plishment in the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness."

Verse 8. The paths of the seas.

Compare the Pindaric Tóvtov Keλeúbovs, and the Homeric ὑγρὰ κέλευθα.

PSALM IX.

The title of this Psalm is "On the dying of a fool." By transposition we have for . In like manner we have Sesach for Babel, and Leb Kamai for Chasdim in Jeremiah, both according to the Alphabet Atbash. See Hengstenberg's Christology, part ii. p. 92. ss.

To understand the full force of the title, the reader must compare 1 Sam. xxv. 26, 38, with 2 Sam. iii. 33.

PSALM X.

This Psalm forms a pair with the preceding.

Verse 4. The wicked man in his haughtiness—

More literally, In the height of his nose the wicked. This is a picturesque description of the haughtiness of the ungodly.

Verse 5. His ways are always prosperous.

So the Chaldee; and De Sacy, "Ses voies prospérent en tout temps."

As for his foes, he blows on them all.

Better thus: He blows away all his enemies.

Hengstenberg compares Isa. xl. 24. He blows on them, and they wither and the Cujus tu legiones difflavisti spiritu, quasi ventus folia of Plautus.

Verse 14. To put them into thy hand.

i. e. by way of memorial.

Ps. lvi. 8.

Compare Isa. xlix. 16, and

Verse 16. Frail man that is sprung from the earth,

Shall not continue to brave.

The paronomasia between and

IT T

must not

be overlooked. "It points to the sharp conflict between nature and will." (Hengstenberg.)

PSALM XI.

Verse 7. His face beholds the upright—

i. e. with complacency. De Sacy's translation is metrical:

"Sa face regarde l'homme droit."

PSALM XII.

This Psalm has eight verses, corresponding to its title, "On the octave."

Verse 6. Silver assayed of a lord of the earth—

i. e. not common silver, but silver assayed for the use of a prince.

Verse 8. To the sons of men depression

Is equal to elevation.

"The depression to which the righteous have sunk through the hostilities of the wicked is like their elevation. For, as sure as there is a God in heaven, their suffering is a prediction of their joy, their contempt of

their honour. So that they may quietly look on at all the machinations of their malice." (Hengstenberg.)

PSALM XIII.

Compare 1 Sam,

Verse 3. Enlighten mine eyes, lest I sleep on to death. Enlighten mine eyes—i. e. Revive me. xiv. 27, 29.

Verse 6. Yea I will psalmodize to the Name of Jehovah the Highest.

This line is not in the Hebrew, but is preserved in the LXX., the Vulgate, and the Prayer-Book Version. "It seems to have fallen out of the Hebrew text: for without it the Psalm is abrupt in its termination, and the uniformity of its structure is impaired." (Rev. J. Jebb.) Compare the conclusion of Psalm vii.

PSALM XIV.

Verse 4. Know not, then, any of those

Who work iniquity,

Who eat up my people as bread,
And call not upon Jehovah ?

The ignorance of such persons is contrasted with the wisdom of "the seeker of God," mentioned in the preceding verse.

Verse 5. There they fear a fear—

دو

"There is said deKTIK, the Psalmist pointing as it

were with his finger to the scene of their overthrow. Compare Psalm xxxvi. 12.

PSALM XV.

Verse 2. And speaketh truth in his heart.

To speak in the heart is a Hebraism for to think. To think truth is to be inwardly pure and true. "The discourse," says Hengstenberg," is of internal purity and truth, to which the truth that is outwardly exposed by the lips is related, as streams to the fountain head."

Verse 4. In his eyes the vile is despised.

Εξουδένωται ἀντῳ πονηρευόμενος. (LXX.) Despicitur in oculis ejus improbus. (Jerom.) Ad nihilum deductus est in conspectu ejus malignus. (Vulgate.) Die Gottlosen nichts achtet. (Luther.) Aux yeux duquel celui qui est méprisable est rejeté. (De Sacy.) In whose eyes a vile person is contemned. (Authorized Version.)

PSALM XVI.

This Psalm culminates in Christ. Its title is "A secret of David," i. e. a song with deep import. The word seems to have been coined by David, with allusion to the more common term which occurs in Isa. xxxviii. 9. in the superscription of Hezekiah's song of praise, and which merely signifies "a writing." In like manner, by the change of a single letter, David transforms, a word with a very simple meaning, into a similar one of deeper signification. See title of Psalm vii. and compare it with Psalm ix. 17.

Verse 2. I have no good out of Thee.

Thou art my highest good. (Chald. and Syr.)

Ayadov pov ουκ εστιν aveu σou. (Symmachus) Bene mihi non est sine te. (Jerome.) Compare Ps. lxxiii. 25. Extra te conveys the force of the original better than sine te.

Verse 4. Their sorrows are many, who purchase ano

ther.

"A bought God never can afford salvation; the seed of the sacrifice can yield nothing but sorrow. A God who does not enter into the connexion with tokens of his love, will never fulfil it; and it is a piece of folly to cherish such a hope." (Hengstenberg.) Compare Hos. viii. 9. Ez. xvi. 33, 34.

Verse 7. My thoughts admonish me—

My thoughts-mes pensées. (De Sacy.)

Verse 10. Thou will not leave my soul in Hades,— or, Thou wilt not leave my corpse in the grave. The Hebrew will bear either translation.

See Acts ii. 27, 31.

PSALM XVII.

Verse 3. My mouth oversteps not my thought

i. e. I do not speak otherwise than I think. In the original the order of the words is inverted, the object being placed first and the subject last.

Verse 4. I, even I, have observed

The paths of the transgressor.

I have observed-i. e. so as to shun.