No. 989.-xxiii. 5. Thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over.] In the East the people frequently anoint their visitors with some very fragrant perfume; and give them a cup or a glass of some choice wine, which they are careful to fill till it runs over. The first was designed to shew their love and respect; the latter to imply that while they remained there, they should have an abundance of every thing. To something of this kind the Psalmist probably alludes in this passage. No. 990.—xxvi. 6. I will wash my hands in innocence, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord.] It was usual for the priests to go round the altar, when they had laid the sacrifice upon it, and bound it to the horns of it at the four corners, and there sprinkled and poured out the blood, Ps. xliii. 4. in order to which they washed their hands. In the worship of the heathen, the same ceremony was performed before the commencement of the service; so Tibullus: -Purâ cum veste venite, Et manibus puris sumite fontis aquam. Lib. ii. El. 1. 13, But come ye pure, in spotless garbs array'd, Come, follow thrice the victim round the lands, GRAINGER. No. 991.-xxviii. 2. When I lift up my hands toward thy holy oracle.] Lifting up the hands was a gesture commonly used in prayer by the Jews. There are many instances to prove that it was practised by the heathens also. See Homer, Il. v. 174. So also Horace: Coelo suspinas si tuleris manus B. iii. Od. 23, 1. Other instances may be found in Virgil, Æn. ii. and x. No. 992.-xxx. Title. A psalm and song at the dedication of the house of David.] It was common when any person had finished a house and entered into it, to celebrate it with great rejoicing, and keep a festival to which his friends were invited, and to perform some religious ceremonies to secure the protection of heaven. Thus, when the second temple was finished, the priests, and Levites, and the rest of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house of God with joy, and offered numerous sacrifices, Ezra vi. 16. We read in the New Testament of the feast of the dedication, appointed by Judas Maccabæus in memory of the purification and restoration of the temple of Jerusalem, after it had been defiled and laid in ruins by Antiochus Epiphanes; and celebrated annually, to the time of its destruction by Titus, by solemn sacrifices, music, songs, and hymns to the praise of God; and feasts, and every thing that could give the people pleasure, for eight days successively. (Josephus Ant. 1. xii. § 7.) This was customary even amongst private persons. Deut. xx. 5. The Romans also dedicated their temples and their theatres. (Suet. Octav. c. xliii. § 13.) So also they acted with respect to their statues, palaces, and houses. CHANDLER'S Life of David, vol. ii. p. 8. No. 993. xxxii. 4. My moisture is turned into the drought of summer.] In England and the neighbouring countries it is common for rain to fall in all months of the year. But it is not so in the Levant. Egypt has scarce any rain at all, and Dr. Shaw affirms that it is as uncommon in what they call at Algiers the Desert, which is the most southern part of that country. These, however, are peculiar cases. Rain indiscriminately in the winter months, and none at all in the summer, is what is most common in the East. Jacobus de Vitriaco assures us it is thus in Judea; for he observes that "light ning and thunder are wont, in the western countries, to be in the summer, but happen in the Holy Land in winter. In the summer it seldom or never rains there: but in winter, though the returns of rain are not so frequent, after they begin to fall they pour down for three or four days and nights together as vehemently as if they would drown the country." (Gesta Dei per Francos, vol. i. p. 1097.) The withered appearance of an eastern summer, which is very dry, is doubtless what the Psalmist refers to when he says, my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. The reference is not to any particular year of drought, but to what commonly occurs. HARMER, vol. i. p. 6. 1 No. 994.-xxxv. 6. Let their way be dark and slippery. This is an allusion to some of the valleys in the land of Palestine, which were dark, and the roads in them very smooth and slippery. Maundrell's Travels, p. 7. No. 995. xxxv. 7. They have hid for thee their net in a pit.] This is said in allusion to the custom of digging pits, and putting nets into them, for the purpose of catching wild beasts; they were covered with straw, or dust, or such like things, that they might not be discerned. No. 996.xxxv. 16. With hypocritical mockers in feasts.] This may probably refer to some of Saul's courtiers, who were parasites and flatterers, and made it their business at Saul's table and in their banquetings to mock at David. They were hypocritical mockers of or for a piece of bread, as it may be rendered: the same word is used for a pasty or cake, and for flatterers: they used at their feasts to throw a pasty baked with honey to parasites. WEEMSE's Christ. Syn. 1. i. c. 6. p. 209. No. 997. xlv. 9. Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women; upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.] It was the custom anciently in the East, and it is still among the Turkish princes, to have one among their many wives superior to all the rest in dignity. Lady M. W. Montagu tells us, (vol. ii. p. 156.) that she learnt from the Sultana Hafiten, favourite of the late emperor Mustapha, that the first those princes made choice of was always after the first im rank, and not the mother of the eldest son, as other writers would make us believe. See also 2 Chron. xi. 21, 22. 2 Chron. xv. 16. No. 998.-Iv. 17. Evening, and morning, and at noon will I pray.] The frequency and the particular seasons of prayer are circumstances chiefly connected with the situation and disposition of such as habituate themselves to this exercise. But from a singular conformity of practice in persons remote both as to age and place it appears probable that some idea must have obtained generally, that it was expedient and acceptable to pray three times every day. Such was the practice of David, and also of Daniel (see ch. vi. 10.) and as a parallel, though, as far as connected with an idolatrous system, a different case, we are informed that " it is an invariable rule with the Brahmins to perform their devotions three times every day: at sun-rise, at noon, and at sunset." MAURICE'S Indian Antiquities, vol. v. p. 129. No. 999.-lvii. 4. And their tongue a sharp sword.] There was a sort of swords called Lingula, because in the shape of a tongue. A. Gell. Noct. Attic. 1. x. c. 25. No. 1000.-lviii. 5. The voice of charmers.] Whether any man ever possessed the power to enchant or charm adders and serpents; or whether those who pretended to do so profited only by popular credulity, it is certain that a favourable opinion of magical power once existed. Numerous testimonies to this purpose may be collected from ancient writers. Modern travellers also afford their evidence. Mr. Browne (in his Travels in Africa, p.83.) thus describes the charmers of serpents. Romeili is an open place of an irregular form, where feats of juggling are performed. The charmers of serpents seem also worthy of remark, their powers seem extraordinary. The serpent most common at Kahira is of the viper class, and undoubtedly poisonous. If one of them enter a house, the charmer is sent for, who uses a certain form of words. I have seen three serpents enticed out of the cabin of a ship lying near the shore. The operator handled them, and then put them into a bag. At other times I have seen the serpents twist round the bodies of these psylli in all directions, without having had their fangs extracted or broken, and without doing them any injury. There appears to have been a method of charming serpents by sounds, so as to render them tractable and harmless. The ancients expressly ascribe the incantation of serpents to the human voice. Thus in Apollonius Rhodius (lib. iv. b. 147.) Medea is said to have soothed the monstrous serpent or dragon, which guarded the golden fleece, with her sweet voice. And the laying of that dragon to sleep is by Ovid ascribed to the words uttered by Jason: Verbaque ter dixit placidos facientia somnos, Somnus in ignotos oculos subrepit. Metam. 1. vii. 153. So Virgil attributes the like effects on serpents to the song, as well as to the touch of the enchanter. Viperco generi et graviter spirantibus hydris Spargere, qui somnos cantûque manûque solebat, Mulcebatque iras, et morsus arte levabat. n. vii. 1. 753. |