Hyrcanu's II to nominal rule, and from 
 B.C. 37 to a.d. 6 an Edomite dependant of Rome and his 
 son held imposing sovereignty over Jacob's descendants. 
 But practically from B.C. 63 to the awful close of their 
 history as a nation, the Jews had no king but Caesar. 
 Aristobulus III., grandson of both Aristobulus II. and 
 Hyrcanus II., was the last Asmonean high priest, and his 
 beautiful and ill-fated sister Mariamne, wife to the Herod 
 of Matt. ii. 1, and grandmother of the Herod of Acts xii. 1, 
 and of Herodias, was the last of her race. See " Oxford 
 Helps," § xxii. 
 
 During these six centuries Judaism had gained elasticity 
 of shape without losing distinctness of principle. But its 
 hierarchy had degenerated into a mere sect, its kingdom 
 had ended in foreign usurpation. It had been weighed 
 and found wanting, yet "a missionary nation was waiting 
 to be charged with a heavenly commission, and a world 
 had been unconsciously prepared to welcome it." 
 
 To sum up. We have seen the nation which was chosen 
 to represent the whole race, created in God's image (First 
 Term), trained to His likeness (Second Term), made to 
 have dominion (Third and Fourth Terms), falling and 
 thwarting His designs (Fifth and Sixth Terms), and 
 restored by His grace (Seventh Term). 215 years of 
 wandering for its ancestors; 215 years of bondage in 
 Egypt ; 450 years of struggle for mastery in Palestine ; 
 450 years of national independence ; 300 years' domination 
 of the East, i.e., of Babylon and Persia ; 300 years' 
 domination of the West, i.e., of Greece and Rome ; such 
 was the historical preparation of the Chosen People for the 
 greatest event in human history.
 
 THE PSALMS. 
 
 ARRANGED IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE. 
 
 I. History and Purpose of the Psalms. 
 
 AMID manifold differences of opinion and usage, all who 
 worship God agree that their devotion may best be 
 uttered in the words of an ancient volume of poems which 
 we call the PSALMS, from a Greek word meaning songs 
 having a musical accompaniment, which its Hebrew authors 
 called by the less comprehensive name of Tehillim, that is, 
 Praises (see Psalm cv. 2, R.V. and A.V.). Sung or said ; 
 in prose translation or metrical paraphrase ; in the vulgar 
 tongue, or in Hebrew, Greek, or Latin ; within the stately 
 Anglican cathedral, enriched by the heritage of many ages, 
 yet ever adapting itself to the times ; in the sternly simple 
 Scottish kirk ; in the Nonconformist chapel, bared of all 
 that does not commend itself to a particular body of 
 Christians ; in the Roman church, crowded with signs of 
 traditional observance ; in the Greek or Oriental church, 
 which recalls to us a yet dimmer past ; and in the Jewish 
 synagogue, from whose ceremonial that of all Christendom 
 sprang, Psalms are sung fervently, constantly, sometimes 
 as the only, always as the chief form of spiritual song. 
 
 We open our Bibles to find a Bible within the Bible, 
 " an epitome of the Bible " (to quote the phrase of 
 Athanasius). Elsewhere we have God's words to us, here 
 arc our words to God, our answer to His revelation given 
 in the rest of the Scriptures. Hence to every age and 
 church, and to each pious heart, this is the best known 
 and best loved part of Holy Writ. Its naturalness and 
 simplicity, its fresh joyousness and tender pathos, its 
 
 170
 
 HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF THE PSALMS. 171 
 
 diversity and breadth, its fervour of feeling and depth of 
 thought, its sympathy with every mode of human life and 
 every phase of nature, above all its spirituality, make it 
 worth more and more to the individual with advancing 
 years, and to the race with further evolution of the ages. 
 " What sadness and melancholy comes over me at times, 
 and I find myself shedding tears like a child ! Then 
 those wonderfully consoling Psalms of David and Asaph 
 send a thrill of joy into my whole being." So wrote in his 
 Journal, Alexander Mackay, pioneer missionary to Uganda, 
 when persecution was raging against the church there in 
 March 1887. The Psalms cannot lose their value while 
 man longs for a personal relation to God, and feels that 
 such a relation is possible. Therefore they have ever been 
 an inspired manual of devotion in its sevenfold form : 
 (1) Confession of sin; (2) Supplication for spiritual gifts ; 
 (3) Petition for temporal blessings ; (4) Praise and thanks- 
 giving ; (5) Self-dedication; (6) Intercession; (7) Medi- 
 tation upon God's words and works. Nor are they a 
 manual of devotion only. " What is there necessary for 
 man to know which the Psalms are not able to teach ? " 
 says Richard Hooker. " The choice and flower of all 
 things profitable in other books, the Psalms do both more 
 briefly contain and more movingly also express, by reason 
 of that poetical form wherewith they are written " (" Ecclesias- 
 tical Polity," Book V., ch. xxxviii.). 
 
 The Psalms were at once the national ballads and 
 national liturgy of Israel. They form an accompaniment 
 of sweetest music to her whole history, from the plaintive 
 Prayer of Moses to the last burst of praise in the restored 
 Temple, or rather from her birthday paean by the Red Sea 
 (Exod. xv.) to the calm thanksgiving 1 500 years later in 
 the presence of the Lord's Christ, when the purpose of her 
 national existence was fulfilled (Luke ii. 29-32). This 
 music was not continuous, but specially enriched particular 
 periods. Its chief age was the age of David, and the fact 
 that he is the greatest lyric poet of the world may account 
 for the fact that Hebrew poetry throughout is lyric rather 
 than epic or dramatic. His rare genius mapped out the 
 path of all its later achievements. 
 
 What use the Jews made of this their Prayer Book, and
 
 172 THE PSALMS. 
 
 how God's prophets not only sanctioned, but commanded 
 use of music, vocal and instrumental, in public worship, we 
 may gather from 2 Chron. v. 13, vii. 3, xx. 19-22, xxix. 
 25-30; Ezra iii. 10, 11 ; Neh. xi. 17, xii. 40-47. We read 
 how in the daily service of the Second Temple, after the 
 prayers and the burnt offering, the meat offering, and the 
 offering of incense, and the priestly benediction, the silver 
 trumpets sounded and the white-robed choir of Levites, 
 standing on the fifteen steps between the Court of Israel 
 and the Court of the Women, closed the service by singing 
 with instrumental accompaniment the Psalm for the day, 
 i.e., one of these seven : xxiv., xlviii., lxxxii , xciv., lxxxi., 
 xciii., xcii. 
 
 Such was the worship which the first Christians so 
 regularly attended (Acts ii. 42, R.V.) and upon it the 
 worship of the Church was shaped. The first example of 
 Christian Common Prayer we have is based upon a Psalm 
 (Acts iv. 24-30). Use of the Psalms in apostolic times is 
 shown in 1 Cor. xiv. 26 ; Eph. v. 19 ; Col. iii. 16 ; J-ames-^. 
 •13. In very early days they were sung by two choirs anti- 
 phonally, as they are sung in cathedrals now, and for 1 500 
 years the Gloria Patri has been added to them to express 
 the idea that Christians can enter more fully into the 
 meaning of these inspired songs than those who first wrote 
 and sang them. Luther, for instance, called his four 
 favourite Psalms (xxxii., Ii., exxx., and cxliii.) Pauline, 
 saying they anticipated the great apostle's doctrine that 
 our trust is in God's forgiving mercy, not in our own 
 merits. In the Middle Ages, when our countrymen had 
 only a Latin Bible, they had the Psalms in English, and 
 these must have formed the best spiritual sustenance of 
 many a devout soul in the ages we call " dark." Our 
 Prayer Book version is more than 350 years old, being from 
 Cranmer's Bible (1539), or more exactly Coverdale's (1535). 
 
 II. Authors of the Psalms. 
 
 (1) MOSES, who wrote Psalm xc. 
 
 (2) DAVID ; 73 Psalms are ascribed to him in the 
 headings, ii. is also called his in the New Testament, and 
 x. is evidently his. Of these 75, five are probably of later
 
 AUTHORS OF THE PSALMS. 173 
 
 datj^ yiz., lxv., ciii.,^ xxii., cxxjy., and cxliv. Hence we 
 
 may regard 70 as really his. 
 
 (3) SOLOMON ; two Psalms are ascribed to him in the 
 headings, and_J. ? exxvii i., exxxii. are probably his also, 
 making five in all. / 
 
 (4) ASAPH ; twelve Psalms arc ascribed to him, of which 
 1., lxxiii., and lxxvii. are almost certainly his, and also most 
 probably lxxviii., lxxxi., and lxxxii. The other six seem 
 to be of later date, of his school rather than his. 
 
 (5) HEMAN ; lxxxviii. is ascribed to him, and eleven are 
 of his school, viz., Korahite. 
 
 (6) Ethan ; to him lxxxix. is ascribed. On the last 
 three authors a few notes may be added. When David 
 first organised a full choral service for Divine worship, he 
 set apart for its maintenance the following three families of 
 prophets and singers, one from each of the Levite tribes. 
 They were like the " colleges " of bards in other nations. 
 
 (a) Of the tribe of Gershon, the sons of Asaph. I Chron. 
 xxv. 1-6; 2 Chron. v. 12, xx. 14, xxix. 13, 14, xxxv. 15; Ezra 
 ii. 41, iii. 10 ; Neh. vii. 44, xi. 17, 22, xii. 35. At their head 
 was Asaph, the son of Berachiah, a prophet (Matt. xiii. 35) 
 and" musical composer, who is placed on a par with David 
 himself. Joah, Hczckiah's chronicler, seems to have been 
 his descendant. 1 Chron. vi. 39, xv. 17, 19, xvi. 4-7, 37~4 2 ! 
 2 Chron. xxix. 30, xxxv. 1 5 ; Neh. xii. 46 ; 2 Kings xviii. 
 18, 37 ; Isa. xxxvi. 3, 22. (b) Of the tribe of Kohath, the 
 Korahites, or Korathites, descendants of Korah, Kohath's 
 grandson (Num. xvi. 1), also called sons of Heman 
 1 Chron. ix. 19, xii. 6. At their head was Heman, son of 
 Joel, and grandson of Samuel, kingjs seer in the words of 
 GocL_and singer. He is probalDlytcT be identified with 
 Heman the Ezrahite {i.e., descendant of Zerah, son of 
 Judah), who was famed for his wisdom. His Levite ancestor 
 may have married a Judasan heiress, when he would be 
 reckoned in both tribes. 1 Kings iv. 3151 Chron. ii. 6, 
 vi. 33, xxv. 5, 6. (c) Of the tribe of Merari, the sons of 
 Jeduthun. At their head was Ethan, or Jeduthun, son of 
 Kishi, king's seer and singer, probably to be identified 
 with the wise Ethan the Ezrahite. I Chron. vi. 44 
 (References in which more than one of these psalmists or 
 schools are named are given once only.)
 
 I 7 4 • THE PSALMS. 
 
 Of the 101 Psalms with headings we have now assigned 
 96 to their authors, and we have attributed five of the 49 
 anonymous Psalms to David or Solomon. This leaves 
 five doubtfully headed, and 44 anonymous, of whose author- 
 ship no definite account can be given. 
 
 III. The Division of the Psalter into Five Books. 
 
 This division may have been suggested by the five books 
 of Moses, and of the Prophets. (The Jews reckoned the 
 twelve minor prophets as one book.) The five books of 
 Psalms are roughly chronological, and were probably formed 
 in succession. Each closes with a doxology. They are 
 discriminated in the R.V. 
 
 BOOK i (Psalm i. — xli.) is the original Psalter, and was 
 probably formed by Solomon. Jehovah occurs 272 times, 
 and Elohim 15 times in it. It contains 39 Psalms by- 
 David, one by Solomon (?), and one anonymous. 
 
 BOOK 2 (Psalm xlii. — lxxii.) may have been compiled 
 later by Solomon ; others refer its formation to Hezekiah. 
 Elohim occurs five times as often as Jehovah in it. It 
 contains 17 Psalms by David, one by Solomon, one by 
 Asaph, eight Korahite, and four anonymous. 
 
 BOOK 3 (Psalm lxxiii. — lxxxix.) may have been compiled 
 by Hezekiah or perhaps by Josiah. Elohim and Jehovah 
 occur equally often. It is liturgical in character, and 
 contains one Psalm by David, one by Ethan, eleven 
 Asaphitc, and four Korahite. 
 
 BOOK 4 (Psalm xc— cvi.) was probably compiled after the 
 Captivity. Jehovah is the dominant name. It contains 
 one Psalm by Moses, one by David, and fifteen anonymous. 
 
 BOOK 5 (Psalm cvii. — cl.) may have been compiled by 
 Ezra. It is mainly liturgical, and uses Jehovah chiefly 
 It contains twelve Psalms by David, three by Solomon (?), 
 and 29 anonymous. 
 
 IV. Psalms not in the Psalter. 
 
 Of these there are about 25 in the Old Testament and 
 three in the New Testament : viz., four by Moses (Exod. xv. ; 
 Num. xxi. 14, 15, and 17, 18; and Deut. xxxii.), one by 
 Deborah (Judg. v.), one by Hannah (1 Sam ii.), four by
 
 THE HEADINGS TO THE PSALMS. 175 
 
 David (2 Sam. i., xxii., xxiii. ; 1 Chron. xvi.), two by- 
 Isaiah (Isa. xii. and xxvi.), ten short prayers by Jeremiah, 
 one by Jonah, one by Habakkuk, and one by Hezekiah 
 (Isa. xxxviii.), one by the Virgin Mary, one by Zacharias, h^c 
 and one by Simeon (Luke i., ii.). Nearly all these are 
 easily discriminated in the R.V. The five other poetical 
 Books of the Old Testament may each be regarded as the 
 expansion of a Psalm, cp. Job and Psalm, xxxix. ; the 
 Song of Songs and Psalm xlv. ; Proverbs and Psalm i. ; 
 Ecclesiastes and Psalm xc. ; Lamentations and Psalm lxxix. 
 
 V. The Headings to the Psalms. 
 
 The authors of the Septuagint (the Greek translation of 
 the Old Testament made in B.C. 285, and often referred to 
 as the LXX.), evidently did not understand all the head- 
 ings to the Psalms, which must therefore be older than the 
 LXX. Some were probably affixed by the authors, others 
 later from conjecture or tradition. The most thorough 
 and_cautious scholars hesitate about setting them aside, save 
 in a few cases where internal evidence is clearly against 
 them. Four insufficient reasons for rejecting a larger 
 number have been given. (1) That these Psalms contain 
 words and grammatical forms of later date than that 
 assigned to them. Our knowledge of the stages of Hebrew, 
 and of the possible modernisations of copyists, is too 
 slender to warrant the sweeping conclusions sometimes 
 based on considerations of this kind. (2) That the word 
 "temple" must refer to Solomon's building. But see 
 1 Sam. iii. 3. (3) That definite hope for the future life is 
 later than the time of David. This is pure assumption. 
 See 2 Sam. xii. 23. (4) That all acrostic forms are late. 
 Of this there is no clear proof, and at least two acrostics 
 contain strong indications of David's authorship. 
 
 The Hebrew headings are explained in so many books 
 that I need only say here that Nehiloth, Neginoth, and 
 GittitJi refer to musical instruments. SJieminith, AlamotJi, 
 Higgaion, Shtggaion, and Selak are musical directions. 
 Muth-labben, AijeletJi Shahar, Skoshannim, SJiushan-Edutli, 
 MalialatJi, Leannotk, Al-tashJieth, and perhaps Jonath clem 
 rehokim, are names of well-known tunes to which the 
 Psalms in question were to be sung.
 
 - 
 
 176 THE PSALMS. 
 
 Six Psalms (xvi., lvi.-lx.) are called Michtam, which means 
 either " a golden song," one of special richness and beauty ; 
 or " a mystery," one of deep import. Thirteen (xxxii., 
 xlii., xliv.-, xlv. lii.-lv., Ixxiv., lxxviii.,lxxxviii., lxxxix., cxlii.) 
 . are called Maschil, meaning didactic, for the purpose of 
 giving instruction. Fifty-five are addressed to the Chief 
 Musician, that is, the choirmaster or precentor. These are 
 liturgical adaptations of the psalmist's personal experience 
 to the congregation. Fifteen short Psalms (exx.-exxxiv.) 
 of singular tenderness and beauty form a Psalter within the 
 Psalter, and are called Songs of Ascents or Pilgrim Songs, 
 either because they were sung by the people going up to 
 the great feasts (Isa. xxx. 29), or by the captives returning 
 to the Holy City, or by the Levites on the fifteen steps in 
 the Temple. Fifteen begin or end with Hallelujah (civ.-cvi., 
 cxi.-cxiii., cxv.-cxvii., exxxv., cxlvi.-cl.). Four begin with 
 Hodu (which means " give thanks "), and may be termed 
 EucJiaristic Psalms (cv., cvii., cxviii., exxxvi.). 
 
 Six are characterised as New Songs (xxxiii., xl, xcvi., 
 xcviii., cxliv., cxlix. See Isa. xlii. 10 ; Rev. v. 9, xiv. 3). 
 Six are Morning Hymns (iii., v., xix., lvii., lxiii., cviii.), and 
 three are Evening Hymns (iv., viii., cxliii.). These nine are 
 all David's. Five are called Prayers, viz., three of David's 
 (xvii., lxxxvi., cxlii.) ; also xc. and cii. Two (xxxviii., 
 lxx.) are entitled " To bring to remembrance or record" 
 (1 Chron. xvi. 4), which may mean "to remind God of 
 man." See Psalm cvi. 4 ; Rev. viii. 4 ; Acts x. 4 ; Lev. ii. 2. 
 
 Seven from early times have been reckoned Penitential 
 (cii., exxx., and five by David, vi., xxxii., xxxviii., Ii., and 
 cxliii.). Three are Imprecatory, that is, they call down 
 Divine judgment upon the wicked (xxxv., lxix., cix.). 
 As the language of God's servant about sin they are 
 absolutely right ; as the language of God's anointed King 
 upholding justice against wrong they are relatively right ; 
 as the language of personal desire for vengeance on 
 particular sinners they express the imperfect enlightenment 
 of the most enlightened ere Christ's new law was uttered, 
 and differ widely from His sternest denunciations (Matt, 
 v. 44 ; Luke ix. 55. Contrast 2 Chron. xxiv. 22 and 
 Acts vii. 60). 
 
 Nine Psalms and five other Bible poems are Acrostic,
 
 THE TWELVE MESSIANIC PSALMS. 177 
 
 that is, each verse begins with a different letter of the 
 Hebrew alphabet (Psalms ix., x., xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii., 
 cxi. * cxii. * cxix., cxlv. ; Lam. i., ii., iii. * iv. ; Prov. xxx. 
 10-31. Only those marked * are perfectly regular in struc- 
 ture). They are chiefly of a didactic character, and their 
 form seems to have been adopted as an aid to memory for 
 private devotion or public recitation. 
 
 A number of the Psalms are, more or less completely, 
 Historical. These not only supplement and confirm other 
 records, but are an illustration of how all the events of the 
 past contain lessons for the present. Unlike any other 
 national poems, they are thoroughly patriotic without in 
 any way feeding national vanity. They show that all 
 Israel's glory came from God, and all her misfortunes were 
 due to herself. Observe lastly that many of the later 
 Psalms are made up of quotations from earlier ones. Three 
 are complete reproductions, viz., liii., lxx., and cviii. 
 
 VI. The Twelve Messianic Psalms. 
 
 Seven Psalms refer to the Suffering, Risen, Ascended 
 Christ of the First Advent (xxii., xl., lxix., xvi., cxviii., xxiv , 
 lxviii.) ; five to the Glorified Christ of the Second Advent 
 (ii., xlv., lxxii., xcvii., ex.). In saying this we do not assert 
 that every word of these is Messianic. They contain acknow- 
 ledgments of sin, etc., which are inapplicable. Nor do we 
 deny that the whole Psalter may be regarded as Messianic. 
 The directly prophetic Psalms, such as ii., xlv., ex., are few. 
 Even these describe a promise of good things to come 
 connected in the first instance with David and Solomon, 
 but only finding complete fulfilment in their greater Son. 
 Nearly all the Psalms are, however, typical. " Thoughts 
 beyond their thought to those high bards were given " 
 (Keble) ; so when the Psalmist protests against scorn and 
 abuse, enmity and treachery, which sought to ensnare and 
 destroy a blameless man ; when he pictures suffering inno- 
 cence and vindicated righteousness ; when he utters his 
 delight in the word and will of God, we know that 
 unconsciously he is speaking in the name of Another, that 
 the Psalter is the Prayer Book not only of Israel and of 
 the Church, but also of Christ. Two lines of thought, 
 
 12
 
 178 THE PSALMS 
 
 traceable throughout, converge in Christ, (a) God drawing 
 near to man, (/;) Humanity in the person of its noblest 
 Representative exalted to God. Before they rejected our 
 Lord the Jews freely acknowledged the Messianic applica- 
 tion of the most remarkable prophetic and typical psalms. 
 Just as their whole religion was ultimately resolvable into 
 a Messianic hope, so their whole method of Scripture study 
 was Messianic application. They have since tried to explain 
 these Psalms away. Our best guide to their interpretation 
 is the use made of them by Christ and His Apostles. New 
 Testament references will therefore suggest their interpre- 
 tation here. Two-thirds of the Old Testament quotations 
 in the New Testament are from the Psalms. 
 
 VII. Plan of this Scheme for the Psalter. 
 
 The Psalms are arranged in chronological order sojar as 
 that can be done, and we connect those whose dates and 
 authors cannot be discovered with periods which may have 
 produced them and which are certainly illustrated by them. 
 We have no room for learned arguments and long lists of 
 authorities ; but in weighing the external evidence of the 
 headings and the internal evidence of language, style, and 
 allusions, I have availed myself of the works of not a few 
 good scholars who have given special attention to the 
 Psalms. For a clear, simple, and comprehensive account of 
 them, I know none better than that in the later editions of 
 Bishop Barry's "Teacher's Prayer Book," now issued in a 
 separate volume. For a fuller exposition see Dr. Perowne's 
 " Psalms" (Murray los. 6d). 
 
 Our plan of dealing with each Psalm is this. After 
 pointing out by whom, when, and under what circumstances 
 it was written, with a reference for those circumstances, 
 I give its number in the Psalter, a name indicating its 
 character and theme, a summary of its leading thought, New 
 Testament quotations or parallels, and one or two explana- 
 tory notes if needed. Filially, mention is made of its use in 
 the Anglican Church, in the Jewish Synagogue, and else- 
 where, and its special associations with the faithful of the past. 
 Throughout I use the Revised Version, which is particularly 
 helpful for the Psalms, as it clears up many difficult
 
 OF THE DAYS OF MOSES. 179 
 
 passages by its renderings, and enables us to follow their 
 poetical structure by its method of printing them. 
 
 Students of the Psalms as a whole would do well to 
 make out (a) A chronological table of all the allusions to 
 past history, from the Creation to the accession of Saul, 
 noting which made the deepest impression on the national 
 mind, (b) A collection of the Psalter's testimonies con- 
 cerning" the state of man immediately after death, and the 
 duration and character of the life beyond the grave, (c) A 
 summary of the references to Jerusalem, as the holy city, 
 the abode of God ; as the royal city, the abode of the King ; 
 and as the centre of national life. Reference to the follow- 
 ing pages will be aided, if the arabic numeral they assign 
 to each of the Psalms be written beside its roman numeral 
 in the student's own Bible. 
 
 It is to the devotional rather than to the intellectual or 
 practical aspect of Christian life that the Psalms direct our 
 attention, and this is the aspect most likely to be overlooked 
 in the hurry and pressure of our daily life now. Much of 
 the restlessness and spiritual hunger so common in these 
 days is due to neglect of that communion with God which 
 is as necessary for our spiritual welfare as the pure breath 
 of heaven is for our physical welfare. Great will be our 
 gain if fresh knowledge of " the Prayers of the son of Jesse " 
 teaches us to pray as we have never prayed before. 
 
 Second Term. The Theocracy. 
 
 (i.) One Psalm by Moses on the Plains of Moab about 
 B.C. 145 1 (Num. xxvii. 12-14; Deut. xxxiv.). 
 
 XC. A Prayer concerning Time and Eternity. 
 " How may man, whose true Home is the Everlasting God, 
 best use this mortal life ? " Quoted (ver. 4), 2 Peter iii. 8. 
 Compare Deut. xxxiii. 15, 27 with vv. I, 2 ; Gen. iii. 17-19, 
 Num. xxvi. 64, 65, and Rom. vi. 23 with vv. 7, 8 ; Heb. xii. 
 5-1 1 with ver. 1 5. This archaic Psalm, which bears through- 
 out the stamp of high antiquity, has been called the most 
 sublime of human compositions. Moses evidently meant 
 it to be his own funeral hymn, and it has since become the 
 funeral hymn of the world. Burial Service and New Year's Eve 
 Service. At Jewish burials in New Testament times, it was chanted 
 during a slow sevenfold circuit round the bier.
 
 i8o THE PSALMS 
 
 Third Term. The Reign of Saul. 
 
 Twenty Psalms by David between 1064 and 1056. Com- 
 pared with his later Psalms, David's early ones contain 
 more exuberant and vigorous poetry, less profound thought 
 and spirituality ; show less self-knowledge, and make 
 more vehement protestations of innocence. Reference to 
 Acts, xxiii. 1 proves, however, that this is not always 
 inconsistent with humility. They are marked by freshness 
 of tone and style, and unclouded trust in God. 
 
 (2 — 5.) Four during his youth at Bethlehem (1 Sam. 
 xvii. 15). 
 
 VIII. The Shepherd's Evening Hymn. " Before the 
 God of Nature, man is little ; before the God of Grace, 
 man is great." Quoted (ver. 2), Matt. xxi. 16 ; (ver. 4), Heb. 
 ii. 6-9 ; (ver. 6), 1 Cor. xv. 27. Compare Job vii. 17. The 
 antithesis brought out in this meditation on Gen. i. under 
 the brilliant glory of an Oriental heaven is strengthened 
 for us by larger knowledge of Nature's vastness, through 
 modern science ; and of God's grace, through the Incarna- 
 tion of our Lord. Ascension Day. 
 
 XIX. The Shepherd's Morning Hymn. " Great is 
 the majesty of God's starry heavens above, greater the 
 majesty of His pure law within the heart of man." Quoted 
 (ver. 4), Rom. x. 18 ; with ver. 12 cp. Rom. vii. 13. 
 What Nature can and cannot teach, and what the Word 
 of God is to His servants, could not be more accurately 
 expressed. " Line " (ver. 4) means " string " or " music " ; the 
 allusion is to Nature's song without words. Christmas Day 
 (for the Incarnation was the third and crowning revelation of God). 
 
 XXIII. The Shepherd's Watch in the Wilderness. 
 " My Divine Shepherd leads, restores, and comforts me, 
 and I fear no evil." Compare Luke xv. 4-6 ; John x. 1-16 ; 
 Heb. xiii. 20; 1 Peter ii. 25. With " thy rod and staff" 
 (ver. 4), one to lead, the other to defend, cp. Zech. xi. 7. 
 In some old liturgies, this Psalm took the place of the " Comfortable 
 Words" in our present Communion Service. 
 
 XXIX. The Psalm of the Seven Thunders. 
 " Might)- is the voice of the Lord our King." With ver. 4 
 cp. John v. 25. This Psalm describes a storm sweeping 
 over the whole land from Lebanon to Kadcsh. The Jews
 
 OF THE REIGN OF SAUL. 181 
 
 use it on the first day of Pentecost to commemorate the thunders of 
 Sinai ; also on the evening of New Year's Day. 
 
 NOTE. — Some refer viii. and xix. to the mature experi- 
 ence of David the King, xxiii. 4, 5 suggests the circum- 
 stances of his flight from Absalom, and no more beautiful 
 sequel to xxii.. could be found (cp. xxii. 15 and xxiii. 4). 
 TheJLXX. refers xxix. to the removal of the Ark to Zion. 
 If not, Tiowever, products of his shepherd days, they are 
 certainly reminiscences of them, and show how his religious 
 life and his poetic power developed in the lonely watches 
 of his youth. 
 
 (6, 7.) Two on Saul's attempt on his life at Gibeah (1 
 Sam. xviii. 11). 
 
 CXL. A Prayer against the Violent Man. " Save 
 me from foes without, O Strength of my salvation." Quoted 
 (ver. 3), Rom. iii. 13. With vv. 5, 7 cp. I Sam. xviii. 21-7 ; 
 with ver. 13 cp. Heb. xii. 14. " When Saul cast the javelin 
 at him " is the Syriac heading of this Psalm. Some, 
 however, apply it to Doeg. 
 
 CXLI. A Prayer for Aid against all Perils. 
 
 " Save me from foes within, and from the snares of the 
 
 wicked." With ver. 2 cp. Luke i. 9, 10. This Psalm is 
 
 evidently connected with the preceding, and utters the 
 
 shepherd-hero's sense of new peril in his new life at court. 
 
 Used at the Daily Evensong of the Greek Church from very early 
 times. 
 
 (8.) One on his escape from Saul's assassins (1 Sam. 
 xix. 11, 12). 
 
 LIX. A Golden Psalm on God's Defence. " Save 
 me from them that lie in wait." With ver. 3 cp. John viii. 
 40, 46 ; with ver. 7 cp. Mark xv. 29. " Heathen " (ver. 5) 
 may refer to Doeg. 
 
 (9, 10.) Two on his flight to Ram ah or Nob (1 Sam. 
 xix. 18, xx.). 
 
 XIII. Fear's Question. " How long wilt Thou forget 
 me? Lighten my eyes, lest the enemy prevail." With 
 ver. I Cp. Rev. vi. IO. Third Collect for Evensong. Usque quo 
 Domine? (How long, Lord?) was Calvin's motto. Princess Anne, 
 daughter of Charles L, aged four, died with ver. 3 on her lips. 
 
 XI. Faith's Answer. " Why bid me flee ? The Lord 
 rules and judges men, and I trust in Him." With ver. 2 
 cp. 1 Sam. xx. 36; with ver. 7 (R.V.) cp. Matt. v. S
 
 1 82 THE PSALMS 
 
 and Psalm cxl. 13. Written perhaps after the encourage- 
 ment of Jonathan's visit. Others refer it to Absalom's 
 Rebellion. 
 
 (11, 12.) Two when the Philistines seized him at Gath 
 (1 Sam. xxi. 10-15), an incident only recorded in tJie Jieading 
 to lvi. 
 
 LVI. A Golden Psalm of the Silent Dove among 
 ALIENS. " My foes are many, wily, and full of hatred. 
 But God is for me and will deliver me." With ver. 9 cp. 
 Rom. viii. 31 ; with ver. 13 cp. Jude 24. 
 
 XXV. An Acrostic Prayer for Forgiveness and 
 DELIVERANCE. " Put not Thy servant to shame in the 
 presence of the enemy." With ver. 20 cp. Rom. ix. 33, 
 and final verse of Te Deum, which formed the last words 
 of S. Francis Xavier. Both the substance and structure of 
 this Psalm indicate that it was written at the same time as 
 xxxiv. But some refer it to Absalom's Rebellion, pointing 
 to ver. 7, which does not, however, prove the author was 
 no longer young ; ver. 11, which may refer to circumstances 
 not recorded (see xxxiv. 18); and ver. 22, which is pro- 
 bably a liturgical addition of later times, like xxxiv. 22 
 and xiv. 7. Petrarch concludes his autobiography by quoting the 
 first clause of ver. 7, " than which," he says, " no words could sound 
 sweeter." 
 
 (13.) One on Jus escape from Gath by feigning madness 
 (1 Sam. xxii. 1). 
 
 XXXIV. An Acrostic Thanksgiving for Forgive- 
 ness AND Deliverance. " Let others learn from my 
 experience that God saves those who trust Him." Quoted 
 (vv. 12-15), 1 Peter iii. 10-12 ; (ver. 20), John xix. 33-6. 
 With ver. 8 cp. 1 Peter ii. 3 ; with ver. 13 cp. James i. 26. 
 " Abimelech " was the title of the Philistine kings : see Gen 
 xx. and xxvi., and cp. " Pharaoh " and " Caesar." In 597 the 
 dying S. Columba laid aside his pen for ever when he had transcribed 
 ver. 9, having Baithune to write out the rest. The Dutch admiral 
 Joost de Moor celebrated with this Psalm a victory over the Spaniards 
 on May 25th, 1603. 
 
 (14, i 5.) Two in the Cave of ' Adullam (1 Sam. xxii. 1, 2). 
 
 CXLII. A Didactic Prayer for Rescue. "For- 
 saken of all men and brought very low, I cry to Thee, my 
 Refu With ver. 3 cp. Mark xiv. I. Ver. 7 (first clause) 
 
 was S. Francis of Assisi's last Quotation on his death-bed.
 
 OF THE REIGN OF SAUL. 183 
 
 LVII. A Golden Psalm of Thanksgiving for 
 Rescue. A Morning Hymn. "Thou wilt send from 
 heaven to save me, and I will sing Thy praise among the 
 nations." With vv. 3-5 cp. Acts ii. 31-3. Written perhaps 
 when his family and friends had come to him. Easter Day. 
 
 (16.) One in the Forest of HaretJi on Jiearing of the 
 massacre at Nob (1 Sam. xxii. 21). 
 
 LI I. A Didactic Psalm on Doeg the Edomite. 
 " Boast not thyself, false-tongued deviser of wickedness, 
 for God shall destroy thee." With vv. 2-4 cp. James 
 iii. 5-8, and see description of the Edomite character in 
 Obad. 3, 10 ; ver. 5 probably alludes to the Tabernacle, 
 and ver. 8 to the trees on the north slope of Olivet where 
 Nob was. 
 
 ( 1 7.) One on hearing in the Wilderness of ZipJi of KeilaJCs 
 treachery (1 Sam. xxiii. II, 12). 
 
 LVIII. A Golden Psalm concerning the Recom- 
 penses OF GOD. "Let those who are hardened in sin 
 learn that there is a God who judges in the earth." With 
 ver. 11 cp. Rom. xii. 19 and Rev. xxii. 12. Its connexion 
 with Keilah is a conjecture, but the characteristics of this 
 Psalm are those of David's early ones, and it closely 
 resembles lii. The metaphor in ver. 9 is from a fire kindled 
 for cooking in the wilderness. 
 
 (18.) One in the Wilderness of ZipJi on Saul's pursuit 
 (1 Sam. xxiii. 14, xxiv. 11, 14, 15, xxvi. 20). 
 
 XXXV. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning the 
 Enemies of the Righteous Man. " Strive with my 
 foes, judge my accusers, and save me from those who are 
 too strong from me." Quoted (ver. 19), John xv. 25. With 
 ver. 11 cp. Matt. xxvi. 60 ; with ver. 12 (R.V.) cp. John xvi. 
 32 ; with ver. 13 cp. Luke xiii. 34. The metrical structure 
 is peculiar and artistic. David evidently alludes to the 
 base enmity of Saul's jealous courtiers. Vv. i, 2 formed the 
 prayer of Thanew, mother of S. Kentigern, when in 518 she was cast 
 adrift upon the Firth of Forth. 
 
 (19.) One in the Wilderness of Maon on the ZipJiites 1 
 trcacJiery (1 Sam. xxiii. 19-28). 
 
 LIV. A Didactic Psalm on the enmity of the 
 Godless and the help of God. " Save me, and destroy 
 my foes. Thou hast delivered, and I will give thanks."
 
 1 84 THE PSALMS 
 
 With vcr. 4 cp. Acts xxvi. 22. Ver. 7 may be explained 
 by I Sam. xxiii. 27, 28. Good Friday. 
 
 (20.) One on sparing Said in the Wilderness of Engedi 
 (i Sam. xxiv.). 
 
 VII. An Ode concerning Cush the Benjamite. 
 " Save me from the foe who causeless hated me, and whom 
 I spared, for I am righteous." Quoted (ver. 9), Rev. ii. 23. 
 With ver. 8 cp. John viii. 46 ; with ver. 1 1 cp. Gen. xviii. 
 25. Cush, one of Saul's adherents of whom nothing is 
 known, had slandered David to his master. Shiggaion 
 means a poem of free and erratic structure. 
 
 (21.) One on sparing Nab al {\ Sam. xxv. 39). 
 
 XVII. A Prayer comparing the World's gifts 
 WITH THE GIFTS OF God. " Hear me, uphold me, and 
 keep me from my deadly enemies." With ver. 14 cp. Matt, 
 vi. 2, Luke vi. 24, xvi. 8, 25, John xiv. 27 ; with ver. 15 
 cp. 1 John iii. I, 2, Rev. xxii. 4. The connexion with 
 Nabal is a mere inference from probability. 
 
 The Reign of David. 
 
 (A.) One Psalm by Asaph and fourteen by David (all 
 probably written at Jerusalem) during his glory and pros- 
 perity. ( 1 049 — 1036.) 
 
 This group of Psalms is noted for kingly dignity, perfec- 
 tion and maturity of style, profound thought, and intense 
 devotion." 
 
 (22.) One by Asaph on David's Accession (2 Sam. v. 1-9). 
 
 LXXVIII. A Didactic Psalm on Israel's History 
 from the Exodus to David's Capture of Jerusalem. 
 " Trust God who hath done such great things for you, and 
 follow not your fathers' rebellion." Quoted (vcr. 2), Matt, 
 xiii. 34, 35 ; (vv. 24, 25), John vi. 31. The date of this 
 first and greatest Historical Psalm, the longest next to 
 cxix., is fixed by the abruptness of its conclusion. It 
 describes and vindicates the transfer of the spiritual and 
 temporal headship from Shiloh and Ephraim to Jerusalem 
 and Judah. 
 
 (23.) One on the establishment of David's Throne (2 
 Sam. v. 10). 
 
 XVI. A Golden Psalm concerning God's Holy
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 185 
 
 ONE. "Preserve me. Thou wilt take me out of Sheol 
 and show me the path of life." Quoted (vv. 8-1 1), Acts ii. 
 25-32, xiii. 35-7. With ver. 4 cp. Lev. vii. 20, Zech. ix. 7 ; 
 with ver. 5 cp. Num. xviii. 20. The priestly character of 
 the Lord's Anointed may be referred to. With ver. 10 cp. 
 John xx. 9. 
 
 (24.) One when he desired yet feared to bring up the Ark 
 (2 Sam. vi. 9). 
 
 CI. The Godly resolves of the Lord's Anointed. 
 {A Speculum Regis or Mirror for Magistrates?) " I will 
 put away evil and follow good with a perfect heart." With 
 ver. 1 cp. Matt, xxiii. 23 ; with ver. 2 cp. Matt. v. 48 ; 
 with ver. 6 cp. 1 John iii. 3 ; with ver. 8 cp. Rev. xxi. 8. 
 Here David limits for himself the usual despotic power of. 
 Eastern kings. Queen's Accession. 
 
 (25, 26.) Two on bringing up the Ark. (2 Sam. vi. 1 2- 1 5). 
 
 XXIV. The Anthem of the King of Glory. 
 " Only the pure shall ascend God's hill. Let the King of 
 Glory enter His chosen abode." Quoted (ver. 1), I Cor. x 
 26; cp. Exod. ix. 29. With vv. 3, 4 cp. Heb. xii. 14; 
 with ver. 8 cp. James ii. 1, 1 Cor. ii. 8. This Psalm, describ- 
 ing the true God and the true worshipper, was written by- 
 David on the greatest day of his life, to be sung antiphonally 
 or alternately. The Levite choir who bore the Ark to 
 Zion's summit are answered by another choir who receive 
 it there. Ascension Day (see Mark xvi. 19). The Jews used it on 
 the First Day of the week, though unaware of its fitness for what was 
 to be the Day of Resurrection. 
 
 XV. Epilogue setting forth the right Worship 
 of the King of Glory. " He who would become God's 
 guest must be pure and true, kind and honourable, unselfish 
 and generous." Quoted (ver. 5), 2 Peter i. 10. Compare 
 Psalm 1. ; Isa. xxxiii. 13-17; Mic. vi. 6-8; John iv. 24; 
 1 Cor. xiii.; 1 John iv. 20, 21. Ancient usury differed in 
 several respects from modern interest. Ascension Day. 
 
 (27, 28.) Two on the Promise given through Nathan 
 (2 Sam. vii.). 
 
 CX. An Oracle concerning the Kingly Priest 
 WHO LlVETH FOR Ever. " Jehovah promised to my Lord 
 wide dominion and everlasting priesthood." Quoted oftcner 
 than any other portion of the Old Testament in the New
 
 1 86 THE PSALMS 
 
 Testament — viz., in Matt. xxii. 44 ; Mark xii. 36 ; Luke 
 xx. 42, 43 ; John xii. 34; Acts ii. 34, 35 ; 1 Cor. xv. 25 ; 
 Heb. i. 13, v. 6, vi. 20, vii. 28, x. 13 ; I Peter iii. 22. Com- 
 pare Dan. vii. 13, 14 ; Isa. ix. 6, 7. " Saith" in ver. 1 is a 
 word used specially of Divine utterances. With ver. 3 cp. 
 Rom. xii. 1 ; with ver. 4 cp. Zech. vi. 13 and Heb. vii. ; with 
 ver. 7 cp. John iv. 6, xix. 28. The Rabbis referred nearly 
 every word of this Psalm to the Messiah, and the Targum 
 of Jonathan renders ver. 1, " The Lord said to His Word." 
 Christmas Day. 
 
 CXXXVIII. A Psalm of Praise concerning the 
 WORD OF THE LORD. " I and all the kings of the earth 
 will thank Thee for Thy gracious words." With ver. 2 
 cp. John i. 1 ; with ver. 4 cp. Rev. xxi. 24 ; with ver. 8 
 cp. Phil. i. 6. Ver. 8 was Bishop Andrevves' favourite ejaculatory 
 prayer. 
 
 (29, 30.) Two on the Wars with Amnion and Syria, 
 according to the Syriac heading (2 Sam. x., xi., xii. 26-31). 
 
 XX. The People's Prayer for the King on the 
 Eve OF WAR. " God grant thy desire, for we trust in 
 Him. God save the King." With ver. 2 cp. 1 Kings viii. 
 44, 45; with ver. 3 (A.V. margin) cp. Lev. vi. 10, 11 ; 
 with ver. 6 cp. John xi. 42. This verse is the King's 
 uttered response to the people's supplication for him while 
 
 he was in silent prayer. Queen's Accession, 2nd versicle before 
 the Collect for the Day, 2nd versicle in Marriage Service, and Visitation 
 of the Sick. 
 
 XXI. The People's Praise for the King's Vic- 
 tory. "God has granted his desire, and saved him with 
 gnat glory." With ver. 3 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 30; with ver. 9 
 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 31 ; with vv. 4, 5 cp. 2 Sam. vii. 13, and 
 
 Heb. vii. 15, 16. Ascension Day. Queen's Accession. 
 
 (31, 32.) Two on the Wars with Edom (2 Sam. viii. 
 13, 14, R.V. margin, x. 7-19; 1 Chron. xviii. 12, 13, xix. 
 6-19; 1 Kings xi. 15, 16). 
 
 LX. A Golden Psalm of Triumph over Edom. 
 "Restore and save, O God." "All Israel shall submit to 
 thee, My anointed ; Moab, Edom, and Philistia are utterly 
 humbled." With ver. 8 cp. James iv. 6, Isa. xvi. 6, Obad. 
 1,3; with ver. 12 cp. 2 Cor. iii. 5. Ver. 9 refers cither to 
 Kabbah or Zobah, or possibly to Selah (2 Kings xiv. 7). 
 This Psalm shows more clearly than the history that David
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 1S7 
 
 fought against Syria of the Two Rivers (or Mesopotamia) 
 and Syria of Zobah, and after suffering a critical reverse, 
 won victory which brought him to the zenith of his power. 
 During the campaign the Edomites took advantage of his 
 absence in the north to revolt, and Joab was sent to quell 
 their rebellion. Lot's children are pictured as washing 
 the dust from Israel's feet (cp. I Sam. xxv. 41), Esau's are 
 imaged by the slave to whom was thrown the shoe taken 
 off for this washing ; the Philistines, who had so long 
 been Israel's mighty oppressors, cry aloud at last in forced 
 homage or terror. 
 
 CVIII. A Morning Song of Praise. This adapta- 
 tion of lx. and lvii. 7-1 1 was probably made to celebrate 
 some similar victory in later times. Ascension Day. 
 
 (33 — 3^-) Four on triumphing over all foreign enemies 
 and establishing lordship over the surrounding heathen 
 (1 Chron. xviii. 6, xx. 3). 
 
 IX. An Acrostic Psalm of Triumph over Foreign 
 Foes. " Righteous Judge of the world, I will praise Thee. 
 Thou hast destroyed the heathen and remembered the 
 poor." With ver. 8 cp. Acts xvii. 31 ; with ver. 12 cp. 
 Num. xxxv. 10-28 ; with ver. 13 cp. Acts ii. 31, 32. 
 
 II. The Conquering Kingdom of the Lord's 
 Anointed. " The heathen rage, but the Lord shall laugh 
 them to scorn, and His Son shall be King over the whole 
 earth." Quoted, Matt. xxvi. 63 ; Acts iv. 25-8, xiii. 33 ; 
 Hcb. i. 5, v. S ; Rev. ii. 27. Compare Rom. i. 4 ; Col. i. 18. 
 Ancient Jewish interpreters ascribe the Psalm to David, 
 and refer it to the Messiah. The New Testament not only 
 ascribes it to David, but founds an argument on his author- 
 ship. Its date is fixed by the allusion to the great Promise, 
 and to triumph over the heathen (ver. 12). Homage to 
 the sovereign is still expressed by a kiss. Easter Day. 
 
 XVIII. The Hebrew Te Deum, David's Liturgical 
 Song of Victory. (Repeated in 2 Sam. xxii.) " I love 
 and praise and give thanks to the Lord, my Strength and 
 Rock. He has delivered me from all my foes at home 
 and abroad, and will show lovingkindness to me and my 
 seed for ever." Quoted (ver. 49), Rom. xv. 9. With ver. 1 1 
 cp. 1 Tim. vi. 16; with ver. 28 cp. Matt vi. 22, 23; 
 with vv. 37-42 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 31 ; with ver. 48 cp.
 
 1 88 • THE PSALMS 
 
 Psalm cxl. Vcr. 50 is David's only mention of his own 
 
 name. The Theophany so magnificently described in 
 
 vv. 6-15 may be a reminiscence of some great storm that 
 
 fought for David. Compare Judg. v. 20, 21. 
 
 LXVIII. A National Thanksgiving for the 
 
 Kingdom established on Mount Zion. "The God 
 
 who went before us in the wilderness is gone up in triumph 
 
 to dwell for ever in His holy place on Zion." Ouoted, 
 
 Eph. iv. 8-12 ; cp. Col. ii. 15. With ver. 1 cp. Num. x. 35 ; 
 
 with ver. 4 cp. Exod. vi. 3 ; with ver. 1 1 (R.V.) cp. Exod. 
 
 xv. 20, Judg. v., 1 Sam. xviii. 6; with ver. 12 cp. 1 Sam. 
 
 xxx. 24; with ver. 18 cp. 2 Cor. vi. 16; with ver. 27 
 
 cp. Judg. v. 18 ; with ver. 29 cp. 2 Chron. ii. ; with ver. 
 
 31 cp. Acts viii. 27-39. v er. 22 speaks of enemies; 
 
 ver. 30 alludes to the crocodile, emblem of Egypt. The 
 
 Psalm was probably written for the festal procession which 
 
 brought back the Ark from David's crowning campaign 
 
 (2 Sam. xi. Ii). Whitsunday. Used by the Jews on the Feast 
 of Pentecost. 
 
 (B.) Twenty-six Psalms by David during the sufferings 
 that followed his great sin. ( 1 036 — 1 024.) 
 
 The sorrowful Psalms of this period show that prosperity 
 is more trying to spiritual life than adversity. The ex- 
 planation of David's fall may possibly be seen in the state 
 of heart depicted in Psalm xviii. 20-24. 
 
 (37 > 3 8.) Two after Nathan's rebuke (2 Sam. xii. 13). 
 
 LI. The Sinner's Confession {Miserere Met). 
 " Have mercy, O God ; pardon, cleanse, and restore me, 
 for I acknowledge my sin." Quoted (ver. 4), Rom. iii. 4. 
 With ver. 3 contrast Gen. iii. 12, 13, 1 Sam. xv. 15, and 
 cp. 2 Cor. vii. 9-1 1 ; with ver. 7 cp. Exod. xxiv. 5-8, 
 Ley. xiv., Heb. ix. 18-23; with ver. 11 cp. 1 Sam. 
 xvi. 14, 2 Kings xxiv. 20, Jer. xxiii. 39; with ver. 18 cp. 
 2 Sam. V. 9. Commination Service. A Penitential Psalm. It has 
 guided the expression of repentance for centuries, and formed the 
 dying prayer of the Chevalier Bayard, Dr. Arnold of Rugby, and many 
 another saint. Vv. 3, 9, 17 are opening sentences at Morning and 
 Evening Prayer ; ver. 15 is one of the versicles before the Venite. 
 
 XXXII. The Penitent's Absolution. A Didactic 
 PSALM. " At last I confessed, God forgave, and He will 
 guide. Rejoice in Him, ye godly" Quoted, Rom. iv. 6-8 ; 
 cp. Prov. XXVlii. 13, I John i. 8, 9. Ash Wednesday. A Peni-
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 189 
 
 tential Psalm. The Jews used it on the Day of Atonement. S. 
 Augustine had it written on the wall over against his bed in his last 
 illness, that he might win comfort from it. 
 
 (39 — 45)- Seven during a grievous sickness unrecorded 
 in 2 Samuel. The seclusion it involved may account for the 
 success of Absalom's intrigues (2. Sam. xv. 6). 
 
 VI. Prayer in Pain and Weakness. " Have mercy, 
 I am wasted with sickness." Quoted (ver. 8), Matt. vii. 23. 
 With ver. 1 cp. Jer. x. 24 and Rev. iii. 19. Ash Wednesday. 
 A Penitential Psalm. Opening sentence of Morning and Evening 
 Services. 
 
 XXXVIII. A Psalm in Sickness to bring to Re- 
 membrance. " I am full of pain, laden with iniquity, 
 forsaken by my friends, and beset by enemies. I hope 
 in Thee, make haste to help me." With ver. 9 cp. 2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 5 ; with ver. 1 1 cp. Matt. xxvi. 56, Luke xxiii. 49 ; 
 with ver. 13 cp. Matt, xxvii. 12, 14. Ver. 20 means that his 
 
 cause is still the cause of right. Ash Wednesday. A Penitential 
 Psalm. Used on the Day of Atonement. 
 
 XXXIX. A Prayerful Meditation on the Frailty 
 OF Human Life. " Man is but a breath. My hope is in 
 Thee. Deliver, hear, spare." With ver. 2 cp. xxxviii. 13, 
 14 ; with ver. 3 cp. Jer. xx. 9 ; with ver. 6 cp. Luke xii. 
 16-21 ; with ver. 11 (margin) cp. James iv. 14 ; with ver. 12 
 cp. 1 Peter ii. 11, Heb. xi. 13. This is the most beautiful 
 elegy in the Psalter. Burial Service. 
 
 XLI. A Prayer when nigh unto Death. " Heal 
 me, for my enemies whisper against me, expecting me to 
 rise no more. They triumph not, and Thou upholdest me 
 for ever." Quoted (ver. 9), John xiii. 18, with a significant 
 omission (see John ii. 24, 25). Ver. I refers to sickness, not 
 poverty ; " King's friend " (in ver. 9) means " privy coun- 
 cillor," 2 Sam. xv. 37, xvi. 16, I Kings iv. 5 ; ver. 13 is 
 the doxology added by the compiler of Book I. (see p. 174). 
 This Psalm evidently represents the crisis which settled the 
 question of life or death for David. Offertory sentence (ver. 1). 
 
 XL. A New Song of Praise on Recovery. " God 
 has delivered me, and shown in what sacrifices He delights. 
 Confound my enemies, and let those that seek Thee rejoice." 
 Quoted (vv. 6-8), Heb. x. 5-10. With ver. 6cp. Isa. xlviii. 8 
 and Exod. xxi. 5, 6 ; with ver. 7cp. Psalm cxxxix. 16 ; with 
 ver. 10 cp. Psalm li. 13. Good Friday.
 
 19° THE PSALMS 
 
 LXX. A Psalm on Recovery to bring to Remem- 
 brance. Detached from xl. for liturgical use. Ver. i, 
 versicles before Venite. S. Vincent de Paul asked to have this Psalm 
 read to him again and again on his death-bed. 
 
 V. A Morning Prayer on returning to Public 
 WORSHIP. "Lead me, because of my enemies. Thrust 
 out the rebels, and let them that love Thee rejoice." 
 Quoted (ver. 9), Rom. iii. 13. Ver. 3 (R.V.) shows that we 
 should look out for the answers to our prayers ; ver. 6 
 refers to Ahithophel ; with ver. 1 1 cp. Psalm xl. 16 and 
 Phil. iv. 4. 
 
 (46 — 5 1 .) Six during growing public disorder and disaffec- 
 tion to the tJirone (2 Sam. xv. 1-12). 
 
 X. An Acrostic Prayer pleading against Law- 
 lessness AT Home. "Arise, O Lord, for the wicked 
 oppress the poor, and say, God hath forgotten. But Thou 
 art King for ever." Quoted (ver. 7), Rom. iii. 14. With 
 ver. 4 cp. Psalm xiv. 1, John iii. 19. The LXX. regards 
 ix.^ and x. as one Psalm. Their parallel structure and 
 coincidences of language and style show their connexion ; 
 x. is a mournful supplement to ix. The brigandage and 
 injustice which followed upon political tumult and foreign 
 invasion are also pictured in Pro v. i. 10-14. 
 
 XII. Man's Words and the Words of the Lord. 
 "Help, for the faithful fail and the wicked walk on every 
 side." With vv. 3, 4 cp. Jude 16, 2 Peter ii. 9-12, and 
 Micah vii. 2-4 ; with ver. 6 cp. 1 Peter i. 23. 
 
 XIV. The Divine Vision of Godlessness. "The 
 Lord beheld that all the children of men had turned aside, 
 and had forgotten and denied Him." Quoted, Rom. iii. 
 10-12. (By a curious accident, St. Paul's further Old 
 Testament quotations there were in most MSS. of the 
 LXX. incorporated into this Psalm, whence they found 
 their way into the Prayer Book Version.) With vv. 2-4 cp. 
 Gen. vi. 12, Luke xviii. 2, Rom. i. 19, 20, 28; with ver. 3 
 cp. Ecclcs. vii. 29. Ver. 7 may be a later liturgical addition, 
 copied possibly from liii. The atheism described is that 
 of the life rather than the lips, moral depravity rather than 
 intellectual doubt. 
 
 LIII. A Didactic Psalm. This reproduction, with 
 slight variations, of xiv., was probably used for some 
 signal defeat of Israel's enemies. (See ver. 5.)
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 19T 
 
 LXI I. If God is for us, who is against us ? " How 
 long will y°. set upon a man, treacherous liars? I wait on 
 God, to whom power belongeth." With ver. 4 cp. John 
 xi. 53 ; with ver. 12 cp. Rom. ii. 6, Gal. vi. 7, I Peter i. 17, 
 cp. Psalm xlix. throughout. The word rendered " surely " 
 in ver. 9 and " only " elsewhere occurs six times. Vv. 5, 6, 7 
 were inscribed outside the cavern where Captain Allen Gardiner and 
 his heroic comrades, pioneer missionaries in Tierra del Fuego, lay down 
 to die, as their last message home. 
 
 LXIV. GOD WILL REPAY. "Hear, preserve, and hide 
 me from the secret council of evil-doers. Suddenly God 
 shall wound them, all shall fear, and the righteous shall 
 rejoice." Compare Matt. xxvi. 3, 4, 14-16, xxvii. 3-5. With 
 ver. 3 cp. 2 Sam. xv. 3 ; with ver. 9 cp. Isa. xxvi. 9. 
 
 (52 — 54.) Three in the Wilderness, fleeing from Absalom 
 and exiled from God's house (2 Sam. xv. 13-30). 
 
 CXLIII. The Fugitive's Evening Hymn in Dark 
 PLACES. " The enemy hath smitten me down. Hear, 
 guide, save, and quicken me, for I am Thy servant." With 
 ver. 1 cp. 1 John i. 9; with ver. 10 cp. John xvi. 13; 
 cp. Psalms lxiii. and xxvii. throughout. The LXX. heads it, 
 " When he fled from Absalom his son." Delitzsch says, if 
 not actually David's, it is an extract of the most precious 
 balsam from the old Davidic psalms. Ash Wednesday. A 
 Penitential Psalm. Ver. 2, opening sentence in Morning Prayer. 
 
 LXIII. The Fugitive's Morning Hymn in a Dry 
 AND Weary Land. " My God, I thirst for Thee. I will 
 praise Thee, for Thou hast been my help." With ver. 1 
 cp. John vii. $y and 2 Sam. xvi. 14, xvii. 2, 29 ; it may be 
 called " the keynote of personal religion." Donne says the 
 spirit and soul of the whole Psalter is concentrated in this 
 Psalm. A Daily Morning Psalm in the Eastern Church in very early 
 times. 
 
 XXVII. The Fugitive's Sure Confidence. "For- 
 saken of all and cruelly maligned, I fear nothing, for the 
 Lord is my Light and Salvation, and I shall yet praise 
 Him in His Tabernacle." Quoted (ver. 6, LXX. version), 
 Eph. v. 19. With ver. 1 cp. Micah vii. 8, John viii. 12, 
 1 John i. 5. Its first three words are the motto of the 
 University of Oxford. With ver. 14 cp. Hab. ii. 3. In 
 ver. 10 "father and mother" are used proverbially of the 
 nearest and dearest.
 
 192 
 
 THE PSALMS 
 
 (55 — 57.) Three at Bahurim on the taunts of Shimei and 
 treachery of AhithopJiel (2 Sam. xv. 31, xvi. 5-13, xvii. 23). 
 
 LV. A Didactic Psalm of the cursed and betrayed 
 SUFFERER. " With sore pain and terror of death within, 
 and the enemy's reproaches without, O that I could flee 
 altogether from the unholy city and treacherous friend, and 
 be at rest ! Destroy them, for I trust Thee." Quoted 
 (ver. 22), 1 Peter v. 7. With v. 21 cp. John xii. 5, 6, 
 Matt. xxvi. 25, 49 ; with ver. 23 cp. Eccles. vii. 17, 2 Sam. 
 xviii. 12-14. 
 
 CIX. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning the Son 
 OF PERDITION. " My deceitful adversary has overwhelmed 
 me with curses. Let them recoil upon his own head." 
 Quoted (ver. 3), John xv. 25 ; (ver. 8), Acts i. 20. With 
 ver. 7 cp. John xvii. 12 and Matt. xxvi. 24 ; with ver. 13 
 cp. Matt, xxiii. 38 and xxiv. ; with ver. 31 cp. Zech. iii. 
 1, 2, 1 John ii. 1, 1 Tim. ii. 5. The attitude is that of 
 either accuser or advocate. It seems best to take vv. 6-19 
 as the adversary's words, and w. 20 — 3 1 as David's appli- 
 cation of them. S. Chrysostom calls this awful Psalm a 
 prophecy under the form of imprecation. But our Lord's 
 words about Judas, who was self-condemned and self- 
 destroyed, contain no trace of personal vengeance, nothing 
 inconsistent with John iii. 17 and Luke ix. 56. 
 
 LXIX. An Imprecatory Psalm concerning many 
 REPROACHFUL ADVERSARIES. " For Thy sake I have 
 borne reproach, derision, desolation, and shame. Let my 
 persecutors be blotted out of the book of life, and save me." 
 Quoted (ver. 4), John xv. 25 ; (ver. 9), John ii. 17, Rom. xv. 
 3 ; (ver. 21), Matt, xxvii. 34, John xix. 28, 29 ; (vv. 22, 23), 
 Rom. xi. 9, 10 ; (ver. 25), Acts i. 20. With ver. 8 cp. John 
 i. 11, vii. 5 ; with ver. 12 cp. Matt, xxvii. 27-30. There 
 is a good reason to believe that the physical cause of our 
 Lord's death was a broken heart (see ver. 20). Vv. 35, 36 
 may be a liturgical addition. Internal evidence has led some 
 to assign this Psalm to Jeremiah, whose circumstances it 
 certainly describes ; but our knowledge of David's suffer- 
 ings is not complete enough to warrant us in setting aside 
 the heading, and to David it is twice clearly ascribed in 
 the New Testament. It looks beyond the type to the Anti- 
 type throughout. Good Friday.
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 193 
 
 (58 — 62.) Five at the time of David's greatest anguish 
 and danger, when he crossed Jordan, and battle was im- 
 minent (2 Sam. xvii.). 
 
 XXII. The Psalm of the Passion. "God has for- 
 saken me, all laugh me to scorn, and I am brought into the 
 dust of death. Thou hast answered, and I will praise Thee. 
 The whole earth shall turn to the Lord and worship Him." 
 Quoted (ver. 1), Matt, xxvii. 46, Mark xv. 34, cp. 2 Cor. 
 v. 21 ; (ver. 8), Matt, xxvii. 43, cp. Matt. iii. 17 ; (ver. 18), 
 Matt, xxvii. 35, John xix. 24; (ver. 22), Heb. ii. 11, 12. 
 With ver. 7 cp. Matt, xxvii. 39 ; with ver. 1 5 cp. John 
 xix. 28 ; with ver. 16 cp. John xx. 25 ; with vv. 25, 26 
 cp. John vi. 53-8, Lev. vii. 11-21 ; with ver 27 cp. John 
 xii. 32 ; with ver. 28 cp. 1 Cor. xv. 24, 25 ; with ver. 30 
 cp. 1 Peter ii. 9. No circumstances of David's life are on 
 record to which this Psalm is altogether applicable, so 
 some refer it to an exile in the Captivity. But it vividly 
 depicts the sufferings peculiar to death by crucifixion, 
 unknown to the Jews till the Romans conquered Judaea. 
 One Sufferer alone realised its language, which He directly 
 applied to Himself, and we can only account for its por- 
 trayal from within of what Isa. liii. portrays from without, 
 by the foresight of supernatural revelation. The Jewish 
 commentary on the Psalms explains its Hebrew title thus, 
 " On him who leaps as a stag, and brightens the world in 
 the time of darkness." Good Friday. 
 
 XXXI. The Prayer of Faith tried with Fire. 
 " I am defamed, forgotten, and wasted with grief. Deliver 
 me. Great is Thy goodness. Take courage, ye godly." 
 Quoted (ver. 5), Luke xxiii. 46, cp. Acts vii. 59. With ver. 
 1 1 cp. Matt. xxvi. 56 ; with vv. 22, 23 cp. 2 Cor. i. 4. 
 Some with less probability refer this to David's flight from 
 Saul, others attribute it to Jeremiah. Ver. 5 formed the last 
 words of Polycarp, Bernard, Charlemagne, Anskar, Columbus, Tasso, 
 Lady Jane Grey, Jerome of Prague, Nicholas Hottinger, Luther, M<j- 
 lanchthon, and many others. 
 
 LXI. A Cry from the End of the Earth. " Hear 
 me, my Refuge. Let Thy lovingkindness and truth pre- 
 serve me." With vv. 6, 7 cp. John vi. 58, Heb. vii. 14-16. 
 Ver. 8, versicle in Marriage Service and Visitation of the Sick. 
 
 III. A Morning Hymn in the midst of many and 
 GREAT DANGERS. " My foes are many, but I will not fear. 
 
 13
 
 194 THE PSALMS 
 
 Arise and save me, my Shield." With ver. 2 cp. 2 Sam. 
 xvi. 8 ; with vcr. 4 cp. 2 Sam. xv. 25 ; with ver. 6 cp. 
 2 Sam. xv. 12, xvii. 11 ; with ver. 7 cp. Num. x. 35 ; with 
 ver. 8 cp. Jonah ii. 9, 2 Sam. xxiv. 17, Luke xxiii. 34. 
 
 IV. An Evening Hymn in the midst of many and 
 GREAT DANGERS. " How long will ye seek after false- 
 hood ? The Lord will hear and preserve me." Quoted 
 (ver. 4, R.V. margin), Eph. iv. 26. With ver. 3 cp. John ix. 
 31 ; with ver. 4 cp. 2 Sam. xviii. 5 ; with ver. 5 cp. Hcb. 
 xiii. 15 ; with ver. 6 cp. Psalm lxxx. I, 3 ; 2 Cor. iv. 6 and 
 Num. vi. 26. Ver. 7 contrasts his hungry followers with their 
 opponents. First Psalm at Compline in the old Service Books. 
 
 Fourth Term. The Reign of David. 
 
 (C.) Ten Psalms by David of uncertain date, probably 
 written during the closing years of his reign. (1024 — 1016.) 
 
 (63 — 65.) Three concerning tJie ways of God and the ways 
 of men. 
 
 XXXVI. The Wicked love Darkness though God 
 GIVES LIGHT. " The wicked heart utters its oracles against 
 God, but the children of men take refuge in Him who can 
 abundantly satisfy." Quoted (ver. 1), Rom. iii. 18. With 
 ver. 9 cp. John iv. 14 ; Rev. xxii. 1. 
 
 XXXVII. An Acrostic on the Latter End of 
 the Upright and of the Wicked. " Fret not thyself, 
 but trust in the Lord. Delight in Him. Rest in Him. 
 Commit thy way to Him. Wait for Him. The wicked 
 shall be cut off ; the righteous shall abide for ever." Quoted 
 (vcr. 11), Matt. v. 5. With ver. 1 cp. Prov. xxiv. 19 ; with 
 ver. 4 cp. Job xxvii. 10; with ver. 16 cp. Prov. xv. 16; 
 with ver. 23 cp. Jcr. x. 23 ; with ver. 32 cp. Luke xiv. I. 
 This Psalm resembles Job, and solves the problem dealt 
 with in that book. 
 
 CXXXIII. A Song of Ascents concerning Unity. 
 " Brotherly love is good and pleasant as oil and dew." 
 Compare 1 Cor. xii. ; 2 Cor. xiii. 1 1 ; Eph. iv. 3 ; Phil. ii. 2, 3 ; 
 Prov. xiii. 10. With ver. 3 cp. Lev. xxv. 21. This song, 
 which has, says Herder, the fragrance of a lovely rose, may 
 have been written on David's third anointing (1 Chron. xii. 
 38-40), or on the pacification of Sheba's revolt. Hcrmon and
 
 OF THE REIGN OF DAVID. 195 
 
 Zion represent North and South Israel united under 
 David. 
 
 (66 — 68.) TJiree concerning the Sanctuary. 
 
 XXVI. Prayer on Access to the Sanctuary. 
 " Judge, examine, and redeem me, that I may fitly enter 
 Thy habitation which I love." Compare I Cor. xi. 28, 31 
 and Psalms xv. and xxiv. With ver. 9 cp. Matt. xiii. 40. 
 
 XXVIII. Prayer and Praise on entering the 
 SANCTUARY. " Draw me not away with the wicked. Thou 
 hast heard, my Strength. Bless Thy people." With ver. 2 
 cp. Dan. vi. 10 ; with ver. 5 cp. Rom. i. 20. Ver. 9, versicles 
 before Collect for the Day, and ver. 22 of Te Deum. 
 
 XXX. A Song of Praise at the Dedication of 
 the House of the Lord on Mount Moriah (2 Sam. 
 xxiv.). " I will extol Thee, for Thou hast delivered and 
 healed me, and turned my mourning into dancing." Com- 
 pare James v. 15 ; 1 Chron. xxi. 16, 28, xxii. 1. David 
 himself may have been smitten by the pestilence. Used on 
 the Feast of Dedication (John x. 22). One of the closing entries in 
 the Diary of the heroic Bishop Hannington speaks of the strength and 
 comfort gained from this Psalm in his last hours. 
 
 (69 — 72.) Four on Communion with God. 
 
 CXXXIX. The Mystery of Man's Being and of 
 God's Presence. " Thou knowest me altogether, and I 
 am ever in Thy presence. Search me, try me, and lead 
 me." Compare Acts xvii. 28 ; Rom. xi. ^ ; Eccles. xi. 5. 
 Aben Ezra calls this " the crown of all the Psalms." Note 
 that its attempt to fathom the most profound subjects of 
 human thought leads neither to abstract speculation nor 
 to intellectual self-congratulation, but to humble prayer 
 for salvation from sin. 
 
 CXXXI. A Song of Ascents concerning Unques- 
 tioning FAITH. " I do not exercise myself in things 
 too wonderful for me." Compare Matt, xviii. 3, xix. 14 ; 
 2 Sam. vi. 22. 
 
 LXXXVI. A Prayer for Guidance and Strength. 
 " Hear and save, most Mighty, most Merciful. Teach me 
 Thy way, and show me a token for good." Quoted 
 (vv. 8, 9), Rev. xv. 4. With ver. 11 cp. Matt. vi. 21-4. 
 Some refer this to Saul's persecution. Others regard it as 
 a late recast for liturgical use of one of David's Psalms. 
 Ver. 2, versicles in Marriage Service and Visitation of the Sick.
 
 Ig 6 THE PSALMS 
 
 CXLV. An Acrostic Hymn of Praise to God for 
 WHAT He IS. " I will extol Thee, my King, for Thou art 
 great and glorious, good and gracious, merciful and mighty. 
 Thy kingdom and Thy praise shall be for ever." Compare 
 Acts xvii. 24, 25 ; Psalm civ. ; Dan. vii. 27. We find 
 David's " last words " in 2 Sam. xxiii., but his half of the 
 Psalter could not conclude more fitly than with this magni- 
 ficent invitation to all God's creatures to laud and magnify 
 His glorious Name. Whitsunday. In the ancient Church it was 
 the grace at the mid-day meal. 
 
 The Reign of Solomon. 
 
 Five Psalms by Solomon, five by Asaph, five by the Sons 
 of Korah, one by Heman, and three of unknown authorship. 
 (1016 — 976.) 
 
 (73-) One by Solomon on his Accession (1 Kings ii. 12, 
 iii. 28). 
 
 LXXII. The Peaceful Reign of the Righteous 
 KING. " Let the King's son and heir judge the poor, save 
 the needy, and rule from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, 
 from the Euphrates to the Desert ; and let all nations call 
 him happy." With ver. 2 cp. Rev. xix. 2 ; with ver. 6 
 cp. 2 Sam. xxiii. 4; with ver. 8 cp. Exod. xxiii. 31. 
 Tarshish and the isles represent Europe ; Sheba in Arabia, 
 Asia ; and Seba or Meroc, Africa. The Jewish Targums 
 most emphatically refer this Psalm to the Messiah (Matt, 
 xii. 42). Vv. 18-20 are the doxology and note added by 
 the compiler of Book II. " Prayers of David " is a general 
 name for the Psalms. 
 
 (74.) One by the Korahites on Solomon's marriage to 
 Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings iii. 1). 
 
 XLV. A Didactic Song of Loves concerning ti 1 e 
 BRlDEGROOM-KlNG. " Ride on in triumph, O fair and 
 mighty, O gracious and glorious King. Leave thy father's 
 house, O king's daughter, for the King desires thee, and thy 
 children shall be princes." Quoted (ver. 6), Hcb. i. 8, 9 ; 
 cp. Matt, xxv., 2 Cor. xi. 2, Eph. v. 25-32, Rev. xix. 6-9. 
 The Jews regarded this Psalm as Messianic. With ver. 2 
 cp. Esa. xxxiii. 17, Luke iv. 22, 1 Peter ii. 22 ; with ver. 6 
 cp. 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13 ; with ver. 16 cp. Psalm xxii. 30, 
 Rev. V. 10. Christmas Day.
 
 OF THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. 197 
 
 (75 — 78.) Four by Solomon on inaugurating the Temple 
 worship (1 Kings viii.). 
 
 CXXXII. A Song of Ascents concerning the 
 Lord's choice of Zion and Promise to David. " Re- 
 member David's vow to find Thee an abode, and Thy 
 promise to establish his throne. Arise into Thy resting 
 place with the Ark of Thy strength." Compare Luke i. 
 32, 33 ; 2 Tim. ii. 8 ; Rev. xxii. 16. With ver. 8 cp. Num. 
 x. 33-6, 2 Chron. vi. 41, 42. This grandest Song of Ascents 
 was clearly written after David's days, but not long after. 
 Christmas Day. Versicles before the Collect for the Day. 
 
 I. Concerning the Happiness of Wisdom. 
 " Blessed is the man who delights in God's law. His way 
 shall prosper, but the way of the wicked shall perish." With 
 ver. 3 cp. John xv. 1-8 ; with ver. 4 cp. Matt. iii. 12 ; with 
 ver. 5 cp. Luke xxi. 36 ; with ver. 6 cp. 2 Tim. ii. 19. Its 
 resemblance to Proverbs suggests that Solomon wrote this 
 Psalm as a preface to the Psalter he compiled for the new 
 Temple. Jer. xvii. 5-8 seems to be a paraphrase of it. 
 
 CXXVII. A Song of Ascents concerning Domes- 
 tic BLESSINGS. " God only can give our labours their 
 increase. Children are His reward." Compare I Cor. 
 iii. 7 ; Matt. vi. 25-34. With ver. 2 cp. 2 Sam. xii. 25 (R.V. 
 margin) ; with vv. 3, 4 cp. 1 Chron. xxvi. 2-5. This Psalm, 
 an expansion of Prov. x. 22, refers to the rapid growth of 
 population in the peace and prosperity that followed long 
 years of war and tumult. Churching of Women. Used apparently 
 at the presentation of the firstborn (Exod. xxii. 29; Luke ii. 22, 23). 
 
 CXXVIII. A Song of Ascents concerning Home 
 Happiness. (A sequel to cxxvii.) " Blessed shall the 
 godly be, as breadwinner, husband, father, and citizen." 
 Compare Titus ii. 4, 5- Solemnisation of Matrimony. 
 
 (79 — 82.) Four by Asaph, of uncertain date, illustrating 
 the Temple worship atid Solomon's dominion. 
 
 L. Acceptable Sacrifice. " God hath shined out of 
 Zion, and cometh to judge His people. He looks not for 
 mere outward observances, but for thanksgiving, trustful 
 prayer, and righteous conduct." Compare Psalm xl. 6-1 1, 
 li. 16, 17 ; 1 Sam. xv. 22 ; Isa. i. 1 1-20 ; Jer. vi. 20, vii. 21-3 ; 
 Amos v. 21-4 ; Micah vi. 6-8. With ver. 3 cp. Heb. i. 2, 
 John iii. 32, xiv. 19, Rev. i. 7 ; with ver. 5 cp. I Thess. iv.
 
 198 THE PSALMS 
 
 i6, 17; with ver. 14 cp. Heb. xiii. 15, Rom. xii. 1. The 
 opening name of God only occurs elsewhere in Josh. xxii. 
 22. This Psalm must have been written in the best age of 
 Hebrew poetry. 
 
 LXXXI. A Festival Psalm on the Exodus. " Sing 
 aloud to God who delivered Israel from bondage, and will 
 feed them and subdue all their foes if they hearken to Him." 
 With ver. 10 cp. John xv. 7, Isa. vii. 11 (A.V. margin). 
 The Jews used it on the Fifth Day of the week, and probably on the 
 Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 LXXVII. Ancient Mercies a Pledge of Present 
 HELP. "I cried in trouble, Hath God forgotten? Then 
 I remembered Thy wonders of old." Compare Hab. iii. ; 
 I Cor. ix. 10 ; Heb. x. 36. With ver. 13 cp. 1 Kings viii. 30 ; 
 with ver. 14 (R.V.) cp. 1 Kings viii. 60. 
 
 LXXXII. A Vision of Judgment. "God judges 
 the judge, therefore let him be just. Human authority is 
 sacred, yet limited and delegated." Quoted (ver. 6), John 
 x. 34-6. With ver. 2 cp. Acts x. 34, James ii. 1-4 ; with 
 vv. 3, 4 cp. Psalm lxxii. ; with ver. 6 cp. Exod. xxi. 6 
 (R.V.), 1 Sam. ii. 25 (R.V.), and Psalm viii. 5 (R.V. 
 margin); cp. 2 Chron. xix. 6, 7, Isa. iii. 13-15- The Jews 
 used it on the Third Day of the week. 
 
 (83—85.) Three by the KoraJ rites of uncertain date, illus- 
 trating the Temple worship. 
 
 XLII., XLIII. A Didactic Psalm by a Priest in 
 Exile beyond Jordan. " My soul thirsts for God, and 
 is cast down when I remember the worship of His house. 
 Plead my cause against an ungodly nation, and bring me 
 to Thy holy hill." With ver. 2 cp. Matt. v. 6 ; with ver. 7 
 cp. Jonah ii. 3. xliii. 3 seems to refer to the Urim and 
 Thummim ; "Tabernacles" alludes to the Holy Place and 
 Holy of Holies; xliii. is virtually the conclusion of xlii. 
 (See R.V.) " Cast down " in ver. 5 is represented in the 
 LXX. by a word which our Lord uses in Matt. xxvi. 38, 
 thus applying the Psalm to Himself. " The language of 
 this exile is the language of the human heart, under the 
 stress of the purest and deepest desire that man can know " 
 (Liddori). In some old liturgies xlii. is used instead of the "Com- 
 fortable Words" of the Communion Service. 
 
 LXXXIV. The Devout Pilgrim's Joyous Song
 
 OF THE REIGN OF SOLOMON. 199 
 
 on Approaching the Sanctuary. " I long for the 
 
 courts of the Lord, for they that dwell in Thy house are 
 
 blessed." Compare Luke ii. 37. " The living God " only 
 
 occurs elsewhere in the Psalter in xlii., which may be by the 
 
 same author ; ver. 9 is a prayer for the King. With ver. 
 
 10 cp. 1 Chron. ix. 19; with ver. 11 cp. Rev. xxi. 23, Eph. 
 
 iii. 20. Used by those who journeyed up to Jerusalem for the three 
 great Feasts (Deut. xvi. 16). 
 
 (86 — 91.) Six closely resembling in style and tone the 
 Sapiential Books of Solomon's period — i.e., fob, Proverbs, 
 and Ecclesiastes. Their dates are unknown. 
 
 LXXXVIII. A Didactic Psalm by Heman on the 
 Land of FORGETFULNESS. " I am desolate and afflicted, 
 and my life draweth nigh to unremembered Sheol, where 
 all is forgotten." Compare Matt. xxvi. 38, 56, xxvii. 46 ; John 
 xii. 27 ; 2 Tim. i. 10. This is the saddest of all the Psalms, 
 but ver. 1 shows that its dark doubt is not absolute despair. 
 Good Friday. 
 
 XLIX. A Korahite Meditation upon Man's 
 Mortality, the Old Testament Version of Dives 
 AND Lazarus. " Rich and wise die with poor and foolish. 
 All are alike appointed as a flock for Sheol. But God will 
 redeem my soul from its power." Quoted (ver. 17), I Tim. 
 vi. 7 ; cp. Matt. xvi. 26, Luke xvi. 19-31. With ver. 14 cp. 
 Rom. xiii. 12 ; with ver. 15 cp. John xiv. 3. 
 
 LXXIII. The Sure and Certain Hope. Faith's 
 Triumph over Honest Doubt. By Asaph. "The 
 prosperity of the wicked troubled me till in God's sanctuary 
 I considered their latter end, and knew that God is my 
 Refuge and my Portion for ever." With vv. 25, 26 cp. 
 Phil. iii. 8, 2 Cor. iv. 16-18, v. 1. The Syriac version says 
 this Psalm was written on the death of Absalom. Perhaps 
 the oppressions at the end of Solomon's reign are referred 
 to (1 Kings xii. 4). 
 
 CXI. A Hallelujah Acrostic concerning the 
 Works of the Lord. " I will give thanks, for God's 
 works are great and eternal, gracious and just." With 
 ver. 5 cp. Matt. vi. 33 ; with vv. 7, 8 cp. Luke xvi. 17 ; with 
 ver. 10 cp. Prov. i. 7, ix. 10, John vii. 17. Easter Day, 
 probably because of an ancient application of ver. 5 to the Passover. 
 
 CXI I. A Hallelujah Acrostic concerning the
 
 200 THE PSALMS 
 
 FEAR OF the Lord. "Blessed is the God-fearinsf. 
 Wealth, riches, peace, and enduring remembrance are his." 
 Quoted (ver. 9), 2 Cor. ix. 9. With ver. 5 cp. Luke vi. 35. 
 
 XCI. The Life Hid in God. "He that abideth in 
 God shall be shielded from all fears and all adversities. 
 God's angels shall guard thee, because thou hast set thy 
 love upon Him." Quoted (vv. 11, 12), Matt. iv. 6 ; Luke 
 iv. 10, 11. With ver. 13 cp. Rom. xvi. 20, and the Litany; 
 with ver. 16 cp. Luke ii. 30; cp. Job v. 17-23, 1 John iv 
 16-18. This Psalm is in the form of a dialogue. 
 
 '&- 
 
 The Reign of Rehoboam. 
 
 (92.) One Psalm by Ethan on Shishak's Invasion. 
 About 970 (1 Kings xiv. 25, 26). 
 
 LXXXIX. A Didactic Psalm on God's Covenant 
 WITH David. " Our all-sovereign God chose David, and 
 promised that his throne should endure. But now Thou 
 hast cast it down to the ground. Where are Thy former 
 mercies?" Quoted (ver. 20), Acts xiii. 22; (vv. 36, 37), 
 John xii. 34. The Targums interpret this Psalm of the 
 Messiah. With ver. 19 cp. Acts v. 31 ; with ver. 27 cp. 
 Col. i. 15, 18. Ver. 52 is the doxology added by the com- 
 piler of Book III. Some refer this Psalm to the reign of 
 Jehoiakim, while Ewald conjectures that it expresses loss 
 of the hope that David's line would be restored through 
 Zcrubbabel. Christmas Day. 
 
 Fifth Term. The Reign of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 One anonymous Psalm, one Asaphite, and three KoraJiite 
 
 (915-889.) 
 
 (93.) One written perhaps during the famine in Israel, 
 and the religious revival in JudaJi (2 Chron. xvii. 9). 
 
 XXXIII. A New Liturgical Song of National 
 TRUST IN GOD. "Praise the Lord who hath created 
 heaven and earth, and whose eye is on them that fear Him." 
 With ver. 6 cp. John i. 1-3, Job xxxiii. 4, Gen. i. 26; 
 with ver. 9 cp. Hcb. xi. 3; with vv. 10, 1 1 cp. 1 Cor. 
 i. 19-31. Mention of horses suggests that the Psalm is 
 later than those of David. It might have been written at
 
 OF THE REIGN OF JEHOSHAPHAT. 201 
 
 several different periods, but illustrates this one very well. 
 Ver. 22, closing versicles in the Litany. 
 
 (94.) One Asaphite on the confederacy of Moab and 
 Amnion against Israel, written perhaps by faJiaziel 
 (2 Chron. xx. 1-18). 
 
 LXXXIII. A Song in the Temple imploring 
 God's Aid. " The sons of Lot, Ishmael, and Esau, with 
 Amalek, Philistia, • Tyre, and Assyria, consult together 
 against us. Destroy them as Thou didst destroy the 
 Canaanite and Midianite confederacies of old." With vv. 
 15-18 cp. Phil. ii. 10, 11. 
 
 (95 — 97-) -d Triplet of Korahite Songs celebrating Israel 's 
 victory (2 Chron. xx. 19-28). 
 
 XLVI. A Song on the Eve of Battle in the 
 WILDERNESS OF TEKOA. " God, our Refuge and Strength, 
 is with us, and will help us right early." With title cp. 
 1 Chron. xv. 20 ; with vv. 4, 5 cp. Rev. xxi., xxii. 1-5. 
 This is the original of Luther's famous hymn, "Ein'feste Burg ist unser 
 Gott." 
 
 XLVI I. A Song of Deliverance in the Valley 
 OF BLESSING. " Shout unto God with triumph. He shall 
 subdue the peoples under us, and we gather together to be 
 His." (An expansion of xlvi. 10.) With ver. 5 cp. Exod. 
 iii. 8, Acts i. 9; with "shields," in ver. 9, cp. Hos. iv. 18 
 (R.V. margin). Ascension Day. 
 
 XLVI II. A Song of Thanksgiving in the Temple. 
 " The City of the Great King is beautiful, for there is 
 God known for a Refuge. He will be our Guide for ever." 
 Quoted (ver. 2), Matt. v. 35. Compare Lam. ii. 15. With 
 ver. 7 cp. 2 Chron. xx. 36, ~$J. Jewish commentators refer 
 
 this Psalm to the Messiah. Whitsunday. The Jews used it on 
 the Second Day of the week. 
 
 These three Psalms are often referred to Sennacherib's 
 defeat, and they contain several coincidences with Isaiah. 
 They were doubtless used in 700, but suit the circumstances 
 of the early deliverance even better. 
 
 The Decline and Fall of Israel. 
 
 (98.) One Asaphite Psalm. About 740 ? (Compare 
 Hosea.) 
 LXXX. A Mournful Prayer for the perishing
 
 202 THE PSALMS 
 
 SONS OF Joseph. " Turn us again and save us, O Shep- 
 herd of Israel. For the vine Thou broughtest out of Egypt 
 is ravaged." With vv. i, 2 cp. Num. ii. 18-24, iii- 23, 25 ; 
 with ver. 3 cp. Acts iii. 26 ; with ver. 8 cp. Isa. v., Jer. 
 ii. 21, Ezek. xix., Hos. x. I, and Gen. xlix. 22; with ver. 
 17 cp. Eph. i. 20, Rev. i. 13-16. 
 
 The Reign of Hezekiah. 
 
 Tivo AsapJiite Psalms, one KoraJiite, and three anonymous, 
 written perhaps by Hezekiah. (Compare Isa. xxxviii.) 
 
 (99.) One Korahite on the tribute brought to Hezekiah. 
 About 711. (2 Chron. xxxii. 23.) 
 
 LXXXVII. A Song concerning Zion, the 
 Glorious Mother of many Nations. "God loves 
 Zion, and shall establish her, and count who was born there 
 when Hewriteth up the peoples." Compare Eph. ii. 19, iii. 
 3-6; Col. iii. 1 1 ; John x. 16 ; and contemporary prophecies — 
 e.g., Isa. ii. 2-5, xix. 23-5, xl.-lxvi. ; Micah iv. 1-4. In antici- 
 pating the mystery revealed to S. Paul of the brotherhood 
 of all men in Christ, this striking Psalm stands alone in the 
 Old Testament. 
 
 ( 1 00, 1 o 1 .) Two AsapJiite on the invasion by the Assyrians, 
 and the deliverance from them. About 700. (2 Kings xix.) 
 
 LXXV. A Song concerning the Judge of the 
 WHOLE EARTH. " We thank Thee, for from Thee alone 
 comcth the destruction of the wicked and the lifting up 
 of the righteous." With ver. 2 cp. John v. 25-9 ; with 
 ver. 4 cp. 2 Kings xviii. 35 ; with ver. 8 cp. Rev. xiv. 10 ; 
 cp. 1 Sam. ii. 1-10 and Isaiah throughout. The reference 
 to looking for human aid from all quarters save the North 
 has suggested that they feared Northern enemies, of whom 
 the chief were the Assyrians. This is, however, conjectural. 
 
 LXXVI. A Song of Exultation over the Death 
 Sleep of the Mighty. "God is known in Judah as 
 glorious and excellent. At His rebuke the stout-hearted 
 are spoiled." With ver. 1 cp. 2 Chron. xxx. I ; with 
 ver. 3 cp. Isa. xxxvii. 33 ; with ver. 10 cp. Acts iv. 27, 28. 
 Internal evidence fixes the date. 
 
 (102 — 104.) Three after signal deliverance and special 
 harvest blessing. About 700. (Isa. xxxvii. 30.)
 
 OF THE REIGN OF HEZEKTAH. 203 
 
 LXV. A Song of Harvest Thanksgiving. "Blessed 
 are Thy people, O Lord. Thou hast stilled the tumult, 
 and all creation is enriched by Thy goodness." With ver. 7 
 cp. Matt. viii. 27 and Isa. xvii. 12-14. This Psalm may be 
 adapted from one of David's by his descendant. 
 
 LXVI. A Passover Song of Deliverance after 
 Sore Trial and Earnest Prayer. " Come and see the 
 terrible works of God, who observes the nations, who has 
 brought us out into a wealthy place." With ver. 10 cp. 2 
 Peter i. 7. Ver. 6 alludes to the two great Passover miracles 
 (Exod. xiv. ; Josh, iii.) ; ver. 12 may refer to the famous 
 Assyrian cavalry. Both style and substance connect this 
 Psalm with lxv., but its date cannot be certainly fixed. 
 Thanksgiving after a storm at sea. 
 
 LXVII. A Liturgical Harvest Song of Benedic- 
 tion. (Dens Misereatur.) " Bless us, that all men may know 
 Thy saving health, and praise Thee together." Compare 
 Acts i. 7, 8 ; Psalm xxii. 27 ; Num. vi. 24-6. Solemnisation 
 of Matrimony and second canticle at Evensong. 
 
 Sixth Term. The Decline and Fall of Judah. 
 
 One KoraJiite Psalm, two AsapJiite, and tliree anonymous. 
 (105.) One KoraJiite, probably occasioned by some un- 
 recorded disaster in the later days of the monarchy. 
 XLIV. A Didactic Psalm in time of Great 
 National Calamity. " We have heard what Thou 
 didst for our fathers of old. But now Thou hast cast 
 us off, yet we have not forgotten Thee. Rise up for our 
 help, O Lord." Quoted (ver. 22), Rom. viii. 36. With ver. 
 17 cp. Hos. xi. 12 ; cp. also I Kings viii. 33-50. Con- 
 jectures as to its date range from the days of David to 
 those of the Maccabees. Antiphon in Litany. 
 (106.) One hi time of fear and trouble. 
 LXXI. A Psalm of trustful Old Age concerning 
 God's RIGHTEOUSNESS. " From my youth I have trusted 
 Thee. Forsake me not in my old age, for my enemies 
 are many. My redeemed soul shall praise Thee." With 
 ver. 17 cp. Phil i. 6. The LXX. gives this contradictory 
 heading : " A Psalm of David, of the Sons of Jonadnb, 
 and of those who were first led captive." It may be a
 
 204 THE PSALMS 
 
 Rechabite (Jer. xxxv.) adaptation of Psalms xxii., xxxi., 
 xxxii., and xl. ; others refer it to Jeremiah. Visitation of 
 the Sick. Last verse of Te Deum. 
 
 (107, 108.) Two AsapJiite on the Fall of Jerusalem, B.C. 
 588 (2 Kings xxv.). 
 
 LXXIV. A Didactic Psalm on the Profanation 
 and Destruction of the Temple." "The enemy has 
 fired Thy sanctuary and burned up all Thy synagogues. 
 Thou didst great things for us of old. Arise, plead Thine 
 own cause." Compare Jude 5; Matt. xxi. 13, xxiii. 38. 
 With ver. 9 cp. Lam. ii. 9. 
 
 LXXIX. A Sorrowful Pleading for the Slaugh- 
 tered People and Ruined City. " Jerusalem is wasted, 
 Thy servants lie unburied, and we are brought very low. 
 Remember not our fathers' iniquities, but deliver us." 
 Compare Luke xix. 41-4 and Lamentations ; with vv. 6, 7 
 cp. Jer. x. 25 ; with vv. 4, 9 cp. Dan. ix. 16. Some 
 attribute these two Psalms to Shishak's invasion, others 
 to the time of the Maccabees. See 1 Mace. i. 44-64, iv. 
 38, vii. 16, 17, ix. 26, 27; 2 Mace. i. 8, v. 12-16, viii. 2,3- 
 They may be by Jeremiah. Ver. 9, antiphon in Litany. 
 
 (109, no.) Two representing the darkest hour of the 
 Captivity (2 Chron. xxxvi. 17-20). 
 
 CXXX. A Song of Ascents concerning God's 
 Abundant Forgiveness. (De profundis.) "Out of the 
 depths I cry. I wait on Thee, and hope in Thee." Compare 
 Rom. iii. 24, 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. 8-IO ; Titus ii. 14. Ash Wednesday. 
 A Penitential Psalm. 
 
 CXXIX. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's 
 AFFLICTIONS. " Great have been my afflictions, yet the 
 enemy hath not prevailed. Let all Zion's haters be 
 ashamed." Compare John xvi. 33. With ver. 8 cp. Ruth 
 ii. 4. 
 
 Seventii Term. The Restoration and the 
 Second Temple. 
 
 The Psalms of this period are only a softened echo of 
 David's strains ; not experimental, autobiographical heart- 
 searchings, but liturgical and national hymns for the 
 ordinary Temple service. They lead us up from the deep
 
 OF THE RESTORATION. 205 
 
 sorrow of the Captivity, through the mingled music of the 
 Songs of Ascents, to the four great groups of Thanksgiving 
 Psalms which close the Psalter. 
 
 (in — 117.) A sequence of six Psalms and one detached 
 Psalm, written towards the close of tJie Captivity as the 
 prospect of return gradually brightened, 538 — 536. (Ezra 
 i. 1-6.) 
 
 CI1. A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is 
 OVERWHELMED. " In pain and loneliness and reproach, 
 a weak and dying creature, I cry to God, who endureth 
 for ever, for the time to have pity on Zion is come." 
 Quoted (vv. 25-7), Heb. i. 10-12. With ver. 26 cp. 2 Peter 
 iii. 10; with ver. 13 cp. Jer. xxv. 11, xxix. io, Dan. 
 ix. 2. The heading of this Psalm, which contains many 
 thoughts and words from earlier psalms, stands alone in 
 appointing it for private devotion. Ash Wednesday. A Peni- 
 tential Psalm. Ver. 1, versicles in Confirmation and Marriage Services, 
 and Visitation of the Sick. 
 
 CI 1 1. A Thanksgiving for Individual and Na- 
 tional Salvation. " Bless the Lord who forgives, heals, 
 redeems, and satisfies, and pities like a father. Brief is His 
 wrath and everlasting His mercy." Quoted (vv. 15, 16), 
 James i. 10; I Peter i. 24. With ver. 8 cp. Exod. xxxiv. 
 6, 7, 2 Peter iii. 15 ; with ver. 13 cp. Luke xv. 11-32 ; with 
 ver. 20 cp. Matt. vi. 10. The evidence of language and 
 style as well as the connexion with cii. is against the 
 ascription to David. Ver. 10, versicles after the Lord's Prayer in 
 the Litany. 
 
 CIV. A Hallelujah Psalm of Creation. " Bless 
 the Lord who created the heavens and earth and sustains 
 all His creatures." Quoted (ver. 4), Heb. i. 7. With ver. 2 
 cp. Matt. xvii. 2. The Psalm is an ode on Gen. i., 
 whose order is followed throughout. Compare Job xxxviii., 
 xxxix. ; 1 Cor. viii. 6; Rev. iv. II. Its landscape of 
 mountain, springs, and cedars, bounded by distant sea 
 covered with ships and swarming with a monster brood, 
 may be found in Lebanon. Whitsunday. 
 
 CV. A Eucharistic and Hallelujah Psalm re- 
 counting God's marvellous works from Abraham's 
 Call TO THE EXODUS. " God promised Canaan to 
 Abraham, preserved his descendants in their wanderings,
 
 206 THE PSALMS 
 
 and brought them out of Egypt with gladness." Compare 
 Rom. xv. 4. Vv. 1-15 are taken from David's Song of 
 Praise (i Chron. xvi. 8-22 see p. 64). Whitsunday. Used by 
 the Jews on the First Day of the week. 
 
 CVI. A Hallelujah Psalm recounting the Rebel- 
 lions of Israel from the Exodus to the Days of 
 the Judges. " Our fathers sinned and God's wrath was 
 kindled. We have sinned with them, yet gather us from 
 among the heathen." Compare 1 Cor. x. 1-12; Dan. ix. 
 With vv. 47, 48 cp. 1 Chron. xvi. 35, 36. Ver. 48 is the 
 doxology added by the compiler of Book IV. The terse 
 and simple style of cv., cvi. indicates that they may have 
 been meant for instructing the young. 
 
 CVII. A Eucharistic Psalm of Life in Six 
 STANZAS. " Thank the Lord for His goodness to the 
 wanderers (cp. John viii. 12), the prisoners (cp. Luke iv. 18 ; 
 Rom. vii. 24, 25), the sick (cp. Matt. iv. 23), the storm- 
 tossed (cp. Matt. viii. 26), and the perishing (cp. John vi.)." 
 Matt. vi. 25, 26 may be regarded as its keynote. Isaiah 
 and Job are frequently quoted and referred to. With ver. 9 
 cp. Luke i. 53. Ver. 16 may refer to the capture of Babylon 
 (Isa. xlv. 1, 2). With ver. 20 cp. John iv. 50, Luke vii. 7 ; 
 with ver. 43 cp. Hos. xiv. 9. This Psalm was perhaps sung 
 at the Feast of Tabernacles described in Ezra iii. Thanks- 
 giving after a storm at sea. 
 
 CXXXVII. A Reminiscence of Silent Suffering 
 IN BABYLON. " We wept in Babylon, thinking of the Zion 
 we can never forget. O Lord, recompense Edom and 
 Babylon." Compare Obadiah and Rev. xviii. 
 
 ( 1 1 8 — 1 21.) A triplet of Songs on approaching and entering 
 Jerusalem, with a KoraJiite thanksgiving as a sequel, 536. 
 (Ezra iii.) 
 
 CXX. A Song of Ascents concerning Deceitful 
 Tongues and Haters of Peace. " Deliver me from 
 lying lips, for I dwell among the turbulent, yet long for 
 peace." Compare Ezra iv. I, 4 and John iv. 9. 
 
 CXXI. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's 
 KEEPER. " My help cometh from the Lord. He will keep 
 thee from all evil." Compare Luke xii. 4-7. " Keep " 
 occurs six times. Sec R.V. 
 
 CXX 1 1. A Song of Ascents concerning Joyous
 
 OF THE RESTORATION. 207 
 
 Entrance into the Holy City. "We stand within 
 thy gates, where are the thrones of David's house. Peace 
 be within thee, Jerusalem." Compare Heb. xii. 22 ; Isa. xxx. 
 29 ; Exod. xxiii. 17. Internal evidence is against David's 
 authorship, and his name is omitted in the LXX. 
 
 LXXXV. Praise for Restoration and Prayer 
 FOR THE RESTORED. " Lord, Thou hast forgiven, and 
 turned our captivity. Our land shall yield her increase. 
 Quicken us again."' With vv. 10, 11 cp. Rom. iii. 25, 26, 
 John i. 14. Christmas Day. Ver. 7, versicles before the Collect for 
 the Day. 
 
 (122 — 125.) Four Songs while the work was interrupted 
 and opposed by their enemies, 445 — 433. (Neh. iv.-vi.) 
 
 CXXIII. A Song of Ascents concerning the Eye 
 OF Hope. (Oculus Sperans was the old name of the 
 Psalm.) " Filled with the foe's scorning and contempt, we 
 look to Thee, our Master." Compare Col. iii. 23, 24, and 
 Neh. ii. 19, iv. 4, ix. 36, 37. 
 
 CXXIV. A Song of Ascents concerning Hope 
 NOT PUT TO Shame. " Had not the Lord been for us, 
 we had been overwhelmed. But He is our Help, and we 
 are escaped." Compare Rom. viii. 31. David's name is 
 omitted in the chief versions, and in some MSS. If origin- 
 ally from his hand, it may have been adapted to the 
 experience of the restored Jews, as a sequel to cxxiii. 
 Thanksgiving after Victory. Ver. 8, versicles in Confirmation Service. 
 
 CXXV. A Song of Ascents concerning Israel's 
 DEFENCE. " The Lord is round about His people as the 
 mountains are , round about Jerusalem." Compare Gal. 
 vi. 16 ; Zech. ii. 5. 
 
 CXXVI. A Song of Ascents concerning the 
 Turning of Zion's Captivity. " Our joy is like a dream, 
 as we rejoice over the great things the Lord hath done for 
 us." Compare Matt. v. 4 ; John xvi. 22 ; Gal. vi. 7-9 ; 
 Luke viii. 39. Vv. 5, 6 were engraved on the walls of the Beau- 
 champ Tower by Edmund Poole, imprisoned there in 1562. 
 
 ( 1 26, 1 27.) Two Liturgical Prayers for the Second Temple 
 (Neh. xi. 22, 23). 
 
 XCIV. A Lyric Psalm for the Fourth Day of 
 THE WEEK. (LXX. heading.) " How long shall the 
 arrogant wicked afflict Thine heritage? The Lord shall
 
 208 THE PSALMS 
 
 cut them off in their own evil." Quoted (ver. n), I Cor 
 iii. 20. With ver. I cp. Heb. x. 30, Deut. xxxii. 35 ; with 
 ver. 3 cp. Psalm xiii. I ; with ver. 12 cp. Heb. xii. 3-1 1, 
 James i. 12 ; with ver. 21 cp. Matt, xxvii. 1-4. The con- 
 jectures as to the date of this Psalm, which the LXX. 
 ascribes to David, are very numerous. It borrows from 
 many earlier ones. The Jews used it at the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 CXLIV. A New Song praying for Israel's Pros- 
 perity. " Rescue me from the hand of strangers. Happy 
 and prosperous are Thy people." With ver. 12 cp. 1 Peter 
 ii. 5. Vv. i-ii is made up of extracts from David's Psalms. 
 To these a national prayer is added. 
 
 (128 — 130.) Three Liturgical Thanksgivings for the 
 Second Temple. 
 
 CXXXIV. A Concluding Song of Ascents con- 
 cerning the Priestly Benediction. The pilgrims at 
 the close of their journey greet the priests and Levites 
 in the Temple (vv. 1, 2) keeping their night watch (sec 
 1 Chron. ix. 33 ; Luke ii. 37 ; Rev. xvi. 15), who bless them 
 in return (Num. vi. 23-7) ; cp. 1 Tim. ii. 8. 
 
 The first seven Songs of Ascents were written alter the 
 Captivity ; of the next seven, two are by David, three (?) 
 by Solomon, and two were written during the Captivity. 
 The fifteenth was added after the Captivity as a doxology. 
 
 CXXXV. A Hallelujah Psalm acknowledging 
 Israel's God to be the one true God. " Praise the 
 great Creator, who chose and redeemed Israel and gave 
 them Canaan." Quoted (ver. 14), Heb. x. 30. With ver. 
 5 cp. Mark xii. 32, I Cor. viii. 6, Neh. ix. 5-38. This is 
 a mosaic from the earlier Psalms and prophets, and was 
 probably sung in alternate responses by priest and people. 
 
 CXXXVI. The Great Hallel. A Eucharistic 
 
 PSALM (in alternate responses, with a burden sung in full 
 
 chorus). " Give thanks to God, whose mercy endurcth for 
 
 ever, for our creation, redemption, preservation, and all the 
 
 blessings of this life." Compare 1 Tim. iv. 4. This " Jewish 
 
 national anthem " is also a mosaic of earlier Psalms, and 
 
 the three following groups may be regarded as expansions 
 
 <il it. It was sung on the evening of the battle of Emmaus. B.c. 167. 
 See p. 168. 
 
 (131 — 138.) Seven Royal Psalms, with a closing Doxology
 
 OF THE RESTORATION. 209 
 
 concerning the joyful coming of Jehovah the righteous King. 
 A Missionary Halle I. The LXX. ascribes XCIII.—C. to 
 David, and XCII. has been attributed to him also. Others 
 refer all these Psalms to Isaiah at the time of Hezekiatis 
 Reformation, and they closely resemble his later prophecies. 
 Others make them post-Restoration Psalms. They are 
 evidently liturgical and conti?iuous. 
 
 XCII. A Song for the Sabbath Day to God 
 the Creator. " Thou hast made me glad through Thy 
 works. Thine enemies shall perish and the righteous shall 
 flourish." With ver. 5 cp. Rom. xi. 33 ; with ver. 10 cp. 
 2 Cor. i. 21, 1 John ii. 20. Ver. 13 alludes to the trees 
 in the Temple Courts. " Jehovah " occurs seven times in 
 this Psalm, which was used at the early morning sacrifice. 
 The Talmud explains its title by saying it is " a Psalm for 
 the future age of the Messiah, the day which is wholly a 
 Sabbath." Used by the Jews on the Seventh Day of the week (Num. 
 xxviii. 9, 10), and on the Second Day of the Feast of Tabernacles. 
 
 XCII I. A Psalm of Praise to God the Ruler 
 OF ALL CREATION. " Thy throne is established of old, 
 and holiness becometh Thine house." Compare Rev. xix. 6 
 and Psalm xcii. 8. Used by the Jews on the Sixth Day of the 
 week. 
 
 XCV. A Psalm of Praise to God the Shepherd 
 OF ISRAEL. ( Venitei) " Worship God joyfully, and harden 
 not your hearts as your fathers did." Quoted, Heb. iii. 7 — 
 iv. n; " in David " merely means " in the Psalms." 
 With ver. 4 cp. I Kings XX. 28. Used by the Jews on Friday 
 Evening. It has formed the Invitatory Psalm at Morning Prayer in 
 both the Eastern and Western Church from very early times. 
 
 XCVI. A New Song to God the Righteous 
 Judge. " Give God the glory due to Him, all peoples, 
 and let the earth exult in His coming." With ver. 10 cp. 
 Act xvii. 22-31. This Psalm is an adaptation of the second 
 part of David's Song of Praise (1 Chron. xvi. 23-33). 
 
 XCVI I. A Psalm of Praise to God exalted far 
 above ALL GODS. " Let earth rejoice and tremble, and 
 ye that love the Lord hate evil." Quoted (ver. 7), Heb. i. 6. 
 With ver. 1 cp. Psalm lxv. 5 ; with ver. 10 cp. 2 Tim. ii. 19 ; 
 with ver. 1 1 cp. Mai. iv. 2. 
 
 XCVIII. A New Song to God who hath wrought 
 SALVATION. {Cantate Domino?) " Let the whole earth 
 
 14
 
 2io THE PSALMS 
 
 rejoice, for the Lord's salvation is known to. all." With 
 ver. i cp. I Cor. xv. 57 ; with vv. 8, 9 cp. Rom. viii. 21-3. 
 First Canticle at Evensong. 
 
 XCIX. A Song of Praise to the Holy God who 
 HEARS PRAYER. " The Lord is great in Zion. He heard 
 His servants of old, and they kept His statutes." With vv. 
 3, 5, 9 (R.V.) cp. Isa. vi. 3, Rev. iv. 8 ; with ver. 9 cp. Luke 
 xxiv. 52, Acts i. 12, John xii. 41 ; cp. Rev. xi. 15-1S. 
 
 C. A Psalm for the Thankoffering to the 
 Good God whOxM all serve joyfully. (Jubilate?, 
 "Let all lands know that Jehovah is God, and rejoice.'' 
 Compare Acts ii. 46, 47. With ver. 5 cp. 2 Chron. v. 13. 
 Second Canticle at Morning Prayer. 
 
 The wide recognition of God's wonderful interposition on 
 behalf of His captive people is the original theme of these 
 eight Psalms (Ezek. xxxvi. 21-4; Dan. iv. 17, 25, 35). 
 Their complete fulfilment is to be found in the universal 
 preaching of the gospel and the Advent in glory of Christ. 
 
 (139 — 144.) Six Psalms forming the Egyptian Hallel 
 for the Passover, very doubtfully attributed to David, more 
 probably post-Restoration. 
 
 CXI 1 1. A Hallelujah Psalm on the God of 
 Glory AND GRACE. "Praise the Lord. His glory is 
 high above the heavens, yet He humbleth Himself to raise 
 the poor." With vv. 5, 6 cp. Phil. ii. 5-8. Compare the songs 
 of Hannah and of the Virgin Mary. Easter Day. Versicles 
 in Confirmation Service. 
 
 CXIV. The Deliverance of God's Nation 
 through the Red Sea and Jordan. " At the presence 
 of Jacob's God, sea and flood were driven back, and the 
 rock became a fountain of water." With ver. 7 cp. Matt. 
 xxiv. 29, 30 ; with ver. 8 cp. I Cor. x. 2, 4. Easter Day. 
 
 CXV. A Hallelujah Psalm contrasting the 
 God of Heaven with the Idols of Men. (Nou nobis, 
 Domine) " Not unto us be glory. For God hath been 
 mindful of us and will bless us." Vv. 1-8 and 16-18 are 
 said by the congregation, vv. 9-1 1 by the Levites and choir, 
 vv. 12-15 by the Priest. Compare 1 Cor. viii. 4; 1 John 
 v. 21. 
 
 CXVI. A Hallelujah Psalm on the Deliver- 
 ance of God's Servant. " I was brought low and God
 
 OF THE RESTORATION. 211 
 
 saved mc. What shall I render unto Him ? " Quoted 
 (ver. 10), 2 Cor. iv. 13. With ver. 16 cp. Isa. lxv. 23, 1 
 Cor. vii. 14. It illustrates the depth of religious life in 
 individuals at this time. Churching of Women. 
 
 CXVII. A Hallelujah Psalm. "Let all nations 
 praise the Lord." Quoted, Rom. xv. II. This shortest of 
 the Psalms seems to have formed the usual doxology with 
 which the congregation was dismissed. 
 
 CXV1II. The Great Hosanna. A Eucharistic 
 PSALM. "The Lord is on our side, and in His name will I 
 cut off all the nations that compass me round. I shall not 
 die, but live, and declare His works." Quoted (ver. 6), Heb. 
 xiii. 6 ; (ver. 22), Matt. xxi. 42, Acts iv. 11, 1 Peter ii. 4-7 ; 
 (vv. 25, 26), Matt. xxi. 9, xxiii. 39. The Psalm is in 
 alternate responses, and seems designed for solemn entrance 
 into the Temple on some great festival, perhaps that of 
 Nch. viii. 13-18. Easter Day. Used by the Jews on the Feast of 
 Tabernacles. 
 
 These six Psalms are termed the great Hallel by some 
 Jewish authorities, others giving that name to exxxvi. ; 
 cxi. and cxii. formed an introduction to them. They were 
 used at the- three great Feasts, at the New Moons, and at 
 the Feast of Dedication. At the Passover, cxiii., cxiv. 
 were sung before the second cup, and cxv. — cxviii. after 
 the fourth cup, when supper was ended (Matt. xxvi. 30). 
 
 (145 — 149.) Five Psalms, forming a Second Hallel for 
 daily Morning Prayer. The LXX. attributes cxlvi. — cxlviii. 
 to Haggai and Zechariah, and the group may have been 
 written for the Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem, 433. 
 (Nch. xii. 27-43.) 
 
 CXLVI. A Hallelujah Psalm. " Praise the Lord, 
 who is thy Help and Hope, O my soul." Compare Rev. 
 i. 4-6. 
 
 CXLVI I. A Hallelujah Psalm. " Praise the Lord, 
 who feedcth and upholdeth all, O Jerusalem." Compare 
 Rev. iv. 10, 11. 
 
 CXLVIII. A Hallelujah Psalm. "Praise the 
 Lord, all-sovereign Creator, ye children of men with all 
 the company of heaven." Compare Rev. vii. 11, 12. The 
 Benedicite is a paraphrase of this Psalm. 
 
 CXLIX. A New Song and Hallelujah Psalm.
 
 212 THE PSALMS. 
 
 " Praise the Lord, who is King of Israel, in the assembly 
 of saints." Compare Rev. xix. 5. 
 
 CL. A Hallelujah Psalm. " Praise the Lord in 
 His sanctuary and in the firmament, all that hath breath." 
 Compare Rev. v. 8-14. This forms a doxology to the whole 
 
 Psalter. Ver. 6 was chanted by Severinus, missionary to the tribes 
 of the Upper Danube, when he lay dying (a.d. 462) and his brethren 
 could not sing for sorrow. 
 
 (150.) One Psalm probably written by Ezra, but also 
 attributed to David and Daniel. 
 
 CXIX. "The Great Alphabet" (Masorah), "the 
 Golden A.B.C." {Luther), an Acrostic Psalm of the 
 Law. Compare 1 Peter i. 23. All its verses, saving 122 and 
 132, refer to the Scriptures under one of these ten names 
 (the Jews connect their number with the Decalogue), word, 
 ways, testimonies, judgments, law, statutes, ordinances, 
 precepts, commandments, faitJifulness. This Psalm, which 
 has been called " an epitome of all true religion," " the 
 Biblical expression of the unchanging Law of Right," and 
 " the Jewish Ode to Duty," illustrates the close of the 
 Canon, and the new value and importance attached to the 
 written Word by the restored Jews (Psalm cii. 18), the 
 succession of whose prophets ended in Malachi ; whose 
 kings were no longer of the house of David ; and whose 
 priests no longer ministered before an Ark over-shadowed 
 with the Divine Glory. From the days described in Neh. 
 viii. 1-12, the Book which contained the record of their past 
 and the promise of their future was regularly multiplied, 
 and taught, and made the basis of an elaborate doctrine. 
 When we meet the Jews again in the New Testament, their 
 veneration for it has degenerated into a new form of 
 superstition and idolatry.
 
 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of the Son of Man. 
 The Gospel Preached to the Jews. 
 
 b.c. 6 — a.d. 51. 
 
 5". Matthew, S. Mark, S. Luke, S. John, Acts I. — XII., James, 
 1 Peter, Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews. (130 chapters.) 
 
 " Then opened He their mind, that they might understand the Scriptures." 
 — Luke xxiv. 45. 
 
 29th MONTH (32). 
 
 Matt. I.— XL 19, XII., XIII. 
 Mark I.— VI. 13. Luke I.— IX. 
 6, XL 14— XII. 12. John I.— 
 
 V.* 
 
 30th MONTH (33). 
 
 Matt. XI. 20-30, XIV.— XXII., 
 XXVI. 6-13. Mark VI. 14— 
 XII. 37, XIV. 3-9. Luke IX. 
 7— XI. 13, XII. 13-XX. 44. 
 John VI.— XII. 19. 
 
 31st MONTH (32). 
 
 Matt. XXIII.— XXVII. Mark 
 XII. 38— XVI. Luke XX. 
 45— XXIV. John XII. 20— 
 XXI. Acts I.— VIII. 
 
 32nd MONTH (33). 
 
 Acts IX. — XII. James, 1 Peter, 
 Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews, Acts 
 XIII., XIV. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 "npHE Days of the Son of Man" (Luke xvii. 22) 
 X prefaced the last chapter in the history of Israel and 
 the first chapter in the history of the Church. We consider 
 them in the first aspect this term ; in the second, next term. 
 Christ came 4000 years after the Creation ; nearly 1 500 
 years after the Exodus ; 1000 years after the First Temple 
 was built ; and 500 years after the Second Temple ; in 
 an age when the fair promise of the Restoration had 
 been blighted (see pp. 160, 169). Through the Roman 
 conquerors of Palestine, detested Edom had given Israel 
 
 * For the Gospels see p. 244. They are read in about 85 days, and contain 
 3779 verses. Therefore, as their chapters are much broken up, it will be a 
 good rule to read them at the rate of -Hf^ = 44i verses a day. 
 
 213
 
 214 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 a king in Herod, the low-born usurper, tyrant over an 
 unwilling people, and more than suspected apostate (see 
 p. 228). When Archelaus was deposed, the Jews sought the 
 direct rule of a Roman procurator, thinking they would be 
 freer to manage their own affairs thus. And so the sceptre 
 finally departed even in name from Judah, for what Josephus 
 calls " Agrippa's illegal assumption of the procurator's 
 power " from A.D. 41 — 44 cannot be reckoned as a restora- 
 tion of the monarchy. Agrippa II., the last descendant of 
 the Asmoneans, sided with the Romans when war broke 
 out in A.D. 66 The Roman had always shown an aptitude 
 for assimilating conquered nations to himself. The Jew 
 alone doggedly refused to be in friendly relation to him. 
 Each utterly misunderstood, hated, and despised the other, 
 and though Caesar tolerated Judaism as he tolerated the 
 religions of all his subjects, many insults and outrages were 
 offered to it by his officials and soldiers. 
 
 As for the Jews, though the old demon of idolatry had 
 been finally cast out (Luke xi. 24-6), their creed had 
 shrunk into a dead formula, their religion into a network 
 of elaborate rules, which nourished self-righteousness and 
 fanaticism, but left out " the weightier matters of the law " 
 (Matt, xxiii. 23). Murder in the name of orthodoxy they 
 could justify ; what they could not tolerate was teaching 
 of truths new and old that opposed itself to their interests. 
 And while the formalist is always harder to influence than 
 the worldling who makes no religious profession, his pe- 
 dantic scrupulosity is too often compatible with indifference 
 or actual unbelief. Let us, then, take heed lest even in the 
 midst of our religious observances the law of Christ lose 
 its hold upon our hearts, lest we deceive ourselves, and 
 substitute a routine use of the means of grace for a life hour 
 by hour under the power of grace. 
 
 Again and again the Jews rose, in small fruitless seditions, 
 and, as Tacitus admits, their patience could endure no 
 longer when Gcssius Florus proved even more insolent and 
 i ipacious than his predecessors. Suddenly they made 
 themselves masters of Jerusalem, and in November 66 
 inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Romans at Beth-horon. 
 Vespasian and Titus, both afterwards Emperors, were sent 
 to subdue the revolted province, the country was conquered,
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 215 
 
 and in 70 Jerusalem was besieged. Her children were 
 within her (Luke xix. 43,44), for the blockade began at the 
 Passover, just 40 years (always a significant period in sacred 
 history) after the Lamb of God had been slain, and the city 
 was crowded to suffocation. It seemed as if the nation had 
 given itself a "rendezvous of extermination," and history 
 tells no tale of such unspeakable horror and overwhelming 
 misery as that of the awful fulfilment of their awful words 
 to Pilate (Matt, xxiii. 35, xxvii. 25). Within, the distracted 
 people devoured each other, until all were devoured by the 
 irresistible foe without. Josephus, who was no Christian, 
 says in his famous History that it was certainly God who 
 had brought the Romans to punish His people ; and that 
 He had doomed this city to destruction as a polluted city, 
 and was resolved to purge His sanctuary by fire. Even 
 Titus felt himself to be the instrument of a calamity far 
 crueller than he wished or intended, and said, as he looked 
 at the city's defences : " God has been my helper ! God 
 it was that pulled down the Jews from these formidable 
 walls, for what could the hands of men or their engines have 
 availed against them ? " With the obstinacy of despair 
 they contested every inch ; the Temple streamed with the 
 blood of its priests ; its altar slopes were piled with corpses 
 (cp. 2 Kings xxiii. 16) ; and on the same day of the year 
 that Nebuchadnezzar had burned it, the House of God was 
 fired, and sank in ashes (Matt, xxiii. 38, xxiv. 2). Without 
 the city gates (Heb. xiii. 12) Jews were crucified in such 
 multitudes that " room was wanting for the crosses and 
 crosses for the carcases " ; they were sold for slaves in such 
 multitudes that at last none would buy them. For the 
 second time, Jerusalem was razed to the ground, and 
 disappears from history for 60 years. 
 
 In A.D. 132 the crushed people made a final revolt under 
 Bar-Cocheba, who claimed to be the Messiah. When this 
 had been suppressed, their God-given land was legally 
 appropriated by the Romans, and the plough passed over 
 desolate and desecrated Moriah. A new city called ^Elia 
 Capitolina was reared on Zion, and peopled by a Roman 
 colony. None but pagans or Christians were suffered to 
 enter it, but the capitation tax the Jews had formerly paid 
 for the Temple worship (Matt. xvii. 24) was still exacted
 
 216 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 from them and used to erect a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus 
 on Mount Moriah (John xix. 15). For 200 years the name 
 of Jerusalem was never heard, and Judaism henceforth was 
 a religion deprived of its two most characteristic features, 
 a temple and sacrifices. 
 
 "Thus fell and for ever" (says Dean Milman) "the 
 metropolis of the Jewish State. It might almost seem to 
 be a place under a peculiar curse ; it has probably seen 
 a far greater portion of human misery than any other spot 
 upon the earth." In B.C. 588 it had already been taken ten 
 times, and unsuccessfully besieged twice, and we read of 
 twelve other captures or sieges between 588 and the 
 Christian era. It had had many privileges and sinned 
 many sins (all summed up in 1 Thess. ii. 15, 16). Its highest 
 privilege was to receive the words of God from His own 
 Son ; its greatest sin was the deliberate rejection of both 
 message and Messenger. Then it suffered the heaviest 
 punishment history records (Luke xiii. 34, 35). Comparison 
 of Matt. x. 23, xvi. 28, xxiv. 34, and John xxi. 22 shows 
 that its Fall was a Coming, though not the final Coming of 
 Christ. (See Alford, etc., etc.) He had five times predicted 
 it and foretold many of its most striking features. The 
 great prophecy of Matt. xxiv. blends, so that we cannot 
 completely discriminate them until all has been fulfilled, 
 the three catastrophes which close the three Dispensations 
 of the world's history, both the former being types of the 
 last, viz., the Flood in the past at the end of the Patriarchal 
 Dispensation, the Fall of Jerusalem in the near future at 
 the end of the Jewish Dispensation, and the final Judgment 
 of the Son of Man in the distant future, at the end of the 
 Christian Dispensation (sec p. 25). 
 
 Dean Stanley notes only three other events of equal 
 magnitude with the Fall of Jerusalem : the Fall of Babylon, 
 which ended Primaeval History ; the Fall of Rome, which 
 ended Classical History ; and the Fall of Constantinople, 
 which ended Mediaeval History (see p. 138). But the Fall 
 of Jerusalem has the peculiar interest of involving the 
 dissolution of a religious dispensation with the agony of an 
 expiring nation. 
 
 Or, looking only at Hebrew history, we may observe 
 three Desolations of God's House : by the Philistines in
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 217 
 
 B.C. 1 1 16; by the Chaldeans in B.C. 588; and by the 
 Romans in A.D. 70 ; and two crowning catastrophes for 
 Israel, viz., that of B.C. 588, which through Jeremiah's 
 preaching became a new birth to the Chosen People ; and 
 that of A.D. 70, which through Christ's preaching led to the 
 development of the Church. On both occasions the city 
 might have been saved had it listened to the preacher 
 {Dr. Payne SmitJi). 
 
 Again we observe that the Chosen People were three 
 times expatriated : to Egypt B.C. 1706 to 1491 ; to Babylon 
 B.C. 606 to 536 ; and to all lands from A.D. 70 onwards. In 
 each case the expatriation and the return was foretold, and 
 its period fixed, clearly in the second and vaguely in the 
 other cases (Gen. xv. 13 ; Jer. xxv. 12 ; Dan. viii. 14 ; Luke 
 xxi. 24). As they have twice literally returned, historical 
 analogy points to a third literal return. See also Isa. xi. 
 11, 12; Amos ix. 15, passages not applicable to B.C. 536. 
 Fifty years ago there were scarcely 8000 Jews in Palestine. 
 Now (1892) 42,000 of the 58,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem 
 are Jews, and there are at least 100,000 Jews in Palestine, 
 whose number steadily increases (cp. p. 141). Other con- 
 quered and captive peoples have vanished utterly, this " in- 
 exhaustible race " has survived all the determined efforts of 
 Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Titus, and others to abolish it ; 
 and the Prussian king who asked for the briefest and most 
 convincing statement of the evidences of Christianity had 
 it in the one word " Israel." 
 
 Israel's downfall began in B.C. 740, and was consummated 
 in A.D. 70. Since then it has ceased to be the medium of 
 God's dealings with mankind, and although represented in 
 nearly all the states and kingdoms of the world, it has 
 never been recognised as one of them. The legend of the 
 Jew Ahasuerus who spurned Christ on His way to Calvary, 
 and was doomed to roam the earth till He came again in 
 glory, simply sums up the nation in the individual (Deut. 
 xxviii. 25, R.V.). In Milman's "History of the Jews" 
 (Routledge, 3s. 6d.) may be read the story of its wrongs 
 and oppressions for the last eighteen centuries, wrongs such 
 as no other race could have survived. Even as I write, 
 Western Christendom having at last learned that there are 
 better ways of serving Christ than by continuing to bring
 
 218 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 His blood (Acts v. 28) upon every generation of His own 
 guilty nation, is protesting against new outrages upon the 
 Jews of Eastern Europe. Meanwhile we hear of this new 
 and growing desire among them to return to their own 
 land, and in Bessarabia there is the dim dawn of a national 
 recognition of Him whom they once rejected (Zech. xii. 10). 
 God has called Israel an everlasting nation (J er. xxxi. 35-7 ; 
 Isa. xliv. 21, liv. 10, lxvi. 22), and promised it a hopeful 
 future (Jer. xxix. II, xxxi. 17, R.V.). Our duty to it as 
 Christians is plain (Psalm cxxii. 6 ; Isa. lxii. 7 ; Rom. xi. 
 25-32, R.V.). 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See "Oxford Helps," § xv.) 
 
 « 
 
 We have often turned already for explanation of the Old 
 Testament to the New Testament as its continuation and 
 completion. We now find in our study of the last seven 
 terms the best interpretation of the New Testament. It 
 consists of four biographical sketches, one narrative con- 
 cerning some missionaries, twenty-one letters, and one 
 description of a heavenly vision (Liddon). It is com- 
 monly regarded as the work of eight writers, of whom six 
 were apostles. There is, however, reason, as we shall see, 
 to regard it as the work of nine authors, of whom four only 
 were apostles, two were the Lord's brethren, and three 
 wrote under the express guidance of S. Peter and S. 
 Paul. Of these nine, we make acquaintance with all save 
 S. Paul this term. Geographically, we may note, that S. 
 Matthew, S. James, and S. Judc wrote in Palestine ; S. 
 John in Asia Minor ; S. Luke, S. Paul, and perhaps 
 S. Peter mainly in Europe ; and the apparent connexion 
 of S. Mark and the author of Hebrews with Alexandria 
 makes them representatives of Africa. Chronologically, 
 1 Thessalonians (A.D. 52) is its earliest, and S. John's 
 Gospel, written some 45 years afterwards, its latest book, 
 and S. Paul's Epistles arc most of them earlier than the 
 five General Epistles and the Gospels. We, however, not 
 only begin with the Gospels that we may begin with our 
 Lord's life ; we recognise that a true instinct placed the 
 General before the Pauline Epistles in most of the ancient
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 219 
 
 texts ; and after studying through them the Gospel preached 
 to the Jews, we turn next term to Gentile Christianity as 
 shown in the life and writings of S. Paul, and to the 
 consummation of the Divine revelation through S. John. 
 
 The Gospels. In Acts we see that the Apostles pro- 
 claimed not a code of morality, nor a philosophical theory, 
 nor a body of abstract doctrine, but a series of facts to 
 which they had been eye-witnesses, and for the reality of 
 which they not only hazarded but laid down their lives, as 
 the present sense of " martyr," which originally meant 
 simply "witness" (see Rev. ii. 13, R.V. and A.V.) proves. 
 The plain recital of the story of Christ's life was their 
 " gospel." Passed from mouth to mouth, and diligently 
 rehearsed to their converts (Luke i. 4, R.V. margin ; 2 Thess. 
 ii. 15), it lived on, not in writing, but in their memories. 
 " Commit nothing to writing " had been a favourite Rabbinic 
 precept, and as yet they shrank from placing it in the 
 hands of unbelievers. 
 
 It soon acquired a settled form throughout the Church. 
 Twenty years after the Crucifixion, i.e., in A.D. 51, the form 
 in which S. Paul taught it in Asia Minor was found to agree 
 absolutely with the form in which it was taught in Jerusalem, 
 as he tells us in an epistle whose date and authenticity 
 none dispute (Gal. ii. 1-10). Of the countless acts and 
 words of Christ (John xxi. 25) His apostles selected the 
 most significant, and the general plan of their narrative 
 was always the same ; the same stories were related in the 
 same way ; and often, especially in recounting Christ's 
 discourses, the same words were used. They dwelt chiefly 
 upon the incidents of the Passion, and all was arranged 
 with a view of being committed to memory. 
 
 Within 30 years of Christ's death, ere the living witnesses 
 to the facts had passed away, and therefore ere there was 
 any possibility of legendary embellishments to the story, 
 various attempts were made to write it down in prepara- 
 tion for a new age and a fresh generation of Christians 
 (Luke i. 1). Three transcripts (produced probably between 
 A.D. 55 and A.D. 65) of the original oral Gospel have 
 survived, and the fact that all others have passed away 
 utterly proves that these, S. Matthew, S. Mark, and S. 
 Luke, were its authorised and universally accepted record.
 
 220 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 They were three because the life of Christ was too complex 
 for a single history, and Christian truth too wide to be 
 given in any one set of formulas. All heresy springs from 
 inordinate desire to define, distinguish, and isolate its 
 manifold elements ; all error is but the exaggeration of 
 some truth taken out of its relation to other truths. So 
 various early heretics took one Gospel only, to the exclu- 
 sion of the others, and perverted its characteristic teaching. 
 Thus, then, "the pattern of sound words" (2 Tim. i. 13) 
 which the Apostles, directly inspired by the Holy Spirit 
 according to Christ's promise (John xiv. 26 ; Mark xiii. 11), 
 had shaped, was condensed in the Apostles' Creed, and 
 expanded in the Synoptical Gospels. The Gospels were 
 the result, not the foundation, of the Apostles' teaching 
 and their common oral basis (as I have already indicated 
 in describing it) accounts for all their peculiarities. They 
 agree less than if they had been written in direct relation 
 to each other, and more than if they had been quite inde- 
 pendent narratives by three different men. We accept 
 them, not on the bare assertion that their individual authors 
 were inspired, but on the proved fact that they represent 
 the experience of the whole Christian Society that had 
 known Christ in the flesh, and received the Holy Spirit to 
 guide them into all truth (John xvi. 13). No history ever 
 had such an authentication, and alongside the written 
 record the unbroken chain of living witnesses to its truth 
 has continued, as we shall see next term. For fuller 
 exposition of the now generally accepted hypothesis of an 
 original oral Gospel, see Archbishop Thomson's article in 
 Smith's " Dictionary of the Bible." 
 
 Finally, together with this corporate testimony of the 
 whole Church, we have the individual testimony of the 
 disciple whom Jcs-us loved, and who was gifted with the 
 deepest intuition into Divine truth. He evidently wrote 
 with the Synoptical Gospels before him, designedly sup- 
 plementing them. The evidence for the historical accuracy 
 of the Gospels is well summed up in Dr. Wace's " Authen- 
 ticity of the Gospels" (Religious Tract Society, <\d.). 
 
 That S. Matthew, in its first Aramaic form, of which 
 only the record survives, may have been the earliest 
 Gospel ; that S. Mark was probably written after the allu-
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 221 
 
 sion to its author in Col. iv. 10, A.D. 63 ; that S. Luke's 
 Gospel shortly preceded his Acts, whose history is doubtless 
 brought down to the time of writing it, i.e., to 63 ; and that 
 S. John's Gospel was written at the very close of the first 
 century, are the most definite statements we can safely 
 make as to their dates. 
 
 The following summary of the peculiarities of each as 
 contrasted with the others should be worked out fully : — 
 
 6\ Matthew, the earliest Gospel, was written in Judaea 
 for the Jews, by one of the Twelve. It is \ narrative, and 
 is notable for its many Old Testament quotations, and for 
 dwelling on the discourses of Jesus, whom it presents to us 
 as the Messiah and Son of David, and as the King coming 
 to restore Israel's monarchy, the Priest fulfilling all the 
 Old Testament types, and the Prophet teaching a new law 
 of life in the Sermon on the Mount. It shows us Chris- 
 tianity as the end and perfection of Judaism, as a royal 
 law of freedom ; and looking at the Past in a didactic 
 way, relies on the power of Tradition and Precedent, and 
 expounds the relation of the Old and New Testament 
 to each other. Its keynote is Come to fulfil, Matt. v. 17 
 (cp. Isa. xxxiii. 22, and Rom. i. 3), and James, Jude, and 
 Hebrews are its best commentary. " Son of David " occurs 
 seven times here and only thrice in S. Mark and S. Luke. 
 " That it might be fulfilled " occurs eight times here and not 
 in S. Mark or S. Luke. " Your heavenly Father " occurs 
 15 times, only twice in S. Mark, and only once in S. Luke. 
 
 5. Mark, the shortest Gospel, was written in Rome (?) 
 for the Romans, by the cousin of S. Barnabas, who may or 
 may not have been an eye-witness of what he relates, but 
 who wrote under the direction of S. Peter. It is £ narra- 
 tive, and is notable for its vivid and forcible style and 
 graphic details, and for dwelling on the deeds of Jesus, 
 whom it presents to us as the Servant of God and Minister 
 of mercy to the world, and as the King ruling nature and 
 man. It shows us Christianity as a great social force 
 moulding men's outer lives anew ; and looking at the 
 Present in a practical way, relies on the power of Active 
 Energy, and expounds Christian Practice, emphasizing 
 works as the outcome of faith. Its keynote is Come to 
 minister, Mark x. 45 (cp. Isa. xlii. 1-4 and Acts x. 38),
 
 222 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 and S. Peter's Epistles arc its best commentary. Several 
 Latin words occur here and not elsewhere, and it has most 
 in common with the other Gospels. 
 
 6". Luke, the longest Gospel, was written in Greece (?) for 
 the Greeks, by a Gentile physician and medical missionary, 
 who had not been an eye-witness of what he relates, but 
 who wrote under the direction of S. Paul. It is \ narrative, 
 and is notable for its pathos and literary beauty, and for 
 dwelling on the conversations of Jesus, whom it presents 
 to us as the Son of Man and Saviour of sinners, and as the 
 Priest offering Himself in sacrifice. It shows us Chris- 
 tianity as a new creation of the inner lives of men ; and 
 looking at the Future in a human and historical way, relies 
 on the power of Thought, and expounds a doctrine 
 concerning Man, emphasizing faith as the source of works. 
 Its keynote is Come to save, Luke xix. 10 (cp. Isa. ix. 6, 
 Rom. viii. 3), and S. Paul's Epistles are its best commentary. 
 " Grace," which occurs but three times in John, and never 
 in Mark or Matthew, occurs often in Luke as in S. Paul's 
 writings. 
 
 vS. John, the latest Gospel, was written in Asia Minor for 
 the whole Church, by one of the three chosen Apostles, 
 who was Christ's first cousin and His nearest and dearest 
 follower. It is ^ narrative, and is notable for its profound 
 spiritual teaching and symmetrical structure, and for 
 dwelling on the progressive manifestation of Jesus and 
 on the growing unbelief of the Jews contrasted with the 
 growing faith of the disciples. It presents Him to us as 
 the Son of God and Incarnate Word, and as the Prophet 
 revealing highest truths. It shows us Christianity in its 
 infinite relations ; and looking at Eternity in a philosophical 
 and poetical way, relics on the supreme power of Love, 
 and expounds a doctrine concerning God. Its keynote is 
 Come in My Fathers Name, John v. 43 (cp. Isa. liv. 13, 
 1 John v. 20), and S. John's Epistles and Apocalypse are 
 its best commentary. It has least in common with the 
 other Gospels, not using many of their most familiar words, 
 and using at least 65 words not found in them. It is 
 at once the simplest in manner and the most difficult in 
 matter of all. For the Harmony of the Gospels, and the 
 exact order in which the)- should be read, sec p. 244.
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 223 
 
 Acts, probably written at Rome, forms S. Luke's sequel 
 to his Gospel, and both are addressed to the same official 
 of high rank. Its record, like that of the Gospels, covers a 
 period of about 34 years. " Acts," not " The Acts," is the 
 literal rendering of its title, for it is not a history of the 
 Twelve (eight of whom it names in Acts i. 13 only), but 
 of the organisation of the Church and of the progress of 
 Christian truth among representative men of very different 
 types. It may be regarded as " the Gospel of the Holy 
 Ghost," as the first Church History and the first Missionary 
 Report. Acts i. — xiv. has for its keynote Witnesses to 
 Christ's Resurrection (Acts i. 8 ; cp. Luke xxiv. 47, 48). 
 
 The Epistles. The life of Christ comes to us through 
 four writers, the doctrine concerning Christ through six, 
 viz., two (Peter and John) who believed on Him when He 
 was on earth (John vi. 67-9) ; two (James and Jude) who, 
 though near Him throughout His earthly life, did not 
 believe till He rose from the dead (John vii. 5 ; 1 Cor. xv. 
 7 ; Acts i. 14) ; and two (Paul and the author of Hebrews) 
 who probably never knew Him on earth, but believed on 
 Him ascended to Heaven, even as we may believe, though 
 we have not had a miraculous vision or the spoken testimony 
 of His companions (Acts ix. 5 ; Heb. ii. 3). This multiplied 
 witness shows us : (a) That Divine Truth cannot be 
 summed up in any one man's apprehension of it, however 
 deeply he be taught of God. (6) That there was nothing 
 mechanical in the inspiration under which the New Testa- 
 ment was written. We receive it, as we receive the Old 
 Testament, in portions tinged with the individuality of 
 different human minds, that it may be perfectly adapted to 
 our complex nature, (c) That there may be real unity 
 without absolute uniformity. The churches in Jerusalem, 
 Asia Minor, Alexandria, and Europe each had their 
 characteristic differences (not disagreements) according 
 to the different types of teaching which they received from 
 their founders, in whose writings these differences arc 
 reflected. 
 
 The General or Catholic Epistles differ from others in 
 not being addressed to particular churches or individuals. 
 James and 1 Peter address the Dispersion, Jude and 
 2 Peter address all Christians (but 2 Peter iii. 1 may imply
 
 224 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 that both S. Peter's Epistles address the Dispersion) 
 Hebrews probably addresses all Jewish Christians, and 
 is practically though not in name a General Epistle. 
 The whole group has for its theme the Risen and Ascended 
 Christ, is deeply influenced by the Old Testament, and 
 alludes often to later apocryphal books and various Jewish 
 traditions. It represents Judaic Christianity. The strong 
 likeness between the pictures of declension in S. Paul's 
 Pastoral Epistles and those in I and 2 Peter and Jude 
 indicate that they were written at the same time. S. James 
 was martyred in 62, and S. Peter (together with S. Paul) in 
 67. Both wrote soon before they died, and S. Jude's Epistle 
 must have been written shortly before 2 Peter. Hebrews 
 must have appeared before the Fall of Jerusalem, but cannot 
 have been written long before. This is all we can affirm 
 as to their dates, so no years are here mentioned lest dates 
 should give an erroneous impression of exact information. 
 Students are strongly recommended not only to study each 
 Epistle in detail, but to read it through at a sitting as 
 they would read a friend's letter. 
 
 James and Jude were the Lord's brethren (Mark vi. 3). 
 Some identify them with His apostles and first cousins, the 
 sons of Alphaeus. In that case we should not be told within 
 six months of His death, and just after the apostolic con- 
 fession of faith, that His brethren did not believe in Him 
 (John vi. 69, vii. 5 ; see also Jude 17). Nor is there any 
 other instance of cousins being called " brethren." Some 
 rashly assume that they were younger children of our 
 Lord's Mother. In that case they would not have asserted 
 the authority over Christ which they did assert on more 
 than one occasion, nor would He then have commended her 
 to S. John's care. In all probability they were the sons of 
 Joseph by a former marriage. S. James, after the Twelve 
 had dispersed far and wide according to Christ's command 
 (Mark xvi. 15) for missionary work, presided over the 
 Church in Jerusalem, having the position, if not actually 
 the title, of" its Bishop (Acts xii. 17, xv., xxi. 18 ; Gal. 
 i., ii.). At the hands of the Sadducean party whom his 
 Epistle so pointedly rebukes, he was martyred, boldly 
 witnessing that Jesus is the Christ. To this death, which 
 filled up the cup of Jerusalem's iniquity, there may be an
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 225 
 
 allusion in Heb. xiii. 7, and his own words (James v. 6) are 
 prophetic of it. We know nothing certain about S. Jude's 
 life, labours, and death, and history mentions S. Peter for 
 the last time in Acts xv. Concerning his latter years, be- 
 sides his Epistles and 1 Cor. ix. 5 and Gal. ii., there are 
 only uncertified traditions and legends that cannot be true. 
 The Epistle of 6". James is addressed to Jews, many of 
 whom were Christians, while the other four Epistles are ad- 
 dressed to Christians, many of whom were Jews. It contains 
 more allusions to Christ's discourses than all the other 
 Epistles put together, but fewer allusions to Christian 
 doctrine, which it assumes rather than expounds. There is 
 little in it which a pious and enlightened Jew could not 
 accept, and to its author Christians are but ideal Jews. 
 He has not only the new light of the Christian teacher, but 
 the fervour, sternness, and pointed brevity of the Hebrew 
 prophet. Through him Jerusalem received her last warning 
 from God. His keynote is Christian faithfulness must 
 express itself in the energy of loving service. "Temptation," 
 "Riches," "Patience," "Wisdom" are its recurring thoughts, 
 and " the worthlessness, religiously speaking, of unfruitful 
 knowledge is its theme " (Liddon). 
 
 1 Peter bears throughout the traces of familiarity with the 
 acta and words of Christ, and many minute similarities 
 between S. Peter's sermons in Acts and his Epistles prove the 
 genuineness of both. The many points in which they echo 
 the utterances both of S. James and of S. Paul (2 Peter 
 iii. 15, 16) show us that the teachings of those two great 
 leaders, though in apparent opposition, are really in 
 harmony. S. Peter reconciles them, standing as he does 
 doctrinally just between them. Its keynote is Endure, 
 submit, for ye are the heirs of salvation. " Resignation " 
 and " Hope " are its recurring thoughts. 
 
 The picturesque Epistle of S. Jude is like a rough sketch of 
 S. Peter's second Epistle ; indeed, their likeness is too close 
 to be accidental. , It is remarkable for its threefold arrange- 
 ment throughout. We note/i 1 triplets of word and idea. 
 Its keynote is Contend for the Faith. 
 
 2 Peter alternates between passionate warning and 
 earnest exhortation, and has more unity and coherence 
 than 1 Peter. Its keynote is Stand fast in the Faith. 
 
 15
 
 226 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 Of the canonicity, importance, and authority of Hebrews 
 there is no doubt, but there is great doubt as to its author. 
 It is the one absolutely anonymous Epistle, and we do not 
 know exactly whence or whither it was sent. Early testi- 
 monies of the Eastern Church are vague and conflicting ; 
 in the Western Church it was attributed to S. Paul for the 
 first time 300 years after it was written. Loose conjecture 
 has always favoured his authorship, but scholarly criticism 
 is generally against it. Many differences of literary style 
 between it and S. Paul's writings are pointed out. They 
 are evident to some extent in the English, but far more 
 in the Greek. It teaches the same truths as S. Paul, but 
 from quite a different point of view ; and it is scarcely 
 possible that Gal. i. 11, 12 and Heb. ii. 3 could have been 
 penned by the same hand, as one asserts and the other 
 disclaims for the writer the position of an apostle taught by 
 Christ Himself. Luther's guess that it was written byApollos 
 has been adopted by Alford, Plumptre, and other eminent 
 modern scholars. For this there is no positive evidence, 
 but we cannot name any other New Testament Christian 
 who is so likely to have written it. Without presuming to 
 dogmatise where great authorities disagree, I separate it 
 from S. Paul's Epistles that we may fitly conclude our study 
 of Judaic Christianity by learning why Judaism "vanished 
 away " when it had produced something higher than itself. 
 
 Hebrews deals with the relation of Judaism as a system 
 of worship to Christianity. Its stately rhetoric is the 
 finest Greek in the New Testament. Its keynote is Christ 
 our High Priest, and its recurring thoughts, " A better 
 covenant," " By how much more," " Living," " Eternal," 
 " Perfect," " Draw near," " Consider," " Hold fast." 
 
 For all these Epistles see Archdeacon Farrar's " Early 
 Days of Christianity " (Cassell, 6s.). 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 This term we overstep the 57 years marked out for it in 
 order to close our epoch with the Fall of Jerusalem, A.D. 
 70. Next term we retrace our steps in order to take the 
 story of Gentile Christianity as a whole. Our chronology 
 is only approximately accurate, the dates given by different 
 authorities for the Conference varying from 47 to 52 ; but
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 227 
 
 it cannot be far wrong. For clear understanding of our 
 story, we must note the dates of the Roman Emperors and 
 of the rulers of Palestine. 
 
 (1) B.C. 6 — A.D. 26 (32 years). From Gabriel's message 
 
 to Zacharias to the Divine anointing of our Lord for 
 His life. The Coming of the Messiah. Matt, i., ii. ; 
 Luke i., ii., iii. 23-38 ; John i. 1-18. 
 
 (2) A.D. 26 — 30 (3^ years). From the Divine anointing 
 
 for His life to the human anointing for His death. 
 The Ministry of the Messiah. Matt. iii. — xx. ; Mark 
 i. — x. ; Luke iii. 1-22, iv. — xix. 28 ; John i. 19 — xi. 
 
 (3) A.D. 30, March 31 — May 17 (48 days). From the 
 
 human anointing for His death to the Ascension. 
 The D eat J 1 and Resurrection of the Messiah. Matt. 
 x:si. — xxviii. ; Mark xi. — xvi. ; Luke xix. 29 — xxiv. ; 
 John xii. — xxi. ; Acts i. 1-12. 
 (See p. 251 for the details of all these periods.) 
 
 (4) A.D. 30 — 35 (5 years). From the Ascension to the 
 
 appointment of deacons. The Hebrew Church. 
 Acts i. 13 — v. 
 
 (5) A.D. 35 — 40 (5 years). From the appointment of 
 deacons to the conversion of Cornelius. The Hellenis- 
 tic Church. Acts vi. — ix. 31. 
 
 (6) A.D.40 — 45 (5 years). From the conversion of Cornelius 
 
 to the Mission from Antioch. The Founding of the 
 Gentile Church. Acts. ix. 32 — xii., James, 1 Peter, 
 Jude, 2 Peter, Hebrews. (Two or three years pro- 
 bably separate Acts v. 42 from Acts vi. 1 ; and 
 Acts ix. 31 from Acts ix. 32, and a period of one or 
 two years separates Acts xi. 26 from Acts xi. 27.) 
 
 (7) A.D. 45 — 51 (6 years). From the Mission from 
 
 Antioch to the Conference at Jerusalem. S. Paul's 
 First foumey. Acts xiii., xiv. 
 
 Twelve Emperors of Rome. 
 
 Augustus B.C. 12 — A.D. 14. Otho 69 (3 months). 
 
 Tiberius A.D. 12—37. Vitellius 69 (1 month), 
 
 Caligula 27 — 4 1 - Vespasian 69 — 79. 
 
 Claudius 41 — 54. Titus 79—81. 
 
 Nero 54 — 68. Domitian 81 — 96. 
 
 Galba 68 — 69. Nerva 96 — 98.
 
 228 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 Rulers of Pa^stine. 
 
 (See " Oxford Helps," § xxii.) 
 
 Herod, King of Judaea, etc., B.C. 37 — 4. 
 
 Archelaus, Ethnarch of Judaea, B.C. 4 — A.D. 6. 
 
 Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Peraea and Galilee, B.C. 4 — 
 
 A.D. 39. 
 Herod Philip, Tetrarch of Iturasa and Trachonitis, B.C. 4 
 
 — A.D. 33. 
 
 Five Roman Procurators of Judaea, A.D. 6 — 26. 
 
 Pontius Pilate, Procurator, 26 — 36. 
 
 Four Roman Procurators, 38 — 51. 
 
 Antonius Felix, Procurator, 51 — 60. 
 
 Porcius Festus, Procurator, 60 — 62. 
 
 Albinus, Procurator, 62 — 64. 
 
 Gessius Florus, 14th and last Procurator, 64 — 70. 
 
 Agrippa I., King of Judaea and Samaria, 41 — 44. 
 Herod, King of Chalcis, 41 — 48. 
 Agrippa II., King of Chalcis, 49 — 70. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," Maps IX., X., XI.) 
 
 Not only did Christ begin His ministry on Jordan's 
 banks, close to the 'spot where Israel entered Canaan under 
 Joshua : He had previously gone down from Palestine into 
 Egypt, and had been brought up thence by Divine command. 
 If we may believe that the evidences for the Sinaitic 
 Peninsula outweigh those for the traditional idea that 
 Ouarantania in Judaea was the scene of His Temptation, 
 we see further that He had passed through 40 days of trial 
 where Israel had been tried for 40 years. Farther west 
 and farther south He had not been. He also went as far 
 north as Phoenicia, as far east as Peraea. But His life as a 
 whole was spent in a space represented by one or two 
 English counties. 
 
 At His birth, Herod ruled all that had been divided 
 among the Twelve Tribes and Idumea also, a larger kingdom
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 229 
 
 in all than David's. During His ministry, Samaria and 
 Judaea formed the Roman province of Judaea under a 
 procurator, while Galilee (once the portion of Asher, 
 Naphtali, Zebulun, and Issachar) and Peraea (once the 
 portion of Reuben and Gad) were ruled by Antipas. What 
 had once been Manasseh's eastern portion was under the 
 sway of Philip (Luke iii. 1). 
 
 Six hundred years of Gentile domination had left many 
 traces in new half-heathen cities with foreign names. The 
 most famous New Testament names, such as Caesarea (the 
 Roman capital of Judaea), Capernaum (the Roman capital 
 of Galilee), Tiberias, Julias, Caesarea Philippi, Bethsaida, 
 Cana, Chorazin, Nazareth, Gadara, Emmaus, and Bethany, 
 are not mentioned at all in the Old Testament. 
 
 Reserving the geographical extension of the Church to 
 be dealt with from the beginning next term, we now note 
 the places most hallowed by the Lord's presence — viz., 
 Bethlehem, His birthplace ; Nazareth, His own city in 
 youth ; Capernaum, His own city in manhood (Matt. ix. 1) ; 
 Bethsaida and Cana, each the home of five of the twelve 
 Apostles ; the Lake of Galilee, " the most sacred sheet of 
 water which this earth contains " {Stanley), as significant 
 of His teaching as the stern desert was of the Baptist's 
 teaching ; Bethany, His favourite retreat in Judaea ; and 
 Jerusalem, where His work was completed. 
 
 The ancient town of Bethlehem lies on the ridge of a 
 long grey hill, only 300 feet lower than the top of Helvellyn, 
 six miles to the south of Jerusalem. Bethany nestles on 
 the eastern slope of Olivet, on the road to Jericho, one mile 
 and three-quarters from Jerusalem (John xi. 18). 
 
 But though Christ began His public ministry in Judaea, 
 and was born and died there, He began to proclaim His 
 gospel in Galilee, which remained throughout the chief 
 scene of His work. Its soil was the most fertile and its 
 climate the finest in Palestine. Well-wooded, it yielded 
 wine and wheat and olive oil abundantly. Its 240 towns 
 and villages filled it with the hum of many-coloured life. 
 Since the Captivity, it had been largely peopled by heathen, 
 and was looked down upon therefore by the southern Jews 
 (Matt. iv. 15). Many Syrians, Phoenicians, Arabs, and 
 Greeks had settled there in Christ's day, but its Hebrew
 
 230 • EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 inhabitants, though less bigoted and narrow than the 
 Judceans, were most faithful to the Law, and had more of 
 its life if less of its form. Their mountain air made them 
 patriots and heroes. Again and again they were the first 
 to defy the Roman arms, and they were the last to defend 
 the ruins of Jerusalem. " The Galilean loves honour, the 
 Jew loves money," says the Talmud. The beautiful Lake, 
 named Chinnereth, Gennesaret, or Tiberias, 12 \ miles long 
 by nearly 7 miles wide at its widest {i.e., about the length 
 of Loch Maree, but wider), was called " the Eye of Galilee." 
 Deserted now, its bright waves were then thronged not 
 only with fishing boats, but with Roman war vessels, and 
 gilded pinnaces from Herod's palace. They are fringed 
 with gay oleanders and set in smiling pastures ; their shore 
 line is broken into exquisite little bays, and the hills slope 
 up gently from the water. The Rabbis expressed their 
 enthusiasm for its beauty in a proverb which had a deeper 
 meaning than they knew, " God has created seven seas in 
 the land of Canaan, but one only — the Sea of Galilee — has 
 He chosen for Himself." On its shores, which Josephus 
 calls " the crown of Palestine," and on the much-frequented 
 high road from Damascus to Ptolemais (Isa. ix. 1), lay the 
 thriving and busy little town of Capernaum, whose inhabit- 
 ants had no leisure for the teaching of Christ (Matt. xi. 23). 
 It is now too utterly destroyed for its site to be certainly 
 determined. 
 
 Nazareth is a secluded mountain village 1200 feet above 
 the sea, in an amphitheatre of hills, overlooking one of the 
 little folds of the great plain seen as the hills open. The 
 comely women and bright-eyed children who still gather 
 about its clear and abundant fountain attes£ its pure air ; 
 while the traces of terrace cultivation on its hills, and the 
 many cemeteries, show how large its population once was. 
 Amid the peaceful loveliness of its myriad flowers and 
 gardens of fig and orange and olive and cypress, Jesus 
 passed His youth of humble obedience and patient ob- 
 scurity, and even as the Risen Lord who claimed Paul's 
 allegiance called Himself by its name (Acts xxii. 8). In 
 Mohammedan lands His followers are still known as 
 Nazai enes.
 
 HEROES. 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 (The Lord Jesus, I Peter ii. 21. 
 John the Baptist, Ezek. ii. 4, 5. 
 6*. Peter, Psalm li. 12, 13. 
 S. Stephen, Rev. xii. II. 
 S. James, Psalm i. 1, 2. 
 
 The instinct of hero-worship is an universal and ennobling 
 one, and we have throughout recognised it by dwelling on 
 the best and greatest men in Bible history. New Testament 
 writers tell us little of the earliest Christian heroes and 
 saints. For them the transcendant personality of the Lord 
 Jesus completely filled eye and thought and heart. In 
 Him we recognise the Almighty Creator of the world who 
 deigned to be its Almighty Redeemer. The Word was 
 God, and the Word became flesh (John i. 1, 14). We 
 receive with adoring faith the crowning mystery of the 
 Incarnation, anticipated dimly in the Old Testament and 
 clearly recorded in the New Testament, as the one possible 
 explanation of Christianity and the one solution of all the 
 problems concerning man's relation to God. Strong and 
 terrible as is the power of evil over human hearts, we dare 
 to cherish the highest hopes for ourselves and for our 
 fellow-men, because on this earth not only has a death of 
 infinitely meritorious self-sacrifice been died, but one perfect 
 human life has been lived, and the ideal of humanity has 
 in Christ become real. " We cannot conceive what is 
 implied in a nature of which omnipotence, omnipresence, 
 and omniscience are attributes, far less present them 
 adequately in words as united with human weakness and 
 local limitation " {Geikie). As the uncreated and eternal 
 Son " of the Substance of the Father," He is for ever in- 
 comprehensible. But since He lived on earth to be our 
 Example, we may gaze reverently upon Him as " Man, of 
 the Substance of His mother, born in the world " {Athana- 
 sian Creed), and behold in Him the highest perfection of 
 all that human goodness of which our Heroes hitherto 
 have been noble but partial types. The Son of Man, 
 " in the truth of our nature made like unto us in all 
 things sin only except " ("Article XV.). was more faith-
 
 232 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 ful than Abraham ; more blameless than Joseph ; more 
 patient than Job ; more heedless of self than Moses ; 
 zealous with a purer zeal than that of Phinehas ; more 
 dauntless than Joshua ; more disinterested than Gideon ; 
 more devout than Samuel ; more desirous to fulfil God's 
 will than David ; wiser than Solomon ; more earnest in 
 the service of God than Elijah ; more earnest in the 
 service of men than Elisha ; juster in judgment than 
 Jehoshaphat ; a greater restorer of Divine worship than 
 Jehoiada ; with stronger trust in God than Hezekiah, and 
 clearer insight into the things of God than Isaiah ; a more 
 single-hearted reformer than Josiah ; a more unswerving 
 preacher of unwelcome truth than Jeremiah ; holier than 
 Daniel ; a greater teacher of God's law than Ezra ; more 
 prayerful than Nehemiah ; and the builder of a grander 
 Temple than that of Zerubbabel. Pre-eminently meek 
 and lowly in heart (Matt. xi. 29), He, unlike all these other 
 saints, never hinted at a personal need of repentance ; He 
 advanced claims of absolute sinlessness, appealing to earth 
 (John viii. 46), to Hell (John xiv. 30), and to Heaven 
 (John viii. 29) in support of them, which, in any other, 
 would be the very delirium of religious pride, but which 
 are a greater reason for regarding Him as more than 
 human than any of the wonders He wrought. His own 
 character was more miraculous than any of His miracles. 
 Men acknowledged Him to be perfect in thought (Heb. 
 vii. 26), word (John vii. 46 ; Luke iv. 22), and deed (Mark 
 vii. 37). Not only was every thought and emotion and 
 desire holy, but none was in excess. With us any supreme 
 pre-occupation leaves us apathetic to other things : Christ 
 always had "a heart at leisure from itself." Hence that 
 absolute unselfishness and ever ready sympathy, which 
 were as prominent as any traits could be in such a perfectly 
 balanced and altogether harmonious character. Seven 
 times in all, once of a blind man, of a leper, of a childless 
 widow, thrice of the multitude, and once in His own 
 parable (Luke x.), we read that " He was moved with 
 compassion." Consider how much you have accomplished 
 ill the last 3! years of your own life, and then try to 
 realise the unity of purpose and intensity of effort that 
 made Christ's ministry the turning-point of the world's
 
 HEROES. 233 
 
 whole history. Two other characteristics which no painter 
 can depict must have struck those who saw Him on earth : 
 insight, before which all the self-satisfied hypocrisies of a 
 decadent religion shrank back, while the humble penitent 
 drew near ; and majesty, which tempered intense love for 
 Him with overwhelming reverence. " Certainly a flame 
 of fire and starry brightness flashed from His eyes 
 (says Jerome), and the majesty of the Godhead shone in 
 His face." 
 
 But we may not try to sum up His character as we have 
 summed up those of others. The inspired singer who 
 prophesied of Him checks our presumption, and reminds 
 us of our true attitude before Him, " He is thy Lord, 
 worship thou Him " (Psalm xlv. 1 1) ; and we bow down 
 uttering the words of that most ancient Church hymn, 
 " Thou only art holy, Thou only art the Lord, O Christ ! " 
 
 But 
 
 " Though He is so bright and we so dim, 
 We are made in His image to witness Him" 
 
 (Robert Browning), 
 
 to testify that He is no mere historical character in the 
 past, but our living, loving Saviour in the present, who 
 bids the sinful come to find pardon ; the weak come to 
 find strength ; the perplexed come to find light ; the 
 sorrowful come to find joy ; the weary come to find rest ; 
 the tempest-tossed come to find peace ; the hungry and 
 thirsty come to find satisfaction. Coming to Him in 
 prayer, we may be as truly near to Him as were those 
 whom He succoured and taught when on earth. 
 
 We can add nothing to Christ's own eulogy of His 
 grandly heroic forerunner, John the Baptist (Matt. xi. 9-1 1), 
 save the comment that he is almost the only great man 
 who has been content to merge his own glory wholly in 
 that of another (John iii. 30). To utter self-abnegation, he 
 added that unfaltering steadfastness which enabled him 
 to fulfil his course (Acts xiii. 25), although he was cut off 
 in the prime of manhood. In him the voice of prophecy 
 spoke again, after a silence of four centuries. 
 
 Of Christ's first twelve followers we hear much collec- 
 tively, and note their growing faith culminating in S. Peter's 
 confession, and their too frequent dulness of apprehension,
 
 234 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 which took the Master's figurative expressions literally and 
 His literal expressions metaphorically. But 6". Peter is the 
 only one of whom there are many individual incidents in 
 the Gospels. He stands out as the first (Matt. x. 2) in this 
 first chapter of Christian history. His special work was 
 opening the gates of the Church at Pentecost to the Jews 
 and at the baptism of Cornelius to the Gentiles (Matt. xvi. 
 19). His priority was personal, not official ; for afterwards 
 it is S. James who presides over the Jewish and S. Paul who 
 is chiefest Apostle in the Gentile Church. " Whatsoever 
 thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might " was always 
 S. Peter's motto, says Professor Blunt ; and throughout he 
 is the same zealous, eager, impulsive disciple, wavering and 
 falling, yet rising to a higher height. He shows us what wc 
 too often are, but also what we may be if we follow Christ 
 with the same ardent loyalty and deep affection. 
 
 Lastly, let us name 5. Stephen^ the immediate pre- 
 decessor of S. Paul, the protomartyr of the Church, of 
 whose rare intellectual power and spiritual fervour we get 
 but one glimpse; and S. James, the Lord's brother, whom 
 we see first in S. John's account of the marriage in Cana, 
 and last in the pages of Josephus and Hegesippus. They 
 describe him as a Nazarite and uncompromising observer 
 of the Mosaic Law, venerated for his extraordinary sanctity, 
 and called the Just, and the Bulwark of the People. 
 
 VI. The Manifestation of the Messiah. 
 
 " All t/us is come to pass, that the Scriptures of the 
 propJiets might be fulfilled" — Matt. xxvi. 56. 
 
 Of Christ, who is Himself in heaven, wc have (as 
 S. Ambrose beautifully says) not only the image in the 
 Gospel, but the shadow in the Law. These two, with the 
 living witness of the Holy Spirit through the Church, form 
 a threefold testimony to Him. The answer to Question 
 XXXI. on p. 162, surveyed the shadow as a whole. Its parts 
 we have traced term after term in following " the Hope of 
 the Promise which God made "to His people. We have 
 seen how from the day Eve welcomed Cain to that in which 
 their aspirations centred in Zerubbabcl, the Messianic 
 thought colours the whole Old Testament history, and in
 
 THE MANIFESTATION OF THE MESSIAH. 235 
 
 the subsequent national depression they threw themselves 
 more and more on the future till the hateful reign of Herod 
 stirred their desires to white heat. The Herodians, it is 
 true, attenuated the Jewish faith in a coming Deliverer 
 into a vague hope of general progress and prosperity, as 
 some would attenuate the Christian faith in a coming 
 Saviour now. Josephus never betrays any personal interest 
 in the Messianic doctrine, yet he bears the strongest testi- 
 mony to its powerful hold on the nation. At the Christian 
 era there was universal doubt, uncertainty, and expectation. 
 From Daniel's great prophecy three calculations were 
 made, fixing B.C. 17, A.D. 67, and A.D. 135 as the date of 
 the Messiah, and to these may be attributed their desperate 
 challenge to the Romans in 66, and the success of Bar- 
 Cocheba's pretensions in 132. That was the last public 
 profession of the earlier creed. The utmost limit to which 
 His coming could be delayed had been passed, and they 
 shaped despairing legends — truer than they seemed — that 
 the Shechinah had gone to the Mount of Olives and 
 pleaded with the people in vain for three years before the 
 city fell ; and that the Messiah actually appeared at the 
 destruction of the Temple, but was suddenly carried away 
 to be revealed at His proper time. 
 
 And meanwhile, why had they not received Him when 
 He came? There was abundant witness to Him. Five 
 preliminary announcements, by Gabriel to Zacharias and 
 the Virgin, by angels to the shepherds, by the Spirit to 
 Simeon, and by a star to the Magi, were followed by the 
 Baptist's three testimonies. Sixteen times before and 
 once after His resurrection, Jesus declared Himself the 
 One to whom the Prophets bore witness, using the word 
 Messiah (i.e., Christ) six times ; sixteen times also was He 
 acknowledged as such by others, the word Messiah being 
 used six times. And although no Jew could have pictured 
 Him beforehand as He actually was, we cannot imagine any 
 other Saviour who could have satisfied as He did all the 
 wants which were felt in His days. Atonement, independ- 
 ence, restoration, dominion, union, in their highest sense, 
 were what He offered and what they refused. (See p. 249.) 
 
 As a solemn warning to ourselves, let us note these three 
 cr.uses of their refusal : —
 
 236 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 (a) Prejudice. " Pre-occupation of the mind by fixed 
 opinions (says Dr. Geikie) leads to a wrong reading of any 
 evidence. We unconsciously distort facts or invent them 
 to support our favourite theories, and see everything 
 through their medium. . . . The only way we can hope to 
 see truth in its own white and unbroken light is, as Christ 
 tells us, by our becoming little children." The rigid 
 literalism and unchanging conservatism of the Rabbis shut 
 out the light of the new and spiritual truths put before 
 them by Christ. 
 
 (b) Worldliness. Their religious leaders were lovers of 
 money (Luke xvi. 14, R.V.), and it was for their advantage 
 that Jesus should die (John xi. 50). So they clung to gain 
 till they lost all. The multitude loved the violence for 
 which their prophets had so often reproved them, and they 
 preferred the brigand (Luke xxiii. 18, 19). So they 
 suffered every conceivable outrage from their conquerors. 
 Pilate loved Caesar's favour (John xix. 12-16), and con- 
 demned where he wished to acquit, in obedience to the 
 clamour of a mob. And Caesar sent him into ignominious 
 exile. 
 
 (c) Self-will. They had shaped an easy religion of rigid 
 outward observances, leading to exclusive pride and self- 
 righteousness, while permitting many " pleasant sins." 
 With the national conscience thus weakened and perverted, 
 they spurned the hard religion of faith and love which led 
 to unselfish humility. 
 
 And so the Messiah could only weep over the doomed 
 city that He yearned to save. Yet He had come not to 
 destroy the Past, but out of it to form the Future. That 
 which concerns Him has complete fulfilment (Luke xxii. 
 37, R.V.) now that He has taught in the Past as a Prophet 
 greater than Moses, now that He intercedes for us in the 
 Present in virtue of His one sacrifice as a Priest greater 
 than Aaron (Heb. ix. 24), now that His coming draweth 
 near in the Future as a King greater than David. 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 Ever" since Adam and Eve hid themselves from God 
 (Gen. iii. 8), a cloud of sin (Isa. lix. 2) had shut out the
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN 237 
 
 undimmed glory of the true Light from man. The story of 
 the Bible is the story of how God gradually dispersed that 
 earth-born cloud, and with infinite patience and longsuffer- 
 ing revealed Himself to men as they were able to bear (John 
 xvi. 12) the revelation. But never had they seemed more 
 ignorant of God than in this day of dead Judaism and un- 
 utterably corrupt heathenism (Rorn. i. 25, ii. 24; 1 Cor. 
 i. 21), the day in which Christ, who as Son of God knew 
 Him perfectly, came as Son of Man to reveal Him per- 
 fectly (Heb. i. 1-3 ; John i. 18). Only God can comprehend 
 God, but He was made man that we might apprehend 
 Him, might know Him (John xvii. 3 ; 1 John i. 2, 3, ii. 13, 
 v. 20), and draw near to Him (1 Peter iii. 18 ; Heb. vii. 
 19, x. 19-22 ; Eph. ii. 18 ; Rom. v. 1,2; John xiv. 6). The 
 Incarnate Son revealed these three things : — 
 
 (a) God's Power (Matt. xix. 26). 
 
 (b) God's Glory (Isa. xl. 5 ; cp. Exod. xxxiii. 18). Both 
 had been to some extent made known already, but both 
 had been forgotten (Rom. i. 20, 23 ; Matt. xxii. 29). 
 
 (c) God's Goodness and Love, which men were farthest 
 from finding out and yet most yearned after (1 John i. 5, 
 iv. 8-10). It was of the Divine Character above all that 
 the Son was " the express image." Even now men have 
 but slowly learned to replace their human notion of a 
 God of revenge, who is to be slavishly feared, by Christ's 
 Divine portrayal, culminating in His death (1 John iii. 16 ; 
 Tit. iii. 4), of a God of Love, who is to be humbly loved. 
 
 He made this revelation in three ways, (a) By what 
 He taught. As at each previous stage of revelation, a new 
 truth came in a new Name of God. Men had occasionally 
 ventured to think of Him as FATHER already (Deut. 
 xxxii. 6; 1 Chron. xxix. 10 ; Isa. lxiii. 16, lxiv. 8), and to 
 find a Divine symbol in human fatherhood (Eph. iii. 15, 
 R.V. margin). But He came in the Father's name, 
 proclaiming it clearly and constantly (John v. 43, xvii. 6), 
 and His witness to it, as Hausrath points out, was one 
 of the strongest proofs of the absolute perfection of His 
 human nature (see Westcott's " Revelation of the Father "). 
 (p) By what He was. He enabled us to know and see 
 the Father through knowing and seeing Him (John xiv. 
 7-9 ; Matt. i. 23). His life was an unveiling of God to
 
 238 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 the eye of man's sense, that the eye of man's spirit might 
 understand Him (Liddoii). His Incarnation is the founda- 
 tion truth of our creed as a race and as individuals. " All 
 past history, so far as it has any permanent significance, 
 appears to be the preparation for that great mystery, and all 
 subsequent history the gradual appropriation of its results " 
 ( Westcotf). (c) By giving the Holy Spirit to reveal Him as 
 He had revealed the Father (Acts xvi. 7, R.V.). 
 
 There is abundant proof in the Acts of the Apostles that 
 the Church from the first regarded her Founder as Divine. 
 For her members His words recorded in Matt, xxviii. 20 
 stated not an abstract doctrine, but a fact of daily experience. 
 Accordingly they prayed to Him in heaven, as they had 
 spoken to Him on earth, which being Jews they could not 
 have done had they regarded Him as merely human. With 
 Acts i. 24 cp. John vi. 70, ii. 24, 25, xxi. 17; with Acts 
 ii. 21, vii. 59, 60 (R.V.), and ix. 14, cp. I Cor. i. 2 ; with 
 the significant word " began " in Acts i. 1 cp. Mark xvi. 20, 
 2 Cor. vi. 1. 
 
 Lastly, observe how the doctrine of the Three in One 
 underlies the whole of Christ's teaching, Matt, xxiii. 8-10, 
 R.V. (cp. John xiv. 26); John iii. 5, 16, xiv., xv., xvi. 
 His one explicit statement of it in Matt, xxviii. 19 is not, 
 however, speculative, but practical. " The highest mystery 
 of the Faith is conveyed in the words which are the pass- 
 port into the Christian community " ( Westcoti). So indeed 
 the whole wondrous revelation of " Divine Humanity re- 
 newing nature " (E. B. Browning) had a directly practical 
 issue (1 John iii. 2 ; 2 Peter i. 4). In the grand words of 
 Athanasius's famous treatise on the Incarnation, § liv., 
 " He became human that we might be made divine." 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 Herod's Temple has been so often pictured and described 
 that we need not dwell upon it. Edersheim's " Temple 
 and its Services " (Religious Tract Society, 5^.) gives 
 a scholarly and complete account of it. This grandest 
 of all the three Temples reared at Jerusalem, the one 
 honoured by our Lord's presence, was finally completed 
 in A.D. 65, the year before the war with Rome broke
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 239 
 
 out. Five years later not one stone was left on another 
 (Matt. xxiv. 1, 2). 
 
 Henceforth, realising the teaching of Mai. i. 1 1 and 
 John iv. 24, we turn to the living Temple of the future, 
 which had Christ for its corner-stone, and for its foundation 
 the Apostles (Eph. ii. 20), that first company of believers 
 which has grown up into the great Christendom of to-day, 
 and will, we trust, grow into the greater Christendom of 
 to-morrow. Christ began to form His Church when He 
 gathered five disciples about Him by Jordan (John i.). He 
 first named it after Peter's confession of the central truth 
 upon which it was to be founded (Matt. xvi.). Its birthday, 
 and the day it first found itself face to face with the world, 
 was the Day of Pentecost A.D. 30. That transformed 
 a handful of dejected, faint-hearted, materialising Galilean 
 peasants into the heroic preachers and confessors who 
 enlightened the world. The transient gift of tongues was 
 the symbol of a permanent and far greater gift of spiritual 
 power on the day which began the last phase of God's 
 dealings with men ; the day when He followed up the 
 promise to Abraham and the law of Moses, the Tabernacle 
 and Temple where dwelt as visible emblem of His presence 
 the Shechinah, and the tabernacling in a mortal body of 
 His own Son among men, by sending His Spirit to dwell 
 in men (John xiv. 17). "More than this God could not 
 give ; nearer than this He could not be " (Farrar). 
 
 And now the teaching of Christ, with its two new key- 
 notes, correlatives of each other, the Fatherhood of God 
 and the Brotherhood of Men, was to be practically illus- 
 trated. The political comprehension of mankind in one 
 great empire would give way to a moral federation of 
 mankind through a common faith. 
 
 The first two stages of the history of that Church which 
 placed men in a new relation to each other were : — 
 
 (1) The Hebrew Period, when it consisted of Jews of 
 Palestine speaking Aramaic, and probably reckoned as 
 only one more synagogue in a city which already had 480. 
 
 (2) The Hellenistic Period, when it included Jews of the 
 Dispersion speaking Greek. See " Oxford Helps," § xiii. 
 
 We begin next term by considering the steps that led 
 to the formation of a Gentile Church.
 
 240 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 Here it only remains for us to show that Christ placed 
 men in a new relation, not merely to each other, but to 
 God. He taught that religion does not depend upon 
 external precepts, but upon surrender of the will to God ; 
 that good acts have no value apart from good motives ; 
 that hatred, not violence, is the essence of murder ; that 
 God looks at the sinful thought rather than the criminal 
 deed. He did more than teach. Human sin, a far more 
 heinous thing than men had hitherto thought it, is taken 
 away once and for ever by the Sinless One (John i. 29), 
 who laid down His life for men. 
 
 " Yea, once Immanuel's orphaned cry His universe hath shaken, — 
 It went up single, echoless, ' My God, I am forsaken ! ' 
 It went up from the Holy's lips amid His lost creation, 
 That, of the lost, no son should use those words of desolation." 
 
 E. B. Browning. 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [For all the Questions pp. 244-277 may be consulted, and for Questions IV., 
 VI., XVIII., XXIII., XXIX., and XXXI. any other books.] 
 
 I. What Old Testament allusions are there to the town 
 and to the house in which Christ was born ? (6.) 
 
 II. Draw out in tabular form a contrast in character and 
 circumstances between Christ and His Forerunner. (12.) 
 
 III. Illustrate Luke iv. 13 and Heb. iv. 15, by showing 
 that each of the three temptations in the wilderness was 
 afterwards repeated in a somewhat different form. (3.) 
 
 IV. Ahaz was rebuked for not asking a sign (Isa. vii.). 
 Christ rebuked the Jews for asking a sign. Explain this. 
 
 (5-) 
 
 V. Which of Christ's miracles were wrought on the 
 
 Sabbath? and how did He vindicate His action on each 
 occasion? (14.) 
 
 VI. Which of His miracles were not to be proclaimed? 
 Why was this silence enjoined ? (8.) 
 
 VII. Show that among those who came to Christ there 
 were representatives of (1) the Ten Tribes, (2) the Two 
 Tribes, (3) Samaritans, (4) Greeks, (5) Romans, (6) Women, 
 (7) Children, (8) Citizens, (9) Rustics, (10) Rich, (n) Poor,
 
 QUESTIONS. 241 
 
 (12) Honourable, (13) Degraded, (14) Wise, (15) Un- 
 learned. (15.) 
 
 VIII. Quote our Lord's description of the Apostle 
 Bartholomew, and mention two Canaanitish women com- 
 mended for their faith in this term's reading. (3.) 
 
 IX. Illustrate Heb. ii. 17, by showing that our Lord 
 suffered hunger, thirst, weariness, and poverty ; that He 
 wept, and passed through severe mental anguish. (9.) 
 
 X. On what occasions did He express (1) Joy, (2) Sorrow 
 for human suffering, (3) Tender consideration for others, 
 (4) Pity for the multitude, (5) Sympathy and affection for 
 His friends, (6) Filial love, (6) Surprise, (8) Disappoint- 
 ment, (9) Indignation, (10) Anger, (11) Disdain, (12) Zeal 
 for God's glory? (12.) 
 
 XI. How did He illustrate in His own life His teaching 
 that men ought always to pray ? Give references. (20.) 
 
 XII. Quote instances of (1) His patience and humility, 
 (2) His courage, (3) His prudence, (4) His tenderness to 
 and love of children, (5) His personal fulfilment of the 
 Mosaic Law. (15.) 
 
 XIII. Show that He claimed Divine power to forgive 
 sins, and assumed and accepted titles given to God in the 
 Old Testament. (10.) 
 
 XIV. Give examples of that Divine knowledge of men's 
 thoughts through which His disciples were persuaded that 
 He came forth from God. John xvi. 30 (R.V.) (8.) 
 
 XV. Name seven occasions on which His look and 
 bearing awed and confounded His foes. (7.) 
 
 XVI. Four times before the multitude and five times 
 to the Apostles He alluded prophetically to His Resur- 
 rection. Quote the passages, and show that He also 
 foretold the Pentecostal gift of the Spirit and His own 
 Second Coming. (10.) 
 
 XVII. Once He called Himself "the King," and once 
 He called His disciples " little children." Give references. 
 Where is He called " Our Lord " for the first time? (3.) 
 
 XVIII. What do you understand by these expressions : 
 Miracle, Parable, Gospel, Repentance, Kingdom of Heaven ? 
 (10.) 
 
 XIX. Illustrate the special characteristics of each Gospel 
 by enumerating some incidents, etc., peculiar to it. (20) 
 
 16
 
 242 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 XX. Which Evangelist makes most and which fewest 
 quotations from the Old Testament ? Name the only 
 miracle recorded by all the Evangelists. (3.) 
 
 XXI. What evidence is there in the Synoptists of the 
 ministry in Judaea and in S. John of that in Galilee ? (8.) 
 
 XXII. Show that S. John recognises though he does 
 not directly relate, {a) that Christ's birth was miraculous, 
 {p) that He was reputed son of Joseph, (c) that in youth 
 He was subject to His mother and Joseph, (d) that He 
 dwelt at Nazareth, (e) that the Spirit came upon Him at 
 His baptism, (/) that He was rejected at Nazareth, 
 (^)that He appointed twelve Apostles, (h) that the Baptist 
 was imprisoned, (?) that Christ ascended to heaven. Find 
 in S. John the ground of the accusation in Matt. xxvi. 61. 
 Is there any reference to the Sacraments in S. John? (12.) 
 
 XXIII. Briefly define the following New Testament 
 terms : (a) Pharisees, (b) Sadducees, (c) Herod ians, 
 (d) Zealots, (e) Scribes, {/) Lawyers, (g) Chief Priests, 
 (h) Rulers of the Synagogue, (z) Proselytes, (j) Publicans, 
 (k) Libertines, (/) Greeks, (111) Grecians. (26.) 
 
 XXIV. Analyse shortly S. Peter's first sermon, indicating 
 the thread of his argument, and show that the leading 
 theme of all his teaching was Christ Risen. (8.) 
 
 XXV. Point out the causes, instigators, and immediate 
 results of each of the four Persecutions of the Church 
 recorded in Acts i. — xii. (8.) 
 
 XXVI. Discriminate in this term's period of history 
 three persons named James {i.e., Jacob) ; four named Philip ; 
 five named Joseph ; five named John ; five named Judas ; 
 five named Mary {i.e., Miriam) ; and eleven named Simon 
 or Simeon. (38.) 
 
 XXVII. Trace the influence of the Sermon on the 
 Mount in the Epistle of S. James. (12.) 
 
 XXVIII. Trace the influence of words and incidents in 
 the Gospels on S. Peter's Epistles. (15.) 
 
 XXIX. Consider the historical accuracy of the statements 
 in John vii. 52, viii. 33 ; Heb. vii. 3, 27, ix. 3, 4. (10.) 
 
 XXX. Write out the fifteen practical inferences in 
 Hebrews introduced by " wherefore," " therefore," or 
 "then." (8.) 
 
 XXXI. Explain briefly the following passages : Matt.
 
 QUESTIONS. 243 
 
 viii. 22, xxiii. 5 ; Luke xii. 5, xvi. 9, xxiii. 31 ; Acts ii. 23 ; 
 1 Peter iii. 19 ; 2 Peter i. 20 ; Jude 19 ; Heb. vi. 3-6. (30.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following (the first four 
 occur more than once) : — (a) " Thy faith hath saved thee." 
 (b) " Follow Me." (c) " Weep not." (d) " He cannot be My 
 disciple." (e) " Able to save to the uttermost." (/) " Able 
 to guard you from stumbling." (g) " Out of death 
 into life." (h) "To each one his work." (z) "That we 
 may see and believe." (J) " Said I not, If thou believedst 
 thou shouldst see ? " (k) " Take heed what ye hear." 
 (/) " Take heed how ye hear." (m) " Have ye not read ? " 
 («) " Let him that readeth understand." (0) " Do good, 
 despairing of no man." (/) " Make straight paths for your 
 feet." (q) "Ye have need of patience." (r)"Your Father 
 knoweth." (s) " A people for God's own possession." 
 (/) " Good stewards of the manifold grace of God." (?/) " Ye 
 have taken your pleasure." (v) "Because he gave not 
 God the glory." (w) " He is guilty of an eternal sin." 
 (x) " Doth the spirit . . . long unto envying ? " (y) " Men 
 spake from God." (z) " This He said, making all meats 
 clean." (32.) 
 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309.
 
 THE GOSPELS 
 ARRANGED IN THEIR HISTORICAL SEQUENCE. 
 
 I. Method and Purpose of the Gospels. 
 
 THE difficulties of Biblical chronology culminate when 
 we come to the Life of our Lord. The one point 
 on which all good authorities agree is that an exact 
 Harmony of the Four Gospels cannot be constructed. 
 As memoirs containing infinitely beautiful pictures of the 
 infinitely beautiful Life they are perfect. But as formal 
 biographies they are confessedly fragmentary and obviously 
 incomplete, more like lectures on the Life than annals of 
 it. Dean Alford represents all the scholars when he points 
 out that their authors wrote with no design of being pieced 
 together into a complete history, and all attempt to do 
 this must be merely conjectural. John xxi. 25 warns us 
 that we have only a selection of events, and the notes of 
 time throughout are few and vague. 
 
 S. Matthew's style has the most appearance of continuity, 
 yet he diverges most widely from chronological methods. 
 S. Luke professes to write " in order " (Luke i. 3), but that 
 docs not necessarily involve (says Dr. Westcott) order of 
 time, but rather of logical or moral sequence. S. Mark's 
 clear and precise story furnishes several accurate and 
 valuable chronological data. S. John's narrative appears 
 to be chronological throughout, but the points of contact 
 between it and that of the other Evangelists are not always 
 easy to fix. Moreover, there is not one absolutely certain 
 date in the whole Gospel history. And when we look 
 elsewhere for additional information, we only learn that 
 outside our four Gospels traditions concerning Christ are 
 
 244
 
 METHOD AND PURPOSE OF THE GOSPELS. 245 
 
 very few, slight, and untrustworthy. Knowing the Gospels 
 we know all that can now be known about His life. 
 
 For our spiritual instruction they are all-sufficient. Their 
 purpose, as expressed in John xx. 30, 31, can be fulfilled 
 without exhaustive information or an exact table of dates. 
 As a whole, they may be fragmentary, but they are not 
 fragments. Each has unity and design, a spiritual law binds 
 together its several parts, and its selection of representative 
 facts is grouped according to its own dominant idea and 
 conveys its peculiar lesson (see p. 221). Their real harmony 
 is essentially moral, not mechanical. It is not to be found 
 in an ingenious mosaic of disjointed fragments, but in con- 
 templation of each narrative at its proper point of sight. 
 This brings out the manifoldness of the record of Christ's 
 many-sided life, while the unbroken spiritual concord in 
 four independent histories is a convincing proof of their 
 inspiration. 
 
 When all this has been said, however, it is still possible 
 to get a fifth and most instructive view of our Lord's 
 sojourn on earth by combining these narratives, and so 
 forming a general idea of the course of events. Nor need 
 we ignore the special characteristics of each Gospel or fail 
 to recognise throughout that while the substance of our 
 Harmony deals with facts, its arrangement deals with 
 probabilities. 
 
 The dates given below are agreed on by many good 
 authorities. Some make the Crucifixion one year earlier, 
 others two (or three) years later than A.D. 30. Here are 
 the points from which all the dates must be calculated. 
 Herod's Temple was begun in B.C. 19. The course of 
 Abijah went out of office on October 9th, B.C. 6. Herod 
 died April 1st, B.C. 4. Tiberius began his joint rule with 
 Augustus A.D. 12. Pilate was deposed A.D. 36. 
 
 The plan we adopt with regard to all those incidents 
 whose exact place in the narrative cannot be determined 
 is to assume that the order is chronological wherever we 
 have not proof to the contrary (a large assumption, looking 
 at the many cases in which sequence of time can be shown 
 to give place to sequence of thought), and to regard the 
 unity of each Gospel by breaking it up as little as possible. 
 Where the order of time is not evident, we shall follow the
 
 246 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Evangelists in grouping together incidents that illustrate 
 each other. S. John's order we leave unchanged, and we 
 only depart twice from that of S. Mark, and five times from 
 that of S. Luke. 
 
 II. Difficulties. 
 
 Ours is the practical purpose of reading the Gospels 
 together in the best way. Therefore we need not enter 
 upon interminable discussions of problems that can never 
 be solved. Their solution, had it been essential, could have 
 been given in two or three words ; but the silence of 
 Scripture baffles speculation. Every disputed point has been 
 determined in this Harmony after much consideration and 
 fullest consultation of those whose scholarship gives them the 
 right to an opinion. But lest probabilities be taken for cer- 
 tainties, I will briefly mention the chief questions that arise. 
 
 (i) What was the duration of our Lord's Ministry? 
 Three Passovers are mentioned by S. John, so it could 
 not have been less than two years. If John v. i also 
 refers to a Passover (see R.V. margin) it must have been 
 three years. Other excellent authorities explain John v. i 
 of Pentecost or Tabernacles or Purim or the Feast of 
 Trumpets in September. Even so, Luke vi. i implies 
 a Passover other than those of John ii. and vi. (but see 
 R.V.), and Luke xiii. 7, 32 suggests three years, i.e., 3^ years 
 from the Baptism. Moreover 3^ years is always a signifi- 
 cant period in the prophetic writings. 
 
 (2) Do Mark vi. and Luke iv. refer to one or to two 
 rejections at Nazareth? If to one, which gives it in the 
 right order ? 
 
 (3) Do Luke v. 1-11 and Matt. iv. 18-22 refer to the 
 same event? If so, did it precede or follow the great 
 Sabbath at Capernaum ? 
 
 (4) Do Matt. v. — vii. and Luke vi. report the same 
 sermon ? If so, was it preached at the beginning or in the 
 course of the ministry in Galilee? 
 
 (5) Did the conflict of Matt. xii. 22-45 take place in 
 the order indicated by S. Mark or in that indicated by 
 S. Luke ? 
 
 (6) Do the incidents of John ix. — x. 21 belong to the 
 Feast of Tabernacles or to the Feast of Dedication ?
 
 AUTHORITIES. 247 
 
 (7) What is the relation of the events of Luke ix. 52 — 
 xviii. 30 to each other, and to S. John's narrative ? This 
 great episode is an argument against the observance of an 
 exact order of time in the Gospels, and an illustration 
 of their real mode of sequence. Many of its sayings 
 occur elsewhere in different contexts, but they may very 
 naturally have been uttered more than once. Throughout 
 its keynote is To Jerusalem — to suffer, and the burden of 
 its teaching is the contrast between the spiritual and the 
 literal Israel, between the true and the false people of God. 
 We understand it best by reading it as a whole, though all 
 its incidents may not have occurred in the six months to 
 which we assign them. 
 
 (8) Did the Last Supper take place on Nisan 13 or 
 Nisan 14, on or before the Passover day? 
 
 III. Authorities. 
 
 Erudite references to authorities are not characteristic 
 of this simple and practical volume. But its readers may 
 like to have the names of some of the books found help- 
 ful in preparing this Harmony: — Westcott's " S. John" 
 (Speaker's Commentary) and " Introduction to the Study 
 of the Gospels " ; Farrar's " S. Luke " and " Life of Christ" ; 
 Geikie's " Life and Words of Christ" ; Smith's " New Testa- 
 ment History" and " Dictionary of the Bible"; Conder's 
 " Life of Christ " ; Hanna's " Our Lord's Life on Earth " ; 
 Stalker's " Life of Christ " ; Edcrsheim's " Ministry and 
 Services of the Temple" ; and Trench's " Miracles of our 
 Lord." 
 
 IV. Plan of this Harmony. 
 
 Each of the three years of the Ministry has its own 
 distinguishing feature. Note also that there is positive 
 evidence for our division of the third year, and circum- 
 stantial evidence for our division of the second year, but that 
 the similar division of the first year is purely conjectural. 
 To each of the ten Periods two mottoes are prefixed, one 
 from Old Testament prophecy anticipating Christ's coming 
 and fulfilled by Him, the other from those earliest Christian
 
 248 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 writings (some even earlier than the Gospels), which vouch 
 for all the main facts of the Gospel story, and form its 
 most important corroboration. The following matters are 
 emphasized throughout, generally by use of italics. 
 
 (a) Miracles, which are most numerous in the Fourth 
 Period. Thirty-five are described, but many others were 
 wrought. Their distribution is significant, and the key to 
 their meaning lies in the fact that they were not mere 
 wonders of Christ's power, but redemptive acts of His 
 grace and expressions of His character, each at once a work 
 and a revelation. Christ was Himself the great miracle of 
 which His particular miracles were merely sparks or 
 emanations. They entered with Him, not to disturb but 
 to repair the harmony of nature. See Liddon's " Elements 
 of Religion," Lecture II. 
 
 (b) Parables, of which there are three chief groups : one 
 in the Sixth Period (see Matthew) after the first great crisis 
 of conflict with the Pharisees ; one in the Eighth Period 
 (see Luke) during the journey to Jerusalem ; and one on 
 the Day of Gainsayings (see Matthew). We reckon the 
 recorded Parables as thirty-five in number, but they are 
 less easily counted than the Miracles. Some make 50 ; 
 others only 27. S. John represents the higher stage of 
 teaching which had got beyond Parables. 
 
 Clearly the recorded Miracles and Parables are only 
 specimens of Christ's works and words (see John xii. $7 ', 
 Matt. xiii. 34). Observe that Miracles were most numerous 
 at the beginning, to call attention to His teaching ; and 
 that not until He has been rejected by " the wise " does 
 He systematically teach " the babes " by Parables, fixed 
 first in the imagination and memory, and gradually en- 
 lightening the understanding afterwards. Never yet had 
 been speaking so simple, yet so profound ; so pictorial, 
 yet so absolutely true. 
 
 (c) Only the leading truths of the chief Discourses of 
 Christ can be indicated. Observe the progressive character 
 of the teaching throughout, and the mode of addressing 
 men as men, which makes Christ's words come with fresh 
 force to each fresh generation ; and note that ^luthority, 
 Boldness, Poiver, and Graciousness are His most striking 
 characteristics as a Preacher.
 
 PLAN OF THIS HARMONY. 249 
 
 (d) Seven Visits to Jerusalem form useful landmarks. 
 This, like all our enumerations, refers to records, not to 
 events. From the silence of the Gospels we can never 
 safely argue. Luke xiii. 34 implies more than the three 
 visits during the Ministry recorded as having occurred 
 before these words were uttered. 
 
 (e) Oar Lords Manifestation of Himself as the Divine 
 Messiah of Prophecy and Recognition as such should be noted, 
 with the time, circumstances, and extent of each successive 
 manifestation. He made no sudden proclamation of His 
 office, nor did He continually revert to it. For (1) He 
 desired to shun popular excitement, that His words might 
 have time to take root and bear fruit. (2) He could neither 
 descend to their ideal, nor raise them to His. They looked 
 forward to a political Messiah who would exalt their race, 
 establish the Mosaic Law in its Rabbinic form for ever, 
 and destroy the heathen. Their hope had degenerated 
 into a standing conspiracy of the nation against its actual 
 rulers. For this, the idea of the true suffering Messiah, 
 establishing a kingdom on love not on force, ruling in not 
 over men, could not be substituted at once, and even after 
 the Resurrection the Apostles themselves had not entirely 
 unlearned the notions of the past. (3) Instead of the 
 human or angelic Messiah of their thoughts, He slowly 
 revealed the Divine Messiah. Hence, though He never 
 refused the title when given to Him, and habitually spoke 
 of Himself as Son of Man (a recognised name of the 
 Messiah, see p. 155), and implied Messiahship continually 
 Dy His acts, He only assumed the title openly towards the 
 end of His Ministry, and His public and official claim to 
 be the Divine Messiah (Mark xiv. 61, 62) was reserved for. 
 a moment when all false expectations of political revolution 
 were at an end, and swift sentence of death was its 
 inevitable outcome (see p. 272). 
 
 (f) The development of Opposition, more and more noisy, 
 persistent, and pitiless, is one of the most perplexing 
 features of the history. Why was not He welcomed by 
 the world He came to save? Why is not every knee 
 bowed to Him now in grateful homage ? This opposition 
 was foretold from the first (Luke ii. 34), and expected by 
 Christ Himself throughout. He set forth its cause and
 
 250 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 true character (John xv. 19, 24), and the latest Evangelist 
 expounds it more fully than his predecessors in those 
 "comments" which are peculiar to His Gospel. John i. 5, 
 11, iii. 19, 20, 32, xi. 51, 52, xii. 37-43. Demanding a sign 
 was one significant form of this opposition, met each time 
 in a noteworthy way. 
 
 (g) Rejected by the unbelief of the religious leaders of 
 His own nation, and by His fellow-townsmen of Nazareth 
 and Capernaum, He was received by the poor of Galilee, 
 by the Samaritans, and by the Gentiles. 
 
 (k) First by vague allusion, then by direct prophecy, 
 Christ foretold His own Passion ; 22 of the 30 allusions to 
 it were made after S. Peter's Confession (i.e., almost within 
 the last six months), and in five of them the Resurrection 
 is named. This prophecy culminates in the command to 
 commemorate for ever (1 Cor. xi. 25, 26), not His life, nor 
 His teaching, nor His miracles, nor even His resurrection, 
 but His shameful death, which seemed to all defeat. When 
 His followers anticipated triumph, He calmly predicted 
 His rejection. When His enemies were certain that they 
 had secured the destruction of Himself and His doctrine, 
 He looked forward with majestic confidence to His ultimate 
 universal dominion. No more convincing proof that His 
 power and wisdom were alike Divine could be given (Isa. 
 xlvi. 10). 
 
 (i) Remembering that Christ was not only the greatest 
 Teacher of God's Will, but also the greatest Example 
 of conformity to it, we note lastly how His life was 
 throughout a life of Prayer, and a perfect demonstra- 
 tion of the duty, privilege, and power of supplication to 
 God. * 
 
 Endeavour is made in the following pages to give the 
 best possible Life of our Lord by neither superseding nor 
 supplementing the Gospels, but by putting the student in 
 a position to read their record with fresher and fuller 
 appreciation of its meaning. Other noble lives stir us up 
 to emulation, and rouse our admiration and affection for 
 those who lived them. That is all. But in the case of this 
 Life that cannot be all. All that Christ surrendered, all 
 that He did, all that He taught, and all that He suffered, 
 was for us men and for our salvation, and knowing about
 
 FIRST PERIOD. 251 
 
 Him as He lived then on earth, through the well-attested 
 memoirs of His four disciples, cannot leave us where it 
 found us. Before us, as before the Jews, more than i860 
 years ago, is placed the alternative of accepting or rejecting 
 Him ; for God compels no man to believe against his will. 
 May I say then to every reader of this volume, Ask your- 
 self, as the familiar story of the Saviour is once more put 
 before you, " What difference has His life and death made 
 to me? Did He, or did He not, give Himself for me in 
 vain ? " If He is already all in all to you, thank Him 
 afresh for what He has done. If you have never sought 
 Him, seek Him now ; trust yourself, your life here, your 
 life hereafter, once for all to that freely given and fully 
 proved love. Add one more to those myriads of His 
 redeemed, who can testify that He blesses above all we 
 ask or think those who through faith have learned to 
 know Him as He lives now in Heaven. 
 
 First Period. 
 
 B.C. 6 to a.d. 26. 
 
 Birth, Infancy, and Youth of Christ. 
 
 Matt, i., ii. ; Luke i., ii., iii. 23-38; John i. 1-18. 
 
 "Unto us a Child is born!' — Isa. ix. 6. 
 
 " Bom of a woman, bom under the law." — Gal. iv. 4. 
 
 S. Luke's Introduction. Character and purpose of the 
 Gospels. Luke i. 1-4. 
 
 S. John's Prologue. The Divine and Eternal Word 
 creating the world and manifesting Himself to man through 
 His Incarnation. Christ the only begotten Son of God. 
 John i. 1-18. 
 
 Legal Pedigree as Abraham's seed and Solomon's heir, 
 Christ the greatest Son of David and King of Israel 
 Matt. i. 1- 1 7. 
 
 Natural Pedigree as David's descendant through Nathan. 
 Christ the greatest Son of Adam and the Son of Man. 
 Luke iii. 23-38. 
 
 B.C. 6. Early in October (?), in the Temple at Jeru-
 
 252 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 salem, announcement to Zacharias the priest of the birth 
 of John as forerunner of the Lord God. Luke i. 5-25. 
 
 B.C. 5. End of March (?), at Nazareth, first announce- 
 ment to the Virgin Mary (type of the Church) of the birth 
 of JESUS, God's Son and David's heir. Her visit to 
 Elisabeth. The first Christian hymn. Luke i. 26-56. 
 
 B.C. 5. Early in July (?), at a city of Judah, birth of 
 John,' greatest son of Aaron. The second Christian hymn. 
 Luke i. 57-80. 
 
 At Nazareth, second announcement to Joseph (type of 
 Israel) of the birth of JESUS, the Divine Saviour from sin. 
 Matt. i. 18-25. 
 
 B.C. 5. End of December (or B.C. 4, beginning of 
 
 January), at Bethlehem, JESUS BORN, and made known to 
 
 the shepherds (types of the poor who gladly receive the 
 
 Gospel), by angels as a Saviour, Messiah the Lord. First 
 
 adoration. Luke ii. 1-20. The latest research confirms the tradi- 
 tional date of mid-winter. 
 
 Eight days later, Jesus is circumcised and named, thus 
 beginning to fulfil the Law as perfect Man. Luke ii. 21. 
 
 B.C. 4. February. First visit to Jerusalem. In the 
 Temple, Jesus redeemed as a first-born son (Exod. xiii. ; 
 Num. iii. 13), presented to God the Father, enrolled in 
 the register, and received by Simeon and Anna (types of 
 the faithful remnant of Israel), to whom He is made known 
 by God the Holy Spirit as Jehovah's Messiah. The third 
 CJiristian hymn. Luke ii. 22-38. 
 
 At Bethlehem, the Magi, to whom He has been made 
 
 known by a star as the King of the Jews, pay the first 
 
 formal homage to Christ. His first Manifestation to the 
 
 Gentiles. First persecution, by Herod. Flight into Egypt 
 
 (tradition says to Memphis). Massacre of the Innocents. 
 
 Death of Herod on April 1. Return to Nazareth. Matt. 
 
 ii. ; Luke ii. 39. The Magi were probably Persians, and represented 
 the Zoroastrian system, the purest form of religion which man has 
 devised without knowledge of the True God. See p. 156. 
 
 A.D. 8. PASSOVER. Second visit to Jerusalem. In the 
 Temple, Jesus announces, in His first recorded words, His 
 Divine parentage and life-work with its sacred law of self- 
 sacrifice. His youth of sinless obedience and obscure toil 
 as our Example. Luke ii. 40-52.
 
 second period. 253 
 
 Second Period. 
 
 Summer of A.D. 26 to Passover of A.D. 27. 
 
 The Preparation for the Ministry. 
 
 Matt. in\, iv. 1-11; Mark i. 1-13 ; Luke iii. 1-18, 21-3, 
 iv. 1-13 ; John i. 19 — ii. 12. 
 
 " The Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto 
 the meek!' — Isa. lxi. 1. 
 
 "He Himself hath suffered being tempted? — Heb. ii. 18. 
 
 In the wilderness of Judasa, John, aged 30 (1 Chron. 
 xxiii. 3), begins to preach repentance, to baptize, and to 
 give His first testimony to fesus as the Coming One, and 
 to the Kingdom of God as now at hand. Matt. iii. 1-12 ; 
 Mark i. 1-8 ; Luke iii. 1-18. 
 
 In Jordan, Jesus (aged about 30, Num. iv. 352 Sam. 
 v. 4), is baptized by John, and, while praying, anointed by 
 the Holy Spirit as Prophet, Priest, and King, and thus set 
 apart for His work and made known as God's beloved 
 Son by the First Voice from Heaven, heard probably by 
 Jesus and the Baptist only. Matt. iii. 13-17 ; Mark i. 9-1 1 ; 
 Luke iii. 21-3. 
 
 In the wilderness, He fasts 40 days, and as the Second 
 Adam retrieves man's Fall by overcoming the threefold 
 temptation for body, spirit, and soul ; concerning sense 
 God, and man ; to lust of the flesh, vainglory of life, and 
 lust of the eyes ; or to reliance on self not on God, religious 
 presumption, and earthly ambition ; or in one word, to 
 self-will. Thus His absolute sinlessness is tested and proved. 
 Matt. iv. i-ii ; Mark i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1-13. S. Matthew 
 evidently gives the temptations in the order in which they occurred, 
 which is followed above. 
 
 At Bethany beyond Jordan, John gives His second 
 testimony to fesus as the Son of God and the Lamb of 
 God, or divinely given atonement for sin. Jesus calls His 
 first disciples, Andrew, John, Peter, James (?), Philip, and 
 Nathanael, and thus begins to form His Church. They 
 acknowledge Him as Messiah, and Nathanael calls Him 
 Son of God and King of Israel. John i. 19-51.
 
 254 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 At a marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, Christ works 
 His 1st miracle, changing water into wine, at once a gracious 
 leave-taking of His old home life, and a figure of the better 
 covenant He would bring in. The disciples believe. His 
 first visit to Capernaum. John ii. I-I2. 
 
 Third Period. 
 
 Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 27 (6 months). 
 
 Christ revealing Himself to the World in Jud^a. 
 
 John ii. 13 — iv. 42. 
 
 " The Lord shall suddenly come to His Temple." — Mai. iii. 1. 
 " To the Jew first." — Rom. i. 16. 
 
 FIRST Passover. — Third visit to Jerusalem. First 
 Cleansing of the Temple by Christ, as a Reformer urging 
 amendment, to prepare it for His first preaching there (comp. 
 p. 269). In answer to the first demand for a sign, He gives 
 the Temple as representing His body, and makes a first 
 mysterious allusion to His death and resurrection (see Matt, 
 xxvi. 61, xxvii. 40, 63). He works many miracles and 
 many Jews believe. John ii. 13-25. 
 
 At Jerusalem, to a member of the Sanhcdrin, the Rabbi 
 Nicodemus, He utters His First Discourse about the Birth 
 from Above, one of the clearest proclamations of His Divine 
 nature and mission, containing the whole gospel in epitome, 
 and including a second mysterious allusion to His Passion. 
 John iii. 1-21. 
 
 In the land of Judfea, His disciples baptize, and large 
 numbers come to Him. John's third testimony to Jesus as the 
 Messiah, at iFnon. John iii. 22-36. Westcott regards v v. 16-21 
 and 31-36 as comments by the Evangelist. 
 
 At Sychar, to a Samaritan woman, Jesus utters His 
 Second Discourse about the Living Water, and makes 
 the first disti7ict avowal that He is the Messiah. Many 
 Samaritans believe and acknowledge Him as the Saviour 
 of the world. John iv. 1-42. 
 
 Note. — Taking John iv. 35 literally, Christ must have been eight 
 or nine months in Juduea, and only three or four in Galilee. But John 
 iv. 3, 45 suggests that the Passover of 27 was still recent when He left
 
 FOURTH PERIOD. 255 
 
 Judaea, and the events in Galilee before the Passover of 28 must have 
 occupied at least six months. It may therefore be merely a familiar 
 proverb expressing the interval between seed-time and harvest. The 
 inference from John vii. 11, that He was usually at Jerusalem for the 
 Feast of Tabernacles, determines the date here given. 
 
 Fourth Period. 
 
 Tabernacles A.D. 27 to Passover a.D. 28 (6 months). 
 
 Christ revealing Himself to the World in 
 
 Galilee. 
 
 Matt. iv. 12-24, viii. 2-4, 14-17, ix. 2-34, xiv. 3-5 ; Mark 
 i. 14 — ii. 22, v. 22-43, y i- 17-20 ; Luke iii. 19, 20, iv. 14 — v. ; 
 
 viii. 41-56 ; John iv. 43-54. 
 
 " In the latter time hath He made the land of Zebulun and 
 the land of Naphtali glorious" — Isa. ix. 1 (R.V.). 
 ll fesus, wlio went about doing good!' — Acts x. 38. 
 
 Imprisonment of John the Baptist in Castle Machasrus 
 on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Matt. xiv. 3-5 ; 
 Mark vi. 17-20; Luke iii. 19, 20. 
 
 At Cana, 2nd miracle, healing of fever the son of a noble- 
 man (possibly Chuza). The first Christian household. 
 Matt. iv. 12 ; John iv. 43-54. Westcott refers John iv. 44 to 
 Judaea, not Galilee. Comp. John ii. 24, 25. 
 
 On a Sabbath in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus 
 preaches, and for the second time declares Himself the 
 Messiah in His First Sermon. First open opposition 
 from His fellow-citizens, who seek to kill 1 Him. Luke iv. 
 14-30. 
 
 He begins to dwell at Capernaum, and to preach the 
 Gospel to the mixed race of Galileans, " the lost sheep of 
 the house of Israel." Matt. iv. 13-17 ; Mark i. 14, 15. 
 
 By the Lake of Galilee, Peter, Andrew, James, and John 
 receive their second and final call, and Peter prays to Christ 
 as to God. First miraculous draught of fishes (3rd miracle). 
 Matt. iv. 18-22 ; Mark i. 16-20 ; Luke v. 1-11. 
 
 A Great Sabbath at Capernaum, " a day of faith." — 
 In the Synagogue, 4th miracle, a demonaic healed (over- 
 coming passion), and $th miracle, Peter's mother-in-law 
 healed (overcoming disease). Many others healed. Demons
 
 2^6 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 -} 
 
 acknowledge Jesus as Messiah, Son of God, and Holy One 
 of God. Matt. viii. 14-17 ; Mark i. 21-34 ; Luke iv. 31-41. 
 
 First Circuit through Galilee after solitary 
 prayer. — Multitudes seek Him and come to Him, and great 
 numbers are healed. Matt. iv. 23, 24 ; Mark i. 35-9; Luke 
 iv. 42-4. 
 
 In a certain city, 6th miracle, a leper cleansed (overcoming 
 pollution). Multitudes come to hear and to be healed. 
 Christ retires for solitary prayer. Matt. viii. 2-4 ; Mark i. 
 40-45 ; Luke v. 12-16. 
 
 At Capernaum, Jt/i miracle, a paralytic healed (over- 
 coming weakness). Christ's Divine claim to forgive sins 
 leads to a second opposition, from the Scribes and Pharisees 
 (comp. Luke vii. 49 ; Matt. xxvi. 65), and a first accusation 
 of blasphemy. Matt. ix. 2-8 ; Mark ii. 1-12 ; Luke v. 17-26. 
 
 By the Lake, He teaches the multitude who resort to 
 Him, and calls Matthew, who in Capernaum shortly after 
 gives a farewell feast to his friends, at which Christ teaches 
 the universality of the gospel, anticipates His teaching by 
 parables in two vivid similitudes, and makes a third allusion 
 to His departure. Third and fourth oppositions from the 
 Pharisees (comp. Luke xv. 1 ; Matt. xi. 19), because He 
 received sinners and did not enforce fasting. Matt. ix. 
 9-17 ; Mark ii. 14-22 ; Luke v. 27-39. 
 
 On the same day, 8th and gth miracles, a diseased woman 
 healed and the only daughter of Jairus raised from the bed 
 of death (overcoming death). Matt. ix. 18-26 ; Mark v. 
 22-43 j Luke viii. 41-56. 
 
 \Oth ajid 1 \th miracles, two blind men who acknowledge 
 Jesus as Son of David and a dumb demoniac healed 
 (overcoming loss of faculties). Fifth opposition from the 
 Pharisees (comp. Matt. xii. 24), and first suggestion of aid 
 from Beelzebub. Matt. ix. 27-34. 
 
 Note. — All the typical miracles of healing wrought by our Lord are 
 represented in this Period, and five forms of opposition, recurring 
 hereafter more vehemently, are illustrated.
 
 FIFTH PERIOD. 257 
 
 Fifth Period. 
 Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 28 (6 months). 
 
 Christ in conflict with the World. From the 
 First Sabbath Controversy with the Pharisees 
 to their open and blasphemous rejection of hlm. 
 
 Matt. iv. 25— viii. I, viii. 5-13, x. 2-4, xi. 2-19, xii. ; Mark 
 ii. 23 — iii. ; Luke vi. I — viii. 3, 19-21, xi. 14 — xii. 12 ; 
 John v. 
 
 " They that seek after my life lay snares for me." — Psalm 
 xxxviii. 12. 
 
 " Consider Him that hath endured such gainsaying of 
 sinners." — Heb. xii. 3. 
 
 SECOND PASSOVER. — Fourth visit to Jerusalem. At the 
 pool of Bethesda, 12/// miracle, a man impotent for 38 
 years healed on the Sabbath. Brought, it seems, before the 
 Sanhedrin,and accused of Sabbath-breaking and blasphemy, 
 Jesus claims to be Son of God and Son of Man, and the 
 Prophet whom Moses foretold ; assumes God's highest 
 attributes, lays bare their worldliness and blindness, and 
 declares that not only the Baptist and His own works, but 
 Moses, and the Scriptures, and God Himself, all that they 
 most professed to honour, bear witness to Him. Henceforth 
 the Pharisees seek to kill Him, this first deliberate hostility 
 from them fixes His doom, and He leaves Jerusalem 
 probably for 18 months. John v. 
 
 On a Sabbath shortly after the Passover, in the cornfields 
 near Capernaum, Christ vindicates the Law from super- 
 stition, declaring Himself greater than the Temple; and on 
 another Sabbath, in the synagogue at Capernaum, heals a 
 man with a withered hand (13//* miracle). Because He thus 
 protests against the perversion of a divinely given benefit into 
 a burden, the Nationalist party of the Pharisees and the Ro- 
 manising party of the Herodians consult together for His de- 
 struction. Matt. xii. 1-14 ; Mark ii. 23 — iii. 6 ; Luke vi. 1-1 1. 
 
 By the Lake, great multitudes follow Him, and many 
 are healed. Demons again acknowledge Him the Son of 
 God. Matt. xii. 15-21 ; Mark iii. 7-12. 
 
 After solitary prayer, He appoints twelve of His disciples 
 
 17
 
 258 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Apostles : viz., two sons of Jonah, Simon surnamcd Cephas 
 or Peter, and Andrew ; two sons of Zebedee and Salome, 
 [antes and John, both surnamed Boanerges (all four fisher- 
 men) ; and Philip (all five of Bethsaida) ; Nathanael, or 
 Bartholomew (i.e., son of Tolmai) ; three (or four ?) sons 
 of Alphaeus and Mary, Matthew or Levi, the taxgather, 
 Thomas or Didymus, James, and Judas surnamed Lebbaeus 
 or Thaddaeus, son (or brother ?) of James (all five of Cana) ; 
 Simon the Cananaean or Zealot {i.e., follower of Judas of 
 Giscala, and therefore a Jew of the strictest and most 
 patriotic type), and Judas son of Simon. The surname 
 Iscariot (i.e., of Kerioth in Judaea) may belong (John vi. Ji, 
 R.V.) to both these two last. Matt. x. 2-4 ; Mark iii. 
 13-19; Luke vi. 12-16. 
 
 Having thus laid the foundations of His Church, Christ 
 utters on Kurn Hattin, the mountain by the Lake of 
 Galilee, the SERMON ON THE MOUNT, its new Law, 
 " the Magna Charta of our faith." Summary : — (a) The 
 Citizens of the Kingdom. (1) Their character in nine 
 Beatitudes ; showing that true blessedness lies in what we 
 are, not in what we have (Luke xii. 1 5); (2) Their influence, 
 to preserve and to guide, (b) The New Law as a fulfilment 
 of the Old Law, both generally and specially, (c) The 
 New Life. (1) Its acts of devotion ; (2) Its aims ; (3) Its 
 conduct; (4) Its dangers, (d) The Great Contract, described 
 in the 1st parable of the Two Foundations, I. itt. iv. 25 
 — viii. 1 ; Luke vi. 17-49. 
 
 In Capernaum, i^tJi miracle, Christ heals of paralysis 
 the servant of a Roman centurion, already a proselyte to 
 Judaism, who becomes the Jirst Gentile believer, and whose 
 faith Christ specially commends. Matt. viii. 5-13; Luke 
 vii. 1 -10. 
 
 At Nain, \$th miracle, He raises a widow's only son 
 from the bier, and is recognised as a great Prophet. 
 Luke vii. 1 1-16. 
 
 In answer to the Baptist's question, He appeals to His 
 miracles as proofs that He is the Coming One of prophecy, 
 and bears witness to His Forerunner. Matt. xi. 2-19; 
 Luke vii. 17-35. 
 
 At Capernaum, in a Pharisee's house, a sinful woman 
 bears witness to Jesus as the Messiah by solemnly anoint-
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. 259 
 
 ing Him. His forgiveness of her rouses fresh opposition 
 from the Pharisees, stimulated by the recent organisation 
 of His followers, and the growing enthusiasm of the people. 
 2nd parable of the Two Debtors. Luke vii. 36-50. 
 
 Second Circuit through Galilee. — The first Chris- 
 tian sisterhood. Luke viii. 1-3. 
 
 A Great Day of Conflict at Capernaum. — \6th 
 miracle, blind and dumb demoniac healed. The people 
 are ready to acknowledge Jesus as Son of David, but the 
 Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem affirm that He 
 works miracles through Beelzebub, and choose darkness 
 for their portion by this deliberate and conscious enmity. 
 Hitherto Christ had avoided open collision with the reli- 
 gious leaders of the people. Now He passes from self- 
 defence to rebuke, shows that His power is at once superior 
 to and contrary to Satan, that the old demon of idolatry 
 had only given place to new demons of self-righteous 
 unbelief, and warns them that their wilful rejection of the 
 revelation of His presence and power would be sin against 
 the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. xii. 3), and therefore unpardonable. 
 In answer to the second demand for a sign He gives Jonah, 
 making a fourth allusion to His death and resurrection, and 
 declaring Himself greater than Jonah or Solomon. Matt, 
 xii. 22-45 ; Mark iii. 20-30 ; Luke ix. 14-36. 
 
 Interruption and interference from His mother and 
 brethren (probably the children of Joseph's first marriage) 
 leads Him to expound the difference between natural and 
 spiritual kindred. Matt. xii. 46-50; Mark iii. 31-5 ; Luke 
 viii. 19-21. 
 
 Dining afterwards with one of the Pharisees, He first 
 calls them hypocrites, utters His first great declaration of 
 a triple woe upon them, and referring to the national treat- 
 ment of all God's messengers, makes a fifth allusion to His 
 departure. The Pharisees vehemently seek to ensnare Him, 
 and in presence of a great multitude He teaches His 
 disciples to fear God only. Luke xi. 37 — xii. 12. 
 
 Note. — Sowing began in October, when the early rains ended the 
 long summer drought, and recalled the husbandman to the plough. 
 Hence the multitude of Luke viii. 4, xii. 1, may have been pilgrims to 
 the Feast of Tabernacles, and the Twelve were probably sent forth as 
 soon as the people had returned home. These are the only indications 
 of date to fix the limits of this Period.
 
 260 the gospels. 
 
 Sixth Period. 
 
 Tabernacles, A.D. 28, to Passover, A.D. 29 (6 months). 
 
 Christ in Conflict with the World. From the 
 First Teaching of the Multitude by Parables to 
 the Culmination of His Popularity and Large 
 Defection of His Followers. 
 
 Matt. viii. 18 — ix. 1, ix. 35 — xi. 1, xiii. 1— xiv. 1, 2, 
 6-36; Mark iv. 1— v. 21, vi. 1-16,21-55; Luke viii. 4-18' 
 22-40, ix. 1-17; John vi. 
 
 " I will open my mouth in a parable •" — Psalm lxxviii. 2. 
 " A man approved of God unto you by mighty works and 
 wonders and signs" — Acts ii. 22. 
 
 A Great Day of Parables.— From a boat on the 
 Lake, Christ utters five and in the house afterwards, three 
 parables of the Kingdom of Heaven : viz., (a) The Sower 
 (its origin from God), (b) The Secret Growth (its unper- 
 ceived progress). (J) The Tares (its counterfeit by the 
 devil), (d) The Mustard Seed (its progress in outward 
 extent), (e) The Leaven (its progress in inward influence). 
 if) The Hid Treasure (the kingdom as a gift from 
 Heaven to men). (g) The Merchant seeking Pearls (as 
 a power in the individual). (h) The Drag Net (as a 
 wide working instrument among men leading to the final 
 separation between good and evil). Matt. xiii. 1-53 ; Mark 
 iv. 1-34 ; Luke viii. 4-18. 
 
 Just as He is about to cross the Lake, He answers two 
 aspirants to discipleship, suggesting what is involved in 
 following Him. Matt. viii. 18-22. 
 
 On the Lake He calms a great storm (ijth miracle). In 
 the country of the Gerasenes on the eastern shore of the 
 Lake, He heals a savage demoniac, who acknowledges 
 Him the Son of God, and sends him as a missionary to 
 his own people in Decapolis (18th miracle). The per- 
 mission given to the legion of demons to enter some swine, 
 stirs up the first popular opposition to Christ. Matt. viii. 
 23 — ix. 1 ; Mark iv. 35 — v. 21 ; Luke viii. 22 — 40. 
 
 Nazareth rejects Christ for the second time. Matt. xiii. 
 54-8; Mark vi. 1-6. 
 
 Third Circuit through Galilee.— He sends forth 
 the Twelve Apostles to the Twelve Tribes of Israel to
 
 SIXTH PERIOD. 261 
 
 proclaim the kingdom of heaven as the first J\Tissio7iaries 
 of His Gospel, thus converting followers into fellow-workers ; 
 and gives them the first Pastoral Charge concerning the 
 extent and character of their mission ; their conduct and 
 responsibility ; and the inevitable persecution and un- 
 failing reward of His messengers in all future ages. The 
 reference to His coming again and the first mysterious 
 mention of the Cross form a twofold sixth allusion to His 
 departure. He then continues His own circuit. Matt. ix. 
 35 — xi. 1 ; Mark vi. 6-13 ; Luke ix. 1-6. 
 
 At Machaerus (or in the palace at Julias), Herod's Feast 
 takes place, leading to the martyrdom (after at least 18 
 months' imprisonment) of the Baptist. Matt. xiv. I, 2, 
 6-12 ; Mark vi. 14-16, 21-29 I Luke ix. 7-9. 
 
 Shortly before the Third Passover, at Bethsaida Julias 
 on the east side of the Lake, whither He has retired with 
 the Apostles newly returned from their mission, Christ 
 feeds more than 5000 people (igth miracle, the only one 
 recorded in all the Gospels). They acknowledge Him as 
 the Prophet foretold by Moses, and attempt to make Him 
 King by force. He retires for solitary prayer, and meets 
 His disciples on their way to the western shore, walking 
 on the sea (20th miracle). They acknowledge Him Son 
 of God, and at Capernaum a great multitude gather round 
 Him to be taught. Many are healed. Matt. xiv. 13-36; 
 Mark vi. 30-55 ; Luke ix. 10-17; John vi. 1-24. 
 
 In the synagogue at Capernaum, Christ's Feast leads to 
 His most profound teaching about spiritual life. Answer- 
 ing the third demand for a sign, in a twofold sermon to the 
 multitude (v. 26-40) and to the Pharisees (v. 41-59), He 
 declares Himself the true Bread of Life from Heaven, 
 whose flesh would be given for the life of the world, the 
 first clear public allusion to His Passion. He has thus 
 made His most unreserved public declaration of His char- 
 acter and claims, calling on men to believe not merely in 
 His words, but on Him ; and this demonstration of the 
 spiritual character of His Kingdom results in a great 
 winnowing of His disciples, ihe first instance of the offence 
 of the Cross. Many depart from Him, but Peter in the 
 name of the Twelve confesses Him the Holy One of God. 
 For the first time He refers to Iscariot's treachery. John vi. 
 25-71-
 
 262 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Seventh Period. 
 
 Passover to Feast of Tabernacles, A.D. 29 (6 months). 
 
 Christ revealing Himself to His Disciples in 
 outlying Heathen Regions. 
 
 Matt. xv. — xviii. ; Mark vi. 55 — ix. ; Luke ix. 18-50; 
 
 John vii. I. 
 
 " / will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles." — Isa. 
 xlix. 6. 
 
 " We were eye-zvitnesses of His majesty . . . in the holy 
 mount." — 2 Peter i. 16, 18. 
 
 Fourth and Final Circuit through Galilee. — 
 Mark vi. 55, 56; John vii. I. 
 
 In answer to the Scribes and Pharisees who came as 
 spies from Jerusalem to discredit Him with the Galileans, 
 Christ shows how their tradition had perverted the Law, 
 abolishes caste, and anticipates the abrogation of Mosaic 
 ceremonialism. Matt. xv. 1-20; Mark vii. 1-23. (With 
 Mark vii. 19, R.V., compare Acts x.) 
 
 Departing to Phoenicia, in consequence of their malig- 
 nant hostility, He is acknowledged as Son of David by the 
 first believer from heatJicndom, a Canaanitc by birth, a 
 Greek by language, and a Roman citizen by position, so 
 representing the three most influential peoples of the Pagan 
 world. He tests and then commends her rare faith (Gal. 
 iii. 7, 9), and heals her demon-vexed daughter (21^ miracle). 
 Matt. xv. 21-28 ; Mark vii. 24-30. 
 
 In Decapolis, a half-heathen region between Damascus 
 and Jabbok, He heals a deaf man (22nd miracle), and many 
 others, and is followed by a great multitude (comp. Mark 
 v. 20), 4000 of whom He feeds (2T,rd miracle). They glorify 
 the God of Israel. Matt. xv. 29-38 ; Mark vii. 31 — viii. 9. 
 
 On His return to the western shore of the Lake at Dal- 
 manutha, the Pharisees, in ominous coalition with the 
 Sadducees who now oppose Him for the first time, make a 
 fourth demand for a sign. In His last public teaching in 
 Galilee, He again gives them the sign of Jonah, type of His 
 death and resurrectio?i {eighth allusion), and warns His
 
 SEVENTH PERIOD. 263 
 
 disciples against their hypocrisy. Matt. xv. 39 — xvi. 12 ; 
 Mark viii. 10-21. 
 
 Crossing the Lake again, at Bethsaida Julias He heals a 
 blind man (24^ miracle). Mark viii. 22-6. 
 
 At Csesarea Philippi, a great centre of heathen worship, 
 after He has prayed, His teaching and the Apostles' faith 
 culminate in Peter s great Confession of Him as Messiah, 
 Son of the Living God. Solemnly ratifying it, Christ 
 makes first mention of His Church, and lays the corner- 
 stone of the New Society on this fundamental truth, 
 promising Peter the privilege of being the first to proclaim it 
 both to Jew and Gentile. (See Acts ii., x.) This is followed 
 by the first clear prophecy of His death and resurrection at 
 Jerusalem to the Twelve, and a second mysterious mention 
 of the Cross. Matt. xvi. 13-28 ; Mark viii. 27 — ix. 1 ; 
 Luke ix. 18-27. 
 
 One night a week later on Mount Hermon, as He prays, 
 Christ's revelation of Himself culminates in the vision of 
 His Glory given to Peter, James, and John. The two 
 greatest representatives of the Law and the Prophets are 
 in converse with Him concerning His death, and a Second 
 Voice from Heaven, heard by the three Apostles, proclaims 
 Him God's beloved and chosen Son. Second clear prophecy 
 of His sufferings. Identification of the Baptist with Elijah. 
 At the foot of the Mount, He preaches faith as the only 
 source of strength, and heals an epileptic boy {2^th miracle) 
 Matt. xvii. 1-21 ; Mark ix. 2-29 ; Luke ix. 28-43. 
 
 During a farewell secret journey through Galilee, He 
 utters the third clear prophecy of His betrayal, death, and 
 resurrection. Matt. xvii. 22, 23 ; Mark ix. 30-32 ; Luke ix. 
 
 43-5- 
 
 At Capernaum, He provides the half-shekel tribute 
 
 (Exod. xxxviii. 26) for Himself and Peter, but while thus 
 
 teaching obedience, shows Himself Lord of the Temple, 
 
 Son of the King of Kings, and Ruler over creation (26th 
 
 miracle). He teaches His disciples concerning humility, 
 
 stumbling-blocks for others, and unselfishness, rebuking 
 
 the selfish ambition and rivalry which the Twelve begin to 
 
 display ; fixes the extent and limit of toleration ; and in 
 
 the nth parable of the Merciless Servant exacting a debt 
 
 1,250,000 times smaller than the one he had been forgiven,
 
 264 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 explains the Christian law of forgiveness. Incidentally, He 
 again refers to Himself as the Messiah. Matt. xvii. 24 — 
 xviii. 35 ; Mark ix. 33-50 ; Luke ix. 46-50. 
 
 Eighth Period. 
 
 Tabernacles, A.D. 29, to Passover, A.D. 30 (6 months). 
 
 Christ revealing Himself to His Disciples 
 journeying towards jerusalem. final rejection 
 by Jerusalem, Samaria, and Galilee. 
 
 Matt. xi. 20-30, xix., xx.; Mark x.; Luke ix. 51 — xi. 13, 
 xii. 13 — xix. 28 ; John vii. 2— xi. 
 
 " Who hat J 1 believed our report ?" — Isa. liii. 1. 
 " Preaching good tidings of peace by fesus Christ {He is 
 Lord of ally— Acts x. 36. 
 
 Christ refuses to go publicly to the Feast of Tabernacles, 
 but secretly pays His Fifth visit to Jerusalem, and in the 
 midst of their talk concerning Him in the Temple, vindi- 
 cates His Sabbath miracles, and declares that He is sent 
 by God. Much discussion as to whether He is the Messiah. 
 At the close of the Feast, He utters His great promise 
 of the Holy Spirit, with a \2th allusion to His departure 
 whither they could not find Him. Unsuccessful attempt 
 to arrest Him, and division among the people and in the 
 Sanhedrin- John vii. 2-52. 
 
 Teaching in the Temple next morning, He defeats a 
 base plot by the Pharisees to ensnare Him, and compels 
 these self-righteous religionists to condemn themselves, 
 while He exercises the Divine prerogative of forgiveness. 
 In the Treasury, He declares Himself the Light of the 
 World, and the great object of faith to the multitude, many 
 of whom believe. Then He analyses the unbelief of the 
 Jews, showing Himself the Son of God, and discriminating 
 children of Abraham through faith from children of the 
 devil through unbelief. After the \$th and 14th allusions 
 to His departure whither they could not find Him, and to 
 the lifting up of the Son of Man, He closes the discussion 
 by claiming for Himself the absolute sinlcssness which He 
 elsewhere attributes to God only (Luke xviii. 19), and 
 assuming the great name I Am. They violently oppose
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. 265 
 
 Him, making a first attempt to stone Him. John vii. 53 — 
 viii. 59. 
 
 As He begins His last solemn progress towards Jerusalem 
 (see p. 247), He is rejected by a Samaritan village, and 
 shows how His mission differs from that of Elijah. Luke 
 ix. 51-6. 
 
 At another Samaritan village, He heals ten lepers (27th 
 miracle), and accepts the faith of one. Luke xvii. 11-19. 
 
 He crosses Jordan into Persea, followed by multitudes. 
 Matt. xix. 1,2; Mark x. I. 
 
 After giving three illustrations of the sacrifices of true 
 discipleship, He sends forth the Seventy Disciples, whose 
 number is typical of the seventy nations of the earth 
 reckoned by the Jews, to preach the coming of God's 
 kingdom, especially to the heathen of the outlying districts. 
 He receives the tidings of their success with joy and 
 thanksgiving, declaring Himself the Son of God, and utter- 
 ing a terrible woe on the highly favoured scenes of His 
 chief teaching which had now utterly rejected Him, followed 
 by an invitation to the weary and heavy laden of the whole 
 world. Luke ix. 57 — x. 24 ; Matt. xi. 20-30. 
 
 A lawyer's tempting question leads to the 12th parable 
 of the Good Samaritan, teaching the brotherhood of all 
 men, and showing Christ as the minister of mercy when 
 law and sacrifice had failed. At Bethany on Olivet, He 
 visits Martha and Mary, and teaches concerning the one 
 thing needful. After praying in a certain place, He teaches 
 His disciples the LORD'S PRAYER as the model of all 
 prayer, and in the 15th parable of the Friend at Midnight 
 enforces prayer as the chief means of grace. Luke x. 25 — ■ 
 xi. 13. 
 
 In answer to an ill-judged request, Christ shows the folly 
 and sin of covetousness in the 14th parable of the Rich 
 Fool; and discourses concerning God's providence, illus- 
 trates watchfulness by the I $l/i parable of the Servants 
 waiting for their Lord, makes a I $th allusion to the Passion 
 as His baptism of suffering, and closes with the 16th 
 parable of the Barren Fig-tree, on the coming judgments 
 of God. Luke xii. 13 — xiii. 9. 
 
 In a synagogue on the Sabbath, He heals an infirm 
 woman (28//; miracle), rousing an utterly unreasonable
 
 266 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 opposition, but shaming all His adversaries. Discourse on 
 the way to Jerusalem concerning the Narrow Door, and the 
 universality and spirituality of the Kingdom of God. 
 Message to Herod, first prediction of the Fall of Jerusalem, 
 and \6th allusion to His death as taking place there. Luke 
 xiii. 10-35. 
 
 In the house of a chief Pharisee on the Sabbath, He 
 heals a dropsical man (2gth miracle), and rebukes struggles 
 for precedence in the ijth parable of the Great Supper, 
 showing how the last are made first. Luke xiv. 1-24. 
 
 Surrounded by great multitudes, He bids them count the 
 cost of discipleship, making a third mention of the Cross, 
 in the parables of the Unfinished Tower and the Prudent 
 King. Parables, in answer to Pharisees murmuring, of the 
 Lost Sheep (the guileless wanderer from the Church), the 
 Lost Drachma (the lost slumberer in the Church), and the 
 Prodigal Son (the wilful apostate from the Church), testi- 
 fying the free mercy to men of God the Son, God the 
 Spirit working through the Church, and God the Father. 
 Parables of the Provident Steward (reproof of worldliness 
 and covetousness), of Dives and Lazarus (closing with an 
 allusion to His resurrection from the dead), and of the 
 Unprofitable Servants. General lessons of forbearance, for- 
 giveness, faith, and humility. Luke xiv. 25 — xvii. 10. 
 
 In answer to the Pharisees, He shows the character of 
 the Kingdom of God, and utters to the disciples a fourth 
 clear prophecy of His sufferings and rejection, speaking of 
 His Second Coming. 26th and 2Jth parables of the Im- 
 portunate Widow and of the Pharisee and Publican. Luke 
 xvii. 20 — xviii. 14. 
 
 In answer to an ensnaring question by the Pharisees, He 
 shows the provisional character of the Mosaic legislation 
 and enunciates the Christian law of marriage. Matt. xix. 
 3-12 ; Mark x. 2-12. 
 
 He welcomes and blesses little children, and shows the 
 young ruler, a half-hearted rich man, that God claims us 
 and ours wholly, making a fourth mention of the Cross. 
 Further discourse with the disciples concerning riches leads 
 to the 28/// parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, show- 
 ing that in Heaven there are no struggles for precedence ; 
 and that God looks at the quality not the quantity of our
 
 EIGHTH PERIOD. 267 
 
 services ; not at what we do, but at what we are, neither to 
 ourselves nor to the world, but in His own sight. Matt, 
 xix. 13 — xx. 16; Mark x. 13-31 ; Luke xviii. 15-30. 
 
 In December, Feast of Dedication, Sixth visit to Jeru- 
 salem. On the Sabbath day, after a 21st allusion to the 
 coming night when He could work no longer, Christ heals 
 a man born blind (30th miracle), who becomes the first con- 
 fessor of Christ to his cost and the first conscious sufferer 
 for His sake. To him Christ clearly reveals Himself as 
 the Son of God. The new congregation and new spiritual 
 Temple of which he is a type are described in the Parabolic 
 Discourse of the Good Shepherd, wherein Christ clearly and 
 publicly foretells His voluntary deatli, in terms implying His 
 Resurrection. John ix. — x. 18. 
 
 In Solomon's Porch, answering an impetuous appeal 
 from the divided people concerning His Messiahship, He 
 appeals to His work as its proof and declares Himself one 
 with God. Second attempt to stone Him. John x. 19-39. 
 
 He retires to Bethany beyond Jordan, and the many 
 (probably former disciples of the Baptist) who there believe 
 constitute His last large following. John x. 40-42. 
 
 At Bethany on Olivet, after prayer, He raises Lazarus, 
 dead four days, from the grave (31^ miracle), in this 
 crowning miracle proclaiming His absolute power over 
 death ere He submits to it. Martha confesses Him Messiah 
 and Son of God. Thereupon the Sanhedrin, in which the 
 Sadducaean party predominates, close the long controversy 
 by formally determining on His death. He retires to 
 Ephraim, near Bethel, with His disciples. John xi. 1-54. 
 
 On the final journey from Ephraim to Jerusalem, alone 
 with the Twelve, Christ utters the fifth clear prophecy of His 
 suffering (quoted Luke xxiv. 7), stating that in fulfilment 
 of Old Testament prophecy He should be mocked, scourged, 
 and crucified by Gentiles, and rise again the third day. 
 Matt. xx. 17-19 ; Mark x. 32-4 ; Luke xviii. 31-4. 
 
 Salome's ambitious request for her sons is checked by 
 the announcement that He had come to give His life for a 
 ransom (24th allusion). Matt. xx. 20-28 ; Mark x. 35-45. 
 
 In Jericho, He heals two blind men, who acknowledge 
 Him Son of David (32nd miracle). Matt. xx. 29-34 ; Mark 
 x. 46-52 ; Luke xviii. 35-43.
 
 268 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 In Jericho, He lodges, self-invited, with the tax-gatherer 
 Zacchaeus, a whole-hearted rich man, and in the 29//: 
 parable of the Mince teaches His departure to receive a 
 kingdom and return, to judge every man according to his 
 works (comp. 34^ parable). Luke xix. 1-28. 
 
 Discussion at Jerusalem as to whether Jesus will come 
 for the Passover. John xi. 55-7. 
 
 Ninth Period. 
 
 Nisan 9 to 16 A.D. 30 (one week). 
 
 The Passion of Christ. 
 
 Matt. xxi. — xxvii. ; Mark xi. — xv. ; Luke xix. 29 — xxiii. ; 
 
 John xii. — xix. 
 
 " The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." — Isa. 
 liii. 6. 
 
 " Who loved me, and gave Himself up for me." — Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 Saturday, March 31. — At Bethany, in Simon's house, 
 Christ accepts Mary's homage as an anointing to prepare 
 Him for burial {26th allusion*). Many believe through 
 seeing Lazarus. Matt. xxvi. 6-13; Mark xiv. 3-9; John 
 xii. i-ii. 
 
 SUNDAY, April i. — Seventh visit to Jerusalem. Trium- 
 phal entry to claim His heritage and give the Jews a final 
 choice between accepting or rejecting their King. The 
 enthusiastic crowd of provincials receive Him with accla- 
 mation as the Son of David, but amid their shouts He 
 mourns over the obstinate unbelief of the city He came to 
 deliver, and utters a second prediction of its Fall. (Note 
 that on this day the paschal lamb was chosen: Exod. xii. 3.) 
 Matt. xxi. I-II, 15-17; Mark xi. 1-11 ; Luke xix. 29-44; 
 John xii. 12-19. 
 
 Monday, April 2. — On the road from Bethany to 
 Jerusalem, He condemns the fig-tree whose unusually early 
 show of leaves had no corresponding promise of fruit. By 
 this 33^/ miracle, the only miracle of destruction, He com- 
 pletes the 1 6th parable, symbolises the inevitable ruin of 
 the impenitent Jews, warns against hypocrisy, and illustrates 
 the power of faith. Matt. xxi. 18, 19; Mark xi. 12-14
 
 NINTH PERIOD. 269 
 
 At Jerusalem, Second Cleansing of the Temple by Christ 
 the Priest, as a Judge pronouncing condemnation, to pre- 
 pare it for His final preaching there (comp. p. 254). Many 
 are healed in the Temple. Matt. xxi. 12-14; Mark xi. 
 15-19 ; Luke xix. 45-8. 
 
 Tuesday, April 3. — On the way into Jerusalem the 
 fig-tree is found withered. The Great GAINSAYINGS IN 
 THE TEMPLE, a final combined attempt to ensnare Him. 
 He meets the demand of a formal deputation from the 
 Sanhedrin " By what authority ? " with an unanswerable 
 preliminary question ; and in the 30th, 31^, and 32nd 
 parables of the Two Sons, the Wicked Husbandmen, and 
 the Wedding Garment at the Marriage of the King's Son, 
 claims to be God's last great Messenger to His people, and 
 instructs concerning false profession, abused privileges, and 
 lost opportunities, and the coming blessing for the Gentiles. 
 The people still take Him for a Prophet. He answers the 
 Pharisees' and Herodians' test by showing that they had 
 themselves acknowledged Caesar by accepting his coinage ; 
 the Sadducees' test by Mosaic proof of the future life ; and 
 the Lawyer's test by a perfect summary of the whole Law. 
 He then puts them all to silence by His counter-question 
 concerning David's Son ; proving His double claim to the 
 throne of David and of God. Matt. xxi. 20 — xxii. ; Mark 
 xi. 20 — xii. 37 ; Luke xx. 1-44. 
 
 Sevenfold woe foretold to the Scribes and Pharisees 
 whose hypocrisy made void the Law they professed to 
 honour. Christ refers to Himself as Messiah, and by men- 
 tion of the one Father, the one Master, and the one Teacher 
 (see R.V.), indicates the relation of the whole Trinity to 
 man, and closes with a third prediction of the Fall offeru- 
 salcm. Commendation of a widow, teaching that the 
 essence of charity is self-denial. Matt, xxiii. ; Mark xii. 
 38-44 ; Luke xx. 45 — xxi. 4. 
 
 In response to the request of some Greeks (first fruits of 
 Europe, the Christendom of the future), who come to His 
 cross from the West, as the Magi came to His cradle from 
 the East, Christ, after prayer, completes His self-revelation 
 to the World, foretelling that zvhen lifted up He will draw 
 all men to Him. A Third Voice from Heaven, heard by the 
 gathered crowd, confirms His words. On leaving the
 
 270 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 Temple finally, He makes a last appeal to men in the 
 Father's name, to which S. John prefixes a comment ex- 
 plaining His rejection, and referring to Christ Isaiah's vision 
 of the Lord of Hosts. John xii. 20-50. 
 
 On Olivet, Christ discourses to the Twelve of the Last 
 Things, dealing with their four questions as to the (a) time 
 and {b) sign of the Fall of ferns alem {predicted for the 
 fourth time), and the (c) time and (d) sign of His appear- 
 ing and the end of the world. He passes from judgment 
 of the Rulers and of Jerusalem to judgment of the whole 
 World, in the three last parables, 33rd, 34th and 35th, of 
 the Fig-tree and all Trees, the Ten Virgins (the Church 
 watching), and the Talents (the Church working ; every 
 man judged according to His opportunities : comp. 29th 
 parable), and the Discourse on the Son of Man judging 
 those who had not known the Law. He closes by a 2Sth 
 allusion to His death by crucifixion two days thence. Matt, 
 xxiv., xxv., xxvi. 1,2; Mark xiii. ; Luke xxL 5-38. 
 
 Meanwhile the Sanhedrin, maddened by the public 
 exposure of their hypocrisy, meet to arrange the manner 
 of His arrest, and bribe fudas to sell his Master to them 
 for the price of the meanest slave, one-third of the price of 
 what Mary had lavished in loving homage. Matt. xxvi. 
 3-5, 14-16; Mark xiv. 1, 2, 10, 11 ; Luke xxii. 1-6. 
 
 Wednesday, April 4, an unrecorded day of solemn 
 preparation for the Passion, spent at Bethany. 
 
 THURSDAY, April 5 (Nisan or Abib 14). S. John's in- 
 troductory words. John xiii. I. Peter and John sent to 
 Jerusalem to make preparation for the FOURTH PASSOVER. 
 Matt. xxvi. 17-19; Mark xiv. 12-16; Luke xxii. 7-13. 
 Christ with the Twelve enters the Upper Room in Jerusalem 
 for the Paschal Feast. The first cup (of consecration) 
 passed round and hands washed. Matt. xxvi. 20 ; Mark 
 xiv. 17 ; Luke xxii. 14-18. He settles the dispute about 
 precedence which arose when they were taking their places 
 by washing their feet Himself. Luke xxii. 24-30 ; John 
 xiii. 2-17. The Lamb, etc., is then set out, the bitter 
 herbs eaten, the dishes removed, the second cup filled, and 
 the inquiry concerning the Feast asked and answered 
 (Kxod. xii. 26, 27 ; Deut. xxvi. 5-9). After this, the first 
 part of the great Hallel (Psalms cxiii., cxiv.) is sung, th.G
 
 NINTH PERIOD. 271 
 
 second cup passed round, and the hands washed again. 
 As the unleavened bread is dipped in the sauce which 
 commemorated the mortar of their bondage, with another 
 thanksgiving, Christ foretells His betrayal, indicates to Peter 
 and John the traitor, utters his awful doom, and dismisses 
 him to complete his treachery. Matt. xxvi. 21-5 ; Mark 
 xiv. 18-21 ; Luke xxii. 21-3 ; John xiii. 18-35. 
 
 Then the lamb is eaten, and during the subsequent dis- 
 tribution of unleavened bread followed by the third cup 
 (of blessing) Christ institutes the Sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper as a perpetual memory of His precious Death until 
 His coming again. Matt. xxvi. 26-9 ; Mark xiv. 22-5 ; 
 Luke xxii. 19, 20; I Cor. xi. 23-5. The fourth cup (of joy), 
 the second part of the Hallel (Psalm cxv. — cxviii.)* and a 
 final prayer and thanksgiving conclude the last true Paschal 
 Feast. Christ thrice foretells Peter's denial, and again 
 speaks of His sufferings as fulfilling prophecy. John xiii. 
 36-8 ; Luke xxii. 31-8 ; Matt. xxvi. 30-35 ; Mark xiv. 26-31. 
 
 Christ completes His self-revelation to His Apostles by 
 His Last Discourse concerning the Paraclete sent by the 
 Father and the Son to testify of Him to men. He deals 
 with His relation to the Father and to His disciples, with 
 the law and progress of revelation, gives them a new com- 
 mandment, and for the 2,0th time refers to His departure. 
 After leaving the Upper Room, He utters the Parabolic 
 Discourse of the Vine and its Branches, typifying their 
 union with Him and love for one another in face of the 
 world's hatred ; and speaks of the Paraclete's testimony to 
 the world and to the Church, of sorrow turned into joy 
 and failure issuing in victory. Then our great High 
 Priest offers Himself as Victim in His Prayer of Co?isecra- 
 tion for Himself (v. 1-5), His apostles (v. 6-19), and all 
 believers (v. 20-26). Westcott suggests that this may have been 
 uttered in the Temple Courts, which were thrown open at midnight 
 during the Passover. John xiv. — xvii. 
 
 Crossing Kedron, Christ enters the Garden of Gethsemanc 
 on the slope of Olivet. His solitary prayer and mysterious 
 Agony, as the Sinless One bearing our sins, " the sufferings 
 of His soul forming the soul of all His sufferings," is wit- 
 nessed by the Three who had seen His Glory. Matt. xxvi. 
 36-46 ; Mark xiv. 32-42 ; Luke xxii. 39-46 ; John xviii. I, 2.
 
 272 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 He is betrayed by Judas, and, after display of His power 
 that proves Him a willing Victim (John x. 18), is arrested 
 by the emissaries of the Sanhedrin, and heals Malchus' ear 
 (34/^ miracle). After a futile resistance, the disciples all 
 forsake Him. Matt. xxvi. 47-56 ; Mark xiv. 43-52 ; Luke 
 xxii. 47-53 ; John xviii. 3-12. 
 
 FIRST Trial soon after midnight, in the High Priest's 
 house at the north-east corner of Mount Zion, by Annas the 
 legitimate, though deposed, High Priest. No witnesses are 
 brought, but Jesus is practically condemned to death, and 
 insulted by the servants. John xviii. 13, 14, 19-23 ; Luke 
 xxii. 54. 
 
 Second Trial in the same house, by Caiaphas, the 
 actual High Priest, and an informal gathering of part of 
 the Sanhedrin. False witnesses accuse Him of speaking 
 against the Temple, perverting His words. Questioned by 
 the rulers of the nation, He confesses Himself Messiah 
 and Son of God, and is potentially condemned to death for 
 " blasphemy." First Derision as Messiah by the High 
 Priest's servants. Matt. xxvi. 57-68 ; Mark xiv. 53-65 ; 
 Luke xxii. 63-5 ; John xviii. 24. In the courtyard below, 
 Peter, who has followed with John, being questioned by 
 two or three servants, thrice denies his Lord. Matt. xxvi. 
 58,69-75; Mark xiv. 54,66-72; Luke xxii. 55-62; John 
 xviii. 15-18, 25-7. 
 
 Friday, April 6 (First Day of Unleavened Bread). — 
 Third Trial at dawn, in the Gazith or Hall of Polished 
 Stones, or some other chamber adjoining the Temple on 
 Mount Moriah, by a formal assembly of the Sanhedrin. 
 Again He confesses Himself Messiah and Son of God, and 
 is formally condemned to death by the ecclesiastical authori- 
 ties. Matt, xxvii. I, 2 ; Mark xv. I ; Luke xxii. 66-71. 
 
 The suicide of Judas. Matt, xxvii. 3-10 ; Acts i. 18-20. 
 
 FOURTH TRIAL in the Praetorium or official residence of 
 the Roman governor in the castle of Antonia, north of the 
 Temple on Mount Moriah, by Pontius Pilate, procurator 
 of Judaea. First accusation of sedition against Rome, the 
 pretext for demanding His death being that He threatened 
 to use force to establish His Kingdom, while the real 
 offence in their eyes was that He would not use force. He 
 makes no reply, but in a first private interview with Pilate
 
 NINTH PERIOD. 273 
 
 acknowledges Himself King of the Jews with a kingdom 
 not of this world. First warning to Pilate in the awe- 
 inspiring aspect of his Prisoner. 1st acquittal by Pilate. 
 Second accusation of insurrection. Pilate's first expedient of 
 sending Him to Herod. Matt, xxvii. 2, 11-14; Mark xv. 
 1-5 ; Luke xxiii. 1-7 ; John xviii. 28-38. 
 
 FIFTH TRIAL in the old palace of the Asmonean princes 
 on Zion, by Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee. TJiird 
 accusation met with unbroken silence. Second Derision as 
 King by Herod and his soldiers. 2nd acquittal by Herod. 
 Return to the Praetorium. Luke xxiii. 8-12. 
 
 Sixth Trial in the Praetorium by Pilate, who, after 
 a 3rd declaration of His innocence, proposes for a second 
 expedient to release Him as an act of artificial grace, not 
 plain justice, and receives in his wife Claudia Procula's 
 message a second warning. But the Jews ask for Barabbas, 
 the brigand and murderer. For the Holy and Righteous One 
 they demand that most shameful and painful form of death 
 which was reserved for felonious slaves. After a 4th acquittal 
 Pilate scourges Jesus, and He endures a Third Derision as 
 King from the Roman soldiers. As his third expedient, 
 Pilate brings Him before the people, saying, " Behold the 
 Man," and pronouncing a $th acquittal. Mention of the 
 Son of God awes him with a third warning, and in a second 
 private interview Christ calmly judges His judge. Mount- 
 ing his tribunal for the third time, Pilate makes a final 
 attempt to release Christ, washing his hands with a 6th 
 acquittal of " this righteous man." The maddened people 
 accept the guilt of His blood, loudly professing allegiance 
 to their Roman conqueror only, and thus disclaiming all 
 their Messianic hopes, and demanding formal condemnation 
 to death by the civil autliorities of their true King, which 
 Pilate at last pronounces. Matt, xxvii. 15-31 ; Mark xv. 
 6-20 ; Luke xxiii. 13-25 ; John xviii. 39 — xix. 16. 
 
 Rejected by the Pharisees, condemned by the Sadducees, 
 denounced by the multitude, and forsaken by His own 
 disciples, Jesus is led to death by the Romans. On the 
 way He utters His last Sermon and -fiftJi prediction of the 
 Fall of Jerusalem to the pitiful women who bewail Him. 
 Simon bears His cross. Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21 ; 
 Luke xxiii. 26-32 ; John xix. 17. 
 
 18
 
 274 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 About nine o'clock, at Golgotha, He refuses the soporific 
 offered to alleviate the anguish of crucifixion, and is nailed 
 to the cross between two robbers with a superscription in 
 the three languages of the civilised world over His head, 
 just as the morning daily sacrifice is being offered. First 
 Word of priestly Intercession for the impenitent. He is 
 mocked by the members of the Sanhedrin as Saviour, 
 Messiah, and King of Israel ; by the soldiers as King of 
 the Jews ; and by the multitude as Son of God. Matt, 
 xxvii. 33-44; Mark xv. 22-32; Luke xxiii. 33-8; John 
 xix. 18-24. Second Word of royal Grace for the penitent 
 and believing robber ('he first Jew won by the Cross). 
 Luke xxiii. 39-43. Third Word of tender Love and care 
 for His Mother. John xix. 25-7. 
 
 Noon. Three hours of supernatural darkness and awful 
 silence begin. Three o'clock. FourtJi Word of spiritual 
 Agony. Fifth Word of physical Agony. Sixth Word of 
 Triumph. Seventh Word of calm Trust, and then our 
 Saviour yields up His spirit just as the evening daily sacri- 
 fice is beginning, and the first Sabbath trumpet sounding. 
 The sign from heaven so long clamoured for appears, the 
 Rent Veil of the Temple proclaims the Law abrogated and 
 man brought nigh to God, earth quakes, the rocks are rent, 
 and the tombs are opened. The centurion confesses Him 
 righteous Son of God (the first Gentile won by the Cross), 
 and the multitude mourn and fear exceedingly. Matt, 
 xxvii. 45-56 ; Mark xv. 33-41 ; Luke xxiii. 44-9 ; John 
 xix. 28-30. 
 
 In the evening, Joseph of Arimathaea obtains Pilate's 
 permission to take away the body of Jesus, and when His 
 death has been proved by the soldier's spear thrust, Joseph 
 and Nicodemus bury Him with all possible honour in a 
 new tomb in a garden near Golgotha, just as the wave 
 sheaf (comp. Lev. xxiii. 10, 11 ; I Cor. xv. 20), is carried 
 across Kedron. Matt, xxvii. 57-61 ; Mark xv. 42-7 ; Luke 
 xxiii. 50-56 ; John xix. 31-42. 
 
 SATURDAY, APRIL 7, the Sabbath. — The disciples rest. 
 The priests secure a guard for the tomb. Luke xxiii. 56 ; 
 Matt, xxvii. 62-6.
 
 TENTH PERIOD. 275 
 
 Tenth Period. 
 
 Between Passover and Pentecost, A.D. 30, 
 Nisan 17 to Sivan 3 (40 days). 
 
 The Resurrection and Ascension of Christ. 
 
 Matt, xxviii. ; Mark xvi. ; Luke xxiv. ; John xx., xxi. 
 
 " Thou hast ascended on high." — Psalm lxviii. 18. 
 "Now hath Christ been raised from the dead!' — 1 Cor. 
 xv. 20. 
 
 Sunday, April 8 ("The first Lord's Day ").— In Joseph's 
 garden, before dawn, there is a great earthquake, and 
 Christ is raised from the dead, being thus for the fourth 
 time declared (Rom. i. 4) the Son of God. Matt, xxviii. 2-4. 
 
 In the morning twilight, Mary of Magdala visits the 
 tomb, and departs with the news that the Lord is not there. 
 Matt, xxviii. 1 ; John xx. I, 2. 
 
 At daybreak, Mary wife of Alphseus, Salome wife of 
 Zebedee, Joanna wife of Chuza, and other women visit the 
 tomb, and hear of the Resurrection from an angel, who 
 sends them to tell the Apostles. Matt, xxviii. 1, 5-8 ; Mark 
 xvi. 1-8; Luke xxiv. 1-11. 
 
 Mary of Magdala returns to the tomb with Peter and 
 John, who find it empty and depart. John believes. First 
 Appearance of the Risen Lord to her at the tomb. Luke 
 xxiv. 12 ; John xx. 3-18 ; Mark xvi. 9-1 1. 
 
 Second Appearance to the other women returning to 
 Jerusalem. Matt, xxviii. 9, 10. 
 
 TJiird Appearance to Peter. Luke xxiv. 34 ; I Cor. 
 xv. 5. 
 
 The Sanhedrin bribe the guard to promulgate an im- 
 potent fabrication. Matt, xxviii. 1 1-1 5. 
 
 Fourth Appearance in the evening, on the road to 
 Emmaus, to Cleopas and another. The Lord discourses 
 on His fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy, and is made 
 known to them " in the breaking of the bread." Mark xvi. 
 12, 13 ; Luke xxiv. 13-32. 
 
 Fifth Appearance, later in the evening in the Upper 
 Room at Jerusalem, to ten Apostles and other disciples.
 
 276 THE GOSPELS. 
 
 The Lord's first charge to His Church to evangelise the 
 world, and His Easter evening gifts to it : viz., peace (comp. 
 John xiv. 27), assurance, understanding, spiritual authority, 
 power to work miracles, and the Holy Spirit quickening 
 them with new faith in anticipation of His endowing them 
 with new power at Pentecost. Mark xvi. 14 ; Luke xxiv. 
 33-48 ; John xx. 19-23 ; 1 Cor. xv. 5. 
 
 SUNDAY, APRIL 15. Sixth Appearance in the evening 
 in the same Upper Room to the Eleven Apostles. Thomas 
 worships Him as Lord and God. John xx. 24-9. 
 
 Seventh Appearance by the Lake of Galilee to Peter, 
 James, John, Thomas, Nathanael, and two others, probably 
 Philip and Andrew (viz., the six first called and the con- 
 vinced doubter). 35//Z miracle. Second miraculous draught 
 of fishes, typical of the gathering in of a perfect Church in 
 heaven, as the 3rd miracle had been typical of the gathering 
 in of a militant Church on earth. The Lord again made 
 known " in the breaking of the bread." Peter's threefold 
 confession undoes his threefold denial. John xxi. 1-23. 
 
 Eighth Appearance on Kurn Hattin, in Galilee, to the 
 Eleven and more than 500 disciples. He receives their 
 homage as Lord of heaven and earth, and shows how the 
 Chosen People of the past give place henceforth to the 
 Universal Church of the future. He institutes the Sacra- 
 ment of Baptism in the name of the Trinity as the rite of 
 admission into it, and gives a second charge to His Church to 
 evangelise the world, promising power to fulfil the com- 
 mand, and His abiding Presence till the consummation of 
 the age. Matt, xxviii. 16-20 ; Mark xvi. 15-18 ; 1 Cor. xv. 6. 
 
 Ninth Appearance to James, " the brother of the Lord," 
 1 Cor. xv. 7. (There were but three to individuals in all. 
 Acts i. 3 suggests other unrecorded Appearances.) 
 
 Thursday, May 17 (ten days before Pentecost).— Tenth 
 Appearance in Jerusalem to the Eleven, whom He leads 
 out to Bethany. After renewing His promise of the Spirit, 
 and giving a third charge to His ChurcJi to evangelise the 
 world, from Mount Olivet, while bles.ing them, He ascends 
 to Heaven, where He ever livcth to make intercession for 
 us, until He comes again in like mamer as He went up. 
 Mark xvi. 19, 20 ; Luke xxiv. 49-53 ; Acts i. 3-12 ; I Cor. 
 xv. 7
 
 TENTH PERIOD. 177 
 
 S. John's Epilogue on the purpose of the Gospels, and 
 a confirmation of his narrative, probably added by the 
 Ephesian elders. John xx. 30, 31 ; xxi. 24, 25. 
 
 " By the mystery of Thy holy Incarnation ; 
 By Thy holy Nativity and Circumcision ; 
 By Thy Baptism, Fasting, and Temptation ; 
 By Thine Agony and bloody Sweat ; 
 By Thy Cross and Passion ; 
 By Thy precious Death and Burial ; 
 By Thy glorious Resurrection and Ascension ; 
 And by the coming of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 Good Lord, deliver us."
 
 NINTH TERM. 
 
 The Days of S. Paul. 
 The Gospel Preached to the Gentiles. 
 
 a.d. 51—97- 
 
 Acts XV. — XXVIII. I Thcssalonians. 2 Thessalonians. I Conn 
 thians. 2 Corinthians. Galatians. Romans. Philippians. Colos- 
 sians. Philemon. Ephesians. i Timothy. Titus, i Timothy. 
 i, 2, and 3 John. Revelation. (130 chapters!) 
 
 "Thou hast known the sacred writings which are able to make thee wise 
 unto salvation through faith."— 2 Tim. iii. 15. 
 
 33rd MONTH (32). 
 
 Acts XV.— XVIII. 17, 1 and 2 
 Thess. Acts XVIII. 18-XIX. 
 20. 1 Cor. Acts XIX. 21 — 
 XX. 1. 2 Cor. I.— III. 
 
 34th MONTH (32). 
 
 2 Cor. IV.— XIII. Acts XX. 
 2. Gal. Rom. 
 
 35th MONTH (33). 
 
 Acts XX. 3— XXVIII. Phil. 
 Col. Philem. Eph. I Tim. 
 Titus. 
 
 36th MONTH (33). 
 
 2 Tim. 1,2, 3 John. Rev. 
 
 I. General Summary. 
 
 NO one chapter in the intertwined and unfinished history 
 of mankind can be altogether isolated from its other 
 chapters. Having rounded off the story of the literal Israel, 
 the people who were chosen to be a kingdom of priests in 
 the past (Exod. xix. 6), we must trace its connexion with 
 the story of the spiritual Israel, chosen to be a kingdom of 
 priests in the present (Rev. i. 6, R.V. : see p. 5). Israel 
 was called out of the world ; the Church is placed in the 
 world, though not of it. Extraordinary privileges as 
 regards God and extraordinary obligations as regards man 
 characterise both. One nation only God knew and made 
 
 278
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 279 
 
 Himself known to (Amos ill. 2). Yet while Gentiles 
 knowing only false gods were desiring the true God (Acts 
 xvii. 23), Israel went after other gods whom they knew 
 not (Jer. vii. 9), and so God removed them from their 
 place among the nations, and " the times of the Gentiles " 
 began. 
 
 From B.C. 606 to A.D. 45 they were prepared for the 
 Gospel, just as Israel had been prepared for the Law from 
 B.C. 192 1 to 1490 (see p. 25). Individual Gentiles had already 
 received blessing through contact with Israel (see p. 162, 
 Question XXX.). And when the nations who had been 
 scattered at Babel (Gen. xi.) were re-united under Nebu- 
 chadnezzar (Jer. xxvii. 4-7), Israel, hitherto kept apart, 
 was placed in the midst of them to bear witness in the 
 Gentile tongue to the true God (Jer. x. 11, R.V. margin ; 
 Dan. iii. 29) ; and the Psalms which we have called " the 
 Missionary Hallel " (p. 209), anticipated blessing through 
 Israel to all the world. Not only have Jew and Gentile 
 lived in closest contact with each other since B.C. 606, 
 but the history of the whole world may be grouped round 
 that of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose names are on the 
 gates of the City of the Future (Rev. xxi. 12 ; comp. Deut. 
 xxxii. 8). 
 
 As we have seen, the Church in its infancy appeared to 
 be only a sect of Jews who believed that the Messiah had 
 come, and emphasized the Pharisaic doctrine of the Resur- 
 rection (Acts xxiii. 6). Christ's own fulfilment of the 
 Law consisted in its spiritualisation, and once at least He 
 had pointed to its abrogation (Mark vii. 19, R.V.). He 
 sought Gentiles as well as Jews (John iii. 16, xii. 32), and 
 strongly commended Gentile faith (Matt. viii. 10, xv. 28). 
 But the first Christians seem to have had no clear con- 
 ception of their faith as the one worldwide religion with 
 whose expansion the ceremonial Mosaic Law would vanish 
 away. The Greek in which the New Testament is written 
 is symbolical of the universality of its revelation, and it was 
 one of the greatest of Greek -speaking Jewish Christians, 
 S. Stephen, who first enunciated two new truths as cardinal 
 as the two uttered at Sinai (see p. 54). (a) All men, 
 both Jews and Gentiles, are equally unacceptable to God 
 in view of their fallen and sinful condition, and all are
 
 280 NINTH TERM. 
 
 equally acceptable to God if they call upon Him through 
 Christ (Rom. iii. 9, 22, 23, x. 12, 13). (b) The Mosaic 
 Covenant is temporary and imperfect (Heb. viii. 13). 
 
 Let us now trace the application of these principles. S. 
 Peter anticipates the first in Acts ii. 39, iii. 26 ; and it was 
 acted on in the successive admissions to the Church of 
 the Samaritans, somewhat heretical followers of Moses ; 
 of Cand ace's treasurer, a proselyte of the gate ; and of 
 Cornelius and his household, all of whom could hardly 
 have been proselytes. But it was at Antioch that some 
 Cyprian and African missionaries first preached to Gentiles 
 as Gentiles (Acts xi. 20, R.V.). There the emergence of 
 the Church from Judaism was further marked by the name 
 " Christian," invented by the quick-witted Antiochenes and 
 formed by adding a Latin suffix to the Greek translation 
 of a Hebrew idea (comp. John xix. 20). That it was at 
 first used by the world opprobriously, is clear from each 
 recurrence of it in the New Testament (Acts xi. 26, xxvi. 
 28 ; 1 Peter iv. 16). Later on the Church adopted it and 
 gloried in it (James ii. 7). It shows that our faith is not 
 centred in a doctrine, but in a Person. 
 
 Meanwhile the Apostle through whom God " caused the 
 light of the Gospel to shine throughout the world " had 
 been called, and the mystery of a Gentile Church had been 
 revealed to him (Eph. iii. ; Acts xxvi. 16-18). Step by 
 step he acted upon this revelation (Acts xiii. 46, xiv. 15, 
 27, xv., xviii. 6), and taught in accordance with it. (Rom. 
 i. 16). And so we come to the most memorable journey on 
 record (Acts xiii.), the first definite act of obedience to our 
 Lord's last command (Mark xvi. 1 5). For in contrast to 
 the Old Dispensation, where the Proselyte sought admission 
 into Israel's congregation, in the New Dispensation the 
 Apostle went out to seek converts whom he might lead into 
 the Church. Divinely guided, S. Paul and his companions 
 went westwards towards the scenes of the epoch-making 
 events in the world's future history. 
 
 Three circumstances were in his favour, through which 
 God had prepared men to receive the truth : — 
 
 (a) The intellectual conquest of the world by Greece had 
 produced a unity of language, so that the Apostles speaking 
 and writing in Greek were everywhere understood.
 
 GENERAL SUMMARY. 281 
 
 (b) The material conquest of the world by Rome had 
 produced a political unity, which gave them free scope and 
 fair protection everywhere. 
 
 (c) The dispersion of the Jews had carried some know- 
 ledge of the One True God and some purer notions of 
 morality into many parts, and the heathen were often 
 reached through the proselytes, of whom the larger number 
 were women (Acts xiii. 50, xvii. 4, 12). 
 
 On the other hand, he had greater difficulties to contend 
 with than any missionaries could have now in any part of 
 the world. Disowned and cast out at Jerusalem, he carried 
 a message to the Jews concerning the abrogation of their 
 cherished exclusive privileges ; despised and loathed as a 
 Jew, he had to tell the Gentiles of a revelation that would 
 supersede all their national beliefs and transcend all their 
 proudest philosophies. But he went for Christ and with 
 Christ, and God chose weak things that He might shame 
 the things that were strong. 
 
 In A.D. 51 the Church contained these seven classes of 
 Christians : — (a) Strict Hebraists, such as those in Acts 
 xxi. 20. (b) Liberal Hebraists, such as S. Peter, Acts 
 xi. 3. (c) Strict Hellenists, such as those in Acts ix. 29. 
 (d) Liberal Hellenists, such as S. Paul, (e) Proselytes of 
 Righteousness who were circumcised, such as Nicolas, Acts 
 y i- 5- if) Proselytes of the Gate who were uncircumcised, 
 such as Cornelius, (g) Heathen converts, such as Trophimus, 
 Acts xxi. 29. He is a type of nearly all the Christians of to- 
 day, and he belongs chronologically to the last class brought 
 into the Church (see Farrar's " Life of St. Paul." Cassell, 6s.). 
 
 What was to be the relation of this class to the Mosaic 
 Law ? Over that question arose the first controversy. It 
 was settled, not without loss of velocity through friction 
 meanwhile, but with ultimate gain, theoretically at the first 
 synod of the Church, and in S. Paul's second group of 
 Epistles ; practically, just 40 years after the Resurrection, 
 by the Fall of Jerusalem. 
 
 S. Paul recognises four stages in the world's history 
 dating from four persons, of whom the first like the last 
 stands at the head of a long line of representatives : — 
 
 (a) Relative innocence ending in Sin in Adam, whose 
 transgression developed a death-working principle.
 
 282 NINTH TERM. 
 
 (P) Awakened conscience and Promise in Abraham. 
 
 (c) Imputable transgression and Law in Moses. 
 
 (d) Free justification and Gospel in Christ, whose 
 righteousness developed a new life-working principle. The 
 Law of Moses had shown the need of this, and it fulfilled 
 the Promise to Abraham. In Christ the Law found both 
 its accomplishment and its conclusion, in one word, its 
 "end" (Rom. x. 4), as He Himself indicated (Matt. xi. 13). 
 
 For its relation to the Gospel, work out this summary. 
 
 The Law was negative, particular, complex, preparatory, 
 temporary, and easy to act up to, in that it controlled 
 deeds. It uttered precepts and commands, requiring works 
 and saying, " Thou shalt love," " Do and live " (Deut. iv. 1). 
 
 The Gospel is positive, general, simple, final, eternal, and 
 hard to act up to, in that it controls motives. It utters 
 principles and sanctions, requires faith, and says, " God so 
 loved," " Live and do " (Rom. viii. 2-4). 
 
 The moral Law still, binds us, not as the condition of 
 our acceptance before God, but as an evidence of our accept- 
 ance by God before men. 
 
 The relation of Judaism to Christianity is not that of 
 error to truth, but of the bud to the flower, of the child to 
 the man, of the dawn to the day, of the acorn which 
 perishes when it has germinated to the oak which it has 
 produced. "Tear Up the Jewish root, and the Christian 
 branch will perish," thought Titus when he took Jerusalem. 
 In reality its Fall settled the Judaic controversy ; separated 
 Christians from Jews finally in the eyes of the heathen ; 
 cut the cords which bound the new faith to a local habita- 
 tion, and enabled it to become worldwide. In S. John's 
 writings Jew and Gentile stand undistinguished in the 
 same fold. 
 
 Why did Titus desire to destroy Christianity ? For in 
 Acts, which records twelve separate persecutions that S. 
 Paul suffered from the Jews (1 Thess. ii. 14-16) we see the 
 Roman power protecting him from his own compatriots ; 
 the heathen indifferent, curious, tolerant, and docile, but 
 only hostile on those rare occasions when fears for their 
 worldly interests were roused. In ancient days worship 
 of other gods by Gentiles had been recognised if not 
 actually permitted (Dcut. xxix. 25, 26). But later on the
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 283 
 
 prophets call on all men to worship one God only (Jer. 
 xvi. 19-21). And when the Gentiles found that Christianity 
 always and everywhere claimed to be not only a religion, 
 but the one true religion, they resented this claim. In 64 
 the First of Ten heathen Persecutions of the Church broke 
 out, and thenceforth the Empire was at war with the Church 
 until A.D. 313. See Blunt's "Christian Church during the 
 First Three Centuries," chap. viii. (Murray, 6s.). 
 
 Israel's religion had never before won other nations or 
 saved Israel from ruin ; Gentile wisdom had proved power- 
 less to arrest decay of all forms of belief, and universal 
 depravity of morals. Yet 1900 years ago, from the midst 
 of Jewish weakness and Gentile uncleanness (Job xiv. 4), 
 there sprang a new thing irresistibly mighty, and not only 
 clean but cleansing, which has been the salt of the earth 
 ever since. Secular history seeks to account for this in 
 vain. We know that the new principle of life which made 
 this marvellous change possible was the indwelling Spirit 
 of God working through the Church of the Living Jesus. 
 
 II. Books to be Read. 
 (See "Oxford Helps," § xv.) 
 
 Save for the remaining chapters of the Acts, our reading 
 this term is wholly of the two greatest authors of the Apos- 
 tolic age, S. Paul and S. John, with one of whom we now 
 make our first acquaintance. Poetry is not an element that 
 we commonly recognise in the New Testament. But besides 
 the parallelism in many of our Lord's discourses, the 
 poetical structure of some of His parables, and such rhyth- 
 mical outpourings as Rom. viii. 29-39, xi. $y6 ; 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 1-8, xv. 35-58 ; 2 Cor. vi. 3-10 ; James v. 1-6, it contains 
 one whole book, which is in the highest sense poetry, viz., 
 the Apocalypse. 
 
 Acts xv. — xxviii. tells of the Gospel's progress westward 
 from its cradle in Jerusalem to Rome, the capital of the 
 world, and dwells, with all the minute accuracy of a con- 
 temporary historian and eye-witness, upon those parts of 
 S. Paul's career during which S. Luke was his companion. 
 It breaks off suddenly at the eve of the Neronian persecu-
 
 284 NINTH TERM. 
 
 tion, concerning which it would have been unsafe to speak 
 freely, and we must glean the events of the last thirty-four 
 years of our period from less complete records. The key- 
 note of Acts xv. — xxviii. is The Gentiles are fellow-heirs 
 and fellow-partakers of the promise. 
 
 S. Paul's thirteen Epistles fall into four groups, and 
 should always be read in their chronological order. Six 
 were written to Europe (viz., three to Macedonia, two to 
 Achaia, and one to Italy), three to Asia Minor, and four 
 to individuals. Of the churches S. Paul addresses, five had 
 been founded by him. (i Cor. v. 9 ; 2 Cor. x. 9 ; Col. iv. 
 16 ; 2 Thess. iii. 17, indicate that he may have written other 
 letters not preserved.) As a rule, his Epistles consist of six 
 parts : (a) Solemn Salutation ; (£) Expression of Thank- 
 fulness for God's work in the church addressed ; (V) Re- 
 ligious Doctrine ; (d) Practical Exhortation ; (e) Personal 
 Details and Greetings, (f) Autograph Benediction as a 
 mark of authenticity. (The notes at the end, which R.V. 
 omits, are very late, and in some cases evidently erroneous.) 
 But we misunderstand the Epistles if we try to reduce 
 them to regular subdivisions as so many set treatises on 
 abstract doctrine. Clause by clause they were dictated to 
 his children in the faith, as he sat stitching the coarse tent 
 cloth, and wondrous thoughts of things Divine were welling 
 up within him. From his heart to their hearts, and to 
 our hearts, he speaks, with all the tenderness and all the 
 familiarity of personal intercourse, and in these living 
 utterances of a living man the expositions of truth are 
 incidental. Each thought leads on to the next, not by a 
 process of elaborate reasoning, but by a natural association 
 of ideas. There is in them not formal system, but sponta- 
 neous coherence and sequence. Each Epistle should be 
 looked at apart from the rest. Each should be read swiftly 
 at a sitting, as well as studied in detail, that its general 
 purpose and character may be duly apprehended. 
 
 FIRST GROUP. — The Advent Epistles, written at Corinth 
 in 52, and addressed to a Macedonian Church, whose 
 religion was practical and straightforward. Hence they 
 are the simplest of all in their matter and manner, and deal 
 with Christian life rather than Christian doctrine. Their 
 subject is the Second Coming of Christ, and our prepara-
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 285 
 
 tion in patience and watchfulness for it. Undue curiosity 
 as to the time of the end is discouraged. 
 
 1 Thessalonians was occasioned by Timothy's return with 
 cheering news of Thessalonian steadfastness. Its tone is 
 very sweet and consolatory. S. Paul commends the Church 
 as a whole, admonishes the sinful, comforts the sorrowful, 
 and concludes with general exhortation. Its keynote is 
 The Coining of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. 
 
 2 TJiessalonians was occasioned by the erroneous infer- 
 ences which had been drawn from the former letter. The 
 Advent must be unexpected, but it may not be near. 
 Its keynote is The Revelation of the Lord Jesus with the 
 angels of His power. S. Paul's favourite trilogy of Faith, 
 Hope, and Love pervades both epistles. 
 
 SECOND GROUP. — The Anti-Judaic Epistles, written in 
 57 and 58, in the midst of physical and mental trials which 
 have left deep traces on their style. Their subject is 
 Individual Christian Life, God's Grace and our Faith. 
 Compared with Macedonian, Achaian religion was more 
 enlightened, but more conceited and of lower type morally. 
 
 1 Corinthians ; written in Ephesus at the Passover of 57, 
 was occasioned by a letter asking questions as to marriage, 
 things offered to idols, spiritual gifts, public worship, collec- 
 tions, and the Resurrection. S. Paul shows that there may 
 be love and unity where there are different opinions, and 
 that practical details of life should be decided by eternal 
 principles. Its keynote is Take heed, be steadfast, and let 
 all ye do be done in love. 
 
 2 Corinthians, written at Philippi (?), is in two parts. Ch. 
 i. — ix., occasioned by a cheering account of the church from 
 Titus, whose keynote is Transient light affliction and eternal 
 weight of glory ; ch. x. — xiii., occasioned by news of a 
 fresh attack upon S. Paul's authority, and written in a 
 sterner and more sorrowful tone, whose keynote is In nothing 
 beJiind the very chiefest Apostles. Of all the Epistles this 
 is the one in which we see deepest into S. Paul's heart. 
 
 Galatians, written at Corinth in 58 (?), was occasioned 
 by news that the Galatians were forsaking the freedom of 
 Christ for the bondage of Moses. It is "a trumpet note 
 of defiance to the Pharisees of Christianity." It falls into 
 three parts of two chapters each, personal, historical, and
 
 286 NINTH TERM. 
 
 practical, and its keynote is Neither circumcision nor uncir- 
 cumcision, but a new creature. 
 
 Romans, written at Corinth in 58 in expectation of 
 visiting the capital, fills the central place in S. Paul's 
 writings, both chronologically and doctrinally, and contains 
 the sum of his theology, dealing in the largest and most 
 general way with the universality of sin and the univer- 
 sality of grace. Galatians is like* a rough sketch for it. Its 
 keynote is The revelation of the Righteousness of God; and 
 we may sum up its main argument thus : " The Gospel is 
 the power of God unto salvation because it contains the 
 revelation of a righteousness. This is needed because 
 God's wrath is upon sin, and all, both Jews and Gentiles, 
 have sinned (i. — iii. 20). God offers man a salvation, whose 
 freeness the Old Testament illustrates and vindicates, 
 whose effects, as we ourselves know, are immediate, pro- 
 gressive, and ultimate. It is a reversal of the Fall, a lifting 
 up of the individual life above sin ; a complete deliverance 
 from sin and its consequences (iii. 21 — viii.). The relation 
 of this Gospel to the Jew is a sorrowful story, but it involves 
 no injustice on God's part, and will be gloriously compen- 
 sated hereafter (ix. — xi.). The practical results of this 
 Gospel should be dedication of ourselves to God, devotion 
 to duty in all the relations of life, in submission to authority, 
 love, toleration, conscientiousness, in one word, in imitation 
 of Christ (xii. — xv.)." Or we may say the Epistle shows the 
 dealings with men of God the Father (i. — iii. 20), God the 
 Son (iii. 21 — vii.), God the Holy Ghost (viii.) ; or see, as its 
 dominating ideas, Faith (iii. — vii.), Hope (viii.), and Love 
 (xii. — xiv.). Faith, which links God's righteousness and 
 man's justification, is mentioned some sixty times. Those 
 who know something of Greek can have no more helpful 
 guide to the understanding of Romans and of S. Paul's 
 Epistles generally than Dean Vaughan's edition of its Greek 
 text with notes (Macmillan, js. 6d.). 
 
 THIRD GROUP. — The Anti-Gnostic Epistles, all written at 
 Rome in 63. They deal with loftier and more mysterious 
 themes than the earlier ones, and show throughout thought 
 enriched and ripened, and growth both in grace and wisdom. 
 Their subject is Corporate Christian Life, and Christ as 
 God and Man.
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 287 
 
 PJrilippians, occasioned by the visit of Epaphroditus, and 
 written to a church which seems to have been to S. Paul 
 what the household of Bethany was to his Master, falls, like 
 Galatians, into personal, doctrinal, and practical sections 
 Its keynote is Press on and rejoice always. 
 
 Colossians, occasioned by the return of Onesimus, combats 
 error. Its keynote is Christ is the Head of 'the Church, and 
 in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead. 
 
 PJiilemon, written and sent together with Colossians, 
 forms " the practical manifesto of Christianity against the 
 horrors and iniquities of slavery." Its keynote is No longer 
 as a bondman, but as a brother beloved. 
 
 Ephesians, which may have been a circular letter to all 
 the Asiatic churches (i. I, R.V. margin), builds up truth. 
 Its keynote is The Church is Christ's Body, the fulness of 
 Him that fillcth all in all. It may be called the Epistle of 
 the Ascension. 
 
 FOURTH GROUP. — The Pastoral Epistles, manuals of 
 practical discipline rather than expositions of doctrine. 
 They have not the depth and grandeur of the earlier 
 epistles, their purpose being wholly different. Their subject 
 is the Work of the Ministry, Being and Doing. The 
 trilogy of Faith, Hope, and Love again becomes prominent. 
 
 1 Timothy, written from Macedonia in 65 or 66, has 
 least structural unity of all the epistles. Its keynote is 
 Tcacli healthful words, and the doctrine zvliicli is according 
 to godliness. 
 
 Titus, written from Macedonia in 66, has for keynote 
 Those who are Gods must be godly. 
 
 2 Timothy, written from his Roman prison in 67 to 
 implore his best-beloved disciple to come to him quickly, 
 contains S. Paul's last brave and tender words, and its 
 keynote is Through the cross to the crown. 
 
 The three Epistles of S. fohn were probably written at 
 Ephesus during his last years. 1 foJin is addressed to the 
 Church generally, and especially to Gentile Christians in 
 Asia Minor. Its recurring thoughts are Light, Life, Truth, 
 Abiding, and above all Love ; and its keynote is Eternal 
 Life through the Incarnation of the Eternal Word. 
 
 2 JoJin, one of the three private letters in the New 
 Testament which illustrate Christian intercourse rather
 
 288 NINTH TERM. 
 
 than Christian doctrine, is addressed to a lady of uncertain 
 name and abode, with her children. This fact in itself in- 
 dicates the new value attached to womanhood and child- 
 hood in Christ. Its keynote is Love in truth and truth in 
 love. 
 
 3 John is addressed to a hospitable Christian who bore 
 the common name of Gaius. Its keynote is Imitate not 
 the evil, but the good. The use of the word " friends " in 
 the last clause is peculiar to S John. Comp. John xi. u, 
 xv. 14, 15. 
 
 All that S. John teaches might be inferred from S. Paul's 
 writings, but the last of the Apostles sums up Divine revela- 
 tion in a clear and final exposition of loftiest truth, which 
 transcends the controversies of earlier days. The Judaic 
 question has fallen into the background ; and S. John 
 opposes those subsequent heresies which all began and 
 ended with denial of the doctrine that Christ is truly God 
 and truly Man, by showing forth truth rather than com- 
 batting error. He makes three great declarations about 
 God. God is Light, God is Love, God is Righteous. He 
 expresses our Christian privileges through three conceptions 
 brought out through a threefold metaphor, (a) That of 
 Righteousness from the law court, looking at Christ as the 
 Righteous One (1 John ii. 1, 29). (b) That of Sonship 
 from the household, looking at Christ as the Son (1 John 
 iii. 1, 8). (c) That of Sanctification from the Temple, 
 looking at Christ as the Holy One sacrificed (1 John iii. 
 3, 5, i. 7). He uses eternal, not in antithesis to temporal, 
 but to seen. He speaks of eternal life, not as that which 
 shall be, but as that which is for all believers. 
 
 Revelation. That this is a work by S. John of special 
 value and importance, forming a fit climax to the whole 
 Word of God, is certain. Its exact date and its meaning 
 are far less easily determined. Internal evidence con- 
 nects it with two startling and most important events, 
 the first great outbreak of Heathen Persecution by Nero 
 in 64, when all the world hated the Christians on the false 
 charge that the Christians hated all the world ; and the 
 Fall of the Jewish Nation (66 — 70). Those who had lived 
 through the anguish and tumult of that time, and seen its 
 awful bloodshed, would find more than poetic metaphor in
 
 BOOKS TO BE READ. 289 
 
 such passages as Rev. xiv. 19, 20. If. written then it is 
 S. John's earliest work. But external evidence connects it 
 with the Second Persecution of the Church by Domitian 
 in 96, and some of its pictures of judgment seem drawn 
 from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, which must have 
 made an even deeper and wider impression than Uzziah's 
 earthquake of old (Amos i. 1). In any case, S. John's 
 Gospel, in which we find the deepest teaching of the whole 
 Bible, was doubtless later than the Apocalypse ; yet our 
 Cycle most fitly completes its revolution with this New 
 Testament counterpart of Daniel. For (a) Its new Heavens 
 and Earth, its Paradise, and River, and Tree of Life, its gold 
 and pearl and precious stones, its Bridegroom and Bride 
 carry us back to the first pages of revelation, and show 
 how God's will regarding man, though thwarted for a time, 
 will be gloriously fulfilled to all eternity, (b) It is the last 
 magnificent development of divinely inspired prophecy. 
 (c) It possesses at once the unity of a great poem, and the 
 gorgeousness of a dream, and thus closes the diapason 
 with a transcendent note of music, (d) It gathers up all 
 the rest of the Bible in its allusions, and looks furthest into 
 the future, (e) " The Revelation of Jesus Christ " (that is 
 the correct name of a book often ignorantly called " The 
 Revelations of John ") is the last gift of the glorified Saviour 
 to His Church. Old Testament witness beforehand, New 
 Testament preparatory prophecy, Christ's own witness to 
 Himself on earth, and the Apostolic witness to Him later 
 on, are all consummated by His final witness to Himself 
 from Heaven. Its keynote is The revelation of the Risen 
 Christ as the Lord God. 
 
 Rev. i. 1 9 is a table of contents for the whole book. Ch. 
 i. refers to the Past, chs. ii., iii. to the Present. Chs. 
 iv. — xxii. contain visions certainly past as visions when 
 S. John described them, and certainly prefiguring things 
 that were Future to him. The question is how far are 
 they future for us ? Here interpreters of three different 
 schools come forward. 
 
 {a) The Pra;tefists, who point to the word "shortly" in 
 Rev. i. 1, and say that they have been fulfilled in the past. 
 Sodom is Jerusalem, Babylon is heathen Rome ; and the 
 book finds its great and sufficient theme in the downfall 
 
 19
 
 290 
 
 NIN1H TERM. 
 
 of these two cities- which had drunk so deeply of the blood 
 of the saints. Just as Daniel's " vile person " was Antiochus 
 Epiphanes, so Nero, to whom divine honours were blasphe- 
 mously paid, is the Beast out of the Sea, and the Beast 
 out of the earth (evidently the same as the False Prophet) 
 is probably Simon Magus. The Sun-clad Woman is the 
 Primitive Church in its flight to Pella. The earliest 
 commentators favour this interpretation, and a general 
 expectation that the world would end in A.D. 1000 sprang 
 out of dating the 1000 years of Rev. xx. 4 from the 
 foundation of the Church. 
 
 (J?) The Presentists, or Historical School, who say that 
 they are being fulfilled in the present, that Revelation is a 
 synopsis of anticipated history, either of the whole world 
 or of the Church. This view is not much more than 600 
 years old, and the greatest diversity exists among its 
 exponents as to the application of details, and the point 
 we have now reached chronologically. 
 
 (c) The Futurists, who say that they are to be fulfilled 
 in the future. Between ch. iii. and ch. iv. there is a gap of 
 at least 1800 years. These interpreters have generally 
 been few in number, but they have had representatives in 
 all ages. 
 
 Without attempting to judge between the three views, 
 one or two principles may be laid down for those students 
 of Scripture who do not undertake to be authoritative 
 exponents of it. 
 
 (1) The Apocalypse is a book of signs, and the use of 
 similar signs elsewhere will be our best key to them. _We 
 must be consistent in our explanations. A dried-up river 
 is more possible than a woman riding a seven-headed 
 beast. We are not therefore to regard one as literal and 
 the other as figurative. 
 
 (2) No book is so saturated with Old Testament allusion. 
 Hence the Old Testament meanings of the various things 
 alluded to must be reckoned with. 
 
 (3) Our own century and continent are large to us out 
 of proportion to their real size. Hence those whose 
 knowledge of other ages and regions is limited rashly 
 assert that the Apocalypse is full of the events of to-day. 
 
 (4) " Divine prophecies," says Bacon, " have steps and
 
 PERIODS AND DATES. 291 
 
 grades of fulfilment through divers ages." Just as Old Testa- 
 ment prophecies had primary reference to David and 
 ultimate reference to Christ, so S. John's visions were for 
 his own generation, and referred to events of his own age 
 in the first instance. This does not exclude the possibility 
 of a wider reference to ages yet to come. 
 
 (5) Study of the history of the first century will to some 
 extent unravel the primary reference. The ultimate re- 
 ference must remain more or less dim until all is fulfilled. 
 
 (6) Meanwhile the preciousness and sacred ness of the 
 book lie deeper than either. Whatever its details mean, 
 it enunciates two things unmistakably, (a) As " a Christian 
 philosophy of history," it shows that the affairs of men in 
 all ages and places are governed by God. (5) It also shows 
 that although falsehood and evil are potent, truth and 
 goodness will prove omnipotent in the world which a good 
 God made. Christ will triumph. Those who hate Him 
 will perish, those who love Him will be unspeakably blest. 
 Could the persecuted Church, feeble, despised, and opposed 
 by both the " religious " and the secular world, have met her 
 foes without the spiritual tonic of this Divine encourage- 
 ment? 
 
 III. Periods and Dates. 
 
 That Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in A.D. 52, 
 that Festus became Procurator in A.D. 60, and that Nero's 
 persecution of the Christians took place in A.D. 64, are the 
 only fixed points from which we can calculate the chro- 
 nology of these 46 years. We may fairly think of S. John's 
 life as closing with the first Christian century, but the actual 
 dates assigned to its close vary from 89 to 120. For the 
 details of S. Paul's journeys see "Oxford Helps," §§ xxiv. 
 and xxv., and refer again to the lists of rulers on p. 228. 
 
 (1) A.D. 51 to Pentecost 54 (3 years). From the Con- 
 
 ference at Jerusalem to S. Paul's last return to 
 Antioch. 5. Paul's Second Journey. Acts xv. — xviii. 
 17 ; 1 Thessalonians ; 2 Thessalonians ; Acts xviii. 18-22. 
 
 (2) A.D. 54 to Pentecost 58 (4 years). From S. Paul's 
 
 last return to Antioch to his Imprisonment. St. 
 Paul's Third Journey. Acts xviii. 23 — xix. 20:
 
 292 NINTH TERM. 
 
 1 Corinthians ; Acts xix. 21 — xx. 1 ; 2 Corinthians ; 
 Acts xx. 2 ; Galatians ; Romans ; Acts xx. 3 — xxiii. 
 
 (3) A.D. 58 — 63 (5 years). From S. Paul's Imprisonment 
 
 to his Liberation. 6". Paul's Captivity at Ccesarea 
 and Rome. Acts xxiv. — xxviii. ; Philippians ; Colos- 
 sians; Philemon; Ephesians. 
 
 (4) A.D. 63 — 6j (4 years). From S. Paul's Liberation 
 
 to his Martyrdom. 6\ Paul's Fourth Journey. 
 1 Timothy; Titus; 2 Timothy. 
 
 (5) A.D. 67 — 97 (30 years). From S. Paul's Martyrdom 
 
 to the close of the New Testament Canon. The 
 Last of the Apostles. 1, 2, 3, John ; Revelation. 
 
 IV. Geography. 
 (See " Oxford Helps," Maps X., XL, XII.) 
 
 Jerusalem, whose church S. Peter founded, became the 
 first metropolis of Christianity, and these five visits paid 
 to it by S. Paul form useful landmarks in his history. 
 (1) Alone in A.D. 40 to see Peter (Gal. i.) ; (2) with Barna- 
 bas in 44 to bring his collection (Acts xi. 30) ; (3) with 
 Barnabas in 51 to report upon the evangelisation of the 
 Gentiles ; (Acts xv.) ; (4) with Silas and Timothy in 54 
 to salute the church and keep Pentecost (Acts xviii.) ; 
 (5) with Luke, Aristarchus, Timothy, Trophimus, and 
 others in 58 to keep Pentecost and bring his collection 
 (Acts xxi.). The extension of the Church from Jerusalem 
 through three different areas, orthodox, heterodox and 
 heathen, is sketched in our Lord's very last words on earth, 
 which are an outline of all subsequent Church history 
 (Acts i. 8). 
 
 Antioch, whose church S. Barnabas and S. Paul founded, 
 the third city in the Roman Empire, became the second 
 metropolis of Christianity and the mother church of all the 
 Gentile churches. In his first journey S. Paul went to 
 Cyprus and Asia Minor, in his second he re-visited Syria 
 and Asia Minor, and just half-way through his whole 
 Christian career entered Europe, where Philippi and Thes- 
 salonica in Macedonia and Corinth in Achaia became 
 the great centres of Christianity. In his third journey he 
 re-visited Asia Minor and Greece, but spent most of his
 
 GEOGRAPHY. 293 
 
 time at Ephesus, whose church he founded, which became 
 the third metropolis of Christianity. Here S. John com- 
 pleted the work of the Apostles, and from its church the 
 Church of England ultimately traces her descent. Then 
 from Caesarea, Roman capital of Palestine, " Paul the 
 prisoner " was brought to Rome, the capital of the whole 
 empire, which became the fourth metropolis of Christianity. 
 Its fifth metropolis was Alexandria, second city in the 
 empire, whose church, probably founded by S. Mark, has 
 Apollos for its chief New Testament representative. More 
 than two centuries later, Constantinople, the first city which 
 was Christian from its foundation, became the sixth metro- 
 polis of Christianity. In its greatness that of Ephesus was 
 merged ; and omitting Ephesus these five cities became 
 the seats of the five patriarchates round which early ecclesi- 
 astical history groups itself. 
 
 All the countries which Acts ii. 9-1 1 enumerates in their 
 exact geographical order had Christian churches planted in 
 them by the end of the first century. In Palestine, besides 
 the church of Jerusalem, where Simeon, the Lord's brother, 
 presided over a feeble remnant, we hear of churches in 
 Lydda, Joppa, Sharon, Caesarea, and Samaria ; and of 
 Syrian churches in Tyre, Ptolemais, Antioch, and Damascus. 
 In Asia Minor, where we perceive greatest mixture of 
 race in narrowest compass, where Jewish faith, Greek 
 culture, and Roman power all influenced the original in- 
 habitants, churches grew apace, and were some of them 
 old enough to have lost their first love when the Beloved 
 Disciple presided in their midst. There were churches in 
 Cyprus (whose ancient church still preserves its indepen- 
 dence through an almost unique history), Macedonia, 
 Achaia, Crete, Illyricum, and Dalmatia, for all of which 
 S. Paul himself had laboured fervently. 
 
 From Rome the Gospel had spread westward, ever 
 following the course of the sun, to Spain and Gaul ; it had 
 also reached Carthage and Egypt and Ethiopia in the 
 south ; and in the east Armenia, Persia, Parthia, Arabia, 
 and perhaps India ; beginning in most cases in the syna- 
 gogue, and spreading from Jew and proselyte to heathen. 
 For in those days every Christian was a missionary, and 
 wherever he went throughout the empire he was received
 
 294 NINTH TERM. 
 
 as a brother by humble little companies of fellow-believers. 
 The " Barbarians " outside the empire had not yet been 
 reached, but there were Christians in regions too distant to 
 contain a church, and Christian influences slowly quicken- 
 ing and purifying human life in all its phases in regions 
 which no Christian had yet reached. The story is repeating 
 itself to-day in not a few of " the uttermost parts of the 
 earth" ; and now, as then, we know that the issue is certain 
 and glorious. 
 
 t. 1 
 
 V. Heroes. 
 
 Keynotes \ £ ff* £ salm c ™ 1 I0 > l6 ( A - V -)" 
 J \ S.John, Dan. x. 8, 9, 18, 19. 
 
 Among Israel's many great men three stand out pre- 
 eminent as her greatest — viz., Moses, of Levi, the founder 
 of her religion and polity ; David, of Judah, the founder 
 of her everlasting monarchy ; and 6". Paul, of Benjamin, 
 the chief builder of the Church, in which both her religion 
 and her monarchy are to find their highest realisation. 
 Imagine for a moment the Bible deprived of the Pentateuch, 
 the Psalms, and the Epistles of S. Paul, and you will to 
 some extent estimate the importance of these three. The 
 commanding personality of the last dominates all our 
 reading this term ; he occupies 17 out of the 28 chapters 
 of the first Church history, and writes 13 out of the 27 
 books of the New Testament. He was the first and 
 greatest of missionaries to foreign parts, the Christian who 
 did the grandest life-work for Christ on record, the man who 
 received from Christ's own lips the most ample and splendid 
 commission human being was ever honoured with (Acts 
 xxvi. 16-18). How many events there were in his life of 
 which we know nothing may be gathered from 2 Cor. xi., 
 yet " there is scarce one other person of history," says 
 D^an Vaughan, "so familiarly known to us, Cicero perhaps 
 — perhaps Napoleon — I could scarcely name a third." A 
 great spiritual convulsion cleft his career in twain, when 
 " Saul the Pharisee " became " Paul the Bondservant of 
 Jesus Christ." In a moment he turned, not from an 
 irreligious to a religious life, not from an immoral to a 
 moral life but from a conscientious and honoured anta-
 
 HEROES. 295 
 
 gonism against Christ to a conscientious and passionate 
 devotion for Christ that cost him everything most men 
 hold dear. God revealed His Son to him, Christ appre- 
 hended him, that is the only reasonable explanation of 
 this sudden and absolute change. Rightly- understood, the 
 story of his " wonderful conversion " checks doubt as to 
 the possibility or reality of conversion to God ; it also 
 checks glib talk about conversion as if it meant no more 
 than external reformation, or change of religious opinion, 
 or strong spasm of feeling. And although his conversion 
 was instantaneous, and his knowledge of Christ direct and 
 all-convincing, his public testimony to the truth was pre- 
 ceded by three years of solitary thought and prayer (Gal. 
 i. 17, 18), spent in that wilderness where Moses was taught 
 of God, and where perhaps Christ, as true Man, stood the 
 test of temptation. A pupil of Gamaliel and member of 
 the Sanhedrin, a native of Tarsus, and a Roman citizen, 
 he had been influenced by the religious enlightenment of 
 the Jews, the intellectual sovereignty of the Greeks, and 
 the political supremacy of the Romans, and so became a 
 highly trained instrument in God's hands. For 30 years 
 a Christian, for 27 years a missionary, by his unflinching 
 endurance of keenest temptation, sorrow, and persecution, 
 he not only gave proof of the reality of his conversion, but 
 of the power and reality of the Gospel to which he had 
 been converted. The man who had amplest opportunity 
 and strongest inducement to disprove the Resurrection of 
 Christ, had it been a delusion or an imposture (as some 
 try to assume), sacrificed all to witness to it as a great fact. 
 And this witness is mighty in our days as well as in his. 
 
 Notice also that he is, of all missionaries, the most 
 representative, for he dealt with all sorts and conditions 
 of men, bigoted Pharisee, sceptical Sadducee, time-serving 
 Herodian, serious Jew, trifling Greek, practical Roman, 
 dreamy Oriental, and impulsive Barbarian. And his work 
 was done in face of obstacles from without and from within 
 that would have baffled most men. What his thorn (or 
 stake) in the flesh actually was we cannot know certainly, 
 but careful comparison of Acts xxiii. 5 ; Gal. iv. 12-16, vi. 
 17, 11 (R.V.); 1 Cor. ii. 3; 2 Cor. iv. 10, v. 4, vii. 5, x. 1, 10; 
 Col. i. 24, indicates that it was an acute form of Oriental
 
 296 NINTH TERM. 
 
 ophthalmia, which renders the sufferer blind and helpless, 
 and is at once painful and disfiguring. If he were indeed 
 liable to such a malady, he would be unusually dependent 
 upon companionship; and like Jeremiah, he was surrounded 
 by a group of devoted followers and friends, each of 
 whom deserves separate study. 
 
 We owe S. Paul three debts of the first magnitude : — 
 (1) The emergence of Christianity from Judaism ; (2) the 
 planting of the Gospel in what is now the Christian con- 
 tinent ; (3) the shaping of Christian theology, in works 
 whose renewed study has again and again brought renewed 
 spiritual life to different ages and different sons of the 
 Church. How little he himself knew what his consecrated 
 genius was achieving ! How little can we judge his mis- 
 sionary successors by what they seem to their own genera- 
 tion to accomplish ! 
 
 vS. John's piety, like that of Samuel, ripened by gradual 
 stages without violent break, from the day that he followed 
 Jesus, as a young and ardent disciple of the Baptist, to the 
 day when he was carried in extreme old age into the church 
 at Ephesus to preach his last sermon, " Little children, love 
 one another," to a new generation in the new age which 
 he had lived to see. His calm, certain, didactic style differs 
 widely from the enthusiastic argumentation of S. Paul. His 
 power of righteous indignation, and that bold faithfulness 
 which brought him only of the Twelve to the foot of the 
 Cross, show that he is most inadequately represented by 
 the feminine-looking youthful S. John of mediaeval art. 
 
 The first age of the Church's history exhibits three types 
 of the Apostolatc reflected in three successive phases of 
 that history. A prism analyses the one brightness into 
 three distinct hues, so the one faith is seen, to our no 
 small advantage, through three individualities. S. Peter, 
 the founder, looking back to the past, dwells on Hope and 
 Christian practice, and is reflected in the Mediaeval Church. 
 S. Paul, the propagator, looking at the present, dwells on 
 Faith and Christian doctrine, and is reflected in the Church 
 of the Reformation. S. John, the consummator, looking 
 far into the future, dwells on Love and Christian experience, 
 and foreshadows a type yet to come. 
 
 This chapter has dealt wholly with men hitherto.
 
 THE COMING ONE. 297 
 
 Women there are in Old Testament history of striking 
 character and great influence, but the mention of " the 
 women " in Acts i. 14 inaugurates a new order of things. 
 Never did any woman directly oppose Christ. Women 
 ministered to Him (Luke viii. 2, 3 ; Matt, xxvii. 55) and 
 spake of Him (Luke ii. 38 ; John iv. 39 ; Matt, xxviii. 5, 7). 
 Women were last at His cross and first at His tomb, and 
 when He rose He appeared twice to women ere He appeared 
 to any man. Woman's true exaltation must be traced to 
 and can only be rightly recognised in connexion with Him 
 who deigned to be born of a virgin ; and the large and 
 fruitful share which women from the first took in the 
 highest work of the Church calls upon us to note heroines 
 as well as heroes henceforth. 
 
 VI. The Coming One. 
 
 " Christ shall appear a second time to them that wait 
 for Him, unto salvation." — Heb. ix. 28. 
 
 Each term we have seen the Hope of the Promise 
 broadening and brightening, and it was not until the 
 God-sent Deliverer had come and gone that inspired pens 
 could sum up all that He was and all that He had done. 
 Again and again history has shown that a creed based 
 upon the idea that Christ was merely the wisest and best 
 of men, who died a martyr's death, is powerless over men's 
 hearts and quickly vanishes away. If Christianity is to 
 be more than a vague sentiment or a dead morality, it 
 must be founded upon three foundation truths concerning 
 Him. All have been taught at all times by the Catholic 
 Church, but all have not always been equally prominent : — 
 
 (a) His Resurrection. " God raised Him " was the key- 
 note of S. Peter's teaching (Acts ii. 32), the first great 
 startling witness to the world (Acts xxv. 19). 
 
 (b) His Crucifixion. " He gave Himself for us " was the 
 keynote of S. Paul's teaching (1 Cor. ii. 2). And He had 
 Himself clearly alluded to His atoning work, saying that 
 He would and could be a Ransom for the remission of 
 sins, because He was both Human and Divine (Matt. xx. 
 28, xxvi. 28, 63, 64). 
 
 (c) His Incarnation. " He became flesh " was the key-
 
 298 NINTH TERM. 
 
 note of S. John's teaching (John i. 14 ; 1 John iv. 2, 3). 
 The Church is only now entering upon her full heritage 
 in this glorious truth of the Divine Man and Incarnate 
 God, and never has it seemed of such paramount impor- 
 tance as it seems to-day. 
 
 Christ Incarnate, Crucified, Risen, reversing the order 
 of time, these truths were successively insisted upon ; and 
 there is yet a fourth truth at once earliest and latest of all : 
 Christ Ascended and Coming Again (1 Cor. xvi. 22, R.V.). 
 We end as we began our consideration of the Coming One 
 by looking out into the future. The Old Testament Hope 
 has been fulfilled ; our " living Hope " in the New Testa- 
 ment has yet to be fulfilled. We stand, as S. Paul so 
 often shows, between the epiphany of His grace in the 
 past, and the epiphany of His glory in the future, and 
 find a motive power for the present in both (Titus ii. 11-13, 
 R.V.). 
 
 Four events, each twofold, in that future of the world's 
 history which we sometimes wrongly regard as an abso- 
 lutely blank page, have been revealed to us (Rev. i. 1-3). 
 
 (a) Christ will come for His saints to receive His own 
 to Himself (1 Thess. iv.). Christ will come with His saints 
 to be seen and known of all men (2 Thess. i. ; Rev. i. 7). 
 
 (b) There will be a first resurrection of those who are 
 His, and a second resurrection of the rest of mankind 
 (Rev. xx.). 
 
 (c) Christ will judge His saints that they maybe rewarded 
 according to their works (2 Cor. v. 9, 10). Christ will judge 
 the whole world (Rev. xx.). 
 
 (d) Christ will reign a thousand years over the earth 
 (Rev. xx.). Christ will reign for ever over the universe 
 (Rev. xi. 1 5). 
 
 Four names arc given to this great group of events in the 
 New Testament: (1) That Day (2 Thess. i. 10), the Great 
 Day (Jude 6), or the Day of God (2 Peter iii. 12), or the 
 Day of the Lord (1 Thess. v. 2), or the Day of Jesus Christ 
 (Phil. i. 6), or the Day of our Lord Jesus (2 Cor. i. 14). 
 (2) The Coming (or Presence) of Christ, used seventeen 
 times in all, and especially in the Epistles to the Thes- 
 salonians. (3) The Appearing (or Epiphany; of Christ 
 used seven times in the Pastoral Epistles, and not else-
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HI ATS ELF TO MAN. 299 
 
 where. (4) The End or Consummation of all things 
 (1 Peter iv. 7). 
 
 Nothing less will solve all problems and abolish all evils, 
 will carry out those purposes of God which for a while were 
 thwarted, will bring about our individual satisfaction and 
 perfection, and the perfection and happiness of the world 
 Christ came to redeem, than this " one far-off divine event, 
 To which the whole creation moves." Unhappily contro- 
 versy and speculation have been imported into the whole 
 subject to such an extent that many Christians are not a 
 little hindered and troubled in its study, and others doubt 
 that the second Advent will be literal. But most of 
 the arguments against a literal second Coming of Christ 
 are equally applicable to His first Coming, which certainly 
 was literal. A merely figurative coming would contradict 
 the " again " of John xiv. 3, and the emphatic " in like 
 manner " of Acts i. 1 1. 
 
 And as the Jews were blamed for not being better 
 prepared by prophecy for the First Coming, so may we be 
 blamed, if we do not discern in part that which has still to 
 be fully revealed. As usual, the fulfilled prophecy of the 
 Old Testament is the best key to the unfulfilled prophecy 
 of the New Testament. 
 
 VII. God's Revelation of Himself to Man. 
 
 Legend says that the Apostles, ere they dispersed from 
 Jerusalem twelve years after the Ascension, assembled to 
 shape the Apostles' Creed as an authoritative statement of 
 Christian doctrine. The fact underlying this tale is that 
 from earliest times there was definite teaching of the leading 
 mysteries of the faith, and before truth was fully expounded 
 in the New Testament, terse summaries of it, as keys to 
 Scripture and safeguards against error, were current in the 
 Church. We are not to regard them as human attempts 
 to define Divine mysteries, but as formulating truth which 
 God had already revealed. The earliest examples of them 
 are Acts viii. 37 ; 1 Cor. xv. 3-7 ; Heb. vi. 1, 2 ; I Tim. iii. 
 16, and the "faithful sayings" of the Pastoral Epistles. 
 Two creeds are now recognised throughout the whole 
 Church. The Apostles Creed, whose substance can be
 
 300 NINTH TERM. 
 
 traced back to earliest times, originating in the baptismal 
 profession, and still used for the testing and instructing of 
 catechumens. TJie Nicene Creed, shaped in 325 at the 
 First General Council, and used as a fuller and deeper ex- 
 position of truth for testing and instructing communicants. 
 The Western, but not the Eastern Church, adds for the 
 last 1 100 years to these the AtJianasian Creed, a masterly 
 exposition, for the teacher, of the doctrines of the Trinity 
 and of the Incarnation. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be explained to our 
 natural faculties (though nature illustrates it in our own 
 threefold being, 1 Thess. v. 23) ; and the Scriptures contain 
 no formal expression of it. For there was much that 
 Christ Himself could not say till He had risen, much that 
 the Apostles only learned slowly under the Spirit's guidance 
 as they looked back to His earthly and up to His heavenly 
 life. But all the following passages imply it, just as Gen. i. 
 implies without stating the existence of God : Acts vii. 55, 
 x. 38 ; Rom. i. 4 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 14 ; 2 Thess. iii. 5 (comp. Rom. 
 v. 5) ; Eph. ii. 18, iii. 14, 16, 17, iv. 4-6 ; 1 Peter i. 2 ; Rev. i. 
 4, 5. Notice also that the Creeds fix our attention not on 
 what we are and should do, but on what Christ is and has 
 done (contrast Luke xviii. 1 1 and Heb. xii. 2), and that God, 
 Three in One, is revealed to us, not in His absolute Being, 
 but in His relation to ourselves. Some bond of union 
 among men connecting each with all through something 
 higher than themselves has, in all ages, been the need of 
 the human heart, but no age has felt and expressed that 
 need so strongly as our own. So acknowledged the intelli- 
 gent artizan, who was uttering some well-worn cavil at the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, to one of our bishops lately. The 
 bishop silenced his cavil, and won him to holier and truer 
 thought of God by translating that abstract theological 
 mystery into language he could comprehend, thus : " The 
 doctrine of the Trinity expresses three things, the Father- 
 hood of God, the Brotherhood of God, the Mateship of God." 
 
 What is this new relation of God to men of which the 
 Christian revelation speaks ? We may put the matter 
 briefly thus. Unless thought is wholly drowned.in pleasure 
 and excitement or worldly care, every man is conscious of 
 two things — (a) That apart from vice whereby we wrong
 
 GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO MAN. 301 
 
 ourselves, and crime whereby we wrong others, there is also 
 in us sin whereby we wrong God. (b*) That this sin is un- 
 natural, i.e., is not part of God's law for man, but a bondage 
 whence we would fain be delivered, and whence no outward 
 religious rites and no good resolutions can really deliver us. 
 So we are led to seek and to find a Saviour in Christ. 
 
 How does Christ save ? He bore, say some, as my 
 Substitute, all the punishment that I deserved to bear. 
 God, like a judge who arbitrarily allows an innocent man to 
 endure the sentence that a criminal has incurred, setting 
 the criminal free, has thus been reconciled to me, and will 
 take me to heaven if I believe that Christ has done this. 
 This too common but most inadequate setting forth of the 
 gospel illustrates it by the imaginary act of a human judge 
 who is guilty of a double outrage upon justice. But right- 
 eousness demands righteousness, and cannot accept mere 
 punishment instead. The Scriptural view (as careful 
 students of S. Paul's Epistles especially will see for them- 
 selves) is this : Christ, as my Representative, assumed that 
 humanity which He had originally created in His own image, 
 conquered where Adam fell, and by enduring death con- 
 demned sin, and saved sinners by uniting them to Him- 
 self. Thus He reconciled, not God to me, but me to God, 
 who in His wondrous love had given His Son for us men 
 and for our salvation. He died, and I died in Him, and 
 must therefore reckon myself dead to sin. He lives, and I 
 live in Him, and must therefore live unto righteousness. 
 He gave Himself up for me, and I must therefore give 
 myself up to Him, not by mere intellectual assent to a 
 doctrine, but by personal trust in a personal Saviour. I 
 strive, not upwards to salvation, but onwards from salva- 
 tion, not to win heaven for myself, but because He has won 
 it for me " by His precious blood-shedding," and calls upon 
 me and can enable me to walk worthy of what He has done. 
 
 From its opening assertion of a Divine Creator, to its 
 closing cry heavenwards of a definite faith and certain 
 hope in a Divine Redeemer, the Bible makes a wondrous 
 ascent. Starting from the being of God and the spiritual 
 nature of man, it leads us up, not through vague proposi- 
 tions, but through historical verities, to that unfathomable 
 revelation of God in Christ which is the key to the under-
 
 302 NINTH TERM. 
 
 standing of all nature and all history. We still, it is true, 
 know only in part. But instead of mourning over the 
 limitations of our knowledge, should we not rather rejoice 
 that we have an inexhaustible creed and an unsearchable 
 God? (Rom. xi. 33-6.) 
 
 VIII. Man's Relation to God in Worship. 
 
 Christ left the preservation and propagation of the truth 
 He taught in the hands of the Society which He formed, 
 a body of men all united, to each other because they were 
 each united by a real spiritual tie to God, in the world, but 
 not of the world, extending to all races, all times, and all 
 countries. Acts i. 1 strikes the keynote of the whole history 
 of the Church by representing its work as the continua- 
 tion of Christ's own. Its power depended on His abiding 
 Presence (Matt, xxviii. 20; John xiv. 18). It witnessed 
 to His truth in four ways which we take chronologically. 
 
 (a) By its two Sacraments, which are not only rites of 
 entrance and of continued membership to Christians, but 
 ever-recurring declarations to the world of their faith 
 (1 Tim. vi. 12 ; I Cor. xi. 26). 
 
 (/?) By its sacred Seasons. Easter and Pentecost seem 
 to have passed straight into the Church from Judaism, 
 their new significance gradually superseding their old (1 Cor. 
 v. 7, 8 ; Acts xx. 16). The Lord's Day as a weekly festival 
 of the Resurrection also replaced the Sabbath (Acts xx. 
 7 ; Rev. i. 10). That weekly celebration of the Holy 
 Communion was the primitive rule, is suggested by the 
 New Testament, and shown clearly in a recently discovered 
 treatise called " The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles," 
 which is probably the next oldest Christian writing. 
 
 (c) By the New Testament Scriptures, written by some 
 of its members, and gathered up and preserved as a 
 divinely inspired book by the whole Church. 
 
 ((/) By the Creeds, and by the various liturgical forms 
 which grew up. 
 
 In some ages, Christians have been content to listen 
 only to the spoken testimony of the Church without 
 verifying her teaching, each for himself, from the Bible. 
 Then truth has been exaggerated or mutilated, and error
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD IN WORSHIP. 303 
 
 has grown apace. In other ages, Christians have been 
 content to listen only to the written testimony of the 
 Bible, saying, " My religion is a matter between God and 
 my own soul, and concerns no one else. What I take 
 to be the meaning of His word is the measure of all truth." 
 Then divisions have sprung up, and internal dissensions 
 have weakened the Church's power for good. Each man, 
 it is true, is directly responsible to God and spiritually 
 free. But each as a Christian is also member of a corporate 
 body. The Church, as the " witness and keeper of Holy 
 Writ " (Article XX.), testifies to the inspiration of Scripture ; 
 Scripture attests the truth of what the Church teaches. 
 We must not separate these testimonies. The communion 
 of the Church and the study of the Word are both needed, 
 and beyond and above both we must learn, through the 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit, from the Living Christ 
 Himself. And so we arrive at the threefold evidence of 
 Christianity, (a) The personal experience of Christians 
 (John ix. 25 ; 2 Cor. iv. 13). (J?) The New Testament 
 Scriptures, which have just come victoriously through fifty 
 years of the ablest and keenest hostile criticism to which 
 any book was ever subjected, (c) The unbroken chain of 
 living witnesses, ever lengthening and ever widening with 
 the ages, whose daily worship for more than i860 years 
 has borne witness to a history for whose truth hundreds, 
 nay millions, have been ready tc vouch with their lives. 
 What stronger or more varied authentication could any 
 statements have? 
 
 For the regulation of worship, the maintenance of truth, 
 and the preservation of unity, provision was made from 
 the first for a succession of authorised teachers (2 Tim. ii. 2). 
 Regular Christian worship grew out of attendance at 
 the daily services of the Temple (Acts iii.), and there are 
 many traces of it in the New Testament (Acts ii. 42, 
 iv. 24, xiii. 3, xx. 7 ; I Cor. xiv. ; Heb. x. 25). The first 
 difference of opinion that arose was settled at the first 
 synod of the Church (Acts xv.). The various Christian 
 communities were federated into one Catholic Church, 
 and although sects dropped off it from time to time, it 
 continued one in intercommunion until 1054. But the 
 notion that the Apostolic Church was ideally perfect in
 
 3°4 
 
 NINTH TERM. 
 
 knowledge and practice is most misleading and dis- 
 couraging. Like other kingdoms, Christ's Kingdom con- 
 tained both loyal and disloyal subjects, and from the very 
 first the wheat and tares grew together, discriminated only 
 by God. Church history includes some of the saddest and 
 most disappointing as well as some of the most glorious 
 pages ever penned. Turbulent self-conceit, rancorous party 
 strife, grave moral delinquencies, unstable quest of novel 
 teachings, Judaising apostasy (see Galatians) Antinomian 
 error (see Rom. vi.), Gnostic heresies (see Colossians), meet 
 us again and again in the New Testament ; and the Pastoral 
 Epistles show that in little more than one generation there 
 were many mere professors as well as true Christians in 
 the Church. 
 
 Yet a benumbed and moribund past had given place to 
 a future full of hope and glory, which has become our 
 present. By A.D. ioo the faith of Christ had been firmly 
 established among the three great civilisations of the world, 
 Greek, Roman, and Jewish. Men say the age of miracles 
 is now over. In reply we ask them to look at what is 
 going on to-day in many parts of the Mission Field 
 at home and abroad. There they are not content with 
 studying Christian evidence ; they make it. For there the 
 miracle of changed human hearts and lives, which Christ 
 reckoned the greatest of all, still takes place, through the 
 all-subduing power of His Spirit (John xiv. 12). And 
 remembering that the Church has only within the last 
 century really attempted to cany out systematically her 
 "marching orders" (Matt, xxviii. 19, 20), we recognise 
 that we are only on the threshold of the possibilities of 
 Christianity. The Chronological Scripture Cycle deals 
 with time, but it ends, as it began, in eternity (Rev. xiii. 8 ; 
 1 Cor. xv. 28). 
 
 IX. Questions. 
 (See pp. 13, 18.) 
 
 [Questions VII., X., XVI., XVII., and XXV. may be answered with help 
 of any books.] 
 
 I. What do you know of S. Paul's father, and of his 
 kinsfolk, also of his education and social position ? Quote 
 two passages in which he is called "our beloved." (8.)
 
 QUESTIONS. 305 
 
 II. Make a list of fourteen places at which S. Paul 
 foufided churches, and a list of churches to which he 
 wrote. (8.) 
 
 III. Enumerate the seven occasions on which he was 
 enlightened or encouraged by a vision of the Lord or of 
 His angel. (7.) 
 
 IV. How often did he suffer shipwreck, and how often 
 was he opposed and persecuted by heathen ? (3.) 
 
 V. Make a list of his seven recorded sermons, noting 
 when, where, to whom, and with what result each was 
 spoken, and indicating very briefly its leading thought. 
 (28.) 
 
 VI. Fill in the statement of Acts xx. 1, 2 by a brief 
 narrative of S. Paul's movements drawn from 2 Corinthians. 
 (6.) 
 
 VII. Would you justify or condemn S. Paul's conduct 
 as described in Acts xxiii. 3,6? (6.) 
 
 VIII. What were the objects of the collection S. Paul 
 made, and what motives does he urge upon contributors 
 to it? (7.) 
 
 IX. What allusions are there in S. Paul's Epistles to the 
 soldier that guarded him ? (4.) 
 
 X. Give three passages in which S. Paul quotes Christ's 
 own words spoken before His Ascension, and three in which 
 he quotes from Greek authors. (6.) 
 
 XI. "Faithful is the saying." Quote all the passages 
 that begin thus, and show their doctrinal significance. (5.) 
 
 XII. Find some references to the Mosaic ritual, and 
 to Greek and Roman usages and customs in S. Paul's 
 Epistles. (12.) 
 
 XIII. Name — (a) The only church for which S. Paul 
 has no commendation, {b) The only church for which 
 he has no reproof, (c) The only church to which he does 
 not call himself an Apostle, (d) The only church to which 
 he sends his love, (e) The only church from which he 
 accepted personal gifts. (/) The three Epistles that contain 
 no clear Old Testament quotations. (g) The Epistles 
 whose salutation adds " mercy " to " grace and peace." 
 (h) The only mention of S. John by S. Paul. (/) The 
 only mention of S. Paul outside his own Epistles and 
 Acts. (10.) 
 
 20
 
 3c6 NINTH TERM. 
 
 XIV. Construct a life of Christ from the Epistles of 
 S. Paul. (24.) 
 
 XV. Summarise S. Paul's teaching as to — (a) Tolerance ; 
 (6) Sectarian designations from personal names ; (c) Con- 
 science. (9.) 
 
 XVI. Is there any contradiction between the teaching of 
 S. Paul and S. James concerning Faith and Works ? (9.) 
 
 XVII. "By grace have ye been saved" (Eph. ii. 5). 
 " Which are being saved " (1 Cor. i. 18). " Now is salvation 
 nearer to us than when we first believed" (Rom. xiii. 11). 
 How can S. Paul consistently make these three statements 
 simultaneously of the same class of people? (6.) 
 
 XVIII. "We stand," "We walk," "Filled with,'' "Built 
 up." Illustrate by quotations S. Paul's use of these four 
 metaphors. (12.) 
 
 XIX. " Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision availeth, 
 but . . ." Quote S. Paul's three conclusions to this sentence, 
 and illustrate his characteristic teaching that blessing does 
 not depend upon the privileges we enjoy, but upon the use 
 we make of those privileges. (5.) 
 
 XX. Illustrate 1 Cor. xi. I by showing how S. Paul, as 
 a follower of Christ, gave evidence both in word and deed 
 of — {a) Courage ; (d) Patience ; (c) Humility ; (d) Long- 
 suffering ; (e) Self-denial ; (/) Self-discipline ; (g-) Self- 
 abnegation ; (Ji) Unworldliness ; (z) Single-heartedness ; 
 (_/') Laboriousness ; (k) Conscientiousness ; (/) High aspira- 
 tions ; (;«) Patriotism ; (;z) Considcrateness and courtesy ; 
 (o) Enthusiasm ; {p) Passionate Devotion ; (q) Prayerful- 
 ness ; (r) Submission to God's will ; (s) Zeal for God's 
 glory ; (7) Intense love to God and man. (20.) 
 
 XXI. Find in the Church History of the New Testament 
 fulfilments of the prophecies in Matt. x. 19, 23, xxiv. 12; 
 John xvi. 2 ; and of the promises in John xiv. 26 and 
 xvi. 13. (6.) 
 
 XXII. Briefly sketch the early history of the Church of 
 Ephcsus, as told in the New Testament. (10.) 
 
 XXIII. Give examples of the following callings from the 
 Acts and Epistles : — (1) Governor or Procurator ; (2) Deputy 
 or Proconsul ; (3) Chancellor of the Exchequer ; (4) Trea- 
 surer, i.e., fiscal city officer ; (5) Chief Captain, i.e., Colonel ; 
 (6) Centurion,, i.e., Captain ; (7) Judge ; (8) Barrister ;
 
 QUESTIONS. 307 
 
 (9) Doctor ; (10) Silversmith ; (11) Coppersmith ; (12) Tent- 
 maker ; (13) Tanner ; (14) Bondservant. (14.) 
 
 XXIV. "We know that . . . if (or because). . . ." Trace 
 this statement through 1 John, giving its contexts. (10.) 
 
 XXV. What do you understand by these expressions, as 
 used in the New Testament? — Faith, Justification, Grace, 
 Mystery, Church, Bishop, Elder, Deacon, Saint, Ana- 
 thema. (20.) 
 
 XXVI. Make a list of the names and titles given to our 
 Lord by S. Paul and S. John. (25.) 
 
 XXVII. Mention, in alphabetical order, noting the abode 
 of each, 28 Christian women referred to in the Acts and 
 Epistles. (28.) 
 
 XXVIII. Give, in tabular form, an epitome of the mes- 
 sages to the Seven Churches (Rev. ii., iii.), showing in 
 each : — (a) The Lord's attributes ; (b) His commendation ; 
 (c) His reproof; (d) His warning of judgment ; (e) The 
 enemies He notes ; (/) His exhortation ; (g) His promise 
 to him that overcometh. (21.) 
 
 XXIX. Enumerate the eleven Songs in the Apocalypse, 
 and write out the seven Beatitudes it contains. (9.) 
 
 XXX. The imagery and phraseology of the Apocalypse 
 are borrowed throughout from the Old Testament. Illus- 
 trate this by references, especially to the Pentateuch, 
 Ezekiel, and Daniel. (15.) 
 
 XXXI. What do you know of the following? — Antipas, 
 Demas, Diotrephes, Epaphroditus, Mnason, Onesiphorus, 
 Silvanus, Tertius. How many of the name of Titus and 
 of Gaius can you discriminate? (20.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "They 
 are worthy " (twice). (J?) " Mighty in the Scriptures." 
 (c) " Measuring themselves by themselves." (d) " Dwelling 
 in the things which he hath seen." (e) " Supposing that 
 godliness is a way of gain." (J~) "It behoved the Christ to 
 suffer." (g) " Who emptied Himself." (//) " He died for 
 all." (z) " That He might have mercy upon all." (J) " On 
 whom we have set our hope." {k) " I press on toward the 
 goal." (/) " The life which is life indeed." (;//) " Sin is 
 lawlessness." (//) " Apart from the law sin is dead." 
 (0) "The world through its wisdom knew not God." 
 (J>) " Everything that is made manifest is light." (q) " Light
 
 303 NINTH TERM. 
 
 shall shine out of darkness." (/-) " Be not weary in well- 
 doing." {s) " Through love be servants one to another." 
 {f) " Follow after things which make for peace." (ti) " Judge 
 nothing before the time." (v) " Let- each man prove his 
 own work." (w) " Comforted each of us by the other's faith." 
 (x) " I have kept the faith." (y) " He shall spread His 
 tabernacle over them." (z) " At home with the Lord." (27.) 
 For Second Series of Questions, see p. 309. 
 
 L'ENVOY. 
 
 What next ? is the question with which we have ended each term's 
 work. No one who has really entered into the enjoyment of our three 
 years' Bible study will wish merely to drop it now. Two determina- 
 tions will rather be formed. First, since our course is not a straight 
 line but a Cycle (or wheel that returns into itself), to read the whole 
 Bible again systematically. If our first reading was delightful and 
 instructive, our second cannot fail to prove even more delightful and 
 instructive. For we are dealing with the one inexhaustible Book. 
 
 Secondly, to continue the history of the Church which we have just 
 begun. Many things in the New Testament would be explained, many 
 disputes upon which the energies of Christians now waste themselves 
 would cease to exist, if we rightly linked the New Testament story 
 of that first of all the Christian ages of which we are heirs, with the 
 story of this latest age, which is at once so interesting and so difficult, 
 because we ourselves are part of it. The history of the 1800 years that 
 lie between them explains the transition from the one to the other. 
 There is a Church History Class in the College by Post ; and all can 
 read up the subject for themselves in such works as Smith's " Students' 
 Ecclesiastical History" (Murray, ys. 6d.), or Cutts' "Turning Points of 
 General Church History" (S.P.C.K., 55.).
 
 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 (See p. 14.) 
 
 [Throughout books may be freely consulted for all the questions except 
 Question XXXII. The maximum of marks for each Paper is 400, the 
 maximum for each question is added to it.] 
 
 FIRST TERM. 
 
 I. Find seven Scriptural metaphors expressing the excel- 
 lence of the Word of God. (14.) 
 
 II. What portions of the Bible were composed by 
 women ? (4.) 
 
 III. Which three of the Twelve Tribes furnished authors 
 for the largest number of books in the Bible ? State 
 approximately the number to be attributed to each. (18.) 
 
 IV. Mention all those parts of the Old Testament whose 
 authors are not certainly known. (10.) 
 
 V. Name any created things existing before God said 
 " Let there be light," and any intelligent creatures of 
 whose creation we have no record in Genesis. (4.) 
 
 VI. Can we prove from Scripture that the " days " of the 
 Creation were 24 hours long ? (5.) 
 
 VII. Enumerate the most remarkable nations descended 
 from each of the three sons of Noah. (15.) 
 
 VIII. Show from the study of Abraham's life what 
 great facts about God he had firmly grasped. (9.) 
 
 IX. Account for the statement in Rom. ix. 13 by 
 contrasting the characters of Jacob and Esau as shown in 
 their personal history and in the spiritual teaching con- 
 nected with them. (Remember that " Esau is Edom.") 
 
 X. Point out the difference in origin and meaning of 
 
 309
 
 310 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 " Jacob " and " Israel," and illustrate this difference from 
 the contrasted use of these terms in the Prophets. (15.) 
 
 XI. Show how each of the Twelve Tribes fulfilled, in 
 geographical position and history, Jacob's words about 
 their ancestors. (24.) 
 
 XII. Make a list of the passages which enumerate, all 
 the sons of Jacob, or all the tribes named after them. 
 
 (HO 
 
 XIII. "Ye meant evil, but God meant it for good." 
 Give other instances of this Divine overruling in Bible 
 history. (6.) 
 
 XIV. Name eight children of Heth mentioned in the 
 Bible. What is known concerning the origin, conquests, 
 and migrations of the Hittitcs ? (12.) 
 
 XV. Enumerate fourteen kings of Egypt named in 
 Scripture. Briefly summarise the intercourse between 
 Egypt and the Chosen People throughout their history. 
 (20.) 
 
 XVI. Sum up, in two or three sentences, each of the 
 sixteen speeches forming the colloquy of Job iii. — xxv., 
 showing the progress of the argument throughout. (32.) 
 
 XVII. Discuss fully the meaning of each of the three 
 signs described in Exod. iv. 2-9. (12.) 
 
 XVIII. Explain the things alluded to in the following 
 passages: — Gen. xxxi. 30, xli. 42; Heb. xi. 21; Exod. 
 viii. 26. (12.) 
 
 XIX " I have sinned." Quote instances of this con- 
 fession in Scripture, distinguishing those which marked a 
 satisfactory repentance from the rest. (9.) 
 
 XX. Name the day and hour that the Exodus began. 
 What were the Egyptians doing while the Israelites were 
 departing ? (2.) 
 
 XXI. Consider the historical origin and purpose of the 
 two national ordinances of Circumcision and the Passover. 
 What light do they throw upon the two Christian Sacra- 
 ments ? (20.) 
 
 XXII. Reconcile Exod. iv. 10 and Acts vii. 22 ; also 
 Exod. xxiv. 10 and I Tim. vi. 16. (6.) 
 
 XXIII. Was the Manna a natural product? (4.) 
 
 XXIV. Tabulate the events that took place between 
 Passover and Pentecost, 1491. (10.)
 
 FIRST TERM. 311 
 
 XXV. " The Blood of the Covenant." Quote the two 
 Old Testament and five New Testament passages where this 
 phrase occurs, showing how they explain each other. (10.) 
 
 XXVI. Name six places called after events that took 
 place in them. (6.) 
 
 XXVII. Illustrate Heb. ix. II, 12 by expounding the 
 typical meaning of each of the eight parts of Aaron's garb 
 as enumerated in Lev. viii. 7-9. (16.) 
 
 XXVIII. Tabulate the events that took place between 
 Pentecost 1491 and Passover 1490. (10.) 
 
 XXIX. Work out with New Testament references the 
 typical meaning of any one of the events between Passover 
 1 49 1 and Passover 1490. (4.) 
 
 XXX. Note all the facts and incidents concerning the 
 Patriarchs and Moses for a knowledge of which we are 
 indebted solely to the Psalms, Acts, and Hebrews. (12.) 
 
 XXXI. Each of these phrases occurs both in Genesis or 
 Exodus, and in the New Testament. (Slight variations 
 are indicated by italics.) Give two references to each : — 
 (a) " Blessing I will bless thee." (b) " God rested on the 
 seventh day." (c) " Man became a living soul." (d) " They 
 shall be one flesh." (e) " The tree of life in the midst of 
 the garden." (/) " Be thou perfect." (g) " The elder shall 
 serve the younger." (h) " The earth is the Lord's." 
 (z) " Your lamb without blemish." (J) " The people which 
 Thou hast purchased." (k) " 1 will be to you a God." (/) " I 
 will give thee rest." (24.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "What 
 is this thou hast done ? " (b) " I will do this thing that 
 thou hast spoken." (V) " The thing that thou doest is 
 not good." (d) " Wherein have I sinned against thee ? " 
 (e) " God is great, and we know Him not." ( f) " I have 
 waited for Thy salvation." (g) " My life shall behold the 
 light." (h) " Fear not, for God hath heard." (*) " The 
 people believed and worshipped." (J) " Thou hast saved 
 our lives." (/£) " The Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." 
 (/) " He knoweth the way that I take." (///) " God did send 
 me." («) " There will I meet with thee." (0) " I know 
 it, my son." (p) " And the boys grew." (r/) " He lieth 
 under the lotus trees." (;-) " He shall be as a wild ass." 
 (s) " Thou art much mightier than we." (7) All the men are
 
 312 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 dead which sought thy life." (u) " Wilt thou go with this 
 man ? " (v) Show them the work that they must do." 
 (iv) " They turned trembling one to another." („r) " I shall 
 die in my nest." (y) " Hating unjust gain." (z) " He 
 maketh peace." (26.) 
 
 SECOND TERM. 
 
 I. Which of the five sacrifices ordained in Lev. i. — vii. 
 seem to have been instituted for the first time at Sinai ? 
 
 (4-) 
 
 II. After what events were the sacrifices ordained in 
 Lev. xvi. and Num. xix. appointed ? Describe them. 
 What light is thrown upon their unique character by the 
 New Testament? (10.) 
 
 III. Name eight notable periods of 40 years and eight 
 periods of 40 days in the Bible. (16.) 
 
 IV. Tabulate the events that took place between the 
 Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles, 1490. (15.) 
 
 V. Under w r hat circumstances were two men stoned in 
 the Wilderness ? (4.) 
 
 VI. Had Korah, the son of Izhar, any descendants? (4.) 
 
 VII. Write a brief life of Aaron, giving dates and places 
 of his birth and death, and of the chief incidents in his 
 career. (18.) 
 
 VIII. Summarise in about twelve sentences the three 
 parts of Balaam's prophecy. (12.) 
 
 IX. Make a list of all the nations mentioned in Deutero- 
 nomy. What inferences as to the date of this book does 
 the catalogue suggest ? (14.) 
 
 X. Note the facts and incidents mentioned in Deutero- 
 nomy only. (15.) 
 
 XI. Find eighteen New Testament quotations from Deu- 
 teronomy. In how many of these is the book referred 
 to Moses? (18.) 
 
 XII. Quote some memorable instances of obedience to 
 the command in Dcut. xii. 2, 3. (12.) 
 
 XIII. "Be pitiful" (tender-hearted, R.V.). Illustrate S. 
 Peter's exhortation from the injunctions in the Mosaic Law 
 concerning (a) aliens, (b) the young and helpless, (c) dumb 
 creatures. (12.)
 
 SECOND TERM. 
 
 313 
 
 XIV. Consider how far the curses of Deut. xxviii. 15-68 
 have come upon and overtaken Israel during the last 2500 
 years. (15.) 
 
 XV. " Thy Thummim and thy Urim." What were these, 
 and how often are they mentioned in Scripture ? (8.) 
 
 XVI. Enumerate the occasions on which " The Aneel 
 of the Lord " was seen of men. Who was this Being ? (15.) 
 
 XVII. W T hat New Testament references are there to the 
 Shechinah or manifested Glory of God ? (5.) 
 
 XVIII. Seven tribes are likened to beasts. Name them 
 and their symbols. (7.) 
 
 XIX. Give the R.V. equivalents of the following: — 
 (a) " Tabernacle of the congregation." (b) " Meat offer- 
 ing-" 00 " Trespass offering." (d) " Curious girdle." 
 0) "Bonnets." (J) "Badgers' skins." (g) "Fowls that 
 creep." (Ji) " Scape goat." (z) " Unicorn." (J) " Giants." 
 (£) "Groves." (/)" Observe times." (12.) 
 
 XX. Trace the progress in Israel's national character, 
 which was the result of their 40 years' experience in the 
 Wilderness. (8.) 
 
 XXI. State the period of time covered by each of 
 these books : — Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, 
 Joshua. (5.) 
 
 XXII. Compare Psalm xc. with the personal experience 
 of Moses as described in the Pentateuch. (9.) 
 
 XXIII. Give the name of Joshua's grandfather. Sketch 
 the course of the successive campaigns by which Joshua 
 made the Israelites masters of Palestine. (12.) 
 
 XXIV. Enumerate the Cities of Refuge, stating in whose 
 portion each was, and mentioning any historical incidents 
 connected with it. To whom did these cities belong ? 
 What is their typical significance ? Name a murderer who 
 met his death at one of them. (24.) 
 
 XXV. Write a short history of Jericho, city of palm 
 trees, from B.C. 145 1 to A.D. 30. (10.) 
 
 XXVI. How many cities were assigned to Kohath, 
 Gershon, and Merari respectively ? What was the con- 
 sequent geographical position of each of the three Levite 
 tribes ? (6.) 
 
 XXVII. Give the exact meaning and origin (if you can) 
 of these terms : — Canaan, Palestine, the Holy Land, Galilee
 
 314 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 Sharon, Jordan, Suph, Arabah, the Hinder Sea, the Brook 
 of Egypt. (20.) 
 
 XXVIII. What events are connected in this term's 
 reading with the following places ? — Baal-tamar, Bezek, the 
 Fords of Jordan, Hazeroth, Kibroth-Hattaavah, Massah, 
 Mosera, Shittim, Taberah, the brook Zered. (10.) 
 
 XXIX. Specify which of the original inhabitants of 
 Canaan were left in each tribe's portion, with the places of 
 their abode. (14.) 
 
 XXX. Illustrate from Old Testament histoiy the differ- 
 ence between choosing' what is right and merely desiring 
 what is right. (10.) 
 
 XXXI. Find twelve Moabites and nine Ammonites 
 mentioned in the Bible, and sketch the relations of Moab 
 and Ammon to Israel throughout their history. (30.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "A 
 Syrian ready to perish." (/;) " One of his chosen men." 
 (V) " The day thou stoodest before the Lord." (d) " The 
 goodwill of Him that dwelt in the bush." (e) " March 
 on with strength." (/) " Cut down for thyself there." 
 (g\" Vex them not nor contend with them." (//) "He 
 shall dwell alone." (z) " Ye shall know the revoking of 
 My promise." (J) " He will not fail thee." (k) " Thou 
 shalt eat and be full." (/) " Because ye sanctified Me not." 
 (in) " That there be no plague." (n) " As I have done, so 
 God hath requited me." (0) " I pray Thee, let me go 
 over." (p) " Lo, I am come unto thee." (g) " To destroy 
 the moist with the dry." (r) " That man perished not 
 alone in his iniquity." (s) " The word is very nigh unto 
 thee." (/) " He shall write him a copy of this law." (u) " He 
 left nothing undone." (v) " Aaron held his peace." (w) 
 " They became servants to do taskwork." (x) " They pro- 
 claimed peace unto them." (y) " They spake no more of 
 going up against them." (a) " Thou hast lacked nothing." 
 (26.) 
 
 THIRD TERM. 
 
 I. Briefly contrast the characters and careers of Gideon 
 and Samson. (12.) 
 
 II. Find five allusions in Judges to previous events in 
 Israel's history. (5.)
 
 THIRD TERM. 315 
 
 III. Consider Samuel as (a) a servant of God, (b) a 
 prophet, (c) a patriot, (d) a statesman. (12.) 
 
 IV. Name four men who owed their names to the 
 sorrowful circumstances of their birth. (4.) 
 
 V. Find/cwr Amalekites mentioned in the Bible. What 
 is known of the origin and abode of this people ? Quote 
 the earliest and latest allusions to them. (12.) 
 
 VI. Give with references the refrain of a song which is 
 quoted thrice and referred to once in the Scriptures. (3.) 
 
 VII. Consider carefully the causes that led to the rejection 
 of Saul. (10.) 
 
 VIII. Who killed one of Goliath's brothers? What do 
 we know of his kinsfolk ? (2.) 
 
 IX. Give as many Old Testament illustrations as you 
 can of 1 Cor. i. 26-9. (10.) 
 
 X. Find twelve Philistines mentioned in the Bible. 
 Name three false gods worshipped by the Philistines, and 
 connect some historical incident with each of their five 
 cities. (24.) 
 
 XI. What is known of the origin and national character 
 of the Philistines ? Sketch their relations to Israel through- 
 out. (20.) 
 
 XII. May we infer from Scripture that the dead can 
 manifest themselves to the living and communicate with 
 them ? (3.) 
 
 XIII. Give references in the Psalter and elsewhere to 
 passages where God is called "our " or "my " (1)" Salvation," 
 (2) "Health," (3) "Life," (4) "Strength," (5) "Hope," 
 (6) "Refuge," (7) "Portion," (8) "Inheritance," (9) "Praise," 
 (10) "Song," (11) "Joy," (12) "Glory." (12.) 
 
 XIV. Which of the High Priests enumerated in 
 1 Chron. vi. 3-15 are mentioned elsewhere? Can you 
 name any Prae-Captivity High Priests omitted in this list? 
 (10.) 
 
 XV. What do you know of Azcl, Beerah, the Hagrites, 
 and Saraph? (8.) 
 
 XVI. Name two notable citizens of Anathoth. (2.) 
 
 XVII. Write a brief life of Abner. (10.) 
 
 XVIII. State the exact number of priests and Levitcs 
 that brought the Ark up to Mount Zion. (4.) 
 
 XIX. Gather up twenty-five allusions in the Psalter to
 
 316 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 Jerusalem as (a) the Holy City, abode of God, or (#) the 
 Royal City, abode of the King. (25.) 
 
 XX. "The Lord's Anointed," "My Anointed," "Thine 
 Anointed." Where does this phrase first occur, and of 
 what persons is it used ? Give its New Testament equi- 
 valent. (12.) 
 
 XXI. Discriminate two places named Aphek, Aroer, 
 Bethlehem, Bethshemesh, Carmel, Gibeah, Hebron, Mizpah, 
 Ramah, and Ramoth. (20.) 
 
 XXII. " The Lord hath put away thy sin." Quote nine 
 metaphors through which the completeness of this Divine 
 putting away is expressed in Scripture. (18.) 
 
 XXIII. Would you condemn or justify David's conduct 
 with regard to (1) Saul, (2) Achish, (3) Shimei ? (9). 
 
 XXIV. Mention six Old Testament women living be- 
 tween B.C. 1500 and B.C. 1000 who were married more 
 than once. (6.) 
 
 XXV. Give instances of sickness being sent as an 
 exemplary punishment for flagrant sin. Show that sick- 
 ness is not always a judgment on the sufferer. (14.) 
 
 XXVI. Name a common edible brought to a prophet 
 in his old age who had brought it to others in his youth. 
 (3-) 
 
 XXVII. "I will do it, (a) For My own sake, (6) For 
 My servant's sake." Give instances of this Divine principle 
 of action. (12.) 
 
 XXVIII. Distinguish between Abiezer and Ahiezer ; 
 Abijah and Ahijah ; Abimelech and Ahimelech ; Abinoam 
 and Ahinoam ; Adonibezek and Adonizedek ; Amos and 
 Amoz ; Buz and Buzi ; Elah and Eli ; Eleazar and Eliezer ; 
 Gedaliah and Gemariah ; Gershom and Gershon ; Hosea 
 and Hoshea ; Joab and Joah ; Korah and Kohath. (28.) 
 
 XXIX. Knowledge of God is light and ignorance of 
 God is darkness. Trace this image in the Psalter and 
 elsewhere. (20.) 
 
 XXX. Each of the following queries refers to a different 
 tribe : — (1) Whose warriors were bold as lions and fleet 
 as roes? (2) Whose warriors jeoparded their lives unto 
 the death ? (3) Whose warriors were not of double heart? 
 (4) Whose warriors proved in battle the power of the 
 prayer of faith ? (5) Whose warriors were noted for a
 
 FOURTH TERM. 317 
 
 physical peculiarity mentioned thrice ? (6) Which of the 
 Ten Tribes extended their borders by conquest over 
 Philistines and Amalekites after the other tribes had gone 
 into captivity ? (7) Which was the least warlike tribe ? 
 (8) Which produced men who had understanding of the 
 times ? (9) Which is more than once rebuked for pride ? 
 (10) Which led Israel in sin ? (1 1) To which were Joshua's 
 only recorded words of blessing spoken? (12) To which 
 was the privilege of teaching given as the reward of faith- 
 fulness. (13) To which was the gift of song given in the 
 largest measure? (26.) 
 
 XXXI. Explain exactly what is meant by Redemption. 
 Trace this metaphor throughout the Bible. (18.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "The 
 bread of the mighty." (b) "As the man is, so is his 
 strength." (c) "The war was of God." (d) "God is a 
 righteous Judge." (/) " By Him actions are weighed." 
 (/) "He hath redeemed my soul." (g) "Deliver us, and 
 we will serve Thee." (//) " What shall be his work ? " 
 (z) "What do these Hebrews here?" (J) "Whose son 
 is this youth ? " (k) " Who am I, O Lord God ? " (/) " I 
 know that Thou delightest in me." (in) " The records are 
 ancient." (;z) " There is none like that." (0) " The covetous 
 contemneth the Lord." (p) "These men be too hard for 
 me." (q) " The land was wide and quiet and peaceable." 
 (r) " Shall the sword devour for ever ? " (s) " Rebuke the 
 wild beast of the reeds." (/) " Thou shalt be turned into 
 another man." (u) " The Lord hath made Himself known." 
 (v) " He hath wrought with God this day." (w) " Blessed 
 be thy wisdom." (V) " Glad with joy in Thy presence." 
 (jj/) " They ministered with song." (z) " In His temple 
 everything saith, Glory." (26.) 
 
 FOURTH TERM 
 
 I. Elucidate all the historical and geographical allusions 
 in Psalm exxxiii. (6.) 
 
 II. What is the exact meaning etymologically of the 
 words Satan and Devil} Does either occur in the plural ? 
 Trace the use of both in Old and New Testament, distin- 
 guishing " devil "from " demon." (18.)
 
 3i8 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 III. Make a list of the names or descriptive titles of the 
 Tabernacle and the Temple which bring out their purpose 
 and character. (25.) 
 
 IV. State precisely the contents of the Ark (a) in the 
 Tabernacle, (h) in the First Temple. (3.) 
 
 V. Name five great warriors who dedicated the spoil 
 won in battle to the repair of the Temple. (2.) 
 
 VI. What became of the treasures in the storehouse 
 named in 1 Chron. xxvi. 15? (2.) 
 
 VII. "The shadow of Thy wings." Give the probable 
 origin of this metaphor, and quote six passages in the 
 Psalter, and six elsewhere in which it occurs. (14.) 
 
 VIII. Name /w Phoenicians and four Phoenician cities 
 mentioned in Scripture, noting the earliest and latest 
 allusions to Tyre. What false gods did the Phoenicians 
 worship? (12.) 
 
 IX. Sketch the relations of Israel to Phoenicia through- 
 out her history, and account for the contrast presented to 
 her relations with the Philistines. (15.) 
 
 X. Illustrate Psalm xlv. 6 by giving six references in 
 the Psalms, nine in the Prophets, four in Revelation, and 
 six elsewhere in the New Testament to the Throne of 
 God. (25.) 
 
 XI. Name three sons of Abraham who married Egyp- 
 tian princesses. (3.) 
 
 XII. Mention three women who rode on camels, and two 
 men who rode on mules. Give some other Biblical refer- 
 ences to both animals. (10.) 
 
 XIII. What inferences as to the scenery and physical 
 characteristics of Palestine might be drawn from Hebrew 
 literature generally ? (10.) 
 
 XIV. Quote passages that allude to the ant, the bee, the 
 gnat, the moth, and the spider. (5.) 
 
 XV. Quote ten passages in Proverbs enforcing the fifth 
 commandment. (5.) 
 
 XVI. Each of the things mentioned in Prov. vi. 16-19 
 is characterised elsewhere in Proverbs as an abomination 
 to the Lord. Give references. (7.) 
 
 XVII. Find sixteen aphorisms which occur more than 
 once in Proverbs. (16.) 
 
 XVIII. What has Proverbs to say of wives and of
 
 FOURTH TERM. 319 
 
 widows ; of a gracious, a wise, and a virtuous woman ; and 
 of a contentious, an indiscreet, and an odious woman ? 
 (10.) 
 
 XIX. Illustrate Prov. xxii. 6 by a short essay on the 
 principles and methods of education in Israel. (10.) 
 
 XX. Where do the Scriptures allude to figs, dates, 
 melons, pomegranates, almonds, nuts, cucumbers, lent lies, and 
 honeycomb ? (18.) 
 
 XXI. What conclusions as to the authorship of Ecclesi- 
 astes may be derived from a careful consideration of the 
 book itself? (8.) 
 
 XXII. Briefly summarise the argument of each of its 
 four sections. (12.) 
 
 XXIII. Give instances of persons who with few religious 
 privileges were blest and made a blessing ; and of persons 
 who in the midst of many privileges forfeited blessings 
 that might have been theirs. (8.) 
 
 XXIV. Discriminate two persons named Ahab, Amaziah, 
 Deborah, Enoch, Ezra, Gad, Hoshca, Iddo, Ishmael, Jehu, 
 Job, Joel, Jonadab, Jonah, Jotham, Levi, Manasseh, Micah, 
 Nadab, Nathan, Noah, Obadiah, Phinehas, Shallum, and 
 Zephaniah. (50.) 
 
 XXV. Consider carefully the causes, immediate and 
 remote, which led to the revolt of the Ten Tribes. (8.) 
 
 XXVI. " The light of Thy countenance." To what. past 
 and future manifestations of God would an Israelite have 
 referred this phrase? Note all the passages where it 
 occurs. (12.) 
 
 XXVII. Sketch the history of King Asa, and discuss 
 his character. (6.) 
 
 XXVI II. Give Biblical examples of temptation resisted 
 and yielded to, illustrating I Cor. x. 1 3 and James i. 14. (10.) 
 
 XXIX. Can we reconcile 2 Sam. xxiv. 24 and 1 Chron. 
 xxi. 25, 1 Kings iv. 26 and 2 Chron. ix. 25, I Kings xvi. 8 
 and 2 Chron. xvi. 1 ? (6.) 
 
 XXX. (1) Man is ready to halt and perish. (2) God is 
 ready to pardon and save. (3) God can make us ready to 
 (a) speak for Him, {b) work for Him, (c) die for Him. Give 
 at. least one reference for each of these assertions. (12.) 
 
 XXXI. Each of the following queries refers to a different 
 tribe : — (1) Whose portion contained Jerusalem ? (2) Whose
 
 320 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 portion became the abode of two dauntless reformers separ- 
 ated by nine centuries? (3) In whose portion did our 
 Lord dwell longest? (4) In whose portion did He preach 
 and work most ? (5) In whose portion were two mourning 
 mothers made suddenly joyful ? (6) Which tribe is omitted 
 in Deut. xxxiii. ? (7) Which is omitted in 1 Chron. iv. — 
 viii., and Rev. vii. ? (8) Which was Judah's rival through- 
 out? (9) Which contributed most largely to the Bible? 
 (10) Of which was it said " Let his men be few " ? (1 1) Of 
 which was it said "He shall be great"? (12) Of which 
 do we twice find representatives faithfully worshipping at 
 Jerusalem? (13) From which were all the high priests, 
 save Aaron, descended ? (26.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) " A 
 discreet counsellor." (/>) " A thousand years twice told." 
 (c) " I will make known my words unto you." (d) " That 
 they may know My service." (e) " The knowledge of the 
 Holy One is understanding." (/) " As well the small as 
 the great, the teacher as the scholar." (g) " He shall die 
 for lack of instruction." (/z) " One sinner destroyeth much 
 good." (z) " The righteous is a guide to his neighbour." 
 (J) " My hand was stretched out in the night." (k) " Let 
 thine eyes look right on." (/) " I am sent to thee with 
 heavy tidings." (w) " The wicked earneth deceitful wages." 
 («) " I hated life." (0) " A flattering mouth worketh ruin." 
 (p) " Well is it with the man that dealeth graciously." 
 (q) " He that despiseth his neighbour is void of wisdom." 
 (r) " Our shield belongeth unto the Lord." (s) " Victory 
 is of the Lord." (z*) "It is the gift of God." (zz) " Give 
 me neither poverty nor riches." (v) " The Lord gave them 
 rest." (w) " This is My resting place for ever." (x) " The 
 Lord searcheth all hearts." (y) " 1 have trusted in the 
 Lord without wavering." (2) " That wc may seek him 
 with thee." (26). 
 
 FIFTH TERM. 
 
 I. Sketch the relations between the kingdoms of Israel 
 and Judah from 976 to 770. (15.) 
 
 II. Name two persons who did not see death, and nine 
 who were raised from the dead. (6.)
 
 FIFTH TERM. 321 
 
 III. Give instances from Kings and Chronicles of recog- 
 nition of laws in the Pentateuch. (6.) 
 
 IV. Whose descendants avenged the murder of Zechariah, 
 son of Jehoiada ? (2.) 
 
 V. Find ten Syrian kings and twelve other Syrians men- 
 tioned in the Bible. Name eight Syrian cities. What do 
 we know of the gods of the Syrians ? (32.) 
 
 VI. Sketch the relations between Israel and Syria 
 throughout their history. (15.) 
 
 VII. Name a successor of Jeroboam I. whose prayer 
 God answered. (2.) 
 
 VIII. Find a parallel in the Psalter for every verse of 
 Jonah's prayer. (9.) 
 
 IX. Note the chief illustrations in Amos from natural 
 objects and agricultural pursuits. (6.) 
 
 X. Explain Amos iv. 5 by quoting two New Testament 
 statements of the meaning of leaven. (2.) 
 
 XI. Elucidate the historical allusions in Amos i. 3, 9, 
 ii. 4, iii. 14, iv. 2. (10.) 
 
 XII. Illustrate Amos iii. 8 by naming two princes, one 
 farmer, three shepherds, six priests, and six Levites whom 
 God called to be prophets. (18.) 
 
 XIII. Sketch the history of the schools of the Prophets 
 from Samuel to the Captivity. (10.) 
 
 XIV. Find twelve allusions to Egypt in Flosea. (6.) 
 
 XV. Trace out carefully the ever-recurring tendency 
 to idolatrous worship of God among the descendants of 
 Rachel who " stole the teraphim." (10.) 
 
 XVI. Investigate the other causes which led to the 
 downfall of the kingdom of Israel. (8.) 
 
 XVII. "A vine out of Egypt." Trace the typical use of 
 the vine throughout the Bible. (8.) 
 
 XVIII. Explain the historical allusions in Micah i. 5, 
 10, 13, ii. 5, iii. 11, iv. 8, 13, vii. 14. (16.) 
 
 XIX. Discriminate three persons named Azariah, Hana- 
 niah, Jeremiah, Joshua, Micaiah, Saul, Shemaiah, Zechariah, 
 and Zedekiah. (27.) 
 
 XX. Make a list of incidents peculiar to the books of 
 Samuel and Kings and to the two books of Chronicles, 
 bringing out the characteristic differences of these two his- 
 torical works. (15.) 
 
 21
 
 322 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 ^ XXI. Find three allusions to Hezekiah outside Kings, 
 Chronicles, and Isaiah. (3.) 
 
 XXII. Illustrate S. Paul's great declaration of the 
 solidarity of humanity (Rom. xiv. 7) by giving instances 
 in which (a) one man's faithfulness has saved a people, 
 (b) one man's unfaithfulness has destroyed a people. (8.) 
 
 XXIII. Explain Chiun, Huzzab, Nehushtan, Rahab 
 (Isa. xxx.), Siccuth your King, the tax of Moses (2 Chron. 
 xxiv.). (12.) 
 
 XXIV. Note how recently discovered monuments illus- 
 trate and confirm the following passages : 2 Kings xvi. 
 7-9, xviii. 7, 14, 33, 34, xix. 28, 32. (10.) 
 
 XXV. Illustrate Isa. xxvi. 9 by collecting passages that 
 speak of man seeking God. (8.) 
 
 XXVI. Distinguish the following places :— Baalah and 
 Baalath, Bethel and Bether, Besor and Bezer, Cush and 
 Cuth, Elam and Elath, Etam and Etham, Gaza and Gezer, 
 Hachilah and Havilah, Hor and Horeb, Kadesh and 
 Kedesh, Lachish and Laish, Moreh and Moriah, Nob and 
 Noph, Seba and Sheba, Shenir and Shinar, Sin and Zin. 
 (32.) 
 
 XXVII. Make a list of persons to whom or of whom it 
 is said that God would be or was with them. (8.) 
 
 XXVIII. Point a contrast between ancient and modern 
 Oriental women by Biblical instances of women (a) cooking, 
 (b) sewing, (V) buying and selling, (d) writing letters, 
 0) building, (/) succouring the needy, (g) rescuing the im- 
 perilled, (//) giving counsel about public affairs, (/) ruling, 
 (J) teaching, (k) praying, (/) prophesying. (12.) 
 
 _ XXIX. God (a) cares for the poor, (b) blesses those who 
 aid them, (c) judges those who oppress them. Illustrate 
 by quotations, especially from the Psalms and Prophets. 
 (10.) 
 
 XXX. Name twelve men and three women of the tribe 
 of Benjamin, and six men and six women of Manasseh. (27.) 
 
 XXXI. Name a general, two judges, and three idolaters 
 of the tribe of EpJiraini ; three rulers, a prophet, and an 
 oppressed subject of Issachar ; two rulers and a prophet of 
 Zebulon ; a ruler and an artificer of Dan ; three sinners of 
 Reuben ; a ruler of Naphtali, and an idolater of Simeon. 
 (21.)
 
 SIXTH TERM. 323 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following : — (a) " Written 
 among the living." {U) " A brand plucked out of the 
 burning." (c) "The Lord saw the affliction of Israel." 
 (a) " His eyes observe the nations." (e) " God saw their 
 works." (/) " I will never forget any of their works." 
 (g) " They dealt faithfully." (Jt) " Like people, like priest." 
 (z) " Your eyes the prophets, and your heads the seers." 
 (j) " Ye trample upon the poor." (k) " Forgive them not." 
 (/) " I would not look toward thee nor see thee." (m) " How 
 shall Jacob stand ? " (;/) " They shall see Thy zeal for the 
 people." (p) " Though I would redeem them." (/) " (He) 
 made them sin a great sin." (q) " He had sackcloth within 
 upon his flesh." (r) " The meadows by the Nile . . . shall 
 become dry." (s) " I am thy servant and thy son." 
 (i) " By the strength of my hand I have done it." (u) " Is 
 thine heart right ? " (v) " On whom dost thou trust ? " 
 (w) " Have we made thee of the king's counsel ? " 
 (x) " Sheep that no man gathereth." (y) " Thou hast in- 
 creased their joy." (2) " Wait on thy God continually." (26.) 
 
 SIXTH TERM. 
 
 I. Compare and contrast the four Reformations in 
 Judah's history with regard to the Reformers, the abuses 
 reformed, and the results. (12.) 
 
 II. Which would you reckon the six most important 
 battles in Israel's history ? (6.) 
 
 III. Describe six memorials of Israel's past history 
 which a traveller through Palestine might have seen before 
 the Captivity. (6.) 
 
 IV. Make as complete a list as possible of those who 
 formed in Jeremiah's days (a) the heathen party of the 
 princes and nobles, (d) the great body of the sacerdotal 
 and prophetic order. Note the chief offences with which 
 both parties are charged by Jeremiah and Ezekiel. (12.) 
 
 V. Contrast the political position of Jeremiah with that 
 of Isaiah. (5.) 
 
 VI. Find twelve parallels between Zephaniah and Jere- 
 miah. (12.) 
 
 VII. Briefly indicate the meaning of the six parables in 
 Jeremiah. (12.)
 
 324 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 VIII. " I swear by Myself," or, "by My Name." Find 
 seven passages in which God uses these words. (7.) 
 
 IX. Summarise the dialogue with which the book of 
 Habakkuk opens. (4.) 
 
 X. For what lawful and unlawful purposes was the 
 Valley of Hinnom used? Note all the Old Testament 
 allusions to it and to them, and find twelve New Testa- 
 ment passages containing the Greek form of its name. (20.) 
 
 XI. Write a concise history of the kingdom Nimrod 
 founded. Does the Assyrian character as delineated by the 
 Hebrew prophets correspond with the Assyrian character 
 as portrayed by the monuments ? (14.) 
 
 XII. Note passages in six prophets referring to Assyria 
 and Nineveh ; and consider how far their predictions have 
 been fulfilled. (12.) 
 
 XIII. Name some women in Bible history whose per- 
 sonal influence for good or for evil was very great. (6.) 
 
 XIV. Make a chronological list of passages in the 
 Psalter and the Prophets from which the Jews might have 
 learned the lesson enforced by our Lord in Matt. ix. 13. 
 (8.) 
 
 XV. Mention two Ethiopians whose piety met with a 
 great and unexpected reward. What promises to Ethiopia 
 does Scripture contain, and to whom might they be applied 
 now ? (4.) 
 
 XVI. Had the exiles in Babylon any intercourse with 
 Jerusalem during the reign of Zedekiah ? (2.) 
 
 XVII. Where are the Chosen People called Jeshurun, 
 Hephzibah, God's flock, God's hosts, God's armies, God's 
 assembly or God's congregation, God's inheritance, God's 
 peculiar treasure ? (9.) 
 
 XVIII. Summarise Ezekiel xx. — xxii. (8.) 
 
 XIX. Give references for each of the five similes — wind, 
 water, fire, oil, and dew — under which the operations of 
 the Holy Spirit are spoken of, indicating the significance of 
 each. (15.) 
 
 XX. What evidence is there as to the religious and 
 political condition of North and South Palestine and of the 
 exiles in Egypt immediately after the Captivity ? (6.) 
 
 XXI. Discriminate two places named Antioch, Bethany, 
 Caesarea, Gilgal, Kir, Luz, Rimmon, Succoth, Sion. (18.)
 
 SIXTH TERM. 325 
 
 XXII. Note how recently discovered monuments illus- 
 trate and confirm the following passages: Hab. ii. 12; 
 2 Chron. xxxiii. 10, 1 1 ; Isa. xlvii. 6 (R.V.). (6.) 
 
 XXIII. Illustrate Isa. xliii. I by quoting as many 
 instances as you can of men and women whom the Lord 
 or His angelic messengers addressed by name. (15.) 
 
 XXIV. Make a list of Old Testament saints upon 
 whom God " put His name " by being known as their God. 
 
 (5-) 
 
 XXV. Summarise Isa. xlix. — lvii. (14.) 
 
 XXVI. Illustrate Isa. xlix. 7 and Isa. lxiii. 1 by citing 
 ten passages where we are told that God is faithful, and 
 twelve where we are told that God is able. (22.) 
 
 XXVII. Are there any traces in the Old Testament of 
 a definite belief in " the Resurrection of the body and the 
 life everlasting " ? (8.) 
 
 XXVIII. Illustrate Isa. lvii. 3, 4 and Isa. lxv. 23 by 
 giving Biblical examples of (a) godly children of godly 
 parents, (b) ungodly children of ungodly parents, (c) godly 
 children of ungodly parents, (d) ungodly children of 
 godly parents. (16.) 
 
 XXIX. Make a list of forty men of Judah who were 
 memorable for goodness, valour, or wisdom ; and of 
 eighteen who were infamous for their evil deeds. (58.) 
 
 XXX. Distinguish between Mahlah and Mahlon, Medad 
 and Medan, Mesha and Meshach, Naamah and Naaman, 
 Obed and Oded, Rezin and Rezon, Shaphan and Shaphat, 
 Sheba and Sheva, Shimea and Shimei, Uriah and Urijah, 
 Uzzah and Uzziah, Vashti and Vashni, Zebul and Zebah, 
 Zillah and Zilpah. (28.) 
 
 XXXI. Quote some prophecies that mention definite 
 periods of time that were in the future for the prophet who 
 uttered them. (4.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following : — {a) " Israel 
 My glory." (p) " The dearly beloved of My soul." (V) " Thou 
 shalt not be forgotten of Me." (d) " I will strengthen thee 
 for good." (e) " The oaths to the tribes were a sure word." 
 (J) " In the latter days ye shall understand it." (g) " The 
 joyous city that dwelt carelessly." (//) " A land that is very 
 far off." (z) " The land whereunto their soul longeth to 
 return." (j) " We are weary and have no rest." (k) " How
 
 336 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 long shall it yet be ? " (/) " I will satisfy My fury." (m) " I 
 poured out their life blood." (n) " The earth was waste and 
 void." (o) " He created it not a waste." (/>) " Ye have dealt 
 deceitfully against your own souls." (a) " Thy doom is 
 come unto thee." (r) " Thou hast had thy way." (s) " He 
 shook the arrows to and fro." (7) " We will denounce him." 
 (u) " This shall they have for their pride." (v) " He hum- 
 bled himself greatly." (w) " Cursed be he that doeth the 
 work of the Lord negligently." (x) " Yet will I gather 
 others to him beside his own." (y) " That they may all call 
 upon the name of the Lord." (z) " Then answered I and 
 said, Amen." (26.) 
 
 SEVENTH TERM. 
 
 I. " I the Lord have spoken it." Find twelve passages 
 in Ezekiel where this phrase or an equivalent phrase 
 occurs. (12.) 
 
 II. Illustrate Ezek. xxxiv. n, 12 by collecting passages 
 which speak of God seeking man. (10.) 
 
 III. Which idolatrous nations received the most signal 
 proofs of the Deity of Jehovah. (12.) 
 
 IV. Why did Daniel refuse the King's meat ? (2.) 
 
 V. Trace the successive stages in Nebuchadnezzar's 
 knowledge of the true God. (6.) 
 
 VI. Do secular historians or the monuments enable us to 
 identify the four royal persons mentioned in Dan. iv. ? (8.) 
 
 VII. Note all the Old Testament prophecies concerning 
 Babylon and the Chaldeans. Consider the symbolical use 
 of Babylon. (20.) 
 
 VIII. Sketch the relations between Babylon and Assyria, 
 and between Babylon and Israel throughout their history. 
 
 ( 2a ) 
 
 IX. Find episodes in Daniel which illustrate Matt. vi. 33, 
 
 xviii. 20 ; 1 John v. 4 ; Luke xii. 8 ; 1 Peter i. 11. (5.) 
 
 X. Discriminate four Gentile decrees for the restoration 
 of the Jews, giving the date and purpose of each. (8.) 
 
 XI. Show by quotation chiefly from the Psalter how true 
 satisfaction may be found. (10.) 
 
 XII. Of what ancient hostilities was the persistent 
 enmity met with by the restored Jews a revival ? (6.)
 
 SEVENTH TERM. 327 
 
 XIII. " The fear of the Jews." Where does this phrase 
 occur, and what are its various contexts ? (4.) 
 
 XIV. Mention the only Old Testament book that does 
 not name God, and the only New Testament book that 
 does not name Christ. Show how each recognises God or 
 Christ notwithstanding. (4.) 
 
 XV. What do you know of Ezra's personal history ? 
 How far does his ancestry account for his piety and 
 influence ? (9.) 
 
 XVI. Enumerate the epistles of the Old Testament, 
 noting the author, date, and theme of each. (8.) 
 
 XVII. What do you know of the following? — Arioch, 
 Bigthan, Geshem, Jahaziah, Jarib, Melzar, Shemaiah, 
 Tatnai, Tobiah, Zeresh. (20.) 
 
 XVIII. Illustrate Zech. ix. 9 by showing that the ass is 
 the most prominent animal throughout Israel's history. (15.) 
 
 XIX. Explain Horonite, Nethinim, Ophel, Purim, Solo- 
 mon's servants, Tirshatha. (12.) 
 
 XX. Name seven Old Testament prophetesses. (7.) 
 
 XXI. What are the favourite metaphors and similes in 
 the Psalter to express (a) God's righteousness, {b) God's 
 wrath, (c) man's frailty, (d) slander, (e) the prosperity of 
 the righteous ? (20.) 
 
 XXII. Show from internal evidence that Malachi 
 belongs to the later, not the earlier period of the Restora- 
 tion. (4.) 
 
 XXIII. Illustrate Mai. ii. 7 by showing what the priest- 
 hood had done for the preservation of the knowledge and 
 worship of God in Judah. (10.) 
 
 XXIV. What evidence is there that the priests exercised 
 judicial functions? (6.) 
 
 XXV. Make a chronological table of the three groups 
 of Old Testament prophets, approximately indicating the 
 length of time during which each prophesied, showing 
 which were each other's contemporaries, and naming the 
 chief nations concerning whom each prophesied. (32.) 
 
 XXVI. On whom were the three last curses of the Old 
 Testament pronounced ? (3.) 
 
 XXVII. Make a list of faithful and unfaithful servants 
 in Scripture, indicating which were slaves. (10.) 
 
 XXVIII. How often does each of these pravcrs occur in
 
 328 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 Psalm cxix. ? — (a) Remember me, (b) Hear me, (c) Seek me, 
 (d) Save me, (/) Redeem me, (/) Deliver me, (g) Consider 
 me, (A) Help me, (t) Quicken me, (J) Strengthen me, 
 (k) Teach me, (/) Give me understanding. (12.) 
 
 XXIX. Find fifteen books no longer extant to which the 
 Old Testament refers. (15.) 
 
 XXX. Make a list of twenty-six famous and six in- 
 famous Levites. (32.) 
 
 XXXI. Mark off by horizontal lines twenty-one inches 
 to represent the centuries from B.C. 2000 to A.D. 100. In- 
 dicate by perpendicular lines (a) the periods named on 
 p. 169, (b) the duration of the united monarchy, (c) of the 
 monarchies of Judah and Israel, (d) of the Captivity, (e) of 
 the Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman 
 Empires, (f) of the priesthoods of the houses of Eleazar 
 and Ithamar, (g) of the First and Second Temple. (32.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "The 
 bread of heaven." (b) " The day of small things." (c) " A 
 time of much rain." (d) " Ivory inlaid in boxwood." (e) "The 
 house which a great King of Israel builded." (_/) " Whose 
 are all thy ways ? " (g) " They have laid their swords 
 under their heads." (h) " Thou shalt surely fall before him." 
 (/) " They have overthrown me wrongfully." (_/) " Woe 
 worth the day ! " (k) " They conspired to cause confusion 
 therein." (/) " Brought to silence in the midst of the sea." 
 (in) " He was a faithful man." (n) " He shall magnify him- 
 self in his heart." (0) " Every one unto his work." (p) " As 
 thou hast said, so must we do." (q) " O Lord, shine forth." 
 (r) " That we should have discernment in Thy truth." 
 (s) " The sum of Thy word is truth." (/) " Make crowns." 
 (u) " I am the son of Thine handmaid." (v) " I will accept 
 you." (w) " From this day will I bless you." (x) " When I 
 shall be sanctified in you." (y) " All the peoples have seen 
 His glory." (.;) " The Lord is there." (26.) 
 
 EIGHTH TERM. 
 
 I. Trace the influence of Isaiah's writings upon John the 
 Baptist. (9.) 
 
 II. Give references for all the sayings of the Baptist 
 about Christ, and of Christ about the Baptist. (9.)
 
 EIGHTH TERM. 329 
 
 III. Note in chronological order all the events and in- 
 cidents in Old Testament history to which our Lord 
 alludes. (20.) 
 
 IV. Does Scripture warrant us in anticipating a future 
 literal restoration of Israel to their own land ? (10.) 
 
 V. Give the occasion, date, and chief incidents of each of 
 Christ's recorded visits to Jerusalem. (21.) 
 
 VI. Which miracle of healing did Christ repeat oftenest? 
 Which class of His miracles is unparalleled among miracles 
 wrought by others ? (4.) 
 
 VII. "According to your faith." Elucidate this by 
 showing that some of His miracles were instantaneous, and 
 others more or less gradual. (6.) 
 
 VIII. In which of His miracles did He seek human 
 co-operation ? What is the significance of His doing this ? 
 
 (6.) 
 
 IX. Illustrate Acts ii. 22 by showing from Scripture 
 
 (a) that miraculous manifestations are not necessarily of 
 Divine origin, (b) that Christ's miracles were evidences of 
 His Divine mission rather than of His Divine nature. 
 (10.) 
 
 X. After which of His miracles did the people glorify 
 God? (7.) 
 
 XI. Illustrate Dr. Westcott's remark that S. Mark more 
 than any other evangelist records the effect produced on 
 others by the Lord's working. (24.) 
 
 XII. Contrast the parables of the Mince and of the 
 Talents, of the Great Supper and of the Marriage Feast. 
 Account for their characteristic differences by pointing out 
 the circumstances under which each was spoken. (8.) 
 
 XIII. Give two references to each of twenty-four sayings 
 of Christ which occur in more than one context. (24.) 
 
 XIV. "As He said," Matt, xxviii. 6. Note all the 
 occasions here referred to. (5.) 
 
 XV. Harmonise Matt. ix. 17 and xiii. 52, Luke ix. 50 
 and xi. 23, John v. 31 and viii. 14. (9.) 
 
 XVI. Enumerate all the sayings and incidents of Christ's 
 ministry which reveal Him as " a Light to lighten the 
 Gentiles." (10.) 
 
 XVII. " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Consider 
 this aspect of the character and work of Christ. (10.)
 
 33o QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 XVIII. Quote a verse in which the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost are each referred to twice. (2.) 
 
 XIX. '"'The higher and holier the teacher in the eyes 
 of other men, the unworthier is he in his own eyes." Give 
 Biblical instances of this, and point out one noteworthy 
 exception to it. (12.) 
 
 XX. Enumerate all the persons by whom and all the 
 occasions on which Christ was acknowledged to be the Son 
 of God. (12.) 
 
 XXI. Prove from Scripture, without reference to the 
 writings of S. John, that Christ is " very God of very God." 
 (10.) 
 
 XXII. From the private interviews with Christ, which 
 are recorded in the Gospels, illustrate His patient con- 
 descension, also the importance He attaches to individual 
 influence upon individuals. (9.) 
 
 XXI I I. Mention by name thirty men and ten women 
 who believed in Christ before His Ascension. (40.) 
 
 XXIV. Sketch the growth of opposition to Christ 
 during the three and a half years of His ministry, and 
 show how it influenced His teaching and action. (20.) 
 
 XXV. Quote the various accusations brought against 
 Him by His enemies. Which did He refute, and which 
 did He tacitly accept? (12.) 
 
 XXVI. Name (a) one who knew the exact age he 
 would attain, (b) one who knew the manner of his death 
 years before he died, (c) two who received Divine assurance 
 of their personal salvation, (d) the only one of Christ's 
 followers to whom lasting earthly fame was promised. (5.) 
 
 XXVII. Trace out in S. John's Gospel how Christ 
 reveals Himself as the One having Life in Himself and 
 giving Life to men. (12.) 
 
 XXVIII. What personal details can we glean of the 
 authors of the Synoptical Gospels ? (12.) 
 
 XXIX. Summarise the external and internal evidence 
 for attributing the fourth Gospel to the Apostle John. (12.) 
 
 XXX. Sketch the life of S. Peter and discuss his 
 character. (12.) 
 
 XXXI. Illustrate James v. 16 by giving twelve Old 
 Testament instances of answered intercessory prayer. 
 (12.)
 
 NINTH TERM. 331 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "My 
 Son, My Chosen." (b) " A new teaching." (c) " The things 
 concerning the Kingdom of God." (c/) " For a testimony 
 unto all the nations." {c) " Making no distinction." (/) " The 
 multitude welcomed Him." {g) "Ye know nothing at all." 
 {h) " Certain which set all others at nought." (2) " Is it not 
 for this cause that ye err ? " (/) " Because they were not 
 united by faith with them that heard." {k) " On some have 
 mercy who are in doubt." (7) " Having forgotten the 
 cleansing." {in) " They stood still, looking sad." («) " He 
 was much perplexed." (<?) " God is one." {p) " All live unto 
 Him." {q) " No word from God shall be void of power." 
 {r) " Therefore do these powers work in him." {s) " On 
 whom ye have set your hope." (/) " Ye are Christ's." {u) " Be 
 ye free from the love of money." {v) " Keep yourselves from 
 all covetousness." {w) " Be not anxious." {x) " Watch ye at 
 every season." {)>) " Looking for the Kingdom of God." 
 (-S-) " Sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord." (26.) 
 
 NINTH TERM. 
 
 I. Give the occasion, date, and chief incidents of each of 
 S. Paul's recorded visits to Jerusalem. (15.) 
 
 II. Note in chronological order twenty-five events and 
 incidents in Old Testament history to which S. Paul 
 alludes. (25.) 
 
 III. Write a concise biography of S. Paul's dearest 
 friend. Is he mentioned in S. John's writings ? (15.) 
 
 IV. " He shall bear witness of Me." Quote twelve 
 passages bearing out the above statement in this term's 
 reading. (12.) 
 
 V. What are the three objects of Christian ambition 
 which S. Paul puts before the Thessalonians, Corinthians, 
 and Romans? (See R.V. margin.) (3.) 
 
 VI. Illustrate I Cor. iv. 1,2 by tracing the metaphor of 
 stewardship throughout the New Testament. (14.) 
 
 VII. Illustrate Gal. v. 22, 23 from the earliest chapters 
 of Church history. (12.) 
 
 VIII. Quote all the passages in which S. Paul speaks of 
 giving thanks for and praying for those to whom he writes, 
 and in which he asks their prayer for himself. To which
 
 332 QLESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 churches and individuals is he silent on this subject? 
 
 (25-) 
 
 IX. In reference to subsequent uses of the phrase, con- 
 sider all S. Paul's references to " the cross." (8.) 
 
 X. Summarise the argument of the Epistle to the 
 Ephcsians. (12.) 
 
 XL." I am not able," " I am able." Trace out, especially 
 in S. Paul's Epistles, the two ideas of weakness in self and 
 strength in Christ. (12.) 
 
 XII. Examine the significance throughout the Bible of 
 the act of laying on of hands, (io.) 
 
 XIII. Give Scriptural instances of conscience (a) 
 awakened, (b) enlightened, (c) perverted, (d) seared. (8.) 
 
 XIV. What New Testament characters and incidents 
 are connected with Ashdod, Damascus, Egypt, Gaza, 
 Joppa, Kidron, Salem, Sharon, Sychar, Tyre, and Sidon ? 
 What Old Testament mention is there of Olivet? (12.) 
 
 XV. " The end of your faith, even the salvation of your 
 souls" (i Peter i. 9). "By hope were we saved" (Rom. 
 viii. 24). " Every one that loveth is begotten of God " 
 (1 John iv. 7). Harmonise these three statements. (12.) 
 
 XVI. Consider generally our gain in having different 
 aspects of the same truths presented to us in the writings 
 of different Apostles. (10.) 
 
 XVII. What do you know of the Churches of Thyatira 
 and Antioch in Syria? (10) 
 
 XVIII. Illustrate 1 John iv. 8 by a list of the objects of 
 God's love that are expressly named in Scripture. (12.) 
 
 XIX. Name the twenty-one sevenfold things mentioned 
 in the Apocalypse. (21.) 
 
 XX. " He that openeth " (Rev. iii. 7). Where are we 
 told of the Lord opening (a) the eyes, ib) the ears, {c) the 
 understanding, (d) the heart, (/) the mouth ? (6.) 
 
 XXI. "The Lamb of God." Examine the historical 
 origin and doctrinal significance of this title. (10.) 
 
 XXII. Find seven references in the Apocalypse and 
 elsewhere to God's Book of Life. (7.) 
 
 XXIII. Find three allusions in the Psalter to the River 
 of God. (3.) 
 
 XXIV. "An unfallen creature may proclaim the Gospel 
 as a herald; only a redeemed creature can testify from
 
 NINTH TERM. 333 
 
 personal experience to the Gospel as a witness!' Illus- 
 trate, especially from the writings of S. Luke and S. John. 
 (12.) 
 
 XXV. Trace throughout the Bible (a) the Divine call 
 to salvation, " Come" (b) the Divine call to service, " Go." 
 
 (150 r 
 
 XXVI. What light does the Old Testament throw upon 
 
 these expressions : " The middle wall of partition," " The 
 place called Har-Magedon " ? (6.) 
 
 XXVII. Make a list from the whole Bible of "things 
 which God hath prepared." (12.) 
 
 XXVIII. Name all the books of the Bible that contain 
 explicit internal evidence as to their authorship. (12.) 
 
 XXIX. Give five Old Testament references to " Sheol" 
 eleven New Testament references to " Hades" and three 
 New Testament references to "Paradise." Expound the 
 meanings of these words as shown by their derivations. 
 
 (24.) 
 
 XXX. Quote seven New Testament passages bearing 
 upon the present condition of those who " have departed 
 this life in God's faith and fear." (7.) 
 
 XXXI. Do any of the following occur in the Bible ? If 
 not, where do they occur, or of what texts are they mis- 
 quotations ? — (a) " Assurance of salvation." (b) " Justifica- 
 tion by faith." (c) " Hope full of immortality." (d) " Not 
 lost, but gone before." (e) " A reason for the faith that is in 
 you." (/") " In the world, but not of the world." (g) " In the 
 midst of life we are in death." (/i) " His end was peace." 
 (z) " Charity begins at home." (_/) " Money is the root of 
 all evil." (k) " Spare the rod and spoil the child." (/) " God 
 tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." (12.) 
 
 XXXII. Give references for the following: — (a) "There 
 is no distinction " (twice), (b) " Teachers of that which is 
 good." (c) " Helpers of your joy." (d) " Giving no occasion 
 of stumbling in anything." (e) " The uncertainty of riches." 
 {/) "I would have you to be free from cares." (g) "All 
 things are yours." (Ji) " Encourage the faint-hearted." 
 (z) " Complete the doing also." (/) " I have found no works 
 of thine fulfilled." (k) " Worse than an unbeliever." (/) " I 
 speak this to move you to shame." (;//) " Hold such in 
 honour." (//) " Not knowing God, ye were in bondage."
 
 334 QUESTIONS. SECOND SERIES. 
 
 (o) " We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest.'' 
 {p) " The earth was lightened with his glory." (q) " Try your 
 own selves." (r) " Approved in Christ." (s) " That thy pro- 
 gress may be manifest unto all." (t) " Manifest throughout 
 the whole praetorian guard." (u) " The patience and the 
 faith of the saints." (?>) " In all the world bearing fruit and 
 increasing." (w) " God's own possession." (x) " For whom 
 Christ died." (y) " And such we are." (z) " Remember 
 Jesus Christ." (26.) 
 
 THE END.
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 (The pages given are those on which either the book itself or its subject- 
 matter is dealt with.) 
 
 Genesis . 
 Exodus . 
 
 Leviticus 
 Numbers 
 Deuteronomy 
 
 Joshua . 
 Judges . 
 
 Ruth 
 
 1 Samuel 
 
 2 Samuel 
 
 1 Kings . 
 
 2 Kings . 
 
 1 Chronicles . 
 
 2 Chronicles . 
 
 Ezra 
 
 Nehemiah 
 Esther . 
 Job 
 
 PAGES 
 
 19-35- 
 
 20, 23-35 39, 
 
 40, 50. 
 
 43. 44, 5o-55- 
 41-46, 49, 53. 
 
 43, 45, 49- 
 
 53- 
 
 41-50. 
 
 42-46, 55, 61, 
 62, 65, 66, 68. 
 42, 44, 46, 50. 
 61-64, 66, 68- 
 
 74- 
 
 62, 64, 66-68, 
 
 70-74. 
 
 79, 80, 84-91, 
 
 96-100, 104, 
 
 107, 108, 112. 
 
 96-100, 104- 
 
 110, 113, 114, 
 
 118-121, 126- 
 
 128, 132, 133. 
 
 64-66, 69-74, 
 
 84. 
 
 64, 65, 79, 80, 
 
 84-91, 96-100, 
 
 104, 105, 108- 
 
 IIO, 118-121, 
 
 126-128, 132, 
 
 133, 147. 
 140-142, 144, 
 
 146-152. 
 144, 147, 151, 
 152. 
 
 141, 144, 145, 
 147, 148, 156. 
 21-23, 28, 31. 
 
 The Psalms . 
 
 The Proverbs 
 Ecclesiastes . 
 The Song of Songs 
 Isaiah 
 
 Jeremiah 
 
 Lamentations 
 Ezekiel . 
 
 Daniel . 
 
 Hosea . 
 
 Joel 
 
 Amos 
 
 Obadiah 
 
 Jonah 
 
 Micah . 
 
 Nahum . 
 Habakkuk 
 
 Zephaniah 
 
 Haggai . 1 45- 
 
 PAGES 
 
 45, 66, 67, 84, 
 
 85, I04, I05, 
 126, 127, 147, 
 170-212. 
 82-84, 89 
 83,84. 
 8l, 82, 89. 
 52, 102-105, 
 
 IO9-II3, 122, 
 123, 127, I30- 
 132. 
 
 II9-I2I, I23- 
 132, I39, HO. 
 125, 127, 131. 
 124-127, I3I, 
 132, I43, I47, 
 
 152, 153- 
 143, 144, 147- 
 155, 165-167. 
 101, 104, III, 
 
 113- 
 
 102, 
 
 112. 
 
 IOI, 
 112. 
 124, 
 132. 
 IOO, 
 I06, 
 I03, 
 
 "3- 
 
 103, 
 
 123, 
 
 131, 132. 
 123, 126, 
 132. 
 147, 
 
 104, in, 
 104, in, 
 127, 131, 
 101, 104, 
 
 HO, 112. 
 IO4, III, 
 
 I05, 
 126, 
 
 '53. 
 
 113. 
 I30, 
 
 I30, 
 154- 
 
 335
 
 336 
 
 GENERAL INDEX. 
 
 Zechariah 
 
 Malachi . 
 
 The Apocrypha 
 S. Matthew . 
 
 S. Mark 
 
 S. Luke . 
 
 S. John . 
 
 The Acts 
 
 Romans . 
 
 1 Corinthians . 
 
 2 Corinthians . 
 Galatians 
 
 PAGES 
 
 145, 147. 153- 
 154, 157. 
 
 146, 147, 153, 
 
 154. 
 
 164-169. 
 218-221, 227- 
 240, 244-277. 
 218-222, 227- 
 240, 244-277. 
 218-222, 227- 
 240, 244-277. 
 218-222, 227- 
 240, 244-277. 
 223, 227, 234, 
 238, 239, 278- 
 284, 291-300, 
 302, 304. 
 284, 286, 292, 
 301. 
 
 284, 285, 292. 
 284, 285, 292. 
 284, 285, 292. 
 
 Ephesians « 
 Philippians . 
 Colossians 
 
 1 Thessalonians 
 
 2 Thessalonians 
 
 1 Timothy 
 
 2 Timothy 
 Titus 
 Philemon 
 Hebrews 
 
 James . 
 
 1 Peter . 
 
 2 Peter . 
 
 I, 2, 3 John . 
 Jude 
 Revelation e 
 
 PAGES 
 
 , 284, 286, 287, 
 
 292. 
 . 284, 286, 287, 
 
 292. 
 . 284, 286, 287, 
 
 292. 
 . 284, 285, 291, 
 
 292. 
 . 284, 285, 291, 
 
 292. 
 . 284, 287, 292. 
 . 284, 287, 292. 
 . 284, 287, 292. 
 . 284, 287, 292. 
 . 50-53,224,226, 
 
 227. 
 . 223-225, 227. 
 . 223-225, 227. 
 , 223-225, 227. 
 . 287, 288, 292. 
 . 223-225, 227. 
 . 288-292.
 
 INDEX TO THE PSALMS. 
 
 (The Arabic numerals are those assigned to the Psalms on pp. 179 — 212.) 
 
 Psalm 
 
 
 No. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 I. . 
 
 . 76 Ps 
 
 aim XXXVII. . 
 
 . 64 
 
 II. . 
 
 • 34 
 
 XXXVIII. . 
 
 40 
 
 III. . 
 
 61 
 
 XXXIX. . 
 
 41 
 
 IV. . 
 
 62 
 
 XL. . 
 
 43 
 
 V. . 
 
 45 
 
 XLI. . 
 
 42 
 
 VI. . 
 
 39 
 
 XLII. . 
 
 • 83 
 
 VII. . 
 
 20 , 
 
 XLIII. . 
 
 84 
 
 VIII. . 
 
 2 
 
 XLIV. . 
 
 105 
 
 IX. . 
 
 33 
 
 XLV. . 
 
 74 
 
 X. . 
 
 46 
 
 XLVI. . 
 
 95 
 
 XL . 
 
 10 
 
 XLVII. . 
 
 96 
 
 XII. . 
 
 47 
 
 XLVIII. . 
 
 97 
 
 XIII. . 
 
 9 
 
 XLIX. . 
 
 87 
 
 XIV. . 
 
 48 
 
 L. . 
 
 79 
 
 XV. . 
 
 26 
 
 LI. . 
 
 37 
 
 XVI. . 
 
 23 
 
 LIL . 
 
 . 16 
 
 XVII. . 
 
 21 , 
 
 LIII. . 
 
 • 49 
 
 XVIII. . 
 
 35 
 
 LIV. . 
 
 • 19 
 
 XIX. . 
 
 1 
 
 LV. . 
 
 55 
 
 XX. . 
 
 29 
 
 LVI. . 
 
 11 
 
 XXI. . 
 
 3° 
 
 LVII. . 
 
 15 
 
 XXII. . 
 
 58 
 
 LVIII. . 
 
 17 
 
 XXIII. . 
 
 4 
 
 LIX. . 
 
 8 
 
 XXIV. . 
 
 25 
 
 LX. . 
 
 3 1 
 
 XXV. . 
 
 12 
 
 LXI. . 
 
 60 
 
 XXVI. . 
 
 66 
 
 LXII. . 
 
 5° 
 
 XXVII. . 
 
 54 
 
 LXIII. . 
 
 53 
 
 XXVIII. . 
 
 67 
 
 LXIV. . 
 
 5 1 
 
 XXIX. . 
 
 5 
 
 LXV. . 
 
 I02 
 
 XXX. . 
 
 68 
 
 LXVI. . 
 
 I03 
 
 XXXI. . 
 
 59 
 
 LXVII. . 
 
 I04 
 
 XXXII. . 
 
 38 
 
 LXVIII. . 
 
 36 
 
 XXXIII. . 
 
 93 
 
 LXIX. . 
 
 57 
 
 XXXIV. . 
 
 13 
 
 LXX. . 
 
 44 
 
 XXXV. . 
 
 18 
 
 LXXI. . 
 
 106 
 
 XXXVI. . 
 
 63 
 
 LXXII. . 
 
 73 
 
 337 
 
 22
 
 338 
 
 INDEX TO THE PSALMS. 
 
 
 
 No. 
 
 
 No. 
 
 sal 
 
 m LXXIII. . 
 
 . 88 Ps 
 
 aim CXII. . 
 
 . 90 
 
 tt 
 
 LXXIV. . 
 
 ■ 107 , 
 
 CXIII. . 
 
 ■ 139 
 
 tt 
 
 LXXV. . 
 
 100 , 
 
 CXIV. . 
 
 140 
 
 ft 
 
 LXXVI. . 
 
 IOI 
 
 CXV. . 
 
 . 141 
 
 ft 
 
 LXXVII. . 
 
 81 
 
 CXVI. . 
 
 142 
 
 It 
 
 LXXVIII. . 
 
 22 
 
 CXVII. . 
 
 143 
 
 ft 
 
 LXXIX. . 
 
 108, 
 
 CXVIII. . 
 
 144 
 
 ft 
 
 LXXX. . 
 
 98 
 
 CXIX. . 
 
 150 
 
 f 
 
 LXXXI. . 
 
 80 
 
 cxx. . 
 
 . 118 
 
 » » 
 
 LXXXII. . 
 
 82 
 
 CXXI . 
 
 119 
 
 't 
 
 LXXXIII. . 
 
 94 
 
 CXXII. . 
 
 120 
 
 t f 
 
 LXXXIV. . 
 
 • 85 
 
 CXXIII. . 
 
 122 
 
 tt 
 
 LXXXV. . 
 
 . 121 , 
 
 CXXIV. . 
 
 123 
 
 T 1 
 
 LXXXVI. . 
 
 7i 
 
 CXXV . 
 
 124 
 
 ft 
 
 LXXXVII. . 
 
 99 
 
 CXXVI. . 
 
 125 
 
 M 
 
 LXXXVIII. . 
 
 86 
 
 CXXVII. . 
 
 77 
 
 1 1 
 
 LXXXIX. . 
 
 92 
 
 CXXVII1. . 
 
 78 
 
 1 1 
 
 XC. . 
 
 1 
 
 CXXIX. . 
 
 1 10 
 
 It 
 
 XCI. . 
 
 91 
 
 exxx. . 
 
 109 
 
 ft 
 
 XCII. . 
 
 131 
 
 CXXXI. . 
 
 70 
 
 ft 
 
 XCIII. . 
 
 132 
 
 CXXXII. . 
 
 75 
 
 (J 
 
 XCIV. . 
 
 126 , 
 
 CXXXIII. . 
 
 65 
 
 ft 
 
 xcv. . 
 
 133 
 
 CXXXIV. . 
 
 128 
 
 f • 
 
 XCVI. . 
 
 134 
 
 CXXXV. . 
 
 129 
 
 ft 
 
 XCVII. . 
 
 135 
 
 CXXXVI. . 
 
 130 
 
 ft 
 
 XCVIII. . 
 
 136 
 
 CXXXVII. . 
 
 117 
 
 r i 
 
 XCIX. . 
 
 137 
 
 CXXXVIII. . 
 
 28 
 
 it 
 
 c. . . 
 
 138 
 
 CXXXIX. . 
 
 69 
 
 tt 
 
 CI. . 
 
 24 
 
 CXL. . 
 
 6 
 
 tt 
 
 CH. . 
 
 in , 
 
 CXLI. . 
 
 7 
 
 tt 
 
 cm. . 
 
 112 , 
 
 CXLII. . 
 
 14 
 
 if 
 
 CIV. . 
 
 "3 
 
 CXLIII. . 
 
 52 
 
 it 
 
 cv. . 
 
 114 
 
 CXLIV. . 
 
 127 
 
 tt 
 
 CVI. . 
 
 115 
 
 CXLV. . 
 
 72 
 
 i j 
 
 CVII. . 
 
 116 
 
 CXLVI. . 
 
 145 
 
 tt 
 
 CVIII. . 
 
 32 
 
 CXLVII. . 
 
 146 
 
 t f 
 
 CIX. . 
 
 56 
 
 CXLVIII. . 
 
 147 
 
 1 1 
 
 ex. . 
 
 27 
 
 CXLIX. . 
 
 148 
 
 tt 
 
 CXI. . 
 
 89 
 
 CL . 
 
 149
 
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