Page 131 (Ch. VI, 26)

The asherah is the pole or post set up beside an altar.

Page 136 (Ch. VIII, 27)

The ephod was an image used in consulting the oracle.

Page 140 (Ch. IX, 45)

An expression for making utterly desolate. Century Bible.

Page 143 (Ch. XI, 34)

She was dancing to the accompaniment of tambourines played by her attendants.

Page 145 (Ch. XIII, 6)

Probably similar to the wandering dervishes in Arabia and fakirs in India.

Page 145 (Ch. XIII, 22)

It was a common belief that to see God meant death to man.

Page 148 (Ch. XV, 1)

About the month of May.

Page 151 (Ch. XVI, 23)

Dagon the tribal God of the Philistines was worshipped in Ashdod.

Page 152 (Ch. XVI, )

Sir James Frazer says the story of Samson is that of an utterly unscrupulous and selfish adventurer. And it is "only redeemed from the vulgarity of commonplace rascality by the elements of supernatural strength, headlong valor and a certain grim humour, which together elevated it to a sort of burlesque epic, after the manner of Ariosto.

Page 152 (Ch. XVII, 1)

Micah is none the less a worshipper of Yahweh because he has images. Century Bible.

Page 152 (Ch. XVII, 5)

The teraphim were household gods, partly at least in human form.

Page 161

THE STORY OF SAMUEL

This is the Book of the "Former Prophets"; that is, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. The Book of Samuel was separated into two sections only in 1517.

The Ark was the visible symbol of the presence of Yahweh."

(1 Sam. I, 4)

Sacrifices were divided into the offering burnt on the altar of Yahweh, the portion for the food of the priests and, third, the rest reverted to the worshipper who with his retinue ate of it within the sanctuary limits.

(1 Sam. II, 19)

What the ephod really was is not yet decided. The references to it are not correlative for it is carried by a priest, is used in divination, is wholly or partly of precious metal, is a small image or idol (1 Sam. XXI, 9) and here appears as the "ephod bad" or ephod of linen, a short skirt, or possibly a sash.

Page 162 (1 Sam. V, 1, 2)

Ashdod, now Esdud, halfway between Joppa and Gaza, was the principal city of the Philistine Federation, Pentapolis.

War trophies always were placed in a temple.

Page 163 (1 Sam. V, 5)

They leapt over the threshold, not to step on it since the fragments of the image of the god Dagon rested on it and made it sacred. This rite is of many other cults, also.

(1 Sam. VII, 3)

Strange gods were those of other nations than Israel. Ashtaroth is a plural and means all the images of Astarte, or Ishtar.

Page 183 (1 Sam. VII, 5)

Mispar or Mispeh, a watchtower.

Page 165

One of the most tragic figures in the history of Israel is that of Saul, the first king of the nation. A shrewd man of affairs as well as an ecclesiastic of the most rigid type, Samuel had dexterously contrived not only to anoint but to nominate the new king on whom the hopes of Israel now centered. His tall and stately form, his gallant bearing, his skilful generalship and dauntless courage on the field of battle, all marked him out as a natural leader of men. Yet, under a showy exterior, this dashing and popular soldier concealed some fatal infirmities, a jealous and suspicious disposition, a choleric temper, a weakness of will, a vacillation of purpose, and, above all, a brooding melancholy under which his intellect, never of a high order, sometimes trembled on the verge of insanity. In such dark hours the profound dejection which clouded his brain could only be lightened and dispelled by the soothing strains of solemn music; and one of the most graphic pictures painted for us by the Hebrew historian is that of the handsome king sitting sunk in gloom, while the minstrel boy, the ruddy-cheeked David, stood before him discoursing sweet music on the trembling strings of the harp, till the frown passed from the royal brow and the sufferer found a truce to his uneasy thoughts." Folk Lore in the Old Testament.

Page 167 (1 Sam. X, 1)

Here is the first mention of the rite of anointing as part of the consecration to kingship, but without doubt it was an old custom from Egypt, although it appears not to have been used in Babylonia.

Page 170 (1 Sam. XIII, 9)

Sacrifices of consecration of the soldiery were made at the beginnings of campaigns. See taboo effects in 1 Sam. XXI, 4 and 2 Sam. XI, 11.

Page 174 (1 Sam. XIV, 37)

Yahweh was silent because the food taboo had been broken.

Page 175 (1 Sam. XVI, 14)

That is, the evil spirit had been permitted by Yahweh to appear to Saul. It is agreed now that Saul had "morbid melancholia" for which music is considered a valuable help.

(1 Sam. VII, 15)

Israel has reached its long-sought ideal and become a theocracy, a nation ruled directly by God, with Samuel as the mouthpiece and representative of Yahweh.

Page 185 (1 Sam. XXV)

The story of Abigail is called a masterpiece of earliest Hebrew narration.

Page 185

"So long as Samuel lived, Saul was little more than a tool in hands far stronger than his own. The prophet was indeed one of those masterful natures, those fanatics cast in an iron mould, who, mistaking their own unbending purpose for the will of heaven, march forward unswervingly to their goal, trampling down all opposition, their hearts steeled against every tender emotion of humanity and pity.. While Saul was content to do the bidding of this imperious mentor he was graciously permitted to strut before the eyes of the vulgar wearing his shadowy crown; but no sooner did he dare to diverge by a hair's breadth from the ruthless commands laid on him by his spiritual director, than Samuel broke his puppet king and threw him away as an instrument that had ceased to serve his purpose." - Sir James G Frazer.

Page 192

"Yet a thought struck the king. Might he not summon up the dead seer from the grave and elicit words of hope and comfort from his ghostly lips? He had himself driven into exile all the practitioners of the black art. between him and the witch's home lay the whole army of the Philistines. To go by day would have been to court death. It was necessary to wait for nightfall." "The demand [for Samuel] startled the necromancer, and looking hard at her visitor she discerned him to be the king. In great alarm, believing she had been caught in a trap, she cried out.. But the king pacified her saw something invisible to them. So the king perceived it was the ghost of Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance. But the unhappy monarch found the ghost as hard and implacable as the living prophet... Sir James G. Frazer.

Page 192 (1 Sam. XXVIII, 3-20)

soon

she

Modern translators seem to think verse 12 has an error and that it should read Saul for Samuel and be "And when the woman saw Saul."

Page 193

Necromancy, bringing the spirits of the dead again to earth to aid the living by their wisdom, seems ingrained in human nature from the earliest ages to the present time and no laws however strict can prevent the attempt. Saul's yielding is a strong case in point. The practice started in earliest heathen times and no law of Israel could avail against the urge in days of dire trouble when the accepted religious observances and beliefs seemed inadequate.

Sir James Frazer says, "The practice of necromancy was probably common to the Hebrews with other branches of the Semitic race. A clear reference to it appears to be contained in the twelfth canto of the Gilgamesh epic."

Samuel and Kings originally formed one connected narrative or book. Page 201 (2 Sam. I, 17)

This song and that of Deborah in Judges are the two oldest pieces of Hebrew poetry now known.

Page 210 (2 Sam. VI, 14)

He whirled like a dervish. Ephod, a short skirt or sash here.

Page 231 (2 Sam. XIX, 23)

This passage of David's grief is regarded as one of the most perfect examples of literary art in the Old Testament.

Folk Lore Club.

Nassau, N. P., Bahama Islands.

С. М.

1921.