SQLite format 3@  ii!%%atableTopicsTopicsCREATE TABLE Topics (Title NVARCHAR(100), Notes TEXT) ŽŽ‰Š&9’“!00 The Theology of the Old Testament (1904){\rtf1\ansi\deff0{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Georgia;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue255;\red0\green0\blue0;} {\*\generator Riched20 5.40.11.2210;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\sl240\slmult1\lang2058\f0\fs24 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par by Andrew Bruce Davidson \par (1904)\par \par International \par \par {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "www.archive.org/details/theologyofoldtes00davirich"}}{\fldrslt{\ul\cf1 www.archive.org/details/theologyofoldtes00davirich}}}\f0\fs24\par \par EDITORS' PREFACE. \par \par THEOLOGY has made great and rapid advances in recent \par yeaars. New lines of investigation have been opened up, \par fresh light has been cast upon many subjects of the deepest \par interest, and the historical method has been applied with \par important results. This has prepared the way for a Library \par of Theological Science, and has created the demand for it. \par It has also made it at once opportune and practicable now \par to secure the services of specialists in the different depart- \par ments of Theology, and to associate them in an enterprise \par which will furnish a record of Theological inquiry up to \par date. \par \par This Library is designed to cover the whole field of Chris- \par tian Theology. Each volume is to be complete in itself, \par while, at the same time, it will form part of a carefully \par planned whole. One of the Editors is to prepare a volume \par of Theological Encyclopaedia which will give the history \par and literature of each department, as well as of Theology \par as a whole. \par \par The Library is intended to form a series of Text-Books \par for Students of Theology. \par \par The Authors, therefore, aim at conciseness and compact- \par ness of statement. At the same time, they have in view \par \par \par \par EDITORS' PREFACE. \par \par that large and increasing class of students, in other depart- \par ments of inquiry, who desire to have a systematic and thor. \par ough exposition of Theological Science. Technical matters \par will therefore be thrown into the form of notes, and the \par text will be made as readable and attractive as possible. \par \par The Library is international and interconfessional. It \par will be conducted in a catholic spirit, and in the interests \par of Theology as a science. \par \par Its aim will be to give full and impartial statements both \par of the results of Theological Science and of the questions \par which are still at issue in the different departments. \par \par The Authors will be scholars of recognized reputation in \par the several branches of study assigned to them. They will \par be associated with each other and with the Editors in the \par effort to provide a series of volumes which may adequately \par represent the present condition of investigation, and indi- \par cate the way for further progress. \par \par CHARLES A. BRIGGS. \par STEWART D. F. SALMOND. \par \par \par \par Theological Encyclopaedia. By CHARLES A. BRIGGS, D.D., D.Litt., \par \par Prof, of Theological Encyclopedia and \par Symbolics, Union Theol. Seminary, N. Y. \par \par An Introduction to the Literature of By S. R. DRIVER, D.D., D.Litt., Regius \par the Old Testament. Professor of Hebrew, and Cation of \par \par Christ Church, Oxford. \{Revised and \par enlarged edition). \par \par The Study of the Old Testament. By the Right Rev. HERBERT EDWARD \p ar \par RYLE, D.D., Lord Bishop of Winchester. \par \par Old Testament History. By HENRY PRESERVED SMITH, D.D., \par \par Professor of Biblical Historv, Aniherst \par College, Mass. (Now ready,\} \par \par Contemporary History of the Old By FRANCIS BROWN, D.D., LL.D., D.Litt., \par Testament. Professor of Hebrew, Union Theological \par \par Seminary, New York. \par \par Theology of the Old Testament. By the late A. B. DAVIDSON, D.D., LL.D., \par \par Professor of Hebrew, New College,' \par Edinburgh. (Now ready.\} \par \par \par \par 3nfernafionaf \par \par \par \par An Introduction to the Literature \par of the New Testament. \par \par \par \par Canon and Text of the New Testa- \par ment. \par \par \par \par The Life of Christ. \par \par \par \par A History of Christianity in the \par Apostolic Age. \par \par Contemporary History of the New \par Testament. \par \par Theology of the New Testament. \par \par \par \par Biblical Archaeology. \par \par The An cient Catholic Church. \par \par The Later Catholic Church. \par \par The Latin Church. \par \par The Greek and Oriental Churches. \par \par The Reformation. \par \par Symbolics. \par \par History of Christian Doctrine. \par \par Christian Institutions. \par Philosophy of Religion. \par \par The History of Religions. \par Apologetics. \par \par The Doctrine of God. \par \par The Doctrine of Man. \par \par The Doctrine of Christ. \par The Doctrine of Salvation. \par \par The Doct rine of the Future Life. \par Christian Ethics. \par \par \par \par The Christian Pastor and the Work- \par ing Church. \par \par The Christian Preacher. \par Rabbinical Literature. \par \par \par \par By S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D., Principal of \par the Free Church College, Aberdeen. \par (In press.\} \par \par By CASPAR RENE GREGORY, D.D., LL.D., \par Professor of New Testament Exegesis in \par the University of Leipzig. \par \par By WILLIAM SANDAY, D.D., LL.D.. Lady \par Margaret Professor of Divinity, and \par Canon of Christ Church, Oxford. \par \par By ARTHUR C. MCGIFFERT, D.D., Professor \par of Church History, Union Theological \par Seminary, New York. (Ncnv ready.) \par \par By FRANK C. PORTER, D.D., Professor of \par Biblical Theology, Yale University, New \par Haven, Conn. \par \par By GEORGE B. STEVENS, D.D., Professor \par of Systematic Theology, Yale University, \par New Haven, Conn. (Now ready.) \par \par By G. BUCHANAN GRAY, D.D., Professor of \par Hebrew, Mansfield College, Oxford. \par \par By ROBERT RAINY, D.D., LL.D., Principal \par of the New College, Edinburgh. (Now \par ready.) \par \par By ROBERT RAINY, D.D. LL.D., Principal \par of the New College, Edinburgh. \par \par By the Right Rev. ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON, \par D.D., Loi'd Bishop of Exeter. \par \par By W. F. ADENEY, D.D., Professor of \par Church History, New College, London. \par \par By T. M. LINDSAY, D.D., Principal of the \par United Free College, Glasgow. \par \par By CHARLES A. BRIGGS, D.D., D.Litt., \par Prof, of Theological Encyclopedia and \par Symbolics, Union Theol. Seminary, N. Y. \par \par By G. P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor \par of Ecclesiastical History, Yale University, \par New Haven, Conn. (Revised and en- \par larged edition.) \par \par By A. V. G. ALLEN, D.D., Professor of \par Ecclesiastical History, P. E. Divinity \par School, Cambridge, Mass. (Now ready.) \par \par By ROBERT FLINT, D.D., LL.D., sometime \par Professor of Divinity in the University of \par Edinburgh. \par \par By GEORGE F. MOORE, D.D., LL.D., \par \par Professor in Harvard University. \par \par By the late A. B. BRUCE, D.D., sometime \par Professor of New Testament Exegesis. \par Free Church College, Glasgow. (Revised \par and enlarged edition.) \par \par By WILLIAM N. CLARKE, D.D., Professor \par of Systematic Theology, Hamilton The- \par ological Seminary. \par \par By WILLIAM P. PATERSON, D.D., Professor \par of Divinity, Utiiversity of Edinburg. \par  \par (Author will be announced later.) \par \par By GEORGE B. STEVENS, D.D., Professor of \par Systematic Theology, Yale University. \par \par By S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D., Principal of \par the United Free College, Aberdeen. \par \par By NEWMAN SMYTH, D.D., Pastor of Con- \par gregational Church, New Haven. (Re- \par vised and enlarged edition.) \par \par By WASHINGTON GLADDEN, D.D., Pastor \par of Congregational Church, Columbus, \par Ohio. (Now ready.) \par \par (Author will be announced later.) \par \par By S. SCHECHTER, M.A., President of the \par Jewish Theological Seminary, New York \par City. \par \par \par \par ZTbe 3nternatfonal Ubeolosfcal Xfbrars, \par \par \par \par EDITED BY \par \par CHARLES A. BRIGGS, D.D., \par \par Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical Theology, Union Theolcgical \par Seminary, New York. \par \par AND \par \par STEWART D. F. SALMOND, D.D., \par \par Principal, and Projessor of Systematic Theology ', \par \par United Free Church College, Aberdeen; \par \par \par \par THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. \par \par BY THE LATE A. B. DAVIDSON, D.D., LL.D., Lnr.D. \par \par \par \par INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY \par \par \par \par THE THEOLOGY \par \par \par \par OF THE \par \par \par \par OLD TESTAMENT \par \par \par \par BY THE LATE \par \par \par \par A. B. DAVIDSON, D.D., LL.D., LiTT.D. \par \par PROCESSOR OF HEBREW AND OLD TESTAMENT EXEGESIS \par NEW COLLEGE, EDINBURGH \par \par \par \par EDITED FROM THE AUTHOR'S MANUSCRIPTS \par \par BY \par \par S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D., F.E.I.S. \par \par PRINCIPAL OF THE UNITED FREE CHURCH COLLEGE, ABERDBBM \par \par \par \par \par UNIVERSITY \par \par \par \par NEW YORK: \par CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS \par \par 1904 \par \par \par \par \par \par \par Published May, 1904 \par \par \par \par The Rights of Translation and of Reproduction are Reserved \par \par \par \par PREFACE. \par \par \par \par THE master hand, it will easily be seen, has not put this \par work in order for the press. The subject was long in \par Professor Davidson's mind. He gave it a large place in \par his College Lectures. He was constantly engaged in writ- \par ing upon it and in recasting what he had written, modify- \par ing his statements and revising his conclusions. He \par prepared a large mass of matter, but he did not survive \par to throw it finally into shape for publication. \par \par It has been a difficult and anxious task to deal for the \par best with the abundant material Dr. Davidson's manu- \par scripts bear on every page impressive evidence of the \par immense pains he took with things, and the lofty standard \par he set before him in all his professional duty. Much of \par the matter came to me in a variety of editions, four, five, \par or six in not a few cases, the long results of unceasing \par study and searching probation of opinion. It has been \par far from easy to de'cide between one form and another, all \par being left undated, and to bring the different parts into \par proper relation. \par \par I have not thought it right to take liberties with my \par departed friend's work. I have given it substantially as he \par left it, adding only an occasional note where that seemed \par specially appropriate or needful. Nor have I judged it \par within my province to depart from his ways in the use of \par \par Scripture or in anything else. When expounding any \par \par ? \par \par / \par \\ Q I 9 ' \par \par \par \par VI PREFACE \par \par Biblical truth he was iii the habit of making copious \par quotations from the sacred text, referring to the same \par passages again and again as they offered themselves in \par different aspects and connexions. He did this, too, with \par much freedom, using sometimes the Authorised Version \par and sometimes the Eevised, furnishing sometimes a trans- \par lation of his own, and sometimes giving the sense rather \par than the terms. His methods in such things are followed \par as they are found in his manuscripts. \par \par Had Dr. Davidson been spared to complete his work \par and carry it through the press, it would have been different, \par no doubt, in some respects from what it is. It would have \par been thrown into the best literary form. Its statements at \par some points would have been more condensed. It would \par have had less of that element of iteration of which he \par made such effective use in his class-room. But even \par without the last touches of the skilled hand, it will be \par seen to be a distinct and weighty contribution to a great \par subject. Fine thinking, penetrating exegesis, spiritual \par vision, a rare insight into the nature and operation of \par Eevelation, make the book one which the student of Old \par Testament Scripture will greatly value. \par \par One thing that gave Dr. Davidson much concern was \par the question of the plan on which a work of this kind \par should be constructed. His object was to bring the history \par and the ideas into living relation, to trace the progress of \par Old Testament faith from stage to stage, and to exhibit \par the course along which it advanced from its beginnings to \par the comparative fulness which it obtained at the end of the \par prophetic period. But he never carried out the scheme. \par He had an increasing distrust of ambitious attempts to fix \par the date of every separate piece of the Hebrew literature, \par and link the ideas in their several measures of immaturity \par and maturity with the writings as thus arranged. He \par \par \par \par PREFACE Vll \par \par became more and more convinced that there was no solid \par basis for such confident chronological dispositions of the \par writings and juxtapositions of the beliefs. In his judg- \par ment the only result of endeavours of this kind was to give \par an entirely fictitious view of the ideas, in their relative \par degrees of definiteness, the times at which they emerged or \par came to certainty, and the causes that worked to their \par origin and development. The most that we had scientific^ \par warrant to do, in view of the materials available for the \par purpose, was, in his opinion, to take the history in large- \par tracts and the literature in a few broad divisions, and study \par the beliefs and the deliverances in connexion with these. \par \par My work is at an end. During its course the mist \par has been often in my eyes. The sense of loss has been \par revived. A voice has spoken to me out of the past. A \par face that was darkened has seemed to be turned upon me \par again with its old light. I have felt how long art is and \par how short is life. \par \par S. D. F. SALMOND. \par \par ABERDEEN, April 2, 1904. \par \par \par \par CONTENTS. \par \par \par \par L THE SCIENCE OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY. \par \par MM \par \par 1. The Idea of Old Testament Theology . . 1 \par \par 2. Studies preliminary to Old Testame nt Theology . . 4 \par \par 3. Definitions and Characteristics of Old Testament Theology 6 \par \par 4. The Relation of Old Testament Ideas to the Old Testament \par \par History ....... 11 \par \par 5. Divisions of the Subject ..... 12 \par G. The great Historical Periods ..... 15 \par \par 7. General Course and Drift of the History . . .22 \par \par 8. Literary and Historical Criticism in relation to Old \par \par Testament Theology . . . ... 28 \par \par \par \par II. THE DOCTRINE OF! GOD. \par \par 1. General Character of the Old Testament Conception of God 30 \par \par 2. The Idea of the Divine Name . . . .36 \par \par 3. Particular Names of God . . . .38 \par \par 4. The Name Jehovah ...... 45 \par \par 5. Jehovah the God of Israel ..... 58 \par \par 6. The historical Occasion of the Application of the Name \par \par Jehovah . 67 \par \par \par \par III. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THE DIVINE NATURE. \par \par 1. The Knowledge of God ..... 73 \par \par 2. The Essence "and Attributes of God . . . .82 \par \par 3. The Unity of God . . . 96 \par \par 4. The Doctrine of the sole Godhead of Jehovah in later \par \par Prophecy . ..... 100 \par \par 5. The Personality and Spirituality of God . . .106 \par \par tv \par \par \par \par X CONTENTS \par \par IV. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THE SPIRIT. \par \par PAGE \par \par 1. The Spirit of God . . . . . .115 \par \par 2. The Spirit of God within God Himself . . .117 \par \par 3. The Activities of the Spirit . . #. . .120 \par \par 4. What the Spirit is . . . . . .126 \par \par V. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. \par \par 1. The Righteousness of God . . . . .129 \par \par 2. The Holiness of God . . . . . .144 \par \par 3. The Natural Attributes . . . . .160 \par \par 4. The Redemptive Attributes . . . . .169 \par \par 5. God's Relations to Nature and to Men . . .174 \par \par VI. THE DOCTRINE OF MAN. \par \par 1. Human Nature and its Constitution . . . .182 \par \par 2. The terms ' B$ody ' and ' Flesh ' . . . .188 \par \par 3. The term 'Spirit' ...... 192 \par \par 4. The term 'Soul' ...... 199 \par \par VII. THE DOCTRINE OF MAN SIN. \par \par 1. Sin its Nature and Extent ..... 203 \par \par 2. The Consciousness of Sin ..... 227 \par \par VIII. THE DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION. \par \par 1. The Covenant. . . . . . .235 \par \par 2. Why the Covenant with Israel and not another ? . . 249 \par \par 3. The Terms descriptive of the Covenant Relation . . 252 \par \par 4. The S%econd Side of the Covenant The People a righteous \par \par People ....... 259 \par \par 5. Righteousness in the People ..... 271 \par \par 6. Righteousness, Grace, and Faith .... 278 \par \par 7. Suffering and Imputation ..... 282 \par \par \par \par IX. DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTION SUPRAHUMAN \par GOOD AND EVIL. \par \par 1. Angels ....... 289 \par \par 2. The Angel of the Lord . . . . .296 \par \par 3. Satan ..... 300 \par \par \par \par CONTENTS XI \par \par X. DOCTRINE OF REDEMPTIO&N-PRIESTHOOD AND \par ATONEMENT. \par \par PAGE \par \par 1. The Priest 306 \par \par 2. Sacrifice ....... 311 \par \par 3. Atonement and Forgiveness . . . . .315 \par \par 4. Atonement by Priest and High Priest . . . 324 \par \par 5. The term 'Atone' ...... 327 \par \par 6. Ritual Use of the Term . . . . .338 \par \par 7. The Principle of Atonement .... 352 \par \par \par \par XI. THE DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGSTHE \par MESSIANIC IDEA. \par \par 1. Distinctive Contributions to the' Doctrine . . . 356 \par \par 2. The Consummation of the Kingdom . . . 3C5 \par \par 3. The Day of the Lord . . . . . .374 \par \par 4. The Day of the Lord in Deutero-Isaiah . . . 384 \par \par 5. Redemptive Righteousness in Deutero-Isaiah . . 395 \par \par \par \par XII. DOCTRINE OF THE LAST THINGS IMMORTALITY. \par \par 1. Differences in Modes of Thought .... 402 \par \par 2. Fellowship with God the Fundamental Idea . . 415 \par \par 3. Preliminary Questions as to Man's Nature . . .417( \par \par 4. Conception of Sheol ...... 425 \par \par 5. Conception of Death ...... 432 \par \par 6. Life and its Issues ...... 437 \par \par 7. Problems of Righteousness and their Solution . . 453 \par \par 8. Ideas of an After-Life in Psalms xvii., xxxvii., xlix., Ixxiii. 459 \par \par 9. The Idea of an After-Life in Job . . . . 466 \par \par 10. The Hope of an After- Life in relation to the Ideas of Life \par \par and Death . .... 495 \par \par 11. The Moral Meaning of Death . . . .5)11 \par \par 12. Further on the Reconciliation between the Idea of Death \par \par and the Idea of Life 522 \par \par \par \par NOTES OF LITERATURE ..... 533 \par INDEX OF SCRIPTURE PASSAGES , , 541 \par \par INDEX OF MATTERS . . 548 \par \par \par \par THE THEOLOGY \par \par OF THE \par \par OLD TESTAMENT \par \par \par \par THE \par \par UNIVERSITY \par \par OF \par \par \par \par THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD \par TESTAMENT. \par \par \par \par /. THE SCIENCE OF OLD TESTAM*ENT \par THEOLOGY. \par \par 1. The Idea of Old Testament Theology. \par \par OLD Testament Theology is the earlier division of Biblical \par Theology. We speak of a Natural Theology, a Biblical, a \par Systematic Theology. These adjectives attached to the term \par Theology indicate the source of our theological knowledge, \par or the orderly form into which the knowledge is thrown. \par In Natural Theology nature is the source of our know- \par ledge. In Systematic Theology, while Scripture s+upplies \par the knowledge, some mental scheme, logical or philo- \par sophical, is made the mould into which the knowledge is \par run, so that it comes out bearing the form of this mould. \par In Biblical Theology the Bible is the source of the know- \par ledge, and also supplies the form in which the knowledge \par is presented. Biblical Theology is the knowledge of God's \par great operation in introducing His kingdom among men, \par presented to our view exactly as it lies presented in the \p,ar Bible. Now the Bible is a book composed of many parts, \par the composition of which extended over considerably more \par than a thousand years. And the operation of God in \par bringing in His kingdom extends even over a larger space. \par But in the Bible we have writings contemporary with \par this operation, and reflecting it for more than a thousand \par years, and writings which sketch that operation in brief \par \par \par \par 2 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par and in it-s principal turning-points during the ages pre- \par ceding. This at once suggests to us, therefore, when \par we consider that God's operation extended over this long \par period, and yet that it took end at last in the coming \par of His Son, that two characteristics belong to it. It is \par historical, and it is progressive ; it covers a long period, \par and it advances from less to more, and finally culminates. \par And the Bible keeps pace, so to speak, with this operation, \par reflects it,. and gives us the knowledge of it in this form. \par \par In its fullest sense the kingdom of God was only intro- \par duced in the Coming of the Son of God into the world ; and \par in this sense all that went before might seem only capable of \par being regarded as preparation for this kingdom, or at most \par shadows of it. And this is the view which has often been \par taken of what is called the Old Testament dispensation, \par namely, that it is a designed shadow or adumbration of the \par /new. But this is not the view which it takes of itself ; \par the consciousness of Israel as reflected in the minds of its \par prophets and highest men was that it was the kingdom of \par God already. The apparent discrepancy disappears on a \par little consideration of what the kingdom of God is. It is \par the fellowship of men with God and with one another in \par love. In a perfect sense this could not be till the Coming \par of the Son in whom this fellowship is fully realised. And \par in a0 sense all that went before was preparation for the \par kingdom rather than the kingdom itself. But how was \par the perfect kingdom prepared for ? Not by mere pre- \par dictions of it and references to it as a thing to come, nor \par by setting up a thing which was a shadow of it ; but by \par setting itself up in as perfect a form as was possible to \par begin with, awakening within men both a sense of dis- \par satisfaction with its imperfections then, and lofty ideals of \par what its true co1ndition would be, and thus kindling in \par them an enthusiasm which made them not only long for \par the perfect kingdom, but struggle for its attainment. For \par as the kingdom of God in its perfect form does not lie in \par mere knowledge, but rather in the life which the know- \par ledge awakens, so it could not be prepared for by the \par \par \par \par THE IDEA OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 3 \par \par mere knowledge that it was approaching, nor even by the \par knowledge outwardly communic2ated of what it was. It \par could be prepared for only by bringing in, and that in \par ever fuller tides, the life of which it consists. That life no \par doubt depended on the knowledge of what the kingdom \par truly was ; but this knowledge could be learned by men \par only by living within the kingdom itself. \par \par Thus the perfect kingdom was gradually prepared for by \par setting up such a kingdom in an imperfect state and under \par temporary forms, and by administering it in such a w3ay as \par progressively to suggest to men's minds the true ideal of the \par kingdom, and communicate to them in broader streams the \par true life in such a kingdom. And each step of this com- \par munication was a more perfect bringing in of the kingdom \par itself, an advance towards its perfect form. Thus a life and \par a thought were awakened within this kingdom of God set up \par in Israel, which grew and expanded till they finally burst \par and threw off from them the imperfect outward f4orm of \par the kingdom in which they were enclosed. Now the Old \par Testament Scriptures exhibit to us the growth of this life \par and this thought. We can observe the stream of life and \par ideas flowing from the Exodus at least, or even from a \par source higher up, ever broadening as it proceeds, and finally \par pouring itself into the sea of life and thought in the New \par Testament age. We can fathom this stream here and there \par along its course, mark the velocity and breadth of its 5cur- \par rent, observe the changing colour of its waters as it pursues \par its way through region after region of the people's history, \par and perceive what subsidiary streams poured their contents \par into it and helped to swell it. To do this and present the \par results to ourselves is to be Old Testament theologians. \par \par What we shall have to look for is a point of view ; \par and that point of view will be this, that in the Old \par Testament we have presented to us an actual hist6orical \par religious life, men filled with the profoundest thoughts of \par God, and living to God a most close personal life, and, \par having such thoughts of God and such experiences of life \par to Him, importunate in their desires and attempts to \par \par \par \par 4 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par awaken in those around them the same thoughts and the \par same life. This is the strange scene, full of the intensest \par reality, which the Old Testament exhibits to us, a scen7e \par continued down through a long historical period, changing \par in some ways, but always presenting the same main feature \par namely, that of a body of profoundly religious men \par speaking the truth to their countrymen, and seeking to \par turn them to God. Thus we do not go to the Old Testa- \par ment with any general conception that it is the word of \par God spoken to us. We do not go to it with this concep- \par tion, but we rise from ib with this conception. This is the \par thing w8hich will be made plain to us, the personal religion \par of all the writers of Scripture, their life to God and with \par God. This becomes plainer the lower down we come, in \par the Psalter, for example, and in such books as Job. In \par the period after the Exile we shall rind problems raised by \par the conditions of life, problems touching God's rule of the \par world, His relation to Israel, the people who knew Him, and \par were the representatives of His cause in the world ; problems, \par9 too, of His relations to the godly in an ungodly generation. \par To the intellect these questions might be insoluble. But \par we shall see something that enabled men to live without a \par solution. This was their religion, their conscious fellowship \par with God. We shall find that more and more religious \par certainty was based on this consciousness. It was the \par only thing the pious mind possessed, but it was at last \par always found enough. " Nevertheless/' said the Psalmist, \par tr:ied by misfortune and intellectually paralysed before the \par riddles of providence, " nevertheless, I am continually \par with thee" (Ps. Ixxiii. 23). The consciousness of God \par becomes the other side of self consciousness, and this in- \par ward assurance will be seen to be strong enough to face \par all the difficulties raised by what is external. \par \par 2. Studies preliminary to Old Testament Theology. \par \par This conception of what Old Testament Theology is at \par once suggests t;hat certain studies must precede it. If it \par \par \par \par PRELIMINARY STUDIES 5 \par \par be the presentation to ourselves of the gradual advance of \par the kingdom of God as exhibited to us in the successive \par books of Scripture, it is necessary that we should see how \par these books follow one another, and know the age to \par which they belong, and of which they reflect the life and \par the thought. Criticism or Introduction must precede any \par attempt at a scientific Old Testaerature in its length \par and breadth. We cannot create a trustworthy theology \par of the Old Testament by merely picking out a text here \par and there in an Old Testament book. We must know \par the whole scope of the book. Individual passages always \par derive their meaning from the context. Torn from their \par surroundings their mere language might suggest to us \par much more or sometimes perhaps much less than they \par really mean. Such passages have usually some bearing \par on the ci?rcumstances of the author's time. This bearing \par often greatly modifies their meaning, and it is seldom that \par we can really discover the true sense of any single passage \par in a book unless we have made a study of the whole book \par and learned to estimate the author's general modes of. \par thinking, the broad drift of his ideas, and discovered to \par what matters in the history of his people and what \par \par \par \par 6 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par condition of th@eir minds it is that he is directing his whole \par work. Such studies of whole books are useful and almost \par necessary preliminaries to Old Testament Theology. Such \par studies, exhibiting what the Germans call the Lehrbegriff, \par the general drift of the teaching of a book, have not been \par uncommon in connection with the New Testament. They \par have been less attended to with regard to the Old \par Testament. \par \par 3. Definitions and Characteristics of Old Testament Theology. \parA \par Old Testament Theology has been defined to be the \par historical and genetic presentation of the religion of the \par Old Testament ; or as others express it, it is that branch \par of theological science which has for its function to present \par the religion of Eevelation in the ages of its progressive \par movement. These definitions do not differ from the one \par already suggested, namely, that it is the presentation of \par the great operation of God in bringing in the kingdom of \paBr God, so far as that operation was carried on in the Old \par Testament period. The one definition speaks of the \par religion of the Old Testament, and the other of God's \par operation in bringing in His kingdom. But these two \par things are in the main the same. The kingdom of God \par is within us. To bring in the kingdom was to awaken a \par certain religious life in His people, and to project great \par thoughts and hopes before their minds. This life and \par these thoughts are reflectedC to us in the Old Testament \par Scriptures. These various definitions all imply the same \par distinct characteristics. \par \par They all imply, e.g., that Old Testament Theology is a \par historical science. It is historical in the same sense as that \par in which the Old Testament is historical, i.e. in the sense that \par its parts follow one another down through a long period of \par time. We can readily perceive reasons sufficient to explain \par the gradual and historical inbringing of thDe kingdom of God. \par For instance, one of the first necessities to one who will \par take his place in the kingdom of God is that God should \par \par \par \par DEFINITIONS OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 7 \par \par be known to him, at least on the moral side of His being. \par But God could not make His moral nature known by \par mere statements concerning Himself delivered at once. \par His power He could reveal in one terrible act, but the \par principles lying behind His power, and governing Ethe \par exercise of it, His justice, His goodness, His grace, in a \par word His moral nature, could not be shown except by a \par prolonged exhibition of Himself in relation to the life of \par men. When we look at the Divine names we observe \par that the attribute which the Shemitic mind earliest laid \par hold of was the Divine power. The Shemitic people were \par slower to learn His other attributes, especially to learn \par the constancy and unchangeableness of these attributes, in \par otFher words, to rise to the conception of God as a tran- \par scendent moral Person. They could be taught this only \par by observing how God acted in their history with a terrible \par consistency, punishing evil with an inflexible uniformity, \par and making righteousness on their part the condition of \par His being their God and protecting them. When we read \par the Prophets we perceive that they considered that this \par was the chief lesson which the people's history was fitted \par to teach Gthem. In opposition to their superficial hopes, \par founded on Jehovah's being their national God, and their \par expectation that they could at any time secure His favour \par by making their burnt sacrifices fatter and more abundant, \par these prophets insist upon the ethical uniformity of the \par Divine Mind, which cannot be bribed by gifts, but demands \par rectitude : " I hate, I despise your feasts ... let judgment \par roll down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream " \par (AmoHs v. 2124, E.V.). This lesson in regard to the nature \par of God is the chief lesson which the prophets draw from \par the history of the people. But one can conceive many \par other uses served by the long preliminary history of Israel. \par Its many vicissitudes threw individuals into very various \par circumstances, often trying, sometimes joyous, and thus we \par have those beautiful pictures of the life of the individual \par with God which are contained in the Book of Psalms, \par almost thIe most precious heritage which the Church has \par \par \par \par THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par derived from Israel, and to which there is almost nothing \par similar in the New Testament period. \par \par These definitions also all imply that the presentation \par of the Old Testament religion in Old Testament Theology is \par f/enetic. This means not only that Old Testament Theology \par shows us the religion of the Old Testament in gcnesi, that \par is, in the condition of acJtually arising or originating, but \par that its progress was, so to speak, organic. It grew, and \par that not by mere accretion or the external addition of \par truth to truth. The succeeding truth rose out of the \par former truth. This was due to the fact that the kingdom \par of God was planted into the life of a people, and thus \par its progress was inseparably connected with the progress \par and destiny of the nation of Israel. We cannot get a \par religious progress without a religious sKubject in whose mind \par we observe the progress. Now, fche religious subject in the \par Old Testament was the people of Israel and the progress \par can be studied in the mind of this subject as influenced by \par its history. Revelation of truth was not, so to speak, \par communicated from without ; but the organs of revelation \par rose within the people in the persons of its highest re- \par presentatives, men in whom its life beat fullest and its \par aspirations were most perfectly embodieLd. Thus the truths \par concerning the kingdom of God which they were enabled, \par stage after stage, to reach, had a connection with one \par another parallel to the connection between the stages of \par the life of the people. The truths regarding the kingdom \par of God appearing in the Old Testament are all given in \par terms, so to speak, of the history, institutions, and life of the \par people of Israel. It is customary to regard the institutions of \par Israel, its offices and ordinancesM, as all prearranged parallels \par to the things of the Christian Church, shadows and adum- \par brations or types, as they are called, of the realities of the \par New Testament kingdom. Now, of course, it must be \par maintained that the perfect form of the kingdom of God, \par the form which it was to have in the New Testament, was \par contemplated from the beginning. There was a deter- \par minism impressed on the Old Testament kingdom toward \par \par \par \par CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD TESNTAMENT THEOLOGY 9 \par \par its perfect form ; it was a growth, an organism of which \par we see the complete stature only in the New Testament \par kingdom. But we must not regard those institutions in \par Israel as only having this use of foreshadowing the future. \par They were real institutions and offices there, and their re- \par ference to the future was probably, in many instances, not \par understood or even surmised. The way they bore reference \par to the future in the minds of the peOople was rather this. \par The highest thinkers among the people, such as the pro- \par phets, perceived the idea lying in the offices and institu- \par tions, and expressed their longing and certainty that the \par idea would be yet realised. \par \par Thus it was, for instance, with the kingship. Its \par idea was a king of God's kingdom, a representative of \par God sitting on the throne in Jerusalem. Such an idea \par of the kingship led to the most brilliant idealising of the \par king and Phis office. Being king for God and in God's king- \par dom, he had attribute after attribute assigned to him, all \par reflections of the Divine attributes, till at length he was even \par styled the ' mighty God,' he in whom God Himself would \par be wholly present. And not only the kingship, but other \par offices and other characters appearing among the people \par were idealised ; and as it by and by came to be felt that \par such ideals could not be realised in the present, the realisa- \par Qtion of them was thrown into the future. One of the \par most remarkable of these ideals is the Suffering Servant of \par the Lord, which is rather a personification of the suffering \par people idealised. But, in general, everything significant in \par the people's history and life was, as it were, abstracted \par from its relations in the present ; it was held up and \par magnified by a process of moral idealisation and the \par realisation of it thrown into the future. Thus the people's \par miRnds were directed to the future, not, as is often thought, \par because they understood beforehand or ever were taught \par that their institutions were all predetermined shadows of \par a reality to come, but because they perceived that the \par ideals which their institutions suggested to them, and which \par their history and experience had called up before their \par \par \par \par 10 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par mind, were ideals that could not be realised in the present, \pSar in the conditions of the people and the world that then \par existed, nor even under those institutions which had been \par the very means of suggesting the ideals to their minds. \par \par But, again, these definitions all imply that Old Testa- \par ment Theology is a development. It is not a thing com- \par plete, it is but the earlier part of Biblical Theology, arid is \par completed in New Testament Theology. Still, Biblical \par Eevelation being an organism, Old Testament Theology \par iTs not a torso. It is a growth which, though it has not \par attained perfection, has attained a certain proper develop- \par ment. All its parts are there, though none of it is yet \par in full stature. There is perhaps no truth in the New \par Testament which does not lie in germ in the Old ; and \par conversely, there is perhaps no truth in the Old Testament, \par which has not been expanded and had new meaning put into \par it in the New. The Old Testament contains the same truths \par as the NUew Testament, but in a less developed form, and \par we must avoid two errors which are not uncommon. The \par one is the mistake of separating the Old Testament from \par the New in such a way as leaves us with no authoritative \par truth in the Old. The other is to confuse the New and \par the Old so that we shall find the Old equally advanced \par with the New. The difference between the New and the \par Old is not that the same truths are not found in both, but \par that in the one the truths Vare found in a less degree of \par development than in the other. The Old Testament is \par as good authority for a truth as the New ; only we must \par not go beyond the degree which the truth has yet reached \par in the Old Testament. \par \par This fact, however, that the progress of the kingdom \par was organic and at last culminated, suggests that the \par Old Testament should be read by us always in the light \par of the end, and that in framing an Old Testament Theology \par we should havWe the New Testament completion of it in \par our view. What we shall be engaged in is mainly dis- \par covering the thoughts and estimating the life of the Old \par Testament people in its various stages. But it is obvious \par \par \par \par THE IDEAS AND THE HISTORY 11 \par \par that at no time was the consciousness of the Old Testament \par Church able to take in the whole meaning of the develop- \par ment in the midst of which it stood. It must be our \par first object to discover what vieXws the prophets and other \par Old Testament writers had, to present them to ourselves, \par and to take care not to impose New Testament conceptions \par upon them. Still, it will be of interest to ourselves to \par compare the two together, and to see how far the Old \par Testament Church had been able to realise to itself the \par point towards which the development was moving ; and, \par knowing this goal, we shall be in a better position to \par estimate the meaning of the Old Testament from Ythe light \par in which it is thus set for us. \par \par 4. The Relation of Old Testament Ideas to the Old \par Testament History. \par \par If the view which we have taken of our subject, \par then, is correct, it will appear that, though we speak of \par Old Testament Theology, all that we can attempt is to \par present the religion or religious ideas of the Old Testament. \par As held in the minds of the Hebrew people, and as exhibited \par in their Scriptures, these ideas form as yet no TheZology. \par There is no system in them of any kind. They are all \par practical religious beliefs, and are considered of importance \par only as they influence conduct. We do not find a theology \par in the Old Testament ; we find a religion religious con- \par ceptions and religious hopes and aspirations. It is we \par ourselves that create the theology when we give to these \par religious ideas and convictions a systematic or orderly \par form. Hence our subject really is the History of the \par[ Religion of Israel as represented in the Old Testament. \par We have seen, too, that the presentation or exhibition \par of the religious ideas is to be historical. This is the \par systematic form under which the religious ideas are pre- \par sented, and which the Old Testament itself supplies. The \par historical character of the Old Testament religion is one \par of its chief characteristics, that is, its continuance and \par \par \par \par 12 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par g\rowth during a long period of history. And, further, we \par have seen that the presentation is organic. This, indeed, \par is contained in the fact that it is historical. The history \par of any individual consciousness must be organic, whether \par the mind he that of a nation or that of a person. Our \par successive experiences and the phases of mind which we \par go through during a lifetime are not isolated occurrences. \par They rise each out of the other. They are connected with \par our ex]ternal history ; many times they are due to it. But \par even our external history has a unity and an organic char- \par acter in it. And this is no doubt truer of a nation, or at \par least its truth may be more distinctly perceived in national \par life. When, therefore, it is said that the Old Testament \par religion is to be presented organically, it is meant that each \par step of progress was intimately connected with the people's \par history with their experiences. Eevelations of this truth^ \par or that were not made sporadically, but were given in con- \par tinuous connection with the national life and experience, \par and so the truths are interlinked with one another in the \par same way as the successive stages of evolution in the \par national history are. 1 \par \par 5. Divisions of the Subject. \par \par Now, the question arises, What divisions of the subject \par shall we adopt ? If we employed the ordinary threefold \par division, Theology, Anthropology, and Soteriology,_ we \par \par 1 "From an evolutionist point of view, men speak of the development of \par the religion of Israel. From a different point of view, the history of Israel's \par religion is called a progressive revelation. We must remember that a pro- \par gressive revelation from the Divine side must exhibit itself among men as a \par persistent struggle to realise new truths. Every new thought of God is first \par understood in a soul which has been made receptive for it ; and, once \par grasped, i`t maintains itself in him who is illumined by it, as well as in \par those around him, only by conflict. This conflict appears to one man as a \par progressive development ; to another, who, by experience, has learned to \par know the gulf between God and the human heart as a terrible reality, it \par appears as a progressive revelation. But, however it be regarded, all are \par agreed that from the Tora and Nebiim [Law and Prophets] we can understand \par how the precious treasure of Israel's religaion came more and more fully to \par light, and maintained itself ever more firmly" (Wildcboer, Canon, p. 162). \par \par \par \par DIVISIONS OF OLD TESTAMENT THEOLOGY 13 \par \par should have to take each of these subjects and trace it \par down, step by step, through the whole length of the nation's \par history, marking the points at which the current of thought \par on the subject received new additions or a new momentum. \par Perhaps, however, the easier way would be to divide the \par hibstory into periods, to cut it into zones, as it were, and \par examine in each of these zones the whole religious thought \par of the people during the period, as it is reflected in the \par literature of that period. This method preserves better \par the historical character of the study, and this is the \par method usually adopted by writers on the subject of \par Old Testament Theology. In point of fact, the three- \par fold theological division Theology, or doctrine of God; \par Anthropology, cor doctrine of man ; and Soteriology, or doc- \par trine of salvation is somewhat too abstract for a subject \par like ours. What we meet with in the Old Testament are \par two concrete subjects and their relation. The two are : \par Jehovah, God of Israel, on the one hand, and Israel, the \par people of Jehovah, on the other ; and the third point, \par which is given in the other two, is their relation to one \par another. And it is obvious that the dominating or creative \par factor in the relatdion is Jehovah. The Old Testament \par contains almost exclusively a theology (^0709 irepl Seov) or \par doctrine of Jehovah the God of Israel. It is to be observed, \par too, that what we have to do with is not a doctrine of God, \par but a doctrine of Jehovah, Israel's God. We have reached \par now such a stage of thinking on the Divine that, while some \par may doubt whether there be a God at all, nobody supposes \par that there is more than one. But this point is just one \par that has to be ienquired into regarding Jehovah how far \par Israel's God was believed to be God alone. At all events, \par as I have said, He was the normative factor in the relation. \par He moulded the people, and the mould into which He cast \par them was that of His own nature. The conceptions of the \par people regarding Jehovah immediately reacted on the people \par and created corresponding conceptions regarding themselves. \par The people must be what their God, Jehovah, was. \par \par Now, thoughts of Jfehovah or revelations regarding \par \par \par \par 14 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par Him, for the two things are the same, seeing that a \par revelation is no revelation until it takes the shape of \par human thought, might run on two chief lines. One \par would be ethical or spiritual conceptions of Jehovah \par conceptions which immediately reacted on the people and \par made them feel that the same ethical character was de- \par manded from them, if they were to be His people.g And \par a second would be thoughts of how Jehovah was to be \par served in acts of worship in other words, thoughts re- \par garding the sacred ritual. Now, these are the two lines \par on which most of the sacred writings of the people run. The \par first line of conceptions, the ethical or spiritual, whether in \par regard to the nature of Jehovah or the conduct of His people, \par was chiefly developed by the prophets. The line of ritual \par service naturally was developed mostly by the priehsts, or a't \par least by men who were more practical than the prophets. \par But even the ritual legislation was influenced by the pro- \par phetic teaching it was often an embodiment in a practical \par form of their ideas. This second line, then, is that of the \par legislation, for all the legislation relates to the worship or \par ritual service of Jehovah at least in the main. These \par two streams of thought might be called objective, so far \par as the body of the people was concerned. Foir, though \par the prophetic thoughts were, of course, profoundly sub- \par jective to the prophets themselves, that is, rose up out \par of their own hearts with the greatest intensity and fire \par of conviction, yet the prophets were a small body compared \par with the whole mass ; they were the organs of revelation to \par the general body. And in like manner the legislation, \par which was many times a mere practical embodiment of \par prophetic teaching, was formulated by small bodies of \pajr priests, and was imposed upon the mass by authority. \par \par Besides these two objective streams there were two \par others, which might be called subjective. One of these was \par the expression of personal devotion, or the spiritual experi- \par ence and exercise of the individual mind, such as we have \par in the Psalms. There is no reason at all to suppose that \par the bulk of the Psalms are the production of one individual. \par \par \par \par THE GREAT HISTORICAL PERIODS 15 \par \pkar They are the expression of the devotion, and many times of \par the religious conflicts of the individual mind, throughout \par the whole of the people's history, particularly during its \par later stages. And, secondly, the other subjective stream \par of thought was that embodied in the Wisdom. This is \par the expression of the religious reflecting mind, as the other \par was of the devotional mind. The pious emotions responded \par to the prophetic truth, and to the demands of the law, in \lpar words that run through the whole scale of religious feeling. \par The reflecting mind delighted itself by observing how the \par great ethical truths of Jehovah's nature were everywhere \par verifying themselves in His providence in the world and \par in men's lives. Or it was startled at a later time, when \par even the godly lay under grievous calamities, to find that \par the prophetical teaching was contradicted by events of \par actual providence. This gave rise to doubts and question- \pmar ings, by which men were sometimes almost driven to despair. \par This Wisdom we have in the Proverbs, many of the \par Psalms, Job, and Ecclesiastes ; and, of course, to all these \par have to be added many expressions of religious faith and \par many examples of religious conduct in the historical writings. \par Keeping, then, all these general lines of thought in \par view, which are in the main four, prophecy, or religious \par politics ; legislation, or the ritual of worship ; devotion, andn \par reflection, we have the literary materials which we have \par to divide into periods, so as to exhibit the historical growth \par of the conceptions which the materials embody. Naturally, \par any division will to some extent break in upon things \par closely connected, because the growth of thought or the \par stream of history cannot be cut into sections. For it is \par a thing continuous and uninterrupted. But with this \par admission the following division marks the great points in \par o the literary history of Israel. \par \par 6. The great Historical Periods. \par \par (a) A preliminary or introductory period terminating with \par the Exodus. The Old Testament religion hardly begins till \par \par \par \par 16 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par the Exodus. Therefore the religious subject in Old Testa- \par ment times with whom Jehovah's covenant was made was \par the people Israel, not individual Israelites, and the people was \par the creation of the great act opf redemption at the Exodus. \par This period, then, would be preliminary. We have no litera- \par ture from this period itself. What we have is the view of \par this period taken in the ninth and eighth centuries. This \par view contains many elements particularly two, national \par traditions of early human history not peculiar to Israel, but \par shared in by most Shemitic nations ; and, secondly, the \par penetration and modification of these traditions by the \par principles of the religion ofq Jehovah e.g. in the narratives \par of the Creation, the Fall, the Flood, etc. So the patriarchal \par period is the period of tradition, and of tradition possibly \par religiously coloured. What is perhaps most important for \par us is this religious colouring, rather than the mere details \par of the history. \par \par (b) The period from the fixodus to written prophecy, \par B.C. 800. The beginning of written prophecy in the \par deliverances of Amos and his successors is a point of such \parr importance that it is natural to make it an era. Apart \par from the religious truths taught by the canonical prophets \par there is one thing which characterises them all from Amos \par downwards. They have completely broken with the nation, \par whose conditition they condemn and pronounce to be \par hopeless, and on the eve of destruction. This destruction \par is inevitable, Jehovah their God being what He is. No \par doubt earlier prophets express the same judgment, but less \par universallsy. Even as early as Solomon, Ahijah of Shiloh \par predicted the downfall of his kingdom (1 Kings xi. 3139). \par And Elijah's attitude was the same towards the kingdom of \par the north. Perhaps during this period we can trace only two \par of the four great streams of thought with much certainty. \par \par 1. Of Prophecy, we have examples in Deborah, Samuel, \par Elijah, and Elisha. Except the Song of Deborah, there is \par no literary prophecy. Under prophecy, however, according \par to the Jetwish modes of classification, fall historical writings, \par e.g. Judges, the Books of Samuel. \par \par \par \par THE GREAT HISTORICAL PERIODS 17 \par \par 2. The other stream is that of Legislation. Here we \par can put with certainty the so-called Book of the Covenant, \par Ex. xx.-xxiii. It may be the cape that more should be \par placed here ; but this is disputed. It is probable, how- \par ever, that there were both Psalms and Proverbs during \par this period the latter certainly, as, e.ug., in the fable of \par Jotham. But it is difficult to identify those of this age. \par As to this oldest legislation, however, all scholars are \par agreed, and with it goes, of course, a good deal of the \par history in Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Joshua. It is \par very probable that laws more strictly ritual than those in \par the code Ex. xx. xxiii. existed. But it is not certain that \par they were yet reduced to writing, being merely traditional \par among the priests. If written, they wvere kept within the \par priestly circles. \par \par (c) From 800, written prophecy, to 586, the Exile of \par Judah. 1. Prophecy. The stream of prophecy beginning \par with Amos gradually widens out to be a broad and im- \par posing river. The great prophets whose names we know \par belong to this period Amos, Hosea, Micah, Isaiah, and \par Jeremiah. Perhaps it would be safest to close the period \par with Jeremiah, who survived the Exile only a very short \par time, and to carry Ezekiel into twhe next period. He \par survived the Exile a number of years, and for other reasons \par he rather belongs to the post-Exile sphere. \par \par 2. In Legislation we have belonging to this period the \par Book of Deuteronomy. This may be said apart from any \par theory of its origin or even its date of composition. It \par ought to be placed in this period on other grounds. It was \par discovered in the Temple in the year 621. Made public \par in this year, it exercised immediately a powerful influxence \par upon the worship, and also upon the general current of \par the people's thoughts. This period of its discovery was \par that when its teaching really became a factor in the public \par life and the religious conceptions of the nation. It became \par public law, and powerfully influenced botli religious practice \par and religious literature from this date. It is also the \par general impression among writers on the Old Testament \par \par \par \par 18 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENyT \par \par that Deuteronomy follows the great prophets Amos, Hosea, \par and Isaiah, and reflects in its spirit their teaching. So far \par as its legislative contents apart from its spirit are con- \par cerned, they are an expansion of Ex. xx. xxiii. \par \par (d) From the Exile, 586, to 400, the close of the pro- \par phetical Canon. This might be called the period of the \par Restoration and Reconstruction of the State. It deserves \par to be considered a distinct period, because undoubtedlyz new \par conceptions and a new way of reading the past history of \par the nation arose, and also a new ideal for the future. The \par prophet Ezekiel belongs to this period, at least as a powerful \par influence, though in point of fact he lived mainly during \par the preceding period. \par \par It includes : 1. Prophecy Ezekiel, II Isaiah, Zechariah, \par Haggai, Malachi. 2. Legislation the Levitical legislation \par of Ezra and Nehemiah. 3. The Psalter. 4. The Wisdom. \par \par (1) As to Pr{ophecy. The second half of Isaiah is \par usually placed in this era. Its contents refer it to this \par period. If Isaiah was its author, he was enabled to project \par himself in spirit into the Exile, and see and estimate that \par period, with its personages and forces, precisely as if he had \par lived during it in the body. \par \par (2) The Legislation of this period is the so-called priestly \par or Levitical legislation, contained now in Ex. xxv. xl.. \par Leviticus, and good part of Num|bers. It is disputed, \par indeed, whether this legislation as a whole belongs to this \par period. And it may be allowed to be probable that there \par were written ritual laws as early as other laws. There \par were customary ritual actions a ritual praxis, consuetu- \par dinary and practised embracing the various kinds of \par sacrifice, though the numbers of victims, etc., might not be \par fixed. This ritual praxis gradually expanded, and became \par more splendid, more refined, more expressi}ve in details of \par the underlying ideas. We see it in great grandeur in the \par time of Amos and Isaiah ; it was about complete in \par the time of Ezekiel. It is not at all probable that these \par ritual laws were for the first time written at this late \par period, but at this period they appear to have been \par \par \par \par THE PSALTER 19 \par \par brought together and codified, and no doubt additions \par were made to them to give them theoretical completeness. \par They are proba~bly the result of the ritual practice throughout \par the history as it was modified and improved. It appears \par to me that the Book of Ezekiel shows that before his day \par the ritual was almost the same as it became after the \par Kestoration. But how far the ritual customs had been \par reduced to writing before this period is difficult to ascertain. \par Being largely for the guidance of the priests, they had less \par public importance. \par \par Apart, however, from other considerations, there are, at \par any rate, these two reasons for placing the priestly legislation \par here first, it was certainly not completed or codified in \par the form in which we have it till this period ; and, secondly, \par what is more important, it did not become an element in \par the national life till this era. Whether it existed before or \par not, it was not obeyed, the nation did not subject themselves \par to it. From the year 444, when Ezra and Nehemiah read \par the Law before the people, €it is certain that this Levitical \par law, as a ritual, and the hierarchical system as a govern- \par ment, became the ritual and government of the community. \par The theocracy, which was, so to speak, ideal before (i.e. \par Jehovah was king), now became hierarchical : the theo- \par cracy was a government by priests ; the high priest was \par the head of the community. \par \par (3) The Psalter. The Psalter must be placed here for \par various reasons. It was only now that the Psalms were \par collected together, and as a whole made the medium of the \par devotional service in the temple. Not before this time did \par the Psalter enter into the people's life as the expression of \par their devotions, and as a powerful influence upon their life. \par In estimating the progress of religious thought and de- \par votional life, we must recognise the public acceptance of the \par Psalter as the expression of this thought and life to be one \par of the most important events with which we ha‚ve to deal \par Many of the Psalms, of course, may be ancient. It would \par be as untrue to say that the Psalmody of Israel took its rise \par with the Second Temple, as to say that the Thames rises \par \par \par \par 20 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par \par at London Bridge. But though the Thames rises higher \par up, it begins at London Bridge to bear on its bosom the \par commerce and the industrial life of the nations ; and the \par Psalter, too, begins with the Second Temple to exƒpress the \par religious life, not of individuals, but of Israel. And the \par national use of the Psalter shows how completely all the \par conflicts which the prophets had to wage against idolatry \par and the like, had been fought out and the battle won. \par The providence of God had set its seal on the prophetic \par teaching, and it was accepted by the restored nation. \par \par (4) The Wisdom. The Proverbial literature probably \par would fall largely into the preceding period. But some of„ \par the most splendid fruits of the reflective mind of Israel, \par such as the Book of Job, probably belong to this epoch. \par The Wisdom belongs to the literature of the individual's \par religious life ; Prophecy and Legislation to the sphere of \par the national life. Consequently the Wisdom literature is \par mainly late. \par \par (e) From 400 to the Christian era. This embraces: \par 1. Prophecy Daniel; 2. Wisdom Ecclesiastes ; 3. His- \par tory Chronicles. This is the period of the La…w. \par \par The division which we have followed gives five periods, a \par preliminary one, and four others From Moses to prophecy, \par 800 ; from 800 to 586, the fall of Jerusalem; from 586 to \par 400; and from 40 to our era. But perhaps the whole period \par from the Exodus might be divided into three characteristic \par stages 1. Pre-prophetic period, down to 800 ; 2. Pro- \par phetic period, down to 586 ; and 3. Levitism, down to our \par era. Of course, these names are general. Prophetism† is \par but the development of Mosaism on one side ; but it is a \par distinct development and a literary development. Similarly, \par Levitism is a development of Mosaism on another side, but \par it is no doubt an expansion ; and historically the Lcvitical \par system during this period actually made itself master of \par the people, and brought them into subjection to it, which \par historically had not been true at an earlier period. \par \par The prophets, being statesmen in the kingdom of ‡\par God, stand in closest relation to the history, and in their \par \par \par \par THE PROPHETIC LITERATURE 21 \par \par pages the significance of the various momenta and turning \par points in the national career can best be estimated. And \par it is their teaching that we should chiefly have before us. \par From 850 or 800 to 400 B.C. they are the main figures in \par the history of Israel ; and unquestionably the prophetic \par literature is the most characteristic, and has most affinitieˆs \par with the New Testament. We are able to receive a better \par general idea of the religion of the Old Testament by study- \par ing the Prophets than by reading any other part of the \par Hebrew Scriptures. The literature of the period ending \par with 800 or 750 B.C. is scanty, being chiefly contained in \par the part of the Pentateuch called J, or the united elements \par JE. It is different with the prophetical period, 800586, \par which is the most important for an Old Testament theo- \pa‰r logian, i.e. for one who wishes to understand the develop- \par ment of Eevelation or the religion of Israel historically in \par other words, to understand the faith and hopes of Israel as \par they existed actually in the minds of the prophets and the \par people. All the great religious conceptions of the Old \par Testament come to view in this period. An exception \par might be made in regard to the doctrine of immortality. \par But there are two doctrines of immortality in the Old \par TesŠtament that of the people, the kingdom of God ; \par and that of the individual person. The former is fully \par developed in the prophetic age ; that of the individual, \par perhaps not until the period of Judaism. For the prophetic \par teaching is, so to speak, national ; it was only on the down- \par fall of the State that the meaning and worth of the \par individual life began to be adequately felt, and consequently \par that the destinies of the individual began to be earnestly \par pursued ‹and reflected upon. But very much of the \par Christian doctrine of immortality e.g. the concomitants \par of it, the judgment ; the result of it, eternal peace and \par fellowship with God, and the like is taught in the Old \par Testament in connection with the eschatology of the king- \par dom or people of God. \par \par But if the prophetic period be the most important \par period for the Old Testament theologian, the period of \par \par \par \par 22 THE THEOLOGY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT \par Œ\par Judaism, from the Eest oration in 537 to our era, is of \par supreme importance for the Christian theologian or exegete. \par Because, although this period is not so rich in original \par productions, it is the period of reflection and generalisation \par on the prophetic teaching, and of appropriation and as- \par similation of it into the individual life. This process in \par great measure stripped off the nationalism from the pro- \par phetic truths, and brought them under individualism. But \par individualism is universalism. The individual is of no \par nation. \par \par But this way of looking at the ancient literature \par generalised the contents. The circumstances in which a \par truth was uttered ceased to be of importance, while the \par person who uttered it or to whom it was uttered was \par equally unimportant. All those things ceased to have \par meaning. The things that had meaning and had universal \par applicability were the ethical and religious principles. \par ŽThese were the Word of God. So that in a sense it is \par true that the better historical Old Testament theologians \par we are, the worse fitted are we to comprehend the New \par Testament writers. It is admitted that the sense put by \par New Testament writers on much of the Old Testament \par which they quote is not the true historical sense, i.e. not \par the sense which the original writers, prophets, or wise men \par had in their mind. The sense which the New Testament \par writers express is the sense which arose during the period \par of Judaism which experience and reflection and personal \par piety put upon the Old Testament. Hence is it that to \par the Christian theologian or exegete the period of Judaism \par is of the utmost importance. \par \par 7. General Course and Drift of the History. \par \par The literature of Israel, then, being so closely connected \par with its history, it is of importance to understand the general \par course and drift of the latter. As in all ancient States, \par the religion was national. The religious unit or subject \par was not the individual in the State, but the ideal unity \par \par \par \par GENERAL DRIFT OF THE HISTORY 23 \par \par formed by the State as a whole. Now, this unity came \par into existence at the Exodus from Egypt. From that \par hour Israel was conscious of being a people, and Jehovah, \par who had delivered them, was their God alone : " I am \par Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of \par Egyp‘t " (Ex. xx. 2 ; cf. Hos. xiii. 4). The sense of being a \par people, and the sense of being the people of Jehovah, if not \par identical feelings, reacted very powerfully on one another ; \par and hence the religious literature of the .people reflects \par from age to age all the changing hues of its history. That \par history ran very much such a course as we should have \par expected. \par \par (1) The migration of the ancestors of the people from \par the East, the descent into Egypt, the opp’ression and \par bondage there, and the delivery under Moses, are events \par testified to not only in the formal history of the Penta- \par teuch, but by frequent incidental allusions in other writing. \par These allusions express the fundamental historical feeling \par of the people, the very basis of their national and \par religious consciousness (Amos ii. 9 seq. ; Hos. xii. 1 3 ; \par Mic. vi. 4). \par \par (2) Disintegration under the Judges. It was natural \par that the unity into which t“he tribes l had been welded at \par the Exodus by the necessity of facing a common danger, or \par sharing a common enterprise, should become relaxed when \par the danger was over and the enterprise had in great \par measure succeeded ; and, accordingly, after the settlement \par in Canaan, we find the unity in some degree disintegrated, \par and the various tribes fighting each for its own hand, and \par only entering into combinations when some danger more \par serious than usual threatened. Such is the history as \par reflected in the Book of Judges. No doubt a religious \par disintegration in some measure ran parallel to the political \par one. Even in this troubled period, however, although \par \par 1 The tribes entered Canaan, or at least conquered a place in it, not in \par common, but independently, or in smaller combinations. There were two \par Canaanite belts between Judah and the northern tribes, and between the \par \pard northern tribes themselves, i.e. the\cf2\fs23\par }