Author Description

IT can not be too often emphasized that the chief ancient literature of the Hebrews is the Old Testament of the Bible. The Christian world has so completely adopted this volume as its own that the unprofessional reader is apt to overlook the Bible's original character. It is not one book, but a collection of books. It includes every writtenword that the Hebrews preserved from their period of independence; that is, from the days before Nebuchadrezzar carried them captive to Babylon (587 B.C.). It also includes the chief books of the later priestly State which flourished under the protection of the Persian conquerors and submitted to the domination of Home. Hence the Bible is not merely a part of Hebrew literature, but the whole of that literature from its beginnings down to about 200 B.C.