Solomon's Temple. By the Rev. W. Shaw Caldecott. (R.T.S. 6s.)—Mr.
Caldecott in his introduction discusses, among other matters, the historical value of the books of Chronicles. It is not easy to see what he means when he says that the doubts as to their trustworthiness as history are largely based "upon the use of a single word, Midrash," found in this writing only. As Mr. Caldecott refers to the article in "Hastings' Bible Dictionary," he appears to attach no importance to a number of details there marshalled. It is antecedently improbable that the writer had before him the "original documents upon which large portions of Samuel and Kings are based." It is unlikely that many of these survived the catastrophe of the destruction of Jerusalem and the exile. The Chronicles numbers are more than usually untrust- worthy. The price paid for the threshing floor of Araunall is six hundred shekels of gold, as against fifty shekels of silver in Samuel ; the numbers of the combatants in the war between Jeroboam and Abijah are amazing, eight hundred thousand of Israel and four hundred thousand of Judah, the latter slaying five hundred thousand of their enemies,—Rehoboam, it should be noted, could only raise a hundred and eighty thousand, and that in a supreme effort to prevent the disruption of his Kingdom, and before the devastating invasion of Shishak. Pekah kills a hundred and twenty thousand men of Judah, and carries away two hundred thousand prisoners. On his proper subject, the construction of the Temple and the adjoining palaces, our author has much that is interesting to tell us.
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