Book Description

Excerpt from A Critical and Exegetical Commentary: On the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah One of the editors of the International Critical Commentary, the Rev. Professor Charles A. Briggs, D.D., D. Litt., died while this volume was going through the press. I was fortunate in having the benefit of his editorial supervision of the manuscript and of a part of the proof. So the work was well under way when the message came that he was too ill to read proof any longer and that I must assume full responsibility. I have done my best that his illness should result in no loss to this work. In the death of Dr. Briggs, American Biblical scholarship has lost one of its ablest and most widely known representatives. He was called upon to suffer much for his convictions, and he did suffer bravely. Nor did he suffer in vain. He had the satisfaction of justification in the end; for the views which aroused so much opposition have met with general acceptance. Dr. Briggs was really conservative; he formed his opinions slowly and deliberately; but once they were formed, he would yield them only to new evidence. I am glad to have this opportunity to express my appreciation of the character and attainments of Dr. Briggs and the great privilege I have enjoyed in frequent friendly association with him. The preparation of this volume has occupied my available time for several years. I should have despaired of finishing what proved to be a far bigger task than I ever anticipated save for my return, two years ago, to the professorial office so that my summers were really free for work. The task proved unexpectedly big, for I discovered early in my studies that Ezra-Nehemiah bristled with hard problems which had not really been solved. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.