to be de fonte Israelis," from the fountain of Israel.” If this explication should not appear entirely satisfactory, another is offered by Michaelis which may be considered. By collating the term ' with its Arabic cognate, he assigns to it a different sense, vallis, terra depressior, planities, "a valley, a low part of the earth, a plain," he renders the clause efflorescent ex vallibus (scil. fructus »♫, sensu collectivo subaudito,) ut herba terrae, “the fruits thereof shall flourish in the valleys as the herb of the field." By the valleys are meant, it is supposed, the fertile valleys of Colosyria, lying at the foot of Mount Libanus, which had before been mentioned. Instead of 'Y'

fructus ejus פריו-יָצִיץ וּמעיר Pfeiffer reads מעיר

“ his fruit,” he understands, as signifying the actions, the remarkable achievements of the prince! He renders the whole clause thus: seges ejus ut cedri Libani floreat, prodiens ut gramen campi, "Let his fruit flourish as the cedars of Lebanon, coming forth as the grass of the field." "The sense of the clause," he adds, "depends upon the explication of the word , which, whether it can be applied or not, to the springing up of grain or grass from the earth, is not clear to me. But that it may be used in reference to a man distinguished by famous deeds, is evident. from Isa. lxi. 2, 25, etc.”

17.

in conspectu solis, “In presence of

the sun," that is, as long as the sun shines, comp.

verse 5 and Psalm lxxxix. 37.

Sobolescet

nomen ejus, "His name shall increase," that is, it shall be continued as long as the sun endureth; the government shall continue to his posterity in perpetual succession. If the verb is put in Hiphil

66

instead of Niphal, there is no difference in the sense from that of the textual reading. The verb 11, which occurs only in this passage, is explained from the noun, Gen. xxi. 23; Job xviii. 19: Isa. xiv. 22. In these passages, the word has obviously the meaning of offspring, and by the Chaldee interpreters, it is constantly rendered by the word, filius, "a son." It may, therefore, be assumed with certainty, that the verb signifies sobolem procreare, "to procreate descendants." There is no reason then why the sense of the word should have been represented by Michaelis as doubtful, although it is not found either as a verb or a noun, in any of the cognate languages. It is said indeed, by a certain writer, who may be styled κριτικώτατος, (Anti critica in locos quosdam Psalmorum) that the Arabians use the word ¡, in the sense augere, "to increase," but this is false, for in the Lexicon of Golius, to which he refers as evidence, no such statement is to be met with. The Chaldee translation of the clause is, however,

paratum erat nomen ejus; "and before the sun was, his name was prepared." Now, since the Chaldee verb 1, is not unfrequently the rendering of the

Hebrew -11,(see, for example, Exod. xix. 15: xxxiv. 2.), it is by no means an improbable conjecture that the interpreter read in his manuscript. This will appear still more probable, when it is considered that De Rossi found this reading, a prima manu, in the manuscript marked by him 879, and which he asserts is ancient, and of good authority. It may be added, that the Alexandrine has here diaμsvei, a rendering in which both the Vulgate and Jerom concur : perseverabit nomen ejus: “his name shall endure.” Buxtorf, in his Anti-critica, shews that the verb 11 also, admits of this signification.

T

beatos se praedicabunt in eo: “ And they shall acknowledge themselves blessed in him :”—that is, it shall serve as an example and formula of prayer for blessings among all nations: at all times, when men desire good for themselves, or pray for good on behalf of others, they shall use that name:-God be merciful and kind to thee, as he has proved himself to be towards that king. The words are more clearly explained by what follows,

יאַשְׁרְהוּ

omnes populi felicem praedicabunt eum : "all nations shall pronounce him blessed." By the accentuation, the words, all nations, are connected with the verb that follows them; but, according to the sense, they have at the same time a reference to the verb that goes before.

18. The song ends with the seventeenth verse. In this verse and the following, we have the dooλoyiav:

the doxology, similar to what is added at the end o. the first book of the collection, Psalm xli. 14.9 20. See Gen. Introduction, Chap. III.

9 Laudetur Jova, Deus Israelis a seculo usque in seculum: "Let Jehovah be praised, the God of Israel from everlasting and to everlasting." This doxology, taken from 1 Chron. xvi. 36, was added by the collector of these songs, at the end of the first book, or portion of the collection. It is found, also, at the conclusion of each of the other four books. With regard to the division of the Psalms into five books, see General Introduction.

PSALM CX.

ARGUMENT.

THE subject of this ode is a king holding his authority by divine appointment; and in the same manner as the patriarch Melchizedek, invested with both regal and sacerdotal dignity. His majesty, power, and warlike achievements, are celebrated. Enjoying divine assistance, he is represented as having already, in part, overcome the enemies of his kingdom; and, at a future period, as about to prostrate them utterly by his might. Among recent interpreters, there are several who consider David as the king who is here so highly celebrated. The song, they think, was composed in honour of him, at the time when his soldiers took by assault the strong hold of Zion, the citadel of Jerusalem. This seems to them proved by the fourth verse, in which the king is said, by divine decree, to be constituted the successor of that ancient and venerable king of Jerusalem, Melchizedek; whose former seat, now taken from the Jebusites, David had declared should be the future capital of the Israelitish kingdom. The second verse also,-in which it is predicted that the king should long and widely extend his sceptre from Zion,-refers they say to the same event.1

1 Pfeiffer, following Muntingh, in his preface to this Psalm, has pointed out the notes that indicate the date of its compo