Old Testament legends

by M. R. James

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Pages: 78

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About this book

The preface of Old Testament legends by M. R. James says that the title-page tells of stories taken out of some of the less-known apocryphal books of the Old Testament. One story has Tubal see, as he thought, a beast moving in the thicket and tell Lamech; Tubal found that it was not a wild beast at all, but his ancestor Cain. The text says of one story that it was invented by the Jews to explain the difficult passage in Genesis.

One tale has Joseph say "Let one of the maidens come and wash my feet" and Aseneth answer "No; from henceforth I am your handmaid". In another tale a king throws himself on the ground, lamenting that he has slain his servant Ahikar at the word of a foolish boy.

About the author

M. R. James

M. R. James spent his working life inside two institutions, as provost of King's College Cambridge from 1905 and then as provost of Eton from 1918 until his death, and his profession was cataloguing medieval manuscripts, a job he did so thoroughly that the catalogues are still consulted.