sible supplied from other copies equally defective. In this way, we have what is contained in xxii. 17-xxix, to which the two last chapters have been subsequently added. This hypothesis accounts for the facts, that several of the proverbs are repeated as is the case in xiv. 31. and xvii. 5; xix. 12. and xx. 2; xxii. 28. and xxiii 10; xxii. 13. and xxvi. 13; xix. 24. and xxvi. 15; xix. 13. and xxvii. 15; xxii. 3. and xxvii. 12; xx. 16. and xxvii 13; that some occur three times, as in xiv. 12. xvi. 25. and xxi. 2; and some even five, as in xvii. 1. xix. 13. xxi. 9, 19. xxv. 25. It also explains why some proverbs are repeated immediately, as x. 8, 10. xix. 5, 9. xx. 10, 23; for as the king would repeat the same saying often, and sometimes with but a short intermission, as another suitable occasion arose the chancellor inserted in the annals the saying and the new occasion which gave rise to it, but when he made his extracts from the annals, he repeated the saying, omitting the occasion.[a]

[a) This account of the compilation of the Book of Proverbs is certainly nothing more than what it is styled by the author, an hypothesis, of the probability of which the reader must form his own opinion. It is, however, certain, that the first three parts are the production of Solomon himself, whatever may have been the method in which they obtained their present form. EICHHORN supposes that the proverbs of other wise men antecedent to Solomon and contemporary with him are intermingled with those of that monarch. Einleit. § 635 DE WETTE, as might be expected, is of the same opinion. Einleit. § 281. Tr.]

§ 183. Style of the Proverbs.

Although the language of the book of Proverbs does contain some words rather modern it has none that are foreign. The style is simple, pointed, and occasionally enigmatical The personification of wisdom, which often occurs in the first part of the book, is a bold figure, but it is well sustained, for the allegorical person always acts and speaks agreeably to her elevated character. The sentences are constructed in verse, and frequently some kind of rhyme may be observed as in vii. 13-15.

[a) The similarity of termination, however, in these instances, may be merely accidental, required by the sense and parallelism.--The character of the style of this book given by Holden, is beautiful and true. "Though in the charms of high-wrought poetry it must yield to several parts of the sacred volume, yet, in judicious brevity, in elegant conciseness, in nice adjustment of expressions, and in that terseness of diction, which gives weight to precept, and poignancy to aphoristic truth, it stands pre-eminent, and remains an illustrious monument to the glory of its author." Prel. Diss. p. xxxviii. Comp. also LoWTH, Prael. de Sac. Poes. Heb. p. 313, Oxon. 1810, and in GREGORY'S Trans. p. 336. s. ed. Boston, 1815. Tr.]

§ 184. Use of the Proverbs.

The Proverbs are not only of great utility in enabling us to understand clearly the character of Hebrew poetry by means of the parallel structure of their members, but are also admirably adapted to give instruction by the treasures of practical wisdom which their contents open to us.[a] This method of teaching by sententious sayings is very ancient, and suited to the less cultivated classes of mankind in every age, by whom long treatises are not read; nor, if they were, would they be understood or remembered. Brief sentences easily make a deep impression on the mind, please by their pointedness, are recalled as occasions present themselves, and thus afford a rule of conduct. Hence the abundant use which is made of these proverbs in the New Testament.[b] The apostles found their moral instructions chiefly on this book, and many places in the epistles are scarcely intelligible, unless they are compared with the proverbs of Solomon, from which they are drawn. Julian the Apostate, who pompously expressed his contempt for our proverbs, depreciating them far below the works of Phocylides, Theognis, and Isocrates, has betrayed in this opinion his want of judgment. CYRILL. ALEXAND. L. VII. cont. Julian.

In the Talmud, Baba Bathra, c. i., the Proverbs of Solomon are attributed to Hezekiah. But this is true only of the collection in xxvxxix. When in Massecheth Shabbath, c. ii. p. 30., it is disputed whether the book of Proverbs is canonical,[c] this is hardly anything else than an examination of scruples which had arisen in the minds of one or two Jews; for in the age of Jesus, of the Apostles, and of Josephus, the authority of the book was undoubted.

[a) See this more fully represented by HOLDEN, Prelim. Dissert. p. xl. ss. Tr.]

[6) See a list of the quotations from this book in the New Testament. in CARPZOV, Introd. P. II. p. 184., or in HOLDEN, p. xxvii. Tr.] [c) See HULDEN, Prel. Diss. p. xxviii. Tr.]

56

CHAPTER III.

OF THE BOOK OF JOB.

§ 185. Contents of the Book.

[The book of Job consists of an introduction, i. 1—ïii. 1., a discussion, iii. 2-xlii. 6., and a conclusion, xlii. 7—17.

In the introduction two celestial counsels are held, in which one of the sons of GOD or the appointed inspectors of his kingdom, charges Job with practising virtue from interested motives. Hereupon he receives from GOD full power to put this rich and pious man to the proof, and Job hears from one messenger after another accounts of the loss of all his flocks, servants, and children. The impoverished and childless man nevertheless still praises God. In order to try him further the accuser is permitted to afflict his body, only with the condition of sparing his life. Job is immediately attacked with a shocking disease, the scabbed leprosy.* but in this hard trial he still remains unshaken in his piety. In this miserable condition he is visited by Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, who bewail the lamentable state of their friend, and for seven days and nights remain in mournful silence, i. ii.

At last Job breaks out in bitter complaints, and curses the day of his birth, c. iii. Eliphaz endeavours to comfort him, and thus arises a long discussion between Job and his friends on the question, whether afflictions are in all cases the punishment of sin, and whether the pious and virtuous man under the righteous divine government of the world, can languish in misery, without being restored to happiness. Eliphaz in his discourse had said that sufferings are the pun

[See MICHAELIS, Suppl. ad Lex. Heb. voce ' No. 2457. Tr.]

ishment of sin, and that Job as a virtuous man could not sink under his affliction, but must again become happy, c. iv. v. Job rejects this consolation, sees nothing but death before him, and denies that his sins have merited such sufferings, c. vi. vii. Bildad then presses him more closely, maintaining that his children have been swept away as vicious persons, and that now the punishment extends itself to the too indulgent father, c. viii. In reply, Job shows that God destroys according to his pleasure the virtuous and the vicious, of which truth he is himself an unhappy illustration, since he suffers innocently without hope of restoration, c. ix. x. Upon this, the third friend, Zophar, denounces Job as a bad man, whose crimes are not unknown to God. and are now punished, c. xi. In answer to this reproach, Job maintains with feeling. not unaccompanied with bitterness, that the prosperity of bad men must be universally acknowledged; that this was to be learned from the beasts and plants, and was taught in ancient poems, and had often been observed by himself; he warns his friends not to defend the justice of GoD so badly, lest he should punish them he calls upon God himself to make known the crimes which he must have committed, and then sinks back into lamentations, c. xii-xiv.

In the second dialogue Eliphaz grows warmer, and declares Job's speeches to be vain, boasting, presumptuous, and even injurious to virtue. Job should not regard the instructions of his friends with so much contempt, for he could not be entirely pure from sin; it is a truth confirmed by experience and the lessons of the ancients, that the wicked are not only in continual terror, but meet with a terrible end, c. xv. To this Job replies, that such are miserable consolations, that now he hath no hope of his innocence being acknowledged, but that it is known to God in heaven; that nothing but death is before him; ending, as he generally does, with distressful lamentations, c. xvi. xvii. Bildad answers, that Job's complaints would produce no change, that the sinner comes always to an unhappy end, which he describes with evident allusion to the wretched state of Job, c. xviii. Again Job asserts his innocence, of which he is so completely conscious, that his previous wish becomes a firm hope that God will appear and show his opponents the truth: this he ardently expects, c. xix. Zophar, indignant at Job's speech, replies that the happiness of the wicked is never lasting, and in his description of their punishment,