ORIENTAL DISCOVERIES ON OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY. 29 



Other references in the Book, such as that to the existence 

 of the Pahxce School (a peculiaii}^ Assyrian and Babylonian 

 institution) in the first chapter ; to the articles of Babylonian 

 apparel, and the place assigned to music in Babylonian state 

 ceremonial in the third chapter, are iuexpHcable on the 

 supposition tJmt the author lived in a time when the Baby- 

 lonian civilisation had long been a thing of the past. Ko mere 

 romance could have had the illustration and contirmation which 

 recent discoveries have brought to this part of Scripture. 



3. Samuel and Kings. — We now come to the important Books 

 of Samuel and Kings. The earlier tendency of criticism was 

 to accept tliese as largely historical; but later views have 

 minimised tiiat admission. 'J'he Books are now re^tarded, not 



o 



as a history, but as an exposition of the author's views 

 illustrated by supposed historical events. It is not sur- 

 prising," says The New International Encyclopaedia in the article 

 on the Books of Samuel, " to find incidents introduced which 

 are intended to illustrate the narrator's conceptions of Israel's 

 past. . . . The scene, therefore, between Samuel and the 

 people, in which he rebukes them for desiring a king 

 (1 Sam. viii, 10-18), may contain but a slight historical kernel, 

 or even be a purely fanciful elaboration. . . . Many 

 scholars . . . believe that legendary embellishments form 

 a factor in many of the other incidents related of him." A 

 similar design is said to pervade the Books of Kings. All 

 disasters, we are told, are regarded as punishments. " It is 

 therefore necessary," concludes the writer, " before utilising the 

 valuable material embodied in Samuel and Kings to make due 

 allowance for this theory, and to distinguish carefidly between 

 facts and the interpretation put upon them. In the second 

 place the careers of the favourite heroes — notably David and 

 Solomon — have been embellished with legends," etc. T'hat is 

 an accurate summary of current theories. The Encyclopaedia 

 Bihlica believes that Eli's sons were invented. " Eli's sons," 

 remarks the writer, " do not appear to have entered into the 

 original tradition ; they are only introduced in the interests of 

 the later theory." Beferring to the histoiy of Elijah and 

 Elisha, which forms more than one-fourth of the contents of 

 the two Books of Kings, Hastings Bible Dictionary says : " Like 

 other historical parts of the Old Testament, they may have 

 lived in the mouths of the people for generations, forming a 

 powerful means of religious education, before they were 

 committed to writing." The " history," therefore, occupies no 

 higher level than legend and popular tradition. 



