The Hagiographa form the last collection of holy writings, composed by
men who, although they were not prophets, were filled with the spirit
of the Lord (רוח יי). They include the three larger works: (a)
תהלים (or תלים) Psalms, משלי Proverbs, and איוב Job; (b) the
Five Scrolls (חמש מגלות), viz., שיר השירים Song of Songs, רות
Ruth, איכה Lamentations, קהלת Ecclesiastes, אסתר Esther; (c) the
historical books: דניאל Daniel, עזרא Ezra, נחמיה Nehemiah, and
דברי הימים the two books of Chronicles.
1. Psalms (תהלים).—The Psalms are hymns containing praises of God’s
greatness, prayers for His mercy, and meditations on His wisdom, power,
justice, and goodness. However various the Psalms are in form and
contents, they have this in common, that they all are based on the
purest and sincerest trust in God’s justice and goodness. “The mighty
and proud, זדים who rely on their own strength and are guided by the
dictates of their own will, cannot succeed for ever; the poor and
humble, ענוים who rely on God’s mercy and are guided by the word of
God, will not suffer for ever.” This is the truth which the Psalmist
proclaims in his songs over and over again. Yet there is a great
variety in the contents of the Psalms. Some are simply praises of God’s
greatness, e.g., viii., xix., xxxii., xcii., xcv. to xcix., ciii.,
civ., &c. Others are the expression of gratitude, e.g., ix., xviii.,
xxxiv., lxvi., lxviii., &c. Many are prayers in time of trouble; in
most of these the suppliant feels sure that God will accept his prayer,
and is confident that help will come. Such psalms are iii., iv., v.,
vi., xii., xiii., &c. To this class belong also all the psalms which
refer to the troubles of David during the reign of Saul, as lii., liv.,
lvi., lix., lxiii., &c.; some of the Asaph-psalms, lxxiii., lxxvii.,
lxxix., lxxx.; the penitential psalms, in which the sinner prays for
mercy, as xxv., xxxii., xxxviii., li.; and those in which a longing is
expressed for the House of God, e.g., xxvii., xlii., xliii., lxv.,
lxxxiv. Some psalms are a protest against those who rely on human force
and human cunning instead of having faith in God, a protest of the
ענוים against the view and creed of the זדים and גאים or גוים
e.g., ix. and x., xi., xiv., xvi., xvii., &c. Some psalms are of a more
didactic character, showing the way of true happiness (Ps. i.),
depicting a truly pious life (xv., xxiv.), or the excellence of the
word of God, as xix., cxix.; or the uselessness of sacrifice without
purity of heart (xl., l., li.).
The poetical form of the Psalms, as of Hebrew poetry in general, is
parallelism. The sentences are formed in such a manner that the psalm
can be arranged in lines divisible into two parts, which are either two
elements of a single idea, or a double expression of the same idea, or
a combination of two ideas or things opposed to each other,
illustrating an idea by its antithesis. In some of the Psalms the
parallelism is perfect throughout, in others it is partly abandoned,
probably in order not to slavishly subordinate the idea to the form of
its expression. The same is to be noticed as regards other forms of the
Psalms. Some are arranged alphabetically, that is, the successive
verses begin with successive letters of the alphabet; but deviations
from the plan are met with almost in all such psalms. There are psalms
which are divided into a certain number of parts or strophes, each part
beginning or ending with the same phrase or verse; but almost
invariably these phrases or verses undergo some modification.
The style is naturally poetical, and figurative language is employed
throughout. God is a Rock (צור), an habitation (מעון), a Shepherd
(רועה), who feeds His flock with great care and love; He is an eagle,
under whose wings (אברתו, כנפיו) the weak find protection; He rides
in the heavens of the heavens of old (רכב בשמי שמי קדם). Man is
compared to “grass that withers,” to a “flower that blossoms in the
morning, and in the evening it is withered and dried up;” the life of
man is but a breath (הבל); a lie (כזב); light in the balance
(במאזנים לעלות); he changes like a garment, like a raiment. The days
of a long life are like the days of the heavens, the sun or the moon
(כימי שמים, לפני שמש, עם שמש or לפני ירח). The mighty are
mountains with many peaks (הרים גבנונים), they have horns like those
of the unicorns, whilst the weak are “a wall bent” (קיר נטוי), “a
fence thrust down” (גדר הדחויה); “they have sunk in deep mire;” “they
have come into fire and into water;” “the waters have come unto the
soul.” The meek are “broken in heart,” “crushed in spirit.” The wicked
and unjust are like lions and dogs; they have poison “like the poison
of a serpent, like a deaf adder that stoppeth its ears, that does not
listen to the voice of charmers, to the clever sorcerer.” Their words
are smooth like cream and oil, whilst in the heart there are war,
daggers, sharp swords. The threatened one runs like a hind, escapes
like a bird. Those who have no higher aim than material enjoyments are
like “sheep driven to death;” “man in his dignity, without
understanding, is like cattle that perish.” Mishaps come upon man like
the waves of the sea. The Divine judgment visits the wicked like a
thunderstorm; it shakes the earth like an earthquake or volcano.
Sinners receive “the cup of confusion” (כוס התרעלה) at the hand of
God; for “a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine therein is
red; it is full with drink, and He pours out from it, but its dregs all
the wicked of the earth will suck and drink.”
The sinner is punished by his own deed; “he digs a pit and falls into
it;” he feels like a sick person whose “bones are troubled, and
wither;” his purification is toe healing of the soul; he is purified
with hyssop; he becomes whiter than snow (li. 9). When man sins he
feels as if he had become a changed creature, as if he had now been
born and conceived in sin (ver. 7); when he repents and improves, God
creates in him a new heart, and renews a firm spirit within him (ver.
12). The wife of the God-fearing man is compared to the fruitful vine,
his children to young olive-trees (cxxviii.). The righteous will
flourish like a palm-tree, will grow high like a cedar upon Lebanon
(xcii. 13). Whilst the righteous is like a tree planted by the brook of
water, the wicked are like chaff which the wind drives away (i. 3, 4).
Israel is likened to a vine brought from Egypt and planted in Palestine
(lxxx. 9). Peacefulness and brotherly love, between high and low, the
mighty and the weak, the rich and the poor, the wise and the simple,
are illustrated by the fine oil that flows down from the head to the
beard, the beard that descends over the garments, and the dew of the
high Hermon that comes down to the lower mountains of Zion (cxxx.).
There are some instances of play upon words (lvi. 9), and of rhymes
(cxlv. 11; xxxiv. 6); the latter are apparently not intentional.
Although we generally speak of the Psalms of David, only a portion of
them was composed by King David; the headings ascribe also one psalm to
Moses, two to King Solomon, twelve to Asaph, one to Heman, and one to
Ethan; and some have no author mentioned in the heading. Many have no
superscription at all, and most of these seem to belong to a later
period.
The individual psalms have various names. The most general of them is
מזמור a poem, set in music. Of some it is distinctly stated that they
were intended to be sung; this is expressed in the heading by the word
שיר “song,” which either precedes or follows the title מזמור or
stands alone without מזמור. The term, שיר “song,” is further
qualified by חנוכת הבית “of the dedication of the house,” ידידות
“of love,” and המעלות or למעלות “of degrees leading upward,” i.e.,
towards God. Another name occurring in twelve psalms is משכיל
“instructive song;” the maschil proclaims the lesson that God is King
of the universe, and that those are happy who trust in His justice and
mercy. A similar meaning attaches to ללמד the word superadded to
משכִל in Ps. lx.; lit. “to teach,” i.e., that the song be learnt by
all, in order that people may strengthen their confidence in God in
times of trouble (comp. 2 Sam. i. 18). The meaning of להזכיר which
occurs in two psalms (xxxviii. and lxx.), is “for prayer.” There is one
psalm לתודה (c.), “for thanksgiving;” another “for the Sabbath-day,”
ליום השבת (xcii.). Four psalms are called תפלה “prayer” (xvii.,
lxxxvi., xc, cii.); one (cxlv.), תהלה “praise;” one (vii.), שגיון
“an error,” [8] referring to the miscalculation of the wicked in
preparing weapons against the innocent, which weapons are turned
against themselves; and six are superscribed מכתם “a jewel.” Such a
jewel is the Psalmist’s “faith in God,” that inspires him with hope and
pure joy in the midst of misfortune.
The headings include also instructions for the singers and references
to the musical instruments which are to be used. The most general term
is למנצח “to the chief,” scil., of the singers or Levites; it refers
to the chief of a particular division of the Levites if it is followed
by a qualifying phrase, and to the chief of all the Levites if it is
not followed by any qualification. The term למנצח describes the psalm
as a Temple-song, although this may not have been its original object.
Even poems which have been composed by David on certain personal events
became—perhaps slightly modified—national songs, and formed part of the
public service. The adaptation was easy, because these historical
psalms rarely contain any allusion to the particular event mentioned in
the superscription.
The term למנצח is qualified by על נגינת “on a stringed instrument,”
נגינת being the particular instrument of the Levites, of whom this
מנצח was the master. The term בנגינות which in several psalms
follows the word למנצח is grammatically unconnected with the latter;
it means “on stringed instruments,” and is the instruction for the
מנצח. There were several kinds of such instruments; two kinds are
named שמינית and גתית “the neginath with eight strings” or
“chords,” and “the gittith” coming from Gath, a town in the land of the
Philistines. Other kinds of musical instruments are נהילות (v.),
מחלת (liii.), and עלמות (xlvi.); these are hollow flute-like
instruments, also called נבלים (1 Chron. xv. 20). In some cases the
division of Levites is named instead of the instrument: ידותון
“Jeduthun” (xxxix., lxii. and lxxvii.; comp. 1 Chron. xxv. 3); לבני
קרח “to the sons of Korah” (xlii. to xlix., and lxxxiv. to lxxxviii.);
once the direction occurs לענות (lxxxviii.), “to sing alternately,”
referring to the two divisions of Levites headed by הימן האזרחי and
איתן האזרחי “the Ezrahite Heman,” and “the Ezrahite Ethan” (lxxxviii.
and lxxxix.).
A few terms are met with in the headings which describe the contents of
the psalm in a poetical style. Such are (a.) שושן עדות, ששנים עדות
and ששנים (lx., lxxx., xlv., and lxix.), “Testimony for the lily or
lilies,” or “for lilies.” The poet calls by this name the flower of the
nation, the meek and God-fearing, who are under the special protection
of God, and are destined to be crowned in the end with glory and
victory, (b.) אילת השחר (xxii.), “The strength of the dawn.” The
phrase refers to the strength given to the sufferer in the darkness of
his despair by the awakening of his faith in God, which is compared by
the poet to the dawn as the forerunner of daylight, (c.) אל תשחת “Do
not destroy” (lvii., lviii., lix., and lxxv.). By this heading the
author indicates that the psalm is a protest against the
self-confidence of the wicked in the success of their wickedness,
either with reference to their evil designs against the author himself,
or to their plans in general. (d.) יונת אלם רחקים “Dove in the force
of those far,” scil., from God (lvi.). The psalm contains the
expression of David’s faith in God when he was caught by the
Philistines in Gath.
In some of the headings the event is mentioned which prompted the
Psalmist to compose the psalm: David’s flight from Jerusalem when
Absalom rebelled against him (iii.); the slander of the Benjamite Kush
(vii.); the death of Labben (ix.); rescue from the hands of Saul and
other enemies (xiii.); dedication of the house (xxx.); David’s escape
from Abimelech, king of the Philistines (xxxiv.); his capture by the
Philistines in Gath (lvi.); his stay in the cave of Adullam (lvii.,
cxlii.); danger of being put to death by the servants of Saul (lix.);
war with Aram and Edom (lx.); sojourn in the wilderness of Judah
(lxiii.).
The order of the Psalms is not chronological; e.g., chap. iii. refers
to the rebellion of Absalom, whilst chap, cxlii. was composed before
the death of Saul. The principle which guided the collector in fixing
the place of each psalm is not known. But it is certainly not the
result of mere chance that the first two psalms speak of the Law of
God, and of the punishment of those who rebel against God and against
His anointed; and that the last psalm calls upon all to praise God with
all their soul: “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord,
Hallelujah!” Nor is it mere chance that the psalms are divided, like
the Law, into five groups or books, each one ending with a doxology. It
is possible that the psalms were recited or sung at the public service
in a manner corresponding to the reading of the Law and the Prophets.
The first two books contain most of the psalms superscribed לדוד “by
David,” but there are also some in the other books (one in III., two in
IV., fourteen in V.). At the end of the second book (lxxii. 20) the
following words are added: “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are
ended;” i.e., the hope which has just been expressed in the words
וימלא כבוד יי את כל הארץ “And the whole earth shall be filled with
the glory of God,” forms the aim and end of all the prayers of David,
the son of Jesse. The verse does not mean that the first seventy-two
chapters of the Psalms contain all the prayers of David, as there are
several psalms of David between chaps, lxxiii. and cl.
The Psalms were composed by David and other authors partly for private
use, partly for the public service in the Temple and other places of
worship. Of those that were originally for private use some were
subsequently adapted for public service, and even those intended from
the beginning for public worship were adapted to the different modes of
recitation or singing. The Book of Psalms includes, therefore, two
recensions of several chapters; e.g., xiv. and liii.; xviii. and 2 Sam.
xxii.; lx. 7–14 and cviii. 7–14; lvii. 8–12 and cviii. 2–6; cv. 1–15
and 1 Chron. xvi. 8–22; xcvi. and 1 Chron. xvi. 23–33; cxxxv. and
cxxxvi.
A considerable portion of our daily prayers consists of psalms. We
distinguish the following groups:—(a.) פסוקי דזמרא “Verses of song,”
Ps. cxlv. to cl.; to which the following are added on Sabbaths and
Festivals: xix., xxxiv., xc, xci., cxxxv., cxxxvi. (called הלל הגדול
“the great Hallel”), xxxiii., xcii., and xciii. (b.) שיר של יום “Song
of the day;” a different psalm is recited each day of the week after
the morning prayer in the following order: xxiv., xlviii., lxxxii.,
xciv., lxxxi., xciii., xcii. (c.) קבלת שבת “Friday evening psalms,”
xcv. to xcix. (d.) Sabbath afternoon psalms: civ., cxx. to cxxxiv. (e.)
הלל “Praise,” cxiii. to cxviii. (f.) Penitential psalms after evening
prayer on week-days, in the following order: xxv., xxxii., xxxviii.,
li., lxxxvi.
2. משלי Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. The
Book of Proverbs belongs to those Biblical books which are called ספרי
חכמה “books of wisdom.” They appeal to the reason of man, and do not
support their words by the authority of Revelation, although the
authors and those who gave them the final shape were inspired and
guided by the רוח ה׳ “the divine spirit.” The commandments of God and
His ways are referred to as the safest guide for man in all conditions
of life. Three books are included in this class: Proverbs, Job, and
Ecclesiastes.
“The Proverbs of Solomon” are divided into the following six
sections:—(A.) Introduction, i. to ix.; (B.) Collection of Proverbs:
(a.) Proverbs of Solomon, x. to xxii. 16; (b.) Words of the Wise, xxii.
17 to xxiv. 22; (c.) Second group of Words of the Wise, 23 to 34; (d.)
Proverbs of Solomon collected by the men of Hezekiah, xxv. to xxviii.;
(e.) Words of Agur-bin-yakeh, xxx.; (f.) Words of Lemuel, xxxi.
The fourth section (chaps, xxv. to xxix.) is introduced by the
following superscription:—“Also these are the Proverbs of Solomon,
which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, had removed.” The men of
Hezekiah seem to have been uncertain whether this section should form
part of the book, because of the seeming contradiction between the
fourth and fifth verses of the twenty-sixth chapter. The men of the
Great Synagogue decided the question in favour of its incorporation in
the book, and reconciled the seeming contradiction by their
interpretation.
The fifth collection of proverbs is ascribed to Agur-bin-yakeh, an
allegorical phrase meaning “collection deserving respect.” The
collection is further called “the burden”—the usual heading of
prophecies—in order to give it more weight. Also the rest of the
superscription, “The saying of the man Leïthiel,” Leïthiel ve-ucchal,
is of an allegorical character, signifying, “God—i.e., the word of
God—is my task, and I shall prevail.” The phrase is set forth more
clearly in the succeeding verses: human knowledge is insufficient, but
“All the word of God is pure; he is a shield to those who trust in him”
(xxx. 5). The second half of this collection has the heading La-alukah,
“For a necklace” (comp. i. 9), similar in meaning to the heading מכתם
“Jewel,” in the Psalms. The form of these proverbs, based on the
numbers two, three, and four, is similar to that of the prophecies of
Amos (chaps, i. and ii.). The last collection is headed, “Words to
Lemuel, the king; the burden wherewith his mother instructed him.” The
contents of the instruction is, “Be not licentious and intemperate;
help the poor and oppressed.” The name Lemuel is likewise allegorical,
meaning “God-ward.” The book concludes with the praises of a virtuous
woman.
(A.) Introduction.—The object of the book is set forth in verses 2 to 7
of the first chapter as follows: “To make man know wisdom and
instruction, comprehend words of understanding, and take the
instruction of acting wisely, with justice, judgment, and
righteousness; to give skill to the simple; to the young knowledge and
discretion; that the wise may hear and increase doctrine, and the
prudent acquire cleverness to understand proverb and figure, the words
of wise men and their allegories. The beginning of knowledge is the
fear of the Lord; wisdom and instruction fools despise.” This last
sentence is the basis of the book. Without fear of the Lord all
knowledge and wisdom will prove insufficient for establishing man’s
true happiness. The Introduction consists of several connected
addresses, in which the author persuades the reader to listen to his
advice, and keep away from wicked people before it is too late. He
exhorts man to entrust himself to the guidance of the Lord, and not to
rely on his own understanding. “Be not wise in thine eyes, fear the
Lord, and depart from evil” (iii. 7). He warns against bad society,
against becoming security for debtors, and against idleness. The two
ways open to man are allegorically represented by two women, the one
wise, the other foolish; the one leading to happiness, the other to
ruin; each one inviting man to her house, and displaying in the very
act of invitation her full character.
(B.) The collections of proverbs begin with the tenth chapter. The
proverbs have the form of parallelism, each verse being divided into
two parts, mostly containing an antithesis illustrating the difference
between the wise and the foolish, the good and the bad, the just and
the unjust, the industrious and the idle, the rich and the poor, and
the like. Each verse is a proverb by itself, and is independent of the
verses which precede and follow. There are only a few passages in which
several verses are connected, and these occur in the later collections,
e.g., xxii. 22–23, 24–25, 26–27; xxiii. 1–3, 4–5, 6–9, 10–11, 12–13,
20–21, 29–35; xxiv. 3–7, 10–12, 30–34; xxvii. 23–27. The whole of the
thirtieth chapter consists of small paragraphs of three or four verses,
and the last chapter consists of two continuous parts.
In these collections of proverbs we find advice for every condition of
our life. Our relation to God is shown; how He loves the good and
just:—
“The way of the wicked is an abomination of the Lord; but he loveth
him who pursues righteousness” (xv. 9).
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination of the Lord, but the
prayer of the righteous is his pleasure” (xv. 8).
“The Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the
righteous” (xv. 29).
“To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than
sacrifice” (xxi. 3).