The sacred legends reviewed in this dissertation are all related to the Bible, they refer to its characters or amplify its incidents or interpret its doctrines. They have been drawn from a well-defined area. There has been no attempt to introduce at any length the illuminating records unearthed by archaeological discoveries in Assyria and Egypt, nor to seriously discuss how far the thread of legend has woven itself into the text of the New and Old Testaments. The author aimed at being an interpreter along these lines.