of lots for His raiment, the piercing of His hands and feet, His last
exclamation, His resurrection and ascension. Whatever view may be taken
as to the dates of the various books of Scripture, it must be admitted
that the whole body of the Old Testament was in circulation among the
Jews hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. There can be no doubt
that these prophecies were separated by great distance in time from the
events predicted. Even the Septuagint Version, which is a Greek
translation from the original Hebrew Scriptures, existed at Alexandria
about two hundred years before His advent.

One of the most striking features of Old Testament prediction is its
bearing upon the closing scenes of Christ's history. In its types as
well as in its prophecies His death was foreshadowed, and the
humiliating and ignominious treatment to which He was subjected minutely
described. The predictions involved events that appeared contradictory
and paradoxical until their fulfilment furnished the key. He Himself
told the disciples again and again that He should be crucified. This
form of execution was a Roman punishment reserved for slaves and the
vilest criminals; and the fact that Jesus was subjected to it depended
on a combination of events which no mere human sagacity could have
foreseen. It required that, though he should be apprehended, accused,
tried, and found guilty by Jews, His death-sentence should be inflicted
by Gentiles; that the Roman governor of Judaea should, against his
better judgment, surrender to the clamorous cry of a mob who demanded
that the prisoner should be crucified. It required that the betrayal and
condemnation of Jesus should take place during the Passover week, when
it was unlawful for the Jews to put any man to death. The excuse of the
Jewish rulers, that they could not inflict death, did not mean that this
power had been withdrawn from them, but that it was against their law to
exercise it then. Had the season been different, had the Jews themselves