received much approbation, and is the basis of Reus's Geschichte der Heiligen Schriften des Neuen Testamentes, Halle, 1842. The results of the critical examination of the books of the New Testament are comprehended in the following work, Das Neue Testament nach seinem Zweck, Ursprunge und Inhalt, von A. R. Credner, Giessen, 1841-3, in two volumes.

The critical investigation which prevailed in Germany after the days of Michaelis, has of late been opposed by a mode of treating biblical introduction, not so much in the spirit of a free search after truth as in an apologetical and polemical style. This course, however, has not enriched biblical science. To this class of books belong a number of monographs, or treatises on separate subjects; also the Handbuch der Historisch-kritischen Einleitung in das Alte Testament, Erlangen, 1836, by H. A. C. Hävernick, of which there have been published two parts, in three volumes, and of which an English translation is in preparation; and also H. E. Ferd. Guericke's Einleitung in das Neue Testament, Halle, 1843, in which too frequently an anathema against heretics serves as a substitute for demonstration. The apologetical tendency prevails in the work of G. Hamilton, entitled A General Introduction to the Study of the Hebrew Scriptures, &c., Dublin, 1814; in Thomas Hartwell Horne's Introduction to the Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, &c., London, 1818, four volumes (the eighth edition, 1839, five volumes); and in J. Cook's Inquiry into the Books of the New Testament, Edinburgh, 1824.

The Roman Catholics also have, in modern times, written on biblical introduction, although the unchangeable decrees of the Council of Trent hinder all free, critical, and scientific treatment of the subject. The Roman Catholics can treat bibli- | cal introduction only in a polemical and apologetical manner, and are obliged to keep up the attention of their readers by introducing learned archæological researches, which conceal the want of free movement. This latter mode was adopted by J. Jahn (who died at Vienna in 1816) in his Einleitung in die Göttlichen Bücher des alten Bundes, Vienna, 1793, two volumes, and 1802, three volumes; and in his Introductio in Libros Sacros Veteris Testamenti in epitomen redacta, Vienna, 1805. This work has been republished by F. Ackermann, in what are asserted to be the third and fourth editions, under the title of Introductio in Libros Sacros Veteris Testamenti, usibus academicis accommodata, Viennæ, 1825, and 1839. But these so-called new editions are full of alterations and mutilations, which remove every free expression of Jahn, who belonged to the liberal period of the Emperor Joseph.

Johann Leonhard Hug's Einleitung in das Neue Testament, Stuttgart and Tübingen, 1808, two volumes, third edition, 1826, surpasses Jahn's work in ability, and has obtained much credit among Protestants by its learned explanations, although these frequently swerve from the point in question. Hug's work has been translated into English by the Rev. D. G. Wait, LL.D.; but this translation is much surpassed by that of Fosdick, published in the United States, and enriched by the addenda of Moses Stuart. The polemical and apologetical style prevails in the work of J. G. Herbst, Historisch-kri

tische Einleitung in die Schriften des Alten Testamentes, completed and edited after the death of the anthor, by Welte, Carlsruhe, 1840; and in L'Introduction Historique et Critique aux Livres de l'Ancien et du Nouveau Testament, par J. B. Glaire, Paris, 1839, four volumes. The work of the excellent Feilmoser, who died in 1831, Einleitung in die Bücher des Neuen Bundes, in the second edition, Tübingen, 1830, forsakes the position of a true Roman Catholic, inasmuch as it is distinguished by a noble ingenuousness and candour. All these last-mentioned works prove that the science of introduction cannot prosper in ecclesiastical fetters.-K. A. C.

[It seems desirable to add to this article a short view of the works on Biblical Introduction which have appeared in England. These are mostly of small importance in comparison with the great works on the subject which have been produced on the Continent; and hence few of them have engaged the notice of the Contributor to whom we are indebted for the preceding article.

Collier's Sacred Interpreter, 2 vols. 8vo. 1746, was one of our earliest publications of this kind. It went through several editions, and was translated into German in 1750. It relates both to the Old and New Testament, and is described by Bishop Marsh as a good popular preparation for the study of the Holy Scriptures.'

Lardner's History of the Apostles and Evangelists, 3 vols. 8vo. 1756-7, is described by the same critic as an admirable introduction to the New Testament. It is a storehouse of literary information, collected with equal industry and fidelity.' From this work, from the English translation of Michaelis's Introduction, 1761, and from Dr. Owen's Observations on the Gospels, 1764, Dr. Percy, Bishop of Dromore, compiled a useful manual, called A Key to the New Testament, which has gone through many editions, and is much in request among the candidates for ordination in the Established Church.

The Key to the Old Testament, 1790, by Dr. Gray, afterwards Bishop of Bristol, was written in imitation of Percy's compilation; but it is a much more elaborate performance than the Key to the New Testament. It is a compilation from a great variety of works, references to which are given at the foot of each page. Bishop Marsh speaks of it as 'a very useful publication for students of divinity, who will find at one view what must otherwise be collected from many writers.' It is still popular, the tenth edition having been published in 1841. But a professed compilation, which contains in its latest edition no reference to any work published for above half a century past, must necessarily be far behind the present state of our information on the subjects of which it treats.

Dr. Harwood's Introduction to the Study and Knowledge of the New Testament, 2 vols. 8vo. 1767, 1771, although noticed by our contributor, is not properly an introduction to the New Testament, in the usual and proper sense of the term. It does not describe the books of the New Testament, but is a collection of dissertations relative partly to the character of the sacred writers, Jewish history and customs, and to such parts of heathen antiquities as have reference to the New Testament.

The first volume of Bishop Tomline's Elements

of Christian Theology contains an introduction | both to the Old and to the New Testament, and has been published in a separate form. It is suited to its purpose as a manual for students in divinity; but the standard of present attainment cannot be very high if, as Marsh states, it may be read with advantage by the most experienced divine.'

The works of Dr. Cook, the Rev. G. Hamilton, and the Rev. T. H. Horne, are mentioned in the above article; but the slight notice of Horne's Introduction which it contains will scarcely satisfy those who are aware that it is the largest and, most important work of the kind which we possess. We cheerfully subscribe to the opinion of Bishop Marsh, that it is upon the whole a very useful publication, and does great credit to the industry and researches of the indefatigable author. We may add, that it has worthily occupied for above a quarter of a century a high and influential place in our theological literature; during which it has satisfied the current demand for the kind of information which it offers, and has done much to form a class of students who now take their stand upon it, and look with desire to the fields beyond, where lie the vast treasures in every department of biblical literature which the wonderful activity of continental research bas of late years accumulated. Had the able and pious author more largely availed himself of these important sources of information, the value of his work to a large and rapidly-increasing class of students would have been very much enhanced. A very useful abridgment of this Introduction, in 1 vol. 12mo., appeared in 1829 nuder the title of A Compendious Introduction to the Study of the Bible. Another manual, under the title of A Scripture Help, 1806, by the Rev. E. Bickersteth, has been received with eminent favour; and we have seen the first volume of an admirable work for junior students published in the United States in 1835 under the title of Introduction to the Criticism and Interpretation of the Bible, by C. E. Stowe. We know not whether the second volume has yet appeared].

IOTA (Auth. Vers. 'Jot"), the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet (1); derived from the Hebrew jod () and the Syriac judh ), and employed metaphorically to express the minutest trifle. It is, in fact, one of several metaphors derived from the alphabet-as when alpha, the first letter, and omega, the last, are employed to express the beginning and the end. We are not to suppose, however, that this proverb was exclusively apposite in the Greek language. The same practical allusion equally existed in Hebrew, some curious examples of which may be seen in Wetstein and Lightfoot. One of these may here suffice :-In the Talmud (Sanhed. xx. 2) it is fabled that the book of Deuteronomy came and prostrated itself before God, and said, O Lord of the universe, thou hast written in me thy law, but now a testament defective in some parts is defective in all. Behold, Solomon endeavours to root the letter jod out of me' (i. e. in the text, ', 'he shall not multiply wives' (Deut. xvi. 17). "The holy, blessed God answered-Solomon, and a thousand such as he, shall

perish, but the least word shall not perish out of thee.' This is, in fact, a parallel not only to the usage but the sentiment, as conveyed in Matt. v. 18, 'One jot, or one tittle, shall in no wise pass from the law.'

Much

IRON. This word, wherever it occurs in the English Version, answers to or to its Chaldaic; to oidnpos in the Sept.; and to ferrum in the Vulg., except where it gives an explanatory translation, as falcatos currus' (Judg. iv. 3), though it sometimes gives the literal translation of the same term, as ferreos currus' (Josh. xvii. 18). The use of the Greek and Latin words, in classical authors of every age, fixes their meaning. That didnpos means iron, in Homer, is plain from his simile derived from the quenching of iron in water, which he applies to the hissing noise produced in piercing the eye of Polyphemus with the pointed stake (Odys. ix. 391). stress has been laid upon the absence of iron among the most ancient remains of Egypt; but the speedy decomposition of this metal, especially when buried in the nitrous soil of Egypt, may account for the absence of it among the remains of the early monarchs of a Pharaonic age (Wilkinson's Ancient Egypt., iii. 246). Tubal-Cain is the first-mentioned smith, a forger of every instru ment of iron' (Gen. iv. 22). From that time we meet with manufactures in iron of the utmost variety (some articles of which seem to be anticipations of what are commonly supposed to be modern inventions); as iron weapons or instruments (Num. xxxv. 7; Job xx. 24); barbed irons, used in hunting (Job xli. 7); an iron bedstead (Deut. iii. 11); chariots of iron (Josh. xvii. 16, and elsewhere); iron weights (shekels) (1 Sam. xvii. 7); harrows of iron (2 Sam. xií. 31); iron armour (2 Sam. xxiii. 7); tools (1 Kings vi. 7; 2 Kings vi. 5); horns (1 Kings xxii. 11); nails, hinges (1 Chron. xxii. 3); fetters (Ps. cv. 18); bars (Ps. cvii. 16); iron bars used in fortifying the gates of towns (Ps. cvii. 16; Isa. xlv. 2); a pen of iron (Job xix. 24; Isa. xvii. 1); a pillar (Jer. i. 18); yokes (Jer. xxviii. 13); pan (Ezek. iv. 3); trees bound with iron (Dan. iv. 15); gods of iron (Dan. v. 4); threshing-instruments (Amos i. 3); and in later times, an iron gate (Acts xii. 10); the actual cautery (1 Tim. iv. 2); breastplates (Rev. ix. 9).

The mineral origin of iron seems clearly alluded to in Job xxviii. 2. It would seem that in ancient times it was a plentiful production of Palestine (Deut. viii. 9). There appear to have been furnaces for smelting at an early period in Egypt (Deut. iv. 20). The requirement that the altar should be made of 'whole stones over which no man had lift up any iron,' recorded in Josh. viii. 31, does not imply any objection to iron as such, but seems to be merely a mode of directing that, in order to prevent idolatry, the stones must not undergo any preparation by art. Iron was prepared in abundance by David for the building of the temple (1 Chron. xxii. 3), to the amount of one hundred thousand talents (1 Chron. xxix. 7), or rather without weight' (1 Chron. xxii. 14). (2 Chron. ii. 7) [SMITH]. Iron seems to have Working in iron was considered a calling been better from some countries, or to have undergone some hardening preparation by the inhabitants of them, such as were the people called

ever-enduring fact, has the directly opposite bear- | ing. Viewed as a whole, the transaction is in truth an express prohibition of human sacrifices. Isaac passed his youthful days under the eye of his father, engaged in the care of flocks and herds up and down the plains of Canaan. At length his father wished to see him married. Abraham therefore gave a commission to his oldest and most trustworthy servant to the effect that, in order to prevent Isaac from taking a wife from among the daughters of the Canaanites, he should proceed into Mesopotamia, and, under the divine direction, choose a partner among his own relatives for his beloved son. Rebekah, in consequence, becomes Isaac's wife, when he was now forty years of age.

In connection with this marriage an event is recorded which displays the peculiar character of Isaac, while it is in keeping with the general tenor of the sacred record regarding him. Probably in expectation of the early return of his father's messenger, and somewhat solicitous as to the result of the embassy, he went out to meditate in the field at the eventide. While there engaged in tranquil thought, he chanced to raise his eyes, when lo! he beheld the retinue near at hand, and soon conducted his bride into his mother's tent. In unison with all this is the simple declaration of the history, that Isaac 'loved her.' Isaac was evidently a man of kind and gentle dispositions, of a calm and reflective turn of mind, simple in his habits, having few wants, good rather than great, fitted to receive impressions and follow a guide, not to originate important influences, or perform deeds of renown. If his character did not take a bent from the events connected with his father's readiness to offer him on Mount Moriah, certainly its passiveness is in entire agreement with the whole tenor of his conduct, as set forth in that narrative.

Isaac having, in conjunction with his halfbrother Ishmael, buried Abraham his father, in a good old age, in the cave of Machpelah,' took up a somewhat permanent residence by the well Lahai-roi,' where, being blessed of God, he lived in prosperity and at ease. One source of regret, however, he deeply felt. Rebekah was barren. In time, two sons, Jacob and Esau, are granted to his prayers. As the boys grew, Isaac gave a preference to Esau, who seems to have possessed those robuster qualities of character in which his father was defective, and therefore gratified him by such dainties as the pursuits of the chace enabled the youth to offer; while Jacob, a plain man dwelling in tents,' was an object of special regard to Rebekah--a division of feeling and a kind of partiality which became the source of much domestic unhappiness, as well as of jealousy and hatred between the two sons.

A famine compels Isaac to seek food in some foreign land. Divinely warned not to go down to Egypt, the patriarch applies to a petty prince of Philistia, by name Abimelech, who permits him to dwell at Gerar. Here an event took place which has a parallel in the life of his father Abraham. Rebekah was his cousin: afraid lest she should be violently taken from him, and his own life sacrificed to the lust of Abimelech, he represeated her as his sister, employing a latitude of meaning which the word 'sister admits in Oriental usage. The subterfuge was discovered, and is

VOL. II.

justified by Isaac on the grounds which prompted him to resort to it.

Another parallel event in the lives of Abraham and Isaac may be found by comparing together Gen. xxvi. 26, sq., and xxi. 22, sq. If these parallels should excite a doubt in the mind of any one as to the credibility of the narratives, let him carefully peruse them, and we think that the simplicity and naturalness which pervade and characterize them will effectually substantiate the reality of the recorded events, and explode the notion that fiction has had anything to do in bringing the narrative into its present shape. Isaac, in his old age, was, by the practices of Rebekah and the art of Jacob, so imposed upon as to give his blessing to the younger son Jacob, instead of to the first-born Esau, and with that blessing to convey, as was usual, the right of headship in the family, together with his chief possessions. In the blessing which the aged patriarch pronounced on Jacob it deserves notice how entirely the wished-for good is of an earthly and temporal nature, while the imagery which is employed serves to show the extent to which the poetical element prevailed as a constituent part of the Hebrew character (Gen. xxvii. 27, sq.). Most natural, too, is the extreme agitation of the poor blind old man, on discovering the cheat which had been put upon him :-' And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said (to Esan), Who? where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me, and I have eaten, and have blessed him? Yea, and he shall be blessed.' Equally natural is the reply of Esau. The entire passage is of itself enough to vindicate the historical character and entire credibility of those sketches of the lives of the patriarchs which Genesis presents.

The stealing, on the part of Jacob, of his father's blessing having angered Esau, who seems to have looked forward to Isaac's death as affording an opportunity for taking vengeance on his unjust brother, the aged patriarch is induced, at his wife's entreaty, to send Jacob into Mesopotamia, that, after his own example, his son might take a wife from amongst his kindred and people, of the daughters of Laban, thy mother's brother.'

This is the last important act recorded of Isaac. Jacob having, agreeably to his father's command, married into Laban's family, returned, after some time, and found the old man at Mamre, in the city of Arbab, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. Here, being old and full of days' (180), Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him' (Gen. xxxv. 27, sq.). On the subjects treated of in this article the following works may be consulted :-H. A. Zeibich, Isaaci ortus in fab. Orionis Vestigia; De Wette, Krit. d. Is. Gesch. p. 133, sq.; Niemeyer, Charakteristik der Bibel, 2nd part; Ewald's Israeliten, p. 338, sq.—J. R. B.

ISAIAH (; Sept. 'Hoatas). I. Times and circumstances of the Prophet Isaiah.-The heading of this book places the prophet under the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah; and an examination of the prophecies themselves, independently of the heading, leads us to the same chronological results. Chapter vi., in which is related the call of Isaiah, not to his prophetic office, but to a higher

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