present form, in accordance with the statement in 2Macc.ii.13, that he, founding a library, gathered together the acts of the Kings, and of the Prophets, and of David, &c.'

The later Psalms, which are mostly liturgical, are chiefly found in the last half of the collection, while, of the seventythree ascribed to David, fifty-five are found in the first half. There can be no doubt that the whole collection was formed gradually, Book I having been first formed, and then Book II, &c. This appears from the circumstance that there is some attempt at orderly arrangement in them, (e.g. all the 'Psalms of Asaph' except one, Ps. 1, are placed together), and yet no regular system of arrangement is carried out, either with regard to the supposed author, or the subject-matter of the Psalms, (e.g. 'Psalms of David' may be found scattered about in all the books).

438. At the end of Book II we find, 'The Psalms of David, the son of Jesse, are ended,' Ps.lxxii.28, which, as BLEEK justly observes, could not have been appended by the editor of the whole collection, since several Psalms of David' are inserted afterwards, nor scarcely by the compiler of the first two books, since seventeen of the Psalms contained in them are not ascribed to David. Rather, these words seem to have been written by the person, who began the collection of Book III by annexing the eleven Psalms of Asaph, to which, subsequently, the other six Psalms of Book III were added, including one of David's. He, probably, meant to draw a line of distinction between the foregoing Psalms, which, looking at them as a whole, he regarded as David's, and the Asaph collection, which he was now appending.

It is remarkable that not one of the Psalms is ascribed to one of the great Prophets, as Samuel, Isaiah, or Jeremiah, the latter of whom must surely have written many in his time.

And, indeed, Ps.xxxi has strong internal signs of being one of Jeremiah's. In v.13(14) we have app ip, 'fear on every side,' which occurs in Jer.vi.25,

Y

xx.3,4,10, xlvi.5, xlix.29, Lam.ii.22, but nowhere else in the Bible; and the whole clause in v.13(14), 'I have heard the slander of many, fear (is) on every side,' is identically repeated in Jer.xx.10. So we have, I shall not be ashamed,' v.1(2), 17(18), Jer.xvii.18; 'bow down the ear,' v.2(3), Jer.vii. 24,26, xi.8, xvii.23, xxv.4, xxxiv. 14, xxxv.15, xliv.5; pse ning, Jehovah, God of Truth,' v.5(6), Jer.x.10, nowhere else; i, 'grief,' v.10(11), Jer.viii.18, xx.18, xxxi.13, xlv.3; 7, sighing,' v.10(11), Jer. xlv.3, Lam.i.22.; bwią, ‘my strength faileth me,' v.10(11), Lam.i.14; 7, like a broken vessel,' v.12(13), Jer.xxii.28, li.34, comp. xix.11, xxv.34; □', 'supplications,' v.22(23), Jer.iii.21, xxxi.9; comp. nn, Jer.xxxvi.7, xxxvii.20, xxxviii. 26, xlii.2,9.

323

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE JEHOVISTIC PSALMS CONSIDERED.

439. WE have seen that all the Psalms in Book II, together with the eleven Psalms of Asaph in Book III, are decidedly Elohistic. All the remaining Psalms appear to be Jehovistic with one single exception, Ps.cviii (E.6,J.1). But this is evidently compounded of parts of the two Elohistic Psalms, lvii and lx, with one or two slight variations, the most noticeable being that Adonai, in Ps.lvii.9, is changed to Jehovah in Ps.cviii.3, that is, in the later edition, since, of course, the two complete Psalms existed before, probably long before, the composite Psalm was constructed.

440. Of the Jehovistic Psalms, fifty-five are ascribed to David; and it will be found that in these the name Jehovah occurs four times to Elohim once, while in twenty of them Elohim does not occur at all.

Now, as already observed, it is incredible, according to the ordinary laws of the human mind, that David should, in the very same part of his life, have written a number of Psalms with Elohim occurring on the average six times to Jehovah once, in several of which Jehovah does not occur at all, and another number of Psalms, in which Jehovah occurs on the average four times to Elohim once, and in many of which Elohim does not occur at all. Even allowing that in either set there may be many Psalms, which have been incorrectly ascribed to David, the argument holds good with regard to the remainder. As we

have certainly some of David's Psalms, written in the earlier and middle parts of his life, which are Elohistic, we may reasonably conclude that, if any of these Jehovistic Psalms really belong to him, they can only have been written in the last part of his life, when, according to our view, the word had become more familiar to himself, and better known to the people.

441. Accordingly, as far as we can depend upon the Titles, supported by the consideration of the contents, we find this to be the case. The following four Psalms are ascribed by their

Titles to the latter part of David's life.

(i) Ps.iii (J.6,E. 2) when David 'fled from Absalom,' in the sixty-third year of his life. HENGSTENBERG, however, agrees with LUTHER in considering, that, from the artificial construction of this Psalm, it must have been written at even a later date than the event to which it is supposed to refer. It speaks in v.4 of 'Jehovah's holy hill,' which points either to the Tabernacle or the Temple on Mount Zion, and, therefore, does not fix the Psalm to David's time.

(ii) Ps.vii (J.8,E.6), 'concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite,' whom LUTHER and others identify with Shimei, the son of Gera, the Benjamite, who insulted David on the same occasion, 2S.xvi.7,8, and whom David charged his son Solomon not to hold guiltless,' but to 'bring down his hoar hair to the grave with blood,' 1K.ii.8,9. HENGSTENBERG, while he agrees with LUTHER, and with most Jewish expositors, in regarding the word Cush as being not a proper name, but an epithet, Ethiopian,' used metaphorically of a 'man of a black heart,' understands it, however, of some unknown calumniator of David in the time of Saul. And he supports his view by a 'special reason' of astonishing cogency. The symbolical name for David's persecutor, Cush, wɔ, is a play upon the name of Saul's father, Kish, p! There is nothing in the Psalm itself to decide the question. (iii) Ps.xviii (J.16,E.11), when ‘David was delivered from all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.'

The last words of this title might seem to point to an earlier period, when he had only been recently delivered from Saul's hand.

I copy, however, on this point the following note of HENGSTENBERG: 'We are told in the superscription that David sang this Psalm, after that Jehovah had delivered him from all his enemies. The Psalm is thus designated, not as having arisen from some special occasion, but as a general song of praise, for all the grace and the assistance, which he had received from God all his life long, as a collection of the thanksgivings which David had uttered from time to time on particular occasions,- -a great Hallelujah, with which he retired from the theatre of life. In 28.xxii this Psalm is expressly connected with the end of David's life, imme

diately before his 'last words,' which are presently after given in chap.xxiii. With this design the matter of the Psalm entirely agrees. In it the Psalmist thanks God, not for any single deliverance, but having throughout before his eyes a great whole of gracious administrations, an entire life rich with experience of the loving-kindness of God.'

Thus this Psalm also, if written by David at all, was written at the close of his life.

(iv) Ps.xxx (J.10, E.2) was composed, according to the Title, 'for the dedication of the House of David.' This Title also might seem to point to the time, when David erected the Tabernacle on Mount Zion, and brought up the Ark to Jerusalem, in the fortieth year of his life. But on this point again HENGSTENBERG observes: 'The House, clearly, is the House of God, the Temple. And the Title indicates that this Psalm was sung at the dedication by David of the site of the future Temple, as recorded in 2S.xxiv and 1Ch.xxi.'

He then supports his statement by reference to the contents of the Psalm, which, certainly, do not at all correspond with the circumstances under which David's Tabernacle was consecrated, but agree with the story in the above two passages. And he quotes with reference to the site in question, 1Ch.xxii.1, Then David said, This is the House of Jehovah Elohim, and this is the Altar for the burnt-offering for Israel.' Thus, according to HENGSTENBERG, this Psalm also was written in the sixty-eighth year of David's life.

442. The above are all the Jehovistic Psalms, ascribed to David, whose titles mark the time of their composition, except Ps.cxlii, the title of which we have shown to be erroneous (426). As before observed, it cannot be regarded as certain that the above Titles are correct, or that all or any of the above Psalms are really David's, though it is probable that some of them are. Still some doubt, as to any Jehovistic Psalm being David's, must be caused by the fact, that the last words' of David, as given in 2S.xxiii. 1-7, which have all the appearance of being genuine, and which, in tone and character, are very like those Elohistic Psalms, which we know to be his, are also Elohistic, containing Elohim four times and Jehovah once. And the last verse of the Jehovistic Ps.xviii, which might be thought at first sight to point certainly to David as its author, 'Great deliverance giveth He to His king, and sheweth mercy to His anointed, to David and to his seed for evermore,'may very well have been written by some descendant of David, sitting upon his