ber, and popularity of his poems. This example and patronage drew around him a number of authors, and Jerusalem became the Athens of Asia. Several of these poets were men of fine genius, and in some respects surpassed the monarch. None of them however appear to have had that confidence in their own powers, which would ensure them popularity if they departed from the example of their King. His fame was so extensive, that all chose to imitate him both as to subject and manner, and taking him for their example, they made all their poems subservient to religion. None of them attempted to revive the taste of the Hebrews for heroic songs, notwithstanding the numerous victories of the King, furnished subjects admirably adapted to this species of poetry. So powerful was the influence of David, that they all preferred successful imitations to originality. Among the poets who shed a lustre on the literature of this age, the most celebrated was

Asaph. This author was a distinguished musician as well as poet. He was the descendant of Gershom, the son of Levi, 1 Chron. vi, 39–43. He stood at thehead of the musicians whom David separated for public worship. Into his hands David delivered the song which he compo sed on the removal of the ark, and when the two hundred and eightyeight singers were divided into twenty-four classes, Asaph stood at the head. He is always placed before his brethren Heman and Jeduthun, and was probably equalled by no musician of that age unless by David. He was as distinguished for his poetic as for his musical talents, and among all the poets of this age, the monarch alone surpassed him. His fame continued long after his decease, and at a subsequent period he is the only poet of this reign who was placed by the side of David. In II Chron. xxix, 30, Hezekiah and the Princes commanded the Levites to sing praises unto the Lord, in the

words of David and Asaph the Seer. In the days of Josiah, the singers were arranged according to the command of Asaph, and after the second return from Babylon under Nehemiah, they were arranged in the same manner as in the days of David and Asaph of old. From

Chron. ix, 15, it appears that he belonged to the tribe of Levi, and in the 15th chap. 17 verse he is called the son of Berachiah. He was the ancestor of Jehaziel the son of Zechariah, who prophesied in the days of Jehosaphat King of Judah, II Chron. xx, 14, and also of Joah who was recorded in the age of Hezekiah. He survived David, and retained bis place as a musician in the time of Solomon, but probably died some time during his reign, 2 Chron. 5, 12. There are twelve psalms attributed to him, the 50th, the 73d to 83d inclusive.

Some of these were written by an Asaph who lived long after this period, or there is some mistake in the title, as appears from the contents. The 74th which is attributed to him was evidently composed about the time Jerusalem was taken. In the 6th & 7th verses it is said, the enemy have cast fire into thy Sanctuary, they have defiled the dwelling places of thy name. The 76th was probably written after the age of Solomon, as Judah and Israel are both referred to as a writer would speak of them subsequently to the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam. It is possible that as Judah was the prominent tribe, this may be nothing but a parallelistic mode of expression. The 79th was composed after the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, as the desolations accompanying that event, are minutely described in the three verses of that psalm.

The 50th was undoubtedly composed by him. This psalm represents God as descending from Heaven to examine his people, and observe whether they had kept his law. At his approach, the poet drawing his imagery from the tempests

which so often raged in Palestine, arrays him in all the sublimity of the storm, surrounding him with a raging whirlwind, while the lightning devoureth before him. He speaks, and the Heavens, and all the nations of the earth, assemble to hear the decision which he shall pass upon them. This poem consists of three parts, first the introduction, secondly the address of God to his people, and lastly to those who refused to be instructed. The poet, as Samuel had previously done in his address to Saul, exhibits the insufficiency of sacrifices as an atonement for sin, and shows that those of praise and thanksgiving are alone acceptable to him. This hymn, in its introduction and machinery, is almost unequalled for sublimity. Were his other poems equal to this, he would not be surpassed even by Isaiah.

The 76th is a song of victory, composed after some signal defeat of the enemy, but at what time it is impossible to conjecture. If we suppose it to have been written by Asaph the cotemporary of David, it may refer to the conquest of Jerusalem in the beginning of David's reign. (vid.4th verse.) In unison with the poets who preceded him, he ascribes the victory to God. This approaches as near to the Heroic songs as any composed during this age, but is much inferior to them in beauty and sublimity.

The 77th psalm in the 16th verse, speaks of the sons of Jacob and Joseph, but from this expression I see no reason to conclude that it was written after the revolt of the ten tribes. It was evidently composed under the influence of deep distress. The poet has thrown more feeling into this psalm than into any of his other poems. A slight perusal of his poems will convince every reader, that for deep tenderness of feeling, he is greatly inferior to the royal poet. His life was undoubtedly more serene, less agitated by fear and joy. He never had been exiled from all that he held dear, hunted as an outVOL. VI.-No. 1.

law, and compelled to wander among the deserts of Palestine, without any resting place for the sole of his foot. There is some beauty in this poem, and the last five verses are replete with sublimity, but not of so elevated a character as the exordium of the 50th.

The 78th is an Idillium, in which the poet celebrates the wonderful works of God as exhibited to their ancestors while in Egypt, the wilderness, and after they conquered the promised land. It is very similar in subject, and manner of handling it, to the 105th and 106th psalms, which I suppose to have been written by David. There is, however, no imitation, unless in the manner in which he relates the miraculous works of God. I cannot conclude from the expression, he chose not Ephraim, that it was written after the time of Solomon as some suppose, for this may refer merely to the fact, that David was chosen by God as their king from the tribe of Judah, and not from the tribe of Ephraim.

The 80th is a dramatic poem, divided into four parts, each ending with a chorus. In the 9th verse he introduces an allegory, in which he represents the children of Israel under the image of a vine. God is represented as eradicating the nations. who formerly inhabited Palestine, that it might have room to grow. The prosperity and increase of the nation is beautifully exhibited under the luxuriance of this vine, which is represented as sending out its boughs from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. In the 17th verse, the distress which the Israelites suffered from their enemies, is presented under the image of a wild beast devouring it, and treading it under his feet. In the next verse he apostrophises from his subject, to introduce the chorus, in which he beseeches God to save this vine from destruction, and again introduces it in the 4th part, as entirely consumed. As this utter destruction is represented as taking

place after the conquests of David in which he extended his empire to the Euphrates, I am inclined to believe that it was composed by a second Asaph, or that it is from the pen of some other poet. It may possibly refer to the tribes on the east of Jordan, which in the reign of Saul extended their conquests to the Euphrates, I. Chron. v, 9, 10, and the subsequent destruction, to the defeat of Saul at mount Gilboa, though the desolations to which the poet alludes in the expression, it is burnt with fire, it is cut down, appear too great for that event.

The 81st Psalm is an hymn to the Deity, composed for religious worship, as the instruments with which it was to be accompanied, are mentioned. It was either written for some one of the great festivals, or else at the feast of Trumpets, as Lowth and other critics conjecture. (Levit. 23, 24.) The latter part of the hymn assumes the form of an Idillium, in which the law respecting this feast, and several events which happened in the desert are introduced. It concludes with a reference to the promises of God, which, but for their rebellion against him, he would have performed.

The 83d Psalm, the last which I shall examine of this author, was probably composed at the time when the Syrians, Moabites and others, entered into a league against David. (2 Sam. 8.) There is one difficulty connected with this opinion, viz. Tyre being allied with them. The king of Tyre, as far as we can form an opinion from the history of this period, was in alliance with the Hebrews, and continued so during the reign of Solomon. From this we should infer that it was not written by Asaph the musician. As however, there appears to have been no subsequent period when so many of the surrounding nations were leagued against Israel, I feel inclined to believe that it was written by Asaph, explaining the difficulty by the supposition that this may have been

overlooked by the historian while relating the more prominent events of his reign. In conclusion, I will dwell for a moment on

The character of Asaph as a Po et.---He is more didactic than David, and usually more concise in his language his feelings were naturally much less ardent, and his life less replete with the extremes of suffering and joy. Of course his poems would exhibit less passion. His imagination was fine, when enkindled by the greatness of the subject. Usually he throws a subject into a didactic form, when the idea, in the mind of David, would have been highly embellished by an ever active imagination. In no one of his poems, but the 50th Psalm, does he ever rise to an elevation equal to that of the royal poet, while in tenderness and strength of feeling, he is generally his inferior.

II. The Sons of Korah.*

Who these poets were, Sacred History does not inform us. Shallum,

*In our version, the titles to these Psalms are translated, for the sons of Korah. The translators evidently supposed that the sons of Korah were the musicians. sing, or to adapt to music. To this opinThese poems were composed for them to jon, I cannot assent, for the following rea

sons:

1. We have no account of their being enrolled among the musicians of this, or any subsequent period. Had they been distinguished in this art, as we must be lieve from the number and beauty of the poems assigned to them, (if we admit this been registered by the author of the supposition,) their names would have book of Chronicles, in the particular enumeration he made of the singers of David's bands.

ל

2. The prefixed to them, is the same preposition that is prefixed to the titles of the Psalms of David and Asaph. If we translate it, a Psalm for the sons of Korah, we must, for the same reason, render it, a Psalm for David, for Asaph, for Ethan, &c.; if a Psalm of David, we must read, a Psalm of the sons of Korah, &c. 3. We are informed in II. Chron. xxix, 30, that Asaph wrote Psalms of Praise, which in the reign of Hezekiah were collected and placed with those of David. These the king and the princes commanded the Levites to commit, and sing in

honor of the Deity. From this passage it

a Levite, descendant of Korah,is mentioned in I. Chron. 9. 19, as being with his brethren of the house of his father, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle. (vid. 22d verse.) In Numbers 26th, 11th, we are informed that the children of Korah died not. As the Korah who perished with Dathan and Abiram, was a Levite,and as ́Shallum and his brethren were Levites, it is not improbable that they were descendants of that Korah who rebelled against Moses. The following psalms are attributed to the sons of Korah; the 42nd to the 49th inclusive,the 84th and 85th, 87th and 88th, making eleven, if we suppose the 42nd and 43d one psalm. This psalm I have already examined, and have notwithstanding the title, attributed it to David as it appears to me to bear internal evidence of having come from his pen. The 44th psalm is divided into two parts. The first contains a recapitulation of the wonders God wrought for their ancestors, and the second, a picture of the desolations and disgrace to which they were subjected by their enemies, who triumphed over them. I cannot conjecture in what period of David's reign, this poem was penned, or to what event it refers, as he never marched but to victory. It may have been com

is certain, that some of the psalms which are attributed to Asaph, were written by him. Now the title of these poems is the same with those attributed to the Korah, ites; viz. a Psalm to, for, of Asaph, and a Psalm to, for, of the Sons of Korah. 4f, then, we admit, as we are compelled to do, from the passage just quoted, that Asaph was one of the authors of the national poems of the Hebrews, we must grant, that the sons of Korah were poets. and the au

thors of several hymns in the book of

Psalms.

The style of these poems differs very materially from those of David, Asaph, or the anonymous authors of the Psalms. The force of this argument will be admit ted by every one who reads them in the Hebrew. In our translation they exhibit a complexion peculiar to themselves, and although approaching nearer to David, than to any of the other poets, yet they even here, have a character of their own, though much less strongly marked than in the original.

posed in a subsequent reign, and the event being unknown, at the time the songs of the Hebrews, were collected, the person who arranged them may have attributed it to them. If the psalms were collected into a National Book of poems, in the reign of Hezekiah or Ezra, (vid. 2 Chron. 29, 30,) time enough had elapsed for the occasion of this hymn being forgotten. As it resembles the poem of the Korabites in respect to its style and animation, they may have from this resemblance, given it its present title.

The 45th psalm which is attributed to them, is rendered, a Song of loves, or perhaps more correctly by Gesenius, a lovely song. This I presume was added to the title after it was composed by the author, as it would come with much more propriety from the compiler of the book of songs, or the person who copied the manuscript, than from him. This splendid ode has by many critics been attributed to Solomon, and is supposed to have been an Epithalamium written on his marriage with the Egyptian princess. To this opinion I cannot assent, as the subject appears to me to exhibit very clearly, that the poet had in his eye a greater personage than Solomon. It contains in my view a most magnificent description of the progress of Messiah's kingdom, as seen by the poet through the eye of prophecy.

It is true that there are a few allusions which will apply to Solomon, but not more to him, than to many who have lived at a period subsequent to two reigns. My reasons for applying it to Christ are the following. Not to dwell on the expression thou art fairer than the children of men, an expression which any poet in complimenting a king would use without hesitation, and which might be equally applicable to any monarch who succeeded him, I would observe,

First. This king is represented as a distinguished warrior, to whom the appellation, Gibbor is assigned.