The・PQetry of the Bible.・ The Book of.Psalms as Liter The Book of Psalins as Literature. (The Poetry of the' Bible.) Although the number o f baptized Christians in Jap 800. 000, the number of Bibles and New Testaments sold eac The question therefore arises, who buys these Bibles A possible answer was given recently by replies 1eading Japanese business men, most of whom were n ported by Ec-Umenical Press Service. According to Bungei Shunju, the Bible was the second most fre vVhen the question was asked, what Book would you ta were making a three month space trip in a capsule an book? The general secretary of the Japan Bible Society o explanation for the choice, C“ln Japan, the Scriptures .of the most・ important cultural bo oks. ” The Bible as literature is inexhaustable. T o do just even limiting one self to an introduction to each of th would produce a library of bQoks. For when we think o lish literature we are referring to a Bible translate Therefore it would be necessary to examine carefully rules of these languages in order to fully grasp the such as the 'old German Bible of 1531 and The Staten the Hebrew and the Creek into classical Dutch, com (83) 亀
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The・PQetry of the Bible.・
The Book of.Psalms as Literature.
The Book of Psalins as Literature.
(The Poetry of the' Bible.)
Although the number o f baptized Christians in Japan totals fewer than
800. 000, the number of Bibles and New Testaments sold each year is 600・ OOO.
The question therefore arises, who buys these Bibles?
A possible answer was given recently by replies to a survey of 100
1eading Japanese business men, most of whom were not Christians, as re-
ported by Ec-Umenical Press Service. According to the monthly j ournal,
Bungei Shunju, the Bible was the second most frequently mentioned book
vVhen the question was asked, what Book would you take with yo u if you
were making a three month space trip in a capsule and could take only one
book?
The general secretary of the Japan Bible Society offered as a possible
explanation for the choice, C“ln Japan, the Scriptures are thought of as one
.of the most・ important cultural bo oks. ”
The Bible as literature is inexhaustable. T o do justice to this subject,
even limiting one self to an introduction to each of the books of the Bible,
would produce a library of bQoks. For when we think of the Bible as Eng-
lish literature we are referring to a Bible translated from ancient languges.
Therefore it would be necessary to examine carefully the literary style and
rules of these languages in order to fully grasp the meaning. Also Bibles,
such as the 'old German Bible of 1531 and The Staten Bible translated from
the Hebrew and the Creek into classical Dutch, completed on the 29th of
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July, 1637, in The Hague The Netherlands, should be studied and compa-
rison made with the English Bibles, For all are trapslations from the same
ancient languages.
ChrigL tianity found two thoroughly established languages, Latin and
Creek, ready to act as its instruments, and it was thanks to Christianity
that these two languages s' 浮窒魔奄魔??and spread instead o'f being submerged by
the incoming waves of foreignLspeaking' @barbarians. The conqueror normally
impoSes his language upon those conquered. Why was the r6verse true in the
case of the Germanic inva ders who overran the Roman 'empire? There is'
only one answer; as.they c4me into the Empire, the Germanic.invaders
were co nverted to Christianity, and the language of ' 翌?唐狽?窒?Christendom
was Latin. Adoption of the religion carried with it adoption of the language
indissolubly bound with that religion.
At a somewhat later period, however, christianity, having develop,ed
a mass appeal that had to be made in their own tongue to peoples living
beyond the borders of the former Roman Empire, broke down the Classical
systeni of aristocracy in language whereby only Creek and Latin were con-
sidered worthy of study・
The work of missionaries in reducing spoken languages to written
forms, giving them dignity, culture, and a literature, began even before
the Empire's fall and has continued uninterruptedly since. Many, if not
most, of the modern languages of Europe have as 'their. first written docu-
ment a translation of the Bible made by missioriaries. This is true of the
first Germanic tongue to boast a literary form, Gothic, which・the Bishop
Ulfilas introduced to the World in the form of a fourth-century translation
of the Bible; of. Armenian and Georgian, which first appear in similar form
in .the fifth century; of,Slavic, for which the Big. hops Cyril and Methodius,
missionaries from Constantinople to the Slavs, devised the Cyrillic alphabet
in the ninth century; of Albanian, with its babtismal ritual of 1462; of Fin-
nish, with its 1548 Bible;and of皿any o thers.
f
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[lllh!g2gge P oepa,y of-t11g.一1}i121g,一wi!IBible. withrm,yrbrtitle The Bro.}gLkm.g£”P.msrm,!m.psLa!sLLLiLt.exa-t-g.Lr“e.,
At the same. time, established languages were assisted on the road to
standardization.and modernizat.ion by. religious texts. Luther's translation of
the Bible in 15311aid the foundation for the m.odern German tongue;De
Staten Bijbel of 1637 for the modem Dutch language;(of whiqh I have an
old copy)and the role played by the King James version in fixing the stan-
dards of modern literary EDglish is too we11-known to bear repetition. Tq-
day, it is thanks Iargely to the missionaries of the Christian religion that we
are acquainted with countless tongues of Africa, Asia, North and South
America, Australia and the Pacifiと.
エong before linguistic scientists and linguistic explorers arose, mis-
sionaries repeated the historical performance of their early predecesso rs. Ar-
riving on the scene of their work, they at once proceeded to study the na-
tive tongues, deviSe for them written forms, translate into the皿the Bible
for the use of the people.
Of all the tho usan ds, and millions of books published in the past th6re
are few of lasting value.℃f.making many books there is no end,”so we
read in Ecclesiastes 12. Many books frequently called c五assics, are often
ロclassics onIy in their particular age and to those who are interested in a
certain. style of literary art, but as to their content or their form they fre-
quently are Iaid aside. HoW many books there have been publish『d and dis-
appeared, no-one knows. But the Book of Books,.the Bible still lives,
110twithstandillg frequent attempts made in the past to destroy this Book.
The Bible is always fresh, though it is an old. Book, very old Book.
The Bible is always new, though it was written years andyear串ago. It has a
ロmessage f6r the individual as well as for groups, for natiolls, for all rnan-
kind as a Iiterary source book and as a fountain for religious experiennces.
The Bible is always timely, thQugh it seems to be timeless. And this is,
ofcourse, because this Book was bom of the Holy Spirit, pldnted in the
souls of men, tried as by f玉re, lived for, died for by countless individuals.
As literature, the Bible is the greatest single piece.that has'ever come
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ftom the pen of men. Look at the biographies, the biographies pf the Bible
surpasses the biographies of an y-one who has written biographies. They
not only extol the virtues of the individuals, but they also tell us about
their weaknesses and wandetings. The weaknesses of Abraham, lsaac and
Jacob as well as their staunch an d strong faith in Jehovah God are told in
vivid colors. The life story of Mozes from'the bulrushes to the mountain
top from which he had a look into the Promised Land, sheds light into the
human soul as no psychiatrist or psyqhologi$t could ever dd. We read about
Peter, the big and strong fisherman, but also about Peter the very impul-
sive one. And David, Solomon, Paul and a host of others, the list is long
and varied.
The Bible as a Book of oratory! There'are 'those chapters which
stand out as some of the gteatest orations or sermans eyer spoken by men.
Read for・example, Acts 2; Acts 17; Act 26, o r turn to 1 Kings 3' begin“
ning with the 22nd verse. Marvelous and beautiful.
The Bible as a Book of drama! Take the story of The Rich Fool,
it just throbs. The story of the Prodigal Son, nothing surpasses it. And
turn to SolOmon's wise judgepaent in 1 Kihgs 3, beginning with the 16th
verse. Or turn to the book of Esther. Has ever greater drama.been writ-
ten than the drama given to us on the pages of the Bible?
And a.s to Poetry and Song, the poetry of The' Bible cannot be mat-
ched any place. An-d songs! The son'gs of.the nativity and the songs of
Miriam are the most beautiful songs ever written. Sometimes they express
the sobbing of a child and sometimes the joy of victory of a pilgrim as he
sings: ““Now letteSt Th.ou Thy servant depart in peace.”
The Bible is not only the greatest literary Book, the finest literature
in itself, but it is also the source book of inspiration of some of the finest
literature written by men. From the library of literary classics we only
need to mention Shakespear who liberally borrowed from the Bible.
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The Poetry of the Bible.with subtitle The Book of Psalms as Literature.
In a'short article one cannot do j ustice to this great subject, The
Bible as Literattire: 1 will concentrate only one aspect, The Book of Psalms-
iri other words, concentrate on the poetry of the Bible.
The Psalms rightly hold the center place of the Bible. The continual
freshness and en during ・quality of The Psalms is primarily due to their spi-
ritual intensity. Whatever their mood, motive or' 魔≠窒奄?狽?of circumstances,
the psalmists are' ≠?one in worshipping Jehovah God. Each of the hymns
of praise and prayers is a facet .or echo of a・ vividly personal relationship
with Hi皿. In these poems a dynamic quality of life has been embodied.
Behind the words lies a profound experience, and beyond the experience
is found a manifestation of God. Thus every Psalm has come from the
very fountain of life.
Therefore,. it need not surprize us that the truly great writers have
drawn liberally from the Bible as a whole and from the Psalms in particu-
lar. Wordsworth wrote; C“The Book of Psalins is a spiri tual epitome of
all history.”
A. The Title to the Book o' ?Psalms.
The general title to the Book of Psqlms in Hebrew is TEHILL.IM
or more fully. SEPHER TEHILLIM, Book of Psalms. The word TEHIL一
:LIM is derived fro皿HA:LA:L,㌻o praise, as in the word Hallelujah, praise
Jehovah. 'The name is given to the'general collection, because praise,
皿ore than an y one thing else is the characteristic of the book, dnd because
the collection seems to have been design' ??to be used in the public praise
or worship of Jehovah God.
The word PSALMS, as applied to the collection, has been derived
from the Creek translation, the word PSALMS. plural form, PSALMOI.
This word comes fro皿the Creek PSA:L:LO, to touch or to pluck a string,
and to twang, that is, to cause to vibrate by touching something with
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'the fingers. Hence the word is applied to instruments of music employed
in praise and then to acts of praise in general. We are thinking here espe-
cially of the harp, an instrument used by David.
The verb, PSALLO, is also used in the New Testament of the Bible
as denoting praise, as forihstance in Romans 15 : 9, ““1 will confess一一一 and
sing unto Thy name, ““and in 1 Corintheans 14 : 15, ”1 will sing with the
spirit and 1 will sing with understanding.” Also reference iS made in the
New Testament to the Book of Psalms as a collection of songs and praise,
Luke 20 : 42, ““David himself saith in the Book of Psalms一一一. t“and in Luke
24 : 44. “tAll things must be fulfi11ed which were written in the Law of
Moses and in th e Prophets and in The Psalms concerning me,”一一一.
B. The Authors of the Psalms
The Psalms collected into a book are by no means the production of
one poet or of one. age They stretch.through a long period of Jewish history,
certainly fro皿the time of Moses to the time of the return from the 6apti-
v三ty of Babylon, and probably王ater. Many 6f them,.howev6r, are the
composition of.David,.that it is customary to speak of,町he Psalms of
David”though it is probable that not much Inore.than half of the Psalms
in the collection were. 翌窒奄狽狽?氏xby David. Of th.e one hundred and fifty com-
prising the collection, accordillg to the enumeration in the.Hebrew manu-
scripts, not quitc half are usually asribed to David. Still so ma耳y are
known to have been composed b夕him, andhe was so eminellt a poet, as to
justify the language which is frequelltly employed whell they are called fa-
miliarly,くThe Psalms of David.”
The following persons are mentioned in the titles as authors:
ヒノ
1.Moses:One Psal皿, Ps.90, is ascribed to MosesL No other Psalm in
the collection is recognized as written by Moses, though not a
few specimens of his poetry are preserved ill the Pentateuch,.
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The Poetry of the Bible.with stibtitle The Book of Psalms as Literq.tu.”rm-e一.
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3.
4.
the first five books of The Bible.
1]tayt isl!vid一 David occupies a.prominent position as the author of man y of
the Psalms inthe collection, but, as has been mentioned before,
critics are d・ivided in opinion as to the exact number that should
be ascribed to him. ln the Hebrew inscriptions of The Psalms,
sixty-eight are attributed to him. However, the Critical and
Expository Bible Cyclopaedia by A. Fausset, page 591, gives
eighty Psalms as composed by Dayid. ln Helps for Bible Study,
by W, Stuar't,' Wm. B. Eerdmans Publi$hing Company, Grand
Rapids, Michigan, fifty-six are given as definite Davidic Psalms.
The differences be・tween the numbers arises from the variations
in the manuscripts in respect to the inscriptions and the differ-
ent value attached to these inscriptions by various critics. lt is
impossible now to determine with exact precision howmany
Psalms are to be credited to Davids' name; though the num-
ber is undoubtedly so great that he is to be regarded as the
principal author of the collection.
.4Lsaph. Psalm 50 and from Psalm 73 to Psalm 83 are ascribed to Asaph.
Asaph was a Levite. He was eminent as a musician, Nehemiah
12: 46 and 1 Cronicles 16: 7, and was appointed by ““thec hief
of the Levites” at the command of David, with two other, He-
man and Ethan, to preside over a part of the sacred choral
services of worship.
The Sons of Korah. Eleven Psalms, 42, 44 to 49, and 84, 85. 87 and
88 are either composed for The Sons of Korah, or lbLt The Sons
of Korah.. The Sons of Korah, this means that it'was a com-
pany of musicians to whom the direction of the temple music
was・entrusted. lt is obvious, that if the meaning is that they
were composed by The Sons of Korah, this furnishes no infor-
rnation as to the individual authorship. of these eleven Psalms.
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The Ezrahites'. Two Psalms, 88 and 89 are ascribed to persons called,
The Ezrahites. PS'alm 88 reads, Kfor The Sons of .Korah一一一.
Heman .the Ezrahite,” an d Psalm 89, ”Ethan the Ezrahite.” ln 1
Kings 4:31, we tqke n ote of the fact that Ethan an d Heman
were among others as remarkable for their wisdom, and in 1
Chronicles 2:6 they are mentioned as Sons of Zerah. ln ,1
Chronicles 15・19 一we read: ”So the singers, Heman, Asaph and
Ethan were appointed to sound with cymbals of brasS.” From
this we may.gather that the Ezrahites belonged to the same
sacred choral group'and皿usic ellsemble as Asaph the:Levite.
Sgt!gg1g!}.:lomon・ Two of the Psalms, 72 and 127 are.ascribed to king Solo-
mon. But here again there is no certainty. lt cannot be positivet-
ly determined Whether those Psalms are his composition or
whether they were composed With reference to him or f.or. him・
Songs of Degrees, Fifteen of the Psa1皿s, 120 to 134,.are entitled,
一 'Songs of Degrees. These Psalms seem to be special occasion
Psalms. There is no certainty about the authors,' however some
have very definite the Davidic style.
The'orphan Psalms. There remains a number of the collectiont he
names of whose authors are n ot mentioned. Stuart in his Helps
for Bible Study, calls these Psalms, The Orphan psalms. These
PSalms are irregularly scattered through the book, though they
are for the most part near its close.
C.一 The arrangement of The Book of Psalms
The Psalms form one book, so the Lord Jesus Christ refered to it
in Luke 20:42, and so His discipleS in Acts 1:20. The early church-
fathers, Ambrose and Jero皿e spoke of one book, but added,““The Psalms
in reference to the arrangement is five books in one volume.” And Wors一