All these psalms ought to be interpreted without any attempt at what is called spiritual or mystic interpretation. When the central thought of each is brought out distinctly it will be found in accordance with the higher prophetic strain, but it must not be forced; much less should the frequent indications of natural passions be explained away: they belong to a period when the heart was in training for Christ, but did not as yet know the full working of His grace.

We have in the next place many psalms quoted in the New Testament in connection with Christ, and containing strong, indeed unmistakeable, indications of a recognition of fundamentally Messianic ideas; and yet most evidently full also of personal feelings, having all the characteristics of a strongly marked individuality.

Such for instance is the eighteenth psalm; such are others which express the feelings of David in his highest estate. The king is distinctly present to our minds as a living real person; and yet in this, and in the other psalms referring either to David or to Solomon in their kingly power, characteristics are blended which are wholly inapplicable to a human sovereign.

In the exegesis of such psalms it is clearly right in the first place to bring out into full light every trace of the individual; and then, perhaps in most instances as a separate subject for meditation, the features which are evidently ideal or typical. The more natural and simple the interpretation is, the better it will help us to do justice to the higher spiritual bearings.

Even more important is this principle when applied to the psalms written in distress of spirit, in consciousness of sin; such are, if not all, yet by far the greater number of psalms which were composed subsequently to David's great fall. In these psalms there are indeed numerous, and remarkably affecting passages, scarcely explicable save on the principle that the Spirit of Jesus gave depth and power to the innermost movements of the Psalmist's consciousness. We feel the Presence of the Atoner, the sympathizer, of Him who bears and makes His own the very agony of His

sinful creatures. Still on the other hand the movements are undoubtedly David's own: the innumerable sins which he deplores are his own sins; the shame, the bitterness, the unspeakable anguish are altogether his own; at once the due and inevitable punishment, and the only remedy, for his guilt.

In the interpretation of all these psalms we hold fast to the literal interpretation; not but that when we gaze on the Man of sorrows, bearing our sins, we recall the strains by which under His controlling influence David had given full expression to the storms of agony which passed over his soul. Nor can we doubt that the Hebrews were guided by a sure instinct, when they held that, even in this period of his life, David bore sufferings which were typical of those of the Messiah. This impression is confirmed when in most of those psalms we find the expression of intensest suffering combined with unshaken and unalterable confidence in the love of God.

There are psalms however which go much further, in which a near approximation is made to the portraiture of One perfectly innocent, yet bearing chastisement due only to sin, and in some mysterious way incurring it as a merited penalty; and on the other hand having traits of majesty and spiritual dignity not less mysterious. These psalms would be recognized without hesitation as Messianic, were it not for the equally strong traces of personal feelings elicited, and sufficiently explained, by temporary circumstances. These are viewed differently, according as the reader accepts or rejects the general principle of typical and prophetical representations of Christ in the psalter. It would be hard to find any one who admits a supernatural element, to whom that principle is not a guiding light in the interpretation, though it ought not to supersede a careful and unbiassed inquiry into the literal meaning, and the circumstances under which each psalm may have been composed.

But we cannot rest within these limits. The writers of this commentary retain the position occupied formerly by all Christian expositors, and, as we have seen, by the ablest and most trustworthy exponents of Hebrew tradition, and

meekness and righteousness; and the sceptre of universal dominion founded on righteousness.

Secondly, the futility of attempts to identify the person of this royal bridegroom with any historical personage in the Old Testament. The King in this psalm is fairer than the children of men, His throne is for ever and ever, He is addressed directly as God, and He is the object of worship to the Bride.

We have Christ triumphant, the Son of Man in his exaltation; identified by the Psalmist with God.

This psalm is the witness of the Hebrew Church in the interval between David and the decline of the kingdom.

As the crowning declaration comes the 110th psalm'. Our Lord's authority decides two points, that the psalm was written by David, and that David is not the person addressed; Matt. xxii. 4345. The application to Christ is made by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews; see ch. i. 13, v. 6, vi. 20, and vii. throughout.

It sets Christ before us distinctly, combining, as no sovereign of Judah ever dreamt of combining, the priest hood with royalty; ruling out of Zion, as the beginning of His dominion, and mystically its permanent centre; ruling in the midst of enemies, yet having the willing obedience of His people, and seated as Adonai on the right hand of Jehovah. In the last verses we accept 1 See the introductory note to this psalm.

the old interpretation which reads in them an intimation of the severe trials which preceded and made the way for His final exaltation.

Such, in broad outline, appears to be the Christology of the Psalter; bearing throughout a reference to the ultimate purpose of God, for which both the sufferings and preservation of His faithful servants were preparatory; in a considerable portion bringing into light the characteristics of the Saviour both in His humiliation and triumph, and at least in three psalms, probably in others of similar import, setting forth all the graces of His human nature in combination with the attributes of God.

The Psalter emptied of Christ would still be a collection of lyric poems of admirable beauty, breathing a pure and lofty devotion, representing in vivid colours the events and persons of the most remarkable people in the world's history. It would retain its position among the noblest and most interesting products of human genius. But to the Christian, as such, it would have no voice, no meaning; losing its highest and most distinctive characteristic it would forfeit its claims upon his reverence and love. May this work give some help to those who would fain be satisfied as to the critical and exegetical evidence which, in the minds of the writers, supports fully the old and imperishable convictions of the Christian Church.

On the Metrical System of the Psalms. THE general inquiry into the metrical system of Hebrew poetry belongs properly to the Introduction to the Old Testament2, but inasmuch as that poetry attained its highest development in the Book of Psalms, some leading points may properly be taken here into consideration. This is the more necessary

The question is dealt with by Bleek, Keil, § 108, De Wette, &c.

since the metrical structure of the psalms has important bearings upon the exegesis, and especially upon questions touching their date and origin; and although it cannot be regarded as definitely settled in many cases, yet enough can be ascertained to suggest valuable results. This indeed can be effected to a far greater extent than in translations from languages, in which the metres depend wholly upon the quantity and number of syllables, and the strophes are absolutely regular or

exactly corresponding to each other; as in the Epinician Odes of Pindar and the chorus of the Greek dramatists.

In fact, the first peculiarity which strikes the attentive reader of the psalms, as contrasted with the lyrical productions of other nations, is the subordination of the outer form to the inner sense. In the separate verses, and in the strophes, there are indications of law influencing the form; but that law, at once vigorous and flexible, adapts itself readily to the movements of the spirit. In no ancient or modern language do we find the same combination of law and liberty. We may regard this, with some critics, as a stage in the development of form, or with others, more justly, as a result of the deeper consciousness of the special and loftiest aim of poetry, bringing the spirit into contact with the divine: but it certainly constitutes the most important and the most distinctly marked characteristic of Hebrew psalmody.

We have to consider, first the structure of the separate verses, and secondly, the structure of the groups of verses, for which the name strophe, though but partially applicable, is now generally adopted.

One point may be regarded as settled. Ancient Hebrew poetry has no metres regulated by the numbers or quantity of syllables, though even in this respect an approximation to regularity is discernible, as a natural result of other principles1.

It has however a very complete metrical system regulated by the grouping of thoughts. This applies both to the structure of verses, and of the so-called strophes.

The law of parallelism was first distinctly brought out by Lowth, 'De Sacra Poesi Hebræorum,' whose work is recognized by foreign critics as the most important as well as the earliest on the subject. Lowth, however, confined his researches to the examination of the members of sentences. Köster first extended the law to the construction of strophes.

The simplest and the commonest form of the rhythmical structure of separate verses is the distich; each verse consisting of two equally balanced clauses.

(a) These clauses sometimes express the same thought under different forms; generally however with some slight extension or modification of meaning:

His delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law will he exercise himself day and night.

1 Rhyme first, and then metre, were introduced into Hebrew poetry in the seventh century after our æra; see Delitzsch in Herzog's Real-Encyclopädie,' s. v. Psalmen, p. 281. Rhyme is found occasionally, yet evidently without a system, in psalms expressing mental emotion, e.g. cvi. 4-7; cf. Jer. iii. 21-25.

(b) Or the second clause is antithetical: The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,

But the way of the ungodly shall perish. (c) Or the second carries on the thought, draws out its consequences or results:

Good and upright is the Lord:

Therefore will He teach sinners in the way.

This is, in fact, the earliest known form of It exists in extremely ancient specimetre. mens of Egyptian poetry, and occurs frequently in the Pentateuch and in poems which belong to the age between Moses and David.

The length of the clauses in these distichs varies, but upon an average a verse of two clauses contains from six to eight words: in the song of Moses, Deut. xxxii, the structure is very regular, most verses consisting of two clauses, each with three words; a rhythm which cannot be well represented in English, though it makes itself felt.

Hear heavens and I will speak, (baazinu basshamayim vaadabberah) and hear, | O earth, the words of my mouth.

Had this uniformity been maintained the result would have been a near approximation to the metrical system of the Aryan races, either iambic or trochaic as in Sanscrit, or dactylic as in Greek. But the Hebrew poet, while fully conscious of the charm of rhythmical cadence, preferred liberty to uniformity, and departed from the general rule in various directions.

I. In the verses of two clauses, which are

the basis of the system, the composer sometimes uses only four words, two in each clause, as

hear kings, hear princes;

but more frequently he increases the number to seven or even eight; still the divisions are always clearly recognized; and in Hebrew they are marked by a distinctive accent, athnach, i.e. rest, or pause.

2.

Instead of couplets, verses of one clause only are frequently introduced, with consi* This fact has been pointed out by Lefebvre,

Traduction comparée des Hymnes au Soleil, p. 15, 1868; and by Brugsch, 'Grammaire hieroglyphique,' p. 94, 1872; where in a single quotation four instances of synthetic and one of antithetic parallelism are given, singularly resembling Hebrew poetry: "For God prefers purity to millions of riches, and to hundreds of thousands of gold; He feeds on the truth which satisfies Him, His heart is above all sin," or "watches over sin," i.e. His face is against them that do evil. The hymn to the Nile translated by M. Maspero has a special value; it dates from the Ramessian epoch, and is remarkably complete (Sallier 2, p. 11, 6—14, 9); each clause is marked by a red point in the papyrus, and each strophe has the first word in red letter.

derable effect; they are used either at the beginning (xviii, xxxii, lxvi), more rarely at the end, and sometimes in the middle between two strophes, marking very impressively the tone of thought.

3. Most common is the elongation of either or of both divisions of a verse, so that the whole may consist of three, four, five, and at the utmost six clauses. Still even then the general law of division into two portions is recognized; in no case is the Hebrew accent which marks such division repeated, but the subordinate clauses are marked by another accent 1.

As a general rule, the tristich has in one division two clauses balancing one clause in the other.

Exceptions: the three clauses are sometimes parallel, and of equal length; yet even here there is for the most part a closer connection between two, marked by the accent:

Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; Yea let him tread down my life on the earth, (athnach)

And lay my honour in the dust.

Tetrastichs are common, but generally consist of two closely connected distichs (either synonymous, or antithetic, or synthetic);

sometimes of a tristich and monostich. The pentastich consists generally of two distichs and a monostich-e.g. xxxix. 12.

It may be questioned whether the modern system of printing each clause as a distinct line is necessary, or advantageous; it separates clauses which are closely connected; and the ear readily detects the rhythm: a system of accents, taken as marks of intonation, might be preferable.

It is not necessary to dwell at any length upon this part of the subject: the laws of parallelism have been long recognized, nor has any considerable light been thrown upon them by late investigations.

We touch, however, upon a question far more difficult, and as yet but partially settled, when we inquire, first, whether Hebrew poetry has strophes in the proper sense of the word; and, secondly, assuming them to exist,

1 Generally ole vejored, or rebia, which indicate a semi-pause, or pausal intonation. Thus,

The kings of the earth set themselves, (rebia) And the rulers take counsel together; (athnach)

Against the Lord and against His anointed. Both accents are sometimes used, as in this

verse:

"And he shall be like a tree planted by rivers
of water, (ole vejored, secondary accent)
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
(rebia)

And his leaf shall not wither; (athnach)
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

under what forms or rules they may be classified 2.

The process first adopted and worked out with great skill by Köster rests on clear and satisfactory principles.

It is evident that in every poem there are certain points of rest or transition distinctly marked; there are often absolute breaks about which no question can be raised. In Hebrew they are generally marked, either by a change of persons, or by ejaculations, or by certain forms of expression which introduce or close a subject.

These principal divisions are, moreover, commonly subdivided into subordinate paragraphs, in which the pauses and transitions are more or less clearly indicated by the construction or by turns of thought.

As a matter of experience it is found in a very large proportion of the psalms, that, if the reader marks off, first, the principal divisions, then the subordinate paragraphs, the result is a striking and unmistakeable uniformity. Each psalm falls naturally into groups equally balanced, each group consisting of similar subdivisions. It is, however, evident that the result may be seriously affected by prejudice either adverse or favourable to be determined in the first place exclusively by the system. The divisions should therefore

reference to the sense.

In many the word 'Selah' affords valuable help, though it cannot always be depended upon3.

It may, perhaps, be attributed to the influence of a new study that I am disposed to attach weight to the fact that Egyptian papyri, containing compositions earlier in date than any in the Book of Psalms, some earlier than the Pentateuch, recognize the regular division of poems into strophes. Each strophe in the Hymn to the Nile has the first word written with red ink (see note I, p. 33); thus too the Hymn to Amon Ra in a papyrus of Bulaq, and the litanies to the sun in the 15th chapter of the Egyptian Ritual. It is not necessary to assume that the Hebrew poets consciously followed the Egyptian models, though far from improbable in the case of Moses; it suffices to prove that the division comes naturally; we may attribute its elaboration to the systematic character of the Hebrew mind.

3 It is noticeable that the word Selah does not occur in the last two books of psalms, excepting in the 140th and 143rd psalms, both of which are ascribed to David. It may be inferred that it was not used as a musical note, perhaps it was not understood, at a late period; probably disappearing with the cessation of the temple-services during the captivity: it occurs for the last time in Habakkuk.

The meaning "pause" is most natural, but the etymology is wholly uncertain. It may be remarked that the Egyptian used the word kerh