046. Appendix II: A Practical Biblical Reference Library

II A PRACTICAL BIBLICAL REFERENCE LIBRARY

Purpose of a Reference Library. The number of books on biblical and related subjects is appallingly great. Many of them are intended simply for technical students; some are out of date, and others are more misleading than helpful. The most difficult problem that confronts the ordinary reader is to determine what books are the most reliable and helpful for the elucidation of the Bible. Not many, but a few clear, interestingly written books are required, which will put the student into possession of the important information which comes from the related fields of biblical geography, contemporary history, archaeology and modern biblical research. Together the books of a practical reference library should give a comprehensive survey of the entire biblical field, and above all they should focus attention upon the Bible itself and aid in interpreting that spiritual truth which constitutes its chief and abiding value.

Books for Constant Reference. In the corresponding first volume of the Student’s Old Testament, entitled The Beginnings of Hebrew History, teachers and readers will find the more detailed introductions to the first three books of the Old Testament and the reasons which have led to the separation of the older from the later narratives and additions. Variant versions of the same incidents are printed in parallel columns and the important interpretative and textual notes are placed at the foot of each page. In the Appendix is also given a selected bibliography with detailed references to both English and foreign works, and citations from the more important extra-biblical documents. For the contemporary Babylonian and Egyptian history, the Bible student should also have on his table Goodspeed’s History of the Babylonians and Assyrians and Breasted’s History of the Ancient Egyptians. A good, modem Bible dictionary is likewise indispensable. Hastings’ shorter edition (to be issued soon), or preferably the larger edition of five volumes is undoubtedly the most satisfactory.

Additional Books of Reference: Introductions. In addition to the books for constant reference, the teacher and student and general reader should be able to refer readily to a score or more of the most important books in English, which throw light upon different subjects connected with the period represented by this volume. These volumes should be found at least in every working college, Sunday-school, or public library. As a general introduction to the problems which are commanding the attention of thoughtful men and women to-day, either Dods, The Bible, Its Origin and Nature, or Kent, The Origin and Permanent Value of the Old Testament, will be found useful. In many ways the most illuminating, brief, popular introduction to the individual books of the Old Testament is that by Professor McFadyen. Equally clear and attractive, and somewhat more detailed and compact is the Introduction to the Old Testament by Professor Cornill. For Bible classes Hazard and Fowler, The Books of the Bible, is an exceedingly useful hand-book. A more technical treatment of the subject is found in Driver, Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament. The articles in Hastings, Dictionary of the Bible, on the individual books also furnish a valuable and yet popular introduction. For the purely literary study, the more recent work by Professor Gardiner on The Bible as English Literature is exceedingly suggestive, and supplements, from the modern point of view, the older epoch-making work of Professor Moulton on the Literary Study of the Bible.

Contemporary Literature and History. For the contemporary Babylonian literature Johns, Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters; King, The Letters and Inscriptions of Hammurabi; and The Seven Tablets of Creation; King and Hall, Egypt and Western Asia in the Light of Recent Discoveries; Ball, Light from the East, and Clay, Light on the Old Testament from Babel, are the chief authorities. Winckler, The Tel-El-Amarna Letters, contains an excellent translation of these important documents. The contemporary Egyptian documents will be found either in Breasted’s History of the Ancient Egyptians or in his more voluminous History of Egypt or in his Ancient Records. In addition to the histories of Breasted and Goodspeed, already mentioned, the reader will find Paton’s compact and reliable little Early History of Syria and Palestine exceedingly suggestive. Maspero’s large and beautifully illustrated volumes on the Dawn of Civilization and The Struggle of the Nations are still delightful mines of information. Winckler’s recently translated History of Babylonia and Assyria also supplements, although it does not supplant Goodspeed’s earlier work. Sayce, Babylonians and Assyrians, presents in concise form the life and customs of these ancient peoples, and Jastrow, Religion of Babylonia and Assyria, gives a clear picture of their beliefs and religious institutions.

Hebrew History. For a brief, popular treatment of early Hebrew history, Wade, Old Testament History, and Cornill, History of the People of Israel, are suggestive and useful. Smith, Old Testament History, is more critical and thorough in its method. The Early Hebrew Traditions. The literature in this field is especially rich. Davis, Genesis and Semitic Traditions, and Ryle, The Early Narratives of Genesis, are popular yet exceedingly suggestive interpretations of the opening stories in the Old Testament. Gunkel, The Legends of Genesis, and Peters, Early Hebrew Stories, throw much new light upon the origin and interpretation of these early narratives. In his Early Traditions of Genesis, Professor Gordon has made a fresh and illuminating study, especially from the philosophical and theological side, of these early chapters. Worcester, Genesis in the Light of Modern Knowledge, contains a full collection of parallel traditions, gathered both from the ancient Orient and Occident. By far the best English commentary on the book of Genesis is that by Professor Driver, although the older work by Professor Dillmann and the brief hand-book by Professor Dods are still of great value. The volume in the International Critical Commentary by Professor Gray on Numbers contains a thorough treatment of the difficult problems presented by that book.