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A SUMMARY OF THE BOOKS

mainly because the scene seems to be wholly laid in a time when the return from eaptivity is near (Cyrus is mentioned by name, xliv. 28); and on similar grounds the authorship of Isaiah has been denied also in the case of chaps. xiii., xiv. 1-23, xxi. 1-10, xxv.-xxvii. Xxxiv, XXXV. Arguments from style and language have been used on both sides of the controversy. One of the main arguments for the Isaianic authorship of the disputed passages is the literary relation which they present to the writings of Zephaniah and Jeremiah (compare e.g. Isa. xlvii. 8, 10 with Zeph. ii. 15; Isa. xliv. 12-15, xli. 7, xlvi. 7 with Jer. x. 1-16, &c.).

Isaiah's chief merit is his manysidedness. He excels in various styles, and combines the inoral qualities of several less eminent prophets (especially Amos and Hosea), He deepened the prophetic idea of the Day of the Lord, and gave a new turn to the current expectations of the Messiah. He is the first to hint at the Virgin Birth (vii. 14); and while describing the glories of the Messianic Kingdom (ix. 1-7) and its beneficent effects (xi.1-9, lx. 1522, lxi. 1, 3) he also gives to the "servant of Jehovah " (perhaps originally the people of Israel in its ideal aspect) a peculiar character of mildness (xlii. 1), and speaks of him as making atonement for sin by humiliation and suffering (iii); moreover he looks forward in a striking manner to the ultimate inclusion of the Gentiles (xi. 1016, xix. 23-25, xlii. 6, xlix. 6, 22, 23, lx. 1-16). These remarkable anticipations of Christianity have obtained for Isaiah the name of the Evangelical Prophet. The first part of the book (i.-xxxix) contains (1) a collection of prophecies relating to Judah, when Ahaz its king was threatened by the confederated forces of Rezin and Pekah-the distress and Messianic salvation (i-ix. 6); (2) prophecies against foreign nations, partly those which occupied the horizon in the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah (Samaria, Assyria, Philistia, Moab, Damascus, Ethiopia, Egypt, Arabia, Tyre), and partly those which were to occupy it at a later date, e. g. Babylon, which is also alluded to under the name "desert of the sea" (ix. 7-xxvii. 13); (3) a further collection of prophecies relating to Israel-pointing the moral of the fall of Samaria (xxviii.-xxxv.); (4) a historical supplement (xxxvi.xxxix.). The subjects of the second part may be said to be (1) the Deliverance which God is about to work for His people through the instrumentality of Cyrus (xl.-xlviii.); (2) the Atonement which the sufferings of the "servant of Jehovah" should accomplish for the nation (xlix.-lvii.); (3) the restored and reformed Jerusalem, into which, after due penitence and the execution of Divine judgment, even the heathen should be gathered (iviii,-lxvi.) JEREMIAH.

kiah's. This will shew the confusion of arrangement
which characterises Jeremiah's prophecies as they have
come down to us, a confusion which is yet further in-
The prominent ides
creased in the Septuagint version.
in Jeremiah is the Covenant broken, but to be renewed
The personal character of the Messiah retires somewhat
into the background (see, however, the prophecy of the
"Branch" in chap. xxiii. 1-8). The style of Jeremiah
is more diffuse than that of Isaiah, but characterized by
great tenderness.
LAMENTATIONS.

Lamentations is one of the five Megilloth for Rolls, and is read by the Jews on the ninth of Ab, the day on which the 1st Temple was destroyed. The book is traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah (though the internal evidence for this is by no means decisive), and was called forth by the destruction of Jerusalem. The first four chapters are acrostic poems (see Proverbs, sect. 5); chaps i. . ir. have each 22 verses, according to the number of the Hebrew letters; chap. iii. has 66 verses, but every three verses begin with the same letter: they are, however, shorter than the others; chap. y. has the same number of verses as the other three, but the arrangement is not alphabetical. In the first chapter the sacred poet describes the miseries the city had undergone, in the se cond he dwells on them in connection with the nation's sins, in the third his plaint becomes apparently mere personal, though the speaker is really not the poet himself, but the ideal righteous but suffering Israelite, in the fourth he depicts the degradation of Zion on account of sin, and in the fifth he prays that her reproach may be taken away, and that she may renew her days as of cud EZEKIEL

He was

family of Zadok, of whom, however, nothing is known
Ezekiel was the son of Buzi, a priest probably of the
He was the younger contemporary of Jeremiah, and
like him prophesied before and after the destruction of
Jerusalem, though he was in the Land of the Captinty,
and not with Jeremiah in Judea and Egypt. This must
always be borne in mind in reading Ezekiel.
one of the leading Jews at Jerusalem who, together wi
the king Jehoiachin, were carried away by Nebuchad
nezzar 599 B.C. The place assigned to him was in Meso i
potamia, on the river Chebar, the modern Arber. He
prophesied from about 594 till 672 BC, which is the latest
date given, viz. the 27th year of Jehoiachin's capurity
(chap. xxix. 17). The book has four main divisions:-
chap. i-xxiv., prophecies mainly directed against Israe
condemning the perjury of the alliance with Egypt after i
accepting vassalage under Babylon, and announcing the
approaching fall of Jerusalem; (2) chaps. X.-1
prophecies against foreign nations, Moabites, Edomites
Philistines, who had triumphed maliciously over Israel's
calamities, against Tyre and Sidon, and also against
Egypt and Pathros, Israel's useless allies: these are not in
order of time, but the dates are given: (3) xi-m
the reproof of unfaithful shepherds, the vision of dry
bones, the overthrow of Gog, &c. &c.) the vision of the
temple and its measurement, a symbol of the restored!
theocracy. A chief characteristic of Ezekiel's writing
is their Apocalyptic or visionary nature: in this respect
they resemble Daniel, Zechariah, and the Revelation of
St. John. These writings doubtless did much to wer
the reform which was accomplished during the Captivity
-the old tendency to idolatry giving place to a staunch
and loyal monotheism. Ezekiel insists strongly upes
the observance of the Law, ceremonial as well as mora:
(in this showing perhaps his priestly descent; he is the
most priestly among the prophets"). At the same time
he lays stress upon the necessity for personal righteous-
ness, and upon personal responsibility. The Messianic
expectation takes with him the form of "David the
Good Shepherd" (xxxiv. 23, xxxvii. 24), who shall regu
over a restored and morally renewed people. The style
of this prophet is marked by a frequent use of symbuis.
DANIEL.

Jeremiah prophesied from the 13th year of Josiah,
629 B.C., down to the destruction of Jerusalem, 588 B.C.
and later, for a period therefore of more than 40 years,
He was of priestly family, and was called when a youth
(chap. i. 6, 7). He seems to have dwelt at Anathoth
(chap. xi. 18-23) at first, and afterwards in Jerusalem,
where he was when the city was taken (chap. xxxvii. 28).
It is not improbable that he was the son of Hilkiah the
high priest (2 Kings xxii. 8). Tradition asserts that he
was stoned by the Jews at Tahpanhes in Egypt (chap.
xliv. 1). The book may be divided as follows:-(1) chaps.
1.-xxxiii., prophecies mingled with history, from the call-
ing of the Prophet onwards, and consisting chiefly of
threatenings of judgment and punishment upon the
people who have broken the Covenant which God had
made with them-the possession of the Temple should
not help them any more than that of Shiloh had done-
yet with a final prospect of salvation and the institution
of a new Covenant based on moral regeneration; (2)
chaps. xxxiv.-xlv., historical narrative, chiefly of the
siege of Jerusalem and the sufferings of the prophet
during it, with prophecies after the taking of the city,
the last chapter referring to Baruch; (3) prophecies to
foreign nations, some untrustworthy allies, some hostile
to Israel, and others, like Israel, the prey of the Chal-
dæans, viz. Egypt, Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Edom, Da- The Book of Daniel, though classed by us with the
mascus, Kedar, and Elam (chaps. i. 6, xlv.,-li.); (4) a greater prophets, is placed in the Jewish Canon betwee
historical appendix by another hand (lii.). In chap. xxxvi. Esther and Ezra. As early as the age of Porphyry, c.r.
2, 23, we find mention of a roll which was burnt by the 270 A.D., this fact was treated as an indication of its
king. This probably contained what we now have in having been written after the age of prophecy (and even
chaps. i-xix., or the bulk of it. At all events, chap. xxi. in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes), though the fact
belongs to the time of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah; of its being placed before Ezra would seem to contradict
chaps. xxii., xxiii, belong to the reign of Jehoiakim, who the latter inference. Daniel was taken captive in the
was made king by Pharaoh-Nechoh after the death of third year of Jehoiakim (or about 607 B.C.), and carried
Josiah; chap. xxiv. to Zedekiah's reign; chaps. xxv., xxvi. to Babylon, where he attained to great eminence under
to Jehoiakim's. In chap. xxvii. 1. Jehoiakim is probably a successive monarchs, and died probably about 533 RC.
mistake for Zedekiah (see ver. 3). Chaps. xxviii.-xxxiv. This book is written partly in Hebrew and partly in Ara-
belong to Zedekiah's reign, chaps. xxxv., xxxvi. to Jehoi-maic, the latter part being chaps. ii. 4-vii. It is partly his-
akim's, chaps. xxxvii.-xliv. to Zedekiah's, and later, toric, narrating chiefly the rise and influence of Daniel at
chaps. xiv. xlix. to Jehoiakim's, chaps. 1., li. to Zede- the Babylonian court, and the capture of Babylon by the

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OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.

Medes (chaps. i-vi.), and partly prophetic or apocalyptic, containing a forecast of Jewish history based upon the prophecies of Jeremiah (chaps. vii.-xii.). The second part consists of a remarkable series of visions, in which the Messiah is (according to A.V., which, however, many Hebrew scholars regard as incorrect) for the first time mentioned by name in connection with the prediction of the 70 weeks (ix. 25, 26); in these chapters also occurs the first mention of the title" son of man" (vii. 13). It is to

The Prophets.

The Minor Prophets are so called from the smaller bulk of their writings, which form a single volume in the Hebrew. They are twelve in number, and extend over a period of about 400 years, nearly equal to that from Chaucer to Wordsworth. Arranging them roughly in chronological order, their succession would be:-Before the Captivity, Joel, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, Zechariah II. (?), Nahum, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Jeremiah; during the Captivity, Obadiah (?), Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah II. (; after the Captivity, Haggai, Zechariah I., Malachi, Jonah, Hosca, and perhaps Nahum belonged to the northern kingdom; all the rest were Judæans; Amos, though born at Tekoa, a city of Judah, addressed his prophecies partly to the northern tribes (Amos vii. 10-17). Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and possibly Joel and Habakkuk were of priestly or Levitical, Isaiah and Zephaniah probably of royal, descent; Amos was a shepherd, without regular prophetical training (Amos vii. 14, 15). HOSEA.

Hosea, the first in order of the Minor Prophets, was an elder contemporary of Isaiah. His mission, which was to the Ten Tribes only, continued till somewhat later probably than the capture of Samaria, in 721 B.C. He was also contemporary with Amos and Micah. The leading idea of this prophet is the Divine love for Israel, which will survive even the chastisement brought down by its sins. In the first part of the book (chaps. i.-iii.), Israel's sin is set forth symbolically as adultery against God; the second part (chaps. iv.-xiv.) consists of warning and hortatory addresses. The style and language of Hosea are very obscure. He prophesied the destruction of Samaria, the capital and last remnant of Jeroboam's nation, chap. xiii. 16; the rejection of the Ten Tribes until their repentance and turning to God in a long distant future, when they should share in the in-gathering of the Gentiles, chaps. i. 10, ii. 23 (see Rom. ix, 25, 26): the return of the children of Israel to David their king. chap. iii. 5; and the destruction of Judah. The book is a mine of allusions to the earlier history and the books of Moses, eg. chaps. iv. 15; v. 8, see Judg. v. 14; chaps. x. 9, xi. 8, xfi. 3–13; xiii. 5, Ex. iii. 15, &c., &c.

JOEL.

Joel was a prophet to Judah (chaps. ii. 1, 15, 17, 23, 32, iii. 1-8, 16-21), familiar with the Temple and its services, and the valley of Jehoshaphat (chap. iii. 2, 12). His date is uncertain. Many think that Joel prophesied as early as the time of Joash, 875-850 B.C. This is inferred from the absence of allusion to the pressure that afterwards came to be felt from Syria and Assyria. Others, however, would place him later, about 800 B.C. In either case he would be the earliest of the Prophets whose writings have come down to us. On the other hand, an influential minority of critics regard Joel as one of the post-Captivity prophets, basing this view on the internal evidence of the book itself, such as the exclusive importance attached to the priests in chap. i., and the apocalyptic features of chap. ii. Some of his last words are taken up by Amos (chap. iii. 16, see Amos i. 2). The book contains three main prophecies:-The plague of locusts, chaps. i. and ii.; the gift of the Holy Ghost, chap. ii. 28; the judgment in the valley of Jehoshaphat, chap. iii. 2. Interpreters are greatly divided as to whether by locusts the prophet meant a plague of real locusts or the Assyrian Invasion, or possibly prophesied the second under some particular visitation of the former.

AMOS.

All we know of Amos is derived from his writings in chaps i and vii. He prophesied during part of the time that Uzziah and Jeroboam II. were contemporaries in Judah and Israel respectively, i.e. between 810 and 784 B.C.; he was, therefore, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah. Amos opens his message (chap. i. 2) with the words of Joel (iif. 16), shewing thereby that Joel preceded him. Nothing is known of the earthquake in the time of Uzziah, except that it is alluded to in Zech. xiv. 5, and that it appears to have supplied the imagery in Mic. i. 4, Nah. i. 5, Isa. vi. 10-21, and many parts of Amos. Amos is remarkable for the severity of his moral tone, and his prophecy has been well described

be noted that during the Captivity the older parable-prophecy came to be succeeded by the vision-prophecy, of which the Book of Daniel is an example. Belshazzar is most probably identified with Bel-shar-uzar, the eldest son and heir-apparent of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. Darius the Mede is variously identified with Astyages, Cyaxares II. (who is, however, only known from Xenophon's Cyropadia, a doubtful authority), and a viceroy of that name under Cyrus.

(The Twelve Minor.)

as "a succession of earthquake shocks." The mission of the prophet was to Israel, but he prophesied also against Judah and the surrounding nations, whose sins would call down upon them punishment. He concludes a series of denunciations and symbolic visions by a prophecy of the restored theocracy of the Messianic time. This book contains numerous references to the books of Moses. OBADIAH.

Of Obadiah we know absolutely nothing, not even the time when he lived. He is probably not the same as the Obadiah mentioned in 1 Kings xviii. His position among the Minor Prophets is in favour of an early date, and it is possible that Joel ii. 32 refers to the last verse of Obadiah, in which case he must, of course, have been in Jer. xlix, that it seems antecedently more probable contemporary with Joel. So much of Obadiah is found that Jeremiah should have quoted from Obadiah, than that Obadiah in his very brief prophecy should have incorporated so much of Jeremiah. Still some have thought that the denunciation of Edom, corresponding as it does closely with Ps. cxxxvii. 7, Ezek. xxxv., points to the period of the exile. The prophecy consists chiefly of this denunciation, but ends with a prospect of Messianic deliverance and triumph.

JONAH.

All that we know of Jonah is derived from the book that bears his name, and from the statement in 2 Kings xiv. 25, which shows that he, at least, was a prophet that in Kings we may place him early in the reign of Jeroarose out of Galilee (see John vii. 52). By the reference boam II., 824-783 B.C.; he was probably one of the earliest of the Minor Prophets. The book contains an account of the mission of Jonah to Nineveh-afterwards the bitter foe of Israel, by whom Samaria was to be destroyed and Judah attacked under Hezekiah-his voyage and miraculous preservation, his preaching of repentance in Nineveh, and the lesson taught him by the incident of the gourd. story of Jonah is to be regarded as an allegory or para. Some have thought that the ble. The principal argument against this view is the reference to it by our Lord (Matt. xii. 40, xvi. 4, &c.). The book seems intended to teach a two-fold lesson, (1) the power of repentance, (2) a tolerant and generous spirit towards non-Israelitish peoples.

MICAH.

Micah was contemporary with, though younger than Isaiah, as may be seen by the date given (chap. i. 1). His name is a shorter form of Micaiah (1 Kings xxii.), and is given in full in Jer. xxvi. 18. He seems to allude to the significance of his own name, i.e." Who is like unto the Lord" (chap. vii. 18). Like the rest of the earlier prophets, he denounces judgment first against Samaria and then against Jerusalem. After the judg ment will come a restoration and the reign of the Messiah, who shall arise out of Bethlehem. Micah insists strongly upon the moral requirements of the covenant (vi. 6-8), upon the pacific character of the Messiah's kingdom (v. 3, 4), and upon the mercy of God in forgiving sin (vil. 18). The passage, chap iv. 1 3 has either been copied in Isa. ii. 2-4, or has been taken by both prophets from an older writer. In chap. vi. 4. 5, there is a striking reference to the history of Balaam, as recorded in Num. xxii.-xxiv. Micah begins his prophecy with the words uttered by his great namesake, Micaiah, 150 years before (comp. chap. i. 2 with 1 Kings xxii. 28), and recurs to them more than once: viz, as chaps, iii. 1. 9, vi. 1. His prophecy ends with a clear reference to the promises in Genesis, shewing that they had for centuries been the hope of Israel. Micah is referred to in Matt. ii. 6, 6; x. 35, 30; Mark xiii, 12; Luke xii. 63; John vil. 42.

NAHUM.

Nahum is called the Elkoshite, but whether from a town named Elkosh in Galilee (comp. Caper-naum-the village of Nahum), or from an Alkush near Mosul, is not known. Neither is his date certain. Chap. i. 4 is appropriate to an inhabitant of Palestine (comp. i, 15). The only clue to the date is in the allusion to the destruction of No-Amon, i.e. Egyptian Thebes, in chap. iii. 8; this

SUMMARY OF THE BOOKS

probably occurred in the conquest of Egypt by Esarhaddon, so that Nahum would be a contemporary of Manasseh. The main object of the prophecy is to threaten the vengeance of Jehovah against Nineveh. Nineveh was destroyed 607 B.C.

HABAKKUK.

The fall of Nineveh was succeeded by the domination of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and it was against this power that Habakkuk prophesied, predicting its fall, which took place in 536 B.C. Nothing whatever is known of his personal history. It is probable that he prophesied towards the end of the reign of Josiah, or at the beginThis short book has two ning of that of Jehoiakim. parts, consisting (1) of a dialogue which the prophet holds with God, chaps. i.-ii.; and (2) of a prayer or hymn. which he writes for use in the Temple-worship. So much at least is generally inferred from iii. 19, though the extreme obscurity of the language (reminding us of Arabian poetry renders it most improbable that it was intelligible to the people. In the former is found the famous maxim of St. Paul, "The just shall live by faith," or, as Habakkuk himself expresses it, The righteous shall live by (or in) his faithfulness" (his trustworthiness in all the relations of life, while in the latter the prophet reviews the past history of his nation, and derives from it lessons of confidence and strength in God, notwithstanding any calamities that may befall the nation or himself. ZEPHANIAH.

Zephaniah carries back his genealogy to one Hizkiah in the fourth generation, who is thought by some to have been the king Hezekiah. He prophesied in the reign of Josiah, probably between the 12th and 18th year, i.e. about the time that Jeremiah's mission began, but before the destruction of Nineveh, 607 B.C. (chap. ii. 13). This prophet has no definite prediction of the Messiah, but he foresees the time when the Gentiles shall serve the Lord with one consent (chap. iii. 9, 10), and the extinction of idolatry (chap. i. 4, &c.). His prophecies are directed against Judah and Jerusalem, the judgment that shall light upon whom should pass first over Philistia, Moab, Ammon, Ethiopia, and Nineveh, ie Assyria; but he concludes with the promise of brighter times for the daughter of Zion.

HAGGAI

Haggai was the 1st of the prophets after the Captivity, and contemporary with Zechariah and Zerubbabel. His prophecy, short as it is, is of the greatest importance, and should be read (like Zech. i-viii.) in close connexion with the history of the times. The several dates of his prophetic messages are accurately fixed, even to the day on which they were delivered His mission lasted from the 1st day of the 6th month to the 24th day of the 9th month of the year 520 BC, or the second year of Darius Hystaspis. In this brief space, he was the bearer of 4 distinct messages from God to the governor and the people who were engaged in re

building the Temple (chaps. i. 1: ii. 1, 10, 201. The work was begun in the second year of Cyrus, 535 B.C-was then, for some years, abandoned in despair (Ezra iv. and v.)- but resumed at the exhortations of Haggai and Zechariah, and completed in the sixth year of Darius, 516 B.C. (Ezra vi. 14, 15). Haggai foretold the future greatness of the second Temple in spite of its apparens inferiority to the first ii. 6-9j.

ZECHARIAH.

Zechariah began his mission about two months later than Haggai, and the last date found in his book is in chap. vii. 1, the 4th year of Darius, so that his prophetic activity lasted for about two years The decay of prophecy is very visible in the undisputed part of the book and his emphatic reference to the former prophets (1.4-6; vii. 7, 12) shows the writer's consciousness of the growing decline of the prophetic position and influence The book consists of-(1) a preface (chap i. 1-6, folcel about three months afterwards by a succession of visions, chaps, i. 7-vi. 15; (2) a series of prophecies without n sions, chs. vii., viii.; (3) prophecies introduced as "the burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Hadrach chaps. ix.-xi.: (4) prophecies introduced as "the burden of the word of the Lord for Israel," chaps. xii-xiv. 1: has long been a matter of question whether the last 6 chapters of Zechariah belong to him. Some think that chaps. ix., x, xi. belong to an earlier period, because of the frequent mention of Ephraim as though he were still a people (comp. Isa. vii. 8); and that chaps xiii, xiv. were written, at all events, after the death of Josiah (see chap. xii. 11), but whether before or after the Captivity is uncertain. It is remarkable that there chapters, though addressed to Israel (chap. xii. 1), are chietly occupied with Judah and Jerusalem. Chaps -xi. have been ascribed by some critics to Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah mentioned in Isa. vii. 2 peaceful character of the Messianic reign is strikingly brought out in chap. ix. 9, 10; chaps. xi. 13. x. 10, in 7 are also typically applied in the New Testament. MALACHI

The

Malachi, evidently the last of the prophets, from the correspondence of his subject matter with that of Neh. xii, is thought to have been contemporary with Nebemiah. His style is prosaic, like that of the other postcaptivity prophets, and has one singular characteristic which reminds of the later Rabbis and of the Christian Rabbi-St. Paul, viz, the use of dialogue as a means of instruction. The Temple Service was in existence, chaps. i. 10, iii. 1, 10. The nation had a political chief (chap 1 8), bearing the same title that Nehemiah bore, Neh ri 26. Some believe the name Malachi to be not a proper name, but a pseudonym "My (ie. Jehovah's) Messenger or Angel" The subject of his prophecy is the judgment which shall be wrought by the "Messenger of the covenant," the second Elijah, forerunner of the Mes siah. Malachi is quoted in St. Mark i. 2, ix. 11, 12, Lake i. 17. Rom. ix. 13.

The New Testament.

The New Testament, or Covenant, derives its name from Luke xxii. 20 (comp. 1 Cor. xi. 25; Heb. ix. 15 -22; in other passages the reading is doubtful), where our Lord speaks of Himself as concluding a "new covenant (A. V. testament) by His death. The more common figure in the Gospels is that of the " king dom of heaven" (St. Matthew), or "kingdom of God" (St. Mark and St. Luke), which He came to found: the theocratic kingdom of the Old Testament becomes the Messianic kingdom of the New. The New Testament contains at once the history and conditions of this covenant or kingdom. It is, however, differently composed from the Old Testament. It does indeed begin with a group of histories (the Gospels and Acts), but its doctrinal teaching is conveyed no longer by prophecies or psalms, but by a series of letters from the leaders of the Church addressed to a number of different Christian communities. This is a natural consequence of the fact that Christianity ceased to be confined to a single territory and people, and became a missionary religion with outposts scattered throughout the world. The instruction put on paper for the use of these outlying communities has become the permanent law of Christians. Of the whole body of Epistles thus collected, thirteen are by the hand of a single writer, the Apostle St. Paul; one, though anonymous, has been attributed to him, probably without sufficient reason (Hebrews). The remaining seven are classed together as the Catholic or General Epistles. They are so called because the longest and most important of them were addressed,

not like the majority of St. Paul's Epistles to a particular Church or individual, but to a number of churches The larger Epistles all being of this character, were distinguished from St. Paul's by the name Cathole or General; and the two smaller Epistles of St. John came to be classed with them, though the name was not strictly applicable to them. In later usage the name Catholic, applied to a writing, was almost equivalent to "canonical." The New Testament closes with a work which is only partially paralleled in the Old Testament. though it has several more complete counterparts among the Apocryphal writings-an Apocalypse," or description under symbolic forms of the final triumph of the Messianic kingdom.

But in order to understand the organic growth of the New Testament literature, it is necessary to look upon it in another light. Christianity sprang out of Judaism. It fulfilled the hopes raised by the Old Testament, but it fulfilled them in a way that no Israelite expected, and gave to them at the same time an entirely new developement. Hence it was not surprising that the Jews as a body refused to embrace Christianity, and that those who did embrace it were some time before they could recon cile themselves to all its principles and consequences. Christ came as the Jewish Messiah, but His work on earth was utterly different from what it was expected that the Messiah's work would be. Even the Apostles themselves were overwhelmed by its seemingly disastrous close. Only the startling miracle of the Resurrection awoke them to a sense of its true significance, and that

OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT.

not all at once, but in part by slow degrees. The Resurrection proved that, in spite of the ignominy and apparent failure of the Cross, Jesus was still the Messiah, and it followed necessarily from this that the Messianic kingdom was not what they had imagined. But at first we may suppose that all the Apostles, and for some time to come very many of their converts, got no way beyond this. They accepted Jesus as the Messiah who had left them only to return speedily in power and great glory," but in all other respects they remained true Jews, attending the Temple services and observing the rites and ordinances of Judaism. The first marked step in advance was made through the Hellenistic or foreign Jews. These were naturally accessible to wider ideas than the natives of Palestine; and one of their leaders, the Deacon Stephen, fearlessly proclaimed the insufficiency and dissolution of the Mosaic system. His death, and the persecution which followed, served only to spread the doctrines for which he died. One of his fellow deacons, St. Philip, and even St. Peter himself, began to extend their preaching to Samaritans and proselytes. Meantime a purely Hellenist (if not actually Gentile-a point which depends upon the reading of Acts xi. 20) Church was founded at Antioch. Here a new character appeared upon the scene. Saul of Tarsus, one of Stephen's persecutors, now a Christian, undertakes a mission journey to Cyprus and the south of Asia Minor, in which he is persistently repelled by the Jews, but meets with success among the Gentiles. This raised the question of principle definitely, and a formal conference was held at Jerusalem under the presidency of St. James to decide it. As the result of this the right of Gentiles to admission into the Church, as such, was conceded; nor was their right materially qualified by the restrictive conditions applied to the Churches hitherto founded. From henceforth St. Paul preached boldly among the Gentiles, undeterred by the plots and intrigues of the extreme Judaizing party who dogged his footsteps and thwarted him at every turn. In his intercourse with the Gentile Churches he formulates

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the inferences which he himself had drawn from the teaching and the life of Christ. Not only is Jesus the Messiah, but His death, so far from being a failure, alters the whole relations of God to man. Faith in Christ crucified is henceforth the great motive power. In this way man may attain to righteousness and salvation, which were impossible to him under the régime of legal observance. The Gentile who believes is no whit behind the Jew; and circumcision is not only unnecessary, but positively harmful to him as the badge of a slavery from which he has been delivered. This is the root-idea of St. Paul's teaching; and this again he developes in opposition to the various perversions which rapidly grew up in the Church through contact with the strange offshoots of Jewish and Gentile philosophy which were then current. The work that he began was continued after his death. The Gospel of St. Luke, and in a still more marked way the Gospel and Epistles of St. John, bring to the front that higher unity in which Judaism and Christianity are reconciled; while the Epistle to the Hebrews at an earlier date had shown how the types and shadows of the Law became realities in the Gospel. On the opposite side the more extreme forms of Judaising teaching have found no admission into the New Testament. For them we have to look to the Apocryphal literature. But the elder Apostles, as might have been expected, grasped the new ideas less forcibly. Of these St. Peter in his two Epistles comes nearest to St. Paul. St. James confines himself more to the simple teaching of a pure Christian morality, presenting Christianity not in its profounder theological aspects, but as the "royal law" of love; while St. John, in his earlier stage, as a genuine "son of thunder," fulminates against the backslidings of the Churches of Asia, and, like a second Daniel, revives the forms of Apocalyptic vision. Where the progress of doctrine was so rapid, and its ramifications so varied, it is important to bear in mind the chronological relations and doctrinal affinities of the different books, which may be best represented in a Table such as the following:BOOKS.

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DATE OF BOOKS, A.D.

52 (late).

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1 Thessalonians (from Corinth) 2 Thessalonians (from Corinth)

1 Corinthians (from Ephesus; against both Jewish and Gentile partisanship and Gentile immorality)

53 (Autumn).

57*(Spring)

2 Corinthians (from Macedonia against Judaizing partisans) | 57* (late). Galatians (from Greece; against Pharisaic Judaism).. Romans (from Corinth)...

58 (early).

...... 58*(Spring).

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Fire at Rome and Neronian persecution..

Deaths of St. Peter and St. Paul..

Philemon (from Rome).

1St. Peter (from Rome or Babylon)....
Epistle of St. Jude..

St. Matthew's Gospel (Palestine).

1 Timothy (from Macedonia against incipient Gnosticism) Titus (from Macedonia).

2 Timothy (from Rome)..

2 St. Peter.....

St. Mark's Gospel.....

Epistle to the Hebrews..

65 or 66.

66.

66?

67.

67.

67-69.

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GALBA, EMPEROR OTHO, VITELLIUS, VES

PASIAN, EMPERORS..

The Revelation (Patmos).

70

Taking of Jerusalem.

79-81

TITUS, EMPEROR.

81-96

DOMITIAN, EMPEROR

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................ St. Luke's Gospel..

Acts of the Apostles...

St. John's Gospel and Epistles (Ephesus)..

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The denotes that the date assigned rests upon strong evidence; the absence of any mark that it rests upon probable vidence or conjecture; ? that the evidence or conjecture is more precarious.

A SUMMARY OF THE BOOKS

The Gospels.

The Gospels of St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. Luke are frequently classed together as the "Synoptic Gospels," from a Greek word meaning capable of being seen at once, or of being arranged in parallel columns. This name is given to them from the amount of common matter found in all three. Some think that this large common element in them represents the oral teaching of the Apostles during the time that they lived together in Palestine. Others believe that this oral teaching had been already committed to writing by St. Mark at the time when the other two Gospels were written, and that St. Mark's Gospel lay before the other two Evangelists. These two appear to be the most probable of many theories of the relation of the first three Gospels to each other. The first two Gospels were probably written before, and the third not very long after, the destruction of Jerusalem. The fourth Gospel was thought at a very early date to be intended as supplementary to the other three, and this would certainly seem to have been one of the objects (though hardly perhaps the main object) present to the mind of the writer. It was the latest written of the four. Recent discoveries and investigations have made it certain that all four Gospels were current before the middle of the second century. Indeed, at a date little later than this, a harmony

ST. MATTHEW.

of them appears to have been published under the name of "Diatessaron," or Four-fold Gospel ty Tatian, a disciple of Justin Martyr. About this time the Gospels seem to have been translated into Latr, soon afterwards into Syriac, and then into the Egyptian dialects. By the end of the century they occury a position very similar to that which we now describe as Canonical.' But the strongest evidence for the trunk of the Gospel narrative is to be found in the Gospels themselves. It is impossible to separate the miraculis from the non-miraculous portions, even if it were posEble to explain Christianity without miracies. The narra tive taken as it stands forms a consistent and orberent whole, and explains the facts so as nothing else can explain them. It has been usual to assign to the four Evangelists the symbolic figures described in Rey, iv. 7. Of the different modes of distributing these the best is perhaps that of St. Augustine, who assigns to St. Matthew the LD, 25 representing the royal dignity of Christ; to St. Mark the Man, as pourtraying most carefully His human nature: to St. Luke the Ox, as the sacrificial victim; to St. Juèn the soaring Eagle, which pierces the clouds and gas directly upon the sun. The more common order gives to St Mark the Lion, and to St. Matthew the Man.

Sermon on the Mount (chaps. v., ri, vii.), the discourse Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, who lived in the early on the mission of the Twelve (chap. x.), the resp part of the 2nd century, relates that "Matthew compos-parables (chap. xiii.), the denunciation of the Fhansers ed the oracles in the Hebrew [i.e. the later Hebrew, or (chap. xxiii.), and the eschatological discourses chan Aramaic] tongue, and every one interpreted them as he xxiv., xxv.). The narrative does not seem to follow y was able. Valuable as this statement is, both on account strict chronological order; in the latter portion of the of its date and from the fact that Papias seems to have Gospel it adheres closely to the order in St. Mark. got his information from persons who had been in conContents. tact with St. Matthew himself, there are several

in it which are still matter of much obscurity. It has

been proved that the word translated "oracles" may refer to the whole Gospel as we now have it, including both discourse and narratives; but there are still some who think that Papias is speaking of a collection of discourses only, which at an early date became united with a body of narratives resembling, if not identical with. our present Gospel of St. Mark. Irenæus, the celebrated bishop of Lyons, who wrote about 180 A.D., also says that the Gospel was originally written in Hebrew, and adds that it was written while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and founding [i.e. organising] the Church." This would be about 64-67 A.D. The earliest witnesses concur in stating that Hebrew, or Aramaic, was the original language of the Gospel; but, if so, it must have been very soon translated into Greek. After the taking of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the number of Hebrew-speaking Christians bore a small proportion to those who spoke Greek. Hence the Greek form of the Gospel survived, while the Hebrew form fell out of use. It is a further question of much intricacy, what was the relation of St. Matthew's original Hebrew Gospel to a so-called "Gospel according to the Hebrews" which was current in the 2nd century, and of which fragments have come down to us. These fragments, in their present shape, cannot be, though they may perhaps be based upon, the original Gospel of St. Matthew.

Of St. Matthew himself little is known. His call is described in Matt. ix. 9; from which it would appear that he had been a collector of customs at Capernaum. The call of Levi the son of Alphæus is described in very similar terms, and at a corresponding place in the narrative, by St. Mark and St. Luke (Mark ii. 13, &c.; Luke v. 27, &c.); so that the inference lies near at hand, that, like St. Jude and St. Paul, St. Matthew also bore two names, the second, "Matthew" ("Gift of God"), being assumed after his conversion. He appears to have remained at Jerusalem until the general dispersion of the Church there on the outbreak of the Jewish war; and, according to Eusebius, it was just at this time, when about to go forth to other nations," that he wrote his Gospel, and left it as a legacy to his fellow countrymen whom he was leaving The date thus assigned to it would tally well with that already given by Irenæus. As to the scene of his labours there is no trustworthy tradition, but there is sufficient authority for believing that he died a natural death. St. Matthew wrote for Jewish Christians, and belonged to the number himself. Accordingly we find him laying especial stress on the fulfilment of prophecy by Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of David, and Founder of a New Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven." He quotes largely from the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. It is the manner of St. Matthew to group together large collections of discourse, e.g. the

I. The descent, birth, and childhood of the Messiah (Li' II. His inauguration by Baptism and Temptation (iii. 1-iv. 11).

III. The founding of the Messianic kingdom (v. 12— xiii. 52).

Its laws (v., vi., vii.)

Its officers L.)

Its character and principles (xiii.).

IV. The kingdom offered and refused (xii. 53-Ivi. 20 Rejection, at Nazareth (xiii. 57).

by the Pharisees (xv. 12; xvi. 4). Confession, by the disciples xiv. 33).

by the Canaanitish woman (xv. 22).
by the multitude (xv. 31).

by St Peter (xvi. 16.

V. The Suffering Messiah announced (xvi. 21−xx 30 First announcement (xvi. 21).

[Transfiguration (xvii. 1—13).]

Second announcement (xvii. 22, 23).

[Last journey (xix. 1).]

Third announcement (xx. 17-19),

VI. Climax of Triumph and Suffering (xxi-xvi) The Triumphal Entry (xxi.)

Final conflict with Pharisees and Sadducees (xi,
xxiii.)

Prophetic and estchatological discourses (XXIV., LIV.)
The Passion (xxvi., xxvii.)

VII. The Crucified Messiah risen (xxviii)

[N.B-It is impossible in these short limits to give a complete analysis of the whole Gospel. All that has been attempted above has been to bring out a few of the more salient points in their relation to the leading ideas and characteristics of the Gospel. The main outine of the arrangement of subject matter in the first three Gospels appears to be the same.]

the cure of two blind men, and the stater in the fist's Peculiar to St. Matthew are the following:-Miraclesmouth. Parables--the tares, the treasure, the pearl, the drawnet, the unmerciful servant, the labourers in the vineyard, the two sons, the marriage feast, and the talents. Portions of discourse, especially in the Serm on the Mount, and in chapters xxi. and xr, also the blessing pronounced on St. Peter and the last com mission to the disciples. Narrative-chaps i and i incidents connected with the betrayal, crucifixion, azi St. Peter walking upon the water, the temple-tax, and

resurrection.

ST. MARK.

It is probable that St. Mark, the author of the secred Gospel, is the same as the John Mark mentioned in Acts xii, xv., and as the Mark who appears at a later date as the companion of St. Peter and St. Paul. If so he was the cousin of Barnabas see Col. iv. 10, corrected

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