The Bible Reader, Part IV. By E. Nixon and H.
R. Steel. (T. Fisher Unwin. le. net.)—We welcome the fourth instalment of this very useful little book. The authors deal successfully with a very difficult task, the application of criticism to the Old Testament story. The period dealt with is "Solomon to the Captivity," and so includes the time of the Prophets. A good example of the method followed is to be found in the story of Ahab when he spared the suppliant Benhadad. We cannot but admire his generosity, but ho was rebuked for it by a Prophet. Yet how does it differ from Elisha's counsel to a later King that he should spare the Syrian host whom he found in his power ? Of course it seemed a failure in duty to a patriotic Jew, just as the counsel of Jeremiah that Zedekiah should make his submission to the Babylonians must have seemed to the same class a cowardly act.
Previous page
