The hearers are bidden to look back upon a period
in the living movement of which they themselves are standing, as
if it were a dead past. As they are thus lifted up to the height
of an objective contemplation of themselves and their fathers,
in the end the result which was to be expected takes place:
they become conscious of their grievous sin. Confronted with
the Deity they have always an uneasy feeling that they deserve
to be punished.
VII.II.2. The Deuteronomist revision asserts itself, it is true,
only in these two places, or rather this one place; but this
is the principal epoch in the book--the transition to the monarchy
which is associated with the name of Samuel. And on this account
the revision here acts the more trenchantly; it is not only an
addition to give a new flavour to the older tradition; it changes
the nature of the tradition entirely. For the passages we have
just quoted from it are merely fragments of a considerable
connected historical scheme. The first piece of this scheme, vii.
2-17, first claims our attention. After summoning the children of
Israel to repentance (vii.
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