is;;] POETRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 449 



repeated recensions, in which the works of various authors 

 were united into one whole. In a word, the whole principle 

 of the Old Testament religion, with its doctrine of the 

 covenant of Jehovah with His people, was equally un 

 favourable to the rise of epic poetry, and favourable to the 

 growth of continuous historic literature. It seems more 

 than probable, however, that the earliest efforts of the 

 Hebrews to provide a literary record of past deeds took 

 very much the form of collections of ballads and lyrics of 

 historic reference. The existing historical books quote at 

 least two such collections, The Book of the Wars of Jehovah, 

 and The Book of the Upright. 1 



In our rapid survey of the various species of Hebrew 

 poetry we have not yet found a fit place for the Song of 

 Solomon and the Book of Job. The latter book no doubt 

 is, in the largest sense of the word, a didactic poem, and 

 competent critics are still found who can see in the former 

 nothing but an anthology of erotic lyrics. But it seems 

 quite wrong to maintain that it is a mere play of subjective 

 fancy which finds in the Song of Solomon a unity of lyric 

 dialogue and action ; and the critics who propose to deny, 

 a priori, the capacity of the Hebrew muse for dramatic 

 arts, must yet admit that the grand construction of the 

 Book of&quot; Job displays an objectivity of conception and 

 a developed artistic power which is much nearer to the 

 genius of the dramatist than to the ordinary type of the 

 Chokma. The history of the Greek stage teaches us 

 how readily the higher developments of lyric poetry lead 

 over to the drama ; and, indeed, wherever the lyric ceases 

 to be sung by the poet alone, and is given over to be 

 executed by a trained choir, it is inevitable that the first 

 step towards dramatic performance shall be taken by the 

 introduction of lyrical dialogue between two parts of the 

 singers. But the choral performance of trained musicians 

 was certainly familiar to the Israelites from the time of 

 Samuel downwards ; and in several Psalms, especially in 



1 Num. xxi. 14 ; Jos. x. 13 ; 2 Sam. i. 18. 



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