i8 7 4] VARIOUS EXTRACTS 249 



as to how the case might have arisen, and stands on quite 

 a different footing from the real arguments for dating 

 ix.-xi. from the 8th century. And it is characteristic 

 of the way in which certain critics are unable to dis 

 tinguish conjecture from proof that Kuenen, without 

 hesitation, in his Godsdienst assumes this conjectural 

 identification of the author of the chapter as historical 

 fact. 



5. The Book of the Covenant (Oct. n, 1872). 



Every discussion of the Covenant made at Sinai must 

 start from Exodus xix.-xxiv., the so-called Book of the 

 Covenant. The name rmin HDD is in these chapters 

 themselves given to that first sketch of the Mosaic con 

 stitution, given from Sinai, to the observance of which 

 the people formally pledged themselves. And the same 

 name is rightly enough extended to the whole section 

 which simply contains these laws with the needful 

 historical elucidations. The six chapters of the Book 

 of the Covenant stand out in distinct relief from the 

 surrounding parts of the Pentateuch, and competent 

 critics of all schools are pretty much at one as regarding 

 them as forming the oldest part of the Pentateuch, the 

 basis of all subsequent legislation. 



6. The History of the Ark (Dec. 13, 1872). 



You may probably be inclined to think that before 

 saying anything of the history of the ark, one should go 

 on to the description of the tabernacle in which the ark 

 was preserved. A few years ago this would have been 

 the natural course to follow. But in recent times the 

 historicity of the Tabernacle, as described in the book of 

 Exodus, has been exposed to severe assaults, which do 

 not touch the historicity of the ark. In fact, the most 

 negative critics of the present day admit that the ark, 

 and of course a tent for its protection, were carried about 



