312 THE EVOLUTION OF THEOLOGY vill 



urged, the instinct of the whole Semitic race ; in other words, 

 one single branch of the Semites was under God's providence 

 educated into pure monotheism only by centuries of misfortune 

 and series of inspired men (vol. iii. p. 986). 



It appears to me that the researches of the 

 anthropologist lead him to conclusions identical 

 in substance, if not in terms, with those here 

 enunciated as the result of a careful study 

 of the same subject from a totally different point 

 of view. 



There is abundant evidence in the books of 

 Samuel and elsewhere that an article of dress 

 termed an ephod was supposed to have a peculiar 

 efficacy in enabling the wearer to exercise 

 divination by means of Jahveh-Elohirn. *Great 

 and long continued have been the disputes as to 

 the exact nature of the ephod whether it always 

 means something to wear, or whether it sometimes 

 means an image. But the probabilities are that 

 it usually signifies a kind of waistcoat or broad 

 zone, with shoulder-straps, which the person who 

 "inquired of Jahveh" put on. In 1 Samuel 

 xxiii. 2 David appears to have inquired without an 

 ephod, for Abiathar the priest is said to have 

 " come down with an ephod in his hand " only 

 subsequently. And then David asks for it before 

 inquiring of Jahveh whether the men of Keilah 

 would betray him or not. David's action is 

 obviously divination pure and simple ; and it 

 is curious that he seems to have worn the ephod 



