OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, AND A COMMENTARY ON THE PREDICTIONS OF THE MESSIAH BY THE PROPHETS. BY E. W. HENGSTENBERG, Doctor of Phil. and Theof. and Professor of the latter in the University of Berlin. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, BY REUEL KEITH, D. D. VOL. I. CONTAINING THE GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND THE ALEXANDRIA, D. C.: PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM M. MORRISON. ANDOVER PRINTED BY GOULD AND NEWMAN. 1836. BT235 v.l Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the District of Columbia. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. THE basis of the present work is formed of prelections respecting the subject of which it treats. The author held them with peculiar pleasure, and with the conviction, how necessary it is, and how salutary it would be to Christianity and Theology, for the Old Testament to regain its ancient and well grounded rights; and the wish to contribute something to this in a wider circle also, induced him to revise and enlarge his work; without intending however that all traces of the mode in which it originated should be effaced. Although the author is conscious of having labored with honest and persevering diligence, yet he is very far from not perceiving the imperfections of his work. It was the object here, where old and new theological prejudices stand in opposition to each other, to strike out a new path; and in the very outset always to find the right course, and satisfy all requisitions, was a task difficult in itself, and impossible for him to perform. Yet he believes that the work, even in its present form, can serve in some manner to relieve the pressing necessity, and at the same time prepare the way for the appearance of one more complete. He proceeds upon the principle, that before the erection of the new edifice, the rubbish must be thoroughly removed and the ground cleansed; hence his work receives an irregular form and a temporal character; but perhaps the author of the more complete one, will give him some thanks, when he finds he can now commence the new structure without hindrance. At the same time, however, he entertains a firm and unshaken conviction, that the principles he has followed are the only true ones, and that the essential doctrine of his work, not indeed by the force of his arguments (for the most specious refutation of these would leave the former untouched) but by its intrinsic truth must prevail, as it has done in all ages of the church. All assaults directed against that, will leave him entirely uninjured, as not affecting what is properly his own. On the other hand, he will gratefully receive every correction relating to particulars, and adopt it, if after deliberate examination, he finds it well founded. That this instruction should always be imparted in the proper tone, judging from what himself and others have often experienced he dares not expect, indeed he would contradict his own fundamental views in theology if he only greatly desired it. As his concern is with the subject alone, it will not be difficult for him to separate what relates to that, from what relates to the person. It is only the former that he will notice, either in the way of acknowledgment, or refutation. May the Lord of the church bless a work begun and completed in dependance on him, and make it the means of confirming the faith of at least some individuals. TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. It would be superfluous for the translator to speak in commendation of this work, since he has given the highest expression of his estimation of its value, by bestowing upon it the labor requisite to make it accessible to those who are unacquainted with the language of the original. It may however be satisfactory and useful to the reader to be informed, that it has been my object to present him with (what the work professes indeed to be) a translation; to put him fairly in possession, not of my own thoughts, but those of the author; so that the translation shall be to the English reader, what the original is to the German. I am very sensible, that I have not been able to reach the standard of perfection at which I aimed; but trust that I have not altogether failed in the accomplishment of my object. This hope, I may add, is strengthened by the opinion expressed by more competent judges than myself, who have done me the favor to examine portions of the work. The translator feels himself greatly indebted for the general correctness of the typography, to the gentlemen at Andover, to whom, in his absence, the supervision of the press was entrusted. Some errata, however, of considerable importance, have escaped their vigilance. These, at least so far as they have fallen under my notice, are printed at the close of the volume. I can only commend them to the notice and the candor of the reader. From those who are at all acquainted with the difficulty of attaining entire correctness in the printing of books, a censorious judgment is certainly not to be feared. |