by the attention
they have given to connectedness of thought, have carried forward
translated language into translated literature. It is thus open to a
person of average culture to add to his other mental possessions the
whole expression of itself which a great people has made in poetry and
prose throughout all the periods of its development. With the exception
of humorous writing, which is foreign to the genius of the ancient
Hebrews, the whole range of literary production is here illustrated; and
varieties of literary form are presented to which classic Greek or
modern European writers furnish no parallel. It is a literature
numbering among its authors some who--by critics entirely outside the
ranks of theologians--have been classed with the greatest names in the
world's roll of honour. More than this, the English reader who gives
attention to the literary side of the Bible is studying what is to him
ancestral literature. The Hebrew writers of the Old Testament, and their
followers the Christian Hebrews of the New Testament, have been the
inspiration of those who have inspired our own writers: their style has
largely leavened the style of modern English, their thought has become
so closely interwoven with English thought of the last three centuries
that it is impossible to sever the two. And, if the question be of what
is higher than literary impressions, no reader need fear that the more
sacred uses of the Bible will be imperilled by his reading, not with the
spirit only, but with the understanding also.

* *
*

In this, as in the other volumes of this series, the text of the
Selections is that of the Revised Version, the marginal alternatives
being often substituted for the readings in the text. For the use of
this Revised Version I express my obligation to the University Presses
of Oxford and Cambridge. A Reference Table at the end connects the
Selections with the volumes of the Modern Reader's Bible from which they
are taken, and with the chapters and verses of the ordinary versions.

CONTENTS

STORIES

I Joseph and his Brethren 5
II The Witness of Balaam to Israel 32
III The Crowning of Abimelech 43
IV Samson's Wedding Feast 49
V The Expedition against Elisha 53
VI The Dream of the Tree c