The Accentual Theory of Hebrew Prosody: A Further Study in Renaissance Interpretation of Biblical Form

The Accentual Theory of Hebrew Prosody: A Further Study in Renaissance Interpretation of Biblical Form Author(s): Israel Baroway Source: ELH, Vol. 17, No. 2 (Jun., 1950), pp. 115-135 Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2872056 . Accessed: 23/01/2011 01:57 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=jhup. . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

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THE ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY: A FURTHER STUDY IN RENAISSANCE INTERPRETATION OF BIBLICAL FORM By ISRAEL BAROWAY

1 If Sidney's celebrated"'tis not rhymingand versingthat maketh the poet" epitomizes the general tradition of the EnglishRenaissance,no less does his less famous" the Senate of Poets hath chosen verse as their fittestrayment.... *1: Verse was not a sine qua non of imaginativeliterature,but it enhancedimaginativerevelation. This view applied to sacred as wellas to secularliterature:the Bible, transcendently poetic by poesy's everytest,2pulsated rhythmically underthe divine passion, even thoughtranslationhad obliteratedthe Hebrew cadences and time had erased the memoryof their shaping principles.These cadences and these principleschallengedthe curiosityof the literaryexplorerof the Renaissance. Some of his " discoveries" have already been noted. All criticismagreed that there was a science of Hebrew prosody; but the interpretation varied. The earliestand mostpervasive was the quantitativeinterpretation, originatedby Philo and Josephus,transmittedby the ChurchFathers,and epitomized, " authentication in the seventeenthcentury,by the " scientific of Gomarus.3A later and sounderinterpretation, beginningin the sixteenthcentury,challengedthe validityof this classical view. The presentstudy proposesto investigatesome facets ofthischallenge. A wordabout its scope. It does not presumeto trace evoluor to appraise,beyond tionarydevelopmentsor directinfluences the the demands of lucid exposition, scholarlyvalidityof the 'Sir Philip Sidney, "An Apology for Poetry," Elizabethan Critical Essays, ed. Smith, 2. 160. 2I. Baroway, " The Bible as Poetry in the English Renaissance," JEGP 32 (1933), 447-72. Ibid., pp. 472-80; cf. also the writer'stwo articles,"The Hebrew Hexameter ELH 8 (1941), ELH 2 (1935), 66-91 and "The Lyre of David..." ..." 119-142.

115

116 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY challenge. It proposes (1) to explore backgrounds as an orientationforfurtherinvestigationof the " accentual" school of interpretation, embodiedmainlyin the workof Wither; (2) to presentseveralsignificant phases ofthe newerinterpretation, as revealed on the continent; (3) to demonstrateEnglish participationin the movement;(4) in general,to reveal something of the soil fromwhich floweredmore recent interpretationsofbiblicalprosody.As anotherlinkin a chainofstudies about the Bible in the Renaissance,it hopes to show one more directionof that aesthetic compulsionwhich drove the man of letters into the awesome realm of the Sacred Word. If Tremelliusor Steuchusor Scaligeror Vossiusor Wither,following a new vision,sees it imperfectly, othercritics,in otherareas of Renaissance literaryhistory,did so too; the daringand the gropingare as revealingas the vision of the gleam. And if the detailsof theircriticismseem naive to modernscholarship, these men, as critics,see more truly than did the supporters of the quantitativetradition,includingthe redoubtable Gomarus,forall his " steadfastrules" that gave " exactitude" and "perfection"' to the quantitativeprinciple. These men perceive that Hebrew prosody is governedby some kind of accentual principle;they seem dimly to perceivethe parallel structureof Hebrew verse; they perceive,even thoughthey may not apprehend clearly, the free accentual rhythmof Hebrew verse. And, above all, they realize that they do not have the finalanswer. This way lies truth. 2 Ultimately,of course,the source of Semitic scholarshipin the Renaissance is Jewish. Though the provinceof Hebrew studiesin the English Renaissance is a very dark area of cultural history,it seems reasonably well established that the contributionsof rabbinical scholars like Levita and David Kimchi in Hebrew grammaror of Kimchi and Rashi in the of biblical Hebrew were primaryand germinal; interpretation and that such scholarship was channeled to Christendom through converts like Tremellius,as well as by Christian Hebraists.4At anothertime,I proposeto elaboratethe subject 4S.

A. Hirsch, "Early English Hebraists . . . Johann Reuchlin," A Book of

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of Hebrew studiesin Tudor-StuartEngland; forthe present,it is sufficient to suggest that the accentual theorymay have entered England through such lexical works as Pagninus' Thesaurus Linguae Sanctae 5 and Buxorf's Thesaurus Grammaticus Linguae Sanctae,6 which,respectively,had been reprintedfivetimesfrom1579 to 1614 and fivetimesfrom1609 to 1650,7and whichhad cited a numberof rabbinicalwriters, grammarians,and poets who had either expounded biblical versificationor had shaped later Hebrew prosody,fromthe tenthcenturyon, in its clear modernaccentual direction:Ibn Librat of Bagdad (tenth century); Ibn Gabirol and Jehudah Halevy (Spanish poets of the eleventhand twelfthcenturies, respectively);AbrahamIbn Ezra (twelfthcenturywandering scholar); Ibn Yachya (fifteenthcenturyPortuguese grammarian); and Ibn Chabib (fifteenth centuryresidentofLisbon, the Levant and southernItaly), who, as we shall see, was that Steuchus' authorityon Hebrew prosody.8It is significant Buxtorf'stext was used by grammerschool students,in 1636, at RotherhamSchool and possiblyat otherschoolstaught by Charles Hoole.9 And though Wither's treatmentof biblical metricsdoes not cite these particularsources,it does refer, marginallyor textually,to the rabbinicalDavid Kimchi,Maimonides,Jonathanben Uzziel, Rashi, " Rabbi Barachias," and other unidentified"iRabbines."'" Moreover, examinationof the second Bodleian Catalogue shows that a wide varietyof Essays, London, 19925,pp. 116-59; David Daiches, The King James Versionof the Bible . .. Chicago, 1941; E. I. Rosenthal,Rashi and the English Bible, Manchester, 1940; Harris Fletcher,The Use of the Bible in Milton's Prose, Urbana, 19929. 'Sanctes Pagninus, Thesaurus Linguae Sanctae, Leyden, 1529; I have examined the Paris edition of 1548, published by Robertus Stephanus. 6 Johann Buxtorf,Tractatus Brevis de Prosodia Metrica, Book II of Thesaurus GrammaticusLinguae Sanctae, Bale, 1609, pp. 578-611. 'Wilhelm Bacher, "Hebrew Dictionaries,"The JewishEncyclopedia,New York, 1901-1906,4.5892, and "Hebrew Grammars,"Ibid., 6.74, based upon M. Steinschneider, BibliographischesHandbuch . . . , Leipzig, 1859, and his " Zusitze . . .," ZentralblattfuirBibliothekswesen13 (1896), 345-79 and 441-89 and N. Ibid., 15 Porges," Nachtrdgezu SteinschneidersZushtzenand Berichtungen...," (1898), 493-508,which I have also consulted. 8 Pagninus, op. cit., p. 1; Buxtorf,op. cit., pp. 582-609,passim. 9'CharlesHoole, A New Discovery of the Old Arte of Teaching Schoole . . ., ed. ThiseltonMark, Syracuse,1912, p. 217. 10 George Wither,A Preparationto the Psalter (1619) (Spenser Society,No. 37, Manchester,1884), passim. " Rabbi Barachias " may be Ibn Baruch or Baruch of Benevento.

118 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY Hebrew workswas available to English studentsof Hebrew a year after Wither published his treatise: commentariesby Rashi, Levi ben Gerson,Abarbanel, Ibn Ezra, Maimonides, Nachmanides, Menachem Recanati; grammatical texts by Levita; grammaticaland lexical works by David and Moses Kimchi,11as well as a diversityof grammars,lexicons,and biblical textsand exegeses,fromReuchlin,Miinster,Pagninus, and Montanus to Tremellius,Steuchus, Buxtorf,and J. J. Scaliger."2 With many learned sources already accessible,the Elizabethan and Jacobean were not forced to accept blindly the patristicpostulates. Sidney's observation,in the early 1580's, that Hebrew poems-the Psalerns,Solomon's Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs,as well as Job and the songs of Moses and Deborah-were "fully writtenin meeter,as all learned Hebricians agree, although the rules be not fully scholarly found,"13 suggestsacquaintance with the conflicting currents;indeed,Sidneymay have been questioningthe quantitativeprincipleitself,sincehis onlyspecificascriptionofsource, Tremellius,almost certainlyregardsHebrew verse as accentual; 14 and, as we shall see, a forthrightchallenge to the quantitativetraditionhad been publishedin France, in 1578, whenSidneywas there. In 1591,JohnHarington,too, may be views and surelyis following suggestingthe same conflicting eitherTremelliusor Sidney when he says: was writtenin verse,as the Psalmesof somepartofthe Scripture which Dauid & certainothersongsofDeborah,ofSalomon& others, to be verseand findetheyare in diuinesdoe affirme thelearnedest meeter,thoughthe rule of the Hebrewversetheyagreenot on. 15

In 1589, the author of The Arte of English Poesie notes not onlymeterbut " a manerof rime,as hath bene of late obserued " Thomas James, Catalogus UniversalisLibrorum Bibliothecae Bodleianae . . . Oxford,1620, passim. 12

Ibid.

'3 Sidney,op. cit., 1.155; 1.158.

accompanyingtext. John Harington," A Brief Apology for Poetry," Elizabethan Critical Essays, op. cit., 2. 207. 14 Cf. footnotes22-26,inclusive,and '"

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by learned men."16 By 1619, when A Preparation to the Psalter observesthat theauncientIewes had bothsuchkindeofVerses,as someofours are and the samefreedom in theircomposures thatwe use,"7 it would appear that the challengeto the classical view had enteredthe secular stream-even thoughreferenceto Hebrew prosodyremainsrare and incidentalto otherconsiderations. Whateverthe originalsource of the challenge-rabbinic or otherwise-therewas recognition,even in the patristictradition,of a difference betweenHebrew and classical versification. As early as the firstcenturyof the commonera, Origenhad observedit: Now the versesamongthe Hebrewsare different fromthose amongus.:8 Even Jerome,probably the major patristic influenceupon the quantitativetradition,had noted that Job was composed, mainly,in what I have termed,in anotherplace, quantitative (hexameter) "rhythm," as distinguishedfrom quantitative he had also observedthat " metre."19 But, moresignificantly, Job sometimesreleased itself from the law of quantity altogetherinto what he, himself,calls a " rhythm,""composed of numbersfreedfromthe law of metre" 20-into "rhythm," or " numbers" that must be accentual,since it is not quanti16 "The Arte of English Poesie," Elizabethan Critical Essays, op. cit., Z.10. Italics are mine. 17 Wither,op. cit., p. 61. Origen,Analecta Sacra, ed. Joannes Baptista Card. Pitra (Paris, 1876-92, 7 vols.), 2. 341: ol orixot oip, ol rap' 'E,6palots,trepol eiouv7rapa ro's 7rap'iAP. in Quintilian,betweenrhythmand metre,is that rhythmobserves 19 A distinction the quantityof the foot,but not the orderof the syllablesof the foot. Thus, hexameter rhythmneed not run in dactyls and spondees,so long as the feet maintain the dactyl-spondeequantity; a free interjectionof ascending anaepests among the use of spondees would combineto forma descendingdactyls and an indiscriminate hexameter rhythm. (Hexametri versus sunt, dactylo spondeoque currentes,et propterlinguae idioma crebrorecipienteset alios pedes, non earundemsyllabarum, sed eorundem temporum), in Jerome," In Librum Job (Praefatio)," Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne, Paris, 1844-88, 28. 1082. Cf. "The Hebrew Hexameter, op. cit., pp. 84-5. Jpromedoes not call this kind of verse " rythmus"; I have applied the Quintilianictermto it. 20 Jerome," In Librum Job (Praefatio)," Scripturae Sacrae CursutsCompletus, ed. J. P. Migne, Paris, 13. 275: " Interdumquoque rythmusipse dulcis et tinnulus ferturnumerislege metri solutis; quod metricimagis quam simplex lector intelligunt." Italics are mine. 18

120 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY tative. " Rhythm,"or " numbers,"bears in the middle ages and in the Renaissance, a special meaning,to be elaborated later, by Scaliger and Vossius, and by Du Cange. As expounded by Augustine and Bede, this interpretationof " rhythm" and " numbers" colorsthe natureof the accentual interpretationof both Scaliger and Vossius. Briefly,it differentiates" rhythm,"or " numbers,"from " metre" thus: " rhythm,"or " numbers,"merelycounts the numberof the syllablesin a given foot,but does not, like " metre,"observe the quantityofthesesyllables.21This may wellbe whatJerome meant by "rhythm," by "numbers freed from the law of metre" (rythmus. . . numerislege metrisolutis), as distinguished fromquantity in Job (dactylo-spondeoquecurrentes . . .et alios pedes, non earundemsyllabarum,sed eorundem temporum). This, probably,is what Tremelliusmeantby saying that the Psalms, and other poems " sunt rythmici;non prosa orationescripti. . . sed numerisadstrictiad commoditatemmemoriae& cantus."22 Hence, this is probablySidney's inferenceabout the natureof biblical prosodywhenhe identified,as lyricverse,the Psalms, the books of Solomon,Job,and the songs of Deborah and Moses, " which beside other,the learnedEmmanuellTremeliusand FranciscusJuniusdoe entitle 23 Tremellius,Professorof the poeticall part of Scripture." Hebrew at Cambridgeand translatorof the HebrewOld Testament into Latin, refers(in Sidney's source,the prefaceto his poetic divisionof the Old Testament), not to compositionsin " measure,,or " quantity,"but in " rhythm" and " numbers," organizedfor" memoryand singing." The poems,indeed,are suitably "numbered" so that they may be sung in religious worship:24 the phrasingsuggestsa verse similarin principleto text to notes 42 (Scaliger); 50 and 56 (Vossius); 58 (Du Cange). TestamentiVeterisBiblia Sacra, . . . Latini recensex Hebraeo factibrevibusque Scholiis illustratiab Immanuele Tremellio& Francisco Junio (Geneva, 1590), (the earliest edition I have seen) Pars Tertia, p. A3: . . . Itaque hos libros omneis communitervocamus Psalmos, quia sunt rythmici;non prosa oratione scripti,ut omneis alii (etsi in his Cantica quaedam exstant elegantissimaMoschis, Deborae, Davidis, Jeschahiae,Jechizkijae,Jirmejae,& Chabbakkdukiinspersa) sed numeris adstrictiad commoditatemmemoriae& cantus.... 23 Sidney, op. cit., 1. 158. Italics are mine. Cf. my article," Tremellius,Sidney, of these and Biblical Verse," MLN 49 (1934), 146-7, about Sidney's identification poems as lyricverse. Junius'main contributionto the TremelliusBible was that of an editor. 24 Testamenti Veteris . . ., op. cit., p. A3: Tertium [the third division of 21 Cf.

22

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that which the Christian Church introducedinto Western literatureand into its own religiousservice-the non-quantitative accented,numberedmodernverse. So interpreted, the TremelliusOld Testament would have diffusedthe accentual interpretation widelythroughoutEngland and the continent; published originallyin 1575-79 at Frankfortand in 1580 at London and in manylatereditions,25 the TremelliusOld Testament-with the New Testamentand Apocrypha-became " almost as standarda Latin translationforthe Protestantas the Vulgate long beforehad become for the Catholic."16 Thoughtheprimaryderivationand theexact evolutionofthe accentualinterpretation of biblicalverselie in the shadows,the itselfwas manifestlyknownin England by the interpretation 80's. In the year 1578,-during the periodthat Tremelliuswas publishinghis Latin Old Testamentwithits preface (1575-79), and in the veryyearthat Sidneywas on his missionin France 27 -the works of Augustinus Steuchus (1496-15549),famous Italian churchman, directorofthe Vatican library,and delegate to the TredentineCouncil, were being publishedin France.28 Steuchusclearlyrepudiatedthe quantitativetradition-and he theDarke No'Am ofRabbi Moses did so uponJewishauthority, Ba'al Shem-Tob Ibn Chabib; Ibn Chabib had not only lived in Italy, but his " summaryofHebrewpoeticsand versification based on Aristotle's'Poetics,'" had been published (withthe grammar,Marpe Lashon), at Venice,in 1506.29 ThoughI find Scripture]vero genus est Psalmorum,hoc est, librorumin quibus res a Mosche Prophetisquetraditae & sancto Dei Spiritu testatae aptis numerisexponuntur. . . hi [the poetic books] vero numerosa & brevi ad memoriam,figurataad vim & efficacitatemoratione protulerunteadem documenta voluntatis Dei. . . . Nam libros qui a Davidi aliisque viris Dei fuerunttraditiut in Ecclesia canerentur,eos singulariterPsalmos dici & dicendos esse agnoscimus.. . . (Italics are mine). .2 Jew. Ency., op. cit., 12. 240. 26 Fletcher,op. cit., p. 52. Tremelliustaught Hebrew not only at Cambridgebut at Strasburg,Heidelberg,and the College of Sedan. 2 M. J. Wallace, The Life of Sir Philip Sidney, Cambridge,1915, pp. 202-3. 28 The Catholic Encyclopedia,14. 292-3. His workswere edited in threevolumes, Paris, 1578; Venice, 1591 and 1601. I have been unable to findan originaledition of his works. Quotations fromSteuchus derive fromFranciscus Gomarus, Davidis Lyra . . . Lugduni Batavorum, 1637, in Thesaurus AntiquitatumSacrarum .... ed. Blasius Ugolinus,Opera, v. 31, Venice, 1766. about 29 Jew. Ency., op. cit., 6. 125. It had appeared, earlier,in Constantinople 1520. I have not seen a sixteenthcenturyeditionbut have examinedthe (Roedelheim), Heidenheim-Baschwitzedition,1806, printedwith the Marpe Lashon.

122 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY no directdocumentarydebt of Sidneyto Steuchusand, hence, to Ibn Chabib, it is not impossiblethat an accentualtradition stemmedfromIbn Chabib, the Italian residentin the early sixteenthcentury;to Tremellius,the Italian Jew, who had become a Catholic,in 1540, duringthe lifetimeof Steuchus;30 to Steuchus, the Catholic scholar; and fromTremelliusand Steuchus to Sidney. Sidney's direct debt to Tremelliushas been shown. His acquaintancewithSteuchusis circumstantially ofEurope;, probable:he was a friendofnotablescholar-printers his circleof acquaintancesincludedantiquarians,divines,theoand ArchbishopParker,leadingspiritof logicalcontroversialists, the Bishops' translation,had been a close friendofhis father;32 he was in France duringthe publicationof Steuchus' works. Even at the Universities,the young Sidney had had opportunitiesto learn about currentsof biblical scholarship:during his residence at Oxford,33there existed a Professorshipof Hebrew;34 at Cambridge-which he probablyattended sometime between 1570-7235-he could have found a special incentive,for the distinguishedTremelliustraditionwas being carried on, from 1569 to 1572, presumably,by Tremellius' son-in-law,Antoine Chevalier,not only a Hebraist of international repute but a famous French Protestantrefugee,as well.36 It is even conceivable that Sidney's interestin the may account, in part, for his accentual Hebrew versification to metricaltranslationof 40-odd Psalms-as a demonstration "quantitative " translatorslike Stanyhurstthat accentual English verse was the English counterpartof Hebrew verse and, hence,the propermediumfortranslatingbiblicalpoetry.37 30

Ibid. 12-240.

Wallace, op. cit., pp. 124-26. "Ibid., p. 98; pp. 101-3; pp. 109-10; p. 149. 33Ibid., p. 88 and p. 105. 34 Ibid., p. 100. Ibid., p. 88; p. 105; p. 107. The Universityof 36 DNB, 4.125; Daiches, op. cit., pp. 144-5; J. B. Mullinger, Cambridgefromthe Royal Injunctionsof 1535 . . . to .. . Charles I, Cambridge, 1884, pp. 416-17; La Grande Encyclopedie,10. 1145. reason for 3" On anotheroccasion, I wish to explore the possibilitythat Sidney's renderingthe Psalms into verse was not simplyto console his depressionor banishment (Mona Wilson, Sir Philip-Sidney, Oxford,1931) or to correctthe current crop of poor translations(Wallace, op. cit.) or to satisfyhis pleasure at the close contemplationof the Psalms (C. H. Warren,Sir Philip Sidney . . . , London and New York, 1936). It may be that, having completed his experimentationwith 1

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However vague Sidney's relationshipto Steuchus,the interpretation of the Italian scholar is clearly non-quantitative, "rhythmical" as opposed to "metrical," and inferentially accentual. Gomarusinformsus that Steuchus,on the authority of Rabbi Ibn Chabib, anticipates other critics of biblical prosody: And thosepeople[morerecentscholars]thelearnedmanAugustinusSteuchus,BishopofEugubinus,appearsto anticipate[followingRabbiMosesbenChabibinhisbookDarkeNo'Am,orProsody], when,in his prefaceto thePsalms,he saysas follows:Moses,the mostancientofall,sanga songto God; but thattruepoems,bound by metricallaws, are to be foundin Holy Scriptureshe hardly admits.Fora littlelaterhe explainshisopinionmorefully.Hebrew poetry,however,is not the same as that of the Greeksand the Latins:as neithertheItalian,northeEtruscanis thesame as the Latin. Hebrewis similarto theItalian,ratherthanto the Latin. The Latin, imitatingthe Greek,observesthe quantityof the syllables;theHebrewdoes not observethe quantity,but onlythe numberand thelikenessof the endsof thesyllables[i.e., rhyme]. As thereis no spondee,trocheeordactylin Italianpoetry,butonly of thenumberofthesyllablesand theobservanceofthesimilarity endings,[so] the Hebrewfollowsmoreor less the same pattern. whenJeromewriteseitherthatJobor thatthePsalms Wherefore runin dactyland spondeeand says in the prefaceto Job that it with others,testifies glidesalong in verse;and whenAugustine, about the poemsof theHebrews,you shouldknowthatit is not preciselythe same feetand the same poetrythatis indicatedby neither" heroicum them,but somethingsimilar. Consequently, existsamongthe Hebrews,nor carmen" [theclassicalhexameter] likethemand the[classical]iambicand otherkinds,butsomething singin various andnon-Roman] [non-Grecian suchas theforeigners rites. The Psalms,Job,the books of Solomonand the Prophets have obviouslya kindofpoetry,butit is not oftheLatin and the a littlefrom and it differs Greekkind.It has a certainnumerosity, proseby thekindofwordsand poeticfigures.. . . 38 as English quantitativeversificationand having found native English versification trivial "sweet and majestic" as classical measures,yet degraded by its current poetry amoristicuse, Sidney wishedto exemplifyby a creativeimitationof Hebrew native of use moral "-the excellencie proper and -the "greatest in antiquitie its aestheticqualities,and its special propriety,as the English English versification, dating equivalentof the Hebrew form,fortranslatingHebrew poetry. The accurate versififor a to English conversion respect date Sidney's may help of these Psalms cation. videtur 88AugustinusSteuchus in Gomarus, op. cit., p. DCXV: Quibus praeire Mosche ben [Rabbi Eugubinus Steuchus episcopus Augustinus doctissimus vir in Psalmo Chabib in Libro 1SJ: 'V1I seu prosodiae secutus] quum sua praefatione

124 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY This is an unqualifiedrejection of the classical tradition. Moreover,it seems to distinguishthe " numbers" of Hebrew fromthe " metre" of the Greeksand Romans. Hebrew poetry does not observethe quantity (Hebraicumnulla tempora) but only the numberof the syllables (sed numerumduntaxat . . . syllabarum); and it rhymes. It has a certain rhythm,or "numerosity,"(numerosumquiddam). This and the whole context suggest that " number" (numerus) is distinguished from" quantity" (tempora) in that it does not observe the internaltime of the feet;it merelyobservesthe same number of syllablesas does the classical dactylor spondeeor trocheeor the classical hexameterline. This distinction,as we shall see in a moment,is amplifiedand clarifiedby Scaliger and by Vossius,both of whom,moreover,clearly,equate " numerus" with " rythmus." Thus, Steuchus,influencedby Ibn Chabib -who was obviouslyincludingpost-biblicalaccented,rhymed, Hebrew verse `-identifies biblical Hebrew verse with the accented,rhymed,numbered,venacular verse of the Renaissance. With Tremellius,he represents,in sixteenthcentury continentalscholarship,a new orientationtowardbiblicalverse. The nextcenturyrevealsa continuationand an amplification of this point of view. In the firstdecade of the seventeenth century,less thanthirtyyearsafterthepublicationof Steuchus' worksin France, a great scholar of the French Renaissance, J. J. Scaliger,scornfullyattacked the quantitativetradition, ait quidem; Moses omnium vetustissimuscarmen Deo cecinit: sed vera carmina, seu metricis legibus devincta, in S. literis extare, minime agnoscit. Sic enim paulo post, mentemsuam plenius exponit. Carmen autem Hebraicum non idem est atque GraecorumLatinorumque:ut neque Italicum, sive Etruscum,idem atque Latinum. Ac potius cum Italico, quam cumrLatino similitudinemhabet Hebraicum. Latinum,ad imitationemGraeci,temporasyllabarumobservat:Hebraicum nulla tempora;sed numerumduntaxat atque similitudinemcadentiumsyllabarum. Ut non est in Italico carminespondeus, trocheus,dactylus,sed numeratiotantum syllabarum,& observatiout similiterdesinant:simile quiddam sequiturHebraicum. Quare quum Hieronymusscribit,aut Job aut Psalmos, dactylo spondeoque decurrere: & quum in praefationede Job dicit: versu labitur: quaeque Augustinuscum caeteris, de carminibus Hebraeorum testantur,noveris non ipsos praecise pedes nostrumquecarmen ab eis, sed simile quiddam designari. Itaque neque Heroicum carmen apud Hebraeos extat, neque jambicum aliaque genera,sed simile quiddam, & quale barbaridiversisritibuscanunt. Psalmi, Job,libriSalomonis& Prophetarum, rationem carminis prae se ferunt,sed neque Latini, neque Graeci. Numerosum quiddam, & ab orationesoluta parumperrecedenssermonisgenerefigurisquepoeticis. . . . The square bracketsabout Rabbi ben Chabib belong to Gomarus' text. 39 Cf. text to note 8.

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and on the authorityof Augustineand Bede, illuminatedthe differentia between "rhythmical,"or "numbered,"verse and " metrical,"or quantitative,verse-with special applicationto Scripture. Scaliger's scholarlyauthorityundoubtedlyhelped arrestthe developmentof the anti-classicalpoint of view and stimulatedthe growthof the accentualinterpretation.Though he does not use the word " accent," Vossius, who virtually echoes him and actually cites his treatise,does use this word; obviously,with quantity absent, the numberedsyllables inevitably followsome principleof stress. Denying,as Jerome had affirmed, that the prophets,the Psalms, and Lamentations were composedin verse,Scaligerfindsthat verseexistsonlyin the latterSong of Moses, the Proverbs,and mostof Job. They are not, however, "metrical," but " rhythmical "; like the "Politici " of the later Greeks,whichare " rhythmical "-that is, based upon the numberof the syllablesand not upon their quantity-Job and Proverbsand, by clear inference, the Song of Deuteronomy,with occasional deviationsfromthe norm, are the equivalent of two iambic dimeters. Clarificationof "Politici," as applied to these poems, will be reservedfor a considerationof the criticismof Vossius,who followsScaliger veryclosely. In 1606, quoting from and commentingupon Jerome's " Denique quid Psalteriocanorius,quod in moremnostriFlacci, et Graeci Pindari, nunc iambo currit,nunc Alcaico personat, nunc Sapphico tumet?,"40 ScaligerexcoriatesJeromeand the Hieronymictraditionthus: Perhapsthosewho have neverread Pindaror do not knowwhat Iambic,Alcaic,or Sapphicmetreis, willthinkthat the poetryof Pindarrunsin Iambic and Alcaic or in Sapphicmetre.You may readthe samein thePrefaceto Job[ofJerome] also.4' Concerning of classicalquanthePsalter,I wondermore[abouttheimputation is thereanypoem tity]becauseneitherin thisnorin Lamentations butit is merely [at all] confined bylawsofmetre, prose,animatedby the proseofIsaiah and of otherproa poeticspirit.Furthermore, phets,virtuallypoetry,is sometimesfigurative; you could not 40 Cf. Jerome," Praefatioin Librum II ChronicorumEusebii," Patr. Lat., op. cit., 22. 442. 3. Jeromealso includedMoses' song (probably the latterone) in Deuteronomy,a song in Isaiah, and Job. Job (Praefatio)," Patr. Lat., op. cit., 20.1082. This 41 Cf. Jerome,"In Librumn passage includes Scaliger's succeeding referencesto the verse of the Psalms and Lamentations.

126 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY rightly,however,on that account, call it poetry. Only the Song of Moses at the end of Deuteronomy,the Proverbs of Solomon, and almost the whole book of Job are held togetherby a certainbond of rhythmwhichis the equivalent of two iambic dimetersand falls upon the ears with a ring. Sometimes,however,they are of fewer, sometimesof moresyllables,like the catalectic,the brachycatalectic, verses,and so forth,of the Greeks: not by any and the hypermetric means that compensationis made in accordance with the principle of quantitative equivalence, as is usual in Greek verse, for this cannot be expressedin the Hebrew tongue;but dependingupon the requirementsof the thought, the rhythm is now longer, now shorter. For as the very learned Bede gatheredfromthe writings of Augustineand others,rhythmis a " patternedgroupingof words, very similar to metre,accommodated to the judgment of the ear, not on metricalprinciple,but throughthe numberof the syllables, as are," says he, " the songsof the vernacularpoets. And to be sure, rhythmcan exist without metre,but metre cannot exist without rhythm." Again Bede to the same effect,following the same Augustine,unless I am mistaken. " Metre is the principle[ofquantity]withina pattern. Rhythmis the patternwithoutthe principle [of quantity]. Usually, however,by chance, so to speak, you will findin rhythmthe principle[of quantity]also, not observedby the applicationof an artisticdevice,but as a resultof the sound and the pattern itself;this [effect]the vernacularpoets necessarilyachieve in a rustic [that is, natural, or untutored],the learned poets, in a learned way, etc." These are the wordsof that man who explained what rhythmis betterthan any of the ancients. But see furtherin Augustine,Book III, on Music. And so the " political verses" of the Greeks, which are based on the number of syllables, not the principleof quantity,are nothingelse but rhythm.In this way, the Book of Job, the Proverbs of Solomon are merelyrhythm,not a metricalpattern; and in these, and that is true usually, the verses are two iambic dimeters,sometimesthree dipodies, and sometimes there is a strange unevenness so that they follow the laws not even of rhythm.For . . . no one can make it possible to conceive of any kind of metrein the Hebrew, Syriac,Arabic, and Abyssinian tongues,because the nature of the language does not permitit.42 42 J. J. Scaliger, "In Prologum Hieronymi,"Animadversionesin Chronologica 6-7: (Italics Eusebii, in Thesaurus Temporum. . . Lugduni Batavorum, 1606, pp. aut Sapphico in the translationare mine). Pindari poesim Iambico & Alcaico metro, sit currerecredent fortasse,qui nunquam Pindarum legerunt,aut nesciunt quid De in Praefatione lob. in & Idem metrum. leges lambicum, Alcaicum,Sapphicum ullum canticum sit Psalterio magis miror,quum neque in eo, neque in Threnis, animata. metricislegibus adstrictum,sed mere soluta oratio sit, characterepoetico est, figurata instar aliquando oratio poeseos aliorum & prophetarum Quin Isaiae extremo Mosis conticum Solum dixeris. recte non quam tamen proptereapoesim esse necessiDeuteronomio,Prouerbia Solomonis,& totus fereliber lob quadam rythrmi

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The dichotomybetweenthe rhythmof the Hebrewsand the metreof the classical writersis absolute; but Scaligeris somewhat unjust to Jerome,whose "In Librum Job (Praefatio)," so caustically referredto, stronglymodified (as we have observed) the quantitativeprinciple,as applied to Job,by the assertionthat its quantitativepatternis veryloose,43and, that, occasionally,it ignoresquantityaltogetherin favorof " num44 in the senseof Scaliger'sown distinction ers,or " rhythm," in the Augustinian-Bedictradition. Moreover,Jeromehad not includedall of Isaiah as metrical,but merelya song of Isaiah, in a passage whichScaligerdoes not botherto quote: " Quid Deuteronomiiet Isaiae cantico pulchrius?"45 Possibly, too, Scaliger'sdiscoveryof two rhythmicaliambic dimetersin the " Song ofDeuteronomy" and Proverbsand part ofJob,was influencedby Jerome'sascriptionof metricaliambic tetrameters to the same poems.46But Scaligerdoes break completelywith Jeromeand withTremelliusthat Psalms and Lamentationsare Iambicarum,& tinnulus tate cohibentur,qui rythmusest instarduarum dimetriarum accidit ad aures. Sed aliquando pauciorum sunt syllabarum,aliquando plurium;

quales

Graecorum

(TTXOL

KaTaXcKTiKO1,

8paXVKaTaaXnKTrKO&, brepikeTpoZ, etc.:

non

utique quod compensatiofiat KaTA lo-o~povlav ut in Graecis solet: neque enim hoc exprimipotest idiomate Hebraico: sed quantum sententia postulat, rythminunc longior,nunc brevior est. Est enim rythmus,ut doctissimusBeda ex Augustini, & aliorum scriptiscollegit, metris consimilisverborummodulata compositio,non metrica ratione, sed numero syllabarumad iudicium aurium examinata, ut sunt, inquit, carmina vulgariumpoetarum. Et quidem rythmussine metro esse potest, metrumvero sine rythmoesse non potest. Rursus idem Beda ex eod. Augustino ni fallor. Metrum est ratio cum modulatione. Rythmus modulatio sine ratione. Plerunque tamen casu quodam inuenies etiarn rationem in rythmo non artifici moderationeseruatam,sed sono & ipsa modulationeducente,quem vulgaresPoetae necesse est faciant rustice,docti faciant docte etc. Haec ille, quo nemo veterum melius quid sit Rythmus,explicauit. Sed amplius vide apud Augustinumlib. III de Musica. Itaque politici Graecorum, qui syllabarum numero, non temporum ratione constant,nihil aliud quam rythmussunt. Sic liber Iob, Prouerbia Solomonis mere rythmusest, non metrica modulatio; in quibus et plurimumversus sunt duae dimetriae Iambicae, aliquando tres dipodiae, aliquando mira est inequalitas ut ne quidem rythmilegem sequantur. Nam ut in Hebraico, Syriaco, possit, Arabico & Abbysinioidiomate ulla metrispecies concipi possit,nemo efficere quia id natura sermonisnon patitur. 43 "In Librum Job (Praefatio)," Patr. Lat., op. cit., 20.1082: Hexametriversus sunt, dactylo spondeoque currentes,et propterlinguae idioma crebrorecipienteset alios pedes non earundemsyllabarum,sed eorundemtemporum. Cf. note 19. 44 Ibid., cf. note 20 and text; cf. text to note 21. 45 Jerome,"In Librum Job (Praefatio)," op. cit., 28. 1082. 41 Jerome," Epistola ad Paulam," Patr. Lat., op. cit., 22.442.3. Cf. " The Hebrew Hexameter,"op. cit.,pp. 68-9, note 9.

4

128 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY in verse,47as well as with Tremelliusthat the " Song of DesongsofIsaiah, Hezekiah[?],Jeremiah, borah" and unidentified Habakkuk are rhythmical:48 onlyJob,Proverbs,and the" Song of Deuteronomy" are composedin verse; they usually follow two iambic dimeters,in a patternthat resemblesquantitative verseonlyin the equivalencein the numberof syllables,not in the principleof quantity;at timestheymay observequantity by sheerchance; at times,theydo not even adhereto the patternof numberedsyllables. At most,they are " rhythmical," not " metrical." Scaliger'sinfluenceis directand obvious upon anotherinternational scholar of the early seventeenthcentury-Gerhardt JohannVossius (1577-1649). The Dutch scholarrejectsPsalms and Lamentationsin phrasingalmostidenticalwithScaliger's: is observed;the notevenrhythm In thePsalmsand Lamentations, prosewhichis animatedby a poeticspirit styleis,on thecontrary, and character.49 His distinctionbetweenrhythmand metreand his examplesof poetryare identicalwithScaliger's--Job,Proverbs, rhythmical and the " Song of Deuteronomy": ... in Job and the Proverbs of Solomon thereis only rhythm,but

notthequantity,is notmetre:thatis,thenumberofthesyllables, observed.The same appliesto the lattersongof Moses.50 He attacks the very passage which Scaliger had scored in " Praefatio in Librum II ChronicorumEusebii," and, like '" Cf. note 24. Tremellius'third,or poetic division,of the Old Testament,-the "rhythmical," or " numbered," division-includes Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs: TestamentiVeteris . . . op. cit.,p. AS: BibliorumPars Tertia. Id est, Quinque Libri Poetici. Libri III tomi lob, Psalmi, Proverbia,Ecclesiastes, Liber Canticorum. " of " Ezekiel." 48 Cf. note 22. " Jechizkijae may be a poor transliteration 2, 49 Vossius, G. J., " De Artis Poeticae Natura, ac ConstitutioneLiber," XIII, pp. 30-1, in De Rhetorica,De Poetica, De Artiumet ScientiarumNatura ac Constitutione,Opera, Vol. 3, Amsterdam,1695-1701,7 vols.: At in psalmis ac threnis, ne rythmusquidem observatur: sed oratio est soluta, quae spiritu ac charactere poetico animetur.Cf. Scaliger's" De Psalteriomagis mirorquum neque in eo, neque in Threnis,ullum canticum sit metricislegibus adstrictum,sed mere soluta oratio sit, characterepoetico animata. Italics are mine. o Ibid . . . in Iobo, & proverbiisSalomonis, solum rythmusest.,non metrum: hoc est., syllabarum numerus,non quantitas, attenditur. Idem judicium est de posterioreMosis cantico.

ISRAEL BAROWAY

1929

Scaliger,denies that Pindar had used the verses Jeromehad ascribedto himin " In LibrumJob (Praefatio)": JeromeindeedsaysthatthePsalter,in themannerofPindar,runs now in Jambics,now ringswith Alcaics, now swells with Sapphics. But he is wrong no less concerningPindar than concerningthe Psalter. For Pindar did not use those metres which Jeromehas thought;nor are metresof this kind found.5'

But whereas Scaliger-and Tremellius and Steuchus, as wellhad left the principle of accent, as opposed to that of quantity, to the reader's inference,Vossius states explicitly that Hebrew verse is accentual. The very next sentence asserts: Certainly the Hebrews pay attention to nothing in their verses, except the numberand the accent of the syllables.52

Unquestionablyall thisderivesfromScaliger. Explainingthe placed upon biblicalverse,Vossius continues falseconstruction by citing the French scholar:

Occasionally . . . certainverses may seem to approach the metres of the Greeksand Latins. In this way, the latter song of Moses approaches either the hexameter,as Josephus,Origen, and Jerome

whichis the opinionof have thought;or ratherthe tetrameter,

JosephScaligerin the Animadvers.Euseb. in prologumHieronymi.'3 But lest he be misinterpreted as associating Scaliger's tetrameter-two iambic dimeters-with the false quantitative

theory,Vossiuswritesnot onlyof the " Song ofDeuteronomy," but of Job and Proverbs, where number,not quantity,was observed:5 catalectic,if you countthe They seemto be trochaictetrameter syllablesbut disregardthe quantity.55

Pindari nunc larnbico Ibid.: Hieronymusquidem ait, psalteriumin mnorezm currere,nunc Alcaico personare,nunc Sapphico tumere. Sed non minus de Pindaro, quam de psalterio,fallitur. Nec enim Pindarus iis utiturmetris,quae Hieronymus putavit: nec ejusmodi metra inveniuntur.Cf. Scaliger notes 40, 41, 42. Ibid.: Nempe Hebraei in versibusnihilattenduntpraetersyllabarumnumerum & accentum. Italics are mine. 53lbid.: . . . interdumquaedam accedere ad Graecorum,Latinorumque metra videantur. Quomodo canticum Mosis posterius vel ad hexametrumaccedit, ut quae Josephi Josephus,Origenes,& Hieronymus,putarunt: vel potius tetrametrum, Scaligerisententiaest Animadvers.Euseb. in prologumHieronymi. 52

54

Cf. note50.

Vossius, op. cit.,pp. 30-1: Hi trochaicitetrametricatalecti videntur,si syllabas numeres,sed quantitas neglegitur. 6

130 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY And like Scaliger,he comparesthemwiththe " Politici": And theyare therefore like thoseversesof the Greekswhichthey call " Politici."56 Despite the similaritiesand the admittedcriticaldebt,there appears to be a minordifference in the scansion of Job, Proverbs,and the "Song of Deuteronomy": Scaligerspeaks of a normalline the "equivalent of two iambic dimeters"; Vossius, of a line that "seems to be trochaic tetrametercatalectic." Patently, both are thinking,not of the modern monopodic iambic or trochaicfoot,but of the ancientdipodicone: and - - -a, respectively. This implication becomes certain from

Scaliger'sadmissionthat thereare " sometimesthreedipodies" in Proverbsand Joband fromVossius'assertionthat the " Song of Deuteronomy" " approaches either the hexameter,. . . or, rather,the tetrameter."The ancienthexameterline varied fromtwelveto seventeensyllables;the ancienttrochaictetrametercatalectic,in dipodies,had fifteensyllables;the modern monopodictrochaictetrametercatalectichas only seven syllables. Obviously,Vossiuscouldnothave seen sufficient similarity betweenthe hexameteroftwelveto seventeensyllablesand the tetrametercatalecticof seven syllablesto justifya comparison. The inferenceof dipodictetrametersis supportedby a typical line fromthe " Song of Deuteronomy,"which,transliterated, showsthe applicabilityof the dipodicfifteen-syllabled line and the insufficiency ofthe monopodicseven-syllabled one: 1 2 3

4

5 6 7

8

9 1011

12 13 14 15

lik-hiTiz-al kat--tal kam-ma-tar Ya-ca-rof 'im-ra-ti.57 Vossius' line, then, has fifteensyllables; Scaliger's sixteen. Vossius' line, as we shall see, is the norm of the " Politici"; Scaliger's seems one foot too long. Yet the exposition of " Politici" in Du Cange stronglyimpliesthat Scaliger'squalification-" qui rythmusest instarduarum dimetriarumIambicarum"-suggests, veryloosely,the normof the " Politici,"or fifteensyllables. The divergencebetweenVossius' " trochaic" " Ibid., Similes igitursunt versus, ac Graecorumilli, quos politicos vocant. Cf. Scaliger,note 42. " Deut. 32: 2, a line which Wither uses to illustratethe accentual principleof biblical verse; cf. text to note 59.

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and Scaliger's "iambic" is less significantthan it appears. Essentially,they agree. Vossius, less criticalthan his predecessor,triesto identifythe biblicalverseswiththe " Politici"; Scaligermerelydesignatesa very close resemblance. Scaliger,it mustbe recalled,had told us that " Politici" were based on the " number" of syllables,not on their" quantity." the originof the term of determining Admittingthe difficulty likethat of " Politiciversus,"and explainingthattheirrhythm, theyare: us that informs Cange Du rigid, not is the dithyramb, ... that kind of verse in whichverymany of the books of the later Greeks [were]composed. . . . They consist of a fixednumber of

and frequentmetaphors syllableswhichscareclyexceedsfifteen,

. . . as Martin Crusius observesin the Turcograecia,p. 193: They consist of fifteensyllables,each in two iambic dimeterverses, the firstCatalectic, the second Catalectic Anacreontic;they are reckoned by accent . . . ratherthan by quantityofsyllables. . . . But

on this kindof verseone shouldlistenespeciallyto Leo Allatius in the Diatriba de Simeonumscriptis: Versus politici, he says,

usually consistof iambics and Anacreontics,but in such a way that the measureis not the quantityof the syllables which the ancients observedveryaccurately,but theirnumber;and that the variations ofaccent are observed. . . . The same ruleis followedin " politici," where they [theverses]never exceed fifteensyllables; and if any seem to go beyond that number,theyshortenor diminishthem by aphaeresis or synaloepha, as is observed especially in the current and vernacularspeech of the Greeks,as in that of the Italians, too, among whom such hiatuses are restrictedto the retentionof the number of syllables. They are called " politici" because they are common to all and adapted to every person's use. . . . They are consist of seven feet and a simple Trochees;foras these [trochees] syllable, so do " Politici," except that such verses of the ancients sometimes exceed fifteensyllables by reason of longer feet; this never happens in " Politici,"as has been said of Iambi. And as the lines of the ancientsare constitutedof two divisionsand brokenin the middle,so are these also which are called " Politici." Thus far,

thislearnedman.589

58 Du Cange, Charles Du Fresne, GlossariumMediae et Inflmae Latinitatis cum sup'plementisintegrisD. P. Carpenterii,Adelungii,aliorum, suisque digessit . Paris, 1937-8,10 vols., 6. 395-6: . .. quo carminisgenereconG. A. L. Henschel. ., Graecorumlibri.... Syllabarumenimcertonumero, scripticomplures... recentiorum qui vix ultra 15, excurrit,crebrisquemetaphoris... constant... ut observatMartinus Crusius Turcograecia,pag. 193, quindenissyllabis constant,ex 2. iambicisdimetrisversiculis,prioreCatalecto, posterioreCatalectico Anacreonteo;in quibus potius tonorum. . . quamnquantitas syllabarumratio habetur. . . . Sed de hoe versuum " genereaudiendusin primisLeo Allatiusin Diatriba de Simeonumscriptis: Versus,"

132 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY This exposition clarifiesand perhaps resolves the minor divergenciesof Scaliger and Vossius about the readingof the normalverselinesof Job,Proverbs,and the " Song of Deuterthat " Politici" do not have onomy." It shouldbe remembered a regular internalpattern: Allatius notes that variationsof accentare observed(declinationesqueaccentuumattendantur). Moreover,Scaliger does not mentionthat the biblical verses never exceed fifteensyllables,the maximumnumberforPolitici"; sometimeshe foundthreedipodies and sometimeslines of more or fewersyllablesthan rightlybelong to two iambic dimeters;usuallythe versesare two iambicdimeters(plurimum versus sunt duae dimetriae Iambicae). Therefore,where Scaliger speaks of the " equivalent of two iambic dimeters" (instar duarum dimetriarumJambicarum)he does not mean two pure iambic dimeters: Crusius tells us that the first memberof the two dimetersis catalectic. Allatiusimpliesthat one of the dimetersis full (" Versus Politici usually consistof Jambics and Anacreontics,"or trochees). Thus, one pure dimeterand one catalectic dimeterequal the fifteensyllables of the " Politici." This is the kind of combinationthat would make biblical versesseem like " Politici" to Scaliger. As for Vossius' claim that the biblical poems are trochaic tetrametercatalectic,he is partly supportedby Crusius,who calls the second member of the two dimeters " catalectic Anacreontic,"that is, trochaiccatalectic;it is fullysupported by Allatius,who,even whiledescribing" Politici" as composed of both " iambicsand Anacreontics,"or trochees,goes so faras to designatethem as " simpleTrochees" (meri Trochaici). eitheras iambic Seemingly,then," Politici" wereinterpreted inquit, Politici ut plurimumlambicis et Anacreonticisconstant:ita tamen ut nulla quantitatis syllabarum,quod accuratissimeveteres observabant, ratio habeatur, tantum earum numerus,declinationesqueaccentuum attendantur. ... Quod idem servatumest in " Politicis" in quibus syllabas quindecimnunquam excedunt;et si quae ultra videntur,eas per aphaeresin,sive synalephendecurtant et absumunt; quod magis in Graecorumrecentivulgatoque sermone,ut et in Italorum,apud quos ur, conspicitur. similes hiatus ad numerum syllabarum retinendum restringunt Politici ideo dicti, quod communesomniumsunt,usuique eorum accommodati.... Meri Trochaici sunt: quemadmodumenim illi septem pedibus et syllaba constant, ita et hi: nisi quod antiquorumsimilesversus ratione pedum longiorumquindecim syllabas aliquando excedunt,"Politici" nunquam, ut de lambicis dictum est. Et quemadmodumantiquorum,duobus membrisintegrantur,mediique inciduntur,ita et hi qui nuncupanturPolitici. Hactenus vir doctissimus.

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or trochaic,or as iambic and trochaic. Scaliger scanned the biblical poems,loosely,as iambic " Politici"; Vossius,strictly, themwiththe normal as trochaic" Politici." Vossiusidentified fifteen-syllabled line of the "Politici "; Scaliger, with a line conapproachingit. They concur,however,in the significant viction that the poems are composed of non-quantitative, accented, dipodic tetrameters.This is a definitive,if bold, advance upon the broad accentual implicationsof Tremellius of Steuchus, and even upon the clear,yet generalaffirmations in the sixteenthcentury;for two Christianscholarsof international eminencehad proclaimed,not only (1) that biblical poetrywas accentual,even thoughthe syllabiccountresembled that of the quantitativesystem; (2) but that it was generally tetrameter,dipodically,followinga norm of fifteensyllables; (3) that it had manydeviations,suggestinga vague apprehension of the " free" Hebrew accentual verse; (4) and that it broke into two divisions (Scaliger's "two iambic dimeters," and Vossius' " trochaicitetrametricatalecti,"virtuallyechoing Allatius' " Trochees ... of seven feetand a syllable" " in two divisionsand brokenin the middle"), suggestinga dim awareness of the principleof parallelism,whichBishop Lowth,in the eighteenthcentury,explainedto the Westernworldas a basic principle of Hebrew prosody. This interpretation,though utterlyincorrectin the details of scansion,is correctin principle of accent as opposed to quantityand looks,as in a glass darkly,toward the fundamentaltruthof parallelismusmembrorumand to the generallyacceptedtheoryof a freeaccentual rhythmwhichconsidersonly the syllablesreceivingthe main ones. It freesitselfof the accent and disregardsthe intervening shacklesofthe longpatristictraditionand turnsits facetoward the light. 3 In seventeenthcenturyEngland,as well as on the continent, the accentualorientationis reflectedin the criticismof George Wither.thirteenyearsafterthepublicationofScaliger'streatise; to by 1619, the problemof Hebrew prosodywas so significant this lyrist,pastoralist,and satirist,that he devoted a chapter to its considerationin his A Preparationto the Psalter. He has much in commonwith Scaligerand Vossius,but in many

134 ACCENTUAL THEORY OF HEBREW PROSODY ways he goes beyondthemin insight,scholarlyapproach,and, it must be confessed,in creation of some things unknown whichhis Renaissance imaginationbodied forthin the pursuit of truth.Throughout,however,he utterlydisavowsthe quantitative traditionand espousesthe cause of the " accentualists." The detailedexaminationofWithermustawait a futurestudy; a few excerptssuggestingthe trendof his views must suffice, forthe present: . . . I doubt not that I may ghesse as neer the manner of their Verse, as those who haue foughtfor it by the Greeke or Latine rules. And I thinkit not unlikely,that the auncientJeweshad both such kinde of Verses,as some of ours are, and the same freedomein theirComposuresthat we use; Yea, that they varied theirStaffeat theirpleasure,makingit now longer,now shorter,as theylisted,or best fittedthe matter. . . . They confesse,and our owne experienceinformethus, that sometimesequally, theirPoems consistof diuersNumbersintermixt, sometimesunequally,and oftentimeswithRymes in the periodsof Sentences; not much unlike some of our English Numbers, which admittenot verynaturallyof such kindesof Verseas are usuall with the Latines; especially their dauncing Measures which are composed of Dactyls . . . thereappeares sometimesto be a want, and sometime an Ouerplus, in the Syllables of their Verses . . . yet . . . theremay bee somewhatto be obseruedin the pronuntiation, will will both make the numberof syllables equall, and the Ryme full . . . but this that followes,being a part of that excellentSong composedby the Prophet Moses, is to my understanding,in euery thing agreeable to that kind of Verse much in use at this day in our English Tongue. ... Iagharoph cammatar Likhi Tezal cattal imrathi; Ciseghhirimgnale-dheshe, Vechirbibimgnale-gnesheb.59 whichI haue translatedinto the same fashionof Verse. Still, as deaw, my doctrineshall; And, like raine,my speechesfall: As small drops,upon the flowers; Or, on grasse,the greatershowres.60 This " same fashion of Verse," obviously, is the numbered, r9 Deut. 32: 2. See note 57. Each two lines of the translationrepresentone line

lines. of the Hebrew; the whole passage representstwo Hebrew 'I Wither,op. cit., pp. 59-61.

ISRAEL BAROWAY

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accentual tetrameter-the same form ascribed to the same poem by Scaligerand Vossius; and the verseof theseparticular lines also falls into the categoryof the " Politici" of Scaliger and Vossius-an accentualline normof about fifteensyllables, thefirstunitdividedintoeightand sevensyllables,respectively, to each half-line,and the second unit divided into eight and eight,in the same pattern. The Englishtranslationshows,too, that the Englishpoet viewedtheseHebrewtetrameterlines,as Scaligerhad viewedthe wholepoem, as divided into halves of approximately the same numberofsyllables-into two dimeters -but that, unlike his continentalpredecessor,and yet like Vossius,he scannedthemas trochaic,not iambic. And, finally, if we cast a backwardglance to the continentand to England, we observe that, like the sixteenthcenturyItalian Steuchus and the Elizabethan authorof " The Arte of English Poesie," he believedthat Hebrewpoetryrhymed. It seemsmanifest,then,that RenaissanceEngland,too, had enteredthe new currentin the realmof biblicalaesthetics;that it, too, was venturingits bark into the uncharted,mysterious sea of Hebrew prosody; that it, too, was questing eastward toward the vision of the dawn. What it foundtherethrough George Wither'scriticismis the provinceof anotherinvestigation."6 Queens College

'I I am deeply indebtedto ProfessorKonrad Gries,Chairmanof the Department of Classical Languages at Queens College, for his kindnessin checkingthe Greek and Latin material and for his scholarlycounsel and unfailingaid in solving difficulties of translationand interpretation.