4 JUNE 1904, Page 25

Saul: the Rise of the Hebrew Monarchy. By the Rev.

R. Sinker, D.D. (Dent and Co. 9d. net.)—Dr. Sinker is a very conservative critic. He accepts even the numbers of the host led by Saul against the Ammonites, though three hundred and thirty thousand fighting men would imply a population improbably large. He also apologises for the massacre of the infants and sucklings of the Amalekites. "Such a command would be of course incon- sistent with the teaching of the Gospel of Christ. But was it inconsistent with -the ideas of God's justice?" Are the Gospel and the divine justice then opposed? Still, the book is a careful study of the history of the time.—The Age of Daniel. By the Rev. A. Mitchell Hunter. (Same publishers. 9d. net.)—Mr. Hunter follows, it seems to us, a reasonable course. He acknow- ledges the force of the argument against the contemporaneousness of the narrative, but he still holds the reality of the person of Daniel, and treats the book generally with discretion.