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b. Contents. —As the author seeks to direct his readers from the tribulations of their times to the glories of the future, his description will naturally be chiefly an eschatological one, embracing the topics of the period of the sword, the judgment, the punishment of the wicked, Sheol, hell, the reward of the righteous, and the Messiah with his kingdom. These topics are, in fact, the objects of his prophecies. During his trip with the angel, Enoch, by a historical lapsus, sees Sheol already inhabited. It is the place of departed spirits both good and bad, for the righteous descend there also, 102:5. Although Sheol is but a temporary abode, to serve till the time of the final judgment, the fate of its inhabitants is already foreshadowed by their condition while there. In chap. 22, which is devoted to its description, we learn that it has four apartments: one for those righteous who died at the hands of sinners, the second for the other saints, the third for the sinners who were .ao4 1406 ted 1 aoe 1 sae 1 tor +44 not punished on earth, the fourth for those whose retribution was at least partially given them before death.! The last class, however, shall remain here, and not be subjected to a farther condemnation, ver. 13. This peculiar division well reflects the author’s time. Only one that had seen with his own eyes the numerous persecutions of the righteous could think of making for them a special apartment in Sheol with the prototype of martyrs, Abel, where they have the special privilege of continuing their cry for vengeance. The inhabitants of three apartments shall rise again, the unrighteous for punishment, the righteous to take part in the glories of the Messianic kingdom. It should be noticed here that the author presupposes in this connection the resurrection of the wicked, although in other places he mentions only the rising of the saints, cf. 91:10; 92:3; 100:5; 103:4. Preceding the judgment of the living and dead, and also the period of the sword, there will come the signs of the last times, of which we have a graphic description in chap. 80. Before the judgment, as 90:19 compared with sqq. shows, there will be the terrible period of the sword of which we have already spoken. Then comes the judgment in which God himself judges, 1:9; 90:20; 91:7; 100:4. Although the judgment is stated to be universal, embracing the just also, 1:7, it is evident that it is restricted to those who took active part in the conflict between the faithful and the unrighteous, either as foes or friends, and is thus not universal in an absolute sense. Were it such, it would be impossible to conceive 38 how the author can speak of an increase of the Messianic kingdom after the judgment through the arrival of the hitherto neutral heathen nations. The place of judgment is Palestine, or rather Jerusalem, 90:20. The order is, first the fallen angels and the seventy shepherds 90:20 sqq., and then the renegades in Israel. The condemnation of the sinners is eternal. 5:5, 6; 10:12; 12:4, 5; 22:11, sqq., and consists of burning, 10:14, in a poolof fire, 10:6; 90:24, etc., or fiery abyss, 10:13; 90:25, etc., or in prison, 10:13, or in a fiery oven, 98:3, or in hell, 99:11. There are two places of punishment, one for the fallen angels, who are temporarily bound under the hills, 10:4 sqq., which is found “on the ends of the earth,” 18:14 and chap. 21. It is the same place that is described in 90:24, 25, where again no geographical locality is assigned to it. The place of torture for the theocratic sinners is better outlined. Going out from the Old Testament idea he places it in the valley of Hinnom, chapters 26, 27, 90:26. After the removal, 1:1, and destruction, 1:9; 97:1; 94:10, of the sinners, the happy period of the rule of the righteous is inaugurated. His description is in accordance with his ethics and dogmatics. What the faithful lacked before they shall then abundantly possess. These are both physical and moral blessings. They shall enjoy the good of the land, 10:18, 19, the temple shall be built anew and the old one removed, 90:28, 29, and around it then will be gathered all the saints, 90:33, they shall eat of the tree of life, 24:4, 5, which has been transplanted to the north, i.e. to Jerusalem, 25:5, they will have wisdom, 5:8; 91:10, there will be absolute moral perfection without sin, 5:8; 92:5, and this state shall be eternal, 91:17; 92:4; 105:2, and in these glories the risen just shall take part, 103:4; 91:10; 92:3; 100:5. The centre of the kingdom is in Jerusalem. But all this so far without a Messiah. He does not establish the kingdom, but grows out from among the faithful after the establishment. We hear of him only 90:37, 38. For the author, this Messiah is one who is especially prominent by his fidelity religiously, for he is born a bullock while the others 1 We simply give here and in the following the results reached in the notes.