usual embellishments of poetry.7(c) The Hebrews certainly did not express by the same word ideas, which they deemed inconsistent, or repugnant to each other; and, what is remarkable, the same ambiguity prevails, the same word (and we may well presume for similar reasons) denotes both a prophet and a poet in the Arabic language, in the Greek, and in the Latin.8 Nor is it reasonable to suppose, that prophecy admitted poetry and music to a participation in the name alone; on the contrary we find, that she did not disdain to unite herself with harmony, and to accept of her assistance. The example of Elisha is remarkable, who, when about to pronounce the answer of the Most High to the inquiry of the two kings of Israel and Judah, orders a minstrel to be brought to him, and upon his striking the harp, is immediately agitated by the Holy Spirit.9 Many commentators have indeed supposed that the prophet applied to music only to soothe the perturbation of his mind; in this they follow an opinion of some of the more modern Rabbies, (an opinion, it may be observed, by no means satisfactorily proved) that every emotion of a more vehement kind excluded the Holy Spirit, and consequently was totally inconsistent with prophecy ;10 when, on the contrary, we learn from the testimony of the prophets themselves, that the act of prophesying was often, if not always, accompanied with a very violent agitation of the mind. Be this as it may, I am inclined to believe, both from this last and the other instances, that the prophet himself accompanied the minstrel, and uttered some hymn, or rather the prediction itself, to the music of the harp; and both the style and the form of this prophetic reply are very much in favour of this opinion. From all these testimonies it is sufficiently evident, that the prophetic office had a most strict connexion with the poetic art. They had one common name, one common origin, one common author, the 7 PROV. XXX. 1. xxxi. 1. See also 1 CHRON. XV. 22, and 27, NA, ἄρχων των ώδων, Septu. 8 w/19 ¿ï, Пo¶nīns, Vates. See JOSEPH MEDE's Works, p. 59. TIT. i. 12. LUKE i. 67, and HAMMOND on the passage. 92 KINGS iii. 15. 10 See MAIMON. More Neboc. ii. 36, and many others quoted by SMITH, Dissert. of Prophecy, c. viii. 11 See JER. xxiii. 9. EZEK. iii. 14, 15. DAN. vii. 28, x. 8. HABAK. iii. 2 and 16. Holy Spirit. Those in particular were called to the exercise of the prophetic office, who were previously conversant with the sacred poetry. It was equally a part of their duty to compose verses for the service of the church, and to declare the oracles of God: and it cannot, therefore, be doubted that a great portion of the sacred hymns may properly be termed prophecies, or that many of the prophecies are in reality hymns or poems. Since, as we have already proved, it was from the first a principal end and aim of poetry, to impress upon the minds of men the sayings of the wise, and such precepts as related either to the principles of faith, or the laws of morality, as well as to transmit the same to posterity; it ought not to appear extraordinary, that prophecy, which in this view ranks as a principal, and is of the highest importance, should not disdain the assistance of an art so admirably calculated to effect its purposes. Of this we have an illustrious proof in that prophetic ode of Moses, 12 which he composed by the especial command of God, to be learned by the Israelites, and committed to memory: "That this song may be," says God himself, "for a witness against the people of Israel, when they shall depart from me; this shall be a testimony in their mouths; for it shall not be forgotten, nor shall it depart out of the mouths of their posterity for ever.' 113 But, as on the one hand, this poem of Moses is a clear and remarkable specimen of the prophetic mode of writing; so, on the other, there are many prophecies which are not less conspicuous as poems. It remains, therefore, only to produce a few examples from the prophetic writings. Many of the most ancient of those, which are extant in the Mosaic history, I have already quoted,14 as exhibiting the fairest examples of the Hebrew poetry for instance, the imprecation of Noah, the blessing of Jacob, and the predictions of Balaam: than all which (and particularly those of Balaam) I do not know that the whole extent of the prophetic writings could afford more pertinent instances. Nay, so eminently distinguished are they by all the characteristics of poetry, that those who are inclined to acknowledge any kind of metre in the Hebrew poetry, must, I am convinced, refer to these as metrical compositions, if they be in the least desirous of maintaining their opinion by fact and argument. Among the prophecies of Balaam I will also venture to class that most elegant poem, which is rescued from oblivion by the prophet Micah, and which in matter and diction, in the structure, form, and 12 DEUT. xxxii. 13 See DEUT. xxxi. 19, 21. 14 See Lect. IV. character of the composition, so admirably agrees with the other monuments of his fame, that it evidently appears to be a citation from the answer of Balaam to the king of the Moabites :15 "Quanam re instructus comparebo coram Iehova? "Inclinabo me supplex coram Deo altissimo? "Num comparebo coram eo cum holocaustis ; "Cum vitulis anniculis? "Num accepta erunt Iehovae millia arietum : "Dena millia fluentorum olei? "An dabo primogenitum meum hostiam pro peccato meo; "Indicavit tibi, o homo, quid sit bonum, "Et quid Iehova a te exigit ? "Nisi ut aequum facias, et pietatem colas, "Et submisse te geras erga Deum tuum."16 But if we proceed to other parts of the Sacred History, examples will not be wanting: and among the first of these is that Cygnean song of Moses, as it may properly be called; I do not speak of the prophetic ode, which has frequently been distinguished by that title, but of the last blessing of that divine prophet, in which are predicted the future fortunes of the Israelites : "Iehova ex Sina prodiit; "Et ex Sehire illis exortus est."17 The prophecy is evidently of the same nature with that of Jacob; both in the exordium and the conclusion it is exquisitely sublime; and throughout the whole affords an admirable specimen of the prophetic poetry. In the same class with these may be ranked the answer of Samuel the prophet to Saul, in which he reproaches him with his disobedience and contumacy, and denounces against him the Divine decree of expulsion from his kingdom. It consists of four distichs elegantly corresponding to each other. "Num delectatur Iehova holocaustis et sacrificiis, 15 See Mic. vi. 5, and Bishop BUTLER'S Sermon on the character of Balaam. 16 MIC. vi. 6-8. 17 DEUT. Xxxiii. 181 SAM. XV. 22, 23. The last words of David19 afford an evident and illustrious instance to the same purpose, however difficult and obscure the verbal interpretation of the prophecy may be. I apprehend the examples from sacred history will appear sufficiently numerous, if I add the prediction of Isaiah concerning Senacherib, which is inserted in the book of Kings: "Contempsit te, subsannavit te, virgo filia Sionis; "Post te caput movit filia Hierosolymorum:"-20 The same passage occurs again among the predictions of the prophet: and this reminds me that it is now full time to pass from the historians to the books of the prophets themselves, which will afford us abundant instances to demonstrate that the compositions of the prophets are truly poetical, and at the same time to illustrate the nature of their poetry. 19 2 SAM. xxiii. 1-7. 20 2 KINGS Xix. 21-34. ISAI. xxxvii. 22-35. 20 LECTURE XIX. THE PROPHETIC POETRY IS SENTENTIOUS. The psalmody of the Hebrews-The manner of chanting the hymns by alternate choirs; whence the origin of the poetical construction of the sentences, and that peculiar form, in which verses and distichs run parallel or correspondent to each other-Three species of parallelism; the synonymous, the antithetic, and the synthetic; examples of each, first from the books generally allowed to be poetical, and afterwards from the writings of the prophets-The sentiments of R. Azarias considered-The great importance of an accurate attention to this poetical conformation of the sentences. THE origin and earliest application of the Hebrew poetry have, I think, been clearly traced into the service of religion. To celebrate in hymns and songs the praises of Almighty God; to decorate the worship of the Most High with all the charms and graces of harmony; to give force and energy to the devout affections, was the sublime employment of the sacred muse. It is more than probable, that the very early use of sacred music in the public worship of the Hebrews, contributed not a little to the peculiar character of their poetry, and might impart to it that appropriate form, which, though chiefly adapted to this particular purpose, it nevertheless preserves on every other occasion. But in order to explain this matter more clearly, it will be necessary to premise a few observations concerning the ancient Hebrew mode of chanting their sacred hymns. Though we are rather at a loss for information, respecting the usual manner and ceremony of chanting their poems; and though the subject of their sacred music in general be involved in doubt and obscurity, thus far at least is evident from many examples, that the sacred hymns were alternately sung by opposite choirs,1 and that the one choir usually performed the hymn itself, while the other sung a particular distich, which was regularly interposed at stated intervals, either of the nature of the proasm or epode of the Greeks. In this manner we learn that Moses with the Israelites chanted the ode at the Red Sea; for "Miriam the prophetess took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her with timbrels, and with danc 1 See NEHEM. xii, 24, 31, 38, 40, and the title of the PSALM lxxxviii. |