it is worthy of remark, that the character and complexion of Hebrew poetry have been very competently preserved in that body of Greek translations, composed at different times, by different persons, and known under the name of the Septua gint version. Nor should it be omitted, that the Hebraic parallelism occurs also, with much variety, in the Apocrypha : the book of Ecclesiasticus, for example, is composed of pure parallelisms: the book of Wisdom, too, affords fine specimens of this manner, though it is commonly overlaid by the exuberant and vicious rhetoric of the Alexandrine Platonists; while, not to mention other parts of the Apocryphal writings, in Tobit and the books of Maccabees there are examples both of lyric and didactic poetry, clothed in parallelisms which will hardly shrink from comparison with several in the genuine Hebrew Scriptures. One other fact remains: namely, that in the sententious formula of the Rabbinical writers, the manner of Hebrew poetry is frequently observed, with much accuracy, though with a manifest declension of spirit.' This passage is taken from Proverbs iii. 11, 12.: thus rendered in our authorized translation: My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord: In this last line the parallelism is completely spoiled. But Bp. Jebb shows, Even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. For, whom JEHOVAH loveth, he chasteneth, But scourgeth the son in whom he delighteth. In the corrected version of this quatrain, the parallelism is not only preserved, but there is also a beautiful climax in the sense, both of which are excellently illustrated by Bp. Jebb. 2. Quotations of a more complex kind, in which fragments and wrought up into one connected or consistent whole. are combined from different parts of the Poetical Scriptures, Of this class of quotations, the following is a short but satisfactory My house shall be called the house of prayer for all the nations; This antithetical couplet is composed of two independent passages, very remotely connected in their subject matter; of which the first stands in the Septuagint version of Isaiah lvi. 57. exactly as it is given above from Saint Mark's Gospel. The substance of the second line occurs in the prophet Jeremiah. (vii. 11.) μη σπηλαιον λήσων ὁ οικος μου ; ο βάθος πλούτου, και σοφίας, και γνώσεως Θεου Such being the fact, we are authorized by analogy to expect a similar parallelism in the New Testament, particularly when the nature of that portion of the Holy Scriptures is considered. It is a work supplementary to and perfective of the Old Testament; composed under the same guidance that superintended the composition of the latter; written by native Jews, Hebrews of the Hebrews,-by men whose minds were moulded in the form of their own Sacred Writings, and whose sole stock of literature (with the exception of Paul, and probably also of Luke and James) was comprised in those very writings. Now, it is improbable in the extreme, that such men, when they came to write such a work, should, without any assignable motive, and in direct opposition to all other religious teachers of their nation, have estranged themselves from a manner, so pervading the noblest parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, as the sententious parallelism. But we are not left to analogical reasoning. The Greek style of the New Testament leads us to expect a construction similar to that which we find in the Old. The New Testament, as we have already shown,2 is not written in what is termed strictly classical Greek, but in a style of the same degree of purity as the Greek which was spoken in Macedonia, and that in which Polybius wrote his Roman History. From the intermixture of Oriental idioms and expressions with those which are properly Greek, the language of the New Testament has been termed Hellenistic or Hebraic Greek. The difference in style and manner which subsists between the writers of the New Testament and the Greek classic authors is most strongly marked: and this difference is not confined to single words and combination of words, but pervades the whole structure of the composition: and in frequent instances, a poetical manner is observable, which not only is not known, but would not be tolerated, in any modern production, purOn this passage Bishop Jebb remarks, that, although the quotation is porting to be prose. This poetical style has been noticed not always so uniformly direct as in the preceding example, yet the marks briefly by Boecler, Ernesti, Michaelis, Schleusner, Dr. Camp-of imitation are unquestionable; the probable sources of imitation are nubell, and other critics, and also by the author of this work, merous; the continuity of the parallelism is maintained unbroken: and the in the first edition; but none of these writers were aware, to style, both of thought and of expression, is remarkable alike for elegance, animation, and profundity. He supposes the apostle to have had the fol how great an extent it pervades the New Testament. It was lowing texts (which are given at length by Dr. J.) present in his recollection, reserved for Bishop Jebb, to whose "Sacred Literature" this when composing this noble epiphonema; Psal. xxxvi. 6. Job xi. 7, 8. v. 9. chapter is so deeply indebted, to develope the existence of the xxxvi. 22, 23. Jer. xxiii. 18. Isa. xl. 13. 15. Job xxiii. 18. and xli. 2. "The first line proposes the subject: poetical parallelism in the New Testament, and to place its numerous beauties in a point of view equally novel and delightful to the biblical student. The proofs of the existence of the poetical dialect in the New Testament, are disposed by this critic under the following four divisions, viz.;-1. Simple and direct quotations in the New Testament, of single passages from the poetical parts of the Old Testament;-2. Quotations of a more complex kind, when fragments are combined from different parts of the poetical Scriptures, and wrought up into one connected whole; and, 3. Quotations mingled with original matter. We shall give one or two examples of each of these proofs. 1. Simple and direct Quotations of single passages from the poetical parts of the Old Testament, in which the parallelism has been preserved by the writers of the New Testament. και συ Βηθλεεμ, γη Ιουδα, ουδαμως ελάχις και εν τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν Ιούδα ὅσις ποιμάνει τον λαόν μου τον Ισραηλ. ὡς ανεξερεύνητα τα κρίματα αυτού, και ανεξιχνίασοι αἱ όλοι αυτου τις γαρ εγνω νουν Κυρίου; η τις συμβουλος αυτού ελεύετο, η τις προεδωκεν αυτῳ ; και ανταποδοθήσεται αυτῳ ; O the depth of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable are his judgments; And untraceable his ways! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath first given unto him, Rom. xi. 33-35. O the depth of the riches, and the wisdom, and the knowledge of God! "The notion of depth, as a quality attributed alike to God's riches, and wisdom, and knowledge, is first expanded in the next couplet: How inscrutable are his judgments; Or who hath first given unto him, "Let, now, the most skilfully executed cento from the heathen classics be compared with this finished scriptural mosaic of St. Paul: the former, however imposing at the first view, will on closer inspection infallibly betray its patchwork jointing and incongruous materials; while the latter, like the beauties of creation, not only bears the microscope glance, but, the more minutely it is examined, the more fully its exquisite organization is disclosed. The fathers, also, often quote and combine Scripture: let their complex quotations be contrasted with those of the apostle; the result may be readily anticipated."s Sacred Literature, pp. 98. 109--113.-In pp. 99-108. other examples are given, with suitable philological illustrations. • Ibid. p. 114. Ibid. pp. 114. 117. 120. Other examples of complex quotations are given in pp. 121-123. The first line of this passage is literally taken from the Septuagint ver sion of Joel ii. 32., the next quotation is original, and affords an exact, though somewhat peculiar specimen of parallelism, its composition nearly resem. bling that of the logical sorites, in which the predicate of each preceding line becomes the subject of the line next in order. Similar instances of this logical construction occur in the prophetic writings, and abound in the epistles of St. Paul. The last couplet is from Isa. lii. 7., the Septuagint rendering of which is both confused and inaccurate. St. Paul, however, has quoted so much as it answered his purpose to quote, but has carefully maintained the parallelism uninjured. λιθον όν απεδοκιμασαν οἱ οικοδομούντες και εςι θαυμας η εν οφθαλμοις ήμων· ότι αρθήσεται αφ' ύμων ή βασιλεία του Θεού, και δοθήσεται έθνει ποιούντι τους καρπους αυτής" The stone which the builders rejected; And it is marvellous in our eyes; Wherefore I say unto you: That from you shall be taken away the kingdom of God; And it shall be given to a nation producing the fruits thereof: The first four lines are literally taken from the Septuagint version of Psal. cxviii. 22, 23. The last four are original; and Bp. Jebb asks, with great reason, whether the parallelism is not more striking in the latter portion than in the former.2 IV. The preceding examples will sufficiently exemplify the manner in which the inspired writers of the New Testament were accustomed to cite, abridge, amplify, and combine passages from the poetical parts of the Old Testament; and also to annex to, or intermingle with, their citations, parallelisms by no means less perfect, of their own original composition. These examples further corroborate the argument from analogy for the existence of the grand characteristic of Hebrew poesy, the sententious parallelism,-in the New Testament. We shall, therefore, now proceed to give a few examples of the original parallelisms, which pervade that portion of the Holy Scriptures. They are divided by Bishop Jebb into, 1. Parallel Couplets;-2. Parallel Triplets;-3. Quatrains, of which the lines are either directly, alternately, or inversely parallel: 4, 5. Stanzas of five and six lines;-6. Stanzas of more than six parallel lines. 1. Of PARALLEL COUPLETS the two following examples will give the reader an adequate idea: Sacred Literature, p. 124. In p. 125. and also in his nineteenth section (pp. 388-390.), Bp. Jebb has given several of the instances above referred to. Ibid. p. 127. In pp. 128-142. Bp. Jebb has given additional examples of this class of mingled quotations; one of which (Acts iv. 24-30.) is particu. arly worthy of the reader's attention, on account of the very striking evidence which it affords (on the principles of sententious parallelism) of the supreme Deity of Jesus Christ. Ibid. p. 143. In po. 144-148. are given numerous other instances of parallel couplets. In this passage, Bishop Jebb justly remarks, the translators of our authorized version "have not preserved the variation of the terms, á WISBURY, O KTV: rendering the former, 'he that believeth;' the latter, he that believeth not.' The variation, however, is most significant; and should on no account be overlooked: as Dr. Doddridge well observes, the latter phrase explains the former; and shows, that the faith to which the promise of eternal life is annexed, is an effectual principle of sincere and unreserved obedience.' The descending series is magnificently awful; he who, with his heart believeth in the Son, is already in possession of eternal life: he, whatever may be his outward profession, whatever his theoretic or historical belief, who obeyeth not the Son, not only does not possess eternal life, he does not possess any thing worthy to be called life at all; nor, so persisting, ever can possess, for he shall not even see it: but this is not the whole, for, as eternal life is the present possession of the faithful, so the wrath of God is the present and permanent lot of the disobedient; it abideth on him."s 3. IN QUATRAINS, two parallel couplets are so connected as to form one continued and distinct sentence; the pairs of lines being either directly, alternately, or inversely parallel: In this instance, the odd line or member (which commences the stanza) lays down a truth which is illustrated in the remaining four lines. A simi. lar disposition is observable in the first of the two following stanzas, in which the odd line lays down the proposition to be illustrated, viz. By their fruits ye shall thoroughly know them. In the second stanza, on the contrary, the odd lines make a full close, reasserting with authority the same proposition, as undeniably established by the intermediate quatrains. -By their fruits, THEREFORE, ye shall thoroughly know them. από των καρπών αυτών επιγνώσεσθε αυτους· η απο τριβόλων συκα ; οὕτω παν δενδρου αγαθον καρπους καλους ποιοι το δε σαπρον δένδρου καρπους πονηρούς ποιει ου δυναταί δενδρον αγαθόν καρπους πονηρούς ποιειν By their fruits ye shall thoroughly know them: Do men gather from thorns the grape? Or from thistles the fig? Thus, every sound tree beareth good fruit; But every corrupt tree beareth evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit; Nor a corrupt tree bear good fruit. Every tree not bearing good fruit Is hewn down, and cast into the fire: By their fruits, therefore, ye shall thoroughly know them.1 5. The SIX-LINED STANZAS likewise admit of a great variety of structure. Sometimes they consist of a quatrain, with a distich annexed: sometimes of two parallel couplets, with a third pair of parallel lines so distributed, that one occupies the centre, and the other the close; and occasionally of three couplets alternately parallel; the first, third, and fifth lines corresponding with one another; and, in like manner, the second, fourth, and sixth. Of these six-lined stanzas, Bishop Jebb has adduced numerous examples. We subjoin two. και επνευσαν οι ανεμοι, και προσιπεσον τη οικία εκείνη, και ουκ επίσει τεθεμελίωτο γαρ επι την πέτραν και πας ὁ ακουων μου τους λογους τούτους, και μη ποίων αυτούς, ὁμοιωθήτεται ανδρο μωρο, στις ᾠκοδόμησε την οικίαν αυτού επι την αμμον· к китеби й Врохи, και ήλθον οι ποταμοι, XXI STIUTEν of xviμos, και προσεκοψαν τη οικία εκείνη, και επέσει και ην η πτώσις αυτής μεγαλη. Whoever, therefore, heareth these my words, and doeth them, I will liken him to a prudent man, Who built his house upon the rock: And the rain descended, And the floods came, And the winds blew, And fell upon that house: And it fell not; for it was founded upon the rock. 1. Sacred Literature, p. 195. Ibid. pp. 201. 204. We cannot withhold from our readers Bishop Jebb's beautiful remarks on the last cited passage. "The antithesis in this passage has prodigious moral depth: he who sins against know ledge, though his sins were only sins of omission, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who sins without knowledge, though his sins were sins of commission, shall be beaten only with few stripes. Mere negligence against the light of conscience shall be severely punished: while an offence, in itself comparatively heinous, if committed ignorantly, and without light, shall be mildly dealt with. This merciful discrimination, however, is full of terror: for, whatever may be the case, respecting past, forsaken, and repented sins of ignorance, no man is entitled to take comfort to himself from this passage, respecting his present, or future course of life: the very thought of doing so, proves that the person entertaining that thought has sufficient knowledge to place him beyond its favourable operation." Ibid. p. 205. Other examples of the six-lined stanza are given .n pp. 204-211. V. Further, several stanzas are often so connected with each other as to form a paragraph or section. Luke xvi. 913. James iii. 1-12. iv. 6-10. and v. 1-6. and 1 John iv. 15-17. afford striking examples of this sort of distribution; for the detail and illustration of which we must refer our readers to Bishop Jebb's elegant and instructive volume, which has been so often cited. It only remains that we notice briefly the gradational parallelism, and the epanodos, in the New Testament, which he has discovered and elucidated. 1. PARALLEL LINES GRADATIONAL (or as Bishop Jebb terms them COGNATE PARALLELISMS), we have already remarked, are of most frequent occurrence in the poetical books of the Old Testament. The poetical parallelisms exhibited in the preceding pages, while they fully prove his position, that the poetical dialect pervades the New Testament, will prepare the reader to expect to find there similar instances of parallel lines gradational. second example of parallel couplets, given in page 378. supra, affords a concise but beautiful specimen of the ascent or climax in the terms, clauses, or lines which constitute the parallelism. One or two additional instances, therefore, will suffice, to show the existence of the gradational parallelism in the New Testa ment. The ἐν ὁ Κύριος Ιησους αναλώσει, τα πνεύματι του σώματος αύτου και καταργήσει τη επιφάνεια της παρουσίας αυτού, Whom the Lord Jesus will waste away, with the breath of his mouth, And will utterly destroy, with the bright appearance of his coming. 2 Thess. ii. 8. "The first words, ὧν ὁ Κύριος Ιησούς are common to both lines; αναλώσει implies no more, in this place, than gradual decay; xray denotes total extermination; while, in terror and magnificence, no less than in the effects assigned, the breath of his mouth must yield to the bright appear. ance of his coming. The first line seems to announce the ordinary diffusion, gradually to be effected, of Christian truth: the second, to foretell the extraordinary manifestation of the victorious Messiah, suddenly, and overwhelmingly, to take place in the last days." "This is a gradation in the scale of national and religious proximity; the Gentiles, the Samaritans, Israel. In the remaining terms, there is a correspondent progress: the way, or road, to foreign countries, a city of the Samaritans; the house of Israel, a phrase conveying the notion of HOME: go not off-go not from Palestine, towards other nations; go not in to a city of the Samaritans; though, in your progresses between Judæa and Galilee, you must pass by the walls of many Samaritan cities; but, however great your fatigue, and want of refreshment, proceed rather not merely to the house of Israel, but to the lost sheep of that house. Thus, by a beautiful gradation, the apostles are brought from the indefiniteness of a road leading to countries remote from their own, and people differing from themselves in habits, in language, and in faith, to the homefelt, individual, and endearing relationship of their own countrymen; children of the same covenant of promise, and additionally recommended to their tender compassion, as morally lost." Bishop Jebb has given additional examples of the gradational parallelism from Matt. v. 45. vii. 1, 2. xx. 26, 27. xxiv. 17, 18. Mark iv. 24. Luke vi. 38. Rom. v. 7. James i. 17. iv. 8. and v. 5. Rev. ix. 6. and xxii. 11. 2. The nature of the INTROVERTED PARALLELISM, or Parallel Lines Introverted, has been stated in page 376., and confirmed by suitable examples. Closely allied to this is a peculiarity or artifice of construction, which Bishop Jebb terms an Epanodos, and which he defines to be literally "a going back, speaking first to the second of two subjects proposed: or if the subjects be more than two, resuming them precisely in the inverted order, speaking first to the last, and last to the first." The rationale of this artifice of composition he explains more particularly in the following words:"Two pair of terms or propositions, containing two important, but not equally important notions, are to be so distributed, as to bring out the sense in the strongest and most impressive manner: now, this result will be best attained, by Sacred Literature, p. 211. In these two connected stanzas, the language may be justly termed picturesque. The marked transition in each of them from a long and measured movement, to short rapid lines, and the resumption, at the close of a lengthened cadence, are peculiarly expressive. The continual return, too, in the shorter lines, ofthe copulative particle (a return purely Hebraic, and foreign from classical usage), has a fine effect: it gives an idea of danger, sudden, accumulated, and overwhelming. These are beauties which can be only retained in a literal translation; and which a literal translation may exhibit very competently. Ibid. p. 214. In pp. 215 -248. the reader will find many other examples, interniingled with much just criticism and some fine quotations from the fathers. • Ibid. p. 312. commencing, and concluding, with the notion to which prominence is to be given; and by placing in the centre the less important notion, or that which, from the scope of the argument, is to be kept subordinate." Having established the justice of this explanation by examples of epanodos, derived from the Scriptures, as well as from the best classic authors, Bishop Jebb has accumulated many examples proving its existence in the New Testament, the doctrines and precepts of which derive new force and beauty from the application of this figure. The length to which this chapter has unavoidably extended, forbids the introduction of more than one or two instances of the epanodos. "The relation of the first line to the fourth, and that of the second to the third, have been noticed by almost all the commentators. A minor circumstance is not altogether undeserving of attention: the equal lengths, in the original, of each related pair of lines; the first and fourth lines being short, the second and third lines long. The sense of the passage becomes perfectly clear, on thus adjusting the parallelism: Give not that which is holy to the dogs "The more dangerous act of imprudence, with its fatal result, is placed first and last, so as to make, and to leave, the deepest practical impression." Χρισου ευωδία εσμεν τω Θεώ εν τοις σωζομενοις, και εν τοις απολλυμένοις εἰς μεν οσμη θανατου, εἰς θανατον οίς δε οσμή ζωής, εις ζωήν. We are a sweet odour of Christ; To those who are saved; And to those who perish; To the one, indeed, an odour of death, unto death; But to the other, an odour of life, unto life. 2 Cor. ii. 15, 16. In this specimen of the epanodos, the painful part of the subject is kept subordinate; the agreeable is placed first and last. The preceding examples are sufficient to show the existence of the grand characteristic of Hebrew poesy,—the sententious parallelism, with all its varieties, in the New Testament. The reader, who is desirous of further investigating this interesting topic (and what student who has accompanied the author of the present work thus far, will not eagerly prosecute it?) is necessarily referred to Bishop Jebb's Sacred Literature," to which this chapter stands so deeply indebted;-a volume, of which it is but an act of bare justice in the writer of these pages to say, that, independently of the spirit of enlightened piety which pervades every part, it has the highest claims to the attention of EVERY biblical student for its numerous beautiful and philological criticisms and elucidations of the New Testament; for the interpretation of which this learned prelate has opened and developed a new and most important source, of which future commentators will, doubtless, gladly avail themselves. VI. The sacred writers have left us DIFFERENT KINDS of poetical composition: they do not, however, appear to have cultivated either the epic or the dramatic species, unless we take these terms in a very wide sense, and refer to these classes, those poems in which several interlocutors are introduced. Thus, M. Ilgen' and (after him) Dr. Goods conceive the book of Job to be a regular epic poem: while Messieurs Velthusen and Ammon think that the Song of Songs exhibits traces of a dramatic or melo-dramatic structure. Bishop Lowth, however, reduces the various productions of the Hebrew poets to the following classes; viz. 1. PROPHETIC POETRY.—Although some parts of the writings of the prophets are clearly in prose, of which instances occur in the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Jonah, and Daniel, yet the other books, constituting by far the larger portion of the prophetic writings, are classed by Bishop Lowth among the poetical productions of the Jews; and (with the exception of certain passages in Isaiah, Habakkuk, and Ezekiel, which appear to constitute complete poems of different kinds, odes as well as elegies) form a particular species of poesy, which he distinguishes by the appellation of Prophetic. The predictions of the Hebrew Prophets are pre-eminently characterized by the sententious parallelism, which has been discussed and exemplified in the preceding pages. The prophetic poesy, however, is more ornamented, more Splendid, and more florid than any other. It abounds more in imagery, at least that species of imagery, which, in the parabolic style, is of common and established acceptation, and which, by means of a settled analogy always preserved, is transferred from certain and definite objects to express indefinite and general ideas. Of all the images peculiar to the parabolic style, it most frequently introduces those which are taken from natural objects and sacred history: it abounds most in metaphors, allegories, comparisons, and even in copious and diffuse descriptions. It possesses all that genuine enthusiasm which is the natural attendant on inspiration; it excels in the brightness of imagination, and in clearness and energy of diction, and, consequently, rises to an uncommon pitch of sublimity; hence, also, it is often very happy in the expression and delineation of the passions, though more commonly employed in exciting them. The following passage from one of Balaam's prophecies (which Bishop Lowth ranks among the most exquisite specimens of Hebrew poetry) exhibits a prophetic poem complete in all its parts. It abounds in gay and splendid imagery, copied immediately from the tablet of nature; and is chiefly conspicuous for the glowing elegance of the style, and the form and diversity of the figures. The translation is that of the Rev. Dr. Hales.7 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, As streams do they spread forth, As gardens by the river side; As sandal-trees which THE LORD hath planted, As cedar-trees beside the waters. There shall come forth a man of his seed, And shall rule over many nations: And his king shall be higher than Gog, (God brought him forth out of Egypt, And pierce them through with arrows. And cursed is he that curseth thee. Num. xxiv. 5-9. The eighteenth chapter and the first three verses of the nineteenth chapter of the Apocalypse present a noble instance of prophetic poesy, in no respect inferior to the finest productions of any of the Hebrew bards. 2. ELEGIAC POETRY.-Of this description are several passages in the prophetical books, 10 as well as in the book of Job," and many of David's psalms that were composed on occasions of distress and mourning: the forty-second psalm in particular is in the highest degree tender and plaintive, and is one of the most beautiful specimens of the Hebrew elegy. The lamentation of David over his friend Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 17-27.) is another most beautiful elegy: but the most regular and perfect elegiac composition in the Scriptures, perhaps in the whole world, is the book entitled The Lamentations of Jeremiah, of which we have given a particular analysis, infra, Vol. II. p. 276. Bp. Lowth's Lectures on Hebrew Poetry, Lect. xviii. xix. and xx. gint version, which he vindicates in a long note. In our authorized transin the rendering of this quatrain, Dr. Hales has followed the Septualation, made from the Masoretic text, the seventh verse of Num. xxiv. stands thus: He shall pour the water out of his buckets, This is confessedly obscure.-Dr. Boothroyd, in his New Version of the Old Testament, with a slight departure from the common rendering, translates the verse in the following manner :— Water shall flow from the urn of Jacob, The passages above noticed are printed in Greek and English, divided so as to exhibit their poetical structure to the greatest advantage, in Dr. Jebb's Sacred Literature, pp. 452-459. 10 See Amos v. 1, 2. 16. Jer. ix. 17-22. Ezek. xxii. and xxxii. 11 See Job iii. vi. vii. x. xiv. xvii. xix. xxix. xxx. 3. DIDACTIC POETRY is defined by Bishop Lowth to be that which delivers moral precepts in elegant and pointed verses, often illustrated by a comparison expressed or implied, similar to the Frau, or moral sentences, and adages, of the ancient sages. Of this species of poetry the book of Proverbs is the principal instance. To this class may be referred the book of Ecclesiastes. 4. OF LYRIC POETRY, or that which is intended to be accompanied with music, the Old Testament abounds with numerous examples. Besides a great number of hymns and songs which are dispersed through the historical and prophetical books, such as the ode of Moses at the Red Sea (Exod. xv.), his prophetic ode (Deut. xxxii.), the triumphal ode of Deborah (Judg. v.), the prayer of Habakkuk (iii.), and many similar pieces, the entire book of Psalms is to be considered as a collection of sacred odes, possessing every variety of form, and supported with the highest spirit of lyric poetry;-sometimes sprightly, cheerful, and triumphant; sometimes solemn and magnificent; and sometimes tender, soft, and pathetic. 5. Of the IDYL, or short pastoral poem, the historical psalms afford abundant instances. The seventy-eighth, hundred and fifth, hundred and sixth, hundred and thirtysixth, and the hundred and thirty-ninth psalms, may be adduced as singularly beautiful specimens of the sacred ídyl: to which may be added Isa. ix. 8.—x. 4: 6. Of DRAMATIC POETRY, Bishop Lowth2 adduces examples in the book of Job and the Song of Solomon, understanding the term in a more extended sense than that in which it is usually received. Some critics, however, are of opinion, that the Song of Solomon is a collection of sacred idyls and M. Bauer is disposed to consider the former book as approximating nearest to the Mekama, that is, "the assemblies," moral discourses, or conversations of the celebrated Arabian poet Hariri.3 In another part of this work some reasons are offered in confirmation of this conjecture. was remedied by this artificial contrivance in the form. There are still extant in the books of the Old Testament twelves of these poems: three of them perfectly alphabetical, in which every line is marked by its initial letter; the other nine less perfectly alphabetical, in which every stanza only is so distinguished. Of the three former it is to be remarked, that not only every single line is distinguished by its initial letter, but that the whole poem is laid out into stanzas; two10 of these poems each into ten stanzas, all of two lines except the two last stanzas in each, which are of three lines; in these the sense and the construction manifestly point out the division into stanzas, and mark the limit of every stanza. The third of these perfectly alphabetical poems consists of twenty-two stanzas of three lines: but in this the initial letter of every stanza is also the initial letter of every line of that stanza: so that both the lines and the stanzas are infallibly limited. And in all the three poems the pauses of the sentences coincide with the pauses of the lines and stanzas. It is also further to be observed of these three poems, that the lines, so determined by the initial letters in the same poem, are remarkably equal to one another in length, in the number of words nearly, and, probably, in the number of syllables; and that the lines of the same stanza have a remarkable congruity one with another, in the matter and the form, in the sense and the construction. Of the other nine poems less perfectly alphabetical, in which the stanzas only are marked with initial letters, six12 consist of stanzas of two lines, two13 of stanzas of three lines, and one14 of stanzas of four lines: not taking into the account at present some irregularities, which in all probability are to be imputed to the mistakes of transcribers. And these stanzas likewise naturally divide themselves into their distinct lines, the sense and the construction plainly pointing out their limits: and the lines have the same congruity one with another in matter and form, as was above observed, in regard to the poems more perfectly alphabetical. Another thing to be observed of the three poems perfectly alphabetical is, that in two15 of them the lines are shorter than those of the third16 by about one third part, or almost half; and of the other nine poems the stanzas only of which are alphabetical, that three consist of the longer lines, and the six others of the shorter. Many of the psalms (and, according to Bishop Horsley, by far the greater part) are a kind of dramatic ode, consisting of dialogues between persons sustaining certain characters. This dramatic or dialogue form admits of considerable variety. Its leading characteristic, however, is an alternate succession of parts, adapted to the purpose of alternate VII. We have already had occasion to remark, that the recitation by two semi-choruses in the Jewish worship. poetry of the Hebrews derives its chief excellence from its Bishop Jebb considers the sublime hymn of Zacharias (Luke being dedicated to religion. Nothing can be conceived more i. 67-79.) as a dramatic ode of this description; and, in elevated, more beautiful, or more elegant, than the composiconfirmation of his opinion, he remarks that Zacharias must tions of the Hebrew bards; in which the sublimity of the have been familiar with this character of composition, both subject is fully equalled by the energy of the language and as a pious and literate Jew, much conversant with the de- the dignity of the style. Compared with them, the most votional and lyric poetry of his country, and also as an offici- brilliant productions of the Greek and Roman muses, who ating priest, accustomed to bear his part in the choral service often employed themselves on frivolous or very trifling of the temple. Dr. J. has accordingly printed that hymn in themes, are infinitely inferior in the scale of excellence. The Greek and English, in the form of a dramatic ode: and by Hebrew poet, who worshipped Jehovah as the sovereign of this mode of distribution has satisfactorily elucidated its true his people-who believed all the laws, whether sacred or meaning and grammatical construction in many passages, civil, which he was bound to obey, to be of divine enactment which have hitherto in vain exercised the acumen of critics.6-and who was taught that man was dependent upon God for To the preceding species of Hebrew poetry, we may add, every thing-meditated upon nothing but Jehovah; to Him 7. The ACROSTIC OF ALPHABETICAL POEMS. Bishop Lowth he devoutly referred all things, and placed his supreme considered this form of poetry as one of the leading charac- delight in celebrating the divine attributes and perfections. teristics of the productions of the Hebrew muse: but this, If, however, we would enter fully into the beauties of the we have seen, is not the fact. It may rather be viewed as sacred poets, there are two GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, which it a subordinate species, the form of which the bishop thus will be necessary to keep in mind whenever we analyze or defines:-The acrostic or alphabetical poem consists of twen- examine the Songs of Sion. ty-two lines, or of twenty-two systems of lines, or periods, or stanzas, according to the nuinber of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet; and every line, or every stanza, begins with each letter in its order, as it stands in the alphabet; that is, the first line, or first stanza, begins with (aleph), the second (beth), and so on. This was certainly intended for the assistance of the memory, and was chiefly employed in subjects of common use, as maxims of morality, and forms of devotion; which, being expressed in detached sentences, or aphorisms (the form in which the sages of the most ancient times delivered their instructions), the inconvenience arising from the subject, the want of connection in the parts, and of a regular train of thought carried through the whole, 1. The first is, that we carefully investigate their nature and genius. For, as the Hebrew poems, though various in their kinds, are each ed from each other, we shall be enabled to enter more fully into their ele marked by a character peculiar to itself, and by which they are distinguishgance and beauty, if we have a correct view of their form and arrangement. For instance, if we wish critically to expound the Psalms, we ought to investigate the nature and properties of the Hebrew ode, as well as the spects they differ from the odes, elegies, &c. of the Greek poets. In like manner, when studying the Proverbs of Solomon, we should recollect that the most ancient kind of instruction was by means of moral sentences, in which the first principles of ancient philosophy were contained; and, from a comparison of the Hebrew, Greek, and other gnomic sentences, we should investigate the principal characters of a proverb. In the book of Job are to be observed the unity of action, delineation of manners, the externa form and construction of the poem, &c. form and structure of the Hebrew elegies, &c., and ascertain in what re Psal. XXV. xxxiv. xxxvii. cxi. exii. cxix. exlv. Prov. xxxi. 10--31. Lam.i ii. iii. iv. 9 Psal. cxi. cxii. Lament. iii. 10 Psal. cxi. cxii. 12 Psal. XXV. xxxiv. cxix. cxlv. Prov. xxxi. Lam. iv. 13 Lam. i. ii. 1 See p. 374. supra. 16 Lament. ii. 14 Psal. xxxvii. 11 Lament. iii. 15 Psal. cxi. cxii. 11 Lament. i. ii. iv. |