THE WISDOM OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
PREFACE.
The present work is a fragmentary realisation of a planwhich has been maturing in my mind for many years.Exegesis and criticism are equally necessary for the full enjoymentof the treasures of the Old Testament, and just as nocommentary is complete which does not explain the actualposition of critical controversies, so no introduction to thecriticism of a book is trustworthy which does not repose, andshow the reader that it reposes, on the basis of a thoroughexegesis. In this volume I do not pretend to have approachedthe ideal of such students’ manuals as I have described;I have not been sufficiently sure of my public totreat the subject on the scale which I should have liked, andsuch personal drawbacks as repeated changes of residence,frequent absence from large libraries, and within the last twoyears a serious eye-trouble, have hindered me in the prosecutionof my work. Other tasks now claim my restoredstrength, and I can no longer withhold my volume fromthose lovers of the sacred literature who in some degreeshare the point of view from which I have written.
The Books of Job and Ecclesiastes are treated somewhatmore in detail than those of Proverbs and Ecclesiasticus.The latter have a special interest of their own, but to bringthis into full view, more excursions into pure philology wouldhave been necessary than I judged it expedient to allow myself.I had intended to make up for this omission so far asProverbs is concerned at the end of the volume, but haveviiibeen interrupted in doing so. Perhaps, however, even in theAppendix such detailed treatment of special points mighthave repelled some readers, and I hope that the Appendixis on the whole not unreadable. The enlarged notes onProverbs in the forthcoming new edition of Messrs. Eyre andSpottiswoode’s Variorum Bible may enable the student to dofor himself what I have not done. As for Ecclesiasticus, thelight which Prof. Bickell’s and Dr. Edersheim’s researchesare sure