THE BUILDING 
 
 THE BIBLE 
 
 THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER IN WHICH THE 
 
 BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 
 
 APPEARED ACCORDING TO RECENT 
 
 BIBLICAL CRITICISM 
 
 With Notes on Contemporary Events 
 
 BY 
 F. J. GOULD, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A CONCISE HISTORY OF RELIGION;" ETC., ETC. 
 
 Fourth Edition 
 
 WATTS & CO., 
 17, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON, E.C. 
 
 Price Threepence
 
 First Edition, 1898 
 Second Edition, 1903 
 Third Edition, 1906 
 Fourth Edition, 1907
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE 
 BIBLE 
 
 SHOWING THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER IN WHICH THE 
 
 BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS 
 
 APPEARED ACCORDING TO RECENT 
 
 BIBLICAL CRITICISM 
 
 WITH NOTES ON CONTEMPORARY EVENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 F. J. GOULD 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A CONCISE HISTORY OF RELIGION," ETC., ETC. 
 
 Fourth Edition 
 
 [ISSUED FOR THE RATIONALIST PRESS ASSOCIATION, LIMITED] 
 
 WATTS & CO., 
 
 17, JOHNSON'S COURT, FLEET STREET, LONDON, B.C. 
 1907
 
 SRU 
 UBI! 
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Ix the following pages a view is given of the various 
 stages in the building-up of the Bible into its present form. 
 The books of the Bible, as they stand in the common 
 version, by no means follow in the order of their original 
 composition. For example, the first chapter of the Book of 
 Genesis is much younger than the greater part of the second 
 chapter that is to say, it was written many years afterwards. 
 Our task, therefore, is to reconstruct the whole of the 
 Hebrew and Christian sacred literature, and place the 
 various portions in chronological order. Of course, in most 
 cases it will not be possible to fix the date with exactness. 
 Often all we can say is that a book first appeared in such 
 and such a century. Nor may we dogmatically assert that 
 the particular order here given is indisputable. All we can 
 justly affirm is that our scheme represents in a general way 
 the manner in which the component parts of the Bible 
 followed one after the other, from the eleventh century B.C. 
 to the second C.E. (Christian Era). 
 
 Eleventh CentUPy B.C. The Song of Deborah and 
 Barak is probably the oldest fragment of the Bible litera- 
 ture (Judges v.). It celebrates the victory of the tribes 
 Issachar, Naphtali, Zabulon, and Manasseh over the 
 Canaanites. Full of fire and brutal lust for vengeance, it is 
 yet combined with a poetic loyalty towards Yahveh, the 
 God who issues amid tempest and lightning from the rocks 
 of Edom and Sinai. 
 
 Note. The Babylonian king Hammurabi published (by means of 
 inscribed pillars, tablets, etc.) a Code of some three hundred laws, 
 dealing with slavery, marriage, sorcery, trade, crime, etc., the date of
 
 4 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Hammurabi being more than 2000 B.C. The Egyptian book of moral 
 precepts known as the " Maxims of Ptahhotep" dates about 3550 B.C. 
 Portions of the sacred writings, entitled the " Book of the Dead," were 
 engraved on Egyptian sarcophagi older than 2000 B.C. The famous 
 Tell-el-Amarna letters (correspondence between the courts of Babylonia 
 and Egypt, written in Babylonian cuneiform characters) belong to the 
 reign of Amenophis IV., in the fourteenth century B.C. 
 
 From the Eleventh to the Eighth Century B.C. 
 
 A number of war songs and lyrics have come down to us 
 from this period, such as the Sword Song, in which Lamech 
 chants the deadly power of the warrior's blade (Gen. iv.) ; 
 the Blessing of Jacob, which tells of the prophetic gifts 
 which old Israel bestowed upon his twelve sons (Gen. xlix.)^ 
 the Red Sea Triumph Song (Ex. xv.) ; the Song of Moses, 
 descriptive of God, the Rock, who rescued Israel from the 
 howling wilderness and placed him in a fat and pleasant 
 land (Deut. xxxii.) ; and the Blessing of Moses, which allots 
 promises of good things to the twelve Hebrew tribes 
 (Deut. xxx.). 
 
 To this period we may also assign the Book of the 
 Covenant, an ancient collection of laws as to altar-building, 
 slaves, manslaughter, sexual offences, witchcraft, usury, 
 pledging of garments, slander, the Year of Rest, the 
 Sabbath, and the Three Feasts i.e., Passover, First-fruits, 
 and Harvest, etc. No doubt a number of the popular 
 sayings, or Proverbs, would arise among the primitive 
 Israelites, such as " Hope deferred maketh the heart sick," 
 and other maxims contained in Proverbs x. to xxii. 16. 
 Legends of the chieftains or Judges arose at this time e.g.+ 
 the adventures of the Sun-god Samson. The dirges in 
 which David mourned for valiant Saul and faithful Jonathan 
 and the betrayed Abner also give forth the wild strain of 
 this uncultured age. 
 
 Note. By this time the writing of the sacred Zend-Avesta of Persia 
 had been begun, the oldest portion of the scriptures being the Gathas, 
 or hymns, of Zoroaster and his disciples. The Vedic books of the old 
 Aryans of Central Asia had been in existence for a considerable period. 
 Homer wrote his poems about the ninth century B.C. Rome was not
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 5 
 
 yet founded. Egypt was often disturbed by civil war ; Shashank 
 (Shishak) carried Egyptian arms victoriously into Palestine. The 
 fortunes of Assyria were troubled until the great Assur-nasir-pal 
 strengthened and extended the empire. The Phoenicians founded 
 Carthage. 
 
 Eighth Century B.C. Several prophets stirred the 
 religious consciousness of the Hebrew people, and their 
 impressive utterances were committed to writing with various 
 additions and modifications. Amos declaimed passionately 
 against the nations which clung to polytheism and refused 
 to worship the purer God of the Jews ; but he also 
 prophesied against luxury and wine-drinking, and demanded 
 a religion of justice instead of sacrifices and feasts. Hosea 
 pleaded for a higher morality and cleaner modes of worship. 
 Micah pronounced violent woes against oppressors, 
 sorcerers, and corrupt judges, and foretold happier days 
 when Israel should sit peacefully under its vine and fig-tree 
 (Micah ; first five chapters only). Isaiah eloquently cen- 
 sured sham piety and sinful love of wealth ; called down 
 wrath upon the surrounding nations who would not bow the 
 knee to the Hebrew God Yahveh ; and looked forward to 
 a golden age when Zion should take the headship of the 
 nations, and the sword of battle should be re-fashioned into 
 the ploughshare of peace (Is. i. to xxxix., leaving out xiii. 
 to xiv. 23, and xxiv. to xxvii.). The foundation of the books 
 of Samuel was laid, embracing the main features of the 
 picturesque biographies of Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David ; 
 incidents which we shall enumerate presently being added 
 some time afterwards. 
 
 More important still, we now see the first emergence into 
 written form of the national legends of the Creation, Flood, 
 Patriarchs, Flight from Egypt, the Wilderness journey, the 
 Giving of the Law, the Conquest of Canaan. Two writers 
 committed these more or less fabulous histories to manu- 
 script. One is called the Yahvist, because he refers to the 
 deity by the name of " Yahveh " (the name is also met 
 with in the forms of Jehovah, Jah, Yahu, lao, etc.). The
 
 6 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 legends which he records are these : The Creation 
 (beginning Genesis ii., second half of verse 4) ; the shaping 
 of the woman from a rib ; the Fall of Man ; the murder of 
 Abel ; the rise of civilisation, music, etc. ; the marriage of 
 angels and earth-maidens ; the dove and the olive-leaf ; 
 Noah's sacrifice after the Flood ; the cursing of Canaan ; 
 the ruin of Babel ; Abraham's falsehood to Pharaoh ; 
 Hagar's flight into the desert ; Yahveh's visit to Abraham's 
 tent ; the perdition of Sodom ; the grossness of Lot's 
 daughters ; Rebekah's romantic departure from her Meso- 
 potamian home ; Isaac's denial of his wife ; Jacob's decep- 
 tion ; his ingenious sheep-breeding ; his wrestling with 
 Yahveh ; his reconciliation with Esau ; Judah's licentious- 
 ness ; parts of the story of Joseph ; portions of the story of 
 the Plagues of Egypt ; the revelation of the Book of the 
 Covenant ; Balaam and his ass. The other is named the 
 Elohist, because he refers to the deity as "Elohim" = God. 
 To him we owe the following : The promise of a numerous 
 seed to Abraham ; Abraham's denial of Sarah at Abimelech's 
 court ; the adventure of Hagar and Ishmael ; Abraham's 
 attempted sacrifice of Isaac ; Jacob's ladder, and his flight 
 from Laban ; the burial of idols under the oak-tree ; a 
 considerable section of the Joseph legend, including the 
 dream stories ; Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh ; 
 the adoption of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter : fragments of 
 the Plague story and of the Exodus ; the Ten Command- 
 ments ; the appearance of God to the elders ; the Golden 
 Calf ; Miriam's leprosy ; the opening pages of the history 
 of Balaam the seer. 
 
 Note. In the eighth century Egypt suffered defeat from Assyria and 
 Ethiopia. The Assyrian conqueror, Tiglath-Pileser III., carried away- 
 captive the Hebrew tribes on the east of the Jordan. In 722 the city 
 of Samaria was captured, and a large number of Israelites belonging to 
 the Ten Tribes were removed to Assyrian territory. Lycurgus flourished 
 in Greece, Hesiod wrote his poems, and the walls of Rome were erected. 
 
 Seventh Century B.C. A fragment of the book of 
 Micah (vi. to vii. 6) was published. It represents Yahveh
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 7 
 
 on one side pleading against Israel on the other, and 
 threatening disaster for vice, bribery, and wicked balances. 
 The Yahvist and Elohist documents were now collected by 
 some careful hand and joined together, with the addition 
 of new matter, thus making up a large proportion of the 
 books of Genesis and Exodus. The new matter comprised 
 such incidents as the ensuing : Moses' invocations at the 
 removal and the resting of the ark (Num. x.) ; the fall of 
 manna ; the false report of the ten spies, and Moses' inter- 
 cession for the rebellious people ; the Brazen Serpent ; 
 Balaam's blessing of the tents of Jacob ; Rahab and the 
 spies ; the passage of the Jordan ; the siege of Jericho and 
 the sin of Achan ; the deceit of the Gibeonites ; the sun 
 and moon arrested ; the struggle of Israel for the possession 
 of various divisions of Canaan. Zephaniah called down 
 catastrophes upon Judah and other nations, but the joyful 
 strain at the conclusion would seem to be a later addition 
 (iii. 14-20). Nahum raised a cry of vengeful joy when the 
 city of Nineveh fell before the Babylonians and the Medes, 
 and her proud walls were blackened by fire. Habakkuk 
 tells us of the terror which the armies of Babylon awakened 
 in Jerusalem, but he closes his prophecy with a devout 
 and pathetic declaration of trust in the Yahveh who 
 rules the everlasting mountains. About the year 621 
 the book of Deuteronomy was in all likelihood pub- 
 lished, in order to give expression to a new develop- 
 ment of religious thought, and to bring about a 
 reformation in forms of worship. Old shrines and sacred 
 figures were demolished by king Josiah in obedience to 
 this supposed revelation from Yahveh. The new Law 
 contained directions with respect to idolatry ; witchcraft ; 
 the Passover, the First-fruits, and the Festival of Booths ; 
 slavery, sexual transgressions, murder ; the conduct of war ; 
 gleaning customs, etc. It furnished a second version of the 
 Ten Commandments, narrated the dramatic curses and 
 blessings of Ebal and Gerizim, and closed with a full 
 catalogue of the happy things in store for the nation if loyal
 
 8 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 to its God, and of the miseries which would attend dis- 
 obedience (Deut. v. to xxviii.). The first four chapters were 
 attached at a later stage ; also chapters xxix., xxx., xxxi. 
 1-13 and 23-29, and xxxiv. The earlier chapters of 
 Jeremiah may have been written not long before the 
 collapse of the Judaean kingdom. They breathe melancholy 
 forebodings, and teem with remonstrances against the sins 
 of the people ; for the prophet believes the approaching 
 invasion of the Babylonian forces is a direct result of a 
 neglect of Yahveh's service, the burning of children in the 
 fires of Tophet, the prevalence of adultery, theft, and 
 murder. These earlier pages of Jeremiah's writings may, 
 perhaps, include chapters i. to ix. 26 (omitting i. 3); x. 17 
 to xii. 6 ; xiv. to xx.; xxi. 1 1 to xxii. 19 ; and, possibly, other 
 passages. 
 
 While none of the Psalms can be traced to David, there 
 are some which appear to be pre-exilic, such as the follow- 
 ing : xxi. The king, wearing his golden crown, rejoices in 
 the strength of Yahveh; xxviii. Yahveh the Rock is praised; 
 xlvi. God gives peace from heathen assaults ; xlviii. A cele- 
 bration of Zion's beauty ; Ixi. The psalmist takes refuge in 
 the Tabernacle ; Ixiii. The soul thirsts after God ; Ixxii. A 
 coronation song ; Ixxvi. A hymn of triumph; Ixxxix. A poem 
 on the divine covenant ; xc. The shortness of human life as 
 contrasted with the divine ; xci. Confidence in Yahveh's 
 protection ; ci. Pious resolutions ; cxxxii. The prayer 
 of the priests. Perhaps also ii., xviii., xx., xlv., which 
 contain references to the king, date from before the 
 exile. 
 
 Some portions of the book of Zechariah (ix. to xi., and 
 xiii. 7-9) may have been written before the Baby'.onian 
 captivity. They threaten the Philistines and other Gentiles, 
 and promise the east Jordan tribes a delivery from Assyrian 
 bondage. 
 
 Note. About the middle of this century the power of Egypt revived 
 under king Psammetichus, who greatly encouraged the settlement of 
 Greeks and other foreigners in his country. His son Necho invaded
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 9 
 
 Syria, and defeated and slew Josiah, king of Judah. In the earlier 
 years of the century Assyria was governed by Sennacherib ; later on by 
 the famous king Assur-bani-pal (668-626), the founder of the great 
 clay-tablet library of Nineveh. On the fall of Nineveh the power of 
 Babylon became pre-eminent, and it lasted till the rise of Cyrus. The 
 Spartans were establishing themselves in the south of Greece, and had 
 reduced the Helots to a degrading servitude. In Athens Draco enforced 
 his severe code of laws ; and this occurred about the same time that the 
 people of Judah, under the inspiration of the book of Deuteronomy, 
 were carrying out their religious reformation. 
 
 Sixth Century B.C. Jerusalem was captured in 586. 
 Jeremiah still continued to raise the warning and exhorting 
 voice. He had been imprisoned by the Jewish king, but 
 was set free by the invaders ; his journey into Egypt with a 
 body of fugitive Jews is described in the book that bears his 
 name, together with his curses upon Egypt, Philistia, Moab, 
 Ammon, Edom, and Syria. In the like gloomy key were 
 recited the anonymous dirges known as the Lamentations. 
 These poems portray the horrible condition of Jerusalem 
 during the final siege by the Chaldaeans. The poems are 
 five in number, and in the first four the writer has followed 
 the singular plan of beginning the verses, or groups of verses, 
 with words of which the initials form the successive letters 
 of the alphabet (Hebrew). The little book of Obadiah may 
 have been composed now or later ; it is a vigorous accusa- 
 tion of the cruelty of the people of Edom, the rocky district 
 to the south-east of the Dead Sea. During the captivity of 
 the Jews in Babylonia some of the more thoughtful exiles 
 appear to have given a loving care to the preservation and 
 copying of the written national traditions ; and now, 
 probably, the book of Judges was re-arranged, and the old 
 legends of Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, Samson, etc., com- 
 bined with moral reflections, which do not, however, obscure 
 the primitive folk-lore of an earlier time (Judges ii. 6 to xvi.). 
 The other parts of the book do not betray this more modern 
 thought ; the story of Micah and his images, and the horrid 
 tragedy of the concubine of Bethlehem, clearly came from a 
 less cultured source.
 
 10 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 The books of Samuel were revised, and portions seem to 
 have been added, as, for instance, Hannah's Song, the 
 defeat of the Philistines by a tempest, Samuel's warning 
 against kings, the fall of rain in the harvest-season at 
 Samuel's prayer, Saul's rejection, Nathan's promise to David 
 of blessings for his posterity, etc. The book of Kings is 
 written in the tone of the book of Deuteronomy, and all the 
 misfortunes of either the Northern or the Southern Kingdom 
 are systematically put down to the worship of Baal and 
 other false gods. The legend of Elijah, with its incidents of 
 vengeful or triumphal fire, is manifestly drawn from an old 
 sun-myth. Detached pieces of the book of Joshua belong 
 to the same school of writers, the chief being chaps, i.; xi. 
 to xiii. 14 ; xxiii., etc. The book of Joshua is, however, 
 made up of exceedingly miscellaneous fragments ; a number 
 have already been referred to as due to the combined docu- 
 ment which is based on the Yahvist and Elohist. The 
 prophet Ezekiel used to preach to the exiles by the river 
 Chebar. The winged creatures which he sees in vision were 
 no doubt suggested by the Babylonian sculptures. E/ekiel 
 rebukes the sins of Judah, and proclaims the wrath of 
 Yahveh upon Gentile nations ; but finally Jerusalem 
 vanquishes the army of Gog (? Babylon), and a new 
 Temple is built and the land of Canaan again divided 
 among the twelve tribes. To this period we must most 
 likely assign an interesting section of the book of Leviticus 
 (chaps, xvii. to xxvi.), which critics have agreed to call the 
 Law of Holiness. It is so named because, in order to 
 enforce its precepts regarding sacrifice, festivals, the Day of 
 Atonement, the jubilee year of rest, etc., the writer con- 
 tinually appeals to the holiness of the Lord God. It is this 
 document which contains the altruistic maxim, "Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself." The language bears much 
 resemblance to that used by Ezekiel, and quite differs from 
 the style of the rest of the book of Leviticus. When the 
 hosts of Cyrus were about to enter Babylon, and the day of 
 Hebrew liberty had nearly arrived, two songs of exultation
 
 ii 
 
 were composed. One has been attached to the book of 
 Jeremiah (chaps. 1. and li.), and it tells of the sound of 
 great destruction in the land of the Chaldaeans. Another is 
 contained in Isaiah xiii., xiv. 1-23 ; it dwells, in graphic 
 diction, upon the downfall of the splendid city, and its descent, 
 as degraded Lucifer, into the sad recesses of the under- 
 ground Sheol. Then Babylon fell (538), though without 
 the slaughter and ruin which these Hebrew prophets had 
 anticipated. As the Jews returned to their fatherland, their 
 emotions were fervently expressed by the unknown Poet oj 
 the Restoration, sometimes alluded to as Isaiah II. (book of 
 Isaiah, the main portion of chaps, xl. to lv.). His poem is 
 one of the masterpieces of Biblical literature. "Comfort ye, 
 my people," are his opening words ; and he awakens trust 
 and hope by displaying the sublimity of God, who forms 
 light and creates darkness, and by revealing striking and 
 beautiful visions of a New Jerusalem, with agate casements 
 and foundations of sapphire. Another poet (whose work is 
 incorporated in the Restoration chapters) symbolises the 
 afflicted and chastened Jewish exiles under the figure of a 
 SERVANT, who bears all the sins of his race. The chapters 
 Ivi. to lix. take up a mournful and reproachful attitude, 
 and lament the unhappy condition of the Hebrew people ; 
 and it is not probable that they come from the pen of the 
 Poet of the Restoration. The joyous strain is resumed by 
 yet another writer in chapters Ix. to end, and magnificent 
 scenes of the Golden Age are spread before the imagination. 
 Perchance an even greater genius was manifested by the 
 unknown author of the poem of Job. The author took for 
 his basis an old folk-tale (Job i., ii., and xlii., 7 to end), 
 which told of the patriarch's calamities and happy compen- 
 sation ; and he composed, in verse, a noble dialogue, in 
 which Job, his three friends, and Yahveh himself discuss 
 the question, Why should a righteous man suffer pain? 
 The poet is essentially a Stoic and Agnostic, for no real 
 answer to the problem is forthcoming. The poem con- 
 cludes at xlii. 6. There are several interpolations, such as
 
 12 THE feUlLDING Of THE fclfeLE 
 
 the whole of the " Wisdom " chapter (xxviii.), and most of 
 xxvii. To these we must add all the speeches of Elihu 
 (xxxii. to xxxvii.), which were inserted by some person who 
 was not satisfied with the doctrine of the original poem. 
 
 Some psalms may date from the exile period e.g., cii. 
 in which the sorrowing psalmist compares himself with a 
 pelican in the wilderness ; li. is deeply pathetic ; Ixx. is a 
 supplication in distress; and Ixvi. to Ixix. suggest outbursts 
 of gladness on the return of the exiles. 
 
 In 520 the Jews began rebuilding the ruined Temple, 
 and the prophet Haggai stimulated them with emphatic 
 appeals and promises of future national glory. And 
 Zechariah unfolded his apocalypses of celestial horses ; the 
 four horns broken by four smiths ; the angel measuring 
 Jerusalem ; Joshua, the High Priest, confronting Satan, the 
 accuser; the golden candlestick; the flying roll; the woman 
 enclosed in the basket, etc. (Zechariah i. to viii.). 
 
 It is singular that chapters xxxvi. to xxxix. of the book 
 of Isaiah should be practically the same as 2 Kings xviii. 
 
 13 to xx. 19. 
 
 Note. The Chinese sages Confucius and 1-a.o-tse taught in this 
 century. India was listening to the gospel of Buddha. Persian armies 
 conquered Egypt and Babylonia. Pythagoras laboured to reform the 
 morality of public and private life among the Greeks. Solon legislated 
 for Athens, and Greece heard the lyrics of Anacreon, Pindar, and 
 Simonides. The Tarquins were expelled from Rome. 
 
 Fifth Century B.C. Reflective minds among the 
 educated Jews had concluded that the people needed 
 rousing by a new call and a new book. Accordingly one 
 or more authors collected a number of old laws and tradi- 
 tions, and re-wrote them in a connected history and book of 
 legislation, which critics speak of as the Priests' Code. This 
 was read to the citizens of Jerusalem in 444. It covers 
 eighty-five chapters of the Bible eleven in Genesis, nineteen 
 in Exodus, all Leviticus (including the " Law of Holiness "), 
 twenty-eight in Numbers, and portions of Joshua. The 
 first page of the Old Testament belongs to it " In the
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE teifcLE 13 
 
 beginning God created," etc. It pursues a systematic 
 course, relating events in order, without imagination and 
 picturesque embellishments : paying close attention to 
 families and pedigrees, and presenting in great detail the 
 regulations as to sacrifices, priestly vestments and offices, 
 etc. Its descriptions of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness 
 are almost entirely ideal. No such elaborate system of 
 worship and priesthood existed in early Israel. The 
 reader should take the trouble to mark in his Bible the 
 passages which are derived from the " Priests' Code," 
 viz : 
 
 Genesis i. I to ii. 4a ; v. I to 28, 30 to 32 ; vi. 9 to 22 ; 
 vii. 6, n, 13 to i6a, i/a (except "forty days"), 18 to 21, 24; 
 viii. i, 2a, 3!) to 5, 133, 14 to 19; ix. I to 17, 28, 29; x. I 
 to 7, 20, 22, 23, 31, 32 ; xi. 10 to 27, 31, 32 ; xii. 40, 5 ; xiii. 
 6, lib, I2a; xvi. la, 3, 15, 16 ; xvii. all; xix. 29; xxi. ib, 2b 
 to 5 ; xxiii. all; xxv. 7 to na, 12 to 17, 19, 20, 26b ; xxvi. 34, 
 35 ; xx vii. 46 to xxviii. 9 ; xxix. 24, 29 ; xxxi. i8b ; xxxiii. i8a ; 
 xxxiv. i, 2a, 4, 6, 8 to 10, 13 to 18, 20 to 24, 25 (partly), 27 
 to 29; xxxv. 9 to 13, 15, 22b to 29; xxxvi. (largely); xxxvii. i, 
 2a ; xli. 46; xlvi. 6 to 27 ; xlvii. 5, 6a (in the Sept.), 7 to u, 
 27b, 28 ; xlviii. 3 to 6, perhaps 7 ; xlix. la, 28b to 33 ; 1. 12, 
 13. Exodus i. i to 5, 7, 13, 14; ii. 23b to 25 ; vi. 2 to vii. 13, 
 19, 2oa, 2ib, 22 ; viii. 5 to 7, I5b to 19 ; ix. 8 to 12 ; xi. 9, 
 10 ; xii. I to 20, 28, 37a, 40, 41, 43 to 51; xiii. I, 2, 2O; xiv. 
 i to 4, 8, 9, 15 to 18, 2ia, 2ic to 23, 26, 27a, 28a, 29 ; xvi. 
 i to 3, 6 to 24, 31 to 36; xvii. la ; xix. I, 2a ; xxiv. 15 to 
 i8a ; xxv. i to xxxi. i8a ; xxxiv. 29 to 35, all xxxv. to xl. 
 Leviticus i. to xvi.; and xxvii. Numbers i. I to x. 28 ; xiii. I 
 to I7a, 21, 25, 26a (to " Paran "), 32a ; xiv. i, 2, 5 to 7, 10, 
 26 to 30, 34 to 38; all xv.; xvi. la, 2b to 7a, 7b to II, 16, 
 17, 18 to 24, 27a, 32b, 35, 36 to 40, 41 to 50; all xvii. to xix.; 
 xx. la (to " month "), 2, 3b, 4, 6 to 13, 22 to 29 ; xxi. 4a (to " Hor "), 
 10, II ; xxii. I ; xxv. 6 to 18 ; xxvi. to xxxi.; xxx'ii. 18, 19, 28, 
 to 32 ; all xxxiii. to xxxvi. Deuteronomy i. 3 ; xxxii. 48 to 52 ; 
 xxxiv. la, 5!), 7 to 9. Josktia iv. 13, 19; v. 10 to 12; vii. I; 
 ix. I5b, 17 to 21 ; xiii. 15 to 32; xiv. I to 5 ; xv. I to 13, 
 20 to 44, 45 to 47, 48 to 62 ; xvi. 4 to 8 ; xvii. la, 3, 4, 7, ga, 
 gc to loa ; xviii. i, n to 28; xix. I to 8, 10 to 46, 48, 51 ; xx. 
 i to 3 (except "and unawares"), 6a (to "judgment"), 7 to 9 ; xxi. 
 i to 42 ; and perhaps xxii. 9 to 34. (This useful table is taken from
 
 14 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Driver's Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament, 6th ed., 
 
 P- I59-) 
 
 The letters a and b indicate the first and second halves of verses ; the 
 letter c stands for the last third of a verse. 
 
 Before long the idea arose that it would be well to 
 combine this new Code with the older manuscripts of the 
 '' Yahvist " and " Elohist " and Deuteronomy, and thus was 
 formed the Hexateuch = Six books namely, Genesis, 
 Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Joshua. When 
 Toshua was detached, there remained the Pentateuch, to 
 which was attributed a specially sacred character as the 
 supposed work of Moses. (It is also called the Torah.) 
 
 A vigorous prophecy, perhaps of this date, has been 
 appended to the book of Zechariah (xii. to xiv., except xiii. 
 7 to 9). It predicts the cleaving of the Mount of Olives, 
 the issue of miraculous streams from Jerusalem, and the 
 supremacy of Judah over all nations. Malachi condemned 
 the Jews for their unfaithfulness to Yahveh's cause, and 
 announced that a powerful messenger should come, strong 
 like Elijah, to purify the nation from their immorality and 
 irreligion. Piece by piece, various poets were adding to 
 that noble collection of the Psalms in which the meditations 
 of the pious, the sorrows of the oppressed, the pride of the 
 priests, and the aspirations of the nation at large mingled 
 their varied and impressive utterances. Possibly at this 
 time appeared the striking declarations of an unknown 
 prophet now recorded in Isaiah xxiv. to xxvii. The seer 
 tells of ruin far and wide upon the earth ; but from the 
 gloom the people of Yahveh emerge in safety and bliss, 
 death is swallowed up in victory, and tears are wiped from 
 all eyes. The charming story of Ruth the gleaner and 
 her wedding with Boaz probably took its present literary 
 form at this juncture. Two other books, the dates of which 
 are not easy to determine, may be placed here as a fairly 
 approximate position. One is Jonah, with its grotesque 
 version of an old sun-myth (the sun is swallowed by the 
 night-monster) and its humanitarian lesson of kindness
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 15 
 
 towards the Gentile people and the dumb cattle of Nineveh. 
 The other is foe!, a prophecy which agitates the reader by 
 its vivid images of the destroying locusts, and of the terrible 
 battle in the valley of Jehoshaphat. 
 
 Note. Persia still held sway over Egypt and Babylonia. In India 
 the great Law-book of Afanu had come into vogue as a sacred authority, 
 and the epic poem of the Mahabharata, celebrating the deeds of the 
 god Krishna, was taking its earliest form. About this period the 
 Smaller Avesta added new poems to the sacred books of the Parsees. 
 The fifth century was marked in Greek history by the battles of 
 Marathon, Thermopylae and Plataea, the Peloponnesian War and Athe- 
 nian expedition to Sicily, the public teaching of Socrates, the dramatic 
 works of ^-Eschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, and the 
 erection of the Parthenon. The Roman annals tell of the battle of the 
 Lake Regillus, leadership of Cincinnatus, and the beginning of fusion 
 between the patricians and plebeians. It is worthy of remark that about 
 the time the Hebrews issued their Priests' Code the Romans were com- 
 pleting their renowned Law of the Twelve Tables. 
 
 Fourth Century B.C. This period was not productive 
 of noteworthy Jewish literature. The Proverbs, which had 
 been slowly accumulating in the national speech and 
 literature, were combined, about the fourth century B.C., 
 into one volume. Of this book the chief sections are the 
 Appeal of Wisdom (i. to ix.), the Proverbs of Solomon (x. to 
 xxii. 16), the Words of the Wise (xxii. 17 to xxiv. 22, and 
 further sayings from xxiv. 23 to 34), the Proverbs copied by 
 HezekiaKs Scribes (xxv. to xxix.), the sarcastic Sayings of 
 Agur (xxx.), the Advice to Lemuel (xxx. 1-6), and the Praise 
 of the good housewife (conclusion). 
 
 Note. The battle of Issus took place in 333, and Persia and Egypt 
 succumbed to the power of Alexander. Parts of the sacred Buddhist 
 books (the Tripilakd) were composed, though not written. Socrates 
 was martyred ; Plato taught in the Academy ; Aristotle wrote on 
 politics, ethics, etc., and Greek art produced the beautiful tomb of 
 Mausolos. 
 
 Third Century B.C. About 300 a priestly editor put 
 together the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, 
 which are all written in much the same style and language, 
 and which carry the history of Israel from the days of David
 
 1 6 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 to the time of the second Temple and the Priests' Code. 
 The compiler made use of memoirs left by Ezra the scribe 
 and Nehemiah the reformer. Parts of the book of Ezra (iv. 
 8 to 23, v. i to vi. 1 8, vii. 12 to 26) are given in Aramaic, the 
 Syrian language which was gradually displacing Hebrew in 
 the popular usage. There are traces of Aramaic in the song 
 of The Shttlamite, or Song of Solomon. According to an 
 older view, this pleasing, though floridly-written, poem relates 
 the vain attempts of King Solomon to win a village maiden 
 who has given her heart to a shepherd lover. But later 
 critics see in it a series of Syrian wedding-songs, which 
 allude to a sword-dance, the beauty of the bride, the 
 wooing of the king (bridegroom), the processions, etc. 
 The romantic tale of Esther is the fiction which gives a 
 brilliant destiny to the Jew Mordecai, and represents the 
 Jews as revelling in wholesale slaughter of their enemies all 
 over the Persian Empire. The story is apparently based on 
 an old Babylonian legend, for " Esther " suggests the 
 goddess Istar, and " Mordecai " calls to mind the god 
 Marduk. A pessimistic author placed his reflections on 
 the emptiness of human life and glory in the mouth of 
 king Solomon, who has renounced the world and turned 
 Koheleth or Preacher (Ecclesiastes). This book is also 
 marked by Aramaic phrases. No doubt the Psalms were 
 added to. The Jews were separating into two parties, the 
 puritan Chassids and the secular-minded Hellenists. In 
 Psalms i. and cxix. are expressed the devout sentiments of 
 the Chassids. The Hebrews already regarded their older 
 literature as sacred, and they were slowly adding more 
 leaves to the scriptures, so that, by the time Christianity 
 arose, the Old Testament canon, as we now have it, was all 
 completely recognised. 
 
 Note. The Jews of the Diaspora i.e., in the settlements outside 
 Palestine now largely spoke Greek, and it was found convenient to 
 translate, first the Pentateuch, and then other portions of the Old Testa- 
 ment, into a Greek version, known as the Septuagint. It was finished 
 in the second century B.C. Judrea was a province of Syria, but the
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 17 
 
 High Priests held much political dignity. In China, at the beginning 
 of the third century, Meng-tse or Mencius was teaching. The Buddhist 
 Katha Vat t hit was composed, and the Buddhist king Asoka was pro- 
 pagating the religion of Gautama. Egypt was ruled by the Ptolemies. 
 The strength of Greece was declining. Archimedes represented the 
 genius of Greek science. Rome subdued all Italy and grappled with 
 Carthage in the two Punic Wars. 
 
 Second Century B.C. Judaea passed through a time 
 of deep tribulation when Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian 
 king, attempted to uproot the Jewish national religion, and 
 was opposed by the patriotism of the Maccabean leaders. 
 The anguish of the Hebrew people is uttered in a number 
 of so-called " Maccabean psalms " (xliv., Ixxiv., Ixxix., and 
 perhaps others which exhibit the Chassids as despised and 
 derided, and as sheep appointed for slaughter). While 
 Judas Maccabeus valiantly wrestled with the Syrian 
 oppressor, an unknown writer issued the book of Daniel, 
 which first held up to the Jewish warriors the example of 
 the heroic 1 )aniel, and then, in a series of visions, traced the 
 course of recent events in Syrian and Hebrew history, 
 ending at the period of shame and trial, which had not yet, 
 but would soon (so he said), come to a happy conclusion. 
 The book appeared about 164 B.C. From chapter ii. 4 to 
 the end of vii. it uses the Aramaic language. Slight addi- 
 tions may have been occasionally made to the books of the 
 Old Testament, but on the incorporation of the book of 
 Daniel they were practically completed. (But Canon Cheyne 
 thinks Ecdesiastes may belong to the age of Herod the 
 Great.) 
 
 At the public worship of the Jews speakers would often 
 explain in Aramaic the meaning of the original Hebrew 
 Scriptures ; and the best of these commentaries were 
 repeated and committed to memory, and were known as 
 Targums. Jewish philosophy and discussions on the Law 
 and all kinds of religious and social subjects were gradually 
 accumulated, though not yet written, in a mass of notes 
 which grew into the celebrated Talmud. The books known
 
 1 8 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 as the Apocrypha were now appearing. They had, in fact, 
 been published too late for inclusion in the canon of the 
 Old Testament. To the second century B.C. belong 
 Ecclesiasticus, I Esdras, and Tobit. Other Jewish writings 
 of this century were the Allegories, which formed the oldest 
 part of the Book of Enoch, and the most ancient portion of 
 the Sibylline Oracles, Greek verses written by a Jewsh poet, 
 and prophesying the downfall of the enemies of his race. 
 The Book of Jubilees (or Little Genesis] was written by a 
 Pharisee between 135 and 104 B.C. It reviews the history 
 of the world (as conceived by the author) from the Creation 
 to the revelation of the Law on Sinai. 
 
 Note. Greece had now become a Roman province, and the Roman 
 legions destroyed Carthage. Terence wrote his Comedies. 
 
 First Century B.C. More books now ranked as 
 Apocrypha were issued i and 2 Maccabees, fadith, The 
 Rest of Esther, the Additions to Daniel, Wisdom, and 
 possibly Barnch. There also appeared the " Similitudes," 
 which were added to the Book of Enoch, and this remark- 
 able work was finally edited about the close of the pre- 
 Christian era. The Psalms of the Pharisees (or of Solomon} 
 belong to the middle of the century, and refer in some 
 passages to Pompey. 
 
 Note. The sacred books of the Buddhists, the Tripitaka, were 
 reduced to writing about 100 B.C. ; and later the Buddhist work 
 entitled The Questions of King Milinda was composed. Pompey con- 
 quered Judeea in 63. Julius Qtsar represented the greatness of Roman 
 statesmanship. Octavius was raised to the Imperial throne in 27. 
 Roman literature was adorned with the names of Varro, Cicero, 
 Lucretius, Catullus, Sallust, Virgil, Horace, Tibullus, Propertius, 
 Livy, and Ovid. 
 
 First Century C.E. The first Christian literature 
 meets us in the shape of Paul's letters to various Chris- 
 tian societies. About the year 53 or 54 he penned i 
 Thessalonians, an affectionate epistle, in which he reminds 
 his friends how he laboured for his own living. Some
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 19 
 
 passages may have been interpolated e.g., ii. 14-16. A 
 few years later (about 57 or 58) Paul wrote / Corinthians, a 
 composition remarkable for its picture of the character of 
 early Christian meetings and communities, and for its 
 eloquent declaration of belief in the Resurrection doctrine. 
 Soon afterwards he sent to Corinth a Letter of Expostulation, 
 in which he pleads his claim, by right of suffering and toil, 
 to the honour of Apostleship. This letter has become 
 attached to 2 Cor., and comprises chapters x. to xiii. The 
 (so-called) Second Epistle to the Corinthians followed (2 
 Cor. i. to ix.). It suggests a feeling of depression on the 
 part of the writer, and he expresses a hope for a recompense 
 after his afflictions. About this time he communicated with 
 the Christians at Ephesus ; and a portion of the epistle, 
 which we may call a Fragment of a Letter to the Ephesians, 
 now occupies a place in Romans (chap. xvi. 1-20) ; it 
 contains a list of salutations to friends. About 58 Paul 
 sent a letter to the Galatians, in which he dwelt, in eager 
 and vivid language, upon his doctrine of Moral Freedom, 
 and the obsolete character of all Jewish ritual and religious 
 routine. In the same year (58) so one would gather from 
 the great similarity in tone and diction Paul wrote his 
 letter to the Romans (i. to xiv. 23). Here he pursues the 
 same themes, and represents the Gospel as a new liberty 
 built upon the old Mosaic system ; love, he urged, was the 
 truest fulfilment of the Law. The i5th chapter does not 
 bear the stamp of genuineness. Portions of the letter to 
 the Colossians have the Pauline method the disdain for 
 circumcision and sabbaths, the new and ideal man who 
 discards all features of Greek, or Jew, or barbarian ; and the 
 kindly messages to friends. So also, in the epistle to the 
 Ephesians, there are Pauline passages which commend the 
 faith of the Saints, declare the Christian fellowship open to 
 circumcised or uncircumcised, exhort to gentleness and 
 charity, and to the wearing of the armour of light. While in 
 prison Paul sent an appeal to Philemon to take back the 
 runaway slave Onesimus, who had joined the Christian Way
 
 20 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 under the Apostle's persuasion. From Rome (62 or 63) he 
 dispatched the epistle to the Philippians. In this he 
 rejoices at the progress of the Christian movement, warns 
 against Judaism, and exhorts to a steady advance towards 
 the mark of the high calling. One or two passages are 
 doubtful e.g., " Beware of the dogs," an expression not 
 usual in Paul's writings. In iii. i the words, " Finally, my 
 brethren," may indicate the real end of the letter, and what 
 follows may be part of another letter. Also from prison 
 Paul wrote to Timothy (ii. Tim.) a letter which, we may 
 suspect, has been considerably interpolated. The genuine 
 sections will probably be those which refer to Timothy's 
 education, the apostle's imprisonment, the kindnesses he 
 had received from some, the coldness from others, and 
 his need of books, a cloak, and, most of all, sympathetic 
 companionship. Paul is believed to have died in 64. : 
 
 Not long after Paul's death an obscure Jewish sect in 
 Asia Minor had suffered persecution, and one of their 
 number, Antipas, had met a martyr's fate. An imaginative 
 adherent of this party whose chief tenet seems to have been 
 an expectation of a warlike Messiah wrote a series of visions 
 in a Book of the Unveiling, or Apocalypse (Revelation iv. 
 to xxii. 5), in which the final judgments of God upon the 
 pagan world were described in scenes of storm and blood. 
 Since it refers to the death of Caesar Nero (the Beast, the 
 Betters of whose name stand for the number 666), this 
 fierce manifesto may have been written in 68. Another 
 disciple of this Messianic sect probably wrote the Seven 
 Epistles to the seven groups or Churches (Rev. i. 9 to iii.). 
 The allusions to Jesus throughout the Apocalypse are few, 
 and, if these few phrases are removed, the Jewish character 
 of the work is at once clear. *A small Christian apocalypse 
 is found in the so-called Second Epistle to the Thessalonians, 
 which tells of the fiery coming of Jesus Christ, and the 
 
 1 An article by Professor van Manen in vol. iii. of the Encyclopedia 
 Biblica throws doubt on every epistle ascribed to Paul.
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 21 
 
 impending destruction of the Son of Perdition, the Man of 
 Sin, the Lawless One. This document is written in Paul's- 
 name, but has only one or two sentences suggestive of his style 
 e.g., the allusion to his self-reliance in earning his bread 
 (iii. 8). Yet another apocalypse is found in the Prophecy 
 of the Last Days, which has become embedded in the three 
 Synoptic Gospels (Matt. xxiv. 1-44 and x. 17-23; Mark 
 xiii. 1-37 ; Luke xvi. 5-36). It forewarns against false 
 Messiahs, prepares for the fall of Jerusalem, and looks for 
 the coming of the Son of Man. Its date may be 68. A 
 quieter atmosphere is suggested by the epistle of James, one 
 of the finest pamphlets of the New Testament. Its 
 doctrine is simple and ethical ; it teaches patience, mutual 
 goodwill, and sincerity, and severely condemns displays of 
 class-feeling at Christian meetings. The Epistle to the 
 Hebrews brings out hidden meanings from the Jewish 
 Law and ritual, and leads up to the High-priesthood of 
 Christ and the Eternal City. 
 
 Various persons, no doubt, made records of the traditions 
 and legends which had collected round the memory of the 
 obscure Galilean peasant who had perished shortly after 
 his entry into Jerusalem with a band of rustic followers. 
 The earliest documents have been lost. One of them, some- 
 times spoken of by critics as the Common Tradition, con- 
 tained parables, speeches, and incidents which are repeated 
 in the first three of the extant gospels. Towards the end 
 of the first century, perhaps (but the whole question rests 
 in cloud and uncertainty), the short gospel of Mark 
 appeared at Rome. The last paragraph (xvi. 9-20) was a 
 subsequent addition. And it may be that at this time an 
 early form of the gospel of Mattheiv was composed. 
 
 The other Jewish or Christian literature of this century 
 included the following : The Assumption of Moses (written 
 between 7 and 30), portraying the corruption of the house 
 of Herod, and predicting convulsions in heaven and earth, 
 and the deliverance of Israel ; the Books of the Maccabees^
 
 22 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 ///'., iv., v. ; more Sibylline. Oracles (about 80), resembling 
 the Apocalypse of Asia Minor ; the Testaments of the Twelve 
 Patriarchs, in which each of the twelve sons of Jacob leaves 
 counsel for his descendants ; and a group of works the 
 Martyrdom of Isaiah (telling how r the prophet was sawn 
 asunder), the Vision of Isaiah, and the Testament of 
 Hezekiah. (These three last-mentioned books were 
 collected into one work, entitled The Ascension of Isaiah.} 
 The visions of 2 Esdras (Ezra) foretold the Day of 
 Judgment and the downfall of Rome. The Apocalypse of 
 Baruch intimates the approach of a Golden Age ; the 
 Didache, or Teaching of the Apostles, exhibits the morality 
 and simple piety of a Jewish sect, and gives the parable 
 of the Two Ways of Life and Death. All these (except 
 the Vision of Isaiah and the Testament of Hezekiah) were 
 Jewish productions, and several of them were afterwards 
 altered to suit Christians' views. 
 
 Note. In this century the Buddhist scriptures first found their way 
 to China. The worship of Mithra, the sun-god, was widespread 
 through the Roman Empire. The chief emperors of the century were 
 Augustus (died 19), Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, 
 Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus (who subdued Jerusalem in 70), Domitian, 
 Xerva, and Trajan. In the reign of Titus, Pompeii and Herculaneum 
 were overwhelmed by the ashes of Vesuvius (79). Among classical 
 authors may be named Quintilian, Statius, Martial, Lucan, Silius, the 
 elder Pliny, Seneca, Juvenal, the younger Pliny, Tacitus, Dion Chry- 
 sostom, and Plutarch. Epictetus wrote his Encheiridion. Apollonius 
 of Tyana, a Pythagorean and travelling preacher, attained a great 
 reputation, and a temple was erected to his memory. Apion lectured 
 against the Jews, and Josephus wrote against Apion, besides publishing 
 his well-known historical works. Philo Judaeus was writing in Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 Second Century C.E. The gospel of Matthew was 
 added to, but parts of it as now known e.g., the first two 
 chapters, and the mention of the " Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost" (xxviii. 19) were not inserted till later. The 
 Gospel of the Hebrews (of which only fragments remain) 
 was produced about the same time as " Matthew." The 
 gospel of Luke appeared. At Rome, about 112, was com-
 
 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 23 
 
 posed the epistle entitled / Peter. It imitates the language 
 of Paul and James, and enjoins a blameless and charitable 
 life ; and its reference to Christ the Lamb without blemish 
 indicates the gradual development of the Messiah-Lamb 
 conception of the Apocalypse. The letters / and 2 Timothy 
 were interpolated. The epistle of Titus was issued under 
 cover of Paul's name, but its anxiety for the preservation 
 of " sound words " points to an age later than Paul's when 
 doctrines were becoming conventional ; and not only does 
 it advise the saints in general, but it gives special directions 
 that bishops shall avoid intemperance and brawling. The 
 book of Acts, which has very little historical value, may 
 have seen the light about 120-130. Paul's epistles to the 
 Colossians and Ephesians were rewritten, and the Gnostic 
 phrases were introduced (especially into the later e.g., 
 " sophia," "pleroma," "phronesis," etc.). In the letter 
 of Jude occur vehement denunciations of heretics 
 perhaps Gnostics. Of the three epistles called i, 2, j 
 John, in that to the Little Children we have mystical 
 meditations on Light, Life, Love, and Propitiation by 
 Blood ; in that to the Elect Lady a warning against Anti- 
 christ ; in that to Gains the false teacher Diotrephes is 
 censured. About 138 may have appeared the Fourth 
 Gospel (John), with its new and philosophical presentation 
 of the Christian religion ; the twenty-first chapter being a 
 subsequent insertion. The last book of the New Testa- 
 ment, 2 Peter, came out, possibly, about 150-170. It 
 decries cunningly-devised fables and heretical teachers, and 
 recommends Christians to read Paul's epistles. In a 
 singular manner it copies the epistle of St. Jude. 
 
 At an uncertain point in the first half of the second 
 century we must place the Gospel of Peter. Perhaps to this 
 period belongs the fragment known as Logia Jeson, or 
 Sayings of our Lord (" Except ye keep the Sabbath, ye shall 
 not see the Father "; " Raise the stone, and there thou shalt 
 find me," etc.). Between 95 and 125 was composed the 
 epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. The Teaching of the
 
 24 THE BUILDING OF THE BIBLE 
 
 Apostles received Christian re-touchings. Christian material 
 was worked into the Jewish Martyrdom of Isaiah. Descrip- 
 tions of Christ as descended from both Levi and Judah, 
 and as an interceding angel, etc., are introduced into the 
 Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. In 118 the book of 
 Koheleth was finally received into the Jewish canon. The 
 scholar Akylas made a new Greek translation of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures. In Alexandria was produced the epistle of 
 Barnabas, with its grotesque interpretations of Old Testa- 
 ment incidents. About 136 appeared the Rest of the Words 
 of Baruch : the first part is a story of the Babylonian exile ; 
 the second adds a vision in which the prophet Jeremiah 
 foresees the advent of Christ on the Mount of Olives. The 
 Shepherd of Hermas is a beautiful allegory dating 140-155. 
 The Mtshna (text of the Talmud] was still incomplete. 
 Justin Martyr wrote his Apology (about 150) and his 
 Dialogue with Trypho (Trypho is a Jew). Papias (died 
 160-170) composed a work now lost, the Exposition of the 
 Lord's Oracles. Aristides also wrote an Apology (between 
 138 and 161). The Sibylline Oracles were added to. 
 Poly carp may or may not have written (about 160) the 
 epistle ascribed to him. Tatian, a disciple of Justin Martyr, 
 combined the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
 into a Harmony called the Diatessaron, the date of which 
 lies between 150 and 180. 
 
 Note. The magnificent dialogue known as the Bhagavadgita 
 appeared in India in this century. The emperors who ruled Rome 
 were Trajan, Hadrian (died 138), Antoninus Pius (died 161), and 
 Marcus Aurelius (died 180), the author of the famous Meditations. 
 Other classical writers were the younger Pliny, Suetonius, Lucian, 
 Celsus, Apuleius, etc. 
 
 We have closed our chronology with the publication of 
 2 Peter, but it must be borne in mind that many years 
 passed before the books now called the New Testament 
 were formed into a fixed and sacred canon. 
 
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