Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/571

* PSALMS. 501 PSALMS. tion of any particular hymn; and if these methods fail, the problem must be, frankly de- clared insoluble. In this investigation it is fur- ther necessary to distinguish in the case of many of the psalms between older portions and modifi- cations as well as additions introduced at a subsequent period in the process of editing, or to adapt them to the religious aspirations of a later age. The limitations of such an investiga- tion must, however, be recognized. In many of the psalms the references to political or social conditions are of so general or vague a character that agreement among scholars as to the period to which a particular psalm belongs is hardly to be expected ; nor is the style in all cases so pronounced as to be of service in settling the date of composition. As a consequence, a candid criticism will confess in many eases its inability to solve the problem and rest content with par- tial results. Accepting the general order in the growth of the Psalter as above outlined, the most important question involved in a more detailed considera- tion of the comp(?sition of individual poems is whether any belong to the preexilie period. While some critics, are disposed to limit the preexilie psalms to a very small number, others deny the preexilie origin of all. To the former it seems quite improbable that after the Exile psalm composition should have assumed such tremendous importance with- out any impulse from an earlier age. The example of Babylonia and Egypt, where hjnnns and psalms formed part of the ritual from a remote period, would have been sufficient to lead to the prodiiction of such com- positions among the Hebrews after they had once established a large sanctuary in .Jerusalem, and the religious views embodied in some, if not in many, of the psalms are sufficiently restricted to make them fit in with the concep- tions held of Yahwch Ijcfore the destruction of ■Jerusalem. Whether, however, one may go back as far as the days of David for the beginning of psalm composition is another question. While Delitzsch accepted 44 psalms as Davidic, Ewald reduced the number to 17 and Baethgen admits only 3, namely, the first, third, and fourth, and of these he feels certain only about the first. The number of psalms ascribed to the preexilie period by this critic is above thirty. On the other hand, Olshausen, Cheync, and Duhm deny that there are any Davidic or preexilie psalms. Coming to the post-exilic period and including among these older psalms that have been worked over, the bulk is by some critics placed before the advent of Greek rule in Palestine. The psalms of the Persian period voice the hopes, struggles, and fears of the religious community in Jerusalem, and the frequent use of the first person in those psalms is perhaps not to be interpreted as repre- senting the sentiments of the individual, but rather the community, and in some cases the people of Israel as a whole. The number of psalms that belong to the Greek period or the Jlaccabiiean age cannot be determined with certainty. Olshausen placed the bulk of the Psalter in the Maccaba?an age, and the most recent connnentator, Duhm. assigns most of the psalms to the Maccabiean and Hasmonean periods. Cheyne places 2.5 psalms in this later period. But others think that only six can be ascribed with certainty to the JIaccabaean period. Finally, of the three large collections already indicated, it may be supposed that the first was made in the days of Ezra, the second toward the close of the Persian period, and the third in the Greek period; it should again be emphasized that these approximate dates for the collection do not directly affect the date of composition of the psalms included in each collection. If there are any preexilie psalms, they are likely to be found in the first collection. In connection with the Psalms it seems appro- priate to consider brielly the general subject of Hebrew poetry, of which the Psalms represent the most notable product. Of the three classes of poetic composition usuallj' distinguished, the lyric, the epic, and the dramatic, only the first is, strictly speaking, represented in the Old Tes- tament; it should, however, be bflrne in mind that the lyric poetry of the Hebrews embraces several subdivisions, among which gnomic poetry stands out so prominently that it may almost be desig- nated as a special variety, and certain scholars think that the rudiments of dramatic composi- tion are found, as in Canticles (q.v.), the iJook of Job, and elsewhere. Before the period of conscious poetic composition as an art and a profession is reached we find among the Hebrews, as among other nations, what may be called folk- poetry. If the view be correct wdiich regards Canticles as a collection of popular wedding songs, these represent one type of this poetry. Of laments for the dead, which constitute among all peoples the second most notable division of folk-poetry, the only specimens preserved in the Old Testament belong to the more advanced period, such as David's dirge over Saul and Jonathan (II. Sam. i. 17-27), which is a type of Hebrew poetry in its most polished form. But such songs as the "Song of the Well" (Numbers xxi. 17-18), the "Song of Lamech" (Gen. iv. 23- 24 ), and the "Song of Deborah" ( .Judges v. ) are illustrations of old folk-poetry which show at the same time its wide range. No doubt the Hebrews had numerous harvest and drinking songs, tribal war chants, and songs celebrating the exploits of tribal heroes, which are, it is to be feajed, irretrievably lost, but the persistent tradition regarding the titles of at least two of such collections, one the "Book of the Wars of Yahweh," the other the "Book of the Upright," or, as the Septuagint has it, the "Book of Songs" (see J.SHER, Book of), is a proof of the popu- larity which these compositions continued to enjoy. Passing into the domain of artistic poetry, we have, besides the Psalms, the Book of Lamentations, a series of dirges over the destruc- tion of .Jerusalem, composed in the manner of the popular laments over the dead (see Jere- Mi.ii, Lajiextatioxs of), and the three great specimens of gnomic jjoetry. Proverbs, .Job, and Ecelesiastes (qq.v.). in the Old Testament proper, to which the Book of Sirach or Eccle- siasticus (q.v.) is to be added. Concerning the form of Hebrew poetry, difficult problems arise which have not yet found a satis- factory solution. The line and the verse are found, and a characteristic feature that has long been recognized is the parallelism of the verse members (parallelismus membrortim). That is, the thought is expressed in two clauses of ap- proximately the same length, of which the second bears a definite relation to the first, either repeating the thought in different words