Ezra's

the Chronicler; his syntax also is more classical than his. style approaches slightly more than Neh.'s does to that of the compiler; this may be partly due to modifications which the compiler has allowed himself to introduce into his extracts from Ezra's memoirs: partly it may be due to the fact that Ezra was a priest, and consequently used more words belonging to the priestly terminology than Nehemiah did.

Examples of recurring phrases in the memoirs of Neh. :

My Gol, 2, 8. 12. 18. 5, 19. 6, 14. 7, 5. 13, 14. 22. 29. 31. D'JJDM 'n nobles and deputies, for the magnates of Judah: 2, 16. 4, 14. 19. 5, 7. 7, 5: cf. the nobles of Jutah 6, 13. 13, 17:1 the "deputies' 12, 40, 13, 11. 17. (DD only Ezr. 9, 2 in this sense besides.) His □y】 young men are mentioned: 4, 23. 5, 10. 13, 19. Remember unto me, O my God, for good (or similar phrases): 5, 19. 6, 14. 13, 14. 22. 29. 31.

God of heaven 1, 4. 5. 2, 4. 20 is a post-exilic expression often used in converse with heathen, or placed in their mouth: Ezr. 1, 2 (= 2 Ch. 36, 23). 5, 11. 12. 6, 9. 10. 7, 12. 21. 23. Jon. 1, 9. Dan. 2, 18. 19. 37. 44. Only once earlier, Gen. 24, 7 J (where, however, "and God of the earth" has perhaps fallen out: so LXX, cf. v. 3).

Neh. is also fond of = that ("), which is found also in Dan. Eccl. Est., and occasionally in pre-exilic writings, but is not used by the Chronicler. See Neh. 2, 5. 10. 4, 6. 7, 65 (= Ezr. 2, 63). 8, 14. 15. 10, 31. 13, 1. 19. 22. Our God is an expression occurring frequently in the parts assigned above to the memoirs of both Ezr. and Neh.: it is never used by the Chronicler when speaking in his own person.

NOTE. In the Greek Bible, the Book of Ezra appears in two forms: 2 Esdras representing-of course with the textual variations usual in LXXthe Hebrew" Fzra;" and 1 Esdras incorporating the Hebrew “Ezra " (with variations) with other matter, as exhibited in the following table :2 Ch. 35, 1-36, 21. Ezr. I.

=

I Esdr. I

2, 1-14

1

1 is an Aramaic word, used in North Israel (p. 422 note 2), but never applied to the nobles of Judah, except Jer. 27, 20. 39, 6, in two passages not in the LXX, and probably of later origin than Jer.'s own time (cf. pp. 248, 254, 255). Only besides Is. 34, 12 (of Edom) and Eccl. 10, 17 (D'n ̄¡2).

2 So in the English Apocrypha; in the Vulgate 3 Esdras (1 Esdras = our Ezra; 2 Esdras = Nehemiah; 4 Esdras the Engl. 2 Era).

The termination is abrupt; probably the concluding parts of the book have been lost. The section 3, 1-5, 6 has been borrowed by the compiler from some independent source; it describes how three of the guards of Darius agreed to test their wisdom by writing three sentences and placing them under Darius' pillow, to be read and adjudicated on by him in the morning. One wrote, "Wine is the strongest ;" another, "The king is the strongest;" the third, "Women are the strongest; but, above all things, truth beareth away the victory." In the morning, each defends his thesis at length before the king; the conclusion of the third, whose name was Zorobabel (4, 13), that "truth endureth, and is strong for ever," is greeted by the people with applause. Darius bids him ask what he will; and he seizes the opportunity to remind the king of a vow made by him at his accession to restore the Jews. Darius thereupon issues a decree, permitting the Jews to return from exile, taking back with them their sacred vessels, and to rebuild the Temple, and granting them many other privileges. This representation, attributing the restoration of the Jews to Darius, is evidently in direct conflict with Ezra I. The position assigned to Ezr. 4, 7-24 is also thoroughly unsuitable. Different motives have been assigned for the compilation: probably the writer wished partly to stimulate his countrymen to a more zealous observance of the Law (note the transition from Ezr. 10 to Neh. 7, 73 ff.), partly by the example of the munificence of Cyrus and Darius to gain for them the favour of some foreign ruler-perhaps one of the Ptolemies.1 The parts which correspond with the Heb. Ezra are translated in a freer and more flowing style than in the LXX; but the translation is important for the criticism of the Hebrew text of Ezra, which in some cases may be restored by its aid.

1 Comp. Ewald, Hist. v. p. 1261.; Lupton, in the Speaker's Comm, on the Apocrypha, i. p. 10.

CHURCH HISTORY.

THE BEGINNINGS OF CHRISTIANITY. With a View of tho State of the Roman World at the Birth of Christ. By GEORGE P. FISHER, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Church History in Yale College. 8vo, $2.50.

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This work is in several respects notable. It gives an able presentation of the subject in a single volume, thus supplying the need of a complete and at the same time condensed survey of Church History. It will also be found much broader and more comprehensive than other books of the kind. The following will indicate its aim and scope.

FROM THE PREFACE.-"There are two particulars in which I have sought to make the narrative specially serviceable. In the first place the attempt has been made to exhibit fully the relations of the history of Christianity and of the Church to contemporaneous secular history. I have tried to bring out

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