pf. emphatic present, laying stress upon the act as a fact, then in impf. representing the action as a continuous activity in the present. is, as usual in Hebrew poetry, for the personal pronoun "I," and should not be translated, "my soul," EV., as if there were any stress upon the activity of the soul as distinguished from the body. In the shadow of Thy wings], a graphic metaphor for in Thee, of syn. line, as 178 368 638, referring to the cherubic wings guarding the divine presence. - till the engulfing ruin be overpast]. The people were in great danger of being engulfed by the peril in which they were situated; but they were assured it could be only temporary; it would eventually pass over. In the meanwhile they need relief, which can only come from Yahweh. In His presence they are in a place of refuge and safety, while their enemies rage in vain.

Str. II. has a synth. and a syn. couplet.-3. 'El, 'Elyon], the most High," and the primitive 'El; divine names are heaped up as usual in urgent pleading. - who dealeth bountifully with me]. That is the characteristic of "'El," as expressed by the Hebrew ptc.; so G, V, cf. 136 1167 119" greatly to be preferred to H, Aq., and most, which render a slightly varying verb in an Aramaic sense possible elsewhere only 1388 "completeth for me," inexactly given in EV. " performeth for me"; only to be explained by the insertion of "all things," and then not at all easy to understand, especially in this context.-4. May He send from heaven]. The people invoke divine interposition, and that from heaven itself; not here as often theophanic in character, but as defined in syn. line, by sending His kindness and His faithfulness]. These are personified and conceived as angelic messengers coming forth from Yahweh in heaven, as 433 8511-14, to save His people. This strophe does not state the peril or the enemies. An ancient scribe inserted, probably in the margin, a reference to them: "Those that trample upon me taunt." This subsequently crept into the text at the expense of the measure, making the construction of v.1 difficult. These two words and their combination are variously explained by Vrss. and commentators, but with no satisfactory result in this context. This scribe was thinking of such taunts as 42, which the enemies were constantly making because of the apparent failure of prayers for divine interposition. The enemies are described by the term used in the previous Ps. 5623.

Str. III. has two syn. couplets. 5. I am in the midst of || I must lie down with]. The people are surrounded by enemies. They are not besieged by a powerful enemy, but rather the city is beset by treacherous foes who keep the people in constant peril. This was just the situation of the people of unwalled Jerusalem prior to Nehemiah. These enemies are described as lions, because of their strength and ferocity. The figure is then left for the warriors themselves: their teeth are spears and arrows and their tongue is a sharp sword, in syn. couplet. It is most natural therefore in the previous difficult line to think of their breath as compared with flames that consume the sons of mankind. The Vrss. ancient and modern differ greatly in their interpretation of this line. EV. following make the ptc. Qal "that are set on fire," and then take the "children of men" as in apposition with it, making an awkward construction difficult to explain. Moreover, the term "sons of mankind" is commonly employed in Hebrew for those who are afflicted and not for warlike enemies.

PSALM LVII. B.

Rf. 612, a syn. couplet at the beginning and close of the hymn, as Ps. 8.- O be exalted, Yahweh], as the subsequent context indicates as an object of praise and adoration, as 113*. If it were connected with the previous context it would be in victory over enemies, as 1847 2114 461 1386.

7 is a syn. pent. couplet, representing the enemies as hunters, cf. 716 916 sq. It is a gloss, due to a misinterpretation of the previous couplet of Rf.

Snares they prepared for my steps that I might bow down;
They dug before me a pit, they fell into its midst.

The first line states

is for נפשי .The Heb

person who bows down

-Snares they prepared || They dug a pit]. their purpose: that I might bow down. the personal pronoun as usual, and it is the with his feet caught in the snares. Various other explanations are given, the usual one, "my soul is bowed down," AV., RV., refers it to internal humiliation, which is unsuited to the context. The second line states the antith. result: they fell into its midst]. The enemies had dug the pit for the people of Yahweh, but into it they plunged themselves.

Str. I. is a syn. tetrastich. 8. My mind is fixed], repeated in 57 but not in 108 . It is amplification at the cost of the measure. The mind is firmly set and resolved to public praise. —With my mind ] belongs to the second line and not to the previous one. - let me sing and let me make melody] with vocal and instrumental music in the temple; the mind expresses its religious emotion in worship.-9. My glory], poetic for the soul, the seat of honour in man, his noblest part, as 76 169 3013 1082. — O wake with the harp], rouse thyself to the service of public praise || With the lyre let me waken the dawn]. The dawning sun preceded by the music of temple praise, is said to be aroused by that music. When the sun appears, it seems as if it had been summoned by the morning worship.

Str. II. has two syn. couplets. 10. Let me praise Thee among the peoples]. The public praise is to be not only in temple worship, but world-wide, wherever the people of Yahweh are assembled in their synagogues throughout the Dispersion.-11. For above the heavens is Thy kindness]. Above the heavens is the seat of Yahweh's throne; there is the source of His kindness, cf. 366. It comes from thence to mankind, and therefore extends over all beneath the heavens. This corresponds with the worldwide praise, as giving the reason for it. And unto the skies Thy faithfulness], as 366. This divine attribute extends in its vastness of reach up into the heights of the skies, cf. also 8511-14

LVII. A.

2. Qal pf. 3 f. non v. 212 for лron Ges. 75. u Kö. 1.547. The original radical is preserved in the form in order to retract accent to antepenult. — neglect of agreement, sg. vb. with abstr. pl. Ges. 145 (7); but Bi., ; change unnecessary. only pl., v. 510; Du. comIt is a similar thought, but

in

Du., rd.
pares Is. 2620 yay for the original idea.

in different relations, and there is no sufficient reason for dependence. -
3. ] originally by S.-pi] Qal ptc.; so H, Aq.; but rÒV
Eveрyethσavтá μe, Street, Luzzato, Gr., Bi., Che., Du., a deal bountifully
with, is best suited to context and date of Ps. 3 ultorem is from same stem
in bad sense. Σ ÉTITIμŃσaνтα = y. — 4.] Hiph. impf. yv`, v. 38,
with subordinate expressing purpose, and not with 1 coörd. —p] is
dub. and difficult. Pi. pf. always man subj. DN is variously explained
here as 562. 3. If subj., the clause must be rel. and most likely of time when,
as Bä., Dr.; but 1. is incomplete and awkward, especially as closing 1. of Str.

ědwkev eis Ŏveidos, so essentially V, J, S, T, give a mng. to appropriate enough in itself, but without usage to justify it. In that case it is better to rd. ¬, the initial having fallen out by haplog. But still the 1. is defective. It is best to regard it as a gl. influenced by 562. 3.. -5. DN] mispointing for D pl. a lion Gn. 499 Dt. 3320 Ho. 138 +. Kai épúσαTO Tǹv Yνxýν μov èк μéσov σкúμvwv; so essentially S, supply vb. from previous v. D] ptc. pl. √‡onh † Qal blaze up, flame, elsw. ons vs flaming fire 104a, both dub. prob. Pi. burn, burn up, Dt. 3222 Pss. 8315 973 10618; so prob. here, Pi. ptc. with N as obj., all the more that DN is used of the humble and rather " of strong enemies. I makes the ptc. adj. of lions, leonum ferocientium, but against mng.; 6 тетарayμévos, Y conturbatus, ptc. as sg. qualifying vb., usual rendering for a orn. ·†n] adj. sharp, only f. sg.; elsw. Is. 492 Pr. 5a Ez. 51.

LVII. B. 1082-6.

6 v.12 Rf. at beginning and end, but it goes with v.8-12, not with v.2-5. 7. ] phr. a.λ. less graphic and later than the usual nen 1 916 315 357. 8, cf. 140o. — 'py?] as 5811 743 1405, for idea, cf. Je. 1822. —¿p÷] Qal pf. † vb. Qal bend low down, inf. Is. 585 of head. Ptc. pass. 'DID those bowed down in distress Pss. 14514 1468, Niph. bow oneself Mi. 66. The pf. 3 ms. here difficult, for D is f. and the enemies pl. and the Qal is elsw. intrans. KaTékaμÝav тHν Yuxýv μov makes it trans. and pl., which may however be interpretation and not imply a different text. I ad incurvandam implies inf. as Is. 585, and that would explain also; so Street. -] phr. elsw. 11985 Je. 1822 (Kt.); Je. 1820, c. 12 Ps. 716. The v. is a pentameter couplet based on Je. 1829. 22, and is a gl.-8. ] bis. 1082. omits second ɔ, but it is given in . It is doubtless amplification. It impairs measure, as Street, Che. For phr. cf. 5112 7837 1127. — 7px] Qal impf. cohort. | 78. MT. closes v. here, but 1082 with, omitting first 7 of 579. In 1082 ✪ has év Tŷ ôbêŋ pov, I sed et gloria mea.

are both gls. of amplification.

c.

and first אף

9. ] Qal imv. cohort. y v. 77, i.p. the dawn, elsw. 221

.Io84 יהוה = is more אדני

invocation to for we, as 169 3013 1082. 1083 1399; here personified as Ra., Ew., Ols., Hu., Bä, Dr., Du., not acc. of time at dawn.-10.78] Hiph. cohort., the sf. prevents the cohort. form from appearing, but context requires it. —N] likely to be original. 77] with sf. 3018 1381, all || 7718, cf. 477; usually with, doubtless here as measure requires, cf. 1011 1052.—11 is essentially the same as 366. 1085 has a hyp fory of 5711; in other

respects it is the same.

this latter אמתך for אמונתך and ,בשמים But 366 has

a variation in form from same stem, and it omits which is certainly a gl., making 1. too long and interpretative. yn is doubtless original. is assimilation to 1. 2.

PSALM LVIII., 2 STR. 8, RF. 21.

Ps. 58 was written in the early Hebrew monarchy: (1) complaining of unjust rulers for their violence, venomous lying, and deafness to the pleas of the people (v.2); (2) describing the punitive judgment of Yahweh upon them in several similes, concluding with a firm confidence in Yahweh as judge (v.7-10.12). A gloss expresses the joy of a Maccabean editor in bloody vengeance (v.").

But do ye indeed speak justice?

In equity judge the sons of mankind?

NAY, in the mind ye do iniquity;

In the land ye weigh violence with your hands.
The wicked become estranged from the womb,
Those who speak lies go estray from the belly.
They have poison like a serpent,

They are like a cobra, deaf and stopping his ear,
Which hearkeneth not to the voice of the charmers,
The binder of spells, the exceedingly skilful.
YAHWEH doth break down their teeth in their mouth,
Yahweh doth tear down the jaw-teeth of the young lions.
They melt away as water, they flow of themselves.
Are they luxuriant as green grass, so they wither away.
As a snail, that melts away, they go.

Hath fire fallen, they do not behold the sun;

Before they perceive it, they become like brambles;

As still living, in hot anger, He sweeps them away in a storm.
Ye sons of mankind, surely there is fruit for the righteous;
Surely Yahweh is judging in the land.

Ps. 58 was originally in the group of on, then in, subsequently in E and also in R, where it received the musical direction nnn 48 (v. Intr. §§ 25, 27, 32, 33, 34). It has 2 Str. of 8 tetrameters each, with introductory and concluding couplets, which, while varying in detail, are yet of the nature of Rfs., cf. Pss. 8, 57. The language and style are primitive and difficult. It is rich in antique similes and expressions. The Ps. complains of unjust rulers in the style of the preëxilic prophets, and expresses confidence in the retributive judgment of Yahweh. The Ps. is doubtless one of the oldest in the Psalter.

Str. I. has an introductory syn. couplet in form of a question, which receives a negative answer in four syn. couplets. This is of the nature of a Rf., beginning the Ps. as a corresponding Rf.