i8 77 ] POETRY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 451 



problem of God s providence, which is the theme of the 

 poem, is the central problem of the pre-Christian economy; 

 and in the discussion of this grand enigma are absorbed 

 all the treasures of wisdom and fancy, all the splendour of 

 language and conception, that adorn the culmination of 

 Hebrew art. It would be vain to attempt in a few lines, 

 at the close of a paper already too long, to give even the 

 most inadequate idea of so inexhaustible and withal so 

 difficult a book ; but our brief sketch of Hebrew poetry 

 may fitly close when we can point to this noble and 

 imperishable monument of the world-wide significance of 

 the inspired genius of Israel. 



