A translation of the 1910 edition of commentary by Gunkel (1862-1913), a pioneer of form-critical and history-of-religion methods of studying the Old Testament. He draws on an extensive knowledge of religious and folk literature of the Middle East to situate the Israelite religion and literature. Many of the issues he grapples with are still current in scholarship, including the nature of patriarchal religion; the interrelationship between documentary sources, oral tradition, and editorial activity; and the antiquity of Israel's eschatological hope. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.