To understand such passages aright it is necessary to bear in mind certain characteristics of style that mark the ancient writings that compose the canon of the Old Testament. These are, unfortunately, only too often either unknown or ignored. If we approach these oriental documents with purely western and modern ideas, prepared to interpret them simply according to the rules we would apply to literature of our own time and country, we are bound to misunderstand and to read into them thoughts that their authors never meant to convey.
- page 60, The Old Testament and the Future Life