CXXII. It is on this psalm chiefly that the theory of the _pilgrim odes_ is based. It tells its design in almost so many words, and actually refers to the ordinance which directed every male Israelite to visit the holy city three times a year. The poet stands in imagination or memory at the gates of... [ Continue Reading ]
LET US GO. — Or, _we will go._ This verse is inscribed over the portico of St. Paul’s Cathedral.... [ Continue Reading ]
OUR FEET SHALL STAND. — Rather, _Our feet have been, and are now, standing._ “Here we stand at last at thy gates, O Jerusalem.” “We must imagine the pilgrims arresting their steps to gaze about them as they reach the gates.... [ Continue Reading ]
This verse is somewhat perplexing. It is explained to refer either _to_ the rebuilding of the city and reuniting of the parts which had been disconnected in the destruction, or, which is far better (see Introduction), is taken as a rustic’s impression on first seeing a compact city after being accus... [ Continue Reading ]
UNTO THE TESTIMONY. — This is erroneous. The words are parenthetical: “Thither go (or, must and shall go) the tribes, the tribes of Judah (it is an ordinance for Israel) to praise the name of Jehovah.” (See Exodus 23:17; Deuteronomy 16:16, to this regulation.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THRONES. — Jerusalem, at first a cause of wonder as a city, is now to the pilgrims a cause of admiration as the _capital._ The mention of the “House of David” itself disposes of the title, but does not prove that the monarchy was still in existence, since even the Sanhedrim might be said to administ... [ Continue Reading ]
It is impossible in English to reproduce the effect of the original in these references to the usual greetings of the East, since at the same time they contain alliterations and a play on the name of Jerusalem. There is first the challenge to the body of pilgrims to give the customary salutation, an... [ Continue Reading ]
PEACE BE WITHIN THEE. — Here the formal greeting actually appears, that which greets every traveller in the East (John 20:19). (Comp. Luke 10:5.) The full form appears in 1 Samuel 25:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE... — Now for the first time the religious motive of the pilgrimage appears, rendered all the more emphatic by being kept for the concluding verse.... [ Continue Reading ]