delicacy of mind, which are uniformly and perpetually attributed to this beautiful and accomplished fair one, she must have been well worthy of royal love. Instead of being of Egyptian origin, she herself informs us that she was a native of Sharon (Cant. ii. 1.), which was a canton of Palestine. Though not of royal blood, and it should seem from Cant. i. 6. of low extraction in comparison of her royal bridegroom, yet she must have been of noble birth; for she is addressed by her attendants under the appellation of princess or noble lady (Cant. vii. 1.); and though she could not augment by her dowry the dimensions of the national territory, she possessed for her marriage-portion a noble and fruitful estate in Baal-hammon (Cant. viii. 12.), ingeniously supposed by Mr. Harmer to have been situated in the delightful valley of Boeat in the immediate vicinity of Balbec, leased out to a variety of tenants, with whose number we are not acquainted, but every one of whom paid her a clear rental of a thousand shekels of silver, amounting to about 120l. 16s. 8d. sterling. From the possession of this property it is natural to conceive that her father was deceased; more especially as the house in which she resided is repeatedly called the house of her mother (Cant. iii. 4. viii. 2.), as it was her mother who betrothed her to the enamoured monarch (Cant. viii. 5.), and as no notice of any kind is taken of the existence of her father. She appears to have possessed two distinct families, and, consequently, to have had two marriages: for in Cant. i. 6. the royal bride speaks of an offspring considerably older than herself, whom she denominates not her father's but her mother's children, who seem to have taken an undue advantage of her infancy, and to have behaved with great unkindness towards her. For these she nowhere expresses any degree of affection; but for an own brother and sister, the former an infant, and the latter considerably younger than herself, she evinces the tenderest regard of the most affectionate bosom. (Cant. viii. 1. 8.)

"Of the age of this unrivalled beauty, at the time of her nuptials, we are nowhere informed. Being in possession of an estate bequeathed to her by her father, or some collateral relation, she must, at least, have acquired her majority according to the Hebrew ritual; yet, from the circumstance of her brother's being an unweaned infant, she could not have exceeded the prime of life; and from the exquisite delineations of her person by her companions as well as by her lover, she must have been in the full flower of youth and beauty. As to the age of king Solomon, we may fairly calculate it, from collateral circumstances, to have been about twenty-five or twenty-six, and, consequently, that the nuptials were celebrated about the year 1010 before the birth of Christ. At the age of twenty, he contracted his marriage of political interest with the Egyptian princess; and if he had not at this period complied with the luxurious fashion of his age, and opened his harem for the reception of the most beautiful women who could be found, and would consent to live with him, it is obvious that this establishment | commenced very shortly afterwards."

Before we proceed to offer any further remarks on the style of this sacred poem, justice requires that we notice another view of it which has been given by a learned and ingenious, though anonymous, writer in Dr. Rees's New Cyclopædia, which appears to be a modification of the opinion entertained by Mr. Harmer, above noticed. He regards it as a parable, in the form of a drama; in which the bride is considered as representing true religion; the royal lover as the Jewish people; the younger sister as the Gospel dispensation. The gradual expansion of it, from its first dawn in the garden of Eden, to its meridian effulgence produced by the death and resurrection of Christ, is supposed to be portrayed in these beautiful words :-"Who is he that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, and serene as the starry host?" (See vi. 10.) The epilogue in chap. viii. respecting the younger brother and sister, he further conceives, demonstrates that its views terminate in the temple service: while, at the same time, the allusion at the close to the rise of the Gospel and the conversion of the Gentiles, which took place so many hundred years after Solomon, proves that the author wrote under divine inspiration. The metaphorical sense, thus capable of being put upon every part of the poem, the anonymous writer apprehends justifies the high appellation of the Song of Songs, which has been given to it; and also accounts for its being regarded, by Jews and Christians, as a sacred

Outlines of a New Commentary, pp. 35, 36. Good's Song of Songs, pp. xi.-xvi

composition, and for its reception first into the Jewish and then into the Christian church.

From this view of the subject, it is impossible to withhold the praise of learning, piety, and ingenuity; but we conceive the Song of Solomon to have a more extended meaning than this author admits; and we cannot accede to his arrangement and exposition of its argument, for the following reasons:

It has been a question in all ages, whether the literal and obvious meaning of the Song of Solomon be the whole that was ever intended by the royal bard; or whether it does not, at the same time, afford the veil of a sublime and mystical allegory delineating the bridal union between Jehovah and his pure and uncorrupted church? Michaelis and most of the modern critics on the Continent advocate the former opinion; in which they are followed by some eminent critics in our own country, but the latter opinion is adopted by most commentators, Jewish and Christian.

Among those who hold it to be allegorical, there is also much disagreement; some conceiving it to be no more than a simple allegory, while Bishop Lowth and others consider it as a mystical allegory, and are of opinion that under the figure of a marriage is typified the intimate connection between God and his church, of which a more concise model was furnished in the forty-fifth psalm. That this view of the subject is correct, we think will appear from the following considerations, principally extracted from Bishop Lowth:6

The narrowness and imbecility of the human mind, he observes, being such as scarcely to comprehend or attain a clear idea of any part of the divine nature by its utmost exertions; God has condescended, in a manner, to contract the infinity of his glory, and to exhibit it to our understandings under such imagery as our feeble optics are capable of contemplating. Thus the Almighty may be said to descend, as it were, in the Holy Scriptures, from the height of his majesty, to appear on earth in a human shape, with human senses and affections, in all respects resembling a mortal"with human voice and human form." This kind of allegory is called anthropopathy, and occupies a considerable portion of theology, properly so called, that is, as delivered in the Holy Scriptures. The principal part of this imagery is derived from the passions; nor, indeed, is there any one affection or emotion of the human soul which is not, with all its circumstances, ascribed in direct terms, without any qualification whatever, to the supreme God; not excepting those in which human frailty and imperfection is most evidently displayed, viz. anger and grief, hatred and revenge. That love, also, and that of the tenderest kind, should bear a part in this drama, is highly natural and perfectly consistent. Thus, not only the fondness of paternal affection is attributed to God, but also the force, the ardour, and the solicitude of conjugal attachment, with all the concomitant emotions, the anxiety, the tenderness, and the jealousy incidental to this passion.

After all, this figure is not in the least productive of ob scurity; the nature of it is better understood than that of most others; and although it is exhibited in a variety of lights, it constantly preserves its native perspicuity. A peculiar people, of the posterity of Abraham, was selected by God from among the nations, and he ratified his choice by a solemn covenant. This covenant was founded upon reciprocal conditions; on the one part, love, protection, and sup port; on the other, faith, obedience, and worship pure and devout. This is that conjugal union between God and his church; that solemn compact so frequently celebrated by almost all the sacred writers under this image. It is, indeed, a remarkable instance of that species of metaphor which Aristotle calls analogical; that is, when in a propositior consisting of four ideas, the first bears the same relation to the second as the third does to the fourth, and the corresponding words may occasionally change their places without any injury to the sense. Thus, in this form of expression, God is supposed to bear exactly the same relation to the church as a husband to a wife; God is represented as the spouse of the church, and the church is betrothed to God. Thus also, when the same figure is maintained with a different mode of expression, and connected with different circumstances, the relation is still the same: thus the piety of

Dr. Rees's Cyclopedia, vol. vi. article Canticles.
Among others by Mr. Hewlett in his valuable Commentary.

On the nature of this species of allegory, see Vol I. Part II Chap. 1. Sect. IV.

e Prælect. xxxi. vol. ii. pp. 312-321. Poet. chap. xxii. and Rhet. iii. 3.

indelicate, which, in the original, are altogether the reverse; while others (as the learned Dr. Gill for instance) have so confounded the literal and allegorical senses as to give neither, distinctly or completely; at the same time, they have applied the figures to such a variety of objects, as to leave the reader still to, seek the right, and, by their minute dissection of the allegory, they have not only destroyed its consistency and beauty, but have also exposed the poem to the unmerited ridicule of profane minds. Much, unquestionably, has been done, by later writers, towards elucidating the language and allusions of the Song of Songs by the aid of Oriental literature and manners; but, after all the labours of learned men, there will perhaps be found many expressions which are very difficult to us, both as to the literal meaning, and the spiritual instruction intended to be conveyed by them; and some descriptions must not be judged by modern notions of delicacy. But the grand outlines, soberly interpreted, in the obvious meaning of the allegory, so accord with the affections and experience of the sincere Christian, "that he will hardly ever read and meditate upon them, in a spirit of humble devotion, without feeling a conviction that no other poem of the same kind, extant in the world, could, without most manifest violence, be so explained as to describe the state of his heart at different times, and to excite admiring, adoring, grateful love to God our Saviour, as this does."2

With regard to the style, says Bishop Lowth, this poem is of the pastoral kind, since the two principal personages are represented in the character of shepherds. The circumstance is by no means incongruous to the manners of the Hebrews, whose principal occupation consisted in the care of cattle (Gen. xlvi. 32-34.); nor did they consider this

employment as beneath the dignity of the highest characters. Least of all, could it be supposed to be inconsistent with the character of Solomon, whose father was raised from the sheepfold to the throne of Israel. The pastoral life is not only most delightful in itself, but from the particular circum stances and manners of the Hebrews, is possessed of a kind of dignity. In this poem it is adorned with all the choicest colouring of language, with all the elegance and variety of the most select imagery. "Every part of the Canticles," says the learned and eloquent Bossuet, "abounds in poetical beauties; the objects, which present themselves on every side, are the choicest plants, the most beautiful flowers, the most delicious fruits, the bloom and vigour of spring, the sweet verdure of the fields, flourishing and well-watered gardens, pleasant streams, and perennial fountains. The other senses are represented as regaled with the most precious odours natural and artificial: with the sweet singing of birds, and the soft voice of the turtle; with milk and honey, and the choicest of wine. To these enchantments are added all that is beautiful and graceful in the human form, the endearments, the caresses, the delicacy of love; if any object be introduced which seems not to harmonize with this delightful scene, such as the awful prospect of tremendous precipices, the wildness of the mountains, or the haunts of lions, its effect is only to heighten by the contrast the beauty of the other objects, and to add the charms of variety to those of grace and elegance."

The Chaldee paraphrase of this book is a long and tiresome application of it throughout to the circumstances of the history of the Jews. The Greek version of it is tolerably exact; and Bos, in the Frankfort edition of the Septuagint (1709), ascribes it to Symmachus.

I. We now enter on the fourth or prophetical part of the Old Testament, according to the division which is generally adopted, but which forms the second division, according to the Jewish classification of the sacred volume. This portion of the Scriptures is termed PROPHETICAL, because it chiefly consists of predictions of future events; though many historical passages are interspersed through the writings of the prophets, as there are also many predictions of future events scattered through those books which are more strictly historical. But these books also contain very many passages which relate to other subjects, such as the nature and attributes of God; the religious and moral duties of man; reproofs of idolatry and other sins; exhortations to the practice of true religion and virtue; together with advices and warnings respecting the political state of the country, and the administration of affairs, which in the theocratical form of government were sent to the kings and princes of the Hebrews by the prophets as ambassadors of their supreme monarch, Jehovah. The authors of these books are, by way of eminence, termed Prophets, that is, divinely inspired persons,

The chief error of all the translators of this book, Dr. Good observes with great truth, "results from their having given verbal renderings of the Hebrew terms and idioms, which ought merely to have been translated equivalently; a method, by which any language in the world, when interpreted into another, may not only occasionally convey a meaning altogether different from what the author intended, but convert a term or phrase of perfect purity and delicacy, in its original import, into one altogether indelicate and unchaste." Song of Songs, p. xxvi. Dr. Good illustrates this remark by some well-chosen examples, which want of room compels us to omit; but the result of its application, we may be permitted to observe, was his very elegant and delicate version, in which, though he adheres solely to the literal sense, yet he decidedly expresses himself (p. xviii.) in favour of the mystical meaning of the poem.

2 Scott, Pref to Sol. Songs.

who were raised up among the Israelites to be the ministers of God's dispensations. Jehovah, at sundry times and in divers manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets for prophecy came not of old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. (Heb. i. 1. 2 Pet. i. 21.)

II. To these messengers of heaven frequent reference is made in various parts of the Sacred Writings. The term PROPHET, indeed, is of general signification. It was applied by the heathens to all persons who were supposed to be conversant with divine things; and, in conformity to this notion, St. Paul, in his Epistle to Titus (i. 12.), when citing a passage from a profane poet, calls him a prophet, because the heathens supposed their poets to be inspired. In the historical books of the Old Testament we meet with frequent notice of the school of the prophets, that is, of seminaries, where religious truths, or the divine laws, were particularly taught:4 for the pupils in these schools were not, strictly speaking, all of them prophets; though God bestowed upon some of them the spirit of prophecy, or of predicting future events. (2 Kings ii. 3.) Further, in the Old Testament, the prophets are spoken of, as "holy men of God," as seers," and as "prophets," in the most exalted sense of the term. The first denomination seems to have been sometimes applied to men of exemplary piety, who assiduously studied the divine law, as communicated by their legislator Moses; who firmly be lieved in the predictions of good and evil that should attend the Israelites according to the tenor of their conduct; who Bossuet, Præf. in Canticum Canticorum, Oeuvres, tom. 1. p. 467. 4to. See an account of these schools in Part IV. Chap. VII. Sect. III. § 1. of this volume.

edit.

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must be the one true God.' It was necessary, therefore, that the prophets should secure the credence of their contem poraries in that portion of their prophecies which related to remote events by some predictions respecting events of speedy occurrence. This accounts for the fact, that the prophets sometimes predicted proximate events of little moment with as much care as others of far more importance.2 Compare 2 Sam. xii. 14. xxiv. 11-14. 1 Kings xí. 31-39. xiii. 1—5. xiv. 6. 12. Isa. vii. 4-16.3 xxxviii. 4-8. Jer. xxviii. 16, 17. xxxvii. 1. xxxviii. 28."4

V. In considering the circumstances relative to the Hebrew prophets, the QUALIFICATIONS Which were requisite for the prophetic office claim distinctly to be considered: they were two in number, viz.

1. The first and leading qualification was, A HOLY CHARAC

TER.

"As this is the uniform sentiment of Jewish writers, so it is confirmed by the history and lives of the ancient prophets, and by the express testimony of St. Peter, that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. (2 Pet. i. 21.) Though we meet with some instances of wicked men, to whom God, on special occasions, imparted his secret counsels, such as the covetous Balaam, and the idolatrous kings, Pharaoh, Abimelech, and Nebuchadnezzar; yet we may presume, that none but good men were statedly honoured with these divine communications; and especially that none but such were employed as penmen of the Sacred Writings. The declaration, therefore, of Peter, will, doubtless, apply to all the prophetic writers of the Old Testament. They were all men of real and exemplary holiness. The importance of personal piety and virtue in the extraordinary ministers of Jehovah will account for his withdrawing the spirit of prophecy from the Hebrew nation in the fatter stages of their polity, that is, from Malachi to Christ; because during this period their religious and moral state was universally corrupt."

2. The mind of the prophet must be in a SERENE AND COMPOSED FRAME, in order to receive the spirit of inspiration. "The Jewish doctors tell us, that a mind loaded with fresh guilt, oppressed with sorrow, or disturbed with passion, could not duly receive and exercise this heavenly gift. Accordingly, when David, in his penitential psalm, after the affair of Uriah, prays that the holy spirit might be restored to him, that God would give him joy and gladness and a free spirit, the Hebrew commentators understand by these expressions, that prophetic spirit, which his guilt and distress of mind had banished, and that peaceful and cheerful frame, which would invite its return. To prove that passion unfitted the mind for the prophetic impulse, they plead the story The prophets themselves occasionally refer to this evidence of their divine mission, and draw plainly the distinction between the proximate events, by predicting which they obtain credence for their other prophecies, and those more remote which it was their principal object to foretell Compare Isa. xli. 22. xlii. 9. xliv. 7, 8. Jer. xxviii. 9.-For an enumeration of prophecies of proximate events, and their accomplishment, see Allix's Reflections upon the Books of the Old Testament, ch. 3. in Bishop WatBon's Tracts, vol. i. pp. 358-361. The subject of the evidence of the divine mission of the prophets is copiously discussed by Witsius in his Miscellanea Sacra, lib. i. c. 15. de notis veræ prophetiæ et veri prophetiæ, pp. 132-159.

See an illustration of this prediction of a proximate event and its fulfilment, supra, Vol. I. p. 121.

Professor Turner's and Mr. Whittingham's translation of Jahn's Introduction, pp. 313. 315.

The transient vouchsafement of this spirit to bad men, while it an

swered some special purpose of divine wisdom, admirably displayed the Sovereignty of God in using the most unlikely and wicked instruments to serve his own design, in constraining even his enemies to utter those truths and predictions, which promoted his honour and interest, and sealed their own con lemnation and ruin. It magnified his unsearchable wisdom, holiness, and power in compelling the most unhallowed lips to pronounce his pure messages without the least adulteration, yea, with astonishing energy and sublimity. It enforced in the most striking manner the essential distinction between splendid and even miraculous gifts, and sanctify ing grace; between the occasional effusions of a prophetic spirit, and the genuine workings of human depravity. These lessons are forcibly taught by the history of Balaam. This noted magician had been allured by Balak, king of Moab, to come to him, with a view to curse Israel, who then lay encamped on his borders. The heathen nations believed that prophets or diviners could, by religious charms or ceremonies, decoy from heir enemies their tutelar deities, engage the celestial powers against them, and thus ensure their destruction. Thus Homer represents the capture of Troy as depending on the removal from that city of the sacred image of Minerva. The pagans, previously to a military engagement, usually employed a priest to pronounce, at the head of the army, a solemn imprecation against the adverse power. But though Balaam was invited and fully inclined to perform this office against Israel, infinite goodness, power, and wisdom turned the curse into a blessing, by forcing this malig nant enemy of his people to announce, in the most lofty strains, their present and future glory, the triumphs of their divine Leader and future Mes siah, and the signal destruction of his and their adversaries. We see, in this and similar instances, the singular beauty of the divine conduct; which, by thas inspiring and controlling the minds of sinful men, turned their counsels into foolishness, and made their wrath and wickedness sub. servient to his praise.

of Elisha; who being requested by the three kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom, to inquire of God for them in their dis tress for water during a military expedition, was transported with pious indignation against the wicked king of Israel: but being willing to oblige the good king of Judah, called for a minstrel or musician, for the apparent purpose of calming his passion, and thus preparing him for the spirit of inspiration. Accordingly, while the minstrel played, we are told, the hand of the Lord came upon him. This intimates one important reason why the prophets and their pupils cul tivated sacred music; and also why those who composed and sung divine hymns are sometimes styled prophets; viz. because in many cases this heavenly art was not only assisted by, but wonderfully fitted persons for, celestial communications."

3. Though prophecy was a perfectly gratuitous gift of God, and independent on human industry, yet it did not exclude APPLICATION AND STUDY, for the purpose of ascertaining the meaning of a particular prophecy.

Thus, Daniel prayed and fasted in order that he might know the mystery of the seventy weeks which had been predicted by Jeremiah. (Dan. ix. 2.) Zechariah applied himself seriously to the study of prophecy (2 Chron. xxvi. 5.); and St. Peter states, that this was the employment of the ancient prophets. (1 Pet. i. 10, 11.)

VI. Great diversity of opinion has prevailed respecting the nature, extent, permanency, and different degrees of inspiration which the prophets possessed. Not to enter into a useless discussion of conflicting sentiments, we may remark, that the communication between God and man is by prayer, by the word of God, and by his works: in old times it was also by the prophets, and before them by the angel of the Lord, and the proper symbols of the divine presence. Mankind, at first, consulted God by prayers and sacrifices at his altars. After the promulgation of the law from Mount Sinai, and the establishment of the priesthood, we find three modes of communicating the divine will mentioned in the Old Testament-1. The Shechinah:-2. The Urim and Thummim; and,-3. Revelation by Dreams, Visions, by Inspiration, or by immediate Conversation with the Deity. When these kinds of prophecy ceased under the second temple, according to the Talmudists, they were succeeded, 4. By the Bath Kol, or voice from heaven.

1. The SHECHINAH was the sitting or dwelling of God between the cherubim on the mercy-seat, or cover of the ark (Psal. lxxx. 1. and xcix. 1.); whence he delivered his answers in an articulate voice. (Exod. xxv. 22. xxix. 42. Num. vii. 89.) 2. The URIM AND THUMMIM, which was on the highpriest's breastplate (Exod. xxviii. 30.), was another standing oracle, to be consulted on all great occasions (Num. xxvii. 21. 1 Sam. xxviii. 6. xxiii. 9. xxx. 7. Ezra ii. 63.); and the answers were returned by a visible signification of the divine will. This oracle was not only venerable among the Jews, but was also celebrated among the Greeks, as Josephus informs us," for its infallible answers.

3. Another mode of revealing the divine will was by Dreams and Visions, by Inspiralion, or a Conversation with THE DEITY.

(1.) DREAMS, or (to adopt the elegant expressions of the Temanite) Thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep fulleth on man (Job iv. 16.), are frequently mentioned in the Scriptures as channels by which the divine will was communicated to mankind. Abimelech was reproved and admonished in a dream concerning Sarah (Gen. xx. 3.); and, to Abraham, by a prophetic dream, were announced the bondage of his posterity in Egypt, and their deliverance, accompanied with the promise of long life to himself before he should be gathered to his fathers. (Gen. xv. 12-16.) The dreams of Joseph, and of Pharaoh and his servants, were divine (Gen. xxxvii. 5. xl. 5. xli. 1.); as also was that of Nebuchadnezzar concerning the fate of many kingdoms (Dan. ii. 1.) All these were worthy of the divine interposition, and carried the evidence of their divine original by the revelations they made, and the strong impressions they left upon the mind.

(2.) VISIONS were revelations made in a trance or ecstacy, during which ideas and symbolic representations were presented to the imagination of the prophet, when awake, or

Tappan's Lectures on Jewish Antiquities, pp. 191–193.
Ant. Jud. lib. iii. c. 8. (al. 9.) § 9.

Sharpe's Second Argument in Defence of Christianity from Prophecy, pp. 20-28. Jahn, Introductio ad Vet. Foed. § 86. III. Witsii Miscellanea Sacra, lib. i. c. 5.