"The nations for thine inheritance;

"And the ends of the land for thy possession.
"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;
"Thou shalt shiver them, like a potter's vessel!"

Ver. 7, most distinctly refers to the prophecy of Nathan (1 Chron. xvii. 3—15); and it is not improbable that that faithful “ prophet" did, first of all, "declare" the things of these verses. Who was so likely to act the herald on this memorable day? Most fitly are here introduced the "nations" that had afore-time been "tumultuous;" and the Philistines or "ends of the land," so fully subdued by the prowess of David's arms, 1 Chron. xiv. 17.

This national address then closes in suitable admonitions, vers. 10-12:

Now, therefore, O Chiefs, be wise;
Be instructed, ye Judges of the land.
Serve Jehovah with fear;

And rejoice with reverence.
Embrace ye the Son, lest he be angry.
And ye should perish in the way;
For his wrath will be kindled in a little.
Happy are all they who confide in him!

Thus correspond the chieftains, or kings, of vers. 2 and 10; and the Son of vers. 7 and 12! How accurately and beautifully is preserved the concatenation of thought and expression, throughout the "Psalm!"

I conclude with submitting to candour and fair criticism, this historical interpretation of a portion of Scripture, which is too commonly hackneyed for very different purposes; and am additionally confirmed in the belief, that the chronological disposition of the Sacred Writings would produce a revolution in theological principles, scarcely to be anticipated!

גמרי.

On the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews.1

OF PERSONIFICATION.

HAVING treated of the Metaphor, the Allegory, and the Comparison, as figures best adapted to sacred poetry, and as most frequently exemplified in the writings of the Hebrew poets, it only remains to notice on the subject of their figurative style, the Prosopopoeia, or Personification.

Of this figure, there are two kinds; one, when action and charac

1 Continued from Vol. III. p. 566.

ter are attributed to fictitious, irrational, or even inanimate objects; the other, when a probable but fictitious speech is assigned to a real eharacter. The former evidently partakes of the nature of the Metaphor, and is by far the boldest and most daring of that class of figures. Seasonably introduced, therefore, it has uncommon force and expression; and in no hands whatever is more successful in this respect than in those of the Hebrew writers. It may be added, that none more frequently or more freely introduce it. In the first place, then, with respect to fictitious characters, the Hebrews have this in common with other poets, that they frequently assign character and action to an abstract or general idea, and introduce it in a manner acting, and even speaking as upon the stage. In this, while they equal the most refined writers in elegance and grace, they greatly excel the most sublime in force and majesty. What, indeed, can be conceived apter, more beautiful, or more sublime, than that personification of Wisdom, which Solomon so frequently introduces ? exhibiting her not only as the director of human life and morals, as the inventor of arts, as the dispenser of wealth, of honour, and of real felicity; but as the immortal offspring of the omnipotent Creator, and as the eternal associate in the divine counsels:

When he prepared the heavens, I was present;
When he described a circle on the face of the deep:

When he disposed the atmosphere above;

When he established the fountains of the deep:

When he published his decree to the sea,

That the waters should not pass their bound;

When he planned the foundations of the earth:
Then was I by him as his offspring;

And I was daily his delight;

I rejoiced continually before him.

I rejoiced in the habitable part of his earth,

And my delights were with the sons of men.

How admirable is that celebrated personification of the Divine attributes by the Psalmist! How just, elegant, and splendid does it appear, if applied only according to the literal sense, to the restoration of the Jewish nation from the Babylonish captivity! But if interpreted as relating to that sublimer, more sacred, and mystical' sense, which is not obscurely shadowed under the ostensible image, it is certainly uncommonly noble and elevated, mysterious and sublime:

Mercy and Truth are met together;

Righteousness and Peace have kissed each other. I

There are many passages of a similar kind, exquisitely imagined, and, from the boldness of the fiction, extremely forcible. Such is that in Habakkuk, of the pestilence marching before Jehovah, when he comes to vengeance: that in Job, in which Destruction and

1 Psal. lxxxv. 11.

2 Hab. iii. 5.

Death affirm of Wisdom, that her fame only had come to their ears 1: in fine (that references may not be needlessly multiplied), that tremendous image in Isaiah, of Hades 2 extending her throat, and opening her insatiable and immeasurable jaws.-There is also another most beautiful species of personification, which originates from a well-known Hebrew idiom, and on that account is very familiar to us. We allude to that form of expression, by which the subject, attribute, accident, or effect of any thing, is denominated the Son. Hence, in the Hebrew poetry, nations, regions, peoples, are brought upon the stage, as it were, in a female character:

Descend, and sit in the dust, O virgin, daughter of Babylon;

Sit on the bare ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans 3:
For thou shalt no longer be called the tender and the delicate. '

Unless we attend to this peculiar phraseology, such expressions as the "Sons of the bow 5 and of the quiver 6," for arrows, will seem extremely harsh and unnatural; as well as that remarkable personification of Job, denoting the most miserable death," the first-born of the progeny of Death. 7

The parabolic style no less elegantly assigns a character and action to inanimate objects than to abstract ideas. The holy prophets, moved with just indignation against the ungrateful people of God, "obtest the heavens and the earth, and command universal nature to be silent. They plead their cause before the mountains, and the hills listen to their voice. All is animated and informed with life, soul, and passion :

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ;

And let them proclaim through the nations, JEHOVAH reigneth.
Let the sea roar, and all that it containeth 10;

The world, and the inhabitants thereof:

1 Job xxviii. 22.

2 Isa. v. 14.

"Sitting on the ground was a posture that denoted deep misery and distress. The prophet Jeremiah has given it the first place among many indications of sorrow, in that elegant description of the distress of his country (Lam. ii. 8.), The elders of the daughter of Sion sit on the ground, they are silent,' &c. We find Judea,' says Mr. Addison (on Medals, Dial. ii.) on several coins of Vespasian and Titus, in a posture that denotes sorrow and captivity.I need not mention her sitting on the ground, because we have already spoken of the aptness of such a posture to represent extreme affliction. I fancy the Romans might have an eye to the customs of the Jewish nation, as well as those of their country, in the several marks of sorrow they have set on this figure. The Psalmist describes the Jews lamenting their captivity in the same pensive posture: By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, when we remembered thee, O Sion." But what is more remarkable, we find Judea represented as a woman in sorrow sitting on the ground, in a passage of the prophet, that foretels the very captivity recorded on this medal."- See Bp. LowTH'S Notes on Isaiah, c. iii. v. 26. 6 Lam. iii. 13. 8 Deut. xxxii. 1; Isai. i. 2. 10 1 Chron. xvi. 31.

66

4 Isai. xlvii. 1, &c.

7 Job xviii. 13.

9 Mic. vi. 1.

5 Job xli. 19.

Let the floods clap their hands;

Let the mountains break forth into harmony 1:
Before Jehovah, for he cometh,

For he cometh to judge the earth 2;

The waters saw thee, O God!

The waters saw thee, they were grievously troubled ';
The deep uttered his voice;

And lifted up his hands on high. 4

And Job admirably in the same style:

Canst thou send forth the lightnings, and will they go?
Shall they say unto thee, Behold here we are? 5

With equal success they introduce objects which have no existence in the order and economy of nature; though it must be confessed, that it is attended with much greater hazard of propriety; for to those which are within the province of nature, we readily attribute a degree of life and sentiment. Of this, the following dialogue in Je-remiah is an admirable specimen :

Ho! sword of Jehovah !

How long wilt thou not be at rest?

Return into thy scabbard,

Return, and be still.

How can it be at rest,

Since Jehovah hath given it a charge?

Against Askelon, and against the sea-coast,

There hath he appointed it. "

The other kind of Prosopopeia, to which allusion has been made, is that, by which a probable but fictitious speech is assigned to a real person. As the former is calculated to excite admiration and approbation, by its novelty, boldness, and variety; so the latter, from its near resemblance to real life, is possessed of great force, evidence, and authority. It would be an infinite task to specify every instance in the sacred poems, which on this occasion might be referred to as worthy of notice; or to remark the easy, the natural, the bold, and sudden personifications- the dignity, importance, and impassioned severity of the characters. It would be difficult to describe the energy of that eloquence which is attributed to Jehovah himself, and which appears so suitable in all respects to the Divine Majesty; or to display the force and beauty of the language which is so admirably and peculiarly adapted to each character; the probability of the fiction; and the excellence of the imitation. One example, therefore, must suffice for the present; one more perfect it is not possible

1 Psal. xcviii. 7, 8. Habak. iii. 10.

2 Psal. xcvi. 13.
Chap. xxxviii. 35.

3 Psal. lxxvii. 16. 6 Jer. xlvii. 6, 7.

to produce. It is expressive of the eager expectation of the mother of Sisera, from the inimitable ode of the prophetess Deborah. 1

The first sentences exhibit a striking picture of maternal solicitude, both in words and actions; and of a mind suspended and agitated between hope and fear :

Through the window she looked and cried out,

The mother of Sisera, through the lattice:
Wherefore is his chariot so long in coming?

Wherefore linger the wheels of his chariot?

1

Immediately, impatient of his delay, she anticipates the consolations of her friends, and her mind being somewhat elevated, she boasts with all the levity of a fond female:

(Vast in her hopes and giddy with success ;)

Her wise ladies answer her;

Yea, she returns answer to herself:

Have they not found? Have they not divided the spoil?

Let us now observe, how well adapted every sentiment, every word is to the character of the speaker. She takes no account of the slaughter of the enemy, of the valour and conduct of the conqueror, of the multitude of the captives; but

Burns with a female thirst of prey and spoils.

Nothing is omitted, which is calculated to attract and engage the passions of a vain and trifling woman, slaves, gold, and rich apparel. Nor is she satisfied with the bare enumeration of them; she repeats, she amplifies, she heightens every circumstance; she seems to have the very plunder in her immediate possession; she pauses, and contemplates every particular:

Have they not found?-Have they not divided the spoil?
To every man a damsel-yea, a damsel or two?

To Sisera a spoil of divers colours,

A spoil of needlework of divers colours,

A spoil for the neck of divers colours of needlework on either side. ? To add to the beauty of this passage, there is also an uncommon neatness in the versification, great force, accuracy, and perspicuity in the diction—the utmost elegance in the repetitions, which, notwithstanding their apparent redundancy, are conducted with the most perfect brevity. In the end, the fatal disappointment of female hope and credulity, tacitly insinuated by the sudden and unexpected apostrophe,

So let all thine enemies perish, O Jehovah !

is expressed more forcibly by this very silence of the person who was just speaking, than it could possibly have been by all the powers of language.

1 Jud. v. 28-30.

2 See a beautiful versification of this passage, in Vol. III. p. 528.