The Origin and Permanent Value of the Old Testament by Kent, Charles Foster, 1867-1925

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The Origin And Permanent Value Of The Old Testament By Charles Foster Kent, Ph.d. Woolsey Professor Of Biblical Literature In Yale University Preface

Ii The Real Nature And Purpose Of The Old Testament

Iii The Earliest Chapters In Divine Revelation

Iv The Place Of The Old Testament In Divine Revelation

V The Influences That Produced The New Testament

Vi The Growth Of The Old Testament Prophetic Histories

* * * * *

Vii The History Of The Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, And Apocalypses

Viii The Development Of The Earlier Old Testament Laws

Humane And Ceremonial Laws

Ix Influences That Gave Rise To The Priestly Laws And Histories

X The Hebrew Sages And Their Proverbs

Xi The Writings Of Israel's Philosophers

Xii The History Of The Psalter

Xiii The Formation Of The Old Testament Canon

Xiv The Interpretation Of The Early Narratives Of The Old Testament

Xv Practical Methods Of Studying The Old Testament

Xvi Religious Education-the Fundamental Problem Of To-day

[Sidenote: _Value of the writings of the priestly school_]

Thus we find that, quoting largely as he does, from much older sources, the author of this great ecclesiastical history of Judah and the temple has given us, in Ezra and Nehemiah, some exceedingly important historical data. His writings also clearly reveal the ideas and institutions of his own day; but otherwise it is not as history that his work is of permanent value. Rather it is because, in common with all the great teachers who speak to us through the Old Testament, he believed firmly in the moral order of the universe, and that back of all events and all history is an infinitely powerful yet just and merciful God who is constantly revealing himself to mankind. While these later priestly writers were not in such close touch with fact and life as were the prophets, and while they were subject to the defects of all extreme ritualists and theologians, they were faithful heralds of truth to their own and later generations. Behind their symbolism and traditions lie certain great universal principles which amply reward an earnest quest.

X

THE HEBREW SAGES AND THEIR PROVERBS

[Sidenote: _Role of the sages in Israel's life_]

In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26) three distinct classes of religious teachers were recognized by the people: the prophets, the priests, and the wise men or sages. From their lips and pens have come practically all the writings of the Old Testament. Of these three classes the wise men or sages are far less prominent or well known. They wrote no history of Israel, they preached no public sermons, nor do they appear to have been connected with any sanctuaries. Quietly, as private teachers, they appealed to the nation through the consciences and wills of individuals. Proverbs viii. 1-5 reveals their methods:

Doth not wisdom cry,
And understanding put forth her voice?
On the top of high places by the way,
Where the paths meet, she standeth;
Beside the gates, at the entry of the city,
At the coining in at the doors, she crieth aloud:
Unto you, O men, I call;
And my voice is to the sons of men.
O ye simple, understand prudence;
And ye fools, be of an understanding heart.

At the open spaces beside the city gates, where legal cases were tried, at the intersections of the streets, wherever men congregated, the sages of ancient Israel could be found, ready and eager to instruct or advise the inexperienced and foolish.

[Sidenote: _Their functions_]