1874] CRITICAL STUDY OF THE PSALTER 305 



we are now to proceed the formation of the collection 

 the value of the inscriptions, and so forth. But I believe 

 that the more carefully the Psalms are studied the more 

 fully shall we be impressed that the historical interpreta 

 tion of the Psalms is both possible and necessary in a much 

 higher degree than is admitted by some even of those 

 commentators who have done best service in the sphere 

 of grammatical exegesis. No doubt when a writer like 

 Hupfeld maintains that we can only hope on the one 

 hand to distinguish by general marks of style, older from 

 younger, original from imitative pieces, and on the other 

 hand, historically to separate Psalms that presuppose 

 the independence of the nation from Psalms of the Exile 

 or the Return, he is actuated by a not altogether unjust 

 opposition to the blind dependence on the traditional 

 superscriptions which marks one class of commentators, 

 and to the bold subjection of all probabilities to precon 

 ceived hypothesis which governs expositors like Olshausen 

 and even in great measure Hitzig. But that the reaction 

 against these extremes has led Hupfeld himself into a 

 not less false position, is manifest in the details of his 

 exegesis which often lacks precision, in spite of his gram 

 matical exactness, on account of his obstinate determina 

 tion to generalise statements and expressions that have 

 plainly a single specific reference. And even at this stage 

 you will readily see that that is not a safe principle of 

 exegesis which leads to the assertion &quot; that though David 

 cannot be without his share in the Psalter, it is not 

 possible to identify a single Psalm as certainly his,&quot; as if 

 David s life were so common a one, or the stamp it im 

 pressed on his poetry could be so obscure, that none of his 

 extant Psalms should bear indisputable traces of their 

 author. 



But it is premature to go farther into this question just 

 now. We must return to it when we have made some 

 progress in a critical analysis of the Psalter as it now 

 stands. 



20 



