The Dissertation on the principle of mystical interpretation was intended to be prefixed to the second volume; but as I was unwilling that the present should appear without it, it will be found at the conclusion of the 30th Psalm. The authors from whom I have taken the following pages are mentioned at length in the Second Essay. But, as I wished to take the Psalms as the Church has taken them, I thought that one of the most valuable sources of assistance would be in the various responses and versicles, the Psalmelli, the Graduals, the Communions, the Sacrificia, and other anthems of the like kind made from the Psalms, but more especially from the Antiphons. Of these, therefore, the reader will find considerable use made; and it is my perpetual reference to these, as well as to the Hymns of the Church, which is the most novel feature in my book. Very, very seldom do we find any reference, in other expositors, to Western hymns: to Eastern, never. I cannot but hope that the reader will be thankful for having his attention called to some of the magnificent bursts of poetry which are to be found in the Odes and other Troparia of S. John Damascene, S. Cosmas the Melodist, S. Andrew of Crete, S. Theophanes, and even S. Theodore and S. Joseph of the Studium. With respect to the references in the margin of my Commentary, the following explanation may not be out of place. 1. Where a capital letter, as subsequently explained, is used, it means that the writer so quoted makes the particular observation referred to in his Commentary on the verse of the Psalm then under consideration. Thus in Psalm xix. 7, the G. in the margin shows that the paragraph in question is taken from the Commentary of Gerhohus on that particular verse. 2. (And this I beg may be particularly noticed,) Where a reference is made to any other writer without particularising book or page, it means that the quotation is taken from that writer's Commentary on the particular part of Scripture to which allusion is there made. If I had not em ployed this abbreviated method of reference, my whole margin would have been a confused mass of figures. Thus in Psalm xix. 7, which I have just quoted, the following passage occurs: "This is the mantle which fell from our ascending Elijah :" and the name printed in the margin is Rupert. This means that Rupert of Deutz makes the same observation in his Commentary on Elijah's ascension into heaven, namely, as related in 2 Kings ii. With respect to the Collects given at the end of each Psalm, and of the Introduction at the commencement of each, it is to be observed that the general meaning, rather than an exact translation, is to be looked for. Reference is sometimes made in the Commentary to a Fourth Dissertation. This, if GOD give me life and health, will be found in the Second Volume. I cannot conclude better than in the words of the great hymnologist of modern Germany: "Faxit autem Dominus Ecclesiæ Christianæ O. M., cujus honorem omnes hymni celebrant, quem cantica prædicant et sequentiæ cum antiphonis certatim extollunt, ut hic etiam studiorum nostrorum fructus ad salutem Ecclesiæ Christianæ valeat. Offerimus opus nostrum tanquam donum omnibus quicunque nomen Christi sancte colunt; offerimus sanctissimo Redemptori pro unitate atque amabili Ecclesiæ concordiâ sacrificium, neque aliud quid ex intimo animo precamur, nisi ut ipsi quoque sentiamus illud quod de sanctissimo patriarcha scriptum legimus: Respexit Dominus ad munera ejus." SACKVILLE COLLEGE, Feast of the Epiphany, 1860. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. In this re-issue of the first volume of the Commentary on the Psalms, some variation from the exact text of the original edition has been deemed neces sary. There have been a few omissions. All the scattered references to promised Dissertations and Appendices which were never completed have been expunged, and some errors of textual criticism have also been withdrawn, besides much incidental correction of casual faults of type or supervision. But the chief difference between this edition and its predecessor consists in the additional matter, amounting to forty pages. The seven earliest Psalms, as Dr. Neale mentions in his preface, were originally contributed as papers to a magazine, and were therefore much less elaborated than the subsequent ones, undertaken when once the idea of a formal commentary had been adopted. And up to the twenty-second Psalm, many of the most important expositors had not yet been drawn upon for materials. Further, the authorities consulted upon points of Hebrew criticism were all old and some obsolete, and it seemed desirable to bring the results of fuller scholarship to bear upon many passages. And there was room for much additional information in the account of Uses and Antiphons prefixed to each of the Psalms, as well as in the Collects subjoined to them. All these details have been considered in the present edition, and some pains have been taken to make the new portions as pithy and suggestive as may be, to avoid any undue increase of bulk. The earlier part of the volume has necessarily been dwelt upon at greater length than the latter, on which Dr. Neale himself lavished more care and erudition, and to avoid any doubt as to his annotations, the new portions have been uniformly inclosed within square brackets, except in the liturgical details prefixed to the several Psalms, where no attempt has been made to discriminate between original and supplementary matter. LONDON, 1869. R. F. L. NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION. Some additional critical and liturgical matter has been inserted in this fresh issue of the first volume; but it is chiefly distinguished from the former editions by the versions appended to the quotations in foreign languages, according to the method adopted in the later volumes of the work. LONDON, Annunciation of Our Lady, 1874. R. F. L. INTRODUCTION. DISSERTATION I. THE PSALMS AS EMPLOYED IN THE OFFICES OF THE CHURCH. gyric on the 1. "IF we keep vigil," says S. John Chrysostom, s. Chrysos"in the Church, David comes first, last, and midst. tom's paneIf early in the morning we seek for the melody of Psalms. hymns, first, last, and midst is David again. If we are occupied with the funeral solemnities of the departed, if virgins sit at home and spin, David is first, last, and midst. O marvellous wonder! Many who have made but little progress in literature, nay, who have scarcely mastered its first principles, have the Psalter by heart. Nor is it in cities and churches alone that at all times, through every age, David is illustrious; in the midst of the forum, in the wilderness, and uninhabitable land, he excites the praises of GOD. In monasteries, amongst those holy choirs of angelic armies, David is first, midst, and last. In the convents of virgins, where are the bands of them that imitate Mary; in the deserts, where are men crucified to this world, and having their conversation with GOD, first, midst, and last is he. All other men are at night overpowered by natural sleep: David alone is active; and, congregating the servants of GOD into seraphic bands, turns earth into heaven, and con 1 S. Chrysostom is referring to that stanza of Theognis, ἀλλ ̓ ἀεὶ πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον, ἔν τε μέσοισιν ἀείσω· σὺ δέ μευ κλύθι, καὶ ἐσθλὰ B |