^htalagie^t ^i a&t •WC"'^^
^
PRINCETON,
Presented
by
N.
J.
j^
%}*A
%
Ws/SXCXarAV \ ^V\or^
THE
POETRY OF THE
HEBREW PENTATEUCH.
:
THE
POETRY OF THE
HEBREW PENTATEUCH, BEING
FOUR ESSAYS o^f
MOSES AND THE MOSAIC AGE.
REV. M.
MARGOLIOUTH,
M.A., LL.D., Ph.D., Etc.
LONDON
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND 15,
PATERNOSTER ROW. 1S71.
SONS,
—
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE, THIS
IN
M.P.,
WORK IS—
TOKEN OF SINCERE GRATITUDE
FOR VALUABLE HINTS DERIVED FROM HIS GREAT WORK,
"STUDIES ON HOMER AND THE HOMERIC AGE"
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY
THE AUTHOR.
—
PREFACE. The work
herewith submitted to the pubUc, consists of the
first series
of a complete course of Essays on the Poetic Writings of the
As may
Testament.
Hebrew
much
writers occupied
literary friends,
of
my pen.
and of
Essays, appeared in a
and edited
Hebrew
my
thoughts, of
Fragments of
my
converse with
the
this,
title
I
originated
of " Star of Jacob."
'
the undertaking of a course of Essays on the Sacred Bards of the
Testament, in
all its fulness,
work,
'*
its
Homer and
Studies on
By way
was suggested
publication in
the
1858
to
— of
me by
Mr.
his undertaking
But
Old
the perusal
Gladstone's great
Homeric Age."
of complying, by anticipation, with probable
reasons, for
of
first series
Christian Monthly, which
under the
at Dublin, in 1847,
immediately after
Old
naturally be supposed, the Poetry of the inspired
demands
for
and publishing a work of the kind,
Mr. Gladstone, at the very outset of his learned Prolegomena, vouchsafes the following
ment
—"
I will
of the objects which
firstly, to
of
:
I
place in the foreground an explicit state-
have
Homer; and secondly
their just degree
These objects are twofold
in view.
promote and extend the
fruitful
to vindicate for
both of absolute and,
:
study of the immortal poems
them, in an age of discussion,
more
especially, of relative
critical value."
Adverse circumstances made that Magazine disappear from the literary horizon I have not, however, relinquished the cherished hope of seeing the Monthly not only in the ascendant, but enjoying a long and '
after a course of a few months.
steady career.
PREFACE.
vin
became roused
I
poems
to bring his varied learning
upon promoting and extending the
colossal gifts to bear
study of the
honour of the object of
feels so zealous for the
become determined
his admiration as to
and
an admirer of " Homer
to the consideration that if
and the Homeric Age "
of his justly favoured
fruitful
— should not an
Greek bard,
humble, but devoted student of the inspired Bards, their respective
poems and
times, be equally solicitous for the
honour and glory of the
sacred compositions of those great, good and holy men.
The
Gladstone had in view, in
twofold objects, then, which Mr.
To
undertaking his great work, became the ruling objects with me.
promote and extend the of the
Old Testament
study of the immortal Sacred
fruitful
and secondly,
;
to vindicate for them, in
of discussion, theirjust degree both of absolute, and, relative critical value.
more
Poems an age
especially, of
determined to do for Moses, Deborah, David,
I
and other Heaven-taught bards, what Mr. Gladstone
Isaiah, Micah,
has done for the immortal poems of Homer.
Most thankful do on
Homer and
the
but also for the
my
of
title,
In
Essays.
I
accomplished Author of "Studies
feel to the
Homeric Age"
the
I
this,
the
first series,
have presumed to dedicate
first fruits
of the results of
brilliant genius
my
this
however,
performance of
my
has displayed in his work.
I
I
In token of
work
to
series
not only treat of
my
grati-
Mr. Gladstone, being
labours in that field to which that
has unwittingly directed
presume, to pretend even, that in the
for the idea,
an adaptation of which surnames every
the Mosaic, but also of the pre-Mosaic age.
tude
Not only
for the idea.
my
attention.
I
dare not
have approximated, ever so remotely,
labours, the ability which
my
great
model
A work which is likely to prove as immortal
and as cherished as the poems which he has so ably expounded and
commended. It is
not improbable that the professors of " a higher criticism"
some designate
arbitrary treatment of the
—as
Sacred VOLUME —may
PREFACE.
some
express at
my
surprise,
IX
and perhaps indulge
some sagacious
in
espousing views of the old Christian Divines.
most
to submit,
sneer,
beg therefore
I
respectfully, to those learned critics that
do not
I
consider rejection, or even suspicion of everything Christian either a or an essential feature in a sound critic of the
necessarj'^ qualification,
As I have intimated elsewhere,*
Old Testament.
and a thorough knowledge' of the Hebrew and are the principal requirements.
which taught the prejudice, in
some
late
I
Archbishop WHiately, that there
quarters, in favour of everything that
to religion is
The independent Hebrew at the trifling originality, in side.
authorities
as
Kurtz,
etc.,
etc.
not accounted
is
:
— Undue
prejudice against
no proof positive of sound philosophy. scholar cannot
help
modern works, on
The "Orthodox School" Bochart,
a blinder
is
and ages has been accounted Divine.
implied proposition
subsci-ibe to his
on either
cognate languages,
have learnt by the same experience
I
sacred, than of that which for ages
whatever relates
proficient Scholarship, its
Delitzsch,
after their kind.
feeling surprised
Holy
the
Scriptures,
are satisfied with
such
Havemick, Hengstenberg, Keil, The " Higher Criticism School,"
De Wette, And when one is curious
are content to abide by the opinions of Astruc, Bleek,
Ewald, Kunen,
etc.,
enough
up the respective
to look
what authority the is
gratified
and I
by
etc.
latter
after their kind.
referees,
in order to find out
on
founded their conclusions, then the curiosity
strings of references to former Authors,
and so on
on.
have thought proper
which
I
had occasion
to give the original of the to adduce, in the
specimen quotations
form of
foot
notes.
This
may be
considered by some as unnecessary in the case of the learned
reader,
and useless as regards the ordinary reader.
may be
true as
made
with the respect to the latter
;
The
but that
* " The Oracles of God, and their Kimlication."
objection
made
in
PREFACE.
X
experience has taught me, does not hold
reference to the former,
good.
The more learned a reader
and he
is
all
cumber himself with a number
have only
add here
to
Bible
—on
the
Pentateuch
some of the
—made
there, instead
of volumes.
MS.
of the following
appearance
;
and
I
am
glad to
views, propounded in this work, are being espoused
by some of the learned Commentators of I
that work.
As an
instance
quote the following from the Bishop of Ely's " Introduction
Pentateuch
:"
—"
It is
although in some few fragments
To
might expect.
A
popular authors.
this
It
and all
all
is
translators
training in science
a shepherd
in
and
what we
especially
by
its
Moses,
putting
of extraordinary powers
He had had
find
the highest cultivation after his early
he had lived the contemplative
him then with a
full
life
of
consciousness of
forth as legislator, historian, poet as well
Such a man could not but mould the tongue
To them he was Homer,
Everyone that knew anything of
books of the Pentateuch. in ancient times
Bible.
;
coming
and prophet.
of his people.
man
for
came
English has been fixed
said, that
of the
and
most enlightened times and
literature,
We
Midian.
his heavenly mission,
this is really
great,
is
must have been even a greater genius than
possible in one of Egj'pt's
was
its
it
he was not Divinely guided and inspired, as
If
he has been generally reckoned.
in one.
by
question of inspiration, was a
opportunity.
for us to believe that
be replied, that
fixed
commonly
is
Christians believe, he
as prince
apparently archaic,
Hebrew
may
it
language
by Shakspeare and the aside
to the
argued again, that the language of the Pentateuch,
the most part too like to later
from Moses.
;
instalment of the Speaker's
first
its
he to learn
is
pleasant to him, by having
that long after the
Essays had gone to the press, the
find that
more anxious
the
made
work placed before him then and
the materials for
of having to I
is,
too glad to have the lesson
All
Hebrew
of a Sacred
Solon, and Thucydides, letters
literature, as far as
character
;
all
must have known the
at all events
we know, no other
—
PREFACE. has come
do-ttTi
to us
and
;
it
is
xi
certain that writers on Sacred subjects
would have been deeply imbued with the language and the thoughts of the books of Moses.
are slow of change finding that in the
;
Eastern languages, like Eastern manners,
and there
is
certainly nothing strange in our
thousand years from Moses
tongue was spoken, and the same words
to Malachi, the
intelligible
;
books treating on the same subjects, and where the
must have been the constant study of last."
Compare Essay
III., pp. 71
all
-Ji,
the writers
same
especially in earlier
down
books
to the very
and Appendix B.
M. M. Forest Hill, August,
1871.
CONTENTS. PAGE.
Essay
I.
Essay
II.
An Apology The
for the Subject
Vestiges of Primeval
traceable in the
Essay
III.
Essay
IV.
The bwa
.
.
Hebrew
of Genesis
Studies on Moses and the Mosaic
.
i
Poetry, .
Age
.29
.
.
.
65
or the Hieroglyphic Poetry of the
Pentateuch
Appendix
Book
.
97
-145
ESSAY
I.
AN APOLOGY FOR THE SUBJECT.
APPRECIATE a certain 7V;/f d' esprit, which is ascribed George III., said to have been spontaneous, on the occasion when a copy of Bishop Jewell's 'Apology for the Church of England was presented to his Majesty. The story circulates that when the king I
to
'
opened the volume, and read
its
claimed
emphatic, curt manner,
in his usual thrice-told,
title-page,
he ex-
An Apology for the Church of England An An Apology Apology for the Church of England for the Church of England The Church of England needs no Apology The Church of England needs no Apology The Church of England needs no Apology !" ^ I fully admit the justice of the reiterated "
!
!
!
!
!
royal
sentiment.
the theme which in this
It I
applies with threefold force to
have
and subsequent
set before
myself to discuss
disquisitions.
Nevertheless,
hold the somewhat paradoxical opinion that the of a series of Essays, on the Poetry of the
I
first
Hebrew
Pentateuch, ought to deal in a sort of an apology.
Another version of the anecdote is, to the effect, that the royal demurrer was enunciated on the occasion when a copy of Bishop Watson's "Apology for the Bible" was presented to George III. '
2
^^/^"ribed *°^^''-
"^
— ESSAY
2
An for
apology
my
J
apo-
i°ey-
^]^Q
am
L
Hot Certain whether some precocious
aj-g
critics
habit of pronouncing their opinions
^]-jg
jj^
of books as soon as they have glanced at their
pages
—may
that the
not begin their strictures
by
was too profound and abstruse to and in a popular style
subject
;
demand, therefore, an apology for bringing the
title-
protesting
be capable of being treated
fore
:
British
Their demand
public.
it
shall
be-
be
satisfied.
The
Mv plca ^
gener-
lishmen are prepared to spirit' of° the ^"'^' *
is
this
-^
alityofEng-
:
— Hcbrcw Poetry must needs make ^
text-book. The principal ^^g Biblc the Essayist's j r r volume of revelation is a book which in this land, at least,
portion of
its
contents
of Englishmen
;
is
moderate
intellects.
Englishmen spirit
are, in
of
familiar to the great majority
work on Hebrew Poetr>' a certain extent, by even
to
The minds
of the majority of
a manner, prepared to enter into
the theme.
figures of speech, symbols, liarities
considerable
so that a
must be apprehended,
the
A
almost universally read.
is
The metaphors,
tropes,
emblems, and other pecu-
of the sacred muse, are already familiar to the
sons and daughters of Britain.
notwithstanding
its
So
that the subject,
sublimity and profundity, is capable
of being treated in so popular a manner, that " the
reader of
it
may be most
fluent in
it."
i
Such is the real meaning- of the simple words of Habakkuk ii. 2 NTlp yiT ^I-d"?— words which have recently elicited so much ingenuity amongst a certain class of students of the Hebrew Bible and language. '
n
ESSAY Moreover,
am
I
I.
3
desirous to contribute
my
mite
towards stimulating a craving, on the part of the
J^f^^
^''^^^
s^ud^'of'tht
Christian priesthood, for the cultivation of a knowledge guVe hacf"n
of the sacred tongue to be
felt
most
the want of which
;
We
sensibly.
is
beginning
giorious''Reformation.
are accustomed to look
back with pride and pleasure on the glorious days of the Reformation,
— and
justly so
—
for
noble was the
we must recollect that the revival and the study of the Hebrew language had no small share in achieving that victory nor can we view with indifference the efforts made to acquire this knowvictory then gained
but
;
;
ledge by the goodly band of the early Reformers.
We in
see
how Reuchlin stepped forth how he
the words of the Poet,
God's dead language
—
!
live
"
We
at the " cried
see
first,
and,
aloud to
how Melanc-
thon and Luther patiently devoted days and nights to the hallowed study the pages of the
;
and, turning from the Vulgate to
Hebrew
their purity, truths, the
Bible, thence derived, in all
might of which was destined
to " shake the world." " It is necessary,"
observes
Melancthon,
" to
pre-
Meiancthon's
serve the knowledge of the °
Church
;
for
Hebrew tongue °
in
the
although there are extant interpretations
necessary for the people, yet
God
wills there
always be witnesses of those interpretations.
should
He wills
that
upon obscure passages, the fountains be consulted. How much clearer the meaning is to those
who
are acquainted with the fountains, the skilful are
able to judge.
This
is
plain, that
when the language
opin-
ionontheimportance of a ['he'^'lalre"!
tongue.
"
ESSAY
4
of the Prophets
I.
known, ingenuous minds are de-
is
The
hghted with the certainty of the sense."
Reformer winds up in
his fervent appeal to the
gentle
Clergy
behalf of the study of the sacred tongue, with the
Saviour's dictum shall
—
"
For unto every man that hath
be given, and he
him that hath away."
I
not,
shall
have abundance
;
it
and from
even that he hath shall be taken
have no doubt that Melancthon's views and
sentiments influenced, in a certain measure, the way-
ward mind of the unaccountable Henry VIII.
I
cannot forego the inclination to quote a passage from a letter of the amiable Reformer, to the headstrong
king
:
—
"
Away with all false pretences
in divine things.
Let us practise what the Holy Scriptures teach, and
what the
first
Church kept
for three centuries after the
Why has the boldness of men forsaken the Why defend the error of those who
Apostles.
ancient custom
}
have changed the commandment of Christ
Who
Luther's estimate ot the
kno"wiedgeof Scriptures?''
is
the
Hcbrcw
.-'
scholar that could withhold his
Sympathy from that great Reformer, Luther, when, in humble gratitude, he recorded his sense of the importance of the sacred acquisition, saying
measure of
as the
my
of the sacred language
which
I
possess for
all
'
Etsi exig-ua
sit
mea
—
"
Scanty
attainments in the knowledge is,
I
would not barter that
the treasures of the universe."
The following Lutheran
^
advice to young candidates for
linguje Hebraicse notitia,
mundi gazis non commutarem.
:
cum omnibus tamen
totius
"
ESSAY
1.
5
Holy Orders, though applicable to the present day, is modern polite style of
scarcely translatable into our
English writing.
I leave, therefore,
own Latin
counsel in Luther's
Ebraem vocem sonare
:
—
the characteristic "
Qui cum unam putant,
didicerunt, statim
magistros hujus sacrae linguae.
Ibi
se
nos earn
nisi
tanquam assinis illudent et insultabunt, sin autem nos quoque muniti fuerimus cognitione hujus linguae, poterimus eis impudens os obtenuerimus
struere It
.''
would appear that the observations of Melancthon
and Luther found heart, of
their
way
to the mind,
if
not to the
— — '-''•
Henry VHI. Both Reformers corresponded king-. The imperative necessity of culti-
with that
vating a competent knowledge of the sacred tongue forced itself
upon
Majesty; who, with his wonted
his
emphasis, exclaimed that "
it
was exceedingly to be
lamented that our theologians were so deficient in a knowledge of the sacred tongue, and neglectful of the learned languages
!
"
i
There can be no doubt that
the expression of the royal regret, on the melancholy condition of the then clerical acquirements, gave an
impetus to the study of the Hebrew language, and
produced a host of well-versed Hebrew scholars, the reigns
which
Henry VHI. '
Even
ladies
succeeded
of high rank
that
466.
linguarum doctrinam
in
of
became
"Vehementer dolere nostra Theolog'orum sortem sanctissime
scientia carentium, et p.
immediately
fuisse intermissam."
linguae
Hody,
The
excla-
mation
of
Henry VIII. ^TccounVof ablek^ckofa knowledge of sacred tongue athe
''^^j.
"^^^f^^^
cht.r^ch"n'ws
Tappy mation.
effect
!
ESSAY
6
proficients
herself
sacred
in
J.
Queen
philology.
was no mean adept
in the original
Elizabeth
language of
Great was the service of that
the Old Testament. I
study to the cause of the reformed Church
in this land.
most important
But, alas, from various causes, that
branch of the Christian minister's learning, has been
\vhat Queen
permitted to
slip
scribed
the Candidates for
two
for
do.
Holy Orders, these
Would God that the Sovereign of this own day, would imitate, in this
ccuturies.
Victoria
might
out of the course of education, pre-
realm, in this our respect,
Henry VHI., and speak out her mind over
the crying neglect of this department of Christian
theology An call
especial for
days!'
jg tlicrc
the
"°^^
no causc
service in the
The study which
!
days of
the knowledge of
by Churchmen
old, is
;
Hebrew cannot be too highly valued Questions of
at the present time.
weighty import are of England and
did such good ° as important now as then •'
still
Rome.
at issue
The
between the Churches
flood-gates of scepticism
have lately burst forth with fresh fury
;
the war-horse
of a certain neology has been let loose to career with
unbridled scope. to
And when
the few Scholars begin
examine the cause of the sudden movement, they
discover
it
to be either an imperfect knowledge,
utter ignorance, of the Sacred tongue.
study of the Hebrew language
importance now, as
'
it
was
is,
The
or
diligent
then, as of great
in the sixteenth century.
See Appendix A.
ESSAY
7
I.
Whether we argue about the canon of scripture as the alone standard of faith, or whether we wish to be preserved from a specious criticism of the divinity, "
it
new School
of
behoves us to be thorough masters of the
Hebrew verity." "The Hebrew
verity" •'
— observed
the
late
Dr.
McCaul, one of the most eminent Professors of Divinity of his
day
writers, is that
To
it,
—
" as
is
it
well called
by ancient
which was revealed by the Almighty.
therefore,
must be the
final
appeal in
all
matters
to be proved by the testimony of Moses and the
Prophets.
The man who
is
ignorant of Hebrew, can
but imperfectly investigate the mind of the Spirit as
Whatever he may
revealed in the Old Testament.
think of the right and duty of private judgment, he
imposes very narrow limits
for his exercise,
who
at
the outset commits himself to the guidance of translators, and whose faith must so far rest upon human
The advocate of unconditional submission authority may be ready to infer the happiness human to of him who can lean upon an infallible guide, without authority.
venturing himself upon the
difficulties of interpretation.
only that of the lazy mendicant
But such
bliss is
loves to
beg rather than work
follower of the blind guide to which he
is
hastening.
who
;
or rather, the blind
who
sees not the danger
There
is
no such thing as
a version authorised by the Church Catholic.
The
modern Greek Church may maintain the authority of the LXX., and the Roman Church prohibit an appeal
or.McCaui on tions.
transla-
; ;
ESSAY
8
from the Vulgate
I.
but the Church Catholic, as has been abundantly proved by Hody, always referred to ;
Hebrew Verity as the only real authority," The same learned divine, when speaking of " the authorised version," remarks " Ignorance of Hebrew makes the Fathers unsafe guides in interpretation and convinces us of the possibility of our also going astray, if we labour under the same deficiency. It is very true that our own translators knew more about Hebrew than all the Fathers taken together, and that the
On
the Authorised version.
:
—
;
the authorised version
but that
it
is
one of the best ever made
is
faultless, or
may
serve the minister of
the Gospel as a substitute for the original, cannot be
maintained, at least in accordance with truth.
would be as easy to collect from works, as
popular religious
It
modern sermons and
from the Fathers, an
abundance of examples of involuntary perversions of God's Word, arising from ignorance of the original
but the task
is
too invidious.
It
may, however, be
observed that a pastor can hardly maintain the respect
due to
his office, if
he
is
not able to give some answers
to the inquiries of his people respecting difficulties varieties of translations
;
and
multiply every day, as the study of the
laity,
increase."
'
Hebrew amongst
and especially amongst females,
is
on the
^
See also the Author's Revision Sermon, " The Oracles of God, and
Vindication."
and
such inquiries must
their
ESSAY
9
I.
Such was the dehberate judgment of one of the most orthodox, pious, and learned divines of the Church of England. It is a fact, well worthy of the most serious consideration on the part of the Clergy, that the laity are beginning to view with impatience the lamentable ignorance of the sacred tongue amongst
The
the priesthood of the Church of England. is,
that there
is
upon
improvement
evil
no reasonable prospect of a speedy the
present
of
state
things.
Scarcely half a dozen of our Bishops can, with a good
upon a Hebrew examination, from Can-
grace, insist
The venerable Primate for Holy Orders.^ Sumner himself told me, in the course of a conversation in 1842, when he was Bishop of Chester, that the little Hebrew he knew, ere he was raised to the episdidates
copate, he
had since forgotten
read farther than Habakkuk.2
comes a moral
man who
is
;
and that he never No, not
until
it
be-
practical sine qica non, that the Clergy-
to be preferred to the ofhce of a Bishop
should understand as thoroughly the original of the
Old Testament,
as
it is
now
a theoretical
si7ie
qua non,
that he should understand the original of the
Testament, there
improvement
'
is
New
no reasonable hope of a speedy
in the present state of things.
See Prospectus of the Pentateuch according to the
I
cannot
Talmud
at
the end of this volume. ^ As the Hebrew Scriptures are arranged, Habakkuk occupies a position more central in the original of the Sacred volume than in the Authorised
version.
^^°
^^Zm
^^ TEfsh^p'^-
"'''^competent Hebrew scholar,
ESSAY
10
help repeating this
'"h'-
dericaVdutf '^'^
spect.'^
^
inmost wish that the Sovereign of
made known Henry VIII.
realm
as did \\^ni
my
7.
her sentiments in this respect,
have said that the
laity are
beginning to view
with impaticnce the lamentable general ignorance of
tongue amongst the priesthood of the
the sacred
The
Church of England. letter
me by
addressed to
following extract from a
an English Duke
—
in refer-
ence to a certain work of mine, in which the same views were maintained affirmation
:
—
sider the proper duties
man,
Many
relaxation
;
—
corroborate the above
and proper studies of a Clergy-
people read
and
will
agree with what you con-
" I entirely
Homer and Horace
do not see why
I
all
for their
Clergymen
should not read the Bible in the original." whyshouid not educated la'^mencufti"
kd|e^of"the the Old Testament.
So
so o good
far,'
; ^
but
I
submlt to hls Gracc, that
I
would most respectfully J r
do not see why English
Christian noblemen and gentlemen
ing
Homer and Horace
because the former the latter
— should
is
so
in
—who prefer read-
the original to translations,
much more
interesting than
not also cultivate a knowledge of
the Hebrew, that they might enjoy the luxury of
reading the Old Testament in the original. reading
is
indeed a mental luxury of the most delect-
able description.
It is
more
delectable, to a person of
true taste, than every species of luxury.
the
mind
Such
It brings
into contact not only with the divinest of
volumes, but with the most ancient and most brilliant writings extant.
ESSAY The volume civilized
known
of revelation, '
world as
"
The
n
I
in
the modern
Bible," contains productions,
not only incomparable in point of purity, and moral truth,
and
spiritual instruction,
but also matchless
in
point of high antiquity, and literary excellence.
It
was written upwards of five hundred years before the Iliad and Odyssey, by Homer or the Theogony, by Hesiod. It was written upwards of eight hundred years before "the contains the Pentateuch, which
;
Tale of the Philosopher," by Lao-tseu Sacred Books," by Confucius of ancient China.
It
— the
;
or, "
The Five
two oldest writers
was written upwards of
six
hundred years before Mahabhrata and Rig Veda, of the
Moses was also the predecessor of Herodoby upwards of a thousand years and that of The Theocritus by about twelve hundred years. " Bible contains the Books of The Psalms," and ProIndians.
tus
;
verbs
;
whose authors wrote upwards of a thousand
years before Horace.
It
contains the
Book
of Isaiah,
which was written seven hundred years before that of Virgil.
I
might thus go on with every Book
Sacred volume
;
collection of works, of the
venerable antiquity, as that contained
will
the
and demonstrate that no nation under
Heaven can boast a Bible.
in
But there
is
no need
;
in
the
same
Hebrew
the intelligent reader
be able himself to recognise the great difference
between Hebrew
lore
and the Classical
literature of
other nations, according to the hint suggested.
Is
it
not strange that philosophical and accomplished pro-
Tj''^ /'"V" quity 01 the
oul'a parai'iei
ture*'of world.
the
!
ESSAY
12
fessors of the science
L
and development of language,
should lose sight of this stubborn fact
The
do^s°'the7ui^
Bible should indeed be set forth, as
Book
hrdweiiTn truth, the HoiyBookis distinguish-
ed for literary excellence.
for all
;
the best and the only infallible guide ^
.
it
is
in
—to the simple and unlearned, -
;
to the learned
,
and the Wise, to the man of feehng and
taste, the noblest
and most attractive object of study.
Never, indeed,
we
should
for a
moment keep
out of view the great
that the ultimate object of our studying the
ought to be to imbibe the knowledge of virtue,
God
—the
its
saving
power whereby the engrafted Word of
able to save the soul.
is
fact,
Holy Book,
Yet,
still, it is
not amiss
to uphold even the literary excellence of the Bible,
He who
can estimate this most truly, will always be
the best
able to assign their real value to
compositions will
;
and while he enjoys
human
their beauties,
be free from any overweening predilections for
them,
^^
sidereZinthe of^vkw.^"'"'
wout to hcar the praises of heathen authors
^^^
loudly celebrated.
With what rapturous applause is Rome ever men-
the poetry of ancient Greece and tioned
how
!
In the usual routine of a liberal education,
large a portion of time
is
devoted to the gaining
an acquaintance with the splendid remains of ancient literature I
I
!
I
am
very far from depreciating
all this.
admire and respect the noble productions of genius
;
acknowledge that the poetry of these elder times
possesses in light
;
it
much, very much, to captivate and de-
but, then, I
would have
it
remembered that the
—
ESSAY excellent, the beautiful,
I.
13
and the sublime are not con-
fined to these nations, or these
men
alone.
would
I
consider poetry itself in the highest point of view
not merely as the child of
intellect,
maid of religion.
I
In a word,
but as the hand-
would try to demonstrate
that " the thoughts which breathe " are always best and
grandest,
when they have
their origin
from
" the Spirit
from on high;" and "the words that burn" do then
burn brightest when they are kindled from the the Sanctuary Isaiah,
;
—
when the
fire
of
like those of
lips,
have been touched with the living coal from
the altar of the
Most High.
The examination is
Poet's
of the poetry ' of ancient nations J^
always most interesting.
It leads us into the spirit
and enables us to form an accurate estimate of by-gone men. The mind of man exhibits of by-gone times
its
working most
effusions.
;
plainly,
and touchingly,
It there sets forth its
most ardent
aspirations.
means of expressing,
Poetry
in
poetic
deepest feelings,
is,
its
indeed, the chosen
to others, the vivid impressions
which have been made upon ourselves
;
and giving a
lasting existence to the creations of the mind.
tween poetic expression, and religious
Be-
feeling, there
seems to be a natural and acknowledged connexion.
Hence we see that the very early efforts of even the heathen muse were employed, not seldom, to give Before the days of the
utterance to such feelings. father of the Grecian epic,
we have
and other songs of a similar
traces of
class, in
hymns
which were
re-
."^^^ ination •^'i?™' of the
denTnations most inter"ting.
I
ESSAY
14
I.
corded the veneration and the awe of rude and pristine
men. onhe^deveT Greci^
°
^ut the history of the development of Grecian song
is
altogether different from that of the
Living
muse.
in the
midst of some of the
Hebrew
fairest of
and acquainted with nature
nature's scenery,
in
her
most pleasing forms, the naturally susceptible imagina-
Greek was speedily touched by the
tion of the early
perception of the beautiful
;
and the Bard endeavoured
to communicate the impression which was made upon He looked upon the world around him with him.
deep and solemn feeling
;
he expressed himself with
He
energy and with grace.
succeeded well
in
one of
the essential parts of superior poetry, in vivid and in natural colouring and in attractive ornament. certain degree, also, his language
powerful.
sublime.
Unguided by the
was elevated and
light of a revelation to dis-
cern the truth, the quickness of his
;
a
Yet, he was not able to attain the true
own
feelings,
and
him
into
his appreciation of natural beauty, only led
error
To
and carried him away from the
really noble.
With him, after awhile, the operations of nature themand he worshipped the creaselves became deified ;
ture rather than the Creator. The Greek poet altogether mistook the leficeof^'oetr"*^
As
new shapes, or observation he exalted them new phenomena, ^
faucy bodicd forth
presented to him ^ into gods.
The
legitimate office of poetry
was thus
See " History of the Literature of Ancient Greece," by K. O. Muller.
—
ESSAY altogether mistaken.
15
1.
became sub-
Religion, in fact,
servient to poetry, instead of poetry being found to
minister to religion.
was thus that Homer and
It
Hesiod were said to have invented the theology of Instead of raising their thoughts upwards to
Greece.
accommodate
the Divine nature, they endeavoured to
nature to their
that
Greek
conceptions.
The
early
that there was something bright and glo-
felt
rious in the sun
moonlight
own
something calm and lovely
;
something grand and impressive
;
in the in the
wild play of the billow, or in the roar of the storm.
He
faithfully expressed
and
natural,
it
what he
felt
was impressive
;
his poetry
was
But here he
too.
stopped, unable to carry his view to the great source
of
all
the
principles
first
knew not that
He
power and might.
it
the real
sublime
of
not ascend
could
conception.
of
dwelling-place
to
He
sublimity,
even with the High and Lofty One that
is
inhabiteth
Eternity
—with
Him whose name
is
Holy.
was thus that matters stood with the Greeks. Very different, however, do we find the condition of It
among the Hebrew people. Greeks, were much accustomed to
They too,
Poetry
1
they, too,
had quick and
1
1
r
like the
lively feelings,
;
and could well
understand the sensations produced by the beautiful.
But then, they had God among them to guide and to instruct.
Whenever His
their poetry, the natural
inspiration
n^Turli
breathed upon
powers of the mind were not
pos-
Ld^
Jh^^'Greeks,
which
r
the lace 01 nature
TheHebrew poets
were
purified by the presence
of God.
— ESS A Y
i6
shackled or confined
;
but the imagination was purified,
Their own appreciation
and the heart was enlarged. of nature was allowed
put
in
its
1.
full
scope
but everything was
;
Nature and her powers are
right place.
most beautifully and graphically delineated, but these are
The
only secondary objects.
successfully First
truly
sublime
is
obtained by making the Supreme the
and the Last.
There
is
never any confusion
between the Deity and His works but the former is ever represented in His proper connexion with the ;
latter
;
and when the operations of nature are men-
tioned, the
mind
is
not suffered to rest here, but
carried on at once to the fountain
from nature oJ^diFHegulge equal
ofVpoe"ry and^ higher kind than the best and the highest of II^^^^Grecian
itself to
the
God
is
and the source,
of nature.
Ancient Hebrew poetry, therefore, as an emanation
f^om Dcity, must needs be most perfect
in these
two
excellence, — nature
most important constituents of If from these general
and subHmity.
characteristics
we now turn our view to conccption, of the Doctic r ^ ^]^g geuius of the language in which we find them ex'
pressed,
we
shall
in
it,
too,
discover
much
that
is
worthy of our applause. I know that it is the fashion with some, whose knowledge of the sacred tongue is just sufiicient to prove that department of their learn-
ing " a dangerous thing,"
—to
decry the Hebrew lan-
guage as scanty and uncouth. treat
When
such
critics
on the merits of poetic composition, they are Hebrew language an
rash enough to pronounce the inferior vehicle for elegant
and
forcible
expression.
—
ESSAY On the
I.
other hand, a great deal
17
said about the force
is
and beauty of the combinations of which the Greek the music of
its
—the perfection of structure periods — and the picturesque variety
words.
I
entertain too ardent a love for the
language
of
its
capable,
is
its
Greek language to gainsay what of
do
I
it.
feel
advanced
is
and admire the power of that language
which has transmitted unto us so much that
much But
that
my
is
love
I
am
its
exquisite beauty
My
majesty.
noble, so
penetrated to
heart's core with feelings of affection
tion for
is
commendable in the history of mankind. for the Hebrew language is even more
fervent than that for the Greek.
my
in praise
—
its
and admira-
matchless power and
intimate acquaintance with that lan-
guage constrains
me
to maintain that the
Hebrew
is
not one whit less adapted to the requirements of noble verse.
Yes,
I
confidently affirm that
it is
even equal
to the wants of a poetry of a better and higher kind
than the best and the highest of the Grecian muse.
In
poetic expression, force and vigour especially impress
our minds
;
and we
the genius of the
ment of activity
its
find
much, very much, of
Hebrew
language.
The
this in
develop-
verbal forms gives to the whole an air of
and potency.
The
modification of ideas, re-
sulting from these varied forms, very often produces
The artful and compound words,
extremely apt and beautiful imagery. masterly combinations of ideas, in
its
forms one of the most pleasing features of the Greek.
The
evolving of
many
various senses, through various 3
;
ESSAY
18
inflexions, of the chief is
word
in the
language, the verb,
The constant employment,
a pecuHarity of Hebrew.
too, of the verb, as the
I.
predominant part of speech,
contributes at once to perspicuity and force.
Thcrc
Voltaire on Hebrew philoiogj'.
is
such a revival
these days, in certain '
in
quarters, of Voltairianism, as to render in a
work of
it
necessary,
expose some of the lucubra-
this kind, to
tions of the leading sinister genius of France, of the
Hebrew
century, on the subject of
last
The wonderful
taken place in the East
ment of the
philology.
discoveries which have of late years
the progress and develop-
;
science of criticism
the unravelling of
;
the hitherto enigmatical writings in the land of the
Sphinx
;
—
all
these tend to show that
it is
mistake, on the part of any Scholar, to
sit
a culpable at the feet
of so superficial a master as M. de Voltaire.
The
would-be-universal genius must needs have something to
Hebrew
say about the
language,
whether he knew anything about
it
;
— never
mind
never mind
relevancy to the theme under his treatment.
Hebrew language lange ;
forced
smuggled
is
into
dragged into his
into his Toleration ;
Philosophiqtie
and surreptitiously
troduced into his Philosophy of History. still
a considerable class of readers
information from those
"
The
Premier Me-
his
Dictionaire
broken
its
As
who draw
cisterns,"
in-
there
is
their
and as
some such readers may chance to have their minds prepossessed in favour of M. de Voltaire's statements, and arguments
— such as they are—with respect to the
ESSAY merits of the
Hebrew
examine,
fore, to
tongue,
my
in this
19
I.
—
I
deem
right, there-
it
Essay, those state-
first
ments and arguments, and mark them with value
peradventure
;
I
may be
their just
the means of putting
some on their guard against the counterfeit learning. "The Hebrew language," observed Voltaire, "like all is a lano o guage necesbarbarous idioms, is scanty the same word serves for orSblrou'/ several ideas. The Jews, deprived of the Arts, could braces'^^'c™not express what they were ignorant of" This pro- wWch ZtLl 1^°'' several c 11 found disquisition was ingeniously introduced by the ideas? '
;
IT---
sage, into his treatise
the
first
-1-
•
on
appeal
place,
whether the inference
" Toleration."
to is
any
1
Let me,
in
linguist-philologist
a reasonable one
Is
.-'
it
proof positive that because a language happens to
embrace certain words which represent respectively several ideas, that that language
Why!
it is
a characteristic
is
of necessity meagre.?
common
and polished languages of the
to the
civilized
most copious world
!
The
Frenchman who could have employed such an argument has not only convicted himself of an utter ignorance of the knowledge of Greek and Latin, but also of an imperfect acquaintance with his
own mother-
Those conversant with the languages which as I have mentioned, will supply instances in them well as in the German, Spanish, Italian, and the lantongue.
—
guage
in
which
I
write this
— of
representing respectively several
same words different ideas. Even the
a de Voltaire would not dare to designate the Greek, Latin, Spanish,
German,
Italian,
French, or English^
—
ESSAY
20
barbarous languages
J.
Thus much
!
I
have written
for
argument-sake, In the second place, let
t^gue^^'dfs'^
n!fsrof"voversatiiit'y
glossary,
"^'^^r.i^^iH'''' no Fhilolo-
duce'^fn
a^ify
*"
me
state, as
Hebrew
^11
of
charming va-
guage.
vertible fact, that the
an incontro-
language, even in
its
prcscnt pcnurious state, has fewer words than any of
lauguagcs named
tliosc
which stand
in
for several
the preceding paragraph
ideas.
On
the other hand,'
^^cn the fragment of the sacred tongue, which we only possess at present, displays a richness of vocabulary,
a versatility of glossary, a charming variety of syno-
nyms, which no European Linguist or Philologist can
any other language. To give a categorical of instances would be to introduce upwards of one
adduce list
in
hundred pages of very dry and tedious reading. few examples, however, I
do
at hazardous
just now,
—how
I
feel
random.
many
bound
As
it
to give.
A
This
happens to rain
terms are there in the Greek,
Latin,
French, German, and English, for the word
rain
The
?
following are the
the one idea rain Zarzecf, besides
Yoiireh, for "
koush, for " latter rain."
from
my
tree.
former
rain,"
for
Sagreer,
and Mal-
Looking out upon the garden
i
study-window,
from a favourite
Hebrew synonyms
Giicshcm, Matar, Bool,
I
observe a branch broken off
How many
different
terms
have the Greek, Latin, French, German, and English,
word branch } The following are the Hebrew synonyms for the one and self-same word Naitzer,
for the
:
:
^pbo—mv—f|'m—T-UD—bin—iTQa—Duja
(')
— !;
ESSAY
J.
21
Choiiter, Kataccr, Daleeth, TseinacJi.^
house
tress of the
some one
to
draw water from a
How many
field.
hear the mis-
I
one of the men to go and help
tell
an adjacent
well, in
equivalents are there in those lan-
guages already enumerated for the verb is,
water from a well
synonyms
for
The
?
Cadoud, Daloh, SJuwub?
it:
however, some difference in the
The
roots. toil
tells
that
Hebrew
There
is,
force of these
full
drawing water with great
implies
first
the second
;
to draxv,
following are the
the tale of a very deep well
the third intimates that the well overflows, and the
drawing may be But
all
effected with ease, even with delight.
the poetic variety
is
lost in translations
;
lost
with considerable detriment to the meaning of certain passages in Holy Writ
Draw, draw, draw,
language can afford
;
—
for instance, Isaiah xii. 3.
the only word that the English
is
for the various
waters from different wells.
Need verb
draiv
to
I
uno
of obtaining
disce onines
obliged to intimate in the English
is
Any
.''
ordinary dictionary will
affect the pedant,
because they are poorer .''
No, no.
Voltairians
!
It
I
do
this.
and superciliously pronounce
the secular languages which
tongue
modes
enumerate the legion of meanings which the
I
language Shall
Ex
in
I
have named, scanty,
synonyms than the sacred
leave such petty
would be easy
for
nos— n^*?!—t:?P—"iTcn—123
me (')
conceits
for
to multiply
!
ESSAY
22
illustrations
I.
me
every object round about
;
service for the purpose
but
:
I
offers its
forbear, for the reason
already given. When taire taire
Voldiffer,
ho^shaiTdecide
Voltaire, " the Jews, deprived
Mon. de
But, argues
andVol-
the Arts, could not express what they were ignorant
of"
of"
I
deal not at present in the skill which the Jews
undoubtedly possessed as artizans
;
and therefore pass
the assertion of the ignorance of the Jews, without any further
notice.
My
business, at present,
language which the Jews spoke. plenitude of
and Arabic.
with the in
the
— the Greek—consisted of namely — Phoenician, Chaldee, Syriac,
its vitality
several dialects,
is
That language,
like
:
The
Phoenicians were perfectly well ac-
quainted with the Arts, for they taught them to the
Greeks and others
managed
so
;
that the Jews
to express the terms of the Arts,
might have though they
might have been ignorant of the Arts themselves.
In
stated that "
the Premier Melanges, Voltaire himself most perfect languages must necessarily be the languages of those nations who have most cultivated the his
Arts and Sciences." nicians
..." The language of the Phoe-
was that of an
nation, spread over the
oracle
industrious, commercial, rich
whole earth."
But the same
inadvertently put down, in black and white,
that "the Jews for a long time spoke no other language
Canaan than that of the Phoenicians." When Voltaire and Voltaire differ, who shall decide in
!
Could
the
Hebrews have
terms
In
his
Dictionaire
j-gadcrs that "
tlic
Philosophiquc,
!
he informs
his
words astronomy and geometry were
ESSAY
23
I.
always absolutely unknown amongst the Jews."
The Babylonians
a curious piece of instruction!
is
That
for
my,
astrono-
geomc-
vigatton?"*
were astronomers, the Egyptians were geometricians, the Phoenicians were both, but the readers of the Philosopher's works will search in vain, in his pages, for the
terms by which the Babylonians and Egyptians
But
called those sciences.
have occasion to
shall
I
point out, in a future Essay, that terms representing
astronomy and geometry were perfectly familiar to the In the Premier Melanges, Voltaire exclaims,
Jews. "
How
could the Hebrews have sea-terms, they who,
before Solomon, had not a boat
!
"
As the Phoenicians
were a great maritime nation, and as the Phoenician language was part and parcel of the Hebrew, the Jews
might have had sea-terms, even
But
boat before Solomon.
if
they had not a
be in a position
I shall
to demonstrate, in one of the subsequent Essays, that
many boats before Solomon.^ way of winding up the long dithe extraordinary riches of the Hebrew T Israels glorious days, may ^ / be mferred /
the Hebrews had I will
only add, by
gression, that
m •
1!
1
•
1
1
•
/-
language, ^ ^ from the wonderful wealth which the mere fragment, '
'
preserved to
ment,
us, possesses.
The Hebrew
Those who wish
I
Bible.
mean by It is
the mere frag-
not only immeasur-
strictures on the Old Testament them peruse " Lettres de quelques Juifs Portugais, Allemand, et Polonais, a M. de Voltaire. Avec un petit Commentaire, extrait d'un plus grand. Sixieme Edition, augmentee et corrigee d'apres '
to see Voltaire's
thoroug-hly exposed, let
les
"
Manuscrits de I'Auteur.
The Oracles
of God,
and
Trois
vol. in Svo.
Paris: 1S05."
their Vindication," p. 22.
See also
tion^or"the' bie has wonderfully en-
richedaiithe
Western g^^g"-
lan-
a
ESSAY
24
ably opulent in
itself,
but
it
I.
has moreover enriched, by the Western languages.
the various translations of it,
all
Let those who are curious
such matters compare the
in
poverty-stricken European languages before the trans-
sudden enrichment
lation of the Bible, with their
Words had
that great event. in order to
after
actually to be coined,
convey the meaning of the
It is
original.
unmitigated conceit to talk of bringing back the English language to the stature of the old Saxon. It
would indeed be an
illegible piece of
'^°
i^ig^u^lehas
old, shrivelled, shrunk, dried up,
mummy
come back
record.
to the immediate subject in hand,
to''ensure°"'
namely, the Poetry and the language of the Hebrews
feMe? ^Her-
—to
Gcr
s
mate
point out
csti"
of .its poetic genius.
not a thorough the
nise that
how they suit one another. There is Hebrew Scholar who does not recoglanguage
is
essentially possessed
Gentile Poet and a in
Germany
in the
Hebrew Scholar middle of the
served, "the very soul of poetry
down
—who
last
is
of
—
Herder
qualifications to ensure poetic excellence.
flourished
— ob-
century
action and senti-
maxim, not to be denied, that the language which frequently employs ment;" and he, lays
it
expressive picturesque verbs,
—another century,
lence
He
is
German Poet and
as a
a poetical one.
Lessing
Philologist of the last
no second-rate authority on poetic excel-
—has
called attention to the verses of
has shown
how '
in
them
all
was
full
See Lessingr's " Laokoon."
Homer.
^
of progress,
;
ESSAY
25
I.
and spirit. The Hebrew language to
life,
activity,
observation
fits
the
a nicety.
Hebrew almost every word
is
a verb
word, and everything in
is
life
admirably adapted the
man
for the
;
action.
It is
purposes of the Poet, and like a practical
when he described
Scholar, which he was,
thing in
it
cries aloud,
in
every
the sacred tongue in the following terms I live, I
'
and
is,
that
and
Herder spoke
of sentiment.
Hebrew
it,
true,
is
Moreover,
move,
I
:
—
Every-
"
work
;
I
am
the creature of feeling and passion, not of abstract thinkers or philosophers
am
yea, I
:
I
am
intended for the Poet
even myself altogether poesy.'
It is impossible to
"
^
take up any part of the
Hebrew
There
is
never anything diluted
Bible, without perceiving the justice of these remarks. or"weakened
Throughout the whole of
its
venerated records ...
1
trace that remarkable combination of simplicity force,
which gives to writing
language
its
its
truest ornaments.
best charms, and to
to the strictly poetic parts of the Bible,
find in
them the amplest confirmation of the
In the
Hebrew Poetry
clearly
and vividly marked out
There
is
we
truth.
the leading ideas are always ;
all
is
action and
never anything diluted or weakened
by superfluous ornament. for the
and
But when we apply
all this
feeling.
we
There
is all
that
is
needed
purposes of deep impression, but no more.
' " Alles in ihr ruft : ' ich lehe, bewege mich, wirke. Mich erschiiffen Sinne unci Leidenschaften, nicht ahstrakte Denker und Philosophen : ich bin Herder vom Geist also fur den Dichter, ja ich selbst bin ganz Dichtung." der " Ebraeischen Poesie,' " vol. i. p. 8.
—
ousomament '"
Hebrew-
poetry.
—
ESSAY
26
I.
The conception, too, is perfectly expressed by the most energetic and animated term. The Die
probacause of
of^ pLraiier-
dpai'featuTe "^^^
poetry.^
^'^
—
This Striving " after-action if I may be allowed so speak which so much distinguishes the Hebrew
—
"^
language, has perhaps chiefly operated in determining the form of
rhyme of know how
its
poetry.
—which ideas —
parallelism,
its
mean
I
may
adopting that of
in
properly be designated the
In this
principal feature.
;
and how the correspondence and
alternation of ideas, produce at once variety
The importance
may
be thus
illustrated, after
parallelism
is
has always something
wave,
who the
^^of\1ie^He-
Nor
inThe'dark genius of the
Hebrew guage,
unity.
—
"
When
new
wave
its
itself,
but
the
first
When
to say.
the
breaks proudly
place."
merely to the exhibition of feeling and
it
'-'
"^
sentiment that parallelism
much
oWrit^are coutributcs
^
never exhausts
either gently flows away, or
is
:
were, succeeds to
it it
;
Herder
against the rock, a second takes They
and
of parallelism to impressive poetry
heart overflows, wave, as
and such
we
the repetition of action contributes to em-
phasis and effect
charge
at once,
who chargc
is
to precision
so well adapted
;
it
the sacred poetry of the
also
They
and perspicuity.
Hebrews with
pcculiar obscurity, are themselves under a cloud of
lan-
judicial darkness touching the genius of the
I
"So
lelismus.
bald sich das Herz ergisst, stromt IVelle aiif
Es hat
die erste JVelle
nie ausgeredet, hat
sank
verfliesst,
die zweite ffelle wieder." vol.
i.
p. 21.
immer etwas
Jl^elle,
7ieues
Hebrew
das
zu sagen.
is
ParolSo laid
oder sich pr'dchtig bricht am Felsen, kommt vom Geist der " Ebraeischen Poesie,"
— Herder
—
ESS^Y
27"
1.
mode
language, as well as regards the
adopted by the inspired Hebrew bards. but compare the
subhme
effusions of
of expression
Indeed, if we Hebrew poetry
with the most finished specimens of Grecian art instance, with the Grecian choral poetry
—
it
— for
will not
be hard to determine on which side the advantage lies
the former will be found to exceed the latter as
:
much to
genuine simplicity, as they are to be preferred Such,
in true sublimity.
it
the
in
Hebrews
in brief, is
the poetry of
— the most sublime, the most
interesting,
the most remarkable.
The study full
full
of the sacred poetry of the
Hebrews
is
of instruction to the humble-minded believer, and of delight to the Christian Scholar.
Connected
it IS
With the earliest history of the Jewish people,
interwoven with their sins
and
all their
Much
•"
charm with men of a
we
that poetry which, nation,
When we delight in
tells
We
like to
of the glories of the past,
we know, has been
fondly cherished
and handed down from father to not merely from
but also from considering
it
its
nation.
own
"
we
son. feel
intrinsic merit,
as the poetical inheritance
of a great and intellectual people sure of a
later age.
peruse the " Tale of Troy divine it,
'
derive from early lays,
from their historical associations.
read that poetry which
by a
business and their pleasures,
of the pleasure which
results
To humbleminded believer, and fu 11 of delight to the Chris-
their sorrows, the poetry of the Bible "^"
possesses no small
— the cherished
Taking up the
'''i!
s"ruct°on
the
.
as
o^tlfe Sacked
^°eb%ws
trea-
effusions of the
sacred muse, and viewing them in this light,
we can
Scholar,
ESSAY
28
I.
find nothing so striking in the race.
whole history of our
At a period when time itself was young, Hebrew melody was heard. When all
voice of
nations
around them were
in
gross
darkness,
the
the the
children of Israel had light, even the light of the true
God, shining unto them.
human muse began
Ages and ages
before the
to sing, inspired bards were giving
utterance to their God-directed lays, and hymning, in strains designed to last
till
time shall be no more,
the Majesty of the Lord of Hosts the
— now exulting
commemoration of deliverance,
or in the joys of a
triumph which His right hand procured them, looking far
off,
in the distant future,
ing in verse divine
This then,
my
its
first
in
— now
and foreshadow-
great events.
Essay,
is
my Apology
for bring-
ing the subject under the consideration of a// estates
of men, in her Majesty's dominions.
—
ESSAY
II.
THE VESTIGES OF PRIMEVAL HEBREW POETRY, TRACEABLE IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS. INTIMATED,
I
ill
'
the
Hebrew
the course of
language, as
mere fragment
—
we
my '
possess
Essay, that
first it
"'
at present,
in point of glossary or
a
is
The Hebrew language, as days'^of yore!
vocabulary
of the sacred tongue, as spoken in the days of yore, in
the plenitude of vigour and vitality.
all
the
same
:
I
confidently afiirm,
I
reiterate
it
by reason of strong
conviction, that ere the tribes of Israel were scattered
over the face of the earth
;
ere their children were
forced to learn strange languages, to the detriment of their
own beloved
tongue, the
Hebrew language was
one of the richest and the most widely extended over the face of the then habitable earth
was unrivalled and matchless grace.
with It
me
moreover, that
fortify this position, before I
disquisitions
it
and
proceed
on the subject under treatment.
does not immediately concern the subject which
M^,tic'"'nar-
hand, to establish the remote, the hoary
corT' rtcWy
have
I
Let
my
;
for energy, beauty,
in
antiquity of the original language of the Pentateuch .
.
;
.
nor does the discussion of th« Eloliistic and JcJwvistic ' The general reader may require a few words of explanation of the above The former has been coined by a certain school, with questionably taste, to describe the earliest period of revelation, when the '
two technical terms.
with tions.
quota-
ESSAY
30
periods directly affect
my
my
II.
theme.
But
it
appertains to
thesis that I prove that the writer of that sacred
chronicle,
was
one way or another,
instructed,
in the
events which took place on this earth prior to his
undertaking to record them in his marvellous com-
pendium.
There
is
something unspeakably grand
in
Ask now
of
his appeal to the sons of Israel, saying
:
"
the earliest days, which were before thee, since the
day that God created man upon the earth
;
and ask
from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there had been any such thing as this great thing
or hath been heard like
it
V'^
The
is,
poetic hyperbole
does not do away with the implied prosaic matter of fact that there
were some means of consulting certain
authorities on the subject in question, whether oral or scriptory.
Furthermore, no Hebrew scholar can read
—
Almighty was known as Elohim translated, by us, God. The latter was coined by the same school, and with the same taste, with reference to a later period, when the Great Being was made known as mrp which Gentiles dare pronounce Jehovah, translated, by us. Lord. The Jews consider the original name ineffable, and never pronounce it after the manner of the Gentiles, as I have just, for this once, written it; they substitute for it, either the term Adonai, of which Lord is the literal translation, or the
—
Hashem, The Name. It is evident that our Saviour never, in His ordinary teaching, pronounced the word otherwise than Adonai ; and hence, in every quotation of that name which He made from the Old Testament, it is uniformly translated into Greek by the word Kvptos, Lord. Two references will suffice: Mat. xxii. 44; Lu. iv. iS. I shall therefore endeavour, in all humility, to act on this great authority, and use that sacred name with something of the same reverence which He, who spoke as never man spake, was wont to do when on earth. I shall, in future, use either Adonai, or its English equivalent. Lord. ' Deut. iv. 32. expression,
!
ESSAY the
II.
31
book of Moses without recognising the great
first
between the phraseology of the narrator,
difference
and that of the various personages, some of whose
Every candid scholar must
sayings are briefly quoted. at
once resolve the narrative into a record richly
The very
garnished with quotations. of style,
versity
fact of the di-
proves that our author gave the
quotations in the language in which they were originally uttered lated
;
language
Let
for a translation
them is
would
historian
;
and that
Hebrew,
me adduce
a few fragments of ante-diluvian *-*
poetry, in illustration of the
Moses
once have assimi-
at
to the style of the
touching the mysterious creation and
writes,
formation of
argument heretofore urged.
Adam
and Eve; he gives the grateful
surprise of the father of the
human
race, as
it
was
preserved in a couplet very different in structure and diction from
Adam
is
Moses'
said to
This time
it is
own composition
have exclaimed
bone of my bone, and
This shall be called woman, for
of the kind.
^ :
this
flesh of
my
flesh
!
was taken from man
The moral drawn from it is forthwith given in the own grave and dignified style " Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall
historian's
:
cleave unto his wife
ncaD
:
and they
iffin 'Dijyn d'sv
•.riNTnnp^
c'nd
'3
—
shall be
one
Dyon n«T
Gen.
rros Nip' rmTh
flesh."
ii.
23.
^
few frag-
merits
of
p"et^'"Gen «• 23.
—
ESSAY
32
Adam's epigrammatic
^^^Jl
II.
When, in the following the compiler o chapter, x Book of Genesis writes :— /
'
i.
of the
Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and
he describes the Creator's search
Man.
The former
tate to account in
of a couplet
Thy
The
—
one word
naked
am
I,
?
"
Where
art
again preserved in the form
and
so patent that
is
that the
latter
is
original language,
have hid myself
from the second to the third it is
impossible not to admit
and not by
a quotation, in an
translation.
said of the fourth chapter
;
the
from that of the historian to that of
in style
his authorities,
I
substantially
The same may be change
is
—A-YECAH
^
transition in style,
chapter,
for the lost creature,
voice I heard in the garden, and I was afraid.
Verily,
remonstrance with Cain.
:
our woe
represented as calling the apos-
Adam's reply
thou ?"
The Creator's
is
all
whoever they might
be,
is
too obvious
by even a tyro in the study of the The Almighty is represented as language. Hebrew endeavouring to rouse Adam's eldest son from his
to be mistaken
murderous
cogitations, in the following remonstrance
NT«1 pi
'TOOttJ "[bp-n«
Gen.
iii.
lo.
'
;
i
ESSAY
;
II.
33
consisting of a seven-lines-stanza, of wonderful
tentiousness and energy
Why
art
thou wroth
And why Is
it
But
:
—
art
?
thou pensive
?
—doest thou good exaltation thou doest not good — [Alas
not so if
sen-
?
!
!]
Sin croucheth at the door Its craving
is
for thee.
But thou shouldst master
The apparent
it.
obscurity proves that the
little
poem
belongs to a class of historical reminiscences far anterior to the
days of Moses, 2 u^hen Hebrew prose and
Hebrew poetry began
to
be written with a minuteness
and perspicuity worthy of the best age
in the history of
any language. I pass over the dialogue between the Almighty and Cain, after the latter branded himself as a fratricide.
The
interlocution
form of verse, and given
in the
is
evidently in the
very words in which
they were originally uttered.
^ mn :-p3Q
ibQ:
nab
Gen.
iv. 6, 7.
\
rvdr\
' In my Essays on the Poetry of the Book of Job, I have endeavoured to point out the affinity, in style and structure, between the above stanza and the poetic compositions relating to the " man in the land of Uz."
4
— ESSAY
34 Gen.
iv.
23,
II.
jn the same marvellously comprehensive chapter, the epitome of centuries of history, poetic quotation.
the
first
It is the
we have another
well-known vindication of
bigamist on record, before his two wives,
respecting a certain homicide which he had committed.
The
quotation runs thus
'^
:
Adah and Zillah, hear my Ye wives of Lamech, give Verily, I
have
A young man,
voice
;
ear unto
my
man, because of
slain a
because of
my
speech.
my wound
;
hurt.
Truly, even Cain shall be avenged twice seven-fold,
Then Lamech as'he'is^de" the^^fncie^n't
Chinese.
^ ^^^^
seventy-and-seven-fold.
^°^ multiply examples; the few which
my
I
have
Here we have specimens of a language of striking beauty and force, the same which is now known as Hebrew, spoken by the earliest families of mankind, at a very cltcd will scrvc to iUustratc
meaning.
early period of the world's history, before the calamity
of the deluge, ere the catastrophe of the confusion of
tongues.
and
But what has become of
could contrive
all
their
language
—
Those who manner of musical instruments, and
literature at large
•h-fp
antediluvians
">
|ymD
•rsDb
n'j!j'i
'ruin :
mj?
xd'«
<rr\irb
'3
iVi
Gen.
iv. 23, 24.
'
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
ESSAY who were already
II.
35
skilful artizans in brass
and
iron,
must have had genius enough to contrive a method by which to commemorate certain remarkable events in their history. In the traditional period of Chinese
we have mention made of Kwang-te, who resembles very much the Tubal-Cain of the Hebrew annals,
Bible, as the inventor of the cycle,
discoverer of the silkworm, the
and
maker of
letters;
implements and boats, and instructor of every in brass
and
the
sorts of
all
artificer
iron,
Josephus, on very good authority, affirms respecting the antediluvians, that their inventions might not be lost before
they were sufficiently known, upon Adam's
prediction that the world
was
to be destroyed at
one
time by the force oi fire, and at another by the violence
and quantity of
zvater,
they
made two
of brick, and the other of stone discoveries on
them both
brick should be destroyed
;
;
pillars
:
the one
they inscribed their
that in case the pillar of
by the
flood, the pillar of
stone might remain, and exhibit those discoveries to
mankind, and also inform them that there was another pillar erected
the pillars truth or fact that I
now
it
was
believe
Be the circumstantial story of fiction, it does not do away with the
by them.
it
believed, thousands of years
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
ago
:
and
after investigating all the ingenious
guesses which European scholarship has made, touching the science of language
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that the antediluvians had
discovered some means of writing,
by which
to
com-
municate their knowledge to succeeding generations.
j^ilj^i^,/""'"
could
write-
ESSAY
36
hl"°contemporanes.
"^"^ "^^^
weTC thc scribcs
II.
Such a question could
?
only bc Eskcd by an unthinking objector, and scarcely deserves any notice.
We
know
that a greater than
Josephus spake of certain prophecies of the ante-
The author of the Apocryphal book Enoch amongst " Leaders people by their counsels, and by their know-
diluvian Enoch. I
Ecclesiasticus,2 mentions
of the
ledge of learning meet
eloquent
their
in
for
and
the people, wise
instructions
;
such as found out
musical tones, and recited verses in writing."
It
was
—
by Josephus and his contemporaries and I now that the language which the antediluvians spoke was the same which is known amongst us by the name of Hebrew, and justly surnamed " The sacred tongue." That language, as then spoken, must already have been copious for those people required names for a multiplicity of objects, as well as
believed believe
—
it
:
phraseology for a host of subjects, and for manifold purposes tics
but the whole of their vocabulary, and dialec-
;
—with
the exception of the few words preserved
in the first seven chapters of Genesis
and a great The
first
post-diluvian poetic composition, pre'Je'Jv'^d!''^'
loss
it is
Let us now glance -'
lost to us
;
at another period of the world's
history, in connection with the '
the Hcbrcw.
—are
to the philosophical philologist.
language, one primeval o o ^ to leave his ark of J
Noah was permitted
refuge; in the course of years the families of his sons
greatly multiplied, and units
'
Jude
14.
'
became thousands:
Ecclus.
xliv.
4-16;
xlix. 14.
"
and
!
ESSAY
II.
37
by these were the nations divided the flood."!
attention to the
the earth after
post-diluvian poetic composition
first
Noah's second son had
which Moses preserved. curred,
in
cannot pass on here without calling
I
and justly
in-
Not
his father's displeasure.
so,
only did the anger of an earthly parent kindle against
Ham, but also the wrath of God. The Almighty then made known his purposes respecting mankind, to the father of the
post-diluvian
race.
That subject of
Noah digested into the form of a short The predicted exaltation and prosperity of
revelation
poem.
Shem and
Japheth, as well as the degradation and
adversity of
and
force
Ham, were
art.
We
conceived with genuine poetic
have, in the brief effusion, three
equal divisions of parts
;
and Ham's bad fortune em-
phatically repeated after the
conferred blessings on
each of his more favoured brothers.
God
must have been intimated
indeed, since
it
could
make
in
The
the father indite so vehe-
ment a malediction against one
son, whilst
on the two
others he pronounced such heartfelt blessings ever,
that
it
is
is
the poetic feature
I
How-
!
have to deal with, and
very prominent in Noah's extant composition.^
Cursed
A
curse of
very emphatic terms
is
Canaan
servant of servants shall he be to his brothers
'
Gen.
X. 32.
rrrp
may
]y:D :
vx\vb
TilN
lar
Gen.
ix.
!
25, 26, 27.
ESSAY
38
Blessed be the Lord
And God And And
Abraham's
to them.
persuade Japheth,
will
he
shall dwell in the tents of
let
Canaan be a servant
The maledictory ;
of Shem,
Canaan be a servant
let
his diction.
tion
God
II.
and
It is
stanza
neither Moses' style, nor
is
nothing more nor
proclaims
it
Shem.
to them.
itself to
than a quota-
less
be such at
sight.
patriotic
so-
gy^ ^q continue our bird's-eye view of the history ^ ^
thrmfe
pri^
of the " science of language," as sketched in the oldest
meval guage
Ian
book extant
"
in the world.
The whole
one language, and of one speech."
earth
was of
In process of
'
time occurred the Babel catastrophe, the confusion of tongues, race.
and the universal dispersion of the human
But
it is
evident that the one primeval language
remained, for a time, the living spoken tongue
Shem
the descendants of
;
that
is
among
of the lineal de-
scendants of his great grandson " Eber," to
term Hebrew, more correctly Ebrew, owes
whom
the
its origin.
In the sixth generation after Eber, the language seems to have found a patriotic preserver in "
by reason
Abram," who,
of his zeal for the language of his fathers,
received the
cognomen nayn, "the Ebrew." 2 DÂŤ3
'
Gen.
xi. i.
'nVx
mn'
im
in"?
lys
p33
'H'i
â&#x20AC;˘.ych
113?
]3?3D
'rn
:
'
Gen. xiv.
13.
Whilst
—
ESSAY
11.
by
the collateral branches were,
39
degrees, adopting the
now known as Hebrew patriarch
vocabulary of those mongrel dialects, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic
—
the
elegance, majesty, and
cultivated, in all its
beauty,
the primitive tongue, which he evidently took care
and Providence rewarded
his solicitude
—should be so
rooted in the hearts of his posterity, as no vicissitude
should compass
its
utter extinction.
There
thing grand in the Divine testimony to "
patriotic solicitude.
And
Lord
the
Abraham that thing which Abraham shall surely become
that
mighty will
nation,
be blessed
shall
command
him,"
language,
I
in
and
do
great
of
the
know him
I
seeing
;
a
and earth
that he
his household after
The exact means which
cannot
tell
the patriarch
one cannot be
;
far
Abraham inculcated
wrong, diligent
and readings of God's providential
That
annals of the world.
during their sojourn tlie
I
I
the preservation of the one primeval
recitations, writings, in the
For
}
however, in affirming that
epochs
the nations
all
him
his children,
etc., etc.^
adopted, for
and
Shall
said.
hide from
some-
is
Abraham's
in
Egypt, were
various ruthless oppressions
his offspring,
— notwithstanding
— a highly
intellectual
and cultivated people (who could speak and write two languages, their own, the Hebrew, and the Egyptian),
admits of no two opinions amongst the
Pentateuch carefully.
'
Gen.
We
xviii.
17-19.
have
men who
read
an incidental
ESSAY
40
allusion, in
Hebrew
II.
subsequent history/ to four remarkable
sages
;
so remarkable indeed, that they are
particularly mentioned as having been surpassed in
wisdom by Solomon only. Those four men Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, were brothers
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ethan, ;
grand-
who were evidently born in Egypt. fhe Hebrcw language must have become wonder-
sons of Judah, The brew
HeIan-
m"^^*wfaith radsfojourn gi'pt.
fu'^ly
enriched during Israel's residence in the land of
^hc Pharaohs, ^ÂŁ- ^j^g
by the
incorporation, into that language,
Egyptian terms of the various
which were cultivated by the wise phis,
arts
men
and
sciences,
Mem-
of Zoan,
Without the supposition that the
and Thebes.
Hebrew language was very wealthy in word, thought, and in deed, read and known by the people of Israel, a great deal of the dignified and grave addresses of
command, must be put down as inflated and unmeaning verbosity. What did that great sage mean, by constantly exhorting the Moses
to the nation under his
people to read and write the law which he gave them, if
no
they could neither do the one nor the other ;
me
the conviction that the Israelites
Egypt were a highly
who
No,
the calm and patient examination of the Penta-
teuch forces upon in
.''
cultivated
great assiduity.
their I
am
refined
and
literary people,
much-cherished language with not at
all
surprised to find that
at a popular demonstration in the desert, against their
Deliverer, the
'
two hundred and
I
Kings
iv.
fifty princes,
31; Heb. version,
v. 11.
the ring-
;
ESSAY leaders
of the
"famous
in
n.
movement, should
the congregation,
men
be describee
By
of renown."'
-
the bye, modern democratic agitators are but indifferent imitators of those Israehtish orators, judging from the
we have of the Abraham, thereharangues of the latter. The sons of fore, must have had a good deal of Hebrew literature preserved amongst them, whether oral or scriptory, accounts, laconic as they are, which
extending over the long period from the exodus of
Noah from the ark to their own exodus from Egypt that is, many many centuries but with the exception :
of the few incidents recorded in the last forty-three
chapters of the literature
is
Book
lost to the
of Genesis, the whole of that
world
;
and a great
loss
it is
to
the philosophical philologist.
What
shall I say
about the
War," the Book of Song; Jasher
;"
Books of
"Book
Israel
}
The books
of Chronicles which
possess are evidently not the documents which are
frequently referred to in the Books of Kings. shall
What
say to the loss of the works of David and
I
Solomon, on the
Temple
What
}^
and choral service of the
liturgical
shall I say to the loss of
work on natural history
What
"i
Solomon's
shall I say to the
loss of all the productions of " the sons of the Pro-
phets
"
}
'
Yes, what shall
Num.
xvi. 2.
I
say even to the
*
loss, in
2 Chron. xxxv. 4.
J^e'" losses
of demHebrTw
the Books of the Chronicles of the Kings of
Judah and
we
loss of the "
the so-called
a
sustained.
ESSAY
42
literary point of view, of the
Baal
?
II.
works of the prophets of
Let the Classical Scholar imagine the whole
of the literature of the ancient Greeks reduced to
Herodotus, ^Eschylus, and Pindar, and he to form
Hebrew
some
faint idea of the
literature has sustained
reconcile us to be resigned to
:
be able
will
enormous
loss
which
a loss which should
many an apparent
textual
madly means of comparing the verbal usages of the same terms by other writers. As regards the Hebrews themselves, I can conceive nothing more painful to the contemplaobscurity in the sacred volume, without rushing into scepticism
;
seeing
we
are deprived of the
tion of an intelligent, patriotic Jew, than the fact of
the great loss which the nation had sustained,
much
destruction of so
national independence Themostessential
rem-
by the
of their lore, along with their !
Howcvcr, He, who has interposed His providential ' '^ '
'
The House
bre"w °[it^a-
guardianship over the remnant of "
dendaiiy^nd
Jacob," has also mcrcifulIy preserved the most essential
preserved.
of
remnant of their hallowed literature. A renmant, the more it is studied the more appreciable does the loss of the main body become. When we visit the wrecks of ancient
Rome
and Athens, we do not only admire
the stupendous remains, but our minds turn irresistibly
what it must have been and our hearts melt towards the Italians and the Greeks, by the sad thoughts of their
to contemplate, with the eye of imagination, ;
fall
from such lofty pinnacles of greatness.
It is
so with
the remnant of Israel, and with the fragment of their
ESSAY ancient literature read, marked,
II.
43
a fragment which,
;
if
attentively
and inwardly digested, must confer upon
the devout student peace and happiness, truth and justice, religion
and piety
and
beautiful, as to
that
is
a fragment so grand, sublime,
;
make
us almost suppose that
all
really splendid
and glorious
in literature, is to
be found concentrated
in the small
volume known as
"The
The poetry
Bible."
of that Bible
to discuss, beginning with that of the
now proceed
I
Book
first
of the
Pentateuch, and with the traces of the poetic effusions
of the immediate patriarchs of the
Hebrew
race.
The
vestiges of that poetry which belong to the antedi-
luvian period, and to the pre-Babel era,
The
noticed.
I
have already
do well to take a
reader, however, will
retrospective glance at them,i in order that he
may
the better be able to observe the great difference
between the
The gems
earlier
and
later styles.
poesy which are dispersed ' ^ '
The gems of sacred poesy
through the marvellous Mosaic records are not numer-
fhrough'^the
'-'
ous, but yet
national
Odes future
of sacred
how
striking
Each
!
The
inheritance.
voice
divine
of the
sings of Israel's future destiny, greatness,
The songs
poem
"^^
is
a
Prophetic
and of
Israel's
and God's protecting providence.
of triumph record the mighty deeds of the
Omnipotent One,
in Israel's behalf;
were handed down with nation's jealous care.
all
and these songs
a nation's pride, with
In after ages, in the
'
See pp. 32-40.
full
all
a
glory of
cords."^
ESSAY
44
II.
prophetic inspiration, these early songs their power,
still
preserved
gave a colouring to the poetry of the
still
inspired servants of
the Almighty,
David,
Isaiah,
Hosea, Habakkuk, and others of the Prophets, worked into their
own compositions
language of these immortal
The
the
and even the
spirit,
lays.
paucity of instances makes one anxious not to
overlook a single case. the very
first
stanza,
I
commence,
which occurs
therefore, with
in the record
re-
specting the earliest patriarchs of the Jewish nation. I
am
disposed to believe that stanza to be the inspired
Abraham
composition of faithful,
himself, the father of the
and the friend of God.
twenty-fifth
It is
chapter of Genesis.
recorded in the
When
Rebekah,
after her conception, found herself in the toils and
throes of painful agony, in consequence of the conflicts
"
of the, yet unborn, twin babes,
she went to inquire of the Lord."
means,
we
Samuel
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
are told "
by the
Beforetime
writer of the
in Israel,
inquire of God, thus he spake to the seer: for he that
before-time called a this explanation,
Now, we
is
:
now
seer.''^
we are told that What this phrase Books of
when a man went Come, and
let
us
called a Prophet,
to
go
was
Rebekah, according to
went to consult a Prophet, a man of
by the Almighty himself, To whom, therefore, would the agonized Rebekah betake herself but to God.
that
are told
Abraham was
'
I
Sa.
a prophet. 2
ix. 9.
'
Gen. xx.
7.
^
ESS^Y her aged
45
II.
who was
father-in-law,
himself anxiously
looking forward to the birth of a grandson, through
whom
the promises
made
to himself
might be
fulfilled.
Almighty is formed into a brief, but most vigorous little poem, and exactly in Abraham's style and manner of diction. Compare
The
oracular reply of the
the several speeches of that patriarch, in the
first
phrase, in which
idiom, verse
:
is
—
Two Two Each
is,
I
a strictly
have
following para-
to conciliate
tried
literal translation
modern
of the original
nations are verily conceived in thee, diverse people from their very birth they'll be will strive for
But the elder It
The
Book of Moses.
as recorded
shall
;
mastery over the other,
obey the younger brother.
however, in the original that the exquisite,
almost matchless epigrammatic vigour of the oracle How accurately the prophecy, is made manifest. contained in the laconic verse, was of ordinary information need be
The next remarkable meet
in the
Pentateuch
fulfilled,
no person
told.
poetic composition which
we
••
is
also very brief, but
of striking beauty and interest.
"jJTDia
yoK'' •
D'la
N'?a
T52
it
Its penetrating
112?'
':©
dnVi i"n
Gen. xxv.
23.
is
one
pathos
Isaac's benediction to
J""""^
— ESSAY
46
II.
has been appreciated by almost every sacred writer, since
it
became part and
The
literature.
parcel of Israel's hallowed
blind patriarch had received a divine
intimation to bless one of his sons, in order to transmit
made
the promises,
to
broken succession.
him and
Isaac
—of
to his father, in un-
whose poetic genius,
and musing researches amongst the beautiful productions of nature,
we have
already caught a glimpse,^
carefully prepared the benediction in a few sentences
of extraordinary comprehensiveness. Everything celestial
and
terrestrial
the blessing.
embraced within the compass of
is
It is
not
my
business, in these Essays,
to enter into a disquisition on the
unhappy mistakes
which marred the happiness of the occasion tion.
I
have only to consider the
which owes following like the
:
its
—
"
little
perfume of a
the fragrance of field,
ques-
charming poem
existence to that occasion.
Mark
in
my
It is
son
!
the
It is
which Adonai hath blessed!"
This was evidently a spontaneous exordium, suggested
by the sweet aroma which impregnated Jacob's
bor-
rowed garments and proves the patriarch to have been ;
a great lover of nature's sweet flowers.
'
Gen. xxiv.
63.
rnffi2 mffib
"And Isaac went out to to me almost impossible
The
blessing
pn2» NS'I should have been rendered correctly,
It seems is the idea] in the field." mind of the truly Hebrew Scholar to read of Isaac's employment, in the orig^inal, and not to revert to nricn IT'ffi b'y\ (Gen. ii. 5). This is one of the many instances which prove how little will be done for the revision of the Old Testament as longf as we follow the leaders of the dark ages; since such erudite Biblical Scholars and Critics as the Bishops of Ely and Lincoln have been induced to retain the many mistranslations of the LXX, and of subsequent paraphrasts, and expositors.
botanise [that for the
2
^
ESSAY itself
II.
47
was, however, previously indited, and artificially
worded thus
And Of
tliat
the
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
God
dew
grant unto thee
will
of heaven,
And of the fatness of the earth, And abundance of corn and wine. Peoples shall serve thee,
And
nations shall
Be thou
And
He
the
thy mother's sons shall
that cursed thee
And
How
bow down
to thee.
lord over thy brethren,
is
make obeisance
himself accursed
he that blessed thee,
is
to thee.
;
himself blessed.
expounded and illustrated divine communication which was made to his
well the blind bard
first
revered father.
And
I will
Thus make
said the
I
Avill
to
Abraham
of thee a great nation.
And And
Lord
extol thy
I will bless thee
And
thou shalt be a blessing.
^nb^n
I'dnV
:
'
;
name.
l''']nn
1^23
mrr
-pii yT\yo^
Gen.
xii. 2, 3.
Gen.
xxvii. 28, 29.
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
;
ESSAY
48
And And And
I will bless
curse '
them
them
II.
that bless thee,
that curse thee
in thee shall
be blessed
All the families of the earth.
But the beautiful figure of speech " the dew of heaven," which eventually became one of the most favourite poetic metonyms, was the conception and offspring of I shall have to say something more Isaac's muse. about
hereafter.
it
It is
difference, in elegance
impossible to overlook the
and
finish,
between the blessing
which Isaac bestowed upon Jacob, and that which Esau's agony elicited. There is a crudeness about the
latter,
which
tells
its
own
namely, that
tale,
it is
the enunciation of surprise and unpremeditation, not-
withstanding that the subject matter was prompted by the Spirit from on high. patriarch's tent, let
Esau an
me
Before
observe that
injustice, if one did
I
leave the blind
it
would be doing
not point out that, with
all
had the soul of a great poet, and that he was an ingenious epigrammatist. This must be admitted even by such as can only read the English version of the interview, which took place between him and his his faults, he
duped
father, after
Jacob had secured the blessing of
the firstborn. Theconciusion ne째s째s
of the 째^ *^^
of on the beauteous dewdrops I must not linger ^ 째 poetry which glisten on the leaves of Jacob's story whilst at
'
I
Padan Aram
;
or on the flowerets which are
have adopted the Samaritan version of the original word.
^
!
ESSAY
49
II.
now and then peeping out round his encampment at Shechem. Nor can I stop to analyse the poetic pathos of Judah's pleading before Joseph, i matchless as for
energy and fascinating
the death-bed of Jacob
diction.
I
it is
must hasten
to
and attend to the valedictory
:
effusion of the father of the twelve tribes of Israel.
How of
admirably does the Book of Genesis, that oldest
with which his
conclude
all histories,
we
are presented
earthly pilgrimage,
make known
gether to
them
in
How
!
!
imposing the picture
Arrived at the close of
Jacob gathers to
Rousing
the latter days."
his
them "what
sons tobefall
shall
all his
energies,
he pours forth a
strain of inspired song, full of force
and tenderness,
full
the
calm
and
of
sublimity and
dignified
exordium
pathos.
poem
the
of
In
under review, we recognise the voice of the patriarch shepherd
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
Be gathered That which
you
together, while I declare unto shall befall
you
Assemble yourselves, and
in the last days.
hear, ye sons of
Jacob
;
Yea, hearken unto Israel your father
The
introduction announces that the Patriarch's last
^
Gen.
xliv. 18-34.
dd"?
m'3ÂŤi
iQDurt
Gen.
5
xlix.
i, 2.
;
ESSAY
so
11.
address to his sons, was a divine communication
notwithstanding that the dying poet arranged that
communication ology.
pecuHarly picturesque phrase-
in his
Even an
was not above adopting the
Isaiah
expressive phrase " in the last days,"
when speaking \Ve have,
of the future of the "house of Jacob."i then, exhibited to us, in the
most pleasing manner,
the richness and copiousness to which
had already
To show
attained.
Hebrew imagery
this, I shall
analysis with the blessing of Judah. served, however, that
the blessings
Joseph are distinguished
begin
be ob-
It will
of
my
Judah and
more heartiness than
for
those which the dying patriarch vouchsafed to his other sons.
Upon both
of them, his favourite sons, he
lavished his choicest benedictions, and his tenderest solicitude. The
mg
bless-
upon
Judah.
The wholc of the blessing upon Judah, " ° pronounced forms one of the grandest and most brilliant poetic effusions that can
be met with anywhere.
have occasion to point high esteem
in
which
out, in
later
writings,
it,
except
it
I
know nothing
be the hieroglyphics, or picture-
on the walls of the tombs of Memphis
Beni-Hassan, and Thebes.
Only, the former
agreeable to the imagination than the latter eye.
shall
bards and prophets held the
exquisite imagery here employed. to equal
I
subsequent Essays, the
The dying patriarch seems '
Isaiah
ii.
2.
is
is
more to the
to have concentrated
—
ESSAY all
his
;
II.
51
thoughts upon the inspired intimation which
his soul received respecting the future of Judah.
he worked up with
the
all
artificial
This
ornaments of
sublime poetry, which seemed to have received at once
You
the sign-manual of heaven.
an
you
effort,
he
feel that
is
all his
energies,
all the memories of the past he is mind Leah's exclamation, when she bare
and collecting recalling to
to
make
behold him
uniting
;
him the fourth
son,'
and he thus begins
:
-
Thou art Judah Thy brethren shall praise thee hand shall Thy be in the neck of thine enemies Thy father's children shall bow do\vn before thee. !
Judah
From
He
is
a lion's whelp
!
;
the rending prey of
my
son, thou hast
gone
up.
stooped, he crouched like a lion,
Even
as a lioness
One must be
—who
shall cause
him
to stand
totally oblivious of Jacob's
up
?
words on a
former occasion, not to recognise the legitimacy of the construction which
I
have intimated of the
Gen.
'
•yua
:
-^rw
"j'lN
fifth line.3
xxix. 35.
nns nnn'
'n
"[?
xlix. S-12.
-
"nnnu}'
mirr nn«
nnN3
Gen.
yn
-lu
J?i3
' own to much disappointment at finding the commonly received I construction of that line followed in the " Speaker's Bible;" the first volume.
"
ESSAY
52
The
Patriarch's
exclamation
consist of his
son
An
!
posture, described
does not
verses,
—
" It
is
allude
him
the sixth
in
and
retirement,
the
my
Joseph
!
The
(Gen. xxxvii. 33.)
to
refer
I
the coat of
beast hath devoured
evil
has become a torn prey." lion's
If.
previous words to which :
—
;
seventh
on the
part of the king of beasts, after devouring his prey, to
some mountain
and
forest,
who
;
but to his attitude of conscious
power, as the supreme ruler of the
invincible
bears undisputed sovereign sway, in the
Hence the palpable
midst of the animal kingdom.
connection between the preceding and what follows
The
sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a
ruler's
wand from between come
Until Shiloh shall
And
unto
Him
Binding his
And
'^
:
foal
his feet,
:
shall the nations
be gathered.
unto the vine,
the colt of his ass unto the choice vine
of which has just been published, after the above has been in type. It to be expected that the two amiable Jewish young ladies the authoresses of "The History and Literature of the Israelites" would
was
—
—
follow their talented leader; but something more independent and more accurate was anticipated from the " explanatory and critical " commentators
engaged on the
so-called " Speaker's Bible.
vbx}
nViu :
po
D'Dy
m'y i:nN
ppnoi
NT
'3
nnp' ]Xii'7
'32
iv ^b^
nD«
npiiri!!t
—
ESSAY Washing
And
his
And
53
blood of grapes
on account of wine,
shall sparkle
be white on account of milk.
his teeth shall
No amount
II.
robe in wine,
his cloak in the
His eyes
2
;
of subtle criticism can eliminate the
profound prophecy, which was evidently the text this
There
sublime poem.
which
is
is
the divine, and which
difficulty to discern
is
the
writers have invested even the
here hinted
at,
What
and
his vine
when Judah
fig tree
!
be able to tender the
Ho
!
boundless blessings are shall dwell safely
When
under
Judah's offspring shall
:
Every one that
thirsteth
ye to the waters.
Even he
Go
human performance
invitation, in a literal, as well as
a metaphorical sense
Go
human element
But subsequent inspired
in this splendid composition.
with divine honours. ^
for
no
that hath
ye, get
no money,
food and
eat.
Yea, go ye, get food without money.
And
wine and milk without
!
'
Hebrews
'
Isaiah
vii.
Iv. i.
14; Rev. v. I
i
price.
nmo nnDy mai
—
5.
have translated the original word Tia© according- to
primitive meaning, namely, get food.
The rendering
in the
its
Authorised
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
i
ESSAY
54
Ere
I direct
deem
it
11.
attention to the blessing of Joseph,
The
loud in those two stanzas
spirit
of prophecy breathes
and furthermore prove,
;
further proof be necessary, that that holy
own
I
right to notice the patriarch's benedictions to
Zebulun and Dan.
as he
;
was moved by the Holy Ghost.
who gave
order,
I
if
spoke,
adopt Jacob's
the preference to his tenth son
Subsequent history proves that the pre-
after Judah.
was deservedly shown. That evinced great prowess and valour in
ference
struggles.
man
It
was well trained
and the Zebulunites fought
always
tribe all
for martial
patriotic
purposes
for their nationality
with
army might Thus does the renowned prophetess apos-
a lion-heartedness, of which the British
be proud.
trophise that tribe
Zebulun
The
!
sacred
:
a people jeopardizing his
chronicler
is
must appear, even
life
unto death.
even more graphic
in
his
such as are altogether unacquainted ; a feature which one seeks in vain to point out in the writings of that great bard, Isaiah. But, according " He to the Authorised Version, the paradox here is glaringly emphatic. Version,
with the
/â&#x20AC;˘;;!/,
orig-inal,
to
as somethings paradoxical
that hath no money, come ye, hinj and eat; yea, come, linj wine and milk, withovt money and without price." Alas, the poor man knows too well that he can
as a
gift
buy nothing without money
the soul which spiritual
he
;
may
get bread, wine, and milk,
without money, but he can purchase nothing without money. is
to " delight
may
And
get but not in return for anything that man hath first given to Him, and it shall be recomFor of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are
meat and drink as a
itself in
fatness " (see ver. 2)
gift,
can give, or do. "Who pensed to him again ? all things to whom be glory for ever. :
'
Jud.
Amen."
v. iS.
Rom.
xi.
35, 36.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
^
ESSAY prose
description
army which
;
11.
all
55
he records respecting the grand
rallied
David
round
Zebulun such as went forth to with
2
;
at
battle,
Hebron,
"
expert
war,
of war, fifty thousand
instruments
could keep rank, they were not of double
And,
in
which heart."i
the tribe of Zebulun
like the English,
Of
could
boast of merchant princes by land and by sea, as well
Deborah
as of noted authors. tribe
:
Out of Zebulun, they All I
sings respecting that
this,
come
that handle the
pen of the
scribe.
however, will be more fully illustrated when
to treat of the last
poem
of the song of Deborah.
Jacob predicted only the
maritime importance of the the following three lines Zebulun
And And
it
Here we have,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
days to come,
tribe, in
shall dwell at the
haven of the
in
sea,
be a haven of ships
shall
his
:
of Moses, as well as
boundary
shall
be by Zidon.
at that early period,
some knowledge
displayed, on the part of the primitive Hebrews, of ships and the sea.
It
would be
that the patriarch, and they
'
I
Chron.
xii.
pDC
-
33. T^T\h
]'jm
n':N
Fjin?
sim
\y2
bs
iriDTi
conceive
he addressed, had
Jud.
Q'D'
:
difficult to
whom
v. 14.
Gen.
xlix. 13.
'
2
ESSAY
56
no knowledge whatever, maritime terms phecy
''re-
Dan""^
II.
at the
same
time, of
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; notwithstanding Voltaire's
'^^^ stanza whicli belongs to the
without apparent
some
assertion,
not
fifth son, is
Jacob again takes ad-
difficulty.
vantage of the signification of the name, which Rachel conferred upon Bilhah's
and begins
first-born, ^
prophetic song respecting that tribe thus
Dan
will
Dan
will
Israel.
be a serpent by the way,
arrow-snake by the path,
That biteth the heels of the So that I
The
his
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
judge his people
Like one of the tribes of
An
:
its
have waited
inspired
horse,
rider falleth backward. for thy salvation,
O
Lord
mind which, with prophetic
!
gaze, beheld
the future of that tribe, under the government of valiant hero,
its
Samson, must also have foreseen the
cunning craftiness and insidious malice which that tribe
frequently betrayed.
perfectly intelligible
Gen. XXX. 1)23?
:
graphic,
and
the poetic description of the
is
'
Vigorous,
btr^-ay
j-n-''73?
"lDitd
-am
p'
6.
p
in^a
p
tt
Gen.
xlix. 16-1S.
ESSJY
II.
57
character of the tribe as given in the seventeenth verse of the chapter under review, which consists of the third
and three following apparent
difficulty,
between the difficulty
lines in the
however,
last line
vanishes,
obvious, as soon as
is
above stanza.
and the preceding and
we
the call to
six.
mind
prophecy into the mysterious
is
the spirit of prophecy.
future.
But the
becomes
connection
that the aged
bard was privileged to penetrate with the
infallible authority, that the
The
as to the connection
We
spirit
have
it
of
on
testimony of the Saviour
The
train of ideas
which
exercised the dying Patriarch's soul, seems to have
been to the following
effect:
—The
tribe of his fifth
some future period, fulfil the signification of its name,and produce a judge, or a ruler. He thus had in his eye of prophecy the time when
son, he foresaw, would, at
Samson, the mighty man of the arise,
tribe of
Dan, should
pre-eminent amongst the judges of Israel; but
with the idea of judge, was always connected that of
The very name " Saviour " is given the Hebrew Bible and literally trans-
deliverance too. respectively, in
lated in the Septuagint,i
— —to certain judges.
All this
suggested to Jacob's mind a better, a higher, and a
more
lasting deliverance for himself, than either the
bravery or craft of the heroes of
Dan would
about
While he thus looked
'
in behalf of that tribe.
See Jud.
iii.
9, 15,
ever bring
where the Hebrew has ycTO, and the Greek has o-wTijpa.
—
— ESSAY
58
more than
for
exclaim
was
transitory promises," he
led to
:
I
The
"
II.
have waited
for thy salvation,
O
Lord
ancient Jewish interpreters put the
!
same mean-
ing upon the last line of the stanza under disquisition.
The following Targum has on
my
is
the exposition which the Chaldee
that line:
—
i
"
Our
father Jacob said,
soul longs not either for the deliverance brought
about by Gideon the son of Joash, for
it is
temporary,
nor for the rescue effected by Samson, but for that re-
demption which Thou hast declared to bring to thy people, the children of Israel,
For that redemption
my soul
by means of longeth."
I
Thy Word. believe that
the Chaldee Paraphrast has got hold of the right and real connecting link.
It
impossible not to feel
is
when one has recognised the same connecting
link
the genuine poetry, and the divine beauty, which
belong to the stanza uttered by the aged bard, with respect to his son Dan. The
bless-
I
uow procccd
to Call attention to Jacob's
exuberant
ings invoked
upon Joseph,
outpouriug of a feeling heart,
in
behalf of his eleventh
who was endeared
to
him by circumstances
son
and
a son
;
vicissitudes, replete
was the
NTn
'11303
-nD''D3
with poetic fascination. Joseph
first-born of Rachel, his first love;
noD
mo«T
TD«v
NDpiiD"?
11
priaT
Nb«—Tiy
rrspiE"?
]piiD
n7
ipr
Nim ]™nu3T
Joseph was
]2i3«
n*3pTiD^
ion
'
vh^—m^
—
^
ESSAY lost to
who
him
for a time,
—when
his father
II.
59
and counted as dead and
his brethren
but death, from starvation, staring them
;
Joseph
saw nothing in
the face
sent
timely succour to his family in their distress.
Who
could help expecting something peculiarly em-
phatic and pathetic to be said about such a son, on
The expectation
such an occasion?
The
first
is
not disappointed.
portion of Jacob's imagery, in the case of
Joseph, seems to have been suggested to his mind the figure which he had just employed, of his sixth son
:
—
Naphtali
is
by
when speaking
a spreading oak,
produceth graceful branches.
\Vliich
Bishop Horsley was happy
when he
in his
remark on
this
" the poetry of
any language will hardly find a more pleasing image of strength and vigour than the Ilex, with an ample head, putting forth fresh shoots." But the learned critic and figure of speech,
nrttt?
The LXX., who rendered
said,
ny«
'bnc:
Gen.
xlix. 21.
'
the exquisite couplet
'ETTiSiiovs
ei'
TO)
yevrjuaTl icoXXo?,
were far nearer the original than the Masorites and Jerome. Bochart, Lowth, Herder, and Horsley and others did well to translate it in the same sense as given above. They apparently overlooked, however, that they
had Septuagint authority
for their interpretation.
'
ESSAY
6o
divine
was
happy
less
II.
in his translation
and
strictures
of the following verses.
The dying
had well marked,
patriarch
learnt,
and
sum and substance of the Holy Ghost had moved him to
inwardly digested, the blessings which the utter.
His poetic genius arranged them, clothed and
adorned them symbols, as to
in
such beauteous
make
figures,
and charming
those benedictions ever
memor-
He
able to the hearts and ears of the blessed ones.
up the spirit and essence of the simile which he used, at the end of Naphtali's blessing, and therefore follows
begins the benediction of his especial favourite thus: Joseph
A
is
fruitful
a
fruitful
bough,
bough beside a
Whose branches run
adTenturS^' ^^'^'
Joseph.
Thc foud
father
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
well,
over the wall.
proceeds to enumerate the cruel
whom he thought dead, but whom he thought lost, but who
adventures of that son,
who was alive again was found again. One seems ;
to perceive the long
pauses which the speaker makes between the succeeding words,
each
of
which
is
pregnant
of the
with
One seems to hear the throbbings sympathising paternal heart, which the memory
significant meaning.
F]DV \v-'b'S
ms p mo ]i
Gen.
xlix. 22.
2
^
ESSAY
61
II.
of the past has suddenly caused, whilst he utters the
following monologous sentences
And And And
is
—
they embittered him, they shot at him, they hated him,
They who were Exquisite
:
master-archers.
the transition from anguished memories
sudden transition
of the sorrows, to the recollection of the mercies ex'
perienced in the midst of the virulent trouble.
The
inspired poet felicitously changes his tone of plaint for that of praise, feelings, in
But
his
And By
and gives utterance to
somewhat longer sentences bow remained
his altered
—
strong.
the arms of his hands were nimble.
the hands of the Mighty
Who
:
is
One
of Jacob,
the Shepherd of old.
The Rock
of Israel.
irrnoM
imrp
pN2
VT npy'
'm
aium IID'I
Ti« n'Q
Gen.
xlix. 23.
Gen.
xlix. 24.
.p'=»'"'
f™'" to praise.
2
i
ESSAY
62 Retrospect a
inspires
blessed prospect.
Hence he continues
II.
to anticipate
and to augur further
and greater blessings from that source continuation
own days
we have a
which
in
;
pathetic touch of the patriarch's
We
of prosperity and adversity.
picture to
ourselves the aged father, speaking hitherto, with closed eyes, of a third person,
his
till
the sense of gratitude
whole being, and he opens
stedfast gaze
him
personally:
—
was from thy
He
It
was from the Almighty, and
He
fixes his
and addresses
son,
God, and
It
father's
and
his eyes,
upon the beloved
filled
help thee.
will
will bless thee
;
With blessings of heaven from above.
With the blessings of the deep
that lieth beneath,
With the blessings of the breasts and womb. The contrast between the blessings re-
ceived those stowed.
and be-
at a loss for
words
to express adequately the wishes of his heart.
The
Here the
Patriarch's
muse seems
bard therefore concludes by affirming a great contrast
between the blessings which he bestows, and those
which were bestowed upon him
The The
:
—
blessings of thy father have surpassed blessings of
my
progenitors,
j-nn
"piN
bso
nil)
n«i
-|3-i3'i
Gen.
xlix. 25.
nnn ni*n mnn mail ;
cmi
1113
m« "pa^
nsii
riDta
xlix. 2G.
'
'
— '
ESSAY Even They
II.
63
as far as the wishes of the heights of the world. shall
And on
be on the head of Joseph,
the crown of
him who was separated from
his
[brethren. I
my
cannot quit this splendid poem, nor close
second Essay, without a passing notice of the short stanza respecting Benjamin.
It
me
appears to
that
the
New
Testament helps us materially to understand
the
full
purport of the very last words of Jacob's
inspired song.
I
consider that the brief triplet com-
prehends the history of the youngest first
dawn
that tribe,
who
is
of
its
who
from the
tribe,
political power, to the last scion of
is
mentioned
in the
New
Testament,
immortalised throughout the Christian world,
as the great Apostle of the Gentiles.
Saul of Tarsus
—
he
or, as
is
The
career of
better known, of St. Paul
alone makes the last line of the triplet intelligible
Benjamin
shall
be as ravenous as a wolf
In the morning he
And
in the
will eat prey,
evening he
nr23
cVir
F]Dv
F]T£' •12?
:
ira
will divide spoil.
msn
ir
lr«^'7
^"nn
2X1
^yyil
7D«' p'?rr
yil iirVi
Gen.
xlix. 27.
:
—
ThedescriptionofBenja-
™"-
ESSAY
64 The charactenstic of in Gene^rs^""
I
shall
II.
havc occasion to notice certain parts of
this
-i
At
effusioH in futurc Essays.
present, I conclude
by
once more affirming, that the Book of Genesis concludes with a poem, which, brief as rare brilliancy. ful reader,
it.
it
is, is
a
gem
of
must delight the thought-
even such an one as
translation of in
Its analysis
The Hebrew
is
only able to use a
Scholar, however, finds
the study of this sacred ballad, one of the richest
The words
springs of enjoyment.
equivoques indulged duced,
all
employed, the
the picture symbols
in,
intro-
combine to show the grandeur of the poetry
of the Hebrews, even at that early age of the sacred
The
language, and Israelitish muse.
use which the
renowned Moses himself, as well as other contemporary bards, such as Balaam, made of the poem just reviewed, will appear in
'
In
my
my
next.^
Book of Job, I point out the high and valedictory vaticination having subjects for recitations amongst the collateral
introductory Essay to the
probability of Jacob's vicissitudes
become, at an early period, branches of the Patriarch's family
in
that ancient
Arabia.
This consideration accounts
much of the diction and and remarkable work, the Book of Job.
for certain expressions, as well as for
structure of
—
ESSAY
III.
STUDIES ON MOSES AND THE
MOSAIC AGE. It
is
my
intention, in the treatment of
^
'
my ^
present
Mosaism constitutes
-^
_
keep as closely as possible to the chrono-
subject, to
logical succession
Hebrew
of
Poets, at
the
head
^''J.^-Pof^e
NatbT'^
of which stands that marvellous and extraordinary prodigy, Moses.
him
It is to
that
we
are beholden,
even for the interesting fragments to which reference has already been made. Indeed,
I
cannot help feeling
that, in a certain sense, the apparently conditional
declaration
has been
—
" I will
verified.
wonderful
man
make
It is
that the
of thee a great nation "^
by the instrumentality of that
Hebrew people
attained that
greatness, and that glory, which for ages distinguished them amongst the nations of the earth. It is Mosaism
which constitutes even now, the literary,
civil,
and
in
political
Israel's
dispersion,
pre-eminence of the
miraculously preserved remnant of Judah and
To
Israel.
form, indeed, a just estimate of the character of Howtoform •^
a
leader, Moses, we must not only him as the great o J view and inspired lawgiver of his people their guide to the '
'
—
Ex. xxxii. 10;
Num.
xiv. 12.
just esti"j^'e of the
character
of Voles'"^''
ESSAY
66
III.
land of promise, the chosen instrument of their dehver-
ance from
bondageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; but we must hkewise endeavour
which his writings produced upon the hterature and the poetry of his nation. We
to trace out the effects
shall find that, in this respect, his influence has not
been inconsiderable
;
and we should look upon him as
the inspired father of first
What Homer amongst Mose?7s^''a-
Hebrews.
^
Hebrew
song, as well as the
writer of authentic history.
In the effusions of those Prophets who cheered, who rcbukcd, or who consoled the children of Israel, wc are presented with a series of compositions the
most remarkable the world ever saw, containing the the most
highest excellence in poetry, united with
important revelations of truth. to peruse
Yet
it
is
impossible
them without seeing that they all formed However their inspiration guided them with regard to the
themselves upon some older model. individual
subjects of which they spoke, they were, nevertheless, led always to look
among
back to the records of the past
themselves, and to copy the imagery and to
expand the ideas which
their
older date presented to them.
circumstances
own
sacred books of
And
connected with Moses
indeed
and
the
all
his
age
were, in the highest degree, adapted to cherish the poetic
spirit.
Herder, the accomplished author of
Geist dcr Ebrdischen Poesic, trace minutely the springs
follow
them out
justly remarked:
who had himself learnt of Hebrew Poetry, and
in their successive
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "To
a
to to
developments, has
young man who wishes
to
^
ESSAY
67
III.
understand thoroughly the Prophets and the Psahiis, I
might give
in
place of
the Mosaic history
word that occurs in it prophetic development throughout
all
a
!
entire
finest
What Homer
chapters. is
direction
often affords occasion for
single
the
this leading
Read Moses, read
others.
among
the Hebrews."
There
is
much
among
is
the Greeks, Moses
truth in these remarks, and they
have an important bearing on the subject of Hebrew
We
Poetry.
remember, however,
must
Hebrew sage exerted
influence which the
and of a
man " light
Turn
their
Led by
By
;
too, later
wondering
his light,
his genius, too,
Greek
the
bodied
a dark
in
times were wont to eyes,
and by
his
wisdom
wise.
he influenced the whole course of
The shapes which
religion.
forth,
blind old
he shone forth a bright and steady
and to him,
;
far wider,
"
Homer, indeed, arose
of Greece.
and distant age
is
from that of the
different turn
forming
in
the poetic conception of his countrymen,
the
that
the creations of his poetry,
his
fancy
became the
days
and the
deities
and the cherished
way
which he sang of deeds of high renown became
'
in
Ich mochte also einem
genetisch verstehm
icill,
idols of after
JYivglingc, der die
statt
aller
andern
diese
;
Psalmen und Propheten Haiiplregel geVen
:
'
f
lies
Oft gielt Ein Hort, das darinn vorkommt, zur schunsten -poetischen Evtwicklimg in ganzen Kapiteln Anlass :
MosenJ was
bei
lies die
Mosaische Geschichte
den Griecheii
Homer
ist, is lei
den Ehra'ir Moses.
Vol.
ii.,
p. TS-
J^^^
^j^^^^'^-
^^^eT'Tver ofGreece."'^''
ESSAY
68
III.
a model for exalted composition, and a storehouse for
gloom
poetic conception. Enveloped in the mysterious
of antiquity, he was always looked up to with veneration, In three ways has
and he was studied with
gy^-
encedVh'e*^"" '"
peopk:°
when wc spcak '^
man
"the
we must
delight.
of the influence which Moses, '
Hebrew minds,
of God," possessed over the
look at him not only as himself a Poet,
but also as affording the noblest and most exalted
The learned German, whose subjects for poetry. work on Hebrew Poetry has been already quoted, has ably pointed out some of the essential points enquiry
the
in
"
Herder,
:
—
"
In
ways,"
three different
had Moses
affected
poetry
the
says
of
his
entire people, as well as the people themselves, like
everything which was embraced in his state. By
his o\\-n
by
j-jig
Qwn dccds
)
tlic
God goes
conquest of the land, when
and
fights
materials
in
their
for
behalf,
their
imagery
formed
and
especially mention at present the The effect the
of
Iheoc'^^
hierarchy
First,
Egypt
deliverance from
the
;
before them,
the
constant
songs
their
;
I
Elegy of Habak-
Psalm .... The establishkuk, and thc sixty-eighth ° worship, and the priesthood, morcovcr, of divinc mcnt, '
-'
are to be counted
by he It
further
amongst the
acts of Moses, where-
worked upon the poetry of
became, by means of these, the
Temple hymns beings
;
it
;
to it
entirely excluded all
creatures
of
introduced
most common,
civil,
the fancy,
the
his people.
song of the
false
gods,
or to
name Adonai
and domestic duties
;
and
fabulous into the in
short.
ESSAY
III.
69
Hebrews became altogether
the poetry of the
As Moses and Miriam had
afterwards everything was sung as God's act
"The
holy.
sang at the Red Sea, so
....
which Moses effected the second means, by ^
immortality of the poetry of his people, was the de-
own
scription of his
His
acts, his
own poetry and
h[mse']^"
songs.
song was the model of the Prophets
last
Bythepoetry and songs
—his
song at the Red Sea was the model of the Psalms of
and of the celebration of
praise, of victory,
The poetry
ance.
own
life
grave,
and character,
and
reserved.
;
It shines
tenance, but a veil hangs before "
The
means,
third
deliver-
Moses was even such as his embracing much but stern,
of
in
fine,
his
like
—
own coun-
... whereby Moses it
.
•^
also
By the right that he ^ave
provided for the resuscitation of the sacred song in \^^^ times of its decline, was the right which he delegated
and prescribed to the Prophets .... This privilege of Moses has given unto us an Elias and Elisha, an
Habakkuk. They have
Isaiah and in
shadow
at least,
his
phets are not rightly read,
simply as
foretellers,
his
law
in
gifted Poets."
'
.
.
them
They
Some
of
them
great orators, highly
.
Geist der Elr'dischen Poesie,
Pro-
administered and
degenerate times.
—
looks upon
i .
The
declaimers.
They
were very wise men of the world
echo reproduced,
voice.
when one
visionists,
were followers of Moses. renewed
in
form and
Vol.
i.,
pp. 323-6.
^'^°'
;
ESSAY
^o Instructive to
j^ jg
compare
words o^he Pentateuch with the com-
easv to Understand, from the attentive study ' of '
•'
Proplietlc Writings,
^^'^^
III.
how
far these observations are
i-iij_ i_r likely to assist us in arriving- at a correct view ot position of__, -,.. -^ a later age. Hebrew roctry. It is instructive to compare the early and simple records of the Pentateuch with the more •
•
i^
•
•
j_
.
,
,
highly wrought and abstruse compositions of a later
In
age.
my
endeavour to
illustrate
the fact that
Moses, by his own poetry, gave a tone to the poetical compositions of the I
would
point
briefly
ideas have been
subsequent ages
Israelites, in
the
out
manner
and expanded by succeeding authors, Volume, and Pleasing to trace the de-
lteuT''%e\'L"n^
nlubn--
Dante,' Chaucer.
in
the golden age of
Amongst any iy J
which
in
adopted from him, and enlarged in the
Hebrew
Sacred
song.
pleasing to trace the i> f development of poetic feeling, to trace out the pro-
nation
grcss of pocsy, from
its
it
is
simple and artless beginning,
most pcrfcct and elaborate
to its .
an early age,
is
And
it
is
in after times.
how
a poet of superior genius, in
able to produce a deep and lasting
impression on the
to start
polish.
-
,
curious to observe
spirit
of his nation, and on the
Some commanding
intellect is
men
found
up from amongst the surrounding crowd, and
to shed abroad a light
—a
light at
which succeeding
bards are fain to kindle their torch, and to which they are fain to be beholden. In this way we have seen how Homer moved the mind of Greece and we see, too, how Dante broke the slumbers of the muse in ;
Italy stern
;
and though he himself touched the lyre with and haughty
feelings,
he nevertheless called
ESSAY
in.
71
into being, in after times, the softest efforts of
and the tenderest
song; the most melodious and exquisite out-
pourings of the
Chaucer, too, with his half-
spirit.
formed lay and uncouth muse, speaking, as in
the lispings of infancy,
He
to the minstrel spirit of this nation.
and morning star
as a bright
it
were,
gave a powerful impetus
still
shone forth
in the literary annals
of
this country.
when we are engaged 00 in studyincf a the y poetry of the Hebrew Bible, we cannot adopt the J which we take m perusmg same Ime oic procedure The conceptions, which the uninspired compositions. It
true, that
is
'
1
•
I.
•
1
A.
•
1
Divine Spirit presented to the minds of the sacred
Asfarasthe structure
01
[angu^ge"^^!^
concerned there
is
difterencebe
tween later ^nd earlier writers.
penmen, are equally perfect in
As
the latest times.
Hebrew language
is
in the earliest as well as
far as the structure of the
concerned,
with any minuteness,
its
we
various
are unable to trace, transitions.
The
poems of David, of Isaiah, of Jeremiah, or Habakkuk,
way
are not in this
so broadly distinguished
earlier compositions, as
dates of merely It
is
human
we
find to
be the case
from in the
songs.
sheer ignorance of this circumstance which
made some
"->
rash Biblical critics hazard certain theories
respecting the dates and authorship of of the Bible.
The German
British disciples, reason
some portions
Philologists,
on unsafe premises.
and
their
It is this
ignorance which betrayed some of the former, and misled some of the
latter,
to
propound the prepos-
terous idea that the Books of Moses, Isaiah, Daniel,
J,,^??^''.'"^" Philologists, B"ritish"^'dis-
ciples.
ESSAY
72
in.
were penned by various writers who flourished at different periods in the annals of the Jewish
than those
beheved
by
in
earnestly for the faith which
Church
who contend
scholars,
was once delivered unto
the saints.
The
iJng^u^ge"^^"^
the '^purpose of expressing
simple nature of the
but of fcw inuovatious .
,
provcd
—as
.
Hebrew language, admitted .
_
,
holy sentiments.
cicnt for tlic purpose of expressing
sentiments,
it
was the
it
in
deep and holy be anxious
less needful to
the subsequent elaboration of
The
it.
comparing together Moses and the Prophets,
see
how
his poetry
his poetry
to
and sentiments were
conskr'"the
expanded by them. The variety and beauty of Hebrew Poetry
beluty of'"^
not in the
number of
subjects of which
it
consist,
treats, for all
had one and the same great subject
before
them
One.
But the variety and beauty, which do
:
is
and sentiments furnished materials
—how
inspired writers
in
object, then,
for
for these latter
pott^^
— sum-_
.
the nrst instance
over,
it
More-
in the lapse of ages.
was
deep and
the glories and perfections of the
Holy
exist in
uncommon degree in this poetry, consist in the ever new and inexhaustible riches which it lavishes on its theme. Just as the Holy One Himself is infinite in an
His goodness and His power, so the lay which tells Him, under the management of those who wrote
of Inspired not writers
rowing imafxpretsions"
^^htT
" as
wcrc moved by the Holy Ghost," thcv ' •'
"^
is
bound-
l^ss iu its trcasurcs.
Ouc
inspired bard did not disdain to borrow an
image, or an expression, from another
;
but this he so
ESSAY worked
in.
73
own immortal song, or so make it a new and fresh attesta-
into the spirit of his
expatiated upon, as to
tion of the majesty of the Eternal One.
Let
me just
advert to one of those striking pieces in the Pentateuch, for some of the most glowing Hebrew Poets the earliest triumphal song on record^â&#x20AC;&#x201D;-that which was sung by Moses and the children of Israel, after the passage of the Red
which served as a model strains of the
;
Considered as a whole, and viewed
Sea.
with the circumstances which called
poems
of the most wonderful is
it
connection
in
forth,
in existence,
it
is
one
and there
nothing which can properly be compared to
it
in the
whole range of uninspired song. Victories
achieved by the nations of the world, ''
'
The psean and
found their minstrels to record them. the
hymn
;
warrior.
one
er
and the lyre of the bard was
listened to with pleasure, it
U
dari^sel."
spread around the strains of gladness after
the toils of the battle
when
T}^^^°"s
after the
deeds of
strife,
recorded the glories and the exploits of the
But never yet was heard among ancient
like this of the faithful servant of
God
;
lays,
never yet
did harp or lute attune to words like those to which that
timbrel once attuned,
when
it
sounded,
"
O'er Egypt's
dark sea;" never was poetry so closely interwoven with history; never
was there history which had so much
the spirit of poetry
We
itself.
are presented with a turning point in the story
The purport of that song.
of the chosen
people.
"a high hand and
Brought out of Egypt with
stretched-out arm,"
they now
— ESSAY
74
III.
on the shores of that wild
stood
God had
Himself
manifested
in
where their
sea,
the
most
terrific
—
The Lord of nature, the God of battles, and Supreme Ruler of the elements. The song of
majesty the
triumph arose, but not over a blood
—but
battle-field
dyed with
over a scene far more deeply touching.
Just at the place where
Adonai Himself
fought for
they saw their enemies dead upon the sea-shore;
Israel,
and the wise Lawgiver, the inspired Prophet, and the
Bard
divine,
under the direct inspiration of the Holy
One, poured out the strains which were to cheer and to animate every Jewish heart at the time,
and which
were to descend to posterity along with his own wise
and which (taught by fathers to
laws,
their children,
and their children's children, through successive generations),
and The
j^g passagc
choice subject of
brew^bard^
were to remind them of
their high privileges,
their high responsibilities. c>
-i
of the
Red
Sea, and the attendant '
may be considered, so which many a Hebrew Bard
circumstanccs, cycle
that ancient ject
was
"What He of
age,
sea
in
the wars of God," this
sub-
there
it
itself,
was read
And
Red Sea!"
Moses
of
in raising
for
was
felt
:
the efiect in
a
far-
the drooping spirits of the
In the days of Nehemiah, the Levites
Israelites.
speak
of
In
forgotten,
did at the
Song
the
distant
Book
not
"
to speak, the selected.
this wise
before
them,
:
—
so
"
And Thou
didst divide
that they went
the
through the
midst of the sea on dry land, and their pursuers
ESS^Y
III.
Thou threwest
into the deeps,
mighty waters."
^
My
75
as a stone into the
object, however, in this Essay,
is
to exhibit this
same time
divine song as the most ancient, and at the as the
I
which the Hebrews most especially excelled
mean
the
I'^li^
SHEER,
nature, lyric poetry
is
sublime.
In
lyric poetry.
its
own
peculiarly adapted for the high-
and
est flights of genius,
for the expression of the
Unlike the stately march of epic song, ° the •^
quick and sudden transition of the ode, the bold per-
and animated turns of
Bonification, the vivid
by
Now,
surprise.
and sweetly
softly
— now,
poured upon the ear
its
we
away to contemplate remote results. The characters of are hurried
compared
''"'^
[jje ode*^
music
is
— there, we
distant times
and
the epic and of the
by the winds, which
produce^ a general conflagration
it
The former may be
be thus distinguished. to a flame fanned
differ-
take us
are set, as
were, in the very midst of the events described
may
it,
The
ence between
loud and high swells the
note of triumph and exultation. Here,
ode
poit?^/'^'"'
most perfect model of that species of composi-
tion, in
—
^The^ f^^^
;
at last
the latter to a flash
of lightning, which strikes and dazzles on a sudden. I
have already observed that Grecian poetry sue' ' •'
ceeded well
in correct
and natural description, but was
deficient in true sublimity
ascend to the dignified.
first
Now,
;
because
it
was unable to
principles of the really great
and
perhaps, in the comparison of the
it is,
'
See Appendi.x B.
The len.ce
excei-
of the
Greek ode.
ESSAY
76
compositions of the polished Greeks with the
lyric
Hebrew poetry
fairly
ode, that the advantage on the side of sacred
most conspicuous, and
is
way
this
III.
perceptible.
that any attempt at comparison
made.
It
was
Grecian muse put forth
find the
most
her lyric effusions that the
all
her strength, and upon them
justice
certainty
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the
the
eternal rights of
retribution
of
we
most
Sometimes
language.
high and solemn
is
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the
In them
brilliant turns of expression, the
contexture of
theme, too,
be most
in
she bestowed her choicest ornaments.
artificial
It is in
may
the guilty.
to
Sometimes the description turns upon fair and happy scenes, and the bard with the spirit of a patriot, dwells on his country's glory, and the beauty of his native soil. The superexcellence oi the Hebrew
Nqw,
'
j^gj-jy
thc
itt
Hcbrcw
the Grecian song.
much
odc, there
we
Variety and elegance are
the parts harmonise.
pL-
is
its
characteristics.
all
bold personifications,
last.
Adonai
To him
be found
to
More-
makes
all
the sudden transi-
we never
lose the
stands forth as the
all is referred.
Bishop Lowth has properly divided the Hebrew
the'^Mlemh E!\^(Sius
and the
we can
seek elsewhere in vain.
Amidst
connection of the entire. first
that
a unity in the subject which
is
tions, or the
all
the best productions of
in
But again, there
excellence which
over, there
is
'
admirc and applaud,
odes into three classes. swcctncss
The
thc second
its
subUmity and sweet-
third holds a middle rank.
ness,
chapter of Exodus partakes
;
first is
by
emfnen"'"' decree of
its
The ode in
characterised
sublimity
;
by
and the
in the fifteenth
an eminent degree of
^
!
ESSAY
How
sublimity and sweetness. trast
between the
fearful
111.
and watchful care over
marked
the con-
is
power of the Most High, His
vengeance upon the enemies of
strain
Tj
and
Israel,
his tender
High
Israel's self!
is
the
and animated the description, which records the
deeds that have, been done by the Almighty One.
The powers of Nature are tremblingly obedient to the God of Nature. The whirlwind hears His mandate, and issues forth on the errand of destruction. The
A picture
wild sea waves hasten to do His pleasure. of terror and dismay
Then suddenly ^
is
presented to
the scene
is
us.
changed, and after the ^^
" hoarse loud verse," there follows a prophetic glance at the future prosperity of the
chosen people,
the calmness and sweetness of expression
with
contrasted
Prophet-Bard
Thou
On
A
the
in the
preceding.
Thus
seventeenth verse
shalt bring them,
and Thou
:
Thy abode. Adonai Thou hast done it Adonai The Sanctuary Thy hands have founded. !
!
mrr rhsu
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
in
which
beautifully sings
shalt plant
the mountain of Thine inheritance,
foundation for
is
them
the
Thesuddenness of
^^^ ^^^f^^^
ESSAY
78
Hope and
appeared to me, that this has alwavs y rjr
Jt
from which we
may most
clearly discover the inspiration
Very splendid and very
of the ode.
the verse
is
'
faith kept in
view.
III.
striking
is
the
description of the past scene, but this vision of the future it is
which stamps the composition as
of nothing to equal
The
contrast
it,
so
is
divine.
I
know
the whole range of poetry.
in
and
beautiful
yet
so
natural.
Amidst the outpouring of gratitude and triumph, hope and
faith are
tion of
Holy One would "not
odc
Tliis
And
in view.
from the considera-
what had been achieved, the poet
that the hant ode'"
kept
lias
suffer
feels
bccu aptly described as the
"
latable oldest triumphal song in the world." i
leiiouu^''-'^
fully appreciated
must be studied
and marvellous language, quately convey
its
version generally striking beauty
for
power.
is,
it
is
untrans-
no translation can ade-
Energetic as the English
yet unable to represent the
of the original.
point out a few of the
in its
fail."
To be own simple
"ud'ied^in
it
assured
His truth to
I
would, however,
more suggestive
ideas, in this
remarkable composition, which were adopted and ex-
panded by subsequent poets
became
constituent
ideas
in
;
and which, all
in
fact,
Hebrew composi-
tions. The
lay of
Deborah
t^"hr"song
of which at the more remarkable poems In Hancing ÂŁ> r song served as a model, I cannot pass by the fc>
t^'^^s
S°eTsea. fanious
lay
of Deborah
chapter of the
'
Book
and
Barak,
of Judges,
in
the
fifth
There are some
Unuhersetzlaren altesten Siesesanse der Erde.
Herder.
—
^
ESSAY Striking points
111.
79
of correspondence
between the two
They are both the productions They both record signal
poems.
of prophetic
dehverances.
inspiration.
Adonai
stands forth, indeed, more remarkably dis-
played
Moses' song, yet His workings are clearly
in
acknowledged
too, in the
later
Mosaic song that we have the of
Adonai, under the
poem.
first
It is in
by which His
title,
the
poetic description praises
were afterwards so often celebrated.
Adonai Adonai It
was
Israel
in the
— that
man
is
a
is
His name
knowledge of
of war,
this
!
—that he fought for
penmen
the sacred
especially
Him
gloried
and from
this
many of Adonai
represented as a warrior marching along:
consideration
Adonai
When
!
When Thou
wentest out of
thou marchedst out of the
field
Seir,
of
Edom
The earth trembled, Even the heavens quivered, The clouds also dropped water. n*Dn'?a :
yTS'o
!"«
mn'
^axo
ma'
-|nx2n
n« mco
;
D'D
12'.::
;
they derived
In the song of Deborah
their finest images. is
of
r^^rr
-[ii'>2i
d^j?
cj
Exod. xv.
{)
3.
'
-
— ESSAY
8o
whlrfiThe
And when David
madrofthe
most glowing
Mos^s°
our
III.
too wishes
he
to describe,
in
the
majesty of the Captain of
colours, the
Salvation,
Redeemer
'
does
so
by representing the
as returning victorious to the high abodes
of heaven, hke a warrior from a battle field Lift
up your heads,
O
the
is
—
ye gates,
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors And the King of Glory shall come in.
Who
:
;
King of Glory ?
Adonai, Strong and Mighty Adonai, the Mighty One
A specimen an inspired Oratorio, 01
Quc i^^^tq
in battle
!
of the most magnificent Oratorios, which we o the Book of Psalms, has been composed '
jn
under the influence of the inspired ideas of august ode.
examining
I
this
mean grand
the Forty-sixth Psalm.
hymn
of praise
consist of four semi-choruses,
and a
solo.
Every one of
it
is
this
On
found to
two grand choruses,
its
component parts
re-
minds us of the glorious triumph song, sung by
Moses and the children of deliverance.
I
Israel after the
Red Sea
have already analysed and explained,
DD'ir^l D'lyia
:
l^ffi
rranVo iia: rwrv
Ps. xxiv.
7, S.
ESSAY in
ter
former publications, ^ at some length, the charac-
and
significant import of that sacred oratorio; I
shall therefore its
8i
III.
simply give here the arrangement of
respective parts, so as to
animates
Red Sea
the
make
song,
the Spirit, which
perceptible
in
the
hallowed piece divinely performed by the sons of
Korah.
FIRST RECITATIVE BY SEMI-CHORUS,
First
Re-
citative.
God
A
is
unto us a Refuge and
Strength,''
help in adversities,
He
is
found very readily.
Therefore we
will
"When the earth
And
not
fear,
itself is
changed,
moved
the mountains
Into the midst of the sea.
SECOND RECITATIVE.
Second Recitative.
Let their waters roar and foam,' Let the mountains be tumultuous.
'
" Sacred Minstrelsy
:
The Haidad
:
Music."
"
a Lecture on Biblical and post-Biblical Hebrew a Harvest Thanksgiving Sermon."
mi2i
Ver.
2, 3.
:
co'
rr\X3
r>-x
'
ESSAY
82
He
continues in His majesty.
There Shall
is
Selah
!
a River whose streams
make
glad the city of God,
The hallowed abodes Third
HI.
Most High.
of the
THIRD RECITATIVE.
Re-
citative.
God She
God
is
in the midst of her
shall
'
;
not be moved.
shall help her,
At the dawn of the morning. Nations alarmed,
Kingdoms
tottered,
By His voice He has ordained. The earth shall be subdued. First
THE FIRST GRAND CHORUS.
grand
Chorus.
Adonai Zebaoth
is
with us,
A
is
the
unto us
fortress
:
4, 5.
;
]vb-2
•'23ffia
:
ipi D'lJ
Ver.
6, 7.
:
y-i«
13)23?
Ver.
S.
:
nte
of Jacob
"ini«3i
n!jD
rate
Ver.
God
inj
ffilp
mjD'j "ion
Jinn
ni«n:?
npr 'n7«
i:'?
nin'
aaira
(')
I
—
'
ESSAY
83
III.
FOURTH RECITATIVE. Go
to,
Wlio had made wonders
He He As
maketh wars
in the earth.
to cease unto the
end of
tlie eartli.
breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear. for chariots,
He
burneth in the
THE know
Understand, and I will
Fourth Recitative.
view the works of Adonai
fire
!
The
SOLO.
that I
am
Solo.
God,
be exalted over the nations,
I will
be exalted over [the earth.
THE GRAND CHORUS REPEATED. Adonai Zebaoth
is
with us,
A
is
the
unto us
fortress
It is impossible, for
God
Grand chorus repeated.
^
of Jacob
!
Selah
!
a mind saturated with the poetry
of the Old Testament, not to trace the Psalm which
have just quoted, to the same Divine
same
n':n
Ver.
Ver.
The proper
Spirit, to the
and to the same dictation
genius, aye,
II.
9, 10.
:y-isa
yijpi :
ITNI
DTi^
12©'
mrp
fllffl'
nbjj?
nn:!
miw
word
I
too, of the
proved a a long time I venture to believe, however, that I have at last solved it. It is one of those vestiges of the lost Hebrew words, the meaning of which we must search in the cognate languages. The signification of this verb I find in the Arabic language as every proficient in that language must at once recognise which was once a dialect of the sacred tongue. (See p. 22.) signification of the first
perplexing philological problem to
in this distich, or solo,
me for
;
—
i3Dy Ver.
12.
;
nte
ipr
mm:? mrr
'n7N
137
njco
(')
The Psalm traceable
in
genius and diction to the ode of Moses.
i
ESSAY
84
III.
grand ode which Moses composed and sang at the
Red
Every idea
Sea.
has been incorpo-
in the latter
theme of both
rated in the former, and the chief
Adonai
Nor was
odeantmaTed pious individualsin the daysofaffliction, e.g:. Ps. ixxvii.
God
as the
is
of battles.
august Mosaic ode introduced only
tlic
.-,__,,., Temple;
into Israel's majestic songs of praise, in the liturgical
scrvicc of the
meditations
it
devout
of
also animated the solemn
individual
and
Israelites,
cheered them in their private communings with their
and
souls
their
God
in
days of trouble, sorrow, need,
We
or
any other
of
its
in
the case of the plaintive musings of the suffering
adversity.
have a notable instance
use and application, under such circumstances,
Asaph, as preserved to us Psalm.
in
the seventy-seventh
good deal
After indulging a
complaints about a complication of ings, the afflicted
Psalmist
God's protecting care dangers,
and
trials
at the
Red
Sea.
great deliverance, and applies
He
and
them
glorifies the great
to his
Let
me remember
:
—
the works of the Lord do remember Thy wonders of old.
:
i«b2
:
mpn
Israel's
own circum-
Saviour and Redeemer.
therefore begins at the eleventh verse
Verily, I
man
Asaph,
accommodates the memorable events,
and the language used on the occasion of stances,
suffer-
recalled to a sense of
helpless despair stares
was the case
therefore, at once
is
midst of apparent extreme
in the
when nothing but
in the face, as
•
querulous
in
n"iDi«
o
ESSAY And
ill.
8s
Thy deeds, Thy achievements. O God in holiness is Thy way Who is so great a power as God ? Thou art the Power working wonderfully. Thou hast made known amongst the peoples Thy having mused on
Then
let
me
all
contemplate
:
!
[strength.
redeemed Thy people with Thine arm,
Thou
hast
Even
the sons of Jacob
The
waters saw Thee,
and Joseph.
O God
Selah
!
!
Yea, the waters saw Thee, they were affrighted,
Even
the very depths trembled.
The clouds streamed with waters, The skies gave forth a voice Even Thy lightnings walked about.' ;
[^^^
xba
tJipa
mrj?
JOS'
iVn' !
^^^^
nrni.
ynn
nbÂŤj
D'o
"pxi
monn iwt mi3?
'
cnbx
CQ
Compare Exod.
f]jÂŤ
TO1T
ix.
23.
'
ESSAY
86
in.
The voice of Thy thunder was like heap upon heap The Hghtnings illumined the habitable world. The earth trembled and shuddered. Thy way is through the sea, And Thy path through many waters,
;
But thy footsteps are not recognised.
Thou hast led Thy people like a flock, By the hand of Moses and Aaron. M<»es' spired
in-
ouo-ht
I
pHeT^occu^- allusion
to
the Almighty's
do"n^appear Isfacl at thc teuch.
that in Asaph's inspired ^ ^
noticc licrc
to
•->
sue-
Red
Sea,
which do not occur
conquests in behalf of
some
in
the
particulars are
Mosaic
added
narrative,
or
triumphal ode, touching the ever memorable event. It
must be borne
mind that the necessary
in
brevity,
which the Father of divine Hebrew Historians, and the requisite conciseness, which the Prince of Sacred
Poets observed, induced the chronicler and bard to
omit
many an
incident.
:
^Zl^:
1Q3?
'
I
believe
reading
;
and
Wjd, I
correct meaninsr.
for
which there
Asaph was not
ab
^'mnpi-i
]«23
is
the only
ri'm
manuscript authority, is the right I proposed above is the
hold that the rendering which
ESSAY inspired successor of
Micah
87
Moses who supplied occurrences
which are not recorded next Essay
in.
That by Asaph, were
my
the supplemental
as another instance.
details, furnished
In
in the Pentateucli.
have occasion to quote the Prophet
I shall
universally
known
and believed by the Jews, is attested by the record which Josephus has given of the concomitants of Israel's deliverance is
at the
Red
Egyptians at the same time
:
—
"
own
place,
following
which overtook the
As
whole Egyptian army was within its
The
Sea.
his account of the catastrophe
it,
soon as ever the the sea flowed to
and came down with a torrent raised by
the storms of wind, and encompassed the Egyptians.
Showers of rain also came down from the sky, and dreadful thunders and lightning
with flashes of
;
Thunder-bolts also were darted upon them there anything which used to be sent
men, as indications of at this time
them."
;
for a
his wrath,
fire.
nor was by God upon ;
which did not happen
dark and dismal night oppressed
I
Never did Hebrew song make a bolder flight than when it contemplated the Almighty as going forth
—
"
And it is remarkable representation of Adonai in this
conquering and to conquer."
that although the
His warlike character
is
so perfectly adapted to the
comprehension of man, there ality
about
it,
is
always a
felt spiritu-
which places before us the difference
" Antiquities of the Jews,"
Book
ii.
chap.
xvi. sec. 3.
jJablk^uk
^^^^ °[ Red Sea.
^^l
^
;
ESSAY
88
III.
between the works of the Lord of Hosts, and the deeds of the arm of
Hebrew
poets derived
ceptions, idea.
From
flesh.
many
by varying and enlarging the
Let
me
Habakkuk"
of Hosts
is
subHme con-
original simple
some The prayer
just adduce, as another example,
portions of that wonderful composition
of
source the
this
of their most
—where the
resistless
Much
the subject.
—
"
might of the Lord
of the imagery in
it
has a reference to the song of Moses; but
how copious!
how
at the eighth
powerful
is it
!
Thus muses the poet
and following verses
:
—
Was Adonai displeased against the rivers ? Was Thine anger against the streams ? Was Thy wrath against the sea ? That Thou didst
Even Thy
ride
upon thy
horses,
chariots of salvation.
*****
Thy bow was made *
quite bare.
*
*
*
*
The mountains saw Thee, and they trembled
mn'
mn
nn
nnnD^n
ib'n'
iint
Hab.
iii.
S-io.
'
—
ESSAY
III.
89
The overflowing of the waters passed The deep uttered his voice,
And
hfted
up
way
imagery
we have
a beautiful specimen of
which the sacred poets developed
in
—the brevity of the Mosaic
larged, in all the
description, finely
hands on high.
his
In these passages the
by,
pomp and
by the
is
en-
circumstances of sublime
bard
later
expression
this
;
and the tenth verse
expresses the general terror
that
nature, at the formidable appearance of
its
pervaded God.
While Habakkuk has thus graphically described yJto^T^. the effect produced by God's manifestations, Moses elements 'to
1-1
has been no
ri'i m the
1
less successtui
manner
-i-ii m which he
the sovereign behest of the
Almighty.
has set before us the stupendous miracle performed.
The
instantaneous obedience of wind and water to the
—the immediate succession of the —are described with the most con-
sovereign mandate effect to the
summate
cause
brevity and force
'^
:
By the breath of Thy face, The waters were heaped up. They stood upright like a bottle
"113?
1
H'CJ
D'Q
n-IT
im'
DTI
jc!<
13
1DD
min 13:?3
;
Ex. XV.
8.
'
'
ESSAY
go
Running waters became
Even
is
stagnant,
the noisy waves in the heart of the sea.
And the work Pharaoh
III.
of destruction upon the proud
represented as that of a
moment
Thou didst blow with Thy The sea covered them They sank hke lead,
:
army of
—
breath,
;
In the mighty waters.
What Longinus
might
f^^d Lon^inus, when he wrote his Essay on the "^
"-'
harhe°been
Sublimc, posscsscd an acquaintance with the poetry of
Schoiar^"^
the Hcbrcws, he would doubtless have assigned
mean
it
no
place in the scale of true excellence and dignity
;
he would have coupled his energetic description of the
mighty power of God, with that verse
mencement
com-
of the Mosaic records which called forth
his admiration.
which the
in the
The
description of the speed, with
effect follows
here than in
the words —
and there was
the cause, "
God
Ver.
10.
n'
:
no
less striking
said, let there
light."
;
is
ih nonn
D'
1003
D'Tix
D'oa
be
light,
^
;
ESSAY The
Hebrews
in this ode.
from the ninth of
91
much beauty to the comsome of this we have already
force of contrast lends
position of the
seen
III.
man
I
;
may
verse,
-'
I will
supremacy of God
I shall
—
—
I will
divide the spoil
my very soul. make my sword swift. fill
My hand And then
:
said I will pursue,
overtake
It shall
be'Lttrto'^the
adduce another example ofThTHe" where we have the haughtiness just
well contrasted with the
The enemy
The force of contrast
shall
impoverish them.
follows the emphatic description of the havoc
wherewith God marred the pride,
Thou didst blow with Thy The sea covered them. They sank like lead, In the mighty waters
There
is
breath,
!
also perceptible here a fine view of that irony
which the Hebrews used with so much triumph songs. that
we
It is to
effect in their
an imitation of
this
passage
should perhaps refer the words which Deborah
and Barak put
into the
mouth of the mother of
Sisera
;
where the bitterness of disappointment and defeat are
•tte:
iQN'jDn
The Heirony with
much
effect.
^
!
ESSAY
92
III.
SO well contrasted with the proud and arrogant anticiIsaiah a great master of irony.
pations of success. striking
may
I
also refer to another very-
example from the poetry of
Isaiah.
In the
magnificent ode of triumph over the king of Babylon, the mighty dead are represented as thus addressing the fallen one
:
—
Yet thou didst say
ascend the heavens
I will
Above
My
the stars of
throne will
And
in thy heart, ;
God
I exalt.
I will dwell
on a
fixed mountain,
In utteraiost secrecy. I will
ascend above the cloudy heights,
I will
match the Most High
But thou
To The Ode Num. .\.\i.
in
Quc
!
descend to the grave,
shall
the extremities of the pit
iustauce more, in illustration of the force of
contrast which lends such a peculiar
mo^
"jnibi
•'«DD
:
]vbvb
nn^^i
ens
nmn
:iu 'DDT bn
charm
Isa.xiv. 13-15.
to
'
Hebrew
i;
ESSAY Poetry.
III.
93
ode which was sung on
It consists of a little
the occasion of the conquest of Sihon, the Amorite sovereign.
The composition
of the laconic poem, pre-
served in four verses of the twenty-first chapter of
Numbers,
is
very spirited, and the conception truly
In
poetical.
the
first
three verses the
author,
a
Hebrew, personifying an Amorite, celebrates Sihon's conquest how he took Heshbon, enlarged and forti;
fied
it
for himself,
and the centre of Moabites.
and made
it
the seat of his empire,
his further expeditions against the
He triumphs
over them, as utterly subdued.
In the last verse the would-be Amorite throws off the
mask, and as a Hebrew,
one concise
in
triplet
com-
memorates the conquest of Sihon by the Israelites, as The ode is remarkable for its the work of a moment.
Mark
sententious brevity of style.
well the contrast
between the boasted success of the Amorites, and their
own subjugation by
Israel
:
—
Come into Heshbon, she shall be built, And the city of Sihon shall be firmly established. For out of Heshbon a
A
fire
has gone,
flame from the city of Sihon
r^lZTi
pn'D
\\y£n
nnpa
1«1
r^irb
Num.
xxi. 27-30.
'
ESSJY
94 It
III.
had consumed Ar of Moab,
The
possessors of the heights of Anion.
Woe Thou
He
art
to thee
Moab
!
undone, thou people of Chemosh
!
hath given his surviving sons and daughters,
Into captivity to the King of the Amorites, even Sihon
But we have ploughed' them up
Yea we have laid it waste unto Nophah, Even as far as Medeba. The
effect
Ere
which the
Exfdus'produced upon the martial spirit of patriotic
Jews
I close this
Essay
I
[unto Dibon,
must revert once more to
the song of the Exodus, and the effect which
upoH
,
tlic
.,..-
havo HO doubt that
J
-^
.
.
martial Spirit oi patriotic it
in after days.
!
— Heshbon was destroyed
J ews
.-
had
it ,
in alter days.
principal war song formed the •''• ^
of the Israelites during the remainder of their forty years'
wandering
in the wilderness,
known and dreaded amongst whose
territories the
those nations, through
redeemed of Egypt were
!p3-i«
mm
3«1D
:
pn'D
\\yi
'
After
much
and became well
ly
noK
careful examination
that the root of the original word
-p'ob
]iiffin
ii«
led to
'Vyi
-p
'Mi
mmri DT31
and thought, I came to the decision and must be construed as above.
is "ii:,
ESSAY J^
have reached the seer of Pethor
adduce
95
The burden
promised land.
their
III.
my
of the
The
shall
it
produced upon the Hebrew patriots
we have dence
t'^'=,
'^'"'^"
standard.
evidence of which
;
next essay.
I
in
hymn must ' effect
which
in after ages,
the circumstantial, but most convincing evi-
in the story of the conflicts
and conquests under
the leadership of the family of the venerable priest of Modin,'' Mattathias,
who
raised their banner of patriot-
ism, in order to rid the
Holy Land and
city
from the pollution of Antiochus
The
fact
—a
explanations
played
fact
it
—that
""asD,
is,
"Who
Epiphanes.2
notwithstanding the
fictitious
the motto which the banner dis-
Grecocised into MaKKa^al, or Anglicised
into Maccabce, the initials of the nin^,
their sacred
is
like
unto Thee
Adonai!" taken from
the
words
n3?03
"lO
the Gods,
O
T^'h'^l
among
eleventh verse of that
famous ode, proves that that Mosaic song was one of animating
the
martial
hymns
of
the
Asmonean
patriots.
To
or-
How
of the effect which the sono- still produces judge ° the spirits of the children of Israel, is to visit a upon
judge of the
Jewish synagogue or family, the simple faith of whose
upon^TI
members has not been
children of
-^
stultified
by sophistry nor
^^"on^'^t'j}}
^ Israel.
'
I
am
sketched
convinced that Modin is mentioned in the g'eographical chart Deborah's song. pn'W UiS' (ludges v. lo), should never have
in
been translated "ye that "
I
sit in
judgment,"^ut "ye that dwell by Modin."
have treated the subject at some length
Scattered Nation."
in the first
volume of " The
to
ESSAY
96
sullied
by
scepticism, on the Saturday
tion of Scripture visitor
III.
is
when
that por-
read as the appointed lesson.
The
could not help remarking that the virtue of
patriotism
still
smoulders
in
the aching hearts and
throbbing breasts of the race which
God had
first
elected as His peculiar people.^
'
A
celebrated
Hebrew
poet of the last century
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Naphtali Hirtz Weizel,
or Wesseley wrote a Hebrew Epic in eighteen cantos, under the title of msDn 'T"!', " Song's of Glory." He treats of the history of the exodus till the giving of the brilliant
Law on mount
production
;
Sinai. His work, as a whole, is a most but the glory of the Song of Moses is marred by the
non-inspired bard's wordy diffuseness.
See Appendix C.
—
.
ESSAY THE
^ti;f2,
PURPOSE of Hebrew I
is
IV
OR THE HIEROGLYPHIC POETRY OF THE PENTATEUCH.
to direct attention, in this Essay, to a style
Jyphi^poe":
poetry, the proper understanding of which
P'ibie-or
required to an accurate appreciation of a great por-
Mashal.
mean that department which goes by the name of "ptm
tion of the sacred volume.
Hebrew poetry, Mashal, translated,
of
RABLE.
I
name for it than Hebrew Bible.
can find no better
of illustration let
The
wayfarer.
Authorised Version, PA-
in the
Hieroglyphic Poetry of the
By way
I
me
traveller in
the
adduce the cultivated lands
Classic
has
his
thoughts continually arrested by the splendid archi-
which
tectural remains,
attest the genius of
Powerfully and eloquently do the temples'
days.
crumbling
frieze
and sculptured column
of the past, of forms instinct with while
by-gone
all
manner
around in
is still.
which the
They
Roman
the conception of his mind.
tell
life
the story
and grace,
lead us to observe the
or the
But
Greek expressed
if
from these
fair
scenes the wayfarer should, perchance, turn his steps to Eastern climes
—to
that country which once held
such an important place in the history of the world
Keminiscences of Classic
^^^^•
ESSAY
98
IF.
to Egypt, the cradle of learning and oi art will
he behold
hands of men
contras^tid
Egypt.
there,
many a memorial of the busy how widely different from those The breathing statues of ^^ ^^^ before surveyed Grcece and Italy have but little in common with the too,
ary''ofG?eece
;
but
;
!
decorations which, with mysterious significance, dis-
The men who
tinguish an Egyptian temple.
raised
the mighty structures of Gizeh, Heliopolis, Thebes,
Luxor, Karnak, the Memnonium, Edfou, and
Symbal, had but
Abou
sympathy with those who
little
laboured on the Acropolis, or the shrines of
relics of full
both the Eastern and the Western world are
of interest to the
modern
gates the workings of the
nomena of
The
thought.
have passed away
is
There |-]^g
g^j.|-g
is
a
felt
traveller,
human
character of the
left
Instance the
auothcr.
thcmselvcs, so that
aualocjy oy
^^^^
and poetry.
^^^ thosc of poctry. the pencil, or the
some measure, I
much
that holds
also applicable to
may oftcn bc y
obscrvcd betwecH
of sculpture or of painting,
The same
chisel,
effusions of the pen.
under review.
in the
is
stylcs, for instaucc,
and^aMn
in
men who
connexion between and acknowledg;ed -*
among
An
investi-
behind.
good and true with regard to one styles of
who
mind, and the phe-
most instructively revealed
monuments they have There is a connexion between the
the
Yet these venerable
Paestum, ^gina, and Bassae.
Let
spirit
which animated
may me endeavour
be traced also in the
to the subject
to apply this,
more immediately
have already taken occasion to con-
trast the classic efforts of the
heathen muse, with the
ESSAY
ir.
95
higher and holier breathings of the songs of Sion,
and have pointed out some of the leading pecuhariof these latter.
ties
The
of poetry Oriental and western styles ' J are, how>
i.
ever, in
some
points, so widely different, that
seems
it
well to look for an explanation of the discrepancy,
by
"^^
''''"'''=â&#x20AC;˘
ence between
^^^
wes"enl """^^^
looking to the principles which regulated the poetic
Something with regard
conceptions of each people.
may
to this
which
be learnt from the remains of
art,
The Greeks have
have just spoken.
I
left
of to
us numerous productions of their poetry and their
sculpture
;
in
both
we may
observe the prevalence of
same spirit. In the language of Grecian poetry, there was always that " striving after objectivity," as an the
eminent writer styles to
search after
words
;
clearly
it,
which led the bards of Greece emphatic
precise,
and
mental conceptions.
So,
and picturesque express
distinctly to
which employed
his
all
their
too, in the arts of sight
the artist laboured to represent to the ject
("'reci.-m
genius
;
life
;
every sub-
and to
this,
that
observation and worship of external nature, to which I
have already alluded
contributed.
in
They sought
a former Essay in
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; mainly
everything to give ex-
pression to their sentiments without disguise, and to lay open
But the there
the source and
spirit
springs
of the Oriental
was with him too the
but he proceeded
in a
of their feelings.
was opposed
to all this
;
" striving after objectivity,"
different
way.
The
ancient
Rsj-ptian sculpture.
Egyptian linked thought to thought, resemblance to
ESSAY
lOo
resemblance
IF.
but he endeavoured to express himself,
;
not in words, but through the directly, or unreservedly,
medium
but generally
of things
not
;
in a circuitous
way, by some far-fetched emblem, or subtle device.
Hence
that multitude of dark and mysterious figures,
the secret of which, thousands of years have kept so well, while the real
development of
their significance,
moderns
after all the acuteness of the intellect of the
has been expended upon them, seems as yet to be but imperfectly understood.
A
parallel
between the
Now, whcn we
investigate the very earliest specio ^ j.
Bibi7andthe
n^^ns of poctic composition with which
fngonhe^'-
quainted
tkns.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the
poetry of the Pentateuch
^^ useful to bear the style of
which
in
it,
mind
it
The
ture, or tic
and
be
art of
properly re-
But there
a resemblance between the sacred sculp-
picture writing of Egypt, and the
emblema-
allegorical conceptions of the sacred volume.
In "the sure word of prophecy," for
will
poetic style of the
in the rest of ancient literature.
may be traced
it
that a parallel exists between
Hebrew prophets and bards has nothing sembling
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
are ac-
and the mysterious Egyptian
have just spoken.
I
we
Adonai
has raised
Himself a noble temple and memorial to His
glory.
One which
shall
stand
when the proudest
things of earth shall have passed away.
mysterious figures and dark emblems
;
It is full
of
but then, un-
wisdom of human device, we have a key whereby we may understand its meaning. Time
like the secret
has even unlocked the explanations of the strange
ESSAY forms of Egyptian
skill,
ir.
in
loi
order to disclose more
palpably the import, and confirm the truth of the
word
divine.
much
hibited
its
of
it
has translated,
It
myself,
if I
may
so express
of the Scripture Hieroglyphic, and ex-
force with such distinctness, that the reader
can do so with utmost fluency.
Bishop Warburton has pointed out at considerable
much
length and with the
Hebrew
style
He
of composition.
reciprocal influence which hieroglyphics
—
notices the
would exercise
upon language, and remarks " The old Asiatic style, so highly figurative, seems likewise, by what we find of
its
remains
in the
prophetic language of the Sacred
Writers, to have been evidently fashioned to the
of ancient
hieroglyphics.
...
prophetic style seems to be a
GLYPHIC."
He
In
mode
a word,
the
SPEAKING HIERO-
thence concludes that
"
These observa-
tions will not only assist us in the intelligence of the
Old and
New
Testament, but likewise vindicate their
character from the illiterate cavils of tines,
who have
modern
liber-
foolishly mistaken that colouring for
the peculiar workmanship
of the speaker's
heated
imagination which was the sober, established language of the times
—a
condescended
language which God and His Son
to employ, as the properest vehicle of
the high mysterious ways of Providence, in the revelations of themselves to mankind." ^
'
bu|.to°P^yi-he
ingenuity, this peculiarity of fheHebrew
" Divine Legation."
Book
I
iv.
have introduced
Sec. 4.
position.'^"'"
ESSAY
102
ir.
the subject here merely to set in a clear light the poetic
spirit
Hebrew
of the
marvellous productions of the
Prophets, and with a
more
especial reference
to one of the most striking in early times
—
I
mean
the fourfold vision of Balaam. of"BaiIam"'^
"'-
^ave already considered at some length other
proper' chlr-
poctic portions of the Pentateuch.
theProphedc
tlic
influeuce
I
which they exercised
have spoken of in
forming the
conceptions, and directing the choice of imagery, in later
times of Jewish literature
;
and
have con-
I
trasted these early songs with classic compositions. I will
now adduce
the visions of Balaam, and the pro-
phetic words which were put into the seer's mouth, as
exhibiting distinctly and forcibly the proper characteristic of
the prophetic style.
This remarkable por-
some
respects, very different
tion of Scripture
is,
in
from the general tenor of the Pentateuch.
cumstance
is,
to
my
designed arguments city of the five
fascinated
mind,
one of the
books of Moses.
the
— Herder
that he thought he discerned in style than in the Divine
takes, afra-^mentof
between"^ Baiak.
"
if
bctwccn
un-
seemed so
gracefulness
predictions of the
Pentateuch himself.
cir-
many
in favour of the historical vera-
by the picturesque
characterised
—The
Aramean
them a
seer,
finer poetic
Songs of the Author of the
Even a Herder may make mis-
he inadvertently
institutes
a comparison
different classes of compositions.
Tlic oracular words of Balaam, however, liavc
which
seem
to
bccn much regarded by succeeding prophets.
^
ESSAY
ir.
103
There
is
to us,
by the prophet Micah, which we should ahvays
a very interesting fragment of his, preserved
connect, in our minds, with the Mosaic narrative.
dialogue
is
A
introduced between the king of Moab, and
the soothsayer, to the following effect
My
people,
What
—
remember now
Balak,
King of Moab,
And what Balaam From
:
consulted,
the son of Beor answered him,
Shittim as far as Gilgal.
That ye may know the righteousness of Adonai. Balak.
Wherewith
shall I
Wherewith
come
shall I
before Adonai.
bow myself before
the
God
of
[Heaven? Shall I
With
come
before
him with burnt
calves of a year old
offerings ?
?
Balaam. Will Adonai be conciliated with thousands of WiUi myriads of
2«iD iv:2
p
-p^
Di-bi
«2
"iDt
'02?
pb2
\T
rro
"inx
mj?
nm
mn' nipH noa
U'b'n
[rams
rivers of oil ?
'D'^sa
mrr ni'Tn
Mi.
vi.
5-S.
'
?
ESSAY
104
Balak.
Shall I give
The Balaam.
He
fruit
of
Even
And And differ-
J
ence between
my first born for my transgression ? my body a sin offering for my soul ? good,
to love mercy. to
walk devoutly with thy God.
Mose's^mid°^
corded by the Prophet
Moscs too
of the latter,
of
;
may
and we
faithfully J re-
be sure that
correctly transmitted to us the purport
lias
tlic diviner's
The more
prognostications.
style the entire composition
more gloriously does
Few
inspired truth.
in the history of
unlike in
to the great lawgiver's
is
songs, or prophecies, the
own
is
to execute judgment,
bcHeve that these words have been
attest his
what
doth Adonai require of thee ?
testrihe^in-
own
O man,
hath declared unto thee,
And what
The
IF.
any people, are so
it
passages, indeed,
and
inter-
by Moses.
The
striking
esting as the narrative here related
dignified simplicity of the prose beautifully contrasts
with the sublime and sententious turn of the poetry in the prediction, and no recital could tend more to invigorate and cheer the hearts of Israel than that of the
enemy was
blessings which an
Each time
constrained to bestow.
that the oracles of God, respecting Israel,
were delivered by Balaam, they are prefaced by the 'yvcD :
'CD:
nra
no
ip-o
niD::
nwTon
mÂŤ
^nxn
'i^Di
no
-p
tjh
c-m mrr
rrai
—
ESSAY
ir.
105
entranced seer and reluctant recorder, with the words NCJ'n
)hli^D
— according
to the present
Version — "And he took up
ised
his
Enghsh Authorparable." That
Version but inadequately conveys the force of the
Mashal, is one of manifold treatment of Hebrew Poetry. It is
The word
original.
significance in the
b\y^,
the term which expresses the speciality and functions
Hebrew muse.
of the
It
comprehends,
in fact, the
three different forms of the art of inspired
poetry
—the As
lime.
signification,
it
is
ferent portions of the Bible. it
occurs
is
Num.
has undergone in
it
The
earliest
As
xxi. 27.
illustrated in the last Essay, the is
latitude of
both important and interesting to
.observe the various transitions
which
much
the word, however, has
Hebrew
and the sub-
sententious, the figurative,
have already
I
word
dif-
passage in
'?E^'n,
Mashal,
there employed to characterise the style of the
triumphal ode upon the destruction of Sihon's king-
dom, and sion
it is
rendered in the English Authorised Ver-
by the word Proverb.
So
far as
English
this
term expresses the sententious brevity and point of the poetic style, the word
English reader
it
is
not amiss
;
conveys an idea not at
suited to
—
;
twenty-seventh chapter "
all
to the
monument of Hebrew Poetry The Book of we find the term also in use for instance, the
ancient
—
still
In another very
the real import of the composition.
Job
but
And Job
the word
took up his
more
begins
Mashal
:
hz^O
7\'^^
once more."
aVN
?1D''1
There
especially characterises the condensed,
Wehave
in
one word
S^n^portthe
Hebrew
ESSAY
io6
and vigorous
terse
style
IF.
which
is
so striking in the
language and diction of the author under is
be borne
also to
w-fth^rn'rT
mysterious in ^^^^
its
The connexion between
sublimity. •'
mysterious and the dignified in the case of the
Mashal
is
well illustrated in the fourth verse of the
forty-ninth Psalm, where
with HT-n The term 7©Q became
It
Hebrews had always something
didactic poetry of the sometimes used as jttjQ
notice.^
in mind, that the prophetic or
Cheedah,
stands,
it
a synonym
as
or enigma.
mo'dTfiTd'and
In oroccss of time the original ideas contained in ^ ^hc word Mashal became qualified and modified
itsfmp^ort'.''
the short, sententious turn, which
•=>
;
belonged to the
general poetic diction, and in which significance
was wrapped
into
ordinarily understood
3,
proverb.
more Bishop
"We
it
;
Warburton —
and recovered again
was, in
"
how
—
quote once
I
symbols which came
lost their
mysterious nature,
their primitive use in the flourish-
ing ages of Greece and
Rome.
apologue, often returned to 2i
*
Shall
its
Just so, again,
first
not
all
[Mashal] these,'
'
'
shall
all.
Habakkuk,
See Appendix D.
was
and be'
In that
one take up a
against you
says
it
simple
the
clearness,
proverb, plain and intelligible to
says the Prophet Micah,
parable {^ut^)
and
transformed
with the parable, which coming from
day,'
of,
fine,
have observed"
from open hieroglyphics,
came
to give ex-
more commonly treated
pression to subjects
more
mysterious
its
was applied
up,
(chap. '
ii.
4).
take up a
ESSAY parable (
nn'Ti nv^^QI
Herder,
against
(^l*'d)
him and a taunting proverb
has dihgently investigated the
gin and source of poetry
pointed
107
against him, and say,' etc. (ch.
)
who
ir.
out
Mashal, and
connexion with " I doubt,"
of composition.
meaning
he
all
hl^'TO.
writes, "
The word means
stamp, to imprint a figure or likeness in
sentences
judge
;
;
the
of
the various kinds
whether
origin of poetry can be better expressed than
Hebrew word
6.)
ori-
among the Hebrews, has well
comprehensive
the its
ii.
first
;
this
by the
to impress, to
then to speak
then to divide, order, speak as a king or
finally, to rule,
the word of one's mouth.
govern, to be mighty through
Behold, then, the history of
the origin and most important feature of the poetic art." I
I
proceed
now
to direct attention
more immediately
to the prophecies of Balaam, in order to point out
how
they supply us with illustrations of the different peculiaritics to
which
I
have already alluded.
sententious character of the
Mashal
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
it is
As
to the
impossible
to read over the predictions, about to be reviewed, with-
out being struck by this conspicuous feature. parallelisms are regular and exact. sists
The
clause con-
of brief sentences, minutely and nicely adapted to
one another.
marked is
Each
here
The
spirit of contrast,
on which
I re-
much vigour to poetic expression, employed with much propriety and grace.
as giving so
'
" Geist der Hebriiischen Poesie."
Vol.
ii.
'''
gj^s^P/gPa 'fiuTtrl'tbns''
liarities^oT"
poetry.
'
ESSAY
loS Balaam's nrst oracular
utterance.
Xlius
tlic
oracular utterance describes, in a few
first
couplcts,
niajcstic
elect people of
Balak's machinations
is
the laconic
Adonai put
How
poem
sublime
mouth, formed the theme
into Balaam's
Go
[saying]
go
to,
to,
me
curse
provoke
very sim-
in its
of which the word, which
From Aram Balak would lead me. The King of Moab, from die mountains
And
against the
God, and the Almighty's watchful care
over his chosen ones. plicity
IF.
:
—
of the east.
Jacob,
Israel.
What shall I curse, when God hath not cursed Or what shall I frown when Adonai hath not frowned. !
!
!
Verily, I see
And
from
Behold,
him from the top of
the rocks,
the heights, I espy him.
it is
a people that shall dwell alone,
among
And
shall not
Who
has counted the dust of Jacob,
And
the
count
number
itself
the nations.
of the fourth part of Israel ?
]hl
?« xrwrv
m« p
'2n3'
nnno i«to
Dip
nnp DJM
JD-l" :
?)«
111"?
icnn'
2py'
np«
vb N*?
~p'o
IDS?
02?
sb
no noi
p
cijai
HDO
'D
Num.
'
xxiii. 7-10.
ESSAY me
Let
And
The
IF.
109
die the death of the upright,'
let
my
hke
posterity be
his.
and careful reader of
intelligent
utterance, on the part
oracular
this
of a reluctant heathen
cannot help detecting a refined allusion to national sacred poems. Behold,
And
it is
Israel's
In the couplet
a people that shall dwell alone.
not count
shall
seer,
Balaam summarises
itself
verses
among
the nations,
13-16, of the
Red Sea
In the last couplet.
divine Pa^an.
me die the death of the And let my posterity be hke Let
upright, his,
the Aramaean diviner had in his mind's eye the death-
bed song of benediction, by the patriarchs brief
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not
in vain is
in the
Balaamic Mashal.
The employment ' ^
imagery of the figurative style too. which The c> J Balaam )
such an important element
is
last of the three great
Jacob twice mentioned
diction,
is
and poetic p^eXund singularly conspicuous, and most felicitous in prophetical
throughout the group of the inspired oracles pro-
nounced by the the imagery
is
far east
mountain prophet. Sometimes
powerful and sublime
nc '
The LXX.
mo
â&#x20AC;˘"rcD
;
sometimes the
nnn
have, in this instance, given the most accurate rendering of
the spirit of the original
;
namely,
xal yeVoiro to
aTTipi>.a fxov loj
to
anepua
TovTiiiv.
;
^
ESSAY
no
IF.
vivid feelings which the speaker experienced at the present, are clothed in figurative language.
Anon,
dark and secret meaning he wraps his vision of the
in far
distant future. ture°of'?he israe'i!°
^^^
prcscntcd
^-^^
the people of Israel
prowess
by Balaam with two
in
Adonai
—
their glory
which they enjoy,
and the
in the
The
of their father's God.
They
their
and triumph over
we meet with
In the other,
a milder and
softer description of the choice blessing felicity
is
war, and the might which they have de-
rived from
enemies.
pictures of
the one, the subject
in
;
and supreme
watchful guardianship
propriety of the images,
differences in style, are
worthy of observation.
are exemplified in the poetic renderings
by the
heathen prophet-bard of the two next WORDS, which
Adonai
put into his mouth.
Let
me
them in the "word which
cite
wWcVrriir
order in which they come.
faam'smouth
Adonai
Pisgah.
rendering thereof, on the top of Pisgah
First the
put iuto Balaam's mouth," and the :
seer's
—
Rise up, Balak, and hear
Give ear unto me, Zipper's son.
He
is
He should forsake He should re-consider.
not a man-god that
Nor a son of man
that
roiri :
iici*
1:2
"phi
Dip
nr nr-xn
Num.
xxiii.
iS-24.
'
ESSAY Hath He
and
said,
shall
Hath He spoken, and Behold, I
And
He
am
blessing
taken
and
'
•
IF.
He
Adonai
?
ratify
it
?
to bless,
I shall
not turn aside.
his
He
God
eyed the wearisomeness is
is
Neither
Now And
in the
is
is
midst of him.
of Egypt,
unto him.
like the soaring of heights
Verily, there is
in Israel.
with him.
And the triumph of a King God who brought them out
no enchantment against Jacob,
there divination against Israel.
it A\ill
be said respecting Jacob,
What hath God wrought
respecting Israel,
nic5' :
vb^
ini
'nnp'?
-pa
n:n
Tar 13
2pyu
rrhn mn'
:b«
bi-D
nrnm
i'?n
cm
!?«"iic'3
The original word must be read
!
Ninn
"TON
x"?"!
ni'd'-p''
:
'
it
not
hath not looked at the iniquity in Jacob,
Neither hath
He
not do
He
shall
rva
«b
CDp
'3
vh^
bwiir'bi
'"P^Ii^
' The Prophet intimates, by the repetition of the word "pa, the determinate counsel of the Almighty touching Israel.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; !
ESSAY
112
Behold, the people shall
Yea
He
of jaco'ir'and
^°^^^'
up
rise
like a lioness.
like a lion shall he raise himself;
down
shall not lie
And Distinct ailusions to the
IF.
till
he devoured the prey,
drink the blood of the
j^ this oracular
slain.
poem we have J^
distinct allusions ae^ain o
poems by Jacob and Moses, and the name is brought once more prominently
to thc sacrcd patriarch's
under
Jacob, on
notice.
his
shadowed the might of the image of a
among
The image became
lion.
fore-
under the
a favourite one
the Easterns, both in their sculpture and their
Here Balaam
poetry.
hosts of Israel, as
we have
applies
we have
oracle just quoted. that,
dying bed, had
tribe of Judah,
it
to the congregated
seen in the last verse of the
In the two verses which precede
a refined reference to the deliverance
wondrous concomitants, to the Red Sea triumph song, and to the august prophecy contained therein. Who can help comparing the from Egypt, and to
its
couplet,
Now And
it
will
be said respecting Jacob,
respecting Israel,
What hath God
\vrought
with a verse in the song of Moses, (Exod. xv.
which
I
have already quoted
in the last
essay
:
17)
—
!
ESSAY Thou
wilt bring
1 r.
113
them, and wih plant them,
In the mountains of Thine inheritance,
A
foundation for Thy abode. Thou hast wrought, O Adonai The Sanctuary, O Adonai, Thy hands have founded. It
is,
however, in the second picture
we God came upon Balaam "
the top of Peor, where,
— sketched
on
are told, "the Spirit of
—that
tinctly
!
we can most
dis-
perceive the beauty and exuberance of the
poetic ornament.
indeed impossible for descrip-
It is
tion to
supply the place of painting better than
does
the following account
saw
in
that
it
pleased
Adonai
:
—
"
it
And when Balaam
to bless Israel, he
went
not as at other times to confront enchantments, but
he
set his face
lifted
up
towards the wilderness.
his eyes,
and he saw
cording to their tribes
upon him.
How Thy
And
;
and the
he took up his
good are thy tabernacles,
O
tents,
O
Spirit of
God came
Mashal and
Jacob,'
Israel
Like streams are they stretched
2pr'
And Balaam
Israel tabernacling ac-
"pbnn
UC
rto
out,
Num.
xxlv. 5-7.
said
:
Balaam's utterance on mount Peor.
ESSAY
114
IF.
Like gardens by the sides of a Like aloe trees
river,
which Adonai has planted,
Like cedar trees by the sides of waters.
He He
shall distil the
water out of His bucket,
sow him amongst many people, i
shall
And He will extol his King above Agag, And His Kingdom shall be exalted aloft.
How used
!
beautiful
The
and
diversified are the
images here
inspired one seems for a while diverted
from the proper
office
of a foreteller of things to come,
riveted for a
and appears
of the present
;
moment
he gives utterance,
in
It was,
ing terms, to his thoughts.
contemplation
in the
most glow-
however, but a
moment
that he gazed on the scenes below.
he turns
his
Again
thoughts upwards and onwards.
by the general
Xlic Oriental seer influenced
belief of
The notion of the anci?^'s the^T^'
his
AqTsSuf
term, for that sign of the Zodiac, in Hebrew,
countrymen, that when Aquarius
Dclcc,
Bucket
!
'
1
technical is
>^i
—appeared on the horizon, an abundance
13'ja
have no doubt
reading^.
—the
in
33«0
in3:n
my own mind that
DTI
xcsm D'Di-a,
and not 'n3,
is
the correct
2
ESSAY came down upon the
of rain
nomical allusion,
Aquariusr
i
"
He
earth; hence the astro-
water out of His
shall distil
But onwards the prophet's view
boundless
limits,
engross
stretches.
coming
events, the
more impressive
The
is
more exalted
style
;
and the
his language.
prophecy which J r tr referred to as a perfect last
Hebrew
looks into
his style,
is
and
attention,
his
all
The more he
direct all his after words.
be
115
King of Glory, and His august kingdom, and
Israel's its
ir.
Balaam delivered may J model of the prophetic
and as embracing,
a brief space,
in
Balaam's prophe-
last
modei^oT'the
Hebrew"^ style.
the leading characteristics in
bold
It
is,
relief,
in fact,
of
it.
In
it
we
observe,
the nature of the speaking hieroglyphic.
But
the symbol translated into words.
the mysterious figure, the dark intimation, the emphatic w'ere,
earnestness of the
speaker,
the very eyes of his
soul
into the future, trollable
to
as
straining,
narrowly
look
and yet withheld by some uncon-
power from obtaining the
full
perception
of what he was obliged to declare to others, are in the highest degree, striking I shall see I shall
it
and magnificent
:
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
all,
Him, but not now,
behold Him, but not speedily.
' I have treated the signs of the Zodiac, as they appear in the Old Testament, at some length, in a paper entitled, "What did the ancient The Essay appeared in the first Hebrews know of Astronomy?"
volume of " The Scattered Nation."
With
reference to the sign
Aquarius, see Appendi.x E. nnj?
Hb^
VHMi
Num.
xxiv. 17.
-
'"?l
Delee,
2
ESSJY
ii6
A
Star
And And And The emblems Star and Sceptre,
IF.
come out of Jacob,
shall
a Sceptre shall arise out of Israel, shall
wound
the locks of
the pate of
Xhc emblem
Moab, ^
the sons of low estate.
all
endowed and mystic language of prophecy, had the same signification, and significance, as in the secret picturewriting of the Egyptians,^ a God was the subject which the image betokened. Ages rolled away, and David mounted the throne of Israel, and swayed the -^yith
of the Sceptre denoted one ^
The
glory and power.
Star, in the exalted
—
of Judah,
sceptre
and then, as "through a glass
darkly," a portion of the Midianite's oracle
covered,
amo
dis-
and was understood to have received
asio
'
was
\-iKD
its
ynoi
'DNS cannot be translated here otherwise than the comers of the
hair of the head which descend over the cheeks.
Such of the Orientals as
shaved them were reproached by the nickname HMD '"Si^p, (Jer. ix. 26; XXV. 23 xlix. 32), mistranslated in the Authorised version by "that are in the uttermost corner." The Jews, who hold it a religious duty to wear those corner-locks which I have described, call those appendages m!<D. This religious duty is founded on Levit. xix. 27. It is the 251st of the 613 precepts, which the Jewish Scribes professed to have discovered in the Pentateuch. ;
The Samaritan it
version of
'\'p'\'p
is
unquestionably the correct one; and xlviii. 45. mi? I take to mean
has, moreover, the imprimatur of Jeremiah,
here figuratively, what ^
"Ao-TT)p
nap AiyvTm'ois
it
does
in Isaiah, xx. 4, literally.
*
—" Horapollo. Hierog.," 7pa^onevos©EONoT)/itau'ei.
1. ii.
—
ESSAY
ir.
117
but still it was known only in part, day "dawned and the day-star arose," in the person, and at the appearance, of Him whom David
accomplishment
;
until the
in spirit
On
acknowledged as
his Lord.
the sublimity of the prophecy before us,
unnecessary to dwell at length
must
feel
how completely
;
it
is
every reader of taste
the truly grand
is
produced
ra'^d'oJ-J^n
of^dSance' ^^
'"y^t'^'T-
by the remoteness of the event to which the prophet refers.
Distance and mystery are often
used with
marvellous energy in Holy Scripture for this end.
For instance,
in
the vision of Eliphaz
vision of
:
phaz.
Fear surprised me, and dread,
And And
it
a
terrified the spirit
my framework. my face
whole of
passed before
;
The hair on my flesh stood up like nails. Were he to stand, I could not discern his appearance, Even the image before mine eyes.
Now
silence
Shall mortal Shall a
—and anon,
I
man be more
man be more
:
:
God
!
pure than his Maker
mriT :
hear a voice just than
THQn
mD2
':«ip
-ina
'noai?
m
my©
inDn
Job
iv.
!
14-17.
eh-
ESSAY IK
ii8
The
bodiless shape, the indistinct
fined nature of the entire scene,
—the unde-
produced an
the mind not soon to be forgotten. claration
image
on
effect
In Balaam's de-
of the " vision of the Almighty," there
is
not the terrible which accompanies the description in the passage of Job
;
but there
and dignified sublimity not The tion
expiraof pre-
breTstyi^^ and
diction.
is
throughout
a calm
it
less impressive.
J Quglit to State, crc I take leave of this splendid o r compositiou, that it affords the critically philological i
student of the sacred tongue, a very good idea of the style of pre-Mosaic
Hebrew, of which the wording of
Balaam's visions are the
last
specimens on record. That
—
was as the ante-diluvian vestiges, the patriarchal traces, and the book of Job, testify peculiarly epigrammatic and picturesque. The author of the book of Job, style
—
proved by internal evidence of the work
itself,
belonged
same category of Hebrew poets of which Balaam was a distinguished member; and both were, no doubt,
to the
contemporaries at one period of their respective
lives.
There was, however, this difference between the two and privileged authors the historian of the suffering and patient patriarch dedicated his talents to the glory of Him who bestowed them upon him while gifted
;
;
the latter was disposed to barter his
" for filthy lucre,"
to any bidder, be that bidder even the greatest
which
his Divine Benefactor had, against
enemy
whom
the
sacred gifts were to be employed.
After a great deal of anxious study and thought,
I
have abandoned the theory that Moses was the author
ESSAY "man
of the of the history ^
IF.
119
in the
land of Uz."
I
am, however, strongly impressed with the conviction
who has been
that he,
and
in deeds,"
described
edited Job's
as "
mighty
Memoirs
;
to
in
^Moses the editor of the "t"
JJ^^'"°""'
words
which he
by way of introduction, and by way of finish. It is impossible for any practical Hebrew scholar not to perceive that the two prefatory chapters and the eleven closing verses are entirely Mosaic in style and in prefixed two chapters,
suffixed eleven verses,
diction
whilst the dialogues, in the rest of the work,
;
have much
in
them
that
is
akin to the style and dic-
tion in the specimens which
we have
Balaam's utterances, as well as
of Jacob's and
in those of the ante-
diluvian fragments.
A
decade of years of close and
critical
study have
tended to ripen and mature the opinion, which
I
have
ventured to publish some years ago.i that Job was not only a real person, but that he
is
identified
with the
son of Issachar, and was therefore grandson of Jacob.
He to
Egypt when his opulence became too vast be accommodated in that country, and when he had
left
began to entertain misgivings of the eventual security of his brethren there, after Joseph's death;
when
a
new
king ignored the great things which Joseph had done for
Egypt,
went and
'
in the
years of her great distress.
He
settled in the country of his forefathers.
then
Uz
"Vestiges of Genuine Freemasonry amongst the Ruins of Asia, Africa and " Sacred Minstrelsy."
etc., etc.;"
sln'^of
jl^b
—
;
ESSAY
I20
— erroneously written was the district
Huz
IF.
English Version
in the
firstborn of Nahor,
Abraham's brother
;
his
bore his name, and there Job took up his
abode. This consideration in view helps to clear up some apparently obscure passages, which the ordinary
As
reader encounters in that extraordinary Poem. to the poetry of the
Book
of Job,
have dealt with
I
it
in a separate series of Essays. The
begin-
J
ning of the epilogue.
^j.^g
niav y
uow
Poetry of ^
to take leave of the bes^in o
Pentateuch, by a review on the divine words de-
livered
by the
writer of the
books
five
first
in
the
Bible, on the eve of his departure from his people.
Intensely interesting epilogue.
mean
I
and solemn
that hallowed
is
the song of Moses recorded in the
thirty-second and thirty-third chapters of the
Book
of
Deuteronomy. The twofold character in
rp'eared°ir
utmAnd
—
Long and '^
the Israelites had Moses guided ^ them the high he press upon oftcn and earnestly did faithfully ^
obligation of the law of their God. his
life,
in the
and
at the
end of
his fifth
twofold character of an 07'ator and
no common pathos did he blessing
and
the curse
obedience, the The
divine object of the epilogue.
and
At
terrible
the close of
Book, he appeared a./>oct.
With
set before his people the
— the
glorious
penalties
for
reward for
transgression
God moved him, and the him. Adonai well knew
iu all this the Spirit of
wisdom of God
instructed
the faithless and stubborn generation with
had to
deal,
and
He
means of preserving
whom
he
takes especial care to have a
in their
minds the nature of
their
ESSAY when
responsibilities
more be present
121
IF.
their venerable guide should
them
to instruct
in
person
;
no
and
nothing would be more likely to possess a lasting hold
upon the affections, or remain more imprinted in the memory, than the parting w^ords of one whom they and poetic
revered, set forth in an elevated
strain.
Fathers, while they recounted to their children the
ancient glories of their nation, would not forget to instruct
them
in
way
the
in
which Moses, the
"
Man
of God," spake; and the words of his time-honoured
many
song would be repeated by
a mouth, and listened
by many an ear. This song of Moses is important to the general o o student of Hebrew, because, situated as it is in the Bible, it affords him a favourable opportunity of tracing out the distinction between the poetic and prosaic to with delight
sr
Much
styles of composition.
ode in
is
^'^
impon-
ance to
the
aem''of He-
of the substance of this
to be found in the preceding chapters, expressed
very forcible terms, and with considerable copious-
ness.
The
last
ode
is
a sort of
before, with every variety of diction.
As
far as purity ^ J
summary
of what went
ornament and grace of
and correctness of language ^
° are concerned, this portion of the Bible belongs to the best age of
Hebrew
When we
literature.
the twenty-eighth chapter onward at the thirty-second
chapter,
it
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;when
is
read from
we
arrive
something
like
turning from the vigorous and glowing declamation of
an Attic orator, to the highly wrought and picturesque eftusions of the
Greek
lyric Poet.
its
and "^^^
purity correct-
°^
'^"
——
;
ESSAY It forms a connecting
between theprophetk and lyric link
compositions.
This divInc ode
fomis a
—as Bishop Lowth
strictly lyric
While we meet
in
Mashal,
the ^K'o
justly observed-
of conuLXting link between the prophetic
Ivliid
and the
IF.
specimens of the
combines the
it
it
is
'y<^
compositions of the Hebrews.
some of the genuine
traits of
also one of the most brilliant
SHEER,
force, the energy,
Ode.
or Sacred
It
and the boldness of
the one, with the picturesqueness of the other. The
dififer-
ence between
umsofTacob Balaam, and
Xlie
commcncemcut Style
pi'ophetic g^j^-g^^
Let
me
j-^g
|-q
;
is
in
containing
the,
more properly
a solemn
so,
exhortation,
gravity aud importance of the Oracle.
digress for a
moment,
in order to contrast the
openings of the poetic effusions of Jacob and Balaam
exordium of Moses' dying
with the
admirably
is
song.
How
the language of each of these divine
poems adapted
to the circumstances.
In the calm
and dignified exordium of the dying Father of the twelve tribes,
Shepherd
we
recognise the voice of the Patriarch
:
Assemble yourselves, and
hear, ye sons of
Yea, hearken unto Israel your
Balaam, when about to deliver the attention of him
designed
for
Jacob;
father.'
his prediction,
whom
it
was especially
:
Rise up, Balak, and hear
Give ear unto me, thou son of Zippor
'
See page
49.
'
calls
° !
See page no.
—
^
;
ESSAY But now the
"
man
IF.
123
of God," as about to deliver truths,
the greatest, most vakiable that the world had ever heard, solemnly invokes his
words
:
all
nature to hear and observe
—
Give
ear,
And
let
O
ye Heavens, and
I will
speak
my mouth
the earth hear the utterances of
The solemnity and
!
propriety of this introduction were
not lost upon succeeding Poets,
who
freely
adapted
or imitated, as suitable to the language of prophetic inspiration.
Isaiah, Jeremiah,
and others availed them-
Mosaic poetical apostrophe.
selves of that splendid
The Evangelical Prophet-Bard nunciatory vaticination Hear,
For I
O
it is
Heavens, and give
Adonai
thus begins his de-
-
:
ear,
O
earth.
that hath spoken.
ought to state here that
in this single distich Isaiah
had accommodated the opening and the closing of the first
marvellous Mosaic epic.
stanza of the
stanza consists of the
first
That
three verses of the thirty-
second chapter of Deuteronomy, which ends with the
mi-iNi c'Ow-n :
'D
^"i«
insn
Deut.
xxxii.
Isa.
2.
nos psrt rnirm 'ri«m
wa-o
^t-d-a
i.
'
i.
p^"''^"'^'"=
?;^ted'th^'
speech"'
i
ESSAY
124
argument
all-prevailing
Heaven and Earth, For
summons
invoke in the
I
Isaiah the
b^ng^"^^'""
Indeed,
'
'^^S
name
by
prophecies
:
—
of Adonai,
God
!
portion of his sublime
far the greatest
an exposition or expansion of the Mosaic
is
epic under treatment. Critics
man
impossible to read Isaiah without observ^
it is
that
on the part of
of
Yield the excellency due to our
exponent of
;
ir.
for attention,
to the
—
— such
If certain
and
as Spinoza,
would-be Biblical
after
him De Wette,
Bleek, Kiinen, Ewald, Davidson, Colenso,
etc., etc.,
had thoroughly entered
of Isaiah's
writings, they in the
the spirit
into
would not have committed themselves,
way they have
so fatally done, with regard to
the authorship of certain portions of the Pentateuch,
and to the number of
This vexed question
Isaiahs.
has been considered, in
all
its
bearings, in a series of
Essays on the Poetry of Isaiah, which
may
ere long
be submitted to the criticism of the learned public as well as in
my
Annotated Hebrew Old Testament,
Kips
The above
I
consider the only
of this beautiful •>D2.
Any one
Hebrew
^\^rv
d©
'd
(')
and the only correct renderingDttJ as if it had been spoken Hebrew Bible will easily adduce to
intelligfible,
distich.
I
construe
well conversant with his
Moreover, the like here, elliptical. is, Samaritan version, as well as some important Hebrew MSS. of the Old Testament, actually have the 3 prefixed to the word DTD. ^T^biib should have been translated here as it was, and properly so, in Deut. xxix. 29 [Hebrew text, ver. 28], in the case of ^Trhti r^^rrb. The word "belong" in that instance need not have been printed in italics. himself
instances where the 1
I
ESSAY
ir.
which has been mouldering
125
MS. nearly a quarter
in
of a century.
me
Let
endeavour to
illustrate the
connexion be-
tween the great Poets, Moses and Isaiah, as inspired
Author and expounder, by a few examples from
"^^^
nexion u""" bepoet'o-'of
their tharof^" Isaiah.
compositions.
respective
summons
enunciated his attention,
:
to
—
My My
Israel's
deliverer
Heaven and Earth,
he proceeds to describe,
poetic beauty, the nature
song
After
in
for
terms of exquisite
and mission of
his
immortal
doctrine shall drop like the rain,
saying shall
distil as
the dew.
Like small rain upon verdure,
And ^T-
i
1
as showers
•
aken
in
upon
grass.
'11
•
1-
connection with the preceding verse,
What
•
.
it
is
a
sublime introduction to an august poem. How infi" * nitely more sublime than the opening of the Iliad !
Had
and refined
accomplished
that
Author of
"
Homer and known as much
Studies on
Mr. Gladstone,
Hebrew Poetry
the
Scholar,
Homeric
of the beauties of
as he does of those of the
Latins, he might probably have
the
Acre,"
Greeks and
done as much
for the
compositions of the bards of Judah and Israel as he has
TipV
t::'OD
\n-\tDH
b'z:i
F|ir'
bin
Deut.
xxxii. 2.
Author
the of
"Studies on Homer and the
Homeric
hfvCdo'^e^'^'
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
;
ESSAY
126
done
ir.
Greece and Italy
for those of
men than Homer, and
greater
interpreter
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; even to
stanza which
but to return to
:
his
Moses and
brilliant
much
Mosaic
as
might have
to
its
exact
manner was the inspired Bard's drop like rain, and his saying distil like
doctrine to
Isaiah, the heaven-taught interpreter of Moses,
dew.-* raphrase of the above
many
perplexity to
In what
import.
Isaiah's pa-
The
have just quoted from the Poem under
I
notice, with all its picturesque loveliness,
caused
modern
his interpreter.
the
dissipates
The
perplexity.
following
Evangelical paraphrase of the Mosaic stanza
is
the
:
For as the rain cometh down,
And And
the snow, from heaven thither
it
But feedeth the
And maketh So that
And So It
it
it
earth,
bring forth and bud,
giveth seed to the sower,
bread to the eater
my word
shall
be that
shall not return unto
But
And
The
;
not return,
will
it
shall
shall
do
that
which
make him
difference
in
shall
me I
go
forth out of
my mouth
:
void.
delight in.
prosper to
whom
the styles
is
I sent
at
it.'
once bold and
marked the Mosaic verse is concise, curt, epigramatic, and almost enigmatical, notwithstanding its inimitable Isaiah is minute, precise, copious, and almost finish. ;
'
Isa. Iv. 10, II.
ESSy^Y elaborate.
The
reason
IF.
obvious
is
127
the
;
predecessor, that he delighted to give the
the "
same by displaying
its
Bard
later
was so charmed with the divine imagery of
his great
full
value of
comprehensiveness
in
instruction in righteousness."
One
characteristics, which lends such of the peculiar ^ a charm to the poetic compositions of the ancient
Hebrew Bards, is strikingly exemplified in the Sacred Song under review. Sudden and bold transitions, powerful and striking contrasts, are again
made
For
manifest.
follows the verses
I
over and
instance, the stanza
over
which
have already noticed, treats of
the transcendant attributes of the "
Rock
of Ages."
Whilst the contemplation of the reader
is
fastened upon the most high theme,
suddenly
it
is
being
hurried off to the consideration of the degeneracy and
backsliding of the people of Israel, whose weakness
and
faithlessness
and truth of
their
opposed themselves to the power
Lord God.
This
is
followed up
by
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; now chiding now prophetic â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of God's dealing
a descriptive and detailed record cheering, historical and
with His people. His guiding providence, His tender care,
His never-ceasing
bounty.
subsequent
All
Prophets have paid due homage to the copiousness and beauty of the various
ployed
;
wonderful
similes
em-
none more so than the Evangelical Prophet.
Even the most Holy
Poet,
who came down from
Heaven, condescended to adapt some of the Mosaic images used
in this
matchless song.
The sudden and bold pe^JIdkr'cha-
andenf'Hebrew Bards.
i
ESSAY
I2S
A
description of God's solicitude for the salety ot
His people,
IF.
cannot help directing attention to a couple of
I
.
in
gtatcd.
The
'
.
of that
illustration
stanzas,
which
have
I
iust
-'
describes God's solicitude for His
first
people's safety and welfare; the second depicts the
degraded condition of the object of the divine tude.
Where
in the
found a stanza to match the following
As
solici-
whole range of poetry can be :
—
the eagle waketh up his nest,
Fluttereth over his
young ones,
Spreadeth out his wings, taketh him,
—
Beareth him on his pinion,
So Adonai alone
And no
Can anything power of
striking
them,
finish, vivid
description, or felicity of expression
would not be *
will lead
god with Him.°
surpass this for elaborate
no language
is
strange
in
felt
;
which the beauty of but
in the original
it is
simile
extremely
—the words are so expressive and so
and the construction of the verse so
There
?
this
dignified,
terse
and so
concise.
IDp
r]nT
T'J?'
mnp' vd:d
"ijny :
°
I
have translated
g-ender.
1D3
this stanza,
?«
"IMJDD
vVn:
Deut.
xxxii. II, 12.
'
'72?
'SJID'
ni mrp TO3?
]'«T
according to the original,
in the
masculine
—
— ;
ESSAY
How ciated
jr.
129
well such a Poet as Isaiah its
excellencies
must have appre• '
That he did
!
At
the end of
—the
theme of
evidence in more than one instance. that pathetic and
which
chapter
scientific
COMFORTING God's PEOPLE,
is
Bard concludes the stanza which begins
Why And
will
[why]
Jacob
isaiah's appreciation of
fencroT'he
Ju^^'ceAy^'
ces°'"^^"
the Prophet:
say,
will Israel speak, etc.
with the following lines But they that hope
we have
so,
:
in the
Lord
have a change of
shall
[strength,
They They
shall shall
run and not be weary,
They
shall
walk and not
The
wing
their soaring like the eagles
faint.'
being
Prophet's subject
Israel, the
short
Exodus, the
poem
fourth, fifth,
stanza in Deut. xxxii.
imagery,
in
God's
dealings
with
the nineteenth chapter of
and sixth
ii, 12,
verses,
and the
naturally suggested the
which so wondrously depicted Adonai's
watchful care over the House of Jacob.
There
is
another evident allusion to the incomparable imagery,
though the picturesque simile
is
not named, in the
verse of Isaiah's epitome of the annals of Israel, and »-
his solicitude in behalf of his people, in the
Isa. xl. 27-31.
10
form of
^^aiah'sepi-
tome
^eT''
the °^ ^^"
01
—
'
ESSAY
130
IF.
an anthem and a prayer, as given chapter In
He
all their affliction
And
was
afflicted,
the Angel of His presence saved
In His love and in His pity
And He bare them and
How
his sixty-third
in
:
this verse
reminds
He
carried
them
:
redeemed them
them
all
:
the days of old.
not only of the splendid
us,
imagery under consideration, but also of the Almighty's first
appearance to Moses, when
Shepherd of
Israel's suffering in
Adonai
Egypt, and added,
words of the most touching sympathy, their sorrows." Isaiah's
vine
di-
Master
t'ofhelteak piaure-M-
g^^ ^
told Jethro's in
know
" for I
2
grreatcr c>
than Isaiah
—even
Isaiah's
Master,
'
"ot only as regards divine right, but his Master in ^^^ genius and art of Poetry
Mosaic picture-simile
—the Lord Jesus, had the
in view,
when He apostrophised
apostate Jerusalem, and her dispersed children, in His last
address in the
Temple
;
as recorded in the twenty-
third chapter of the Gospel of St.
Matthew
—
:
"
O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,
and stonest them which are sent unto
would
I
thee,
how
often
have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not
!
" 3
It
was the dispersion of
Israel
which
suggested the substitution of the solicitude of a different bird from that of the eagle.
'
Isa. Ixiii. 9.
'
Ex.
iii.
7.
^
Mat.
xxiii. 37.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
ESSAY
Âť
IF.
131
In the stanza consistinqo of the twentieth and five we have one of the brilliant transitions
following verses this
in
The
divine Song.
delineations of
,A"?''"='' brilliant transition.
pathetic and fascinating
Adonai's tenderness
gives place to
His terrible indignation. That part of the composition is
evidently a poetic paraphrase of
some of the male-
dictory threats in the twenty-eighth chapter. spired compositions have nothing which can
Unin-
compete
with the majestic verse in that stanza. I
must quote one more stanza from the sacred subsequent Prophets, and the Lord
Poem, which
^reT'to"^and'^grape"^'
Jesus Himself, honoured for its descriptive applicability. It consists
of the thirty-second and thirty-third verses
of the chapter under dissertation Verily their vine
And
from the
:
of the vine of Sodom,
is
fields of
Gomorrah
Their grapes are grapes of
They have
clusters of bitterness.
Their
is
And
^vine
;
gall,
the poison of dragons,
the cruel
venom of asps.
one can read certain passages in the first and fifth chapters of Isaiah without having his mind reverted
No
c:sj
CIS
irn :
TO?
:
iwÂŤ
c:"
^r^o
'2:^-
miD
o
ran:!?
n'7DCf<
c:':n
non
C':ns
ct^ii
(')
pJI'^on'^en-'
isafah.*"^
—
—
'
ESSAY
132
IF.
to the glorious thirty-second chapter of
Deuteronomy.
Isaiah endorsed the accuracy of the comparison be-
tween Sodom and Gomorrah, and backsHding Israel
and treacherous Judah. apostrophise his
Hear
the
own
Thus did the
Prophet
later
people, in his opening chapter
word of the Lord, ye
Sodom
rulers of
:
;
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.'
But
in the
it is
opening of
his fifth chapter that Isaiah
adds his own graceful embellishments to the Mosaic imager}^
My
:
well-beloved hath a vineyard
On a fruitful hill. and gathered out the stones And He fenced And He planted it mth the choicest vine, And He built a tower in the midst of it. And He also made a winepress therein And He waited that it produce grapes, it,
thereof,
;
But
it
produced wild grapes.
.;
could have been done more to
What
And
*
*
-»
-;;-
I
have done
Wherefore when
in I
my
vineyard.
it.
have waited that
it
might produce [grapes.
It
Nor
produced
Avild
grapes
?
did the stern Ezekiel
fail
make
to
poetic imagery of his great predecessor
'
Isa.
i.
10.
'
;
use of the
he employs
Isa. v. 1-4.
ESSAY
133
more than once
the vine figure
against his apostate nation,
Our
ir.
in his
blessed Lord Himself set His seal to the poetic
metaphor
most poetic parables, so
one of His
in
and sorrowful
replete with thrilling tenderness,
ness
denunciations
i
!
It
The Saviour set
His seal
metaphor'"^
stern-
was delivered on the same day, when He " cast out them that sold
went into the Temple and therein,
and them that bought
;" after
He
which
pro-
nounced the ominous sermon, to which allusion has already been made.^
It
was
delivered, like the
song
of the deliverer of Israel from Egypt, a few days before
Redeemer of the world
the
the following
the parable
is
a vineyard, and
:
laid
let it forth to
give
sent a servant to the
Him
life,
and
husbandmen, and went
into a far country for a long time.
He
down His
— "A certain man planted And
at the season,
husbandmen, that they should
of the fruit of the vineyard
;
but the hus-
bandmen beat him, and sent him away empty," etc., etc.3 No one who is thoroughly conversant with the
—
Old and additional
New
Testament
— can
help observing the
connecting link between the two
the imagery of the vineyard
furnishes,
and
which thus
enhances the importance and significance of the dying
song of Moses. I
must not omit to notice the valedictory beneman of God," though it was obviously
diction of " the
'
See page
Eze. XV. 6-S; xix. 10-14.
130.
^
Luke
xx. g-16.
Moses' valedictory benediction.
—
— ESSAY
134
IP.
committed to writing by other hands than those of the
Moses
departing inspired composer of the blessing.
had evidently made Jacob's death-bed benediction his model. Both blessings are great national poems, both were the offspring of the same inspiration
—both The
were delivered on the most solemn occasions.
dying Patriarch foretold the future destiny of the children
whom
he loved
;
the Lawgiver, just on the
borders of a land of promise which he himself was not
permitted to enter, set forth the estate of those
he taught so mirably
is
faithfully
and led so long.
the language of each of these divine
adapted to the circumstances
my
In
introductory
benediction,
!
of Moses' blessmg,
a mighty people
we have
is
!
Moses' ordium.
ex-
!
—A splendid burst
Can anyone be
Seraphic blaze of poetic
composition
How
fire
august
dying chicf s benediction ^
!
glories
them with the sense of
their responsibilities for the future. it
pre-
the leader of
minds the
calling to their
of the past, and impressing
of poetry
its
In the glowing and sublime com-
fatory distich. I
mencement
ad-
poems
remarks to the Patriarchal
pointed out the suitability of
I
whom
How
to the
which illumines that
how
!
insensible
majestic
With what
is
the
irresistible
*-*
force itself
must a retrospect of
Israel's past
have presented
before the assembled multitude,
thus began
:
'
See page
49.
when Moses
ESSAY
ir.
The Lord came from
And
He
up from
rose
He came
Yea,
can
Sinai,
Seir unto
them
;
shone forth from mount Paran,
From Him
No
135
from
infinite
Hohness,
are their springs.'
reader of the original of this glorious stanza
fail
here compared to the gradual
is
mination of the sun from dawn to meridian. of the
coming
perceiving, with Rosenmuller,^ that the
of Adonai
blessings
somewhat more
illu-
In some
which Moses pronounced he was
concise,
and
in others
more elaborate
than the Patriarch was. For instance, Judah
—the pro-
genitor, after the flesh, of Israel's Spiritual
Redeemer
—
dwelt upon, at some length, by Jacob; the pro-
is
.
.,,.,,.
.
-
phetic communication, respecting the high destiny of
N2
:
It
Ts"?
rnc«
'yDo
[1:00]
r^^rr
xxxiii. 2.
'
irO''Q
impossible to construe the fourth and
is
Deut.
fifth
Hnes, so as to
make
inspired speaker intelligible, otherwise than I have here proposed. impossible to translate UJlp millQ " with ten thousands of saints."
most ingenious philological quibbling acceptable meaning of the
mend -
itself to'B.
fifth
well-read critical
will
as
"Observa perpetuam metaphoram a
praemittit,
(f<2)
is
The
not succeed in producing an
we now have Hebrew Scholar,
line,
the
It
sole
it,
which should com-
desumptam, qui
postea oritur ipse, (mi) tandem terras
initio
lucem
illustrat, (l"S"in) et
totum coelum percurrit, (nn«). Sic gradatim Deus praesentiam suam in populo declaravit, quacunque iter fecit, inde a termino ^gypti, usque ad fines
Cananseos."
Pharaoh's
bondsmen fa°ught"to"ex-
don through the tribe of jtidah.
^
ESSAY
136
that tribe,
was then made
IF.
for the first time;
and the
soul of the dying Prophet loved to dilate on the bliss-
That prophecy had become familiar to Jacob's descendants. In bondage though they were, the light of faith was not altogether quenched amongst the oppressed Israelites ful
prospect of Shiloh's reign.
since
;
they looked forward to a Deliverer from the tribe of Judah.
It is true that their
expectations
—as
those
of their descendants long after— may have been wholly
centered upon a temporal Deliverer; but expectations of deliverance through the tribe of Judah, Pharaoh's Moses' benediction to that tribe
bondsmcn confidently indulged in his
significant
^d
sugges-
dying o benediction on that y
Moses
in.
therefore,
compresses his x
tribe,
'
blessing in one laconic stanza, but wonderfully significant
and suggestive
:
—
Hear, Adonai, the voice of Judah,
And when
to his people
Let his hands be
And be Thou But to intimate
Thou
sufificient for
shalt bring him,
him.
a help from his enemies.
to "the heads of the people,
and the
gathered tribes of Israel," that salvation through the tribe of
Judah was yet
afar
off,
and disposition Jacob mm'
:
Moses proceeded
—a bewailed, — he
once to bless the tribe of Levi
bip
mn' i-o©
rrnn
visd iin
tribe,
Deut.
at
whose temper
dwelt at some
xxxiii. 7.
;
i
ESSAY
IF.
length, whilst blessing that tribe
;
137
and thus more than
hinted that for an appointed time Israel would be
under the tuition and rule of a sacerdotal regime.
As
regards Joseph, Moses seems to have treated
Jacob's blessing as particularly sacred
adopted
many
allusion he ing,
of the terms of
Every
"
good
Moses
will of
Him who
would thus
Israelite
circumstances of the
AM
beautiful bless-
own, to the tribe of Joseph, when
his
it
he spoke of the
I
Yet by a
showed how he himself repeated the
and made
bush."
it.
he therefore
;
first
to their Lawgiver,
dwelt in the
call to
appearance
mind the
of the great
and connect the name of
as the pronouncer of the benediction with that
of Joseph as the blessed.
We
cannot help observing, whilst scanning this
benediction,
how
skilfully the
the circumstances.
may convey
the " fruitful bough,"
to Joseph's having been
land of his affliction
imagery
is
varied to suit
Jacob's comparison of his son to
;
"
made
in
it
some
allusion
by God
fruitful
family of Joseph had become great and strong little
ones,
thousands.
His beauty
the
;
the
Ephraim and Manasseh, had become Hence in his blessing we meet, with
singular propriety, the following simile
And
in
but in the time of Moses the
"
is
:
—
like the firstling of his bullock,
lofty horns, are his
'b
horns
mn roip
11111?
D«T
IIDl 'Jlpl
Deut.
xxxiii. 17.
'
billowed'''"^
"p°"J°=^p^-
ESSAY
I3S
With them
shall
he gore the nations.
Both together, even
And And
.^
to the
ends of the earth.
they [the both together] are the myriads of Ephraim, they are the thousands of Manasseh.
TakcH
Mo'les'unparaiieied.
IF.
Es a wholc, thls song of
Moses has no equal
wholc range of poetry. its source, and had
^j^^
deeply from
to
fight,
now
he
at the last
had
to be
Angel
in
shall
up
He had
behind him a memorial destined
left
remembrance,
lift
Adonai.
he had well run his course, and
his
hand
until that
time when the
to heaven,
and swear by
that liveth for ever, that time shall be no more.
If l^he
scSiety kls ih'j^^his life
the ancient servant of
fought a good
Him
imagery before
Succeeding Prophets looked up with venera-
them. tion
After-ages drank its
life
of Moses was replete with the majesty of
poetry divine, scarcely less so
was
his death.
Before
Essay on the Poetry of the Pentateuch, must give a sketch of it, as it forms to my mind one of the most interesting links between himself and the greater than Himself even the Prophet like unto him, I close this last
I
—
which, he predicted, should in fulness of time be raised The mounhl'dkd
wen'j
feVntnLes!
The mountain on which " the man of God" died was named by three different terms, namely, Pisgah, Ncbo, and Abarim. Travellers who are inter-
^p to
Isracl.
:
na:'
D'ny
cm
y-i«
'CCN
nn'
mij:a
'e^«
am
ESSJY
IF.
139
ested in identifying the localities mentioned in sacred
rewarded
writ, will find their researches plenteously
if
they devote a few days to the examination of a certain
mountain
Jericho.
They
in the plains of
peculiarly formed
;
Moab, over against
perceive that the mountain
will
appear to them to consist
will
it
is
The
upon one another.
of three hillocks perched
highest peak answers, according to the topographical delineation " over against Jericho," to Pisgah; the
first
projecting peak observable on the mount's declivity,
towards Jordan, must be Nebo; and the next peak, lower
still,
The formation
must be^Abarim.
mountain accounts
of the
which
for its triple designation,
I
have just enumerated.
At
the foot of the
Bethabara
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ferry house
same reason that the
and lowest
last, ;
hillock, stood
probably called so
hillock
across
;
link
nilv
and there
John began the baptism of repentance, where the Redeemer Himself came to be baptised. So that on '
the top of tions
;
Mount Abarim, Moses ceased
his ministra-
and at the foot of the same mountain at
Bethabara, He, of
whom Moses was
Moses but a few weeks Prophet specting
like
(whom
ere his death described as the
unto him) began His ministrations;
whom
were from
a type,
a voice from Heaven, coming as
this Pisgah's
summit, proclaimed,
Jno.
i.
2S.
"
con-
for the ^idTna
was named Abarim, the
place where people were ferried
The necting
This
reit is
til^T^^'
;
ESSAY
140
my
beloved Son,
whom
in
I
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; !
:
ir.
am
well pleased
!
This
"
circumstance adds a most interesting link to the chain of incidents and coincidences in the
Here
a bright link In the beautiful
is
Life OF Jesus. chain of harmony
between the old and new dispensations
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which
so in-
dissolubly unites the history of Israel, and their leader of old,
with the Church of Christ and the Chief Shepherd
of the I
same
am
Holy
of the
But what a glorious theme
!
City, Mr.
Poet
H.B.M. Consul Godolphin
Arthur Henry Finn, (son of the
who
for nearly
twenty years was
at Jerusalem,) should
have obtained the
excellent Mr. Finn
from "Mo^sls
for a
not surprised that a youthful bard, a native
prize, for
Neb<a
ON Mount Nebo.
Prizipoe7ii.
young Poct
a
into the
poem on that very theme, MoSES The following words put by our
mouth of
Israel's
dying Lawgiver,
are not unfitting for the winding up of this Essay " I shall ne'er tread those ways, those happy paths,
Nor
My
rest
Lead
A
shall.
as their
And
my
place,
guide, victorious, 'gainst the godless foe.
Nay,
The
shall I again
shall find, to take
in those latter days,
Prophet
My
Tho' ne'er
head those warlike armies now,
Leader they
But
A
beneath those shades, but Israel
people
shall arise,
rather, I to
greater
far,
Him
which seem so
and ;
The Sun
for
like to
He
far,
me.
shall
be
of Righteousness,
The First and Last be a King and Priest our father Abraham
Bright and Morning Star,
Anointed, crowned to
Like him who blessed
;
:
ESSAY The Holy King, The His glorious
And
He
And One
High
141
God.
Priest of
from pole to pole,
rule shall stretch
Jacob's sons shall then, tho' scattered wide,
Return '
great
IV.
peace to His paternal
in
shall put
raise the
down
fold.
the mighty from their seat,
humble from
their
low degree.'
longing glance, one lingering look he gave,
WTiere, in the last rays of the setting sun.
The
holy city shone,
A few words trust that
my
—then
more, by
all
way
was
'
o'er."
of Epilogue.
I
humbly
°^
-^^J'^l
feeble attempt to bring under notice the
august grandeur of
Hebrew
may have
Poetry,
the
effect,
under God, to make the readers of these Essays
value,
more than
ever, the
Book of Books, the volume
of revelation, where the sacred Poetry of the Hebrews
Whenever
enshined.
is
readers •peruse the
and observe
in the Bible,
its
antiquity
first
chapter *
which makes
;
the most ancient heathen chronicles appear but of
Whenever they recognise
yesterday.
its
whose
side the deepest
human
its
cha-
[er '^Jfthe'^ ^''^'^'
wisdom,
which renders the sagacity of man absolute
whenever they become sensible of
The
racteristicsof
folly;
profundity,
by
must appear
intellects
Whenever they comprehend its truths day by day becoming, more and more better and better understood truths which
very shallow.
—which
are
elucidated,
make
'
the errors of the would-be
;
mundane philosophers
This paragraph was added just before the MS. was sent to the press.
The
pecuii-
Pentateuch.'^
ESSAY
~
142
IF.
prodigiously monstrous and glaring. "
meekest of men,"
records,
fills
in his
Whenever the
simple but most sublime
his readers with reverential admiration,
confirms their trust in God's Providence, and enhances their adoration of the glorious majesty of the
—
The ence
influ-
of the
Psahnf
Almighty
them remember that Moses was a Hebrew Poet. Whenever the " man after God's own heart," stirs up ' the profound emotions of the readers' hearts whenlet
;
ever he conduces to inspire their souls to cast them-
and there pour forth
selves before the throne of grace,
the exuberant feelings of their
spirits,
whether
in the
bitterness of sorrow, the wrestling of prayer, or the
exstacy of praise,
—
let
them not
forget that
Hebrew
sweet Psalmist of Israel" was a
Prophet, Whenever the Evangelical '^ '
Thewritings of Isaiah.
fire,
in his chariot of
wafts their spirits to the skies, or bears them, with
eagle
flight,
along the glowing path of prophecy
kindling them
them
into awful rapture,
into hallowed sadness,
that Isaiah was a
As
Of Matthew.
"the
Poet.
ofteu as the
Hebrew first
—
let
Poet.
them bear
in
mind
^
Evangelist leads them to trace
the footsteps of their beloved Master infancy or manhood,
— now
and now melting
—whenever
—whether
in
His
he brings them to
Bethlehem, to the river Jordan, to the mounts of temptation and transfiguration
;
to Olivet,
and
to that
on which the greatest Preacher delivered His most
'
See
I
am
his
indebted here for a couple of ideas, to the late
sermon
entitled " Jewish
Hugh
Claims on Christian Sympathy."
Stowell.
ESSAY wonderful
Poem
sermon,
—the
IF.
143
most magnificent
as often as the son of
in existence;
didactic
Alpheus
makes the readers hang on the gracious hps of their Redeemer, or teaches them to watch the great Phywhenever Levi of Capersician's miracles of mercy naum conducts them to Gethsemane and Calvary, to weep over their Saviour's agony and bloody sweat, His cross and passion or guides them into the garden, and bids them " behold the place where the Lord lay," and rejoice evermore in ;
;
A A
dying Saviour's love, risen Saviour's power,
An
A let
them
order.
—
—
—
Matthew farmer of taxes was a Hebrew Poet, and that of no
recollect
though he was
mean
ascended Saviour's triumph,
returning Saviour's majesty,
that
None but
a great Poet, inspired, could
have produced such a work as he bequeathed to the
Church and the world.
As
often
as
the
fervid
Paul
overpowers
their
or
Paui.
understanding with divine demonstration, rivets the
anchor of their hope within the
glowing gratitude to blood;
—
let
Him
that
veil,
or directs their
washed them
in
His
them bethink themselves that the great
Apostle of the Gentiles gave indubitable evidence that he was a great
As
Hebrew
John breathes through their the influence of a Saviour s love, and yields them •
souls
Poet.
often as the tender
!
1
•
1
of the be loved discipie.
ESSAY
144
IF.
the fruition of more than earthly luxury of loving others as themselves
them
transports
and thence
;
— the
luxury
or as often
as he
to the loftiest pinnacle of prophecy,
discloses to their view, in mystic vision, all
the future history of the Church, her conflicts and her conquests, shall
be
till
the glorious consummation,
no more,
—
when time
them remember that every
let
sentence which the beloved disciple penned, breathes the soul of a great The
In short.
trans-
cendant
in-
strumentaiity of Hebrew Poetry,
Hebrew
Poet.
— Evcry statute that oguides j
us,
every admoj
nition that t> guards us, every ^ consolation that cheers us,
'
'
gygj-y J^opc that
animates
us,
every promise that glad-
dens our hearts, every assurance that sustains our
—
all
next,
we enjoy
— stands associated
souls,
we anticipate in the with Hebrew Poets stands
in this life,
and
all
indissolubly connected with
HEBREW POETRY.
—
APPENDIX A. In an interesting work entitled " Opuscula Hebrasa, Gra^ca, Latina, Prosaica et Metrica," by
Gallica,
three
Hebrew
A. M.
Anna Maria Schurman,
letters extant, written, in
One
Schurman.
of them, dated
Utrecht, August,
addressed to the Honourable Lady Dorothea Moor
nobleman
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;of
there are
very good Hebrew, by the said 1638,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Dowager
is
of a
Dublin, in which the writer distinctly mentions, that
Queen Elizabeth and Lady Jane Grey were adepts
in
a knowledge
of the sacred Tongue.
B.
The whole of Nehemiah made,
is
and
too evident
is
one of the
makes abundantly Hebrews
ix.,
the chapter from which the quotation
an adaptation of the manifest,
how
style of
Moses.
This specimen
profoundly the minds of the learned
of old were imbued, not only with the Mosaic Spirit, but with
the rhetoric of the Mosaic Age, which they endeavoured to imitate
adapt to their own themes. well as the latter part of
Exodus
XV.,
Exodus
xiv.,
and the
first
the Hebrew prayers, composed
the petitions indited
by Christian Divines,
is
owing
difference their
as
nineteen verses of
in
The
modern days,
to
to the fact that the
Jewish petitions approach nearest the style of the sacred
which found
and
The passage adduced from Nehemiah,
form part of the Jevdsh daily prayer now-a-days.
superior pathos of
marked
is
specimens of chaste historical Hebrew diction,
finest
\vriters.
A
between such prayers, and the Hebrew doggrels
way
into
the Jewish ritual for Sabbaths,
II
feasts,
â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
APPENDIX.
146
and
during the middle ages.
fasts,
The
as those doggrels
D"'t3VS,
are called, consist of flippant acrostics of the
Hebrew Alphabet and
certain proper names, distinguished for ingenious jinghng of rhyme,
but reason
conspicuous by
is
its
absence.
c.
Those
modern Hebrew
interested in
thirteenth Canto of Weizel's
Whilst they art,
will
poetry, let
Shiray Tiphereth,
be charmed with the poet's
or
gifts,
them peruse the
"Songs
of Glory,"
and mastery
in his
they will regret his diluting the splendid triumph-song of Moses
into about two
hundred and
fifty
Hnes.
D.
The
DvL^?D put into Job's mouth, which consist of chapters xxvii.
xxxi.,
and
most
perfect
Avhich forms the afflicted patriarch's last rejoinder,
poem
exquisite diction
the
Book
of the Mosaic Age.
and
structure in one of
I
my
is
the
have carefully analysed Essays on "
The Poetry
its
of
of Job."
*** Por Prospectus and Appendix Author,
I,
E., referred to
on pp. 9 and
Plymouth Terrace, Forest
Hill, S. E.
115,
apply to the
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