THE OLD TESTAMENT Its Theory and Practice BY GEORGE BUCHANAN GRAY, D.LITT. Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament Exegesis in Mansfield NOV 26 1926 CAS EDITORIAL NOTE WHEN the sudden death of Dr. Gray in November 1922 deprived the world of Old Testament study of its most distinguished scholar, some fear was felt that comparatively little of the results of his work during recent years remained. Happily, however, several important manuscripts were discovered amongst his papers, and Mrs. Gray very readily gave permission for their publication. In particular the lectures on Sacrifice which he had delivered before the University of Oxford as Speaker Lecturer were found to be nearly complete. No doubt their form would have been somewhat different if Dr. Gray had been able to revise his own material for the Press, and in several of the lectures there were signs that he had already considered more than one alternative form of presentation. Of one lecture-on the Laws of J, E, and D, relating to the Passover-only a few disconnected sheets have been found, and it seems likely that the rest had been destroyed in order to be rewritten, for of the first page or two no less than three variant copies survived. In other cases it has not always been easy to decide between different arrangements, but it is hoped that the present volume represents as nearly as possible that which Dr. Gray intended at the time of his death. The work of preparing the book for publication has necessarily been slow. The lectures on the Priesthood were not found till all the rest had been transcribed and was practically ready for the Press. The sheets of translation from the Megillath Ta'anith (cp. pp. 279, 407 ff.) had disappeared, and the section indicated in the main body of the text had to be translated afresh. This has now been inserted as Appendix III. It is possible that an extended treatment of the Materials of Sacrifice formed part of Dr. Gray's original plan for the completed book, and as the subject is only lightly touched in the lectures themselves, Mrs. Gray gave permission for the use of another manuscript from which Appendix I has been copied. There was no direct clue as to |