of anointing (I Kings xix: 16; Isaiah lxi: 1; Psalms cv: 15). They were called his sons. Their chief subject of study was, no doubt, the Law and its interpretation; oral, as distinct from symbolical, teaching being henceforward tacitly transferred from the priestly to the prophetical order." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Vol. III, pp. 2592-3.) 3. _The Prophetic Gift:_ "We have been speaking of the Prophetic Order. To belong to the prophetic order and to possess the prophetic gift are not convertible terms. There might be members of the prophetic order to whom the gift of prophecy was not vouchsafed. There might be inspired prophets, who did not belong to the prophetic order. Generally, the inspired prophet came from the College of the Prophets, and belonged to the prophetic order; but this was not always the case. In the instance of the Prophet Amos, the rule and the exception are both manifested. When Amaziah, the idolatrous Israelitish priest, threatens the prophet, and desires him to 'flee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread and prophesy there, but not to prophesy again any more at Bethel,' Amos in reply says, 'I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdsman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit; and the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go prophesy unto my people Israel' (vii: 14). That is, though called to the prophetic office, he did not belong to the prophetic order; and had not been trained in the prophetical colleges; and this, he indicates, was an unusual occurrence." (Smith's Bible Dictionary, Vol. III, p. 2593.) 4. _Revelation and Inspiration Defined:_ "The word 'revelation' stands for the act of God in making truth known to men, and then, in a secondary sense, for the truth itself, which is thus made known. Inspiration is the name of the special divine influence under which the writers of the Bible worked. We speak of the 'revelation' of God in the Bible, and of the 'inspiration' of the writers of the Bible. In order to understand the questions which have been raised on these two subjects it is important that we should discriminate between them in thought, but in fact they are closely connected. It is the association of the two that gives its supreme value to the Bible. This is recognized as a book of unique character, because, as we have seen, it is an inspired record of divine revelation." (Teacher's Bible Helps, Bagster's Bible, p. 2.) The whole article, comprising several pages, should be studied. Also the article, "Prophets," in the Seventy's Bible Dictionary. LESSON XIII. _THE PROPHETIC BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT._