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DIRECTIONS FOE THE PHONUNCIATION OF TIIK UKUREW, CIIALDEE, SYRIAC AND AllABIO WORDS EXPllESSED IN ESOLISII CIIAUACTEKS IN THE FOLLOWINQ WORK. a like a in father. a e e i % 6 6 u u a a e i i 00 u manner. shame. pen. machine. pin. note. not. moon. full. An apostrophe after a letter stands for a short e, somewhat like e in Lrr/in. The ch is a hard gutteral like c7i in the Scotch word loch; those who are not able to give it the gutteral sound, should aspirate it as strongly as possible. The apostrophe before a letter in the Arabic words expressed in English characters denotes that that letter should be pronounced with the concluding vowel of the preceding word ; as- bai/fii 'Imalik, to be pronounced lai/tnl malik. ■ I \ » ( ! .1 ' t I I ; LIST OP THE PRINCIPAL RABBINICAL WRITINGS AND AUTHORS CITED IN THE FOLLOWINa WORK. The Mishna, or Text of the Talmud ; compiled and arranged about tlie end of the second century of the Christian era, by Rabbi Judah, surnamed Hakkadosh, i. e. the Holy. The Gkmara ; Avhich is a comment upon the Mishna. This work was commenced by Rabbi Ashi, who kept a school at Sora near Babylon, and was afterwards completed by his sons and scholars about the beginning of the sixth century of our era, and forms, Avith the Mishna, the Babylonish Talmud (published subsequently in 12 folio volumes), containing the Oral Laws and Traditions of the Jews. The Book Sohar ; written by Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai. This is an allegorical commentary on the five bnnks of Moses, copiously inter- mixed with cabbalistic interpretations. He is supposed to have flourished not many years after the destruction of Jerusalem. IV The MAsouAir ; which is a coHection of cviticfil and other remarks reJating to the Books, Sections, Verses, Words, Letters, Vowel points, Diacntic points and Accents of the Hebrew Text. This work was the production of a celebrated body of Jewish critics, generally called Masorites, wlio flourished in the botnnnin"- of the sixth century. ° TnK Books Kosri ; composed by Rabbi Juda Hallevi, a Spuiisli writer of the twelfth century; professinc: to be a Dialosrue between a certain kinj^r named Kosar and a Rabbi Isaac Sangari, who endea- voured to convert tlie monarch to Judaism. Rapiii Abraham ben Meir Aben Ezra, born at Toledo, A. D. 1099, died A. D. 1174; one of the greatest men of liis age and nation, much regarded ior lus philological acuteness, both by Christian and Jewish commentators. Rabbi David Kimchi, sometimes also called, from the initial letters of his name, Radak, was born, as some say, in Spain, and others in I' ranee, in the year 1190. This writer is justly esteemed for his learning ami good sense, and his works, especially his commentary on the Psalms, are highly valued. Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, generally called Maimonides, and some, times also, from the initial letters of liis name, Rambam, Avas a celebrated and voluminous writer, born at Cordova, A. D. 1139, and (lied A. D. 1205. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi, also called Rashi, born at Troves, in France • iie lived in the tvvelfth century, and is remarkable for liis strict adherence to the Targum and the Jewish traditions. Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, by abbreviation also called Ramban, but belter known by the name Nachmanides, was born at Giorenne, A U. ll.M He received, from his great learning, various appel- lations, as tho Fath-r of Wmlom, the Lionhutn/, &c.^ Rabbi Levi ben Gerson, also called, by abbreviation, Ralbao-, was a native of France. He died A. D. 1370. Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel, a writer of great intellect and comprehensive mind ; born at Lisbon, A. D. 1437, died A. D. 1508. ^"549^''''^''^*' " ^^^'^^^■^^'^'^ grammarian and critic ; died in the year Moses Alschech, a distinguished commentator; flourished in Palestine m the seventeenth century. » ' t \ / INTRODUCTION. \i > * * » fii presenting lo the public the following literal translations and critical commentaries, the author sincerely hopes to obtain from the general reader, as well as from the scrutinizing critic, that consideration for all imperfections which the dilliculty of the task justly entitles him to expect. The difficulties in translating, even from one of our modern languages into another of the same family, must necessarily bo very great; inasmuch as every language has its idioms, and every nation its peculiar terms of expression congenial to its vernacular tongue, wliich, when divested of their native garb and attired in a foreign dress, lose at least much of their original force and beauty, if they do not become so disfigured as to be no longer recognized. It is hardly possible to transfer the peculiar spirit of one language into another, however plastic, without great danger of introducing unintelligible ideas; or, by endeavouring to imitate the beautiful figures of tlie original too closely, producing nothing but mere caricatures. The acute Wolfgang Menzel has th^ iforc very pertinently remarked that "a translation can ne\.r be entirely faithful: to be so in one respect, it must deviate in others."* The truth of this assertion is but too apparent in every translation that has been executed ; for, even in the best, where the masterly hand of the translator has exercised its utmost ingenuity, and the richness of the language has bountifully contributed to insure success, the reader will nevertheless have to lament the absence of that indefinable something, which exists only in its native tongue and constitutes the whole life of the original. Yet all that has been stated as regards the ordinary difliculties of translating falls far short of those encountered in rendering the inspired writings of the Old Testament into a language of a foreign clime. For the Hebrew, as has been aptly observed, "is the language of man in his infancy, ere his reasoning powers III •i ■ i I ti * Menzel's Oerman Literature, vol. i. p. 07 VI INTRODUCTION. liavc snpplanlcd his feelings: simple in strueture, cliijdlilvc, tmthlui in expression, the very language of the heart in the liousehold alleclions, in the ardour of faitli, or the abyss of despair; or if dignified: sublime in simple majesty, recalling in the commonest metaphors the loi.l, the desert, the pastoral life of the patriarchal ages ;— and can wo translate such a language as this lato that of times and people who have grown grey in piiilosophy and the world, and who are artificial or callous in those feelings which the Hebrew expressed with the honest fervour of youtir? No, the Hebrew muse, as aforetime, hangs her harp on the willows, and refuses to sing her native songs in a strange land."* Besides all this, I may menlio., uiu numerous philological perplexities with which the conscientious translator and interpreter of the sacred books has often to contend ; for whilst it must bo confessed that much has been achieved within the last fifty years in the advancement of Hebrew i)hilology, it cannot be denied that much is yet to bo done ; and, even in that which has been done, not unfrequently a variety of opinions arc found to exist. In all such doubtful cases, the translator has but the alternative either to follow the footsteps of the one or the other authority or to strike out a new path for himself; and consequently he runs 'the risk on the one hand of adopting an erroneous opinion, and on the other of being misled by his own fancies. Nor are all difficulties surmounted after the literal meaning of the words in a phrase has been ascertained. The next difficulty that presents itself is the application of the passage : for there are many in the Scriptures which have been variously applied and about which the most discordant opinions prevail among com- tnentators; not indeed that these passages admit of a Uvo or threefold interpretalion-which would reduce the inspired writ- ings to the level of the heathen oraeles-but simply because they are often conveyed to us in indirect terms, or are couched in highly figurative language and may be viewed in various li-hts Here again the greatest caution requires to be exercised by the interpreter before espousing this or that opinion, lest, in the anxiety to appear original himself, he too rashly discard standard authorities, and, in thus following the phantoms of his own imagination, fare no, better than the thirsty traveller of the desert, who, beguiled by a fancied lake, leaves the beaten path • i ' \ * Mr. J. Nicholson in his preface to Ewuld'a Hebrew Orammar. 7 INTRODUCTION. VU ;i 7 ill Iiopo of qiicncliing his parching thirst, but is doomed to find after all, nothing more than a dclnsivo mist. Such, reader, are the constantly recurring diflicnlties which at every step beset the biblical interpreter wiio is fully impressed with the importance and responsibility of his undertaking, juid whose sole aim is to perform the work faithfully, swayed neither by preconceived opinions nor partial motives, and who truly feels that, in entering the area of sacred literature, he treads on holy ground. It is true that some of the difficulties above alluded to may apparently be diminished : as, lor instance, when the authorized English version is made the basis of the exposition, as is indeed i^recjucntly the case. In adopting this plan, the commentator divests himself at once of all philological intricacies ; but surely Jt will be readily conceived that a commentary thus executed must necessarily be very often defective, and in many instances even unintelligible. Such must unavoidably be the result when- ever the English version difi'ers from the original Hebrew, which without wishing to depreciate the merits of that version, I am' nevertheless compelled to state is but too frequently the case. To illustrate what I have just stated, and to make it more mtelligible to the English reader, I shall adduce some examples, and these will serve at the same time to shew that nothing, how- ever trivial it may at first sight appear, ought to be considered by the interpreter of the Scriptures as too insignificant to be worthy of his notice; but that, on the contrary, what may on a cursory view appear of no - -at moment, will frequently, on a more minute investigation, luni out of serious importance. They wdl further shew that the imputations so frequently cast by some reckless persons upon Holy Writ, as containing many incon- sistencies-or, as some have more boldly styled them, direct contradictions— are nothing but groundless assertions; v : based upon a rigid and critical examination, but merely upon a super- hcial view or thorough ignorance of the subject. _ la turning to the English Bible for examples, our attention is immediately arrested at the 2nd verse of the 1st chapter of Genesis, by the peculiar phrase-" And the earth was without form and void.-' This language may at the first glance appear to the ordinary reader perfectly plain ; but when we come to examine ,t more closely, we discover it to be altogether incom- prehensible, and that any exposition founded thereon mu«t I I ' ) i • M I al VIII INTROUirCTIOW. c .sarily b., unintelligible, as it is not easy to conceive how •mytiung inalenal can possibly subsist - wit/, out form^^* It .natters not whether the verb j^^a (bant), in the preceding verse |o taken in the sense he formed, and be explained as having elerenco .o the earth being formed iVon. some pre-exis.ent 'nater.a into its present shape, as is held by some Commentators- o whether a be taken in the sense, he created, and applied to Its' vn.g been ten first created out of nothing, as is rnail.tained by > h s ; ,„ euher ease, after the earth had been so formed or l created, it mu.t have had some kind of form. The difficultv hovvever. ,s entirely removed when we appeal to the original' lobrew where we read, ''And the earth was .^nn .^n i^^^ vavohoo) la. desolateness and emptiness-i.e. desolate and empty, oi without covermg of any kind; abstract nouns being oftel c'mp.oyed in Hebrew instead of adjectives. The meaning of e passage now becomes perfectly obvious :_The earth, after ts creation, was desolate and empty, inasmuch as no oZlZ ;;f rr "r",''7'"^ '^^ '■-' ^^^ been summoneclim be ng, or made, by the Creator. The English version Ima been rohowed by the French, "sans forme et vide," and these alone Targum o Onkelos gives "j,..^,, j,,^^. (l.adya v'rek6nva) ^•e desolate and emply-.,^,, Syriac,"thooh v'booh," i. e. deso- XI, /cvr u ''"'^"^•^ ' " ^"^'-^ ^' --^-V i. o. empty Zd enLrtV. "i;^"'^''';'^^--^'^^ y vaeia," i.e. bare ana 7Z'J?^ Singular and quite inadmissible is the renderin^r 01 the Sontnnainl ct J / . , , •iv.K.img i. e. invisible of the Septuaginl,"„'o>aroc .«i «V-«r«.«i«..oc, a7id unfinished. 2UiZrTr\''}!f ^'^'•"'^^ ^" ^'^« ^'^-Pt^r, we read at the 31sl verse, And God created great whales, and every livin<> creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abunda t l^' it has been advanced by some, that the Mosaic account is he e defective, the ",./,«Z.s'' only being mentioned exclusive o all th^ther^e^rtionsters of the deep, or if these be included i,i * Miitter, as wise logicians say, Cannot -without form subsist • And form, s..y I as well as they Must fail, if matter brings no grist. SwifT. INTRODUCTION. 1- 2S attrr ' ''°? ""'"' -""-.ly -ran J ,, ».„ vo r;„ "r '"'^ "V''«''J'™>l°8ynf .1,0 word i, m,y „» Asa,,, at the 37th verse, we road, "So God ercaled „„„ i„ that nil fi,o „^- .• 1 ^ plural. Hence, those who hoJd " .a'L", e ': ,^ r T,; r;,::,: -"^t "t "- ^■■'-" creation of Adam -id V ,^^ ' "'"' "PP'^ ""="' '" "'« origin fro,; ™r„t ot^prit li 1:," T:"" ■"^'"•"!" "- plnral, and found upon Ihis 11^0^1!^ " ''"" '" "'° erealion of other human bli, "1 '^P'^'" "' " ■contemporaneous colour and bod l/ rae.ur ° i,f 'f ""« 'r"" '"'"" """^ Eve in oHgma,, it wii, bf fonrd'I; ^1 rdllX^ar^t,;" ^^ /cn*ereat°d h e ,t Aeoorintrtr"'"^'' ■""* """ " rendered in Lev iii ,.. ^."./'''^Sly, these very words are thus offer it Without b,™;:,; bl ftlVL'M. """' °'^^"""^' "^ ''"" .he Leu God , ade e eirth a J'.hTr "="''<'•;» '^e day that of the field before it .as h! ttetanV.Te!"'' ^"' '^'"^ "''" B I ill * INTRODUCTION. In comparing this passage with the preceding chapter to which It refers, it will be found utterly incomprehensible, as no periods of time are mentioned there, to which tlie word generations would be applicable. It is true that some have attempted to reconcile this discordance by interpreting each of the six days to mean an indefinite period of time ; alleging, in support of their theory, that the term day is sometimes employed in Scripture to denote an indefinitely long period. But this proves nothing more than that the Hebrew word Qin (yom), i. e. day, is sometimes idiomatically employed in the sense of time. Much stress has also been laid upon 2 Peter iii. 8, "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." But does this teach that the days of the creation must have been each a thousand years? No, the contrary will become quite apparent, when we examine what gave rise to the expression. The Apostle had alluded to the prediction of the end of the world, and to the final judgment, and further, to the fact that inasmuch as no signs had yet been seen of the Lord's coming some had began to doubt the verity of these predictions. To dispel these doubts, and to inspire believers with the confidence that those things would surely be consummated, he says, "one day ts with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." No doubt intending thereby to inculcate, that God does not measure time as man does; and that although the consummation of these events, according to the ideas of men, is delayed, yet the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is merciful and long-suffering— having no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; not willing that any one should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The six days of creation must obviously be regarded as six civil or calendar days, as they are particularly described as alternations of night and day. And the "evening and the morning were the first day ;*" and so with the other days. See Gen. i. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31. If indeed the six days are interpreted to denote six indefinite periods of time, the seventh day must likewise be so interpreted. * From tho evening being mentioned first, the Hebrews have alwavs reckonprl un^etTf Frr/a^'"r'r«-^"'r°'"«- '^•'"^ "'<> Sabbath commenci ^Uh the sunset of Friday and ends with the sunset of Saturday. It was also tho custom nf ; f . y , INTRODUCTION. xi Nor is it at all necessary to stretch out those days into loner periods. The Hebrew word fiinbiSn (tol'doth), translated gmt ra/eon^ in the English version, denotes also a /«s/o,-y, particularly a family history. As in Gen. vi. 9 : » This is nibin (tol'doth), the family history of Noah." English version, "These are the' generations of Noah." Again, xxv. 19: "And this is nibifl (tol'doth), the family history of Isaac." English version, "And these are the generations of Isaac." In like manner, Gen. ii. 4 ought to have been rendered thus— This is the history of the heavens and the earth, i. e., the history of the origin of the heavens and the earth; correctly rendered by Rabbi Shalom Hakkohen in his German version,* "Dieses i" die Entstehungsgeschichle," i. e., this IS the history of the or.^.i. Compare also the French version, "Telles sont les origines," i. e., such are the origins,- the Italian, "Tali furono I'origini," i.e., such were the origins,- the Spanish, "Estos son los origines," i. e., these are the origins —the German, "Also ist Plimmel und Erde geworden," i.e. thus originated the heavens and the earth. ' Again iii. 7, we read, "And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they tccre naked ; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." In the above passage there are two terms employed, " sewed" and ' aprons," which have been eagerly laid hold of by those who read the Bible, not with a view to study the divine precepts, but to search for passages which are apparently inconsistent or obiec- tjonable, by which they would endeavour to impeach the authen- ticity of the sacred records. But surely even the opponents of the Scriptures will admit, that it is hardly fair to criticise the writin-s of any foreign author merely from a translation ; as the author^ meaning may not have been correctly conveyed from the one ^nguage into the other. It must be .ecollected, that many verbT^7n '" ^r ""1r ^''^^^^ "^ signification. Thus the verb nS'i (davar) generally denotes, to speak, yet it is u^ed in various other senses, according as the context requires a modifi- cation of the primary signification ; hence, Judges v. 12, to utter a song, 1. e to sing a song. Again, it is employed in the sense to admonish, to command, to ask in marriage, &c. And in like manner, the verb n|ti (taphar), rendered in the English version 1! r : ! » xii INTRODUCTION. to sew, signifies also, to twist, to plat, or to adjust. In the alter sense it is evidently employed in Job xvi. 15, "I have" (English version) "sewed sackcloth upon my skin" This is impossible ; it should have been translated, I have adjusted sackcloth* upon my skin. So also in the passage in question, tfiey twisted or adjusted fig leaves together, not "sewed" (which would imply that the implements of sewing were known in Paradise), "and made themselves aprons." The word apron is altogether too definite a term, as the Hebrew word niirin (chagOrah), according to its etymology, simply signifies a girdle, without ary reference to shape or form, being derived Iroin the verb n^n (chagar) to gird, to bind round. The fig leaves here spoken of were possibly those of the ficus indicusK well adapted for this purpose, being large and broad. In Genesis xviii. 2, we read, "And he lifted up his eyest and looked, and lo, throe men stood by him : and when he saw hem he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground." It will at once be seen, that there exists an incongruity in this passage. If the three men stood by Abraham at the door of his tent, where he had been sitting, how can it be said, that he ran o meet them? The passage should have been rendered-and lie lilted up his eyes and saw, and behold three men stood ^iV^ (alav) opposite to him, and when he perceived them, he ran 'to meet them. The apparent inconsistency is now removed Abraham was sitting at the door of his lent in the heat of the day, and, lifting up his eyes, he beheld three men standing before h-m at a little distance; and perceiving that they stood still, Ihe aged man, with that genuine hospitality which is always the characteristic of pure piety, eager to perform an act of kindness, ran to meet the strangers, and begged them not to pass on until * Sackcloth was used for mourning garments. t So counsell'd lie, and both together went Into the thickest wood ; there soon they chose Ihe hg tree ; not that kind for fruit renown'd iiut such as at this day, to Indians known, ' In Malabar or Decan spreads her arm. Pauadisk Lost, book ix. m^'rri^:^:l'::7o^^^^^ -^t mean, to look "And Lot lifted up his eyes anTt eld Si f *°V'" °'f ?S ^^'^ "™"'^'« -^'"- ^"• about nud beheld il whok pldu of jSn ^'"'" °* '''"^'''''" '" "' ^'^ ^'''^'^ V ' / I INTRODUCTION. XUl Ihey had refreshed themselves.* When the preposition V3, (an IVTT ''-!'!^'''''''^'' "f ^^''"^'^ i« ^^Pon, above, is empbyed to denote the position, u may be rendered by, a/, near, by over against, ox opposite to. '^^U^ovei, led._Sn^ \xl- .:'-,:;% , A *''« ^•,':^^- ' '•■•'^ta.i.o.U its observance ! i! V : r i t Btrange^ to ^ou. faufilircoianio and fl'tr^vol^ •' '7. tT'^'"^""'- r"" '« "^ strict observance of these precents bv t ,o f^ !™ • Vr , ^"'^'^ scrupulous and voice of all Oriental tra^Crfi.'U'l'tsMn n'v A ITT' "" ""•:'"""°"« village, proceeds to a house of sou.e one who known to Li.? '- "■ "'"'""» ''^ '^ master of the house, "I aw your iruost '' Ti!J i ! • , ' ''"'' '*"->'s *« "'C traveller, and sets befl,re h n the bes?"hat his 1 rl'T"^'.?,!'^'^, T'^-'^^'^^ "'« not have any acquaintance in tl e nli.'o o i; n , .^'"'''^ ^^'^""'^ *''« traveller and sits down to sn.oke hi jSk. ti ' U e nn "r n f "t "T '""''^,' •''r'*'''* '"« I'^rse, and ofters hi„i his cve,>ing^La n the mo nin ' 'l?o ?'" ^"''^ I'im welcome journey, and offers no other return fo l/e ho tTlifv 1 o L . '""^''" fr^'"^' °" ^'^ parting salutation, " Clod he tdth you" Suiv. ent to^n.v '7'"""'^ '^"''^ ^^^ "'^"'^1 . " IJeing now oft' the track of all f^mer t aSr -CfMr^l^^^^ • in contact here with oriental hospitality in it Bi-imtiv^o.'-°"'/'^'' <=••""« villagers supplied us with every thir we L;!'^."''^.^™"'"'' ^o™- '-"'O without expecting a recompens7 S ch i, he .ll;/'^'"''^!;'^, " "' '"' ^'""^"'•' «»d Felhlhin never sell food t^o on^ an 1 er • b'fvrv ?'"'''''''" '"''""'"'■"«• l'l>o village. Our five muleteers. Tnnest and fSh^^.e ''"'?''"/' '^'\^''''' "^ ^^e Lifta, near Jerusalem, never tl.„Mgl t of navi^aS,. ' 1 • ? ['°"' "'" ^'""S« «f of sponging, like ou • former MukUelCt\el/''-^ ^ ^'' *''« ^-^^e as a matter of course. In e^ry vilhJe hero i ^ n''"' ''"''"'^ *° ^'''^'^ one, according to the si/e and nW i f nf^ . i '^ P"!^''" '-oom, or more than of strangers. ^ Such a i.om i eal « 'm -nz or tn^ r°*"' *.° ''"^ ''"'^^'-""'en" edges in the Menzil, and his foo is su died bv tl A ?'" • • '■°''"- ^'^^ g"««' t belongs. Sometimes they take turns ' n h is en.nv! ' ""V'"' *" ^'^o^*' ^'^-cle is loft to those who offer tliemseh-e or a ler .','?•'"'" ' *' °"'«^' ^^^'^^ it guest be a person of conse , ™1t' is a n^^^^^^^^^^ ''""" / " l^'"'"'''g''' If the lamb or kid, is killed for hin.l The l^^i yeh , Iv knuT; "'"* <■ ■^'\?'^ ^'^ ^''''' ^ another for the people of the place When 1 e^^no^f • ' "'"" '"'' ''"^ «"««', and eor or the like ho is fed ui ;'.„ i ^ ^''^ '** ^ common man, as a mulet- people themseWe Th gu 'li ^m'bit' ?,?' "'"^ ""' "•'« ordinary'food of te offer money would be taken as an ins t n?^. '•«™"'!"'atio" when he leaves. To Such is miiversallyMle' matn " "t\ " ail^nT in 'thrvS' '" ^f-^''"«g-- provinces of Jerusalem and Hebron, as wdl as il, tl.e Jarts of '^y^-^ ,!'"-""6''-t the ^ "We wore not above a mu.ket =hot fro. W' 'r'.' I^--oa. Rksk.hchk. Syria), says Mr. Tavernier, " when we met wiVh a .oL n"""^ ''"■"""" ^'"^'o" «f me. and, taking my .orso by the ,^1 "'fS! 'Slf .12^^ iLuTytLt H •I XIV INTRODUCTION. croucM.! r T '' ''' '''' "^''' "'^^^^^^^ '^ - strong ass sToulder In r^^ ^'^'^ ^^ ^'"^ P^^^^^"^' and bowed his Shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute." The rom the Hebrew word Q.jnsp^ (mishp'thayin.) being rendered Zn i^'/T ?" ^"^ ^^'="'fi^^^'°" ^vhich it never has), instead of two folds or enclosures; thereby not only rendering this part of the passage altogether obseure, but also entirely destroying the beauty of the whole figure. Issaehar is here represented as a obust ass ; and when we consider in what esteem the ass was eld in the eastern countries in earlier times, it is evident that the comparison was not intended as a reproach. The qualities of tins animal being docility, gentleness, patience, laborious exertion and great capobility of endurance, Issaehar, the pro- gen.tor of a race equally distinguished for their patienl industry and docihty is here compared to the meekest and most laborious of all quadrupeds. He is also represented as lying down between two folds or enclosures, not "two burdens- This mlv be regarded as a proverbial expression, spoken of husbandmen and shepherds hving a peaceful and quiet life ; or it may refe to the two mountains Tabor and Hermon, as the beautiful valley b t ween these became the inheritance of the tribe of Issaehar The lat.er interpretation is supported by the rendering of the Tar^u^of Onkelo^"Is.sachar rich In substance, °and his but go along witLt"trLJs7.ou : '^irer^Ly;^^^^^^ ?: ^2. " '"^ ""^' "'J' ^^'-- Tavern-ier's Travels. -otZ^^r^^tiSSllf::^:^' ■" r °^* liberal .anne;. ^ey their enemies, saying ' < he t'e W,^ uP,""' ^""^ "°' unfrequently even to wood-cutter." ^ ^' ^'"^ ''''^^ '"^^ withdraw its shade even from the other Chaldee tLshtl ^^ 1 elf i hf hL'hoS'^'''.'^ to the origin.,], above al" greatly to be regretted that wc possess so IttttT '^f/^'^t.on by the Jews. It is to judge from his translatiornmst lave W.n' ;T''°r ''?'<=""& Onkelos.who, well rs a man of great piotv S SZVr^\Ztf''''']^\°{''° "--dinary character, as before our Saviouf's natS- thnt ho W btn '' *"'•,* ^' ^""^'^•^J '^ '"^"'t time grandfather of Gamaliel, the 't4c ler nf I'L rm^ ?l"P^ °^ the famous Hillel, the the five books of Moses for the benefit of S.n 1 ^'^'"'"''' "'" translation of tine, as the Chaldee had bLome the ^on^ l,,i' n^p "7 J'^^P ' ^^ ^^'' J«^« °f I'-^'es- captivity. The term '< p.Shraso ''^Sh £, 1°*^ ^"'"'"r ''"'=° "'« Babylonish ofwriti.g.i3notjustiy^appiLbrtori;ir!;oii;;sx^^^^^^ i INTRODUCTION. XV possession shall be between two bounds" .nl j , . remleringof theJerusalemtTar.um!!' AndT- ? ^'^ '^' be placed between two limit. '' ''' boundary shall --^s:i;ti:^::;^.^::;Lt:r'^"^'^ ^--^^'' ^- in pastures." The descltinn h f ''''^"■''»^^°" «"d abounding saw that rest J. 'ood anS h t ^^ ^"'' °" '" ^^>' "^"^ ^e bowed his shou dorto bear . rf ^"^^^ ^^ ^«^ P'^^^«^"t, and he Which simply ":t;r tt:? « i^s • rr" " ''''r ' ' exeeedingly beautiful and f uitfu ou trv t .TT""" "^ ^" to the quiet and peaceful nnr.u "i ^' '''''' "^^'^"'^^^^ itself in-es?i„ the pubiicTfl" l^ ;:^;;^Jr 'A:''^"':^^^" ^^"^« 'n speaking of the inheritance of r" , ^'"'''^^"S^y J^^^ephus, admiration, abounding n sU t s and " ''"''" '' ^ '"''"^ '^ so that it would mal.P J, ^ ""''^.' f ^ nurseries of all kind: (mishpUhayim) I.ero by " burden • 1 Tf" '=*^'^'5 rendered i. by " sheepfolds"" r,'" '2 ,"" /"f ^"^ " '"' ""^^ ::j,r„j;;rc •" "■= p-p'^. ^-^ i« every ,!:„;'„?;, r^t .he':MMij::;irraef,rar d'-"'' '""^ -'■ ='"■• ^=- ^'=' "^-a .hey borrowed ofTe E^yp a„f "^eTs ' f' T' "' T^'^ '' ""' sold and raiment: And ll'e L^tl T .^ ' " =""' J"^"^'» "' sight of the Egyptiar so l« ? f " <"°''''' f"™" '" ""= ably literal translation Tt Jq fv„o ♦ ^ ~ ~ — — — __ of some passages, but^hese onLt"l'ILT"°°'"^ ?'=''' ^'"' free translations struction, in order to render the meaning /f^ "''"" ''"'"Se in the words or con! exphjnation of tropical terms. Th "Sfst Ledo^ ?f If ^'^ '^?'' '^'''' «' for the the Hebrew Scriptures into Chaldee ^ ""'"'' ^"'"cted to translations of ^'^'^'yr:S^^^^^^^^^ to be a frag- rnl'Tatinl'*' d"'^''*^! ^^^^T^^';^:]:;^^-::^^^^^ ^-- -s r ■ ( ! 1 I if,, XVI INTRODUCTION. they required. And they spoiled tlio Egyptians." Now it has beer. Paid by the opponents of tlie Scriptures that the command to horroxo from the Egyptians what they never intended to restore was not only an act of injustice, but that it favours tiieft, and is distinrliy set forth by the Psalmist as a characteristic mark of the wicked. " The wicked borrowelh, and payeth not again"— Ps. xxxvii. 21. Some commentators iiave met this objection by affirming tliat God, wlio is supreme Lord of all things, may trans- fer, as He in His infinite wisdom thinks best, when and in what manner He pleases, the rights of men from one to another. Thus kingdoms are set up and east down ; monarchs are wholly or partially deprived of their possessions, to render others more powerful ; and these again, in their turn, are subjected to similar vicissitudes. Will it be said that these are mere occurrences of chance ? Certainly not. They are commanded by Him who hath said, "Surely as I have thought so it shall come to pass ; and as I have purposed, so it shall stand." Isaiah xiv. 24. AH things are ordered by His overruling providence, for it is He indeed that purposeth, and who can annul it? He stretcheth forth his hand, and who can turn it back ? But this view of the transaction in question, although it ineon- trovertibly proves that there was nothing derogatory to divine justice in transferring the wealth of the Egyptians to the oppressed Israelites, still leaves the objection to be answered, as to the mode by which, according to the English version, it was eflbcted It IS upon this point, after all, that the opponents of Scripture chiefly dwell. The objection therefore must be met upon purely philological grounds, and this I think may be done in a most conclusive manner. The Hebrew verb 5^5^55 (shaal) occurs but in very few instances in the sense to borroio, in the whole Bible ; its primary meanin- IS to ask, having several shades of signification, as to inquire 1 to interrogate— to demand— to require; and in these the verb con- stantly occurs. As for example, 1 Kings iii. 5, " In Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said D5.80 to be paid, nil the just claims of your poor subjects. I came tlierefnrn to inouire of you It such be really the case V The king replied in the affirmative, and inquired ot the prmco the nature of his demand. The prince then stated that the Jews, who c !ii III XVIIl INTKODUCTION. Ill Dout. XXV. 0, wo read, *'Thcn shall his brother's wife como unto him in the presence of the ehlers, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it he (lone unto that man that will not build up his brother's house." The rite alluded to in this passage is observed by the Israelites to the present day, though the occasions on which recourse is had to it are indeed very rare. The translation, "and spit in his face," has very justly given much offence to the Jews, as it represents them practising a' custom which would hardly be countenanced even among savages. Besides it^ has not failed to attract the attention of the opponents of the Bible, who, always ready to impugn its authority, maintain that God in His goodness could never have instituted a rite so degrading and repulsive. I am, however, happy to have an opportunity to testify that such a custom is never practised, and still more so in being able to shew that it is not at all commanded in Scripture, which simply requires the brother's Avife to spit out 11535 (b'phunfiv) before him, or in his presence. In the Hebrew the word presence can only be expressed by ^55 (paneh) i.e. face, hence with the were uuder Ins jurisdiction, had several hundred years ago borrowed jewels of silver and of gold from his people, and had not as yet returned them nor paid for them and he had now come to demand both principal and interest. Alexander wished to know what evidence he could adduce to substantiate his claim. The prince replied the Bible. Tina is indeed excellent evidence, said the liing; will you allow me three days to examine into the nature of your claim? The prince readily consented to this, and at the same time referred him to Exodus iii. 22 and xi. 2, as evidence. Ihc king then consulted with his secretary, Gaviah ben Pasna, a learned Jew, who. on the morning of the third day, called upon King Alexander, and told him to get the prince when he came to consent, in the first place, that if a balance were due on either side, it should be paid with interest; secondly, that the Bible should be evidence for and against both parties ; and, further, to enquire of him if their law did not allow servants and slaves a just and equitable compensation for their services. a of which he will no doubt readily admit. Then refer him to the Bible, where ho will find that Jacob and his family or children took all their cattle and all their wealth with them into Egypt; also, state that the Israelites were three or four hundred years in bondage to his nation, and when they left Egypt they could not, as slaves, take their property with them; then estimate the value of the property that Jacob and his family took into Egypt, and the interest of it, and also the services of all the Jewish nation or four hundred years, at so much per day for each one ; then add the lutercst, and double both principal and interest, for the Egyptians made them also double their labour, and they had also to find their own materials to make brick. Let him from that sum deduct the small amount of jewels, and there will be such a large balance m our favour that their whole nation will not be able to pay it. Besides, he does not understand our language, for the word ^Jjj'JD (shaal) means to ask, to demand as a debt or an equivalent, and not to borrow.' ' In support of these allegations the earned secretary referred the king to numerous passages in the Bible. Ihe king was highly delighted with this critical view of the case, and adopted the plan pointed out, and wJien the prince came, and Alexander explained the whole merits ot the ease to him, shewing beyond doubt that his nation was largely in debt to the Israehtes, the prince fled into a foreign country." N > * I !! t INXnODUCTION. XIX proposition l^ (b') in, and the pronominal snfllx ii-- (av) his, wc Imvo the word 1155^ (b'phunfiv), whicli is thcrefori as correctly translated in his presence, or before him, as " in his face." So, for instance, Deut. vii. 24, "There shall no man he able to stand ^11535 b'phanecha), i.e., in thy presence.;' or, as in the English version, " before thee." Again, Deut. xi. 25, "There shall no man be able to stand Q^i.iBa (biphnechem) in yoxir presence or before ijou." English version again, "before you." Also, Josh. xxi. 42, " And the Lord gave thorn rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers : and there stood not a man of all their enemies t]0\?S?l (biiihnehcra) in their jxrescnce or before them." English version again, " before them." It will be perceived that merdy a different pronoun is employed in these examples; in all other respects the Avord is the same. Rabbi Shalom Ilakkohen, who ought to bo well acquainted with the rites of his own nation, rendered it in his German translation, "Spcio vor ihm aus," i.e'., spit out before him. And in like manner D. A. De Sola and M. j! llaphall, in their united translation of the Mishna Treatise Yobamoth, page 29G, have rendered the words 1153^ |-|p-|iT (v'yfir'kah b'phtlnuv) "and spit out before him."* In Deut. xxix. 2, 3, 4, we read, "And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them. Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharoah, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land ; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles : yet the Lord liath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day." According to this reading in the English version, the concluding declaration of Moses plainly represents God as the cause of Israel not perceiving the signs and miracles; and profane writers have not failed to bring this passage forward, as one strongly arguing against the purity and holiness of the Deity. From the context, too, it is evident that Moses here reproves the stubborn Israelites for their hardness of heart and callousness in not perceiv- ing the manifold wonders which had been wrought for them. Would * The custom of marrying the brother's widow has been adopted from tho Mosaic laws by other eastern nations, wlio still pJactiso it. Olcarius, spcalciuir of tlie Circassians says, "When a man dies without issue his brother is obliRed to nmrry the widow. —Ambassador't Travels into Persia, p. 417, English edition. Voluoy remarks tliat "tho Druses retain, to a certain degree, the custom of the Hebrews, which directed a man to marry his brother's widow."— Fbyaa* m Svrie toni. u. J). t4. i^ it i> > : I 'li ' f^ il XX INTRODUCTIO.V. not, therefore, the question natun.lly sng^rcst itself to every tliinkinrr mmd, ^^■hy upbraid them fur not socin-, iKTceivin- iin.l hearin-r" when God hnnself withlield from them the means of doing so ? It would bo altorrcther vain to attempt to reconcile the fuurtirverae, aa rendered in the En^^lish version, either wUh the context, or with the divine attributes of infinite ^'oodnews, justice and holiness of God. I3ut the whole difficulty which the passage presents is entirely owing to a mistranslation of the Hebrew word fciibT (v'lo) in the fourth verse, which should have been rendered interrogatively, hath not ? instead of simply negatively, "yet hath not," the sentence would then have read, "hath not the Lord given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and oars to hear, unto this day?" Thus rendered, the passage becomes perfectly clear, and harmonizes in every respect with the context. The negative particle s^b (iG) not, and sometimes also with the conjunction {jsibi ^^'^^^ ^^'^ *'^^' ^^ fi'efjucntly employed for fclsbrT (hrilo), in not, when the question is a negative one. Thus, for example, Jonah iv. 11, niD^rb^? ^^m Ki ''5i5T (vaSni l5 uchus Jll nin'veh), lit. And I, I will not have pity on Nineveh, but this would not at all agree with the context, and would aiford a meaning quite the opposite to what God intended to say; fi^'b (In) mt, therefore, stands obviously here for jiibn (hriM) shall not, and tlio passage must accordingly be rendered, and I, shall not I have Vitij on mneveh? and so similarly the English version, "And should not I spare Nineveh ?" For other examples, see also Job ii. 10, and xiv. 16 ; Lament, i. 12, and iii. 36. The translators appear not to have been ignorant of this peculiar use of the Hebrew nega- tive particle, as they have rendered it interrogatively in the above quoted exarnples ; but why they should have overlooked it in the passage in question is difficult to say. From the many mis-translations in the Book of Job I shall only select the followins: : — In Job vi. 11, 12, 13, we read, ""What is mj strength, that I should hope? and what is mine end, that I shouh . prolong my life? Is my strength the strength of stones ? or is my f esh of brass ? Is not my help in mo? and is wisdom driven quite from mo?" The reader will at once perceive that, according to this renderin.^ Job contradicts in the last verse Avhat he has said in the preceding! If indeed his help were in him, why complain of not being able to bear the burden put upon him ? Why not shake it off, if he possess the power of doing so ? The last verse has, however, been altogether V * ^ I ' 4 INTnODUCTTON. xxi inia-translatcd, it should have been rendered, ''Lo! my help is not in me, and succour is driven from mc." This renders the pasHprro perfectly clear, and harmonizes beautifully with the context. The translators evidently have not perceived the peculiar force of the word Qi^n (huTm) in this place, standing hero for t^-bn (hillr.), lit. is not, which is frequently employed in the sense oUo ! ' bchohl! Again, ch. xxxix. 11), wo read, " Hast thou given the horse strength 'i hast thou clothed his neck with thunder ?" Accordin.^ to this translation the last clause of the verse evidently refers to"tho neighing of the horse, which however is hardly loud and stron^^ enough to bo consistently described by the word thiml'r; besides" the powerful snorting of the horse is alluded to in the 1- tt<«r clause ot the next verse, "the glory of his nostrils in terrJ.le," which would then bo a useless repetition of nearly the same thing. The passage would have been more correctly rendered, " Halt thou clothed his neck with n^5>n (ramah) trcmhling T i. e., with a trembling or waving mane.' So Ewald, "Kloidest du seincn Hals mit Zittern ?" i. e.. Hast thou clothed his neck with tremhUng ? And Rabbi Shalom Hakkohen, ''Bckleidest du soincn Hals mit der stolzen Mahne?" i. e., Hast thou attired his neck tvith the proud mane? And so Hirzel, Arnheim, Welte, Heiligstedt and others. Ihe translators have evidently been led into the error by the close resemblance of the two words, viz., n^S'n (ramah) fern, tremblinr/, and a?! (raam) masc. thunder, both words being also derived from the verb Qi^l (raam) to tremble, to be moved, abo, in a secondary signification, to thunder. The rendering of the first clause of the next verse is still more objectionable:-" Canst thou make him afraid as a grasshopper'" ihis passage has also not escaped the scrutinizing eyes of the opponents of Scripture. They have asked, " How can wo reconcile mth common sense the question put to Job, whether he could make a horse afraid like a grasshopper, when we all know that a child can easily frighten a horse? How can we therefore, or how can any one suppose that God would ask Job if it was possible for him to do what a child would find no difficulty whatever in doing ?" It can hardly be denied that the objection is a plau.iible one, for as the passage is rendered in the English version, it is impossible to reooncilc it with common sense; but had the objectors taken the trouble, as they ought to have done, to examine the original, they i I !( i. HI i ; i xxU tNTRODUL^ION. yrm\\\ ),avo found that the apparent inconsiMt.^r^^y ia altogotlicr owing to rt inis-transhitlon, an the passage shouhl have hcoii trans- UbHl, *'"Dost tliou make him, (i. c, the liorse) leap like the hicustr' Job i» m »>"> preceilin? verse asked, Whetlio r it was he who gave to the horse strcn^'t^. and clothed liis nock with a trond)ling or waving mane? In thia x^rno he is asked, Wliether it was lie wlio made or enabled the horse to leap like a locust? The verb ot easily conjectured, as it never lias that force, and avouM not on y require to be used in connexion with the negative particle ^^'^ (lo), but also to be followed by a future verb, as Exod. xx. .G, " Thou «halt not bow down thyself to then., aiS^^n S^-bl nor serve th,-u," ht., nor Shalt thou serve them, or, and thou Ihalt not ,rrue th,;u I^rom these few examples the reader will now be able to judg.- as to the correctness of the assertion, that a commentary based upon the English version must necessarily be defective, and not unfr.v qucntly unintelligible, in those cases at least, where the sense of th'.« an.l Kood f.,r drinkim^ so t ^t t f IT/ i 'f, ' ^"' '"-''■'l'-^ "lo water .(uito frc.h nth June, 1811, atl Tut past m^^ '"?,"''' *'!" '""'™7' ""'^ »''!« ^vas on tho and Deccmbor the .■i'ns Ji, ern iv ? . •,^' V ^"''"'- "'"^ ""^"^''■'* ^^^ ><'"vcmber and nccu. only a Vrgei^Xv is 1 mT^^ T' Y they become Ics.s sovc.-o. violence. Here then ^ve 1 ave tl o wt ■ ' ".f "','^' ''' '" ""•"» ^^''"' S"''-''^* promised to his peoplo^iMeyiuhlsiv^^ utter raia which God has " 1 will L'ivo vJ the rain of vnn. u. i ' ^ • "^ ^"^ °''<'y '"« commandments : rain, that thou mayest ^11^ "^ '" '""' '="V'"''?"' ^^''^ «''-^* ^""' •'"'^ "'O latter but iilso forwinirf'..!, ... ■ "'^I"'-ult, wliicUuot onWeontiimcs torefresb X.XIV INTHODUCTION. further, and show that such must bo unavoidably the result, in many instances, even Avhcro the English version is "apparently a literal translation of the original, unless indeed the commentator possess a full ac(iuaintance with the genius of the Hebrew language and familiarity with its peculiar modes of expression, and that without these he would be unable to give a satisfactory solution of very many intricate passages. Thus, Gen. vi. 1, 2, we read, "And It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which tlicy chose." To convey an accurate meaning of this passage it is necessary to ascertain the precise force of the term -sons of God," which, although a literal rendering of the Hebrew Q^-jJsjjf^-.p^ (b'ne hueluhlm), fails to impart the clear intent. From the antithesis, daughters of men, we would naturally conclude that by the sons of God must be understood the angels, and this supposition is strongly supported by the same expression occurring again in Job i. G, where it evidently has that meaning. "Now there was a day when Qiij-ji^p-^ij-^ (b'ne haelohim) the sons of God (i. e., the angels) came to present tliemselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." So again, ch. ii. 1 and ch. xxxviii. 7, "When the morning stars sang together, and all tho sons of God shouted for joy." If we however attach such a signification to it in the passage before us, it will be impossible to reconcile to ourselves the idea that angels should leave their happy and exalted state, and come down to take to themselves wives of the ftillen race of man. It is true it has been urged, bHh by some ancient and modern writers, that these were fallen angels; but I altogether deny tlmt fallen angels are included in the term sons of G-od. Tliis is quite apparent by referring to the above quoted passages, the only places in which the expression oocurs besides tho passage in question. In the last it Avill be seen that tho sons of God are represented as sending forth their songs of praise to the Creator of tho universe, and hence, none but holy angels can be included in the term sons of God; and, in tho fwo former, it will be observed that Satan is not represented to be one of the sons of God, but simply that ho also came among them, or literally, in the midsl of^ them, to present himself before the Lord. Tho very fact of his being separately mentioned clearly shcAvs that, whatever claim he may once have had to this high and honorable title, he had now k I IMTRODOCTION. ^ ":s."',:',.?". !: - ■•* •■ -"■<" - «.. >* ofZ f Slitr"" "^'"^ '^ ^^"^^^ '^ "^ ^ ^=^^-«t .caning ^^o^^^cs::;:::^: fr ^ r^ f^^-^-^-^ solution! of that Ian,.,o ^v^uM^^rf^;:"^ to intensify its -Xror^ p^^^^^^^^^^ Hence we find the exnression "P'"^'^^^.*« f'^ ^^g^est degree. ThemanofPnl ''^P^^'^^ ^'^"^m '^'i^ i''^^ huelohim), lit., ine man ot God, i. e., The pious man.— -Dent xxxui 1 Q i Psalm xc. 1. ciri^v ".S^^J^ ^n.-tv.i,.-V- v, , ! •^"'' ^- ^^^ also of God i TI.^ 'f^^^5(naphtuleel6him), lit., The filings '''■ ^''^^^ ^- ^-^ J- he most powerful wrestUnnt Vn,.V..\. .. wrestlings."— Gen xw K Vw . .^T' -^-'"g^ish ver., ''great of God i e y A ; J, ^^ ^"^^ ^''^'' '^' ^'')' '^^- T^« "mountains ot God, ,. e., The loftiest mountains, Eng. ver "rrreat ri^nnnf • .- — Psalmxxxvi. 7,En^.ver V n n^^t ' S',^'^* "fountains." DrincGofr.,1 • ,°-'^'^'-''-^- fi^nbN}K^ffi3(n'sIolohlm),Iit.A (arse el), ht. The cedars of God i e T^X . /?« . r J- " -'^ Ascendants of StralrS'"^"^^^^ "-.t-namefy, the ■ "''' ^"^ ""^^^ P'0 "3 patriarchs, who did not Jos%?L;'L'?.ZoTk'S'Ltln'?velv «^^ ^ ^°"''^ particukriy „,cntio„ accompanied with women, and beS S ttn ' "° f "y"-' " * <"• """^"y «ng«Is of God was good, on account of the confidence thi1,Pr'i"-^ """^ despiserf of all that the Arabic version t_5 -jw>M .^. ,u .. theQthf"v->"=-^ u ■, "^^ 3'*Mbanu'la5hrafi).i.e../;!,^.n.!,„^ .,....-,. .„ " M« ana^U of God." ^^^ Alexandrian text of the Septuagint. howevo?. Ja. I ! II '; ) . 1 • 3 if XXVI INTRODUCTION. walk in the wicked ways of the descendants of Cain. Those men, who had hitherto been distinguished for their uprightness and piety, and who had tal-en upon themselves the profession of God's holy name, (see Gen. iv. 26, " then began men to call upon the name of the Lord," or, as it is rendered in the marginal note, "to call tlmn- selvcs by the name of the Lord,") these saw the daughters of men— i. e., of those who had nothing in them but the nature of fallen and sinful man — and they took wives of all which they chose. In Gen. xxi. 7, wo read: "And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck ? for I have borne Mvi a son in his old age." Here the plural form, t3".5a (banim), cJiildreti, being employed instead of the singular, a child, creates apparently a contradiction of facts, as Sarah had but one child. Though fcAV commentators have thought it worth their while even to bestow a passing notice on this peculiarity, the adversaries of the Bible have eagerly seized upon it as an additional -weapon in their warfare against the inspired writings, insisting, with a stubborn tenacity, upon the literal meaning of the word children in the passage. I am not disposed to quarrel with them on that score, but fully admit that, according to the strict rule of language, a plural noun implies a plurality of the objects denoted by the noun. This rule holds equally good in the Hebrew. Still we find that Hebrew writers sometimes employ a noun in the plural instead of the singular, if they wish to draw particular attention to a certain fact, rather than to the object denoted by the noun. Such evidently is the design of the sacred historian in the passage in question ; it is not so much his desire to set forth the number of Sarah's children, as the fact of her becoming fruitful at such an advanced age, and this he does more strikingly by using the plural Qi^^ (bfinlm), children; as much as to say. Who could have ever thought of saying to Abraham that Sarah should yet become fruitful, being already so far advanced in years. In further illustration of this usage of language, we may also adduce Gen. viii. 4 : "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventh day of the month, upon t)"l"li« ^in (hare urarat) tho T T - : •• T ' mountains of Ararat." Now Ararat* is a very mountainous region * Tho Hebrew word 'D'Tl^ (ararat) occurs in three other places in the Old Testament— namely, 2 Kings xix. 37, and Isaiah xxxvii. 38: "And it came to pass, RH lio was worKhippins in tho hoiiae of NiH.vnch {i, c, prr,hnbly, (he great ear-le an idol of the Ninevitcs) his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer,' his sons, smote i .. ,. INTRODUCTION. XXVii in Armenia, and therefore the ark could not have rested on all its mountains, as the language employed would actually indicate. But here again the sacred historian does not desire to set forth so much the particular mountain upon which the ark rested, as the general lact that It rested upon one of the mountains in the region called j!^!'^^' ''"k^ lience he uses the plural, him with the sworlT andlhe7e7cape7nn^t];ri^;r^^t:^^i^ call together aga.nst her ,ho kingdoms of J^n^j^ Ararat, Mi„ui (a .cglon of i^^pS^^S^^:^:^^ - - -e co„ntr, anS not ofTpl^nfeX inoLtfn"' ^ ''T'^lr "^^ ^""f "' '' P"""^'"- ^ -«-• account of the dove 3 oHvo lp„f ''^ '^'•™«»«'. »nJ that therefore either the mmssmmsmm decree Sfr.hr. „^ .-^ *^" mforenco would be absurd in the hlMiest opinion ).s very ancient, since in the Targum of Onkelos, the Hebrew tiinj;!} inH (hru-e ururat), i. e., mountain, of Ararat, is rendered ^^^p 1^^^: (toore kaVdoo), i'.'J the mormtains of the Kurd... So also in the Syriac version we'have '< toorai Kardoo " :. e the mountains of the Kurds. Likewise the Arabic version, M >" ) L:L (Jibah Karda), i. e., the mountains of the Kurds. Joscphus too rAntio h I . -^ pr^^riTnt'Sef ""' ^"' ''"''''''''' '"'^ ^' «>•-' '^'^ ^^^^ o^^^ tS to?ilnfwi'"i''r' ''T''"*' -"'"""Sli «'«=o almost universal, has gradually given wnv the n' me" ? Jr^r" '"f."'«-P"^- °' !'- "■'k on the niountkin kn^n to JJi'r^pon" s . J lue name ot Aiarat. Ihis mountain is situated in the extensive plain of the Arn« Ef iri r^^ ^r — --f ;^,f:rs id i: -S !■ 1 1 ■ ? rn zxviii INTRODUCTION. Another example we have in Judges xii. 7 : — " And Jephtha judged Israel six years. Then died Jephtha the Gileadite, and was buried lyb"^ ''"!'?S1 i'^t., in the cities of Gilead." English version, "in one as 16,254 Paris feet above the level of the sea, and 13,350 above the plain of Araxes, and that of the little Ararat as 12,284 above the sea, and 9,5G1 above the plain. Ha describes the top as a slightly convex, almost circular platform, about 200 Paris feet in diameter, composed of eternal ice, unbroken by rock or stone ; and states, that on account of the immense distance nothing could bp seen. Sir Robert Ker Porter has given such a beautiful and graphic description o. this truly mnjestio mountain and its imposing appearance, that wo shall quote his remarks, which may perhaps prove not uninforosting to the reader: — "As the vale opened beneath us, in our descent, my whole attention became absorbed in the view before me. A vast plain, peopled With countless villages ; the towers and spires of the churches of Eitch-miadzen arising from amidst them ; the glittering waters of the Araxes flowing through tho fresh green of the vale, and the subordinate range of mountains skirting the base of the awful monument of the antediluvian world, it scorned to stand a stupendous link in the history of man, uniting the two r.ices of men before and after the flood. But it was not until we had arrived upon the flat plain that I beheld Ararat in all its amplitude of grandeur. From the spot on wliich I stood, it appeared as if tho hugcst mountains of tho world had beeu piled upon each other, to form this one sublime immensity of earth, and rock, and snow. Tho icy peaks of its double heads rose majestically into the clear and cloudless heavens ; the sun blazed bright upon them, and the reflection sent forth a dazzling radiance equal to other suns. This point of the view united the utmost grandeur of plain and height ; but the feelings I experienced while looking on the mountain are hardly to be described. My eye, not able to rest for any length of time on the blinding glory of its summits, wandered down the apparently interminable sides, till I could no longer trace their vast lines in the mists of the uorizon; when an inexpressible impulse, immediately carrying my eye upwards again, refixedmygaze on the awful glare of Ararat; and this bewildered sensibility of .sight being answered by a similar feeling in the mind, for sume moments I was los. in a strange suspension of the powers of thought." J!r. Moricr, (mother traveller, likewise bears testimony to the grandeur and symmetry of Ararat. lie savs, "Nothing can be more beautiful than its shape, more awful than its height. All the surrounding mountains sink into insignificance when compared to it." Among the eastern people this mountain is v.ariously designated. The Armenians call it Massis, s.iid to be so called from an ancient king, Amasis, the sixth in descent from Japhet, who gave also the name Amasia to the country, but which, according to Moses Chorenensis, the first authority among Armenian writers, was afterwards called Ararat, after a great Armenian king, Aral the Fair, who lived about 1750 years B. C. He fell in a bloody battle with the Babylonians, on a plain in Armenia, wh"ch was nnmed after him, Arai-Arat, i. e., the fall of Aval, whence the name Ararat. This mountain is likewise sometimes called by the Armenians Massiseusar, i. e., the mountain of the Ark ; but by the name of Ararat it is not known among them. The Persians call the mountain in question Kahi Nuach, i. e., the mountain of Koah ; and tho Turks call it Agri-dagh, i. e., the heavy mountain. At the foot of the mountain, is a little village called Arghuri, compounded of Argh, which in Armenian signifies he planted, and urri, the vine : its inhabitants alleging that Noah had planted his vineyard near that place. Likewise Nakschivan, the name of a neighbouring city, is compounded of Nak, i. e., a ship, and schivan, settled or stopped, rendered by Josephus Anofiarriptoi', i. e., the place of descent. Guilielmus Kubruquis, who travelled through Armenia in 125:3, mentions another place near Nakschivan called Cemainum, which is by interpretation einht, and, as he say."", was so called from the eight persons who came out of the ark. This name is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew word HDlbtlJ (sli'monah), i. e., tight. The whole country round is full of traditionary stories about Noah, the ark and the flood ; and they firmly believe that the remains of the ark still exist upon the mountain, and that, in Order to their prosorvacion. no person is able to come near them : hence they will on no account admit that Dr. Parrot succeeded in reaching the gummit. INTRODUCTIOir. XXIX of the cities of Gilead," having one of in italics, which however is no doubt the sense, as Jephtha could not have been buried in all the cities of Gilead, Here again the sacred writer evidently employs the plural, wishing to give prominence to the fact of Jephtha having been buried in his own country, but not thinking it important to specify the particular city. From these examples it will be evident that the sacred writers, for a special purpose, sometimes employed a plural instead of a singular noun, and that the apparent discrepancies which this peculiarity gives rise to admit of easy explanation. The attentive reader of the Bible cannot have failed to notice that events are frequently spoken of by the sacred writers as having already taken place, although their accomplishment Avas not con- summated till long after the time of narration. Thus, for instance, Gen. XV. 18, "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land." The land here spoken of is the land of Canaan, which the Israelites did not possess till some centuries after this promise had been made. Hence the use of the past, "I have given," instead of the future, 1 will give, renders the passage unintelligible, at least to the English reader, who would naturally understand the expression to mean alreadjj given, as there exists no such license in the English language permitting of the use of the past tense for the future. In the Hebrew, on the contrary, this is a common idiom, for the sacred authors frequently employ the past for the future, when they wish to denote absolute errtaintg with regard to the occurrence of a future event. This is especially the case in the enunciation of prophecies, whether the prophet spraks in his own person or in thai of God himself, regarding, as Rabbi Kimchi justly observes, the things thus foretold to be as certain as if they had been already performed, they having been long determined on. The expression, therefore, "unto thy seed if^j-p (nathatti) lit., I have given this land," according to this idiom, means, unto thy seed will 1 surely give this land, having already done so in my intent. So Exod. xii. 17: "And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread : for in the selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt." These words were spoken in Egypt at the institution of the passover, Avhen the armies of Israel were still in the land of their bondage. Here again the use of the preterite merely denotes a certain fulfilment of the promise — namely, / ^vUl iurely bring out your armies. XXX INTRODUCTION. Again, Isaiah ix. 1, (Eng. vcr. v. 2), "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light," — i. e., shall surely see a great light—'' they that (hvell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them the light shined," i. e., the light shall surely shine upon them. The light which the spiritually benighted people of Galilee were to see is the same which Isaiah elsewhere speaks of as "a light of the Gentiles" — Isaiah xlii. G ; and Malachi, as "the sun of righteous- ness'"— Mai. iv. 2 ; and St. John, as "the true light which lightcth every man that comcth into the world." — John i. 0. It is also an appellation Avhich our Saviour expressly applied to himself, " I am the light of the world."— John viii. 12. It was in Galilee that Christ first appeared as a messenger of God, and we are distinctly taught by St. Matthew that this prophecy had its consummation in that appearance. — Matt. iv. 12-17. The preceding examples (and they are but a few of the very many that might be adduced) conclusively demonstrate that an acquaintance with the genius of the Hebrew language, and a familiarity with its peculiar modes of expression, arc absolutely indispensable" to enable us to interpret correctly the sacred Scriptures, even in many instances where the translators have closely adhered to the original. Thus far I have merely endeavoured to point out the absolute necessity of making the Hebrew text the basis of interpretation, and for this a knowledge of the sacred language is indispensable : a fact which has ever been admitted by all interpreters of any note, and only doubted by those who, through indifference, or some other equally futile cause, have neglected to study it. The modest Melanchthon declared, that though his knowledge of Hebrew was but little, he preferred it to all the kingdoms of the world and all the wealth of the universe. Luther said, that he was acquainted with a sufficiency of Hebrew to be able to combat all his enemies, the knowledge of which, although small, he prized above millions of gold. The Rev. W. Romaine observes, that, without bein-^ acquamted with the Hebrew tongue, no man can be a critic of the Old Testament. Dr. Adam Clark acknowledges, that but for the clear and extensive views which the study of the Heln-ew language opened to his mind, he never should have tliought of writing his commentary. I might go on enumerating a host of commentators and divines who hav? more or loss strongly expressed similar views on this subject. INTRODUCTION. XXXI Let not the reader suppose that I have produced tho foregoing examples, in which the Englisli authorized version fails to afford the sense of the original, to the disparagement of that version, or with a design to lower the estimation in which it is justly held ; so far from such being my intention, it affords me great gratification in being able publicly to contribute my humble testimony to its merits, for which it stands so deservedly high among modern versions. This version is undoubtedly one of great merit and excellence, manifesting throughout the unremitting labour which the learned and pious translators nnist have bestowed upon its execution, as well as their anxiety to accomplish their difficult task faithfully and con- scientiously. Still this version has its errors, and therefore to uphold it, as some woidd do, as the ultimate authority, would be upholding sucli errors as parts of divine revelation. But it may perhaps be asked, how does it happen that a translation made with so much care, and by the united labours of the most learned scholars that Great Britain could produce, should be so faulty ? To such an inquiry I reply, that the translators did not possess the facilities for ensui'ing success which we have at the present day. It must be borne in mind that the science of philology is far more advanced now than it was then. The aids to biblical criticism have since that time been amazingly increased, in the collation of ancient manuscripts and versions, and in the publication of polyglots, concordances, lexicons and critical grammars. Eastern travellers, too, have not a little contributed to make us better acquainted with tho geography, natural history, manners, customs, coins, weights, measures, &c., of the east. The increased desire within the last thirty years for the study of eastern languages, and particularly of those belonging to the Shemitic family, has been productive of a much closer inquiry into tho affinities of the oriental dialects than had previously existed, and, in consequence, numerous difficulties and doubts as to the precise meaning of many words in tho Old Testament, have been removed or cleared up. Hence the necessity of a new translation, or a revision of the authorized version, has from time to time been strongly urged, and a member of the British House of Commons has lately given notice that, next session, he shall move ''An Address to her Majesty, praying that her Majesty will be graciously pleased to appoint a commission to inquire into the state of the authorized version of the Bible, and to prepare a plan for the further revision of that translation." This, !n m xxxii rNTRODUCTION. I may observe is no whim of the learned of the present age, but had been already earnestly advocated by several highly esteemed wn ter. of the last century. Thus, Bishop Lowth, in the Preliminary 1)1.. crtatton to In. commentary on Isaiah, in speaking of Archbishop Seeker s marginal notes on the Bible, says, "These valuable remains of that great and good man mU be of infinite service, whenever that necessary work, a new translation, or a revision of the present translation of the Holy Scriptures, for the use of our church, shall be undertaken. In another place he remarks, "And as to the turn and modification of the sentences, the Translator, in this particular province of Translation, is, I think, as much confined to he authors manner as to his words: so that too great liberties taken in varying either the expression or the composition, in order to give a new air to the whole, will be apt to have a very bad effect. For hese reasons, whenever it shall be thought proper to set forth the Holy Scriptures for the public use of our church, to better advantage, than as they appear in the present English translation, the expediency of which grows every day more and more evident a ' Revision or Correction of that translation may perhaps be more advisable, than to attempt an entirely new one. For as to the style and language, it admits but of little improvement ; Int. in respect of the sense and the accuracy of interpretation, tlie imnrovements of which It IS capable are great and numberless." Some years earlier Stackhouse, in the Preparatory Discourse to his History of the Bible, expressed himself still more strongly on this subject. This writer, after having briefly alluded to the origin of the common version, goes on to say, "This is the Translation which we read in our Churches at this Day; only the old Version of the Psalms (as tis called), which was made by Bishop Tunstal is still retained in our publick Liturgy. And tho' it cannot be denied that this translation of ours, especially taking along wi^h it the marrjinal iV./.,s- (which arc sometimes of great Service to explain diilicult passages), is one of the most perfect of its kind ; yet I hone It will be no Detraction to its Merit, nor any Diminution of the Authority of the Holy Scriptures to wish, that such as are invested with a proper Authority, would appoint a regular Reviml of it, that where it is faulty, it may be amended; where difficult, rendered more plain ; where obscure, cleared up : and in all Points, made as obvious as possible to the apprehension of the meanest Reader:' A little further on, after having given some rules for interpreting 4 \ INTRODUCTION. XXXIU / Scripture, ho says, " These and many more Eules of Interpretation, uro not unknoAvn to the Learned : Rut the common reopic, who arc no less conccrn'tl to know the Will of God, arc entirely ignorant in this llcspect ; and therefore, if a Version he defective in several of these Tarticulars (as those, who have cxamin'd ours Avith Ohservation, are forced to acknowledge that it is), if, when the Original \?: figu- rative, our Translators, in several Places, have expressed it in a Way not acconnnodated to our present Notions of Things, when they might have done it with the same Propriety: If, when there is an Aml)iguity in any ^Vord or Phrase, they have frequently taken the wro)ig Sense, and for Want of attending to the Tramposition or Context, have run into some Errors, and many Times unintelligible Diction : If they have committed palpable Mistakes in the names of Cities and Countries, of WeigJits and Bleasures, of Fruits and Trees, and several of the Animals which the Scripture mentions; and lastly, if, by misapprehending the Nature of a Proposition, whether it bo Negative or Affirmative, or the Tense of a Verb, whether it be past or future, they have fallen upon a Sense, in a IManner, rpiite opposite to the Original ; and by not attending to some oriental Customs, or Forms of Speech, have represented Matters in a Dress quite foreign to the English Dialect : If in these, and such like instances, I say, our Translators have made such Mistakes, the People, who know not how to rectify them, must be misled." The force of these remarks can hardly be denied. The Bible is designed for the illiterate as well as the literate ; it is the ivay-mark that points to an eternal land of bliss for the unlearned as well as the learned ; and the former, as well as the latter, arc therefore concerned in rightly understanding its infallible directions. It is true that no version, however Avell executed, will altogether obviate the necessity of a commentary, as its province is merely to give a literal translation of the original, and not the sense, when the language is figurative, or otherwise not quite clear. But if a version were to attach the proper meaning to words, and not one which renders the sense of the phrase obscure,— if it were to maintain a uniformity in the mode of rendering, and not attach one signification to a word in one place, and an entirely different one in another, — if this, and some other particulars, were strictly attended to, many passages in the English version, now altogether unintelligible to the common reader, would become perfectly clear. Yet, stron-rly E XXXIV INTRODUCTION. impressed as wo are with those consitlcrations, tlic question, never- theless, forees itself irresistil.ly upon us, whotlier a revision of the common version would yield such satisfactory results us to warrant Huch a step. Tlie task is exceedingly difficult, and the degree of success attending such an undertaking must entirely depend upon the mode pursued in its prosecution, and upon the competency, strict impartiality, and unquestionable piety of those intrusted with the work ; and even though Croat Britain undoubtedly might furnish many learned men possessing all the reciuircments necessary for this important work, still they would be no mure infallible than tlicir predecessors. They might indeed correct many of the existing mistakes, and render more intelligible many passages now obscure'- but is there no danger that in their zeal to afford a version more Huitable to the common reader, they might not also run into extremes, and instea(l of giving the plain, literal, and grammatical sense of tlic original, give rather a paraphrase of expressions and sentences, which, however admissible in translations merely designed for the private use of the reader, is certainly not justifiable in a translation executed for the public service of the Church? A version i-tcnded to be used in public worship should, as closely as circumstances will admit, convey the precise force of the words as they were dictated by the Holy Spirit and written down by the inspired writers, whether the language be figurative, or otherwise not quite clear. In all cases a free rendering must be carefully avoided; for, as Bishop Lowth has well remarked, " want of fidelity admits of no excuse, and is entitled to no indulgence."* I cannot, therefore, agree with the learned Stackhouse, who, in enumerating the defects of our present translation, includes the literal rendering of figurative expressions as one of the faults which ought to be remedied. He adduces, as an example, Isaiah xiii. 9, 10—" Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his coming for' , and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." On this he remarks : "But we are not to take these, and the like Words literally, because they were never accomplished in the full Extent of their natural Signifi- cation ; and therefore to express the IMcaning of the Prophet, it seems sufficient to say, That fearful calamities should come upon the * Preliminary Dissertation to his Cominontary on Isaiah. INTRODUCTION. XXXV I t King ofBahjhn ; that Ids People should fall into the Hand of their Enemies; and that all Orders and Deis Rclbrn.cKt "en of Se rhuroi" , ''7'"«' «°»t™7 ♦" tl.c general law in 10-8 that no person shoul,! ho ni.t , '"^'=''=^» f Switzerland, who enacted a unless ho made a iX^pVotSL'^n. s "eliSSlhe^K' ? ''f ''^'''''''''' was authentic and divine maintnino 1 li,„f *. t *"« Hebrew text, as it stood, KrosslycorruptedtUir copies onhesl^^^^^^^^ ^T-^ *^'°"' '*" early period so them,^and thL the .^eptuT^ , t whiclfhTSe I'tTa'^ \' ^""'"' "P°" strictly adhered to m all thinRs I^ 3 LpS o^^ifv • " '""'^l?'' ""S"'* *« '^° studied that version, or lio wou d novpr iw.v? -u ?' ^T'""^ <'°"^^ '"^^« earefully to it. For tho serious consUIera ion of Z w.'"^''^ ''"l^ unwarrantable authority notions, I may instate Isa 2 x i 1 as a lTw° ""^ ""'7*'^'" '''"^''^'' extravagant found sometimes in that version The litera tr^^Lr^PJl'^ '^'t '°°«^ 'e^'leringa n,y servant, I will uphold lim my cho ^ o„p 1 T ^^ ^^^^ ^^'^^^ "^"''°''* .«.. and w.{«..'„/r.r£!^.Si™u-rxs'^^^^^ I ■\ xxxvm INTRODUCTION. the least foundation, but also unjust in the highest degree. The Jews, who have always evinced the most scrupulous reglrd for the sacred text, would never have had recourse to such a base subterfuge or have laid a sacrilegious hand upon the Word of God. It would liave been far more charitable in those who preferred such unfounded charges to have confessed their own inability, than endeavoured to cloak It by ascribing evil motives to others. This accusation, I am however happy to say, has been almost entirely abandoned by recent authors, who have very properly turned their attention to a more consistent mode of criticism, and one which is likely to lead to more satisfactory results in treating the intricacies of the sacred text-namely, by bringing to bear upon it the powerful agencies which comparative philology affords.* E^ans rVp 1/ w '• ^''l^: ^^"^' '' '"'S''' be fulfilled which was spoken by Lsaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen • mv belovo 1 sM of the Lord, m this as well as in some other places, the Messiah. Hence in the Targum of Jonathan, the Hebrew word l^iS? (avdij, lit. n., servant, is here text ImVlwnt,' ^'""'"^ P,""?"/ °{ "'" '"'SU degree of veneration in which the sacred lihi- f* r^^', ^''? ^^^'^ ^y^^^ J<^^'«'i nation, in the laborious revision of tho IJibhca text undertaken by that celebrated body ^f Jewish doctors eeneX ^^1^'' Masoritos, who lived about the beginning of the seventh cent , it Thcs7in tl i course of the r arduous task, met with a muUitude of words Sf 'accord ng to tEe receved opinion, were defectively writ ten-errors which no doub had tS JriS 7z:\t:^z ^LT^<''^'^f r,"^-'-"', ^'^y^^^^ srsro^Lt'^y^riS woras to remain, and placed the eraendat on in the raardn placin.' a litHo /irM„ mirke'^dt tlo't r ^'; ^? T' '? ''""^^ *"^ readcr'?atte'n;ro?to'' the exiSg mistake, and to direct him to look at the bottom of the page, where he would find it corrected, with the accompanying remark ^^p (k'ri), i.e. read, although otherwise written in the text. Thus, for instance, Isaiah ix. 2, (Eng. ver. verse 3), according the joy in harvest." The Masoretio emendation ib (lo) i. e. to it given in the margin obviates the inconsistency, according to which it reads. Thou hast ruliSt," nation, thou hast increased its joy, (or literally, to it thiu last increased the ov) We can now understand why they should rejoice as with a joy in haTvest time The 7the EnS Zl^ T r '"''' f^'rr'' ''''' '^•"^ '-^1^0 given t th maigb he sense^ t tv intVfn r '"'T '!'/''"''' they considered a word wanting to complete the sense, they inserted merely the vowel points in the text, and placed the word itself in the margin, with the accompanying remark, i1fl5 g^bl l-lp (k'ri v'1.1 k'tiv), i. e. read but not written: or, if they considered a word superfluous, tliey left 1 ^? INTRODUCTION. ^XXix 1 havx. sl^cwn that the form of the word .^I^S (kaSri) aj>parcntl^ 1. n£ "" "'^""'"^ *'^* ^' ^^ '-^ '^°""' ^--*-^- - « ^--Z • nnot TsTr ^r^'. "'"^'^^ ^* ''''''^'' ^""« -i'l-^t tha on t CO . •" f • '"^''' "^ ''^^^ P^^^'-^g^ ^^^«^« »«' but that, U ..pointea. placing in the margin i^^'^^^^^^:^!::^;^;^^^ XX ' 8 < bI ;;, ;; "r '■"'■• ^"^ ^^""^'*' °^ "- ^-•»- -^l ^^ found in Jer though it is obvifuslv^vun h'an.lt is i,?f '>'•"'! ''i?'""^ *° "''''' ^' "» "'« text, put in italics. For nnexaZ7\eZ lu^^^^^^^ "'> ^^- ^^"^^''^ ^'"^'o" ^""'o"t being i- c. / ^-my, is loft uulTnto leiU sut^.^ ''' V^'""-^' ^ ^^' ^''"'^ *''« ^^'^-^l 54D version, 'i^ut, besideJSi'g h se^oSionTU ch'l"''r'"'"'=^^ '"^ *'" ^"^''^^ almost every edition of the Hebrew Mb o tw f^ i ^ ^ '^'f" '" *'"' "'^''Kin o*' nnd letters of each book iu the B ble S^ us Z 1 V' '^r'^"^ ^"'''l^ Ht ],.-.34, the number of wonis a-0 Vl'? „n 1 ^ ""'"'j'^'' "f verses inCxeuesis is given have also noted the middle veseLdleUer inlf"^ ''^}'^^''' "* '^'^OO- They - the lette. , (vau) in the ^ -i; l^:^^-^:^-^^ =^!t t^f ^'£;rS~ ^0 any HebreAible. t^ ni D^ttSrrr; "r.^""^' '-^ " thesoSbrated Jewish nabbis is called nniD^ (msorah), ,.e. /.,„/.,,.,, «« termed from its authors recording in it what they had received from their predecessors- nn,l f.„^ % ... ' " ^^"^t precautions which the Masorites SeTi; or! r / ',?°^'"'"g ''kewi.so the violation and corruption it has nln I? order to shield the sacred text from Masorah did :JlTX'^uTtttoT At first u"c written in the margin, whili was called 5he 1^,7x7'^' "? abridgment of it was abridgment being however fouTd toosho la mnr..°'''''^~''^'''''''''' ^''"•'"- This was distinguished from the former bv the .nnni? r J?"'"^' """ '^"^ mseHo- -"-s I the text from, r.irniption, unhallowed deed. r ri' Ml 'I 11 u-ould nu acnselve. become the perpelrato^'i; '^it!;^ xl INTRODUCTION. Before entering on the philological investigation of the word itself, it is highly important to infiuirc, in the first place, who the person is that is spoken of in the Psalm, for it is necessary that the sense of the word should harmonize with the context, a principle which in critical researches must never be lost sight of, since it is in many instances not only a sure guide as to the meaning that should be attached to a word, but also how it is to bo applied. Now, as regards the application of the Psalm, commentators have . taken various views of it. Some, perhaps, from the supposition that as David is the author of the Psalm, he must also be the subject of it, have referred it to his persecution by Saul, or his flight from Absalom. Others, again, seeing the many difficulties that stand in the way of that application, regard the whole Jewish nation as the subject, and look upon it as descriptive of their present dispersion and suffering; whilst by far the greatest number of interpreters, finding that there are many expressions in the Psalm which would be applicable neither to David nor to the Jewish nation, justly maintain it to be predictive of the Messiah's suffering. The first application is chiefly advocated by those commentators belonging to the rationalistic school, to which may be added, I regret to say, not a few interpreters, who, although professing to have no sympathy with the avowed rationalists, yet arc often too ready to follow m their footsteps. The second application is the one generally held by the modern Jewish writers. The opponents of the Messianic interpretation have bestowed not a little labour and expended not a little ingenuity in torturing some of the expressions of this Psalm to suit their own views ; but upon none has their united strength been so much concentrat d as upon the passage in question, "they pierced my hands and my feet." This expression being too plain to admit of any equivocation, and precluding the possibUity of being applied either to the suffering of David or of the Jewish nation, their whole attention was directed to the philol.'gical peculiarity of the Hebrew word ^-|i'SJS! (epheli) I will ish'lel\ wliich occurs as a verb in this place only ; yet preci.'^ely the same word occurs in ch. xxx. G, ch. lix. 5, Job xx. 10, denoting a poisonous serpent, as a viper or adder; but were we to attach this signification to the word in the first mentioned place, it would make nonsense of the whole passage. So Isaiah iii. 24, we have the word -1 3 (kl), which is found only in this place as a substantive, signifying a hurnincj or a hrand ; but in all other places where it occurs it is a particle, signifying /or, became, &c. It will therefore be seen from these two examples, and many more might be adduced, that although words have the same form, they need not necessarily have the same meaning. But, then, it will be asked if 1-1^5.3 (kriarl), in tlic passage before us is^ a verb, from what root is it derived, and how can its peculiar form be explained ? In reply to the first question I would say, that it is derived from the verb -^r.^ (koor) to pierce through, and althougli this root does nowhere else occur, yet we have the synonymous verb n-i| (kfufih), to dig, to lore through. Every Hebrew scholar must know how frequently the same signification is found in these two classes of verbs '^*j (ilyin vav) and f^^ (hlmed he). Thus we have r^.S (booz) and ntn (brizfi) to despise, Q:n (doom) and n;?'! (drimfih) to be silent, &c. Further, the verb occurring only in this place, by no means proves that it was not currently used when the language was still spoken. I have already above noticed a verb which occurs only once ; so the verb ti^n (choog) to make a circle, is only found in Job xxvi. 10, and the verb 157 (zavud) to give, occurs only in Gen. xxx. 20; besides many others^ all of Avhich wore no doubt once commonly employed, since traces of them are still found in their derivatives. In answer to the second question, as to how its peculiar form can bo explained, I would state that it is a participle formed after the Chaldee manner, which gives the form ni43 (kuer) instead of the regular Hebrew ^3 (kar), and having an irregular plural ^^5)53 (kaSri) for Qi-i5j}3 (karirim). The sentence then reads, " The assembly of the wicked have inclosed me, piercing my hands and my feet." We have traces of similar formations after the Chaldee manner— Judges iv. 21, t3i<^5 (bnilat), so/%, secretly, from the root tsnb (loot), to muffle, to cover; Ezek. xvi. 57, ti ' n !H xlii INTRODUCTION. Jn't3&51^ (shatoth), part. plur. fcm. of t^r^" (slioot) to despise; ag.ain ch. xxviii. 24, Sii:i5©" (shfitim), part. plur. masc. of the same verb; also 2 Sam. xii. 1, tSJ^-j (rush), poor; and Prov. x. 4, instead of the regular form ^ij-^ (rfish); see Prov. xiv. 20, ch. xviii. 23, ch. xix. 1, &c. from the root ■©'^'-i (roosh) to be. poor. Instances of the irregular plural, as in the word in question, are found 2 Kings xi. 4, 113 (kari) for Qn-)3 (karim) executioners. Tliat this Avord must be in the plural, is evident from its being connected with Q^;2"l (ratzlm) runners, having the regular plural form.* I may furtiier observe here that the word n3 (kar) is properly a participle noun, denoting a piercer, a stabler, and hence an executioner, and must be derived from the root ^^3 (koor) to pierce through, so that we have in this instance a proof of the existence of such a verb. Again, 2 Samuel xxiii. 8, itDibBn ffiSi"! (rosh hushshallshi) for t:''U3''btJn '©{S"! ('•CAsb hashshallshlm), chief of the chariot warriorsf. English vers, "chief of the captains." That this also is an irregular plural form, is evidenc from the parallel passage, 1 Chron. xii. 18, where the regular plural occurs, also Psalm xlv. 9, -I'^'Q (minni) for Qi^Ja (mlnnlm) strings. According to Gcsenius the word ^-25? (ttmrnl) is found i;hree times for Q-i^as? (ammim) people— Viz., 2 Sam. xxii. 44, Psal. cxliv. 2, Lament, iii. lA—{See Lchrgchiiude, § 124.) Having now fully shewn that there is nothing in the form of the contested word, either grammatical or lexicographical, which would preclude it being regarded as a verb in the sense of piercing, since the very same philological peculiarities occur repeatedly in other places in the Old Testament, let us in the next place examine which of the two translations harmonizes best with the context. * The executioners and runners mentioned in this and the other places w^rTal^hid of body-guard: the duty of the former was to inflict capital punishment either bv beheading or stabbing; and of the latter, to carry the royal messages as speedily as possible. The English version has incorrectly rendered the words by " the captains and the guards." In Esther iii. 13, the latter word is rendered by "posts " where it refers to the mounted couriers of the Persians, who carried the royal decrees to the provinces. "^ ^ t These warriors were a higher class of soldiers and fought from chariots. The Hebrew word, by which they are designated, is derived from ©b© (shfilGsh) three, as each chariot contained three persons, one of them managing the horses whilst the other two fought. Among the recent discoveries on the site of the once renowned city Nineveh, there is one, a bas-relief, representing a chariot drawn by two horses, and containing three persons. The chief is represented to be a bearded ni, raising the right arm and holding in the left hand a bow. He weara a tiara painted red, (compare Nahum 11. 4, Engl. vor. verse 3, " the valiant men nre in scarlet," in prophecymg the downfall of Nineveh). Behind him is a beardless slave, carryinc a fringed parasol, and at his left is the charioteer holding the reins and the whip ' INTRODUCTION. xliii. The reader .vill observe tl.at, if we take the word as a verb we othcnwse the phrase would be altogether meaningless. Hence some commentators supply the verb surround or cLnpass IZ tr^f clause, and render, '^ As a lion ,., encojPJTj Hvmn- in- ^ -^^"^ ''''' ^'''^''''' Alexander seems to av ou ,n his commentary on the Psalms. He remarks, - This idea uld here be more appropriate, because the Psalm abounds in such ^^:^r'nr'' '''' n'\'^ ^-^r-.^'y -ntioned before Id atten>aids. ibe sense would then be: They surround mv hands and my feet as they would a lion, or as a lion'^^vould-.-/ with the strength and fierceness of a lion." Others again give th ^Ime idea ^n- 'mmkbtcx i)?ottc itmrinqt mkh, A>ir I'omcn, mciiic SpUnt' unt giijje.'"* For (logs surround me, The crowd of the wiokc.l encompass me, As hons my hands and feet. But ll,c« translation, l,y „„ n,oam give a consistent meaning a3 t IS impossible to eoneeive I,o,v a lion „v lions should surrouTd the an..s and feet. At all events, the iigute would be at ea't 1 , Alexa d'er "''X ''"""'"'"'' ' ™'' " """^ "'""'"''' '"'* '^ supply another verb. He aecordingly renders it, "As lions thZ »n„in„ fi , ,' "''""'"Gesemus considered the "lions ™„Z™, 7 ""■' '"''" " "«"■« ™''°-' "«" *>"■> the" vietnn and tearing it to pieces. Sueh pictures are perfeetlv in accordance with the well-known habits if this animal. Not^o ''I!I!fLi!!i=:»i:iii^!^^ -f tl« hands a„d fecf ^ S r i-e- J..., !ic(,,rew Lesiuuu under the article '-\?i2- 1:1 It I 1 I xliv INTRODUCTION. prey; if these indeed arc traits in the character of the lion, naturalists have as yet failed to notice them. Again, there are others who supply either tlw^ wound, they tear or lite. Thus the Targum of Jonathan U5i"!553 'T'T] Vvl?^ (nuchtln hoch k'tiryfi) i. e. bitinr/ like a lion. And similarly RabLi Shal. Hakkohen, " 2Bic ei'll JoUH' jevmalmcn fic mix tie .f^iintc itnt guf'c,"— i. e. like a lion t/ici/ tear my hands and my feet. Any one of these verbs would certainly afford a better sense of the passage than the words they surround or gape ; still the figure Avould hardly be more consistent. Why should the sacred writer particularly mention the hands and feet apart from the rest of the body, which is in equal danger of being torn or wounded when attacked by the lion? Besides, it is well known that this animal generally seizes its victim in the most vital part of the body, such as the neck, and then devours it indi f^rimi- nately. The mentioning therefore the hands and feet in connection Avith the lion, docs not convey any clear sense of the passage, neither does it afford any appropriate figure, no matter what verb is supplied, and hence we can arrive at no other conclusion but that the word in question must be regarded as a verb, and that the proper rendering of the phrase is, piereing my hands and my feet. It is strange that Gesenius, De Wottc and other commentators should have laid so much stress upon the two grammatical peculiari- ties combined in the contes<-ed word, as to induce them on that ground alone to adopt the rendering as a lion, which is in no wise suitable to the context. If this Avei j the only instance where such an anomaly occurred, there would then be some plausibility in the argument ; but when we find other examples of Hebrew words having a double irregular form, it must bo quite clear to every impartial mind that its importance has been greatly overrated. All the ancient versions, with the exception of the Chaldee, have taken i"iS!3 (kauri) as a verb, and have rendered it they dug, or horcd through, and consequently must have read ti-ij^^ (kaaroo), the third pers. plur. prct. This reading is also found in two real Jewish MSS. ; and Rabbi Jacob ben Chayims, who first printed the Masorah in Bomberg's Rabbinical Bible, (3 vols, fol., Venice, 1525-6), states in the Masora finalis that he had in distinct Codices found Tii^;^ (kaaroo) in the text, and i-|iO (kauri) in the margin. If this has been the original reading (and certainly testimonies like these, coming from purely Jewish sources, cannot be regarded otherwise •. INTRODUCTION. xlv than entirely free from bias, since sucli a reading would altogether argue against tlieir application of the Psalm), we must premise the existence of a verb -15J53 (kuur) denoting to dig, to bore through, or of similar signification, of which however at present no other traces can be discovered, unless it be in the Arabic verb ^^ (kara), but Avhicli, although having the corresponding consonaiits and vowels, denotes to fold or hind round, us a turban or wreath. To derive it from the verb ni2 (koor) or from n-]3 (krirfdi), it would be impossible to account satisfactorily for the prVsenco of the letter jj^ (alcph), as the third per. plur. prct. of these verbs is r^S (kfiroo) ; neither could it be said to have an Aramaic form, since it is only in the participle that verbs yj (fiyin vfiv) assume an 55 (fileph) to dis- tinguish it from tlie preterite. These are considerations which speak forcibly against the reading r^ijiS (kariroo), and to them it must be added, that un(|uestionably by far ithe greatest number of Codices have the reading 1-1^^53 (kauri), and that the form ^-liJiD (k.iriroo), found in some few MSS. may have easily originated in the carelessness of transcribers, who may have mistaken the letter 1 (yod) for a 1 (vav), particularly if the MSS. from which they transcribed were not perfectly legible, or written with the greatest nicety. From all this it may be safely inferred that the reading of the present text is the correct one, and Stange has very plausibly observed, that the ancient translators have regarded it as n participle, but have freely rendered it in the 2:>reterite, just as the LXX have rendered in verse 4 of this Psalm :2t:1^ (yoshev), lit. inhabiting, by av Si KaroiKa^, i. e. but thou inhabitcst, and so fre{|uently in other places. But nhethor we regard the word in question as a participle, and translate, piercing mg hands and nig feet, or whether we follow the more difficult reading, as found in some few MSS., and render with the ancient translators, theg jyierced or bored through my hands and my feet, in nowise affects the application of the passage. Safficient has been said on this subject to shew that the rendering as a lion IS altogether inadmissible: nay, even ilio 3Iasora parva admits that the word here has a dillercnt signification from what it has in Isaiah xxxviii. 13, which clearly proves that its authors, devout Ilabbis, and hence strenuously opposing the application of the passage, as having rcierenco to the ^Messiah's suffering on the cross, at least, did not allow themselves to be influenced by doctrinal prejudice. If then the correct rendering ha piercing my hands and my feet, the question next arises, who is the person spoken of, to whom such M xlvj INTRODUCTION, intense suffering as that indicated in the passage, could be applied? There arc many writers, professedly Christian, who make David altogether the subject of the Psalm. Of these I shall particularly mention Gesenius, as standing preeminent as a scholar and philolo- gist, and as his Hebrew Lexicon, in Avhich he freely expresses his opinion on the subject, is in the hands of almost every Hebrew student. This eminent scholar, under the article -1^13 (koor) in his Hebrew Lexicon, Iiaving first expressed his opinion as to the proper rendering of the passage before us — viz., " as lions they gape upon my hands and my feet, i. e. they threaten to tear my limbs in pieces ;" apparently not quite satisfied with his own interpretation, goes on to remark — " Most of the ancient interpreters have taken i-|i^5 (kaavl) as a verb, and this is certainly possible, if we regard it as particip. Kal in the Chaldee manner and in the plm-al number for QTIISjS (kfirirlm) ; although to find two grammatical forms of such extreme rarity combined in this one word, is at least remarkable. In this way it would be rendered, jricrciny my hands and feet, i. e. my enemies wound me Avith darts and weapons on every side. And it is hardly necessary to remark, that all this applies as completely as possible to David, to whom the Psalm is assigned in the inscription ; and there is at least no necessity for understanding here directly Christ affixed to the cross. A verb of Im-iny through, in the sense of wounding, is aptly attributed to hostile weapons ; and the hands and feet are put poetically for all the members, and so for the whole body." It requires but little penetration to discover in these remarks of Gesenius a strong desire to divest the passage wholly of its Messianic character. First, ho endeavours to give the passage such a turn as to make it more readily applicable to David, and then when he concedes, though somewhat reluctantly, the possibility of 1-1SO (kaarl) being regarded as a verb in the sense of piercing, he labours to force upon the words of the phrase a construction as arbitrary as it is uncalled for. We have the express authority of both St. Matthew xxvii. 35, and St. John xix. 23, 24, that verse 19 of this Psalm, (Engl. ver. verse 18), " They part ray garments among them, and cast lots upon (better rendered /or or about) my xcstuvo," had its consummation in one of the events connected with our Saviour's crucifixion, iiiid it follows, therefore, that what is said in verse 17, (Eng. ver. verse 10), I ] INTRODUCV IN. xlvii 'thojf inerced (or as it sliould bo rendered fieTchuj) my hands and my feet," in,ist likoAviso have reference to some circumstance that was to transpire in his suffering, since both verses incontrovertibly •'li'ide to one and tlio same person. This circumstance, which tlic Isalmist evKlently fortells to indicate wliat manner of death the IMessiah was to suffer, we find literally fulfilled in Christ suffering on the cross, and it is therefore impossible to divest one passage of Its Messianic application, without divesting the other of it likewise. If one applies to David, then the other must apply to him also ; if, on the other hand, the Psalmist in verse 18 speaks prophetically of the Messiah (and thus the inspired Evangelists, St. Matthew and St. John, have un(iuestionably understood it, for they (luoto verbatim his words), he must necessarily speak of the Messiah likewise in verse 16. But, lest there might be some to whom this argument does not appear sufficiently conclusive, we may further remark, that thour^h David was frequently surrounded by malicious enemies and encom- passed by the assembly of the wicked, still, in all his persecutions, distresses and afH^ctions, there is not one single circumstance to which the phrase lyiercing my hands and my feet could possibly apply. It 13 true that Gesenius endeavours to dispose of this difficulty, by taking the verb piercing or boring through in the sense of wounding, and by regarding the hands and feet .^.s put poetically for the whole body. But for this Gesenius has no authority whatever, and if such an arbitrary mode of interpretation were to be admitted, it would oe an easy matter for every commentator to gratify his individual notions, however extravagant. The interpreter of Scripture is not at liberty to discard the literal meaning of words, as long as the sense is complete, the application obvious, and the harmony of the context unimpaired. It is only when the literal meaning of words IS cither improper or would involve an impossibility, or when it is contrary to common sense, to the context, to parallel passages, or to the scope of a passage, that a figurative interpretation may bo assumed. None of these, as we shall hereafter shew, is the case in retaining the literal meaning of this passage, and therefore the supposition of Gesenius, that the hands and feet are here put for the whole body, is altogether unjustifiable. But, besides this expression, there are others in the Psalm which cannot in any way be applied to David. His enemies never parted his g.irments. nor did tlto- cast lots for his vesture. David never wis in such a state o'f 1 1 xlviii INTRODUCTION. emaciation and cxhaustio i as that Avhicli wo read of in ilio I'salm. The latter part, veiao 22-31, renders tl.o liypotliosis that David IS the sudercr still more untenable, as it could not be said that such momentous and luippy onnseriuoncos as arc depicted there, and, among them, especially the conversion of d\ tlie nations of the whole earth to the true God, could possibly result from the deliver- ance of David from his enemies. The modern .Jewish connnentators, as Jarchi, Kimchi and nuiny others, regard the .Jewish nation as tlio siil);cct of the Psalm, and, strange to say, this idea has been favourably looked upon by some Christian writers likewise. But this hypotliesis is even less tenable than the other, for not only do tlie objections which have been advanced against the application to David apjdy with equal force here also, but there are other insuperable difliculties in the way of adopting this view. In the first place, the mode of expression throughout the Psalra distinctly points out the subject to be an individual person. Secondly, there are passages in the Psalm which entirely preclude the possibility of its being interpreted of an inde- finite number of persons. Take, for instance, the !)th verse : '' But thou art he that took me out of the womb ; thou didst make me hope 2vhe)i I was upon my mother's breasts." And again, the 10th verse: "I was cast upon thee from the womb," &c. These, and many other expressions in tlie Psalms, would be perfectly meaning- less if regarded as spoken of more than one person. Thirdly, if the Jewish nation were the sufferer spoken of in the Psalm, how could it be said, verso 23, "Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel"? This is plainly the language of one party a(hlrcssing another, and not that of a person addressing himself; and it follows, therefore, that if the Jewish nation be the speaker, "the seed of Jacob" and "the seed of Israel" must bo some other party spoken to. Who then are we to understand by these terms? the Gentiles? This the Jewish commentators Avould hardly be ready to concede ; and certainly as the tT^^'y (goyira) i. c. nations, other than Israel, are particularly mentioned in verso 27 as participating in the happy and glorious results that were to flow from the deliverance of the sufferer, the terms "seed of Jacob" and "seed of Israel" in verse 23, cannot mean anything else but the 2)C02}Ie of Israel. Upon this point commentators are perfectly agreed, and hence the utter fallacy of regarding the people of Israel as the sufferer spoken of in t'J p^&wmrimmissmimmmrsA'Si ' SiSiisxi: msiicix^^s^^ INTRODUCTION. XllX .1 the Psalm must bocoitio clearly :ipj)jircnt, for it is obnous, thatif thoy arc the party addressod, thoy cannot at the same time be the party speaking. Besides these arguments, others might bo advanced in refutation of this hypotheses, but surely sufficient has been said to shew its entire groundlessness.''' * Tn a little wnrk, entitled I'ssiivs niid Miscellnnies, clioico Cullings, from tbo Miinnseripts ol'Oiiico AfVuliH', puhlislieil !)y her mother ii few years ago, amoii{T other portions of Scripture coiiniienteil upon is I'dulm xxii., where tlio Jewisli autlioress, with not a little ingenuity, endeavours to .siicw tliat this Psalm as well as Isaiah liii. is prophetic of the siiffcriiii/n aad mimfien which the Jinis/i nation ivum time to time wen^ to endure. As tliis work, like the otlier productions of this admired authoress, appears to be wiiloly circulated, I deem it advisable to draw tiie reader's attention to it, least some who miiy not be capable of forming an opinion on tho subject might, by the plausibility and boldness with which her assertions are made, be iniluced to lielieve that they have some truth for their foundation. I have above shewn that such lui application of tho Psalm is altogetiier inad:nissil)lc, and it is, therefore, not my intention to adduce here any further arguments on the subject, but ■nercly to shew, l)y one example, to wiiat an arbitrary mode of exposition this writer lias recourse. On the -0th verse (Hebrew, verse 'll) of Psalm xxii. "Deliver ray soul from tho sw'>rd : my darling from the power of tlie dog."' she remarks: "AVhat does this mca i when applied to Christ? To mo it signifies, deliver me from death ; my darling, or uy child, from the dogs : ibr how frequently, in the sacking of their cities, have Jewish infants i>een dsisiied from their mothers' arms, and thrown a.s carrion to tii" dogs I" This inter]iri;tation betrays in tho writer a thorough want of knowledge of tlie Hebrew bniguii^e luid of familiarity with its peculiar modes of expression, orsho would neither have adopted tho vague rendering "my darling" of the English version, nor taken the words " from the power of the dog" in a literal sense. It has already been remarked, that the term dor/x is often employed to denote fierce or cruel enemies. Here the singular, "dog," i. e. cruel enemy, is used to agree ■with its parallel cxpressioHj "the sword," i.e. inxlnimeiil of ileath or imminenl danger, in the first clause. The Ilebrcwivord IflTin"^ (y'chld.athl), rendered in the English version oy "my darling," whatever tho translators intended to express by it, certainly cannot hero mean "my child," as it stands in parallelism with IffiS^ (naphshi) "my soul." It is an adjective, signifying only, lonely, but is here and in Psalm XXXV. 17 poetically put for U,e only one, i. c. life, as not to bo replaced ; so that the correct rendering would bo, "from the power of the dog, my only one;" i. e. from the fierce or cruel enemy, my life. The adjective TiH"^ (yachid) only is some- T times emplo3'ed alone to denote an only son ; or, rather, the noun son must bo supplied ; as Jer. vi. 20, "Make thee mourning, as for TTT' (yachid) an only ion." Sec also Prov. iv. 3, Amos viii. 10, Zcch. xii. 10, just as we say the strong, for strong men ; the poor, for ipoor people. But the adjective TTT' (j'achld), when so applied, can solely refer to an only son ; or, when having the fem. form, to an only child— See Judges xi. 34. If therefore the inspired writer, in penning this passage, had in view the Jewish in/ants being thrown as carrion to the dogs, as our authoress will have it, he would have employed a less restricted terra, as p'[j (taf), collectively little ones; or Q'^bblS' (ol'lim), children, in/ants; or CPSl"' (you'kim), sucklings; these words being constantly employed by the sacred writers when speaking of little children or infants. Her expositions of the other portions of Scripture upon which she has undertaken to comment, are likewise extravagant in the extreme. The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, in particular, is disposed of in a very summary manner. 'HhaJeivi.ih nation (quite in accordance with the common interpretation of the modern Jewish commentators) is made tho sufferer spoken of in this chapter, aud the Gentiles n M i> ' 1 llfTRODUCTIOIf. Besides tho two applications which wo have just now cxamincrl, there arc others; as, for instance, Ilitzig, who would apply the Psalm to Jeremiah, and Jahn, to Ilezokiah; but these views being glaringly absurd, and never having found many adherents, it is unnecessary to bestow upon them a formal refutation: we proceed, therefore, to shew that the Messianic application, as adopted by all orthodox Christian commentators, is the only one that can be properly reconciled with the text. are reprcscnteJ as the speakers. Thus, for instftnco, on tlie first iind seconil verses, 8li« rt'miirk.s: "Tlio sonso in, tho Gentiles shiill Hny to cm(!Ii otlicr in tistoiiisliment, Who lu'lievetl what wo have heiird concerning them, ami to wlioiu was the interest the Lord took in them made known? For it was a despised people, feeble and wretched, like a tender plant growing out of a thirsty soil," ka. Again, on verso 5 : "IJiit he was wounded for," &o., she remarks: " Instead of being victims of God's wrath, they were wounded through our cruelty, they were bruised by our iniquitous treatment ; we being suffered to do so, to chasten them fur their sins, and to prove their obedience ; and this cliastisement is that by which our peace is to bo effected," &c. As this chapter will bo fully commented upon hereafter in this work, I shall only offer a few brief remarks here in refutation of this truly absurd hypotheiiis. Tho prophecy contained in chap. liii. commences at verse 13 of tlio preceding chapter, "Behold my servant shall deal prudently," &c. The four first verses, viz , ch. lii. 13-15, and ch. liii. 1, contain a brief outline of tho whole oracle; and at the second verso begins tho precise description of the personage referred to in the prophecy. From the various direct applications of some portions of this prophecy to Christ in the New Testament, the true Christian can entertain no doubt as to whom this oracle refers ; not so however with tho Jews, with them tho testimony of the New Testament avails nothing, and therefore, iii arguing with them on the subject, or in refuting their exposition, it is necessary to appeal to the text itself, and to produce authorities from their own nation. It will bo seen that tho personage spoken of in this prophecy is. in ch, lii. 13, called ^T|33> (avdl), my servant, an appellation frequently applied to tho Isr lelites, as well as to many pious individuals of that nation. Jonathan ben Usicl. therefore, no doubt in order to prevent an erroneous opinion being formed on this point, at once explained who is to bo understood by it, and accordingly rendered it in bis Targum ^y JS^rT'tD^S "anils' (iiviM m'shichiil, i. e. my servant, the Messiah. Here, then, we have not only one of the oldest Jewi-ii authorities for the Messiai ic application of this prophecy, but one also whose writing is hold in such great esteem that some Rabbis would make us believe he was aided in the performance of his labor by the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachai ; whilst others go still further, and assert that the Targura was handed down by tradition from Moses, and that Jonathan only committed it to writing. Thus Rabbi Gedalia, in his chronological and historical book Shalsheleth Hakkabala, fol. 20, col. 1, says, !T©?ab tlbUlp JSIH QTV"lJlrt '^5'^D^ DlbtUn T'bS^ 13"' SI '•*• ^^* Targum was received from Moses our Master, upon whom he peace, from Sinai. So also Rabbi Meir ben Gabbai, in his work entitled Avodath Ilakkodesh; and some other Jewish writers. If, then, as these Rabbis will have it, the Targum or Chaldee translation was received by Moses from God upon- Mount Sinai, and has been handed down from him through the prophets, is it not surprising that Jewish commentators, in opposition to this high authority, should apply this prophecy to their nation ? We lay no stress however upon these Rabbinical extravagances, which would invest the Targum with almost as much authority as the Hebrew Scriptures, further than to shew that these writings, which by themselves are held nearly in as much esteem as the Old Testament itself, actually apply tho prophecy in question to the Messiah, just as it is applied in the New Testaiiitiiit. Yi e i:;aj fur tLcr remark, that that writer fully acknowledges the mm wm INTRODUCTION. li ' This Tsalm, according to its import, is predictive of two events that were to transpire. Tlic first is, that a certain person was to be persecuted and subjected to intense suffering ; the second event, which arises from the first, is that the deliverance of tlio sufferer should be productive of great blessings, which should be extended to all without distinction, to the heathen as well as to the Jew. The inspired writer specifies neither the time when these events were to have their consummation, nor the name of the sufferer spoken of, and .his absence of any direct allusion is, in my opinion, a strong proof that the Psalm is prophetic of the Messiah, as it entirely doctrine of a sufforing and atoning Messiah as taught by the prophets, and exphiins, in accordance with this idea, tlio oracle of Isainli. We shall forbear adducing here any otlier authorities from Jewish wiitors in support of the Messianic •ipplicalion, as they will bo noticed \vhen wo oomo to interpret tins chapter fully, but proceed to shew from hut one verse of the chapter that the prophecy cannot pos,sibly refer to tlio sulferings of the Jewish nation. In ■verse o we rend, "But ho ttm wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with (better rendered b,/) his stripes we were healed." Now, 1 ask, did the Jewish nation ever suffer tor any one's sins e.xcept its own? Was it ever punished except f„r its own wickedness and perverseness sinco it heciimo a nation ? And who arc the "we" that were healed, or rather parduncd by his stripes? Hurely those commentators who see in this verse the suffering of tho Jewish people must bo perfectly ignorant of the writings ol tho prophets and the history of that nation. No— Israel suffered for its own wickedness only. "Ah." aimed Isaiah with indignation, " Einful nation, (lit. nation sinning, i. <- ainu. v or habituuiiy), i,,dcn with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that ., orruptors: they have forsaken tho Lo.d, they have provoked the Holy Ono of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward."— Isaiah 1. 4. This was ttu; true char.icter of the nation, ever blind to its own welfare, ever rebellious against Us God and King, who hath done so many marvellous things for them; unthankful ind ungrateful, even unlike the ox and the ass. the most stupid of the brute crenti.,,, whudi are oppressed by their master with daily labour; yet these acknowlcdt-. their master, they know the manger of their lord by whom they are fed, not inde, 1 for their own, but for his good; but Israel, whom Go.l called "my son, " my fir.st born." "my beloved son," and who was destined to enjoy the highest dignities and honours, forsook their Lord and tlieir Go.l, and despised his Uivme cui niandments. It was for this uiidutiful conduct towards a most gracious parent, anu disobedience to nn indulgent and merciful God, that the Jewish nation Buffered great afflictions, and do still suffer even unto this day. Tiic expres.sion "and with (lit. by) \\\% stripes we were healed," altogether forbids the application to tlio Jewish nation, as it means, by his stripes we received pardon or forg%ve,,es,i of sin. In Scripture, ein is frequently represented as . spiritual malady. Thu.s Davnl pn.ys, I'salm xli. 4, "Ileal my soul, for I h.ave sinned against tliec;" and hence loigiveness of sin is often spoken of as an act of healing, as, tor example, Jer. HI. 2,,, " Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal," i. e. forgive, " vour backshdings." Compare also Hosea xiv. 4, and Isaiah vi. 10. Mi.-iS Aguilar has certainly displayed great ingenuity in the application of the yarious portions ot Scripture which she comments on, but when wo say this much. It IS all that can be said. Her interpretations are neither supportcil by critical reasoning, nor sustained by stamlard authorities ; and I should therefore never have thought of adverting to them, had not a pious friend requested me to do so urgint- as a reason, that as the authoress had obtained some celebrity \,y licr other works,' and the work in question was largely circulated in this country, it might ha mischievous in its tendency, as imparting false impressions to those who may not be capable of investigating the subject themselves. ' I . I m m lii INTRODUCTION. accords with the style of similar prophecies ; the parties to -whom they refer being generally spoken of in direct terms in the others. But although the Psalmist mentions liere neither time nor name, he speaks of certain occurrences -vvhich should unmistakably mark the fulfil- ment of the prophecy; and we could tlierefore be at no loss to discover the right subject of the prophecy, if avc would but search the Scriptures with an unbiassed mind. Taking now those occurrences spoken of in the Psalm as our guide, and turning to Matthew xxvii. we cannot fail to perceive, unless indeed we stubbornly close our eyes to the truth, that they had their literal accomplishment in the crucifixion of Christ, The Psalmist introduces the subject of the Psalm as labouring under great suffering, exclaiming, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." These are precisely the words Christ uttered in his deep agony on the cross, when he was for a time deprived of the consoling influence of the divine presence. At verse 7 we read, "All they that see me laugh me to scorn : they shoot out the lips, they shako the head." This was literally fulfilled, for St. Matthew informs us that "they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads." At verse 8 we have the very language given which the mockers were to use, "He trusted in the Lord, that he would deliver him; let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." St. Matthew again tells us that "the chief priests mocking him, widi tlie scribes and elders, said. He trusted in God ; let him deliver him novr, if he Avill have him." At verse 16 we read, "They pierced my hands and my feet." By this the Psalmist no doubt indicates what manner of death the sufferer was to undergo, and this we have literally fulfilled in Christ being nailed to the cross. At verse 18 we read, " They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon (better for) my vesture." This was then also exactly fulfilled. St. Matthew states "And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots." And St. John gives a more detailed account of this transaction, (sec ch. xix. 23, 24,) shewing how completely this event had its accom- plishment in Christ. Here then we have abundant proof that Christ is the sufferer spoken of in the Psalm ; all these circumstances in the history of our Saviour's suiferings on the cross coincide perfectly with those Avhich the Psalmist a thousand years before had described. And Strauss might well (though wo regret to say without any good design on his part) call this Psalm "the programme of the crucifixion of Christ." ]r INTRODUCTION. llii ■ ' I must apologize here for bringing forward sucli a lengthened dis- cussion, which would certainly have been more suitably introduced in the commentary on the Psalms ; but having adduced the word ''l!i*3 (kaari) as an example, to shew the necessity of an acquaintance with the cognate langufl^es in the interpretation of the sacred Scriptures, it Avas impossible otherwise to do the subject that justice which its importance fairly claims. The reader will, I am sure, pardon this intrusion, when I tell him that the word in question has called forth more discussion than any other word in the Hebrew Bible. The modern Jewish commentators, as well as those belonc- ing to the rationalistic school, seeing that, by regarding the word before us as a verb in the sense of piercing, it M'ould make the passage so distinctly prophetic of an event, the fulfilment of which could only be found in the crucifixion of Christ, have laboured to shew, both by dint of argument and ingenuity in applying the passage, that the word is a noun, having the signification as a lion. Even some orthodox Christian commentators, who have in all other Messianic prophecies exhibited a sound mode of interpretation, have apparently not been able to satisfy themselves as to what may be regarded the correct rendering of this much contested word. Hengstenberg, for instance, has, in his Christology, at some length and with great ability defended the rendering of the word as a verb; but in his commentary on the Psalms, which he published some years afterwards, he adopted quite another view, and actually defends the rendering of the word as u substantive, shewing that all that he had advanced on the subject on a former occasion amounted to nothing. The arguments however which he adduces in his com- mentary on the Psalms are, in my opinion, far from outweighing those which he brought forward in his Christology. Professor Alexander bestowed likewise some remarks on this subject in his commentary on the Psalms, but being evidently at a loss to know which view he should espouse, he contented himself with merely giving the principal arguments that are advanced in support of and against each view, without expressing any opinion of his own. In concluding these introductory remarks, it is only necessary to offer a few observations more in explanation of the plan which has been adopted in this work. And first, as to the translation, the author wishes to state, that although it purports to be an accurate rendering from tlic original Hebrew, he has studiously avoided any gratuitous departure from the English version, where it is not at il liv INTRODUCTION. variance with the original text. An old friend is always more prized than a new one, and it is therefore only in those cases where the authorized version has failed to convey the genuine sense of the original that another rendering has been adopted, the grounds for doing so being explained in the commentary. Secondly, with respect to the commentary, the author must confess, that it was sometime before he could arrive at any definite conclusion as to what plan he should adopt. He felt, that to make the notes i^erely explanatory, to the entire exclusion of the critical element, would by no means be sufficient at the present age, in which biblical inquiries are conducted upon principles equally scientific with the investigations in other sciences. Many of the publications now in circulation, tendmg either directly or indirectly to undermine the authenticity of the sacred Scriptures, are of a highly critical character; and there is but one legitimate and satisfactory mode of meeting the arguments of the opponents of Christianity and the Bible, and that is by a thorough critical refutatioxi. A mere denial of any statement can have but little weight, especially if that statement is sustained by arguments. Gesenius, for instance, in his commentary on Isaiah, holds with Jarchi, Aben Ezra, Grotius and many others, that the "virgin" mentioned in chapter vii. 14, is the prophet's wife, and " Immanuel," which she should bear, one of his sons. This startling statement (for startling it must certainly be to the Christian reader, who has always understood by the virgin, her of whom the Messiah was to be born, and by "Immanuel," the name of the Messiah), he supports by arguments which might at least cause many to waver, if not entirely convince them of the ti^uth of his assertion. Will it now be said that the mere declaration of any commentator, that Gesenius s vietv ts altogether erroneous, is all that is here required? Assuredly not. In order to give a satisfactory refutation of so pernicious an interpretation, it is necessary to shew that the word n)2byr] (haalmah), i. e. the virgin, in the passage in question, cannot possibfy mean the prophet's wife; but that, on the contrary, it must be referred to the virgin of whom the Messiah was to be born, and further, that Immanuel was really the name of the Messiah. Another consideration which has forced itself strongly upon the author's mind is, that although the study of the Hebrew language has of late years been more attended to than formerly by students for the ministry, still the time generally devoted to that study is so very limited as to preclude the possibility of their obtaining a * ^ i' .1 'h INTRODUCTION. Iv critical knowledge of the language, and therefore, that a critical commentary cannot fail to render them great assistance in the study of Holy Writ. Impressed with these considerations, the author has determined to make this work strictly critical ; hut, in doing so, he has not lost sight of the fact, that a commencary is a useful aid to biblical reading in families, and he has accordingly so arranged the notes, as to be perfectly intelligible and suitable to every class of readers. The Bible being an eastern book, many of the most sublime figures aro drawn from the customs, manners, rites and ceremonies of the ancient Jews and other oriental nations ; and in explaining these, the works of the best eastern travellers have been consulted. There is also a description given of the countries, towns, rivers, mountains, plants and animals, an acquaintance with which is so essentially iiecessary to the perfect understanding of the sacred authors, -:" m ell as to enable the reader to appreciate and fully to enjoA ' ■. oauties of their sublime and lofty conceptions. Ko labour has -ju spared to render the work in every respect useful and interesting ; but how far the author has succeeded in his endeavours remains for the reader to decide. In a work of this kind it can hardly be hoped to give general satisfaction ; what may please one, may displease another; but whatever the public verdict regarding it may be, the author has at least tie satisfaction of knowing that his whole endeavours have been to j.erform the task to the best of his abilities, and with the strictest impartiality. • > A SHOUT ESSAY ON T„. SPmir AND CUAIUCTEBISneS OF HEBREW POErUT. I i . ■•S .* fe J poetic people. Ihe nomad c and pcacef-il l,-f« «f +k bclutin f ""'■'. '"'''""y f"""^"-' i" *o Temple service ■ he iompic .nd Its imposmg service : these and many other drcn^stan!™ nients. fhe inherent love of the ancient Hebrews for noPH. ?« laJJr ,'.""■ °''"'«''' ""'• "'"-""nitions ; th»ir dire "Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, H ives of Laraech, give ear to my speech ! If I have slam a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt • It Cain shall be avenged ceven times, •incn Lamech seventy times seven "* -—-, : __^^^ji^^ajioM by tradition to the time « if) I '.. ) ''.'. » ■hi ir t » of Moses, and is not only the most ancient piece of poetry in the 01(1 Testament, but also the only relic of antediluvian poetry extant. ^ The celebrated blessing and prophecy of Jacob, as recorded in Gen. xlix. 3-27 inclusive, is also couched in highly poetic language. The striking diflFerence in style that pervades that portion of the chapter from the rest, must be apparent to the English reader. The chapter commences with plain prose composition :— " And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, gather yourselves together, and I will declare to you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob, and hearken to Israel your father." But at the next verse begins the prophesy, and with it a totally different style of composition ; the language becomes dignified and figurative, and assumes all the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. We shall subjoin the next four verses, that the reader may sec the difference of style from those just quoted :— " Reuben, my first born art thou, My might, and the beginning of my strength. The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. A boiling up as of water art thou, thou shalt not excel, i or thou ascendedat the bed of thy father Then didst thou defile it :— ' My couch he ascended ! Simeon and Levi are brethren ; Instruments of Tiolence are their covenants My soul, enter not into their deliberations, " My honour, be not joined in their assembly, For la their anger they slew a man. And in their wantonness they maimed an ox." Besides these there are many other poetical compositions dispersed throughout the prose books of the Old Testament As for instance: the song by the well. Num. xxi. 17, 18; the prophe- cies of Balaam, Num. xxiii. and xxiv; the triumphal song of Deborah, Judges v.; the parable of Jotham, Judges ix. 7-15: the riddle of Samson, and the solution of it by the Philistines, Judges xiv. 14, 18 ; the erultin g chant_o^Hannah, 1 Samuel ii. 1-10 ; the all that can be advanced on the subject must necessarily h^^a^^^^n^^re^ \fii7 from the strain of the address it is evident hnt T n,r,«M . "l ^' ^*^'"» .ffe„c. of his .„ ,Uh ,h. hfae'.™';;™°„t f™4w"?C?n if ifS' "r'"' ..t ,mpr«b.bl« thaltaeeh L.d .km .one .„ n solfdcfmoe aiV 1 "f IS • • 8 .ubltaeelegyofDavMon the doa.h«fhi,frie„d Jonathan, II. ga™,,ei the r/e ofTh 'f ' ' r' i" "-^ P"'"''™'"=''=S». a. least bef bo Mlvdjlr, ?''";"' ''•°°' ''^^P'- '"" » thfa object will be lullj discussetl liercafta- in the commentary on that bool- i ! unnecessary to dwell upon it here. ' ^ In the book of Job ,ve possess a monument of eenins which Z'l 7T'' ". " '"™^ f™''™*"> - -ithout^d bt' :,t f the most characteristic and sublime fb,t I,. T from the ancient world. The'^ltrft" fX bo™;;;; powerful and C^rll^Z ocfroftre blnT." °T pure poes, of nature, the animalf: ^tlb.faUlt: I'^U'om: the hea, the seas and their contents, all contribute rlhlvo the matenal „„,ve„e his study, but a, he rambled throuf-h fts va t mM I'lrTd rf '"°*"'="' "''^^"'* '» »'- Ms inqui ring m.nd, he beheld likewise everywhere the handy work of the Mos! High; and thus as he drank deeper and deepef of its L tel ell d aughts, he became at the same time more andLre iirmi;tpreC with the an.pervad,ng power, greatness and love of its Lord and Creator. The .study of nature had made him better acouainted b*f tThr '"°f """"' *' °°"°' ■""«»■ andhenecrstm bebcf m the overruling power of the Almighty. In evervthin! he perceives the hand of God, and thought be far beyond hi comprehension, he still maintains that it is so orde ed for Ime " Secure are the tents nf th» --ni.bcr- And those provoking God live in tranquillity • Into whose hand God bringeth abundantly!" ' Job xii. 6. I 'Mi m '■V i l< I "C : " Why do the •wicked live ; They grow cla, and even increase in woaltli. Their seed is established in their sight, about them ; And their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are secure from fear, And the rod of God is not upon them. His ox engendoretl , and failoth not ; His cow calveth, aL d doth not miscarry ?" Job xxi. 7-10. As much as to say : ' This indeed may appear marvellous to us, yet so it is. The -wicked live, they grow old, and even become rich. Their children are established around them; their dwellings arc secure ; no chastisements of God apparently come upon theui, though they have merited them ; their cattle increase ; i short, everything seems to prosper with them. Here, then, is prosperity, where wo should expect poverty ; here is what may tend to make life happy, where we should look for affliction and misery. Such arc the inscru- table ways of God, such are his inscrutable dealings with man ! Truly they are past finding out !' Upon this doctrine of overruling providence, Job takes his stand against his friends, who consider his calamities and sufferings as the consequence of some sin Avhich he had committed. Job, on the contrary, maintains that, as the wicked do often prosper, so the most upright may frequently be very unfortunate. God acts accord- ing to his sovereign pleasure. His omnipotence is indeed apparent in every part of the creation; but his justice in the government of the world cannot always be comprehended; of this we have examples in the prosperity of the wicked, and tlie sufferings and afflictions to which the righteous are frequently subjected. It must not, however, be inferred from Job's contending that the calamities which had befallen him were no evidence of his guilt, that he enter- tained the idea that man may be altogether free from sin. No, he entirely repudiates such a notion : — " Truly I know it is so, And how shall man be just with God ?" Job is. 2. ' It is as you have stated regarding the sinful nature of man. I fully acknowledge that it admits of no doubt, for no man can be just in the sight of God.' And again, at verse 20, he says : — "If I am right, my mouth condemns me ; Am I perfect, and" it will declare me guilty." As much as to say: 'Although I may appear just in my own eyes, and do not feel conscious of any guilt, still my OAvn mouth must acknow- ledge that I am a sinner. But whilst I fully admit that no man is free from sin, yet this by no means argues that the calamities which have befallei me are chastisements for sin.' < <■ -i » " One thing it is, therefore I say iV, Perfect or unjust, ho destroyed." Ver. 22. —that is, ' One thing is certain, and therefore I say it freely, upright or ■vvicked, all are liable to affliction, and consequently ray sufferings are no proof of sin.' Job had no doubt instituted a rigid self-examination; and although he may have seen many shortcomings in his past actions, yet he could not discover any sin of such a nature as to lead to such chastisements. His children, too, had evidently been brought up in the fear of God : this is apparent from the anxiety which he evinced in his rising up early in tlio morning, to offer burnt offerings as an atonement for the sins which his sons might have committed in an unguarded moment during their festivities. The sudden bereavement of possessions and children, and the infliction of such intense bodily suffering, must necessarily have been a perfect riddle to Job ; and, feeling conscious that these calamities were not the consequences of sm which either he or his sons had committed, he looked upon them with an eye of faith, as instances of those dealings of God with man, which no human wisdom is able to fathom. But although Job's sufferings and calamities were to him involved m such perfect mystery, that mystery is entirely solved in the two first chapters of the book, in which we have a full account of all that transpired with regard to Job's trial. The occurrences upon earth and the transactions in heaven, are alike brought before us in the most vivid and distinct manner, intended to bring to our view subjects Avorthy of the deepest meditation, and to convey lessons of moment- ous import. The book begins with a brief history of Job before his trial : " There was a man in the land of TJz, whose name ivas Job ; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil." This verse, then, forms the grand theme of the whole book. The piety of Job gave rise to his trial, and his trial gave rise afterwards to the discussion between him and his three friends. But in order to give a full idea of the extent of Job's trial, the account goes on to say, that he had been blessed with seven sons and three daughters ; that his substance was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household, so that he was the greatest of all the men of the East. Here the account might have finished ; everything necessary to the comprehension of the magni- tude of the trial is containorl in the preceding statement. But the sacred writer tells us further, that Job's sons went and made a feast, IH 10 •': t .5; ■■'?.' 6 which they celebrated at one another's houses in turn, and ■which consequently lasted seven days ; and that they also invited their sisters to cat and to drink with them. And further, that as soon as the days of their feasting had expired, Job ahvays sent for them, and aanctified them, and offered burnt offerings according to their number, saying, "It may be that my sons have .sinned, and cursed God in their hearts." This allusion to the customary yearly cele- bration of a feast by Job's sons is evidently introduced in the first place to show that not only did Job lead a pious life, but that it likewise was his anxious desire to keep his whole family from the pollution of sin; secondly, to shew the kindly and harmonious fooling tluit pervaded his household; and, thirdly, to indicate by their feasting together how Job was at once bereaved of all his children. The inspired writer having informed us of the great piety and prosperous condition of Job, next proceeds to tell us what took place concerning him in heaven. On a certain day, when the holy angels came to present themselves before the Lord, Satan, the great enemy of mankind, came also among them. And the Lord asked him, "Whence comestthou?" The reply being, "From going to and fro in the earth," the Lord enquired of him whether he had considered that truly pious and just man Job, whose equal was not upon earth. Whereupon the subtle spirit replied : " Doth Job fear God for naught ? Hast thou not biessed him on every side ? But put now forth thine hand upon all that he hath : deprive him of his possessions, and see whether he will still persevere in his piety." And the Lord said unto Satan: "Behold all that he hath is in thy power ; only upon himself put not forth thy hand." So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.* From this narrative wo learn, then, that Job's calamities were inflicted as a trial, to prove whether his piety would cease with his prosperity ; whether, when plunged from the highest pinnacle of happiness into the deepest miseries conceivable, he would still continue steadfast in the fear of God. The sequel of the narrative tells us how the good patriarch conducted himself under his heavy afflictions. So rapidly, we are told, did one misfortune succeed upon the other, that before one messenger had finished his tale of havoc, another came with still ' * The scene in heaven has been imitated by Bayley, in his "Festus," and by Goethe in the " Prologue to Faust." It is much to be regretted that a subject like this, where the Deity takes such a prominent part, should have ever been made subservient to the secular drama ; but it becomes still more reprehensible when the author so far forgets himself as to employ hiugitagc ii'i'evci'cntaud diaiespectful to the Deity, suoh as Goethe puts in the mouth of his ideal demon. Its wit may indeed please some, but its coarse' nesB cannot fail to disgust. more appalling tidings; so that Job found himself, in but a few hours, flockless, childless, bereaved of servants — a prince converted to a beggar. But Job's piety was too firmly implanted to be shaken. Lik(i a tree firmly rooted, which bids defiance to the raging tempest, stood the patient patriarch, unmoved by the tempests of affliction which Satan in rapid succession hurled upon him. He did not tear his gray hair in agony, nor did he break forth into a wild frenzy of grief; but, after the custom of his country, in a seemly manner, he rent his mantle* and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worsliipped, saying: "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither : the Lor-V> aaa coast-quuuuy iiis abtioiute justice. I' fi i 1:) i 'I i.ji , J '•\ I 12 Such questions on topics so profound, so mysterious, could not fail to show clearly the shallowness of human knowledge, and to con- vince Job of his utter incapability of understanding the ways and designs of the omnipotent JEnovAii. Accordingly, even before Behold, I am vile, what shall I answer thee ' My Land I lay upon my mouth. Once have I sn-.'^en, but I will no more reply. Yea twice, but I will do it no more. Ch. xl. 4. & 5. Job having acknowledged and sincerely repented of his offence, Crod noT addressed the three friends, and declared to them Ilig displeasure because they had not spoken of Him " the thin., that was right as His servant Job hath done," and commanded that they T f ^ T.^ '''' ""^"''"^ ''' ^^ atonement for their guilt, and that Job should pray for them, whose prayer He would accept. These commands being performed, God made an end of Job's suffering and grante-i him renewed prosperity, blessing his latter days even more than those before his trial. From this brief analysis of the book of Job, it ^ill be observed, that whilst it conveys many wholesome lessons, its chief design is to set forth one grand and momentous truth, viz : that the affliction of the righteous and the prosperity of the ivicked are perfects conmtent with Divine justice; that calamity, as the veiled grace of Qod xs never alone with the upright, but that manifest proofs of trod 8 favour always accompany or follow it The book of Job will therefore ever bo to the pious an inexhaust- ible source from whence he may draw consolations in the time of calamity. If sorrow for a time cast its dismal shades over a once happy home, the book .a Job is well calculated to dispel the gloom and cheer the drooping spirit. If calamity rack the mind and threaten to drive to despair, the book of Job affords solace to the distressed, and directs him to look up to Him who will never forsake those of a contrite heart. If sickness prostrate the frail body, and make it groan under excruciating pain, the book of Job teaches that under such a visitation may be veiled the Divine rjrace and encourages to submit humbly and patiently to the will of a merciful and just God. But it may be said; although the book of Job satisfactorily solves the question, so far as the righteous is concerned, it affords Al^ Al * II > 18 no clear aolation as regards the prosperity of the wicked TJ„-« doubt, i,i Qute correct hrf i+ nTw V -^ ""'"'' ^^^Kea. 1 his no • ^ ,. ,. ^'uriecu, Out It must be rememberprii +Tiit +>,«„, • ■'■ '""^ •""'""'• Aaforinstancech. V. 3&4. Bu, a'S° I SSffi'SMiSf"' "*'' ''•'•■ " *«'°'' """f '•'d.S root, Hia ebiJdron are far from help- Thej .N oiu.h.d in H, g.t,, ;.j .j.,. „ ,, „,.^^ „ Elipkaz shows here in the example of a sinaer that al(l,™„l, i prosperous, and thus firmly establisW^ ,J i , "'"'""S'' ■"= »s so that whilst he at firr«„W t ^^ ^°'*'^"'''''''-"''''°e°'i' happ, on aeeount Tf sth 7^,1^^^^ TT fortunes and troubles came ^pon ^m Ld J T'''^ "■''■ misfortune, that l,efel that 4iou, Tan, tan ^0^ s IIL that on the contrary HJc Ivu! . f ^'^'^ ^^ ^^^ ^ favour, but him in this wort:7o' tS t^^Z, t^^^^^ Cr""'^^ be nothing but misery to-morrow •^' ^'"'^ ""^^ the energy of its exoresZ.: 1 "Sf'^f ,!'.;'' ''--J"-'. -, — .i,niiini,y oi Its laougiits and the «4' ti. V\ 14 grandeur of ita imagery. It presents everything lifelike to our view ; and GilfiUan has justly remarked, that " If any word can express the merit of the natural descriptions in Job, it is the word gusto. You do something more than see his behemoth, his war-horse, and his leviathan. You touch, smell, hear, and handle them too. It is no shadow of the obiect he sets before you, but the object itself, in its length, breadth, height and thickness." Moses, the great lawgiver, has given to the poetry of his nation another turn. True, we still behold in him the poetic geniuti leaning upon the shepherd's staff, but then his poetical writings, are embellished with rich embroidery which the Bedouin despises. His poetic pictures are chiefly drawn from the motley history of his nation, which he has painted with a masterly hand, in the most vivid colours. He is happy in proso as well as in poetry, his style, though easy, 's notwithstanding spirited, and his admonitions to the rebellious Israelites are at once grand and impressive. Pro- fessor Wahl, formerly of the University of Leipzig, in speaking of the poetry of Moses, has so beautifully described its merit, that I cannot forbear quoting it, although it will lose much of its force and beauty in translation. He says : " Seine Poesie ist lebendig, wachsend, und umfassend, Moses Genius ist nicht matt; sein Fliigelschlag, indem er daherschwebt, tont reine Spharenharmonie, bricht den iEther, und trift die gerade Bahn zur Sonne — i.e. His poetry is animated, attractive, and comprehensive ; the genius of Moses is not feeble ; the stroke of his pinions as he soars aloft sends forth the purr harmony of the spheres, cleaves the aether and pursues the direct path to the sun." The song of Moses by the Red Sea* (Exod. xvi. 19.) is a song of victory, but all such songs of the Hebrews are at the same time songs of praise to Him -.vho is the Disposer of all events. Victory was always looked upon by the pious and faithful of the nation as attained only by the special interposition of the Almighty, and accordingly, the praise of God forms always the most prominent part iti their triumphal songs. The song of Moses, * The Red Sea, or Arabian Gulf, is an extensive gulf of the Indian Ocean, dividing Arabia from the opposite coast of Africa. Its length is about 1,400 miles, and its greatest breadth about liOO miles. The English name Ked Sea is a translation of the Latin name rubrum mare, which is again a translation of the Greek term 'tpuBpk edKaaffa (i.e., the Eed Sea). There are various opinions advanced regarding the origin of this name. Some think it received it from tue coral rocks and reefs with which it abounds ; but it is well known that the coral of the red sea is white, and hence this supposition must fall to the ground. Others again would derive ita name, either from the reddish colour of the waters, or from the red sand at ih« ''M' 15 ■< M Deut. xxxii. 1, 43, to the assembled Israelities, lefore his death, is a poem which strikingly displays the poetical powers of its author. The language, whilst it is full of pathos, is at the same time gentle and winning, searching the inmost depths of the soul, and, well calcy.lated to arouse the slumbering feelings to a lively sensibility to the infinite power, majesty, and mercy of the Almighty. His last prophetic blessing of the children of Israel, Deut. xxxiii., and the xc. Psalm, entitled, «a prayer of Moses, the man of God,'" are othc' examples of highly poetic and sublime compositions of the great lawgiver and prophet. To David belongs the honor of having brought the Lyric Poetry of the Hebrews to perfection. He evinced from his youth a passion for music as well as for poetry. His early years wore spent as a shepherd in tending his father's flocks in the field, where he gathered the many flowers which so often adorn his writings. His skill on the harp procured hiia admittance to the presence'^of the king, a circumstance which must have greatly encouraged him to improve the musical talents with which he was so highly gifted. But, having several times narrowly escaped, with the harp in his hand, the deadly spear which Saul hurled at him through jealousy, he fled into the wilderness of Judea, where he wandered for several years. There in the lonely desert, wandering from place to place, seeking a safe abode, his harp was his comforter and friend! Its melodious tones assuaged his fears, and made him forgetful of envy and hatred. It was not laid aside when brighter days smiled upon him, but it still remained his companion in the royal pnlace. bottom of It; but we are told by many writers that so far from its waters havinsr a red appearance, it is rather of a greenish colour from the great quantity of sea-weedq and moss that grow in it. We may also remark that the waters of almost O- shallow seas are appa-ently of a green colmr. It is therefore more likely thai it received its name from the land of Edom, as its north-eastern part washes that country. Now the Hebrew word Q^^ (edon.) signifies red, and was a name given to Esau on the occasion of his selling his birthright to Jacob for a r S5i of pottace (See Gen. jsxv., 30); and from him this name was transferred to ti- ountrv which his posterity possessed. Hence the name, «a of Edom. Prideaux tells us, (see Connec ion i. 14 15), tuat the ancient inhabitants of the neighbouring counlrics called It (Yam Edom) i e., the sea of Edom; this name, however, does not occur in bcnptn- . Ihe Greek having mistaken Edom for an appellative instead of a Broner name, accordingly called it '.pxSph. ed\aacstuous winds rage." Although most of the Psalms no doubfc have been composed upaa particular occasions, yet there are some which can nnithor be ascribed to any paiticular time, nor regarded as referritig to uny incident in the hisi;^!} of David. Thus, for instance,. Psalm i., is strictly a religious s.rng, div'ded into iw regular strophes of three verses each ; the first n'ropue mttiug forth the happiness of the pious, and the second tht iato of th^ wicked. Of Psalms of situilar import, we have several in the book of Psalms, as for instance, the cxii. and cxxv. Again, we have many hymns of praise and adora- tion, displaying God's power, majesty, and glory; as Psalms viii. xix. xxix., &c. In Psalm cxxxiii., we have a beautiful ode on unity and brotherly io/e ; and Psalms xxxii., 1. and cxix., are pureb,- .cligious didactic poems. Many of the Psalms possess great subli- mity, but softness, tenderness, and pathos are their prevailing charoctovistics. Bishop Horn* has justly remarked that, " The Psalms are an epitome of the Bible, adapted to the purpose of devotion. They treat occasionally of the creation and formation of the world ; the dispensations of Providence, and the economy of grace ; the trans- actions of the patriarchs ; the Exodus of the children of Israel ; their journey through the wilderness, and settlement in Canaan ; their law, priesthood, and ritual ; the exploits of their great men, wrought ilirough faith; their sins and captivities, their repentances and restorations ; the sufferings and victories of David ; the peaceful and happy reign of Solomon; the advent of Messiah, with its effects and consequences ; His incarnation, birth, life, passion, death, resurrection, ascension, kingdom, and priesthoo the effusion of the Spirit ; the conversion of the nations ; la- rejection of the Jews; tha esvr.«''shment, increase, and pre -oritv .>*' the Christian Church; the en ; the wicked, and the final i>rari.;vi of the righteous with their Lord and King." Well, indee.. lirht ^Preface to his Commentary on the Psalms. ;=^....^ ill 17 Hooker ask, " mat is there necessary for man to know which the Psalms are not able to teach?" And well might Luther say of the Psalms : " Thou readest through them the hearts of all the saints ; and hence the Psalter is the manual of all saints; for each finds in It, in whatever circumstances he is placed, psalms and words so well adapted to his condition, and so fully according with the teehngs, that they seem to have been thus composed for his own sake, insomuch, that he cannot find, or even wish to find, any words that are better suited to his case." All the Psalms, with the exception of thirty-four, are furnished With an inscription. Some of these inscriptions set forth the respective authors of the Psalms. Thus seventy-four* are ascribed to David, twelve to Asaph,t eleven to the sons of Korah, two to bolomon, one to Moses, one to Heman (one of the leaders of the temple music; see 1 Chron. vi. 33,) and one to Ethan (also one of Davids singers; see 1 Chron. vi. 44.) Sometimes these inscrip. tions state the occasion upon which the Psalms were composed As, for instance, the title of Psalm iii.— " A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son"; or of Psalm vii.— " Shiggaion (ie an elegy or plaintive song) of David, which he sang unto the Lord" concernmg the words of Cush the Benjamite." Sometimes the' inscription indicates the kind of composition to which the Psalm belongs-ag bisipja (mSskil) Psalm xxxii. l-i.c, a song or poem teaching wisdom or piety. n^St} (t'phillah); Psalm Ixxxvi. l—i.e. a prayer. Also the kind of instruments with which the Psalm is to be accompanied, as niD-^^p (n'glnoth) Psalm iv. l—i.e., stringed instruments, rilb^hp (n'chiloth), Psalm v., l—i.e., pipes or flutes, or perhaps wind instruments in general. Much obscurity prevails as regards the proper import of some of the terms employed in the inscriptions, and this arises no doubt from • the imperfect knowledge we possess of the temple music. The translators of our authorised version have therefore acted wisely in retaining for the most part the Hebrew words ; it was far better to retain the original term, than to assume a translation based merely upon conjecture. * To the above, the Septuagint version adds ten Psalms more. viz.. the xxxiii xliii., xoi., xciv. to xcix. and civ. ***i"., ^ t Asaph was the son of Barachias of the tribe of Levi, and was appointed bv David 10 pfcsjdi; over mo choral services which he instituted. See 1 Chron xvi 4 6" n i-~ V. 18 The term nbD (sglah), which occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms is commonly regarded to denote rest or pause, and as it stands generally in the middle of a Psalm at the end of a section or strophe, its use appears to have been to du-ect the singers in chanting the Psalms to rest or pause whilst the instruments played an interlude or symphony. This supposition is supported by the authority of the Septuagint, where the term nbp (selah) is rendered by BidfaX/ia, i.e. interlude, symphony. Solomon seems to have inherited a love of poetry from his father. We are distinctly told, 1 Kings iv. 32, that he had composed three thousand proverbs and and one thousand and five songs ;* of the latter, however, unhappily only two Psalms and the Song of Songs are now extant. In the writings of Solomon we have the precious relics of one who was gifted with "a wise and an understanding heart," such as has never been possessed by any human being before or since. It would, therefore, be presumption to dilate upon the excellencies of the productions emanating from a source so richly endowed with heavenly wisdom. The book of Proverbs furnishes us with a beautiful specimen of Proverbial or Gnomic poetry of the Hebrews ; and is unquestionably the most exquisite composition of its kind that has ever been penned. It contains about five hundred short and impressive sayings, the result of the profoundest human sagacity, replete with solemn truths, wholesome counsels, and tender admonitions ; addressing themselves with equal aptitude to the king on the throne, and the suppliant beggar ; to the advanced in years as well as the young. Who would not gather such "apples of gold with figures of silver. f (Eng. vers, in pictures of silver) Prov. xxv. 2. As brevity gives life to the proverb, the Hebrew language is particularly well adapted to this species of composition, but must necessarily lose much of its pointed- * As early as one hundred years before the Christian era, the apocryphal book called "The Wisdom of Solomon" appeared, which is still extant in the Greek purporting to be the production of that monarch. Its style, however, is unlike that of Solomon, and it contains expressions and ideas which tend to prove that it originated in the Alexandrian school. Indeed, from the quotations from the Prophets Isainh and Jeremiah, it would appear that the author, whoever he may have been, had no desire to pass it off as the composition of that monarch. The Book of Wisdom, however has justly been admired for the lofty and sublime ideas of the perfections of the Deity Which it contains, and for the highly moral tendency of its precepts. t The Hebrew word JnilSip^ (masklyoth), which I have rendered by fgures, occurs in the singular, Ezek. viii. 12, "every man in the chambers of his imagery," ■which appear from verses 10 and 11 to have been chambers of which the walls were ,. 19 nes and v gour by translation into any of our n^odorn languages, as th .r structure cannot admit such brevity of expression. From he following example taken at random, the reader will be able to form some idea of the correctness of what I have stated- kell latstsoreph vSyyetse mikkasCph siglm hSeo ri^ qiSb i,;r.T ^p3^ ^4^^ \ll^ «--«! forthefluor and thcro .hall go forth from .heMIvor th. dro„ take aw'«r It Will be perceived that there are only six words in TheTebrew w list here are no less than seventeen in the English translati::.' The following verse has likewise seventeen words in the English version, but only seven in the original : ^^W^sn '' Ti.ke away the wicked /rom before tlic kinc And his throne shall be Gstablisliod in righteousness." Although almost every nation has its proverbs, yet the people'of the east seemed to have had a special fondness for such sententi ous sayings. With them they appear to have been a favourite mode' of instruction, as peculiarly fitted to impress the mind, and imprint the truth more firmly on the memory. The Proverbs of Solomon however, form a distinct class, altogether unlike those of other nations. The latter, it is true, often inculcate certain rules of conduct or of caution which experience has shown to be useful for some end or purpose. Some of them even convey moral instruction : take tor instance the German proverb " Unschuld und ein gut Gewissen Sind ein santtes Ruhekissen." i.e. " Innocence and a good conscience are a soft pillow " btill there are many which have quite a contrary tendency, set- ting forth principles altogether at variance with true religion As tor example — ° "Noth hat kcin Gebot." i.e. " Necessity has no law." The Proverbs of Solomon, on the other hand, furnish nothing but painted w.th figur ,s of idols to which the idolatrous Israelites paid adoration It occurs aga,- :xvi. I. J^.^^,^ ^3^^ ^,,,, .^g,,,,,,^ ^J^ .^ ^^^^^ ^ 'J^ Jith the image ■ t i.n idol. In Numb, xxiiii. 52., it occurs in the plural when it nn doubt means tmaffes made of wood or stone, (Eng vers,, pictures ) 80 i'n^henhn^ passage, it means images of .silver, artfully worked in he annlp. j: ' I 22 In it which tend to prove that it must have been wi-itten at a later period than that of Solomon, but no one has, as yet, attemptod to show who is to be consideiv the real author. So far, on this point, ■wo have nothing but conjectures. De Wctte dismisses the subject very briefly, merely stating, "By a fiction, Solomon is introduced here as speaking." — Introd. to the Old Test. § 283. Professor Kurtz is somewhat more explicit, ho says: "The name of the author cannot be ascertained. It is an error to suppose that he professes to bo king Solomon himself ; it is rather his purpose to in- troduce the reader, by means of poetic imagery, to an assembly in which the wise Solomon (as a representative of wisdom and the author of the proverbial mode of instruction) expresses his views respecting the problems of this life." — Manual of Sacred History, § 110. The supposition of Augusti is somewhat more novel. This writer maintains that Solomon merely appears in the character of a man deceased, or a ghost. The supposition, on the contrary, that Solomon was really the author of it, is at least based upon somethijig more substantial than mere conjecture. In the first place, the title of the book explicitly declares him to be the author, and this positive statement ought not, in my opinion, to be set aside merely because there are a few foreign words introduced into the book. Secondly, the affinities of Ecclesitistes in thought and stylo with the book of Proverbs are so marked, as to leave hardly any doubt that they aro both the pro- duction of one author. Thirdly, several passages in the book agree with no other person than that prince, as chap. i. 12., chap. vii. 25, 26, 27, chap. xii. 9, &c. Fourthly, tradition and the common opinion of the ancients declare Solomon to be the author. Every Hebrew scholar must admit that there occur in the book of Ecclesiastes not only words which are not found in the writings be- longing to the golden age of Hebrew literature, but likewise also Chaldaisms. Thus, we find n^'^ (s'man) chap. iii. 1, time, for f^y (eth) i-J2 (bor) a pit, 55}^ (hSvai) vanity, for ^^j-; (hevel) vanity. Their number has, however, been greatly exaggerated ; the mighty mountain, on a closer inspection, after all turns out but a small hill, which no ordinary Hebrew scholar need be afraid to ascend, though he in ay not have the assistance of the Chaldee and Syriac to aid him. I am 1 #':■ i 28 altogether at a loss to see what should have so "greatly puzzled '' Dr, Clark. One of the poculiaritiea which occur very frequently in Ecclesiaates, and which are said to point to a later origin of that book, is the prefix p (she), the fragment of the relative pronoun l^psfl (ftshdr) xvhieh. The same peculiarity, however, is found in the books of Judges, Job, and the Canticles. The Song of Solomon is justly entitled l3"i-|i'B'n -rim (shir hashshirim) lit. Song of Songs, i.e., the most exquisite or most ex- cellent song. Its great poetical merit, its depth of thought and richness of sentiment, render this name highly appropriate. In perusing this beautiful literary gem, wo feel ourselves transported as it were into a fairy land, with silvery fountains and rippling rivulets, with mountains of myrrh and hills of frankincense, with blooming gardens and fruitful orchards, with an azure sky and balmy breeze ; where the fleet roe and young hart gambol upon the mountain of spices, and where the woods resound with the carrol of birds and the cooing of the turtle dove. There exists a diversity of opinion among commentators as to what gave rise to this song, but that which has been advanced by Origen (who regards it as an epithalamium, or marriage song) in the preface to his commentary on this book, is unquestionably the most plausible. This opinion has been adopted by many learned divines, and among those by the learned Bishop Lowth, who remarks, '"The Song of Songs,' for so it is called, either on account of the excellence of the subject or of the composition, is an epithalamium or nuptial diaioguc, or rather, if we may be allowed to give it a title more agreeable to the genius of the Hebrews, a Song of Loves. Such is the title of Psalm xlv. It is expressive of the utmost fervour as well as delicacy of passion, it is instinct with all the spirit and sweetness of affection. The principal characters are Solomon and his bride, who are represenfeJ speaking both in dialogue, and in soli- loquy, when accidentlysepara'ed. Virgins, also, the companions of the bride, are introduced, who !;eem to be constantly on the stage, and bear a part in the dialogue. Mention is also made of young men, friends of the bridegroom, but they are mute persons. This is exactly conformable to the manners of the Hebrews, who had always a number of companions to the bridegroom, thirty of whom were present in honour of Samson at his nuptial feast. (Judg. xiv. t II 24 11.) In the New Testament, according to the Hebrew idiom, they are called children or sons of the bridechamber, and friends of the bridegroom. There, too, we find mention of the virgins who went torth to meet the bridegroom and conduct him home ; which circum- stances indicate that this poem is founded on the nuptial rites of the Hebrews, and is expressive of the forms or ceremonial of their marriage." But whilst the whole strain of the poem clearly shows It to be a nuptial song, yet under the guidance of divine inspiration It was so constructed as to form a mystical allegory representing the relation subsisting between the Lord and His church, as His bride. There are several considerations which render an allegoricil interpretation of the Song of Solomon imperative. First, its ad- mission among the canonical books of the Old Testament ; for it can hardly be supposed that a book treating merely of earthly love would have found a place among the inspired writings. Secondly both the Old and New Testament abound with bridal and nuptial terms referring more or less pointedly to the relation of the Lord to His church. As Isaiah liv. 5 ; Jerem. ii. 2, iii. 1, &c. ; Ezek xvi. 8-14, and xxiii; Hosea ii. 19-20; Matt. ix. 15; John iii. 29- 2 Cor. xi. 2; Eph. v. 23-27; Rev. xix. 7, xxi. 2, xxii. 17. Thirdly' the forty-fifth Psalm, which is one of the Messianic Psalms, bears in Its character a striking resemblance to the Song of Solomon, and is called " 1 song of loves." Fourthly, it has been well observed, that the native soil of all compositions of the Hebrews, is religion namely, the theocracy." Fifthly, some of the images employed in the book absolutely require an allegorical interpretation, as for «:ample: "Thou art beautiful, my love, as Tirzah, comely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners." Chap. iv. 4. The beauty (i.e. excellence) of the church is compared to Tirzah and Jerusalem. The former was an ancient Canaanitish city, beautifully situated, which Jeroboam made the capital of his kingdom, and It remained so until Omri built Samaria; the latter is the world- renowned capital of the Jews. The final triumph of the church is beautifully compared to a victorious army with its waving banners. A literal application of this passage to the bride of Solomon must at best be awkward and far-fetched. Both the ancient and modern Jews have adopted an allegorical interpretation of this book, although they differ in their applications. According to the Chald^e para- phrast the poem contains a figurative description of the merciful and gracious dealings of God towards His people. Aben Ezra ^ m ' riHTiSSlS laMMi 25 maintains that the Song of Solomon represents the history of the Jews from Abraliam to the Messiah. Other Jewish writers consider Wisdom, with which Solomon was acquainted from his youth, and with whose beauty he Avas captivated, as personified in or by the bride. All sound Christian commentators, from the time of Origen to the present day, have regarded the book as containirg a divine allegory, and understand it to be descriptive of the union of Christ and His church. We may also observe here that it has been a common practice among the Oriential nations from a very early period to express religious sentiments allegorically under the garb of amatorv , ,>ms, of which the Gita-govinda* affords an example. Even at"the pre- sent day the Egyptian Arabs sing religious love-songs at their festivals, in which Mahomraed is the beloved subi'ect, and which are intended to have only a spiritual sense. Mr. Lane has translated several passages to show the great similarity of these songs to that of Solomon. He further states, "Finding that songs of this de- scription are extremely numerous, and almost the only poems sung at Zikrs; t that they are composed for this purpose, and intended only to ho,ve a spiritual sense, (though certainly not understood in f^uch a scnr,e by the generality of the vulgar); I cannot entertain any doubt as to the design of Solomon's Song."— Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. II., pages 196 and 197. ^^ An ancient father of the church has very pertinently remarked, " that Isaiah deserved the name of an evangelist rather than a prophet." Indeed this " Prince of Proph-ts," as some divines de- nominate him, has with such precision and clearnesF described events that were to come to pass in the i.iost distant times, that his predictions resemble more histories of by-gone occurrences than «nL^ni r t ^r; ' !',""'' ''W^^ "^^^^^ of Chnshna) is a beautiful and popular I'r Tb uhl.{ ITfr ''^"""'"^ ^'t\ P''"^' JoJad^va who flourished about A " ri^nonl nHvn f"'' / tl^'« Pocm 1? " tho loves of Chiishna and Radha," or the red- procal at iv^ction between the Divine goodneso and the human soul. A very acourato "£Z.t\ ♦^^ °"^'°"^ I'L'f '^ ''''} '''"''' '^='^ ^ I'^^tin ti-anslation, edited brLass^^was pubbahed at Bonn ,n 1836. An English translation was published by Sir Wi liam Jones, in the third volume of tho Asiatic Researches. i' " " ^•^ °y ^i' "^'Ham t The performance of the Zikrs is the repetition of Allah, i.e. >ie name of God or he profession ot his unity, &c. Those who perform it bow the head and body ekch ame they pronounce tho name, alternately to the right and the left. It is some W performed by a grert many durweeshes, who theu form a ring an move roTnd Ta ZinVTh Tv^or'''" '"r V-l' '^r' ^"^^' ^°^'"^ ♦'^^ b^-^^ -"i "ody each time Duung the pe forraanco of Zikrs thoy sing also religious iore-songs. The Zikrs is frequently performed 'luring private festivities. ^ ! M M """"-^i 26 f 1 s. prophecies that were only to transpire after a lapse of centuries The style, too, of this divine writer has been universally admired as the most perfect model of sublimity. The uniform grandeur, the lofty diction, the richness of figure, the depth of thought, which pervade the whole book of Isaiah, require that it should not only be carefully read, but diligently studied, in order to be properly understood, and its beauties fully appreciated. Thus, for instance when we read, chap. vii. 18, 19 : " And it shall come to pass in thaj day, that the Lord shall Avhistle to (Eng. ver. " hiss for ") the fly which is in the uppermost part of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they shall come, and shall rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all the thorns, and upon all the pastures." (Eng ver. " bushes.") It must not be understood that the land was to be afflicted by flies and bees, which for that purpose were called from Egypt and Assyria, for we should in vain look in the Jewish history for the fulfilment of this prophecy-no such occurrence being recorded therein. No_the Prophet, by a bold but appropriate hgure, compares here the Egyptian armies that were to invade Judea to the flies, which the marshy grounds of Egypt produce in abund- ance; and the Assyrian armies to bees, which are said to abound in that country. The metaphor, " he will whistle," is taken from the practice of those who kept bees, and who were accustomed to draw them out of their hives into the fields, and lead them back again by a whistle. Virgil states, that bells and timbrels were also used for that purpose. The expression further indicates the great control which Jehovah exercises over the enemies of Judea. It requires but a whistle, and behold swiftly they come to execute his judgment Again, when it is said, chap. xiii. 19, 20, "Behold, the day of the Lord Cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine." It must not be supposed that all this was actually to take place when Babylon,, against which this oracle is directed, was to be destroyed, for assuredly we should again m vain look in history for a literal accomplishment. ThTS is merely figurative language, which the Hebrew poets employ in depicting the overthrow and destruction of kingdoms, or any great political 1 • I r 27 revolution. In like manner they depict, by a contrary figure, the restoration or prosperity of kingdoms, states, and princes. ^In those cases, the sun moon, and stars are represented as shining with in- creased ,pi,,^^ ^^^^^. ^^^^.^^^. ^^^^ ^^^^ becomes^ike the median sun, and the sun's light is augmented sevenfold. See ch! When we cast a glance at the pictures which the book of Isaiah of subW^r r\ ?/ '" ^«t«»'«b"^«nt and admiration at the diversity delineations. They form one grand panorama, the scenes of which h m nd never becomes weary of contemplating. But it was neither .he eloquence nor the power of delineation with which Isaiah w! BO highly gifted, that procured for him the epithet of "P nee of ^^:^fu^: : ''' '"*' ''-' ''^ ^^^^ '^^^« ^^« ---" 'ht vista of futurity with greater precision than any other of the in Bpired writers. When he foretells, chap. vii. 8, th entire T population of the kingdom of Israel, so that it should ceased be -" ttke"? '"'tL'^ ''''I *'^ '''-''' *"--^- thaf evribould take place. This prophecy had its literal fulfilment in Esarhaddon iiglath Pileser and Shalmaneser. In describing, chap x 28-32 the march of Senacherib's army against Jerusalem,? though by an unusual route and attended with great difiiculty he mentions With marked precision, the very places through whi h they sh uW pass It IS probable that Senacherib chose this very route although round about and by no means easy for the ..arch of an army L the hope of surprising the city. ^' ® But in none of the prophecies has Isaiah beei so fully explicit t:rof7:T-T l"" 'f ^appy and glorious eventfthetm! mg of the Messiah. For this he may well be called he nroto Evangelist, as if we combine the various prophecies contl-L the book relating to the Messiah, we obtk'a r^pirr^^^^ According to an ancient tradition, Isaiah suffered martvrdon; in there,gn of king Manasseh, who caused him to beTawffnTwo This tradition has been retained by most of the fa hTr" of Z church and the Church of Rome has set apart the sixt f Ju ,1 her calendar in commemoration of it tL r. * confined b, 2 King. .., Z^L^'i. "iZls'rtd' .unooent blood v.r, .„„„L, till be bad filled Jeru= le^ Zt e„d to aoothe,-;" ar,d by Jo,ephu,, „ho ,.ate», that "he brrb«"ouay !!1 tmummmmimmsmmammmmut I- 28 slew all the righteous men that were among the Hebrews, nor would he spare the prophets." (Ant. b. x., oh. iii. par. 1.) It is not un- likely that St. Paul in his Epistle to the Hebrews also alludes to this when he says: "They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword."— Chap. xi. 37. The writings of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the minor prophets, are all highly poetical; but having already trespassed beyond the limits which had been assigned to this essay, we must, though very re- luctantly, refrain from noticing each book separately, and proceed to oflfer a few remarks on the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. The learned have expended not a little labour and ingenuity in endeavoring to solve the problem, as to what constitutes Hebrew poetry. According to Josephus (Antiquities b. ii., chap. iii. p. 4.; b. iv. chap. viii. p. 44.; b. vii. chap. xii. p. 3.) there are to be found in some -of the poetical writings of the Old Testament, both hexa- meter and tetrameter verses. Philo likewise asserts that Moses was acquainted with metre. These positive statements, coming from such ancient sources, induced Gomarus, Grave and many others, to institute a search for those characteristic attributes of the Hebrew muse. But all their endeavours to discover cither metre or rhyme proved unsuccessful ; and well it might, for they were in fact seeking for a thing which never existed. " The ground of diflference," as a writer has well remarked, "observable between the poetry of other nations and that of the Hebrews, lies in the fact that the prosodies of the former prescribe certain strict and undcviating limits, within which the poet is compelled to move in the expression of his feelings ; such as the length of the verses, the arrangement of the syllables composing them according to quantity, the place of the cosura, &c., to which moderns have added the regular recurrence of like endings, or rhymes. The sacred Hebrew muse, on the contrary, maintaining her primitive simplicity, lays down no arbitrary laws of versification with which to fetter the genius of the poet ; she re- quires of her votary neither more nor less than that he should find himself in that state of excited and exalted feeling which is necessary to the production of all genuine poetry, and possess the power of delineating his emotions with truth and vigour." It is true that we meet with some isolated passages which appear to rhyme, as for instance, Psalm Ixxii. 10. 29 yashivfi minchah v'iyyim ^S'lffi;' nni^ Qi^fi^i yakrivu eshkar us'va tharshish sh'va malche raalehS The kings of Tarshish and of the isles sliall bring presents. The Kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. See also Isaiah i. 25, 29 ; Prov. vi. 1, 2 ; Job vi. 9; and so in a few other places. These apparent rhymes are however only produced accidentally, arising as will be seen from the pronominal suffixes of the last words. Even in the witty reply of Samson, in which rhyme was pro- bably mtended, the similarity of sound in the last syllable of each line IS the necessary result of the pronominal suffixes"! "'iirn dfii^:^^ sib Lule chSrSshtem b'eglfithl Lo m'tsathgm ohidathi If ye had not ploughed with my heifer, Ye had not found out my riddle. Judges, xiv. 18. But although it is certain that neither metre nor rhyme are to be found in Hebrew .poetry, the reader cannot be at a loss to distinguish readily the poetical from the prose writings. There is a certain style prevading the former, tvhich unmistakeably shows them to be compositions altogether of a grander and more e'levated order. This style, which forms the chief characteristic of the sacred poetry of the Old Testament, is parallelism, and has its existence, not as an embellishment like the artificial decorations of metre and rhyme in the poetry of other nations, but as the natural and inseparable accompaniment of genuine poetry. Hence we find this style already employed in the very infancy of the human race, aa may be seen from the address of Lamech to his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice, Wives of Lamech, give ear to my speech ! If I have slain a man to my wounding, And a young man to my hurt : * If Cain shall bo avenged seven times Then Lamech seventy times seven. Gen. iv. 23, 24. ■ t\ ] !, 1 i M '■'^c^H^KMMnMMitfflHNHn^ •'rm' V p I 80 Here it will be perceived that in the second, fourth and sixth lines the same sentiments are expressed as in the first, third and fifth, the language only being varied. _ The various kinds of parallelism have generally been reduced into three classes, namely, si/nomjmous, antithetic and synthetic • but these are hardly sufficient to embrace the infinite ;ariety of con- struction which exists in Hebrew poetry. Still as this arrangement 13 the one generally adopted, and as it will sufiice to give the reader an idea of the principal forms Avhich are met with, we shall retain it here. \ Synonymous Parallelmn. To this class belong the foMowinff varieties, namely— ® Those in which the idea of the first clause is repeated in the second the language being merely slightly altered, as IIow shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed ' And how shall I defy, whom Jehovah hath not'defled? , , „„ , , _ Balaam's prophecy. Numb, xxiii. 8. Jehovah, what IS man, that thou knowest (i.e. carest for) him' And the son of man, that thou regardest Mm ? ' ' Paalm cxliv. 3. For affliction cometh not out of the dust And trouble springeth not out of the ground. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom "^"^ ^" ^' And the man that getteth understanding. I*rov iii 1 ^ For they shall bo ashamed of the oaks which ye* have desired And they shall blush for the gardens which ye have chosen ' - XV ^ , . ,, Isaiah i. 29. Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood And estabhsheth a city by iniquity. - . Jlab. ii. 12, Sometimes the idea expressed in the 5rst clause, is repeated twice thus forming a stanza of three lines, as ' Let them be ashamed and confounded together who seek mv lifp fn a ♦ •. Le hem be driven back and made ashamed who wish meTv ^"'''"^ ''• Let them be desolate in reward of their shame who say to mt Aha, Aha - ■\X^ e .1 , I'salm xl. is, 16. More frequently, however, the two first lines only are synonymous whilst in the third the idea is more fully developed, as ^ '^°^°'^'''' JoS pt'sot wr'hlreTa^ifoVttLrdTf^; "r^^'' 'r *^« '^'-^^^ *° *•>« rians enallage per^onarum, whlTfhe frophefsorfon Inf. '^f ''"''■ ""^^"^ ^^ ^ramma- to their declarations and e.^hortations CmPHmo T^ ^ '°, ^'^^ ''■dditioual force third to the first per.on, as " She shaS bTe^sTh: S '' f'^ " <='"'"«'' '■^°" '^^ take sickness from among thee "-Exod xSu 25^ '^^l7\ '\^ ^''*"= "^"^ ^ '^i" the first person to the third as " And t win T •' ?^ '^'1*°'^ a'«o the change from thy state he shall pull tht do^..> Laiih "xu"! '' '""^ ''^ ^*""^'>' ^^"^ f""* si Tl Si| Si| fa 4 rwimr-n^mmftm--^^ : 81 Man and beast thou belpest, Jehovah. And he shall eat on the right, ^anJl'hrngry-^^"^" '"• ''''' ''^ And devour on the left, and not bo satisfied- hvcry one shall devour the flesh of his arm. ' a^^.. . , ^^"'''^ i»- 19 (Eng. ver. verae 20.) Sometimes we meet with stanzas of four lines having a double God is not man, that he should lie • Or the sou of man, that he should repent : iiath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall he not perform it? Tell it not in Gath, ^''^'''"^'' P^^P^^^^y. Numb, xxiii. 19. Publish it not in the streets of Askelon ; Lest he daughters of the Philistines rejoice, Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. C! ,.1 . David's elegy, 2 Sam. i. 20 So we meet likewise with stanzas of six lines, every alternate lino forming a parallelism with the one proceeding, as And'asTh?' ^'Jf ^'""' °^ ^'^ consumeth the stubble, And as the ignited grass falls away. ' So their root shall be as rottenness. And heir blossom shall go up as fine dust: For they have rejected the law of Jehovah of Hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel!' TT A ^ui . T, Isaiah v. 24. 11. Antzthetic Parallelism. To this class belong those parallel isms in which the second clause contains an opposition of terTlnd sen tments, to those expressed in the first. This dass of paral d smt particularly adapted to all kinds of sententious sayings, hence occurs very frequently in the Proverbs of Solomon^ w1 re it has aTor' St"*' r '^' '''''' ^'^ ^^^-- of antithesi word, as " '" '" '''''' contraposition of word to Faithful I are the wounds | of a friend. But deceitful | are the kisses j of an enemy.* They I bow down | and fall, ^''°''- ^*^- ^ But we I rise up | and stand. In like manner w. meet with ^^^t^, -IT^^S^r^tJiird stands m antithesis with the first, and the four'th with the second Is «i^fi r 7 ^^^Hl?5 (nataroth) has been variously rendered. Literally it s gn fies abundant, but is evidently emnloved in ti,» k . s^mhcation..e..M„sthepara:feff^^^^^^^^^ I vmiimi(MKi9i£^ ^uKsiUfiiggigggf I1 f! 82 If ye shall be willing and obey, The good of the land ye shall oat ; But ,f ye shall refuse and rebel. iiy the sword ye shall be consumed. m n Isaiah i. 19 ''o Righteousness exalteth a nation ■ iiut sin 13 a reproach to a people. TT ., P'o^- xi7. 34. ■tlcre the two last terms, "n-itfon " u„„„ i „ but synonymous terms. ' ^ °P''' '-^^-^ "«* antithetic Sometimes we meet with stanzas of four lines of w1.; ^ .^ . last stand in antithesis with the two preceding, as ''" *"° The ox knoweth his owner Y^nJi^'f T ^^% '""^ °^ ^i« "lister ; Israel doth not know me, My people doth not consider. TTT cr .7 . -,, ^■'^'^'''^ J- 3. the lS:ef:;;tx i:°t,:f"'"r r-"' *™°'" ^"'^'^ and whore .Le .H.e/afrh ,"« p ^ T/: r »tantly in view, whilst ho dilates fponT As Jol t' sT " """ Let the day perish wherein I was born • LeUh^t daflJ dat^iVs^"" '"''' '' ■^"""''^"^ - «-ceived. Let God not regard it from above ; Nor let light shine upon it, &c. iind of parallelism lo have i: Ecotl.: " "'""'^ '' ""' 1. "- 2. f °!^ T° ^°®*' *'^ ^is Joiig home [caper-berry fails. And the mourners go about the street. ■ 33 Before the silver cord bo loosed And the golden bowl bo broken' And the bucket be broken at the founluin. And broken D-.o wheel iit the cistern. And the du.^t return to the earth as it was ■ And the spirit to God who gave it.* iieorew teim ^^n ^DpS^ (anshc chayil) denotes men of strength, men of valour, hence also mm of war, i e warrinr« Vr,w „. *i. great strength in the Icps and feet were con^ilrV, nn,. T ? ''"''° ""^'^ Possessed men, the tl-ot and legs thomselvoTrre hf n ^.^p^^ "The grin.lers cease/'le the teeth which n ""i^ '*P''°'''<"^"y called "strong men." look out of the windows are darkeied - V,„ .1 • ,^f, ^'"""^ *<'^- "T''ose that here compared to .i„dows:;^r ttK thTlaC^wl ro7the Sd^ thTch ^: the toral meaning of the Hebrew word Jnlsii* (arubboth). Juice-w^k tig IS called 1^5? na(bathaym)i.e.rf«„^Ato-o/M«ey.,orVi> 11b4 i.e. litte man of the eye. «And the door shall be shut in the str'eet'" tH , dently means the lips, which form the door of the month vlT ■ •? *^°'''' *"'" see Psalm cxli. 3; Michah vii 5 — "KpX t L 1 ,'., ^°' "" ""''"'' expression, mentioned merely to Tow that thl out'^L 1 •'"' °^ '^^ •"''""'•" ^''^ street is teeth are gone the lips Ccome comprS ° Wi". "If"'" "/^'"^ ''""•" ^^''"' "'« As the teelh are in the Ferdlns vo^rse cJled w"" ,"" T^:l ,f *^° "''" i« 1°^-" itselfmustbethemouth. "1 This expresses the restlessness 0? odagel7tho ast u'isM "" ''P""^^-" both with the young and old to rise with H,p a^J I ' ^°' ''"'nmon practice rises to the voice of the spariw" L it attainsTo iho vT/? '^' P'^^^^'^e "it is very feeble, referrina; it to the f-ebl v!iV f *> "'^ ,°^ """ ^PfiTow, -which althpu'gh the Voice generally Scomes'fetb e ^n old at ^'tlirfttuhl bo I ''"^ .^'^'^^ 5lp na (bath kol) ht. the daughter of the voice, i.e. simply the voice. The Ios3 lips'' "tr a Jefgaftry riftSd"'* -V^the^'h*'^ *"'^ '''"' *^« ^''"-^ ^ "^ ^"e places, being too ltigui7g.'<"An^t^^^^^^^^^^ *° ^^"^""d high S^^i^^u^odfe^^ii^^^ s?a^:^^a;;-i-^a^^ pared to the profuse white flower; of the Ilmond tree TWc.fi. 1 '' \^^\<'^^- more appropriate by the fact, that this tree'^fhe fir't w'hi it^k s' r^mttiSe .lumber, hence called in Hebrew 1|5ffi- (shake'., i.e. the .aker, and from Us blossom- ing in Palestine in January, so that" the hor.j beautiful similitude with the winter blossu tirs of the winter of life form a objection to this compari8"onr''thaMhe flnwm ^ ''L*^? '''T?'' *f^^- ^^senius's L 84 Another characteristic of Hebrew poetry, is gradation, i.e. where every succeeding expression is heightened in force, as IIo sitting in tlio heavens slmll laugh : The Lord shnll doride them. Then ho shall speak unto them in his anger, And in his wrath ho shall confound them. Here it will be observed, at first God is represented as merely miling at the designs of the kings of the earth, then as deriding them, then as speaking to them, or as it would be more literally rendered as earnestly speaking to them, and lastly as confounding them. Psalm ii. 4, 5. Frequently too wo find two definite numbers employed, the second being greater than the first in order to express an indefinite number, as In sis troubles he shall deliver thco : And in seven no evil shall touch thee. Job V. 19. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight ; For tliou knowest not vrhat evil shall be upon the earth. Eccles. xi. 2. and when vioweci 'V'>ir' v.V^\ of the Lord, To THE HELP OF THE LoiiD ugiiinst tho iniphty. of Deborah, Judg. v. 28. God of venobance, Jehovah ; God of venoeakce, shine forth ! Psalm xciv. 1. We have yet to notice another characteri.stic of Hebrew poetry, and that is, the use of certain words which are (jnly found in the poetical writings, and for which others are employed in the prose compositions. As for example, n5)a (mlllah) n word in poetry ; -^^t (davar) a word in prose; ©ISii (Snosh) a man, poetry; q-jj^ (adam) a man, prose. r\t\'^ (athah) 'to come, poetry; 5^1,2 (bo)' to come, prose, &c. Also the use of certain epithets for substantives, as nj^^j (I'vanah) i.e. the tvhite, for the moon. Cant. vi. 10, Isaiah xxiv.'23; in prose always n-jn (yfireach) i.e. the moon. n^SH (chammah) i.e. heat, for the sun. Job xxx. 28; Isaiah xxx. 26; in prose T2J)3tp (shemgsh) i.e. the sun, &c. So likewise the use of the construct plural form with prepositions, as ib^ (ale) for b? (ai) upon. 1555 (gle) for bj§ (?1) unto. 1-7:9 (ade) for ^p (ad) until. Also the use of the poetical pronominal suffix -j^ (mo) for tJH (hgm) them. And the Chaldee plural ending -ji-r- (in) instead of d"i- (im). ' Now all these characteristics of Hebrew poetry exist in the books of the Prophets, as well as in the book of Job, the Psalms and the Proverbs, which are universally admitted to be poetical, and it follows therefore that the former as well as the latter must be written in poetry. It must be from a total disregard of these charac- teristics, or being misled by the somewhat more sententious and regular form of construction of the lines that exist in Job, the Psalms, the Proverbs, Canticles, Lamentations, and in some of the isolated poems of the Old Testament, that so many entertain the erroneous idea that the prophetical books were written in prose. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V // {/ & t'^/' y. fA 1.0 I.I 1.25 ■- illM ■- 2^ |M 2.0 1.8 U III! 1.6 II I 1 Scmces Corporation '<^V r<\^ ^\ ^9) V Cl^^ 6^ ^'u- '<^.^> 'ij.^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 b .l.'4k. % &< Q- /j 1. , i ; r n ! 1 t> ' I 36 Before concluding this essoy, Ave shall only add a few remarks upon the acrostic or alphabetical poems to which we have already elluded. Of these poems there are twelve extant in the Old Testa- ment, viz., Psalms xxv., xxxiv., xxxvii., cxi., cxii., cxix., cxlv ; Prov. xxxi., verses 10-31; Lament, i., ii., iii., iv., and their form is: they consist of twenty-two lines or stanzas, according to the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, and every line or stanza begin- ning with each letter in regular order as it stands in the alphabet. Thus the first line begins with ;y5 a, the second with jj h, &c. Of these, some, however, are more perfect than others, as Psalms cxi. and cxii., and Lament, iii. The two first consist of ten stanzas each, every stanza having two lines, except the two last, which contain three lines each, thus making up the number twenty-two. As in the Hebrew Bible, the stanzas are not divided into lines ; we shall subjoin here the tAvo first verses of Psalm cxi. in regular lines, which will serve as a guide. IT •• : • T : J nin"; ^W)2 Q^Dla 9* It will be seen that the accent (a) (athnach) marks the end of the first line of each stanza, and (,) (silluk) the close of the second. In the last two A'erses Avhich each contain three lines, the (-) (r'via) marks the end of the first. The third of the perfect alphabetical poems, viz., Lament, iii. consists of tAventy-two stanzas of three lines each, as 1st Stanza. 2nd Stanza. ,, , - - • • J • T ! T * ITt! ||t-- -t tt * The third letter in the Hebrew alphabet is g and not e as in the English. '« '.' « 1 'If- V 87 In these perfectly alphabetical poems the lines in each poem are strikingly equal to one another in length, and scarcely less so in the number of words. The other nine poems are less perfect in their structure. In them the stanzas only are marked with initial letters. Psalm cxix IS divided into twenty-two divisions each containing eight stanzas of two lines, and all the stanzas of each division are marked by the same initial, so that the eight stanzas of the first division begin with {)i (aleph) a, and those of the second with ^ (beth) b, &.<;. Psalm XXV., xxxiv. (beginning at the second verse), and cxlv., Piov. xxxi. beginning at the tenth verse), and Lament, iv. consist of stanzas of tAvo lines each; Lamentations i. and ii. of stanzas of three lines, and Psalm xxxvii. of stanzas of four lines. There exist, however, irregularities in the latter eight poems, which may be imputed to the carelessness of the transcribers, or to the fact of not being able to find a word beginning with the letter required. Hence we find that sometimes a letter was missed or repeated. Thus, for example, in Psalm XXV. there is no stanza beginning with ^ (beth) b, unless wo regard the word ^rib^ (glohai) i.e. my God, as originally belong- mg to the first verse. The next word :|a (b'cha) would then afford the letter required. Or we may suppose, with Rosenmuller and others, that the word inbl!^ (6Iohai), like the interjections of the Greek tragic writers, was not reckoned with the verse. In this as well as m Psalm xxxiv., there is also no stanza commencing with the letter t (wav). And in Psalm xxv. there is likewise no stanza. beginning with p (koph), but two stanzas commence with -, (re..,h). Agim m Psalm xxxvii. there is no stanza beginning with the letter ^ (aym), and the letter ^2 (tsade) stands before the letter q (p6) It 13 diflicult to determine the design of this kind of composi- tion. Lowth thinks "that it was intended for the assistance of the memory; and was chiefly employed in subjects of common use, as maxims of morality, and forms of devotion," and in this supposi- tion he probably may be correct. •r -,1. i i NEW TEANSLATION OF GENESIS XLIX., WITH CRITICAL, PHILOLOGICAL, AND EXPLANATORY NOTES. 1. And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, gather younelvea together, and I tvill declare to you that which shall befal you in future days. 2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob ; and harken to Israel your father. Jacob had now dwelt seventeen years in the land of Goshen, (a tract of country lying on the eastern side of the Pelusian arm of the Nile, which Pharaoh had assigned to him and his household, as it abounded with fertile pasture land,) and perceiving that the days o' his pilgrimage upon earth W'^-e drawing to a close, " Jacob called unto his sons," that is, he sent messengers to the different parts of Goshen where his sons resided, and summoned them before him. The object of the patriarch was not merely to take his last farewell of them, but likewise that he might foretel what should happen to them and their posterity. These gave additional solemnity to this last meeting ; they were to receive from the lips of their dying father, to whom God had several times appeared, the prophetic de- claration of wliat should befal them in the days to come. Tho expression QiJa'n fT'lHSta (b acharith hayyamim), which I have above rendered " w future days," unquestionably refers sometimes to tho time of the Messiah and the Gospel dispensation, and in that case is rightly translated, in the last days ; as Isaiah ii. 2: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, the mountain of the house of Jehovah shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all the nations shall flow to it." So Micah iv. 2. But it is likewise used in the sense of future time ot future days, not having reference to any precise or limited time, as Numb, xxiv, 14, " And now, behold, I am e;oin? to my people : mma como I will in orm thee what this people shall do unto thy people DeuTTv T A ^f'^'t '""°"' " '" '^' '^''^^ ^«^«'') S- also, Deut. IV. 30. And so hkew.se in the passage before us, the con! text requires the phrase in question to be rendered, in future days. The name ^jp;?. (ynakov) i.e. Jacob, admits of a twofold derivation, namely, one that seizes hj the heel, and a supplanter, it bein^ derived from the verb ^jd;? (akav) i.e. to seize by the heel, also, to supplant. The former appellation has reference to his having taken hold of the heel of his brother Esau at his birth, and the latter to his supplant- ing him afterwards. Henco Esau said, " Is it that his name is called (I.e. is his name not rightly called) Jacob ? for he supplanted me these two times, my birthright he has taken, and behold, now he taketh my blessing." Gen. xxvii. 36. The appellation bs^n©^ (yisrae-1) i.e. Israel, denotes a prince or warrior of God, and waa 3. Reuben, my first horn art thou, My might, and the beginning of my strength The excellence of dignity, and the excellence \f power. 4. A boiling up as of water art thou, thou shalt not excel, ±or thou ascendedst the bed of thy father Then didst thou defile it : ' My couch he ascended ! Reuben, Hebrew p^^^-^ (r'flven) i.e. see ye a son, was probably an expression of joy which Leah made use of at the birth of her first born, and which she imposed oa the infant as his name. -J/« yht, i.e. the child begotten in the full vigour of manhood. ^Z the beginning of my strength r this expression is nearly of the same import as the preceding, and was employed to denote tl fi st-bo^^^^^ than the other children. It is several times found as a parallelL with first-born, as Deut. xxi. 17 ; Psal. Ixxviii. 51. And he smote all the first-born in Egypt- Egypt)"^"' ''^"""^ °' ^'""^'^ '" *^« '-»«'(-. dweUings) of Ham (a name of Also Psalm cv. 36 : And he Bmote all the first-born in their land, AH the beginning of their strength. ■ I I 1 I 41 From these passages it is evident that the phrases, heqinnina of ZT T^ /r.^5.n. are synonymous terms, and the sfnse 7th{ passage before us ,s therefore eorrectly conveyed in the Scptuagin excellence of dignity, and the excellence of power " In tl'c firs expression, allusion is evidently made to the ^S.od an honou and prerogative pertaining to the birth-right The lat er cxnrcs s.on refers to the rule and government of the family which iSLe" devolved upon the first-born, and to the double portion of to inhentance whfch by right he would have received 'onrelost h Targum has paraphrased verse 3 : '^ Reuben, my first-bo.-n a t ho my n,.ght and the beginning of my strenglh ;^thou ^Idst 1 a"' [nZ-t *'^';^: P-^--'/'- birth-right, (i.e. fhe double p<^. on o inheritance), the priesthood, and the kingdom." The Jerusalem Targum has rendered it : '^ And for the sin of my son Lrn h" birth-right IS given to Joseph, the kingdom to Judah, and the priest hood to the tribe of Levi " " A k^.-r , pnest- i e thou ^\ZV^ r, "^ ''^ ^' '-^ ^^^^''^ «^« f^^ou,'' •e thou didst boil up like water with lust, alluding to Reuben's incestuous connexion with his father's concubine Bilhfh. See Gen XXXV 22. The crime which Reuben had committed was one of he deepest dye, and the pain and grief which the act ca .ed inflt 1 "?1 '^' '''''''' P»ni«J™ent that he could inflict, and consequently he deprives him of his birth-ri^ht. -The Shalt not e.cel," i.e. thou art cut off from the pre.m^n ce .^ h wouM have belonged to the first-born. How literally was this fulfilled ! To Joseph was given the double portion (compare 1 Chron. v 1 2)- on Levi was conferred the priesthood, (for the tribe of Levi waj sel apart for the worship of God, and to the family of Aaron was g ven the right of the priesthood) ; and Judah obtained the preeminLce as we read 1 Chron. v 2. - For Judah prevailed above'his brXen; and of him .am. the prince." The tribe of Reuben neve^ obtained any importance, and made no figure in the history of the nation. It produced neither kings nor heroes, and so far ffom per! forming any-great exploits, it was reproached by Deborah for the jant of courage See Judges v. 16. At the numbering of the children of Israel m the wilderness of Sinai, the second year after they came out of Egypt, the tribe of Reuben numbered 4oO adu males, (Num. i. 2L) and accordingly ranked as the s venth in f ^ ^ population; but from tho census taken in the plains of Moab, be- fore entering into the land of Canaan (Num. xxiv. 7), it appears that Its number had decreased, amounting only to 43,750, ^vhich made it the ninth in population. The doom of Reuben ought to servo as a warning, that many pleasures of this world, like some poisonous trmts which often appear attractive and beautiful to tho sight, will when tasted, prove highly injurious, if not altogether fatal to him that allows himself to be enticed by their external appearance. The conduct of Reul)en iu regard to Jos-'ph, however, presents to us a brighter picture of his character. When Joseph's brethren conspired to kill him, Reuben in treated them not to shed his blood, but to cast him into a pit, (i.e. a cistci n or reservoir dug in the ground, m which rainwater is collected, and of which there are a number to be found in the desert of Arabia, but generally without water), so that he might deliver him from their hands and restore hun to his father. When he afterwards returned to the pit and found that Joseph was no more tliere, he rent his clothes for grief, and going to his brethren, he exclaimed in frantic despair, " The child is not ; and I, whither «ha]I I go T i.e. whither shall I turn myself? This conduct of Jleuben indicates an improved state of mind, and leaves us to hope that he had sincerely repented of his former guilt. He well knew how great a service he would render his father by saving tho life of his most dearly beloved son, and thus make at least some amends for the injury he had inflicted on him. It was no doubt in consideration of this laudable conduct, that Moses in his blessings of tho twelve tribes (Deut. xxxiii. 6) declared : " Let Reuben live, and not die ; and let not his men be few." As much as to say, the tribe of Reuben shall exist and not become extinct. Accordingly we find that it received as its inherit- ance the tract of country now called Al BcUca, also, by the Arabs Belad al Kafer, i.e. the land of the unbelievers, because many Christians formerly lived there. Its southern boundary was the river Arnon, which separated it from Moab ; to the west it bordered on the Dead Sea ; and to the north and cast it was bounded by the tribe of Gad. 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren ; Instruments of violence are their swords. 6. In their council enter not, my soul In their assembly do not join, my heart ; (( The ■ -^ !> m I 48 Form their anger they slew a man, And tn their wantonness they houghed an ox 7. « called hi, „a„e Sitneon.' C, Ser,,'- ''l^^ ^^T^ ^!" ."'» Leu as expressive of thafh ppve It ^-'X ° ^-^ T "" "'""'' husband be joined unto me Li„ t l ' ""^ '""<> "'" my therefore was^isnLee^lCd lev "•■'V"''-''"™" '"'■" •'"•» ^™' = evi are brethren;' i.e. thev nof nnW Z. f f ""• ^'*- '^^'"^on and but likewise pos ess 1 I" ti^;^ This they evinced in thdr be ..^^e^^^^^^^^^^^ ^"'^ ^'«P-'tion. of the Sheehenutes ; and acconnnr .T '" c '''^'^'^''^^ "^"rder Jews they. e.e the t^^^Z^:^:? ''^^'"^ ^' ^^ Joseph. ^^Instruments of violence ale L ''''T'''^ "gainst the Hebrew word hnv^Sn^ IT . Is ''"""^'■" ^'''^"S ^ c\ A^. 1. °^^^^^ (™ cherothehem), ^vhich I have re weapons of violene^; ch ^ ^ f ,,:, Zr'\ " '"''^ '"-■* °™ => rendering ad„:issible, and i pre t '^ """"'" "■°"«'" ^■'='' Oehors derive the work inqlsti™ f^ °,.'T "' ' """^ 8'™°- and attaeh to it the si.nifiea. orof ^ ^™'''° <"• E""'"?'"' w «. «»»..« ::: o ~r:r ''" ? =rihrerd:^TTh-r---^^^^^^^^^^^ itan and Grc k CsTons 2 tr^"", ""'."'°™''' ''^ "» San,„r. .w...«/M.v.w::;:;j--t-i:?d;r^^^^ *i4uiii 44 a clear meaning. Besides there appears to be a distinct allusion in the passage before us to Gen. xxxiv. 25. " Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly, and slew all the males." The rendering which I have adopted is given by Luther, " ihro Schwertcr sind morderische Waffen," i. e. their i words are violent weapotis, and in this translation he has been followed by Roscnmliller, DeWette and many others. " In their council enter not, my soul, in their cmemhly do not join, my heart." This refers to the planning of the daring project to kill the Sheche- mitcs. The Hebrew word ^i;^^ (kuvod) i. e. honour, glory, is in poetry often employed to denote the hea, t, i,nt. spirit, as the noblest part of man ; as for instance Psalm xvi. 9, " Therefore my heart is glad, and my spirit rejoiceth." The English version *' my glory rejoiceth," does not afford a clear meaning. Ilencc we find it fre- quently stand in parallelism wth heart, life or spirit. In the above passage, it is better to render it heart, as it stands in parallelism with soul. The Samaritan, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic versions have rendered the verbs in the past tense, for which there is no authority. In the original they have a future form, and as in the Hebrew prohibitions can only be expressed by a verb in the future preceded by the negative particle, the rendering of the English version : "come not thou;" " be not thou united," is not only quite admissible, but is thoroughly in accordance with the poetic style of the chapter. " For in their anger they slew a man, and in their wantonness they houghed an ox." The last clause of this passage is given in the English version : " and in their selfwill they digged down a wall," the translators must have read y^'^ (shur) i.e. a wall, instead of ^^^ (shor) i.e. an ox, adopting merely a different pointing of the word from that which exists in the present copies of the Hebrew Bible, in which they have evidently followed the Chaldee, Syriac, and Vulgate versions. There are, however, several objections to this emegdation. In the first place, there is no allusion, in the history to which it refers, to the digging down of any wall or to the destruction of the city, it is merely said " they spoiled " (i.e. plundered), the city." See Gen. xxxiv. 27. Secondly, the verb ip^ (akar) in the Piel conjugation occurs only in the sense to hough, to hamstring, i. e. to cut the back sinews of the legs of horses by which they are rendered useless, seo Josh. xi. 6, 9 ; • \ [illusion in n, Dinah's ity boldly, adopted is ffen," i. e. : has been "/n their 11/ heart." lO Sheche- lory, is in he noblest y heart is my glory ind it fre- In the stands in !id Arabic liich there and as in srb in the g of the 1," is not with the w a man, clause of ir selfwill ■ead -jTio ig merely le present r followed however, ), there is ; down of id "they Secondly, the sense le legs of xi. 6, 9 ; 45 2 Sam viii 4 ; 1 Chr. xviii. 4. It is therefore better to retain the present po.nt.ng of the word and render it by an o., wlLh i here employed figuratively to denote a man of distinction, nd refers Hamor the pnnce of the country, or Shechem hi.s son whon the two sons of Jacob induced to bo circumcised, and whii t tir s a ed fell upo. t em and slew them. We may remark hero, tl at bulls m several places m the Old Testament stand, figuratively fo nobles or great „ien, as for example, P«alm xxii. 13, (Eng. version verse 12 ) Psalm Ixviii 31, (Eng. ver. verse 30.) Man;co,nn ! tators take he nouns (Ish) i.e. a nutn, and (shor) J. a bullIu.ctwZ Some of them explam both to refer to the males of Shechem who were sla.n whilst others interpret the first noun only as ref.rrin. to the male population, and the second to that portion of the catti: Which Jacobs sons destroyed, as it was impossible to drive all a.vay The latter view is unquestionably the most rational if we translate the words in the plural. ^^In>m disperse them in Jacob I wai scatter them in Israel," i. e. I predict that they shall surJly be dispersed. The prophets, in order to give greatei force to their declarations, sometimes declare themselves to do what they merely predict will come to pass. So Ezekiel xliii. 8 : - When I came to destroy the city i.e. when I came to prophecy that the city nhould be destroyed. Somet-mes they are represented as performing what they only foretell ; as Isaiah vi. 10, "Make the heart of this people fat and make their ears dull, and close up their eyes ; lest they see with their eyes, &c. It must not be understood that the prophet was to do this by an act of his ministry, but merely that he speaks of the event as a fact which would sur; : . happen. * J^/'^'P'?'"^ °^ •^'^'^^ regarding Simeon and Levi was literally fulfilled. Simeon is not mentioned by Moses in his blessing of the twelve tribes, Deut. xxxiii. The portion which was assigned to this tribe was in the midst of that of the tribe of Judah, for we read, Joshua xix. 9, "Out of the portion of the children of J-^dah T?. ^°^f ^ance of the children of Simeon : for the part of the children of Judah was too much for them ; therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of them " According to 1 Chron. iv. 41-43, there was an emigration from thfs tribe, owing probably to the increase of the population of the tribe of Judah, which made those belonging to the tribe of Simeon give way to its superior strength. The tribe of Simeon at the tune of the exode, contained 69,800 men able to go forth to 1 / i t I 46 war, «eo Num. i. 22, 23, according to which it ranked third in number ; but before entering Paleotino its number was reduced to 22,200, see Num. xxvi. 14, which made it rank lowest of all the tribes. In the Jerusalem Targum the passage before us is paraphrased, " I will therefore disperse the tribe of Simeon, that they may become scribes and teachers of the law in the synagogues of Jacob, but the tribe of Levi I will divide, that they may preside in the assemblies among the sons of Israel." The Hebrews were also accustomed to say, that every poor scribe and schoolmaster was a Simeonite. The descendants of Levi were likewise dispersed among the other tribes, the forty-eight cities which were set apart for them being scattered over the whole land of Canaan, so that in their case also the prophecy of Jacob was fully consummated. The promptness of the sons of Levi in gathering themselves to Moses, when he stood at the gate of the camp and said, " Who is on the Lord's side ? let htm come to me," and the willingness which they evince' to execute his commands, converted their dispersion into a benefit and blessing, in having the honour of the priesthood bestowed upon them. Exod. xxxii. 26-29. 8. Judali ! thy brethren shall praise thee ; Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies ; The children of thy father shall bow down before thee. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah : From the prey, my son, thou hast gone up ; He bowed, he couched as a lion, And as a lioness ; who shall rouse him up ? 10. The sceptre snail not depart from Judah, And a lawgiver from between his feet Until Shiloh come ; And to Mm shall be the obedience of the nations. 11. Binding to the vine his foal, And his ass's colt to the choice vine ; He washes in wine his garments. And in the blood of grapes his vesture. 12. Sparkling are his eyes from wine. And white are his teeth from milk. > J \J -WwLir-*-.- I third in ■educed to of all the •aphrased, ly become b, but the issemblies stomed to lite. ; the other lem being ' case alsu nptnesa of 1 he stood sido? let to execute I blessing, a. Exod. ie. 47 nnilr; (y'huhah) i.e. Judah was tha fourth son of Jacob by Leah, the name signifies praise, derived from the verb nn 'jUOh) i.e. to praise. The reason why ho was so called is given in Gen. xx'ix. 35. "And she conceived again and bare a son: and she said, Now will I praise the Lord : therefore she called his name Judah." ''Thi/ brethren shall praise thee;" that is, they shall acknowledge thee as their superior, and honour thee for the high distinctions conferred upon thee. From Judah descended the royal house of David, and he was the progenitor, according to the flesh, of the Mesciah whose kingdom and power endureth for evei . Some commentators render the passage, " Thou art Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee," as if allusion were made to the signification of the name. The mean- ing would then be, Tht/ name is Judah, that is, praise, and ihy brethren shall praise thee. In this manner the learned Aben Ezra has interpreted the passage, " Judah art thou, according to thy name, and thus thy brethren shall praise thee." Certainly as the personal pronoun ntlift (attuh) thou, occurs in the text as well aa the pronominal suffix ^ (cha) i.e. thee, with the verb, the rendering Judah art thou, is quite admissible. Jacob unquestionably alludes to the meaning of his son's name ; this is sufficiently evident from tho paranomasia or play of words in the original, formed by Judah and praise thee (but which is lost in a translation,) and there is there- fore no necessity for adopting the latter rendering. The translation which I have given appears to me the most natural, and is quite in accordance with the usage of the Hebrew language, since we frequently meet with a pleonastic pronoun which is apparently employed merely for the sake of emphasis, but is not to be translated. See for instance, Gen. xxx. 26, ^^-^'^ ^^^ ^3 (ki attah yadata), literally, for thou, thou knowest, i. e. simply, thou knowest. Sec also Gen. xiv. 23, xlvii. 30. Exod. vii. 2. Josh. i. 6. Isaiah vU. 14, hii. 4, and thus many more examples might be pointed out. " Thy hand shall he on the neck of thine enemies." This refers to the victorious career of the tribe of Judah. It is a figurative expression denoting conquest, conveying the idea of a person flying, and the party pursuing putting his hand upon the shoulders of the fugitive to arrest his flight. In the reign of David the enemies of Judah were brought into complete subjection to him, and he evidently refers to this prophecy when he says, Psalm xviii. 41, (Eng. version, verse 40,) "And thou hast given mo the neck of mine i ( enemies. Onkelos, in his Targum, has given the sense rather than the literal translation; he renders the passage, "Thy hand shall prevail against thine enemies." " The children of thy father shall boto dozvnto thee," i.e. they shall pay to thee that respect and honour which are due to one who possesses the highest dignity. The fulfilment of this prophecy may be said to have begun tt the death of Joshua, when the tribe of Judah by the direct command of God took the precedence of the other tribes in the war against the Canaanites (see Judges i. 2) ; it was still more developed on Judah's assuming the sceptre in the person of David; but as a writer has well observed, " Its complete accomplishment was to be realised only niOhnst in that transcendant dignity with which he is invested as King of kings and Lord of lords." In Kevelations v. 5-8, we have a symbolical representation of its spiritual fulfilment, when the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David took the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb. The Hebrew verb ntlt (shacha) signifies both to how down, as before superiors to pay them respect and honour, and to how doxvn to worship God, and there can therefore be no objection to the spSua jnorpretation of the passage. A lion's whelp is Judah, J ll beautiM and striking figures drawn from the habits of the lion this amn^al being at once powerful, daring and imposing; hen "it has always been the emblem of warlike valour and'stren'g\h among the eastern nations. In the blessing of Judah, the figures prrenf trib^in' s";::* t'"^: '""^^^^^^ ^^ *^^ ^-^-^ growth' t": nbe m strong h and power. At first Judah is compared to a Uons whel^, indicating its infancy, and probably refers to th period of time when it first assumed the leadership of the other frbes Next he IS compared to a lion that bowed and couched down. Th^ Hebrew word n^li^ (arygh) denotes a full grown lion, one that has obtained its full vigour and strength. It is derived from the verb ^i^ Fc ces. In this figure, we evidently have depicted the reign of David who subdued many natioi.. and became a mighty monarch and Hke a ^r::^"^'"^ ^"r^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^'^-^^ fear,h'ebecl : whcl tit;:-"'f- ^"^^^' •^"'^^^ - compared' to a lioness Tvmch, satiated wxth her prey, composedly lies down in her den but whose rest, especially when with her youn^ no one m; ^rb ^th^ < > but 4 ' ^ 49 out suffering for his temerity. The figure evidently portrays the peaceful reign of Solomon, who in calm repose enjoyed, with the nation the fruit of David's victories, but who .would have dared to disturb that repose? In the English version the word j^i^i, (lavi) is rendered by " old lion," but Bochart rery properly supposes that the word denotes the lioness and not the male lion ; and Ge.onms assigns several cogent reasons for adopting the same view, as for instance "it being coupled with other names denoting a lion, where it can hardly be a mere synonym. That the passages in Job iv. 11, and xxxviii 39, and others, accord much better with the lioness than with a lion. It 13 very probable that Jerusalem may have received the appellation Ariel, i.e. the lio^ ' Gfod, from its having been the dwelling-place of David. See Isaiah xxix. 1 : « Woe to Ariel to Ariel, the city where David dwelled." -From the prey, my son thou hast gone up." There are some commentators who take the verb nb5 (alah) m the sense of to grow up, and render, from the prey my son, thou hast grown up, which would then refer to the great power which Judah should acquire by his conquests. But as the verb is generally used only in this sense in reference to plants and grass, 1 think it is better to attach to the verb here its JmZ Bigm&cation to go up; the expression will then refer to the lion's returning to his den in the mountains after having seized upon his prey, and applied to Judah, it would convey the idea, that he should ret^n victorious to his secure home with the spoils of his enemies, "m sceptre shall not depart from Judah, and a lawgiver from between h^sfeetunt^l Shiloh come ; and to him shall Be the ouLZ tlth r'' 1 .' '^''' '''"'' ^' ^"'^ '^' P-P^««« declaration that the empora dommion or preeminence of Judah, should not cease un il the fulness of time, when the Messiah shodd come to whom all nations should render homage. Although the pro phecy IS perfectly plain, yet there are not a few commentators who have endeavoured to construe it in such a manner as would entirdy divest It of Its Messiamc character ; and this they do by attaching to certain words in the original such meaning as will more readily favour their views. No doubt, the interpreters who cannot perceive m this oracle any allusion to a Messiah, have come to that conclusion after a careful investigation of the subject, and with minds un- biased by preconceived opinions, for I cannot believe that in a matter of such vital importance to themselves-to the whole race of I fallen men,— there could be any one so reckless as stubbornly to close his eyes to the light of truth. And yet it is certain that the pro- phecy admits of but one interpretation ; which then is th? correct one : the Messianic or the anti-Messianic ? To give a sal isfactory reply to this question, it will be necessary in the first place to turn to the original, in order to investigate the true meaning of the words employed ; secondly, to examine which interpretation agrees best with the context, and thirdly, to consult the various versions that we may see what were the opinions of the different translators from time to time. The first word that we have to consider is t:^^ (shevSt) the primary meaning of which is a staff, a rod. But this like very many other Hebrew words, has various significations, which are deduced from the primary meaning ; thus it denotes a shepherd's crook, a staff of office, as of a leader, and hence also a sceptre of a king It denotes also a tribe, a signification which probably became attached to the word from the circumstance recorded in Numbers xvii., when Moses was commanded to speak to the children of Israel and to take of every one of them a rod, according to the house of their fathers ; of all their princes according to their fathers, twelve rods ; (which rods corresponded with the number of tribes), and to write every man's name upon his rod. These rods Moses laid up in the tabernacle, and it was afterwards perceived that Aaron's rod had budded. Now as these rods represented the tribes, it is not unlikely that the Hebrew word for rods came also to signify tribes. Some Jewish writers take the word here in its primary signification, and render ''the rod shall not depart from Judah," which they ex- plain that the Jews shall be an oppressed and aflicted people until the Messiah shall come. But this certainly cannot be the meaning • the context altogether forbids such an exposition, since the text speaks of the rule A,aich the tribe of Judah should exercise, and not of a foreign rule. It speaks of Judah under the figure of a lion a. going forth tc prey upon foreign nations, and not of foreign nations preying upon Judah. Bush takes the word in the sense of tribe, but regards It here as equivalent to tribeship, "implying that the tribe of Judah should continue as a tribe, and continue in the exercise of its wonted tribal authority till the coming of the Messiah, however the other ten tribes might be scattered by conquest or captivity." Of course it would bo altogether incongruous to say, the tribe shall ff ;t rnly to close bat the pro- thi correct saiisfactory ace to turn if the words igrees best srsions that translators a (shevi?t) t this like ons, which shepherd's ?eptre of a )ly became I Numbers L of Israel, le house of jrs, twelve 5s), and to ies laid up aron's rod I, it is not lify tribes. nificatioDj 1 they ex- iople until meaning ; I the text !, and not a lion as n nations tribe, but le tribe of 3ise of its however iptivity." nbe shall ^' 51 not depart from Judah, and for attaching to the word the meaning of tribeship there is no authority whatever. The true meaning of the word in this place is no doubt sceptre, as it is rendered in the English version, and I do not see the slightest reason for departing from that translation, as it is frequently used in this sense, as every Hebrew scholar well knows, and it perfectly agrees with the context. 'p^n)V\ (um'chokek) ; this word has also been variously translated. Onkelos in his Targum renders it by i^'-iio (saphra) i.e. scribe. In the Jerusalem Targum it is translated by skilful teachers of the laiv ; in the Syriac version, by an interpreter; in the Septuagint, by ^yovfievof i.e. a leader; in the Vulgate, by dux i.e. a leader; and in the English version, by a law- giver. The proper way to decide which of these various translations is correct, is to examine in what sense the word is employed in other parts of the Old Testament, which will leave us only the option between the renderings given in the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, and that given in our authorised version, and I consider it of but little importance which of the two we adopt, although I should prefer that of the latter, since that of the former is already implied by the expression, "sceptre." The Hebrew word is the participle Fiel, but is used substantively, which is very common in the Hebrew. It denotes, 1st. a lawgiver, as Deut. xxxiii. 21^ Isaiah xxxii. 22. "For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our lawgiver," &c. 2nd. A leader, as Judges v. 14, " Out of Machir (the name of the son of Manasseh, and father of Gilead, but is here employed poetically to denote that portion of Manasseh which inhabited Gilead beyond Jordan) came down rulers, (English version, "governors") but in the sense of scribe, skilful teacher, or interpreter, it is no where used in the Old Testament. " From between his feet," this is a metaphorical expression, denoting /rom his seed or from his offspring, (for a similar expression see Deut. xxviii. 57), and is rendered in the Targum of Onkelos, as well as in the Jerusalem Targum, by "from his children's children." According to the Samaritan Pentateuch, the phrase reads, ^'from between his standards,*' reading "ii^^t (daglav) i.e. his standards, instead of T'b5'n_(raglav) i.e. his feet, a diflferent rendering which had its origin no doubt in the great similarity of the first letter of both words. This reading has however not been followed by any other version. >.sS4^2 n' (I I 62 The word that comes next under our consideration is ri^i^jj (shiloh) i.e. pacificator, which has called forth a great deal of dis- cussion, both as regards its meaning and application in this place Some Jewish commentators have taken the word shiloh as the name of the city mentioned in Joshua xviii. 1, 1 Sam. iv. 3, 12, and in many other places, and translate the passage " until he come to Shiloh," which they explain, that Judah should have precedence until there should come a king out of Judah to renew the kingdom of Shiloh which is near Shechem. The fulfilment of this they find in Rehoboam the son of Solomon coming to Shechem where all Israel had assembled to make him king, but on his refusing to listen to their prayer to lighten their yoke, acting rather upon the advice of young men who had grown up with him, than upon the advice of the old men who stood before his father, the ten tribes rebelled against him, and invited Jeraboam the son of Nebat of the tribe of Ephraim to be their king. See 1 Kings xii. The pro::imity of Shiloh to Shechem they establish from Joshua xxir., where it is said in the first verse, that "Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem," and in the twenty-sixth verse, that " he took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord," which according to Judges xxi 19, was then at Shiloh. The words " unto him shall be the obedience of the nations," they explain by the subjection of the surrounding nations to Solomon, and of Israel's assembling at Shechem to crown Rehoboam. Against the above mode of interpreting the passage, we may in the first place remark, that although the ten tribes did throw off their allegiance to the house of David, it cannot be said that the sceptre departed from Judah. Rehoboam and his successors werg as much kings after the rebellion of the ten tribes as before ; all that can be said is, that their dominion was greatly curtailed by that event. And, after all, the kingdom of Judah was by no means insignificant, as it embraced, besides the tribe of Judah which in itself was very large, also the tribe of Benjamin, and the priests and Levites who rallied around the house of David. Rehoboam could still muster "a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men which were warriors," (see 1 Kings xii. 21.) which he would have led against the ten tribes in order to bring them again under his sway, had he not received a message from the Lord through She- maiah a prophet, commanding him to desist from his design. ^^^" ion ia Hi'^tp t deal of dis- in this place. as the name 3, 12, and in he come to precedence the kingdom lia they find, m where all refusing to ler upon the lan upon the be ten tribes ^ebat of the From Joshua gathered all ■sixth verse, an oak, that Judges xxi. lie obedience 3urrounding Shechem to , we may in id throw oif lid that the essu.rs were before; all lurtailed by y no means ih which in the priests Rehoboam hosen men, rould have 1 under his :ough She- lis design. Shechem and not to S hiloh ,? TT' ■" "''"''"'»"' <^™'' " As for the .alleged p o.im'of It' " "'"""'"' ^''■"""'»- altogether toe UuTZt;^:;'^^-:"^: '"^IT^ " which mark the ancient site of •il7y The rmns of Seilon miles from Shechem rColis and „1 "" "' ''^"" "'° " '»-'™ commentator., form their s™„^' v 1 '""'•• "P™ ""^ "-"e tla< the t,vo place, ^trnZ" '^ oXr 'Th^: 'T 'f^'' no doubt at Shiloh and ,> ,•« «-. n . ■'^"® tabernacle waa delivered his last cCrg th^praT^hf h"' '""'"l' '''" '"'™« which ho set np there' for a tS ;; nndtr^aLtaVtlT 'T the sanctuary of the Lord. Here ia » dm™ 7. ?■ , """ ™' ""^ over by merely asserting that the .1 * "'^"'' '"""" ""^ «« that any thing'done in'one ^lat m^rLTh " t" 'T"'°'' the other. It apnears to m. fl^fA ^ ° '"""' ''"" done in ~re «atisfac.oj;5;™ ,:rn:fh;?;;rr.^^^^^^^^^^^ '» '- «fc Z.r» which wa. by!he sanctn:;'^* ttr: Tof rh:^:!,^ "". °"^ wh,ch would have been a direct violation of ,? • • "^ " "°^" "• God, Deut. ;tvi. 21, 22. " Thon S, . , '"•'°°'"'''° 8"'" ^ tree near unto the 'altar of the Wd IrO^^Vr t «"™ °' =°^ thee. Neither shalt thou ^.^'^ ^ ^m ' "''"''' "">" ^""a" "ake God hateth." t';:'^ Lt:rr:;ih: j"'' "^ 'r "■' trary, were generally situated in a ;rr r d r n^ "' "°- Other commentators attach .„ the word Wi,„- fshU^°u,e signifi. - i.> the promised land, wtt '.fhS S^wX^r: f^^ A 54 him to receive their own portion. But the argument which we have above adduced agamst the former exposition applies with equal force to this one. Judah did not lay aside the sceptre when they took possession of the land of Canaan. And further, according to this interpretation the words, ^^ unto him shall he the obedience of the nations would be altogether meaningless. Again, there are others who understand by the word rib^^s (shiloh), the Messiah, and inter- pret the passage, that the dominion should not cease from the post- crity of Judah until the Messiah should come, who should establish a kingdom which would have no end. This is no doubt the true import ot the phrase before us, and harmonizes beautifully with the other parts of the prophecy. The word nb^p (shiloh) is derived from the verb nbip (shalah), i.e. to be at rest, and signifies one that gives rest, or peace, and thus is synonymous to aibUJ ^t? (sar shalom) i.e. prince of peace, one of the titles applied to'the Messiah, Isaiah ix. 5. Gescnius acknowledges that he formerly had attached this meaning to the w-ord, but without assigning any reason for changing his opinion he now gives in his Hebrew Lexicon the meanhig m« tranquillity, which he explains that "Judah shall not lay aside the sceptre of a leader, until he shall have subdued his enemies and obtained dominion over many nations." He, however, admits that the passage applies to the Messiah, for he goes on to say, '« referrine to the expected kingdom of the Messiah who was to spring from the tribe of Judah." This admission of Gesenius is somewhat important, since his views upon other Messianic passages in the Old Testament are far from being always orthodox. The ancient versions seem to have regarded the term ri^i^ (shiloh) as compounded of ^ (she) the fragment of itf j^ (fisher) the relative pronoun, and n'b (lob) for ^5 (lo), i.e. to him, and render, "to whom it belongs," or "whose It is," i.e. the authority implied by the term sceptre. The copies from which they translated must have had the form nb©, that 13 without the letter n (jod), a reading which is found in twenty- eight Jewish manuscripts, and in all the manuscripts of the Samaritan text. In most Hebrew manuscripts, however, and in almost all editions, the word is written with the letter i (jod) which very probably is the correct form. But whilst there exists a diversity of opinions regarding the import of this particular word, It IS at least highly satisfactory to find that a greater agreement > ! .(*■ 55 > * ■ i* exists in the application of the whole passage, as it is almost uni- versally admitted, that its real meaning is, that the dominion shall not cease from the tribe of Judah, until the Messiah shall come. In the Septuagint, which is the oldest version of the Bible, the passage in question is rendered, "A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader out of his loins, until the things come to airo- Keifiem auT(fi, i.e. which are laid up for him," according to some manuscripts, and according to others, w uTroKeiTai, i.e. "for whom it is laid up." Some of the fathers might well have racked their brains in endeavouring to make sense of this obscure translation, for it would be no easy matter to say with certainty, what is to be understood by the word things, which is not in the Hebrew text. It would appear that the author or authors of this version read nbffi (sheloh) for ib^ (shclo), literally, which is to him, and rendered freely, ''Avhich are laid up for him," supplying as an ellipsis, "the things," which neither makes sense, nor is it grammatical, as the verb yjSI ( javo), i.e. " he shall come," is in the singular. But obscure as this rendering is, we nevertheless can perceive in it an evident allusion to the coming of the Messiah. By the expres- sion "until the things come which are laid up," or "reserved for him, " may probably be meant the l„;i V" °"'^'^«'^9 that they render it impossible tp^t ^ ti';: ft" °' ^'^ ''^^^^'^^' ^ *° they knew that the Ch4tian7„ ej rCh'^^V'^ "''°"^^ most assuredly have deprived their „,l *°.^^"^^' ""^ they would been in their power to do o 1 ha? h "?"'' f ^''^ ^^°°^ ^^'^ ^' of surprise to me, that any Jewish !°''' ''^' ^''"^ " °^^"^^ the boldness to advance an intl.T"''"''*^' ^^°"^^ ^^^« ^^d and established authority '"'''''^'''^''''^ ^PPosed to this ancient The Jerusalem Targum, another CUia touch, and which, as alreadv «7n^ T "^''''^^ ^^ ^'^^ I'^'^ta- written about the sixth century if nof:„'' '"PP°'^^ *° ^^^^^ been prets this passage of th ecomin'^^f tho 2?- .""^ ''^"^^^ ^'^*«^- shall not fail from the housl oP T ? u ''^' ''''^ ''''^'''' " Kings law from his children ch Idren unti ! ' T ^'"''^^ *^^^^-^ ^^ the come, whose is the kingd m and "ti ,, ™' '^'' '^' ^'"^ ^^^^'^h The Samaritan ^enf:Z:''t;tT^: Tt f^" ''''''" exception of its reading "from w . Hebrew, with the of "from between his ffk" '"''''' ^"^ standards," instead 4 z:^, ^f:;;irr:rt t ''-'''- '- ^^^ ^- Bible, the passage is translated -It ? '^T'^^^ons of the Judah, nor an interpreter or exnound! . T' '^'" "°* ^^^ f^'O'" whose it is, and forU^nXst; ^i " t'-^"^^ '' ^^^ probably made in the latter part of th! 7 ' '"'''"'' ^'^^ earlier part of the third centm^ '''° ''''*"'^' "^ *^« *— ^ttffeZ:^^:-^ j-^r eentu,, stii-rw^t^^^^^^^^^ ^ ^-^^^^r ut^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In the Vulgate version the word ri«inW UW^ k^ • mittendu, ..t " t . ^ ^ ^"^^ '" rendered « qui Fro» .he forego., ,„„..tie.s of U.e diffe J verl, i. «„ i. 4 < i ( i < 1 i i 6t to aeo .ddUional opini™ i I ,''r; ""^'o '»'»« ">>» >'<>"« lite Rabbiniral writer- ma„v „V f ^ " '" I'-'Wions from the view3up„„the;„yeoTbeLe J lrTT"f "•'f"=" '" '"- /"'• 9S, »(. 1, we r ad " Eabbi Mila ""t,^"'""''' "•"" Sa„Mn„, the son of Simeon, said, thol^ji: '" ^° ""■"" "f ""bW Elea.ar not eon,e until all' the judg ani fnll <'''- r""" *'''"'"'') " <><>« opinion was no doubt fo„„L I """' ^""° ^"•"'^■" This plainly, he says in ht btk TV l"''™ ®'''"' ="'"''» ".ore on the five books of M^s t 59 Rabb. Beohai in his commentary these we might eiteoZiLK ''"'■''''*'''' ™^''"' besides n.anides, fe.f b„t ts" w 1 slm^ST'T'"' " ''"""• N""-- from the Christian eormen,!tl T' ''f "''''""S'" *<^^ '»'«■" Fopheey,theyatIeasrgre„lth"hel !° ''""''""' "' ""^ no where in the Old T.., . • ^ «"«»«, oceurs certainty what iZlZZ^^'Z"- ^^^ - f^™^"^ "•"" word ig rendered hy ^pocrSoJ \l /"/^« Septuagint the ^^ulgate .:.;,,,,«,,•,, 4nd he shaH b " ^ '"^^^''^^^''«' ^"^^ «o in the The translators must hal t . ?\'''P'"*"*^°" ^^*^« ^^tions.'' from the verb ^ip (kawal Tk *'«' ^"' '"^^ ^ "'^"'^ ^-^ved B-heproper',!^:::^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ -V.. ^a^^W, see Job v. 16; Prov xxiii 18 R W^o '^'' ''^'" «d he, .3 altogether arbitrary, for i„ .ha. 0.3, ft, „„, „ ^ nations shall wait," a traTsl^:; wS rjl^r/""''" ''' -anmg as .ha. given in .he Be^^^f^Z^^^l:;^ i 58 decidedly preferable, as it is not open to the last objection advanced a^jdinst tho others. Still, if we admit this translation, we must suppose the word in question to bo derived from a verb f^np (kahath), signifying to vjait, which does not exist, at least not in any PIcbrew writings now extant, and to derive it from the verb nip (kavah),i.e. to wait, then the regular form of tho third pers. future masc. Piel would bo nip"^ (y'kavwe.) Onkelos in his Chaldee version has rendered the word by " shall obey, " as " and him the nations shall obey," a signification which ho could only have obtained by deriving the word from the Arabic verb ^ij (wakiha), i.e. to obey. In the Samaritan Pentateuch we have the reading iJnnp"^ (yikhatu), that is, the third pers. maac. plur. fut. which is tho proper form, as it is followed by a plural subject. In the Samaritan translation* the word is rendered by "liHtiifri (yithnagg'dun), i.e. thci/ shall stand before, as "and tho nations shall stand before him." This is siin^lar to the rendering which is given in the English version, " and unto him shall the gathering of the people be ;" only that the translators have taken the wovd as a noun. Many of the Jewish commentators have likewise translated the word by gathering, as for example, Rabbi Solomon Jaichi, Eben Ezra. In adopting the translation shall gather, we must regard the word as derived from the Chaldee verb nnD (k'hah), i.e. to gather, or suppose that such a verb as jnnp (kahSth), having the meaning to gather at one time existed, which would then have been synonymous with the verb ^np (kahai), i.e. to call together, to assemble, the verb commonly employed. Or it may be that the letter ^ (lamed) has been changed into ^ (tav), as letters belonging to the same organ are sometimes exchanged for one another, although the commutation of these two letters is by no means ordinary. If we render it with the English version, the gathering, then the wo rd has the regular construct form of T\'s^Ti'^, a noun which may b i derived from the Chaldee verb above given. Now, as the deriv.- tion of the word is i * It 13 neoessnry to observe here, that the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Samaritan version are not the same. The former is merely the Hebrew Pentateuch in Samaritan letters, differing-, however, in many instances in its readings from the Hebrew text. The latter is a translation of the Hebrew into the Samaritan dialect. Its author and age are both unknown, although there are some who ascribe it to one Nathaniel, a Pontiff who lived a little before Christ, and had great iafluence amouK tho Samaritans. 1 I 1 m 6y uncertain, and the context in this instance fails to rruide us in detem.mng Its meaning here, perhaps Prov. xxx. 17, Ly in some measure assist us m assertaining its true sense, being the only other place m the Old Testament where it oeeurs. We read there, ''Th 1 that mocketh at a father, and despiseth Ci* nnp-'b (Hk'hath em) the obedience of a mother," i.e. due to a mother (English version to obey ?ns mother), ''the ravens of the valley shall pick it ou"' Here we have precisely the same word, the preEx b (iL^) not in the least affect.ng u. The question now is what is the prop r .ean.ng of the word here? It cannot be ''„•. "'f even if it were suitable here, it cannot, as we ha-, shown have that meaning in the other place. The ren^erinr,;;a//3' .ould not at all do We, neithe'r would that :^::^ t^ 2 that of shall ffather. The meaning gathering would likewise not be em able, although Rabbi Jarchi attaches thisinse to it a rende, "the gathering of his mother," i.e. the u^rinkles on I er face bu this IS a thread spun a little too fine, since we cannot Jaslv conceive why any one should dispise the wrinkles of a moth r^ Again It cannot have here the- meaning shall obey, and as to the rendering given in the English version, " .. obe.r fhough i wol make good sense here, it certainly would not make seLe in the other place. Besides, if the word be a verb at all, it then has the form of the third pers. fut. sing, masc. I think there can be ittl doubt, but that ^r,^. (yikhath) is here a noun signifying o J.W and 13 probably derived from the Arabic verb (wakiha) ie to ohey. This signification of the word is Hkewise suitable in the cither place, and I can therefore see no reason why it should not be rendered m both places alike. It is true, the application of th prophecy is not m the least affected, no matter which of the above interpretations of the word before us we adopt, a. they all, with S . n,"f ^ '' '}' ^^'^^"^' ^^^ '^ ^^ '"^^y -« «" equally fulfilled; still he reader will agree with me, that it is hardly con^ sistent to translate a word in one place as a noun and in another place as a verb, as the authors of the English version have done in these instances, and every Hebrew scholar will admit that the Hebrew words are one and the same in both places Although most of the Jewish commentators agree with the Christian expositors in interpreting this prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, they most ..renuously deny, on the other hand its i I 60 h«rlA§ been fulfilled in the coming of Christ, but still look for its flonsncQiiNitiop. But in thia they are moat assuredly mistaken : if the {-('jp-fcecy speaks of the comi/ip; of the Messiah at all, then ho must ba'Vft vJrf'ady come. Whatever mean'ing is attached to the word tJ^ttJ (ahovcA whether it bo rendered scc/'^re, dominion., tribe, or whether all these meanings bo combined in the word in the passage before us, they have indeed all departed from Judah. Where is now its sceptre, its dominion, its leader, or the tribe of Judah itself? Lot any one go into the synagogues in London, Paris, or any other city in the world, and ask the Jews assembled there to what tribe they belong, tho universal reply will be, "We do not know;" or should they pretend to know, they cannot adduce the slightest proof of it. The departing of the sceptre from the tribe of Judah was to mark the advent of the Messiah ; and as this authority has departed, we have only to inquire when that event took place, which will exactly bring us to the time of Christ. At the time when the angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were tending their flocks in the field, and announced to them the glad tidings that '' unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour , which is Christ the Lord," Herod, who was neither of the house of David nor of the tribe of Judah, but a foreigner, was king of Jerusalem ; he also was tributary to the Romans, and his power greatly limited. When his two sons, Aristobulus and Alexander, conspired against him, he could not himself condemn them, but was obliged to accuse them before Augustus. The same was the case when Antipator, his eldest son by Doris, conspired to poison him : Herod pleaded his cause before Varo', who transmitted tho proceedings to Rome ; and it was only after he had obtained leave from the Roman Emperor that he could punish his rebellious son. This vassalage becomes even more clearly apparent in the successors of Herod the Great ; for we find Herod II>, or Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Persr % at Rome, soliciting the emperor to bestow the whole kingdom upon him, according to the first will of his father. Archelaus, who assumed the administration of the government provisionally at Jerusalem aft«r m father's death, did not presume to mount the throne of his ^^*}' ■ z.ii'il hct obtained the sanction of Augustus, although the so'-'is;.* hf^A ioroclaimed him king, and the city of Jericho had offei C'i ' ;;. o. crown. Wi n those concerned in Herod's first will appear ect leforo ^he tribunal of Augustus to plead their cause, \ 61 and Antipas's counsellors charged ^rchelau3 wif^ having anticipated the emperor's decision by assuming the crown, the lattci" foil at the feet of the emperor, and in that humiliating p-^sition implored his jw o- tection. The emperor, being moved by this act of submission, made him Tetrarch of Judca, Samaria, and Idumea, but only promised to raise him co the dignity of king if he made himself worthy of it by his vir'.jc : or, as Ruflinus will have it, if his Sfrvicea dcscrrrd it. But A/chelaii' Tuade himself \c:y obnoxious by the many acts of violence and tyranny which he committed, for he would not even spare the high priests ; and upon the great men of the nation complaining of his conduct at Rome, he was deposed and banished to Viennn, his estate confiscated, and that part of Judea which was under his government reduced to a province, and ruled by governors, wlin were sent thither and recalled at the pleasure of tlie emperors of Rome. At the same time the power of life and death was taken from the Sanhedrim and vested in th-) Roman governor — a piwer which they had always possessed, even under the kings of Egypt and Syria ; and therefore when the Jews replied to Pilate, " It is not lawful for us to put any man to death," (John xviii. 31), they in fact acknowledged that the sceptre had departed from Judah. Hero then, we have the literal fulfilment of the prophecy of the patriarch Jacob, delivered 1G89 years previously. Ilerod the Great was the first king of Judea that was subject to the Roman empire, and his successors continued so until the destruction of Jerusalem, when the tribe of Judah was invoK'cd in the samd calamity with the rest of the tribes, who were then scattered over the whole face of the earth. They indeed still exist as a distinct people, but without any power of self-government, subject to the laws of tho lands in which they dwell ; and even in this more enlightened age, they are i.. many countries subjected to tho most unwarrantable and tyrannical treatment. In the time of Herod the Great, Christ was born ; and that the chief priests and scribes must have considered this to be about tho time when the Messiah was to appear, is evident from the reply they gave to Herod upon his asking them where Christ should be born. They did not allay his fears by assuring him that the time had not yet arrived, but toW him, " In Bethlehem of Judea," and in support of Lheir assertion they solemnly quoted the prophecy which forctels the coming of a ruler out of Bethlehem that shall rule over tho people of Israel. That the Jews at that time c jvoectL he Messiah » ■■■■-■ Q Ma_ *^ "'TTlinlinfliiiiBi^"Ti'" 62 may further be inferred from the questions which the priests and leviteg who were sent from Jerusalem put to John, when they asked him, "Who art thou?" and when he confessed that he was not the Christ, they asked him whether he was Elias ; for the Jews believed, from the declaration contained in Malachi iv. 5, that Elias was to come down from heaven to usher in the advent of the Mes- siah. In some of the Rabbinical writings it is indeed distinctly stated that Elias was to come three days before the Messiah should appear Thus, for instance, in the commentary Jalkut Shimoni on the book of Isaiah,/^;. 53, col 3, numb. 337, we read, "at the time when the blessed holy God redeems Israel, three days before the Messiah appears, Elias comes and stands upon the mountains of Israel," &c. We might adduce many more proofs which tend to show that the Jews really expected the Messiah just about the time when Christ came into the world ; but we shall only refer to one more, and that IS the general belief entertained by them that the world was to last MOO years-namely, 4,000 from the creation to the coming of the Messiah, and 2,000 after his advent. This opinion is set flth by many Jewish writers. In the Talmud, tract Sanhedrim, fol. 97 col. 1, we read, " The world will exist 6,000 years-namely, 2 000 years emptiness or wasteness (which Rabbi Solomon interprets oT ttrM r ' ^'T ''''' '' *'^ ^^^' ^'' ''''' years theTay of the Messiah This notion is also set forth in the tract Avoi Aara,fol. 9, col. 1, and upon which Rabbi Solomon comments in his commentary as follows: «It is ordained that the world should la 6000 years, after the number of the days of the week, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath, and in the seventh thousand years h world rests. As to the first 2000 years, it was appointed Lt th y should be waste and wuhout the law; and 2000 were to be the day^ of the law, and 2000 years the days of the Messiah." The reader must not suppose that I attach the least importance to this Jewish notion; I have merely referred to it, to show that the Jew Te- heved that at the end of 4000 years from the creation, the Messiah was to come. It was about that time, that Christ of the lineage of Judah was born who attested that he was the true Messiah by hi spotless life his profound wisdom, by his performing mirLle which showed that the elements were under his control, and that h had the power of restoring the spirit to the lifeless body; and by laying down his own life, and rising again from the dead on the priests and when they hat he was )r the Jews , that Elias f the Mes- distinctly liah should ^himoni on It the time before the )untain3 of w that the ben Christ I, and that vas to last ing of the t forth by I, fol. 97, ely, 2,000 interprets 3 the days let Avoda 3nts in his hould last )ut on the years the that they the days he reader lis Jewish Jews be- J Messiah ineage of ah by his miracles d that he ; and by d on the ^ f > 68 third day. It is folly for the Rabbles to say now that the Messiah did not come at the expiration of the 4000 years on account of their manifold sins; this is merely imposing upon themselves that they may impose upon others ; they know full well, and believe it too, that the Messiah was to come to save a fallen world, so that the depravity of the Jews or of the world in general could have been no obstacle. But the Messiah has come, and the reason why the Jewish nation would not acknowledge him is given bj Isaiah vi. 9, 10. "Go, ond thou shalt say unto this people ; Hear ye indeed, but understand not ; See yo indeed, but perceive not. Make fat (i.e. dull) the heart of this people, And heavy its ears, and close up its eyes ; Lest it shall see with its eyes, and hear with its ears. And understand with its heart, and be converted • And there is healing* to it (i.e. and shall be healed.") I have already Stated that the prophets are sometimes represented as performing what they merely foretel ; and the meaning of the passage therefore is, that the people of Israel should indeed hear, but would not understand, ajid sec, but would not perceive; for they have hardened their hearts, and made their ears heavy, and closed their eyes, lest they should see, hear, and understand, and be converted and their sins he forgiven. This prophecy our Saviour himself declares (Matth. xiii. 14, 15,) was fulfilled by the Jews stubbornly rejecting his divine doctrines, and by disregarding the miracles which he performed in attestation that he was truly the Messiah. Some commentators have urged that Christ could not have been the Shiloh, since the sceptre had departed from Judah about 500 years before his birth ; for there was neither a king of the tribe Judah during the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity, nor was there a king of that tribe after their return from exile, but the direction of the internal administration of the country devolved upon the high priests, who were at the same time chief magistrates. In replying to this objection, I shall Lot follow the footsteps of St. Cyril, who, in writing against Julian the Apostate, gives to Zerub- babel, a prince of the house of David and leader of the first colony of Jews on their return from exile, a long posterity to succeed him _ * The expression