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each other, without any express marks of comparison; of this we have had an example in the parable just now quoted, and of this there are many other examples in the sacred writings. I will, nevertheless, select one or two, which are deserving of our attention for their pe culiar propriety and elegance :

"Clouds and wind without rain

"Is a man who glories in a fallacious gift."" The following is in a different form:

"Gold, and abundance of rubies,

"And precious ornaments, are the lips of knowledge." Again, obscurity is almost inevitable, when the subject itself, to which the imagery appertains and alludes, is removed out of sight, and the sentiment assumes the form of allegory. Horace expresses a very common precept in plain language:

"Learn the strong sense of pleasure to control;
"With virtuous pride its blandishments disdain :
"Hurtful is pleasure, when 'tis bought with pain."

But with how much more elegance does Solomon deliver the same precept in a figurative manner, and under the veil of allegory!

"Hast thou found honey? Eat no more than may suffice thee: "Lest thou be satiated, and nauseate it."10

Some obscurity also attends any comparison which is of extensive application: of this the following seems a pertinent example:

"As in water face (answers) to face,

"So doth the heart of man to man.""

This is certainly very difficult to apply or to define, since it may refer in many different views to the faculties, genius, affections, will, attachments, manners, vir

7 PROV. XXV. 14.

9 Francis's Horace, B. I. Ep. ii. ver. 78.

10 PROV. XXV. 16.

& PROV. XX. 15.

11 PROV. Xxvii. 19.

tues, and vices of men, among which there generally subsists a certain agreement or similarity from imitation, and from habits which are insensibly caught in social intercourse. Lastly, not to dwell too long upon this subject, some obscurity succeeds, when the principal, or perhaps the whole force of a proverb or parable, does not lie in the direct and literal sense, but in something not immediately expressed, which is however concomitant with it:

"The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,

"JEHOVAH made them both."12

To dwell upon the external and literal sense of this proverb, will only bewilder the reader in the dubious turn of the expression; but how sublime, how profitable, is the sentiment, when it comes from the pen of the Psalmist, embellished with his usual perspicuity and animation?

"He who planted the ear, shall he not hear?

"He who formed the eye, shall he not see ?"13

The last quality that I shall mention as essential to a parable or proverb, is elegance; which is not inconsist ent with brevity, or indeed with some degree of obscurity. I speak of elegance as it respects the sentiment, the imagery, and the diction, and of its union with all these we have already had sufficient proof in all the parables which have been quoted in the course of this Lecture. It may however be proper to remark in this place, that even those proverbs, which are the plainest, most obvious, and simple, which contain nothing remarkable either in sentiment or style, are not to be esteemed without their peculiar elegance, if they possess only brevity, and that neat, compact form, and roundness of period, which alone are sufficient to constitute a

12 PROV. XX. 12.

13 PSALM XCiv. 9.

parable. Such is the maxim, quoted by David in the sacred history, as an ancient proverb;

"Wickedness will proceed from the wicked."14

Such is that of Solomon,

"Hate stirreth up strifes ;

"But love covereth all transgressions."15

And many others which might easily be produced from the same author.

There is another didactic work of Solomon, entitled Kohelet, (Ecclesiastes) or the Preacher; or rather perhaps Wisdom the Preacher, the general tenor and style of which is very different from the book of Proverbs, though there are many detached sentiments and proverbs interspersed. For the whole work is uniform, and confined to one subject, namely, the vanity of the world exemplified by the experience of Solomon, who is introduced in the character of a person investigating a very difficult question, examining the arguments on either side, and at length disengaging himself from an anxious and doubtful disputation. It would be very difficult to distinguish the parts and arrangement of this. production; the order of the subject and the connexion of the arguments are involved in so much obscurity, that scarcely any two commentators have agreed concerning the plan of the work, and the accurate division of it into parts or sections. The truth is, the laws of methodical composition and arrangement were neither known by the Hebrews, nor regarded in their didactic writings. They uniformly retained the old sententious manner, nor did they submit to method, even where the occasion appeared to demand it. The style of this work is, however, singular; the language is generally low, I might almost call it mean or vulgar; it is frequently

14 1 SAM. xxiv. 13.

15 PROV. X. 12.

loose, unconnected, approaching to the incorrectness of conversation; and possesses very little of the poetical character, even in the composition and structure of the periods: which peculiarity may possibly be accounted for from the nature of the subject. Contrary to the opinion of the Rabbies, Ecclesiastes has been classed among the poetical books; though if their authority and opinions were of any weight or importance, they might, perhaps, on this occasion, deserve some attention. 16

Some of the Psalms also belong properly to this class; the alphabetical, for instance, with some others. The alphabetical or acrostic form of composition has been more than once alluded to in the course of these lectures. The chief commendation of these poems is, that they are excellently accommodated to ordinary use; that the sentiments are serious, devout, and practical: the language chaste and perspicuous; the composition neat, and regularly adapted to the sententious form.

There are extant, besides these, two other considerable works of the didactic kind, which the Hebrew poetry may legally claim, though they are only extant in Greek prose. I mean The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach, and that which is entitled The Wisdom of Solo

mon.

The work of the Son of Sirach, translated from the Hebrew into Greek, by one of the descendants of the author, is altogether of the same kind with the Proverbs of Solomon; insomuch, that it originally bore the same title (Mashalim) as we learn from Jerome, who directly asserts, that he had seen the book in Hebrew 17 and I

16 It is the opinion of a very ingenious writer, in a learned work, which he has lately produced, that the greater part of this book was written in prose, but that it contains many scraps of poetry, introduced as occasion served and to this opinion I am inclined to assent. See A. V. DESVOEUX Tent. Phil. & Crit. in Eccles. lib. ii. cap. 1. Author's Note.

:

17 Præf. in Libros Salomonis.

see no reason why his assertion should not relate to the original Hebrew copy, rather than to any Syriac version. However this may be, it is clear even from the Greek translation, which we have, that the book in every respect resembles the Proverbs of Solomon, as nearly as an imitation can resemble an original. There is a great similarity in the matter, the sentiments, and the diction; the complexion of the style, and the construction of the periods, are quite the same; so that I cannot entertain a doubt, that the author actually adopted the same mode of versification, whatever it was, if we can admit that any knowledge of the Hebrew metres was extant at the time when he is supposed to have written. For all that we are able to conjecture on this head we are indebted to the great fidelity of the translator, which is abundantly manifested in every part of the work. He seems indeed not at all to have affected the elegancies of the Greek language, but to have performed his duty with the most religious regard to the Hebrew idiom; he not only exhibits faithfully the sentiments, but seems even to have numbered the words, and exactly to have preserved their order; so that, were it literally and accurately to be retranslated, I have very little doubt that, for the most part, the original diction would be recovered. If any person will make the experiment on a small scale, he will readily discern the perfect coincidence of this composition with the most ancient specimens of the didactic poetry of the Hebrews; so exact indeed is the agreement both in form and character, that the reader might, without much difficulty, be persuaded, that he was perusing the composi tions of another Solomon. This author is however an imitator chiefly of the former part of the book of Prov. erbs for there is more connection and order in the sentiments; the style is also more highly coloured, and a

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