In every view, the passage is understood of the angels or blessed spirits, who excel in strength and do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. .אדני,instead of ib. The Lord is upon them, D inter illos-among them, in the midst of, or upon them. The heavenly host his supporters, and in or upon them is the Son of God in his dignity. Many MSS. read, some with, but the greater part, Thus was the blessed Son introduced into the world to conquer his and our enemies with a multitude of the heavenly host. Thus also was the Law delivered by Moses on Mount Sinai in the midst of a large collection of angels; when Mount Sinai was altogether in a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire. The Schechinah or divine Majesty came down in a thick cloud in flaming fire, or with a shining company of angelic spirits, illustrated by flames of fire, as in Ps. civ. 4. or as we read in Deut. xxxiii. 2. He came with ten thousands of holy ones, i. e. angels, when from his right hand went a fiery Law. As this extraordinary assemblage appeared on Mount Sinai, so Sinai seems to be here used for any general assembly of these blessed spirits; and this is what I would understand by the last words of the verse-a Sinai in the holy place-In the holy place on Mount Zion was the sanctuary or temple and the divine presence, which appeared over the tabernacle at its consecration on Mount Sinai, never left the Israelites in their journeyings, till they came into Canaan where Mount Zion was, and where also was the holy place, wherein the Schechinah continued to reside between the cherubims, attended by companies of blessed spirits, like as on Sinai, : V. 19. Thou hast gone up on high; Thou hast led captivity captive; It has been observed by some commentators that at the preceding verse the ode begins to assume more plainly its secondary or prophetic sense, or to be transferred from the ark to the Messiah, who was to take up his abode amongst men: and this sense is continued in the verse before us; which in its full view is scarcely applicable to any thing but the ascension of our Lord, however some of its language may have been occasionally applied to other signal victories, and more immediately to the ascension of the ark on Zion. Our Lord, after having resided upon earth to fulfil his great work, at length ascended up on high, in the most literal sense, or to the highest heavens. And this he did, ``when he had finished all his extraordinary achievements in this lower world, when by his death and resurrection he had vanquished all his enemies, and led captive those who had captivated his Exod. xix, 2 Heb. 82, in the man, so in the margin. brethren of mankind and confined them under the basest thraldom. When he had subdued these he received of his Father gifts, in order to impart them unto men, the manifold gifts of his blessed spirit, which he communicated even to the rebellious, to those who resisted and repulsed him at the time of his incarnate residence; or when the Lord God took up his tabernacle amongst us, whereof that which contained the ark was a type, or when he dwelt in the fulness of the Godhead bodily. There is something so peculiarly striking in the expressions of this last verse, and so exactly descriptive of Christ's exaltation, that one can scarcely believe but that it was originally intended in the prophetic mind, however unknown to the persons who sung or uttered them. Some reference may be discerned in them to the seating of the ark with its furniture and tabernacle in the holy place on Mount Zion; from whence many blessings were imparted to the worshippers; but the fairest and best interpretation which can be affixed to the language is that which refers it. to the event and consequences of the ascension of Christ. לִשְׁכֹּן יָהּ אֱלֹהִים I know no better sense for the last words than that which I have given, which may refer to the residence of the divine Majesty upon the ark, as well as to God manifested in the flesh to destroy and triumph over the works of the Devil. The song is concluded with a joyful chorus of praise to the great author of all our blessings, thus, V. 20. V. 21. Blessed be the Lord; he daily loadeth us, The God that is for us is the God of salvation; With Jehovah the Lord are the escapes from death. I will beg leave to subjoin the whole translation together, as follows, V. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. The Lord God giveth the Word; Of those who proclaim the glad tidings the company is great. And the Inhabitants of the house divide the spoil. Have ye lain amongst rubbish ; Ye wings as of a dove overlayed with silver, When the Almighty dispersed kings on it, A hill of lofty summits, the hill Bashan? This is the hill which God delighteth to inhabit; Surely Jehovah will tabernacle for ever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand thousands of angels, The Lord is upon them, a Sinai in the holy place. Thou hast gone up on high; thou hast led captivity captive, Blessed be the Lord, he daily loadeth us, Even the God of our Salvation; 20. VOL. VI. No. XII. H 21. The God that is for us is the God of Salvation; With Jehovah the Lord are the escapes from death. This ode is concise and beautiful, and must be allowed to stand in the first and highest rank of poetry. The transitions in it are frequent and striking; the ideas solemn, appropriate, and grand; the change of persons sudden and extraordinary, but not unnatural. At one time the Psalmist makes the singers address themselves to the neglected ark in the language of sympathy and compassion; then again it is spoken of in its triumphant state in the third person. At its approaching exaltation the song rises into a kind of rapture, and the surrounding hills are described as in a panic of trembling animation at the favor or honor bestowed on that which is to receive the ark; when not the height of Salmon, nor the fertility of Bashan will obtain for either the preference. From thence the prophetic mind is transported to the real incarnate residence of the Saviour of the world, the grand antitype of the ark, to his ascent to heaven from Mount Olivet, and to the blessings conferred on the world by his incarnation and its consequences. So fine a song, so sublime a piece of poetry, is very well worthy the introduction that is prefixed to it, and the large company to announce and publish it, as well as the solemn bless-ing of praise and acknowledgments to God which follows it. A COUNTRY PARISH-PRIEST. Brightwell, Berks, Aug. 21. 1812. LAMBERTI BOS REGULÆ PRÆCIPUÆ TO THE EDITOR OF THE CLASSICAL JOURNAL. WISHING to contribute something important towards the next number of your very useful publication, I have thought it worth the while to send you a copy of a short treatise on the principles of Greek Accentuation, by the celebrated LAMBERT Bos. As it furnishes us with all the leading rules, which are necessary for the acquirement of this part of Greek literature, expressed so briefly, and, at the same time, so very clearly, I am inclined to believe that it will be at once interesting and instructive to several of your learned readers. As to those, who profess to despise the system of accentuating altogether, they are at liberty (if any such there be) to read, or pass over, as they think best. It is usual, at the present day, to see men, who cannot gain a character in any other way, endeavouring to secure one to themselves by a perverse singularity of opinion; but this practice has at length grown so common, that it has become quite trite and hackneyed.-Why did Wake field affect to despise accents? Surely either on this account, or because he did not understand them. The same answer may be applied to the perverseness and false pride of such as would actually suffer themselves to be "incorps'd and demy-natur'd" with absurdity, rather than forfeit one atom of their alleged creed to the superior reason of common sense. If Greek accentuation is at all useful, why reject it?-and who can deny its utility? 1 By the way, we are informed that the enlarged and improved edition of Morell's Greek Thesaurus, superintended by Dr. Maltby, is to appear with the Greek un-accentuated. Dr. Maltby's learning and judgment are known to be such, that this deficiency can only be referred to the quantum of trouble requisite to fill it up. The drudgery would be considerable; but are there not persons whose time and talent are less valuable than the time and talent of Dr. Maltby, who would be glad of that part of the undertaking for a trifling compensation? And could the money be laid out either more usefully or more profitably? 24 Aug. 1812. FARRAGO LIBELLI. Lamberti Bos Regulæ Præcipuæ Accentuum. I. Accentibus vetustissimi Græci scribendo usi non sunt, ut ex antiquis MStis apparet. Quia verò hodiè, et à longo tempore, in Græcorum libris usurpantur, nec suo carent usu, breviter quædam de iis monendą sunt. II. Accentus est pronunciandi ratio, quâ syllaba alia in pronunciando attollitur, alia deprimitur, alia inflectitur et tardius trahitur; quod indicant note Accentûs, quæ sunt tres; Acutus (') nota est ascendentis vocis; Gravis () nota descendentis; Circumflexus, (") nota primò ascendentis, dein descendentis, vocis; constat ex Acuto et Gravi; sustinet et quasi circumagit vocem. Nomina ab re musicâ petita videntur. III. Acutus potest esse, vel in ultimâ syllabâ, quale vocabulum dicitur úτovov; vel in penultimâ, quale agožúrovov; vel in antepenultimâ, quale προπαροξύτονον. IV. Gravis nusquam scribitur, nisi in fine. Omnis enim Acutus in fine vocis fit Gravis in orationis contextu: hoc solo modo Gravis scribitur, aliàs subintelligitur in syllabis, quibus nec Acutus, nec Circumflexus est impositus. Sic TT et vedpw, in priore syllabâ habentia Acutum, in posteriore intelliguntur habere Gravem: cujusmodi verba ideò vocantur βαρύτονα. V. Circumflexus scribitur, vel in ultimâ, et vocabulum sic notatum vocatur περισπώμενον ; vel in penultima, et vocatur προπερισπώμενον. VI. Omnis dictio unum ex hisce tribus Accentibus necessariò requirit, præter aliquot voculas monosyllabas, quæ planè accentu carent; ut ò, n, oi, ai, où, [oùx, oùx,] ¿v, eis, [is,] ix, [i1⁄2,] ei, ws, (quando sicut denotat ;) quum verò pro sic usurpatur, acuitur, ut et quando in fine periodi ponitur. Acuitur etiam o sententiam claudens; ut, dizgionσαν οὔ. On the subject of Accents see Porson's Note on Medca, v. 1. EDIT. VII. Non plures præter unum Acutum naturâ habet quæque vox. Quum tamen vox aliqua duobus notata est accentibus, prior est naturalis, posterior adsciticius, quem accipit à dictione encliticâ, quæ tum suum accentum amisit. VIII. Sunt autem dictiones encliticæ, quæ ¿ò roï iyuλivu, ab inclinando, dicta sunt, quæ in vocem præcedentem inclinant, eamque suo accentu afficiunt: Artic. του, τεν, pro τινος, τῳ pro τινι. Nom. TI, TI, indefinitum per omnes casus et numeros. Pronom. μου, μου, μοι, με σου, σευ, σοι, σε· οὗ, οἷς ἐς μου, σφέ, σφιν, σφωές σφισι, σφεας. Verb. Onu et si, in toto præsent. Indicat. exceptâ secundâ singulari. Adverb. πως, πω, πη, που, ποθεν, ποτέ, ποθί. Conjunct. Te, ye, toi, fæ, Onv, meg, xev, [xe,] vvv, [vu.] IX. Enclitica, abjecto suo accentu, ultimam præcedentis vocis acuit, quando ea acutum habet in antepenultimâ, vel circumflexum in penultima ; ut, ήκουσά τινος· ἦλθέ ποτε. X. Non tamen semper rejicit Enclitica Accentum, sed retinet aliquando, nonnunquam etiam planè perdit, et non transmittit accentum. XI. Retinet Enclitica accentum in initio membri, vel etiam singularis emphaseos gratia ; ut σὲ ἀγαπῶ σοι, φίλε, χάρις· οὐ σὺ τὴν ῥίζαν βασε τάζεις, ἀλλ ̓ ἡ ῥίζα σέ. Verbum ἐστὶ quoque in initio membri, aut post voculas oux, dad,, xai, retinet acutum, sed retrahit eum ad priorem syllabam ; ut ἔστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὃς κ. τ. λ. ἀλλ ̓ ἔστιν· οὐκ ἔστιν. XII. Retinet etiam Enclitica accentum, quando ultima in vocabulo properispomeno desinit in consonantem duplicem; ut, quña poło æqualis meus. XIII. Retinet pariter accentum Enclitica monosyllaba post vocabulum paroxytonum ; ut ἁμαρτία ἐστί· λόγος ἐστί. σου. XIV. Amittit verò planè accentum Enclitica monosyllaba post vocabulum paroxytonum; ut, λόγος μου· ἄνδρα Similiter post perispomenon; ut, aɣañas μs. Post oxytonum etiam quidem amittit; ut, avg Tis ubi pro gravi scripto super avę ponitur acutus. REGULE GENERALES. I. Monosyllaba contracta, et quædam alia naturâ longa, circumfectuntur; ut φῶς, νοῦς, οὖς, ναῦς, γραῦς, παῖς, πᾶς, που, πῶς. Sed brevia, et longa non contracta, acuuntur; ut, ds, ds, moùs, xeig, xôáv. II. Dissyllaba cùm constant ex duabus brevibus, priorem acuunt; ut, aóyos, peóvos. III. Dissyllaba constantia ex duabus longis, pariter priorem acuunt; ut, ήρως, "Ηρη, ἤθη. IV. Dissyllaba priore brevi, et posteriore longâ, itidem priorem acuunt; ut, ἔρως, λόγου. V. Dissyllaba, cùm sint priore longa naturâ, et posteriore brevi, vel positione longa, priorem circumfectunt ; ut, σῶμα, βῆμα, δῆμος, κλῆσις, οἶκοι. Quod vero quædam voculæ tales dissyllabæ, ut ὥστε, τοίνυν, καίπερ, εἴπες, acuantur in priore, non verò circumfectantur, ὥστε, καίπερ, . . . uti regula generalis poscit; ejus rei hæc est ratio, quia ille sunt propriè duæ voces, quarum posterior est enclitica, quæ accentum rejicit in præcedentem, ut ὥς τε, καί περ, τοί νυν· quæ coaluerunt in unam. |