mon,) the Book of Psalms, by which name they are cited in Luke xx. 42; and this appellation is retained in our Bibles. The right of the book of Psalms to a place in the sacred canon has never been disputed: they are frequently alluded to in the Old Testament, and are often cited by our Lord and his apostles as the work of the Holy Spirit. They are generally termed the Psalms of David, that Hebrew monarch being their chief author. Many of them bear his name, and were composed on occasion of remarkable circumstances in his life, his dangers, his afflictions, and his deliverances. Many of them, however, are strictly prophetical of the Messiah, of whom David; was an eminent type: but others were composed during the reign of Solomon, or during and subsequent to the captivity. We have no information when these divine poems were collected into a volume. The Psalms of Degrees, or Odes of Ascension, as Bishop Lowth terms them, are supposed to have derived this name from their being sung, when the people came up either to worship in Jerusalem, at the annual festivals, or perhaps from the Babylonish captivity. The word "Selah," which is found in many of the Psalms, appears to have been inserted in order to point out something worthy of most attentive observation.

For a Table of those Psalms which are strictly prophetical of the Messiah, see pp. 102, 103, supra.

The book of Psalms, being composed in Hebrew verse, must generally be studied according to the laws of Hebrew Poetry, which have been noticed in pp. 108-111: and this the English reader will find little difficulty in accomplishing, in our admirably faithful authorized version. Attention to the following hints will also enable him to enter into their force and meaning.

1. Investigate the Argument of each psalm.

This is sometimes intimated in the prefixed title: but as these inscriptions are not always genuine, it will be preferable, in every case, to deduce the argument from a diligent and attentive reading of the psalm it. self, and then to form our opinion concerning the correctness of the title, if there be any.

2. With this view, examine the Historical Origin of the psalm, or the circumstances that led the sacred poet to compose it.

Much advantage and assistance may be derived from studying the psalms chronologically, and comparing them with the historical books of the Old

Testament, particularly those which treat of the Israelites and Jews, from the origin of their monarchy to their return from the Babylonish captivity.

3. Attend to the Structure of the psalms.

The psalms, being principally designed for the national worship of the Jews, are adapted to choral singing: attention to this circumstance will enable us better to enter into their spirit and meaning.

For a Table of the Psalms adapted to private reading or devotion, see the APPENDIX, No. IV.

SECTION III.-On the Books of Proverbs.

The book of Proverbs has always been ascribed to Solomon, whose name it bears, though, from the frequent repetition of the same sentences, as well as from some variations in style which have been discovered, doubts have been entertained whether he really was the author of every maxim it comprises. As it is no where said that Solomon himself made a collection of proverbs and sentences, the general opinion is, that several persons made a collection of them: Hezekiah, among others, as mentioned in the twenty-fifth chapter: Agur, Isaiah, and Ezra, might have done the same. This book is frequently cited by the apostles its scope is to instruct men in the deepest mysteries of true wisdom and understanding, the height and perfection of which is, the true knowledge of the divine will, and the sincere fear of the Lord. (Prov. i. 2—7, ix. 10.) It may be divided into five parts, viz.:

PART I. In the proem or exordium, containing the first nine chapters, the teacher gives his pupil a series of admonitions, directions, cautions, and excitements to the study of wisdom.

PART II. extends from chapter x. to xxii. 16, and consists of what may be strictly and properly called proverbs, -namely, unconnected sentences, expressed with much neatness and simplicity.

PART III. reaches from chapter xxii. 17, to xxv. inclusive in this part the tutor drops the sententious style, and addresses his pupil as present, to whom he gives renewed and connected admonitions to the study of wisdom.

The proverbs contained in

PART IV. are supposed to have been selected from

some larger collection of Solomon "by the men of Hezekiah," that is, by the prophets whom he employed to restore the service and writings of the Jewish church. (2 Chron. xxxi. 20, 21.) This part, like the second, consists of detached unconnected sentences, and extends from chapter xxv. to xxix. Some of the proverbs, which Solomon had introduced into the former part of the book, are here repeated.

PART V. Comprises chapters xxx. and xxxi. In the former are included the wise observations and instructions delivered by Agur, the son Jakeh, to his pupils, Ithiel and Ucal. The thirty-first chapter contains the precepts which were given to Lemuel by his mother, who is supposed by some to have been a Jewish woman married to some neighbouring prince, and who appears to have been most ardently desirous to guard him against vice, to establish him in the principles of justice, and to unite him to a wife of the best qualities. Of Agur we know nothing; nor have any of the commentators offered so much as a plausible conjecture respecting him.

SECTION IV.-On the Book of Ecclesiastes.

The title of this book, in our Bibles, is derived from the Septuagint version, Exkλnotans, (Ecclesiastes,) signifying a a preacher, or one who harangues a public congregation. In Hebrew it is termed, from the initial words, Dibre Coheleth, "the Words of the Preacher;" by whom may be intended, either the person assembling the people, or he who addresses them when convened. Although this book does not bear the name of Solomon, it is evident from several passages that he was the author of it. Compare ch. i. 12. 16, ii. 4-9, and xii. 9, 10. Its scope is explicitly announced in ch. i. 2, and xii. 13, viz.: to demonstrate the vanity of all earthly objects, and to draw off men from the pursuit of them, as an apparent good, to the fear of God, and communion with him, as to the highest and only permanent good in this life, and to show that men must seek for happiness beyond the grave. It consists of two parts; viz.:

PART I. The Vanity of all earthly conditions, occupations, and pleasures. (ch. i.-vi. 9.)

PART II. The Nature, Excellence, and Beneficial Effects of true Religion. (ch. vi.-xii. 7.) The CONCLUSION. (ch. xii. 8-14.)

SECTION V.-On the Song of Solomon.

This book has always been reputed to be the production of the Hebrew monarch. Concerning its structure, there is great difference of opinion among critics, whose various hypotheses are discussed in the author's larger work. The most probable opinion is that which refers it to the idyls of the Arabian Poets. Dr. John Mason Good makes them to be twelve in number; viz.:

This poem was composed on occasion of Solomon's marriage. That it is a mystical poem, or allegory, all sound interpreters are agreed; though some expositors, who have not entered sufficiently into the spirit and meaning of Oriental poesy, have caused particular passages to be considered as coarse and indelicate, which, in the original, are altogether the reverse; while others have so confounded the literal and allegorical senses as to give neither, distinctly or completely. At the same time, they have applied the figures to such a variety of objects, as to leave the reader still to seek the right; and, by their minute dissection of the allegory, they have not only destroyed its consistency and beauty, but have also exposed the poem to the unmerited ridicule of profane minds. Much, unquestionably, has been done, by later writers, towards elucidating the language and allusions of the Song of Songs by the aid of Oriental literature and manners: but, after all the labours of learned

men, there will, perhaps, be found many expressions which are very difficult to us, both as to the literal meaning, and the spiritual instruction intended to be conveyed by them; and some descriptions must not be judged by modern notions of delicacy. But the grand outlines, soberly interpreted, in the obvious meaning of the allegory, so accord with the affections and experience of the sincere Christian, " that he will hardly ever read and meditate upon them, in a spirit of humble devotion, without feeling a conviction that no other poem, of the same kind, extant in the world, could, without most manifest violence, be so explained as to describe the state of his heart at different times, and to excite admiring, adoring, grateful love to God our Saviour, as this does." (Scott's Pref. to Sol. Song.)

CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE PROPHETS AND THEIR WRITINGS.

We now enter on the fourth, or prophetical part of the Old Testament, according to the division which is generally adopted, but which (as we have already seen in page 79, supra,) forms the second division, according to the Jewish classification of the sacred volume. This portion of the Scriptures is termed prophetical, because it chiefly consists of predictions of future events; though many historical and doctrinal passages are interspersed through the writings of the PROPHETS, as there also are many predictions of future events scattered through those books, which are more strictly historical. The authors of these books are, by way of eminence, termed Prophets, that is, divinely inspired persons, who were raised up among the Israelites to be the ministers of God's dispensations. The prophets are usually reckoned among sacred persons. See p. 230, 231, supra; and some observations on the interpretation of Scripture Prophecy, especially the predictions relative to the Messiah, will be found in pp. 144-148, supra.

The prophetical books are sixteen in number, (the Lamentations of Jeremiah being usually considered as an