In theseconddivision we have an account of the solemn public reading of the law of Moses at the feast of tabernacles, and, in connection with this, of the renewal of the national covenant with Jehovah through the signature and seal of the princes, Levites, and priests, in their own behalf and that of the people. Chaps. 8-10. In this religious and ecclesiastical transaction, Ezra the priest was the leader; Nehemiah, as the Tirshatha, or civil governor, simply taking the lead of the princes in the act of sealing.
Thethirddivision contains, along with some genealogical lists, an account of the measures taken by Nehemiah and the princes to increase the number of residents in Jerusalem, of the solemn dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, and of the rectification of various abuses which had crept in partly during Nehemiah's absence at the court of Persia. Chaps. 11-13.
The date of Nehemiah's commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem is important on account of its connection with the seventy prophetic weeks of Daniel, which are reckoned "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Dan. 9:25. It cannot be considered as exactly ascertained, but may be placed somewhere from B.C. 454 to B.C. 446. See the commentators on Dan. 9:24-27. How long Nehemiah's administration continued after his visit to the court of Persia, in the twelfth year of his rule, is not known.
The date of Nehemiah's commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem is important on account of its connection with the seventy prophetic weeks of Daniel, which are reckoned "from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem." Dan. 9:25. It cannot be considered as exactly ascertained, but may be placed somewhere from B.C. 454 to B.C. 446. See the commentators on Dan. 9:24-27. How long Nehemiah's administration continued after his visit to the court of Persia, in the twelfth year of his rule, is not known.
27. The book, as its title testifies, was written by Nehemiah, not earlier than his return from the court of Persia (ch. 13:6; 5:14); how much later cannot be known. From the general character of style and diction which belongs to the second division (chaps. 8-10), as well as from the absence of Nehemiah's peculiar forms of speech, some have thought that Ezra, as the chief actor in the reading of the law and renewal of the national covenant, wrote the account of the transaction, and that Nehemiah incorporated it into his work. To this supposition there is no serious objection. We must remember, however, that arguments based on supposed differences of style cannot amount to much where the materials from which a conclusion is to be drawn are so scanty.
The genealogical notice in ch. 12:10, 11, which gives the lineage of the high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, who is apparently the high priest described by Josephus as having met Alexander the Great on his march to Jerusalem, is thought by many to be an addition made after Nehemiah's death as a matter of public interest. See above, Chap. 15, No. 17. The same judgment is passed by some on 1 Chron. 3:19-24. But the interpretation of this latter passage is very uncertain.
The genealogical notice in ch. 12:10, 11, which gives the lineage of the high priests from Joshua to Jaddua, who is apparently the high priest described by Josephus as having met Alexander the Great on his march to Jerusalem, is thought by many to be an addition made after Nehemiah's death as a matter of public interest. See above, Chap. 15, No. 17. The same judgment is passed by some on 1 Chron. 3:19-24. But the interpretation of this latter passage is very uncertain.
28. This book, the author of which is unknown, records the wonderful manner in which the plot of Haman the Agagite to destroy the Jews was not only overthrown, but turned to their enlargement and honor. It is remarkable that the author refrains throughout from mentioning the name of God, although he manifestly designs to represent this deliverance as effected by his providence, and that too in answer to the fervent prayers of the Jews in connection with a fast of three days' continuance. He prefers, as it would seem, to let the facts speak for themselves. The book closes with an account of the establishment, under the auspices of Mordecai and Esther, of the feast of Purim, in commemoration of the deliverance which it records; and we are perhaps warranted in saying that the immediate occasion of writing the book was to show the historic origin of that festival—a festival mentioned in the second book of Maccabees, under the title ofMordecai'sday (chap. 15:36), and observed, according to Josephus, by the Jews throughout the whole world. Antiq., 11, 6. 13.
29. Among the various opinions respecting the Ahasuerus of this book, the best sustained is that which identifies him with the celebratedXerxesof profane history. With this agrees all that is said of the splendor and extent of his dominions, extending "from India even unto Ethiopia, over a hundred and seven and twenty provinces" (1:1), and of his passionate, capricious, and sensual character.
To us, who are accustomed to a government of law, in which the rulers are restrained from the exercise of arbitrary power, and are kept under constant restraint by popular opinion, the incidents recorded in this bookseem very strange. But it gives a true and faithful portraiture of the course of affairs at the court of a Persian despot, where the monarch knows no law but his own arbitrary will, suddenly elevates his favorites to the highest places of power and trust, as suddenly consigns them to the hand of the executioner, and gives himself up to the unbridled indulgence of his passions. The history of Haman's sudden rise and fall is that of many an oriental courtier since his day. The Jews, we are told, "slew of their foes seventy and five thousand." This was a very great slaughter; but we must remember that it was distributed through all the provinces of the kingdom. Ch. 9:16. The permission which they had received was "in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life; to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey" (ch. 8:11); all which, except the last clause, seems to have been carried into execution. We are not required to vindicate the wisdom of this severe decree, or to deny that the Jews may have used to excess the terrible power thus conferred upon them. On the side of God's providence, the vengeance that fell upon the Jews' enemies was righteous; but on the side of the human instrumentalities employed by him, there may have been much imperfection, or even folly and wickedness. So it has ever been in the history of human affairs, and so it is at the present day.
To us, who are accustomed to a government of law, in which the rulers are restrained from the exercise of arbitrary power, and are kept under constant restraint by popular opinion, the incidents recorded in this bookseem very strange. But it gives a true and faithful portraiture of the course of affairs at the court of a Persian despot, where the monarch knows no law but his own arbitrary will, suddenly elevates his favorites to the highest places of power and trust, as suddenly consigns them to the hand of the executioner, and gives himself up to the unbridled indulgence of his passions. The history of Haman's sudden rise and fall is that of many an oriental courtier since his day. The Jews, we are told, "slew of their foes seventy and five thousand." This was a very great slaughter; but we must remember that it was distributed through all the provinces of the kingdom. Ch. 9:16. The permission which they had received was "in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life; to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, both little ones and women, and to take the spoil of them for a prey" (ch. 8:11); all which, except the last clause, seems to have been carried into execution. We are not required to vindicate the wisdom of this severe decree, or to deny that the Jews may have used to excess the terrible power thus conferred upon them. On the side of God's providence, the vengeance that fell upon the Jews' enemies was righteous; but on the side of the human instrumentalities employed by him, there may have been much imperfection, or even folly and wickedness. So it has ever been in the history of human affairs, and so it is at the present day.
1. The Hebrews reckon but three books aspoetical, namely: Job, Psalms, and Proverbs, which are distinguished from the rest by a stricter rhythm—the rhythm not of feet, but ofclauses(see below, No. 3)—and a peculiar system of accentuation. It is obvious to every reader that the poetry of the Old Testament, in the usual sense of the word, is not restricted to these three books. But they are called poetical in a special and technical sense. In any natural classification of the books of the Old Testament, those of Ecclesiastes and Canticles will fall into the division which contains the books of Job, Psalms, and Proverbs.
The Hebrew system of accentuation is very subtle and complicated, and there is nothing corresponding to it in our western languages. These so-called accents are quite numerous, one of them resting, as a general rule, upon each word. Certain of them are peculiar to the poetical books, and are called poetical accents. They serve a threefold office. (1.) They guide the modulated flow of the voice incantillation, thus serving, in a certain sense, asmusical notes. Some think that this was their primary office. (2.) They indicate thelogical relationto each other of the words and clauses, thus performing the office of marks ofinterpunction. (3.) They rest, with certain exceptions, on thetonesyllable, and thus serve asaccentsin our restricted sense of the word.
The Hebrew system of accentuation is very subtle and complicated, and there is nothing corresponding to it in our western languages. These so-called accents are quite numerous, one of them resting, as a general rule, upon each word. Certain of them are peculiar to the poetical books, and are called poetical accents. They serve a threefold office. (1.) They guide the modulated flow of the voice incantillation, thus serving, in a certain sense, asmusical notes. Some think that this was their primary office. (2.) They indicate thelogical relationto each other of the words and clauses, thus performing the office of marks ofinterpunction. (3.) They rest, with certain exceptions, on thetonesyllable, and thus serve asaccentsin our restricted sense of the word.
In the first division of the present chapter, thecharacteristics of Hebrew poetrywill be briefly considered in respect to itsspirit, itsform, and itsoffices. Then will follow, in the second division, a notice of thecontents of the several books.
2. As it respects thespiritof Hebrew poetry, we notice, first of all, its perfectharmony with the spirit of the Theocracy. It is, in truth, an outgrowth of the Theocracy in the souls of holy men educated under its influence and thoroughly imbued with its spirit. The God of Moses and Aaron is also the God of David, Asaph, and Solomon; of Hosea, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. In his boldest flights the Hebrew poet always remains loyal to the institutions of Moses, not in their letter alone, but much more in their spirit, of which he is the inspired interpreter. The same Jehovah who thundered from Sinai and spake to the people by Moses, speaks also by the sweet psalmist of Israel, by the wisdom of Solomon, and by the whole succession of the prophets. Hence the poetry of the Hebrews is radiant throughout with the pure monotheism of the Theocracy. It exhibits God in his infinite perfections, as the Creator and sovereign Ruler of the world, without a single taint of pantheism or polytheism, and that in an age when pantheism and polytheism were the reigning forms of religion without the pale of the covenant people.
Another distinguishing mark of Hebrew poetry is thevivid consciousness of God's presenceby which it is pervaded. In this respect it runs entirely parallel with Hebrew history. It has already been remarked (Ch. 20, No. 1) that Hebrew history differs widely from all other historical writings in its habit of looking at the course of human events from the Divine side, rather than the human; that while secular history is mainly occupied with the endless details of human combinations and alliances, and the progress of material civilization, the historical books of the Old Testament unfold to us with wonderful clearness God's presence and power as shaping the course of human events in the interest of his great plan of redemption. Take, for example, that small section of Hebrew history comprehended under the title,Affinity with Ahab. No Christian can read it without feelings of holy awe, for it is radiant throughoutwith the presence of that righteous God who renders to every man according to his works, and visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation. In it the retributive justice of God shines forth, like the lightning, from one end of heaven to the other. Just so is Hebrew poetry also filled with the presence and glory of God. When the Hebrew bard sweeps his lyre, all nature gives signs of her Maker's presence. The heavens rejoice before him, the earth is glad, the sea roars, the mountains and hills break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands. He looks on the earth, and it trembles; he touches the hills, and they smoke. Nor less conspicuous is his presence in providence and in the human soul. He is seen in awful majesty high above the tumult of the nations, directing their movements to the accomplishment of his own infinitely wise purposes; making the wrath of man to praise him, and restraining the remainder of it. Meanwhile his presence shines in the believer's soul, like the sun in his strength, filling it with strength, light, and gladness. In a word, over the whole domain of Hebrew poesy, whether its theme be God or nature or human society or the human spirit, is heard continually the solemn cry of the seraphim: "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Originalityis another feature of Hebrew poetry. It cannot indeed be said that this quality belongs to all the Hebrew poets. With such divinely perfect models as the later writers had before them, models with which they had been familiar from childhood, it was natural that they should imitate them. The spirit of inspiration did not prevent this, for it was not necessary to the ends of revelation that it should be prevented. Set even among the later poets we have some striking examples of originality; and Hebrew poetry, taken as a whole, is original in the fullest sense of the word, borrowing nothing that we know of from any other nation. Not to anticipate the question of the age to which the book of Job belongs, and passing by some gems of poetry contained in the book of Genesis,we may say that the oldest recorded song of certain date which the world possesses is that of the Israelites upon their deliverance at the Red sea. Exod., ch. 15. Next in order (to pass by the poetic effusions of Balaam, and some other fragments, Numb., chaps. 21-24) come the song which Moses wrote for the children of Israel just before his death (Deut., ch. 32), and (according to the title, the genuineness of which there is no valid reason for doubting) "the prayer of Moses the man of God," contained in the ninetieth psalm. In the period of the judges we have only the song of Deborah and Barak. The perfect originality of all these primitive songs is acknowledged by all. It constitutes indeed one of their chief charms. With "the sweet psalmist of Israel" began the era of lyric song; with Solomon that of didactic, and with Hosea, Joel, Isaiah, and their contemporaries, that of prophetic poetry. The poets to whom, under the illumination of the Holy Ghost, these different forms of Hebrew poetry owe their origin, are all distinguished for their originality. So is also the book of Job, that great didactic song so perfectly unique in its character.
The wonderfulfreshness and simplicity of thoughtin Hebrew poetry is inseparably connected with its originality. A thought is fresh when it bursts forth directly from the inner fountain of the soul just as it was conceived there. But the moment the man pauses to remould it and shape it to some artificial standard of propriety, it loses its originality and its freshness together. It is no longer the living, glowing conception as it existed in his bosom, but rather what he thinks it ought to have been. In the process of working it over he has killed, if not its life, at least its power. But the Hebrew poet opens, so to speak, the floodgates of his heart, and pours forth the stream of his thoughts and emotions just as they have sprung into being there. Because he is under the sanctifying and illuminating influence of the divine Spirit, they are high and holy thoughts. Because they come forth in their primitive form, they are natural and fresh; and for this reason the lapse of ages does not diminish their power over the human spirit.
Intimately connected also with the originality of Hebrew poetry is its charmingvariety. The Hebrew poets are exceedingly unlike each other in native character, in training, in surrounding circumstances, and in the nature of the work laid upon them by the Spirit of inspiration. And as they all write in a natural and appropriate way, it follows that their writings must exhibit great diversities. No two writers can well be more unlike each other than Isaiah and the author of the book of Job. With Isaiah the central object of thought is alwaysZion, in whose interest he sees God governing the world, and whose future glory is revealed to him in prophetic vision. But Zion is not an individual. She is a divine organization which God has destined to universal victory, and around which revolve, under his almighty guidance, the great movements of the heathen nations. The prophet, accordingly, has to do not so much with particular persons, as with the destiny of society, which is involved in that of Zion. He describes her present conflicts and her future triumphs in his own peculiar and gorgeous imagery. But the problem before the author of the book of Job isGod's providence towards individuals, as viewed from the position of the Old Testament before the fuller revelations of the New. He is occupied with the destiny of particular persons, rather than of nations or of human society at large. To the solution of the question of God's justice towards individual man he directs all his energy, and he discusses this great theme in a manner as effective as it is original. His imagery is as forcible as that of Isaiah, but how different, and how powerfully adapted to his end! A few passages from each of these great poets, set side by side, will exhibit the contrast between them in a striking manner.
If now we open the book of Psalms, we find ourselves in a new world of poetry, as different from that of Isaiah as it is from that of the book of Job. David was anointed by God tobe the head and leader of Israel. As such he had a perpetual outward conflict with powerful, crafty, and malicious foes, who sought his life and his kingdom. This brought to him a perpetual inward conflict with doubts and fears. Under the pressure of this double conflict he penned those wonderful psalms, which are the embodiment of his whole religious life. And since heart answers to heart, as face to face in water, they are the embodiment of religious life in all ages. The songs of David and his illustrious collaborators, Asaph and the sons of Korah, are emphatically the poetry of religious experience. As such they can never grow old. They are as fresh to-day as when they were written. God has given them to his church as a rich treasury for "the service of song in the house of the Lord," in the family, and in the closet. If we turn from the book of Psalms to the book of Proverbs, we have still another type of poetry, unlike any one of the forms hitherto considered. It is the poetry ofreflectionon the course of human life, as seen in the light of God's law and God's providence. It is, therefore, didactic in the highest sense of the word—the poetry of practical life. The maxims of heavenly wisdom embodied in the book of Proverbs will make all who study them, believe them, and obey them, prosperous in this life and happy in the life to come. This contrast between the great Hebrew poets might be carried through the whole galaxy, but the above hints must suffice.
Diversity of themesoften coincides with difference in the character of the poets. Where the theme is the same, each writer will still pursue his own peculiar method. If that theme be the vengeance of God on the wicked, the style will naturally be rugged and abrupt. Yet the ruggedness and abruptness of David will not be that of Hosea or Nahum. But where both the theme and the character of the poet differ, there the diversity of style becomes very striking. To illustrate this, take the two following passages:
The passage from Nahum is like a pent-up mountain stream leaping from precipice to precipice. The psalm is like the same stream escaped to the plain, and winding its way gently and placidly through green meadows and shady groves vocal with the songs of birds. This subject might be pursued to an indefinite extent. Suffice it to say that Hebrew poetry has the charm of endless variety, always with graceful adaptation to the nature of the theme.
Theoriental imageryin which Hebrew poetry abounds imparts to it a peculiar and striking costume. Palestine was, in an emphatic sense, the Hebrew poet's world. It was the land given by God to his fathers for an everlasting possession; about which all his warm affections clustered; with whose peculiar scenery and climate, employments and associations, all his thoughts and feelings had been blended from childhood. It followed of necessity that these must all wear an oriental costume. As soon as he opens his mouth there comes forth a stream of eastern imagery, very natural and appropriate tohim, but much of it very strange to us of these western regions. To understand the extent of this characteristic one has only to peruse the Song of Solomon. The bride is black but comely as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. She is a dove in the clefts of the rock; her hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from Mount Gilead; her teeth are like a flock of sheep which come from the washing; her lips are like a thread of scarlet; her temples are like a piece of a pomegranate; her stature is like a palm tree, and her breasts like clusters of grapes—all thoroughly oriental. So also the bridegroom is like a roe or a young hart leaping upon the mountains; his eyes are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters; his cheeks are as a bed of spices; his lips like lilies, dropping sweet-smelling myrrh, and his countenance as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. So also if we open the book of Isaiah, we find the Messiah described as "the shadow of a great rock in a weary land"—a figure which could not well occur to an Englishman or an American, but was perfectly natural in the mouth of a Hebrew familiar with the terrible sun of the Asiatic deserts, where neither tree nor cloud offers a shelter to the thirsty and fainting traveller. Precisely here lies much of the obscurity of which the expounders of Hebrew poetry complain. True, there are other difficulties of a formidable character. The theme is often vast, stretching into the distant and dimly-revealed future; the language rugged with abrupt transitions, the historic allusions obscure, and the meaning of the terms employed doubtful. But aside from all these considerations the western scholar encounters a perpetual difficulty in the fact that he is not of oriental birth, and can enter but imperfectly into the spirit and force of oriental imagery. What costs him days of laborious investigation would open itself like a flash of lightning to his apprehension—all except that which remains dark from the nature of the prophetic themes—could he but have that perfect apprehension of the language, the historic allusions, the imagery employed, and the modes of thought, which was possessed by the contemporaries of the Hebrew poet.
It remains that we notice in the last place what may be called thetheocratic imageryof the Hebrew poets; that is, imagery borrowed from the institutions of the Mosaic law. The intense loyalty of the Hebrew poets to the Mosaic law has already been noticed. They were its divinely-appointed expositors and defenders, and their whole religious life was moulded by it. No wonder, then, that their writings abound with allusions to its rites and usages. The sweet psalmist of Israel will abide in God's tabernacle for ever, and trust in the covert of his wings, the literal tabernacle on Zion representing God's spiritual presence here and his beatific presence hereafter (Psa. 61:4 and elsewhere); he will have his prayer set forth before God as incense, and the lifting up of his hands as the evening sacrifice (Psa. 141:2); he will be purged with hyssop that he may be clean, and washed that he may be whiter than snow (Psa. 51: 7); he will offer to God the sacrifice of a broken spirit (Psa. 51:17); the people promise to render to God the calves of their lips (Hosea 14:2); the vengeance of God upon Edom is described as "a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea," in which the Lord's sword shall be filled with the blood of lambs and goats and the fat of the kidneys of rams (Isa. 34: 6); with allusions to the Levitical sprinklings God promises that he will sprinkle upon his penitent and restored people clean water that they may be clean (Ezek. 36: 25); and with allusion to the sacrificial flocks assembled at Jerusalem on the occasion of her great festivals, that he will increase them with men like a flock—"as the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men" (Ezek. 36:37, 38). How full the book of Psalms is of allusions to the solemn songs of the sanctuary with their accompaniment of psaltery and harp, trumpet and cornet, every reader understands. This subject might be expanded indefinitely, but the above hints must suffice.
3. We come now to theformof Hebrew poetry. This is distinguished from the classic poetry of Greece and Rome, aswell as from all modern poetry by the absence of metrical feet. Its rhythm is that ofclauseswhich correspond to each other in a sort of free parallelism, as was long ago shown by Bishop Lowth in his Prelections on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews, the matter of which has been revised and expanded in later treatises. Herein, as elsewhere, Hebrew poetry asserts its originality and independence. Biblical scholars recognize three fundamental forms of parallelism in Hebrew poetry, which will be briefly considered, first separately, and then in their combinations.
Thefirstis theantitheticform, where two parallel members are contrasted in meaning, a form peculiarly adapted to didactic poetry, and therefore occurring most abundantly in the book of Proverbs. The following are examples of it:
The memory of the just is blessed:But the name of the wicked shall rot (Prov. 10:7);
The memory of the just is blessed:But the name of the wicked shall rot (Prov. 10:7);
The memory of the just is blessed:
But the name of the wicked shall rot (Prov. 10:7);
where, in the original Hebrew, each clause consists of three words. In such an antithetic parallelism the words of one couplet, at least, must correspond in meaning, as herememoryandname; while the others are in contrast—justandwicked,is blessedandshall rot. Sometimes the two clauses are to be mutually supplied from each other, thus:
A wise son maketh a glad father:But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Prov. 10:1);
A wise son maketh a glad father:But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Prov. 10:1);
A wise son maketh a glad father:
But a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother (Prov. 10:1);
where the reader understands that a wise son is the joy, and a foolish son the grief of both father and mother.
Thesecondform is thesynonymous, where the same general thought is repeated in two or more clauses. It is found abundantly in the whole range of Hebrew poetry, but is peculiarly adapted to that which is of a placid and contemplative character. Sometimes the parallel clauses simply repeat the same thought in different words; in other cases there is only a general resemblance. Examples are the following:
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:The Lord shall have them in derision. Psa. 2:4.For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous:With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psa. 5:12.Perish the day wherein I was born;And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.Job 3:3.Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom:Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Isa. 1:10.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:The Lord shall have them in derision. Psa. 2:4.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh:
The Lord shall have them in derision. Psa. 2:4.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous:With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psa. 5:12.
For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous:
With favor wilt thou compass him as with a shield. Psa. 5:12.
Perish the day wherein I was born;And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.Job 3:3.
Perish the day wherein I was born;
And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
Job 3:3.
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom:Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Isa. 1:10.
Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom:
Give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. Isa. 1:10.
In the following example we have acompoundsynonymous couplet:
Give them according to their deeds,According to the wickedness of their endeavors:Give them after the work of their hands,Render to them their desert. Psa. 28:4
Give them according to their deeds,According to the wickedness of their endeavors:Give them after the work of their hands,Render to them their desert. Psa. 28:4
Give them according to their deeds,
According to the wickedness of their endeavors:
Give them after the work of their hands,
Render to them their desert. Psa. 28:4
Sometimes three or more parallel clauses occur, thus:
When your fear cometh as desolation,And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Prov. 1:27.Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;Who healeth all thy diseases;Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa. 103:3-5.
When your fear cometh as desolation,And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Prov. 1:27.
When your fear cometh as desolation,
And your destruction cometh as a whirlwind;
When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Prov. 1:27.
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;Who healeth all thy diseases;Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa. 103:3-5.
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
Who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
Who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things;
Thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. Psa. 103:3-5.
In the preceding example, synonymous parallelism passes intosimple enumeration. So often with a succession of short clauses, or shorter and longer clauses, where the poetry of the Hebrews assumes the freedom of prose, thus:
Who hath woe?Who hath sorrow?Who hath contentions?Who hath babbling?Who hath wounds without cause?Who hath redness of eyes? Prov. 23:39.A sinful nation;A people laden with iniquity;A seed of evil-doers;Corrupt children:They have forsaken the Lord;They have despised the Holy One of Israel;They have gone away backward. Isa. 1:4.
Who hath woe?Who hath sorrow?Who hath contentions?Who hath babbling?Who hath wounds without cause?Who hath redness of eyes? Prov. 23:39.
Who hath woe?
Who hath sorrow?
Who hath contentions?
Who hath babbling?
Who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath redness of eyes? Prov. 23:39.
A sinful nation;A people laden with iniquity;A seed of evil-doers;Corrupt children:They have forsaken the Lord;They have despised the Holy One of Israel;They have gone away backward. Isa. 1:4.
A sinful nation;
A people laden with iniquity;
A seed of evil-doers;
Corrupt children:
They have forsaken the Lord;
They have despised the Holy One of Israel;
They have gone away backward. Isa. 1:4.
The parallel clauses are frequently introduced or followed by a single clause, thus:
Blessed is the manWho walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly;And standeth not in the way of sinners;And sitteth not in the seat of scorners. Psa. 1:1.Hear, O heavens;Give ear, O earth;For the Lord hath spoken. Isa. 1:2.
Blessed is the manWho walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly;And standeth not in the way of sinners;And sitteth not in the seat of scorners. Psa. 1:1.
Blessed is the man
Who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly;
And standeth not in the way of sinners;
And sitteth not in the seat of scorners. Psa. 1:1.
Hear, O heavens;Give ear, O earth;For the Lord hath spoken. Isa. 1:2.
Hear, O heavens;
Give ear, O earth;
For the Lord hath spoken. Isa. 1:2.
Thethirdform of parallelism is calledsynthetic(Greeksynthesis,a putting together), where one clause is necessary to complete the sense of the other, as in the following examples:
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Prov. 15:16.Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Prov. 21:2.Whoso curseth his father and his mother,His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Prov. 20:20.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Prov. 15:16.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is,
Than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. Prov. 15:16.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Prov. 21:2.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;
But the Lord pondereth the hearts. Prov. 21:2.
Whoso curseth his father and his mother,His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Prov. 20:20.
Whoso curseth his father and his mother,
His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Prov. 20:20.
The connection between the two clauses may be that of comparison, cause, effect, etc. Sometimes it is not expressed, but simply implied, as in the following:
A whip for the horse,A bridle for the ass,And a rod for the fool's back. Prov. 26:3.
A whip for the horse,A bridle for the ass,And a rod for the fool's back. Prov. 26:3.
A whip for the horse,
A bridle for the ass,
And a rod for the fool's back. Prov. 26:3.
Thecombinationsof the above forms in Hebrew poetry are exceedingly varied and graceful. Here are examples of twosynonymouscouplets that areantitheticto each other:
The ox knoweth his owner,And the ass his master's crib:Israel doth not know,My people doth not consider. Isa. 1:3.The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught;He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever;The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psa. 33:10, 11.
The ox knoweth his owner,And the ass his master's crib:Israel doth not know,My people doth not consider. Isa. 1:3.
The ox knoweth his owner,
And the ass his master's crib:
Israel doth not know,
My people doth not consider. Isa. 1:3.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught;He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever;The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psa. 33:10, 11.
The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to naught;
He maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever;
The thoughts of his heart to all generations. Psa. 33:10, 11.
In the following example, twosynonymouscouplets constitute together asyntheticparallelism:
Because they regard not the works of the Lord,Nor the operation of his hands,He shall destroy them,And not build them up. Psa. 28:5.
Because they regard not the works of the Lord,Nor the operation of his hands,He shall destroy them,And not build them up. Psa. 28:5.
Because they regard not the works of the Lord,
Nor the operation of his hands,
He shall destroy them,
And not build them up. Psa. 28:5.
In the following, threesyntheticparallelisms make asynonymoustriplet:
For as the heaven is high above the earth,So great is his mercy toward them that fear him:As far as the east is from the west,So far hath he removed our transgressions from us:Like as a father pitieth his children,So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psa. 103:11-13.
For as the heaven is high above the earth,So great is his mercy toward them that fear him:As far as the east is from the west,So far hath he removed our transgressions from us:Like as a father pitieth his children,So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psa. 103:11-13.
For as the heaven is high above the earth,
So great is his mercy toward them that fear him:
As far as the east is from the west,
So far hath he removed our transgressions from us:
Like as a father pitieth his children,
So the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Psa. 103:11-13.
But our limits will not allow us to pursue this subject farther. The freedom of the Hebrew poet is one of his high prerogatives. He is not a slave to form, but uses form as it suits his purposes. He blends together the different kinds of parallelism as he pleases. Often he breaks through all parallelism to the freedom of prose. But he soon returns again, because this measured rhythm of clauses is to him the natural costume of poetic thought, which always seeks to embody itself in some form of rhythm.
To the form of Hebrew poetry belongs also itspeculiar diction. To one who reads the Hebrew poets in the original, this is a striking characteristic. He meets with words, and sometimes with grammatical forms, that do not occur in the prose writers. Many of these peculiar words areAramean; that is, they are words current in the Aramean branch of the Shemitic languages. Chap. 14, No. 1. They are to be regarded asarchaisms—old words that were once common alike to the Hebrew and the kindred Aramean, but which have beendropped out of prose usage in Hebrew. They must not be confounded, as has too often been done, withtrue Aramaisms, that is, Aramean words and forms borrowed by later Hebrew writers from their intercourse with those who spoke Aramean.
4. As it respects theofficeof Hebrew poetry, it is throughout subservient to the interests of revealed religion. This is implied in what has been already said of the loyalty of the Hebrew poets to the institutions of the Theocracy. It follows that the poetry of the Bible is allsacredin its character. It contains no examples of purely secular poetry except here and there a short passage which comes in as a part of history; for example, the words of "those that speak in proverbs," Numb. 21:27-30; perhaps also the lament of David over Saul and Jonathan. 2 Sam. 1:19-27. It is certain that the song contained in the forty-fifth psalm and that of the Canticles were received into the canon solely on the ground that they celebrate the mutual love between God and the covenant people, considered as his bride; or, in New Testament language, between Christ and "the bride, the Lamb's wife."
But sacred poetry has various uses. One of its earliest offices was to celebrate the praises of God for his interposition in behalf of his covenant people, as in the song of the Israelites at the Red sea, and that of Deborah and Barak. But when David was raised to the throne of Israel, the time had now come for introducing lyric poetry as a permanent part of the sanctuary service. God accordingly bestowed upon this monarch the needful inward gifts, and placed him in the appropriate outward circumstances; when at once there gushed forth from his bosom, smit by the spirit of inspiration, that noble stream oflyric song, which the congregation of the faithful immediately consecrated to the public service of the sanctuary, and which, augmented by the contributions of Asaph, the sons of Korah, and other inspired poets, has been the rich inheritance of the church ever since. In the book of Job, sacred poetry occupies itself with the mighty problem of the justice of God's providential government over men. It is, therefore,essentiallydidacticin its character. In the Proverbs of Solomon, it becomes didactic in the fullest sense; for here it moves in the sphere of practical life and morals. The book of Ecclesiastes has for its theme the vanity of this world, considered as a satisfying portion of the soul; and this it discusses in a poetic form. Finally, the prophets of the Old Testament exhaust all the wealth of Hebrew poetry in rebuking the sins of the present time, foretelling the mighty judgments of God upon the wicked, lamenting the present sorrows of Zion, and portraying her future glories in connection with the advent of the promised Messiah. The Hebrew harp—whoever sweeps it, and whether its strains be jubilant or sad, didactic or emotional, is ever consecrated to God and the cause of righteousness.
5. The design of the book of Job will best appear if we first take a brief survey of its plan. Job, a man eminent above all others for his piety and uprightness, is accused by Satan as serving God from mercenary motives. To show the falsehood of this charge, God permits Satan to take from the patriarch his property and his children, and afterwards to smite him with a loathsome and distressing disease. Thus stripped of every thing that could make life valuable, he still holds fast his integrity, and returns to his wife, who counsels him to "curse God and die," the discreet and pious answer: "Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?" His three friends, who have come to comfort him, amazed and confounded at the greatness of his calamities, sit down with him in silence for seven days. At last Job opens his mouth with vehement expressions of grief and impatience, and curses the day of his birth. The three friends sharply rebuke him, and in a threefold round of addresses (only that the third time Zophar fails to speak), enter into an earnest controversy with him assuming the false ground that the administrationof God's government over this world is strictlyretributive, so that special calamity comes only as a punishment for special wickedness, and is therefore itself a proof of such wickedness. They accordingly exhort him to repent of his sins, and seek God's forgiveness, as the sure means of removing his present misfortunes. Conscious of his integrity, Job, with much warmth and asperity, repels their unjust charges, and refutes their false arguments by an appeal to facts. The ground he takes is that, by some inscrutable plan of God, calamity comes alike upon good and bad men. He passionately beseeches God to show him why he thus deals with him; and, according as faith or despondency prevails in his soul, he sometimes expresses the hope that he shall come out of his troubles like gold tried in the fire; and then, again, the fear that he shall speedily sink down to the grave under the weight of his sorrows, and nevermore see good. Having put to silence his three friends by an array of facts to which they can make no reply, he freely expresses the belief that the hypocrite's end shall be destruction (chap. 27); shows that the wisdom by which God governs the world is above man's comprehension, whose true wisdom lies in fearing and obeying his Maker (chap. 28); contrasts his present calamities with his former prosperity (chaps. 29, 30); and closes with a solemn protestation of his integrity (chap. 31).
Elihu, a young man who has hitherto been a silent witness of the controversy, now takes up the argument on the ground that trouble is sent by God upon men as adiscipline, that by it they may be made aware of their errors and infirmities; and that, if they make a right improvement of it, by bearing it with patient submission and looking to God in penitence and prayer for its removal, it will end in renewed and higher prosperity. To show the unreasonableness of charging upon God injustice, he dwells at length upon his infinite majesty and greatness. The special ground of Job's trial, as given in the first two chapters, Elihu could not of course understand. But his general position in regard to human afflictions is right; and it should be carefully noticed that their issue as described by him in thecase of a good man—an imperfectly good man under a system of grace—is precisely what happens to Job when he humbles himself before his Maker.
As Elihu's discourse was drawing towards a close, the signs of God's approach had already began to manifest themselves (chap. 37). Now he addresses Job out of the whirlwind, rebuking him for his presumptuous language, and setting before him His infinite perfections, manifested in the creation and government of the world, as a sufficient proof that to arraign His justice at the bar of human reason is folly and presumption. Job now humbles himself unconditionally before his Maker. Upon this God publicly justifies him to his three friends, while He condemns them, declaring that he has spoken of Him the thing which is right (42:8). This is to be understood as referring not to thespiritmanifested by Job, which God had sharply rebuked, but rather to thegroundtaken by him in respect to God's dealings with men. By God's direction the three friends now offer sacrifices for their folly, which are accepted in answer to Job's prayer in their behalf, and his former prosperity is restored to him in double measure.
6. From the above sketch of the plan of the book itsdesignis manifest. It unfolds the nature of God's providential government over men. It is not simply retributive, as the three friends had maintained, so that the measure of a man's outward sufferings is the measure of his sins; nor is it simply incomprehensible, so that there can be no reasoning about it; but it is disciplinary, in such a way that sorrow, though always the fruit of sin, comes upon good men as well as upon the wicked, being a fatherly chastisement intended for their benefit, and which, if properly improved, will in the end conduct them to a higher degree of holiness, and therefore of true prosperity and happiness. The three friends were right in maintaining God's justice; but with respect to the manner of its manifestation their error was fundamental. Job's view was right, but inadequate. A disciplinary government, administered over a world in which the wicked and the imperfectlygood live together, must be incomprehensible as it respects the particular distribution of good and evil. Elihu was right in the main position, but he wanted authority. The question was settled by God's interposition notbeforethe human discussion, norwithoutit, butafterit; an interposition in which the three friends were condemned, Job approved, and the argument of Elihu left in its full force.
It has been the fashion with a certain class of critics to disparage Elihu as a self-conceited young man, and to deny the authenticity of his discourses. But thus the plan of the book is fatally broken, as must be evident from the account given of it above. It was not necessary that Elihu should be named in the prologue. It is enough that he is described when he takes a part in the argument. Why he is not named in the closing chapter has been already indicated. There was nothing in his argument to be censured. As to the attacks made on other parts of the book as not authentic, for example, what is said of Behemoth and Leviathan, they rest on no valid foundation. They are only judgments of modern critics as to how and what the author of the book before us ought to have written. The attempt to resolve into disconnected parts a book so perfect in its plan, and which has come down to us by the unanimous testimony of antiquity in its present form, is a most uncritical procedure.
It has been the fashion with a certain class of critics to disparage Elihu as a self-conceited young man, and to deny the authenticity of his discourses. But thus the plan of the book is fatally broken, as must be evident from the account given of it above. It was not necessary that Elihu should be named in the prologue. It is enough that he is described when he takes a part in the argument. Why he is not named in the closing chapter has been already indicated. There was nothing in his argument to be censured. As to the attacks made on other parts of the book as not authentic, for example, what is said of Behemoth and Leviathan, they rest on no valid foundation. They are only judgments of modern critics as to how and what the author of the book before us ought to have written. The attempt to resolve into disconnected parts a book so perfect in its plan, and which has come down to us by the unanimous testimony of antiquity in its present form, is a most uncritical procedure.
7. Job plainly belonged to the patriarchal period. This appears from his longevity. He lived after his trial a hundred and forty years (42:16), and must have been then considerably advanced in life. This points to a period as early as that of Abraham. To the same conclusion we are brought by the fact that no form of idolatry is mentioned in the book, but only the worship of the heavenly bodies. The simplicity of the patriarchal age appears, moreover, in all its descriptions. But we need not from this infer that the book was written in the patriarchal age, for the author may have received from the past the facts which he records. The book is written in pure Hebrew, with all the freedom of an original work, and by one intimately acquainted with both Arabic and Egyptian scenery. Some have supposed Moses to be the author, but this is very uncertain. The prevailing opinion of the present day is that it was written not far from the age of Solomon.