The Messages of the Prophetic and Priestly Historians
Overview
In accordance with the general purpose of the series to which it belongs, The Messages of the Prophetic and Priestly Historians aims at presenting the religious message of the historical books of the Old Testament in paraphrase. The wide outlook of its historians upon the progress of the centuries; their splendid interpretation of history; their triumphant faith in Israel’s mission and destiny; their overwhelming consciousness of God as the Lord of all, inspiring history with a sense of purpose, guiding it toward a divine event, bending to the consummation of his purpose the resources of the world which he created and controls, calling and equipping men from generation to generation to advance that purpose and to interpret his will, following his people in love through all their willful way, seeking, by a discipline which was often stern but always gracious, to bring them into that fellowship with himself for which man was originally destined: these are the things that are precious to the Christian church.
The Messages of the Prophetic and Priestly Historians includes the historical narratives of the Hexateuch, and also the entire books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth, and Esther in paraphrase with notes.
It is a reference book, which the student of the Old Testament will use constantly in his study as he uses Driver and Bacon and Kautzsch—to ascertain the prevailing partition of a passage among the sources according to the critical school.
—The Standard
John Edgar McFadyen (1870–1933) was a professor of language, literature, and Old Testament theology at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. His numerous works include Old Testament Criticism and the Christian Church, The Use of the Old Testament in the Light of Modern Knowledge, and The Wisdom Book in Modern Speech.