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ANIMAL CREATION-BIRDS.

be daily watered-are all familiar to the Eastern (John x. 1-6: Ps. lxxvii. 20; lxxx. 1; Isa. xl. 11). The fold is still the cave on the hill-side (1 Sam. xxiv. 3); the well is still the trysting-place of the village or tribe (Gen. xxix. 10; Exod ii. 16). The docility and patience of the sheep (Isa. iii. 7), but above all its employment in sacrifice, make it the principal type of the Redeemer, the Lamb as it had been slain, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world.

SWINE were held the most abhorred and unclean of all animals (Isa. lxv. 4; lxvi. 3, 17). The swineherd's was the most degrading employment (Luke xv. 15). Our Lord indirectly rebuked the Gergesenes for keeping swine, albeit for the use of Gentiles (Matt, viii. 32). Swine are rarely if ever kept in Palestine.

UNICORN. The auerochs or bison. See page 1.
WEASEL (Lev. xi. 29) probably includes also the pole-

cat and the ichneumon (Herpestes ichneumon), very com mon in the Holy Land.

WHALE. Perhaps the word would be better translated generally "sea-monsters". In Lam, v.3 the pro phet shows a knowledge of the habit of the whale tribe in suckling their young. The "great fish" that swandrel Jonah (1. 17) could not have been what we understand by a whale, from the small capacity of its throat. WhLS though now extinct there, were in ancient times know in the Mediterranean.

WOLF. Frequently mentioned in the Bible, generally as an emblem of ferocity and bloodthirstiness Berja, from the warlike character of the tribe, is compare, to a i wolf (Gen. xlix. 27). The savage nature of the wol s alluded to in Ezek. xxii. 27; Matt. vii. 15; x 16; Lake 3; Acts xx. 29. Its habit of prowling at night in Jerv 6: Hab. i. 8: Zeph. iii. 3. The wolf still ravins in most parts of Palestine.

BIRDS.

The creation of birds is placed in Genesis after that of fishes and reptiles, and before mammals, in exact accord with what paleontology has indicated, birds becoming numerous in the chalk after the reign of the great monsters of the wealden. Birds are simply classed by Moses as clean and unclean. Before the Captivity the Jews had no domestic fowls except pigeons. There are few allusions to the habits of birds in the Old Testament The instinct of migration is referred to (Cant. ii. 11, 12; Jer. viii. 7); the caging of song birds (Job xii. 1); and, the snaring or netting of birds (Ps. cxxiv. 7; cxl. 5; Prov. vii. 23; Eccles. ix. 12; Ezek. xii. 13; Amos iti. 5). There are 7 Hebrew words for different kinds of bird-snares. All are used to this day-the throw stick, the springe. the clap-net, the trap, and the decoy bird. The birds of Palestine are more diversified than in any other or try of the same latitude, owing to the great variety of elevations and temperatures. The most conspicuous feature is the very great number of birds of prey.

BITTERN, Spoken of as inhabiting waste and desert places (Isa. xiv. 23; xxxiv. 11; Zeph. ii. 14). It is a shy solitary bird, inhabiting the recesses of swamps. It was once well known in English marshlands, and is still common in the reedy swamps of the Tigris. Its strange booming cry at night gives a sense of desolation like the hyæna's wail.

the winter. Its return is the sign of spring (Cant. F. 11,
12; Jer. viii. 7). It was the type of love (Song of Sche
mon), of trust (Ps. Ixxiv. 19). Its dark eyes, with bright !
red skin round them, are mentioned in Cant. i. 15. iv. 1;
v. 12. Above all, its gentleness and innocence are seland,
on by our Lord (Matt. x. 16), and therefore it was the t-
ting emblem for the Holy Spirit (Matt. iii. 16).

COCK, HEN. Domestic poultry are not mentioned EAGLE. Heb nesker. Not our eagle, but the prest
till after the Captivity. They were introduced through griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), a most majestic hard, the
Persia from India into Europe, and were universal in type of Nisroch, the eagle-headed god of the Assyrians
our Lord's time, who compares His care for Jerusalem (2 Kings xix. 37; Isa. xxxvii. 38; Hah 1 8). The bare
to that of a hen for her brood (Luke xiii. 34). "Cock-neck and head of the griffon is referred to in Msc. i 16;
crowing" was a definition of night (Matt. xiii. 35). In its congregating to feed on the slain in Job XALL 2;
our Lord's warning to Peter, St. Mark says, "before the Prov. xxx. 17; Matt. xxiv. 28; its longevity in Ps c
cock crow turice (ch. xiv. 30), the other evangelists, It has been known to live more than 10 years in contine
"before the cock crow". Both expressions are identical. ment. Its swiftness (Job ix. 26, &c.); its keen sight Job
The cock crows about 2 a.m., and again at 4 a.m., which xxxix. 27-30); its inhabiting the dizziest cliffs for nest-
latter is ordinarily spoken of as cock-crowing. In the ing (Jer. xlix. 16); its well-known care in trailing ra
idioms of the South Sea Islanders, the earlier is called young (Exod. xix. 4; Deut. xxxii. 11, 12). It was the em
the "false cock-crow", the later the "true", or more, blem of Persia (Isa. xlvi. 11) as well as of Assyria and
commonly the cock-crow".
Rome.

CORMORANT. Heb. Shalak. i.e. the plunger (Lev. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 17). Common and well-known on the coast and rivers of Palestine. In Isa. xxxiv. 11; Zeph. ii. 14, Heb. kaath, we should read pelican (which see). CRANE. Isa. xxxviii. 14; Jer. viii. 7. Its loud voice, and its migratory instinct are spoken of. The whooping or trumpeting of the crane rings through the night air in spring, and the vast flocks which we noticed passing north near Beersheba were a wonderful sight. It is one of the largest birds which fly, and was formerly common in England.

CUCKOO. Lev, xi. 16; Deut. xiv. 15. Among the unclean birds. Cuckoos are common in spring and summer; but most probably this is not the bird intended, but rather the shearwater eaten in Syria, and the various species of sea-gull.

DOVE. The dove is mentioned more than 50 times in Scripture; and while distinguishing yonah or pigeon from tor or turtledove, the Jews were perfectly aware of their natural affinity, and speak of them together. They were the only birds admitted for sacrifice by the law of Moses, and both had been so used by Abram (Gen. xv. 9). The dove is first mentioned in the history of Noah's flood (Gen. viii. 8-12). The pigeon is the earliest domesticated hird on record, and dove-cotes are alluded to with their "windows" or latticed openings (Isa. lx. 8). To this day, besides the swarms of pigeons in every village, there are myriads of rock-doves in all the mountain gorges," doves of the valleys" (Ezek. vii. 16; Cant. ii. 14; Jer. xlviii. 28). The metallic lustre of the plumage of the rock-dove is alluded to in Ps. lxviii. 13, and the plaintive coo of all pigeons in Isa. xxxviii. 14; lix, 11: Nah. ii. 7. Unlike the rock-dove, the turtledove does not remain through

FOWL, Heb. 'ayit, occurs in Gen. xv. 11: Job xvii. 7: Isa. xviii. 6; meaning birds of prey in general. In Isaiah the allusion is to the habit of all birds of prey to perch on bare or dead trees. In the other passages their keenness of sight and gregarious habits are adduced

FOWLS, FATTED. 1 Kings iv. 23 Among the del cacies for Solomon's table. Possibly poultry imported by him from Tharshish or India.

GIER-EAGLE. Heb Racham. The Egyptian vulture (Neophron perenopterus), or Pharaoh's hen, the comm Scavenger of the East.

GLEDE. Only in Deut. xiv. 13. Probably the buzzard, ! of which there are 3 species in Palestine.

HAWK. Lev. xi. 16: Deut. xiv. 15: Job xxx X Under this name are included all the smaller birds of prey -the kestrel, merlin, sparrow-hawk, hobby, and othersvery common in the Holy Land.

**The HERON. Only in the list of unclean biris heron after her kind", i.e. all the species, of which there are many in Palestine.

KITE. Heb. Ayah. So rendered in Lev. xi. 14; Deut. xiv. 13; but in Job xxviii. 7, "vulture". Kites Murns regalis) are very common.

LAPWING. Lev. xi. 19; Deut. xiv. 18. There is no i doubt the hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the bird intenfel as the Hebrew is the same as the Coptic and Syrian names for that bird. It was worshipped by the Egyp tians

NIGHT HAWK. Only in the list of unclean birds. Some owl is probably intended.

OSPREY. The small fishing eagle, but the name probably includes all the smaller eagles, of which thera are many species in Syria.

prey

ANIMAL CREATION-REPTILES.

OSSIFRAGE. Heb. Peres, i.e. the bone-breaker (Gypaetus barbatus), the Laminer geier, or bearded vulture, the largest and most magnificent of the birds of OSTRICH. Lam. iv. 3. But the ostrich is also referred to in Lev. xi. 16: Deut. xiv. 16; Job xxx. 29; Isa. xiii. 21; xxxiv. 13; xliii. 20; Jer. 1. 39, where it is wrongly rendered "owl"; and Job xxxix. 13, where for "peacock" read "ostrich In these various passages the beauty of its plumes, its swiftness, its reputed stupidity, its leaving its eggs on the surface, and hatching them in the sand by the sun's heat, are referred to.

OWL. In the passages referred to in the last paragraph read ostrich ".

OWL, GREAT. Isa. xxxiv. 11; Lev. xl. 17; Deut. xiv. 16. The Egyptian eagle owl (Bubo ascalaphus) is spoken of.

OWL, GREAT. Isa. xxxiv. 15. Another Hebrew word. The Scops owl (Scops giu) is probably intended.

OWL, LITTLE. Lev. xi. 17; Deut. xiv. 16; Ps. cii. 6. The little owl (Athene persica) is very common about all the villages, ruins, and wells It was the symbol of ancient Athens, the bird of Minerva or of wisdom.

OWL, SCREECH. Isa. xxxiv. 14. The hooting or tawny owl (Syrnium aluco) is very common in Palestine. PARTRIDGE. Two species of partridge are common, both different from ours, and both resorting to hilly ground. The francolin (Francolinus vulgaris) takes their place in the plains, and the various sand-grouse (Pterocles) in the deserts. In 1 Sam. xxvi. 20, allusion is made to chasing them with throw-sticks on the hills; in Jer. xvii. 11, to the continual robbing of their eggs by man; in Ecclus. xi. 39, to the keeping a decoy partridge, still a common practice.

PEACOCK. 1 Kings x. 22; 2 Chron. ix. 21. Heb. tokiim, the same as the Tamil name for the peacock in India, tokei, a sufficient evidence of Solomon's trade with South India. (In Job xxxix. 13, for "peacocks" read "ostriches", which see).

PELICAN. The pelican is common about the waters of Merom, and is in the habit of frequenting marshes, and also of sitting for hours in sandy desolate places after it has gorged (Ps. cii. 6). Also in Isa. xxxiv. 11 and Zeph. ii. 14, for cormorant" read "pelican".

PIGEON. See Dove.

QUAIL. It is undoubtedly our quail (Coturnix vul garis) which is spoken of wherever the word occurs (Exod. xvi. 11-13; Num. xi. 31, 32; Ps. lxxviii. 27: cv. 40), and which bears the same name ín Arabic as in Hebrew. At the time of migration, in spring, when they visited the Israelitish camp, they are annually in the habit of crossing the desert in countless myriads, flying very low, and often in the morning so utterly exhausted by their night's flight, that they are slaughtered by the thousand. They always fly with the wind.

RAVEN. The habits of the raven are frequently illus

trated-its finding its food on the floating carcases (Gen. viii. 7); picking out the eyes of newly-dropped or weakly animals (Prov. xxx. 17); resorting to desolate places (Isa. xxxiv. 11); its glossy black plumage (Cant. v. 11); the distance it wanders for its precarious ineal (Job xxxviii. 41; Ps. cxlvii. 9; Luke xii. 24). The feeding of Elijah by the ravens was a directly Divine interposition which may be denied, but cannot be explained away.

SPARROW. The Hebrew word occurs more than 40 times, and is rendered indifferently-bird, fowl, or sparrow. It is manifestly a general name for all the various small passerine birds. of which there are some 150 species in the Holy Land. The sparrow that sitteth alone on the house-top" (Ps. cii. 7) can scarcely be the sociable sparrow, but the blue thrush (Petrocincla cyanea), a well-known solitary bird of the country which is fond of sitting alone on a roof or rock.

The

STORK. The periodical return of the stork is noticed in Jer. vii. 7. 1ts regular and sudden return is one of the most interesting natural sights of Palestine. expression "stork in the heavens". refers to the inmense height at which they fly during migration. The Hebrew name implies its maternal affection, for which it has been famed in all ages, and consequently it is protected in all countries where it nests. In Ps. civ. 17, the fir-trees are said to be its nest. In Western Europe it builds under man's protection on houses; in the East on ruins, or, where buildings are scarce, on trees. The black stork (Ciconia nigra), always on trees. The black pinions of the stork, stretching from its white body, have a very beautiful effect (Zech. v. 9).

SWALLOW. Two words are rendered swallow. Ps. lxxxiv. 3 and Prov. xxvi. 2 have deror, i.e. "the bird of freedom", and our chimney swallow and martin are intended; but in Isa. xxxviii. 14 and Jer. viti. 7 we find Sus or Sis, which is the Arabic for the swift, and which should be so rendered. This translation gives the whole force of the passages. The cry of the swift is a shrill scream as of pain, not a soft gentle twitter like the swallow; and while the latter is not a regular migrant, many swallows remaining in the warmer parts of Palestine all the winter, no bird is more conspicuous by the suddenness of its reappearance in spring, and by the thousands in which in a day it overspreads the whole country, than the swift (Cypselus apus).

SWAN only occurs in the list of unclean birds. As the swan is very rare in Egypt and Syria, it is more probable that the purple water-hen (Porphyrio antiquorum), or the sacred ibis (Ibis religiosa), an object of idolatrous veneration among the Egyptians, is intended.

TURTLE. See Dove.

VULTURE. Heb. dayah. Lev. xi. 14; Deut. xiv. 13; Isa. xxxiv. 15. Probably the same as the Arabic h'dayah, the name of the black kite (Milvus migrans), the commonest of the scavenger birds of prey in the country, and protected by the villagers.

REPTILES.

The references to reptiles, or "creeping things", are very few.

venomous, it has the appearance of a viper. St. Luke does not state that it was venomous.

FIERY SERPENTS. Num. xxi. 6; Deut. viii. 15. We have nothing by which to identify the species. The fiery flying serpent of Isa. xiv. 29; xxx. 6, is quite another

The serpent is a familiar emblem of craft, from its cunning in lying in wait for its prey, its fascination and its wariness (Gen. iii. 1; Matt x. 16). From this, as well as from its being the form in which Satan beguiled our first parents, he is called "the old serpent" (Rev. xii. 9). Serpent eating or licking dust may be a figurative expression from their crawling on the ground.

ADDER. Seven Hebrew and three Greek words are employed to denote the serpent tribe, the New Testament names being translated "serpent' (generically). viper", and "asp". As the Hebrew names are rendered indiscriminately, it will be easiest to consider them together. "Adder" stands for 4 Hebrew words. (1) Shephi-thing, and is probably merely a figurative expression. phon (Gen. xlix. 17). The deadly horned Cerastes, which is in the habit of coiling itself in a camel's footmarks, or any little depression, and suddenly darting on any passing animal. It is one of the most venomous of snakes. (2) Achsub (Ps exl. 3), a viper, rendered "asp" in Rom. iii. 13. Several species of viper are common in Palestine. (3) Pethen (Deut. xxxii. 33; Job xx. 14-16; Ps. lviii. 4: xei. 13), rendered sometimes by "asp", sometimes by "adder". From the allusion to charming in connection with the pethen, we infer that the cobra (Naja haje), found in Egypt and Palestine, and used by serpent charmers, is signified. (4) Tziph'oni (Prov. xxii. 32). COCKATRICE is the translation of another word (Prov. xxiii. 32; Isa. xi. 8; xiv. 29; lix. 5; Jer. viii. 17). It is impossible to say with certainty what species of poisonous snake is intended, or whether it be merely a general name. The same may be said of the word eph'eh, e. the hisser "viper" (Isa. xxx. 6, &c.), though it may be Echis arenicola, a very common Syrian viper. The viper that fastened on St. Paul's hand (Acts xxviii. 3) was probably Coronella lavis, the only snake which can hold on by its teeth, and which is found in Malta. Though not

The

CHAMELEON, Lev. xi. 30. It is generally believed that some of the larger lizards are intended. chameleon is very common in Palestine. DRAGON. See Leviathan.

FROG. Only mentioned in the Old Testament in connection with the plagues of Egypt. The frog of Egypt and Syria is the edible frog of Europe (Rana esculenta). It swarms wherever there is water. In Rev. xvi. 3, frogs are the emblem of unclean spirits.

LEVIATHAN. In Ps. civ. 25, 26, the word simply means "sea-monsters". In Ps. lxxiv. 14; Isa. xxvii. 1; and in Job xli., the crocodile is specifically intended. The crocodile is also expressed by another word, translated "dragon" in Isa. li. 9; Ezek. xxix. 3; xxxii. 2; Jer. li. 34. Job describes the difficulty of capturing, spearing,

ANIMAL CREATION-FISH, MOLLUSCS, INSECTS, &c

LIZARD. The word, about the meaning of which there is no question, occurs only in Ler. xi. 30. The number of lizards in Palestine is immense, and more than 20 species are known there.

or taming him; his vast size, his impenetrable scales, his flashing eyes, his snorting, and his immense strength. Being the animal of the Nile, it was the symbol of Egypt (Isa. li. 9). The crocodile is not only still found in great numbers in the Upper Nile, but also in Palestine. TORTOISE. Both land and water tortoises are exobtained one from the Zerka marsh, under Mount Car-tremely common. The word occurs in Lev. xi 29, but mel, where it was killed by some Arab shepherds, and I the original is supposed to express some kind of lizard, have often seen its footmarks. perhaps the Dabb (Uromastix spinipes).

No distinction of fishes, beyond good and bad, is given in the Bible. They were studied by Solomon (1 King iv. 33), and were artificially preserved (Cant. vii. 4; Isa. xix. 10). The quantity of fish in the Lake of Galilee is still marvellous, the shoals forming dense masses. All the fishes of that lake, and of the Jordan, are distinct from the fishes of the rivers which flow into the Mediterranean.

INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS.

ANT. Prov. vi. 6; xxx. 25. The ants of Palestine, [ especially Atta structor and Pheidole megacephala, are, unlike the species of northern Europe, accustomed to lay up stores of corn for winter use. The habit was well known to the ancient Jews, and to modern observers. BALD-LOCUST. Lev. xi. 22. A class of insects allied to the locust, called by naturalists Truxalis.

BEE. Honey bees, wild and hived, abound in Palestine, a land flowing with honey. Its dry climate, its rich variety and abundance of aromatic flowers, and its limestone rocks (Ps. lxxxi, 16), render it peculiarly adapted for bees. Honey was an article of export (Gen. xliii. 11; Ezek. xxvii. 17). Not only in rocks, but in hollow trees (1 Sam. xiv. 25), or in dried carcases (Judg. xiv. 8), do bees hive. Jewish domestic hives are of clay for coolness The Word of God is compared to honey for its sweetness (Ps. xix. 10). Deborah (bee) was a favourite woman's name. The bee of Palestine is Apis fasciata. BEETLE. Lev. xi. 22, where it is described as "having legs above its feet to leap withal". Some species of locust is therefore meant.

CANKERWORM. Joel i. 4; ii. 25; Nah. iii. 15, &c. The locust in its larva or caterpillar state, in which, before it has acquired wings, it is most destructive.

CATERPILLAR. Ps. lxxviii. 46; Isa. xxxiii. 4, &c. Probably the locust in general. The Hebrew word signi

fies the consumer".

CORAL. Job xxviii. 18; Ezek. xxvii. 16. The coral of the commerce of Tyre was that of the Red Sea, the finest in the world. There is in the Hebrew a peculiar force in the expression in Job translated "the price of wisdom". It is literally the drawing up of wisdom". CRIMSON WORM. Isa. i. 18; Lam. iv. 5; Neh. ii. 3; and "scarlet" (Exod. xxv. 4. &c.), ́ ́ worm" being omitted in our translation, is the cochineal (Coccus ilicis), an homopterous insect very common on the Syrian holm-oak, from the female of which the crimson dye is prepared.

FLEA. 1 Sam. xxiv. 14; xxvi. 20, where this pest is spoken of as the most insignificant of vermin.

FLY. Two words are thus translated. Arob (Exod. viii, &c.), in the plague of flies, is probably the common house fly; zebub (Eccles. x. 1; Isa. vii. 18) is the gad-fly, the tsetse of Africa, a fearful scourge to cattle.

GNAT (Matt. xxii. 24), i.e. the mosquito, one of the smallest, but the most irritating of insect plagues. GRASSHOPPER, Lev. xi. 22; Eccles. xii. 5, &c. The smaller species of the locust tribe, of which there are innumerable kinds.

HORNET. Exod. xxiii. 28; Deut. vii. 20; Josh. xxiv. 12. Very common, and of several species. When disturbed, they attack horses and cattle, and drive them to madness.

HORSE-LEECH. Prov. xxx. 15. Both horse-leech and medicinal leech are very common in every well and stream, and often attach themselves to the nostrils and lips of animals, causing much pain.

LICE. Only mentioned in reference to the Fyptian plague. This vermin is one of the pests of the East, and its existence on the person rendered an Egyptian ceremonially polluted.

LOCUST. Continually referred to, and in its different species and stages described by at least nine different words. They are the worst scourge of the Fas, and unlike beetles and other insects, are equally voracions in every stage of their existence. There are very many different species. They always come in their clnis with an east wind, and nothing checks them till they are driven by the wind into the sea (Exod 1.).

MOTH. The clothes' moth is the only insect of this class mentioned.

ONYCHA. Exod. xxx. 34. The shield or operendum of many kinds of shell fish burnt to form an ingredient in frankincense, as it has a strong pungent smell. PALMERWORM. Joeli. 4; 11. 23; Amos iv. 9. Used in a vague sense for the locust, probably in its larva state PEARL. Job xxviii. 18; Matt. vii 6; xiii. 45, &c. Found in the shells of the pearl oyster in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and always a highly prized

gem.

PURPLE. The dye used to produce a bright scarlet and prepared from several shell-fish which abound on the Syrian coast, Murex and Purpura.

SCORPION. Deut. viii. 15; Ezek. ii 6; Luke 1. 19; Rev. ix. 5, &c. Very common in all hot, dry, stony plaos. It is of the shape of a lobster, and is often 6 inches long Its habit is to hide under stones, and on being disturbed it will sting severely with the sharp claw at the end of the tail, which secretes an acrid poison.

SNAIL, Ps. lviii. 8. Snails, in our cold climate, hybernate in winter. In Palestine, on the contrary, they sleep in summer, as they are unable to bear the evaporation of the dry, hot season. The allusion of the Psalmist is to the fact that, very commonly, when they have secured themselves in some chink of the rocks for their summer

sleep, they are still exposed to the sun's rays, which gradually evaporate and dry up the whole of the body. till the animal is shrivelled to a thread. and, as it were, melted away. Myriads of snails may be found thas baked away, still glued to the rock.

1

WORM. Several Hebrew words are thus rendered ! Sas (Isa. li. 8) is the caterpillar of the clothes' moth Other words used elsewhere may mean earthworms, or the maggots of insects; but it is impossible to denne esch word exactly.

HEBREW POETRY.

BY THE REV. T. K. CHEYNE, D.D.,

Late Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and Lecturer on Hebrew and the Old Testament.

in the background. The Old Testament writings have few of what we are accustomed to call the forms of poetry, -no metre, only a slight tendency to rhyme, and a stronger but unequal tendency to alliteration. This defect is compensated for by rhythm. Hebrew poetry, as we have seen, is the poetry of emotion, and emotion, like the sea, expresses itself, not in the onward rush of a single gigantic breaker, but in the rise and fall of a succession of waves; or, to speak without figure, each verse of a Hebrew lyric consists of a couplet, a double couplet, or a triplet (really a shortened form of the double couplet). For an example (a) of the simplest kind, take this halfverse of the psalm of Hezekiah :--

"Mine eyes fail with looking upward:

(Isa. xxxviii. 14.7

O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me." Here the first line expresses the effort of continual expectation; the second, its failure, and the appeal for help to a higher power. The two lines are parallel, but the parallelism of the thoughts is incomplete.

For specimens of complete parallelism, take the follow

"When Israel went out of Egypt,

The house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah became his sanctuary,

It is not less instructive than interesting to regard the Old Testament writings from a literary as well as a religious point of view. The Old Testament is one of the standard literatures of the world; it expresses religious emotion with a greater depth and purity than any other literature. How are we to account for its distinguishing superiority in this respect?-The ultimate reason is no doubt the will of God, but so far as we can trace the method of the Divine operations, it is not His will to disregard the habits and modes of thought of His human instruments. Each nation has a special function to fulfil in accordance with its gifts and capacities, and the function of the Jews was determined in advance by their language and their social circumstances. The tongue which they spoke is but ill-adapted for historical or argumentative prose, owing to its vagueness in expressing the relations of time and the sequences of reasoning; but it can reproduce with a vividness, which is the despair of translators, the most delicate shades of feeling and emotion. The circumstances of the Jews were equally favourable to a literature of religious sentiment. They were not a nation of philosophers, nor had they a soul-ing:stirring political history to kindle the genius of their narrators. They were a hot-blooded Eastern people, feeling intensely about everything, and wholly absorbed in each passing emotion. Hence we may account for the apparent want of connexion of so many passages in the Psalms and in the Prophecies. The connexion is influenced by the feelings of the writer, and how easily, not to say accidentally, does one emotion give place to another! Again, the Israelites were an agricultural people. Their occupation brought them into constant contact with nature, and we are therefore not surprised to find that images from nature contribute largely to their literary material. The Old Testament is well worthy Here we have what is called synonymous parallelism of study from this point of view, as well as others. Of(h), that is, the two lines express exactly the same idea. course, being such an emotional people, the Israelites do (This is the most common type of parallelism. See also not love nature for its own sake, nor can they even de- Ps. vi. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10; viii. 3-8; Prov. iii. 1, 8-25; Isa scribe a beautiful scene in its totality:-they instinctively liii. 1-5; lx. 1-3.) limit themselves to that particular feature which in some way illustrates the mood or temper of the moment. In a word, they use nature as a magazine of symbols. The reader should bear this in mind, as he will otherwise be surprised at the confusion of imagery in Hebrew poetry. The rapid transition from one figure to another is not capricious nor accidental, but dictated by an overpowering desire for a more complete rendering of feeling and emotion. See especially 1 Kings xiv. 15; Isa. viii. 8; xi. 10; xxviii. 1-6.

Among such a people lyric poetry was sure to flourish; and even when God raised up those revealers of His will and nature--the prophets, it was inevitable that their popular discourses should partake of a lyric character. Every here and there we meet in the prophecies with a verse or two which might well have belonged to a Psalm, and even with connected lyrical passages (see eg. the magnificent odes in Isa. xiv. 4-21; and Hab. iii.). A similar remark applies to the reflective poem on the calamities of the righteous, which bears the name of Job. And even the narrative-writers, when they rise into a higher tone, naturally and without an effort adopt the rhythmical forms of lyric poetry, e.g. Gen. i. 27; ix. 2527: xxiv. 60; xxvii. 27-29, 39, 40. One may fairly say that a rigorous distinction between poetry and prose was unknown to the Israelitish writers, as it still is to nations on a low level of worldly culture. Such being the conditions under which the Jewish literature arose, we shall not be surprised to find the artistic element somewhat

Israel his dominion.

The sea saw, and fled :

Jordan was driven back.

The mountains skipped like rams,

The hills like the young of the flock.
What ailed thee, O sea, that thou fleddest?
Thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams?
Ye little hills, like the young of the flock?
Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the LORD,
At the presence of the God of Jacob;
Who turned the bard rock into a standing water,
The flint into a fountain of waters."

And these,

(Ps. cxiv.]

"The bows of the mighty men are broken.
And they that stumbled are girded with strength.
The full have hired themselves out for bread.
And the hungry keep holiday:

So that the barren hath borne seven.

And she that hath many children languisheth."

(1 Sam. ii. 4,5]

"Faithful are the wounds of a friend,
But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.
The full soul loatheth an honeycomb,
But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet."
[Prov. xxvii. 6,7.]

Here we have what is called antithetic parallelism (c),
that is, the two lines correspond by an antithesis or oppo-
sition of sentiments. (This type of parallelism abounds
in the Book of Proverbs, especially in chaps. x.-xv. In
the Psalms it is much less common; see however Ps.
xxxiv. 11; xxxvii. 9, 17, 21, 22. Isa. i. 3; liv. 7, 8, are
also fine examples.)

Sometimes, however (d), there is a bifurcation of a verse, without either complete or incomplete parallelism: for instance,

"God looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God."
[Pa xiv. 2]
"Moreover by them is thy servant warned:
In keeping of them there is great reward." [Ps. xix. 12.]
"The LORD at thy right hand

Shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath."

[Ps. cx. 5.]

The later Hebrew poetry (since the 7th century A.D.) has howof the Arabs. ever availed itself of both rhyme and metre, following the example

"Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold
Wondrous things out of thy law."
"Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
Whilst that I withal escape."

HEBREW POETRY.

[Ps. cxix. 18]

[P& exit. 10] "And the shameful thing hath devoured the gains of our fathers

from our youth,

Their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters."

"Now therefore bless ye the God of all,

Which only doeth wondrous things everywhere,
Which exalteth our days from the womò,

And dealeth with us according to his mercy.

He grant us joyfulness of heart,

And that peace may be in our days in Israel for ever:
That he would confirm his mercy with us,

And deliver us at his time!"

of Solomon it only occurs in a feeble, sporadic way. And f we turn to the Jewish liturgical literature of the period between Ezra and the Christian era, we obtain the same result, as the reader may easily see from Eocius 1 224, which is, in fact, a liturgical formula of very early date:(Jer. iii. 24.] This merely rhythmic structure of the verse is frequently found in the prophecies, particularly in the Books of Hosea and Jeremiah. Hosea is too much absorbed by passionate feeling, Jeremiah too much depressed by melancholy, to give full play to aesthetic sensibility. A careful attention to these four types of verse will unveil an unsuspected beauty in Hebrew poetry. If the reader will only refer to some edition of the Bible in which the parallel lines are printed separately, he will soon see how much the Authorised Version gains thereby in distinctness. He must not, as has been already remarked, coutine his search for parallelism to those which are commonly called the poetical books, nor even (it may now be added) to the Old Testament. Sporadic instances of this form of elevated rhetoric occur in the New Testament, especially in the Sermon on the Mount and the Book of the Revelation, such as the following:

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It is true the verses in this fragment fall into couplets and quatrains, but parallelism, as described above, in its complete form, does not exist. We should D therefore expect to find it in the New Testament, ani where it does exist, it is by accident The New Testament is in the main didactic and historical, and not artisize, prose and not poetry.

But the study of parallelism appeals to other interests than the asthetic. It will often enable us to estimate the probability of competing interpretations of C5-1 cult passages. If, for instance, we find that eter synonymous or antithetic parallelism prevails in any particular chapter or paragraph, there is a presumption against any interpretation which tends to destreg its uniformity. In Gen. iv. 23, for example, the later Jews built a romantic story on the mention of a “ycznĮ man" or "child" as well as a "man" as having beas murdered by Lamech. But by the law of synonymĀS parallelism, only one person and one murder can be intended. This remark is fruitful of application to the prophetic writings. It may be added as a fresh proof of the adaptation of the Bible to its world-wide functions, that this peculiar poetical or rather rhetorical form of parallelism exists in various degrees in the Babylonian Assyrian, Egyptian, Chinese, and other literatures. The deficiency of the Bible in asthetic respects is more than counterbalanced by its engaging naturalness Had it been greater as a work of art, it could never have become the religious book of such widely different nations.

Rhythm and parallelism, however, are not the only characteristics of Hebrew poetry. There are evidences enough that lyric poems are often arranged with a view to the symmetry of their parts. See, for instance, Psaizs xlii. 5, 11; xliii. 5; xlvi. 7, 11: lvi. 4, 10, 11; lvii. 5, 11; i 6, 10, 14, 17; lxii. 1, 2, 5, 6; lxvii. 3, 5; lxxx. 3, 7, 19: IL. 5, 9; cvii. 6, 13, 19, 28-8, 15, 21, 31; exliv. 7 (latter part), 8, 11. These passages present clear indications of refrains, and consequently of something approaching to a strophic division, like that of the Greek choruses. It is not, indeed, equally clear that the strophes or stanzas indicated by these refrains are always of equal length (though they are very nearly equal in Psalins xlii and ximoriginally one Psalm; lxvii., xcix). Sometimes indred the want of symmetry can be accounted for by the char racter of the poem. Thus in the lamentation over Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 19-27), which falls into five stanzas or strophes (viz. I., vs. 19, 20; II, 21, 22; III, 23, 24; IV., 25, 26; V., 27), the first three consist of six lines each, the fourth of only five, the fifth of two. The gradual diminution is evidently designed, and contri

The latter passage is taken from a chapter which strikingly reminds us of Ezekiel; it is rhythmical, but not strictly parallelistic: the former is an independent reproduction of the manner of the best proverbial poetry, and is a good specimen of parallelism. With the latter we may compare the Song of Mary (Luke i. 46–55), the Song of Zacharias (Luke i. 67–79), and the Song of Symeon (Luke ii. 28-32). These are all directly based on Old Testament models. It is much more difficult to produce connected passages exemplifying genuine parallelism in an unartificial manner. Bishop Jebb has indeed attempted it, but the result has been universally rejected by Biblical scholars. The fact is that after the return from Babylon the older literary forms were only kept up by the zeal of enthusiastic students of the earlier scriptures, and their disappearance was only a question of time. Ecclesias-butes to the effect of the poem. It is as if the voice ticus and the so-called Psalms of Solomon, both written originally in Hebrew, the one about 180 B.C., the other after the murder of Pompeius, 48 B.C., are the last specimens of genuine parallelism. In the Apocryphal Wisdom

• The reader will observe an occasional deviation from the language of the Authorized Version. This is unavoidable in the exact study of the sacred writings. Here for instance the Authorized Version has shame," where the literal rendering is "the shame" or "shame ful thing." The prophet is unwilling to apply the term "Baal" (lord, master) to a false god, and substitutes "the Bosheth." "the shame." Hosea had set the example (Hos. ix, 19). Compare also Ishbosheth and Eshbaal, which are interchanged. See List of Proper Names." See Paragraph Teacher's Bible (Nonpareil 16mo.), published

by Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode.

of the speaker became fainter and fainter as his emotion increased, till it died away in a sigh. The same phe nomenon will be observed in other similar passages, r.g. in the elegy on Israel's princes in Ezek. xix. stanza L -vs. 2-9, stanza II.-vs. 10-14), and in that on Egypt in Ezek. xxxii. (stanza Irs, 1-10, stanza II.-12. 1116), and in the lamentation which forms the first speech of Job (ch. iii., stanza I.-vs. 2-10, stanza II- 1119, stanza III. -vs. 20-26). Joyous songs, on the other hand, are sometimes marked by a gradual prolongation of the stanzas. The poet begins calmly, but by de grees the stream of song widens. Thus in the marriagepsalm (xlv.), the first stanza is very short (rs, 1, 9), the

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