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emphasize the religious importance of a person, or even of a thing, ascribe to him or it a pre-existence or an archetype in heaven. Thus Assumptio Mosis, I. 14, Moses speaks of himself qui ab initio orbis terrarum praeparatus sum, and Baruch, Apoc. iv. speaks of Jerusalem as having been shown to Adam before he sinned, and the book of the Jubilees remarks that the Sabbath was kept by the angels before it was revealed to man, and Assumptio Mosis, I. 17, speaks of the temple as a place quem fecit ab initio creaturae orbis terrarum. A reflex of this idea is found in early Christian literature, where pre-existence is ascribed to the church in Hermae Pastor, Vis. ii. 4, 2 Clem. 14.2 Yet it is not even necessary ' Cf. Orelli, Heb. Synonyma der Zeit und Ewigkeit, p. 69 sqq. 2 On this whole matter cf. Harnack’s notes on these two passages in the new edition of the Patres Apostolici. 48 to go to the post-biblical literature of the Jews for the development of the idea of pre-existence. The kernel, yes, the idea itself, we find already in one canonical book that has been extensively used by our author. In Prov. viii. 22-31, the personified wisdom speaks of itself as pre-existent and is thus conceived in En. 42. It is even probable that the different expressions with which the pre-existence of the Messiah is described are imitations of those in Prov. viii. The statement that the Messiah was before the sun and stars were made finds its parallel in Prov. viii. 27, where wisdom is said to have been there “when he prepared the heavens;” and the words that the Messiah was before the creation of the world find their parallel in Prov. viii. 22-26. The connection between the pre-existent Messiah of Enoch and the pre-existent Wisdom of Proverbs is strengthened by the fact that it is stated of him that he ha m, 49:3, and in his days the fountains of wisdom shall flow and the just drink from them, 48:1; 49:1, as well as by the use of the word HTR, unctus sum,! in Prov. viii. 23, which corresponds to one of the classical appellations of this supernatural being, i.e. the name Messiah.? But if the occurrence of pre-existence can cause no surprise when found ina work like the Parables, which are based upon close exegetical study of the Old Testament, and if the author possibly received some of the embellishments of the idea from Prov. viii., the idea itself he did not get there. If it can be stated as a rr ee to 4 4 toto ton 4 oe 49 Daniel, this can be said to be especially true concerning the Messianic idea. Whatever may be the final conviction of critics concerning the one “who was like a Son of man,” Dan. vii. 13, whether, on the basis of ver. 18, 22, 27, he is to be regarded as the embodiment of the ideal Israel, or to be considered as the personal Messiah, so much is absolutely certain that for our author, as 46:1 sqq. shows beyond all doubt, he was the personal Messiah. With this established, the source of the idea of pre-existence is given; it is a development from Dan. vii. 13. The sudden appearance there indicated an existence before that time, and the coming in the clouds with the Ancient of days pointed to a supernatural being, and thus the author’s exegesis on that passage finds expression in ascribing pre-existence to the Messiah, and is a legitimate conclusion from the premises there given. And then our author bases his description of the Messiah, to a great extent, on Isaiah and Micah, the two prophets who, more than others, emphasize the personality of the Messiah and allow their descriptions to go beyond that which is terrestrial in both his person and his work. For that the HTR of Isa. xL.-lxvi. is for the author of the Parables, probably, no one else but the personal Messiah seems to be clear from many passages.! And as eternal existence in the future is frequently ascribed to the Messiah and his kingdom in the Old Testament, the step to eternity in the past is easily made. The eternity a parte post easily fact that the Parables in general are closely connected with the Book of