Chapter 41 of 70 · 3817 words · ~19 min read

CHAPTER II.

THE _HEBREW_ LANGUAGE

Its survival and revival――Its influence upon the English mind――De Quincey――Bacon――Shakespeare――Milton――Cowley――Taylor ――Tillotson――Barrow――Dryden――Parnell――Pope――Addison――Young ――Akenside――Gray――Warton――Cowper――Byron――Shelley――Southey ――Moore――Sir Thomas Brown[e]――Earl of Clarendon――John Pym ――Viscount Falkland――Sir Henry Vane――Earl of Chatham――Browning ――Tennyson――John Bright.

THE _Hebrew_ language, mysteriously preserved like _Israel_, the people after whom it is called, through the tempests of many centuries, politically annihilated, but spiritually full of vigour, has never ceased to be a vehicle for the expression of sublime thoughts and sentiments. Not only in the brilliant epoch of _Hebrew_ literature in Spain, from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, but since then, _Hebrew_ has been written in prose and in poetry with power and effect unattainable in any of the languages that have ceased to live. It is entirely wrong to consider _Hebrew_ a dead language. _Hebrew_ has never been dead. At no time in its long history has it ceased to be employed by the Jewish people, as a medium for the expression, whether in speech or in writing, of the living thoughts and the living feelings of the Jew. Its use as a national medium of everyday speech came, indeed, to an end with the destruction of the political organization of the Jewish people. But that catastrophe did not destroy the life of the language any more than it destroyed the life of the nation. The marvellous revival of the _Hebrew_ language in our times in Palestine, which is one of the greatest achievements of the Zionist movement, shows that the language was only neglected, and that it was essentially a living language.

The _Hebrew_ language, with its naturalness and noble simplicity, has exerted an influence not less powerful than that of Biblical ideas on the English mind. Knowing little of artificial forms, it has a natural sublimity of its own, and a great logical clearness in discriminating between nice shades of meaning. It appeals strongly to the English mind, because it is the holy language, bringing the Divine Word and coming from the sanctuary of that ancient covenant, whose faithful guardians are the people of _Israel_. The Semitic word has within historic times exercised on the civilisation of the whole human race an influence to which no parallel can be found, and which, if the future may be measured by the past, is destined triumphantly to extend, for the incalculable benefit of mankind, to the uttermost bounds of the earth. The poetry of the Bible has no rival.

“The _Hebrew_ language,” says Thomas De Quincey (1785‒1859), “by introducing himself to the secret places of the human heart, and sitting there as incubator over the awful germs of the spiritualities that connect man with unseen worlds, has perpetuated himself as a power in the human system: _he_ is co-enduring with man’s race, and careless of all revolutions in literature or in the composition of society....”¹

¹ De Quincey’s _Works_, vol. ix. _Leaders in Literature_.... By Thomas De Quincey.... London:... MDCCCLVIII. _Language_, p. 81.

The _Hebrew_ language deals best with concrete things, and is essentially personal. In poetry it is best adapted to re-echo the poet’s own thoughts, and to set forth the various phases of his intimate experience.

“Now, this poetry derives its excellence from its great outward simplicity: it acknowledges no rule of metrical art. Its poesy is esoteric, not exoteric. The outward characteristic of _Hebrew_ poetic style is its _parallelism_, or the logical _symmetry_ between two distichs of the same verse. The graceful execution of this difficult problem――unity of design under a diversity of forms――constitutes the incomparable charm of _Hebrew_ poetic diction. Parallelism is the law of perfection. Thought and speech, body and spirit, here and hereafter, are divinely conceived parallelisms.”¹

¹ _Study of Arabic and Hebrew_, by Tobias Theodores (1808‒1886), London, 1860, _p. 23_.

The _Hebrew_ language is pre-eminently intuitive, and adapted for teaching morality and expressing with authority religious and ethical truths in brief, pregnant utterances.

The best of English literature has been inspired by the _Hebrew_ language of the Bible. Throughout the entire works of Francis Bacon (1561‒1626)¹ Scriptural influence is sufficiently apparent: but in his Essays――his favourite work――which he so carefully revised and re-wrote in the ripeness of his age and experience, and which, therefore, may be considered the very cream and essence of his genius, this characteristic element obtains a prominence that cannot fail to strike every reader. So natural was it――to borrow a figure of speech from Bacon himself――for his great mind “to turn upon the poles of truth,” and to revert to its great fountain-head, in support and confirmation of his own profound conclusions.

¹ 1st Baron Verulam and Viscount St. Albans.

But by far the most prominent example of the deference and homage paid to the Bible will be found in the works of William Shakespeare (1564‒1616). As he excels in nearly all other points, so also is he greatest in this respect. His works are so perfectly impregnated with the Bible that we can scarcely open them without encountering one or other of the Bible’s great truths, assimilated by Shakespeare and reproduced in words that renew the Bible’s authority and strengthen its claim upon men’s attention. The influence of the Bible is apparent not only in the tone of Shakespeare’s poetry but also in the shape and character of it.¹ Both the spirit and the letter bear witness to this fact. The Bible has left its impression not only on Shakespeare’s mind but on his idiom, on the exquisite simplicity of his diction, while his innumerable allusions, direct and indirect, to Scripture history, persons, places, events, doctrines, parables, precepts, and even phrases show a great familiarity with the Bible.² The Reformation introduced the same spirit into all the English literature of the Elizabethan era. It was the distinguishing feature of the period, and naturally enough culminated in the greatest genius of the time.

¹ It is interesting to note that some of Shakespeare’s plays have been rendered in _Hebrew_:――

Othello, The Moor of Venice אִיתִּיאֵל הַכּוּשִׁי מִוִינֶעצְיָא Translated into _Hebrew_ by J. E. S.... Edited by P. Smolensky ... Vienna.... 1874. (8º. xxv. + 298 _pp._ + 1 _l._)

The editor remarks in the preface: “The English people took our _Hebrew_ Bible and translated it into all the languages of the world; we in revenge have taken their Shakespeare and translated it into our _Hebrew_ language.”

J. E. S., _i.e._ Isaac Eliezer (_ob._ 1883) [ben? Solomon (_ob._ 1868) Salkind] Salkinson, also translated Romeo and Juliet רם ויעל ... Wien, 1878. (8º. xii. + 167 _pp._)

Hamlet has also been done into _Hebrew_ by Chaim Jechiel Bornstein [born at Koznitz, Poland, in 1845].

Macbeth מקבט חזות קשה has been rendered into _Hebrew_ by Isaac Barb from the German version of J. C. F. _von_ Schiller (1759‒1805). ♦Drohobycz, 1883. (8º. 123 _pp._ + 2 _ll._)

King Lear המלך ליר חזון־תוגה has been translated by Samuel Löb Gordon. Warsaw, 5659. (8º. 176 _pp._)

Incidentally may be noted that:――

Julius Cæsar יוליוס צעזאר איינע איסטארישע טראהעדישע דראמא has been translated into _Yiddish_ by Bezalel Vishnepolski. Warsaw, 5646. (8º. 148 _pp._)

The title of “The Merchant of Venice” in Yiddish: שאילאק אדער דער קויפמאן פון ווענעדיג by י. באוושאווער Basil Dahl. New York, 1899. (8º. Portrait of W. S. + 116 _pp._)

♦ “Drohobyez” replaced with “Drohobycz”

² _Bible Truths with Shakespearean Parallels._ [James Brown.] London, 1862. Preface, _pp._ xv.‒xvii.

The influence of this _Hebrew_ spirit is clearly visible in John Milton’s (1608‒1674) poetry. “Paradise Lost,”¹ the most glorious cosmological epic of the world’s literature, could have been written only by a man who knew the Bible by heart, and whose verse, when he so chose, could consist simply and solely of combinations of texts from the Bible or images influenced by Biblical ideas. The way in which he tells his stories, the elevation of his style, the music of his verse, changing from the roar of the hurricane and the tramp of bannered hosts to the hum of bees and the song of birds, the numerous gem-like phrases and passages which are sure to be quoted for all time――all these wonderful qualities are Biblical. Milton knew _Hebrew_, and his verse is throughout inspired by the genius of that language. And the spirit which found voice in Milton caused England to take the lead in bringing about religious liberty. This recognition of righteousness and fair play among the nations of the world benefited not only the Jewish nation: some months before Manasseh Ben Israel visited England, the Commonwealth had made a most vigorous protest against the outrage on humanity perpetrated by the persecutors of Protestants in Piedmont.

In 1871 a version in the Holy Language was issued:――

Milton’s Paradise Lost In _Hebrew_ Blank Verse. Translator J. E. S....

שיר יסודתו בכתוב ויגרש את האדם נחלק לשנים עשר ספרים ... ומתורגם יהודית בשפה ברורה ובחרט כתבי הקודש י,ע,ס ...‏

(8º. 4 _ll._ + 351 _pp._). “The second English edition, 1674, was divided in _twelve_ books.”

Twenty-one years later a free _Hebrew_ rendering was published, under the following title:――

תולדות אדם וחוה ... נעתק חפשי לשפת עבר ... ע״י שמואל בן משה ראפאלאוויץ נדפס פעה״ק ירושלים תובב״ה בשנת תרנ״ב לפ״ק

Milton’s Paradise Lost. Translated in _Hebrew_ by Samuel Raffalovich, _Jerusalem_, 1892. (8º. 63 _pp._)

“We shall conclude our account of this period by ... [referring to] the ‘♦Davideis¹ of the melancholy [Abraham] Cowley (1618‒1667) in which he seems to have borne in mind the language of the Bible....’ ‘It will be in the recollection of every person, that there flourished in the latter half of the seventeenth century three churchmen, whose works are still regarded as models of style and mines of learning and thought――[Bishop Jeremy] Taylor (1613‒1667), [Archbishop John] Tillotson (1630‒1694) and [Dr. Isaac] Barrow (1630‒1677); whose writings, if they have ever been equalled, have certainly never been surpassed. The familiarity with the pages of Holy Writ which these illustrious men must infallibly have acquired during the course of that severe education which made them what they were, could not but have exercised a very great influence upon their works....’”

♦ “Davidies” replaced with “Davideis”

¹ Poems: ... IV. Davideis, Or, A Sacred Poem Of The Troubles Of David. Written by A. Cowley.... London, Printed for _Humphrey Moseley_, at the Prince’s Arms in St. _Paul’s_ Church-yard, M.DC.LVI.

“There are many allusions to Sacred Writ in the works of [John] Dryden (1631‒1700), particularly in his polemical works,... In the _Hind and Panther_....¹

“In [Thomas] Parnell’s (1679‒1718) beautiful poem of the ‘Hermit’¹ there are several traces of Biblical influence:...

¹ Poems On Several Occasions. Written by Dr. Thomas Parnell, Late Arch-Deacon of _Clogher_: And _Published_ by Mr. Pope.... London: Printed for B. Lintot, at the _Cross-Keys_, between the _Temple Gates_ in _Fleet-street_, 1722. (8º. 4 _ll._ + 221 _pp._ + 1 _l._)

“The Hermit,” _pp._ 164‒180.

“A perusal of [Alexander] Pope’s (1688‒1744) Messiah,¹ in which many of the expressions are taken, word for word, from the book of Holy Writ, will convince any reader of the influence which has been exercised by it upon this poet. We have the authority of Mr. [Joseph] Addison (1672‒1719) himself for the assertion, that he was fully sensible of the beauties of the English translation. ‘Our language,’ says the writer, in the 405th Number of the _Spectator_, ‘has received innumerable elegancies and improvements from the infusion of Hebraisms which are derived to it out of the poetical passages of Holy Writ; ――they give a force and energy to our expression, warm and animate our language, and convey our thought in more ardent and intense phrases than any that are to be met with in our own tongue.’ Addison was the founder of that pure, classical, and polished style which has, ever since the publication of the _Spectator_, been considered as the _ne plus ultra_ of that manner of writing. Knowing then, as we do, the sentiments of this accomplished writer, it is not to be supposed that he would, in the formation of his own style, have neglected to borrow largely from that which he praised so much; and thus it appears probable that the translation, throughout in this case itself a direct agent, has yet exercised a beneficial influence upon the prose even of modern writers....”

¹ A sacred pastoral first published in the _Spectator_, May 14th, 1712. It has also been translated into _Hebrew_:――

Messiah. A Sacred Eclogue. By Pope. הַמָּשִׁיחַ שִׁירַת הָרֹעִים׃ By Stanilaus Hoga. London:... MDCCCXXXVII. (Sm. 8º. 8 _ll._, in printed wrapper.)

The translator had been a Government Censor of the _Hebrew_ press in Russia. On coming to London, he came under the influence of the Rev. Alexander McCaul (Father-in-law of James Finn, the British Consul at _Jerusalem_), who induced him to become an apostate. They co-operated in the production of “The Old Paths” ... London:... 1836‒1837, which Hoga translated into _Hebrew_. He died repentant about the end of the year 1849. The _Hebrew_ translation he had made of “The Old Paths,” entitled נתיבות עולם was not published until 1851. (“The evil that men do lives after them;...”)

“In the poems of [James] Thomson (1700‒1748) there are a few passages for which he was, probably, in some measure, indebted to the Bible Translation――....”

“In the writings of [Edward] Young (1683‒1765), many expressions may be found indebted for the idea or manner of expression to Scripture. In his paraphrase of the Book of Job, one of his earlier works, first published in 1719.”

“In the _Night Thoughts_,¹ traces of Biblical influence are not so traceable, but it is probable that they exist....”

¹ The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, and Immortality.... London:... 1742.... (Fol. 20 _pp._)

“[Dr. Mark] Akenside (1721‒1770), in one of his poems;¹ [Thomas] Gray (1716‒1771), in his admirable lines on Milton,² and [Thomas] Warton [the Elder] (1688?‒1745), in his Address to Night,³ had clearly in mind some of the passages in the Psalms.”

¹ The Pleasures of Imagination. A Poem. In Three Books.... London:... M.DCC.XLIV. (_4to._ 125 _pp._)

² Odes By Mr. Gray.... Printed at Strawberry Hill, For R. and J. Dodsley in Pall-Mall, MDCCLVII. (_4to._ 21 _pp._) [_p._ 10, III., 2. “Progress of Poesy”: A Pindaric Ode written in Cambridge in 1754.]

³ The Pleasures of Melancholy: A Poem.... London:... 1747.... (_4to._ 24 _pp._)

“There is a real strain of religious feeling, of the very strongest description, which breathes through the poetry of [William] Cowper (1731‒1800); but though he no doubt felt that admiration for the translation with which a person of his great taste and love of religious writings especially must have been imbued, there is no very perceptible evidence of its having exercised more than a general influence upon his language....”

“The mind of [George Gordon] Byron [Sixth Baron Byron] (1788‒1824) had been early tinctured by a love of the poetical parts of the Bible; ... and there are several traces to be found in his works of the influence which this book exercised upon his mind....”

“There are some expressions in the _Revolt of Islam_¹ that would seem to indicate that the author of that poem had kept in memory some of the descriptive and mystical passages of Ezekiel....”

¹ The Revolt of Islam; A Poem, In Twelve Cantos. By Percy Bysshe Shelley. [1792‒1822.] London:... 1818.

“In [Robert] Southey (1774‒1843) there are several Biblical expressions and ideas....”¹

¹ The Curse of Kehama: By Robert Southey.... London:... 1810. (_4to._ 16 + 376 _pp._)

“In the beautiful songs of a justly celebrated ... writer, Mr. [Thomas] Moore (1779‒1852), there is much that can be traced to a scriptural origin.”¹

¹ “Fallen is thy Throne, O Israel!”――“Sound the loud Timbrel, Miriam’s Song”――“War against Babylon.”

“It can now be seen, we hope, satisfactorily demonstrated, that the translation of the Bible into English has exercised a considerable influence upon the poetry of the last two centuries; it is now time to speak of the effects which it has produced upon our prose.... There are, ... to be found in the writings of many of the most distinguished prose authors in our language, passages which, from the general character of their style, or the form of the ideas they express, may be concluded to have been suggested, or at least modified, by the influence of the Bible Translation ... in the writings of Sir Thomas Brown[e] (1535?‒1585), an author who enjoyed a considerable degree of fame in the days of Queen Elizabeth (1533‒1603), great traces are to be discovered of Biblical influence;――while at a much later period [Edward] Hyde (1609‒1674), Earl of Clarendon (particularly the introduction, and part of the first volume)¹ will convince the most sceptical reader, that the translation of the Bible has not been disregarded by that writer....”

¹ The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641.... Written by the Right Honourable Edward, Earl of Clarendon, Late Lord High Chancellor of _England_,... Oxford,... MDCCIV.

“It may, perhaps, ... seem paradoxical to affirm, that the art of public speaking, ... can have been indebted to so remote an event as the translation of the Bible; but this supposition will nevertheless be found to be correct:... The speeches of [John] Pym (1584‒1643) and others upon the Earl of Strafford’s (1593‒1641) impeachment [1640], of Viscount Falkland (1610?‒1643), Sir Henry Vane (1589‒1655), etc., upon the Episcopacy Reformation question, will suffice as instances of discourses in which many proofs may be found, upon perusal, of Biblical influence.”

“It is well known that [William Pitt] the [First] Earl of Chatham (1708‒1778), the most eloquent orator that England has ever produced, recommended to every person who wished to become acquainted with the force of the English language, and to acquire the power of expressing himself with facility, to study the writings of the copious Barrow. Now we know that Barrow was deeply read in the Holy Scriptures; we know that his style is greatly tinctured by the influence which they exerted upon him; will it, then, be too much to assert that English speaking, in general, ... has been considerably influenced by the Bible translation?...”

“It may be concluded from the foregoing observations, that the translation of the Bible into our language is a most remarkable event in the history of English literature:... Those who have compared most of the European translations with the original have not scrupled to say that the English translation is the most accurate and faithful of the whole.... Besides, our translators have not only made a standard translation, but they have made their translation a standard of our language. The English tongue of their day was not equal to such a work; but God enabled them to stand as upon Mount Sinai; and _crane_ up their country’s language to the dignity of the originals, so that after the lapse of two hundred years, the English Bible is still with a very few exceptions the standard of the purity and excellence of the English tongue.”¹

¹ An Essay upon The Influence of the Translation of the Bible upon English Literature,... By [William Thomas Petty (1811‒1836) _afterwards_ Fitz-Maurice, Earl of Kerry] Lord Kerry.... Cambridge:... 1830. (8º. 1 _l._ + 82 _pp._)

This influence of the _Hebrew_ language can be traced not only in the masterpieces of great poets; it was also of a general and popular character. The study of the _Hebrew_ language among Christians, which had only casually and at intervals occupied the attention of ecclesiastics during the Middle Ages, received an immense impulse from the revived interest in the Bible caused by the Reformation.

Scientific progress in _Hebrew_ was perhaps more considerable in other countries where the Reformation was gaining ground, but while in other countries this influence was felt chiefly among scholars, in England the influence has been popular and has been felt in the daily life of the nation. The process of enrichment and ennoblement of the English language has been going on for centuries among all classes of the population, and one of the chief agencies by which it has been effected is certainly the influence, direct and indirect, of the _Hebrew_ Bible.

To penetrate into the history, prophecy, and poetry of the _Hebrew_ Bible, to revere them as the effusion of Divine inspiration, to live in them with all the emotions of the heart, and yet not to consider _Israel_, who had originated all this glory and greatness, as the “Chosen People,” was impossible.¹

¹ Among modern English poets and writers, Robert Browning (1812‒1889) was a great friend of the Jews and a good _Hebraist_, and very often quoted _Hebrew_ sentences. In a letter to a friend Browning wrote:

“The _Hebrew_ quotations are put in for a purpose as a direct acknowledgment that certain doctrines may be found in the Old Book, which the concocters of Novel Schemes of Morality put forth as discoveries of their own.”

In _Jewish Fancies_ there are many _Hebrew_ phrases, also in the _Melon Seller_ and in the _Two Camels_. In _Rabbi Ben Ezra_ and _The Doctor_ the reader will find essentially Jewish thoughts.

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809‒1892) also read the Bible in the original _Hebrew_. Lady Tennyson (1813‒1896) writes in her journal in 1867:

“A.” (meaning her husband Alfred) “is reading _Hebrew_ (_Job_ and the Song of _Solomon_ and _Genesis_). He talked much of his _Hebrew_. He brought down to me his psalm-like poem ‘Higher Pantheism.’”

John Bright’s (1811‒1889) sublime oratory was avowedly based on the Bible; from it, not from the classics of Paganism, came the inspiration of his highest eloquence. The memorable party nickname, “_The Adullamites_,” which he conferred on the Liberal seceders on the Franchise Bill in 1866, shows his familiarity with the details of Bible history and the readiness with which he could adapt his knowledge to political illustrations. How minutely he knew the Old Testament is apparent to any reader of his speeches.

Hence among the Puritans there were many earnest admirers of “God’s Ancient People,” and Cromwell himself joined in this admiration. It was by this Biblical _Hebrew_ movement that public opinion in England had been prepared for a sympathetic treatment of the idea of a readmission of the Jews into England.

Illustration: THE CONFERENCE BETWEEN MANASSEH BEN-ISRAEL AND OLIVER CROMWELL (1655)

_From the painting at the Jews’ College, Queen Square House, London_