SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice such Books of the week as have not been r eserved for review in other forms.]
The Exploration of Egypi and the Old Testament. By J. G arrow Duncan, B.D. (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier. 5s. net.)—Mr. Duncan's important exploration was in Goshen. He faces frankly the difficulty of numbers, mentioning with limited approval Professor Flinders Petrie's solution which substitutes " families " or " tents " for thousands. The three millions are as impossible in Goshen as in the Sinai Peninsula. If we call in the aid of miracle to account for their subsistence in the desert, it is no less necessary for their sojourn in Goshen. That region is exactly what we are led to expect from the mention of it,—an insignificant district, not big enough to be reckoned among the regular divisions of the country, just the place, in short, where a casual tribe might be located. The exploration of the city of Goshen has not diminished the general difficulty. It was inhabited by an Egyptian population, and at the very time which is with most probability assigned to the sojourn of the Israelites. But no indications of a Hebrew element can be discovered. The Pentateuch numbers must be given up. This done, we need feel no surprise that the migration of some five thousand Semitic strangers, profoundly important to the migrans themselves, left no trace on the history of the country which they quitted. We have an interesting account of Goshen as it is now. It is not without pride that we observe how English capital and enterprise have made the country more fertile than it was in the most flourishing period of ancient Egypt. Mr. Duncan has something to tell us about the Tahpahnes of Jeremiah xliii., and about other Biblical matters.
Previous page
