The World Before Abraham. By H. G. Mitchell. (Constable and
Co. 5s. net.)--Professor Mitchell very rightly begins with a general introduction to the Pentateuch, in which a critical review is made of the origins of the books. (He is averse to the now commonly used term Hexateuch.) He rejects the popular idea of a single authorship. It is, he thinks, a compilation. We cannot follow his working out of this hypothesis in detail, and must be content with saying that it seems to have been con- ceived and executed in a spirit of soberness and moderation. From this he proceeds to the special object of his book, the first eleven chapters of Genesis. Of these he gives a new tran.lation, which is followed by comments. These comments are highly interesting and • instructive. Here is the note on the phrase
• ' The windows of heaven were opened (undone) ": " The openings in the solid expanse, the 'firmament' of i. 6, were undone, to empty the waters of the celestial reservoir upon the earth." What do the literalists make of this "celestial reservoir" P
Previous page
