The Bible Hand - Book : an Introduction to the Study of
Sacred Scripture. By the late Joseph Angus, D.D. A New Edition by Samuel G. Green, D.D. (R.T.S. 6s. net.)—This book covers a much larger field of inquiry than any one of the volumes hitherto noticed, taking in both the Old Testament and the New, and giving, among other things, the history of the text, as well as an account of the subject-matter. The critical standpoint occupied by the original author and his editor is, as might be imagined, very far from that of Drs. Kent, Peters, and Smith. Dr. Smith, for instance, thinks that "Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar or Darius, each of these Kings as he appears in the book is simply the projection of Antiochus Epiphanes into an earlier time." Here, on the contrary, the whole book is treated as historical. We cannot enter on the discussion. We may remark, how- ever, that the unconditional statement that Belshazzar was "a 'son' or descendant of Nebuchadnezzar through the marriage of Nabonidus into that great King's family" is not justifiable. There is no evidence of such a marriage ; indeed, it hardly suits the manners of the time. Henry VII. might marry Elizabeth of York to confirm his title to the crown ; but an Oriental usurper in the sixth century B.C. would prefer the policy of sweeping away the whole family of the dethroned Monarch. There is much useful and valuable information in the book, but we have indicated its limitations.
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