PREFACE THIS Volume is simply what its title indicates, “A Book about the English Bible." It has grown out of a series of lectures delivered to students in the University of Pennsylvania, the purpose of which was to give a brief account of the English Bible, its immediate sources and their contents, their literary background and surroundings, the forms and characteristics of the constituent books and their relation to each other. To the chapters, in which these subjects are suggested, rather than discussed, have been added several others containing a short history of the translation of the Bible into English, from Saxon times to our own day. Attention is called to the differences between the commonly used English versions as regards contents and translation, and to the reasons for the differences. It is hoped that the reader may be sufficiently interested by what is said in the various chapters, to desire to pursue the study further by means of other books such as those named in the appended Bibliography.. To my colleagues Dr. C. G. Child and Dr. J. A. Montgomery, of the University of Pennsylvania, and to Dr. F. C. Porter and Dr. E. H. Sneath, of Yale University, all of whom read the manuscript, or special portions of it, and to my brother Dr. James H. Penniman who read the proof, I desire to express my gratitude for suggestions and corrections. To Dr. Montgomery I am indebted also for his kind permission to print his translation of several of the poems of Isaiah. Thanks are due to publishers for permission to make quotations from their copyrighted books; to Houghton Mifflin Company for passages from The Syrian Christ by A. M. Rihbany; to Charles Scribner's Sons for passages from The Study of Holy Scripture by C. A. Briggs, from An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament by S. R. Driver, and from An Introduction to the Literature of the New Testament by J. Moffatt; to the Jewish Publication Society of America for passages from The Story of Bible Translations by M. L. Margolis, and from the Preface to The Holy Scriptures; to the American Sunday School Union for passages from Archeology and the Bible by G. A. Barton; to Moffat Yard and Company for passages from The Book of Job as a Greek Tragedy by H. M. Kallen; to the Oxford University Press for passages from Records of the English Bible by A. W. Pollard. Scripture passages, unless otherwise indicated, are from the American Standard Edition of the Revised Bible, published by Thomas Nelson and Sons. To the many authors whose works are quoted, or referred to, in this volume, or were consulted in the preparation of it, I here acknowledge my indebtedness. JOSIAH H. PENNIMAN. THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, June, 1918. CONTENTS I. THE SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH BIBle..... II. THE BACKGROUND OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.. |