Rock cutting-North wall of Jerusalem... PAGE 147 Upper Beth Horon-Mountain pass from coast to Jerusalem.. 148 The wailing-place of the Jews-Jerusalem... 385 The seven-branched candlestick from the Arch of Titus. 388 IV. Palestine after the Conquest by the Hebrews. 402 VIII. Restoration of Solomon's Temple (according to Stade) 405 IX. The Divided Kingdom.... X. The Assyrian Empire about B. C. 700 XI. The Babylonian Empire about B. C. 580. XII. The Persian Empire about B. C. 500.. XIII. The Grecian Empire about B. C. 323. XV. Palestine under the Maccabees about B. C. 78... 406 407 407 407 407 408 408 44 408 409 409 409 409 PREFACE THE last two or three decades have witnessed a remarkable revival of interest in the Old Testament. Many who had become indifferent to it because they lacked intelligent acquaintance with its real character have rediscovered it owing to the light thrown upon it by modern scholarship. The educational value of the Old Testament for the twentieth century has as yet hardly begun to be appreciated. There are indications on every side of a deepening interest in religious education, and earnest efforts are being made for the improvement of methods in this important field. One of the chief obstacles to progress is the dearth of good textbooks. This book is the result of many years of experience in teaching Bible classes consisting of pupils from seventeen to twenty years of age in a secular school, and adult classes in church schools and community schools of religious education. It is believed to be especially well adapted to the needs of similar classes in other schools, as well as to the use of the general reader who desires a brief guide to accompany Old Testament study. Of the different angles from which these lessons from the Bible may be approached none that are vital have been neglected. The pupil should come to the close of the study with a knowledge of the main facts in the history of the Hebrews, with a good idea of the successive steps in the development of their moral and spiritual ideals, with an appreciation of a few of the superb literary masterpieces of this gifted race that will stimulate further study in the fascinating field, and, last but greatest of all, with a new vision of the eternal truths that have made the Bible such a power in the lives of men. It is the thought of the author that the lessons are of about the right length for pupils of the last year of the secondary school, the teacher supplementing where necessary by especially assigned work in reference books, but that adult classes in church schools and community schools of religious education will be able to take two or even three lessons at a time. The author is indebted to the following named publishers for permission to use quotations from their publications: Charles Scribner's Sons, Kent's A History of the Jewish People, and The Heroes and Crises of Early Hebrew History, H. P. Smith's Old Testament History, Goodspeed's History of the Babylonians and Assyrians, and Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible; Henry Holt & Co., Moore's The Literature of the Old Testament; The George H. Doran Co., George Adam Smith's The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, and Gordon's The Prophets of the Old Testament; The Open Court Publishing Co., Cornill's The Prophets of Israel, and History of the People of Israel; Oxford University Press and Thomas Nelson & Sons, The New Century Bible; The Macmillan Company, Mathews' New Testament Times in Palestine; Harper & Brothers, The Women of the Bible; The American Sunday-School Union of Philadelphia, Barton's Archaology and the Bible; J. P. Lippincott & Co., The First Book of the Maccabees. All references to Hastings's Dictionary of the Bible are to the one-volume edition. Works that have been consulted in the preparation |