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who drinks of the peaceful brook; for, on the contrary, he was to drink of rapid waters that roll in a deep channel, and are turbulent and wift. The cup he was to drink of was a cup of bitter afflictions; and therefore, because he suffered, and became obedient to many fufferings, fhall he be exalted, or his head shall be lifted up. Compare Ifaiah liii. with Philip. ii. 8, 9. If thefe critical and conjectural obfervations are right, the entire pfalm will appear as follows:

PSALM CX. A Pfalm of DAVID.

The tranflation of the English
Bible.

1. The Lord faid unto my Lord, fit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

2. The Lord fhall fend the rod of thy ftrength out of Zion rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.

3. Thy people fhall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauty of bolinefs from the womb of the morning: thou haft the dew of thy youth.

4. The Lord hath fworn, and will not repent, Thou art a prieft for ever, after the order of Melchizedeck.

5. The Lord at thy right hand fhall ftrike through kings in the day of his wrath.

The new tranflation by Dr.
Sharpe.

Jehovah faid unto my Lord, fit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

Jehovah fhall fend the rod of thy ftrength from Zion: that thou mayeft rule in the midst of thy enemies.

Thy people (fhall be) eminently zealous in the day of thy army, (fhall fhine) in the beauties of holiness: more than from the womb of the morning to thee (fhall be) the dew of thy progeny.

Jehovah hath fworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedeck.

The Lord on thy right hand (O Jehovah!) hath fhaken (fhall fhake and reform) kings in the day of his indignation. 6. He

"In the English Bible and the Vulgate, the verbs in this pfaim are rendered as if they were in the future tenfe, because the events they refer to are future. I leave the reader to his own choice, by inferting that, which is rather a paraphrafe than a tranflation, in a parenthefis; only I take the liberty to obferve, that many inftances may be produced of the promiscuous, or rather INDEFINITE ufe of the

preterite

6. He fhall judge among the heathen, he fhall fill the places with dead bodies: he hall wound the heads over many countries.

7. He fhall drink of the brook in the way: therefore fhall he lift up the head.

He (the Lord) shall execute judgment in the nations with a great army: He (the Lord) hath fhaken, (shall fhake fo as to convert) the chief over the great land (the Roman empire.)

He (the Lord) shall drink of the torrent (of afflictions) in the way therefore fhall his head be exalted.

This last verse is admirably well explained by Jerom; and, to fhew that the ancient ecclefiaftical writers do fometimes deserve our infpection, Dr. Sharpe hath fet down his comment in the notes, and then adds, that if the Greek or Latin copies are to be followed rather than the modern Hebrew copies, nothing can exceed the intire comment of Jerom upon this pfalm. What the collation of manufcripts undertaken by the learned Dr. Kennicott may produce, time will discover; enough hath been faid in this chapter to fhew the neceffity of fuch a work; and without the authority of manuscripts, our Author fays, he will not prefume to alter the prefent Hebrew copies, nor indulge conjecture, while he is delivering ancient records, produced as evidence. "However, he thinks it is worthy of obfervation, that if the Greek verfion is to be followed in the third verfe, it will not be poffible to apply this pfalm to any other than Jefus the Son of God, of whom alone it can properly be faid, "Before the morning-star did I beget thee."-IIgo Ewopoçou eyevunca ce.

The great and extraordinary effufion of the Spirit foretold by the prophet Joel, and poured out upon the apostles and difciples of Jefus on the day of Pentecoft, is the subject of the ninth chapter of this valuable work. The Author obferves, that the day of the Lord generally means the deftruction of Jerufalem; but that the GREAT DAY of the Lord always fignifies the deftruction of Jerufalem, either by Nebuchadnezzar, or under Titus.

Hence it is moft evident, that the prophet Joel, by the found of the firft trumpet, proclaims the diftrefs and deftruc

preterite and future times, without the converfive Vau; befides, it is a well-known obfervation of the Chriftian and Jewish Doctors, that the prophet, feeing in his mind's eye the events he foretells, often fpeaks of them as already paft.

tion of Jerufalem under Nebuchadnezzar; and by the found of the fecond trumpet, its final deftruction under Titus. He defcribes, first, the diftrefs of the Jews by drought and famine, and their deftruction in the great day of the Lord; then the trumpet founds again, and proclamation is made of the great things the Lord will do for his people and his land: he will remove from them the northern army, and restore the years they had loft by the great army which he had fent among them. After this, the ufual tranfition is made to the gofpel-age under the fecond temple; the extraordinary effuhon of the Holy Spirit, which then, and at no other time whatever, was poured out upon ALL FLESH, is next foretold in the cleareft and strongest terms; the other great day of the Lord, the laft deftruction of Jerufalem, has then its' place; and this part of the prophecy clofes with these remarkable words, which may be confidered as a fhort and comprehenfive view of the gracious declarations in the new covenant: "And it fhall coine to pafs, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord fhall be delivered; for in mount Sion, and in Jerufalem fhall be deliverance, as the Lord hath faid, and in the remnant whom the Lord fhall call."

There are various paffages which, though cited from the Old Scriptures in the New, are not fuppofed to foretell the events they are applied to and faid to fulfill, but are only ACCOMMODATED to them, and thefe Dr. Sharpe confiders in the tenth and laft chapter. The Scriptures of the old and new covenant, he obferves, are to be confidered as one work, written by different perfons, at different times, but dictated by the fame Spirit. They relate the uniform conduct of God. to his people; and the divine proceedings, under the new difpenfation, bear a ftrict conformity to thofe under the old. There is alfo not only a conformity of events, and an unity of defign, under the conduct of the fame Spirit in both Scriptures, the Old as well as New, but the promises contained in the former are accomplished by the latter, and they both defcribe the fame Meffiah an invifible conductor of the people of God under the old difpenfation, and a vifible guide to them in the new And Dr. Sharpe recommends it as a neceflary key in the interpretation of the Scriptures of the new covenant, that many things applied to our Lord in thofe writings are his own words, delivered under the character of the Lord, the Logos, or Word, or Michael, and therefore not to be confidered merely as ACCOMMODATIONS of phrafes taken from the Old Scriptures, and applied to different pur

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pofes

pofes and perfons in the New.. The fhepherd, called the fellow of God, Zech. xiii. 7, 8, 9, was to be finitten, the fheep were to be fcattered. The like events happened under the gofpel; the fhepherd was fmitten, the fheep were scattered; they were to endure fevere trials, and their faith was to be more precious than gold tried with fire. To the Jews our Saviour faid, " Behold, your houfe is left unto you defolate: and verily I fay unto you, ye fhall not fee me until the time. come when ye fhall fay, Bleffed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Our Saviour here foretelleth the defolation or deftruction of Jerufalem; and instead of comforting the Jews with the profpect of a third temple, and the restoration of bloody facrifices, in fome future age or advent of the Meffiah, he expreísly declares, they fhall fee him no more till they acknowledge him, by faying, Blefied is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. The inference which Dr. Sharpe draws from thefe paffages in the Old and New Scriptures compared, and which he confiders as parallel, is, that it is common for the Meffiah, the Word, to repeat under the new difpenfation what he had before faid by the mouths of his prophets in the old. Thus, as to the paffage of Ifaiah, chap. Ix. cited by St. Paul, Rom. xi. 25-27, if we fuppofe the prophet fpeaks of the redemption of the Jews from captivity by Cyrus, it is as evident that the Meffiah was the invifible redeemer, as that Zerubbabel was the vifible leader of the Jews; and though St. Paul interprets the words in Ifaiah of Chrift, and not of Cyrus or Zerubbabel, yet they are true of him, that is, of Jefus, not in a fecondary, or accommodated meaning, but in their primary fenfe, as he commanded in chief, and fuperintended all in the care of God's people. The fame actions are fometimes afcribed to the commander in chief, and the officer who acts under him, not that thefe paflages afford a double meaning, though they imply a fuperior and fubordinate command.

The Doctor concludes, that he hath endeavoured to manifeft the whole fcheme, or fyftem of the Old and New Scriptures, to be a fyftem worthy of the facred character impreffed upon it, what no believer ought to be afhamed of, or at a lofs to defend against any attack; and this defence, we think, he has maintained with diftinguished learning, candor, and critical fagacity.

Elements

Elements of Criticifm. Continued from p. 428 of laft Month's

HA

Review.

AVING, in our laft number, attended the noble Writer through the theoretic and moft abftrufe part of this ingenious work, we now with pleasure resume the fubject, and proceed to the subsequent volumes, which con'tain matter of greater variety and entertainment. In exem-' plifying the particulars which ferve to unfold the principles of the fine arts, the Author difplays very extenfive and various erudition; and the many nice and acute criticisms interfperfed throughout, fhew with what clofe attention and refined tafte he has perufed the most admired authors, both antient and modern. He has opened many beauties, and detected feveral blemishes in the beft writers; and, from the various effects refulting from the illuftrations referred to, he has endeavoured to establish the rules of juft criticifm. But though the application of these rules may, in some measure, enable a reader to discover blemishes, yet they will never teach him to relifh beauties, which produce no effect, unless the fufceptibility of the reader is congenial with that of the Writer. It is well known, that the poetic excellence of our incomparable Milton was, for a long time, hid under the veil of obfcurity, till Mr. Addifon unfolded his beauties to the public eye; yet, even now, we may venture to affirm, that they who affet to admire him moft, build their admiration on authority instead of fentiment. In fhort, to recur to the distinction which we endeavoured to establish in the preceding article, the principles of criticifm, fo far as they regard the fenfitive part of our nature, are not to be acquired by rule. Nevertheless, this work muft afford a most elegant entertainment to readers of fine tafte, who will here perceive what an intricate combination of caufes, perhaps hitherto unnoticed, have contributed to produce thole ftriking effects which they have fo frequently experienced.

In the opening of the fecond volume, his Lordship treats of congruity and propriety, which copious heads might have afforded matter for a larger fcope than our Author has thought proper to affign them. A certain fuitableness or correfpondence among things connected by any relation, is what he calls congruity or propriety; which, he obferves; are commonly reckoned fynonimous terms. He endeavours, however, to cftablifh the following diftinction between them. Congruity,

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