compiler are both unlmown. In its present form it must be comparatively late for in wha.t. is ~ometimes called the Appendix (chs. xvii.-xxi.) the w1iter shows that not ouly Shiloh has ceased to be the seat of the tabernacle (eh. xviii. 31), and that there have been kings in Israel (chs. xvii. 6; xviii. 1; xix. 1; xxi. 25), but 11,lso, according to the more probable interpretation, that the Assyrian captivity has taken place (eh. XYiii. 30). This would place the writer of this portion after B.c. 721, e,nd prob- ably n still later date must be taken for the final redaction in its existing form. But the best scholars are not agreed on the subject; and for ordine,ry students of the Bible to attempt to pronounce an opinion on these different theories is perhaps not a profitable exercise. It will be wiser for us to study what this unknown writer has preser\'ed for us, and to be thankful to Him through whose providence it he-s been preserved. There are no quotations from the Book of Judges in the New Testament, but there are references to its contents in Acts xiii. 20 and Heb. xi. 82. Allusions in the Psalms and in the Prophets are frequent. 'l'he Book of Ruth, as already indicated, may be considered as another Appendix to the Book of Judges. It gives us the other side of the picture ; natural affection, domestic piety, gentleness, and quietude, in contrast with the troubled scenes in which Gideon, J ephthah, and Samson move. Probably neither Appendix is in its proper chronological position ; but the effect is for that very reason all the more striking. From the hideous deed of the men of Gibeah and its bloody consequences, we turn with relief and refreshment to the beautiful devotion of Ruth the Moabitess, and to the sunny corn-fields of Bethlehem. Besides this the book contains the genealogy of Dand, from the time of the patriarchs onwards; from Pharez, the son of Judah and Tamar, to Jesse the Bethlehemite. This genealogy is of great historical '<'alue, not only as a portion of the genealogy of the Messiah, and as containing that portion of it which marks the founding of the house at Bethlehem, but also as a guide to the chronology of the period. Salmon, the husband of Rahab and first proprietor of Bethlehem, is the grandfather of Obed, the grandfather of David; i.e., three, or possibly four, generations cover the period of the Judges. Excepting so far as this genealogy agrees with those in St. Matthew and St. Luke, and may be one of the sources used by the Evangelists, there is no quotation from the Book of Ruth or any reference to it in the New Testament. Tbe typical character of the book must also be borne in mind in connexion with the lineage of the Messiah. The union of Ruth the Moabitess with a man of the tribe of Judah foreshadows that union of Jew and Gentile in Him who sprang from this marriage. Those who are admitted to the high honoor of being ancestors of Christ, are an earnest of the all- embracing character of His kingdom. U among them are included the incestuous Tamar, the harlot Rahab, and the Moabitess Ruth, there are none who may not hope, by doing the will of God, to be equal to His brother, and sister, and mother (Mark iii. 85). THE LAST OF THE JUDGES. ELI.
.A.t first sight it may appear 6trange that the two last who held the office of Judge in Israel are not included in the Book of the Judges, but are noticed at the beginning of a series of books, which in the Vulgate bear the appropriate names of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Books of Kings. The common titles, derived from the printed Hebrew Bihl~, are less appropriate, for of the First and Second Books of Samuel only part of the First Book tells of Samuel, all the reme,inder of the two JOSHUA TO NEHEMIAH. xvii