610 Copyright, 1880, BY CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS. RIVERSIDE, CAMBRIDGE: STEREOTYPED AND PRINTED BY LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE CRITICAL, DOCTRINAL, AND HOMILETICAL COMMEN TARY ON THE BIBLE. GENERAL EDITORS: Rev. JOHANN PETER LANGE, D.D., Consistorial Counselor and Professor of Theology in the University of Bonn. Rev. PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Sacred Literature in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. I. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE GERMAN EDITION. Rev. CHRIST. FR. KLING, D.D., Rev. GOTTHARD VICTOR LECHLER, D.D., Rev. J. J. VAN OOSTERZEE, D.D., Rev. C. J. RIGGENBACH, D.D., Professor of Theology in the University of Basle, Rev. FR. JULIUS SCHROEDER, D.D., Rev. OTTO ZOECKLER, D.D., II. CONTRIBUTORS TO THE ANGLO-AMERICAN EDITION. Rev JOHN A. BROADUS, D.D., Professor of New Testament Exegesis at Louisville, Ky. Rev. CHAS. ELLIOTT, D.D., Professor of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, Chicago, Ill. Rev. L. J. EVANS, D.D., Professor of New Test. Exegesis in Lane Theol. Seminary, Cincinnati. Rev. PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D., Principal and Professor of Divinity in the Free Church Rev. WILLIAM FINDLAY, M.A., Rev. JOHN FORSYTH, D.D., LL.D., Rev. FREDERIC GARDINER, D.D., Rev. ABRAHAM GOSMAN, D.D., Rev. W. HENRY GREEN, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Oriental Literature in the Theol. Seminary at Princeton, N. J. Rev. JAMES B. HAMMOND, M.A., Rev. HORATIO B. HACKETT, D.D, Professor of Biblical Exegesis in the Theological Seminary, Rev. CHESTER D. HARTRANFT, D.D.. Rev. EDWIN HARWOOD, D.D., Rector of Trinity Church, New Haven, Conn. Rev. W. H. HORNBLOWER, D.D., Professor of Sacred Rhetoric, etc., in the Theol. Seminary at Alleghany, Pa. Rev. JOHN F. HURST, D.D., Rev. A. C. KENDRICK, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Greek in the University of Rochester, N. Y. TAYLER LEWIS, LL.D., Professor of Oriental Languages in Union College, Schenectady, N. Y. Rev. JOHN LILLIE, D.D., Kingston, N. Y. Rev. SAMUEL T. LOWRIE, D.D., Philadelphia, Pa. Rev. J. FRED. MCCURDY, M.A., Ass't Professor of the Hebrew Language in the Theol. Sem. at Princeton, N. J. Rev. CHARLES M. MEAD, Ph.D., Professor of the Hebrew Language and Literature in the Theol. Sem., Andover, Mass. Rev, GEO. E. DAY, D.D., Professor in Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Conn. Rev. DUNLOP MOORE, D.D., Miss EVELINA MOORE, Newark, N. J. JAMES G. MURPHY, LL.D., Professor in the General Assembly's and the Queen's College at Belfast. Rev. HOWARD OSGOOD, D.D.. Professor of the Interpretation of the Old Test. in the Theol. Sem., Rochester, N. Y. Rev. JOSEPH PACKARD, D.D. Professor of Biblical Literature in the Theological Seminary at Alexandria, Va. Rev. DANIEL W. POOR, D.D., Professor of Church History in the Theological Seminary at San Francisco, Cal. Rev. MATTHEW B. RIDDLE, D.D., Professor of New Testament Exegesis in the Theol. Seminary at Hartford, Conn. Rev. CHAS. F. SCHAEFFER, D.D., Professor of Theology in the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary at Philadelphia. Rev. WILLIAM G. T. SHEDD, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Systematic Theology in the Union Theological Seminary, New York. Rev. CHAS. C. STARBUCK, M.A., Formerly Tutor in the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass. Rev. P. H. STEENSTRA, Professor of Biblical Literature at Cambridge, Mass. Rev. JAMES STRONG, D.D., Professor of Exegetical Theology in the Drew Theological Seminary, Madison, N. J. Rev. W. G. SUMNER, M.A., Professor in Yale College, New Haven, Conn. Rev. C. H. TOY, D.D., Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis, Rev. E. A. WASHBURN, D.D., LL.D., WILLIAM WELLS, M.A., LL.D., Professor of Modern Languages in Union College, New York. Rev. C. P. WING, D.D., Rev. E. D. YEOMANS, D.D., Orange, N. J. PREFACE. THE apocryphal books of the Old Testament have been greatly neglected by English divines. No critical commentary in the English language has appeared since that of Richard Arnald (died 1756), first published in London 1744, and for the fourth time (with corrections by Pitman), in 1822, and embodied in the Critical Commentary of Patrick, Lowth, Arnald, Whitby, and Lowman. Since the British and Foreign, and the American Bible Societies have ceased to circulate them, it is even difficult for the ordinary reader to obtain them. They are, it is true, not equal in authority to the canonical books: they did not belong to the Hebrew canon; they were written after the extinction of prophecy; they are not quoted in the New Testament (the Book of Enoch referred to by Jude is not among the Apocrypha); the most learned among the Christian fathers, Origen, Eusebius, and Jerome, excluded them from the canon in its strict sense, although they made frequent use of them; they contain some Jewish superstitions, and furnish the Roman Catholics proof-texts for their doctrines of purgatory, prayers for the dead, and the meritoriousness of good works. Nevertheless they have very great historical importance: they fill the gap between the Old and New Testaments; they explain the rise of that condition of the Jewish people, their society and religion, in which we find it at the time of Christ and the Apostles; they contain much valuable and useful information. The books of the Maccabees make us acquainted with the heroic period of Jewish history; Ecclesiasticus is almost equal to the Proverbs for its treasures of practical wisdom; Tobit and Judith are among the earliest and most interesting specimens of religious fiction. The Apocrypha are first found in the Greek Version of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), from this they passed into the Latin Vulgate, and from this into all the older Protestant versions and editions, though sometimes in smaller type, or with the heading that, while they are useful and edifying reading, they must not be put on a par with the inspired books of the Bible. It has been deemed timely to issue, as a supplementary volume to Lange's Bible-work (which is confined to the canonical books), a revised version of the Apocrypha, with critical and historical introductions and explanations. Homiletical hints would, of course, be superfluous for Protestant ministers and students. This work has been intrusted to the Rev. Dr. EDWIN CONE BISSELL, who is well known as the author of a work on "The Historic Origin of the Bible" (New York, 1873), and who has for several years devoted special attention to the Apocrypha, in Germany and in this country. Fritzsche's Greek text (Libri Apocryphi Veteris Testamenti, Lipsiæ, 1871) has been used as the basis, and carefully collated with the Vatican Codex (II.) in the new edition of Cozza, as well as with other important publications. The author desires to express his very deep sense of obligation to Dr. Eberhard Nestle, of the University of Tübingen, and to Dr. Ezra Abbot, of Cambridge, Mass., for invaluable suggestions and corrections as the work was passing through the press. Biblical students will welcome this book as an important contribution to exegetical litera ture. It is not without profound gratitude to God, and to the many friends and patrons, that now, after sixteen years of editorial labor, I take leave of this voluminous Commentary, the success of which in America and England has surpassed my most sanguine expectations. PHILIP SCHAFF. NEW YORK, June 14, 1880. |