PALESTINE.

THE PSALTER.

STRIKING indeed is the contrast between the divinities of Olympos, assembled under the sovereignty of Zeus, invested with the blended attributes of nature and of humanity, the progeny of an elder race, and destined themselves to pass away, and Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, as conceived by their later prophets and psalmists, a Being without beginning and without end, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, formless and invisible, yet, at the same time, the shepherd of his people, their guide, and sympathizing friend.

"For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isa. lvii. 15).

This and other points of divergence between the genius of Hellas and Palestine, will appear from a brief consideration of the poets and poetry of the Hebrews.1

From their historical books we learn what a prominent place song, with instrumental music, occupied alike in the domestic and the national life of the Hebrews; all the varied emotions, joyous or grievous, awakened by the vicissitudes of life, the exultation of victory and the

1 I wish to express my obligation to the following works, "La Psautier," par Edourd Reuss, Delitzsch's "Commentary on the Psalms, "The Bampton Lectures," by the Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A., D.D.

agony of defeat, the joy of the bridegroom, and the mourner's wail, all embodied themselves in song, which was the constant accompaniment, not only of their religious ceremonials, but also of the rural festivities with which they celebrated the harvest, the vintage, and the sheep-shearing.

Of this treasure of national poetry the greatest portion has disappeared; happily the religious lyrics of the Hebrews have survived in the Psalter, the contents of which, from their originality, from the grandeur of the truths which they embody, and the depth and fervour of the emotions to which they give expression, together with their rich variety of musical tone, are unsurpassed in the literature of the world.

One striking characteristic of the Hebrew poets, distinguishing them from those of Hellas, is their intense subjectivity; accordingly, while giving lyrical expression to their emotions and aspirations, personal and national, they have produced no Epos, and with one exception, no drama; this phenomenon is the more remarkable because their national history abounds in episodes and traditions admirably adapted to imaginative treatment. The Book of Job, it is true, may justly be characterized as a dramatic poem; as an artistic master-work, however, it occupies an exceptional and unique position in Hebrew literature. The object to which the author addressed himself was the attempted solution of the problem, sorely trying to the devout Hebrew, the reconciliation, namely, of the sufferings of the righteous with the justice of an omnipotent and all-seeing God; a problem which underlies also many of the psalms.

While profoundly impressed by the mystery, impenetrable to mortal ken, which shrouds the working of Omnipotence, alike in the external universe, and in the affairs of men, the poet clings, with unswerving conviction, to the spiritual relation subsisting between himself and Jehovah, a conviction which finds expression in the passionate cry, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

The Psalter, though, in its present form, apparently a single book, is in fact a pentateuch, consisting of five smaller collections, made at different times, by different editors, and distinguished by special characteristics. Doxologies, evidently intended to mark the termination of the first four books, have become incorporated with their concluding psalms, namely the 41st, the 72nd, the 89th, and the 106th; while the fifth book embraces the remaining forty-three psalms, from the 107th to the 150th psalm.

The independent character of the first and second books appears from the fact that, in the first book, the name Jehovah is, with very few exceptions, applied to God, while in the second He is characterized by the more abstract title Elohim. This circumstance is the more remarkable because, in the two psalms common to both books-the 14th and the second half of the 40th psalm being identical with the 53rd and the 70th, the same difference in the appellation of the Deity is observed. The fifth book includes several smaller collections, among which special interest attaches to the Hallel cycle, (113 to 118), and to the songs of degrees (120 to 134); the former, commemorating two memorable epochs in the national history, were sung at the three great feasts, at the new moons, and at the feast of dedication; while the latter are, with great probability, regarded as having been sung by the pilgrims en route for Jerusalem, on occasion of the great national festivals.

With regard to the authorship of the psalms and the epoch to which they may be referred, no reliance can be placed on the superscriptions which, representing various ancient traditions, were introduced at a comparatively late period, by the Doctors of the Synagogue, by whom, with the exception of the forty-six anonymous psalms, together with the psalm attributed to Moses, the entire Psalter is ascribed to David and his contemporaries.

It is, however, very generally recognized by modern scholars, that a comparatively small number, if any, of the psalms are due to the royal bard; thirteen are regarded by

Ewald as bearing, unmistakably, the impress of his genius, while the latest commentator considers that "insuperable difficulties attend the supposition that we have any Davidic psalms.

1

Books four and five, which finally closed the Psalter, received their present form soon after B.c. 142. The compilation of this minor psalter was doubtless connected with the temple celebrations, commemoratiug the Maccabæan triumph over Antiochus Epiphanes, who had attempted to substitute Zeus in place of Jehovah, as the God of the Jews. "It is, therefore, not surprising, that Maccabæan psalm-literature should be represented in it." Of this literature we have a splendid example in psalm 118, which has been referred with great probability to the first victories of the Maccabees, culminating in the purification and reconsecration of the Temple by Judas the Maccabee, B.c. 165. "Israel has emerged triumphant from a desperate conflict"; "Jehovah has interposed, he has put down the idol-gods and their worshippers; friendless Israel has proved too strong for the whole world in arms"; this psalm, commemorating the unhoped-for victory, was intended to be sung antiphonally by worshippers and Levites. It has been suggested that verse 27, "Jehovah (not Zeus), is God; light hath he given us," may allude to the illumination which gave rise to the second name of the Dedication Festival (the Lights), a name which Josephus regards as a symbol of unexpected deliverance." Additional interest attaches to another remarkable group of psalms, (93 and 95-100), when regarded as giving expression to the national enthusiasm on the completion of the second Temple, B.C. 516, which, as the visible symbol of Jehovah's presence, seemed once more to bring Israel's theocratic king into direct communication with his people. These seven psalms have been characterized as "a heptad of

1 "The Origin and Religious Contents of the Psalter." Thomas Kelly Cheyne, M.A., D.D.

2 Ibid.

new songs," and certainly as the outpouring of unbounded joy, tempered by the profoundest reverence, they are unsurpassed even in the Psalter.

A few fine lyrics, not included in the Psalter, occur in the other books of the Old Testament; such, for example, are the so-called song of Moses (Exod. xv. 1-18), and the song of Deborah (Jud. v.), two splendid odes, commemorating decisive deliverances in the national history. The first celebrates the passage of the Red Sea, when, in a single night, the Hebrews, from a tribe of slaves, became a free people, an event so supremely significant that it has coloured their religious imagery down to the latest period of their history; while their confidence in Jehovah, as their supernatural Deliverer, "Glorious in holiness, fearful in praise, doing wonders," became the grand overruling conviction which characterized the Hebrew nation.

The song of Deborah, which bears the unmistakable stamp of antiquity, and which by some scholars is regarded as the most ancient Hebrew poem which in its complete form has come down to us, commemorates another momentous event in the history of Israel, second only in significance to the passage of the Red Sea.

With these noble poems must be associated the magnificent psalm, characterized by Ewald as "Habakkuk's Pindaric Ode" (Hab. iii.), the lyrical interpretation of the entire prophecy.'

66

After recalling the triumph of Jehovah in the past, the poet, in conclusion, gives emphatic expression to his unswerving trust in Israel's God. Although the figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." (Hab. iii. 17-18.)

The thanksgiving psalm of Hezekiah (Isa. xxxviii.

"Dict. of the Bible." Habakkuk.