concerted to decribe them."-" The veneration for the Psalms has in all ages of the church been considerable. The fathers assures us, that in the earlier times the whole book of Psalms was generally learnt by heart; and that the ministers of every gradation were expected to be able to repeat them from memory.""These invaluable Scriptures are daily repeated without weariness, though their beauties are often overlooked in familiar and habitual perusal. As hymns immediately addressed to the Deity, they reduce righteousness to practice; and while we acquire the sentiments, we perform the offices of piety; as while we supplicate for blessings, we celebrate the memorial of former mercies; and while in the exercise of devotion, faith is enlivened by the display of prophecy."

46

Josephus asserts, and most of the antient writers maintain, that the Psalms were composed in metre. They have undoubtedly a peculiar conformation of sentences, and a measured distribution of parts. Many of them are elegiac, and most of David's are of the lyric kind. There is no sufficient reason, however, to believe, as some writers have imagined, that they were written in rhyme, or in any of the Grecian measures. Some of them are acrostic; and though the regulations of the Hebrew measure are now lost, there can be no doubt, from their harmonious modulation, that they were written with some kind of metrical order; and they must have been composed in accommodation to the measure to which they were set. The Masoretic writers have marked them in a manner different from the other sacred writings. The Hebrew copies and the Septuagint version of this book, contain the same number of Psalms; only the Septuagint translators have, for some reason which does not appear, thrown the ninth and tenth into one, as also the 114th

and 115th; and have divided the 116th and 147th each

into two (ƒ).”

"The Proverbs, as we are informed at the beginning and in other parts of the book, were written by Solomon, the son of David, a man, as the sacred writings assure us, peculiarly endued with divine wisdom. Whatever ideas of his superior understanding we may be led to form by the particulars recorded of his judgment and attainments, we shall find them amply justified, on perusing the works which remain in testimony of his abilities. This enlightened monarch, being desirous of employing the wisdom which he had received to the advantage of mankind, produced several works for their instruction: of these, however, three only were admitted into the canon of the sacred writ by Ezra, the others being either not designed for religious instruction, or so mutilated by time and accident, as to have been judged imperfect. The book of Proverbs, that of Ecclesiastes, and that of the Song of Solomon, are all that remain of him, who is related to

have spoken 3,000 proverbs, whose songs were 1,005, and who spake of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; who spake also of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.' If, however, many valuable writings of Solomon have perished, we have reason to be grateful for what still remains. Of his proverbs and songs the most excellent have been providentially preserved; and as we possess his doctrinal and moral works, we have no right to murmur at the loss of his physical and philosophical productions (g).” The book of Proverbs may be considered as divided into five parts; the first part consists of the first nine chapters, which are a kind of preface, and contain (ƒ) Gray. (g) Gray.

general cautions and exhortations from a teacher to his pupil. The second part extends from the beginning of the 10th chapter, to the 17th verse of the 22d chapter, and contains what may strictly and properly be called Proverbs, given in short unconnected sentences, and adapted to the instruction of youth. In the third part, which reaches from the 17th verse of the 22d chapter to the end of the 24th chapter, the pupil is addressed in the second person as being present: and the precepts are delivered in a less sententious and more connected style. The fourth part extends from the beginning of the 25th to the end of the 29th chapter, and consists of "Proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out," that is, selected from a much greater number. Who these "men of Hezekiah" were, we are not told; but they were probably "the prophets whom he employed to restore the service and writings of the church, as Eliakim, and Joab, and Shebnah, and probably Hosea, Micah, and even Isaiah, who all flourished in the reign of that monarch, and doubtless co-operated with his endeavours to re-establish true religion among the Jews. These proverbs, indeed, appear to have been selected by some collectors after the time of Solomon, as they repeat some which he had previously introduced in the former part of the book (h)." The fifth part consists of the 30th and 31st chapters, the former of which contains "the words of Agur the son of Jakeh," and the latter "the words of king Lemuel, that his mother taught him;" but we are not informed either here, or in any other part of Scripture, when or where Agur or Limuel lived. Indeed many of the antient fathers considered these chapters also as the work of Solomon, and were of opinion,

(h) Gray.

that he intended to describe himself under the names of Agur and Lemuel; but this is a point which must be left in uncertainty. There are in this book many beautiful descriptions and personifications; the diction is highly polished; and there is a concise and energetic turn of expression, which is peculiar to this species of writing.

The book of Ecclesiastes is called "The Words of the Preacher, the son of David king of Jerusalem,” that is, of Solomon, who from the great excellency of his instructions, was emphatically styled the Preacher. The author also describes his wisdom, his riches, his writings, and his works, in a manner applicable only to Solomon; and to this internal evidence we may add the concurrent testimony both of Christian and Jewish tradition. It is generally thought that Solomon wrote this book, after he repented of the idolatry and sin into which he fell towards the end of his life. Though of the didactic kind, it differs from the preceding book, inasmuch as it seems to be confined to a single subject, namely, an inquiry into the chief good. Solomon here introduces himself as discussing this important question; and by a just and comprehensive consideration of the circumstances of human life, he points out the vanity of all secular pursuits, in a manner not to excite a peevish disgust at this world, but to induce us to prepare for that state in which there will be no "vanity or vexation of spirit." It is very difficult to distinguish the arrangement and connection of the parts of this work; and there is so little of elevation or dignity in its language, that the Rabbis will not allow it to be reckoned among the poetical books of Scripture.

The book called the Song of Solomon has the same title in the Hebrew canon, and we may without hesitation ascribe it to Solomon. It is indeed very generally

allowed to have been the epithalamium or marriage song composed by that monarch upon his marriage with the daughter of Pharaoh; but at the same time most commentators consider it as a mystical allegory, and are of opinion that, under the figure of a marriage, is typified the intimate connection between Christ and his Church. It is composed in dialogue, and with metrical arrangement, and may without impropriety be called a dramatic poem, of the pastoral kind. The characters are, Solomon and his bride, and virgins her companions: young men also, attendants upon the bridegroom, are mentioned as being present; but they bear no part in the dialogue.

It is universally acknowledged that the remaining books of the Old Testament, namely, the sixteen prophetical books and the Lamentations of Jeremiah, were written by the persons whose names they bear. The prophets profess themselves to be the respective authors of these books; and this internal testimony is confirmed both by Jewish and Christian tradition: and therefore, in speaking of them, I shall consider their genuineness as a point established and allowed.

Isaiah was of the tribe of Judah, and it is supposed that he was descended from a branch of the royal family. He was the earliest of the four great prophets, and entered upon his prophetic office in the last year of Uzziah's reign, about 758 years before Christ. It is uncertain how long he continued to prophesy; some have thought that he died in the 15th or 16th year of Hezekiah's reign, and in that case he prophesied about forty-five years; but it appears more probable that he was put to death by command of Manasseh, in the first year of his reign, and in that case he prophesied more than 61 years (i). Isaiah is uniformly spoken of in (i) It is said that he was sawn asunder with a wooden saw; that mode of his death is supposed to be alluded to, Heb. c. 11. v. 37.