last words of David labour under some corruptions, it is scarcely possible to doubt, when the whole band of translators and commentators, after the most laborious and anxious investigation, and with all the aid of Arabie and Syriac, as well as Hebrew, literature, have not been able to arrive at any certainty. Whatever sense can be extracted from the words, is incoherent; and even the scope or object of the passage does not appear. In this difficult poem we read וכאור בכר יזרח שמש and as the light of the morning the sun shall arise, or, and about the time of the morning light the sun shall arise; either way very insipid. Who would compare the sun with the light of the morning, that is, with the sun himself? Or what genuine poet would say, that the sun arose in the morning when it shone forth? It is, therefore, a happy circumstance, and auspicious to the cause of Christianity, that the oldest of Dr. K.'s manuscripts hitherto examined, has before wow, giving the clause, and as the light of the morning shall JEHOVAH arise, a sun.—The Lxx. amidst the greatest perplexity and confusion of both words and clauses, yet sufficiently shews that the Greek translator in this very place had the name of God in his copy, but which has been long absent from the common text. Dr. K. believes that he has brought to light a prophecy of the MESSIAH; a discovery worthy of our congratulations, and which we shall be happy to see more fully established.""-Kennic. Dissertio Generalis, p. 71. "The great point is, to fix and ascertain the subject: whether it be-the celebration of a good and righteous Governor, in general; or, in particular, that righteous and just one, the Messiah. In favour of this latter sense, new evidence has arisen from an investigation of the Heb. MSS. the oldest and best of which has preserved the word JEHOVAH, in one part of this hymn; where, if the word be genuine, it solves the chief difficulty. "I therefore presume, that the subject of this sacred song, composed near the close of David's life, is the Messiah: and certainly no other subject was so worthy to employ the last poetry of the man after God's own heart.' He labours to introduce it with an accumulation of all such expressions as would command the greatest attention to what he was about to deliver, as he was king, and as he was prophet. That a good ruler, in the general, should be here treated of, seems impossible: not only from the introductory pomp and splendour, but also from the subsequent particulars being inapplicable to any king or ruler, but Messiah. The everlasting covenant, concerning this 'son of David, is expressly mentioned; as well as the spiritual nature of his kingdom. All the particulars agree to the Messiah: and while some describe the fate of his enemies, others are descriptive of his own crucifixion; all very similar in sense to what is foretold elsewhere. We read in Psal. xxii. they pierced my hands and my feet: they parted my garments, and cast lots upon my vesture.' And if David was thus circumstantial in that Psalm, why may he not have mentioned here the same or other circumstances, relative to the same event? 'Tis no just objection, that this song is not quoted in the New Testament; for the New Test. does not quote the other words, they pierced my hands and my feet.' And should it be objected further, that nothing of this interesting nature appears, at present, in these last words: I reply, that nothing clear appears at all; not only no consistent plan, but not even common sense is to be made out of the words in our present version. If therefore, by the assistance of Heb. MSS. and a better Eng. version, this passage shall be found to contain a consistent prophecy of the Messiah, we cannot but be particularly struck with the mention made here of the iron and the spear. With spikes of iron was he to be filled; as he was fastened to the cross by these, at the opposite extremities of his body, his hands and his feet and with the spear was his side pierced. So that if, with the apostle, who at first doubted, we should at last see here the print of the nails, and the wound made by the spear, let us, like that apostle, be no longer faithless, but believing."-Kennic, Rem. P. 125-128. The Lxx. rendering of this passage could not have been brought into so confused, unintelligible, and apparently inextricable a condition, without having suffered much corruption, from accident or from design. The Alexandrine copy differs from the Vatican, but this character applies to each. In v. 4. as Michaelis observes, the word God, and in the Vatican God and afterwards Lord, occur; whereas the present Hebrew text has neither of those terms. The Targum of Jonathan is deserving of being transcribed, on a part of this passage, as an interesting proof that the ancient Jews regarded it as certainly referring to the Messiah; and that, in so applying it, they attributed to Him the express characters of Deity. "The God of Israel spake with respect to me; the Rock of Israel, the Sovereign of the sons of men, the true Judge, hath spoken to appoint me king; for He is the Messiah' that shall be, who shall arise and rule in the fear of the Lord."The paraphrast applies the rest of the passage to the happiness of the righteous under the glory of that "future Sun," and the excision of the wicked, "not by the hand of man," but "when He shall sit upon the throne of judgment, to judge the world." SECT. IX. THE REDEEMER, THE LIVING ONE. Job xix. 23-27. 1. "O that, even now, my words were recorded! "With an iron point and lead! "That they were engraven, for perpetuity, on a rock! 5. "I surely do know my REDEEMER, the LIVING ONE: "And He, the LAST, will arise over the dust. 66 And, after the disease has cut down my skin, "Even from my flesh I shall see GOD: "Whom I shall see on my behalf; 10. "And mine eyes shall behold Him, and not estranged. "The thoughts of my bosom are accomplished!" It has been the fashion with a class of interpreters and divines, pleased perhaps to associate their own with the celebrated names of Grotius, le Clerc, and Warburton, to explode from this passage any reference to a future life, or the expectation of the Messiah; and no slight contempt has been expressed for the credulity and mental servitude (very candidly taken for granted) of those who entertain the belief of such a reference. This has, however, been the opinion of the greater * See Note [A] at the end of this Section. number of scripture critics, ancient and modern, Popish and Protestant. The usual objections against this interpretation are, that no vestiges appear in the book of Job of any acquaintance with the doctrine of a future life; that it would be very extraordinary, if there really existed in the mind of the composer of this book, any knowledge of the Redeemer to come, that such a glorious hope should shew itself no where but in this single passage; that we cannot reconcile such an avowal with the despondency which appears to have prevailed in the mind of Job; and that the terms employed do not necessarily import more than the persuasion of a deliverance, by divine goodness, from the present calamity, and a restoration to health and happiness, in the present life. To these reasonings we reply: 1. Admitting that there is no intimation of the doctrine of immortality and a future judgment, or of the expectation of a Messiah, in any other part of this book, the consequence does not follow. It should be recollected that, in a poetical book, the matter is disposed considerably according to the taste and choice of the writer; and that a more vivid impression might be made, by presenting a capital circumstance with its brightness and force collected into one point, than would be produced if it were dispersed through the general composition. The whole texture of this passage, introduced with the most empassioned wish for attention and perpetual remembrance, and sus |