The Translator avails himself of his privilege of offering a few
prefatory words, chiefly in order to express the deep obligation under
which he lies to the Rev. John Laing, Librarian in the New College,
Edinburgh, for the valuable assistance which he afforded to him in the
translation of this work. Any observation on the work itself or its
Author would be superfluous, if not presumptuous, considering the high
position which Dr Hengstenberg holds as a Biblical Scholar. High,
however, as this position is, the Translator feels confident that it
will be raised by the present work, the Author's _latest_ and _first_;
and not only revering Dr Hengstenberg as a beloved Teacher, but being
under many obligations to him for proofs of personal kindness and
friendship, the Translator sincerely rejoices in this prospect.
As regards the translation itself, it was the Translator's aim to bring
out fully the Author's meaning. This object, which ought to be the
first in every translation, has been kept steadily in view, and
preferred to all others. In rendering Dr Hengstenberg's translation of
Scripture-passages, the expressions in our Authorized Version have, as
far as possible, been retained. Wherever the division of the text in
the latter differed from that of the original text, it has been added
in a parenthesis; an exception in this respect having been made in
quotations from the Psalms only, in which this difference is almost
constant, the inscriptions not being counted in our English Version,
while they are in the Hebrew Text.
Edinburgh, January 1854.
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