(2) A past event may be regarded, for the sake of vivid description, as being still in progress, and the imperfect' tense may be employed with reference to it. Thus in Ps. vii. 15, 'the ditch he was making' (imperf.) represents the wicked man as still engaged upon his plot when it proves his own ruin. This usage corresponds to the historic present,' and is very common in poetry.

The 'imperfect' is also used as a frequentative, of repeated action, and to express general truths.

Hence it is often doubtful, as in numerous instances in Ps. xviii, whether a Hebrew imperfect refers to the past or the future, and should be rendered by past, present, or future. The decision must be regulated by the context and the general view taken of the sense of the passage. Not seldom the peculiar force of the Hebrew tenses cannot be expressed in an English translation without awkward circumlocutions.

NOTE IV.

ON XI. I.

There are two readings here: the Qre, flee thou (fem.): the Kthibh, flee ye. If flee thou is addressed, as it is natural to suppose, to David's soul, it must be explained as a bold combination of direct and indirect speech, equivalent to 'that she should flee as a bird to your mountain,' i.e. join you in your mountain retreat. Or David and his adherents may be addressed. 'Flee, O birds (fem. collective), to your mountain!' The second reading, 'flee ye, like birds (or, ye birds), to your mountain,' is simpler. David and his companions are exhorted to seek the mountain which is their natural or accustomed place of refuge. But it must be admitted that the plural 'flee ye' is harsh, and that we should expect the poet's soul to be addressed; while at the same time if the singular flee thou' is read, the plural 'your mountain' can only be explained by the assumption of a bold construction, or an abrupt transition from sing. to plur. And when we find that all the ancient versions give the verb in the singular, and none of them express your, it becomes almost certain that by a very slight change of text we should read 'Flee (thou) as a bird to the mountain.' ( 17 '71)).

This list includes a few passages which are not formally introduced as
quotations, though they are taken directly from the Psalms: but it does
not attempt to collect the numerous indirect allusions and references to
the thought and language of the Psalms which are to be found in
the New Testament, and which are interesting and important as an
indication of the writers' familiarity with the Psalter. See Note A
in Archbishop Alexander's Bampton Lectures, pp. 291 ff.

INDEX.