344 PREFACE. ON BEING ASKED to write a Preface to this Translation of a portion of Professor Ewald's Geschichte des Volkes Israel,' my first impulse was to reply that such a work needed nonethat the author is known to be one of the most intellectually powerful, as well as most learned and accurate of the Hebraists and Biblical scholars of the day; that his History of Israel, his largest, and perhaps his greatest work, is acknowledged by both friends and foes to be striking, original, and ingenious; and that, being already not merely known by name, but read and studied at our Universities, it has gained a standing among us which could not be made securer by any words of mine. In the latter opinion I was confirmed by many expressions in Dean Stanley's widely-read works; especially the following :: At that time Ewald was only known as one of the chief Orientalists of Germany. He had not yet proved himself to be the first Biblical scholar in Europe. But year by year he was advancing towards his grand object. To his profound knowledge of the Hebrew language he added, step by step, a knowledge of each stage of the Hebrew literature. These labours on the Prophetic and Poetic books of the ancient Scriptures culminated in his noble work on the History of the People of Israel-as powerful in its general conception as it is saturated with learning down to its minutest details. It would be presumptuous in me either to defend or to attack the critical analysis, which to most English readers savours of arbitrary dogmatism, with which he assigns special dates and authors to the manifold constituent parts of the several books of the Old Testament: and from many of his general statements I should venture to express my disagreement, were this the place to do so. But the intimate acquaintance which he exhibits with every portion of the sacred writings, combined as it is with a loving and reverential appreciation of each individual character, and of the whole spirit and purpose of the Israelitish history, has won the respect even of those who differ widely from his conclusions. How vast its silent effect has been, may be seen from the recognition of its value, not only in its author's own country, but in France and in England also. One instance may suffice-the constant reference to his writings throughout the new 'Dictionary of the Bible,' to which I have myself so often referred with advantage, and which, more than any other single English work, is intended to represent the knowledge and meet the wants of the rising generation. (Jewish Church, pt. i. preface.) and the references on almost every page to chapter and verse of Ewald's books, containing occasionally such emphatic declarations as this : Strange that it should have been reserved for Ewald to have first dwelt on this remarkable fact. In what follows I am indebted to him at every turn. (Pt. ii. p. 117.) Moreover Dean Stanley does not stand alone; Dr. Rowland Williams speaks of Ewald whose faculty of divination, compounded of spiritual insight and of immense learning, I only do not praise, because praise from me would be presumption. (Hebrew Prophets, i. preface.) And Ernest Renan, tracing the history of Semitic philology, says: Dès lors la connaissance de l'hébreu rentra dans le domaine général de la philologie, et participa à tous les progrès de la critique par les écrits des deux Michaëlis, de Simonis, Storr, Eichhorn, Vater, Jahn, Rosenmüller, Bauer, Paulus, de Wette, Winer, et surtout par les admirables travaux de Gesenius et d'Ewald, après lesquels on pourrait croire qu'il ne reste plus rien à faire dans le champ spécial de la littérature hébraïque. (Histoire des Langues Sémitiques, liv. i. ch. 1 end.) And on Ewald's merits in the elucidation of particular books, Dr. Ginsburg testifies thus of his treatment of Ecclesiastes : After tracing these ingenious conceits, it is cheering to come to Ewald, whose four pages on Coheleth, subjoined to his work on the Song of Solomon, contain more critical acumen, and a clearer view of the true design of this book, than many a bulky volume noticed in this sketch. (Coheleth, p. 205.) And Renan thus of his labours on Job: Il serait injuste d'oublier qu'après Schultens, c'est M. Ewald qui a le plus contribué aux progrès de l'exégèse du livre de Job. (Livre de Job, p. viii.) But further consideration convinced me that a few words of introduction would not be out of place, and were in fact necessary, to indicate to the general reader the point of view from |