These additions are later and supposititious offsets from the original Danielitic stock of traditions and legends. Chap. xiv. 31, 32, has a resemblance with vi. 15, 16, namely, in representing Daniel as cast into the lions' den. The author may have been a certain Habakkuk, to judge from the title of chap. xiv. At any rate, they did not originate with the Alexandrian translators, but have an independent origin. b • Εκ προφητείας ̓Αμβακούμ υἱοῦ ̓Ιησου ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Λευί. 'See Bertholdt, Dan. p. 150, Einleit. p. 1581, 1589, on the Syriac and Arabic versions of these passages. 513 BOOK III. POETICAL BOOKS. § 260. CHARACTER AND KINDS OF HEBREW POETRY - ITS ["THE promise made to Abraham was never perfectly fulfilled, by reason of the disobedience of the people the land of Canaan was not entirely conquered, and thus an occasion was left for the apostasy and misery of the nation. History presents us only the alternative -apostasy and repentance, punishment and reconciliation. In vain God sent new messengers and heralds of his word, with threats and promises. Only once, under David, did the empire flourish, through obedience to its sovereign, Jehovah. Soon after his death, the greater part of the nation rebelled from the covenant of God, and were destroyed. Afterwards Judea, which, for a time, remained more faithful, revolted, and suffered the consequences of her apostasy. But, under this imperfect realization of the promise, the pious worshipper consoled himself only with the hope, that at some time, after their sin had been expiated, and God's wrath mitigated, the divine Spirit would appear in a more perfect form on the earth, through the mediation of a descendant of David, on whom all divine gifts would 65 VOL. II. rest; that the divine Spirit would be diffused over the whole nation, (Joel iii. 1,) and a new and more perfect covenant would be made. (Jer. xxxi. 31.) Accordingly, the nation was governed by the sense of a higher power in history, and of a benefit which surpassed their own powers, and was conferred on them by their worshipping the invisible God, and fulfilling his holy will. But, at the same time, there arose the feeling that they were the objects of God's choice, and that his word was continually imparted to some consecrated men in the midst of them. In the better part of public opinion, there was a reverence for the Spirit of God, which was continually working in the human mind, though the expression of this Spirit was often perplexed and disturbed by the intrusions of a false spirit. There was left, therefore, a free right of judging between what was divine and true, and what was human and false. The primitive revelation by Moses was only authenticated by the law of the two tables and the institutes of the theocracy. It therefore remained the object of free inquiry, and of further and more perfect development. Yea, the thought of rendering it more perfect might be entertained. "The Hebrew conceived of God as continually active in preserving the material universe he had created. He produces the common phenomena of nature, and by his immediate action. In particular he was conceived of as the God of thunder. He causes physical evils, to punish and correct mankind. It was the will of God, and not any natural necessity, which governed all things. In these conceptions, the idea of the eternal duration of all things, through the power of God, shows itself rather in feeling than in thoughts."] This being the case, we find the sentiment of devotion prevails in the institutions of the Hebrews. Lyric poetry corresponds to this sentiment, and therefore it prevailed among the Hebrews to such a degree, that whatever poetry there is in the prophetic writings, it is of this kind. The theocratic, moral, and religious subjects of the prophetic discourses, must have often led to lyric flights, while the general course of thought and style continued to be rhetorical and more quiet, by reason of its intelligible application to the details of actual public life. But, on the other hand, the prophets themselves at other moments, or some other pious poets, treated the same subjects, or more especially the particular state of the religious life, in the higher tone, and with the higher vision of lyric poetry.a § 261. THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. As the lyric element of prophecy was particularly developed, so likewise was the didactic. Not only the religious doctrine of retribution, which lies at the foundation of all the prophecies, and constitutes the fundamental thought in all their lyrico-elegiac effusions of the heart, but likewise religious ethics, which the prophets brought within their sphere, are treated of in independent productions, in a general or universal manner, and free from all particular applications. But both of these depart "The difference between the prophetic and lyric manner of treating the same or similar subjects, may be seen by comparing Psalms xlvi. and xlviii. with Isa. xxxii. and xxxiii. The affinity of prophetic and lyric poetry is indicated by the names and, which are common to both. See Ex. xv. 20, Judg. iv. 4, 1 Ch. xxv. 5, 2 Ch. xix. 30. De Wette, Dogm. § 94, 105. ments, the doctrine of retribution and of ethics, always remain with them, to a certain extent, under the dominion of lyric poetry, and can never obtain an entire independence. The form of a proverb, which these subjects sometimes take, is the only one which appears peculiar to them; but this form was highly favored by the symmetry of the members in Hebrew poetry. § 262. LYRIC POETRY, Agreeably to its nature, this kind of poetry, the handmaid of song,-in its simple form, at first sprang from the mouths of the people, particularly of the women. Thus Miriam sings, Ex. xv. 20, a woman in Psalms lxviii. 12, Judg. v. 1, xi. 34, xxi. 19, 21, 1 Sam. xviii. 6. It continued with them until David, the master of the chinnor, and perhaps other contemporaries of the prophetic schools, brought it to perfection." It was found in the sanctuary and at the court of Jerusalem, in connection with more highly finished songs. (2 Sam. vi. 16, 21, xix. 35, Eccl. ii. 8, Ps. lxviii. 26.) Here it received further attention from the Levites and prophets. Since it did not, like prophecy, derive its support from public life, it lived through the exile in all the vigor of its youth; and the collection of Psalms contains some beautiful specimens produced at that period. Although it was consecrated to holy uses, agreeably to its main purpose and religious tendency, yet, in the time when it flourished most, among the Hebrews it embellished • See De Wette, On the Origin and Cultivation of Lyric Poetry among the Hebrews, p. 5; and in Biblical Repository, vol. iii. p. 445, sqq. |