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tive as a whole; there are but few individual passages which are used in modern literature.

ESTHER

This book, like the one just discussed, bears the name of a woman.. It is a historical romance with strong dramatic possibilities. The following outline will as sist in the study of the book.

1. Vashti, the queen, refuses to be present at the feast of Ahasuerus.

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2. Esther, a Jewess maiden, is chosen queen in place of Vashti. 2 3. Haman, the Agagite, is advanced by King Ahasuerus, and is despised by Mordecai, Esther's uncle. He obtains a decree by which the Jews are to be put to death. 3

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4. Esther and Mordecai confer over the situation. 5. Esther goes to the king and requests permission to give a special banquet to the king and Haman. Haman prepares a gallows for Mordecai.

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5 6. Ahasuerus finds an account in his book of records of conspicuous service which had been rendered by Mordecai. He advises with Haman regarding the reward which should be given to the man whom the king delighteth to honor. Haman is appointed to carry out the king's orders regarding the honoring of Mordecai. 7. Esther denounces Haman at the banquet and he is hanged on the gallows prepared for Mordecai. 7 8. The decree relating to the slaughter of the Jews is revoked and Esther and Mordecai have great pros perity. 8, 9, 10 From reference to Ahasuerus (Xerxes) it is obvious that the scene is placed in the fifth century B. C. Like the book of Ruth it contains a fascinating story most skillfully told. The literary value of the book depends largely upon this characteristic.

ECCLESIASTES

The name of this book comes from the Hebrew through the Greek and has been translated "Preacher." The term is not used in its modern significance, as the writer was a philosopher rather than a speaker in an assembly. The authorship of the book is uncertain. It is obviously a collection of reflections from one or more writers who had passed through a great variety of life's experiences and had come at its close into an attitude of reflectiveness. The entire book should be read by the student, and while reading it the following topics should be kept constantly before the mind:

Does true happiness come from the possession of wisdom?

Does it come through labor?

Is there any distinction between man and the beasts in the final reckoning?

The vanities which come from riches, children, and old age.

The value of a good name and the suggestion that gaining wisdom is the chief end of man.

Further development of the wisdom thesis.

An exhortation to worship the Creator.
The conclusion of the whole matter.

Read chapters 3 and 12 aloud. If there is not suffi cient time to carry out the suggestion made elsewhere that a comparative study be made of Ecclesiastes and the Rubaiyat, it is desirable that this poem should at least be read..

SONG OF SOLOMON

Few books in the Bible have awakened more discussion than the Song of Solomon. It was with considerable difficulty that it found a place in the Old Testament canon. When admitted its reading was forbidden to Israelites under a certain age. It has been some

what fancifully suggested that the Shulamite maiden was none other than Abishag, the Shunammite who ministered to King David in his extreme old age and who seemed to possess the affections of both Solomon and his elder brother Adonijah. Before accepting any theory of interpretation the book should be carefully read.

Those who are looking for a dramatic setting in the book will find it easy to accept the interpretation that the various parts of the book were delivered in turn by Solomon, who had come into northern Palestine with his court; a Shulamite maiden who is betrothed to a rustic lover; and a chorus of court women. With this interpretation in mind the poem may be supposed to represent the struggle of King Solomon to win the affections of the maiden from her rustic lover. Solomon begins his appeal by flattering references to her beauty, chapters 1. 9, and 2. 7. The maiden replies by setting forth the graces and virtues of her lover. Solomon renews his suit, chapter 4. 1-7, by use of the strongest Oriental imagery as a tribute to the maiden's beauty, but all of this is without avail. Then follows a duet by the maiden and her lover. Solomon makes a further appeal (chapter 6. 4-10) and is again repulsed. The chorus of women which has been in sympathy with the aspirations of the king now weakens somewhat in its allegiance and begins to express sympathy with the maiden in her preference for her rustic lover. The concluding scene takes place in the country home of the maiden. She and her lover are reunited and Solomon makes the best of the situation.

Another interpretation makes the king himself identical with the rustic lover. Unable to gain her affec tions in his own person, King Solomon disguises himself as a shepherd and wins her love. He then reveals himself to her as the king and they are wedded in royal state. There are many poetical expressions in the book

which have made for themselves a strong place in modern literature.

The interpretation held by orthodox critics a half century ago finds little favor at present.

LAMENTATIONS

This little book is made up of five elegies which are arranged in a remarkable literary form. The first four are in the form of an acrostic where each verse begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Chapter 3 has sixty-six verses, but each three successive lines begin with the same letter. Chapter 5 is not in the acrostic form, but contains twenty-two verses. This book was read by the Jews at the feast of the Ninth of Ab, in commemoration of the burning of the city by Nebuchadnezzar (1. 1), as Ruth was read at the Passover season, and Esther at the Feast of Purim. It is still chanted by pious Jews at the wailingplace by the temple.

The following arrangement with the English alphabet will illustrate the acrostic form. Chapter 2: 1. Anger has come from the Lord and covered the daughter of Zion.

2. Broken are the inhabitants of Jacob, and laid waste are the strongholds.

3. Cut off is the horn of Israel and Jacob is consumed with fire.

4. Destruction came from his bow and desolate is the daughter of Zion.

5. Enmity from Jehovah has swallowed up Israel and increased mourning in the daughter of Judah. 6. Forgotten are the solemn feasts and Sabbaths, and the places of assembly are destroyed.

CHAPTER VIII

THE EARLIER PREEXILIC PROPHETS

AMOS

DURING the reign of Jeroboam II (783-743), the northern kingdom of Israel enjoyed a period of great prosperity. This was due in large measure to the temporary weakness of its powerful neighbors. With this prosperity there came in a certain arrogance. Religion became more or less formal, and class distinctions, rather uncommon in Israel, began to develop.

The prophet Amos was the immediate successor of the great prophetic figures, Elijah and Elisha. He tells us that he was a herdsman from the village of Tekoa. He possessed a keen conception of the serious situation in which the northern kingdom found itself, and the burden of his message was the inevitable coming doom. Chapters 1 and 2 should be read aloud and their excellence as a specimen of oratory noted. Note the literary form in 1. 3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2. 1, 4, 6, and compare with Prov. 30. The conclusion in which Judah and Israel are brought into the category of condemnation is very striking.

Although the book as a whole is of high literary merit, only two passages have been selected as especially noteworthy.

HOSEA

After the death of Jeroboam I in 743 the northern kingdom began to see the fruits of the false security which was the burden of Amos's prophecies. Tiglath Pileser IV became ruler of Assyria in 745, and the overcoming of Israel was an easy task. Hosea's mes

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