Commentary,' p. 148. • Hcngstenherg's • Comment,' in three volnmee, published e.t Berlin in 1842, ho.a been made accessible to English reaclors by Messrs. Clark of Edinburgh, who reproduced it iu an English dress in 1816. • Delitzscl,'e 'Commentar,' published in 1860, has been pronounced by e. most rompetcnt cni.ic to bo "the diligent work of a sober-minded thoologio.n '' (' Speaker's Cvmweutary,' vol. iv. p. 9G0). 'l'IIE BOOK OF PSALMS. xv ---------------------------------- in Hebrew, metrically arranged," by the Rev. John Rogers, Canon of Exeter Catheclral, published at Oxford by J. H. Parker, in 1833. Thie book contained a selection from the various readings of Keonicott and De Rossi, and from the ancient versions, and also an "Appendix of Critical Notes," which excited a good deal of interest. About the same time appeared the 'Translation of the Psalms' by Dr. French and Mr. Skinner, which was issued from the Clarendon Press in 1830. A metrical version of the P~alms, by Mr. Eden, of Bristol, was published in 1841; and" An Historical Out- line of the Book of Psalms,' by Dr. Masr,n Good, was edited and published by his grandson, the Rev. J. Mason Neale, in 1842. This was succeeded in a few years by' A Now Version of the Psalms, with Notes, Critical, Historical, and Explanatory,' from the pen of the same author. Of these last two works it has been said that they were "distinguished by tasta aud originality rather than by sound judgment and accurate scholarahip;" nor can it be denied that they did but little to advance the critical study of Hebrew among us. Dr. Jebb's 'Literal Translation and Dissertations,' published in 1846, was more iwportaut; and Mr. Thrupp's 'Introduction to the Psalms,' given to the world in 1860, together with his article on the Psalms in Smith's 'Dictionary of the Bible' 1 (published in 1863), raised the character of our psalmodic literature to a higher level. In the year 1859, Professor Alexander, of Princeton University in America, furnished to English and Anglo-American students an even more valuable treatise.i But a still more advanced period now set in. In the year 186-! Canon (now Bishop) Perowne published the first edition of his elaborate work in two volumes, entitled, 'The Book of Psalms, a New Translation, with Intro- ductions and Notes Explanatory and Critical' ( London : Bell and Sons). This excellent and standard production has gone on from edition to edition ever since that date, receiving improvements at every step, until it is now decidedly one of the best, if not absolutely the very best, comment upon the Psalter. It is the work of a first-rate Hebraist, of a man of superior judgment and discretion, and of one whose erudition has been surpassed by few. English scholarship may well be proud of it, and may challenge a comparison of it with any foreign exposition. It was not left long, however, to occupy the field without a rival. In the year 1S71 appeared the smaller and less pretentious work of Dr. Kay, once Principal of Bishop's College, Calcutta, entitled, 'The Psalms translated from the liebrew, with Notes chiefly exegetical' (London: Rivingtons ), a scholarly prouuction, characterized by much vigour of thought, and an unusual acquaintance with Oriental manners and customs. Almost simultaneously, in 1872, a work in two volumes, by Dr. George Phillips, Presiuent of Queen's College, Cambridge, made ils appearance under the title of • A Commentary on the Psalms, designed chiefly for the use of Hobl'ew Students 1 Thrupp, in Dr. Smith's 'Dictionnry of the Dible,' vol. ii. p. !JGO.
• • The Psalms trnnslatcd and expfained,' by Joseph Addison Ale:i:nuder, D.D., Prof~ssor of Theology, Princeto11. xvi INTRODUCTION 'l'O 'l'HE BOOK OF PSALMS.
nnd of Clergymen' (London: Williams and Norgate), which deserved more attention than was accorded to it, since it is a storehouse of Rabbinical and other learning. A year later, in 1873, a fresh step in advance wae made by the publication of tho very excellent 'Commentary and Critical Notes on the P,;:alms' (London: Murray), contributed to the 'Speaker's Commentary on the Old Testament,' by the Rev. F. C. Cook, Canon of Exeter, assisted by Dr. Johnson, Dean of Wells, and the Rev. 0. J. Elliott. This work, though written above twenty years ago, maintains a high place among English critical efforts, and is worthy of being put upon a par with the comments of Hengstenberg and Delitzsch. Meanwhile, however, a demon- stration had been made on the other side by the more advanced school of English critics, in the production of a work edited by "Four Friends," and entitled,' The Psalms chronologically arranged, an Amended Version, with Historical Introductions and Explanatory Notes' (London: Macmillan, 1867), wherein Ewald was followed almost slavishly, and the genuine "Psalms of David,; were limited to some fifteen or sixteen. Efforts on the opposite, or traditional, side, however, were not wanting; and the Bampton Lectures of Bishop Alexander,1 and the sober and learned comments of Bishop Wordsworth and Canon Hawkins, may be especially noticed. The slighter work of the Rev. A. S. A glen, contributed to Bishop Ellicott's 'Old Testament Commentary for English Readers' (London: Cassell, 1882), is of less -value, and yields too much to the German sceptical writers. The same must be said of Professor Cheyne's more elaborate contribution to the literature of the Psalms, published in 1888, and entitled, 'The Book of Psalms, or the Praises of Israel, a new Translation, with Commentary,' which, however, no student of the Psalter can afford to neglect, since the acuteness and learning displayed in it are undeniable. Excellent service has also been rendered to English students, comparatively recently, by the publication of the' Revised Version,' issued at the instance of the Convoca- tion of the Province of Canterbury (Oxford and Cambridge, 1885), which bas corrected many errors, and given, in the main, a most faithful repre- sentation of the Hebrew original. 1 , The Witness of the Pse.lms to Christ and Christianity,' being the Bampton Lectures
for 1876. London : Murray, 1877, THE BOOK OF PSALMS.