Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. This book is intended for the general reader, and for use in classes in schools and churches. The purpose is to make the course of Old Testament history clear. Con tinual references are given to.the passages of which the paragraphs of the book are a summary and an interpre tation. It is expected that the student will read these passages. Constant use has been made of recent discov eries, and of the conservative results of scholarship.