vii. Text and Versions.— The Massoretio text
VOU IV. — II
of the OT, it is now generally admitted, stands in need of frequent emendation. From the Ttli ceo'- A.D. onwards, the lleb. text has been preservev with scrupulous fidelity, passing at times into extreme punctiliousness. But tlie earlj' o-igin of this text is unknown, we possess no MSS earlier than the 10th cent, of our era, and the Massoretes represent for us only one line of textual trans- mission. The materials, however, for textual criticism are scanty. In the case of the NT, these are so abundant that conjectural emendation has little or no place in sound criticism. In the OT beyond the Massoretic notes, the only help is to be derived from the ancient versions. Hence scholars have been driven to adopt conjectures, more or less probable, in specially difficult pass.ages ; and as the science of textual criticism is still young, no sufficiently complete consensus of opinion has been arrived at with respect to the text in these cases.
As regards the Psalms, the chief iincient version to be con.sulted is, as elsewliere, the LXX. The Ps.alter is contained in cod. x> BlexceptPslOo'^-lST"), and A (except 49"-79"'). The Greek tr. of the Psalms, tliough not equal to that of the Pent., is at least up to tlie general average of tlie LXX. In places it is quite at fault, but not so frequently as in the Propliets, and in some passages its lielp is valuable. The frequent difficulty of ascertaining the original reading of the Greek itself is one of the chief drawbacks to its critical use. The Targiim of the Ps.alms is of uncertain date, since it embodies some early tradition, but in its present form cannot date earlier than tlie 7th or 8th cent. A.D. The Pesh. SjTiac version (2nd cent. ?), thou'jh in the main agreeing with the Heb., is often of ser\'ice by the support which it gives to the LXX. The later Gr. VSS, so far as extant, are not of much critical value. Jerome's version of the Psalms is rendered from the Heb., while that retained in the Vul^., a representative of the Old Lat., was translated from the Greek. Jerome's renderings are sometimes of considerable value, and shed liglit on the history of the text, when tliey do not enable us to recon- struct it. The Eng. versions may be briefly men- tioned, though therr history is <;enerally familiar. The Pr. Bk. version of tlie Psalms is taken from the Great Bible f first ed. 1539), which was a revision of Matthew's Bible, the Psalms in which was the work of Coverdale. Coverdale's tr. was made from theZiirich Bible and the Vulg., and accordingly in it the traces are to be found of LXX readings which have made their way through the Lat. into the Pr. I3k. version. The AV of 1011, which is far more accurate, did not displace the earlier version to which congregations had become accustomed, and which is undoubtedly better titted for melodious chanting in public worship. The RV of 1885 re- presents a much nearer approa(^h to accuracy of rendering, and is invaluable as an adjunct to AV, though it has not yet displ.iccd it. Mariy of the renderings approved by modern scholarship are to be found riot in the text, but in the margin, since a two-thirds majority of the Revisers was nece.s.sary to elfect an alteration. A very useful work has been recently (1898) published by Driver, entitled the Parallel Psalter, in which the Pr. Bk. version is given on one page, with a new version by Dr. Driver himself opposite. The liook contains a valuable Introduction and Glo.ssarie.s. The Cainb. Univ. Press published in 1899 T/ie Bnok of P.ialms, cuntahthifj the Vr. Bk. vrr.non, the A V, and tlie li V, in parallel i-olnmns. The metrical versions of the Psalms in Knglish alone are exceedingly numerous, but neither Milton, nor Keble, nor less known poets who have attempted metrical renderings, can be said to have attained any great success.
It is beyond the scope of this article to illustrate the need of textual criticism in detail, or its prob-
PSALMS, BOOK OF
FSALiMS OF SOLOMON
a.le elTects. But the foll»win-re^^^^^^^^^
of faiuiliar passages in ^^liK.hcorrup i;^.^^.^ ^^
or has been suspected. Is-, V;Xrew. None of vith the meamng • son s ^o* ^^!^^^«"^„a jeronie the ancient VSS adopt tins ren'^«^"|,'^ ^^.„,^ ^,n translates 'Adorate pure In^^J^ l' „ ^,,g
can hardlv he th« ^^meaus '"u^e a lion'; the Heb. reads -7", \ ''J-''' "^"""f „„ ■ so the LXX, rendering 'pierced '^^'f'^V^'o',; appears, fol- Vulg. and byriau. ^yP'":'„,"n,av have crept
lowld the MX. . S°I?.«~ethec au e^theuprigLt into the text, asm 49", v^heiet^iec ,„„,„;„„■
shall have dominion o^f ^'^'^^n Ps 48'^ niD'Sy is reads like a later if «« l^/'gsis and 77" untranslatab e as it J^™- J^^^- text which there is an abrnptness m the ^x^t ^^^^_^^^^ .^
points to a Pi"'^'^''''',„®"f • iiich may be due to difficult Pass^g«^' ^°"^|,°J opening of ^Ps 87 is so textual corruption. ^^,n,^°P^"t nation must have
a large and difficult subject^ So lon^J^ «• ,,^ „„. evidence rema ns as ^'^"X^^ttenr all attempts 7'^::^ ^;SS^^^Si^.coniectural lendati'ont must be expected to continue.
the primitive and mediaeval waiters ;a^dSl^^^^^^^^ \'relsury o/i).W has r-^^^JZt^.^Tterest are : Fausset the Puritans (lb nv-S-.)- Ji^'f ^„.^t,ual ComfMOJi 0/ fml"^
(1888); Bmme, The F^<U>'Ui,'neirY J • ^ jj^^-t. Lcct. hsso) Alexander, UK. 'V''*^ LipJSml in Three Collectwm.