The Hebrew system of accentuation is very subtle and complicated, and there is nothing corresponding to it in our western languages. These so-called accents are quite numerous, one of them resting, as a general rule, upon each word. Certain of them are peculiar to the poetical books, and are called poetical accents. They serve a threefold office. (1.) They guide the modulated flow of the voice in _cantillation_, thus serving, in a certain sense, as _musical notes_. Some think that this was their primary office. (2.) They indicate the _logical relation_ to each other of the words and clauses, thus performing the office of marks of _interpunction_. (3.) They rest, with certain exceptions, on the _tone_ syllable, and thus serve as _accents_ in our restricted sense of the word. In the first division of the present chapter, the _characteristics of Hebrew poetry_ will be briefly considered in respect to its _spirit_, its _form_, and its _offices_. Then will follow, in the second division, a notice of the _contents of the several books_. (A.) CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY. 2. As it respects the _spirit_ of Hebrew poetry, we notice, first of all, its perfect _harmony with the spirit of the Theocracy_. It is, in truth, an outgrowth of the Theocracy in the souls of holy men educated under its influence and thoroughly imbued with its spirit. The God of Moses and Aaron is also the God of David, Asaph, and Solomon; of Hosea, Isaiah, and Habakkuk. In his boldest flights the Hebrew poet always remains loyal to the institutions of Moses, not in their letter alone, but much more in their spirit, of which he is the inspired interpreter. The same Jehovah who thundered from Sinai and spake to the people by Moses, speaks also by the sweet psalmist of Israel, by the wisdom of Solomon, and by the whole succession of the prophets. Hence the poetry of the Hebrews is radiant throughout with the pure monotheism of the Theocracy. It exhibits God in his infinite perfections, as the Creator and sovereign Ruler of the world, without a single taint of pantheism or polytheism, and that in an age when pantheism and polytheism were the reigning forms of religion without the pale of the covenant people.