The translation has received so many additions and corrections made expressly for it by the author, that it is far superior to the original German edition; moreover, it has been thoroughly revised by the author in proof. I have added a few notes, where they seemed to be wanted; they are always distinguished (by ‘TR.’) from the author’s own. The Index is also compiled by me. References to the Old Testament are made to the original Hebrew; in the few cases where the chapter or verse bears a different number in the English and other modern versions, the reference to the latter is added in brackets. I have adopted a few peculiarities of orthography, which I ought to confess to, the more so as I hope others may be convinced of their reasonableness. _Nazirite_, _Hivvite_, are corrections of positive blunders in spelling of the English Bible. _Hivite_ was probably written in obedience to an unwritten law of English spelling which forbids the doubling of _v_; whether there is now any sense in this precept (which must have originated when _vv_ would be confounded with _w_) or not, at least it ought not to be extended to foreign names. The tendency of the age to dispense with the Latin diphthongs _æ_, _œ_ (which were a few generations ago used in _æra_, _œconomy_, _Ægypt_, etc.), I have ventured to anticipate in similar words, such as _esthetic_, _Phenicia_, _Phenix_. The anomaly of the French spelling of the Greek word _programme_, alongside of _anagram_, _diagram_, _parallelogram_, seems to me sufficient condemnation of the form. In the Hebrew and Arabic quotations the Latin alphabet has been used throughout. The transliteration of the following letters should be noted, as being the only ones about which there could be any doubt:—ا א commencing a syllable in the middle of a word = ʾ. ע‎ ﻊ‎ = ʿ. ﻎ = ġ. ﺝ = j. ﺡ = ḥ ה‎ ﺥ‎ = ch. כ‎ ك = k. ק‎ ق‎ = ḳ. ת‎ ت‎ ۃ‎ = t. ט‎ ط‎ = ṭ. ظ = ẓ. ס‎ שׂ‎ س = s. שׁ‎ ش = sh. ث = th. ذ = ḏ. צ‎ ص = ṣ. ض = ḍ. ו as consonant generally = v, but و = w. י‎ ى as consonant = y. The aspirated _תפכב_ are written bh (to be pronounced v), kh, ph, th. In Hebrew ă ĕ ŏ denote either the ordinary short vowels or the châṭêph vowels; and ĕ also the vocal sheva. In Arabic texts the iʿrâb is omitted in prose, but preserved in verse on account of the metre. These principles of transliteration are the same which the author adopts in the German edition, with a few modifications which seemed desirable for English readers, especially the use of the letters j, th and y with their usual English force. RUSSELL MARTINEAU. LONDON: _January 1877._ CONTENTS. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION xiii CHAPTER I. ON HEBREW MYTHOLOGY 1 CHAPTER II.