25 MARCH 1922, Page 25

The Book of Job : A Revised Text . and Version.

By C. J. Ball. (Clarendon Press. 25s. -net.)—We noticed recently two elaborate commentaries on Job. Dr. Ball's new commentary is concerned with the text and is warmly commended to Hebrew scholars by his old pupil, Canon Burney. In his introduction Dr. Ball translates and discusses the fragmea:s of the old Baby- lonian poem, found at Nineveh, which was in some respects a parallel to the Hebrew poem. Dr. Ball's own English rendering of the Book of Job, from the Hebrew as revised by him, is mostly in short, unrhymed verses. It is a spirited and dignified trans- lation which helps the English reader to recognize- the poetic quality of the original, while in many small details it shows a much improved text.