The Wisdom of Alfred Edersheim. David Mishkin

182

22. Tohu, 141

23. Ibid, p. 20

24. Religious Tract Society, London, 1883

25. Religious Tract Society, London, 1890

26. Christian Knowledge Society, London, 1893

27. Religious Tract Society, London, 1900

28. Kelly and Walsh, Singapore, 1898

29. Edersheim, Francis, Israel in Chaldea, A Sacred Dramatic Cantata in One Part, (Hutchings and Romer, London, 1892)

30. Carlyle, 51

31. Tohu, xxviii

32. Exeter College Library, shelf numbers: A.1 – I.12, PA 3.224, PC1.165 – PD 5.021

33. Tohu, xxviii

      His Bibliography

      The following works are the sources for the quotes which follow. The more popular books are quoted from updated editions so that readers may easily find them if they wish to examine their contexts. As more research is done, it is hoped that additional articles by Alfred Edersheim will be discovered.

      1847, Jubilee Rhythm of St Bernard

      J. Nisbet and Co., London. In this collection, Edersheim translated hymns and poems of St. Bernard (12th century) from the original Latin into English. There is no commentary on the material, only a brief explanation. He wrote, “I have endeavored not only to be literal, but as much as possible to preserve the form of the original. This may perhaps, in part, be pled in excuse of harshness in the rendering. But I venture to lay it down a s a principle, that, while in translating prose writings, considerable latitude as to style and form may be allowed, often with very great advantage to the reader – in poetical writings, where so much depends on the form in which the thought is presented, on the words in which it is expressed, on the precise succession of lines, and occasionally even on the metre and the rhyme, every effort should be made to follow the original as closely as possible.” Edition cited: British Library shelf number: W91.5326.

      1851, Whose is Thine Heart?

      Partridge and Oakley, Paternoster Row. This was an address given at the Foreign Conference and Evangelization Committee in London. It is subtitled, An Affectionate Address to Young People, and it is based on Proverbs 23:26. The entire address appears here in Appendix A. Edition cited: British Library Shelf Number: 4406.b.82.(2)

      1856, History of the Jewish Nation from the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Establishment of Christianity in the Roman Empire

      (“Nation”) T. and T. Clark Publishing. This book focuses on the important years after the destruction of the Temple in the year 70 AD. Topics include the origin of Talmudic Judaism, as well as Jewish interaction with both the Romans and the Jewish Christians of the day. Unlike some of his later works, the style is more factual, with fewer descriptive comments along the way. Still, it is extremely valuable for the student of this period of history. Chapters from this book which have also been published separately, include: The Hebrew Commonwealth; The History of the Synagogue from the Destruction of Jerusalem to the Jewish War of Liberation; The Political and Religious State of the Jews After the Destruction of Jerusalem; The progress of Arts and Sciences Among the Hebrews; Edition quoted: The History of the Jewish Nation After the Destruction of Jerusalem Under Titus, (Montana, Kessinger Publishing’s Rare Reprints, 2004)

      1856, Sketches of Jewish Social Life in the Days of Christ

      (“Sketches”) This popular book covers everything from the geography, educational systems, family structures, trades, religious life and philosophy of the first century in Galilee, Jerusalem and elsewhere. It is a wealth of information regarding the social background at the time of Jesus. Edition quoted: (Peabody, Hendrickson, 1994)

      1856 – 1861, The Athenaeum (book reviews)

      The Athenaeum was a prestigious 19th century British periodical which contained articles about various literary and scholarly subjects. Book reviews were published anonymously. However, City University of London holds the original collection and has been able to identify the respective authors. Other reviewers in the Athenaeum over the years included the likes of Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Thomas Hardy. And, to get a perspective on the historical period, one of Edersheim’s reviews is immediately followed by another scholar’s review of Charles Dickens’ latest work, Little Dorrit. A list of the books reviewed by Edersheim is found in Appendix C.

      1858, Bohemian Reformers and German Politicians: A Contribution to the History of Protestantism

      (“Reformers”)Thomas Constable & Co. This 60 page article comes from the book, Essays by Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland, edited by William Hanna. Edition cited: British Library Shelf Number: 12273.d.4. This piece focuses on the period of Church history prior to the Protestant Reformation in both Bohemia (modern day Czech Republic) and Germany. Although it is quite detailed, Ederseim said, “The reader is requested to remember that the foregoing professes to be a “Historical Essay” – not a detailed history.”

      1866, The Golden Diary of Heart-Converse with Jesus in the Book of Psalms

      (“Golden”) Nisbet and Co., London. This is a devotional commentary on the book of Psalms. Fittingly, Edersheim is here at his most poetic in his descriptions of Biblical truth. Edition quoted: (Jerusalem, Keren Ahava Meshihit, 2000)

      1868 – 1870, The Scattered Nation

      This Hebrew Christian periodical was edited in London by Dr. Charles Schwartz. Contributors included Franz Delitzch, Adolph Saphir and A. Bernstein. Edersheim contributed a short series in 1868 called Jewish Notes on the New Testament, which focused on the Apostle James and the community of Jewish believers in Jesus in Jerusalem during the early years of the Church. In 1869 and 1870, Edersheim serialized a novel called From Grey to Dawn: A Tale of Jewish Life in the Time of Christ. It features a young man (Marcos) who travels from Alexandria, Egypt to Jerusalem for the Passover in approximately the year 30 AD. He meets several people who tell him of a Prophet from Nazareth who has been doing amazing things and gaining quite a following. The narrative is rife with descriptions of first century places and practices in typical Edersheim fashion. However, as a work of fiction, we also read first-person accounts of the events (for longer quotes, see Appendix B). For some reason, the story ends abruptly after chapter nineteen. The publication continued but this story did not. Copies of The Scattered Nation periodical are available at the National Library of Israel, and in a special collection at the Caspari Center for Biblical and Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.

      1869, On Certain Peculiarities of the Jewish Race

      (“Peculiar”) The title of this article is a good example of 19th century language. Today, the same piece would probably be called, “The Uniqueness of the Jewish People.” There is a mention of it in one of Edersheim’s books (OT, p. 231 – where it is incorrectly cited as “On Certain Physical Peculiarities of the Jewish Race”) and it appeared in the periodical