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here and there in order to bring out the religious significance of the facts recorded. They would not be at pains to harmonize the style or even the contents of the different documents employed, the truth being, as we have more than once pointed out, that their interest in fact as mere fact was quite subordinate to the religious ideas by which they were influenced. And what is true of the compilers is to a great extent true of the original narrators. Their aim was to draw out the moral import of what they related, and in depicting the more prominent figures of their story, they were occasionally apt to ascribe their own beliefs and modes of thought to their hero 2.

Another point that strikes us in reading these books is the uniformity of tone displayed by the compilers. It is evident that they represent the views of a particular prophetic school, possessed by the conviction that the capital offence of Israel throughout the pre-exilic history had been perverted worship of Jehovah and idolatrous worship of other deities. Hence their conception of the past is uniformly pessimistic. The institution of monarchy, which seems at its first foundation to have been hailed with such hope and rejoicing, is in one of the two narratives of Saul's elevation regarded as the result of a disastrous apostasy from Jehovah ; and though after the establishment of the kingdom the reign of David for a time actually realized the ideal hopes of the nation, yet the general course of Israel's history is represented by these writers as one long and continuous declension from the religious position which the nation occupied at the death of Moses 4.

1 See 'the methods of oriental historiography,' well described in Prof. Kirkpatrick's Divine Library of the O. T. pp. 13-15. He observes that this compilatory method of composition brings us into a closer contact with the events and the actors than any other method of historical writing could have done.'

2 Cp. Cheyne, Aids to the Devout Study of Criticism, p. 26.

3 1 Sam. viii. 7. Cp. Driver, Introduction to the O. T. pp. 165 foll. Renan, Histoire, &c., bk. ii. ch. 14.

* Montefiore, op. cit. pp. 232 foll.

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A somewhat closer study will reveal to us a leading tendency in each book, and will show how far the historical element has given way to the didactic purpose of the writer. The book of Judges, which seems to be based on archaic narratives and songs already extant in oral or written form, describes the period of disintegration and comparative anarchy which followed the death of Joshua. There are elements of hope in the story, an upward movement towards the monarchy 1, an occasional outburst of fiery zeal for the honour of Jehovah, and a certain pride in adhering to His worship3. Nor does it appear that the state of morals was utterly lax. The phenomena are in fact such as might be looked for in a young and robust nationality in ‘a dark age of beginnings. But the period was certainly one of great disorganization. The conflicts described are mostly those of individual tribes-a fact which justifies the inference that the Judges were not so much rulers of the whole nation as tribal heroes or captains with local authority: probably some of the judges were holding office simultaneously in their respective tribes. The books of Samuel describe the origin of the two important institutions on which the future progress of the national religion mainly depended. It was the mission of Samuel to revive and reorganize the functions of prophetism, and to inaugurate the monarchy. Both of these institutions served the common purpose of impressing upon the nation the idea of Jehovah's immediate personal sovereignty, and of quickening the consciousness of Israel's ideal calling and destiny. The appointed task of the prophets was that of keeping alive the light of the Lord and causing it perpetually to

1 Cp. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p. 235; Bruce, Apologetics, p. 227. 2 Judges v. 13 foll., 23; viii. 4 foll.; xix. 29 foll.; xx. 1; xxi. 10 foll. 3 Judges xvii. 7 foll.; xviii. 18.

Bruce, l. c. Cp. the account in Renan, Histoire, &c., bk. ii. ch. 7. Wellhausen, pp. 233, 413. Cp. Meinhold, Jesus und das A. T. p. 36. • Isa. ii. 5.

beam out anew. They were to be in the highest sense 'the watchmen of the theocracy,' 'the conscience of the state,' the occasional organs of divine interposition in the national history. The beginnings of prophetism have been rightly called a 'pentecostal phenomenon' in the Old Testament. Though its origin was rude and chaotic, prophetism was destined to become a dominant factor in the progress of Hebrew religion'. The special significance of the monarchy, on the other hand, was that it habituated the nation to the idea of a human deputy or representative sitting upon the throne which properly belonged to Jehovah Himself. Its institution was the starting-point of the Messianic expectation in its stricter sense. And there are indications that the pessimistic view of the monarchy was not commonly held before the exile. It is neither consistent, strictly speaking, with the solemn significance attached to David's reign, nor with the glowing language of the prophets, whose ideal hopes centred in a prince belonging to David's house 3.

The books of Kings trace the fortunes of the kingdom down to the period of its dissolution, a noticeable feature of the record being the prominence assigned to prophets, of whom Elijah and Elisha are the chief. Where the historical narratives become fragmentary or defective, we are able to supplement them by means of the books of contemporary prophets. The general impression left by the story of the kingdom is one of ever-deepening gloom. The nation, together with its kings, continues to move along a downward path; the

1 See Delitzsch, O. T. History of Redemption, § 35.

2 1 Chron. xxviii. 5; xxix. 23. Cp. Schultz, O. T. Theology, i. 169. 3 See Wellhausen, Prolegomena, pp. 253, 254. Riehm observes in ATI. Theologie, p. 253: Nach dem älteren, dem nationalen Interesse mehr Rechnung tragenden Bericht (1 Sam. ix-x. 16) erscheint das Königtum schon als eine gottgewollte, die Freiheit, Selbständigkeit und Macht des Gottesvolkes bezweckende (1 Sam. ix. 16), den theokratischen Organismus konsolidierende und krönende Institution.' The same general tone of comment is found in Gen. xvii. 6, 16; xxxv. 11, and in the prophecy of Balaam (Num. xxiv. 7, 17).

heavy task of the prophets is to announce that the theocracy in its existing state is inevitably doomed. Such is the character, briefly described, of the writings included in former prophets.'

Of the later books, such as the Chronicles, I need here say very little. No one would place this work on a level with the original sources from which it derives its material1. The peculiarity of the chronicler is his intense interest in the sacred forms of Jewish religion as they existed during the period of the second temple. His work has been well described as 'a great historical theodicy . . . intended to further and to strengthen a religious ideal as it had shaped itself in the author's mind. The value of the work lies chiefly in its faithful portraiture of a prevalent mood, or temper of mind, which marked the closing centuries of Israel's history3. Occasionally no doubt the writer preserves information drawn from trustworthy ancient sources. But in one or two significant allusions to a Midrash, the chronicler seems to indicate the standpoint and character of his own work, which is to be regarded as a specimen of Haggadah, i.e. an independent and imaginative handling of historic tradition for purposes of popular edification. It is enough to mention by way of illustration the writer's transformation of David into a levitical saint, and his tendency to judge the character of each king of Judah by the standard of devotion to the levitical cultus and ceremonial law. What has been said of the books of Chronicles applies in some measure to those of Ezra and Nehemiah, since these works, which in the Jewish canon form a single book, were apparently compiled

''There is an end to historical study if we accept the later account against the earlier' (Robertson Smith, O. T. in J. C. lect. v). The Chronicles are minutely investigated by Wellhausen, Prolegomena, ch. vi, and Kuenen, Religion of Israel, ch. x. See also Kittel, Hist. of the Hebrews, ii. 229 foll.

2 Montefiore, Hibbert Lectures, p. 448.

3 Schultz, O. T. Theology, i. 407; Kuenen, l. c. The date of the books of Chronicles is probably between 300 and 250 B.C.

2 Chron. xiii. 22; xxiv. 27. Čp. Wellhausen, Prolegomena, p. 227. Driver, Introduction, &c., pp. 497, 506 foll.

by the author of the Chronicles1. Contemporary documents no doubt form the basis of each, but their historical value is somewhat impaired by their incompleteness and by the lateness of their compilation. It is not necessary, however, to consider these books particularly, especially in view of the fact that they find a place not among the historians in the 'former prophets,' but in the Hagiographa. With regard to the three last-mentioned books, our only concern is to disclaim for them a character which their very position in the canon seems to contradict3.

We are now free to reconsider the historical books, properly so called, the books of Judges, Samuel, and Kings, with a view to ascertaining their true importance and value.

We perhaps find a clue to the real character of these books in the significant circumstance that tradition ascribed the authorship of them to prophets. Wellhausen questions the opinion that the Hebrew people owed its historical annals to the labours of the prophets. But he allows that they 'shed upon the tradition their peculiar light,' and 'infused into it their own spirit.' In any case these books are clearly not to be regarded as history in the narrow sense of mere chronicles or annals. Their historical importance is undeniably great; taken in conjunction with the writings of contemporary prophets, where these are available, and with the evidence of inscriptions, they enable us to construct a fairly complete and trustworthy account of the actual course of events during the period they cover. But the point of chief importance is that their very title, former prophets,'

1 Robertson Smith thinks the Chronicles originally formed one book with Ezra and Nehemiah (O. T. in J. C. p. 182). Cp. Ryle, Canon of the O. T. p. 134.

2 The same remark applies to the book of Esther, the historical value of which is a matter of dispute. See Driver, op. cit. p. 452. It was with some difficulty admitted to the canon (Robertson Smith, O. T. in J. C. PP. 183 foll.).

Cp. Ryle, Canon of the O. T. pp. 139-141.

3

4

Prolegomena, p. 293.

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