knob, such as are seen in the hands of the Persian kings, on the monuments of Persepolis. Justin says, "that at the time of the rape of the Sabine virgins, the kings, as insignia of their dignity, bore, instead of the diadem, long staves, which the Greeks called sceptres." Hence it may be conceived how, in Homer, kings made use of the sceptre to strike with. The sceptre, as well as throne, is often used as a symbol of government. Hence in Ps. xlv. 6, a right sceptre is the emblem of a just government. And in the above passage it is said of the king celebrated in this Psalm, that he would break his enemies with a rod of iron, by which his dominion is represented as terrible and destructive over those who oppose him. The sense is, that he will conquer them with irresistible power. A similar picture is given of the Messiah in Num. xxiv. 17. "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners (according to Luther, the 'princes') of Moab."-ROSENMULLER. PSALM V.、 Ver. 7. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy; and in thy fear will I worship towards thy holy temple. It is very natural that people, when praying, should turn the face towards the quarter where the place dedicated to the Divinity is situated, and which is considered as his abode. Hence the Jews prayed with their faces turned towards the temple, (1 Kings viii. 38, 44, 48;) and those residing out of Jerusalem, turned it towards that point of the heavens in which Jerusalem lay. Dan. vi. 10. Thus the Mohammedans, when praying, always turn their faces (owards Mecca. "Kebla," says Bjornstahl, "signifies, in Arabic, the point towards which all true Mussulmen turn their faces when praying; whether in the open air or in their temples, where it is always marked by a niche, in which not only the iman stands, but also some finely written copies of the Koran are lying. This point is always towards Mecca; for there stands the Caaba, or quadrangular honse, said to have been first built by Abraham and Ishmael, and which is the great sanctuary of the Mohammedans, for the sake of which such great pilgrimages are annually undertaken to Mecca, and thence to Medina, where Mohammed is buried."-ROSENMULLER. Ver. 12. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. A shield is a defensive piece of armour, and is used to ward off the blows that are aimed at the person who wears it. In this passage of the Psalmist it is spoken of in a different sense. It is to be used by a divine power for the preservation of the people of God: and, connected with their safety, they are to be honoured and exalted: and both their preservation and exaltation are to be so complete, that they are said to be compassed about with the favour of God as with a shield, in the same manner as a person completely covered with, or elevated upon, a large broad shield. This interpretation of the words is paralleled by a practice which, subsequent to the age of the Psalmist, obtained among the Romans, of which the following instances may be selected: "Brinno was placed on a shield, according to the custom of the nation, and being carried in triumph on the shoulders of the men, was declared commander-inchief." The shields of the ancients, as a scholiast observes upon the Iliad, ii. 389, were so large as almost to cover a whole man, and hollowed, so that they in a manner enclosed the body in front. Hence Homer speaks of the surrounding shield. Tyrtæus, in the second of his hymns, still extant, says, "The warrior stands in the contest firm upon both feet; the hollow of the spacious shield covering below his sides and thighs, and his breast and shoulders above."— BURDER. PSALM VI. Title To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Shemiaith. A Psalm of David. This superscription is in Luther," upon eight strings." I can hardly think that a musica instrument of eight strings is meant here, as the Hebrew word (scheminith) does not appear among the musical instruments mentioned in the Old Testament. The meaning of the Hebrew word is, octave; and in 1 Chron. xv. 21, where the singers of the temple are enumerated, it stands after a word which properly signifies virgins, (alamoth,) and may therefore signify a treble part, which was sung by women. "Might not this," says Forkal, have signified among the Hebrews nearly the same that 'virgin air' signified among the German poets, called master-singers in the middle ages?"ROSENMULLER. Ver. 2. Have mercy upon me, Ó LORD; for I am weak; O LORD, heal for me; vexed. my bones are Ver. 12. If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. The Hebrew word signifies literally, "that he hath tr dden on his bow," that is, to bend it. Arrian, in his Account of India, says, "Such of their warriors as combat on foot, carry a bow which is as long as a man. When they want to bend it, they set it upon the ground, and tread on it with the left foot, while they draw on the string."-ROSENMULLER. Ver. 13. He hath also prepared for him the in struments of death; he ordaineth' his arrows against the persecutors. This sentence may be rendered more accurately, "he makes his arrows burning." The image is deduced from such fiery arrows as are described by Ammianus Marcellinus. They consisted of a hollowed reed, to the lower part of which, under the point or barb, was fastened a round receptacle, made of iron, for combustible materials, so that such an arrow had the form of a distaff. The reed, as the above author says, was filled with burning naptha; and charged from a tight bow the fire went out,) it struck the when the arrow was shot from a slack bow, (for if diswhatever it met with; water poured on it increased its vioenemies' ranks and remained infixed, the flame consuming lence; there was no other means to extinguish it but by throwing earth upon it. Similar darts or arrows, which were twined round with tar and pitch, and set fire to, are described by Livy, as having been made use of by the inhabitants of the city of Saguntum, when besieged by the Romans. An allusion to such arrows is also made in Ephesians vi. 16.-ROSENMULler. Ver. 14. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. Dr. Boothroyd translates this, "Lo, the wicked hath conceived iniquity, and is big with mischief; but an abortion shall he bring forth :" which certainly corresponds better with the ORDER of the figure of the text. "What induces that man to come so much to this place? depend upon it. he is preparing some plans."-"Yes, I am of opinion his womb has conceived something." Does the person vegin to disclose his purposes, it is said, "Ah! it is this you have been conceiving the last few days." But when he puts his plans into practice, "Yes, he is now in parturition' "Well! how has the matter ended ?"-"Ended! he has brought forth poykul,” i. e. lies.-ROBERTS, PSALM VIII. Ver. 6. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet. This is a common figure of speech to denote the superiority of one man over another; hence the worshippers of the gods often say in their devotions, "We put your feet upon our heads." Truly, the feet of Siva are upon my head." "My Gooroo, my Gooroo, have I not put your feet upon my head?" "My lord, believe not that man; your feet have always been upon my head." "Ah! a mighty king was he; all things were under his feet."-ROBERTS. PSALM IX. Ver. 14. That I may show forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. That is, in Jerusalem, meaning in the temple itself. The "gates of the daughter of Zion" are opposed to the "gates of death," mentioned in the preceding verse. Zion is the general name of the mountain, on whose irregular eminences the city of Jerusalem was built. But in a more limited sense, the name of Zion was given to the highest of those eminences, on which, besides a part of the city, the palace of David, and several public buildings, were built. This Mount Zion was joined on the south side by means of a bridge, with the mountain or hill of Moriah, which was entirely occupied by the extensive buildings of the temple. In the Old Testament, we are often to understand by Zion and Jerusalem, the national sanctuary, the temple particularly, where, as in the above passage, the adoration of God, and the thanksgivings to be publicly offered him, are spoken of. Zion or Jerusalem is called daughter, because the Hebrews used to figure cities, communities, and states, under the images of women, and the inhabitants as children. Thus, the daughter of Tyre, the daughter of Babylon, for the city of Tyre and the city of Babylon. Even now, the head of the government of Tunis, in Barbary, is called Dey, or Day, that is, as D'Arvieux observes, mother's brother; because the republic is considered as the mother, the citizens as her children, and the Turkish sultan as the consort of the republic.-ROSENMULLER. Ver. 15. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. This image is taken from the catching of wild beasts, by means of strong ropes or nets. Lichtenstein, in speaking of the hunting of the Koofsa, (Kaffers,) says, "They catch much game by means of nets; in the woody districts, they often make low hedges, miles in length, between which they leave openings; in these openings, through which the game tries to escape, they conceal snares, which are placed so ingeniously that the animals are caught in them by the leg, and cannot extricate themselves." Also lions and elephants are caught in this manner; the latter, when they have been brought by means of fire, or by tame elephants, to a narrow place, where they cannot turn back, are caught by throwing ropes round their legs. Ropes and nooses are meant by the figurative expression, snares of death, 2 Sam. xxii. 6, which the people of the ancient world used, both in the chase and in war. The word is sometimes rendered. net, as in this passage. Arrian, in his Treatise on Hunting, relates, that Cyrus met with wild asses in the plains of Arabia, which were so swift, that none of his horsemen were able to catch them. Yet the young Lybians, even boys of eight years of age, or not much older, had pursued them, mounted on their horses, without saddle or bridle, till they threw a noose over them, and thus took them. He gives instructions to pursue stags with rained horses and dogs, till they can be either shot with arrows, or taken alive by throwing a noose over them. These are the strong snares which Pollux means, when he speaks of the wild asses, and they are also the same as hose in which Hahis, the natural son of an ancient Span ish king, was taken. He was exposed when a child, and suckled by a hind: having grown up among the stags, he had attained their swiftness, so that he fled with them over the mountains, and traversed forests, till he was at length caught in a noose. In the same manner Ulloa saw the Guasos (one of the aboriginal Peruvian nations) catch with their nooses (the Spanish lazo) the most active and cautious man as easily as the wild bull. Some English pirates once approaching their shore, and thinking to drive off the towards the vessels, and so pulled on shore those who had Guasos with their firearms, the latter threw their nooses not fallen down at first sight; one who was caught escaped with his life, notwithstanding he had been thus violently him over the shoulder on the one side, and the arm on the drawn from the boat to the shore, the noose having caught other; but it was some time before he was able to recover his strength. In the same manner the Sagarthian horsemen in the Persian army used their nooses in war.-(Helived on the Caspian Sea, had no other arms than a noose rodotus.) These people, who, according to Stephanus, and a dagger, to kill with the one the enemy whom they had caught with the other. The same is related by Pausanias, of the Sauromati.-Rosenmuller. PSALM X. Ver. 5. His ways are always grievous: thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. Of a proud and powerful man, it is said, "He puffs away his foes;" i. e. they are so contemptible, so light, that like a flake of cotton, he puffs them from his presence. Great is and blowing through the nostrils.-ROBERTS. the contempt which is shown by puffing through the mouth Ver. 15. Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none. This member is often selected as an object for imprecations. "Ah! the kallan, the thief, his hand shall be torn off for that." "Evil one, thou wilt lose thy hand for this violence." But the hand or arm is also selected as an object for blessings. "My son, (says the father,) may the gods keep thy hands and thy feet."-ROBERTS. Ver. 4. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. "Wicked one, the fiends shall eat thee." "That vile king eats the people as he does_his rice." "Go not near that fellow, he will eat thee." But, strange as it may appear, relations say of those of their friends who are dead, they have EATEN them. Thus, a son, in speaking of his deceased parent, says, "Alas! alas! I have eaten my father." "My child, my child!" says the bereaved mother, "have I eaten you?" The figure conveys extreme grief, and an intimation that the melancholy event has been occasioned by the sins or faults of the survivors. In cursing a married man, it is common to say, "Yes, thou wilt soon have to eat thy good wife." And to a poor widow, "Wretch! hast thou not eaten thy husband ?"-ROBERTS. PSALM XVI. Ver. 4. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink-offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. This refers to the custom of many heathen people, to drink the wine of the sacrifice mixed with blood, particularly when they bound themselves by dreadful oaths, and to the performance of fearful deeds. This drink was called by the Romans vinum assiratum, because assir, according to Festus, signifies blood in the ancient Latin language. In this manner, as Sallust relates, Catiline took the oaths with his accomplices. "It was said at the time that Catiline, after making a speech, calling on the accomplices of his crime to take an oath, presented them with human blood mixed with wine, in cups; and when every one had drank of it, after pronouncing an imprecation, as is cus omary in solemn sacrifices, explained his plan." In a Similar manner, Silius Italicus makes the Carthaginian Hannibal swear, an instance which is particularly suitable to illustrate the above passage, because the Carthaginians were of Phenician or Canaanite origin. When the prophet Zechariah describes the conversion of the Philistines, he makes Jehovah say, (x. 7.) " And I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and nis abominations from between his teeth; but he that remaineth, even he, shall be for our God." The drinking of blood at sacrifices was prohibited to the Israelites upon pain of death.-ROSENMULLER. Ver. 7. I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel; my reins also instruct me in the night-seasons. Night is the time for the chief joys and sorrows of the Hindoos, and it is then they are principally engaged in the worship of their gods; because they believe praise is more acceptable to them then, than at any other period. It is believed, also, that the senses have more power in the night; that then is the time for thought and instruction; hence they profess to derive much of their wisdom at that season. The Psalmist says, "Thou hast visited me in the night;" and the heathen priests always pretend to have their communications with the gods "when deep sleep falleth on man." See them at their bloody sacrifices, they are nearly always held at the same time, and what with the sickly glare of lamps, the din of drums, the shrill sound of trumpets, the anxious features of the votaries, the ferocious scowl of the sacrificer, the bloody knife, and the bleeding victim, all wind up the mind to a high pitch of horror, and excite our contempt for the deities and demons to whom night is the time of offering and praise.-ROBERTS. PSALM XVII. Ver. 2. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. David, in his integrity, thus cried to the Almighty, and so people in the East, who are innocent, when pleading in court, "Let us have YOUR sentence;" i. e. in contradiction of say, that of their enemies. "See, my lord, the things that are right." "Justice! justice!"-ROBERTS. Ver. 10. They are enclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. To say a man is fat, often means he is very proud. Of one who speaks pompously, it is said, "What can we do? lassi-kul-lap-inâl," i. e. from the fat of his flesh he declares himself. "Oh! the fat of his mouth; how largely he talks!" "Take care, fellow, or I will restrain the fat of thy mouth." "From the intoxication of his blood he thus talks to you."-ROBERTS. Ver. 11. They have now compassed us in our steps; they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. A man who has people watching him to find out a cause for accusation to the king, or great men, says, "Yes, they are around my legs and my feet; their eyes are always open; they are ever watching my suvadu," i. e. steps; i. e. they are looking for the impress, or footsteps, in the earth. For this purpose, the eyes of the enemies of David were "bowing down to the earth."-ROBERTS. PSALM XVIII. Ver. 2. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. See on Eph. 6. 16. That is, my strong, mighty deliverer. The image is taken from the bull, whose strength and defensive weapon lie in his horns. Hence a horn is the symbol of strength. Jer. xlviii. 25, says, "The horn of Moab is cut off;" that is, his power is weakened. Micah iv. 13, says, "Arise and thrash, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and I will make thy foot brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people." Ps. cxxxii. 17, "There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have adorned a lamp for mine anointed;" translated by Luther, "will make him strong and mighty." The Greeks and Romans made use of the same image. The former said of a bold and valiant man, "He has horns." Horace says of wine, that it revived the hope of the afflicted, and gave the poor "horns," that is, courage and strength.-ROSENMULLER. The most extraordinary oriental costume which I have yet seen, is the head-dress worn by many females at Deir el Kamr, and in all the adjacent region of Mount Lebanon. In the cities on the seacoast it is not so frequently seen. It is called Tantoor, and is set on the forehead, projecting like a straight horn. It is from fifteen to twenty inches long; in its thickness gradually diminishing; having its diameter at one extremity about four inches, at the other about two. It is hollow, otherwise the weight would be insupportable to the stiffest neck; and it is tinselled over, so as to give it a silvery appearance. The end with the larger diameter rests on the forehead, where it is strapped to, by one strap passing behind the head, and another passing under the chin: the horn itself protrudes straight forward, inclining upward, at an angle of about twenty or thirty degrees. Over the further extremity they throw the veil, which thus serves the double purpose of modesty and shade. I could hear no account of the origin of this unicorn costume. In its style it differs materially from the horns described by Bruce in Abyssinia, and by other travellers, which have been considered as illustrating those passages in scripture, "Lift not up your horn on high.-Thy horn hast thou exalted," &c. For here it is the females that wear it; and not the men, as in Abyssinia: it has no appearance of strength, nor indeed, to me, of beauty; although, doubtless, among the females of Mount Lebanon, there may be as much vanity in their mode of adjusting and bearing this article of dress, as is to be found at any European toilet. Some, indeed, though very few, wear this monstrous ornament protruding from one side of the face, instead of the front but I could obtain no satisfactory account of this heretical fashion, any more than of the orthodox position of the Tantoor. It is not worn by the Druse women only. The servant of the house where I lived at Deir el Kamr wore one so also did a young woman, whose marriage I there witnessed: several, likewise, of the virgins, that were her fellows, and bore her company, wore this head-dress; all these were Christians. Hanna Doomani told me that it is used chiefly by the lower orders: at least that those cities, would not think of wearing it. In other words. who have been brought up at Damascus, or at the principal probably, it is the true ancient female mountaineer's costume; but what is its degree of antiquity, it may be difficult to discover.-JOWETT. Ver. 5. The sorrows of hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me. The margin has, for sorrows, "cords." (2 Sam. xxii. 6. Prov. xiii. 14, and xiv. 27.) Dr. Boothroyd translates, "The cords of hades enclosed me; the snares of death were laid for me." The Psalmist says in another place, He "shall rain snares" upon the wicked. From the parallel texts in Samuel and Proverbs, it is evident that DEATH, by the ancients, in figure at least, was PERSONIFIED and described as having SNARES, with which to catch the bodies of men. The Hindoo Yama, "the catcher of the souls of men," bears some resemblance to the Charon and Minos of the Egyptians and Grecians. Yama rides on a buffalo, has a large SNARE in his hand, and is every way a most hideous looking monster. In his anxiety to fill his caves with mortals, he was often involved in great disputes with the gods and others; as in the case of Marcander, who was a avourite of the supreme Siva. He had already cast his SNARE upon him, and was about to drag him to the lower regions, when the deity appeared, and compelled him to relinquish his prey. When people are in the article of death, they are said to be caught in the SNARE of Yama. (See Matt. xxiii. 33.)--ROBERTS. Ver. 33. He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places. The allusions to this animal in the sacred volume, though not numerous, are of considerable importance. Its name in Hebrew, (w) ail, is considered by Dr. Shaw as a generic word, including all the species of the deer kind; whether they are distinguished by round horns, as the stag; or by flat ones, as the fallow-deer; or by the smallness of the branches, as the roe. The term originally signified aid or assistance; and, in the progress of language, by a natural and easy transition, came to denote an animal furnished with the means of defence, but limited to horned animals, particularly the stag and the hind. This creature seems to resemble the goat, in being remarkably sure-footed, and delighting in elevated situations. of that expression, "Sweeter than honey, and the honeycomb," Ps. xix. 10; or, to express it with the same emphasis as our translation does the preceding clause, "Sweeter than honey, yea, than the honeycomb," which last, it should seem, from the turn of thought of the Psalmist, is as much to be preferred to honey, as the finest gold is to that of a more impure nature. But this will appear in a more easy light, if the diet and the relish of the present Moors of West Barbary be thought to resemble those of the times of the Psalmist: for a paper published first in the Philosophical Transactions, and after that by Dr. Halley, in the Miscellanea Curiosa, informs us, that they esteem honey a wholesome breakfast," and the most delicious that which is in the comb, with the young bees in it, before they come out of their cases, while they still look milk white, and resemble, being taking out, gentles, such as fishers use: these I have often ate of, but they seemed insipid to my palate, and sometimes I found they gave me the heartburn."-HARMER. PSALM XX. Ver. 5. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. In all religious as well as warlike processions, the people carry banners. Hence on the pinnacles of their sacred cars, on the domes or gateways of their temples, and on the roof of a new house, may be seen the banner of the caste or sect floating in the air. Siva, the supreme, also is described as having a banner in the celestial world. The royal Psalmist alludes to both circumstances in one of his triumphant odes: "He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places." He might also refer, in the first clause, to the uncommon solidity and hardness of its hoof, which Virgil compares to brass, which enables it to tread, with ease, the pointed rocks. It may seem, from the words of David, that the female possesses a surer foot and a harder hoof than the male, for he ascribes to himself the feet of the hind; but since natural historians have not remarked any difference between them, it is probable he was led to the choice from some other cause, which it may not be easy to discover. The prophet Habakkuk, in the close of his prayer, has the same allusion, and nearly The banners formerly so much used were a part of miliin the same words: "He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places."tary equipage, borne in times of war to assemble, direct, While the Psalmist contents himself with referring merely to the firmness and security of his position," he setteth me upon my high places," the prophet encourages himself with the persuasion, that his God would conduct him through every danger, with the same ease and safety as the hind walks among the cliffs of the rock.-PAXTON. The espousals by money, or a written instrument, were performed by the man and woman under a tent or canopy erected for that purpose. Into this chamber the bridegroom was accustomed to go with his bride, that he might talk with her more familiarly; which was considered as a ceremony of confirmation to the wedlock. While he was there, no person was allowed to enter; his friends and attendants waited for him at the door, with torches and lamps in their hands; and when he came out, he was received by all that were present with great joy and acclamation. To this ancient custom, the Psalmist alludes in his magnificent description of the heavens: "In them he set a taberacle for the sun; which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices as a strong man to run a race."PAXTON. Ver. 10. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honey-comb. There is no difference made among us, between the licacy of honey in the comb, and after its separation from We may therefore be at a loss to enter into the energy When a person makes a solemn vow to go on a pilgrimage, to perform a penance, or to bathe in holy water; or when a man has a dispute in a court of law, or in any other way; or when a disobedient son has resolved to act as he pleases; it is said, "Why try to move him from his purpose? tussil-katti, he has tied up, and stands by his banner" which implies, he must and will abide by his purpose. -ROBERTS. distinguish, and encourage the troops. They might possibly be used for other purposes also. Occasions of joy, splendid processions, and especially a royal habitation, might severally be distinguished in this way. The words of the Psalmist may perhaps be wholly figurative: but if they should be literally understood, the allusion of erecting a banner in the name of the Lord, acknowledging his glory, and imploring his favour, might be justified from an existing practice. Certain it is, that we find this custom prevalent on this very principle, in other places, into which it might originally have been introduced from Judea. Thus Mr. Turner says, "I was told that it was a custom with the soobah to ascend the hill every month, when he sets up a white flag, and performs some religious ceremonies, to conciliate the favour of a dewta, or invisible being, the genius of the place, who is said to hover about the summit, dispensing at his will good and evil to every thing around him." (Turner's Travels.)-Burder. PSALM XXII. Title-To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, (Hind of the Morning.) A Psalm of David. Many curious observations have been made on the titles of the Psalms, but attended with the greatest uncertainty. Later eastern customs, respecting the titles of books and poems, may perhaps give a little more certainty to these matters; but great precision must not be expected. D'Herbelot tells us, that a Persian metaphysical and mystic poem was called a Rose Bush. A collection of moral essays, the Garden of Anemonies. Another eastern book, the Lion of his, written in praise of his Arabian prophet, who, be afthe Forest. That Scherfeddin al Baussiri called a poem of firmed, had cured him of a paralytic disorder in his sleep, the Habit of a Derveesh; and because he is celebrated there for having given sight to a blind person, this poem is also entitled by its author, the Bright Star. The ancient Jewish taste may reasonably be supposed to have been of the same kind. Agreeable to which is the ex r planation some learned men have given, of David's commanding the bow to be taught the children of Israel, 2 Sam. i. 18, which they apprehended did not relate to the use of that weapon in war, but to the hymn which he composed on occasion of the death of Saul and Jonathan, and from which be entitled this elegy, as they think, the Bow. The twentysecond Psalm might, in like manner, be called the Hind of the Morning; the fifty-sixth, the Dove dumb in distant places; the sixtieth, the Lily of the Testimony; the eightieth, the Lilies of the Testimony, in the plural; and the forty-fifth, simply the Lilies. It is sufficiently evident, I should think, that these terms do not denote certain musical instruments. For if they did, why do the more common names of the timbre, the harp, the psaltery, and the trumpet, with which psalms were sung, Ps. lxxxi. 2, 3, never appear in those titles? Do they signify certain tunes? It ought not however to be imagined that these tunes are so called from their bearing some resemblance to the noises made by the things mentioned in the titles, for lilies are silent, if this supposition should otherwise have been allowed with respect to the Hind of the Morning. Nor does the fifty-sixth Psalm speak of the mourning of the dove, but of its dumbness. If they signify tunes at all, they must signify the tunes to which such songs or hymns were sung, as were distinguished by these names and so the inquiry will terminate in this point, whether the Psalms to which these titles are affixed were called by these names; or whether they were some other psalms, or songs, to the tune of which these were to be sung. And as we do not find the bow referred to, nor the same name twice made use of, so far as our lights reach, it seems most probable that these are the names of those very Psalms to which they are prefixed. The forty-second Psalm, it may be thought, might very well have been entitled the Hind of the Morning, because, as that panted after the water brooks, so panted the soul of the Psalmist after God; but the twenty-second Psalm, it is certain, might equally well be distinguished by this title, Dogs have compassed me, the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: and as the Psalmist, in the forty-second Psalm, rather chose to compare himself to a hart, than a hind, the twenty-second Psalm much better answers this title, in which he speaks of his hunted soul in the feminine gender Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling (which in the original is feminine) from the power of the dog. Every one that reflects on the circumstances of David, at the time to which the fifty-sixth Psalm refers, and considers the oriental taste, will not wonder to see that Psalm entitled the Dove dumb in distant places; nor are lilies more improper to be made the title of other Psalms, with proper distinctions, than a Garden of Anemonies to be the name of a collection of moral discourses.-HARMER. Ver. 6. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. When a man complains and abhors himself, he asks, "What am I? a worm! a worm!" "Ah! the proud man; he regarded me as a worm: well should I like to say to him, we are ALL worms.' "Worm, crawl out of my presence."-ROBERTS. Ver. 7. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head. Ainsworth has this-" All they that see me, doe skoff at mee: they make-a-mow with the lip, they wag the head." It is exceedingly contemptuous to protrude the lower lip; and, generally speaking, it is only done to those of a mean condition. Those who cannot grant a favour, or who have not the power to perform something they have been requested to do, "shoot out the lip." To shake the head is a favourite way of giving the negative, and is also a mark of disdain.-ROBERTS. Ver. 10. I was cast upon thee from the womb. "What!" asks the old slave, "will you dismiss me now? Have I not been cast upon you from the ketpum ?" womb.- ROBERTS. Ver. 12. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round, Bishop Horne says, the latter verse, if literally translated, runs thus: "Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds, the congregation of the mighty among the calves of the nations, skipping or exulting with pieces of silver." Wicked men, or those who have much bodily strength, who insult and domineer over the weak, and all "lewd fellows of the baser sort," are called mädukul, i. e. bulls. "Of what country are you the bull?" People of docile dispositions -those who live at peace with their neighbours-are called cows or calves: hence when violent men injure them, it is said, "See those bulls how they are oppressing the calves; look at them, they are always butting the cows." "Why has this mad bull of Point Pedro come hither? Go, bull, go, graze in thy own pastures." David, therefore, prayed that the Lord would rebuke the bulls who thus troubled his people.-ROBERTS. The strength of the bull is too remarkable to require description; and his courage and fierceness are so great, that he ventures at times to combat the lion himself. Nor is he more celebrated for these qualities, than for his disposition to unite with those of his own kind, against their common enemy. For these reasons he has been chosen by the Spirit of inspiration, to symbolize the powerful, fierce, and implacable enemies of our blessed Redeemer; who, forgetting their personal animosities, combined against his precious life, and succeeded in procuring his crucifixion: Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round." Nor can we conceive a more striking and appropriate symbol of a fierce and ruthless warrior; an instance of which occurs in that supplication of David: "Rebuke the company of the spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the people, till every one submit himself with pieces of silver." In the sublime description of Isaiah, which seems to refer to some great revolutions, which are to be effected in times long posterior to the age in which he flourished; probably in these last days, antecedent to the millennial state of the church; the complete destruction of her strong and cruel enemies is thus foretold: "And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls, and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness." PAXTON. Ver. 16. For dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. "The dog," says Poiret, "loses in Barbary, as in the East in general, a part of those social qualities which make him the friend of man. He is no longer that domestic, mild, insinuating animal, faithfully attached to his master, and ever ready to defend him, even at the expense of his life. Among the Arabs he is cruel, blood-thirsty, always hungry, and never satisfied. His look is savage, his physiognomy ignoble, and his appearance disagreeable. The Moors grant him, indeed, a corner of their tent; but this is all. They never caress him, never throw him any thing to eat. To this treatment, in my opinion, must the indifference of the dogs towards their master be ascribed. Very often they have not even any master. They choose a tent as a place of refuge; they are suffered to remain there, and no further notice is taken of them. Refuse, carrion, filth, every thing is good enough for them, if they can but appease their hunger. They are lean, emaciated, and have scarcely any belly. Among themselves they seldom bite each other; but they unite against the stranger would tear him to pieces if he did not seek safety in flight who approaches the Arab tents, furiously attack him, and from this starved troop. If any person were unable to defend himself, or had the misfortune to fall, he would be in danger of being devoured, for these dogs are very greedy after human flesh." D'Arvieux also observes, that the Bedouin Arabs keep a great number of dogs, which run about in and out of the camp, begin to bark at the least noise they hear, and answer each other. "These dogs," says he, are not accustomed to see people walking about late at night, and I believe that they would tear any one in pieces who should venture to approach the camp." "In Morocco," says Höst, "there are dogs in abundance, and as the themselves, much less to feed dogs, they suffer them to lie greater part of the Moors have scarcely enough to live on for about the streets so starved that they can hardly 1ang to |