Dart forth lightning, and scatter them ; Shoot out thine arrows, and destroy them." Psal. cxliv. 5, 6, "And they shall build houses, and shall inhabit them; And they shall plant vineyards, and shall eat the fruit thereof: They shall not plant, and another eat: For as the days of a tree, shall be the days of my people; And they shall wear out the works of their own hands." Isa. lxv. 21, 22. Parallels are also sometimes formed by a repetition of part of the first sentence: "My voice is unto God, and I cry aloud; My voice unto God, and he will hearken unto me." "I will remember the works of Jehovah; Yea, I will remember thy wonders of old." "The waters saw thee, O God; The waters saw thee; they were seized with anguish.” "For he hath humbled those that dwell on high; The feet of the poor, the steps of the needy." "What shall I do unto thee, O Ephraim ! Psal. lxxvii. 1. 11. 16. Isa. xxvi. 5, 6. Hos. vi. 4. Sometimes in the latter line a part is to be supplied from the former to complete the sentence: "And those that prosecute me thou wilt make to turn their backs to me; Those that have me, and I will cut them off." 2 Sam. xxii. 41. "The mighty dead tremble from beneath; The waters, and they that dwell therein." "And I looked, and there was no man ; Job. xxvi. 5. Even among the idols,† and there was no one that gave advice; answer. Farther, there are parallel triplets; when three lines In the parallel place, Psal. xviii. the poetical form of the sentence is much hurt, by the removing of the conjunction from the second to the first word in this line: but a MS. in that place reads as here. ↑ See the note on the place. correspond together, and form a kind of stanza; of which, however, only two commonly are synonymous: "The wicked shall see it, and it shall grieve him; Let not God from above inquire after it; Nor let the flowing light radiate upon it." "That night, let utter darkness seize it; Let it not be united with the days of the year; "Let the stars of its twilight he darkened : Let it look for light, and may there be none: Psal. cxii. 10. And let it not behold the eyelids of the morning." Job iii. 4. 6. 9. Isa. ix. 20. "And he shall shall snatch on the right, and yet be hungry; Joel iii. 13. There are likewise parallels consisting of four lines: two distichs being so connected together, by the sense ⚫ and the construction, as to make one stanza. Such is the form of the 37th Psalm; which is evidently laid out by the initial letters in stanzas of four lines; though in regard to that disposition some irregularities are found in the present copies. From this Psalm, which gives a sufficient warrant for considering the union of two distichs as making a stanza of four lines, I shall take the first example: "Be not moved with indignation against the evil-doers; Nor with zeal against the workers of iniquity: "The ox knoweth his possessor; And the ass the crib of his lord; But Israel doth not know Me ;* Neither doth my people consider." “And I said, I have laboured in vain ; Psal. xxxvii. 1, 2. For nought and for vanity I have spent my strength: * See the note on the place. Isa. i. 3. Nevertheless my cause is with Jehovah; And the reward of my work with my God." "Jehovah shall roar from Sion; And shall utter his voice from Jerusalem: Isa. xlix. 4. Amos i. 2. In like manner, some periods may be considered as making stanzas of five lines; in which the odd line, or member, either comes in between two distichs, or after two distichs makes a full close: "If thou wouldst seek early unto God; And make thy supplication to the Almighty; Verily now would he rise up in thy defence; And make peaceable the dwelling of thy righteousness." Job viii. 5, 6. "They bear him on the shoulder: they carry him about'; They set him down in his place, and he standeth; From his place he shall not remove; To him, that crieth unto him, he will not answer ; "Who is wise, and will understand these things? For right are the ways of Jehovah ; "And Jehovah shall roar out of Sion: And from Jerusalem shall utter his voice; And accomplisheth the counsel of his messengers: Isa. xlvi. 7. Hos. xiv. 9. Joel iii. 16. Isa. xliv. 26. In stanzas of four lines sometimes the parallel lines answer to one another alternately; the first to the third, and the second to the fourth: "As the heavens are high above the earth; So high is his goodness over them that fear him : As remote as the east is from the west; So far hath he removed from us our transgressions." Psal.ciii. 11,12. ⚫ compare the next verse; and see Isa. Iv. 9. and the note there, "And ye said: Nay, but on horses will we flee; Therefore shall ye be put to flight: And on swift coursers will we ride; Therefore shall they be swift, that pursue you." Isa. xxx. 16. And a stanza of five lines admits of the same ele gance: "Who is there among you, that feareth Jehovah? Let him hearken unto the voice of his servant: That walketh in darkness, and hath no light? Isa. 1. 10. The second sort of parallels are the antithetic: when two lines correspond with one another by an opposition of terms and sentiments; when the second is contrasted with the first, sometimes in expressions, sometimes in sense only. Accordingly the degrees of antithesis are various; from an exact contraposition of word to word through the whole sentence, down to a general disparity, with something of a contrariety, in the two propositions. Thus in the following examples: "A wise son rejoiceth his father; But a foolish son is the grief of his mother." Prov. x. 1. Where every word hath its opposite: for the terms father and mother are, as the logicians say, relatively opposite. "The memory of the just is a blessing; But the name of the wicked shall rot." Prov. x. 7. Here there are only two antithetic terms; for memory and name are synonymous. "There is that scattereth, and still increaseth; And that is unreasonably sparing, yet groweth poor." Prov. xi. 24. Here there is a kind of double antithesis; one between the two lines themselves; and likewise a subordinate opposition between the two parts of each. "Many seek the face of the prince; But the determination concerning a man is from Jevovah." Prov. xxix. 26. Where the opposition is chiefly between the single terms, the prince and Jehovah: but there is an opposition likewise in the general sentiment; which expresses, or intimates, the vanity of depending on the former, without seeking the favour of the latter. In the following there is much the same opposition of sentiment, without any contraposition of terms at all: "The lot is cast into the lap: But the whole determination of it is from Jehovah." Prov. xvi. 33. That is, the event seems to be the work of chance: but is really the direction of Providence. The foregoing examples are all taken from the Proverbs of Solomon, where they abound: for this form is peculiarly adapted to that kind of writing; to adages, aphorisms, and detached sentences. Indeed the elegance, acuteness, and force of a great number of Solomon's wise sayings arise in a great measure from the antithetic form, the opposition of diction and sentiment. We are not therefore to expect frequent instances of it in the other poems of the Old Testament; especially those that are. elevated in the style, and more connected in the parts. However, I shall add a few examples of the like kind from the higher poetry : "These in chariots, and those on horses; But we in the name of Jehovah our God will be strong.* They are bowed down, and fallen; But we are risen, and maintain ourselves firm." Psal. xx. 7, 8. "For his wrath is but for a moment, his favour for life; "Yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more ; Thou shalt look at his place, and he shall not be found: And delight themselves in abundant prosperity." Psal. xxxvii. 10, 11. In the last example the opposition lies between the two parts of a stanza of four lines, the latter distich being opposed to the former. So likewise the following: "For the mountains shall be removed; And the hills shall be overthrown: * ), so LXX. Syr. Æthiop. |