Produced by David Malcolmson
OLD TESTAMENT LEGENDS BEING STORIES OUT OF SOME OF THE LESS-KNOWN APOCRYPHAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT BY M. R. JAMES, LITT.D. PROVOST OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE
WITH TEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY
H. J. FORD
LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK, BOMBAY, AND CALCUTTA
1913
All rights reserved
PREFACE
If you read the title-page of this book—a thing which young personsvery seldom do—you will see that it (the book) contains storiestaken "out of some of the less-known apocryphal books of the OldTestament." You will very possibly not understand what that means;but if you will read this preface—another thing which young personsdo even seldomer than they read a title-page—you will find the bestexplanation that I can give.
I have to begin by talking about the word apocryphal. The newspapersare fond of saying that a statement made by the Prime Minister (orthe leader of the Opposition, according to which side in politics thenewspaper takes) is apocryphal. By this, the newspaper means to saythat the statement was untrue. Or, you will read that someoneobtained money or goods by saying that he possessed large estatesabroad; and that the estates turned out to be apocryphal. By this ismeant that they did not exist. But when you read of a book beingapocryphal, something rather different is meant: either that it is"spurious," i.e. that it pretends to be written by someone who didnot write it; or that what is in it is fabulous and untrue, like thestories of King Arthur; or both.
Now this word apocryphal is specially used, and perhaps most oftenused, in connection with the Bible. Probably you have at least heardof something called "the Apocrypha," even if you have not read it,and even if you have mixed it up in your mind with another word,Apocalypse, which has nothing whatever to do with it. Well, what is"the Apocrypha"? It is to be found in many Bibles, bound up betweenthe Old and the New Testaments. It is a set of books, looking justlike the other books of the Bible, with chapters and verses. Some ofit is read in church as weekday lessons in the months of October andNovember, as you may see by looking at the Table of Lessons in anyPrayer Book. Now, are all these books of "the Apocrypha" fabulous orspurious? No. Some of them are. The Second Book of Esdras (that is,Ezra) was not written by Ezra; The Book of Baruch (the companion ofthe prophet Jeremiah) was not written by Baruch; The Wisdom ofSolomon was not written by Solomon. These and some others arespurious. Also, the books of Tobit and of Judith are fabulousstories. On the other hand, the book Ecclesiasticus was reallywritten by Sirach (who is mentioned in the Preface), and The FirstBook of Maccabees is a true and valuable history.
Then why, if apocryphal means fabulous or spurious, or both, arethese books, some of which are true and genuine, lumped all togetherand called "Apocrypha"? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I cannot gothrough the whole history. It is long, it is difficult, and though itinterests me, I am inclined to think it would not interest you unlessI spread it over a great many pages, and filled it out with stories;and for this I have no time. Let me tell you what strikes me as beingthe important thing to bear in mind. Nearly all of these books havebeen at so