Psalms of Solomon: Read Online

THE Psalms of Solomon are a collection of eighteen Psalms which were written, according to the theory (see below) now generally accepted, in the middle of the first century B.C.

These Psalms passed with many other Jewish writings into Christian use, being classed some- times with the ‘apocrypha’, sometimes with the ‘antilegomena’;! but their influence on Christian literature was neither very extensive nor intense, and they had passed out of sight and almost out of memory when at the beginning of the seventeenth century they again received attention. The editio princeps was published in 1626 by John Louis de la Cerda. This edition was based, as subsequent investigation and discovery have proved,? on a faulty copy of one (H) of the eight now known Greek MSS. which contain, together with other canonical and apocryphal books, the Psalms of Solomon. Before proceeding to the question of the origin and character of these Psalms it will be convenient to consider the material available for determining the text.

It may be regarded as practically certain (see below, § 4) that the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew: but this Hebrew original has perished and no testimony to it even survives. Till recently only Greek MSS. were known: nowa Syriac text of the Psalms is known: but the Syriac is not the Semitic original itself, nor a direct version of the original: it is a translation from the Greek. The hypothetical Hebrew original will be denominated ₪, the Greek text G, and the Syriac 5.

The determination of the relation of the existing Greek MSS. to one another is due to Oscar von Gebhardt,> on whose discussion the following account is based. All editions previous to von Gebhardt’s rest on inadequate textual material.

The following is a list of the MSS. of &, with the symbols by which they are cited, the century in which they were written, and brief description :

Symbol. Century. Description.

6 12-13 Codex Casanatensis 1008 (Rome). Ps. i. 1-ii. 26 and xvi. 8 to the end of the Psalter is missing or illegible.

H (=K, Ryle and James) 10-11 Codex Havniensis 6: purchased at Venice in 1699, but since 1732 in the Royal Library at Copenhagen. J 14 Codex Iberiticus: in the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos. L 12 A Codex of the Laura Monastery on Mount Athos. M 12-13 Codex Mosquensis 147: in the Library of the Holy

Synod at Moscow: formerly in the Iveron Monastery on Mount Athos, whence it was removed to Moscow in 1653.

18 15 (dated 1419) Codex Parisinus Gr. 2091 A: in the National Library, Paris. II-12 Codex (Romanus) Vaticanus Gr. 336: in the Vatican Library at Rome. Vv זז‎ Codex Vindobonensis Theol. Gr. זז‎ : now in the Royal

Imperial Library in Vienna.

The authority cited by Ryle and James (Ψαλμοὶ Σολομῶντος, Psalms of the Pharisees, Cam- bridge, 1891) as A is the faulty seventeenth-century copy of H, which was used for the cdzéio princeps.

1 Swete, Introduction to the Ο.Τ. in Greek, p. 282; O. von Gebhardt (as cited below), pp. 14 ff. 3 Von Gebhardt, pp. + ff. 5 Ο. von Gebhardt, Yadpot Σολομῶντος: die Psalmen Salomo's zum ersten Male mit Benutsuny der Athoshand- schriften u. des Codex Casanatensis herausgegeben, Leipzig, 1895. 6

1206.3 25 Sos

where the small letters represent lost MSS. and capitals the existing MSS.: in particular א‎ is the archetype of the Greek MSS.., y is an (uncial) MS. from which R and x an (uncial) MS. were copied. MS. w was also probably uncial; ο and 4, on the other hand, probably minuscule. As between R and 4 (i.e. practically J LC 11 in agreement) von Gebhardt finds it difficult to determine which is the better MS. The variations between them amount to over 200 (von Gebhardt, p. 71), though by no means all of these affect the sense even of the Greek, and still less that of the Hebrew text lying behind the Greek. For some of the more important of these variations see ii. 6, 24.

The Syriac Version is incompletely preserved: the MS., which also contained the really distinct work known as the Odes of Solomon, first published by Rendel Harris! in 1909, is defective at the close; xvii. 38 4 to the end of xviii (the last Psalm) is missing. A small fragment of another MS. (containing xvi. 6-13) was subsequently discovered by Dr. Barnes in the Cambridge University MS. Add. 2012 (see Harris, p. 16), and Dr. Burkitt has still more recently drawn attention to yet another 15 7 Harris (pp. 38 ff.) has argued (1) that the Syriac is a version of the Greek, not of the Semitic original of the Psalms: (2) that the place of the Greek text lying behind 5 is with RJ L, perhaps being intermediate between J and L: (3) that in some passages 5 implies a reading of ₪ preferable to that of all existing MSS. of ₪ (e.g. in ii. 41 ὑπὸ τῶν 3, ἐνώπιον G).2 From these conclusions the present writer sees no sufficient reasons for dissenting : there are, here and there, renderings of 5 which might well rest on a Hebrew original rather than on &, or which are not entirely explained by the text of any of the existing MSS. of ₪ ; but these renderings could scarcely establish a Hebrew original, and certainly should not outweigh the substantial evidence that 5 is a version of 68. For this evidence see Harris, pp. 38 Π.: he rightly declines to allow this evidence

to be outweighed by the curious paronomasia in xi. 6 f., where «5? might more readily have been suggested by an original Hebrew than by the ἀνέτειλεν of 6. So again we might more readily explain ₪90 of ii. 1 as a rendering of M823 (cp. Ps. ix. 23 (x. 2)) than of ἐν τῷ ὑπερηφανεύεσθαι (= M83), for 5 commonly has «5 where & has ἐν with the infin. (see e. g. i. 1, 3, v. 3, Vi. 2, Ix. 1, XVI. 1, 3); yet see ν. 7, xv. 1. For another example of passages which might in themselves be well explained as resting on ® rather than &, see xvii. 21. Apart from the general agreement of 5 with G, even where there is ground for suspecting that the latter rests on corruption in the transmission of G, or is the result of original faulty translation from ₪, there is evidence which may be illustrated by two or three examples: (1) in v. 16 KwXo must be due to a confusion of od and οὗ; (2) in li, 24 (Vi. 7) ἐδεήθην τοῦ προσώπου κου, a euphemistic rendering of ואחל 9 י"י‎ (cp. 2 Kings xiii. 4), is literally rendered from the Greek luz.) 0090 Kuss; ct. 2 Kings xiii. 4, where 8 is, indeed, para- phrased, but differently, Liso Ρε... yo; (3) in xiii. 3 the ambiguous clause ἐν ταῖς μύλαις 1S rendered by 3, not as the context requires with molar teeth (= my>rina), but with millstones (which in ₪ would have been entirely dissimilar—nonna). See further notes on passages where 3 agrees with & though & appears to have misunderstood ₪ ; e. g. ii. 12; iii. 2, 4 ; viii. 3 (‘as’), 142,17 (xvii. 14).

' ו‎ The Odes and Psalms of Solomon published from the Syriac Version, by J. Rendel Harris, Cambridge, 1909; ed. 2, 1911.

? This MS., now in the British Museum (B. M. Add. 14538), was described in Wright’s Catalogue, pp. 1003-1008, and assigned by him to the tenth century a.D. For a description of that part of the MS. which contains the Odes and Psalins of Solomon, and for a collation of the variants as compared with Harris’s MS., see Dr. Burkitt's note in the Journal of Theological Studies, April, 1912, pp. 372-378.

® See also ii. 20, where all MSS. of & read xaréorace(v), but S = κατεσπάσθη; xvi. 9 ἐν τόπῳ (so all MSS. but J), a scribal emendation of εν τωπω (so J), which is itself a corruption of ἐνώπιον (so 3).

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That the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew is now generally admitted: this conclusion was indeed disputed by Hilgenfeld (AZesstas Judaeorum, Prolegg. xvi, xvii), but his arguments are criticized by Wellhausen (Die Pharisaer u. die Sadducier (1874) and Ryle and James (p. Ixxxiv. f.).

Briefly stated, the argument that the Greek is not the original work, but a translation from an original, and now lost, Hebrew text, is this: Not only (1) does the Greek throughout show many features in common with Greek versions of existing Hebrew originals, but (2) it contains a certain number of strange expressions which are more or less obviously due to blunders in translating from Hebrew. As to(1), which might, if necessary, be largely, though not easily altogether, explained as not due to translation, but as a Hellenistic style specially influenced by the LXX, it must suffice to refer to the illustrations collected by Ryle and James (pp. 1xxx ff.) of peculiar uses of the infin. and the aorist, of prepositions, of the negative od... πᾶς = ,לא , . . כל‎ of nouns anarthrous because equivalent to Hebrew nouns in the status constructus, of substantives in the genitive used in lieu of adjectives, and many other phenomena. For illustrations of (2) reference may be made to the notes below on ii. 12, 13, 19, 29, ili. 2, 4, v. 15, Vii. 4, vill. 3, ix. 5, xv. 8, xvil. 14, 36.

A third line of argument might be urged: in not a few places the Hebrew rhythm can be still heard through the Greek version; as for example the so-called #zzah rhythm (3: 2) in Ps. viii.

But if the conclusion is right that behind the Greek lies a Hebrew original, the task of transla- tion and interpretation must be constantly governed by it. Passages which might only be translated in one way, and so translated might receive some explanation, if the Greek were original, must often be translated otherwise, if the Hebrew, lying behind the Greek, would admit, or demands, an alterna- tive translation that can receive a more satisfactory explanation. And in every case in which the Greek can only be explained in a strained and artificial manner, it is important to bear in mind the probability that the meaning of the Hebrew may have been different and simpler, even though the exact form and meaning of the Hebrew can no longer be discerned. In the notes that accompany the following translation it has been impossible to draw attention to all such alternatives; and in particular the tenses of the verbs have been represented by an equivalent in English which seemed most likely to express the force of the term in the original Hebrew, but only comparatively seldom have alternative possibilities been suggested. For a future tense the reader can always, if the context seems to him to render it more suitable, substitute a present and often a past.

The earliest direct testimony to the Psalms of Solomon is in the catalogue at the beginning of the Codex Alexandrinus (A: fifth century Α.Ὀ.). Here it stands after the final summary of the books of the Old and New Testaments.

Other references to the Psalms by name are later: the Pseudo-Athanasian Synopsis Sanctac Scripturae (? sixth century A.D.) (§ 74) places ψαλμοὶ καὶ ᾠδὴ Σολομῶντος among the antilegomena after Maccabees (four books) and Ptolemaica, and before Susanna; Nicephorus, Patriarch of Con- stantinople (A. .כ‎ 806-814), places them between Eccles. and Esther. In the text attached to the Quaestiones et Responsiones of Anastasius Sinaita (ᾳ 640~700) Ψαλμοὶ Σολομῶντος are classed among twenty-five apocryphal books between the Assumption of Moses and the Apocalypse of Elijah.

The provision of the fifty-ninth canon of the Council of Laodicea (c. 360 A. D.), ὅτι οὐ δεῖ ἰδιωτικοὺς ψαλμοὺς λέγεσθαι ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, may be directed against church use of the Psalms of Solomon; but neither this reference nor a similar one in Ambrose, Pracf. in Lib. Psalmorum, is free from ambiguity. So also the references in the Pistis Sophia (c. 250 A.D.) and Lactantius (fourth century A.D.) to the Odes of Solomon have a bearing on the date and history of the Psalms of Solomon only in so far as it can be shown that these two entirely distinct works were accustomed at an early date to be united as they are in the newly-recovered Syriac MS. On this see Harris, pp. 9 ff.

These references are of more importance as casting light on the circulation and position of the Psalms in the early Church than for closely determining the date at which the Psalms were written. For this we must turn to the internal evidence.

No argument can be based on language of the lost original, for though the Hebrew text can be to a large extent recovered, it cannot be so re-established in its minutiae as to admit of a linguistic argument of any weight.

It is different with the language of the Greek version, and attempts have been made to determine the date of that version, and consequently a terminus ad quem for the original work, by

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means of the style and affinities of the Greek in which it is written. From the Greek style and the relation of Pss. of Sol. xi to the Greek of Baruch iv. 36-ν. 9 Ryle and James (pp. Ixxii ff.) have argued that the Psalms of Solomon had been turned into Greek before A.D. 70. In so far as this argument turns on the assumption that Baruch iv. 36-v. 9 was originally written in Greek and is not a translation from the Hebrew, it may require reconsideration : for, to mention but a single point, in Baruch v. 6 αἱρομένους. . ὧν θρόνον seems to be due to a thoughtless disregard of a well-known use of the Hebrew particle כ‎ (BD&. 458 a): the sense requires borne as on a throne; this the Hebrew ככסא‎ would admit, but the Greek yields only the unsuitable meaning borne as a throne. However, the affinities of the Greek have convinced Viteau (pp. 140 ff.) who rejects, as well as Ryle and James who accept, the dependence of Baruch iv. 36-v.y on Pss. of Sol. xi, that the translation was made prior to A.D. 70.

But the main argument for the date of the Psalms must be based on the subject-matter of these. Now the state of society reflected in these Psalms and the ideas that dominate them are entirely compatible with all that is known of the middle of the first century B.C., while the definite historical allusions, if these are rightly explained of Pompey’s actions in Palestine and his death in Egypt (48 B.c.), show that it is the middle of the first century B.C., and not any other period at which the state of society and the ruling ideas may have been similar, that is the actual age in which the Psalms of Solomon were written.

Not all the Psalms taken separately, it is true, point with equal clearness to the circumstances under, or the age in, which they arose: but there is a general similarity of tone and character about them which, failing direct evidence to the contrary, justifies the generally accepted theory that they are the work, if not of a single hand, yet of a single generation.

These Psalms are the work of a writer or writers who, in common with the authors of many of the canonical Psalms, held firmly by the belief in the relative righteousness of Israel as compared with the nations of the world ; alien nations are as such ‘sinners’ (i. 1, ii. 1 ₪, 24 ff.)

Yet actually Israel is not righteous as it should be, and as it had thought itself )6. ₪. i. 2 Ε). On the other hand, there is within Israel a class, a dominating class so influential and powerful as to give in some measure its character to the entire people (cp. e.g. i. 4, xvii. 22), of ‘sinners’. Thus throughout the Psalms Israel appears divided into sections or parties; the one section, or party, consists of the righteous,’ or pious,’ or those that fear the Lord,* or the poor,® or the guileless ; * the other section consists of the unrighteous,’ or sinners,® or transgressors,’ or profane,!’ or, as they are termed in the fourth Psalm, the men-pleasers (ἀνθρωπόρεσκοι).

In this division of the people into two different parties, regarded as morally or religiously opposed, and even in the use of the terms employed to describe them, the Psalms of Solomon do not differ essentially from a large group of the canonical Psalms. As in those so in these, the writers naturally identify themselves with the section of the righteous or the pious. The more closely we can deter- mine the actual character of the two parties thus described, the more closely shall we be able to determine the nature of the circles from which the Psalms sprang and the conditions under which they were written. In attempting to gather from the Psalms this closer determination of the characteristics of each party it must of course be remembered, and allowed for, that we are dealing with a strongly partisan work. Neither the righteousness of the righteous, nor the sinfulness of the sinful, must be accepted too literally.

The‘ sinners’ had recently passed through a period of prosperity, and they had acquired wealth ; but to ease and prosperity had succeeded the distress of war, which, of course, affected the whole nation, * sinners’ and ‘righteous’ alike (i), though in some ways more particularly the ‘sinners’; it was members of that party, if not exclusively yet predominantly, who were led away captive by the invaders (1. 3-15, ix. 3 Π., viii. 24).

Prosperity had produced in the ‘sinners’ insolence and self-reliance (i) and disregard of God (iv. 14,24). They are charged, in particular, (1) with gross sensual sins (ii. 13-15, iv. 4 Π., vill. 9 ff., 24), (2) with profanation of the sanctuary, or the sacred objects (i. 8, ii. 3 @, viii. 12, 26), and of the sacrificial

1 Cf. Judges xx. 39, where ,במלחמה‎ ‘as in the war’, is rendered in the LAX καθὼς 6 πόλεμος. See also my note at end of § 6 in Introd.to 1 Baruch, vol. i.—Gen. Editor.

5 δίκαιοι, 1.6. צריקים‎ ; see ii. 38, iii, 3-8, 14, iv. 9, x. 3, xiii. 5-8, xiv. 6, xv. 8, xvi. 15.

5 ὅσιοι, 1.6. חסידים‎ ; see ili. το, iv. 1, 7, 9, vili. 28, 40, ix. 6, x. 7, xii. 5, 8, xiii. 9, 11, .טוא‎ 2, 7, XV. 9, xvii. 18.

* (οἱ) φοβούμενοι (τὸν) κύριον, 1.6. י"*‎ “NV; see ii. 37, iii. 16, iv. 26 (ct. 5. 24), ν. 21, xii. 4, xili, 11, xv. 15.

δ πτωχοί עניים)‎ ?( ; see ν. 2, 13 (also πένης), x. 7, XV. 2, XViil. 3.

© ἄκακος; see iv. 25, xii. 4. 7 ἄδικοι, 1.6. רשעים‎ ; see xii. 6, xv. 6. 5 ἁμαρτωλός, i.e. הטאים‎ ; see ii. 38 ₪ iii. 11, 13, Iv. 9, 27, xii. 8, xv. 9-14, xvii. 6, and elsewhere (cp. xili). * παράνομοι, 1. 6. פשעים‎ (?) ; see iv. 21, xii. 1, 4, xiv. 6. 10 βέβηλος, 1.6. חנף‎ ; see iv. 1.

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offerings (ii. 3 4, viii. 12 ff). More than once they are said to have exceeded the nations in trans- gression (i. 8, ii. 11, viii. 14). Yet they are, or at least attempt to be, outwardly extremely respectable (iv. 2, 11, 25); they are hypocrites—imoxpwopevot (iv. 22), οἱ ἐν ὑποκρίσει Corres (iv. 7). As a class they are, especially as contrasted with the righteous poor, wealthy (cf. xii. 4, xv. 7); as a set-off against this they will, in the judgement of their opponents, have no portion in the life of blessedness to come: all that awaits them after death is destruction in Sheol (xiv. 4 Π., xv. 11-14). The charges of profanation of the sacred offerings seem to imply that the wicked, or the nucleus of the party, were intimately connected with the Temple-service: another charge, viz. that they had set up a non-Davidic monarchy (xvii. 7, 8), points to their being the adherents of the later Hasmo- naeans who from Aristobulus I (104 B. C.) and onwards claimed the title of king till the time (63 B.C.) when Pompey deposed Aristobulus IT, and, while leaving Hyrcanus high-priest, deprived him of the title of king.

Over against this wealthy governmental party of ‘sinners’ stand the ‘righteous’, who are also called ὅσιοι, a term which doubtless here, as in the LXX version of the canonical Psalms, represents the Hebrew Aasfdim, godly or pious. (In x. 7 the poor stands in parallelism, and probably in synony- mous parallelism, with the pious: and there are other indications, besides the further occurrence of the term ‘poor’, that the party of the righteous consisted largely of persons of restricted means (cp. xv. 1, xvi. 12 ff.). The ‘righteous’, moreover, were political quietists (xii. 6), accepting the present distress as a discipline from God, which it was their duty to endure patiently (xiv. 1, xvi. 11), and assured that such patience would find its reward, if not in this age or life, yet in the life to come (xiii. 0-11, xiv. 3, .טא‎ 15, xvi. 1-3). They waited for the fulfilment of the promises (xii. 7), especially for the coming of the promised Messianic king (xvii. 23 ff., xviii. 6 ff.), who would fulfil the prophetic ideal of rule based, not on material resources, but on the power of God (xvii. 37).

Conspicuous elements in the righteousness of the righteous were abstention (xvi. 7 f.) from the sexual sins which so offended them in their opponents, and scrupulous anxiety about sins done in ignorance (xiii. 4 ff.): their righteousness was pre-eminently ‘a righteousness according to the Law’ (xiv. 2). Here, again, we are face to face with a circle not remote, in character at least, and probably not very remote in time, from circles whence some of the canonical Psalms proceeded )6. ₪. xix, cxix).

Thus apart from xvii. 7, 8, which if it is to be interpreted strictly must point to a date after 104 B.C., none of the passages so far cited are decisive as between the two periods ο. 165 and 6. 63 B. C., which have chiefly been claimed as the period of origin of these Psalms. More decisive, in the opinion of the majority of recent scholars, are the allusions to external events. These Psalms bring before us not only Jewish society divided into two parties, but also a foreign conqueror. The references to this conqueror are, again, in part general and applicable to almost any foreign foe: for example, we may compare ii. 25-28 with what is said in Isa. x. 5-15, and even the striking use of the term ‘dragon’ in ii. 29 has its parallel in the comparison of Nebuchadnezzar to a תנין = עשא006‎ in Jer. li. (xxviii.) 34. But others are more specific ; this conqueror comes from the West, for thence he carries his captives (xvii. 14): though at first welcomed by (a party of) the nation, who left the way open for him to approach Jerusalem (viii. 18 f.), he Jater found resistance and was compelled to use battering-rams to destroy the fortifications of Zion (ii. 1 f.); having captured Zion he defiled the altar by letting his soldiers contemptuously trample it (ii. 2, cp, vii. 2): ultimately he is slain dishonourably in Egypt and his body lay exposed for lack of burial (ii. 30 f.).

Now all these some- what particular characteristics of the conqueror agree pretty closely with what is known of Pompey, and in their entirety they do not agree with any other known historical character: as a Roman, Pompey came from the West, and thither he carried back captive Aristobulus and his children ; at first he was ndt merely not resisted by the princes Aristobulus 11 and Hyrcanus 11, but on his way from Damascus southwards ambassadors met him bearing a rich present, and the fortresses on the way to Jerusalem were delivered up to Pompey ; later, however, the party of Aristobulus entrenched themselves in Zion, and then Pompey brought up battering-rams and therewith demolished the walls that protected the Temple area ; it is true the profanation of the altar to which allusion is made in ii. 2 is not divecily mentioned in the accounts of Pompey’s capture of Jerusalem, while his intrusion into the Holy of Holies is not alluded to in the Psalms; yet the altcrnative identification with Antiochus Epiphanes is in this respect not preferable, for the ‘abomination of desolation’ is just as little covered by the terms used in these Psalms. Finally, like the conqueror in the Psalms, Pompey is slain in Egypt, and his body, after being exposed on the beach, was hastily burned on an improvised pyre.

It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that these similarities between the conqueror of the Psalms and Pompey can only be due to the fact that the conqueror in the Psalms and Pompey are onc and

For references to the sources for these or other details see nutcs on the passages cited above and others (ii. 1, 2,‏ ג vill. 18, £9, 22, 23, 24, xvil. 6, 54).‏ ,31 ,30 629

the same person. Frankenberg, who has most elaborately in recent times argued for identification with Antiochus Epiphancs, is compelled, not very satisfactorily, to treat the description of the death of the conqueror in ii. 30 Π., not as reference to fact, but as wzrcalised prophecy.’ So also, on his interpretation, xvii. 7-10 is prophetic not historic, and ‘the man alien to our race’ (ἄνθρωπος ἀλλότριος γένους ἡμῶν) is not Pompey, nor even Antiochus, but the Messiah !

If we are right in identifying the person slain in ii. 30 f. with Pompey, that Psalm in particular was written aftcr, and probably soon after, 48 B.C., the date of Pompey’s death. None of the other Psalms refer to Pompey’s death, and the majority of them may well be somewhat earlier than the second, and have been written soon after Pompey’s invasion of Palestine (63 1.0.). Wellhausen suggested that iv might refer to, and also have been written in, the reign of Alexander Jannaeus (103-78), but this is uncertain. On the other hand, Ryle and James argue with some probability that Psalms iv and xii, in which the ‘sinners’ are denounced but not yet punished, and the intervention of the Gentiles was apparently as yet unforeseen, may be the earliest of the collection. These may have been written before Pompey’s invasion.

If, now, the date of these Psalms is correctly determined, we need not hesitate to see in the ‘righteous’ of the Psalms the Pharisees, and in the ‘sinners’ the Sadducees (cf. iv. 2 ff.) ; and in the Psalms themselves the work of one or more of the Pharisees. It is the Pharisaic piety that breathes through the Psalms; it is their opposition to the worldly, non-Davidic monarchy, and to the illegitimate high-priesthood, of the ruling Hasmonaean king, Aristobulus, that finds expression here; the Messianic hope (esp. xvii. 23 ff.), the firm belief in a future life which characterizes them later (N.T., Jos.), and renders them naturally political quietists and indifferent to political schemes, are already conspicuous here. And, again, the later attitude of the Pharisees in the matter of free-will as described by Josephus (B. /. ii. 8. 14)—these ascribe all to fate and to God, and yet allow that to act as is right, or the contrary, is principally in the power of men: although fate does co-operate in every action—is almost exactly paralleled by two passages in these Psalms, v. 4, ix. 6.

A considerable literature has grown up around the Psalms: an account of what had appeared down to 1891 is given by Ryle and James, and the more recent, as well as the earlier literature, will be found in the extensive bibliography in J. Viteau, Les Psawmes de Salomon (Paris, 1911), pp. 240- 251. The most important works are: for the Greek text, von Gebhardt’s edition (cited above, p. 658) ; for the Syriac versions, Harris's edition, cited above (p. 659), in the second edition (pp. ix—xii) of which a full bibliography of discussions of the Syriac are given; for interpretation and the con- sideration of the original Hebrew, Wellhausen (cited above, p. 639), and Ryle and James (cited above, p- 658). Seealso Viteau, of. cit.; Kittel, in Kautzsch’s Die Apokryphenu. Psendepigraphen sum A.T. ii. 127-48 (a German translation arranged in distichs and strophes, with brief introduction and notes); R. 11. Charles in &. 01. i. 241-245.

a νὰ also Cheyne’s rejection of the identification of Pompey with the dragon of ii (Hiééert Journal, Oct. 1910, Ρ. 207 f.).

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1 « I cried unto the Lord when I was in distress [ ],

Unto God when sinners assailed. 2 Suddenly the alarm of war was heard before me ; (I said), He will hearken to me, for I am full of righteousness. 3 I thought in my heart that I was full of righteousness, Because I was well off and had become rich in children. 4 Their wealth spread to the whole earth, And their glory unto the end of the earth. 5 They were exalted unto the stars ; They said they would never fall. 6 But they became insolent in their prosperity, And... 7 Their sins were in secret, And even I had no knowledge (of them). 8 Their transgressions (went) beyond those of the heathen before them ; They utterly polluted the holy things of the Lord.

2 τ When the sinner waxed proud, with a battering-ram he cast down fortified walls,

And Thou didst not restrain (him).

2 Alien nations ascended Thine altar, They trampled (it) proudly with their sandals ;

3 Because the sons of Jerusalem had defiled the holy things of the Lord, Had profaned with iniquities the offerings of God.

1. 1. when I was in distress. So perhaps @ (cf. e.g. Ps. Ixvi. 14). 6 adds eis τέλος, which may be (1) a mis- translated and misplaced title = ‘ To the chief musician ’ (cf. Ps. liv ((צ1)‎ ; the rhythm of # (3: 3) would have been complete without anything corresponding to this clause; or (2) an intensification: ‘When I was in sore distress’; cf. 2 Chron. xii. 12, xxxi. 1 ; 1 Thess. ii. 16. 5S ‘at my end’.

(I said). Not expressed in the MSS. of G, nor in 5, but possibly lost in the course of the transmission of &. full of righteousness. Cf. Isa. i. 21. ‘Am full’; G ‘ was full’.

4. The fame of the wealth and glory of the Jews, the children (v. 3) of Zion, passed from mouth to mouth till it filled the whole world. For διεδόθη (cf. 2 Macc. iv. 39), the reading of RJ LS, H has, erroneously, διέλθοι, ‘may their wealth go forth’. The exact force of 1) cannot be inferred.

suggests that ἤνεγκαν arose from misreading as לא הביאו‎ an original ,ולא הבינו‎ ‘and they were without understanding ’. 8. the holy things. 63 may also, and ὦ can only, mean ‘the sanctuary’, 1. 6. the Temple.

Il. 1. Addressed to God. The 3rd pers. sing. in this verse and below may refer in particular to Pompey, or, being used collectively, to the Roman army (cp. v. 2). When the sinner waxed proud (בַּנָאוּת)‎ . - - he cast down, or, ‘ proudly (73823) the sinner . . . cast down.’ Cp. Ps. x. 2. a battering-ram. Pompey brought up battering-rams from Tyre and therewith broke down the fortified wall that enclosed the Temple. See Jos. 414. xiv. 4.2; B. 13 2. The writer singles out for mention not Pompey's personal intrusion into the Holy of Holies (Jos. Azz. xiv. 4. 4, 5.1. 1. 7. 6), but the irreverent treatment of the altar in front of the Temple by the Roman soldiers. To this Josephus does not specifically refer ; though cp., ‘ Many of the priests, even when they saw their enemies assailing them with their swords in their hands... went on with their divine worship, and were slain while they were offering their drink- offerings and burning their incense’ (2. 2. i. 7. 5( 8 arth their sandals. They not only trampled the altar, but that even without removing their sandals (cp. 2106. iii. ς). 3. the holy things. See i. 8n. 631

4 Therefore He said: Cast them far from Me ; 5% was set at naught before God,

It was utterly dishonoured ; 6 The sons and the daughters were in grievous captivity,

Sealed (?) (was) their neck, branded (?) (was it) among the nations.

7 According to their sins hath He done unto them, For He hath left them in the hands of them that prevailed. 8 He hath turned away His face from pitying them, Young and old and their children together ; 9 For they had done evil one and all, in not hearkening. το (ο) And the heavens were angry, And the earth abhorred them ; 11 For no man upon it had done what they did,

13 (10) And the earth recognized all Thy righteous judgements, O God. 13 (11) They set the sons of Jerusalem to be mocked at in return for (the) harlots in her ;

Every wayfarer entered in in the full light of day.

1g (12) They made mock with their transgressions, as they themselves were wont to do ,

In the full light of day they revealed their iniquities.

(13) And the daughters of Jerusalem were defiled in accordance with Thy judgement,

15 Because they had defiled themselves with unnatural intercourse. (14) 1 am pained in my bowels and my inward parts for these things.

4. Cast them, viz. the offerings (and holy things) of v. 3. This is clearly the meaning of the unambiguous neuter pronoun in σα, but in 1 the pronoun may have been masculine, and therefore ambiguous ; in that case the real antecedent of the pronoun may have been *the sons of Jerusalem . ,

, 5. The sense of the original in vv. 44, 5/5 cannot be determined; it may have differed considerably from that of the MSS. of 65 and &, or of the conjectural emendations of 6. Following the MSS. of &, and the punctuation found in them, we may render 40 :--

His (i. e. God’s) glorious beauty prospered them not. Of this ₪ is perhaps merely a loose rendering :-- And He did not establish with them His glorious beauty. Hilgenfeld conjectured εὐδοκῶ ἐν αὐτοῖς for εὐόδωκεν (RJ L: εὐώδωκεν H) αὐτοῖς; and this is adopted by von Gebhardt, who also adopts αὐτῆς (M) for αὐτοῦ (RJ LH S). Then 44, 5 may be rendered :-- I have no pleasure in them (cp. Jer. xiv. 12). Her (Jerusalem's, cp. .יז‎ 20, 22, 23) glorious beauty was set at naught before God. The conjecture gives a rather more attractive phraseology than the text of G&, but v.44 would in that case have balanced ο. 4a very badly in the original Hebrew; and the position of τὸ κάλλος τῆς δόξης abr. more naturally corresponds to that of the obj. of the verb in 4 4 than to that of the subj. of the verb in z. 5.

6 6. The line in some way, doubtless, expressed the ignominy of the captive (v.6@) Jews; but the meaning of & (of which 3 ‘and on their neck is set the sealed yoke of the peoples ’, is probably a free rendering), and still more that of 13, is far from clear. Most probably the allusion is to the branding of slaves with the tokens of their masters. It is true that the branding of the zecé in particular is not elsewhere mentioned, but ‘ many slave collars have been found in Roman Cities, inscribed with the master’s name and some such addition as 7ene ute, guia fugio” (Ryle and James). Kit. thinks the allusion may be to the custom of sealing or stamping the collar or clothing of a slave (Talmud Babli Shaté. 28 a). For more or 1655 different explanations see Viteau’s η. ad /oc., and Biichler in JQA, xv (1903), ΡΡ. 115 ff.

Sealed, Gk. ‘ with (in) a seal’. This can scarcely mean ‘ (surrounded) with a fetter’ (Wellh.). | "יו‎ branded. Gk. ‘with a slave-brand’ (cp. Hesychius, 5.2 ἐπίσημον). But another meaning is possible, viz. ‘in the sight of’ (Kit. ? = ond M33), But ἐν ἐπισήμῳ scarcely means ‘ in a public place’ (cp. xvii. 32), viz. Rome.

ga. Ct. Ps. cit. 10.—76. Ct. Ps. xxxvii. 33.

They, viz. the heathen; soRJLS. ‘ He’ (viz. God) Η.

in return for (the) harlotsin her. πορνῶν ἐν αὐτῇ should correspond to ,(ה)זנות בה‎ or Mn. In either case 3) probably intended ‘in return for her whoredoms’ (Ezek. xxiii. 14, 18) (abstract ΓΑΣ WI rather than M131, ‘her harlots’).

130 140. ‘According as the Jews were wont to do, even so, by way of retribution, the Gentiles exposed to the world the iniquities of the Jews.?” This may correctly interpret the passage, but the punctuation of the MSS. of & and parallelism favour the above division into lines rather than taking ‘as they themselves were wont to do’ with what follows.

14 6. In the full light of day, lit. ‘before the sun’. Cp. 2 Sam. xii. 11 {. ,

to incest (viii. 10) and other foul unions.

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₪

16 (15) (And yet) I will justify Thee, O God, in uprightness of heart,

For in Thy judgements is Thy righteousness (displayed), O God.

17 (16) For Thou hast rendered to the sinners according to their deeds,

|

8 (17) 19 (18)

(19) (20)

(21) 23

(22)

5 (23) 26

7 (24) 28

9 (25)

Yea according to their sins, which were very wicked.

Thou hast uncovered their sins, that Thy judgement might be manifest ; Thou hast wiped out their memorial from the earth.

God is a righteous judge, And He is no respecter of persons,

For the nations reproached Jerusalem, trampling it down ; Her beauty was dragged down from the throne of glory.

She girded on sackcloth instead of comely raiment, A rope (was) about her head instead of a crown.

She put off the glorious diadem which God had set upon her, In dishonour was her beauty cast upon the ground.

And I saw and entreated the Lord and said, Long enough, O Lord, has Thine hand been heavy on Israel, in bringing the nations upon (them). For they have made sport unsparingly in wrath and fierce anger ; And they will make an utter end, unless Thou, O Lord, rebuke them in Thy wrath. For they have done it not in zeal, but in lust of soul, Pouring out their wrath upon us with a view to rapine. Delay not, O God, to recompense them on (their) heads, To turn the pride of the dragon into dishonour.

30 (26) And I had not long to wait before God showed me the insolent one

Slain on the mountains of Egypt,

2oa6. These lines are incorrectly given in the order ὁ α in the ed. princeps and subsequent editions, including that of Ryle and James.

For. The yap, perhaps, as often in parts of the Ο.Τ. (e.g. Isaiah), had nothing corresponding to it in #9. was dragged down. MSS. of G ‘he dragged down’; but 5S has a passive verb and, so far, supports as the true Greek reading von Gebhardt’s conjecture, κατεσπάσθη for κατέσπασεν (R), κατέσπασε (J LH).

Long enough . . . has Thine hand been. G lit. ‘ makes sufficient that Thy hand should be’: but the idiom in ® was probably the same as in Deut. i. 6, ii. 3.

OLord. J.om.

Israel. So R (iA) 5 : other MSS, of G * Jerusalem ’.

in bringing the nations upon (them), or, as in Ecclus. iii. 28 (cp. x. 13, xxv. 13 {.), ἐν ἐπαγωγῇ (H erroneously ἀπαγωγῇ) may = N23, * with smiting of the nations’, i.e. God bas smitten Israel by means of the nations; cp. Isa. X. 5, 20, 24.

fierce anger: θυμῷ μετὰ µηνίσεως.

not in zeal to fulfil God's punitive purposes Concerning Israel; cp. Isa. x. 7.

28. with a view to rapine. Against Pompey personally this particular charge would be unfair; when he entered he refrained from plundering the Temple (Jos. «411. xiv. 4. 4); but against the nations, i.e. the Romans, it might well lie (see Ryle and James ad /06.(.

mistakenly read למר‎ = Tord (Wellh.); for another suggestion, see Ryle and James. If בבסב‎ is the original text of S and not a subsequent correction of a literal rendering (οσο) of τοῦ εἶπεῖν, 5 cannot be explained either by G or by such emendations as ἰδεῖν (Fabricius), or εἴκειν or τρέπειν ) Hilgenfeld) ; but Viteau proposes ῥίπτειν.

the dragon. Seems clearly to be ‘ the insolent one slain on the mountains of E-gypt’ (v. 30), i.e. Pompey; cp. the comparison of Nebuchadnezzar with a dragon in Jer. li, 34, yet see above (p. 630, n. 2).

the insolent one. @& ‘his insolence’ (τὴν ὕβριν αὐτοῦ = 1318) or גאותו‎ , which was perhaps a corruption in ) of an original reading N37).

on the mountains of Egypt. According to Dio Cassius xlii. 3-5 Pompey was slain πρὸς τῷ Κασσίῳ dpe; Mons Cassius was near Pelusium. Possibly ₪ had יארי‎ (not ,(הרי‎ ‘beside the streams of Egypt’ (Ryle and James).

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Fsteemed of less account than the least, on land and sea ; \ 31 (27) His body (, too,) borne hither and thither on the billows with much insolencc, With none to bury (him), because He had rejected him with dishonour.

(28) He reflected not that he was man. 32 And reflected not on the latter end ;

33 (29) He said: I will be lord of land and sea; And he recognized not that it is God who is great, Mighty in His great strength.

34 (30) He is king over the heavens, And judgeth kings and kingdoms.

35 (31) (It is He) who setteth me up in glory, And bringeth down the proud to eternal destruction in dishonour, Because they knew Him not.

36 (32) And now behold, ye princes of the earth, the judgement of the Lord, For a great king and righteous (is He), judging (all) that is under heaven. 37 (33) Bless God, ye that fear the Lord with wisdom, For the mercy of the Lord will be upon them that fear Him, in the Judgement ; 38 (34) So that He will distinguish between the righteous and the sinner, (And) recompense the sinners for ever according to their deeds ; 39 (35) And have mercy on the righteous, (delivering him) from the affliction of the sinner, And recompensing the sinner for what he hath done to the righteous. 40 (36) For the Lord is good to them that call upon Him in patience, Doing according to His mercy to His pious ones, Establishing (them) at all times before Him in strength.

41 (37) Blessed be the Lord for ever before His servants.

3 1 Why sleepest thou, O my soul, And biessest not the Lord? 2 Sing a new song, Unto God who is worthy to be praised.

Esteemed of less account than the least. Held in less account than a person of the least position: so clearly 5 ; on & ὑπὲρ ἐλαχίστου (or conjecturally ἐλάχιστον), see Ryle and James.

31 4. After lying for some time decapitated and unburied on the shore, Pompey’s body was burnt on a pile of spars gathered from the beach (Plutarch).

kings and kingdoms. 3 ‘kingdoms and princes'.

35. bringeth down. Unless G κοιµίζων translated מוריד‎ (the verb which would have been the simplest antithesis to 7. 35 @3 cp. 1 Sam. ii. 6-8), the sense is: God causes the proud to lie down and sleep the sleep eternal (Ps. Ixxvi. 6 (5); Job xiv. 12) of dishonour and destruction.

destruction. 3) perhaps (cp. Ezek. xxviii. 7 f.) had NNW, in which case the rendering should be * the pit’.

37. in the Judgement. On the day of judgement and discrimination those that fear God will, unlike the wicked (Ps. i. 5), stand through the mercy of God. Such was probably the meaning of 1), and perhaps of 5 (Ju.> here as in Ps. i. 5, Pesch.). G ‘with judgement’ בְּמְשָפָט)‎ for (בּמְשָפֶּט‎ : the mercy of God will be shown by intro- ducing a principle of judgement or discrimination between the righteous and the unrighteous.

2. 6ἵ 5 probably fait to preserve the exact form and sense of 1). Note in 20 that ψάλατε, ‘sing’, is not the normal rendering of the verb ,שיר‎ stands abnormally after its object and is A/ura/ (ct. sing. in v. 1, 2¢); in 2¢, ‘be wakeful against his awaking’, a safer rendering of @& than ‘keep watch at his watch’, is not very obviously in place between 26 and ο. Ryle and James, assuming a Confusion between the Hebrew roots רוע‎ and ,עור‎ render 2 6 ‘shout unto Him with a joyful noise’. Another possibility, suggested by the General Editor, may be considered : γρηγορεῖν in the LXX = עמד‎ ; so here γρηγόρησον ἐπὶ τὴν γρηγόρησιν (cp. xvi. 4) αὐτοῦ may represent a clause used by the translator as containing TOY and a derivative from the same root; but Woy might easily arise (through the familiar confusion of

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Sing and tbe wakeful against His awakingf, For good is a psalm (sung) to God from a glad heart.

3 The righteous remember the Lord at all times,

With thanksgiving and declaration of the righteousness of the Lord’s judgements.

4 The righteous despiseth not the chastening of the Lord; His will is always before the Lord. 5 The righteous stumbleth and holdeth the Lord righteous: He falleth and looketh out for what God will do to him; 6 He seeketh out whence his deliverance will come. 7 (6) The steadfastness of the righteous is from God their deliverer ; There lodgeth not in the house of the righteous sin upon sin. 8 (7) The righteous continually searcheth his house, To remove utterly (all) iniquity (done) by him in error. 9 (8) He maketh atonement for (sins of) ignorance by fasting and afflicting his soul, ro And the Lord counteth guiltless every pious man and his house.

The sinner stumbleth and curseth his life,‏ )9( זו The day when he was begotten, and his mother’s travail.‏ (1ο) He addeth sins to sins, while he liveth (?) ;‏ 2 He falleth—verily grievous is his fall—and riseth no more.‏ 134 The destruction of the sinner is for ever,‏ )11( And he shal! not be remembered, when the righteous is visited.‏ 14 This is the portion of sinners for ever.‏ 15 )12

16 But they that fear the Lord shall rise to life eternal,

And their life (shall be) in the light of the Lord, and shall come to an end no more.

4 1 Wherefore sittest thou, O profane (man), in the council of the pious, Seeing that thy heart is far removed from the Lord,

and 3) from 73); the original text of # may, therefore, have meant ‘and perform His service’. Perchance ‘good’‏ מ in v. 2d was accidentally repeated in ® from the end of the line, and 2/7 originally ran, ‘For a psalm (is due) to God‏ from a glad heart.’‏

anew song. 50 [ 11 5; RLC (erroneously) ‘song and praise’.

a glad heart. So, rather than ‘a pious heart’, should 070905 (R J 5( καρδίας be rendered ; ₪ 319 a5 means the giad or merry heart ; see e.g. Isa. Ixv. 14, Judges xvi. 25, Ruth iti. 7, Eccles. ix. 7; and cp. ‘Is any merry? Let him sing psalms’, James v. 13. The less well-supported reading, ‘the whole heart’ (LC H), is not to be preferred.

3. remember. So, and probably rightly, & 3; 3) (יזכרו)‎ might also mean ‘make mention of’. 34. Cp. iv. 9. @& is difficult; but the translation above may represent, at least approximately, the meaning of 3). By means of bold conjecture Ryle and James obtain better parallelism : The righteous ever make mention of the Lord with praise,

And justify the judgements of the Lord (with thanksgiving ).

lodgeth. % doubtless ילין‎ : the house of the righteous is not a khan open to all passing sins; on the contrary (ο. 8), sins, that in spite of all his care, and unknown to him, have gained entrance, are discovered by means of constant and diligent search and turned out.

8-9. iniquity (done) by him in error. He maketh atonement. Less probably ‘Iniquity. With his trespass- offering he maketh atonement’ (Ryle and James).

g. MSS. read ταπεινώσει ψυχήν, which von Gebhardt emends into rar. ψυχῆς.

12-13. addeth . . . falleth. @& aor., but ‘riseth’ in @ is fut. In 2 probably all were imperfects.

14. ₪ probably as above; & ‘And He’ (i.e. God) ‘will not remember (him’, viz. the sinner), ‘when He visits the righteous’, with His favour.

1. 0 profane (man). Here and throughout the Psalm the sing. may refer collectively to the party opposed to

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2

3 4

5

6

7 (6) 8 (7) 9 (8)

το 11 (9)

12 (10) 13

(11) 14

15 (12)

Provoking with transgressions the God of Israel 2 Extravagant in speech, extravagant in outward seeming beyond all (men), Is he that is severe of speech in condemning sinners in judgement. And his hand is first upon him as (though he acted) in zeal, And (yet) he is himself guilty in respect of manifold sins and of wantonness. His eyes are upon every woman without distinction ; His tongue licth when he maketh contract with an oath. By night and in secret he sinneth as though unseen, With his eyes he talketh to every woman of evil compacts. He is swift to enter every house with cheerfulness as though guileless.

Let God remove those that live in hypocrisy in the company of the pious, (Even) the life of such an one with corruption of his flesh and penury. Let God reveal the deeds of the men-pleasers, The deeds of such an one with laughter and derision ; That the pious may count righteous the judgement of their God, When sinners are removed from before the righteous, (Even the) man-pleaser who uttereth law guilefully. And their eyes (are fixed) upon any man’s house that is (still) secure, That they may, like (the) Serpent, destroy the wisdom of . . . with words of transgressors. His words are deceitful that (he) may accomplish (his) wicked desire. He never ceaseth from scattering (families) as though (they were) orphans, Yea, he layeth waste a house on account of (his) lawless desire. He deceiveth with words, (saying,) There is none that seeth, or judgeth. He fills one (house) with lawlessness, And (then) his eyes (are fixed) upon the next house,

the psalmist, or to the leader of that party; adopting the latter view some have identified the profane man with Alexander Jannaeus (Wellh.), others with Aristobulus (Ryle and James). the council of the pious. So J 5 ; ‘the pious council’ R LC; ‘in council’ H. The fuller and correcter phrase need not necessarily refer to the Sanhedrin; συνέδριον may also stand for סוד‎ : cp. e.g. Jer. xv.17. ‘Pious’ = חסידים‎ ; cp. iii. 10, / 2 Cp. Isa. xxix. 13 (also Matt. xv. 8) ‘seeing that’; @& ‘and’. 25, Cp. ‘the Sadducees . . . savage in judging (offenders) beyond all the Jews’, Jos. Amt. xx. 9. 1. 3. upon him. In carrying out the sentence on the condemned sinner ; cp. Deut. xiii. 0. wWantonness. Cp. Matt. xxiii. 25 (R. V. ‘excess ).

7- the life of such an one. _Lit. ‘his life’; @& is difficult in this verse and scarcely represents 1? exactly; S ‘God shall remove those who judge with respect of persons; but He lives with the upright in the corruption of his body and in the poverty (read [1 סבבם בג‎ for [012 (כצ ב‎ of his life’.

1ο. uttereth. 3], perhaps, עבר‎ ‘ transgresseth’ (von Gebh.).

11. The meaning seems to be: if any house still survives secure against their licentious conduct, their set purpose is, like the Serpent (Gen. iii), to gain their way by working on the wife with seductive speech. But the text is uncertain. Wellh. differently: their eyes are directed to the house of a man (= Alexander Jannaeus) who understands how to

pervert the wisdom of God (reading ἀγγέλων אלהים‎ for ἀλλήλων). the wisdom of . .. The genitive in & is ‘one another’, but this yields no sense. For ἀλλήλων Ryle and James conjecture λαλῶ», ‘to pervert wisdom, speaking with words,’ &c.; the sing. part. in ₪. 11 ὁ then resumes the plur. (‘ their’) of ο. Ἱτ ας ορ. vz. 7,8. Von Gebhardt conjectures λαῶν = ,עמים‎ a corruption in # for Ὦ ΣΠ, ‘the wisdom of the flaw- less’. lor other suggestions see preceding note and Ryle and James. 13. He never ceaseth from. So probably #; G& has * He ceased not, till he prevailed (in)’. 13 4-14. The aorists of & are rendered by English present tenses. 14. Possibly once followed by wv. 12, to which it would form a parallel. Verse 15 (if correctly interpreted) would follow 7.13 better than 7, 14. Rearranged the passage would read thus :-- 14 He deceiveth with words, (saying,) There is none that seeth or judgeth ; 1Z is words are deceitful that (he) may accomplish (his) wicked desire. 13 He never ceaseth from scattering (families) as though (they were) orphans, Yea, he layeth waste a house on account of (his) lawless desire. 15 He is sated with lawlessness therewith : And (then) his eyes are directed to the next house. 154. Obscure; but the general idea probably is that he has no sooner ruined one house than he turns his attention to the next, seducing its inmates to become the victims of his insatiable lust. 15a. G& ‘he is filled with (ἐν) lawlessness in this’ (ἐν ταύτῃ).

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To destroy it with words that give wing to (desire). (13) (Yet) with all these his soul, like Sheol, is not sated.

16 Let his portion, O Lord, be dishonoured before thee ; Let him go forth groaning, and come home cursed. : ל‎ (15) Let his life be (spent) in anguish, and penury, and want, O Lord;

Let his sleep be (beset) with pains and his awaking with perplexities.

(16) Let sleep be withdrawn from his eyclids at night ; Let him fail dishonourably in every work of his hands.

(17) Let him come home empty-handed to his house, And his house be void of everything wherewith he could sate his appetite.

(18) (Let) his old age (be spent) in childless loneliness until his removal (by death).

(19) Let the flesh of the men-pleasers be rent by wild beasts, And (let) the bones of the lawless (lie) dishonoured in the sight of the sun. (20) Let ravens peck out the eyes of the hypocrites. 23 For they have laid waste many houses of men, in dishonour, And scattered (them) in (their) lust ; (21) And they have not remembered God, Nor feared God in all these things ; 25 But they have provoked God’s anger and vexed Him, (22) May He remove them from off the earth, Because with deceit they beguiled the souls of the flawless.

6 (23) Blessed are they that fear the Lord in their flawlessness ; 27 The Lord shall deliver them from guileful men and sinners, And deliver us from every stumbling-block of the lawless (men). 28 (24) Let God destroy them that insolently work all unrighteousness, For a great and mighty judge is the Lord our God in righteousness,

ιο (28) Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon all them that love Thee.

5 τ O Lord God, I will praise Thy name with joy, In the midst of them that know Thy righteous judgements. 2 For Thou art good and merciful, the refuge of the poor; 8 When 1 cry to Thee, do not silently disregard me. 4 (3) For no man taketh spoil from a mighty man; 5 Who, then, can take aught of all that Thou hast made, except Thou Thyself givest 2 6 (4) For man and his portion (lie) before Thee in the balance; He cannot add to, so as to enlarge, what has been prescribed by Thee.

O God, 7 (5) when we are in distress we call upon Thee for help, And Thou dost not turn back our petition, for Thou art our God. 8 (6) Cause not Thy hand to be heavy upon us, Lest through necessity we sin.

his children let not one draw near him.’ 21. rent. Lit. ‘be scattered’; # different 2

23- many houses of men. So RJ H 5; ‘houses of many men’, LC. The latter rendering may more correctly

represent 3]. Yet perhaps the original text of 2) ran rather as follows : For they have laid waste houses in dishonour, And by their lust scattered (i.e. made homeless) many men. V. 4. Cp. Isa. xlix. 24 (&). taketh. & ‘shall take’. 5. Who, then, can take. & ‘And who shall take’.

Wisd. xi. 21. 7. OGod. In & this goes with v. 6; in ® it probably opened 2. 7. call. . . dost not turn back. In & the tenses are future.

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9 (7) Even though Thou restore us not, we will not keep away ; But unto Thee will we come.

10 (8) For if I hunger, unto Thee will I cry, O God ; And 7zou wilt give to me.

11 (9) Birds and fish dost Thou nourish, י‎ In that Thou givest rain to the steppes that green grass may spring up, (πο) (So) to prepare fodder in the steppe for every living thing ; 12 And if they hunger, unto Thee do they lift up their face.

13 (1x) Kings and rulers and peoples οι dost nourish, O God ; And who is the help of the poor and needy, if not Thou, O Lord? .

14 )12( And Thou wilt hearken—for who is good and gentle but Thou ?-- Making glad the soul of the humble by opening Thine hand in mercy.

15 (13) Man’s goodness is (bestowed) grudgingly and . . .;

And if he repeat (it) without murmuring, even that is marvellous. 16 (134) But Thy gift is great in goodness and wealth,

And he whose hope is (set) on Thee shall have no lack of gifts. 17 (15) Upon the whole earth is Thy mercy, O Lord, in goodness.

18 (16) Happy is he whom God remembereth in (granting to him) a due sufficiency ; 10 If a man abound overmuch, he sinneth. 20 (17) Sufficient are moderate means with righteousness, And hereby the blessing of the Lord (becomes) abundance with righteousness. 21 (18) They that fear the Lord rejoice in good (gifts), And Thy goodness is upon Israel in Thy kingdom.

Blessed is the glory of the Lord, for He is our king.

6 1 Happy is the man whose heart is fixed to call upon the name of the Lord ; 2 When he remembereth the name of the Lord, he will be saved. 3 (2) His ways are made even by the Lord, And the works of his hands are preserved by the Lord his God. 4 (3) At what he sees in his bad dreams, his soul shall not be troubled ;

ga. Cp. Ps. Ixxx. 7. S ‘And turn not Thy face from us, lest we go far from Thee’.

When Thou givest rain, the green grass springs up; Thou preparest provender in the steppe for every beast. Birds and fish 7202 dost nourish, And if they hunger, they lift up their face to Thee. At present the fresh grass of the steppes, which is not the food of fish and birds, is brought into unnaturally close relation to them.

ας. grudgingly. So J (ἐν φειδοῖ; RLC ἐν φειδῷ) S; the reading of H, ἐν φίλῳ, ‘on a friend’, arose from this by error. A synonymous clause followed, but has been obscured by the mistranslation of &, and subsequent mutilation (2). « reads, ungrammatically, καὶ ἡ αὔριον, which is expanded by &, and, independently, by Ryle and James, into ‘ to-day and to-morrow’. Possibly 2) read 9023 (whence, by confusion with MD, 6:5 αὔριον), ‘and for a price’ (cp. Frankenberg). /

shall have no lack of gifts. So, probably, the original text of ® ; but, if so, WOM’ was miscopied DIN’ (Franken- berg). @ (cp. S) may be best rendered ‘will not be sparing with his gifts’. See Ryle and James.

in (granting to him) a due sufficiency. Cp. e.g. Prov. xxx. 8. ‘in poverty’, perhaps a paraphrase of &, for note ‘ poverty’ also renders τὸ µέτριον in v. 20.

204. Not very clear. Perhaps the meaning is: the moderate means given by God is equivalent to abundance, but an abundance that does not lead to sin (v. 19). Ryle and James render: ‘and herein is the blessing of the Lord, that (a man) be 53115060 in righteousness.’

alll

5 When he passes through rivers and the tossing of the seas, he shall not be dismayed. 6 (4) He ariseth from his sleep, and blesseth the name of the Lord: ל‎ When his heart is at peace, he singeth to the name of his God, (6) And he entreateth the Lord for all his house. 8 And the Lord heareth the prayer of every one that feareth God, (6) And every request of the soul that hopes for Him doth the Lord accomplish.

9 Blessed is the Lord, who showeth mercy to those who love Him in sincerity.

7 + Make not Thy dwelling afar from us, O God ; Lest they assail us that hate us without cause. 2 For Thou hast rejected them, O God ; Let not their foot trample upon Thy holy inheritance. 3 Chasten us Thyself in Thy good pleasure ; But give (us) not up to the nations; 4 For, if Thou sendest pestilence, Thou Thyself givest it charge concerning us; (5) For Thou art merciful, And wilt not be angry to the point of consuming us.

5 (6) While Thy name dwelleth in our midst, we shall find mercy ; 6 And the nations shall not prevail against us. (7) For Thou art our shield, ל‎ And when we call upon Thee, Thou hearkenest to us; 8 For Thou wilt pity the seed of Israel for ever And Thou wilt not reject (them) : (9) But we (shall be) under Thy yoke for ever, And (under) the rod of Thy chastening. 9 (10) Thou wilt establish us in the time that Thou helpest us, Showing mercy to the house of Jacob on the day wherein Thou didst promise (to help them).

Ps. xxx. 7 (6).‏ ,בשלוי cp.‏ ; בשלות לבו his God. 5% ‘the Lord’.‏ This line was perhaps originally preceded by a parallel line.‏ .6 7 he entreateth. Cp. i. 24.‏ God. 3 ‘him’.‏ .8

8, 9. The lines of v. 8 are obvious parallels, and should not be placed in separate distichs (as by Kit.) Verse 9 is

an isolated stichos, such as occurs at the end of other Psalms; see ii. 41, iv. 29, V. 22, 1x. 20, X. 9, xi. 9 6, XVil. 51 .

Cp. the rather different conclusions in the Canonical Psalms, xli. 13, Ixxxix. 52, cxxv. 5 ¢, cxxvili. 6 4, and the הללודיה‎ that concludes several Psalms.

τα. Cf. 6

Let not their foot. % ‘in order that their foot might not ’. trample upon. Used of the profane intrusion of foreign soldiery in ii. 2; of the irreverent approach of Jewish worshippers in Isa. i. 12.

3, 4. The argument is: We have sinned and deserve chastisement (ορ. v. 84); but let us be chastised directly by God, who even in wrath remembers mercy (v. 5, cp. ii. 24-7), not by pitiless men. Cp. 2 Sain. xxiv. 13-15, also 4 Esdras ν. 30, Ecclus. ii. 18.

our shield. G lit. ‘he who holds a shield over us’ ; but in Ο.Τ. ὑπερασπιστής is generally = מגן‎ ‘shield’, or מעוז‎ ‘refuge’. 3 here ‘ our strength’ (cp. Ps. xxvii. 1, Pesch.). 7. And when we call . . . Thou hearkenest. & ‘And we shall call . . . and Thou wilt hearken ’. δε. The prayer of v. 3 will have been granted.

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ΠΠ. Of Solomon. Of the chief Musician.

8 ι Distress and the sound of war hath my ear heard, The sound of a trumpet announcing slaughter and calamity, 2 The sound of much people as of an exceeding high wind, As a tempest with mighty fire sweeping through the Negeb. 3 And I said in my heart, Surely (?) God judgeth us ; 4 Α sound I hear (moving) towards Jerusalem, the holy city. 5 My loins were broken at what I heard, (3) my knees tottered : 6 My heart was afraid, my bones were dismayed like flax. 7 (6) I said: They establish their ways in righteousness.

(7) I thought upon the judgements of God since the creation of heaven and carth; I held God righteous in His judgements which have been from of old. 8 God laid bare their sins in the full light of day ; All the earth came to know the righteous judgements of God. 9 In secret places underground their iniquities (were committed) to provoke (Him) to anger ; 10 They wrought confusion, son with mother and father with daughter ; 11 (10) They committed adultery, every man with his neighbour's wife. They concluded covenants with one another with an oath touching these things ; 12 (11) | They plundered the sanctuary of God, as though there was no avenger. 13 (12) They trode the altar of the Lord, (coming straight) from all manner of uncleanness ; And with menstrual blood they defiled the sacrifices, as (though these were) common flesh. 14 (13) They left no sin undone, wherein they surpassed not the heathen.

Xlii, 1, εἰς νίκος is the rendering of למנצח‎ * Of (or to) the chief Musician.’

1a, Cp. i, 2.

Surely. && ₪ ‘where, then’ (will God, &c.) ; mov should imply in 19 איפה‎ or 138, but neither of these words in

such a context would mean ‘surely’. Possibly 19 was already corrupt. An assertive particle would be suitable ; but, since the dominant rhythm of the Hebrew poem seems to have been 3 : 2, ποῦ dpa should rather correspond to the

corruption of some word that belonged to the first half of the verse, perchance to ,אוי 12 כי‎ ‘Woe to us! for.’ Cp. 6. ₪. Jer. vi. 4.

judgeth. & ‘will judge’. : .

us. &S‘him" 1 would have been ambiguous, permitting the different vocalizations, ישפסנ‎ and ΡΕ,

(moving) towards. <is (Ἱερονσαλὴμ πόλιν), RL C; ἐν (Ἱερουσαλὴμ πόλιν) H; 3 ‘in (Jerusalem) ’.

If the text of & in v. 3 f. represents the meaning of the original, the point of the verse is that the poet is convinced that God will judge the hostile people (2. 1f), but is at first uncertain where: ‘I said in my heart, Where then will God judge him?’ (ο. 3). He then hears the sound of judgement upon ‘him’, i.e. the enemy, in Jerusalem. But in this case the distress at the news described in 7 4 is difficult to account for, though it is natural enough, if the poet sees in the hosts (zv. 1 f.) advancing on (v. 4) Jerusalem the instruments of God’s judgement on ‘us’, 1. 6. Jerusalem.

a sound, or ‘a voice’ (and so in ο. 11.(.

tottered. Isa. xxxv. 3.

7. The psalmist’s first thought that Jerusalem is righteous (cp. i. 3), which created his astonishment and distress ) 5, 6) at the approach of disaster (v. 1 Ε), is corrected by God’s laying bare the secret sins of the people (vv. 8 ff.). Perhaps the thought has been obscured by the loss of more than half a distich. According to the punctuation and accentuation of the MSS. of 63, we should render: ‘And I said to those that establish,’ &c. 3 as above.

as though there was no avenger. G lit. ‘there not being an inheritor delivering’. 3 ‘as if there were none to inherit and deliver’. 2) probably as above. The apparent dominance of the 3:2 rhythm favours Ryle and

James’ conjecture that 1) read .ואין גאל‎

136. Having come in contact with women at a time when they are ritually unclean, and thereby themselves contracted uncleanness, they do not wait to undergo the necessary purification, but eat the sacrificial flesh as though it were not sacred, but mere common flesh that could be eaten whether one was Clean or unclean. See Lev. xii. 1-8, xv. 19-33 ; Ezek. xviii. 6; Lev. xv. 31: Deut. xii. 15.

6.40

15 (14) Therefore God mingled for them a spirit of wandering ; | And gave them to drink a cup of undiluted wine, that they might become drunken. 16 (15) He brought him that is from the end of the earth, that smiteth mightily ; לד‎ He decreed (?) war against Jerusalem, and against her land. 8 (16) The princes of the land went to meet him with joy: they said unto him: Blessed be thy way! Come ye, enter ye in with peace. 9 (17) They made the rough ways even, before his entering in ; They opened the gates to Jerusalem, they crowned its walls.

(18) As a father (entereth) the house of his sons, (so) he entered (Jerusalem) in peace ; He established his feet (there) in great safety. | (19) He captured her fortresses and the wall of Jerusalem ; 22 For God Himself led him in safety, while they wandered. (20) He destroyed their princes and every one wise in counsel ; He poured out the blood of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, like the water of uncleanness. (11) He led away their sons and daughters, whom they had begotten in defilement.

2 (22) They did according to their uncleanness, even as their fathers (had done) : 26 They defiled Jerusalem and the things that had been hallowed to the name of God.

7 (23) (But) God hath shown Himself righteous in His judgements upon the nations of the earth ; 28 And the pious (servants) of God are like innocent lambs in their midst.

9 (24) Worthy to be praised is the Lord that judgeth the whole earth in His righteousness.

(25) Behold, now, O God, Thou hast shown us Thy judgement in Thy righteousness ; 31 Our eyes have seen Thy judgements, O God.

(26) We have justified Thy name that is honoured for ever ; 32 For Thou art the God of righteousness, judging Israel with chastening.

3 (27) Turn, O God, Thy mercy upon us, and have pity upon us ; 4(28) Gather together the dispersed of Israel, with mercy and goodness ; 35 For Thy faithfulness is with us. __ (ag) And (though) we have stiffened our neck, yet Thou art our chastener ;

7 (31) But Thou art our God from the beginning,

; (30) Overlook us not, O our God, lest the nations swallow us up, as though there were none to deliver.

And upon Thee is our hope (set), O Lord ;

| : 2 oe 15. God, by way of punishment, deprived the people of all sense and capability. Cp. Isa. xix. 14.

18 ff. Cp. Jos. «42Η. xiv. 3 (Pompey on his way from Damascus met by ambassadors of Aristobulus, bearing a rich present). Others have compared «414. xii. 5. 3 (Antiochus Epiphanes captures Jerusalem without fighting, his party within the city opening the gates to him).

το, The rough tracks of Judah are made easy before Jewish territory is entered by the great foreigner; so, too, ‘the gates to (ἐπέ) Jerusalem’, i. ₪ the passes, &c., commanding the approaches to the capital, rather than the city gates of

erusalem, are flung open to give him an unimpeded approach. This may be a poetical account of the circumstances described by Jos. Az. xiv. 3. 4: Pompey came to Coreae, which is the first place in Judaea (ἀρχὴ τῆς Ιουδαίας), on the journey from the north to Jerusalem ; subsequently Aristobulus complied with Pompey’s demand that the fortresses (on the way to Jerusalem) should be delivered up to him. his entering in. So RJ LS; H ‘their entering in’.

22, while they wandered incapable of planning or achieving anything for their safety ; cp. v.15. The allusion in v. 21 seems to be to Pompey’s forcible occupation of the Temple (cp. ii. 1); the ‘ wandering’ may include a reference to the divided counsels of the Jews. The party opposed to Aristobulus admitted Pompey to the city and the king’s palace, but the party of Aristobulus entrenched themselves in the Temple, from which they had to be expelled by force (Jos. At. xiv. 4. 2).

water of uncleanness. Cp. Num. xix.

+ Josephus (421. xiv. 4. 5( alludes in particular to the sons and daughters of Aristobulus being taken captive to Rome.

3ο. Behold, now. So probably ® ; see 2 Sam. vii. 2, # and 6.

Our: RJ LCS; H ‘their’. 1106.3 641 rt

38 (32) And we will not depart from Thee,

For good are Thy judgements upon us.

O Lord our Saviour, we shall never more be moved.

40 (34) The Lord is worthy to be praised for His judgements with the mouth of His pious ones ; And blessed be Israel of the Lord for ever.

9 , When Isracl was led away captive into a strange land, Whcn they fell away from the Lord who redeemed them, 2 They were cast away from the inheritance, which the Lord had given them. (2) Among every nation (were) the dispersed of Isracl according to the word of God, 4 That Thou mightest be justified, O God, in Thy righteousness by reason of our transgressions: For Thou art a just judge over all the peoples of the earth. 5 (3) For from Thy knowledge none that doeth unjustly is hidden, 6 And the righteous deeds of Thy pious ones (are) before Thee, O Lord; Where, then, can a man hide himself from Thy knowledge, O God? > (4) Our works are subject to our own choice and power To do right or wrong in the works of our hands ; א‎ And in Thy righteousness Thou visitest the sons of men. ο (5) He that doeth righteousness layeth up life for himself with the Lord ; And he that doeth wrongly forfeits his life to destruction ; το Του the judgements of the Lord are (given) in righteousness to (every) man and (his) house. 11 (6) Unto whom art Thou good, O God, except to them that call upon the Lord ? 12 He cleanseth from sins a soul when it maketh confession, when it maketh acknowledgement ; 13. For shame is upon us and upon our faces on account of all these things. 14 (7) And to whom doth He forgive sins, except to them that have sinned ? 1; Thou blessest the righteous, and dost not reprove them for the sins that they have committed ; And Thy goodness is upon them that sin, when they repent. 16 (8) And, now, Thou art our God, and we the people whom Thou hast loved : Behold and show pity, O God of Israel, for we are Thine ; And remove not Thy mercy from us, lest they assail us, 17 (9)

For Thou didst choose the seed of Abraham before all the nations,

Among every nation. Taken by Ryle and James with ‘they were cast away’ in the previous line. Cp. Deut. iv. 27. the dispersed. ο ‘the dispersion’ ; cp. viii. 34.

6. (are) before Thee. A synonym for ‘ Thou knowest’. Cp. Ps. li. 5 (3).

can. G ‘shall’.

7. subject to our own choice and power, lit. ‘in the choice and power of our soul’. Ryle and James (p. 96) discuss at length an alternative rendering and interpretation: Our deeds are by the choice (of God), and (at the same time) we have power to do rightly or wrongly ; but apparently the rhythmical structure of the original would not have admitted this alternative.

10. (every), (his). These words are expressed in 3, but not in 6.

11, 12. The exact line of thought and some of the details are uncertain. God is kind only to those who call upon Him ; to those who call upon Him in prayer for forgiveness He shows His kindness (cp. Ps. li. 3 f. (1 f.) ( by forgiving their sins ; oe who here speak may rely on forgiveness, for the shame of which they speak is a form of confession tso Kit., but 2).

eon sins. Cp. x. 1; @& ‘in sins’; perhaps in Consequence of reading a Hebr. ₪ as ב‎ (a frequent error). 5 ‘the sins of". when it maketh acknowledgement. S$ omit; perhaps a doublet in &.

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—

18

9 (10)

And didst set Thy name upon us, O Lord, And Thou wilt not reject (us) for ever. Thou madest a covenant with our fathers concerning us ; And we hope in Thee, when our soul turneth (unto Thee). The mercy of the Lord be upon the house of Israel for ever and ever.

10 1 Happy is the man whom the Lord remembereth with reproving,

And whom He restraineth from the way of evil with strokes, That he may be cleansed from sin, that it may not be multiplied.

2 He that maketh ready his back for strokes shall be cleansed,

For the Lord is good to them that endure chastening.

3 For He maketh straight the ways of the righteous,

And doth not pervert (them) by His chastening.

4 And the mercy of the Lord (is) upon them that love Him in truth,

(4)

And the Lord remembereth His servants in mercy.

5 For the testimony (is) in the law of the eternal covenant,

The testimony of the Lord (is) on the ways of men in (His) visitation.

6 (5) Just and kind is our Lord in His judgements for ever,

And Israel shall praise the name of the Lord in gladness.

7 (6) And the pious shall give thanks in the assembly of the people ;

And on the poor shall God have mercy in the gladness (?) of Israel ;

8 (7) For good and merciful is God for ever,

2

And the assemblies of Israel shall glorify the name of the Lord.

The salvation of the Lord be upon the house of Israel unto everlasting gladness !

Blow ye in Zion on the trumpet to summon (the) saints, Cause ye to be heard in Jerusalem the voice of him that bringeth good tidings ; For God hath had pity on Israel in visiting them.

3 (2) Stand on the height, O Jerusalem, and behold thy children,

From the East and the West, gathered together by the Lord ;

TitLt. A Hymn [ LCH; ‘In hymns’ R.‏ .א

1. whom He restraineth. So 5, and so, perhaps, %, though 5 may be merely a free rendering of ἐκωλύθη, which Fritzsche tentatively suggested was the original text of 6 ; all codices of 6% read ἐκυκλώθη, which Ryle and James render, on the authority of Exod. xiii. 18, Deut. xxxii. 12. @ ‘and he is fenced about’.

That he may be cleansed. 0, perhaps, ‘and whom He cleanseth’; cp. ix. 12.

3. & ‘ For the way of the righteous 15 straight, and His chastening doth not pervert it’.

maketh. 6% ‘will make’. doth not pervert. & ‘will not pervert’.

4- remembereth. & ‘ will remember’.

our Lord. 3 ‘ our God’.

in His judgements. 5 מו'‎ all His judgements’.

for ever. % omits,

the Lord. J + ‘for ever’.

the gladness (?) of Israel. A term for the Messianic age? Cp. Ryle and James. Or does ‘ gladness’ conceal gome term more parallel to ‘ assembly’ in the previous line ? and was ‘the poor’ originally the subject, and ‘ God’ the object of a verb concealed by éAejoee? Kit. renders the line, * Because God has pity on the poor, to the joy of Israel.’

XI. For the relation of this Psalm to Baruch iv. 36-v. 9, and of both passages to Isa. xl-Ixvi, 566 Ryle and James, pp. Ixxii ff.; but also above, p. 628. 1. Based on Joel ii. 1. The exact form of ₪ here cannot be determined ; Zossté/y the last half of the line ran, ‘the holy trumpet of Jubilee’ (Kyle and James). 2. Cause ye to be heard. & 5 ‘proclaim’. 643 Tt2

4 (3)

From the North they come in the gladness of their God, From the isles afar off God hath gathered them.

5 (4) High mountains hath He abased into a plain for them ;

6

The hills fled at their entrance.

(5) The woods gave them shelter as they passed by ;

7 (6)

8 (7) 9 (8)

(9)

2

Bc

4 (4)

5 6 (5)

7 (6)

Every sweet-smelling tree God caused to spring up for them, That Israel might pass by in the visitation of the glory of their God. Put on, O Jerusalem, thy glorious garments ; Make ready thy holy robe ; For God hath spoken good concerning Israel, for ever and ever. Let the Lord do what He hath spoken concerning Israel and Jerusalem ; Let the Lord raise up Israel by His glorious name.

The mercy of the Lord be upon Israel for ever and ever.

O Lord, deliver my soul from (the) lawless and wicked man, From the tongue that is lawless and slanderous, and speaketh lies and deceit. Manifoldly twisted (?) are the words of the tongue of the wicked man, Even as . . . a fire that burneth up . . . . . to fill houses with a lying tongue, To cut down the trees of gladness . . . To involve households in warfare by means of slanderous lips.

May God remove far from the innocent the lips of transgressors by (bringing them to) want And may the bones of slanderers be scattered (far) away from them that fear the Lord! In flaming fire perish the slanderous tongue (far) away from the pious!

May the Lord preserve the quiet soul that hateth the unrighteous ;

And may the Lord establish the man that followeth peace at home.

The salvation of the Lord be upon Israel His servant for ever ;

Manifoldly twisted (7), lit. ‘in manifoldness (cf. iv. 3) of turning’, or ‘twisting’. So RJ (ἐν ποικιλία στροφῆς) and virtually LC (ἐν π.τροφῃς). Ἡ ἐν ποιήσει διαστροφῆς (‘for the accomplishment of frowardness’) is obviously a corruption of this. ₪

Even as...a fire. זה זה ספ מ[‎ least as the words omitted in the translation above are concerned, it is very ques- tionable whether any of the readings or conjectures preserve or recover the sense of the original. The text of RJ LC, which is substantially supported by 5, reads, ὥσπερ ἐν λαῷ πῦρ ἀνάπτον καλλονὴν αὐτοῦ. This may be literally rendered, * Even as among a people a fire that burneth up its beauty.’ H reads ὥσπερ ἐν ἅλῳ πῦρ ἀνάπτον καλάμην αὐτοῦ, * Even as ona threshing-floor a fire that burneth up its stubble.’ See, further, von Gebhardt’s discussion and suggestions, pp. 78 ff. If the ‘twisting’ of v. 2a can be relied on, the point of the comparison should be that the guileful speech of the wicked is as full of twists and incalculable turns (cf. 153. ix. 17 (18), with n. in Jt. Crit. Comm.) as the volume of smoke with which fire ascends when it is blown about by the wind.

3. This verse also must have suffered from corruption of the Greek text or of the Hebrew text, or mistranslation, or both; but, in general, cf. iv. 11-15. The verbs in the three lines are ambiguous in 6 ; apart from the accentuation they may be either optatives or infinitives ; the position of the verb in the first line rather suggests that in # they were infinitives. In that case the opening clause of the verse should lead up to an infinitive ; in the original text these may have stood something like * His (or, ‘ the transgressor’s '( delight is’, or * His heart is set’. @&, literally rendered, is, ‘ His dwelling-place’ or ‘ sojourning’ (is, &c.), which yields no sense. It is a clever suggestion that ἡ παροικία αὐτοῦ is an unfortunate rendering, in itself perfectly possible, but in this passage impossible, of 13D; yet it is questionable whether ‘ His terror (consists in filling)’, &c., would be very naturally expressed in ₪ by 30. Ryle and James connect the first clause of v. 3 with 2. 2, and render the last part of τ. 2, ‘Even as fire in a threshing- floor that burneth up the straw thereof, (so is) his sojourning (among men) that he may set fire to houses,’ &c.; but this rests on the improbable text of H in ₪. 2, and implies an improbable rhythmical structure of 11.

to fill. Φος 5. Hilgenfeld al., by conjecture, ‘to set fire to’.

the trees of gladness. Figurative for the saints? Cf. xiv. 2. The clause omitted above is very obscure ; the entire line may be literally rendered, ‘to cut off the trees of gladness which setteth on fire transgressors’ (R LC), or ‘the trees of wicked inflammatory joy’ (J H). 5 renders, * For He hath cut down the trees of His delight with the flame of the transgressor’. By conjectural emendation of & Ryle and James obtain for the last clause (omitted in the translation above), ‘with the flame of (his) wicked tongue’.

4. households. & 5 ‘lawless households’; but the position of the adjective differs in different MSS., and it is probably a dittograph from the previous line. If the adjective belongs to the original text the meaning is that ‘the slanderer will not scruple to set those of his own party by the ears’.

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And let the sinners perish together at the presence of the Lord ; But let the Lord’s pious ones inherit the promises of the Lord.

13 1 The right hand of the Lord hath covered me; The right hand of the Lord hath spared us. 2 The arm of the Lord hath saved us from the sword that passed through, From famine and the death of sinners. 3 Noisome beasts ran upon them: With their teeth they tore their flesh, And with their molars crushed their bones. (4) But from all these things the Lord delivered us. 4 (5) The righteous was troubled on account of his errors, Lest he should be taken away along with the sinners ; 5 (6) For terrible is the overthrow of the sinner ; But not one of all these things toucheth the righteous. (7) For not alike are the chastening of the righteous (for sins done) in ignorance, And the overthrow of the sinners. 7 (8) Secretly (2) is the righteous chastened, Lest the sinner rejoice over the righteous. 8 (9) For He correcteth the righteous as a beloved son, And his chastisement is as that of a firstborn. ro) For the Lord spareth His pious ones. And blotteth out their errors by His chastening. τα) For the life of the righteous shall be for ever ; το But sinners shall be taken away into destruction, And their memorial shall be found no more. 1 (rz) But upon the pious is the mercy of the Lord, And upon them that fear Him His mercy.

14 ι Faithful is the Lord to them that love Him in truth, To them that endure His chastening, (2) To them that walk in the righteousness of His commandments, In the law which He commanded us that we might live. 2 (5) The pious of the Lord shall live by it for ever ; The Paradise of the Lord, the trees of life, are His pious ones. 3 (4) Their planting is rooted for ever ; They shall not be plucked up all the days of heaven: (5) For the portion and the inheritance of God is Israel.

11 1. me. 3% ‘us’. 2. .טש‎ ‘me’. that passed through: ος. 16 land. Cp. Ezek. xiv. 17, Lev. xxvi. 6. the death of sinners. From premature (Ps. lv. 24 (23) or violent death, or death beyond which lies no eternal life (cf. ix), i.e. from such deaths as sinners die. Cp. ‘the death of the righteous’, Num. xxiii.10. Or, possibly, & is due to a wrong division of ₪, which may have run, ‘from famine and pestilence (see vii. 4 Π.) ; as for sinners, noisome beasts’, &c. In that case the passage refers to the four plagues of Ezek. xiv. 21. ολ 4. The righteous. A conjectural substitute, which the context demands (Wellh., von Gebh., Kit.) for ‘the impious’, which is the reading of all MSS. of & and 8. For a defence of the text of @ see Ryle and James. errors, Cf. συ. ος ili. 8; Ps. xix. 13 (12). 5. toucheth. G ‘shall touch’. 7. Secretly, or ‘Sparingly’. The meaning is uncertain; see Ryle and James.

645

4 (6) But not so are the sinners and transgressors, Who love (the brief) day (spent) in companionship with their sin ; (7) Their delight is in fleeting corruption, s And they remember not God. (8) For the ways of men are known before Him at all times, And He knoweth the secrets of the heart before they come to pass. 6 (9) Therefore their inheritance is Sheol and darkness and destruction, And they shall not be found in the day when the righteous obtain mercy ; 7 το) But the pious of the Lord shall inherit life in gladness.

15 1 When I was in distress I called upon the name of the Lord, I hoped for the help of the God of Jacob and was saved ; 2 For the hope and refuge of the poor art Thou, O God. 3 (2) For who, O God, is strong except to give thanks unto Thee in truth? 4 And whercin is a man powerful except in giving thanks to Thy name? 5 (3) A new psalm with song in gladness of heart, The fruit of the lips with the well-tuned instrument of the tongue, The firstfruits of the lips from a pious and righteous heart— 6 (4) He that offereth these things shall never be shaken by evil ; The flame of fire and the wrath against the unrighteous shall not touch him, 7 (5) When it goeth forth from the face of the Lord against sinners, To destroy all the substance of sinners, 8 (6) For the mark of God is upon the righteous that they may be saved.

(7) Famine and sword and pestilence (shall be) far from the righteous, 9 For they shall flee away from the pious as men pursued in war ; (8) But they shall pursue sinners and overtake (them), And they that do lawlessness shall not escape the judgement of God ; (9) As by enemies experienced (in war) shall they be overtaken, 10 ©For the mark of destruction is upon their forehead. 11 (10) And the inheritance of sinners is destruction and darkness, And their iniquities shall pursue them unto Sheol beneath. 12 (11) Their inheritance shall not be found of their children, 13 For sins shall lay waste the houses of sinners. (12) And sinners shall perish for ever in the day of the Lord’s judgement, 14 When God visiteth the earth with His judgement. 15 (13) But they that fear the Lord shall find mercy therein, And shall live by the compassion of their God ; But sinners shall perish for ever.

16 1 When my soul slumbered (being afar) from the Lord, I had all but slipped down to the pit, When (I was) far from God, 2 my soul had been wellnigh poured out unto death,

4- fleeting, lit. ‘littleness of’.

XV. TITLE. Witha Song. Cp. ο. 3, and see xii, title. 16. & ‘And for my help I called to the God of Jacob’. 5. Amew psalm. SoJRLS&; 11 ‘a psalm and praise’. Cp. iii. rn. 6. offereth, lit. * doeth’. these things. Resumptive of 2. 5. 8. pestilence. 6% ‘death’; see vii. 4 note. ga. they. The plagues of v. 84; and so תו‎ 9 4. as men pursued in war. Such (cp. 9d) was probably the meaning of the original. The actual readings of & are διωκόµενοι (J ; -ον R LC H) ἀπὸ λιμοῦ (RJ : λιμοῦ LC 11( ; but they yield no tolerable sense. For different forms of the conjecture here adopted see Ryle and James and von Gebhardt. 3, curiously, ‘as death flees from life.’ 96. they, i.e. the plagues mentioned in v. 84; so R 5; but in J LC H ‘it’, anticipating the summarizing singular sense of the next line. 13. sins. S ‘their sins’. 14. H + ‘to recompense sinners unto everlasting’; cp. ii. 38. 15 ¢. H omits.

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ee ---.ο

(I had been) nigh unto the gates of Sheol with the sinner, 3 when my soul departed from the Lord God of Israel— Had not the Lord helped me with His everlasting mercy.

4 He pricked me, as a horse is pricked, that I might serve Him,

My saviour and helper at all times saved me.

5 I will give thanks unto Thee, O God, for Thou hast helped me to (my) salvation ;

And hast not counted me with sinners to (my) destruction.

6 Remove not Thy mercy from me, O God,

Nor Thy memorial from my heart until I die.

7 Rule me, O God, (keeping me back) from wicked sin,

And from every wicked woman that causeth the simple to stumble.

8 And let not the beauty of a lawless woman beguile me,

Nor any one that is subject to (?) unprofitable sin.

9 Establish the works of my hands before Thee,

And preserve my goings in the remembrance of Thee.

το Protect my tongue and my lips with words of truth ;

Anger and unreasoning wrath put far from me.

Murmuring, and impatience in affliction, remove far from me,‏ זז

When, if I sin, Thou chastenest me that I may return (unto Thee).

12 But with goodwill and cheerfulness support my soul ;

When Thou strengthenest my soul, what is given (to me) will be sufficient for me.

13 For if 770 givest not strength,

Who can endure chastisement with poverty ?

14 When a man is rebuked by means of his corruption,

Thy testing (of him) is in his flesh and in the affliction of poverty.

15 If the righteous endureth in all these (trials), he shall receive mercy from the Lord.

ΧΝΠ. d Psalm. Of Solomon. With Song. Of the King.

17 1 O Lord, Thou art our King for ever and ever,

For in Thee, O God, doth our soul glory.

2 How long are the days of man’s life upon the earth ?

As are his days, so is the hope (set) upon him.

3 But we hope in God, our deliverer ;

(2) that ὕπνου is due to a misplaced gloss or a corrupt dittograph in ₪ בשנת שחת)‎ for (בשחת‎ ; and (3) that καταφθορᾶ, as in Ps. xlix. 9, and as more frequently διαφθορά, was a misrendering of ,שחת‎ ‘pit’. The actual readings of the MSS. are ‘in corruption of sleep’ (J C H), (in) ‘sleep of corruption’ (5, which perchance represents the order of the two words in the original text of x), and ‘in heaviness (καταφορᾷ) of sleep" (R L).

When (I was) far, τῷ paxpay. 61 lacks the ἐν and the pronoun which should normally be present, if the sense implied by the transiation was intended. 5S כ,‎ ; but this is inconclusive 85 to the reading of 6%. Von Gebhardt for ὕπνου τῷ conjectures ὑπνοῦτῶ == ὑπνούντωνς then render ‘ (sunk) in the heaviness of them that sleep afar from God’.

4- asa horse is pricked. Lit. ‘like the goad of a horse’; ὡς κέντρον ἕππου, perhaps in ?( simply 13119 ‘as with a goad’.

that I might serve Him. G ἐπὶ τὴν γρηγόρησιν αὐτοῦ, which Ryle and James render ‘that I might watch unto him’. ® perhaps לעברו‎ ; cp. iti, 2 note.

8. Nor any one. & ‘nor of any thing’ (or ‘of any one’). The translation ‘subject to’ presupposes a very ques- tionable construction in &. Ryle and James conjecture πᾶν τὸ συγκείµενον for παντὸς ὑποκειμένου,αηά render ‘ Nor aught that consisteth in sinful vanity’. ο ‘ Nor any sin that is’, which seems to be a paraphrase of G.

g. before Thee. 3% = ἐνώπιον σου, which is probably the original whence the readings ἐν τωπω σου (J) and ἐν τόπω σου a other MSS. of 6τ) arose. Renderings of conjectural emendations that have been suggested are, ‘in thy fear’,

in thy word '.

ας. Or, ‘If the righteous endureth, in the midst of these trials he shall receive,’ &c.

XVII. TrrLe. Cp. xv. 1. 1. and ever, For in Thee ... doth. Or, perhaps, reading καὶ ἔτι for καὶ ἔτι ὅτι, * And yet (cp. Ps. xlii. 6, 11( in Thee . . . shail.’ 2. How long are the days. & ‘and what is the time’. the hope. & ‘his hope’. Transitory as is man’s life, so transitory is the hope which one man places in another ; but (v. 3) the hope placed in God is eternal. 3- Mercy for Israel; judgement for the nations. hope. So J; al. ‘ will hope’. 647

For the might of our God is for ever with mercy, 4 And the kingdom of our God is for ever over the nations in judgement.

5 (4) Thou, Ο Lord, didst choose David (to be) king over Israel, And swaredst to him touching his seed that never should his kingdom fail before Thec. 6 (5) But, for our sins, sinners rose up against us; They assailed us and thrust us out ; What Thou hadst not promised to them, they took away (from us) with violence. 7 They in no wise glorified Thy honourable name ; (6) They set a (worldly) monarchy in place of (that which was) their excellency ; 8 They laid waste the throne of David in tumultuous arrogance.

(2) But Thou, O God, didst cast them down, and remove their seed from the earth, ף‎ In that there rose up against them a man that was alien to our race.

το (8) According to their sins didst Thou recompense them, O God; So that it befell them according to their deeds.

απ (9) God showed them no pity ; He sought out their sced and let not one of them go free.

12 (ro) Faithful is the Lord in all His judgements

Which He doeth upon the earth.

13 (11) The lawless one laid waste our land so that none inhabited it, They destroyed young and old and their children together. 14 (12) In the heat of His anger He sent them away even unto the west, And (He exposed) the rulers of the land unsparingly to derision. 15 (13) Being an alicn the enemy acted proudly, And his heart was alien from our God. 16 (14) And all . . . Jerusalem, As also the nations . . .

6. sinners. Jews, not foreigners (cp. v. 9). The Hasmonaeans are probably intended ; the first pers. plur. then refers to the Pharisees, or (Ryle and James) the priests. Frankenberg explains the verse of the Babylonian assault on Jerusalem, &c., treating ‘us’ as equivalent to ‘our fathers ’.

What ...tothem. & ‘to whom’. ₪ להם)‎ ... WR) would admit of either rendering. The allusion appears to be to the assumption of the royal dignity by the non-Davidic Aristobulus I and later Hasmonaeans, and of the high-priestly dignity by these same persons, though they did not belong to the high-priestly lines.

7- in no wise glorified. Lit. ‘they glorified not with (ἐν) glory’; for the construction representing probably the Hebrew infin. abs., cp. i. δ. In spite of the punctuation of the Greek MSS., ‘in glory’ is better taken with v. 7α (so clearly 5( than with v 74.

7%. They preferred to use the title, and enjoy the position, of kings, than to recognize the sovereignty of God which was the true ‘excellency’ of the Jews. But this meaning is by no means Certain; assuming that ἀντί may = ב‎ or JD, others render ‘they set up a monarchy’, 1. 6. made themselves kings, ‘in their pride.’

8 4-12. In vv. 84, Low, 11a, the verbs in Greek are in the future tense ; they represent Hebrew imperfects referring to the past.

The verbs throughout the verse are in 5 2nd pers. sing. imperative (or imperfect with imperative force). In Η the negative in + 11 4: has been lost.

13. The lawless one. So RJ LS; 11 ‘the tempest’. The sing. (ct. v. 20) throughout vv. 13-16 ‘except in 13 6) is used collectively of the enemy (cp. v. 15) or specifically of their leader (Pompey). Whether the change to the plur. (of the enemies distributively) in 7. 13 4 )5 and all MSS. of @&) is original may be doubted.

14. the heat of His anger. & ‘the wrath of His beauty’; 5 ‘the beauty of His wrath’. An original 128, or (Ryle and James) אפיו‎ , was probably misread Y5*. The pronouns probably refer to God. unto the west. Pompey carried Aristobulus and his children captive to Rome (Jos. «411. xiv. 4. 5, 5. 4, 6. 13

ο ον σ.7, 5. 6).

acted proudly. Cp. Ps. xxxi. 24 (23).

And his heart, or, rather, ‘seeing that his heart", if, as Ryle and James suggest, v. 15 ὁ is not a simple parallel to 15 a. but an explanation that proud doing was due to the excusable ignorance (in a foreigner) of the true God.

16. Very uncertain. According to the text of א‎ the verse continues the description of what the enemy did (ἐποίησεν) in Jerusalem : ‘ all things whatsoever he did in Jerusalem, (he did) as also the nations )00(.' According to «5 it rather opens the description continued in 7. 17 of the evil conduct of the Jews : ‘And every thing did Jerusalem, as also the peoples do

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(13) And the children of the covenant in the midst of the mingled peoples . . There was not among them one that wrought in the midst of Jerusalem mercy and truth. (16) They that loved the synagogues of the pious fled from them, As sparrows that fly from their nest. (17) They wandered in deserts that their lives might be saved from harm, | And precious in the eyes of them that lived abroad was any that escaped alive from them. (18) Over the whole earth were they scattered by lawless (men). (1 9) For the heavens withheld the rain from dropping upon the earth, Springs were stopped (that sprang) perennial(ly) out of the deeps, (that ran down) from lofty moun- | tains. For there was none among them that wrought righteousness and justice ; ο) From the chief of them to the least (of them) all were sinful ; 22 The king was a transgressor, and the judge disobedient, and the people sinful.

21) Behold, O-Lord, and raise up unto them their king, the son of David, At the time in the which Thou seest, O God, that he may reign over Israel Thy servant. 22) And gird him with strength, that he may shatter unrighteous rulers, 2; And that he may purge Jerusalem from nations that trample (her) down to destruction. 23) Wisely, righteously 26 he shall thrust out sinners from (the) inheritance, He shall destroy the pride of the sinner as a potter’s vessel. (24) With a rod of iron he shall break in pieces all their substance, 2; He shall destroy the godless nations with the word of his mouth ; (25) At his rebuke nations shall flee before him, And he shall reprove sinners for the thoughts of their heart.

(26) And he shall gather together a holy people, whom he shall lead in righteousness, And he shall judge the tribes of the people that has been sanctified by the Lord his God. (27) And he shall not suffer unrighteousness to lodge any more in their midst, Nor shall there dwell with them any man that knoweth wickedness, 3ο Γοτ he shall know them, that they are all sons of their God.

in their cities to their gods.’ Literally rendered the text of J 1.11 runs, ‘ And all things whatsoever he did in Jerusalem, as also the nations in the cities to their gods’; from this ₪ seems to be derived through haplography of ἐν (ἐποίησεν for ἐποίησεν ἐν). The alternative that 5 represents the original text of & and that J L H is due to dittography of ἐν might be considered, if it was not probable that the τοῖς θεοῖς of J LH 5 was a mere substitute for the unintelligible, but probably earlier, reading of R—rois θεούς. Similarly, ‘their cities’ )5( is probably a mere amplification of ‘the cities’ (65). For ἐν ταῖς πόλεσι τοὺς θεούς von Gebhardt conjectures as the original reading of & ἐν ταῖς πύλεσι τοῦ σθένους, understanding ‘in the cities of their might’ to mean in the other cities besides Jerusalem which they had conquered. But this, if it were in other respects more acceptable, would still leave ο. 16 ὁ suspiciously elliptical. This ellipsis, and the probability tbat the reading ‘ the cities’ (@x) is prior to ‘ their cities’ (69), and τοὺς θεούς to τοῖς θεοῖς, deprives Frankenberg’s argument that the allusion is not to Pompey but to Antiochus Epiphanes (1 Macc. i. 44 Π., 54 ff; 2 Macc. vi. 102) of much of its plausibility. What may have been meant, or alluded to, by # remains very uncertain.

174. the children of the covenant, i.e. the Jews (cp. Ezek. xxx. 5, Acts iii. 25). ‘The mingled peoples,’ apparently here the Gentiles; for ערב‎ implied by συµµίκτων see Neh. xiii. 3, Jer. xxv. 20, 1. 37, Ezek. xxx. 5. What was meant by ἐπεκρατοῦσαν αὐτῶν (not translated above), or the Hebrew underlying it, is uncertain; is it that the Jews ‘surpassed’ (הזקו מ)‎ the heathen in wickedness (cp. i. 8), or ‘attached themselves (2 (החזיקו‎ to them’? & would most naturally mean ‘ruled them’ (cp. xvi. 7), or ‘ gained the mastery over them’.

21. For. If the conjunction is correct—we might rather expect ‘therefore’ (%)—the argument implied rather than expressed is: The disloyal sons of the covenant by their sins brought about a drought (cp. ii. 10), and this in turn caused the pious to wander far and wide.

21d. to the least of them. So 5; & ‘and of the least people’ ועד)‎ misread DY).

all were sinful. 6 ‘in every sin’ הכל חטא)‎ (cp. Ps. xiv. 3) misread NBN בבל‎ 2. 23. seest. So RJ LS; ‘knowest’, Η V. Von Gebhardt conjectures * chosest’. 25. And that he may purge. So 3; cp.v. 33. & ‘purge’, as though addressed to God. trample (her) down. Cp. ii. 2. Wisely, righteously. According to the punctuation of J these words should go with v. 25. % omits them.

26, 27. In & the verbs are either certainly infinitive (7. 27 6) or ambiguous, i.e. optative or infinitive (according to the accentuation). It is possible that in #) these verses were entirely dependent on v7. 24: ‘Gird him . . . that he may thrust out . . . destroy .. . break in pieces,’ &c. More probably the tenses of 2) were, as in vz. 29 ff. (cp. &), imperfects intended in a simple indicative future sense. % continues the subordination of the tenses into 7’. 28, though, on the other hand, ‘shall flee’, clearly infinitive in 61, is clearly imperfect in 5.

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(28) And he shall divide them according to their tribes upon the land, 31 And neither sojourner nor alicn shall sojourn with them any more. (29) He shall judge peoples and nations in the wisdom of his righteousness. Se/ah.

32 (30) And he shall have the hcathen nations to serve him under his yoke ; And he shall glorify the Lord in a place to be seen of )?( all the earth ; 33 And he shall purge Jerusalem, making it holy as of old: 34 (31) So that nations shall come from the ends of the earth to see his glory, Bringing as gifts her sons who had fainted, 35 And to see the glory of the Lord, wherewith God hath glorified her. (32) And he (shall be) a righteous king, taught of God, over them, 36 And there shall be no unrighteousness in his days in their midst, For all shall be holy and their king the anointed of the Lord. 37 '33) For he shall not put his trust in horse and rider and bow, Nor shall he multiply for himself gold and silver for war, Nor shall he gather confidence from (?) a multitude (?) for the day of battle. 38 (34) The Lord Himself is his king, the hope of him that is mighty through (his) hope in God.

6 \) All nations (shall be) in fear before him, 39 (35) For he will smite the earth with the word of his mouth for ever. 40 He will bless the people of the Lord with wisdom and gladness, 41 (36) And he himself (will be) pure from sin, so that he may rule a great people. He will rebuke rulers, and remove sinners by the might of his word ; 42 (37) And (relying) upon his God, throughout his days he will not stumble; For God will make him mighty by means of (His) holy spirit, And wise by means of the spirit of understanding, with strength and righteousness. 43 (38) And the blessing of the Lord (will be) with him: he will be strong and stumble not ; 44 (49) His hope (will be) in the Lord: who then can prevail against him 2 (40) (He will be) mighty in his works, and strong in the fear of God,

45 (He will be) shepherding the flock of the Lord faithfully and righteously,

And will suffer none among them to stumble in their pasture. He will lead them all aright, And there will be no pride among them that any among them should be oppressed.

324. in 8 place to be seen of. So Ryle and James render ἐν ἐπισήμῳ (cp. ii. 6 n.), seeing in the lines an allusion to the miraculously exalted and consequently conspicuous Zion of the Messianic age (Isa. ii. 2). Kit. here, as in 11. 6, takes ἐν ἐπι. to be a rendering of ; Π32, and renders ‘openly before’. In $ ο. 326 reads ‘and they (1.6. the nations) shall praise (= glorify) the Lord openly in all the earth’.

34, δα. Very probably the original form of this tristich (originally a distich ?) is not correctly preserved. ‘His glory’, i.e. the glory of the Messianic king; ‘her sons’, i.e. the exiled inhabitants of Jerusalem.

fainted. 5S *been scattered from her’.

read incorrectly עליהם = אליהם‎ , * over them.’

37 = Obscure. S employs the same verbal phrase here as in 37 a; if by accident % so far returns to the original, it is difficult to account for the variation in 65. Further, if zoAAvis is the objective of the verbal phrase, we might expect it to be preceded by a preposition, and if instrumental by ἐν. Ryle and James conjecture πλοίοις for wodAvis, and render * nor by ships shall he gather confidence’, &c.

38a. Doubtless this line, together perhaps with v. 37 ¢ in an earlier uncorrupted form, contained the antithesis to שי‎ 37 a,6: Not in weapons and material resources, but in God does he put his trust. Whether the strangely expressed Greek text at all closely reproduces the original, or whether the Lord was here described as the king’s King, must remain very doubtful.

384. The words καὶ ἐλεήσει, left untranslated above, are probably due to some corruption, whether in ® or &. ‘He shall have mercy upon all the nations (that come) before hin in fear’ (Ryle and James) is a bad introduction to v. 39. καὶ ἐλεήσει . . . ἐν φόβῳ May represent some such phrase as ‘he shall set trembling’; or καὶ ἐλεήσει may belong to the preceding corrupt line, and ἐν 00 = WW.

will make. & ‘made’.

42/4. by means of, or ‘in’.

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(42) This (will be) the majesty of the king of Israel whom God knoweth ;

He will raise him up over the house of Israel to correct him.

} (43) His words (shall be) more refined than costly gold, the choicest ;

In the assemblies he will judge the peoples, the tribes of the sanctified.

| 49 His words (shall be) like the words of the holy ones in the midst of sanctified peoples. 50 Blessed be they that shall be in those days,

In that they shall see the good fortune of Israel which God shall bring to pass in the gathering together of the tribes.

51 May the Lord hasten His mercy upon Israel!

May He deliver us from the uncleanness of unholy enemies!

The Lord Himself is our king for ever and ever.

1 Lord, Thy mercy is over the works of Thy hands for ever ;

Thy goodness is over Israel with a rich gift.

2 Thine eyes look upon them, so that none of them suffers want ;

3

Thine ears listen to the hopeful prayer of the poor.

(3) Thy judgements (are executed) upon the whole earth in mercy ;

4

And Thy love (is) toward the seed of Abraham, the children of Israel.

(4) Thy chastisement is upon us as (upon) a first-born, only-begotten son,

5

To turn back the obedient soul from folly (that is wrought) in ignorance.

(3) May God cleanse Israel against the day of mercy and blessing,

Against the day of choice when He bringeth back His anointed.

= (6) Blessed shall they be that shall be in those days,

In that they shall see the goodness of the Lord which He shall perform for the generation that is to come,

(7) Under the rod of chastening of the Lord’s anointed in the fear of his God,

In the spirit of wisdom and righteousness and strength ;

(8) That he may direct (every) man in the works of righteousness by the fear of God,

(9)

That he may establish them all before the Lord, A good generation (living) in the fear of God in the days of mercy. Selah.

(10) Great is our God and glorious, dwelling in the highest.

47. whom. 6 ‘which’, wrongly referring the relative (אשר)‎ to ‘ majesty’ and not to ‘king’. knoweth. & ‘knew’. He will. & ‘to’. 48. costly gold, the choicest. } probably read ‘ fine gold’ simply. In the assemblies. Ἐν συναγωγαῖς, possibly an error בעדות)‎ for (בַּעדוּת‎ for ‘ by means of the Testimony’, i.e. the Law. 49. the holy ones. The angels; cp. Ps. lxxxix. 6, לס[‎ 1. 50. Cp. xviii. 6. ‘ The good fortune of Israel,’ cp. Ps. cxxviii. 5. Instead of ‘Israel’ J reads ‘ Jerusalem’. 51. May He deliver. @& ‘ He will deliver’; but in ® the tenses in the parallel lines doubtless had the same force.

6. the day of mercy and (lit. ‘in’) blessing is the day when God shows mercy to and blesses Israel; it is also the day of His choosing or determining upon the appearance of the Messiah (cp. xvii. 23). The term ἄναξις here used, if we might press the force of the Greek, would imply a ‘ bringing again’ or ‘bringing up’ of a pre-existing Messiah (cp. Ryle and James) ; yet it must remain very doubtful whether the original really expressed this idea here.

8. Loose and awkward; but apparently the meaning is the generation that is to come and will live under the dis- cipline (cp. vii. 8) of the Messiah. We., assuming that ὑπό is a rendering of a misunderstood תחת‎ which should have been rendered דע‎ understands the line to mean ‘ Instead of the rod of chastening (there shall be) the Lord’s Anointed’.

the spirit of wiadom and. G ‘wisdom of spirit and of ’.

11-14. A marked change of subject, and perhaps originally a distinct Psalm (Ryle and James). The abrupt- ness of the conclusion, the incompleteness of the treatment, and the absence of any doxology suggest that the conclusion of the Psalm has been lost.

12 (It is He) who hath established in (their) courses the lights (of heaven) for determining seasons from year to ycar,

And they have not turned aside from the way which He appointed them.

13 (11) In the fear of God (they pursue) their path every day, From the day God created them and for evermore.

14 (12) And they have erred not since the day He created them. Since the generations of old they have not withdrawn from their path, Unless God commanded them (so to do) by the command of His servants.

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