TEE BIBLE. 



297 



mainly in directly liturgical form, or at least cm- 

 bodying the experience of the nation rather than 

 of the individual. The date of the latest Psalms 

 is much disputed. Most lines of evidence suggest 

 that the collection was complete before the latest 

 books of the canon were written, but many exposi- 

 tors find in individual Psalms (xliv., lxxiv., lxxix., 

 lxxxiii.,etc.) clear traces of the Maccabee age. 



Through the whole period of Hebrew lyric po- 

 etry, represented not only by the Psalter, but by the 

 Lamentations, traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah, 

 and by various scattered pieces in Prophets {e.g., 

 Isaiah xii.) and in historical books (e. g., Num- 

 bers xxi. 17; 1 Samuel ii.), there is little change 

 in form and poetic structure. From first to last 

 the rhythm consists not in a rise and fall of ac- 

 cent or quantity of syllables, but in a pulsation 

 of sense, rising and falling through the parallel, 

 antithetic, or otherwise balanced members of 

 each verse (so-called Hebrew parallelism ; better, 

 sense-rhjthm). Beyond this one law of rhythm, 

 which is itself less an artificial rule than a natural 

 expression of the principle, that all poetic utter- 

 ance must proceed in harmonious undulation, and 

 not in the spasm of unmodulated passion, the 

 Hebrew poet was subject to no code of art, 

 though strophical arrangements, sometimes 

 marked by a refrain, are not uncommon; while 

 poems of acrostic structure (alphabetic Psalms) 

 are found not exclusively in the most recent lit- 

 erature (Psalms ix., x., form a single undoubtedly 

 old acrostic). The later are on the whole longer 

 than the earlier poems. But this is due not to 

 increased constructive power, but to a diffuser 

 style, a less vigorous unity of feeling and thought, 

 and a tendency to ring many variations on one 

 key. A wider range of artistic power appears in 

 the Song of Solomon, a lyrical drama, in which, 

 according to most critics, the pure love of the 

 Shulamitc for her betrothed is exhibited as vic- 

 torious over the seductions of Solomon and his 

 harem. As the motive of the piece is political as 

 well as ethical, it is most naturally assigned to 

 the early period of the northern kingdom. 



The remaining poetical books of the Old Tes- 

 tament belong to a different category. Unfit for 

 abstract speculation, valuing no wisdom that is 

 not practical, and treasuring up such wisdom in 

 sententious rhythmical form — enforced by symbol 

 and metaphor, and warm with the breath of hu- 

 man interest — the Hebrew is a poet even in his 

 philosophy. Side by side with the ode the ear- 

 liest Hebrew literature shows us the Mashal, or 

 similitude, sometimes in the form of biting epi- 

 gram (Numbers xxi. 2*7, ff.) or sarcastic parable 



(Judges ix. 8 ; 2 Kings xiv. 8), sometimes as the 

 natural vehicle of general moral teaching. The 

 greatest name in the early proverbial wisdom of Is- 

 rael is that of Solomon (1 Kings iv. 32), and, be- 

 yond doubt, many of his aphorisms are to be found 

 in the book of Proverbs. Yet this book is not all 

 Solomonic. The last two chapters are ascribed 

 to other names, and part of the collection was 

 not put in shape till the time of Hezekiah (xxv. 

 1), who can have had no infallible criterion of 

 authorship by Solomon, and must not be credited 

 with critical intentions. In truth, the several 

 sections of the book are varied enough in color 

 to make it plain that we have before us the es- 

 sence of the wisdom of centuries, while the in- 

 troductory address in chapters i.-ix. shows how 

 a later age learned to develop the gnomic style, 

 so as to fit it for longer compositions. The funda- 

 mental type of Hebrew philosophy remains, how- 

 ever, unchanged, even in the book of Ecclesiastes, 

 which bears every mark of a very late date, long 

 after the Exile. On the other hand a fresh and 

 creative development, alike in point of form and 

 of thought, is found in the book of Job, which, 

 in grandly dramatic construction, and with won- 

 derful discrimination of character in the several 

 speakers, sums up the whole range of Hebrew 

 speculation on the burning question of Old Tes- 

 tament religion, the relation of affliction to the 

 justice and goodness of God and to the personal 

 merit and demerit of the sufferer. Like the other 

 noblest parts of the Old Testament, the book of 

 Job has a comparatively early date. It was 

 known to Jeremiah, and may be plausibly re- 

 ferred to the seventh century b. c. 



In the book of Job we find poetical invention 

 of incidents, attached for didactic purposes to a 

 name apparently derived from old tradition. 

 There is no valid a priori reason for denying that 

 the Old Testament may contain other examples 

 of the same art. The book of Jonah is gener- 

 ally viewed as a case in point. Esther, too, has 

 been viewed as a fiction by many who are not 

 over-skeptical critics ; but, on this view, a book 

 which finds no recognition in the New Testament, 

 and whose canonicity was long suspected by the 

 Christian, as well as by the Jewish Church, must 

 sink to the rank of an apocryphal production. 



In the poetical, as in the historical books, 

 anonymous writing is the rule ; and, along with 

 this, we observe great freedom on the part of 

 readers and copyists, who not only made verbal 

 changes (cf. Psalm xiv. with Psalm I'm.), but 

 composed new poems out of fragments of others 

 (Psalm cviii. with lvii. and lx.). In a large part 



