REESE LIBRARY ' 
 
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 NIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, 
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' 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SACRED 
 
 POETRY OF THE HEBREWS 
 
 By ROBERT LOWTH, D. D. 
 
 LORD BISHOP OF LONDON. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN BY G. GREGORY, P. A.^ 
 
 A NEW EDITION WITH NOTES 
 
 BY 
 
 r - 
 
 E. STOWE, A. M. 
 
 Opus er.im de Sacra Poesi absolutissimum, nemo cat, opinor, in his studiis versatus, qui non 
 perlegerit ; nemo, cui non summam admirationem attulerit cum argumenti dignitas, et eruditi 
 auctoris singulare judicium, tuosi Latini sermouis venustas a,c nitor. Sir William Jones. 
 
 K^ V^ OF THE Mi 
 
 rairivEBSiTYi 
 &*ate&. 
 
 PRINTED AT THE CODMAN PRESS BY FLAGG AND GOULD, 
 
 FOR CROCKER <fc BREWSTER, 
 
 NO. 47, WASHINGTON ST. BOSTON, 
 
 AND J. LEAVITT, NO. 182, 
 
 BROADWAY, NEW YORK. _ 
 
 1829. 
 
- 1*, 
 
 
 DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, to wit : 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 '" '-fourth year 
 district, has de- 
 
 B it remembered, that on the 3d day of October, A. D. 1829, in the fifty-fourth year of 
 the Independence of the United States of America. Flaeg &. Gould, of the said district, has de- 
 posited in this Office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as Proprietors, in the words 
 
 ollowing, to wit . ' Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, by Robert Lowth, D. D. Lord 
 Bishop of London Translated from the original Latin by G. Gregory, F. A. S. A new Edition 
 with Notes by Calvin E. Stowe, A. M. ' Opus enim de Sacra Poesi absolutissimurn, nemo est, 
 opinor, in his studiis versatus, qui non perlegerit ; nemo,cui non summam admirationem attule- 
 rit cum argument! dignitas, et eruditi auctoris singulare judicium, turn Latini sermonis venustas 
 ac nitor.'" Sir William Jones. In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, 
 entitled, " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and 
 books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned :" and 
 also to an act entitled, ; An act supplementary to an act , entitled, An act for the encouragement 
 of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books, to the authors and proprietors of 
 such copies during the times therein mentioned; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of 
 designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints." 
 
 JOHN W. DAV.S, j 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 AT different periods in the history of mankind, Providence 
 raises up men who are destined to effect a complete revolution 
 in the intellectual character of their age, and to exert an influ- 
 ence which will not cease while time endures. These are the 
 leaders of the human race in the career of improvement, an of- 
 fice for which they are fitted only by unyielding independence and 
 hardihood of understanding, the result of a peculiarly happy men- 
 tal structure cooperating with peculiar circumstances ; and they 
 deserve, more than any others, the title of vicegerents of God on 
 earth, for under Him and by His appointment they rule the world 
 of mind. 
 
 Of this number was ROBERT LOWTH, a name which will ever 
 be held in veneration by the student of Sacred Literature. His 
 father, the REV. WILLIAM LOWTH, who was Chaplain to the 
 Bishop of Winchester and Prebendary of a Cathedral Church in 
 that See, is known as the author of commentaries on several 
 books of the Old Testament, which rank among the best of their 
 time ; and to the favourite pursuits of the father we are perhaps 
 indebted for the labours and celebrity of the son. ROBERT was 
 born at Winchester in the year 1710, and received the first rudi- 
 ments of his education at the school founded in that city by 
 WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM. He there distinguished himself, at a 
 very early age, as a classical and Hebrew scholar, and a poet. 
 In 1728 he was sent to New College, Oxford ; of which he was 
 elected Fellow in 1734 ; took the degree of M. A. in 1737 ; and 
 in 1741 succeeded JOSEPH SPENCE as Professor of Poetry in that 
 University. It was in discharge of the duties of this office that 
 he delivered his justly celebrated Lectures entitled : De Sacra 
 Poesi Hebraeorum Praelectiones Academicae ; of which the first 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 edition was published in 1753, about a year after the expiration 
 of the term of his Professorship, and a second in 1763. 
 
 Though LOWTH, when he accepted his Professorship, had 
 but just completed the thirtieth year of his age, and had never 
 before appeared in a public character, he immediately formed a 
 design which would have done honour to mature age and long 
 experience. This was no other than to reclaim from the dust of 
 ages and the rubbish of allegorizing mystics, the relics of prime- 
 val poetry preserved in the Sacred Writings of the Hebrews, to 
 set them in their true light, and prove them worthy the attention 
 and favour of men of taste. It was his purpose to discover the 
 true spirit and meaning of the genuine oracles of God, and to 
 disjoin them from the rude and tasteless additions of unin- 
 spired interpreters. CALVIN and GROTIUS had already given 
 noble examples of acute and logical exegesis of the Scriptures ; 
 SIMON and LECLERC had prepared the way for the investigation 
 of their history ; SELDEN had searched out the numerous hints 
 which they give respecting ancient manners and domestic life ; 
 MILTON had explored their rich stores of poetic imagery ; and 
 many other distinguished scholars, as VITRINGA, BUXTORF, 
 BOCHART, and LIGHTFOOT, had laboured successfully in differ- 
 ent departments of Sacred Literature : but no one had yet arisen 
 to survey accurately the whole ground, to assign the boundaries 
 of safe investigation, to present the student with a clue tha 
 would guide him through the labyrinth of conjecture and mysti 
 cism, to collect and arrange the more important results whic 
 lay scattered in the writings of others, to look on the Hebre 
 Scriptures with the eye of a critic and the heart of a poet, and t 
 give to Sacred Interpretation the form and dignity of a science. 
 Notwithstanding all that had been done, but few general and 
 correct principles of exegesis had as yet been settled, the Bible 
 had never been viewed in its true light as a work of taste, the 
 unnatural and barren expositions of the Rabbins were still deem- 
 ed authoritative ; and Christian interpreters were wandering in 
 the dark wilds of mysticism, or exhausting their strength and 
 wasting their time in the useless search of etymologies and va- 
 rious readings. No one, indeed, had ever ventured to express 
 the opinion that the prophets wrote in poetry, excepting the ec- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 centric HERMANN VAN DER HARDT, who threw out this among the 
 other fancies of his prolific brain, (and the idea then lost all re- 
 putation by appearing in such company) ; and the learned Vi- 
 TRINGA, who had given a hint to that effect in his Commentary on 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 Under these circumstances LOWTH appeared, with the deter- 
 mination and the ability to breathe a new spirit into the whole 
 business of sacred study. He was peculiarly qualified for a 
 task so delicate and arduous. To an enthusiastic love for the 
 Scriptures he added a remarkable vigour and comprehensiveness 
 of mind, a singular acuteness and accuracy of judgement, a fine 
 poetic taste chastened and corrected by an intimate acquaintance 
 with the Classics of Greece and Rome, which prevented his be- 
 ing misled by the errors of others or blinded by fancies of his 
 own; and he was gifted with a command of language and a fe- 
 licity of illustration, and withal, a modesty and reserve of manner, 
 which secured the attention and engaged the affections of all who 
 listened to his instructions. 
 
 With such talents and such qualifications, success could not 
 long remain doubtful. LOWTH broke through the trammels of 
 false taste and erroneous theology, penetrated to the secret retire- 
 ments of the Hebrew Muse, discovered and developed the true 
 nature and genuine sources of the Sacred Poetry, marked out the 
 boundaries of its several departments and assigned to each its ap- 
 propriate characteristics, and led the way to anew and more per- 
 fect mode of Scriptural interpretation ; and by the exquisite spe- 
 cimens of translation with which he illustrated and enriched his 
 Lectures, he proved that the soaring genius and refined taste of 
 the poet may be united with the severe accuracy of the critic, the 
 gravity of the theologian, and the religious sensibility of the devout 
 Christian. The effect was wonderful. LOWTH was immediate- 
 ly caressed and honoured by all the patrons of learning in his own 
 country, and hailed on the continent of Europe as the former of 
 a new era in the literary world ; for it was his work on the He- 
 brew Poetry which first directed the attention of the studious 
 Germans to a department of literature which they have since pur- 
 sued with such untiring zeal and astonishing success. In Eng- 
 land he has had many admirers, but no successor. 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 In 1748 MR.LOWTH attended the HON. MR. LEGGE, afterwards 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, to the Court of Berlin, then the 
 residence of FREDERIC THE GREAT ; and the next year, took 
 charge of the sons of the Duke of Devonshire, as their travelling 
 tutor on the continent. The manner in which he discharged his 
 duty in this capacity, secured to him the favour and lasting friend- 
 ship of the Duke. In J754 he received the degree of D. D. 
 from the University of Oxford ; and the next year he was nom- 
 inated first Chaplain to the Marquis of Hartington, Lord Lieuten- 
 ant of Ireland. Thither he attended that nobleman, and was 
 soon offered the Bishopric of Limerick, which he exchanged 
 with DR. LESLIE, an Irishman, for a Prebend in the Diocess of 
 Durham in his own country. In 1758 he preached at Durham 
 a sermon on Free Inquiry in Matters of Religion, which has been 
 much celebrated and often reprinted ; and in the subsequent year, 
 he published a Life of WYKEHAM, Bishop of Winchester, and 
 founder of the school in which he received his early education. 
 Soon after, he published an Introduction to English Grammar, 
 a work which first awakened the attention of Englishmen to the 
 study of their own language, and for a long time remained the 
 text-book of the schools and Universities ; a place from which it 
 has recently been excluded to make room for a competitor of 
 very questionable pretensions. In 1 765 he was elected a mem- 
 ber of the Royal Society of Goettingen, and was sooit after involv- 
 ed in a warm controversy with the uneasy and turbulent WAR- 
 BURTON. This haughty prelate for once met with his match ; 
 and he was so completely humbled by the cutting sarcasm and 
 overpowering eloquence of LOWTH, that he was glad to retire 
 from the field in the (to him) new character of a beaten champion. 
 In 1766 DR. LOWTH was made Bishop of St. Davids, and was 
 soon after transferred to the See of Oxford, which he retained 
 till 1777, when he succeeded DR. TERRICK in the Bishopric of 
 London. The next year he published his Translation of ISAIAH, 
 with a Preliminary Dissertation and Notes ; a noble work, and in 
 most respects worthy the mature reflections of the author of the 
 Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, but disfigured by many verbal 
 criticisms, which can neither be valued, nor scarcely respected. 
 
 
PREFACE. VII 
 
 at the present day. In 1781 he was engaged in a law-suit with 
 LEWIS DISNEY FFYTCHE, ESQ., concerning the legality of gener- 
 al bonds of resignation, which the courts decided against the 
 Bishop, though that decision was afterwards reversed in the 
 House of Lords by a majority of one vote. In 1783 he was fix- 
 ed upon to succeed DR. CORNWALLIS in the Archbishopric of 
 Canterbury ; but his advanced age and increasing infirmities in- 
 duced him to decline that distinguished honour. In the year 
 1787, after a most painful illness, in which he suffered from the 
 tortures of the stone, and from a paralysis of the throat, that pre- 
 vented his taking any nourishment but a little liquid, during the 
 last fourteen days of his life, he died of hunger, in distressing con- 
 vulsions, on the third day of November, in the seventy-seventh 
 year of his age. During the whole of this dreadful scene of suf- 
 fering, he exhibited the firmness of a man and the patient resigna- 
 tion of a Christian. He left one son and one daughter, to whom 
 he bequeathed a fortune of 40,000. He had suffered severe 
 afflictions in his family. His eldest son, who gave the most flat- 
 tering promise of future eminence, was hurried to an untimely 
 grave ; his eldest daughter, of whom he was passionately fond, 
 died in 1768, at the age of 14 ; and in 1783 his second daughter, 
 as she was presiding at the tea-table, suddenly expired before her 
 father's eyes. The following exquisitely beautiful epitaph, 
 which he wrote for the tomb-stone of his first and favourite daugh- 
 ter, does equal honour to his feelings as a parent and his taste as 
 a scholar. 
 
 " Care, vale, ingenio preestans, pietate, pudore, 
 
 " Et plusquam natee nomine cara, vale. 
 " Cara Maria, vale. At veniet felicius aevum 
 
 " Quando iterum tecum, sim modo dignus, ero. 
 " Cara, redi, Iceta turn dicam voce paternus, 
 
 " Eja, age in amplexus, cara Maria, redi." 
 
 Of the character of Bishop LOWTH'S mind, an account has 
 already been given ; and his writings afford a sufficient exhibition 
 of what he was as an intellectual man. His manners were those 
 of a Christian gentleman ; he was naturally of a religious and be- 
 nevolent disposition ; his temperament was warm and rather in- 
 clined to melancholy. His feelings were quick and strong ; but 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 he had learned the art of self-government : conscious of his own 
 powers, his decisions were prompt and his conduct determined ; 
 but without arrogance or obstinacy. In all the various offices 
 which he was called to fill, he was scrupulously faithful and con- 
 scientious in the discharge of his duty ; and in him were united 
 strength of intellect, depth of erudition, refinement of taste, firm- 
 ness of character, modesty, gentleness, and piety. 
 
 in review of the many excellencies of DR. LOWTH, and be- 
 fore I proceed to point out the deficiencies of his works, I feel 
 constrained to present the reader with the concluding paragraph 
 of EICHHORN'S critique on his literary merits. " Meanwhile, let 
 no unfriendly spirit henceforth persecute the shade of this noble 
 Briton ; and if we detect deficiences in his works or find them 
 below the knowledge of our times, let no man forget what he 
 was for his own age ; how beneficial was his influence upon his 
 contemporaries : that we have become vvhat we are, in part at 
 least, by his aid ; and that he has helped us forward many steps 
 by his investigations and masterly example. Arid now, thou en- 
 lightened spirit, raised above all worldly imperfections, thou 
 thyself seest far better than thine earthly brethren, how near thou 
 earnest to the goal towards which thou didst aim, and wilt ap- 
 prove the good will of the foreigner unknown to thee in life, who 
 has endeavoured to speak impartially of thy merits. If he has 
 not done them justice, pardon the weakness to which thou art now 
 superior, and smile propitiously on the offering of gratitude which 
 he has presented thee." 
 
 The deficiencies of LOWTH are principally owing to a want 
 of extensive acquaintance with Oriental literature. He was per- 
 fectly familiar with the whole range of classical learning, and 
 wrote the Latin language with the ease and elegance of an ora- 
 tor and poet of the Augustan age ; but the Hebrew he had learn- 
 ed only by means of Lexicographers and a diligent study of the 
 Old Testament, without any knowledge of the kindred dialects, 
 and but imperfectly acquainted with the peculiarities of the Orien- 
 tal world. Hence, though he always strikes out a magnificent out- 
 line, he frequently falters while attempting to supply the details ; 
 arid instead of pointing at once to the particular trait in Oriental 
 
PREFACE. IX 
 
 character or manners, which would set the full meaning of a pas- 
 sage before our eyes, he is hunting for a various reading by help 
 of which to escape from difficulty, or he is finding fault with the 
 Masorites and changing the text on his own authority. Hence, 
 too, his very excellencies were in some respects a disadvantage ; 
 for his familiarity with the Classics led him to labour to conform 
 the writings of the Hebrews too much to their rules, and the el- 
 oquence of his Latin style not unfrequently tempted him to con- 
 ceal real ignorance under the flowing drapery of a well-turned 
 sentence. 
 
 Happily for the cause of sacred learning, LOWTH found in 
 Germany an Editor capable of appreciating his merits and admi- 
 rably qualified to supply his defects. This was the celebrated 
 JOHN DAVID MICHAELIS ; who was born at Halle in the year 
 1717, and after having acquired considerable reputation as a 
 scholar and teacher, was invited by the Hanoverian minister 
 MUENCHHAUSEN to the newly-founded University of Goettingen 
 in 1745, where in 1750 he was made Professor of Philosophy, a 
 post which he retained till his death in 1791. His early educa- 
 tion had been rather loose and irregular, and he scarcely knew 
 towards what point to direct his attention ; but possessing an in- 
 quisitive mind and a disposition of singular vivacity, he made 
 rapid progress in whatever he undertook. His father, CHRISTIAN 
 BENEDICT MICHAELIS, Professor of Theology and the Oriental 
 Languages at Halle, was considerably distinguished as an Orien- 
 talist, and had published a Syriac Grammar. Such was his zeal 
 for the progress of his favourite studies, that on his death-bed 
 he charged his son JOHN DAVID to publish an edition of the Syri- 
 ac Lexicon from CASTELL'S Heptaglott, as a companion to his 
 Syriac Grammar ; which he had intended to do himself had his 
 life been spared. The son has not informed us what influence 
 this circumstanpe had on his subsequent studies ; but he hon- 
 estly confesses that he forgot to comply with his father's dying 
 request till after he was seventy years old. 
 
 In 1741 the young MICHAELIS made a visit to England ; and 
 while at Oxford he was invited by a friend to attend the public 
 exercises of the University, when he chanced to hear LOWTH 
 B 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 read his second Lecture on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews. 
 With the countenance, the manners, and the whole appearance 
 of the Lecturer, he was highly delighted, and earnestly desired to 
 form a personal acquaintance with him, but was unable to obtain 
 an introduction. 
 
 The predilections of MICHAELIS were in favour of the study 
 of history ; but when MUENCHHAUSEN called him to Goettingen, 
 he charged him to bend all his efforts to reform the theology of 
 Germany, and give it a higher and more intellectual cast. He 
 engaged in the work with his characteristic zeal and energy ; and 
 the numberless labours of more than half a century bear ample 
 testimony to his iron diligence and unyielding independence, to 
 the acuteness and vivacity of his mind, and the good-humoured 
 sincerity of his heart. As the best means of reforming theology, 
 he exerted all his powers to illustrate the Bible ; he shrunk from 
 no difficulties and spared no pains to obtain an intimate acquain- 
 tance with the languages, customs, and history of the Oriental 
 nations ; he started after every hint that would give him the least 
 aid in his investigations, and never gave over his pursuit till he 
 had attained his object. Of his zeal and ability in the pursuit of 
 Oriental literature, the scientific expedition to the East, which 
 was set forward by the king of Denmark at his request and under 
 his direction, and which resulted in enriching the learned world 
 with the Travels of NIEBUHR, is a most honourable and lasting 
 testimonial. 
 
 Such a man was just adapted to feel the worth and supply 
 the defects of LOWTH ; and soon after the Lectures on Hebrew 
 Poetry were published in England, MICHAELIS began to prepare 
 an edition in Germany with copious notes, the first volume of 
 which was published at Goettingen in 1758, and the second in 
 1761. These notes contain a rich treasure of Oriental learning, 
 and are interspersed with admirable hints in regard to the gener- 
 al principles of interpreting the Sacred Writings, of which suc- 
 ceeding commentators have availed themselves ; and the germ of 
 not a few of the splendid works which have given Germany so 
 much reputation within the last half century, may be traced to 
 these remarks of MICHAELIS. He is deservedly styled the Patri- 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 arch of Sacred Literature in Germany, for no man has ever ac- 
 complished so much for the cause in that country, and under so 
 great disadvantages. Still, as a writer he is not free from faults. 
 His style is discursive and loose, and sometimes degenerates to 
 downright prattle ; with all his learning and perspicacity he is 
 sadly deficient in taste, and with all his love of truth he frequent- 
 ly runs wild in the regions of conjecture. Sometimes he propo- 
 ses an interpretation so tasteless and strange, that we can scarcely 
 believe him serious ; and sometimes he evolves a fancy so un- 
 couth and ludicrous, that we are surprised into a laugh : and for 
 these, his natural offspring, he always manifests a most tender and 
 devoted affection. 
 
 For several years the learned world appear to have remain- 
 ed satisfied with the labours of LOWTH and MICHAELIS, and but 
 little more was done in this branch of Sacred Literature till the 
 time of JOHN GODFREY HERDER. He was born at Morungen 
 in Prussia in the year 1741. The poverty of his parents and the 
 extreme delicacy of his own health obstructed his early educa- 
 tion, though at one time he attended the Lectures of the cele- 
 brated KANT and other distinguished professors ; and he was the 
 chosen companion and counsellor of the poet GOETHE. After 
 passing through various vicissitudes, not a little vexatious and ir- 
 ritating to the sensibilities of a man of genius, he was appointed 
 Superintendent of Ecclesiastical affairs in the Dutchy of Saxe- 
 Weimar, an employment which he held till his death in 1803. 
 
 The astonishing variety and uniform success of the literary 
 efforts of HERDER, are almost without example. To the genius 
 of a poet and the intellectual refinement of an accomplished 
 scholar, he added the persevering and unremitted industry of a 
 German GELEHRTE. His sensibilities were painfully acute ; his 
 whole soul was taste ; and he seemed always to write from in- 
 stinct rather than reflection. The present object of thought, 
 whatever it might be, became so completely a part of his own 
 mind, that his historical descriptions have all the vivacity and 
 charm of a picture of the fancy : and he enters so readily and 
 entirely into all the thoughts and feelings of the ancient Oriental 
 nations, that, while reading his writings, we seem to be convers- 
 
XII PREFACE. 
 
 ing with a disembodied spirit, who has left his seat in Paradise for 
 the very purpose of informing us how men thought and felt in 
 those by-gone days when he dwelt on earth. The writings to 
 which I here particularly refer, are the first part of his Letters on 
 the Study of Theology, and his Spirit of Hebrew Poetry ; for 
 his other literary labours, numerous and admirable as they are, 
 have liitle concern with the subject of the present work. 
 
 Thus have I attempted to give a brief sketch of the three 
 great masters of that department of literature to which the fol- 
 lowing pages are devoted. Three characters more entirely dis- 
 similar it would be difficult to find ; and each seems admirably 
 fitted to correct the imperfections of the others. If you would 
 ascertain the great principles on which you must judge of the 
 Hebrew poetry, and become acquainted with its characteristic 
 features, study LOWTH ; if you desire to know more of the pre- 
 cise idea which the Hebrew poets intend to express, and to trace 
 with philological accuracy the sources of their language and im- 
 agery, follow the criticisms of MICHAF.LIS; but if you would lay 
 aside the philosopher and the critic, and give yourself up to intel- 
 lectual enjoyment, if you would have the same sensations and the 
 same thoughts, while chanting the Hebrew poetry, which the an- 
 cient Hebrews themselves had, catch the tuneful notes of HERDER. 
 
 Other distinguished scholars, as NACHTIGALL, u STI, and DE 
 WETTE, have laboured successfully in this branch of study, but 
 we have not time here to give them a particular notice. 
 
 In the year 1787 MR. GREGORY published an English trans- 
 lation of the Lectures on Hebrew Poetry. It was impossible to 
 do complete justice, in a translation, to the sonorous, chaste, and 
 elegant Latin style of LOWTH ; but MR. GREGORY has accomplish- 
 ed all that could reasonably be expected. Sometimes, indeed, 
 the dignified conciseness and expressive energy of the Latin be- 
 comes weakly diffuse and almost bombastic in the English ; but 
 on the whole the translation is faithful, and executed in a style of 
 remarkable neatness and purity. It was a great error of the trans- 
 lator, and one into which he was led, it would seem, by the 
 judgement of others rather than his own, to substitute English 
 translations of Scripture, drawn from various sources and of very 
 
PREFACE. X11I 
 
 unequal merit, for the inimitable Latin versions of LOWTH. 
 MR. GREGORY translated some of the notes of MICHAELIS, and 
 these he has sometimes essentially improved ; for the diffuse and 
 rather awkward Latin of the German Professor is generally ren- 
 dered into very concise and graceful English. He also added 
 to his edition some notes of his own and some by his friends, all 
 of them well meant and several of them well written. 
 
 In the year 1815, DR. E. F. C. ROSENMUELLER, Professor 
 of the Oriental Languages at Leipsic, the most laborious, and in 
 some respects the most valuable Scriptural Commentator of the 
 present day, published an edition of LOWTH with additional notes, 
 in which he designed to correct the errors and supply the defects 
 of MICHAELIS. The long experience and extensive attainments 
 of ROSENMUELLER in this department of study, enabled him to 
 make many very valuable additions. 
 
 In preparing the present edition for the press, the Editor has 
 done all in his power to adapt it to the existing state of biblical 
 learning, and make it as useful as possible to the American schol- 
 ar. For this purpose the translation of GREGORY has been revis- 
 ed throughout, and in many places corrected ; and the most 
 valuable notes appended to his edition, have been selected for 
 this, some of them entire and some abridged. The Editor 
 has examined all the most important works which have appeared 
 on the subject since the time of MICHAELIS, and extracted from 
 them whatever seemed necessary to complete the view of the va- 
 rious subjects introduced, and to correct the errors of preceding 
 writers. In this way all the notes which bear the name of ROSEN- 
 MUELLER, SIR WILLIAM JONES, HERDER, EICHHORN, GESENIUS, 
 DE\\ T ETTE, RAW, HOLLMANN, and some others, were selected ex- 
 pressly for this edition. He has also every where referred to the 
 most recent sources of information, that the student who wishes to 
 pursue the investigation of any particular point, may know where to 
 find the requisite aid ; and he has written many new notes, which 
 are distinguished from the others by the signature S. Whatev- 
 er may be thought, of the value or importance of these original 
 notes, they have cost not a little labour and study. For the sake 
 of convenient reference, the notes are placed by themselves and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 each of them furnished with an appropriate title. Doubtless there 
 are deficiences, and probably there are errors, in this edition ; but 
 these I hope are neither of such a nature nor of so frequent occur- 
 rence, as essentially to diminish the usefulness of the work. 
 
 I am quite certain that every scholar will thank me for en- 
 riching this edition with the classical and elegant Latin transla- 
 tions of LOWTH. As specimens of this species of composition, 
 they seem to me unequalled for chasteness, simplicity, expres- 
 siveness, and beauty. Possibly I may incur the displeasure of 
 some for having admitted so much of Latin into the notes. I 
 have never inserted a Latin note where I did not suppose the orig- 
 inal to be far more valuable than any translation that could pos- 
 sibly be made. This is certainly the case with all the direct ver- 
 sions of Scripture (which make up a large part of the Latin notes), 
 for a translation of a translation is of all things the most insipid 
 and unmeaning. The same principle is applicable to all those 
 notes which develope some characteristic intellectual peculiarity 
 of the author ; for those delicate shapings and indefinable colours 
 which every original writer gives to his own thoughts in his own 
 language, are unavoidably lost in a translation. Most of the Lat- 
 in notes of MICHAELIS owe their insertion to this circumstance. 
 I wished to give the American scholar an opportunity to become 
 acquainted with that eminent critic as he really is ; with his own 
 loose, careless garb, and the good-natured face, in which he always 
 appears when at home. The notes of ROSENMUELLER are so pure 
 in their style and so perspicuous in their structure, and his Latin 
 writings are coming into such general use with the theologians of 
 our country, that I thought it would be a useless and a degrading 
 labour to change their original form ; and the simple, charming, 
 mellifluent Latin of SIR WILLIAM JONES, every man capable of 
 reading it, would deem it little less than sacrilege to stifle by 
 translation. Wherever the Latin of a philologian is embarrassed 
 in its structure or encumbered by foreign idioms, I am willing to 
 translate it ; but every theological student ought to have skill and 
 practice enough to read a simple and pure Latin style with ease 
 and pleasure, and if the publication of the present work shall 
 contribute in any degree to the accomplishment of so desirable a 
 
PREFACE. XV 
 
 result, one ardent wish of my heart will be gratified. Many of 
 the most valuable works on Sacred Literature, to which every 
 student ought to have ready access, are written in Latin ; and 
 Scriptural translations into that language, which has never been 
 degraded in our minds by being made the vehicle of popular in- 
 tercourse, are free from all vulgar associations, and can be read 
 with peculiar pleasure. On this point I would say with SIR WIL- 
 LIAM JONES : Sermonis Latini suavitatem non sentimus, ut Ro- 
 mani ; sed ita tamen sentimus, ut delectemur : cur ideo, cum tan- 
 tae sint in vita molestiae, una hac delectatione careamus ? 
 
 On the importance of the subject of the following pages I trust 
 I need say but little. The principles here discussed are radical- 
 ly connected with the interpretation of the Word of God. The 
 greater part of the Old Testament is poetry, and poetry too of a 
 very peculiar and most impassioned kind ; and by rules applica- 
 ble only to poetical language, ought this poetry to be interpreted. 
 Yet many pay very little regard to this important peculiarity ; 
 they make scarcely any distinction between the poetic and pro- 
 saic portions of the Bible, and employ quotations from both as if 
 they had been written with the closest attention to metaphysical 
 precision, and in view of all the subtilties of modern philosophy. 
 To what strange conclusions should we be led, were we to inter- 
 pret MILTON'S Paradise Lost in the same spirit and by the same 
 rules with which we should read President EDWARDS on the 
 Freedom of the Will** To conclusions scarcely less monstrous 
 have some theological writers been betrayed by want of attention 
 to the poetical costume of the Bible. Such errors give learned 
 infidels their only occasion of reviling, and deter men of taste 
 from the study of the Scriptures. Let the Bible be freed from 
 the mistaken glosses by which its beauties have been obscured, 
 the mouths of infidels will be stopped, and men of taste will be 
 allured to a diligent and repeated perusal of the sacred pages. 
 
 The treasures of the Bible are not yet exhausted, and enough 
 still remains to be discovered to reward the labours of the most 
 arduous investigation. The use which our older divines have 
 generally made of the Scriptures, is almost entirely theological. 
 In them they sought only theological sentiments ; and to the re- 
 
XVI PREFACE. 
 
 mainder of their contents, to their high antiquity, to their deep in- 
 terest as containing the record of the very first developernent of 
 the human mind, to the striking peculiarities of their history, 
 structure, and language, they gave little attention. They read the 
 Bible, and commented upon it, very much as if it were a modern 
 book, written by some members of their own 'communion. Yet 
 the great truths of religion are engraved so plainly on its pages, 
 that the strong good sense of our old divines could not fail to per- 
 ceive them. In their theological writings, the leading doctrines 
 of the Scriptures are clearly stated and eloquently defended, and 
 oftentimes admirably elucidated. Hence, though the great truths 
 of the Bible have long been familiar to the student of English 
 theology, the literature of the Bible is still, to a great extent, en- 
 veloped in darkness. We are enriched by the gold, but the de- 
 lightful region in which the mines are situated, is still unexplored ; 
 and other mines yet remain to be opened, and still richer treas- 
 ures to be discovered. 
 
 Let no one, however, suppose that he can make any advanc- 
 es in this department of literature without long and thorough 
 study. The first and indispensable requisite is a perfect famili- 
 arity with the Hebrew language. To attempt to investigate the 
 literary beauties of the Bible by means of translations, is like at- 
 tempting to study the great masters of the art of painting by means 
 of wood cuts. To pretend to do it with a halting, imperfect 
 knowledge of the language, is like pretending to an acquaintance 
 with the same great masters by examining the wrong side of 
 their canvass. Here a student must labour and be a student in 
 reality. Oriental languages, feelings, and modes of thought, are 
 not acquired in a moment. The Oriental Muses must be wooed 
 in order to be won. The student must read much, and think 
 closely, and habituate himself to patient and mature reflection ; 
 and perhaps have but little to show after all his toil. But that 
 little is pure gold, and he knows its value, and in the silent joy of 
 his heart, blesses God for the possession. To contribute in 
 the smallest degree towards awakening such a spirit and exciting 
 to such effort in a cause so noble, is a privilege for which any 
 mortal man ought to be grateful. 
 
PREFACE. XVII 
 
 Considerations such as these have induced me to undertake the 
 task of preparing for the press a new edition of LOWTH'S Lectures, 
 much enlarged, and, as I would hope, considerably improved, 
 and properly adapted to the present state of Sacred Literature in 
 our country. To the Class of theological students, by whose re- 
 quest I commenced the work, and to Professor STUART, by whose 
 advice I have been aided in the execution of it, I now cheerfully 
 commit the result of my labours. 
 
 CALVIN E. STOWE. 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 Andover, Oct. 1, 1829. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Tftie uses and design of Poetry , . 9 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 The design and arrangement of these Lectures 25 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 Hebrew Poetry is Metrical 31 * 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 origin, use, and characteristics of the Parabolic, and also of > 
 
 the Sententious style 37 *A 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 v_The Figurative style and its Divisions 45 
 
 LECTURE VI. 
 v ^Poetic imagery from the objects of Nature 51 ^/ 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 Poetic imagery from Common Life 58 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 Poetic imagery from Sacred Topics 66 
 
 LECTURE IX. 
 Poetic imagery from the Sacred History . 73 
 
 LECTURE X. 
 
 . The Allegory. , 81 
 
XX CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE XI. 
 
 ' &- The Mystical Allegory 88 
 
 LECTURE XII. 
 
 The Comparison 94 
 
 LECTURE XIII. 
 
 ^.X The Prosopopoeia, or Personification . 104 
 
 LECTURE XIV. 
 
 The Sublime in general, and Sublimity of Expression in par- 
 ticular Ill 
 
 LECTURE XV. 
 Sublimity of Expression 120 
 
 LECTURE XVI. 
 iX Sublimity of Sentiment . . 129 
 
 LECTURE XVII. 
 The Sublime of Passion . 137 
 
 LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 The writings of the Prophets are in general Poetical . . . .145 
 
 LECTURE XIX. 
 
 V The Prophetic Poetry is Sententious 154 
 
 LECTURE XX. 
 
 The general Characteristics of the Prophetic Poetry . . . . 167 
 
 LECTURE XXI. 
 
 The peculiar Character of each of the Prophets 176 
 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 - The Nature and Origin of the Hebrew Elegy ; and of the La- 
 mentations of Jeremiah . 184 
 
CONTENTS. XXI 
 
 LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 The remaining Elegies of the Hebrews . 19*2 f 
 
 LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 The Proverbs, or Didactic Poetry of the Hebrews .... 200 l 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 
 i The Hebrew Ode in general ; and first of that class, the char- 
 acteristics of which are sweetness and elegance .... 210 
 
 LECTURE XXVI. 
 
 The intermediate or mixed style of the Hebrew Ode . . . 217 V 
 
 LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 The sublime style of the Hebrew Ode 225 ~ 
 
 LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 The same subject continued 232 
 
 LECTURE XXIX. 
 
 The Idyllium of the Hebrews 238 
 
 LECTURE XXX. 
 
 The Song of Solomon not a regular Drama . . . . . . 246 
 
 LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 The subject and style of Solomon's Song 254 
 
 LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 The Poem of Job . . . . . 263 
 
 LECTURE XXXIII. 
 
 The Poem of Job not a perfect Drama , . 273 
 
 LECTURE XXXIV. 
 
 The manners, sentiments, and style of the Poem of Job . . 282 ._., 
 
 A Confutation of Bishop Hare's System of Hebrew Metre . . 294 
 
CONTENTS OF THE NOTES. 
 
 LECT. I. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Time of commencing these Lec- 
 tures 303 
 
 Utility the ultimate object of po- 
 etry . . 303 
 
 Authority of Virgil's Georgics 304 
 Poetry, philosophy, and history 304 
 Translation of the ode of Callis- 
 
 tratus 305 
 
 Use of poetry to an orator . . 306 
 Original design of poetry . . . 307 
 
 LECT. II. 
 
 The Bible a proper subject of 
 criticism 309 
 
 Ancient opinion respecting the 
 divine origin of poetry . . . 310 
 
 LECT. III. 
 Poetic diction of the Hebrews 312 
 
 Hebrew dialects 316 
 
 Versification .316 
 
 Hebrew pronunciation & quantity 320 
 
 Meaning of -ntoTW 322 
 
 Coincidence of Verses and sen- 
 tences 323 
 
 Hebrew and Arabic poetry . . 323 
 
 LECT. IV. 
 
 Meaning of Vaw and TTPrt 324 
 Union of poetry, music and danc- 
 ing among the ancients . . 326 
 Poets anciently denominated sag- 
 es and prophets 326 
 
 Ancient uses of poetry .... 327 
 Twofold meaning of Vwtt ... 31 
 Ancient historical poems' . . 330 
 
 LECT. V. 
 
 Rhetorical figures 334 
 
 Sources of poetic imagery . . 336 
 
 LECT. VI. 
 
 Boldness of Oriental imagery 336 
 Imagery borrowed from plants 
 
 and the heavenly bodies . . 339 
 
 Isaiah xxx vii. 24 340 
 
 Psalm Ixviii. 31 ... . . 340 
 Poetic imagery from the objects 
 
 of nature ' . . . 342 
 
 LECT. VII. 
 
 Imagery derived from sepulchres 345 
 Sbeol and its ^'habitants . . 347 
 Imagery from the vices of men 350 
 
 LECT. VIII. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Imagery derived from the priest- 
 hood . . 351 
 
 Psalm cxxxix. 15 352 
 
 Psalm civ. 25 . . . . . .352 
 Imagery from popular belief . . 354 
 of trans 
 
 Inadequacy 
 
 inflations 
 
 354 
 
 LECT. IX. 
 
 Isaiah li. 15, 16 357 
 
 Psalm xi. 6 358 
 
 Meaning of C^ns 359 
 
 Imagery from tfte overthrow of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah . . . 359 
 
 Psalmxviii.8 16 361 
 
 Imagery from sacred history . 361 
 Imagery from poetic fable . . 362 
 
 LECT. X. 
 
 Psalm ex. 3 365 
 
 Ecclesiastes xii. 2 6 .... 366 
 Isaiah xxviii. 2329 . . . .367 
 
 Prophetic parables 368 
 
 Fables of Jotham and Nathan . 368 
 Psalm Ixxx. 1618 369 
 
 LECT. XI. 
 
 Mystical allegory 369 
 
 Figurative sense obscured by the 
 
 literal . . , 370 
 
 Psalm ii , . , 371 
 
 Mystical poetry of the East . . 371 
 
 LECT. XII. 
 
 Isaiah xvii. 12, 13 376 
 
 Isaiah Iv. 10, 11 377 
 
 Psalm Ixxxiii. 1315 . . . .378 
 Job vi. 17 378 
 
 LECT. XIII. 
 
 Personification 3' 
 
 Isaiah xlvii. 1 379 
 
 Judges v. 29. 30 380 
 
 Triumphal odes of the Hebrews . 380 
 
 LECT. XIV. 
 
 Job iii. 3 383 
 
 Job and Jeremiah compared . . 383 
 
 LECT. XV. 
 
 Paronomasia 384 
 
 Use of tenses in Hebrew . , 384 
 

 CONTENTS OF THE NOTES. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 LECT. XVI. 
 
 Isaiah xl. 12 . . . 
 Psalm cxxxix. 710 
 
 Pa 
 
 age. 
 385 
 385 
 
 LECT. XVII. 
 
 Pathos of the Scriptures . . . 387 
 Isaiah Ixiii. 6 387 
 
 LECT. XVIII. 
 
 Jewish opinions on Hebrew poe- 
 try 388 
 
 Schools of the prophets . . . 389 
 Meaning of trim . . " . . . . 390 
 
 LECT XIX. 
 
 Singing by alternate choirs . . 390 
 
 Hosea xi. 9 395 
 
 Use of parallelism in interpreta- 
 tion . . 395 
 
 LECT. XX. 
 
 Jewish notions of prophecy . . 395 
 Style of Daniel unpoetical . . 396 
 
 Design of prophecy 397 
 
 Isaiah xxxiv. xxxv 397 
 
 LECT. XXI. 
 
 Character of Jeremiah . . . . 398 
 Character of Ezekiel .... 399 
 Character of Habakkuk . . .401 
 Opinion of the Greeks on their 
 
 prophetic poetry 401 
 
 Fourth Eclogue of Virgil . . .402 
 
 LECT. XXII. 
 
 Alphabetic poems of the He- 
 brews 405 
 
 Subject of the Lamentations of 
 Jeremiah 405 
 
 LECT. XXIII. 
 
 Psalm xlii 406 
 
 Book of Jasher 408 
 
 Meaning of ho|5. 2 Sam. i. 18, . 410 
 
 LECT. XXIV. 
 
 Ecclesiastes xii. 11 410 
 
 n^rip 411 
 
 Ecclesiaslicus xxiv. 27 ... 411 
 
 LECT. X^ 
 
 Antiquity of the ode . 
 Lyric poetry of David 
 Psalm xxiii 
 
 i 
 
 . 412 
 
 . 413 
 
 414 
 
 415 
 
 LECT. XXVI. 
 
 Psalm xci. 9. . . ..... 417 
 
 Didactic and historic Psalms . 418 
 
 LECT. XXVII. 
 
 Psalm xxiv. 6 . . . . . . . 419 
 
 Interpretation of the historic 
 
 Psalms ........ 419 
 
 Psalm xxix. 9 ....... 421 
 
 Coniectural emendations of the 
 
 text ......... 422 
 
 LECT. XXVIII. 
 
 Song of Deborah ..... 423 
 
 Habakkuk iii ........ 426 
 
 Isaiah xiv ......... 426 
 
 LECT. XXX. 
 
 Dramatic Psalms ...... 426 
 
 Solomon's Song ...... 429 
 
 LECT. XXXI. 
 
 Isaiah Ixii. 5 ....... 431 
 
 Freedom of Oriental imagery . 432 
 Allegorical interpretation of Sol- 
 
 omon's Song ...... 432 
 
 Mystical poetry of the Persians 438 
 Illustration of passages quoted 
 
 from Solomon's Song . . . 442 
 
 LECT. XXXII. 
 
 Scene and characters of the book 
 of Job ......... 448 
 
 Antiquity of the poem .... 451 
 
 Structure and contents of the 
 poem ......... 453 
 
 LECT. XXXIII. 
 
 The book of Job not a perfect 
 drama . ... 459 
 
 LECT. XXXIV. 
 
 Job xviii. 4 
 
 Job xxx vii. 4 . , 
 
 460 
 461 
 
 LIST OF BOOKS 462 
 
 INDEX OF PASSAGES ILLUSTRATED 463 
 
UNIVERSITY 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 THE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 OF THE USES AND DESIGN OF POETRY. 
 
 The purpose of poetry is to instruct while it gives pleasure ; instruction being the end, and pleas- 
 ure the means Illustrated by examples from the different species of poetry The Didactic 
 The Epic Tragedy Lyric the lighter kinds of poetry, which are calculated as well for 
 the amusement of our leisure, as for the ornament and improvement of literature. Sacred 
 poetry; whence a transition to the immediate object of these Lectures. 
 
 THOUGH our present meeting be, on some accounts, rather ear- 
 
 lier than I could have wished ; (A) yet I cheerfully embrace the op- 
 
 portunity which it affords me of assuring you, gentlemen, that to 
 
 this undertaking (whether considered as a duty imposed, or as a fa- 
 
 vour conferred upon me) I bring, if no other accomplishment, at 
 
 least industry and inclination. I could, indeed, more patiently 
 
 bear to be accused of wanting genius, fluency, or elegance, than of 
 
 wanting diligence in the exercise of that office, to which your au- 
 
 thority has called me, or gratitude in the acceptance of that favour, 
 
 which (whatever it be in itself) is undoubtedly great, since confer- 
 
 red on me by you. For to judge rightly of obligations of this kind, 
 
 regard must be had not only to the favour itself, but to the persons 
 
 who confer it, and to the person on whom it is conferred. When, 
 
 therefore, I reflect, that the station, to which I am invited, has been 
 
 adorned by men of the first rank and genius in learning ; when I 
 
 regard you, whose favour can add dignity to the most respectable 
 
 characters ; when, in fine, I consider myself, who could never have 
 
 expected or hoped from my own merits for any public testimony of 
 
 your approbation ; I receive this appointment as an honour, for 
 
 which the utmost exertions of labour and assiduity will be but a 
 
 very inadequate return. This part of my duty, however, though 
 
 feebly and imperfectly, T would wish you to believe I most willingly 
 
 perform : for to an ingenuous mind nothing can be more agreeable 
 
 2 
 
10 OP THE USES AND DESIGN L.ECT. I. 
 
 than the expression, or even the sense of gratitude ; and the remem- 
 brance of the obligation will rather stimulate than depress. Other 
 considerations have, I must confess, rendered me not a little solici- 
 tous : I am appointed to superintend a particular department of sci- 
 ence, which you have constantly distinguished by your presence and 
 attention ; and a subject is to be discussed, which not only you have 
 judged worthy of your cultivation, and the public countenance of the 
 University, but which has hitherto received in this place all the em- 
 bellishments of grace and elegance, of which it is naturally suscepti- 
 ble. Should it therefore fall into neglect or disrepute hereafter, I 
 fear, that I should be compelled to acknowledge the fault to have 
 been mine, and not that of the institution itself. 
 
 Whatever degree of success indeed may attend my endeavours, let 
 it not for a moment be suspected, that the design is not altogether de- 
 serving of approbation. For can there be any thing of more real impor- 
 tance to literature itself; can any thing be more consistent with the 
 ends for which this University was founded, than that the art, of 
 whose assistance every other art and profession has so greatly avail- 
 ed itself, should be assigned a place among the rest ? That art, so 
 venerable for its antiquity, so delightful in itself; that art, which is 
 in a manner congenial to humanity, and which sets off nature by the 
 most agreeable representation of her beauties : which among the ig- 
 norant and the learned, the idle and the studious, has ever obtained 
 favour, admiration, and regard. Nothing surely can be more worthy 
 of a liberal and accomplished mind, than to perceive what is perfect, 
 and what is defective in an art, the beauties of which frequently lie 
 beneath the surface ; to understand what is graceful, what is becom- 
 ing, in what its excellencies consist, and in a word, to discover and 
 relish those delicate touches of grace and elegance, that lie beyond 
 the reach of vulgar apprehension. From these subtile researches 
 after beauty and taste, there is also the fairest reason to apprehend 
 that the judgement itself will receive some accessions of strength 
 and acuteness, which it may successfully employ upon other objects, 
 and upon other occasions. Such at least appear to have been the 
 sentiments of that excellent person, 1 to whose munificence poetry has 
 been long indebted for her admission into the circle of those sciences 
 which are cultivated in this University. For, possessing a mind not 
 only instructed in the most useful branches of knowledge, but adorn- 
 
 1 The poetic lecture was instituted by HENRY BIRKHEAD, L L. D. formerly 
 Fellow of All Souls. 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 11 
 
 ed with the most elegant arts ; and having imbibed the first prin- 
 ciples of education in a seminary, where the most important and sa- 
 cred subjects, recommended by all the elegance of polite literature, 
 have been heretofore, and still continue to be, studied with vigour 
 and effect ; he saw and experienced, how much an attention to these 
 elegancies would contribute to the investigation or illustration of 
 the severer branches of erudition, and how strict the alliance be- 
 tween philosophy and the muses. 
 
 The design, therefore, of the author of this institution, as well as 
 the usual practice on occasions like the present, reminds me, gentle- 
 men, of the propriety (though a matter already familiar to most of 
 you) of premising a few such observations, as appear least excep- 
 tionable, concerning the end and utility of the poetic art. 
 
 Poetry is commonly understood to have two objects in view, 
 namely, advantage and pleasure, or rather an union of both. I wish 
 those who have furnished us with this definition, had rather propos- 
 ed utility as its ultimate object, (B) and pleasure as the means by 
 which that end may be effectually accomplished. The philosopher 
 and the poet indeed seem principally to differ in the means, by 
 which they pursue the same end. Each sustains the character of a 
 preceptor, which the one is thought best to support, if he teach with 
 accuracy, with subtlety, and with perspicuity ; the other, with splen- 
 dour, harmony, and elegance. The one makes his appeal to reason \ 
 only, independent of the passions ; the other addresses the reason in ) 
 such a manner, as even to engage the passions on his side. The/ 
 one proceeds to virtue and truth by the nearest and most compendi- 
 ous ways ; the other leads to the same point through certain deflex- 
 ions and deviations, by a winding, but pleasanter path. It is the 
 part of the former so to describe and explain these objects, that we 
 must necessarily become acquainted with them ; it is the part of the 
 latter so to dress and adorn them, that of our own accord we must 
 love and embrace them. 
 
 I therefore lay it down as a fundamental maxim, that poetry is j 
 useful, chiefly because it is agreeable ; and should I, as we are apt 
 to do, attribute too much to my favourite occupation, I trust philos- 
 ophy will forgive me, when I add, that the writings of the poet are 
 more useful than those of the philosopher, inasmuch as they are more 
 agreeable. To illustrate this position by well known examples : Can 
 it be supposed that the more learned Romans, when they became 
 devoted to the doctrine of Epicurus, did not more highly esteem, and 
 
12 OF THE USES AND DESIGN L.ECT. I. 
 
 more frequently apply to the admirable poem of Lucretius, than to 
 Catius, or Amafanius, or even the commentaries of Epicurus him- 
 self? Who can believe that even the most^ tasteless could peruse 
 the writings on agriculture, either of the learned Varro, or (not to 
 mention the elder Cato) of Columella, an author by no means defi- 
 cient in elegance, with the same pleasure and attention as that most 
 delightful and most perfect work, the Georgics of Virgil 1 A work 
 in which he has equalled the most respectable writers in the solidity 
 of his matter, and has greatly excelled the most elegant in the incred- 
 ible harmony of his numbers, (c) On the contrary, if Manilius, who 
 is numbered (and rightly if we may credit his own testimony) among 
 the writers of the Augustan age, has treated the engaging science of 
 astronomy in such low and inelegant verse, as even scarcely to excel 
 Julius Firmicus, a prose writer on the same subject in a less polish- 
 ed age, I will allow him the merit of a philosopher and astronomer, 
 but never can account him a poet. For what is a poet, destitute of 
 harmony, of grace, and of all that conduces to allurement and de- 
 light ? or how should we derive advantage or improvement from an 
 author, whom no man of taste can endure to read ? The reason, 
 therefore, why poetry is so studious to embellish her precepts with a 
 certain inviting sweetness, 
 
 " Et quasi Musaeo dulci contingere melle," 
 
 ' is plainly, by such seasoning to conciliate favour to her doctrine, as 
 i is the practice even of physicians, who temper with pleasant flavours 
 ' their least agreeable medicines : 
 
 " Ut puerorum aetas iraprovida ludificetur 
 Labrorum terms, interea perpotet amarum 
 Absinthi laticem, deceptaque non capiatur;" 
 
 as Lucretius expresses himself in illustration of his own design, as 
 well as that of poetry in general. 
 
 But if it be manifest, even in authors who directly profess im- 
 provement aiit! advantage, that those will most efficaciously instruct, 
 who afford most entertainment ; the same will be still more apparent 
 in those, who, dissembling the intention of instruction, exhibit only 
 the blandishments of pleasure ; and while they treat of the most im- 
 portant things, of all the principles of moral action, all the offices of 
 life, yet laying aside the severity of the preceptor, adduce at once all 
 the decorations of elegance, and all the attractions of amusement : 
 who display, as in a picture, the actions, the manners, the pursuits 
 and passions of men ; and by the force of imitation and fancy, by 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 13 
 
 the harmony of numbers, by the taste and variety of imagery, capti- 
 vate the affections of the reader, and imperceptibly, or perhaps re- 
 luctantly, impel him to the pursuit of virtue. Such is the real pur- 
 pose of heroic poetry ; such is the noble effect produced by the pe- 
 rusal of Homer. And who so thoughtless, or so callous, as not to 
 feel incredible pleasure in that most agreeable occupation ; who is 
 not moved, astonished, enraptured by the inspiration of that most 
 sublime genius ? Who so inanimate as not to see, not to feel in- 
 scribed, or as it were imprinted upon his heart, his most excellent 
 maxims concerning human life and manners ? From philosophy a 
 few cold precepts may be deduced ; in history some dull and spirit- 
 less examples of manners may be found : here we have the energet- . 
 ic voice of virtue herself, here we behold her animated form. Poet- 
 ry addresses her precepts not to the reason alone ; she calls the pas- 
 sions to her aid : she not only exhibits examples, but infixes them 
 in the mind. She softens the wax with her peculiar ardour, and 
 renders it more plastic to the artist's hand. Thus does Horace most 
 truly and most justly apply this commendation to the poets : 
 
 " Qui quid sit pulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, 
 Plenius ac melius Chrysippo etCrantore dicit :" 
 
 Plainer or more completely, because they do not perplex their disci- 
 ples with the dry detail of parts and definitions, but so perfectly and 
 so accurately delineate, by examples of every kind, the forms of the 
 human passions and habits, the principles of social and civilized life, 
 that he, who from the schools of philosophy should turn to the repre- 
 sentations of Homer, would feel himself transported from a narrow 
 and intricate path to an extensive and flourishing field. Better, be- 
 cause the poet teaches not by maxims and precepts, and in the dull, 
 sententious form ; but by the harmony of verse, by the beauty of im- 
 agery, by the ingenuity of the fable, by the exactness of imitation, 
 he allures and interests the mind of the reader, he fashions it to hab- 
 its of virtue, and in a manner informs it with the spirit of integrity 
 iteelf. 
 
 But if, from the heroic we turn to the tragic Muse, to which 
 Aristotle 2 indeed assigns the preference, because of the true and 
 perfect imitation, we shall yet more clearly evince the superiority of 
 poetry over philosophy, on the principle of its being more agreeable. 
 Tragedy is, in truth, no other than philosophy introduced upon the 
 
 2 Poet. Cap. ult. 
 
14 OF THE USES AND DESIGN L.ECT. I. 
 
 stage, retaining all its . natural properties, remitting nothing of its 
 native gravity, but assisted and embellished by other favouring cir- 
 cumtances. What point, for instance, of moral discipline, have the 
 tragic writers of Greece left untouched, or unadorned 1 What duty 
 of life, what principle of political economy, what motive or precept 
 for the government of the passions, what commendation of virtue is 
 . there, which they have not treated of with fulness, variety, and learn- 
 ing ? The moral of ^Eschylus (not only a poet, but a Pythagorean) 
 will ever be admired. Nor were Sophocles and Euripides less illus- 
 trious for the reputation of wisdom ; the latter of whom was the dis- 
 ciple of Socrates and Anaxagoras, and was known among his friends 
 by the title of the dramatic philosopher. In these authors surely, 
 the allurements of poetry afforded some accession to the empire of 
 philosophy ; nor indeed has any man arrived at the summit of poetic 
 fame, who did not previously lay the foundation of his art in true 
 philosophy. 
 
 Should it be objected, that some have been eminent in this walk 
 of poetry, who never studied in the schools of the philosophers, nor 
 enjoyed the advantages of an education above the common herd of 
 mankind ; I answer, that I am not contending about the vulgar opin- 
 ion, or concerning the meaning of a word : the man who, by the 
 force of genius and observation, has arrived at a perfect knowledge 
 of mankind, who has acquainted himself with the natural powers of 
 the human mind, and the causes by which the passions are excited 
 and repressed ; who not only in words can explain, but can delin- 
 eate to the senses every motion of the soul ; who can excite, can 
 temper and regulate the passions ; such a man, though he may not 
 have acquired erudition by the common methods, I esteem a true 
 philosopher. The passion of jealousy, its causes, circumstances, its 
 progress and effects, I hold to be more accurately, more copiously, 
 more satisfactorily described in one of the dramas of Shakspeare, 
 than in all the disputations of the schools of philosophy. 
 
 Now if tragedy be of so truly a philosophical nature ; and if t 
 all the force and gravity of wisdom it add graces and allurements pe- 
 culiarly its own, the harmony of verse, the contrivance of the fable, 
 the excellence of imitation, the truth of action ; shall we not say 
 that philosophy must yield to poetry in point of utility ? or shall we 
 not rather say, that the former is greatly indebted to the latter, of 
 whose assistance and recommendation it makes so advantageous a 
 use, in order to attain its particular purpose, utility or improvement ? 
 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 15 
 
 " But if the force of imitation and fable be so great, the force of 
 truth itself must surely appear much greater : we should therefore 
 apply to history rather than to poetry for instruction in morals.' 1 
 This however is a mistaken notion. History is confined within too 
 narrow limits ; history is subject to laws peculiar to itself, and too 
 severe to admit of such an application. It relates things as they re- 
 ally were, it traces events under the guidance of authority ; it must 
 exhibit what has happened, not what might or ought to have happen- 
 ed. It must not deviate in quest of reasonable instruction or plau- 
 sible conjecture, but confine itself to that path, which the stubborn- 
 ness of fact has prescribed. History treats of things and persons 
 which have been in actual existence ; the subjects of poetry are in- 
 finite and universal. The one investigates causes through the un- 
 certain medium of conjecture ; the other demonstrates them with 
 clearness and certainty. The* one catches the casual glimpses of 
 truth, whenever they break forth to the view ; the other contem- 
 plates her unclouded appearance. History pursues her appointed 
 journey by a direct path ; poetry ranges uncontrolled over the wide 
 expanse of nature. The former must make her precepts subservient 
 to the subject ; the latter forms a subject subordinate to her precepts 
 and design. For these reasons, poetry is defined by Aristotle to be 
 something of a more serious and plilosophical nature than history ; 3 
 nor is our Bacon (a name not inferior in literature) of a different sen- 
 timent. The subject itself, and the authority of so great a man, re- 
 quire that the passage should be quoted in his own words, " Since 
 the sensible world is in dignity inferior to the rational soul ; poetry 
 seems to endow human nature with that which lies beyond the pow- 
 er of history, and to gratify the mind with at least the shadow of 
 things, where the substance cannot be had. For if the matter be 
 properly considered, an argument may be drawn from poetry, that a 
 superior dignity in things, a more perfect order, and a more beauti- 
 ful variety delights the soul of man, than is found in nature since the 
 fall. As, therefore, the actions and events, which are the subject of 
 true history, are not of sufficient amplitude to content the mind of 
 man ; poetry is at hand, and invents actions of a more heroic nature. 
 Because true history reports the success of events not proportionably 
 to desert, or according to the virtue or vice that has been displayed 
 
 3 Jui if (P.oaorpwTsgov xai OTrovdaiortQov noitjatg toroQiag tarlv. ARIST. Poet, 
 c. 9. 
 
16 ON THE USES AND DESIGN LfiCT. I. 
 
 in them ; poetry corrects this, and represents events and fortunes 
 according to justice and merit : Because true history, from the obvi- 
 ous similarity of actions, and the satiety which this circumstance 
 must occasion, frequently creates a distaste in the mind ; poetry 
 cheers and refreshes it, exhibiting things uncommon, varied, and full 
 vjof vicissitude. As poetry, therefore, contributes not only to pleasure, 
 but to magnanimity and good morals ; it is deservedly supposed to 
 participate in some measure of divine inspiration ; since it raises the 
 mind, and fills it with sublime ideas, by proportioning the appearan- 
 ces of things to the desires of the mind ; and not submitting the mind 
 to things, like reason arid history. " 4 (o) 
 
 That elevation of sentiment, that inspiration, that usefulness in 
 forming the manners, is however by no means so peculiar to the ep- 
 ic (to which that great man chiefly refers in this passage) as to ex- 
 clude the claim of every other specie's of poetry ; there are others 
 which also deserve to partake in the commendation ; and first the 
 ode, 
 
 " Ingentes animos angusto in pectore'versans," 
 
 which, though in some respects inferior to what are called the high- 
 er species of poetry, yields to none in force, ardour, and sometimes 
 even in dignity and solemnity. Every species of poetry has in fact its 
 peculiar mode of acting on the human feelings ; the general effect is 
 perhaps the same. The epic accomplishes its design with more lei- 
 sure, with more consideration and care, and therefore probably with 
 greater certainty. It more gradually insinuates itself, it penetrates, 
 it moves, it delights ; now rising to a high degree of sublimity, now 
 subsiding to its accustomed smoothness ; and conducting the read- 
 er through a varied and delightful scene, it applies a gentle con- 
 straint to the mind, making its impression by the forcible nature of 
 this application, but more especially by its continuance. The ode, on 
 the contrary, strikes with an instantaneous effect, amazes, and as it 
 were, storms the affections. The one may be compared to a flame, 
 which, fanned by the winds, gradually spreads itself on all sides, 
 and at last involves every object in the conflagration ; the other to a 
 flash of lightning, which instantaneously bursts forth, 
 " Magnamque cadens, magnamque revertens 
 Dat stragem late, sparsosque recolligitignes." 
 
 The amazing power of lyric poetry in directing the passions, in 
 4 De Augm. Scien. L. II. 13. 
 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 17 
 
 forming the manners, in maintaining civil life, and particularly, in 
 exciting and cherishing that generous elevation of sentiment, on 
 which the very existence of public virtue seems to depend, will be 
 sufficiently apparent by only contemplating those monuments of ge- 
 nius, which Greece has bequeathed to posterity. If we examine the 
 poems of Pindar (which, though by no means accounted the most 
 excellent of their kind, by some strange fatality are almost the only 
 specimens that remain) how exquisite must have been the pleasure, 
 how vivid the sensation to the Greek, whose ordinary amusement it 
 was to sing, or hear them sung ! For this kind of entertainment was 
 not confined to persons of taste and learning, but had grown into 
 general use. When he heard his gods, his heroes, his ancestors re- 
 ceived into the number of the gods, celebrated in a manner so glo- 
 rious, so divine, would not his bosom glow with the desire of fame, 
 with the most fervid emulation of virtue, with a patriotism, immode- 
 rate perhaps, but honourable and useful in the highest degree ? Is it 
 wonderful, that he should be so elevated with this greatness of mind 
 (shall I call it ?) or rather insolence and pride, as to esteem every oth- 
 er people mean, barbarous and contemptible, in comparison with him- 
 self and his own countrymen ? It is almost unnecessary to remind 
 this assembly, that, in the sacred games (which afforded so much sup- 
 port to the warlike virtue of Greece 5 ) no inconsiderable share of dig- 
 nity and esteem resulted from the verses of the poets ; nor did the 
 Olympic crown exhibit a more ample reward to the candidate for vic- 
 tory, than the encomium of Pindar or Stesichorus. I wish indeed, 
 that time had not invidiously deprived us of the works of the latter, 
 whose majesty and excellence commanded universal applause, whom 
 Dionysius preferred before every other Lyric poet, because he made 
 choice of the sublimest and most splendid subjects, and in the am- 
 plification of them preserved most completely the manners and 
 the dignity of his characters. To Alcaeus, however, the same 
 author attributes the most excellent manner of treating political 
 subjects. 6 As a man, indeed, how great! as a citizen how 
 strenuous ! What a spirited defender of the laws and constitution 
 of his country ! What a vigorous opposer of tyrants ! who conse- 
 crated equally his sword and his lyre on the altar of freedom ! whose 
 prophetic Muse, ranging through every region, acted as the sacred 
 
 5 Consult the dissertation of the learned GILBERT WEST on the Olympic 
 games. Sect. xvii. 
 
 6 DION. HALICAR. T. II. p. 123. Edit. Hudson. 
 
 3 
 
18 ON THE USES AND DESIGN L.ECT. I, 
 
 guardian, not for the present .moment only, but for future ages ; not 
 of his own city alone, but of the whole commonwealth of Greece. 
 Poetry such as this, so vehement, so animated, is certainly to be 
 esteemed highly efficacious as well in exciting the human mind to 
 virtue, as in purifying it from every mean and vicious propensity ; but 
 still more especially does it conduce to cherish and support that vig- 
 our of soul, that generous temper and spirit, which is both the off- 
 spring and guardian of liberty. Could an apprehension arise, that 
 another Pisistratus would meditate the enslaving of that city, where 
 at every banquet, nay, in the streets and in the meanest assemblies 
 of the common people, that convivial ode was daily sung which bears 
 the name of Callistratus ? An author known to us only by this com- 
 position, which however sufficiently demonstrates him to have been 
 an admirable poet and an excellent citizen : 
 
 'Ev [U'QTOV xiadl TO &i(fog (poQi'aw, 
 
 OTS TOV TvQctwo 
 
 OVTI TTOV Ti&vij 
 JV T /y'(Toi $* |r uaxuQtav at (padiv iivai t 
 " IvantQ 7toddjxr t g ^^jriZsrg, 
 TvdtiSijv TS ifctolv ^fioui'jSsot, 
 
 *Ev fidgrov x'AaSl TO t-iqiog (poQtj 
 r x" ' 
 
 xltog lOOfTai XO.T? alav, 
 
 "On TOV rvQavvov XTUVSTOV, 
 *Iaoroitovg r 5 > ^4.&>' i rag tnoi>\aarov. (E) 
 
 If after the memorable Ides of March, any one of the Tyranni- 
 cides had delivered to the populace such a poem as this, had intro- 
 ced it at the Suburra, to the assemblies of the Forum, or had put it 
 into the mouths of the common people, the dominion of the Caesars 
 and its adherents would have been totally extinguished : and I am 
 firmly persuaded, that one stanza of this simple ballad of Harmodius 
 would have been more effectual than all the Philippics of Cicero. 
 
 There are some other species of poetry, which with us generally 
 appear in an easy and familiar style, but formerly assumed sometimes 
 a graver and more important character. Such is the elegy ; I do 
 not speak of the light and amorous elegy of the moderns, but that. 
 
LECT. I. OP POETRY. 19 
 
 ancient, serious, sacred and didactic elegy, the preceptress of morals, 
 the lawgiver of nations, the oracle of virtue. Not to enter into a de- 
 tail of authors, of whose works we are not in possession, and of whose 
 merits we consequently can form no adequate judgement, it will be 
 sufficient to instance Solon, the most venerable character of antiqui- 
 ty, the wisest of legislators, and withal a poet of no mean reputation. 
 When any thing difficult or perplexing occurred in the administra- 
 tion of public affairs, we are informed that he had recourse to po- 
 etry. 7 , Were the laws to be maintained or enforced upon any par- 
 ticular emergency ; was the indolence or licentiousness of the cit- 
 izens to be reproved ; were their minds to be stimulated to the love 
 of liberty, he immediately attacked them with some poetical produc- 
 tion, bold, animated and severe, in the highest tone of censorial gravi- 
 ty, and yet in no respect deficient in elegance : 
 
 'Ex vt(fi3.T]g TiileTai jftoroc uivog j f Sf ^a^ciC^g, 
 
 BqovTt't 5' fx JLajATiQijg yiyvirai aa 
 ^^IvdQwv <T ix jUeycUcov nolig oM.vrai' tig $e 
 SQsiri SovloOvvyv entosv. 
 
 It is a well known fact, that Athens was altogether indebted for 
 the recovery of Salamis to the verses of Solon ; even contrary to 
 their own inclination and intention. After they had, from re- 
 peated overthrows, fallen into the deepest despair, insomuch that it 
 was made a capital offence, even to propose the renewal of the war, 
 or the reclaiming of the island, such was the influence of that sin- 
 gle poem, which begins " Let us march to Salamis," that, as if 
 pronounced by a prophet, instinct with divine enthusiasm, the peo- 
 ple, propelled by a kind of celestial inspiration, flew immediately 
 to arms, became clamorous for war, and sought the field of bat- 
 tle with such incredible ardour, that by the violence of their on- 
 set, after a great slaughter of the enemy, they achieved a most decisive 
 victory. 
 
 We have also some remains of the celebrated TyrtgBus, who 
 
 " mares animos in martia bolla 
 Versibus exacuit;" 
 
 The whole scope and subject of his compositions, is the celebration of 
 valour and patriotism, and the immortal glory of those, who bravely 
 fell in battle : compositions, which could impart some degree of 
 courage even to the timid and unmanly ; by which, indeed, he ele- 
 
 7 See PLUTARCH and DIOG. LAERT. Life of Solon. 
 
20 OP THE USES AND DESIGN LfiCT. I. 
 
 vated the minds of the Lacedemonians, which had been long debili- 
 tated and depressed, to the certain hope of victory. The fact is well 
 known, and had it not been corroborated by the testimony of so many 
 authors, it would doubtless have been thought by some incredible ; 
 though I confess it appears to me no less supported by the reason of 
 things than by the authority of the historian. It is impossible that 
 men should act otherwise than with the most heroic ardour, the 
 most undaunted resolution, who sung to the martial pipe, when ar- 
 ranged in military order, marching to the onset, or perhaps actually 
 engaged, such strains as these : 
 
 yijg TttQi rtjcsSf iia%w(.it&a, xai Tteqi naiStav 
 
 riot t.u. uuxso3s naf 
 Mi]8i (pvyij; aiajfoag u 
 //A/.t* iig fv Siaflag t uevtT(, nuGiv af 
 
 Tii y^S, x f?-S odovoi <Jxa>r, 
 <T tv xtiQi nvaooiria oftQtuov fyx$> 
 
 1.6<pov dstvov vntg xe<fa2.f-[g' 
 Kai Tiodct nutf nodi &fig, xui in* aOTildoq ct(STtiS > 
 
 3 Ev dt l.oipov is Zoipoj, xai xvvtTjv 
 JCott Gftorov OTtovco TftTfififilvof avdoi 
 
 "H t;iipeog xutTtyv, J; duQV paxQov s7.(av. 
 OvdtftoTf yJ.tog lo^^ov anulJ.vrai, ovff ovou* aihov, 
 
 *^4W, vno yfjg TCSQ fwv, yfyi'frai afravarog, 
 " OVTIV* aQiOTfvovra, uivovru re, fiaQva t usvov TS 
 
 Not entirely to omit the lighter kinds of poetry, many will think 
 that we allow them full enough, when we suppose their utility to 
 consist in the entertainment which they afford. Nor is this, gentlemen, 
 altogether to be despised, if it be considered that this entertainment, 
 this levity itself, affords relaxation to the mind when wearied with 
 the laborious investigation of truth ; that it unbends the understand- 
 ing, after intense application ; restores it when debilitated ; and re- 
 freshes it, even by an interchange and variety of study. In this we 
 are countenanced by the example and authority of the greatest men 
 of Greece, by that of Solon, Plato, and Aristotle ; among the Romans, 
 by that of Scipio and Laelius, Julius and Augustus Caesar, Varro 
 and Brutus, who filled up the intervals of their more important en- 
 gagements, their severer studies, with the agreeableness and hi- 
 larity of their poetical talent. Nature indeed seems in this most 
 wisely to have consulted for us, who, while she impels us to the 
 knowledge of truth, which is frequently remote, and only to be 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 21 
 
 prosecuted with indefatigable industry, has provided also these pleas- 
 ing recreations, as a refuge to the mind, in which it might occasionally 
 shelter itself, and find an agreeable relief from langour and anxiety. 
 But there is yet a further advantage to be derived from these 
 studies, which ought not to be neglected ; for besides possessing in 
 reserve a certain solace of your labours, from the same repository 
 you will also be supplied with many of the brightest ornaments of 
 literature. The first object is, indeed, to perceive and comprehend 
 clearly the reasons, principles, and relations of things ; the next is to 
 be able to explain your conceptions not only with perspicuity, but 
 with a degree of elegance. For in this respect we are all of us in 
 some measure fastidious : we are seldom contented with a jejune and 
 naked exposition even of the most serious subjects ; some of the 
 seasonings of art, some ornaments of style, some splendour of 
 diction, are of necessity to be adopted ; even some regard is due 
 to the harmony of numbers, and to the gratification of the ear. 
 In alfthese respects, though I grant that the language of poetry 
 differs very widely from that of all other kinds of composition, yet 
 he, who has bestowed some time and attention on the perusal 
 and imitation of the poets, will, I am persuaded, find his understand- 
 ing exercised and improved as it were in this Palaestra, the vigour 
 and activity of his imagination increased, and even his manner of 
 expression to have insensibly acquired a tinge from this elegant in- 
 tercourse. Thus we observe in persons, who have been taught to 
 dance, a certain indescribable grace and manner ; though they do 
 not form their common gesture and gait by any certain rules, yet 
 there results from that exercise a degree of elegance, which accom- 
 panies those who have been proficients in it, even when they have 
 relinquished the practice. Nor is it in the least improbable, that 
 both Caesar and Tully (the one the most elegant, the other the most 
 eloquent of the Romans) might have derived considerable assistance 
 from the cultivation of this branch of polite literature, since it is well 
 known, that both of them were addicted to the reading of poetry, and 
 even exercised in the composition of it. (F) This too is so apparent 
 in the writings of Plato, that he is thought not only to have erred in 
 his judgement, but to have acted an ungrateful part, when he exclu- 
 ded from his imaginary commonwealth that art, to which he was so 
 much indebted for the splendour and elegance of his genius, from 
 whose fountains he had derived that soft, copious, and harmonious; 
 style, for which he is so justly admired. 
 
22 OP THE USES AND DESIGN LfiCT. I. 
 
 But to return to the nobler and more important productions of 
 the Muses. Thus far poetry must be allowed to stand eminent 
 among the other liberal arts ; inasmuch as it refreshes the mind when 
 it is fatigued, soothes it when it is agitated, relieves and invigorates 
 it when it is depressed ; as it elevates the thoughts to the admiration 
 of what is beautiful, what is becoming, what is great and noble : nor 
 /I is it enough to say, that it delivers the precepts of virtue in the most 
 i\ agreeable manner ; it insinuates or instils into the soul the very 
 \ 1 principles of morality itself. Moreover, since the desire of glory, in- 
 nate in man, appears to be the most powerful incentive to great and 
 heroic actions, it is the peculiar function of poetry to improve this 
 bias of our nature, and thus to cherish and enliven the embers of 
 virtue ; and since one of the principal employments of poetry con- 
 sists in the celebration of great and virtuous actions, in transmitting 
 to posterity the examples of the bravest and most excellent of men, 
 and in consecrating their names to immortality ; this praise is cer- 
 tainly its due, that while it forms the mind to habits of rectitude by 
 its precepts, directs it by example, excites and animates it by its pe- 
 culiar force, it has also the distinguished honour of distributing to 
 virtue the most ample and desirable rewards of its labours. 
 
 But after all, we shall think more humbly of poetry than it de- 
 
 i serves, unless we direct our attention to that quarter, where its im- 
 portance is most eminently conspicuous ; unless we contemplate it 
 
 I as employed on sacred subjects, and in subservience to religion. 
 
 \ This indeed appears to have been the original office and destination 
 ^ j of poetry ; and this it still so happily performs, that in all other cases 
 
 \ it seems out of character, as if intended for this purpose alone. In 
 
 other instances, poetry appears to want the assistance of art, but 
 
 j in this, to shine forth with all its natural splendour, or rather to be 
 
 > animated by that inspiration, which on other occasions is spoken of 
 without being felt. These observations are remarkably exemplified 
 in the Hebrew poetry, than which the human mind can conceive 
 nothing more elevated, more beautiful, or more elegant ; in which 
 the almost ineffable sublimity of the subject is fully equalled by the 
 energy of the language, and the dignity of the style. And it is wor- 
 tlTy~of observation, that as some 6f~fhese writings exceed in anti- 
 quity the fabulous ages of Greece, in sublimity they are superior to 
 the most finished productions of that polished people. Thus if the 
 actual origin of poetry be inquired after, it must of necessity be re- 
 ferred to religion ; and since it appears to be an art derived from 
 
LECT. I. OF POETRY. 23 
 
 nature alone, peculiar to no age or nation, and only at an advanced 
 period of society conformed to rule and method, it must be wholly I 
 attributed to the more violent affections of the heart, the nature of \ 
 which is to express themselves in an animated and lofty tone, with \ 
 a vehemence of expression far remote from vulgar use. It is also 
 no less observable, that these affections break and interrupt the 
 enunciation by their impetuosity ; they burst forth in sentences 
 pointed, earnest, rapid, and tremulous ; and in some degree the 
 style, as well as the modulation, is adapted to the emotions and habits 
 of the mind. This is particularly the case in admiration and de- 
 light ; and what passions are so likely to be excited by religious con- 
 templations as these ? What ideas could so powerfully affect a new- 
 created mind (undepraved by habit or opinion) as the goodness, the 
 wisdom, and the greatness of the Almighty 1 Is it not probable, 
 that the first effort of rude and unpolished verse would display itself \ . 
 in the praise of the Creator, and flow almost involuntarily from the j ^ 
 enraptured mind ? Thus far at least is certain, that poetry has been 
 nurtured in those sacred places, where she seems to have been first 
 called into existence ; and that her original occupation was in the 
 temple and at the altar. However ages and nations may have differ- 
 ed in their religious sentiments and opinions, in this at least we find 
 them all agreed, that the mysteries of their devotion were celebrated 
 in verse. Of this origin poetry even yet exhibits no obscure indica- * f 
 tions, since she ever embraces a divine and sacred subject with a 
 kind of filial tenderness and affection. To the sacred haunts of re- 
 ligion she delights to resort as to her native soil ; there she most ^ 
 willingly inhabits, and there she flourishes in all her pristine beauty 
 and vigour. But to have slightly glanced at the subject, appears 
 sufficient for the present ; we shall soon perhaps find an opportunity 
 of entering upon a more ample discussion. (G) 
 
 I trust, indeed, that you will pardon me, gentlemen, if I do not 
 as yet venture to explain my future plan of instruction, and the form 
 and method which I think of pursuing. That man must have too 
 little respect for your judgement, and by far too high an opinion of 
 his own, who would presume to produce before you matter not suf- 
 ficiently digested, not sufficiently polished and perfected by study 
 and by the maturest consideration. I have therefore determined 
 within myself, that nothing shall hastily or prematurely proceed from 
 me in this assembly, nothing which is not laboured to the extent of 
 my abilities ; and that for what is wanting in genius, in erudition, 
 
24 OF THE USES AND DESIGN L.ECT. I. 
 
 in fluency, and in every respect in which I feel myself deficient, I 
 shall endeavour to compensate, as much as possible, by care and as- 
 siduity. If in these points I shall be enabled to perform my duty, 
 I trust, gentlemen, that other deficiences you will be kind enough to 
 excuc-e ; and that the person whom you have honoured with your fa- 
 vour and attention ; with your candour and indulgence, you will con- 
 tinue to support. 
 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 THE DESIGN AND ARRANGEMENT OF THESE LECTURES. 
 
 The dignity of the subject, and its suitableness to the design of the institution That poetry 
 which proceeds from divine inspiration, is not beyond the province of criticism Criticism 
 will enable us to account for the origin of the art, as well as to form a just estimation of its 
 dignity ; that the opinion of the divine origin of poetry was common in Greece This work 
 purely critical: and consequently theological disquisitions will be avoided The general dis- 
 tribution of the subject into three parts, the nature of the verse, the style, and the arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 SOCRATES, as we read in Plato, 1 having been frequently admon- 
 ished in a dream to apply to music ; and esteeming himself bound 
 to fulfil a duty, which appeared to have been imposed upon him by 
 divine authority, began with composing a hymn to Apollo, and after- 
 wards undertook to translate some of the fables of uEsop into verse. 
 This he did, I apprehend, under the persuasion, that the first fruits 
 of his poetry (which he esteemed the principal branch of the science 
 of music 2 ) ought to be consecrated to the immortal gods ; and that it 
 was not lawful for him, who was but little versed in those studies, to 
 descend to lighter subjects, which perhaps might in the main be 
 more agreeable to his genius, before he had discharged the obli- 
 gations of religion. It is my intention, gentlemen, to follow the ex- 
 ample of this great philosopher ; and since the" university has honour- 
 ed me with this office of explaining to you the nature and principles 
 of poetry, I mean to enter upon it from that quarter, whence he 
 thought himself obliged to commence the study and practice of the 
 art. I have determined, therefore, in the first place, to treat of sa- 
 cred poetry, that species, I mean, which was cultivated by the an- 
 cient Hebrews, and which is peculiarly appropriated to subjects the 
 most solemn and sublime ; that should my endeavours prove unequal 
 to so great a subject, I may, as it were, with favourable auspices, 
 
 1 Phced. sub init. 
 
 2 " What then is education ? As far as respects the body, it consists in the 
 gymnastic exercises ; as far as respects the mind, it consists in harmony." 
 PLATO de Rep. Lib. II. 
 
 4 
 
 ft\' '. / V.4 V* * 
 
26 THE DESIGN AND ARRANGEMENT L.ECT. II. 
 
 descend to matters of inferior importance. I undertake this office, 
 however, with the most perfect conviction, that not only from a re- 
 gard to duty it ought to be executed with diligence ; but from the 
 respectability of that body, at whose command it is undertaken, it 
 ought to be executed with honour and reputation ; nor is it merely 
 to be considered what the intent of the institution and the improve- 
 ment of the students may require, but what will be consistent with 
 the dignity of this university. For since the university, when it gave 
 its sanction to this species of discipline by a special degree, recom- 
 mended the study of poetry, particularly because it might conduce 
 to the improvement of the more important sciences, as well sacred 
 as profane, 3 nothing could certainly appear more useful in itself, or 
 more agreeable to the purpose of this institution, and the design of 
 its learned patrons, than to treat of that species of poetry, which con- 
 stitutes so, considerable a part of sacred literature, and excels all oth- 
 er poetry, not less in the sublimity of the style, than in the dignity 
 of the subject. 
 
 It would not be easy, indeed, to assign a reason, why the wri- 
 tings of Homer, of Pindar, and of Horace, should engross our atten- 
 tion and monopolize our praise, while those of Moses, of David and 
 Isaiah pass totally unregarded. Shall we suppose that the subject is 
 not adapted to a seminary, in which sacred literature has ever main- 
 tained a precedence ? Shall we say, that it is foreign to this assem- 
 bly of promising youth, of whom the greater part have consecrated 
 the best portion of their time and labour to the same department of 
 learning ? Or must we conclude, that the writings of those men, 
 who have accomplished only as much as human genius and ability 
 could accomplish, should be reduced to method and theory ; but that 
 those which boast a much higher origin, and are justly attributed to 
 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, may be considered as indeed illus- 
 trious by their native force and beauty, but not as conformable to 
 the principles of science, nor to be circumscribed by any rules of 
 art ? It is indeed most true, that sacred poetry, if we contemplate 
 jits origin alone, is far superior to both nature and art ; but if we 
 Iwould rightly estimate its excellencies, that is, if we wish to undei 
 Wand its power in exciting the human affections, we must have re- 
 course to both : for we must consider what those affections are, and 
 by what means they are to be excited. Moreover, as in all other 
 branches of science, so in poetry, art or theory consists in a certain 
 
 3 See the statute relating to the poetic lecture. 
 
. II. OF THESE LECTURES. 27 
 
 knowledge derived from the careful observation of nature, and con- 
 firmed by practice and experience ; for men of learning having re- 
 marked in things what was graceful, what was fit, what was condu- 
 cive to the attainment of certain ends, they digested such discoveries 
 as had been casually made, and reduced them to an established or- 
 der or method : whence it is evident, that art deduces its origin from 
 the works of genius, not that genius has been formed or directed by- 
 art ; and that it is properly applied in illustrating the works of even 
 those writers, who were either ignorant of its rules, or inattentive to 
 them. Since then it is the purpose of sacred poetry to form the hu- 
 man mind to the constant habit of true virtue and piety, and to ex-- 
 cite the more ardent affections of the soul, in order to direct them to 
 their proper end ; whoever has a clear insight into the instruments, 
 the machinery as it were, by which this end is effected, will certain- 
 ly contribute not a little to the improvement of the critical art. Now, 
 although it be scarcely possible to penetrate to the fountains of this 
 celestial Nile, yet it may surely be allowed us to pursue the mean- 
 ders of the stream, to mark the flux and reflux of its waters, and 
 even to conduct a few rivulets into the adjacent plains. (A) 
 
 The sacred poetry is undoubtedly entitled to the first rank in 
 this school, since from it we are to learn both the origin of the art, 
 and how to estimate its excellence. The commencement of other 
 arts, however rude and imperfect, and though employed only on 
 light and trivial matters, is an inquiry generally productive of satis- 
 faction and delight. Here we may contemplate poetry in its very 
 beginning ; not so much the offspring of human genius, as an ema- 
 nation from heaven ; not gradually increasing by small accessions, 
 but from its birth possessing a certain maturity both of beauty and 
 strength ; not administering to trifling passions, and offering its deli- 
 cious incense at the shrine of vanity, but the priestess of divine 
 truth, the internunciate between earth and heaven. For this was 
 the first and peculiar office of poetry, on the one hand to commend 
 to the Almighty the prayers and thanksgivings of his creatures, and 
 to celebrate his praises ; and on the other, to display to mankind 
 the mysteries of the divine will, and the predictions of future events ; 
 the best and noblest of all employments. It is to this observation, 
 indeed, that I would particularly point your attention ; for it is plain 
 from the general tenour of the sacred volume, that the indications of 
 future events have been, almost without exception, revealed in num- 
 bers and in verse ; and that the same spirit was accustomed to im- 
 
28 THE DESIGN AND ARRANGEMENT L.ECT. II. 
 
 part, by its own energy, at once the presentiment of things, and to 
 clothe it in all the magnificence, in all the elegance of poetry, that 
 the sublimity of the style might consist with sentiments so infinitely 
 surpassing all human conception. When considered, therefore, in 
 this point of view, what is there of all which the most devoted admi- 
 rers of poetry have ever written or fabricated in its commendation, 
 that does not fall greatly short of the truth itself? What of all the 
 insinuations, which its bitterest adversaries have objected against it, 
 which is not refuted by simply contemplating the nature and design 
 of the Hebrew poetry ? Let those who affect to despise the Muses, 
 cease to attempt, for the vices of a few, who may abuse the best of 
 things, to bring into disrepute a most laudable talent. Let them 
 cease to speak of that art as light or trifling in itself, to accuse it as 
 profane or impious ; that art, which has been conceded to man by 
 the favour of his Creator, and for the most sacred purposes ; that 
 art, consecrated by the authority of God himself, and by his example 
 in his most august ministrations. 
 
 Whether the Greeks originally derived their poetry from the 
 fountains of nature, or received it through a different channel from 
 a remoter source, appears a question of little importance, and not ea- 
 sy to be determined. Thus far, however, is evident, that an opin- 
 ion was prevalent in Greece concerning the nature and origin of 
 etry, which appears most groundless and absurd, if we contemplate 
 only the poetry of Greece, though truly and justly applicable to tha 
 of the Hebrews. They considered poetry as something sacred an 
 I celestial, not produced by human art or genius, but altogether a di- 
 / vine gift. Among them, therefore, poets were accounted sacred, 
 the ambassadors of heaven, men favoured with an immediate inte 
 course and familiarity with the gods. The mysteries and ceremo- 
 nies of their religion, and the worship of their deities, were all pe 
 formed in verse ; and the most ancient of their compositions, thei 
 oracles, always consisted of numbers. This circumstance, I mu 
 add, rendered them not only more sublime, but more deserving o 
 \ credit in the eyes of the common people ; for they conceived it 
 \ equally the effect of divine inspiration to foresee events, and to ex- 
 press them in extemporaneous verse. Thus they seem to have re- 
 tained some traces of an opinion impressed upon the minds of men 
 in the very earliest ages concerning the true and ancient poetry, 
 even after they had lost the reality itself, and when religion and poe- 
 etry had, by the licentiousness of fiction,, reciprocally corrupted each 
 other. (B) 
 
. II. OF THESE LECTURES. 29 
 
 Since, therefore, in the sacred writings the only specimens of 
 the primeval and genuine poetry are to be found, and since they are 
 not less venerable for their antiquity than fqr their divine original, I 
 conceived it my duty in the first place to investigate the nature of 
 these writings, as far as might be consistent with the design of this 
 institution : in other words, it is not my intention to expound to the 
 student of theology the oracles of divine truth ; but to recommend 
 to the notice of the youth who is addicted to the politer sciences, 
 and studious of the elegancies of composition, some of the first and 
 choicest specimens of poetic taste. The difficulty of the undertak- 
 ing ought probably to have discouraged me from the attempt ; yet 
 with you, gentlemen, I trust my temerity will find this excuse, name- 
 ly, that I have undertaken a subject the most noble in itself, and the 
 best adapted to the circumstances of my office. I trust that you 
 will allow me at least the merit of distinguishing what was most wor- 
 thy of this place and this assembly ; though perhaps I have too rash- 
 ly engaged, without a due consideration of my own abilities. 
 
 In this disquisition it is my intention to pursue that track which 
 the nature of the subject seems to require. Three points are to be 
 considered in every poem : First, the argument or matter, and the 
 manner of treating it ; what disposition, what order, and what general 
 form is adapted to each species of composition : Secondly, the elo- 
 cution and style ; in which are comprehended lively and elevated sen- 
 timents, splendour and perspicuity of arrangement, beauty and va- 
 riety of imagery, and strength and elegance of diction : Lastly, the 
 harmony of the verse, or numbers, is to be considered ; not only as in- 
 tended to captivate the ear, but as adapted to the subject, and expres- 
 sive of it, and as calculated to excite corresponding emotions in the 
 soul. We shall now consider what is to be performed in each of 
 these departments, and how far we may with safety, and with any 
 prospect of advantage, engage in a critical examination of the He- 
 brew poetry. 
 
 With respect to the nature of the versification (if I may be allow- 
 ed to reverse my own arrangement, and to speak of that first, which 
 constituted the last division of my subject) I fear that little can be 
 produced to your satisfaction or my own ; since it is manifest not 
 only from the unsuccessful endeavours of the most learned men, but 
 from the nature of the thing itself, that scarcely any real knowledge 
 of the Hebrew versification is now to be attained : and the only me- 
 rit to which any modern writer can lay claim, is that of distinguish- 
 
80 THE DESIGN AND ARRANGEMENT, ETC. L.ECT. II. 
 
 ing certain facts (if any there be) from uncertain conjecture, and 
 demonstrating how imperfect our information must of necessity be 
 upon this topic. Were the inquiry, however, concerning the He- 
 brew metre to be wholly overlooked ; yet, since some vestiges of 
 verse are discernible, a few observations of a general nature will 
 probably occur, which we shall in the first place slightly advert to, 
 and afterwards, as occasion serves, particularize and explain. 
 
 That part of these lectures, on the other hand, which treats of 
 the style of the Hebrew poetry, will afford very ample scope for dis- 
 quisition ; since it possesses not only all the principal excellencies 
 which are common to poetry, but possesses many also which are 
 proper and peculiar to itself. 
 
 In the remaining part, which though first in order and dignity, 
 will be the last to be treated of, we must with diligence, (as consid- 
 ering the difficulty of the subject) and at the same time with caution 
 engage ; lest while we wander too much at large in the ample field 
 of poetry, we should imprudently break in upon the sacred bounda- 
 ries of theology. It will be our business on this occasion to distrib- 
 ute the Hebrew poems, according to their different species, into dif- 
 ferent classes ; to consider in each what is most worthy of attention ; 
 and perhaps to compare them with those of Greece and Rome, if 
 there be any extant of the same kind. 
 
 
PART I. 
 
 OF THE HEBREW METRE. 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 THE HEBREW POETRY IS METRICAL. 
 
 The necessity of inquiring into the nature of the Hebrew verse The Hebrew poetry proved to 
 be metrical from the alphabetical poems, and from the equality and correspondence of the 
 sentiments ; also from the poetical diction Some of the most obvious properties of the verse 
 The rhythm and mode of scanning totally lost : proved from facts The poetical conform- 
 ation of the sentences The Greek and Latin poetry materially different from the Hebrew, 
 from the very nature of the languages Hence a peculiar property in the prose versions of 
 the Hebrew poetry and the attempts to exhibit this poetry in the verse of other languages. 
 
 ON the very first attempt to elucidate the nature of the sacred 
 poetry, a question presents itself uncommonly difficult and obscure, 
 concerning the nature of the Hebrew verse. This question I would 
 indeed gladly have avoided, could I have abandoned it consistently 
 with my design. But since it appears essential to every species of 
 poetry, that it be confined to numbers, and consist of some kind of 
 verse, (for indeed wanting this, it would not only want its most 
 agreeable attributes, but would scarcely deserve the name of poetry) 
 in treating of the poetry of the Hebrews, it appears absolutely nec- 
 essary to demonstrate, that those parts at least of the Hebrew writ- 
 ings which we term poetic, are in a metrical form, and to inquire 
 whether any thing be certainly known concerning the nature and 
 principles of this versification or not. This part of my subject there- 
 fore I undertake, not as hoping to illustrate it by any new observa- 
 tions, but merely with a view of inquiring whether it will admit of any 
 illustration at all. Even this I shall attempt with brevity and cau- 
 tion, as embarked upon an ocean dishonoured by the shipwreck of 
 many eminent persons, and therefore presuming only to coast along 
 the shore. 
 
 In the first place (notwithstanding that a contrary opinion has 
 been supported by some of the learned) I think it will be sufficiently 
 
32 OF THE HEBREW METRE. L.ECT. III. 
 
 apparent, if we but advert to them a little more attentively, that cer- 
 tain of the Hebrew writings are not only animated with the true po- 
 etic spirit, but in some degree confined to numbers. For there ap- 
 pear in almost every part of them such marks and vestiges of verse, 
 as could scarcely be expected to remain in any language, after the 
 sound and pronunciation (as is the case with the Hebrew at present) 
 were, through extreme antiquity, become almost totally obsolete. 
 
 There existed a certain kind of poetry among the Hebrews, prin- 
 cipally intended, it should seem, for the assistance of the memory : 
 in which, when there was little connexion between the sentiments, 
 a sort of order or method was preserved, by the initial letters of each 
 line or stanza following the order of the alphabet. Of this there are 
 several examples extant among the sacred poems j 1 and in these ex- 
 amples the verses are so exactly marked and defined, that it is im- 
 possible to mistake them for prose ; and particularly if we attentively 
 consider the verses, and compare them with one another, since they 
 are in general so regularly accommodated, that word answers to word, 
 and almost syllable to syllable. This being the case, though an ap- 
 peal can scarcely be made to the ear on this occasion, the eye itself 
 will distinguish the poetic division and arrangement, and also that 
 some labour and accuracy has been employed in adapting the words 
 to the measure. 
 
 The Hebrew poetry has likewise another property altogether pe- 
 culiar to metrical composition. Writers who are confined within 
 the trammels of verse, are generally indulged with the license of 
 using words in a sense and manner remote from their common accep- 
 tation, and in some degree contrary to the analogy of the language ; 
 so that sometimes they shorten them by taking from the number of 
 the syllables, and sometimes venture to add a syllable for the sake 
 of adapting them to their immediate purpose. This practice is not 
 only effectual to the facilitating of the versification, but also to the 
 prevention of satiety by varying the sounds, and by imparting to tl 
 style a certain peculiar colouring, which elevates it above the lai 
 guage of the vulgar. Poetry therefore always makes use of som< 
 such artifice, as accords best with the genius of each language 
 This is exemplified particularly in two respects : First, in the use 
 glosses or foreign language ; and secondly, in that of certain irrej 
 
 l Psalm xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxii. cxix. cxlv. Prov. xxxi. from the 1( 
 verse to the end. The whole of the Lamentations of Jeremiah except the las 
 chapter. 
 
. III. OF THE HEBREW METRE. 33 
 
 ular or less received forms of common words. 2 The extreme liberty 
 which the Greeks allowed themselves in these respects, is remarka- 
 ble ; and their language, beyond every other, because of the variety 
 and copiousness of the different dialects, which prevailed in the sev- 
 eral states of Greece, was peculiarly favourable to it. Next to them 
 none perhaps have admitted these liberties more freely than the He- 
 brews, who not only by the use of glosses, but by that of anomalous 
 language, and chiefly of certain particles peculiar to metrical com- 
 position, and added frequently at the end of words, have so varied 
 their style, as to form to themselves a distinct poetical dialect. Thus 
 far, therefore, I think we may with safety affirm, that the Hebrew 
 poetry is metrical. (A) One or two of the peculiarities also of their ver- 
 sification it may be proper to remark, which, as they are very obser- 
 vable in those poems, in which the verses are denned by the initial 
 letters, may at least , be reasonably conjectured of the rest. The 
 first of these is, that the verses are very unequal in length ; the short- 
 est consisting of six or seven syllables ; the longest extending to about 
 twice that number ; the same poem is, however, generally continued 
 throughout in verses not very unequal to each other. I must also 
 observe, that the close of the verse generally falls where the members 
 of the sentences are divided. 
 
 As to the real quantity, the rhythm, or modulation, these from 
 the present state of the language seem to be altogether unknown, 
 and even to admit of no investigation by human art or industry. It 
 is indeed evident, that the true Hebrew pronunciation is totally lost. 
 The rules concerning it, which were devised by the modern Jews 
 many ages after the language of their ancestors had fallen into dis- 
 use, have been long since suspected by the learned to be destitute 
 of authority and truth : for if in reality the Hebrew language is to be 
 conformed to the positions of these men, we must be under the ne- 
 cessity of confessing, not only, what we at present experience, that 
 the Hebrew poetry possesses no remains of sweetness or harmony, 
 but that it never was possessed of any. The truth is, it was neither 
 possible for them to recal the true pronunciation of a language long 
 since obsolete, and to institute afresh the rules of orthoepy ; nor can 
 any person in the persent age so much as hope to effect any thing to 
 the purpose by the aid of conjecture, in a matter so remote from our 
 senses, and so involved in obscurity. In this respect, indeed, the 
 delicacy of all languages is most remarkable. After they cease to 
 
 2 See Aristot. Poet. 2. 
 
34 OF THE HEBREW METRE. L.ECT. III. 
 
 be spoken, they are still significant of some sound ; but that in the 
 mouth of a stranger becomes most dissonant and barbarous : the vi- 
 tal grace is wanting, the native sweetness is gone, the colour of pri- 
 meval beauty is faded and decayed. The Greek and Latin doubt- 
 less have now lost much of their pristine and native sweetness ; and 
 as they are spoken, the pronunciation is different in different nations, 
 but every where barbarous, and such as Attic or Roman ears would 
 not have been able to endure. In these, however, the rhythm or 
 quantity remains, each retains its peculiar numbers, and the versifi- 
 cation is distinct : but the state of the Hebrew is far more unfavour- 
 able, which, destitute of vowel sounds, has remained altogether si- 
 lent (if I may use the expression) incapable of utterance upwards of 
 two thousand years. Thus, not so much as the number of syllables, 
 of which each word consisted, could with any certainty be defined, 
 much less the length or quantity of the syllables : (B) and since the reg- 
 ulation of the metre of any language must depend upon two particu- 
 | lars, I mean the number and the length of the syllables, the knowl- 
 edge of which is utterly unattainable in the Hebrew, he who attempts 
 to restore the true and genuine Hebrew versification, erects an edifice 
 without a foundation. To some of those indeed who have laboured 
 in this matter, thus much of merit is to be allowed ; that they ren- 
 dered the Hebrew poetry, which formerly sounded uncommonly 
 harsh and barbarous, in some degree softer and more polished ; they 
 indeed furnished it with a sort of versification, and metrical arrange- 
 ment, when baffled in their attempts to discover the real. That we 
 are justified in attributing to them any thing more than this, is nei- 
 ther apparent from the nature of the thing, nor from the arguments 
 with which they attempt to defend their conjectures. 3 Their endeav- 
 ours in truth would rather tend to supersede all inquiry on a subject 
 which the most learned and ingenious have investigated in vain ; and 
 induce us to relinquish as lost, what we see cannot be retrieved. 
 
 But although nothing certain can be defined concerning the me- 
 tre of the particular verses, there is yet another artifice of poetry to 
 be remarked of them when in a collective state, when several of 
 them are taken together, j In the Hebrew poetry, as I before remark- 
 ed, there may be observed a certain conformation of the sentences, 
 the nature of which is, that a complete sense is almost equally infu- 
 sed into every component part, and that every member constitutes 
 an entire verse. So that as the poems divide themselves in a man- 
 
 
 3 See the brief confutation of Bishop Hare's Hebrew Metres. 
 
 
. III. OF THE HEBREW METRE. 35 
 
 ner spontaneously into periods, for the most part equal ; so the peri- 
 ods themselves are divided into verses, most commonly couplets, 
 though frequently of greater length. This is chiefly observable in 
 those passages, which frequently occur in the Hebrew poetry, in 
 which they treat one subject in many different ways, and dwell upon 
 the same sentiment; when they express the same thing in different 
 words, or different things in a similar form of words ; when equals 
 refer to equals, and opposites to opposites : and since this artifice of 
 composition seldom fails to produce even in prose an agreeable and 
 measured cadence, we can scarcely doubt that it must have imparted 
 to their poetry, were we masters of the versification, an exquisite de- 
 gree of beauty and grace. In this circumstance, therefore, which 
 is common to most of tlie Hebrew poems, we find, if not a rule and 
 principle, at least a characteristic of the sacred poetry : insomuch 
 that in that language the word -nT (or Psalm) according to its et- 
 ymology, is expressive of a composition cut or divided, in a peculiar 
 manner, into short and equal sentences, (c) 
 
 The nature of the Greek and Latin poetry is in this respect direct^ 
 ly opposite ; and that in conformity to the genius of the different lan- 
 guages. For the Greek, beyond every other language, (and the Lat- 
 in next to it) is copious, flowing and harmonious, possessed of a great 
 variety of measures, of which the impression is so definite, the effects 
 so striking, that if you should recite some lame and imperfect portion of 
 a verse or even enunciate hastily several verses in a breath, the num- 
 bers would nevertheless be clearly discernible : so that in these every 
 variety essential to poetry and verse may be provided for almost at 
 pleasure, without the smallest injury to the different metres. But 
 in the Hebrew language the whole economy is different. Its form is 
 simple above every other ; the radical words are uniform, and re- 
 semble each other almost exactly ; nor are the inflexions numerous, 
 or materially different : whence we may readily understand, that its 
 metres are neither complex, nor capable of much variety ; but rather 
 simple, grave, temperate ; less adapted to fluency than dignity and 
 force : so that possibly they found it necessary to distinguish the ex- 
 tent of the verse by the conclusion of the sentence, lest the lines by 
 running into each other, should become altogether implicated and 
 confused. (D) 
 
 Two observations occur in this place worthy of attention, and 
 arise naturally from what has been said. The first is, that a poem 
 translated literally from the Hebrew into the prose of any other Ian- 
 
26 THE DESIGN AND ARRANGEMENT LfiCT. II. 
 
 descend to matters of inferior importance. I undertake this office, 
 however, with the most perfect conviction, that not only from a re- 
 gard to duty it ought to be executed with diligence ; but from the 
 respectability of that body, at whose command it is undertaken, it 
 ought to be executed with honour and reputation ; nor is it merely 
 to be considered what the intent of the institution and the improve- 
 ment of the students may require, but what will be consistent with 
 the dignity of this university. For since the university, when it gave 
 its sanction to this species of discipline by a special degree, recom- 
 mended the study of poetry, particularly because it might conduce 
 to the improvement of the more important sciences, as well sacred 
 as profane, 3 nothing could certainly appear more useful in itself, or 
 more agreeable to the purpose of this institution, and the design of 
 its learned patrons, than to treat of that species of poetry, which con- 
 stitutes so, considerable a part of sacred literature, and excels all oth- 
 er poetry, not less in the sublimity of the style, than in the dignity 
 of the subject. 
 
 It would not be easy, indeed, to assign a reason, why the wri- 
 tings of Homer, of Pindar, and of Horace, should engross our atten- 
 tion and monopolize our praise, while those of Moses, of David and 
 Isaiah pass totally unregarded. Shall we suppose that the subject is 
 not adapted to a seminary, in which sacred literature has ever main- 
 tained a precedence ? Shall we say, that it is foreign to this assem- 
 bly of promising youth, of whom the greater part have consecrated 
 the best portion of their time and labour to the same department of 
 learning ? Or must we conclude, that the writings of those men, 
 who have accomplished only as much as human genius and ability 
 could accomplish, should be reduced to method and theory ; but that 
 those which boast a much higher origin, and are justly attributed to 
 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, may be considered as indeed illus- 
 trious by their native force and beauty, but not as conformable to 
 the principles of science, nor to be circumscribed by any rules of 
 art ? It is indeed most true, that sacred poetry, if we contemplate 
 its origin alone, is far superior to both nature and art ; but if we 
 \would rightly estimate- its excellencies, that is, if we wish to under- 
 stand its power in exciting the human affections, we must have re- 
 Course to both : for we must consider what those affections are, and 
 by what means they are to be excited. Moreover, as in all other 
 branches of science, so in poetry, art or theory consists in a certain 
 
 3 See the statute relating to the poetic lecture. 
 
 
LECT. II. OF THESE LECTURES. 27 
 
 "knowledge derived from the careful observation of nature, and con- 
 firmed by practice and experience ; for men of learning having re- 
 marked in things what was graceful, what was fit, what was condu- 
 cive to the attainment of certain ends, they digested such discoveries 
 as had been casually made, and reduced them to an established or- 
 der or method : whence it is evident, that art deduces its origin from 
 the works of genius, not that genius has been formed or directed by 
 art ; and that it is properly applied in illustrating the works of even 
 those writers, who were either ignorant of its rules, or inattentive to 
 them. Since then it is the purpose of sacred poetry to form the hu- 
 man mind to the constant habit of true virtue and piety, and to ex- 
 cite the more ardent affections of the soul, in order to direct them to 
 their proper end ; whoever has a clear insight into the instruments, 
 the machinery as it were, by which this end is effected, will certain- 
 ly contribute not a little to the improvement of the critical art. Now, 
 although it be scarcely possible to penetrate to the fountains of this 
 celestial Nile, yet it may surely be allowed us to pursue the mean- 
 ders of the stream, to mark the flux and reflux of its waters, and 
 even to conduct a few rivulets into the adjacent plains. (A) 
 
 The sacred poetry is undoubtedly entitled to the first rank in 
 this school, since from it we are to learn both the origin of the art, 
 and how to estimate its excellence. The commencement of other 
 arts, however rude and imperfect, and though employed only on 
 light and trivial matters, is an inquiry generally productive of satis- 
 faction and delight. Here we may contemplate poetry in its very \ 
 beginning ; not so much the offspring of human genius, as an ema- 
 nation from heaven ; not gradually increasing by small accessions, 
 but from its birth possessing a certain maturity both of beauty and 
 strength ; not administering to trifling passions, and offering its deli- 
 cious incense at the shrine of vanity, but the priestess of divine 
 -truth, the internunciate between earth and heaven. For this was 
 the first and peculiar office of poetry., on the one hand to commend 
 to the Almighty the prayers and thanksgivings of his creatures, and 
 to celebrate his praises ; and on the other, to display to mankind 
 the mysteries of the divine will, and the predictions of future events ; 
 the best and noblest of all employments. It is to this observation, 
 indeed, that I would particularly point your attention ; for it is plain 
 from the general tenour of the sacred volume, that the indications of 
 future events have been, almost without exception, revealed in num- 
 bers and in verse ; and that the same spirit was accustomed to im- 
 
38 OP THE PARABOLIC AND L.ECT. IV. 
 
 necessity of applying to the sacred poetry for examples of these, ev- 
 ery composition, however trite and barren, abounding in them. 
 Of these, therefore, we shall be sparing, and use them not as freely 
 as we might, but as much only as shall appear absolutely necessary. 
 For at present we are not so much to inquire what are the general 
 principles of poetical composition, as what are the peculiar marks and 
 characters of the Hebrew poetry. Let us consider, therefore, whether 
 the literature of the Hebrews will not suggest some general term, 
 which will give us an opportunity of discussing the subject, so as to 
 bring it under one comprehensive view ; and which, being divided 
 according to its constituent parts, will prescribe a proper order and 
 limit to our disquisition. 
 
 A poem is called in Hebrew *"i 173 7 73, that is, as was before re- 
 marked, a short composition cut and divided into distinct parts. 
 It is thus called in reference to the verse and numbers. Again, a 
 poem is called, in reference to the diction and sentiments, bftto J 1 
 which I take to be the word properly expressive of the poetical style. 
 Many translators render it by the word parable, which in some res- 
 pects is not improper, though it scarcely comprehends the full com- 
 pass of the Hebrew expression ; for if we investigate its full and pro- 
 per force, we shall find that it includes three forms or modes of speech, 
 the sententious, the figurative, and the sublime. (A) To these as parts 
 or divisions of the general subject, may be refered whatever occurs 
 concerning the parabolical or poetical style of the Hebrews : but the 
 reason of this arrangement will perhaps be better understood, if we 
 premise a short inquiry into the origin and early use of this style of 
 composition. 
 
 The origin and first use of poetical language are undoubtedly to 
 be traced into the vehement affections of the mind. For what is 
 meant by that singular frenzy of poets, which the Greeks, ascribing to 
 divine inspiration, distinguished by the appellation of enthusiasm, but 
 a style and expression directly prompted by nature itself, and exhib- 
 iting the true and express image of a mind violently agitated ? 
 When, as it were, the secret avenues, the interior recesses of the 
 soul are thrown open ; when the inmost conceptions are displayed, 
 rushing together in one turbid stream, without order or connexion. 
 Hence sudden exclamations, frequent interrogations, apostrophes 
 even to inanimate objects : for to those, who are violently agitated 
 
 1 NUMB. xxi. 27. xxiii. and xxiv. frequently. MIC. ii. 4. IsAi-joy. 4. PSAL. 
 xlix. 5. Ixxviii. 2. JOB xxvii. 1. xxix. 1. 
 
LECT. IV. SENTENTIOUS STYLE. 39 
 
 themselves, the universal nature of things seems under a necessity of .X 
 being affected with similar emotions. Every impulse of the mind, 
 however, has not only a peculiar style and expression, but a certain 
 tone of voice and a certain gesture of the body adapted to it : some 
 indeed, not satisfied with that expression which language affords, 
 have added to it dancing and song ; and as we know there existed 
 in the first ages a very strict connexion between these arts and that 
 of poetry, we may possibly be indebted to them for the accurately ad- 
 measured verses and feet, to the end that the modulation of the lan- 
 guage might accord with the music of the voice, and the motion of 
 the body. (B) 
 
 Poetry, in this its rude origin and commencement, being derived 
 from nature, was in time improved by art, and applied to the purpo- 
 ses of utility and delight. For as it owed its birth to the affections 
 of the mind, and had availed itself of the assistance of harmony, it 
 was found, on account of the exact and vivid delineation of the objects 
 which it described, to be excellently adapted to the exciting of every 
 internal emotion, and making a more forcible impression upon the 
 mind than abstract reasoning could possibly effect ; it was found ca- 
 pable of interesting and affecting the senses and passions, of captiva- 
 ting the ear, of directing the perception to the minutest circumstan- 
 ces, and of assisting the memory in the retention of them. Whatev- 
 er therefore deserved to be generally known and accurately remem- 
 bered, was (by those men, who on this very account were denomina- 
 ted wise) (c) adorned with a jocund and captivating style, illuminated 
 with the varied and splendid colouring of language, and moulded in- 
 to sentences comprehensive, pointed and harmonious. It became 
 the peculiar province of poetry to depict the great, the beautiful, the 
 becoming, the virtuous ; to embellish and recommend the precepts of 
 religion and virtue, to transmit to posterity excellent and sublime ac- 
 tions and sayings ; to celebrate the works of the Deity, his benefi- 
 cence, his wisdom ; to record the memorials of the past, and the pre- 
 dictions of the future. In each of these departments poetry was of 
 singular utility, since before any characters expressive of sounds 
 were invented, at least before they were commonly received, and ap- 
 plied to general use, it seems to have afforded the only means of 
 preserving the rude science of the early times ; and in this respect, to 
 have rendered the want of letters more tolerable : it seems also to 
 have acted the part of a public herald, by whose voice each mem- 
 orable transaction of antiquity was proclaimed, and transmitted 
 through different ages and nations. 
 
40 OP THE PARABOLIC AND L.ECT. IV. 
 
 Such appears by the testimony of authors to have been the un- 
 doubted origin of poetry among heathen nations. It is evident that 
 Greece for several successive ages was possessed of no records but 
 the poetic : for the first who published a prose oration, was Pherecy- 
 des, a man of the isle of Syrus, and contemporary with king Cyrus, 
 who lived some ages posterior to that of Homer and Hesiod : some- 
 what after that time, Cadmus the Milesian began to compose history. 
 The laws themselves were metrical, and adapted to certain musical 
 notes : such were the laws of Charondas, which were sung at the 
 banquets of the Athenians : such were those which were delivered 
 by the Cretans to the ingenuous youth to be learned by rote, with 
 accompaniments of musical melody, in order that by the enchant- 
 ment of harmony, the sentiments might be more forcibly impressed 
 upon their memories. Hence certain poems were denominated 
 vouoi, which implied convivial or banqueting songs, as is re- 
 marked by Aristotle ; who adds, that the same custom of chanting 
 the laws to njusic, existed even in his own time among the Agathyr- 
 si. If we may credit Strabo, the Turdetani, a people of Spain, had 
 laws in verse. But the Germans, as Tacitus positively asserts, had 
 no records or annals but the traditional poems, in which they cele- 
 brated the heroic exploits of their ancestors. In the same manner, 
 and on the same account, the Persians, the Arabs, and many of the 
 most ancient of the Eastern nations, preserved in verse their history 
 and politics, as well as the principles of religion and morals : Thus all 
 science human and divine was deposited in the treasury of the Muses, 
 and thither it was necessary on every occasion to resort. The only 
 mode of instruction, indeed, adapted to human nature in an uncivil- 
 ized state, when the knowledge of letters was very little, if at all, dif- 
 fused, must be that which is calculated to captivate the ear and the 
 passions, which assists the memory, which is not to be delivered in- 
 to the hand, but infused into the mind and heart. (D) 2 
 
 That the case was the same among the Hebrews ; that poetry 
 was both anciently and generally known and practised by them, ap- 
 pears highly probable, as well from the analogy of things, as from 
 some vestiges of poetic language extant in the writings of Moses. 
 The first instance occurs in one of the most remote periods of the 
 
 2 Compare Strabo, Geog. Lib I. and III. Pliny, Nat. Hist. Lib. VII. 56. 
 V. 29. Isidor. Hispal. Orig. Lib. I. 27. Athenaeus, Lib. XIV. 3. Aelian, Var. 
 Hist. Lib. II. 39. Aristotle, Prob. XIX. 2.28. Tacitus, Germ. II. Chardin's 
 Travels, Vol. II. c. XIV. Pococke, Specim. Hist. Arab. p. 158. 
 
. IV. SENTENTIOUS STYLE. 41 
 
 Mosaic history, I mean the address of Lamech to his wives, which 
 is indeed but ill understood in general, because the occasion of itl 
 is very obscurely intimated : nevertheless, if we consider the apt con-! 
 struction of the words, the exact distribution of the period into three 
 distichs, and the two parallel, and as it were corresponding senti- i 
 ments in each distich ; I apprehend it will easily be acknowledged 
 as an indubitable specimen of the poetry of the first ages : 
 
 " Hadah et Sillah, audite vocem meam ; 
 
 " Uxores Lamechi, auscultate eloquium meum : 
 
 " Quod virum occidi in vulnus meum, 
 
 " Et puerum in livorem meum : 
 
 " Quia septempliciter vindicabitur Cain, 
 
 " Et Lamech septuagesies septies."3 
 
 Another example, which I shall point out to you, appears no less 
 to bear the genuine marks of poetry than the former, and that is the 
 execration of Noah upon Ham ; with the magnificent predictions of 
 prosperity to his two brothers, to Shem in particular, and the ardent 
 breathings of his soul for their future happiness : these are expressed 
 in three equal divisions of verses, concluding with an indignant re- 
 petition of One of the preceding lines : 
 
 " Maledictus Chanaan ! 
 
 " Servus servorum erit fratribus suis. 
 
 " Benedictus lehova Deus Shemi ! 
 
 " Et sit Chanaan servus illis. 
 
 " Dilatet Deus lapheturn, 
 
 " Et habitet in tentoriis Shemi ; 
 
 " Et sit Chanaan servus illis." 4 
 
 The inspired benedictions of the patriarchs Isaac and Jacob are alto- 
 gether of the same kind :5 and the great importance of these prophe- 
 cies, not only to the destiny of the people of Israel, but to that of the 
 whole human race, renders it highly probable that they were extant 
 in this form before the time of Moses ; and that they were afterwards 
 committed to writing by the inspired historian, exactly as he had re- 
 ceived them from his ancestors, without presuming to bestow on 
 these sacred oracles any adventitious ornaments or poetical colour- 
 ing. 
 
 The matter will appear yet clearer, if we advert to some other 
 verses, a little different in kind, to which the same historian appeals 
 (as well known and popular) in testimony of the truth of his narra- 
 tion. Thus, when he relates the first incursion of the Israelites in- 
 
 3 Gen. iv. 23, 24. 4 Gen. ix. 25, 27. 5 Gen. xxvii. 27, 29, 39, 40. xlix. 
 6 
 
4*/i OF THE PARABOLIC AND L.ECT. IV. 
 
 to the country of the Amorites, in order to mark more precisely the 
 boundaries of that state, and to explain more satisfactorily the nature 
 of the victories not long before achieved over the Moabites, he cites 
 two fragments of poems ; the one from the book of the wars of Je- 
 hovah, 6 the other from the sayings ('ff^^O'Q) of those who spoke in 
 parables ; that is, as appears from the nature of things, from some 
 panegyrical or triumphal poem of the Amorites. (E) To which we may 
 add, what immediately follow the prophecies of Balaam the Mesopot- 
 amian, pronounced also in the parabolic style, as appears from 
 the extreme neatness of the composition, the metrical and parallel 
 sentences, the sublimity of the language and sentiment, and the un- 
 common elegance of the verse. Hence it is easy to collect, that 
 this kind of poetry, which appears perfectly analogous to all the rest 
 of the Hebrew poetry that still remains, was neither originally the 
 production of Moses, nor peculiar to the Jewish nation, but that it 
 may be accounted among the first fruits of human ingenuity, and 
 was cultivated by the Hebrews and other eastern nations from the 
 first ages, as the recorder of events, the preceptor of morals, the histo- 
 rian of the past, and prophet of the future. 7 (r) 
 
 Concerning the utility of poetry, therefore, the Hebrews have 
 maintained the same opinion throughout all ages. This being always 
 accounted the highest commendation of science and erudition : " To 
 understand a proverb and the interpretation ; the words of the wise 
 and their dark sayings ;" 8 under which titles two species of poetry 
 seem to be particularly indicated, different indeed in many respects, 
 ret agreeing in some. The one I call didactic, which expresses 
 some moral precept in elegant and pointed verses, often illustrated 
 >y a comparison either direct or implied ; similar to the yvwpat, 
 md adages of the wise men : the other was truly poetical, 
 idorned with all the more splendid colouring of language, magnifi- 
 /cently sublime in the sentiments, animated by the most pathetic ex- 
 ' pression, and diversified and embellished by figurative diction and 
 poetical imagery ; such are almost all the remaining productions of 
 the prophets. Brevity or conciseness was a characteristic of each of 
 these forms of composition, and a degree of obscurity was not unfre- 
 
 6 Numb. xxi. 14, 15. 2730. 
 
 7 To the above examples from the books of Moses add the following : Gen. 
 xxi. 6, 7. xxiv. 60. xxv. 23. xxviii. 16, 17. Observe also whether the answer 
 of God, Numb. xii. 6 8, be not of the same kind. 
 
 8 See Prov. i. 6. Wisd. viii. 8. Ecclus. i. 25. vi. 35. xviii. 29. xxxix. 1,2,3- 
 
IV. SENTENTIOUS STYLE. 43 
 
 quently attendant upon this studied brevity. Each consisted of met- 
 rical sentences ; on which account chiefly the poetic and proverbial 
 language seem to have obtained the same appellation ; and in these 
 two kinds of composition all knowledge human and divine was 
 thought to be comprised. 
 
 The sententious style, therefore, I define to be the primary char- A 
 acteristic of the Hebrew poetry, as being the most conspicuous and 
 comprehensive of all. For although that style seems naturally adap- 
 ted only to the didactic, yet it is found to pervade the whole of the 
 poetry of the Hebrews. There are indeed many passages in the 
 sacred writings highly figurative, and infinitely sublime ; but all of 
 them manifestly assume a sententious form. There are some too, 
 and those not inelegant, which possess little more of the characteris- 
 tics of poetry than the versification, and that terseness or adaptation 
 of the sentences, which constitutes so important a part even of the 
 harmony of verse. This is manifest in most of the didactic psalms, 
 as well as in some others, the matter, order, diction, and thoughts of 
 which are clearly historical ; but the conformation of the sentences 
 wholly poetical. There is indeed so strict an analogy between the 
 structure of the sentences and the versification, that when the former 
 chances to be confused or obscured, it is scarcely possible to form a 
 conjecture concerning the division of the lines or verses, which is 
 almost the only part of the Hebrew versification that remains. 'It 
 was therefore necessary, before I could explain the mechanism of the 
 Hebrew verse, to remark many particulars which properly belong to 
 the present topic. 
 
 The reason of this (not to detain you with what is obvious in al- 
 most every page of the sacred poetry) is as follows. The Hebrew po- 
 ets frequently express a sentiment with the utmost brevity and simplic- 
 ity,- illustrated by no circumstances, adorned with no epithets (which] 
 in truth they seldom use ;) they afterwards call in the aid of ornament ; 1 
 they repeat, they vary, they amplify the same sentiment ; and add- I 
 ing one or more sentences which run parallel to each other, they 
 express the same or a similar, and often a~cbntrary sentiment in near- 
 ly the same form of words. Of these three modes of ornament at 
 least they make the most frequent use, namely, the amplification of 
 the same ideas, the accumulation of others, and the opposition or an- 
 tithesis of such as are contrary to each other ; they dispose the cor-' 
 responding sentences in jregular distichs adapted to each other, and 
 of an equal length, in which, for the most part, things answer to 
 
44 OF THE PARABOLIC STYLE. L.ECT. IV. 
 
 things, and words to words, as the son of Sirach says of the works of 
 God, two and two, one against the other? These forms again are 
 diversified by notes of admiration, comparison, negation, and more 
 particularly interrogation, whence a singular degree of force and ele- 
 vation is frequently added to the composition. 
 
 Each language possesses a peculiar genius and character, on 
 which depend the principles of the versification, and in a great meas- 
 ure the style or colour of the poetic diction. In Hebrew the fre- 
 quent or rather perpetual splendour of the sentences, and the accu- 
 rate recurrence of the clauses, seem absolutely necessary to distin- 
 guish the verse : so that what in any other language would appear 
 a superfluous and tiresome repetition, in this cannot be omitted 
 without injury to the poetry. This excellence, therefore, the sen- 
 tentious style possesses in the Hebrew poetry, that it necessarily 
 prevents a prosaic mode of expression, and always reduces a com- 
 position to a kind of metrical form. For as Cicero remarks, " in 
 certain forms of expression there exists such a degree of conciseness, 
 that a sort of metrical arrangement follows of course. For when 
 words or sentences directly correspond, or when contraries are op- 
 posed exactly to each other, or even when words of a similar sound 
 run parallel, the composition will in general have a metrical ca- 
 (T dence." 10 It possesses, however, great force in other respects, and 
 produces several great and remarkable beauties of composition. 
 For, as the sacred poems derive from this source a great part of 
 their elegance, harmony, and splendour, so they are not unfrequent- 
 ly indebted to it for their sublimity and strength. Frequent and 
 laconic sentences render the composition remarkably concise, har- 
 monious, and animated ; the brevity itself imparts to it additional 
 strength, and being contracted within a narrower space, it has a 
 more energetic and pointed effect. 
 
 Examples sufficient to evince the truth of these remarks will oc- 
 cur hereafter in the passages which will be quoted in illustration of 
 other parts of our subject : and, in all probability, on a future occa- 
 sion the nature of my undertaking will require a more ample dis- 
 cussion of this subject. 11 
 
 9 ECCLUS. xxxiii. 15. 10 Orator. H See Lect. XIX. 
 
LECTURE T. 
 
 OF THE FIGURATIVE STYLE, AND ITS DIVISIONS. 
 
 2. The Figurative Style; to be treated rather according to the genius of the Hebrew poetry 
 than according to the forms and arrangements of rhetoricians. The definition and constituent 
 parts of the Figurative Style, Metaphor, Allegory, Comparison, Personification. The rea- 
 son of this mode of treating the subject : difficulties in reading the Hebrew poetry, which 
 result from the Figurative Style ; how to be avoided. 1. Of the Metaphor, including a gen- 
 eral disquisition concerning poetic imagery: the nature of which is explained; and four 
 principal sources pointed out : Nature, Common Life, Religion, History. 
 
 IN my last lecture I offered it as my opinion, that the Hebrew 
 word expressive of the poetic style had not one simple and distinct 
 meaning, but might commodiously enough be supposed to admit of 
 three constituent parts or divisions : in other words, that it might im- 
 ply the sententious, the figurative ; and the sublime. On the senten- 
 tious style, its nature, origin, and effect in the Hebrew poetry, I of- 
 fered such brief remarks as occurred to me at the time : and now 
 that I am about to treat of the figurative style, I observe before 
 me an infinity of matter and an ample field ; in which, lest we 
 should too freely expatiate, or irregularly wander, the scope and order 
 of our journey, the outlets of the road, the circuitous paths, and the 
 most direct avenues, are in the first place to be carefully investigated. 
 In order to the full comprehension also of those matters which will 
 be treated of in this part, for they are in some degree remote from 
 common use, it may not be improper previously to explain as clearly 
 as possible, and therefore with some degree of copiousness, my im- 
 mediate design ; on what principles, in what order and method, and 
 to what end I mean to treat of the figures which are chiefly employed 
 in the Hebrew poetry. 
 
 The word bttJtt, in its most common acceptation, denotes re- 
 semblance, and is therefore directly expressive of the figurative style, 
 as far as the nature of figures consists in the substitution of words, 
 or rather of ideas, for those which they resemble ; which is the case 
 even with most of the figures that have been remarked by the rhet- 
 oricians. This definition therefore of the figurative style, drawn 
 both from the writings of the Hebrews, and the sense of the word 
 
40 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. LfiCT. V. 
 
 itself, I mean to follow in explaining the nature of their poetry : and 
 this I do the more willingly, because it will enable me to confine 
 our investigation within narrower limits. I shall also venture to 
 omit the almost innumerable forms of the Greek rhetoricians, who 
 possessed the faculty of inventing names in the highest perfection ; 
 I shall neglect even their primary distinction between tropes and 
 figures, 1 and their subdivisions of the figures themselves, denominat- 
 ing some figures of expression, and some figures of sentiment. In 
 disregarding these distinctions, I might in my own justification al- 
 ledge the authority of C. Artorius Proculus, who gave the name of 
 figure to a trope, as Q,uintilian informs us ; and indeed the example 
 of duintilian himself. 2 I omit them, however, upon a different 
 ground ; for I do not pretend to say that in their proper place they are 
 destitute either of reality or use ; but our present concern is not to 
 explain the sentiments of the Greek but of the Hebrew writers. By 
 figurative language, I would be understood to mean that, in which 
 I one or more images or words are substituted in the room of others, 
 or even introduced by way of illustration upon the principle of re- 
 semblance. That resemblance, if it be only intimated, and confin- 
 ed to a few words, is called a Metaphor ; if the figure be contin- 
 ued, it is called an Allegory ; if it be directly expressed by compar- 
 ing the ideas together, and by the insertion of any words expressive 
 of likeness, it is called Simile or Comparison. On the same prin- 
 ciple of resemblance the Prosopopoeia, or Personification, is also 
 founded, when a character and person is assigned even to things inan- 
 imate or fictitious (which is a bolder species of metaphor) or when 
 a probable but fictitious speech is attributed to a real personage. (A) 
 
 1 mean, therefore, to treat of these figures in the order just now 
 proposed ; not as supposing them the only figures made use of by 
 the Hebrew poets ; but in the first place, because they chiefly come 
 within the definition of the parabolic style ; because too they most 
 frequently occur in the sacred poetry, and constitute some of its 
 greatest beauties : insomuch that their true force and energy is in 
 no other composition so apparent. I must add, that it will not be 
 
 1 This distinction is very judiciously laid aside, since each of these words 
 is but a partial mode of expressing the same thing. A trope signifies no more 
 than the turning a word from its appropriate meaning ; and & figure, an appear- 
 ance incidentally assumed, without the least implication of its being borrowed. 
 r Henley, 
 
 2 See QUINT. Lib. IX. I. 
 
. V. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 47 
 
 sufficient to illustrate them barely by producing a few examples, as 
 if matters uncommon and abstruse were the object of our inquiry, 
 and not such as spontaneously occur on almost every occasion. It 
 will be necessary to proceed still further if possible ; it will be ne- 
 cessary to inquire whether there was any mode of using them pe- 
 culiar to the Hebrews ; the particular and interior elegancies of them 
 are to be investigated ; and to this object of our pursuit we shall not, 
 I apprehend, find any easier access, than by that track, which the 
 nature of the subject itself obviously indicates to us. 
 
 It is the peculiar design of the figurative style, taken in the j 
 sense in which I have explained it, to exhibit objects in a clearer or / 
 more striking, in a sublimer or more forcible manner. Since, there- 
 fore, whatever is employed with a view to the illustration and eleva- 
 tion of another subject, ought itself to be as familiar and obvious, at 
 the same time as grand and magnificent as possible, it becomes ne- 
 cessary to adduce images from those objects, with which both the wri- 
 ters and the persons they address are well acquainted, and which 
 have been constantly esteemed of the highest dignity and importance. 
 On the other hand, if the reader be accustomed to habits of life to- 
 tally different from those of the author, and be conversant only with 
 different objects ; in that case many descriptions and sentiments, 
 which were clearly illustrated and magnificently expressed by the 
 one, will appear to the other mean and obscure, harsh and unnat- 
 ural : and this will be the case more or less, in proportion as they 
 differ or are more remote from each other in time, situation, customs 
 sacred or profane, in fine, in all the forms of public and private life. 
 On this account difficulties must occur in the perusal of almost eve- 
 ry work of literature, and particularly in poetry, where every thing 
 is depicted and illustrated with the greatest variety and abundance of 
 imagery ; they must be still more numerous in such of the poets 
 as are foreign and ancient ; in the Orientals above all foreigners, 
 they being the farthest removed from our customs and manners ; 
 and of all the Orientals more especially in the Hebrews, theirs being 
 confessedly the most ancient compositions extant. To all who apply 
 themselves to the study of their poetry, for the reasons which I have 
 enumerated, difficulties and inconveniences must necessarily occur. 
 Not only the antiquity of these writings forms a principal obstruc- 
 tion in many respects ; but the manner of living, of speaking, of 
 thinking, which prevailed in those times, will be found altogether 
 different from our customs and habits. There is therefore great dan- 
 
48 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. LiECT. V. 
 
 ger, lest viewing them from an improper situation, and rashly estima- 
 ting all things by our own standard, we form an erroneous judge- 
 ment. 
 
 Of this kind of mistake we are to be always aware, and these in- 
 conveniences are to be counteracted by all possible diligence : nor is 
 it enough to be acquainted with the language of this people, their 
 manners, discipline, rites and ceremonies : we must even investigate 
 their inmost sentiments, the manner and connexion of their thoughts ; 
 /in one word, we must see all things with their eyes, estimate all things 
 \ /by their opinions : we must endeavour as much as possible to read 
 Hebrew as the Hebrews would have read it. We must act as the as- 
 tronomers with regard to that branch of their science which is called 
 comparative, who in order to form a more perfect idea of the general 
 system, and its different parts, conceive themselves as passing through, 
 and surveying the whole universe, migrating from one planet to anoth- 
 er, and becoming for a short time inhabitants of each. Thus they 
 clearly contemplate, and accurately estimate what each possesses 
 peculiar to itself with respect to situation, celerity, satellites, and its 
 relation to the rest ; thus they distinguish what and how different an 
 appearance of the universe is exhibited according to the different 
 situations from which it is contemplated. In like manner, he who 
 | would perceive and feel the peculiar elegancies of the Hebrew 
 \ poetry, must imagine himself exactly situated as the persons for 
 whom it was written, or even as the writers themselves ; he must not 
 attend to the ideas which on a cursory reading certain words would 
 obtrude upon his mind ; he is to feel them as a Hebrew, hearing or 
 delivering the same words at the same time, and in the same coun- 
 try. As far as he is able to pursue this plan, so far he will compre- 
 hend their force and excellence. This indeed in many cases it will 
 not be easy to do; in some it will be impossible ; in all, however, it 
 ought to be regarded, and in those passages particularly in which the 
 figurative style is found to prevail. 
 
 In the metaphor for instance (and what I remark concerning it 
 may be applied to all the rest of the figures, since they are all natural- 
 ly allied to each other) two circumstances are to be especially regard- 
 ed, on which its whole force and elegance will depend : first, that re- 
 semblance which is the ground-work of the figurative and parabolic 
 style, and which will perhaps be sufficiently apparent even from a com- 
 mon and indistinct knowledge of the objects ; arid secondly, the beau- 
 ty or dignity of the idea which is substituted for another ; and this is 
 
. V. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 49 
 
 a circumstance of unusual nicety. An opinion of grace and digni- 
 ty results frequently, not so much from the objects themselves, in 
 which these qualities are supposed to exist, as from the disposition 
 of the spectator ; or from some slight and obscure relation or connex- 
 ion which they have with some other things. Thus it sometimes hap- 
 pens that the external form and lineaments may be sufficiently appar- 
 rent, though the original and intrinsic beauty and elegance be totally 
 erased by time. 
 
 For these reasons, it will perhaps not be an useless undertaking 
 when we treat of the metaphors of the sacred poets, to enter more ful- 
 ly into the nature of their poetical imagery in general, of which the 
 metaphor constitutes so principal a part. By this mode of proceed- 
 ing, we shall be enabled not only to discern the general beauty and 
 elegance of this figure in the Hebrew poetry, but the peculiar ele- 
 gance, which it frequently possesses, if we only consider how for- 
 cible it must have appeared to those for whom it was originally in- 
 tended ; and what a connexion and agreement these figurative ex- 
 pressions must have had with their circumstances, feelings and opin- 
 ions. Thus many expressions and allusions, which even now ap- 
 pear beautiful, must, when considered in this manner, shine with 
 redoubled lustre ; and many, which now strike the superficial read- 
 er as coarse, mean, or deformed, must appear graceful, elegant, and 
 sublime. 
 
 The whole course of nature, this immense universe of things, of- 
 fers itself to human contemplation, and affords an infinite variety, a 
 confused assemblage, a wilderness, as it were, of images, which, be- 
 ing collected as the materials of poetry, are selected and produced 
 as occasion dictates. The mind of man is that mirror of Plato, 3 
 which, as he turns about at pleasure, and directs to a different point of 
 view, he creates another sun, other stars, planets, animals, and 
 even another self. In this shadow or image of himself, which man 
 beholds when the mirror is turned inward towards himself, he is en- 
 abled in some degree to contemplate the souls of other men : for, 
 from what he feels and perceives in himself, he forms conjectures 
 concerning others ; and apprehends and describes the manners, af- 
 fections, conceptions of others from his own. Of this assemblage 
 of images, which the human mind collects from all nature, and even 
 from itself, that is, from its own emotions and operations, the least 
 
 3 De Rep. Lib. Xp subinit. 
 
50 FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE- L.ECT. V. 
 
 clear and evident are those which are explored by reason and argu- 
 ment ; the more evident and distinct are those which are formed 
 from the impressions made by external objects on the senses ; and 
 of these, the clearest and most vivid are those which are perceived 
 by the eye. Hence poetry abounds most in those images which 
 are furnished by the senses, and chiefly those of the sight ; in or- 
 der to depict the obscure by the more manifest, the subtile by the 
 more substantial ; and, as far as simplicity is its object, it pursues 
 those ideas which are most familiar and most evident; of which 
 there is such an abundance, that they serve as well the purpose of 
 ornament and variety as that of illustration. 
 
 Those images or pictures of external objects, which like lights 
 adorn and distinguish the poetic diction, are indeed infinite in num- 
 ber. In an immensity of matter, however, that we may be enabled 
 to pursue some kind of order, and not wander in uncertainty and 
 doubt, we may venture to fix upon four sources of these ideas, whith- 
 er all that occur may be commodiously referred. Thus, poetical 
 imagery may be derived first, from natural objects ; secondly, from 
 the manners, arts, and circumstances of common life ; thirdly, from 
 things sacred ; and lastly, from the more remarkable facts recorded 
 in sacred history. (B) From each of these topics a few cases will be 
 selected, and illustrated by examples, which though chiefly of the 
 metaphorical kind, will yet be in a great measure applicable to 
 the other figures which have been specified ; these we shall after- 
 wards take an opportunity to explain, when not only the figures 
 themselves will be noticed, but also the different forms and rules 
 for their introduction and embellishment. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 OF POETIC IMAGERY FROM THE OBJECTS OF NATURE. 
 
 The frequent use of the metaphor renders a style magnificent, but often obscure: the Hebrew 
 poets have accomplished the sublime without losing perspicuity Three causes assigned for 
 this singular fact : first, the imagery which they introduce is in general derived from familiar 
 objects : again, in the use and accommodation of it they pursue a certain custom and anal- 
 ogy : lastly, they make the most free use of that which is most familiar, and the nature $ and 
 extent of which is most generally known These observations confirmed by examples 
 (1.) from natural objects : such as are common to mankind in general ; such as are more fa- 
 miliar to the Hebrews than to others ; and such as are peculiar to them. 
 
 " THE great excellence of the poetic dialect," as Aristotle most 
 judiciously remarks, "consists in perspicuity without meanness. 
 Familiar terms and words in common use form a clear and perspic- 
 uous, but frequently a low style ; unusual or foreign expressions 
 give it an air of grandeur, but frequently render it obscure." 1 Of 
 those which he calls foreign, the principal force lies in the metaphor ; 
 but "as the temperate and reasonable use of this figure enlivens 
 a composition, so the frequent introduction of metaphors obscures 
 it ; and if they very commonly occur, it will be little better than 
 an enigma." 2 If the Hebrew poets be examined by the rules and 
 precepts of this great philosopher and critic, it will readily be allow- 
 ed, that they have assiduously attended to the sublimity of their com- 
 positions by the abundance and splendour of their figures ; though 
 it may be doubted whether they might not have been more temper- 
 ate in the use of them. For in those poems at least, in which some- 
 thing of uncommon grandeur and sublimity is aimed at, there pre- 
 dominates a perpetual, I had almost said a continued use of the met- 
 aphor, sometimes daringly introduced, sometimes rushing in with 
 imminent hazard of propriety. A metaphor thus licentiously intrud- 
 ed, is frequently continued to an immoderate extent. The Orien- 
 tals are attached to this style of composition ; and many flights which 
 our ears, too fastidious perhaps in these respects, will scarcely bear, 
 must be allowed to the general freedom and boldness of these wri- 
 ters. But if we examine the sacred poems, and consider at the 
 same time that a great degree of obscurity must result from the to- 
 
 l Poet. c. 22. 2 Ib. et QUINT, viii. 6. 
 
5% POETIC IMAGERY PROM L.ECT. VI. 
 
 tal oblivion in which many sources of their imagery must be invol- 
 ved ; of which many examples are to be found in the Song of Solo- 
 mon, as well as in other parts of the sacred writings ; we shall, I 
 think, find cause to wonder that in writings of so great antiquity, 
 and in such an unlimited use of figurative expression, there should 
 yet appear so much purity and perspicuity, both in sentiment and lan- 
 guage. (A) In order to explore the real cause of this remarkable fact, 
 and to explain more accurately the genius of the parabolic style, I 
 shall premise a few observations concerning the use of the metaphor 
 in the Hebrew poetry ; which I trust will be sufficiently clear to 
 those who peruse it with attention, and which I think in general are 
 founded in truth. 
 
 In the first place, the Hebrew pacts frequently make use of im- 
 agery borrowed from common life, and from objects well known and 
 familiar. On this the perspicuity of figurative language will be found 
 in a great measure to depend. For a principal use of metaphors is 
 to illustrate the subject by a tacit comparison ; but if, instead of fa- 
 miliar ideas, we introduce such as are new, and not perfectly under- 
 stood ; if we endeavour to demonstrate what is plain by what is oc- 
 cult, instead of making a subject clearer, we render it more perplex- 
 ed and difficult. To obviate this inconvenience, we must take care, 
 not only to avoid the violent and too frequent use of metaphors, but 
 also not to introduce such as are obscure and but slightly related. 
 From these causes, and especially from the hatter, arises the difficul- 
 ty of the Latin satirist Persius ; and but for the uncommon accura- 
 cy of the sacred poets in this respect, we should now be scarcely 
 able to comprehend a single word of their productions. 
 
 In the next place, the Hebrews not only deduce their metaphors 
 from familiar, or well known objects, but preserve one constant track 
 and manner in the use and accommodation of them to their subject. 
 The parabolic may indeed be accounted a peculiar style, in which 
 things moral, political, and divine, are marked and represented by 
 comparisons implied or expressed, and adopted from sensible objects. 
 As in common and plain language, therefore, certain words serve 
 for signs of certain ideas ; so, for the most part, in the parabolic 
 style, certain natural images serve to illustrate certain ideas more ab- 
 struse and refined. This assertion indeed is not to be understood 
 absolutely without exception ; but thus far at least we may affirm, 
 that the sacred poets in illustrating the same subject, make a much 
 more constant use of the same imagery than other poets are accus- 
 
. VI. THE OBJECTS OF NATURE. 53 
 
 tomed to : and this practice has a surprising effect in preserving 
 perspicuity. 
 
 I must observe in the last place, that the Hebrews employ more 
 freely and more daringly that imagery in particular, which is bor- 
 rowed from the most obvious and familiar objects, and the figurative 
 effect of which is established and defined by general and constant 
 use. This, as it renders a composition clear and luminous even 
 where there is the greatest danger of obscurity ; so it shelters effect- 
 ually the sacred poets from the imputation of exuberance, harsh- 
 ness, or bombast. 
 
 In order to confirm and illustrate by examples what has been 
 briefly set forth in the preceding remarks, I shall proceed to con- 
 sider a few instances of metaphors derived from natural objects, (B) 
 and such as are most in use : This I shall do in such a manner, 
 that whatever observations occur upon one or two of them, may be 
 applied to many other instances. 
 
 The images of light and darkness are commonly made use of in 
 all languages to imply or denote prosperity and adversity, agreeably 
 to the common sense and perception which all men have of the ob- 
 jects themselves. But the Hebrews employ those metaphors more 
 frequently, and with less variation than other people ; indeed they 
 seldom refrain from them whenever the subject requires, or will even 
 admit of their introduction. These expressions, therefore, may be 
 accounted among those forms of speech,which in the parabolic style 
 are established and defined ; since they exhibit the most noted and 
 familiar images, and the application of them on this occasion is jus- 
 tified by an acknowledged analogy, and approved by constant and 
 unvarying custom. In the use of images, so conspicuous and so 
 familiar among the Hebrews, a degree of boldness is excusable. 
 The Latins introduce them more sparingly, and therefore are more 
 cautious in the application of them : 
 
 " Lucem redde tuae, Dux bone, patriae : 
 " Instar veris enim vultus ubi tuus 
 6C Affulsit populo, gratior it dies, 
 " Et soles melius nitent." 3 
 
 The most respectable of the Roman muses have scarcely any thing 
 mere elegant, I will add at the same time, that they have scarcely 
 any thing bolder on any similar occasion. But the Hebrews, upon 
 a subject more sublime indeed in itself, and illustrating it by an idea 
 
 3 Hor. Carm, iv. 5. 
 
54 POETIC IMAGERY FROM L.ECT. VI 
 
 which was more habitual to them, more daringly exalt their strains,, 
 and give a loose rein to the spirit of poetry. They display, for in- 
 stance, not the image of the spring, of Aurora, of the dreary night, 
 but the sun and stars as rising with increased splendour in a new 
 creation, or again involved in chaos and primeval darkness. Does 
 the sacred bard promise to his people a renewal of the divine favour, 
 and a recommencement of universal prosperity ? In what magnificent 
 colours does he depict it ! such indeed as no translation can illus- 
 trate, but such as none can obscure : 
 
 " Erit lux lunae instar soils meridian! ; 
 
 " Erunt solares radii semtemplices." 4 
 
 But even this is not sufficient. 
 
 " Non diurna solis luce uteris amplius ; 
 
 " Neque ad illustrandam noctem luna tibi illucebit : 
 
 " Sed erit tibi lehova aeterna lux ; 
 
 " Et gloria tibi erit Deus tuus. 
 
 " Non occidet amplius sol tuus, 
 
 " Nee luna tua sese retrahet ; 
 
 " Nam lehova erit tibi aeterna lux, 
 
 " Et dies moeroris tui desinent."5 
 
 In another place he has admirably diversified the same sentiment : 
 
 " Et pudebit lunam, et erubescet sol meridianus ; 
 " Cum regnat lehova exercituum, 
 " In monte Zione et in Hierosolymis, 
 " Et coram senioribus suis gloriose."6 
 
 On the other hand, denouncing ruin against the proud king of 
 Egypt: 
 
 " Cum extinguam te, obtegam coelos ? 
 
 " Et Stellas eorum atrabo ; 
 
 " Solem nube involvam, 
 
 " Nee splendorem suum emittet luna : 
 
 " Omnia coeli lumina supra te obscurabo, 
 
 " Terramque tuam tenebris operiam, edicit Dominus lehova." 7 
 
 These expressions are bold and daring : but the imagery is well 
 known, the use of it is common, the signification definite ; they are 
 therefore perspicuous, clear, and truly magnificent. 
 
 There are, moreover, other images from natural objects, which 
 although in some measure common to other nations as well as the 
 Hebrews, are nevertheless, from the situation and nature of the coun- 
 try, much better known and more familiar to them. There is no 
 
 4 ISAI. xxx. 26. 5 ISAI. Ix. 19, 20. 6 I SA I. xxiv. 23. ? EZEK. xxxii. 7, 8. 
 
. VI. THE OBJECTS OP NATURE. 55 
 
 ", 
 
 metaphor more frequent in the sacred poems, than that by which 
 sudden and great calamities are expressed under the figure of a del- 
 uge of waters. This metaphor seems to have been remarkably fa- 
 miliar to the Hebrews, as if directly taken from the nature and state 
 of the country. The river Jordan was immediately before their eyes, 
 which annually overflowed its banks ; for the snows of Lebanon and 
 the neighbouring mountains being melted in the beginning of the 
 summer, the waters of the river were often suddenly augmented by 
 the torrents which burst forth from them. The whole country of Pal- 
 estine indeed was watered by very few perennial currents ; but being 
 chiefly mountainous, was exposed to frequent floods, rushing violent- 
 ly along the valleys and narrow passages, after great tempests of rain, 
 which periodically took place at certain seasons : and on this ac- 
 count Moses himself commends to the Israelites the country which 
 they were about to invade, as being totally different from every thing 
 they had experienced in Egypt, or in the desert of Arabia. 8 This 
 image, therefore, though known to all poets and adopted by most, 
 may be accounted peculiarly familiar, local in a manner to the He- 
 brews, and of consequence we cannot wonder at its frequent introduc- 
 tion into their compositions. The prophet seems to have depicted 
 the face of nature exactly as it appeared to him, and to have adapted 
 it to the figurative description of his own situation, when from the 
 banks of Jordan, and the mountains at the head of that river, he 
 pours forth the tempestuous violence of his sorrow with a force of 
 language and an energy of expression, which has been seldom equal- 
 led : 
 
 " Abyssus abyssum inclanfiat, eircumsonantibus tuis cataractis ; 
 " Fluctus tui omnes undaeque me obruerunt."9 
 
 It may not be improper to remark in this place, that though this 
 metaphor is so usual in all the other sacred writers, whenever an oc- 
 casion presents itself of introducing it, the author of Job, in the 
 whole of that poem, which from the nature of the subject presented 
 excellent opportunities of employing it, has not more than twice, 
 and then but slightly, made the least allusion to it. 10 Nature, indeed, 
 presented a different aspect to the author, whoever he was, of that 
 most noble poem, if, as many learned men conjecture, it was com- 
 posed in some part of Arabia, for which, I confess, there is great ap- 
 
 8 See SANDYS' Travels, B. III. DEUT. viii. 7. xi. 10, 11. JOSH. iii. 15. 
 1 CHRON. xii. 15. Ecclus.xxiv.2G. 9 PsAL. xcii. 8. 
 
 10 See JOB xxii. 11. xxvii. 20. 
 
56 POETIC IMAGERY FROM L,ECT. VI. 
 
 pearance of argument, from that famous simile, in which he com- 
 pares his friends with the perfidious brook ; n a comparison manifestly 
 taken from the rocky parts of Arabia , and adorned by many images 
 proper to that region. 
 
 Finally, there is a species of imagery derived also from natural 
 objects, altogether peculiar to the Hebrews. Among the mountains 
 of Palestine, the most remarkable, and consequently the most cel- 
 ebrated in the sacred poetry, are mount Lebanon and mount Carmel. 
 The one, remarkable as well for its height as for its extent, magnitude, 
 and the abundance of the cedars which adorned its summit, exhibit- 
 ing a striking and substantial appearance of strength and majesty. 
 The other, rich and fruitful, abounding with vines, olives, and deli- 
 cious fruits, in a most flourishing state both by nature and cultivation, 
 and displaying a delightful appearance of fertility, beauty, and grace. 
 The different form and aspect of these two mountains is most accu- 
 rately defined by Solomon, when he compares the manly dignity 
 with Lebanon, and the beauty and delicacy of the female with Car- 
 mel. 12 Each of them suggests a different general image, which the 
 Hebrew poets adopt for different purposes, expressing that by a met- 
 aphor, which more timid writers would delineate by a direct com- 
 parison. Thus Lebanon is used, by a very bold figure, for the whole 
 people of the Jews, or for the state of the church ; for Jerusalem ; 
 for the temple of Jerusalem ; for the king of Assyria even, and for his 
 army ; for whatever, in a word, is remarkable, august, and sublime : 
 and in the same manner whatever possesses much fertility, wealth, 
 or beauty, is called Carmel. Thus too, by the fat rams, heifers, and 
 bulls of Basan, by the wild beast of the reeds, or lion of Jordan, 
 are denoted the insolent and cruel tyrants of the Gentiles. 13 In this 
 and other imagery of the same kind, though the sacred writers pre- 
 sume to attempt what would not be allowed in the Greek and Latin 
 poets, yet they cannot be accused of any deficiency in perspicuity or 
 elegance, especially if it be remembered that the objects which fur- 
 nished them with this imagery were all familiar, or, if I may be al- 
 lowed the expression, indigenous to the Hebrews.(c) 
 
 In a word, we may generally remark upon this head, that all po- 
 etry, and paticularly that of the Hebrews, deduces its principal or- 
 
 11 JOB vi. 1520. 12 CANT. v. 15. vii. 5. 
 
 13 ISAI. xxxiii. 9. xxxv. 2. ISAI. xxxvii. 24. JER. xxii. 6, 23. ZECH. xi. 
 1. ISAI. x. 34. ISAI. xi. 13. EZEK. xxxi. xvii. 3. ISAI. x. 18. MIC. vii. 14. 
 JER. iv.26. PSAL. xxii. 13. EZEK. xxxix. 18. AMOS iv. 1. Ps. Ixviii. 31. 
 
. VI. THE OBJECTS OF NATURE. 57 
 
 naments or imagery from natural objects : and since these images 
 are formed in the mind of each writer, and expressed conformably to 
 what occurs to his senses, it cannot otherwise happen, but, that 
 through diversity of situation, some will be more familiar, some almost 
 peculiar to certain nations ; and even those which seem most gener- 
 al, will always have some latent connexion with their immediate or- 
 igin, and with their native soil. It is the first duty of a critic, there- 
 fore, to remark, as far as is possible, the situation and habits of the 
 author, the natural history of his country, and the scene of the poem. 
 Unless we continually attend to these points, we shall scarcely be 
 able to judge with any degree of certainty concerning the elegance 
 or propriety of the sentiments : the plainest will sometimes escape 
 our observation ; the peculiar and interior excellencies will remain 
 totally concealed. (D) 
 
LECTURE VII. 
 
 OF POETIC IMAGERY FROM COMMON LIFE. 
 
 Examples of poetic imagery from common life The habits of life extremely simple among the 
 Hebrews, whose principal employments were agriculture and pasturage The dignity of 
 these employments; and the splendour of the imagery which is borrowed from them : Thresh- 
 ing, and the threshing instruments The sublimity of the imagery which is taken from fa- 
 miliar objects, result! from its propriety. The poetic hell of the Hebrews explained ; the 
 imagery of which is borrowed from their subterraneous sepulchres and funeral rites. 
 
 IN my last Lecture I explained three causes, which have enabled 
 the Hebrew poets to preserve in their figurative style the most perfect 
 union between perspicuity and sublimity. I remarked in the first 
 place, that they chiefly employed images taken from familiar objects, 
 such I mean as were generally known and understood ; secondly, 
 that in the use or application of them, they observed a regular track, 
 method, or analogy ; and lastly, that they used most freely that kind 
 of imagery which was most familiar, and the application of which 
 was most generally understood. The truth of these observations 
 will I think find further and more decisive confirmation, if those 
 metaphors be considered, which are taken from arts, manners, and 
 common life. These, you will easily recollect, I before pointed out 
 as another source of poetical imagery : and for this part of the sub- 
 ject a few general observations will suffice, with an example or two 
 out of the great number which present themselves in the sacred wri- 
 tings. The whole course and method of common or domestic life 
 among the Hebrews of the more ancient times, was simple and uni- 
 form in the greatest degree. There existed not that variety of stud- 
 ies and pursuits, of arts, conditions, and employments, which may 
 be observed among other nations, who boast of superior civilization ; 
 and rightly, indeed, if luxury, levity, and pride, be the criterions of 
 it. All enjoyed the same equal liberty ; all of them, as being the 
 offspring of the same ancient stock, boasted an equality of lineage 
 and rank ; there were no empty titles, no ensigns of false glory ; scarce- 
 ly any distinction or precedence but that which resulted from supe- 
 rior virtue or conduct, from the dignity of age and experience, or 
 from services rendered to their country. Separated from the rest of 
 
LECT. VII. POETIC IMAGERY FROM COMMON LIFE. 59 
 
 mankind by their religion and laws, and not at all addicted to com- 
 merce, they were contented with those arts, which were necessary 
 to a simple and uncultivated (or rather uncorrupted) state of life. 
 Thus their principal employments were agriculture and the care of 
 cattle ; they were a nation of husbandmen and shepherds. The lands 
 had been originally parcelled out to the different families ; the por- 
 tions of which (by the laws of the country) could not be alienated by 
 sale, 1 and therefore descended to their posterity without diminution. 
 The fruits of the earth, the produce of his land and labour, consti- 
 tuted the wealth of each individual. Not even the greatest among 
 them esteemed it mean and disgraceful to be employed in the lowest 
 offices of rural labour. In the Scripture history, therefore, we read 
 of eminent persons called to the highest and most sacred offices, he- 
 roes, kings, and prophets, from the plough and from the stalls. 2 
 
 Such being the state of things, we cannot reasonably be surpris- 
 ed to find the Hebrew writers deducing most of their metaphors 
 from those arts particularly, in which they were educated from their 
 earliest years. We are not to wonder that those objects which were 
 most familiar to their senses, afforded the principal ornaments of their 
 poetry ; especially since they furnished so various and so elegant an 
 assortment of materials, that not only the beautiful, but the grand 
 and magnificent might be collected from them. If any person of 
 more nicety than judgement should esteem some of these rustic im- 
 ages groveling or vulgar, it may be of some use to him to be inform- 
 ed, that such an effect can only result from the ignorance of the crit- 
 ic, who, through the medium of his scanty information and peculiar 
 prejudices, presumes to estimate matters of the most remote antiqui- 
 ty ; it cannot reasonably be attributed as an error to the sacred poets, 
 who not only give to those ideas all their natural force and dignity, 
 but frequently by the vivacity and boldness of the figure, exhibit 
 them with additional vigour, ornament, and beauty. 
 
 It would be a tedious task to instance particularly with what em- 
 bellishments of diction, derived from one low and trivial object, (as 
 it may appear to some) the barn, or the threshing-floor, the sacred 
 writers have contrived to add a lustre to the most sublime, and- a 
 force to the most important subjects : Thus " JEHOVAH threshes 
 out the heathen as corn, tramples them under his feet, and disperses 
 
 1 LEV. xxv. 1316, and 23, 24. Compare 1 KINGS xxi. 3. 
 
 2 See JUD. iii. 31. vi. 11. 1 SAM. ix. 3. xi. 5. 2 SAM. vii. 8. PSAL. Ixxviii. 
 72, 73. 1 KINGS xix. 19, 20. AMOS i. 1. vii. 14, 15, 
 
POETIC IMAGERY L.ECT. VII. 
 
 them. He delivers the nations to Israel to be beaten in pieces by 
 an indented flail, or to be crushed by their brazen hoofs. He scat- 
 ters his enemies like chaff upon the mountains, and disperses them 
 with the whirlwind of his indignation." 3 
 
 " Ecce feci te traham ; 
 
 " Tribulum novum, instructum dentibus : 
 
 " Triturabis monies atque comminues, 
 
 " Et colles tanquam in gluraam rediges : 
 
 " Ventilabis eos, ventusque auferet, 
 
 " Et turbo eos dissipabit."* 
 
 Of these quotations it is to be remarked, first, that the nature of 
 this metaphor, and the mode of applying it, are constantly and cau- 
 tiously regarded by the different authors of the sacred poems ; and 
 on this account, notwithstanding the boldness of it, both chastity 
 and perspicuity are preserved : since they apply it solely to exagger- 
 ate the slaughter and dispersion of the wicked. The force and apt- 
 ness of the image itself in illustrating the subject, will also afford a 
 very proper and ready apology for some degree of freedom in the ap- 
 plication of it, particularly if we advert to the nature and method of 
 this rustic operation in Palestine. It was performed in a high situ- 
 ation exposed to the wind, by bruising the ear, either by driving in 
 upon the sheaves a herd of cattle, or else by an instrument construct- 
 ed of large planks, and sharpened underneath with stones or iron ; 
 and sometimes by a machine in the form of a cart, with iron wheels 
 or axles indented, which Varro calls Phcenicum, 5 as being brought to 
 Italy by the Carthaginians from Phoenicia, which was adjacent to 
 Palestine. From this it is plain (not to mention that the descriptions 
 agree in every particular) that the same custom was common both 
 to the Hebrews and the Romans ; and yet I do not recollect that 
 the latter have borrowed any of their poetical imagery from this oc- 
 cupation. It is proper, however, to remark, that this image was ob- 
 vious and familiar to the Hebrews in a high degree, as we learn 
 from what is said of the threshing-floor of Oman 6 the Jebusite, which 
 was situated in an open place (as were all the rest) in Jerusalem it- 
 self, and in the highest part of the city, in the very place, indeed, 
 where the temple of Solomon was afterwards erected. 
 
 3HAB.iii. 12. JOEL iii. 14. JER. li. 33. ISAI. xxi. 10. MIC. iv. 13% 
 PSALM Ixxxiii. 14, 16. ISAI. xvii. 13. 
 
 4 ISAI. xli. 15, 16. 5 De Re Rust, 8. 52. 
 
 6 2 CHRON. iii. 1. 
 
. VII. FROM COMMON LIFE. 61 
 
 Homer, who was uncommonly fond of every picture of rural life, 
 esteemed that under our consideration so beautiful and significant, 
 that, in a few instances, 7 he draws his comparisons from the thresh- 
 ing-floor (for even he was fearful of the boldness of this image in 
 the form of a metaphor.) Two of these comparisons he introduces 
 to illustrate light subjects, contrary to the practice of the Hebrews ; 
 but the third is employed upon a subject truly magnificent, and this, 
 as it approaches in some degree the sublimity of the Hebrew, it may 
 not be improper to recite : 
 
 c &g 3' ore Tig M>ft] fiuag aonsvag tvQVftstcjnovg, 
 TQifi^ievai y.Qi Asvxov ^v'TQu/uica tv orP.wJ , 
 r Piu(ja re ItJiT* tytvovTo fio&v rrco TTOOO* tgiuvxoiv 
 " &g rji* ' AxiM.fjOg ftiYtt-fh'fiov (.tatrv/tg l/tnoi 
 2Titftov ouov vtxvug ts xai uOTtidctg.^ 
 
 This comparison, however, though deservedly accounted one of the 
 grandest and most beautiful which antiquity has transmitted to us, 
 still falls greatly short of the Hebrew boldness and sublimity. A He- 
 brew writer would have compared the hero himself with the instru- 
 ment, and not his horses with the oxen that are harnesssed to it, 
 which is rather too apposite, and too exactly similar. 9 But custom 
 had not given equal license to the Greek poetry ; this image had 
 not been equally familiar, had not occupied the same place as with 
 the Hebrews ; nor had acquired the same force and authority by 
 long prescription. 
 
 I ought not in this place to omit that supremely magnificent de- 
 lineation of the divine vengeance, expressed by imagery taken from 
 the wine-press ; an image which very frequently occurs in the sacred 
 poets, but which no other poetry has presumed to introduce. But 
 where shall we find expressions of equal dignity with the original in 
 any modern language? By what art of the pencil can we exhibit 
 even a shadow or an outline of that description, in which Isaiah de- 
 picts the Messiah as coming to vengeance ? 
 Ille patris vires indutus et iram, 
 Dira rubens graditur, per stragem et fracta potentum 
 Agmina, prona solo ; prostratisque hostibus ultor 
 Insultat ; ceu labra novo spumantia musto 
 Exercens, salit attritas calcator in uvas, 
 Cong-estamque struem subigit : caede atra recenti 
 Crura raadent, rorantque inspersae sanguine vestes. 10 
 
 7 See Iliad v. 499 and xiii. 588. 8 ILIAD, XX. 495. 
 
 9 This will be more fully explained in Lect. XII. 
 
 10 ISAI. Ixiii, 13. 
 
POETIC IMAGERY L.ECT. VII. 
 
 But the instances are innumerable which might be quoted, of met- 
 aphors taken from the manners and customs of the Hebrews. One 
 general remark, however, may be made upon this subject, namely, 
 that from one simple, regular, and natural mode of life having pre- 
 vailed among the Hebrews, it has arisen, that in their poetry these 
 metaphors have less of obscurity, of meanness or depression, than 
 could be expected, when we consider the antiquity of their writings, 
 the distance of the scene, and the uncommon boldness and vivacity 
 of their rhetoric. Indeed, to have made use of the boldest imagery 
 with the most perfect perspicuity, and the most common and familiar 
 with the greatest dignity, is a commendation almost peculiar to the 
 sacred poets. I shall not hesitate to produce an example of this kind, 
 in which the meanness of the image is fully equalled by the plainness 
 and inelegance of the expression ; and yet such is its consistency, 
 such the propriety of its application, that I do not scruple to pro- 
 nounce it sublime. The Almighty threatens the ultimate destruction 
 of Jerusalem in these terms : 
 
 " Et detergam Hierosolymam, 
 
 " Ut deterserit quispiam pate ram ; 
 
 " Detergit earn, pronam in faciem vertit." 11 
 
 But many of these images must falsely appear mean and obscure 
 to us, who differ so materially from the Hebrews in our manners and 
 customs : but in such cases it is our duty neither too rashly to blame, 
 nor too suddenly to despair. The mind should rather exert itself to 
 discover, if possible, the connexion between the literal and the figura- 
 tive meanings, which, in abstruse subjects, frequently depending upon 
 some very delicate and nice relation, eludes our penetration. An ob- 
 solete custom, for instance, or some forgotten circumstance, opportune- 
 ly adverted to, will sometimes restore its true perspicuity and credit 
 to a very intricate passage. Whether the instance I have at present 
 in view may prove of any utility or not in this respect, I will not pre- 
 sume to say ; it may possibly, however, serve to illustrate still further 
 the nature of the Hebrew imagery, and the accuracy of their poets in 
 the application of it. 
 
 Either through choice or necessity, the infernal regions and the 
 state of the dead has been a very common topic with the poets of every 
 nation ; and this difficult subject, which the most vigorous under- 
 standing is unable to fathom by any exertion of reason, and of which 
 
 11 2 KINGS xxi. 13. This is the answer of some prophet as related by the 
 historian. 
 
. VII. FROM COMMON LIFE. 03 
 
 conjecture itself can scarcely form any adequate idea, they have or- 
 namented with all the splendour of description, as one of the most 
 important themes which could engage the human imagination. 
 Thus the prompt and fertile genius of the Greeks, naturally adapted 
 to the fabulous, has eagerly embraced the opportunity to indulge in all 
 the wantonness of fiction, and has peopled the infernal regions with 
 such a profusion of monsters, as could not fail to promote the ridicule 
 even of the ignorant and the vulgar. 12 The conduct of the Hebrews 
 has been very different ; their fancy was restrained upon this subject 
 by the tenets of their religion ; and (notwithstanding the firm per- 
 suasion, of the existence not only of the soul, but of the body after 
 death) we are to remember they were equally ignorant with the rest 
 of mankind of the actual state and situation of the dead. In this case 
 they have acted as in every other : what was plain and commonly 
 understood concerning the dead, that is, what happened to the body, 
 suggested the general imagery to which the Hebrews always resort 
 in describing the state and condition of departed souls, and in form- 
 ing what may be termed, if the expression be allowable, their poetical 
 hell. It is called SHEOL by the Hebrews themselves, by the Greeks 
 HADES, and by the Latins INFERNUM, or SEPULCHRUM. Into the 
 funeral rites or ceremonies of the Hebrews may be traced all the im- 
 agery which their poets introduce to illustrate this subject ; and it 
 must be confessed that these afforded ample scope for poetical em- 
 bellishment. The sepulchres of the Hebrews, at least those of re- 
 spectable persons, and those which hereditarily belonged to the prin- 
 cipal families, were extensive caves, or vaults, excavated from the 
 native rock by art and manual labour. 13 The roofs of them in gene- 
 eral were arched ; and some were so spacious as to be supported by 
 colonades. All round the sides were cells for the reception of the 
 Sarcophagi ; these were properly ornamented with sculpture, and 
 each was placed in its proper cell. The cave or sepulchre admit- 
 ted no light, being closed by a great stone, which was rolled to the 
 mouth of the narrow passage or entrance. Many of these recep- 
 tacles are still extant in Judea : two in particular are more magnifi- 
 cent than all the rest, 14 and are supposed to be the sepulchres of the 
 
 12 See Cicero, Quaest. Tusculan. I. 5. 6. 
 
 13 See GEN. xxiii.9,17. 2 KINGS xiii. 21. Is.xxii. 16. 2CiiRON. xvi. 14. 
 JOSH. x. 27. LAM. iii. 53. JOHN xi. 38. and the Evangelists concerning the 
 sepulchre of Christ. 
 
 14 See a description of these Sepulchres, SERLIO, Architecture, L. iii. VIL- 
 r.ALPANDUs, Apparat. Urb. iii. 16. MAUNDREL'S Travels p. 76. 
 
64 POETIC IMAGERY L.ECT. VII. 
 
 kings. One of these is in Jerusalem, and contains twenty-four cells ; 
 the other containing twice that number, is in a place without the 
 city.(A) 
 
 If, therefore, we examine all those passages, in which the sacred 
 writers have poetically described the infernal regions, we may, if I 
 mistake not, clearly perceive them intent upon this gloomy picture, 
 which their mode of sepulture presented to their view. That which 
 struck their senses they delineated in their descriptions : we there 
 find no exact account, no explicit mention of immortal spirits ; not, 
 according to the notion of some learned persons, 15 because they disbe- 
 lieved in the existence of the soul after death, but because they had 
 no clear idea or perception by which they might explain where or in 
 what manner it existed ; and they were not possessed of that subtilty 
 of language, which enables men to speak with plausibility on subjects 
 abstruse, and remote from the apprehension of the senses, and to 
 cover their ignorance with learned disputation. The condition, the 
 form, the habitation of departed spirits were therefore concealed 
 from the Hebrews equally with the rest of mankind. Nor did reve- 
 lation afford them the smallest assistance on this subject ; not, per- 
 haps, because the divine providence was disposed to withhold this 
 information from them, but because the present condition of the hu- 
 man mind renders it incapable of receiving it. For when the un- 
 derstanding contemplates things distinct from body and matter, from 
 the want of just ideas, it is compelled to have recourse to such as are 
 false and fictitious, and to delineate the incorporeal world by things 
 corporeal and terrestrial. Thus, observing that after death the body 
 returned to the earth, and that it was deposited in a sepulchre, af- 
 ter the manner which has just been described, a sort of popular no- 
 tion prevailed among the Hebrews, as well as among other nations, 
 that the life which succeeded the present was to be passed beneath 
 the earth : and to this notion even the sacred prophets were obliged 
 to allude occasionally, if they wished to be understood by the people 
 on this subject. (B) 
 
 Hence the meaning is evident, when the deceased are said to 
 " descend into the pit, to the nether parts of the earth, to the gates 
 and chambers of death, to the stony places, to the sides, to the gates 
 of the caverns ;" when it is said, "that the grave has swallowed 
 
 15 See LE CLERC, Comment. Hagiographa : consult the index for the word 
 immortalitas. 
 
LECT. VII. FROM COMMON LIFE. 65 
 
 them up, and closed its mouth upon them ;" that " they lie down in 
 the deep ; immersed in a desert place, in the gulf, in thick darkness, 
 in the land of darkness and the shadow of death, wild, hideous, where 
 all is disorder and darkness : and darkness, as it were, instead of 
 light diffuseth its beams." 16 
 
 The poets of other nations, amidst all their fictions, have yet re- 
 tained a congenial picture of the habitations of the dead : Thus the 
 tragic poet has admirably described the deep course of Acheron: 
 
 " Per speluncas saxis structas asperis, pendentibus, 
 " Maximis, ubi rigida constat crassa caligo inferum." 17 
 
 But how grand and magnificent a scene is depicted by the Hebrew 
 poets from the same materials, in which their deceased heroes and 
 kings are seen to advance from the earth ! Figure to yourselves a vast, 
 dreary, dark, sepulchral cavern, where the kingsof the nations lie, each 
 upon his bed of dust, the arms of each beside him, his sword under 
 his head, and the graves of their numerous hosts round about them : 
 Behold ! the king of Babylon is introduced ; they all rise and go forth 
 to meet him ; and receive him as he approaches! " Art thou also 
 come down unto us ? Art thou. become like unto us ! Art thou 
 cut down and withered in thy strength, O thou destroyer of the na- 
 tions!" 18 But I reluctantly refrain. It is not for me, nor indeed 
 for human ability, to explain these subjects with a becoming digni- 
 ty. You will see this transcendant imagery, yourselves, better and 
 more completely displayed in that triumphal song, which was com- 
 posed by Isaiah (the first of all poets for sublimity and elegance) pre- 
 vious to the death of the king of Babylon. 19 Ezekiel has also nobly 
 illustrated the same scene, with similar machinery, in the last pro- 
 phecy concerning the fall of Pharaoh ; that remarkable example of 
 the terrific, which is indeed deservedly accounted the peculiar excel- 
 lence of this prophet. 20 (c) 
 
 16 nf! , also nia, or "iha , Job xxxiii. 18. Ps. xxviii. 1. et passim. 
 rrflfifrjOr rrtiphn "ps , Ezek. xxxi.14. xxxii.18. etPs. passim. fati 
 
 Is. xxxviii. 10. rnte ^9V , Job xxxviii. 17. Ps. ix. 14. t\vo vrrl , Prov. vii. 
 27. -n a lias , Isa. xiv. 19. iSa "^l- Isa. xiv. 15. Ezek. xxxii. 23. ins, 
 V*i Job. xvii. 16. VissJ IB, Ps. cxli.7. ^sa ifi, Ps. Ixix. 16. See also 
 Isa. v. 14. nVasttt , Ps. Ixix. 16. Ixxxviii. 7. nto^rt , Job iii. 14, Ezek. 
 xxvi. 20. 
 
 17 Cic. Tusc. Queest. I. 
 
 1 8 ISAI. xiv. 9, 18. EZEK. xxxii. 19, 21, &c. astte ISAI. Ivii. 2. EZEK. 
 xxxii. 25. -{j dt}xrj, the cell which receives the sarcophagus. EZEK. xxxii. 27 
 See 1 MACC. xiii. 29. EZEK. xxxii. 22, 23, 24. 
 
 19 ISAI. xiv. 427. 20 EZEK. xxxii, 1832. 
 
 9 
 
LECTURE VIII. 
 
 OF POETIC IMAGERY FROM SACRED TOPICS. 
 
 Imagery which is borrowed from the rites and ceremonies of religion, peculiarly liable to ob- 
 scurity and mistake Instances of expressions, which appear uncommonly harsh ; and of oth- 
 ers, the principal elegance of which would be lost, unless we adverted to the_ nature of the 
 sacred rites The exordium of the hundred and fourth psalm explained. 
 
 THE present disquisition concerning the poetical imagery of the 
 Hebrews was undertaken, gentlemen, principally with a view of 
 guarding you against an error, which is apt to mislead those who pe- 
 ruse without sufficient attention and information writings of so old a 
 date ; namely, that of accounting vulgar, mean, or obscure, passages 
 which were probably accounted Efrnong the most perspicuous and 
 sublime by the people to whom they were addressed. Now, if with 
 respect even to that imagery, which is borrowed from objects of na- 
 ture, and of common life, (of which we have just been treating) such 
 a caution was proper, it will surely be still more necessary with re- 
 spect to that which is borrowed from the sacred mysteries of religion. 
 For though much of that imagery which was taken by the Hebrew 
 writers from the general face of nature, or from the customs of com- 
 mon life, was peculiar to their own country, yet much, it must be 
 confessed, was equally familiar to the rest of the world ; but that, 
 which was suggested by the rites and ceremonies of religion, was al- 
 together peculiar to themselves, and was but little known beyond the 
 limits of Judea. Since, therefore, this topic in particular seems to 
 involve many such difficulties and inconveniences, it appears to me 
 deserving of a serious investigation ; and such investigation, I flatter 
 myself, will tend to restore in some degree the real majesty of the 
 Hebrew poetry, which seems to have shone forth in former times 
 with no ordinary splendour. 
 
 The religion of the Hebrews embraced a very extensive circle 
 of divine and human economy. It not only included all that regard- 
 ed the worship of God ; it extended even to the regulation of the 
 commonwealth, the ratification of the laws, the forms and adminis- 
 
 
LECT. VIII. POETIC IMAGERY FROM SACRED TOPICS. 67 
 
 tration of justice, and almost all the relations of civil and domestic 
 life. With them almost every point of conduct was connected either 
 directly or indirectly with their religion. Things which were held 
 least in esteem by other nations, bore among them the sanction of 
 divine authority, and had a very close alliance with both the more 
 serious concerns of life and the sacred ceremonies. On these ac- 
 counts it happens, in the first place, that abundance of metaphors oc- 
 cur in the Hebrew poetry deduced from sacred subjects ; and further, 
 that there is a necessity for the most diligent observation, lest that 
 very connexion with the affairs of religion should escape us. For 
 should we be mistaken in so material a point ; should we erroneous- 
 ly account as common or profane what is in its nature divine ; or 
 should we rank among the mean and the vulgar, sentiments and im- 
 ages which are sacred and sublime ; it is incredible how much the 
 strength of the language, and the force and majesty of the ideas, 
 will be destroyed. Nothing in nature, indeed, can be so conducive 
 to the sublime, as those conceptions which are suggested by the con- 
 templation of the greatest of all beings ; and when the august form 
 of Religion presents itself to the Cental eye, 
 
 " quaedam divina voluptas 
 " Percipit, atque horror." 
 
 It follows therefore of course, that the dignity of the Hebrew poetry 
 must in some measure be diminished in our eyes, since not only the 
 connexion of the imagery with sacred things must frequently escape 
 our observation, but even when it is most apparent, it can scarcely 
 strike us with that force and vivacity with which it must have pene- 
 trated the minds of the Hebrews. The whole system of the He- 
 brew rites is one great and complicated allegory, to the study and 
 observance of which all possible diligence and attention were inces- 
 santly dedicated by those who were employed in the sacred offices. 
 On this occupation and study, therefore, all good and considerate 
 men were intent ; it constituted all their business, all their amuse- 
 ment ; it was their treasure and their hope ; on this every care and 
 every thought was employed ; and the utmost sanctity and reverence 
 distinguished every part of their conduct which had any relation to 
 it. Much dignity and sublimity must also have resulted from the 
 recollection, which these allusions produced, of the splendour and 
 magnificence of the sacred rites themselves ; the force of which upon 
 the minds of those who had frequent opportunities of observing them, 
 must have been incredible. Such a solemn grandeur attended these 
 
68 POETIC IMAGERY L.ECT. VIII. 
 
 rites, especially after the building of Solomon's temple, that although 
 we are possessed of very accurate descriptions, our imaginations are 
 still utterly unable to embody them. Many allusions, therefore, of 
 this kind, which the Hebrew poets found particularly energetic, and 
 highly popular among their countrymen, may possibly appear to us 
 mean and contemptible ; since many things which were held by them 
 in the highest veneration, are by us but little regarded, or perhaps 
 but little understood. 
 
 I shall subjoin a few examples of what I have just been remark- 
 ing ; or rather I shall point out a few topics, which will of themselves 
 suggest a variety of examples. 
 
 Much of the Jewish law is employed in discriminating between 
 things clean and unclean ; in removing, and making atonement for 
 things polluted or proscribed : and under these ceremonies, as under 
 a veil or covering, a meaning the most important and sacred is con- 
 cealed, as would be apparent from the nature of them, even if we 
 had not, besides, other clear and explicit authority for this opinion. 
 Among the rest are certain diseases and infirmities of the body, and 
 some customs evidently in themselffes indifferent : these, on a curso- 
 ry view, seem light and trivial : but when the reasons of them are 
 properly explored, they are found to be of considerable importance. 
 We are not to wonder, therefore, if the sacred poets sometimes have 
 recourse to these topics for imagery, even on the most momentous, 
 occasions, when they display the general depravity inherent in the 
 human mind, or exprobrate the corrupt manners of their own people, 
 or when they deplore the abject state of the virgin, the daughter of 
 Sion, polluted and exposed. 1 If we consider these metaphors with- 
 out any reference to the religion of their authors, they will doubtless 
 appear in some degree disgusting and inelegant ; if we refer them to 
 their genuine source, to the peculiar rites of the Hebrews, they will be 
 found wanting neither in force nor in dignity. Of the same nature, 
 or at least analogous to them, are those ardent expressions of grief and 
 misery, which are poured forth by the royal prophet (who, indeed, in 
 many of those divine compositions personates a character far more 
 exalted than his own;) especially when he complains, that he is wast- 
 ed and consumed with the loathsomeness of disease, and bowed down 
 and depressed with a burden of sin too heavy for human nature to 
 sustain. 2 On reading these passages, some, who were but little ao 
 
 1 ISAI. Ixiv. 6. i. 5, 6, 16. EZEK. xxxvi. 17. LAM. i. 8, 9, 17. and ii. 2. 
 
 2 See PSAL. xxxviii. 
 
LECT. VIII. FROM SACRED TOPICS. 69 
 
 quainted with the genius of the Hebrew poetry, have pretended to 
 inquire into the nature of the disease with which the poet was af- 
 fected ; not less absurdly, in my opinion, than if they had perplexed 
 themselves to discover in what river he was plunged, when he com- 
 plains that " the deep waters had gone over his soul." 
 
 But as there are many passages in the Hebrew poets, which may 
 seem to require a similar defence, so there are in all probability 
 many, which, although they now appear to abound in beauties and 
 elegancies, would yet be thought much more sublime, were they il- 
 lustrated from those sacred rites to which they allude ; and, as excel- 
 lent pictures, viewed in their proper light. To this purpose many in- 
 stances may be produced from one topic, namely, from the precious 
 and magnificent ornaments of the priest's attire. Such was the 
 gracefulness, such the magnificence of the sacerdotal vestments, es- 
 pecially those of the high priest ; so adapted were they, as Moses 
 says, 3 to the expression of glory and of beauty, that to those, who were 
 impressed with an equal opinion of the sanctity of the wearer, nothing 
 could possibly appear more venerable and sublime. To these, there- 
 fore, we find frequent allusions in the Hebrew poets, when they have 
 occasion to describe extraordinary beauty or comeliness, or to delineate 
 the perfect form of supreme Majesty. The elegant Isaiah has a most 
 beautiful idea of this kind, when he describes in his own peculiar 
 manner (that is, most magnificently) the exultation and glory of the 
 church, after its triumphal restoration. Pursuing the allusion, he 
 decorates her with the vestments of salvation, and clothes her in the 
 robe of righteousness. He afterwards compares the church to a 
 bridegroom dressed for the marriage, to which comparison incredible 
 dignity is added by the word frp^, a metaphor plainly taken from 
 the apparel of the priests, the force of which, therefore, no modern 
 language can express. 4 No imagery, indeed, which the Hebrew 
 writers could employ, was equally adapted with this to the display 
 (as far as the human powers can conceive or depict the subject) of 
 the infinite majesty of God. " JEHOVAH" is therefore introduced by 
 the Psalmist, as " clothed with glory and with strength," he is gird- 
 ed with power ;" 5 which are the very terms appropriated to the de- 
 scribing of the dress and ornaments of the priests. (A) 
 
 Thus far may appear plain arid indisputable : but, if I mistake 
 not, there are other passages, the beauty of which lies still more re- 
 
 3 EXOD. xxviii. 2. See ECCLUB. 1. 513. 
 
 4 ISAI. Ixi. 10. 5 PSAL. Ixv. 7. xciii. 1. 
 
70 POETIC IMAGERY L.ECT. VIII. 
 
 mote from common observation. In that most perfect ode, which 
 celebrates the immensity of the Omnipresent Deity, and the wisdom 
 of the divine Artificer in forming the human body, the author uses a 
 metaphor derived from the most subtile art of the Phrygian work- 
 man : 
 
 " Cum formatus essem in occulto, 
 
 " Acupictus essem in penetralibus terrae."6 
 
 Whoever observes this, (in truth he will not be able to observe it in 
 the common translations) and at the same time reflects upon the won- 
 derful mechanism of the human body, the various implications of the 
 veins, arteries, fibres, and membranes; the "indescribable texture" 
 of the whole fabric ; may, indeed, feel the beauty and gracefulness 
 of this well-adapted metaphor, but will miss much of its force and 
 sublimity, unless he be apprized that the art of designing in needle- 
 work was wholly dedicated to the use of the sanctuary, and, by a di- 
 rect precept of the divine law, chiefly employed in furnishing a part 
 of the sacerdotal habit, and the veils for the entrance of the taberna- 
 cle. 7 Thus, the poet compares the wisdom of the divine artificer 
 with the most estimable of human arts, that art which was dignified 
 by being consecrated altogether to the use of religion ; and the 
 workmanship of which was so exquisite, that even the sacred writ- 
 ings seem to attribute it to a supernatural guidance. 8 (B) 
 
 I will instance also another topic, which, if I am not deceived, 
 will suggest several remarkable examples to this purpose. There is 
 one of the Hebrew poems, which has been long since distinguished 
 by universal approbation ; the subject is the wisdom and design of 
 the Creator in the formation of the universe : you will easily per- 
 ceive that I have in view the hundred and fourth Psalm. The exor- 
 dium is most sublime, and consists of a delineation of the divine 
 majesty and power, as exemplified in the admirable constitution of 
 nature. On this subject, since it is absolutely necessary to employ 
 figurative language, the poet has introduced such metaphors as were 
 accounted by the Hebrews the most magnificent and most worthy ; 
 for all of them are, in my opinion, borrowed from the tabernacle.: 
 but I find it will be necessary to quote the passage itself, and I shall 
 endeavour to explain it as briefly as possible. 
 
 6 PSALM cxxxix. 15. 
 
 7 EXOD. xxviii. 39. xxvi. 36. xxvii. 16. Compare EZEK. xvi. 10, 13, 18. 
 3 See EXOD. xxxv. 3035. 
 
. VIII. FROM SACRED TOPICS. 71 
 
 The poet first expresses his sense of the greatness and power of 
 the Deity in plain and familiar language ; and then breaks out in 
 metaphor : 
 
 " Thou art invested with majesty and glory :" 
 
 Where observe the word tiJib (to invest) is the word always used to 
 express the ceremony of putting on the sacerdotal ornaments. 
 
 " Covering thyself with light as with a garment :" 
 
 The light in the Holy of Holies, the manifest symbol of the divine 
 presence, is figured under this idea ; and this singular example is 
 made use of figuratively to express the universal and ineffable glory 
 of God. 9 
 
 '{ Stretching out the heavens as a curtain :" 
 
 fi^* 1 ^ 'is the word made use of, and is the very name of those cur- 
 tains with which the tabernacle was covered at the top and round 
 about. The Seventy seem to have had this in view, when they ren- 
 der it waft, dfpQiv (as a skin :) whence the vulgate sicut pellem 
 (which is a literal translation of the Septuagint ;) and another of the 
 old translators dfQpa (a hide or skin.) 10 
 
 " Laying the beams of his chambers in the waters :" 
 
 In these words the poet admirably expresses the nature of the air, 
 which, from various and floating elements, is formed into one regu- 
 lar and uniform mass, by a metaphor drawn from the singular con- 
 struction of the tabernacle : for it consisted of many different parts, 
 which might be easily separated, but which were united by a curi- 
 ous and artful junction and adaptation to each other. He proceeds : 
 
 " Making the clouds his chariot ; 
 
 " Walking upon the wings of the wind :" 
 
 He had before exhibited the divine Majesty under the appearance 
 which it assumed in the Holy of Holies, that of a bright and daz- 
 zling light : he now describes it according to that which it assumed, 
 when God accompanied the ark in the pillar of a cloud, which was 
 carried along through the atmosphere. That vehicle of the divine 
 presence is, indeed, distinguished in the sacred history by the par- 
 ticular appellation of a chariot. 11 
 
 " Making the winds his messengers, 
 
 " And his ministers a flaming fire :" 
 
 9 See EXOD. xl. 3438. LEV. xvi. 2. NUMB. ix. 15, 16. 1 KINGS viii. 10, 
 11. 2 CHRON. vii. 1, 2. A similar allusion ISAI. iv. 5. Ix. 2, 19. ZECH. ii. 
 5. Rev. xxi. 23. 
 
 10 Compare EXOD. xxvi. 7, &c. with the SEPTUAGINT. 
 
 11 2 CHRON. xxviii. 18. See also ECCLUS. xlix. 8. 
 
72 POETIC IMAGERY FROM SACRED TOPICS. L,ECT.VIII. 
 
 The elements are described as prompt and ready in executing the 
 commands of JEHOVAH, as angels, messengers, or ministers serving 
 at the tabernacle, the Hebrew word being exactly expressive of the 
 latter sense. 
 
 " Who founded the earth upon its bases :" 
 The following phrase also is directly taken from the same : 
 
 " That it should not be displaced forever :" 
 
 That is, " for a certain period known only to the infinite wisdom of 
 God." As the situation of both was in this respect nearly the same, 
 so, on the other hand, the permanence of the sanctuary is in other 
 places compared, and in almost the same words, with the stability of 
 the earth. 12 (c) (D) 
 
 Perhaps, in pursuing this investigation with so much subtilty and 
 minuteness, I have scarcely acted consistently with the customs of 
 this place, or the nature of my design : but it appeared absolutely ne- 
 cessary so to do, in order to make myself perfectly understood ; and to 
 demonstrate, that it is scarcely or not at all possible for any transla- 
 tion fully to represent the genuine sense of the sacred poets, and that 
 delicate connexion which for the most part exists between their po- 
 etical imagery, and the peculiar circumstances of their nation. This 
 connexion frequently depends upon the use of certain terms, upon a 
 certain association between words and things, which a translation 
 generally perplexes, and very frequently destroys. This, therefore, 
 is not to be preserved in the most literal and accurate version, much 
 less in any poetical translation, or rather imitation : though there are 
 extant some not unsuccessful attempts of this kind. To relish com- 
 pletely all the excellencies of the Hebrew literature, the fountains 
 themselves must be approached, the peculiar flavour of which can- 
 not be conveyed by aqueducts, or indeed by any exertion of modern 
 art.(E) 
 
 12 PSAL. Ixxviii. 69. 
 
LECTURE IX. 
 
 OF POETIC IMAGERY FROM THE SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 The imagery from the sacred history is the most luminous and evident of all The peculiar na- 
 ture of this kind of metaphor explained, as used by the Hebrew poets The order of the top- 
 ics which commonly furnish them : the Chaos and Creation ; the Deluge ; the destruction of 
 Sodom ; the emigration of the Israelites from Egypt ; the descent of God upon mount Sinai 
 This species of metaphor excellently adapted to the sacred poetry, and particularly to the pro- 
 phetic; not easy to form any comparison between the sacred and profane poetry in this respect. 
 
 FOUR distinct classes of imagery having been specified as capa- 
 ble of being introduced in a metaphorical form into the poetry of 
 the Hebrews, the last of these, or that which is suggested by the 
 more remarkable transactions recorded in the sacred history, now 
 remains to be examined. Here, however, since the nature of the 
 subject diners in some degree from the former objects of our in- 
 vestigation, so the manner of treating it must be also different. 
 The principal design of our late disquisition was, by considering the 
 circumstances, customs, opinions, and sentiments of the Hebrews, 
 to facilitate our approach to the interior beauties of their poetry ; and 
 by duly examining the nature of the circumstances, to estimate more 
 properly the force and power of each : to dispel as much as possible 
 the mists of antiquity ; to restore their native perspicuity to such 
 passages as appear obscure, their native agreeableness to such as 
 now inspire us with sentiments of disgust, their proper allurement 
 and elegance to those which seem harsh and vulgar, and their 
 original dignity to those which the changeableness of custom has 
 rendered contemptible or mean. In this division of our subject, on 
 the contrary, but little will occur either difficult or obscure ; noth- 
 ing which will seem to require explication or defence ; all will be at 
 once perspicuous, splendid, and sublime. Sacred history illumin- 
 ates this class of imagery with its proper light, and renders it 
 scarcely less conspicuous to us than to the Hebrews themselves. 
 There is, indeed, this difference, that to the Hebrews the objects of 
 these allusions were all national and domestic ; and the power of 
 them in moving or delighting the mind was of course proportionably 
 greater ; nay, frequently, the very place, the scene of action, cer- 
 
 10 
 
74 POETIC IMAGERY PROM L.ECT. IX. 
 
 tain traces, and express tokens of so many miracles lying before their 
 eyes, must have increased the effect. To us, on the other hand, 
 however we may hold these facts in veneration, however great and 
 striking they may be in themselves, the distance of time and place 
 must of necessity render them less interesting. 
 
 The manner in which these metaphors are formed, is well deserv- 
 ing of observation, and is in fact as follows. In describing or em- 
 bellishing illustrious actions, or future events of a miraculous nature, 
 the Hebrew poets are accustomed to introduce allusions to the ac- 
 tions of former times, such as possess a conspicuous place in their 
 history ; and thus they illuminate with colours, foreign indeed^ but 
 similar, the future by the past, the recent by the antique, facts less 
 known by others more generally understood : and as this property 
 seems peculiar to the poetry of the Hebrews, at least is but seldom 
 to be met with in that of other nations, I have determined to illus- 
 trate this part of my subject with a greater variety of examples than 
 usual. I mean, therefore, to instance in a regular order certain top- 
 ics or common-places of Scripture, which seem to have furnished, if 
 not all, at least the principal part of these allusions : it will be neces- 
 sary at the same time to remark their figurative power and effect, 
 and the regular and uniform method pursued in the application of 
 them, which has been already stated as characteristical of the poeti- 
 cal imagery of the Hebrews. 
 
 The first of these topics, or common-places, is the Chaos and the 
 Creation, which compose the first pages of the sacred history. These 
 are constantly alluded to, as expressive of any remarkable change, 
 whether prosperous or adverse, in the public affairs ; of the over- 
 throw or restoration of kingdoms and nations : and are consequently 
 very common in the prophetic poetry, particularly when any unusual 
 degree of boldness is attempted. If the subject be the destruction of 
 the Jewish empire by the Chaldeans, or a strong denunciation of 
 ruin against the enemies of Israel, it is depicted in exactly the same 
 colours, as if universal nature were about to relapse into the primeval 
 chaos. Thus Jeremiah, in that sublime, and indeed more than poet- 
 ical vision, in which is represented the impending desolation of 
 Judea : 
 
 " Aspexi terrain, ecce autem vacua est et informis ; 
 
 " Et ad coelos, nee lucent amplius ! 
 
 " Aspexi montes, ecce autem intremiscunt, 
 
 " Omnesque colles inter se raptim concutiuntur ! 
 
 " Aspexi, et ecce nullus est homo, 
 
. IX. THE SACRED HISTORY. 
 
 " Volucresque coeli omnes evanuerunt ! 
 
 " Aspexi, et ecce Carmelum desertum, 
 
 " Et omnes eius urbes dirutas ! 
 
 " A vultu lehovae, ab aestu irae eius flagrantis." 1 
 
 And on a similar subject Isaiah expresses himself with wonderful 
 force and sublimity : 
 
 " Et extendet super earn lineam vastitatis et perpendiculum confusionis."2 
 
 Each of them not only had in his mind the Mosaic chaos, but actu- 
 ally uses the words of the divine historian. The same subjects are 
 amplified and embellished by the prophets with several adjuncts : 
 
 " Nigrescent sol et luna ; 
 
 " Retrahentque splendorem suum stellae : 
 
 " Et ex Sione rugiet lehova, 
 
 " Et ex Hierosolymis edet vocem ; 
 
 " Et commovebuntur coeli et tellus."3 
 
 " Et contabescet omnis coelorum exercitus ; 
 
 " Coeli etiam ipsi instar schedulae convolventur : 
 
 " Et omnis eorum exercitus decidet, 
 
 " Sicut cassa de vite folia, 
 
 " Utque marcida ex arbore sua ficus." 4 
 
 On the contrary, when he foretels the restoration of the Israelites : 
 
 " At Ego Jehova sum Deus tuus, 
 
 " Qui subito tranquillat mare, cum fremunt fluctus eius; 
 
 li Nomen illi lehova exercituum : 
 
 " Indidi verba mea ori tuo, 
 
 " Et sub umbra manus meae te protexi : 
 
 " Ut plantem coelos, ut fundem terram, 
 
 " Utque dicam Sioni, meus tu es populus."5(A) 
 
 " Nam solatur lehova Sionem, 
 
 " Solatur omnes eius vastitates : 
 
 " Et reddet deserta eius Edeni similia, 
 
 " Et solitudinem eius ut Paradisum Jehovae : 
 
 " Reperietur in ea laetitia et gaudium ; 
 
 " Gratiarum actio, et cantionum sonitus." 6 
 
 In the former of these two last quoted examples, the universal deluge 
 is exactly delineated, and on similar subjects the same imagery gen- 
 erally occurs. Thus, as the devastation of the holy land is frequent- 
 
 1 JER. iv. 23 26. 4 ISAI. xxxiv. 4. 
 
 2 ISAI. xxxiv. 11. 5 ISAI. li. 15, 16. 
 
 3 Joel iii. 15, 16. ISAI. li. 3. 
 
76 POETIC IMAGERY FROM L.ECT. IX. 
 
 Iy represented by the restoration of ancient chaos, so the same event 
 is sometimes expressed in metaphors suggested by the universal 
 
 deluge : 
 
 " Ecce lehova evacuat terrain, eamque vastat ; 
 
 " Et invertit faciem eius, et dispergit incolas. 
 
 " Nam aperiuntur ex alto Cataractae, 
 
 " Et fundamenta terrae concutiuntur. 
 
 " Confringendo confringit se tellus ; 
 
 " Disrumpendo disrumpit se tellus ; 
 
 " Commovendo penitus commovetur tellus : 
 
 " Nutando nutat tellus, sicut ebrius ; 
 
 " Et e loco suo vacillat, ut tugurium unius noctis." 7 
 
 These are great ideas ; indeed the human mind cannot easily 
 conceive any thing greater or more sublime. There is nothing, 
 however, of this kind more forcible and elevated than that imagery 
 which is taken from the destruction of Sodom, that being the next 
 in order of these topics, and generally applied to express the punish- 
 ments to be inflicted by the Almighty on the wicked : 
 
 " Depluet super impios prunas ardentes, 
 
 " Ignem et sulphur et ventum turbinum : hoc iis poculum exhauri- 
 " endum est."8(n) 
 
 " Nam agitur dies ultionis lehovae ; 
 
 " Annus poenarum sumendarum Sionis vindici : 
 
 " Et vertentur torrentes eius in picem, 
 
 " Et pulvis eius in sulphur ; 
 
 " Et terra eius in ardentem picem redigetur : 
 
 " Noctes diesque inextincta ardebit : 
 
 " Fumus eius in aeternum ascendet : 
 
 " In perpetuas aetates iacebit deserta ; 
 
 " Per infinita saecula nemo earn peragrabit." 9 (c) 
 
 The emigration of the Israelites from Egypt, as it affords materi- 
 als for many magnificent descriptions, is commonly applied in a met- 
 aphorical manner to many events, which bear no unapt resemblance 
 to it. Does God promise to his people liberty, assistance, security, 
 and favour 1 The Exodus occurs spontaneously to the mind of the 
 poet ; the dividing of the sea, the destruction of the enemy, the des- 
 ert which was safely traversed, and the torrents bursting forth from 
 the rocks, are so many splendid objects that force themselves on his 
 
 imagination : 
 
 " Ita edicit lehova, 
 
 " Qui praebet per aequor viam, 
 
 "' ISAI. xxiv. 1, 18, 19, 20. 8 PSAL. xi. 6. 9 ISAI, xxxiv. 8, 9, 10. 
 
. IX. THE SACRED HISTORY. 77 
 
 " Et per aquas validas semitam : 
 
 " Qui educit currum et equura, exercitum et robur ; 
 
 " Simul iacebunt, nunquain consurgent, 
 
 " Oppress! sunt, ut stupa extincti : 
 
 " Ne recolite priora, 
 
 " Et antiqua ne considerate : 
 
 " Ecce ego novum quiddam sum facturus ; 
 
 " lamiam orietur ; nonne illud cognoscetis ? 
 
 " Praestabo etiam in solitudine viam ; 
 
 " In deserto flumina."lO 
 
 There is also another prophecy of the same divine poet, which in one 
 sense (though I think not the principal) is to be understood as re- 
 lating to the liberation of the Israelites from the Babylonish captivity. 
 In the exordium the same imagery is introduced, but in a very noble 
 personification, than which nothing can be more sublime : 
 
 " Expergiscere,expergiscere, indue robur, o lacerte lehovae ! 
 
 " Expergiscere, ut priscis diebus, aetatibus antiquis ! 
 
 " Annon tu ille es, qui excidisti superbum, vulnerasti crocodilum ? 
 
 " Annon tu ille es, qui exsiccasti pelagus, aquas Abyssi magnae ? 
 
 " Qui maris profunda reddidisti pervia, ut redempti transirent ?"H 
 
 Of the same kind is the last of these topics which I shall in- 
 stance, the descent of JEHOVAH at the delivery of the law. When 
 the Almighty is described as coming to execute judgement, to deliv- 
 er the pious, and to destroy his enemies, or in any manner exerting 
 his divine power upon earth, the description is embellished from 
 that tremendous scene which was exhibited upon mount Sinai : 12 
 there is no imagery more frequently recurred to than this, and there 
 is none more sublime : I will only trouble you* with two examples : 
 
 " Ecce autern lehova e loco suo prodit; 
 
 " Et descendit, et super terrae fastigia graditur. 
 
 " Et subter ilium liquescunt montes, 
 
 " Et valles sese discindunt : 
 
 " Instar cerae ante ignem ; 
 
 " Instar aquarum per declive praecipitantium." 13 
 
 " Turn concussa est et intremuit tellus ; 
 
 " Etfundamenta montium commoventur, 
 
 " Vehementer conquassantur ; nam ira illius exaestuat. 
 
 " Ascendit fumus in eius nares ; 
 
 " Et e faucibus eius ignis edax ; 
 
 " Exeunt ab eo ardentes prunae. 
 
 " Inclinat coelos, et descendit; 
 
 10 ISAI. xliii. 1619. See also xlviii. 21. " ISAI. li. 9, 10. 
 
 12 See EXOD. xix. 16, 28. DEUT. iv. 11, 12. 13 MIC. i. 3, 4. 
 
78 POETIC IMAGERY FROM LfiCT. IX. 
 
 " Sub pedibus eius caligo densa : 
 
 " Et inequitat Cherubo, et Tolat ; 
 
 " Et fertur super alls venti. 
 
 " Facit tenebras penetrale suum, 
 
 " Tabernaculum sibi circum undique ; 
 
 " Tenebras aquarum, densa nubium. 
 
 " A fulgore praesentiae eius nubes diffugiunt ; 
 
 " Emicat grando prunaeque candentes. 
 
 " Turn intonat e coelo lehova, 
 
 " Et altissimus editvocem suam, 
 
 " Cum grandine prunisque candentibus : 
 
 " Et telis suis hostes dissipat, 
 
 " Et crebris fulguribus attonitos agit."14(D) 
 
 These examples, though literally translated, and destitute of the 
 harmony of verse, will I think sufficiently demonstrate the force, the 
 grandeur and sublimity of these images, which, when applied to oth- 
 er events, suggest ideas still greater, than when described as plain 
 facts by the pen of the historian, in however magnificent terms : for 
 to the greatness and sublimity of the images which are alluded to, is 
 added the pleasure and admiration which results from the compari- 
 son between them and the objects which they are brought to illus- 
 trate. 
 
 It is, however, worthy of observation, that, since many of these 
 images possess such a degree of resemblance as renders them equal- 
 ly fit for the illustration of the same objects, it frequently happens 
 that several of them are collected together, in order to magnify and 
 embellish some particular event : of this there is an example in that 
 very thanksgiving ode of David, which we have just now quoted. 15 
 For, after describing the wrath and majesty of God, in imagery tak- 
 en from the descent upon mount Sinai, as already explained, in the 
 very next verse, the division of the Red Sea and the river Jordan is 
 alluded to : 
 
 " Turn apparebant alvei aquarum ; 
 
 " Retegebantur orbis fundamenta : 
 
 " Ab increpatione tua, o lehova; 
 
 " Ab halitu spiritus irae tuae."16 
 
 It is evident, however, as well from the examples which have 
 been adduced, as from the nature of the thing itself, that this species 
 
 . xviii. 714. 
 
 15 See also ISAI. xxxiv. and what is remarked on that passage, Lect. XX. 
 
 16 PSAL. xviii. 16. 
 
. IX. THE SACRED HISTORY. 79 
 
 of metaphor is peculiarly adapted to the prophetic poetry. For some 
 degree of obscurity is the necessary attendant upon prophecy ; not 
 that, indeed, which confuses the diction, and darkens the style ; but 
 that which results from the necessity of repressing a part of the fu- 
 ture, and from the impropriety of making a complete revelation of 
 every circumstance connected with the prediction. The event itself, 
 therefore, is often clearly indicated, but the manner and the circum- 
 stances are generally involved in obscurity. To this purpose image- 
 ry such as we have specified, is excellently adapted, for it enables 
 the prophet more forcibly to impress upon the minds of his auditors 
 those parts of his subject which admit of amplification, the force, the 
 splendour, the magnitude of every incident ; and at the same time 
 more completely to conceal, what are proper to be concealed, the or- 
 der, the mode, and the minuter circumstances attending the event. 
 It is also no less apparent, that in this respect the sacred poetry 
 bears little or no analogy to that of other nations ; since neither his- 
 tory nor fable afforded to the profane writers a sufficiently important 
 store of this kind of imagery ; nor did their subjects in general re- 
 quire that use or application of it. 
 
 This species of metaphor is indeed so adapted, as I before ob- 
 served, to the nature of prophecy, that even profane poetry, when of 
 the prophetic kind, is not altogether destitute of it : and we find that 
 Virgil himself, in delivering his prophecies, has more than once 
 adopted this method : 
 
 " Non Simois tibi, nee Xanthus, nee Dorica Castra 
 
 " Defuerint : alius Latio iam partus Achilles, 
 
 " Natus et ipse Dea. 
 
 " Alter erit turn Tithys, et altera quae vehat Argo 
 
 " Delectos heroas : erunt etiam altera bella, 
 
 " Atque iterum ad Troiam magnus mittetur Achilles :" 17 
 
 Though some will perhaps be inclined to interpret this passage lite- 
 rally from the completion of the great year, and the doctrine of the 
 general restitution of all things. 18 There is, indeed, this difference 
 between the sacred and profane writers, that among the latter we 
 find frequent examples of metaphors taken from some remarkable 
 person and event, applied t6 some other event or character ; but we 
 never find from such facts a general or common image derived, 
 
 17 Virgil, Mn. vi. 135. Eclog. iv. 41. 
 
 18 See ORIGEN contra Celsum, Lib. iv. p. 208. Edit. Spencer. 
 
80 POETIC IMAGERY FROM SACRED HISTORY. L.ECT. IX. 
 
 which, as an established mode of expression, is regularly applied to 
 the illustration of similar objects, even to the designation of a univer- 
 sal or unlimited idea.(E) 
 
 I have classed all these examples under one general head of met- 
 aphor, though many o r them might more properly be referred to that 
 of allegory : but this circumstance is of no importance to the object 
 which I was desirous of elucidating. Many, indeed, of those which 
 I have produced on this last occasion, might more properly be refer- 
 red to that sublimer kind of allegory, which, in its principal view, 
 looks forward to a meaning much more important than that which 
 is obvious and literal ; and under the ostensible subject, as under a 
 rind or shell, conceals one interior and more sacred. Of this, how- 
 ever, we shall presently have occasion to speak more explicitly ; for 
 when we come to treajt of the allegory of the Hebrews, it will be ne- 
 cessary to touch upon that species (however difficult and obscure the 
 subject) in which the sublimity of many of the sacred poems will 
 be found chiefly to consist.(r) 
 
LECTURE X. 
 
 OF ALLEGORY. 
 
 Three forms of allegory : 1 . Continued Metaphor ; which is scarcely worth distinguishing from 
 the simple Metaphor The freedom of the Hebrews in confounding the forms of the Meta- 
 phor, Allegory, and Comparison : a more perfect form also of Allegory instanced 2. The 
 Parable ; and its principal characteristics : that it ought to be formed from an apt and well 
 known image., the signification of which is obvious and definite , also from one which is ele- 
 gant and beautiful ; that its parts and adjuncts be perspicuous, and conduce to the main ob- 
 ject ; that it be consistent, and must not confound the literal and figurative meaning The 
 Parables of the Prophets, and particularly of E/ekiel, examined according to this standard. 
 
 ANOTHER branch of the b'tt or figurative style, is Allegory, 
 that is, a figure which, under the literal sense of the words, con- 
 ceals a foreign or distant meaning. Three forms of allegory may 
 be observed in the sacred poetry. The first is that which is 
 commonly treated of by rhetoricians, a continuation of metaphor. 
 " When several kindred metaphors succeed one another, they alter," 
 says Cicero, " the form of a composition ; for which reason a suc- 
 cession of this kind is called by the Greeks an Allegory ; and pro- 
 perly, in respect to the etymology of the word ; but Aristotle, instead 
 of considering it as a new species of figure, has more judiciously 
 comprised such modes of expression under the general appellation 
 of metaphors." 1 I therefore scarcely esteem it worth while to dwell 
 upon this species of allegory ; since hitherto I have made no distinc- 
 tion between it and the simple metaphor : for many of the examples, 
 which I produced as metaphors, are probably of this class : the prin- 
 ciple of each is the same, nor indeed would it be an easy matter to 
 restrict each to its proper limits, or to define where the one ends or 
 the other begins. 
 
 It will not, however, be foreign to our purpose to remark the pe- 
 culiar manner, in which the Hebrew poets use the congenial figures, 
 metaphor, allegory, and comparison, and particularly in the prophet- 
 ic poetry. When they undertake to express any sentiment in orna- 
 mented language, they not only illustrate it with an abundance and 
 variety of imagery, but they seldom temper or regulate this imagery 
 
 1 Orator. 
 
 11 
 
82 ALLEGORY. LiECT. X. 
 
 by any fixed principle or standard. Unsatisfied with a simple met- 
 aphor, they frequently run it into an allegory, or mingle with it a 
 direct comparison. The allegory sometimes precedes and sometimes 
 follows the simile ; to this is added a frequent change of imagery, 
 and even of persons and tenses ; through the whole displaying a 
 degree of boldness and freedom, unconfined by rule or method, al- 
 together peculiar to the Hebrew poetry. 
 
 " Judah is a lion's whelp :"2 
 
 This metaphor is immediately drawn out into an allegory, with a 
 change of person : 
 
 " From the prey, my son, thou art gone up ;" 
 
 (to the dens in the mountains, understood:) In the succeeding sen- 
 tences the person is again changed, the image is gradually advanced, 
 and the metaphor is joined with a comparison, which is repeated : 
 
 " He stoopeth down, he coucheth, as a lion, 
 " And as a lioness ; who shall rouse him ?" 
 
 Of a simular nature is that remarkable prophecy, in which the exu- 
 berant increase of the gospel on its first dissemination is most expli- 
 citly foretold. In this passage, however, the mixture of the metaphor 
 and comparison, as well as the ellipsis of the word to be repeated, 
 creates a degree of obscurity : 
 
 " Beyond the womb of the morning is the dew of thy offspring to thee :" 3 
 That is, " preferable to the dew which proceeds from the womb of 
 morning; more copious, more abundant." In the interpretation of 
 this passage, what monstrous blunders has an ignorance of the He- 
 brew idiom produced ! (A) 
 
 There is, indeed, a certain form, which this kind of allegory 
 sometimes assumes, more perfect and regular, which therefore ought 
 not to be overlooked, and that is, when it occupies the whole com- 
 pass and argument of the composition. An excellent example of 
 this may be seen in that well known allegory of Solomon, 4 in which 
 old age is so admirably depicted. The inconveniences of increasing 
 years, the debility of mind and body, the torpor of the senses, are 
 expressed, most learnedly and elegantly indeed, but with some de- 
 gree of obscurity, by different images derived from nature and com- 
 mon life : for by this enigmatical composition, Solomon, after the 
 manner of the Oriental sages, meant to put to trial the acuteness of 
 his readers. It has on this account afforded much exercise to the 
 
 2 GEN. xlix.9. 3 PSALM ex. 3. 4 EccLES.xii.2 6. 
 
. X. ALLEGORY. 
 
 ingenuity of the learned, many of whom have differently, it is true, 
 but with mueh learning and sagacity, explained the passage. (B) 
 
 There is also in Isaiah an allegory, which, with no less elegance 
 of imagery, is more simple and regular, more just and complete in 
 the form and colouring : I shall, therefore, quote the whole passage. 5 
 The prophet is explaining the design and manner of the divine 
 judgements : he is inculcating the principle, that God adopts differ- 
 ent modes of acting in the chastisement of the wicked, but that the 
 most perfect wisdom is conspicuous in all ; that " he will," as he had 
 urged before, " exact judgement by the line, and righteousness by 
 the plummet ;" 6 that he ponders with the most minute attention the 
 distinctions of times, characters, and circumstances ; all the mo- 
 tives to lenity or severity. All this is expressed in a continued alle- 
 gory, the imagery of which is taken from agriculture and threshing : 
 the use and suitableness of which imagery, as in a manner conse- 
 crated to this subject, I have formerly explained, so that there is no 
 need of further detail at present. 
 
 " Aures advertite, atque audite vocem meam ; 
 
 " Attendite et auscultate sermoni meo : 
 
 " Num omni tempore arat arator ad serendum ; 
 
 " Proscindit et offringit terrain suam ? 
 
 " Nonne cum complanavit eius superficiem, 
 
 " Turn spargit nigellam, aut disiicit euminum, 
 
 " Et mandat far certa mensura, 
 
 " Et hordeo signatum est et zeae spatium suum ? 
 
 " Nam perfecte eum instituit, Deus eius ipsum erudit. 
 
 " Neque vero tribulo trituratur nigella, 
 
 " Nee rota plostelli super euminum circumagitur : 
 
 " Sed virga excutitur nigella, 
 
 " Et euminum baculo ; far autem tritura exteritur. 
 
 " Nee tamen hoc perpetuo perget triturare ; 
 
 " Aut agitabit rota plostelli sui ; 
 
 " Neque ungulis suis semper exteret. 
 
 " Etiam hoc a lehova provenit : 
 
 " Mirabilem se praestat consilio, magnificum effectu."( c ) 
 
 Another kind of allegory is that, which, in the proper and re- 
 stricted sense, may be called parable, and consists of a continued 
 narration of a fictitious event, applied by way of simile to the illus- 
 tration of some important truth. The Greeks call these allego- 
 ries cuvoi, or ctTiokoyot, the Latins fabula : and the writings of 
 the Phrygian sage, or those composed in imitation of him, have ac- 
 
 5 ISAI. xxviii. 2329. 6 I SAI . xxv iii. 17. 
 
84 ALLEGORY. L.ECT. X. 
 
 quired the greatest celebrity. Nor has our Saviour himself disdain- 
 ed to adopt the same method of instruction, of whose parables it is 
 doubtful, whether they excel most in wisdom and utility, or in sweet- 
 ness, elegance and perspicuity. I must observe, that the appella- 
 tion of parable having been applied to his discourses of this kind, 
 the term is now restricted from its former extensive signification to 
 a more confined sense. This species of composition occurs very 
 frequently in the prophetic poetry, and particularly in that of Eze- 
 kiel. But to enable us to judge with more certainty upon the sub- 
 ject, it will be necessary to explain in a few words some of the pri- 
 mary qualities of the poetic parables, that, by considering the gen- 
 eral nature of them, we may decide more accurately on the merits 
 of particular examples. 
 
 It is the first excellence of a parable to turn upon an image well 
 known and applicable to the subject, the meaning of which is clear 
 and definite ; for this circumstance will give it perspicuity, which is 
 essential to every species of allegory. If, therefore, by this rule we 
 examine the parables of the sacred prophets, we shall, I am persua- 
 ded, find them not in the least deficient. They are in general foun- 
 ded upon such imagery as is frequently used, and similarly applied 
 by way of metaphor and comparison in the Hebrew poetry. Most 
 accurate examples of this are to be found in the parable of the de- 
 ceitful vineyard, 7 of the useless vine, 8 which is given to the fire ; for 
 under this imagery the ungrateful people of God are more than 
 once described. I may instance also that of the lion's whelps falling 
 into the pit, 9 in which is appositely displayed the captivity of the 
 Jewish princes ; or that of the fair, lofty, and flourishing cedar of 
 Lebanon, 10 which raised its head to the clouds, cut down at length 
 and neglected ; exhibiting, as in a picture, the prosperity and the 
 fall of the king of Assyria. I will add one more example (there is, 
 indeed, scarcely any which might not with propriety be introduced 
 here,) I mean that, in which the love of God towards his people, 
 and their piety and fidelity to him, are expressed by an allusion to 
 the solemn covenant of marriage. Ezekiel has pursued this image 
 with uncommon freedom in two parables ; 11 in truth almost all the 
 sacred poets have touched upon it. There was, therefore, no part 
 of the imagery of the Hebrew poetry more established than this ; nor 
 ought it to appear extraordinary, that Solomon, in that most elegant 
 
 1 ISAI. v. 17. 8 EZEK. xv. and xix. 1014. 
 
 9 EZEK. xix. 1 9. 1 EZEK. xxxi. U EZEK. xvi. and xxiii. 
 
LECT. X. ALLEGORY. 85 
 
 poem, the Canticles, should distinguish and depict the most sacred 
 of all subjects with similar outlines and in similar colours.(D) 
 
 It is not, however, sufficient, that the image be apt and familiar j 
 it must also be elegant and beautiful in itself : since it is for the 
 purpose of a poetic parable, not only to explain more perfectly some 
 proposition, but frequently to give it more animation and splendour. 
 The imagery from natural objects is superior to all other in this 
 respect ; for almost every picture from nature, if accurately drawn, 
 has its peculiar beauty. As the parables of the sacred poets, there- 
 fore, consist chiefly of this kind of imagery, the elegance of the ma- 
 terials generally serves to recommend them. If there be any of a 
 different kind, such as may be accounted less delicate and refined, 
 it ought to be considered, whether they are not to be accounted 
 among those, the dignity and grace of which are lost to us, though 
 they were perhaps wanting in neither to people of the same age and 
 country. If any reader, for instance, should be offended with the 
 boiling pot of Ezekiel, 12 and the scum flowing over into the fire ; 
 let him remember, that the prophet, who was also a priest, took the 
 allusion from his own sacred rites : nor is there a possibility, that an 
 image could be accounted mean or disgusting, which was connected 
 with the holy ministration of the temple. 
 
 It is also essential to the elegance of a parable, that the imagery 
 should not only be apt and beautiful, but that all its parts and appen- 
 dages should be perspicuous and pertinent. It is, however, by no 
 means necessary, that in every parable the allusion should be com- 
 plete in every part ; such a degree of resemblance would frequently 
 appear too minute and exact : but when the nature of the subject 
 will bear, much more when it will even require a fuller explanation ; 
 and when the similitude runs directly, naturally, and regularly, 
 through every circumstance, then it cannot be doubted that it is pro- 
 ductive of the greatest beauty. Of all these excellencies, there can- 
 not be more perfect examples than the parables which have been 
 just specified. I will also venture to recommend the well know par- 
 able of Nathan, 13 although written in prose, as well as that of Jo- 
 tham, 14 which appears to be the most ancient extant, and approach- 
 es somewhat nearer the poetical form.(E) 
 
 To these remarks I will add another, which may be consid- 
 ered as the criterion of a parable, namely, that it be consistent 
 throughout, and that the literal be never confounded with the figu- 
 
 12 EZEK. xxiv. 3, &c. 13 2 SAM. xii. 14. H JUD. ix. 715. 
 
86 ALLEGORY. L.ECT. X. 
 
 rative sense. In this respect it materially differs from the former 
 species of allegory, which, deviating but gradually from the simple 
 metaphor, does not always immediately exclude literal expressions, 
 or words without a figure. But both the fact itself, and this distinc- 
 tion, will more evidently appear from an example of each kind. 
 
 The psalmist, (whoever he was) describing the people of Israel 
 as a vine, 15 has continued the metaphor, and happily drawn it out 
 through a variety of additional circumstances. Among the many 
 beauties of this allegory, not the least graceful is that modesty, with 
 which he enters upon and concludes his subject, making an easy 
 and gradual transition from plain to figurative language, and no less 
 delicately receding back to the plain and unornamented narrative. 
 
 " Ex Aegypto cduxisti vitem ; 
 
 " Eiecisti gentes eamque plant&sti : 
 
 " Ante faciem eius praepardsti locum " 
 
 After this follow some figurative expressions, less cautiously intro- 
 duced : in which when he has indulged for some time, how elegant- 
 ly does he revert to his proper subject ! 
 
 Revertere, o Deus exercituum ; 
 De coelo despice et intuere, 
 Et vitis huius curam suscipe : 
 Et germinis quod tua plantavit dexter a, 
 Et sobolis quam tibi confirmdsti. 
 Igni comburitur penitusque succiditur ; 
 Per vultus tui increpationem pereunt. 
 1 Sit manus tua super virum dexterae tuae, 
 Super sobolem illam hominis quam tibi confirmasti."( F ) 
 
 You may easily perceive, gentlemen, how, in this first kind of 
 allegory, the literal may be mingled with the figurative sense ; and 
 even how graceful this practice appears, since light is more agreeably 
 thrown upon the subject in an oblique manner, without too bare and 
 direct an explication. But it is different, when the same image puts 
 on the form of the other sort of allegory, or parable, as in Isaiah. 16 
 Here is no room for literal, or even ambiguous expressions ; every 
 word is figurative ; the whole mass of colouring is taken from the 
 same pallet. Thus what, in the former quotation, is expressed in 
 undisguised language, namely, "the casting out of the nations, the 
 preparation of the place, and its destruction from the rubuke of the 
 
 15 PSAL. Ixxx. 918. 16 Chap. v. 17 
 
LECT. X. ALLEGORY. 87 
 
 Lord," is by Isaiah expressed wholly in a figurative manner : 
 " The Lord gathered out the stones from his vineyard, and cleared it : 
 but when it deceived him, he threw down its hedge, and made it 
 waste, and commanded the clouds that they should rain no rain upon 
 it." Expressions, which in the one case possess a peculiar grace, 
 would be absurd and incongruous in the other. For the continued 
 metaphor and the parable have a very different aim. The sole in- 
 tention of the former is to embellish a subject, to represent it more 
 magnificently, or at the most to illustrate it ; that, by describing it 
 in more elevated language, it may strike the mind more forcibly : 
 but the intent of the latter is to withdraw the truth for a moment 
 from our sight, in order to conceal whatever it may contain ungraceful 
 or disgusting, and to enable it secretly to insinuate itself, and obtain 
 an ascendency as it were by stealth. There is, however, a species 
 of parable, the intent of which is only to illustrate the subject, such 
 is that remarkable one of Ezekiel, 17 which I just now commended, 
 of the cedar of Lebanon : than which, if we consider the imagery 
 itself, none was ever more apt or more beautiful ; if the description 
 and colouring, none was ever more elegant or splendid ; in which, 
 however, the poet has occasionally allowed himself to blend the fig- 
 urative with the literal description : 18 whether he has done this be- 
 cause the peculiar nature of this kind of parable required it, or 
 whether his own fervid imagination alone, which disdained the strict- 
 er rules of composition, was his guide, I can scarcely presume to de- 
 termine. 
 
 17 Chap. xxxi. 13 See v. 11, 1417. 
 
LECTURE XI. 
 
 OF THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. 
 
 The definition of the Mystical Allegory Founded upon the allegorical or typical nature of the 
 Jewish religion The distinction between this and the two former species of allegory ; in the 
 nature of the materials ; it being allowable in the former to make use of imagery from in- 
 different objects ; in this, only such as is derived from things sacred, or their opposites ; in 
 the former, the exterior image has no foundation in truth; in the latter, both images are 
 equally true The difference in the form or manner of treating them The most beautiful 
 form is when the corresponding images run parallel through the whole poem, and mutually 
 illustrate each other Examples of this in the second and seventy-second Psalms The par- 
 abolic style admirably adapted to this species of allegory ; the nature of which renders it 
 the language most proper for prophecy Extremely dark in itself, but it is gradually cleared 
 up by the series of events foretold, and more complete revelation ; time also, which in the 
 general obscures, contributes to its full explanation. 
 
 THE third species of allegory, which also prevails much in the 
 prophetic poetry, is when a double meaning is couched under the 
 same words ; or when the same production, according as it is dif- 
 ferently interpreted, relates to different events, distant in time, and 
 distinct in their nature. These different relations are termed the 
 literal and the mystical senses ; and these constitute one of the most 
 difficult and important topics of Theology. The subject is, howev- 
 er, connected also with the sacred poetry, and is therefore deserving 
 of a place in these lectures. 
 
 In the sacred rites of the Hebrews, things, places, times, offices, 
 and such like, sustain as it were a double character, the one proper 
 or literal, the other allegorical ; and in their writings these subjects 
 are sometimes treated of in such a manner, as to relate either to the 
 one sense or the other, singly, or to both united. For instance, a 
 composition may treat of David, of Solomon, of Jerusalem, so as to 
 be understood to relate simply either to the city itself and its mon- 
 archs, or else to those objects, which, in the sacred allegory of the 
 Jewish religion, are denoted by that city and by those monarchs : or 
 the mind of the author may embrace both objects at once, so that 
 the very words which express the one in the plain, proper, historical, 
 and commonly received sense, may typify the other in the sacred, 
 interior, and prophetic sense. 
 
LECT. XL THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. 89 
 
 From these principles of the Jewish religion, this kind of allego- 
 ry, which I am inclined to call mystical, seems more especially to 
 derive its origin, and from these we must endeavour at an explanation 
 of it. But its nature and peculiar properties will probably be more 
 easily demonstrable, if we previously define in what respects it is 
 different from the two former species of allegory. 
 
 The first remarkable difference is, that in allegories of the kind -\ 
 already noticed, the writer is at liberty to make use of whatever im- / 
 agery is most agreeable to his fancy or inclination : there is nothing 
 in universal nature, nothing which the mind perceives, either by 
 sense or reflection, which may not be adapted in the form of a con- 
 tinued metaphor, or even of a parable, to the illustration of some 
 other subject. This latter kind of allegory, on the contrary, can 
 only be supplied with proper materials from the sacred rites of the 
 Hebrews themselves ; nor can it be introduced, except in relation to 
 such things as are directly connected with the Jewish religion, or 
 their immediate opposites. For to Israel, Sion, Jerusalem, in the 
 allegorical as well as the literal sense, are opposed Assyria, Babylon, 
 Egypt, Idumea ; and the same opposition exists in other subjects of 
 a similar nature. The two former kinds of allegory are of the same 
 general nature with the other figures, and partake of the common 
 privileges of poetry ; this latter, or mystical allegory, has its founda- 
 tion in the nature of the Jewish economy, and is adapted solely to / 
 the poetry of the Hebrews. Hence that truly Divine Spirit, which 
 has not disdained to employ poetry as the interpreter of its sacred 
 will, has also in a manner appropriated to its own use this kind of j 
 allegory, as peculiarly adapted to the publication of future events, : 
 and to the typifying of the most sacred mysteries : so that should it, 
 on any occasion, be applied to a profane and common subject ; be- 
 ing diverted from its proper end, and forced as it were from its natu- 
 ral bias, it would inevitably want all its power and elegance. (A) 
 
 There is likewise this further distinction, that in those other 
 forms of allegory, the exterior or ostensible imagery is fiction only ; 
 the truth lies altogether in the interior or remote sense, which is 
 veiled as it were under this thin and pellucid covering. But in the 
 allegory, of which we are now treating, each idea is equally agreea- 
 ble to truth. The exterior or ostensible image is not a shadowy col- 
 ouring of the interior sense, but is in itself a reality ; and although 
 it sustain another character, it does not wholly lay aside its own. 
 For instance, in the metaphor or parable, the lion, the eagle, the ce- 
 
 12 
 
90 THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. L.ECT. XI. 
 
 dar, considered with respect to their identical existence, are alto- 
 gether destitute of reality ; but what we read of David, Solomon, or 
 Jerusalem, in this sublimer kind of allegory, may be either accepted 
 in a literal sense, or may be mystically interpreted according to the 
 religion of the Hebrews, and in each view, whether considered con- 
 junctly or apart, will be found equally agreeable to truth. 
 
 Thus far this kind of allegory differs from the former in the ma- 
 terials, or in the nature of the imagery which it employs ; but there 
 is some difference also in the form or manner of introducing this 
 imagery. I had occasion before to remark the liberty, which is al- 
 lowed in the continued metaphor, of mingling the literal with the 
 figurative meaning, that is, the obvious with the remote idea ; which 
 is a liberty altogether inconsistent with the nature of a parable. But 
 to establish any certain rules with regard to this point in the con- 
 duct of the mystical allegory, would be a difficult and hazardous un- 
 dertaking. For the Holy Spirit has evidently chosen different 
 modes of revealing his sacred counsels, according to the circum- 
 stances of persons and times, inciting and directing at pleasure the 
 minds of his prophets : at one time displaying with an unbounded 
 liberality the clear indications of future events ; at another impart- 
 ing some obscure intimations with a sparing hand. Thus there is a 
 vast variety in the use and conduct of the mystical allegory ; in the 
 modes in which the corresponding images are arranged, and in 
 which they are obscured or eclipsed by one another. Sometimes 
 ' the obvious or literal sense is so prominent and conspicuous, both in 
 the words and sentiments, that the remote or figurative sense is 
 scarcely permitted to glimmer through it.(B) On the other hand, 
 and that more frequently, the figurative sense is found to beam forth 
 with so much perspicuity and lustre, that the literal sense is quite 
 cast into a shade, or becomes indiscernible. Sometimes the prin- 
 cipal or figurative idea is exhibited to the attentive eye with a con- 
 stant and equal light ; and sometimes it unexpectedly glares upon 
 us, and breaks forth with sudden and astonishing coruscations, like 
 a flash of lightning bursting from the clouds. But the mode or form 
 of this figure, which possesses the most beauty and elegance (and 
 that elegance is the principal object of this disquisition) is, when 
 the two images equally conspicuous run, as it were, parallel through 
 the whole poem, mutually illustrating and correspondent to each 
 other. Though the subject be obscure, I do not fear being able to 
 produce one or two undoubted instances of this peculiar excellence. 
 
LECT. XL THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. 91 
 
 which, if I am not mistaken, will sufficiently explain what I have ad- 
 vanced concerning the nature of the mystical allegory. 
 
 The subject of the second Psalm is the establishment of David 
 upon the throne, agreeably to the almighty decree, notwithstanding 
 the fruitless opposition of his enemies. The character which David 
 sustains in this poem is twofold, literal and allegorical. If on the 
 first reading of the Psalm we consider the character of David in the 
 literal sense, the composition appears sufficiently perspicuous, and 
 abundantly illustrated by facts from the sacred history. Through 
 the whole, indeed, there is an unusual fervour of language, a bril- 
 liancy of metaphor ; and sometimes the diction is uncommonly ele- 
 vated, as if to intimate, that something of a more sublime and impor- 
 tant nature lay concealed within ; and as if the poet had some inten- 
 tion of admitting us to the secret recesses of his subject. If, in con- 
 sequence of this indication, we turn our minds to contemplate the 
 internal sense, and apply the same passages to the allegorical David, 
 a nobler series of events is presented to us, and a meaning not only 
 more sublime, but even more perspicuous, rises to the view. Should 
 any thing at first appear bolder and more elevated than the obvious 
 sense would bear, it will now at once appear clear, expressive, and 
 admirably adapted to the dignity of the principal subject. If, after 
 having considered attentively the subjects apart, we examine them 
 at length in a united view, the beauty and sublimity of this most el- 
 egant poem will be improved. (c) We may then perceive the vast 
 disparity of the two images, and yet the continual harmony and 
 agreement that subsists between them, the amazing resemblance, as 
 between near relations, in every feature and lineament, and the ac- 
 curate analogy which is preserved, so that either may pass for the 
 original, whence the other was copied. New light is reflected upon 
 the diction, and a degree of dignity and importance is added to the 
 sentiments, whilst they gradually rise from humble to more elevated 
 objects, from human to divine, till at length the great subject of the 
 poem is placed in the most conspicuous light, and the composition 
 attains the highest point of sublimity. 
 
 What has been remarked concerning this Psalm, may be applied 
 with propriety to the seventy-second, which exactly resembles it both 
 in matter and form. It might not improperly be entitled the inau- 
 guration of Solomon. The nature of the allegory is the same with 
 the former ; the style is something different, on account of the dis- 
 parity of the subject. In the one the pomp and splendour of victory 
 
92 THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. L.ECT. XL 
 
 is displayed ; in the other the placid image of peace and felicity. 
 The style of the latter is, therefore, more calm and temperate, more 
 ornamented, more figurative ; not abounding in the same boldness 
 of personification as the former, but rather touched with the gay and 
 cheerful colouring of nature, in its most flourishing and delightful 
 state. From this example some light will be thrown upon the na- 
 ture of the parabolic style ; in particular it will appear admirably 
 adapted to this kind of allegory, on account of its abounding so 
 much in this species of imagery. For as the imagery of nature is 
 C equally calculated to express the ideas of divine and spiritual, or of 
 human things, a certain analogy being preserved in each ; so it eas- 
 ily admits that degree of ambiguity, which appears essential to this 
 "figure. By these means the composition is at the same time diversi- 
 fied and perspicuous, applicable to both senses, and obscure in nei- 
 ther ; and completely comprehending both parts of the allegory, may 
 clearly and distinctly be referred to either. 
 
 Still, however, a degree of obscurity must occasionally attend 
 this style of composition ; and this obscurity not only results from 
 the nature of the figure, but is even not without its peculiar utility. 
 For the mystical allegory is on this very account so agreeable to the 
 nature of prophecy, that it is the form which the latter generally, 
 and I might add lawfully, assumes, as most fitted for the prediction 
 of future events. It describes events in a manner exactly conform- 
 able to the intention of prophecy ; that is, in a dark, disguised, and 
 intricate manner ; sketching out in a general way their form and 
 outline ; and seldom descending to minuteness of description, and 
 exactness of detail. If on some occasions it expressly signifies any 
 notable circumstance, it seems to be for two principal reasons : l 
 First, that, as generally happens, by suddenly, withdrawing from our 
 view the literal meaning, the attention may be excited to the inves- 
 tigation of the figurative sense ; and secondly, that certain express 
 marks, or distinguishing features, may occasionally shew themselves, 
 which, after the accomplishment of the prediction, may be sufficient, 
 to remove every doubt, and to assert and confirm, in all points, the 
 truth, and divinity of the prophecy. 
 
 The prophetic, indeed, differs in one respect from every other 
 species of the sacred poetry : when first divulged it is impenetrably 
 obscure ; and time, which darkens every other composition, eluci- 
 
 1 PSAL. xxii. 17, 18, 19. and Ixix. 22. 
 
. XI. THE MYSTICAL ALLEGORY. 93 
 
 dates this. That obscurity, therefore, in which at first this part of 
 the sacred writings was involved, is now in a great measure remo- 
 ved ; there are now many things which the course of events (the 
 most certain interpreter of prophecy) has completely laid open ; from 
 many the Holy Spirit has itself condescended to remove the veil, 
 with which they were at first concealed ; many sacred institutions 
 there are, the reason and intent of which are more clearly under- 
 stood, since the design of the Jewish dispensation has been more 
 perfectly revealed. Thus it happens, that, instructed and supported 
 by these aids, of which the ancient Hebrews were destitute, and 
 which in truth appear not to have been conceded to the prophets 
 themselves, we come better accomplished for the knowledge and 
 comprehension of that part of the sacred poetry, which is the most 
 singular in its nature, and by far the most difficult of explanation. (D) 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 
 OF THE COMPARISON. 
 
 Comparisons are introduced for three purposes ; illustration, amplification, and variety For the 
 first an image is requisite, apt, well known, and perspicuous ; it is of little consequence 
 whether it be sublime or beautiful, or neither : hence comparisons from objects which are in 
 themselves mean and humble, may be sometimes useful For the purpose of amplification an 
 image is requisite which is sublime, or beautiful, even though it should be less apt and per- 
 spicuous : and on this plea a degree of obscurity, or a remoteness in the resemblance, may 
 sometimes be excused When variety is the object, splendid, beautiful, and elegant imagery 
 must be sought for ; and which has an apt agreement with the object of the comparison in 
 the circumstances or adjuncts, though the objects themselves may be different in kind The 
 most perfect comparison is that, in which all these excellencies are united The peculiar 
 form of comparisons in the Hebrew poetry ; it results from the nature of the sententious 
 style They are short, frequent, simple, depending often on a single attribute Different im- 
 ages displayed in the parallel sentences ; many comparisons are arranged in this manner to 
 illustrate the same subject ; or different attributes of the same comparison are often distrib- 
 uted in the different divisions or parallelisms. 
 
 IN the following Lecture I shall endeavour to treat of the com- 
 parison, which I have classed the third in order of the poetical fig- 
 ures, with a view of illustrating in some degree both its general pro- 
 perties, and its peculiar application and force in the poetic composi- 
 tions of the Hebrews. 
 
 Comparisons serve three distinct purposes, namely, illustration, 
 amplification, and pleasure or variety. 
 
 In the first place, comparisons are introduced to illustrate a sub- 
 ject, and to place it in a clearer and more conspicuous point of view. 
 This is most successfully effected, when the object which furnishes 
 the simile is familiar and perspicuous, and when it exactly agrees 
 with that to which it is compared. In this species of comparison el- 
 evation or beauty, sublimity or splendour, are of little consequence ; 
 strict propriety, and a direct resemblance, calculated exactly for the 
 explanation of the subject, is a sufficient commendation. Thus 
 Homer very accurately depicts the numbers of the Grecian army, 
 their ardour and eagerness for battle, by a comparison taken from 
 flies collected about a milk pail ; and Virgil compares the diligence 
 of the Tyrians in building their city, and the variety of their oc- 
 cupations, with the labours of the bees ; without in the least degrad- 
 ing the dignity of the epic muse. 1 
 
 i IL. II. 469. Mn. I. 432. Compare Milton's Paradise Lost, I. 768. 
 
LECT. XII. OF THE COMPARISON. 95 
 
 I might produce many examples to the purpose from the sacred 
 poetry, but shall content myself with two or three, than which, both 
 as to matter and expression, nothing can be meaner or more vulgar, 
 nothing, however, can be conceived more forcible or expressive. 
 Isaiah introduces the king of Assyria insolently boasting of his vic- 
 tories : 
 
 " Nacta est manus haec tanquam nidum populorum copias : 
 
 " Et ut colliguntur ova derelicta, 
 
 " Ita omnes ego teras collegi ; 
 
 " Neque erat qui alam motitaret, 
 
 " Aut qui apertoore pipiret." 2 
 
 And Nahum on a similar subject : 
 
 " Omnes munitiones tuae erunt ut ficus praematuris fructibus ; 
 " Si concutientur, cadent illico in os devorantis."3 
 
 There is also another comparison of Isaiah taken from domestic life, 
 very obvious and very common ; but which for the gracefulness of 
 the imagery, the elegance of the arrangement, and the forcible ex- 
 pression of the tenderest affections, has never been exceeded : 
 
 " Atqui Sion dicit ; lehova me dereliquit, 
 " Et Dominus meus oblitus est mei. 
 " Num obliviscetur mulier sui infantis; 
 " Ita ut non misereatur filii uteri sui ? 
 " Etiam illae equidem oblivisci poterint ; 
 " Ego vero tui non obliviscar."^ 
 
 There is another species of comparison, the principal intent of 
 which is the amplification of the subject ; and this is evidently of a 
 different nature from the former : for, in the first place, it is neces- 
 sary that the image which is introduced for the purpose of amplify- 
 ing or ennobling a subject, be sublime, beautiful, magnificent, or 
 splendid, and therefore not trite or common ; nor is it by any means 
 necessary that the resemblance be exact in every circumstance. 
 Thus Virgil has the address to impart even to the labours of his bees 
 a wonderful air of sublimity, by a comparison with the exertions of 
 the Cyclops in fabricating the thunderbolts of Jupiter : 5 thus he ad- 
 mirably depicts the grace, the dignity and strength of his ^Eneas, 
 by comparing him with Apollo on the top of Cynthus renewing the 
 sacred chorus ; or with the mountains Athos, Eryx, and Appenine. 6 
 Thus also Homer, in which he is imitated by Virgil, compares two 
 
 2 ISAI. x. 14. 3 NAH. iii. 12. 4 ISAI. xlix. 14, 15. 
 
 5 GEORG. iv. 170. 6 JE N . i v . 143. xii. 701. 
 
96 OF THE COMPARISON. . LECT. XII. 
 
 heroes rushing to battle, with Mars and his offspring Terror advan- 
 cing from Thrace to the Phlegyans and Ephyrians. 7 But if it should 
 be objected, that as comparisons of the former kind are wanting in 
 dignity, so these (in which familiar objects are compared with ob- 
 jects but little known, or with objects which have little agreement 
 or resemblance to them) are more likely to obscure than to illustrate ; 
 let it be remembered, that each species of comparison has in view a 
 different end. The aim of the poet in the one case is perspicuity, 
 to enable the mind clearly to perceive the subject, and to compre- 
 hend the whole of it at one view ; in the other the object is sublim- 
 ity, or to impress the reader with the idea that the magnitude of the 
 subject is scarcely to be conceived. When considered in this light, 
 it will, I dare presume, be allowed, that none of these forms of com- 
 parison, when rightly applied, is deficient, either in propriety or el- 
 egance. 
 
 The Hebrews have nothing that corresponds with those fables, 
 to which the Greek and Roman poets have recourse, when amplifi- 
 cation is required : nor can we be surprised that imagery so conse- 
 crated, so dignified by religion and antiquity, and yet of so obvious 
 and established acceptation as to be intelligible to the meanest un- 
 derstanding, should supply abundant and suitable materials for this 
 purpose. The sacred poets, therefore, resort in this case chiefly to 
 the imagery of nature ; and this they make use of, indeed, with so 
 much elegance and freedom, that we have no cause to regret the 
 want of those fictions, to which other nations have recourse. To 
 express or delineate prosperity and opulence, a comparison is as- 
 sumed from the cedar or the palm : 8 if the form of majesty or exter- 
 nal beauty is to be depicted, Lebanon or Carmel is presented to our 
 view. 9 Sometimes they are furnished with imagery from their re- 
 ligious rites, at once beautiful, dignified, and sacred. In both these 
 modes, the Psalmist most elegantly extols the pleasures and advan- 
 tages of fraternal concord : 
 
 " Ut aura suavis balsami, quum funditur 
 " Aronis in sacrum caput, 
 
 " Et imbre laeto proluens barbarn et sinus 
 " Limbum pererrat aureum : 
 
 " Ut ros, tenella gemmulis argenteis 
 " Pingens Sionis gramina ; 
 
 7 IL. xiii. 298. 2EN. xiii. 331. 
 
 8 PSAL. xcii. 12. NUMB. xxiv. 6. Hos. xiv. 6, 7, 8. AMOS ii. 9. 
 
 9 See Lect. VI. 
 
LECT. XII. SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. 97 
 
 " Aut verna dulci inebrians uligine 
 " Hermonis intonsi iuga." 10 
 
 Let us, however, attend for a moment to Isaiah, whom no writer 
 has surpassed in propriety, when his aim is to illustrate ; or in sub- 
 limity, when he means to amplify his subject : 
 
 " O tumultum populorum multorum ! 
 
 " Instar tumultus marium tumultuantur : 
 
 " O fremitum nationum ! 
 
 " Instar fremitus aquarum immanium confremunt. 
 
 " Populi instar fremitus aquarum multarum confremunt : 
 
 " Sed illo increpante procul fugient ; 
 
 " Et agentur, ut gluma montium vento correpta, 
 
 " Utque stipula rotata turbine. "H (A) 
 
 The third species of comparison seems to hold a middle rank be- 
 tween the two preceding : and the sole intent of it is, by a mixture 
 of new and varied imagery with the principal matter, to prevent sa- 
 tiety or disgust, and to promote the entertainment of the reader. It 
 neither descends to the humility of the one, nor emulates the sublim- 
 ity of the other. It pursues rather the agreeable, the ornamental, 
 the elegant, and ranges through all the variety, all the exuberance 
 of nature. In so extensive a field it would be an infinite task to col- 
 lect all that might be observed of each particular. I shall remark 
 one circumstance only, which though it sometimes take place in the 
 two former species of comparison, may be said notwithstanding to 
 be chiefly appropriated to this last. 
 
 There are two operations of the mind, evidently contrary to each 
 other. The one consists in combining ideas, the other in separating 
 and distinguishing them. For in contemplating the innumerable 
 forms of things, one of the first reflections which occurs is, that there 
 are some which have an immediate agreement, and some which are 
 directly contrary to each other. The mind, therefore, contemplates 
 those objects which have a resemblance in their universal nature in 
 such a manner, as naturally to inquire whether in any respect they so 
 disagree, as to furnish any mark of discrimination ; on the contrary, 
 it investigates those which are generally different in such a manner, as 
 to remark whether, in their circumstances or adjuncts, they may not 
 possess something in common, which may serve as a bond of connex- 
 ion or association to class or unite them. The final cause of the 
 former of these operations seems to be to caution and guard us 
 
 10 PSAL. cxxxiii. 2, 3. 11 ISAI. xvii. 12, 13. 
 
 13 
 
98 SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. LiECT. XII. 
 
 against error, in confounding one with another ; of the latter, to 
 form a kind of repository of knowledge, which may be resorted to, 
 as occasion serves, either for utility or pleasure. These constitute 
 the two faculties, which are distinguished by the names of judgement 
 and imagination. 12 As accuracy of judgement is demonstrated by 
 discovering in things, which have in general a very strong resem- 
 blance, some partial disagreement ; so the genius or fancy is entitled 
 to the highest commendation, when in those objects, which upon 
 the whole have the least agreement, some striking similarity is tra- 
 ced out. 13 In those comparisons, therefore, the chief purpose of 
 which is ornament or pleasure, thus far may pass for an established 
 principle, that they are most likely to accomplish this end, when the 
 image is not only elegant and agreeable, but is also taken from an 
 object, which in the general is materially different from the subject 
 of comparison, and only aptly and pertinently agrees with it in one 
 or two of its attributes. 
 
 But I shall probably explain myself better by an example. There 
 is in Virgil a comparison, borrowed from Homer, of a boiling cal- 
 dron. 14 Supposing in each poet the versification and description 
 equally elegant ; still, as the relation between the things compared 
 is different, so the grace and beauty of the comparison is different 
 in the two poets. In Homer the waters of the river Xanthus boil- 
 ing in their channel by the fire, which Vulcan has thrown into the 
 river, are compared with the boiling of a heated caldron ; but Vir- 
 gil compares with the same object the mind of Turnus agitated by 
 the torch of the fury Alecto. The one brings together ideas mani- 
 festly alike, or rather indeed the same, and only differing in cir- 
 cumstances ; the other, on the contrary, assimilates objects, which 
 are evidently very different in their nature, but aptly agreeing in 
 some of their adjuncts or circumstances. Thus the comparison of 
 the Latin poet is new, diversified, and agreeable ; but that of the 
 
 12 SeeHoBBEs of Human Nature, c. x. sect. 4. and LOCKE of Human Un- 
 derstanding, B. xi. c. 11. sect. 2. 
 
 13 " Elegance of expression consists in metaphors, neither too remote, 
 which are difficult to be understood ; nor too simple and superficial, which do 
 not affect the passions." ARIST. Rhet. iii. 10. " For, as was before observed, 
 metaphors must be taken from objects that are familiar, yet not too plain and 
 common : As in philosophy it is a mark of sagacity to discern similitude even 
 in very dissimilar things." Ib. c. ii. 
 
 14 JEn. vii. 462. II. xxi. 362. 
 
LECT. XII. SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. 99 
 
 Greek, although not destitute of force in illustrating the subject, is 
 undoubtedly wanting in all the graces of variety, ornament, and 
 splendour. 
 
 For the same reason, there is perhaps no comparison of any poet 
 extant more ingenious, more elegant or perfect in its kind, than the 
 following of the same excellent poet : 
 
 " Quae Laomedontius heros 
 11 Cuncta videns, magno curarum fluctuat aestu ; 
 " Atque animum mine hue celerem, nunc dividit illuc, 
 " In partesque rapit varias. perque omnia versat : 
 " Sicut aquae tremulum labris ubi lumen a6nis 
 " Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunae, 
 " Omnia pervolitat late loca, iamque sub auras 
 " Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti."15 
 
 He appears to be indebted for this passage to Apollonius Rhodius : 
 
 Hvxv'a 8t oi xoadifj CTy&iiuv evroo&cv s&vcv, 
 
 ^Hel'iov K>g rig Tt dopoig ivmaMtrai cti'yAjj 
 
 c J r Sarog i^avtovoa, TO <J; viov i t c MfiriTi 
 
 ^Hi Ttov tv yavlw xtjfvrai' / S^ tv&a xai tr&a 
 
 > S^Xtri aTQoywltyyi TtvaOOtiai a'i 
 
 f 2g Se xai iv arij&eoai xi 
 
 In this description, Virgil, as usual, has much improved upon his 
 original ; and particularly in that circumstance, which is the most 
 essential of all, that on which the fitness of the comparison depends, 
 and which forms the hinge, as it were, upon which it turns, he has 
 greatly surpassed the ancient author. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that in comparisons, the chief design of 
 which is ornament or variety, the principal excellence results from 
 the introduction of an image different in kind, but correspondent in 
 some particular circumstances. There are, however, two capital 
 imperfections to which this figure is sometimes liable : one, when 
 objects too dissimilar, and dissimilar chiefly in the adjuncts or cir- 
 cumstances, are forced into comparison ; the other, and not less 
 common or important, though perhaps less adverted to, when the 
 relation or resemblance is in general too exact and minute. The 
 comparison in the one case is monstrous and whimsical ; in the oth- 
 er it is grovelling and inanimate. 
 
 Examples innumerable in illustration of the present subject might 
 be found in the sacred poetry ; I shall, however, produce not more 
 
 15 Mn. viii. 28. 16 Argon. HI. 754. 
 
100 SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. L.ECT. XII. 
 
 than two from Isaiah. The first from the historical narration of the 
 confederacy between the Syrians and the Israelites against the king- 
 dom of Judah, " which when it was told unto the king," says the 
 prophet, " his heart was moved, and the hearts of his people, as the 
 trees of the wood are moved with the wind." 17 The other is a poet- 
 ical comparison, which is fuller and more diffuse than the custom of 
 the Hebrews generally admits ; the subject of correspondent appli- 
 cation, however, is perfectly exact. The divine grace, and its ef- 
 fects, are compared with showers that fertilize the earth : an image 
 which is uniformly appropriated to that purpose : 
 
 ' Nam sicut descendit pluvia, 
 ' Et nix de coelo ; 
 ' Atque illuc non revertitur, 
 ' Donee irrigaverit tellurem, 
 ' Earaque foecundaverit, et fecerit germinate ; 
 ' Ut det semen serenti et panem comedenti : 
 ' Tale erit verbum quod ex meo ore prodit ; 
 ' Non ad me revertetur irritum, 
 ' Quin effecerit quodcunque volui, 
 " Et feliciter transegerit quod ei mandavi."* 8 (B) 
 
 More examples, and of superior elegance, may be found in the Song 
 of Solomon : 19 it must not, indeed, be dissembled, that there are 
 some in that poem, which are very reprehensible, on account of that 
 general dissonance and fanciful agreement, which I have just re- 
 marked as a great imperfection attending the free use of this fig- 
 ure. 20 We must be cautious, however, lest in some cases we charge 
 the poet with errors, which are in reality our own ; since many of 
 the objects which suggested these comparisons, are greatly obscured, 
 and some of them removed entirely beyond the sphere of our know- 
 ledge by distance of time and place. It is the part of a wise man 
 not rashly to condemn what we are able but partially to compre- 
 hend. 
 
 These three forms, according to which, for the sake of perspicu- 
 ity, I have ventured to class comparisons in general, are however 
 not so incompatible, that they may not occasionally meet, and be va- 
 riously blended with each other. That indeed appears to be the 
 most perfect comparison which combines all these different objects, 
 
 17 ISAI. vii. 2. i8IsAi.lv. 10, 11. 
 
 19 See CANT. iv. 15, farther explained Lect. XXXI. 
 
 20 See CANT. vii. 24. 
 
LECT. XII. SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. 101 
 
 and while it explains, serves at the same time to amplify and embel- 
 lish the subject ; and which possesses evidence and elevation, sea- 
 soned with elegance and variety. A more complete example is 
 scarcely to be found than that passage, in which Job impeaches the 
 infidelity and ingratitude of his friends, who in his adversity denied 
 him those consolations of tenderness and sympathy, which in his 
 prosperous state, and when he needed them not, they had lavished 
 upon him : he compares them with streams, which, increased by 
 the rains of winter, overflow their borders, and display for a little 
 time a copious and majestic torrent ; but with the first impulse of the 
 solar beams are suddedly dried up, and leave those, who unfortu- 
 nately wander through the deserts of Arabia, destitute of water, and 
 perishing with thirst. 21 
 
 Thus far of comparisons in general, and of their matter and in- 
 tention : it remains to add a few words concerning the particular 
 form and manner, in which the Hebrews usually exhibit them. 
 
 The Hebrews introduce comparisons more frequently perhaps 
 than the poets of any other nation ; but the brevity of them in gene- 
 ral compensates for their abundance. The resemblance usually 
 turns upon a single circumstance : that they explain in the most sim- 
 ple terms, rarely introducing any thing at all foreign to the purpose. 
 The following example, therefore, is almost singular, since it is load- 
 ed with an extraordinary accession, or I might almost say a superflu- 
 ity of adjuncts : 
 
 " Erunt sicut herba tectorum, 
 
 " Quae priusquam effloresce! exaruit : 
 
 " Qua non implet manum suam messor, 
 
 " Neque sinum suum qui manipulos colligit : 
 
 " Nee dicunt transeuntes, 
 
 " Benedictio lehovae vobis adsit;29 
 
 " Benedicimus vobis in nomine lehovae." 23 
 
 The usual practice of the Hebrews is, indeed, very different from 
 this : sometimes a single word, and commonly a very short sentence, 
 comprehends the whole comparison. This peculiarity proceeds from 
 the nature of the sententious style, which is always predominant in 
 the Hebrew poetry, and, as I before remarked, consists in condens- 
 ing and compressing every exuberance of expression, and rendering 
 
 21 JOB vi. 1520. 
 
 22 A customary expression made use of in this business. See RUTH ii. 4. 
 
 23 PSALM cxxix. 68. See also PSALM cxxxiii. 3. 
 
102 SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. L.ECT. XII. 
 
 it close and pointed. Thus, in the very parts in which other poets 
 are copious and diffuse, the Hebrews, on the contrary, are brief, en- 
 ergetic, and animated ; not gliding along in a smooth and equal 
 stream, but with the inequality and impetuosity of a torrent. Thus 
 their comparisons assume a peculiar form and appearance ; for it is 
 not so much their custom to dilate and embellish each particular im- 
 age with a variety of adjuncts, as to heap together a number of par- 
 allel and analogous comparisons, all of which are expressed in a style 
 of the utmost brevity and simplicity. Moses compares the celestial 
 influence of the divine song, which he utters by the command of 
 God, with showers which water the fields ; and on an occasion when 
 a Greek or Latin poet would have been contented with a single com- 
 parison, perhaps a little more diffused and diversified, he has intro- 
 duced two pairs of similes exactly expressive of the same thing : 
 
 " Dcstillabit, ut pluvia, doctrina mea ; 
 " Fluet, ut ros, mea oratio : 
 " Ut imbres tenuissimi in herbas ; 
 " Ut densae guttulae in gramina."24 
 
 The Psalmist makes use of the same form in the following : 
 
 " Fac, Deus mi, ut sint instar glumae rotatae, 
 
 " Instar stipulae correptae vento : 
 
 " Ut saltum comburit ignis, 
 
 " Ut montes incendit flamma ; 
 
 " Sic tu illos tua tempestate persequere, 
 
 " Tuoque turbine consternates age."25(c) 
 
 This is, indeed, the most common, but by no means the only 
 form which this figure assumes in the Hebrew poetry : there is an- 
 other, in which the comparison is more diffusively displayed; in 
 which case the equal distribution of the sentences is still strictly ad- 
 hered to ; the image itself, however, is not repeated, but its attri- 
 butes, which explain one another in two parallel sentences ; as Mo- 
 ses has done in a comparison immediately following that which I 
 just now quoted, in which he compares the care and paternal affec- 
 tion of the Deity for his people, with the natural tenderness of the 
 eagle for its young : 
 
 " Ut Aquila excitat identidem nidum suum ; 
 " Supper pullos suos sese motitat : 
 " Expandit pennas, assumit eos ; 
 " Gestat eos super alam suam."26 
 
 24 DEUT. xxxii. 2. 25 PSALM. Ixxxiii. 1315. 26 DEUT. xxxii. 11. 
 
LECT. XII. SIMILE, OR COMPARISON. 103 
 
 The same is observable also in that most elegant comparison of Job, 
 which I formerly commended ; and which for this reason I shall 
 now quote entire, by way of conclusion : 
 
 " Fratres mei perfide egerent sicut torrens, 
 
 " Ut decursus torrentium illico transierunt ; 
 
 " Qui turbidi ruunt a glacie ; 
 
 " In quos resoluta absconditur nix : 
 
 " Quo tempore aestu afficiuntur, pereunt ; 
 
 " Cum calescit, exscinduntur e loco suo : 
 
 " Declinant cajtervae de via sua ; 
 
 " Ascendunt in deserta et intereunt : 
 
 " Respectant eos catervae Themaeae ; 
 
 " Turmae Sabaeae spem in eos intendunt : 
 
 " Pudet illas fiduciae suae ; 
 
 " Perveniunt illuc, et erubescunt."27(o) 
 
 27 JOB vi. 1520. 
 
LECTURE XIII. 
 
 OF THE PROSOPOPOEIA, OR PERSONIFICATION 
 
 Two kinds of Personification : when a character is assigned to fictitious or inanimate objects, 
 and when a probahle speech is attributed to a real person Of fictitious and inanimate char- 
 acters ; of real characters The Prosopopoeia of the mother of Sisera (in the song of Deb- 
 orah) explained : also the triumphal song of the Israelites concerning the death of the king 
 of Babylon, (in Isaiah) which consists altogether of this figure, and exhibits it in all its dif- 
 ferent forms. 
 
 THE last in order of those figures, which I proposed to treat of, 
 as being most adapted to the parabolic style, is the Prosopopoeia, or 
 Personification. (A) Of this figure there are two kinds. One, when 
 action and character are attributed to fictitious, irrational, or even 
 inanimate objects ; the other, when a probable but fictitious speech 
 is assigned to a real character. The former evidently partakes of 
 the nature of the metaphor, and is by far the boldest and most dar- 
 ing of that class of figures. Seasonably introduced, therefore, it has 
 uncommon force and expression ; and in no hands whatever is more 
 successful in this respect than in those of the Hebrew writers : I 
 may add also, that none more frequently or more freely introduce it. 
 
 In the first place then, with respect to fictitious characters, the 
 Hebrews have this in common with other poets, that they frequently 
 assign character and action to an abstract or general idea, and in- 
 troduce it in a manner acting, and even speaking as upon a stage. 
 In this, while they equal the most refined writers in elegance and 
 grace, they greatly excel the most sublime in force and majesty. 
 What, indeed, can be conceived apter, more beautiful, or more sub- 
 lime, than that personification of Wisdom, which Solomon so fre- 
 quently introduces ? exhibiting her not only as the director of hu- 
 man life and morals, as the inventor of arts, as the dispenser of 
 wealth, of honour, and of real felicity ; but as the immortal offspring 
 of the omnipotent Creator, and as the eternal associate in the divine 
 
 counsels : 
 
 " Cum lehova coelos ornaret, ego adfui ; 
 
 " Cum super faciem abyssi circulum describeret : 
 
 " Cum superne firmaret aetheraj 
 
 " Cum stabiliret abyssi fontes : 
 
LECT. XIII. PERSONIFICATION. 105 
 
 " Cum marl decretum suum ederet, 
 
 " Ne aquae transirent praescriptum limitem, 
 
 " Cum designaret telluris fundamenta : 
 
 " Turn aderam illi alumna, 
 
 " Et eram quotidianae deliciae, 
 
 " Coram illo ludebam iugiter : 
 
 " Ludebam in orbe terrarum eius, 
 
 " Et deliciae meae cum filiis hominum." 1 
 
 How admirable is that celebrated personification of the divine attri- 
 butes by the Psalmist ? How just, elegant, and splendid does it ap- 
 pear, if applied only according to the literal sense, to the restoration 
 of the Jewish nation from the Babylonish captivity ? but if interpret- 
 ed as relating to that sublimer, more sacred and mystical sense, 
 which is not obscurely shadowed under the ostensible image, it is 
 certainly uncommonly noble and elevated, mysterious and sublime : 
 
 " Misericordia et veritas sibi invincem occurrunt ; 
 " lustitia et pax se mutuo osculantur:"2 
 
 There are many passages of a similar kind, exquisitely imagined, 
 and, from the boldness of the fiction, extremely forcible. Such is 
 that in Habakkuk, of the Pestilence marching before JEHOVAH when 
 he comes to vengeance : that in Job, in which Destruction and 
 Death affirm of Wisdom, that her fame only had come to their ears : 
 in fine (that I may not be tedious in quoting examples) that tremen- 
 dous image in Isaiah, of Hades extending her throat, and opening 
 her insatiable and immeasurable jaws. 3 
 
 There is also another most beautiful species of personification, 
 which originates from a well known Hebrew idiom, and on that ac- 
 count is very familiar to us ; I allude to that form of expression, by 
 which the subject, attribute, accident, or effect of any thing is de- 
 nominated the son. Hence in the Hebrew poetry, nations, regions, 
 peoples, are brought upon the stage as it were in a female character : 
 
 " Descend and sit in the dust, O virgin, daughter of Babylon ; 
 
 " Sit on the bare ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans : 
 
 " For thou shalt no longer be called the tender and the delicate. "^(B) 
 
 " Luget, sedetque sola humi, virgo Sionis filia: 
 
 " Flet nocte semper inquies, semper genis mandentibus j 
 
 " Manusque tendit supplices, nee invenit solatia. "5 
 
 1 Prov. viii. 2731 2 p sa l. Ixxxv. 11. 
 
 3 Hab. iii. 5. Job. xxviii. 22. Isai. v. if 
 
 4 I>ai. xlvii. 1, etc. 5 Lam. i. 1, etc. 
 
 14 
 
106 PERSONIFICATION. L.ECT. XIII. 
 
 Unless we attend to this peculiar phraseology, such expressions as 
 the " Sons of the bow and of the quiver" for arrows, will seem ex- 
 tremely harsh and unnatural ; as well as that remarkable personifi- 
 cation of Job, denoting the most miserable death, " The first-born 
 of the progeny of death." 6 
 
 The parabolic style no less elegantly assigns a character and 
 action to inanimate objects than to abstract ideas. The holy proph- 
 ets, moved with just indignation against the ungrateful people of 
 God, " obtest the Heavens and the earth, and command universal 
 nature to be silent. They plead their cause before the mountains, 
 and the hills listen to their voice." 7 All is animated and informed 
 with life, soul and passion : 
 
 " Laetentur coeli, et exultet terra, 
 
 " Et edicant per gentes, lehova regnat. 
 
 " Fremitum edat mare, et quod eo continetur ; 
 
 " Orbis, et eius incolae : 
 
 " Palmas suas complodant fluvii, 
 
 " Certatim monies in cantum prorumpant : 
 
 " Coram lehova, nam advenit, 
 
 " Nam advenit iudicatum terram." 
 
 " Viderunt te aquae, o Deus ; 
 
 " Viderunt te aquae, dolore correptae sunt :. 
 
 " Vocem suam edidit abyssus ; 
 
 " Manus suas sublime extulit."8 
 
 And Job admirably in the same style : 
 
 " Num ire iubebis fulgura, et ibunt ; 
 
 " Et dicent tibi, en praesto sumus !"9 
 
 With equal success they introduce objects, which have no existence 
 in the order and economy of nature ; though it must be confessed, 
 that it is attended with much greater hazard of propriety ; for to 
 those, which are within the province of nature, we readily attribute 
 a degree of life and sentiment. Of this the following dialogue in 
 Jeremiah is an admirable specimen : 
 
 " Eheu ! o ensis lehovae, quousque non quiesces ? 
 
 " Recipe te in vaginam, subsiste, et sile. 
 
 " Quomodo quiesceret, cum lehovae ei mandata dederit ? 
 
 " Ad Ascalonem et ad oram maritimam, illuc ei condixit.' 10 
 
 6 Job. xli. 19. Lam. iii. 13. Job xviii. 13. 
 
 7 Deut xxxii. 1. Isai. i. 2. Mic. vi. 1. 
 
 8 1 Chron. xvi. 31. Psal. xcviii. 7, 8. Psal. xcvi. 13. Psal. Ixxvii. 16-. 
 Habak. iii. 10. 
 
 9 Job xxxviii. 35. 10 J BR . xlvii. 6. 7.. 
 
O* 
 
 LECT. XIII. PERSONIFICATION. 107 
 
 , 
 
 The other kind of prosopopoeia, to which I alluded in the former 
 part of this lecture, is that, by which a probable but fictitious speech 
 is assigned to a real person. As the former is calculated to excite 
 admiration and approbation by its novelty, boldness, and variety ; 
 so the latter, from its near resemblance to real life, is possessed of 
 great force, evidence, and authority. 
 
 It would be an infinite task to specify every instance in the sa- 
 cred poems, which on this occasion might be referred to as worthy 
 of notice ; or to remark the easy, the natural, the bold and sudden 
 personifications ; the dignity, importance, and impassioned severity 
 of the characters. It would be difficult to describe the energy of 
 that eloquence which is attributed to JEHOVAH himself, and which 
 appears so suitable in all respects to the Divine Majesty ; or to dis T 
 play the force and beauty of the language which is so admirably and 
 peculiarly adapted to each character ; the probability of the fiction ; 
 and the excellence of the imitation. One example, therefore, must 
 suffice for the present ; one more perfect it is not possible to produce. 
 It is expressive of the eager expectation of the mother of Sisera, 
 from the inimitable ode of the prophetess Deborah. 11 
 
 The first sentences exhibit a striking picture of maternal soli- 
 citude, both in words and actions ; and of a mind suspended and agi- 
 tated between hope and fear : 
 
 " Per fenestram prospexit et clamavit 
 
 " Mater Siserae per cancellos : 
 
 " Cur pudet currum eius venire ? 
 
 " Cur morantur quadrigarum eius incessus ?" 
 
 Immediately, impatient of his delay, she anticipates the consolations 
 of her friends, and her mind being somewhat elevated, she boasts 
 with all the levity of a fond female ; 
 
 Vast in her hopes and giddy with success : 
 
 " Sapientes primariae eius foeminae certatim ei respondent ; 
 " Imo ipsa sibi suos sermones illico reddit : 
 " Annon iam assequentur, divident praedam?" 
 
 Let us now observe, how well adapted every sentiment, every word 
 is to the character of the speaker. She takes no account of the 
 slaughter of the enemy, of the valour and conduct of the conqueror, 
 of the multitude of the captives, but 
 
 Burns with a female thirst of prey and spoils. 
 
 11 JUD. v. 2830. 
 
108 PERSONIFICATION. L.ECT. XIII. 
 
 Nothing is omitted, which is calculated to attract and engage the 
 passions of a vain and trifling woman, slaves, gold, and rich apparel. 
 Nor is she satisfied with the bare enumeration of them ; she repeats, 
 she amplifies, she heightens every circumstance ; she seems to have 
 the very plunder in her immediate possession ; she pauses and con- 
 templates every particular : 
 
 1 Annon iam assequentur, divident praedam ? 
 
 { Ancillam, imo duas unicuique ancillas ? 
 
 ' Praedam versicolorem Siserae ? 
 
 ' Praedam versicolorem, acupictam ; 
 
 ' Coloratam, utrinque acupictam, collo exuvium ?" 
 
 To add to the beauty of this passage, there is also an uncommon 
 neatness in the versification, great force, accuracy, and perspicuity 
 in the diction, the utmost elegance in the repetitions, which, not- 
 withstanding their apparent redundancy, are conducted with the 
 most perfect brevity. In the end, the fatal disappointment of. female 
 hope and credulity, tacitly insinuated by the sudden and unexpect- 
 ed apostrophe, 
 
 " Sic pereant omnes inimici tui, o lehova !" 
 
 is expressed more forcibly by this very silence of the person who 
 was just speaking, than it could possibly have been by all the pow- 
 ers of language. (c) 
 
 But whoever wishes to understand the full force and excellence 
 of this figure, as well as the elegant use of it in the Hebrew ode, 
 must apply to Isaiah, whom I do not scruple to pronounce the sub- 
 limest of poets. He will there find, in one short poem, examples of 
 almost every form of the prosopopreia, and indeed of all that consti- 
 tutes the sublime in composition. I trust it will not be thought un- 
 seasonable to refer immediately to the passage itself, and to remark 
 a few of the principal excellencies. 12 
 
 The prophet, after predicting the liberation of the Jews from 
 their severe captivity in Babylon, and their restoration to their own 
 country, introduces them as reciting a kind of triumphal song upon 
 the fall of the Babylonish monarch, replete with imagery, and with 
 the most elegant and animated personifications. A sudden exclama- 
 tion, expressive of their joy and admiration on the unexpected revo- 
 lution in their affairs, and the destruction of their tyrants, forms the 
 exordium of the poem. The earth itself triumphs with the inhabi- 
 
 12 ISAI. xiv. 427. 
 
LECT. XIII. PERSONIFICATION. 109 
 
 tants thereof ; the fir trees, and the cedars of Lebanon (under 
 which images the parabolic style frequently delineates the kings and 
 princes of the Gentiles) exult with joy, and persecute with contemp- 
 tuous reproaches the humbled power of a ferocious enemy : 
 
 " Quiescit, tranquilla est tola tellus ; erumpunt in cantum : 
 " Etiajn abietes laetantur propter te, cedri Libani ; 
 " Ex quo iacuisti, non ascendit in nos vastator." 
 
 This is followed by a bold and animated personification of Hades, or 
 the infernal regions. Hades excites his inhabitants, the ghosts of 
 princes, and the departed spirits of kings : they rise immediately 
 from their seats, and proceed to meet the monarch of Babylon ; they 
 insult and deride him, and comfort themselves with the view of his 
 calamity : 
 
 " Tune etiam debilitatus es, ut nos ? nostri similis factus es ? 
 
 " Demissa est ad orcum superbia tua, strepitus cithararum tuarum ? 
 
 " Subter te sternitur vermis, et tegumentum tuum lumbricus ?" 
 
 Again, the Jewish people are the speakers, in an exclamation after 
 the manner of a funeral lamentation, which indeed the whole form of 
 this composition exactly imitates. The remarkable fall of this pow- 
 erful monarch is thus beautifully illustrated : 
 
 " Quomodo decidisti de coelo, o Lucifer, fili Aurorae ! 
 " Deturbatus es in terram, qui subegisti gentes !" 
 
 He himself is at length brought upon the stage, boasting in the most 
 pompous terms of his own power, which furnishes the poet with an 
 excellent opportunity of displaying the unparalleled misery of his 
 downfal. Some persons are introduced, who find the dead carcass 
 of the king of Babylon cast out and exposed ; they attentively con- 
 template it, and at last scarcely know it to be his : 
 
 " Hiccine vir ille, qui tremefecit terram, commovit regna ? 
 " Qui orbem redegit in solitudinem, urbesque eius diruit?" 
 
 They reproach him with being denied the common rites of sepul- 
 ture, on account of the cruelty and atrocity of his conduct ; they ex- 
 ecrate his name, his offspring, and their posterity. A solemn ad- 
 dress, as of the Deity himself, closes the scene, and he denounces 
 against the king of Babylon, his posterity, and even against the city, 
 which was the seat of their cruelty, perpetual destruction, and con- 
 firms the immutability of his own counsels by the solemnity of an 
 oath. 
 
 How forcible is this imagery, how diversified, how sublime ! how 
 
110 PERSONIFICATION. LjECT. XIII. 
 
 elevated the diction, the figures, the sentiments ! The Jewish na- 
 tion, the cedars of Lebanon, the ghosts of departed kings, the Baby- 
 lonish monarch, the travellers who find his corpse, and last of all, JE- 
 HOVAH himself, are the characters which support this beautiful lyric 
 drama. One continued action is kept up, or rather a series of inter- 
 esting actions are connected together in an incomparable whole : 
 this, indeed, is the principal and distinguished excellence of the sub- 
 limer ode, and is displayed in its utmost perfection in this poem of 
 Isaiah, which may be considered as one of the most ancient, and 
 certainly the most finished species of that composition, which has been 
 transmitted to us. The personifications here are frequent, yet not 
 confused ; bold, yet not improbable : a free, elevated, and truly di 
 vine spirit pervades the whole ; nor is there any thing wanting in 
 this ode to defeat its claim to the character of perfect beauty and sub- 
 limity. If, indeed, I may be indulged in the free declaration of my 
 own sentiments on this occasion, I do not know a single instance in 
 the whole compass of Greek and Roman poetry, which, in every 
 excellence of composition, can be said to equal, or even to ap- 
 proach it.(D) 
 
LECTURE XIV. 
 
 OP THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL, AND OP SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION IN 
 PARTICULAR. 
 
 IIL In what manner the word V fc'to implies the idea of Sublimity Sublimity of language and 
 sentiment On what account the poetic diction of the Hebrews, either considered in itself, or 
 compared with prose composition, merits an appellation expressive of sublimity The sub- 
 limity of the poetic diction arises from the passions How far the poetic diction differs from 
 prose among the Hebrews Certain forms of poetic diction and construction exemplified from 
 Job, Chap, iii 
 
 HAVING in the preceding lectures given my sentiments at large 
 on the nature of the figurative style, on its use and application in po- 
 etry, and particularly in the poetry of the Hebrews ; I proceed to 
 treat of the Sublimity of the sacred poets ; a subject which has been 
 already illustrated by many examples quoted upon other occasions j 
 but which, since we have admitted it as a third characteristic of the 
 poetic style, now requires to be distinctly explained. We have al- 
 ready seen that this is implied in one of the senses of the word 
 ^ZJ, it being expressive of power, or supreme authority, and when 
 applied to style, seems particularly to intimate something eminent or 
 energetic, excellent or important. This is certainly understood in 
 the phrase " to take (or lift) up his parable ;" that is, to express a 
 great or lofty sentiment. The very first instance, in which the 
 phrase occurs, will serve as an example in point. For in this man- 
 ner Balaam " took up," as our translation renders it, " his parable, 
 and said :" 
 
 " Ex Aramaea me arcessivit Balacus ; 
 
 " Rex Moabitarum ex montibus Orientis : 
 
 " Veni, execrate mihi lacobum ; 
 
 " Et veni, detestare Israelem. 
 
 " Quomodo maledicam, cui non maledixit Deus ? 
 
 " Aut quomodo detestabor, quern non detestatus est lehova ? 
 
 " Nam e vertice rupium eum aspiciam, 
 
 " Et ex collibus eum contemplabor ; 
 
 " En populum, qui seorsum habitabit, 
 
 " Neque eese gentibus annumerabit ! 
 
112 THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. L.ECT. XIV. 
 
 " Quis percensuit pulverem lacobi ? 
 " Aut numerum vel quartae partis Israelis ? 
 " Moriatur anima mea morte iustorum j 
 " Et fit exitus meus illius instar !"1 
 
 Let us now consider, on what account this address of the prophet is 
 entitled bilJtt. The sentences are indeed accurately distributed in 
 parallelisms, as may be discovered even in the translation, which has 
 not entirely obscured the elegance of the arrangement : and compo- 
 sitions in this form, we have already remarked, are commonly class- 
 ed among the proverbs and adages, which are properly called IFriJJB, 
 though perhaps they contain nothing of a proverbial or didactic na- 
 ture. But if we attentively consider this very passage, or others in- 
 troduced by the same form of expression, we shall find, in all of 
 them, either an extraordinary variety of figure and imagery ; or an 
 elevation of style and sentiment ; or perhaps an union of all these 
 excellencies ; which will induce us to conclude, that something 
 more is meant by the term to which I am alluding than the bare 
 merit of a sententious neatness. If again we examine the same pas- 
 sage in another point of view, we shall discover in it little or nothing 
 of the figurative kind, at least according to our ideas, or according to 
 that acceptation of the word >ttja which denotes figurative lan- 
 guage ; there is evidently nothing in it of the mystical kind, noth- 
 ing allegorical, no pomp of imagery, no comparison, and in fourteen 
 verses but a single metaphor : as far, therefore, as figurative lan- 
 guage is a characteristic of the parabolic style, this is no instance of 
 it. We must then admit the word parable, when applied to this 
 passage, to be expressive of those exalted sentiments, that spirit of 
 sublimity, that energy and enthusiasm, with which the answer of the 
 prophet is animated. By this example I wished to explain on what 
 reasons I was induced to suppose that the term bttJft, as well from 
 its proper power or meaning, as from its usual acceptation, involves 
 an idea of sublimity ; and that the Hebrew poetry expresses in its 
 very name and title, the particular quality in which it so greatly ex- 
 cels the poetry of all other nations. 2 
 
 The word sublimity I wish in this place to be understood in its 
 most extensive sense : I speak not merely of that sublimity, which 
 exhibits great objects with a magnificent display of imagery and dic- 
 tion ; but that force of composition, whatever it be, which strikes 
 and overpowers the mind, which excites the passions, and which ex- 
 
 1 NUMB, xxiii. 7 10. 2 See Lect. iv. Note A> and E. 
 
. XIV. THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. 113 
 
 presses ideas at once with perspicuity and elevation ; not solicitous 
 whether the language be plain or ornamented, refined or familiar : 
 in this use of the word I copy Longinus, the most accomplished au- 
 thor on this subject, whether we consider his precepts or his ex- 
 ample. 
 
 The sublime consists either in language or sentiment, or more 
 frequently in an union of both, since they reciprocally assist each 
 other, and since there is a necessary and indissoluble connexion be- 
 tween them : this, however, will not prevent our considering them 
 apart with convenience and advantage. The first object, therefore, 
 which presents itself for our investigation, is, upon what grounds the 
 poetic diction of the Hebrews, whether considered in itself, or in 
 comparison with prose composition, is deserving of an appellation 
 immediately expressive of sublimity. 
 
 The poetry of every language has a style and form of expression 
 peculiar to itself; forcible, magnificent, and sonorous ; the words 
 pompous and energetic ; the composition singular and artificial ; the 
 whole form and complexion different from what we meet with in 
 common life, and frequently (as with a noble indignation) breaking 
 down the boundaries by which the popular dialect is confined. The 
 language of reason is cool, temperate, rather humble than elevated, 
 well arranged and perspicuous, with an evident care and anxiety lest 
 any thing should escape which might appear perplexed or obscure. 
 The language of the passions is totally different : the conceptions 
 burst out in a turbid stream, expressive in a manner of the internal 
 conflict ; the more vehement break out in hasty confusion ; they 
 catch (without search or study) whatever is impetuous, vivid, or en- 
 ergetic. In a word, reason speaks literally, the passions poetically. 
 The mind, with whatever passion it be agitated, remains fixed upon 
 the object that excited it ; and while it is earnest to display it, is not 
 satisfied with a plain and exact description ; but adopts one agreea- 
 ble to its own sensations, splendid or gloomy, jocund or unpleasant. 
 For the passions are naturally inclined to amplification ; they won- 
 derfully magnify and exaggerate whatever dwells upon the mind, and 
 labour to express it in animated, bold, and magnificent terms. This 
 they commonly effect by two different methods ; partly by illustrat- 
 ing the subject with splendid imagery, and partly by employing new 
 and extraordinary forms of expression, which are indeed possessed of 
 great force and efficacy in this respect especially, that they in some 
 degree imitate or represent the present habit and state of the soul. 
 
 15 
 
114 THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. L.ECT. XIV. 
 
 Hence those theories of rhetoricians, which they have so pompously- 
 detailed, attributing that to art, which above all things is due to na- 
 ture alone 
 
 ' Format enim natura prius nos intus ad omnem 
 ' Fortunarum habitum : iuvat, aut impellit ad iram, 
 ' Aut ad humum moerore gravi deducit et angit ; 
 ' Post effort animi motus interprete lingua. "3 
 
 A principle which pervades all poetry, may easily be conceived 
 to prevail even in a high degree in the poetry of the Hebrews. In- 
 deed we have already seen how daring these writers are in the se- 
 lection of their imagery, how forcible in the application of it ; and 
 what elegance, splendour, and sublimity they have by these means 
 been enabled to infuse into their compositions. With respect to the 
 diction also, we have had an opportunity of remarking the peculiar 
 force and dignity of their poetic dialect ; as well as the artificial dis- 
 tribution of the sentences, which appears to have been originally 
 closely connected with the metrical arrangement, though the latter 
 be now totally lost. We are therefore in the next place to consider 
 whether there be any other remarkable qualities in the poetical lan- 
 guage of the Hebrews, which serve to distinguish it from prose com- 
 position. 
 
 It is impossible to conceive any thing more simple and unadorn- 
 ed than the common language of the Hebrews. It is plain, correct, 
 chaste, and temperate ; the words are uncommon neither in their mean- 
 ing nor application ; there is no appearance of study, nor even of 
 the least attention to the harmony of the periods. The order of the 
 words is generally regular and uniform. The verb is the first word 
 in the sentence, the noun, which is the agent, immediately succeeds, 
 and the other words follow in their natural order. Each circum- 
 stance is exhibited at a single effort, without the least perplexity or 
 confusion of the different parts : and, what is remarkable, by the 
 help of a simple particle, the whole is connected from the beginning 
 to the end in a continued series, so that nothing appears inconsis- 
 tent, abrupt, or confused. The whole composition, in fine, is dis- 
 posed in such an order, and so connected by the continued succes- 
 sion of the different parts, as to demonstrate clearly the regular state 
 of the author, and to exhibit the image of a sedate and tranquil 
 mind. But in the Hebrew poetry the case is different, in part at 
 least, if not in the whole. The free spirit is hurried along, and has 
 
 3HOR, Art. Poet. v. 10812. 
 
LECT. XIV. THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. 115 
 
 neither leisure nor inclination to descend to those minute and frigid 
 attentions. Frequently, instead of disguising the secret feelings of 
 the author, it lays them quite open to public view ; and the veil be- 
 ing as it were suddenly removed, all the affections and emotions of 
 the soul, its sudden impulses, its hasty sallies and irregularities, are 
 conspicuously displayed. 
 
 Should the curious inquirer be desirous of more perfect informa- 
 tion upon this subject, he may satisfy himself, I apprehend, with no 
 great labour or difficulty. Let him take the book of Job; let him 
 read the historical proem of that book ; let him proceed to the met- 
 rical parts, and let him diligently attend to the first speech of Job. 
 He will, I dare believe, confess, that, when arrived at the metrical 
 part, he feels as if he were reading another language ; and is sur- 
 prised at a dissimilarity in the style of the two passages much great- 
 er than between that of Livy and Virgil, or even Herodotus and 
 Homer. Nor indeed could the fact be otherwise, according to the 
 nature of things ; since in the latter passage the most exquisite pa- 
 thos is displayed, such indeed as has not been exceeded, and scarce- 
 ly equalled by any effort of the Muses. Not only the force, the beau- 
 ty, the sublimity of the sentiments are unrivalled ; but such is the 
 character of the diction in general, so vivid is the expression, so in- 
 teresting the assemblage of objects, so close and connected the sen- 
 tences, so animated and passionate the whole arrangement, that the 
 Hebrew literature itself contains nothing more poetical. The great- 
 er part of these beauties are so obvious, that they cannot possibly 
 escape the eye of a diligent reader ; there are some, however, 
 which, depending chiefly upon the arrangement and construction, 
 are of a more abstruse nature. It also sometimes happens, that 
 those beauties which may be easily conceived, are very difficult to 
 be. explained : while we simply contemplate them, they appear suffi- 
 ciently manifest ; if we approach nearer, and attempt to touch and 
 handle them, they vanish and escape. Since, however, it would not 
 be consistent with my duty on the present occasion to pass them by 
 totally unregarded, I shall rely, gentlemen, upon your accustomed 
 candour, while I attempt to render, if possible, some of those elegan- 
 cies more obvious and familiar. 
 
 The first thing that arrests the attention of the reader in this pas- 
 sage, is the violent sorrow of Job, which bursts forth on a sudden, 
 and flows from his heart, where it had long been confined and sup- 
 pressed : 
 
116 THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. L.ECT. XIV. 
 
 " Pereat dies, nasciturus eram in eo (i. e. quo nasciturus eram ;) 
 " Et nox (quae) dixit, conceptus est vir."4 
 
 Observe here the concise and abrupt form of the first verse ; and in 
 the second, the boldness of the figure, and the still more abrupt 
 conclusion. Let the reader then consider, whether he could endure 
 such a spirited, vehement, and perplexed form of expression in any 
 prose composition ; or even in verse, unless it were expressive of the 
 deepest pathos. (A) He will nevertheless, I doubt not, acknowledge 
 that the meaning of this sentence is extremely clear, so clear in- 
 deed, that if any person should attempt to make it more copious and 
 explanatory, he would render it less expressive of the mind and feel- 
 ings of the speaker. It happens fortunately that we have an oppor- 
 tunity of making the experiment upon this very sentiment. There 
 is a passage of Jeremiah so exactly similar, that it might almost be 
 imagined a direct imitation : the meaning is the same, nor is there 
 any very great difference in the phraseology ; but Jeremiah fills up 
 the ellipses, smoothes and harmonizes the rough and uncouth lan- 
 guage of Job, and dilates a short distich into two equal distichs, con- 
 sisting of somewhat longer verses, which is the measure he common- 
 ly makes use of: 
 
 " Maledictus sit dies ille, in quo natus sum ! 
 
 " Dies, quo peperit me mater mea, sit nefastus ! 
 
 " Maledictus sit vir ille, qui nuntiavit patri meo, 
 
 " Dicens, natus est tibi filius mas, magno eum gaudio affecit."5 
 
 Thus it happens, that the imprecation of Jeremiah has more in it of 
 complaint than of indignation ; it is milder, softer, and more plain- 
 tive, peculiarly calculated to excite pity, in moving which the great 
 excellence of this prophet consists : while that of Job is more adapt- 
 ed to strike us with terror than to excite our compassion. (B) 
 
 But to proceed. I shall not trouble you with a tedious discus- 
 sion of those particulars which are sufficiently apparent ; the crowd- 
 ed and abrupt sentences, which seem to have little connexion, burst- 
 ing from the glowing bosom with matchless force and impetuosity ; 
 the bold and magnificent expressions, which the eloquence of indig- 
 nation pours forth, four instances of which occur in the space of 
 twice as many verses, 6 and which seem to be altogether poetical : 
 two of them indeed are found continually in the poets, and in them 
 only ; the others are still more uncommon. Omitting these, there- 
 
 4 Jobiii. 3. 5 JKR. xx. 14,15. 
 
 6 Ver. 4, 5, 7. listeVi > 'V^teS, 
 
LECT. XIV. THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. 117 
 
 fore, the object which at present seems more worthy of examination, 
 is, that redundancy of expression, which in a few lines takes place 
 of the former excessive conciseness : 
 
 " Nox ilia occupet illam caligo."? 
 
 In this also there is the strongest indication of passion, and' a per- 
 turbed mind. He doubtless intended at first to express himself in 
 
 this manner : 
 
 " Nox ilia sitcaligo!"8 
 
 But in the very act of uttering it, he suddenly catches at an expres- 
 sion, which appears more animated and energetic. I do not know 
 that I can better illustrate this observation than by referring to a pas- 
 sage in Horace, in which a similar transition and redundancy falls 
 from the indignant poet : 
 
 " Ille et nefasto te posuit die 
 " Quicunque primum et sacrilega manu 
 " Produxit, arbos, in nepotum 
 
 " Perniciem opprobriumque pagi 
 " Ilium et parentis crediderim sui 
 " Fregisse cervicem, et penetralia 
 " Sparsisse nocturno cruore 
 
 " Hospitis ; ille venena Colcha, 
 " Et quicquid usquarn concipitur nefas, 
 " Tractavit." 
 
 For undoubtedly the poet begun, as if he intended to pursue the 
 subject in a regular order, and to finish the sentence in this form. 
 " He who planted thee ; he was accessary to the murder of his 
 parents, and sprinkled his chambers with the blood of his guest ; 
 he dealt in the poison of Cholchis," &/c. But anger and vexation 
 dissipated the order of his ideas, and destroyed the construction of 
 this sentence. But should some officious grammarian take in hand 
 the passage, (for this is a very diligent race of beings, and some- 
 times more than sufficiently exact and scrupulous) and attempt to 
 restore it to its primitive purity and perfection, the whole grace and 
 excellence of that beautiful exordium would be immediately annihi- 
 lated, all the impetuosity and ardour would in a moment be extin- 
 guished. But to return to Job : 
 
 " Ecce ! nox ista sit desolata !"1 
 
 He appears to have a direct picture or image of that night before his 
 eyes, and to point it out with his finger. " The doors of my womb," 
 for " the doors of my mother's womb," 11 is an elliptical form of ex- 
 
 V Ver. 6. 8 See ver. 4. 9 Lib. II. Od. xiii. 10 Ver. 7. U Ver. 10. 
 
118 THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. L.ECT. XIV. 
 
 pression, the meaning of which is easily cleared up, but which no 
 person in a tranquil state of mind, and quite master of himself, would 
 venture to employ. Not to detain you too long upon this subject, 
 I shall produce only one passage more, which is about the conclusion 
 of this animated speech : 
 
 ' Quianam dabit aerumnoso lucem, 
 
 ' Et vitam amaris animae ? 
 
 1 Qui avide expectant mortem, et nulla est ; 
 
 ' Eamque effoderent prae thesauris abditis : 
 
 1 Qui laetantur usque ad exultationem, 
 
 ' Triumpharent gaudio si invenirent sepulchrum : 
 
 ' Viro, cuius via e conspectu Dei remota est, 
 
 ' Et cui aditum ad se praeclusit Deus ? 
 
 1 Nam cibum meum perpetuo praeveniunt mea suspiria, 
 
 ' Et pariter cum potu effunduntur rugitus mei."12 
 
 The whole composition of this passage is admirable, and deserves a 
 minute attention. " Wherefore should he give light to the miser- 
 able ?" But who is the giver alluded to ? Certainly God himself, 
 whom Job has indeed in his mind ; but it escaped his notice that, 
 no mention is made of him in the preceding lines. He seems to 
 speak of the miserable in general, but by a violent and sudden tran- 
 sition he applies the whole to himself, " But my groaning cometh 
 like my daily food." It is plain, therefore, that in all the preceding 
 reflections he has himself only in view. He makes a transition from 
 the singular to the plural, and back again, a remarkable amplifica- 
 tion intervening, expressive of his desire of death, the force and bold- 
 ness of which is incomparable ; at last, as if suddenly recollecting 
 himself, he returns to the former subject, which he had apparently 
 quitted, and resumes the detail of his own misery. From these ob- 
 servations I think it will be manifest, that the agitated and disorder- 
 ed state of the speaker's mind is not more evidently demonstrated 
 by a happy boldness of sentiment and imagery, and an uncommon 
 force of language, than by the very form, conduct, and arrangement 
 of the whole. 
 
 The peculiar property which I have laboured to demonstrate in this 
 passage, will, I apprehend, be found to prevail as a characteristic of 
 the Hebrew poetry, making due allowance for different subjects and 
 circumstances ; I mean that vivid and ardent style, which is so well 
 calculated to display the emotions and passions of the mind. Hence 
 the poetry of the Hebrews abounds with phrases and idioms totally 
 
 12 V er . 2024. 
 
XIV. THE SUBLIME IN GENERAL. 119 
 
 unsuited to prose composition, and which frequently appear to us 
 harsh and unusual, I had almost said unnatural and barbarous ; 
 which, however, are destitute neither of meaning nor of force, were 
 we but sufficiently informed to judge of their true application. It 
 will, however, be worth our while, perhaps, to make the experiment 
 on some other passages of this nature, and to try at least what can 
 be done towards the further elucidation of this point. 
 
LECTURE XV. 
 
 OF SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. 
 
 The character of the poetic dialect, further illustrated by examples of different kinds from the 
 Song of Moses, Deut. xxxii. The frequent and sudden transition from one person to another; 
 its cause and effects The use of the tenses in a manner quite different from common lan- 
 guage: the reasons of this The Hebrew language peculiar in this respect The future is 
 often spoken of in the perfect present, and the past in the future tense ; the reason of the 
 former easy to be explained ; the latter is a matter of considerable difficulty, which neither 
 the Commentators, the Translators, nor even the Grammarians have elucidated Some ex- 
 amples of this, and the explanation of them The frequent use of this form of construction 
 may be considered as characteristical of the poetic dialect. 
 
 IN order to demonstrate more completely the sublimity of the 
 Hebrew poetry by comparison with prose, I referred the student of 
 Hebrew to the book of Job, convinced that he would easily perceive, 
 both in the matter and diction, a very considerable difference between 
 the historical introduction of that book, and the metrical passages 
 immediately succeeding. But lest these passages should be object- 
 ed to, as improper instances for such a comparison, on the supposi- 
 tion that, although both of them were written entirely either in verse 
 or prose, yet the different nature of the subjects would require a 
 very different style , we shall now make the experiment on some 
 other passages, and compare the manner of treating the same sub- 
 ject in verse and prose. The book of Deuteronomy will afford us 
 a convenient instance ;^for Moses appears there in the character 
 both of an orator and a poet. In the former character, he address- 
 es a very solemn and interesting oration to the people of Israel, 1 
 exhorting them, by the most inviting promises, to the observance of 
 the covenant, and dissuading them from the violation of it by threats 
 of the most exemplary punishment : and for the purpose of impres- 
 sing the same more forcibly on their minds, he afterwards, by the 
 command of God, embellishes the subject with all the elegance of 
 verse, 2 in a poem, which bears every mark of divine inspiration. la 
 these two passages is displayed every excellence of which the He- 
 brew language is capable in both species of composition ; all that is 
 
 i DEUT. xxviii. xxix. xxx. xxxi. 2 Chap, xxxii. 
 
LECT. XV. SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. 121 
 
 grand, forcible, and majestic, both in prose and verse ; From them 
 too we may be enabled easily to comprehend the difference between 
 the style of oratory among the Hebrews, and that of their poetry, 
 not only in sentiment, but in the imagery, the arrangement, and the 
 language. Whoever wishes, therefore, to satisfy himself concern- 
 ing the true character and genius of the Hebrew poetry, I would 
 advise carefully to compare the two passages, and I think he will 
 soon discover that the former, though great, spirited, and abounding 
 with ornament, is notwithstanding regular, copious, and diffuse ; 
 that, with all its vehemence and impetuosity, it still preserves a 
 smoothness, evenness, and uniformity throughout ; and that the lat- 
 ter, on the contrary, consists of sentences, pointed, energetic, con- 
 cise, and splendid ; that the sentiments are truly elevated and sub- 
 lime, the language bright and animated, the expression and phrase- 
 ology uncommon ; while the mind of the poet never continues fixed 
 to any single point, but glances continually from one object to anoth- 
 er. These remarks are of such a nature, that the diligent reader 
 will apprehend them better by experience and his own observation 
 than by means of any commentary or explanation whatever. There 
 are, however, one or two points which have attracted my notice in 
 the perusal of this remarkable poem ; and as they are of general use 
 and application, and may serve to elucidate many of the difficult 
 passages of the Hebrew poetry, they appear to me not undeserving 
 of a more particular examination. 
 
 Taking, therefore, this poem as an example, the first general 
 observation, to which I would direct your attention, is the sudden 
 and frequent change of the persons, and principally in the addresses 
 or expostulations ; for enough has been said already concerning the 
 introduction of different characters or personifications. In the exor- 
 dium of this poem, Moses displays the truth and justice of Almigh- 
 ty God, most sacredly regarded in all his acts and counsels : whence 
 he takes occasion to reprove the perfidy and wickedness of his un- 
 grateful people ; at first as if his censure were only pointed at the 
 absent ; 
 
 " Corrupit illi filios, non iam suos, ipsorum pravitas;"3 
 
 He then suddenly directs his discourse to themselves : 
 " Genus perversum et distortum ! 
 <l Hoccino ergo lehovae rependetis, 
 " Natio stulta atque insipiens ? 
 
 3 Ver. 5, 6. 
 
 16 
 
122 SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. L.ECT. XV. 
 
 " Nonne ipse pater est tuus etredemptor tuus, 
 " Ipse te fecit et formavit?" 
 
 After his indignation has somewhat subsided, adverting to a remoter 
 period, he beautifully enlarges upon the indulgence, and more than 
 paternal affection, continually manifested by Almighty God towards 
 the Israelites, from the time when he first chose them for his pecul- 
 iar people ; and all this again without seeming directly to apply it 
 to them. He afterwards admirably exaggerates the stupidity and 
 barbarity of this ungrateful people, which exceeds that of the brutes 
 themselves. Observe with what force the indignation of the prophet 
 again breaks forth : 
 
 " At saginatus est leshurun et recalcitravit ; 
 
 " Saginatus fuisti, incrassatus, adipe obducto coopertus ! 
 
 " Et deseruit. Deum creatorem suum, 
 
 " Et rupem salutis suae vilipendit." 
 
 The abrupt transition in one short sentence to the Israelites, and 
 back again, is wonderfully forcible and pointed, and excellently ex- 
 pressive of disgust and indignation. There is a passage of Virgil, 
 which, though it be less animated, is certainly not unworthy of being 
 compared with this of Moses ; it is that in which, by an ingenious 
 apostrophe, he upbraids the traitor with his crime, and at the same 
 time exonerates the king from the imputation of cruelty : 
 
 " Haud procul inde citae Metium in di versa quadrigae 
 
 " Distulerant : at tu dictis, Albane, maneres : 
 
 " Raptabatque viri mendacis viscera Tullus 
 
 " Per sylvam, et sparsi rorabant sanguine vepres." 4 
 
 I might proceed, and produce several examples in point from the 
 same poem, and innumerable from other parts of the sacred writings, 
 different from each other both in expression and form. These, how- 
 ever, are sufficient to demonstrate the force of this kind of composi- 
 tion in expressing the more vehement affections, and in marking 
 those sudden emotions, which distract the mind and divide its atten- 
 tion. But v whoever will attend with any diligence to the poetry of 
 the Hebrews, will find that examples of this kind almost perpetually 
 occur, and much more frequently, than could be endured in the po- 
 etry of the Greeks and Romans, or even in our own : he will find 
 many of these instances not easy to be understood ; the force and 
 design of some of them, when separately considered, are indeed 
 scarcely to be explained or even perfectly comprehended. The rea- 
 
 . viii. 642. 
 
 
LECT. XV. SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. 123 
 
 der will not, however, be warranted in concluding from this conces- 
 sion, that those very passages which are most obscure, are in them- 
 selves absurd, and that they possess no general force or effect in dis- 
 tinguishing the diction, in sustaining the poetic spirit, and in form- 
 ing that peculiar character, which, however it may differ from what 
 we are accustomed to, is in its kind altogether deserving of ap- 
 plause. In this case we ought to consider the proper genius and 
 character of the Hebrew poetry. It is unconstrained, animated, bold, 
 and fervid. The Orientals look upon the language of poetry as 
 wholly distinct from that of common life, as calculated immediately 
 for expressing the passions : if, therefore, it were to be reduced to 
 the plain rule and order of reason, if every word and sentence were 
 to be arranged with care and study, as if calculated for perspicuity 
 alone, it would be no longer what they intended it, and to call it the 
 language of passion would be the grossest of solecisms. 
 
 The other observation, to which I alluded as relating both to 
 this poem and to the poetry of the Hebrews in general, is, that you 
 there find a much more frequent change or variation of the tenses, 
 than occurs in common language. The chief aim of such a transi- 
 tion, is, to render the subject of a narration or description more strik- 
 ing, and even to embody and give it a visible existence. Thus, in all 
 languages, in prose as well as poetry, it is usual to speak of past as 
 well as future events in the present tense, by which means whatever 
 is described or expressed is in a manner brought immediately before 
 our eyes ; nor does the mind contemplate a distant object, by look- 
 ing back to the past or forward to the future. But in this respect 
 there is a great peculiarity in the Hebrew language. For the He- 
 brew verbs have no form for expressing the imperfect or indefinite 
 of the present tense, or an action which now is performing : this is 
 usually effected by a participle only, or by a verb substantive under- 
 stood, neither of which are often made use of in such passages as 
 these, nor indeed can be always conveniently admitted. They, 
 therefore, take another method of attaining this end, and for the 
 sake of clearness and precision, express future events by the past 
 tense, or rather by the perfect present, as if they had actually taken 
 place ; and, on the contrary, past events by the future, as if imme- 
 diately or speedily to happen, and only proceeding towards their 
 completion. Of the first of these forms of construction, namely, the 
 expressing of the future by the past tense, an instance which we just 
 now quoted, will demonstrate both the nature and the effect. 
 
124 SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. LECT. XV. 
 
 Moses foreseeing, by the impulse of divine inspiration, the mise- 
 rable neglect of the true worship, into which the people of Israel 
 were universally to relapse, reprobates in the following terms the 
 vices of that ungrateful people, as if they had been already commit- 
 ted in his immediate presence : 
 
 " Corrupit illi filios, non iam sues, ipsorum pravitas :" i 
 Thus he speaks as if he were the actual witness of their depravity, 
 and present at those impious rites, with which they were about to 
 violate a religion divinely instituted through his means. Nothing 
 can be more efficacious than this kind of anticipation to the clear, 
 evident, and almost ocular demonstration of things. On this ac- 
 count it is a very common mode of expression in the prophetical 
 writings ; and in this, as in every other excellence, Isaiah particu- 
 larly challenges our highest admiration. Observe only with what 
 exactness and perspicuity he has delineated the journey of Senna- 
 cherib towards Jerusalem, and the different stages of the army ; in- 
 somuch that the light and evidence which the prophet throws upon 
 the circumstances of the prediction, fall nothing short of the clear- 
 ness and accuracy of a historical narration : 
 
 " Venit Aiatham ; transiit per Migronem ; 
 
 { Michmasae commisit impedimenta sua : 
 
 ' Superarunt transitum ; Geba illis mansio ; 
 
 1 Trepidavit Rama ; Gibea Sauli fugit : 
 
 ( Ede eiulatum, o filia Gallimorum ; 
 
 ' Attende Laisam versus, o afflicta Anathotha ! 
 
 ' Migravit Madmena ; Gebimenses confugerunt. 
 
 1 Adhuc hodie Nobae ei subsistendum est ; 
 
 ' Agitabit manum in montem filiae Sionis, collem Hierosolymae."5(A) 
 
 Thus the plague of locusts is denounced and described, as if it had 
 already happened, by the prophet Joel : 
 
 ' Nam invasit terram meam natio 
 ' Robusta atque innumerabilis : 
 ' Vitem meam desolatam reddidit, 
 1 Et ficum meam decorticavit : 
 ' Penitus nudavit earn, et abiicit; 
 ' Dealbati sunt eius palmites. 
 ' Vastaus est ager, luxit terra."6 
 
 The prophet is undoubtedly here speaking of a future event ; for, 
 the very devastation, which, to strike the more forcibly on the mind, 
 he has thus depicted as an event already past, is threatened by him 
 
 5 ISAI. x. 2832. 6 JOEL i. 6, 7, 10, etc. 
 
 
 
LECT. XV. SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. 1*25 
 
 in the sequel, under another image, to be immediately inflicted, un- 
 less the people repent of their wickedness. 7 Thus far the Hebrew 
 language differs not materially from others ; those future actions or 
 events which other writers, for the sake of force and clearness, ex- 
 press in the imperfect present, the Hebrews express in the perfect 
 present with equal effect. 
 
 In another point, it must be confessed, they differ essentially 
 from other writers, namely, when they intimate past events in the 
 form of the future tense : and I must add, that this is a matter of 
 considerable difficulty. If we resort to the translators and commen- 
 tators, so far are they from affording any solution, that they do not 
 so much as notice it, accommodating as much as possible the form 
 of the tenses to the subject and context, and explaining it rather ac- 
 cording to their own opinions, than according to the rules of gram- 
 mar, or any fixed and established principles. If again we apply to 
 the grammarians, we shall still find ourselves no less at a loss : they, 
 indeed, remark the circumstance, but they neither explain the rea- 
 son of it, nor yet are candid enough to make a fair confession of 
 their own ignorance. They endeavour to confuse their disciples by 
 the use of a Greek term, and have always at hand a sort of inexpli- 
 cable and mysterious enallage or change of the tenses, with which, 
 rather than say nothing, they attempt to evade a closer inquiry ; as 
 if the change were made by accident, and from no principle or mo- 
 tive : than which nothing can be conceived more absurd or imperti- 
 nent. That these apparent anomalies, however, are not without 
 their peculiar force and beauty, I have not a doubt ; that many of 
 them should cause difficulty and obscurity, considering the great an- 
 tiquity of the Hebrew language, is not to be wondered at. Some 
 light may notwithstanding be reflected upon the subject, by a care- 
 ful-attention to the state of the writer's mind, and by considering 
 properly what ideas were likely to be prevalent in his imagination at 
 the time of his writing. There is a remarkable instance of this form 
 of construction in that very song of Moses, to which we have just 
 been alluding. After mentioning the divine dispensation, by which 
 the Israelites were distinguished as the chosen people of God, he 
 proceeds to state with what love and tenderness the Almighty had 
 cherished them, from the time in which he brought them from 
 Egypt, led them by the hand through the wilderness, and, as it were, 
 
 7 JOEL ii. 
 
126 SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. L.ECT. XV. 
 
 carried them in his bosom : all these, though past events, are ex- 
 pressed in the future tense : 
 
 " Inveniet eum in terra deserta, 
 
 " Et in vasta eiulanti solitudine : 
 
 " Circumdabit eum, edocebit eum ; 
 
 " Custodiet eum tanquam pupillam oculi sui." 8 
 
 You will readily judge whether this passage can admit of any other 
 explication, than that of Moses supposing himself present at the 
 time when the Almighty selected the people of Israel for himself; 
 and thence, as from an eminence, contemplating the consequences 
 of that dispensation. The case will be found similar in many other 
 passages ; as, in particular, more than once in that historical psalm, 
 which is inscribed with the name of Asaph. After the prophet has 
 exposed the perfidy of the people, their refractory conduct almost in 
 the very crisis of their deliverance from the Egyptian bondage, he in 
 a manner anticipates in his mind the clemency of God, and the re- 
 peated transgressions of the Israelites, and speaks of them as future 
 events : 
 
 " Ille tamen misericors condonabit iniquitatem, nee perdet; 
 
 " Saepius avertet iram suam, 
 
 " Neque excitabit omnem suam indignationem. 
 
 " Quomodo iam irritabunt eum in deserto, 
 
 " Discruciabunt in solitudine !" 9 
 
 The general disposition and arrangement of the hundred and fourth 
 psalm affords a most elegant exemplification of this construction. 
 For the prophet, instancing the greatness and wisdom of God in the 
 constitution and preservation of the natural world, speaks of the ac- 
 tions and decrees of the Almighty in the present tense, as if he him- 
 self had been a witness when they were brought to light ; and dis- 
 plays their consequences and uses, and what are called the final 
 causes, in the future tense, as if looking forward from the beginning 
 through all future time. 
 
 But although these and some other passages will admit of this 
 explanation, there are many to which it will not apply. In these the 
 situation and state of the authors are not so much to be considered, 
 as the peculiar nature or idiom of the language. For the Hebrews 
 frequently make use of the future tense in such a manner, that it ap- 
 pears not to have relation to the present speaker, but to the person 
 or thing which was last spoken of. Thus when any action is con- 
 
 8 DEUT. xxxii. 10. 9 PSAL. Ixxviii. 38,40. 
 
LECT. XV. SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. 127 
 
 nected with another action, or consequent to it ; or when the same 
 action is repeated or continued, when a person perseveres in the 
 same action, or performs it with great earnestness or assiduity, this 
 is all expressed as if it were future. 10 This form is therefore distin- 
 guished by the grammarians by the appellation "PITS*, which is equiv- 
 alent to prompt, expedite, or impending. Examples enough to this 
 purpose might be produced from the passages which have been re- 
 ferred to on former occasions : for instance, from that most elegant 
 prosopoposia of the mother of Sisera ; from the allegory of the vine, 
 which was brought out of Egypt ; from the comparison founded on 
 the maternal piety and solicitude of the eagle : n the form and man- 
 ner of all which may be easily perceived by an attentive reader, but 
 cannot be well explained by the most industrious commentator. 
 
 Now, if, as I have stated, this unusual form of construction be 
 the effect either of some sudden emotion in the speaker, of some 
 new and extraordinary state of mind ; or if, on any other account, 
 from the relation of the subject, or the genius of the language, it be 
 possessed of some peculiar force or energy ; it will obviously follow, 
 that it must more frequently occur in poetry than in prose, since it is 
 particularly adapted to the nature, the versatility, and variety of the 
 former, and to the expression of any violent passion ; and since it 
 has but little affinity to that mildness and temperance of language, 
 which proceeds in one uniform and even tenour. Thus if we attend 
 diligently to the poetry of the Hebrews, and carefully remark its pe- 
 culiar characteristics, we shall hardly find any circumstance, the 
 regular and artificial conformation of the sentences excepted, which 
 more evidently distinguishes it from the style of prose composition, 
 than the singularity which is now under consideration. For though 
 it be allowed, that this idiom is not so entirely inconsistent with 
 prose, but that a few examples of it might be produced, 12 on the 
 whole I am convinced, that the free and frequent use of it may be 
 accounted as the certain characteristic of poetry. (B) 
 
 That the full force of these and other peculiarities, which serve 
 to distinguish the poetical diction of the Hebrews, and to preserve 
 that sublimity and splendour for which it is so remarkable, should be 
 
 10 See 2 SAM. xii. 3. 
 
 11 JUDG. v. 29. Ps. Ixxx. 9, 12, 14. DEUT. xxxii. 11. 
 
 12 Hitherto I have only met with the following : JUDG. ii. 1. (See however 
 HOUBIGANT in loc.) and xxi. 25. 1 SAM. xxvii. 9, 11. 2 SAM. xii. 31. 
 1 KINGS xxi. 6. 1 CHRON. xi. 8. See also PETERS on JOB, page 202. 
 
128 SUBLIMITY OF EXPRESSION. L.ECT. XV. 
 
 fully apparent from a few examples, is hardly to be expected ; nor 
 did I flatter myself with any such expectation, when I entered upon 
 this part of my subject. My intention was only to produce an in- 
 stance or two, which were most likely to occur to those who enter 
 upon this course of reading, and which appeared to demand particu- 
 lar attention. The perfect character and genius, the whole form, 
 principles, and nature of the poetical diction and ornaments, can 
 neither be comprehended in any minute or artificial precepts what- 
 ever, nor perhaps be reduced altogether to rule and method : the 
 complete knowledge and perception of these are only to be attained 
 by reading and investigation, united with acuteness of judgement 
 and delicacy of taste. 
 
 
LECTURE XVI. 
 
 OF SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. 
 
 Sublimity of sentiment arises, either from elevation of mind, or from some vehement passion ; 
 in each, it is either natural, or the effect of divine inspiration Elevation of mind is displayed 
 in the greatness of tho subject, the adjuncts, and the imagery Examples from the descrip- 
 tions of the Divine Majesty ; of the works and attributes of the Deity ; also from the dis- 
 play of the Divine Power in the form of Interrogation and Irony The Hebrew poets attri- 
 bute the human passions to the Deity without departing from sublimity ; and that frequently 
 when the imagery appears least consistent with the Divine Majesty; the reason of this. 
 
 IF we consider the very intimate connexion, which on all occa- 
 sions subsists between sentiment and language, it will perhaps ap- 
 pear, that the peculiar quality, of which we have just been treating, 
 under the title of Sublimity of Expression, might ultimately be refer- 
 red to that of Sentiment. In the strictest sense, however, Sublimity 
 of Sentiment may be accounted a distinct quality, and may be said 
 to proceed, either from a certain elevation of mind, and a happy 
 boldness of conception ; or from a strong impulse of the soul, when 
 agitated by the more violent affections. The one is called by Lon- 
 ginus Grandeur of Conception, the other Vehemence or Enthusiasm 
 of Passion. To each of these we must have recourse in the pres- 
 ent disquisition, and in applying them to the sacred poets, I shall) 
 endeavour to detract nothing from the dignity of that inspiration, \ 
 which proceeds from higher causes, while I allow to the genius of 
 each writer his own peculiar excellence and accomplishments. I 
 am indeed of opinion, that the Divine Spirit by no means takes such 
 an entire possession of the mind of the prophet, as to subdue or ex- > 
 tinguish the character and genius of the man : the natural powers ( 
 of the mind are in general elevated and refined, they are neither era- 
 dicated nor totally obscured ; and though the writings of Moses, of 
 David, and of Isaiah, always bear the marks of a divine and celes- 
 tial impulse, we may nevertheless plainly discover in them the par- 
 ticular characters of their respective authors. 
 
 That species of the sublime, which proceeds from a boldness of 
 spirit, and an elevation of the soul, whether inherent in the author, 
 or derived from a divine impulse and inspiration, is displayed first 
 
 17 
 
13U SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. LiECT. XVI. 
 
 in the greatness and sublimity of the subject itself; secondly, in the 
 choice of the adjuncts or circumstances (by the importance and mag- 
 nitude of which a degree of force and elevation is added to the des- 
 cription;) and lastly, in the splendour and magnificence of the ima- 
 gery, by which the whole is illustrated. In all these the Hebrew 
 writers have obtained an unrivalled preeminence. As far as re- 
 spects the dignity and importance of the subject, they not only sur- 
 pass all other writers, but even exceed the confines of human genius 
 and intellect. The greatness, the power, the justice, the immensity 
 of God ; the infinite wisdom of his works and of his dispensations, 
 are the subjects in which the Hebrew poetry is always conversant, 
 and always excels. If we only consider with a common degree of 
 candour how greatly inferior the poetry of all other nations appears, 
 whenever it presumes to treat of these subjects ; and how unequal 
 to the dignity of the matter the highest conceptions of the human 
 genius are found to be ; we shall, I think, not only acknowledge 
 the sublimity, but the divinity of that of the Hebrews. Nor does 
 this greatness and elevation consist altogether in the subjects and 
 sentiments, which, however expressed, would yet retain some part at 
 least of their native force and dignity, but the manner in which 
 these lofty ideas are arranged, and the embellishments of description 
 with which they abound, claim our warmest admiration : and this, 
 whether we regard the adjuncts or circumstances, which are selected 
 with so much judgement as uniformly to contribute to the sublimity 
 of the principal subject ; or the amplitude of that imagery, which 
 represents objects the most remote from human apprehension in 
 such enchanting colours, that, although debased by human painting, 
 they still retain their genuine sanctity and excellence. Since, there- 
 fore, the sublimity of the sacred poets has been already exemplified 
 in a variety of instances, it will probably be sufficient, in addition t 
 these, to produce a few examples as illustrations of these remarks, 
 chiefly taken from those parts of Scripture, in which a delineation 
 of the Divine Majesty is attempted. 
 
 In the first place then let me recal to your remembrance the so- 
 lemnity and magnificence with which the power of God in the crea- 
 tion of the universe, is depicted. And here, I cannot possibly over- 
 look that passage of the sacred historian, which has been so fre- 
 quently commended, in which the importance of the circumstance 
 and the greatness of the idea (the human mind cannot indeed well 
 conceive a greater) is no less remarkable than the expressive brevity 
 
 
LECT. XVL SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. 131 
 
 and simplicity of the language : " And God said, Let there be light, 
 and there was light." 1 The more words you would accumulate up- 
 on this thought, the more you would detract from the sublimity of it : 
 for the understanding quickly comprehends the Divine power from 
 the effect, and perhaps most completely, when it is not attempted to 
 be explained ; the perception in that case is the more vivid, inas- 
 much as it seems to proceed from the proper action and energy of 
 the mind itself. The prophets have also depicted the same concep- 
 tion in poetical language, and with no less force and magnificence 
 of expression. The whole creation is summoned forth to celebrate 
 the praise of the Almighty : 
 
 " Laudent nomen lehovae ; 
 
 " Nam ille iussit, et creatae sunt." 2 
 
 And in another place : 
 
 " Nam ille dixit, et fuit ; 
 " Ille iussit, et constitit."3 
 
 The same subject is frequently treated more diffusely, many circum- 
 stances being added, and a variety of imagery introduced for the 
 purpose of illustration. Whether this be executed in a manner suit- 
 able to the greatness and dignity of the subject, may be easily deter-, 
 mined by a few examples : 
 
 " Ubinam fuisti cum fundarem terrain ? 
 
 " Indica, si intelligentia polles. 
 
 " Quis disposuit mensuras eius, quandoquidem nosti; 
 
 '' Aut quis super earn extendit lineam ? 
 
 " Quonam demersae incumbunt bases eius ; 
 
 " Aut quis posuit lapidem eius angularem ? 
 
 " Quum simul ovarent stellae matutinae ; 
 
 " Unaque clangerent omnes filii Dei, 
 
 " Et foribus occlusit mare, 
 
 " Cum erumperet, ex utero exiret : 
 
 " Cum involverem illud indumento nubis, 
 
 " Et fascia densae caliginis : 
 
 " Et diffringerem illi decretum alveum, 
 
 " Poneremque repagula et valvas ; 
 
 " Diceremque, hue usque veni, nee progreditor ; 
 
 " Ethic obstaculum estotuorum fluctuum superbiae." 4 
 
 " Quis mensus est pugillo suo aquas ; 
 
 " Et coelos palrna aptavit ; 
 
 " Et comprehendit triente pulverem terrae ? 
 
 " Et ponderavit trutina montes, 
 
 i Gen. i. 3. 2 PSAL. cxlviii. 5. 3 PBAL. xxxiii. 9. 4 JOB xxxviii. 411. 
 
132 SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. L.ECT. XVI. 
 
 " Et colles bilance ? 
 
 " Attollite in sublime vestros oculos, 
 
 " Et contemplamini quis creavit ista : 
 
 " Qui educit numero exercitum eorum, 
 
 " Eaque omnia nominatim appellat ; 
 
 " Prae magnitudine virium et robore potentiae, ne unum deest."5(A) 
 
 In these examples, the power and wisdom of the Deity, as de- 
 monstrated in the constitution and government of the natural world, 
 you see have suggested a variety of circumstances, a splendid as- 
 semblage of imagery, of which it is a sufficient commendation to say, 
 the whole is not unworthy the greatness of the subject. The case 
 is, however, materially different, when the attributes of God are con- 
 sidered in themselves simply and abstractedly, with no illustration or 
 amplification from their operations and effects. Here the human 
 mind is absorbed, overwhelmed as it were in a boundless vortex, and 
 studies in vain for an expedient to extricate itself. But the great- 
 ness of the subject may be justly estimated by its difficulty ; and 
 while the imagination labours to comprehend what is beyond its 
 powers, this very labour itself, and these ineffectual endeavours, suf- 
 ficiently demonstrate the immensity and sublimity of the object. 
 On this account the following passage is truly sublime. Here the 
 mind seems to exert its utmost faculties in vain to grasp an object, 
 whose unparalleled magnitude mocks its feeble endeavours ; and to 
 this end it employs the grandest imagery that universal nature can 
 suggest, and yet this imagery, however great, proves totally inade- 
 quate to the purpose : 
 
 " O lehova, ad coelos pertingit benignitas tua ; 
 
 " Veritas tua, usque ad nubes : 
 
 " lustitia tua instar montium validorum; 
 
 " ludicia tua Abyssus magna !" 6 
 
 But nothing of this kind is nobler or more majestic, than when a de- 
 scription is carried on by a kind of continued negation ; when a 
 number of great and sublime ideas are collected, which, on a com- 
 parison with the object, are found infinitely inferior and inadequate. 
 Thus the boundaries are gradually extended on every side, and at 
 length totally removed ; the mind is insensibly led on towards infini- 
 ty, and is struck with inexpressible admiration, with a pleasing awe, 
 when it first finds itself expatiating in that immense expanse. 
 There are many such examples in the sacred poetry, one or two of 
 which will probably enable you to recollect the rest. 
 
 5 ISAI. xl. 12 and 26. 6 P SA L. xxxvi. 6, 7. 
 
. XVI. SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. 133 
 
 " Nuniquid Dei intima pervestigabis ? 
 
 " An invenies etiam perfectionem omnipotentis ? 
 
 " Altitudines coelorum ! quid ages ? 
 
 " Oreo profundior ; quid cognosces ! 
 
 " Mensura eius terra longior, 
 
 "Etlatior est mari."? 
 
 " Quo discedara a spiritu tuo ; 
 
 " Et quo a facie tua fugiam ? 
 
 " Si ascendam coelos, ibi tu ; 
 
 " Et in orco cubem, ecce te ! 
 
 " Fugam capiam auroram versus ; 
 
 " Habitem in extremitate maris occidui : 
 
 " Etiam illic manus tua ducet me ; 
 
 " Et apprehenderet me dextera tua."8(B) 
 
 Here we find the idea of jnfinity perfectly expressed, though it he 
 perhaps the most difficult of all ideas to impress upon the mind : for 
 when simply and abstractedly mentioned, without the assistance and 
 illustration of any circumstances whatever, it almost wholly evades 
 the power of the human understanding. The sacred writers have, 
 therefore, recourse to description, amplification, and imagery, by 
 which they give substance and solidity to what is in itself a subtile 
 and unsubstantial phantom ; and render an ideal shadow the object 
 of our senses. They conduct us through all the dimensions of 
 space, length, breadth, and height : these they do not describe in 
 general or indefinite terms ; they apply to them an actual line and 
 measure, and that the most extensive which all nature can supply, or 
 which the mind is indeed able to comprehend. When the intellect 
 is carried beyond these limits, there is nothing substantial upon 
 which it can rest ; it wanders through every part, and when it has 
 compassed the boundaries of creation, it imperceptibly glides into 
 the void of infinity : whose vast and formless extent, when displayed 
 to the mind of man in the forcible manner so happily attained by the 
 Hebrew writers, impresses it with the sublimest and most awful sen- 
 sations, and fills it with a mixture of admiration and terror. 
 
 That more vehement species of negation or affirmation, which 
 assumes the confident form of interrogation, is admirably calculated 
 to impress the mind with a very forcible idea of Div ine power. This 
 also frequently occurs in the sacred poetry : 
 
 " Hoc est decretum de omni terra consilium, 
 
 " Et haec est manus extensa in omnes gentes : 
 
 7 JOB xi. 79, 8 PSAL. cxxxix. 7 10* 
 
134 SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. LfiCT. XVI. 
 
 " Nam lehova exercituum decrevit, et quis irritum faciet ? 
 " Et ipsius est manus quae extenditur, et. quis earn avertet?"9 
 
 " An. ille dixit, et non faciet ? 
 
 " An locutus est, et non effectum dabit ?"1 
 
 Nor is that ironical kind of concession, which is sometimes put into 
 the mouth of the Supreme Being, less energetic ; the following pas- 
 sage is an admirable instance : 
 
 " Orna te, age, magnificentia et celsitudine ; 
 
 " Et indue maiestatem et gloriam : 
 
 " Effunde quaquaversum aestus irae tuae ; 
 
 " Et aspectu tuo omnem elatum, deprime, 
 
 " Aspice omnem elatum, prosterne eum ; 
 
 " Et contere impios in vestigio suo : 
 
 " Obrue eos in pulvere pariter ; 
 
 " Involve eorum vultus, et in obscurum demerge. 
 
 " Turn etiam ego tibi confitebor ; 
 
 " Cum tibi salutem praestiterit dextera tua."U 
 
 When the Divine Omnipotence is opposed to human infirmity, the 
 one is proportion ably magnified as the other is diminished by the 
 contrast. The monstrous absurdity of a comparison between things 
 extremely unequal, the more forcibly serves to demonstrate that ine- 
 quality, and sets them at an infinite distance from each other. 
 
 Since, however, the sacred poets were under the necessity of 
 speaking of God in a manner adapted to human conceptions, and of 
 attributing to him the actions, the passions, the faculties of man ; 
 how can they be supposed ever to have depicted the Divine Majesty 
 in terms at all becoming the greatness of the subject ? And are they 
 not in this case more likely to disgrace and degrade it ? May not 
 that censure be applied to them, which Longinus so deservedly ap- 
 plies to Homer, that he turned his gods into men, and even debased 
 them beneath the standard of humanity ? - The case is, however, 
 materially different : Homer, and the other heathen poets, relate 
 facts of their deities, which, though impious and absurd, when lite- 
 rally understood, are scarcely, or at all intelligible in an allegoric 
 sense, and can by no means be reduced to an interpretation strictly 
 figurative. 12 On the contrary, in the delineation of the Divine na- 
 ture, the sacred poets do indeed, in conformity to the weakness of 
 the human understanding, employ terrestrial imagery ; but it is in 
 such a manner, that the attributes which are borrowed from human 
 
 9 ISAI. xiv. 26, 27. 10 NUMB, xxiii. 19. n JOB xl. 1014. 
 
 12 gee FABRIC. Biblioth. Grec. L. v. c. 26. Vol. viii. p. 526. 
 
. XVI. SUBLIMITY OF SENTIMENT. 135 
 
 nature and human action, can never in a literal sense be applied to 
 the Divinity. The understanding is continually referred from the 
 shadow to the reality ; nor can it rest satisfied with the bare literal 
 application, but is naturally directed to investigate that quality in the 
 Divine nature, which appears to be analogous to the image. This, 
 if I am not mistaken, will supply us with a reason not very obvious, 
 of a very observable effect in the Hebrew writings, namely, why, 
 among those sensible images that are applied to the Deity, those 
 principally, which in a literal sense would seem most remote from 
 the object, and most unworthy of the Divine Majesty, are neverthe- 
 less, when used metaphorically, or in the way of comparison, by far 
 the most sublime. That imagery, for instance, which is taken from 
 the parts and members of the human body, is found to be much no- 
 bler and more magnificent in its effect, than that which is taken 
 from the passions of the mind ; and that, which is taken from the 
 animal creation, frequently exceeds in sublimity that which the na- 
 ture of man has suggested. For such is our ignorance and blind- 
 ness in contemplating the Divine nature, that we can by no means 
 attain to a simple and pure idea of it : we necessarily mingle some- 
 thing of the human with the divine : the grosser animal properties, 
 therefore, we easily distinguish and separate, but it is with the ut- 
 most difficulty that we can preserve the rational, and even some of 
 the properties of the sensitive, soul perfectly distinct. Hence it is, 
 that in those figurative expressions derived from the nobler and more 
 excellent qualities of human nature, when applied to the Almighty, 
 we frequently acquiesce, as if they were in strict literal propriety to 
 be attributed to him : on the contrary, our understanding immedi- 
 ately rejects the literal sense of those which seem quite inconsistent 
 with the Divine Being, and derived from an ignoble source : and, 
 while it pursues the analogy, it constantly rises to a contemplation, 
 which, though obscure, is yet grand and magnificent. Let us ob- 
 serve, whether this observation will apply to the following passages, 
 in which the psalmist ascribes to God the resentment commonly ex- 
 perienced by a human creature for an injury unexpectedly received : 
 there appears in the image nothing to excite our admiration, noth- 
 ing particularly sublime : 
 
 " Audivit Deus, et ira exarsit ; 
 
 " Et Israelmncum summo fastidio reiecit."13 
 But when, a little after, the same subject is depicted in figurative 
 
 13 PSAL. Ixxviii. 59. 
 
136 SUBLIMITY OP SENTIMENT. L.ECT. XVI, 
 
 terms, derived from much grosser objects, and applied in a still more 
 daring manner, nothing can be more sublime : 
 
 " Turn expergefactus est Dominus veluti ex somno ; 
 
 " Tanquam Athleta prae vino in clamorem erumpens."14 
 
 On the same principle the sublimity of those passages is founded, in 
 which the image is taken from the roaring of a lion, the clamour of 
 rustic labourers, and the rage of wild beasts : 
 
 " Ex alto rugiet lehova ; 
 " Et ex sacrosancto habitaculo edet vocem : 
 " Horrendura rugiet super sedem suam ; 
 " Edet celeusma sicut calcantes uvas."l5 
 
 " Et ero illis instar leonis ; 
 
 " Sicut pardus iuxta viam insidiabor ; 
 
 " Occurram illis ut ursa orbata, 
 
 " Et discerpam eorum praecordia."16 
 
 From ideas, which in themselves appear coarse, unsuitable, and to- 
 tally unworthy of so great an object, the mind naturally recedes, and 
 passes suddenly to the contemplation of the object itself, and of its 
 inherent magnitude and importance. 
 
 14 PSAL. Ixxviii. 65. 15 JER. xxv. 30. 16 Hos. xlii. 7, 8. 
 
LECTURE XVII. 
 
 OF THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. 
 
 Sublimity of sentiment as arising from the vehement affections of the mind What is common- 
 ly called enthusiasm is the natural effect of passion : the true enthusiasm arises from the 
 impulse of the Divine Spirit, and is peculiar to the sacred poets The principal force of poe- 
 try is displayed in the expression of passion : in exciting the passions poetry best achioves 
 its purpose, whether it be utility or pleasure How the passions are excited to the purpose 
 of utility ; how to that of pleasure The difference and connexion* between the pathetic and 
 the sublime That sublimity, which in the sacred poetry proceeds from the imitation of the 
 passions of admiration, of joy, indignation, -grief, and terror ; illustrated by examples. 
 
 WE have agreed with Longinus, that a violent agitation of the 
 mind, or impetuosity of passion, constitutes another source of the 
 sublime : he calls it " the vehemence and enthusiasm of passion." 
 It will be proper, therefore, in the next place, to consider the na- 
 ture of this enthusiasm ; the principles on which the power of ex- 
 citing or of imitating the passions in poetry may be supposed to de- 
 pend ; and what affinity subsists between passion and sublimity. 
 
 The language of poetry I have more than once described as the 
 effect of mental emotion. Poetry itself is indebted for its origin, 
 character, complexion, emphasis, and application, to the effects 
 which are produced upon the mind and body, upon the imagination, 
 the senses, the voice, and respiration, by the agitation of passion. 
 Every affection of the human soul, while it rages with violence, is a 
 momentary phrenzy. When therefore a poet is able by the force of 
 genius, or rather of imagination, to conceive any emotion of the 
 mind so perfectly as to transfer to his own feelings the instinctive 
 passion of another, and, agreeably to the nature of the subject, to 
 express it in all its vigour, such a one, according to a common mode 
 of speaking, may be said to possess the true poetic enthusiasm, 1 or, 
 as the ancients would have expressed it, " to be inspired ; full of the 
 God :" not however implying, that their ardour of mind was impart- 
 
 1 ARISTOTLE expresses it navixov (insane,) PLATO txygora (out of their com- 
 mon senses.) tv&eov (inspired by a God,) tv&ovfliatovra (enthusiastic.) 
 
 18 
 
138 THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. L.ECT. XVII. 
 
 ed by the gods, but that this ecstatic impulse became the God of the 
 moment. 2 
 
 This species of enthusiasm I should distinguish by the term nat- 
 ural, were it not that I should seem to connect things which are re- 
 ally different and repugnant to each other ; the true and genuine 
 enthusiasm, that which alone is deserving of the name, that I mean 
 with which the sublimer poetry of the Hebrews, and particularly the 
 prophetic, is animated, is certainly widely different in its nature, and 
 boasts a much higher origin. 
 
 As poetry, however, derives its very existence from the more ve- 
 hement emotions of the mind, so its greatest energy is displayed in 
 the expression of them ; and by exciting the passions it more effec- 
 tually attains its end. 
 
 Poetry is said to consist in imitation : whatever the human mind 
 is able to conceive, it is the province of poetry to imitate ; things, 
 places, appearances natural and artificial, actions, passions, manners 
 and customs ; and since the human intellect is naturally delighted 
 with every species of imitation, that species in particular, which ex- 
 hibits its own image, which displays and depicts those impulses, in- 
 flections, perturbations, and secret emotions, which it perceives and 
 knows in itself, can scarcely fail to astonish and to delight above ev- 
 ery other. The delicacy and difficulty of this kind of imitation are 
 among its principal commendations ; for to effect that which appears 
 almost impossible, naturally excites our admiration. The under- 
 standing slowly perceives the accuracy of the description in all oth- 
 er subjects, and their agreement to their archetypes, as being oblig- 
 ed to compare them by the aid and through the uncertain medium, 
 f as it were, of the memory : but when a passion is expressed, the ob- 
 \ ject is clear and distinct at once ; the mind is immediately conscious 
 of itself and its own emotions ; it feels and suffers in itself a sensa- 
 \ tion, either the same or similar to that which is described. Hence 
 \ that sublimity, which arises from the vehement agitation of the pas- 
 sions, and the imitation of them, possesses a superior influence over 
 the human mind ; whatever is exhibited to it from without, may well 
 be supposed to move and agitate it less than what it internally per- 
 ceives, of the magnitude and force of which it is previously con- 
 scious. 
 
 And as the imitation or delineation of the passions is the most 
 
 2 Nisus ait, Dine hunc ardorem mentibus addunt, 
 Euryale ? an sua cuique deus fit dira cupido ? ./Eneid. ix. 184. 
 
LECT. XVII. THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. 139 
 
 perfect production of poetry, so by exciting them it most completely 
 effects its purpose. The intent of poetry is to profit while it enter- 
 tains us , and the agitation of the passions, by the force of imitation, 
 is in the highest degree both useful and pleasant. 
 
 This method of exciting the passions is, in the first place, useful, 
 when properly and lawfully exercised ; that is, when these passions 
 are directed to their proper end, and rendered subservient to the dic- 
 tates of nature and truth ; when an aversion to evil, and a love of 
 goodness is excited ; and if the poet deviate on any occasion from 
 this great end and aim, he is guilty of a most scandalous abuse and 
 perversion of his art. For the passions and affections are the ele- 
 ments and principles of human action ; they are all in themselves 
 good, useful, and virtuous ; and, when fairly and naturally employed, 
 not only lead to useful ends and purposes, but actually prompt and 
 stimulate to virtue. It is the office of poetry to incite, to direct, to 
 temper the passions, and not to extinguish them. It professes to 
 exercise, to amend, to discipline the affections : it is this which is 
 strictly meant by Aristotle, when he speaks of the pruning of the 
 passions, though certain commentators have strangely perverted his 
 meaning. 
 
 But this operation on the passions is also more immediately use- 
 ful, because it is productive of pleasure. Every emotion of the 
 mind, (not excepting even those which in themselves are allied to 
 pain) when excited through the agency of the imitative arts, is ever 
 accompanied with an exquisite sensation of pleasure. This arises 
 partly from the contemplation of the imitation itself; partly from the 
 consciousness of our own felicity, when compared with the miseries 
 of others ; but principally from the moral sense. Nature has endu- 
 ed man with a certain social and generous spirit ; and commands 
 hjm not to confine his cares to himself alone, but to extend them to 
 all his fellow creatures ; to look upon nothing which relates to man- 
 kind as foreign to himself. Thus " to rejoice with them that do re- 
 joice, and to weep with them that weep ;" to love and to respect pie- 
 ty and benevolence ; to cherish and retain an indignant hatred of 
 cruelty and injustice ; that is, to obey the dictates of nature ; is right, 
 is honest, is becoming, is pleasant. 
 
 The sublime and the pathetic are intrinsically very different ; and 
 yet have in some respects a kind of affinity or connexion. The pa- 
 thetic includes the passions which we feel, and those which we ex- 
 cite. Some passions may be expressed without any thing of the 
 
140 THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. L.ECT. XVII. 
 
 sublime ; the sublime also may exist, where no passion is directly 
 expressed ; there is however no sublimity where no passion is excit- 
 ed. That sensation of sublimity, which arises from the greatness of 
 the thoughts and imagery, has admiration for its basis, and that for 
 the most part connected with joy, love, hatred, or fear ; and this I 
 think is evident from the instances which were so lately under our 
 consideration. 
 
 How much the sacred poetry of the Hebrews excels in exciting 
 the passions, and in directing them to their noblest end and aim ; 
 how it exercises them upon their proper objects ; how it strikes and 
 fires the admiration by the contemplation of the Divine Majesty ; 
 and, forcing the affections of love, hope, and joy, from unworthy 
 and terrestrial objects, elevates them to the pursuit of the supreme 
 good : How it also stimulates those of grief, hatred, and fear, which 
 are usually employed upon the trifling miseries of this life to the ab- 
 horrence of the supreme evil, is a subject which at present wants no 
 illustration, and which, though not unconnected with sublimity in a 
 general view, would be improperly introduced in this place. For we 
 are not at present treating of the general effects of sublimity on the 
 passions ; but of that species of the sublime which proceeds from ve- 
 hement emotions of the mind, and from the imitation or representa- 
 tion of passion. 
 
 Here indeed a spacious field presents itself to our view : for by 
 far the greater part of the sacred poetry is little else than a continu- 
 ed imitation of the different passions. What in reality forms the 
 substance and subject of most of these poems but the passion of ad- 
 miration, excited by the consideration of the Divine power and maj- 
 esty ; the passion of joy, from the sense of the Divine favour, and 
 the prosperous issue of events ; the passion of resentment and indig- 
 nation against the contemners of God ; of grief, from the conscious- 
 ness of sin ; and terror, from the apprehension of the Divine judge- 
 ments? Of all these, and if there be any emotions of the mind be- 
 yond these, exquisite examples may be found in the book of Job, in 
 the Psalms, in the Canticles, and in every part of the prophetic 
 writings. On this account my principal difficulty will not be the se- 
 lection of excellent and proper instances, but the explaining of those 
 which spontaneously occur, without a considerable diminution of 
 their intrinsic sublimity. (A) 
 
 Admiration, as it is ever the concomitant, so it is frequently the 
 efficient cause of sublimity. It produces great and magnificent con- 
 
LECT. XVII. THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. 141 
 
 ceptions and sentiments, and expresses them in language bold and 
 elevated, in sentences concise, abrupt, and energetic. 
 " lehova regnat ; contremiscant populi : 
 " Cherubis insidet ; comrnoveatur tellus."3 
 
 " Vox lehovae super aquas ; 
 
 " Deus gloriae intonat ; 
 
 " lehova super aquas validas. 
 
 " Vox lehovae potens ; 
 
 " Vox lehovae plena majestatis." 4 
 
 " Quis tui similis inter Deos, lehova ! 
 " Quis tui similis, verendus sanctitate ! 
 " Terribilis laudum, faciens mirabilia ! 
 " Extendisti dextram, absorbet eostellus." 5 
 
 Joy is more elevated, and exults in a bolder strain. It produces 
 great sentiments and conceptions ; seizes upon the most splendid 
 imagery, and adorns it with the most animated language ; nor does 
 it hesitate to risk the most daring and unusual figures. In the Song 
 of Moses, ifTlhe Thanksgiving of Deborah and Barak, what sublimi- 
 ty do we find, in sentiment, in language, in the general turn of the 
 expression ! But nothing can excel in this respect that noble exulta- 
 tion of universal nature in the Psalm which has been so often com- 
 mended, where the whole animated and inanimate creation unite in 
 the praises of their Maker. Poetry here seems to assume the high- 
 est tone of triumph and exultation, and to revel, if I may so express 
 myself, in all the extravagance of joy : 
 
 " Dicite, regnat Deus omnipotent ; 
 " Dicite populis, ipse lehova 
 " Posuit stabilis moenia mundi, 
 " Rerum validas torquet habenas. 
 " Coeli exultent ; concinat aether ; 
 " Resonet cantu conscia tellus ; 
 " Resonent sylvae ; resonent montes ; 
 " Geminent palmis flumina plausum ; 
 " Fremitu laeto reboet pontus : 
 11 Psallite, clangite, quaeque patentes 
 u Colitis terras, quaeque profundum. 
 " Advenit, advenit ipse lehova, 
 " Regat ut populos legibus aequis ; 
 " Totum nurnine temperet orbem." 6 
 
 Nothing, however, can be greater or more magnificent than the 
 representation of anger and indignation, particularly when the di- 
 
 ( PSAL. xcix. 1. 4 PSAL. xxix. 3, 4. 5 EXOD. xv. 11, 12. 
 
 6 PSAL. xcvi. 1013, and xcviii. 79. 
 
mi; SUBLIME OF PASSION. LECT. XVII. 
 
 vine wratli is displayed. Of this the whole of the prophetic song of 
 Moses affords an incomparable specimen. I have formerly produc- 
 ed from it some instances of a different kind ; nor ought the follow- 
 ing to be denied a place in these L<T,tun-s. 
 
 " N;im inanura meain ad coeloH attollo 
 " Et .dim, ul, ro-o jn ii.cl.rrtiiiiii vivo, 
 " Ita acuain gladii inoi f'ulgur, 
 " Et in. inn,: rnea ;impii-t ;irui;i. iiulicii ; 
 " HostilmM iiMiiK iilt.iojKim rcddam, 
 " Kisijin- |ui tin- nd.-iuii) rc|nMiil;iin 
 " Incbriabo Hagittas mens Hanguinn, 
 " Et gladiuH innuH dovorabit carnes, 
 " Sanguine confossorum captorumque, 
 " De capite capillato iniinicorum." 7 
 
 Nor is Isaiah less daring on a similar subject : 
 
 " Nam dies ultionis in cnrde meo ont, 
 " Et annus quo moos rodirnam v'nit 
 " Et circumspexi, noque erat adint<r , 
 " Et obstupui, neque enirn orat BUHtentator : 
 
 'Turn ruihi salutorn prae8t.itit brachium ineum, 
 
 ! Et indignatio mea ipsa rno 8UHt.erit.ivit 
 Et conculcavi populos in ira mea, 
 
 ' Et in aestu rneo ebrios ot attonitos reddidi, 
 
 ' Et caedern eorum derivavi in terram." 8 (B) 
 
 The display of the fury and threats of the enemy, by which MOM-. 
 finely exaggerates the horror of their unexpected ruin, is also won- 
 derfully sublime : 
 
 " Dixerat hoatis, persequar, adsoquar ; 
 " Dividarn spolia, oxHaturabitur anirna mea ; 
 " Stringam gladium, exscindet oos rnanus mea: 
 " Spiritu tuo flavJHti ; operuit eos mare." 9 
 
 Grief is generally abject and humble, less apt to assimilate with 
 the sublime ; but when it becomes excessive, and predominates in 
 the mind, it rises to a bolder tone, and becomes heated to fury and 
 madness. We have a fine example of this from the hand of Jere- 
 miah, when he exaggerates the miseries of Sion : 
 
 " Arcum suurn hostili more intendit ; dextram firmavit velut inimicus ; 
 
 " In teritoria filiae Sionis iram suam instar ignis effudit." 10 
 
 But nothing of this kind can equal the grief of Job, which is acute, 
 vehement, fervid ; always in the deepest afflictions breathing an ani- 
 mated and lofty strain ; 
 
 7 DEux. xxxii.40 42. 8 I 8AI . l x iii. 4 6. 9 EXOD. xv. 9,10. 10 LAM. ii. 4. 
 
XVII. THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. 143 
 
 " Aeotuat ingen* 
 no in corde pudor, Juotu,que,et corwcia virttw." 
 
 " Ira eiuH di^ t hostili rxlio prcwequitur ; 
 
 ' D<5ntibu in rne infrendit, 
 
 ti rneiui acuit contra rrie rjculo* uo. 
 jcen ua contra rnt dintendunt ; 
 " Maxilla* mean contumelious p;rcuiunt ; 
 " Pariter super irte ece exatur 
 
 >ngt.ricturn m* Deu inifjuo tradidit, 
 
 *Jtvit. 
 
 "Tranqmlluaerarn, et rne pen i tun contrivit; 
 " Et cenrice prehenuarn minut;xtirri diffn-git; 
 " Ac me ibi pro copo constituit. 
 " Corona facia invariant rne iaculatoreu *iu ; 
 ' SuJcat rene rneon. nee pareit : 
 ' EfFundit in terrarn fol rr:' 
 
 - Aliii) cnper alian plagis continuo me profligat ; 
 " Irnpetum facit in rne icut bellat/>r."H 
 
 In the same author, with what rna^ruf 1 sublimity are or- 
 
 row and desperation expressed ! 
 
 " O i bilance mea libretti r calarnitas, 
 
 " JuMtaqne trutina rrK>le curnulati mali ! 
 
 " Saperat iniq-r -renau aequori* : 
 
 " Nee temere jn i* ; -vj.-r r/-mita erumpen* dolor. 
 
 nt penitcu imo tela \tutttnnl nurninin 
 -' Defiza latere ; rnoraa lace rant viscera, 
 " Ae^narnque lenta tabe Hpiriturn haariant ; 
 .que terroren acie imrtmcta ingrunnt. 
 -dat utinam Rupplici* precibn* Detw! 
 " Efftindat irae fraena tandem vindici ; 
 
 lanu r,luta, liberoque brachio, 
 " Adigat trunilci vim contfcam fulrnini*, 
 " Mifennnqiw plagambiU^ interimat uirnplici."J2 
 
 The wholo fxx.-rn of Job is no lens excellent in the expression 
 and excitation of terror, as the example just now quoted sufficiently 
 demonstrates. To this commendation, however, the prophetic writ- 
 
 ';ern to have the fairest claim : it being indeed their peculiar 
 province to denounce the Divine judgements upon guilty nations. Al- 
 most the whole book of Flzekiel i-, oc*>upied with this passion : Isaiah 
 is also excellent in this respect, although he be in general the har- 
 
 r of joy and salvation. The following terrific denunciatian i* 
 directed by him against the enemies of Jerusalem : 
 
 " Eialate, nam propinqoatdie* Jehovae > 
 :: Adveniet, at ab omnipotente, vaurtJtaa ! 
 
 ll JOB rri. 914. W Jo ri. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9. 
 
144 THE SUBLIME OF PASSION. L.ECT. XVII. 
 
 " Idcirco omnes manus solventur, 
 
 " Et omne cor hominis liquescet ; 
 
 " Et consternati angoribus, et cruciatibus correpti, 
 
 " Instar parturientis dolebunt : 
 
 " Alter alterum attoniti respicient ; 
 
 " Instar flammarum vultu ardente. 
 
 " Ecce dies lehovae advenit; 
 
 " Atrocitas, et excandescentia, et aestusirae : 
 
 " Ut redigat terram in desolationem, 
 
 " Et peccatores eius ex ea exscindat. 
 
 " Nam stellae coelorum, et eorum sidera, 
 
 " Non emittent lucent suam ; 
 
 " Caligabit sol in ortu suo, 
 
 " Nee splendorem suum efFundct luna. 
 
 " Et animadvertam in orbis malitiam, 
 
 " Et in impiorum crimina ; 
 
 " Et comprimam arrogantium fastus, 
 
 " Etsuperbiam tyrannorum deiiciam. 
 
 " Mortalem reddam obryzo pretiosiorem, 
 
 " Et hominem auro Ophirino. 
 
 " Propterea coelos faciam contremiscere, 
 
 " Et commovebitur tellus e loco suo ; 
 
 u In excandescentia lehovae exercituum ; 
 
 " Etin die irae eius exardescentis." 13 
 
 Jeremiah is scarcely inferior, though perhaps his talents are better 
 suited in common to the exciting of the softer affections. As an 
 example, I need only refer to that remarkable vision, in which the 
 impending slaughter and destruction of Judea is exhibited with won- 
 derful force and enthusiasm : 
 
 " Viscera mea ! viscera mea ! praecordia mihi dolent ! 
 
 " Tumultuatur intus cor meum ; silere non possum ; 
 
 " Nam vocem buccinae audivisti, o anima mea ; clanfforem belli ! 
 
 " Glades super cladem proclamatur, nam devastata est omnis haec terra : 
 
 " Subito vastantur tentoria mea, momento mea vela. 
 
 " Quousque videbo vexillum, audiam clangorem buccinae ! 
 
 " Aspexi terram, ecce autem informis est et vacua ! 
 
 " Coelosque, nee lucent amplius !"14 
 
 It would be an infinite task to collect and specify all the passages 
 that might be found illustrative of this subject : and probably we 
 shall have more than one opportunity of discoursing upon these and 
 similar topics, when we come to consider the different species of the 
 Hebrew poetry : upon which, after requesting your candour and in- 
 dulgence to so arduous an undertaking, it is my intention to enter 
 at our next meeting. 
 
 13 ISAI. xiii. 613. 14 JER. iv. 19, etc. 
 
PART III. 
 
 OF THE DIFFERENT SPECIES OF POETRY EXTANT IN THE 
 WRITINGS OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 OF PROPHETIC POETRT. 
 
 LECTURE XVIII, 
 
 THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHETS ARE IN GENERAL POETICAL. 
 
 The poetry of the Hebrews classed according to its different characters ; this mode of arrange- 
 ment results rather from the nature of the subject, than from any authority of the Hebrews 
 themselves The Prophetic Poetry The writings of the prophets in general poetical and 
 metrical The opinion of the modern Jews and of Jerome on this point refuted In the books 
 of the prophets the same evidences are found of a metrical arrangement as in the poetical 
 books : in the dialect, the style, and poetical conformation of the sentences Obvious in re- 
 spect to the two former circumstances ; the latter requires a more minute investigation, and 
 also illustration by examples-4T he intimate relation between poetry and prophecy The 
 college of prophets ; a part ofwhose discipline it was to sing hymns to the different in- 
 struments : and this exercise was called prophecy : the same word, therefore, denotes a 
 prophet, a poet, and a musician Elisha, when about to pronounce the oracle of God, orders 
 a minstrel to be brought to him Poetry excellently adapted to the purpose of prophecy A 
 review of the ru_pst ancient predictions extant in the historical books, which are proved to be 
 truly poetical.^ 
 
 OF the general nature and properties of the Hebrew poetry I 
 have already treated : diffusely enough, if the extent of the disqui- 
 sitions be considered ; but too briefly, I fear, and too imperfectly, 
 if respect be had to the copiousness and importance of the subject. 
 My original design, however, extended no farther than to notice the 
 most remarkable passages, and such as I conceived to be immediate- 
 ly illustrative of the peculiarities of the Hebrew style. Even these 
 it was my wish and intention rather to point out and recommend to 
 your own consideration, than minutely to investigate and explain, 
 esteeming it my province rather to exhort and stimulate to these 
 studies, than to intrude upon this audience a formal plan of instruc- 
 tion. It would be superfluous, I am persuaded, to remind you, that 
 the importance of the subject is not to be estimated by the feeble- 
 19 
 
146 PROPHETIC POETRY. LECT. XVIII. 
 
 ness of my endeavours ; and, I trust, it would be still more unne- 
 cessary to caution you against a hasty acquiescence in any interpreta- 
 tion of those passages, which I have quoted, much less in my own : 
 though I will frankly confess, that I have bestowed no small degree 
 of labour and attention upon this part of my undertaking. What 
 remains at present, is to distribute into its different classes the whole 
 of the Hebrew poetry, and to mark whatever is worthy of observa- 
 tion in each species. In forming this arrangement it will hardly 
 be expected that I should uniformly proceed according to the testi- 
 mony of the Hebrews, or on all occasions confirm the propriety of 
 my classification by their authority ; since it is plain that they were 
 but little versed in these nice and artificial distinctions. It will be 
 sufficient for our purpose ; that is, it will be sufficient for the accu- 
 rate explanation of the different characters of the Hebrew poetry, 
 if I demonstrate that these characters are stamped by the hand of 
 nature, and that they are displayed either in the subject itself, the 
 disposition of its constituent parts, the diversity of style, or in the 
 general form and arrangement of the poem. 
 
 The first rank I assign to the PROPHETIC, or that species of po- 
 etry which is found to pervade the predictions of the prophets, as 
 well those contained in the books properly called prophetical, as 
 those which occasionally occur in other parts of the Scriptures. 
 These, I apprehend, will be generally allowed to be written in a 
 style truly poetical, indeed admirable in its kind ; as the many ex- 
 amples, which we have already produced, will sufficiently demon- 
 strate. I fear, however, it will not be so readily granted that their 
 claim is equally well founded with that of the books, which are com- 
 monly called poetical, to the other characteristic of poetry, I mean 
 verse, or metrical composition. This fact is denied by the Jews ; 
 and it is denied by Jerome, 1 who was a diligent scholar of the Rab- 
 binical writers : after these, it is unnecessary to refer to more recent 
 authors, who partly deny that the Hebrews were possessed of any 
 metre at all, and partly allow it to those compositions only, which 
 are commonly called poetical, or at most extend the concession to a 
 few canticles scattered through other parts of the Scriptures. A 
 thinking person, however, will not be misled by such authorities as 
 these, before he examines whether they are to be accounted com- 
 petent judges in this case, and what weight and credit is due to 
 their testimony. 
 
 1 See Jerome, Preface to ISAIAH. 
 
LECT. XVIII. PROPHETIC POETRY. 147 
 
 The Jews, by their own confession, are no longer, nor have 
 been indeed for many ages, masters of the system of the ancient 
 metre. All remembrance of it has ceased from those times in which 
 the Hebrew became a dead language ; and it really seems probable, 
 that the Masorites (of whom so little is known) who afterwards dis- 
 tinguished the sacred volumes by accents and vowel points, as they 
 are now extant, were possessed of so trifling and imperfect a knowl- 
 edge of this subject, that they were even incapable of distinguishing 
 what was written in metre from plain prose. For when, according 
 to their manner, they marked certain books as metrical, namely, the 
 Psalms, the Proverbs, and the book of Job ; they accounted others, 
 which are no less evidently metrical, absolutely prosaic, such as 
 the Song of Solomon, and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and con- 
 sequently assigned to them the common prose accent only. In this 
 opinion the Jews universally remain, and deny that these books are 
 at all metrical, or to be classed with the three former. Now the 
 disciple is hardly to be supposed to have more information than his 
 masters ; and although Jerome speaks very fluently about the Te- 
 trameters, the Hexameters, the Sapphics, and Iambics, of the He- 
 brews, the very state and circumstances of the case demonstrate how 
 little credit is due to his authority. Indeed his reasoning evidently 
 proceeds from a confused head, when he attempts to trace a sort of re- 
 mote similarity between the Greek and Hebrew metres ; and to ex- 
 plain by some coarse analogies a subject, which he appears to have 
 very imperfectly understood : in treating of which, after all, he is 
 not able to preserve even the appearance of consistency. For in- 
 stance, after Josephus and Origen, he contends, that the Song of 
 Moses in Deuteronomy is composed in Hexameter and Pentameter 
 verse ; in another place, however, he affirms that the very same 
 poem consists of Iambic Tetrameters. In proof of his opinion he 
 appeals to the testimony of Philo, Josephus, Origen, and Eusebius, 
 who were no less ignorant of the nature of the Hebrew metres than 
 himself. 2 Notwithstanding the opinion therefore of Jerome and the 
 Rabbinical writers, I shall beg leave to offer a few remarks upon the 
 other side of the question ; after which it will not perhaps be thought 
 altogether improbable, that most of the predictions of the prophets, 
 as well as many other of the remains of Hebrew literature, were 
 originally published in a metrical form.(A) 
 
 In order to prove that the predictions of the prophets are metri^ 
 
 2 See JEROME, Pref. to Job. Pref. to Chron. Eusebii Epist. civ. ad P. Urbicam 
 
148 PROPHETIC POETRY. LfiCT. XVIII. 
 
 cal, I must in part have recourse to the same arguments, by which 
 I formerly endeavoured to evince that the Hebrew poetry in general 
 consisted of a kind of metre : every one of which arguments, I must 
 observe, is strictly applicable to this part of my subject, that alone 
 excepted which regards the alphabetic poems. That it would be 
 unnatural and absurd to look for instances of that kind in the pro- 
 phetic poetry is evident ; since such an artificial arrangement would 
 be utterly repugnant to the nature of prophecy ; it is plainly the ef- 
 fect of study and diligence, not of imagination and enthusiasm ; a 
 contrivance to assist the memory, not to affect the passions. The 
 other arguments, however, ought to be particularly adverted to upon 
 this subject : the poetic dialect, for instance, the diction so totally 
 different from the language of common life, and other similar cir- 
 cumstances, 3 which an attentive reader will easily discover, but 
 which cannot be explained by a few examples ; for circumstances 
 which, taken separately, appear but of small account, are in a united 
 view frequently of the greatest importance. To these we may add 
 the artificial conformation of the sentences ; which, as it has always 
 appeared to me a necessary concomitant of metrical composition, the 
 only one indeed which is now apparent, I shall afterwards endeavour 
 to explain more at large, having especial regard to the prophetic 
 writers. I must now premise a few other arguments, which will 
 probably lead to the establishment of my opinion. 
 
 The prophets were chosen by God himself, and were certainly 
 excellently prepared for the execution of their office. They were in 
 general taken from those, who had been educated from childhood in 
 a course of discipline adapted to the ministerial function. It is evi- 
 dent, from many purts of the sacred history, that even from the ear- 
 liest times of the Hebrew republic, there existed certain colleges of 
 prophets, in which the candidates for the prophetic office, removed alto- 
 gether from an intercourse with the world, devoted themselves entirely 
 to the exercises and study of religion : over each of these some pro- 
 phet of superior authority, and more peculiarly under the divine influ- 
 ence, presided, as the moderator and preceptor of the whole assembly. 
 Though the sacred history affords us but little information, and that 
 in a cursory manner, concerning their institutes and discipline ; we 
 nevertheless understand that a principal part of their occupation con- 
 sisted in celebrating the praises of Almighty God in hymns and po- 
 etry, with choral chants accompanied by stringed instruments and 
 
 3 See LECT. III. 
 
LECT. XVIII. PROPHETIC POETRY. 149 
 
 pipes.(s) There is a remarkable passage which occurs to this pur- 
 pose : Saul being nominated king, and, pursuant to the command of 
 God, consecrated by a solemn unction, a company of the prophets, 
 as Samuel had foretold, descending from the mount of God, (that be- 
 ing the place in which the sacred college was situated) met him ; 
 and, preceded by a variety of musical instruments, prophesied : upon 
 hearing which, he himself, as if actuated by the same spirit, imme- 
 diately joined them, and prophesied also. 4 The same thing again 
 occurred to him, and the persons sent by him to take David prison- 
 er at Naioth ; who, when they saw the prophets prophesying, and 
 Samuel presiding over them, seized with the same divine spirit and 
 enthusiasm, began to prophesy along with them. 5 I find no discor- 
 dance among authors concerning the nature of this mode of prophe- 
 sying : all are, I believe, agreed in this point, and all understand by 
 it the praises of God celebrated, by the impulse of the Holy Spirit, 
 with music and song. In this they follow the authority of the Chal- 
 dee interpreters, or rather the evidence of reason itself: for exactly 
 in the same manner, Asaph, Heman, Iduthun, who were the chief 
 musicians in the temple, are said " to have prophesied upon the 
 harp, the psaltery, and the cymbal, when praise and thanksgiving 
 were offered to Jehovah." 6 From these instances it is sufficiently \ 
 apparent, that the word NT23 was used by the Hebrews in an ambig- / 
 uous sense, and that it equally denoted a prophet, a poet, or a musi- ) 
 cian, under the influence of divine inspiration. To these we may 
 add the prophetesses, Miriam the sister of Aaron, and Deborah, 
 who were distinguished by that title, not only because they pro- \ 
 nounced the oracles of Jehovah, but on account of their excellence \ 
 in music and poetry ; for these sister arts were united by the He- 1 
 brews, as well as by all other nations, during the first stages of socie-*/ 
 ty. After these proofs there can scarcely be any occasion to re- 
 mark, that Solomon, or at least the editor or compiler of his prov- 
 erbs, twice makes use of the word, which, in its ordinary sense, 
 means prophecy, strictly so called, to denote the language of poetry. 
 For he calls the words of Agur and Lemuel KiBtt, which Jerome 
 renders vision, the seventy Greek translators an oracle, the Chaldee 
 prophecy: when in reality those passages have nothing in them 
 which can be properly said to bear any resemblance to prophecy ; 
 but are mere rhapsodies of morality, ornamented indeed with the 
 
 4 1 SAM. x. 510. 5 1 SAM, xix. 2024. 6 l CHRON. xxv. 13. 
 
150 PROPHETIC POETRY. L.ECT. XVIIL 
 
 usual embellishments of poetry . 7 (c) The Hebrews certainly did not 
 express by the same word ideas, which they deemed inconsistent, or 
 repugnant to each other ; and, what is remarkable, the same ambi- 
 guity prevails, the same word (and we may well presume for similar 
 reasons) denotes both a prophet and a poet in the Arabic language, 
 in the Greek, and in the Latin. 8 
 
 Nor is it reasonable to suppose, that prophecy admitted poetry 
 and music to a participation in the name alone ; on the contrary we 
 find, that she did not disdain to unite herself with harmony, and to 
 accept of her assistance. The example of Elisha is remarkable 
 who, when about to pronounce the answer of the Most High to tl 
 inquiry of the two kings of Israel and Judah, orders a minstrel to 
 brought to him, and upon his striking the harp, is immediately agi 
 tated by the Holy Spirit. 9 Many commentators have indeed suppos- 
 ed that the prophet applied to music only to soothe the perturbation 
 of his mind ; in this they follow an opinion of some of the more 
 modern Rabbies, (an opinion, it may be observed, by no means sat- 
 isfactorily proved) that every emotion of a more vehement kind ex- 
 cluded the Holy Spirit, and consequently was totally inconsistent 
 with prophecy ; 10 when, on the contrary, we learn from the testimo- 
 ny of the prophets themselves, that the act of prophesying was often, 
 if not always, accompanied with a very violent agitation of the 
 mind. 11 Be this as it may, I am inclined to believe, both from this 
 last and the other instances, that the prophet himself accompanied 
 the minstrel, and uttered some hymn, or rather the prediction itself, 
 to the music of the harp ; and both the style and the form of this 
 prophetic reply are very much in favour of this opinion. 
 
 From all these testimonies it is sufficiently evident, that the pro- 
 phetic office had a most strict connexion with the poetic art. They 
 had one common name, one common origin, one common author, the 
 
 7 PROV. xxx. 1. xxxi. 1. See also 1 CHRON. xv. 22, and 27, s'tttoh ifc, 
 a.QX<av TO)V taSwv, Septu. 
 
 8 M / / ) 
 
 ^jAAJCc, I7<</;TJ7$, Vates. See JOSEPH MEDE'S Works, p. 59. TIT. i-. 
 *' * 
 12. LUKE i. 67, and HAMMOND on the passage. 
 
 9 2 KINGS iii. 15. 
 
 10 See MAIMON. More Neboc. ii. 36, and many others quoted by SMITH, 
 Dissert, of Prophecy, c. viii. 
 
 11 See JER. xxiii. 9. EZEK. iii. 14, 15. DAN. vii. 28, x. 8. HABAK. iii. 
 2 and 16. 
 
LECT. XVIII. PROPHETIC POETRY. 151 
 
 Holy Spirit. Those in particular were called to the exercise of the 
 prophetic office, who were previously conversant with the sacred po- 
 etry. wTwas equally a part of their duty to compose verses for the 
 service of the church, and to declare the oracles of God : and it can- 
 not, therefore, be doubted that a great portion of the sacred hymns 
 may properly be termed prophecies, or that many of the prophecies 
 are in reality hymns or poems. Since, as we have already proved, it 
 was from the first a principal end and aim of poetry, to impress upon 
 the minds of men the sayings of the wise, and such precepts as re- 
 lated either to the principles of faith, or the laws of morality, as well 
 as to transmit the same to posterity ; it ought not to appear extraor- 
 dinary, that prophecy, which in this view ranks as a principal, and is 
 of the highest importance, should not disdain the assistance of an 
 art so admirably calculated to effect its purposes. Of this we have 
 an illustrious proof in that prophetic ode of Moses, 12 which he com- 
 posed by the especial command of God, to be learned by the Israel- 
 ites, and committed to memory : " That this song may be," says 
 God himself, " for a witness against the people of Israel, when they 
 shall depart from me ; this shall be a testimony in their mouths ; for 
 it shall not be forgotten, nor shall it depart out of the mouths of 
 their posterity for ever." 13 
 
 But, as on the one hand, this poem of Moses is a clear and re- 
 markable specimen of the prophetic mode of writing ; so, on the oth- 
 er, there are many prophecies which are not less conspicuous as po- 
 ems. It remains, therefore, only to produce a few examples from 
 the prophetic writings. Many of the most ancient of those, which 
 are extant in the Mosaic history, I have already quoted, 14 as exhib- 
 iting the fairest examples of the Hebrew poetry : for instance, the 
 imprecation of Noah, the blessing of Jacob, and the predictions of 
 Balaam : than all which (and particularly those of Balaam) I do not 
 know that the whole extent of the prophetic writings could afford 
 more pertinent instances. Nay, so eminently distinguished are they 
 by all the characteristics of poetry, that those who are inclined to ac- 
 knowledge any kind of metre in the Hebrew poetry, must, I am 
 convinced, refer to these as metrical compositions, if they be in the 
 least desirous of maintaining their opinion by fact and argument. 
 Among the prophecies of Balaam I will also venture to class that 
 most elegant poem, which is rescued from oblivion by the prophet 
 Micah, and which in matter and diction, in the structure, form, and 
 
 12 DEUT. xxxii. 13 See DEUT. xxxi. 19, 21. 14 See Lect. IV. 
 
152 PROPHETIC POETRY. LiECT. XVIII. 
 
 character of the composition, so admirably agrees with the other 
 monuments of his fame, that it evidently appears to be a citation 
 from the answer of Balaam to the king of the Moabites : 15 
 
 " Quanam re instructus comparebo coram lehova? 
 
 " Inclinabo me supplex coram Deo altissimo ? 
 
 " Nura comparebo coram eo cum holocaustis ; 
 
 " Cum vitulis anniculis ? 
 
 " Num accepta erunt lehovae millia arietum : 
 
 " Dena millia fluentorum olei ? 
 
 " An dabo primogenitum meum hostiam pro peccato meo ; 
 
 " Ventris mei fructum piaculum animae meae ? 
 
 " Indicavit tibi, o homo, quid sit bonum, 
 
 " Et quid lehova a te exigit ? 
 
 " Nisi ut aequum facias, et pietatem colas, 
 
 " Et submisse te geras erga Deum tuum."lG 
 
 But if we proceed to other parts of the Sacred History, exam- 
 ples will not be wanting : and among the first of these is that Cyg- 
 nean song of Moses, as it may properly be called ; I do not speak of 
 the prophetic ode, which has frequently been distinguished by that 
 title, but of the last blessing of that divine prophet, in which are pre- 
 dicted the future fortunes of the Israelites : 
 
 " lehova ex Sina prodiit ; 
 
 " Et ex Sehire illis exortus est."l? 
 
 The prophecy is evidently of the same nature with that of Jacob ; 
 both in the exordium and the conclusion it is exquisitely sublime ; 
 and throughout the whole affords an admirable specimen of the pro- 
 phetic poetry. In the same class with these may be ranked the an- 
 swer of Samuel the prophet to Saul, in which he reproaches him 
 with his disobedience and contumacy, and denounces against him 
 the Divine decree of expulsion from his kingdom. It consists of 
 four distichs elegantly corresponding to each other. 
 
 "Num delectatur lehova holocaustis et sacrificiis, 
 
 " Aeque ac obsequio voci eius praestito ? 
 
 " Scito, obsequium melius esse sacrificio, 
 
 " Et obedientiam adipe arietum. 
 
 " Profecto ut crimen divinationis est rebellio, 
 
 " Et quasi scelus idololatriae contumacia. 
 
 " Quoniam repudiasti man datum lahovae, 
 
 " Et ipse te repudiavit, ne rex sis. "18 
 
 15 See MIC. vi. 5, and Bishop BUTLER'S Sermon on the character of 
 Balaam. 
 
 16 MIC. vi. 68. 17 DEUT. xxxiii. 18 1 SAM. xv. 22, 23. 
 
LECT, XVIII. PROPHETIC POETRY. 153 
 
 The last words of David 19 afford an evident and illustrious in- 
 stance to the same purpose, however difficult and obscure the verbal 
 interpretation of the prophecy may be. I apprehend the examples 
 from sacred history will appear sufficiently numerous, if I add the 
 prediction of Isaiah concerning Senacherib, which is inserted in the 
 book of Kings : 
 
 " Contempsit te, subsannavit te, virgo filia Sionis; 
 
 " Post te caput movit filia Hierosolymorum :" 20 
 
 The same passage occurs again among the predictions of the pro- 
 phet : and this reminds me that it is now full time to pass from the 
 historians to the books of the prophets themselves, which will afford 
 us abundant instances to demonstrate that the compositions of the 
 prophets are truly poetical, and at the same time to illustrate the na- 
 ture of their poetry. 
 
 19 2 SAM. xxiii. 17. 20 2 KINGS xix. 2134. ISAI. xxxvii. 2235. 
 
LECTURE XIX. 
 
 THE PROPHETIC POETRY IS SENTENTIOUS. 
 
 The psalmody of the Hebrews The manner of chanting the hymns by alternate choirs ; whence 
 the origin of the poetical construction of the sentences, and that peculiar form, in which 
 verses and distichs run parallel or correspondent to each other Three species of parallelism ; 
 the synonymous, the antithetic, and the synthetic ; examples of each, first from the books 
 generally allowed to be poetical, and afterwards from the writings of the prophets The sen- 
 timents of R. Azarias considered The great importance of an accurate attention to this po- 
 etical conformation of the sentences. 
 
 THE origin and earliest application of the Hebrew poetry have, I 
 think, been clearly traced into the service of religion. To celebrate 
 in hymns and songs the praises of Almighty God ; to decorate the 
 worship of the Most High with all the charms and graces of harmo- 
 ny ; to give force and energy to the devout affections, was the sub- 
 lime employment of the sacred muse. It is more than probable, 
 that the very early use of sacred music in the public worship of the 
 Hebrews, contributed not a little to the peculiar character of their 
 poetry, and might impart to it that appropriate form, which, though 
 chiefly adapted to this particular purpose, it nevertheless preserves 
 on every other occasion. But in order to explain this matter more 
 clearly, it will be necessary to premise a few observations concern- 
 ing the ancient Hebrew mode of chanting their sacred hymns. 
 
 Though we are rather at a loss for information, respecting the 
 usual manner and ceremony of chanting their poems ; and though 
 the subject of their sacred music in general be involved in doubt and 
 obscurity, thus far at least is evident from many examples, that the 
 sacred hymns were alternately sung by opposite choirs, 1 and that the 
 one choir usually performed the hymn itself, while the other sung a 
 particular distich, which was regularly interposed at stated intervals, 
 either of the nature of the proasm or epode of the Greeks. In 
 this manner we learn that Moses with the Israelites chanted the ode 
 at the Red Sea ; for " Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel in her 
 hand, and all the women followed her with timbrels, and with danc- 
 
 i See NEHBM. xii, 24, 31, 38, 40, and the title of the PSALM Ixxxviii. 
 
LECT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 155 
 
 es ; and Miriam answered them," that is, she and the women sung 
 the response to the chorus of men : 
 
 " Cantate lehovae, quiae magnifice sese extulit; 
 " Equum equitemque in mare deiecit."2 
 
 The same is observable in some of the psalms, which are composed 
 in this form. The musical performance was on some occasions dif- 
 ferently conducted : for instance, one of the choirs sung a single 
 verse to the other, while the other constantly added a verse in some 
 respect correspondent to the former. Of this the following distich is 
 an example : 
 
 " Celebrate lehovam, quia bonus ; 
 
 " Quia aeterna est eius benignitas :" 
 
 which Ezra 3 informs us was sung by the priests and Levites in alter- 
 nate choirs at the command of David ; as indeed may be collected 
 from the psalm itself, 4 in which the latter verse, sung by the latter 
 choir, forms a perpetual epode. Of the same nature is the song of 
 the women concerning Saul and David, 5 for " the women who play- 
 ed answered one another ;" that is, they chanted in two choirs the 
 alternate song, the one choir singing, 
 
 " Saul hath smote his thousands," 
 
 The other answering, 
 
 " And David his ten thousands." 
 
 In the very same manner Isaiah describes the seraphim chanting the 
 praise of Jehovah : 6 " they cried alternately, 
 
 " Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, lehova exercituum ! 
 
 " Plena est gloria eius universa tellus." 
 
 From the Jewish, the custom of singing in alternate chorus was 
 transmitted to the Christian church, and was continued in the lat- 
 ter from the first ages ; it was called " alternate or responsive," 7 
 when the whole choir, separated into two divisions, sung the psalm 
 alternately by strophes ; and when this was done by single verses, or 
 lines, that is, when the same division of the choir always sung the 
 
 2 EXOD. xv. 20, 21. See PHILO TISQI ytu^yias, pag. 199, also nsqi (tiov -&SWQII- 
 TIXOV, pag. 902. Edit. Paris, 1640. 
 
 3 EZRA iii. 11. 4 PSAL. cxxxvi. 5 1 SAM. xviii. 7. 
 
 6 Is. vi. 3. See what Socrates relates of the origin of the ancient hymns. 
 Hist. Eccl. vi. 8. 
 
 7 PLIN. Lib. x. Epist. 97" quod essent soliti carmen Christo, quasi Deo, 
 dicere secum invicem." 
 
156 PROPHETIC POETRY. L.ECT. XIX. 
 
 latter part of the distich, they were said to sing the choral re- 
 sponse. 8 ^) 
 
 Now if this were the ancient and primitive mode of chanting 
 their hymns, as indeed appears highly probable, the proximate cause 
 will be easily explained, why poems of this kind are disposed in 
 equal stanzas, indeed in equal distichs, for the most part ; and why 
 these distichs should in some measure consist of versicles or paral- 
 lelisms corresponding to each other. 9 And this mode of composi- 
 tion being admirably adapted to the musical modulation of that kind 
 of poetry, which was most in use among them from the very begin- 
 ning, and at the same time being perfectly agreeable to the genius 
 and cadence of the language, easily extended itself into the other 
 species of poetry, though not designed for the same purpose ; in fact, 
 we find that it pervaded the whole of the poetry of the Hebrews ; 
 insomuch that what was said of the heathen muses may still more 
 strictly be applied to those of the Hebrews, " they love alternate 
 song." On this occasion also it may not be improper to remark, 
 that the word n:3>, which properly signifies to answer, is used more 
 generally to denote any song or poem ; 10 whence we can only infer, 
 either that the word has passed from particular to general use, or 
 that among the Hebrews almost every poem possesses a sort of re- 
 sponsive form. 
 
 Such appears to have been the origin and progress of that poeti- 
 cal and artificial conformation of the sentences, which we observe in 
 the poetry of the Hebrews. That it prevailed no less in the pro- 
 phetic poetry than in the lyric and didactic, to which it was, in the 
 nature of things, most adapted, is evident from those very ancient 
 specimens of poetical prophecy already quoted from the historical 
 books ; and it only remains to shew, that it is no less observable in 
 those which are contained in the volumes of the prophets themselves. 
 In order the more clearly to evince this point, I shall endeavour to 
 illustrate the Hebrew parallelism according to its different species, 
 
 8 See BINGHAM'S Antiquities of the Christian Church, xiv. 1. 
 
 9 " The correspondence of one verse, or line, with another, I call parallel- 
 ism. When a proposition is delivered, and a second is subjoined to it, or drawn 
 under it, equivalent, or contrasted with it, in sense ; or similar to it in the form 
 of grammatical construction ; these I call parallel lines ; and the words or 
 phrases, answering one to another in the corresponding lines, parallel terms^" 
 LOWTH'S Prelim. Dis. to Isaiah. 
 
 10 EXOD. xxxii. 18. NUM. xxi. 17. Hos. ii. 15. PSAL. cxlvii. 7, 
 
LECT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 157 
 
 first by examples taken from those books commonly allowed to be 
 poetical, and afterwards by correspondent examples from the books 
 of the prophets. 
 
 The poetical conformation of the sentences, which has been so 
 often alluded to as characteristic of the Hebrew poetry, consists 
 chiefly in a certain equality, resemblance, or parallelism between the 
 members of each period ; so that in two lines (or members of the 
 same period) things for the most part shall answer to things, and 
 words to words, as if fitted to each other by a kind of rule or meas- 
 ure. This parallelism has much variety and many gradations ; it is 
 sometimes more accurate and manifest, sometimes more vague and 
 obscure : it may however, on the whole, be said to consist of three 
 species. 
 
 The first species is the synonymous parallelism, when the same \ 
 sentiment is repeated in different, but equivalent terms. This is the \ 
 most frequent of all, and is often conducted with the utmost accura- 
 cy and neatness : examples are very numerous, nor will there be any 
 great difficulty in the choice of them : on this account I shall select 
 such as are most remarkable in other respects. 
 
 " Cum exiret Israel ex Aegypto, 
 
 " Domus lacobi e populo barbaro : 
 
 " Erat illi luda in sanctara ditionera, 
 
 " Israel illius imperium. 
 
 " Vidit mare, et fugitj 
 
 " lordanes con versus est retro : 
 
 " Montes subsiluerunt, ut arietes, 
 
 " Colles, ut filii ovium. 
 
 " Quid tibi, o mare, quod fugeris, 
 
 " lordanes, conversus fueris retro, 
 
 " Montes, subsilueritis ut arietes, 
 
 '* Colles, ut filii ovium ? 
 
 " A conspectu Domini contremisce, tellus ; 
 
 " A conspectu Dei lacobi ! 
 
 " Qui vertit rupem in stagnum aquarum, 
 
 " Petram in fontem aquarum. "H 
 
 The prophetic muse is no less elegant and correct : 
 
 " Surge, effulge, nam venit lux tua; 
 " Et gloria lehovae super te oritur. 
 " Ecce enim tenebrae operient terrara ; 
 " Et densa caligo populos : 
 " Super te autem exorietur lehova ; 
 " Et gloria eius super te conspicua erit. 
 
 11 Ps. cxiv. 
 
158 PROPHETIC POETRY. I.ECT. XIX. 
 
 " Et incedent gentes in luce tua ; 
 " Et reges in splendore ortus tui. "12 
 
 Observe also that famous prophecy concerning the humiliation and 
 expiatory sufferings of the Messiah : 
 
 " Quis credidit praedicationi nostrae ; 
 
 " Et brachium lehovae cuinam patefactum est ? 
 
 " Ascendit enim coram ut surculus, 
 
 " Et ut stirps e terra siticulosa : 
 
 " Nulla illi forma, nullus decor, ut aspiceremus eum ; 
 
 " Neque erat aspectus eius, ut eum cuperemus. 
 
 " Contemptus, neque amplius inter viros habitus ; 
 
 " Vir dolorum, et aegritudinem expertus : 
 
 " Et veluti qui faciem a nobis absconderet, 
 
 " Contemptus, neque eum aestimavimus. 
 
 " Certe infirmitates nostras ipse pertulit ; 
 
 " Et dolores nostros ipse sustinuit : 
 
 " Nos tamen eum aestimavimus plaga affectum ; 
 
 " Percussum divinitus, et afflictum. 
 
 " Ille autem vulneratus est propter peccata nostra ; 
 
 " Contusus ob nostras iniquitates : 
 
 " Poena nobis salutaris ei imponitur ; 
 
 " Et per eius livorem sit nostra curatio."13 
 
 Isaiah is indeed excellent, but not unrivalled in this kind of compo- 
 sition : there are abundant examples in the other prophets ; I shall, 
 however, only add one from Hosea, which is exquisitely pathetic. 
 
 " Quomodo dedam te, o Ephraim ! 
 
 " Abdicam te, o Israel ! 
 
 " Quomodo reddam te Admae similem j 
 
 " Faciam te instar Zeboimorum ! 
 
 " Intus convertitur cor meum ; 
 
 " Simul aestuant viscera mea poenitentia. 
 
 " Non exequar irae meae fervorem ; 
 
 " Non iterum perdam Ephraimum : 
 
 " Quia Deus ego sum, et non homo ; 
 
 " In medio tui sanctus, quanquam urbes non habito."H(B) 
 
 There is great variety in the form of the synonymous parallelism, 
 some instances of which are deserving of remark. The parallelism 
 is sometimes formed by the iteration of the former member, either in 
 the whole or in part : 
 
 " Multum oppugnaverunt me ab adolescentia mea, 
 " Dicat nunc Israel ; 
 
 " Multum oppugnaverunt me ab adolescentia mea, 
 " Non tamen mihi praevaluerunt."15 
 
 12 ISAI. Ix. 13. 13 ISAI. liii. 15. H Hos. xi. 8, 9. 15 PSAL. cxxix. 1 , 2. 
 
LECT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 159 
 
 " Deus ultionum, lehova ; 
 
 " Deus ultionum, effulge. 
 
 " Quousque impii, o lehova 
 
 " Quousque impii triumphabunt.16 
 
 " Maxilla asini, acervum, acervos duos; 
 " Maxilla asini, percussi mille viros." 17 
 Thus, Isaiah : 
 
 " Profecto noctu vastatur Ar Moabi, exscinditur; 
 " Profeeto noctu vastatur Kir Moabi, exscinditur. "18 
 
 So Nahum also in the exordium of his sublime prophecy : 
 " Deus zelotes, et ultor lehova; 
 " Ultor lehova, et irritabilis : 
 " Ultor lehova inimicorum suorum ; 
 " Et iniuriae memor ille in hostes suos."19 
 
 There is frequently something wanting in the latter member, //- 
 which must be repeated from the former to complete the sentence : 
 " Misit rex, et solvit eura ; 
 " Dominator populorum, et eura liberavit."20 
 
 In the same manner Isaiah ; 
 
 " Reges videbunt, et assurgent ; 
 " Principes, et adorabunt : 
 " Propter lehovam, qui fidelis est; 
 " Sanctum Israelis, et te elegit."2l 
 
 Frequently the whole of the latter division answers only to some part 
 of the former : 
 
 " lehova regnat, exultet tellus ; 
 
 " Laetentur insulae plurimae."22 
 
 " Surge, efFulge, nam venit lux tua; 
 " Et gloria lehovae super te oritur."23 
 
 Sometimes also there are triplet parallelisms. In these the second VX 
 line is generally synonymous with the first, whilst the third either 
 begins the period, or concludes it, and frequently refers to both the 
 
 preceding : 
 
 " Sustulerunt fluctus, o lehova, 
 
 " Sustulerunt flnctus vocem suaiu ; 
 
 " Usque sustulerunt fluctus fremitus suos. 
 
 " Vocibus aquaram multarum, 
 
 " Magnificis maris fragoribus, 
 
 " Magnificentior in excelso lehova. "24 
 
 16 PSAL. xciv. 1 and 3. 17 JUD. xv. 16. 18 Chap. xv. 1. 
 
 19 NAH. i. 2. 20 p SAL . cv . 20. 21 I SAI . x n x . 7. 
 
 22 PSAL. xcvii. 1. 23 I SAI . \ x . \. 24 p SAL . xc iji. 3 ? 4. 
 
160 PROPHETIC POETRY, L.ECT. XIX. 
 
 " Agile, redeamus ad lehovam ; 
 
 " Nam ipse laceravit, et sanabit nos, 
 
 " Sauciavit, et nos curabit : 
 
 " Vitae nos restituet post biduum, 
 
 " Die tertio nos suscitabit, 
 
 " Et in conspectu eius vivemus."25 
 
 In stanzas (if I may so call them) of five lines, the nature of which 
 is nearly similar, the line that is not parallel is generally placed be- 
 tween the two distiches : 
 
 " Queraadmodum rugit leo, 
 
 41 Et catulus leonis super praedam suam, 
 
 " In quern cogitur pastorum turba ; 
 
 " Ad vocem eorum non pavebit, 
 
 " Neque ad tumultum eorum animum deiieiet." 26 
 
 " Videbit Ascalon, et timebit j 
 
 " Et Gaza, et vehementer dolebit ; 
 
 " Et Accaron, quoniam puduit expectationis suae : 
 
 " Et peribit rex de Gaza, 
 
 " Et Ascalon non habitabitur." 2 ? 
 
 Those which consist of four lines generally form two regular dis- 
 tichs ; but there is sometimes a peculiar artifice to be perceived in 
 the distribution of the sentences : 
 
 l - 1 De coelo prospicit lehova, 
 
 *' Cernit omnes filios hominis ; 
 
 " De sede domicilii sui contemplatur 
 
 " Omnes incolas telluris." 2 8 
 
 " Inebriabo sagittas meas sanguine, 
 " Et gladius meus devorabit carnem ; 
 " Sanguine confossorum captorumque, 
 " De capite capillato inimici." 29 
 
 In both the above passages, the latter members are to be alternately 
 referred to the former. Isaiah too uses with great elegance this 
 form of composition : 
 
 " Nam maritus tibi erit creator tuus ; 
 " Nomen illi lehova exercituum : 
 " Et redemptor tuus sanctus Israelis ; 
 " Deus universae terrae vocabitur." 30 
 
 The sense has an alternate correspondence in these lines. In the 
 following, the form of the construction is alternate : 
 
 " Et plena est terra eius argento et auro, 
 " Et nullus est modus eius thesauris ; 
 
 25 Hos. vi. 1, 2. 26 ISAI. xxxi. 4. 27 ZECH. ix. 5. 
 
 2B PSAL. xxxiii. 13, 14. 29 DEUT. xxxii. 42. 30 ISAI. liv. 5. 
 
 
LBCT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 161 
 
 " Et plena est terra eius equis, 
 
 " Et nullus est modus eius curribus."3l 
 
 The following is perhaps a singular instance : 
 " Quis sicut lehova Deus noster? 
 " Qui altissime habitat, 
 " Qui huraillime respicit, 
 " In coelis et in terra."32 
 
 Here the two members of the latter line are to be referred severally 
 to the two preceding lines ; as if it were : " Who is exalted to dwell 
 in the heavens, and who humbleth himself to inspect the things that 
 are in the earth." 
 
 The antithetic^parallelism is the next that I shall specify, when 
 a thing is illustrated by its contrary being opposed to it. This is 
 not confined to any particular form : for sentiments are opposed to 
 sentiments, words to words, singulars to singulars, plurals to plurals, 
 etc. of which the following are examples : 
 
 " Fideles sunt plagae amantis ; 
 
 " Sed mendacia osculu osoris. 
 
 " Anima satura proculcabit favum ; 
 
 " Sed animae esurienti omne amarum dulce est. 
 
 " Est, qui divitem se simulat, curnei desint omnia; 
 
 " Qui pauperem se fingit, cum ei divitiae sint multae. 
 
 " Sapiens sibi videtur vir dives ; 
 
 " Sed pauper prudens eum explorabit." 33 
 
 There is sometimes a contraposition of parts in the same sentence, 
 such as occurs once in the above ; and as appears in the following : 
 
 " Nigra sum, sed tamen pulchra, O Hierosolymitides ; 
 
 " Sicut tentoria Kedarensium, sicut aulaea Salomonis." 34 
 
 The last line here is also to be divided and separately applied to 
 the preceding, " swarthy as the tents of Kedar ; comely as the pavil- 
 ions of Solomon ;" so likewise in the enigma of Samson : 
 
 " Ex edaci prodiit edulium ; 
 
 " Atque ex acri prodiit dulcedo."35 
 
 This form of composition, indeed, agrees best with adages and 
 acute sayings : it is therefore very prevalent in the proverbs of Solo- 
 mon, in some of which the principal force and elegance depend on 
 the exactness of the antithesis. It is not however inconsistent with 
 the superior kinds of Hebrew poetry ; for we meet with it in the 
 
 31 ISAI. ii. 7. 32 PS. cxiii. 5, 6. 33 PROV. xxvii 6, 7. xiii. 7. xxviii. 11. 
 34 SONG of SOLOMON i. 5. 35 J UD . xiv. 14. 
 
162 PROPHETIC POETRY. L.ECT. XIX. 
 
 thanksgiving ode of Hannah, which is imitated in this particular, as 
 well as in the general form of its composition, in that of the Virgin 
 Mary : 
 
 " Arcus fortium conteruntur ; 
 
 " Et qui lapsi sunt, accinguntur robore : 
 
 " Saturi ob victura operam suam locant ; 
 
 " Et famelici esurire desinunt : 
 
 " Etiam sterilis septies peperit ; 
 
 " Et quae abundarat liberis, orba est. 
 
 " lehova neci dat, et vitae restituit ; 
 
 " Deiicit in orcum, et educit. 
 
 " lehova depauperat, et ditat ; 
 
 " Deprimit, idemque evehit."36 
 
 The sublimer poetry seldom indeed adopts this style. Isaiah, how- 
 ever, by means of it, without departing from his usual dignity, adds 
 greatly to the sweetness of his composition in the following instances : 
 
 " Pusillo momento dereliqui te ; 
 " At miserationibus magnis te colligam : 
 " Momentanea iracundia vultum a te paulisper abdidi ; 
 " At sempiterna dementia tui miserebor, ait lehova redemptor tuus."37 
 
 " Ecce servi mei edent, sed vos esurietis ; 
 
 " Ecce servi mei bibent, sed vos sitietis ; 
 
 " Ecce servi mei laetabuntur, sed vos pudore suffundemini : 
 
 " Ecce servi mei cantabunt prae laetitia animi ; 
 
 11 Sed vos lamentabimini prae angore animi, 
 
 " Et prae mentis cruciatu eiulabitis." 38 
 
 There is a third species of parallelism, in which the sentences 
 answer to each other, not by the iteration of the same image or sen- 
 timent, or the opposition of their contraries, but merely by the form 
 of construction. To this, which may be called the Synthetic or Con- 
 structive Parallelism, may be referred all such as do not come with- 
 in the two former classes : I shall however produce a few of the most 
 remarkable instances : 
 
 " Lex lehovae Integra est, restitueris animam ; 
 
 " Testimonium lehovae verax, sapientiam praestans imperito 
 
 " Praecepta lehovae recta sunt. cor exhilarantia ; 
 
 " Disciplina lehovae pura, oculos illuminans : 
 
 " Reverentia lehovae casta est, perpetuo perstans ; 
 
 " ludicia lehovae ipsa veritas, iusta sunt pariter : 
 
 " Desiderabiliora sunt auro, et obryzo plurimo ; 
 
 " Et dulciora melle, favis stillantibus." 39 
 
 36 1 SAM. ii. 47. Compare LUKE i. 52, 53. 37 I SAI . u v . 7, 8 V 
 
 38 ISAI. Ixv. 13, 14. 39 PSALM xix. 811. 
 
LECT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 163 
 
 This kind of parallelism generally consists of verses somewhat long- 
 er than usual, of which there are not wanting examples in the pro- 
 phets : 
 
 " Quomodo cessavit oppressor, cessavit auri exactrix ! 
 
 " Fregit lehova virgam impiorum, sceptrum dominantium ! 
 
 " Qui caedebat populos atrociter, plaga nunquam remissa j 
 
 " Qui irate dominabatur gentibus, profligatur nullo prohibent*. 
 
 " Quiescit, tranquilla est tota tellus ; erumpunt in cantum : 
 
 " Etiam abietes laetantur de te, cedri Libani ; 
 
 11 Ex quo iacuisti, non ascendit in nos excisor. 
 
 " Orcus propterte commovetur subtus, ut venienti eat obviam; 
 
 " Excitat tibi defunctos, oranes primores terrae ; 
 
 " Surgere facit de soliis suis omnes reges gentium. "40 
 
 Triplets are frequently formed of this kind of parallelism : 
 
 " Exundaverunt aquis nubes ; 
 
 " Fragorem edidit aether ; 
 
 " Turn sagittae tuae discurrerunt ; 
 
 " Vox tonitrus tui in turbine j 
 
 " Illuxerunt orbi fulgura ; 
 
 " Commota est et intremuit tellus. "41 
 
 " Ero sicut ros Israeli ; 
 
 " Germinabit in morera lilii ; 
 
 " Et radices aget instar Libani. 
 
 " Precedent eius surculi ; 
 
 " Eritque decus eius instar oleae ; 
 
 " Et odor ei, qualis Libano."42 
 
 Frequently one line or member contains two sentiments : 
 
 " Tumultuantur gentes ; commoventur regna : 
 " Edit vocem (Deus) ; illico colliquescit tellus. 
 " Desistite, atque agnoscite me esse Deum : 
 " Evehar in gentibus; evehar in terra." 43 
 
 " Cum transibis aquas, ego tibi adero; 
 " Cum flumina, non te submergent : 
 " Cum vades per ignem, non cremaberis ; 
 " Et flamma non te comburet."44 
 
 There is a peculiar figure which is frequently made use of in this 
 species of parallelism, and which seems altogether poetical : that is, 
 when a definite number is put for an indefinite, principally, it should 
 seem, for the sake of the parallelism : for it sometimes happens, that 
 the circumstances afterwards enumerated do not accurately accord 
 with the number specified : 
 
 40 ISAI. xiv. 49. 41 p SALM i xx vii. 18, 19. 42 Hos. xiv. 6 f 7 
 
 43 PSALM xlvi. 6 and 10. 44 I SA J. xliii. 2. 
 
164 PROPHETIC POETRY. LECT. XIX, 
 
 " In sex periculis te liberabit ; 
 
 " Et in septem non attinget te malum."45 
 
 " Semel locutus est Deus ; 
 " Bis etiam illud audivi."46 
 
 That frequently repeated passage of Amos is well known : 
 
 " Propter tria peccata Damasci, 
 
 " Et propter quatuor, earn non restituam."47 
 
 The variety in the form of this synthetic parallelism is very great, 
 and the degrees of resemblance almost infinite : so that sometimes 
 the scheme of parallelism is very subtile and obscure, and must be 
 developed by art and ability in distinguishing the different members 
 of the sentences, and in distributing the points, rather than by de- 
 pending upon the obvious construction. How much this principle 
 pervades the Hebrew poetry, and how difficult of explication it is, 
 may in some degree be illustrated by one example. This appears to 
 consist of a single line, if the sentiment only be considered : 
 " Ego vero inunxi regem raeum in Sione monte meae sanctitatis."48 
 
 But the general form and nature of the psalm requires that it should 
 be divided into two parts or versicles ; as if it were, 
 
 " Ego vero inunxi regem meum ; 
 
 " Inunxi eum in Sione monte meae sanctitatis." 
 
 Which indeed the Masorites seem to have perceived in this as well 
 as in other places. 49 
 
 In this peculiar conformation, or parallelism of the sentences, I 
 apprehend a considerable part of the Hebrew metre to consist ; 
 though it is not improbable that some regard was also paid to the 
 numbers and feet. But of this particular we have at present so little 
 information, that it is utterly impossible to determine, whether it 
 were modulated by the ear alone, or according to any settled or de- 
 finite rules of prosody. Since however this, and other marks or ves- 
 tiges, as it were, of the metrical art are alike extant in the writings 
 of the prophets, and in the books which are commonly allowed to 
 be poetical, I think there is sufficient reason to rank them in the 
 same class. 
 
 Lest I should seem to have attributed too much to this confor- 
 
 45 JOB v. 19. 46 PSAL. Ixii. Ifc) V 47 AMOS i. 3, etc. 48 p SALM ii. 6, 
 
 49 For they mark the word "sVto with the distinctive accent Athnach, by 
 which they generally distinguish the members of the distichs. See PSALM 
 xvii.7. xxxii. 3. xxxiii. 14. cii. 8. cxvi. 1, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18. cxxxvii. 2. 
 
LECT. XIX. PROPHETIC POETRY. 165 
 
 mation of the sentences, and to have rashly embraced an opinion 
 not supported by sufficient authority, I shall beg leave to quote to 
 you the opinion of Azarias, a Jewish Rabbi, not indeed a very an- 
 cient, but a very approved author. 50 " Without doubt," says he, 
 " the sacred songs have certain measures and proportions, but these 
 do not consist in the number of the syllables perfect or imperfect, 
 according to the form of the modern verse ; but in the number of 
 things, and of the parts of things ; that is, the subject and the pre- 
 dicate, and their adjuncts, in every sentence and proposition." 
 (Which words of Azarias are, however, to be understood with some 
 limitation ; nor are they to be literally interpreted according to their 
 sense in logical treatises, for he proceeds,) " thus a phrase, con- 
 taining two parts of a proposition, consists of two measures : add 
 another containing four, and they become four measures : another 
 again containing three parts of a proposition, consists of three meas- 
 ures ; add to it another of the like, and you have six measures : for 
 you are not to number the words or syllables, but the sentences." 
 For instance, " Thy right hand, O JEHOVAH," according to Azarias, 
 consists of two terms, or parts of a proposition ; to which is connec- 
 ted, " is all glorious in power," consisting likewise of two terms-; these 
 joined together make a tetrameter. The following is constructed 
 on a similar principle : 
 
 " Dextra tua, o lehova, confregit hostem."Sl 
 
 Thus in the following propositions there are three terms or measures, 
 " Destillabit, ut pluvia, doctrina mea ; fluet, ut ros, mea oratio ;52 
 
 And thus joined together they form an hexameter. In fact, 
 what he has remarked here is neither groundless nor altogether just. 
 For with respect to many passages, in which the distribution of the 
 sentences is very unequal, and in which the propositions have but 
 little correspondence with each other, as happens frequently in the 
 psalms, we must have recourse to some other solution ; and when the 
 sentences are most regular and correct, they cannot at all times be 
 reduced to his rules. But although the present question does not de- 
 pend upon this single point, no man, I think, who reads with atten- 
 tion the poetic books, and especially what may be properly called 
 the prophetic part of them, will entertain a doubt that it is of the ut- 
 most importance to distinguish the system of the verses. 
 
 50 Mantissa Dissert, ad Librura COSRI, p. 418. 
 
 si EXOD. xv. 6 52 DEUT. xxxii. 2. 
 
166 PROPHETIC POETRY. L.ECT. XIX. 
 
 But should all that has been remarked concerning the mem- 
 bers and divisions of the sentences appear light and trifling to some 
 persons, and utterly undeserving any labour or attention ; let them 
 remember that nothing can be of greater avail to the proper un- 
 derstanding of any writer, than a previous acquaintance with both 
 his general character, and the peculiarities of his style and man- 
 ner of writing : let them recollect that translators and commenta- 
 tors have fallen into errors upon no account more frequently, than 
 for want of attention to this article ; and indeed, I scarcely know 
 any subject which promises more copiously to reward the labour of 
 such as are studious of sacred criticism, than this one in particu- 
 kr.(c) 
 
LECTURE XX. 
 
 THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROPHETIC POETRY. 
 
 The whole of the book of Daniel, as well as of Jonah, are to be excepted as not poetical, 
 though of the prophetic kind ; also certain historical relations inserted in the books of the 
 prophets Some poems occur in the prophetic writings, which properly belong to the other 
 classes of poetrv^-The remainder constitutes what may be termed a system or code of pro- 
 phetic poetry U^he character of this species of poetry deduced from the nature and design 
 of prophecy itself An example of the true style of prophetic poetry produced from Isaiah, 
 and explained : also another from the prophecies of Balaam, translated into Latin vorse^J 
 
 IN the two last lectures I endeavoured to< explain upon what rea- 
 sons I was induced to class the predictions of the prophets among 
 the poetical productions of the Hebrews. I speak not of all, but 
 the greater part of the prophetic writings : for there are among them 
 parts which are not prophetic, and even among those which are, 
 there are some passages not poetical. I except, in the first place, 
 those narrations plainly historical, relating to the facts which gave 
 occasion to the prophecies, and which serve to introduce, to explain, 
 and illustrate them : some of this kind occur in Isaiah, and in Jere- 
 miah many more. The whole of what is called the prophecy of Jo- 
 nah is the bare recital of a fact, and contains nothing of poetry but 
 the prayer of the prophet, which is an ode. Some of the prophecies 
 themselves must also be excepted, which are indeed sublime and im- 
 portant as to the matter, but not at all poetical as to the style and 
 metrical structure : of this kind many passages occur in Ezekiel ; 
 who frequently appears more of the orator than the poet. The whole 
 book of Daniel too, being no more than a plain relation of facts part- 
 ly past and partly future, must be excluded from the class of poetic- 
 al prophecy. Much I confess of the parabolic imagery is introduced 
 in that book, but the author introduces it as a prophet only ; as 
 visionary and allegorical symbols of objects and events, totally 
 untinctured with the true poetical colouring. The Jews, indeed, 
 would refuse to Daniel even the character of a prophet, but 
 the arguments under which they shelter this opinion are very 
 futile : for those points which they maintain, concerning the con- 
 ditions, on which the gift of prophecy is imparted ; the differ- 
 
168 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS L.ECT. XX. 
 
 ent gradations, and the discrimination between the true prophecy 
 and mere inspiration ; are all trifling and absurd, without any foun- 
 dation in the nature of things, and totally destitute of scriptural au- 
 thority. 1 ^) They add, that Daniel was neither originally educated 
 in the prophetic discipline and precepts, nor afterwards lived confor- 
 mably to the manner of the prophets. I do not, however, compre- 
 hend how this can diminish his claim to a divine mission and inspi- 
 ration ; it may possibly enable us, indeed, to assign a reason for the 
 dissimilarity between the style of Daniel and that of the other proph- 
 ets, and for its possessing so little of the diction and character of 
 poetry, which the rest seem to have imbibed in common from the 
 schools and discipline in which they were educated. (B) 
 
 There occur, moreover, in the writings of the prophets, certain 
 passages, which, although poetical, yet do not properly belong to 
 this species of poetry. I allude to some instances in Isaiah, Hab- 
 bakuk, and Ezekiel, which appear to constitute complete poems of 
 different kinds, odes as well as elegies. These also being excepted, 
 all the other predictions of the prophets (including such as are extant 
 in the historical books, most of which have been occasionally quoted 
 in the course of these lectures,) form a whole, and constitute that par- 
 ticular species of poetry, which I distinguish by the appellation of 
 prophetic. I shall now endeavour, in the first place, to offer to your 
 consideration such a description of this species of poetry, as may 
 serve to distinguish it from the rest ; and afterwards to delineate 
 the peculiar character of each of the prophets, as far as may be con- 
 sistent with the object of these lectures. 
 
 The genius of the prophetic poetry is to be explored by a due at- 
 tention to the nature and design of prophecy itself. The immedi- 
 ate design of all prophecy is to inform or amend those generations 
 that precede the events predicted, and it is usually calculated either 
 to excite their fears and apprehensions, or to afford them consola- 
 tion. The means which it employs for the accomplishment of these 
 effects, are a general amplification of the subject, whether it be of 
 the menacing or consolatory kind, copious descriptions, diversified, 
 pompous, and sublime ; in this also it necessarily avoids too great a 
 degree of exactness, and too formal a display of the minuter circum- 
 stances ; rather employing a vague and general style of description, 
 expressive only of the nature and magnitude of the subject : for 
 prophecy in its very nature implies some degree of obscurity, and is 
 
 1 See MAIMON. More Neboc. ii. 45. 
 
LECT. XX. OP THE PROPHETIC POETRY. 169 
 
 always, as the apostle elegantly expresses it, " like a light glimmer- 
 ing in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise." 2 
 But there is also a further use and intention of prophecy, which re- 
 gards those who live after the prediction is accomplished, and that 
 is, the demonstration and attestation which it affords of the divine 
 veracity : this evidently appears to demand a different form of enun- 
 ciation ; for correct language, apt imagery, and an exact display of 
 circumstances, are peculiarly adapted to this purpose. Since, how- 
 ever, a very plain description would totally withdraw the veil of ob- 
 scurity, a more sparing use of this liberty of particularizing is fre- 
 quently adequate to that purpose ; for the particular notification of 
 one or two circumstances, united with a general propriety in the 
 imagery, the proper adaptation of which shall appear after the event, 
 will afford an accumulation of evidence that cannot be withstood, as 
 might be demonstrated in a number of instances. 3 The prophetic 
 style, therefore, is chiefly constructed on the former principle ; that 
 is, it commonly prefers a general mode of amplifying and elevating 
 the subject, rarely and cautiously descending to a circumstantial" de- 
 tail.(c) 
 
 There is also another particular, which must not be omitted. 
 Prophecy frequently takes in, at a single glance, a variety of events, 
 distinct both in nature and time, and pursues the extreme and prin- 
 cipal design through all its different gradations. From this cause 
 also it principally employs general ideas, and expresses them by im- 
 agery of established use and acceptation, for these are equally capa- 
 ble of comprehending the general scope of the divine counsels, 
 and of accompanying the particular progressions of circumstances, 
 situations, and events ; they may be easily applied to the intermedi- 
 ate relations and ends, but must be more accurately weighed and 
 proportioned to equal the magnitude and importance of the ultimate 
 design. 
 
 If such be the genius of prophecy ; if it be chiefly employed in 
 describing only the exterior lineaments of events, and in depicting 
 and embellishing general effects ; it will not be difficult to under- 
 stand with how much advantage it may make use of the assistance 
 and ministration of poetry, and in particular of the parabolic style ; 
 the nature of which, as I have already copiously stated, is toTaltbrd 
 an abundance and variety of imagery of established use and accep- 
 tation, from which every subject may receive the most ample and 
 
 2 2 PET. ii. 9. 3 See Lect. IX. conclusion. 
 
170 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS L.ECT. XX. 
 
 the most proper embellishments. Hence too we may easily collect 
 the peculiar character of the poetry. 
 
 This species of poetry is more ornamented, more splendid, and 
 more florid than any other. It abounds more in imagery, at least 
 * in that species of imagery which, in the parabolic style, is of com- 
 mon and established acceptation, and which, by means of a settled 
 analogy always preserved, is transferred from certain and definite ob- 
 jects to express indefinite and general ideas. Of all the images 
 proper to the parabolic style, it most frequently introduces those 
 which are taken from natural objects and from sacred history : it 
 abounds most in metaphors, allegories, comparisons, and even in 
 copious and diffuse descriptions. It possesses all that genuine en- 
 thusiasm, which is the natural attendant on inspiration ; it excels 
 in the brightness of imagination and in clearness and energy of dic- 
 tion, and consequently rises to an uncommon pitch of sublimity : 
 hence also it often is very happy in the expression and delineation of 
 the passions, though more commonly employed in the exciting of 
 them ; this indeed is its immediate object, over this it presides as 
 its peculiar province. 
 
 In respect to the order, disposition, and symmetry of a perfect 
 poem of the prophetic kind, I do not know of any certain definition, 
 which will admit of general application. Naturally free, and of too 
 ardent a spirit to be confined by rule, it is usually guided by the 
 nature of the subject only, and the impulse of divine inspiration. 
 There are not wanting, it is true, instances of great elegance and 
 perfection in these particulars. Among the shorter prophecies I 
 need only mention those of Balaam, each of which is possessed of a 
 certain accuracy of arrangement and symmetry of form ; they open 
 with an elegant exordium, they proceed with a methodical continu- 
 ation of the subject, and are wound up with a full and graceful con- 
 clusion. There are many similar instances in the books of the 
 prophets, and particularly in Isaiah, which deserve the highest com- 
 mendation, and may with propriety be classed with the most perfect 
 and regular specimens of poetry. I shall select for your considera- 
 tion one example from that most accomplished writer, which is em- 
 bellished with all the most striking ornaments of poetry : from this 
 instance I shall not only demonstrate with what accuracy the pro- 
 phetic Muse sometimes preserves the proper order and arrangement 
 of the parts and circumstances ; but I shall be enabled, at the same 
 time, to illustrate most of these positions, which I have now laid 
 
LECT. XX. OP THE PROPHETIC POETRY. 171 
 
 down, concerning the nature and genius of prophetic poetry. Such 
 an illustration will probably be not unnecessary ; since it is to be ap- 
 prehended, that what has been remarked only in general terms upon 
 so subtile and difficult a subject, may, without the aid of example, 
 appear not a little perplexed and obscure. 
 
 The thirty-fourth and thirty-fifth chapters of Isaiah contain a re- 
 markable prophecy. It is a simple, regular, and perfect poem, con- 
 sisting of two parts according to the nature of the subject, which, 
 as to its general properties, is explained with the utmost perspicuity. 
 The first part of the prophecy contains a denunciation of extraordi- 
 nary punishment, indeed nothing short of total destruction against 
 the enemies of the church of God ; and afterwards, in consequence 
 of this event, a full and complete restoration is promised to the 
 church itself. The prophet introduces the subject by a magnificent 
 exordium, invoking universal nature to the observation of these 
 events, in which the whole world should seem to be interested : 
 
 " Accedite, gentes, ad audiendum ; 
 " Et populi, animum advertite : 
 " Audiat tellus, et plenitudo eius ; 
 " Orbis, et omnis eius propago." 4 
 
 He then publishes the decree of JEHOVAH concerning the extirpa- 
 tion of all those nations against whom " his wrath is kindled :" and 
 he amplifies this act of vengeance and destruction by an admirable 
 selection of splendid imagery, all of which is of the same kind with 
 that which is made use of by the prophets upon similar occasions ; 
 the nature of which is to exaggerate the force, the magnitude, atroci- 
 ty, and importance of the impending visitation ; whilst nothing de- 
 terminate is specified concerning the manner, the time, the place, 
 or other minute circumstances. He first exhibits that truly martial 
 picture of slaughter and destruction after a victory : 
 
 " Occisi eorum proiicientur ; 
 
 " Ex cadaveribus ascendet foetor ; 
 
 " Montesque eorum sanguine colliquescent."5 
 
 He takes a bolder flight, and illustrates his description by imagery 
 borrowed from the Mosaic chaos (which is a common source of fig- 
 urative language on these occasions, and is appropriated to the ex- 
 pression of the downfal of nations ;) and, as if he were displaying 
 the total subversion of the universe itself : 
 
 " Et contabescet omnis coelorum excercitus ; 
 
 4 Chap, xxxiv. 1. 5 Ver. 3. 
 
172 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS L.ECT. XX. 
 
 41 Coeli ipsi instar schedulae convolventur : 
 " Et omnis eorum excercitus decidet ; 
 " Sicut cassa de vite folia, 
 11 Vtque marcida ex arbore sua ficus."6 
 
 A different image is immediate!;* introduced ; a solemn sacrifice is 
 celebrated, and an uncommon number of victims is displayed : 
 JEHOVAH himself takes a part in *his magnificent scene, and every 
 circumstance is brought directly before our eyes : 
 
 " Nam inebriatus est in coelis gladius meus ; 
 
 " Ecce in Idumaeam descendet, 
 
 " In populum a me lustre internecioni devotum. 
 
 " Gladius lehovae satiatus est sanguine, 
 
 " Pinguefactus adipe ; 
 
 " Sanguine agnorum et liircorum, 
 
 tl Adipe ex renibus arietum : 
 
 " Siquidem lehovae sacrificium est Botsrae, 
 
 " Et ingens mactatio in terra Idumaeorum." 7 
 
 The goats, the rams, the bulls, the flocks, and other animals, which 
 are mentioned in this passage and those which follow, are common- 
 ly used by the prophets to denote the haughty, ferocious, and inso- 
 lent tyrants and chiefs of those nations, which were inimical to 
 God. On the same principle we may explain the allusion to Botzra 
 and Idumea, a city and nation in the highest degree obnoxious to 
 the people of God. These, however, the prophecy seems only slight- 
 ly or cursorily to glance at : the phraseology is indeed of that kind 
 which expresses generals by particulars ; or consists, as I formerly 
 remarked, of a figure taken from a determinate and definite object, 
 and by analogy applied in a more extensive sense ; in which respect 
 the very words which are made use of, have in this place a peculiar 
 form and propriety. 8 But the same circumstance is again described 
 by a succession of new and splendid images borrowed from the over- 
 throw of Sodom, which, as was formerly demonstrated, may be ter- 
 med one of the common-places of the inspired poets : 
 
 " Agitur enim dies ultionis lehovae ; 
 
 " Annus poenarum sumendarum Sionis vindici : 
 
 " Et vertentur torrentes eius in picem, 
 
 " Pulvisque eius in sulphur ; 
 
 " Et terra eius in ardentem picem tota redigetur : 
 $ " Noctes diesque inextincta ardebit ; 
 
 " Fumus eius in aeternum ascendet : 
 
 6 Ver. 4. 7 Ver. 5, 6. 
 
 8 See LOWTH and VJTRINGA on the place, and on chap. Ixiii. 1. 
 
LECT. XX. OF THE PROPHETIC POETRY. 173 
 
 " In perpetuas aetates iacebit deserta; 
 
 " Per infinita saecula nemo earn peragrabit." 9 
 
 Lastly, the same event is prefigured under the image of a vast and 
 solitary desert, to which, according to the divine decree, that region 
 is devoted. 10 This description the prophet afterwards improves, di- 
 versifies, and enlarges, by the addition of several important circum- 
 stances, all which, however, have a certain analogy or connexion 
 with each other. 
 
 The other part of the poem is constructed upon similar principles, 
 and exhibits a beautiful contrast to the preceding scene. The im- 
 agery possesses every possible advantage of ornament and variety ; 
 it is, like the former, altogether of a general kind, and of extensive 
 application ; but the meaning is plain and perspicuous. Many of 
 the preceding images are taken from the sacred history ; the follow- 
 ing are almost entirely from the objects of nature : 
 
 Laetabuntur deserta et inculta j 
 
 Et exultabit solitude et florebit, ut rosa : 
 
 Eximie florebit et exultabit ; 
 
 Etiam cum iubilatione et cantu : 
 
 Dabitur ei Libani gloria ; 
 1 Decor Carmeli et Saronis : 
 ' Hi videbunt gloriam lehovae ; 
 
 Dei nostri maiestatem." ] l 
 
 I formerly remarked the extensive application of Lebanon and Car- 
 mel in a figurative sense, and that they are sometimes expressive 
 even of the divine glory and majesty. 12 The cultivation and water- 
 ing of a barren and rocky soil is so frequently, I might say invaria- 
 bly, in the parabolic style, employed to denote the divine grace.and 
 spiritual endowments, that there is no necessity for any further ex- 
 planation of this symbol ; nor is the succeeding imagery, which, 
 according to a similar analogy, seems to illustrate the same event, 
 less clear and perspicuous. 
 
 To him who attentively reads and considers the whole poem, 
 the order and arrangement of the subject will be more fully apparent. 
 The passages which I have noted will, however, I apprehend, be 
 sufficient to demonstrate the species of imagery, the style, and col- 
 ours most congenial to the prophetic Muse ; they will also, I flatter 
 myself, be sufficient in some measure to explain the manner in 
 
 9 Ver. 8, 9, 10. 10 V er. 1116. 
 
 " Chap. xxxv. 1. 2. 12 See Lect. VI. and VIII. 
 
174 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS LiECT. XX. 
 
 which she contrives to display, in the strongest colours, the general 
 nature, magnitude, and importance of events ; and at the same time 
 to leave the particular situations, the intermediate gradations, and 
 all the minuter circumstances, concealed under the bold and promi- 
 nent features of the description, till the accomplishment of the pre- 
 diction. There are indeed one or two passages in this prophecy, 
 which would serve to illustrate this position ; 13 in the rest the cir- 
 cumstances and progress of the particular events are not yet unfold- 
 ed ; for this prophecy is evidently one of those which are not yet 
 completely fulfilled, and of which the greater part at least is yet de- 
 posited in the secret counsels of the Most High.(D) 
 
 That I may not, however, conclude this lecture without exhibit- 
 ing the form of some prophetic poem complete in all parts, I have 
 selected for this purpose one of the prophecies of Balaam, which I 
 so lately mentioned, and which in the course of these lectures have 
 more than once deservedly attracted our attention : for indeed I do 
 not know that the whole scope of the Hebrew poetry contains any 
 thing more exquisite or perfect. This, which is at present under 
 our consideration, abounds in gay and splendid imagery copied im- 
 mediately from the tablet of nature ; and is chiefly conspicuous for 
 the glowing elegance of the style, and the form and diversity of the 
 figures. Though every attempt to display the beauties of the He- 
 brew imagery in the poetry of another language, must fall greatly 
 short of the design, it will yet give a little variety to our studies, to 
 intersperse them occasionally with modern verse. On these occa- 
 sions, as indeed on every other, I must rely upon the candour of this 
 audience to accept in good part the willing tribute of my faint en- 
 deavours. 14 
 
 Tuis, lacobe, quantus est castris decor ! 
 Tuisque signis Israel ! 
 
 Vt rigua vallis fertilem pandens sinum ; 
 Horti ut scatentes rivulis ; 
 
 Sacris Edenae costi ut in sylvis virent, 
 Cedrique propter flumina. 
 
 Illi uda moto rore stillant germina, 
 Foetusque alunt iuges aquae. 
 
 Sancti usque fines promovebit imperi 
 Rex usque victor hostium. 
 
 Ilium subacto duxit ab Nilo Deus, 
 Novis superbum viribus, 
 
 13 See Chap. xxxv. 4, 5, 6, 8. 14 See NUMB. xxiv. 59. 
 
LECT. XX. OP THE PROPHETIC POETRY. 175 
 
 Quails remotis liber in iugis oryx 
 
 Fert celsa coelo cornua. 
 Vorabit hostes ; ossa franget ; irritas 
 
 Lacerabit hastas dentibus. 
 Vt leo, recumbit ; ut leaena, decubat ; 
 
 Quis audeat lacessere ? 
 Quae quisque tibi precabitur, ferat bona* 1 
 
 Mala quae precabitur, luat ! 
 
LECTURE XXI. 
 
 THE PECULIAR CHARACTER OF EACH OF THE PROPHETS. 
 
 1 
 
 The particular style and character of the different prophets ; what parts of each of them 
 poetical, and what otherwise Nothing deserving of notice of this kind in the poetry of 
 Greece In the Latin poetry the fourth Eclogue of Virgil is remarkable; that poem much 
 more obscure than it is generally accounted, and has not hitherto been properly explained. 
 
 " THE prophets have each their peculiar character," says Jerome, 
 speaking of the twelve minor prophets. 1 The same however might 
 more properly be affirmed with respect to the three greater : for 
 Isaiah is extremely different from Jeremiah ; nor is it easy to con- 
 ceive any composition of the same denomination more dissimilar to 
 both of them than the book of Ezekiel. 
 
 Isaiah, the first of the prophets, both in order and dignity, a- 
 bounds in such transcendant excellencies, that he may be properly 
 said to afford the most perfect model of the prophetic poetry. He 
 is at once elegant and sublime, forcible and ornamented ; he unites 
 energy with copiousness, and dignity with variety. In his senti- 
 ments there is uncommon elevation and majesty ; in his imagery 
 the utmost propriety, elegance, dignity, and diversity ; in his lan- 
 guage uncommon beauty and energy ; and, notwithstanding the ob- 
 scurity of his subjects, a surprising degree of clearness and simplici- 
 ty. To these we may add, there is such sweetness in the poetical 
 composition of his sentences, whether it proceed from art or genius, 
 that if the Hebrew poetry at present is possessed of any remains of 
 its native grace and harmony, we shall chiefly find them in the writ- 
 ings of Isaiah : so that the saying of Ezekiel may most justly be ap- 
 plied to this prophet : 
 
 u Tu omnibus numeris absolutum es exemplar, 
 " Plenus sapientia, et perfectus pulchritudine."2 
 
 Isaiah greatly excels too in all the graces of method, order, connex- 
 ion, and arrangement : though in asserting this we must not forget 
 the nature of the prophetic impulse, which bears away the mind 
 
 l Praef. in XII. Proph. 2 EZEK. xxviii. 12. 
 
XXI. THE PECULIAR CHARACTER, ETC., _ ^177 
 
 _____ 
 
 with irresistible violence, and frequently in rapid transitions from 
 near to remote objects, from human to divine : we must also be care.- 
 ful in remarking the limits of particular predictions, since, as they are 
 now extant, they are often improperly connected, without any marks 
 of discrimination, which injudicious arrangement, on some occasions, 
 creates almost insuperable difficulties. I lately produced a speci- 
 men from this prophet of a complete poem disposed in the most per- 
 spicuous order ; and in the former part of this volume many instances 
 may be found where the particular predictions are distinctly marked. 
 The latter part, which I suppose to commence at the fortieth chap- 
 ter, is perhaps the most elegant specimen remaining of inspired com- 
 position, and yet in this respect is attended with considerable diffi- 
 culty. It is, in fact, a body or collection of different prophecies7"\ 
 nearly allied to each other as to the subject, which, for that reason, 
 having a sort of connexion, are not to be separated but with the ut- 
 most difficulty. The general subject is the restoration of the church. 
 Its deliverance from captivity ; the destruction of idolatry ; the vin- 
 dication of the divine power and truth ; the consolation of the Israel- 
 ites, the divine invitation which is extended to them, their incredu- 
 lity, impiety, and rejection ; the calling in of the Gentiles ; the res- 
 toration of the chosen people ; the glory and felicity of the church 
 in its perfect state ; and the ultimate destruction of the wicked, are 
 all set forth with a sufficient respect to order and method. If we 
 read these passages with attention, and duly regard the nature and 
 genius of the mj^sjtical^allegory, as explained in the eleventh Lecture; 
 at the same time remembering, that all these points have been fre- 
 quently touched upon in other prophecies promulged at different 
 times, we shall neither find any iregularity in the arrangement of 
 the whole, nor any want of order and connexion as to matter or 
 sentiment in the different parts. I must add, that I esteem the 
 whole book of Isaiah to be poetical, a few passages excepted, which, 
 if brought together, would not at most exceed the bulk of five or six 
 chapters. 
 
 Jeremiah, though deficient neither in elegance nor sublimity, must 
 give place in both to Isaiah. Jerome 3 seems to object against him 
 a sort of rusticity of language, no vestige of which, I must however 
 confess, I have been able to discover. His sentiments, it is true, are 
 not always the most elevated, nor are his periods always neat and 
 
 3 Pref. in Jer. 
 
 23 
 
178 THE PECULIAR CHARACTER L.ECT. XXI. 
 
 compact : but these are faults common to those writers, whose princi- 
 pal aim is to excite the gentler affections, and to call forth the tear 
 of sympathy or sorrow. This observation is very strongly exemplifi- 
 ed in the Lamentations, where these are the prevailing passions ; it is 
 however frequently instanced in the prophecies of this author, and 
 most of all in the beginning of the book, 4 which is chiefly poetical. 
 The middle of it is almost entirely historical. The latter part, again, 
 consisting of the six last chapters, is altogether poetical ; 5 it contains 
 several different predictions, which are distinctly marked, and in 
 these the prophet approaches very near the sublimity of Isaiah. 
 On the whole, however, I can carcely pronounce above half the book 
 of Jeremiah poetical. (A) 
 
 Ezekiel is much inferior to Jeremiah in elegance ; in sublimity 
 he is not even excelled by Isaiah : but his sublimity is of a totally dif- 
 ferent kind. He is deep, vehement, tragical ; the only sensation he 
 affects to excite, is the terrible : his sentiments are elevated, fervid, 
 full of fire, indignant ; his imagery is crowded, magnificent, terrific, 
 sometimes almost to disgust; his language is pompous, solemn, 
 austere, rough, and at times unpolished : he employs frequent 
 repetitions, not for the sake of grace or elegance, but from the ve- 
 hemence of passion and indignation. Whatever subject he treats 
 of, that he sedulously pursues, from that he rarely departs, but 
 cleaves as it were to it ; whence the connexion is in general evi- 
 dent and well preserved. In many respects he is perhaps excel- 
 led by the other prophets : but in that species of composition to 
 which he seems by nature adapted, the forcible, the impetuous, the 
 great and solemn, not one of the sacred writers is superior to him. 
 His diction is sufficiently perspicuous, all his obscurity consists in 
 the nature of the subject. Visions (as for instance, among others, 
 those of Hosea, Amos, and Jeremiah) are necessarily dark and con- 
 fused. The greater part of Ezekiel, towards the middle of the 
 book especially, is poetical, whether we regard the matter or the 
 diction. His periods, however, are frequently so rude and incom- 
 pact, that I am often at a loss how to pronounce concerning his per- 
 formance in this respect.(B) 
 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, as far as relates to style, may be 
 
 4 See the whole of chap. ix. chap. xiv. 17, etc. xx. 14 18. 
 
 5 Chap. xlvi. li. to ver.59. chap. Hi. properly belongs to the Lamentations, 
 to which it serves as an exordium. 
 
LECT. XXI. OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETS. 170 
 
 said to hold the same rank among the Hebrews, as Homer, Simoni- 
 des, and ^Eschylus among the Greeks. 
 
 Hosea is the first in order of the minor prophets, and is, perhaps, 
 Jonah excepted, the most ancient of them all. His style exhibits 
 the appearance of very remote antiquity ; it is pointed, energetic, 
 and concise. It bears a distinguished mark of poetical composition, 
 in that pristine brevity and condensation, which is observable in the 
 sentences, and which later writers have in some measure neglect- 
 ed. This peculiarity has not escaped the observation of Jerome : 
 " He is altogether," says he, speaking of this prophet, " laconic 'and 
 sententious. 6 But this very circumstance, which anciently was sup- 
 posed, no doubt, to impart uncommon force and elegance, in the 
 present ruinous state of the Hebrew literature, is productive of so 
 much obscurity, that although the general subject of this writer be 
 sufficiently obvious, he is the most difficult and perplexed of all the 
 prophets. There is, however, another reason for the obscurity of 
 his style : Hosea prophesied during the reigns of the four kings of 
 Judah, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ; the duration of his 
 ministry, therefore, in whatever manner we calculate, must include 
 a very considerable space of time ; we have now only a small volume 
 of his remaining, which, it seems, contains his principal prophecies ; 
 and these are extant in a continued series, with no marks of distinc- 
 tion as to the times in which they were published, or the subjects 
 of which they treat. There is therefore no cause to wonder, if in 
 perusing the prophecies of Hosea, we sometimes find ourselves in a 
 similar predicament with those who consulted the scattered leaves 
 of the Sibyl. 
 
 The style of Joel is essentially different from that of Hosea ; but 
 the general character of his diction, though of a different kind, is 
 not less poetical. He is elegant, perspicuous, copious, and fluent ; 
 he is also sublime, animated, and energetic. In the first and sec- 
 ond chapters he displays the full force of the prophetic poetry, and 
 shows how naturally it inclines to the use of metaphors, allegories, 
 and comparisons. Nor is the connexion of the matter less clear and 
 evident, than the complexion of the style : this is exemplified in the 
 display of the impending evils, which gave rise to the prophecy ; the 
 exhortation to repentance ; the promises of happiness and success, 
 both terrestrial and eternal, to those who become truly penitent ; the 
 
 in XII. Proph. 
 
180 THE PECULIAR CHARACTER L.ECT. XXI. 
 
 restoration of the Israelites ; and the vengeance to be taken of their 
 adversaries. But while we allow this just commendation to his per- 
 spicuity both in language and arrangement, we must not deny that 
 there is sometimes great obscurity observable in his subject, and 
 particularly in the latter part of the prophecy. 
 
 Jerome calls Amos " rude in speech, but not in knowledge ; M 
 applying to him what St. Paul modestly professes of himself. 7 Many 
 have followed the authority of Jerome, in speaking of this prophet, 
 as if he were indeed quite rude, ineloquent, and destitute of all the 
 embellishments of composition. The matter is, however, far other- 
 wise. Let any person who has candour and perspicacity enough to 
 judge, not from the man but from his writings, open the volume of 
 his predictions, and he will, I think, agree with me, that our shep- 
 herd " is not a whit behind the very chief of the prophets." 8 He 
 will agree, that as in sublimity and magnificence he is almost equal 
 to the greatest, so in splendour of diction, and elegance of expres- 
 sion he is scarcely inferior to any. The same celestial Spirit indeed 
 actuated Isaiah and Daniel in the court, and Amos in the sheep- 
 folds ; constantly selecting such interpreters of the divine will as 
 were best adapted to the occasion, and sometimes " from the mouth 
 of babes and sucklings perfecting praise :" occasionally employing 
 the natural eloquence of some, and occasionally making others elo- 
 quent. 
 
 The style of Micah is for the most part close, forcible, pointed, 
 and concise ; sometimes approaching the obscurity of Hosea ; in 
 many parts animated and sublime, and in general truly poetical. 
 
 None of the minor prophets, however, seem to equal Nahum in 
 boldness, ardour, and sublimity. His prophecy too forms a regular 
 and perfect poem ; the exordium is not merely magnificent, it is 
 truly majestic ; the preparation for the destruction of Nineveh, and 
 the description of its downfal and desolation, are expressed in the 
 most vivid colours, and are bold and luminous in the highest de- 
 gree. 
 
 The style of Habakkuk is also poetical ; especially in his ode, 
 which indeed may be accounted among the most perfect specimens 
 of that class. (c) The like remark will also apply to Zephaniah; 
 but there is nothing very striking or uncommon either in the ar- 
 rangement of his matter or the complexion of his style. 
 
 7 Prooem. Comment, in Amosi 2 COR. xi. 6.- 8 2 COR. xi. 5. 
 
LECT. XXI. OP THE DIFFERENT PROPHETS. 181 
 
 Of Obadiah there is little to be said ; the only specimen of his 
 genius extant being very short, and the greater part of it included in 
 one of the prophecies of Jeremiah. 9 Jonah and Daniel, I have al- 
 ready considered as mere historical commentaries. 
 
 Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, are the only remaining prophets. 
 The first of these altogether prosaic, as well as the greater part of 
 the second ; towards the conclusion of the prophecy there are some 
 poetical passages, and those highly ornamented ; they are also per- 
 spicuous, considering they are the production of the most obscure 
 of all the prophetic writers. 10 The last of the prophetical books, 
 that of Malachi, is written in a kind of middle style, which seems to 
 indicate that the Hebrew poetry, from the time of the Babylonish 
 captivity, was in a declining state, and being past its prime and vig- 
 our, was then fast verging towards the debility of age. 
 
 Thus far I have thought proper to deliver my sentiments, as 
 distinctly as I was able, concerning the writings of the prophets, and 
 those parts which are to be accounted poetical or otherwise. This 
 I did with a view of clearly explaining my conjecture (for I dare 
 not dignify it with any higher appellation) concerning the prophetic 
 poetry. A conjecture, which, though I will confess it is not with- 
 out its difficulties, and which must, after all, depend in some degree 
 upon opinion, yet I flatter myself, you will concur with me in admit- 
 ting not to be utterly destitute of foundation. 
 
 I should now, according to the nature of my plan, proceed to 
 speak of the prophetic poetry of the Greeks, if indeed any thing had 
 been transmitted to us, even from their most celebrated oracles, de- 
 serving, I will not say, to be compared with the sacred prophets, 
 but even to be mentioned at all. The fact is, there is no such poem 
 now extant, nor do I believe there ever was one of that kind among 
 the Greeks : a few verses there are indeed remaining, and those not 
 above mediocrity ; for the Pythian Apollo, if we may credit the 
 Greeks themselves, was not always upon the best terms with the 
 Muses. It appears, therefore, that he did not fail to excite the ridi- 
 cule of sensible persons, not only for his ambiguous and enigmatical 
 divinations, but for ignorance in the art of versification : nay, even 
 the rude and superstitious, who gave him the amplest credit for the 
 veracity of his predictions, could not help confessing, that he was a 
 very indifferent poet. (D) 
 
 9 Compare OB. 19. with JER. xlix. 14, 15, 1C. 7, 9, 10. 
 1 See chap. ix. x. and the beginning of xi. 
 
182 THE PECULIAR CHARACTER L.ECT. XXI, 
 
 Among the literature of the Romans, however, there is extant 
 a much celebrated, and indeed admirable poem of this kind, no less 
 remarkable for the elegance and perspicuity of the style, than for 
 the obscurity and darkness of the subject : I speak of the fourth Ec- 
 logue of Virgil, which it would be inexcusable to pass unnoticed in 
 this place, since from the first ages of Christianity an opinion has 
 prevailed, that this poem bore some remote relation to those genu- 
 ine remains of prophecy, which have been the subject of this Lec- 
 ture, and indeed that the substance of it was originally derived from 
 some sacred fountain. The manner in which this could happen, 
 I must confess, is not very easy to be explained : whether to account 
 for the fact we have recourse to the ancient Greek translation of 
 the Scriptures, the publication of which was certainly many years 
 anterior to the Roman poet ; or whether we suppose that the author 
 might apply to those translations, which were made from the sacred 
 writings by some Hellenistic Jews, and which were handed about 
 as the prophecies of the Sibyls. 11 However this may have been, 
 there are so many, and so manifest indications of the fact in the 
 poem itself, that no person who reads it attentively can retain a doubt 
 upon this head. The sentiments, the imagery, even the language 
 itself has so direct an agreement with the sacred prophets ; the sub- 
 ject has so much of intrinsic sublimity and magnificence ; and on 
 the other hand it is enlivened with so much boldness and spirit, is 
 indeed so free and elevated, that considering it as the production of 
 the chastest and most reserved of all the later poets, there is some- 
 thing altogether mysterious in the fact, unless we suppose that he 
 deduced his materials from some higher source than his own genius. 
 Though the subject has engaged the attention of some of the first 
 literary characters in the world, the motive, the scheme, the inten- 
 tion of the poet still remains, and I fear ever will remain, undevelop- 
 ed. The history and state of the Roman commonwealth at the time 
 point out no circumstance or character, which appears to bear a suf- 
 ficient relation to the subject, or which could afford room for such 
 great and magnificent predictions. This I will freely confess, that 
 the more I have contemplated this extraordinary production in this 
 point of view, the less able I have felt myself to comprehend it. 
 There is such a splendour of style, such an elegance in the versifi- 
 cation, as deceives us at first respecting the obscurity of the matter. 
 
 11 See Bishop CHANDLER'S Vindication of the Christian Religion, chap. i. 
 and GROTIUS on MATTH. ii 1. 
 
LECT. XXI. OF THE DIFFERENT PROPHETS. 183 
 
 But on a nearer inspection of each particular, on a thorough exami- 
 nation of the nature and the force of the imagery and diction, so 
 many things occur totally different from the general fashion of the 
 Roman authors, so altogether foreign to the conceptions of the peo- 
 ple of that age and nation, that it is not easy to believe it was per- 
 fectly understood even on its first publication. But when a foreign 
 interpretation, suggested by the writings of the Hebrews, (the full 
 force and importance of which it is impossible the poet himself could 
 have comprehended) serves to unravel the difficulties, and to enlight- 
 en all the obscurities of this extraordinary poem : when I consider 
 this, I own I am at a loss at what point to stop the licentiousness of 
 conjecture upon this subject : and indeed what imagination occa- 
 sionally suggests, I dare scarcely express. (E) I will only say, the 
 fact has something in it so extraordinary, so miraculous to my con- 
 ceptions, that I am sometimes half inclined to fancy, that what 
 Socrates, in the lo of Plato, says (probably in his usual tone of irony) 
 of poets in general, might have actually come to pass : " Hence," 
 says the philosopher, " the god, having by possessing their minds 
 deprived them of their natural reason, makes use of them, as well 
 as of the prophets and diviners, as his ministers, to the end, that we 
 who hear them should understand, that matters of so great impor- 
 tance are not uttered by men in their sober senses, but that it is the 
 god himself who utters them, and addresses us by their mouths." 
 
OF ELEGIAC POETRY. 
 
 TP. 
 LECTURE XXII. 
 
 OP THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF THE HEBREW ELEGY J AND OF THE 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 The nature and origin of the Hebrew elegy traced into the solemn expressions of grief exhibit- 
 ed in their funeral ceremonies The office and function of professed mourners : the dirges, 
 which were sung by them, were short, metrical, and sententious; many of the lamentations, 
 which are extant in the prophets, were composed in imitation of them The whole of the 
 Lamentations of Jeremiah constructed upon the same principle The general conduct and 
 form of that poem ; the nature of the verse ; the subject and the style. 
 
 THAT poetry is indebted for its origin to the more vehement af- 
 fections of the human mind, has been, I apprehend, very clearly 
 evinced. The distribution of it into its different species is not, 
 however, exactly regulated by the nature and order of the passions ; 
 though I think this is a circumstance which ought not entirely to be 
 disregarded. There are, indeed, some species of poetry which ad- 
 mit of every passion, such as the lyric ; and there are some which 
 scarcely admit of any, such as the didactic : there are others, how- 
 ever, which are peculiarly adapted to particular passions, tragedy 
 for instance ; and we have already had occasion to explain the na- 
 ture of the passions which are congenial to the prophetic Muse. 
 There is a distinct species of poetry, which is appropriated solely to 
 one particular passion ; and, what is worth remarking, we have nev- 
 er known a people, who might be said to have made any proficiency 
 in poetry, who had not a peculiar form of poem, invented purposely 
 for the expression of sorrow, and appropriated wholly to plaintive 
 subjects. This species of poem the Greeks, and most nations after 
 them, distinguish by the name of Elegy : the Hebrews call it fll^p 
 or ^iriD both which are significant of sorrow, or lamentation. 
 
 The genius and origin of this poem among the Hebrews may be 
 
LECT. XXII. ELEGY. 185 
 
 clearly traced into their manner of celebrating their funeral rites. 
 It may indeed more properly be termed the dictate of nature than 
 of custom, to follow to the grave the remains of a friend with grief 
 and lamentation. The ancient Hebrews were not ashamed of 
 obeying the voice of nature on this occasion, and of liberally pour- 
 ing forth the effusions of a bleeding heart. The language of / 
 grief is simple and unaffected ; it consists of a plaintive, intermitted, 
 concise form of expression, if indeed a simple exclamation of sor- , 
 row may deserve such an appellation. 
 
 " O father ! O my country ! O house of Priam I" 1 
 
 exclaims Andromache in the tragedy : nor less pathetic is the com- 
 plaint of the tender father in the sacred history, on the loss of his i 
 beloved though disobedient son : " O my son Absalom ! O Absalom, 
 my son, my son !" 2 There will not, therefore, be occasion for any 
 laboured disquisition concerning that kind of solemn dirge which 
 was used at funerals ; but since the sacred writers afford many ex- 
 amples to this purpose, I shall select one or two. The prophet of 
 Bethlehem brought the corpse of the man of God, who was slain by 
 the lion, back to the city, that he might mourn over him and bury 
 him. He placed him in his own sepulchre, and they wept over him, 
 saying, " Alas, my brother !" 3 So in Jeremiah, JEHOVAH declares 
 of Joachim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah : 
 
 ' Non lugebunt eum, Ah mi frater ! vel ah soror ! 
 
 " Non lugebunt eum, Eheu, domine ! eheu viri maiestas !"* 
 
 These and similar exclamations were sufficient for the simple expres- 
 sion of natural and unaffected sorrow. But wayward grief is fre- 
 quently desirous of a more complete and ostentatious display of its 
 feelings ; it studies not only its own alleviation, by publishing its un- 
 easiness, but endeavours to incite and allure others into a society in 
 affliction. Thus when Abner fell a sacrifice to the treachery of Jo- 
 ab, David not being privy to the action, and in truth extremely af- 
 flicted on account of it ; yet, from the difficulty of his situation, and 
 the infant state of his authority, not daring to punish the murderer, 
 he fulfils his duty both to himself and to the deceased in the eyes of 
 the people, by attending the funeral in the character of chief mour- 
 ner ; " and he lifted up his voice and wept at the sepulchre, and all 
 the people wept with him ;" and then, by the united aid of poetry 
 
 l CICERO, Tusc. Qutest lib. iii. a SAM. xix. 4. 
 
 3 1 KINGS xiii. 30. 4 JEB. xxii. 1$. 
 
 24 
 
186 -ELEGY. LECT. XXII. 
 
 and music, he further stimulates their affliction : " and the king la- 
 mented Abner, and said : 
 
 " An peril Abnerus scelerati more nocentisque ? 
 
 " An reus infami crimina morte luit ? 
 " At tibi non fortes violarunt vincla lacertos, 
 
 " Pressitve indignos dura catena pedes : 
 " Heu ! secure doli, et dictis confise malorum ! 
 
 " Fraude et mentito captus amore peris !" 
 
 " and again all the people wept over him." 5 
 
 Thus, a certain ostentatious zeal, which frequently accompanies 
 real sorrow, is apt to persuade men, that it is impossible to pay too 
 much respect to the memory of departed friends; that intemperance of 
 passion too, which is always observable in these cases, self-indulgent 
 to excess, and is more inclined to irritate than to soothe ; in a word, 
 opinion or fashion, which governs and misleads the bulk of mankind, 
 easily persuades them that it is an indispensable duty incumbent upon 
 the living to afflict themselves for the sake of the dead. Each of 
 these causes has contributed to establish that custom, which prevail- 
 ed in Palestine, in Phrygia, and afterwards among the Greeks and 
 Romans, of engaging mercenary mourners to weep at their fune- 
 rals. 6 This office generally fell to the lot of the women, either be- 
 cause it was supposed more congenial to the general imbecility of 
 the female mind, or because, from the flexibility and softness of their 
 nature, and from their tender and plaintive tone of voice, they were 
 supposed more capable of working upon the affections. After the 
 custom was once established, we find no scarcity of these profession- 
 al mourners, well accomplished in all the discipline of lamentation 
 and woe, and with tears always at command for a reasonable stipend. 
 As in all other arts, so in this, perfection consisted in the exact imi- 
 tation of nature. The funeral dirges were therefore composed in 
 general upon the model of those complaints which flow naturally and 
 spontaneously from the afflicted heart : the sentences were abrupt, 
 mournful, pathetic, simple, and unembellished ; on one account, in- 
 deed, more elaborate and artificial, because they consisted of verse, 
 and were chanted to music. 7 
 
 52SAM. iii. 33,34. 
 
 6 See Jos. SCALIGER, Conjectanea in Varronem de Ling. Lat. p. 76. Edit. 
 R. Steph. 
 
 7 See MATT. ix. 23, and LIGHTFOOT, Exercitat. Hebr. and Talmud, in loc. 
 
LECT. XXII. ELEGY. 187 
 
 Many vestiges of this custom are found in the writings of the \ 
 prophets : for the predictions of calamity impending over states and } 
 empires are often replete with elegance, and generally assume the 
 form of a funeral song. But this remark will be more clearly evi- 
 denced by a few examples ; and these examples will serve at the 
 same time to illustrate what has been alledged concerning this cus- 
 tom. Says the prophet Amos, addressing the Israelites, and de- 
 nouncing vengeance and destruction against them, and their gov- 
 ernment, 
 
 Audite vatem luctuum praenuntium; 
 
 Audite lessum funebrera : 
 Occidit ! aeternum virgo occidit Israelis I 
 
 Et iacet in patrio nuda, relicta solo ! 
 
 And a little after ; 
 
 Eheu ! per urbem, per vias Eheu ! sonet ; 
 
 Eheu ! per omnes viculos : 
 Doctisque iungat praeficarum luctubus 
 
 Rudem colonus naeniam.8 
 
 And in Jeremiah, on a similar occasion, JEHOVAH of hosts thus ad- 
 dresses his people : 
 
 Luctus peritas hue vocate foeminas, 
 
 Moestae scientes naeniae : 
 Orsae eiulanti flebiles modos choro 
 
 Ferale carmen praecinant ; 
 Vt mollis omnes humor in genas fluat, 
 
 Fluant perennes lachrymae. 
 Nunc, nunc ad aures lugubris fertur sonus 
 
 Sionis altae a moenibus : 
 Funditus occidimus ! natalia linquimus arva ! 
 Linquirnus heu patri dulcia tecta soli ! 
 Adhuc lehova flebiles cantus iubet ; 
 
 Parete iussis, praeficae ! 
 Docete moestos virgines lessi modos ; 
 
 Docete vicinas nurus : 
 Mors urbem invadit ! rapit heu iuvenesque senesque i 
 
 Saevit acerba domi ! saevit acerba foris ! 
 
 Corpora susa iacent, vacuis proiectus in arvis 
 
 Vt fimus, utque iacet falce recisa seges.9 
 
 Many instances of the same kind occur throughout the prophets, 
 in which, as in these, there is a direct allusion to the institution 
 from which they originated. There are also may other passages ev> 
 
 8 AMOS 5. 1, 2, 16, JER. ix. 1722, 
 
188 ELEGY. LECT. XXII. 
 
 idently of the same kind, although the funeral ceremonies be not im- 
 mediately referred to ; and the peculiar elegance of these we shall 
 not perceive, unless some regard be paid to the object to which they 
 allude. The examples that I produce are, I apprehend, sufficient 
 to indicate the nature and origin of this species of poetry, and to 
 demonstrate, that these artificial complaints were originally formed 
 on the model, and expressed in the language, of real sorrow. Hence 
 also it will be apparent, in what manner, and by what gradations, the 
 S-t3^{: or lamentations of the Hebrews, assumed the form of a reg- 
 ular poem : but for the further elucidation of this subject, it may not 
 be improper to examine the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the most re- 
 markable poem of this kind extant, according to the principles of 
 these funeral compositions ; for unless we examine it in this man- 
 ner, and by this criterion, it will be impossible to form a right judge- 
 ment concerning it. 
 
 I shall endeavour to treat of this extraordinary production in the 
 following order : First, of its nature and form in general ; secondly, 
 of the metre or versification ; and lastly, of the subject, the senti- 
 ments, and imagery. 
 
 The Lamentations of Jeremiah (for the title is properly ancl sig- 
 nificantly plural) consist of a number of plaintive effusions, compo- 
 sed upon the plan of the funeral dirges, all upon the same subject, 
 and uttered without connexion as they rose in the mind, in a long 
 course of separate stanzas. These have afterwards been put togeth- 
 ier, and formed into a collection or correspondent whole. If any 
 Deader, however, should expect to find in them an artificial and me- 
 thodical arrangement of the general subject, a regular disposition of 
 the parts, a perfect connexion and orderly succession in the matter, 
 and with all this, an uninterrupted series of elegance and correct- 
 iess, he will really expect what was foreign to the prophet's design. 
 In the character of a mourner, he celebrates in plaintive strains the 
 obsequies of his ruined country ; whatever presented itself to his 
 mind in the midst of desolation and misery, whatever struck him as 
 particularly wretched and calamitous, whatever the instant sentiment 
 of sorrow dictated, he pours forth in a kind of spontaneous effusion. 
 He frequently pauses, and, as it were, ruminates upon the same ob- 
 ject : frequently varies and illustrates the same thought with differ- 
 ent imagery, and a different choice of language ; so that the whole 
 bears rather the appearance of an accumulation of corresponding 
 sentiments, than an accurate and connected series of different ideas, 
 
LECT. XXII. ELEGY. 189 
 
 arranged in the form of a regular treatise. I would not be understood 
 to insinuate, that the author has paid no regard whatever to order or 
 arrangement ; or that transitions truly elegant from one subject, im- 
 age, or character, to another, are not sometimes to be found ; this 
 only I wish to remark, that the nature and design of this poem (be- 
 ing in reality a collection of different sentiments or subjects, each 
 of which assumes the form of a funeral dirge) neither require, nor 
 even admit of a methodical arrangement. The whole poem, how- 
 ever, may be divided into five parts ; in the first, second, and fourth, 
 the prophet addresses the people in his own person, or else person- 
 ifies Jerusalem, and introduces that city as a character ; the third 
 part is supposed to be uttered by the chorus of Jews, represented by 
 their leader, after the manner of the Greek tragedies : and in the 
 fifth, the -whole nation of the Jews, on being led into captivity, pour 
 fourth their united complaints to Almighty God. This last, as well 
 as the others, is divided into twenty-two periods, according to the 
 number of the letters of the alphabet ; with this difference, that in 
 <lhe four other parts, the initial letters of each period exactly corres- 
 pond with the alphabetical order. And from this circumstance we 
 have been enabled to form some little judgement concerning the 
 Hebrew metres. 
 
 The acrostic or alphabetical poetry of the Hebrews was certain- 
 ly intended to assist the memory, and was confined altogether to 
 those compositions, which consisted of detached maxims or senti- 
 ments without any express order or connexion. The same custom 
 is said to have been prevalent, indeed is said still to prevail in some 
 degree, among the Syrians, the Persians, and the Arabs. (A) IQ With 
 how much propriety the prophet has employed this form of composi- 
 tion, on the present occasion, is evident from what has been said 
 concerning the nature of this poem. The manner and order of this 
 kind of verse is as follows : Each of the five parts, or grand divi- 
 sions, is subdivided into twenty-two periods, or stanzas ; these peri- 
 ods in the three first parts are all of them triplets, in other words, 
 consist each of three lines, only, in each of the two former parts, 
 there is one period consisting of four lines. 11 In the four first parts, 
 the initial letter of each period follows the order of the alphabet ; 
 but the third part is so very regular, that every line in the same pe- 
 
 10 See ASSEMAN, Biblioth. Oriental. Vol. III. p. 63, 180, 188, 328. 
 
 11 In Chap. i. t: in Chap, ii. j?. 
 
190 ELEGY. LECT. XXII. 
 
 riod begins with the same letter, so as necessarily to ascertain the 
 length of every verse or line in that poem : indeed, even in the oth- 
 ers, though the lines are not distinctly marked in this manner, it is 
 no difficult matter to ascertain their limits, by resolving the senten- 
 ces into their constituent members. By this mode of computation 
 it appears, that in the fourth part all the periods consist of distichs, 12 
 as also in the fifth, which is not acrostic : But in this last part I 
 must remark another peculiarity, namely, that the lines are extreme- 
 ly short, whereas in all the rest they are long. 
 
 The length of these metres is worthy of notice : we find in this 
 poem lines or verses, which are evidently longer by almost one half, 
 than those which occur usually, and on other occasions. The 
 length of them seems to be, on an average, about twelve syllables ; 
 there are a few which do not quite amount to that number, and there 
 are a few which perhaps exceed it by two or three syllables : for al- 
 though nothing certain can be determined concerning the number 
 of syllables (in truth I pay no attention to the fictions of the Masor- 
 ites) there is room, nevertheless, for very probable conjecture. W^ 
 are not to suppose this peculiar form of versification utterly without 
 design or importance : on the contrary, I am persuaded, that the 
 prophet adopted this kind of metre as being more diffuse, more copi- 
 ous, more tender, in all respects better adapted to melancholy sub- 
 jects. I must add, that in all probability the funeral dirges, which 
 were sung by the mourners, were commonly composed in this kind 
 of verse ; for whenever, in the prophets, any funeral lamentations 
 occur, or any passages formed upon that plan, the versification is, if 
 I am not mistaken, of this protracted kind. If this then be the 
 case, we have discovered a true, legitimate form of elegy in the poet- 
 ry of the Hebrews. It ought, however, to be remarked, that the 
 same kind of metre is sometimes, though rarely, employed upon oth- 
 er occasions by the sacred poets, as it was indeed by the Greeks and 
 Romans. There are, moreover, some poems manifestly of the ele- 
 giac kind, which are composed in the usual metre, and not in un- 
 connected stanzas, according to the form of a funeral dirge. 
 
 Thus far in general as to the nature and method of the poem, 
 and the form of the versification ; it remains to offer a few remarks 
 concerning the subject and the style. 
 
 12 But the period o, as it is now read, can neither be conveniently distribu- 
 ted into two, nor into three verses. 
 
LECT. XXII. ELEGY. 191 
 
 That the subject of the Lamentations is the destruction of the 
 holy city and temple, the overthrow of the state, the extermination 
 of the people, and that these events are described as actually accom- 
 plished, and not in the style of prediction merely, must be evident 
 to every reader ; though some authors of considerable reputation 13 
 have imagined this poem to have been composed on the death of 
 king Josiah. The prophet, indeed, has so copiously, so tenderly, 
 and poetically bewailed the misfortunes of his country, that he seems 
 completely to have fulfilled the office and duty of a mourner. In 
 my opinion, there is not extant any poem, which displays such a 
 happy and splendid selection of imagery in so concentrated a state. 
 What can be more elegant and poetical, than the description of that 
 once flourishing city, lately chief among the nations, sitting in the 
 character of a female, solitary, afflicted, in a state of widowhood, 
 deserted by her friends, betrayed by her dearest connexions, implor- 
 ing relief, and seeking consolation in vain ? What a beautiful per- 
 sonification is that of " the ways of Sion mourning because none 
 are come to her solemn feasts ?" How tender and pathetic are the 
 following complaints? 
 
 1 Nihilne haec ad vos, qui per viam transitis ? attendite, et videte, 
 
 ' Num sit usquam dolor instar mei doloris, qui mihi inflictus est, 
 
 ' Quum moerore me affecit lehova in die irae eius exardescentis. 
 
 1 Propter haec ego fleo, oculis meis aqua manantibus ; 
 
 ' Quia longe a me abest consolator, qui mihi recreet animam : 
 
 " Desolati sunt filii mei, quoniam invaluit hostis."14 
 
 But to detail its beauties would be to transcribe the entire poem. I 
 shall make but one remark relative to certain passages, and to the 
 former part of the second alphabet in particular. If, in this pas- 
 sage, the prophet should be thought by some to affect a style too 
 bold and energetic for the expression of sorrow, let them only advert 
 to the greatness of the subject, its importance, sanctity, and solemni- 
 ty ; and let them consider that the nature of the performance abso- 
 lutely required these to be set forth in a style suitable, in some de- 
 gree at least, to their inherent dignity ; let them attentively consider 
 these things, and I have not a doubt, but they will readily excuse 
 the sublimity of the prophet. (B) 
 
 *3 JOSBPHUS, JEROME, USHER. * 4 LAM. i. 12, and IQ. 
 
LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 OF THE REMAINING ELEGIES OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 Many poems of this kind still extant in the writings of the Hebrews. One collection of Elegies 
 or Lamentations appears to be lost. Elegies in Ezekiel. Many passages in Job may be ac- 
 counted Elegiac. About a seventh part of the book of Psalms consists of Elegies. A per- 
 fect specimen of elegiac poetry from the Psalms. -The Lamentation of David over Saul and 
 Jonathan explained: attempted in Latin verse. 
 
 IN the last Lecture the nature and origin of the Hebrew elegy 
 was explained ; the form and commencement of that species of poet- 
 ry was traced into the solemn dirges which were chanted at funer- 
 als by the professed mourners ; and this was confirmed by instances 
 taken from those short elegies or lamentations which occur in the 
 prophets, and by an accurate examination of that remarkable poem, 
 the Lamentations of Jeremiah. I shall now treat of some other 
 poems, which, although they do not exactly assume the form of a 
 funeral dirge, are nevertheless to be comprehended in this class. 
 
 That the Hebrews were formerly possessed of some collection of 
 elegies or lamentations, which has not been transmitted to us, we 
 may understand from that passage of sacred history, 1 in which men- 
 tion is made of the solemn mourning publicly celebrated at the fun- 
 eral of Josiah ; where it appears that a poem, composed for the oc- 
 casion by Jeremiah the prophet, amongst others had a place. 
 Though the book, which is on this occasion referred to, and which 
 probably contained the most excellent of the Hebrew elegies, appears 
 to be lost, there are still extant many specimens of this kind of po- 
 etry ; whence we may reasonably infer, that no species of composi- 
 tion was more in use among the Hebrews than the elegiac, the ode 
 perhaps only excepted. 
 
 In the first place, beside those short dirges, which occur in the 
 writings of almost all the prophets, as was before remarked, there 
 are some in Ezekiel, which are actually distinguished by the title of 
 Lamentations, and which may with the utmost propriety be referred 
 
 iSChron. xxxv. 25. 
 
XXIII. THE ELEGIAC POETRY, ETC. 193 
 
 to the class of elegies. Among these are the two lamentations con- 
 cerning Tyre, and the king of Tyre. 2 In these, though the intent of 
 the prophet be to denounce vengeance and punishment against these 
 objects of the divine wrath, rather than to lament their misfortunes, 
 and though he succeed in his aim of exciting terror instead of pity, 
 yet the mournful nature of the subject fully corresponds with the ti- 
 tle, and both the matter and the sentiments bear some degree of re- 
 semblance to the funeral songs. According tp J the custom which 
 prevailed on those solemn occasions, the glory, riches, and power of 
 the deceased are pompously enumerated ; and thus by contrasting/ 
 his former prosperity with the present calamity, the effect is consid-j 
 erably augmented. As for the two prophecies, 3 in which the de- 
 struction of Egypt is predicted, they seem to have been entitled La- 
 mentations merely from the mournful nature of the subject; for 
 they contain nothing of the elegiac form or style, scarcely any senti- 
 ment expressive of sorrow, and seem altogether composed for the 
 denunciation of vengeance, and the exciting of terror. Two other 
 lamentations, 4 the one over the princes of Judah, and the other 
 over Jerusalem, may be explained upon similar principles : they are 
 indeed poetical parables, and have been already noticed in their 
 proper place. 
 
 There are also many passages in that most admirable poem, 
 which bears the name of Job, 5 deserving to be accounted legitimate 
 elegies : and indeed I do not know any more perfect specimens of 
 this species of composition ; so completely are the inmost recesses of 
 sorrow displayed, and the remotest fountains of pity explored and laid 
 open. But since these are parts of an entire poem, they are not 
 rashly to be detached from the body of the work ; and since the ele- 
 gant disposition, and the extraordinary beauties of this inimitable 
 composition, will deserve a fuller examination, it is sufficient in this 
 place to have mentioned these passages as exquisite treasures, which 
 the Muse of sorrow might legally claim as her own, were she dis- 
 posed to assert her rigid rights. 
 
 I proceed, therefore, to the book of Psalms, which is a collection, 
 under the general title of hymns to the praise of God, containing 
 poems of different kinds, and elegies among the rest. If indeed the 
 
 2 EZEK. xxvii. and xxviii.12 19. 3 EZEK. xxxii. 
 
 4 EZEK. xix. 5 See Job, chap. iii. vi. vii. x. xiv. xvii. xix. xxix. xxx. 
 
 25 
 
194 THE ELEGIAC POETRY LECT. XXIII. 
 
 contents of the book were methodically arranged in their proper clas- 
 ses, not less than a sixth or seventh part would appear to be elegiac. 
 Since, however, this is a matter dependant in a great measure upon 
 opinion, and not to be clearly demonstrated upon determinate prin- 
 ciples ; since the nature of the subject, the complexion of the style, or 
 the general form and disposition of each poem, must decide the ques- 
 tion ; and since different persons will judge differently upon these 
 points ; it will hardly be expected that I should on this occasion pro- 
 ceed to the regular classification of them. It will indeed be more to 
 your advantage, and more to our present purpose, to select an ex- 
 ample which may be clearly demonstrated to belong to the elegiac 
 class. 
 
 Under this appellation then I shall not hesitate to recommend 
 to your notice the forty-second Psalm, since I cannot help esteem- 
 ing it one of the most beautiful specimens of the Hebrew elegy. 
 The author of this elegant complaint, exiled from the temple, and 
 from the public exercise of his religion, to the extreme parts of Ju- 
 dea, persecuted by his numerous enemies, and agitated by their re- 
 proaches, pours forth his soul to God in this tender and pathetic 
 composition. The ardent feelings of a devout heart are admirably 
 expressed, while the memory of former felicity seems to aggravate 
 his present anguish. The extreme anxiety of a mind, depressed by 
 the burthen of sorrow, and yet at the same time impatient under it ; 
 overcome by an accumulation of evils, yet in some degree endeav* 
 curing to resist them, and admitting, through the dark cloud of af- 
 fliction, a glimmering ray of hope and consolation, is finely depict- 
 ed. In frequent and almost instantaneous transitions he glows with 
 love, and droops with lamentations ; he complains, he expostulates ; 
 he despairs, and yet hopes ; he is afflicted, and again consoled. It 
 is not to be expected that any poetical version should express these 
 sentiments with the force, the energy, and more particularly with 
 the conciseness of the Hebrew, which is indeed not to be imitated 
 in any other language : though it must be confessed, that this poem 
 is more diffuse than the Hebrew poetry in general. The following 
 paraphrase, however, though infinitely short of the original in sub- 
 limity, will perhaps serve to evince the correspondence of the subject 
 and sentiments of this poem, with the elegiac productions of mod- 
 ern times : 
 
 " Cervus, ut in medio celsis de montibus aestu 
 " Actus, in algentes fertur anhelus aquas, 
 
LECT. XXIII. OP THE HEBREWS. 195 
 
 " Sic mea vitali satiari numinis unda 
 
 " Mens avet, et Domini languet amore sui : 
 " Gaudet et optat amans, vitae se adjungere fonti : 
 
 " His mihi deliciis quae dabit hora frui ? 
 11 Scandere me quoties memini penetralia sacra, 
 
 " Et longe populos ordine pone sequi ; 
 " Aurea dum recolo missas ad sidera voces, 
 
 " Et plausum festis quern decet esse choris : 
 " In lachrymas totus miser et suspiria solvor ; 
 
 " Inter et aerumnas est mihi dulce queri. 
 " Cur ita turbaris ? cur te, mens, deiicis exspes ? 
 
 " Cur ita me torques anxia ? fide Deo : 
 /" Scilicet hie placido recreat mihi lumine pectus ; 
 ^ " Et mihi materies unica laudis erit. 
 " Dum queror, in mentem, liquidis lordanis ab undis, 
 
 " Sepositisque iugis, tu mihi saepe redis. 
 " Gurgitis est gurges, rauci comes aequoris aequor : 
 
 " Fluctibus infelix obruor usque novis. 
 " Luce, sod in media bonitas tua fulcit abysso : 
 
 " Nocte, parens vitae, tu mihi carmen eris. 
 " Tune ego, cur, dicam, capiunt te oblivia nostri ? 
 
 " Rerum opifex, animae portus et aura meae ! 
 " Cur prope confectum curis, lachrymisque sepultum. 
 
 " Me sinis immani durus ab hoste premi ? 
 " Hie petit insultans, ubi sis : ego vulneror inde, 
 
 " Ensis et in morem permeat ossa dolor. 
 " Cur ita turbaris ? cur te, mens, deiicis exspes ? 
 
 " Cur ita me torques anxia ? fide Deo : 
 / " Scilicet hie placido recreat mihi lumine pectus, 
 { " Et mihi materies unica laudis erit." 
 
 Another point, to which I would wish every person, who reads 
 this Psalm in the original to advert, is the division of the periods, 
 and the resolution of them into their constituent parts or members ; 
 he will find, I believe, that the periods spontaneously divide into 
 verses of nearly equal length and measure, exactly similar to those 
 of the four first chapters of the Lamentations of Jeremiah ; such as 
 I before remarked appeared to constitute the established metre of 
 the Hebrew elegy. The whole of the nineteenth Psalm consists al- 
 so of the same kind of verse, except the epode, which contains two 
 long verses of the same kind, and one shorter, which last is once re- 
 peated. The forty-third Psalm too seems to be constructed upon 
 similar principles, containing eight of the same kind of verses, with 
 the same epode. And since it is written in the same train of senti- 
 ment, the same style, and even apparently in the same metre, it 
 
196 THE ELEGIAC POETRY L.ECT. XXIII. 
 
 ought not perhaps to be separated from the preceding Psalm, but 
 rather to be considered as a part or continuation of the same compo- 
 sition : if this be true, the whole poem consists of three parts almost 
 equal and alike, each of which is concluded by the same intercalary 
 period or stanza. (A) 
 
 There is another most beautiful poem of the elegiac kind, which 
 on this occasion solicits our attention, I mean the lamentation of 
 David for Saul and Jonathan ; 6 which appears to have been extract- 
 ed by the historian from some poetical book, no longer extant, en- 
 titled T$".(B) It will not, I flatter myself, be thought unreasonable 
 to request your attention, while I endeavour to investigate, with 
 seme degree of accuracy, the nature and composition of this poem. 
 
 The poet treats, though in no common manner, two common 
 topics, and those the best adapted to the genuine elegy ; that I 
 mean which was employed in the celebration of the funeral rites ; 
 he expresses his own sorrow ; and he celebrates the praises of the 
 deceased. Both sentiments are displayed in the exordium ; but, 
 as might naturally be expected, sorrow is predominant, and bursts 
 forth with the impetuosity of exclamation : 
 
 " O decor Israelis, in montibus tuis perempte ! 
 " Quomodo ceciderunt fortes !" 
 
 Grief is of a timid and suspicious temper ; and always ready at in- 
 venting causes for self-torment ; easily offended by neglect, and ut- 
 terly impatient of ridicule or contempt : 
 
 " Audiverunt gemitus meos ; non est qui me consoletur : 
 
 " Audiverunt omnes inimici mala mea; quod ita me affeceris, laetantur." 7 
 
 So Jerusalem complains in Jeremiah, exaggerating in the strongest 
 terms her own misfortunes. Our poet feels and expresses himself 
 in almost the same manner : 
 
 " Ne annuntietis Gathae, 
 
 " Neve praedicetis in vicis Ascalonis ; 
 
 " Ne laetentur filiae Philistaeorum, 
 
 " Ne triumphent filiae praeputiatorum." 
 
 The same passion is also sullen and querulous, wayward and pee- 
 vish, unable to restrain its impatience, and firing at every thing that 
 opposes it. " Would ! ne'er that in the Pelian grove" says one of 
 
 6 2 SAM. i. 1727. 7 LAM. i. 21. 
 
LECT. XXIII. OP THE HEBREWS. 197' 
 
 the characters in the Medea of Ennius. 8 On another occasion we 
 find a person inveighing against the innocent mountain : 
 
 O'tovg v^ 
 
 M-u/ta&ai T? aya&ovs rs y.ai ev7tctT()ida$, 
 Oi TOT' tdei&v OLWV nartQtav xv(>yaav :9 
 
 Our poet is not more temperate : 
 
 " O montes Gilboae ! ne in vos ros neque pluvia." 
 
 If these passages were brought before the severe tribunal of reason, 
 nothing could appear more absurd ; but if examined by the criterion 
 of the passions, nothing can be more consonant to nature, more 
 beautiful or emphatic. Not to refer effects to their real causes is in 
 logic an imperfection, but in poetry often a beauty ; the appeal in 
 the one case is to reason, in the other to the passions. When sor- 
 row has had sufficient vent, there is leisure to expatiate on the ac- 
 complishments of the dead. In the first place they are celebrated 
 for their virtue and heroic actions ; next for their piety and mutual 
 affection ; and lastly for their agility and strength. Saul is honour- 
 ed with a particular panegyric, because he had enriched his people, 
 and contributed to the general felicity and splendour of the state. 
 This passage, by the way, is most exquisite composition : the wo- 
 men of Israel are most happily introduced, and the subject of the 
 encomium is admirably adapted to the female characters. Jonathan 
 is at last celebrated in a distinct eulogium, which is beautifully pa- 
 thetic, is animated with all the fervour, and sweetened with all the 
 tenderness, of friendship. 
 
 I should have made some particular observations on the interca- 
 lary period or epode inserted in the Psalm which was lately under 
 our consideration, but that 1 was aware an opportunity would again 
 present itself during the examination of this poem. This recurrence 
 of the same idea is perfectly congenial to the nature of elegy ; since 
 grief is fond of dwelling upon the particular objects of the passion, 
 and frequently repeating them. There is something singular, how- 
 ever, in the intercalary period which occurs in this poem, for it does 
 not regularly assume the same form of words, as is the case in gen- 
 eral, but appears with a little variation. It is three times introduced, 
 
 8 CICERO, De Fato. See EURIPIDES, Medea, v. 1. 
 
 Scolion apud ATHENJEUM, lib. xv. See EUSTATHIUS ad Iliad J. 171. 
 Edit. ALEX. POLITI, Florentine. and HERODOT. Terpsichore, 63, 64. 
 
198 THE ELEGIAC POETRY LiECT. XXIII. 
 
 beautifully diversified in the order and diction : it forms part of the 
 exordium, as well as of the conclusion, and is once inserted in the 
 body of the poem. 
 
 Another observation, though it merit no higher title than a con- 
 jecture, I do not hesitate to submit to your consideration. There 
 appears to be something singular in the versification of this elegy, 
 and a very free use of different metres. It neither consists altogeth- 
 er of the long verses, nor yet of the short ones (which are the most 
 usual in the poetry of the Hebrews ;) but rather of a very artful and 
 happy mixture of both, so that the concise and pointed parallelism 
 serves to correct the languor and diffuseness of the elegiac verse : 
 and this form of versification takes place also in some of the Psalms. 
 Certainly there is a great appearance of art and design in this nice 
 and poetical conformation of the periods : and that no grace or ele- 
 gance should be wanting to this poem, it is no less remarkable for 
 the general beauty, splendour, and perspicuity of the style. 
 
 To do complete justice to the economy of this excellent produc- 
 tion, it is absolutely necessary to exhibit it in an entire state. Not 
 to tire you therefore with a repetition of the verbal translation, I have 
 endeavoured to express the general sentiments and imagery in ele- 
 giac numbers. 
 
 Ergone magnanimi heroes, decus Israelis, 
 
 Proh dolor ! in patriis occubuere iugis ? 
 Fama Philistaeas ah ! ne pertingat ad urbes, 
 
 Neu Gatham tantae nuntia cladis eat ; 
 Hostis ut invisos agitet sine more triumphos, 
 
 ludaicisque nurus barbara laeta malis. 
 Triste solum, Gilboa ! tuis ne in montibus unquam 
 
 Vel ros, vel pulviae decidat imber aquae ! 
 Nulla ferat primes aris tua messis honores ; 
 
 De grege lecta tuo victima nulla cadat ! 
 Qua scuta heroum, qua Sauli parma relicta est, 
 
 Necquicquam heu ! sacrum cui caput unxit onyx. 
 Non sine caede virum Sauli prius hasta redibat ; 
 
 Non lonathani expers sanguinis arcus erat : 
 Nobile par, quos iunxit, amor, quos gloria iunxit, 
 
 Unaque nunc fato iungit acerba dies. 
 Ut celeres vicere aquilas, validosque leones, 
 
 Viribus et cursu bella ciere pares ! 
 Atvos, Isacides, Saulum lugete, puellae, 
 
 Qui dites vobis rettulit exuvias ; 
 Qui collo germnas, qui textile vestibus aurum ; 
 
 Coccina qui Tyria tincta bis arte dedit. 
 
LECT. XXIII. OP THE HEBREWS. 199 
 
 Heu quianam heroum bello perit irrita virtus ! 
 
 Montibus in patriis, ah lonathane, iaces ! 
 Tu mihi, tu aeterno flendus, lonathane, dolore 
 
 Occidis, heu misero frater adempte mihi ! 
 Heu pietas, heu rata fides, et dulcia fesso 
 
 Alloquia, heu sanctae foedus amicitiae ! 
 Quae mihi in adversis tulerat nova gaudia rebus j 
 
 Gaudia, foemineus quae dare nescit amor. 
 Proh dolor ! heu quianam duro in certamine belli 
 
 Fracta virum virtus, irritaque arma iacent ! (c) 
 
LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 OP THE PROVERBS, OR DIDACTIC POETRY OF THE HEBREWS. 
 
 The ancient mode of instructing by parables or proverbs The Proverbs of Solomon: that work 
 consists of two parts; the first, which extends to the ninth chapter inclusive, truly poetical, 
 and most elegant in its kind : the remainder of the book consists of detached maxims. The 
 principal characteristics of a parable or proverb; brevity (which naturally involves in it 
 some degree of obscurity) and elegance Ecclesiastes : the argument, disposition., and style 
 of that work all the alphabetical Psalms of this kind, as well as some others The Wisdom 
 of the son of Sirach written originally in Hebrew, in imitation of the Proverbs of Solomon 
 The fidelity of the Greek translator; and the great elegance of the work in general The 
 Wisdom of Solomon, written originally in Greek, and in imitation of the Proverbs; the style 
 and economy of that book A Hebrew translation of the xxivth chapter of Ecclesiasticus. 
 
 IN those periods of remote antiquity, which may with the utmost 
 propriety be styled the infancy of societies and nations, the usual, if 
 not the only, mode of instruction was by detached aphorisms or prov- 
 erbs. Human wisdom was then indeed in a rude and unfinished 
 state ; it was not digested, methodized, or reduced to order and 
 connexion. Those, who, by genius and reflection, exercised in the 
 school of experience, had accumulated a stock of knowledge, were 
 desirous of reducing it into the most compendious form, and com- 
 prised in a few maxims those observations which they apprehended 
 most essential to human happiness. This mode of instruction was, 
 in truth, more likely than any other to prove efficacious with men in 
 a rude stage of society ; for it professed not to dispute, but to com- 
 mand ; not to persuade, but to compel : it conducted them not by a 
 circuit of argument, but led immediately to the approbation and 
 practice of integrity and virtue. That it might not, however, be al- 
 together destitute of allurement, and lest it should disgust by an ap- 
 pearance of roughness and severity, some degree of ornament be- 
 came necessary ; and the instructers of mankind added to their pre- 
 cepts the graces of harmony, and illuminated them with metaphors, 
 comparisons, allusions, and the other embellishments of style. This 
 manner, which with other nations prevailed only during the first pe- 
 
LECT. XXIV. DIDACTIC POETRY. 201 
 
 riods of civilization, with the Hebrews continued to be a favourite 
 style to the latest ages of their literature. It obtained among them 
 the appellation of tpy^a (parables) as well because it consisted 
 in a great measure of parables strictly so called ; as because it pos- 
 sessed uncommon force and authority over the minds of the auditors. 
 
 Of this didactic poetry there are still extant many specimens in 
 the writings of the Hebrews ; and among these the first rank must 
 be assigned to the Proverbs of Solomon. This work consists of two 
 parts. The first, serving as a proem or exordium, includes the nine 
 first chapters ; and is varied, elegant, sublime, and truly poetical ; 
 the order of the subjects is in general excellently preserved, and the 
 parts are very aptly connected among themselves. It is embellish- 
 ed with many beautiful descriptions and personifications ; the dic- 
 tion is polished, and abounds with all the ornaments of poetry ; in- 
 somuch, that it scarcely yields in elegance and splendour to any of 
 the sacred writings. The other part, which extends from the be- 
 ginning of the tenth chapter to the end of the book, consists almost 
 entirely of detached parables or maxims, which have but little in 
 them of the sublime or poetical, except a certain energetic and con- 
 cise turn of expression. Since the didactic poetry of the Hebrews 
 assumes in general this unconnected and sententious form, and since 
 this style intrudes itself into almost all the poetry of the Hebrews, 
 and occurs frequently in poems of a character very different from the 
 didactic ; I shall treat principally of this latter part of the book of 
 Proverbs, and endeavour more minutely to investigate the precise 
 nature of a parable or proverb. 
 
 Solomon himself, in one of his proverbs, has explained the prin- 
 cipal excellencies of this form of composition ; exhibiting at once a 
 complete definition of a parable or proverb, and a very happy speci- 
 men of what he describes : 
 
 " Poma aurea in opere reticulato argenti, 
 " Dictum prolatum in rotis suis."l 
 
 Thus he insinuates, that grave and profound sentiments are to be set 
 off by a smooth and well turned phraseology, as the appearance of 
 the most beautiful and exquisitely coloured fruit, or the imitation of 
 it perhaps in the most precious materials, is improved by the cir- 
 cumstance of shining, as through a veil, through the reticulations of 
 a silver vessel exquisitely carved. Nay, he further intimates, that it 
 
 1 PROT. xxv. 1). 
 
 26 
 
202 DIDACTIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXIV. 
 
 is not only a neat turn and polished diction which must recommend 
 them, but that truth itself acquires additional beauty, when partially 
 discovered through the veil of elegant fiction and imagery. 
 
 To consider the subject in a still more particular point of view, 
 let brevity be admitted as the prime excellence of a proverb. 2 This 
 is, indeed, a necessary condition, without which it can neither retain 
 the name nor the nature. For if the sentiment be diffusely express- 
 ed, if even when it contains a double image, it exceed ten or at most 
 twelve words, it is no longer a proverb, but a harangue. For the 
 discriminating sentiment must force itself on the mind by a single 
 effort, and not by a tedious process ; the language must be strong 
 and condensed, rather omitting some circumstances that appear ne- 
 cessary, than admitting any thing superfluous. Horace himself in- 
 sists upon this as one of the express rules of didactic poetry, and he 
 has assigned the reason on which it is founded : 
 
 " Quicquid praecipies, esto brevis ; ut cito dicta 
 " Percipiant animi dociles, teneantque fideles."3 
 
 Solomon expresses the same sentiment in his own (that is the para- 
 bolic) manner : 
 
 " Dicta sapientum sicut stimuli, 
 
 " Et instar clavorum in altum defixa :" 4 
 
 That is, they instantaneously stimulate or affect the mind ; they 
 penetrate deeply, and are firmly retained. (A) 
 
 Some degree of obscurity is generally an attendant upon exces- 
 sive brevity ; and the parabolic style is so far from being abhorrent of 
 this quality, that it seems frequently to affect it, and to regard it as 
 a perfection. This obscurity is not indeed altogether without its 
 uses : it whets the understanding, excites an appetite for knowledge, 
 keeps alive the attention, and exercises the genius by the labour of 
 the investigation. The human mind, moreover, is ambitious of hav- 
 ing a share in the discovery of truth ; excessive indolence or dulness 
 only requires a very open and minute display, or prefers a passive 
 inertness to the exercise and the praise of perspicacity and discern- 
 
 2 " The brevity of this kind of composition, and the condensing of much 
 thought into a small compass, renders it more sententious, more sage and 
 expressive. As in a small seed the whole power of vegetation, which is to 
 produce a tree, is contained. And if any writer should amplify the sentence, 
 it would be no longer a proverb, but a declamation." DEMET. PHAL. ZZtoi E<>- 
 fojrctag. Sect. ix. 
 
 3 ART. POET. v. 336. 4 ECCLES. xii. 11. 
 
LECT. XXIV. DIDACTIC POETRY. 203 
 
 ment ; and that knowledge is ever most delightful, which we have 
 compassed by our own efforts. 5 Other causes, however, indepen- 
 dent of the brevity and conciseness of the language, have, in many 
 cases, contributed to the obscurity of the parabolic style. In the 
 first place, some degree of obscurity necessarily attends those pas- 
 sages in which different objects are applied in succession to the il- 
 lustration of each other, without any express marks of comparison : 
 of this we have had an example in the parable just now quoted, and 
 of this there are many other examples in the sacred writings. I will, 
 nevertheless, select one or two, which are deserving of our attention 
 for their peculiar propriety and elegance : 
 
 " Nubes, et ventus, et imber nullus ; 
 
 " Vir sese venditans cum inani munere." 6 
 
 The following is in a different form : 
 
 " Est aurum, et gemmarum copia ; 
 
 " At pretiosa suppellex labia scientiae." 7 
 
 Again, obscurity is almost inevitable, when the subject itself, to 
 which the imagery appertains and alludes, is removed out of sight, 
 and the sentiment assumes the form of allegory. Horace expresses 
 a very common precept in plain language : 
 
 " Sperne voluptates ; nocet empta dolore voluptas :8 
 But with how much more elegance does Solomon deliver the same 
 precept in a figurative manner, and under the veil of allegory ! 
 
 " Invenistine mel ? quod modo sat erit comede ; 
 " Ne eo satiere, etnausees."9 
 
 Some obscurity also attends any comparison which is of extensive 
 application : of this the following seems a pertinent example : 
 
 " Ut in aquis facies faciei [respondet], 
 
 " Sic homini cor hominis :" 10 
 
 This is certainly very difficult to apply or to define, since it may re- 
 fer in many different views to the faculties, genius, affections, will, 
 attachments, manners, virtues, and vices of men, among which there 
 generally subsists a certain agreement or similarity from imitation, 
 and from habits which are insensibly caught in social intercourse. 
 
 " Pater ipse colendi 
 
 " Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque per artem 
 " Movit agros, curis acuens mortalia cordia : 
 " Nee torpere gravi passus sua regna veterno." 
 
 6 PROV. xxv. 14. 7 PROV. xx. 15. 8 LIB. i. Ep. ii. v. 55. 
 
 9 PROV. xxv. 16. 10 PROV. xxvii. 19. 
 
204 DIDACTIC POETRY. LECT. XXIV. 
 
 Lastly, not to dwell too long upon this subject, some obscurity suc- 
 ceeds, when the principal, or perhaps the whole force of a proverb or 
 parable, does not lie in the direct and literal sense, but in something 
 not immediately expressed, which is however concomitant with it : 
 
 " Aurem audientem, et oculum videntem, 
 " Utrumque eorum fecit Iehova."U 
 
 To dwell upon the external and literal sense of this proverb, will only 
 bewilder the reader in the dubious turn of the expression ; but how 
 sublime, how profitable, is the sentiment, when it comes from the 
 pen of the Psalmist, embellished with his usual perspicuity and ani- 
 mation ? 
 
 " Qui plantavit aurem, nonne ipse audiet : 
 " Qui formavit oculum, nonne ipse videbit ?"12 
 
 The last quality that I shall mention as essential to a parable or 
 proverb, is elegance ; which is not inconsistent with brevity, or in- 
 deed with some degree of obscurity. I speak of elegance as it re- 
 spects the sentiment, the imagery, and the diction, and of its union 
 with all these we have already had sufficient proof in all the para- 
 bles which have been quoted in the course of this Lecture. It may 
 however be proper to remark in this place, that even those proverbs, 
 which are the plainest, most obvious, and simple, which contain 
 nothing remarkable either in sentiment or style, are not to be es- 
 teemed without their peculiar elegance, if they possess only brevity, 
 and that neat, compact form, and roundness of period, which alone 
 are sufficient to constitute a parable. Such is the maxim quoted by 
 David in the sacred history as an ancient proverb : 
 
 " A sceleratis prodibit scelus :"13 
 Such is that of Solomon : 
 
 " Odium suscitabit rixas ; 
 
 " Sed omnia delicta operiet amor :" 14 
 
 and many others which might easily be produced from the same 
 author. 
 
 There is another didactic work of Solomon, entitled n^nj? (Ec- 
 clesiastes) or the Preacher ; or rather perhaps, Wisdom the Preach- 
 er, the general tenor and style of which is very different from the 
 book of Proverbs, though there are many detached sentiments and 
 proverbs interspersed. For the whole work is uniform, and confin- 
 
 11 PROV. xx. 12. 12 PSALM xciv. 9. 
 
 13 1 SAM. xxiv. 13. 14 PROV. x. 12. 
 
LECT. XXIV. DIDACTIC POETRY. 205 
 
 ed to one subject, namely, the vanity of the world exemplified by the 
 experience of Solomon, who is introduced in the character of a per- 
 son investigating a very difficult question, examining the arguments 
 on either side, and at length disengaging himself from an anxious 
 and doubtful disputation. It would be very difficult to distinguish 
 the parts and arrangement of this production ; the order of the sub- 
 ject and the connexion of the arguments are involved in so much ob- 
 scurity, that scarcely any two commentators have agreed concerning 
 the plan of the work, and the accurate division of it into parts or 
 sections. The truth is, the laws of methodical composition and ar- 
 rangement were neither known by the Hebrews, nor regarded in 
 their didactic writings. They uniformly retained the old senten- 
 tious manner, nor did they submit to method, even where the occa- 
 sion appeared to demand it. The style of this work is, however, 
 singular ; the language is generally low, I might almost call it mean 
 or vulgar ; it is frequently loose, unconnected, approaching to the 
 incorrectness of conversation ; and possesses very little of the poeti- 
 cal character, even in the composition and structure of the periods : 
 which peculiarity may possibly be accounted for from the nature of 
 the subject. Contrary to the opinion of the Rabbies, Ecclesiastes 
 has been classed among the poetical books ; though if their authority 
 and opinions were of any weight or importance, they might, perhaps, 
 on this occasion, deserve some attention. (B) 
 
 Some of the Psalms also belong properly to this class ; the al- 
 phabetical, for instance, with some others. The alphabetical or 
 acrostic form of composition has been more than once alluded to in 
 the course of these lectures. The chief commendation of these 
 poems, is, that they are excellently accommodated to ordinary use ; 
 that the sentiments are serious, devout, and practical ; the language 
 chaste and perspicuous ; the composition neat, and regularly adapt- 
 ed to the sententious form. 
 
 There are extant, besides these, two other considerable works of 
 the didactic kind, which the Hebrew poetry may legally claim, 
 though they are only extant iii Greek prose. I mean, the Wisdom 
 of the Son of Sirach, and that which is entitled, the Wisdom of 
 Solomon. 
 
 The work of the Son of Sirach, translated from the Hebrew into 
 Greek, by one of the descendants of the author, is altogether of the 
 same kind with the Proverbs of Solomon ; insomuch, that it origi- 
 nally bore the same title (d" 1 ";:^^) as we learn from Jerome, who di- 
 
206 DIDACTIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXIV. 
 
 rectly asserts, that he had seen the book in Hebrew ; 15 and I see no 
 reason why his assertion should not relate to the original Hebrew 
 copy, rather than to any Syriac version. However this may be, it is 
 clear, even from the Greek translation, which we have, that the 
 book in every respect resembles the Proverbs of Solomon, as nearly 
 as an imitation can resemble an original. There is a great similari- 
 ty in the matter, the sentiments, and the diction ; the complex- 
 ion of the style, and the construction of the periods, are quite the 
 same ; so that I cannot entertain a doubt, that the author actually 
 adopted the same mode of versification, whatever it was, if we can 
 admit that any knowledge of the Hebrew metres was extant at the 
 time when he is supposed to have written. For all that we are able 
 to conjecture on this head we are indebted to the great fidelity of 
 the translator, which is abundantly manifested in every part of the 
 work. He seems indeed not at all to have affected the elegancies of 
 the Greek language, but to have performed his duty with the most 
 religious regard to the Hebrew idiom ; he not only exhibits faithful- 
 ly the sentiments, but seems even to have numbered the words, and 
 exactly to have preserved their order : so that, were it literally and 
 accurately to be re-translated, I have very little doubt that, for the 
 most part, the original diction would be recovered. If any person 
 will make the experiment on a small scale, he will readily discern 
 the perfect coincidence of this composition with the most ancient 
 specimens of the didactic poetry of the Hebrews ; so exact indeed is 
 the agreement both in form and character, that the reader might, 
 without much difficulty, be persuaded that he was perusing the com- 
 positions of another Solomon. This author is however an imitator 
 chiefly of the former part of the book of Proverbs : for there is more 
 connexion and order in the sentiments ; the style is also more high- 
 ly coloured, and abounds more in imagery and figures than the di- 
 dactic poetry of the Hebrews in general requires. As an instance, I 
 need only mention that admirable personification of Wisdom exhib- 
 ited by him, in which he has so happily adopted the manner of his 
 great predecessor. 16 
 
 The Wisdom of Solomon is also composed in imitation of that 
 prince of didactic writers, but with a degree of success very unequal 
 indeed to that of the Son of Sirach. It is not, like the book which 
 bears his name, a translation from the Hebrew, but is evidently the 
 
 15 Praef. in Libros Salomonis. 16 ECCLUS. xxiv. 
 
LECT. XXIV. DIDACTIC POETRY. 207 
 
 performance of some .Hellenistic Jew, and originally written in 
 Greek. The style is very unequal ; it is often pompous and turgid, 
 as well as tedious and diffuse, and abounds in epithets, directly con- 
 trary to the practice of the Hebrews ; it is however sometimes tem- 
 perate, poetical, and sublime. TPhe construction is occasionally sen- 
 tentious, and tolerably accurate in 'tiuit respect, so as to discover 
 very plainly that the author had the old Hebrew poetry for his mod- 
 el, though he fell far short of its beauty and sublimity. The econo- 
 my of the work is still more faulty ; he continues the prayers of Sol- 
 omon from the ninth chapter to the very end of the book ; and they 
 consequently take up more than one half of the whole. But beside 
 the tediousness of such a harangue, he indulges in too great a sub- 
 tilty of disquisition upon abstruse subjects, and mingles many things 
 very foreign to the nature of an address to the Deity : and after all, 
 the subject itself is brought to no perfect conclusion. On these ac- 
 counts I agree with those critics, who slSppose this book to be a 
 much more modern production than that of the Son of Sirach, and 
 to have been composed in a less enlightened age. 
 
 That I may not dismiss the subject without exhibiting a speci- 
 men of some complete poem of the kind,- such as I have hitherto 
 given, I shall add to this lecture a Hebrew translation of a part of 
 Ecclesiasticus, namely, that elegant personification of Wisdom I 
 lately mentioned ; in which I have endeavoured as much as possible 
 to preserve, or rather restore, the form and character of the original. 
 
 THE TWENTY-FOURTH CHAPTER OP ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 J-PB nns>n 
 
 trn " 
 a? b 
 fiy 
 
208 DIDACTIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXIV 
 
 : "ba* " nbniai 
 
 aiana 
 
 bins* tfb 
 vasb 
 
 n p ^533 
 
 : inbni mn^ pbna 
 
 nsabin 
 ""235? 
 
 p*jn/a 
 
 b 'a 
 
 isb msta n-nn 
 mbnpab nbna 
 
LECT. XXIV. DIDACTIC POETRY. 209 
 
 : -pap 
 
 n rtbs 
 
 : J-D-I airrna rr 
 ^i^a o^a auiai 
 : OT1D3 in^at 11 Jib 
 
 nn^n 
 
 t B 
 
 ''b b "' 
 (c); na^ "icpia ;ob fitf 
 
OF LYRIC POETRY. 
 
 LECTURE XXV. 
 
 OP THE HEBREW ODE IN GENERAL J AND FIRST OF THAT CLASS, THE 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF WHICH ARE SWEETNESS AND ELEGANCE. 
 
 Lyric poetry originated from the most jocund and pleasing affections of the human mind The 
 most ancient species of poetry, and almost coeval with human nature itself Particularly 
 cultivated by the Hebrews The manner, introduced by David, of singing their odes, highly 
 magnificent The general character of this species of poetry: its principal distinctions 
 w The first character of the ode, sweetness What passions and affections it is intended to 
 express : examples from the Psalms The cxxxiiid Psalm in Latin verse. 
 
 THOSE compositions which were intended for music, whether 
 vocal alone, or accompanied with instruments, obtained among the 
 Hebrews the appellation of *f ty, among the Greeks that of ydy ; and 
 both these words have exactly the same power and signification. 
 The Hebrew word, as well as the Greek, appears in course of time 
 to have been appropriated to denote a particular form and species of 
 poetry, with this difference, however, that it is occasionally used with 
 greater latitude. 
 
 The ode is in its nature sufficiently expressive of its origin. It 
 was the offspring of the most vivid, and the most agreeable passions 
 of the mind, of love, joy, and admiration. If we consider man on 
 his first creation, such as the sacred writings represent him ; in per- 
 fect possession of reason and speech ; neither ignorant of his own 
 nor of the divine nature, but fully conscious of the goodness, majes- 
 ty, and power of God ; not an unobservant spectator of the beauti- 
 ful fabric of the universe ; is it not probable, that on the contempla- 
 tion of these objects, his heart would glow with gratitude and love ? 
 And is it not probable, that the effect of such an emotion would be 
 an effusion of praise to his great Creator, accompanied with a suita- 
 ble energy and exaltation of voice ? Such indeed were the sensations 
 experienced by the author of that most beautiful Psalm, in which the 
 
LECT. XXV. LYRIC POETRY. 211 
 
 whole creation is invited to celebrate the glory of the most high 
 God: 
 
 " Laudate lehovam coelites ; 
 
 " Laudate eum in excelsis ; 
 
 " Laudate eura omnes angeli eius ; 
 
 " Laudate eum omnes eius exercitus." 1 
 
 This hymn is, therefore, most elegantly imitated, and put into the 
 mouth of Adam by our countryman Milton, 2 who is justly accounted 
 the next in sublimity to those poets, who wrote under the influence 
 of divine inspiration. Indeed we scarcely seem to conceive rightly 
 of that original and perfect state of man, unless we assign him some 
 of the aids of harmony and poetical expression, to enable him to tes- 
 tify in terms becoming the dignity of the subject, his devout affec- 
 tions towards his infinite Creator. 
 
 Without carrying our researches, however, to objects so remote 
 .from human information, if we appeal only to the common testimo- 
 ny of history, we shall find that, among every people not utterly 
 barbarous, the use of music and poetry in the celebration of their 
 religious mysteries, has prevailed from the first periods of society. 
 Of all that sacred melody, which Plato informs us was sometimes estab- 
 lished by the solemn sanction of legal authority, 3 he assigns the first 
 rank to that which assumed the form of addresses to the Deity, and 
 was distinguished by the appellation of Hymns. In all the Latin 
 poetry, there is nothing that can boast equal antiquity with the Sa- 
 lian poems of Num'a, composed by that wise and learned monarch 
 on the first institution of his religious rites, and sung by the Salii, 
 whom Dionysius styles " the chorus of the gods of war," 4 with sol- 
 emn dancing and other religious ceremonies. There is scarcely 
 any necessity to mention, that the most ancient of all poems extant 
 (those I mean of which the date is ascertained, and which deserve 
 the name of poems) is the thanksgiving ode of Moses on passing 
 the Red Sea, the most perfect in its kind, and the true and genuine 
 effusion of the joyful affections. Thus the origin of the ode may be 
 traced into that of the poetry itself, and appears to be coeval with 
 the commencement of religion, or more properly the creation of 
 man. (A) 
 
 The Hebrews cultivated this kind of poetry above every other > 
 and therefore may well be supposed to have been peculiarly excel- 
 
 1 Ps. cxlviii. 2 Paradise Lost, Lib. v. 
 
 3 De Legibus, iii. 4 Antiq. Rom. ii. 70. 
 
212 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXV. 
 
 lent in it. It was usual in every period of that nation to celebrate 
 in songs of joy their gratitude to God, their Saviour, for every for- 
 tunate event, and particularly for success in war. Hence the tri- 
 umphal odes of Moses, of Deborah, of David. The schools of the 
 prophets were also, in all probability, coeval with the republic ; and 
 were certainly antecedent to the monarchy by many years : there, as 
 we have already seen, the youth, educated in the prophetic disci- 
 pline, applied themselves, among other studies, particularly to sacred 
 poetry, and celebrated the praises of Almighty God in lyric compo- 
 sitions, accompanied with music. Under the government of David, 
 however, the arts of music and poetry were in their most flourishing 
 state. By him no less than four thousand singers or musicians were 
 appointed from among the Levites, under two hundred and eighty- 
 eight principal singers, or leaders of the band, and distributed into 
 twenty-four companies, who officiated weekly by rotation in the tem- 
 ple, and whose whole business was to perform the sacred hymns ; 
 the one part chanting or singing, and the other playing upon differ- 
 ent instruments. The chief of these were Asaph, Heman, and Idu- 
 thun, who also, as we may presume from the titles of the Psalms, 
 were composers of Hymns. 5 From so very splendid an establish- 
 ment, so far surpassing every other appointment of the kind, some 
 reasonable conjectures may be formed concerning the original digni- 
 ty and grandeur of the Hebrew ode. We must remember, too, that 
 we at present possess only some ruins, as it were, of that magnifi- 
 cent fabric, deprived of every ornament, except that splendour and 
 elegance, which, notwithstanding the obscurity that antiquity has 
 cast over them, still shine forth in the sentiments and language. 
 Hence, in treating of the Hebrew ode, we must be content to omit 
 entirely what relates to the sacred music, and the nature of the in- 
 struments which accompanied the vocal performance ; though there 
 is the utmost probability, that these circumstances were not without 
 their influence, as far as respects the form and construction of the 
 different species of ode. Our information upon these subjects is, in- 
 deed, so very scanty, that I esteem it safer to be silent altogether con- 
 cerning them, than to imitate the example of some of the learned, 
 who, after saying much, have, in fact, said nothing. I shall therefore 
 proceed to a brief inquiry into the general nature and properties of this 
 species of poetry ; and after that, we shall be better qualified to judge 
 
 5 1 CHRON. xxiii. xxv. 1 7. See also 2 CHRON. xxix. 30. 
 
 
LECT. XXV. LYRIC POETRV. 
 
 of those specimens which have been transmitted to us by the He- 
 brew writers. 
 
 Of all the different forms of poetical composition, there is none 
 more agreeable, harmonious, elegant, diversified, and sublime, than 
 the ode ; and these qualities are displayed in the order, sentiments, 
 imagery, diction, and versification. The principal beauty of an ode 
 consists in the order and arrangement of the subject ; but this ex- 
 cellence, while it is easily felt, is difficult to be described, for there is 
 this peculiarity attending it, that the form of the ode is by no means 
 confined to any certain rule for the exact and accurate distribution 
 of the parts. It is lively and unconstrained : when the subject is 
 sublime, it is impetuous, bold, and sometimes might almost deserve 
 the epithet licentious as to symmetry and method : but even in this 
 case, and uniformly in every other, a certain facility and ease must 
 pervade the whole, which may afford at least the appearance of un- 
 affected elegance, and seem to prefer nature to art. This appear- 
 ance is best preserved by an exordium plain, simple, and expressive ; 
 by a display and detail of incidents and sentiments rising delicately 
 and artfully from each other, yet without any appearance of art ; and 
 by a conclusion not pointed or epigrammatic, but finishing by a gen- 
 tle turn of the sentiment in a part where it is least expected, and 
 sometimes as it were by chance. Thus it is not the metre or versi- 
 fication which constitutes this species of composition ; for unless all 
 these circumstances be adverted to, it is plain that whatever be the 
 merit of the production, it cannot with any propriety be termed an 
 ode. Many of the odes of Horace are entirely in this form, as well 
 as almost all of those few which our countryman Hannes has left be- 
 hind him. There are two lyric poems in the Sylvse of Papinius Sta- 
 tius, 6 of which the versification is full, sonorous, and flowing ; the 
 sentiments elegant ; the diction, if not highly polished, yet ardent 
 and glowing ; on the whole, however, the form, the grace, the ex- 
 press manner of the ode is wanting. 
 
 The sentiments and imagery must be suitable to the nature of 
 the subject and the composition, which is varied and unconfined by 
 strict rule or method. On familiar subjects they will be sprightly, 
 florid, and agreeable ; on sublime topics, solemn, bold, and vivid ; on 
 every subject, highly elegant, expressive, and diversified. Imagery 
 from natural objects is peculiarly adapted to the ode ; historical 
 
 6 Lib. iv. Sylv. 5 and 
 
214 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXV. 
 
 common-places may also be admitted, as well as descriptions lively 
 but short, and (when it rises to any uncommon strain of sublimity) 
 frequent personifications. The diction must be choice and elegant, 
 it must be also luminous, clear, and animated ; it must possess some 
 elegancies peculiar to itself, and be as distinct from the common lan- 
 guage of poetry, as the form and fashion of the production is from 
 the general cast of poetical composition. In this that happiness of 
 expression, for which Horace is so justly celebrated, wholly consists. 
 A sweetness and variety in the versification is indispensable, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the language, or as the infinite diversity of sub- 
 jects may require. 
 
 It is much to be lamented, that in treating of the Hebrew ode, 
 we must of necessity be silent concerning the numbers or versifica- 
 tion, which (though we are almost totally ignorant of its nature and 
 principles) we have the utmost reason to suppose was accommodat- 
 ed to the music, and agreeable to the genius of the language. In 
 every other respect, as the force and elegance of the language, the 
 beauty and dignity of the sentiments and imagery, the different 
 graces and excellencies of order and arrangement, I shall not hesi- 
 tate to prefer the Hebrew writers to the lyric poets of every other na- 
 tion. But lest we should dubiously wander in so extensive a field, 
 it will be proper to prescribe some kind of limit to our course, which 
 may be conveniently done, by distributing all the diversities of this 
 species of composition into three general classes. Of the first class 
 the general characteristic will be sweetness, of the last sublimity ; 
 and between these we may introduce one of a middle nature, as par- 
 taking of the properties of both. The qualities which may be ac- 
 counted common to all the three classes, are variety and elegance. (B) 
 
 Although the lyric poetry of the Hebrews is always occupied up- 
 on serious subjects, nor ever descends to that levity which is admit- 
 ted into that of other nations, the character of sweetness is by no 
 means inconsistent with it. The sweetness of the Hebrew ode con- 
 sists in the gentle and tender passions which it excites ; in the gay 
 and florid imagery, and in the chaste and unostentatious diction, 
 which it employs. The passions which it generally affects, are those 
 of love, tenderness, hope, cheerfulness, and pensive sorrow. In the 
 sixty-third Psalm the royal prophet, supposed to be then an exile in 
 the wilderness, expresses most elegantly the sentiments of tender- 
 ness and love. The voice of grief and complaint is tempered with 
 the consolations of hope in the eightieth Psalm : and the ninety-sec- 
 
LECT. XXV. LYRIC POETRY. 215 
 
 ond consists wholly of joy, which is not less sincere, because it is 
 not excessive. The sweetness of all these in composition, senti- 
 ment, diction, and arrangement, has never been equalled by the fin- 
 est productions of all the heathen Muses and Graces united. Though 
 none of the above are deficient in imagery, I must confess I have 
 never met with any image so truly pleasing and delightful as the fol- 
 lowing description of the Deity in the character of a shepherd : 
 
 " lehova est pastor rneus, nihil mihi deerit : 
 
 " In pascuis herbidis ut recubem faciet ; 
 
 " Propter aquas leniter fluentes me deducet. " 7 (c) 
 
 How graceful and animated is that rich and flourishing picture of 
 nature, which is exhibited in the sixty-fifth Psalm ! when the proph- 
 et, with a fertility of expression correspondent to the subject, praises 
 the beneficence of the Deity in watering the earth and making it 
 fruitful. On a sublime subject also, but still one of the gay and a- 
 greeable kind, I mean the inauguration of Solomon, which is cele- 
 brated in the seventy-second Psalm, there is such variety and beau- 
 ty of imagery, such a splendour of diction, such elegance in the com- 
 position, that I believe it will be impossible in the whole compass of 
 literature, sacred or profane, to find such an union of sublimity with 
 sweetness and grace. 
 
 These few select examples of the elegant and beautiful in lyric 
 composition, I have pointed out for your more attentive considera- 
 tion ; and I am of opinion, that in all the treasures of the Muses you 
 will seek in vain for models more perfect. I will add one other 
 specimen, which, if I am not mistaken, is expressive of the true lyric 
 form and character ; and compresses in a small compass all the mer- 
 its and elegance incidental to that species of composition. It is, if 
 I may be allowed to use the expression of a very polite writer, 
 
 mSaxo? t iSQfjg oliyr] lifiaq, aXQov aorrov.8 
 
 The Psalmist contemplating the harmony which pervaded the sol- 
 emn assembly of the people, at the celebration of one of their festi- 
 vals, expresses himself, nearly as follows : 
 
 O dulce iucundumque ! tribulium 
 
 Coetu in frequent! mutua caritas ! 
 
 O corda qui fraterna nodo 
 
 lungit amor metuente solvi ! 
 Non aura Nardi suavior occupat 
 Sensus, quae Aronis vertice de sacro 
 
 7 PSALM xxiii. 1. 9 CALLIMACH. Hymn, in Apoll. v. 112. 
 
 c- 
 
 
LYRIC POETRY. LECT. XXV. 
 
 Per ora, per barbam, per ipsas, 
 
 Lenta fluens, it odora vestes : 
 Non rore largo laetior irrigat 
 Hermona florentem aetherius liquor ; 
 Sanctaeque foecundat Sionis 
 Uberibus iuga celsa guttis, 
 Praesens benigno numine quas fovet 
 lehova sedes ; alma ubi Faustitas 
 Testatur, aeternumque magni 
 Dia salus domini favorem.(D) 
 
LECTURE XXTI. 
 
 THE INTERMEDIATE OR MIXED STYLE OF THE HEBREW ODE. 
 
 The lyric poetry of the intermediate or mixed style consists of an union of sweetness and sub- 
 limity The ninety-first and eighty-first Psalms explained and critically illustrated Of the 
 digressions of the Hebrew poets, also of Pindar ; not upon the same principle A criticism 
 upon the seventy-seventh Psalm The nineteenth Psalm in Latin verse. 
 
 HAVING dismissed the subject of the more beautiful species of 
 ode, in order to proceed by proper stages to what I deem the sum- 
 mit of excellence and sublimity in the lyric poetry of the Hebrews, 
 it will be necessary to rest a while, and to bestow some little atten- 
 tion upon that middle style of composition, to which I adverted as 
 constituting one of the grand divisions of this order of poems. This 
 again may be considered as admitting of a subdivision, as including 
 both those lyric compositions, in which sweetness and sublimity are 
 so uniformly blended, that every part of the poem may be said to 
 partake equally of both ; and those, in which these qualities sepa- 
 rately occur in such a manner, that the complexion of the poem is 
 altogether changeable and diversified. Of each species I shall en 
 deavour to produce an example or two. * 
 
 The subject of the ninety-first Psalm is the security, the success, 
 and the rewards of piety. The exordium exhibits the pious man 
 placing all his dependence upon Almighty God : 
 
 " Qui habitat in secrete altissimi ; 
 
 " Qui in umbram omnipotentis sese receptat : 
 
 " Qui dicit lehovae, spes mea et propugnaculum meum ! 
 
 " Deus meus, in quo confidam :" 
 
 And immediately leaving the sentence unfinished, he apostrophizes 
 to the same person, whom he had been describing : 
 
 " Ille profecto te eripiet, 
 
 " E laqueo venatoris, e peste exitiali." 
 
 The imagery that follows is beautiful and diversified, and at the 
 same time uncommonly solemn and sublime : 
 
 " Pennis suis te proteget ; 
 " Sub alis eius tutus eris : 
 
 I 
 
218 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVI. 
 
 " Erit tibi pro parma et clypeo eius veritas. 
 
 " Non metues a terrore nocturne ; 
 
 " A sagitta volitante interdiu : 
 
 " A peste in tenebris incedente ; 
 
 " Ab excidio vastante per meridiem. 
 
 " Cadent a late tuo mille ; 
 
 " Et a dextra tua decem millia : 
 
 " Ad te minime pertinget." 
 
 How excellent also are the succeeding images, the guard of angels, 
 the treading under foot the fiercest and most formidable animals ; 
 and afterwards that sudden but easy and elegant change of the 
 persons ! 
 
 " Quoniam mihi adhaesit, ideo eum eruam ; 
 
 " Exaltabo eum, quia nomen meum agnovit." 
 
 If any reader will carefully weigh and consider the nature and digni- 
 ty of this imagery, having due respect at the same time to the prin- 
 ciples of the mystical allegory, I am persuaded he will agree with 
 me, that something of a mystical design is concealed under the lite- 
 ral meaning of this Psalm. Without a question, the pious person, 
 the king, or high priest perhaps, who in the literal sense is the prin- 
 cipal character of the poem, is meant in reality to represent some 
 greater and sublimer personage. 1 But leaving this part of the sub- 
 ject to the investigation of the divine, I submit it to any critic of 
 true taste and discernment, whether the third ode of the fourth book 
 of Horace (the beauty of which has been justly celebrated, and 
 which bears a great resemblance to that under our consideration) is 
 #ot greatly excelled by the sacred poet, as well in grace and ele- 
 gance, as in force and dignity. (A) 
 
 The eighty-first Psalm will serve as another example upon this 
 occasion, being pervaded by an exquisite union of sublimity and 
 sweetness. It is an ode composed for the feast of trumpets in the 
 first new moon of the civil year. 2 The exordium contains an exhor- 
 tation to celebrate the praises of the Almighty with music and song, 
 and (as is frequent in these productions of the Hebrews) is replete 
 with animation and joy, even to exultation : 
 " Clangite Deo robori nostro ; 
 " Laetum clamorem tollite Deo lacobi :" 
 
 The different instruments of music are named, as is common in the 
 Jyric compositions of all other nations : 
 
 1 The LXX. CHALD. VULG. SYR. ARAB. JTHJOP. prefix the name of David 
 to this Psalm. The Jews suppose it to relate to the Messiah. See also MATT. 
 iv. 6, LUKE iv. 10, 11. 
 
 2 See RELAND. Antiq. Heb. iv. 7. 
 
LECT. XXVI. LYRIC POETRY. 219 
 
 " EfFerte psalterium, adhibete tympanum, 
 
 " Cytharam amoenam cum nablio :" 
 
 The trumpet is particularly alluded to, because the solemn use of it 
 on their great festivals was prescribed by the Mosaic law. The 
 commemoration of the giving of the law, associated with the sound 
 of the trumpet (which was the signal of liberty) 3 introduces, in a 
 manner spontaneously, the miseries of the Egyptian bondage, the re- 
 covery of their freedom, and the communication with God upon 
 mount Sinai, (the awfulness of which is expressed in a very few 
 words, " the secret place of thunder,") and finally the contention 
 with their Creator at the waters of Meribah. The mention of Meri- 
 bah introduces another idea, namely, the ingratitude and contuma- 
 cy of the Israelites, who appear to have been ever unmindful of the 
 favours and indulgence of their heavenly Benefactor. The remain- 
 der of the ode, therefore, contains an affectionate expostulation of 
 God with his people, a confirmation of his former promises, and a 
 tender complaint that his favourable intentions towards them have 
 been so long prevented by their disobedience. Thus the object and 
 end of this poem appears to be an exhortation to obedience from the 
 consideration of the paternal love, the beneficence, and the promises 
 of the Deity ; and we have seen with how much art, elegance, varie- 
 ty, and ingenuity, this is accomplished. In order to complete the 
 beauty of this composition, the conclusion is replete with all the 
 graces of sentiment, imagery, and diction. The sudden and fre- 
 quent change of persons is remarkable ; but it is by no means harsh 
 or obscure. Some allowance is however to be made for the Hebrew 
 idiom, as well as for the state of the author's mind : he is not under 
 the influence of art but of nature ; through the impetuosity of pas- 
 sion, therefore, his transitions are frequent from figure and allusion 
 to plain language, and back again, with a kind of desultory in- 
 constancy. 
 
 In the last Lecture I treated in general of the disposition and ar- 
 rangement of lyric composition, and endeavoured, in some degree, 
 to define its usual symmetry and outline. But on abstruse and dif- 
 ficult subjects, example is of more avail than the utmost accuracy of 
 description. To him, therefore, who wishes to form a correct idea 
 of this kind of poem, I will venture to recommend the Psalm which 
 we have just examined ; not doubting, that if he can make himself 
 master of its general character, genius, and arrangement, he will feel 
 perfectly satisfied concerning the nature and form of a perfect ode. 
 
 3 See LEV. xxiii. 24. NUM. xxix. 1. and LEV. xxv. 9, 10. 
 
220 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVI. 
 
 In both these specimens, the style and cadence of the whole 
 poem flow in one equal and uniform tenour ; but there are others, 
 which are more changeable and diversified, more unequal both in 
 style and sentiment. These, although they occasionally incline to 
 the character of sweetness, and occasionally to that of sublimity, 
 may nevertheless (though upon a different principle) be properly 
 classed among the odes of this intermediate style. Such are those 
 which, from a mild and gentle exordium, rise gradually to sublimity, 
 both in the subject and sentiments ; such also are those, which com- 
 mence in a mournful strain, and conclude with exultation and tri- 
 umph. Such, in fine, are all those in which the style or matter is 
 in any respect diversified and unequal. This inequality of style is 
 perfectly consistent with the nature of lyric composition ; for variety 
 is one of the greatest ornaments, if not essentials, of the ode. Since, 
 therefore, for the sake of variety, lyric writers in particular are in- 
 dulged in the liberty of frequent digressions ; that boldness in thus 
 diverging from the subject is not only excusable, but on many occa- 
 sions is really worthy of commendation. Possibly a brief inquiry in- 
 to the nature of those liberties which the Hebrew poets have allowed 
 themselves in this respect, or rather into the general method and 
 principles of their lyric compositions, will not be thought altogether 
 unseasonable in this place. 
 
 By far the greater part of the lyric poetry of the Hebrews, is oc- 
 cupied wholly in the celebration of the power and goodness of Al- 
 mighty God, in extolling his kindness and betteficence to his chosen 
 people, and in imploring his assistance and favour in time of adversi- 
 ty : in other words, the usual subjects of these odes are so connect- 
 ed with every part of the sacred history, as to afford ample scope 
 for those digressions which are most pleasing, and most congenial to 
 this species of composition. Thus, whether the theme be gay or 
 mournful ; whether the events which they celebrate be prosperous 
 or adverse ; whether they return thanks to God their deliverer for 
 assistance in trouble, or with the humility of suppliants acknowledge 
 the justice of the divine correction ; the memory of former times 
 spontaneously occurs, and a variety of incidents and circumstances, 
 of times, of seasons, of countries, of nations, all the miracles in 
 Egypt, in the wilderness, in Judea, are presented to their recollec- 
 tion : and all these so naturally connect with the subject, that what- 
 ever of ornament is deduced from them, so far from appearing for- 
 eign to it, seems rather an essential part of the principal matter. It 
 
LECT. XXVI. LYRIC POETRY. 221 
 
 may, therefore, be with modesty asserted of the Hebrew ode, that 
 from the nature of the subjects, which it usually embraces, it is pos- 
 sessed of so easy an access to some of the most elegant sources of 
 poetical imagery, and has consequently so many opportunities for 
 agreeable digression ; that with unbounded freedom and uncommon 
 variety, are united the most perfect order, and the most pleasing 
 uniformity. 
 
 The happy boldness of Pindar in his digressions is deservedly 
 celebrated ; but as he was very differently situated from those poets, 
 who are at present under our consideration, so the nature of his sub- 
 ject, and the principles of his composition, are altogether different 
 from theirs ; and a different reason is to be assigned for the liberties 
 which he assumed in his lyric productions. We are in no want of 
 materials to enable us to form a perfect judgement of the genius of 
 Pindar ; there are about forty of his odes remaining, and the subject 
 of them all is exactly similar. They are all composed in celebra- 
 tion of some victorious chief, whose praise is heightened and illus- 
 trated by the circumstances of his birth, ancestry, manners, or coun- 
 try. Since, therefore, this poet was professedly the herald of the 
 Olympic conquerors, unless he had determined to assume great lib- 
 erty in treating of those topics, and even on some occasions to have 
 recourse to topics very foreign to the principal subject, his poems 
 must have been little better than a stale and disgusting repetition. 
 His apology, therefore, is necessity, and on this ground he has ob- 
 tained not only pard^b but commendation ; and many things, which 
 in another poet could neither be defended nor probably endured, in 
 Pindar have been approved and extolled. Lest I should seem to as- 
 sert rashly on this occasion, I will explain myself by an example. 
 The third of the Pythian odes is inscribed to Hiero, at that time la- 
 bouring under a grievous and chronical disease. The poet taking 
 advantage of the opportunity to impart a degree of variety to his 
 poem, introduces it with a solemn address, invoking the medical aid 
 of Chiron or Esculapius, if it be possible for them to revisit the 
 earth. But surely, on such an occasion, it would be excusable in na 
 writer but Pindar to expend more than one hundred verses, that is, 
 above half the poem, on the history of Esculapius. Nor indeed 
 could we easily pardon it in Pindar himself, but from the considera- 
 tion that he had already written an ode (the fourth) in praise of the 
 same Hiero, upon a victory obtained in the Olympic games. But 
 we are willing to excuse the boldness of a poet, who, even with a 
 
222 LYRIC POETRY. LECT, XXVI. 
 
 degree of rash impetuosity, escapes from such narrow limits into a 
 more spacious field. It is, therefore, no discommendation of the 
 Hebrew poets to say, that in this respect they are materially different 
 from Pindar ; nor does it detract from the merit of Pindar to assert, 
 that, from the more favourable circumstances of the Hebrews, their 
 lyric poetry is more genuine and perfect. (B) 
 
 The seventy -seventh Psalm will afford some illustration of what 
 has been remarked concerning the nature and economy of the He- 
 brew ode. This Psalm is composed in what I call the intermediate 
 style, and is of that diversified and unequal kind which ascends from 
 a cool and temperate exordium to a high degree of sublimity. The 
 prophet, oppressed with a heavy weight of affliction, displays the ex- 
 treme dejection and perturbation of his soul, and most elegantly and 
 pathetically describes the conflicts and internal contests to which he 
 is subjected, before he is enabled to rise from the depths of woe to 
 any degree of hope or confidence. In the character of a suppliant 
 he first pours forth his earnest prayers to the God of his hope : 
 
 " Vox mea ad Deum fertur, et usque inclamo ; 
 
 " Vox mea ad Deum, ut me exaudiat :'' 
 
 But even prayers afford him no sufficient consolation. He next en- 
 deavours to mitigate his sorrow by the remembrance of former times; 
 but this, on the contrary, only seems to exaggerate his sufferings, by 
 the comparison of his present adversity with his former happiness, 
 and extorts from him the following pathetic expostulation : 
 
 " Num in perpetuum reiiciet me Deus, 
 " Nee amplius se placabilem praebebit ? 
 " Num periit in aeternum eius dementia ; 
 " Defecit promissio in omnes aetates ? 
 " Num oblitus est misereri Deus ? 
 " An cohibuit in ira misericordias suas ?" 
 
 Again, recollecting the nature of the divine dispensations in chas- 
 tising man, " the change of the right hand of the Most High ;" in 
 other words, the different methods by which the Almighty seeks the 
 salvation of his people, appearing frequently to frown upon and per- 
 secute those " in whom he delighteth :" reconsidering also the vast 
 series of mercies which he had bestowed upon his chosen people ; 
 the miracles which he had wrought in their favour, in a word, the 
 goodness, the holiness, the power of the great Ruler of the universe ; 
 with all the ardour of gratitude and affection, he bursts forth into a 
 strain of praise and exultation. In this passage we are at a loss 
 Avhich to admire most, the ease and grace with which the di- 
 
LECT. XXVI. LYRIC POETRY. 223 
 
 gresssion is made, the choice of the incidents, the magnificence of 
 the imagery, or the force and elegance of the diction. 
 
 " O Deus ! sancta omnino sunt consilia tua : 
 
 " Quis Deus cum Deo majestate comparandus ? 
 
 " Tu es Deus ille faciens rairabilia; 
 
 " Notum fecisti in populis robur tuum. 
 
 " Vindicasti brachio populura tuum, 
 
 " lacobi et losephi posteros. 
 
 " Viderunt te aquae, O Deus ! 
 
 " Viderunt te aquae, contremuerunt; 
 
 " Etiam turbatae sunt Abyssi. 
 
 " Exundaverunt aquis nubes ; 
 
 " Fragorem edidit aether ; 
 
 " Turn vero sagittae tuae discurrerunt : 
 
 " Vox tonitrus tui in turbine ; 
 
 " Illuxerunt orbi fulmina ; 
 
 " Fremuit et commota esttellus." 
 
 The other example, to which I shall refer you on this occasion, 
 is composed upon quite a different plan ; for it declines gradually 
 from an exordium uncommonly splendid and sublime, to a gentler 
 and more moderate strain, to the softest expressions of piety and de- 
 votion. The whole composition abounds with great variety of both 
 sentiment and imagery. You will, from these circumstances, al- 
 most conjecture that I am alluding to the nineteenth Psalm. The 
 glory of God is demonstrated in his works both of nature and provi- 
 dence. By exhibiting it, however, in an entire state, though ia 
 modern verse, you will more readily perceive the order, method, and 
 arrangement of this beautiful composition. 
 
 PSALM XIX. 
 
 Immensi chorus aetheris, 
 Orbes stelliferi, lucida sidera, 
 
 Laudes concelebrant Dei, 
 Auctorisque canunt artificem manum. 
 
 Dulces excipiunt modos 
 Noctem rite dies, noxque diem prcmens ; 
 
 Alternoque volubiles 
 Concentu variant perpetuum melos. 
 
 Et quanquam levibus rotis 
 Labuntur taciti per liquidum aethera, 
 
 Terrarum tamen ultimos 
 Tractus, alta poli moenia, personat 
 
 Aeterni sacra vox chori, 
 Concordi memorans eloquio Deum. 
 
 Coelorum in penetralibus 
 
224 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVI. 
 
 Soli qui posuit celsa palatia : 
 
 Laetos unde ferens gradus 
 Prodit, ceu thalamo sponsus ab aureo ; 
 
 Fidens viribus ut Gigas, 
 Praescriptum stadii carpit ovans iter. 
 
 Coeli limite ab ultimo 
 Egressus, rediens limitem ad ultimum, 
 
 Emensam relagit viam, 
 Foecundisque fovet cuncta caloribus. 
 
 Non lex sancta Dei minus 
 Languentes animas vi reficit sacra : 
 
 Puri lumine lex Dei 
 Illustrans oculos, et tenebras fugans ; 
 
 Informans animos rudes, 
 Coelestique replens corda scientia ; 
 
 Mentes laetificans pias ; 
 Confirmans stabili pectora gaudio. 
 
 Illam justitia et fides 
 Fixit perpetuam, aeternaque veritas. 
 
 Non illam aequiparat pretio 
 Aurum, iam rutilis purius e focis ; 
 
 Non dulcedine, quae recens 
 Stillant pressa favis mella liquentibus. 
 
 Fida adstat monitrix suis, 
 Et merces eadem magna, clientibus. 
 
 Quis lapsus tamen ah ! suos, 
 Quis secreta sinu crimina perspicit ? 
 
 Adsis, O Deus ! O Pater ! 
 Da caecis veniam, da miseris opera ! 
 
 Errantes cohibe gradus, 
 Effraenemque animi frange superbiam ! 
 
 Solum munere sic tuo 
 Mox insons sceleris, purus ero mali : 
 
 Sic O ! sic placeant tibi 
 Quae supplex meditor, quae loquor, O Deus !(c) 
 
LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 THE SUBLIME STYLE OF THE HEBREW ODE. 
 
 The third species of the Hebrew ode, the characteristic of which is sublimity This sublimity 
 results from three sources From the general form and arrangement of the poem, exemplifi- 
 ed in the fiftieth and twenty-fourth Psalm From the greatness of the sentiments and the 
 force of the language The ode of Moses on passing the Red Sea explained and illustrated 
 The brevity of the Hebrew style The twenty-ninth Psalm in Latin verse. 
 
 SUBLIMITY was mentioned as the characteristic of a third species 
 of the Hebrew ode. But having already treated very copiously of 
 the sublime in general, both as the effect of sentiment and expres- 
 sion, our present investigation must be confined to that which is pe- 
 culiar to this species of poetry. Now the sublimity of lyric composi- 
 tions results either from the plan, the order, and arrangement of the 
 poem ; or from those common sources which I formerly specified, 
 the sentiments and the style ; or, in some cases, from an union of 
 all, when an aggregate perfection is produced from the beauty of the 
 arrangement, the dignity of the sentiments, and the splendour of the 
 diction. I shall endeavour to exhibit a few examples in each kind ; 
 and indeed this subject is every way deserving our attention, since it 
 relates to what may be esteemed the perfection of the Hebrew poet- 
 ry, for its chief commendation is sublimity, and its sublimest species 
 is the ode. 
 
 1 Let us therefore consider, in the first place, what degree of sub- 
 limity the mere form and disposition of a lyric poem can impart to a 
 subject not in itself sublime. We have an example of this in the 
 fiftieth Psalm ; the subject of which is of the didactic kind, and be- 
 longs to the moral part of theology. It is at first serious and practi- 
 cal, with very little of sublimity or splendour : it sets forth, that the 
 divine favour is not to be conciliated by sacrifices, or by any of the 
 external rites and services of religion, but rather by sincere piety, 
 and by the devout effusions of a grateful heart : and yet, that even 
 these will not be accepted without the strictest attention to justice, 
 and every practical virtue. It consists therefore of two parts : in the 
 29 
 
LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVII. 
 
 first the devout, but ignorant and superstitious worshipper is reprov- 
 ed ; and in the second, the hypocritical pretender to virtue and relig- 
 ion. Each part of the subject, if we regard the imagery and the 
 diction only, is treated rather with variety and elegance, than with 
 sublimity ; but if the general effect, if the plot and machinery of the 
 whole be considered, scarcely any thing can appear more truly mag- 
 nificent. The great Author of nature, by a solemn decree, con- 
 vokes the whole human race, to be witness of the judgement which 
 he is about to execute upon his people ; the august tribunal is estab- 
 lished in Sion : 
 
 " Deus Deorum lehova 
 " Locutus est et convocavit terram, 
 " Ab ortu soils ad eius occasum : 
 
 " Ex Sione perfectae pulchritudinis Deus exortus est." 
 The majesty of God is depicted by imagery assumed from the de- 
 scent upon mount Sinai, which, as I formerly observed, is one of the 
 common-places that supply ornaments of this kind ; 
 " Adveniet Deus noster, nee silebit ; 
 " Praecedet eum ignis edax, 
 " Et circumfremet vehemens turbo." 
 
 The heavens and the earth are invoked as witnesses, which is a pom- 
 pous form of expression common with the Hebrew writers : l 
 
 " Advocabit coelos ex alto ; 
 
 " Et terram, ut iudicio contendat cum populo suo." 
 
 At length the Almighty is personally introduced pronouncing his 
 sentence, which constitutes the remainder of the ode ; and the ad- 
 mirable sublimity and splendour of the exordium is continued 
 through the whole. There is in Horace an ode upon a similar sub- 
 ject, 2 and it is not enough to say, that he has treated it in his usual 
 manner, with elegance and variety, for he has done more than could 
 be expected from a person unenlightened by divine truth, he has 
 treated it with piety and solemnity. But that high degree of sub- 
 limity, to which the Psalmist rises upon such occasions, is only to 
 be attained by the Hebrew Muse ; for it is a truth universally ac- 
 knowledged, that no religion whatever, no poetic history, is provid- 
 ed with a store of imagery so striking and so magnificent, so capa- 
 ble of embellishing a scene, which may be justly accounted the most 
 sublime that the human imagination is able to comprehend. 
 
 The next example, which I shall produce, will be found in some 
 
 l Compare DEUT. xxxii. 1. ISA. i. 2. 2 Lib. iii. Od. xxiii, 
 
LECT. XXVII. LYRIC POETRY. 227 
 
 measure different from the former, inasmuch as the subject itself is 
 possessed of the highest dignity and splendour, though still no in- 
 considerable part of the sublimity is to be attributed to the general 
 plan and arrangement of the poem. The induction of the ark of 
 God to mount Sion by David, gave occasion to the twenty-fourth 
 Psalm. 3 The removal of the ark was celebrated in a great assem- 
 bly of the people, and with suitable splendour during every part of 
 the ceremony. The Levites led the procession, accompanied by a 
 great variety of vocal and instrumental music ; and this ode appears 
 to have been sung to the people when they arrived at the summit of 
 the mountain. The exordium is expressive of the supreme and infi- 
 nite dominion of God, arising from the right of creation : 
 
 " lehovae est tellus et plenitude eius ; 
 
 " Orbis, quique eum incolunt : 
 
 " Ille enim supra maria eum fundavit, 
 
 " Et supra flumina eum stabilivit." 
 
 How astonishing the favour and condescension ! how extraordinary 
 the testimony of his love, when he selected from his infinite domin- 
 ion a peculiar seat, and a people for himself! What a copious re- 
 turn of gratitude, of holiness, of righteousness, and of human vir- 
 tues, does such an obligation demand ! " Behold," says Moses, ad- 
 dressing the Israelites, " the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, is 
 JEHOVAH'S, thy God, the earth also, and all that it containeth. Only 
 he had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and their posterity after 
 them, and he chose you above all people, as it is this day." 4 Such 
 is evidently the reasoning of David in the following passage, though 
 the chain of argument is not quite so directly displayed : 
 " Quis ascendet in montem lehovae ; 
 " Et quis stabit in sede eius sanctitatis ? 
 
 ' Immunis manibus, et purus corde ; 
 
 ' Qui in vanis numinibus fiduciam suam non reposuit, 
 
 ' Nee iuravit fallendae fidei consilio. 
 
 i Is reportabit benedictionem a lehova, 
 
 1 Et iustitiam a Deo eius sospitatore. 
 
 ' Talis sit gens, quae ilium quaerit ; 
 
 ' Quae visit faciem Dei lacobi." 
 
 Thus far is expressive, on the one hand, of the infinite goodness and 
 condescension of God to the children of Israel ; and on the other 
 hand, of their indispensable obligation to piety and virtue ; since he 
 had deigned to make their nation the peculiar seat of his miraculous 
 
 3 See 2 SAM. vi. 1 CHRON. xv. 4 DEUT. x. 1416. 
 
228 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVII. 
 
 providence, and to honour them with his actual presence. We may 
 now conceive the procession to have arrived at the gates of the tab- 
 ernacle. While the ark is brought in, the Levites, divided into two 
 choirs, sing alternately the remainder of the psalm. Indeed, it is 
 not impossible that this mode of singing was pursued through every 
 part of the ode ; but towards the conclusion the fact will not admit 
 of a doubt. On the whole, whether we regard the subject, the im- 
 agery, or style of this composition, it will be found to possess a cer- 
 tain simple and unaffected (and therefore admirable) sublimity : 
 
 " Tollite capita vestra, O portae ; 
 
 " Vosque exaltemini, aeternae fores, 
 
 " Et intrabit rex gloriae. 
 
 " Quis est rex ille gloriae ? 
 
 " lehova robustus et potens, 
 
 " lehova potens belli. 
 
 " Tollite capita vestra, O portae ; 
 
 " Vosque exaltemini, aeternae fores, 
 
 " Et intrabit rex gloriae. 
 
 " Quis vero est rex ille gloriae ? 
 
 " lehova armipotens, ille rex est gloriae. "(A) 
 
 You will easily perceive, that the beauty and sublimity observa- 
 ble in this psalm are of such a peculiar kind, as to be perfectly 
 adapted to the subject and the occasion, and to that particular solem- 
 nity for which it was composed. You will perceive, too, that unless 
 we have some respect to these points, the principal force and ele- 
 gance will be lost ; and even the propriety of the sentiments, the 
 splendour of the diction, the beauty and order of the arrangement, 
 will be almost totally obscured. If such be the state of the case in 
 this single instance, it is surely not unreasonable to conclude, that it 
 is not the only one which stands in need of the light of history to cast 
 a splendour on its beauties. It is surely not unreasonable to infer, 
 that much of the harmony, propriety, and elegance of the sacred po- 
 etry, must pass unperceived by us, who can only form distant con- 
 jectures of the general design, but are totally ignorant of the partic- 
 ular application. Thus of necessity much of the delicacy of senti- 
 ment, much of the felicity of allusion, and the force of expression, 
 must, by the hand of time, be cast into shade ; or rather I should 
 say, totally suppressed and extinguished. The attentive reader will, 
 indeed, frequently feel a want of information, concerning the author, 
 the age, and the occasion of a poem ; still more frequently will he 
 find occasion to lament his own ignorance with respect to many 
 facts and circumstances closely connected with the principal subject. 
 
LECT. XXVII. LYRIC POETRY. 229 
 
 and on which, perhaps, its most striking ornaments depend. (B) 
 This we experience in some degree in the admirable poem of Debo- 
 rah ; and this I seem to experience in the sixty -eighth Psalm, though 
 it appears to have some affinity with the subject of that which we 
 have just examined, since it adopts, in the place of an exordium, that 
 well known form of expression which was commonly made use of on 
 the removal of the ark : 5 
 
 " Exsurgat Deus ; dissipentur eius inimici ; 
 
 " Et fugiant a facie eius qui eum oderunt." 
 
 But almost every part of this most noble poem is involved in an im- 
 penetrable darkness. It would otherwise have afforded a singular 
 example of the true sublime ; the scattered rays of which, breaking 
 forth with difficulty through the thick clouds that surround it, we 
 yet behold with a mixture of admiration and pleasure. 
 
 The most perfect example that I know of the other species of the 
 sublime ode, which I pointed out, (that I mean which possesses a 
 sublimity dependant wholly upon the greatness of the conceptions, 
 and the dignity of the language, without any peculiar excellence in 
 the form and arrangement,) is the thanksgiving ode of Moses, com- 
 posed after passing the Red Sea. 6 Through every part of this 
 poem the most perfect plainness and simplicity is maintained ; there 
 is nothing artificial, nothing laboured, either in respect to method or 
 invention. Every part of it breathes the spirit of nature and of pas- 
 sion : joy, admiration, and love, united with piety and devotion, 
 burst forth spontaneously in their native colours. A miracle of the 
 most interesting nature to the Israelites is displayed. The sea di- 
 vides, and the waters are raised into vast heaps on either side, while 
 they pass over ; but their enemies in attempting to pursue, are over- 
 whelmed by the reflux of the waves. These circumstances are all 
 expressed in language suitable to the emotions which they produced, 
 abrupt, fervid, concise, animated, with a frequent repetition of the 
 same sentiments : 
 
 " Cantabo lehovae, quia magnifice sese extulit; 
 
 " Equum equitemque in mare deiecit." 
 
 This constitutes the proem of the ode, and is also repeated occa- 
 sionally by the female part of the band in the manner of a modern 
 chorus, being briefly expresssive of the general subject. The same 
 idea, however, occurs in several parts of the poem, with considera- 
 ble variation in the language and figures : 
 
 5 Compare NUM. x. 35. 6 EXOD. xv. 
 
230 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVII. 
 
 " Pharaonis currus copiasque in mare deiecit, 
 
 " Et in mari rubro demersi sunt electi eius duces. 
 
 " Operuerunt eos abyssi ; 
 
 " Descenderunt in profunda, sicut lapis." 
 And again : 
 
 " Dixerat hostis, persequar, adsequar ; 
 
 " Dividam spolia, exsaturabitur anima mea ; 
 
 " Stringam gladium, exscindet eos manus mea : 
 
 " Spiritu tuo flavisti ; operuit eos mare ; 
 
 " Demersi sunt, ut plumbum in aquis ingentibus.'' 
 
 Nor do even these repetitions satisfy the author : 
 " Quis tui similis inter Deos, lehova ! 
 " Quis tui similis, verendus sanctitate ! 
 " Terribilis laudum, faciens mirabilia ! 
 " Extendisti dextram ; absorbet eos tellus." 
 
 In these examples is displayed all the genuine force of nature and 
 passion, which the efforts of art will emulate in vain. Here we be- 
 hold the passions struggling for vent, labouring with a copiousness 
 of thought and a poverty of expression, and on that very account the 
 more expressly displayed. To take a strict account of the sublimi- 
 ty of this ode, would be to repeat the whole. I will only remark 
 one quality, which is indeed congenial to all the poetry of the He- 
 brews, but in this poem is more than usually predominant, I mean 
 that brevity of diction, which is so conducive to sublimity of style. 
 Diffuse and exuberant expression generally detracts from the force 
 of the sentiment ; as in the human body, excessive corpulency is 
 generally inconsistent with health and vigour. The Hebrews, if we 
 contemplate any of their compositions as a whole, may be deemed 
 full and copious ; but if we consider only the constituent parts of 
 any production, they will be found sparing in words, concise and 
 energetic. They amplify by diversifying, by repeating, and some- 
 times by adding to the subject ; therefore it happens, that it is fre- 
 quently, on the whole, treated rather diffusely ; but still every par- 
 ticular sentence is concise and nervous in itself. Thus it happens 
 in general, that neither copiousness nor vigour is wanting. This 
 brevity of style is in some measure to be attributed to the genius of 
 the language, and in some measure to the nature of the Hebrew 
 verse. The most literal versions therefore commonly fail in this re- 
 spect, and consequently still less is to be expected from any poetical 
 translations or imitations whatever. 
 
 Most of those qualities and perfections, which have been the sub- 
 ject of this disquisition, will be found in a very high degree in the 
 
LECT. XXVII. LYRIC POETRY. 231 
 
 twenty-ninth Psalm. The supreme dominion of God, and the awful- 
 ness of his power, are demonstrated from the tremendous noise, and 
 the astonishing force of the thunder, which the Hebrews, by a bold 
 but very apt figure, denominate " the voice of the Most High." It 
 is enough to say of it, that the sublimity of the matter is perfectly 
 equalled by the unaffected energy of the style. 
 
 PSALM XXIX. 
 
 Regum domino cedite, reges, 
 
 Cedite summi decus imperii. 
 
 Date, quos meruit nomen, honores ; 
 
 Adytis Deum adorate sacratis, t 
 
 Sonat horrendum magna Dei vox ! 
 
 Aethere ab alto Deus intonuit ; 
 
 Aequore vasto superintonuit 
 
 Valida, augusta, decora, Dei vox ! 
 
 Ruit ingenti turbine cedros, 
 
 Ruit umbrosi cedros Libani. 
 
 Quatitur Libanus, subsjlit Hermon ; 
 
 Ut vaga lato bucula eampo, 
 
 Levis in montibus ut saltat oryx. 
 
 Ruptis rutilant nubibus ignes ; 
 
 Deserta tremunt ; tremit alta Cades : 
 
 Sylva gemit ; querceta laborant ; 
 
 Densis nudantur nemora umbris ; 
 
 Subitoque iacent perculsa metu 
 
 Hominum corda, agnoscuntque Deum, 
 
 Deus undantem regit Oceanum ; 
 
 Rex aeterno sedet in solio : 
 
 Populumque Deus sibi dilectum 
 
 Vi^ibus, opibus, pace beabit.(c) 
 
L.ECTURE XXTIII. 
 
 THE SUBLIME STYLE OP THE HEBREW ODE. 
 
 The sublime ode, in which all the constituents of sublimity formerly specified are united The 
 prophetic ode of Moses, Deut. xxxii. The triumphal ode of Deborah ; the prayer of Habak- 
 kuk. The fourteenth chapter of Isaiah in Latin verse. 
 
 BEFORE we conclude this disquisition concerning the lyric poetry 
 of the Hebrews, it will be proper to produce a few specimens of that 
 kind of ode, which derives sublimity from several united causes, from 
 the diction, the sentiments, the form, and conduct of the poem ; and 
 which accumulates, or in a manner condenses and combines, all the 
 beauties and elegancies of this style of composition. The poems to 
 which I shall refer on this occasion, are too well known to require a 
 minute explanation, and indeed almost too noble and perspicuous in 
 themselves to admit of any illustration from criticism ; it will there- 
 fore be sufficient to notice them in general terms, or, at most, briefly 
 to recommend a few passages, which are perhaps so eminently beau- 
 tiful as to deserve particular attention. 
 
 The first instance I shall mention is that prophetic ode of 
 Moses, 1 which contains a justification on the part of God against the 
 Israelites, and an explanation of the nature and design of the divine 
 judgements. The exordium is singularly magnificent ; the plan and 
 conduct of the poem is just, natural, and well accommodated to the 
 subject, for it is almost in the order of an historical narration. It 
 embraces a variety of the sublimest subjects and sentiments, it dis- 
 plays the truth and justice of God, his paternal love, and his unfail- 
 ing tenderness to his chosen people ; and on the other hand, their 
 ungrateful and contumacious spirit. The ardour of the divine in- 
 dignation, and the heavy denunciations of vengeance, are afterwards 
 expressed in a remarkable personification, which is scarcely to be 
 paralleled from all the choicest treasures of the Muses^ The fer- 
 vour of wrath is however tempered with the milder beams of lenity 
 
 1 DEUT. xxxii. 
 
LECT. XXVIII. LYRIC POETRY. 233 
 
 and mercy, and ends at last in promises and consolation. When I 
 formerly treated of elevation of sentiment, of the impulse of the pas- 
 sions, of the force of imagery and diction, I could scarcely have 
 avoided touching upon this poem, and drawing some of my exam- 
 ples from it. 2 Not to repeat these, or accumulate unnecessary mat- 
 ter, I will only add one remark, namely, that the subject and style 
 of this poem bear so exact a resemblance to the prophetic as well as 
 the lyric compositions of the Hebrews, that it unites all the force, 
 energy, and boldness of the latter, with the exquisite variety and 
 grandeur of imagery so peculiar to the former. 3 
 
 Another specimen of the perfectly sublime ode will be found in 
 the triumphal ode of Deborah. 4 This poem consists of three parts : 
 first, the exordium ; next, a recital of the circumstances which pre- 
 ceded, and of those which accompanied the victory ; lastly, a fuller 
 description of the concluding event, the death of Sisera, and the dis- 
 appointed hopes of his mother, which is embellished with all the 
 -choicest flowers of poetry. Of this latter part, I endeavoured to ex- 
 plain at large the principal beauties in a former lecture. About the 
 middle of the poem, it must be confessed, some obscurities occur, 
 and those not of a trivial nature, which impair the beauty of the 
 composition ; and what is worse, I fear they will scarcely admit of 
 elucidation, unless we were possessed of some further historical 
 lights. The exordium deserves a particular examination, as well for 
 its native magnificence and sublimity, as because it will serve more 
 completely to illustrate my remarks concerning the digressions of the 
 Hebrew ode. I observed, that the principal passages in the sacred 
 history, which in general constitute the materials of these digres- 
 sions, are so connected with every subject of sacred poetry, that 
 even in the most eccentric excursions of the imagination, there is 
 little danger of wandering from the main scope and design. The 
 subject of this ode is the triumph of the Israelites over their enemies 
 through the divine assistance, and the establishment of their liberty. 
 At the very opening of the poem this is proposed as the ground-work 
 of it : and after inviting the kings and princes of the neighbouring 
 nations to attend to this miracle of the divine goodness, the author 
 proceeds to celebrate the praise of God, not commencing with the 
 benefit so recently received, but with the prodigies formerly exhibit- 
 ed in Egypt : 
 
 2 See LECT. xv. 3 Jup. T , 4 See Lect. xiii. 
 
 30 
 
234 LYRIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXVIII. 
 
 " O lehova, cum e Seire exires, 
 
 " Cum ex agro Idumaeo procederes ; 
 
 " Terra commota eet, stillaverunt coeli, 
 
 " Stillaverunt aquis nubes ; 
 
 " Fluxerunt montes a facie lehovae, 
 
 " Ipse Sina a facie lehovae Dei Israelis." 
 
 The sudden introduction of such important incidents, breathes the 
 free and fervid spirit of the lyric Muse. There is however no defect 
 in the connexion, nor does any degree of obscurity attend the com- 
 parison which is implied between that stupendous deliverance and 
 the benefit so lately received. (A) 
 
 On the same principle the prayer of Habakkuk is constructed ; 5 
 and is a remarkable instance of that sublimity peculiar to the ode, 
 and which is often the result of a bold but natural digression. The 
 prophet foreseeing the judgement of God, and the impending calam- 
 ities, which were to be inflicted upon his nation by the hands of the 
 Chaldeans, as well as the punishments, which the latter were them- 
 selves to undergo ; partly struck with terror, partly cheered with 
 hope, he beseeches Almighty God to hasten the redemption of his 
 people : 
 
 " lehova, audivi nuntium tuum, extimui ; 
 
 " Opus tuum, O lehova, in medio annorum instaura; 
 
 " In medio annorum notum facias : 
 
 " In iracundia misericordiae reminiscere." 
 
 In this passage, the resemblance between the Babylonish and Egyp- 
 tian captivities naturally presents itself to the mind, as well as the 
 possibility of a similar deliverance through the power and assistance 
 of God. With how much propriety, therefore, might the prophet 
 have continued his supplications to that all-powerful and all-merciful 
 God ; that, as he had formerly wrought so many miracles in favour 
 of his people, he would afford them relief and consolation on the 
 present occasion ; and how efficacious a method would it have been, 
 to confirm the fortitude of every pious person, to remind them, that 
 he who had formerly manifested his infinite power in delivering the 
 Israelites from their great afflictions, might, in proper time, employ 
 the same means to rescue them from their present state of suffering ? 
 He however totally disregards the formality of this method, probably 
 because he supposed all the above ideas would spontaneously occur 
 to the reader ; nor does he labour for access by slow and regular ap- 
 
 5 HABAK. iii. 
 
LECT. XXVIII. LYRIC POETRY. 235 
 
 proaches to the sacred depository of the most splendid materials, but 
 bursts into it at once, and by a sort of unexpected impulse : 
 
 " Deus e Themane prodiit, 
 
 " Et sanctus e monte Paranaeo : 
 
 " Operuit coelos gloria eius, 
 
 " Et splendore eius oppleta est tellus." 
 
 The prophet, indeed, illustrates this subject throughout with equal 
 magnificence ; selecting from such an assemblage of miraculous in- 
 cidents, the most noble and important, displaying them in the most 
 splendid colours, and embellishing them with the sublimest imagery, 
 figures, and diction, the dignity of which is so heightened and re- 
 commended by the superior elegance of the conclusion, that were it 
 not for a few shades, which the hand of time has apparently cast 
 over it in two or three passages, no composition of the kind would, 
 I believe, appear more elegant or more perfect than this poem.(B) 
 
 I will add one remarkable example more of the perfectly sublime 
 ode, which indeed it would be utterly unpardonable to overlook ; I 
 mean, the triumphal song of the Israelites on the destruction of Bab- 
 ylon. It is almost unnecessary to add, that it is in no respect un- 
 worthy of Isaiah, whom I cannot help esteeming the first of poets, 
 as well for elegance as sublimity. Having formerly taken up a con- 
 siderable portion of your time and attention in a minute investigation 
 of its beauties, it is now presented in the modern form of a lyric com- 
 position. 
 
 ISRAELITARVM 
 
 IN 
 
 OCCASVM REGIS REGNIQVE BABYLONICI 
 ODE PROPHETICA. 
 
 ISAIAE CAP. XIV. 4 27. 
 
 Ergo insolentis corruit imperi 
 
 Insana moles ? occidit urbium 
 
 Regina victrix, nee subacto 
 
 Effera iam dominatur orbi ? 
 Fastus tyranni contudit impios 
 Jehova vindex, sceptraque ferrea: 
 Qui verbere baud unquam remisso 
 
 Fregit atrox populos gementes. 
 Nunc ipse diras iure subit vices. 
 Pacata tellus undique gaudio 
 Exultat efiraeni, et solutos 
 Ingeminat sine more cantus. 
 
236 LYRIC POETRY. LECT. XXVIII. 
 
 Secura summis stat Libani in iugis 
 Ridetque Cedrus : Sicne iaces, ferox ! 
 lam nemo saevam, te iacente, 
 
 Per nemorum dabit alta stragera. 
 Te propter imis concita sedibus 
 Nigrantis orci magna fremit domus ; 
 En ! luce defunctos tyrannos, 
 Sceptrigeras soliis ab altis. 
 Excivit umbras, hospitis in novi 
 Occursum euntes. Tene etiam, occupant, 
 Te viribus, te luce cassum 
 
 Conspicimus, similemque nostri, 
 Orbumque fastu ? Non comitum frequens 
 Deducit ordo ; non tuba, non lyrae 
 Concentus : at squalentis orci 
 
 Nox premit, et taciturnus horror : 
 At turba circum plurima vermium 
 Fervet, pererrans membra licentius, 
 Foedumque tabo diffluentes 
 
 Laeta cohors populatur artus. 
 Vt decidisti coelitus, agminis, 
 Hoe, clarum siderei decus ! 
 Vt decidisti, qui domabas 
 
 Victor ovans populos trementes ! 
 Nuper minatus : scandam ego nubila ; 
 jStabo Sionis culmine in arduo 
 Sublimis, et qua spectat arcton 
 
 Arce sacra solium locabo : 
 Subiecta calcabo astra, premens polum, 
 Terramque torquens numine, par Deo. 
 At dura te lethi profundo 
 
 Vis cohibet barathro iacentem. 
 Ac forte quisquam conspicit avio 
 Deforme corpus littore : stat diu 
 Incertus, admo toque pronus 
 Lumine, te propius tuetur. 
 Mox insit ; hie est, quern fuga, quern pavor 
 Praecessit? hie, quern terricolis gravem 
 Strages secuta est, vastitasque : hie 
 
 Attoniti spoliator orbis ? 
 Indigna regum colla gravi iugo et 
 Duris catenis subiicere insolens, 
 Lateque diffusa ruina 
 
 Per laceras equitare gentes ? 
 Reges, tyrannique, et validum ducum 
 Manes superbi, non sine gloria 
 
LECT. XXVIII. LYRIC POETRY. 237 
 
 Conduntur omnes, et reposti 
 
 Sedibus in patriis quiescunt : 
 At te, supremis mortis honoribus, 
 Vili carentem munere pulveris, 
 Inter cadentum turpe vulgus, 
 
 Sordidum et indecorem sepulchris 
 Egere avitis : te, quia patriae 
 Tuisque iniquum ; te, quia gentibus 
 Fatale portentum. Malorum 
 
 Nullus honos cineres sequetur ; 
 Poena immerentes ob patrium scelus 
 Natos manebit. Funditus impiam 
 Delete gentem, ne superbos 
 
 Proroget ulterius triumphos : 
 Namque ipse consurgam, omnipotens ait, 
 Et nomen extinguam Babylonium, 
 Stirpenique,natosque, ultimasque 
 
 Relliquias generis nefandi ; 
 Vrbemque diris alitibus dabo 
 Ferisque habendam : vasta teget palug 
 Demersam, et aeterno profunda 
 
 Obruet exitio vorago. 
 Dixit sacramentum inviolabile 
 lehova : sic stat consilium ; hie tenor 
 Fatique non mutandus ordo, 
 Terminus hie stabilis manebit : 
 
 Frangam superbas montibus in meis 
 Vires tyrannorum ; eripiam truci 
 lugo laborantes, meorumque 
 Ex humeris onus amovebo. 
 lehova dixit : quis dabit irritum ? 
 Gentes in omnes hanc pater en ! manum 
 Extendit : extentam lehovae 
 
 Quis poterit cohibere dextram ?(c) 
 
LECTURE XXIX. 
 
 OP THE IDYLLIUM OP THE HEBREWS. 
 
 Besides those poems which may be strictly termed Odes, the general appellation, which in the 
 Hebrew is equivalent to Canticle or Song, includes another species, called by the Greeks the 
 Idyllium. The reason of this name, and the definition of the poem to which it is appropriat- 
 ed. The historical psalms in general belong properly to this class. The intercalary stanza, 
 and the nature of it. The elegant plan and arrangement of the hundred and seventh Psalm 
 explained: also the ninth chapter of Isaiah, ver. 8, to chap. x. ver 4. This passage a perfect 
 specimen of the Idyllium : other examples of the Idyllium no less perfect as to style and 
 form. The hymn of Cleanthes the Stoic commended. The hundred and thirty-ninth Psalm 
 in Latin verse. 
 
 AMONG those poems which by the Hebrews were adapted to mu- 
 sic, and distinguished by the general appellation tP'VttJ, there are 
 some which differ in their nature from lyric poetry, strictly so call- 
 ed. It will therefore be more regular to class them with those com- 
 positions anciently termed Idylliums, the name and nature of which 
 I shall endeavour to explain. 
 
 Whether we are to attribute the invention of the name to the 
 poets themselves, or to the grammarians who revised their works, is 
 difficult to say ; but we find some of the Greek poems distinguished 
 by the title E'i8r\, which denotes a poem without any certain limita- 
 tion as to form or subject. Even the odes of Pindar retain that ap- 
 pellation. But if there were any upon lighter subjects, or in a more 
 humble strain, indeed in any respect of an inferior kind, and such 
 as could not be classed under any of the common divisions, they 
 were entitled Eidvllia.. Thus the small poems of Theocritus, 
 which consist chiefly of Bucolics, intermingled with others of differ- 
 ent kinds, are called Idylliums. In the same manner the Latins 
 preferred the name of Eclogues, or poems selected from a number 
 of others : and for a contrary and more modest reason, that of SylvcB 
 (or Woods) was given to such verses as were hastily composed, and 
 promiscuously thrown together, such as might afford matter for a 
 more accurate revision or for a similar selection. But although the 
 term Idyllium be a vague and general term, which denotes nothing 
 certain relating to the nature of the poem, it still appears by use and 
 
LECT. XXIX. THE IDYLLIUM. 239 
 
 custom to have obtained a certain and appropriated destination ; and 
 perhaps it may not be improperly defined, a poem of moderate 
 length ; of a uniform, middle style, chiefly distinguished for elegance 
 and sweetness ; regular and clear as to plot, conduct, and arrange- 
 ment. There are many perfect examples of this kind of poem extant 
 in the writings of the Hebrews ; some of which, I presume, it will 
 not be unpleasing singly to point out and explain. 
 
 The first of these poems which attract our notice, are the histori- 
 cal Psalms, in celebration of the power and the other attributes of 
 the Deity, as instanced in the miracles which he performed in favour 
 of his people. One of the principal of these, bearing the name of 
 Asaph, 1 pursues the history of the Israelites from the time of their 
 departure from Egypt to the reign of David, particularizing and il- 
 lustrating all the leading events. The style is simple and uniform, 
 but the structure is poetical, and the sentiments occasionally splen- 
 did. The historical, or rather chronological order, cannot be said 
 to be exactly preserved throughout ; for the minute detail of so pro- 
 tracted a series of events could scarcely fail to tire in a work of im- 
 agination. The Egyptian miracles are introduced in a very happy 
 and elegant digression, and may be considered as forming a kind of 
 episode. The same subject affords materials for two other Psalms, 
 the hundred and fifth, and the hundred and sixth : the one inclu- 
 ding the history of Israel, from the call of Abraham to the Exodus ; 
 the other, from that period to the later ages of the commonwealth : 
 both of them bear a strong resemblance to the seventy-eighth, as 
 well in the subject as in the style (except perhaps that the diction is 
 rather of a more simple cast ;) the mixture of ease and grace, dis- 
 played in the exordium, is the same in all. 
 
 These Psalms, both in plot and conduct, have a surprising anal- 
 ogy to the hymns of the Greeks. Indeed the Greek translators 
 might very properly have given the title of ' TMNOI to the book of 
 Psalms, as that word agrees much more exactly with the Hebrew 
 title to"Wn, than that which they have adopted. This species of 
 poetry was very early in use among the Greeks, and was almost en- 
 tirely appropriated to the celebration of their religious rites. The 
 subjects in general were the origin of the gods, the places of their 
 birth, their achievements, and the other circumstances of their histo- 
 ry. Such are all the poems of this kind now extant in the Greek ; 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxviii. 
 
240 THE IDYLLIUM. LfiCT. XXIX. 
 
 such are the elegant hymns of Calimachus, as well as those which 
 are attributed to Homer. The poem of Theocritus, entitled the 
 jdtoaxovpot, or the praise of Castor and Pollux, is also a genuine 
 hymn, and very elegant in its kind : nor is it improperly classed 
 among the Idylliums, which may be said to include all of this spe- 
 cies. But the true form and character of the hymn is excellently 
 expressed by the two choirs of Salii (or priests of war) in Virgil : 
 
 " qui carmine laudes 
 " Herculeas etfacta ferunt."2 
 
 Those ancient hymns, which are falsely attributed to Orpheus, are 
 more properly initiatory songs ; for they contain " little more than 
 invocations of the gods, which were made use of by those who were 
 initiated in the sacred mysteries of any of the gods." 3 Ovid, who was 
 both an elegant and a learned poet, united the excellencies of both 
 these species of hymns : for the exordium of the hymn to Bacchus 
 contains the invocations of that god, or, in other words, announces 
 solemnly his name and titles ; the remainder celebrates his perfec- 
 tions and achievements. 4 
 
 There is yet another Psalm, which may be enumerated among 
 those of the historical kind, namely, the hundred and thirty-sixth. 
 It celebrates the praises of the Almighty, and proclaims his infinite 
 power and goodness ; beginning with the work of creation, and pro- 
 ceeding to the miracles of the Exodus, the principal of which are re- 
 lated almost in the historical order. The exordium commences with 
 this well known distich : 
 
 " Laudate lehovam, quia bonus, 
 " Quia aeterna est eius benignitas :" 
 
 which, according to Ezra, 5 was commonly sung by alternate choirs. 
 There is, however, one circumstance remarkable attending it, which 
 is, that the latter line of the distich, being added by the second 
 choir, and also subjoined to every verse (which is a singular case) 
 forms a perpetual epode. Hence the whole nature and form of the 
 intercalary verse, (or burthen of the song) may be collected : it ex- 
 presses in a clear, concise, and simple manner, some particular sen- 
 timent, which seems to include virtually the general subject or de- 
 sign of the poem ; and it is thrown in at proper intervals, according 
 to the nature and arrangement of it, for the sake of impressing the 
 
 2 Virg. 2En. viii. 285. 3 Jos. SCALIGER, Annot. in Hymn. Orph- 
 
 4 Metamorph. iv. 11. 5 EZRA iii. 10, 11. 
 
LECT. XXIX. THE IDYLLIUM. 
 
 subject more firmly upon the mind. That the intercalary verse is 
 perfectly congenial to the Idyllium, is evident from the authority of 
 Theocritus, Bion, Moschus, and even of Virgil. I shall add one or 
 two examples from the sacred poetry, which will not lose in a com- 
 parison with the most perfect specimens in this department of poet- 
 ry, which those excellent writers have bequeathed to posterity : and 
 in order to illustrate as well the elegance of the poem in general, as 
 the peculiar force and beauty of the intercalary verse, the order and 
 conduct of the subject must be particularly explained. 
 
 The hundred and seventh Psalm may undoubtedly be enumerat- 
 ed among the most elegant monuments of antiquity ; and it is chief- 
 ly indebted for its elegance to the general plan and conduct of the 
 poem. It celebrates the goodness and mercy of God towards man- 
 kind, as demonstrated in the immediate assistance and comfort which 
 he affords, in the greatest calamities, to those who devoutly implore 
 his aid. In the first place, to those who wander in the desert, and 
 who encounter the horrors of famine ; next, to those who are in bond- 
 age ; to those who are afflicted with disease ; and finally, to those 
 who are tossed about upon the ocean. The prolixity of the argu- 
 ment is occasionally relieved by narration ; and examples are super- 
 added of the divine severity in punishing the wicked, as well as of 
 his benignity to the devout and virtuous ; and both the narrative and 
 preceptive parts are recommended to the earnest contemplation of 
 considerate minds. Thus the whole poem actually divides into five 
 parts nearly equal ; the four first of which conclude with an interca- 
 lary verse, expressive of the subject or design of the hymn : 
 " Laudent lehovam ob eius misericordiam, 
 " Et miracula in hominum gratiam edita." 
 
 This distich also is occasionally diversified, and another sometimes 
 .annexed illustrative of the sentiment : 
 
 " Nam satiavit animara fatiscentem, 
 
 " Anirnamque esurientem implevit bonis." 
 
 " Nam fregit portas aheneas, 
 " Et vectes ferreos discidit :" 
 
 The sentiment of the epode itself is sometimes repeated, only varied 
 by different imagery : 
 
 " Laudent lehovam ob eius misericordiam, 
 " Et miracula in hominum gratiam edita : 
 " Et offerant sacrificia laudis, 
 " Et facta eius laeto cantu enarrent :" 
 31 
 
242 THE IDYLLIUM. LECT. XXIX. 
 
 " Et exaltent eum in coetu populi, 
 
 " Et in concilio seniorum eum celebrent." 
 
 In all these passages, the transition from the contemplation of their 
 calamities, to that of their deliverance, which is made by the perpet- 
 ual repetition of the same distich, is truly elegant : 
 
 " Et invocarunt lehovam in rebus afflictis; 
 
 " Ex eorum angustiis eos liberat." 
 
 This however does not appear in the least to partake of the nature 
 of the intercalary verse. The latter part of the Psalm, which com- 
 prehends a vast variety of matter, concludes with two distichs, ex- 
 pressive of a sentiment, grave, solemn, and practical, and in no re- 
 spect unworthy the rest of the poem. 
 
 There are many other examples to be found in the Psalms ; but 
 it must be confessed, few of them are equal, and none of them supe- 
 rior to this. I shall select another specimen from Isaiah ; and the 
 more willingly, because, in it, as in other passages of the same au- 
 thor, the common division into chapters has greatly obscured that 
 most elegant writer, by absurdly breaking the unity of a very inter- 
 esting poem, and connecting each part with matter which is totally 
 foreign to the subject. If we unite the conclusion of the ninth chap- 
 ter with the beginning of the tenth, we shall find a complete and 
 connected prophecy against the kingdom of Israel or Samaria. 6 It 
 is replete with terror and solemnity, and possesses a degree of force 
 and sublimity to which the Idyllium seldom rises ; though it pre- 
 serves the form of the Idyllium so perfect and express, that it cannot 
 with propriety be referred to any other class. The poem consists of 
 four parts, each of which contains a denunciation of vengeance 
 against the crimes of this rebellious people, vehemently accusing 
 them of some atrocious offence, and distinctly marking out the par- 
 ticular punishment. In the first, the pride and ostentation of the Is- 
 raelites is reproved ; in the second, the obduracy of their spirit, and 
 the general depravation of their morals ; in the third, their auda- 
 cious impiety, which rages like a flame, destroying and laying waste 
 the nation ; and lastly, their iniquity is set forth as demonstrated in 
 their partial administration of justice, and their oppression of the 
 poor. To each of these a specific punishment is annexed ; and a 
 clause, declaratory of a further reserve of the divine vengeance, is 
 
 6 ISA. ix. 8. x. 4. In one MS. a vacant space is left after ISA. x. 4, but, 
 no space of the same kind at the end of chap. ix. In another MS. after chap, 
 x.. 4, a space of one line is interposed. KENNICOTT. 
 
LECT. XXIX. THE IDYLLIUM. 243 
 
 added, which forms the epode, and is admirably calculated to exag- 
 gerate the horror of the prediction : 
 
 " His omnibus nondum conversa est eius indignatio, 
 
 " Sed manus eius adhuc est extenta." 
 
 The examples which I have hitherto produced will, at first view, 
 explain their own nature and kind ; there are, however, others, and 
 probably not a few, (in the book of Psalms particularly) which may 
 equally be accounted of the Idyllium species. I have principally in 
 contemplation those, in which some particular subject is treated in 
 a more copious and regular manner, than is usual in compositions 
 strictly lyric. Such is the hundred and fourth Psalm, which demon- 
 strates the glory of the infinite Creator, from the wisdom, beauty, 
 and variety of his works. The poet embellishes this noble subject 
 with the clearest and most splendid colouring of language ; and with 
 imagery the most magnificent, lively, diversified, and pleasing, at the 
 same time select, and happily adapted to the subject. There is 
 nothing of the kind extant, indeed nothing can be conceived, more 
 perfect than this hymn, whether it be considered with respect to its 
 intrinsic beauties, or as a model of that species of composition. Mi- 
 raculous exertions of the divine power have something in them which 
 at first strikes the inattentive mind with a strong sentiment of sub- 
 limity and awe : but the true subject of praise, the most worthy of 
 God, and the best adapted to impress upon the heart of man a fer- 
 vent and permanent sense of piety, is drawn from the contemplation 
 of his power in the creation of this infinite All, his wisdom in ar- 
 ranging and adorning it, his providence in sustaining, and his mer- 
 cy in the regulation of its minutest parts, and in ordering and direct- 
 ing the affairs of men. The Greek hymns consisted chiefly of fa- 
 bles, and these fables regarded persons and events, which were 
 neither laudable in themselves, nor greatly to be admired ; indeed I 
 do not recollect any that are extant of this sublime nature, except 
 that of the famous Stoic Cleanthes, which is inscribed to Jove, that 
 is to God the Creator, or, as he expresses himself, " to the Eternal 
 Mind, the Creator and Governor of Nature." 7 It is doubtless a most 
 noble monument of ancient wisdom, and replete with truths not less 
 solid than magnificent. For the sentiments of the philosopher con- 
 cerning the divine power, concerning the harmony of nature, and 
 the supreme laws, concerning the folly and unhappiness of wicked 
 men, who are unceasingly subject to the pain and perturbation of a 
 7 See CUDWORTH, Intellect. System, page 432. 
 
244 THE IDYLLIUM. L.ECT. XXIX. 
 
 troubled spirit ; and above all, the ardent supplication for the divine 
 assistance, in order to enable him to celebrate the praises of the om- 
 nipotent Deity in a suitable manner, and in a perpetual strain of 
 praise and adoration ; all of these breathe so true and unaffected a 
 spirit of piety, that they seem in some measure to approach the ex- 
 cellence of the sacred poetry. 
 
 The hymn of David, which I have just mentioned, deservedly 
 occupies the first place in this class of poems ; that which comes 
 nearest to it, as well in the conduct of the poem as in the beauty of 
 the style, is another of the same author. It celebrates the omni- 
 science of the Deity, and the incomparable art and design displayed 
 in the formation of the human body ; if it be excelled (as perhaps it 
 is) by the former in the plan, disposition, and arrangement of the 
 matter, it is however not in the least inferior in the dignity and ele- 
 gance of the figures and imagery : 
 
 PSALM CXXXIX. 
 
 Tu mihi semper ades, tu me omni ex parte patentern 
 Intueris, Deus ! et manifesto in lumine cernis. 
 Tu me, quicquid ago, quoquo vestigia flecto, 
 Usque premis ; seu luce labor, seu alterna silenti 
 Nocte quies redeat : ut pectus et abdita mentis 
 Perspicis introrsum insinuans ; caecoque recessu 
 Exagitas latitantem, arctaque indagine cingis. 
 Tu dubiis vixdum eluctantia dicta labellis 
 Antevenis, primosque animi praeverteris orsus. 
 Quippe manu prensumque tenes ! nudumque, reclusumque, 
 Ante, retro, exploras, mihi me praesentior ipso. 
 
 O Deus ! infinitum atque inscrutabile numen ! 
 Cuncta sciens mens, ipsa incognita ! qua fugiam te, 
 Obtutusque tuos et conscia lumina fallam ? 
 Ascendam coelos ? ibi tu : subeam ima barathri 
 Tartara ? ades : simul haec magno loca numine comples. 
 Auroraene procul rutilas ferar ales in oras ? 
 Occiduine petam fines novus incola ponti ? 
 Hie etiam tua me ducet manus ; hie tua cursum 
 Dextera praeveniet cohibens, reprimetque fugacem. 
 Ergo petam tenebras, et condar nocte sub atra ? 
 Demens, qui tenues umbras, et inania vela, 
 Sancte ! tuis obvertam oculis, densissima cui nox 
 Pellucet, tenebraeque ipsae sunt luminis instar. 
 
 Te Dominum auctoremque colo ; tu hos conditor artue 
 Formasti, et gravida texisti matris in alvo. 
 Obstupeo, et memet laeta formidine lustro, 
 
LECT. XXIX. THE IDYLLIUM. 245 
 
 Divini monumentum operis ! tu corporis omnem 
 Compagem, mersam tenebris et carceris caeco, 
 Perspix'ti ; tua solerti per singula ductu 
 Dextera iit, tua pinxit acus mirabile textum. 
 Ipse nidi invigilans massae, primisque elementis 
 Conscius instabas : iussas orientia formas 
 Membra minutatim induerunt, quocunque vocares 
 Prompta sequi : sua cuique tuis inscripta tabellis 
 Effigies erat, atque operis data norma futuri. 
 
 Ut mi animum sancto permista horrore voluptas 
 Percipit! ut vano iuvat indulgere labori, 
 Dum tua facta, Deus, recolo ; tua mente revolvo 
 Consilia, et numero artificie miracula dextrae ! 
 Promptius expediam, quot volvant aequora fluctus ; 
 Littore vexato quam inultae agitentur arenae. 
 Usque eadem incassum meditanti lumina somnus 
 Opprimit : usque eadem vigilanti cura recursat. 
 
 Non tu sacrileges perdes, Deus ! ite, profani ! 
 Ite procul, scelerum auctores, caedisque ministri ! 
 Non ego, sancte, tuos hostes hostilibus iris 
 Insequar ? en ! bellum tibi bella parantibus ultro 
 Indico; neque do dextram, neque foedera iungo, 
 Tu nunc esto mihi testis ; tu pectoris ima 
 Cerne, Deus ! penitusque altos scrutare recessus. 
 Excute, siqua mihi caecis concreta medullis 
 Haeret adhuc labes, et noxia corda refinge. 
 Turn sceleris purum accipias, mittasque salutis 
 Aeternum per iter, rectoque in tramite ducas. 
 
OF DRAMATIC POETRY. 
 
 L.ECTURE XXX. 
 
 THE SONG OF SOLOMON NOT A REGULAR DRAMA. 
 
 The Platonic division of poetry into the narrative, dramatic, and mixed kinds, of little use ; but 
 deserves to be noticed on this occasion, as leading to an accurate definition of dramatic poe- 
 try, and clearing up the ambiguity in which the term has been involved by the moderns 
 Two species pointed out: the lesser, which possesses only the form of dialogue, without the 
 personal intervention of the poet; and the greater, which contains a plot or fable There are 
 extant some instances of the former in the writings of the Hebrews ; but none of their pro- 
 ductions seem to have the least title to the latter character, two perhaps excepted ; the Song 
 of Solomon, and the Book of Job Inquiry, whether the Song of Solomon contain a complete 
 plot or fable It is anEpithalamium: the characters which are represented in it: the poem 
 founded upon the nuptial rites of the Hebrews The opinion of Bossuet cited and explained; 
 namely, that this poem is a representation of the seven days of festival which succeeded the 
 marriage, and consequently consists of seven parts or divisions This opinion the most fa- 
 vourable of all, to those who account this poem a regular drama : it however does not prove, 
 that it contains a complete plot or fable Definition of a dramatic fable Nothing like it in 
 the Song of Solomon : it is therefore not a perfect drama, but is of the lesser class of dra- 
 matic poems The chorus of virgins bears a great analogy to the chorus of the Greek trage- 
 dies ; but could not serve as a model for them. 
 
 THE ancient critics, following the authority of Plato, 1 have dis- 
 tributed all poetical compositions, according to their form or sub- 
 ject, into three classes, the narrative, the imitative or dramatic, and 
 the mixed. This arrangement is, however, not of much use on the 
 whole ; it neither draws a perfect line of distinction between the 
 different species of poems, nor serves to define or explain the nature 
 and form of any. There is scarcely any species of poem perfectly 
 simple in its nature, scarcely any which does not occasionally unite 
 these different modes of expression. The epic indeed may be said 
 to exhibit almost invariably a narration of the mixed kind ; and the 
 dramatic necessarily assumes the imitative form. But as other 
 poems may adopt freely the mixed narration ; so I do not see any 
 just reason why they should be absolutely prohibited from assuming 
 the dramatic form. Custom, however, we find has so far prevailed, 
 that although the style and manner does not seem necessarily ap- 
 
 1 See PLAT. De Rep. lib, iii. 
 
LECT. XXX. DRAMATIC POETRY. 247 
 
 propriated to any particular subject whatever, the name at least of 
 dramatic has been generally received as distinguishing a particular 
 species of poetry. The present object of inquiry is, therefore, what 
 specimens of this species of composition are extant in the writings 
 of the Hebrews : and in the very first stage of our investigation, 
 some degree of caution will be required, lest the ambiguity of the 
 term, as it has been used by the moderns, should mislead or perplex 
 us. 
 
 The term dramatic poetry, as I before observed, is now restrict- 
 ed to two particular species of composition, tragedy and comedy. 
 It was originally, however, of much more extensive signification ; 
 it regarded simply the external form ; it was properly applied to eve- 
 ry poem composed in dialogue, provided that, throughout the whole, 
 the conversation was carried on by the characters themselves, with- 
 out the intervention of the poet. This mode of composition is ex- 
 emplified in several of the Bucolics of Theocritus and Virgil, and in 
 some of the Satires of Horace, and in two of his Odes. In order, 
 therefore, to examine the subject more accurately, it will be proper 
 to distinguish two species of dramatic poems ; the lesser, in which, 
 by means of dialogue or characters, the manners, passions, and ac- 
 tions of men, are imitated or delineated ; and the greater, which 
 contains, moreover, a plot or fable, that is, the representation of some 
 incident or transaction of life, regular or complete, in which events 
 succeed each other in a connected series, and which after various 
 and interesting vicissitudes is wrought up to a perfect conclusion. 
 This latter species includes both tragedy and comedy ; and as the 
 plot or fable distinguishes them from the inferior species of dramatic 
 poetry, so the perfect form of dialogue serves to draw the line be- 
 tween them and the epic. 
 
 There are abundant examples of the former species of dramatic 
 poetry manifestly extant in the writings of the Hebrews ; and per- 
 haps there are many others, which we have not discovered to be of 
 this kind. (A) The sudden change of persons, when by the vehe- 
 mence of passion the author is led, as it were insensibly, from the 
 narration of an event to the imitation or acting of it, is frequent in 
 the Hebrew poetry ; but sometimes the genuine dramatic, or dia- 
 logue form, is quite apparent, and the passage will admit of no oth- 
 er explanation. The twenty-fourth Psalm is evidently of this kind, 
 relating, as I formerly endeavoured to prove, to the transferring of 
 the ark to mount Sion ; and the whole of the transaction is exhibit- 
 
248 
 
 DRAMATIC POETRY. 
 
 LECT. XXX. 
 
 ed in a theatrical manner, though the dialogue is not fully obvious 
 till towards the conclusion of the poem. That remarkable passage 
 of Isaiah also, deserves notice on this occasion, in which the Messi- 
 ah, coming to vengeance, is introduced conversing with a chorus ai 
 on a theatre : 
 
 GHO. " Quis iste qui venit ab Edomo ? 
 
 ' Tinctis horrendum vestibus a Botsra ? 
 
 " Iste verendus ainictu, 
 
 " Grand! passu incedens pro maxima vi sua ? 
 MES. " Ego iustitiae praedicator, potens salutis. 
 CHO. " Quare rubet amictus tuus ? 
 
 " Et vestes tuae ut calcantis in torculari ? 
 MES. " Torcular calcavi solus ; 
 
 " Et ex populis nemo vir erat mecum : 
 
 " Et calcavi eos in ira mea ; 
 
 " Et protrivi eos in aestu meo : 
 
 " Et respersa est caedes corum in vestes meas, 
 
 " Et omnem amictum meum foedavi. 
 
 " Nam dies ultionis in corde meo est ; 
 
 " Et annus quo meos redimam venit : 
 
 " Et circumspexi, neque erat adiutor ; 
 
 " Et obstupui, neque enim erat sustentator : 
 
 " Turn mihi salutem praestitit brachium meum, 
 
 " Et indignatio mea ipsa me sustentavit. 
 
 " Et conculcavi populos in ira mea, 
 
 " Et in aestu meo ebrios et attonitos reddidi, 
 
 " Et caedem eorum derivavi in terrain." 2 
 
 The hundred and twenty-first Psalm is of the same kind ; and as 
 it is both concise and elegant, I shall quote it at large. The king, 
 apparently going forth to battle, first approaches the ark of God 
 upon mount Sion, and humbly implores the divine assistance, on 
 which alone he professes to rest his confidence : 
 
 " Attollam oculos meos in montes, 
 " Unde venit auxilium meum. 
 " Auxilium meum est a lehova, 
 " Qui fecit coelos et terrain." 
 
 The high priest answers him from the tabernacle : 
 " Non sinet labi pedem tuum ; 
 " Non dorrnitabit, qui te custodit : 
 " Ecce non dormitabit, neque somno succumbet, 
 " Qui custodit Israelem. 
 " lehova te custodiet; 
 
 2 ISA. Ixiii. 
 
LECT. XXX. DRAMATIC POETRY. 249 
 
 " lehova te obumbrabit addexteram. 
 
 " Interdiu sol non te laedet, 
 
 " Neque luna per noctem. 
 
 " lehova te custodiet ab oinni malo ; 
 
 " Custodiet etiam animara tuam. 
 
 " lehova custodiet exitum tuum et introitum, 
 
 " Ex hoc tempore, et usque in saeculum." 
 
 Thus much will suffice for that inferior species of dramatic poe- 
 try, or rather that dramatic form which may be assumed by any 
 species of poem. The more perfect and regular drama, that I mean 
 which consists of a plot or fable, will demand a more elaborate in- 
 vestigation. 
 
 There are only two poems extant among the writings of the 
 Hebrews which can, on the present occasion, at all be brought into 
 question, the Song of Solomon, and the book of Job; both eminent 
 in the highest degree for elegance, sublimity, and I am sorry to add, 
 obscurity also. T^ie almost infinite labours of the learned have 
 left us but little new to say upon this subject ; I shall, however, 
 proceed to inquire, with some degree of minuteness, into the form 
 and structure of each of these poems, and into the reasons which 
 may be alleged in favour of their claim to the appellation of regu- 
 lar dramas. The opinions of other critics shall not pass unregard- 
 ed, if any remarks or even conjectures occur, which may be likely 
 to throw any light upon the present subject, or to explain or illus- 
 trate their principal beauties. 
 
 The Song of Songs (for so it is entitled either on account of the 
 excellence of the subject, or of the composition) is an epithalamium, 
 or nuptial dialogue ; or rather, if we may be allowed to give it a 
 title more agreeable to the genius of the Hebrew, a Song of Loves. 3 
 It is expressive of the utmost fervour as well as the utmost delicacy 
 of passion ; it is instinct with all the spirit and all the sweetness of 
 affection. . The principal characters are Solomon himself and his 
 bride, who are represented speaking both in dialogue, and in solilo- 
 quy when accidentally separated. Virgins also, the companions of 
 the bride, are introduced, who seem to be constantly upon the stage, 
 and bear a part in the dialogue : mention too is made of young men, 
 friends of the bridegroom, but they are mute persons. 4 This is 
 exactly conformable to the manners of the Hebrews, who had always 
 
 3 Such is the title of Ps. xlv. 
 
 4 CANT. v. 1. viii. 13. See iii. 711 
 
 32 
 
250 DRAMATIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXX. 
 
 a number of companions to the bridegroom, thirty of whom were 
 present in honour of Samson, at his nuptial feast. 5 In the New 
 Testament, according to the Hebrew idiom, they are callejl " chil- 
 dren (or sons) of the bride-chamber," and " friends of the bride- 
 groom ;" there too we find mention of ten virgins, who went forth 
 to meet the bridegroom, and conduct him home : 6 which circum- 
 stances, I think, indicate that this poem is founded upon the nuptial 
 rites of the Hebrews, and is expressive of the forms or ceremonial 
 of their marriages. In this opinion, indeed, the harmony of com- 
 mentators is riot less remarkable, than their disagreement concern- 
 ing the general economy and conduct of the work, and the order 
 and arrangement of the several parts. The present object of inqui- 
 ry, however, is only whether any plot or fable be contained or re- 
 presented in this poem ; and upon this point, the most probable 
 opinion is that of the celebrated Bossuet, 7 a critic, whose profound 
 learning will ever be acknowledged, and a scholar whose exquisite 
 taste will ever be admired. I shall endeavour, as briefly as possible, 
 to explain his sentiments concerning the form and conduct of this 
 poem, whence we shall probably be enabled to decide in some meas- 
 ure concerning the equity of its claim to the title of a regular drama. 
 It is agreed on all parts, that the nuptial feast, as well as every 
 other solemn rite among the Hebrews, was hebdomadal. 8 Of this 
 circumstance M. Bossuet has availed himself in the analyzation of 
 the poem, and he accordingly divides the whole into seven parts, 
 corresponding to the seven days of its supposed duration. The vi- 
 cissitudes of day and night are marked with some degree of distinct- 
 ness ; he therefore makes use of these as indexes, to point to the 
 true division of the parts. The nuptial banquet being concluded, 
 the bride is led in the evening to her future husband ; and here 
 commences the nuptial week ; for the Hebrews, in their account of 
 time, begin always at the evening. 9 The bridegroom, who is repre- 
 sented in the character of a shepherd, goes forth early in the morn- 
 ing to the accustomed occupations of a rural and pastoral life ; the 
 bride presently awaking, and impatient of his absence, breaks out 
 into a soliloquy full of tenderness and anxiety, and this incident 
 forms the exordium of the poem. The early departure of the bride- 
 
 5 JtiD. xiv. 11. 6 JOHN iii. 29. MATT. ix. 15. LIGHTFOOT on MATT. ibid. 
 
 7 See BOSSUET, Prsef. et Comment, in CANT. 
 
 8 See GEN. xxix. 27. JUD. xiv. 12. See GEN. i. 5, etc. 
 
LECT. XXX. DRAMATIC POETRY. 251 
 
 groom seems to be according to custom ; hence that precaution so 
 frequently and so anxiously repeated, not to disturb his beloved : 
 
 " Obtestor vos, Solymitides, 
 " Per capreolas, perque cervas agrestes, 
 " Ne excitetis, neve expergefaciatis, 
 " Dilectissimam, donee ipsa velit." 10 
 
 Nor less frequent is the following exclamation of the virgins : 
 " Quaenara est Ilia, quae ascendit e deserto ? 
 " Quaenam est Ilia, quae prospectat, ut aurora?" 11 
 
 In these terms they seem to greet the bride when she first comes out 
 of her chamber : and these several expressions have some allusion 
 to the early time of the morning. The night is also sometimes men- 
 tioned in direct terms, and sometimes it is indirectly denoted by 
 circumstances. 12 If therefore any reader, admitting these indica- 
 tions of time, will carefully attend to them, he cannot, I think, but 
 perceive, that the whole of the work consists of seven parts or divis- 
 ions, each of which occupies the space of a day. 13 The same crit- 
 ic adds, that he can discover the last day to be clearly distinguished 
 as the Sabbath ; for the bridegroom does not then, as usual, go 
 forth to his rural employments, but proceeds from the marriage 
 chamber into public with his bride. 14 Such are the sentiments of 
 this learned person ; to which I am inclined to accede, not as abso- 
 lute demonstration, but as a very ingenious and probable conjecture 
 upon an extremely obscure subject : I follow them therefore as a 
 glimmering of light, which beams forth in the midst of darkness, 
 where it would be almost unreasonable to hope for any clearer illu- 
 mination. 
 
 This opinion is the most favourable of all to those who account 
 the Song of Solomon a regular drama ; for this arrangement seems 
 to display, in some measure, the order and method of a theatrical 
 
 10 Chap. ii. 7. iii. 5. viii. 4. H Chap. iii. 6. viii. 5. vi. 10. 
 
 12 Chap. iii. 1. v. 2. ii. 6. viii. 3. 
 
 13 The following is the distribution of the work according to BOSSUET : 
 
 1st Day : Chap, i, ii. 6. 
 
 2d : Chap. ii. 7, 17. 
 
 3d : Chap. iii. v. 1. 
 
 4th : Chap. v. 2, vi. 9. 
 
 5th : Chap. vi. 10, vii. 11. 
 
 6th : Chap. vii. 12, viii. 3. 
 
 7th : Chap. viii. 4, 14. 
 
 14 Chap. viii. 5. 
 
DRAMATIC POETRY. L.ECT. XXX. 
 
 representation. But if they make use of the term dramatic accor- 
 ding to the common acceptation of the word, this poem must be 
 supposed to contain a fable, or entire and perfect plot or action, of 
 a moderate extent, in which the incidents are all connected, and 
 proceed regularly from one another, and which, after several vicissi- 
 tudes, is brought to a perfect conclusion. But certainly the bare 
 representation of a nuptial festival cannot in any respect answer to 
 this definition. We are, it is true, very imperfectly instructed in 
 the particular rites and ceremonies of the Hebrew marriages; but 
 we have no reason to suppose, that in their common and usual form 
 they were possessed of such variety and vicissitude of fortunes and 
 events, as to afford materials for a regular plot or fable. The whole 
 was one even tenour of joy and festivity. An unexpected incident 
 might indeed sometimes occur to interrupt the usual order, and to 
 produce such a change of fortune, as might afford a basis for a dra- 
 matic story ; and if any such incident is to be found in the poem at 
 present under our consideration, it will establish its claim to that 
 appellation. But the truth is, the keenest inspection of criticism 
 can, throughout the whole, discover no such incident or circum- 
 stance ; the state of affairs is uniformly the same from the begin- 
 ning to the end ; a few light fluctuations of passion excepted, such 
 as the anxiety of absence, and the amenity and happiness which 
 the lovers enjoy in each other's presence. The bride laments the ab- 
 sence of her beloved ; 15 she seeks, she finds him, she brings him 
 home ; again he is lost, she* seeks him again, but with different suc- 
 cess ; she complains, languishes, indites messages to be delivered 
 to him, she indulges her passion in a full and animated description 
 of his person. All this, however, bears no resemblance to a regular 
 plot, nor affords the piece any fairer title to the appellation of a per- 
 fect drama, than the dramatic Eclogues of Theocritus and Virgil, 
 in which the loves, the amusements, and the emulations of shep- 
 herds are depicted, and which no critic has ever classed with the 
 regular fables of Euripides and Terence. Thus far therefore we 
 may safely admit, that the Song of Solomon possesses indeed the 
 dramatic form, and therefore belongs properly to that inferior spe- 
 cies, which was mentioned in the former part of this lecture ; but 
 that it cannot, upon any fair grounds of reason, be accounted a reg- 
 ular drama. 
 
 !5 Chap. iii. and v. 
 
LECT. XXX. DRAMATIC POETRY. 253 
 
 There is however one circumstance in which this poem bears a 
 very near affinity to the Greek drama : the chorus of virgins seems 
 in every respect congenial to the tragic chorus of the Greeks. 
 They are constantly present, and prepared to fulfil all the duties of 
 advice and consolation : they converse frequently with the principal 
 characters , they are questioned by them, and they return answers 
 to their inquiries ; they take part in the whole buisness of the poem, 
 and I do not find that upon any occasion they quit the scene. Some 
 of the learned have conjectured, that Theocritus, who was contem- 
 porary with the seventy Greek translators of the Scriptures, and liv- 
 ed with them in the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus, was not unac- 
 quainted with the beauties of this poem, and that he has almost liter- 
 ally introduced some passages from it into his elegant Idylliums. 16 
 It might also be suspected, that the Greek tragedians were indebt- 
 ed for their chorus to this poem of Solomon, were not the probabili- 
 ties on the other side much greater, that the Greeks were made ac- 
 quainted with it at too late a period ; and were it not evident, that 
 the chorus of the Greeks had a very different origin ; were it not ev- 
 ident indeed that the chorus was not added to the fable, but the fa- 
 ble to the chorus. (B) 
 
 16 Compare CANT. i.4. vi. 10, with THEOC. xviii. 30.26; CANT. iv. 11, with 
 THEOC. xx. 26 ; CANT. viii. 6. 7, with THEOC. xxiii. 2326. 
 
LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT AND STYLE OF SOLOMON'S SONG. 
 
 The question debated, whether the Song of Solomon is to be taken in a literal or allegorical 
 sense : the allegorical sense defended upon the grounds of the parabolic style. The nature 
 and ground-work of this allegory explained. The fastidiousness of those critics reproved, 
 who pretend to take offence at the freedom of some of those images which are found in the 
 Sacred Writings; the nature of those images explained. The allegorical interpretation con- 
 firmed by analogical arguments : not equally demonstrable from the internal structure of the 
 work itself. This allegory of the third or mystical species; the subject literally relating to 
 the nuptials of Solomon. Two cautions to be observed by commentators. The style of the 
 poem pastoral: the characters are represented as pastoral: how agreeable this to the man- 
 ners of the Hebrews. The elegance of the topics, descriptions, comparisons of this poem : 
 illustrated by examples. 
 
 HAVING, in my last Lecture, briefly explained what appeared to 
 me most probable, among the great variety of opinions which have 
 prevailed, concerning the conduct and economy of the Song of Sol- 
 omon, a question next presents itself for our investigation, not less 
 involved in doubt and obscurity, I mean the real nature and subject 
 of the poem. Some are of opinion, that it is to be taken altogether 
 in a literal sense, and others esteem it wholly allegorical. There is no 
 less disagreement also among those who consider it as allegorical ; 
 some conceive it to be no more than a simple allegory, while others 
 place it in that class which I have denominated mystical, that, 
 namely, which is founded upon the basis of history. I would glad- 
 ly, from the first, have considered this question as foreign to my un- 
 dertaking, and would have avoided it as involved in the deepest ob- 
 scurity, had I not, in the former part of these Lectures, been under 
 the necessity of remarking the connexion between the different kinds 
 of allegory and the principles of the sacred poetry ; had I not also 
 found it necessary to advert to all the peculiarities of the parabolic 
 style, the most obvious property of which is to express by certain 
 images, chiefly adopted from natural objects, the analogy and appli- 
 cation of which is regularly preserved, those ideas and doctrines 
 which are more remote from common apprehension. This I cannot 
 
LECT. XXXI. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 255 
 
 help considering as a matter of the utmost importance, in enabling 
 us to understand properly the poetry of the Hebrews ; and upon this 
 point much of the present argument will be found to depend. 
 
 I shall on this, as well as upon the last occasion, proceed with 
 that cautious reserve which I think prudent and necessary on so ob- 
 scure a subject ; and since certainty is not to be obtained, I shall 
 content myself with proposing to your consideration what appears 
 least improbable. In the first place then I confess, that by several 
 reasons, by the general authority and consent of both the Jewish and 
 Christian churches ; and still more, by the nature and analogy of 
 the parabolic style, I feel irresistibly inclined to that side of the ques- 
 tion which considers this poem as an entire allegory. Those, in- 
 deed, who have considered it in a different light, and who have ob- 
 jected against the inconsistency and meanness of the imagery, seem 
 to be but little acquainted with the genius of the parabolic diction : 
 for the removal, therefore, of these difficulties, which I find have 
 been the cause of offence to many persons, I shall beg leave to tres- 
 pass upon your attention, while I explain somewhat more accurately 
 the nature of this allegory, and its analogy with other productions of 
 the Hebrew poets. 
 
 The narrowness and imbecility of the human mind being such 
 as scarcely to comprehend or attain a clear idea of any part of the 
 Divine Nature by its utmost exertions, God has condescended, in a 
 manner, to contract the infinity of his glory, and to exhibit it to our 
 understandings under such imagery as our feeble optics are capable 
 of contemplating. Thus the Almighty may be said to descend, as it 
 were, in the Holy Scriptures, from the height of his majesty, to ap- 
 pear on earth in a human shape, with human senses and affections, 
 in all respects resembling a mortal " with human voice and human 
 form." This kind of allegory is called anthropopathy, and occupies 
 a considerable portion of theology, properly so called, that is, as de- 
 livered in the Holy Scriptures. The principal part of this imagery 
 is derived from the passions ; nor indeed is there any one affection 
 or emotion of the human soul which is not, with all its circumstanc- 
 es, ascribed in direct terms, without any qualification whatever, to 
 the supreme God ; not excepting those in which human frailty and 
 imperfection is most evidently displayed, anger and grief, hatred and 
 revenge. That love also, and that of the tenderest kind, should 
 bear a part in this drama, is highly natural and perfectly consistent. 
 Thus, not only the fondness of paternal affection is attributed to 
 
256 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. L.ECT. XXXI. 
 
 God, but also the force, the ardour, and the solicitude of conjugal 
 attachment, with all the concomitant emotions, the anxiety, the 
 tenderness, the jealousy incidental to this passion. 
 
 After all, this figure is not in the least productive of obscurity ; 
 the nature of it is better understood than that of most others : and 
 although it be exhibited in a variety of lights, it constantly preserves 
 its native perspicuity. A peculiar people, of the posterity of Abra- 
 ham, was selected by God from among the nations, and he ratified 
 his choice by a solemn covenant. This covenant was founded upon 
 reciprocal conditions ; on the one part love, protection, and support ; 
 on the other, faith, obedience, and worship pure and devout. This 
 is that conjugal union between God and his church ; that solemn 
 compact so frequently celebrated by almost all the sacred writers un- 
 der this image. It is indeed a remarkable instance of that species 
 of metaphor which Aristotle calls analogical j 1 that is, when in a 
 proposition consisting of four ideas, the first bears the same relation 
 to the second as the third does to the fourth, and the corresponding 
 words may occasionally change their places without any injury to 
 the sense. Thus in this form of expression God is supposed to bear 
 exactly the same relation to the church as a husband to a wife ; 
 God is represented as the spouse of the church, and the church as 
 the betrothed of God. Thus also, when the same figure is maintain- 
 ed with a different mode of expression, and connected with different 
 circumstances, the relation is still the same : thus the piety of the 
 people, their impiety, their idolatry, and rejection, stand in the same 
 relation with respect to the sacred covenant ; as chastity, modesty, 
 immodesty, adultery, divorce, with respect to the marriage contract. 
 And this notion is so very familiar and well understood in Scripture, 
 that the word adultery (or whoredom) is commonly used to denote--^ 
 idolatrous worship, and so appropriated does it appear to this meta- 
 phorical purpose, that it very seldom occurs in its proper and literal 
 sense. 
 
 Let us only observe how freely the sacred poets employ this 
 image, how they dwell upon it, in how many different forms they in- 
 troduce it, and how little they seem to fear exhibiting it with all its 
 circumstances. Concerning the reconciliation of the church to Al- 
 mighty God, and its restoration to the divine favour, amongst many 
 images of a similar nature, the elegant Isaiah introduces the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 1 POET. xxii. and RHET. iii. 3. 
 
LECT. XXXI. THE SONG OP SOLOMON. J^*$r o? 
 
 " Nam Maritus tibi erit Creator tuus fm- $ 
 
 " Nomen ei lehova exercituum : 
 
 " Et redemptor tuus sanctus Israelis ; ^^^J Jl 
 
 " Deus universae terrae vocabitur." 2 
 
 And in another passage in the form of a comparison : 
 
 " Nam ut luvenis uxorem ducit virginem, 
 " Ita te uxorem ducet conditor tuus : 
 " Et ut sponsus in sponsa gaudet, 
 " Ita in te gaudebit Deus tuus."3(x) 
 
 The same image a little diversified, and with greater freedom of ex- 
 pression, as better adapted to the display of indignation, is introduc- 
 ed by Jeremiah, when he declaims against the defection of the Jews 
 from the worship of the true God. 4 Upon the same principle the 
 former part of the prophecy of Hosea ought also to be explained ; 
 and whether that part of the prophecy be taken in the literal and 
 historical sense, or whether it be esteemed altogether allegorical, 
 still the nature and principles of this figure, which seems consecrat- 
 ed in some measure to this subject, will evidently appear. None of 
 the prophets, however, have applied the image with so much bold- 
 ness and freedom as Ezekiel, an author of a most fervid imagina- 
 tion, who is little studious of elegance, or cautious of offending ; in- 
 somuch, that I am under some apprehension of his incurring no in- 
 considerable share of censure from those over-delicate critics who 
 have been emitted from the Gallic schools. (B) His great freedom in 
 the use of this image is particularly displayed in two parables, in 
 which he describes the ingratitude of the Jews and Israelites to 
 their great Protector, and their defection from the true worship, un- 
 der imagery assumed from the character of an adulterous wife, and 
 the meretricious loves of two unchaste women. 5 If these parables 
 (which are put into the mouth of God himself, with a direct allego- 
 rical application, and in which it must be confessed, that delicacy 
 does not appear to be particularly studied) be well considered, I am 
 persuaded, that the Song of Solomon (which is in every part chaste 
 and elegant) will not appear unworthy of the divine sense in which 
 it is usually taken, either in matter or style, or in any degree inferi- 
 or either in gravity or purity to the other remains of the sacred 
 poets. To these instances I may add the forty-fifth Psalm, which is 
 a sacred epithalamium, of the allegorical application of which, to the 
 
 2 ISA. liv. 5. 3 See JOHN iii. 29. 4 J ER . iii. i } e tc. 
 
 5EZKK. xvi. andxxiii. 
 
 33 
 
258 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. L.ECT. XXXT. 
 
 union between God and the church, I do not find that any doubt has 
 hitherto been entertained ; though many suspect it, and not without 
 good reason, ter have been produced upon the same occasion, and 
 with the same relation to a real fact, as the Song of Solomon. Nei- 
 ther ought we to omit, that the writers of the New Testament have 
 freely admitted the same image in the same allegorical sense with 
 their predecessors, and have finally consecrated it by their au- 
 thority. 6 
 
 These reasons appear to me sufficient to remove those objections 
 founded on the meanness of the imagery, which render many critics 
 averse to the allegorical explanation of this poem. I shall not at- 
 tempt to confirm this opinion by any internal evidence from the 
 poem itself, as I do not scruple to confess myself deterred by the 
 great difficulty of the undertaking. For though induced by the most 
 ancient authority, and still more by the analogy of this with other 
 similar allegories contained in the Hebrew writings, I am fully per- 
 suacjed of the truth of what I have advanced ; yet I am still appre- 
 hensive, that it would be extremely difficult to establish the hypothe- 
 sis by direct arguments from the internal structure of the work 
 itself.(c) 
 
 But if, after all, it be allowed that this work is of the allegorical 
 kind, another question remains, namely, to which of the three clas- 
 ses of allegory already specified, it properly belongs. The first of 
 these, you will recollect, was the continued metaphor ; the second 
 the parable, strictly so called ; and the third, the mystical allegory, 
 which, under the veil of some historical fact, conceals a meaning 
 more sacred and sublime. I must confess, that I am clearly of the 
 same opinion with those who assign this production to the latter 
 class of allegories ; the reason of which will be evident, if it be ad- 
 mitted that there is any thing in the poem at all allegorical ; since 
 there can scarcely be any doubt that it relates in a literal sense to 
 the nuptials of Solomon. Those also who are conversant with the 
 writings of the Hebrew poets, will easily perceive how agreeable the 
 conduct of this poem is to the practice of those writers, who are fond 
 of annexing a secret and solemn sense to the obvious meaning of 
 their compositions, and of looking through the medium of human af- 
 fairs to those which are celestial and divine. The subject of the 
 
 6 See MATT. ix. 15, JOHN iii. 29, 2 COR. xi. 2, EPH. v. 23, etc. REV. xix. 
 7, xxi. 2, xxii. 17. 
 
LECT. XXXI. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 259 
 
 Canticles appears to be the marriage feast of Solomon (who was 
 both in name and in reality the prince of peace ;) his bride is also 
 called Solomitis, 1 the same name with a feminine termination ; 
 though the later Jews have strangely disguised and obscured it by 
 a vicious pronunciation : for Solomon and Solomitis have evidently 
 the same relation to each other, as the Latin names Caius and Caia. 
 This circumstance of the names was not to be disregarded, since 
 they seem to have a very strict connexion, and to afford a very dis- 
 tinct intimation of the latent meaning : for to what purpose inno- 
 vate the usual practice of the Hebrews, by assigning to the wife of 
 Solomon the same name, unless from a regard to the force and mean- 
 ing of the word ? Unless it was meant to indicate, that the name of 
 Solomon himself was not without importance, not without some fur- 
 ther aim than merely the distinction of the person 1 Who this wife 
 of Solomon was, is not clearly ascertained : but some of the learned 
 have conjectured, with an appearance of probability, that she was 
 the daughter of Pharaoh, to whom Solomon was known to be par- 
 ticularly attached. May we not, therefore, with some shadow of rea- 
 son, suspect, that under the allegory of Solomon choosing a wife 
 from the Egyptians, might be darkly typified that other Prince of 
 Peace, who was to espouse a church, chosen from among the Gentiles? 
 Concerning the explanation of this allegory, I will only add, 
 that, in the first place, we ought to be cautious of carrying the fig- 
 urative application too far, and of entering into a precise explication 
 of every particular : as these minute investigations are seldom con- 
 ducted with sufficient prudence not to offend the serious part of 
 mankind, learned as well as unlearned. Again, I would advise, 
 that this production be treated according to the established rules of 
 this kind of allegory, fully and expressly delivered in the Sacred Writ- 
 ings, and that the author be permitted to be his own interpreter. In 
 this respect, the errors of critics and divines have been as numerous 
 as they have been pernicious. 8 Not to mention other absurdities, 
 they have taken the allegory, not as denoting the universal state of 
 the church, but the spiritual state of individuals ; than which, noth- 
 ing can be more inconsistent with the very nature and ground-work 
 of the allegory itself, as well as with the general practice of the 
 brew poets on these occasions. 
 
 7 r^te^ie, HteVtJ which maybe expressed in Greek JSWoucw, S 
 CANT. viii. 1. 
 
 8 BERNARD, DURHAM. SANCTIUS. BOSSUET. and others. 
 
260 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. L.ECT. XXXI. 
 
 It remains to offer a few remarks upon the style of this poem. 
 I formerly intimated that it was of the pastoral kind ; since the two 
 principal personages are represented in the character of shepherds. 9 
 This circumstance is by no means incongruous to the manners of 
 the Hebrews, whose principal occupation consisted in the care of 
 cattle ; 10 nor did they consider this employment as beneath the dig- 
 nity of the highest characters. Least of all, could it be supposed in- 
 consistent with the character of Solomon, whose father was raised 
 from the sheep-fold to the throne of Israel. The pastoral life is not 
 only most delightful in itself, but, from the particular circumstances 
 and manners of the Hebrews, is possessed of a kind of dignity. In 
 this poem it is adorned with all the choicest colouring of language, 
 with all the elegance and variety of the most select imagery. 
 " Every part of the Canticles," says a modern writer, " abounds in 
 poetical beauties ; the objects, which present themselves on every 
 side, are the choicest plants, the most beautiful flowers, the most 
 delicious fruits, the bloom and vigour of spring, the sweet verdure of 
 the fields, flourishing and well-watered gardens, pleasant streams, 
 and perennial fountains. The other senses are represented as re- 
 galed with the most precious odours, natural and artificial ; with the 
 sweet singing of birds, and the soft voice of the turtle ; with milk 
 and honey, and the choicest of wine. To these enchantments are 
 added all that is beautiful and graceful in the human form, the en- 
 dearments, the caresses, the delicacy of love ; if any object be in- 
 troduced which seems not to harmonize with this delightful scene, 
 such as the awful prospect of tremendous precipices, the wildness 
 of the mountains, or the haunts of the lions ; its effect is only to 
 heighten by the contrast the beauty of the other objects, and to add 
 the charms of variety to those of grace and elegance." 11 In the 
 following passage the force and splendour of description is united 
 with all the softness and tenderness of passion : 
 
 " Surge, age, deliciae meae ! 
 
 " Formosa mea, et veni ! 
 
 " Ecce enim Hyems praeteriit ; 
 
 " Pluvia tempestas transiit, abiit : 
 
 " Apparent humi flosculi ; 
 
 " Tempus adest cantus avium ; 
 
 " Et vox turturis in terra nostra auditur. 
 
 9 See chap. i. 7, 8. 10 See GEN. xlvi. 3334. 
 
 U BOSSUET, Preface to the Canticles. 
 
LECT. XXXI. THE SONG OF SOLOMON. 261 
 
 " Ficus dulci succo condivit fructus suos, 
 " Et vineae florescentes odorem difFundunt. 
 " Surge, age, deliciae meae ! 
 " Formosa mea, et veni !"12 
 
 The following comparisons abound in sweetness and delicacy : 
 " Quam iucundi sunt araores tui, o soror mea, o sponsa ! 
 " Quanto dulciores amores tui vino, 
 " Et odor unguentorum tuorum omnibus aromatis ! 
 " Labia tua, o sponsa, sunt favi stillantes ; 
 " Mel et lac sub lingua tua ; 
 " Et odor vestium tuarum, sicut odor Libani." 13 
 
 There are some others which demand a more accurate investigation. 
 
 " Capilli tui sicut grex caprarum, 
 " E monte Galaado emicantium." 14 
 
 The hair of the goats was soft, smooth, of a yellow cast, like that of 
 the bride ; 15 her beautiful tresses are compared with the numerous 
 flocks of goats which covered this flourishing mountain from the top 
 to the bottom. 
 
 " Dentes tui sicut grex ovium praecise aequalium, 
 
 " Quae e lavacro ascendunt : 
 
 " Omnes inter se gemellae, 
 
 " Neque est ulla pari suo orba." 
 
 The evenness, whiteness, and unbroken order of the teeth, is ad- 
 mirably expressed. 
 
 " Labella tua sicut filum coccineum ; 
 
 " Et decorus sermo tuus." 
 
 That is, thin and ruby-coloured, such as add peculiar graces to the 
 sweetness of the voice. 
 
 " Genae tuae, sicut sectio mali punici, 
 
 " Cincinnis tuis intermicantes." 
 
 Partly obscured, as it were, by her hair, and exhibiting a gentle 
 blush of red from beneath the delicate shade, as the seeds of the 
 pomegranate (the colour of which is white tinged with red) sur- 
 rounded by the rind. 
 
 " Collum tuum, sicut turris Davidis, 
 
 " In pinnas extructa ; 
 
 " In qua pendent mille clypei, 
 
 " Arma virorum fortium." 
 
 The neck is described as long, erect, slender, according to the 
 
 12 Chap. ii. 1013. 13 Chap. iv. 10, 11. l 4 Chap. iv. 16. 
 
 15 See chap. vii. 5, and compare 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16 with xvi. 12. Consult 
 BOCHART, Hieroz. part i. lib. ii. 51. 
 
262 THE SONG OF SOLOMON. L.ECT. XXXI. 
 
 nicest proportion ; decorated with gold, gems, and large pearls. It 
 is compared with some turret of the citadel of Sion, more lofty than 
 the rest, remarkable for its elegance, and not less illustrious for its 
 architecture than for the trophies with which it was adorned, being 
 hung round with shields and other implements of war. 
 
 " Duae mamillae tuae, sicut duo hinrmlei, 
 " Gemelli capreolae, 
 " Pascentes inter lilia." 
 
 Delicate and smooth, standing equally prominent from the ivory 
 bosom. The animal with which they are compared is an animal of 
 exquisite beauty, and from that circumstance it derives its name in 
 the Hebrew. Nothing can, I think, be imagined more truly elegant 
 and poetical than all these passages, nothing more apt or expressive, 
 than these comparisons. The discovery of these excellencies, how- 
 ever, only serves to increase our regret for the many beauties which 
 we have lost, the perhaps superior graces, which extreme antiquity 
 seems to have overcast with an impenetrable shade. (D) 
 
LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 OF THE POEM OF JOB. 
 
 In order to criticise the book of Job with any degree of satisfaction to his auditors, the critic 
 must explain his own sentiments concerning the work in general The book of Job a singu- 
 lar composition, and has little or no connexion with the affairs of the Hebrews The seat of 
 the history is Iduroaea ; and the characters are evidently Idumsean,of the family of Abraham: 
 the author appears to be an Iduinsfian, who spoke the Hebrew as his vernacular tongue Nei- 
 ther Elihu nor Moses, rather Job himself, or some contemporary This appears to be the 
 oldest book extant : founded upon true history, and contains no allegory Although extreme* 
 Jy obscure, still the general subject and design are sufficiently evident A short and general 
 analysis of the whole work; in which the obscurer passages are brought as little as possible 
 in question The deductions from this disquisition 1. The subject of the controversy be- 
 tween Job and his friends 2. The subject of the whole poem 3. Its end or purpose All 
 questions not necessarily appertaining to this point, to be avoided. 
 
 SUCH a diversity of opinions has prevailed in the learned world 
 concerning the nature and design of the poem of Job, that the only 
 point in which commentators seem to agree, is the extreme obscuri- 
 ty of the subject. To engage, therefore, in an undertaking on which 
 so much erudition has been expended, to tread the same paths which 
 so many have already traversed in vain, may seem to require some 
 apology for the temerity, not to say the presumption, of the attempt. 
 Though I might allege, that the authority of the most learned men 
 is lessened in some measure by the discordance of their opinions ; 
 and that therefore the failure of others is the more readily to be ex- 
 cused. I will, however, make use of no such defence, but will en- 
 trench myself rather in the necessity and in the nature of my pres- 
 ent undertaking. I pretend not to any new discoveries ; I presume 
 not to determine the subtile controversies of the learned ; I scarcely 
 venture to indulge a hope of being able to illustrate any obscurities. 
 My sole intention is to collect, from such passages as appear the least 
 intricate, the most probable conjectures : and what I conceive to 
 have any tolerable foundation in fact, that I mean to propose, not as 
 demonstration, but as opinion only. I proceed in this manner upon 
 the principle, that, considering the great discordance of sentiments 
 upon this subject, it would be impossible for any man to discourse 
 with a sufficient degree of accuracy and perspicuity upon the struc- 
 
264 THE POEM OF JOB. LECT. XXXII. 
 
 ture and parts of this poem, unless he previously explained his own 
 ideas concerning the scope and purport of the work in general. 
 
 The book of Job appears to me to stand single and unparalleled 
 in the sacred volume. It seems to have little connexion with the 
 other writings of the Hebrews, and no relation whatever to the af- 
 fairs of the Israelites. The scene is laid in Idumaea ; the history of 
 an inhabitant of that country is the basis of the narrative ; the char- 
 acters who speak are Idumseans, or at least Arabians of the adjacent 
 country, all originally of the race of Abraham. (A) The language is 
 pure Hebrew, although the author appears to be an Idumaean ; for 
 it is not improbable that all the posterity of Abraham, Israelites, 
 Idumaeans, and Arabians, whether of the family of Keturah or Ish- 
 mael, spoke for a considerable length of time one common language. 
 That the Idumaeans, however, and the Temanites in particular, were 
 eminent for the reputation of wisdom, appears by the testimony of 
 the prophets Jeremiah and Obadiah i 1 Baruch also particularly men- 
 tions them amongst " the authors (or expounders) of fables, and 
 searchers out of understanding." 2 / The learned are very much di- 
 vided in their sentiments concerning the author of this book. Our 
 Lightfoot conjectures that it is the production of Elihu ; and this 
 Conjecture seems at first sight rather countenanced by the exordium 
 to the first speech of Elihu, in which he seems to assume the char- 
 acter of the author, by continuing the narrative in his own person. 3 
 That passage, however, which appears to interrupt the speech of 
 Elihu, and to be a part of the narrative, is, I apprehend, nothing 
 more than an apostrophe to Job, or possibly to himself; for it mani- 
 festly consists of two distichs, while, on the contrary, it is well known 
 that all the narrative parts, all in which the author himself appears, 
 are certainly written in prose. Another opinion, which has been 
 still more generally received, attributes the work to Moses. This 
 conjecture, however, for I cannot dignify it with any higher appella- 
 tion, will be found to rest altogether upon another, namely, that this 
 poem was originally a consolatory address to the Israelites, and an 
 allegorical representation of their situation : and I must confess, I 
 can scarcely conceive any thing more futile than such an hypothe- 
 sis, since it is impossible to trace, throughout the whole book, the 
 slightest allusion to the manners, customs, ceremonies, or history of 
 the Israelites. I will add, moreover, that the style of Job appears to 
 
 1 JER. xlix. 7. OBA. 8. 2 BARUCH iii. 22, 23. 3 JOB xxxii. 15, 16. 
 
LECT. XXXII. THE POEM OF JOB. 265 
 
 me materially different from the poetical style of Moses j for it is 
 much more compact, concise, or condensed, more accurate in the 
 poetical conformation of the sentences : as may be observed also in 
 the prophecies of Balaam, the Mesopotamian, a foreigner indeed 
 with respect to the Israelites, but neither unacquainted with their 
 language, nor with the worship of the. true God. I confess myself 
 therefore, on the whole, more inclined to favour the opinion of those 
 who suppose Job himself, or some contemporary, to be the author of 
 this poem : for that it is the most ancient of all the sacred books, is, 
 I think, manifest, from the subject, the language, the general char- 
 acter, and even from the obscurity of the work. Concerning the 
 time also in which Job lived, although not directly specified, I see 
 no great reason for doubt. The length of his life evinces that he 
 was before Moses, and probably contemporary with the patriarchs. 
 Not however to dwell upon the innumerable hypotheses of the 
 learned on this subject, I will only mention, that there is the utaiost 
 probability of his having lived prior to the promulgation of the law, 
 from the nature of the sacrifice which he institutes conformably to 
 the command of God, namely, seven oxen and seven rams : for it is 
 plain, from the example of Balaam, that a respect for that number 
 prevailed in those countries, arid at that period, from the traditional 
 accounts which were still preserved among them of the seven days 
 of creation. 4 The truth of the narrative would never, I am persuad- 
 ed, have been called in question, but from the immoderate affection 
 of some allegorizing mystics for their own fictions, which run to such 
 excess, as to prevent them from acceding to any thing but what is 
 visionary and typical. When I speak of the poem as founded in 
 fact, I would be understood no further than concerns the general 
 subject of the narrative, for I apprehend all the dialogue, and most 
 likely some other parts, have partaken largely of the embellishments 
 of poetry ; but I cannot allow that this has by any means extended 
 so far as to convert the whole into an allegory. Indeed I have not 
 been able to trace any vestige of an allegorical meaning throughout 
 the entire poem. And should even the exordium be suspected to be 
 of this nature, we must recollect, that the historical books are not 
 destitute of similar narratives. 5 The exordium and conclusion I 
 agree are distinct from the poem itself, and stand in the place of an 
 
 4 JOB xlii. 8. Compare NUMB, x.xiii. I, etc. 
 
 5 JOB i. 6, etc. ii. 1, etc. Compare 1 KINGS xxiu 1929. 
 
 34 
 
266 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXII. 
 
 argument or illustration ; that they are however coeval with the po- 
 etical part, and the work of the same author, is evident, since they are 
 indispensably necessary to the unravelling of the plot, which is not de- 
 veloped in the body of the poem. There are, it is true, phrases ex- 
 tant in the exordium, in which some critics have pretended to dis- 
 cover the hand of a later writer ; the arguments, however, of these 
 critics I cannot esteem of any great force or importance. (B) 
 
 That these points should be accounted of a very ambiguous na- 
 ture, and should cause much embarrassment and controversy in the 
 learned world, is nothing extraordinary ; but that the main object 
 and design of the poem should ever have been called in question, 
 may justly excite our astonishment. For though many passages be 
 confessedly obscure, though there be several which I fear no human 
 skill will ever be able to unravel ; and though the obscurity consist 
 chiefly in the connexion of the incidents and the sentiments, it by 
 no means necessarily follows, that the whole is involved in impene- 
 trable darkness. The case indeed is far otherwise, for one and the 
 same light, though at intervals overcast, shines on through the 
 whole, and, like a conducting star, uniformly leads to the same 
 point. If then any person will follow this guidance without perplex- 
 ing himself with obscurities which he will occasionally meet, I have 
 very little doubt but that he will clearly discern the end, the subject, 
 the connexion, and arrangement of the whole work. It will, per- 
 haps, be worth while to put to trial the efficacy of this maxim : let 
 us, therefore, for the present, pass over those obscurities which might 
 impede our progress: and, making the best use of those lights which 
 are afforded by the more obvious passages, proceed with an attentive 
 eye through the whole of the work, and observe whether something 
 satisfactory is not to be discovered relating to the subject of the nar- 
 rative and the design and intent of the poem. 
 
 The principal object held forth to our contemplation in this pro- 
 duction, is the example of a good man, eminent for his piety, and of 
 approved integrity, suddenly precipitated from the very summit of 
 prosperity into the lowest depths of misery and ruin : who, having 
 been first bereaved of his wealth, his possessions, and his children, 
 is afterwards afflicted with the most excruciating anguish of a loath- 
 some disease which entirely covers his body. He sustains all how- 
 ever with the mildest submission, and the most complete resignation 
 to the will of Providence : " In all this," says the historian, "Job 
 sinned not, nor charged God foolishly." And after the second trial, 
 
LECT. XXXII. THE POEM OF JOB. 267 
 
 " In all this did not Job sin with his lips." 6 The author of the his- 
 tory remarks upon this circumstance a second time, in order to ex- 
 cite the observation of the reader, and to render him more attentive 
 to what follows, which properly constitutes the true subject of the 
 poem : namely, the conduct of Job with respect to his reverence for 
 the Almighty, and the changes which accumulating misery might 
 produce in his temper and behaviour. Accordingly we find that 
 another still more exquisite trial of his patience yet awaits him, and 
 which indeed, as the writer seems to intimate, he scarcely appears 
 to have sustained with equal firmness, namely, the unjust suspicions, 
 the bitter reproaches, and the violent altercations of his friends, who 
 had visited him on the pretence of affording consolation. Here com- 
 mences the plot or action of the poem : for when, after a long si- 
 lence of all parties, the grief of Job breaks forth into passionate ex- 
 clamations, and a vehement execration on the day of his birth ; the 
 minds of his friends are suddenly exasperated, their intentions are 
 changed, and their consolation, if indeed they originally intended 
 any, is converted into contumely and reproaches. The first of these 
 three singular comforters reproves his impatience ; calls in question 
 his integrity, by indirectly insinuating that God does not inflict 
 such punishments upon the righteous ; and finally, admonishes him, 
 that the chastisement of God is not to be despised. The next of 
 them, not less intemperate in his reproofs, takes it for granted, that 
 the children of Job had only received the reward due to their offen- 
 ces ; and with regard to himself, intimates, that if he be innocent, 
 and will apply with proper humility to the divine mercy, he may be 
 restored. The third upbraids him with arrogance, with vanity, and 
 even with falsehood, because he has presumed to defend himself 
 against the unjust accusations of his companions ; and exhorts him 
 to a sounder mode of reasoning and a more holy life. They all, 
 with a manifest, though indirect allusion to Job, discourse very co- 
 piously concerning the divine judgements which are always openly 
 displayed against the wicked, and of the certain destruction of hy- 
 pocritical pretenders to virtue and religion. In reply to this, Job 
 enumerates his sufferings, and complains bitterly of the inhumanity 
 of his friends, and of the severity which he has experienced from 
 the hand of God ; he calls to witness both God and man, that he is 
 unjustly oppressed ; he intimates, that he is weak in comparison 
 
 6 JOB i. 22. ii. 10. 
 
268 THE fOEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XX XII, 
 
 with God, that the contention is consequently unequal, and that be 
 his cause ever so righteous he cannot hope to prevail. He expostu- 
 lates with God himself still more vehemently, and with greater free- 
 dom, affirming, that he does not discriminate characters, but equal- 
 ly afflicts the just and the unjust. The expostulations of Job serve 
 only to irritate still more the resentment of his pretended friends ; 
 they reproach him in severer terms with pride, impiety, passion, and 
 madness ; they repeat the same arguments respecting the justice of 
 God, the punishment of the wicked, and their certain destruction 
 after a short period of apparent prosperity. This sentiment they 
 confidently pronounced to be confirmed both by their experience 
 and by that of their fa.thers ; and they maliciously exaggerate the 
 ungrateful topic by the most splendid imagery and the most forcible 
 language. On the part of Job, the general scope of the argument 
 is much the same as before, but the expression is considerably 
 heightened ; it consists of appeals to the Almighty, asseverations of 
 his own innocence, earnest expostulations, complaints of the cruelty 
 of his friends, melancholy reflections on the vanity of human life, 
 and upon his own severe misfortunes, ending in grief and despera- 
 tion : he affirms, however, that he places his ultimate hope and con- 
 fidence in God ; and the more vehemently his adversaries urge, that 
 the wicked only are objects of the divine wrath, and obnoxious to 
 punishment, so much the more resolutely does Job assert their per- 
 petual impunity, prosperity, and happiness, even to the end of their 
 existence. The first of his opponents, Eliphaz, incensed by this as- 
 sertion, descends directly to open crimination and contumely ; he 
 accuses the most upright of men of the most atrocious crimes, of in- 
 justice, rapine, and oppression ; inveighs against him as an impious 
 pretender to virtue and religion, and with a kind of sarcastic benev- 
 olence exhorts him to penitence. Vehemently affected with this re- 
 proof, Job, in a still more animated and confident strain, appeals to 
 the tribunal of all-seeing Justice ; and wishes it were only permit- 
 ted him to plead his cause in the presence of God himself. He 
 complains still more intemperately of the unequal treatment of Pro- 
 vidence ; exults in his own integrity, and then more tenaciously 
 maintains his former opinion concerning the impunity of the wicked. 
 To this another of the triumvirate, Bildad, replies, by a masterly, 
 though concise dissertation on the majesty and sanctity of the Di- 
 vine Being, indirectly rebuking the presumption of Job, who has 
 dared to question his decrees. In reply to Bildad, Job demonstrates 
 
LECT. XXXII. THE POEM OF JOB. 269 
 
 himself no less expert at wielding the weapons of satire and ridicule, 
 than those of reason and argument ; and reverting to a more seri- 
 ous tone, he displays the infinite power and wisdom of God more 
 copiously, and more poetically than the former speaker. ' The third 
 of the friends making no return, and the others remaining silent, 
 Job at length opens the true sentiments of his heart concerning the 
 fate of the wicked ; he allows that their prosperity is unstable, and 
 that they and their descendants shall at last experience on a sudden, 
 that God is the avenger of iniquity. In all this, however, he con- 
 tends that the divine counsels do not admit of human investigation ; 
 but that the chief wisdom of man consists in the fear of God. He 
 beautifully descants upon his former prosperity ; and exhibits a 
 striking contrast between it and his present affliction and debase- 
 ment. Lastly, in answer to the crimination of Eliphaz and the im- 
 plications of the others, he relates the principal transactions of his 
 past life ; he asserts his integrity as displayed in all the duties of 
 life, and in the sight of God and man ; and again appeals to the 
 justice and omniscience of God in attestation of his veracity. 
 
 If these circumstances be fairly collected from the general ten- 
 our and series of the work, as far as we are able to trace them 
 through the plainer and more conspicuous passages, it will be no 
 very difficult task to explain and define the subject of this part of 
 the poem, which contains the dispute between Job and his friends. 
 The argument seems chiefly to relate to the piety and integrity of 
 Job, and turns upon this point, whether he, who by the divine pro- 
 vidence and visitation is so severely punished and afflicted, ought to 
 be accounted pious and innocent. This leads into a more exten- 
 sive field of controversy, into a dispute indeed, which less admits of 
 any definition or limit, concerning the nature of the divine coun- 
 sels, in the dispensations of happiness and misery in this life. The 
 antagonists of Job in this dispute observing him exposed to such 
 severe visitations, conceiving that this affliction has not fallen upon 
 him unmeritedly, accuse him of hypocrisy, and falsely ascribe to 
 him the guilt of some atrocious but concealed offence. Job, on the 
 contrary, conscious of no crime, and wounded by their unjust sus- 
 picions, defends his own innocence before God with rather more 
 confidence and ardour than is commendable ; and so strenuously 
 contends for his own integrity, that he seems virtually to charge 
 God himself with some degree of injustice. 
 
 This state of the controversy is clearly explained by what fol- 
 
270 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXII. 
 
 lows : for when the three friends have ceased to dispute with Job, 
 " because he seemeth just in his own eyes," 7 that is, because he has 
 uniformly contended, that there was no wickedness in himself which 
 could call down the heavy vengeance of God ; Elihu comes forward 
 justly offended with both parties ; with Job, because " he justified 
 himself in preference to God," 8 that is, because he defended so ve- 
 hemently the justice of his own cause, that he seemed in some meas- 
 ure to arraign the justice of God ; against the three friends, because, 
 " though they were unable to answer Job, they ceased not to con- 
 demn him :" 9 that is, they concluded in their own minds, that Job 
 was impious and wicked, while, nevertheless, they had nothing spe- 
 cific to object against his assertions of his own innocence, or upon 
 which they might safely ground their accusation. 
 
 The conduct of Elihu evidently corresponds with this state of the 
 controversy : he professes, after a slight prefatory mention of him- 
 self, to reason with Job, unbiassed equally by favour or resentment. 
 He therefore reproves Job from his own mouth, because he had at- 
 tributed too much to himself; because he had affirmed himself to 
 be altogether free from guilt and depravity ; because he had presum- 
 ed to contend with God, and had not scrupled to insinuate, that the 
 Deity was hostile to him. He asserts, that it is not necessary for 
 God to explain and develope his counsels to men ; that he neverthe- 
 less takes many occasions of admonishing them, not only by visions 
 and revelations, but even by the visitations of his providence, by 
 sending calamities and diseases upon them, to repress their arro- 
 gance and reform their obduracy. He next rebukes Job, because 
 he had pronounced himself upright, and affirmed that God had acted 
 inimically, if not unjustly towards him, which he proves to be no less 
 improper than indecent. In the third place, he objects to Job, that 
 from the miseries of the good, and prosperity of the wicked, he has 
 falsely and perversely concluded, that there was no advantage to be 
 derived from the practice of virtue. On the contrary he affirms, 
 that when the afflictions of the just continue, it is because they do 
 not place a proper confidence in God, ask relief at his hands, pa- 
 tiently expect it, nor demean themselves before him with becoming 
 humility and submission. This observation alone, he adds very 
 properly, is at once a sufficient reproof of the contumacy of Job, and 
 a full refutation of the unjust suspicions of his friends. 10 Lastly, he 
 
 7 Chap, xxxii. 1. 6 Chap, xxxii. 2. Compare xxxv. 2. xl. 8. 
 
 9 Chap, xxxiii. 3. 10 Chap. xxxv. 4. 
 
LECT. XXXII. THE POEM OF JOB. 271 
 
 explains the purposes of the Deity in chastening men, which are in 
 general to prove and to amend them, to repress their arrogance, to 
 afford him an opportunity of exemplifying his justice upon the obsti- 
 nate and rebellious, and of shewing favour to the humble and obe- 
 dient. He supposes God to have acted in this manner towards Job ; 
 on that account he exhorts him to humble himself before his right- 
 eous Judge, to beware of appearing obstinate or contumacious in his 
 sight, and of relapsing into a repetition of his sin. He intreats him, 
 from the contemplation of the divine power and majesty, to endeav- 
 our to retain a proper reverence for the Almighty. To these fre- 
 quently intermitted and often repeated admonitions of Elihu, Job 
 makes no return. 
 
 The oration of God himself follows that of Elihu, in which, dis- 
 daining to descend to any particular explication of his divine coun- 
 sels, but instancing some of the stupendous effects of his infinite 
 power, he insists upon the same topics which Elihu had before touch- 
 ed upon. In the first place, having reproved the temerity of Job, he 
 convicts him of ignorance, in being unable to comprehend the works 
 of his creation, which were obvious to every eye ; the nature and 
 structure of the earth, the sea, the light, and the animal kingdom. 
 He then demonstrates his we akness, by challenging him to prove his 
 own power by emulating any single exertion of the divine energy, 
 and then referring him to one or two of the brute creation, with 
 which he is unable to contend how much less therefore with the 
 omnipotent Creator and Lord of all things, who is or can be accoun- 
 table to no being whatever ? n On this Job humbly submits to the. 
 will of Providence, acknowledges his own ignorance and imbecility, 
 and " repents in dust and ashes." 
 
 On a due consideration of all these circumstances, the principal 
 object of the poem seems to be this third and last trial of Job, from 
 the injustice and unkindness of his accusing friends. The conse- 
 quence of which is, in the first place, the anger, indignation, and 
 contumacy of Job, and afterwards his composure, submission, and 
 penitence. The design of the poem is, therefore, to teach men, that 
 having a due respect to the corruption, infirmity, and ignorance of 
 human nature, as well as to the infinite wisdom and majesty of God, 
 they are to reject all confidence in their own strength, in their own 
 righteousness, and to preserve on all occasions an unwavering and 
 
 11 See Chap. xli. 2, 8. 
 
272 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXII. 
 
 unsullied faith, and to submit with becoming reverence to his de- 
 crees. 
 
 I would wish it, however, to be carefully observed, that the sub- 
 ject of the dispute between Job and his friends differs from the sub- 
 ject of the poem in general : that the end of the poetical part is dif- 
 ferent from the design of the narrative at large. For although the 
 design and subject of the poem be exactly as I have denned them, it 
 may nevertheless be granted, that the whole history, taken together, 
 contains an example of patience, together with its reward. This 
 point not having been treated with sufficient distinctness by the 
 learned, I cannot help esteeming it the principal cause of the per- 
 plexity in which the subject has been involved. (c) 
 
 I am not ignorant, that to those who enter upon this inquiry, some 
 questions will occur, which appear to require a separate examination; 
 since many of them, however, are chiefly connected with those pas- 
 sages which are acknowledged to be obscure, which have not yet been 
 clearly explained, and which, whatever they may hereafter be found 
 to import, are not likely to affect the truth of our conclusion, I have 
 thought proper to omit them. Nor will I allow, that because many 
 things yet remain ambiguous and perplexed, we are therefore to 
 doubt of those which are more open and evident. In regard to cer- 
 tain more important doctrines, which some persons of distinguished 
 learning have thought to be established by this extraordinary monu- 
 ment of ancient wisdom, as they either depend in a great degree on 
 the obscure passages above-mentioned, or do not seem to contribute 
 in the least to the main design of the poem, nor to be consistent with 
 the object of it, which I just now pointed out, 1 thought it still more 
 unnecessary to introduce them in this disquisition. What I have 
 advanced, I conceived fully adequate to the purpose of this under- 
 taking, and a sufficient introduction to a critical examination of the 
 composition and beauties of the poem. 
 
LECTURE XXXIII. 
 
 THE POEM OF JOB NOT A PERFECT DRAMA. 
 
 The poem of Job commonly accounted dramatic ; and thought by many to be of the same kind 
 with the Greek tragedy : this opinion examined. A plot or fable essential to a regular dra- 
 ma ; its definition and essential qualities according to Aristotle Demonstrated, that the 
 poem of Job does not contain any plot : its form and design more fully explained Compared 
 with the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophocles ; with the Oedipus Coloneus ; and shewn to differ 
 entirely from both in form and manner ft is nevertheless a most beautiful and perfect per- 
 formance in its kind : it approaches very near the form of a perfect drama ; and, for regular- 
 ity in form and arrangement, justly claims the first place among the poetical compositions of 
 the Hebrews. 
 
 WHEN I undertook the present investigation, my principal ob- 
 ject was to enable you to form some definite opinion concerning the 
 poem of Job, and to assign it its proper place among the composi- 
 tions of the Hebrew poets. This will possibly appear to some a su- 
 perfluous and idle undertaking, as the point seems long since to 
 have been finally determined, the majority of the critics having de- 
 cidedly adjudged it to belong to the dramatic class. Since, howev- 
 er, the term dramatic, as I formerly had reason to remark, is in it- 
 self extremely ambiguous, the present disquisition will not be confin- 
 ed within the limits of a single question ; for the first object of in- 
 quiry will necessarily be, what idea is affixed to the appellation by 
 those critics who term the book of Job a dramatic poem : and after 
 we have determined this point (if it be possible to determine it, for 
 they do not seem willing to be explicit) we may then with safety 
 proceed to inquire whether, pursuant to that idea, the piece may be 
 justly entitled to this appellation. 
 
 A poem is called dramatic, either in consequence of its form r 
 the form I mean of a perfect dialogue, which is sustained entirely by 
 the characters or personages without the intervention of the poet ; 
 and this was the definition adopted by the ancient critics : or else, 
 according to the more modern acceptation of the word, in conse- 
 quence of a plot or fable being represented in it. If those who ac- 
 count the book of Job dramatic, adhere to the former definition, I 
 have little inclination to litigate the point ; and indeed the object of 
 35 
 
274 THE POEM OF JOB. LfiCT. XXXIII. 
 
 the controversy would scarcely be worth the labour. Though a 
 critic, if disposed to be scrupulously exact, might insist that the 
 work, upon the whole, is by no means a perfect dialogue, but con- 
 sists of a mixture of the narrative and colloquial style : for the histo- 
 rical part, which is all composed in the person of the writer himself, 
 is certainly to be accounted a part of the work itself, considered as 
 a whole. Since, however, on the other hand, the historical or nar- 
 rative part is all evidently written in prose, and seems to me to be 
 substituted merely in the place of an argument or comment, for the 
 purpose of explaining the rest, and certainly does not constitute any 
 part of the poem , since, moreover, those short sentences, which 
 serve to introduce the different speeches, contain very little more 
 than the names ; I am willing to allow, that the structure or form of 
 this poem is on the whole dramatic. But this concession will, I fear, 
 scarcely satisfy the critics in question ; for they speak of the regular 
 order and conduct of the piece, and of the dramatic catastrophe ; 
 they assert, that the interposition of the Deity is a necessary part of 
 the machinery of the fable ; thy even enumerate the acts and 
 scenes, and use the very same language in all respects, as if they 
 spoke of a Greek tragedy ; insomuch, that when they term the poem 
 of Job dramatic, they seem to speak of that species of drama which 
 was cultivated and improved in the theatre of Athens. 1 It appears, 
 therefore, a fair object of inquiry, whether the poem of Job be pos- 
 sessed of the peculiar properties of the Greek drama, and may with 
 reason and justice be classed with the theatrical productions of that 
 people. 
 
 We have already agreed, that the greater and more perfect dra- 
 ma is peculiarly distinguished from the less and more common spe- 
 cies, inasmuch as it retains not only the dramatic form, or the per- 
 fect dialogue, but also exhibits some entire action, fable, or plot. 
 And this is perfectly agreeable to the definition of Aristotle ; for al- 
 though he points out many parts or constituents in the composition 
 of a tragedy, he assigns the first place to the plot or fable. 2 This 
 he says is the beginning, this the end, this is the most important 
 part, the very soul of a tragedy, without which it is utterly undeserv- 
 ing of the name, and indeed cannot properly be said to exist. A 
 plot or fable is the representation of an action or event, or of a series 
 
 1 See CALMET, Preface sur Job. HARE, Not. ad Ps. cvii. 40. CARPZOVII 
 Intro'duct. in Libros Biblicos, part ii. p. 76. 
 
 2 ARIST. Poet. cap. vi. 
 
LECT. XXXIII. THE POEM OF JOB. 275 
 
 of events or incidents tending all to one point, which are detailed 
 with a view to a particular object or conclusion. A tragedy, says 
 the same author, is not a representation of men, but of actions, a 
 picture of life, of prosperity, and adversity : in other words, the 
 business of the poem is not merely to exhibit manners only, nor does 
 the most perfect representation of manners constitute a tragedy ; for 
 in reality a tragedy may exist with little or no display of manners or 
 character ; its business is to exhibit life and action, or some regular 
 train of actions and events, on which depends the felicity or infelici- 
 ty of the persons concerned. For human happiness or prosperity 
 consists in action ; and action is not a quality, but is the end of man. 
 According to our manners we are denominated good or bad, but we 
 are happy or unhappy, prosperous or unsuccessful, according to ac- 
 tions or events. Poets therefore do not form a plot or action merely 
 for the sake of imitating manners or character ; but manners and 
 character are added to the plot, and for the sake of it are chiefly at- 
 tended to. Thus far he has accurately drawn the line between the 
 representation of action and manners. He adds, moreover, that uni- 
 ty is essential to a regular plot or action, and that it must be com- 
 plete in itself, and of a proper length. 3 But to comprehend more 
 perfectly the nature of a plot or fable, it must be observed, that there 
 are two principal species : for they are either complex or simple ; 4 
 the former contains some unexpected vicissitude of fortune, such as 
 the recognition of a person at first unknown, the recovery of a lost 
 child, or a sudden change in the situation of the parties, or perhaps 
 both ; the latter contains nothing of the kind, but proceeds in one 
 uniform and equal tenour. In every plot or fable, however, be it 
 ever so simple, and though it contain nothing of the wonderful or 
 unexpected, there is always a perplexity or embarrassment, as also a 
 regular solution or catastrophe ; 5 the latter must proceed from the 
 former, and indeed must depend upon it ; which cannot be the case, 
 unless there be a certain order or connexion in the incidents and 
 events which inclines them towards the same end, and combines 
 them all in one termination. 
 
 On fairly considering these circumstances, I have no hesitation 
 in affirming, that the poem of Job contains no plot or action whatev- 
 er, not even of the most simple kind ; it uniformly exhibits one con- 
 stant state of things, not the smallest change of fortune taking 
 
 3 A.- T. Poet. ch. vii. 4 ARIST. Poet. ch. x. 5 ARIST. ch. xviii. 
 
276 THE POEM OF JOB. LECT. XXXIII. 
 
 place from the beginning to the end ; and it contains merely a rep- 
 resentation of those manners, passions and sentiments, which might 
 actually be expected in such a situation. Job is represented as re- 
 duced from the summit of human prosperity, to a condition the most 
 miserable and afflicted : and the sentiments of both Job and his 
 friends are exactly such as the occasion dictates. For here a new 
 temptation falls upon him, by which the constancy of Job is put to 
 the severest trial ; and this circumstance it is that constitutes the 
 principal subject of the poem. Job had, we find, endured the most 
 grievous calamities, the loss of his wealth, the deprivation of his 
 children, and the miserable union of poverty and disease, with so 
 much fortitude, and with so just a confidence in his own integrity, 
 that nothing could be extorted from him in the least inconsistent 
 with the strictest reverence for the Divine Being ; he is now put to 
 the proof, whether, after enduring all this with firmness and resigna- 
 tion, he can with equal patience endure to have his innocence and 
 virtue (in which perhaps he had placed too much confidence) indi- 
 rectly questioned, and even in plain terms arraigned. Job, now 
 sinking under the weight of his misery, laments his condition with 
 more vehemence than before. His friends reprove his impatience, 
 and drop some dark insinuations to the apparent disparagement of 
 his virtue and integrity, by entering into very copious declamations 
 concerning the justice of God in proportioning his visitations to the 
 crimes of men. Job is still more violently agitated ; and his friends 
 accuse him with less reserve. He appeals to God, and expostulates 
 with some degree of freedom. They urge and press him in the very 
 heat of his passion ; and, by still more malignant accusations, excite 
 his indignation and his confidence, which were already too vehe- 
 ment. Elihu interposes as an arbiter of the controversy ; he re- 
 proves the severe spirit of the friends, as well as the presumption of 
 Job, who trusted too much in his own righteousness. Job receives 
 his admonitions with mildness and temper, and being rendered more 
 sedate by his expostulation, makes no reply, though the other ap- 
 pears frequently to expect it. When the Almighty, however, con- 
 descends to set before him his rashness, frailty, and ignorance, he 
 submits in perfect humility, and with sincere repentance. Jlere the 
 temptation of Job concludes, in the course of which there was great 
 reason to apprehend he would be totally vanquished : at the same 
 time the poem necessarily terminates, the state of things still remain- 
 ing without any change or vicissitude whatever. The poem indeed 
 
LECT. XXXIII. THE POEM OP JOB. 277 
 
 contains a great variety of sentiment, excellent representations of 
 manners and character, remarkable efforts of passion, much impor- 
 tant controversy ; but no change of fortune, no novelty of incident, 
 no plot, no action. 
 
 If indeed we rightly consider, we shall, I dare believe, find that 
 the very nature of the subject excludes even the possibility of a plot 
 or action. From that state of settled and unvarying misery in which 
 Job is involved, arises the doubt of his integrity, and those insinua- 
 tions and criminations which serve to exasperate him, and by which 
 he is stimulated to expostulate with God, and to glory in his own 
 righteousness. It was proper, therefore, that, by a continuance of 
 the same state and condition, he should be recalled to an humble 
 spirit, and to a proper reverence for the Almighty Providence. For 
 it would have been altogether contrary to what is called poetical 
 justice, if he had been restored to prosperity previous to his submis- 
 sion and penitence. The repentance of Job, however, we find con- 
 cludes the poem. Nor was it at all necessary, that the question con- 
 cerning the divine justice should be resolved in the body of the 
 work, either by the fortunate issue of the affairs of Job, or even by 
 the explication of the divine intentions : this, in fact, was not the 
 primary object, nor does it at all constitute the subject of the poem ; 
 but is subservient, or in a manner an appendage to it. The dispu- 
 tation which takes place upon this topic, is no more than an instru- 
 ment qf temptation, and is introduced in order to explain the inmost 
 sentiments of Job, and to lay open the latent pride that existed in 
 his soul. The Almighty, therefore, when he addresses Job, pays 
 little regard to this point ; nor indeed was it necessary, for neither 
 the nature nor the object of the poem required a defence of the Di- 
 vine Providence, but merely a reprehension of the over-confidence 
 of Job. 
 
 If indeed we suppose any change to have taken place in the state 
 of affairs, the nature and subject of the poem will also be changed. 
 If we connect with the poetical part either the former or the latter 
 part of the history, or both, the subject will then be the display of a 
 perfect example of patience in enduring the severest outward calam- 
 ities, and at length receiving an ample reward at the hands of the 
 Almighty : from this, however, the universal tenour of the poem will 
 be found greatly to differ. It will be found to exhibit rather the im- 
 patience of Job in bearing the reproaches and abuse of his pretend- 
 ed friends : and this appears to lead to the true object of the poem : 
 
278 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXIII. 
 
 for Job is irritated, he indulges his passion, he speaks too confident- 
 ly of his own righteousness, and in too ir reverend a style concern- 
 ing the justice of God ; in the end he is converted by the admoni- 
 tions of Elihu, and the reproofs of his omnipotent Creator. The 
 true object of the poem appears therefore to be, to demonstrate the 
 necessity of humility, of trust in God, and of the profoundest rever- 
 ence for the divine decrees, even in the holiest and most exalted 
 characters. 
 
 Should it be objected, that I have contended with a scrupulous 
 perverseness concerning the meaning of a word ; and should it after 
 all be affirmed, that this very temptation of Job, this dispute itself 
 possesses in some degree the form or appearance of an action : I 
 am content to submit the trial to another issue, and to be judged by 
 fair investigation of the practice of the Greek poets upon similar oc- 
 casions. There is no necessity to remind this assembly, with how 
 much art and design the fable or plot of the Oedipus Tyrannus of 
 Sophocles appears to have been constructed ; with what powers of 
 imagination and judgement the process of the drama is conducted ; 
 and in what manner, by a regular succession of events, arising nat- 
 urally from each other, the horrid secret is developed, which as soon 
 as disclosed precipitates the hero of the tragedy from the summit of 
 human happiness into the lowest depths of misery and ruin. Let 
 us only suppose Sophocles to have treated the same subject in a dif- 
 ferent manner, and to have formed a poem on that part of the story 
 alone which is comprised in the last act. Here Oedipus would be 
 indeed exhibited as an object of the most tender compassion ; here 
 would be a spacious field for the display of the most interesting and 
 tragical affections : the fatal catastrophe would be deplored ; the 
 blindness, disgrace, exile of the hero, would enhance the distress 
 of the scene ; and to the bitterness of present calamity would be ad- 
 ded the still more bitter remembrance of the past. The poet might 
 copiously display the sorrow and commiseration of his daughters, 
 his detestation of himself, and of all that belong to him, and more 
 copiously, of those who had preserved him when exposed, who had 
 supported and educated him : all these topics the poet has slightly 
 touched upon in these lines : 
 
 ' lot Ki&aiQ(~>v, T'L it* tStjfOv ; ri ^ 
 
 The succeeding passages are also extremely pathetic. These would 
 easily admit of amplification, and, when the ardour of grief was a 
 
LECT. XXXIII. THE POEM OP JOB. 279 
 
 little abated, he might have added his vindication of himself, his as- 
 severations of his innocence, his plea of ignorance, and fatal necessi- 
 ty, and his impassioned exclamations against fortune and the gods. 
 From all this might be constructed a poem, great, splendid, copious, 
 diversified ; and the subject would also furnish a topic of disputation 
 not unlike that of Job. It might also assume, in some measure, the 
 dramatic form : the same characters that appear in the tragedy might 
 be introduced ; it might possess the exact proportions and all the 
 requisites of a drama, fable alone excepted, which indeed constitutes 
 the very essence of a dramatic poem, and without which all other 
 qualities are of no avail : for the Greeks would have called such a 
 production a monody, or elegiac dialogue, or any thing but a tragedy. 
 This opinion receives still further confirmation from the exam- 
 ple and authority of Sophocles himself in another instance. For 
 when he again introduces the same Oedipus upon the stage in an- 
 other tragedy, though the ground-work of the piece be nearly that 
 which we have been describing, the conduct of it is totally differ- 
 ent. This piece is called Oedipus Coloneus ; the plot or fable is 
 quite simple, on which account it is a fairer object of comparison 
 with the poem of Job than any, the plot of which is more complex. 
 Oedipus is introduced blind, exiled, and oppressed with misery ; 
 none of those circumstances above-mentioned have escaped the po- 
 et ; such as the lamentation of his misery, the passionate exclama- 
 tions against fate and the gods, and the vindication of his inno- 
 cence. These, however, do not form the basis of the poem ; they 
 are introduced merely as circumstances, which afford matter of am- 
 plification, and which seem to flow from that elegant plot or action 
 he has invented. Oedipus, led by his daughter, arrives at Colonus, 
 there to die and be interred according to the admonition of the Ora- 
 cle; for upon these circumstances the victory of the Athenians over 
 the Thebans was made to depend. The place being accounted sa- 
 cred, the Athenians are unwilling to receive him ; but Theseus af- 
 fords him refuge and protection. Another of his daughters is intro- 
 duced, who informs him of the discord between her brothers, also 
 that Creon is coming, with an intention of bringing him back to his 
 own country in pursuance of a decree of the Thebans. After this 
 Creon arrives ; he endeavours to persuade Oedipus to return to The- 
 bes ; and on his refusal, attempts to make use of violence. These- 
 us protects Oedipus : and in the mean time Polynices arrives, with 
 a view of bringing over his father to his party in the war against the 
 
280 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXIII. 
 
 Thebans : this being the only condition on which he was to hope 
 for victory. Oedipus refuses, and execrates his son in the severest 
 terms : in conclusion, the answer of the Oracle being communicat- 
 ed to Theseus, Oedipus dies, and is secretly buried there. In this 
 manner is constructed a regular, perfect, and important action or 
 plot ; all the parts of which are connected together in one design, 
 and tend exactly to the same conclusion, and in which are involved 
 the fates of both Thebes and Athens. The manners, passions, 
 cl aracters, and sentiments, serve to adorn, but not to support the 
 fable. Without any striking representation of these, the plot or ac- 
 tion would still remain, and would of itself sustain the tragedy ; but 
 if the action be removed, though all the rest remain, it is evident 
 that the tragedy is totally annihilated. 
 
 From these observations it will, I think, be evident, that the 
 poem of Job cannot properly be brought into comparison with either 
 Oedipus of Sophocles, or with any other of the Greek tragedies. It 
 will be evident, I think, that this poem ought not to be accounted 
 of the same kind ; nor can possibly be classed with them, unless the 
 whole nature and form of either the Greek or the Hebrew poem be 
 changed ; or unless the plot or action be taken from the one, or add- 
 er to the other : for without this great essential no poem can indeed 
 bt accounted a perfect drama. 
 
 But though I have urged thus much against its claim to that 
 tHle, let it not be understood that I wish to derogate from its merits. 
 That censure will rather apply to those who, by criticising it accord- 
 ing to foreign and improper rules, would make that composition ap- 
 pear lame and imperfect, which on the contrary is in its kind most 
 beautiful and perfect. If indeed the extreme antiquity of this poem, 
 the obscurity and the difficulty that necessarily ensue from that cir- 
 cumstance be considered ; and if allowance be made for the total 
 want of plot and action, we shall have cause to wonder at the ele- 
 gance and interest which we find in its form, conduct, and econo- 
 my. The arrangement, is perfectly regular, and every part is admi- 
 rably adapted to its end and design. The antiquary or the critic, 
 who has been at the pains to trace the history of the Grecian drama 
 from its first weak and imperfect efforts, and has carefully observed 
 its tardy progress to perfection, will scarcely, I think, without as- 
 tonishment, contemplate a poem produced so many ages before, so 
 elegant in its design, so regular in its structure, so animated, so af- 
 fecting, so near to the true dramatic model : while, on the contra- 
 
LECT. XXXIII. THE POEM OF JOB. 281 
 
 ry, the united wisdom of Greece, after ages of study, was not able 
 to produce any thing approaching to perfection in this walk of poe- 
 try before the time of JEschylus. But however this may be what- 
 ever rank may be assigned to Job, in a comparison with the poets of 
 Greece, to whom we must at least allow the merit of art and meth- 
 od ; amongst the Hebrews, it must certainly be allowed, in this re- 
 spect, to be unrivalled. It is of little consequence whether it be 
 esteemed a didactic or an ethic, a pathetic or dramatic poem ; only 
 let it be assigned a distinct and conspicuous station in the highest 
 rank of the Hebrew poetry. (A) 
 
LECTURE XXXIV. 
 
 OP THE MANNERS, SENTIMENTS, AND STYLE OF THE POEM 
 
 OF JOB. ., 
 
 Though the poem of Job do not contain a plot or fable, it possesses, nevertheless, some things 
 in common with the perfect drama Manners or character The manners of Job ; to be dis- 
 tinguished from the passions or emotions The opinion of Aristotle, that the character of ex- 
 treme virtue is not proper for tragedy, demonstrated to be neither applicable to Job, nor 
 true with respect to tragedy in general The design of the poem The manners of the three 
 friends: the gradations of passion more strongly marked in them than the diversity of man- 
 ners Elihu The expostulation of God himself Sentiments ; expressive of things and of 
 manners ; the latter already noticed ; the former consist partly of passion, partly of des- 
 cription: two examples of the softer passions : examples of description The style of this 
 poem uncommonly elegant and sublime; and the poetic conformation of the sentences ex- 
 tremely correct Peroration, recommending the study of Hebrew literature. 
 
 WHEN I contended that the poem of Job ought not to be account- 
 ed a true and regular drama, such as are the tragedies of the 
 Greeks, I was far from insinuating, that it did not possess the dra- 
 matic form. I not only allowed/ that in its general conduct and 
 economy it exhibited a similitude, an anticipation as it were of gen- 
 uine tragedy ; but that ii contained also all the principal requisites 
 of a dramatic poem, fable alone excepted : of these the first and 
 most important is, the imitation of manners or character. 
 
 The manners are what serve to mark or discriminate the differ- 
 ent persons, who take a part in the action of the poem, to declare 
 and express each character's peculiar mode of speaking, thinking, 
 and acting ; and compose as it were the intellectual image of the 
 man. The principal personage in this poem is Job, and in his char- 
 acter is meant to be exhibited (as far as is consistent with human 
 infirmity) an example of perfect virtue. This is intimated in the ar- 
 gument or introduction, but is still more eminently displayed by his 
 own actions and sentiments. He is holy, devout, and most piously 
 and reverently impressed with the sacred "awe of his divine Creator ; 
 he is also upright, and conscious of his own integrity ; he is patient 
 of evil, and yet very remote from that insensibility or rather stupidi- 
 ty to which the Stoic school pretended. Oppressed therefore with 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 283 
 
 unparalleled misfortunes, he laments his misery, and even wishes a 
 release by death ; in other words, he obeys, and gives place to the 
 dictates of nature : irritated, however, by the unjust insinuations, 
 and the severe reproaches of his pretended friends, he is more ve- 
 hemently exasperated, and the too great confidence in his own right- 
 eousness leads him to expostulate with God in terms scarcely con- 
 sistent with piety and strict decorum. 
 
 It must be observed, that the first speech of Job, though it burst 
 forth with all the vehemence of passion, consists wholly of complaint, 
 " the words of a desperate man, which are but wind ;' a which is in- 
 deed the apology that he immediately makes for his conduct ; inti- 
 mating, that he is far from presuming to plead with God, far from 
 daring to call in question the divine decrees, or even to mention his 
 own innocence in the presence of his all-just Creator : nor do I see 
 any good reason for the censure which has been passed by some 
 commentators upon this passage. The poet seems, with great judge- 
 ment and ingenuity, to have performed in this what the nature of his 
 work required. He has depicted the affliction and anguish of Job, 
 as flowing from his wounded heart in a manner so agreeable to hu- 
 man nature (and certainly so far venial) that it may be truly said, 
 " in all this Job sinned not with his lips." It is, nevertheless, em- 
 bellished by such affecting imagery, and inspired with such a warmth 
 and force of sentiment, that we find it afforded ample scope for cal- 
 umny ; nor did the unkind witnesses of his sufferings permit so fair 
 an opportunity to escape. The occasion is eagerly embraced by 
 Eliphaz, to rebuke the impatience of Job ; and, not satisfied with 
 this, -he proceeds to accuse him in direct terms of wanting fortitude, 
 and obliquely to insinuate something of a deeper dye. Though 
 deeply hurt with the coarse reproaches of Eliphaz, still, however, 
 when Job afterwards complains of the severity of God, he cautiously 
 refrains from violent expostulations with his Creator, and, contented 
 with the simple expression of affliction, he humbly confesses himself 
 a sinner. 2 Hence, I think, it is evident, that those vehement and 
 perverse attestations of his innocence, those murmurs against the di- 
 vine Providence, which his tottering virtue afterwards permits, are 
 to be considered merely as the consequences of momentary passion, 
 and not as the ordinary effects of his settled character or manners. 
 They prove him at the very worst not an irreligious man, but a man 
 possessed of integrity, and too confident of it ; a man oppressed with 
 1 Job vi. 26. 2 See chap. vii. 20. 
 
284 THE POEM OF JOB. LECT. XXXIV. 
 
 almost every imaginable evil, both corporal and mental, and hurried 
 beyond the limits of virtue by the strong influence of pain and afflic- 
 tion. When, on the contrary, his importunate visiters abandon by 
 silence the cause which they had so wantonly and so maliciously 
 maintained ; and cease unjustly to load him with unmerited crimina- 
 tions ; though he defends his argument with scarcely less obstinacy ; 
 yet the vehemence of his grief appears gradually to subside, he re- 
 turns to himself, and explains his sentiments with more candour and 
 sedateness : and however we may blame him for assuming too much 
 of arrogance in his appeals to the Almighty, certainly his defence 
 against the accusations of Eliphaz is no more than the occasion will 
 strictly justify. Observe, in the first place, how admirably the con- 
 fidence and perseverance of Job is displayed in replying to the slan- 
 der of his false friends : 
 
 " Ut vivit Deus, qui ius meum amovit : 
 
 " Et omnipotens, qui amarore imbuit animam meara ; 
 
 " (Nam omnino adhuc mens mihi constat, 
 
 " Et spiritus Dei est in naribus meis :) 
 
 " Ita nunquain labia mea rem iniquam loquentur, 
 
 " Nee lingua mea quod falsum est proferet : 
 
 " Absit, ut a vobis ius stare pronunciem : 
 
 " Donee expiravero, non amovebo a me integritatem meam. 
 
 " lustitiam meam firmiter retineo, nee earn dimittam ; 
 
 " In omni vita cor meam nunquam me probro adficiet ; 
 
 " Fiat, sicut improbus, inimicus meus ; 
 
 " Et qui sese incitat contra, me, sicut iniustus." 3 
 
 But how magnificent, how noble, how inviting and beautiful is that 
 image of virtue, in which he delineates his past life 1 What dignity 
 and authority does he seem to possess ! 
 
 " Cum egrederer ad portam, super urbe ; 
 
 " Cum in foro tribunal meum constituerem : 
 
 " Viderunt me iuvenes, et sese occultarunt ; 
 
 11 Et senes assurrexerunt, steterunt : 
 
 " Principes cohibuerunt sermonem, 
 
 " Et ori suo manum imposuerunt : 
 
 " Vox nobilium obmutuit ; 
 
 " Et lingua eorum palato adhaesit :" 4 
 
 What liberality ! what a promptitude in beneficence ! 
 
 " Profecto auris audiebat, et beatum me praedicabat ; 
 " Et oculos videbat, et testimonium mihi perhibebat : 
 ' Quoniam statim vindicabam inopem vociferantem ; 
 
 3 Chap, xxvii. 27. 4 Chap. xxix. 710. 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 285 
 
 " Et pupillum, et cui nullus opitulator : 
 
 " Benedictio pereuntis super me semper descendebat ; 
 
 " Et cor viduae ut caneret efficiebam." 5 
 
 What sanctity, what integrity in a judicial capacity ! 
 
 " lustitiam indui, et ipsa me vestivit; 
 
 " Instar pallii et tiarae iudicium meum : 
 
 " Pater eram egenis ; 
 
 " Et in causam etiam ignoti solebam inquirere ; 
 
 " Confringebam molares oppressoris ; 
 
 " Et a dentibus eius excutiebam praedam." 
 
 But what can be more engaging than the purity of his devotion, and 
 his reverence for the Supreme Being, founded upon the best and 
 most philosophical principles ? Besides that through the whole there 
 runs a strain of the most amiable tenderness and humanity : 
 
 " Quae enim portio a Deo destinata desuper ; 
 
 " Et haereditas ab omnipotente de excelsis ? 
 
 " Annon excidium iniusto ? 
 
 " Et abalienatio operantibus iniquitatem ? 
 
 " Nonne Ille semper videt vias meas ? 
 
 " Et ornnes gressus meos dinumerat ? 
 
 " Si sprcvi causam servi mei, 
 
 " Et ancillae meae, cum mecurn lite contenderent ; 
 
 ' Quid turn facerem, cum surgeret Deus ; 
 
 " Et cum visitaret, quid illi responderem? 
 
 " Nonne in ventre, qui me fecit, idem ilium fecit ? 
 
 " Nonne formavit nos in utero unus ?"? 
 
 Aristotle has remarked, that the example of a singularly good 
 man falling from prosperous circumstances into misfortune, is by no 
 means a proper subject for a tragedy ; since it is offensive and inde- 
 cent rather than piteous or terrible. 8 This remark, though consis- 
 tent enough with the Greek drama, and with the sentiments and 
 manners of the heathens, is scarcely applicable to our tragedy, and 
 still less to the poem of Job. " Pity," says the same author on an- 
 other occasion, " is excited when adversity falls upon those who are 
 undeserving of it." Great virtue therefore plunged into great mis- 
 fortunes, so far from being an unsuitable subject, ought to be the 
 most direct and proper means of moving compassion. " Terror is 
 excited by a representation of the misery of such persons as bear the 
 nearest resemblr.ice to ourselves ;" the misfortunes therefore of those 
 who are vicious in an extreme, are not much calculated to excite 
 
 5 Chap. xxix. 1113. 6 Chap. xxix. 14, 1C, 17. 
 
 7 Chap. xxxi. 24. 1315. 8 p oe t. cap. xiii. 
 
386 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXIV. 
 
 terror ; but this is by no means the case with regard to the misery 
 of such as are eminently good ; for if we fear for ourselves when we 
 see moderate virtue in affliction, much more, surely, when a superior 
 degree of it is in that state. It appears to me, therefore, that Aristotle 
 was not of opinion, that the example of a very good man in extreme 
 affliction is ill calculated to excite either pity or terror ; but rather is 
 a spectacle likely to prove injurious to the cause of virtue, and there- 
 fore disgusting and detestable, and consequently unfit to be produc- 
 ed upon the stage. This opinion of the philosopher seems to result 
 from an unjust and visionary estimation of human virtue, to repress 
 which appears to have been the very design and object of the book 
 of Job. The character of Job indeed, though approaching so near 
 to the perfection of virtue, seems, notwithstanding, to have a consid- 
 erable alloy of human infirmity, so as neither to want probability, nor 
 to lose its effect in exciting terror. For if it be extreme wickedness 
 in the most upright of men, when oppressed with the severest mise- 
 ry, to murmur at all against the divine justice, who then shall stand 
 before God ? Who shall expect to pass through the pilgrimage of 
 life without his portion of evil and of sin 1 The end of the poem is 
 moreover by no means ill calculated to excite terror ; since this 
 moral is particularly inculcated in it, " Be not high-minded, but 
 fear :" and Job himself sets before us, what impression the example 
 of his misfortunes ought to make upon our minds in this respect : 
 
 " Super hoc ipsum attoniti stupebunt integri ; 
 " Et innocens adversus hypocritam zelo flagrabit : 
 " Sed obstinate persistet in via sua iustus ; 
 " Et puro manuum augebitur constantia."9 
 
 The three friends are exactly such characters as the nature of 
 the poem required. They are severe, irritable, rough censors, 
 readily and with apparent satisfaction deviating from the purpose of 
 consolation into reproof and contumely. Even from the very first 
 they manifest this evil propensity, and indicate what is to be expect- 
 ed from them. The first of them, indeed, in the opening of his 
 harangue, assumes an air of candour : 
 
 " Si tentemus te adloqui, an aegre laturus es ?" 10 
 Indignation is, however, instantly predominant : 
 
 " At cohibere sermones quis valeat ?" 
 The second flames forth at once : 
 
 9 Chap, xviii. 8, 9. 10 Chap. iv. 2. 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 287 
 
 " Quousque proloqueris ista, 
 
 " Et verba oris tui erunt instar venti vehementi ?"H 
 
 But remark the third : 
 
 " Annon multitudini verborum respondebitur ? 
 " Numquid vir loquax habebitur iustus ? 
 " An mendacia tua hominibus silentium imponent ? 
 " Et turn irriseris, nemo tibi pudorem incutiet?" 1 ^ 
 
 They are represented as illiberal, cententious ; inclined to torture 
 every thing to the worst of purposes : 
 
 " An Deus pervertet ius ? 
 
 " Anne omnipotens distorquebit iustitiam ?"13 
 
 Where observe, Job has not as yet uttered an intemperate expres- 
 sion in disparagement of the divine justice. 
 
 " Quin tu irritam facis religionem, 
 
 " Et minuis precationcm coram Deo. "14 
 
 Such is the invective of the other of them. They are also proud, 
 contemptuous, and arrogate too much to their own wisdom : 
 
 " Quamobrem reputamur instar bruti pecoris ; 
 
 " Impuri habemur in oculis vestris ? 
 
 " O lanians seipsum in ira sua ! 
 
 " Ergone propter te derelinquetur tellus? 
 
 " Et revelletur rupes e loco suo ? 
 
 " Imo vero improborum lumen extinguetur."15(A) 
 
 Nor is Zophar, who takes up the subject after Bildad, more modest : 
 " Profecto cogitationes meae ad respondendum me stimulant, 
 " Et propterea festinus me impellit impetus : 
 " Castigationem mihi ignominiosam audiero ? 
 " Ergo spiritus intelligentiae meae me cogit respondere."16 
 
 The conduct of all these severe censors is much the same 
 through the whole piece. Eliphaz indeed, who begins in the mild- 
 est terms, descends afterwards to the severest reproaches ; and he 
 indirectly charges Job with the most atroci6us offences : from which 
 intemperance of language, it must be confessed, the others refrain. 
 Bildad, not to be silent, repeats in a brief and florid manner the sub- 
 ject, which had already been twice treated of by the others, namely, 
 the majesty and holiness of God ; and Zophar, withdrawing from 
 the contest, deserts entirely the cause of his companion, and leaves 
 the field to Job. The business of defamation indeed seems with 
 great propriety, committed to three persons. It would have been 
 
 11 Chap. viii. 2. 13 Chap. viii. 3. : 15 Chap, xviii. 35. 
 
 12 Chap. xi. 2, 3. 14 Chap. xv. 4. 16 Chap. xx. 2, 3. 
 
288 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXIV. 
 
 too confined and trivial in the hands of one ; and, amongst a crowd 
 of accusers, too confused and clamorous. There appears, however, 
 but little difference in the manners of the three friends ; for in them 
 the poet has rather studied to display the progress of the passions, 
 than any diversity of character. But though the nice and fastidious 
 criticism of the moderns demand variety in this respect, the simpli- 
 city of infant poetry will be excused by every person of real judge- 
 ment ; and I think this deficiency (if such it may be called) is am- 
 ply compensated by the gravity and importance of the subject and 
 sentiments. 
 
 The lenity and moderation of Elihu serves as a beautiful con- 
 trast to the intemperance and asperity of the other three. He is 
 pious, mild and equitable ; equally free from adulation and severity ; 
 and endued with singular wisdom, which he attributes entirely to 
 the inspiration of God : and his modesty, moderation, and wisdom, 
 are the more entitled to commendation when we consider his unripe 
 youth. As the characters of his detractors were in all respects cal- 
 culated to inflame the mind of Job; that of this arbitrator is admi- 
 rably adapted to sooth and compose it : to this point the whole drift 
 of the argument tends, and on this the very purport of it seems to 
 depend. (B) 
 
 The interposition of the Deity, and its connexion with the gen- 
 eral design of the poem, I have formerly noticed. I will only add, 
 that although some critics have really thought the whole address in- 
 consistent, and foreign to the subject, no man has ever accounted it 
 in any respect unworthy of that supreme Majesty to which it is as- 
 cribed. 
 
 Another circumstance deserving particular attention in a poem of 
 this kind, is the sentiment ; which must be agreeable to the subject, 
 and embellished with proper expression. It is by Aristotle enume- 
 rated among the essentials of a dramatic poem ; not indeed as pecu- 
 liar to that species of poetry alone, but as common, and of the great- 
 est importance to all. Manners or character are essential only to 
 that poetry in which living persons are introduced ; and all such 
 poems must afford an exact representation of human manners : but 
 sentiment is essential to every poem, indeed to every composition 
 whatever. It respects both persons and things ; as far as it regards 
 persons, it is particularly concerned in the delineation of the man- 
 ners and passions : and those instances to which I have just been 
 adverting, are sentiments expressive of manners. Those which re- 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 289 
 
 late to the delineation of the passions, and to the description of other 
 objects, yet remain unnoticed in this Lecture. As I formerly, how- 
 ever, treated of these subjects in general, I could scarcely avoid pro- 
 ducing some examples from this poem ; for in demonstrating the 
 power of the poetic diction in exciting the passions, I could not pos- 
 sibly deduce my instances from a better source. 17 On the present 
 occasion, therefore, I shall study brevity, and avoid as much as pos- 
 sible the tediousness of repetition. 
 
 The poem of Job abounds chiefly in the more vehement passions, 
 grief and anger, indignation and violent contention. It is adapted 
 in every respect to the incitement of terror ; and, as the specimens 
 already quoted will sufficiently prove, is universally animated with 
 the true spirit of sublimity. It is however not wanting in the gen- 
 tler affections ; the following complaints, for instance, are replete 
 with an affecting spirit of melancholy : 
 
 " Homo natus de muliere, 
 
 " Brevis est dierum, et satur tumultus : 
 
 " Ut flos emicat, et languescit ; 
 
 " Fugitque ut umbra, et non subsistit, 
 
 " Etiamne super hunc oculos tuos aperuisti ? 
 
 " Et me adduces in iudicium tecum ? 
 
 " Remove conspectum ab eo, ut remissionis aliquid habeat ; 
 
 " Et acquiescat diei suo sicut mercenarius :"18 
 
 'The whole passage abounds with the most beautiful imagery, and is 
 a most perfect specimen of the elegiac. His grief afterwards be- 
 comes more fervent, but is at the same time soft and querimonious. 
 
 " Quousque vexabitis animam nieam, 
 
 " Et conterentis me sermonibus ? 
 
 " lam decem vicibus me contumelia affecistis ; 
 
 " Non erubescitis, in me usque obfirmati estis. 
 
 " Miseremini mei, miseremini mei, O vos amici mei ! 
 
 " Nam Dei manus me plaga affecit. 
 
 " Quianam insectamini me, ut Deus ; 
 
 " Neque carna mea satiati estis ?"19 
 
 That self-indulgence which is so natural to the passion of hope ; its 
 ingenuity in drawing pictures of future felicity ; its credulity in 
 cherishing these ideas, and the gaiety and elevation of mind with 
 which it describes them, are finely expressed by Job in the passage 
 immediately following the relation of his past life : 
 
 17 See Lect. xiv. xvi. xvii. 18 Chap. xiv. 1, 2. 3, 6. 
 
 19 Chap. xix. 2, 3, 21, 22. 
 37 
 
290 THE POEM OF JOB. L.ECT. XXXIV- 
 
 " Proinde dicebam, in nido meo expirabo : 
 
 " Et ut arenam multiplicabo dies : 
 
 " Radix mea sese dilatabit ad aquas ; 
 
 " Et ros commorabitur in ramo meo : 
 
 " Gloria mea semper erit mecum recens ; 
 
 " Et arcus meus in manu mea renovabitur : 
 
 " Me audient, et expectabunt ; 
 
 " Et ad consilium meum intend tacebunt : 
 
 " Postquam locutus fuero, nihil iterabunt; 
 
 " Et super eos stillabit oratio mea : 
 
 " Et expectabunt me, ut pluviam ; 
 
 " Et os suum diducent ad imbrem serotinum." 20 
 
 To this part of the subject, which relates to the delineation of 
 the passions, may be referred those delicate touches which animate 
 almost every description, and which are drawn from the most inti- 
 mate knowledge of the genuine emotions of the human soul. I shall 
 content myself with one example out of the many which the com- 
 pass of the work affords. It is exactly copied from nature ; for 
 when events take place according to our ardent wishes, but quite 
 contrary to our expectations, we have the utmost difficulty to believe 
 them real. Job thus expresses himself respecting God : 
 " Si invocavero, et mihi respondent, 
 " Non crederem, quod exaudiverit vocem meam."21 
 
 This is admirably expressive both of the majesty of God, and of the 
 severity which he exercised towards Job ; it is also no less descrip- 
 tive of the humiliation and despair of the sufferer. 
 
 " Adridebo eis, non credent :" 22 
 
 says Job of his dependants ; in which is expressed his own dignity 
 and gravity united with urbanity, and at the same time their unvio- 
 lated attachment to him. Thus too, by the same circumstance, is 
 depicted both the ardour and alacrity of the war-horse, and his ea- 
 gerness for the battle : 
 
 " Cum trepidatione et fremitu vorat terram ; 
 
 " Nee credit, quod tubae sit sonitus : 
 
 " Pergente iam tuba, dicit, euge ; 
 
 " Et a longinquo odoratur praelium, 
 
 " Tonitru principum et clangorem."23 
 
 This passage, which has indeed always attracted general admi- 
 ration, will also serve to exemplify the excellence of the descriptive 
 parts of this poem : and from the same circumstance we may fairly 
 
 20 Ch. xix. 1123. 21 Ch. ix. 16. 23 Ch. xxix. 34. 23 Ch. xxxix. 24, 25. 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 291 
 
 conjecture, that the pictures, which are exhibited in other parts 
 of the work, would appear no less striking resemblances of the reali- 
 ties, were we equally well acquainted with the originals. To judge 
 rightly of a description, we ought to have as clear and distinct ideas 
 of the thing itself as the author. The idea of thunder is familiar to 
 all mankind ; observe, therefore, how it is depicted by Elihu : 
 
 " Ob hoc etiam expavescit cor meum, 
 
 " Et subsultim trepidat e sede sua : 
 
 il Attente audite vocis eius fremitum, 
 
 " Et murmur quod ex ore eius egreditur ! 
 
 " Sub omne coelum rectus eius impetus, 
 
 " Et lumen eius in extremas oras terrae. 
 
 " Post illud rugit vox : 
 
 " Intonat voce maiestatis suae ; 
 
 " Neque investigari poterit, cum audita fuerit, vox eius."24( c ) 
 
 It would be superfluous to insist any longer on a minute detail, 
 since the most splendid examples of every beauty and elegance of 
 sentiment, of imagery, and of diction, meet the eye of the attentive 
 reader in every part of the poem. Let it suffice to say, that the 
 dignity of the style is answerable to that of the subject ; its force 
 and energy to the greatness of those passions which it describes : 
 and as this production excels all the other remains of the Hebrew 
 poetry in economy and arrangement, so it yields to none in sublimi- 
 ty of style, and in every grace and excellence of composition. 
 Among the principal of these may be accounted the accurate and 
 perfectly poetical conformation of the sentences, which is indeed 
 generally most observable in the most ancient of the poetical com- 
 positions of the Hebrews. Here, however, as is natural and proper 
 in a poem of so great length and sublimity, the writer's skill is dis- 
 played in the proper adjustment of the period, and in the accurate 
 distribution of the members, rather than in the antithesis of words, 
 or in any laboured adaptation of the parallelisms. 
 
 Having now gone through the several topics, of which I purpos- 
 ed to treat in my investigation of the nature of the Hebrew poetry, 
 it is time that my present undertaking should draw towards a con- 
 clusion. If in the prosecution of my design, I have by my industry 
 been able to accomplish any thing that may be deemed satisfactory, 
 it is but common justice to attribute the greatest part of my success 
 to you, Gentlemen, who have condescended to look with a propitious 
 
 24 JOB xxxvii. 1 4. 
 
292 THE POEM OF JOB, LfiCT. XXXIV. 
 
 eye upon my endeavours, and to invigorate my application by your 
 attention and partiality. When, indeed, I first meditated this sys- 
 tem of instruction, I foresaw, as well from the native sublimity and 
 obscurity of the subject, as from the extreme antiquity of the He- 
 brew writings, much subtile investigation, much difficult explication, 
 much doubtful assertion, and dangerous error. I foresaw too, and 
 daily experience confirmed my apprehensions, that in this maze of 
 science, the vestiges and the documents of the learned would be 
 frequently found but imperfect guides. That my courage did not 
 utterly forsake me in the course of my undertaking, is to be attribut- 
 ed entirely to the favour and encouragement which I received from 
 you. I had the satisfaction to find my plan meet with the approba- 
 tion of some of the greatest and most eminent characters in the learn- 
 ed world, as being neither inconsistent with the design of this insti- 
 tution, the dignity of this University, nor the profit and utility of the 
 students. I had often the singular pleasure of seeing, among my 
 auditors, many persons, to whom it would better become me to ap- 
 ply for instruction in this and in every other branch of literature ; 
 and the young men, for whose benefit this institution was establish- 
 ed, I have found ever diligent and constant in their attendance : all 
 which testimonies of your favour, unless I accounted as obligations, 
 I should think either too arrogantly of myself, or too disrespectfully 
 of you. To all of you, therefore, I feel, and shall for ever feel my- 
 self obliged : the remembrance of your kindness will, in every vicis- 
 situde of my condition, be pleasing to me ; nor is there any danger 
 of my suffering that to escape my memory, which I must ever es- 
 teem the great ornament of my life. 
 
 But to return to a point which is of more importance, and which 
 has indeed been the principal object of all my endeavours. I should 
 now think myself called upon, in the last place, to exhort this assem- 
 bly of accomplished youths to an assiduous application to these stu- 
 dies, but that I confess I think you rather demand commendation 
 than advice. For the Hebrew language, which was for a series of 
 years in a manner obsolete and neglected, has been lately cultivated 
 by you with such attention and application, and has obtained so re- 
 spectable a place among the other branches of erudition, that it 
 seems, through your means, to have recovered, after a tedious exile, 
 all its former dignity and importance. Proceed, therefore, in the 
 same career with the same ardour and success, and consider it as a 
 worrk worthy of your utmost exertions to illustrate and cultivate this 
 
LECT. XXXIV. THE POEM OF JOB. 293 
 
 department of literature. You will find it no less elegant and agree- 
 able, than useful and instructive ; abounding in information no less 
 curious for its extent and variety, than for its great importance and 
 venerable sanctity ; deserving the attention of every liberal mind ; 
 essential to all who would be proficients in theology : a branch of 
 literature, in a word, which will confer credit upon yourselves, will 
 be an honour to the university, and an advantage to the church. I 
 congratulate you, gentlemen, on having an instructer, 25 who, from his 
 authority, example, assiduity, and information, will be found in no 
 respect wanting to your profit and accommodation ; a gentleman no 
 less eminent for his abilities and profound erudition, than for the 
 candour, urbanity, and gentleness of his manners. He will unfold 
 to you the inexhaustible treasures of oriental literature, he will open 
 to your view an unbounded field of science and of fame. It is suf- 
 ficient for me to have discovered to you a few of the more delight- 
 ful retreats of this paradise : and could I flatter myself that my en- 
 deavours have been so fortunate as to allure or excite any to these 
 studies, or even to stimulate and keep alive your attention to this 
 department of literature, I should think that I had received the most 
 honourable, the most grateful reward of my labours. 
 
 25 Dr. THOMAS HUNT, King's Professor of Hebrew, and Laudian Professor 
 of the Arabic language. 
 
BRIEF CONFUTATION 
 
 OP 
 
 BISHOP HARE'S SYSTEM OF HEBREW METRE. 
 
 IT is well known, that an hypothesis was invented by the late 
 bishop Hare concerning the Hebrew metres ; and the arguments, 
 which he had advanced in its favour, appeared so conclusive to 
 some persons of great erudition, as to persuade them, that the learn- 
 ed prelate had fortunately revived the knowledge of the true He- 
 brew versification, after an oblivion of more than two thousand 
 years ; and that he had established his opinion by such irresistible 
 proofs, as to place it beyond the utmost efforts of controversy. 
 Whoever, indeed, encounters it in such a manner, as only to call 
 in question some particular part, to intimate only an occasional 
 scruple, or to attack but one or two of his arguments, will, doubtless, 
 " attempt in vain 1 to root out of their minds an opinion which has 
 been so deeply implanted and established by the authority of so great 
 a man : much less will any person obtain credit who shall affirm, 
 that he has discovered what was not discovered by the learned pre- 
 late, unless by the strongest arguments he not only overthrows the 
 hypothesis which he rejects, but confirms his own. Avoiding there- 
 fore every subterfuge, I shall come immediately to the point, and de- 
 monstrate by the clearest and most decisive instances, which is the 
 only method of extorting assent from the incredulous, that I have 
 actually discovered the nature and principles of this poetry," and 
 those directly contrary to the system which he has adopted. I shall, 
 on this occasion, make use of the same example that bishop Hare 
 himself has chosen ; which, when properly considered, will, I think, 
 sufficiently explain and prove my opinion ; and at the same time ef- 
 fectually overturn his hypothesis. 
 
 1 See Hare's Preface to the Psalms, at the beginning. 
 
CONFUTATION OF BISHOP HARfi's HEBREW METRE. 295 
 
 PSALM CXI. 
 
 1. odeh javoh becol lebab, i. 
 
 2. besod jesarim veyedah. 
 
 3. gcdolim mayase javoh, ii. 
 
 4. derusim lecol chepzehein. 
 
 5. hod vehadar poyaloj iii. 
 
 6. vezidkatho yomedeth layad. 
 
 7. zecer yasah leniphlothdv ; iv. 
 
 8. chanun verachkm javoh. 
 
 9. tereph nathan liredy^ v. 
 
 10. jizcor leyolam beritlio. 
 
 11. coach mayasav higfd leSamo, vi. 
 
 12. latKcth lahem nachdlath goim. 
 
 13. mayase jaddv emeth umispat; -vii. 
 
 14. neemanim col pikudav : 
 
 15. seraucim luyad leyolam, viii. 
 1C. yasunn beeraeth vejasar. 
 
 17. peduth saldch leyarao, ix. 
 
 18. zivah leyoldm beritho. 
 
 19. kados vanord semo ; x. 
 
 20. resith chocmdh jirdth javoh. 
 
 21. secel tob lecol yosehem, xi. 
 
 22. tehilathu yom^deth layad. 
 
 From this alphabetic Psalm, which is divided into its proper 
 verses according to the initial letters, and restored to its proper 
 numbers without any violation of the text, without even any change 
 of the Masoretic vowels (except that with bishop Hare, I read 
 javoh) the canons of the Hebrew metre are to be collected and es- 
 tablished. 
 . I. 2 In the first place then, in the Hebrew poetry the feet are 
 
 2 The following are the principal rules or canons of bishop Hare : 
 
 1. In Hebrew poetry all the feet are two syllables. 
 
 2. No regard is paid to the quantity of the syllables. 
 
 3. When the number of the syllables is even, the verse is Trochaic, placing 
 the accent on the first syllable. 
 
 4. If the number of syllables be odd, they are to be accounted Iambics, and 
 the accent is to be placed on the second syllable, in order to preserve the 
 rhythm. 
 
 5. The periods mostly consist of two verses, often three or four, and some- 
 times more. 
 
296 CONFUTATION OF BISHOP HARE'S HEBREW METRE. 
 
 not all dissyllables : for in verse 3, 11, 16, lim mas>a coach maya 
 im be are Dactyls ; in verse 13, 14, ma^ase, neema are Ana- 
 paests : contrary to the first canon of bishop Hare. 
 
 II. Attention must always be paid to the quantity of the sylla- 
 bles, for the same word, as often as it occurs, is always of the same 
 quantity ; for instance, javoh, lecol, are constantly Iambics, lay ad is 
 always a Trochaic, ma^ase an Anapaest ; le^olam is uniformly an 
 Arnphimaser : beritho, 3>omedeth, is an Amphibrachis : contrary to 
 the second canon of bishop Hare. 
 
 III. The verses are either Trochaic, which admit a Dactyl ; 
 or Iambic, which admit an Anapaest ; but it by no means follows, 
 that a verse is either the one or the other, from its consisting of an 
 even or odd number of syllables. Those indeed which consist 
 of an even number of syllables, are, for the most part, Iambic, as 
 verse 1, 2, 7, 13, 14, 15, 20 ; but they are also sometimes Trocha- 
 ic, as verse 3, 4, 10, 18, 21 ; and those which consist of an odd 
 number of syllables are mostly Trochaic, as verse 5, 8, 9, 11, 16, 
 19 ; they are however sometimes Iambic, as verse 6, 12, 17, 22 : 
 contrary to the third and fourth canon. 
 
 IV. The verses of the same period are of different kinds, period 
 iii, iv, vi, viii, ix, x, xi, a few only excepted, as period i, ii, v, vii : 
 and those which are of the same kind seldom agree in the number 
 of syllables and feet : for instance, in period ii. and v. the first verse 
 is a Trochaic Dimeter Catalectic, the second a Trochaic Dimeter 
 Acatalectic ; in period vii. the first is an Iambic Dimeter Hyper- 
 catalectic, the second an Iambic Dimeter Catalectic : the only in- 
 stance of verses agreeing in a kind, agreeing also in syllables and 
 feet is in period i. and those are Iambics : and this is contrary to 
 the sixth, seventh, and eighth canons. 
 
 V. All the periods consist of only two verses ; for properly kopk 
 and resh constitute the penultimate, and shin and tau the ultimate 
 period ; as also appeared to the learned Cappell : 3 this is contrary to 
 the fifth canon. 
 
 6. The verses of the same period, with few exceptions, are of the same kind. 
 
 7. The Trochaic verses mostly agree in the number of feet : there are 
 however a few exceptions. 
 
 8. In the Iambic verses the feet are mostly unequal, though in some in- 
 stances they are equal. 
 
 9. Each verse does not contain a distinct sense. 
 
 See HARE'S Pref. p. 27. 
 3 See CAPPELL, Crit. Sac. Lib. i. cap. xii. 11. 
 
CONFUTATION OP BISHOP HARE'S HEBREW METRE. 297 
 
 VI. Each verse has one particular sense : contrary to the ninth 
 canon. 
 
 " That what I have advanced as true and indisputable, is most 
 true, appears from the examples which I have adduced ; and who- 
 ever reads attentively the book of Psalms, will find similar instances 
 in almost every page." 4 
 
 4 See Hare's Preface, p. 31. The reader has doubtless observed, that to 
 establish our two last canons, and perhaps the others, a general proposition is 
 deduced from a particular instance : viz. so it is in this Psalm, and so, there- 
 fore, it must be in all Hebrew poems whatever : in this, however, I only copy 
 Bishop Hare ; for to say the truth, upon this mode of reasoning, and begging 
 the question at the same time, depends his whole hypothesis. 
 
 I find these observations have greatly displeased Dr. THOMAS EDWARDS, 
 a strenuous advocate for Bishop Hare's Metres. Towards the conclusion of 
 his Dissertation lately published, he asserts, that I did not understand what I 
 presumed to censure : and to this accusation I indeed plead guilty. For I will 
 freely confess, that I neither did understand, nor do I yet understand, what me- 
 tre can exist without any distinction of long and short syllables, or what can be 
 meant by Trochaic, Iambic, and Anacreontic feet and verses, where no re- 
 gard is paid to the quantity of the syllables. Nor do I understand any better, 
 what purpose the confutation of my hypothesis can answer, since I gave it my- 
 self as futile and false, and since the futility of it was one of the strongest ar- 
 guments against the hypothesis of Hare. This argument can only be done 
 away by proving, that my hypothesis is not founded upon the same, or upon 
 principles equally clear and certain with Bishop Hare's : this unfortunately 
 his defender has not done, nor indeed can he do. 
 
 With regard to his accusation, that I have acted dogmatically, and that 
 I have upon my own authority, and without any regard to reason, affirmed, that 
 the hypothesis of Bishop Hare depends altogether upon his taking for granted 
 the very point to be proved ; in order to exonerate myself from so invidious an 
 imputation, and in order to confirm what I before had advanced, I must re- 
 quest the reader's attention to the following particulars. 
 
 The cxith Psalm is proposed as an example, and is divided into verses, 
 whence the laws of Hebrew versification! are to be deduced. We grant 
 that in this Psalm the verses are rightly distinguished, since it is alphabet- 
 ical, and the members of each period are nearly equal. But what is this 
 to the establishment of a certain rule for the division of others, which are 
 neither alphabetical, nor seem capable of a regular and equal distribution of 
 the sentences and members? Indeed, such is the difficulty of Bishop 
 Hare's hypothesis in this respect, that according to it a number of the 
 Psalms are divided, not only arbitrarily and oddly, but inelegantly, inju- 
 diciously, contrary to the genius of the Hebrew poetry, and contrary to 
 every appearance of truth. We will take for an example the first Psalm, 
 on which the author prides himself not a little. But when divided into 
 verses, by what rule is it accented? Why in this ratiier tiian any other 
 38 
 
298 CONFUTATION OP BISHOP HARE'S HEBREW METRE. 
 
 Since this is the case, since I have deduced happily the abstruse 
 principles of the Hebrew metre from this Psalm, or rather explained 
 clearly such as readily presented themselves, and have reduced them 
 to an art, easy, perfect, and consistent ; depending upon principles 
 
 manner ? How is it proved, that when the number of syllables is even, the 
 verse is Trochaic, when odd, Iambic ? From the nature and principles of 
 Trochaic and Iambic verse ? By no means (for in the Greek and Latin Tro- 
 chaics and Iambics, the case is directly contrary,) but merely from the 
 pleasure and will of the author. Why then may not I, or any other person, 
 affix different accents to this hundred and eleventh, or any Psalm, and so turn 
 theTrochaics of Bishop Hare into Iambics, and his Iambics intoTrochaics? By 
 what rule too are the syllables- numbered ? According to the Masoretic punctu- 
 ation ? By no means; for the Masoretic number of syllables is altered, and that, 
 as by a previous rule, or according to an established system of metre, which 
 existed before the punctuation ; as from this Psalm so ordered and illus- 
 trated, the rules of metre are afterwards to be collected. " But I do not 
 desert the Masoretic punctuation, unless an erroneous punctuation inter- 
 feres with the metre." This would be a sound argument, if it were pre- 
 viously determined what these rules of metre were. But for what good 
 reason are all trisyllabic metres excluded from the Hebrew poetry ? " Be- 
 cause, truly, if the trisyllabic feet were admitted, a distinction of long 
 and short syllables would have place necessarily in the Hebrew poetry." 
 And why should it not ? " In Hebrew poetry there is no respect at all to 
 the quantity of the syllables." A most extraordinary assertion, and scarcely 
 credible ! But that so it might be, learn from the testimony of your eyes 
 and-ears. " For from this Psalm it is evident, that no regard is paid to 
 quantity in the Hebrew poetry; since in the fourth and fifth verses, not 
 to mention other instances, the le and ve are long. On the other hand, in the 
 fifteenth and twenty-second, mu in semucim and hit in tehilathu, are short." 
 That is, according to Hare, the shortest syllable may be made use of instead 
 of the longest (such indeed he acknowledges them to be) in his Trochaic and 
 Iambic measures ; and on the other hand, the longest may be introduced in- 
 stead of the shortest : of which this Psalm affords the precedent : and on the 
 authority of this precedent, a law is framed to serve in all other cases : and 
 when we ask, upon other evidence, the reason of the fact, he refers us to his 
 own authority and his own example. For, indeed, says he, this is the plain 
 state of the case ; " that this, and all that I have urged upon this subject, is 
 undoubtedly fact, is plain from the examples which I have produced, and 
 must strike every reasonable person who only looks into a single page of the 
 book of Psalms." I confess it, indeed, most learned Prelate, if we look into 
 your Psalms : but I fear we shall then be very little nearer the truth , since 
 it is by no means a decided point, that your Psalms are rightly and judi- 
 ciously divided into verses, feet, and syllables. 
 
 See " A larger Confutation of Bishop Hare's Hebrew Metres, in a Letter 
 to Dr. Edwards, London, 1764." 
 
CONFUTATION OP BISHOP HARE'S HEBREW MTRE. 299 
 
 certain and self-evident : but not taking those liberties in which 
 Bishop Hare has prolixly indulged himself, so as to make the same 
 word sometimes Trochaic, sometimes Iambic, sometimes a Dissylla- 
 ble, and sometimes a Trisyllable ; I may reasonably indulge myself 
 in the hope, that the candid reader will prefer my hypothesis to that 
 of Bishop Hare. This at least I trust I may expect, that he will treat 
 them upon equal terms, and allow to each the same authority, that 
 
 i s NONE AT ALL. 
 
 In the same manner every hypothesis, which pretends to define 
 the laws of Hebrew metre, and to prescribe the numbers, the feet, 
 the scanning of the lines, may, I think, be easily overset : for to that 
 hypothesis another directly contrary, yet confirmed by arguments 
 equally forcible, may, I am persuaded, be successfully opposed. 
 
 With regard to the opinion of those who suppose the whole 
 art of Hebrew metre to consist in a similarity of termination to each 
 verse ; though it has acquired some popularity and authority in the 
 learned world, I think it by far the most ill-founded of all ; and I 
 think its absurdity so obvious, that with the utmost ease it may be 
 detected. Since the endings of the verses are defined in some of 
 the alphabetical poems, and since it is manifest, that in these the 
 verses do not end alike, that no art or attention has been bestowed 
 upon that point, it follows of course that the art of Hebrew versifica- 
 tion does not consist in making verses with similar endings. 
 
NOTES. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE I. 
 
 [A. p. 9.] Time of commencing these Lectures. 
 
 THE Praelector of poetry at Oxford is obliged by the statute to 
 read his inaugural lecture the first Tuesday in the term subsequent 
 to his election ; and it appears by the university register, that Mr. 
 Lowth was elected to the professorship on the 21st of May, 1741, 
 in the vacation between Easter and Act term. As this vacation is 
 only thirteen days, commencing the Thursday before Whitsunday, 
 and ending the Wednesday after Trinity Sunday, the longest inter- 
 val that could possibly happen between his election and his first lec- 
 ture is somewhat less than three weeks : It might probably be much 
 shorter. The usual term of the professorship is ten years. 
 
 GREGORY. 
 
 [B. p. 11.] Utility the ultimate object of poetry. 
 
 Of poetry in the earlier stages of human improvement, of the 
 poetry which the Bible exhibits, utility was doubtless not only the 
 ultimate, but the immediate, object. The poetical costume in which 
 the most ancient sages clothed their thoughts, was as much a matter 
 of necessity as of choice. The feelings, the language, and the hab- 
 its of men were all poetical ; nor would any instructions in regard 
 to their civil or moral duties have been effectual, unless presented 
 in a poetical form : neither was it possible for the sages of those 
 times to exhibit their own feelings and speak their own language, 
 without exhibiting the feelings and speaking the language of poetry. 
 In the gradual advancement of society, the maxims of polity and the 
 precepts of virtue began to assume a didactic form ; but poetry was 
 still cultivated for the delight it afforded, and, like the rural beau- 
 ties of spring, served the double purpose of utility and pleasure. 
 That poetry, which, like the paintings of the artist, is designed 
 
304 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE I. 
 
 merely for pleasure, belongs to a later and more luxurious age ; but 
 even this is laudable, provided the poet is careful to make the pleas- 
 ure innocent, and does not entirely lose sight of the original design 
 of his art. The God of nature has created many things in the ma- 
 terial world, whose only purpose is to afford delight ; and why may 
 not the same object be sought in some of the productions of the in- 
 tellect ? (Compare Herder, Briefe, Th. I. S. 35 ff.) S. 
 
 [C. p. 12.] Authority of VirgiVs Georgics. 
 
 Of this work Seneca speaks in the following terms : " Virgilius 
 noster, qui non quid verissime, sed quid decentissime diceretur, as- 
 pexit ; nee agricolas docere voluit, sed legentes delectare. Epist. 
 86. But Columella, certainly a much better authority in matters 
 of agriculture, had formed a very different estimate of Virgil's merits. 
 He often quotes the Georgics with the highest approbation, and nev- 
 er with censure. " Haec autem consequemur, si verissimo vati 
 velut oraculo crediderimus, dicenti, Ventos et varium" Lib. I. 4. 
 " Utamurque saepius auctoritate divini carminis." Lib. VII. 3. 
 Even in regard to the only instance of the alleged inaccuracy of 
 Virgil, which Seneca adduces, (the time of sowing millet) ; the 
 groundlessness of the philosopher's censures may be seen by con- 
 sulting Columella, Lib. II. 9. Pliny, Nat. Hist. XVIII. 7. Pallad. 
 III. 3. LOWTH. 
 
 [D. p. 16.] Poetry, philosophy, and history. 
 
 Our author does, indeed, here " seem to attribute too much to 
 his favourite occupation." The whole passage respecting the com- 
 parative utility of poetry, philosophy, and history, appears to me to 
 savour rather of rhetorical exaggeration than of sober truth. They 
 are each useful, and equally so in their respective places ; and to 
 elevate one at the expense of the others, shows more of the warm 
 affections of an enthusiast than of the severe accuracy of an instruct- 
 er. If poetry be more general and more powerful in its influence 
 than philosophy, philosophy is necessary rightly to limit and regu- 
 late the dominion of poetry : if " poetry can range uncontrolled 
 over the wide expanse of nature," while history must " confine it- 
 self to that path which the stubbornness of fact has prescribed;" 
 then, though the former may be better adapted to excite a love and 
 admiration for what is amiable and great, the instructions of the 
 latter are at least more proper to direct the practice of it in the real 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE I. 305 
 
 business of life ; if poetry is the original instructress of mankind in 
 the earlier stages of improvement, yet, as society advances, and men 
 begin to reason as well as feel, the enchantments of fable must give 
 place to the less pleasing, but more accurate, teachings of philoso- 
 phy and history. S. 
 
 [E. p. 18.] Translation of the Ode. 
 
 Verdant myrtle's branchy pride 
 
 Shall my thirsty blade entwine : 
 Such, HARMODIUS, deck'd thy side, 
 
 Such, ARISTOGITON, thine. 
 Noblest youths ! in islands blest, 
 
 Not like recreant idlers dead ; 
 You with fleet PELIDES rest, 
 
 And with godlike DIOMED. 
 Myrtle shall our brows entwine, 
 
 While the Muse your fa,me shall tell ; 
 'Twas at Pallas' sacred shrine, 
 
 At your feet the tyrant fell. 
 Then in Athens all was peace, 
 
 Equal laws and liberty : 
 Nurse of arts and eye of Greece, 
 
 People valiant, firm and free ! SIR WM. JONES. 
 
 ATHEN^EUS, Lib XV. This Zxohov (or convivial song) some 
 have attributed to AlcaBus : but not conformably with strict chronolo- 
 gy ; for Alcaeus flourished about eighty years before the death of Hip- 
 parchus. But HESYCHIUS has preserved the name of the author from 
 oblivion, directly assigning the poem to CALLISTRATUS. This poem 
 was so celebrated at Athens, that it was sung at almost every ban- 
 quet, as we learn from ARISTOPHANES, AI&QV. 977. 
 
 " Grim visag'd war shall never be my guest, 
 " Nor at my table sing Harmodius' praise : 
 " Such lawless riot mars our temp'rate joys." 
 
 " He shall never sing Harmodius with me :" that is, he shall never 
 be my guest. Upon this passage the SCHOLIAST : " In their convi- 
 vial meetings they sung a certain ballad of Harmodius, which be- 
 gins (frdraTt AQt*odif %. T. A." Also in the same comedy, 1092, 
 these songs are enumerated among the other apparatus of the enter- 
 tainment : 
 
 "The sprightly dance : Harmodius ! thy delight." 
 
 There is an allusion to the same, Avoi?. 633. 
 
 " My sword I'll bear hid in a myrtle branch ; 
 " And like Aristogiton walk in arms," 
 
 39 
 
306 NOTES ON LECTURE 1. 
 
 It is evident from this ballad, that the conspirators, when they as- 
 saulted Hipparchus, concealed their daggers in those myrtle gar- 
 lands, which, if I mistake not, were carried by all who assisted at 
 the sacred rites of the Panathenaic sacrifice : and this is indeed 
 confirmed by the Scholiast upon Aristophanes, in the passage before 
 referred to : " For these men, Harmodius and Aristogiton, hastily 
 drawing their swords out of the myrtle boughs, fell furiously upon 
 the tyrant." Hence perhaps arose the custom, that whoever sung 
 any convivial song in company, always held a branch of myrtle in 
 his hand. See PLUTARCH, Symp. Quest. 1. LOWTH. 
 
 [F. p. 21.] Use of poetry to an orator. 
 
 " It will not be inconsistent with these studies to amuse yourself 
 with poetry : Tally indeed appears to me to have acquired that lu- 
 minous and splendid diction which he possessed, by occasionally re- 
 sorting to such occupations." QUINCT. Lib. X. 5. 
 
 It may be doubted whether CICERO was indebted for his excel- 
 lence as an orator to the cultivation of poetry. He would have been 
 accounted but a moderate orator, if his orations had only equalled 
 his poetry, who 
 
 Antoni gladios poterat contemnere, si sic 
 Omnia dixisset. 
 
 I do not expect from CICERO the polish and perfection of VIRGIL, 
 but one might at least have hoped to meet in his verse some of that 
 fire and fancy which appears in his oratory. The case however is 
 far otherwise, for he appears not deficient in art, but in nature ; in 
 that energy and enthusiasm, which is called the poetic furor. 
 
 Upon very mature consideration, indeed, I will venture to profess, 
 that however poetry may contribute to form an accomplished orator, 
 I hardly ever expect to find the same person excellent in both arts. 
 The language of poetry has something in it so different and contra- 
 ry to that of oratory, that we seldom find those who have applied 
 much to the one, rise above mediocrity in the other. The chief ex- 
 cellence of an orator consists in perspicuity, and in such a degree of 
 perspicuity as is necessary to render the composition intelligible even 
 to the common people : but, though obscurity be not a necessary ad- 
 junct of a good poem, it must be considerably superior to the lan- 
 guage and comprehension of the vulgar, to rank above mediocrity. 
 The orator must not deviate from the common and beaten track of 
 language ; the poet must aim at a happy boldness of diction, and 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE I. 307 
 
 wander into new paths. The orator, in order to be generally under- 
 stood, is necessarily more copious and prolix not only than the poet, 
 but than all other writers ; the chief commendation of the poet is 
 brevity. A poem is always enervated by circumlocutions, unless 
 new lights of sentiment and language are thrown in. For these and 
 other reasons, I am of opinion, that if a well-cultivated genius for 
 poetry should apply earnestly to oratory, he might indeed prove such 
 an orator as would please a learned audience, and not be unpleasing 
 to the populace ; but such a man will never prove a very popular 
 orator, on whom the people shall gaze with admiration and rapture, 
 and who shall acquire a perfect ascendency over all their passions : 
 and he who is by nature an orator, may possibly be a poet for the mul- 
 titude, or by art and study, and the imitation of the best models, may 
 make a decent proficiency, but he never can be a great and divine 
 poet. MICHAELIS. 
 
 The views of Michaelis may be admitted as correct without de- 
 tracting from the truth or the value of Quintilian's remark at the 
 head of this note. Though no man can reasonably expect to excel 
 both as an orator and a poet, inasmuch as the intellectual habits requi- 
 site for eminence in the one, are inconsistent with a high degree of 
 excellence in the other ; yet the orator may derive great assistance 
 in his art from the study of poetry. This study is peculiarly calcu- 
 lated to give him copiousness and smoothness of diction, to lay open 
 to his mind the richest stores of imagery, to warm the feelings, ele- 
 vate the imagination, and correct the taste ; to give him facility and 
 skill in the use of langauge and the management of the passions. 
 
 Especially is the study of the sacred poetry useful to the student 
 of sacred eloquence. Who knows all the avenues to the human 
 heart, so well as He who made the heart ? And what compositions 
 have so deep and permanent an effect on the feelings of men, as the 
 poetic parts of the Bible when rightly understood ? He who would 
 learn most effectually to arouse men from their sensuality and sin, 
 and excite them to the love of spiritual things, must derive his modes 
 of persuasion, as well as his principles of doctrine, from a thorough 
 and religious study of the sacred pages. S. 
 
 [G. p. 23.] Original design of poetry. 
 
 The most ancient poetry as well as music, according to Plato, 
 was " that which was addressed to the Deity, under the appellation 
 of hymns." De Leg. Lib. III. SUETONIUS has illustrated this sub- 
 
308 NOTES ON LECTURE I. 
 
 ject in a very elegant manner, though he is a little unfortunate in 
 his etymology, a circumstance not uncommon with the old gramma- 
 rians. " When first," says he, " mankind emerged from a state of 
 barbarism into the habits of civilized life, and began to be acquaint- 
 ed in some measure with their own nature and that of the gods, they 
 contented themselves with a moderate style of living, and a language 
 just proportioned to their wants ; whatever was grand or magnificent 
 in either, they dedicated to their deities. As, therefore, they built 
 temples more elegant by far than their own habitations, and made 
 the shrines and images of their divinities much larger than the hu- 
 man form ; so they thought it necessary to celebrate them in a style 
 of greater majesty than common ; in language more splendid, har- 
 monious, and agreeable. This species of composition, because it 
 assumed a certain distinct form, was called a poem, from the word 
 noiqTyg, and those who cultivated it were called pbets." From a 
 fragment of a work not extant, concerning poetry, quoted by Isi- 
 DORUS, Orig. Lib. viii. c. 7. LOWTH. 
 
 It may be doubted, however, whether poetry were not applied to 
 the purposes of war as early as to those of religion. Poetry was the 
 only species of composition that existed in the earliest ages of the 
 world ; and it would of course be employed on subjects in which 
 men felt the deepest interest. If man, in his state of innocence, ex- 
 pressed his feelings in poetry, the hymns which he composed were 
 undoubtedly of a religious kind ; but as men existed after the fall, 
 victories over their enemies and the achievements of their heroes 
 held as strong possession of their thoughts as the worship of their 
 gods. Consequently, in the earliest poetical remains of all nations, 
 we find warlike and devotional songs going hand in hand : the two 
 subjects indeed are almost constantly united in the same poem, the 
 gods being more frequently praised for granting victory, than for any 
 other blessing. One of the most ancient metrical productions now 
 extant is the song of Moses by the Red Sea, in which the children of 
 Israel return thanks to God for the overthrow of their Egyptian ene- 
 mies. If we examine the first poetical remains that occur on the 
 pages of the Bible, we shall find none of them to be of a strictly de- 
 votional character. The oldest specimen of poetry which the world 
 can produce, is the address of Lamech to his wives (Gen. 4: 23), 
 which is certainly not devotional, and was probably occasioned by 
 the death of a man in single combat with Lamech ; or, as some in- 
 genious critics have supposed, by the invention of the sword or other 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE II. 309 
 
 metallic weapon by his son Tubal-Cain. (See Rosenmueller in loc. ; 
 and Herder, Geist, Th. I. S. 309). The next that occur are the 
 blessings of Isaac and Jacob (Gen. 27: 2729, 39, 40. xlix.), which 
 are testaments rather than hymns. Passing onward, we next find 
 the triumphal song of the Hebrews at the passage of the Red Sea, 
 (Ex. 15: 1 19) ; then a war-song, (Num. 21: 14 16) ; then a 
 song that was sung by the children of Israel at the opening of a well, 
 (Num. 21: 17 20) ; then a quotation from a war-song of the Amo- 
 rites, celebrating their victories over-Moab, with some additional 
 stanzas by the Israelites, (Num. 21: 27 30). These are facts 
 which seem hardly to accord with the theory of Lowth. (See Lect. 
 IV. Note F.) S. 
 
 NOTES OX LECTURE II. 
 
 [A. p. 27.] The Bible a proper subject of criticism. 
 
 The remarks of our author on this point merit repeated perusal 
 and close attention. Erroneous and vague notions of the nature of 
 inspiration have hidden the beauties of the Bible, darkened its mean- 
 ing, and exposed it to the attacks of infidels. The biblical student, 
 at the very commencement of his investigations, must learn to dis- 
 tinguish the things that differ; and not ascribe divinity to that 
 which is necessarily human. Paper and ink do not change their 
 nature and become imperishable, because employed on the word of 
 God ; men continue to be men, though under the influence of the 
 Holy Spirit ; and human language does not cease to be human lan- 
 guage, when used to convey the messages of divine inspiration. Our 
 Creator designed that the Bible should be written by men, in the 
 language of men, for the use of men ; and that it should address it- 
 self to the common sense and the common feelings of men. When 
 we read it, therefore, we should read it as men ; we should judge of 
 it as men ; we should expect to find in it the same diversity of char- 
 acter and the same variety of expression which we find among men ; 
 similar means of acquiring knowledge and communicating thought, 
 like exhibitions of passion, and like weaknesses and frailties. The 
 more we read it in this manner, the more likely shall we be to at- 
 tain its true meaning. We should always remember that the in- 
 structions are all divine ; but that the mode of instruction continually 
 varies with the instrument employed and the people addressed. We 
 
310 NOTES ON LECTURE II. 
 
 should bear it in mind, that the Scriptures were not written for our- 
 selves alone, but for all the nations of the" world; for people of the 
 most diverse climates, characters, and habits ; and if some parts ap- 
 pear comparatively useless to us, we are not therefore to infer that 
 there are no human beings to whom they may be useful : for are we 
 the standard of the whole world ? and must God make all the hu- 
 man race after our model ? The Bible was not originally even ad- 
 dressed to us, but to the people of the East ; and to their habits, 
 feelings, and modes of thought, is its costume conformed, and not 
 to ours. Let these things be remembered, and let us read the Bible 
 as men ought to read a book addressed to their common sense, and 
 not designed for themselves only, but for all their race ; and we shall 
 never more be troubled about the inspiration of the Scriptures, be- 
 cause some of the books were written by authors now unknown, or 
 compiled from other works now lost ; or because the pious charac- 
 ters presented have human frailties, or wicked men are introduced 
 using the language and exhibiting the conduct of wicked men ; or 
 because some sentiments are not conveyed in just the form which 
 we should have chosen, or, there are some things of which we cannot 
 see the utility. All these circumstances necessarily result from the 
 design of the Bible, as a book committed to the hands of men for the 
 common use of all the human race ; and it is by neglecting to con- 
 sider them, that Christians are led to doubt and infidels embolden- 
 ed to scoff. Sober criticism alone will enable us to make the requi- 
 site distinction ; steadily to believe the truth, and effectually to de- 
 fend it. (Compare Herder, Briefe, Th. I. SS. 14, 198.) S. 
 
 [B. p. 28.] Ancient opinion respecting the divine origin of poetry. 
 
 It is well known that, throughout the ancient world, poets were 
 called prophets, and poetry was supposed to derive its origin from di- 
 vine inspiration. Our author here intimates that this opinion might 
 have orignated in some obscure traditions respecting the really di- 
 vine origin of the most ancient poetry, the poetry of the Bible. This 
 may be true : but there is another mode of accounting for the fact, 
 which ought not to be overlooked. This is very ably exhibited in 
 the following quotation, which I am unwilling to translate, because I 
 know not how I can do it without suffering the spirit of the piece to 
 evaporate. S. 
 
 " duicunque ad poeseos originem rationemque germanam res- 
 picere voluerit, is agnoscet, excelsum divinumque aliquid natura hu- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE II. > 311 
 
 jus facultatis contineri, paucis tantum iisque excellentissimis ingeniis. 
 concessum. Quum enim Deus omni suo operi pulcritudinem formam- 
 que perfectam, et in varietate incredibilem ordinem, coiisensumque 
 omnium partium ad unum finem altissime expresserit, quam uno 
 nomine harmoniam vocare licet, atque ita suae perfectionis quamdam 
 quasi umbram et effigiem quasi in speculo exhibuerit, noluit omnes 
 homines tarn admirabilis rei esse spectatores stupidos otiososque. 
 Igitur indidit paucorum quorundam mentibus vim et virtutem, qua 
 hanc operis sui perfectionem non tantum perciperent et observarent, 
 sed etiam persentiscerent, eique singulari quodam animi motu sen- 
 suque responderent. Quern animi consensum et quasi concentum 
 cum Dei operibus, homo imaginandi facultate ad actum vitamque de- 
 ducens, et oratione concitata, numerosa, atque ad harmoniam com- 
 posita experimens, poeta, id est, Dei imitator, creator, dictus fuit." 
 
 " Sed haec quidem, ne forte nonnullis audaciora et subobscura 
 videantur, paullo diligentius persequenda sunt. Attendite igitur, 
 quid sit illud, quo poeta differat a philosopho. Ambo enim contem- 
 platione operis Dei percelluntur, sed dispari utetque modo et effectu. 
 Est autem harmonia ilia et pulcritudo, quam diximus, conspicua, tarn 
 in universe Dei opificio, quod vocamus naturam vel mundum, quern 
 et Graeci xoopov dicentes pulcritudinem simul eius aptamque com- 
 positionem significant, quam in partibus, quibus-mundus constat, 
 quae singulae in suo genere perfectae et sinibus suis respondentes 
 creatae sunt, imo in toto regimine humani generis, omnibusque et 
 singulis, quae Dei providentia efficit, quorumque homines spectato- 
 res esse voluit. Horum igitur admiratio philosophum impellit, ut in 
 rerum causas inquirat, naturae vires perscrutetur, multa inter se con- 
 ferat, multa eruat, quibus eorum, quae sunt, rationem reddere, de- 
 que iis iudicare possit. Aliud maiusque, poetae est munus. Scili- 
 cet, cum in quibuslibet rebus percipit pulcritudinem, magnitudinem, 
 varietatem, simplicitatem, cum agnoscit Deum, excitatur in eius ani- 
 mo non tantum admiratio, sed maxime vis ilia singularis naturae re- 
 spondens, de qua diximus. Mox altiores in pectore surgunt motus : 
 exaestuat imaginandi vis, a rerum praesentium sensusque fugien- 
 tium angustiis se extollit ad universum : quae in oculis posita sunt, 
 exaggerat, ornat, multis ac miris modis auget, miscet, componit, 
 inde sibi creat mundum, eumque vita et actu animat : quod specta- 
 culum mente conceptum tanquam verum, aliis ut testibus et specta- 
 toribus depingit et in ipsa ilia pictura, dum verbis utitur velut colori- 
 
312 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 bus, harmoniam pulcrituJinemque universo a creatore impressam, 
 forma et modulatione carminis imitatur." 
 
 " Videtis iam, quaenam sit poesi vis et indoles ab ipso Deo tribu- 
 ta. Nam hominem ad magna et aeterna destinatum, cuiusque adeo 
 omnem excellentiam non capit angusta huius vitae rerumque adspec- 
 tabilium scena, erigit, et ex hisce vinculis eductum in immensis 
 phantasiae carnpis, tanquam in regno suo, exspatiari iubet. Ita re- 
 rum praesentium despicientia, malorum oblivio, generosiores animi 
 motus, delectatio exquisita, futurae felicitatis aeternae spes sensus- 
 que a poesi excitantur et nutriuntur." 
 
 " Fuit igitur poeseos eadem origo quae religionis, et talem habet 
 cum ea societatem et cognationem, ut sine religione aliqua nulla sit 
 poe'sis. Nam perceptio ilia pulcritudinis huius mundi, quae poetae 
 propria est, animum ad naturae opifieem, ut ab umbrae et imaginis 
 contemplatione ad ipsum perfectum exemplar, evehit. Quare et an- 
 tiquissimis temporibus, ac velut a suis inde incunabulis, poe'sis' in 
 celebrandis Dei laudibus viguisse reperitur. Neque postea, cum ea- 
 dem ad hominum delectationem et exprimendos quoscunque animi 
 motus, amorem, iram, dolorem, tamquam a coelo descenderet, omnem 
 illam maiestatem suam deposuit. Nam quaecunque canit poesis, 
 iis nobilitatem divinitatemque aliquam attribuit, nee quisquam poe- 
 tae sanctum illucl nomen meretur, cuius animus ad naturae Deique 
 sensum se obfirmavit." 
 
 S. F. I. RAUIUS de poeticae facultatis excellentia et perfectione 
 spectata in tribus poetarum principibus, scriptore Jobi, Homero et 
 Ossiano. Lugd. Batav. 1800. p. 73 seqq. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 [A. p. 33.] Poetic diction of the Hebrews. 
 
 The poetical particles, which the grammarians in general call 
 paragogic, (or redundant) are as follows : 1 added to nouns : Numb, 
 xxiv. 3. Ps. 1. 10. Ixxix. 2. cxiv. 8. civ. 11, 20. Isai. Ivi. 9, (it occurs 
 here twice.) Zeph. ii. 14. 
 
 " -Jna Numb. xxiv. 3. as also irpn, Psal. 1. 10, etc. seems to be a 
 pleonasmus peculiar to the Syriac. For thus it is common for that 
 people to express themselves : Tnn JTD, the son Ms of David, 
 Matth. i. 1. *OnT SraiB, the countenance his of the Lord, Is. i. 20. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 313 
 
 Psal. cxiv. 8. It was formerly read ^:^72^, as appears from 
 the Septuagint, \tfA,vag vdaxwv" H. 
 
 t added to nouns, adverbs, prepositions, is common in the poets : 
 also to the participles, Benoni, sing. masc. and fern. Gen. xlix. 11. 
 Psal. ci. 5. Prov. xxviii. 16. Jer. xxii. 23. xlix. 16. li. 13. Ezek. 
 xxvii. 3. This, however, the Masorites have sometimes rashly ex- 
 punged. 
 
 Concerning the 1, when added to verbs in the second pers. fern. 
 sing. pret. I have sometimes my doubts whether it be an error or 
 not. Certainly the Masorites are of opinion that it should always be 
 expunged. See Jer. xiii. 21. xxii. 23. xxxi. 21, and Ezek. xvi. 
 where it occurs eleven times. Now it is not in the least probable 
 that in one chapter the same error should so frequently take place, 
 " But in these eleven places many MSS. confirm the Masoretic Ke- 
 ri,* for the ^ is wanting." K. It may also be a Syriac gloss, which 
 is the opinion of CAPPEL, Crit. Sac. Lib. iii. c. xiii. 8. Though there 
 is a passage, where it occurs in the same person masc. VHQ8 "O, 
 " because thou hast said," Psal. Ixxxix. 3. So indeed almost all the 
 old interpreters, except the Chaldean paraphrast, have taken it ; and 
 rightly, indeed, if regard is to be paid to the context or the parallel- 
 ism of the sentences. But this I rather esteem an error, though the 
 Masorites have not noted it as such. 
 
 " Verbs in which the ^ is added to the second pers. fern. sing. 
 pret. follow the Syriac and Arabic form." H. 
 
 1ft for 0, or fifl, occurs frequently in the Hebrew poetry. See 
 Ps. ii. 3, 4, 5. where it appears five times : sometimes in the sin- 
 gular for i ; see Isai. xliv. 15. liii. 8. Job xx. 23. xxii. 2. xxvii. 23. 
 Ps. xi. 7. It is very often merely paragogic, or redundant. 1!D 
 simply seems to be altogether poetical; it occurs in Neh. ix. 11. 
 and is taken from the song of Moses, Exod. xv. 5. It is, however, 
 riot the same with prefixes or suffixes. 
 
 " Isai. liii. 8. )&]?. The Septuagint in this place is i^tfiy ft? 
 <&avuTOt> (he was led unto death) : in this it follows the Arabic ver- 
 sion, which reads mjaV H. 
 
 Of these particles, which I call poetical, there occur very few exam- 
 ples in the prose parts of Scripture ; indeed I do not know that there 
 are any more than the following : 1, Gen. i. 24. but instead of 1DVT 
 y^N, the Samaritan copy has ^tt nrpft, as it is also expressed in 
 
 A Masoretic term for a various reading. 
 
 40 
 
314 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 the Hebrew in the following verse, i, Gen. xxxi. 39. twice : but it 
 is also wanting in the Samaritan copy : although it may possibly be 
 meant for a pronominal affix. Also in Ruth iii. 3, 4. three times ; 
 iv. 5. and in 2 Kings iv. 23. " But in all these places, many MSS. 
 confirm the Masoretic Keri ; for 1 is wanting." K. Lastly, 173, 
 Exod. xxiii. 31. but instead of lamina, the Septuagint and the Vul- 
 gate read SVnzniJ, and the context favours this reading. 
 
 Hitherto perhaps might be referred the ft and 1 paragogic, and 
 the relative '15, which occur more frequently in the poets than else- 
 where. 
 
 These are most, if not all of them, examples of anomalies, which 
 serve to distinguish particularly the poetic dialect. To demon- 
 strate more fully, how freely they are made use of by the sacred poets, 
 I shall annex a specimen, which Abarbanel exhibits as collected 
 from one short poem, namely, the song of Moses. " You may ob- 
 serve," says he, " in this poem, words sometimes contracted for the 
 sake of the measure, and sometimes lengthened and extended by ad- 
 ditional letters and syllables, according as the simple terms may be 
 redundant or deficient. The letters which in this canticle are su- 
 peradded, are as follows : the Vau and Yod twice in the word 173 ^IDID" 1 
 for in reality SDD would have been quite sufficient : the Yod is also 
 added in *m,x: : the Vau in Iftb^iO ; the Vau in ua'iB'mn : the 
 Vau also in 1E05 ; in la^b^n ; in Ifcir.K : the Thau in ftna 1 ^." 
 (In truth this form of nouns appears to be altogether poetical ; many 
 examples of which may be found in Glass. Phil. Sac. p. 269 ; all of 
 them, however, from the poetic and prophetic books.) " The Vau 
 in lafiTsn ; in lastsn. The deficient are Yod in J-p mail ; so in 
 laatban for cna aban ': The Vau in nbft3 for inbfta ; so also the 
 word nab is deficient in the verse p35 ^IB" 1 b3 121E3 ; for the prince 
 of the prophets cannot be suspected of erring in grammatical or 
 orthographical accuracy ; but the necessity of the verse and a pro- 
 per regard to harmony so required it." ABARB. in Mantissa Dissert, 
 ad Libr. COSRI a BUXTORFIO edit. Basil, 1660, p. 412. To these 
 examples one might add from the same canticle 173 twice in 173D ; 2 
 epithentic in iftaaaitt, paragogic in jiTS'V. 
 
 Concerning the glosses or foreign words, which occur in the He- 
 brew poetry ; in the present state of the Hebrew language, it is dif- 
 ficult to pronounce on the ruins, as it were, of neighbouring and con- 
 temporary dialects : since possibly those words which are commonly 
 taken for Chaldaic (for instance) might have been common to both 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 315 
 
 languages ; on the contrary, some of those, which more rarely occur, 
 and the etymology of which we are ignorant about, may have been 
 borrowed from the neighbouring dialects. Since, however, there 
 are some words which more frequently occur in the poetical remains, 
 and which are not elsewhere to be found but in the Chaldee ; 
 we may reasonably conjecture concerning these, that they have been 
 introduced into the Hebrew, or at least, after becoming obsolete in 
 common language, might be again made use of: such are the follow- 
 ing: "a(ason), B'tfp (truth), im) (he increased), t"DO (he praised), 
 S)pT (he lifted up), pl3? (in the Hebrew pis), (he pressed), etc. Ob- 
 serve Moses, however, in the exordium of his last benediction, Deut. 
 xxxiii. has he not also frequently admitted of Chaldaisms 1 What is 
 TtriN ? which again occurs ver. 21. What is ain 1 in both form and 
 sense Chaldaic. What m ? a word scarcely received into com- 
 mon use among the Hebrews till after the Babylonish captivity ; es- 
 pecially since the Hebrew abounded in synonymous terms, expres- 
 sive of the Law of God. (But perhaps this last word in this place 
 is rightly suspected to be an error. See KENNICOTT, Dissert. I. on 
 the Hebrew Text, p. 427 ; and HOUBIGANT in loc.) Isaiah, howev- 
 er, elegantly adopts the Chaldaic form, speaking of Babylon, in the 
 word FQfTiJa, which in the Hebrew would be ranTH, Chap. xiv. 4. 
 Not less appositely on the same subject does the Psalmist introduce 
 the word la^in, Psalm cxxxvii. 3, which is the Chaldaic for la^bllS, 
 as the Chaldean paraphrast himself allows, who renders it by the sy- 
 nonymous term JOTTS, as elsewhere he renders the word VVo ; (see 
 Ezek. xxvi. 12. xxix. 19. xxxviii. 12, 13.) nor indeed do the other 
 interpreters produce any thing to the purpose. Some instances of 
 grammatical anomalies in the glosses have been detected ; such are 
 the following, Syriac or Chaldaic : *3 for "f , Psal. cxvi. thrice ; ciii. 
 five times ; also in Jer. xi. 15. VII for 1*, Psal. cxvi. 12. *p as a 
 termination plur. nom. masc. for tP, Job iv. 2. xxiv. 22. xxxi. 10. 
 and frequently elsewhere ; also Prov. xxxi. 3. Lam. iv. 3. Ezek. 
 xxvi. 18. Mic. iii. 12. 
 
 " nnN, the Samaritan has intt, in the Arabic form. in, rtWl33, 
 are Chaldaic as well as Arabic, l^bbtn, but this word seems to 
 have followed the etymology of the Arabic verb b^n, he bound, he 
 led captive : whence the Septuagint ctitoyayovTfS *J|wa ; and the 
 Chaldaic fcOtti, he carried away captive." LOWTH and HUNT. 
 
316 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 Hebrew Dialects. 
 
 That the Hebrew language, like the Greek, was divided into 
 various dialects, no one who has investigated the subject, can doubt. 
 For four hundred years a part of the nation lived in Egypt, under 
 the influence of the climate, customs, and language of that country; 
 while the remaining part resided among the Nomadic tribes of Ara- 
 bia and Palestine, and were subject to an influence of a totally dif- 
 ferent kind. In such circumstances, it was impossible that the lan- 
 guage of the different parts of the nation should remain in all res- 
 pects the same. After the Hebrews had settled in Palestine, cir- 
 cumstances still contributed to make a diversity of dialects in the 
 several districts ; for those who lived at the north and bordered on 
 the Syrians, were under a very different influence from those who 
 lived at the south and bordered on the Arabians and Philistines : 
 and it should be recollected that there was then no press, no period- 
 ical or popular literature, to counteract the tendency to provincial- 
 isms. Thus in Judg. 12: 6, we find that the Ephraimites pronounc- 
 ed nlrac for nlrztt? ; the words ^y , ob# , and yby , are all verbs of 
 the same meaning and the same grammatical form, but varying in 
 the final consonant in conformity to different dialects. Moses uses 
 fcttn and i?3 for sTn and iTi'W (Gen. 3: 15. 24: 14); ^ttn for 
 j-jVjN (Gen. 19: 8), etc. ; and the conversation between David and 
 Abigail (1 Sam. xxv.) affords proof of a difference of dialect too pal- 
 pable to escape the dullest ear. Various other examples might be 
 adduced, but these are sufficient for our present purpose. 
 
 Among these various dialects, some one (according to the anal- 
 ogy of other languages) would be most prevalent as the language of 
 books, and, with the occasional admission of words from other dia- 
 lects according to the circumstances of different writers, would be- 
 come the language of literature in distinction from that of popular 
 intercourse. Of this difference between the popular and literary 
 dialect we have an example in Ex. 16; 15. When the children of 
 Israel saw the manna, they said : atl n ]5a , what is this 1 But in 
 the written language of the Hebrews, the word for what is uniform- 
 ly n , and ]73 in this sense is Aramaean. (See Eichhorn, Einlei- 
 tung in das alt'e Test., Band I. SS. 7187). S. 
 
 Versification. 
 
 These remarks may throw some light on the poetic diction of the 
 Hebrews. It is the design of the poet to elevate his style by a seJec- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 317 
 
 tion of words that have not been vulgarized by popular use ; and the 
 nature and object of his composition give him greater liberties in 
 this respect than are allowed to other writers. The Greeks have 
 availed themselves of this license to a greater extent than the writers 
 of any other nation ; for their language exhibits an unexampled 
 richness of dialect. Poets use this privilege most frequently ; histo- 
 rians occasionally resort to it ; but didactic writers and orators sel- 
 dom venture upon it, because, aiming at popular instruction or popu- 
 lar effect, they are obliged to conform their language more to popu- 
 lar usage. This liberty is taken by the Hebrew writers ; and we 
 accordingly find some peculiar forms in the Hebrew language com- 
 mon to the historian and the poets, but used more frequently by the 
 latter than the former ; and some which seem appropriated to poe- 
 try. The privilege in question extends itself not only to contempo- 
 raneous dialects of the same language, but particularly to antique 
 forms ; and often to forms borrowed from foreign languages. (See 
 Lowth's Note above). 
 
 Of the forms common to the historians and poets, the use of the 
 paragogic letters 1, >, and a, may be mentioned as examples. (Com- 
 pare Gen. 1: 24. 31: 39. 3: 4, et al. with Ps. 50: 10. Is. 56: 9. Ezek. 
 xvi. Ps. 101: 5. Prov. 28: 16. Is. 26: 11). These forms, however, 
 seldom occur in prose, except in the more ancient historical books ; 
 and they appear for the most part to be archaisms adopted by the 
 poets. 
 
 Of the diction appropriate to poetry, the most concise and satis- 
 factory view which I have ever seen, is given by Professor Stuart, 
 in his Hebrew Chrestomathy (p. 195), to which the student is refer- 
 red. I will here add a list of a few poetic words, with the corres- 
 ponding words of a cognate language, that the reader may see that 
 the Hebrew poets, as well as the Greek, made a free use of dialects. 
 
 Poetic. Cognate. 
 
 God nV?N 
 
 v: 
 
 man -in 3 a 
 
 .... 
 
 path 
 to come 
 
 man 
 
 to be rnri 
 
318 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 Poetic. Cognate. 
 
 x 7 
 
 show ill h 
 
 see nin !VM 
 
 word 
 
 war 
 
 to descend 
 
 to pass over 
 
 to do 
 
 city 
 
 to kill 
 
 (See Gesenius, Woerterbuch,Vorrede, S. 47; and Geschichte der Hebr. 
 Sprache und Schrift, S. 21 ff.) 
 
 It may be proper to add, that some of the poetic forms are oc- 
 casionally found (though rarely) in prose ; and that they most fre- 
 quently occur in the lyric poetry. 
 
 " The peculiar diction of Hebrew poetry," says Professor Stuart, 
 " is displayed in the choice of words ; in the meaning assigned to 
 them ; and in the forms which it gives them. 
 
 (a) The choice of words. Thus 13N! instead of D*1N , man; 
 !nnN instead of NTS, to come; ttE instead of "Q7 -word; Dip in- 
 
 T T T IT* V|V 
 
 stead of Dbi?, former time ; DTnPl instead of 0^73 , water. 
 
 (b) The meaning of words. E.g. -pritf strong for God; 'pajj 
 strong, for bull; SrVTVl 1 ? the only, the darling, for life ; P)p/P Joseph, 
 for the nation of Israel, etc. 
 
 (c) The forms of words. E.g. ipbtt instead of DVrbN ;, God; 
 i-Jin instead of n*n , to be; DTOE2 instead of t^Tay, nations; ni3U3 
 
 'TT TT' -T-J -' 
 
 instead of t3^3'r, years ; rri^ instead of DW , days ; ^ft instead of 
 *J73 ,from ; ^bfV instead of ^jb^ , he will go. 
 
 (d) In poetry, several grammatical forms are peculiar. E. g. 
 paragogic tt_ is suffixed to nouns in the absolute state ; i_ and "*_ 
 are suffixed to nouns in regimen ; T;B_ suffix is used instead of D_ 
 them, their ; ^n" 1 and Vp_ instead of V._ his ; ^D^ fern, instead 
 of ^p__ thine ; IV. and ^_ plur. instead of BV. ." 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 Dr. Lowth intimates that these peculiarities of diction were 
 adopted by the Hebrew poets, as by the poets of ofher actions, that 
 they might conform their sentences to the laws of versification. 
 This may be true ; but the supposition does not appear necessary to 
 account for the fact. The trammels of versification are never the 
 only cause of the peculiarities of poetic diction. They are oftener 
 chosen for the sake of ornament or harmony ; to give an air of anti- 
 quity and grandeur to the style, which may distinguish it from the 
 language of common life ; and to enable the poet to give vent to his 
 excited feelings, which he might labour in vain to express in the 
 customary way. The poetry of the Hebrews is the poetry of a 
 primitive and simple nation, a nation of shepherds ; it is peculiarly 
 the poetry of lofty conceptions and excited feelings, which could 
 scarcely be confined by the trammels of verse ; and to attribute to it 
 a regular system of versification, seems to be attributing to it that 
 which is incompatible with its nature, and an invention of much later 
 times. Is it likely that the most ancient people in the world, whose 
 minds were in a state of childlike excitement, would think of count- 
 ing syllables and measuring lines, while struggling to express the 
 simple feelings of their hearts 1 The regular return of the same 
 measure seems to have been first introduced in order to adapt poetry 
 to music ; but in ancient times the poet and the musician were the 
 same ; the author of the song was the composer of the music which 
 accompanied it ; and each piece having its appropriate harmony, 
 there was no necessity for that regular return of the same measure, 
 which is indispensable where different words are to be sung to the 
 same tune. Hence, in all nations, there is poetry and song long be- 
 fore there is a regular system of versification ; and the minstrel al- 
 ways precedes the versifier and the musician. 
 
 It is beyond all doubt that there was a certain rythmical confor- 
 mation of sentences in the Hebrew poetry, (and sometimes, indeed, 
 something like rhyme may be discovered, as in Samson's riddle, 
 Judg. 14: 14.) ; but this was free and unfettered, the offspring of 
 nature, not of art, and consisting principally of a parallelism of sen- 
 timent, or thought ; of which no author has treated more satisfacto- 
 rily than Lowth, (see Lect. XVIII XX). It is true that there is 
 regular versification in Arabic, the sister dialect of the Hebrew ; but 
 this is evidently of comparatively recent origin. Sir William Jones, 
 indeed, pronounces it very ancient (Comment, p. 60) ; but he him- 
 self allows that the first Arabic writer on the subject of verse is 
 
820 NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 Ferahid, who lived in the tenth century of the Christian era. Does 
 it seem probable, then, that the art could have existed long before 
 the time of Christ? Pococke (Spec. Hist. Arab. p. ICO) affirms, on 
 the authority of two Arabic writers, Alsephad and Jalaloddin, that 
 the art was recent among them : and this opinion is confirmed by 
 the fact that the Arabic prosody depends on the nunnation, or 
 doubling of the final syllable ; an invention of no very ancient date. 
 (See Eichhorn on Jones's Comment, p. 61. Note). 
 
 It does seem, that if there had been a regular system of versifi- 
 cation among the ancient Hebrews, some traces of it would still be 
 perceptible ; but it has hitherto eluded all the attempts of the most 
 able and zealous inquirers to detect it. Some of the Rabbins and 
 Christian fathers have maintained that the Hebrew poetry pos- 
 sesses all the variety and regularity of metre exhibited by the Greek ; 
 but they have offered no proof, and their usual mode of investigat- 
 ing and pronouncing on such subjects affords us but little security 
 for the correctness of their decision. The most recent and able 
 writers on the subject are Greve, Sir William Jones, Anton, and 
 Bellerman. The two former make the metre depend on the quanti- 
 ty or syllabic measure, after the analogy of the Arabic and Greek ; 
 while the latter rest it on the accents, assuming the tone-syllable to 
 be always long, and the others short. The last is the most plausi- 
 ble theory, as the train of accents is undoubtedly more ancient than 
 the Masoretic punctuation. (See E. J. Greve, Ultima Capita Libri 
 Jobi, etc. Davent. 1788-91, P. I. II. Sir William Jones, Com- 
 ment, pp. 55 59. C.G. Anton, Conjectura de Metro Hebraeorum, 
 etc. Lips. 1770. 4to. Bellerman, Versuch ueber die Metrik der He- 
 braeer, etc. Berlin, 1813, 8vo). The opinion which I have adopt- 
 ed, is on the whole favoured by Lowth ; and it is strongly defended 
 by Michaelis, Herder, and De Wette. (Michaelis and Rosenmueller 
 in loc. ; Herder, Briefe, Th. I. SS. 15051, and Geist, Th. I. SS. 
 18 25 ; De Wette, Commentar ueber die Ps. Einleit. SS 46 
 67). S. 
 
 [B. p. 34.] Hebrew pronunciation and quantity. 
 
 That it is impossible now to ascertain the real quantity of He- 
 brew syllables and the true rhythm of Hebrew poetry, is sufficiently 
 proved by the very unsatisfactory and inconsistent results to which 
 all learned men have come, who have attempted to investigate the 
 subject. I am inclined to think, however, that Lowth is too severe 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE Til. 321 
 
 in his remarks on the Masoretic punctuation. The Hebrew ceased 
 to be a living language sometime during the captivity (Neh. 8: 7, 8), 
 perhaps 500 B. C. ; but as the book of the law was constantly read 
 to the people by the priests in the original, it is highly probable that 
 the ancient pronunciation was preserved, with a good degree of pu- 
 rity, in the sacerdotal class. This supposition is confirmed when we 
 consider the high veneration of the Jews for every thing connected 
 with their law ; their strong attachment to its most minute details ; 
 and the hatred and contempt with which they were viewed by other 
 nations, which tended only to unite them more firmly among them- 
 selves, and increase their love for every thing which they could call 
 their own. Though the present system of vowel-points was not com- 
 pleted till about the eighth century of the Christian era, it was com- 
 menced much earlier. In very ancient times, while the traditionary 
 pronunciation was still fresh in the recollection of the learned Jews, 
 manuscripts were probably written with the vowel-points annexed 
 only to the more doubtful words ; as is the case at the present day 
 with Arabic manuscripts written for common use. The Alexandri- 
 an translators, who flourished at least three centuries before Christ, 
 in many cases agree with the present Masoretic punctuation in their 
 mode of spelling proper names, though they frequently depart from 
 it, and are by no means uniform or consistent with themselves ; an 
 appearance which seems to indicate that they used manuscripts gen- 
 erally without vowels, but pointed in some places like those which 
 exist at the present day. A similar appearance is exhibited in the 
 Hexapla of Origen, where the Hebrew words of the Old Testament 
 are represented by Greek characters ; and the testimony of Jerome 
 to the same point is quite explicit. On Habakkuk 3: 5, he remarks : 
 " Pro eo quod nos transtulimus mortem, in Hebraeco tres litterae sunt 
 positae -m absque ulla vocali ; quae si legantur dabar verbum sig- 
 nificant, si debsr, pestem." On the other hand he asserts respecting 
 Gen. 47: 31, that his manuscript read HlSft, bed, and not Jltatt, staff; a 
 distinction which could be made only by vowel-points of some kind. 
 " Hoc loco quidam frustra simulant, adorasse Jacob summitatem 
 sceptri Joseph, quod videlicet honorans filium potestatem ejus adora- 
 verit, cum in Hebraeo multum aliter legatur : et adoravit Israel ad 
 caput lectuli," (See also Jerome in Jer. 9: 22 ; Epist. ad Evagr. 
 120 ; Quaest. in Gen. 26: 12. 36: 24). 
 
 The peculiarity of the Masoretic punctuation is an evidence of 
 its genuineness. It is quite different from the vowel-system of the 
 41 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 
 
 cognate dialects; but had it been a mere invention of the Rabbins, it 
 would probably have borne a nearer resemblance to the Arabic, as 
 they were in the habit of appealing to the Arabic in explanation of 
 the Hebrew. Again, the Masoretic punctuation enters so radically 
 into the whole grammatical structure of the language, that I find it 
 impossible to suppose it to be a mere arbitrary invention, originating 
 in the conceit of the Jewish scholars of a barbarous age. 
 
 The true pronunciation was probably preserved from the first in 
 the schools of the priests ; and to prevent its being lost, the scrupu- 
 lous Jews devised one expedient after another, to represent as accu- 
 rately as possible the minutest varieties of sound, till they brought 
 their punctuation to its present state, in which it exhibits the most 
 curious, nicely-adjusted, and complete vowel-system to be found in 
 any language. So far from being unmusical and harsh, as Dr. 
 Lowth affirms, I hardly know a language more smooth, harmonious, 
 and flowing, than the Hebrew with the Masoretic pronunciation. I 
 am far from supposing that we pronounce the language as the an- 
 cient Hebrews did ; but I believe we approach it as nearly as we do 
 the pronunciation of the ancient Greeks and Romans; and, indeed, 
 as the vowel-system is much more complete and perfect, we probably 
 come much nearer to the true Hebrew pronunciation than to the 
 Greek or Latin. (See Michaelis in loc. ; Bellerman, Versuch, s. x f. ; 
 De Wette, Comment. Einleit. S.57 ff. ; Eichhorn, Einleitung, Band I. 
 S. 224 ff. ; Gesenius, Vorrede zum Woerterbuch, and Geschichte der 
 Hebr. Sprache und Schrift, SS. 48 56.) S. 
 
 [C. p. 35.] Meaning o/iitottt. 
 
 Ifcf, Tie cut off, he pruned, namely, the superfluous and luxu- 
 riant branches of trees. Hence fm'at, a branch, or twig ; JTHttTft, 
 a pruning-hook. Also he sung, or chanted ; he cut his voice by the 
 notes in singing, or divided it. ^VI5 signifies singing with the voice 
 (vocal music) : ft: to play upon an instrument. *\nj implies either 
 vocal or instrumental melody. Thus *V1B -pTE nb^23 (see 
 Ps. Ixvii. 1) I think means a metrical song, accompanied with mu- 
 sic. Thus I suppose 1153T to denote measure, or numbers, what 
 the Greeks called Qv&pov. It may also be more immediately refer- 
 red to the former and original sense of the root, as signifying, a po- 
 em cut into short sentences, and pruned from every luxuriancy of ex- 
 pression, which is a distinguishing characteristic of the Hebrew po- 
 etry. Prose composition is called SiblbiZ), loose or free, diffused with 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE III. 323 
 
 no respect to rule ; like a wild tree, luxuriant on every side in its 
 leaves and branches : Metrical language is tTJftt, cut and pruned 
 on every side into sentences, like branches, distributed into a cer- 
 tain form and order ; as vines, which the vine-dresser corrects with 
 his pruning knife, and adjusts into form. LOWTH. 
 
 The correctness of this etymology is questioned by Michaelis, 
 Gesenius, and De Wette ; but they propose no better one to supply 
 its place. S. 
 
 [D. p. 35.] Coincidence of verses and sentences. 
 
 That the nature of Hebrew poetry requires every verse to con- 
 tain a complete sentiment, is put beyond doubt by the alphabetic 
 poems. 
 
 [E. p. 36.] Hebrew and Arabic poetry. 
 
 This remarkable characteristic of Hebrew poetry is very happily 
 illustrated by an author already quoted (Lect. II. Note B), in a 
 comparison between the Hebrew and Arabic poetry. 
 
 " Arabica poesis instar est foeminae fuco illitae et monilibus 
 onustae, in cuius cultu plurima quidem splendent, adeo ut formae 
 naturali noceant, sed non omnia aeque sunt pretiosa, imo, ubi dili- 
 gentius exploraveris, pleraque vel adulterina, vel ab aliis mutuo sum- 
 ta, quod in ipsa luxurie paupertatem quandam arguit. Hebraea 
 vero, tanquam coelestis quaedam Musa, in veste gemmis stellata in- 
 cedit. Hinc explicandurn est, quod non dubito, quin omnes obser- 
 vaveritis, quotquot unquam poema aliquod Arabicum latine reddi- 
 tum legistis, quodque Hebraeorum vatum praestantiam demonstrat, 
 videlicet, Arabum carmina in alium sermonem conversa nunquam 
 posse placere, nisi forte versio sit metrica, vel talis, in qua quidquid 
 in ipso carmine obscuri vel inepti insit, praetereatur aut emendetur. 
 Hebraeorum vero poesis ita pulcra est, ut ne in languidissimis qui- 
 dem versionibus omnis eius maiestas et venustas evanescat, et ta- 
 men optimae versiones, etiam metricae, ad germanam eius pulcri- 
 tudinem non nisi ex intervallo accedant" RAUIUS. 
 
324 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 [A. p. 38.] Meaning of V^W and fTJ.Tj. 
 
 Vttifc, he likened, he compared, he spoke in parables ; he uttered 
 proverbs, sentences grave and pointed, a composition ornamented 
 with figures and comparisons : also he ruled, he was eminent, he 
 possessed dominion and authority ; delegated, perhaps, and vicarious 
 in its original and restricted sense, whence at last it was taken more 
 laxly, as referring to any kind of dominion. The elder servant 
 of Abraham, who presided over his family, was certainly called 
 ib""Yt|?8r"!:33 VtiJTan, Gen. xxiv. 2. He was in fact a steward in 
 the place of his master, and representing him by a delegated author- 
 ity ; whence there is evidently a relation between the two interpre- 
 tations of this root, consisting in this circumstance, that both the 
 parabolical image, and the steward or deputy, are representative. 
 ^U)73 is therefore a composition elevated and grave, weighty and 
 powerful, highly ornamented with comparisons, figures, and image- 
 ry ; such is the style of the Psalms, the prophets, and the book of 
 Job. It is a diction, which under one image or exemplar includes 
 many, and may easily be transferred to every one of the same kind ; 
 which is in general the nature of proverbs : it is in fine, any sen- 
 tence or axiom excellently or gravely uttered, concise, and confined 
 to a certain form or manner : as is evident from 1 Sam. xxiv. 14, and 
 from many examples in the Proverbs of Solomon. LOWTH. 
 
 In Hebrew the verb bfcjtt has two principal meanings. 1) to rule; 
 %) to compare. From the second are derived the collateral mean- 
 ings : to make a comparison, or speak a parable ; to utter a prov- 
 erb ; to speak in figurative language ; and hence the word came to 
 denote the use of highly ornamented and poetic diction of every sort. 
 According to Gesenius (in verb.), these different significations ap- 
 pear to be derived from the primitive meaning, to place ; in Arabic 
 
 VXc and VjCc , to place one's self before another, to do him hom- 
 age; hence, 1) causative, to make one render obedience ; 2) to place 
 opposite ; and thence, to compare, to resemble, to make a com- 
 parison. 
 
 In this manner the Hebrew noun b'tt and the Arabic VX/o 
 came to signify a resemblance, a comparison ; a parable ; a proverb ; 
 figurative language in general ; and therefore, a song, or poem. IB 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 325 
 
 the Bible it sometimes appears to have a restricted meaning, and is 
 used to denote didactic poetry (see Lect. XXIV.) in distinction 
 from poetry more highly ornamented ("Vb), as 1 Kings 5: 12. Prov. 
 1:1. But generally, all sorts of poems, whether prophetic, trium- 
 phal, elegiac, or satirical, are called tPblgtt, on account of their fig- 
 urative style. Compare Num. 21: 27. xxiii. xxiv. Ps. 49: 5. Isa. 
 14: 4. Heb. 2: 6. The same latitude of signification is found in the 
 
 5 / C 
 
 Syriac \^^o and the Chaldee ^nft. In Arabic the word jV&cf 
 
 denotes verses. 
 
 5 
 The word fn^h (in Arabic <-\-j.^, a comparison or allegory) 
 
 from the verb "nfl (in Arabic oV^> to bend, to leave the direct 
 way), properly signifies an intricate or complicated sentence, some- 
 thing which requires ingenuity and acuteness to solve ; an enigma, 
 or riddle. The word is applied to pointed and striking proverbs, the 
 language of which is purposely rendered somewhat ambiguous and 
 intricate, in order to arrest and fix the attention, (Prov. 1:6) ; to 
 visions, or the more obscure intimations of the divine will, (Num. 
 12: 8) ; to the more intricate sort of parables, (Ezek. 17: 2) ; and to 
 the more solemn and elevated kinds of poetry. (Ps. 49: 5. 78: 2. 
 Compare Hab. 2: 6). 
 
 The proposing of enigmas for the mutual trial of skill, on occca- 
 sions of visits and festivals, was a very favourite amusement among 
 the Orientals, nor was it unknown to the ancient Latins, (Aul. Gell. 
 Noct. Att. Lib. XII. 2. 6. Compare Lib. XVIII. 2. 111). Samson, 
 on his marriage festival, knew no more acceptable mode of amusing 
 his guests than by propounding to them a riddle, which he gave out 
 in verse, and with chime at least, if not in rhyme ; and of which they 
 gave a solution in the same style, (Judg. 14: 14, 18. Compare 
 Herder, Geist, Th. II. S. 265). The Queen of Sheba seems to 
 have made a like trial of Solomon's wisdom (1 Kings 10: 1) ; and 
 the sharp contests of this sort between that wise king and Hiram 
 king of Tyre, are much celebrated by Josephus, (Antiq. VIII. 5: 4), 
 Similar amusements among the Ethiopians, Egyptians, and Greeks, 
 are described by Jablonsky (Pantheon Aegypt. Proleg. Sec. 48) ; 
 and reference to the same custom is made by Mohammed in the 
 Coran (xxv. 35). 
 
 Enigmas of some sort are very frequent in the Oriental didactic 
 poetry, (as Prov. xxx. xxxi. Compare Herder, Briefe, Th. I. S. 167 
 
326 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 if. and Geist, Th. II. S. 266 ff.) ; and something of very much the 
 same character is sometimes found in the highest and most sublime 
 prophetic poetry. A remarkable example occurs in Isa. xxi. 11, 
 12, which is thus explained by Rosenmueller : 
 
 " Quod loco lesaiano a Michaele commemorato, XXI. 12, legi- 
 tur, aenigma recte propheticum dici potest. Inducuntur Idumaei 
 tempore communis alicuius cum populo Hebraico calamitatis, quae- 
 rentes ex vate qui custodis sive vigilis persona sistitur, quamdiu 
 tempestas ista calamitosa, noctis imagine expressa, sit duratura : 
 
 T * 
 
 Ad me clamatur ex Seire : 
 Gustos, quid de nocte ? 
 Gustos, quid de nocte ? 
 Ferunt responsum : 
 
 Venit matutinum, etiamque nox. 
 
 Cuius aenigmatis sensum optime exponit HIERONYMUS : Venit mane 
 populo meo, et nox genti Idumaeorum : illis praebebo lucem, vos in 
 tenebris derelinquam." (Compare Michaelis and Rosenmueller in 
 loc.) S. 
 
 [B. p. 39.] Union of poetry, music, and dancing among the ancients. 
 
 In the infancy of all nations, poetry, music, and dancing are inti- 
 mately connected, and it is very seldom that any one of these arts is 
 exercised separately from the others. Such a separation requires an 
 advanced, and considerably refined, state of society. Among all 
 wild people these are the natural expressions of joy ; and in all their 
 festivals we find that their songs were accompanied with music and 
 dancing. For example, Miriam at the Red Sea, (Ex. 15: 20) ; Jeph- 
 tha's daughter, (Judg. 11: 34) ; the Israelitish women who celebrat- 
 ed David's victory, (1 Sam. 21: 11). The religious worship of the 
 Hebrews was celebrated with dances ; and the practice was con- 
 tinued among them to a very late period. (2 Sam. 6: 14. Ps. 149: 3. 
 150: 4. Jer. 31: 4, 13. Lam. 5: 15. Compare Herder, Geist, Th. 
 II. S. 244 ff.) S. 
 
 [C. p. 39.] Poets anciently denominated sages and prophets. . 
 
 As poets were the first moral instructers of mankind, it was very 
 common in ancient times to denominate them wise men or sages ; 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 327 
 
 and that too after they had ceased to be moral instructors. Cora- 
 pare the following quotation from the son of Sirach and Anacreon. 
 2oq>ol hoyoi iv natdfla avitov, 
 
 tv a. Ecclus. xliv. 4. 
 
 x 
 
 IMV ^oqiMv KKltiTttt. Anacreon, L. I. 22. 
 Compare Pindar, Isth. V. 36, and Scholiast in loc. 
 
 $ txart 
 
 On which the Scholiast observes : oo^iGidg [tfv xai ooyovg 
 TOVS noirjius. " Poetae et priores multo fuerunt, (philosophis) et 
 ante natum philosophiae nomen pro sapientibus habebantur." Lac- 
 tantius, Lib. V. 5. Heman and Ethan, the sons of Mahol, whose 
 wisdom is so much celebrated, (1 Kings 4: 81, compare 1 Chron. 
 2: 6), were poets, if we may judge from the titles of Ps. LXXXVIII. 
 LXXXIX. As poetry was supposed to be the effect of divine in- 
 spiration (see Lect. II. Note B), poets were very generally denom- 
 inated prophets. So Miriam and Deborah are both called prophetes- 
 ses (Ex. 15: 20. Judg. 4: 4). So the psalmists appointed by David 
 are said to prophesy with the harp, with psaltries, etc. (1 Chron. 25: 
 1 7). (Lowth and Michaelis in loc. Compare Herder, Geist, 
 Th. II. S. 61 ; Eichhorn, Einleitung, Band V. SS. 23, 24). S. 
 
 [D. p. 40.] Ancient uses of poetry. 
 
 In this Note I have inserted the quotations from ancient authors, 
 which Lowth has adduced in illustration of his position, and the 
 remarks of Michaelis and Gregory on the same subject. S. 
 
 This matter is well explained by Isidorus, however rashly some 
 learned men may have taken it. " It is well known," says he, " that 
 among the Greeks, as well as among the Latins, metrical composi- 
 tion was much more ancient than prose. Every species of knowl- 
 edge was at first contained in poetry : it was long before prose com- 
 position flourished. The first man among the Greeks, who compos- 
 ed in prose, was Pherecydes Syrius ; among the Romans, Appius 
 Caecus first published a work in prose against Pyrrhus." ISIDOR. 
 HISPAL. Orig. Lib. 1. 27. 
 
 " The laws of Charondas were sung at banquets among the Athe- 
 nians, as Hermippus relates." Athen. Lib. XIV, 3. See Bentley's 
 Dissertations on Phalaris, p. 373 r 
 
328 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 " Why are laws called canticles ? but that before alphabetical 
 writing was invented, the laws used to be sung, that they might be 
 preserved in remembrance ? as is the custom still among the Aga- 
 thyrsi." Prob. S. 19. Q. 28. LOWTH. 
 
 Possibly laws, which are in the sententious style, were original- 
 ly precepts of equity and morals, and in course of time acquired au- 
 thority in the courts of justice. There is much of this proverbial 
 style in the ancient German laws : and I am assured by good author- 
 ity, in those of Sweden also. Moses himself is so sententious and 
 compact, and pays so much attention to brevity in many of his laws, 
 that he seems to have adopted into his code some well-known pro- 
 verbs, containing the general principles of equity ; of this T think 
 there is an instance in Exod. xxiii. 5, in which there is a point and 
 antithesis, more resembling the familiarity of a proverb than the dig- 
 nity of a statute. To the example of the Lusitanians, we may add 
 one more recent of the Swedes, who in the year 1748 published 
 laws in verse. 
 
 After the extraordinary revolutions of Germany, and the disper- 
 sion of that people into different colonies, it is not surprising that no 
 monuments of the poetical records of our ancestors should remain. 
 Scandinavia and Iceland have been more fortunate in this respect ; 
 there the records of their most ancient transactions are traditionally 
 preserved to this day. These instances of a practice so agreeable to 
 that of the Hebrews, existing among a people so remote, serve to 
 prove the great similarity in the human mind throughout all the coun- 
 tries of the globe, and show that the most natural and early mode of 
 preserving facts, has been by verses committed to memory, rather 
 than by written documents, What Pococke relates of the Arabs, ap- 
 plies perhaps more directly to the present subject. " It seems," he 
 says, "to be entirely owing to their poetry, that so copious a lan- 
 guage is preserved in a perfect state. Among other commendations 
 of their poetry, they enumerate this, that both the purity of the Ara- 
 bic language, and the propriety and elegance of their pronunciation, 
 have owed their preservation entirely to it. Ebn Phares observes, 
 that the Arabic poems serve in the place of commentaries, or annals, 
 in which are recorded the series of their genealogies, and all the facts 
 of history deserving of remembrance, and from which a knowledge 
 of the language is to be collected." MICHAELIS. 
 
 However the antiquity of Ossian's poems, as exhibited to the pub- 
 lic, may be doubted, it is certain that there exists in the Highlands 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 329 
 
 of Scotland many remains of the ancient historical ballads, which, 
 though in all probability of a much later date than the age of Ossian 
 is pretended to be, contain many marks of wild genius, and I am in- 
 formed from good authority, furnished Mr. Macpherson with the bulk 
 of his materials. GREGORY. 
 
 To these testimonies concerning the early use of poetry, I will 
 add a remarkable passage of Plutarch, which states summarily many 
 facts relating to this circumstance. " The use of reason seems to 
 resemble the exchange of money : that which is good and lawful, is 
 generally current and well known, and passes sometimes at a higher 
 and sometimes at a lower value. Thus, there was a time when the 
 stamp and coin of all reasoning or composition was verse and song. 
 Even history, philosophy, every action and passion, which required 
 grave or serious discussion, was written in poetry and adapted to 
 music. For what at present few will attend to, was then by all men 
 thought an object of importance : by ploughmen and by bird-catch- 
 ers, according to PINDAR. For such was the inclination for poetry 
 at that period, that they adapted their very precepts and instructions 
 to vocal and instrumental music, and exhorted, reproved, and per- 
 suaded by fables or allegories. The praises also of their gods, their 
 prayers, and thanksgivings after victory, were all composed in verse ; 
 sop;e through the love of harmony, and some through custom. It 
 is not therefore that Apollo envies the science of divination this or- 
 nament, nor did he design to banish from the Tripos his beloved 
 muse ; he rather wished to introduce her as one who loved harmony 
 and excited to it ; as one who was ready to assist the fancy and con- 
 ception, and to help to produce what was noble and sublime, as 
 most becoming and most to be admired." PLUT. Inquiry why the 
 Pythia now cea.sts to deliver her oracles in verse. LOWTH. 
 
 See this subject treated at large, Essays historical and moral by 
 G. GREGORY, Essay I. On the progress of manners, p. 31, 37, 39, 
 40, 43. GREGORY. 
 
 We may add, that poetry is much less liable to be corrupted than 
 prose. So faithful a preserver of truth is metre, that what is liable 
 to be changed, augmented, or violated, almost daily in prose, may 
 continue for ages in verse, without variation, without even a change 
 in the obsolete phraseology. MICHAELIS. 
 
330 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 [E. p. 42.] Twofold meaning of Vtttt. 
 
 In Numbers 21: 27, the Seventy translate iD^ttE by 
 vctl. Compare Jer. 48: 45, 46. 
 
 " Who these enigmatists are (says Augustin) is not very plain, 
 since there is no such appellation in our language (Latin) ; nor in- 
 deed is the word elsewhere found in the Holy Scriptures (that is, in 
 the Septuagint) ; but since they seem to have been employed in 
 singing a poem, in which was celebrated a war that had been car- 
 ried on between the Amorites and the Moabites, in which Seor, king 
 of the Amorites, was victorious, it is not improbable that these enig- 
 matists may have been those whom we now call poets , inasmuch as 
 it is customary with poets to mingle enigmas and fables in their 
 verses, by which they obscurely indicate realities : for an enigma is 
 no other than a figurative mode of expression, upon the explanation 
 of which depends our understanding the author." Qusest. xlv. in 
 Num. LOWTH. 
 
 This matter will appear clearer and more easy of conception, if 
 the distinction be rightly observed between the two different signifi- 
 cations of the word bL'J3 : the one more comprehensive, and includ- 
 ing all kinds of poetry, on account of the figurative language ; the 
 other peculiar* to a certain kind of poetry, which is opposed to the 
 canticle or song. Our autr^pr, in the following page, seems to ap- 
 prehend rightly of the word in this double sense ; but I thus far dif- 
 fer from him, that I think it is not expressive of two particular spe- 
 cies of poetry, but in the one sense it means the whole genus, and 
 in the other the particular species, which I just now pointed out. 
 The Seventy have rendered this word very ill aiviypuTtOTag ; bttfo, 
 or similitude, may indeed sometimes denote an enigma ; and if Au- 
 gustin has mistaken the meaning of the Septuagint, it is excusable, 
 since, whatever might be his ability in other respects, a profound 
 knowledge of Hebrew was certainly not among his excellencies. 
 
 MICSAELIS. 
 
 [F. p. 42.] Ancient historical poems. 
 
 In the time of Moses, the Hebrew had reached its highest point 
 of refinement, and his age is often and justly styled the golden age of 
 the language. That it should have attained so much copiousness 
 and beauty without having been employed as a written language pre- 
 vious to that time, is altogether improbable, not to say impossible. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 331 
 
 The Oriental nations, by a tradition almost universal among them, 
 attribute the invention of letters to Seth, the son of Adam. (Com- 
 pare Eichhorn, Einleitung, Band III. S. 8). 
 
 Between Moses and Abraham, the founder of the Hebrew na- 
 tion, there is an interval of about 550 years ; and about 2500 be- 
 tween him and the earliest of the events which he records. That 
 all the circumstances which he relates, the genealogy and history of 
 so many different families, the particular accounts of individuals, the 
 various conversations which he details, should have been preserved 
 without the use of writing, is, humanly speaking, impossible ; and 
 Moses nowhere intimates that he received a knowledge of all the 
 facts contained in his history by immediate revelation from God : on 
 the contrary, he once at least introduces as authority a direct quo- 
 tation from a book extant at the time when he wrote. (Num. 
 21: 14). 
 
 That the Hebrews, then, had books in their own language before 
 the time of Moses, may be considered certain ; and that he made 
 use of them in composing his history, scarcely admits of doubt. 
 The first eleven chapters of Genesis particularly (which bring the 
 history down to the time of Abraham), appear to be a selection or 
 compilation from very ancient records ; and no finished Hebrew 
 scholar can avoid feeling a very striking diversity of style in these 
 chapters, and a departure in almost all of them from the usual style 
 of Moses. For the sake of trial, let the student compare Gen. 1: 
 1 2: 3, with Gen. 2: 4 25 ; and both of these with some of the ac- 
 knowledged compositions of Moses, for example, the third chapter 
 of Exodus. These primeval records of God's dealings with man- 
 kind in the infancy of our race, from which Moses, under divine di- 
 rection, compiled his history, may not improperly be viewed as the 
 Bible of the patriarchs. After the history of Abraham commences 
 (C. xii.), the narrative proceeds uniformly and regularly, as if from 
 the pen of one writer, with the exception perhaps of the history of 
 Esau's family (C. xxxvi.), of the posterity of Judah (C. xxxviii.), and 
 a few verses of some of the other chapters ; all which are apparently 
 literal selections from the records of the several tribes to which they 
 refer. (See Herder, Briefe, Th. I. S. 30 ff ; Eichhorn, Einleitung, 
 Band III. S. 18 ff). 
 
 But whatever may be thought of the existence of such a pa- 
 triarchal Bible as I have supposed, one thing at least is certain, 
 namely, that there were several historical poems in existence long 
 
832 NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 
 
 before the time of Moses, which he has transmitted to us, apparent- 
 ly in the very words in which they were originally composed. Of 
 these, the most ancient is the address of Lamech, (Gen. 4: 23, 24). 
 The historian having mentioned Lamech, of the seed of Cain, the 
 father of Jabal, the first who applied himself to husbandry and pas- 
 turage ; of Jubal, the inventor of musical instruments ; and of Tu- 
 bal-Cain, who first discovered the art of working metals ; introduces 
 this address, as much as to say, " This is the Lamech by whom, (or 
 concerning whom), this well-known traditional song was composed." 
 It may be that we have only the first lines of the song, and that if 
 the whole were preserved, the occasion of it would have been more 
 apparent than it now is. As it stands, the most obvious explanation 
 seems to be, that Lamech had killed a man who assaulted him ; and 
 to quiet the apprehensions of his wives, who entertained fears for his 
 safety, he alleges that what he had done was done in self-defence, 
 and that if Cain his ancestor, who had committed an unprovoked 
 and aggravated murder, was to be avenged seven times on any one 
 who would take his life, surely he, who had acted only on the defen- 
 sive, would be avenged seventy and seven times. 
 
 The explanation of Herder is quite a different one, but so ingen- 
 ious, that I think it deserves an insertion in this place. He sup- 
 poses that the haughty and revengeful Lamech, overjoyed by the in- 
 vention of metallic weapons by his son Tubal-Cain, breaks out in 
 this triumphal song, boasting, that if Cain, by the providence of God, 
 was to be avenged seven times, he, by means of the newly invented 
 weapons, so much superior to any thing of the kind known at that 
 time, would be able to take much heavier vengeance on those who 
 injured him. (Herder, Geist, Th. I. S. 309). 
 
 The following are the remarks of Michaelis : 
 
 " The Jews have indulged great liberty of fiction and conjec- 
 ture concerning this passage, which has answered no other purpose 
 than to render it more perplexed to others also, who w r ere unable to 
 digest their whimsical and absurd explications. To me there is very 
 little obscurity in the original ; for though we are necessarily igno- 
 rant of the name of the person who was murdered, I think it is suf- 
 ficiently plain that some person was murdered by Larnech. I say 
 person ; for what the Jews have feigned concerning the death of 
 two persons, the one a youth, and the other a man, proceeds entire- 
 ly from their ignorance of the nature of the Hebrew poetry, and par- 
 ticularly of the parallelism or repetition of certain members of the 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IV. 333 
 
 sentences, which our author has explained in a very masterly man- 
 ner in the 19th Lecture. Nor is there any more reason to distin- 
 guish between the youth and the man, than to suppose Hadah and 
 Sillah other than the wives of Lamech, who are mentioned in the 
 next line : 
 
 " Hadah and Sillah hear my voice, 
 
 " Ye wives of Lamech attend, etc." 
 
 The truth is, Lamech had committed a murder : he repents of the 
 fact, but hopes, after the example of Cain, to escape with impunity, 
 and with that hope he cheers his wives, who are anxious for his fate. 
 It is not to be supposed that he addresed them in verse ; the sub- 
 stance of what he said has been reduced to numbers for the sake of 
 preserving it easily in the memory. This poem therefore constitutes 
 a part of history known to the Israelites : and Moses intimates to 
 what Lamech it relates, namely, not to the son of Seth, the father of 
 Noah, but to this Lamech of the seed of Cain : what he adds is to 
 this effect : " This Lamech, who was of the seed of Cain, is the same 
 who complained to his wives in those well-known traditional vers- 
 es, etc." 
 
 " That Moses has preserved many relics of this kind, is evident 
 from the fragments of verse which are scattered throughout his wri- 
 tings, and which are very distinguishable from his usual language." 
 
 The only difficulty attending the explanation of this song arises 
 from the use of the suffix pronoun % and the preposition b- That 
 the suffix pronouns are taken passively as well as actively is plain 
 from Jer. 51: 35. Ex. 20: 20. Isa. 56: 7, 21 : 2. Ps. 56: 13. etc. 
 (See Stuart's Heb. Gram. 472, 3d edit.) ; and that the preposition 
 ^ often means on account of, propter, is evident from Lev. 19: 28. 
 Num. 6: 7. Isa. 14: 9. 15: 5. 30: 1. 36:9. 60: 9. etc. 
 
 The poetical piece which next occurs, is the address of Noah re- 
 specting his sons (Gen. 9: 25 27), the meaning of which is suffi- 
 ciently obvious. We next find the blessing of Isaac on his sons 
 (Gen. 27: 27 29, 39, 40) ; and then the most sublime and elegant 
 of all the remains of primeval poetry, the blessing of Jacob, (Gen. 
 xlix.). We cannot stop here to go into an examination of this most 
 interesting relic of antiquity ; which, as it stands in the English 
 translation, is quite unintelligible. It may be sufficient to remark, 
 that the old Nomadic patriarch gives a hasty but striking sketch of 
 the character of each of his sons, generally by reference to the well- 
 known qualities of some animal with which he compares them ; as- 
 
334 NOTES ON LECTURE V. 
 
 signs them their location in the promised land ; and prophetically 
 glances at the condition of their descendants. These blessings, in 
 fact, in the patriarchal times, were equivalent to a will. The words 
 of Jacob were constantly in the mind of Moses, when he pronounced 
 his blessing on the tribes of Israel (Deut. xxxiii.) ; and the two 
 pieces ought to be studied in connexion. (Compare Herder, Briefe, 
 Th. I. S. 64 ff; Geist, Th. II. S. 179 ff). 
 
 In Num. 21: 14, 15, there is a quotation from a triumphal song 
 of the Hebrews ; vs. 17, 18, the first stanzas of a song which the 
 Hebrews sung at the digging of a well ; and 27 30, the triumphal 
 song of the Hebrews for their victory over the Amorites ; a large 
 part of which is made up of a quotation from the triumphal song of 
 the Amorites on occasion of their conquest of Moab. This Song is 
 quoted by Jer. 48: 45, 46. 
 
 To complete the collection of historical poems from the books of 
 Moses, add the song by the Red Sea (Ex. 15: 1 21) ; and the ad- 
 dresses of Balaam (Num. xxiv. xxv.). These last are in the highest 
 style of prophetic inspiration, and they appear to be the very words 
 pronounced by Balaam, or an exact translation of them from a kin- 
 dred dialect. (See Lect. XX. p. 174). S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE V. 
 
 [A. p. 46.] Rhetorical figures. 
 
 Comparison appears to be the first and most natural of all rhetor- 
 ical figures. When at a loss to explain our meaning, we naturally 
 apply to the associating principle to furnish an illustration : and this 
 seems almost an involuntary act of the mind. A Metaphor is a 
 comparison, without the words indicating resemblance. When a 
 savage experienced a sensation, for which he had as yet no name, 
 he applied that of the idea which most resembled it, in order to ex- 
 plain himself. Thus the words expressing the faculties of the mind 
 are taken from sensible images, as fancy from phantasma; idea in 
 the original language means an image or picture; and way has 
 always been used to express the mode of attaining our end or desire. 
 There is, however, another reason for the use of metaphorical 
 language: when the mind is agitated, the associations are more 
 strongly felt, and the connected ideas will more readily present 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE V. 335 
 
 themselves, than at another time. On this account a man in a pas- 
 sion will frequently reject the words which simply express his 
 thoughts, and, for the sake of giving them more force, will make use 
 of images stronger, more lively, and more congenial to the tone of 
 his mind. 
 
 The principal advantage which the metaphor possesses over the 
 simile or comparison, seems to consist in the former transporting the 
 mind, and carrying it nearer to the reality than the latter ; as when 
 we say " Achilles rushed like a lion," we have only the idea of a 
 man going on furiously to battle ; but when we say instead of Achil- 
 les " The lion rushed on," the idea is more animated. There is 
 also more of brevity in a style that abounds in metaphors, than in a 
 style which consists more of comparisons ; and therefore it proves a 
 better vehicle for the sublime. 
 
 The rule which good writers seem to have adopted respecting 
 the use of similes or metaphors is this : Where the resemblance is 
 very strong and obvious, it may be expressed by a simple metaphor, 
 and it will, in general, be expressed more forcibly ; but where the 
 resemblance is not so obvious, it requires to be more expanded, and 
 then a comparison or simile will appear neither formal nor pompous. 
 
 There is another observation concerning the use of these figures, 
 which is more common, though I do not think the reason of it is 
 generally understood. Comparisons are unnatural in extremes of 
 passion, though metaphors are not. The truth is, the mind when 
 strongly agitated readily catches at slight associations, and meta- 
 phors therefore are instantaneously formed ; but it is impossible that 
 the mind should dwell upon them with the formality and exactness 
 of a person making a comparison. GREGORY. 
 
 No writers make so free a use of metaphor as the Hebrew, and 
 no language is so favourable to this figure. Those ideas and objects 
 which in other languages are expressed in abstract terms, in the 
 Hebrew are made to act and speak and possess all the attribufes of 
 living beings. For an illustration of this remark, the Hebrew stu- 
 dent has only to examine the use which is made of the words, son, 
 daughter, face, etc. To give a few examples. A man eighty-six 
 years old, is a son of eighty-six years (Gen. 16: 16) ; a man con- 
 demned to death, is a son of death (1 Sam. 20: 31) ; arrows are sons 
 of the bow, or of the quiver (Job 41: 19. Lam. 3: 13) ; morning stars 
 are sows of the dawn (Isa. 14: 12) ; the suburbs of a city are its 
 daughters (Num. 21: 25. Judg. 11: 26. Josh. 15: 45) ; the pupil of 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 the eye is the daughter of the eye (Lam. 2: 18), sometimes the lit- 
 tle man of the eye (Deut. 32: 10), on account of the image reflected 
 from it ; or more fully, the little man, the daughter of the eye (Ps. 
 17: 8), etc. These metaphors are constantly occurring, and form a 
 constituent part of the language. As, the ark toalked on the face of 
 the waters (Gen. 7: 18) ; a hill with a rich soil is called a horn, the 
 son of oil (Isa. 5: 1). Midnight is called the little man of the night 
 (Prov. 7: 9) ; and thick darkness is styled the little man of dark- 
 ness, (Prov. 20: 20) ; the figure being derived in both instances 
 from the application of the word jri'W (little man) to the pupil of 
 the eye. The rim of a vessel, the border of a garment, the bank of 
 a river, the shore of the sea, are all called lip, (1 Kings 7: 26. Ex. 
 28: 32. Gen. 22: 17. 41: 3). In the xxxviii. chapter of Job, the 
 earth is a great palace, whose corner-stone was laid by God, on 
 which occasion all the morning stars sang together (vs. 4 7) ; the 
 ocean is a child, issuing from the womb of its mother earth, and 
 clothed with clouds and swaddled with thick darkness (vs. 8, 9) ; 
 the dawn is an intelligent agent, awaiting the command of its Crea- 
 tor (vs. 12, 13) ; the lightnings listen to the voice of their Sovereign, 
 appear before him at his call, and announce their presence (v. 35). 
 A like boldness in the use of metaphor is found in other Oriental 
 writers. Mohammed calls wine the mother of sins ; and a Persian 
 poet speaking of the mingling of water and wine for a feast, says, 
 the son of the clouds marries the daughter of the vine. (Compare 
 Herder, Geist, Th. I.. S. 96. Th. II. S. 10 ; Sir William Jones, 
 Comment, p. 120). S. 
 
 [B. p. 50.] Sources of poetic imagery. 
 
 To the four sources of poetic imagery mentioned by our author, 
 may be added a fifth, namely, Poetic Fable, of which see more, 
 Lect. IX. Note F. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 [A. p. 52.] Boldness of oriental imagery. 
 
 Boldness and luxuriance of imagery is one of the most striking 
 traits of Oriental poetry. In the East, the beauty of the climate, the 
 richness of the soil, the abundance of vegetation, laid open many 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 337 
 
 sources of imagery to which we are strangers : and when any one 
 point of resemblance presented itself to the glowing imagination of 
 an Oriental poet, he seized it with avidity, without any regard to the 
 dissimilarity of the objects in other respects. The beauty of some of 
 the boldest of these comparisons may be felt by us ; though others 
 appear, to our colder imaginations, rather harsh. For example, when 
 a beautiful virgin is compared to an enclosed garden and a fountain 
 sealed up (Sol. Song 4: 12), we are at no loss to perceive the appro- 
 priateness and <the exquisite beauty of the image : but when a lady's 
 hair is compared to a flock of goats, and her teeth to a flock of 
 newly washed sheep, (Song 6: 5, 6) ; her neck to a tower of ivory, 
 her eyes to the fountains of Hcshbon, and her nose to the tower of 
 Lebanon, (Song 7: 4) ; the effect on our feelings is not the same as 
 that produced on the feelings of an Oriental. Imagery of this sort is 
 not confined to Solomon's Song : it is still in use, and indeed car- 
 ried much further by the Oriental poets of the present day. An 
 Arabic poet, describing the beauties of a female, says : 
 
 " Her eyebrows are like bows, shooting deadly arrows; 
 
 Her nose like the point of a sword ; 
 
 Her mouth like the signet of Solomon ; 
 " Her cheeks like the anemone (wind-flower) ; 
 
 Her two lips are two opals ; 
 
 Her teeth are pearls set in coral ; 
 
 She has a forehead like the new moon, 
 " And lips sweeter than the honey-comb, and cooler than pure water ', 
 
 Her neck is like the bamboo of India ; 
 
 Her bosom like a swelling fountain ; 
 
 Her breasts like pomegranates ; 
 " Her belly like silk, having fold on fold ; 
 " Her navel is anointed with ointment of myrrh." 
 
 (See Sir William Jones, Comment, p. 140). 
 
 With this description compare Sol. Song vn. 
 
 In judging of figures of this sort, we should remember that they 
 are not used for illustration merely, but also for ornament and for 
 amplification ; and if the comparison does not always make the sub- 
 ject clearer, the end of the poet is attained, if it give beauty or ful- 
 ness to the description. Homer, in some of his comparisons, ex- 
 hibits all the freedom of an Oriental ; for example, (Odyss. V. to- 
 wards the close), where he compares Ulysses sleeping, covered with 
 leaves, to a coal of fire buried in the ashes. 
 
 In every nation the language of common life abounds in meta- 
 phorical expressions, which are used so frequently and so exclusive- 
 43 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 ly in their figurative sense, that they lose their metaphorical appear- 
 ance, and when they occur, the acquired meaning of the words only 
 is suggested, and their original literal signification is disregarded. 
 Thus, from the veins of the animal body, we speak of a vein of ore 
 in the earth ; and thence, of a vein of humour, a vein of poetry, etc. ; 
 and these expressions have now become so familiar, that we no lon- 
 ger regard them as metaphors. Metaphorical phrases of this sort, 
 in different climates and among different people, are derived from 
 different objects. Thus, what we call the eye of a needle, the Ger- 
 mans call its ear ; what we denominate an arm of the sea, the He- 
 brews, Arabians, and other Orientals, denominate a tongue of the 
 sea (Josh. 15: 2, 5. 18: 19. Is. 11: 15). What in one language is 
 usually expressed literally, in another is usually expressed by a met- 
 aphor ; for example, we speak of aflame ofjire, but the Hebrews 
 of a tongue of Jirc, (Is. 5: 24. comp. Acts 2: 3. and Virg. Aen. II. 
 684). 
 
 The language of poetry is influenced by the language of com- 
 mon life, and the metaphors in popular use are frequently by poets 
 extended, applied to different subjects, and couched in expressions 
 more bold, brief, and elegant ; though still, from the analogy which 
 they bear to the language of common life, they are perfectly intelli- 
 gible to contemporary readers of the same nation, and free from all 
 appearance of harshness. When, therefore, we examine the poetry 
 of an ancient people, with a climate and modes of life very different 
 from our own, of whose popular language we are almost entirely 
 ignorant, (for such is our condition in regard to the Hebrews), 
 it is not at all surprising that we find many metaphors which to us 
 appear unmeaning and harsh, though to them, perspicuous and ele- 
 gant. Interpreters investigate the etymology of words, and ascer- 
 tain their primitive and literal meaning, which they apply to all the 
 places where the words in question occur, or resort to metaphor to 
 help them out of difficulty ; when perhaps, in the time of the poet, 
 the literal signification of the phrase had long been obsolete, and 
 the metaphorical had become the only meaning. As if the English 
 should become a dead language, and some laborious commentator 
 of future ages, finding the phrase vein of poetry, should explain it 
 by saying, that the writer borrowed this expression from the veins 
 of the human body, and applied it to the person of whom he was 
 speaking, because he was such a poetic genius that poetry seemed 
 to circulate quite through him, and to be all his life, as is the case 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 339 
 
 with blood in regard to the body ; and should then go on to expa- 
 tiate upon the great beauty and expressiveness of this image ! S. 
 
 [B . p. 53.] Imagery borrowed from, plants and the heavenly bodies. 
 
 The frequent recurrence for metaphorical expressions to natural 
 objects, and particularly to plants and to trees, is so characteristic of 
 the Hebrew poetry, that it might be almost called the botanical po- 
 etry. This circumstance, however, is not at all extraordinary, if we 
 consider that the greater part of that people were occupied with til- 
 ling the earth, and keeping their flocks ; and further, that the culti- 
 vation of poetry, instead of being confined to the learned, was so gen- 
 erally diffused, that every valley reechoed the songs of the shepherds. 
 Hence in the very few remains of the Hebrew writings which are 
 come down to us, I mean the Scriptures, there are upwards of 250 
 botanical terms, which none use so frequently as the poets : and this 
 circumstance I think gives an air of pastoral elegance to their poet- 
 ry, which any modern writer will emulate in vain. 
 
 It is, however, extraordinary, that the stars should be so seldom 
 mentioned in the Hebrew poetry, for the names of not more than 
 three or four occur in the whole Bible. It has been said, that the 
 patriarchal shepherds applied very much to the study of astronomy ; 
 but if so, whence is it, that we meet with such frequent allusions to 
 botanical subjects, and so few to the heavenly luminaries ? A com- 
 et is, however, I think, spoken of in Numb. xxiv. 17, and in allu- 
 sion to David ; but it is by Balaam, who, residing on the borders of 
 the Euphrates, it is reasonable to suppose was not altogether unac- 
 quainted with the Babylonish sciences. MICHAELIS. 
 
 There appears but little foundation for this last remark of the 
 learned professor. For in reality, so little are the heavenly bodies 
 subjects of poetic allusion, that we find them but seldom introduced 
 into any poetry either ancient or modern. Our annotator seems to 
 forget that poetry is no more than painting in language, and has not 
 respect to names but appearances. The appearance of every star is 
 nearly the same, and consequently they can furnish no great variety 
 of imagery, and that can only relate to their general qualities, their 
 splendour, etc. ; whereas the nature and visible qualities of plants are 
 infinitely diversified, and therefore admit of a much greater variety 
 of allusion. Indeed a poem, the principal imagery of which consist- 
 ed of the names of stars, would be a very strange and a very dull 
 production. We cannot argue from the silence of the Hebrew po- 
 
840 NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 etry, that Moses or the writers of the Scriptures were ignorant of as- 
 tronomy ; neither is it fair to suppose that a nation of shepherds, in 
 the serene country of the East, were unacquainted with the hosts of 
 heaven, which, in truth, from these causes, were the objects of ado- 
 ration, and even of worship, in those parts, as appears from the Pre- 
 face to Mr. WOOD'S Account of the Ruins of Balbec. GREGORY. 
 
 [C. p. 56.] ISAIAH xxxvn. 24. 
 
 In this passage Lebanon scarcely seems to be used for Jerusa- 
 lem. Vs. 24 and 25 contain the boasting menace of Sennacherib, 
 and seem to refer to his threatened subjugation of the whole king- 
 dom of Israel, by seizing the passes to the country (of which Leba- 
 non was one of the most difficult), taking possession of the strong 
 holds, and cutting off the princes and warriors. (See Rosenmuel- 
 ler and Gesenius in loc. ; comp. Jer. 22: 6, 23; Zech. 11: 1 3; 
 Isa. 14: 8). S. 
 
 PSALM LXVIII. 31. nag n*h "ia 
 
 rt5j? n*h,- " The wild beast of the reeds," is a periphrasis for 
 " the lion ;" and that by no means obscure, if we bestow upon it a 
 little attention. The lions make their dens very commonly among 
 the reeds. " Innumerable lions wander about among the reeds and 
 copses on the borders of the rivers in Mesopotamia." AM. MAR. Lib. 
 xviii. c. 7. This is so familiar to the Arabs, that they have a par- 
 ticular name for the den or haunt of a lion, when it is formed among 
 the reeds. BOCHART, Hieroz. Par. I. Lib. iii. c. 2. The river Jor- 
 dan was particularly infested with lions, which concealed themselves 
 among the thick reeds upon the banks. JOHAN. PHOCAS. Descrip. 
 Loc. Sanct. c. 23. See also MAUNDREL'S Travels. JEROME upon 
 these words of Zechariah xi. 3, " The voice of the roaring of 
 young lions, for the pride of Jordan is spoiled." " With the river 
 Jordan (says he) which is the largest in Judea, and near which there 
 are many lions, the prophet associates the roaring of those animals, 
 on account of the heat of the climate, the vicinity to the desert, the 
 extent of that vast wilderness, the reeds and the deep sedge which 
 grow about it." Hence in Jer. iv. 7, the lion is said to go forth 
 1313073 (from his thicket;) and xlix. 19, " to ascend from the over- 
 flowing of Jordan." In this place, therefore, (Psalm Ixviii. 31) the 
 wild beast of the reeds, the herd of the strong, and the calves, are 
 the lions, the bulls, and the beasts wantoning about, or in plain 
 
I 
 NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 341 
 
 terms, the fierce and insolent tyrants : of whom, by a continuation 
 of the metaphor, the prophet adds, " each of them eagerly" (for 
 there is that force in the distributive in the singular number, and in 
 the conjugation Hithpael) " striking with their feet, and disturbing 
 the silver, or perhaps desirable rivers ;" that is, destroying, and lay- 
 ing waste the pleasant places of Judea. This very image is adopted 
 by Ezekiel, xxxii. 2, and again xxxiv. 18, 19, in which places 
 the verb tofin thrice occurs in that sense ; see also Dan. vii. 19. 
 But whether yi i be spoken of the motion of the river, as in the 
 Latin currere (Vmc. Georg. I. 132) so as to signify the river, is not 
 altogether so plain. LOWTH. 
 
 It seems most probable, however, that by rt3j? rpft the crocodile 
 is designated ; and the interpretation of Rosenrnueller is to me the 
 most satisfactory, which I will give in his own words : 
 
 " Nobis quidem minime est dubium, genuinam loci nostri inter- 
 pretationem petendam esse ex Ezechiele xxxii. 2, ubi regem Aegyp- 
 ti vates ita alloquitur : Tu gentium leoni, i. e. grassanti inter gentes, 
 similis es, et quasi quidam draco in aequoribus (crocodilum signifi- 
 cat Nilo flumini familiarem, vid. nostram ad eum loc. not.) qui per 
 fluvios tuos ruens aquas pedibus turbas, Dn'in3 o'snrn et conculcas 
 flumina eorum, populorum, G*ia, quod praecessit, i. e. exercitus eo- 
 rum, coll. lesai. viii. 7. Hinc nostro Psalmorum loco DS^n73 (col- 
 lective accipiendum) interpretamur continue conculcantes , scil. alios, 
 sive, subauditis e loco Ezecheliano vocibus fi^ia niinS flumina 
 gentium, hoc sensu : Increpaferam arundinis, i. e. ut recte Michae- 
 lis in nota quae proxime praecessit, crocodilum in arundinetis ad Ni- 
 lum (vid. Exod. ii. 3. lesai. xix. 6) degentem, coetumque taurorum 
 cum vitulis popular urn, qui continuo concultant alios. Formam 
 Hithpael nori semper significationem intransitivam s. reciprocam, 
 sed baud raro activam eamque frequentativam habere constat. Sic 
 Genes, v. 22. xvii. 1. DVfbfitTiN ?j]p.nn!l ambulavit continuo cum 
 Deo ; 1 Sam. x. 6. 13. fcO:nft prophetavit continuo ; 2 Reg. xix. 
 20. ^jor\n frequenter precatus est; Esth. iv. 8. l^nlTf indesinentcr 
 gratiam altcrius exoravit. Verba S|tp < - <1 2g'i3 vero interpreter prop- 
 ter fragmina argenti, i. e. qui conculcant et opprimunt alios opurn 
 et divitiarum acquirendarum caussa ; ut in carmine Deborae trium- 
 phali (quod Psalmi LXVTII. quasi aQ%tivnov est) Ammonitae popu- 
 lum Israeliticum eum in finem bello aggressi innuuntur, ut ex eorum 
 spoliis magnas opes auferrent ; sed illos omnibus castris exutos, fu- 
 sos fugatosque hoc fine excidisse docet poetria Jud. v. 19. Vcnc- 
 
342 NOTES ON LECTURE VI, 
 
 runt, inquit, reges, pugnarunt, pugnarunt Canaanis reges in Thaan- 
 achjuxta aquas Megiddo, Ihgb tfb P)DD ys% sed frustum argenti 
 non acceperunt" S. 
 
 [D. p. 57.] Poetic imagery from the objects of nature. 
 
 We must not omit noticing, in this place, those images which 
 are derived from rivers and fountains, and the earth recreated with 
 rain ; which are indeed used by our poets, but more frequently by 
 the Orientals. For the scarcity of water, and the extreme heat of 
 the summer, together with the wonderful fertility of the soil, when 
 watered, render this a more elegant and jocund comparison in the 
 East than with us. In spring and summer, if the east wind con- 
 tinues to blow a few days, the fields are in general so parched, that 
 scarcely a blade of any thing green remains; many rivers and 
 streams are dried up, the others are rendered briny, and all nature 
 seems at the point of dissolution. After a plentiful shower, however, 
 the fields revive beyond all expectation, the rivers resume their 
 course, and the springs pour forth more delicious water. Mahomet 
 makes use of this idea frequently, as figurative of the resurrection ; 
 and in this he shews himself no less of a philosopher than a poet. 
 Dr. Russel has described this regeneration of nature in most lively 
 colours in his Natural History of Aleppo, a book which every man 
 ought to read, who wishes not only literally to understand the Orien- 
 tal writers, but to feel them. Indeed, for want of this, many simi- 
 les appear to us bold and unusual, which among the Orientals have 
 a proper and distinct signification. CAAB, an Arabic poet, who was 
 contemporary with Mahomet, in one of his poems compares the teeth 
 of a young lady when she smiled to wine mixed with water, in which 
 remained bubbles of yesterday's rain. In Isaiah there are many al- 
 lusions of this nature, the favourable or adverse state of the nations 
 being frequently expressed by this image, which many commenta- 
 tors have attempted to explain with more exactness than a poetical 
 idea will bear. They have taken what the poet meant figuratively 
 sometimes in a literal sense ; and at other times they have explained 
 every thing in a mystical manner, and have pretended to define what 
 is meant by the water, who are those that are thirsty, etc. etc., in- 
 termingling many very pious reflections, but utterly foreign to the 
 subject, and such as never once entered the mind of the poet. For 
 it certainly was not the intention of the prophet to write enigmas, 
 but to illustrate and adorn the beautiful figure which he introduces* 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 Thus, xxxv. 6, 7, speaking of the happy state of Palestine, at the 
 time that Idumea was laid waste and subdued : 
 
 " The desert, and the waste, shall be glad ; 
 
 " And the wilderness shall rejoice and flourish : 
 
 " For in the wilderness shall burst forth waters, 
 
 " And torrents in the desert : 
 
 " And the glowing sand shall become a pool, 
 
 " And the thirsty soil bubbling springs : 
 
 " And in the haunt of dragons shall spring forth 
 
 " The grass, with the reed, and the bulrush." 
 
 It is however to be remarked, that the level ground suffers most from 
 the intolerable heat, and that the deserts are almost destitute of 
 water. He amplifies the same image in a different manner in 
 xxxv. 17, celebrating the return of the Israelites from the Babylo- 
 nian exile : 
 
 " The poor and the needy seek for water, and there is none ; 
 
 " Their tongue is parched with thirst : 
 
 " I Jehovah will answer them ; 
 
 " The God of Israel, I will not forsake them. 
 
 " I will open in the high places rivers ; 
 
 " And in the midst of valleys, fountains ; 
 
 " I will make the desert a standing pool ; 
 
 " And the dry ground streams of waters. 
 
 " In the wilderness I will give the cedar ; 
 
 " The acacia, the myrtle, and the tree producing oil : 
 
 " I will plant the fir-tree in the desert, 
 
 " The pine and the box together." 
 
 This is admirable painting, and displays a most happy boldness of 
 invention ; the trees of different kinds transplanted from their native 
 soils to grow together in the desert ; the fir-tree and the pine, which 
 are indigenous to Lebanon, to which snow and rain, and an im- 
 mense quantity of moisture, seem almost essential ; the olive, which 
 is the native of Jerusalem ; the Egyptian thorn, indigenous to Ara- 
 bia ; both of them requiring a dry soil ; and the myrtle, which 
 flourishes most on the sea-shore. The same image occurs xxxiii. 
 18 20, but placed in a different light. The poet feigns in this 
 place, that the wild beasts of the desert, and the dragons themselves, 
 which had been afflicted with thirst, pour forth their nocturnal cries 
 in thankfulness to God for sending rain upon the desert. See 
 also xxxiv. 3, 4. Sometimes in the district of Jerusalem, which 
 by nature is a very dry soil, and in which there are few streams, an 
 immense flood is seen to burst forth, and with irresistible violence 
 
344 NOTES ON LECTURE VI. 
 
 fall into the Dead Sea, so that its water, which is more salt than that 
 of any other sea, is rendered sweet. Gihon seems to have afforded 
 the basis of the above description, a rivulet which proceeds from 
 Sion, when perhaps some uncommon flood had prodigiously increas- 
 ed it. If I am not mistaken, David was the first who made use of 
 this bold figure, but with such a degree of modesty as becomes the 
 author who first introduced it, Psal. xlvi. 2 6. I suspect some- 
 thing of the kind indeed to have happened about the time of his com- 
 posing that Psalm, for it is usual in earthquakes for some streams to 
 be entirely drained, while others overflow. But his imitators, in 
 their ardour for novelty, have gone far beyond him. Thus Joel in- 
 termingles with this figure the picture of the golden age, iii. 18. 
 
 ' The mountains shall drop down new wine, 
 
 ' And the hills shall flow with milk, 
 
 ' And all the rivers of Judah shall flow with water, 
 
 ; And a fountain shall flow from the house of Jehovah, 
 
 ' And shall water the valley of Shittirn." MICHAEUS. 
 
 Earthquakes and tempests afford a copious source of imagery to 
 the Hebrew poets. Compare Ps. xvm. Is. 24 : 19, 20. Jer. 51 : 
 25, 26. The pains of childbearing are also very frequently referred 
 to in the sacred poetry, and sometimes in connexions where we 
 should least expect it. See Is. 26: 17, 18. 42: 14, 15. 
 
 Rosenmueller observes that the description to which Michaelis 
 refers in the preceding note is not to be found in Dr. Russell's Nat- 
 ural History of Aleppo, but in the Appendix to Shaw's Travels. 
 He also quotes a passage on the same subject from Th. Hyde in 
 Notis ad Ab. Perizolii Itinera Mundi, p. 10 (edit. sec. Oxon. 1767) as 
 follows : 
 
 " Nomen &^/-^ , fiplla, splendor em, seu splendentem regionem 
 denotat, cilm ea regio (Libya deserta) radiis solaribus tam copiose 
 collustretur, ut reflexum ab arenis lumen adeo intense fulgens a lon- 
 ginquo spectantibus aquarum speciem referat, et hicce arenarum 
 splendor Arabibus (ex lingua Persica petito nomine) dicitur O' /* 
 Ser db, i. e. aquae superficies, seu superficialis aquarum species. 
 Haecque visus deceptio, proh dolor ! saepe illudit siticulosos viato- 
 res, qui inter calidissimas istas arenas aquae refrigerium avidissi- 
 me expetentes, ad longinqua loca dicto modo resplendentia, spe frus- 
 trata, baud raro contendere solent." 
 
 It may gratify the reader to present him with the verses of Caab, 
 the Arabic poet, which are referred to by Michaelis in the preced- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 345 
 
 ing note. The Latin translation subjoined, is by Rosenmueller. 
 The Arabic is taken from an edition of the poem published by G. I. 
 Lette, Lugd. Batav. 1748, 4to. 
 
 c / 'e / .. c t t I / / 
 
 // 
 ) c i / - ro 5 / c / 
 
 / c / t c i c 
 
 i 
 y c i t c i / o / / / c-c i 
 
 ^4^0 (f&j CEAff lKA^ cJl^ 
 
 " Denies denundat candidos ubi subridet, 
 
 " Vino tcmperatum referens laticem, 
 
 " Cum vinum miscetur frigida unda, de loci reconditi aqua, 
 
 " Limpida per vallem labente, ventoque refrigerata boreali, 
 
 " A qua venti repulerunt sordes, quaraque super eminent 
 
 " Do imbris nocturnae effusione albae bullae. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 
 
 [A. p. 64.] Imagery derived from sepulchres. 
 
 See a description of these sepulchres, SERLIO, Architettura, L. 
 iii. ; VILLALPANDUS, Apparat. Urb. iii. 16 ; MAUNDREL'S Travels, 
 p. 76. 
 
 Josephus makes frequent mention of the sepulchre of David. 
 He calls the sepulchre itself ra(fov or fivypct ; and the chambers, 
 into many of which the sepulchre was divided, oixou? rovg 6v zo> 
 /M^/iart ; the cells #?;xaff. Antiq. vii. 15. xv. 7 ; Bell i. 2. The 
 sepulchres of the Egyptian monarchs are described by Strabo, Lib. 
 xvii. " About forty cells are cut in the caves." Of the remains of 
 44 
 
346 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 
 
 which see a description in POCOCKE'S Description of the East, B. ii. 
 c. 3. There are still remaining at Naples certain sepulchral vaults 
 called Catacombs, which have not been exceeded in grandeur by any 
 similar work of man. They appear to me, indeed, to be a monu- 
 ment of the most remote antiquity, which, though originally appro- 
 priated to some other use, about the Christian sera were made use 
 of as burial-places. They are evidently of the same kind with other 
 subterraneous works of that country, many of which have been de- 
 stroyed by earthquakes, but many remain at this day at Cumae, Mi- 
 senum, Baiae, the lake of Averno, and mount Posilypo. I have no 
 doubt but these works were antecedent to the time of Homer, who 
 describes them as inhabited by the Cimmerians, a people who live 
 in perpetual darkness, (Odyss. ix. sub. init.) as Ephorus in STRABO, 
 Lib. v. says of them, " that they live in certain subterraneous dwel- 
 lings, which they call Argillas, and associate with one another by 
 narrow fosses or passages ;" and the remaining monuments demon- 
 strate this account not to be altogether fabulous. These caves are 
 called Argillas, from the nature of the soil in which I believe they 
 are usually dug. " Argil, or that kind of earth which is used for 
 cleansing, is white clay," HESYCH. ; whence a hill between Puteoli 
 and Naples was called Leucogaeus, PLIN. Nat. Hist. viii. 11 ; although 
 those mentioned above are all hewn out of the solid grit, in order to 
 resist the injuries of time. Hence Argiletum, the name of a street 
 in Rome, taken from some Argil of this kind, such as formed the 
 cave of Cacus, which was not far from that street ; though Virgil 
 does not favour this opinion ; see however Varro de Ling. Lat. Lib. 
 iv. It is evident that Homer first, and Virgil after him, derived their 
 notions of the infernal regions from these Cimmerian caves of Cam- 
 pania ; and when Virgil is describing the cave of Cacus, when for- 
 ced open by Hercules, the image of the infernal state immediately 
 occurs : 
 
 " At specus, et Caci detecta apparuit ingens 
 " Regia, et umbrosae penitus patuere cavernae : 
 " Non secus, ac si qua penitus vi terra dehiscens 
 " Infernas reseret sedes, et regna recludat 
 " Pallida, Dis invisa, superque immane barathrum 
 " Cernatur, trepidentque immisso lumine manes." JEn. viu. 241. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 All the southern parts of Palestine contiguous to Arabia, were 
 furnished with immense caverns, which were originally inhabited by 
 the D'Sft (Gen. 14: 6. 36: 2030 ; compare Deut. 2 : 12, 22 ; Je- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 347 
 
 tome, Comment, in Obad. v. 4) ; the Troglodytes [Horites] of 
 Scripture, who were subsequently expelled by the Edomites. These 
 extensive and gloomy caves, with their fierce and cruel inhabitants, 
 might afford at least as apt a picture of the infernal regions, as the 
 Cimmerians of Homer and Virgil. S. 
 
 [B. p. 64.] Sheol and its inhabitants. 
 
 There is a passage in Cicero (Tusc. Quaest. L. I. c. 16) illustra- 
 tive of the" almost universal prevalence of the notion of a subterrane- 
 an world in ancient times, even among those people who had no se- 
 pulchres of the kind to which our author refers in this Lecture and 
 the preceding note. 
 
 " Sed ut deos esse natura opinamur, qualesque sint, ratione cog- 
 noscimus ; sic permanere animos arbitramur consensu nationum om- 
 nium : qua in sede maneant, qualesque sint, ratione discendum est. 
 Cuius ignoratio finxit inferos, easque formidines, quas tu contemne- 
 re non sine causa videbare. In terram enim cadentibus corporibus, 
 hisque humo tectis, a quo dictum est kumari, sub terra censebant re- 
 liquam vitam agi mortuorum j quam eorum opinionem magni errores 
 consecuti sunt, quos auxerunt poetae." 
 
 In the J?iN*ii or under-world of the Hebrews there is something 
 peculiarly grand and awful. It was an immense region, a vast sub- 
 terranean kingdom (Isa. 14: 9. Jer. 5: 14. Job 26: 6), involved in 
 thick darkness (Job 10: 21, 22), filled with deep vallies (Prov. 9: 
 18), and shut up with strong gates (Isa. 38: 10) ; and from it there 
 was no possibility of escape (Job 7: 9, 10). Thither whole hosts of 
 men went down at once (Num. 16: 30 ff.) ; heroes and armies with 
 all their trophies of victory, kings and their people, were found there 
 (Isa. 14: 920. Ezek. 31: 14, 16, 17, 18. xxxii) ; where they had 
 a sort of shadowy existence, as manes or ghosts, neither entirely 
 spiritual nor entirely material, engaged in the employments of their 
 earthly life, though destitute of strength and physical substance, 
 (Eccl. 9: 46. Job 3: 1319. Compare 4: 15, 16). 
 
 The inhabitants of bitf'IJ are called D\\D"l, that is, weak, power- 
 less; shades, (Ps. 88: 10. Prov. 2 : 18. 9 : 18. 21 : 16. Isa. 14: 9. 
 26: 14, 19 ; compare 14: 10). This is the explanation of Gesenius, 
 who supposes the word NSp to be the same as nEn, asleep, weak ; 
 from the verb rD~i, to fall asleep, to sink down. 
 
 A similar representation of the shadowy and powerless condition 
 of the departed, and of their employments, is given by Hqniqr (Odyss. 
 
348 NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 
 
 xi), and after him by Virgil (^En. vi.) See also Ossian's Poems, 
 where the old Celtic heroes are represented as seated in the clouds, 
 witnessing the deeds of their descendants, and attempting again to 
 seize their swords, which, like vapour or mist, elude their grasp. 
 
 But fc^NB^ is the word used to denote giants ; and how came the 
 same word to designate the manes of the departed ? Gesenius main- 
 tains that the word as applied to giants has a different origin ; that 
 in this sense it was originally a gentile noun, denoting the sons of 
 Rapha (nenn ^T*?> 2 Sam - 21: 16, 18), a gigantic tribe of Ca- 
 naanites (Gen.' 14: 5.' 15: 20. Deut. 3: 11. Isa. 17: 15), and after- 
 wards applied to all giants. 
 
 Most critics, however, have supposed the words to be of the same 
 origin ; though they have adopted different modes of accounting for 
 the application of the term giants to the ghosts of the dead in Sheol. 
 Michaelis is of the opinion, that after the gigantic Troglodytes 
 (B?in, ply 133, tPKB-i) were expelled by the Edomites (Deut. 2: 
 12, 22), their caverns were left uninhabited ; and that afterwards 
 they were regarded as the abodes of the infernal deities and of 
 ghosts, and from this circumstance all ghosts were called tTND^ . 
 (Note in Lowth, p. 466). Herder supposes that the giants of the 
 old world (Gen. 6: 4), who were destroyed by the flood, first gave 
 occasion to the idea of a kingdom of the dead ; and that from them 
 all its inhabitants were called G^D-\ , (Geist, Th. I. S. 198). Ro- 
 senmueller, with more probability, supposes the appellation to have 
 arisen from the gigantic size which spectres are always represented 
 as assuming when they appear to men. (Schol. in Gen. 14: 5). 
 This opinion seems to be confirmed by various passages of the hea- 
 then poets. For example : 
 
 " Infelix simulacrum, atque ipsius umbra Creusae, 
 " Visa mihi ante oculos, et nota major imago." 
 
 VIRGIL, jEn. II. 772. 
 " Saepe simulacris domus attonita magnis." 
 
 SENECA in Thyeste. 
 " Simulacra virum majora vivis." Idem in Oedipo. 
 
 The locus dassicus on this subject is Isa. xiv. A thorough dis- 
 cussion of all the passages in the Old Testament relating to the 
 Sheol of the Hebrews, may be found in Sheid's Dissertatio in Can- 
 ticum Hiskiae, Jes. xxxviii. 9 20, Lugd. Bat. 8vo. 1769. (Com- 
 pare also Herder, Geist, Th. I. S. 192 ff). 
 
 Such was the popular notion in regard to Sheol, and such the 
 poetic representation of that shadowy empire ; but that the ancient 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 349 
 
 Hebrews had, besides this, a religious belief in the immortality of 
 the soul and a future state of retribution, may be made evident by 
 examining a few passages of their Scriptures. Gen. 5: 24 compared 
 with Heb. 11:5. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not : 
 for God took him. By faith Enoch was translated, that he should 
 not see death ; and was not found because God had translated Mm : 
 for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 
 If there had been no belief in a future state of rewards for the right- 
 eous, how could Enoch's removal from the earth have been viewed 
 as a token of the approbation of God ; especially as early or sudden 
 death was anciently regarded, in all common cases, as a proof of 
 the divine displeasure ? The tradition still exists among the Arabs, 
 and is widely spread through the Eastern world, that Enoch or Idris, 
 on account of his great piety, was taken by God to heaven, and re- 
 ceived into Paradise, or Albordj, the mountain of God. Gen. 25: 
 8, Abraham died, and was gathered to his people ; certainly, not in 
 the literal sense of being buried among them, for he died at a great 
 distance from the land of his fathers. Ex. 3: 6, / am the God of 
 thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of 
 Jacob ; compared with our Saviour's commentary on these words, 
 Matt. 22: 32, and the remarks of the apostle, Heb. 11: 13 16. In 
 the time of Moses, God was still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob, and Christ declares that he is not a God of the dead, but of 
 the living ; consequently, they were yet in existence : and the apos- 
 tle to the Hebrews avers, that these patriarchs sought a heavenly 
 country. 2 Kings 2: 11 ; Elijah was taken up into heaven ; in the 
 New Testament we find him and Moses talking with Christ, and 
 we are made acquainted with the subject of their conversation. 
 (Matt. 17: 3. Luke 9: 31). Do not all these allusions, illustrated as 
 they are by the corresponding passages of the New Testament, im- 
 ply an unshaken belief in a future state of conscious and happy ex- 
 istence ? 
 
 In the Psalms, however, we have evidence still more direct, of 
 a belief in a future state of rewards and punishments. In the forty- 
 ninth Psalm the righteous are exhorted not to be disturbed by the 
 pride and oppression of the wicked, for it was impossible that their 
 prosperity should continue : they would all die (vs. 7 12) ; they 
 would be driven to Sheol like sheep, where Death would devour 
 them (v. 14) ; while God would deliver the soul of the righteous 
 from the power of Sheol, and receive him to himself (v. 15 ; com- 
 
350 NOTES ON LECTURE VII. 
 
 pare Ps. 73: 16 27). In the sixteenth Psalm, the Psalmist ex- 
 presses his confidence in God, because he had always made him his 
 trust (v. 8), that he would not leave his soul in Sheol (v. 10), but 
 would show him the path of life, the way to his presence, where is 
 fulness of joy, and to his right hand where are pleasures forever- 
 more (v. 11 ; compare Ps. 23: 4, 6). In the seventeenth Psalm, the 
 Psalmist, after complaining of the haughtiness and cruelty of his 
 wicked oppressors (v. 9), concludes in regard to himself, that he 
 should behold the face of God in righteousness, and be satisfied 
 when he awoke with his likeness (v. 11). That the hope of the 
 Psalmist here has reference to the life to come, is evident, because 
 it is expressed as an antithesis to the portion of the wicked, which 
 they have in this life, (v. 14 ; compare De Wette in loc. ; compare 
 also Dan. 12: 2, 3. Ezek. 37: 114. Is. 26: 19). S. 
 
 [C. p. 65.] Imagery from the vices of men. 
 
 The sacred writers, with a boldness peculiar to the Oriental 
 world, have drawn some of their most striking imagery from the vi- 
 res of men ; which they have applied with great freedom not only 
 to inferior topics, but to the most dignified subjects, and even to the 
 Deity himself. The vices most frequently alluded to, are the two 
 most destructive and disgusting which human nature ever exhibits, 
 namely, drunkenness and lust. Deut. 32: 42, (compare Is. 34: 5, 
 6), the Almighty, speaking of the awful vengeance which he would 
 take on his enemies, says that he will make his arrows drunk with 
 their blood. Is. 49: 26, God declares that the enemies of Israel, 
 when he punishes them, shall be drunk with their own blood as with 
 sweet wine ; 63: 6, he will make them drunk in his fury ; 51: 21 23, 
 the same image is drawn out to great particularity of detail, and is 
 applied to his own people when suffering for their sins ; and 24: 20, 
 the whole earth is represented as reeling like a drunkard in conse- 
 quence of the wrath of God. Ps. 78: 65, God, in his anger, is com- 
 pared to a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. 
 
 The imagery derived from lust is principally employed to depict 
 the wickedness and folly of forsaking the worship of the true God 
 and falling into idolatry. In the common language of the Hebrews, 
 this is called adultery ; but in poetry the picture is filled up, its 
 most disgusting features exposed to view ; and the apostates from 
 true religion, in order to excite the deepest horror for their crime, 
 are described in language applicable in its literal sense only to the 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 351 
 
 most impudent, shameless, and insatiable prostitutes. (See Is. 57: 
 7 9. Jer. ii. Ezek. xvi. xxiii. and the Prophecy of Hosea through- 
 out). These two sources of imagery are combined with great effect 
 by the author of the Apocalypse, (17: 4 6). 
 
 To those who are acquainted with the manners and sentiments 
 of the Oriental world, this freedom of the sacred writers, instead of 
 requiring apology, will appear as one of the highest perfections of 
 their art. These representations, so far from exciting any feelings 
 of lasciviousness or ideas of indelicacy in the minds of those to 
 whom they were originally addressed, only served to raise their ab- 
 horrence and detestation of the crime ; in the same manner as we 
 are now moved to detest the cool, malignant cunning of Tago by a 
 perusal of Othello, or to abhor the hellish cruelty of the English 
 government under Charles II. by reading Old Mortality. The ex- 
 clusion of females from the society of men in the East has given oc- 
 casion to great freedom of language in regard to these subjects ; and 
 at the present day, an Arab who would scorn to be guilty of an im- 
 modest action, would not hesitate, if occasion called for it, to de- 
 scribe such an action in the most direct and appropriate terms : and 
 the same is true of the Oriental writers. (Michaelis, Note in loc. ; 
 De Arvieux, Tom. III. c. 11). S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 
 
 [A. p. 69.] Imagery from the priesthood. 
 
 Among the Hebrews there was a dignity and grandeur attached 
 to the sacerdotal character, of which we can form but a faint con- 
 ception. Jehovah, the invisible God, the Creator of the universe, 
 condescended to be elected king of the Hebrews, (Ex. 15: 18. Num. 
 23: 21. Deut. 33: 5. Judg. 8: 23. 1 Sam. 8: 7. 10: 18, 19. 12: 12) ; 
 for he had chosen them to be his own people, (Num. 11: 29. Deut. 
 32: 9). A throne was prepared for him between the cherubim over 
 the ark of the covenant, where he sat and held audience with his 
 ministers, (Ex. 25: 8, 22. Num. 7: 89. Compare Ps. 18: 11. 80: 2. 
 99: 1. Isa. 37: 16. 1 Sam. 4: 4. 2 Sam. 6: 2). The exalted privi- 
 lege of having such a ruler and of being regarded with such favour, 
 elevated the Hebrews far above all the other nations of the earth, 
 and we find them dwelling upon this idea in their sacred songs with 
 peculiar satisfaction, (Ps. xcvii. Ixxxii. cxlvii). Now, the priests 
 
352 NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 
 
 were not only the ministers of religion, as among other nations, but 
 they were the courtiers, the messengers, the household officers of 
 King Jehovah j and their robes of office corresponded in richness 
 and magnificence with their exalted rank : so that in the sacerdotal 
 character was united all that is awful in religion, venerable in au- 
 thority, dignified in station, and splendid in exterior magnificence. 
 With the Hebrews, therefore, no imagery could be conceived more 
 sublime and magnificent than that which was derived from the sa- 
 cerdotal character and habit, (compare Ecclus. 50: 1 16). The 
 highest happiness and prosperity of the nation is described in lan- 
 guage derived from this source, (Isa. 61: 10, 11) ; the regal dignity 
 is still more elevated by being connected with the priesthood, (Ps. 
 110: 4) ; and the angels themselves are clothed like priests, (Ezek. 
 9: 3. Dan. 10: 5). In the New Testament the dignity of the Mes- 
 siah is most elevated by his priestly office, (Heb. vii. viii.) ; and the 
 exalted happiness and glory of the saints in heaven can in no way 
 be so forcibly expressed as by calling them kings and PRIESTS to 
 God, (Rev. 1:6. 5: 10. 20: 6). As an example of the application 
 of imagery of this sort, see Psalm cxxxiii. ; of which Lowth has giv- 
 en an elegant paraphrase in Lect. XXV. (Compare Herder, Geist, 
 Th. II. SS. 122133). S. 
 
 [B. p. 70.] PSALM cxxxix. 15. Compare JOB x. 11. 
 
 I know not why our author should say that the art of designing in 
 needle-work was wholly dedicated to the use of the sanctuary. None of 
 the passages to which he has referred necessarily convey this idea, 
 and the quotation from Ezekiel seems rather to intimate the contrary. 
 Besides, the word DJP 1 !, which our author has translated by acupin- 
 gere, appears to signify the making of variegated or party-coloured 
 work of any kind ; and not to be confined to needle-work, if, in- 
 deed, it is ever employed in that sense. S. 
 
 [C. p. 72.] PSALM civ. 25. 
 
 Our author, in his interpretation of this Psalm, has suffered his 
 favourite idea to carry him too far ; for many of the images which 
 he supposes to be borrowed from the sacred tabernacle, appear to 
 have been derived from other sources. 
 
 V. 1. The word ttab is certainly not appropriated to the dressing 
 of priests, but is in the most common use to express the idea of 
 clothing or covering. (See Esth. 6: 8, 9. Job 7: 5. Ps. 65: 14). 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 353 
 
 V. 2. The reference to the light in the Holy of Holies is rather 
 far-fetched ; not to mention that we have no evidence of the exis- 
 tence of the Shechina excepting while the children of Israel were on 
 their journeyings(Lev.!6: 2,) and at the dedication of Solomon's tem- 
 ple (1 K. 8: 10, 11), besides the testimony of Rabbins, those prover- 
 bial story-tellers, who themselves ^confess that it had disappeared 
 long before their time, and had never been seen in the second tem- 
 ple. The word n^V may be applied to the curtains of any other 
 tent as well as to those of the tabernacle ; and if there is any jus- 
 tice in the remark on the third verse, any raftered building may be 
 compared to the air as well as the tabernacle. Similar objections 
 may be made to the interpretation of the remainder of the third, and 
 of the fourth verse ; and when in the fifth, the firmness and durabil- 
 ity of the earth is supposed to be compared to a movable tent, which 
 must already have needed many repairs, the image, to say the least, 
 is rather inept and frigid. (Compare Michaelis in loe.) 
 
 I much prefer the interpretation of Rosenmueller and De Wette. 
 God is described in this Psalm as the Creator and Ruler of the uni- 
 verse, the imagery is borrowed from the splendour and magnificence 
 of Oriental monarchs, and the writer has constantly in view the ac- 
 count of the creation in Gen. i. 
 
 God is introduced in the first and second verses as clothed with 
 light, like an Oriental king in his royal robes, glittering with gold 
 and sparkling with gems, (compare the account of Sir John Mal- 
 colm's introduction to the Persian king, in Sketches of Persia) ; as 
 other monarchs had their tents, he stretches out the heavens them- 
 selves for his royal pavilion ; as earthly kings had their private apart- 
 ments in the upper part of their palaces, (see Jahn, Bibl. Arch. 
 Th. I. S. 214, compare Jer. 22: 13, 14. 1 Chr. 28: 11. 2 Chr. 3: 9), 
 so God laid the beams of his chambers in the waters above the firma- 
 ment, (compare Gen. 1:7); as kings had their lofty chariots and 
 fleet horses, so the clouds are God's chariot, and they are carried by 
 the wings of the wind, (expressive of their swiftness) ; as other kings 
 had their messengers and servants, so the winds and the lightnings 
 are the messengers and servants of God ; of him who founded the 
 earth and fixed it immovably on its basis. 
 
 I trust the deader will be amused, if not edified, by the con- 
 cluding remarks of Michaelis on these verses, which I will give in 
 his own words : 
 
 " Mihi quidem, etsi nihil tabernaculi Levitici animo oberret, hae 
 
354 NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 
 
 tamen sententiae et imagines perpulcrae videntur : * luce tanquam 
 pallio amictus eras, cum primum ex aeterna tua solitudine prodires, 
 teque creatis mentibus praeberes spectandum. Caelum tibi pro ten- 
 torio est : caelum pro secreto a mortalibus caenaculo, aqua et gran- 
 dine contignato. Nubium tonante curru veheris, portato ventorum 
 alis. Turbines tibi pro nuntiis, fulmina pro ministris adstant.' Quae 
 si possem carmine ita exprimere, ut Lowtho datum esse solet, Low- 
 tho etiam iudici probarem. Sed hoc Dea negat, Latinique carminis 
 per X annos neglectus." S. 
 
 [D. p. 72.] Imagery from popular belief. 
 
 There seem to me to be a few references, at least, of this sort in 
 the sacred writings. For example, in Ps. 58: 5, 6, the comparison 
 is derived from the vulgar opinion still prevalent in the East, that 
 jugglers have the power of charming serpents and rendering them 
 harmless ; and when the charm fails and the serpent retains his 
 venom, it is supposed that he is deaf, or that he had purposely closed 
 his ears to the incantations. (See Bochart, Hieroz. P. II. L. III. 
 c. 6 ; Niebuhr, Travels, Vol. I. p. 189). In Ps. 121: 6, there appears 
 to be an allusion to the popular notion that the pains occasioned by 
 sleeping in the open air in the night, are produced by the influence 
 of the moon. This opinion prevails in the East to this day. (See 
 Anderson's Travels in the East, p. 8). The Greeks and Romans 
 supposed that the dew, so noxious to such as are exposed to it in the 
 night, was produced by the moon. (See Heyne in Virg. Georg. III. 
 337). S. 
 
 [E. p. 72.] Inadequacy of translations. 
 
 It may be asserted of translations in general, and I am sure I 
 have experienced the truth of the observation in this very attempt, 
 that many of the minuter beauties of style are necessarily lost : a 
 translator is scarcely allowed to intrude upon his author any figures 
 or images of his own, and many which appear in the original, must 
 be omitted of course. Metaphors, synecdoches, and metonymies, 
 are frequently untractable : the corresponding words would probably 
 in a figurative sense appear harsh or obscure. The observation, how- 
 ever, applies with less justice to our common version of the Bible 
 than to any translation whatever. It was made in a very early stage 
 of our literature, and when the language was by no means formed : 
 in such a state of the language, the figurative diction of the Hebrews 
 might be literally rendered without violence to the national taste ; 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 355 
 
 and the frequent recurrence of the same images and expressions 
 serves to familiarize them to us. Time and habit have now given it 
 force and authority,- and I believe there never was an instance of 
 any translation, so very literal and exact, being read with such uni- 
 versal satisfaction and pleasure. GREGORY. 
 
 The student cannot be too frequently reminded, that it is vain for 
 him to think of relishing the beauties of Hebrew literature without a 
 familiar acquaintance with the Hebrew language. Many who speak 
 of the beauties of the Bible, have no adequate conceptions of that 
 which they profess to admire ; and those who ridicule what they are 
 pleased to term its faults, betray an ignorance that is pitiful in- 
 deed. It is true that the Bible, even in its English dress, is full 
 of the most striking beauties ; and it shows the amazing power of 
 the sacred writers, that so much of excellence should still be percep- 
 tible after the lapse of ages and through the rubbish of translation. 
 To those who have become acquainted with the literary merits of 
 the Bible only through the medium of translations, I would earnestly 
 recommend the attentive perusal of the following colloquy, from the 
 pen of Sir William Jones. S. 
 
 ARABS 
 
 SIVE 
 DE POESI ANGLORUM DIALOGUS. 
 
 Ut pateret, quam inepte de gentium exterarum poesi judicent ii, 
 qui fidas tantum versiones consulant, colloquium, quod sequitur, 
 olim contexui. Finxi enim Arabem quendam, qui sermonem Lati- 
 num Constantinopoli didicerat, cum Britanno quodam mercatore, 
 homine literato, familiariter vixisse, et cum eo de variis Europe 
 Asiaeque artibus solitum esse colloqui. Cum igitur die quodam ad 
 portum una descenderent, et Britannus suae gentis poetas in coelum 
 laudibus efferret, risum Arabs vix potuit compescere, et, Mirum est, 
 inquit, quod narras, ac portenti simile : cum credidero urbem hanc 
 amoenissimam a maris hujus piscibus extructam fuisse, turn demum 
 poetas, ut tu ais, venustos in Anglia credam floruisse. Hem ! in 
 pastu pecudum regnent Angli, agros optime colant, lanam egregie 
 tingant ; sed eos a poesi alienissimos esse persuasum habeo. Ser- 
 monem Latinum, tuo hortatu, teque usus adjutore, didici; spem 
 enim dedisti poetas complures elegantissimos legendi, sed nihil ad- 
 huc vidi, prseter unum atque alterum Horatii carmen, Ovidianas 
 quasdam elegias, et Virgilii nobilissimum poema, quod, meo judicio, 
 
356 NOTES ON LECTURE VIII. 
 
 poesis dici mereatur. Visn' tu credam, in illo, quo tu natus es, ter- 
 rarum angulo, poetas meliores quam in urbe Roma ortos fuisse * 
 Turn J3ritannus, Ipse, inquit, judicabis ; recitabo enim versiculos 
 quosdam ex elegarttioribus Anglorum poetis libatos, quos, ut pulchre 
 intelligas, Latine reddam. Per mini gratum feceris, inquit Arabs ; 
 sed cave quidquam iis ornamenti adjungas : verbum verbo redde. 
 Turn mercator ; Incipiam igitur a poetis heroicis : Sane, si placet, 
 inquit alter ; sed ullumne habes poetam, quem cum Ferdusio corn- 
 pares ? Unum, inquit, atque alterum ; sed palma Miltono facile de- 
 ferenda est ; cujus poema epicum, quod inscribitur Paradisus Am- 
 issus, ab omnibus merito celebratur ; istius poematis recitabo exor- 
 dium : 
 
 " De hominis priraa inobedientia, et fructu 
 
 " Illius vetitae arboris, cujus mortalis gustus 
 
 " Attulit mortem in mundum, omnesque nostras miserias, 
 
 " Cum amissione Edeni, donee unus major vir 
 
 " Redimat nos, et recuperet amoenam sedem, 
 
 " Cane, coelestis musa."l 
 
 Turn Arabs irridens, Parce, precor, inquit, nunquam enim ver- 
 sus audivi magis insipidos. Versus autem ? imo, ne sermo quidem 
 merus mihi videtur. Perge porro ad Lyricos. Ecquem proferre 
 potes cum Hafezo, meis tuisque deliciis, comparandum 1 Multos, 
 respondet ille ; Surrium y Couleium, Spencerum, alios ; et in primis 
 ilium, quem paullo ante citavi, Miltonum : is duo scripsit poemata, 
 omni numero absoluta, quorum unum L&tum inscripsit, alterum 
 Tristan. Quam dulcis haec est, in primo carmine, matutinae delec- 
 tationis descriptio ! 
 
 " Audire alaudam incipere volatum suum, 
 
 " Et canentem tremefacere stupidam noctem, 
 
 " A specula sua in sethere, 
 
 " Donee maculatum diluculum oriatur ; 
 
 " Et turn venire, invita tristitia, 
 
 " Et ad meam fenestram dicere, Salve ! 
 
 " Per cynosbaton, aut vitem, 
 
 " Aut plexam rosam caninam ; 
 
 " Dum gallus vivaci strepitu 
 
 " Spargit postremam aciem caliginis tenuis, 
 
 " Et ad fcenile, aut horrei portam, 
 
 " Magnanime vacillat,dominas praecedens." 2 
 
 Cum Arabs adhuc impensius rideret, et prope se in cachinnuru 
 I Paradise Lost, B. I. vs. 1 &. 2 L' Allegro, vs. 4152. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 357 
 
 effunderet, Age vero, inquit vir Britannus, ianibos quosdam citabo 
 Popii nostri, poetarum Anglorum, si artem ac suavitatem species, 
 facile summus, si ingenium et copiam, paucis secundus ; placebunt 
 tibi hi versiculi, certo scio : 
 
 " Treraat Sporus Quid ? res ilia serica, 
 
 " Sporus, merum illud coagulum lactis asinini ! 
 
 " Vituperium aut judicium, eheu ! potest Sporus sentire ? 
 
 " Quis disrumpit papilionem in equuleo ? 
 
 " Attamen, liceat mihi percutere cimicera hunc,auratas habentem pennas, 
 
 " Hunc pictum filium luti, qui fcetet et pungit." 3 
 
 Ohe, inquit Arabs, desine, si me amas : haeccine poesis dici po- 
 test 1 Pra3terea ad portum venimus, ubi frequens erit hodie merca- 
 tus, Haec cum dixisset, videretque graviter ferentem et stomachan- 
 tem Britannum, pollicitus est, se ad linguam Anglicam condiscen- 
 dam aliquot menses impensurum, ut poetas, quos ille laudaret, ser- 
 mone proprio loquentes posset perlegere. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 
 
 [A. p. 75.] ISAIAH LI. 15,16. 
 
 fc^n stt'i. 
 
 S, " tranquillizing or instantaneously stilling :" it is common- 
 ly rendered clearing, dividing, not only in this, but in the parallel 
 places, JER. xxxi. 35 ; JOB xxvi. 12. I am, however, of opinion, 
 that the meaning of the word has been totally mistaken. It denotes 
 strictly something instantaneous ; a cessation of motion, or a sudden 
 quieting ; as when a bird suddenly lights upon a tree. See ISA. 
 xxxiv. 14. The SEPTUAGINT very properly renders it, in the above- 
 quoted passage in JOB, xaitnavos. Consult the CONCORDANCE. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 Maris Erythraei traiectum a vate respici, est et nonnullorum ex 
 Hebraeis interpretum coniectura, ut larchii, nisi quod is verb'um y^ 
 gallico froncer, contrahi, explicat. Alii, ut Kimchi, Jindendi notio- 
 nem illi tribuunt, utrique ad lob. vii. 5. provocantes, quo loco verba 
 $y^ *H12 alii cutis mea contracta, corrugata est, a.\ii,jissa est, inter- 
 pretantur. Sed de fisso mari Erythraeo, in gratiam Israelitarum, 
 vatem cogitasse, nullum nostro loco est vestigium. I mo vero lere- 
 
 3 Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. 
 
35S NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 
 
 mias, eadem, quae hie leguntur, verba repetens xxxi. 35, de poten- 
 tiae divinae documentis in universum loquitur. Quod autem Lowthi 
 attinet verborum E*n y^ interpretationem, tranquiUansmare, et 
 eius iam ab Abenesra facta reperitur mentio. Verba eius sunt : 
 5>tntt -piDb TbS lantt ^intf rp333 D^EIK UP Suntqui y^ interpre- 
 tentur quiescere faciens postquam fretnuerunt undae eius, notione as- 
 sumta nominis Sia-iB, quies, lerem. vi. 16. Nobistamen concinnior 
 videtur vulgo recepta interpretatio : Ego, lova tuus, qui commoveo, 
 sive, ut Hieronymus, conturbo, mare, ut fluctus eius Jremant. Ita 
 iam LXX. TaQUGGMv xr^v ftakuanav. Chaldaeus: Na^S ppTaT , gn 
 increpo mare. Verbo 5)73 alias is interpres uti solet pro Hebraeo 
 TO, increpat ; videtur igitur nostrum yy-\ per literarum inversio- 
 nem accepisse pro -\y\ collato loco supra L. 2. t3 n ^-jna* Vn3>33 
 increpafione mea exsicco s. exsiccavi mare, scil. rubrum. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 " tPtt'iJ yfcab . In the present text it is yuft, to plant the heav- 
 ens : the phrase is certainly very obscure ; and in all probability is a 
 mistake for mi25b- This latter is the word used in v. 13, just be- 
 fore, in the very same sentence ; and this phrase occurs frequently 
 in Isaiah, e. g. xl. 22. xlii. 5. xliv. 24. xlv. 12. The former in no 
 other place. It is also very remarkable, that in the Samaritan text, 
 Numb. xxiv. 1, these two words are twice changed, by mistake, one 
 for the other, in the same verse." LOWTH. 
 
 The use of the word 2BD in reference to the heavens, which has 
 
 -T 
 
 occasioned so much difficulty to commentators, is very easily ex- 
 plained. It denotes the fastening of the pins of a tent, and is thence 
 used to signify the act of pitching a tent (Dan. 11: 45), with which 
 the heavens are often compared. Its meaning, therefore, in thia 
 place, is the same as that of JiDD in v. 13 ; and there is no necessity 
 for changing the text to rna:b. GESENIUS. 
 
 [B. p. 76.] PSALM xi. 6. 
 
 This is an admirable image, and is taken from the school of na- 
 ture. The wind Zilgaphoth, which blows from the East, is very pes- 
 tilential, and therefore almost proverbial among the Orientals. In 
 the months of July and August, when it happens to continue for the 
 space of ten minutes, it kills whatever is exposed to it. Many won- 
 derful stories are related of its effects by the Arabians, and their po- 
 ets feign that the wicked, in their place of eternal torment, are to 
 breath this pestiferous wind as their vital air. MICHAELIS. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 359 
 
 Meaning of e^rtfe. 
 
 B " live coals," av&oaxae, as it is rendered by the old trans- 
 lator, CHRYS. in loc. Globes of fire, or meteors, such as Pliny calls 
 Bolidas, Nat. Hist. ii. 26, or simply the lightning seems to be un- 
 derstood. Compare PSAL. xviii. 13, 14. JOSEPHUS on the de- 
 struction of Sodom, "God assailed the city with his thunderbolts;" 
 Antiq. i. 11. PHILO on the same : "Lightning fell down from heav- 
 en." De Vit. Mos. i. 12. This is certainly more agreeable to the 
 context than snares. The root is h*iB, which, though it sometimes 
 means to ensnare, yet more frequently means to breathe forth, or 
 emit, fire, for instance. EZEK. xxi. 31. " In thejire of my wrath I 
 will blow upon thee." The Ammonites are spoken of, as thrown in- 
 to the furnace of the divine wrath : compare xxii. 21, where al- 
 most the same words occur, except that the corresponding (and in 
 in this case synonymous) verb he: is made use of, whence hB33, a 
 bellows : JER. vi. 29. In the same sense the verb his is introduc- 
 ed, PROV. xxix. 8, " Scorners will inflame a city." So also the SEPT. 
 SYMMACHUS, the Syriac ; and rightly, as appears from the antithet- 
 ic member of the sentence : " but wise men will turn away wrath." 
 From this explication of the root h^S, the word hB, a coal blown up, 
 is rightly derived : and tTB, (Exoo. ix. 8.) embers, in which the fire 
 may yet be excited by blowing. LOWTH. 
 
 The literal meaning of hD is a net or snare, (see Job 18: 9 ; 
 Eccl. 9: 12; Prov. 7 : 23 ; Ps~ 119: 110) ; and in this place the 
 word is most probably applied to those long and winding flashes, 
 which we, in popular language, denominate chain-lightning. The 
 
 5 / / 
 
 Arabs call lightning of this sort VAW^A*, chains; and Homer (II. 
 
 xiii. 812) gives it the name [4ctOTt, a whip. All these names are 
 evidently derived from the appearance of the lightning, to which 
 theyjare applied. S. 
 
 [C. p. 76.] Imagery from the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 
 Eximie apto et lectissimo exemplo usus Noster. Quod enim 
 supra monuerat, imagines aliquas apud Orientales certis rebus tan- 
 quam proprias fieri, quibus deinde audacius utantur poetae, id vero 
 maxime in Sodomorum excidio usu venit, cui gravissimas terrarum 
 calamitates et devastationes, licet non per omnia similes, soluta etiam 
 oratione comparare solent. Exemplum praebeat Moses, salis etiam, 
 et sulphuris, et incendii subterranei, in describenda Palaestinae 
 
360 NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 
 
 vastitate mentionem faciens, quae omnia translata modo a Sodomis 
 sunt, neque proprie accipi in belli calamitate possunt. Videbunt, 
 inquit Deuteron. xxix. 22, calamitatem terrae, salem, et sulphur, 
 omnemque terrain exustam, quae non conseminatur , nee virescit, nee 
 propullulant in ilia herbae, similem eversis Sodomis et Gomorrhae. 
 Nihil hie salis mentione mirabilius, nee intellectus Moses multis in- 
 terpretibus, ut ei consulant, fingentibus, bitumen salem vocari. 
 Hoc vero omne ex aspectu vallium mari mortuo circumiectarum in- 
 telligi facile potuisset. His enim, Libani nivibus per lordanem 
 auctum verno tempore innatat mare mortuum, unum omnium salsissi- 
 mum : casque, recedens paulo post, sale convestit. (Vide Pocokii 
 itinerum commentaries, Vol. II. P. I. p. 36. Ezech. xlvii. 11). Quo 
 maris dono licet in sua commoda utantur accolae, facit tamen copia, 
 ut non magnus illarum vallium fructus habeatur : cumque ilia valle, 
 exustis olim urbibus vicina, nihil sterilius in omni Palaestina sit, in- 
 dicium sterilitatis salem habere coeptum est, et urbes etiam vastatas 
 sale conserere, et steriles agros salsuginosos vocare : lerem. xvii. 6. 
 Ps. cvii. 34. lob. xxxix. 6. lud. ix. 45. Quod enim ad haec loca 
 habent interpretes, salem terrae sterilitatem inducere, si de sale com- 
 muni, ut volunt, accipiatur, magnam prodit rerum obviarum ignora- 
 tionem, hire castigatarn a doctissimo Altmanno XVII. Exercita- 
 tionis de Sale terrae (in Meletem. philologica exegetieis T. I. p. 47 
 51), quamquam hac parte sine dubio errat, quod mari mortuo sa- 
 lem veri nominis, contra veterum et recentiorum fidem negat, cuius 
 tanta illi copia est, ut gravitas eius aquae communi collata sit ut 5, 
 ad 4. 
 
 Hanc Mosis in soluta oratione audaciam qui cogitaverit, imagin- 
 em vastitatis a lesaia informatam, non ad vivum resecabit. Suf- 
 ficiet illi, quae nunc est, horrenda Idumaeae vastitas, nee quia ar- 
 dentes rivos fumumque perpetuum (qui et ipse erumpere idemtidem 
 ex mari mortuo solet), in ilia non videt, statim cum ludaeis, Chris- 
 tianis multis, eoque, quern plerique in lesaia sequuntur, Vitringa, 
 aliam quaeret in Italia Idumaeam. Qui quidem error, alios plures 
 trahens, exemplo esse potest, quam infeliciter, frigido pectore nimis- 
 que sani ad poemata Hebraeorum accedentes, in eorum interpreta- 
 tione versentur, audacissima carmina ita lecturi, ut solutam, et me- 
 diocrem, et exsanguem orationem : atque quid non iucunditatis 
 solum sed et utilitatis habeat de poesi Hebraeorum suscepta tracta- 
 tio. Confer etiam similem vastatae Idumaeae descriptionem apud 
 
 leremiam, lesaiae in toto illo capite imitatorem, XLIX. 18. 
 
 MICHAELTS. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 361 
 
 [D. p. 78.] PSALM xvm. 816. 
 
 For an illustration of the nature of the language and imagery in 
 this Psalm, see the remarks on Psalm civ. Note C on Lect. VIII. 
 There appears to be little need of supposing the materials of this 
 sublime description to be derived from the scene which was exhibit- 
 ed on Sinai. The ordinary convulsions of nature would afford am- 
 ple materials to such an imagination as that of the writer of this 
 Psalm. S. 
 
 [E. p. 80.] Imagery from sacred history. 
 
 Notissimum huius licentiae exemplum Elias, a Malachia pro 
 .severo morum castigatore positus. Null us tamem hac parte Hebrai- 
 cus poeta audaciam aequat Apocalypseos, libri, graecis quidem ver- 
 bis scripti, sed sententiis, colore, spiritu denique, Hebraico. Huic 
 alia Aegyptus, Sodoma, Hierosolyma, Babylon, novus denique Gogus 
 et Magogus, ad Ezechielici imaginem effictus. Tentari simile quid 
 et a lesaia volunt ; nee obstrepere ausim, si de capite LXIII. solo 
 id dicatur, ubi ignotus novusque hostis a propheta, vivis omnia colori- 
 bus pingente, noto Edomi nomine insignitur. Saepe tamen id fieri 
 non existimo, nee cum illis facere audeo, qui tanquam aliquam mys- 
 ticam geographiam pepererunt. Insolentius etiam quid tentare vi- 
 detur Apocalypsis, nee nominibus solum, sed et numeris historiae 
 antiquae uti. Vix mihi persuadeo, chronologica esse, quae de tribus 
 annis et dimidio, de XLII mensibus, de 1260 diebus habet : sed 
 suspicor, miserrima tempora describi, illis similia, quae per totidem 
 menses vivente Elia fuerunt. Chronologica, quae hie multi quae- 
 runt, ex libro etiam omnium obscurissimo disciplinae omnium ob- 
 scurissimae lucem se daturos professi, multum abesse a vaticiniorum 
 ingenio videntur. Sunt prophetiae fere eaedem in imaginibus in- 
 formandis leges, quae poematis : valde autem frigebit poeta, si nimis 
 sanus numeris rem accurate prosequatur, exponatque, quo die pug- 
 natum sit, quot ceciderint in acie, et quae alia sunt eiusdern generis. 
 Pictores, poetae et prophetae valde cognati : horum visionibus ex- 
 plicandis si quis leges hermeneuticas condere velit, multa a pictori- 
 bus et poetis discere potest. A quibus artibus alienissimi homines, 
 et omnino barbari, si ad vaticinia explicanda accedant, non mirum 
 est, omnia eos proprie accipere, ac turn demum sibi sapere videri, 
 quando figmenta et monstra procudunt chiliastica. Memini, qui id 
 agens gloriaretur, a se primo intellecta prophetarum et loannis vati- 
 cinia, se primum eos equuleo detraxisse. MICHAELIS, 
 46 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 
 
 [F. p. 80]. Imagery from poetic fable. 
 
 Professor Michaelis makes a very considerable addition to this 
 Lecture, concerning those images or figures which are taken from 
 poetic fable. He asserts that such fable is essential to all poetry : 
 that whoever has a taste for poetry connot possibly take it in a literal 
 sense, and that the sole purpose of it is ornament and pleasure. 
 
 He observes that there are many particulars, in which a wonder- 
 ful agreement may be discovered between the fables of the Greeks 
 and Romans, and those of the Hebrews. He is of opinion that this 
 agreement clearly indicates a common source, which he supposes to 
 be Egypt. From Egypt, Homer and the other Greek poets borrow- 
 ed the principal of their fables, as we may learn from Herodotus and 
 Heliodorus : nor is it at all improbable, that the Hebrews should do 
 the same, who were for two successive ages the subjects and schol- 
 ars of the Egyptians. The most ancient Hebrew poem, Job, abounds 
 in Egyptian and fabulous imagery : as may be seen in the professor's 
 dissertation on that subject before the academy of sciences. 
 
 GREGORY. 
 
 Recent investigations have had no tendency to confirm the con- 
 jectures of Michaelis, in regard to the poetic fable of the Hebrews ; 
 and they are, for the most part, so chimerical, that it could serve no 
 good purpose to insert them here. That there are, however, images 
 in the sacred poetry which may justly be said to have their origin in 
 poetic fable, scarcely admits of doubt ; and if any analogy exists be- 
 tween them and the stories of heathen mythology, I apprehend that 
 it is to be found in the descriptions of the supernatural, or rather, 
 symbolical beings, which are frequently introduced with so much 
 effect by the prophets. Of these the most important are the Cheru- 
 bim, which in some circumstances forcibly remind us of the Griffin 
 of the Celts ; the Typhonic dragon of the Greeks ; the Sphynx of 
 the Egyptians ; and the winged angel of Oriental mythology (Sim- 
 org-Anca, Soham, etc.), which resided on mount Kaf, and spoke all 
 the languages and was acquainted with all the sciences and religions 
 of the world. He waged a constant war with the giants of the old 
 world, and guarded the treasures of Paradise. (Comp. Sketches of 
 Persia). 
 
 We first find the Cherubim guarding the way of the tree of life 
 (Gen. 3: 24) ; images of them are then placed in the sacred taber- 
 nacle on the ark of the covenant, with their faces turned towards it, 
 and their wings overshadowing the mercy-seat, or the throne of Je- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE IX. 3G3 
 
 hovah, (Ex. 25: 1720. 36: 8, 35) ; and in the temple of Solomon 
 there are images of the same sort, though more magnificently exe- 
 cuted, (1 Kings 6: 23 29 ; 2 Chron. 3: 7, 10 13 ; compare Ezek. 
 41: 18, 19). Hence, " He who dwdleth between the Cherubim," 
 came to be an honorary appellation of Jehovah, (1 Sam. 4: 4 ; 2 Sam. 
 6: 2 ; Ps. 8: 2 ; Isa. 37: 16). In the Psalms and prophets they are 
 introduced as the supporters of Jehovah's throne, or the bearers of 
 his chariot when he rides in the clouds, (Ps. 18. 11 ; Ezek. 1: 10 ; 
 10: 14; Rev. 4: 6). Ezekiel describes four Cherubim, each of 
 them having four faces, namely, of a man, a bullock, a lion, and an 
 eagle, (Ezek. 1: 10) ; and St. John, who, according to his usual 
 method, adopts the imagery of Ezekiel and modifies it by .his own 
 prolific fancy, gives to one of his Cherubim the face of a lion, to an- 
 other the face of a bullock, to the third the face of a man, and to the 
 fourth that of an eagle, (Rev. 4: 6). The reason of these figures 
 being chosen for the Cherubim is thus explained by the Jewish 
 Rabbins : " Dixit R. Abin nomine R. Abhu : quatuor sunt, qui prin- 
 cipatum in hoc mundo tenent. Inter omnes homo, inter aves aquila, 
 inter pecora bos, inter bestias ho. Quilibet horum regnum habet et 
 magnificentiam quandam ; ponuntur autem sub throno majestatis 
 divinae S. D. Ez. i. 10. Hoc vero cur factum est? ut nullum ex 
 illis se efferat in mundo, sed sciant, regnum Dei dominari in omnia." 
 (Midrasch Thehillim CIII. 19. Compare Herder, Geist, Th. I. S. 
 160 ff. ; Rosenmueller, Scholia in Ez. I. 10 ; Eichhorn, Comment, 
 in Apoc. IV. 6). 
 
 That these Cherubim are intended for allegorical figures and 
 not for real existences, seems manifest from the different descrip- 
 tions which are given of them in different parts of the sacred writ- 
 ings. (Compare the passages already crted). In condescension 
 to our condition as creatures of sense, God presented to the minds of 
 the sacred writers, in prophetic vision, such images as are best 
 adapted to give us some apprehension of the indescribable glories of 
 the invisible world, and of the inexpressible, and, to human minds, 
 the inconceivable majesty of the Godhead. (Compare the description 
 of the heavenly city in Rev. xxi.) Few considerate men will venture 
 to assert, that the visible appearance of heaven and of heavenly be- 
 ings to a disembodied spirit, will be exactly conformed to the de- 
 scriptions of them which are given in the Bible. It is as great an 
 errour to take the costume for the sentiment as it is to mistake the 
 dress for the man. 
 
364 NOTES ON LECTURE IX>. 
 
 Similar remarks may be applied to the Seraphim, (Isa. 6* 2) ; 
 but as they arc mentioned but once, and the description of them is 
 then not very minute, we have not the means of forming an accurate 
 judgement respecting them. 
 
 Some of the malicious beings, also, introduced by the prophets, 
 seem to be allegorical or fabulous. Isa. 13: 21 and 34: 14 mention 
 is made of D^-Ortij, Satyrs, a mischievous set of fiends, with heads 
 and breasts like men, and the lower parts like goats, who, according 
 to the universal belief of the Oriental world at the present day, infest 
 the woods and solitary places, and amuse themselves by dancing and 
 shrieking, and make it their business to perplex and mislead travel- 
 lers, whom they finally murder that they may devour their flesh. 
 (See Mines of the East, Vol. III. p. 144 ; Bochart, Hieroz. T. II. 
 830. III. 847). " Edessa remained a wilderness drunk with blood, 
 (says Abulfaragius) and full of the mournful cries of her sons and 
 daughters; and the Sirens (UIQA^.CD, ti^tfiZJ) came by night to 
 devour the flesh of the slain," (Abulfarag. p. 333). The Zend- 
 Avesta asserts that these demons are the descendants of Djemak, the 
 sister of Djemjid, by a Dew, (devil). (Zend-Avesta, T. III. p. 99). 
 They are the same as the Ghools of the modern Persians and Arabs, 
 of whose malicious disposition and mischievous pranks there are 
 some very lively and humorous descriptions in Sir John Malcolm's 
 Sketches of Persia. Isa. 34: 14, rnb^b are mentioned ; spectres in 
 the form of women, who were accustomed to wander about in the 
 night, entice men to fornication, murder children, and commit other 
 crimes. (Buxtorf, Lex. Talmud, p. 1140; Eisenmenger, Juden- 
 thum, Th. II. S. 413). In an old Syriac treatise against the ascet- 
 ic monks, it is said, that the female night-ghosts (|AA!^, rpb^b,} 
 come to them (the monks), and lay themselves beside them, and con- 
 ceive from them, and become pregnant ; and thence are born devils 
 and dancing spectres, who fall upon the daughters of men. (See Ge- 
 senius's Commentary on the passages cited). These last may per- 
 haps with equal propriety be classed with popular superstitions ; (see 
 Lect. VIII. Note D). S. 
 
ROTES ON LECTURE X. 365 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE X. 
 
 [A. p. 82.] PSALM ex. 3. 
 
 Some of the more modern translators seem at length agreed, that 
 this is the proper sense of the passage ; none of them, however, as 
 far as I have been able to judge, has hitherto actually explained it 
 at length. I shall, therefore, take advantage of this opportunity to 
 give my sentiments upon it, lest doubts should afterwards arise con- 
 cerning the meaning of a very important, and (as I think) a very 
 clear passage of holy writ. The principal difficulty proceeds from 
 the word fifnJD , and from the ambiguity of the particle ft and the 
 ellipsis of the word ^tO : which, I think, will be readily cleared up, 
 if we attend to the following examples, the nature and meaning of 
 which is evidently similar. PSALM iv. 8. 
 
 " Thou hast excited joy in my heart, 
 
 " Beyond the time in which their corn and wine increased :" 
 
 That is, " beyond (or superior to) the joy of that time." 
 
 u Although their shrines are before Jerusalem and Samaria :" Is, x. 10. 
 That is, " excel the shrines of Jerusalem and Samaria." JOB xxxv. 
 2. " My justice before God :" that is, " My justice is greater than 
 the justice of God :" (compare xxxii. 2, and xl. 8.) In the same 
 manner Dhnjfl, "before the womb," is the same as Qh"j bt2E, "be- 
 fore the dew of the womb." Nor are there wanting in the Greeks 
 examples of similar ellipses : Mrjd* OhvpTiias ccywva yfQxtQOv av- 
 SaGoutv " Neither can we celebrate a contest more noble than is 
 that of Olympia :" nydt TOV OkvfATiictxov aycovog tTtgov fitfaiovct. 
 FIND. Olvpn. A. v. 11. et Schol. Edit. Oxon. 
 
 &? ri kcwaiva TCOV (frpvyaw ptiwv nohg ; 
 
 " As if the city of the Lacedemonians were smaller than that of the 
 Phrygians." EURIP. Andron. v. 193. 
 
 The metaphor taken from the dew is expressive of fecundity, 
 plenty, multitude : (compare 2 SAM. xvii. 11, 12 ; MIC. v. 7.) "A 
 numerous offspring shall be born unto thee ; and, a numerous offspring 
 it shall produce." Sjnjb^, " thy youth," or " the youth that are pro- 
 duced from thee ;" the abstract for the concrete, as ni^to, " white- 
 ness," or being grey-headed, for a grey-headed man, LEV. xix. 32. 
 "p'iJ, " captivity," for a captive, ISA. xlix. 24, and so the Chaldee 
 interpreter takes the following, *jrn^in fSMTnb "psm, " Thy off- 
 spring shall sit (or remain) in confidence." LOWTH. 
 
366 NOTES ON LECTURE X. 
 
 [B. p. 83.] ECCLESIASTES xn. 26. 
 
 Interpretibus plerisque aliis felicior in allegorica senectutis 
 descriptione versatus est EVSEB. TIIAVG. EBERT in Dissert. Imago 
 Senis Salomond ex Cap. XIL Eccles. ad analogiam linguae poeti- 
 cae expressa, Lips. 1770. 4. Q,uae scriptio quum hodie in pauco- 
 rum manibus fuerit, non ingratam lectori bus rem nos facturos spera- 
 mus, si interpretationis Ebertianae summam, qualem ipse in para- 
 phrasi exhibuit, subiiciaraus. Est vero talis : " Esto auctoris tui ac 
 conditoris memor, o ! quicunque es, cui laetior arridet fortuna, an- 
 tequam dies funesti annique superveniant, quos ubi adesse senseris, 
 protinus exclamabis : ingrati sunt, et displicent mihi valde ! Ante- 
 quain, pulsa priorum annorum serenitate ac luce, tristior aetas te 
 excipiat, eorum vitae similis, quibus, involventibus diem nimbis, 
 squalida nox coelum abstulit, solemque, et lunam, et reliquorum si- 
 derum ignes eripuit, recurrentibus aliis post alias imbriferis nubibus. 
 Antequam tempus instet, quo tremant, ruinosae veluti domus custo- 
 des, brachia et manus, et incurveritur, quibus sustinebatur, robusta 
 pedum fulcra, et, peracto comminuendi labore, ferias veluti agant 
 molentes (i. e. dentes), et obscurentur oculi, quorum per orbes, tan- 
 quam per fenestras, mens ipsa transspiciebat, et claudantur fores 
 (i. e. labia) ad plateam (i.e. extrinsecus), propter vocem molentis 
 ancillae debiliorem (i. e. linguae obsequium domino, dentibus amissis, 
 denegantis), et, despectis suavioribus sonis, surgas ad cantum volu- 
 crum ; tempus, inquam, quo vel remotissima quaeque timebis, viam- 
 que perhorresces, quamvis excusserit flores amygdala, et circumvoli- 
 tet locusta (i. e. quamvis formossissima anni tempestas aut incipiat 
 aut adsit) ; et evanescat omnis cupiditas et voluptas, cum iam homi- 
 ni adeunda sit mansura in his terris domus, ad quam conlacruman- 
 tium sequente turba, efferatur. Memor igitur esto patris ac con- 
 servatoris tui, dum res, et aetas, et ipsius voluntas patiuntur, ante- 
 quam vivo sanguinis tui fonti idem eveniat quod puteo, super quo, 
 remoto fune argenteo, et retro currente aurea trochlea, frangitur, 
 quae ab ipsa pendebat, situla, cessante ita totius machinae usu ac 
 motu, cuius ope aqua in subiectam cisternam vehebatur." In versu 
 5. tamen verba "Jj5/in y^lP 1 ] reddenda puto : et antequam florcat 
 amygdalus, i. e. antequam cani, instar florum in capite alborum, 
 progerminent copiose : flores amygdali quum aliquamdiu in arbore 
 extiterunt, et iam in eo sunt, ut defluant, albescere solent. Quae 
 proxime sequuntur, Sahn bsnp'n , verto cum Bocharto (Hicroz. P. 
 II. L. IV. Cap. VIII/T. III.V *338. edit. Lips.), et antequam in- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE X. 367 
 
 gravescat femur, i. e. gravior et tardior fiat incessus, S3S1 collate cum 
 
 tit 
 
 Arabum ^ATET^ caput femoris. Aliorum sententias enarravimus 
 in Notis ad Bochartum 1. c. p. 334. seqq. In versu 6. observavit 
 iam Hieronymus, " contritionem hydriae super fontem et confractio- 
 nem rotae super lacum per metaphoram mortis aenigmata esse," 
 neque igitur curiose inquirendum est, quae corporis membra per 
 singulas istas imagines intelligantur. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [C. p. 83.] ISAIAH XXVHI. 23 29. 
 
 Four methods of threshing are here mentioned, by different in- 
 struments ; the flail, the drag, the wain, and the treading of the cat- 
 tle. The staff or flail was used for the grain that was too tender to 
 be treated in the other methods. The drag consisted of a sort of 
 frame of strong planks, made rough at the bottom with hard stone or 
 iron : it was drawn by horses or oxen over the corn-sheaves spread 
 on the floor, the drivers sitting upon it. The wain was much like 
 the former, but had wheels with iron teeth, or edges, like a saw ; 
 and it should seem that the axle was armed with iron teeth or serrat- 
 ed wheels throughout. The drag not only forced out the grain, but 
 cut the straw in pieces for fodder for the cattle ; for in the Eastern 
 countries they have no hay. The last method is well known from 
 the law of Moses, which ' forbids the ox to be muzzled, when he 
 treadeth out the corn.' 
 
 V. 28. pTP tatfe) I have annexed these to the preceding, disre- 
 garding the Masoretic distinction ; in this I follow the LXX (though 
 they have greatly mistaken the sense) and Symmachus. I suspect* 
 also that the 1 before fiFjJj has been obliterated, which Symmachus 
 expressed by the particle fit, the Vulgate by autem. The transla- 
 tion will sufficiently explain my reasons. Ehb, however, seems to 
 be taken for corn Ps. civ. 14. and Eccl. xi. 1, "Cast thy bread," 
 that is, " Sow thy seed or corn, upon the face of the waters :" in 
 plain terms : soio without any hope of a liarvest ; do good to them on 
 whom you even think your benefaction thrown away. A precept en- 
 forcing great and disinterested liberality : with a promise annexed 
 to it ; " for after many days thou shalt find it again :" at length, if 
 not in the present world, at least in a future, thou shalt have a re- 
 ward. The learned Dr. George Jubb suggested this explanation, 
 which he has elegantly illustrated from Theognis and Phocylides, 
 who intimate that to do acts of kindness to the ungrateful and un- 
 worthy, is the same as sowing the sea : 
 
308 NOTES ON LECTURE X. 
 
 xcu ontiQdv TIQVIOV aAoff 
 
 aQ ccv TIOVTOV GneiQwv (3a&u hq'i'ov d/ 
 Ourf xctxovg tu dguv iv nuhv avxt,\upoi<s. 
 
 THEOG. Ti/w^u. v. 105. 
 
 Mr t xaxoV (V i'yZyG' ont?Qtt,v tax laov ivl novTca . 
 
 Phocyl. v. 142. 
 
 They, indeed, invert the precept of Solomon ; nor is it extraor- 
 dinary that they should : 
 
 " Ista homines dicas ; hoc posuisse deum." LOWTH. 
 
 Locis citatis vis nulla probandi inest. De loco Salomonis sen- 
 tentiam dixi in notis paraphrasi poeticae subiectis. Pertinet ad 
 navigationem et commercia. Ps. civ. CtiJ: non panis est, non triti- 
 cum, sed cibus. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [D. p. 85.] Prophetic parables. 
 
 Hoc loco commemoranda quoque erat alia ab Ezechiele pro- 
 posita parabola (XVII.) de vite ab aquila plantata seduloque culta, 
 mox vero, quod spem falleret, extirpata (vs. 1 10), quam vates 
 statim (vs. It seqq.) ipse explicat de regis ludaeorum a Babylonio, 
 quocum foedus sanciverat, desciscentis perfidia, morte ignominiosa 
 ipsi luenda. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [E . p. 85.] Fables of Jotham and Nathan. 
 
 Poetry seems to me to be often strangely confounded with orato- 
 ry, from which it is, however, very different. These instances ap- 
 pear to me only the rudiments of popular oratory, the ancient and 
 unrefined mode of speaking , as LIVY calls it : and if the reader will 
 be at the pains to examine Liv. L. ii c. 32, I dare believe he will 
 be of the same opinion. Poetry, as our author himself has stated, is 
 one of the first arts, and was in a much more perfect state, than we 
 should suppose from the passages in question, long before the days 
 of Jotham : oratory is of more recent origin, and was, we may well 
 suppose, at that period in its infancy ; as CICERO remarks that it 
 was one of the latest of the arts of Greece. Brut. c. 7. MICHAELIS. 
 
 Ad artem rhetor icam apologorum usum, ob magnam, quae eis 
 inest, vim in persuadendo, referebant Veteres, vid. ARISTOTELES 
 Rhetor. II. 20. (qui apologos drjw/oQixovs appellat, i. e. concioni- 
 bus accommodates), et CICERO de Orat. II. 66. 264. Cf. G. E, 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 369 
 
 LESSING von dem Vortrage der Fabeln, p. 122. edit. prim. Verissi- 
 me APHTHONIVS, Progymnasm. init. animadvertit, fabulam processis- 
 se a poetis, sed cum oratoribus communicatam esseexeo, quod prae- 
 ceptum compiectetur. ( O fiv&og TIOH^TMV /w^V TiQoi^K'&fv yfyiyv-* 
 viTui dt ttui QTIIOQWV xoivdg fx TtttfjaivtGtws). Legisse iuvabit, 
 quae de lothami fabula observavit HERDER in libro vom Geist der 
 Ebraeischen Poesie, P. II. C. VIII. p. 275, et de fabulae origine in 
 universum, ibid. p. 13. seqq. edit. prim. Praeter lothami et Nathanis 
 (2 Sam. xii. 1 seqq.) apologos, alius brevissimus exstat 2 Reg. XIV. 
 9, 10, de carduo qui pro filio suo a cedro Libani filiam in matrimo- 
 nium postulasset, mox vero a feris bestiis esset proculcatus, quo loas, 
 Israelitarum rex, Amaziae, regi ludae, dissuadet bellum, ad quod 
 ab eo f'uerat provocatus, illiusque salse perstringit temeritatem, qui 
 cum potentiore Israelitarum rege vellet certamen inire, et maiora 
 tentare, quam assequi, vel sustinere posset. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [F. p. 86.] PSALM LXXX. 1618. 
 
 V. 16. Ji33 is probably a verb in the imperative mode, with ft 
 paragogic, from ]:3 (compare pa) ; and not a noun, as Lowth SUp- 
 MI 
 
 poses. Compare the Arabic (} >, texit. The meaning of the 
 passage is : Protect what thy right hand hath planted, nRSS/atf ]3 
 *f* , the son whom thou hast made strong for thyself: that is, the 
 Israelitish nation, which God often addresses as his son. (Com- 
 pare Ex. 4: 22. Hos. 11: 1). 
 
 V. 18. ^^^ 'iL^a* , the man of thy right hand ; that is, he who 
 is joined to thee by solemn covenant ; because the Orientals swear by 
 raising the right hand : or rather, according to Rosenmueller, the 
 Hebrew nation is called the man of Gods right hand t because Je- 
 hovah had, by his power, delivered them from Egyptian bondage. 
 (Compare vs. 9 and 16). S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 
 
 [A. p. 89.] Mystical allegory. 
 
 I admire the perspicacity of our author in discovering this cir- 
 cumstance, and his candour in so freely disclosing his opinion. I 
 am, however, much inclined to suspect those qualities which are 
 47 
 
370 NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 
 
 supposed to be altogether peculiar to the sacred poetry of the He- 
 brews : and there is, I confess, need of uncommon force of argu- 
 ment to convince me, that the sacred writings are to be interpreted 
 by rules in every respect different from those, by which other writ- 
 ings and other languages are interpreted ; but in truth this hypothe- 
 sis of a double sense being applicable to the same words, is so far 
 from resting on any solid ground of argument, that I find*it is alto- 
 gether founded on the practice of commentators, and their vague 
 and tralatitious opinions. MICHAELIS. 
 
 If the Jewish religion was designed by the omniscient God to be 
 preparatory to the Christian ; if the institutions and rites recorded in 
 the Old Testament were intended to prefigure the more perfect dis- 
 pensation revealed in the New : then some parts of the Hebrew 
 Scriptures, at least, must be interpreted by rules altogether peculiar, 
 and not applicable to any other writings; for no other writings 
 were ever designed to answer a similar purpose. No one will deny 
 that the Supreme Disposer of events had power to make the institu- 
 tions and history of the Jewish church typical of the institutions and 
 history of the Christian ; and if I understand the language or prac- 
 tice of the New Testament writers, they affirm that he has done so. 
 The business of allegorizing, indeed, has been carried to danger- 
 ous and ridiculous excess by many Christian commentators ; but 
 with the limitations which Lowth has affixed to it (pp. 89 91), I 
 see nothing unreasonable in the mystical allegory, and it appears to 
 me to be in strict conformity with the usage of Christ and his apostles. 
 (Compare, however, Doederlein, Instit. Christ. Theol. Tom. II. pp. 
 228277). S. 
 
 [B. p. 90.] Figurative sense obscured by the literal. 
 
 When this happens to be the case, how are we to know, that the 
 other subject or sentiment, which our author describes as almost 
 totally eclipsed or extinguished by the superior light, is intended by 
 the writer? If, as I am fully persuaded, a clear and exact picture of 
 the Messiah be exhibited in Psalm ex., what occasion is there to ap- 
 ply it also to David, who never performed the priestly function, nor 
 ever sat at the right hand of God, that is, in the Holy of Holies, at 
 the right of the ark of the covenant ? On the contrary, if in Psalm 
 xviii. the description of David's victories be so predominant, as that 
 it can scarely be made to speak any other sentiment, what occasion 
 h there to apply it at all to the Messiah ? MICHAELIS. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 371 
 
 [C. p. 91.] PSALM n. 
 
 If, as we learn from the authority of the apostle Paul, this Psalm 
 relates chiefly to Christ, his resurrection, and kingdom; why should 
 \ve at all apply it to David 1 I do not deny that the victories of Da- 
 vid, as well as of other kings of Jerusalem, to whom no person has 
 thought of applying the poem in question, might be celebrated in 
 language equally bold and powerful : but let us remember, that we 
 have no right to say a work has relation to every person of whom 
 something similar might be said, but to that person alone, who is the 
 actual subject of it. If Christ, therefore, be the subject of this 
 poem, let us set aside David altogether. MICHAELIS. 
 
 But if David was a type of the true Messiah, might not language 
 applicable to the one, be applicable also to the other 1 S. 
 
 [D. p. 93.] Mystical poetry of the East. 
 
 It is well known that the Oriental nations are exceedingly fond 
 of mystical poetry, and that they usually assign a double sense to most 
 of their favourite poems. From the remarks already made (Note A), 
 it is evident that they can have no mystical allegory of the kind 
 which we have supposed in the Bible , still it will afford important 
 aid in this investigation, to know the views of the Oriental world on 
 the general subject. Accordingly, I shall insert in this place an ex- 
 tract from SIR WILLIAM JONES'S Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry 
 (Chap. IX.), which exhibits the reasoning on both sides of the ques- 
 tion in a very clear and satisfactory manner. 
 
 " Sunt igitur in linguis Asiaticis, ac praecipue Persica, carmina 
 poene innumerabilia, quorum idem est argumentum unusque fere 
 perpetuus tenor. Nempe in iis continua serie laudantur amores ac 
 deliciae, voluptates, vina, odores, ludi, convivia ; et reliqua quse sen- 
 sibiis blandiuntur : accedunt humanae pulchritudinis laetae admodum 
 descriptiones ; intexuntur loci illi communes, de fortunae temeritate, 
 de honorum ac falsae religionis contemtione ; incertos esse rerum 
 humanarum eventus, et brevem lucis ac vitae usuram ; amoris au- 
 tem suavitates celeriter deflorescere ; oportere igitur voluptates, dum 
 licet, rapere, et 
 
 TCOIHV Tt> oTg yovv ^Awpof 
 
 nihil enim esse amore suavius, nihil quod magis hominem deceat. 
 Exponuntur etiam eae quae in amore insunt varias perturbationes, 
 dolor, segritudo, desiderium, spes, laetitia ; nunc amator absens Ian- 
 
372 NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 
 
 guet, dolet, illachrymat, runic ob arnica? consortium vehementer ex- 
 ultat et triumphal. Haec autem omnia describuntur mira sententia- 
 rum varietate, verborum elegantia, imaginum splendore, et translati- 
 onum pulcherrimarum copia. 
 
 " Poetae, qui horum carmmum laude floruerunt, sunt innumeri ; 
 quorum tamen facile principatum obtinet ille, de quo jam dictum est, 
 Hafez ; cujas politissimum carmen, cum adurnbratione Latina, idcir- 
 co hie apponam, ut horum carminum, de quibus sum proxime locu- 
 tus, percipiatur natura : 
 
 " Puer, vini cyathum afFer, 
 " Unum atque alterum vini puri cyathum afFer. 
 " Remedium amoris aegritudinis, hoc est, vinum, 
 (" Iliud enim senum et juvenum medicina est) affer. 
 " Sol et luna sunt vinum et cyathus, 
 '" In media luna solem afFer. 
 " Illide ignem ilium nobis liquidum, 
 " Hoc est, ignem ilium aquse similem afFer. 
 " Si rosa transit, die, vultu hilari 
 " Vinum purum tanquam aquam rosarum, afFer. 
 " Strepitus lusciniee si non manet, oportet 
 " Strepitum poculorum afFeras. 
 
 " Ob temporum mutationes ne sis tristis, sed identidem 
 11 Concentum citharae et fidium afFer. 
 " Congressum illius, nisi in somno, videre nequeo, 
 " Medicinam, (vinum) quae somni origo sit, afFer. 
 " Quod si ebrius sum, ecquid est remedii ? alium calicem 
 " Ut prorsus sensibus destituar, afFer. 
 " Unum atque alterum cyathum Hafezo da, 
 " Seu peccatum sit, seu factum laudabile, afFer." 
 
 " Huic carmini aliud subjiciam, idque in amatorio genere pul- 
 cherrimum, et venustis imaginibus unice constans : 
 
 " Ah ! tota forma tua delicate fingitur, unusquisque locus ubi tu es, 
 
 " dulcis est, 
 
 " Cor meum a dulci tua et mellea lascivia hilare est, 
 " Tanquam rosee folium receiis, natura tua lenis est, 
 " Tanquam horti aeternitatis cupressus, ex omni parte suavis es. 
 " Dissimulatio et petulantia tua dulcis est, prima lanugo et nffivus in 
 
 " gena tua pulcher, 
 
 " Oculus et supercilium nitida sunt, statura tua et proceritas amabilis. 
 " Visus mei rosetum a te picturis et ornamentis plenum, 
 " Cordis mei odor a cincinno tuo jasmineum habente odorem dulcis est. 
 " In amoris via a doloris torrente non est perfugium, 
 " At statum meum ob tuatn amicitiam jucundum reddidi. 
 " Ante oculos tuos morior ; at in ilia esgritudine 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 373 
 
 " Ob genam tuara splendidam dolor meus dulcis sit. 
 " In deserto indagandi te tametsi undequaque periculum est ; 
 " Tamen Hafez corde destitutus, dum tuum adventum petit, tranquille 
 " procedit." 
 
 " De vera horum carminum significatione magna est opinionum 
 diversitas. Alii proprium tantummodo sensum agnoscunt, alii recon- 
 ditius quiddam in iis ac divinius censent delitescere. Audiamus 
 itaque utriusque sententise defensores. Aiunt quidam animos hu- 
 nianos, in corporum vinculis et compagibus inclusos, eodem fere 
 modo (sed longe vehementius) in divinum omnium rerum procreato- 
 rem affici, quo in arnicas amatores ; nam ut amantes amicarum re- 
 cordantur, si qua res eorum oculis obversetur, quae aliquam habeat 
 cum amato corpore cognationem, sic animas nostras vitae superioris 
 recordatione et desiderio languescere, si quando divinse pulchritudi- 
 nis adumbratam quandam effigiem videamus. Hunc autem amorem 
 ita esse ardentem, ut ad insaniam quandam, et quasi ixaiaGiv acce- 
 dat : et quoniam ea est mentium humanarum imbecillitas, ea sermo 
 num, quibus utuntur homines, inopia, ut verbis ad hunc ardorem 
 rite exponendum accommodatis careant, necesse est poetae, ccelesti 
 illo furore et divina permotione incitati, iis utantur imaginibus et 
 verbis, quae maximam habeant cum suis conceptibus affinitatem. 
 Cum autem ii, qui divino amore inflammentur, tanquam ebrii, a 
 mentis sensu abstrahantur, nihil aptius esse po&st, quam ebrietatis 
 imaginem ad hunc diviniorem rationis amissionem transferre. Hinc 
 osculorum, hinc amplexationum, hinc deliciarum, atque amoenita- 
 tum omnium in Persarum carminibus descriptiones ortum habue- 
 runt, quae ad proprium sensum restringi nullo modo debent. Atque 
 hoc ipsi poetae satis aperte declarant ; sic Hafez, 
 
 " Ebrius et solummodo seterni foederis amore, 
 " Is qui, more Hafezi, vinum purum bibat." 
 
 Et 
 
 " Jucundum cor sit illi, qui Hafezo similis 
 
 " Poculum vini seterni fcederis capiat." 
 Et alibi, 
 
 " Amoris ebrietas capiti tuo non inest ; 
 
 " Abi : tu enim succo uvarum ebrius es." f 
 Et Sadi, 
 
 " Forsan unus amoris odor te inebriabit, 
 
 " Et faciet te foedus divinum quaerere." 
 Sic etiam poeta Turcicus Rulii Bagdadi, 
 
 " Noli putare nos uva3 succo ebrios esse, 
 
 " Nos eas tabernas colimus, ubi divini federis vino inebriemur.' 
 
374 NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 
 
 " Haec illi. Nunc prodeant ii qui huic sententiae adversantur. 
 Damus, inquiunt, haec, si de translatione vel snnplici vel etium con- 
 tinuata loquamini ; sed haec translatio per longum poema perpetua 
 serie dedaci nullo pacto potest. Licet poetae religioso dicere, se ad 
 divinum numen accedere non minus ardenter cupere, quam amator 
 amicam videre ; sed non utique licet propriam notionem penitus di- 
 mitterre, et imaginibus ab amore humano petitis per longissimum 
 opus perpetuo uti. Id qui faciunt, aenigmata non versus scribere 
 censendi sunt. 
 
 " Permuta enim imaginem : dulcissime certe et tenerrime inquit 
 vates Hebraeus, 
 
 " Velut cervus rivos aquarum ardenter desiderat, 
 " Sic tui desiderio, Deus, anima mea flagrat." 
 
 Cuiquamne vero concederemus, ut continue carmina perlonga con- 
 texeret, in quibus de rivulis, de cervis, de sitis aegritudine, de herba- 
 rum amcenitate, de sylvis ac pratis solummodo loqueretur ? Quae au- 
 tem narrant de anima nostra in corporis catenis inclusa, vitaeque di- 
 vinioris desiderio flagrante, et quse sequuntur, ea fere sunt Platonica. 
 At quidnam esse causae putemus, cur Platonis viri gravissimi versi- 
 culos de Agathone, de Astere, de Dione, de Archianassa, nemo un- 
 quam extiterit, qui ad sensum reconditiorem interpretaretur ; quae 
 vero poetae Asiatici, homines, ut scimus, admodum voluptuarii, de 
 amoribus ac deliciis scribunt, ea divina, ea pietatis plena, ea ftinnri- 
 QIOV quoddam continere dicamus? Multa sunt a Grsecis poetis, ac 
 praesertim a Lyricis, et cogitata et scripta venustissime ; quae tamen 
 nemo est nisi simpliciter et proprie interpretatus. Quid ? sex illos 
 elegantes versiculos, qui cum poesi Persica mirifice congruunt, 
 
 GTOflUTQQ VfKTCtQlOV n 
 
 i ykrjvcu KatflijGtv vn OtyQVGi 
 2nldyyva)i> qfi(Tt'Q(Di> dixrva, 
 
 Kul fjia^ol ykayofv 
 JEvytvfts, ndarjg 
 
 ad proprium sensum restringendos, nemo est qui non censeat : illos 
 vero Hafezo versus, 
 
 " Capit vesica Sinensis odorem moschi ab illis crinibus, 
 
 " Crines autem talem odorem ab ilia gena recipiunt : 
 
 " In terram demittitur cupressus lasciva ob illam staturam, 
 
 " Pudore afFecta sedet rosa horti ob illam genam : 
 
 " Verecundans abit flos jasmini ob illud corpus, 
 
 " Sanguinem stillat color floris purpurei (Argovan) ob illam genam." 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XI. 375 
 
 " Hos, inquam, versus ad divinum nescio quid pertinere existimant. 
 Quid ? cum scribat Mimnermus, belle, ut solet, 
 1*1$ df fit>6$, ri de TSQUVOV uvsv XQVorj 
 
 Te&valr}v, orf pot (tr^tu xavia {ithoi, 
 R'QVTiTOtdirj qihoiyg, %al [4(tt.i%ct dto^a, xai 
 
 quisquamne arbitratur poetam per auream illam Venerem per dulcia 
 amoris dona, perfurtivos illos complexus, pietatem et divinum amo- 
 rem intelligere ? Cur ideo putemus Mesihium, poetam Turcicum, 
 cum dicat elegantissime, 
 
 " Ne me, Deus, in sepulchrum perducas, 
 
 " Donee amicse meae gremium amplexu teneam," 
 
 quippiam reconditum aut cceleste innuisse ? Quid? versus illos 
 
 Hafezianos, 
 
 " Pulvinar in rosarium afFer, ut pulchri pueri et ancillffi 
 
 " Labia premas, genas osculeris, et vinum bibas rosse odore praeditum :" 
 
 Et illos, 
 
 " A gena puellse nymphes similem habentis vultum, 
 " Tanquam Hafez, merum hauri :" 
 
 Et ilium ardenti affectu plenum, 
 
 " Labium super labium pone, o vini ministra, et dulcem meam animam ebibe :' : 
 
 annon ad terrenos amores spectare consendum est? 
 
 " Quod si plura argumenta ex ipsis poetarum Asiaticorum car- 
 minibus depromenda sint, permulta proferre possimus exempla, qui- 
 bus perspicuum sit Hafezo atque aliis, Mohammedem et ipsam re- 
 ligionem ludibrio fuisse ; velut cum dicat, 
 
 " Acre illud (vinum) quod vir religiosus (Mohammedes) matrem pecca- 
 
 " torum vocitat, 
 " Optabilius nobis ac dulcius videtur quam virginis suavium :" 
 
 Et 
 
 " Nos vino puro amoris inebriamur, 
 
 " Fontes autem ccelestes (Salsebil et Cafur) non sitimus :" 
 
 Et alibi plus millies. 
 
 11 Ac profecto satis intelligere nequimus, cur poetas credamus 
 hujusmodi involucris ac tegumentis velle celare eas virtutes, quibus 
 nihil laudabilius esse potest, pietatem ac Dei cultum ; amores vero 
 impudicos, et qui maxime humano generi dedecori sint, aperte profi- 
 teri. Multo certe verisimilius est, poetas illos, utcunque sensum 
 quendam occultum innuere videantur, eo solum praetextu uti, ut ci- 
 ves suos credulos et religiosos decipiant, et voluptatibus liberius in- 
 dulgeant. Ac ne ipsis quidem Persis, (doctioribus scilicet) Hafezi 
 
376 NOTES ON LECTURE XII. 
 
 carmina arcanam habere significationem visa sunt : nam Sudius, om- 
 nium eruditissimus interpretum, proprium tantum verborum sensum 
 in illius versibus explicat. Praeterea memorise proditum est, (illo 
 poeta mortuo) primaries urbis Shirazi viros, sepulturam ei ob carmi- 
 num impudicitiam concedere noluisse ; cum vero magna esset inter 
 eos concertatio, aliis ut sepeliretur suadentibus, aliis vehementer de- 
 hortantibus, ad sortes se contulisse, et ipsius poetae librum divinatio- 
 nis causa aperuisse ; cum autem primus, qui sese illis obtulit versus, 
 esset, 
 
 " Gressura noli retorquere ab Hafezi exequiis, 
 
 " Tametsi enim peccatis demersus sit, in coelum intrabit ;" 
 
 sacerdotes illico consensisse, et poetam humavisse in illo loco, Mo- 
 sella dicto, quern ipse in carminibus celebravisset. Ita disputant 
 utriusque sententiae propugnatores : equidem veterum Academico- 
 rum morem, nihil ut affirmem, strenue tenebo ; ita tamen ut non ne- 
 gem, quin mihi disputatio secunda ad veritatem propensior esse vi- 
 deatur." 
 
 This subject will be resumed in the Notes on Lect. XXXI. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XII. 
 
 [A. p. 97.] ISAIAH xvii. 12, 13. 
 
 These five words, ]1N^ 13^33 Q "^ < ptfttJ2> B *$~ are wanting 
 in seven manuscripts : in two of them, v. 12, for fi^ss we read 
 E n 3"T So also the Syriac version, which agrees with them. These 
 five words are not necessary to the sense : and seem to be repeated 
 only by the carelessness of the transcriber. KENNICOTT. 
 
 Crisin hanc Kennicotianam in hunc locum merito castigat DAY. 
 KOCHERVS in Vindiciis S. Textus Hebraei Esaiae Vatis adversus 
 Roberti Lowthi Criticam (Bern. 1786. in octon.), p. 102. his ver- 
 bis : " Enimvero verborum phrasiumque repetitiones illae cum ve- 
 nustate, et gratia maiorem vim atque virtutem coniungunt, ut nihil 
 inde tolli, locumque aliis similibus apud Esaiam repetitionibus de- 
 fendendis enotari cupiam. Ecquis non laudat Virgiliana e. g. ilia 
 (Eclog. VII. 4) : 
 
 Ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo. 
 
 Et Eel. x. 75. 
 
 Shirgamus : solet esse gravis cantantibus umbra ; 
 luniperi gravis umbra, nocent et frugibus umbrae. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XII. 377 
 
 Et qualia de hoc genere multa congessit Vossius, Rhetoricor. L. V. 
 C. 3. Sed inprimis contulisse iuvabit Psalmos cxviii. cxxiv. alios- 
 que. Adde locos Esai. xi. 5. xv. 8. xvi. 7. xl. 7. 8. lix. 10." Om- 
 nes quoque, praeter Syriacam, versiones veteres consentiunt in ex- 
 primendis illis verbis, quae hodiernum in codicibus innumeris repetita 
 leguntur. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [B. p. 100.] ISAIAH LV. 10, 11. 
 
 This passage of the prophet loses much of its poetical beauty if 
 it be not rightly understood. He is not speaking of that grace, 
 which the school divines treat of, and which has been celebrated 
 since the time of Augustin in so many controversies, nor of the 
 virtue and efficacy of the gospel in correcting the morals of man- 
 kind, but of the certain accomplishment of the prophetic word. It 
 was very customary among the Hebrews to compare the word of 
 God, and particularly the word of prophecy, to a shower of rain, 
 Deut. xxxii. 2. Ezek. xxi. 2. Mic. ii. 6. Job xxix. 22, 23. When, 
 therefore, it is their intention to describe the certain and inevitable 
 accomplishment of the divine oracles, they represent the earth as 
 impregnated and fertilized by this refreshing rain. Isaiah has cel- 
 ebrated in the xlth chapter, as well as in the chapter under our con- 
 sideration, vs. 3, 4, and 5, the eternal covenant of God with the Is- 
 raelites, and the accomplishment of that perpetual and permanent 
 grace which he had sworn to David, namely, that an eternal and im- 
 mortal King should sit upon his throne ; and that he should rule and 
 direct the heathen. If these should appear to any person above cred- 
 ibility, he advises him to recollect that the divine counsels are far 
 above the reach of the human understanding ; and that those things 
 are easy to him, which appear most difficult to us. He adds, that 
 the sacred oracles, however miraculous, will most assuredly be ful- 
 filled ; that the word of God may be compared to snow or rain ; 
 which does not return to heaven, before it has performed its office of 
 watering and fecundating the earth : so it is with the prophetic de- 
 crees , or the divine predictions of future events. And in this light I 
 understand the passage from the context, both from what precedes, 
 and what follows. There is one similar in xlv. 8, but the idea 
 is more condensed, assuming rather the form of a metaphor or alle- 
 gory, than of a comparison. 
 
 " Rumpimini coeli desuper, 
 
 " Nubila fluant veritate. 
 48 
 
378 NOTES ON LECTURE XII. 
 
 " Pandat se terra, foecundent earn victoriis, 
 " Veritasque cum illis propullulet." 
 
 In Arabic p^iz: signifies truth ; and this sense of the word is 
 very frequent in Isaiah, (see 41: 26, etc.). Also y&* , njpttT , and 
 MSIttJPi, appropriately pertain to victories. (See 2 Kings 5: 1. 1 Sam. 
 14: 45. Isa. 19. 20. Obad. 21, etc.). MICHAELIS. 
 
 Nomen SID* , quod les. XLV. 8. legitur, ubique salutem in uni- 
 versum denotat, nee usquam, ut nomina Srwjl Mi* et najnizin , ad victo- 
 riam restringitur. Neque victoriae notio lesaiano loco satis apta. 
 Describitur seculi aurei felicitas, quo tota mundi machina sit reno- 
 vanda. lovae iussu nova et felicior totius naturae facies apparet ; 
 ita quidem, ut coelum serenum roret non aquarum guttas, uti nunc, 
 sed virtutis et iustitiae semina, quae a terra sese aperiente excepta 
 in ea primum germen, turn plantas saluberrimas salutis atque virtu- 
 tis proferant. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [C. p. 102.] PSALM LXXXIII. 1315. 
 
 Between these two comparisons there exists so nice a relation, 
 that they would from one simple comparison, were it not that the 
 sententious distribution of the verses had disposed the subject in a 
 different form and order. Their threshing-floors were so construct- 
 ed in open situations, that when the corn was beaten out, the wind 
 carried off the chaff and straw, which being collected together, was 
 burnt. See Isai. v. 24. Matt. iii. 12. and HAMMOND'S Com. LOWTH. 
 
 The wicked are first compared to the chaff, which is driven be- 
 fore the whirlwind ; and then their destruction is painted in a manner 
 still more terrific, by comparing them to mountain forests in flames. 
 (Compare Virgil, Aen. II. 304, 305. X. 495 seqq. Georg. II. SOS- 
 SI 1 ; and Homer. II. XL 155). S. 
 
 [D. p. 103.] JOB vi. 17. 
 
 iMStt ! )^'"!^ n$a. According to Rosenmueller and Gesenius, 
 the verb i^t, like the Syriac . liit , signifies to become narrow, to 
 be enclosed : and they suppose the sense of the passage to be : As 
 soon as the streams are confined to their proper channels, (which they 
 had overflowed in consequence of the thawing of the snow and ice), 
 they pass away, or become dry. S. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIII. 379 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XIII. 
 
 [A. p. 104.] Personification. 
 
 The passions of resentment and love have been very accurately 
 traced by some late writers on the human mind, into the senses of 
 pain and pleasure ; the one arising from the habitual inclination to 
 remove what is hurtful ; the other from that of possessing what is a 
 source of grateful sensations, and a means of increasing pleasure. 
 (See HARTLEY on Man, and a Dissertation prefixed to KING'S Ori- 
 gin of Evil). The strong expression of these passions is, however, 
 chiefly directed to rational, or at least to animated beings; but this s 
 is the effect of reason and habit. The passions are still the same, 
 and will frequently display themselves in opposition to reason. A 
 child turns to beat the ground, or the stone, that has hurt him ; (see 
 Lord KAIMES'S Elements of Criticism ;) and most men feel some de- 
 gree of affection even for the old inanimate companions of their hap- 
 piness. From these dispositions originates the figure, which is the 
 great and distinguishing ornament of poetry, the prosopopoeia. This 
 figure is nearly allied to the metaphor, and still more to the metony- 
 my ; it is to the latter, what the allegory is to the metaphor. Thus 
 when we say " Youth and beauty shall be laid in the dust," for 
 persons possessing youth and beauty, it is hard to determine wheth- 
 er it be a metonymy or a prosopopo3ia. Lyric poetry, in which the 
 imagination seems to have the fullest indulgence, and which abounds 
 with strong figures, is most favourable to personification. GREGORY. 
 
 [B. p. 105.] ISAIAH XLVII. 1. 
 
 Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted deep misery 
 and distress. The prophet JEREMIAH has given it the first place 
 among many indications of sorrow, in that elegant description of the 
 distress of his country, (Lam. ii. 8.) ' The elders of the daughter of 
 Sion sit on the ground, they are silent,' etc. ' We find Judea,' 
 says Mr. ADDISON, (on Medals, Dial, ii.) ' on several coins of Ves- 
 pasian and Titus, in a posture that denotes sorrow and captivity. I 
 need not mention her sitting on the ground, because we have already 
 spoken of the aptness of such a posture to represent extreme afflic- 
 tion. I fancy the Romans might have an eye to the customs of the 
 Jewish nation, as well as those of their country, in the several marks 
 of sorrow they have set on this figure. The psalmist describes the 
 Jews lamenting their captivity in the same pensive posture : ' By the 
 
380 NOTES ON LECTURE XIII. 
 
 waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, 
 O Sion.' But what is more remarkable, we find Judea represented 
 as a women in sorrow sitting on the ground, in a passage of the pro- 
 phet, that foretels the very captivity recorded on this medal.' LOWTH. 
 
 [C. p. 108.] JUDGES v. 29, 30. 
 
 Nisi forte verti debet, et ipsa (mater Sisserae) respondet illi, fe- 
 minae sapienti, se solanti. Est nemque in versu 30 elegans colloquii 
 muliebris imitatio, matre Sisserae amplius aliquid semper sperante, 
 quam virgines eius promiserant, earumque voces, tanquam nimis 
 timidas corrigente. Virgines interrogant : nonne invenient : inter- 
 pellat mater : divident spolium ? quod plus morae habet. Illae : pu- 
 ellam uterum gestantem pro viro : haec : imo binas puellas, gravi- 
 da$. Illae : praedam versicolorem Sisserae : haec : imo praedam 
 versicolorem acupictam, versicolorem, utrimque acupictam, pro collo 
 captorum equorum. MICHAELIS. 
 
 Sed nos admodum veremur, ne regulis linguae contraria sit haec 
 opinio quantumvis ingeniosa. Nam primo verbum y-DH, si respon- 
 dere significat, habere solet accusativum personae, cui respondetur 
 (vid. Num. xxii. 8. los. xiv. 7. 2 Sam. iii. 11. xxiv. 13. 1 Reg. 
 xii. 16. a!.), neque vel unicus locus nobis constat, in quo con- 
 structum sit cum dativo. Obstat praeterea pronomen in rp^EN, quia 
 non dicitur 115DN initt i n iBn, sed itttf initf ^U3n. Denique nl? 
 non recte refertur ad plures feminas sapientes, niftDh , sed absque 
 omni dubio pertinere debet ad personam illam, quae loquens induci- 
 tur. Nostro igitur iudicio certus ac unice verus verborum sensus 
 ille est, ipsam matrem Siserae sermones suos querulos sibi revocasse, 
 retractasse, et quae sequuntur v. 30 verba esse solius matris, solatia 
 comitum admittentis, atque nunc, quia facile creditur quod optatur, 
 in laetissimam spem ac immodica fere gaudia effusae. C. F. 
 SCHNVRRER Carmen JDeborae lud. V. in Dissertatt. Philologico 
 Critt. p. 87. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 For a beautiful translation of the Song of Deborah, see Herder, 
 Briefe, Th. I. S. 105 ff. ; and Geist, Th. II. S. 237 ff. See also Note 
 A on Lect. XXVIII. S. 
 
 [D. p. 110.] Triumphal odes of the Hebrews. 
 
 Nempe et hoc proprium ac privum est poetis Hebraeorum, ut me- 
 dio carmini illud intexant sonantius iam et maius carmen, cui collata 
 reliqua oratio paene prosa videtur ; fingantque epinicium, aut epice- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIII. 381 
 
 dium, pro more gentis a poetis mulieribusve canendum. les. xxvi. 1 
 seqq. xxvii. 2, 3, 4, 5. lerem. ix. 16 20. Ezech. xxxii. 2 seqq. Cu- 
 jus prosopopeiae mira vis est, turn quia magis videmur nobis in rem 
 praesentem venire, ipsisque iam victoriis aut malis interesse, epini- 
 cia ista aut epicedia audientes : turn quod admirabilius quid ac divi- 
 nius persentiscimus, cum reliqui carminis sensu iam adfecti maius 
 aliud auribus haurimus. Quo in genere pro more suo novus est, 
 illisque, quos imitatur, audacior Habacucus, II. 6 seqq. carmen 
 ludicrum et acerbe laetum componens, quo Babyloni gentes, duram 
 antea expertae servitutem, insultabunt. Dignum illud, quod hie le- 
 geretur : sed servare eius explicationem liceat Collegio Critico in 
 Habacucum, propediem edendo. MICHAELIS. 
 
 Quod hie promittit Michaelis Collegium Criticum in Habacu- 
 cum lucem nunquam vidit. Sed Habacuci nobilissimum carmen, 
 quo gentes Babyloni destructae insultantes inducuntur, apponere lu- 
 bet ex lac. Aug. Thuani paraphrasi poetica, eaque elegantissima, 
 paucis tamen hodie cognita. Est vero talis : 
 
 Victorum sed mox populorum fabula fiet, 
 
 Atque erit haec vulgi naenia in ore frequens. 
 Vae late regi, quern non sua semper habendi 
 
 Fervida inexhausto torret amore sitis. 
 Nam quousque insultans grassabitur, et quasi glebas 
 
 In cumulos densas coges iniquus opes ? 
 An dubitas quin mox, Babylon male conscia, surgant 
 
 Qui rabido versa te vice dente petant, 
 Quique tuos uncis lament crudeliter artus 
 
 Vnguibus, et rapiant quae tibi rapta prius ? 
 Te ditem exuviis aliorum fortior alter 
 
 Exuet, exemplo cuncta feretque tuo. 
 Quippe tibi sanguis effusus in urbe piorum, 
 
 Vexati eives, vi populatus ager. 
 Vae nimias quisquis privae munimina sorti 
 
 Sollicito studio condit avarus opes : 
 Scilicet ut celsa nidum sibi figat in arce, 
 
 Et procul hostileis rideat inde minas. 
 Consilium, O Babylon, cepisti perfida rebus, 
 
 Cuius te pudeat poeniteatque tuis. 
 Totque trucidatis populis mens conscia facti 
 
 Exagitat diro turbida corda metu. 
 Namque age, magnificas alienis sumptibus aedeis, 
 
 Ex spoliis pulcras extrue, praedo, domos ; 
 Tollenti gemitus lapidi lignum adstrepit ecce 
 
 Adversum, querulos consociatque sonos. 
 Vae tibi ! per caedes qnisquis fundamina magnae 
 
382 NOTES ON LECTURE XIII. 
 
 Urbis, perque nefas aedificanda locas. 
 Nam Deus armipotens veniet, qui vota nialorum 
 
 In venturu et rapidas ire iubebit aquas. 
 Qui facit ut populus, quasi qui secat ense favillam, 
 
 Affligat casso membra Jabore nocens. 
 Qui facit et celebri divina ubi gloria laude 
 
 Tollitur ut populum copia laeta beet, 
 Et iubare aethereo terram lux impleam omnem, 
 
 Implet ut aequoreos fluctibus unda sinus. 
 Vae ! socio quisquis vinum cum felle propinas, 
 
 Et tentas sensus debilitasque caput, 
 Scilicet ut pateant cunctis reddenda iacentis 
 
 Membra verecundo iussa pudore tegi. 
 Tu quoque laude tumens et laetis ebrie rebus 
 
 Triste ignominiae dedecus hide feres. 
 Namque et vina bibes, et nudus membra iacebis, 
 
 Et de te dignus vindice risus erit. 
 Ipse Deus propria miscebit pocula dextra, 
 
 E calice et fundet tristia musta suo : 
 Nee non etmale sumpta vomes, vomituque probroso 
 
 Inficies partum pulcra per arma decus. 
 Te Libani adflicti colles, te lapsus iniquo 
 
 Obruet exesi pondere mentis apex, 
 Foetaque lustra feris deserter unique locorum 
 
 Praesentem incutiet tristis imago me turn. 
 Nempe quod effusus Solyma tibi sanguis in urbe, 
 
 Vis facta indigenis, et populatus ager. 
 Atque in figmentis quae spes ? quid sculptile prodest 
 
 Conflatum artifici numen inane manu ? 
 Quaeve adeo spes esse potest in imagine falsa, 
 
 Aut quae vis in eo, qui simulacra facit ? 
 Vae ! quisquis ligno ad surdas miser occinit aureis, 
 
 Surge, aut qui lapides evigilare iubet. 
 Mutane te doceant vitaeque carentia sensu 
 
 Arcanos sensus saxea signa Dei ? 
 Vndique quamquam auro circumlita, quamquam argento 
 
 Auro tamen blando nulla calore fovet. 
 At Dominus coeli residens super ardua templa 
 
 Hinc notat aeternis omnia luminibus. 
 Illius adspectu lucis stet pontus et aer, 
 
 Et tacito stupeat territa terra metu. 
 
 Legitur haec paraphrasis in libro qui inscributur : Asfatidicus, sive 
 Duodccim Prophetae minor es Latina metaplirasi poetica expositipar- 
 tim a IACOBO AVGVSTO THVANO, Senatus Parisiensis Praeside, par- 
 tim a CVNRADO RITTERSHVSIO 1C. et Antecessore Academiae Nori- 
 cae. Ambergae, 1604. 8. p. 215 seqq. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIV. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XI^ 
 
 [A. p. 116.] JOB in. 3. 
 
 Our author exaggerates a little the boldness and energy of this 
 passage, conceiving that to be an unusual phraseology, which is only 
 uncommon to us. There will be an opportunity of mentioning the 
 change or enallage of the tenses in the next Lecture. The ellipsis 
 of the relative pronoun TJJIK (which) is not at all harsh and unusual ; 
 nothing is more common in the Arabic, it being accounted among 
 the elegancies of language, nor is it unusual with the Hebrews. 
 Even with the English, the pronoun which is very frequently omitted. 
 
 MICHAELIS. 
 
 [B. p. 116.] Job and Jeremiah compared. 
 
 " Egregie et verissime observatum. lobi est tragica ilia et regia 
 tristitia, dicam, an desperatio : leremiae flebiles elegi, misericordi- 
 am provocantes, nee lacrimis maior luctus. duod ut toto orationis 
 colore facile agnoscent poetico sensu non destituti : ita magis tamen 
 lucet, et exotericis etiam explicari potest, ubi in eandem uterque 
 imaginem incidit. Repetant, quaeso, lectores, iterumque degustent 
 comparationem amicorum lobi cum rivo perfido, cuius versionem 
 noster pag. 103 dedit : eiusque haustu ac tanquam spiritu pleni, ad 
 elegantes, lugubres, sed exiles accedant leremiae elegos, xv. 18. 
 
 " Quare est dolor meus perpetuus, 
 " Et vulnus meum intractabile, 
 " Refugiens medelam ! 
 " Factus es mihi, ut fons deficiens, 
 " Vt aquae non fidae !" 
 
 Versionem, in nonnullis novam, ne gratis sumere videar, moneo, pri- 
 mo, U33fij proprie moUitiem significare, ex Arabico ^JCjf : mollia au- 
 tenrvulnera esse, adeo aegre ac dolorifica, ut manum medicam non 
 admittant : deinde, non opus esse, ut 3Tptf iniurie in Deum ac rus- 
 tice, mendacem simpliciter vertamus, sed fontis mendacis, seu aesta- 
 te deficientis, significatum vocabulo commode tribui posse, nostro 
 loco aptissimum. Confer enim phrasin les. LVIII. 11. Atque haud 
 scio, an a fonte aut rivo, hibernis imbribus aucto, sed per aestatem 
 deficiente, Ecdippae urbi, IPTDN Hebraice, nomen ductum sit, idem- 
 que illi acciderit, quod permultis urbibus, ut a situ, loci ingenio, 
 rivo, fonte, monte, npmen sortiantur. MICHAELIS. 
 
384 NOTES ON LECTURE XV. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XV. 
 
 [A. p. 124.] Paronomasia. 
 
 In Isa. x. 30, the epithet {-P33J is applied rrins? in allusion to 
 the meaning or etymology of the name : as if the prophet had said : 
 " Ah ! nimis ex vero mine tibi nomen erit." 
 
 I would remark here, that if the reader desires to understand 
 how much the prophets, and particularly Isaiah, are attached to 
 beauties of this kind, he may be satisfied by consulting the follow- 
 ing passages. Isa. v. 7. xiii. 6. xxiv. 17. xxvii. 7. xxxiii. 1. Ivii. 6. 
 Ixi. 3. Ixv. 11, 12. Jer. li. 2. Ezek. vii. 6. Hos. ix. 15. Amos v. 
 5. Mic. i. 1015. Zeph. ii. 4. See also Gen. ix. 27. xlix. 8, 16, 
 19. LOWTH. 
 
 Paronomasia is a favourite figure among all the Oriental po- 
 ets, and their taste for it might have originated in part from the 
 aid it gives to the memory ; as most of their early poetry was neces- 
 sarily preserved by oral tradition. Some mnemonic expedient of 
 this sort is found in the early poetry of all nations. Our taste on 
 such subjects is very much a matter of habit ; and the paronomasia 
 of some of the old English divines can appear no more puerile to us, 
 than rhyme, (which we approve in the most elevated style of poetry), 
 would appear to the poets of Greece and Rome. Indeed, rhyme is 
 nothing more nor less than a regular recurrence of paronomasia, and 
 if we are not offended by it in such productions as Pope's transla- 
 tion of the Iliad or Spencer's Fairy Queen, we can have little rea- 
 son, on the ground of taste, to condemn paronomasia in the writings 
 of the Hebrew prophets. This figure is sometimes used by the 
 purest of the Latin writers, as in Virgil, 
 
 " Discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit;" 
 
 and Cicero against Verres, " quod nunquam hujusmodi everriculum 
 in provincia ulla fuit." Consult the article on paronomasia in Pro- 
 fessor Stuart's Hebrew Grammar ( 570. 571. 3d edit.) ; and Sir 
 Wm. Jones's Commentaries on Asiatic Poetry, (Chap. VIII.) S. 
 
 [B. p. 127.] Use of tenses in Hebrew. 
 
 Though many of the remarks of Lowth on this very difficult sub- 
 ject are valuable, and merit attentive consideration ; yet I very much 
 doubt whether they can all be sustained by an accurate investiga- 
 tion of particulars. Michaelis says, and not without reason, " in 
 his, quae de temporum forma grammatica disputat Noster, nimis ar- 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XVI. 385 
 
 gutus fit emphasium captator : multo sensurus aliter, si de gram- 
 matica Hebraica, non ex Latina, sed ex Arabica iudicasset." The 
 Orientals, generally, allow themselves much more freedom in the 
 use of tenses than the writers of the Western world. Consult 
 Stuart's Heb. Gram. ( 501504, 3d ed.) ; and S. de Sacy, 
 Gram. Arab. (P. I. Sec. 333 if.) The following remarks of Rosen- 
 mueller are also deserving of attention. 
 
 " Res facillime expediri videtur observatione lahnii (Grammat. 
 Ling. Hebr. p. 211. edit, tert.), quemadmodum Hebraeorum Aoris- 
 tus primus, quern Praeteritum appellare solent, sistat rem perfectam, 
 iam praesentem, iam praeteritam, iam futuram, ita Hebraeorum 
 Aoristum secundum, Futurum vulgo vocant, dici de re infecta, iam 
 futura, iam praesenti, iam praeterita, adeoque hanc flexionem com- 
 prehendere nostrum Futurum, Praesens et Imperfectum : id quod 
 commode illustrat eo quod refert Varro, de Lingua Lat. L. VIII. p. 
 152. seq, et L. IX. p. 172. T. I. edit. Bipont, suo aevo omnes ver- 
 borum Latinorum flexiones relatas fuisse ad duas, alteram rei in- 
 choatae seu infectae (Futurum, Praesens, Imperfectum), alteram 
 rei perfectae (Praeteritum exactum, Praesens exactum, Futurum ex- 
 actum). Pro tribus cuiusque classis flexionibus Hebraei, Arabes et 
 Aramaei habent unicam ; pro secunda classe Aoristum primum, 
 sive Praeteritum, et pro prima classe Aoristum secundum, sive Fu- 
 turuirL" S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XVI. 
 
 [A. p. 132.] ISAIAH XL. 12. 
 
 Non huius loci sunt, quae lesaias versu 12 habet. Nee enim 
 potentiam Dei, creationemque rerum omnium describit, sed hanc 
 promit sententiam : non magis nos mortali ingenio consilia Dei, 
 quaeque praedicturus iam sit, assequi et investigare posse, quam 
 aquam omnem pugillis, caelum palmo metiri, etc. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [B. p. 133.] PSALM cxxxix. 710. 
 
 I am not perfectly satisfied with the commonly received inter- 
 pretation of the 9th verse ; as expressive of the continual motion 
 from East to West, and the velocity of the motion compared with 
 that of the sun's rays. I look upon the two lines of this distich to 
 be in contrast or opposition to each other, and not that the latter is 
 49 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XVI. 
 
 a consequence of the former ; and this I think is so apparent from 
 the very construction of the sentences, that there cannot remain a 
 doubt concerning it : Thus there is a double transition spoken of, 
 towards the East, and again towards the West ; and the length of 
 the flight, and not the velocity of the motion, is the object of ampli- 
 fication. Thus THEODORET upon this passage, " He calls the East 
 the Morning, and the West, the extreme parts of the Sea : to height 
 and depth he opposes breadth and length, describing and evincing 
 the infinity of the Divine Being." LOWTH. 
 
 The author of a very useful collection of Jewish commentaries, 
 the title of which is MidalJophe, says, this phrase, If I take the 
 wings of tin. Morning, should be understood as a common Oriental 
 phrase for departure or flight towards the East. These are hi? 
 words, If I take the wings of the Morning, and fly with them ; i. e. 
 If I go to the extremity of the East. HUNT. 
 
 Obstat Lowthi explication!, facitque pro vocalibus Hebraicis ; 
 quod indecens est, hominem implumem dicere : si alas MEAS attol- 
 Icrem. Aliud est : si alas, quales sunt Aurorae, attollerem. 
 
 MlCHAELIS. 
 
 Attulit Huntius prima tantummodo interpretis Hebraici verba, 
 Lowthianae explications confirmandae gratia. Sed erat Scholion 
 Hebraicum integrum apponendum, ex quo apparet, ilium Lowtho 
 minime favere. En verba Hebraea, quae statim excipiunt ilia ab 
 
 Huntio allata : Jim IT rp-ihao -ifcan s^Eti ann tr 
 Kb ins* M-M s-isnb mttt ^btf SN "wba tobisn spo 
 TnNrn *JT ^n:n mp bsn ^ ^nbi robb- Et extremum 
 
 maris est occidens ; et quod didt : in extremo maris, signijicare vol- 
 uit ultimam mundi plagam, quasi diceret ; si earn ab oriente ad oc- 
 casum uno momenta t neque tamen possim abire in locum, quo tu non 
 adsis ; nam unique manus tua ducit me, et dcxtera tua me apprchen- 
 dit. In qua quidem interpretatione, quum sensum idoneum fundat, 
 et nos acquiescendum arbitramur. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XVII. 337 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XVII. 
 
 [A. p. 140.] Pathos of the Scriptures. 
 
 Every attentive reader of the sacred writings, who has a taste 
 for excellence of the kind here alluded to, and has observed how 
 deeply our best poets, Milton, Pope, and even Shakspeare, are in- 
 debted to the Bible for some of their loftiest flights of sublimity and 
 most exquisite touches of pathos, will at once acknowledge the 
 justness of Lowth's remarks on this point. And if, as we believe, 
 the Bible was really given by inspiration of God, if it was in fact 
 dictated by the Spirit of Him who formed the heart of man and is 
 most intimately acquainted with all its intricacies ; why should it 
 not contain the most perfect delineation of the human passions and 
 character, that has ever been given? He that formed the eye, shall 
 he not see ? A thorough investigation and complete exhibition of 
 the excellence of the Bible in this respect, is a desideratum in Sa- 
 cred Literature. Niemeyer, in his C/iaractcristik der Bibel, has 
 accomplished something in this branch of biblical study ; but a trea- 
 tise is needed more condensed, and more directly to the point. 
 The task should be performed by one in whom the refined taste and 
 intellectual vigour of Lowth are united with the nicest discernment, 
 and most extensive philological attainments. Such a work would 
 be an invaluable accession to the science of human nature in gen- 
 eral ; and would be to the student of sacred eloquence a help in 
 his pursuit as much superior to the systems of rhetoric now extant, 
 as a faithful digest of the moral precepts of the New Testament 
 would be to all human systems of ethics, S. 
 
 [B. p. 142.] ISAIAH LXIII. G. 
 . Vertendum potius : ad tcrram deturbavi robur, fortitudinem, 
 eorum. Eft^: larchi recte explicat D3in:3 miSa , fortitudinem 
 victoriae, potentiae, eorum. Nee non Kimchi : CC ;pm DpTft for- 
 titudinem et potentiam eorum. Hieronymus : dctraxi in terram vir- 
 tutem eorum. Chaldaeus : 
 
 
 
 detect ad terram infimam occisos fortium eorum. Syr us : Z x|o 
 et deieci in terram robur eorum. Alexandri- 
 
 nus Graecus interpres fisa h. 1. de sanguine, in quo vis vitalis est, 
 accepit, vertit enim : ital xafrjyayov TO alpa <xi>iwv fte ynv. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XVIII, 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XVIII. 
 
 [A. p. 147.] Jewish opinions on Hebrew poetry. 
 
 ABARBANEL distinguishes three species of canticles. The first is 
 the rhythmical, or that with similar endings ; in use among the more 
 modern Hebrews (who learned it from the Arabic writers) but which 
 was certainly unknown to the authors of the Holy Scriptures. The 
 second was adapted to music, and sung either alone or accompanied 
 with instruments : such are the songs of Moses, of Deborah, of Da- 
 vid. The third species consists of parables, or proverbs, which spe- 
 cies, says he, (though by the way absurdly enough, as is not uncom- 
 mon with the Rabbinical writers) is properly denominated *i v i7. 
 From this class, however, he excludes the parables of the prophets, 
 according to the distinction of Maimonides between prophecy and 
 the Holy Spirit. (See More Neboc. ii. 45.) He says they are not 
 canticles, because they are not the work of the prophet himself, but 
 the mere effect of the prophetic inspiration. Mantissa Dissert, ad 
 Libr. COSRI, page 413. 
 
 " It cannot be doubted that the canticles of the second species 
 were possessed of a certain melody or metre, which through the 
 length of the captivity, is obsolete." ABARBANEL, ib. 410. 
 
 The Song of Solomon is indeed allowed by the Jews to be a 
 poem * not however from the nature of the composition, or from its 
 being metrical, but merely because it is of the parabolic kind : and 
 therefore it is referred by ABARBANEL to the third species of canticle. 
 Whence it happens that, though in some manuscript copies the three 
 metrical books are written in a versified form, the Lamentations and 
 Song of Songs are differently transcribed. This I have observed to 
 be the case with the Vatican MSS. which is deservedly accounted 
 one of the most ancient, its date being the year DCCCCLXXIX of our 
 Christian aera. The same is observable in many other MSS. as I 
 have been informed by my learned friend, Dr. KENNICOTT, whose He- 
 brew Bible with the various readings is now in the press, and al- 
 ready in great forwardness. Indeed, it is natural to suppose, that 
 when the Jews exhibit certain canticles, and even whole books, in a 
 poetical or versified order, they followed, or pretended to follow, the 
 true nature of the Hebrew verse, or the proper distribution of the 
 lines. But the great disagreement between them in this respect is 
 a proof of their ignorance, for they seldom agree with one another 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XVIII. 389 
 
 in the termination of the lines, or follow any determinate rule in this 
 matter. The distribution of the verses is different in differem cop- 
 ies, as may be immediately observed on comparing them. In the 
 Song of Moses, DEUT. xxxii. in which the different editions agree 
 better than in any other, (and indeed there was but little room for 
 disagreement, the sense always pointing out of itself the order of the 
 sentences) in this, notwithstanding, the Rabbins have contrived to 
 differ, some of them dividing it into 67, and some into 70 verses or 
 lines. See Annot. ad Bib. Heb. Edit. MICHAELIS, Halae, 1720. 
 Among the manuscript copies of the metrical books the disagree- 
 ment is equally manifest, as the above excellent critic proved upon a 
 very strict examination, undertaken at my request. In a very fa- 
 mous MSS. which I saw in the royal library at Dresden, I remark- 
 ed a circumstance that clearly demonstrates the perfect ignorance 
 and absurdity of the Jews in this respect. The Chaldee paraphrase 
 was intermingled with the text throughout, in such a manner, that 
 we first read the Hebrew, and then the Chaldee, verse by verse al- 
 ternately : in the metrical books, which were divided into lines or 
 verses, the text and version were so confounded, that the writer, at- 
 tending only to the equality of his lines, perpetually blended the He- 
 brew and Chaldee together in such a manner, that where the one 
 ended the other was resumed, and every line partook of both. This 
 is a very elegant copy, and probably five hundred years old. The 
 punctuation is evidently of a more recent date ; as in that of the 
 Vatican above-mentioned, and in some other copies still older. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 [B. p. 149.] Schools of the prophets. 
 
 Of the existence of such institutions there can be no doubt, 
 (compare 2 Kings 6: 1 7) ; though the notices of them in the sa- 
 cred history are so slight and transient, that little can be gathered 
 respecting their discipline and course of instruction, additional to 
 what our author has stated in the text. For some very interesting 
 speculations on the subject, see Herder, Geist, (Th. II. S. 284 ff.) r 
 and Eichhorn, Einleitung, (Th. V. S. 1 if.) I. C. C. Nachtigall has 
 given the subject a more thorough investigation in an Essay, ueber 
 Samuels Saetigervcrsammlung oder Prophetcnschule, in Henke's 
 Magazinfuer Exegcse, Religionsphilosophie und Kirchengeschichte, 
 (Th. VI. Fasc. I. S. 38). S : 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 
 
 [C. p. 150.] Meaning o/stett. 
 
 This word, which according to its etymology means an oracular 
 saying, loyiov, is no more peculiar to predictions of future events, 
 than to every species of that eloquence which is supposed to 
 come by inspiration, including that which teaches the salutary 
 principles of moral conduct. I do not therefore see much force in 
 this argument of our author : for whatever Lemuel composed under 
 the influence of the Divine Spirit might properly be called Sii37:3 
 whether in verse or not. The word is derived from Kfc)3 he raised, 
 he produced, he spoke; not as some of the old commentators derive 
 it, from Ki05, he received. Though a divine oracle might, I confess, 
 take its name with great propriety from receiving, as does the Greek 
 word ArjMia (so the Seventy render this very phrase) which means 
 being received from God. But the use of the word in 2 Kings ix. 25, 
 jnilitates against this derivation. MICHAELIS. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 
 
 [A. p. 156.] Singing by alternate choirs. 
 
 Though the performance of the hymns by two alternate CHOIRS, 
 were the more usual, it evidently was not .the only mode : for, as 
 the parallelism of sentences in the Hebrew poetry is not restricted 
 to distichs, but admits a varied form of iteration, so their psalmody, 
 though usually confined to two alternate choruses, was sometimes 
 extended to more. An example of the latter kind will appear in Ps. 
 cxxxv. which was obviously performed by THREE different CHOIRS, 
 the High Priest with the House of Aaron constituting ihejirst ; the 
 Levites serving in the temple, the second ; and the congregation of 
 Israel, the third ; all having their distinct parts, and all at stated 
 intervals uniting in full chorus. 
 
 The High Priest, accompanied by the rest of the priesthood, be- 
 gan with addressing the Levites : 
 
 Praise ye Jah ! 
 The Levites return the exhortation to the priests : 
 
 Praise ye the name Jehovah ! 
 The Priests and Levites then joining, address the congregation : 
 
 Praise him, O ye servants of Jehovah ! 
 The Congregation address the Priests 
 
 Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah ! 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 391 
 
 And the Levites 
 
 In the courts of the house of our God ! 
 
 This may be considered as the first passus of the npoaGpa, 
 which the Choir of Priests resumes by a second exhortation to the 
 Levites, and assigning the reason for their praise : 
 
 Praise ye Jah, for Jehovah is good. 
 The Levites then exhort the Congregation : 
 
 Sing praises unto his name, for it is pleasant. 
 
 And the congregation joining both, the three choirs unite in full 
 chorus : 
 
 For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself : 
 Israel for his peculiar treasure. 
 
 The nQoaopct thus concluding, the high priest, followed by his band, 
 commences in the 5th verse the hymn. The 6th verse belongs to 
 the Levites, and the 7th to the Congregation, both of whom having, 
 in them, celebrated Jehovah, as the Creator and Governor of the 
 world, the high priest descends in the 8th verse to the interpositions 
 of Jehovah in behalf of his chosen people ; beginning with the mira- 
 cle that procured their deliverance from bondage. The Levites 
 having adverted to the other miracles wrought in ^Egypt, in the for- 
 mer clause of the 9th verse, and the Congregation, in the latter, 
 pointed out Pharaoh and his servants, as those upon whom the 
 judgements of Jehovah were inflicted, the high priest, etc. proceeds 
 in the 10th verse to remark the extension of similar judgements to 
 other nations and kings, whose names and kingdoms the Levites 
 enumerate, in the llth verse, whilst the Congregation, in the 12th, 
 commemorate the blessings which had thence resulted to them. At 
 the close of this recitative, in the first clause of the 13th verse, fol- 
 lows a chorus of the priests : 
 
 Thy name, O Jehovah ! endure th for ever ! 
 
 And in the second, another of the Levites : 
 
 Thy memorial, O Jehovah ! throughout all generations. 
 
 The Congregation then striking in with Priests and Levites, all 
 unite in full chorus, as before : 
 
 For Jehovah will judge his people : 
 
 And will repent him concerning his servants. 
 
 This chorus may be considered as closing the first part of the 
 hymn, the concluding clause of which, adverting to the frequent 
 backslidings of the Jewish nation, notwithstanding the blessings 
 both ordinary and extraordinary which Jehovah had conferred upon 
 them, and the prosperity they enjoyed in the land promised to their 
 
392 NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 
 
 forefathers, notwithstanding their turning aside to the idolatry of the 
 nations that had been cut off from before them, the choir of priests 
 (referring back to the 5th verse) as if assured that Israel could re- 
 volt no more, breaks out in a second recitative, expressive at once of 
 exultation and contempt : 
 
 The idols of the heathen, silver and gold, etc. 
 To this the Levites add in the same indignant strain : 
 
 They have mouths, but they speak not, etc. 
 The Congregation subjoin : 
 
 They have ears, but they hear not, etc. 
 And the three choirs again uniting : 
 
 They that make them are like unto them : 
 Every one that trusteth in them. 
 
 With this exquisite contrast between the gods in whom the hea- 
 then confided, and Jehovah the rock of their salvation the former 
 unable to aid or hear their votaries, and the latter loading benefits on 
 his own the second part of the hymn is concluded, and the high 
 priest with his choir, by a graceful transition, renews his exhortation 
 as at first ; but now addressing the Congregation : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Israel ! 
 To which the Congregation reply : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Aaron ! 
 The priests, in like manner, exhorting the Levites : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Levi ! 
 To whom they in their turn rejoin : 
 
 Ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah ! 
 All then uniting : 
 
 Blessed be Jehovah out of Sion ! 
 Who dwelleth in Jerusalem ! 
 
 The whole is closed by each choir in full chorus, exhorting the oth- 
 er two : 
 
 Praise ye Jah ! 
 
 From this analysis it is evident, that the Hebrew hymn is a 
 composition not less regular than the Grecian ode, and of a much 
 more varied nature than the professor had led his audience to sup- 
 pose. 
 
 The whole Psalm, according to the above division, may be thus 
 exhibited : 
 
 TIPOA2MA, or PRELUDE. Part I. 
 
 High Priest and Priests, to the Levites ; 
 Praise ye Jah ! 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 
 
 Levites, to the Priests : 
 
 Praise ye the name of Jehovah ! 
 Priests and Levites, to the Congregation : 
 
 Praise him, O ye servants of Jehovah 1 
 The Congregation, to the Priests : 
 
 Ye that stand in the house of Jehovah ! 
 The Congregation, to the Levites : 
 
 In the courts of the house of our God ! 
 
 UPOA2MA. 2. 
 
 Priests, to the Levites : 
 
 Praise ye Jah, for Jehovah is good ! 
 Levites, to the Congregation : 
 
 Sing praises unto his name, for it is pleasant, 
 Congregation, joining both Priests and Levites : 
 
 For Jah hath chosen Jacob unto himself, 
 
 Israel for his peculiar treasure. 
 
 HYMN. 
 
 High Priest, followed by the Priests : 
 
 For I know that Jehovah is great, 
 
 Even our Lord above all gods. 
 Levites : 
 
 Whatsoever Jehovah pleased, 
 
 He did in heaven, and in earth, 
 
 In the seas, and in deep places : 
 Congregation : 
 
 He causeth the vapours to rise from the ends of the earth, 
 
 He maketh lightnings for the rain : 
 
 He bringeth the wind out of his treasuries. 
 High Priest, accompanied by the Priests : 
 
 Who smote the first-born of JEgypt, 
 
 Both of man, of beast. 
 Levites : 
 
 Sent tokens and wonders into the midst of thee, O 
 Congregation : 
 
 Upon Pharaoh and upon all his servants. 
 High Priest and Priests : 
 
 Who smote great nations, and slew mighty kings : 
 Levites : 
 
 Sihon, king of the Amorites, 
 
 And Og, king of Basan, 
 
 And all the kingdoms of Canaan. 
 50 
 
394 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XIX. 
 
 Congregation : 
 
 And he gave their land an heritage, 
 
 An heritage with Israel his people. 
 Priests : 
 
 Thy name, O Jehovah, endureth for ever. 
 Levites : 
 
 Thy memorial, O Jehovah, throughout all generations. 
 Priests, Levites, and Congregation, in full chorus : 
 
 For Jehovah will judge his people ; 
 
 And will repent him concerning his servants. 
 
 II. 
 
 High Priest, accompanied by the Priests : 
 
 The idols of the heathen silver and gold ! 
 The work of mortal hands. 
 
 Levites : 
 
 Congregation 
 
 They have mouths, but they speak not; 
 Eyes have they, but they see not. 
 
 They have ears, but they hear not : 
 Neither is there any truth in their mouths. 
 Priests, Levites, and Congregation, in full chorus : 
 
 They that make them are like unto them ; 
 Every one that trusteth in them. 
 
 High Priest and Priests, to the Congregation : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Israel ! 
 Congregation, to the High Priest and Priests : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Aaron ! 
 High Priest and Priests, to the Levites : 
 
 Bless Jehovah, O house of Levi ! 
 Levites, to High Priest and Priests : 
 
 Ye that fear Jehovah, bless Jehovah ! 
 Priests, Levites, and Congregation, in full chorus : 
 
 Blessed be Jehovah out of Sion, 
 
 Who dwelleth in Jerusalem ! 
 Full chorus, continuing each division to both the rest : 
 
 Praise ye Jah ! 
 
 The praising the name JEHOVAH, so often mentioned in Scrip- 
 ture, arises from the answer to the question of Moses, EXOD. iii. 13. 
 
 HENLEY. 
 (Compare also Herder, Geist, Th. II. S. 126 ff.) 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XX. 395 
 
 [B. p. 158.] HOSEA xi. 9. 
 
 There is hardly any thing in which translators have differed 
 more than in the explanation of this line ; which is the more extra- 
 ordinary when we consider that the words themselves are so well 
 known, and the structure of the period so plain and evident. JE- 
 ROME is almost singular in his explanation. Comm. in loc. " I am 
 not one of those who inhabit cities ; who live according to human 
 laws ; who think cruelty justice." CASTALIO follows JEROME. 
 There is in fact in the latter member of the sentence -r$3 N12J* Kb 
 a parallelism and synonyme to M^tf Kb in the former. The future 
 fcPSN has a frequentative power (see Ps. xxii. 3 and 8,) " I am not 
 accustomed to enter a city ; I am not an inhabitant of a city." For 
 there is a beautiful opposition of the different parts ; " I am God, 
 and not man ;" this is amplified in the next line, and the antithesis 
 a little varied. " I am thy God, inhabiting with thee, but in a pecu- 
 liar and extraordinary manner, not in the manner of men." Noth- 
 ing I think can be plainer or more elegant than this. LOWTH. 
 
 [C. p. 166.] Use of parallelism in interpretation. 
 
 A more full account of the Hebrew parallelism may be found in 
 Dr. Lowth's Preliminary Dissertation to Isaiah, which the reader 
 will do well to consult. A very able tract on the use of parallelism 
 in interpretation has been published by Dr. Schleusner, entitled : 
 Dissertatio Philologica de Parallelismo Sententiarum Egregio Sub- 
 sidio Interpretation^ Grammaticae Vet. Test. Some useful re- 
 marks on the same subject may be found in Meyer, Hermenentik des 
 alten Testaments, (Th. II. SS. 352362). This investigation, 
 however, belongs rather to a Treatise on Hcrmeneutics than to Lec- 
 tures on Poetry ; and for {his reason I omit the long, and in some 
 respects valuable, note of Michaelis de usu parallclismi membrorum 
 hermeneutico. The student who wishes for information on this 
 point, will find it by consulting the works mentioned above. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XX. 
 
 [A. p. 168.] Jeicish notions of prophecy. 
 
 Our author in this place alludes to the Rabbinical notions con- 
 cerning inspiration, which are explained more at large by BASNAGE. 
 " They distinguish," says that author, " eleven degrees of prophecy. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XX. 
 
 They reckon among inspired men those who felt some inward emo- 
 tions, urging them to perform extraordinary actions, as Samson, 
 Those who composed hymns and psalms, because they believed 
 themselves inspired with God's Spirit, were accounted so many pro- 
 phets. However, these prophets are distinguished from the follow- 
 ing orders : 1. When Zechariah says, the word of the Lord came 
 unto me. 2. Samuel heard a voice, but did not see who spoke. 
 3. When a man speaks in a dream with a prophet, as it happened to 
 Ezekiel, to whom a man cried, Son of man. 4. Angels spoke often 
 in dreams. 5. It was sometimes thought, that God himself spoke in 
 a dream. 6. Some mystical objects were discovered. 7. An audi- 
 ble voice was heard from the midst of these objects. 8. A man is 
 seen speaking, as it happened to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, 
 which however was a vision. 9. Lastly, an angel is perceived speak- 
 ing. Thus Abraham heard one, when he was binding Isaac upon 
 the altar to sacrifice him : but that was also a vision." Hist, of the 
 Jews, B. IV. ch. xviii. 11. GREGORY. 
 
 [B. p. 168.] Style of Daniel unpoctical. 
 
 We may add [to the causes of this mentioned by Lowth] the de- 
 cline of the Hebrew language, which in the Babylonish captivity lost 
 all its grace and elegance. Nor among so many evils which befell 
 their nation, is it surprising that they should have neither leisure nor 
 spirit for the cultivation of the fine arts. Besides, when a language 
 is confined chiefly to the lowest of the people, it is hardly to be ex- 
 pected that it should produce any poets worthy of the name. Let 
 any man compare what was written in Hebrew before and after the 
 Babylonish exile, and I apprehend he will perceive no less evident 
 marks of decay and ruin than in the Latin language. Wherefore it 
 appears to me very improbable, that any psalms, which breathe a 
 truly sublime and poetical spirit, were composed after the return 
 from Babylon, excepting perhaps that elegant piece of poetry the 
 cxxxviith. Certainly nothing can be more absurd than the error, 
 into which some commentators have fallen, in attributing some of 
 the sublimest of the psalms to Ezra, than whose style nothing can 
 be meaner or more ungraceful. Indeed I have myself some doubts 
 concerning the cxxxviith, which I am more inclined to attribute to 
 Jeremiah, or some contemporary of his ; and I think the taste and 
 spirit of the bard, who sung so sweetly elsewhere the miseries of hie! 
 nation_, may very plainly be discerned in it. MICHAELIP. 
 
NOTES ClN LECTURE XX. 397 
 
 [C. p. 169.] Design of prophecy. 
 
 One of the most important ends of prophecy, as it appears to me, 
 is, that the predictions, being gradually accomplished from age to 
 age, may remain an attestation of the divine inspiration of the sa- 
 cred writers, after the power of working miracles has ceased. In 
 order to accomplish this purpose, the predictions must be sufficient- 
 ly circumstantial and definite to afford satisfactory evidence that 
 they were originally designed to be applicable to this or that parti- 
 cular event, and to no other. 
 
 Concerning the next feature of prophecy, which our author in- 
 troduces, namely, its comprehending at a single glance a variety of 
 events, etc., a valuable dissertation by Velthusen, entitled : Program- 
 ma de optica Rerum futurarum Descriptione ad illustrandum Lo- 
 cum Jes. LXXIII. 1 6, may be found in the Commcntationes 
 Theologicae, published by Velthusen, Kuinoel, and Rupert, (Vol. 
 VI. p. 75. ff.). S. 
 
 [D. p. 174.] ISAIAH xxxiv. xxxv. 
 
 In this prophecy Edom is particularly marked out as an object 
 of the Divine vengeance. The principal provocation of Edom was 
 their insulting the Jews in their distress, and joining against them 
 with their enemies the Chaldeans : See Amos i. 11. Ezek. xxv. 12. 
 xxxv. 15. Ps. cxxxvii. 7. Accordingly the Edomites were, together 
 with the rest of the neighbouring nations, ravaged and laid waste by 
 Nebuchadnezzar : See Jer. xxx. 15 26. Mai. i. 2, 3, 4 ; and see 
 MARSHAM, Can. Chron. Saec. xviii., who calls this the age of the de- 
 struction of cities. LOWTH. 
 
 The course of thought is as follows : Jehovah is angry with all 
 the heathen nations, and devotes them to destruction, (xxxiv. 1 4). 
 la- the first place, he sends his sword upon Edom, and causes a mas- 
 sacre in Bozra, in order to avenge Zion upon her, (vs. 5 8). 
 The whole region is given to the flames, (vs. 9, 10). Nothing but 
 beasts of the wilderness and goblins shall dwell there forever, (vs. 
 1117). 
 
 The oppressed nation of Israel rejoice in this destruction of their 
 enemies, and see in it a proof of the power of Jehovah, (xxxv. 1, 2). 
 Comforted and happy, they now have opportunity to return to their 
 native land, (vs. 3 6) ; for Jehovah himself will lead them through 
 the wilderness, make it fruitful, supply it with water, and free it 
 
398 NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 
 
 from wild beasts, (vs. 69). Redeemed and shouting for joy they 
 will march to Jerusalem, (v. 10). GESENIUS. 
 
 The general view of this noble poem, which Lowth has given in 
 the text, is truly admirable ; but his exegesis of some of the parts is, 
 to say the least, very questionable. The Bishop gives way too 
 much to his old propensity to emend the text where he finds a dif- 
 ficulty. Instead of entering into a minute examination here, I 
 would refer the reader to his Hebrew Bible and Lexicon, and to the 
 Commentaries of Rosenmueller or Gesenius. One phrase, however, 
 as it is quite an unusual one, may require some explanation. 
 xxxiv. 5. ^2^fi ti s 3D^ nn 5 ) ") , literally, as Lowth renders it, in- 
 ebriatus cst in coclis gladius meus. The sense is, that the sword of 
 Jehovah rushes furiously from heaven upon his enemies, like a war- 
 rior who is excited by strong- drink. (Compare 3 Mace. 5: 2). It 
 is a very common figure with the Oriental writers to represent the 
 sword of a warrior as drinking, and being drunk with the blood of 
 his enemies. So Abulfaragius, The Turks rushed in, and their fu- 
 rious sword drank the blood of old men and children. (See Gesen- 
 ius in loc. Compare Deut. 32: 42. Jer. 46: 10, et al.). S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 
 
 [A. p. 178.] Character of Jeremiah. 
 
 Jerome probably adopted this opinion from his masters, the Jews. 
 Of the more modern Rabbins, ABARBANEL (Praef. in Jer.) com- 
 plains grievously of the grammatical ignorance of the prophet, and 
 his frequent solecisms ; which he says Ezra corrected by the Keri 
 or marginal notes, for he remarks that they occur more frequently 
 in him than elsewhere. Absurd and ridiculous ! to attribute the 
 errors of transcribers, which occur in almost every part of the He- 
 brew text, to the sacred writers themselves ; the greater part of 
 these errors he would indeed have found scarcely to exist, if he had 
 consulted the more correct copies, which remain even at this day : 
 for among these very marginal readings, there are but few, which, 
 in the more ancient MSS. are not found in the text. WALTON has 
 long since given a remarkable example of this kind (Prolegom. iv. 
 12). The collations of Dr. KENNICOTT will afford many more. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 399 
 
 [B. p. 173.] Character of Ezekicl 
 
 I must confess that I feel not perfectly satisfied with myself, 
 when in a matter entirely dependent upon taste, I can by no means 
 bring myself to agree with our author. So far from esteeming Eze- 
 kiel equal to Isaiah in sublimity, I am inclined rather to think, that 
 he displays more art and luxuriance in amplifying and decorating 
 his subject than is consistent with the poetical fervour, or indeed 
 with true sublimity. He is in general an imitator, and yet he has 
 the art of giving an air of novelty and ingenuity, but not of gran- 
 deur and sublimity, to all his composition. The imagery which is 
 familiar to the Hebrew poetry he constantly makes use of, and those 
 figures which were invented by others, but were only glanced at, or 
 partially displayed by those who first used them, he dwells upon, and 
 depicts with such accuracy and copiousness, that he leaves nothing 
 to add to them, nothing to be supplied by the reader's imagination. 
 On this score his ingenuity is to be commended, and he is therefore 
 of use to his readers, because he enables them better to understand 
 the ancient poets ; but he certainly does not strike with admiration, 
 or display any trait of sublimity. 
 
 Of this I will propose only one example : many of the same kind 
 may be found in looking over the writings of this prophet. In de- 
 scribing a great slaughter, it is very common in the best poets to in- 
 troduce a slight allusion to birds of prey. Thus in the ILIAD : 
 
 " Whose limbs, unburied on the naked shore, 
 " Devouring dogs and hungry vultures tore." 
 
 Thus, it is the language of boasting in the historical part of Script- 
 ure " I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and unto the 
 beasts of the field." 1 Sam. xvii. 44. Asaph also in Psalm Ixxviii. 
 48. " He gave their cattle to the hail, and their flocks to the birds.'' 
 Moses is still more sublime, Deut. xxxii. 23, 24. 
 
 " I will spend mine arrows upon them. 
 
 " They shall be eaten up with hunger, a prey unto birds, 
 
 " And to bitter destruction ! 
 
 " I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, 
 
 " With the poison of the reptiles of the earth." 
 
 But HABAKKUK is more excellent than either of the former, chap, iii, 
 5, speaking of the victory of JEHOVAH over his enemies : 
 
 " Before him went the pestilence, 
 
 " And his footsteos were traced by the birds." 
 
400 NOTES ON LECTURE XXf. 
 
 Doubtless, the birds of prey. ISAIAH is somewhat more copious, 
 chap, xxxiv. 6, 7. 
 
 ' For JEHOVAH celebrateth a sacrifice in Botzra, 
 
 ' And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 
 
 ' And the wild goats shall fall down with them ; 
 
 ' And the bullocks, together with the bulls : 
 
 ' And their own land shall be drunken with their blood, 
 
 ' And their dust shall be enriched with fat." 
 
 These and other images Ezekiel has adopted, and has studiously 
 amplified with singular ingenuity ; and by exhausting all the image- 
 ry applicable to the subject, has in a manner made them his own. 
 In the first prediction of the slaughter of Magog, the whole chapter 
 consists of a most magnificent amplification of all the circumstances 
 and apparatus of war, so that scarcely any part of the subject is left 
 untouched ; he adds afterwards in a bold and unusual style " Thus, 
 Son of man, saith JEHOVAH, speak unto every feathered fowl, and 
 to every beast of the field : assemble yourselves and come, gather 
 yourselves on every side to the banquet, which I prepare for you, a 
 great banquet on the mountains of Israel. Ye shall eat flesh, and ye 
 shall drink blood ; ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink 
 the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, 
 of bullocks, all of them fallings of Bashan. Ye shall eat fat till ye 
 be satiated, and drink blood till ye be drunken, in the banquet which 
 I have prepared for you. Ye shall be filled at my table with horses 
 and chariots, with mighty men, and with men of valour, saith the 
 Lord JEHOVAH." Ezek. xxxviii. 17 20. In this I seem to read a 
 poet, who is unwilling to omit any thing of the figurative kind which 
 presents itself to his mind, and would think his poem deficient, if 
 he did not adorn it with every probable fiction which could be ad- 
 ded : and for this very reason I cannot help placing him rather in 
 the middle than superior class. Observe how the author of the 
 Apocalypse, who is in general an imitator, but endued with a sub- 
 limer genius, and in whose prose all the splendour of poetry may be 
 discerned, has conducted these sentiments of Ezekiel : " I saw an 
 angel standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud voice unto the 
 fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves to- 
 gether unto the supper of the great God ; that ye may eat of the 
 flesh of kings, and of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the 
 flesh of horses, and of them that sit upon them, and the flesh of all 
 men, both free and bond, both small and great." Rev^xix. 17, 18. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 401 
 
 But Ezekiel goes yet further, so delighted is he with this image, 
 so intent is he upon the by-paths of the Muses, that he gives even 
 the trees, taking them for empires, to the birds ; and their shades or 
 ghosts he consigns to the infernal regions. Thus chap. xxxi. 13 15. 
 " Upon his trunk shall all the fowls of heaven remain, and all the 
 beasts of the field shall be upon his branches. To the end that none of 
 all the trees by the waters shall exalt themselves for their height, nor 
 shoot up their top among the thick boughs ; neither their trees stand 
 up in their height, all that drink water : for they are all delivered 
 unto death, to the nether parts of the earth in the midst of the chil- 
 dren of men, with them that go down to the pit, etc." In this we 
 find novelty and variety, great fertility of genius, but no sublimity. 
 
 I had almost forgotten to mention, that Ezekiel lived at a period 
 when the Hebrew language was visibly on the decline. And when 
 we compare him with the Latin poets who succeeded the Augustan 
 age, we may find some resemblance in the style, something that in- 
 dicates the old age of poetry. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [C. p. 180.] Character of Habakkuk. 
 
 On a very accurate perusal of Habakkuk, I find him a great im- 
 itator of former poets, but with some new additions of his own ; not 
 however in the manner of Ezekiel, but with much greater brevity, 
 and with no common degree of sublimity. Ezekiel, for the most 
 part, through his extreme copiousness, flags behind those whom he 
 imitates ; Habakkuk either rises superior, or at least keeps on an 
 equality with them. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [D. p. 181.] Opinion of the Greeks on their prophetic poetry. 
 
 " I find, too, that some of the oracles of Apollo have not escaped 
 ridicule in this respect, though the obscurity of prophecy renders 
 them in general so difficult to decipher, that the hearers have no 
 leisure to bestow on an examination of the metre." Merc, in Lu- 
 CIAN'S Dial, entitled Jupiter TragaBdus. 
 
 " A response from an oracle in verse having been recited by one 
 of the company I have often wondered (said Diogenianus) at the 
 meanness and imperfection of the verses which conveyed the oracu- 
 lar responses ; especially considering that Apollo is the president of 
 the Muses, and, one should imagine, would no less interest himself 
 in the style of his own predictions, than in the harmony of odes and 
 other poetry : besides, that he certainly must be superior to Hprner 
 51 
 
402 NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 
 
 and Hesiod in poetic taste and ability. Notwithstanding this, we 
 find many of the oracles, both as to style and metre, deficient in 
 prosody, and in every species of poetical merit." PLUTARCH, Ing. 
 why the Pythia now ceases to deliver her oracles in verse ? 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 Just as the Bishop's observation is, concerning the prophetic ora- 
 cles of the Greeks, yet whoever will be at the trouble of considering 
 the predictions of Cassandra, in the Agamemnon of ^Eschylus, may 
 easily perceive a peculiarity of imagery and style that would throw 
 some light on the subject itself, as well as serve to illustrate the pro- 
 phetic phraseology of the Hebrews. HENLEY. 
 
 The prophecy of the Sibyl in the sixth ^Eneid might also be re- 
 ferred to as an example ; in it the prophetic ecstacy is so admirably 
 expressed, that the art and imitative powers of Virgil may contribute 
 not a little to enable us to understand the language and manner of 
 true prophecy. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [E. p. 183.] Fourth Eclogue of Virgil. 
 
 The learned are generally agreed that the Eclogue in question 
 cannot relate to Saloninus, a son of Pollio, born after the capture of 
 Salona, who is spoken of by Servius, if any such person ever existed ; 
 since it appears from Dion and Appian, that the expedition of Pol- 
 lio to Illyricum took place in the following year. Some have con- 
 jectured, that this poem relates to C. Asinius Gallus, a son of the 
 same person, and indeed with much greater appearance of probabili- 
 ty ; since Asconius Pedianus reports, that he had heard from Gallus 
 himself, that this poem was composed in honour of him. See SERV. 
 ad Eclog. iv. 11. But Servius himself affirms, that Gallus was 
 born in the preceding year, while Pollio was consul elect ; and al- 
 though such a boast might very well agree with the vanity of a man, 
 who, Augustus himself said, would be desirous of acquiring the 
 sovereignty after his death, though unequal to it ; (TACIT. An. i. 13), 
 yet it is scarcely probable, that any poet, in common prudence, would 
 predict any thing so magnificent of a son of Pollio. Further, why 
 has he foretold this divine son to him as a consul only, and not as a 
 father ? which would have reflected much more honour on Pollio. 
 Many, from these difficulties, have attributed the poet's compliment 
 to Caesar Octavius and to some child born in his family, as the cer- 
 tain heir to the empire. Julia, Marcellus, and Drusus, have all been 
 mentioned. As to Drusus, neither his age nor person correspond to 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXI. 403 
 
 the prediction ; and though the age of Marcellus might suit it bet- 
 ter, yet the personal disagreement is the same. With respect to Ju- 
 lia, the daughter of Octavius, there can be no objection upon either 
 account, if the Eclogue were written during the pregnancy of Scri- 
 bonia, and that it was written before her delivery, is credible from 
 the invocation it contains to Lucina : " O, chaste Lucina, aid !" 
 But let it be remembered by those who adopt any of these hypothe- 
 ses, who, and in what station, Octavius then was ; not emperor and 
 Augustus, the sovereign lord of the whole Roman empire, all which 
 dignities became his only after the battle of Actium, nine years pos- 
 terior to the date of this Eclogue ; but a triumvir, equal only in au- 
 thority with Antony at least, not to speak of Lepidus. How then 
 could the poet presume to predict to any son of Octavius, if at that 
 time any son had been born to him, the succession to the empire 1 
 But, if we should even grant, what is really true, that no person 
 more worthy or more proper could be found, or to whom these pre- 
 dictions would be better suited, than to some of the descendants of 
 Octavius ; and if even we should suppose that a son of his was at 
 that time in being, still there is one argument sufficient to overturn 
 the whole, and that is, that the Eclogue is inscribed to Pollio ; for 
 at that time, and even for some time after, Pollio was of the party of 
 Antony, and in opposition to Octavius. Let us with this in our 
 minds take a summary view of the actions of Pollio, after the death 
 of Julius Caesar ; and let us pay some attention to the chronology of 
 the times. In the year of Rome 711, C. Asinius Pollio having con- 
 ducted the war against Sextus Pornpeius, on his return from Spain 
 delivered over his army to Antony, after his flight from Mutina. In 
 the year 713, Pollio held Cisalpine Gaul, as Antony's lieutenant ; 
 and along with Ventidius hovered about the rear of Salvidienus, the 
 lieutenant of Octavius, who was attempting to annoy Lucius Anto- 
 nius : Lucius being besieged at Perusia, Pollio in vain attempted 
 his relief, and afterwards returned to Ravenna : he held Venetia a 
 long time subject to Antony ; and after having performed great ac- 
 tions in that part of the world, joined Antony, bringing over with 
 him, at the same time, Domitius ^Enobarbus, and the fleet under his 
 command. About the end of the year 714, the peace of Brundu- 
 sium took place, the negotiators of which were Pollio as consul, on 
 the part of Antony, and Maecenas on the part of Octavius, and Coc- 
 ceius on the part of both, as their common friend ; and about this 
 time the fourth Eclogue of Virgil was written. In the year 715, 
 
404 
 
 NOTES OPT LECTURE XX|. 
 
 Antony sent Pollio as his lieutenant against the Parthini into Illyri- 
 cum ; who triumphed over them in the month of October. Thus 
 far VELLEIUS, APPIAN, and Dio. About this time a private disa- 
 greement took place between Pollio and Octavius ; and Octavius 
 wrote some indecent verses against Pollio. MACROS. SATURN, ii. 
 14. From this time to the battle of Actium, which happened in 
 723, in the beginning of September, Pollio kept himself perfectly 
 neutral, and took no part in the contest between Antony and Octa- 
 vius. " I must not omit," says VELLEIUS, ii. 86, " a remarkable ac- 
 tion and saving of Asinius Pollio. After the peace of Brundusium 
 (he should have said after his triumph) he continued in Italy, nor 
 did he ever see the queen, or, after the mind of Antony became en- 
 feebled by his destructive passion, take any part in his affairs ; and 
 when Caesar requested him to accompany him to the battle of Acti- 
 um : The kindnesses, said he, which I have rendered Antony, are 
 greater in reality than those he has rendered me, but the latter are 
 better known to the world. I will withdraw myself entirely from 
 the contest, and I shall become the prey of the conqueror." From 
 considering these facts, it appears to me altogether incredible, that 
 Virgil should send, and inscribe to Pollio, a poem in praise of Octa- 
 vius, and wholly written in celebration of his family. LOWTH. 
 
 Virgilii eclogam quartam cum descriptione aureae, sive Messi- 
 anae, aetatis ea, quae inter lesaiana oracula c. vii. seqq. exstat, com- 
 paravimus in Commentar. ad lesai. P. I. p. 305. Causam similitu- 
 dinis Romanum inter atque Hebraeum poetam, respectu quoque ha- 
 bito ad ea quae nostro loco de hac re Lowthus disseruit, satis expo- 
 suit Heyne in Argumento illi Eclogae praemisso. Illud vero mirari 
 satis non possumus, in puero illo, quo nascituro, Virgilio, aut potius 
 Sibylla, canente aurea reditura sit aetas, inter Romanes illius tempo- 
 fis quaerendo tot tantosque viros doctos et ingenosos operam vanissi- 
 mam consumsisse, neque vidisse eos, istum puerum haud minus fic- 
 tionis poeticae esse, ac sunt ceterae descriptiones imaginesque isto 
 in poemate obviae. C. Asinium Gajlum, Pollionis filium, a Virgilio 
 illo carmine celebrari, plerorumque interpretum, Asconio Pediano 
 auctore, est sententia. Sed non cogitarunt isti interpretes, ridicu- 
 lum futurum Virgilium fuisse, si aliquem Pollionis filium cecinisset, 
 antequam gravida Consulis uxor pepererit. Quod Asconii Pediani 
 attinet testimonium, cui multum in hac quaestione tribuere solent, 
 de eo verissimum iudicium tulit Lowthus p. 402, not. Nos quidein 
 nulli dubitamus, Maronem Pollionis sui in orbein Romanum, Brun- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXII. 405 
 
 dusino foedere a se pacatum, merita nobilissimo illo carmine ita ex- 
 tollere, ut spem faceret, fore, ut aurea ilia aetas, de qua iamdudum 
 prisci cecinere vates, earn puero quodam divino, coelesti virgine na- 
 to (vs. 6, 7,) esse reversuram, Pollione Consule initium capiat. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 I can see nothing so very strange and unaccountable in the cir- 
 cumstance that two poets of exalted genius, in describing the same 
 subject, (the golden age), should use similar language. It seems to 
 me that the wonder which Lowth expresses (p. 183) is quite out 
 of place here. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXII. 
 
 [A. p. 189.] Alphabetic poems of the Hebrews. 
 
 The alphabetic poems of the Old Testament are the following : 
 Psalms xxv. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. cxii. cxix. cxlv. Proverbs xxxi. from 
 the tenth verse to the end ; and Lamentations i. iv. Of these the on- 
 ly ones that exhibit any considerable decree of poetical merit are 
 Psalm xxxvii. and Lamentations. The nature of the composition 
 was extremely unfavourable to that glow of feeling so essential to the 
 higher kinds of poetry ; and the excellence of the two poems just 
 mentioned, notwithstanding the disadvantages resulting from the 
 mode of writing, evinces great skill and a wonderful command of 
 language in their authors. The alphabetic arrangement appears sel- 
 dom to have been applied to original composition ; but rather to new 
 collections of detached maxims and sayings, which had long been 
 extant among the people : and the design of it, as Lowth observes, 
 undoubtedly was to aid the memory. The poems of this sort are 
 very few in number, and most of them are somewhat imperfect in 
 the alphabetic arrangement. These imperfections, in some instanc- 
 es, may have arisen from the errors of transcribers. See Ps. xxv. 
 where the verses 1, p, and *j, are wanting ; Ps. 34: 6, 7 ; 37: 7, 8, 
 20, 21 ; 34: 18, etc. (Compare Eichhorn, Einleitung, Band I. S. 
 404 if.) S. 
 
 [B. p. 191.] Subject of the Lamentations of Jeremiah. 
 
 Michaelis, in his edition of Lowth, attempts to defend the opin- 
 ion of Josephus, Jerome, and Usher, in regard to the occasion of the 
 Lamentations o Jeremiah. S. 
 
406 NOTES ON LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 Mutavit tamen postea sententiam Michaelis, et Lowthianam 
 adoptavit ; vid Neue oriental, und exeget. Bibliothek P. I. p. 106. 
 Dathius quoque, qui quum Prophetas maiores ex recensione textus 
 Hebraei et versionum antiquarum Latine versos notisque illustrates 
 primum ederet a. 1779, existimavit, leremiam in Threnis deplorarc 
 funestissimam illam calamitatem, qua piissimus rex losias in proelio 
 contra Aegyptios vitam amisit ; earn sententiam quum librum suum 
 post sex annos curis secundis denuo in lucem emiserit, pluribus ar- 
 gumentis ipse refutavit. Concludit suam de hac re disputationem 
 his verbis : " Aliud accidit argumentum adeo evidens, ut ipse indig- 
 ner, me eius vel oblitum, vel negligentiorem fuisse. Si haec car- 
 mina in memoriam optimi regis losiae composita sunt, cur virtutes 
 eius, pietas in Deum, merita in rempublicam non celebrantur 1 cur 
 nulla mortis tristissimae mentio iniicitur ? Si quoque concedatur, 
 posse locum Cap. IV. 20. de rege losia explicari, tamen hie unus 
 locus non sufficit ad hunc regem tantis meritis insignem, tarn acerbe 
 ib omnibus deploratum, tanquam obiectum primarium horum car- 
 mium constituendum. Q,uae omnia lugent urbem vastatam, tern- 
 plum destructum (V. 6. seqq.), omnem rempublicam sine spe resti- 
 tutionis sublatam." Sed locus iste IV. 20 ne quidem cum aliqua 
 veri specie de losia explicari potest. Sonat is ita : Vita nostra, 
 lovae unctus, captus est in eorumfoveis. Quod minime losiae con- 
 venit, qui non captus, sed occisus est, vid. 2 Reg. xxiii. 29. 
 Plura vide in Eichhornii Einleit. m das A. T. P. III. p. 549, edit, 
 sec., vel p. 626 seqq. edit. tert. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 [A. p. 196.] PSALM XLII. 
 
 This poem seems to have been composed by David, when he 
 was expelled his kingdom by his rebellious son, and compelled to fly 
 to the borders of Lebanon, as it is plain he did, from 2 Sam. xvii. 
 24, 26, 27. Undoubtedly, whoever composed this Psalm was ex- 
 pelled from the sacred city, and wandered as an exile in the regions 
 of Hermon, and the heights of Lebanon, whence Jordan is fed by 
 the melting of the perpetual snow, (v. 7). Let it be remembered, 
 by the way, that David betook himself to these places when he fled 
 from Saul, but concealed himself in the interior parts of Judea. 
 Here then he pitched his camp, protected by the surrounding moun- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXIII. 407 
 
 tains and woods ; and hither the veteran soldiers, attached personal- 
 ly to him, and averse to change, resorted from every part of Pales- 
 tine. Here also, indulging his melancholy, the prospect and the 
 objects about him suggested many of the ideas in this poem. Ob- 
 serving the deer which constantly came from the distant valleys to 
 the fountains of Lebanon, and comparing this circumstance with 
 his earnest desire to revisit the temple of God, and perhaps elevat- 
 ing his thoughts to a higher, celestial temple, he commences his 
 poem : 
 
 " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, 
 " So panteth my soul after thee, O God. 
 " My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God ; 
 " When shall I enter, and appear before God !" 
 
 That is, enter into the temple, from which I am now an exile. He 
 adds a bitterer cause of grief than his exile, namely, the reproaches 
 of the multitude, and the cruel taunt, that he is deserted of his God, 
 and that the deity, of whom he had boasted, fails to appear for his 
 assistance, than which nothing can be more grating to an honest 
 mind, and a mind conscious of its own piety. Compare 2 Sam. xvi. 
 7,8. 
 
 " My tears have been my sustenance, 
 " By day and by night, 
 " While they continually say unto me, 
 ' Where is now thy God ?" 
 
 The repetition of the name of God raises in him fresh uneasiness, 
 and causes all his wounds to bleed again : this forces him to ex- 
 claim : " I remember God, and I dissolve in tears." For so the 
 word inbtf ought to be translated, and not according to the Masore- 
 tic punctuation, " I remember these things :" since an obscurity 
 arises from this punctuation, and it is difficult to say what things 
 are referred to. 
 
 " I remember God, and pour out myself in tears : 
 
 " When I went with the multitude to the temple of God, 
 
 " With the voice of joy and gladnesr, with the multitude leaping for joy." 
 
 He now restrains his tears : 
 
 " Why art thou so cast down, O my soul ? 
 " And why art thou so disquieted within me ? 
 " Hope thou in God, for I still shall praise him." 
 
 He again breaks forth into lamentations, with which he elegantly 
 intermingles a poetical description of Lebanon. There are upon 
 
408 NOTES ON LECTURE XXIII. 
 
 those hills frequent cataracts, and, in the spring season, the rivulets 
 are uncommonly turbid by the melting of the snow : 
 
 " Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy cataracts; 
 " And all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me." 
 
 These form the principal imagery of the poem, and I omit the rest, 
 lest I should fatigue the reader by the minuteness of criticism, 
 which is both useless and impertinent, when the subject wants no 
 illustration. MICHAELIS. 
 
 PSALM XLIII. connected with XLII. 
 
 I find EUSEBIUS was formerly of the same opinion. " This 
 Psalm is without a title in the original, and consequently in all the 
 old translations : there is indeed great reason, from the similarity of 
 thought and expression in both the Psalms, to believe that it original- 
 ly made a part of the Psalm preceding." In Psalm xliii. this con- 
 jecture receives further confirmation from the manuscripts. The 
 xliid and xliiid Psalms are united together in twenty-two MSS. 
 The Psalms, however, are distinguished from each other in the 
 MSS. rarely by the numeral letters, but chiefly by these two meth- 
 ods : either by a single word placed in the vacant space between 
 them, which is usually the breadth of one line : and this word is 
 commonly the last word of the preceding, or the initial word of the 
 succeeding Psalm ; or else by the first word of each Psalm being 
 transcribed in letters of a larger size. LOWTH. 
 
 [B. p. 196.] Book ofJasher, 
 
 Since so many conjectures have been published concerning the 
 book of Jasher and its title, without coming to any certain decision, 
 I will also, without further apology, venture to give my sentiments 
 upon it. The book of Jasher is twice quoted, first in Josh. x. 13, 
 where the quotation is evidently poetical, and forms exactly three 
 distichs : 
 
 " Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, 
 
 " And thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon : 
 
 " And the Sun stood still, and the Moon stayed her course, 
 
 " Until the people were avenged of their enemies. 
 
 " And the Sun tarried in the midst of the heavens, 
 
 " And hasted not to go down in a whole day." 
 
 And afterwards in the passage referred to in the text, we find the 
 above lamentation of David extracted from it. The custom of the 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXIIL. 409 
 
 Hebrews giving titles to their books from the initial word is well 
 known, as Genesis is called rPtfN^s, etc. They also sometimes 
 named the book, from some remarkable word in the first sentence ; 
 thus the book of Numbers is sometimes called nsn^a. We find 
 also in their writings, canticles which had been produced on impor- 
 tant occasions, introduced by some form of this kind : -ittr tN (then 
 sang) or ->ttJ^, etc. thus nttJfc ptf; TK, "then sang Moses," 
 Exod. xv. 1. rnill "K??rn "and Deborah sang," Jud. v. 1. See 
 also the same inscription of Psalm xviii. Thus I suppose the book 
 of Jashcr to have been some collection of sacred songs, composed at 
 different times and on different occasions, and to have had this title, 
 because the hook itself and most of the songs began in general with 
 this word : 1^*1.* And the old Syriac translator was certainly of 
 this opinion, when in these places he substituted the word "iiD"^ (he 
 sang;) the meaning of which, says the ARABIC commentator, is a 
 book of songs ; in another place he himself explains it by a word 
 expressive of hymns. I, however, agree in opinion with those, 
 how suppose this Lamentation originally to have borne the title of 
 ZYuJp. (a bow) either in memory of the slaughter made by the archers 
 of the enemy, or from the bow of Jonathan, of which particular men- 
 tion is made in verse 22. The LXX seem to have favoured this 
 opinion. LOWTH. 
 
 The opinion of Lowth in regard to the contents of the book of Jash- 
 er is the one now most generally admitted among the ablest critics ; 
 though there is a difference of opinion respecting the etymology of 
 the word. (Compare Herder, Geist, Th. IT. S. 129; Gesenius, 
 Lex. in li^). Two copies of this ancient book are said to have 
 been recently discovered, one in Persia and the other in Morocco ; 
 from which an edition of the work is to be printed in England. S. 
 
 Ilgen T,2J"n 1SD notare arbitratur librum dcxtfritatis, quo nom- 
 ine collectio carminum, exempla dexteritatis et omnis virtutis, qualis 
 ea illo tempore esse poterat, celebraritium, nuncupata esset, quetnad- 
 modum Celebris cuiusdarii apud Arabas Antholoffiae liber primus, 
 qui carmina continet heroum facta laudantia, &M^, Hkamasa, 
 id est, virtus bellica, inscribitur. (C. D. Ilgen de itnb. lapidco, et 
 solis ac lunae mora, etc. Lips. 1793). ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 Concerning the stopping of the sun and moon in their course, 
 compare Homer, Iliad, II. 412 ff. 
 
 * The future tense of nTO is TSJ\ and not "ftp, as Lowth supposes. 
 
 52 ' 
 
410 NOTES ON LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 [C. p. 199.] Meaning of r\ aft 2 SAM. I. 18. 
 
 Lowthianam coniecturam confirmat GVIL. IONES, Poes. Asiat. 
 Commentar. L. IV. C. XIII. p. 326. edit. prim. Oxon., s. p. 269. 
 Lips. not. : " Inscribitur," inquit, " hoc poema etiam ni?3j5, Arcus, 
 more Asiaticorum, qui ea carmina, quibus praecipue delectantur, 
 inscriptione brevi, et de versu quodam insigniori desumpta, notare 
 solent. Sic percelebratum carmen poetae Cab Ben Zoheir [a G. 
 I. Lette editum una cum Amralkeisii Moallaka, Lugd. Batav. 1748. 
 4.] vocitatur modo (jV-tf^l, Securitas, modo OVXAW v^/^ Vj JBanat 
 Soai, propterea quod hoc habeat initium : 
 
 Abiit arnica mea Soada, et cor meum hodie moerore conficitur ! 
 Sic Alcorani capita inscribuntur : /^XJl [Sur. CVIII. de Cauthar, 
 -fluvio Paradisi, cuius in eo Cap. mentio], ^y**' [Elephas, Sur. 
 CV.], vJ&xJf [Sanguis concretus, Sur XCVL], J/AJf [Nox,Sur. 
 XCIL], (j^<f*xJf [Sol, Sur XCI]. Ceterum Jones 1. c. Thren- 
 um Davidicum non solum in versiculos distinctum, verum etiam el- 
 egantissima Graeca metaphrasi expressum exhibuit. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXIV. 
 
 [A. p. 202.] ECCLESIASTES xii. 11. 
 
 This I think is one of the gemmate proverbs (or those which 
 " contain a double image," as mentioned before) and requires a 
 different mode of interpretation for the two images, as having noth- 
 ing coalescent in their natures. It is the property of a proverb to 
 prick sharply, and hold Jirmly. The first idea is included in the 
 image of a goad the latter in the nail deeply, and therefore jirmly 
 driven. HENLEY. 
 
 In Palestine, it formerly made an essential part of the building 
 of a house, to furnish the inside of the several apartments with sets 
 of spikes, nails, or large pegs, upon which to dispose of, and hang 
 up, the several movables in common use, and proper to the apart- 
 ment. These spikes they worked into the walls at the first erection 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXIV. 411 
 
 of them ; the walls being of such materials, that they could not bear 
 their being driven in afterwards ; and they were contrived so as to 
 strengthen the walls by binding the parts together, as well as to 
 serve for convenience. LOWTH. 
 
 [B. P . 205.] 
 
 It is the opinion of a very ingenious writer, in a learned work 
 which he has lately produced, that the greater part of this book was 
 written in prose, but that it contains many scraps of poetry, intro- 
 duced as occasion served : and to this opinion I am inclined to as- 
 sent. See A. V. Desvoeux, Tent. Phil, et Crit. in Eccl. Lib. II. 
 Cap. 1. LOWTH. 
 
 For a very full and interesting discussion of the whole subject, 
 see Eichhorn, (Einleitung, Band V. SS. 250288). The subject 
 is discussed more briefly, but with equal learning and greater sobrie- 
 ty, by Jahn, (Introduction to the Old Testament, pp. 490 497 of 
 Turner's translation). This is a book which ought to be in the 
 hands of every biblical student. He who merely reads it, will be 
 disappointed ; but he who studies it, will be richly rewarded for his 
 labour. . S. 
 
 [C. p. 209.] ECCLESIASTICUS xxiv. 27. 
 
 The grandson of Sirach appears in this place to have fallen into 
 an error, and to have failed of expressing the sentiment of his ances- 
 tor : for finding the word imperfectly written in his copy, he read it 
 *liO, and rashly translated it ojg cpwg (as the light.) Observe also 
 the incongruity of this word with the context, according to the com- 
 mon reading : Pison, Tigris, Euphrates, Jordan, the light, Gihon : 
 in the place of the light, some river must certainly be intended, and 
 therefore we ought to read *nar!3, o/ff o IIoTctfioG, as the river, that 
 is, the Nile, so called, for the sake of distinction : and doubtless to 
 a Jew, who resided in its neighbourhood, and who was a spectator 
 of its wonderful inundations, it would appear worthy of being rank- 
 ed with the most noble rivers, and consequently worthy of this dis- 
 tinction. Moreover, JABLONSKY, Pantheon Egypt, lib. iv. cap. i. 
 sect. 2, is of opinion, that the word 'nN' 1 chiefly refers to the Nile in 
 the sacred writers ; and supposes ^N* 1 , in the Egyptian JARO, to have 
 been the first and only name of the Nile among the Egyptians. 
 This word, however, itself is defectively read ^ao, Amos viii. 8, 
 (" it is read "jaos in four MSS." K.) but being repeated immediate* 
 
412 NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 
 
 ly, it is more fully expressed ifirs, ix. 5. See CAPPELL, Grit. Sac. 
 iv. 2, 11. A learned friend of mine observed to me, that the great 
 BOCHART had long since been of the same opinion, whose authority 
 I am happy to adduce in favour of what I have here asserted : " HK 
 is a r>ver, as well as "ifcO. So it occurs Amos viii. 8, where it is 
 spoken of the Nile, and in the same sense it is used by the son of 
 Sirach, Ecclus. xxiv. 27, where it has been hastily translated the 
 light.'' Chanaan, lib. i. cap. 23. LOWTH. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 
 
 [A. p. 211.] Antiquity oftJte ode. 
 
 This conclusion appears to me neither consonant to reason nor 
 to fact. The first use of poetry was probably to preserve the re- 
 membrance of events, and not the expressions of passion ; accord- 
 ingly, the remains of the first poetic compositions appear to have 
 been of the former kind. One instance was given in a preceding 
 Lecture relative to the history of Lamech, and another may, here be 
 added concerning that of Nimrod " He was a mighty hunter (rath- 
 er warrior) before the Lord :" wherefore it is said : 
 
 " As Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord." 
 
 Agreeable to this idea is an observation, respecting the Arabians, 
 of the late ingenious but ill-treated Dr. Brown : " The oldest compo- 
 sitions are in rhythm, or rude verse, and are often cited as proofs of 
 their subsequent history." It is not only evident that Moses applied 
 them in this way, but also that they were long prior to any example 
 of the existence of an ode ; which, however, seems to have been in 
 fact, as well as in nature, the next species of poetic composition. 
 
 HENLEY. 
 
 The rude poetry of barbarous nations (as far as we can judge 
 from the accounts of those who have visited the South Sea Islands 
 and the Indian nations) relates in general to love and war ; it is em- 
 ployed in cherishing, or in exciting the passions. Notwithstanding, 
 therefore, the ingenuity of the above remark (which on that account 
 I would not omit) I am inclined to think there is more foundation 
 for our author's theory than Mr. H. supposes. See Essays Hist, and 
 Mor. Ess. i. p. 31 . GREGORY. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 413 
 
 [B. p. 214.] Lyric poetry of David. 
 
 It will not be unseasonable in this place, perhaps, to offer a few 
 remarks on the peculiar character of the lyric poetry of David. For 
 some commentators, by too indiscriminately praising it, have paid no 
 regard to its peculiar characteristics ; and thus, from an intemperate 
 zeal, the poet has even lost a part of that commendation which was 
 justly due to him. 
 
 For my part, judging rather by my taste and feelings, than by 
 any rules of art, I think David seems to excel in this first species of 
 ode, the characteristic of which is sweetness. He is unequalled 
 when he describes the objects of nature, the fields, the woods, the 
 fountains ; and of his other odes those are most excellent, which he 
 composed in his exiles : nor is this any thing extraordinary ; he had 
 then more leisure for the cultivation of poetry, he experienced more 
 vivid sensations than at other times, and he treated of those objects 
 which, being immediately before his eyes, brought back to his mind 
 the recollection of his youth, and inspired his imagination with fresh 
 vigour. It is however remarkable, that those which he composed in 
 his old age, when he fled from Absalom, not only equal the fruits of 
 his early years, but even surpass them in fire and spirit : if, as I am 
 fully persuaded, the twenty-third and forty-second Psalms were pro- 
 duced during that exile. 
 
 On the other hand, those Psalms interest me less, in which the 
 more violent affections prevail, whether of sorrow or indignation, not 
 even excepting such as imprecate curses on his enemies. There is 
 in these much of the terrific ; but in reading them the heart is not 
 affected, the passions are not vehemently excited. These odes do 
 not possess that general solemnity and awful sublimity which charac- 
 terize the book of Job, a composition of a different class, but pos- 
 sessing exquisite force in moving the passions. Neither are loftiness 
 of diction, or boldness in describing objects of terror, to be account- 
 ed among the excellencies of David ; for in these respects he not 
 only yields, in my opinion, to Job, but also to Moses. I do not ex- 
 cept the eighteenth Psalm, in the first verses of which I observe more 
 of art and design, than of real horror and sublimity : in what follows, 
 the warmth of the composition subsides, and it becomes more tem- 
 perate than might be expected from such an exordium. The Mosa- 
 ic Psalms I confess please me more in this respect, and therefore I 
 prefer the twenty-ninth to that in question. MICHAELIS. 
 
414 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 
 
 [C. p. 215.] PSALM XXIH. 
 
 This Psalm is deserving of all the commendation which our au- 
 thor has bestowed upon it. If I am not mistaken, it was composed 
 by David, when he was expelled from the holy city and temple : for 
 in the 6th verse he hopes for a return to the house of God. Since 
 of all the divine mercies he particularly commemorates this, that in 
 time of necessity he wants for nothing, and is even received to a 
 banquet in the sight of his enemies, I conceive it to relate to that 
 time, when, flying from the contest with his disobedient son, he 
 pitched his camp beyond Jordan, and was in danger of seeing his 
 little army perish for want of provision in that uncultivated region, 
 or of being deserted by all his friends. Affairs, however, turned 
 out quite different : for what he could not foresee or hope, the Al- 
 mighty performed for him. The veteran soldiers flowed in to him 
 from every quarter, and his whole camp was so liberally supported 
 by the good and opulent citizens, that in this very situation he was 
 enabled to collect an army and risk the event of a battle. See 2 
 Sam. xvii. 26 29. 
 
 He therefore compares himself to a sheep, and the Almighty to 
 a shepherd : a very obvious figure, and which every day occurred to 
 his sight during his stay in those desert parts. The sheep, timid, 
 defenceless, exposed to all the beasts of prey, and possessed of little 
 knowledge or power of foreseeing or avoiding danger, are indebted 
 for life, safety, and every thing, to the care of the shepherd. We 
 must remember also, that the exiled king had formerly himself been 
 a shepherd. The recollection therefore of his past life breaks in up- 
 on his mind. " Jehovah, " says he, " is my shepherd, I shall want 
 nothing." It is his province to provide for my existence, and to 
 procure for me those blessings xvhich I am unable to obtain for my- 
 self. The tender herb (tt'in , which is probably the virgin herb, or 
 that which has not budded into seed or blossom) is more grateful to 
 sheep than that which is seeded (nii)2>), Gen. i. 10, 11. In mea- 
 dows, therefore, covered with the green and tender grass, he sup- 
 poses Jehovah to cause him to rest under his care. He was expell- 
 ed to Lebanon, from the tops of which cataracts of melted snow are 
 constantly falling : these are dangerous for sheep to approach, nor 
 is the water sufficiently wholesome. He therefore adds, that he is 
 led to waters gently flowing, where the clear stream meanders 
 through the fertile plain. The scene which was before his eyes con- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 415 
 
 eisted of rude hills and valleys, deep, gloomy, dark, and horrid, the 
 haunts only of the fiercest animals. I would here remark, that the 
 word mJDbiS, which, according to the Masoretic punctuation, is read 
 rnttbit, and translated the shadows of death, would be better read 
 *rittbj and translated simply shades, or the valley of the shades, and 
 I am led to this conclusion by comparing it with the Arabic. There 
 is no safety for the sheep in these valleys but in the care of the shep- 
 herd. You are therefore presented with a great variety of contrast- 
 ed imagery in this Psalm ; on the one hand, the open pastures, and 
 the flowing rivulets, the recollection of which never fails to delight ; 
 and on the other hand, the cheerless and gloomy valleys, which in- 
 spire the reader with fresh horror. Descending from figurative to 
 plain language, he next celebrates the bounty of God in preparing 
 him a banquet in the face of his enemies ; and therefore regales 
 himself with the delicious hope, that he shall once more be restored 
 to his sacred temple. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [D. p. 21G.] 
 
 This Psalm is one of the fifteen, which are entitled, Odes of the 
 Ascensions : that is, which were sung when the people came up ei- 
 ther to worship in Jerusalem at the annual festivals, or perhaps from 
 the Babylonish captivity. The return is certainly called " the as- 
 cension or coming up from Babylon," Ezr. vii. 9. And the old SYRIAO 
 translator, who explains the subjects of the Psalms by apposite titles, 
 refers to this circumstance almost all the Psalms that bear this in- 
 scription ; some of them indeed without sufficient foundation ; but 
 many of them manifestly have relation to it. Theodoret indiscrim- 
 inately explains them all as relating to the Babylonish captivity : and 
 thus illustrates the title : " Odes of the Ascensions : Theodotion, 
 " Songs of the Ascensions :" But Symmachus and Aquila, "on the re- 
 turns." It is evident that the coming up and the ascent relate to 
 the return of the people from the Babylonish captivity." THEOD. 
 in Ps. cxx. But we must not omit remarking also, that both in the 
 Old and New Testament there is scarcely a phrase more common 
 than " to go up to Jerusalem, to go up to the feast," etc. (See John,, 
 vii. 8.) And observe above the rest, Ps. cxxii. which can scarcely 
 be applied to any thing but the celebration of some festival. What 
 the Jews say about the steps ascending to the temple is unworthy 
 the attention of any person of common sense. In the last period of 
 this Psalm, the particle &U5 is necessarily to be referred to the word 
 
416 NOTES ON LECTURE XXV. 
 
 , and there is nothing else to which it can be referred. Besides, 
 to what, except to Sion, can the promises nD~Orj and D^n relate ? 
 (See particularly Ps. cxxxii. 13 and 15.) These words are indeed 
 ambiguous, so that they may refer either to temporal or eternal hap- 
 piness, or to both alike. (Compare Deut. xxviii. 2, etc. with Ps. 
 xxiv. 5, and Prov. xxvii. 27, with Dan. xxii. 2.) And in this place, 
 according to the nature of the mystical allegory, they may be inter- 
 preted in either sense. If these remarks be true, the critics have 
 taken a great deal of pains about nothing. There is no occasion 
 for emendation. If the ellipsis be only supplied by the word ^t2l 
 (as the dew) or simply by the particle 1 or D (and or as) before the 
 word descending (or which descends) the construction will be com- 
 plete. In the same manner Hezekiah says in Isaiah : 
 
 " qSBSN fS> Tiay 0103." Chap, xxxviii. 14. LOWTH. 
 
 Ambigo adhuc, nihil de titulis Psalmorum certi statui posse ra- 
 tus, dum voces musicos et poeticas orientis ignoramus. Inter has 
 
 sine dubio est scalae nomen. In ASSEMANI Bibliotheca Orientali, 
 
 . p jf . 
 
 T. I. p. 62, invenio J.JM 0? ja-^on) scalas odarum, quae tamen 
 
 quales sint, dicere non habeo. MICHAELIS. 
 
 Cf. I. G. EICHHORNII Praefat. ad lonesii Commentarios Poes. 
 Asiat. p. XXXII. et XXXIV., ubi ipsa Assemanii verba adducun- 
 
 (P- .. <n 
 A -^*flD esse nomen cuidam carminum 
 
 generi proprium. Hebraeorum sententia, a Nostratibus fere explo- 
 sa, Psalmos illos quindecim qui CXIX. excipiunt, appellatos esse 
 rnb^an "^'I) ideo, quod decantari Levitis sueverint ex gradibus illis 
 quindecim, per quos ex feminarum atrio, in templo Hierosolymitano, 
 ad Israelitarum atriurn ascendendum erat, doctum defensorem nacta 
 est I. G. LACKEMACHER in Observatt. philologg. P. IX. p. 60., cf. 
 P. I. p. 26. Varias de istius appellationis ratione sententias expen- 
 dit EBERHARD TILING in Disquisitione de ratione Inscriptionis XV. 
 Psalmorum, qui dicuntur rnb^ttn ^*<V, seu Cantica Ascensionum, 
 una cum succincta expositione eorundem, Bremae 1765, in octon. 
 Nee non I. A. STARK in Davidis aliorumque Poetarum Hebraeor. 
 Carmina. Vol. I. p. 422. seqq. et I. I. BELLERMANN in dem Ver- 
 such ueber die Metrik der Hebraeer, p. 190. seqq., qui appellationem 
 rnb^ar, -p'ij ad rem metricam pertinere, illaque carmen versibus 
 trochaicis constans significari existimat, fib?. 73 n enim esse pedem 
 metricum, in quo tonus ascendat, id est, cuius syllaba prior sit longa. 
 Alias coniecturas dabit Argumentum a Nobis Psalmo cxx. prae- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXVI. 417 
 
 missum in Psalmis perpetua Annotatione illustratis, Vol. III. p. 2514 
 seqq. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 (Compare Stuart's Hebrew Chrestomathy, p. 198 ; De Wette, 
 Commentar ueber die Psalmen, Einleitung, SS. 43, 44 ; and Ge- 
 senius, Commentar ueber Jes. 17: 13. 26: 21). S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVI. 
 
 [A. p. 218.] PSALM xci. 9. 
 
 I apprehend there is no change of person till the 14th verse ^ 
 for the 9th verse I take to be of quite a different nature. 
 " For thou, JEHOVAH, art my hope, 
 " Very high hast thou placed thy refuge." 
 
 There are many interpretations of this period, which are differently 
 approved by different persons. One of these is, that the first mem- 
 ber consists of an address from the believer to God, and the second 
 of a reply from the prophet to the believer : which is extremely harsh 
 and improbable, although the plain and obvious construction of the 
 passage favours this opinion. Others, among which are the old 
 translators, suppose, that in the second line there is no change of 
 persons at all, but that JEHOVAH is still spoken of: , 
 
 ' Who hast placed thy dwelling on high ;" 
 
 which is altogether nothing. Others, in fine, to avoid these absur- 
 dities, have fallen into still greater ; for they give quite a new turn 
 to the sentence, altering the construction in this manner : 
 
 " For thou, JEHOVAH, who art my hope, 
 
 " Hast placed thy refuge very high :" 
 
 But this I think will scarcely be endured by a good ear, which is 
 ever, so little accustomed to the Hebrew idiom. THEODORET for- 
 merly made a different attempt upon the passage : 
 
 " There is wanting to the construction of the sentence, THOU 
 HAST SAID, thou Lord art my hope. This is the usual idiom of the 
 prophetic writings, and especially of the Psalms." 
 
 I have very little doubt that this is the true sense of the passage. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 [B. p. 222.] Pindaric and. Hebrew ode. 
 
 Multo verius, nostra sententia, de odae Hebraeae atque Pindar- 
 ioae ratione, iudicium tulit Lowthus, quam A. F. RVCKERSFELDER, 
 53 
 
418 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVI. 
 
 qui in Commentatwne quaedam Cantica Sacra ex genio Pindarico- 
 rum illustrante (in Auctoris Sylloge Commentationum et Observa- 
 tionum philologico-exegeticarum et crilicarum, Daventr. 1762 in 
 octon.) probare conatus est, non ignota Hebraeis fuisse carmina, 
 quae Pindaricum internum aeque ac externum prae se ferant char- 
 acterem, et ita quidem, ut videri possit, earn poesin Pindaro dein 
 usitatam, primum Ebraeis debere originem. Quern in finem duo 
 celeberrima carmina, Deborae 'JEnwlxiov, lud. v. et Psalmum 
 Ixviii. in Strophas Chorosque divisa, atque ad Pindarici carmi- 
 nis regulas exacta proposuit. duod autem carminis Pindarici pri- 
 marium characterem in eo situm esse statuit, quod obiectum carmi- 
 nis poetae semper proxime sub oculo versetur, seu quod orrinia in Pin- 
 dari carminibus faciant ad confirmandam vel illustrandam unicam 
 propositionem primariam, sine digressionibus,a.ut aliis poetarum licen- 
 tiis, duplicem scopum coniungentibus, id, ut operose demonstrare 
 studeat unius alteriusve odae Pindaricae analysi, tamen nemini per- 
 suaserit. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [C. p. 224.] Didactic and historic Psalms. 
 
 Ad secundum poeseos lyricae genus, quod lenioris et remissions 
 sonus odas constituit, I. A. STARK (in Sylloge Commentatt. p. 56. 
 seqq., et in Davidis aliorumque poetarum Hebraeorum Carmm. Libr. 
 V. p. 604 jf recte observat maxime referendos esse didactici atque 
 historici argumenti Psalmos. Poeta in his carminibus non ipse fin- 
 git, non inflammatae imaginationi et concitatis affectibus indulget ; 
 sed inventam iam a veritate materiam arripit, earn poeseos gratiis 
 condecoratam lectori et spectatori ante oculos ponit, et ita quidem, 
 ut modo ad primum, sublimem, characterem ascendat et summo 
 splendore atque magnificentia illam induat : modo vero ad planum 
 characterem se demittat, et omnibus gratiis, pulchritudine atque iu- 
 cunditate earn ornet. Et e Psalmis quidem didactici argumenti 
 exempla profert Ps. xxiii. xxvii. xlvi. 1. cxxviii., ex historicis Ps. cv. 
 cvi., quorum ille res Israelitarum a primis gentis initiis ad Palestinae 
 occupationem celebrat, hie vero fata eorum ab exitu ex Aegypto ad 
 reditum ex captivitate Babylonica canit. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXVlI. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 [A. p. 228.] PSALM xxiv. 6. 
 It ought to be read either with the LXX. VULG. ARAB. 
 
 U 1 ^^3 I T Y 
 
 13 B ; or with the SYR. Sps^ btf "pD, which is much the 
 same. " It is Sp ^ ^nbtt "p- 3 m a ^^. m possession of EBNER 
 ESCHENBACH, JNorimberg. See NADLERI Disscrtat. de EBNERI 
 Codicibus MStis. 1748." K. The holy ark, and the shechinah 
 which remained upon it, the symbol of the divine presence, is called 
 the face of God : and to seek the face of God, is to appear before 
 the ark, to worship at the sanctuary of God ; which was required of 
 the Israelites thrice a year. See 2 Sam. xxi. 1. 2 Chron. vii. 14. 
 Ps. xxvii. 8. Exod. xxiii. 17. 
 
 " Seek JEHOVAH and his strength, 
 
 " Seek his face for ever. Psalm cv. 4. 
 
 Where it is worthy of remark, that IT? (his strength) is parallel 
 and synonymous to V3B (his face) and signifies the ark of God : 
 compare Psalm Ixxviii. 61, cxxxii. 8. They but trifle, who endea- 
 vour to extort any thing reasonable from the common reading. Fur- 
 ther, I am of opinion, that in vs. 9th the verb JNttSm in Niphal 
 ought to be repeated : so all the old translators seem to have read it. 
 
 LOWTH. 
 
 Quid tamen in hac sententia desiderari possit, non video : quae- 
 rcntcs faciem tuam sunt lacobus : i. e. ii demum Israelitae veri, dig- 
 nique hoc monte habentur, qui tuam faciem quaerunt. Veteresne, 
 quos citat noster, legerint ap3 VfiJ , an cum non paucis interpretum 
 Spy" 1 elliptice poni pro Deo lacobi crediderint, incertum est. Ara- 
 bis certe et Aethiopis nulla in variis lectionibus Psalmorum existi- 
 mandis auctoritas numerusve, Graeca interpretantium, non Hebraica. 
 In Psalmis idem de Vulgata versione plerumque tenendum, alibi 
 meliore et magis sua. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [B. p. 229.] Interpretation of the historical Psalms. 
 I wish most earnestly, that this observation of our author might 
 be properly attended to by the commentators upon the Psalms : 
 since whoever neglects it must of necessity fall into very gross errors. 
 There are some who, attempting to explain the Psalms from the his- 
 torical parts of Scripture, act as if every occurrence were known to 
 them, and as if nothing had happened during the reign of David 
 
420 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVIf. 
 
 which was not committed to writing. This, however, considering 
 the extreme brevity of the sacred history, and the number and mag- 
 nitude of the facts which it relates, must of course be verj far from 
 the truth. The causes and motives of many wars are not at all ad- 
 verted to, the battles that are related are few, and those the princi- 
 pal. Who can doubt, though ever so unexperienced in military af- 
 fairs, that many things occurred, which are not mentioned, between 
 the desertion of Jerusalem by David, and that famous battle, which 
 extinguished the rebellion of Absalom? The camp must have been 
 frequently removed, as circumstances varied, to places of greater 
 safety ; much trouble must have been had in collecting the veteran 
 soldiers from different posts, and not a few battles and skirmishes 
 must have occurred, before the exiled king could so far presume 
 upon the strength and increase of his army as to quit the mountains, 
 and try the open field. This last battle being fought on this side 
 of Jordan, in the forest of Ephraim, is it not natural to suppose, that 
 something must have occurred to compel Absalom, whose camp was 
 beyond Jordan, to return into Palestine, properly so called : possibly 
 the preservation of the royal city ? Or is it possible to compare the 
 history in 2 Sam. viii. 13, and Psalm Ix. and not perceive, that 
 some unfortunate events must have happened previous to the victo- 
 ries over the Syrians and Idumeans, and that affairs must have been 
 unhappily situated in. Palestine itself; that even the royal city must 
 have been in danger ; since the Idumeans penetrated even so far as 
 the valley of Salt, which is scarcely distant one day's journey ? If 
 all these things be omitted ; if, moreover, in the book of Samuel 
 no sufficiently express mention is made of the Assyrians, with 
 whom David certainly waged war, Ps. Ixxxiii. 9, why should we not 
 suppose that many lesser facts are omitted in the history, to which 
 however a poet might allude, as natural and proper matter of ampli- 
 fication ? But to return to the point I set out from, those who will 
 not allow themselves to be ignorant of a great part of the Jewish 
 history, will be apt to explain more of the Psalms upon the same 
 principle, and as relating to the same facts, than they ought : whence 
 the poetry will appear tame and languid, abounding in words, but 
 with little variety of description or sentiment. 
 
 There are commentators of another class, who take inexcusable 
 liberties of invention, and instead of resorting to the records of the 
 ancients, endeavour to supply facts from their own ingenuity : in 
 which way some of the biographers of David have greatly indulged 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXVII. 421 
 
 themselves, and particularly DELANY. For example, in the seventh 
 chap, of the 3d vol. he takes it for granted, from Ps. xxxviii. and xli. 
 that at the time when Absalom formed the rebellion, David was ill 
 of the small-pox (a disease which we cannot pretend to assert from 
 any historical proof to have been known at that period, and from 
 which the king at his time of life could scarcely have recovered) and 
 to shew that nothing could exceed his rashness in inventing, he adds, 
 that by means of the disease he lost the use of his right eye for some 
 time. 
 
 Others have recourse to mystical interpretations, or those histori- 
 cal passages which they do not understand they convert into pro- 
 phecies : into none of these errors would mankind have fallen, but 
 through the persuasion, that the whole history of the Jews was mi- 
 nutely detailed to them, and that there were no circumstances with 
 which they were unacquainted. MICHAELIS. 
 
 [C. p. 231.] PSALM xxix. 9. 
 
 The oaks fire averted with pain or tremble: fiVft or J"fr n & is an 
 oak and certainly this word frequently occurs in the plural mascu- 
 line, with the insertion of \ And in this sense the SYR. has taken 
 it, who renders it ttn^N 3^721. For the word y*i in Syriac as well 
 as P^ebrew, denotes motion or agitation of any kind ; nor is its 
 meaning confined to the pains of childbirth. See Isa. li. 9. "This 
 explanation of the word Vbllrp in the sense of moving or shaking, 
 is established beyond a doubt upon the authority of the Arabic verb 
 ^n, to move or shake" H. Though the word ttnb^tf does not ap- 
 pear in the Syriac Lexicons to signify an oak, yet it occurs four 
 times in this sense in the Syriac version, exactly answering to the 
 Hebrew word nirK, 2 Sam. xviii. 9, 10, 14. as also in this place. 
 The commom translations suppose this passage to relate to the hinds 
 bringing forth young : which agrees very little with the rest of the 
 imagery either in nature or dignity : nor do I feel myself persuaded 
 even by the reasonings of the learned Bochart on this subject, Hie- 
 roz. Part i. lib. iii. chap. 17. Whereas the oak struck with lightning 
 admirably agrees with the context. And Bochart himself explains 
 the word rfrAX (which has been absurdly understood by the Maso- 
 rites and other commentators as relating to a stag) as spoken of a 
 tree in a very beautiful explication of an obscure passage in Gen. xlix. 
 21. LOWTII. 
 
 Lowthianae interpretation! obstat primo, quod nomen rfrtf, quer- 
 
422 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVII. 
 
 cus, sive terebinthus, in plurali ubique Q^fi* dicitur, nusquam nibfij 
 sive rnb'W ; deinde quod tbin de pariendo usurpatur lesai. li. 2, 
 atque de purturiendo cervarum lob. xxxix. 4. Vnde recte nostra 
 verba Chaldaeus reddidit tfn^btf 'ptsafc, et Hieronymus, obstetricans 
 cervis, Aquila (odivovrog, et Q,uinta editio, pato/ufvou tKacpovg. Et 
 quum vates antea ipsas vastissirnas solitudines lovae fragore concuti 
 cecinisset, subsideret oratio, si arborum, tempestate commotarum, 
 mtntionem nunc subiicerit. Egregria contra, et minime vulgari 
 poeta digna sententia, animantium quoque genera, lovae voce audita, 
 terrore perterrita ita contremere, at parerent ante legitimum tempus, 
 et ipsa ea animalia, quae suo etiara tempore aegre enitantur. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 Conjectural emendations of the text. 
 
 The two notes which I have copied from Lowth on this Lecture, 
 (Notes A and C) afford a tolerably fair example of the Bishop's 
 disposition to condemn the Masorites and alter the text, wherever he 
 finds a difficulty. Several notes of this kind I have omitted, and 
 these I have retained, rather for the purpose of giving a specimen of 
 Lowth's manner in such cases, than from any opinion of the cor- 
 rectness or usefulness of his conjectural criticisms. The groundless- 
 ness of his conjectures in these two instances (A and C) is suffi- 
 ciently evinced by the remarks of Michaelis and Rosenmueller, 
 which immediately follow his. Conjectural emendations of the 
 scriptural text are always suspicious ; the result, for the most part, 
 of ignorance or indolence ; and accurate investigation almost uni- 
 formly shows them to be wrong, and as absurd as they are presump- 
 tuous. If the reader wishes for evidence of this truth that will be 
 perfectly satisfactory, he need only compare the verbal criticisms in 
 Lowth's Commentary on Isaiah with the more recent arid accurate 
 philological investigations of Gesenius. 
 
 The Latin versions of the passages of Scripture which Lowth 
 has introduced into these Lectures, are deservedly classed with the 
 most elegant and beautiful specimens of translation that have ever 
 been produced. Yet they can never be taken upon trust. They 
 must always be compared with the original. Whenever he follows 
 his original, he is admirably exact as well as elegant ; but when he 
 forsakes the text and gives loose to conjecture (as he sometimes 
 does), he ought not to be trusted. For the sake of example, let the 
 student compare his translation of the first verses of the ninety-first 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXVIII. 423 
 
 Psalm (Lect. XXVI. p. 217) with the original, and with the Com- 
 mentaries of Rosenmueller or De Wette. In the original edition of 
 his Lectures he has a note on these verses, defending his own trans- 
 lation, and severely censuring the Masorites for their punctuation of 
 the text : but every critic is now convinced that the Masorites were 
 in the right, and the Bishop wrong. So it happens in almost every 
 case of conjectural emendation. 
 
 If Lowth, then, with all his genius and scholarship, was betray- 
 ed into such errors, when he attempted to improve the text of the 
 Bible by his own conjectures ; what can be expected from others, 
 who, without his talents or learning, imitate him in his daring spirit 
 of conjecture ? It should be remembered, however, to the honour 
 Growth, that he usually proposes his emendations with all the mod- 
 esty and diffidence characteristic of true genius ; that he wrote be- 
 fore the text of the Bible was settled, and at a time when great re- 
 sults were expected from the collations of Kennicott ; that he had 
 the ardent and adventurous spirit of a new discoverer ; and that 
 critics, at that period, had not learned so well as they have since, 
 that patient application is a much surer, though a more toilsome way 
 of coming at truth, than bold conjecture, which costs neither time 
 nor labour. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 [A. p. 234.] Song of Deborah. 
 
 Antiquissimum Deborae imvlxiov ad carminis Pindarici regulas 
 exactum et in Strophas, Antistrophas et Epodas divisum, quae a tri- 
 bus choris fuerint cantatae, praemissa carminis analysi accuratiore, 
 subiunctoque Commentario, legitur in A. F. RVCKERSFELDERI Syllo- 
 ge Commentatt. Cap. V. p. 53. seqq. Cui iungenda C. F. SCHNVR- 
 RERI in idem Carmen Commentario, quae in eius Dissertatt. Philo- 
 logico-Criticis iunctim editis, Goth, et Amstelaed. 1790, in octon. 
 exstat p. 36, seqq. ubi et plura aliorum scripta sunt laudata, quibus 
 praestantissima ode illustratur. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 By far the most complete and satisfactory exegesis of this sub- 
 lime relic of antiquity has been given by G. H. Hollmann, a student 
 of Gesenius at Halle, in an academical exercise published at Leip- 
 sic with the title : Commentarius Philologico-criticus in Carmen 
 Deborae, Judicum V. 
 
4*24 NOTES ON LECTURE XXVIII. 
 
 The spirited and elegant Latin translation of the Ode, by this 
 acute philologian, is inserted here. S. 
 
 ARGVMENTVM. 
 
 Quatuor priora commata proocmium carminis constituunt. Vates Deum laudandum ease canit 
 ob salutem populo tributum, regesque et principes ad epinicium suum audiendum invitat 
 (vers. 2, 3,) Deum postea describit splendida theophania populo suo auxiliam ferentem (vers. 
 4, 5.) His defuncta ad belli initia et causas recurrit et res gestas potiores ad mortem usque 
 Siserae poeticis coloribusexornat, ita tatnen, ut subinde Dei populique fortis laudes immisce- 
 at iisque orationem interpellet (vers. 9 12.) Exponit igitur statum reipublicae ludaicae 
 infelicem, additis etiam publicae calamitatis causis (vers. 7, 8,) recenset et laudat tribus, 
 quae suo et Baraci monitu arma sumserant (vers. 13, 14, 18,) taxat reliquas, quae publicae 
 saluti domesticam praetulerant (vers. 16, 17,) pugnaeque denique eventus omnes ordine enar- 
 rat, hostium fortitudinem et fugam, tempestatem iis infensam, Siserae mortem millions ma- 
 nu paratam (vers. 19 27.) Mutata deinde seena Siserae matrem inducit de filii cunctatione 
 quiritantem, mox solatio erectam praedasque sperantem (vers. 28 30) ; in media tandem 
 oratione abrumpens egregia apostrophe omnes Dei hoste Siserae instar perituros esse 
 praesagit. 
 
 VERSIO LATINA. 
 
 2. Quod imperarunt imperatores in Israel, 
 spontaneum se praebuit populus, 
 laudate leliovam ! 
 
 3. Audite reges, aurem advertite principes ! 
 ego lehovae, ego canam, 
 
 psallam lehovae, Israelis Deo. 
 
 4. lehova, cum prodires e Seir, 
 cum incederes ab agro Idumaeae 
 contremuit terra, etiam coeli stillarunt, 
 etiam nubes stillarunt aquas. 
 
 5. Montes contremuerunt coram lehova, 
 hie Sinai coram lehova, Israelis Deo. 
 
 6. Sarngaris diebus, filii Anath, 
 diebus Israelis cessabant viae, 
 viaque publica incedere soliti 
 occultis tramitibus ibant. 
 
 7. Deerant duces in Israel, deerant. 
 donee surrexi ego Debora, 
 surrexi mater in Israel. 
 
 8. Elegit (Israel) Deos novos, 
 turn oppognarunt portas : 
 
 nee clypeus apparuit, nee hasta 
 in quadraginta millibus Israelis. 
 6. Animus meus grates agit ducibus Israelis', 
 spontaneis in populo. 
 Laudate lehovam ! 
 
 10. Qui asinabus vehimini candidis, 
 qui stragulis insidetis, 
 qui inceditis in via, 
 meditamini carmen ' 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXVIII. 425 
 
 11. Ob iubila (praedam) sortientium inter haustra, 
 ibidem celebrent beneficia lehovae, 
 beneficia in duces eius Israeliticos ; 
 
 tune ad portas descendat populus lehovae. 
 
 12. Age, age Debora, 
 age, age, cane carmen ! 
 surge Barac, 
 
 deduc captives tuos, fili Abinoam ! 
 
 13. Tune ego : " descendite residui nobilium populi, 
 lehova descende mihi cum heroibus." 
 
 Ex Ephra'imitis, quorum inter Amalekitas sedes, 
 
 post eos Beniamitae cum copiis eorum ; 
 
 e Machiritis descenderunt duces, 
 
 e Sebulonitis tenentes sceptrum praefecti. 
 
 15. Et principes Issaschari cum Debora 
 et Issaschar, praesidium Baraci, 
 
 in vallern se effuderunt vestigia eius secuti. 
 
 16. Ad rivos Rubenitarum 
 magna ceperunt animi consilia ; 
 
 quare vero tranquille sedistis inter stabula 
 ad audiendas fistulas pastorum ? 
 ad rivos Rubenitarum 
 magnae fuerunt consultationes. 
 
 17. Gilead trans lordanem tranquille sedebat ; 
 et Dan cur navibus vacabat ? 
 
 Ascher sedebat in littore maris, 
 ad portus suos conquiescebat. 
 
 18. Sebulonis vero populos vilipendit anirnam mortique obtulit 
 nee non Naphtali in agris montanis. 
 
 19. Venerunt reges, pugnarunt, 
 turn pugnarunt reges Canaan 
 
 apud Taanach, ad aquas Megidduntis ; 
 sed frustum argenti non reportarunt. 
 
 20. E coelis pugnatum est, 
 stellae ex orbitis suis 
 pugnarunt cum Sisera. 
 
 21. Torrens Kischon abripuit eos, 
 torrens proeliorum, torrens Kischon : 
 conculcabas, anima mea, robustos. 
 
 22. Tune (terramj feriebant calces equorum 
 ob festinationes equitum eorum. 
 
 23. " Exsecramini Meros, dixit angelus lehovae, 
 exsecramini incolas eius ; 
 
 quia non venerunt lehovae auxilio, 
 auxilio lehovae cum bellatoribus." 
 'J4. Laudetur prae mulieribus lael, 
 uxor Heberi Kenitae ; 
 prae mulieribus in tentorio laudetur. 
 
 54 
 
4xJ(J NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 
 
 25. Cum aquam posceret, lac obtulit, 
 
 in patera pretiosa attulit lac spissum. 
 
 26. Manum extendit ad clavura, 
 dextram ad malleum operarum, 
 
 et contudit Siseram, conquassavit eius caput, 
 concussit et penetravit tempora eius. 
 
 27. Ad pedes eius collapsus est, cecidit, iacuit 
 ad pedes eius collapsus est, cecidit, 
 
 ubi collapsus est, ibi cecidit peremtus. 
 
 28. Per fenestram prospexit et clamavit 
 mater Siserae per clathros : 
 
 " quare tardat currus eius venire, 
 quare morantur gressus curruum eius ?" 
 
 29. Sapientiores matronarum eius respondebant ei; 
 immo vero ipsa sibi respondit : 
 
 30. " en ! invenient, distribuent praedam, 
 puellam, immo duas puellas unicuique viro. 
 exuvias vestium tinctarum Siserae, 
 exuvias vestium tinctarum, versicolorum, 
 
 vestem tinctam, duas versicolores collo praedatoris." 
 
 31. Ita peribunt omnes hostes tui, lehova ! 
 sed, qui amant ilium, erunt 
 
 veluti sol, quum prodit in robore suo. 
 
 [B. p. 235.] HABAKKUK in. 
 
 Muitum lucis praestantissimo huic carmini attulit C. F. SCHNVR- 
 RER in peculiar! super eo Commeritatione quae in eius Dissertatt. 
 Philologico-Criticis iunctim editt. legitur, p. 342. seqq. 
 
 ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [C. p. 237.] ISAIAH XLV. 
 
 An English translation of this triumphal song of the Hebrews, 
 by Professor Stuart, may be found in Porter's Analysis of Rhetori- 
 cal Delivery, (p. 380). 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 
 
 [A. p. 247.] Dramatic Psalms. 
 
 Our author has treated with his usual modesty a very difficult 
 subject : on which those who have been more adventurous, have 
 been led into great errors. It is certain that many of the Psalms 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 
 
 427 
 
 are dramatic, which some commentators observing, delighted with 
 their own discoveries, whenever they met with a passage more diffi- 
 cult than usual, or were able to catch any new and visionary expla- 
 nation, more agreeable to their theological notions, they have eager- 
 ly resorted to the change of the persons or characters, though no 
 such change existed. Such are those commentators who have fan- 
 cied, in accommodation to the quotation of St. Paul, Heb. i. 10, the 
 spirit and purpose of which they did not understand, that the former 
 part of the ciid Ps. to the 24th verse : " Take me not away in the midst 
 of my age," consisted entirely of a speech of Christ, and that the re- 
 mainder ; " as for thy years, they endure throughout all generations" 
 etc. was the reply of God the Father. Whoever indulges himself 
 in tlis mode of explication, may easily find out any thing he pleases 
 in the Psalms, and with little or no philological knowledge, without 
 the smallest assistance from criticism, can give a meaning even to 
 the most difficult or corrupted texts of Scripture : any meaning in- 
 deed but the right one. 
 
 Our author very justly suspects, that not a few passages of the 
 dramatic kind are at present unknown : yet we are not allowed to 
 suppose an ode of the dramatic kind, unless it appear so by some 
 decisive proof ; nor ought we to fly to this discovery as a refuge for 
 our ignorance. For, as many passages may probably be of a dra- 
 matic kind which we do not know to be such, so, many may be ac- 
 counted dramatic, which a little more philological knowledge, or the 
 true reading, which antiquity may have obscured, would point out 
 to be simple and regular compositions. In order to demonstrate 
 how cautious commentators ought to be in these respects, I shall 
 have recourse to one example, whence we shall be able to judge 
 how uncertain many others are, however they may bear a face of 
 probability. 
 
 The second Psalm has been accounted one of the principal of 
 the dramatic kind, and scarcely any person has doubted of its being 
 altogether dramatic. If you attend to some commentators, the holy 
 prophet speaks in the 1st and 2d verses ; in the 3d the rebellious 
 princes ; in the 4th and 5th the prophet again ; in the 6th God ; 
 in the 7th and 8th the anointed king ; in the 10th, llth, and 12th 
 the holy prophet. It is very extraordinary that they should not see, 
 that it is not the rebellious princes who speak in the third verse, 
 but that their words are only referred to by the prophet, and that, 
 according to the manner of the Orientals, without directly identify- 
 
428 NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 
 
 ing the speaker. Nothing is more common in the Arabic poetry, 
 than to relate the actions and sentiments of particular persons, and 
 to annex their very words without any preface, of saying or he said, 
 etc. It does not even appear that God is introduced as a dramatic 
 character, for if so, what is the use of the words " He shall speak 
 unto them in his wrath," etc. ? MIOHAELIS. 
 
 In illo psalmos ad dramaticam formam revocandi studio vix quis- 
 quam longius progressus est I. C. C. Nachtigalio, Philologo Halber- 
 staderisi, qui non solum plurimos singulos psalmos vel in chores dis- 
 tribuit, vel inter varias personas, quas loquentes introduci existima- 
 ret, dispertiit ; verum et ex psalmis pluribus artificiose digestis jus- 
 turn componere drama conatus est, quo arcae sacrae ad montem 
 Sionem translatio scenice repraesentetur. Cui hypothesi exponen- 
 dae peculiarem dicavit librum, duplici instructum epigraphe, una 
 hac : (Gesange Davids und seiner Zeitgenossen nach der Zeitfolge 
 geordnet und neu bearbeitet von I. C. C. NACHTIGAL, Erster Band, 
 Leipz. 1796), altera vero, argumentum distinctius indicante : (Zion, 
 aeltestes Drama aus der vorhomerischen Urwelt). Legitur 1 Paral. 
 
 XV. XVI., Davidem expugnata arce Sionica omnes Israelitas Hie- 
 rosolymarn convocasse, ad lovae arcam in Sionem montem, locum ei 
 a se praeparatum, deportandam, Levitarumque principibus mandasse, 
 ut cognatos suos, cantores, musicis praeficerent instruments, nablis, 
 citharis et tympanis, qui concehtum edentes laetitiam agerent. Turn 
 ex aedibus Obededomi arcam a Levitis gestatam, Davide et Israelitis 
 senatoribus copiarumque ducibus, ceterisque Israelitis omnibus com- 
 itantibus, cum clangore et buccinae tubarum cymbalorumque sonitu 
 agentibus, et nablis citharisque resonantibus, solenni pompa in Sio- 
 nem deductam fuisse. Introducta area divina et in tabernaculo, 
 quod ei David tetenderat, collocata, non solum facta sunt Deo sac- 
 rificia, verum et decantati hymni, qui lovam, Israelitarum Deum, 
 celebrarent atque laudarent. Ex hymnis illis unus, qui 1 Paral. 
 
 XVI. 8 36 integer insertus legitur, totus est conflatus ex Psalmis 
 cv. etxcvi. De aliis hymnis, qui ante arcam in tabernaculo sacrore- 
 positam decantati essent, ne vestigium quidem. Decantatos tamen 
 plures alios hymnos fuisse antequam ad tabernaculum perventum es- 
 set, ita firrniter persuasum est Nachtigalio, ut adeo qui psalmi, et 
 quonam illi ordine cantati fuerint, deh'nire ausus sit. Atque 1) ad 
 radices quidem montis Sionici cantatos autumat Psalmos xcviii. et 
 xcvi ; 2) in adscensu montis Ps. Ixviii. Exod. xv. 1 18. Ps. Ixvi. 
 cvii. xlvii. ; 3) in montis summo Ps. cxxxiii. ; 4) ante portas Sionias 
 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 429 
 
 Ps. xxiv ; 5) in Sionis introitu Ps. c ; 6) dum tabernaculi atria ingre- 
 derentur, Ps. cvii. cxviii. 1 4. 19 29 ; 7) dum locarent arcam sa- 
 cram, Ps. cxxxii. 8, 9, 13 18 ; 8) post arcam repositam, Ps. xcix. 
 cv. cvi. cxiv. ii. Ixxv. Ixxvi. xcvii. ix. x. 1 Sam. ii. 1 10. Ps. cxiii. 
 xlvi. xxix. xciii. Ixxxvii. cxxv. cxxxv. cxxxvi. Ixvii. cxxviii. 1 Chron. 
 xvii. 36. Sed quam incerta coniectura illi Psalmi locis a Viro Doo 
 tissimo ipsis tributis assignentur, nemo non videt. Quid Psalmos 
 xcviii. et xcvi. ad montis Sionici radices, aut Psalmum cxxviii. monte 
 ascenso cantatos fuisse arguit 1 Neque quid huiusmodi argumentis 
 destitutis coniecturis carminum intelligentia iuvetur, facile est intel- 
 
 leCtU. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [B. p. 253.] Solomons Song. 
 
 It may seem a bold undertaking to contradict the opinion of all 
 the commentators, which has been so long established, that the prin- 
 cipal personages of the Canticles are a bride and bridegroom during 
 the nuptial week. As I cannot, however, reconcile the matter to 
 my mind, I shall briefly assign the reasons of my dissent from this 
 opinion. The first is, that no direct mention is made, during the 
 course of this long poem, of the ceremony of marriage; nor of any 
 one of the circumstances which attend that ceremony. Again, who 
 can possibly imagine a bridegroom so necessitated to labour, as not 
 to be able to appropriate a few days in his nuptial week, to the cel- 
 ebration of his marriage ; but be compelled immediately to quit his 
 spouse and his friends for whole days, in order to attend his cattle 
 in the pastures ? Nay, at this time of festival, he even does not re- 
 turn at night, but leaves his bride, to whom he appears so much at- 
 tached, alone and unhappy. Or if such instances might occur 
 in particular cases, certainly they do not afford a proper subject 
 for a nuptial song. At the same time, the bride is supposed to 
 have the care of a vineyard, and her brothers are displeased with 
 her for having neglected it ; this is so contrary to every idea of nup- 
 tial festivity, that unless we could suppose it meant in the way of 
 burlesque, it is impossible to conceive it to have any relation to the 
 celebration of a marriage. 
 
 There is still less reason to think, that the poem relates to the 
 state of the parties betrothed before marriage ; and there are not 
 the smallest grounds for supposing it the description of any clandes- 
 tine amour, since the transaction is described as public and legal, 
 and the consent of parents is very plainly intimated. 
 
430 NOTES ON LECTURE XXX. 
 
 It remains therefore to explain my own sentiments, and these 
 are, that the chaste passions of conjugal and domestic life are de- 
 scribed in this poem, and that he has no relation to the celebration 
 of nuptials. It may seem improbable to some readers, that conjugal 
 and domestic life should afford a subject for an amorous poem ; but 
 those readers have not reflected how materially the manners of the 
 Orientals are different from ours. Domestic life among us is, in gen- 
 eral, a calm and settled state, void of difficulties, perplexities, suspi- 
 cions, and intrigues ; and a state like this rarely affords matter for 
 such a poem. But in the East, from the nature of polygamy, that 
 state admits more of the perplexities, jealousies, plots, and artifices 
 of love ; the scene is more varied, there is more of novelty, and con- 
 sequently, greater scope for invention and fancy. 
 
 There is another circumstance which militates against the con- 
 jecture of Bossuet, namely, that though the nuptial banquet contin- 
 ues for seven days, no time appears in this poem appropriated to the 
 banquet itself. Either the bride and bridegroom are separated from, 
 and in quest of each other, or they are enjoying a wished-for soli- 
 tude ; and whenever they converse with the virgins, it is in the 
 street or in the field, and never with the guests, or at a banquet. 
 
 MICIIAELIS. 
 
 Hoc si ita est, mirum,primae noctis nulla cani gaudia, non pom- 
 pam comitantium : nuspiam adclamationes, cantica, bona verba, au- 
 diri convivarum,ereptam virginitatem, cuius ad eos, indicium deferri 
 solet, more Orientali gratulantium. Omissum in carmine, quod pri- 
 mas in illo et praecipuas facere partes debuisset. MICHAELIS. 
 
 Argumentum Cantico Canticorum praebere nuptias Salomonis, 
 cuius sponsa fuerit Pharaonis filia, vetus quidem opinio est, Grotio 
 quoque, aliisque interpretibus baud paucis probata, sed cui plura in 
 ipso carmine obvia adversantur, quae neque Salomoni, regi, neque 
 eius sponsae, filiae Pharaonis, conveniunt. Ita, v. c. Pharaonis, 
 magni regis, filia non erat vineae aut ovium custos, I. 6, 8, nee soror 
 Salomonis, IV. 9. Neque etiam ilia per plat eas noctu discurril t III. 
 1 , 2, aut a vigilibus urbis percussa, vulnerata et spoliata fuit, V. 7. 
 Praeterea ut Salomonem, aut alium poetam ipsi aequalem, huius 
 carminis auctorem statuamus, nullo modo admittit illius sermo et sty- 
 lus aperte chaldaizans, adeoque scriptorem Esrae et Nehemiae ae- 
 qualem arguens. Vid. I. G. Eichhornii Isagogen in V. T. P. Ill 
 647, p. 531, seq. ed. sec. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 431 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 [A. p. 257.] ISAIAH LXII. 5. 
 
 The ambiguity of the word which I translate " conditor tuus," 
 has created inextricable difficulties to all the translators and com- 
 mentators, both ancient and modern. The LXX. have mistaken it, 
 and the Masorites have mispointed it. Their authority has conse- 
 crated the error, and almost established it. Nothing however ap- 
 pears clearer to me, than that this word ^31 is not the plural of the 
 noun ]a (a son,) but of the participle benoni of the verb lrr21 (to build,) 
 and is parallel and synonymous to thy God in the alternate mem- 
 ber. Compare the above quoted passage of Tsaiah, where also mark 
 that husbands and creators occur in the plural, with the same rela- 
 tion to the same word. By this explanation, every offensive and in- 
 delicate idea is taken away from the passage, which I do not wonder 
 proved an impediment in the way of the commentators. LOWTH. 
 
 It is a serious objection against the proposed emendation of Lowth, 
 that the verb ^ib^i" 1 is plural ; but if it agrees with "p25 as pluralis 
 excellentiac, the usual grammatical construction would require the 
 singular number of the verb. (See Stuart's Heb. Gram. p. 167, 3d 
 edit.) That the Bishop, in this case as in many others, has condem- 
 ned the Masorites without reason, will appear from the following 
 remarks. S. 
 
 Permiscentur les. Ixii. 5. duae metaphorae, quod in V. T. 
 hand rarum. Incolae civitatis, quatenus in civitate sati editique 
 sunt, censentur civitatem habere matrem, atque adeo eius esse Jilii ; 
 vid. les. li. 18. Rursus iidem incolae, quatenus civitatem habent, 
 occupant, possident suae potestati obnoxiam eidemque foedere de- 
 vincti sunt, vocantur -py "^a, habentes urbem, i. e. cives urbis, 
 ut los. xxiv. 11. irrp -^$5 incolae, (habentes) lerichuniis ; nee 
 non ludic. ix, 46. 5iZ) ^att ^ra, habentes turrim Sichcmiti- 
 cam, incolae, cives. Ex ipsa hac phrasi sumptum emblema les. Ixii. 
 5. usurpatum, et ad earn formatum. Rursus, ut civitates respectu 
 eorum, qui in iis nascuntur, gaudent dici moires ; sic eaedam res- 
 pectu libertatis, ornatus, formae, veniunt nomine virginium nibina. 
 Vid. lesa. xxxvii. 22. xlvii. 1. Reges et principes, qui id agunt, ut 
 civitatis regimen et praefecturam sibi vindicent, tales virgines cen- 
 sentur ambire. Quibus observatis apparet, vatem, ut significant, ip- 
 sos Hierosolymae restaurandae cives eius patronos et vindices fore, 
 xecte dicere potuisse : Sicut adolescens maritat sibi virginem, sic ma- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 ritabunt se tibi Jilii tui, quomodo, retento -^22, locos lesa. Ixii. 5. 
 vertendus, i. e. habebis reges et principes benignos propriae gentis, 
 non tyrannos (oppositum les. xxvi. 13. lova, Dcus nostcr, alii dom- 
 ini in^S'Si possident nos). Pertinent haec ad declarationem com- 
 matis superioris 4, ubi civitas Hierosolyrnitana dicitur nuncupanda 
 maritata. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 [B. p. 257.] Freedom of Oriental imagery. 
 
 That diversity of mannners, that delicacy of conversation, which 
 is observed by some nations, and the coarseness of others, results 
 chiefly from the degree of intercourse which subsists between the sex- 
 es. In countries where the intercourse is free and familiar, where 
 the sexes meet commonly in mixed companies, they accustom them- 
 selves to a greater modesty and delicacy, in their conversation which 
 modesty is easily transferred to their composition. Such a people, there- 
 fore, with whom entertainments would seem languid and dull without 
 the company of young women, though perhaps not free from licentious- 
 ness of manners, will yet be chaste and delicate in their expressions. 
 Hence arises, in a great degree, that extreme delicacy in the peo- 
 ple of modern Europe, which can scarcely bear some of the passa- 
 ges in Virgil, and the chastest of the ancient poets. The case is 
 quite different with the people of the East : for the men having 
 scarcely any society with the unmarried women, or with the wives 
 of others, converse together without being restrained by the blushes 
 of females, or with their own wives, whom they regard in a very in- 
 ferior light, and consequently treat with all the insolence of famili- 
 arity ; the women also converse chiefly with each other ; and as they 
 are similarly situated, are probably not less licentious. It is not ex- 
 traordinary, therefore, if greater freedom of speech should prevail in 
 those countries, and if this, when transferred into their poetry, should 
 be found to offend our ears, which are accustomed to so much great- 
 er delicacy in conversation. MICHAELIS. 
 
 (Compare Lect. VI. Note A). 
 
 [C. p. 258.] Allegorical interpretation of Solomon's Song. 
 
 On the question, whether the Song of Solomon be an allegory ? 
 after the very able discussion of it given by Lowth in the text, I will 
 here insert the arguments of Michaelis for the negative, and those of 
 Rosenmueller for the affirmative, and leave the reader to decide for 
 himself. S. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 433 
 
 Our author has treated this very difficult subject with more mod- 
 esty and more address than any of the commentators ; and indeed 
 has said all that could be said, exclusive of the theological arguments, 
 in favour of the allegorical sense. I question, however, whether he 
 will be able to remove all doubt from the mind of a cool and atten- 
 tive reader ; the reasons of my scepticism on this matter, I will, as a 
 person earnestly desirous of the truth, endeavour briefly to explain ; 
 and I shall hold myself greatly indebted to that man, who shall, up- 
 on rational principles, undertake to remove my scruples. 
 
 With regard to the authority of the ancient Christian church, in 
 a question merely depending upon the exposition of a passage in 
 Scripture, I hold it of very little importance, not only because the 
 exposition of Scripture does not depend upon human authority, but 
 because the fathers, as well on account of their ignorance of the 
 Hebrew language, as of the principles of polite literature in general, 
 were very inadequate to the subject, eagerly pursuing certain mysti- 
 cal meanings, even with respect to the clearest passages, in the ex- 
 planation of which the most enlightened of the modern commenta- 
 tors have refuted them. The time of the fathers was so very distant 
 from the period when this poem was composed, that it is impossible 
 they should have been possessed of any certain tradition concerning 
 its purport and meaning. I should entertain very different senti- 
 ments, if I could find any mention of the Song of Songs in the New 
 Testament ; but, on the most diligent examination, I have not been 
 able to discern the slightest allusion to that poem. 
 
 The authority of the synagogue is of still less importance in my 
 eyes, since in other respects we have found it so little deserving of 
 confidence in its attempts at expounding the Scriptures. Such of 
 the Jewish writers as have treated of the Canticles, lived so many 
 ages after the time of Solomon, after the total destruction of the com- 
 monwealth and literature of the Hebrews, that they knew no more 
 of the matter than ourselves. 
 
 With regard to the analogy of other poems, all that can be said 
 is, that it was indeed possible enough for Solomon to celebrate the 
 Divine love in terms analogous to those descriptive of the human af- 
 fections : but it is impossible to determine by that analogy what kind 
 of love he intended to be the subject of this poem. Shall we pre- 
 tend to say, that his attention was wholly employed upon sacred poe- 
 try, and that he never celebrated in verse any of the human affec- 
 tions ? Or, because 'some of the Hebrew poems celebrate th'e Di- 
 55 
 
434 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 vine goodness in terms expressive of the human passions, does it fol- 
 low, that on no occasion those terms are to be taken in their literal 
 sense ? 
 
 Our author has prudently declined examining the arguments 
 which are usually taken from the poem itself, and from its internal 
 structure, for the purpose of establishing the allegory. It is indeed 
 very improbable, that in so long a poem, if it were really allegorical, 
 no vestiges, no intimation should be found to direct us to apply it to 
 the Divine love ; nothing, which does not most clearly relate to the 
 human passion : and that too, considering it as the production of one 
 of the Hebrew writers, who are accustomed to mix the literal sense 
 with the allegorical in almost all their compositions of this kind. In 
 so longf an allegory one should also expect a deeper moral than usu- 
 al, and one not generally obvious, to be indicated : but no sober com- 
 mentator has ever been able to deduce from the Canticles any other 
 than this trite sentiment, that God loves his church, and is beloved 
 by it. That this simple sentiment should be treated so prolixly, and 
 nothing more distinctly revealed concerning it, who can credit, but 
 upon the soundest basis of argument or proof? But in support of it 
 we have only the bare position, that the Hebrew writers sometimes 
 make use of allegorical expressions to denote the Divine love. 
 
 I am aware of the objections which are started by those who rest 
 the matter upon theological arguments, though I cannot find that 
 these are of great weight or utility in the present debate : for they 
 seem rather calculated to silence than convince. They assert, that 
 though the book has never been quoted by Christ or his apostles, it 
 was yet received into the Sacred Canon, and is therefore to be ac- 
 counted of Divine original : and that there does not appear any thing 
 in it divine, or worthy of sacred inspiration, unless it be supposed to 
 contain the mystery of the Divine love. Lest, however, they should 
 seem to have proved too much, and lest they should dismiss the read- 
 er prepossessed with some doubts concerning the divine authority of 
 the book, I will venture to remind these profound reasoners, that the 
 chaste and conjugal affections, so carefully implanted by the Deity in 
 the human heart, and upon which so great a portion of human happi- 
 ness depends, are not unworthy of a muse fraught even with Divine 
 inspiration. Only let us suppose, contrary to the general opinion 
 concerning the Canticles, that the affection which is described in 
 this poem, is not that of lovers previous to their nuptials, but the at- 
 tachment of two delicate persons, who have be$n long united in the 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 435 
 
 sacred bond ; can we suppose such happiness unworthy of being re- 
 commended as a pattern to mankind, and of being celebrated as a 
 subject of gratitude to the great Author of happiness ? This is indeed 
 a branch of morals which may be treated in a more artificial and phi- 
 losophical manner ; and such a manner will perhaps be more con- 
 vincing to the understanding, but will never affect the heart with 
 such tender sentiments as the Song of Solomon ; in which there ex- 
 ists all the fervour of passion, with the utmost chastity of expression, 
 and with that delicacy and reserve, which is ever necessary to the 
 life and preservation of conjugal love. Let us remember, moreover, 
 that Solomon, in his Proverbs, has not disdained very minutely to 
 describe the felicities and infelicities of the conjugal state. 
 
 MICHAELIS. 
 
 Carmine Salomoneo humanos amores cani, minime fert V. T. 
 librorum universa indoles et ratio. Sacri enim sunt et habentur is- 
 ti libri, eoque nomine spectant vel res divinas et cultum divinum, 
 vel necessitudinem, quae Deo cum populo suo intercedit, quo et li- 
 bri historici sunt referendi, vel institutionem vitae morumque disci- 
 plinam. Inter tales gravissimi sanctissimique argumenti libros rela- 
 tum esse mere amatorium carmen, in quo nulla plane Dei ratio habi- 
 ta,talique carmini praestantissimi nomen inditum fuisse,mihi quidem 
 numquam persuadebitur. Sed insunt carmini ipsi baud pauca, quae 
 nos ad sensum allegoricum ducunt. Primo enim duarum persona- 
 rum, quae in hoc dramate primas agunt, alteram, amatam, esse col- 
 lective intelligendam, statim carminis initio innuitur, I. 4, ubi una 
 eademque persona de se ipsa in singulari et plurali promiscue lo- 
 quens inducitur : Trahe me post te : curremus. Introducet me rez 
 in sua conclavia. Exsultabimus , de te laetantes. Recolimus amo- 
 res tuos vino praestantiores. Additurque : probi te amant. Dein- 
 de in hoc carmine eiusmodi occurrunt, quae proprie accepta ab Ori- 
 entalium omnium moribus, imo ab omni veri specie ita abhorrent, ut 
 nulli poetae in mentem venire potuerit, talia tanquam vere gesta ca- 
 nere. Inauditum prorsus, et plane novo more, ut puella a germanis 
 sibi iratis vinearum custos statuatur, quae suara ipsius vineam non 
 custodiisse queritur, I. 6 ; ut eadem amatum quaerens noctu per vi- 
 cos plateasque vagetur, III. 1 3, illumque in matris domum et cubi- 
 culum introducere cupiat, III. 4, VIII. 2 ; quam vero vagantem cus- 
 todes urbis nacti verberant vulnerantque, V. 7. Q,uis unquam puel- 
 lam cumfmni columna e deserto ascendcnte comparatam legit, ut III. 
 6 ? Nee minus nuQudolov illud, quod amata IV. 6, ex Amani ver 
 
436 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 tice, ex Seniris et Hermonis vertice, ex leonum lustris, et tigrium 
 montibus accitur. dime enim in proxima nota Michaelis afferet 
 ad defendendum ilium locum proprio sensu acceptum nemini fa- 
 cile sufficiant. Istis igitur ex ipso carmine desurntis argumen- 
 tis, qualia supra Michaelis postulabat, pro repudiando sensu pro- 
 prio, si addis, quae Lowthus p. 254, seqg. edit, kuius, ex parabolicae 
 dictionis analogia pro stabiliendo sensu allegorico ita disputavit, ut 
 fundamentum et rationem allegoriae in Cantico Canticorum reg- 
 nantis explicaret, dilueretque offensiones ex imaginis indignitate 
 exortas, auctoritate sacrorum scriptorum ferme omnium cum Vete- 
 ris turn JNovi Testamenti ; nulla, credo, idonea caussa restet, cur 
 dubites, cani poemate illo, quod Salomonis praestantissimum carmen 
 inscribitur, mutuos lovae et populi a se dilecti eiquejiddis amorcs, 
 sub amoris, quo vir et femina invicem flagrant, ita continuata allego- 
 ria, ut amantium desiderium, ardor, sollicitudo, cumque his coniunc- 
 tae perturbationes vividissimis coloribus repraesententur. Recte 
 igitur larchi observat, induci hoc carmine populum Israeliticum in 
 exilio recordatum pristinum Dei erga se amorem, quo motus ille ip- 
 sum prae ceteris populis peculium sibi elegerat, maximisque benefi- 
 ciis ornaverat. Repudiatum vero, ob multa commissa maleficia, iam 
 erroris poenitentia ductum ita apud se cogitare : rcfcrum me ad mo- 
 ritum meum priorem ; nam melius tune mecum agebatur, quam nunc 
 (Hos. ii. 7, al. 9). " Personam," inquit, " gens Israelitica gerit mu- 
 lieris, quae divortio facto iterum mariti sui desideriotenetur, dilecto- 
 que iungere se cupit, in memoriam revocans adolescentiae suae amo- 
 rem, et defectionem suam confitens. Dilectus vero, illius sollicitu- 
 dine ipse dolore correptus, meminit collata in illam iuvenem sponsam- 
 que beneficia atque amorem ( Jer. ii. 2), inque memoriam revocat de- 
 corem pulchritudinis eius, et recte beneque ab ea facta, per quae ip- 
 se eidem forti amore devinctus est Testatur igitur, se illam non li- 
 benti animo afflixisse, nee repudium ei perpetuum dixisse, sed earn 
 suam uxorem adhuc esse, ipsumque eius maritum, qui ad earn sit re- 
 diturus." Q,uae quum nobis verissime dicta videantur, nos tarn lon- 
 ge absumus a vituperando Chaldaeo interprete, qui hoc carmen par- 
 tim exponit de veteribus Dei in populum Israeliticum collatis benefi- 
 ciis, inde ab Abrahami temporibus, partim de illis, quae futura ali- 
 quando sperant Hebraei, cum res eorum a divino illo rege e stirpe 
 Davidica oriundo restituta fuerit ; ut in carmine difficili explicando 
 ilium magis ducem sequendum arbitremur, quam nostrae aetatis in- 
 terpretes, qui hocce poema tanquam Anacreonticum aliquod aut Ca- 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 437 
 
 tullianum carmen tractantes in eo exponendo fere lasciviunt. duod 
 tamen non ita intelligi velim, quasi Chaldaei interpretatio per omnia 
 sit temere adoptanda. Indagandae sunt atque examinandae rationes, 
 quibus sua loci cuiusque explicatio nitatur, quae non nisi illis proba- 
 bilibus repertis est sequenda. duod ut exemplo illustremus, locum 
 I. 6. Ne adspiciatis me, quodfusca sum, quoniam me sol adspexit : 
 mei germani mihi irati me vinearum cvstodcib statuerent, quae meam 
 ipsius vincam non custodivi, Chaldaeus hoc modo exponit : Dicit 
 coktus Israel coram populis : Ne despiciatis me, quod nigrior sim vo- 
 bis, quoniam fed secundum opera vestra, et adoravi solem et lunam ; 
 namfalsi prophctae effeccrunt, ut lehovae ira in me ingravescent et 
 docuerunt me sinmlacris vestris scrvire, inque vestris statutis ambu- 
 lare ; Domino vero aeterno, qui est Deus meus, non servivi, ct in eius 
 statutis non ambulavi, ncc observavi praeccpta ct leges eius. Ad 
 quam interpretationem recte diiudicandam ante omnia est observan- 
 dum,fliabus Hicrosolymne, Crd^? nto (vs. 5), quas alloquitur 
 sponsa, id est, gens Israelitica, intelligi gentes alias, Hebraeae ali- 
 quando aetate aurea ita sociandas, ut civitas Hierosolymitana omni- 
 um futura sit caput et metropolis, iuxta illud Ezechielis xvi. 61. Te 
 (ad populum Israeliticum sermo dirigitur) tuos recordantem mores pu- 
 debit cum arcipics sorore* tuos (^"nTlM), turn te grandiores, turn 
 minores (i. e. gentes alias), quas ego tibi Jilias dabo (^r?r)N "^Fin" 
 DTDib *]b). Hinc est, quod Chaldaeus suae huius versus interpre- 
 tationi praemisit : Dixit roetus Israel coram populis. lam expenda- 
 mus versus 6, singulas dictiones. ^N^ft-^N Ne adspiciatis me, 
 scil. cum contemtu, ut lob. xli. 26, de Leviathane : na^ ~ b3 " MN 
 n$.^ Omne datum, superbum, despicit. Recte igitur nostra ver- 
 ba Chaldaeus vertit : ^n^ ]1TSn Nb, ne contemnatis me. Sequitur 
 in Hebraeo: n^irnrTtp "*3N*43 Quod ego adeo sum nigra (geminatio 
 namque literarum radicalium intendit significationem) vid. BOCHAR- 
 TI- Hieroz. P. II. L. V. C. VI. T. III. p. 613, edit. Lips. Dixerat 
 iam antea (vs. 5). se esse nigram sicut Kedaritarum s. Arabum ten- 
 toria ("Tij5 " I V.5^- S ? *-$'' ST^^n'2J). Nigrore autem conditio miseva 
 et afflicta designatur, ut Thren. IV. 8, finNft litli73 =]a?rt. O6- 
 scurata prae nigrore forma eorum (procerum urbis Hierosolymita- 
 nae). Et ibid. V. 10. 115333 "l^rnS 131^ Cutes nostrae instar 
 fornacis atratae sunt proptcr adustiones famis. lob. xxx. 28, 
 r!72h fribs "'JTi^n inp Ater, moerens, incedo non a sole adustus, 
 nee tamen sol me denigravit. Nostra vero nigroris sui causam reddit 
 hanc : 'i5D.i9n Xr.SJ^a?, quod adspexit me fulgidis suis radiis sol, quo 
 
438 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 intelliguntur miseriae et calamitates, quibuscum Hebraeis exsulanti- 
 bus extra patriam terram conflictandum erat, uti contra de illis libe- 
 randis et in statum feliciorum restituendis lesai. xlix. 10, dicitur : 
 Non esurient, neque sitient,'^72u'] Z-\V Btgrfil*)* necferiet eos aestus 
 et sol, quoniam qui eorum misertus fuerit, praeerit eis, eosquc ad 
 aquae scaturigines ducet. Nee non Ps. cxxi. 6, Ji33''~Kb '73 ton t373^ 
 Interdiu sot nonferiet te, neque noctu luna. Q,uum vero malis istis 
 tolerandis meritas Hebraei persolverint poenas Deo, a cuius cultu et 
 observantia abduci se malis suasoribus obsequuti passi essent, poeta 
 Hebraeus, vel potius, quam is loquentum inducit, sponsa, i. e. popu- 
 lus Hebraeus, haec addit : 1 V3- ! Hh3 ")72N ^:3 Filii matris meae, qui 
 eandem mecum genitricem, etsi non eundem genitorem habent,/r#- 
 tres mei ira in me accensi sunt. Intelliguntur impii inter Hebraeos, 
 qui lovae cultores oderunt, de quibus lesai. Ixvi. B^hfij l"^** 
 'ttUJ ]?*: fiD^stt C^NSto Prates vestri, osorcs vestri, qui vos prop- 
 ter nomen meum vexant, dictitant (per ludibrium) : adjiciatur lova 
 gloria, ut vcstrum videamus gaudium ! Sed eos pudebit. Alluditur 
 simul ad Ps. Ixix. 8, 9. Tua caussa, lova ! infamiam sustineo,fa- 
 ciem ignominia tectam habens. 'vaN ">:Sb "^.531 "'hNb ^^^i '^t'la 
 Alienus habeor meis fratribus, et extraneus eadem mecum matre natis. 
 Cluod tamen cum vexationibus, turn persuasionibus victi plures lo- 
 vae cultores ad deorum peregrinorum cultum, sive polytheismum, 
 abduci sese passi essent, hisce innuitur verbis : MHt33 ^330 to 
 ^FHD: NV ^P *'0 m \* B^^SriT^, posuerunt, s. fecerunt me talem 
 quae custodirct, coleret, vineas plures et alienas, vincam vero, quae 
 jnihi, propriam rneam vineam provinciam mihi demandatam, non cus- 
 todivi, i. e. eo me adegerunt, ut plurium peregrinorum deorum relig- 
 iones sequerer, relicto patrio deo, neglectisque eius institutis : Hunc 
 ipsum sensum, qui solus orationis seriei carminisque consilio est con- 
 gruus, Chaldaeus optime expressit verbis superius adductis. Plura 
 de Cantici Canticorum interpretatione disputavimus in Commentati- 
 one vernacule scripta, Ueber des HoJien Liedes Sinn und Ausle- 
 gung in den Analekten fuer das Stud, dcr exeget. und systemat. 
 Theologie, a Keilio et Tzschirnero, VV. SS. RR. editis, P. III. p. 
 138, seqq. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 Mystical poetry of the Persians. 
 
 What CHARDIN relates of the Persian poetry, may perhaps not be 
 unworthy of the reader's notice in this place. " Debauchery and 
 licentiousness," says he, " are the common topics of these composi- 
 tions ; but I must not omit remarking, that the most serious of their 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 439 
 
 poets treat of the sublimest mysteries of theology, under the most li- 
 centious language, in the way of allegory, as Afez in his Kasel." 
 Voyage de CHARDIN, 4to. Tom. ii. cap. xiv. LOWTH. 
 
 (Compare Lect. XI. Note D.) 
 
 Ceterum de arcano sensu, quern Hafizi (J^Uv^-,) aliorumque, 
 qui eum sunt imitati, poematibus inesse perhibent, pluribus disseruit 
 Guil. lones et in Poeseos Asiaticae Commcntariis, (P. III. Cap. IX., 
 p. 181. edit. Lips.), et in peculiari Commentatione super Persarum 
 atque Indorumpoesi mystica,({uae legitur tarn in Societatis Asiaticae, 
 quae Calcuttae floret, Commentariis, Asiatick Researches inscriptis, 
 (Vol. III. p. 353 seqq. edit. London, in octon. quam in Jonesii Operi- 
 bus iunctim editis, Vol. I. p. 445 seqq.) De Hafizi poesi typica egit 
 quoque Otm. Frank in libro, cui epigraphe : de Persidis lingua etge- 
 nio Commentationes phaosophi coper sicae (Norimberg. 1809,8, p. 107. 
 seq.) Mysticae illius theologiae placita,quae in suis carminibus iucun- 
 dissimis imaginibus involuta et exornata cecinit Hafiz, pluribus ex- 
 posuit Herbelotus in Bibliotheca Orientals sub voc. Eschk Allah 
 &XJ) OU*XC i. e. amor Dei, cuius quinque gradus statuunt Mystici 
 
 Mohammedanorum : 1) &A^. seu &ASETLC amiciam s. dilectionem, 2) 
 
 5 .. ^ 5 ' c t 
 
 amorcm, 3) O& desiderium, 4) O'V-AJCiJ^ desiderium 
 
 flagrans,5) ^^ amoris ecstasin. Vt vero de ratione, qua Hafizi 
 carmina, meras voluptates spirantia, theologice exponere solent Mo- 
 hammedani, Nostrates ipsi iudicare possint, subiicere visum est spe- 
 ciminis ergo odam, quae in poetae Persici Divano, i. e. odarum syn- 
 tagmate, primum locum occupat, cum paraphrasi iuxta mentem Com- 
 mentarii Turcici, quae legitur in TH. HYDE, Syntagm. Dissertat. 
 T. II. p. 447. 
 
 1 Agedum, o pincerna, circummitte poculum et praebe illud (propinandum)! 
 Amor enim primofacilis videatur, sed accidunt tandem difficultates.(l) 
 
 2 Propter vesicae moschi odorem, quern tandem Zephyrusdispergit ex illis an- 
 
 tiis (dilecti), 
 Ex nodo cincinni illius fragrantis, quantus incidit cordibus ardor !(2) 
 
 1 " Si enim formosae alicui amorem ostenderis," exponit Sudius, poetae 
 huius Commentator, " ea statim variis blandimentis te magis magisque illa- 
 queare conatur, sed postea renitentiam ostentans tibi magnas suscitat molesti- 
 as, quas quum amans sufferre non possit, modo vino, modo opio, aliisve por- 
 tionibus se quodammodo refocillare, animumque confortare aggreditur." 
 
 2 Quum crisporum amatae crinium nodi, moschi fragrantiam exhalantes, 
 non facile explicentur, in iisque solvendis zephyrus diutius moretur, donee eo- 
 rum fragrantiam difFundat ; maiori semper desiderio afficitur amans. 
 
440 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 3 Stragulum vino tinge, si caupo tibi dixerit ; 
 
 Nam qui ignare incesserit, non est de via et more mansionum,( 3 ) 
 
 4 Mihi in mansione formosorum (dilectorum) quaenam securitas convictus, 
 
 quum quo vis momento 
 Campana sonum edat( 4 ) (hunc): Induite baltheos vestros !(5) 
 
 5 Nocte tenebrosa, inter timorem fluctuum, et gurgitem adeo terribilem, 
 Quomodo cognoscant statum nostrum levitur onusti littoris incolae !(6) 
 
 6 Totum negotium meum ob propriam pertinaciam in infamia desinit, 
 Occuitum quomodo manebit secretum illud, quod in consessibus celebratur !( 7 ) 
 
 7 Si praesentiam (amati) desideras, ab eo ne abscondas te, o Hafiz ! 
 Vt pervenias ad amatum, valedic mundo, et missum fac eum ! 
 
 Paraphrasis iuxta mentem Commentarii Turcici. 
 
 1. Agedum, o Monitor sacer, monitorum et exhortationum plenam mensu- 
 ram praebe ! 
 
 Nam etsi amor divinus primo intuitu facilis videatur, in eo tandem diffici- 
 lia reperiuntur. 
 
 2. Propter vestigia et impressiones gratiae, quas tandem afflatus divinus ex 
 illo velo pulchritudinis et excellentiae divinae pandit, 
 
 Propter plicaturas, inquam, ac ordines veli et gradus occultationis divinae, 
 quantus cordibus nostris inest ardor ! 
 
 3. Devotionis stragulum vino amoris tingito, nee esto religione quasi aridus 
 et siccus, si sacrorum antistes tibi praeceperit : 
 
 Ille enim, qui ignoranter et sine notitia amoris ambulaverit, non assequitur 
 normam ac viam mansionum et graduum accessus ad Deum; nam coniunctio 
 cum Deo obtinetur amore divino, iuxta celebrem apud Arabes sententiam : 
 proxima ad Deum via est via amantium ipsum. 
 
 4. Mihi autern in mansionibus seu gradibus ambulationis ad Deum quae- 
 
 3 Retinuimus Hydianam huius hemistichii versionem, quod ei Commenta- 
 toris Turcici paraphrasis respondet. Sed rectius verba Persica ita vertuntur : 
 nam viator non ignorat viam modumque stationum. Simplex huius versus sen- 
 sus hie est : si tibi caupo dixerit : tapetem ad sacra et preces stern i solitum (is 
 enim voce OOv!SlTA* significatur) vino tinge, dictis eius pare; nam expertus 
 viator omnes vias amoris anfractus et latebras atque recessus perspectos et ex- 
 ploratos habet. Id est : quicquid tibi caupo praeceperit in amore faciendum, 
 sive id fas, sive nefas fuerit, prompte et sine cunctatione exsequere, etenirn 
 ille consuetudinum amoris apprime peritus magister est: 
 
 4 Imago petita a peregrinantium turmis, quas Caravanas vocant : signo 
 enim profectionis tintinnabulo dato viae comites admonentur, ut sarcinas colli- 
 gant et iumentis imponant, quo omnes simul loco movere et iter aggredi 
 possint. 
 
 5 Vel : sarcinas colligate. 
 
 6 Dum nos in divortii tenebris versamur, et aemuli metu angimur, atque ve- 
 remur, ne perpetuae separationis voragine absumamur, tantorum periculorum 
 formidinem quomodo norint illi,qui in tranquillo littore amatae iuncti metu ae- 
 muli et divortii timore carent ? 
 
 7 Inconsultis meis et unice ad meam lubidinem, non ad amatae nutum ac 
 voluntatem institutis factis, dedecus et infamiam mihi contraxi. Aut qui spe- 
 rare potui, tectum occultumque fore araorem, de quo ii* concionibtis passim 
 iiunt confabulationes ? 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 441 
 
 warn est a seductionibus Satanae securitas ? quaenam est permanentia ac tuta 
 Vivendi ratio ? quum singulis momentis. 
 
 Discessus cainpana pulsetur, quae funestam illam vocem edit : accingite 
 vos baltheis vestris, hincque migrate ! 
 
 5. Et in tali cogitationum mundanarum animaeque cupiditatum caligine, in- 
 que tanta istius, in quo ambulamus, maris fluctuatione et horribili peccatorum 
 gurgite. 
 
 Quomodo statum nostrum perspectum habere eiusve misereri possunt ange- 
 li, vel ii, qui plenam cum Deo coniunctionem obtinuerunt, adeoque certandi 
 onere levati, incolumes in salutis littore collocantur ? 
 
 6. Res eo tandem recidit, ut dum propriam voluntatem sector propriae per- 
 tinaciae poenas luam ; nam Seni et monitori sacro non obsequutus, servituti 
 Satanae subiicior, et infamia mea inter homines celebratur ; iuxta illud, quod 
 apud Arabes memoriae proditum est : quicunque Senem (doctorem) sibi assis- 
 tentem non adhibuerit, eius Senex (doctor, magister) proculdubio erit Satanas. 
 
 Atque id quidem, quod in publicis hominum consessibus effutitur, arcanum 
 manere non potest. 
 
 7. At si tandem praesentia divina frui cupis, propria culpa (i. e. adhaeren* 
 do mundo), ne separes te ab ea, o Hafiz ! 
 
 Sed reiice mundum, quern tantopere dilexisti et missum facito 1 
 
 Cuius carminis postremus versus satis arguit, quae de amore et 
 vino cecinit poeta, ipsum velle allegorice de divino amore et inten- 
 tae ardentisque erga Deum pietatis sensu dicta intelligi. Q,uod qui- 
 dem poetae popularibus ita est persuasum, ut ipsis V^-^^^F (ju*O 
 lissan elgliaib i. e. lingua arcana s. mystica audiat. Vide vitam Ha- 
 fizi ex Daulet Schahi historia poetarum Persicorum in Wilkenii 
 Chrestomath. Pers. p. 220, quae Franco-gallice reddita legitur ab 
 S. de Sacy in Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits de la Biblibtheque 
 du Roi, T. IV. p. 238 seqq. Nostratium quidem nonnulli, ut 
 Reviczkius et lones, etsi negare nequeant, Hafizum aliosque poetas 
 ei similes immisQere passim suis carminibus eiusmodi versus, qui 
 ardentissimum Dei amorem et pietatis erga eum sensum profitentur ; 
 id tamen eo consilio ab illis factum esse existimant, ut criminatorum 
 cavillationes subterfugerent, civesque suos credulos et religiosos de- 
 ciperent, dum ipsi voluptatibus liberius indulserint. Sed reputan- 
 dum est, omnia eiusmodi carmina composita esse ab hominibus rig- 
 idiori Sufiorum* disciplinae addictis, qui in monasteriis inclusi to- 
 tos rerum divinarum meditationi et vitae contemplativae sese devo- 
 verant. Tales inter Arabes Abul-Ola (de quo vide Herbelotii Biblio- 
 thec. Oriental.) et Faredh (vide Silvestre de Sacy, Chrcstom. Arab. 
 P. III. p. 152 seqq.) inter Persas praeter Hafizum, Dschami, Kha- 
 
 * /-3*JO De quibus vide Pocockii Specim, Hist Arab. p. 374. 
 56 
 
442 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 cani, Orsi, Mirkhosru, Nizami, et plures alii, qui theologiam mysti- 
 cam allegoria amoris Leilae et Medschnuni, aut Khosrui et Schiri- 
 nae, involutam cecinerunt. Nee desunt libri, qui clavis usum prae- 
 stent, qua dictionem figuratarum, quibus Mystici il!i suis in carmin- 
 ibus uti solent, sensus arcanus recludatur. In iis traditur, somnum 
 significare perfectionem divinarum medita.tionem,fragrantiamspem 
 obtinendi favorem divinum. Aura lenis rcfrigerans indicat gratiae di- 
 vinae emanationem, oscula et amplexus vero significant pietatis Ixircct- 
 otig. Per idololatras, infideles et libidinosos intelliguntur homines pu- 
 rissimae religioni addicti, quorum idolum est ipsum summum numen. 
 Taberna vinaria locum sacrum ad orandum indicat, et caupo virum 
 pium, qui aliis salutaria monita impertit. Pulcritudo summi numinis 
 perfectionem, cincinni gloriam eius longe lateque expansam, lahia ar- 
 cana essentiae eius, et genarum pili molles propullulantes spiritus coe- 
 lestes thronum illius circumstantes designant. Voluptate, denique, 
 lascivia et cbrietatc indicantur animi coacitati et a corporis sensibus 
 abstract! motus ad contemplanda coelestia. ROSENMUELL^R. 
 
 [D. p. 262.] Illustration of passages quoted from Solomon's Song. 
 
 IV. 8. " Mecum ex Libano sponsa, 
 " Mecum ex Libano veni ; 
 " Prospectabis ex cacumine Amanae 
 " Ex cacumine Seniri et Hermonis, 
 " Ex lustris leonum, montibus pardonum." MICHAKLIS. 
 
 Sensum eorum, quae poeta Hebraeus figurate expressit, ita ex- 
 posuit Chaldaeus : Dixit Dominus in verbo suo : mecum eris liabi- 
 tans, coetus Israel, qui similis es sponsae verecundae, et mecum in- 
 gredieris in domum Sanctuarii ; ojferentque tibi munera principes 
 populorum, qui habitant super fluvium Amana, et incolae montis 
 nivis, et gentes Hermonis^ et pendent tibi tributa habitatores civita- 
 tumfortium, qui robusti sunt sicut leones, munera ab urbibus monti- 
 um, i. e. ab habitatoribus urbium montanarum, qui sunt fortiores 
 pardis. Ad quam interpretationem recte intelligendam et diiudican- 
 dam observandum, Libano templum Hierosolymitanum innui, e lignis 
 cedrinis in Libano nascentibus, exstructum (plura vid. in not. ad 
 Ezech. xvii. 3), baud sine allusione ad nomen JiDizb , thus, ob 
 thuris in templo frequentissimum usum, unde idem vs. 6. eiusdem 
 Capitis quarti Cantici allegorico nomine SiaiS^Sl r)^z3, collis thuris 
 appellatur. Libano templum indicari a nostro poeta, apparet quo 
 queexIII.9, l'l^n ^^ Httirt tftftfl ^ ^?? l^"^, Tha'amt 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 443 
 
 s. solium fecit sibi Salomo rex e lignis Libani, quae Chaldaeus ex- 
 pi icat : jtfEhlp b^H Templum Sanctuarii aedificavit sibi rex Salo- 
 mo de lignis ceitrinis. Hinc idem interpres infra IV. 15, proeo quod 
 in Hebraeo est : ]i2ib";7: trbt:, quae defltiunt de Libano j posuit : 
 aquae quae libantur super altar e, fiblpi"P!3 ":in727 N2nj?53 rP^a 
 1?:3b "'"Upna'l, in domo sanctuarii, quae acdifecata est Hierosolymis, 
 et vocatur Liuonus. Quae quum ita sint, verba IV. 8, "pU^Vfc "Pitf 
 ^T^n "p-Wa "FiN MV3 Mecum e Libano, o sponsa ! mecum e Libano 
 venies, hoc sibi volunt : mecum e Libano, i. e. templo, et urbe atque 
 terra, in qua illud situm est, migrabis, in exteras terras deportan- 
 dus, sed itidem mecum, lova, eo reverteris. larchi : " Quando de- 
 portabimini de Libano isto (i. e. templo, ut annotarat ad vs. 6), 
 mecum deportabimini, nam ego migrabo vobiscum. Quando vero 
 revertemini ab exilio ; ego vobiscum revertar, quin etiam omni ex- 
 ilii tempore in angustiis tuis mihi fuerunt angustiae (lesai. Ixiii. 9). 
 Dicitur vero hie : mecum de Libano venies, i. e. quando deportabim- 
 ini de Libano isto, mecum venietis, nee dicitur : mecum ad Liba- 
 num venies, ut innueret, se ab illo iride tempore, quo sint egressuri, 
 usque ad tempus, quo sint reversuri, semper iis aflfuturum." Span- 
 sae nomen populo Israelitico tribuitur ex lesai. Ixii. 5, ^rfn i!31iB-1 
 ^"n^N *pb37 iD* 1 '^ SlV5""bi> Quam de sponsa voluptatem cnpit spon- 
 sus, earn de le capiet Dens tuus. lam satis, spero, tibi patebit ratio 
 explicationis Chaldaicae hemistichii prioris. Quod vero alterum at- 
 tinet hemistichium, 'i^l Jli53wN5 ttfii"i73 ^niCF), id ex mente Chaldaei 
 interpretis ita capiendum erit : prospect abis advenientes ex Amanis 
 vertice etc., i. e. eos qui e gentibus exteris ad te cum muneribus 
 mittuntur, quibus gratiam et arnicitiam tuam sibi concilient, secun- 
 dum illud lesaiae Ix. 5 seqq. Convertetur ad te marina turba, tibi 
 gentium copiae venient. Te camelorum armentum obruet, dromades 
 Madianitici et Ephani, omnes ex Sabaca venient, aurum et thus ad- 
 fcrentes. Noster poeta vero, quia proxime antea Libani mentionem 
 fecerat, exterarum nationum legates in terram Israeliticam descen- 
 dentes eleganter fingit de illis montibus, qui et Libano iuncti essent, 
 et fines boreales Cananaeae constituerent, vide Deut. iii. 8, 9, iv. 
 48. Pro monte Amana Chaldaeus posuit fiumcn eiusdem nominis, 
 e monte illo decurrens, atque Damascenes agros alluens, 2 Reg. v.. 
 12 ; pro T^3**li vero montem nivis. Videlicet Senir erat illud nomen, 
 quo Hcrmonem Amoraei appellare solebant, uti diserte dicitur Deut. 
 iii. 9. Hermonis verticem vere nive fuisse tectum, non solum ex 
 Hieronymi Onomastico apparet, ubi sub Aermon legitur : de quo 
 
444 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 nunc aestivae nives Tyrum ob delicias feruntur, verum etiam ex 
 Samaritano interprete, qui Deuter. iv. 48 habet : sorr fcMVn 11S3 
 pftin, mons nivis, qui est Herman. Atque ita eodem loco Targum 
 Hierosolymitanum habet N}bn "nt2, mons nivis, quum in Hebraeo 
 
 *3 legatur. 
 
 H. 10 13. Haud absimilus veris descriptio apud OVIDIUM, 
 Fastor. L. I. vs. 151 seqq. 
 
 Omnia tune florent, tune est nova temporis aetas, 
 
 Et nova de gravido palmite gemma tumet. 
 Et mo do formatis amicitur vitibus arbos ; 
 
 Prodit et in summum seminis herba solum : 
 Et tepidum volucres concentibus aera mulcent ; 
 
 Ludit et in pratis luxuriatque pecus. 
 Turn blandi soles, ignotaque prodit hirundo ; 
 
 Et luteum celsa sub trabe fingit opus : 
 Turn patitur cultus ager, et renovatur aratro. 
 
 Haec anni novitas iure vocanda fuit. 
 
 Ceterum ilium Cantici locum Chaldaeus refert ad Hebraeorum 
 ex Aegypto exitum in mense Abib (Exod. xiii. 4, 5), id est, ver- 
 no tempore. Ita enim ille versum 10 exponit : Coetus Israel, dilec- 
 ta mca antiquitus, pulchra opcribus, vade, egredere e servitute Ac- 
 gypti. Idem sequitur larchi, qui tamen bene observavit ad vs. 12 
 et 13, capiendos eos esse sensu simplici et literali, quo innuit, reli- 
 quam suavissimam veris descriptionem ornatus caussa additam, nee 
 singula esse allegorice dicta intelligenda. 
 
 IV. 10, 11. Huius loci sensus proprius, iuxta Chaldaeum, hie 
 erit : Gratior es mihi omnibus aliis populis, et longe iucundior, quam 
 quivis suavissimi vini gustus, et qui e te virtutum tuarum odor ema- 
 nat, superat aromata omnia. Favum destillant labia piorum, prop- 
 ter doctrinam divinae legis et odor vestimentorum sacerdotum est 
 sicut oder Libani. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 IV. 15. V. 1. " Capilli tui," etc. The point of comparison 
 is the bright hue and delicate smoothness of the hair. " When we 
 saw the flocks of goats descending from the mountain" (Gilead), 
 (says Schultz in den Leitungen des Hochsten, Th. V. S. 289), [the 
 sun shining strongly upon them] " it seemed as if a cloud of fire cov- 
 ered the mountain, and the splendour was so dazzling that our eyes 
 could scarcely endure it." u;^, according to Gesenius, like the 
 
 Arabic (J*****, means to sit, to lie down, to be encamped. 
 
 V. 2. " Dentes tui," etc. The point of comparison is the rej 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 445 
 
 larity, whiteness, and soundness of the teeth. Among the Arabs, 
 the teeth are often compared to pearls, corals, and the stars ; and 
 one of the Persian poets calls a fine set of teeth the cluster of the 
 Pleiades. 
 
 V. 3. " Labella tua," etc. The beautiful redness of the lips is. 
 here referred to. The Arabs, to express the same quality, call the 
 lips the ruby-mines ; and the Persians speak of them as the red par- 
 rots, conserve of roses, the rosebud, the laughing rose, the peach, the 
 blood of grapes, etc. The mouth is called the jewel of Solomon, the 
 secret of concealment, the casket of rubies, the fountain of sweetness, 
 the thief of the heart, etc. 
 
 " Genae tuae," etc. The cheeks, full, tinged with red and 
 white, and partly concealed by the flowing locks of hair, are com- 
 pared to the two halves of a pomegranate. The same comparison is 
 frequently used by the Arabs and Persians. 
 
 V. 4. " Collum tuum," etc. A very bold image, but to an Orien- 
 tal extremely beautiful. The grace, the nice proportion, and the 
 firmness of the neck, are indicated by the first part of the verse ; and 
 the ornaments of it by the second. The Hebrew poet, even here, is 
 outdone by one of the Arabs, who designates the neck of a beauti- 
 ful woman as femur coclorum. 
 
 V. 5. " Duae mamillae," etc. The image here I believe all will 
 acknowledge to be exquisitely beautiful, and too obvious to need illus- 
 tration. (Compare Lied der Liebe, das aelteste und schoenste aus 
 dem Morgenlande. Neu uebersetzt und aesthetisch erklaert durch 
 Dr. Friedr. Wilh. Carl Umbreit, Goettingen, 1820, S. 144 if.) S. 
 
 Chap. v. 11, 14. vii. C, 14. 
 
 It is much to be lamented, that no commentator has arisen suffi- 
 ciently qualified to explain this beautiful poem. Those who have 
 attempted it have been scholastic divines, rather indeed mystics, and 
 have entirely overlooked the obvious and more elegant meaning. In- 
 deed the task is by no means easy : besides a very accurate and 
 idiomatical knowledge of the Oriental languages, an intimate ac- 
 quaintance with the manners of antiquity, and no small information 
 concerning natural history, will be requisite : to these must be add- 
 ed a good deal of reading in the Arabic poetry, particularly in their 
 compositions of the amorous kind, and last of all, a true taste for poe- 
 try. Very few of these qualities have existed separately, and never 
 all of them conjunctly, in those who have undertaken to illustrate 
 this poem-. 
 
446 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 
 
 In order to exemplify how much might be effected towards clear- 
 ing up the obscurities of this most elegant composition, by a knowl- 
 edge of natural history alone, I will endeavour to explain my opin- 
 ion of some difficult passages (chap. v. 11, 14. vii. 6, 14.) In ch. 
 v. 6, 11, most people are ignorant, and at a loss to conjecture, what 
 may be the meaning of D^nbn : the Seventy and the Vulgate ren- 
 der it ikuictg (elatas) or the downy substance in which the dates are 
 involved ; nor is this translation very different from the Arabic, 
 which renders it the branch of the palm tree from which the dates de- 
 pend. But what relation can this bear to the human hair ? I an- 
 swer, the resemblance is obvious to any person who has seen the 
 object of the comparison, or has remarked the plate of it annexed to 
 the notes on Theophrastus's History of Plants, by Jo. BUDEUS. 
 But how is Solomon consistent, in the same verse speaking of raven 
 locks, and a golden head ? 
 
 " His head is of pure gold, 
 
 " The locks of which resemble the branches of the palm tree. 
 
 " And black as the raven."* 
 
 To reconcile this difficulty, it is necessary to know, that although 
 the Orientals may possibly admire raven locks in their natural state, 
 yet they are accustomed to dye them with henna (so they call the 
 oil of privet) in order to give them a yellow or golden cast : this is 
 an ancient custom, though the existence of it among the Hebrews 
 may be disputed ; but probably for this same purpose they might 
 make use of gold dust, as the Latins are known to have done. 
 
 With the same henna they stain the countenance, as well as the 
 hands and arms, which first changes them to an azure blue, and 
 
 * Simile imagine utitur Amralkeis in Moallaca, vs. 34. 
 
 )l C / G / C<0 J / 5 C / / 
 
 C 
 
 Et coma ampla talis, qua decorat dorsum, nigra, carbonis instar, 
 Copiosa, implexaque, sicut racemi palmae implicit!. 
 
 Nee non Motanabbi in Speciminibus a Reiskio editis (Proben der arabischen 
 
 Dichtkunst aus dem Motanabbi), Leips. 1765, in quat. p. 23. 
 
 <LJ>^ 
 
 (Coma) Nigra ut coryus, densa, noctis colorem referens, copiosa, crispa 
 neutiquam veto arte. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXI. 447 
 
 they grow yellow by degrees ; and this they esteem a great object of 
 beauty, though it would be accounted deformity with us. This ob- 
 servation will enable us to understand better some phrases in the 
 14th and 15th verses of the same chapter : 
 
 " His hands are as gold rings 
 
 " Inlaid with chrysolite : 
 
 " His belly as plates of ivory, 
 
 " Inclosed in sapphire : 
 
 " His legs are as columns of marble 
 
 " Upon a base of gold." 
 
 The fingers being stained with henna t appeared as if they had gold 
 rings on, set with chrysolyte ; which gem was formerly of a yellow 
 colour. I say formerly, because the same stone which we call the 
 topaz was the ancient chrysolite. (See HILL'S Hist, of Fossils.) 
 But if by the word iTttpP) we understand the ancient hyacinth or 
 amethyst, an azure colour will then be alluded to, which the same 
 henna produces on the skin. The whiteness of the body, covered 
 with a delicate purple vest, is finely compared to ivory overlaid with 
 sapphire. izJ'U is without doubt figured marble: to which the legs 
 and thighs are compared, from the blue and serpentine veins which 
 run along them, and which are more pellucid in proportion to the 
 fineness of the skin. The bases are golden slippers. 
 
 The 5th verse of the seventh chapter is among the most difficult. 
 The head of the king's daughter is compared to the pyramidal top of 
 Carmel, covered with thick trees, by which simile is, I apprehend, 
 intimated the quantity and beauty of her hair. The word nVl also 
 occurs for hair, in the explanation of which commentators have 
 been greatly perplexed ; some, led away by a whimsical etymology, 
 have supposed it to mean thin hair, as if this could possibly be a 
 subject of flattery to a young lady. In my opinion, the word is de- 
 rived from the Arabic, as well as the Chaldaic word b^b^ (the fringe 
 of a garment or tent), and means any thing pendant, or hanging 
 loose. The hair is compared to purple, not however, I think, on ac- 
 count of the colour : for the henna, with which they stained their 
 hair, makes it yellow, not purple : I suspect some allusion is rather 
 intended to the animal, which produces purple. That animal is of a 
 pyramidal form, rising beautifully in a spiral cone, whence it is call- 
 ed tta*&J, from its likeness to the stone monuments.* 
 
 * Sed 'j'ai'nst cochleam purpurariam notare, mera est coniectura, eaque pa- 
 rum certa ; illiusnomen Hebraicum videtur potius ptVli fuisse; vide BOCHAR- 
 TI Hieroz. P. II. L. V. C. IX. Crinis amicae Cantic.' VII. G, purpurae com- 
 paratur ob splendorem. Ita poetae exteri Niso tribuunt purpuream comam, vida 
 e. c. TIBVI.LUS, ti. I. Eleg. IV. vs. 14, et cf. Hygini Fab. 198. ROSENMUELUER. 
 
448 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 There follows trurna -rtOtf ^f:E, which, with some degree of hesi- 
 tation, I venture to translate, " as a king encircled with a diadem :" 
 the Septuagint has it o)g notjqvQa Paathcws, nfQtdtdtptwi ufojfiaoi. 
 The upright Oriental tiara is alluded to, the mark of royalty, which 
 is more noble the higher it is. Thus the verse may be explained, 
 and it will then be found to present a just picture of the Oriental 
 head-dress : 
 
 " Thine head resembles Carmel ; 
 
 " And thine hair is raised like the shell of the purple, 
 
 " Like a king encircled with diadems." 
 
 In the latter verses of the same chapter there is an elegant de- 
 scription of spring, but what chiefly creates difficulty is, the E^atT) 1 ?, 
 which are said to produce odours. The famous CELSIUS, in his Sa- 
 cred Botany, seems to have been peculiarly unfortunate on this sub- 
 ject. The word is translated mandr agora (or mandrake) on the 
 most ancient authority : but Celsius cannot allow this plant any 
 place in a love poem, because it has in reality a bad smell. The 
 text explained from the Arabic is, " The mandrakes produce a strong 
 odour." We must remember, that it was the opinion of all the Ori- 
 entals, that the mandrake was of especial efficacy in love potions ; 
 the truth of which opinion is of no concern to us, if we only allow it 
 to have been the general opinion of the eastern nations. The text 
 therefore implies, " The mandrake will breathe its strong and som- 
 niferous odours, and provoke to lore." MICHAELIS. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 [A. p. 264.] Scene and characters of the look of Job. 
 
 The information which the learned have endeavoured to collect 
 from the writings and geography of the Greeks concerning the coun- 
 try and residence of Job and his friends, appears to me very incon- 
 clusive, that I am inclined to take a quite different method for the 
 solution of this question, by applying solely to the Sacred Writings : 
 the hints with which they have furnished me towards the illustra- 
 tion of this subject, I shall explain as briefly as possible. 
 
 The land of Uz t or Gnutz, is evidently Idumca, as appears from 
 LAM. iv. 21. Uz was the grandson of Seir, the Horite: GEN. 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 449 
 
 xxxvi. 20, 21, 28. 1 CHRON. i. 38, 42. Seir inhabited the moun- 
 tainous tract which was called by his name antecedent to the time 
 of Abraham, but his posterity being expelled, it was occupied by the 
 Idumeans : GEN. xiv. 6. DEUT. ii. 12. Two other men are men- 
 tioned of the name Uz; one the grandson of Shem, the other the 
 son of Nachor, the brother of Abraham ; but whether any district 
 was called after their name is not clear. Idumaca is a part of Ara- 
 bia Petrrea, situated on the southern extremity of the tribe of Judah : 
 Numb, xxxiv. 3. Josh. xv. 1, 21 : the land of Uz therefore appears 
 to have been between Egypt and Philistia. See Jer. xxv. 20, where 
 the order of the places seems to have been accurately observed in 
 reviewing the different nations from Egypt to Babylon ; and the 
 same people seem again to be described in exactly the same situa- 
 tions, Jer. XLVI L. 
 
 Children of the East or Eastern people, seems to have been the 
 general appellation for that mingled race of people (as they are call- 
 ed, Jer. xxv. 20) who inhabited between Egypt and the Euphrates, 
 bordering upon Judea from the South to the East ; the Idumaeans, 
 the Amalekites, the Midianites, the Moabites, the Ammonites : see 
 Jud. vi. 3. and Isa. xi. 14. Of these the Idumaeans and Amalekites 
 certainly possessed the southern parts ; see Numb, xxxiv. 3. xiii. 29. 
 1 Sam. xxvii. 8, 10. This appears to be the true state of the case : 
 the whole region between Egypt and Euphrates was called the East, 
 at first in respect to Egypt (where the learned Jos. Mede thinks the 
 Israelites acquired this mode of speaking, MEDE'S Works, page 
 580), and afterwards absolutely and without any relation to situa- 
 tion or circumstances. Abraham is said to have sent the sons of 
 his concubines, Hagar and Keturah, " Eastward, to the country 
 which is commonly called the East." Gen. xxv. 6, where the name 
 of the region seems to have been derived from the same situation. 
 Solomon is reported " to have excelled in wisdom all the Eastern 
 people, and all Egypt :" 1 Kings iv. 30, that is, all the neighbouring 
 people on that quarter : for there were people beyond the bounda- 
 ries of Egypt, and bordering on the south of Judea, who were fa- 
 mous for wisdom, namely, the Idumseans, (see Jer. xlix. 7. Ob. 8) 
 to whom we may well believe this passage might have some relation. 
 Thus JEHOVAH addresses the Babylonians : " Arise, ascend unto 
 Kedar, and lay waste the children of the East," Jer. xlix. 28, not- 
 withstanding these were really situated to the west of Babylon. 
 57 
 
450 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 Although Job, therefore, be accounted one of the Orientals, it by 
 no means follows, that his residence must be in Arabia Deserta. 
 
 Eliphaz the Tcmanite : Eliphaz was the son of Esau, and Te- 
 man the son of Eliphaz : Gen. xxxvi. 10, 11. The Eliphaz of Job 
 was, without a doubt, of this race. Teman is certainly a city of 
 Idumaea: Jer. xlix. 7, 20. Ezek. xxv. 13. Amos i. 11, 12. Ob. 8,9. 
 Bildad the Skuhite : Shuah was one of the sons of Abraham by 
 Keturah, whose posterity were numbered among the people of the 
 East, and his situation was probably contiguous to that of his broth- 
 er Midian, and of his nephews, Shebah and Dedan : see Gen. xxv. 
 2 and 3. Dedan is a city of Idumaea : Jer. xlix. 8, and seems to 
 have been situated on the eastern side, as Teman was on the west, 
 Ezek. xxv. 13. From Sheba originated the Sabaeans in the pas- 
 sage from Arabia Felix to the Red Sea : Sheba is united to Midian, 
 Isa. Ix. 6 ; it is in the same region however with Midian, and not far 
 from mount Horeb, Exod. ii. 15, iii. 1. 
 
 ~Zophar the Naamatliite : among the cities, which by lot fell to 
 the tribe of Judah, in the neighbourhood of Idumsea, Naama is enu- 
 merated, Josh. xv. 21, 41. Nor does this name elsewhere occur : 
 this probably was the country of Zophar. 
 
 Elihu the Buzite : Buz occurs but once as the name of a place 
 or country, Jer. xxv. 23, where it is mentioned along with Dedan 
 and Thema : Dedan, as was just now demonstrated, is a city of 
 Idumaea ; Thema belonged to the children of Ishmael, who are said 
 to have inhabited from Havilah even to Shur, which is in the dis- 
 trict of Egypt, Gen. xxv. 15, 18. Saul, however, is said to have 
 smitten the Amalekites from Havilah even to Shur, which is in the 
 district of Egypt, 1 Sam. xv. 7. Havilah cannot, therefore, be very 
 far from the boundaries of the Amalekites ; but the Amalekites nev- 
 er exceeded the boundaries of Arabia Petraea. (See RELAND, Pal- 
 aestin. lib. i. c. xiv.) Thema, therefore, lay somewhere between 
 Havilah and the desert of Shur, to the southward of Judea. Thema 
 is also mentioned in connexion with Sheba, Job vi. 19. 
 
 Upon a fair review of these facts I think we may venture to con- 
 clude, still with that modesty which such a question demands, that 
 Job was an inhabitant of Arabia Petraea, as well as his friends, or 
 at least of that neighbourhood. To this solution one objection may 
 be raised : it may be asked, how the Chaldeans, who lived on the 
 borders of the Euphrates, could make depredations on the camels of 
 Job, who lived in Idumaea at so great a distance ? This too is 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 451 
 
 thought a sufficient cause for assigning Job a situation in Arabia 
 Deserta, and not far from the Euphrates. But what should prevent 
 the Chaldeans, as well as the Sabaeans, a people addicted to rapine, 
 and roving about at immense distances for the sake of plunder, from 
 wandering through these defenceless regions, which were divided in- 
 to tribes and families rather than into nations, and pervading from 
 Euphrates even to Egypt ? Further, I would ask on the other hand, 
 whether it be probable that all the friends of Job, who lived in Idu- 
 maea and its neighbourhood, should instantly be informed of all that 
 could happen to Job in the desert of Arabia and on the confines of 
 Chaldea, and immediately repair thither ? Or whether it be reason- 
 able to think, that, some of them being inhabitants of Arabia Deser- 
 ta, it should be concerted among them to meet at the residence of 
 Job ; since it is evident, that Eliphaz lived at Theman, in the ex- 
 treme parts of Idumaea? With respect to the Aisitas of Ptolemy 
 (for so it is written, and not Au$itas) it has no agreement, not so 
 much as in a single letter, with the Hebrew Gnutz. The LXX. in- 
 deed call that country by the name Ausitida, but they describe it as 
 situated in Idumsea ; and they account Job himself an Idumaean, 
 and a descendant of Esau. See the Appendix of the LXX. to the 
 book of Job, and HYDE, Not. in PcritzoL chap. xi. LOWTH. 
 
 On this much disputed subject, compare Jahn, Introduction to 
 the Old Testament, (pp. 458 482 of Turner's translation) ; Eich- 
 horn, Einleitung in das Alte Test. (Band V. S. 114 f) ; Herder, 
 Geist der ebr. Poesie, Th. I. S. 112 ff. ; and Rosenmueller in Jobum 
 (p. 23 seqq.) ; also Noyes's Job, Introduc. S. 
 
 [B. p. 26C.J Antiquity of tlic poem. 
 
 In opposition to the antiquity of the poem, and to what I have 
 urged above, that it appears to have no connexion with, or relation 
 to, the affairs of the Israelites, appeals have been made to JOB xxxi. 
 28. See A free and candid Examination of the Bishop of Lon- 
 don's Sermon, Anonymous, p. 165 ; in which the author inquires, 
 " In what nation upon earth idolatry was ever accounted a crime but 
 under the Jewish economy V His argument is proposed as unan- 
 swerable, and is thought to be sufficiently confirmed by the authori- 
 ty of Mr. LOCKE. I will, however, appeal to a higher authority than 
 that of LOCKE, namely, that of reason and the sacred writings, and 
 will answer the question in a few words : Under the patriarchal 
 economy, in every tribe and family under Abraham, Melchizedek, 
 
452 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXIt. 
 
 Job, and the rest. On the increase of idolatry Abraham was called 
 by the divine command from Chaldea, to the end, that from him 
 should proceed a nation separate from all others, who should wor- 
 ship the true God, should afford a perfect example of pure religion, 
 and bear testimony against the worship of vain gods. Was it not, 
 therefore, the duty of Abraham, who in his own tribe or family pos- 
 sessed all the attributes of sovereignty, to punish idolatry as well as 
 homicide, adultery, or other heinous crimes? Was it not the duty -of 
 Melchizedek, of Job, of all those patriarchal princes, who regarded 
 the worship of the true God, sedulously to prevent every defection 
 from it ; to restrain those who were disposed to forsake it, and to 
 punish the obstinate and the rebellious ? In fact, in this allusion to 
 the exertion of the judicial authority against idolatry, and against the 
 particular species which is mentioned here, namely, the worship of 
 the sun and moon (the earliest species of idolatry) consists the most 
 complete proof of the antiquity of the poem, and the decisive mark of 
 the patriarchal age. But if it should be suspected, that the ingenui- 
 ty of the poet might lead him to imitate with accuracy the manners 
 of the age which he describes, this indeed would be more to the pur- 
 pose, and a more plausible argument against the antiquity of the 
 poem : but I cannot possibly attribute such address and refinement 
 to a poet in a barbarous age, and after the Babylonish captivity. Fur- 
 ther than this, the style of the poem savours altogether of the an- 
 tique ; insomuch, that whoever could suppose it written after the Ba- 
 bylonish captivity, would fall little short of the error of Hardouin, 
 who ascribed the golden verses of Virgil, Horace, etc. to the iron age 
 of monkish pedantry and ignorance. 
 
 With regard to the other difficulty, the solution of which appears 
 so embarrassing, namely, how any person not acquainted with the 
 Jewish economy could assert, that " God visits the sins of the fath- 
 ers upon the children," Job xxi. 19 ? Let the candid observer for 
 the present content himself with this verse of Horace. 
 
 " Delicta majorum immeritus lues, 
 
 " Romane." Lcnvrn. 
 
 Contra plenum esse lobi librum Chaldaicis forrnis, vocibus, lo- 
 quendi formulis, adeoque valde recentem aetatem sapere, demon- 
 stravit GEO. HENR. BERNSTEIN in Commentatione vermicule scripta 
 de aetate, argumento etconsilio libri lobi, (in den Analekt.cn flier das 
 Sludium der exegetischen und systematichen Theologie, P. III. p. 49 
 seqq.) Ceterum quam Clericus et Warburtonus primi proposuere 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 453 
 
 sententiam (vide lobum Latine versuni et anatatione perpetua a no- 
 bis illustratum, Prolegomm. P. XXXIV.) sub Tobi persona adumbra- 
 ri populum Hebraeum, in Bubylonico exsilio multa acerba perpes- 
 sum, eiusque consolandi causa poema compositum esse, tarn ingeni- 
 ose adornavit Bernstein tantoque argumentorum pondere commenda- 
 vit, ut neminem, qui illius scriptionem legerit, futurum esse existi- 
 memus, cui suam sententiam non persuadeat ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 On this subject there are some questions to which, so far as I 
 know, no critic has yet given a satisfactory answer. 
 
 If the poem of Job be so ancient as some have contended ; how 
 happens it that it had no influence on the subsequent Hebrew litera- 
 ture? and that there is no allusion to it until the time of Ezekiel? 
 (Ezek. 14- 14). If it were the production of a Gentile, and not of 
 a native Hebrew ; how could the Jews be induced to receive the 
 work of a foreigner into their canon ? Or, how could a foreigner ob- 
 tain such a perfect mastery of the Hebrew language 1 for I am quite 
 sure that no one who knows any thing of the business of translating, 
 will contend that the book of Job is a translation. On the other 
 hand, if the book be of more recent date ; how happens it that it 
 does not contain the remotest allusion to any part of the Israelitish 
 history 1 Or, how is it possible that a work of such sublimity of 
 thought, such conciseness and energy of expression, such purity of 
 language, should be produced in the same age and nation as the 
 books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, etc. ? For as to the Chaldaisms of 
 which Rosenmueller speaks, they would depend more on the region, 
 than on the age, in which the writer lived. S. 
 
 [C. p. 272.] Structure and contents of the poem. 
 
 With the views of Lowth on this subject it may be well to com- 
 pare those of Michaelis, as expressed in the very judicious transla- 
 tion and abridgement of the Professor's Note, by Mr. Gregory. The 
 reader should be reminded, however, that the investigations of the 
 more recent critics (referred to in Note A) are much more favoura- 
 ble to the hypothesis of Lowth than to that of Michaelis. Many of 
 the opinions of the latter, indeed, (such as the supposed allusions to 
 the Isles of the Blessed), are altogether the product of his own fan- 
 cy, without the least foundation in fact. S. 
 
 It has long been a dispute among the learned, whether the poem 
 of Job consists of fable or a true history : this question, if authority 
 
454 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 alone be applied to, must long since have been decided in favour of 
 those who assert it to be a real history. 
 
 With me I confess, on the other hand, it is no longer matter of 
 opinion, but I feel very little doubt that the subject of the poem is 
 altogether fabulous, and designed to teach us that " the rewards of 
 virtue being in another state, it is very possible for the good to suf- 
 fer afflictions in this life : but that when it so happens, it is permit- 
 ted by Providence for the wisest reasons, though they may not be 
 obvious to human eyes." But before I proceed to examine the 
 grounds of this opinion, it may be necessary to premise a few re- 
 marks in reply to those who may think the divine authority of the 
 book affected by the supposition of its not being founded in fact. 
 For my own part, I cannot conceive that the sanctity, the dignity, 
 or the utility of that book will be in the least affected, though we 
 should suppose no such person as Job had ever existed. 
 
 If moral precepts, conveyed in the garb of fabulous narrations, 
 allure the hearers by the pleasure they afford, if they strike the mind 
 more forcibly, are more easily understood, and better retained than 
 abstract sentiments, I see no reason why this mode of writing should 
 be deemed unworthy of inspiration. Indeed, on the contrary, we 
 find it made use of by Christ himself, nor does it at all derogate 
 from his force as a moral teacher, that the good Samaritan, the rich 
 man and Lazarus, etc. were not real persons. 
 
 I shall not however rest here ; for I assert further, that the book 
 of Job is more instructive as a fable, than it could possibly be as a 
 true history. Taken as a mere relation of a matter of fact, it is ne- 
 cessary to suppose that the sentiments and conversations are exhib- 
 ited exactly as they were spoken, and are the sentiments of mere 
 mortals not actuated by the Spirit of God ; for we find that God has 
 reproved both Job and his friends as being severally mistaken. It 
 would then be impossible to determine what was true or what false ; 
 no doctrine of religion, no precept of morality, could with certainty 
 be deduced from these conversations. In the whole book, the his- 
 torical part (and how short is that !) and the words attributed to God 
 himself, would be alone divine, or of divine authority, the rest would 
 be all human. Considered as a fable, the case is different. The 
 author, composing under the influence of divine inspiration, we may 
 reasonably suppose has attributed to the fictitious characters such 
 sentiments as were proper and natural to their state and circumstan- 
 ces : we have then, in the first place, a picture of the human mind 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 455 
 
 drawn by the finger of God ; and in the next, we may rest satisfied 
 that Job and his friends err only in the principal matter upon which 
 they dispute, and only on the points for which God has reproved 
 them ; but that whatever is said exclusive of this is founded on di- 
 vine truth; such is the mention of the angels by Eliphaz, and the 
 assertion of Job, that there is none pure among mortals. Finally, 
 we are by these means enabled both to determine what are the sen- 
 timents which immediately meet with the approbation of God, and 
 what are the errors which are intended to be exposed. An able 
 writer in dialogue never fails to discover his own sentiments : as 
 from the books of Cicero on the Nature of the Gods,\ve may collect 
 with ease what the author thought, or rather doubted upon the sub- 
 ject, which would have been impossible, if he had only reported the 
 actual words of the philosophers who are supposed to have convers- 
 ed on that subject. 
 
 I will now proceed freely to explain what at first I undertook to 
 prove concerning the book in question. It is surely more becom- 
 ing to consider the exordium, in which Satan appears as the accuser 
 of Job, rather in the light of a fable than of a true narrative. It is 
 surely incredible, that such a conversation ever took place between 
 the Almighty and Satan, who is supposed to return with news from 
 the terrestrial regions. Indeed, the commentators who have un- 
 dertaken to vindicate this part of the book, have done it with so much 
 asperity, that they seem conscious of the difficulty under which it 
 labours. 
 
 Nor will it suffice to answer, as some temperate and rational com- 
 mentator, like our author, probably will, and indeed as he himself 
 hints : that the great outline of the fact only is true ; and that the 
 exordium is set off with some poetical ornaments, among which is 
 to be accounted the conversation between God and Satan. For on 
 this very conversation the whole plot is founded, and the whole 
 story and catastrophe depends. One of the best of men is thrown 
 into so many unexpected and undeserved evils, that neither he nor 
 his adversaries are able to conceive how it can be consistent with a 
 benevolent being, to plunge a good man into so great afflictions : 
 nor has God condescended to explain the motives of it to them, but 
 reproves them all for investigating matters beyond their reach. But 
 'the author of the book undoes the knot which is left unresolved in 
 these conversations, and gives the reader to understand how indif- 
 ferently those reason concerning the Divine Providence, and the 
 
456 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 happiness or misery of mankind, who are only partially informed of 
 causes and events. The Almighty acts for the honour of Job, of 
 human nature, and of piety itself; he permits Job to be unhappy 
 for a time, and refutes the accusations of Satan even by the very 
 means which he himself pointed out. Suppose, therefore, that what 
 is thus related of Satan be fictitious, and all the rest true, instead of 
 the difficulty being done away, the consequence will be, that the 
 whole plot remains without any solution whatever. What our au- 
 thor has added concerning one of the historical books of Scripture, 
 in which a similar passage occurs, 1 Kings xxii. 19 22, appears 
 not at all to the purpose. It is not a history related by the author, 
 nor does the author speak in his own person, but a prophet explains 
 a vision which he has had. But those who suppose the book of Job 
 to be founded upon fact, allow that the historian speaks in the first 
 and second chapters, who, if he did invent, would certainly, one 
 would think, take that liberty only in matters which did not affect 
 the great scope of the history, and not in a matter which, if it be 
 supposed fictitious, reduces the whole book to nothing. 
 
 Moreover, the style of the whole book being poetical, and so 
 sublime, that I defy any man to imitate it in any extempore effusion, 
 is an irrefragable proof in favour of my opinion. Our author indeed 
 pleads a very specious excuse : he thinks that the conversation and 
 speeches of the different characters have been poetically ornament- 
 ed. And this argument I do not wish to confute. There are how- 
 ever others who defend the historical truth of the poem in a manner 
 not quite so modest. Among the rest, the famous SCHULTENS alle- 
 ges it not to be incredible, that these are the actual words of the 
 disputants, if we consider the amazing faculty which the Arabians 
 possess of making extempore verses. In answer to this, I must con- 
 fess, that all he can urge on this subject will never persuade me, 
 that the poetry, which is confessedly superior to all that human genius 
 has been able to produce, is nothing more than an extempore effu- 
 sion. Indeed nothing can be more ridiculous, than to suppose men 
 in circumstances of so great distress, in the midst of difficulties and 
 afflictions, capable of amusing themselves with making extempore 
 verses. 
 
 These objections which I have just stated, are well known to the 
 commentators : but there are others not quite so common, which in- 
 duce me to suppose the subject of this poem not historical, but fabu- 
 lous. So many round numbers and multiplications of them occur in 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXII. 
 
 457 
 
 the life of Job, as to be quite incompatible with mere chance. Ten 
 children perish, seven sons (which though it be not a round number, 
 is yet held sacred and mysterious by the Orientals) and three daugh- 
 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 1000 oxen, and exactly half the 
 number of asses. In lieu of these there are restored to him, 14,000 
 sheep, 6000 camels, 2000 oxen, and 1000 asses, exactly the dupli- 
 cate of the former numbers; together with exactly the same number 
 of children as he had lost, seven sons and three daughters, and these 
 from one wife. The same principle is found to extend to the years 
 )f Job's prosperity, which is a multiplication of the number 70. 
 These circumstances betray art and fiction in the narrator, who has 
 introduced these round numbers, which we know are the first to pre- 
 it themselves to the mind : it bears no appearance of chance or 
 sualty, which, when it predominates in a series of events, produc- 
 js a w,onderful variety, but very little of regularity or equality. The 
 lame of JOB too, which in the Arabic means returning to God, and 
 >ving him, and hating whatever is contrary to him, is so adapted to 
 character of his latter years, that we can never suppose it a name 
 jiven to him by his parents, but invented by the author of the story. 
 A fourth argument is, that the scene is laid in Arabia, yet the 
 mi abounds so much in imagery borrowed from Egypt, that it is 
 lain that country must have been extremely well known to the au- 
 lor, and indeed predominant in his mind, as I have endeavoured to 
 rove in a Dissertation recited before the R. S. of Gottingen. 
 
 But the most powerful of all proofs is, that some things appear in 
 le book of Job which could not possibly have place in a true histo- 
 At a period when the longevity of the patriarchs was reduced 
 within the limit of two hundred years, Job is said to have lived 140 
 'ears after his malady, and therefore could not be very ancient when 
 fell into this malady ; nevertheless he upbraids his friends with 
 icir youth (who by the way could not be very young, since Elihu 
 xxxii. 6, 7, 9, reverences their hoary age) and adds, that " he 
 )uld have disdained to set their fathers with the dogs of his flock," 
 LX. 1. But what is more extraordinary, these same men boast 
 their own age, and seem to exact a degree of reverence from Job 
 their junior : thus Eliphaz, chap. xx. 10, " With us are both the 
 rrey-headed and the very aged men much older than thy father." 
 "hese passages, therefore, so directly contradict each other, that 
 jy cannot be connected with true history. The opprobrium which 
 casts upon the birth of his friends seems also an inconsistency, 
 58 
 
458 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXlf. 
 
 xxx. 1 6, as it is incredible that so noble and rich a man should 
 ever have chosen his friends from the meanest of the people. 
 
 It remains only to remove one objection, with which those who 
 contend for the historical truth of the book of Job, may press us. Job 
 is quoted by Ezekiel along with Noah and Daniel, whom we know 
 to have been real persons, and they are proposed by James as an ex- 
 ample of patience, Ezek. xiv. 14, 20. JAMES v. 1 1 ; as if it were 
 improper or indecent to recommend the virtues of fictitious charac- 
 ters to our imitation, or as if this were not in fact the end of deline- 
 ating such characters. Neither is there the least impropriety in in- 
 stancing the same virtues in real and fictitious characters. Suppose 
 a father to recommend to his daughters the examples of Lucretia 
 and Pamela, as models of chastity and virtue ; who would esteem 
 such a discourse reprehensible, or think that it either took from the 
 truth of the history, or gave a reality to the fiction 1 
 
 To return to the point from which we set out : this poem seems 
 to treat of the afflictions which may sometimes happen to good men, 
 at the same time that the author seems to wish to accommodate the 
 consolation to the people of God, and to represent their oppression 
 under the character of Job. To this opinion it is objected by our 
 author, that there appears nothing in the book like an allusion to the 
 manners, rites, or affairs of the Israelites. As to the manners, they 
 are what I call Abrahamic, or such as were at that period common 
 to all the seed of Abraham at that time, Israelites, Ishmaelites, and 
 Iduniceans. But perhaps it may be thought necessary to instance 
 those customs which were peculiar to the Israelites, and by which 
 they were distinguished from the Arabians : this, however, would 
 not display much judgement in the author of a poem, the scene of 
 which lies in Arabia ; besides that most of the peculiar customs of 
 the Israelites, those I mean which distinguished them from the other 
 descendants of Abraham, were either derived from the Egyptians, or 
 were taught them by Moses : and who would require, that such 
 things as the paschal lamb, and the Mosaic feasts and priesthood, 
 should be introduced into such a poem ? The frequent allusions how- 
 ever to the country and the productions of Egypt abundantly answer 
 this objection. Insomuch, that though the scene is laid in Arabia, 
 one would imagine the actors had been Egyptians. Nor are there 
 wanting allusions to the circumstances of the Israelites. These like 
 Job lost their children and possessions by the tyranny of Pharaoh : 
 and, if I am cot mistaken, the disease is the same which affected 
 
NOTE ON LECTURE XXXIII. 459 
 
 Job, with that which prevailed among the Egyptians by the com- 
 mand of Moses. 
 
 From these circumstances I am much inclined to the opinion 
 which attributes this book to Moses. For is it to be imagined, that 
 a native of Idumaea should crowd his poem with images and figures 
 borrowed from Egypt ? Or what native of Arabia (for it must be al- 
 lowed that the book of Job has some allusions peculiar to Arabia) 
 was so likely to intermingle the imagery of both countries as Moses ? 
 To these may be added the allusions to the isles of the blessed, which 
 are common to the book of Job and the Mosaic writings. I am well 
 aware that there is more of the tragic, more of strong poetic feeling 
 in this book, than in the other relics of Mosaic poetry, which has in- 
 duced our author to remark the discrepancy of style. But how dif- 
 ferent are the language and sentiments of a man raging in the 
 heights of despair, from those which are to be sung in the temple of 
 God ! We must also remember, that the poetic style of an author in 
 the flower of his youth is very different from that of his latter days. 
 If Moses were really the author of this poem, he composed it about 
 the age of forty years ; but the rest of his poems were written be- 
 tween the 85th and 120th year of his age ; at which period I am of- 
 ten surprised to meet with so much vigour of language and senti- 
 ment : and no other difference of style have I been able to discover. 
 
 MICHAELIS. 
 
 NOTE ON LECTURE XXXIII. 
 
 [A. p. 281.] The look of Job not a perfect drama. 
 
 Considering the strong sense and accurate judgement of Dr. 
 Lowth, especially taking into view his very just remarks on the He- 
 brew writers, Lect. XXIV. p. 205 ; it is not a little surprising to see 
 him gravely discussing the question, whether the Song of Solomon 
 and the book of Job be perfect dramas 1 What possible concern 
 have the old Hebrew writers, (who had all the simplicity of children 
 in their modes of thought and feeling), with the refined and artificial 
 rules of composition, which were not invented till ages after their 
 death ? What have Job or Solomon to do with Aristotle and the 
 Greeks ? They were totally diverse in every circumstance of their 
 climate, character, habits, and intellectual developements ; they 
 sought different objects, they followed different models ; and there is 
 scarcely a single point of resemblance in their respective composi- 
 
460 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXIV. 
 
 tions. The inquiry, then, whether the artificial names appropriated 
 to Greek compositions can be applied to those of the Hebrews, is as 
 vain and useless as the inquiry whether the technical terms of mod- 
 ern European tactics can be properly employed to designate the evo- 
 lutions of the ancient Oriental armies. The difference between the 
 modes of warfare in this case, is no greater than that between the 
 modes of thinking and writing in the other. Yet so strong and last- 
 ing are the prejudices of early education, when uncorrected by a 
 subsequent and more extensive course of study, that such a man as 
 Dr. Lowth thought it necessary to go into a learned and laborious 
 investigation of the propriety of applying Greek names to Hebrew 
 books ; and he seems to apprehend that the latter would lose some- 
 what of their perfection, if they were not conformed to Greek 
 models. S. 
 
 NOTES ON LECTURE XXXIV. 
 
 [A. p. 287.] JOB xvin. 4. 
 The LXX. interpret the verse thus : TI yap ; lav ov a 
 
 torui TI vn OVQUVOV ; :i What! if thou diest, shall the 
 whole earth be desolate 1 Which version, or rather paraphrase, is 
 most elegant, and in my opinion finely accommodated to the pur- 
 pose of the sacred writer. When the Orientals would reprove the 
 pride or arrogance of any person, it is common for them to desire 
 him to call to mind how little and contemptible he and every mor- 
 tal is, in these or similar apothegms ; 
 
 " What though Mohammed were dead ? 
 
 " His Imauns (or ministers) conducted the affairs of the nation. 
 
 " The universe shall not fall for his sake. 
 
 " The world does not subsist for one man alone. 
 
 Nay, this very phrase is still in use among the Arabic writers. GOL. 
 Col. 1570. HUNT. 
 
 [B. p. 288.] Conduct of Job's friends. 
 
 Our author is too severe in his animadversions on the conduct of 
 Job's three friends, and his translator has made him appear more 
 harsh than he really is. The three sages were touched with the 
 tenderest sympathy at the sight of Job's affliction ; and were, un- 
 doubtedly, sincerely desirous of affording him consolation. (See Job 
 2: 1.1 13). But with their views of the justice and goodness of 
 
NOTES ON LECTURE XXXIV. 461 
 
 ' 
 
 God, they could not suppose that their friend had been thus severe- 
 ly afflicted without some fault of his own ; and when they heard 
 him complaining so bitterly of his troubles, it struck them like mur- 
 muring against providence. Eliphaz, therefore, ventures mildly to 
 reprove him, and intimates, though in the gentlest manner possible, 
 that God had not afflicted him without cause. The suffering pa- 
 triach, conscious of his own rectitude, and indignant at the suppos- 
 ed insinuations of his friend, breaks out still more warmly in protes- 
 tations of his innocence and in bitter complaints of his unmerited 
 woes ; till at length, jealousy for the honour of God, the pride of 
 opinion, and the warmth of discussion, gradually provoke the three 
 friends to utter the most severe and unfounded reproaches against 
 their unfortunate companion, who indignantly repels their accusa- 
 tions with increasing zeal, till he silences, and obtains a complete 
 victory over them, by his superior richness of thought and copious- 
 ness of language. 
 
 In this state of the controversy, Elihu steps in : a young man of 
 great fluency, florid eloquence, and a high opinion of his own capa- 
 city. He professes to adopt a middle course between Job and the 
 former speakers ; he repeats their most important ideas with a lit- 
 tle variation ; he adopts their imagery, which he amplifies and ex- 
 tends, without improving it ; he adds figure to figure, and sentence 
 to sentence, almost without end or object. He pauses occasionally, 
 apparently with the hope that Job would answer him ; but the old 
 sage does not deign the young man a word in reply. Hiob 
 schweigti (says Eichhorn), welchcr Riese wird sick auch mit cinem 
 Knaben messen 1 The whole discourse of Elihu is evidently pre- 
 paratory to the introduction of the Deity in the thirty-eighth chapter, 
 and is admirably adapted to exhibit the sublimity of this scene in 
 the most favourable light. S. 
 
 [C. p. 291.] JOB xxxvii. 4. 
 
 Various interpretations have been given to the last clause of this 
 verse, which Lowth renders ; Neque investigari poterit, cum audita 
 fuerit.vox eius. In Hebrew, nblp StttiJ-)- 1 ^ Wp.?? *&? Elihu is 
 here describing the majesty of God as exhibited in tempests ; and 
 the meaning of this sentence probably is : he holdcth them not back, 
 that is, the rain, hail, etc. (compare v. 6), when his voice is heard, 
 that is, in the thunder. So De Wette and Gesenius explain the 
 verse. S. 
 
LIST OF BOOKS 
 
 MOST FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO IN THE PRECEDING NOTES, 
 
 [For the sake of brevity, the titles of those books to which con- 
 stant reference is made, are not fully written in the Notes. They 
 are inserted here for the purpose of securing the student against 
 mistake in regard to the references, and of directing him to the most 
 valuable sources of information on the general subject of Hebrew 
 Poetry."] 
 
 ROBERT LOWTH, de Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum Praelectionc* 
 Academicae ; cum Notis et Epimetris JOA. DAY. MICHAELIS, suis 
 Animadversionibus adjectis edidit ERN. FRID. CAR. ROSENMUELLER. 
 
 I. Vol. 8vo. Lipsiae, 1815. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM JONES, Poeseos Asiaticae Commentariorum Libri 
 Sex, cum Appcndice. I. Vol. 8vo. Londini, 1774. 
 
 JOHANN GOTTFRIED VON HERDER, vom Geist der ebraeischen 
 Poesie. Eine Anleitung fuer die Liebhaber derselben und der aeltes- 
 ten Geschichte des menschlichen Geistes. II. Th. 8vo. Leipzig, 1825. 
 
 , Briefe das Studium der Theologie be- 
 
 treffend. IV. Th. 12mo. Weimar, 1785. 
 
 JOHANN GOTTFRIED EICHHORN, Einleitung in das Alte Testa- 
 ment. V. Baende, 8vo. Goettingen, 1823 4. 
 
 , Commentarius in Apocalypsin Joannis. 
 
 II. Vol. 12mo. Gottingae, 1791. 
 
 WILHELM MARTIN LEBERECHT DE WETTE, Commentar ueber 
 die Psalmen. I. Th. 8vo. Heidelberg, 1823. 
 
 GOTTLOB WILHELM MEYER, Versucheiner Hermeneutik des Alten 
 Testaments. II. Th. 8vo. Luebeck, 1800. 
 
 JOHANN JOACHIM BELLERMANN, Versuch ueber die Metrik der He- 
 braeer. Eine Beilage zu den hebraeischen Sprachlehren und zu den 
 Einleitungen in die Schriften des alten Testaments. I.Th. 8vo. Ber- 
 lin, 1813. 
 
 WILHELM GESENIUS, Geschichte der hebraeischen Sprache und 
 Schrift. I. Th. 8vo. Leipzig, 1815. 
 
 , Ausfuehrliches grammatisch-kritisches Lehrge- 
 
 baeude der hebraeischen Sprache. I. Th. 8vo. Leipzig, 1817. 
 
 , Commentar ueber den Jesaia. III. Th. 8vo. 
 
 Leipzig, 1823. 
 
 , Hebraeisches und Chaldaeisches Handwoerter- 
 
 buch ueber das Alte Testament. I. Th. Leipzig, 1823. 
 
 ERNST FRIEDRICH KARL ROSENMUELLER, Scholia in Vetus Tes- 
 tamentum; (scilicet in Jobum, Psalmos, et Librospropheticos). The 
 last editions. 
 
 Die Schriften des Alten Testaments, neu uebersetzt von J. C. W. 
 AUGUSTI, und W. M. L. DE WETTE. IV. Th. 8vo. Heidelberg, 
 180910. 
 
 [The titles of other works, to which there is less frequent occa- 
 sion for reference, are inserted in the Notes.] 
 
INDEX 
 
 OF THE PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE TRANSLATED OR EXPLAINED 
 THIS WORK. 
 
 GENESIS. 2 SAMUEL. PSALMS. 
 
 fchap. Verse. Page. 
 
 Chap. Verse. Page. 
 
 Chap. Verse. 
 
 Page. 
 
 1. 3 131 
 
 1. 17-27 196-99,410 
 
 2. 
 
 371 
 
 4. 23,24 41,332-33 
 
 3. 33,34 186 
 
 6 
 
 164 
 
 9. 25-27 41 
 
 
 11. 6 
 
 76 
 
 49. 333 
 
 9 82 
 
 2 KINGS. 
 
 16,17. 
 18. 7-14 
 
 350 
 
 778 
 
 
 19. 21-34 153 
 
 8-16 
 
 361 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 21. 13 62 
 
 16 
 
 78 
 
 15. 1-21 , 223-30 
 9, 10 142 
 11, 12 141 
 
 20, 21 155 
 
 1 CHRONICLES. 
 i6. 31 106 
 
 19. 
 8-11 
 23. 1 
 24. 
 
 223-24 
 162 
 215, 414 
 
 227-28, 419 
 
 OO"i 
 
 
 
 29. 
 
 231 
 
 
 JOB. 
 
 3,4 
 
 141 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 23. 7-10 111-12 
 19 134 
 
 3. 37 116 ff. 383 
 20-24 118 
 4. 2 286 
 
 ? 
 
 9 
 33. 9 
 13,14 
 
 421-22 
 131 
 
 160 
 
 24. 59 174-75 
 
 5. 19 164 
 
 36. 6,7 
 
 132 
 
 
 g 2 9 143 
 
 42. 
 
 194-95,406 ff. 
 
 DEUTERONOMY. 
 
 15-20 101, 103 
 
 46. 6, 10 
 
 163 
 
 29. 22 360 
 32. 120 ff. 
 10 126 
 11 102 
 23,24 399 
 40-42 142 
 42 160 
 33. 152 
 
 17 378 
 8. 2,3 287 
 9. 16 290 
 10. 11 352 
 11. 2, 3 287 
 6 358 
 79 133 
 14. 1 3,G 289 
 15. 4 287 
 
 49. 
 50. 
 58. 5,6 
 62. 12 
 68. 31 
 77. 
 16 
 18,19 
 78. 38,40 
 
 rrk 
 
 349 
 225-28 
 354 
 164 
 340 ff. 
 222-23 
 108 
 163 
 126 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 10. 13 408 
 
 JUDGKS. 
 
 5. 233-34, 423 if. 
 28-30 107 ff. 
 14. 14 161 
 15. 16 159 
 
 1 SAMUEL. 
 2. 47 162 
 15. 22,23 152 
 24. 13 204 
 
 16. 9-14 143 
 
 18. 35 287, 460 
 8,9 286 
 19. 289-90 
 20. 2, 3 287 
 27. 27 284 
 11-13 284-85 
 14-17 285 
 31. 24 285 
 13-15 285 
 37. 14 291,461 
 38. 4-11 131 
 4-13,35 326 
 39. 24,25 290 
 40. 10-14 134 
 
 59 
 65 
 80. 9-18 
 16-18 
 81. 
 83. 14,16 
 85. 11 
 91. 
 9 
 92. 8 
 93. 3,4 
 94. 1,3 
 96. 10-13 
 97. 1 
 98. 7,8 
 7-9 
 
 135 
 136 
 86 
 369 
 218-19 
 102,378 
 105 
 217-18 
 417 
 55 
 159 
 159 
 141 
 159 
 106 
 141 
 
464 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 Chap. Verse. Page. 
 
 Chap. Verse. Page. 
 
 Chap. Verse. Page. 
 
 99. 1 141 
 
 10. 14 95 
 
 1. 1,2,17 105 
 
 104. 71 ff. 352-53 
 
 28-32 124 
 
 12, 16 191 
 
 105. 20 159 
 
 13. 6-13 143-44 
 
 2. 4 142 
 
 107. 241-42 
 
 14. 49 163, 426 
 
 
 110. 3 82,365 
 113. 5,6 161 
 
 4-27 108-110,235 ff. 
 26,27 133-34 
 
 E/EKIEL. 
 
 114. 157 
 
 15. 1 159 
 
 28. 12 176 
 
 121. 248-49 
 
 17. 12, 13 97, 376 
 
 17-20 400 
 
 6 354 
 
 21. 12 326 
 
 32. 2 341 
 
 129. 1,2 158 
 
 24. 1,18-20 76 
 
 7,8 54 
 
 6,8 101 
 
 23 54 
 
 
 133. 215-16 
 
 28. 23-29 83,367 
 
 
 
 2,3 967 
 
 30. 26 54 
 
 J1OSE A. 
 
 135. 390-94 
 
 34. 171 ff. 397-98 
 
 6. 1,2 160 
 
 136. 240 
 
 4 75 
 
 11. 8.9 158,395 
 
 139. 244-45 
 
 5 398 
 
 13. 7,8 136 
 
 7-10 133, 385-86 
 
 67 400 
 
 14. 6, 7 163 
 
 15 70,352 
 
 8-10 76 
 
 
 148. 211 
 
 35. 171 ff. 343, 397-98 
 
 JOEL. 
 
 5 131 
 
 37. 22-35 153 ' 
 
 
 
 24 340 
 
 1. 6,7,10 124 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 40. 12,26 131-32,385 
 
 3. 15,16 75 
 
 8. 27-31 1045 
 
 41. 15, 16 60 
 
 43 2 163 
 
 18 344 
 
 10. 12 204 
 13. 7 161 
 20. 12 204 
 15 203 
 
 45.' 8 377 
 16-19 77 
 47. l,etc. 105,379 
 49. 7 159 
 
 AMOS. 
 
 1. 3 164 
 
 5. 1,2 16,187 
 
 25. 11 201 
 
 14 15 95 
 
 
 14, 16 203 
 27. 6, 7 161 
 
 51. 3' 75 
 
 9 10 77 
 
 MlCAH. 
 
 23. 11 161 
 
 15' 16 75,357-58 
 53. 15 158 
 
 1. 3,4 77 
 6. 6, 8 152 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 54. 5 160,257 
 
 
 12. 26 83, 366 
 
 7, 8 162 
 
 NAHUM. 
 
 11 202, 410 
 
 55. 10, 11 100, 377 
 
 1. 2 159 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 60. 1 159 
 1_3 157-58 
 19,20 54 
 
 3. 12 95 
 
 1. 5 161 
 
 62. 5 257,431 
 
 HABAKKUK. 
 
 2. 7 251 
 10-13 260-61,444 
 3. 1 251 
 
 63. i_3 61 
 
 1_6 248, 387 
 46 142 
 
 2. 381-82 
 3. 234-35,42 
 
 r OQQ 
 
 4. 15 261-62, 444 f. 
 
 65. 13, 14 162 
 
 D oui) 
 
 8 442 ff. 
 
 
 
 10,11 1*61,444 
 
 
 ZECHARIAH. 
 
 5. 11,14 445-46 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 9. 5 160 
 
 7. 6, 14 447-48 
 
 4. 19-23 144 
 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 23-26 75 
 9. 17-22 187 
 
 ECCLESIASTICUS. 
 
 2. 7 161 
 
 22. 18 185 
 
 24. 206-9 
 
 7. 2 100 
 
 25. 3Q 136 
 
 27 411 
 

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