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TH E K ING’S BUSINESS
would have sought to establish the highest possible sanction for this musical ritual, by representing it as having been ordained by Moses. But no Such ordinance in point of fact occurs, and the Pentateuch stands in its primitive simplicity destitute of any ordinance of music in connection with the ritual, except those passages in which the blowing of trumpets is enjoined at the feast of trumpets, the blowing of the trumpet throughout the land in the year of Jubilee, and the command contained in a single passage (Num. x, 10) that in the day of gladness, and in the beginnings of the months over the burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of the peace- offerings, the silver trumpets were to sound. No mention in connection with the ritual of cymbals, harps, timbrels or psalteries; no mention of sacred song or Levite singers. No music proper entered into the ritual, only the crude and warlike blare of trumpets. No ordinance of sacred song, no band of Levite singers. The duties of the Levites, in the Book of Numbers are specially defined. The sons of Gershom were to bear the tabernacle and its hangings on the march ; the sons of Kohath bore the altars and the sacred vessels; the sons of Merari were to bear the boards and bands and pillars of the sanc tuary. No mention whatever of any ministry of sacred song. A strange omission this would be, if the “Priest ly Code,” so-called, which thus de fines the duties of the Levites, had been composed in post-Exilic times, when Levite singers—sons of Asaph —cymbals, harp and song of praise formed leading features in the ritual. Does it not seem that the Mosaic Code enjoining no music but the simple sounding of the trumpet-blast, stands far behind these niceties of music and of song, seeming to know nothing of them all?
DIVINE TITLE ABSENT. The first occurrence of the Divine title, “Lord of Hosts,” in the Bible is in 1 Sam. i, 3: “And this maif went out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts in Shiloh.” After this it occurs in a number of the remaining Books of the Bible, and with increasing fre quency. The pre-Samuelitic period of the history of Israel is thus differ entiated from the post-Samuelitic period by this circumstance, that in connection with the former period this title is never used, whilst in con nection with the latter it is used, and with growing frequency, at all stages of the history, even down to the end of the Book of Malachi, occurring altogether 281 times. Now the Graf-Wellhausen theory is, that the Pentateuch was composed, edited, and manipulated during a period of more than 400 years by motley groups of writers of differing views, and various tendencies. One writer composed one part, and one another; these parts were united by a different hand, and then another composed a further part; and this by yet another was united to the two that went before; and after this an other portion was composed by yet another scribe, and afterwards was joined on to the three. Matter was absorbed, interpolated, harmonized, smoothed over, coloured, edited from various points of view, and with dif ferent, not to say opposing motives. And yet when the completed product (the Pentateuch) coming out of this curious literary seething-pot is exam ined, it is found to have this remark able characteristic, that not one of the manifold manipulators—neither “J,” nor “E,” nor “JE ,” nor “D,” nor “RD,” nor “P,” nor “P2,” nor “P3,” nor “P4,” nor any one of the “Redac tors of P,” who were innumerable, would appear to have allowed him-
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