20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Bleffed be JEHOVAH, daily, daily: the GOD to whom we owe our preservation : For to JEHOVAH, our own GOD, we owe our escapes from death. But the heads of his enemies GOD hath fmitten, "I will bring them back, faid JEHOVAH, from Bafhan, "and from the hollow fhores of the fea; "That thou mayeft dip thy feet in the blood of thy "foes; "and thy dogs even may lick up their share." Behold the proceffions of GOD! the proceffions of GOD, my king, in his sanctuary, The fingers precede—the minstrels follow, 'midst damfels playing on timbrels. In bands they blefs GOD! the offspring of Ifrael blefs JEHOVAH! Here Benjamin, though youngest, is their leader : the chiefs of Zebulon-the chiefs of Nephthali. confirm, O GOD, what thou haft done for us, May kings bring thee prefents to Jerusalem ! the affemblage of the potent lords of nations, Disperse those peoples who delight in war. fing pfalms to JEHOVAH; who rideth on the higheft heavens, 34 from all antiquity: Lo! how loudly he thundereth with his voice! Give glory to the GOD who is over Ifrael : 35 whose majesty and might appear in the skies. Tremendous is GOD, from his fanctuaries— the GoD of Ifrael! It is he who giveth ftrength and might to a people : 36 NOTES. In my tranflation of this pfalm I differ fo often and fo widely froin all interpreters, that my readers will be apt to wonder at the difference : but I can affure them, that no alteration has been rafhly made; and that the text has been less disturbed by me than by almost any modern critic. It will not be expected that I should here detail the reasons on which my verfion is grounded. This must be reserved for my Critical Remarks. I only fubjoin a few Notes to illuftrate the beauties of the compofition, and make fome paffages more intelligible, by hiftorical applications. Ver. 2. Let but God arife, &c. The words are borrowed from Numbers 10. 35. with fome little variation of tenfe.-Ver. 8, 9. are copied from the fong of Debora, Jud. 4. 14. from which what is within brackets is fupplied; as it may have been dropt out of the pfalm.Ver. 12. Jehovah hath now, &c. The poet paffes rapidly from former times to his own days, and the occafion of compofing his pfalm; namely, the discomfiture and flight of the combined kings of Syria, Ammon, Moab, and Edom: for with all thefe David had been engaged in this war.-Ver. 14, 15. The late Mr. L'Advocat was, I believe, the first who feized the true meaning of this much tormented paffage. He fuppofes, that the poet alludes to the banner of the Affyrians, which was a dove, facred to Astarte, or Venus; a bird so facred among that people, that it was unlawful to kill or eat it. It may have also been the banner of the other neighbouring nations: for the worship of Venus was very general in the Eaft. By the Philiftines, a white or filver coloured pigeon was held in the highest veneration. This being presupposed, the way becomes clear, and we fee the propriety of the allufion. The Ifraelites had, in this war, been exposed to confiderable dangers. At one time they had a powerful army both in their front and in their rear. 2 Sam. 10. 9. And to this very perilous fituation the pfalmist, I think, alludes in ver. 14. What though ye were placed, &c. The fudden transition from the ranks to the banners is poetical indeed, but not unnatural. The Latin poet Lucan in like manner identifies the hofts of Pompey and Cæfar with their standards, the Roman eagles; pares aquilas. All this gives a high degree of probability to the hypothesis of L'Advocat, adopted fince by De la Molette. But should this hypothefis be ill-founded, the allufion itself might ftand. The rich and fplendid armour of the Syrians, and the gorgeous apparel of their chieftains, might well be compared to the wings of a dove: and perhaps both ideas occurred at the fame time to the mind of the poet. However this be, it is clear, I think, that the allufion is made not to the Ifraelites, as interpreters generally fuppofe, but to the enemies of Ifrael. This is confirmed by the next ver. when the omnipotent dispersed the kings, &c. Only the last comma has, in my opinion, been totally mifunderstood. In order to make any tolerable fenfe of it, I have been obliged, not to alter the letters of the text, but only to divide them, in one place, differently. By withdrawing a letter from the beginning of one word, and joining it to the word that precedes, I form the following version: Snow (or rather fleet) covered the idol with confufion. It is very probable that a sudden tempeftuous fall of snow accompanied the defeat of the associate kings, and defiled and affronted their fplendid pigeon-palladium. To cover the image with confufion, was to disgrace the divinity which it reprefented. Thus Virgil makes Ulyffes and Diomede infult Pallas herself, by infulting her effigy.For the reft, I must warn the reader, that the word which I render idol, or image, more properly perhaps fimilitude, is commonly tranflated Tfalmon, and fuppofed to be a hill in the neighbourhood of Schechem ;. which, what it has to do here, I cannot poffibly conceive. Such is the refult of my long labour on this difficult paffage: they who are not pleased with my translation may "lie among the pots" as long as they choose.-Ver. 16. This is a moft beautiful tranfition. The fuperior height of the hills of Bashan, and their swelling ridges, compared with the lowly mount Zion, is a fine emblem of the towering arrogance of the Syrian kings; who, jealous of the rifing grandeur : of the kingdom of Ifrael, confpire its ruin.-Ver. 18. The chariots of God are numerous, &c. The intelligent reader will eafily perceive that all this is tropological. God is represented riding on his exalted car, attended by legions of angels, mounted alfo on cars. Comp. Deut. 32. 3. and 2 K. 6. 16.-Ver. 19. Prefents of men thou receiveft. i. e. flaves of those who had rebelled against David's government.-Ib. as a deodand, lit. to be the lodgers of God. The letters of the text are ill divided but there is no other corruption in it, as Houbigant and others too rafhly fuppofe.-Ver. 23. This verfe has also been generally mifunderstood. Yet the meaning to me appears evident. God is made to bring again and again to the charge the Syrians from Bafhan, and the Edomites from the fhores of the red fea, on purpose that David may g'ut his vengeance on them, in the manner here described. -Ver. 28. Benjamin, though the younger, is their leader. The lead, in this proceffion, feems to have been given to the Benjaminites for two reasons. First, the city of Jerufalem, where the proceffion was to close, belonged to them: Secondly, becaufe David wifhed to foothe and attach to him this warlike tribe; which, accordingly, adhered to his pofterity, after the feparation of the other tribes.-Ib. The chiefs of Judab their frength, lit, their flone-beap. The Judahites were placed in the centre, as the great bulwark of the hoft. They were followed by the Zebulonites and Nephthalites; who were probably all thofe of the cisjordan tribes who had accompanied David in this expedition. No mention is made of the transjordan tribes: either because they had, as ufual, been inactive on this occafion, or because it was not deemed expedient to bring them so far from home.-Ver. 31. Check the wild beafts of the reeds: i. e. as I conjecture, the kings of Syria, whofe poffeffions on the Euphrates were a reedy country. It may alfo allude to the Ammonites, whofe capital, Raba, is in 2 Sam. 12. 27. called the town of waters. Nay, the capital of Moab, Ar, was also surrounded with water: fo that the kings of all thofe cities might be called the wild beafs of the reeds: which usually grow on the brinks of rivers; and which certainly abounded about the Euphrates.-In the second line of this verse I have risked a conjectural reading; but it is only the rejection of a fingle letter: by which an appofite fenfe is produced, entirely agreeable to the context. Let who will prefer the common verfion : "The multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people"-if fo be that they can understand it.-Ib. Who tread on tiles of filver. Every one knows what expenfive luxury prevailed in the palaces of the oriental kings. The very floors were paved with filver: and to this the poet here alludes. Ver. 32. Let ambassadors come from Egypt, &c. The Hebrew word fignifies fomewhat more than ambassadors: it denotes allies, or partifans, if this latter term can bear fo favourable an acceptation. Egypt and Chub, that is Ethiopia, had long been at peace with Ifrael: and in the next reign they were more strongly linked by Solomon's marrying an Egyptian princefs. On the other hand, Egypt and Syria were two formidable rivals; and the latter being more contiguous to Ifrael was its most dangerous enemy. David therefore wishes for the friendship of Egypt and Ethiopia, as a counterbalance to his more natural foes. These notes have been longer than I intended: but they feemed in fome degree neceffary. I fhall not have often occafion to be fo prolix. PSALM LXIX.-al. LXVIII. Although the title gives this psalm to David, there are passages in it which strongly militate against it; and it is highly probable that it is the composition of a bard at Babylon, bewailing bis people's calamities in his own name; and at the same time promising himself and them relief. Even those critics, who think that the psalm might originally have been composed by David, allow that the last four verses must have been added after the captivity. But why not give the whole to the same person?-Because Luke and John have accommodated some parts of this psalm to Christ, it has been called a prophetic psalm. I see no prophecy in it; but much in it incompatible with the meek, all-suffering, sweet spirit of Jesus. 3 4. FOR THE FIRST MUSICIAN; ON THE HEXA- SAVE me, O GOD! for waters fuffocate me. I fink in deep, unftable mire. I have got into the deepest of waters: a flood hath overwhelmed me. I am wearied with crying-parched is my throat |