Of this species of parallelism there are not only, as we have seen, various degrees, but there are also several varieties in the form; some of which deserve particular notice:

(1.) There is sometimes a contraposition of parts in the same line, besides the opposition of the two lines, forming a double antithesis :

There is who maketh himself rich, and wanteth all things;
Who maketh himself poor, yet hath much wealth.

I am swarthy, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem;
As the tents of Kedar, as the pavilions of Solomon.

Prov. xiii. 7.

Cant. 1. 5.

The last line here is also to be divided and separately applied to the preceding: "Swarthy as the tents of Kedar; comely as the pavilions of Solomon." So likewise in the enigma of Sampson :

Out of the eater came forth meat ;

And out of the strong came forth sweetness.

Jud. xiv. 14.

(2.) Sometimes in the latter line, a part is to be supplied from the former, to complete the sentence; as in the following instances:

He who uttereth truth manifesteth righteousness;
But a false witness, deceit.

Prov. xii. 17.

Only with pride cometh contention;

But with the well-advised, wisdom.

Prov. xiii. 10.

The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way;
But the folly of fools is to understand deceit.

Prov. xiv. 8.

(3.) There are Antithetic triplets, of which the second or third

is gradational :

Behold my servants shall sing aloud, for gladness of heart;
But ye shall cry aloud for grief of heart;

And in the anguish of a broken spirit shall ye howl.

They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah ;
But Ephraim shall return unto Egypt;
And they shall eat the unclean in Assyria.

For right are the ways of Jehovah,

And the just shall walk in them;

Isa. Ixv. 14.

Hos. ix. 3.

But the transgressors shall fall therein.

Hos, xiv. 9.

(4.) There are stanzas of four lines in which the opposition lies between the parts, the latter distich being opposed to the former :

Yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more;
Thou shalt look at his place, and he shall not be found :
But the meek shall inherit the land,

And delight themselves in abundant prosperity.

For the moth shall consume them, like a garment;

And the worm shall eat them, like wool :

But my righteousness shall endure for ever;
And my salvation to the age of ages.

Psal. xxxvii.

Isa. li. 8.

In stanzas of four lines, sometimes the antithetic lines answer to one another alternately; the first to the third, and the second to the fourth :

For the upright shall dwell in the earth,

And the perfect shall remain, in it;

But the unrighteous shall be cut off from the earth,
And the deceitful shall be swept off from it.

Prov. ii. 21, 22.

For the mountains shall be removed;

And the hills shall be overthrown:

But my kindness from thee shall not be removed;

And the covenant of my peace shall not be overthrown.

Isa. liv. 10.

(5.) There are also stanzas of five lines, of a similar nature with the preceding; as in the following example:

Verily the heavens shall dissolve, like smoke;
And the earth shall wax old, like a garment;

And its inhabitants shall perish, like the vilest insect :
But my salvation shall endure for ever;

And my righteous shall not decay.

And Jehovah shall roar out of Zion;
And shall utter his voice from Jerusalem;
And the heavens and the earth shall tremble:
But Jehovah will be the refuge of his people;
And a strong defence to the sons of Israel.

[To be Continued]

Isa. li. 6

Joel iii. 16.

Biblical Translations,

1

THE SONG OF MOSES AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, AT THE RED SEA.

EXODUS, xv. 1.-18

1. I will sing unto Jehovah; for he hath triumphed gloriously!

2.

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea!

Jehovah is my strength and my song:

For he has been to me a Saviour.

He is my God, therefore will I make him a habitation :†
The God of my father, therefore I will extol him.
3. Mighty in battle‡ is Jehovah. His name is Jehovah.

Miriam answer

ed them.

O sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea!

4. The chariots of Pharaoh and his host he directed|| into the sea:
Even the chosen of his captains have sunk in the Red Sea.
The depths have covered them!

5.

They went down** to the bottom, even like a stone!

6. Thy right hand, O Jehovah, is become glorious in power!
Thy right hand, O Jehovab, hath crushed the enemy!

According to some, "Let us sing:"-but do not the use and repetition of "my" and "me," in the next verse, require the singular number?-Might there not be a significant propriety in this language of personal appropriation? It was the opinion of Dr. Geddes, that the men repeated every single stanza, after Moses, in much the same manner as our litanies are repeated; and that the women did the like after Miriam.

↑ "In quo, scilicet eum colam. Indignum videbatur populo, Deum habitare in columna illa nubis et ignis: quemadmodum Davidi indignum visum est eum habitare sub pellibus." Poole's Synopsis.

The Samaritan is generally preferred to the text. Geddes and Boothroyd. § This is placed here, as the female chorus, according to the arrangement of the celebrated Kennicott: but whether the song was really sung after this manner is very far from being incontrovertible. The idea, suggested above by Dr. Geddes, appears quite as probable. Does the history of music or poetry afford any illusration; or must criticism alone decide? The enquiry is certainly affected by reading instead of ; and it seems more than probable that the connec tion requires this alteration. (See ver. 20, 21.) Thus remarked the learned Vata. blus, who farther said :-" Ponitur hic initium Cantici, verisimile tamen est totum cecinisse."-Poole's Synopsis.

**

|| Or "led"-according to the threatening language of Exod. xiv. 17, 18. the root of which is well known to have as its primary and usual meaning, to descend, to go, or come down.

7.

8.

Yea, by the greatness of thine excellency thou hast overthrown thine

opposers:

Thou sentest forth thine indignation; it devoured them like stubble!
And by the breath of thy nostrils upheaved were the waters :
Upright stood the surges even as an heap:

Condensed were the billows in the midst of the sea!

Miriam answered them:

O sing to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously!
The horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.

9. Said the enemy, I will pursue: I will overtake :

10.

12.

11.

16.

I will divide the spoil, completely filled shall be my desire be upon them;
I will draw forth my sword-my hand shall subdue them?

Thou didst blow with thy wind-the sea covered them!

They sank as lead in the illustrious waters!

Thou stretched'st out thy right hand; the earth swallowed them!
Who is like unto thee among the mighty, O Jehovah !

Who is like unto thee? Glorious in holiness:

Fearful in praises, working wonderfully!

Thou conductest, in thy kindness, this people thou bast redeemed:
Thou leadest them, by thy strength, to the habitation of thy holiness.
O sing ye to Jehovah, for he hath triumphed gloriously!

Miriam answer. ed them:

The horse and his rider he hath thrown into the sea.

14. Peoples shall hear and tremble:

Horror shall seize the inhabitants of Palestine!

15. Terrified then shall be the chiefs of Edom:

16.

17.

The mighty ones of Moab, a panic shall seize them!

Melted away shall be all the inhabitants of Canaan !

Dread and horror shall fall upon them:

Through the greatness of thine arm they shall be still as a stone!

Until thy people pass over, O Jehovah,

Until this people, thou hast purchased, shall pass over!

These thou wilt bring in, and set them on the mountain of thine inheritance:

The place of thy dwelling thou hast prepared, O Jehovah;

The sanctuary, O Lord, thy hands have established.

18. Universal Chorus.

Let Jehovah reign for ever and ever!

J. W.

* Which the Sept. render excellently by Eжay—says Parkhurst,

The interrogative form appears to me the most natural, and gives considerable effect to the connection.

§ This transposition is sanctioned by Green, Geddes, and Boothroyd: the last of whom observes, that here "it completes the description of the overthrow of the Egyptian host."

|| It is highly probable that this was the chorus, both of men and women, in concluding this most sublime and elevated song.

!

Critical and Historical Notices,

INTRODUCTORY TO THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURES,

OF THE BOOK OF NUMBERS.

27” VayedebBEMIDBAR, in the

THIS book, which is the fourth in the order of the Pentateuch, has been called NUMBERS, from its containing an account of the numbering and marshalling of the Israelites, in their journey through the wilderness to the promised land. Like the preceding books it takes its name from the initial word BER, and he spake; it is also called wilderness, which is the fifth word in the first verse, because it relates the transactions of the Israelites in the wilderness. ENGLISH title is derived from that which it bears in the VULGATE Latin, Numeri, which is a literal translation of the Greek word APIOMOI, its title in the SEPTUAGINT; and from both our Saxon ancestors called it numeration: "because in this, the children of Israel were numbered," as related in chapters i-iii. and xxvi.

Its

It would appear from chap. xxxvi. 13. that Moses penned this book in the plains of Moab. However this may be, it is certain that he was its inspired author, it being cited as his work in various parts of Scripture.*

The book contains a history of the Israelites from the first day of the second month of the second year after their departure out of Egypt, to the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year of their journeyings,-a period of between thirty-eight and thirty-nine years. Most of the transactions, described, however, happened in the first and last of these years. The date of those events which are recorded in the middle of the book cannot be precisely ascertained. The whole

* Josh. iv. 12.; 2 Chron. xxix. 11.; xxxi. 3.; Ezek. xx. 13.; Matt. xii. 5.; John, vi. 31.; ix. 36., &c.

T T