far back as the 8th or 9th century B.C. It is shaped in the form. of an ellipse, and has engraved on it in Phenician characters the words "Obadiah, the servant of the king." The title here given to Obadiah," servant of the king," is found in several places of the Old Testament; as in 2 Sam. xviii., and in Jeremiah xxxviii. 7 and xxxix. 16, as applied to an Ethiopian eunuch who befriended the imprisoned prophet. As for the name Obadiah, there are two persons known by it-the prophet, and the prime minister of Ahab, who described himself to Elijah as fearing the Lord from his youth, and as having protected the prophets of Jehovah when Jezebel sought to slay them. Clermont-Ganneau suggests that possibly in this seal we possess a relic of this ancient worthy. His position in the royal household of Ahab would entitle him to style himself "servant of the king," while in his name Obadiah, "servant of Jehovah," lies an indication of his pious character. Jewish seals of this antiquity are very rare. Some three years ago the same journal described another one-an agate-found at Babylon, on which a Jew called himself Baal-Nathan, "Gift of Baal." On this seal was a genuine picture of Baal or the Sungod, offering a striking confirmation of the fearful prevalence of that bloodthirsty Phenician worship against which the Book of Kings bears such strong testimony. The image of Baal is that of a divine personage holding a serpent in each hand, on his head a solar disc between two horns, from each of which depends a serpent. Two wings extend from each side of the figure. Seals of this type must have been common among the Jews, as M. Mordtmann discovered a similar one in Constantinople in 1881. The article which describes these latter seals (Revue Archéologique, 1882, p. 285), well points out the evidence of Jewish idolatry and faithlessness contained in the contrast between the names Jonathan and Baal-Nathan. Jonathan is Gift of Jehovah, and is equivalent to Nathanael or Theodore. In the name Baal-Nathan the holy name Jah is displaced by Baal, as Jehovah was displaced by idols. These seals indeed are very ancient, yet they are surpassed in antiquity by two described in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, 1883, p. 102, if Clermont-Ganneau be correct. He attributes the one to a son of David by his wife Haggith (2 Sam. iii. 4; 1 Kings i. 5), and the other to Adriel, king Saul's sonin-law (1 Sam. xviii. 19). GEORGE T. STOKES. Rev. Marcus Dods, D.D. Dives and Lazarus Recent English Literature on the New Testament Dr. Parker's Commentary on the Bible A Modern Greek on the Revised Version of the New Brugsch's Religion and Mythology of the Ancient Egyptians 156 M. Naville and the Exodus Rev. Canon T. S. Evans, M.A. Exegetical Notes from Sermons :- Our Fellowship with Christ in Nature Rev. Professor J. M. Fuller, M.A. The Book of Daniel in the Light of Recent Research and Discovery Rev. Professor F. Godet, D.D. The First Love and Hope in Thessalonica. The Struggle for Christian Liberty in Galatia . 399 303 361 217, 431 81 283 59 161 Rev. Professor A. F. Kirkpatrick, M.A. Right Rev. J. B. Lightfoot, D.D., D.C.L. 232 1 V. The Glory of the Son in His Relation to the 321 Professor H. L. Strack, D.D. Recent Foreign Literature on the Old Testament Rev. Professor B. B. Warfield, D.D. The Prolegomena to Tischendorf's New Testament The Appearance of the Risen Jesus to all the Apostles |