Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. He that keepeth Israel - The Divine Being represents himself as a watchman, who takes care of the city and its inhabitants during the night-watches; and who is never overtaken with slumbering or sleepiness. There is a thought in the Antigone of Sophocles, that seems the counterpart of this of the psalmist,
Ταν σαν, Ζευ, δυναμιν τις ανδρων
Ὑπερβασια κατασχοι,
Ταν ουθ' ὑπνος αἱ -
ρει ποθ' ὁ παντογηρως,
Ακαματοι τε θεων
Μηνες;
Antig. ver. 613, Edit. Johnson.
Shall men below control great Jove above,Whose eyes by all-subduing sleep
Are never closed, as feeble mortals' are;But still their watchful vigil keep
Through the long circle of th' eternal year?
Franklin.