Solomon B. Freehof

Babylonian Aramaic Explained in Hebrew

process. In the ancient world the religious key will unlock as many doors as the political or the economic key. Though the volume is a work of genuine scholarship, presenting an admirable organization of the materials at the authors command, it will nevertheless, one fears, prove disappointing to the student of religion because of its almost complete omission of the study of religion from the standpoint of the human quest for a better life. Here one finds a satisfactory command of archaeological source material on the cult, and a careful study of the world-view from the usual theological standpoint. But no systematic attempt is made to set forth the human sense of values which motivates and controls the whole process. This is all the more disappointing because Professor Lods himself recognizes that, even for the preIsraelite period in Canaan, materials for such a study can be derived from the religious texts of the peoples of the great neighboring valleys as well as from the text of the Old Testament itself which conserves many echoes of the religious aspirations of Israels predecessors. One result of this defect in the approach is a certain failure in the effectiveness of the presentation of the prophetic reaction to the environment. It can hardly be doubted, for example, that the religion of the masses and classes in Israel organized itself around the concept of fertility to a very much greater extent than this volume indicates. When this is not

A General History of Jewish Literature

of Jeremiah. If this be accepted, the failure of Jeremiahs prophecy at this point; and his resulting reaction, must be discounted in the biographical sketch. The authors description of the relation of Jeremiah to the Deuteronomic reform is also questionable, for the connection of Jer. ii:i8, 18-23, and 12:1-6 with that reform is dubious, and the interpreted change of attitude of Jeremiah toward the Deuteronomic reform is not sufficiently supported by these passages. Further, too little attention is paid to metrical form as an aid to interpretation, and the dating of some of the passages is too definite. In spite of this, however, the book is very readable and valuable, presenting the problem of Jeremiah in a realistic fashion. It should be a factor in reviving interest in Old Testament study. W. C. GRAHAM

Pagan Influence on Judaism

The Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the latest in the religious calendar, is a challenge to the student of Jewish history. While the Apocrypha gives considerable material as to its origin, the rabbinic literature itself is sparse in its references to it. Although it seems clearly based upon a definite event in Jewish history, yet the date (near the winter solstice) and the mode of celebration (the kindling of lights) seem to point to a

The "Lost Tribes"

When he becomes hortative, he seeks to convey the assurance that the future security of the papacy rests firmly on the promises of God. The preservation of the papacy, through the service of unworthy human instruments and the employment of discreditable means, in all the perilous crises of the past, all the more impressively confirms, he would tell us, the dogma of papal authority. No man [he concludes] can know the measures by which God will preserve the independence of His Church. We can await the future with confidence, certain that the Divine Providence will preserve the spiritual authority of Rome until the awful day when Christ himself will take the place of His Vicar.

Evolution in Judaism

opments. It is a happy bit of co-operation that it is thus associated with the University of Michigan studies. This manuscript, cited as 9 r in the lists of Rahlfs, is the oldest witness to the LXX text of Genesis. It also was in codex form, written in a very ancient style. As in the case of the papyrus of the minor prophets, there are many various readings which are easiest explained as retranslations or adaptations to the Hebrew. Again, there is exhibited independence of the Hexapla. The textual relations of the manuscript seem to be with certain groupings of minuscles rather than with the uncials, and among the versions with the Armenian, Bohairic, and Ethiopic. The study of the readings of these manuscripts as reported in the Notes clearly demonstrates the importance of their evidence for the early LXX text. The use which shall be made of the evidence will add to the debt already owing the editors and the series.