CXIV. This psalm is among the most artistic in the whole collection. Though ending so abruptly as to suggest-that it may be a fragment (the LXX., Syriac, Arabic versions, and some MSS. capriciously join it to the following psalm) it is in form perfect. The versification is regular, and the stanzas a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN ISRAEL WENT OUT. — LXX., in _“_the Exodus of Israel.” A PEOPLE OF STRANGE LANGUAGE. — LXX., rightly, “a barbarous people.” Since the Hebrew word, like the Greek, implies a certain scorn or ridicule, which ancient races generally had for those speaking another language. To this day the Russians... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDAH WAS. — Better, _became._ The feminine verb shows that the country is intended, and not the tribe, and the parallelism directs us to think not of the territory of the tribe of Judah alone, but of the whole country. Notice the art with which the name of God is reserved, and the simple pronoun, H... [ Continue Reading ]
FLED. — The Authorised Version weakens the effect by rendering “it was driven back.” (See Joshua 3:16.) The scene presented is of the “descending stream” (the words employed seem to have a special reference to that peculiar and most significant name of the “Jordan”) not parted asunder, as we general... [ Continue Reading ]
SKIPPED. — The Hebrew word thus rendered is translated “dance” in Ecclesiastes 3:4. (See Psalms 18:7.) Exodus 19:18 was no doubt in the poet’s thought, but the leaping of the hills formed part of every theophany.... [ Continue Reading ]
TREMBLE. — Literally, _be in travail._ This answer to his question is introduced with consummate art. Well may the mountains tremble, when it is the Lord of all the earth, the God of Jacob, who is present. Notice that till now the mention of the Divine power which wrought the deliverance was kept in... [ Continue Reading ]