1877] OLD TESTAMENT STUDY IN 1876 371 



these have an importance far beyond the passage which 

 they affect. They must be kept in view by every one who 

 wishes to understand the gradual process by which the 

 historical books of the Old Testament came to be the 

 complex structure which they are. 



Lagarde s Psalterium lob Proverbia Arabice (Gottingen, 

 1876) is more important for Orientalists, and for the 

 history of the Christian East, than for text-criticism. 



Among recent exegetical works none is less pretentious, 

 while very few are so truly scholarly and calculated to be 

 of such general use, as The Holy Bible, with various 

 Renderings and Readings from the best Authorities, pub 

 lished by Eyre & Spottiswoode. The Old Testament is 

 the work of Messrs. Cheyne and Driver, and the collection 

 of various readings and interpretations is singularly 

 accurate and complete. It is a book which should be in 

 the hands of every Bible reader, while at the same time 

 it will prove an invaluable help to beginners in Hebrew, 

 and a useful book of reference to more advanced scholars, 

 who will find it a convenient index of opinions often 

 collected from works difficult of access. 



In striking contrast to the modest work of these 

 Oxford scholars is the flourish of trumpets with which 

 Messrs. Jennings and Lowe introduce their treatise, The 

 Psalms, with Introductions and Critical Notes (Macmillan 

 & Co. 3 vols. 1875-77). The necessary qualifications of 

 a good commentator are unfolded in a pompous preface, 

 claimed by implication for the authors, and illustrated by 

 a severe ex cathedra criticism on Professor Perowne. 

 The book itself does not display such exceptional scholar 

 ship as might justify this tone. The writers have not 

 been trained in the best school of Hebrew philology. 

 Their grammatical comments lack scientific precision 

 (as on i. 2) ; and they sometimes offer an impossible 

 translation (as ex. 3), or adopt the caprices of P. H. 

 Mason (as in Ixxxi. 5). On the other hand, they bring 

 to their task more rabbinical lore than is usual among 



