2 FEBRUARY 1901, Page 23

The Royal Houses of Israel and David. By Rev. George

0. Little. (Funk and Wagnalls Company. 10s. Gd )—Professor Little has taken, we do not doubt, much pains with his book, but we cannot honestly say that it is helpful. He gives, for instance, a list of discrepancies between Kings and Chronicles, but throws no light on them. It is a merit not to attempt any disingenuous recon- ciliation ; still, from a Professor of Old Testament Literature we expect something in the way of explanation. And his list of discrepancies is not complete. In 2 Kings =iv. 8: "Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign" ; in 2 Chron. xxxvi. he '‘ was eight years old." As in Professor Little's note of "The Peculiarities of Chronicles" he classes Jehoiachin as "wholly bad," we naturally ask for a reason, all the more as Kings and Chronicles agree in the length of his reign : "three months and ten days." The chronicler, we are told, was a very stern preacher of faith and morals. But this damnation of a child seems more than sternness.