23 1171 .236 1271 v. 1 PREFACE. Ir is not without much diffidence that we offer this unpretending work to the public; indeed we should hardly have ventured to do so, as so many great writers have been engaged upon the same subject, had we not believed that it had never been actually treated in the same way, nor for precisely the same purpose, that we have had in view. It has been our intention to give an account of the history and of the literature of the Israelites for the use of the young, who cannot, without turning the Bible into a lesson-book, acquire the desired knowledge direct from its pages, and who are scarcely prepared to consult works of a learned or a more advanced order. We have attempted to accomplish our task without entering upon any controversial or dogmatical point; for it has been our desire merely to facilitate a familiar acquaintance with the facts and personages of the Holy Scriptures, and so to help our readers to find deeper interest in the Bible itself, and to arouse in them a greater wish to study the learned authors who have given us their expositions of the Holy Text. If we succeed in doing so-if, after the perusal of our book, the Bible is more eagerly sought for, if its pages are better understood, and its teaching consequently becomes more effectual,-our aim will have been attained. The first part of this work is chiefly historical; while the second contains an account of the prophetic and the poetical writings of the Old Testament, and from the nature of the subjects discussed, will be adapted to somewhat maturer readers. It only remains for us to acknowledge how much, on a path often beset by difficulties, we have been indebted to such authors as Stanley, Milman, Kalisch, and Jost. LONDON: September 15, 1870. C. DE ROTHSCHILD. A. DE ROTHSCHILD. 24 28 31 37 42 44 47 48 52 9. God's Covenant with Abraham and the Birth of Ishmael 10. The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 11. Birth of Isaac and Expulsion of Hagar |