From the Preface:This volume aims to present the entire Sacred History of the Hebrew people from the death of Moses to the close of the Old Testament. Its special objects are -- to trace the hand of God in this history, and to suggest the advancing revelations made of his character and moral government; to develop the leading human characters, and the significance of the great historic events; to explain difficult passages; to bring out the connections between sacred and profane history, in order both to illustrate and to confirm the records of Scripture; to place the History of the Old Testament by the side of its psalmody and its Prophecy, in order to infuse into the History somewhat of its own living soul, and to give to the Prophecy its due illustration and impression.