The subject-matter contained in the Biblical history is of a wide and most extensive nature. In its greatest lengtli and fullest meaning it conies down from the cre- ation of tlie world till near the close of the 1st centurj' of the Christian a;ra. thus covering a space of some 4000 years. The books ]iresentiug this long train of historical details are most diverse in age, in kind, in ex- ecution, and in worth ; nor seldom is it the fact that the modern historian has to construct his narrative as much out of the implications of an epistle, the highly-colored materials of pottry, the far-reaching visions of prophe- cy, and the indirect and illusive information of didactic and moral precepts, as from the immediate anil express statements of history strictly so denominated.
The historical materials furnished relating to the Hebrew nation may be classed under three great di\i- sions: 1. The books which are consecrated to the an- tiquity of the Hebrew nation — the period that elapsed before the xra of the judges. These works are the Pen- tateuch and the bcjok of Joshua, which, according to Ewald {Geschiehfecks Volkes Israel, i, 72), properly con- stitute only one work, and which may be termed the great book of original documents. 2. The books which describe the times of the judges and the kings up to the lirst destruction of Jerusalem ; that is, Judges, Kings, and Samuel, to which belongs the book of Kuth : " all these," says Ewald, " constitute also, according to their last fomiation, but one work, which may be called the Great Book of Kings." 3. The third class comprises the books included under the head of Hagiographa, which are of a much later origin, Chronicles, with Ezra and Nehemiah, forming the great book of general his- torj-^ reaching to the Grecian period. After these books come those which are classed together under the name of Apocrypha, whose use, we think, has been unduly neglected. Then the circle of evangelical records be- gins, which closed ^^■ithin the century that saw it open. Other books found in the Old and New Testaments, which are not properly of a historical character, connect themselves \\\i\\ one or other of these periods, and give important aid to students of sacred history.
4. Biblical history was often treated by the older writ- ers as a part of Church History in general, since they considered the history given in the Bible as presenting different and successive phases of the Church of God (Buddei Hist. Eccles. 2 vols. 1726-29; Stolberg, Gesch. (ler RcUf/ion Jesii, i. 111). Other writers have vioved this subject in a more ])ractical light, presenting the characters found in the Bible for imitation or avoidance; among whom may be enumerated Hess (Gesc/iic/ite der Jsraeliten vor den Zeiten Jc.ni, Zurich, 1775) and Nie- meyer {Characlerisiik der Bibel, Halle, 1830). Among the more strictly learned writers several have had it in view to supply the gaps left in the succession of events by the Bible, out of sources found in profane writers. Here the chief authors are of English birth, namely, Prideaux, Shuckford, Russell ; and for the Ncav Testament, the learned, cautious, and fair-dealing Lard- ner. There is a valuable work by (i. Langen : Versuch einer Harmonie der heUigen iind prqfiin. scrib. in der Ge- schichie der Welt (Bayreuth. 1775-80). Other writers have pursued a strictly chronological method, such as Usher (Annales IW.^V.Y. Lond. 1050) and Des Vignoles (Chrnnoloijie de Vllistoire Suinte, Berlin, 1738). Heeren {Ilandb. der Geschkhte, p. 50) recomm.ends, as contain- ing many valuable inquiries on the monarchical period, the following work : J. Bernhardi Commentcitio de causis ginbiis eff'ectum sit tit ref/num Judce diiitius perslsteret qiiam regmnn Israel (Lovanni, 1825). Heeren also de- clares that Bauer's Handbuch der Gtsch. des I/elr. Volks (1800) is the best introduction both to the history and the antiquities of the Hebrew nation; though Gesenius complains that he is too much given to the construction of hypotheses. The English reader -will find a useful but not sufficiently critical compendium in T'le History
of the Hebrew CommonirealtJi, translated from the Ger- man of John Jahn, D.D., by C. E. Stowe (N. Y. 1829, and later). A far more valuable, as well as more inter- esting, yet by no means faultless work, is Milman's Hls- torij of the Jews (London, 1829, 3 vols. 12mo; revised, Lond. and N. Y. 1870-1, 3 vols. sm. 8vo). A more re- cent and very valuable work, Kitto's Pictorial History of Palestine (Lond. 1841), combines with the Bible history of the Jews the results of iravel and antiquarian rcscan h, and is preceded by an elaborate Introduction, which forms the only Natural Historj^ of Palestine in our lan- guage. A valuable comiiendium is Smith's series of "Studer.t's Histories" {Old-Testament History and New- TestameiU History, Lond. and N. Y'. 1869, 2 vols. 12mo). Stanley's Lectures on Jncish History (London and N. Y. 1863 sq. 2 vols. 8vo) are more brilliantly written.
German theologians are stronglj^ imbued with the feeling that the history of the ifebrews has yet to be written. Kiebuhr's manner of treating Roman history has had a great hifluence on them, and has aroused the theological world to new efforts, which have by no means yet come to an end; nor can we add that tliey have hitherto led to very definite and generally ap- proved results. The works of the learned Jews, Jost (Gesch. der Israeliten seit der Maccabiier, 9 vols. ; Gesch. des Judenthums iind Seiner Selten, 1857-59, 3 vols.), Herz- feld (Gesch. d. Volkes Israel v.d. VolkndwH/ des Zweittn Tem2)els bis zur Kinsefzitng des ]\[ackediders Schimin, 1854^57, 2 vols. 8vo), Griitz (Geschichte d.Jiiden, II vols. 8vo, not yet completed), as well as that of Nork (Das Lehen Mosis vom A stron. Stand, betrachtet, 1838), Raphall {Post-bibl. History of the Jews, N. Y, 1855, of which vols, i and ii only ever appeared), and others, must not be overlooked by the professional student ; nor will he fail to study with care the valuable introductions to the knoA\ ledge of the Old Testament put forth in Germany, with which we have nothing comparable in our lan- guage. See IsTRODf CTiox. Of the more recent works we maj'^ mention Stilhelin's Kritisch Untersuchnngen iiber den Pentateuch, etc. (1843), and H. Ewald's Geschichte des Volkes Israel bis Christus (Getting. 1843 sq., 1851-.S, 6 vols. 8vo), the first part of which has been translated into English (London, 1869, 2 vols. 8vo). The latter cs- peciall}' is leanied, acute, and profound, but thoroughly pervaded by a rationalistic spirit. Kurtz's Manual of Sacred History (Philadel. 1858, 12mo ; from the (ierman, Kcinigsberg, 1850, 8vo), and History of the Old Coreraiit (Edinburgh, 1859, 3 vols. 8vo : from the (irrman, Ber- lin, 1848-55, 3 vols. 8vo), are more evangelical, but less searching and original. ^Veber iind Holtzmann's Gesch. d. Volkes Israel (Leipz. 1806, 2 vols.8vo) is rationalistic. The latest is Hitzig's Gesch. Isr. (Lpz. 1870). Eor other works, see Darling, Cyclojmdia, coL 1830 sq. — Kitto.