STUDIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT FROM MOSES TO SAMUEL.

For the International Lesson Committee:

REV. JOHN POTTS, D.D., Chairman, Victoria College, Toronto, Can.
REV. A. E. DUNNING, D.D., Secretary, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

NOTE FROM THE LESSON COMMITTEE.

NOTE. In response to requests from editors and publishers, verses are selected for printing when the lesson exceeds a dozen. But the Committee requests that in all cases the entire passage, as indicated, shall be treated as the lesson, whether or not it is printed in full. It is expected that the related and parallel passages named will be considered by writers of Lesson Helps in connection with their treatment of the lesson texts. For the International Sunday School Lesson Committee:

Rev. JOHN POTTS, D. D., Chairman, Victoria College, Toronto, Can.

Rev. A. E. DUNNING, D. D., Secretary, 14 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.

THE COMBINED TEXT.

The lesson text is taken by permission from Holman's Linear Parallel Teacher's Bible, which presents in a single line and in large, clear type the texts of the Authorized and Revised Versions, where said texts are alike. Where they are unlike in any respect, the difference is shown by double lines in smaller type, the upper one being the Authorized Version, and the lower the Revised Version. Thus the variations between the versions are shown at a glance. This most helpful Bible is combined with the usual helps, and is copyrighted, and the parallel arrangement must not be copied without special permission.

LESSON SECTIONS.

The general plan suggested by the Lesson Committee has been used in this series of Notes on the Lessons for several years; but still greater emphasis is laid upon it in the present volume. Every effort has been made to trace the development of the history, and impress the chief epochs, or distinct steps of progress in such a way that they will be realized and remembered, and the whole history become one connected whole. Each lesson is shown in its connection with what goes before the event or period that follows.

PLAN OF THE LESSON.

A plan of each lesson is given so as to show at a glance the progress of the thought, its connection and place in the historical development, and to make it easier for the teacher to modify or change the plan to meet his own needs, and accord with his own way of thinking.

CONCENTRATION OF HELPS.

All the helps that can be brought to bear within the possible limits of a book of this kind are concentrated upon each lesson, - the resources of one of the largest private theological libraries, supplemented by frequent inquiries at the libraries of several theological seminaries, and other libraries, with a carefully kept card catalogue of the annual output of books bearing upon the subjects studied. Harmonies, Charts, Pictures, Library References, Lesson Plans, are all made to aid in a full knowledge of the lesson and its adaptation to teaching.

FOR ALL GRADES.

This book is for the teachers of all grades in the Sunday-school, from the student's adult classes to the smallest primary. Its purpose is to furnish the knowledge and the practical applications which must underlie all good teaching, even of the youngest classes. It is the basis of correct interpretation, of knowledge of the facts, of statement of principles, of legitimate inferences, on which the teacher may securely stand and adapt his instruction to the particular grade he is teaching.

ASSISTANTS.

Thanks are due and most cordially given to those who have kindly rendered great and valuable assistance in the preparation of this volume, each in his or her own best way, and to whom no little of the value of this book must be attributed.

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PLAN OF THE TEMPLE

IN THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES.

FROM THE EXODUS TO SAMUEL.

NOTE. The exact chronology is very uncertain during this whole period. There is a wide difference of opinion among scholars, and the latest Bible Dictionaries are unwilling to even furnish conjectural dates for most of the events. It seems, therefore, more helpful to the practical study of this period to give the dates in the margins of our Bibles, with the understanding that they are not authoritative, but give the general order and arrangement of events, and are as good as any that can be obtained.