PUBLICATIONS OF 



THE MISSING FRAGMENT OF THE LATIN 

 TRANSLATION of the FOURTH BOOK of EZRA, 



discovered, and edited with an Introduction and Notes, and a 

 facsimile of the MS., by Robert L. Bensly, M.A. Sub-Librarian 

 of the University Library, and Reader in Hebrew, Gonville and Caius 

 College, Cambridge. Demy Quarto. Cloth, \os. 



"Edited with true scholarly complete- 

 ness." — Westminster Review. 



" Wer sich je mit dem 4 Buche Esra 

 eingehender beschiiftigt hat, wird durch die 

 obige, in jeder Beziehung musterhafte Pub- 

 lication in freudiges Erstaunen versetzt wer- 

 den. ' ' — Theologische L Heratttrzeituiig. 



"It has been said of this book that it has 



added a new chapter to the Bible, and, start- 

 ling as the statement may at first sight ap- 

 pear, it is no exaggeration of the actual fact, 

 if by the Bible we understand that of the 

 larger size which contains the Apocrypha, 

 and if the Second Book of Esdras can be 

 fairly called a part of the Apocrypha." — 

 Saturday Review. 



THEOLOGY-(ANCIENT). 



SAYINGS OF THE JEWISH FATHERS, 



comprising Pirqe Aboth and Pereq R. Meir in Hebrew and English, 

 with Critical and Illustrative Notes. By Charles Taylor, M.A. 

 Fellow and Divinity Lecturer of St John's College, Cambridge, and 

 Honorary Fellow of King's College, London. Demy 8vo. cloth, los. 



"The most promising mode of rendering 

 its [the Talmud] valuable parts accessible 

 seems to be that of the separate publication 

 of the more important tracts with a transla- 

 tion and critical apparatus. This is what 

 Mr Charles Taylor has achieved for the 

 interesting Mishnah tract Masseketh Aboth 

 or Pirque Aboth, which title he paraphrases 

 as " Sayings of the Fathers." These fathers 

 are Rabbis who established schools and taught 

 in the period from two centuries before to 

 two centuries after Christ. They are the 

 men who, living in the age immediately 

 succeeding the completion of the Hebrew 

 Canon of Scripture, were first able to look 

 on that Scripture as a whole and to compare 

 passage with passage, discover the bearing 

 of one assertion on another, and thus work 

 out the first system of Biblical interpretation, 

 theology, and ethics. Their system was in 

 full vigour in the time of Christ, and was 

 duly imparted to all students — among others, 

 of course, to our Lord Himself and to the 

 learned Pharisee, St Paul. To a large ex- 

 tent it was accepted in the early ages of the 

 Christian Church, and, through the authority 

 conceded to the Fathers of the Church, be- 

 came the unquestioned and orthodox system 

 of interpretation till modern times. Hence 

 it is peculiarly incumbent on those who look 

 to Jerome or Origen for their theology or 

 exegesis to learn something of their Jewish 

 predecessors. The New Testament abounds 

 with sayings which remarkably coincide with, 

 or closely resemble, those of the Jewish 

 Fathers; and these latter probably would 

 furnish more satisfactory and frequent illus- 

 trations of its text than the Old Testament." 

 ■ — Saturday Review. 



"The 'Masseketh Aboth' stands at the 

 head of Hebrew non-canonical writings. It 



is of ancient date, claiming to contain the 

 dicta of teachers who flourished from B.C. 200 

 to the same year of our era. The precise 

 time of its compilation in its present form is, 

 of course, in doubt. Mr Taylor's explana- 

 tory and illustrative commentary is very full 

 and satisfactory." — Spectator. 



" It we mistake not, this is the first pre- 

 cise translation into the English language 

 accompanied by scholarly notes, of any por- 

 tion of the Talmud. In other words, it is 

 the first instance of that most valuable and 

 neglected portion of Jewish literature being 

 treated in the same way as a Greek classic 

 in an ordinary critical edition. . . The Tal- 

 mudic books, which have been so strangely 

 neglected, we foresee will be the most im- 

 portant aids of the future for the proper un- 

 derstanding of the Bible. . . The Sayings of 

 the Jeivish Fathers may claim to be scholar- 

 ly, and, moreover, of a scholarship unusually 

 thorough and finished. It is greatly to be 

 hoped that this instalment is an earnest of 

 future work in the same direction ; the Tal- 

 mud is a mine that will take years to work 

 out. " — Dublin University Magazine. 



"A careful and thorough edition which 

 does credit to English scholarship, of a short 

 treatise from the Mishna, containing a series 

 of sentences or maxims ascribed mostly to 

 Jewish teachers immediately preceding, or 

 immediately following the Christian era. . . 

 Mr Taylor has his treasure-house replete 

 with Rabbinic lore, and the entire volume 

 (especially the " Excursuses") is full of most 

 interesting matter. . . . We would also call 

 special attention to the frequent illustration 

 of phrases and ideas occurring in the New 

 Testament." — Contemporary Review 



London: Cambridge Warehouse, 17 Paternoster Row. 



