"Who lodgeth under the shadow of the Omnipotent; "Who saith to JEHOVAH, thou art my hope and my fortress! "My God, in whom I trust :". And immediately leaving the sentence unfinished, he apostrophizes to the same person, whom he had been describing : "He indeed shall deliver thee "From the snare of the fowler, from the destroying pestilence." The imagery that follows is beautiful and diversified, and at the same time uncommonly solemn and sublime: 1 This beautiful exordium has been most egregiously mistaken by the Masorites, and by many commentators and translators: whose errors will be most effectually demonstrated, by removing the difficulties of which they complain. Thus the x is in Benoni as well as ; the future p also has the force of a participle, by the ellipsis of wx, of which, to go no further, we have three examples in this very Psalm, ver. 5 and 6; thus also Symmachus, who has translated the first verse in this manner; "He dwelling under the canopy of the Most High, Whence it is plain, that he did not take the verb as if it were the first person of the future, as the Masorites have done; whence principally the error has originated: nor indeed has he compacted into one nugatory proposition the two members of the first verse, which are parallel and synonymous Then in ver. 3 an apostrophe very easy and distinct is made to the person to whom the preceding expressions relate: where it is also to be remarked, that the particle is not causal but affirmative, indeed or in fact, as in Ps. lxxvii 12, 1 SAM. xiv. 39, and 44, and in many other parts of Scripture. But to demonstrate more clearly this matter by example, the whole form and nature of this exordium is perfectly the same with that of Ps. cxxviii, which has never been considered as involving any obscurity. "Blessed is every man who feareth JEHOVAH, “Thou, indeed, shalt eat the labour of thy hands : But if, after all, any reader should not be satisfied with the apostrophe formed from the abrupt sentence, he may take the verb 8 for the third person preterite, as the STR. does. Thus the first verse will be the subject, and the second the predicate of the proposition. To this explication I am not averse, and it is certainly much better than that which is now generally received. But even in this manner, from the condensing of two verses into one sentence, there will arise a languor in the sentiment, and they will form almost one and the same proposition. Author's Note, "With his feathers will he cover thee, "And under his wings shalt thou find protection : "From the pestilence that walketh in darkness ;* "A thousand shall fall at thy side; "And ten thousand at thy right hand : "To thee it shall not approach." How excellent also are the succeeding images, the guard of angels, the treading under foot the fiercest and most formidable animals: and afterwards, that sudden but easy and elegant change of the persons ?3 * See a note on the History of the Caliph Vathek, p. 245, and 249. T, 3 I apprehend there is no change of person till the 14th verse; for the 9th verse I take to be of quite a different nature. "For thou, JEHOVAH, art my hope: "Very high hast thou placed thy refuge." There are many interpretations of this period, which are differently ap proved by different persons. One of these is, that the first member consists of an address from the believer to God, and the second of a reply from the prophet to the believer which is extremely harsh and improba. ble, although the plain and obvious construction of the passage favours this opinion. Others, among which are the old translators, suppose, that in the second line there is no change of persons at all, but that JEHOVAH is still spoken of: "Who hast placed thy dwelling on high:" which is altogether nothing. Others, in fine, to avoid these absurdities, have fallen into still greater; for they give quite a new turn to the sentence, altering the construction in this manner: "For thou, JEHOVAH, who art my hope, "Hast placed thy refuge very high :" But this I think will scarcely be endured by a good ear, which is ever so little accustomed to the Hebrew idiom. THEODORET formerly made a different attempt upon the passage: "There is wanting to the construction of the sentence, THOU HAST SAID, "thou Lord art my hope. This is the usual idiom of the prophetic writ❝ings, and especially of the Psalms." I have very little doubt that this is the true sense of the passage. If, however, this ellipsis be unpleasing to the reader (and I confess it is very "Because he hath loved me, therefore will I deliver him: "I will exalt him, for he hath known my name." If any reader will carefully weigh and consider the nature and dignity of this imagery, having due respect at the same time to the principles of the mystical allegory, I am persuaded he will agree with me, that something of a mystical design is concealed under the literal meaning of this Psalm. Without a question, the pious person, the king, or high-priest perhaps, who in the literal sense is the principal character of the poem, is meant in reality to represent some greater and sublimer per harsh) we must, I believe, at last have recourse to the correction of bishop Hare, one of the ablest of critics; who thinks, that for n we should read . It is indeed rather a bold conjecture, yet not improbable, if we consider the parallel places, Ps. xvi. 2, (where n seems to have been the reading followed by all the old translators, except the CHAL." and "also occurs in three MSS" K.) Ps. xxxi. 15, cxl. 7, cxlii. 6. But what if we read on, with only the change of a single letter? "For thee (that "is, as to thee) JEHOVAH is thy hope." This correction was suggested to me by the ingenious Mr. MERRICK, who has lately published a TRANSLATION OF THE PSALMS INTO ENGLISH VERSE; a work of great erudition, of infinite taste and elegance, and replete with all the choicest beauties of poetry. Author's Note. For thou, JEHOVAH, art my hope; Very high hast thou placed thy habitation. I believe there is no occasion in this instance to practise on the original. The imagery here remotely alluded to, is placed in a fuller point of view by Habakkuk, chap. ii. ver. 9. "Woe unto him who coveteth an evil covetousness for his house; "That he may set his nest on high; "That he may be delivered from the power of evil.” And Obadiah, chap. i. ver. 3. "He that dwelleth in the clifts of the rock, the height of his habitation, "Hath said in his heart, Who shall bring me down to the ground? Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, "And though thou set thy nest among the stars, "Thence will I bring thee down, saith JEHOVAH.” S. H. 4 The LXX. CHALD. VULG. SYR. ARAB. ETHIOP. prefix the name of David to this Psalm. The Jews suppose it to relate to the Messiah. See also MATT. iv. 6, LUKE iv. 10, 11. Author's Note. sonage. But leaving this part of the subject to the investigation of the divine, I submit it to any critic of true taste and discernment, whether the third ode of the fourth book of Horace (the beauty of which has been justly celebrated, and which bears a great resemblance to that under our consideration) is not greatly excelled by the sacred poet, as well in grace and elegance, as in force and dignity." 5 At a very early period of life I amused myself with translating some of the Odes of Horace into English verse. The ode alluded to in the text was one of those which I attempted. I subjoin my translation on this occasion, merely because I think it gives the sense of the original more completely than Francis's version, and the English reader will probably wish to see the ode which is brought into comparison with that of the Psalmist. TO MELPOMENE. He, on whose early natal hour Thou, queen of verse! hast sweetly smil❜d, Breath'd all thy fascinating power, And mark'd him for thy favourite child : He emulates no victor's place, Nor mixes in the Isthmian games; Th' Achaian trophies anxious claims. He ne'er, adorn'd with conquering bays, But where the fertile Tiber glides, Thy noblest sons, imperial Rome! And Envy now abash'd and dumb, Nor dares to speak, nor dares to frown. O goddess of the vocal shell! Whose power can sway both earth and sea, Can the mute fishes teach t' excel The dying cygnet's melody: The eighty-first Psalm will serve as another example upon this occasion, being pervaded by an exquisite union of sublimity and sweetness. It is an ode composed for the feast of Trumpets in the first new moon of the civil year. The exordium contains an exhortation to celebrate the praises of the Almighty with music and song, and (as is frequent in these productions of the Hebrews) is replete with animation and joy even to exultation: "Sing unto God our strength; "A song of triumph to the God of Jacob." The different instruments of music are named, as is common in the lyric compositions of all other nations: "Take the psaltery, bring hither the timbrel, "The pleasant harp, with the lute.” The trumpet is particularly alluded to, because the solemn use of it on their great festivals was prescribed by the Mosaic law. The commemoration of the giving of the law, associated with the sound of the trumpet (which was the signal of liberty) introduces, in a manner spontaneously, the miseries of the Egyptian bondage, the recovery of their freedom, and the communication with God upon mount Sinai (the awfulness of which is expressed in a very few words, "the secret place of thunder") and finally the contention with their Creator at the waters of Meribah. The mention of Meribah introduces another idea, namely, the ingratitude and contumacy of the Israelites, who appear to have been ever unmindful of the favours and indulgence To thee, sweet muse! I owe this fame, That, as I pass, fond crowds exclaim "The Roman bard! the man divine !" T. See RELAND. Antiq. Heb. iv. 7. 7 See LEV. xxiii. 24, Num. xxix. 1, and LBV. xxv. 9, 10. |