been exceeded, and scarcely equalled by any effort of the Muses. Not only the force, the beauty, the sublimity of the sentiments are unrivalled; but such is the character of the diction in general, so vivid is the expression, so interesting the assemblage of objects, so close and connected the sentences, so animated and passionate the whole arrangement, that the Hebrew literature itself contains nothing more poetical. The greater part of these beauties are so obvious, that they cannot possibly escape the eye of a diligent reader; there are some, however, which, depending chiefly upon the arrangement and construction, are of a more abstruse nature. It also sometimes happens, that those beauties which may be easily conceived, are very difficult to be explained while we simply contemplate them, they appear sufficiently manifest; if we approach nearer, and attempt to touch and handle them, they vanish and es cape. Since, however, it would not be consistent with my duty on the present occasion to pass them by totally unregarded, I shall rely, gentlemen, upon your accustomed candour, while I attempt to render, if possible, some of these elegancies more obvious and familiar. The first thing that arrests the attention of the reader in this passage, is the violent sorrow of Job, which bursts forth on a sudden, and flows from his heart, where it had long been confined and suppressed: "Let the day perish, I was born in it; (i. e. in which I was born) "And the night (which) said a man is conceived."s Observe here the concise and abrupt form of the first 5 JOB iii. 3. The learned bishop follows here the interpretation of Schultens, which Mr. Heath has given a good reason for declining to adopt. He renders the passage thus: May the day perish wherein I was brought forth, S. H ⚫verse; and in the second the boldness of the figure, and the still more abrupt conclusion. Let the reader then consider, whether he could endure such a spirited, vehement, and perplexed form of expression in any prose composition; or even in verse, unless it were expressive of the deepest pathos. He will nevertheless, I doubt not, acknowledge that the meaning of this sentence is extremely clear, so clear indeed, that if any person should attempt to make it more copious and explanatory, he would render it less expressive of the mind and feelings of the speaker. It happens fortunately that we have an opportunity of making the experiment upon this very sentiment. There is a passage of Jeremiah so exactly similar, that it might almost be imagined a direct imitation the meaning is the same, nor is there any very great difference in the phraseology; but Jeremiah fills up the ellipses, smooths and harmonizes the rough and uncouth language of Job, and dilates a short distich into two equal distichs, consisting of somewhat longer verses, which is the measure he commonly makes use of: "Cursed be the day on which I was born, 115. "The day on which my mother bare me, let it not be blessed. 66 Making him exceedingly glad."7 6 Our author exaggerates a little the boldness and energy of this passage, conceiving that to be an unusual phraseology, which is only uncommon tọ There will be an opportunity of mentioning the change or enailage of the tenses in the next Lecture. The ellipsis of the relative pronoun asher (which) is not at all harsh and unusual; nothing is more common in the Arabic, it being accounted among the elegancies of language, nor is it unusual with the Hebrews. Even with the English, the pronoun which is very frequently omitted. M. “There are in all languages certain elliptical expressions, which use has "established, and which therefore very rarely occasion darkness.” 7 JER. XX. 14, 15. CAMPB. Phil. of Rhet. Thus it happens, that the imprecation of Jeremiah has more in it of complaint than of indignation; it is milder, softer, and more plaintive, peculiarly calculated to excite pity, in moving which the great excellence of this prophet consists: while that of Job is more adapted to strike us with terror than to excite our compassion.* But to proceed. I shall not trouble you with a tedious discussion of those particulars which are sufficiently apparent; the crowded and abrupt sentences, which seem to have little connection, bursting from the glowing bosom with matchless force and impetuosity; the bold and magnificent expressions, which the eloquence of indignation pours forth, four instances of which occur in the space of twice as many verses, and which seem to be altogether poetical: two of them indeed are found continually in the poets, and in them only; the others are still more uncommon. Omitting these, therefore, the object which at present seems more worthy of examination, is, that redundancy of expression, which in a few lines takes place of the former excessive conciseness: "That night-let darkness seize upon it."10 In this also there is the strongest indication of passion,' and a perturbed mind. He doubtless intended at first to express himself in this manner : "Be that hight darkness."11. But in the very act of uttering it, he suddenly catches at an expression, which appears more animated and en This is an excellent observation. The grief, or rather despair, of Job, is of the solemn, majestic, and truly tragic kind; that of Jeremiah has more of the elegiac tenderness, which raises no greater passion than pity, and is only caculated to excite our tears. תופע צלמות,כמרירי, גלמוד .7 ,5 ,4 .Ver 9 10 Ver. 6. M. 11 See ver. 4. ergetic. I do not know that I can better illustrate this observation than by referring to a passage in Horace, in which a similar transition and redundancy falls from the indignant poet : "He who (bane of the fruitful earth! "Curst was the hour that gave thee birth !) "Was surely curst who planted thee, "Well may I think the parricide "In blood his guilty soul had died, "That crime the wretch had made his own. 12 For undoubtedly the poet begun, as if he intended to pursue the subject in a regular order, and to finish the sentence in this form. "He who-planted thee; he 66 was accessary to the murder of his parents, and sprink"led his chambers with the blood of his guest; he dealt "in the poison of Cholchis," &c. But anger and vexation dissipated the order of his ideas, and destroyed the construction of this sentence. But should some officious grammarian take in hand the passage, (for this is a very diligent race of beings, and sometimes more than sufficiently exact and scrupulous) and attempt to restore it to its primitive purity and perfection, the whole grace and excellence of that beautiful exordium would be immediately annihilated, all the impetuosity and ardour would in a moment be extinguished.-But to return to Job: "Lo! that night, may it be fruitless!"13 12 FRANCIS, B. ii. Ode xiii. with some little alteration. 19 Chap. iii. ver. 7. He appears to have a direct picture or image of that night before his eyes, and to point it out with his finger. "The doors of my womb" for "the doors of my moth"er's womb," is an elliptical form of expression, the meaning of which is easily cleared up, but which no person in a tranquil state of mind, and quite master of himself, would venture to employ. Not to detain you too long upon this subject, I shall produce only one passage more, which is about the conclusion of this animated speech: "Wherefore should he give light to the miserable? "And life to those who are in bitterness of soul? “ Who call aloud for death, but it cometh not; "And be in raptures, if they had found the grave. "Well might it befit the man whose way is sheltered, "And whom God hath surrounded with an hedge. "But my groaning cometh like my daily food, "And my roarings are poured out like water."15 The whole composition of this passage is admirable, and deserves a minute attention. "Wherefore should he "give light to the miserable?"—But who is the giver alluded to? Certainly God himself, whom Job has indeed in his mind; but it escaped his notice that no mention is made of him in the preceding lines. He seems to speak of the miserable in general, but by a violent and sudden transition he applies the whole to himself, "But "But my groaning cometh like my daily food." It is plain, therefore, that in all the preceding reflections he has himself only in view. He makes a transition from the singular to the plural, and back again, a remarkable amplification intervening, expressive of his desire of death, the force and boldness of which is in 14 Ver. 10. 15 Ver. 20-24. |