Prolegomena to the History of Israel | Page 3

analysis will always be too difficult. What every one can understand and ought to try to master, is the broad historical aspect of the matter. And this the present volume sets forth in a way that must be full of interest to every one who has tasted the intense pleasure of following institutions and ideas in their growth, and who has faith enough to see the hand of God as clearly in a long providential development as in a sudden miracle.
The reader will find that every part of the "Prolegomena" is instinct with historical interest, and contributes something to a vivid realisation of what Old Israel really was, and why it has so great a part in the history of spiritual faith. In the first essay of the Prolegomena a complete picture is given of the history of the ordinances of worship in Israel, and the sacrifices, the feasts, the priesthood, are all set in a fresh light. The second essay, the history of what the Israelites themselves believed and recorded about their past, will perhaps to some readers seem less inviting, and may perhaps best be read after perusal of the article, reprinted from the "Encyclopaedia Britannica", which stands at the close of the volume and affords a general view of the course of the history of Israel, as our author constructs it on the basis of the researches in his Prolegomena. The essay on Israel and Judaism with which the Prolegomena close, may in like manner be profitably compared with sect. II of the appended sketch--a section which is not taken directly from the "Encyclopaedia", but translated from the German edition of the article "Israel", where the subject is expanded by the author. Here the reader will learn how close are the bonds that connect the critical study of the Old Testament with the deepest and unchanging problems of living faith.
W. ROBERTSON SMITH.
TRANSLATORS' NOTE.
Pages 237 [chapter IV . 3] to 425 [end] of the "Prolegomena" and section II of "Israel" are translated by Mr. Menzies; for the rest of the volume Mr. Black is responsible. Both desire to express their indebtedness to Professor Robertson Smith for many valuable suggestions made as the sheets were passing through the press.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PROLEGOMENA.
INTRODUCTION--
1. Is the Law the starting-point for the history of ancient Israel or for that of Judaism ? The latter possibility is not precluded a priori by the history of the Canon. Reasons for considering it. De Wette, George, Vatke, Reuss, Graf
2. The three strata of the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy, Priestly Code, Jehovist
3. The question is as to the Priestly Code and its historical position. Method of the investigation

A. HISTORY OF WORSHIP.
CHAPTER I.
THE PLACE OF WORSHIP--
I.I.1. The historical and prophetical books show no trace in Hebrew antiquity of a sanctuary of exclusive legitimacy
I.I.2. Polemic of the prophets against the sanctuaries. Fall of Samaria. Reformation of Josiah
I.I.3. Influence of the Babylonian exile
I.II.1. The Jehovist (JE) sanctions a multiplicity of altars
I.II.2. Deuteronomy (D) demands local unity of worship
I.II.3. The Priestly Code (RQ) presupposes that unity, and transfers it, by means of the Tabernacle, to primitive times
I.III.1. The tabernacle, as a central sanctuary and dwelling for the ark, can nowhere be found in the historical tradition
I.III.2. Noldeke's view untenable
CHAPTER II.
SACRIFICE--
II.I.1. The ritual is according to RQ the main subject of the Mosaic legislation, according to JE it is pre-Mosaic usage; in RQ the point is How, according to JE and D To Whom, it is offered
II.I.2. The historical books agree with JE; the prophets down to Ezekiel contradict RQ
II.II.1. Material innovations in RQ. Preliminary remarks on the notion, contents, mode of offering, and propitiatory effects of sacrifice.
II.II.2. Material and ideal refinement of the offerings in RQ
II.II.3. The sacrificial meal gives way to holocausts
II.II.4. Development of the trespass-offering.
II.III.1. The centralisation of worship at Jerusalem destroyed the connection of sacrifice with the natural occasions of life, so that it lost its original character
CHAPTER III.
THE SACRED FEASTS--
III.I.1. In JE and D there is a rotation of three festivals. Easter and Pentecost mark the beginning and the end of the corn-harvest, and the autumn feast the vintage and the bringing home the corn from the threshing-floor. With the feast of unleavened bread (Massoth) is conjoined, especially in D, the feast of the sacrifice of the male firstborn of cattle (Pesah).
III.I.2. The feasts based on the offering of firstlings of the field and of the herd. Significance of the land and of agriculture for religion
III.II.1. In the historical and prophetical books, the autumn feast only is distinctly attested, and it is the most important in JE and D also: of the others there are only faint traces .
III.II.2. But the nature of the festivals is the same as in JE and D
III.III.1. In RQ the feasts have lost their reference to harvest and the first fruits; and this