MORRIS JASTROW, JR. on) 



For years Jastrow has been studying and lecturing upon certain 

 books of the Old Testament. Only two years ago he began to pub- 

 lish the results of his researches in this field, and there appeared a 

 volume entitled "A Gentle Cynic, Being the Book of Ecclesiastes." 

 This was closely followed last year by " The Book of Job " ; and 

 there has just appeared the " Song of Songs," the manuscript of 

 which was practically completed only a few days before his death. 

 His years of ripened scholarship, his new translation, and his sane 

 interpretation of the text have enabled him to produce treatises on 

 these books which will hereafter command serious attention when- 

 ever they are considered. 



During the war Jastrow's interest was directed to the great politi- 

 cal questions before the world, especially in their bearing upon the 

 countries of the Near East. This was natural, especially for one 

 who had devoted his life to a study of the history, religions, and 

 archaeology of the ancient peoples of these lands. He realized that 

 the political problems of the present are in many respects similar to 

 those of the past ; and at the solicitation of those who had heard him 

 lecture on the subject, he felt constrained to publish his views, which 

 show a remarkable understanding of the situation. Four books fol- 

 lowed one after the other in rapid succession, namely : " The War 

 and the Bagdad Railway, or The Story of Asia Minor and its 

 Relation to the Great Conflict " ; " The War and the Coming Peace, 

 a discussion of the war and the basis for an enduring peace " ; 

 " Zionism and the Future of Palestine " ; and '* The Eastern Ques- 

 tion and its Solution." In these the Semitic scholar as publicist has 

 presented a sane and practical solution of the problems involved. 



Jastrow's miscellaneous bibliography is also large and full, in- 

 cluding memoirs of important men and topics. He edited, with an 

 introductory memoir, " Selected Essays of James Darmesteter," the 

 translation of which from the French was made by Mrs. Jastrow. 

 His contributions to encyclopaedias and dictionaries are numerous; 

 and besides being editor of the Handbooks of the History of Religion, 

 he was editor of the Department of the Bible in the Jewish Encyclo- 

 paedia; he was in charge of the Semitic articles in the International 

 Encyclopaedia ; and joint-editor of the Semitic Study Series ; Asso- 



